Page 78 of Shadows of Obsession
But he doesn't get the chance to say anything more because suddenly the car skids on the street.
"What was that?" I ask, my heart in my throat.
"Someone's trying to push us off the road," Vlad answers, and I see Sergey calling someone, but my attention is in the mirror, watching the car trying to force us off track. A black SUV stays glued to the back of our car.
"We're under attack. We’re ten minutes from the ballet studio," Sergey says in a clipped voice, but whatever he says next is drowned out by the noise of shattering windows as someone shoots at us.
From the side, I feel the car's impact and although the seat belt holds me in place, the car flips over.
"Damn it!" I hear from the left.
The seat belt bites into my shoulder and chest, each breath a struggle against its unyielding grip. As the car lurches to a stop, my lungs burn, desperate for air that comes in shallow gasps through clenched teeth, but I manage to breathe.That's good.
"Luna, look at me," I hear, and although everything's blurry, I raise my head toward Sergey, who now has a look full of dread.
"They're going to take you, and I need you to have this with you."
He puts a switchblade in my hand, or at least that's what I think it is. I don't get to respond before he pulls out his gun and starts to shoot at the car that flipped us.
Vlad also pulls out his gun and shoots at an individual who just got out. I can't clearly see how many there are, but I know for sure that Vlad and Sergey are outnumbered. We're still at the edge of the city, and although there's light traffic, nobody stops.
Obviously.
Panic takes hold of me again as I see Sergey trying to take cover beside the car. He has no chance against all the attackers.
I hear Vlad's scream, and I know he's been shot. I need to get out of this car.
I undo my seat belt and fall awkwardly to one side, pain blooming in my shoulder, but I ignore it and open the door to get out when I hear voices from the other side.
"I want her whole, understood?"
Clearly I'm the one they want. I have nowhere to run. I'm in a field, and if they see me, surely one of them will run after me.
I look for my phone, knowing I only have a few seconds, so I call the only person whose voice I want to hear right now.
Just as Sergey said, I know I'll be taken, but I want to hear his voice for one second before they take me. He answers on the first ring.
"I’m coming, Luna," he answers, his voice cracking with anxiety and helplessness. The raw emotion in his tone breaks the dam, and tears flood silently down, caught in my throat, too tight to make a sound.
In the chaos, Sergey fires at the SUV while bullets and shouts pierce the air from the other side.
"You'll find me." The whisper comes out fragile and more of a question than a certainty. His answer, the last thing I register before rough hands tear the phone away and hurl it into the field, burns my memory like a promise.
"Always."
I don't use Sergey's switchblade. Not yet. The man who grabbed me takes me toward a car parked in the empty field. I don't struggle, I don't try to escape. I need to keep calm and try to find a solution.
Come on, Luna!Input data, output data. That's what you do all day. You find a way to process information for a desired outcome.
When I turn my head, I see Sergey fighting with a giant, and his blood-covered face is the incentive I need.
They won't kill me. At least let me cause some damage before they take me. I knew from the start that 'whole' doesn't mean unharmed, but I can't let Sergey be killed without trying to help him.
The guy gripping my hand hasn't searched me, probably considers me harmless.
The next man is at a considerable distance; if I run, I have a chance to put a few yards between us. Without hesitating further, I take the switchblade from my pocket, open it, and in an instant plunge it into the liver area of the guy holding my hand.
His scream pierces the air, but I'm already running toward Sergey. I had the presence of mind to pull out the blade before running, to have at least one weapon with me.
