Page 65 of Darkest Game

I grab another gun from the glove compartment. “Lets go. Follow my lead.” I know in my gut that I cannot give Irina up, not even for my mom. She’s too good and pure and sweet to just give her to Elaine. Irina deserves everything in this fucked up world.

She’s been changing me without either of us even realizing.

“Stay behind me,” I say before I kick the door down. I burst into the room and shoot Connor straight in the head before he can react. None of them expected me to return so soon.

Elaine screams but instead of running away like I’m used to from her, she grabs the knife from Oliver and presses it to my mom’s neck. “I will kill her. Lower the gun.”

“Here,” I say. “Take Irina.” I grab Irina’s arm and shove her towards Elaine. It shocks both Irina and Elaine so much that Elaine’s grip slackens on the knife.

That’s when I act.

I kill Oliver right away. Elaine must realize the predicament she’s in because she grabs Irina and presses the knife to her throat.

But I shoot Elaine in the shoulder, making her drop the knife. With a savage scream, Elaine takes off running further into the house towards the back door.

Irina drops to the ground.

I hesitate. I need to kill Elaine but I want to make sure Irina is all right. Never have I worried about a woman like this before.

“Go,” Irina gasps out, holding onto her throat.

“Did she cut you?” It’s then I notice blood seeping between Irina’s fingers.

I kneel down beside her and move her hand away. Her neck is bleeding. Not bad enough that she’s at risk of dying but enoughthat it will be a problem if she doesn’t get to the hospital right away.

“Here.” I rip off a piece of my shirt and press it to her throat. “Hold it there.”

“Go after her,” she rasps out.

“…no,” I finally say. “Not when you need me. You were willing to sacrifice your life to save my mom. I’m not going to leave you now.” I quickly untie my mom from the chair, removing the rag in her mouth. “Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head. “No. I’m fine. We need to get her to the hospital.”

I scoop Irina up in my arms and run to my car, my mom following. “Stay in the backseat with her,” I tell my mom. “Make sure she’s fine.”

I drive as fast as I can to the hospital. My mom murmurs encouraging words to Irina. Guilt hits me in the stomach. I threw Irina at Elaine in the hopes of distracting her. I never thought Irina would actually get hurt. Fuck. This is all my fault. It would just be easier if I didn’t care about her at all.

The hospital comes into view and I slam on my breaks once I reach the ER entrance. “Come here.” I pull Irina into my arms and carry her inside. “I need help!”

A nurse comes running right over to us with a gurney. “Set her on. What happened?”

I place Irina onto the gurney but she grabs my hand, not wanting me to go. “I’m right here,” I tell her. “She got her throat cut. Someone hurt her.”

“Ok. We’ll take care of her.” The nurse brings Irina into a room covered in clear glass, letting me see inside. A team of nurses and doctors surround Irina. I try to enter the room but another nurse stops me.

“It’s for the best,” she says. “Stay out here. We’ll come get you. Someone will come by to talk to you.”

I ignore the nurse and head for the room until my mom grabs my shoulder and stops me.

“Let them help her. Stay back.”

With a sigh, I slump into a nearby chair and drop my head into my hands. “This is all my fucking fault.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Mom, you don’t even know what’s been going on.”

“So tell me. You said… you said you were married?”