Chapter 25
LEV
The boot connects with my temple and the world goes sideways as colors bleed into shadows and sound fades to static.
Hands drag me across the floor of the station, but Vivika's train is gone and they can't stop it.
They know where it's going but even if they chase it down, she'll get to Moscow hours before they do and by then, Rurik will have her safely tucked away somewhere.
My body goes limp and I let them think I'm unconscious as they haul me toward an exit. Two men, maybe three—I can't tell with this ringing in my skull. They're arguing about where to take me and what Yaros wants done with my body.
Outside, the air is warm and moist as spring continues to take root over Russia. I keep up my act long enough to risk being shoved into their car, but I want to take stock of my surroundings. It isn't often that I have to take on three men at once.
When one of them drops me on the concrete, I hear another utter a harsh command in a Serbian dialect that confuses me. He's telling the driver to shove me in the trunk—they think I'm dead, maybe. And I can't let them haul me off.
I crack my eyes to peek out at the parking lot and see three sets of feet as one man walks toward the trunk and pops the latch.
My car shouldn’t be too far from here, but from my position on the ground, it's hard to get my bearings.
When I make my move, it has to be hard and fast, and without a weapon, I'll have to disarm one of them to protect myself, but it's this or death.
When the man stoops to grab me, grunting an order for help, I move fast.
My elbow drives into his throat and he rocks backward on his feet gagging, his hands clawing at his crushed windpipe.
I rip the gun from his holster as I roll, firing twice into the chest of the second man before he can bring his weapon up.
He staggers backward and falls, eyes wide with surprise as the third swings his weapon toward me.
I shoot him in the face, his skull snapping back in a spray of red that paints the wall behind him.
Everything happens so fast, I barely have time to get to my feet.
My gut screams at me before I even hear the shot, and the impact makes me go stumbling several steps in the general direction of the train station we just left.
I'm hit, bad, and I don’t have time to think about what will happen if I stop.
"Bastard!" the man chokes out, and I can tell his windpipe is heavily bruised from the blow I gave him. I had no idea he had a second gun, but I hear more shots being let off and I duck behind a service van.
My chest hammers as I look down at the crimson blooming on my shirt and clutch my stomach. The pain goes all the way through to my back where I don't have any way of checking for an exit wound. And the shots continue.
"You're gonna die!" the man shouts, and I keep moving, staying crouched between vehicles as I finally get my bearings and know which way I have to move to get to my car. I can almost see it, but it requires running in open air.
The cover fire I lay down makes the man dart for cover himself, but it works. I dive for my car and get behind the wheel with bloody hands and a thready pulse. I'm fading fast. I have to get to Yuri's place before I pass out.
More shots ping off my car as the engine roars to life, and I floor the accelerator, tires squealing as I tear out of the parking space down the row.
The man emerges from between vehicles with his weapon trained on my car, but I don't bother to slow down.
His bullets shatter my windshield and I drive right through him, hearing the sickening thud of his body as it hits the ground and my car rolls him over, jostling before peeling out onto the street.
Moscow traffic is light this time of night, but I still nearly clip a taxi as I swerve onto the main road.
The driver leans on his horn and I ignore him, focusing everything I have on keeping the car between the lines.
My vision swarms and I blink my eyes hard to stay alert.
I don't dare look down at the warmth I feel trickling down my stomach to my groin, which is now soaked.
And the pain hits me in waves, cresting and falling with my heartbeat. I grip the steering wheel and force myself to breathe through it, in and out, in and out. I've been shot before, and I've survived worse than this. I just have to keep driving.
But something feels very wrong.
Thoughts of Vivika flood my mind. I never got the chance to make sure she's safe and tell her how I feel. Maybe I never will now. My body is so weak I can barely keep my eyes open. It's not a good sign, but I won't just give up and let death take me. I have to fight to stay conscious.
The drive takes forever, or maybe no time at all—consciousness keeps slipping away and snapping back, the road appearing and disappearing like a fever dream. I run two red lights and sideswipe a bus, but somehow, I keep the car moving in the right direction.
When I pull up at Yuri's estate, the gates appear and I barely remember the code to open them. My fingers fumble on the keypad, smearing blood across the buttons, but somehow, I get it right, and the iron gates swing open.
I grit my teeth and press the pedal down again, and the car lurches up the driveway. I manage to get it stopped in front of the main house before my vision goes completely gray around the edges. It's all I can do to lay on the horn. There's no way I could get out of this car and walk somewhere now.
Besides, I don't even know if my family made it out of that warehouse alive.
When my vision dims again, I drape myself over the wheel and let my body weight do the work of holding down the button until blackness takes me.
"Lev—" Yuri's hands grip my shoulders, trying to pull me upright.
"Lev, what happened? Where's the woman?" I blink my eyes hard and look around.
Yuri is safe, and standing in front of me as someone carries me through his entryway.
The pain is excruciating, my pulse so weak I might pass out again any second.
"Safe," I tell him, letting my eyes roll back. "Train to Moscow. Rurik will meet her."
"You're bleeding everywhere." He's shouting now, calling for someone, calling for help. "Get the doctor now! Tell him it's an emergency!"
Consciousness fades in and out. They jostle me, and I wince at the stabbing pain, arms too weak to fight back if I wanted to. I let my eyes shut again and hear voices over and around me.
"Stay with me." Yuri's voice cuts through the haze. "Lev, you stay with me. Don't you dare die on my floor."
I try to laugh but it comes out as a cough, and I feel warm liquid spread on my lips. The metallic tinge tells me it's my own blood. It means this is worse than I thought. They got into my gut somehow, and without emergency help, gut shots can be fatal.
Someone's hands press on my gut hard, crushing me so I can barely breathe, probably trying to slow the blood loss.
"The doctor is coming, just hold on," my uncle says. "Stay with me, Lev… Come on."
My body fades again, down into the depths of unconsciousness.
I see Vivika's face again, smiling at me from a warm, sunny spot.
Her hands are stretched out toward me, coaxing me to come to her, and I want to.
Fuck, do I want to go to her. It's so warm and so relaxing.
I could be with her and put all of this pain behind me.
"Lev!" I hear, and seconds later, I feel a smack to my face. My eyes shoot open and I see my uncle hovering over me with wide eyes. "Stay with me!"
"Yuri." I grab his arm and pull him close, forcing my eyes to focus on his face through the haze of pain and weakness. "Promise me something."
"Anything. Name it."
"If I don't make it through this…" The words are hard to form. I have to push to say each one clearly. "You find Vivika and… Make sure… She's safe."
"You're gonna make it. The doctor's on his way—"
"Promise me." I tighten my grip on his arm though I'm sure it still feels weak to him. "Swear it on our blood…" I can feel the tremor of unconsciousness pulling at me again.
I never hear his answer. My eyes roll back and the blackness consumes me.
When voices pull me back toward consciousness, they sound like they're coming through water. I try to open my eyes but my lids won't cooperate. I think they've drugged me, and I have no clue how long I’ve been out.
"…perforated the bowel." The male voice isn't familiar. "He's gone septic."
"What does that mean?" I hear, and it's Yuri's voice. It stirs something in me, but I can't rouse myself to open my eyes yet. "In plain terms, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying his chances aren't good." The first male voice speaks again, and then I'm fading.
My heart aches and my mind swirls around thoughts of Vivika coming to my side and seeing me like this. What would she say? How bad do I look?
Am I going to make it out of here? Or did I put her on that train and save her life only to die while she's gone?