Blackness Within (36 page)

Blake helps Rodger up and we all run. I keep Natasha cradled to my chest as I move back toward my baby sister.

Bullets pepper the ground around us from above before Vojtech screams, “Natasha!”

Cara returns fire as we duck and cover, running toward where she came from at the other end of the alley. I hear a roar of pain as Cara continues to shoot at the men coming for us. She drops her empty magazine and replaces it with a fresh one in an instant at my back. I’m running away from her and she’s got my back covered. This is wrong on so many levels.

Natasha is quivering in my arms as I run as fast as I can. I don’t think I need to carry her, though she’s in high as shit fuck-me heels so I doubt she could keep up if I put her down. I continue to motor as bullets turn the brick to dust near my head.

Finally, Cara’s black Volvo SUV comes into view. I throw Natasha in the backseat, letting Blake climb in behind her. I motion for Rodger to follow but he climbs in the driver’s seat. It is his job after all. Cara backs up to us and I grab her around the waist, forcefully shoving her in the backseat before slamming the door and rounding the hood to hoist myself in the passenger seat.

Rodger’s moving us before I can tell him to go. Bullets shatter the back window as we pull away. The SUV winds and weaves through downtown as Rodger expertly maneuvers us, constantly checking the mirrors for anyone following us.

“Is everyone okay?” I heave out in labored breaths, looking into the back of the car. My ear is still ringing, but it’s lessening. I don’t give a shit if I never hear the same again as long as everyone is safe.

“We’re good, man,” Blake assures me, pulling Natasha into his lap.

I glance at Cara as she constantly scans around the outside of the car for Vojtech Bratva.

“Cara?” I urge her to tell me she’s okay. I peruse her from head to toe and see no evidence of injury, but I need to hear it from her.

“I’m fine, Brian,” she grits through her teeth, still pissed at me. Better pissed than shot at this moment. I’m not too happy with her either.

I yank my phone out of my jacket and call Butch.

“Hey,” he answers in a winded voice.

“You good?”

“Had to stop about ten Bratva comin’ out the front for you guys. I’m whole but too old for this shit.”

“What’d you do?” I ask concerned he’s in more trouble than we are.

“Shot a few rounds in the air and got the sidewalks panicked. They couldn’t move once that started. I’m headed to the warehouse now.”

“Why?”

“I found him, Brian. The motherfucker that took Kathy and Mia from me. He’s gettin’ what’s comin’ to him tonight.”

“Butch,” I try to implore him to be careful.

“You’ve got your girl. Now that place is gonna burn to the ground with these monsters in it,” he growls.

“You’re gonna burn down the warehouse?” I question disbelieving.

“NO!” Natasha screeches.

I spin to see her clawing away from her brother to get at me.

“Ivan’s in there. You can’t let him die!” she shouts in my face.

“Grey, any friend you made in there is not really your friend,” I admonish her.

“Ivan’s the baby. Junior,” she says ardently.

“Fuck! Butch?” I question into the phone.

There’s no answer.

“Butch?!” I shout looking down to see the call is gone.

I redial feverishly to be sent directly to his voicemail.

“I can’t get him. He must be in the Bottoms with no coverage,” I groan.

“Take me there. I can get the baby out,” Natasha insists.

“No fuckin’ way, Tosh. We’re not goin’ there,” Blake snarls.

Natasha scrambles away from me and crawls into the back of the car. She’s going to jump out.

“Tosh!” Blake bellows trying to grab at her feet.

Cara leaps into the back and grabs Natasha around the waist, holding her from her escape.

“Take us to the warehouse,” Cara commands. “I can’t hold her much longer.”

I lock eyes with Blake before looking into Natasha’s stormy greys. With one leg out of the car and the urgency on her face, I know she’s going whether we take her or not. I can’t leave the baby either.

“Fuck!” I grunt turning my head to the ceiling. “West Bottoms, Rodger.”

“Already headed there,” he informs me.

“Grey, get your ass back in the seat,” I demand.

Her eyes hold mine for a few breaths before she stops struggling against Cara. My baby sister waits until Natasha clears the back of the seat to follow her. When they’re both where they should be, Blake snakes his arms around his sister’s waist. She won’t get away again. I’m tempted to tell Rodger to go back to my place, but I know I’ll never forgive myself if the baby dies and we could have saved him.

We arrive at the warehouse in short order. Rodger parks where Natasha tells him to and waits as the rest of us pile out.

“It’ll be faster if I go in alone,” Natasha whispers as we gather at the back of the SUV.

“No,” the three sane people growl.

She rolls her eyes but nods in agreement.

“Wish I had a fuckin’ gun,” Blake grumbles as we follow Natasha into the building.

There’s no smoke or signs of Butch, but the building is huge so that doesn’t mean shit at this point.

“Me too,” I agree as I let the metal door click shut gently.

We’re in a stairway where Natasha slips off her treacherous heels and starts taking them two at a time. Her short black dress creeps up her thighs with each step and I have to remind my dick to shut down. It obeys because this is not the moment to be a pervert.

Eight flights of stairs later; Natasha opens a door and peers around the edge before signaling the all clear. Cara shoves Natasha out of the way and takes the lead, twisting and scanning as we move down a long hallway toward a copper door.

I’m shocked that we’re not being fired upon. There are cameras every few feet hanging from the ceiling. We’ve been spotted by now.

Somehow, we reach the door unscathed. Natasha shoves it open and barrels into the space, determined. A woman comes into the opulent space and screeches to a halt at the sight of us.

“Give me Ivan,” Natasha directs the woman holding the baby.

“Miss Reynolds?” the woman questions with her eyebrows skirting her dark hairline.

“Give him to me, Anya,” Natasha growls and lunges at the shocked woman.

Anya steps out of her reach, cradling the sleeping baby tightly. Then Cara acts. She raises her gun and approaches the woman in a few short strides.

“Give her the baby. Now,” she instructs calmly with her barrel trained at Anya’s head.

“He’ll kill me…my family,” Anya whimpers.

“I’ll kill you and your family. Give her the baby,” Cara threatens, moving even closer.

Anya doesn’t comply and Cara loses her patience. She racks her slide with a decided snap and it does the trick. Anya hands the baby to Natasha and we sprint for the door. That’s when all hell breaks loose.

The hallway is filled with smoke when we enter. We push forward as much as we can until the heavy blackness drives us all to our hands and knees. The lights above us begin to flicker just as we reach the door we entered through. I kick it open and immediately pull is shut when flames of orange and red glimmer on the other side.

“This way,” Natasha yells, covering the baby as much as she can with her hands.

He’s crying and wiggling away from her grasp as she shuffles on her knees and elbows as best she can. Cara’s right next to her as Blake and I bring up the rear of our slowly moving group.

We reach another set of doors and Cara pushes them open. There’s no smoke or flames so we all jump to our feet and fly down. As we pass each floor, the flames that are growing on the other side of each door can be seen through the small glass windows. Every floor is on fire. We have to make it down six more flights.

I can hear men yelling and barking out orders as we move. We’ll encounter someone soon.

As we hit the third floor, the stairs end.

“There’s a service elevator,” Natasha informs us through wheezy breaths.

“Bad idea in a fire,” I reply, searching for another way. The smoke is filtering in from the flaming doors above and around us.

We aren’t going to make it out of here. I’ve failed again and this time I’m going to kill Natasha, her beloved brother and my baby sister.

I wrap Cara in my arms as Blake cradles Natasha, the four of us seeing our impending end. The door on our left caves under the pressure of heat building on the other side causing a small explosion, driving us to the floor in a huddled mass.

I clutch at my sister and reach out my fingers toward Natasha. Our pinkies link while the wall of fire races toward us with force and fluidity, rising and falling along the walls and ceilings. It’s a hypnotic sight to behold as my last in life.

“I love you,” I murmur into Cara’s hair.

“I love you too,” she whispers back, clutching at my neck.

I turn my eyes to Natasha and watch her tornadic grey eyes burn brightly with flashes of the impending flames. When the smoke becomes too heavy to see her any more, I cling to the memory of that gaze while saying silent goodbyes to my loved ones. The blackness within me can’t battle its way out of the fire-breathing dragon engulfing us. I’ve lost my first fight.

Natasha

Cowering on the ground in my brother’s arms with my pinkie wrapped around Sully’s is not the way I’m supposed to die. I refuse to give up just when the chance at freedom finally seeks me out.

I look over my shoulder through the thick black smoke and try to see a way out. The elevator isn’t here and I’m certain it’s not functional. The lights shut off long ago and now we’re only able to see by way of backup lights and the bright amber flames charging toward us.

“Come on!” I shout.

I wiggle away from Blake and army crawl as best I can while holding Ivan to my chest. When we reach the heavy wooden grate, Blake and Sully fight it open.

The vast empty space is pitch black, but there are no flames below us. Blake, Cara and Sully pull their phones out to illuminate the space and we see it at the same time. There are metal rungs running down the side of the shaft.

“Go, Cara,” I bark out.

She looks as though she’s going to argue and then shoves her gun in the back of her jeans before scaling her way down quickly. I follow one-handed, gripping onto Ivan with ironclad force. He’s still whimpering but his wailing has lessened. Blake and Sully climb down with ease.

I drop to my feet and wait for them to do the same. Men are running around on the other side of the gate. Many are spraying flames with fire extinguishers, while others are just moving and shouting at others.

When we open this gate, we’ll probably be met with a hail of bullets. The smoke here isn’t as heavy as it was above us. They must have the fire on this floor contained. Without the heavy blackness to shield us, we’ll need a plan that we have no time to formulate.

Alarms are ringing with an obnoxious clamor. I know there are sprinklers in the ceilings, but they’ve never released any water. We have to get out of here. Flames roar above our heads and begin to drop hot embers around us.

Blake and Sully pull the gate up slightly to allow us passage. The four of us roll out in quick succession. I leap to my feet as I hear footsteps pounding toward us.

I see two of Roman’s men racing in our direction with their guns drawn. Cara quickly dispatches them with her own weapon. The young woman is impressive to watch.

“This way,” I command and begin moving toward the end of the hall. Two more turns and we’ll be at an exit. It’s close enough that I can almost feel the fresh air cleansing my smoke addled lungs.

We reach the door only running into three more men that Blake and Sully level with their fists. Cara steps outside first and just as I’m about to cross the threshold strong arms rip me backward.

I let out a scream, flailing and kicking.

“Stop,” Roman demands in my ear.

Igor forces Sully and Blake out the door before they know what they’re fighting against. He slams the door and locks it before taking off down the hall away from us, sparing me a rueful gaze as he goes.

“Roman,” I whimper.

He spins me in his arms and pins me with a lethal gaze.

“You’re running from me again. I told you, Natasha. I told you!” he roars in my face, causing Ivan to scream.

“Let me go, Roman. Please just let me go,” I beg.

The walls are shaking as the warehouse begins to collapse and crumble from the raging fire. The ceiling above us breaks away, forcing Roman to move us down the hall from the exit.

His eyes are enraged and darker than I’ve ever seen them as he stares me down. Breathing labored pants, the dragon on his neck seems more alive than I’ve experienced. He’s glaring at me with his own flames forming on his forked tongue.

Roman rips Ivan from my arms before grabbing my bicep, dragging me away from the pounding on the metal door. I can hear my brother and Sully screaming on the other side along with gunfire from Cara. They’re battling to get me free. I have to fight harder for myself. I’m no longer a victim. I have to be the victor.

I wrench my arm away from Roman’s dragon devoured fingers just as more of the ceiling crashes down around us. The walls crumble next, separating us with concrete and flames.