Chapter 40 Allie
ALLIE
Iscoop Rosie into my arms as Medved scans the room with a predatory gaze. It reminds me so much of Mass and the way he watches people, except there’s no sharp gleam behind Medved’s gaze. There’s only cold, terrible scrutiny.
“I take it I was too late.” He approaches the foot of the bed and lightly tugs the sheet, revealing Elias’s slack face. “Ah, my old friend. Dead at last.”
“Leave him alone. You got what you wanted, didn’t you?”
Medved only shakes his head. “I just wish I had been here in his final moments to see him through to the other side. Perhaps to shepherd him myself.” He grins at me, a twisted delight twinkling in his eyes for just a moment.
“But here we are instead. What an interesting little coincidence, don’t you think? ”
“You don’t need us anymore. Elias is dead.”
“Thank God for that.” Medved waves to Rosie. She cringes away. “Hello, little darling, remember me? Papa Medved? Yes, she remembers, look at how afraid she is. Lovely girl.”
“Fuck you,” I snarl, turning Rosie away from him. “Just go away.”
“Ah, well, it doesn’t work like that.” He turns to the men behind him. “Fyodor, take the old Dragon’s hand, and make sure to keep any jewelry he’s wearing intact.”
A massive soldier slings his rifle onto his back and draws a long, thick knife from his belt. “Yes, Pakhan.”
“What?! No, you can’t!” I jump in the soldier’s way, but he doesn’t even hesitate. He slams a fist into my face, knocking me over. I curl into a ball to protect Rosie from any other blows that might rain down on me, but the soldier simply goes right to his task.
I barely manage to keep from throwing up as he brutally hacks Elias’s left hand off.
“Ugly old thing,” Medved muses once it’s done. Blood drips from the severed wrist and stains the white sheets in thick clots. “But necessary.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I need proof that the old man is dead. I could take his head if you prefer, but that would make such a mess, and my men are already tired as it is.”
“You’re sick.”
“No.” Medved’s smile fades. “This system is sick. This world is sick. I’m the only sane one left. When I’m Dragon, I’ll devote myself to ripping it all to shreds. I’ll burn it all and build something new in its place.”
I shake my head defiantly. “He won’t let you.”
“Who? Elias? Or no, you mean your husband.” Medved laughs as he tucks his hand into a pack slung over his shoulder.
“Massimo isn’t going to survive the day, and if he does, I’ll have you.
That’s the beauty of this little reunion.
You’re the perfect shield against your husband’s aggression.
” He sighs happily and rolls his neck. “I couldn’t have scripted it better.
” He approaches slowly, holding out his arms. “Give the girl to me now.”
“Never. Get away.” I stumble to my feet and back away, holding Rosie tight to my chest. “Leave her alone.”
“But she misses her Papa Medved. Don’t you, darling?”
Rosie wails in response, burying her face in my chest. “You’re scaring her. Get the fuck away!”
He laughs, enjoying himself, and lunges for me.
I leap backward and bang into the wall. As he comes, hands outstretched, I grab a blood pressure cuff from a nearby table and whip him in the face with it.
That doesn’t do much, but it pisses him off enough that he stumbles as I twist to the side.
He hits the wall, cursing in Russian, and I grab a metal bedpan.
I slap it into his head once, denting the side, and I’m about to do it again when an arm wraps around my neck from behind.
The bicep squeezes. I gag, choking, Rosie screaming and twisting in my arms. The soldier holding me smells like sweat and perfume. Medved approaches, blood matting his hair, his grin wide with pure insanity. “Now I’ll shut the little bitch up,” he says.
There’s a vicious crack so loud it makes my ears ring. The arm around my throat suddenly slackens and the soldier falls, dragging me down with him. I hit the floor, Rosie tumbling from my arms in a heap, screaming the whole time, as more cracks fill the space.
I roll sideways, scooping Rosie up, and wrap my body around her.
Bullet casings ping across the floor, but it’s a slaughter.
Medved’s men drop as Massimo comes bursting through the door followed by Gabe, their guns on full automatic, mowing the enemy fighters down with single-minded intensity.
When there are no more soldiers, Mass tosses his gun aside.
“Allie!” he shouts, coming toward me.
“Looks like we cleaned this fucking place up,” Gabe says, grinning wickedly.
“You bastard!” Medved hurls himself over Elias’s bed and slams into Gabe’s side. The pair of them hit the floor in a heap, kicking and punching. Medved rears back with a knife in his hand, and I barely have time to scream a warning.
But I’m too late. Medved stabs down, driving the knife into Gabe’s ribs. He screams in agony as blood spurts around the wound. Medved yanks the knife out for another blow, but Mass is ready.
He slams into the Russian, catches Medved’s wrist, and twists it.
The knife falls away as Mass uses the momentum to lock Medved’s arm in a complicated grip.
Mass wrenches back, using his whole body to torque Medved’s arm once, twice, three times, until the tendons and bones snap, and the old Russian criminal screams in agony.
Mass releases him and scrambles away. He grabs a gun from a fallen soldier and stands there, breathing hard, as Medved rolls side to side in agony, clutching at his ruined elbow.
Gabe clutches his wound, bleeding, his face pale.
“Allie, are you okay?”
I slowly get to my feet. I’m dazed and hurting, but not seriously injured. “We’re okay.” I hold Rosie tight, doing my best to quiet her down. The stink of death and blood is everywhere. “Mass, how did you know? We need to get help for Gabe!”
“Lady told me.” He stares at Medved with pure loathing. “She tracked him here. Lady, call for medics. Gabe, how bad?”
“Not good,” my brother whispers. “Oh, fuck, getting stabbed sucks.”
I hurry to my brother’s side and do what I can for the wound. Mostly, I press a strip of bedding against the ragged hole to stem some of the bleeding. Gabe doesn’t move, staring up at me, his face already pale.
“Did my best,” he whispers, shivering in pain. “Did pretty good, I’d say.”
“You did great,” I tell him.
His hand clutches my arm weakly.
“What happened here?” Mass asks.
“Elias is dead,” I say, fear and mourning hitting me. God, I can’t take another death. I can’t handle losing Gabe too. I feel like I can barely stay standing.
Mass lets out a pained breath. “It’s for the best. He knew his time was coming.”
“Fuck you all!” Medved screams, rolling onto his back, his right arm flopping uselessly. “Fuck you, Massimo, you rat, you cunt, you worthless runny shit!”
Mass stomps down on Medved’s good wrist and presses the gun to the Russian’s head. “You took your shot. You missed.”
Medved screams an unintelligible string of pure rage but is cut off abruptly when Mass pulls the trigger.
Silence follows, heavy and profound. Mass sags as he drops the gun. “Lady, patch me into the intercom system.”
“Go ahead, Massimo.”
“To Medved’s forces, your Pakhan is dead. His body is growing cold at my feet. Turn around and leave this place before we slaughter those few who remain. Drop your weapons and run. Your end is coming for you now.” He waits a moment until Lady confirms that it was broadcast all across the island.
I press against Gabe’s wound. “Help’s coming,” I tell him. “Just hold on.”
“Hey, are we even now?” He smiles at me, eyelids drooping. “I think I did pretty good, right?”
“Gabe, stay awake. Gabe!”
His smile seems sincere as his eyes close.
Mass takes Rosie and presses his fingers to Gabe’s neck.
“Still beating,” he says, but he doesn’t look hopeful. “We’ll stay with him.”
I clutch at Mass, exhaustion hitting me hard as the sound of fighting slowly comes to a stuttering halt.