28. Brander
28
brANDER
Is she breathless from all the dancing, or the run down here?
Tears glass her eyes. They glow green in the light, which faces her way.
Of course it’s facing her way.
She’s always in the spotlight.
Sweat drizzles down her body, skin shining and breasts heaving as she catches her breath. What the hell is she doing down here? It isn’t in Alice’s blood to kill. She’s a healer. A nurse. There’s nothing down here but destruction.
“Alice,” I grit through my teeth. “What are you doing?”
“I’m…” she pants, unable to get the words out. Her eyebrows part, eyes filling with pain when she sees her father buckled over in the corner, gun to his chest. This accelerates her breathing even more.
This is why I’m doing this.
This is why I fight.
It’s all for her.
“Isn’t it funny?” she says, suddenly buffing out her hair and tipping her nose into the air. Somehow, she’s channeled confidence into her veins.
I harden my jaw.
Where is she going with this?
“Nothing silences the world, does it, like a pair of breasts?”
She wears six-inch heels on her feet, and they clack against the concrete floor as she maneuvers around frozen bodies.
Some of the contracted killers eye her cleavage.
I fist my knuckles so hard that they crack again.
“I’m resourceful to you, am I?” Alice says, spinning around to Vlad, hands crossed over her chests as if she’s trying to accentuate her breasts even more. One-dollar bills stick out of her bra and panties, so many that the money looks like part of the design. She smells divine too. It’s probably half the reason these guys all froze on the spot when she walked in—nothing falters a man in his step more than female pheromones.
“You are, honey.” Vlad removes the gun from Peter an inch. “Very resourceful.”
This next sentence requires a deep breath first. “You’re going to kill my father?”
“He wants my entire bloodline dead.” Vlad narrows his eyes. “Levi told me that the two of you are back together, but you strike me as an intelligent girl who knows her worth, so I assume that was a lie. Wanting into the syndicate, though”—he squints his eyes—“that I believe.”
She pouts her pretty pink lips.
She doesn’t.
I know she doesn’t.
“Yes, that part was true,” she says.
My chest leaps.
“So, if you murder my father, do you really think I’ll wanna keep working here?” Her heels click toward Vlad. “Like you say”—she slips a stash of dollar bills from her panties—“I’m very resourceful to you.”
I count approximately one hundred in her hand.
There’s definitely four hundred more on her person at least.
I return my gaze to Alice, but catch Lifesaver’s concerned face staring my way instead. Fingers crossed she’s bluffing, but what if she’s not? Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell makes for a much more comfortable life.
Comfort isn’t something Alice is lacking with us around, though.
I hope she understands that.
Besides, she loves her job. The first time she stayed at mine and got ready for work, she walked down the stairs with a stride in her step, eye glowing like two ninety-watt bulbs. Nursing isn’t a job. It’s a lifestyle, and she wears the scrubs like it’s the only uniform ever meant for her.
I shake my head subtly toward Lifesaver.
She’s bluffing.
Has to be.
I know Alice.
Vlad sharpens his eyes. They’re blacker than outer space. He takes one more look at Alice and says, “You will keep working here regardless of your father’s state.”
The gun redirects toward Peter, muzzle pressed hard up against his chest again.
The ragged breathing from both father and daughter continues.
And now I feel my own breath start to lose rhythm.
“Do I kill you now?” Vlad asks. “Or do I find you a front row seat out on the main stage so you can watch your daughter strip for all of my guests?”
“You’re the devil,” spits Peter.
“Word of advice,” says Vlad. “Don’t have a daughter if you don’t know how to look after her.”
Instinct lunges me forward.
I swing the iron rod at Vlad.
But one of his pets gets there first. Catches it before it makes impact.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The man drives the contraption right back toward me. “Ugly bastard. Scurry away, all three of you.”
This guy’s voice is familiar. I remember him from before, when we stormed into their HQ and slaughtered a dozen Russians. This was the guy that opened his mouth and spilled Alice’s location.
“How much is your life worth to you, hm?” the bastard asks as he circles around me. “It never has been much, has it? But now it’s very valuable. You’ve found a purpose.” His disgusting eyes veer over to Alice, and he adapts a falsetto. “ Aww. You want to protect the pretty lady?”
I go to retrieve the rod, but his grip around it tightens again.
“You’re her little bodyguard.” His eyes scroll up and down my body. “ Not-so-little. You know she’s just using you, right? For your strength? It’s your only asset. Why would anybody love you? I get the other two, they’re slightly more tolerable to look at, but you?” He shakes his head. “She doesn’t give two shits about?—”
BANG!
The bastard falls to the ground, revealing Lifesaver, gun recoiling in his hands.
I nod a thank-you and glance at the man at my feet.
Words hurt more than wounds, but I still wouldn’t have killed him. As foul-mouthed as the bastard is, the guy still has family that need him. It’s why he told us where the syndicate was keeping Alice that time.
He’s only alive for those he loves.
We have that in common.
Blood pools to the floor. I look around the room. Dead bodies litter this place, and they outnumber the living. Five other Russians surround us, but Vlad raises his hand and instructs them to pause their activities.
“Dead or alive, what does it matter? You don’t know how to protect Alice anyway,” says Vlad. “But rest assured. After you’re gone, I’ll make sure your growing family doesn’t get hurt.”
“Growing family?” Alice snaps, eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”
“Honey, I have spies everywhere. I am God. I know all.”
Somebody needs to put this fucking man in his place.
I don’t like his style.
In one fell swoop, I slip the gun from Lifesaver and stride forward. Squinting into finder, I line the muzzle up with Vlad’s back to penetrate the muzzle straight through his heart.
But a force knocks the weapon to the ground before I can pull the trigger.
BANG!
Vlad falls to the floor, blood pooling out of his chest. His eyes, glued open, stare vacantly at the ceiling, even blacker than before when they were alive.
I look up to put a face to his killer.
And see Levi.