Chapter 24 - Kayla
The house is wildly busy.
All four Pakhans from the West Coast are staying with us. Every single one of them came up to help Josiah find his brother, and they did so without the slightest hesitation.
They have been plotting and planning for two days straight while Stella, Alara, and I take it in turns to be with the girls and shield them from all of this.
Whenever I can, I sit with the allies and listen in. I analyze everything they are saying, take note of the information they have gathered about Anton Radev, and a map forms in my head.
By five o’clock on the second day, intel collection is over, and they are ready to play out the final plan together.
They are going to attack every single one of Anton’s bases that have been festering across Chicago.
He used a smaller group to get a footing in the city. Then he started spreading silently.
But between Josiah and the West Coast guys, they have found out everything they need to know, and Josiah is sure that Isaak will be at one of those bases.
“I want a radio,” I tell Josiah.
“For what?” he asks.
“I want it on you at all times, and I want to listen to everything that’s going on,” I demand.
“Kayla, that’s not a good idea. It’s dangerous, and we’re going into a full battle zone.”
“I don’t care. You’ll be there—you’ll be right in the middle of it. I can’t go, but I can listen!”
He sighs, giving in with a shake of his head.
He moves to the table where a bunch of gear has been laid out, and he hands me a headpiece.
“It will connect to ours when we turn them on. You will be able to hear everything. If you click this dial, you’ll be able to switch between headsets to listen to any of our individual feeds.”
“Good,” I nod, my stomach twisting with anxiety.
“We have to go…my brother….” Josiah says quietly as he pulls me close. “I wish I could stay with you, but…”
“Don’t worry about us. You focus on what is right in front of you. Ok? We’re completely safe here. You need to take care of yourself.”
“We’ll take care of him, Kayla,” Nestor says, slapping his hand across Josiah’s back. “We always take care of each other.”
I smile, nodding in thanks, but the nauseous feeling doesn’t leave my stomach.
Alara stands next to me as the guys leave the mansion and filter out to their cars along with a massive force of security guys.
“I would hate to be the man they are chasing today,” Alara whispers.
“Me too,” I sigh, finally closing the door when they are all out of sight.
Alara looks at the listening device in my hand. “You know it will make it worse, right? If you hear something bad but you’re too far away to do anything about it,” she says.
“I don’t know what to do. It’s so difficult knowing where he is going and not being able to help,” I sigh, wrapping my fingers tighter around the earpiece.
She pulls me into a hug.
“They aren’t going to get there for at least twenty minutes, anyway. Let’s have a cup of tea and take a few deep breaths. The girls are down for their afternoon nap now, anyway.”
“I think I want something a bit stronger than tea,” I groan.
She laughs tightly. “Vodka it is.”
***
Half an hour after I watch Josiah leave, I finally pluck up the courage to switch on the earpiece, connecting it to my phone so that their voices come from my speaker.
Alara and I are sitting at the living room table with the phone between us.
Neither of us speaks as we lean forward, intently listening and trying to figure out what is going on.
It sounds like we’ve switched on a movie right in the middle of a fight scene.
Alara’s face darkens, and she swallows hard. “I’m sorry, Kayla. I don’t have the stomach for this. I am going to crawl into bed with the girls and wait it out with them,” she says.
I smile tightly and nod. “It’s okay, I understand.”
And then I am alone.
Listening to my husband shout commands to his team. Listening to men shouting back.
And gunfire. There is so much gunfire it sounds like it’s right here in this room. My entire body is tense. Every muscle aches inside me.
“Josiah, to your left!”
“Duck!”
“Grenade!”
I stand up as anxiety shoots through me like a weapon.
“Josiah!” I yelp in horror, as though he can hear me.
The line suddenly goes dead.
Static fills the speaker of my phone for a few seconds, and then even that goes silent.
I grab the dial and flick to another channel. But it’s the same. Heavy, cold silence. Another, and another.
Did they all get taken out with one grenade? It seems impossible. Someone must be alive. Someone must still be there.
I pace up and down, panic surging and growing.
I can’t bear this. I can’t handle this.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I force myself to walk away from my phone.
I can’t start dialing numbers yet. They are in the middle of a battle. They are still fighting.
I can’t distract them because the communication device failed.
That’s all that happened. The device failed. That’s it. They are all still fighting. Josiah is fine!
An hour goes by and I start to lose my mind.
Another hour goes by, and Alara and the twins come down to get some snacks, but she takes one look at my face and quickly distracts them with something fun in another room with Stella.
She sneaks through to check on me after they are settled with their game and some food.
“Stella has them completely enthralled with a new puzzle thing,” she smiles, but then she stops and presses her lips together. “Kayla?”
“The device cut out,” I blurt out, tears streaming down my cheeks because I can’t hold it in anymore.
“These things are useless,” she says, taking it from me because I’ve been crushing it in my hand for too long. “Hey, look at me,” Alara demands. “Don’t do this to yourself. They are all capable and wildly terrifying and skilled men. They know how to handle themselves, Kayla.”
I nod, but my stomach is still churning.
She holds me tighter. “They are fine,” she whispers again.
Both of us jump in fright and excitement when we hear cars pull up outside the house.
“It’s them?” I say nervously.
“It has to be!” she mutters, her eyes wide.
We both sprint towards the door, yanking it open and running out into the cool evening air.
Isaak is standing next to one of the cars. Alara bursts into tears and runs straight to her brother. “Oh, my word, you’re okay!” she yelps, crashing into him with a hug. He groans, looking a little bruised and a little tender.
I search the scene, frantic, trying to find Josiah.
I see home coming around the car at the back, supported by Benedikt and Ardalion. There is blood seeping over the front of his body, glistening against his shirt.
“Josiah,” I scream in horror, running to him.
“I’m…okay…” he groans with effort, clearly in pain.
“The doctor is on the way. He took a bullet for his brother. He saved Isaak’s life,” Nestor explains, gently guiding me out of the way so the men can help Josiah into the house.
I stare in shock and disbelief, wanting to hold him, wanting to be there for him, but I know the best thing I can do right now is to stay out of the way.
They carry him straight into the east wing of the house, where the girls won’t see him. The doctors arrive a few minutes after everyone else and crowd into the room. I press myself against the far wall, refusing to leave and promising to stay right where I am.
I watch as they pull a bullet out of him. He is delirious, mumbling as he slips in and out of consciousness. They stitch him up and give him blood. They put him on a drip with medicine and painkillers.
I sit quietly, biting at my lip, chewing the inside of my cheek. Inside, I’m raging with fear, anxious for the man I love and desperate for him to be okay.
The doctor explains to me that he needs time. He needs to wake up on his own. That it’s up to him now to pull through.
“He’s strong,” I reply.
“He is strong, just be with him, talk to him. He’ll be okay,” he smiles and gently touches my shoulder.
Everyone is gone. Josiah is lying in a crisp white bed with crisp white blankets. He is bandaged up and I can’t even see the injury. I could pretend he was just resting, but my heart knows better.
The Pakhans all retire to their rooms for the night.
Alara and the twins sit with Isaak, celebrating his safe return.
I ask them all for peace and quiet while I stay with Josiah.
All night I sit at his bedside. All night, I hold his hand and wait for him to wake up.
The next day, I don’t move, either, and Isaak comes in to talk to me.
“Your husband is an incredible man,” he says quietly, standing behind me with his hand on my shoulder. “He will be okay.”
“I know,” I whisper. “Are you okay?”
“I am because of him. He saved my life. Not just rescuing me, but he took this bullet for me. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for this man,” he sighs deeply, and I turn to look at him.
I can see the pain he is in. Guilt for being okay.
Guilt that his brother is lying on this bed instead of him.
“Josiah wouldn’t have wanted this any other way,” I tell him.
“I wish I’d taken the bullet, though,” Isaak mutters.
“You would have been crying like a little bitch if you got shot,” Josiah mutters, his voice dry.
“Josiah!” I shout, excitement shooting through me like wildfire. “You’re awake!”
I lean over to hug him, and he groans in pain. “Sorry,” I grin, unable to stop smiling.
“Motherfucker, you seriously scared us!” Isaak scolds him. “Don’t ever do that again!”
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Next time I’ll just let them shoot you, I think. This was way too damn painful to do again,” he chuckles. But the laughter hurts him, too.
Isaak shakes his head, laughing. “I’m going to get Alara and tell everyone that you unfortunately survived, and we still have to put up with you,” he jokes.
“Take your time. I need a moment alone with this angel sitting at my bedside,” Josiah says, reaching up to touch my face.
Isaak grins, shaking his head as he walks away.
“I heard your voice,” he whispers.
“I was so scared,” I whisper back.
Tears of relief spill from my eyes and onto him as I lean over the bed. He shifts himself, moving carefully so that he can sit up. “Hey, come here,” he says, pulling me onto the bed next to him.
He wraps his arm around me even though I’m sure it must hurt him.
“Everything worked out fine,” he smiles softly as he strokes his hand down my back.
I sit up, looking him in the eyes. Those beautiful, dark blue eyes.
“Josiah, I’ve wasted so much time being afraid. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
His face falls, stress lines forming around his eyes. “You want to go? You want to take the girls somewhere safe? I understand…” he says with strain.
“No! No! Not that at all! I’m tired of being afraid of loving you.
I’m tired of pretending I don’t need or want you.
I can’t live without you, Josiah. You are my entire world.
You are my other half. We were always meant to be together, and I forgive you for pushing me away, because I understand it. But I am choosing to stay. I love you!”
I can’t believe my eyes when a tear falls down his cheek. He laughs, embarrassed as he quickly wipes it away.
“You have no idea what you have done to me by saying those words. My love. My angel. My baby. My everything!”
He drags me into his arms again, holding me so tightly I can barely breathe. I bury my face in the curve of his neck and take in the scent of him.
“I love you. I can’t even stop loving you, and you’ll see—we are going to have the most beautiful life together. You, me, our beautiful little girls.”
“These beautiful girls?” Alara says, standing in the doorway.
“Daddy!” Kira shouts, running towards the bed. Isaak moves like lightning to snatch her midair as she tries to jump onto Josiah.
“Daddy hurt himself yesterday, and you can’t jump on him,” he explains, holding her at arm’s length while she tries to wiggle free.
“Be gentle, Kira, Daddy hurt himself!” Kelsey demands, climbing very slowly onto the bed and crawling to his side to snuggle against him.
“Why did you hurt yourself?” Kira asks, sounding annoyed that he would do something so stupid.
Isaak swings Kira around playfully. “One day I will tell you the story about how your dad saved me from a baddie,” he says.
“A baddie! Like Blue Slink?” Kira says, referring to the cartoon we have watched nine times now.
“Exactly like Blue Slink!” Josiah says, holding out his arm to invite Kira to snuggle up as well.
She moves with so much caution that we all start laughing.
After the girls have said hello, Alara ushers them out to make their dad some food, pancakes with syrup and butter.
Isaak sits in a chair in the room with us.
“Did you see Anton Radev?” he asks. “While you were looking for me?”
“We searched everywhere. We ended up taking down every single one of his known locations here in Chicago. Burned them to the ground. But there was no sign of him,” Josiah says tensely.
“So, he’s still out there?” Isaak groans.
“I reckon he’s gone home to recover. He must realize he’s not safe here. If he were a smart man, he’d have flown home last night already.”
“But there’s smart…and there’s arrogant,” Isaak shrugs.
“Well, he won’t catch us by surprise again,” Josiah says sternly.
“I’m so fucking happy you’re okay, man. We really need you. All of us. Don’t freak us out like that again, okay?”
“Okay, I promise not to almost die again,” Josiah smirks, but as the brothers look at each other, I feel the love between them.
We have an amazing family. A family I’ve never experienced before.
And in this moment, I fully understand the depth of how lucky I am.
“I’ll leave you two and go help make those pancakes,” Isaak says, winking at me.
Josiah pulls me close again. “I can’t seem to get enough of you,” he muses.
“Well, you’re stuck with me forever and ever now,” I grin.
“That sounds like pure heaven.”