by Amy Deason
There was no hope of her and Nikolas being together. There would be no happily-ever-after to this story. Whatever had happened between them was gone, lost in the blood, the gunfire, his betrayal. She meant nothing to him, never had, never would. She’d been a job. One which was quickly reaching completion.
Passing a metal cage filled with tools, rags, and mechanical parts, she spotted the door yawning before them. No light penetrated the darkness inside and as they approached, a wet, earthy scent rolled out of the threshold, assaulting her nose. She knew this smell.
“A sewer! You want me to go through another sewer?” She couldn’t help the look of surprise she clearly crawling across her face.
Nikolas black eyes danced with dark frustration. “Got any better ideas, princess?”
There was that word again . . .
Before she could snap at him, another thought crowded into place, effectively removing her annoyance.
“What if there are people down there?”
“There’s not. But trust me, even if there were, we would be better off with them than with those that are going to be coming for us.”
“But it’s so dark. How will we see where we’re going?”
“You don’t have to. Trust me, I know the way out.”
“Trust you?” she snorted. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Nikolas issued an unintelligible curse under his breath. “Here, take this.” Pulling a phone from his pocket, he handed it to her. “Shine the light in front of us. Think you can do that without arguing?”
Biting back on the curse words trying to cross her lips, she stepped through the doorway.
The darkness was complete, broken only by the light from the cell phone screen. Shining it in front of her, she caught glimpses of colorless roots breaking through the brick walls like skeletal fingers, their tips reaching hungrily for the puddles of dirty water beneath her feet. Broken glass and rotting leaves littered the ground, completing the sense of abandonment in this place. Nikolas had been right. There was no one here. Hadn’t been for a long time.
With their arms securely wrapped around Charlie’s slender waist, they moved quickly through the tunnel, the light bouncing in front of them like a drunken firefly. There was no sound other than their shuffling footsteps and hushed breathing. On several occasions her shoulder brushed the brick, allowing a cool dampness to seep into the thin material, causing her to shiver in the darkness.
Time had lost all meaning for her, leaving no way to judge how long they were underground. It might have been only a few minutes or it may have been half an hour. There was no way for her to tell. Continuing onward, she tried to gather her scattered thoughts but they were as erratic as dandelion fluff dancing in a summer storm, bouncing and colliding against one another until there was not a single thread but only a mess of tangled knots. So much had happened since she had come to this miserable country. One thing after another, each one throwing her for a loop larger than the last. By the time they reached the end of the tunnel, she was nearing the edge of her sanity.
Slowly, out of the darkness, a door rose in front of them. Iron bands stretched across its frame, hugging the wood in an ancient embrace.
This was it. No matter what happened on the other side, it was the beginning of the end of her time with Nikolas. In her jumbled heart and mind, the mixture of relief and pain left her reeling and for a moment, she thought she might puke. Or pass out.
No. I’m stronger than that. Besides, do I really want to let Nikolas know how much he’s hurt me? How broken I feel?
The answer was no. She would not allow him to see the shattered pieces of her soul. Someone like him would not appreciate them anyway.
Straightening her spine, she inhaled one last lungful of the dank air before tucking the phone into the pocket of her pants. With one free hand, she reached out, wrapping her fingers around the rust covered handle, the centenarian metal cold against her fingertips and pushed.
The sunlight was blinding, piercing her retinas like razor sharp darts. Closing her eyes against the sudden glare, she took the first step outside, still supporting Charlie as she went. Grateful for the clean air, she breathed deep, sucking in the fresh scent of grass and trees and freedom. As she exhaled, releasing her breath in a whoosh, she opened her eyes only to stare down the barrel of a jet-black pistol aimed right between her eyes.
Chapter 33
Dimtry couldn’t believe how easy this was. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Or like rats in the sewer.
Yes, that was more like it, Dmitry thought. Rats. All three of them. Especially Dr. Ekstrom. Although by the looks of it, she’d already been hit.
Good, that would make it even easier to end this.
The look of surprise crossing their faces delighted him. Almost more than the feel of Cadence’s hair between his fingers as he yanked her to him, a yelp of pain spilling from her lips. Oh, she was going to do more than yelp by the time he got done with her. But first, he had to get rid of the other two.
Hearing the gunfire in the hallway, he’d immediately armed himself before checking on the cell holding Cadence and the good doctor. He’d just stepped into the empty room when a second gunshot rang out. Turning on his heel, he raced toward the sound, nearly tripping over the guard lying face down in the middle of the hallway, a needle shoved between his shoulder blades. With alarm bells raging inside his head, Dmitry tread carefully, ready to shoot the next person he saw. But the next person was already dead, slumped half-in, half-out of the doorway leading to the boiler room.
A quick survey of the lower level assured him where the rats had gone. Into the abandoned sewer. He’d almost followed them through the darkened tunnel when another, brighter idea came to him.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” Dmitry asked, his gun now trained on the young man dressed in black. This was the one who had broken in and taken the girl in the first place.
“Let her go, Dmitry,” the stranger growled, his own pistol gripped tightly in one hand.
“Not a chance. Now why don’t you drop your weapon and the girl may live to see another day.”
“You won’t shoot her. She’s your only chance at getting Montgomery’s formula.”
“I never said I would shoot her.” Dropping his hand, he grasped her chin and pulled her head back, his fingers slipping around her neck. “One wrong move and I snap her head off of her shoulders.” He tightened his fingers, digging them into her smooth skin. A flick of his wrist and her neck would break.
“Don’t do it,” the stranger warned, his eyes flickering to Cadence before returning to him. A quick glance but in that moment, Dmitry caught a glimmer of emotion too strong to be called anything but love.
The bastard was in love with her.
How perfect.
“You love her, don’t you?” Dmitry chuckled, squeezing Cadence’s neck a little tighter.
“No,” the stranger answered, shaking his head, his eyes never moving from him, “but I don’t want her dead either.”
He was lying. Dmitry could see it in his eyes. It was poorly hidden but it was there. If he thought lying about his feelings toward the girl was going to save her life, he was mistaken. Nothing was going to save her. She was as good as dead but there was no reason to let him know. “I don’t need her. But I think you do. Now drop it.”
“Don’t do it, Nikolas,” Cadence said, her voice nothing more than a choked whisper under his palm.
“Nikolas? So that’s your name. Well, Nikolas, I wouldn’t listen to the girl if I were you. Not unless you’re telling the truth and she doesn’t mean anything to you. But what about you, my dear,” Dmitry asked, flexing his fingers on her skin, “do you love Nikolas?”
There was no answer.
Casting her a side glance, he shook her. “Well
, do you?”
The terrified blue eyes closed as she twisted her face away from him.
“You do,” he said. “How wonderful. Do you hear that, Nikolas? She loves you. Now, unless you want to watch her die, then drop the fucking gun.”
“Dmitry, stop this. There is no way out for you.” Charlie spoke up in a voice as ashen as her face.
“And you! Who the hell are you?” His temper flared red hot. This highly recommended woman had come into his facility to help him. And now here she was, trying to make a quick getaway with the girl? He should just shoot her right now. His trigger finger itched to do so but until Mr. Hopelessly-in-love over there dropped his weapon, he was not about to take his gun off of him.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. You can shoot us all but you will never get away with it. You’re a fool if you think you can.”
A fool? A fool? I’ll show them who the fool is. Starting with Nikolas . . .
“We’ll just see about that, won’t we?” he snarled and pulled the trigger.
~ ~ ~
Nikolas recognized the intent in Dmitry’s eyes and ducked out of the way, bringing Charlie down with him. The whine of the bullet echoed as it passed mere inches from his head, striking the ground above.
Cadence let loose a horrified scream and through the dirt and shattered brick raining down, he could see her struggling against Dmitry’s hold. Despite her efforts, the madman’s gun remained firmly pointed in his direction.
Shielding Charlie from the bullet he knew was coming, he rolled to his knees, pulling his own weapon. There was an extremely good chance he was going to get hit but better him than Charlie. Too much rode on her life. He, on the other hand, was just one of many. Replaceable. But he wasn’t going down without a fight.
And apparently, neither was Cadence.
With Dmitry’s hand still encircling her neck, she managed to bring her hands up and strike his other arm as the next shot went out, causing the bullet to go wide.
“You bitch!” Roaring like an enraged bull, Dmitry tightened his palm around her neck, squeezing his fingers.
Clawing uselessly against his hold, Cadence’s face began to redden as she gasped for air. From experience, Nikolas knew it took less than a minute to crush a trachea. He needed to do something before those precious seconds were up.
It was nearly impossible to shoot him without hitting her. Good thing he was good at impossible.
Leaping to his feet, he took fast, careful aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit its mark, piercing Dmitry’s other wrist, forcing him to drop the gun.
Howling in pain, he didn’t release Cadence. Instead, he lifted her off of the ground by her throat. She dangled, her feet kicking at empty air, her hands fluttering at her neck. Without warning, Dmitry tossed her into his direction.
Nikolas grunted as Cadence collided into him, knocking him to the ground. His pistol flew from his grip, out of reach.
Dmitry dove to the ground, his hands stretched out, reaching for the gun laying in the dirt near his feet.
Shoving Cadence away with little thought of injuring her, Nikolas scrambled to his feet, leaping at the other man. Smashing into Dmitry was like driving into a tree but he had the momentum with him and both men went down hard, hitting the ground with bone jarring force.
Immediately, they began to trade fast, furious punches, each connecting into the body of the other. Nikolas felt his lips rupture when a fist smashed them into his teeth. Ignoring the taste of blood, he swung wildly, connecting with Dmitry’s nose. The crunch of cartilage was lost in the midst of the battle.
Taking advantage of the moment, Nikolas wrapped his hands around Dmitry’s thick neck and began to squeeze.
Let’s see how you like being choked . . .
Underneath his fingers, the veins in Dmitry’s neck began to throb as he struggled to breathe. But it was a losing battle. His eyes began to roll upward and his arms fell away as the first edge of unconsciousness closed in.
Squeezing harder, Nikolas was determined to end this once and for all.
He caught a blur of movement in his peripheral vision but he wasn’t quick enough to react. The rock, encased by Dmitry’s meaty palm, flew, connecting with his face. The pain was instantaneous as the skin above his eye split. Losing his hold, he fell sideways, striking his shoulder on the ground.
Through the river of blood trickling into his eye, he watched Dmitry grab the gun. Before he could bring it around, Nikolas lunged from the ground, colliding again, the gun lodged between them.
Behind him, the bark of a tree gnawed at his back while the muzzle dug into his stomach. Wrapping his hand around the smooth steel, he pushed the weapon away as far as he could, trying to gain control of it before the trigger was pulled. At this point, if he was hit, it would all be over. Over Dmitry’s shoulder, Charlie lay in a lifeless heap but Cadence was moving in their direction fast.
He opened his mouth to order her to stop but all of the wind was ripped from his lungs as Dmitry brought his knee up, slamming it into his crotch.
Lightning exploded in his groin, turning his knees to water. He lost his grip on the gun as the pain spread like wildfire through his loins and into his stomach.
Feeling the shift in power, Dmitry stepped back, grinning victoriously, and aimed the weapon straight at his face.
“Who’s the fool now?” Blood dripped from his broken nose, spilling over his meaty lips.
“NIKOLAS!”
Without warning, Cadence launched herself onto Dmitry’s back, digging her fingers into his eyes. Unprepared, he fell forward just as he pulled the trigger.
Nikolas felt a blast of pain as his hip caught the bullet meant for his head and he went down, crumpling into the red dirt.
Cadence was no match for Dmitry. Reaching around, he grabbed her and tossed her to the ground like a rag doll. This time the gun was aimed at her head instead of his.
“No!” Nikolas tried to push himself from the ground but his leg wasn’t working. He couldn’t get up. Cadence was going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it this time.
Suddenly Dmitry’s head exploded from his shoulders and he dropped like a stone.
Whipping his head in the direction the shot was fired, Nikolas saw Charlie leaned haphazardly against the hill, gun in hand. With a grimace, she dropped it and slid to the ground, her eyes blinking slowly as she went.
His view of her became lost as Cadence dropped down in front of him, tears staining her cheeks. The red marks around her throat were already beginning to bruise but at least she was alive.
“Nikolas, are you okay?” Her blue gaze frantically raced over him, widening when they reached his hip. “Oh God, you’ve been shot.”
“It’s not the first time, sweetheart.” He could feel himself slipping under a blanket of darkness but he didn’t want to go. Not yet. Not until he told her.
“Please don’t die. Please.” Cadence’s hands were on his arms, his neck, his face, whispering over his skin like a warm summer breeze. “The phone,” she gasped. “I’ll get help. Just hold on.”
Before she could stand up, he grabbed her hand, feeling the softness of her palm against his. “Wait.”
“What is it?” she whispered, leaning in to hear him.
“Cadence, I . . .” He swallowed thickly against the words. The words he wanted so desperately to say but couldn’t. He would not condemn her to a life with him by saying them. Instead, he shot her a withered smile. “Don’t worry, princess, you’re safe now.”
Losing himself in the sapphire depths of her eyes, he relaxed, the feel of her lips brushing his following him down into nothingness.
~ ~ ~
Time was a fickle thing, Cadence thought.
One minute she was facing down the barrel of a gun and the next, s
he was crouched over Nikolas, the wound from his hip bleeding excessively, turning the dirt beneath him an even darker shade of red.
Behind her, Charlie groaned.
Turning, she saw with some surprise that although the better half of her pale blue business suit was now maroon, the woman was still able to move. Withdrawing a black phone from her blood-soaked pocket, she pressed the slim device to her ear.
“It’s done but I’m down. Nikolas too.” A short pause. Charlie’s eyes flicked in her direction momentarily. “Yes, the girl is still here. She will have to be taken care of.”
Cadence lost interest in the conversation. None of it mattered anyway. From the very beginning, she’d never had a say in what happened so it only made sense to assume it was the same now. She could fight and rebel, but in the end, it didn’t change a thing. This group, The Perfect Order, was bigger than she was, than she would ever be. She saw this now. Its reach was far superior than she had imagined. And Nikolas was a part of it.
God, there was just so much blood.
He’s going to bleed out before help arrives . . .
“Not if I can help it,” she muttered.
Doing the only thing she could think of, she removed her shirt, and with a prayer that she wasn’t hurting him worse, she pressed the cloth to his hip. Although it had to be excruciating,
Nikolas didn’t even flinch. He continued to lay motionless, his chest rising with shallow, uneven breaths.
“Don’t you dare die on me, damn it,” she whispered as tears began to slip down her cheeks. Keeping pressure on the wound, she kept her eyes on his face, afraid to look away for even a second. As if in doing so, he would cease to breathe.
After everything he’d done to her, she should really hate him. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. Yes, he’d used her, totally turned her world upside down, hurt her. But he’d also saved her. Risked his life for hers. And he’d come back.
