Updated Apr 20, 2026 • ~3 min read
Chapter 16: The Note
Riot
Riot wakes up at dawn to cold sheets and an empty cabin, and he knows immediately what Nadia’s done.
She ran.
She fucking RAN instead of trusting him to handle this, instead of believing that they could face Viktor together, instead of choosing THEM over her martyr complex.
He finds the note on her pillow, written in her precise handwriting, and reads it with hands that shake with fury and terror in equal measure:
*Riot—*
*Viktor gave me twenty-four hours. I can’t let innocent people die because of me. I can’t let YOU die trying to save me.*
*I know you’ll be angry. I know you’ll think this is the wrong choice. But it’s MY choice, and I’m asking you to respect it.*
*I love you. More than I thought I could love anyone. Which is exactly why I can’t let you follow me into this.*
*I’m sorry.*
*- Nadia*
“FUCK!” The word explodes out of Riot as he crumples the note, and for approximately ten seconds he gives in to the rage and fear before his training kicks in and he forces himself to think tactically.
Nadia has maybe a six-hour head start based on how cold the sheets are. She’ll be heading to Seattle, to wherever Viktor told her to meet him. And she’s walking into a death trap without backup, without a plan, without anything except her stubborn determination to save everyone else at the cost of her own life.
Riot has his phone out and Marcus on the line before the fury fully clears. “She ran. Heading to Viktor. I need her location NOW.”
“Tracking her phone,” Marcus says, and Riot can hear the click of keys in the background. “She’s smart—turned off GPS, but I can ping cell towers… got her. She’s at SeaTac airport. Flight to Seattle leaves in forty minutes.”
“I need a faster plane.”
“Already arranging it. Riot—” Marcus pauses. “What’s your play here?”
“I’m going to drag her stubborn ass back into protective custody before she gets herself killed.” Riot’s already moving, throwing gear into a bag with the kind of controlled violence that comes from barely suppressed panic. “And then I’m going to make sure she understands that sacrificing herself isn’t noble—it’s just another way of running from what we have.”
“She’s not going to cooperate.”
“I don’t need her cooperation. I need her ALIVE.”
He’s in the air thirty minutes later, flying toward Seattle with murder on his mind and Nadia’s note burning a hole in his pocket, and all he can think is: *Please let me get there in time. Please let me stop her before Viktor gets his hands on her.*
Because losing Nadia isn’t something Riot’s prepared to survive.
Reader Reactions