Chapter 135 A bleeding Lion
Dante's POV
I had watched Marcus disappear through the broken window first, then Nico right after.
But the second their boots left the floor, something inside me burned more than the will to survive.
I knew they wouldn't, I knew they'd only keep coming, and I knew more deaths would follow.
And somehow, something whispered to me that the only solution was standing right there with them.
No more running. No more letting others die and suffer for my personal desire.
So I turned and the men had already flooded the hallway on black vests, masks on and their rifles pointing at me.
The gas spilled from the tables rolling across the floor as green clouds grew into the air.
They moved like they’d done this a hundred times.
Well, I hadn’t. But I won't go down without a fight.
I raised both guns and started walking straight towards them. I had a feeling their plan didn't include killing me.
The first guy who stepped into the open got two in the chest before he could even aim. He dropped dead.
The next one swung his rifle up but was way too slow. I put one through his mask on his neck.
Another tried to lay me off from the left. I turned before he could get any close, aiming and firing twice.
His legs buckled as he screamed once before I added a second shot to shut him up.
But they kept coming. I moved quickly through the hallway, not stopping or hesitating for a second.
I slid behind a crate, turned and fired twice, then rolled to my left, firing over my shoulder as I did so.
A bullet grazed my arm in the process and I hissed at the pain, but ignored it as I moved faster.
Another bullet hit the wall beside my head and I answered in the same direction with three shots before hearing two bodies hit the floor.
Every shot I took warmed me up, every second I ran felt perfect.
Moments like this are what I was built for. The Don they feared, the one who didn’t take to losing easily.
I dodged, punched, kicked and shot down at least fifteen more before the gas really started biting.
My vision blurred as tears stung at the edges of my eyes and my lungs burned till I struggled to breathe.
My legs grew heavier and my steps went slower. I pushed through anyway, barely able to see but shot down another three, then a fourth.
They were shouting now, but I barely heard a thing. But from their reaction, they must have not expected me to still be standing by now.
I stumbled back as I tried putting as much space as I could between us, but the gas was winning.
My arms started shaking and my shots went wide and I didn't see it coming till a rifle butt crashed across my back.
I stumbled to the front, spinning as fast as I could and fired blindly.
I probably got lucky as I heard the guy drop, but I was slowly losing the ability to breathe.
Then another tackled me from the side and we hit the floor hard.
I drove my elbow into his throat as hard as I could muster, then rolled off him and came up shooting again.
But they probably had enough as the rest swarmed me.
Fists, boots, rifle butts, anything their hands could get on came crashing into me as I fought till my knees buckled.
The gas filled my head, knocking everything I knew out the window as my vision grew black and I fell to the ground.
Someone kicked my wrist and one gun clattered away. I held the second as tightly as I could till another boot stomped my hand.
My fingers went numb and the pistol slid across the concrete a few seconds later.
I didn't know what was happening around me till I felt fists crashing into my jaw from different sides.
Then hands grabbed me, dragging me up from the floor.
I swung wildly one more time and connected with someone’s jaw, but my strength was far gone and it nearly hurt me more than it probably hurt him.
They slammed me against the wall and between all the fogs, I felt metal cuffs biting into my wrists and a bag went over my head.
Then they hauled me out till I heard the rumbling of engines and a large door sliding open.
I was thrown inside with my head hitting the metal floor before the door slammed.
“Argh,” I groaned as I drifted between dark and darker spaces.
My body rolled up and down, crashing into things with the van as voices murmured above me with one laughing.
I thought of Serena. I thought of Nico and Marcus, then a smile found its way to my lips.
I had kept them safe, I had kept everyone safe.
Then I felt nothing.
Nico's POV
I can't believe I actually jumped.
Wind rushed past my ears and face as I struggled to keep straight.
Then came the branches. I crashed down into the group of trees as I twisted mid-air, trying to control the drop.
I hit the first thick pine branch shoulder-first and pain exploded down my arm.
The branch snapped and I dropped again, faster, trying to grab onto anything my hand could reach.
My fingers caught a branch faintly but my weight pulled me down before I could get a better grip.
I caught another, wrapping both arms around it this time with my legs kicking air.
The tree tilted under my weight and the branch threatened to give way.
Leaves, sticks and dirt fell over my face and some into my eyes, worsening my appeal.
But I hung there still, breathing hard with my heart hammering so loud it drowned out everything else.
I had never taken such a risk. I mean, I've fought battles and been between guns, but never really jumped off a 20 feet building.
I looked up at the window we came flying from and squinted as I waited for Dante to take his leap.
Then Marcus’s voice came from below, calm as always.
“You planning to stay up there all night, or you coming down?” He asked mockingly.
I glanced down and he was standing on solid ground with one hand leaning on a trunk and looking up at me like I was a kid stuck in a treehouse.
He didn't look to have any scratch nor blood, and last I checked, we jumped down the same height.
Sure his shirt had torn, but he looked more like he’d just stepped out of a fight in a bar and not like he'd tipped off a building.
“How the hell are you already down?!” I yelled.
He shrugged with a smirk. “I guess I landed better. You’ve always been the clumsy one, haven't you?” He teased me.
And I snorted despite the situation I found myself as something about the way he said it made my chest loosen just a bit.
I’d forgotten how easy it felt around him. How he could say one dumb thing and make the whole room feel lighter.
I shifted, tested my grip, then dropped, grabbing another branch in the process as I gasped.
Okay, okay, I'm doing this.
I dropped again, grabbing another branch and went all the way till my boots hit dirt.
“That wasn't so hard, was it?” Marcus teased and stepped closer, offering me a hand.
I took it even though I didn't need it and our fingers brushed longer than they had to. But neither of us pulled away right away.
“You good?” He asked when I stood straight.
“Yeah,” I said. “You?”
He touched his side where the bullet had grazed him earlier. “Been worse,” he replied.
We both looked up at the window again. No sign of Dante.
“He should’ve jumped by now,” I muttered.
Marcus’s face hardened. “He will,” he said and I felt he was saying it more to himself than anything else.
We waited, ten seconds passed, then twenty, and thirty.
Marcus shifted uncomfortably. “Something’s not right,” he muttered.
I stared at the window, willing Dante to appear. But no.
And after a few more seconds, Marcus and I looked at each other.
We said nothing, but we both knew.
Dante hadn’t jumped. He’d stayed behind.
And whatever was happening up there now, one thing was sure. He wasn’t coming down on his own.