Blood.
I’ve been shot. I’ve been?—
I glance down between us and the realization hits me in a disorienting wave.
The blood I’m feeling isn’t my own. It belongs to Fedorov, from where he’s been shot in the gut. The gun’s slipped out of both of our grasps, onto the floor between us.
I gasp and scramble up to my feet, kicking it away.
Fedorov rolls onto his back. He’s struggling to breathe, eyes on the ceiling and mouth agape.
“Myshka,” he wheezes. “You… you must… help me.”
I stare at him in such shock I can’t even bring myself to move. I’m truly frozen in place until the shock gradually fades, and then I harden.
I regard him with the same cold, cruel indifference he’s shown me many, many times over.
“No,” I say simply.
Then I turn and walk away.
I’m halfway down the corridor when Killian and the others run into me. Apparently they’ve made their way out of the chamber and have come searching for me.
They’re covered in blood, sporting a few bruises and Lochlan has what looks like a gunshot wound in his arm.
Killian rushes ahead of the other two and wraps me up in his arms.
“Stray, you alright? Did he hurt you? Where is he?”
“I’m fine,” I pant. I’m shaking so hard, coursing with adrenaline so bad I can barely stand still. “Fedorov’s back there. He’s… been shot.”
Killian’s brows furrow as if about to ask, then he seems to understand who did it. He strokes my tangled curls and says, “Good girl. Now let’s get the fuck outta here.”
“This way,” Aleksei grunts. He pivots on his heel and starts barreling down another corridor.
I’ve forgotten how huge Fedorov’s estate is. How it so easily feels like a maze when you’re navigating the halls.
Killian scoops my hand up in his and drags me along. The men run fast, so fast it feels like I’m flying as Killian pulls me.
We head down another corridor and then turn into a passageway I vaguely recognize as the utility room.
“Same way you got in,” Aleksei explains. “You can get out. Follow the passage and you will come out through the grate.”
Killian nods. “C’mon, stray.”
Lochlan hangs back. “What about you? Why’re you talking like you’re not coming along?”
“Because I am not. I have my own vendetta to carry out. Go on without me. I will find my own way.”
Killian and Lochlan exchange a look, both men hesitating for a second longer before they grant the ex-Bratva soldier his wish. I’m pulled along with Killian as Aleksei disappears from view and we get the hell out of there.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Killian
Most people call911 when shit goes sideways and they’re in need of medical attention.
We call Dr. Hino.
