Ciro’s blood covers my face.
It’s disgusting, but I waste no time to wipe it off. Dmitry has disappeared around the corner with Elisa. I push off of Ciro’s corpse and make a run for her, but a hand falls around my collar and I’m jerked backwards.
I hit the hard cement with a painful thud and for a second, my vision goes completely white. An agonizing ache stings every inch of my body but I manage to crawl over onto my stomach and grab Ciro’s gun again. My ears are ringing from all the gunshots. I catch Nolan’s eyes just as he puts a bullet in a Russian’s skull. He nods and I know that they’ve got this covered.
I just have to clear my own path. It takes a few shots, but eventually, I manage to break free from the violent scuffle. I take off down the nearest tunnel, after Elisa and the foul demon who’s taken her with him.
My thighs burn as I rush through the opening. A limp has overtaken my left leg, but it’s not enough to stop me. My chest is on fire, but my vision is clear and my heart is true.
I need to save her. That’s all that matters.
Around the next corner, I spot Elisa’s thrashing feet kicking out into the air just before she’s dragged out of sight again. “Gazin!” I roar.
He answers with a gun-shot.
The bullet grazes my ear, but I’m not phased. I keep pushing forward. He’s not going to be able to outrun me. I won’t let him. It doesn’t matter that I might have a broken leg or a shattered sternum or a blinding concussion. I’m a man on a mission. And Dmitry is slowed down by his very feisty captive.
Keep fighting, Elisa. I’ll make it all worth it.
But then a howling wind starts to build. The further I pursue, the louder it gets and the harder it pushes back against my advance. Fucking hell. That means there’s an opening somewhere up ahead. If they get out before I can get to them, then I might never catch up.
I pick up speed, ignoring the pain. I run purely on love and adrenaline.
Elisa cries out somewhere ahead and I jump around the next corner, gun raised and ready to fire.
Dmitry has stopped. He’s turned to face me. His bloody fist holds Elisa by the hair. His gun digs into her temple.
Fury rages through me. This fucker has touched and terrorized my girl for long enough. I’m going to rip him to shreds.
But then I see the tunnel opening behind them. I can tell right away it’s not a way out. This is a dead end, and Dmitry knows it.
Outside, there is only sky and the dark edge of a distant horizon. I shuffle forward enough to see that the edge of the tunnel drops off like a sheer cliff into a black pool of darkness below. We’re on a mountain’s edge. And that means Dmitry is desperate.
“That’s far enough,” he hisses, his sharp voice cutting through the howling wind.
“Let her go,” I demand.”
“And why should I do that?”
“Because it’s the only way you’re going to make it out of here alive.”
Dmitry shakes his head and holds up his hostage even higher. “Bullshit. You’ll shoot me the second I let her go.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s what I would do.”
Fury is the only thing keeping me going right now. It’s the only thing keeping the pain and the dread at bay. This motherfucker is manhandling my woman and there’s nothing I can do but be patient. It’s infuriating, but at least it’s keeping me conscious.
“I’m not you, Gazin,” I growl. “I’m a man of honor.”
“That’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
Elisa’s lips tremble and her big hazel eyes shimmer with fear. I try to tell her through my eyes that it’s all going to be alright, but I’m not sure it works. The truth is, I don’t know what the fuck is about to happen. I just want her to stay calm. Dmitry is wandering awfully close to the drop off at the tunnel’s edge.
“So what?” I ask. “You’re going to shoot her? Then what? The second you do, I’ll put six fucking bullets in you.”
“I know. That’s why I’m telling you to put down your gun first.”
It would be foolish to do as he says, but we both know he has the edge, literally and figuratively. “Only if you promise not to hurt her.”
“I promise,” Dmitry smirks.
I don’t trust him, but I don’t have much of a choice either.
I love you, I mouth to Elisa as I carefully crouch down and place my gun on the ground.
I love you too, she seems to mouth back. I’m glad she doesn’t speak. The sound of her frightened voice might break me. I need to stay calm.
“Now kick it this way,” Dmitry orders.
I do as he says. The gun slides forward, stopping just over halfway between the two of us. “Good boy,” Dmitry taunts, before dropping Elisa from around the hair.
There’s no time to feel any relief. With a kick of his own, Dmitry plants his foot into Elisa’s chest and sends her hurtling towards the cliff’s edge.
“NO!”
I lunge forward to keep her from falling into the darkness. Dmitry is the furthest thing from my mind, but the bastard slips as he’s trying to jump aside, and I catch him by the shoulder. The force sends him flying backwards.
He stumbles right past Elisa, and off the edge of the open tunnel.
His curses shrink as he falls to his death. Elisa’s cries of fear aren’t far behind. But I’m not as quick as I usually am. The broken bones in my body slow me enough that I’m forced to watch her slip over the edge.
I dive forward, foregoing my own safety to reach over the precipice. I slide until my shoulders hang over the boundary.
The effort is just enough to grab Elisa around the wrist. Her ring digs into my forearm and I hold on for dear life as rocks and rubble tip over the edge around us and fall endlessly into the darkness below.
“Hold on!” I yell. My shoulders burn as I try to pull her up. It’s harder than it should be. She’s so light. But my body is broken.
“Aiden!” Elisa yelps. My grip around her wrist loosens from all the blood. Her father’s blood.
But I won’t let him be the reason she dies. He’s hurt her enough. With a great big roar, I scream away the pain and tug.
It takes every last bit of my strength but I manage to pull her up over the edge and onto steady ground. The second I do, she bursts into tears.
I wrap her up tight in my arms. “You were so brave,” I whisper. The warmth of her shivering body fills my empty heart. I don’t want to let go. We cradle each other on the edge of the tunnel, too hurt to move; too grateful to talk.
She’s safe now. It’s all going to be alright.
“I was so scared,” Elisa finally whispers, digging her head into my chest.
“You don’t have to be scared anymore. It’s over. They’re all dead. We survived.” I hold her close. Palming the back of her head, I plant a reassuring kiss on her forehead, but we’re both far from okay. There’s been enough trauma in this day to last a lifetime.
But it’s a lifetime I want to spend with her.
I’ll mend her wounds. I’ll make her better. And I can tell that she’s thinking the exact same about me. “You’re hurt.” Her fingers trace the boundaries of a deep gash on my chest.
“I’ll be fine,” I say. It’s the truth. I may never walk without a limp again, but as long as I have her, I’ll be happy. “Fuck, I’m better than just fine. I love you, Elisa. I really fucking do.”
It’s not something I ever thought I’d hear myself say out loud to anyone. But my heart is just too full. I need to let some of the love out or else I might rupture. She needs to know.
“I love you too.”
Our lips meet and the hot taste of her salty kiss burns away all the pain and the anguish. For a moment, we’re just two wounded lovers lost in the underworld, hanging onto each other for dear life.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
