Page 80 of Ice & Steel

“Fuck,” he spat, panting.

I scrambled onto my side, peering up over the edge of the road.

Fuck me, there were nearly four dozen men moving in a unit down the road. Guns out, searching the darkness. I took a deep breath and released it and my focus clicked into place.

“We don’t have enough men for this,” Duran whispered.

“Yes, we do,” I said. “We have to draw them into the yard so the snipers can get to them. Right now, they’re protected by trees.”

“Who’s on the roof?”

“Ahmed, Viktor, and Cosimo,” I said.

“That’s not enough,” he said.

I glanced over. His dark eyes were wide and glittering. My chest constricted and suddenly we were kids and I was the only thing standing between my brother and my father’s fist. Between him and danger.

“I have a fucking wife and kids, Lucien,” he said, his voice low.

“I’ll bring you back to them,” I said. “Trust me, Duran.”

We both fell silent. Huddled in the damp ravine at the side of the road, we listened as the soldiers moved beyond us and disappeared around the bend. Overhead, a night bird screamed.

I could faintly make out the river surging against the shore. The water sounded angry…almost ravenous.

A shudder moved down my spine and I stirred, shifting to face Duran.

“Ahmed, Viktor, and Cosimo are waiting on the roof,” I said. “I want you to go now and join them. I’m going to wait until the soldiers return and then I’ll draw them out into the yard. Whatever you do, do not come down. I don’t care what happens.”

His eyes glittered. I wondered if they were wet.

“What do you mean?” he breathed.

“I mean, if you get a chance to take out the soldiers, do it,” I said. “And that’s an order, not from your brother, but from your commander. Do you understand me?”

My voice sounded heavy and harsh. As cold as the rest of me.

“Lucien,” Duran said.

I swallowed hard, flicking my gaze to the bend in the road. For a moment, he sounded just as he had when we were boys. I used to go to his room while my father raged at our mother. Screaming, throwing plates, knives. Dragging her down the hall and locking himself into their bedroom with her so he could let all that ugliness out. Pocket knife in my fist, I would go to Duran’s room and hold him under the covers with the pillow over his ears.

“Duran?” I said.

“Don’t be a fucking hero, Luci,” he said.

My eyes darted back to him. He hadn’t called me that since childhood.

“Don’t make Olivia a widow,” he begged.

My jaw worked as I dragged my eyes back to the road. Scanning for movement.

“I told Liv I would come home to her,” I said. “And I will.”

His lids flickered. His lips parted. “You keep your promises to her, so…I believe you.”

“Alright,” I said, ready to move things along. “Get your ass up on the roof now. We’re running out of time.”

He obeyed, rising like a shadow and streaking through the trees. I waited in the darkness and counted my breath until I thought I’d given him enough time to get onto the roof.