Chapter 25
Danger! There’s danger approaching!
Cullen came awake, instantly alert and grabbing for his pistol with his left hand. He lifted the weapon, aiming it at the area before him while he glanced around for Mia.
She wasn’t there. Worry sliced through him, sharp and sizzling. Then he saw the trampled ground around him. She had moved about several times. Just how long had he been unconscious?
He recognized his makeshift bandage as her shirt, so at least she was all right. If only he knew where she was.
A look at his watch confirmed over five hours had passed since he’d lost consciousness. Five hours where anything could’ve happened. His arm began to shake. He lowered it, blood loss making it difficult to keep his strength.
It looked as though luck was on their side. For the moment. How long that would last, no one could know. He’d seen it come and go as fleetingly as the wind.
Perhaps Mia was looking for water. There was no way the men after them would take her and leave him behind. Unless she tried to lead them away from him.
That thought terrified him. He began to rise into a sitting position when he heard something. Immediately, he lifted his arm, ready to fire at anyone other than Mia.
The face that appeared wasn’t her, but he recognized the bright blue gaze staring back at him. That didn’t mean he was going to lower his gun, however.
Lev lifted his hands, his gun dangling from his middle finger. “Easy, Cullen.”
“Turn around,” Mia said behind Lev.
The Russian, and Brigadier to Sergei, flattened his lips in frustration. Then he slowly shifted to the side and turned his head to Mia. “You asked for help.”
“I called Sergei.”
Cullen frowned. She’d called Sergei? Of course, she had. With his injuries, and the Saints, she’d turned to someone who had the wherewithal to help.
Lev briefly swung his eyes to Cullen. “And Sergei sent me.”
“He didn’t tell me you were coming,” she stated in an icy tone.
The Brigadier lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “He heard your fear and wanted you found quickly.”
Cullen’s arm began to shake. His breathing was labored, and he kept blinking, hoping the black dots in his vision would go away. Instead, they doubled.
He gave a little shake of his head to clear it. Mia knew just as he did that they should be careful who they trusted. Then again, there weren’t that many options available.
“Do you have supplies?” Cullen asked before he blacked out.
Lev removed the backpack and dropped it. “Everything you’ll need is in there.”
Good. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. Now they could send Lev away and not have to worry about it.
It became more and more challenging for Cullen to hold up his arm. The pistol felt as if it weighed a hundred times more than it really did. Sweat and blood rolled into his eyes, stinging them.
The blackness was creeping around the edges of his vision, but he fought to remain awake. He rolled to the side and felt thick, warm blood run down his back from his wound.
He looked to Mia. As he opened his mouth to tell her to send Lev away, the blackness took him.
Mia kept her gun trained on Lev as she rushed past him to Cullen. The blood was flowing in thick rivulets. A sick feeling began twisting her stomach.
“He needs attention now,” Lev said.
A decision needed to be made right then. Because in order to help Cullen, she’d have to set down her gun. It was trust Lev, or let Cullen die.
With a sigh, she put her gun away and motioned to the backpack. “Hurry.”
Lev jumped into action. He grabbed the pack and knelt on the other side of Cullen. While she pulled up Cullen’s shirt encrusted with blood, Lev set out various items from the backpack.
She bit her lip when she saw the blood-soaked remnants of her shirt. It was too much blood loss. His skin was sallow, and his body burned.
“We’ll get him fixed,” Lev said matter-of-factly.
She wanted his certainty. She tried to hold it within her heart, but the worry smothered it.
Lev jerked his chin to the laceration. “This wound seems to be the worst. Let’s get it tended before we move to his shoulder and the smaller cuts.”
She didn’t care what he did, as long as it got done. After Lev had cleaned out the deep cut, he handed her a package of Quick Clot. She hurriedly tore it open and poured it into Cullen’s wound. Within seconds, it acted, slowing the flow of blood.
Meanwhile, Lev pulled out a field surgical kit. He readied things to stitch Cullen while she wiped away the blood to better see the injury.
Just as Lev began to make the first stitch, she stopped him with a hand on his arm. She took the needle from him and got to her feet.
“Switch with me. You can see to the bullet wound while I stitch him.”
He gave her a nod and rose without a word. Once she sat on Cullen’s left side, she drew in a shuddering breath and pierced his skin with the curved needle.
Time seemed to stand still while she slowly stitched the long gash. When she finally knotted the end, she was praying. It wasn’t something she did often. She always thought others had bigger problems than her own, so why bother God.
This time was different. Because they were being hunted by men who had unlimited access to everything. Because other lives depended on them.
Because it was Cullen.
She tried to pretend that she cared as she would with anyone who braved this adventure with her. But she knew that for the lie it was.
“The bullet went through,” Lev said. “I’ve cleaned the front, but his back needs tending.”
Nodding, she helped roll Cullen toward her. Lev busied himself with the wound, and between handing him items, she found herself staring at Cullen.
She touched his jaw and wished that he would open his eyes. Maybe it was a blessing that he was unconscious and couldn’t feel what they were doing.
Lev soon completed his task, swiftly and efficiently wrapping a bandage around both sides of Cullen’s shoulder.
“You’ve had some practice,” she replied.
He didn’t look up when he said, “I thought about being a doctor.”
Before she could respond to the startling declaration, Lev moved on to wrapping a bandage around Cullen’s abdomen and the wound she’d stitched.
“He needs fluids, which I’ll give him once we’re safe,” Lev said.
She looked around. “And how do you propose we get out of here? On your invisible jet?”
He threw a hard look her way. Then he took out his cell phone and pushed one button in a text.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Sergei made sure the men after you went the opposite direction. That way, we can get the two of you out. I didn’t know how severe Cullen’s wounds were when you called. Precautions were put into place in case we couldn’t all walk out of here.”
She rubbed her forehead, feeling like an idiot. All she’d done was think the worst while Sergei and Lev had thought of things she hadn’t.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m a little paranoid.”
“It’s better to be suspicious than trusting.”
In all the time she’d spent with Sergei, she couldn’t remember Lev speaking much—if at all. Now that she wasn’t focused on Cullen, she noticed that there was very little accent in his speech.
Nor did he talk in the same patterns as Sergei and the other Russians. Lev spoke more . . . American.
He caught her staring. “What’s on your mind, Carter?”
“You don’t have much of an accent.”
“That’s because I was raised on the east coast.”
Now that shocked her. Not only had he gone to college to be a doctor, but he hadn’t been raised in Russia.
He gave a snort as he shook his head and climbed to his feet before gathering the medical supplies and placing them in the backpack. “Do you think everyone who works for Sergei grew up in Russia and came here just for him?”
“Well . . . yeah,” she admitted.
Lev paused, a smile curving his lips. “Actually, that’s true in every case except me.”
“What’s different about you?”
The smile faded quickly. “A lot.”
She took in his wintery gaze, the firm set of his wide, thin lips, and the hard line of his jaw. There was a dark history he kept firmly hidden.
Lev was tall, muscular, and quite handsome. It was the ominous cloud of death that hung around him like a mantle that put everyone on edge.
Though it made him the perfect Brigadier.
Lev zipped the backpack and tossed it at her. “Sergei is putting his life at risk for you.”
“Which you don’t like.”
“No. I don’t. I told him not to get involved, but he won’t listen to reason when it comes to you. There are dozens of women out there who would do anything for Sergei to give them the attention he does you.”
She took immediate offense. “I never asked for special treatment.”
“That and the fact that you look a lot like his dead daughter are what singles you out.”
She saw the fury in his gaze. “You don’t like me.”
“If something happens to Sergei because of you, I’ll kill you myself.”
“If you do your job, nothing will happen,” she retorted.
He didn’t reply, simply checked Cullen’s bandages before he got to his feet and looked around.
She took Cullen’s hand in her own, feeling better just touching him. “If you hate me so, why are you helping?” she asked Lev.
“Sergei requested it of me.”
His loyalty to the Pakhan was there in every syllable. Just as she’d started to warm to Lev, he’d let her know his true feelings. Now, she might not like him, but she respected him.
“They’re coming,” Lev said and turned toward her.
She stopped him before he could lift Cullen. “Do you trust these men?”
“Yes.” Lev held her gaze. “If I find one of them betrays us to the Saints, the law, or anyone else, I’ll rip their tongue out before killing them. Slowly.”
There wasn’t a word he said that she doubted. Lev hadn’t gotten the position of Brigadier easily. He’d killed people. All in the name of loyalty and the protection of Sergei.
“Are you coming?” Lev asked.
She tightened her grip on Cullen’s hand. She hoped she was making the right decision. For Cullen, for herself, and for Orrin. “Yes.”
Without another word, Lev took Cullen’s arms and pulled him into a sitting position. Then he lifted him over one shoulder.
She took Cullen’s dropped gun and jumped to her feet, slinging the backpack over one arm. Lev’s long strides ate up the distance, causing her to jog to catch up.
They came out of the trees just as a motorcycle came into view. Behind it was an ATV.