Eliana:
The call came early, early enough that it was still night. No matter how tired we both were, Alessio and I couldn't seem to truly fall asleep. We took turns in short, fitful naps and anxious tossing and turning. Twice I woke up and rolled over to see Alessio staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Both times I reached out and held his hand, but neither of us could seem to say anything.
My cell phone rang around 2 am, by the second ring I already had it against my ear. "Hello?"
"Lily?"
"Yes," I glanced at Alessio, who was already attentive at my side. The hushed voice on the other end was a man, so I knew it wasn't Scarlette. "Is this Violet's friend?"
"Yes," His whispers were hurried, but I knew it had to be Dimitri. "How quickly could you get here?"
I glanced at Alessio, who was sitting close enough to overhear the conversation. I held it out and put it on speaker so that he could answer. "We're about an hour away from your new headquarters, but we can make it in 30 minutes."
I leaned forward so that we were looking down at the phone together, "What happened to November 12, 6:00?"
There was a scuffle, and finally a response. "Plans changed. I can't find Violet anywhere, something's wrong."
"Do you think they know?" Alessio was already out of the bed, pulling on real clothes while I talked to Dimitri.
"Can't be sure. It's not normal for her to fall off the grid like this, I've checked pretty much every room. It's time to worry."
"We're rallying the troops now, we'll be on our way shortly. Is it safe to call you when we get closer?"
"Safer to text. My line is supposedly secure, but it'll take them longer to unscramble encoded messages than getting a call and overhearing us."
"Got it. On our way with backup."
I hung up, yanking on my darkest pair of jeans and sliding my phone in the pocket. Alessio was already digging through the gun safe under the bed and strapping his favorites to his belt and holsters.
He glanced at me as I looked for a dark colored shirt that wouldn't be too conspicuous, "Eliana, I know that we agreed-"
"Don't start, Alessio. I agreed to stay away from anything risky, I'm at least tagging along."
He nodded, frowning but knowing it would do him no good to argue with me. I followed him out of the room as he started speaking in rapid Italian into his phone, much too quickly for me to understand what he was saying
As we hurried down the hall, Leonardo caught up, "I've gotten the others up, they'll be assembled within five minutes."
"The other leaders have been contacted, correct?" Alessio asked in pure business mode, so I focused on blinking the last of the darkness from my eyes and keeping up with their long strides.
Angelo was already at the bottom of the stairs, looking so awake that I wondered if he had gone to bed at all. He fell in step next to me as we passed, making me jump slightly as something cold and metallic was pressed into my hand.
I looked down, surprised that he was arming me with a gun. His voice was low, right behind my shoulder so that Alessio wouldn't overhear, "Don't go looking for trouble, but I also don't want you going in without any protection."
The holster fit perfectly at my waist, and I couldn't help but grin. We were almost to the garage before Lucia caught up as well, struggling to carry a couple of bags while typing on a laptop. I grabbed one from her and tugged it onto my back, "You alright?"
She hummed her response, still focused on whatever she was typing. I followed her to a large black SUV, where Alessio pulled open the doors to the trunk. If it wasn't such a dire situation, I would have laughed that even when they're on their way to kill someone, mafia men don't forget their manners. I climbed in the back with Lucia as the others got into the front, helping my friend set up her own mobile command system.
From where we sat, I could hear Leonardo briefing Alessio, "Elias was pulled out of town, but he's sending some of his men that are still in the area, they'll probably get there before we do, so I told them to wait outside the perimeter. Blaise is further out, but he's hoping to meet us there in time. Aldrich is coming too."
Alessio threw the car into gear and left the garage, a train of vehicles following us. I had to give it to them, these men knew how to mobilize quickly. I could already feel the adrenaline starting in my veins, draining away the last vestiges of sleep from my system as Alessio glanced in the rearview mirror. "Has anyone contacted Allegra?"
Leonardo nodded, looking down at his phone again. "She's with Aldrich."
It should have felt like a long drive, in reality it was anything but. Angelo seemed completely at peace, calmly disassembling and reassembling his gun like it was a toy. Lucia was furrowed over her computer, frowning over schematics and building plans. She eventually muttered something about disabling a security system, then went to work with even more fervor.
There was an eerie calm in the front of the car, Alessio driving with a single minded focus on the road, and Leonardo talking quietly on the phone. Somehow his voice was calming, making the time feel like it was passing quickly. I trusted that the others knew exactly where we were going, and once we got off of a highway, I noted that a few new cars tagged onto the end of our caravan. Leonardo and Alessio both glanced in the mirrors, I could overhear Allegra and Aldrich's names thrown around so I assumed it was them and a few of his men joining.
Once Alessio turned off his headlights and slowed down, I knew that we were getting close. I pulled out my phone and crawled over the seat so that I was perched on the console between Alessio and Leonardo.
It was a moment before Dimitri answered my initial text with his own, 'Hello?'
'Violet?' My thumbs typed out quickly, wanting to verify everything first.
'Yes. Are you close, Lily?'
'Very,' I glanced at Alessio, who held up three fingers in confirmation. 'About three minutes away. How do you want us to do this?'
'You'll reach a gate, wait there. I'll send someone.'
His responses were short and clipped, so I knew better than to try to prolong the conversation. Someone could figure out what was going on. My phone fell silent againasl we pulled up to a gate.
Alessio put the car into park, pausing for a moment and staring out the windshield until he addressed Lucia, "Did you get in?"
"Yes sir. The security cameras should be playing on a feedback loop of footage from the last couple of hours. They won't see us."
He nodded, finally opening the car door. The cold night air assaulted me as I stepped out of the car behind Angelo. I was thankful that I had the mind to grab a jacket, because it had to be below freezing. People began to join us from their own cars, congregating and speaking in hushed tones. I noticed new faces and accents, a few of which I assumed were Elias' men because they came from the trees like they were waiting for us. The last few cars opened to reveal Aldrich, Allegra, and some of what I assumed were men from the british syndicate.
Allegra was the one that stood out to me. While everyone else seemed to be in a calm sense of concentration, there was something else about her that set her apart. There was an excitement in her eyes, I could tell even underneath the loose sweatshirt that her muscles were tensed in anticipation, ready to spring at any moment. It was like a kid about to hit the biggest drop on a rollercoaster- awake, alive, and living with a singular focus of what was about to come next.
I stepped towards the back of the crowd, knowing that the others, the ones who would actually be running headlong into danger, should be the ones close enough to hear the plans. They were an odd sight, Alessio's men in their more casual clothes, Elias' looking slightly more professional, and Aldrich's somehow making me think they had all just rolled out of bed. I had the feeling that this was an extremely unique situation, and not a lot of events brought together these groups of men before.
Lucia was by my side, so I leaned close and whispered quietly, "Are you going in with them?"
"In the back," She muttered. "My brother would have a fit if he found out I was going into danger, but I'm still trained and a valuable asset. I'm sort of their backup, with explicit instructions to hang behind a bit."
"Stay safe," I advised as someone appeared on the other side of the gate. "I don't think anyone really knows what you're about to walk into."
She nodded. "We will. I know you're staying back here, but you should keep an eye out, too. You'll be safe, but you never can predict what's going to happen in this business."
I couldn't help but agree. As the man that Dimitri sent quietly opened the gates, I had to fight the urge to jump in and stop them all. There was a feeling, way back in the depths of my mind, that was telling me something was going to go wrong. I wasn't naive either, I knew that people were going to die, but I was trying to sort out which feelings were which- premature guilt, or my gut telling me that something unpredictable was going to ruin our plan.
As Dimitri's messenger spoke in low tones and gestured for the others to follow him, Alessio backtracked to me. He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, most of the other men were so preoccupied with loading themselves up with guns that they didn't spare us a glance. I doubted any of them would have dared to invade their bosse's privacy anyways.
He leaned forward next to my ear, "I'll be back soon. You couldn't get rid of me that easily, cara."
I tried my best to give him a reassuring smile, but given the circumstances I knew it wasn't my best. "I wouldn't dream of it, Cuore Mio."
Just like that, he was gone. His warmth, his pine and sandalwood smell, even the sounds of his footsteps fell away beyond the gates into the dark. His figure faded into the mix of the other men that followed him, until he was indistinguishable. Without him, the cold seemed a little sharper, the night a little darker.
Sitting idly was never something that I was good at. Pacing around would probably make me more anxious, so I resigned myself to crawling into the back of the van and staring out of the back doors at the moonlight filtering in and out of the clouds. It blocked some of the stronger winds so that I wasn't shivering, but it made some of the trees creak in the wind. I continued to compulsively check my phone, exasperated when time seemed to move slower than ever before. There was no way for me to know how far they had gone, but since I never heard gunshots or saw lights, I knew they had to be far, beyond the line of trees. It was basically a small forest surrounding me, absorbing sound.
Maybe that was why it took me so long to realize that I heard voices, a higher, more feminine one at first that was yelling curses and profanities, and another more masculine one with anger in his tone. I couldn't make out the words at first, which is why I thought it might have been Allegra of Lucia, but I quickly realized how wrong I was. This voice was higher, and there was no reason that Lucia or Allegra should sound panicked and angry.
Instinct kicked in, just enough to urge me out of the back of the car, but my brain was still reminding me that I made a promise to Alessio to stay out of trouble. The sound of the leaves in the wind helped cover my footsteps as I tentatively followed the sounds deeper and deeper into the trees. Any sense of reservation that I previously harbored was thrown out the window when I heard a scream- not another curse thrown into the air, but a real scream of terror.
I bolted towards the sound, ignoring the branches that snapped against my body in the dark. Under the thick trees, it wasn't possible to see much of anything until I came to a patch of sparse trunk that had already lost their leaves from the chill. It was taking three men to drag one girl through the dirt and twigs as she fought back, kicking and screaming.
She got a couple of hits in, but it was hardly a fair fight. My restraint broke when the hit to her chin came, rattling her so badly that she hit the ground with blood already running down her face. They just kept advancing on her, not even letting up. They would kill her.
Instead, I broke away from the trees and threw my whole body against one of them, slamming us both into the ground. I scrambled back up, ready to use my gun to disable one of them- not kill, but maim just enough to take him out of the equation. I didn't have time, though, before the third man grabbed me from the waist and threw me further than I thought possible, straight into the trunk of a tree.
I turned again, staggering up from my knees and hoping that my brain would clear from the ringing that now filled it. The sound of flesh on flesh came from my right, and I knew the girl was fighting back the best that she could. I managed to get a couple of feet closer to her when a hand reached out and gripped my hair, slinging me back from her.
One of the men crouched over me, but I used the age old trick- both feet kicking as hard as I could straight at his groin. He recoiled in pain, falling to the ground while I stumbled back. My gun was lying only a couple yards away, so I lunged for it, knowing that when it came down to two young women against three built Russian mafia members, it was our best bet. I swung around on my knees to take aim, but before I could pull the trigger, a shot had already rung out.
It's hard to describe an order of events when it comes to guns. Sometimes the bang comes before you can register what is happening, sometimes the sound doesn't process until long after you've already felt the bullet enter your body. And the rare, more blissful chance that you feel nothing at all.
This time, I heard the bang much later than the man pulled the trigger. The impact I felt wasn't from a bullet, though. It was a body that slammed into me, pushing me out of the line of fire before the bullet had even left the chamber. A mouthful of dirt was what I registered first as I lay on the ground, and the sound of another gun being discharged directly above me. Whoever pushed me out of the way had just squeezed off three rounds, and I heard the same amount of bodies hit the ground.
As everything settled around me, I glanced up to see who my savior was.
"Damn," Allegra panted. "Alessio is going to have his hands full trying to obsessively keep you safe."
I groaned, pushing myself onto my elbows and nodding towards the blonde on the ground a few feet away who was doing the same. "To be fair, I wasn't the one in trouble. I just decided to help her, she's the real magnet for danger."
It had taken a moment but I had finally recognized her in the small puddle of moonlight that shone on her face. Scarlette shoved the dead weight that had landed on top of her to the side, then gave me the best playful grin that she could muster under the circumstances, but it was rather marred by pain, "I had it under control."
"I really don't think that you did," Allegra scoffed. "You're both going to be trouble. But sometimes that's the most fun."
It took a moment to regain my balance and footing, but when I did, Scarlette was there, staring at me with a grateful expression. "You look different, Eliana."
"Never underestimate the power of being covered in blood and bruises to create a vivid first impression," I laughed. "I'm mostly fixed up now, thanks to you."
"And thanks to both of you," She nodded to Allegra and I in turn, "I'm still alive."
Allegra nodded, almost completely back to her stoic self, "My pleasure. It's Allegra, by the way."
"Scarlette," She offered back.
"How did you even know we were out here?" I turned to the tall assassin as I pulled my hair back again, having come undone during the fight.
"You can thank her for that," Allegra nodded to Scarlette. "She's a loud screamer. I was in the main building a few stories up and I could hear you all of the way outside. That's a good set of lungs you've got on you. Saw them dragging you towards the forest through the window, figured that the weight of the entire Italian American mob could hold its own, especially with the help of the others."
"I need to go back," Scarlette looked around, obviously a little disoriented from being in the middle of the woods. "Dimitri did a good job of turning some of Niklov's men against him, but there's something to be said for a home field advantage."
Allegra shook her head, "If any of us are going back, it's me."
Scarlette seemed to take a guess on the proper direction and began hurriedly walking, seemingly recovered from her hit to the head. "When those men dragged me outside, they said Niklov was ready. If he's going down, he's taking everyone with him. I need to tell Dimitri that he's going scorched earth, I wouldn't put it past the man to have the whole building rigged to blow or something insane. I have to get back."
Allegra pulled the sweatshirt off of herself and held it out to Scarlette, "If you're going to insist, you'll want this. And try walking about 30 degrees more towards your right."
Scarlette glanced down at the shirt that had been torn off of her, accepting the jacket with a nod and correcting her course. Allegra was left in leggings and a tank top, but instead of shivering like I expected, she just broke into a jog and headed back towards the house.
I hurried after them, deciding that if there was really danger that they had no idea they were walking into, they would need help notifying the right people and spreading the word. Allegra seemed to disagree, throwing a glance over her shoulder, "You're not coming, Eliana."
"Oh yes, I am."
"Alessio said that you promised to stay behind. He's going to be very upset, and I don't really feel like getting any blame because I was involved or didn't stop you."
"Parameters and context of that agreement changed," I huffed. "I'm adapting."
"This is what I get for doing pro bono work," She muttered to herself. But even though she had every physical ability to stop me, she didn't. Instead, the three of us increased the pace and ran as fast as we could back towards the Russian headquarters.
Hello to all of my lovely readers! I'm hoping to get the next chapter out quickly so that I don't leave you on too much of a cliff hanger. You can see that we're in the thick of it now, but as always, please vote, comment, and let me know what you think. I've stayed up late to write this and of course the rain got my creativity going (thanks to the rare summer storms in Texas), so if I made any grammar mistakes in my sleep haze, I apologize! I've got lots of work in the next couple of weeks, but then I move to a new apartment and I should have a little down time.... in theory. So I'll try to knock out all kinds of work then. Thank you all for your support, it means the world to me!
- Elizabeth