I might not know much about criminal stuff, but one thing was clear, even to me: Whoever sent them knew exactly where I was.
“Alina!” Konstantin yelled. “Get away from the window!”
Right.
I should have known that.
I left the window area and approached him and the bald man, where they were still gathering arms. Two men rushed into the library, heavily armed, too.
“Sir!” they chorused, facing Konstantin.
“Take her to the basement enclosure. Her safety is on your lives,” the bald man told both of them.
“Yes, boss,” they answered.
“Alina, go with them. Stay close to them as you guys leave. Behind them,” Konstantin instructed, strapping on a shoulder holster. “One wrong move and you’re dead.”
I felt fear, but there was something else, too. Defiance.
Straightening my spine, I shook my head side to side. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Konstantin raised a brow, and I told him, “I won’t be treated as cargo. I’m not going to head silently over to the basement with your men. I’ve been in this war since you took me. I want to fight.”
His gaze held mine for a few heartbeats before he turned to the two men.
“Go join the others.”
They left, and the bald man told him, “I’ll go put them into formation.”
Konstantin nodded, and the man left, guns in his hands.
Then he turned his gaze on me again, his blue eyes calculating.
“Once you get into a fight like this, it follows you,” he warned, like he was pleading. “There is no going back from it.”
I nodded, and he sighed. He didn’t say anything else as he picked a compact pistol and placed his hand on a small protrusion. “Safety,” he said, showing me. “You pull this back and press the trigger.”
He handed me the cool metal.
“Two shots if you have to. Stay behind me. Do not run.”
I nodded in understanding, curling my fingers around the weapon, which felt bigger than it looked in his hands.
That was when I heard the first round of gunshots. Konstantin didn’t falter; he picked another gun from the open shelf and looked towards me.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his touch leaving tingles in its wake, as he told me in a soft tone I could have sworn I’d never heard him use, “You’re under my protection now.”
I could see guards running through the halls, and Konstantin had an order to bark at almost everyone he saw. Sirens wailed outside, and the sound of gunshots rang out downstairs.
Then he led the way out of the library, and I followed. The pistol shook in my hands as we moved to the main hallway.
“Where are Greta and the others?” I asked Konstantin, raising my voice above the din as we raced down the stairs.
“They are being moved to safety,” he disclosed before warning, “Don’t move away from my back.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
As we left the second flight of stairs and got to the sitting room, Konstantin's right arm suddenly came around me as he moved me to duck. The gunshots shattered the front windows, making shards of glass rain over us.
