The alley is strangely silent. Only the faintest sound from the club and the background noise of traffic twenty yards away reach my ears.
I’m alone.
With two dead men at my feet.
My stomach heaves. I swallow it down.
I need to call the police. An ambulance?
Fuck, where’s my phone?
My eyes fly to the staircase just past his body. It landed somewhere near there.
Just go get it.
My legs ignore the command.
I can’t walk back towards him. Even if he’s no longer a threat.
A rough breath tears at my lungs, my brain at war with my body.
Go to the street… to the front of the club.
Get help.
My legs refuse.
Come on, Sera.You can do this. Walk toward the lights. Safety.
Just as my feet lurch forward, the lights at the end of the alley shift. The headlights of the cars are blocked by a large silhouette.
Its long strides are purposeful.
Coming straight for me.
I open my mouth to scream, but a hysterical laugh comes out instead.
3
LIEV
“Quiet.”
The word comes out low, edged with steel, but the girl hears me. Her mouth snaps shut on a squeak, and she slaps bloodstained hands over her face, hiding all but her white-rimmed eyes.
My brows dive as I try to figure out what the fuck has happened.
Decide what the danger is.
It’s not her.
Despite the blood covering her hands and splattered on her legs and feet, it’s obvious she’s not a threat. Her wide, unblinking gaze tells me that, if she’s not already in shock, she will be soon.
There’s something oddly familiar about her. I take a step closer, my eyes cataloguing everything. Even in the weak alley light, the dirty bare feet and livid marks already rising on her neck tell me what I need to know.
My gaze goes first to Petyr Petrov’s bloody body and then jerks to my father lying in a pool of blood.
Fuck.
