Page 111 of Shadows of Obsession

"Maksim," I say before heading to the door. My voice is the closest it's ever been to begging.

"I have eyes on the house where Luna is," he tells me, and I appreciate that he didn't make me vocalize my fears. The dread of knowing she's in danger paralyzes my body for a millisecond, but I trust Maksim. I don't know if it's the right decision, considering he just bulldozed his way into our lives, but I trust him.

"NOW!" Maksim's voice booms through the phone, and our men burst through the door, running as fast as their legs can carry them.

In the distance, it sounds exactly like a machine gun has broken loose and is having a field day. When the last man is out, both Damien and I sprint.

We have exactly a five-second head start when everything blows up. Damn Irish. Glass, concrete, and lumber fly in all directions, and since we're closest to the house, Damien and I are thrown to the ground.

Something hits my shoulder, and I realize it's a wooden splinter that, with all the explosives these idiots used, acted just like a knife in my shoulder.

Damien seems okay apart from some pieces of debris that fell on us.

The next thing I register is the ringing in my ears and the dizziness.Damn it. My head feels like someone hit it with a hammer, but it's just the percussion wave. I shake my head as if that would make the pain disappear.

Damien is talking, but I can't register any sound. I see his lips moving and try to get up on my knees.

"Roman. We need to move."

I hear him as if we’re underwater, but I understand what he's saying and force my body to stand.

Any physical impediment disappears when I remember Luna is a few yards away with that psychopath. My muscles seem to protest at the idea of standing, but Damien helps me stay on my feet. I notice he's limping slightly too, but it doesn't seem to affect him much.

When my gaze falls on the backyard, I see our soldiers, some standing, others on the ground, trying to recover from the explosion. The luckiest ones are a hundred feet away. Suddenly one of Damien's soldiers drops with a bullet between his eyes.

Maksim didn't estimate incorrectly when he said they'd come after us immediately. When I get my hands on that piece of shit Devin, I'll personally gouge his eyes out. Damien can skin him alive all he wants, but I'm going to cut out his tongue and make sure he swallows it.

I grab the gun from my back, and although my balance is seriously affected, I can still shoot some rookie soldiers.

From the front of the house, I see ten Irish emerge, and behind them, none other than Devin. How stupid do you have to be to come to your own funeral?

Damien looks at Devin like he's his favorite Christmas toy, and I know nothing will stand in his way of getting to him.

A moment later, any lack of concentration disappears and is replaced by the sound of bullets. It's total chaos. My mind is still slow, but I manage not to shoot any of our soldiers.

One of Devin's men manages to graze my leg with a bullet, but it's just a scratch that only serves to shake me out of my stupor after the bomb's impact. Three seconds later, he drops dead, shot in the throat by Damien.

I hear soldiers screaming, and when I look left, I see some of our men down. Together with my friend, who seems like he's at a birthday party he's so happy, we make our way toward Devin.

He's still surrounded by men, and our bullets clash with theirs. We're one-to-one in terms of manpower, but our men are coming in after an explosion, while theirs are rested and fresh.

Our advantage has always been Damien and me. We're both good with guns and, on a good day, could have eliminated twice as many soldiers, but it's clear the explosion affected us, because our aim is poor and slow.

When we position ourselves behind a row of trees behind the house, I can tell Damien’s leg is bothering him. There’s definitely something wrong with it, but it's not like we can stop to take a look.

"I'll draw their attention and you shoot them, okay?" he says, and when I look at him like he's grown two heads, he frowns. "What?" he asks, frustrated.

"Your leg is hit. You can't run!" By how he clenches his jaw, he realizes this too.

"When will the Irish ever get another chance to shoot at me?" he says, and before I can stop him, the idiot runs straight at them.

I breathe once. Twice. My heartbeat begins to slow and I steady my gun on a stable branch. I see the moment two ofDevin's soldiers raise their guns, and without hesitation, I shoot one in the chest. I prefer head shots, but I'm too far away and can't risk Damien's life.

The second soldier is stunned by how his friend dropped, and before he can turn his head, I shoot him the same way.

Only two soldiers remain beside Devin. If I counted correctly, there are only three more scattered through the yard, and our soldiers greatly outnumber them.

"Whoever brings me an Irishman's head gets a bonus and a ride in Damien's new car," I shout, knowing every one of our soldiers heard and will handle the remaining men in moments.

---