Page 78 of A Royal Deception

“Not without you, Di,” she said defiantly.

“Get in,” I yelled, and she jumped into the car with an angry squeal. Rajan pulled the door closed.

This was the tricky bit. I had to let go of Ayush now and make sure I had enough time to jump into the backseat before he lunged at me. I could feel him bracing his body to attack me as Zarna threw open the door of the backseat.

Before I could let go of him, Ayush turned my own trick on me.

He locked his ankle around mine and tugged. But as he fell forward towards my blade, he pushed my hand down and dropped me to the ground. I slammed the car door shut as I fell and banged on the door hard. Rajan thankfully got the point and drove away with a screech of the tyres, which was a relief because I needed him to get Zarna out of there before Ayush’s men picked up their guns again.

The minute I hit the ground, Ayush backed away with a hand to his throat, and his men jumped off the roof and grabbed their weapons again. I jumped to my feet and braced myself with my sword held high.

“Kill her,” yelled Ayush just as the first chopper landed inside the compound, and Ranvijay and his friends leapt out.

They knocked Ayush off his feet, but it was too late. One of Ayush’s men levelled his gun at me and began to shoot. Three bullets punched through my body, and each one hurt like a mother.

The last thing I saw before I hit the ground was Ranvijay running towards me. For some reason, he looked very upset. Not just angry but terrified.Devastated.

CHAPTER 31

RANVIJAY

Isaw Dheer lunge at Ayush Goel before he got to his feet, and I knew Veer had joined him. But I didn’t care. I couldn’t even register any of the chaos around me as our men clashed with the Goel thugs. It was as if the whole universe suddenly went on mute. Time and space froze. All I could see was Shivina’s body swaying with the force of the bullets that hit her.

She went down, but she still held the Durga Talvar upright, as if she still had a lot of fight left in her. I ran towards her, yelling her name, and I caught her just before she hit the ground. Her eyes were on me.

I picked her up as carefully as I could without jolting her and ran to the chopper.

“We’ll hold them off until the police get here. You get her to a hospital,” said Isha, as she aimed a mini rocket launcher at the army of thugs racing towards us.

She blew them to kingdom come with one shot and turned her attention to the other side, covering me as I placed Shivina on the seat and strapped her in carefully before I ordered the pilot to take off.

Her eyes closed even before we were airborne.

“Shivina, stay with me, damn it!” I yelled, but the sound of the rotors swallowed my words.

I didn’t know if she could hear me, but I held her hand tightly and prayed like I’d never prayed before to a deity I didn’t even believe in.

I had torn us apart. I had destroyed our relationship to keep her safe. And yet, she got caught in the crossfire as collateral damage. Isha was right. Ayush hadn’t spared her just because I wasn’t with her. And the last thing I’d said to her was that I wanted her out of my life.

I raised her head to whisper in her ear.

“Shivina, baby, if you can hear me… stay with me. Don’t go. Don’t leave me. I know I’ve been a big fool, and I know I should have said this sooner. I love you, baby. If you leave me now, I’ll be as good as dead. Please fight. Fight for your life. Fight forusbecause without you… there won’t be any me,” I begged, tears streaming down my face.

The pilot landed the chopper expertly in the hospital’s parking lot, and the ER team came racing out with a stretcher. They loaded Shivina onto the stretcher and wheeled her away. I held onto her hand stubbornly and kept pace with the stretcher.

A doctor began shooting orders right away.

“I can feel a pulse. Airway is clear. Start transfusion protocol. Six units of pRBCs stat, and prep her for OR. Sir, you need to wait outside. There’s nothing you can do. We’ll take it from here,” he said sternly.

It took three burly security guys to pry me away from Shivina, but it was a small hand that slipped into mine, which finally held me back.

Rajan had brought Zarna to the hospital. She looked tiny and lost as she saw her sister being wheeled away for emergency surgery.

“Is Di going to die?” she asked with the bleak acceptance of a little girl who had lost most of her family members.

“No! She will not die, Zarna. Because our Shivina is not a quitter,” I said fiercely, hugging her tightly. She just wept silently, her tears mingling with my own.

Within minutes, the waiting room was full of my friends, all looking bedraggled and gutted.

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