Page 142 of Bratva Knight

My gaze collided with Luke's. His eyes shone with regret. He didn’t want to be there, that much was obvious. Ryan was at his side, and so was John, whose expression was filled with glee. He smiled at me, flashing his teeth in a feral smile. He pointed at me, then at himself, a silent promise that he was coming for me.

That was fine with me. I had been waiting to kill him since the moment I met him.

“Have I delivered, or have I delivered?!” Talon roared, his arms spread out wide.

The crowd cheered, stomping their feet and clapping their hands.

“Now, as this is a fight with the Volkov Family, it’s only fair thatallmembers of the family participate. And, would you look at that, we have another one right here!” The camera panned out, landing on Dominik.

His eyes widened in shock as he was surrounded by soldiers. “What? What’s going on here?!” They grasped him tightly and, at Talon’s command, escorted him out of the box seat. A few moments later, he was thrown into the sand field with us.

“Father,” I growled, my eyes locked on the backstabbing man that was my uncle as he picked himself up, dusting sand off his clothes. His head darted left to right in distress, looking for a way out.

“Leave him. He’smine,” Father vowed, darkness and vengeance dripping from his tone.

“Of course, we want to keep it fair, so weapons will be in play,” Talon continued as if nothing had happened. He’d just betrayed the very man responsible for bringing my father—and, by extension, us—to him. The look on Dominik’s face was fucking priceless. “But they’ll have to get to them first.”

The ground shook, and walls of weapons rose from the sand at the edges of the Arena. Knives, swords, spears, shields, axes, katanas. All right there. His army of soldiers stood between us and the weapons, which meant we’d have to go through them to get to them.

Talon didn’t give a shit about fair. If he did, it wouldn’t be fifty versus six. There was no way we were going to win, because he didn’twantus to win. He wanted to humiliate us. To watch us get overrun and slaughtered.

Well, we weren’t going to make it easy for them, that was for damn sure.

The men surrounded us from all sides, forming a big, loose circle. They moved closer and closer as one, slinking forward like a snake. I could see Dominik on the outskirts, running for the wall of weapons.

Talon was still talking but I’d stopped listening. I think all of us did, focusing instead on the army of men that was getting closer and closer.

Father shifted at my side, his eyes never leaving the threat in front of him. “Fight hard. Watch each other’s backs. And remember, I love you all.”

Illayana gasped, her gaze whipping to him in shock. She hadn’t been there when Father pulled each of us aside one by one to say a final goodbye, so it was the first time hearing those words from him. And it had shocked her, like it did all of us.

Aleksandr gripped the top of her head with his whole hand and turned it, forcing her to look forward again."Sosredotoch'tes'!“ Focus!he snapped.

Deep, bassy music began to play. Lukyan jumped up and down on the spot, shaking out his hands. Father cracked his neck and put his fists up. Autumn stretched her arms above her head, twisting her body at the waist left and right.

“If we don’t make it out of this, Your Royal Grouchiness, it hasnotbeen nice working with you,” she said to Father, taking a fighting stance.

Father grunted. “Same to you, devil woman.”

Aleksandr whispered to Illayana to stay close to him and she nodded. For once, she wasn’t pulling the whole “I can take care of myself” card, because this was a situation where we all needed to help each other. They each took up position, bodies tight and ready for action.

I took a deep breath, my gaze shifting from one person to the next, assessing. I thought of Tatiana. Of her bewitching hazel eyes and silky golden hair. Of her beautiful smile and her soft, smooth skin. Her face materialised in front of my eyes and I couldn’t help but smile.

Tatiana, I love you.

“Let the games begin!” Talon roared.

Aleksandr rushed forward and front kicked the first soldier within his reach, sending him flying back. A knife came sailing towards him. He blocked, punched the man in the face, took the blade from his hand and tossed it over his shoulder to Illayana. She caught it, flipped it into a better hold and sliced right across a man’s throat.

I ducked and weaved, trying my best to avoid the swing of an axe and fists hurtling towards my face. I twisted out of the axe’s path, grabbed a man by the back of the head and smashed his face into my knee as I drove it upwards. Lukyan’s hollering war cry rang in my ears as he ran past me and literally jumped into a man’s arms, knocking him down.

Swiping up the axe, I gripped it with both hands, lifted it over my head and sent it hurtling at the soldier running towards Lukyan. His whole body went airborne from the force of the axe impaling deep into his chest and he let loose a blood-curdling scream. A scream that made me smile like a feral wolf.

I dodged and punched, kicked and blocked. My body worked on complete autopilot. Muscle memory. Attack, defend. Attack, defend.Don’t stop to think. Just move, move, move.

The adrenaline helped numb the pain of the strikes I couldn’t avoid. Arms and legs swung in every direction. Blades curved through the air. Bones snapped. Noses broke. Necks twisted at ungodly angles. It was complete and utter mayhem. A total free-for-all. You defended yourself and struck back, or you died. There was no sitting this one out.

Lukyan dove forward, rolling along the sand and swiped up a machete. He turned, swinging it in a powerful arc that had the sharp edge lodging deep into the side of a soldier's neck. Blood sprayed. He ripped it out and struck again. Hacking and hacking and hacking, drenching himself in blood.

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