Page 76 of Darkness

“Bastardo,” Eva yells, resuming her struggle.

He presses his gun into the side of Eva’s temple. His eyes, however, fixate on Ivy. “Ivy, come with me, or I shoot.”

“Like hell you will,” I blast.

Andrés inches forward, his finger twitching on the trigger.

Ivy hesitates but steps willingly into Andrés’s arms. He quickly shoves Eva away from him, causing her to stumble slightly with the force of his thrust. “I’ll just take this one, then. The proceeds of your sale will more than make up for my investment. You seem attached to the sister, Nycto, so keep her. A show of good faith.”

“Good faith? You think I’m gonna let you walk out of here alive with Ivy?” I grunt.

“I think you don’t have a choice.”

My gun aims directly at Andrés, while his points at Eva. I have only one second to decide, so I do. “Fine. You win, Andrés. Take the girl.”

Eva gasps. “No… Nycto, no. How could you?”

I lower my gun.

As Andrés moves off, Eva’s eyes well, overflowing with tears as she whispers, “No… no.” Trixie holds her tightly, making sure she doesn’t go after Andrés. Eva glares at me, the hatred in her eyes palpable.

Andrés edges past me, and as he does, I raise my gun slightly and pull the trigger. The bullet slams into his thigh. He drops to the floor, screaming, and his gun goes off in the process. I rush in and pull Ivy away, grabbing his weapon and kicking his knee for good measure. He wails in pain as I aim both guns at his head.

Andrés’s pleading eyes lock onto mine. “Just kill me, Nycto,” he pants out in a pathetic plea.

I snicker. “I have something much, much better planned for you. You won’t get out of this so easily.” I turn to Ivy. “I’m gonna need your room for a bit.” I grab him forcefully and drag him into the Cell, leaving a trail of blood in his wake, then use the attached cuffs to cuff him to the pole. I slam the brick wall shut, entombing him inside.

“Eva?” Ivy whispers.

“Ivy?” Her whispered whimper catches my attention. Red has bloomed across Eva’s chest, soaking her shirt. She looks at her blood-soaked hands, then falls to the floor, limp as a discarded ragdoll. Her hand clenches to her chest as she gasps for air. My heart slams hard, then stops a beat as fear cripples me. Before I can move, Stace is there, pressing hard on Eva’s chest as blood pools beneath her body. Ivy’s there next.

“We need to see the wound,” Ivy says, ripping off her shirt. “On the count of three, remove your hand so I can see, then use this to slow the bleeding. One, two, three.”

Eva’s eyes meet mine as the blood runs away from her like a goddamn river. “Fuck, Eva, stay with me!”

I can’t look away from those gorgeous brown eyes, her usually tanned skin paling. Meanwhile, Ivy seems in complete control. “Stace, on three, roll her on her side toward you so I can check for an exit wound. One, two, three… no exit wound. Shit.”

She’s been shot in the upper chest. We have to get her to the hospital. How close did it get to her heart? Snapping out of my stupor, I focus on what we need to do next.

“Stacey, keep pressure on the wound,” I say. “Trix, Pepper, I don’t fucking care who, race ahead and find Nerve if he’s still alive. Fuck. If you find him, tell him I’m coming in hot. Ivy, stay close.”

Adrenaline soars through me as I bend, hoisting Eva up into my arms.

All three club girls run off ahead of us as Ivy and I race toward the stairs.

“C’mon, Eva, you’re gonna be okay,” I tell her.

Ivy’s eyes flood with tears as we take the stairs together. Her sister means everything to both of us. We can’t lose her now, not like this.

We reach the top of the stairs, and Nerve rushes over with Trixie. “Put her on the table,” he instructs.

Trixie pushes the condiment shakers off the table, and they clang on the floor as I lay Eva down flat. My muscles tense as I watch her limp form, knowing there’s absolutely nothing I can do to help her right now.

Nerve shoves me out of the way and steps in to assess her. I step back, running my bloodied hands through my hair as everyone rushes over to see what’s going on. Luckily, the fighting up here has stopped. Ivy moves to my side and wraps her arms around my waist, tears streaming down her face and her bottom lip trembling as she watches on. Normally, the move would make me uncomfortable, but right now, I could do with some comfort.

We all stand back as Nerve works on Eva. “I can’t do this here, Pres. The bullet is in too far. We have to take her to my clinic.”

“Do whatever you have to. You know how fucking important she is to me.”

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