Chapter Thirty-Three
LUKYAN VOLKOV
The moment we stepped outside, it went from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye.
There were people everywhere, blood-covered knives, machetes, and axes swinging through the air.
Screams of pain and battle echoed out into the night.
People fought one-on-one. Some in groups, spread out all across the yard.
I dropped to one knee, switched the machine gun to single shot, took aim, and fired. I focused on all the people who had just arrived. Autumn said they were assassins. That made them far more dangerous, and they had to be taken out first.
Bang! I swerved to the left. Bang! I swerved to the right. Bang! Bang! Bang! I didn’t hesitate. Didn’t even allow myself a moment to think about it. Just aimed and fired. Aimed and fired.
When my gun clicked, having run out of bullets, I tossed it to the side and palmed my knife.
I leaped off the front porch and crash tackled into someone.
I didn’t know who he was. The pendant around his neck was all I needed to know.
I drove my blade into his chest. A foot came flying toward my face.
I blocked with my left, and slammed my elbow down onto his shin as hard as I could, snapping the bone. He cried out, dropping immediately.
I moved fast, rolling forward and stabbing him through his eye. As I got to my feet, a machete came hurtling toward me. I flipped to the side, spun, and threw my own knife right back. It hit its target, the woman falling with my weapon firmly lodged in her stomach.
A punch to the jaw rocked me. Pain flared across my face for a brief moment before I shut it out and locked into a battle of blows with someone.
Someone fucking good. She was fast. Efficient.
Our forearms collided as we both blocked each other’s attacks.
She swung her leg in a roundhouse kick, and I reared back, narrowly missing it.
Someone came at me from the right. I ducked under their attack and punched them in the face.
Someone else joined in, and I found myself fighting off three people at once.
My mind shut down, and the battle rage filled me.
I blocked a punch to the head with my forearm at the same time as I lashed out to the right with a side kick.
I dove forward, taking one of them down, flipped myself back up, and stomped my foot down right into their face.
I didn’t stop. Didn’t slow down. I fought with everything I had, ignoring the pain from the shots I couldn’t avoid, and let the bloodlust fill me completely.
As soon as I disposed of those three, another three took their place, staring at me from a few feet away, each one with a knife in their hands and death in their eyes.
War raged on around me. I’d lost sight of my father and Autumn. I couldn’t see them amongst the carnage. All I could do was hope that they were okay.
I took a fighting stance and motioned with my hand for them to run at me.
They charged forward. My eyes widened. Not at them—at the fucking car that came speeding through the hole in the gate right behind them.
My life seemed to flash before my eyes. The car was coming too fast to avoid. I was going to die—
The car sped forward and ran the three assassins down, their screams echoing into the night. I braced, grimacing. It completely skidded around me and came to a sudden stop. Aleksandr jumped out of the driver’s seat, a Kevlar vest strapped to his chest and a machine gun in each hand, firing at will.
What?
Drea sprang out of the passenger seat, a handgun in both her hands, and began firing, each one of her shots connecting and killing whoever she aimed at. Another car pulled up beside it. Nikolai, Illayana, and Arturo appeared, each with their own weapons. They jumped right into the fight.
My family. My family was there.
Aleksandr, Drea, Illayana, and Arturo formed a circle as Nikolai came running over to me. He was dressed in the same gear as all of them. Black cargo pants, black shirt, Kevalr vest, and dozens of holsters filled with different weapons.
“You okay?” he asked.
Am I okay? “What the fuck are you doing here, Nikolai?” Don’t get me wrong, I was beyond fucking ecstatic they were there, but I was also hella confused.
“We’re here to help. Father had me look into someone—Vernon Miseris.
The name is a fake. I ran it against the photo he sent me, and there was no match.
It took a while, but I ended up finding out his true identity.
Vlad Matosikov. He owns an assassin-for-hire company disguised as a security firm.
He’s a dangerous fucking guy. I knew whatever he was doing here wasn’t good, so we jumped right on the jet and came to help. ”
“What about Tatiana?” There was no way my brother would leave his pregnant fiancé at home. No way.
“She’s here.” He waved a hand in the air. A man who’d managed to get through the circle and was running up behind Nikolai suddenly dropped as a gunshot rang through the air. It was a single high-caliber shot from a sniper. “Away from the danger.” He winked. “Where’s Father and Autumn?”
I snapped back into myself immediately and cursed. “I don’t know. We got separated.”
He nodded, seeming to understand, given the chaos around us. “You go find him. We’ll hold down the fort here.”
“Alright. Give me a gun and a knife.” The cool steel of an MP-443 Grach landed in my hands, as well as a curved blade. I gave him a quick rundown of the pendants so he would know who was on our side before running off.
I attacked as I ran, shooting anyone who came in my path.
I ducked under the swing of an axe and sliced up in a powerful arc, ripping open a soldier’s stomach before shooting an assassin to my left.
It was by far the most intense battle I’d ever been in.
The attacks never seemed to stop. People just kept coming.
My gun ran out of bullets. My knife had been lost somewhere amongst all the fighting.
My body fucking ached. I had bruises and cuts all over me, but I didn’t stop.
I wouldn’t stop. Not until I was fucking dead.
I rounded the side of the house and found my father in the backyard.
He snapped the neck of a soldier and tossed the body to the side, breathing heavily.
Father knelt down, and that was when I noticed Autumn, lying unconscious.
He brushed her hair to the side, whispering something to her, and she moved slightly. She was alive. Thank God.
I jogged toward them. “Father!”
He turned to look at me. He smiled, relief filling his eyes—
Bang!
He jolted. Time seemed to stand still, a sense of shock washing over me. Movements shaky, Father looked down. A patch of blood was growing in the center of his shirt. He looked back up at me.
“No,” I whispered.
His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed.
“No!” I ran forward. A man stepped down from the back porch, but I barely noticed, dropping to my knees at my father’s side.
“No. No, no, no.” It was a shot to the chest. A shot to the fucking chest!
“Oh, God. Oh, fuck. No. No. Dad!” I applied pressure to the wound, pressing down hard.
He didn’t move. Didn’t make a sound. There was so much blood.
So much blood. No one could survive that much blood loss.
It completely drenched my hands, almost running down my forearms.
Autumn roused, a groan falling from her lips.
She slowly sat up, dazed and disoriented eyes landing on me.
“What happened?” she groaned again, hand to her head.
A trail of blood slid down the side of her face.
Alertness snaked back into her, and her eyes locked on my father.
Her face dropped. “Dimitri?” When he didn’t respond, she screamed. “Dimitri!”
Victorious laughter came from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and instantly recognized the man who’d shot my father.
“Here! Apply pressure!” I yelled. Autumn kicked right into gear, shuffling over to take my place, tears streaming down her face.
I got to my feet and strengthened my stance, standing protectively in front of them.
Lev Voznesensky stood a few feet away, eyes alight with triumph. The gun was still in his hands, smoke billowing into the air from the barrel.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Lukyan Volkov in the flesh.” He chuckled. “I was hoping I’d get to meet the man who broke my sister's heart.”
Guilt swam in my chest at his words. I couldn’t let it smother me. It hurt so fucking much knowing I’d hurt Lyla, but I had to put it to the side, deal with the problem at hand, no matter how hard it was.
It was made easier by the fact Lev raised his gun, pointing it right at me.
“Move,” he commanded harshly.
That surprised me. “No.”
“Fucking move!” he growled this time, frustration seeming to mount on his face.
I stood taller, refusing to budge even a fucking inch.
“No.” If I moved, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would finish what he started.
Autumn was working tirelessly behind me to try to save my father, which I wasn’t even sure was possible.
If he received another injury, no matter how minor, there would be no hope.
No coming back from it. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t let Lev kill my father.
He marched over to me, each footstep full of anger.
“The only reason I haven’t killed you already is because I promised my sister I wouldn’t.
But if you don’t get the fuck out of my way, I will break my promise, consequences be fucking damned.
You understand me? This is your one and only warning. Move now, or die.”
I knew he was one hundred percent serious. There was no hesitation in his words. His hand was steady and calm. Determination burned in his gaze. He was a man on a mission. Nothing and no one was going to get in his way.
No one.
I stayed where I was, staring him down. If Lev wanted to get to my father, he would have to fucking kill me.
“Fine.” He shrugged, cocking the gun again. “Lyla will forgive me.”
Bang!