Page 74 of Enemy of the Heart

I’m panting as I suggest, “We can…try to cut them off from outside.”

The odds are not in our favor here, but if the two of us can attack the troops from the rear, there’s a chance we might all survive this. Maybe.

“Lou,” I hear my best friend’s voice boom through the house, followed by groans, two gunshots, and the kind of strained, heavy breathing that accompanies close combat. “I need you to check in.” A gunshot follows his strangled words, then, “Confirm location, Louhi.”

Where did she go? I’ve lost sight of everyone but Viktor. But when I dart my attention in the direction of the living room, I nearly get my head blown off. Shit.

When she doesn’t reply, Viktor’s eyes flick to me briefly. In that split second, my panic is reflected back at me, but there’s no time to help Sean. “Sasha is going to be so pissed,” Viktor mumbles, striding through the open back door like he isn’t bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound.

He’s in the snow before I can utter a word to stop him. If he goes alone, he’ll die. What choice do I have? I don’t like the idea of leaving Sean when he’s clearly distressed, but we’re severely outnumbered, and I’m not interested in dying tonight. I grind my teeth, reminding myself that he’s capable of keeping himself and Lou safe.

The last thing I hear as I rush outside is Sean’s panicked roar. “Louhi!”

Sean

My body trembles as though I’m the only one in this house experiencing an earthquake. A cloud of pitch-black terror sweeps through my mind as I dodge bullets and the onslaught of terrifying images that are spilling through my brain. I don’t know how long it’s been since Lou went to get the rocket launcher, but I don’t like that she’s not back yet. Why isn’t she responding? Is she dead? Bleeding out? Shit. Fuck.

I narrowly miss a round flying at my already aching shoulder. Torn in half by fear and rage, my nostrils flare, and I growl as I pull the trigger of my new Ruger once, twice, three motherfucking times. The wall streaks with blood as he slumps to the ground, the soldier looking more like Swiss cheese now than a Green Beret.

On the other side of the room, Mercer grunts as he whacks someone in the face with the butt of his gun. He must be out of ammunition. I retrieve the Glock from the floor where it fell from the deceased man.

It’s impressive how well Mercer is holding his own, considering what shape he’s in. It’s probably the adrenaline. There’s a solid chance I wouldn’t notice if someone shot off one of my legs right now.

“Mercer.” I grab his attention and toss him the firearm. It’s not the safest thing I’ve ever done, but I can’t let her brother die here. He catches it and pulls the trigger. The soldier falls back, but not before he gets a shot off, and it grazes Mercer’s bare shoulder. He hisses but seems to appreciate how lucky he is.

My chest is tight as I call Louhi’s name again. Still no answer. I grit my teeth against the uneasiness. Three more soldiers pour into the room. It feels like someone must have a bucket of plastic green army men and dumps another handful onto the property every few minutes. My rational brain is aware there aren’t that many; we’re just severely outnumbered.

“Baby, tell me you’re alive,” I bellow, no longer giving a single goddamn fuck who can hear me, what I sound like, or that I’m giving away my location. It’s breaking a fundamental rule of war, but I didn’t get any instructions on what to do when the love of my life is missing in action.

“Go,” Mercer orders, his voice strained and chest heaving. He doesn’t have to tell me twice.

In less than two heartbeats, I’m down the hallway, clearing the bedrooms as I go. It’s only when I reach the bedroom Louhi and I have been sharing that my chest squeezes painfully as I see her engaged in physical combat with a soldier who has her pinned to the floor. But she’s alive.

He has a forearm pressed to her pretty throat, the neck that’s mine to squeeze. Only mine. He’s groaning as she digs her thumbs into his eye sockets. She’s thrashing, presumably attempting to knee the asshole in the nuts.

She’s covered in blood splatter and maybe some soft tissue. Her hair is matted and wet-looking. Her face is twisted in pain and savagery.

He squirms, muttering a curse as his fingertips finally touch the hilt of his tactical knife from where it’s been tossed haphazardly on the ground. It takes me three long strides to get to them.

The soldier screeches when the bones in his hand crunch under the weight of my boot. I could press the barrel of my Ruger to the back of his head and pull the trigger, but the set to Lou’s jaw and her hard gaze tell me this kill is entirely hers. Who am I to deprive her?

His broken hand causes him to loosen his hold on her throat. She gasps even while her lips curl into a cruel, stiff smile. The reprieve is enough to gain her the upper hand again. She wraps a leg around him and flips them so she’s straddling him. I pass her my Ruger.

“When you see the flash, make sure to smile,” she teases. His eyes only widen for a second, then she’s pulling the trigger. He didn’t smile.

She pops up and sets the Ruger on the mattress. Her face is practically sunshine when she faces me. “Alright, who’s ne—”

“I called your name a dozen times.”

She frowns, looking up at me as blood drips down her face.

My chest heaves like I’ve just completed a fifteen-mile run with a rucksack strapped to me. “Fuck, Lou. I was so—” I roughly drag both my hands up and down my face a couple times. “Shit. I could’ve lost you.”

Too casually, too easily, she lifts a shoulder, expression softening slightly. “I’m fine.”

“Not good enough,” I grit out, my voice low and gravelly. My hand finds her throat, my thumb and fingers digging into the sides as I press her body hard against the wall. Pinning her torso so there’s no escape, my thigh slots between her muscular legs, and my gaze locks onto hers with what I’m sure is a raging fire of intensity. Her eyes widen, but there’s not a hint of fear. “Tell me what those Finnish words meant. Right. The fuck. Now.”

Tonight, I was reminded of how short life can be, how risky our situation is, how fallible we are as human beings. It doesn’t matter that she’s the strongest, most capable person I know. She’s a human being. I can’t be left on this earth alone, with my soul in tatters and my heart weeping for eternity.