Page 48 of Born into Darkness

“Goddammit,” Lev mutters, knowing this is going to complicate things.

Sasha runs back over and holds out his hand to Tony. “I need some gauze.”

Tony sighs and tells him to dig some out. Sasha gets what he needs and jogs back over to where the animal is still whining. I hear Sasha’s laugh again and then I catch a few words as he wraps the gauze around the dog that’s still hidden in the bush.

“That’s a good doggy,” he says, making Vitaly shake his head while Lev gives a soft laugh. “Don’t bite me. I’m trying to help.”

Once he’s satisfied, he picks the dog up and starts walking back over to us. I get my first look at the large doberman he’s decided to save. Gauze is wrapped around his shoulder, but the blood is already seeping through.

“Let me guess, this is my next patient?” Tony asks.

Sasha grins even bigger. “No man left behind, Tony.”

“I think that only applies if he arrived with us,” Vitaly says.

The doberman’s head hangs off the side of Sasha’s arm, too tired and hurt to muster up anything more than a pitiful whimper.

“I’m changing the rules. We can’t just leave him here to die,” Sasha argues, and we all know he’s right.

“Fine,” I say, “but let’s get the fuck out of here.”

The hike to the coastline is uneventful, and by the time we get there, Bran is coming towards us from the jungle, rifle slung over his shoulder and an unreadable face, but as soon as he sees Talia, he breaks into a big smile and signs something to her. Dima sets her down, and as soon as her feet hit the sand, she’s running to her brother. He pulls her in for a hug as soon as she’s close enough and then pulls back with a grin and plugs his nose.

She signs while she laughs and says, “I know. I smell awful.”

He nods his head in agreement, but still gives her another hug to prove he doesn’t care.

Niki jumps down from the boat to see his brother and thanks to the lights on the boats, I see the horror in his eyes when he gets his first look at Max’s hand.

“He’ll be okay,” I remind him. “He’s alive. Everything else can be fixed.”

He nods and reaches out to squeeze his older brother’s shoulder before we carry him onto the boat. Niki’s already set up an inflatable mattress that we can lay him on for the boat trip back up the coast. We ease Max onto it and then use straps to keep him secure. He’s still completely out of it, and as much as I don’t want him to be in pain, I’ll breathe a lot easier when he’s conscious and I can really see for myself that he’s okay.

Tony doesn’t bother with a seat and instead sits down next to the cot, checking Max’s vitals again. He looks up at me and says, “I can mobilize his hand and put ice on it when we’re on the plane. I also want to get an IV started.”

Talia walks over and sits down next to Tony, putting her hand on my son’s thigh in a movement that speaks of a lot of familiarity. I look up and Vitaly meets my eyes, raising a brow and giving me a look that makes it clear he wants to know every detail of what’s going on between them. I shake my head at him, making it clear that now is not the time.

He relents, but I can tell he doesn’t want to and takes a seat in between his son and Matvey. Sasha’s still carrying his new best friend when he sits in one of the last remaining seats. The dog’s eyes are open, and every once in a while, he gives a soft whine.

As soon as everyone is loaded up, Roman gives the order to leave and we start making our way back up the coast to where the convoy of trucks are still waiting for us. Dawn is a few hours away, and if all goes according to plan, we’ll be in the air before the sky lightens.

After what feels like an eternity, the boats pull up to the dock, and we start to unload everything again. The trucks are waiting, and after another bumpy ride through the jungle, we arrive at the airport. I think we all let out a collective sigh of relief once the planes are loaded up and we’re cleared for takeoff.

Tony doesn’t waste any time. He’d already set up a makeshift medic station, and as soon as we’re in the air and it’s safe to do so, he puts an IV in Max and gently secures his hand so it’s protected and won’t be jostled around. He’d already explained that the damage was too severe for him to try and fix. He’d very likely do more harm than good by trying, and none of us are willing to risk that.

“Talia, you need one of these, too,” Tony tells her, holding up another IV bag.

She takes the seat Tony points out, and Bran sits down in the one next to her, unwilling to let her get too far from his sight. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were fraternal twins. They obviously share a strong bond, and while Talia gets taken care of, Sasha quietly works on his dog, cleaning the gunshot wound in his shoulder and speaking softly to him in Russian while he does it.

“I’m glad my wife’s not here for all this, but, fuck, I’d like to chase her through the woods right now,” I hear Volodya say to his brothers.

Sasha perks up at that and looks over at them. “You chase your wife? I mean, she likes that?”

Volodya grins. “Fuck yeah she does.”

Valeri claps his brother on the back with a laugh. “He wanted to name his daughter Sitka Spruce, because that’s the tree she was conceived against, but Maddie convinced him to shorten it to Sitka.”

“Thank god,” Vasily says. “I’m not calling my niece Spruce.”

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