Tears of Betrayal

Fuck, I try with everything left in me.

My blurring sight falls on Ariana, where she’s staring at me. She’s frozen in shock, barely blinking, raw anguish etched into her beautiful features, and I wish I had the strength to comfort her.

You’ll be okay, Malyshka. Alexei will watch over you on my behalf.

With Alexei on my right and Damien on my left, the world fades to black.

Chapter 27

ARIANA

My ears ring. The sound is deafening.

My eyes are locked on Demitri, the blood darkening his shirt.

I can’t register it.

I’m surrounded by death, my brother lying dead nearby, blood forming pools on the cold floor.

I can’t…

Demitri.

An arm wraps around me, and I’m forced to move, my burning gaze following Alexei and Damien, supporting Demitri, as they run out of the warehouse.

Like a magnet, I’m pulled forward, hurrying to catch up with them. Someone yanks me away, and I struggle against the hold.

I hear my voice, but it sounds distant as if I’m no longer a part of my own body. “I’m going with Demitri!” When the person forces me further away, I scream, “Alexei!”

“Let her come to me,” Alexei shouts, and I’m freed from the strong hold. I dart forward, running toward Alexei, where he’s placing Demitri in the back seat of the SUV. When I reach them, Alexei looks at me. “Get in.” I do as he says, moving onto my knees next to Demitri. Alexei leans past me, and taking my hands, he presses them to Demitri’s chest and stomach. “Keep pressure on the wounds.”

I nod frantically as I use whatever strength I can dig up to stop the bleeding.

Alexei climbs behind the steering wheel while Damien takes the passenger side, already making a call to wherever we’re taking Demitri.

The tires screech as Alexei reverses, and then the SUV darts forward, and I fight to keep my hands pressed to Demitri’s wounds. His head rolls to the side, falling against my bicep.

Turning my head, I press my mouth to his hair.

God.

My body begins to shake as flashes rip through me. Ilia aiming at Alexei and me. I just reacted, knowing how important Alexei is to Demitri. I don’t know who took the first shot.

Alexei shoved me down to his feet, and then… then… the blasts echoed loudly.

I looked for Demitri and saw him shoot at Yuri.

I watched as this man, who I only met three weeks ago, killed my brother. I felt nothing. There was no relief. No satisfaction.

Alexei yanked me up and behind him, and then the gunfight died down as quickly as it started.

I gasp as I remember Demitri turning around and seeing the blood. His face was already too pale.

My body shudders, and closing my eyes, it feels like my soul is being ripped from my body.

“Please,” I whimper. “Don’t leave me.”

I begin to pepper kisses to Demitri’s clammy forehead, my lungs desperately trying to function when all I want to do is shut down.

I survived my mom getting Alzheimer's and forgetting me.

I survived my dad dying.

I survived my brother wanting me dead.

I won’t survive losing Demitri.

Please.

Not you. I can lose everything but you.

Alexei brings the SUV to a jarring stop outside a dilapidated house, and I have to move quickly to get out of the way so he and Damien can pull Demitri from the car.

I hear another vehicle and see Carson and Winter stop next to us, and then I run after Alexei and Damien as they carry Demitri into the house.

A middle-aged man who looks more like a butcher than a doctor shows them to a room where an elderly woman and man wait. Alexei and Damien place Demitri on a slab of steel, and then Damien pushes me away from the doorway.

My mind is crystal clear, and I even notice the dustmotes hanging in the air.

Alexei comes out of the room and pulls the door shut behind him, and then he stares at the blood on his hands.

“They’ll… they’ll save him, right?” I ask, not recognizing my voice.

Slowly Alexei lifts his eyes to mine, and there’s no sign of the deadly assassin. He can only nod at me, but the fear on his face gives me a different answer.

Unlike the times before when I got terrible news, I’m unable to break down. It’s as if I’m suspended in time, and the only way I can move forward is with Demitri by my side.

“How the fuck did he get shot?” Damien snaps angrily. “It’s fucking impossible!”

Alexei turns, and as he walks down the narrow hallway, he mutters, “Demitri was distracted.”

Like a moth following a flame, hoping it will lead her to the sun, I follow after Alexei.

‘Demitri was distracted.’

We walk into a bathroom, and I hover near Alexei as he washes the blood off his hands. Then he turns to me, and taking hold of my wrist, he pulls me to the sink and cleans my hands, as well.