Chapter 51
MILA
His cheeks are so pale as the droplets of my own tears run down them. I try to stuff my hand against his wound, but the blood just pushes through my fingers.
“Mila, we need to go.” Daniil tugs at my elbow with his good hand.
“I can’t leave him.” I can’t even tell if Nikolai is breathing.
He can’t die.
He’s my robot. My granite statue.
No one can hurt him.
“Mila!” Daniil’s voice takes on an urgent sound. “There’s men coming! We have to run!”
Empty.
I feel so cold, and tired.
Without Nikolai, I don’t know if I have any fight left in me.
“You should run, Dani. I don’t know how to get out of here, but you should escape. Tatiana’s people are out there. They’ll help you.” I find myself lying down, curling against Nikolai’s chest.
I have my seven minutes. I’ll be able to see him again, one more time.
Happy, and healthy.
The man I love.
I’m too weak to run. I did what I came here to do.
Daniil pulls on my arm, but I can’t feel him.
I don’t want to feel anything else.
“I have the diamonds, here.” Pulling that damn velvet bag out of my pocket for the last time, I hold it up to the light.
Everything that’s happened, it was all for this.
Death. For a tiny handful of rocks.
I’d trade the Earth for Nikolai to wake up and pull me close.
“I believe those belong to me.” A woman’s voice breaks through the bleak fog.
“Who are you?” Daniil squeaks.
“She knows.” The click of heels gets louder before a shadow is cast over me.
Tatiana.
“I didn’t think you were coming,” I choke.
Perfectly manicured nails pull the cloth bag out of my fingers.
I can hear the rustle of the gems, followed by a snap.
Rough hands scoop me up and throw me over their shoulder.
“No! Nikolai!” I reach toward him, lying so still on the floor. “I can’t leave him.”
The man carrying me doesn’t pause, but turns the corner like I’m cargo heading for a delivery.
If I had the strength, I’d fight him.
My fists land lightly. I doubt he can even feel the impact.
But, my tears, they soak through the thick fabric of his jacket.
The last memory of the man I love is him lying on the cold concrete.
I have no idea how long I’m carried. My eyes sting, so I leave them tightly shut.
The chill in the air and the crunch of the leaves makes me look around.
“Here is fine.” Another man directs my transporter, and I’m dumped unceremoniously onto the ground.
“You? Where is Nikolai?” The new guy leans down, revealing a wild array of hair with tattoos going up his neck and over his ears.
He’s one of Nikolai’s men, but I can’t remember his name.
I just want to sleep.
“What did you do to him?” His grimace reveals the gleam of a silver tooth as he grabs up the front of my shirt and looks into my face.
“Just leave me alone. He’s gone. Take care of my brother.” I fall back against the dirt when he lets go.
My legs feel heavy, sticky with all of the blood loss. It makes me lightheaded.
Knees hit the earth next to me and a warm hand closes around mine. “Mila, you need to get up.” Daniil’s voice breaks as he bends over me.
I can hear the shuffle of men and an engine.
The tattooed one stands over us both. “I’m supposed to take you with me back to the hotel. Can you help me lift her?”
I can’t fight them off.
My arms don’t want to work. Maybe it’s because I’m not even trying.
Daniil is safe.
Nikolai is gone.
I give up.
They drag me into the back of a van, next to another body.
It’s still warm.
Is this how I go?
As I watch the shadows flicker across the roof, it looks like the slides of an old movie reel.
“Is this my seven minutes?” I whisper to myself.
The shape next to me moves and rolls over.
A heavy arm crosses my chest and pulls me close.
Hot breath tickles across my neck.
“You get to have more than just seven minutes, Mila. You will have an entire lifetime of memories with me. I’ll make them incredible, I promise.”
Nikolai!
With a giant sob, I turn over, hugging him to me. I don’t even care that my mouth is bruised, I kiss him hard until both of our lips are stained and bleeding.
“I think I passed out for a minute. When I woke up, you were gone.” His finger strokes my cheek before he tugs me closer.
“Don’t ever leave me again. I’ll hunt you down.” His chest rumbles.
It should be a threat, but it makes a flush of heat run through my battered body.
“I promise.”