Page 43 of Lord of Passion

"We have to go back!" I blurt, grabbing Nikandr's shoulder.

He shoots me a glare. "Head. Down."

"At least let the other car circle back for survivors. Can't we draw the truck away?"

"Not just one," Vasilisa says, snapping the steering wheel to the left. "Two more are chasing us. They must have anticipated we would get past the first collision." She holds out her hand for a gun. I can see her arm shaking under the strain of holding the wheel straight.

"I know how to shoot," I say hastily, reaching my hand out. "I'm pretty good."

"The risk is too great," Nikandr's furious. "You need to keep your head down." I keep my hand out and he growls, pulling a .357 from the center compartment. "Do you understand how to use this gun?" he asks.

I check the clip briefly, keeping the safety on. "Yes." I wish the gun was something more powerful, but Nikandr probably doesn't have any surface to air missiles in the back seat.

"You’re handling your second attempted kidnapping in less than three days rather well," Nikandr says with an oddly timed chuckle. Maybe he's one of those guys who finds shootouts hilarious.

"It might be an attempted murder this time," I say. My hands are slippery with sweat and I wipe them on my dress before clutching the gun again. "Do you know who's after us?"

Vasilisa is the one who laughs this time.

"It could be one of a half a dozen groups," he admits. "We should have reinforcements within the next five minutes. Our job is to keep these fuckers off of us until then."

A low-slung car gets around Vasilisa's attempt to block it, coming parallel with us as they open fire with an AK-47, spraying the side of our SUV. It rocks violently and I grab on to the front seat to keep from face-planting into it. My window is webbed with a thousand cracks, but it's holding.

"Do not lower your window," he says harshly. "If they manage to shoot through it, stick your gun through the hole and shoot whoever is there. Empty your clip. Here's another one." He throws it into my lap and I nod.

The other car makes a second pass with the machine gun; my side door window is bulging ominously after another round of bullets catches it. Bulletproof doesn't mean impenetrable, I know this.

Sparks fly between the two vehicles as the car slows down and then speeds up to our left side, it's lower and more nimble than our monstrously heavy SUV. I flinch at another steady stream of bullets, this time on the driver's side.

"That tire won't last much longer," Vasilia says, knuckles white, gripping the shuddering steering wheel. Our remaining chase car is getting riddled with ammunition; another truck is shooting at them before speeding up and slamming into their back bumper. The SUV swerves, but Nikandr's guards are good. The driver keeps it out of a spin, still following us.

I pull my head back just as a torrent of bullets shatters my window. I shove out part of the destroyed web of glass with my elbow and push my gun through. Nikandr curses, doing the same thing.

My bullets and Nikandr's tear through the driver's window, painting a violent Rorschach splatter of blood against the windshield. It weaves frantically, smashing into the guardrail and veering back toward us. Vasilisa swerves into another lane to avoid it and we keep shooting into the car, making sure no one can take the wheel. The car hits the guard rail again and flips twice, flames streaming to the gas tank and it lands on its roof in a spectacular explosion. The truck abandons our chase car and speeds up to catch us.

I let out a shriek as our back window finally gives out from a torrent of ammunition that punches through the bulletproof glass, one streaks through the car and rips through the windshield, too.

"Armor-piercing rounds," Nikandr says grimly.

"Too bad we don't have that cargo we took from Ricci," Vasilisa says.

I empty my clip, shooting through the destroyed rear window. My second clip is gone.

"Shit shit shit shit!" I hiss, leaning over, desperately running my hands over the floor, trying to find it. The high whine of a bullet goes over me, right where I would have been. I hear a pained grunt from Nikandr, there's blood streaming from his shoulder.

"Caroline, are you hit?" he shouts.

My shaking fingers finally touch the cool metal of the clip and I jam it into the .357.

"Caroline!"

"I'm fine!" The truck is alongside us now and I'm firing blindly, the wind through the broken window and the haze of gunfire making it hard to see.

There are headlights coming up on us.

Oh, fuck. We're going the wrong way.

Car horns frantically blare as traffic peels off on either side of us, struggling to find their way back onto the road.