I pick up the chair and carry it to the door, hoping it's heavy enough to bust the knob off, but I'm uncoordinated and weak. The most I can do is slam it against the wood, which will only draw their attention.
What on earth am I going to do? I have to get to him and warn him. I can't let him be hurt because of me.
So I set the chair down, but the instant it makes contact with the floor, I look up at the window and make a decision in a split second. I have to smash the window. It's the only way out, and I'll probably be cut up climbing through it, but I have to try.
Before I can even think about it, I pick up the chair and launch it at the window. The glass shatters so loudly, I know my brothers have heard and are coming, so I don't stop to think about anything except getting out of the room.
I run to the window and pull the chair away, looking down at the bushes under Yefim's window. It's not that far of a drop, maybe as high as I am tall, so I swing a leg out, ignoring the sharp pain of glass pressing on the heel of my palm as I slide through, and just as I drop to the ground outside the window, I hear Yefim's shout.
"Zora, get back here! What the fuck did you do!"
All I can do is run. The back of my thigh burns, and I feel searing pain in my back from leaning on the window frame wrongly. My palms are moist, and I'm probably bleeding in multiple spots, but I'm free. My feet slap the sidewalk as my eyes search frantically for help, and I see a woman unloading groceries down the block. Her car sits with the doors open and the lights on, and I make a beeline toward her.
When she looks up at me, her eyes are wide. "Are you okay?" she asks, looking down at my hands. I glance at them and see them covered in blood, but it only registers for a second before I dive into her car's driver's seat and put the car in reverse.
"I'm so sorry," I mumble as the car starts to roll backward.
"Hey, come back here! That's my car!" she shouts and runs after me, slapping the side of the car as the doors swing shut and latch loosely.
"I'm sorry!" I shout, even as I throw the car in drive and hammer the accelerator. I don't have any time to lose.
Yefim and Bogdan will be coming, and I have to make it to the fight club before that bomb goes off and kills someone. I leave her in the street screaming after me, looking around for help, and I keep my eyes locked on the road ahead.
Kazimir is going to hate me. He'll never speak to me again. And this baby I'm carrying will never know his father. But I have to save his life.
I race across town, checking my mirrors every so often to see if my brothers have followed. No doubt they are out looking for me and utterly pissed. But I never see a car following, and when Ipull up to the club and there are a dozen cars in the parking lot, I know the building is occupied. I see Kazimir's car, and my heart sinks as I slam on the brakes and throw the thing in park, then jump out and race toward the building.
There's a large man standing in the entrance with his arms crossed over his barrel chest, and he doesn't look happy to see me.
"Where's Kaz?" I keep running, pushing through the door and trying to get past him, but the man steps in front of me and puts his hand up.
"I can’t let you go in there," he says calmly.
I slam both palms against his chest and shove him back. "Get Kaz right now, get him out here right now." I'm frantic, clawing at his arm as he tries to hold me back.
"You can't be in here." The man doesn't budge as I wrestle against him, trying to turn out of his grasp, but his massive bicep hooks around my middle and pins me back against his body.
"There's a bomb in this building," I blurt out." You have to get everyone out. You have to get Kaz." Now the tears come, and I can't stop them.
A second man appears, darker skin and angry eyes. I've never seen either of them. They may be fighters or just security, but I don't want them to die either.
"What are you talking about?"
"My brothers put a bomb in this building somewhere. I don't know when they're set to go off, but it could be tonight." I'm trembling, tears streaming down my cheeks, and he still won't let go. "Please, get Kaz and get everyone out now."
The two men look at each other for a second as the first one starts to drag me back out the front door. "Please," I scream, kicking him, "Please I'm not lying. There's a bomb. It's not safe." I pound at his strong arms and thrash around, but even when I grab onto the door frame and try to hold myself inside, he pries me loose.
Until someone says my name and then he freezes. "Zora."
I've never been happier to hear that voice in my life. "Kaz."
"Zora, what are you doing here?" The man spins me around to look at Kazimir, who stands at the end of the hallway looking confused. "Let her go," he says, waving his hand, and the man sets me down.
"There's a bomb, Kaz." I run toward him and throw my arms around him, ignoring the blood on my palms. "Kaz, I'm so sorry. My brothers… there's a bomb and… Please, you have to get out." I'm sobbing so hard, I probably don't make sense at all, but he doesn't doubt me for a second.
He doesn't ask me how I know there's a bomb or why I'm bleeding or where I've been. He turns to the men and barks, "Clear the building. Everyone out. Now."
The two men turn and run toward the back of the building at his command, and Kazimir wraps his arm around my waist, dragging me with him after them. My feet can barely keep up, and my heart is racing so fast it feels like I'm having a heart attack. I've never seen him like this, and I've never felt his arms around me so strongly. We pass through the offices he brought me to before and down a long hallway, and just as we're on the heels of his cousin, heading out the back door, the building belches us out.
