Page 85 of Montana Falls
She blinked; a slow, lazy gesture that made my chest tighten with concern. “I’m starting to think this is karma,” she said, her voice faintly teasing despite the situation. “For that one time I killed a man.”
“You’ve not killed a man.” Nobody who cried at the sight of dog shelter videos had the capacity for murdering another human being without reason no matter how much she liked to pretend otherwise.
“I did. I winked at him and two hours later his heart gave up in an attack.” She groaned. “He was the baker by my house, and he did bread so good that I would eat it as my death row meal if I needed to - I miss him.”
“What was his age?”
“Ninety.” She sniffled. “Right in his prime.”
I ignored her and turned back toward the heavy wooden beam that had collapsed in front of the door, blocking our only way out. The fire had weakened it; the wood splintered and blackened, but no matter how hard I pushed, the damn thingwouldn’t budge. Rika could barely stand without fainting, and I wasn’t strong enough to move it on my own.
For the first time in my life, I wished a man was present. Someone stronger than me who could help. Someone whose only purpose was to have muscles designed for hefty jobs and destruction.
I threw myself against the beam again, my hands trembling and burning from the effort. My whole body ached, but it was nothing compared to the rising panic gnawing at my chest. The fire was spreading. We didn’t have much time left, and I refused to die in such a horrific manner. I was far too spiteful to allow the universe to take me in such a way.
I would die after slaughtering dozens of disgusting men, covered in their blood and a wicked grin upon my face, or I would not die at all.
“Come on,”I hissed through gritted teeth. “Move, you fucking bastard!”I braced my shoulder against the beam again, shoving with all the strength I had left, but it barely shifted an inch.
The heat bore down on me, and my lungs burned with each labored breath, but I refused to quit or lie down and allow the universe to fuck me over once again.
I would die here, but I would die fighting. The same way I always had whenever I was in the dark and horrid places of a life I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue having.
“I like the whole ‘take charge’ thing you’ve got going on, Yeva, it’s very attractive.” Rika’s voice came again, and I could hear the dizziness lacing her words. “But maybe we should try a strategy of something else? Like, I don’t know… calling for help from a stronger person? A sexy firefighter?” she paused. “I would yell for Koko but he is mad at me. He says I should have told him about Sapphire not dying right away and…” shechuckled breathlessly. “He said he would let me choke in a fire. So we need someone else. Someone I did not hurt.”
I shot her a sharp look over my shoulder, not even bothering to respond. I didn’t need to tell her that no one was coming and she was a fucking idiot if she thought for a moment that Kody wouldn’t be fighting to get to her.
Everyone who could help was either dealing with their own chaos or already dead, but I wasn’t about to rely on anyone else, especially not after everything that had already gone wrong. We were on our own, the same way I always had been, and I would fix it.
Rika coughed, the sound wet and strained, her hand pressing against the wound on her head as she sagged further against the wall. “Seriously, you should probably stop and—”
“Stop talking,” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended. My frustration was starting to show, the panic bleeding through the cracks in my composure. “We’re getting out. I’m not dying in this room, and neither are you. You can sit there because you are injured and weak like baby deer. But you do not need to talk; I can do without all the talk.”
Rika attempted to stand and quickly failed.
“You’re such a sweetheart when stressed.” She said.
I ignored her and shoved the beam again, harder this time, even though I knew it was pointless. The fire crackled louder; the heat growing more intense with every passing second. I was drenched in sweat, my heart pounding in my chest and my positive – okay, I was never positive – thoughts were quickly dying out.
And then I heard it—voices. Faint at first, muffled by the roar of the flames, but getting closer.Malevoices.
No.
No, no, no.
I recognized them instantly, and a knot of dread coiled in my stomach as they got closer to us.
I didn’t have to see them to know who it was. I knew their voices better than I did my own. Because I fuckinghatedthem.
“Yeva!” Kiril shouted for me, but I ignored him.
I didn’t hate him as much as I hated Daniil and Vissarion. But he was still a man, and they were pointless. I had no desire to let him rescue me, least of all from something I was sure I could fix myself with enough effort.
I pushed harder against the beam, my hands shaking as I tried to block out their voices, but it was useless. A moment later, the door I was after creaked open, barely a crack, but enough for them to see me there.
Of course, they would come. Of course, they couldn’t leave me the hell alone.
“Yeva,” Kiril’s voice was first, his tone commanding, but with that infuriating calm he always carried, as if nothing in the world could shake him. “Step back; we can get this out of the way.”
