It’s really him.
Gavriil limps into the bunker along with Valentin and two others. His clothes are slightly burned, and blood covers his face and hair. But he’s alive.
He’s alive.
My knees threaten to buckle as Gavriil’s blue eyes meet mine. There’s a spark in them that make my eyes sting with relief and frustration and something deeper than both of those things. I don’t think that I’ve ever been so relieved in my life.
Before I collapse under the weight of all that I’m feeling, I run over to him, throwing myself into his arms.
He hugs me tighter than he ever has before.
46
Gavriil
Pain radiatesthroughout my entire body as Alina tightens her hold on me, but I don’t so much as grimace.
She’ll pull away if I wince and having her in my arms right now is the only thing keeping me upright.
“Alina…” I breathe into her hair, cradling her as close as possible.
“We thought you were dead,” she tells me, her voice shaking. She breathes in deeply as her fingers curl in my hair, that simple motion calming me despite the hell waiting for us outside.
“I’m okay,” I assure her.
I’m alive despite the blood seeping into my clothes, the burning pain from my wounds. But we’re losing this fucking fight.
I lift my eyes to peer over her shoulder, realizing that at least twelve of my men made it down here. Most are injured, but they made it out of the house.
I definitely didn’t expect to find Alina…or Dominik.
When my eyes meet my brother’s, my muscles tense, bracing for his anger at seeing Alina in my arms.
Dominik’s face is clouded with emotions that I can’t single out or label. But after a few seconds go by, his face softens, and he gives me a faint nod.
That nod could say a dozen things.
Maybe he’s fine with this.
Maybe he’s glad that I’m not dead.
All I’m sure of is that for now, we’reokay.
I nod back.
Alina draws back a few inches, her hands still gripping the back of my bloody shirt. She frowns as her eyes sweep over me. “You’re hurt. You’re bleeding. Are these burns?”
I gently take her hands in mine, keeping her from lifting my clothes to see how bad my wounds are. Seeing her, I’m really not concerned about my current state.
Alina is here, under the estate where war is raging, and now isn’t the time for me to fail. I have to protect her.
She came back for me.
They both did.
So, I need to figure out how to get us all out of here alive.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I murmur under my breath as I keep taking her in, weaving her into my reality because seeing her feels like I’m in a dream. “It’s not safe.”
