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The hand that held the gun raised. Yuri shoved me behind the kitchen counter, causing me to crash into one of Evelina’s monitors and bring it down to the cold tile with me. I pulled myself to the edge just in time to see Yuri throw himself at my father, both their faces twisted with rage. A terrible, earsplitting cracking sound reverberated throughout the apartment, rattling the windows. My father’s hand flew up under the force of the recoil and a shriek tore from my throat as I watched Yuri rock backwards and hit the floor. Without thought I jumped up, screaming again when I saw him lying still, a pool of blood rapidly spreading out from beneath him, soaking into the colorful strands of the embroidered rug. No, no. Not this.
Sick, heartbroken, with nothing left to lose, I launched myself at my father. Almost gracefully, he flipped the gun around in his grip and brought the butt down hard onto my forehead just as I reached to claw out his eyes. My hands fell slack at my sides and dizziness overpowered the fiery burst of pain. Then, nothing at all.
Chapter 21 - Yuri
I was walking along the beach, hand in hand with Kira, the waves lapping at our bare feet. It was sunrise and someone else trotted along behind us, shouting with gleeful, high-pitched laughter. I turned to get a better look and searing pain ripped through my shoulder.
Kira and the ocean winked away. Only the pain remained.
“He’s waking up.”
It must have been me. I was waking up. The pain grew worse, along with a low growling noise. I opened my eyes to see my cousin Leo leaning over me, his face screwed up with concentration. The pain reached a boiling point, and I wrenched my head to the side to see him digging around in the bloody mess that was my shoulder.
“Evelina,” Leo barked. “He’s awake, God damn it. Hold him still.”
Now Evelina loomed above me, placing one hand on my chest and holding out what looked like a hard rubber chew toy for a dog. “Bite down on this. Leo hasn’t got the slug out yet.”
The low growling noise intensified, and I realized it was me, too delirious from the pain to notice I was moaning.
“Seriously, man. Bite down.” Leo paused, wiping a lock of dark hair off his brow and leaving a bloody streak across his face. My blood. “I can feel it, but I think it’s stuck in the bone. I’m going to have to… uh, dig.”
Pressing down with all her weight on my chest, Evelina jammed the thing between my teeth. “Sorry,” she said.
“Yeah, sorry,” Leo echoed.
I blinked, or maybe blacked out for a second but, when I opened my eyes again, Leo had a pair of pliers in his hand. He dug into my wound, just as he promised. Evelina threw her whole body across me as I flew off the floor, both of our shouts making Leo wince. But he kept trying, I kept howling, and what felt like years later, he held up a smashed bit of metal in the pliers with a triumphant look.
Evelina grabbed a tea towel and wadded it up against my shoulder. I slapped my hand over it, rolled to the side and puked. “Fuck.” I rolled away from the mess and saw all the blood beneath me, a fresh supply already soaking through the towel.
I was still naked, with only Evelina’s pink bath towel draped across my hips. It hardly mattered but it was the final straw. I swore again and barked for someone to bring me my clothes I’d left in the bathroom.
“You need a bandage,” Evelina said, ignoring my request and dragging over a first aid kit. Nothing in the box seemed like it could handle my gunshot wound, but she made a valiant effort anyway, packing in gauze and applying strips of tape.
Leo took pity on me and brought me my jeans. As soon as Evelina was satisfied with her patch job and had me tied into a makeshift sling, I tugged my pants on single-handed, pretending every last move I made wasn’t agony.
“I need one of you to drive,” I said. “We need to find Kira. How long was I out?”
They both stared at me like I was crazy. Evelina took my phone and held it to me.
“Ivan called. He wants to know if he should come over. He also wants you to know that your wife’s father is alive and he’s pissed.”
“Yes, I know all that,” I said. “That’s who shot me. I’m guessing he’s got her. Can you tell me anything about her whereabouts?” Fear blotted out the intense pain. “She’s in real danger. We need to find her.”
Leo put a hand on my good shoulder. “Calm down, you just lost a bucket of blood.”
“Yes, eat something, or drink some tea,” Evelina said with a frown. “I don’t know what you should do, but definitely calm down.”
“I can’t calm down when that son of a bitch has my wife,” I shouted.
Evelina stared at me until I pressed my lips together, signifying the end of my outburst. “They fell off the grid, but we’re both closely monitoring the software for any sign of her or Orlov.” She paused, struggling not to look too smug. “Ivan sent me pictures so we’re on the lookout for him as well. Even if they don’t turn up on a camera somewhere, one of our snitches will snitch, they always do. We’ve got the word out to everyone we know. Nobody stays lost for long when we want them found.”
Leo looked proudly at his fraternal twin, then at me with an arched brow. “Yeah, so calm the fuck down.”
I nodded, accepting a steaming cup of strong tea with a murmured thanks. I hobbled over to the couch and spread the bath towel that was already stained with my blood across the back of Evelina’s couch, and sat down. Favoring my hurt arm, I called Ivan.
I held the phone away while he let loose on me, finally putting it to my ear when he grew quiet. “I just got shot,” I said. “Take some pity on me.”
“Jesus,” he said. “Are you okay?”
