Page 110 of Beneath Scarred Vows

"Katerina!" Ares's voice sounds farther away now. Or is it just the ringing in my ears?

Another pair of hands grabs my kicking legs. My body is lifted, my struggles growing weaker as the chemical on the cloth does its work.

The world begins to blur and my limbs start to feel heavy—so heavy that I can't move them.

Still, I fight. I bite down on the cloth, on the fingers beneath. I taste blood and fabric and that sickening chemical. My attacker swears but doesn't release me.

"Φ?γε! Go, go!" another voice commands.

I'm being carried and suddenly I'm outside. My eyelids flutter, fighting to stay open.

Behind us, I hear Ares's voice, "KATERINA!"

I try to respond. Try to talk. But I can't.

It's too late.

I'm thrown into what feels like a vehicle trunk. The impact knocks what little breath I have from my lungs. I try to scream, but only a weak moan escapes.

A door slams. An engine roars to life.

Darkness swallows me whole and I realize that If I die tonight, it won't be because I trusted the wrong man. It'll be because I doubted the right one.

The last thing I hear is gunfire and Ares screaming my name as we speed away.

And then… nothing.

38

ARES

As I go to shake George's hand, I have no doubt that's my father's handwriting and signature on that paper. The fact he asked George to take over our port in Nafplio should anything happen to him—and he did—tells me that whatever relationship he and my father had, there was trust. So maybe I need to have some as well.

As soon as that thought forms in my mind, I realize that Katerina may have been right. Maybe. We'll have to see. Either way, I'll need to?—

A sound I know all too well pulls me from my thoughts.

Bang.

The shot is quickly followed by my brother's scream. I turn in the direction of the gunshot as my hand instinctively pulls my gun from its holster. I fire the first shot, shooting someone right in the head who's moving through the window. I shift my gun to another person trying to enter the clubhouse through a side door and fire again. He jolts backward, and before I can see ifI've killed him, someone cuts the lights, and I'm standing in total darkness.

More gunfire erupts and I drop to my knees, my gun pointing at quickly moving shadows. I yell for everyone to get down, but I really only mean it for one person.

I start firing at the figures pouring in from the windows and exits.

Fuck, it's a setup.

I turn around to see Dimitri, but I can't get a good look at him.

"Dimitri, are you hurt?" I call out over the gunfire.

"I'll live, but it burns like a motherfucker."

"Theo! Theo!" I yell. "Get Dimitri the hell out of here."

A bullet rushes past my ear and a warm trickle runs down my face.

I move quickly to my left and reach out for Katerina.