Chapter 404 406

Chapter 404 406
His neck snaps up at the same time as Dr. Lenore’s does.

“Renata!” he gasps. “What the fuck are you doing here out in the open?”

He’s covered in blood. Actually, it looks more like he’s thrown up blood. The front of his shirt is soaked in a crusting crimson. And yet, he seems perfectly fine. Or at least, as fine as can be expected under the circumstances. It’s the fire in his eyes that does it. That hasn’t dimmed one bit, despite the weeks of torture at the hands of the Greeks.

I forget about the fact that we’re practically in a war zone right now. I just rush over to him and grab his hands.

“Kian, what happened? Are you okay?” A part of me is aware that I’m panicking. But it helps to see his blue eyes. Even in the face of the chaos raging around us, he seems so calm. So unflustered.

Actually, so does Dr. Lenore. Wait. Why is she even with him?

“I’m fine,” he says distractedly. “The blood isn’t mine. Come on, we’ve got to find a good hiding spot.”

“Can’t we leave?” I ask, looking towards the front door.

“No. Rokiades’s men are coming in fast. They’ve been recalled from every safehouse in the area. There’s no way we’re getting out,” Dr. Lenore informs me. “We barely made it in here.”

She’s as calm as Kian is. It’s freaking unsettling.

“This way,” she tells us. “I know a way out, but it’s on the other side of the house.”

More gunfire swallows up the all the questions on my lips. As Dr. Lenore takes the lead, Kian grabs my hand and pulls me behind him. I just stare at him, relieved that he seems to be okay. “Why did you even come back?” I ask as he pulls me back down the corridor.

He looks at me as though I’ve asked an incredibly obvious question. “Why?” he repeats. “Because I knew you were still in here.”

We hear someone scream not far from us. Kian steps in front of me instinctively and holds out an arm to tuck me behind him. “Sarah, take lead.”

I frown. “Do you two know each other?” I ask, barely paying attention to where we’re going.

“It’s a long story,” Kian says.

“Are you saying now’s not a good time?”

He looks at me, surprised. When he sees the soft smile on my lips, he laughs. “If we get out of here—when we get out of here—I’ve got a lot of stories for you, Renata.”

I squeeze his hand hopefully. “I want to hear them all.”

“Fuck!” Sarah cries suddenly, ruining the moment as we turn a corner and come face to face with a bunch of men with their guns raised. One look and I know that they’re Rokiades’s soldiers.

Kian shoves me to the side so hard that I land on my hip. My arm breaks my fall somewhat, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to leave a bruise that’s going to last weeks. As I clamber upright, I watch as Kian and Sarah fight off the four men who’ve unwittingly accosted us. Sarah’s impressively fast and confident. But I can’t take my eyes off Kian.

It strikes me that I haven’t really seen him fight properly. Fighting with me doesn’t really count. And truth be told, it’s amazing to watch him in action. I almost forget to be scared.

He moves with calm assurance and the kind of precision that takes decades to master. You’d never be able to tell that he’s got injuries all over his body. It feels like even he’s forgotten that inconvenient little fact in the moment.

Blades flash, guns flare, fists and feet and elbows flow, and in a moment, all four of the men are incapacitated on the ground, blood pooling beneath them.

Sarah and Kian turn to each other and nod with grim satisfaction. I’m relieved, too—until, at the last possible second, I see one of the soldiers on the ground raise his gun. His hands are bloodied and trembling and he’s got maybe a few minutes left before he dies. But for now, he’s alive enough to aim in Kian’s general direction.

“No!” I scream. “Watch out!”

My words mix with the scream of the exploding gunshot…

And Sarah crumples to the floor. Kian turns to the murderer and kills him with a bullet to the face. Then he falls to his knees next to Dr. Lenore. “Sarah, no…” he murmurs, voice racked with anguish. I sprint to his side. My stomach is churning with horrified anxiety.

The bullet has hit her in the dead center of the abdomen. She’s bleeding badly, but she’s still conscious. Her face is so ghostly pale that I can hardly bear to look at her.

“Sarah,” Kian croons, checking her pulse. “Sarah, can you hear me?”

“Just… go…” Her voice isn’t strong, but I still hear her loud and clear.

I can see steely determination in his eyes when he shakes his head. “We don’t leave Clan behind,” he says firmly.

She shakes her head right back. “Get Renata out of here.”

I grab her hand instinctively. “We’re not leaving you.”

Kian looks at me and understanding flits between us. Then he turns to Sarah. “Stay with me, okay?”

She nods slowly, but I can see the strength wane from her eyes just a little. She barely seems to register the new round of gunfire occurring just over our heads.

The walls are closing in.

55

Kian

“Do you know what’s happening?” Renata asks me with wild eyes.

“The Clan is here,” I tell her. “Just like I told you they would be.”

She frowns. “Then why are we trying to hide?”

“Because at the moment, the Greeks and the Italians are all over the place, and we don’t know who we’ll run into. Now, come on. We’ve got to get Sarah somewhere safe.”

I get to my feet and heave Sarah into my arms. Renata looks around, flinching at every sound. I’m slightly surprised by how skittish she seems to be. And then I notice the way her hand curls over her stomach.

Of course. The baby.

“Stay close to me,” I order. “And grab a gun.”

She doesn’t hesitate when she reaches for one of the guard’s guns and plucks it from his dead grasp. Then, Renata sticking close to my side, we start to move. We turn into the first room we find and move behind the sofa.

“Hold on,” Renata says, grabbing a repulsive yellow carpet and throwing it over the floor first. “Okay. Put her down here.”

I place Sarah down on the shag carpet. Her eyes wobble even as her jaw stays clenched tight. She’s in pain, but she’s trying to bite it down. She’s a warrior, this one.

Renata grabs a pillow and places it gently underneath Sarah’s head. There’s a trickle of blood running down her nose, and she wipes it away slowly. “Kian,” she whispers, “what should I do?”

“We need to stop the bleeding,” I instruct her. “Press something soft against it.”

She nods, leaves Sarah’s side instantly, and returns a moment later with a piece of curtain fabric that she’s torn from the rod. She bunches up the material and presses it down over the gunshot wound. Sarah groans and sputters at the initial contact.

“Good,” I say. “Stay with her.”

“Where are you going?” Renata asks, the panic is back in her voice.

“I’m checking the situation outside.”

“Kian,” she says, grabbing my arm, “you’re only one man. And you’re badly injured.”

“Good. It’ll be an even playing field then.”

“Stop it,” Sarah wheezes. “I’m dying here. It hurts to laugh.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Can you save the tough talk for when you’re not bleeding out?”

Renata looks between the two of us as though we’re both out of our minds. “You can’t go out there alone,” she says again. “It’s not safe.”

“I’m not waiting for them to find us, Renata.” The thundering of running footsteps has me on high alert again. I grab my gun. And then, on second thought, I grab another one.

Renata still has both hands on Sarah’s wound, but her eyes fly to the door in alarm. “Hey,” I whisper to her. “Listen to me. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Or our baby.”