Chapter 16 (Sam):
I’m chained to a bedpost, sitting on the floor with my legs out in front of me. One of my arms is pulled back at an awkward angle with my wrist is hanging there limply. This feels so familiar.
He walks in the room wearing that smug smirk. I want to puke on him, but I settle for glaring. Hatred is practically pouring off me.
“You are a feisty one, aren’t you?”
Rage swells inside me like a disease. I maintain full eye contact and spit on his floor. He narrows his eyes and crouches in front of me. His hands find their way under my chin and raises it so my hate filled eyes are staring into his.
“Why are you here? Specifics Sam.”
A guard walks in. He’s wearing black and orange. My heart starts pounding faster in my chest as I take in his muscled frame. His dead eyes are fully focused on me.
“I am not telling you anything,” I spit.
“What are they planning? I know you are helping Alex, but I don’t know what you are saving her from specifically.”
“You.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He runs his fingers along my scars. What game is he playing at? I try and jerk away, but the guard comes over and holds me still. His fingers dig into my skin. It’s not like trying to move stone as I flail around helplessly. He’s way too strong to overpower. I will just exhaust myself, so eventually I give in and hold still. I know I will need that energy later, but geez I wish he’d touch anything but my scars.
“You look like you’ve been hurt enough, huh?”
He cocks an eyebrow in question. His eyes almost hold sympathy, but don’t quite.
“Tell me what happened and I will spare you punishment. If you don’t want more pain tell me why you are here or what happened to you. In specific detail.”
A knot forms in my throat. This makes me feel more sick than anything else he could do, but I have to stay calm and I can’t let him hurt me yet. If he hurts me too bad now my plan could be potentially derailed. That can’t happen.
“I was taken last year by some drug dealers. They thought I turned them into the feds. I didn’t, but that information was irrelevant to them. They tortured me a bit. Someone got me out.”
“Specifics. Last warning.”
“Jesus Christ! They beat me senseless with a crowbar. Then they raped me. Then beat me a little more. Then they raped me some more. Do you need specifics on that too or do you get how that all works?” My words come out like venom.
“Собаки.”
“I don’t know what the hell that means.”
The Russian runs his hand gently along my hair. It is almost too soft. Tick. Tick. Tick. My heart hammers away and I start to shake. I wish he’d just hurt me. He stands up abruptly and turns to the guard.
“Feed her.”
He turns on his heel and walks out. I am really confused why I haven’t been hurt yet, but I’m really grateful for it.
A few minutes later the guard comes with with a scowl and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I use my free hand to eat. Again, I want to refuse, but I need the energy. I try and sleep. Somehow I manage to lean my head on my arm and relax slightly. I wouldn’t exactly call it sleep, but I am able to shut down for a few minutes. I think I am just exhausted from the stress of all this. I wake suddenly when the door comes flying open. The Russian grabs me by the hair and jerks me up to my feet. I scream. My scalp is on fire, but the worst is the pop I hear in my arm, the one tied to the bedpost. Tears spring to my eyes quickly. The Russian hears the pop and drops me. He snaps his fingers and the guard takes off the handcuff. He clearly forgot about it, although I am sure he doesn’t care too much. Tears are rolling down my face. My arm just hangs there sending fire jolts of pain throughout my body. The Russian snaps his fingers again and guard starts walking over to me. I let out an unintentional whimper.
“Stay still Огненная девушка.”
The guard grabs my shoulder and forearm. I try and pull away. “No please. No. No.”
“Stay still. It will only hurt for a minute.”
I squeal as agonizing pain hits me. Like he said though, the pain fades quickly. All the pain. I slowly move to cradle my arm. It’s better. They popped it back in its socket. I look up at the Russian with wide eyes. He smirks.
“I told you it would only last a minute.”
“You also nearly ripped my hair out of its socket.”
Immediately his face hardens and he jerks me to standing. He gets right in my face. I stand tall.
“Who did you tell?”
“Tell what?” He scowls. “No one knows I’m here if that’s what you mean.”
He grabs the back of my hair and quicker than I ever thought possible has a knife to my throat.
“I like you rich girl, but I will kill you. If you told no one why is there a group of men in my fucking lobby.”
I try to hold back tears as I start to choke on my own saliva. “I… I don’t know. Logan must have called someone.”
Damn Logan. Apparently he decided he doesn’t trust me.
He digs the knife in deeper, and then jerks it away and releases my hair. “You are lucky I believe you. We still have to deal with your problem.”
He releases me roughly. I quickly grab the bed as I am thrown backwards. I regain my composure quickly. The Russian looks at me and shakes his head.
“You give Alex a run for her money.” The Russian looks at his guard. The guard grabs my arm and starts ushering me outside. The mansion is huge and despite what most would think it is very bright and open. I shudder when I think about all that probably goes on in here. The Russian catches my shiver and regards me curiously.
“Cold?”
“No.”
“Then explain. Sp…”
“Yeah, specifics.” I roll my eyes. I am honestly floored I haven’t even been hit or groped. Even the dislocated shoulder was somewhat of an accident.
“I just was thinking about how many people have suffered in this house. The brightness is so misleading.”
A dark smile appears on his face. “Very few people actually come to my home Огненная девушка.”
“I’m flattered,” I say flatly, still not sure what the hell he is calling me. The guard stops me and the Russian turns to face me. My heart picks up pace. He strokes me face.
“You should be.” His gentleness is scaring me more than his violence ever could.
When we enter the doorway my heart stops. There in the foyer is Gunner, Rex, Alex and two other large looking European men.
“Sam!” Alex yells. She tries to come at me, but the guard pushes her back. Rex catches her. Alex looks disastrous. I feel awful. I hate seeing her that way. She’s so strong. I hate seeing her broken. I know at least Rex agrees.
“Wow Sam, what do you do to inspire that kind of loyalty from the ice queen over there?”
“Oh I have a nickname now,” Alex seethes.
Pytor comes over to me, and moves the hair out of my face. I fight the guard holding me. I’d rather my friends see him hurt me than this. Anything but this. It’s so shameful.
“Do you want to know yours?” he whispers.
“No, I’d rather not.”
He laughs and goes back to face the group. Gunner starts arguing with him, but one of the European men takes over, arguing with him in Russian. I take my chance. I hid a knife in my clothes before I left the motel. Stupidly, the Russian never searched me.
I jerk back and knee the guy holding me in the balls. He drops me. I catch myself with one hand and throw the knife. I aim for the fuckers heart, but am pretty satisfied when I hit his shoulder.
ARGGGHHH!
The Russian grunts in pain, but honestly acts pretty unphased for someone who just got stabbed with a flying knife. His eyes darken dangerously. A lot more guards have entered the room by now. We are surrounded. Yeah, stupid timing. The guard that I that was first with me in the room grabs me, but I notice his grip is loose. It’s almost like he’s holding me back for my sake, not the Russians.
I look back at him curiously the best I can. He leans in by my ear.
“Don’t get yourself killed.” His accent is heavily country, unlike before. Wait. Was he faking a Russian accent? It seemed so natural. But not as natural as this one. What’s happening?
My eyebrows raise. Is he on our side? He looks so dead inside. I still in his arms and observe. He’s right I can’t act on emotions. I have to think.
The Russian has a gun pointed at me. I scowl. I feel the guard behind me subtly stiffen. I can tell he’s ready to move me if necessary. Gunner stiffens and looks at my guard, studying him. Like he’s wondering if he’ll actually save me. I look back at the Russian.
“You gonna kill me?”
He walks over to me. Everyone in the room watches, waiting to see what he’ll do. His move dictacts everyones. He traces the gun softly down my body with his uninjured arm. His face is contorted in pain, but he’s waiting to act out his revenge.
“I haven’t hurt you, have I? I treated you well.”
“As well as a hostage can be treated Russian, yes. But you have plans to hurt my friend. You are my enemy.”
“I admire you. You have fire in your eyes instead of ice. Fire girl. I can have fun with you. I like you,” he says that like it’s rare. “But you do have to be punished.”
He flips his gun at Alex. I jump, but the guards grip holds, almost angrily. It confuses me. Rex jumps in front of Alex, but another guard grabs him and pulls him away. The Russian removes the safety. Holy shit he’s going to kill her. I start to panic.
“No! No! Kill me. Please. I’m begging you! I’ll do whatever you want! Don’t kill her.” My fragile side comes out. My body is shaking and I’m crying. Not Alex. My Alexa, the girl I take on the world with. No. No. No.
“Please,” I whimper.
The Russian walks over to me. “You have to learn not to cross me Огненная девушка.”
His tone is soft. I hate him! Then he flips so fast. He picks up the gun and shoots.
BOOM.
I shrill sound escapes my lips. I realize I am screaming when my voice gives out and I go limp in the guards arms. I look down and cry. I feel broken. Not her. Anyone, but her.
“Look up,” the guard growls in my ear. I slowly lift my head. My mouth drops when I realize the person on the floor isn’t Alex.
Chapter 17 (Alex):
It all plays out in slow motion. Is this the way I die? The gun. Sam’s screams. Rex being pulled away. My heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. I’m still alive. I look down when Sam’s gut wrenching screams stop. I look at Tobias who, for the first time ever, is pale white. I look down at my feet. On the floor is Anatoli, bleeding out. The room freezes. No one knows how to process this.
“Anatoli,” I whisper shakily. I drop to my knees. “Anatoli. Come on big guy. Come back. Come back!”
Tobias seems to snap out of his shock. “Words won’t help shit,” he snaps. He quickly removes his shirt and starts putting pressure on the wound. “Hold this.” He gets up and I assume goes to take action. I start sobbing.
“Don’t die. Don’t die.” I am crying unexpectedly hard. I had no idea he meant this much to me, but I feel like another piece of me has been hollowed out. “Don’t die.”
I feel a hand cover mine.
“Shhh Alex. It’s okay. Go help.” His voice is tired and strained.
“You jumped in front? Th… that bullet was… was meant for me. You took a bullet for me?”
“We’ll still never be evenмаленький.I’m sorry I ever hurt you. Go fight. I’ll live.”
His voice is so strained that it makes me cry harder. My old nickname. He saved me again.
“Anna would be so proud.” Anatoli’s eyes soften. I lean into his ear. “Thank you for saving me again. You are my brother.”
Somehow I manage to stand on shaking legs and a heavy heart to check what’s going on.
I recognize the man holding Sam instantly. Blaze. I feel panic grip my heart. Whose side is he on? I genuinely have no idea. That is until I see him whisper something in her ear. When most of the guards are either out of the room, fighting or detained he starts to loosen his grip on Sam. Sam looks at me and then down at Anatoli.
Anatoli’s gun.
She flicks her head to Blaze. She wants me to toss it to him. He’ll probably kill me with it. I narrow my eyes at him. He lifts his chin and hardens his gaze. Sam’s eyes are desperate. I can’t say no to her. I can’t risk her. I sigh and in one swift motion I grab the gun and toss it to Blaze. I drop to my knees to miss the bullet Pytor will inevitably fire at me now that he knows he missed his target. Sam doesn’t waste a second the second she is free. She charges the man holding Rex. I quickly run over and help. Tobias goes back to tend to Anatoli. He didn’t give a fuck about what happens to us without Anatoli. If Anatoli dies it will destroy Tobias. I would be devastatingly crushed, but Anatoli is the only person Tobias has. I try to ignore these thoughts and the pain they bring.
Sam is trying to get the guy off Rex, but he keeps kicking her. I look for other guards. I want to help, but if we are both there attacking no one is looking out. Then it hits me. Gunner… where is he? What the hell?
I hear two bullets. I gasp and look over at Blaze. His eyes are dangerous. I look on the floor. Sure enough there is Pytor. He has a bullet in each one of his legs. I grin. This is the moment I have been waiting for my whole adult life. I glance at Sam who is struggling against the guard. My heart beats faster. Blaze walks over to Pytor so casually. He is so dark and dangerous, I shudder. How did he get with Mia? That’s a story I’d like to know. He takes the knife out of his pocket and spins it in his hands. He crouches down by a suffering Pytor.
“This is for my dead fiance you bastard.” His words are like fire. Fury. Pain. Rage lace them.
“Blaze,” I whisper. He glares at me. “Can I use the gun?”
He tosses it to me and goes back to Pytor. I’m just glad he didn’t fire it at me first.
I shoot the guard holding Rex. Well, in the hip. I hope it doesn’t kill him. I just want his life ruined so he can never help Pytor again. If that is any less sick. I have no clue. Sam looks up with wide eyes, but when she sees it's me she sighs and nods. Rex runs over to me and takes the gun. He wraps his arms around me and spins our bodies so I’d be blocked from any potential gunfire.
“That scared me. I thought I was going to lose you,” Rex whispers, sounding on the verge of tears.
“I don’t die.” I nudge him playfully, ignoring my own pounding heart.
“I am beginning to think that.”
“Where’s Gunner?” Rex gaze flickers to the hall. I realize then exactly where he is. Of course. Gunner. Smart. He is taking out potential threats. Keeping other people out. Smart fucking man.
I run back over to Anatoli and Tobias. I let Sam and Rex handle our escape. As soon as I see Anatoli’s pale face my heart stops and I tear up again.
“He needs a hospital.”
“No shit Alex,” Tobias snaps.
For the first time since I met him I see Tobias truly struggling not to kill, to completely lose it. Because if he loses the person he’d kill would be me. My group. Everyone in the room who witnessed his brother getting shot. I stay quiet and give him time to deal. I rub Anatoli’s hair back.
“You still with me?” I whisper.
“Here. Is Tobias?” Anatoli whispers, his voice hoarse.
“Kind of.”
“Make sure... make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone.”
Then Anatoli’s eyes roll back and he passes out. Yeah, thanks for the easy task. Tobias is a fucking human weapon. How could I ever stop him if he decides to kill?
Thankfully, Gunner runs back in the room. “We need to leave. Now.”
I look around. Tobias has Anatoli over his shoulder, being careful of his bullet wound. Anatoli weights a lot more than him so it’s incredible that he is just standing here waiting for us without any sign of struggle on his face. I instinctively look for Rex. I'm surprised to see he’s holding Sam. Confused, I look at Sam. She is pale white, shaking and there is vomit all over the floor. My eyes whip around the room to find out what happened.
Holy shit.
To say Blaze made Pytor suffer is the understatement of the century. There’s no question my nightmare is dead. He is nothing but a pile of flesh and bone spread all across the floor. Blaze is covered in blood, and he still hasn’t stopped. The knife in his hand is still furiously carving away. I run over and put my hand on his shoulder. I owe him this. I'm more than willing to risk what could come of trying to stop him. This is what Mia would want.
“Stop Blaze! He’s dead. He’s dead.”
Blaze tries to jerk his shoulder free from my grip. I let go and run to the other side of the room to try and get some semblance of fresh air. I bury my urge to throw up. It’s so gross. So morbid and violent. It smells God awful.
“Stop.” I look him dead in the eye. “Blaze. He’s dead. She’s gone Blaze.”
His face curls up in anger as the pain starts to bury him. He turns to hide his tears from me.
“Go. I’ll clean this up.”
“You sure.”
“I said got this. I’m sure.”
I let the weight settle in my chest and make my voice soft.
“Blaze, check in with someone. Please. Let someone know you are okay when you leave.”
We stare each other down. A battle of pasts, resentment and anger coming to a head. Finally he nods. Some of the weight lifts. I run to check on Sam. Rex has her in a firm hold. I kiss his cheek and let him take care of Sam. I follow Gunner. Somehow, by some fucking miracle, we all make it out somewhat alive.
The nightmare isn’t over, because if Anatoli dies mine will just be beginning.