“How many of the Irish and Armenians are left?” Dominik asks.
“Too many,” I tell him. “Probably three times the number of men that we have left. They’re still swarming the place, waiting for survivors to come out. We came here through the basement passage. ”
“Is it smart to stay here if we’re so outnumbered?” Alina says as she rests her hand on my upper arm.
“I can’t leave,” I tell her, my chest aching at how concerned she looks. She wants me to flee and spare myself, but I just can’t do that. “My men may have been taken hostage. The dead need to be buried. This is my estate. If I leave, we lose.”
“If you don’t leave, you’ll die,” Alina replies in a firmer voice.
I hold her gaze, fighting the urge to unravel and run away with her. Fuck, part of me wants to. But I can’t.
“I’ll fight with you.”
Dominik’s voice drags me out of my spiraling thoughts.
“I’ll help you sneak up on the rest of their forces. We’ll pick them off,” Dominik continues. “They’ll still be looking for you. They don’t know about the bunker yet or that we’ll be coming up from behind them.”
My brother already has a plan.
Relief crashes down on me, and I have to clench my jaw to keep it from showing on my face.
“Dom…” Alina starts.
“If he’s not going to leave, I’m staying with him,” Dominik tells Alina. Her face softens as she nods in not just acceptancebut also agreement. She holds my arm firmer, not going anywhere.
“We’ll fight too,” Viktor agrees as Petrov and Renat nod their agreement.
“Fine. But if you’re going to fight, you’ll have to do it asPakhan,” I tell Dominik, watching his expression shift in surprise.Pakhanhad never meant having a crown or glory. It represented standing strong when everyone else was breaking. My brother has always had what it takes to lead.
“That’s not necessary,” Dominik replies with a shake of his head.
“It is,” I assure him, unable to carry the weight of leadership right now. “You’re uninjured and have healthy men. I led us as far as I could. Now it’s your turn.”
Dominik frowns, looking conflicted. “Gavriil…”
“Dominik,” I say as our eyes meet. “You’re who they need now. Who she needs.”
Dominik tears his gaze away from me to look at Alina, his brows knitting as he considers it.
He can pretend to refuse all he wants, but I know what his answer will be in the end. It all boils down to what will most likely keep Alina safe. Before she came along, my brother never thought he had what it took to lead. Now he knows the truth.
He’s just as capable as I am. Possibly even more so.
“Okay,” Dominik replies when he turns back to me. “I need to know what we’re up against.”
I slide my hand around to Alina’s hip, grounding myself in the only thing that hasn’t wavered tonight.
It’s clear to me now that I need her and Dominik both. Fighting that is what nearly destroyed us all.
“They have to be close to using up all their explosives. All vehicles have been parked and emptied of the men they broughtwith them,” I tell him. “Last I saw, they were combing the grounds for survivors.”
Dominik nods as he listens. “We’re outnumbered, but they’re contained in one place. We can do something about that.”
There has to be some way for us to all come out of this alive, I’m just not sure what that is yet.
That’s why I’m finally putting our lives—and my trust—in Dominik’s capable hands.
I don’t know how we survive this, but for the first time, I’m not facing the burden alone.
