Page 78 of Owned By Shadows

A sleek black van slides silently to the curb half a block away, Dima behind the wheel, engine running.

“Ready to see the fireworks?” Rowan asks, practically bouncing with excitement as he casts a glance my way. His eyes practically sparkle, and I feel my lips tug upwards.

“Do it.”

Seconds after he presses the big red button, the building explodes, glass flying out onto the street, a wave of heat hitting us, but luckily we’re far enough away that none of the debris gets us.

“It’s even prettier in the rain,” Rowan muses, pocketing his phone. “Let’s head back, I wanna rid myself of this scum’s blood before Iris lands.”

I nod, letting the flames sear into my retinas for a moment more before turning my back on the nightmarish place, and with my found brothers by my side, we head off into the London night. Dima is waiting, car door open, face impassive as always, but I catch the satisfaction in his eyes as he watches the flames behind us. He slides back behind the wheel without comment as we climb in, covered in blood and smelling of smoke and death.

Your move, Father.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“DEEP END” BY RUELLE

IRIS

“Andrei, stay with Iris. Bubby, with me!” Hunt commands as the plane continues to turn sharply, my heart thrashing inside my chest as the monitor alarms go off, indicating that my blood pressure is rising, un-fucking-surprisingly given the situation.

My head flares with a sudden severe pain, and I hiss, wincing as I close my eyes against the scene that wavers in my vision before me. I cry out at a flash of abdominal pain, and I know from all of our research and discussions that this is my symptoms worsening, which is bad. Really fucking bad.

“Ro,” I whimper, my eyes closed and terror making my whole body shake.

“I’m here, Princess. Tell me what’s going on, baby.” His voice is soothing, peaceful, even though I can feel the tension in the way he clutches my hand tightly.

“My head hurts, my vision is weird, and I have a pain in my upper stomach.” My throat feels tight as I say the words, knowing that things are getting serious despite our best efforts.

“Okay, Iris,” Andrei says in his calm voice, and I crack my eyes open to see him heading towards me and taking the seat opposite Roman and me. “I need you to keep as calm as you can, which I know isn’t easy given the situation.”

He looks at the charts as Roman updates him on my symptoms, then whispers soothingly into my ear, his hand still gripped in mine, his other stroking my arm. Andrei nods to himself, setting my chart down before reaching into his medical bag, which luckily is strapped into the seat next to him, so it didn’t move when the plane dipped just now. “I’m going to give you something extra to help things, okay?”

I just nod, uncaring what it is as long as it helps to stop the bloody beeping of these cursed monitors. Andrei preps a syringe. “This is magnesium sulphate. It should help prevent things from getting any worse. I’ll need to give it through your IV and over a couple of minutes. Roman, you need to help me watch for any sudden flushing of her skin, breathing difficulties, or nausea. I’ll monitor her vitals.”

“Okay, Iris, you tell me if you feel any of those too, okay, Princess?” Roman says, and I turn my narrowed gaze at him. My vision is still spotted, so opening my eyes fully hurts my pounding head.

“Okay, Ro.”

The plane shakes a little with turbulence, but Andrei remains calm. I feel the tug on my hand where my IV is, but keep my gaze locked on Roman.

“You’re doing so well, Princess,” he tells me, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, his thumb rubbing over the skin. “Feel any nausea? Breathlessness?”

“A little, and like I’m suddenly hot. And it burns a bit from my hand where my IV is.” I smack my lips together a bit, my nose wrinkling. “My mouth tastes metallic.”

“All normal so far,” Andrei assures us, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him sitting back, placing the now empty syringe in a medical rubbish bin. “You may feel a bit out of it too, like your body is heavy. That’s fine. We will keep checking to make sure it’s all normal levels.”

Like his words breathed the symptoms into being, I now feel spaced out, my body weighted down, and I slump a little in my seat, my eyelids fluttering closed again. I sigh as my headache lessens, the tight band that was wrapped around my temple easing. My stomach no longer hurts either, and a sensation of floating has me relaxing further into my seat.

“The pain is less,” I tell them, but my words sound a little slurred.

“Rest now, Princess. I’ve got you,” Roman’s words filter through my drowsy state, and even though I know I should be alert—we’re basically being chased by Sergi—I can’t fight it. So I let myself succumb to the darkness, knowing that they will keep me safe.

“11 MINUTES (FEAT. HALSEY FEAT. TRAVIS BARKER)” BY YUNGBLUD

HUNTER

Bubby, myself, the captain, and co-pilot are in the cockpit, and although my chest is tight because I can hear the beeping of themonitors that tell me Iris is not okay, rage is the emotion that keeps threatening to overwhelm me. I am beyond fucking livid that, once again, Sergi has us on the run.

---