Melor is shouting at someone. Fuck, the guy sounds unhinged.
I can’t make out the words—the door’s too thick—but the raging sentiment is clear. How did I miss the cesspool inside him? How blind was I?
I can’t let myself think about that.
The only thing that matters is Alina.
My phone lights up right as Melor shouts again. Another voice answers him. I can’t tell if it’s just the two people or if there are more.
Demyan:Done.
I’m going to have to assume there are more men until I find out otherwise.
With a deep breath, I turn the handle and ease the door open just enough to squeeze through.
Up ahead, farther down the hallway, Melor and a taller man aim their guns on the elevator door, their backs to me.
The service elevator is located down far enough from the stairs that I might just have a chance. I slip down the hall and into a room. Empty. I move out of the room, my back against the wall as I sweep forward and backward with my gun, taking everything in.
They’re focused on the elevator, which seems to stop at each floor on the way up.
Demyan’s bought me a precious few seconds, and I don’t intend to waste them.
There’s another room diagonal to me. I cross toward it, fully expecting an army but hoping for Alina.
And it’s like I’m handed all the fucking gifts.
Because there she is.
My knees go weak.
Her eyes are wide with joy and fear, along with something else. Love.
I put a finger to my lips and then hold up two fingers, three, four…hoping she’ll get the hint. Alina’s a smart girl.
She shakes her head, a tear sliding free as she raises two fingers and points in the direction of Melor and his fucking friend.
Shit. She’s handcuffed. I’m about to move toward her when she widens her eyes even more, right as I hear footsteps.
I duck behind the door.
“Fucking asshole!” Melor roars as he storms into the room. “I know?—”
I step out and shoot him in the shoulder, then in the knee, bringing him crashing down in a howl of pain.
I dart closer to kick his gun away and whirl as his accomplice rushes in.
That one, I shoot fucking point blank, and he drops like stone, dead.
I don’t think. I rush to Alina as she lets out a sob, and I hold her, kissing her hard and fast. “Malyshka, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay. I’m good. Better now that you’re here.” Suddenly, she screams.
I let her go, whirling as Melor tries to get up.
I kick him hard in the face, buckling him to the ground. What I want to do is keep kicking him deeper into unconsciousness. Kick him until he feels it on that other plane.
I want to stomp his face in until it’s nothing but bone fragment, blood, and brain.
