Page 78 of Sergei
“You want her back so badly?” Zadora brought the knife up to her bare breast and held it there as he ran his tongue along the crook of her neck. “Come take her.”
“Motherfucker.” I took a step forward, and he pressed the blade harder to her ribs and sliced her again. She gasped this time, and my stomach turned to fire. “Touch her again, and I’ll carve your eyes out while you’re still breathing.”
“Talk. Talk. Talk.” He lowered his free hand down between her legs, cupping her as he snarled, “That’s all you do. That’s all you can do, because one wrong move and I’ll gut this pretty, young thing and make a lamp out of her after I fuck her senseless.”
That did it.
Lina must’ve felt the shift in the air, because she moved before I could. She lifted her foot and drove her heel into the top of his foot with everything she had. He grunted and shifted his step. It was slight, but it was enough. I closed the distance, and I was about to pull the trigger when I thought better of it.
I couldn’t take a chance of hurting Lina, so I charged him. I was a breath away from tackling him to the ground when he recovered faster than I’d expected. He turned, and his blade snapped out of his hand and into his other one. He pierced his blade into my side as I lunged at him. This wasn’t a graze or quick slice. This was deep, and it hurt like hell. I lost my grip on my gun, but I didn’t let that slow me down.
I slammed my forearm into his throat and drove him back against the wall and away from Lina. That was my main thought. I had to get him away from her and keep him away from her. When she saw the blood at my side, Lina screamed my name.
It was the first time I’d heard it from her mouth in terror, and I never wanted to hear it again. Zadora struck again, but this time, it wasn’t as deep. I answered by slamming my forehead into his, splitting his brow. Blood poured from his eye, but that didn’t stop him from coming at me again. He swung wide, and I blocked with my injured side and felt something tear.
It didn’t matter. It didn’t slow me down. If anything, it fueled me on. I slammed his wrist against the wall again and again until the knife fell to the ground. He kept fighting, and I was growing tired of the bullshit. I reached down, grabbed my own knife from its holster, and buried it under his sternum.
His breath hitched, and I gave it a firm twist. His knees gave way, and he slumped to a puddle on the floor. When he dropped, I went with him. Blood soaked my waist and chest. Lina tugged at her restraints as she called out to me, “Sergei! Sergei, please! Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m here… I’m okay.”
I tried to get up, and my hand slipped on something wet. I don’t know if it was his or mine. It didn’t matter. Zadora was dead, and Lina was still breathing. I dragged myself over to her, leaving a smear across the stage. She whispered my name, but I couldn’t respond.
I heard footsteps and tried to muster the strength to reach for my gun, but I didn’t have it with me. The door blew open, and Creed’s voice was the first I heard, “Jesus Christ…”
He was followed by Grim, Skid, and Goose, and I had no doubt that the others were close behind. Skid was the first to go to Lina. He was Grim’s kid, and he was a good one. He didn’t rush to take her down. First, he buttoned her shirt, making sure she was covered, and then he and Goose got to work on releasing her from her restraints.
Even with everything that was happening, Lina never took her eyes off me. She was muttering for them to help me, but I knew it was too late. I was losing too much blood. I was as good as gone. Preacher knew it, too. I could see it in his eyes when he knelt down beside me. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I got to her.”
“Yeah, you did, but you bout got yourself killed in the process.”
“Had to.” I started to feel cold, and my eyelids were getting heavy. “I love her, Preach.”
“I know you do, son.” He looked over to Grim and said, “We need to get him to the hospital, and we need to do it now.”
Grim nodded, and together, they lifted me off the ground. When they started for the door, I rolled my head toward Preacher and muttered, “Lina.”
“We got her,” he assured me. “You just hold on. Stay here with us. You hear me? You stay here with us.”
He was right there, but his voice sounded so far away. Lina’s did, too. I could hear her crying as she called out to me, but her words seemed to fade off in the distance.
The world tilted sideways.
Then everything went dark.
26
ALINA
Idon’t remember the ride to the hospital.
One second, I was being carried out of the house, and a blink later, we were there, and Preacher was guiding me through the sliding doors like I was half-conscious. I hadn’t seen Sergei. They put him in the other truck with Goose and two other men I didn’t recognize, and they sped off before I had a chance to see him.
I had no idea how he was doing, but in my heart, I knew it wasn’t good. I’d seen the way he’d dropped to the floor, and the way blood pooled around him. I knew he needed help, and God, how I wanted to give it to him.
I wanted to crawl to him, cover his body with mine, and press my hands to his wounds. I wanted to whisper his name and tell him I loved him, and maybe then he would know he wasn’t alone. Maybe then, he wouldn’t go.
