Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I love you,” he interrupts a second before Kirill’s attention returns to us.
In slow motion he notches back the trigger. It’s halfway in when Alek grabs the barrel of his gun, pulls it in the direction opposite to me, then rams his fist into his face.
“Run, драгоценный!” he screams, that too in slow motion.
Tears threaten to run down my face as I race for the groove Alek scoured into the metal so I’d know the exact spot to throw over my leg. I feel as if I am moving at the speed of light, but someone is faster than me. They hook my ankle with a speargun, sending me toppling to the floor.
After crashing face-first, I skid across the sea-damaged floor. My collision with a stack of containers that end my slide temporarily dazes me, but I’d give anything for my memory to be wiped when my vision clears enough to see Alek gunned down similarly to Ghost. He takes three bullets to the chest before the asshole who tripped me aims his gun at Alek’s head.
Scared shitless I am on the cusp of losing everything, I force my legs into action before my head is fully onboard with my plans. I stumble more than I sprint while charging for the man going for the kill shot, but when I reach him, I hit him with everything I have.
Regretfully, it is too late. A bullet races out of his gun as the roar of a man fighting to live booms through the air just as quickly. Ghost is no longer on the ground. He’s sprinting for Alek like he can outrun a bullet, his campaign almost upended when the tip of a speargun rips through the scarred side of his face.
As the spear activates its hook mechanism, which shreds through Ghost’s skin like a hot knife through butter, Ghost barges Alek out of the firing zone. His hit is so forceful, Alek falls overboard, taking Ghost with him.
Regretfully, it is nowhere near the deep scratch I was racing for only minutes ago.
“That’ll save a cleanup.” Watermelon Head eats his words when I ram my palm into his nose before sprinting for the emergency box Alek ensured I knew about before he’d let me step foot on this ship. “You fucking…”
After yanking out the flare gun, I fire one flare into the air, announcing we have men overboard before directing the smoking barrel at the men surrounding me. I’d like to take them all down, but since I only have one flare left, I don’t hesitate to aim it at Kirill’s chest before yanking back the trigger.
When the first click fails to activate the flare, I fire again and again and again.
Nothing.
Not a single bang.
Not until Watermelon Head knocks me out like he did last night, except this time, he uses the back of his hand instead of his gun.
31
ALEK
“Careful. The water felt like fucking concrete when we hit it.”
As Yev and a handful of boys I’ve never met before assist Ghost into a floatable boat not big enough for three let alone the dozen men he rustled up in a hurry, I drag my hand under my nose to remove the blood that hasn’t stopped running since my brain rocked against my skull. It clings to the fingers I press to Ghost’s neck once they get him on the thwart to check for a pulse.
My head is fucking pounding, but I only needed to keep Ghost afloat for around twenty minutes since Ana activated a flare. It alerted the men at the docks that we’d gone overboard and saw Yev stealing a fisherman’s inflatable boat.
I know the flare came from Anastasia because no one else on that boat gives a fuck about us. It was proven when I searched it for Ana before Watermelon Head stripped me of my weapons. The fuckers working with Kirill only care about two things. Money and whores. Drugs are a close third.
“Is he breathing?” Yev asks, his voice shuddering because of how wet he got dragging us into the boat. The water is fucking freezing, but some good has come from the icy conditions. It solidified the wounds on Ghost’s face better than glue and saved him from bleeding out while we waited for help.
After feeling the slightest flutter under my almost blue fingers, I mutter, “J-just.”
I stare at the shipping container that is only a blip on the horizon before cranking my neck back to the port. We’re much closer to the docks, but I can’t leave Ana. She is as strong as an ox, and has more gall than any of Kirill’s men, but the wild in her eyes is one of her most attractive features.
Men will give anything to snuff it.
My inner turmoil is given a moment of reprieve when Yev announces, “I got a guy onboard. He was closer to the docks than me, so I asked him to move in, in case we didn’t make it on time.” As he rakes his fingers through his hair, he stares down at Ghost who is obviously unconscious but not giving any physical indicators as to why. “I’m fucking glad I did.” He returns his eyes to mine. “Feo doesn’t have as much experience in this life as us, but he’ll keep an eye on Ana until you get there.”