‘Roman,’ she gasps, arms lifting to touch his face.‘Oh God, no.’
Lachlan stares in total shock.
Alistair, with horror, utters, ‘No.’
And then Danya is there.
‘Lachlan,’ he says, hand on his shoulder.
When he sees Roman, he goes still.
Lachlan makes himself look away, dazed beyond belief.‘Danny,’ he whispers, gripping the other man’s arm tight.Danya returns the grip, staring at the boy Lachlan thinks is his brother.Danya is fully suited up.He stares at Roman with barely restrained loss and grief and Lachlan knows that heknew.
‘Take him,’ he says, means Jules, as he rises to stand.
Sorrenko is bleeding out on the floor.
Alistair goes to the bed Ariadne lies upon.‘My love,’ he cries.‘Please, no.’
Others come streaming down the staircase, bringing medical support, telling everyone they need to leave, the island is burning.
‘Help Savannah,’ Lachlan instructs tonelessly.‘Get them out.’
Mikhail Sorrenko is not yet dead.
Lachlan stands over him.‘You killed your own son.’
Mikhail, whose tears run down his temples, gurgles on blood.
‘And yet,’ he chokes out, ragged and pained, eyes glassy, ‘it is better… thanthislife I now break f-from.Death frightens all men who dream… but what dreams may come for monsters?’
Lachlan has Roman Sorrenko’s blood on his hands.
It doesn’t belong anywhere else.
‘None,’ Lachlan says, and shoots Mikhail Sorrenko dead.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Fire takes the mansion, consumes it.
They make it out with only minutes to spare.Lachlan carries Roman while Danya carries Savannah.One breathing, one not.Jules stays close to Lachlan, still crying but it’s quieter now.He holds Lachlan’s belt loops with his fingers and won’t let go.When they make it to the beach, Lachlan sees a big old OPV offshore waiting for them and five beached zodiacs to get them there.
A heavy-duty medical team is waiting for them too.When Danya hands Savannah over to them, giving a brief rundown of the basics, Lachlan hears her pained cries as they perform a rapid trauma assessment, applying chest seals and pressure dressings, opening her airway.Lachlan almost wants to look away.It’s so unlikely she’ll survive, surprising that she’s made it this far even.Alistair joins the medical team, giving serious, quiet instructions.
Danya walks over to Lachlan.He’s in heavier tactical gear than Lachlan’s ever seen him wear.‘Why don’t you let me take him?’There’s no pity in Danya’s voice, only patience.
Lachlan shakes his head, tightens his grip on Roman.‘No, I’ve got him.’
Danya doesn’t argue, gives a slow nod.‘We’ll go back for the others, then.’
‘There are no others.’
But there are.
Ariadne Alderwyck is pronounced officially dead on the shore, Mikhail Sorrenko too.Danya dragged out what was left of Richard Vale, but the crabs and rats had taken their fair share.Madeline Delacroix is the lone survivor of Alistair’s inner circle.Once the medics deem her stable enough for transport, Savannah is placed flat on a soft litter and then carefully carried into the first zodiac to leave the island.
Alistair Penhalyx stares at the mansion while it burns.
