Page 28 of White Rabbit
“We can’t. Thepakhanwouldn’t want—”
“He wouldn’t want this man to die, either,” I interrupted. “Call for fucking help! Do you want him to die? Call for help.” Afraid my patient would die before we could get medics here, I turned my full attention to him. “Stay with us, Piter. Come on. You’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna get you help.”
I heard Zlata on the phone, firing off words in Ukrainian, as time seemed to stretch into eternity. The man’s life fully coated my hands, his skin more ashen. He needed helpnow.Tearsburned my eyes. He was so young, too young. “Piter. Fight,” I whispered to him. “Help is coming. Hang on. You have to hang on. Don’t you die on me.”
Silently, I prayed. Hoped. Begged for help to get here fast.
It wasn’t 911 that came, though. Kazimierz and a woman I didn’t know raced in from the back of the house, apparently coming in from an entrance away from the battle at the gate.
“Fuck!” he swore, seeing me. “Where are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. It’s Piter. I’ve got pressure on the worst wound, but it’s not enough. He’s deteriorating fast. Unconscious now. Still breathing, but I haven’t been able to check his pulse.”
Kaz and his assistant swooped in, taking over, and I fell back on my ass. They bent over Piter and gently pulled away my fingers. The woman replaced my hold with hers.
“Get a stretcher over here,” Valariy’s brother yelled into a com on his shirt, much like the one I’d seen on Valariy earlier. “Man down. Foyer. Come in the back of the mansion. Southeast side. And prep my fucking O.R.”
“What happened?” I asked, speaking into air and not expecting a reply.
“Bernardis,” Kaz said. “Ambush. They drew Val and his men away from here then attacked the house. He’s gonna be fucking pissed. This will be war.”
“War?”
He sniffed. “Bernardi will lose.”
No more was said as his team converged with equipment and the stretcher to sweep away the injured man. I realized, as they worked and Zlata knelt beside me, it was silent outside. Was it over? Oh God, how many of Valariy’s men died? Were Bernardi’s men coming?
Suddenly, door burst open again. I cried out, scrabbling to get Zlata behind me before I realized who it was.
Valariy.
Safe. We were safe. Maybe…
My breath caught at the sight of him. His furious eyes scanned the area, assault weapon in his hands, deadly rage rolling off him like fire. An avenging angel ready to destroy anyone in his path.
His gaze landed on me, murder in his eyes, and I shrank backward, afraid of him for the first time.
Chapter 17
Valariy
My heart tried to pound through my chest wall at the sight before me. One of my men down while my brother and his team worked on him. And my woman…covered in blood.
The call reporting the attack had come in just as we finished at the warehouse, Bernardi’s men neutralized—one sent back to him with a message, one taken and the rest dead. I’d left a small crew to deal with the mess and the rest of us had run, déjà vu tearing at me.
Ten years ago, another call had left me in charge of the family, my father and stepmother murdered, my home burned to the ground, taking everything from us. And now, my very world, my queen was in danger.
“No one penetrated our border,” one of myavtorityet,the brigade captain at the gate, reported. “I have four teams ofboyeviksrunning the fence, watching for more. No signs. All alarms accounted for and none triggered.”
I’d sent Aslan for his family while I took my guards, Ivan and Anatoli , as well as the other men with me to the mansion. Blood smeared the door, but the bulletproof glass windows were untouched. The entire house appeared intact.
Then I slammed inside and my knees nearly buckled. My eyes had gone directly to Brecklyn. Blood covered her. Her handsand arms. A streak on her cheek. More soaked into her shirt and on the thighs of her pants.
I ran to her, calling for help as I skidded to my knees.
“It’s not my blood!” she gasped.
“You’re not hurt?” I demanded.
