Page 40 of Dragon Boss

Dmitri squeezed her wrist but moved from her side to stand next to Misha, taking the lead out through the door. Eva twined her fingers with Alina’s instead, the solidarity clear. It made Alina’s gratitude unfold in bright colors within her and made her feel ashamed of how she’d always been taught to think of the Kuznetsovs’ as traitors. She wondered how deep her father’s wounds went.

What would he think of her taking Dmitri as her mate? Would he disown her? Would it cost her the mantle?

Did she care?

Misha opened the door and they all moved as one into the hallway. It was empty. All was quiet. The only sound was the soft treading of their feet, hushed by the thick carpet. Then everything began unraveling. And it happened quickly.

The men behind her, bringing up the rear, gave a shout of warning. She felt warm blood spray the side of her cheek when she turned to see why they were telling those in the front to watch out. It seemed the attack was coming from all sides at once. The blood on her cheek was from the head of the man who had shouted. He was crumpling to the ground at Alina’s feet, Eva giving a yelp, hand still in hers. Alina held on tightly to her, not wanting to let her out of her sight.

Black-clad men were moving down the hallway from both sides. They wore grim expressions and even grimmer-looking weapons. Crossbows with thickly iron-pointed arrows lodged in them. This was the old way of killing a dragon. The only way, unless you had the specially made guns Dmitri’s people were carrying. She realized they were all Dmitri’s men. The crossbows were a mark of respect for their target: Vasili. A chance to die in the old way.

Oh, God.

“Stop!” she cried out, but, of course, not a single pair of eyes turned her way. They were all focused on the ruling head of the Kuznetsov family.

Then the men surrounding them stepped aside to allow Gregor to pass. He stopped well away from Misha and his still armed men, eyes going to Dmitri.

“There you are,” Gregor smirked. “Tell everyone to put their guns down.”

“Everyone?” Dmitri asked.

Gregor glared. Vasili’s cheek creased in a half-smile. Dmitri’s did as well. Alina watched father and son face death together and not even twitch. For some reason, it made her proud of them. Proud to know them. Her eyes moved to Gregor, her hatred flaring. How dare he? He thought he could rule? She might be unsure of her own place in the grander scheme of things, but she knew he was kidding himself if he thought he had the shoulders for the mantle.

Dmitri made a small gesture. His men put their guns down.

“What do you think you’ll get out of this?” Vasili asked, his voice a soft rumble, declaring the dragon within.

“Anything I want,” Gregor smiled. “Isn’t that the point.”

“You think that’s the point?” Vasili asked.

“It’smypoint,” Gregor replied. “Dmitri, can you step away from your father, please?”

“No,” Dmitri said.

“Play nice,” Gregor said, his smile lingering.

Alina wished she’d done more than just kick him. She wished she’d body-tackled him to the ground and bashed his head in for what he’d done to her. If she’d been angrier, if she’d lost control completely and let her inner dragon take over for her, then she would have stopped this all from happening.

Suddenly Misha moved forward, and as he did, so did the rest of them. It looked choreographed; the timing was so precise. She had no idea how they’d all known to move but assumed they were simply that good at watching Misha’s cues. As if he was a conductor and they were his orchestra. And he led them into the fray without hesitation.

Dmitri stepped between his father and Gregor, getting Vasili out of Gregor’s line of sight. A gun went off. So did several of the crossbows, with one arrow burrowing into the wall right next to Eva’s head.

Alina stared at it, then met Eva’s wide eyes.

“Run,” Alina said.

Eva nodded, tearing off down the hallway, running between the fighting men without looking back. Alina was about to follow when she watched Dmitri duck away from an arrow flying at his head. It landed him on the floor. Time seemed to slow.

There was Vasili, back in Gregor’s line of sight.

There was Gregor, being handed a loaded crossbow, smile widening sickeningly.

There was Dmitri, prostrate on the floor, unable to stop what was happening. He wouldn’t be able to move fast enough.

Alina watched as Gregor took aim.

And then she acted.

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