Page 9 of Regal Queen

I'd been so out of it, I hadn't even noticed. Guilt strummed through me at the fact that I hadn't been coherent enough to help him.

At the large boom right outside our door, I jumped into action to help. Finally, the grate fell to the ground with a clatter, too heavy for us to hold it for long.

Grabbing the only blanket Ivan had, he wrapped it around his hand and smashed his fist into the glass. The fighting sounds grew louder and Ivan grew more desperate.

My own heart was pounding. I felt alive for the first time in days.

Glass shattered around us and blood drained down his arm. But he kept at it, smashing through the glass until there was a hole big enough for us to climb out.

Panic shot through me at the sound of the door unlocking. Ivan twisted and grabbed my waist, heaving me up onto the windowsill. I grasped the side and pain shot through my hands as the glass cut into my palms. Using all my energy, I heaved myself out the window.

It was a short drop but my body was instantly encased in ice as I fell into a snow drift.

I struggled to climb out of it, scrambling to get out of the way to make room for Ivan.

There was a muted banging noise and I yelped, looking upwards. Ivan was in the windowsill, his hands clutching the side, his eyes on me.

"Get out of there,” I screamed, waving my arm. "Come on."

He shook his head, and his fingers dug into the windowsill even more. What the hell was he doing?

He croaked out three words, a single phrase that broke me in two. "Run, my flower.”

It was then that I noticed the red blossoming on his chest.

Bullets.

Oh God. They’d shot him, but he was holding onto the window for his dear life, holding them off for me.

My breath caught in my throat, tears burning my eyes, but I turned and began to run.

It was like pushing a boulder up a mountain. The snow was thick and I was too sluggish, but I gave it every thing I had. All I had to do was make it to the woods.

That was what Ivan had always told me.

If I could make it to the woods, there was a sewer big enough for me to hide in until I could escape the guards.

I ran with my heart in my throat.

I ran until my feet gave out from under me and I was crawling on my knees in the snow.

I didn't know why no one was chasing me, why no one was shooting at me to try and keep me from escaping, but I wasn’t going to turn around to find out.

After a few minutes, I managed to get back on my feet and kept running.

My whole body was numb, my only clothes the large shirt and pants Bourbon had given me, and Ivan's boots and coat.

My finger was throbbing and the others were numb, including my toes, but I made it to the tree line, exhausted. It took me only a few minutes to find the grate and the lid gave in easily, groaning as I opened it and dragged myself inside.

Then I ran some more, hurtling through the darkness until I literally couldn't lift my feet any more.

And then I crawled until my knees and hands were bloody.

Until my body wouldn't move another inch, and all I could do was huddle against the cold steel wall.

And when Dimitri's men finally came for me, I screamed and clawed at them until finally, I was too tired to fight any longer.

I'd already known my life would end up like this, and maybe the darkness at the edges of my vision would bring a happiness with it.

I would see Lily again, right?

I gave in, and the blackness took me just as I collapsed in someone's arms.

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