Page 189 of Dance of Madness

Marko is roaring at his brother to lower his fucking gun. Levka is yelling back that I’m a fucking bastard, that Marko is being swayed by his daughter’s emotions.

She bolts as the screaming and yelling hits its crescendo, shoving away from her father and Rurik and sprinting toward me.

I watch in slow motion as Levka catches the moment, his eyes widening and his mouth opening in a slow-motion yell as he yanks his gaze back to me.

His hand tightens around the gun?—

“NO!”

Suddenly, Milena is between her uncle and me, blocking my body with hers, Levka’s gun pointed right at her chest.

“If you’re going to shoot him!” she screams, “you’ll have to do itthrough me!!”

“LEVKA!!”

Marko’s face twists with horror, and his gun swivels, trained right on his brother.

“LOWER YOUR FUCKING WEAPON!” he bellows.

Levka eyes Marko coldly.

“You do not have what it takes, brother,” he hisses, the gun still aimed at Milena.

It feels like a high, whining alarm sound begins to ring in the back of my mind. Like anxiety incarnate, slowly growing louder and louder, until it’s thundering like a jet engine in my ears.

“To lead takes the will to doterrible things, brother,” Levka rasps. “And you, Marko,lackthat will.”

“I swear to Christ, Levka!”Marko roars. “If you do not lower your gun, I will put this whole fucking clip through your head!”

Levka grits his teeth, his eyes on Milena. “Move, malyshka.”

“No,” she snarls. “Not a fucking chance. I told you: if you’re going to shoot him, you’re going to have to do it through?—”

“So be it.”

I’m vaguely aware of a roar tearing from my throat as a gun goes off like thunder.

But it's Levka who cries out, jerking sideways and spinning around as blood erupts from a hole in his shoulder.

That’s when all hellreallybreaks loose.

It’s Marko who’s just hit Levka. But even as he does that, the three other guards start firing.

Marko, Rurik, and the fourth man shoot back.

But fuck all that.

With a scream of pain I lurch to my feet despite the broken toes, the smashed fingers, the blood in my eyes, the fact that I’m still tied to the fucking chair.

I ignore all that and crash into Milena, knocking her to the ground and landing on top of her.

She screams, clutching at me and curling into a ball as the deafening gunfire thunders through the concrete room, dust and blood and sparking ricochets spraying everywhere before it all suddenly goes still.

I can barely hear shit over the ringing in my ears, can barely see through the concrete dust as I grunt and roll off Milena.

Holy fuck.

Everyone’s down.

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