Chapter 8 #2
He can just barely make out the silhouette of her in the faint moonlight coming in from her bedroom windows, but he can’t make sense of what he’s seeing.
Why is she yelling? And why is she holding a gun? He cradles his numb, wooden arm to his chest and tries to force his brain to catch up. Something is obviously wrong. He needs to get up. He needs to protect her.
But his vision wavers. Suddenly, the floor rushes up to meet him. Why is the carpet wet? he wonders, right before everything fades to black.
—
“Fuck!” Ulayna screams in panic. “No! Alexi. Oh god. Please don’t be dead!”
Dropping the gun to the floor, Ulayna runs to her nightstand and grabs her phone. Her fingers tremble as she dials Ruger’s number.
She races back across the room and kneels next to Alexi’s body, crumpled on the floor.
It feels like decades pass before Ruger finally answers the phone.
She doesn’t wait for him to say hello. Instead, she launches into a plea for help. “I killed him!” she screams into the phone, frantic. “Ruger, I must have rigged it wrong, because I think I killed him!”
“What?” Ruger asks, groggy and struggling to understand her. “You killed Shade?”
“No!” Ulayna cries. “Alexi! He must have come home early. Now he’s just lying here. You have to help me.”
“Fuck... I’ll be there in two minutes. Check his pulse.”
Ulayna drops the phone to the floor and frantically checks for Alexi’s pulse.
She doesn’t really know what she’s doing, but she’s seen other people do it on TV.
As she panics, her thoughts whirl in a crazy kaleidoscope.
It occurs to her belatedly that they should probably add some basic medical or first-aid instruction to her training.
There! She feels the telltale thu-thump of his pulse under her fingers. She breathes a sigh of relief and cradles his head in her lap.
“Thank god you’re not dead,” she breathes.
“You might wish I was,” Alexi mumbles from her lap, his eyes still closed.
She sucks in a startled breath. “Alexi! Oh god. You’re okay!”
“No, I am definitely not okay. But I can assume from your phone call that this was an intentional booby-trap and that we’re not under attack.” It sounds both questioning and accusatory.
Ulayna gulps. “Yes, Pakhan. But it was meant for Shade, not you. I swear!”
Alexi grunts in reply and turns his head so she can reach the back of his skull. Her fingers still as she suddenly realizes that she was running her fingers through the pakhan’s hair, petting him.
He cracks an eye open and scowls at her.
She resumes her petting, and he closes his eyes and relaxes back into her lap.
A few seconds later, thunderous footsteps come racing up the stairs and down the hallway. Ruger charges toward them with the rest of the team hot on his heels.
“He’s alive?” Ruger demands when he sees Alexi still prostrate.
Ulayna nods.
“And now that we’ve confirmed you haven’t killed me, I think you all have some explaining to do,” Alexi mumbles, his voice muffled because his head is still buried in Ulayna's lap.
“You want us to meet you in your office, boss?” Ruger asks.
“No. I’m comfortable right here, thank you.”
Ulayna can’t help but smile as she runs her nails down the back of his neck and back up, eliciting a groan from Alexi.
Somewhere behind them, Phoenix snickers.
Shade steps around them to inspect the booby-trap rigged on Ulayna’s door. “Nicely done, Gremlin. This definitely would have taken me out and given you time to capture or kill me.”
“And why would Ulayna be trying to capture or kill you?” Alexi demands.
“Because I keep breaking into her room at night and attacking her,” Shade responds as if that’s a completely normal thing to do.
Alexi finally opens his eyes fully. He regards Shade for a few seconds before pushing himself to sit. Leaning against the hallway wall, he cradles his numb arm in his lap. His gaze moves from one team member to the next, finally settling on Ulayna.
“Explain,” he says. His voice is soft, but even sitting on the floor, it carries the ring of authority.
Ulayna lifts her chin in defiance and meets Alexi’s gaze unwaveringly.
“It’s not their fault, Pakhan,” she says. “I asked them to train me in secret. I don’t want to always rely on you for protection. I want to be able to protect myself. And I want to have the skills necessary to hunt down and kill the men who abused me.”
Alexi nods once, accepting her answer, and she breathes a sigh of relief.
He turns his gaze to the rest of the team, starting with Shade.
“I’ve been helping her to improve her situational awareness and teaching her about personal security measures,” Shade says.
Alexi’s gaze swings to Hawk next. “Surveillance and stealth.”
Phoenix steps forward. “Bill and I have been training her in asymmetric combat strategies so she can defend herself against larger opponents.”
Ruger grins. Now that they know Alexi isn’t seriously injured, he’s not at all remorseful about helping Ulayna rig the booby-trap. He gestures to the door handle. “I’ve been teaching her offensive skills.”
Phoenix smirks at him. “What Ruger means to say is that he’s been teaching her how to blow shit up.”
Ruger’s grin widens.
Alexi stretches his good hand out to Bill. “Help me up,” he says.
Bill yanks Alexi to his feet, and Ulayna climbs to standing as well.
There’s a moment of silence, as if Alexi is weighing their punishments.
“She’s good, boss,” Bill says. “Really good. She took to it like a duck to water. I’ve never seen someone pick up on the skills so quickly.”
Ulayna can’t help preening a little at his words. She’s been working her ass off, and it’s good to know her efforts aren’t wasted.
“That remains to be seen,” Alexi says sternly.
With a shake of his head, he wanders off down the hallway toward his bedroom. A few seconds later, they hear his bedroom door slam shut, and Ulayna flinches at the aggressive noise.
“Nice work, little Gremlin!” Ruger lifts his hand to give her a high five.
She returns his high five, half-heartedly. Alexi didn’t forbid her from training. But he didn’t seem excited about it either. Based on his reaction, it sounds like she still has to prove herself to him.
As the team disperses and heads back to bed, she catches Shade by the wrist. Pointing her finger threateningly at him, she says, “No more breaking into my room. It’s officially off-limits. Okay?”
Shade holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender, and his eyes glint with humor. “I wouldn't dream of it.”