Shattered Innocence

Into the Unknown

There is no time to waste, so I pack as quickly as I can. As I stare down at my bag, his face flashes before my eyes, and my hands curl into fists. Anger, resentment, hope, and fear fill me. I hated him, but seeing him brought back all those childhood feelings of wanting to be loved, and I hate that more. I hate that even at the end, he's still playing me, using me, and ordering me around, even going so far as to involve Lily, knowing I would have no choice then. Whoever this mystery man is, he killed my father, and for that I'm grateful, but if he is doing worse, I'll kill him myself and bury his body right next to my father's grave. Determined, I zip the bag closed and toss it over my shoulder, finding Bert in the doorway, watching me.

"Just wanting to check your state of mind," he says, concern etched on his face.

"Pissed, hateful, and wanting to kill someone," I reply, and he grins.

"Good." He pushes away from the doorframe. Shaking my head, I drop my bag in the foyer as Mikhail comes in, holding a bag in his hands. "I packed as much food as I could." He hands it over to Nikolay, who stops next to me, his own bag slung over his shoulder.

"I've also included pancakes for Master Yuri," Bert adds.

"You da best, Bert," Yuri calls as he leaps from the balcony and lands next to us with a smug grin, kissing Bert's cheek. Bert blushes and grins at Yuri before looking at me.

"Please be safe, Nora," he says with solemnity.

"Always," I promise, kissing his other cheek. "Take care of Lily for me."

"I will." He nods solemnly.

"We will be here when you get back, all of you." He looks around at them as the others come in with their belongings packed up.

"None of you are to get hurt or killed, do you understand me?" he orders, and we all nod like naughty children.

"Good, and if you get arrested, call me." He steps back, his eyes glassy with tears just as Lily hurries down the stairs. She throws the guys a nervous glance before she hands me a journal.

"Here's as much as I've found so far, as well as the locations. I have Zack's secure number. If I find anything more, I will send it to him."

"Be smart and safe." I hate it when I almost repeat my father's words. "I will be in contact when I can. Stay here with Mikhail."

She nods, and we share a look, unsure what else to say, the years still arching between us. I sigh and grab my bag as I head towards the door where the others are already loading the cars.

"Nora," she calls. I turn back, and Lily races towards me, wrapping her arms tightly around me. I freeze for a moment before melting and wrapping my arms around her as well, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you as much as he did, but I'm here now, and I will make this right. I will help, even if none of you believe me. I'm... I'm just so sorry. I love you, Nora, I always did, always will. Come back home soon." She steps back, dashing her tears away.

I nod at her, unsure what to say, so instead, I pull out the note that was folded under my pillow. "I know. I love you too," I tell her, and Mikhail steps up, placing a hand on her shoulder as I throw my bag in the car and get in.

"So where to? I'm betting the secret military peeps won't be happy about this." I smirk.

"What they don't know won't hurt them." Zack grins over his shoulder. "I just told them we have a few leads and are going off-grid."

"And how did they take that?" Ivan asks curiously.

"They started shouting, so I hung up, but we should get going before they track us. Your sister will be safe, but us? We might get locked up."

"Then let's go." I nod, sitting back next to Nikolay. Yuri and Mikhail are in the other car behind us. I flip through the journal and pick a location at random.

"The first coordinates are somewhere in Berlin. Wait, how are we getting there?" They share a look before laughing as I frown.

"Wait, what's so funny?" That just makes them laugh harder as we pull away.