71. Sienna #2
He laid motionless on the ground but I didn’t stop. I dragged the tip down his chest, cutting through his shirt and jacket like they were butter. I didn’t stop when I reached his waistband.
“For Maxim. For Dimi.” I drew in a ragged breath. “For Mitka and Sasha and Lev, and all the unnamed boys you hurt.”
I didn’t know how long it took my violent, blood fueled rage to subside, but once it did, I saw the Souleater for the first time.
At least, what was left of him.
Suddenly, my limbs started shaking, and an intense cold seized my body. A whimper slipped through my lips, but I clenched my jaw against it. I couldn’t fall apart. Not yet.
My blood-soaked right hand clutched the knife and my left clutched my belly. Everything around me blurred and distorted until I was so lost in the haze I didn’t know what was real or not.
The Souleater was mangled beyond recognition, but he had cheated death once before and I would not let it happen again.
With the last bit of strength remaining in my body, I brought the blade straight down into his forehead.
It broke through the skull with a horrifying crack, but no blood poured from the wound. He was truly dead this time.
I turned my back on him and dragged myself over to Vovk. My wolf nudged his nose against my cheek with a whine and I gently wrapped my arms around his neck, not caring that his muzzle was covered in the Souleater’s blood.
“You’re the best boy in the entire world. You saved us,” I sobbed. “Now I need to take care of you.”
I ran my hands over his body. He yelped when I pressed on his ribs, but there was no blood, no bullet wound.
The Souleater’s bullet must have missed, and he had kicked or punched Vovk in the side instead.
The thought made tears cascade down my cheeks, but I had to believe that he would be okay until we got him to the vet.
“We need to help Maxim,” I choked.
Pain seized my stomach. I cried out, but did not stop crawling towards him.
My knee landed on something with a crack.
My phone. It took three attempts to turn the flashlight on.
I shined the light into Maxim’s eyes, choking on a relieved sob when his eyelids fluttered.
He was alive, but how long would he stay that way if I couldn’t get him to the hospital?
I pressed my hands back on his wound, adding as much pressure as I dared.
Vovk whined as he slowly pushed to his feet. He hobbled to my side, and I looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
“What are we supposed to do? Maybe I can make some sort of stretcher to pull him to the car?”
I couldn’t live with myself if Maxim bled out and I hadn’t even tried to get him help. My tears dripped onto his bloody shirt. “Don’t fall asleep.”
“Mmm, wide awake.”
My heart skipped a beat. I barely understood his slurred words, but that didn’t matter. He was still here. Still fighting.
“Can you move?” I asked. “We need to get to the car.”
A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. “So eager to get me to the cemetery already?”
“You are not allowed to joke about that, just like you are not allowed to die,” I snapped. “I have not watched you and Aleksei dance around each other these past few months just for you to fucking die before you confess your love to him.”
This time when Maxim spoke, all that came out was a low jumble of words that I couldn’t understand at all. Fear pumped through me as I released my hold on his stomach. It looked like the bleeding had slowed. That was good, right?
I clutched the porch rail. The moment I stood, a gush of fluid ran down my legs, soaking my sweatpants. Vovk frantically paced back and forth and let out short, distressed howls.
“Okay. No one panic,” I squeaked. “Everything is fine. I’m going to pretend I just peed myself because my water breaking right now would be way too fucking dramatic.”
With one more panicked glance at Maxim, I pulled myself up the porch steps as fast as I could and dragged open the sliding back door.
My hands left bloody handprints on the walls as I stumbled through the house.
I grabbed the large quilt off of the bed and the car keys on the counter.
The walk back down the porch steps was agony.
Every part of my body ached, and another horrible cramp rippled through my stomach.
“Okay, Maxy, we’re getting you on this blanket and into the car.
” Sweat dripped from me as I shook out the blanket and started the process of moving it underneath his body.
Each of his pained groans was like a dagger through my heart.
Was I even doing the right thing? I paused after a few minutes and put pressure on his wound while I caught my breath.
Another rippling cramp wracked my stomach. I rolled Maxim onto his side to tug the quilt fully beneath him.
“You still with me, Maxy?”
His eyelashes fluttered over his gray cheeks.
Faster. I had to move faster.
When I stood, a wave of dizziness turned my vision black. I clenched my jaw against the growing pain. Vovk nudged my stomach.
“You can help me pull the blanket,” I said as I regained my balance and grabbed the loose fabric at the top of the quilt. “As long as you don’t hurt yourself.”
He was steadier on his feet, so I offered Vovkchyk one end and pulled. Maxim slid a few inches towards me. At least the grass helped him slide. I took a steadying breath. This was going to work. I would make it work.
I planted my feet and tugged the quilt again, this time with Vovk’s help.
He slid closer to a foot this time. Tug, slide.
Tug, slide. The pattern repeated until we rounded the corner of the house.
I glanced over my shoulder. The driveway looked miles away.
Everything blurred as I squinted through my tears.
My lower lip trembled, but I kept going.
Plant feet. Pull quilt. Step back. Repeat.
Vovk was just as determined as I was, his paws digging into the ground as he pulled hard on the quilt.
Where was Dimi? Was he on his way or had something happened to him? I needed him more than I’d ever needed anything in my entire life. He would make everything good again.
My arms burned and my back ached. The stomach cramps—because I was not calling them anything else—came faster now. Tears dripped down my face as we pulled Maxim the final distance to the driveway.
I collapsed to my knees. He was still and silent, face tinged with gray. I applied pressure again to his wound, leaned down so our faces were close together, and unleashed a scream so feral I scared myself.
Maxim’s eyes fluttered open. “Damn. Who knew you were such a screamer?” I could barely understand him, but I didn’t care as long as he kept talking. “Are you that loud for Dima?”
“Good, yes, keep making jokes like that.”
“Now you’re trying to get—” he groaned, his pale forehead scrunching with pain.
“Trying to get what?” I asked. When he didn’t answer, I asked him again, louder this time.
He let out a weak cough. “Get me killed.”
“I’m trying to save you, asshole.”
“Dima will”—he drew in an agonizing, rattling breath—“kill me for that joke.”
My tears wouldn’t stop. “Well, make sure you stay awake long enough to give him the satisfaction.”
I kept pressure on his wound and eyed the car.
The SUV might as well have been Everest for how realistic it was for me to drag Maxim inside.
My hands shook when I pulled the keys out of my bra.
They slipped through my bloodstained fingers.
When I reached for them, my arms and legs shook so severely I crumpled until I was laying beside Maxim.
A strangled yell tore from my body, utterly primal, as another cramp…
contraction…seized me. The pain radiated through my stomach and back.
I sniffled as I stretched out my hand and placed it on the blood-soaked fabric on Maxim’s wound, doing my best to keep some sort of pressure on it.
Vovk curled up against my side. The stars danced above us in a vast night sky.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out. “So sorry.”
Maxim’s finger twitched against my arm. “You did good.”
“They’re going to come.” My chest shook with another sob. “Any minute now.”
But we were alone, nothing but the stars keeping us company, as Maxim faded away beside me.