The fates must hear the blessing and decide to fuck me over one last time. A scream cuts through the night.
“No!” Grace cries out. She’s close. Fuck. She’s in the foyer. “No, no, n–”
As I whip towards the house, another shot rings out, ricocheting through my body as surely as if I’d taken the bullet myself. Grace stops screaming.
Chapter 36
Grace
Creeping over broken glass, Ed and I keep to the edges of the hall. There are dead bodies lying in pools of blood, but I’m more scared of meeting the living. My skin crawls as I scan the gallery above. All is quiet except for an odd scraping sound coming from the foyer. We draw closer to it.
Ed and I give each other nods of encouragement and gestures like we’re the FBI about to make a bust. We peek out through the double doors together.
There’s a trail of blood smeared across the marble floor leading to a man clawing his way over a dead body. A belt is tied around Killian’s thigh, but he’s still bleeding out. There’s no fear of him seeing us. He’s so determined to get to the door that he hasn’t even noticed the man standing right behind him.
Danyl has his back to us and is using the barrel of his gun to track Killian’s desperate efforts to grab the door handle. Killian must think he can still save Katarina. I hope someone can. I’m desperate to know where Duke and hisbrothers have gone, but other than the scrape and slide of Killian’s movements, the house is eerily silent.
Ed gestures for me to keep my gun trained on Danyl while he steps into the foyer. Gun extended, he sweeps our surroundings for other potential threats. Once he’s satisfied, he edges closer to Danyl, his lower lip held firmly between his teeth. Shooting someone in the back is normally frowned upon, but Ed won’t win a face to face duel with the ruthless Bratva guard.
I want him to take the shot, and when he doesn’t, I step away from the doorway. If Danyl turns before Ed shoots, I’m going to have to use this damn gun. And if I’m going to hit something, I need to be closer.
Danyl looms over Killian, and I have to swallow a gasp as he makes a quick grab for the gun Killian has shoved in his waistband. Killian immediately flips himself over with a grunt of pain, his hand reaching for another weapon hidden beneath his bulletproof vest.
“Don’t even try it,” Danyl snaps.
Killian hisses out a curse as he lifts his hands away from his body and looks around the foyer. His gaze sweeps straight past us. He knows we’re here. Danyl doesn’t.
“A cockroach like you has no right touching a Bratva woman,” Danyl says, “but Katarina is my toy now. I wanted you to know that before you die. By tonight, I will have filled every one of her pretty holes and I’ll keep doing it until she can’t remember your name.”
Killian’s open palms clamp into fists. “You couldn’t handle a woman like Katarina,” he says through gritted teeth. “I’ve seen what she does to men who take what they don’t deserve. That woman will survive all of us.” He laughs to himself. “She wouldn’t even notice your limp dick inside her, and I’ll die happy knowing it’s only my cock that couldever satisfy her. So go on, you useless piece of shite, shoot me.”
Danyl taps his earpiece. “I have him in my sights. Just say the word,” He speaks in English for Killian’s benefit, but there’s no doubt he’s addressing another Russian. Vasili.
Killian’s gaze flicks to Ed. “For fuck’s sake,shoot.”
Ed jumps at the command and when he takes the shot, Danyl drops to his knees with a grunt. Ed had aimed below the bulletproof layer covering Danyl’s chest and has hit him in the ass. Not a kill shot.
As Killian rears up, Danyl extends both arms and aims his two guns. One points at Killian, the other at Ed.
Ed and I freeze, but not Killian. He unsheathes a knife and with a flick of his wrist, embeds it in Danyl’s shoulder. Danyl hisses through gritted teeth, but he sways only slightly as he keeps Killian in his sights and squeezes the trigger.
Killian’s body flips backwards and I hear the sickening crack of his head hitting the marble floor. I barely get out a gasp as Danyl fires the second gun in our direction. I feel the shot before I hear it and I’m sent flying backwards.
The bullet to my chest doesn’t penetrate past the Kevlar, but it’s not just the vest that saves me. The round had already slowed as it passed through Ed’s body. He wasn’t wearing a bullet-proof vest. There was nothing to protect him. Nothing at all. His body lands on top of mine like a dead weight. Because it is…
“No!” I scream as Ed’s blood soaks into me.
I scramble backwards, careful not to hurt him as I let his body slump to the floor. My brain refuses to process that his beautiful soul is gone. And Killian’s dead too. I don’t know him but I know the woman who loves… loved him. My next scream is full of fury as I tighten my grip on the Glock and get to my feet.
My breath hitches as I face their killer. Danyl hasn’t moved. He smirks as he closes one eye and sets me in his gun’s sights.
His hand is shaking as a result of the stab wound in his shoulder, whereas my grip is surprisingly steady. Maiming Danyl won’t be enough to end this so I aim for his head. His smirk grows. He’s prolonging the agony because he doesn’t think I’ll do it.
“No, no, n–!” I yell, my words cutting off as I squeeze the trigger.
Blood and gore explode from the side of Danyl’s head and he flips backwards. And as he lands, more bullet holes puncture his body. The shooting comes from behind me and I should be terrified. I should scream. But my body has gone rigid.
A thick arm bands around my waist, another reaching past my shoulder to grab my gun. I won’t give up my weapon. I won’t.
