“Yulian.” Mia’s voice turns panicked, desperate. “Yulian!”
I’ve lost too much blood.The realization comes slowly.Is this it, then? Am I done for?
But then another thought comes. A brighter, happier thought.
I saved her.
I savedthem.
My family.
This time, I didn’t let them die.
52
MIA
FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER
By the time I make it to the yacht, everything’s on fire.
It’s like watching those final minutes inTitanic.Bodies hitting the water, screams echoing all the way to the beach. The boat is sinking, swallowed up by the black waves below. I’ve never felt so helpless, unable to do anything but watch.
Yulian’s on there.It’s all I can think.He’s on that boat.
I can hear sirens in the distance, police and ambulances, but they sound so far away. They’ll never make it in time. I know how these things work—first aid can be very quick or very slow, depending on the hour, traffic, how soon the call came in.
Tonight, the streets are busier than usual. But even if that wasn’t the case… if help was minutes, seconds away…
That boat is still sinking. It’s sinking fast—too fast.
Which means they’ll be too late.
Panic rises within me. I rush along the beach, looking for a boat I can use. Anything, really, to get closer.I can’t leave him. Iwon’tleave him. I still need to tell him…
Then I see him.
Yulian, gasping on the pier.
For a moment, all I can feel is relief. Sweet, boundless relief. If Yulian’s here, then he’s not on the boat. He isn’t burning, isn’t drowning. He’ssafe.
Except that he’s not.
My vision adjusts to the dark. The full picture comes to me, in horrifying bits and pieces.
Desya’s face. Desya’s crazed, mad sneer. His foot on Yulian’s shoulder, pinning him to the ground. He’s crushing Yulian’s arm, and Yulian…
He isn’t fighting back.
But that makes no sense. Yulian always fights back. He always has to have the last word, throw the last punch. So, if he’s not doing that now…
It means he can’t.
He’shurt. He must be.
Has he been shot?I try to look, but it’s too dark, too far.Is his arm broken? Is that why?—?
I walk closer to the pier, and that’s when I see the gun in Desya’s hand.
