Page 87 of Montana Falls
Or covered up the dead.
“Koko!” Rika shouted for her when she spotted him trying to get back inside the house.
She was immediately taken by one of the medics the second they saw her, and she shot me a weak thumbs-up as they loaded her onto a stretcher. Kody was instantly at her side, fussing and cursing to high heaven.
I stood there watching it all play out, my hands still trembling, the adrenaline still coursing through me. But before I could take a step in any direction, I felt a hand on my arm. With a snarl, I spun around, ready to tear into whoever it was, and finding Daniil right behind me. His hazel eyes, the same damn ones as I remembered from childhood, bore into mine. Concern. Relief. Obsession. All things I didn’t want.
“You’re welcome for rescuing you,” he said, his voice low.Soft. Like he cared about me. When I knew he didn’t. He never had.
I yanked my arm free, glaring at him as my hands balled into fists. “Don’t ever touch me again. This is your only warning.”
“Yeva.” Vissarion’s voice came from behind him, quieter than Daniil’s, but no less persistent. “You can’t stay mad at us forever.”
I turned to face him, my heart pounding in my chest, temper flaring like it always did. “You don’t get to make that decision.”
Kiril stepped forward, his expression unreadable, but his voice was firm. “Look, let’s just get you to a paramedic. You look alright but you inhaled a lot of smoke.” He turned his back onthe other two men, ordering them to go away so he could help me.
I hated him the least. In fact, I barely hated him. It was more of an incessant dislike because he had a cock and anyone with a cock was worthy of death, because they served no use to society and all the world’s problems were caused by them, yet they claimed women were the dramatic and ridiculous ones.
“Stop trying to help me.” I spat, but with only half the venom that I would have offered the other two.
“Do you have injuries I can’t see?”Once more he ignored my temper with the same ease that he ignored the ruins of Sapphire’s home behind us, flickering away as the firefighters worked desperately to stop it.
“No. I am fine.” I lied as I swallowed hard, my throat raw from the smoke, and turned away, walking toward the paramedics without another word.
The men followed me, but I didn’t thank them. I didn’t look back. Because I would rather walk through fire a hundred times than owe them my life, and the last thing I needed was them trying to play hero again just because I was bleeding and a little burned and my hip throbbed from where I’d hit the side of something in the blast.
“Miss?” The first paramedic to see me stepped forward with his bag of medical supplies, his hands covered in crinkly blue gloves. “Would you like to take a seat and let me check you over?” He waved to the ambulance near him. “Are you hurting anywhere in particular?”
He reached out to touch me and Vissarion grabbed his arm before I could flinch, holding it hard enough that it had to have hurt.
“Not you.” He snarled. “Get the woman.” He nudged his chin at the only lady nearby, who hurried to take over fromher visibly shaking colleague that quickly scarpered to another injured person.
I felt a little bad for the guy because he was just doing his job, and he didn’t deserve to have multiple tattooed Russian gangsters shooting daggers at him. But he was also a man, so… fuck it. Not my problem if he pissed himself at the sight of Vissarion’s glare.
He could glare rather well for a man wearing glasses. I would have thought the effect would have been dulled by his frames, but if anything, they only added to it all.
I would stab him in the eye with his glasses if he ever glared at me like that.
The woman began checking me over, only a little hesitant as she peppered me with questions. Most of which I just nodded at or shook my head. I wasfine. I didn’t need a hospital. Didn’t need to be poked and prodded by doctors. A couple of painkillers, some oxygen from the mask she hurried to put around my mouth and nose, and I would be okay.
I did a good job of pretending to be okay until she touched my hip, and I slapped her hands away on instinct, hissing between my teeth.
“What did you do?” She instantly asked.
“I was in a house explosion.” I snarked.
“What did you hit?” She didn’t falter at my attitude. If anything, she just turned her tone firmer, and I was amused enough to be honest.
“There was a… a thing for décor. How you call it? For the rich items to show off, like in a museum.” I switched to Russian, begrudgingly asking Kiril for help to translate because I didn’t know the stupid fucking words I needed.
“She hit a pedestal.” He told the paramedic. “It was made of stone, and she cracked her hip against it when the blast sent her flying.”
She nodded and reached toward my hip again, this time slow enough that I could expect it coming. “I’m going to just have a look, okay?” She realized what I was wearing and paused. “Are you able to lift your dress for me? I can get your friends to cover you if you want more privacy.”
“They’re not my friends.” My jaw ticked. “But fine. I can stand a second to show you things. But you overreact – there is nothing but bruises on me.” My head snapped toward the men.“Turn the fuck around or I will take a scalpel to your eyes.”
They all turned their backs to me and shuffled around, blocking anyone nearby from seeing as I pulled the skirt of my dress up and my tights down low enough for her to get a good look at my hip. She carefully poked at me for a minute, until she pulled back, letting me know I could redress.
