Page 128 of Mafie Kings

One thing people don’t mention often is that in the middle of a gunfight, you can get hit and not realize it. Adrenaline is high, and your mind is so focused on one thing that it can’t process pain or injury. Nessa appears to be good, and from her assessment of me, it looks like I’m clear. We move to go back around the door just in time to see the stairwell door close. The masked men we've already taken down are gone and blood trails show they were dragged away.

I search for Alexi and find him with his eyes closed on the other side of the room.

No, no, no!I run over to him. Nessa goes to the stairwell, but the door is locked. Shots are fired outside, but all I can focus on now is how pale Alexi is.

“Alexi,” I say, bending down next to him. My voice is shaky, my hands trembling as I cut the ropes around his wrists. His hands break apart, his eyes open, and I’m suddenly being drowned in a kiss. He flips me under him with a grunt of pain. I try to push him off, knowing he’s hurt, but he growls into my mouth, taking my hands and holding them under us where the mats are smeared with his blood. He rocks his body into me, and I can feel just how hard he is, pushing against my core. My body arches into his instinctively.

He breaks the kiss, putting his forehead to mine as we pant with adrenaline. “I think I like watching you kill people to save me,” he says, making me bark with laughter.

The back doors swing open, and Alexi moves his body to shield mine with a hiss of pain. Lev, Damien, and Arrow walk in with guns raised.

“Alright, big guy. Let’s see what happened to you,” I say, pushing Alexi over once he sees we aren’t under threat.

“The helicopter took off,” Nessa says, coming down through the stairwell doors. She must have gotten it open at one point. “It looks like only one of them made it out alive though, and he has a hole in his fuel tank, so there’s no telling if he will be able to make it back.”

I listen to her as I remove Alexi’s jacket. He tries to shove me off, but I pin him with a glare. He relents and allows me push up his shirt. He winces as I move his thin bulletproof vest out of the way. The blade hardly cut that deep, but it needs stitches. Thankfully, because of the vest's protection, it looks like no organs were involved.

“Damien, get the med kit,” I order him, not looking away from the wound. “Lev, get the girls from outside. Nessa, help lock this place down. Arrow, call who you need to call. We're staying here until we get the all-clear that it’s safe.” I push Alexi to lay back on the mat. If anyone has a problem with me taking charge, they don’t speak up.

“You’re bossy,” Alexi says, getting another laugh from me. We’re in the middle of an attack and this guy has jokes. I don’t know what version of him I met before, but this man right here and now is dangerous. This man—I could fall for just as hard as I’ve fallen for Lev and Damien.

“I’m just good in a crisis,” I say, shaking off the compliment. Damien brings the med kit over, checking Alexi out and making sure I didn’t miss anything. He leans down, pushing their foreheads together.

“I thought we lost you, man,” he whispers. Lev goes to his other side while I get the stitches and antiseptic ready. There is a small vial of lidocaine included in the kit. I draw up the numbing medication as Lev takes Alexi’s hand. I check around to see the girls barricading the doors. Nessa still has a few full clips on her, and it looks like the other girls do too.

I don’t have the time to process everything as I stitch Alexi up, making sure to do a running stitch to help prevent scarring. It’s not that I care if he has scars, and he probably doesn’t either, it’s just that scar tissue can be painful. I think Lev is the only one to have helped me with some of the knots that have formed in my back because of it. My mind goes to a blank space as I work. Too much has happened, and I’m ready to face it. I don’t know who I can trust, or what I want right now. I know my heart craves these boys in a way it’s never cared for anyone before. But I don’t understand what’s happening.

Why would someone want to frame me for Alexi’s murder? Why has Havoc been giving away hints about The Shades being here? Who put Bryce up to coming after me? Who caused the revolt on an island that has known nothing but unity in crime for over two-hundred years?

I don’t know a single answer to any of these questions. All I know is how I feel—I’m falling for the villains of the story. And the only way this can end—is badly.

???

Alexi gets a call, right after I finish stitching him up, and I make him lie down as he takes it. He puts it on speaker so we can all hear. Just that small act tells me how far we’ve come in just the short five and a half months we’ve been here.

“This is your Society contact. Do you need us to intervene on the island at this time?” a distorted voice asks.

Alexi looks around at all of us, then down at the stitches still glistening with his blood. “We need you to clear the island. Make sure none of the masked men are still around. If they are, then I want them brought to the dungeons. Get the bodies out of the arena, and we will do our best to identify who was part of this and who wasn’t. Too many people got caught in the crossfire today, and they don’t deserve the slander that comes with being a traitor to The Society. When everything is clear, send a message to everyone here so they all know it’s safe.”

“Copy that,” the voice says before abruptly hanging up.

I don’t know Alexi very well, but I do know it takes a lot for him to ask for help. Even if he did phrase it like an order.

After four hours, an all-clear message is sent out. The Society members have been escorted off the island, and arrangements are being made for a break to happen early for all of us. No one seems to have any idea who started everything, and every single person that was killed is missing. There are no bodies to be looked at to give us any indication of who could have been behind this.

Everyone is running through their thoughts while we wait, bouncing ideas off each other. The guys all think it was the Shades, but I know for a fact it wasn't. My phone is missing so I can’t contact my uncle, but it seems the Society is making everyone off the island aware of the situation.

I haven’t said a word since I stitched Alexi up. Lev and Damien both tried to talk to me, Alexi hasn’t let go of my hand, squeezing every once in a while in an attempt to reassure or comfort me. All I can think is thatheknows where I am.

I need to leave. I can’t stay here.

Once the all-clear is given, I look to Laney, a plan already forming in my head. We seem to know what each other is thinking; I need her to see I can’t go back with the guys. She reads me perfectly.

“Evie, can you stay with me tonight and help me with this?” She gestures to her injury, and I nod in relief.

Alexi tries to pull me back, but I wrap my arms around him in a hug, something I’ve never done before. Anytime we’ve touched, it’s like a punishment. But not now. Now, I’m saying goodbye in the only way I know how. I hug Lev and Damien next, trying not to linger and hoping it’s enough that they will give me space.

They all look confused when I walk away toward Laney. It’s the middle of the night at this point, and we all walk back with our weapons in hand, just in case. By the time we make it to the suite, Laney has given me a million side glances in worry.

---