Page 131 of The Grief We Hold

Fucking Russian accents tell me all I need to know. Their two sentences tell me why they’re here.

Fucking Marco.

If I survive this, I’m gonna round Marco up and offer a deal with the Russians. Marco, if they stay away from Raven and Fen.

“You know how to fire that?” I whisper, leading us farther away from the stable doors I left ajar. Closing them would be a sure sign someone was in here. All the other doors were slightly open, so this one needs to remain that way too.

Raven shakes her head. “No.”

I take it from her hand. It’s an older weapon with a manual safety, which I release. “It’s live,” I whisper, handing it back to her. “Just point and shoot.”

I hear the footsteps moving away from us. They must have decided to check the barn first. With its loft, it’s the most obvious choice of hiding place.

The stable is probably the least secure, and therefore least obvious, place to hide.

When Raven looks up at me, eyes wide with fear, her hands shaking while holding the weapon, I reach for her. Gently, I hold her wrist and point her hand to the floor, so the weapon won’t hurt either of us if it goes off, and then kiss her.

As our lips touch, I’m reminded of everything we’re fighting to stay alive for. It grounds me and slows my breath in a way only Raven can do.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I say as I lead her to the back of the stable stalls. “I promise.”

The office is disappointing. I was hoping to find supplies I could reinforce the walls with, like a desk I could upturn. A quick glance at my watch says it’s six minutes since we called Butcher.

“Seven more minutes.” I close the door and glance through the dirt-stained window that looks into the stable. “That’s all we need. Seven minutes and the score will turn in our favor.”

I tentatively push the exterior window open and see there’s a smaller building on the other side of the paddock.

Not sure what it is, but it’s a wide-open run from here to there.

Then a plan formulates.

“We’re safe here for a minute,” I whisper, nudging Raven to sit in the corner. I crouch in front of her, and she places the sheathed knife in her lap so she can grip my hand.

“Total honesty?” she says as her eyes fill with tears. “I’m terrified. My hands so shaky that I doubt I can shoot straight.”

“Then I’ll shoot straight enough for both of us. But if we hear them come into the stable before the club arrives, I’m gonna boost you out the window, and I want you to run in a straight line to the building across the paddock.”

“Which building?”

“There’s only one, love. You can’t miss it.”

“You can show me.”

I shake my head. “No. I’m gonna buy you enough time to get over there without being seen.”

Her hand tightens on my arm. “No. Axel. You have to run with me.”

“In an ideal world, I would. But no point risking both of us dying in this stable.”

She shakes her head, and the tears spill over. “Please. We need to go together.”

“I’ll follow you, but I need to cover your back as you run.”

“But who will cover yours?”

That harsh Russian bark echoes across the lot in a tone that is taunting, even though I can’t make out the words.

“The club.” If they get here in time.

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