My elbow drives into his throat and he rocks backward on his feet gagging, his hands clawing at his crushed windpipe. I rip the gun from his holster as I roll, firing twice into the chest of the second man before he can bring his weapon up. He staggers backward and falls, eyes wide with surprise as the third swings his weapon toward me. I shoot him in the face, his skull snapping back in a spray of red that paints the wall behind him.
Everything happens so fast, I barely have time to get to my feet. My gut screams at me before I even hear the shot, and the impact makes me go stumbling several steps in the general direction of the train station we just left. I'm hit, bad, and I don’t have time to think about what will happen if I stop.
"Bastard!" the man chokes out, and I can tell his windpipe is heavily bruised from the blow I gave him. I had no idea he had a second gun, but I hear more shots being let off and I duck behind a service van.
My chest hammers as I look down at the crimson blooming on my shirt and clutch my stomach. The pain goes all the waythrough to my back where I don't have any way of checking for an exit wound. And the shots continue.
"You're gonna die!" the man shouts, and I keep moving, staying crouched between vehicles as I finally get my bearings and know which way I have to move to get to my car. I can almost see it, but it requires running in open air.
The cover fire I lay down makes the man dart for cover himself, but it works. I dive for my car and get behind the wheel with bloody hands and a thready pulse. I'm fading fast. I have to get to Yuri's place before I pass out.
More shots ping off my car as the engine roars to life, and I floor the accelerator, tires squealing as I tear out of the parking space down the row. The man emerges from between vehicles with his weapon trained on my car, but I don't bother to slow down. His bullets shatter my windshield and I drive right through him, hearing the sickening thud of his body as it hits the ground and my car rolls him over, jostling before peeling out onto the street.
Moscow traffic is light this time of night, but I still nearly clip a taxi as I swerve onto the main road. The driver leans on his horn and I ignore him, focusing everything I have on keeping the car between the lines. My vision swarms and I blink my eyes hard to stay alert. I don't dare look down at the warmth I feel trickling down my stomach to my groin, which is now soaked.
And the pain hits me in waves, cresting and falling with my heartbeat. I grip the steering wheel and force myself to breathe through it, in and out, in and out. I've been shot before, and I've survived worse than this. I just have to keep driving.
But something feels very wrong.
Thoughts of Vivika flood my mind. I never got the chance to make sure she's safe and tell her how I feel. Maybe I never will now. My body is so weak I can barely keep my eyes open. It's not a good sign, but I won't just give up and let death take me. I have to fight to stay conscious.
The drive takes forever, or maybe no time at all—consciousness keeps slipping away and snapping back, the road appearing and disappearing like a fever dream. I run two red lights and sideswipe a bus, but somehow, I keep the car moving in the right direction.
When I pull up at Yuri's estate, the gates appear and I barely remember the code to open them. My fingers fumble on the keypad, smearing blood across the buttons, but somehow, I get it right, and the iron gates swing open.
I grit my teeth and press the pedal down again, and the car lurches up the driveway. I manage to get it stopped in front of the main house before my vision goes completely gray around the edges. It's all I can do to lay on the horn. There's no way I could get out of this car and walk somewhere now.
Besides, I don't even know if my family made it out of that warehouse alive.
When my vision dims again, I drape myself over the wheel and let my body weight do the work of holding down the button until blackness takes me.
"Lev—" Yuri's hands grip my shoulders, trying to pull me upright. "Lev, what happened? Where's the woman?" I blink my eyes hard and look around. Yuri is safe, and standing in front of me as someone carries me through his entryway. The painis excruciating, my pulse so weak I might pass out again any second.
"Safe," I tell him, letting my eyes roll back. "Train to Moscow. Rurik will meet her."
"You're bleeding everywhere." He's shouting now, calling for someone, calling for help. "Get the doctor now! Tell him it's an emergency!"
Consciousness fades in and out. They jostle me, and I wince at the stabbing pain, arms too weak to fight back if I wanted to. I let my eyes shut again and hear voices over and around me.
"Stay with me." Yuri's voice cuts through the haze. "Lev, you stay with me. Don't you dare die on my floor."
I try to laugh but it comes out as a cough, and I feel warm liquid spread on my lips. The metallic tinge tells me it's my own blood. It means this is worse than I thought. They got into my gut somehow, and without emergency help, gut shots can be fatal.
Someone's hands press on my gut hard, crushing me so I can barely breathe, probably trying to slow the blood loss.
"The doctor is coming, just hold on," my uncle says. "Stay with me, Lev… Come on."
My body fades again, down into the depths of unconsciousness. I see Vivika's face again, smiling at me from a warm, sunny spot. Her hands are stretched out toward me, coaxing me to come to her, and I want to. Fuck, do I want to go to her. It's so warm and so relaxing. I could be with her and put all of this pain behind me.
"Lev!" I hear, and seconds later, I feel a smack to my face. My eyes shoot open and I see my uncle hovering over me with wide eyes. "Stay with me!"
"Yuri." I grab his arm and pull him close, forcing my eyes to focus on his face through the haze of pain and weakness. "Promise me something."
"Anything. Name it."
"If I don't make it through this…" The words are hard to form. I have to push to say each one clearly. "You find Vivika and… Make sure… She's safe."
"You're gonna make it. The doctor's on his way?—"
