Page 76 of Sapphire Tears

Sara appears suspended over me as she peers down at the wound. “It looks like the bullet is still in there.”

June’s fingers are shaking. It feels like butterflies against my skin. When I glance down, it looks like butterflies, too. Or maybe I’m just losing it. My eyes are swimming with spots and splotches of gray and black and the room is spinning like a top.

“Sara,” June says, looking up at her, “he’s sweating. Is that normal?”

“His body is going into shock.”

“What? He should be in a hospital!”

“No,” I growl through the pain. “No fucking hospitals. Only Sara.”

June’s face dissolves. I blink and it comes back into focus, but her features are distorted. She looks like a dream. Something you’d spy in a puddle. I try to reach for her, but she seems so far away. Their voices are murky. I’m drowning, or maybe they are. I can’t tell anymore.

“Sara, do something!”

“June, stay calm. Freaking out is not going to help the situation. Go get the door. That’ll be Knox with the supplies.”

She disappears suddenly, and all the warmth in the room goes with her. Since I have no reason to see anymore, I shut my eyes. I give into the bliss of oblivion.

I think about my brother.

I think about June.

I think about a faceless woman named Sapphire.

32

KOLYA

“He’s been sleeping for a long time…”

Her voice floats over to me. I register the tangy smell of lemon soda. A shadow passes across my closed eyes.

Another voice. Sara’s. “Don’t worry. He’ll wake up. I got the bullet out and the primary wound is clean. The other two are afterthoughts. He’ll be back to terrorizing everyone in his vicinity in a few days, tops.”

“How does a man survive three gunshot wounds?”

“He’s not just any man,” Sara sighs. “He’s Kolya Uvarov.”

June whimpers. That—her fear, her uncertainty—hurts as bad as any of the pain in my limbs. “I’m nervous, Sara,” she admits. “He’s going to blame this on Adrian. He’s going to go after him.”

An onrush of cold. Not physical—this is a bone-deep cold. The kind of cold that precedes a white-hot rage.

After everything we just went through because ofhim,how is he what she’s concerned about?

“You can’t exactly blame him.”

“You saw what they did to him, to the hotel. It’s not worth it.”

“Sweetheart, don’t go there. There’s no point trying to stop something that’s already started.”

“Fuckingmen,” she spits. “This is all just one giant pissing contest. If they would both just listen to each other, we could—”

“I’m not sure it’s quite that simple.”

“Then I’ll make it simple. I can get through to Adrian. I know I can.”

I force my eyes open and struggle upright, ignoring the blazing agony that ignites in me. Sara sees me first. “Kolya!” she exclaims. “You need to take it easy. Don’t try to—”

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