Roman and Artur threw themselves on top of Grigori.
The car rocked hard from the driver’s actions, just as the missile made contact from somewhere behind us on the right. My ears rang from the loudest explosion I had ever heard, and the limo shot through the air, tilting up on its front left side. I went airborne, Daniil’s body wrapped around me as we tumbled through the limo, smacking into everyone else, the hood, the seats, the driver at one point, as the limo tumbled over and over again. The limo held together, but the pressure of the blast tossed us like a toy car.
There was no point trying to figure out everything that hurt on my body as the limo stopped rolling. My whole fucking body hurt. I groaned, tugging my hand out from under Daniil as he shook his dark head against my shoulder. I managed to grab a handful of his hair, yanking his head back so I could look him in the eye, asking, “You all right?”
His cheek was bleeding, but otherwise, his face appeared fine. “I’m fine. You?” His hands started roving over me, yanking his head out of my grasp. “Is anything broken? Are you bleeding?” He stared at my stomach.
“No.” I slapped his hands away, sitting up…on the roof of the limo. The couches were above us. The limo had landed upside down. Artur’s body was lying cock-eyed over my legs, and I poked him hard. “Artur! Wake up!” No one was kidnapping me again. No one.
He stirred, shaking his head, and I heard the driver cursing from where he hung upside down. Apparently, he had been wearing his seatbelt. Artur pushed up on his hands and knees just as the driver fell from his perch, holding a knife in his hands after cutting himself free—my knife. I was now weaponless.
I glanced toward the back of the limo, even as more gunfire erupted around us. Grigori was hovering over Ember, checking her pulse and breathing, then her wounds. She was out.
I crawled to a window and peered out, seeing men starting a slow trek through the woods where our limo had eventually landed between two old oak trees. “They’re coming.” My adrenaline started pumping again, and my aches and pains lovingly went away. I started yanking the bandages off my hands. I needed to be able to use a damn gun.
Daniil hit a button above me near the armrest of the couch. The window slowly rolled down. My one good eye widened as he pulled the pin on a grenade and chucked it as hard as he could, then rolled the window back up just as it fell between four men.
Boom!
Dirt and leaves and their bodies flew back, bits and pieces of their persons flying out from their bodies in different directions, hopefully killing the bastards instantly. I stared out the window as everyone conscious paused, grabbing their weapons to see what he had done. I muttered, “Four down.”
“Shitloads more to go,” Roman grumbled, lifting his weapons.
Grigori was ordering the driver to keep watch over Ember and keep checking her vitals as he started digging through a duffle. The driver pulled out two handguns he had on him, crawling, and placing himself protectively in front of Ember.
Daniil didn’t look at me, but he asked, “Are you coming with us, Beth?” He had moved from the bag, bending over typing onto the screen that had remained intact with our bodies slamming into it time and again when the limo went rolling as gunfire erupted on the hood, a sure sign that the gunship was still in action.
“Yes.” Fuck, yes, I was going. I’d had about enough of this shit.
“Just stay alive, my sweet.” I nodded once, and then he barked, “Everyone, move to the side.” He pressed a few more buttons.
We all crawled to the windows as the middle of the roof below us started sliding open, a hidden area within it now visible. I stared down at two handheld rocket launchers and another arsenal of machine guns I knew I wouldn’t be able to lift. Grigori started unlatching the straps around one of the rocket launchers as Roman did the same to another one. My brows lifted as Eva easily picked up one of the machine guns and moved to a window, rolling it down enough to get the barrel down as hordes of men started backing into the woods. Daniil had stalled them with the grenade, but they were moving again.
I covered my ears right before Eva opened fire on them. I watched through my window as five more were mowed down before the others ducked behind trees or retreated from the gunfire. It was so damn loud I couldn’t hear after that, even though I could tell Daniil and Grigori were yelling at one another, opening a door on the other side of the limo that wasn’t facing the group slowly trying to make their way to us.
With my hands now not bandaged, Daniil threw me a smaller machine gun and another handgun that I tucked under my expanded waistline. I put a hand up on the floor of the limo since I couldn’t hear, and when I felt the vibrations stop from the gunship firing, I rolled from the vehicle following Grigori and Daniil, as Roman provided a distraction for us to exit.
I landed behind a tree and stayed low, peering around it, watching in stunned shock as Daniil hopped on top (bottom) of the limo, in plain view of everyone, lifted the rocket launcher to his shoulder, got down on one knee—and he fired.
The rocket launched at an angle up through the air. I almost screamed from the explosion in the air that was loud enough to penetrate my ringing ears as it hit its mark. Grigori tossed Daniil the other one before leaning over the limo and lifting his machine gun and opening fire, providing protection for Daniil, who fired this one just as expertly and quickly. Another explosion from above and a whistling sounded as the gunship started to go down.
Daniil jumped off the car, pulling two grenades from his stash and tossing them at a group getting too close. He turned and yelled at me over the explosion that rocked the ground beneath me. I couldn’t hear him, but he twirled his fingers and jabbed a finger toward where the helicopter had gone down as he crouched behind the limo. He pulled two small handguns out of his waistline.
I nodded. He wanted me to make sure the assholes were dead in the copter. It was a safe job since they were more than likely dead. He was protecting me in his own way. I stayed low since I couldn’t hear if anyone was near, slowly making my way through the brush, rolling, and crouching behind trees where I could. It felt like it took forever, but I made my way toward where the copter had gone down, smelling burning metal the closer I got, my ears only barely recovering.
I stopped when the smell became overwhelming and tried to listen, but the only sound I could lightly make out was gunfire and grenade explosions in the distance where the firefight was happening. I breathed deeply, ready to start again when a man stumbled out from behind the tree I was hiding behind. He was bleeding from the head, and he looked dazed as he walked, his mouth moving as he said something over his shoulder that I could only barely hear but not make out.
My body froze, my heart stopping and then pounded against my chest as he stumbled over a limb, not watching where he was going, talking to the other man behind him that walked with a limp and a bloody arm that came around the tree. I lifted my weapon immediately, the second man seeing the movement and falling to the ground lifting his own gun.
And I froze. Completely froze.
My light machine gun hung limply down by my side, my one decent arm not lifting it to fire. I was tempted to lift my arm in the cast in front of my eyes.
I was such a coward. To talk about killing was one thing.
To do it was a whole other ballgame.
Roman was suddenly next to me. He peered down the sight of his gun and fired.
