Everyone breathes at the same time.
“As many as you can spare,” Dominik answers.
“Give me thirty minutes and your location. We’ll pull a group together to come to your rescue.”
A smirk tugs at Dom’s lips before he looks at me, giving me a proud nod. Maybe things will work out in our favor.
Dominik relays all the information that the Italians need to Maximo before ending the call. “Take this time to rest up, stock up on the ammo kept in the lockers over there, and patch yourselves up. When the Italians arrive, we need to get into position. We have one chance to hit these guys back. We can’t fuck it up.”
Everyone nods before splitting apart to do what they need to do. Matvei remains.
“I know something that could help give us an advantage,” Matvei says before grabbing a large, black case from under the table. He sets it down on the surface and flips open the top, showing us a black drone tucked inside, along with a tablet.
Dominik immediately nods. “Eyes in the sky would help. Anyone know how to fly a drone without running it into the ground?”
“I can do it,” Renat volunteers.
Dominik moves closer to me. “You should stay down here with him.”
“While you guys are risking your lives out there?” I question him, my heart lurching at the thought of being separated from them.
Gavriil places his hand on the side of my face. “You need to stay down here,printsessa. I’m sure we’ve got an extra mic somewhere. You can report to us what the drone sees. Be an extra set of eyes for us.”
At least he isn’t asking me to sit around and wait. If I’m going to be down here, I want to be useful.
“Okay, I can do that,” I say with a determined nod. “And I won’t miss anything.”
The corner of his mouth turns up. “I know you won’t.”
“You should let Yelena look at you before you go out there,” I tell him as hope fills my eyes. I just want him to take care of himself.
“I’m not bleeding much anymore,” Gavriil replies. “She’s busy with the others anyway.”
“Your life matters too,” I say as I rest my hand on his arm. “It matters to me. To Dom.”
I glance over at Dom as he stands nearby. He nods in response before meeting his brother’s eyes.
“You’re in pretty bad shape, and we’re about to storm back into battle,” Dom tells him. “At least get some bandages.”
I give Gavriil’s arm a light shake. “Please.”
Gavriil sighs quietly before stepping away, walking with a slight limp that probably hurts worse than he’s letting on.
“Maybe my brother is actually becoming less stubborn,” Dom comments.
I turn to him with a small smile. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Dom smiles back and steps forward, his lips grazing my forehead. Such a simple, soft touch coaxes me to close my eyes, a brief wave of peace washing over me. It won’t last, but it’s nice while it does.
“I’m glad we came back,” I tell him, hoping that he feels the same way.
He seems fine with me being around Gavriil, but I can’t read his mind. I don’t know if he’s just acting like he’s okay with everything or not.
“Me too,” Dominik replies.
We stand there together for a few minutes, existing in our little bubble while people rush around us to get things done. Only when I hear Gavriil’s voice do we break apart.
“There. Patched up.”
