11. Von
I t was time.
Apollo had to die, even if something deep in my gut was telling me not to. I ignored the sliver of doubt and let out a breath as I started to squeeze the trigger. Two things happened simultaneously, and I hadn’t been prepared for either.
The sound of machine guns going off around us caused me to pause. This hesitation allowed Apollo to dive forward, crashing into me, and grab me around the waist before I ate dirt. In a rather impressive move, Apollo managed to twist us so he hit the ground first. Once the shock faded, I realized my upper arm burned like a bitch.
Gunfire rained down around us as I caught something odd darting through the sky above.
“Apollo, get her to the fucking car,” Erik ordered. “She’s the real target.”
I shook my head trying to clear the haze in hopes it would help me understand what was going on. Unfortunately for me, all I did was piss my headache off to the point I had to close my eyes for a moment or puke.
“Von,” Erik roared.
My eyes snapped open, but a pair of hands yanked the gun out of my grasp and fired off two shots, which hit the drone, causing it to crash. Being this close to the gun as it went off with the mother of all headaches had me seeing stars.
“Don’t get comfortable, there’s one more we need to look out for,” Apollo yelled as he stood, hauled me up, and tossed me over his shoulder. “I’m heading for the car. You two better cover me since I’ve got my hands full.”
Not waiting for an answer, Apollo ran toward the armored shell of what had once been our ride. We’d only made it a few feet before being cut off by a stream of bullets. Thanks to Apollo’s quickness, he veered out of the way so the bullets thudded into the ground mere inches from us.
“A little help over here,” Apollo shouted as he ran in a zigzag, making it harder for the drone to lock onto us.
I flopped about like a sack of potatoes making it impossible for me to see what was going on, but I could hear Bear and Erik firing off shots at the drone. Each time we got even slightly close to our only source of cover, the drone shifted its attention back to us.
“This is getting old real quick. Polly, give me the fucking gun,” I snapped as I wrapped my legs around his waist and circled his neck with my arm to keep myself upright.
Thankfully, Apollo didn’t bother to argue and offered up the gun. I dropped the magazine and saw there were three bullets left, more than enough to take down this flying machine gun. My human steed kept up with his sporadic direction changes which helped us to avoid getting shot, but made it fucking impossible for me to aim.
“Stop playing hopscotch and just run straight so I can finish this,” I growled out.
“Not happening,” Apollo shot back. “If I don’t keep this up, your chances of getting shot are almost guaranteed. Let Erik and Bear deal with the damn thing.”
Displeased with his answer, I tightened my arm around his neck to the point I could hear it was hard for him to breathe. “Wrong answer, Polly. Now run straight or I’ll keep tightening my hold until you pass out.”
A shot rang out, followed by the telltale ting of the bullet as it clipped the drone. However, it wasn’t enough to take it down. Unfortunately for Apollo, the drone had started to fire as it was hit, which caused it to veer its aim right into our path. I heard a grunt as Apollo faltered for just a second before charging onward. Giving up on my attempt to choke Apollo out, I focused all my attention on bringing down the drone.
The hit might not have grounded the fucker, but it wobbled a lot more than it had, slowing it down just enough for me to take it out. Unwilling to take any chances, I kept firing until I watched it plummet to the ground.
“Fuck yeah,” I cheered, pumping a fist into the air.
With the danger gone, I expected Apollo to stop running and put me down, but the bastard tightened his hold as he slid the final few feet to the armored shell. Before I had the chance to argue, he’d yanked open the door and shoved me inside the back seat. It wasn’t until my arm slammed against the leather seat causing me to hiss, I remembered a bullet had grazed me. I shoved my sweatshirt off my shoulder to examine the wound. The bullet had left its mark on my upper arm. It wasn’t a clean graze either, which meant it would scar and join the collection I already had.
Satisfied I wouldn’t die from blood loss or anything, I looked around what was left of the car. All the front airbags had gone off and were still inflated, making it nearly impossible for someone to sit up there.
Huh, I guess that’s why he went for the back seat instead.
I crawled forward and used my sleeve to wipe away the film the airbags left clouding the glass. Once clear, I saw Bear helping a limping Erik over with the first aid kit tucked under his muscled arm. Before I knew what I was doing, I clambered to the back of the vehicle and unlatched the trunk. It screeched as I muscled it open, the door clearly damaged by the blast.
“Bear, bring him over here,” I directed. “They might send more drones after us to finish the job.”
Erik grinned widely at me as he got himself settled. “Aww, my little siren is worried about me.”
I started to deny the accusation, not wanting my sliver of concern to go to his head but decided to just ignore the comment altogether.
“Big Red, can you fix your face? It’s kinda freaking me out and I wouldn’t want it to get stuck like that,” I sassed and attempted to cross my arms, but hissed as it pulled on my wound.
Like the flip of a switch, the grin was gone and was replaced with a scowl. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just a graze, nothing you need to worry about,” I answered, waving off his concern. “What happened to you?”
“Attack of the drones,” Erik quipped, trying to keep a straight face but failing.
I groaned. “What did I say about dad jokes?”
“That you love when I tell them, but refuse to admit it,” Erik offered with a wink.
“Treasure, I hate to say this, but I think your pet has lost it. It might be better to put him out of his misery before it gets worse,” Apollo whispered rather loudly as he came to stand behind where I knelt next to Erik in the trunk space.
Erik’s lips dipped into a frown. “The fuck? How did we go from you wanting to show off your blow job skills, to wanting to put me down? All I did was bust my knee on a glass bottle, I’d hardly consider that grounds for killing me.”
“What can I say? I’m a man who lives in the moment, and your moment passed. Now let’s see if our woman is telling the truth about her wound,” Apollo said as he reached around me to grasp the zipper of my sweatshirt and quickly yanked it down.
Memories of my Master forcefully stripping me before tying me up flashed before my eyes. Instantly, my body reacted just as it was trained and I elbowed the man in the gut as hard as I could. Apollo stumbled back a few steps, which gave me the chance to face him with my gun raised and finger on the trigger.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snarled, my heart thundering in my chest. “Or could it be you wanted to give me yet another reason to kill you?”
Apollo raised his hands in surrender when he saw my expression. “Treasure, forgive me. My only intention was to make sure you weren’t hiding the truth of your injury. Now seeing your reaction, it appears I’ve grossly overstepped. Since I’m in the wrong, I will humbly accept whatever fate you deem to give me, even if it’s my death.”
As if to prove his sincerity Apollo knelt, placed a hand over his heart, and bowed his head in submission. His response gave me pause. Up until this point, he hadn’t been shy about invading my personal space. So why was this situation different?
“You make no fucking sense,” I muttered, my anger and fear dissipating slightly.
“Yes, many find me to be a rather irritating enigma,” Apollo agreed, lifting his gaze to meet mine. “Then again, I didn’t want anyone to understand me until I met you. A moment ago, you looked at me with an expression of fear I never want to see on your face again. To know I caused that reaction I deserve death.”
“Wooow, a touch overdramatic, don’t you think?” Erik mumbled.
Apollo’s irritated gaze flicked to Erik for a second then returned to me. “Might I ask a small favor before I leave this world? It’s nothing big, all I’d like is for you to acknowledge that I’ve saved your life just as many times as you’ve tried to take mine.”
Frowning, I cocked my head slightly. “Why is me accepting that so important?”
“Because if risking my life to keep you safe and alive isn’t enough proof of my true intentions, then there’s nothing else I can do to convince you,” he explained and dropped his hand.
A bloody handprint was left behind which caused me to look him over more closely. There was a bloom of red on his left side which stood out against the light blue color of his shirt. The bleeding must have gotten worse when he removed his hand.
I lowered the gun, gripped his shirt, and tore it open, exposing a through and through bullet wound just below his ribs. A lesser man would have been brought to his knees with the pain, but Apollo merely faltered for a second in his efforts to keep me safe.
“You actually took a bullet for me, I might be the one who owes you,” I stated, releasing his shirt.
Apollo stood and snatched up my hand before I could pull it back. “No, my treasure, you will never be in my debt, that’s not how it works between us. In my eyes, your life will always mean more than mine.”
I let out a surprised bark of laughter, unable to take him seriously. “What are you, some knight from ancient times pledging your life like that?”
His answer was to press a lingering kiss to the back of my hand while trapped by his gaze. “I didn’t choose to call you my treasure on a whim. Nothing in life has held as much value as you do. There is only one other way I would manage to be at peace dying by another’s hand, and that’s if it meant you would live. Because, my treasure, if you’re no longer in this world I don’t want to be a part of it.”
Erik let out a low, impressed whistle breaking the spell Apollo had me under. “Damn, Polly, you really are one smooth-talking bastard,” Erik said. “Tell me, have you used that line before? I only ask because the delivery was flawless.”
“You wound me, Erik, those words have never been uttered aloud,” Apollo responded, never looking away from me as he once more dropped to his knees and clutched both my hands with his, a pleading look on his face. “These words are only for you and have lived in my dreams these past two years as I prepared for this moment. Tell me, Evonnia, what more must I do to convince you that I’m yours? Name it, whatever it takes so I can live the remainder of my life at your side.”
The fear I’d managed to squash started once more to claw its way out of the cage I’d tried to lock it in. Yet seeing Apollo debase himself like this reminded me of Him. Once again, memories of those early years when my Master first started to change flashed before my eyes. I saw myself on my knees bleeding because I’d disappointed my Master. How many times had I begged and pleaded for him to forgive me for whatever I’d done, never questioning he might be the problem. In my young mind, I couldn’t understand why he’d become so cruel and cold. Especially when the night before we’d been naked and curled up in bed, telling me how sorry he was as he kissed every mark he left on my body. Back then, all I wanted was to make my Master happy. To see him smile at me like he used to, but all I ever received was heartbreak and pain.
A familiar callused hand wrapped around the back of my neck, grounding me in the here and now. Everything in me wanted to lean against Bear and take the support he offered me, but allowing myself to be that vulnerable was too much right now. Instead, I yanked my hands free and sank into the darkness where I could shield myself from emotions.
“Get the fuck up,” I bit out through clenched teeth. “If there’s any hope of you convincing me of anything, then grow a damn pair of balls because all I see right now is a whipped pussy. It seems you missed one important detail while stalking me. I fucking hate when people beg.”
With that, I walked around Bear, knowing he’d make sure no one followed me because he was the only person who truly knew me. A plan formed in my mind as I opened the front passenger door and snatched up my phone. With the car fucked and injured people, we wouldn’t be able to make it far walking. I sighed, realizing the best choice would be something far from subtle.
Looks like I won’t be hitting up Asp Lodge after all. I dialed one of the few numbers I made sure to memorize. After the first ring I hung up, counted to ten, and then called back.
“Ballio,” he said, answering on the second ring just as I’d trained him to.
The frequency at which I changed burner phones meant it was impossible for my conductors to keep track, so I devised a call-in system.
“Balto, I need you to send a helicopter right away to the location I send you. Make sure it’s one of our men, I don’t want a contractor even if they're closer,” I instructed. “Oh, and text me with the ETA.”
“I’m on it,” Balto assured me. “Anything else you need sent along?”
“A fully stocked hospital-in-a-bag and extra 9mm ammo,” I answered, then hung up.