Chapter 5
CASSIA
I try to ignore the shivering and pain in my body and keep blinking to clear my blurry vision.
Only five minutes to go. Almost there.
My eyes flick to the rearview mirrors, and when I see multiple SUVs fall in line behind me, my heart sinks.
“Get down, Eleni,” I say, my tone firm.
She does as she’s told while asking with a quivering voice, “Why?”
“They’re right behind us,” I tell her the truth. “If they manage to stop us from driving, you get out and run like hell.”
“But–”
“Eleni!” I snap angrily. “For once, don’t argue with me and just do as I say.”
“Okay,” she replies with a sob.
Two of the SUVs break away from the others, and as they pick up speed, they try to come up on my sides. I swerve the cab from side to side, trying to make it difficult for them to pass by me.
When I swerve to the left to block the one SUV, the other shoots past me. The driver turns in front of me, and I have to steer the cab onto the side of the road, narrowly missing a road sign.
The SUV hits the right back side of the cab, and I struggle to keep control of the vehicle.
God. Just let me save Eleni. I’ll never ask you for anything again.
One of the bastards rams into the back of the cab, and I lose control of my vehicle. It spins across the road before coming to a crashing stop against a tree.
“Eleni, go!” I shout as I shove my door open, and I hear her move as I grab hold of my gun.
Even though my body has been pushed to its limits, I run after my sister.
“Run, Eleni,” I scream. “As fast as you can.”
Please. I beg you. Don’t let her die today.
A gunshot sends a shockwave of terror rushing through me, and while continuing to run, I try to shoot back at the men who are hot on our tails.
“Zigzag, Eleni!”
My sister listens, and she covers her head with her arms as she runs while darting like a deer from side to side.
I have no idea how long it’s been since I reached out to the island. I just pray to all that’s holy Santiago will be here soon.
We make it to the entrance of the shipyard, and when a security guard tries to stop us, he’s hit by one of the bratva’s bullets.
The pain subsides in my body, and I start to gain on my sister, which has me screaming, “Faster, Eleni! You have to run faster.” Seeing a warehouse, I shout, “Into the warehouse!”
She ducks into the building, and a few seconds later, I follow after her. “Find a place to hide.”
She glances frantically around, then cries, “Where?”
I don’t see any good hiding spots, and grabbing her hand, I continue to push my exhausted body. Darting out a back entrance, we run across a short stretch of concrete and enter another warehouse that’s filled with containers.
I drag my sister behind the nearest one and slow our pace to a brisk walk as we head deeper into the maze.
Eleni’s breaths rush loudly over her parted lips, and it has me whispering, “Cover your mouth and try to silence your breathing.”
I glance over my shoulder, and when I see the droplets of blood I’m leaving behind, I let go of her hand and say, “Keep going.”
She shakes her head. “Come with me.”
“I’m leaving a trail of blood for them to follow.” I step forward, and lifting my arm, pain shoots through it as I cup her cheek. “Keep going, Eleni. I’ll catch up with you once I’ve killed them.”
I don’t have enough ammo to kill them all.
Her face crumbles as she whimpers, “Cassia.”
“Go.” I shove her backward. “Please.”
She starts to move, her eyes brimming with tears. “I love you, Cassia.”
I nod as I watch her walk farther away from me. “I love you too.” Turning away so I won’t see her cry, I raise my right arm, my fingers flexing around the handle and trigger of the gun.
My breaths slow down, and for a moment, it sounds like I’m underwater as a dizzy wave hits.
When the first bratva soldier appears from behind a container, I pull the trigger, but it misses. I turn around and rush into the nearest open space, but much to my horror it’s to see there are no more containers, and Eleni’s running toward the back entrance.
I dart forward and run after my sister while randomly firing at the men as they appear from the openings between the containers.
When Eleni makes it out of the warehouse, my gun clicks, indicating it’s empty. With no spare magazines, I toss the weapon to the side and make a run for it.
I hear the sound of an engine speeding toward us, and my eyes flick to the side. The next instant, the windshield of the SUV shatters, and the vehicle swerves to the right, crashing into the side of a warehouse.
A group of men comes after us while another flanks us from the left.
“Eleni!” I try to run faster, but my body refuses, and instead, I begin to slow down. “Run!” I gasp.
Suddenly, one of the bratva soldiers falls to my left, and I realize we have someone looking out for us. It gives me the strength to keep jogging after my sister.
Another soldier hits the ground, then they start dropping one after the other. I’m just beginning to think that we might escape, but then one of the men takes a bullet and falls backward. I can only watch in horror as he pulls the trigger, sending a spray of bullets in our direction.
Eleni’s scream has my eyes darting to her, and seeing her collapse rips a harrowing cry from me.
I start to run again, but when I’m a couple of feet away from her, a bullet slams into my back, and I go down hard. Agonizing pain rips the breath from my lungs, and I’m only able to groan as I watch more soldiers being gunned down by our rescuer.
Somehow, I manage to push myself up on my elbows and use the last of my strength to drag my body closer to Eleni.
She’s lying on her back, staring up at the sky while blood trickles out of her nostrils.
“Eleni,” I whimper when I reach her.
She blinks slowly, and her speech is so slurred I can’t make out what she’s saying.
Blood starts to pool beneath her head, and whatever fight I have vanishes.
“Eleni,” I groan, my heart shattering into a million unrecognizable pieces.
Again, she makes a garbled sound, her movements jerky as she tries to lift her hand. Lying on my side, I manage to wrap my fingers around hers and watch as the blood trickling from her nose forms bubbles with every breath she exhales.
“Hold on for me,” I plead. “Help has arrived. You’re going to be okay.”
She turns her head drowsily, and lying in the middle of a shipping yard, we stare at each other.
Let her live. Please. Take me and let her live.
There’s a gunshot near us, and I let out a cry while I try to pull my body over Eleni’s so that the bullets will hit me instead of her.
I hear boots running toward us and just keep staring into Eleni’s eyes. “I love you. So much.”
Her features strain, and I can see it takes everything she has to whisper, “Love…you.”
A sob bursts from me, someone crouches right behind me, and I brace for the kill shot.
“I’ve got you. Stay down,” the man orders, and then I hear as he fires bullet after bullet at the enemy until the last shot rings in my ears.
I’m grabbed by my shoulder and forced to turn onto my back. My vision blurs from all the pain and blood loss I’ve suffered, and when it comes back into focus, my eyes lock on a pair of dark green ones.
Santiago’s sniper.
Knight.
“My sister,” I beg.
He nods, his eyes flicking between Eleni and me.
“Leave me and save her.”
He tilts his head, his features tightening as if he’s in intense pain.
Was he shot?
“Please,” I beg again. “Eleni.”
My vision starts to darken around the edges, and I might be hallucinating things when Knight brushes his hand over my hair, and I hear his voice rumble above me, “Don’t die on me. Just this once, let me be in time.”