Burning Bright (26 page)

The door appeared and then they went through. Neal stood on the other side of the room. In the large bare spot between the two groups hung a stick with a flag. Time slowed as Neal turned and their eyes met. Those expressive cinnamon brown eyes widened and his face paled. He watched Neal mouth his name.

“Ah. Kiril Vasilyevich, at last,” a large, black-haired man boomed. He sported a mustache that reminded Sasha of Stalin. “You took your time, my friend.”

Kiril’s hand tightened on Sasha’s throat, but he got the impression it was more in reaction to the “my friend” than because of Sasha.

“Now that you are here, we can discuss things,” Ivan went on. “You confused your men. They said you were with me, but you told me you were with them. And now, I see you bring a little friend to our party.”

“It’s not a party, Ivan Andreievich.” Kiril’s voice sounded cold and unfriendly. “Do not mock this.”

“Kiril.” Neal stepped forward. “This isn’t part of the agreement. Sasha’s not part of this.”

Kiril ignored him, focused on Ivan. Sasha tried to hide behind the bear as the hatred flared in Ivan’s gaze and flattened his eyes. Ivan turned to Sasha and the expression on his face made Sasha’s blood run cold.

“You.” Ivan took a step forward.

“You promised him to us.” Kiril moved back a step, dragging Sasha with him. “You said that we could have him as part of our agreement for fighting the tigers. You cannot kill him.”

“Can I not?” Ivan purred. He walked closer, his eyes locked on Sasha’s.

Sasha tried to move back, but Kiril held him immobile. He threw his whole weight into it, struggling, but the bear did nothing, just tightened the grip around his throat.

Of course,
that
cut off his air, leaving him gasping.

“Doc!” TJ shouted.

Kiril pulled him back, away from Ivan, and Sasha stumbled heavily against the big man’s arm.

“He killed my son!” Ivan shouted. “He will die for that.”

“No, Ivan Andreievich. You promised him to us.” Kiril threw back his head, shoulders braced. Gods, but he was a big man. “You are honor-bound.”

“You will kill him.” Ivan took a step forward. “You will do as I say.”

“No, Ivan Andreievich. You brought us here to help you solve a territorial dispute, not kill our prize.”

“Guns.” Sasha squeezed out around the hand on his voice box.

Kiril glanced at him, and loosened his hand a little. “You broke the rules, Ivan Andreievich, not Harrison and his men. There are snipers outside.”

“You lie.”

“I?” Kiril echoed, incredulous.

Ivan stabbed his thumb into his own chest. “I make the rules, not you. I am not some animal, I am Ivan Andreievich. You will kill him.” Ivan pulled a large gun out from under the back of his jacket.

“Fuck.” Sasha threw his weight into getting free. “You guys are piss-poor security guards.”

“Doc,” Neal protested. “Shut
up
, man!”

Knowing his words provoked the man holding him, he wanted to drive a wedge between him and the Russian boss. “Kiril, he lied.” Sasha turned his head to gaze at Kiril. “He doesn’t want an alliance with you, can’t you see that? You let him boss you around like an alpha?”

“Silence,” Ivan yelled. “You murdered my Petya.”

“Yeah?” Sasha rounded on him, pulling against Kiril’s grip. “Petya was a thug and a rapist. The world’s better off without him.”

Kiril snorted what sounded suspiciously like a laugh and moved his body between Sasha and the enraged mob boss.

“You ever hear the phrase, ‘poke the bear’, Doc?” Mitch muttered loud enough that it echoed across the room.

Several of the bears nearby laughed and Ivan’s face turned white.

“Kill him!” the boss screamed. “I demand it.”

Kiril shook his head. “Our contract is dissolving. Too much has changed—”

A huge bang deafened Sasha and cut Kiril off mid-sentence. A massive weight slammed into Sasha, throwing him onto his back and crushing him, and more impacts jolted through the body on top of him.

Kiril’s body.

“You dare!” Ivan shrieked. “You dare to defy me?”

Utter silence greeted his words. Sasha could clearly hear Mitch mutter, all the way on the other side of the room. “Fuck.”

“Sasha!” Neal cried.

In an instant it got too tumultuous to figure out what went on. Sasha struggled with the heavy weight on top of him and sunk his hands wrist deep into fur.

Bear fur.

Shit. Kiril shifted form to his bear. No way could Sasha lift eight hundred pounds of unconscious bear. He tried to breathe and stay calm, but the way Kiril lay interfered with his ability to get air into his lungs. Blood, viscous and hot, dripped down into Sasha’s eyes from Kiril’s head.

Panic threatened to claim him and he tried to keep his breathing calm, despite the massive weight on his chest. He tried again to move the body, a high-pitched sound coming out of him.

“Easy,” TJ’s voice came from nearby. “Stay down.”

“I’ve got it, Teej,” Mitch murmured from the other side. “Fuckin’ guy weighs a goddamn ton.”

The weight lifted and TJ’s arm closed on Sasha’s, yanking him free. “Any of that blood yours, Doc?”

Sasha shook his head, too rattled to speak.

TJ turned to Mitch. “Get him the fuck out of here.”

“Gotcha, Sarge.” Mitch grinned.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” TJ snapped.

Mitch’s grin widened. “But you are, you know.”

“Get him out of here.” TJ turned back to the fight.

Mitch pulled Sasha away from Kiril, his hands warm. Sasha gaped at the chaos around him. It seemed everybody fought everybody without sides divided now. More gunfire rang out around him and he resisted the urge to flinch. Kiril’s bears grouped about ten feet away, in a half-circle around the body of their fallen leader. One of them, a huge man even without the added bulk of being a bear, swept a hand across one of the Russian’s faces. Blood fountained in an arterial spray when he used claws, not a human hand. The bears ignored Neal’s tigers, who were all dressed in black.

Neal fought with several Russians, locked in a grapple with a tall, slender man who reminded Sasha a little of Vadim. Ivan’s second-in-command faced off with a tall half-man, half-tiger form. The tiger roared, his head extended forward, and swept a heavy wooden spool of wire out of his way. Vadim backed away, his gun in a teacup grip, and emptied the clip. The tiger snarled and surged forward. Vadim hesitated only a moment, then turned and streaked through a nearby door.

“Doc, come on. We need to get you the hell out of here before Ivan decides to finish it.”

“Yeah.”

Mitch paused at the door and pulled a radio out, shielding Sasha with his body. “Position One, this is Peacock.”

“Go ahead, Peacock.”

“I have the package for delivery.”

“Is that Mario?” Sasha asked, shivering.

Mitch nodded, holding up his other hand for silence.

Mario came back on. “Clear. It’s gettin’ crowded out here.”

“Noted.” He turned and caught TJ’s eye, then made two hand signals.

TJ, who now had a discarded gun in his hand, looked harassed but nodded and moved away, firing.

Mitch snorted and took Sasha’s arm again. “Stay with me. If I tell you get down, you do it. No talking. Mario’s covering us with a compound bow from the roof, but don’t make his job harder than it has to be. Clear?”

Sasha nodded, his heart in his mouth.

They ran like rabbits through the alley and gained the back entrance of the Factory with nothing happening. Sasha’s nerves stretched like they’d snap, and Mitch thrust him through the door. Sasha tripped and caught himself against the far wall, panting.

“You need a bath, dude.” Mitch helped him stand. “Neal’s gonna freak, he sees you covered in blood.” Eyeing the alley, Mitch let go of him. “Let’s go. Steve can keep an eye on you.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m still hoping for a ‘thank you’ blow job, you know.”

Sasha gaped at him and then laughed. It sounded a little hysterical, but Mitch didn’t seem to mind. They took the stairs, Mitch’s eyes everywhere, and got to Neal’s apartment without incident.

Steve sat up in bed as they came in and then gaped at them. “Fuck.” He brought a gun out from under the sheets and cocked it.

“None of it’s his,” Mitch reported. “Relax.”

“What the fuck happened? You were supposed to go down to the kitchen. I’m out of it for
five minutes
and you guys let all hell break loose?” Steve snarled, throwing the blankets aside and moving to stand.

Mitch blinked. “Hey, man. Kiril kidnapped him. It’s not like we
let
him walk into the fight.”

“I’m not a child,” Sasha flared. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”

“Go take a shower, Doc,” Mitch told him. “Steve and I fight like an old married couple, it don’t mean nothin’.”

“It will when I get up outta this bed, you ass monkey,” Steve muttered.

Mitch laughed. “You’d luvta.” He tossed a radio onto the bed. “Keep Mario company, I’m gonna go beat up some Russians.”

The Marine actually sounded excited about that. Sasha watched him go, dazed.

Steve eased out of bed and walked over, and part of Sasha’s mind noted he moved better than before. His arms came around Sasha’s body and pulled him against that broad chest. “It’s okay, hon. You’re all right.”

“Ivan tried to kill me.”

“You did kill his son,” Steve pointed out.

“Felipe killed him, I didn’t.”

“I’m not sure he makes the distinction.” He pulled back enough to see Sasha’s face, and Steve’s hand smoothed his hair back with gentle strokes. “You’re kind of a mess, you know.”

“Yeah.” Sasha let his head drop forward against Steve’s muscular chest. “I’m not cut out for this commando crap.”

Steve chuckled. “Come on. I’ll wash your back.”

Sasha let Steve lead him to the bathroom, feeling abstracted. The idea that Kiril gave his life to protect Sasha shook him.

Shook him all the way down.

Chapter Thirty-One

Bring In the Bear

Those ten minutes in the shower seemed long ago. Despite Sasha’s protests, Steve actively joined him in treating the patients coming in. Sasha had to yell at him when he caught the big Marine trying to lift someone from a stretcher. Thankfully, there were not many. Mitch returned to Sasha’s side and turned out to be a decent medic. Felipe’s EMT guys showed up to help as well.

“You guys all wore Kevlar vests?” Sasha asked Mitch as he concentrated on an ugly tear in Anton’s left quadriceps. Since he had no more tigers to work on, he focused on the more minor wounds, and Anton’s injury required nothing more than his sewing skills. He smirked, knowing the soft-spoken Russian wouldn’t appreciate being compared to a garment.

Mitch kept his eyes on Sasha’s work, holding Anton’s leg steady and swabbing the small amount of blood leaking from the edges. He nodded without looking up. “Sarge knew the Russians were gonna cheat. He planned on getting Kiril to check, or at least sniff for gun oil, when they talked at the green flag.” Mitch applied pressure while Sasha stitched.

“That flag thing gets me. Hold here.” Sasha pointed.

“It makes perfect sense.” Anton gave no sign of pain in his voice but his face gave it away, jaw tight.

It still impressed Sasha that Neal chose Anton to be part of the battle. That decision had gained the older tiger status in the tribe’s eyes.

Anton sniffed. “Many times challenges involve disputes that require the testimony of witnesses, witnesses that might consist of females or young ones. The fighting can’t start until the green parley flag is lowered with each alpha’s hand on it. We couldn’t even approach while Kiril had you, since he hadn’t reached the flag yet. Any advance on our part would trigger a free-for-all.”

“Which happened anyway.” Mitch grinned, though it seemed nasty. “Fucking cheaters got what was coming.”

“No one expected Ivan to shoot Kiril. The bears turning on them was natural, once that happened.” Anton shrugged.

“Don’t move,” Sasha ordered sharply as Anton’s movement bounced the skin under his needle.

“Sorry.”

“Even the snipers couldn’t even the odds,” Mitch put in.

Sasha shuddered, remembering the storm of gunfire from earlier. He had no idea that Mario would be as effective as the high-powered rifles.

Anton chuckled. “No one expected your man on the roof to be as good as he is.”

Mitch looked horrified. “Don’t tell
him
that, he’ll never let us forget it.”

“I heard that!” Mario called out from the other side of the room.

They all laughed.

Mario walked up and set fresh sutures on the table by Sasha’s elbow. “They still managed to get too many shots off.”

Neal’s voice sounded from the hallway, echoing in the room. He sounded pissed, and Sasha turned his head to look, pausing with his sewing.

“We trust that they will gather up their wounded and leave?” Neal snarled, facing off against Felipe.

“The fight’s over and we won. It’s the rules.” Felipe seemed annoyed, but not actually angry.

Even across the vast unfinished space, Sasha could see Neal’s disbelieving expression.

Felipe exhaled, clearly getting more irritated. “You get the reputation of being a cheater, and no female wants you. Even your children can renounce you and claim another name. That’s everything, man. Even you have to see that.”

Neal grunted. He turned his head and met Sasha’s gaze and blinked. Neal waved his hand at Felipe without breaking eye contact. “I’ll think about it.”

“You’d better,” Felipe snapped.

Sasha knotted the suture and clipped it close to the skin. “Bandage that,” he told Mitch.

Neal reached his side and swooped down to claim a kiss. Hard and crushing, it nearly split Sasha’s lip but he didn’t care. He stretched up, opening his mouth to suck on Neal’s tongue. He wanted to grab on and never let go, but his bloody gloves stopped him. Neal had no such restrictions and his hands swept over him. The need for air separated them.

“You okay?” Neal asked, cinnamon eyes raking over him.

“Get a room.” Mitch kept his eyes on Anton’s injury but Sasha could feel his attention as clearly as if the soldier stared right at him.