Tristan takes the knife from me, pushing it back into the pouch by his belt, and then he goes to pick up his gun. I watch as he takes out the empty clip before shoving a new one in place. When Tristan cocks the weapon, heat instantly pools between my legs.
Our eyes meet for a moment, and he must see the desire in my eyes because his lips curl into a hot smirk. He holds his left hand out to me, and when I take hold of him, he links our fingers. His body moves in front of mine, and then we follow Alexei and Demitri out of the house.
As we walk out of the lopsided front door, fright ripples through me when I see two more men.
“They’ve parked west of here. Two miles out,” the man on the left says.
Tristan nods at him, then he gives me a quick introduction. “Nikhil and Sacha.”
I nod at the men. “Thank you for being here.”
They both give me slight smiles, too focused on their surroundings for anything else.
“Let’s move,” Demitri says, and I watch as he and Alexei take the lead as if they’re one person.
Tristan tugs at my hand, and I stay behind him, with Nikhil and Sacha bringing up the rear.
We make our way across the stretch of grass, but before we can reach the lining of trees, something slams into the grass near me, and then gunfire fills the air.
Chapter 27
TRISTAN
Hana’s shriek makes me spin around, and then bullets start flying from our left.
Yanking her behind me, my right arm comes up, and I open fire.
“Keep moving,” Demitri shouts as he steps partially in front of Alexei.
We break out into a run while trying to hit a target simultaneously, which is almost impossible.
Nikhil lets out a shout behind me, and then his full weight hits Hana, slamming her into my back. I swing around and watch as Sacha takes down a rogue shooter that came from our right, then he grabs hold of Nikhil, who took a bullet to the shoulder, yanking him back to his feet.
My gaze locks with Nikhil’s for a split-second. Thank you.
Nikhil stays behind Hana and Sacha next to her as we begin to move again. I have to let go of her hand to reload my Glock, and feeling her place her hand on my back, I focus on taking as many men down as I can while they close in on us.
When we get to the trees, I grab hold of Hana’s hand and break out into a run, dragging her behind me. When she stumbles, I turn around, and ducking, I throw her over my shoulder. I hold her thighs with one arm as my body powers forward, only stopping when I reach the SUV. I yank the door open and throw her inside the bulletproof vehicle. “Stay,” I snarl, and then I grab the bag with the extra weapons.
Slamming the door shut. I stalk to the front of the car, and opening the bag, I take out a machine gun.
My eyes lock with Nikhil. “Stay with Hana.” He nods as he leans his good shoulder against the passenger side. Taking my spare Glock out, I hand it to him. “Keep her safe.”
Demitri grabs a rifle, while Alexei and Sacha each take a machine gun, and then we form a line in front of the SUV, waiting for the enemy to catch up to us.
As the men begin to appear through the trees, Demitri picks them off one at a time. Eventually, I mutter, “Don’t mind us.”
Demitri lets out a chuckle right before he buries a bullet in the head of another man. When the majority of what’s left comes through the trees, opening fire on us, we return the favor, and feeling the machine gun shaking in my hands makes the corner of my mouth lift. Watching them fall like flies has adrenaline rushing down my spine. It tastes like the sweetest blood to the darkness in me.
“Stop!” one of the Albanians shouts.
Alexei holds his hand up, and it takes all my strength to not keep firing.
“Prifti,” Alexei calls out, “Something tells me you’re unhappy.”
Prifti steps forward, and in his immaculate suit, he looks out of place between the fallen bodies and the remainder of his men. “You shouldn’t have moved into my territory.”
The man took Hana.
He had his men beat her.
He almost fucking killed her.
Before another thought can cross my mind, I pull the trigger. The high of watching Prifti’s body rattle as the bullets hit him makes it feel like I’m fucking soaring.
“Fuck!” Alexei spits out, and then we’re back to waging war.
I feel something bite at my bicep, and a round to the bulletproof vest makes me stagger a step back, sending a wave of pain through my chest and ripping the air from my lungs.