Page 107 of City of Salvation

“You fucking shot her?” Ryan screamed, taking out everyone in her way.

But I was too busy getting into the firefight to think about what kind of shit I’d be in with her.

All that mattered was Nikki.

CHAPTER 45

NIKKI

KILL THE WOLF

Something moved below me,shoving me off to the side. Pain seared through my shoulder, and stars danced behind my eyelids.

What the fuck?

The muddled noise grew to a roar. Shouts of pain mixed with gunshots, kicking my mind into high gear. My eyes popped open, everything rushing back to me. I was in the warehouse, and Dex had taken the shot straight through me, like I’d asked him to. Yuri’s body had broken my fall, the round going through my left shoulder and into his chest, but the fucker was still clearly alive.

I scrambled to push myself to my feet before Yuri could grab me because there was no way I was going to take two fucking bullets. A scream ripped through my lips, my wound weeping blood with each movement.

How the fuck do Ryan and Scar do this? Getting shot hurts like a bitch.

“You bitch.” He spat the words out at me, but his voice was weak. “You’re going to pay for this,” he said, reaching for his gun.

We realized it had landed a few feet away at the same time. My eyes zeroed in on the Glock, and every survival instinct kicked in. There was so much adrenaline flooding my system that I barely felt my shoulder as I ran for the gun, snatching it up between my bound hands, thankful they’d put them in front.

My heart beat so quickly that I thought it would break through my chest as I turned toward Yuri. He was a disheveled mess lying there on the cracked concrete floor. His perfectly quaffed hair was in disarray, his suit stained with dirt, and there was a growing dark splotch where he’d been shot.

Nothing else existed except him and me.

Each step forward filled me with a sick sense of glee.NowI understood why Ryan and Scar did what they did. To be under the thumb of a man and then exact your revenge on them…it was a sense of satisfaction nothing else could match. Yuri’s body shook, a cry leaving him when he failed in his attempts to push himself up onto his forearms and move away from me.

“How does it feel, Yuri? To watch as your life comes to an end? To have someone else play god with your future?” I asked in a chilling tone. Even to my ears, I didn’t sound like myself. I felt more akin to a vengeful spirit than the young girl he’d been given as an unwilling bride.

“I’ll leave you be, Natasha. Give you whatever you want. We can part ways here and never see one another again,” he pleaded.

I laughed at his proposal. “That’s pathetic, I’d thought you’d have more balls than to beg like a pussy. Hell, I took a fucking bullet instead of giving up. And I’m not an idiot, Yuri. You’d never let that happen.” I closed the distance,sneering down at him. “And I want revenge for the life you took from me.”

He shook his head, eyes wild. “I never killed your father. That was the Romas.”

My smile grew wider. “No, that was me.” I dug the toe of my shoe into his wound, relishing in the way he screamed out in pain, trying again to get up on his elbows. He shoved himself away from me with his feet, but it was useless.

He called out for his men, but no one ran to his aid, all of them too busy being mowed down by my friends.

“Sucks to feel helpless, huh? For someone to use their body against you.” I knew I didn’t have much longer before the adrenaline wore out, already feeling unsteady, but I wanted this—needed this.

Warm hands wrapped around me, sending me into a panic for a split second before Dex’s comforting voice whispered in my ears. “Easy, spitfire, just here to lend a helping hand.” With a quick flick of his blade, he cut the zip tie, lowering my damaged arm with care. I hadn’t realized how much tension I’d held in my body until I sank back into him, letting him hold me up.

He was home. Freedom.

“Alright, let’s kill this fucker so we can get you to a hospital. Unless you want me to take him back to the shed and hack off parts of his body,” Dex said, loud enough for Yuri to hear.

Whatever color had been left in his face drained, and he yelled insults in Russian.

There was no way that line should have made me smile, or made my stomach flip in excitement, but it did.

Note to self: have the doctor check for a concussion…

“As romantic as that sounds, I’m going to end his miserablelife right here. Kill the wolf,” I whispered the last part, but he must’ve heard, because I felt him hum in satisfaction against my back.

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