Chapter 30 Dimitri #2
She screams again. I can tell she's in a struggle.
"Athena!" I yell.
I race forward, no longer caring about cover or tactics or self-preservation. All I can think is that she's alive and she's in pain and I need to get to her.
When I reach the door, I don't slow, don't hesitate. I simply plant my foot next to the handle and kick with everything I have.
The door slams inward, hinges shrieking as one of them rips off the wall.
Athena is there. She's hooded, hands bound, stumbling as one of the bastards yanks her by the arm, almost dragging her.
Another man stands to the left, turning at the noise of my entrance. His eyes widen as he registers who I am.
I don't give him the chance to react.
I put two bullets in his chest before he can even bring his weapon up. His back hits the wall and he slides down it, smearing blood across the cracked paint, his gun clattering to the floor.
The second man jerks Athena closer, his forearm clamping around her throat. She chokes, her hands scrabbling weakly at his sleeve.
He brings his pistol up and presses it against her temple.
"One more fucking move," he snarls, voice high and desperate. "And she's dead. Drop your weapons."
I can't see her face, but I know Athena is crying now, her breaths moving the fabric covering her face rapidly as she shakes.
I can't stand it so I don't lower my weapon.
My boots are planted shoulder-width apart, barrel trained right between this motherfucker's eyes.
He shifts half a step to the side, dragging her with him, trying to angle himself toward the other door.
"Drop it!" the man yells again. "I'll fucking do it."
Instead of listening, I slow my breathing. Every training session, every kill, every lesson paid in blood leads to a moment like this. Where someone close to my life is on the line and I need to perform.
I feel my heartbeat steady, the world narrowing to a perfect, crystalline focus.
One shot, I think. One clean shot.
I exhale and my finger tightens, pulling the trigger.
If my gun makes a sound I don't hear it. If my gun recoils, I don't feel it.
For a split second, his expression doesn't even change. Then the hood covering Athena splashes with red and the man's shoulders relax. And then it appears. A hole, just above the bridge of his nose. Blood pours and he drops like a stone in water.
The wall behind him covered in red and grey pieces.
Athena screams and falls to the ground, crying harder now. Her body convulses with sobs that seem to tear through her entire being.
I rush toward her faster than I've ever run before. I rip the hood off her head, tossing it aside.
Her eyes are wild, blinking rapidly in the sudden light, struggling to focus. Her lashes are clumped with tears as I wipe them away.
"It's me, baby. It's me," I say, my voice raw.
"You're okay. I'm here," I continue, brushing the hair out of her face.
Her mouth trembles. For a second, she just stares, like she can't believe I'm real.
Then her shoulders slump, every muscle going slack.
"I knew you'd come," she says. Her voice is raw, shredded. "I knew it."
I pull my knife from my belt and saw through the zip ties, the plastic leaving bloody grooves on her wrists.
The moment her hands are free she wraps them around me.
I look her up and down. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
She shakes her head. "I'll be okay. As long as you're here. Everything else will heal."
"Jesus," I say, rubbing her cheek. "You had me worried, Alepoudítsa. The thought of losing you. Shit."
I stop and tilt her face up to mine, studying every bruise, every cut. Then I lower my mouth to hers.
We kiss deeply, desperately, the taste of her tears mingling between us. It's a kiss of relief, of survival, of promises kept.
When I pull back, her eyes shine.
"I've got you," I whisper, pressing my forehead to hers. "You hear me? I've got you."
She nods. "When I was here. Thinking about you and about life. I only had one regret," she says.
"Getting kidnapped?" I say with a smile.
She laughs and then winces in pain and coughs.
"It was never telling you how sorry I was for misjudging you and not telling you sooner that I —"
A voice cuts through the moment like a blade.
"Dimitri!"
Theo bursts into the doorway with his men and mine, eyes sweeping the room. His gun tracks over the bodies, then to us.
"We have to move," he says, voice firm. "Come on."
Athena flinches against my chest.
I slide one arm under Athena's knees, the other behind her back, and lift her against my chest. She's so light and fragile in my arms.
"Hold on to me, tight," I say as her fingers grip my shoulder, digging in like she's afraid I'll disappear.
"To the loading dock," Theo yells over his shoulder, already moving.
I follow, carrying her close.
The air outside the room is a whirlwind of noise. Shouts, gunfire, and chaos.
As we move back the way I came, bullets rake the wall behind us, throwing debris over us.
The others return fire as I move behind a wall to protect Athena.
We move again, our men fanning out to cover our exit.
I move fast, my boots slipping in blood and debris. Every step sends a jolt through my bruised ribs, but I don't slow.
Athena buries her face in my neck. Her breath is hot against my skin.
"I have to find the phone and my laptop," I yell to Theo.
"Ares has your laptop. Phone's missing," he says.
Okay, that's not so bad. If the software on my computer did its job, it should have copied everything in the phone. If not, we're fucked.
We keep moving and the doors leading to the outside are just up ahead.
As we reach them, Theo throws the doors wide.
Sunlight almost blinds us and we run outside.
More enemy fire comes at us.
Theo and the others are already in position, providing cover as I sprint across the loading dock. Bullets ping off metal and concrete, the sound like angry wasps.
"Stay down," I say to Athena, shifting to shield more of her body with mine.
She tucks her head against my chest, trembling. She feels hot against me.
An SUV screeches around the corner of the building, rear doors already flung open. The tires kick up gravel as it skids to a stop twenty feet away.
I see Ares in the driver's seat.
"Come on. Come on," he says, shooting out the passenger window.
More gunfire. A bullet whines past my ear, so close I feel the air displacement.
I don't slow down. I sprint straight for the SUV, Athena clutched against me.
More of our SUVs pull up and lay down suppressing fire.
I dive into the backseat, twisting midair to take the impact on my shoulder and back rather than crushing Athena.
Theo jumps in after us, slamming the door while our men race for the other vehicles.
"Go! Go!" Theo shouts, jumping into the passenger seat.
Ares floors the accelerator before Theo even finishes the word. The SUV jumps forward, tires spinning before finding grip.
Gravel and dust explode behind us. The back window spiderwebs as a bullet strikes it.
Our car takes a sharp turn around the corner, and I press into Athena. I adjust my grip to keep her secure.
I then sit up, scanning the area, ready to shoot.
I turn to check on Athena.
She's curled into a ball, rocking as the SUV speeds toward the main road.
I reach out and she instantly grasps my hand and squeezes it.
Ares pulls out onto the main road, and I look through the windows and see we're alone. Just our convoy of black SUVs behind us.
"We're safe now," I say and pull her up so she can sit next to me.
I see Ares glance at her in the rearview mirror and Theo turns back to us and nods, then looks forward.
"Where we headed?" she asks, looking at me.
"To our estate in Kalamata," Ares replies from the driver's seat, his voice firm and laced with rage. "Where you can enlighten us how you happen to know who killed our father."
I pull her into me and we lean back in the chair, each too tired to deal with Ares. He'll learn soon enough what she's bringing to the table.
I look down and kiss the top of her head. Despite everything we've all been through, her scent wraps around me and I breathe it in.
She's now mine to keep, and no one will ever take her again.