Viktor's face paled, as if he couldn't believe the extent of his mother's madness.

"What more do you know?" she snapped at Dante, unaware that her blood was pouring on Cadence.

"Tell me!" she said, turning the blade on Cadence.

"Wait!" Dante burst. "Some of my connections saw her in a high-end mall, shopping for children's jewelry. She was then seen purchasing postpartum vitamins, a breast pump, nursing pads, special lotions, and other crap. I was in the process of verifying all this, but it's hard to get an eye on her."

"Postpartum vitamins... breast pump..." Raelynn whispered.

Maksim's mother had stolen her children, and she was trying to steal motherhood, too.

"Those are my babies!" she cried. "Those are my experiences!"

It was her skin that needed lotion for stretch marks, her belly that needed special vitamins, her breasts that needed pads.

"Fuck," Viktor whispered.

His insane mother, who had gone through menopause years ago and could no longer nurture a child, was trying to steal Raelynn's garden.

"Where? Where is she!" Raelynn shook the knife, sending droplets of blood flying.

"Last I heard, upstate, but she has been bouncing from place to place. She might have changed locations by now."

She spun, unknowingly pointing the blade at Viktor, too. She didn't care. She had been locked in blackness for too long and was willing to stab her way to sunlight. There had been too many lies. She needed truth.

"Do you know where?"

Viktor raked a hand through his hair. "I think so. She owns many properties."

Raelynn tossed the knife aside and marched for the door.

"Sweetness?" Knives called out softly.

"We're rolling. Viktor, get the jet. No. I want two. You," she turned to one of the men in suits, whose gaze flickered to her bloody pointing finger before meeting her eyes.

Were her eyes bloody, too?

"Get a team together and smuggle guns into it jet. If you fail, break every traffic law to get there on wheels. If you betray me, I will break every fucking bone in all of you with said wheels. Knives, Carbon, Viktor, you're flying with me."

She wouldn't take any risk of flying with strangers. The risk of one of Maksim's men alerting the enemy was high, but there was no way around it. She could only hope to get there on time.

"Go!" She roared, pulling a tie from one of the men's necks and messily tying it around her bleeding forearm.

Medical care would have to wait. She would get her children in her arms before she got stitches.

The wheels started rolling, and she ran outside with her small team following. Maksim was still unreachable. She would have to lead them herself.

Million-dollar bribes had to be made, but eventually, both planes took off. The trajectory would take forty-five minutes. She had some men on the ground, too, though that wave of backup would arrive late.

Her leg was bouncing, and the plane was tense as Knives kneeled on the cabin floor and went over a plan. Raelynn watched the iPad intently. She had no training in the ways of war, but she had an army in her heart.

Maksim was set to land in just an hour. It would take additional hours for him to fly back to the States. She had to have their children by then. She had to.

They landed in an illegal area, far from the mansion. They would deal with the repercussions later. She– well, Maksim, would pay whatever was needed for the damage. She would whore herself to him if needed. Anything to get her bump back.

The men spread. The plan was simple. Locate the twins, team A breaks in and snatches them, while team B covers. She would leave Knives behind to take out whoever tries to betray her. Carbon, Viktor, and two of Maksim's trustees would be right beside her.

The mansion was surrounded by beautiful roses that would soon be splattered in a different kind of red. The security of the place was medium. A moving truck was parked outside the gates, but there was no sense of urgency.

The mansion had two floors. Most windows were covered. A particular set of colors captured her attention. Light blue curtains. That had to be the nursery.

She gestured to the window, her arm protesting with pain or emptiness– she wasn't sure which.

Getting to the second floor would be problematic. The plan was to send a few strategic bullets aimed at the lower level. As the surprised men figure out where the shots were coming from, they would surge forward.

Everything changed with a flutter of a sundress. Viktor's mother stepped out of the mansion with two guards following her and walked around the house with a prep in her step to water the flowers. She looked younger; enriched with everything she stole from Raelynn. The nights of sleep, the plans, the title of mother. She was became a flower, and forced Raelynn to become a thorn.

Raeylnn didn't know she was trembling with jealousy and rage until she felt a cool hand on her scalding forearm.

Viktor dipped his chin, and she regained some control.

"Kill the men," she gritted. "Cover me."

Two shots were fired. The bodyguards dropped, and water splashed when Raelynn jumped forward and grabbed the witch by the throat. She cried loudly when she felt a gun at her temple, and two beautiful shrieks followed.

Raelynn looked toward the nursery, eyes full of love while her hands curled with hate.

"Hello, Mrs. Kuznetsov. This is Mrs. Kuznetsov, and I'm here for what's fucking mine."

"No. No, no, no, those babies are mine."

"You crazy bitch," Raelynn yelled, aware that the yard was pooled with men. "You are empty. Empty womb, empty heart, empty mind. You can only take."

"Shut up! Shut it! My family will ruin you for this. Leave my babies alone. Let go. You're– you're hurting me."

"Hurting what? The scars from when you gave birth?" Raelynn scoffed. "Motherhood is over for you. You couldn't even keep the sons you had."

The woman screeched in agony, and her men stiffened. They didn't know what tod o.

"Get me the babies now, or I'll blow her crazy head off her shoulders."

The men hesitated.

"Get me my sons!"

Someone ran upstairs, returning with two shrieking bundles.

"Viktor, get them."

"Viktor, no! Please. Please let me keep them. I just want to be a mom," she sobbed. "I just want to do it right once."

"You want children? You never stopped being one yourself," Viktor spat. "Your whole life has been a tantrum. He rushed forward to take the crying babies and then ran for safety.

It took Raelynn all the strength she had to drag the woman in her arms toward the bushes. Her hands were sweaty from the effort, but it wouldn't be a tragedy if she pulled the trigger too early.

"Let me go!"

"The only way you'll ever leave my presence again is when there's six feet of dirt separating us," Raelynn gritted, still walking backwards.

"Afraid we can't wait that long, sweetness. You gotta put the bitch down."

Raelynn stepped into a car while Knives restrained the crying woman and shoved her inside.

The car started rolling. Viktor was ahead in a different car with Carbon and the babies; at a safer distance from the loaded gun.

When their cars left the scene, gun fire started ringing in the background. They didn't look back; only kept going until they reached the jet.

The cars were emptied, and Raelynn ran to Viktor.

The babies were crying. She saw flashes of pink under the blankets. They were delicate and soft.

"Take them," Viktor said. "I have to take care of my mother."

"I will do it. I have to."

He hesitated. "Together."

She nodded. "Together."

Knives turned and walked away with the children, as Viktor's mother was shoved down. She scrambled to her feet and began running.

Raeylnn raised the gun. Viktor supported her hold and helped her aim. The trigger was pulled for Demyan, for Viktor, for Maksim, for the twins.

Their nightmare dropped dead.

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