I fire twice to my left, forcing distance. I fire once more to the right, shattering a garden light and plunging half the path into darkness. Shadows become allies. Panic spreads.
I backpedal, keeping myself between Irina and Bella’s retreating shape.
“Stop him!” Irina snaps.
I don’t look at her. I feel her instead. The way her presence presses forward, cold and furious and personal. We’re almost clear. I can see the break in the wall, the narrow service road beyond it. Bella is fast. She always was.
Then the shot comes.
I hear it before I feel it.
The impact slams into my shoulder like a sledgehammer. Heat explodes through my arm, bright and brutal. The force spins me halfway around and I bite back a cry as blood soaks through my sleeve.
Irina doesn’t miss.
I stagger but stay upright, teeth clenched, vision narrowing. My left arm goes numb instantly, useless weight dragging at my side.
I fire blindly toward her position, not to hit—just to keep her pinned. Stone chips explode near her feet. She retreats a step, furious.
I turn and run.
Each step is agony, my shoulder screaming, my pulse roaring in my ears. I burst through the hedge, tearing fabric and skin, and hit the service road hard. Bella is there, eyes wild, Lily pressed to her chest.
“You’re hit,” she gasps.
“Move,” I snarl. “Don’t stop.”
I grab her wrist with my good hand and drag us forward, down the slope, into deeper darkness where the estate lights can’t reach and the ground turns uneven and wild.
Behind us, Irina’s voice cuts through the night, almost howling. “You can’t protect them forever!”
I don’t look back.
Headlights cut through the dark ahead of us.
A black car skids to a stop sideways on the service road, tires screaming. The driver’s door flies open and Nikolai leans out, gun already in his hand.
“Now,” he snaps. “Get in. Both of you.”
I tighten my grip on Bella’s hand, blood dripping from my fingers, and pull her toward the car.
As long as I’m breathing, no one touches them.
Not her.
Not anyone.
17
BELLA
Nikolai slamsthe car door as we pile inside, all three of us in a rush of breath and panic. Lily is whimpering against my chest, arms clinging so tight my ribs ache. My hands won’t stop shaking.
Aleksander throws himself into the seat next to me.
The car lurches forward, gravel spraying as Nikolai floors it. The estate vanishes behind us.
For a few seconds, all I can do is stare at Aleksander. My mind can’t make sense of what just happened. My heart pounds so hard I feel a little sick.
