Chapter 7 - THE ROADBLOCK"Hold on!" Viktor shouted, his voice snapping back into absolute authority.
He didn't brake. Instead, he slammed his foot down harder on the accelerator. The armored vehicle surged forward, roaring like a wounded beast as the speedometer climbed past seventy miles per hour on sheet ice.
"Viktor, stop! There's no room!" Mara screamed, grabbing the dashboard as her knuckles turned white.
"There's always room if you're willing to pay the toll!" Viktor snarled, reaching down to grab a heavy tactical shotgun from the floor mount.
Through the blinding snow and glare of the high beams, silhouettes of armed men in tactical gear emerged from behind the barricade, raising their assault rifles.
"Get down!" Viktor ordered, grabbing Mara by the back of her jacket and shoving her head beneath the dashboard just as a hail of bullets impacted the front of the SUV.
Bang! Crash!
Safety glass exploded inward, spraying the interior with sparkling diamond dust. The hood of the vehicle sparked as rounds tore through the engine block, but the heavy armor plating held.
Viktor rolled down the driver's side window, bracing his wounded shoulder against the door frame, and fired the shotgun three times in rapid succession. The deafening blasts echoed off the canyon walls. Two of the gunmen at the roadblock spun and collapsed into the snowbanks.
"Bear! Hold!" Viktor roared.
As the SUV smashed directly through the center of the barricade, sending one of the enemy vehicles spinning off the cliffside into the abyss, Bear leaped into the front seat, barking furiously at the fleeing guards.
The armored SUV burst through the blockade, its tires screeching as it straightened out onto the lower highway leading toward the city.
Inside, the cabin smelled of cordite, ozone, and cooling metal.
Mara slowly sat up, brushing glass shards from her hair. Her breathing was shallow, her hands shaking violently. She looked at Viktor. Blood was soaking through his makeshift bandage again, dripping onto his jeans.
"We made it," Mara whispered, a mix of disbelief and hysteria in her voice. "We actually made it off the mountain."
"We're only halfway there," Viktor replied, his voice grim as he glanced at the dashboard fuel gauge. The bullet from the roadblock had punctured the radiator; a thin plume of white steam was beginning to rise from under the hood. "The engine won't hold for another ten miles. We need a safe house, and we need it now."
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"Where?" Mara asked.
Viktor stared ahead through the cracked windshield, his jaw tight. "To the heart of the beast. My estate in the city. Dante thinks I'm dead, which means his security network won't be expecting the ghost to walk back through the front gates."
