Dante tackled him to the ground, barreling out of the darkness. They both went down hard, rolling across the concrete. I could see Dante’s hands gripping Ivan’s wrist, trying to twist it and force him to drop his weapon. Darting down, I snatched my own gun up, training it on Ivan. But they were moving around too much, and we needed Ivan alive. I was scared I might accidentally kill him. Or Dante.
Ivan rolled, lashing out with his feet and nailing Dante in the stomach. The wind was knocked from his lungs, but still he gripped Ivan’s ankle, yanking him back before landing a blow to his face. Ivan’s head rocked back, cracking against the ground. I winced at the sound, the gun trembling between my fingers. Another flash of silver caught my eye as Ivan’s hand jerked up. His thumb settled on the trigger, and the barrel pointed straight towards Dante.
I screamed just as the shot went off.
But Dante didn’t fall.
Searing heat burned along my arm, scorching up my shoulder. The gun dropped from my hands just as Dante landed another blow, knocking Ivan out. He knelt on his chest, fist raised for another hit, the blood lust clear on his face.
“Dante.” I choked, my other hand reaching across my chest to my arm. My fingers came away red, my blood hot and sticky against my skin.
He glanced up, eyes locking on the bullet wound. “Shit.”
Killian and David barreled around the corner of a container, guns raised. As soon as they saw us, they froze. Ivan lay unconscious on the ground, his gun tossed to the side. Dante rushed from the ground, catching me just before I fell. All I could feel was the throbbing pain in my arm, the blood trickling down over my hands, dripping from my fingers. Black clouded my vision as stars exploded above our heads. My body screamed at me, my heart thudding wildly against my ribcage.
“Sienna.” Dante’s voice sounded so far away and warbled as if I were underwater. I watched as Killian and David rushed to our side.
And then I saw nothing at all.
17
DANTE
It had been stupid to split up. A horrible fucking idea, really. And Sienna had paid the price for that stupidity. I knew I should never have left her out of my sight. I knew I should have been beside her. Maybe then we could’ve avoided this. The wound wasn’t fatal, but the trauma alone could potentially cause more harm to both Sienna and the baby.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I scooped her up in my arms just before she passed out. “Killian! Get Ivan.”
Killian darted forward, throwing Ivan’s heavy frame over his shoulder before following me. David kept pace beside us, anxiously glancing at Sienna every so often. I wanted to punch him in the face for this. No, I wanted to kill him. He’d put Sienna in danger with his dumbass plan.
“Go get the fucking car,” I barked, trying not to jostle Sienna too much. David listened, darting ahead and disappearing into the darkness. I heard the sound of an engine turning on up ahead before the headlights flicked on.
David jumped out of the driver’s seat as soon as we appeared, yanking open the van’s sliding door. I laid Sienna out in the backseat. Killian opened the trunk, dumping Ivan in the back before locking the handcuffs we had around his wrists and ankles. I went around to the other side before getting in. Taking Sienna’s arm, I inspected the bullet wound more closely.
The bullet had lodged in her upper arm, too deep for me to try and dig out on my own, but it didn’t look like it had hit anything important. I just really hoped it wasn’t lodged into a blood vessel. She had passed out, completely oblivious to the pain, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to try and get it out then. To hurt her even more. It would be nearly impossible to take it out once the van started moving anyway, and we couldn’t wait for me to slip it out. She’d have to hold on until we got back.
“We need to take her to the hospital,” David said breathlessly. He got into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut just as Killian hopped in.
“No hospital,” I snapped. “Are you stupid? How do you think it would look if three men showed up with a woman shot in the arm? Not even your badge would get us out of that shit.”
Grimacing, David peeled away from the curb, merging onto the street. I held Sienna’s head in my lap, brushing the hair away from her face. With every bump, every jolt of the van, she grimaced, moaning in pain. Killian turned back, worry etched onto every line of his face.
“Where was she hit?” he asked.
“Arm. But it’s too deep for me to get out myself.” I glanced up at him, feeling strained. “We need a med kit.”
“She’s gotta have one back at the house,” Killian said. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t be much of a safe house.”
It seemed like an eternity getting back. I wasn’t exactly religious—not like my mother was—but I prayed my ass off as the van wove between late-night traffic. David went as fast as he could go while Killian kept an eye out for any cops. I counted down the minutes until we arrived, my knuckles white from fear. She was losing a lot of blood. It stained my clothes, my hands, my arms. I pressed my palm against the bullet wound, gritting my teeth and blocking out her cry of pain. I needed to staunch the blood flow before she bled out.
“Kill, call Wen.” Killian frowned, opening his mouth to argue before thinking better of it. “Tell him we need an IV and Type AB blood. And some disinfected needles. Tell him we have a man shot. He’ll know what else we’ll need.”
“Who is Wen?” David asked.
“Someone I trust with my life,” I shot back. “Don’t worry. Killian can meet him a few blocks away from the house if that’s what you’re fucking worried about.” David fell silent, his hands gripping the wheel tighter.
We were nearly there when Killian hung up the phone. “He’ll meet me two blocks away in about thirty minutes.”
“Is that the fastest he can go?” I asked, jaw clenched. I didn’t want to waste time before pulling the bullet out.