Page 77 of Bratva Butcher

I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the sharp edge of an axe, and then side-kicked a soldier in his chest.

It was a never-ending, brutal onslaught of attacks. I would defend from one side just to be attacked from another. The adrenaline hammering in my body helped mask the pain of the strikes I couldn’t avoid.

All I could do was fight, fight, fight. If I stopped, if I slowed down for even a moment, I was dead.

Despite the fact that I was very much preoccupied with trying to keep myself alive, I couldn’t help but be…distracted, my gaze constantly seeking out Dimitri.

We weren’t technically partners anymore. At least, I didn’t think we were. It wasn’t a round in the games. It was an execution. A massacre with only one outcome. It was every man for themselves. And yet, I couldn’t help but follow him with my eyes as he worked his way towards his brother, prepared to help him if he needed it.

Strong hands grasped me tightly, and I locked into a grapple with one of the soldiers.Shit.We wrestled, his stupid face an inch from mine, his yellow teeth bared in a growl.

Yuck. “How often do you brush your teeth, dude?” I asked, disgusted. I gripped his vest tightly, using it for leverage as I jumped up and kicked him in the chest with both feet. We both flew back. I swung my arms behind me, planting my hands onthe ground to flip myself and land back on my feet in a textbook backflip.

In the span of two seconds, I clocked one soldier sneaking up behind Illayana as she pummelled someone with a rock and one soldier swinging an axe right towards Lukyan’s throat.

Panic pushed me into overdrive. Not for them. I didn’t know them. Didn’t care for them. But Dimitridid.

If he were to witness his children fall, it would break him.

Cursing, I rolled along the sand, snatched up a knife with each hand and hurled them in their direction with every bit of precision I possessed.

My blades hit their targets, one slamming into the soldier’s chest, the other burying deep into another soldier’s forehead.

I only had enough time to watch them fall before a heavy body landed on top of me. Pain blasted through me from my shoulder, hot and burning. I screamed. I swung my elbow back, hitting my attacker in the nose and knocking him off me.

I pushed to my knees, gritting my teeth at the pain slicing through me with each movement. Reaching back, my fingers curled around the hilt of a blade.

Argh, fuck.

One, two—“Son of a bitch!” I cursed, yanking out the knife. “Fucking cunt.”

The solider responsible for stabbing me in the fucking shoulder was holding his nose, blood dripping between his fingers.

“Here. Have your fucking knife back.” I threw it right at him. His head snapped back when it sunk deep into his forehead. He thumped to the ground, sand wafting into the air around his now-dead body.

A quick rotation of my shoulder told me the wound wasn’t serious despite the blood I could feel dripping down my back.Fatigue started to weigh on me, but I pushed through it, getting to my feet.

Chaos surrounded me on all sides. People fighting. Screaming. Blood spraying through the air. Cries of pain echoing out into the night. It was complete and utter mayhem.

I glimpsed Dimitri across the blood-soaked battlefield, locked in a brutal fight with his brother. Every now and then, he’d have to drop his guard with Dominik to defend an attack from one of Talon’s soldiers. It propelled me toward him, overwhelmed with a feeling of desperation.

I fought my way over to him inch by inch, punching and kicking, slicing and dicing with weapons I picked up along the way. I ignored the aches in my body, the cuts and bruises on my skin, and fought with a single-minded focus, one thought in my mind.

Get. To. Dimitri.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dimitri Volkov

“Dominik!” I roared overthe booming crowd, my insides burning with hatred.

Every part of me ached, pain pulsing from different parts of my body, but I ignored it all, honing in on my twin brother with every shred of focus I possessed.

The vicious sounds of combat beat in my ears. The ring of steel on steel. The bellows of agony. The pleas of mercy… It all contributed to the war raging on around me.

“Dominik!” I bellowed again, pouring every ounce of anger I felt into that one word. Every ounce of pain and betrayal.

My brother’s gaze snapped to me. He snarled, baring blood-stained teeth at me. He snapped the neck of one of Talon’s soldiers in his hands and then stood to his full height, puffing out his chest. His arm rose into the air, and he moved his fingers back and forth in a “bring it on” gesture.

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