The woods are dark and still, as if even the crickets are too terrified to make a sound.
But so far, we thankfully haven’t run into anyone.
Renat mentioned that he feared friendly fire, meaning one of the Russians shooting before realizing who we are, and that hasn’t helped my nerves.
Dominik eventually holds up his palm and has us stop near a tight group of trees.
I glance over at him, feeling a little surprised that he came to a stop. “Dom?” I whisper.
His eyes sweep from left to right, his body stiff and on edge. “Not much further now. We should hurry through the next part before anyone on either side sees us.”
My heart rate spikes as shots continue to ring out.
As long as they’re firing, it means the Russians—Gavriil—are still putting up a fight.
I breathe out shakily, unable to imagine the chaos and massacre happening right now. Is Gavriil even still alive?
My chest tightens at the thought of him lying dead somewhere. All alone.
No. The Russians would’ve run or surrendered if he wasn’t still alive, still raising hell.
Gavriil is smart, strong, deadly. He’ll find a way to survive, whatever it takes.
He has to.
Because what I feel for him only burns brighter now, sharpened by all our unfinished business.
I want to hear the truth from his mouth in English, not in a set of keys, or from the way he made love to me.
I want him to say the words I know he feels.
I need to hear them. So, he has to stay alive. For me. For us. For Dominik.
“Let’s move,” Dominik says as he takes my hand. I give him a squeeze of reassurance before the five of us take off running.
The last time I ran this hard was when I was trying to get away from Dom.
This time, we run long enough for my lungs to begin to burn.
That’s when the boom of a gun sounds even closer.
“Get down!” Viktor shouts.
I stupidly look over my shoulder before Dom jerks me down to the ground and covers me with his body.
God, I wish he would stop doing that!
Viktor returns fire and then says, “Run!”
We all get back to our feet and sprint faster than before.
I can’t even spare a second to think. I just trust Dominik to lead the way to safety.
He squeezes my hand in encouragement. “Not much further. Stay with me,dikaya koshka.”
I pump my arms and legs faster to keep up with him on the uneven terrain.
We run until we spot an orange glow in the distance. The sight makes all of us come to an abrupt stop.
