All right, this is the third book in my Scorpia Hunting Series. I'm really excited about it! I hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much to all my fans that are supporting me!
P.S. All these chapters are still in Yassen's perspective.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yassen, Alex, or John. I do, however, own Jeremy Hosea Winters and Nikolei Markov.
Chapter 1- Danger in the Air
We walk out of the movie theater, smiling happily at each other. We just finished watching World War Z.
"So what did you think? Were you scared?" I ask Alex, glancing at him, my eyes sparkling.
"Are you kidding? That was awesome!" he exclaims; he looks like the happiest kid on earth. And why wouldn't he be? His father is alive, he gets to spend time with me, and MI6 is leaving us alone for the rest of our lives, who could be happier?
"So, what now?" he asks happily.
"I think we go home. Maybe we can grab some lunch with John. Maybe then we can practice karate," I reply. John didn't come with us to the movie theater because he'd already seen the movie twice before. Alex keeps teasing him that he's just scared of all the zombies, but I know John just wants us to spend time together without him. He's been around a lot lately, and I think he knows I've wanted to spend time with Alex separately. I know it sounds selfish, but John understands.
We head home, and John is already there. I gave him a key to my place so he wouldn't have to keep breaking in.
"How was the movie?" he asks as we walk in. He's sitting at the dinner table, eating some chips and guacamole.
"It was good. Alex enjoyed it a lot," I reply.
"Not going to have any nightmares, are you?" he teases me. I shake my head, smiling.
"No, if I do, I'll be sure to let you know," I say. The doorbell rings, and we all stop talking. We look at each other nervously.
"Expecting someone, Yassen?" John asks, lowering his voice. I shake my head and pull one of my many guns out of the drawer. John pulls his gun out, and Alex pulls his knife out. We look at each other. It could be an innocent person, selling something no one wants, or it could be someone hunting one of us. Who should answer the door?
"I got it," Alex says, turning to head into the hallway.
"No, Alex!" I hiss, but it's too late. He leaves the room. I follow at a distance with John right behind me. I stand in the hallway where I can hear whoever it is, but they can't see me because of the wall.
"What are you doing here?" Alex says, sounding angry.
"I've come to speak with Yassen," a familiar female voice says. I thought they were going to leave us alone! I walk out and come up behind Alex. Mrs. Jones is standing in the doorway, looking at Alex.
"Ah, Yassen. This has nothing to do with another mission. It has to do with him," Mrs. Jones moves aside to reveal a boy about Alex's age. I'm shocked by what I see. The boy looks exactly like I do. He has red hair; he's about as tall as Alex. He's thin but not gangly. The only difference between us is that he has emerald green eyes; mine are ice blue.
"This is Jeremy," she says. She pulls a sheet of paper from her suit jacket and hands it over Alex's head to me. I open it; it's a birth certificate. It has my name under the father, and a girl's name under the mother; Zoe Collins. Then, it has the boy's name. Jeremy Hosea Collins.
"I don't understand…who is the boy Yassen?" Alex asks, looking at me in confusion.
"He's my son, Alex." I reply, trying not to let my voice crack.
"I thought you told me you were never in love!" Alex exclaims, sounding hurt.
"I wasn't in love. It was more of a…one night stand sorta situation." I explain, a little embarrassed. "Zoe died in a car accident, and I thought he was dead." I continue, clearing my throat.
"He was in a foster home; he's been adopted before but his parents died before he was three years old. His last name was changed to Winters, while he was with that family. He's been living in foster care ever since, but he found the birth certificate. He was the one who was looking for you, Yassen," Mrs. Jones tells us.
"He's been living in a foster home all this time?" I ask, shocked.
"Yes, he has," Mrs. Jones says.
I glance at Jeremy; poor kid. "You want me to take him, don't you?" I ask.
"Well, if you want to," Mrs. Jones says.
"Of course I do! He's my son," I exclaim.
"What about Alex?" she asks.
"What about him?" this confuses me.
"Well…won't two boys be a bit much for you?" she asks.
"John and I have been taking care of him together, I think we can handle it," I reply. I open the door and Alex steps back, allowing room for Jeremy to come inside. He hesitates, and Mrs. Jones gives him a gentle push.
"Go on, it's all right," she says softly. She turns to leave, and he moves forward into the house. Alex gives him a smile.
"Thank you, Mrs. Jones," I say, closing the door behind Jeremy. John steps forward, smiling.
"So, he's alive," he says, looking at Jeremy. "I have to say, you two look exactly alike except the eyes. Are they from Zoe?" he asks. He knows all about Zoe and my affair with her.
"Yes, they are," I reply. I feel slightly guilty that I didn't tell Alex about Jeremy or Zoe, but I didn't really think it was important earlier. Plus, it's the one thing about my past that causes me pain whenever I think about it. Now that Jeremy's alive though…it's different.
"Well…what now?" Alex asks. I glance at Jeremy. He shrugs.
"What were you doing before I came?" he asks.
"We were about to eat lunch. Are you hungry?" I ask.
"Yeah, I guess," he seems very quiet and shy. I wonder if that's just because he just met me, or if that's his personality.
"Well, then, let's eat," John says, clapping his hands together. We sit down at the dinner table and eat some sandwiches. As we eat, we ask Jeremy various questions.
"So, you lived in a foster home for a good chunk of your life. What was it like?" Alex asks.
"It was all right. There were a lot of other kids there, mostly younger, but there were a few who were about my age. I was the oldest one their though; I'd also been there the longest," he explains.
I glance at Alex; I still feel guilty from hiding this from him. He finally notices me looking at him.
"What?" he asks.
"Nothing. I'm just wondering how you're taking this," I tell him.
"What? You not telling me about him? It's fine; I understand. I don't like telling people certain things either; I never told Jack that Ash killed my parents…er…my mom at least," Alex says, glancing at John as he says it.
Jeremy looks back and forth between Alex and I; he's trying to figure out what's going on between us, I think.
"Should we tell him?" I ask, glancing at Jeremy. "He's gonna find out sooner or later,"
"I suppose," Alex says. He knows I'm talking about the whole spy and assassin thing.
"Tell me what?" Jeremy asks, now even more confused.
"Jeremy…the people who brought you here, who did they say they were?" I ask.
"They said they were MI6. Why? Can you tell me why MI6 was involved in this? And how did you know that woman?" a flood of questions come out; I suppose he was too shy to ask all of them earlier.
"Well, Mrs. Jones is the director of MI6. Alex…" I trail off, not sure how to word this.
"I'll tell him my part. I use to work for them. So did John, but…well, he was supposedly killed right before I was born. He's been in hiding though, apparently. Anyway, I was adopted by my uncle Ian, who, not surprisingly, also worked as a spy for MI6. Yassen killed him while he was on a mission. That's how Yassen and I met," Alex says.
"I hate to tell you this, kid, but you're father was a freelance assassin," John says.
"Way to break it to him, John," I mutter.
"Um…you killed people for money?" he says, looking confused. I wonder if this rush of information is too much for him.
"Well, yeah, that's what freelance assassin means, kid," John explains.
"Yeah, whenever I asked Yassen why did something, he always responded with, 'because I'm paid'. Lousy response, in my opinion," Alex says. I give him a glance that says, "Shut up" and roll my eyes.
"So…now you do…what exactly?" he asks cautiously. He looks a bit scared of me.
"Don't worry, I only killed people they told me to. I don't think you'll be on the list for a while. But as to what I do now—" Alex, of course, feels the need to take over again.
"We sit on our big fat butts and live off the money MI6 gives us," he says, grinning.
"You make it sound like we do nothing," I mutter.
"But…that's exactly what we've been doing for the past few weeks. Hey, you're not the type of guy I can see getting a real job, okay?" he says.
John laughs. "He's right, Yassen, you're not the type of guy to go out and get a regular job like the rest of us." he says.
"Wow, you guys sure are great at boosting a person's ego, aren't ya?" I say sarcastically. Alex and John both smile at me like they've just been praised by the Queen of England herself.
"Yeah, that's what we're here for, isn't it?" Alex exclaims, looking even happier.
"Give me a break," I mutter.
"So," Alex says, turning back to Jeremy. He's about to continue, when the phone rings. I excuse myself and answer it.
"Hello?" I ask. It's probably just some annoying telemarketer.
"Is this Yassen Gregorovich?" a voice asks.
"Who's asking?" now I'm getting suspicious.
"Nikolei Markov," the voice replies.
"How did you get this number?" I ask.
He ignores my question, instead saying, "I know where you are Yassen; you better be ready, cuz I'm coming for you," there's a click at the other end and the line goes dead. I realize that this is a serious problem. Everyone I love is in danger, all because of me.
"Who was that?" John asks, coming in.
"I'll give you three guesses," I say, holding up three fingers.
"Oh, great. It's Nikolei, isn't it?" John says, sounding tired. I nod. We both know what he's searching for; I killed his father Ivan and now he's looking for revenge. "This isn't good. If he comes after you, then all of us are in trouble," he says after a moment.
"I know, I know. What do we do?" I ask.
"Well, you could start by telling us what's going on," Alex says, coming into the room.
"Alex…were you eavesdropping again?" I ask.
"Blame MI6 and Scorpia. Might as well blame yourself, while you're at it. You guys are the ones who trained me to do that," Alex says innocently.
"Fair enough," I sigh. I sit down in the middle of the sofa and pat the seat next to me. Alex comes and joins me on my left, and Jeremy comes over and sits on my right. John sits next to Alex on the left side. "All right, so Ivan was a Russian warlord; he blew up oil rigs, nuclear power plants, that kind of stuff. Scorpia assigned me to kill him; the mission was, of course, successful. But now his son wants revenge for his father's death, so he's coming after me," I explain.
"Well, we should call the police," Jeremy exclaims, shocked.
"See, I doubt the police will be able to do anything about it. They don't handle that kind of thing. Plus, if I know him, he would have the police in his pocket; no, that's not an option. The only other option would be—"
"No. We're not going to them for help. We promised each other that after we found John, that chapter of our lives was over," Alex says forcefully. He knows I'm about to suggest we go to MI6.
"Well, I'm with you there, but I don't think it's an option now. Nikolei's hunting me; the only way we solve that is to get MI6 to help, or let him kill me. Which option would you prefer?" I glance at him. "I'm angry too. Nikolei has been coming after me ever since I killed his father; he's tried to kill me before," I explain.
"Well, then, give him his own medicine; shoot him," Alex says.
"Since when did you become so trigger-happy?" I ask. Alex usually goes for anything that doesn't involve killing people.
"And since when did you two switch brains?" John asks, glancing back and forth between us.
"Well, it's either that or get him locked up. Which one's easier for you?" Alex asks, ignoring his dad.
"See, the problem with shooting him is I have a home now; I have you, John, and Jeremy to worry about. I'm sure he still has friends in high places; friends that will come after me and everyone I love if I kill him," I explain.
"So why didn't you do it earlier?" Alex asks, sounding exasperated.
"I usually don't kill people just because; usually I get paid to kill people. Or I did, at least," I explain.
"Well I thought you shot anyone who remotely bothered you," Alex says.
"Where would you come up with that idea?" I ask.
"The guard you shot…while you were unloading the vials during the Stormbreaker thing," Alex answers.
"You were busy weren't you? He almost jeopardized the mission; he could also have cost us a lot of money. If even one of those vials had broken, he would also have cost us our lives. Shooting him was the only option," I reply, except now I'm not entirely sure I believe that.
"Well, I would think that someone hunting you down and trying to kill you would bother you," Alex replies.
"I didn't feel it was necessary at the time. He never came that close to killing me. Now, though…I have people I care for that I want to protect. It seems that MI6 is the only option we have here," I tell him.
"Well…I'm coming with you," Alex says after a moment.
"No, you're not, kid. You're staying right here, with me and Jeremy," John says, wrapping his arm around Alex and ruffling his hair.
"What? Why?" Alex exclaims, looking angry.
"Because it's dangerous for you to be around me," I say. I see something flicker across his face briefly; it's only there for a second, but I know what it is: fear. He's afraid, for me.
"Hey, it'll be fine, trust me. I know what I'm doing," I say, patting him on the back gently.
"All right, I suppose if you say so…" he says, looking at me worriedly.
"I do. I'm just trying to protect you three; the only three people I actually love," I say. I hope he realizes how important it is that he stays out of this.
"All right, I'll stay here," Alex says, though he sounds reluctant to do so. I glance at John and point to Alex, mouthing the words, "watch him". John smiles and gives me a wink, while Alex scowls at me. I walk toward the door, grabbing my keys on the way out. "Be good!" I call as I head out the door.
When I reach MI6 headquarters, the secretary behind the desk tells me to go right up. When I enter Mrs. Jones' office, it looks the same as usual. She's sitting behind her desk, sucking on a peppermint.
"Hello, Yassen. What can I do for you? I thought you and Alex didn't want to be a part of this anymore?" she says, giving me a quizzical glance.
"We don't, but this seemed to be the only option. There's a man here; he wants me dead. His name is Nikolei Markov. I need help in stopping him or somehow convincing him I'm not worth it and I just want a regular life," I explain.
"Ah, yes, I believe I have a file on him. Interesting man. He went into the army when he was 18, stayed there until his father died, and then he went into espionage, he's ex-KGB. He also worked for the Russian Mafia," she says.
"I know. I killed his father; he was on a mission for the army and couldn't attend the funeral. That's what got him into intelligence; he was searching for me so he could get his revenge. He was also training so he could kill me when he found me. He's tried to kill me before, but he's never gotten this close. He called me, on my phone. He knows where I live. I just want a normal life with Alex, John, and Jeremy," I tell her.
"The old you would have been able to solve this quite easily with a bullet to his head," she replies, as if I didn't know that before.
"Well, I've changed a lot over the past few years, haven't I? I have people I care about and I don't want to get hurt. They care about me, too. Before I didn't have that; now…I have a family who needs me. Alex would have a mental breakdown if something happened to me. I can't just shoot him, or other people might be after me. That's probably the last thing I'll do, if I'm really desperate."
"I understand. I'm sure we can figure something out. If we can't catch him tough…there might be no other option for you…you might have to…" she doesn't say it, but I know what she's thinking by the look in her eyes.
"What? Run? That means I'd be running for the rest of my life, or at least until he dies. No, I can't run. I can't put Alex, John, and Jeremy through that. I won't," I exclaim forcefully. There's no way I'm running away from him. I would almost rather shoot him than have to do that.
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out. For now, you can go home and rest," she says. "I'll call you when we have something we might be able to use against him,"
"Thank you," I reply. I hope she gets it done quickly because I don't want to have to solve this myself.
I walk out onto Liverpool Street. I pause; something seems…off somehow. I'm not sure what, but some old instinct tells me to be wary. I proceed toward my car cautiously. I've almost reached it, when I hear someone yell my name. A moment later, I'm tackled from behind. My attacker throws his whole body against me, shoving me to the ground. I hear an unmistakable sound at the same time; the sound of a gun being fired. I glance back to see Alex lying on the ground, panting. We landed right behind my car, which is now shielding us from whoever is shooting.
"Alex! What in God's name are you doing here?" I exclaim, angry.
"Saving your life, apparently," he says sarcastically. I realize he's right; whoever was shooting was aiming at me. And I know who was shooting: Nikolei. I'm sure of it.
"Get in the car," I command. I crawl in, and he climbs in after me. I'm about to start the engine, when my cell phone rings.
"I might have missed this time, but next time, I won't. I promise," Nikolei says, and then hangs up.
I give a growl of anger. Then I compose myself and turn to Alex.
"How did you get here?" I ask, still slightly annoyed.
"I stole John's car," he says, not sounding guilty at all. "I saw the sniper perched on a roof and I saw you. I realized what he was doing, so I knocked you over," he continues. I feel the anger disappear instantly.
"You saved my life. Thank you," I say, feeling the weight of what just happened for the first time.
"You would have done the same," he says.
"Well, it happened before," I say, remembering how I saved his life in the garage when Scorpia was after him. That was how I became a father to him and that was when he realized he could trust me. We drive the rest of the way home in silence. When we get there, John is standing by the door; he looks angry.
"Alex! I'm very disappointed in you. What were you thinking?" he asks when we come in.
"It's all right, John." I say, raising a hand as if to ward off his anger. "He save my life," I quickly explain what happened at Liverpool Street.
"Well, good job Alex. That still doesn't excuse you from stealing my car though," he says, though he actually looks quite proud.
"Someone really tried to kill you?" Jeremy seems shocked.
"It's happened before. I've gotten used to people wanting me dead. It comes with the business we're in," I say.
"It happens to all of us," Alex says, supporting me.
"Well, what do we do now?" Jeremy asks. He seems quite shaken; I realize what he must be going through right now. He barely knows me and already he almost lost me.
"I think the best option is to lay low and let MI6 handle this," John says. I agree, but there's a problem.
"We need somewhere else to stay. Nikolei knows where I live; it can't be long before he comes knocking." I say. Alex and I glance at each other. The last time we went into hiding, we had to live in a storage facility.
"I have a place. It's decent. It can support all four of us easily. No one knows about it but me. Yassen, why don't you and I go pick up my car, and then we can head over there?" John suggests.
"Sure, sounds good. Alex, Jeremy, behave," I say, giving Alex a meaningful glare. He raises his hands in surrender.
"I saved your life!" he exclaims. I snort; he's right, of course, but he risked his own life by doing so. Still; I'm very grateful he showed up when he did. If he hadn't I'd be dead right now.
John and I go pick up his car without incident, and one hour later we're on the road in his gray Ferrari, heading to his safe house. Hopefully it will be better than the storage facility Alex and I lived in when Scorpia was after us. And hopefully, Nikolei won't find us and MI6 will be able to deal with him quickly. I realize we'll need a lot of luck for any of this to happen perfectly. I'm afraid that our luck might be running thin, and that's a very scary though.