Page 98 of Vows of Blood

He lunges, and without thinking, I hurl the phone at his head before I turn and run.

I don't think, just blindly race down the hallway, bare feet slapping against marble. I hear him. If I can get outside, into the gardens, maybe I can find somewhere to hide until Luca comes home, or a car I can steal.

I take the corner too fast, and my feet hit wet tiles— probably from more of Tony's blood smeared across the floor—and my legs slide out from under me. I crash down hard, the impact driving the air from my lungs, my hip and elbow screaming with pain as I attempt to scramble back up to my feet. I twist onto my back, the hairs standing up on the back of my neck, as I hear his footsteps closing in behind me.

As I look up, he looms over me, knife raised, his face expressionless barring the chilling menace of a man who has killed before and has no problem doing it again.

When his arm starts to move, the self-defense classes I took after Luca disappeared kick in. Using my elbows to support me, even as one screams out in pain, I sweep his feet out from under him.

He goes down on his side, landing with a grunt of surprise, as the knife clatters away across the marble.

I'm already scrambling up, my bloody feet slipping and sliding as I race for the door to the patio, praying it’s unlocked.

30

LUCA

Nico braces himself against the dashboard as Enzo curses in the back seat when I take the corner on two wheels.

The gates are open when we arrive. They shouldn't be open. I speed through, not slowing down until I screech to halt at the front of the house, the driver’s door open before the car has come to a complete stop. The front door is ajar. There are no lights inside, and no signs of movement in any of the front windows.

I’ve been calling Tony and Roman nonstop since I got into the car, but nobody has answered. Something is horribly wrong, and I know exactly what it is.

Mikhail got inside the house.

I go in fast and low, weapon raised, my brothers flanking me. The house is dark, but I know every inch of it, every shadow and corner. The smell hits me first. Blood. Fresh and thick in the air.

Tony is on the floor near the stairs, unconscious, a pool of crimson spreading beneath him. Nico drops to check his pulse.

“Find the others,” I whisper to Enzo, who peels off, clearing each room as he goes.

Forcing myself to pause, I listen, then hurry forward, following the sound of running footsteps somewhere deeper in the house.

Then I turn the corner and see them at the far end of the hallway, Sienna with two hands gripping the patio door, shaking it hard in desperation, but with nowhere left to run. Her white nightdress is splattered with red, her feet are bare and bloody, and her eyes are desperate and wild.

And advancing on her fast, knife in hand, is a tall figure I recognize instantly.

Mikhail Volkov.

I don't hesitate. I fire.

The bullet takes him in the back of the thigh, and he goes down with a roar of pain, knife still clutched in his fist.

Sienna screams, her hands flying up to cover her ears as she cowers, and then I'm running, closing the distance between us in seconds.

Volkov attempts to stand, but his leg buckles.

“That was a warning shot, Volkov. If you move, the next one will be in the back of your head.”

Mikhail nods in typical Russian pragmatism, and the knife clatters to the ground.

Stepping forward quickly, I kick the weapon away before lifting his shirt to check for more. He makes his move, going for the gun, but off balance with his injured leg, he’s too slow as I twist away. When I crack him across the back of the skull as hard as I can with the gun, his body crumples to the ground, his cheek hitting marble tile with a satisfying thud.

He’s incapacitated, but a pained groan tells me he’s not quite out cold.

"Sienna." I cross to her, pulling her behind me as I shield her, keeping my gun trained on the lethal intruder currently laying prone on the floor, cursing in Russian. Her body shakes, trembling against me as she clings on, face buried in the back of my shirt.

"Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?" I demand, one hand banded around my back to keep her hidden from him as Enzo joins us.