Butterfly

chapter eighteen

zeus

Horrid.

That's the only way to put it. The smell, the sight, the act. Nikhailov's body is on the floor with a bullet between his eyes, along with one of his henchmen. Aponi, however, is strung up on the ceiling, in and out of consciousness, although definitely not lucid. She's crying, screaming, and flailing, trying the fight the feeling of charred flesh and the cold foam of the extinguisher. Anton cuts the chains, stopping her from falling onto the ground. Her hands reach out behind Anton, seemingly trying to grasp something. After failing, the tears start to fall faster.

"Ivan! Ivan, don't go," she sobs," please don't leave me, Ivan. Ivan! You can't leave me. No, no, no. Come back!"

She only stops screaming when she faints. Everyone in the room is shocked; we had already known that Ivan was dead. We found his body tied to a pole with Nik tied to his chest. I was hoping that Ivan had died in the crash, and that he wasn't alive when Nikhailov and his men cut pieces of him off; I was also hoping that Aponi hadn't seen any of it. 

Shaking the memory off, Anton and I grabbed her and wrapped her arms around our shoulders, carrying her out of the warehouse, trying to avoid her injured leg. It was something out of a horror movie. The skin and muscle was almost completely melted, leaving char in it's wake, although right above her knee didn't look as bad as below it. 

We sat her in the trunk of the SUV, Anton staying in the back with her while I shot to the front seat, quickly taking off to the hospital, dialing a number that I had memorized as soon as they had called Ivan.

"This is Sergeant Adam Williams," he spoke.

"Listen, Sarge, your people fucked up, and now you're going to fix it. You remember Aponi Oblonsky? You remember the Russian mob you sent her after? You remember how they slipped through your fingers? Yeah? Great. We killed him, but not before he killed Aponi's brother and tortured her. Her leg is fucking mangled, man, so you're going to meet us at the hospital, you're going to set up a perimeter, you're going to keep her and my men safe or so help me fucking God, I will you kill you and whoever else was involved myself. County General Hospital. Be there, or you won't see the light of day again." 

I hang up before he can get another word in. 

Ten minutes later, we pull into the hospital with a loud screech. I'm out of the car and lifting the back gate before I can blink, and Anton and I are pulling Aponi's limp body out of the SUV.

"Help! Help us," Anton screams, running into the hospital. 

A few nurses stop to see what's happening, but when they see the brutal mess that we're holding on to, they start calling codes and before we know it, Aponi is ripped from our arms and put onto a gurney, quickly being hauled away with people surrounding her, and all of a sudden, it hits me.

This groundbreaking, gut-wrenching fear that she might not make it. The love of my life, my future wife, the mother of my kids, might not make it. My best friend, my brother, her brother, is dead. Ivan, dear God forgive me, but I'm thankful it wasn't her. I'm thankful she wasn't taken from me. I don't even believe in God, but if she survives this, I just might. 

For the first time in forever, I bow my hand and hold my hands. God, if you're there, if you're listening to me, I need to you to save her. I will do anything to save her, anything. I just need her to be okay, to be alive. I know I'm not a devout follower, but I promise I will be. 

A cry breaks it's way out of my throat. The tears flow freely down my face as I sit in this little plastic chair. Anton sits next to me, bowing his head similar to me. The sounds of feet stomping make their way to my ears and I look up to find my entire MC standing before me, with looks of sorrow on their faces. Riot walks forward, handing baby Nik to Anton before walking back to his spot and kneeling. The rest of my group kneels as well, holding their hand over their hearts.

I hear soft gasps around the room and I look up to find strangers looking between my MC and the military group that had just walked in. My men stand up and create a tunnel for dipshit Adam to walk through, glaring at him and his men as they did so. While his steps faltered, he did keep a straight face.

"I don't even know your name," he spoke after looking between me and Anton for a moment.

"I'm Zeus, and we," I motioned to the group of warriors I'd protect as my own, "are the Night Riders MC that saved your ass and took care of the problem that you couldn't." 

He cleared his throat and looked away, "Yes, well... we're here now. We are in debt to your group and Aponi, anything you need, you'll get."

I nodded, thinking. "For right now, you'll pay for all hospital bills. I wanted military posted on every entrance and exit in this building. I want two people on her door constantly, no less. I want compensation in a check to her name. I want new papers for her. Legally, she's dead. No one knows she left that warehouse."

"Done," he nodded.

"Not quite, if she doesn't survive this, neither will you." 

He gulped, nodding his head and looking up at me. He walked back to his group and started giving orders. I looked to my men and nodded gratefully. 

"You guys don't have to stay, it's going to be awhile," Anton whispered.

"She's the club mother, we're staying."