Page 111 of The Diávolos: Part Two
A wave of acid wells from my stomach as I see my wife lie unconscious on the ground, her best friend’s limp form on top of her. There’s blood everywhere and I don’t know who it’s coming from.
Did Angelica get shot? Is Aria still alive?
Dion’s knees give out when he reaches us and he drops on the floor beside Aria. I kneel next to him. The weight of the moment presses down on my chest, the pain unbearable.Not my Angelica.
The next few minutes play out like a slow-motion scene from a movie.
Rubble crumbles around us as the building threatens to collapse. Armed men are still shooting, bullets flying above our heads. Hendrick and Gianis barge back inside with an army ofmen and return fire. Xander leads Angelica’s friends out of the church using the back door.
My inhales come in short bursts as I desperately try to make sense of what’s going on. Then, it happens.
A searing pain rips through my arm, as if a blazing rod has been driven into my flesh. I clutch onto the wound, the sticky viscosity of my own blood coating my fingers.
But the bullet wound becomes just a distant murmur in the background.
My focus shifts back to Angelica on the floor and my heart pounds violently in my chest. I’m paralyzed, not by the pain coursing through my body, but by the sight before me. Shock grips me with an icy hand, stealing my ability to think straight or react.
“Dion,” I mutter just above a whisper. Every fiber of my being wants to scream from this overwhelming sense of helplessness.
Despite the noise surrounding us, I know he can hear me. “If anything happens to them, we will burn Cebrene to the ground.”
Dion doesn’t look at me, but nods. “There’s no way I’m living without her,” he says, more to himself than to me.
At this moment, I cling to the hope that this is just a nightmare, a cruel trick reality is playing on me.
Two of the medics on our payroll show up. My soldiers form a protective circle around us to shield us from the incoming shots. Hands grab onto my shoulders, gentle yet firm, peeling back my blood-soaked shirt to reveal my injury. I watch in detachment as the medic probes the wound. But the pain fails to fully register in my consciousness.
Two of my men lift Angelica and Aria and start to take them away so they can be treated.
“Take them to Dr. Joseph’s,” I order before planting a kiss on Angelica’s forehead. “You’re going to be okay, baby,” I whisper to her. “Please, don’t leave me.”
Watching them take her away deepens the ache in my chest, and the fear of losing her overwhelms me.I promise death to everyone who put her in danger.
Gianis and Hendrick run to us, shoving automatic rifles in our hands, and I wince from my injury. Thankfully, I didn’t get shot in my right arm.
Time starts running again.
“Let’s fucking end this so I can get back to my wife.” I seethe.
I don’t have time to wallow in thought. My people need me. Mywifeneeds me. And there are still way too many men entering the church and shooting at us.
So, I aim and fire.
I don’t know how long passes before the end of the fight, but I don’t stop until the attackers have all either been killed or have run away. I look around me, breathless, trying to ignore the pain in my arm. The entire church is destroyed. There are dead bodies everywhere, and I’m covered in blood.
I ordered my men to keep one of the shooters alive so we could question him.
He’s tied up and gagged, sitting on a pew near the broken altar. I can barely make out any of his features because of the amount of blood that covers his face, and he seems to have been shot in various places, so I don’t have much time.
His chest and shoulders rise and fall rapidly, his breathing ragged.
I walk up to the man and rip the fabric out of his mouth, eliciting a large grunt from him.
“Who sent you?” He doesn’t respond, so I use the barrel of my rifle to knock his already broken nose. “You can give me aquick answer, or I can beat it out of you, motherfucker. And I don’t think you want an even more painful death.”
The fucker spits a wad of blood on the floor and cracks a smile, his front teeth now missing.
Gianis aims his gun and shoots him in the kneecap. “Answer him or we’ll all take turns torturing you. Trust me when I say you won’t be able to handle us.”
