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It doesn’t stop the Molotov cocktail that flies through the broken window a moment later, though.
“Get back!” I bellow, turning to corral Pyotr and Silvia from the room as fire licks greedily across the carpet.
One of our Veles men releases a string of curses as his leg goes up in flames. He drops and rolls as the man next to him stops to put him out.
I need to get mypakhanto safety.
Forming a tight circle around Pyotr and his family, Val and I, along with several of Gleb’s soldiers on duty, head swiftly through the kitchen toward the back door. Because we won’t be escaping through the front. A silent getaway would have been nice, but little Isla’s shrill screams alert whoever is coming for Pyotr and his family that we’re on the move. Silvia does her best to calm the poor toddler, but between the noise and the fire and her parents’ clear anxiety, that’s just not going to happen.
Keeping an eye on the entryway as heavy pounding makes the front door groan, I keep my pistol raised, ready to fire if anyone comes through. Val takes the lead, opening the back door to the communal green space behind the block of brownstone houses that make up Pyotr’s neighborhood.
Only after our united team of guards has mypakhansecure and no one’s followed us through the house do I turn my attention toward escape. But there is none. My stomach drops as I catch sight of the wall of Zhivoder men lined up in the shadows of the greenspace, cutting off our retreat.
Countless guns aim in our direction, the sheer number guaranteeing they’ll find a mark. And in the split second that it takes me to comprehend the dire straits we’re in, I recognize a single face in the mass of hostile men.Ben.
The Zhivoder clan’s deceit infuriates me. But beyond that, I’m enraged by Dani’s brother. He’s here, fully intending to shoot the man he grew up with while his sister is racing to a nightclub, thinking he needs her help.
Dani was tricked, just like us. She’s probably walking into a trap of her own right now. And not only am I helpless to protect her, but I also can’t see a way out for mypakhanand his family either. We don’t have enough firepower to take on the number of hostiles present.
Loud cracks split the night, followed by Isla’s screams, her wails growing in intensity as our men drop like stones, dead in an instant as they used their bodies to protect Pyotr with their lives.
“Blyat!” I cuss as Val hits the ground next to me. “Back inside!” I command, shoving mypakhanand his wife back through the kitchen door.
Then I stoop to come to Val’s aid.
He’s still alive, his teeth gritted, his hand covering his thigh as blood pools around his fingers. “Go,” he growls in our mother tongue, shoving my arm away as I reach for him.
Not a chance in hell.Taking Val by the collar, I haul him back over the threshold as bullets ping around us. Hot lead whizzes past my head and shoulder as I jerk Val’s body behind the kitchen wall.
Slamming the door shut behind us, I lock it. Then, I haul the kitchen table onto its side, propping it against the door for reinforcement.
Shouted orders tell the men to cease fire, and the barrage dies down a moment later.
“Let’s go,” I command, hauling Val onto his feet.
He snarls as he attempts to steady himself without putting too much pressure on his injured leg. Slinging his arm over my shoulder, I drag him through the kitchen as short bursts of fire crack through the broken windows, following our retreat.
Pyotr and Silvia wait for us in the hall. Pyotr’s arm encircles his wife and daughter protectively as Silvia cradles Isla’s tiny head, doing her best to muffle the child’s screams with her chest as Isla bawls openly.
“Shh-shh, baby girl. You’re okay,” she murmurs again and again, trying to soothe her terrified child, though her voice trembles.
“To the back room,” I command, and Val removes his arm from my shoulders, allowing me to lead the way.
We make our way cautiously down the hall, checking each room to ensure no one’s made another point of entry. The smoke from the living room is pouring down the hall, clouding the air and blocking off any chance of escape through the front door. We don’t have much time, and we’re running out of exit strategies.
Anger boils up inside me as I wonder if their intent is to watch us burn alive or if they’re just waiting to gun us down.
“Stay here. Stay low,” I command quietly as we reach the end of the hall. Then I open the door to the spare bedroom, slipping in as silently as I can.
No one’s guarding the far end of the house, it seems. Their efforts are focused on breaking in the back door. And from the sound of it, they’re not far from succeeding. But as I ease the window open and peer around to the front door, I’m shocked to find only three gunmen waiting with their weapons aimed.
They banked on catching us all at the back door and killing us all at once. Many men died tonight protecting Pyotr from that ambush. Since it was my call to increase security after Siliva’s attack, their lives are on my conscience now. They died under my command. But they died to keep theirpakhanalive. A sacrifice we’re all prepared to make.
Opening the window wide enough that I can pop the screen and lean my shoulders through it, I level my gun at the three men intent on Pyotr’s front door. Taking a steading breath, I don’t think about the lives I’m taking. I think about the three lives I need to save.
And I pull the trigger.
Once. Twice. Three times in quick succession. I drop the men before they can even find the source of their reckoning. Then I shrug back into the house and move to the bedroom door. Opening it, I gesture Pyotr and his family inside, helping Val now that our path is clear.
