Page 90 of Captured Obsession

My stomach turns at the thought of leaving Sienna anywhere near this man. I look down at her, and she meets my eyes. And although she tries to cover her fear, I can sense it the same way I always have. It’s in the way her body tightens. The slight flicker of apprehension in her gaze.

But there’s still that subtle determination burning within her.

It’s time.

Sergey steps forward, as if to take Sienna. I glance in Agata’s direction, and my jaw locks as I shift into the part of me that’s always come so naturally. The part of me that thrives from the kill. But now it has reason to be more feral, even as I fight to control it.

To protect my woman.

I whip out my gun, so quickly I’m able to shoot Sergey in the head before he even realizes what’s happening. His fingertips barely touch his gun as he falls back. I aim up, shooting both men on the platform. One falls over the railing and onto the edge of the glass tank, breaking his back.

In my peripheral vision, I see Agata yank the gun from Andrei’s waistband, and when I corner Sienna, barricading her behind me, Andrei and I point our guns in one another’s direction. But when he shoots, it’s at the man behind me.

A moment of understanding flickers between us as I shoot the man to his left.

Fire explodes in my leg, and the man who shot me is taken out by Agata, who, unbeknownst to most, has perfect aim with a gun. She is, after all, from a deadly family.

I ignore the wound in my leg, pointing my gun at The Wolf, who’s already up the stairs, laughing as smoke billows into the room. Fuck, I can’t see anything. But I hear more footsteps run in from the back room. More men. I look over my shoulder and notice men spilling down the hall, and Andrei is quick to close and lock the door, keeping them out.

But it’s temporary; even I know that.

A loud clinking noise echoes through the room, and I look up at The Wolf, who is smiling as he holds a button.

“Watch the floor!” Andrei yells as the front panel of the tank lifts, and snakes spill onto the floor.

Fuck.

Andrei lifts Agata onto the ladder. I follow his action, grabbing Sienna and doing the same with her. But as I go to step up behind her, I feel a sharp prick in my leg. When I look down, my stomach drops as I see a snake with its fangs embedded in my calf. I shake it off, flinging it back into the cloud of smoke.

Another gunshot goes off, and I hear a man scream. The Wolf is literally sending his own men out to die as they come through the screen of smoke, trying their hardest to avoid the snakes. But not all of them make it through without being bitten.

“Nikolai!” Sienna screams, and I cover her body with mine just before a bullet goes into my shoulder. The man who shot me is gunned down by Andrei. Then the next by Agata.

I look up at The Wolf, determination pumping through my adrenaline-fueled bloodstream. I shove against the sliding ladder Sienna stands on so she’s closer to Andrei and Agata’s protection.

I glare at Andrei, wordlessly communicating what I need from him. I know I can trust him. He’s a dead man if The Wolf doesn’t go down. I turn my back to them, realizing I only have one bullet left. The smoke begins to rise, but I turn my gaze upward, trying to make out The Wolf’s outline before he completely evaporates into it.

I aim for his knee, and am rewarded with his sharp cry of pain before he plummets into the smoke, and I hear the shattering of glass, assuming he’s taken out part of the snake pen. A man runs toward me, and I toss my empty gun, ready to go blow for blow, but by the time he reaches me, he’s sluggish. I imagine whatever venom was injected into him is effective, and know it’s only a matter of time until the poison in my own bloodstream will begin to dull my senses. I’ve come to terms that I have limited time, and that I’ll most likely receive more bites as I step farther into the room. So be it.

I sweep around him, coming around to his back, and snap his neck.

I drop him to the floor, then walk through the snakes, my boots crunching broken glass, still barely able to make out much as I search for The Wolf. The floor is alive, but I don’t let it act as a deterrent.

Before I reach the glass tank, though, I have a split second to jump back as a knife swings out at me. I catch the arm, twist it, and punch the elbow upward, snapping it immediately. The arm dangles loosely, and the man screams as I steal his blade and slide it across his throat, his cries coming out as a gurgle now.

I have just enough time to use his body as a shield as two gunshots go off.

The Wolf.

I throw the man at him, and as he tries to sidestephim, I take the opportunity to knock the gun out of his hand.

He’s grinning like a fool; his eyes dilated from the excitement.

Perhaps in all these years of having his men do his dirty work, he forgot the thrill of the fight. Or perhaps it’s something else. Perhaps he’s been bitten and knows his time is limited, pumping him with adrenaline the same as me.

The race against time set in an arena full of monsters.

My next step wobbles, and my breathing becomes shallow.Fuck. I try to ignore the pain, pushing through it as The Wolf charges me with a manic look in his eyes. “Isn’t this exhilarating,Udav?” he yells. And as we both pull our knives, it occurs to me it’s the first time he’s referred to me with some measure of respect.