The Darkest Legacy (Darkest Min - Alexandra Bracken Page 0,81

It was only then, with the clarity of the hate in those words, that I realized the gunfire had stopped. “I don’t know what happened to you, Roman, but you need help. It’s not too late. Come with me, and I’ll make sure you’re safe. I’ll protect you.”

I stood up, gun in hand. A cold fury gripped me, steadying my aim. “Whatever you’re doing to him—to all of us—stop.”

That dead-eyed smile was like a single fingernail running down my spine. “No.”

I licked the sweat off my top lip. My finger tightened on the trigger. “Then give me one reason not to kill you.”

“Because,” Roman said weakly from behind me. “She’s my sister.”

“LANA…”

The girl’s gaze had been trained on me, unblinking. Now she turned toward Roman, her eyes narrowing with a look of outrage.

Lana.

Roman used the tree to pull himself up from the ground. He staggered forward, his knees bobbing dangerously. His eyes looked glassy, almost feverish with pain.

Fury stormed through me, and I didn’t bother to stop it. She was going to kill him—she was going to kill him, and the only way to stop her was to kill her first.

Don’t make me do this, I thought, watching her.

“We had to go,” he said. “We had to. All of this time, we’ve been looking for you.”

The knowing, after all these days of guessing, slammed into me like a fist.

I was right.

She was shaking her head, backing away. “You’re the one who needs help. I’m trying to save you! I’m going to save you!”

Someone called out for her.

“Here!” she yelled back, ignoring the gun I had trained on her. “Here! I found him!”

“Don’t…don’t…” Roman’s voice was faint. “Solnyshko…”

Then I felt it. The twist.

It was like molten liquid pouring into my skull. A scream tore out of my throat. Every joint in my body strained, stretching and contorting. I hit the ground, banging my left side against the root of the massive tree. The gun slipped from my hand, spinning across the dirt and leaves.

Through the blur of tears and smoke, I saw one of the soldiers approach us, dragging a boy after him. Fear shot through me as I struggled to get my hands against the ground, to push myself up.

“Stop, Lana!” he begged. “I’ll come with you, all right? Please—don’t do this!”

“You’ll come with us no matter what,” Lana said. “This”—I screamed again as the boiling pressure increased—“is so you understand that there are consequences to your actions.”

A shot cracked out. The soldier was there, and then he wasn’t. A spray of blood burst from his neck, and he stumbled back, pressing a gloved hand to it. The shock of the hit made him release his grip on the boy, who bolted the instant he was free. Some of the heat in my mind eased enough for me to lift my head and look for Roman.

But the shot had come from the remaining section of the porch. The gun was still smoking in Priyanka’s hands as she lowered it, her eyes going wide.

“Lana!” The word broke from her like a joyful sound, only to be fractured by disbelief.

“Stay back!” I managed to shout through the agony. “Don’t come any closer—”

The girl turned, and I wished I could have seen her expression—if it was still that tight mask of rage, or if it mirrored Priyanka’s exhilaration as it faded into horror.

Priyanka looked first to Roman, then to me, before turning back to Lana.

“What are you doing?” Priyanka jumped down off the porch, her long legs quickly closing the distance between them. Lana tried to back away, refusing to look at her.

The distraction Priyanka provided was enough for the painful heat and pressure in my skull to momentarily ease. I drew myself up enough to try crawling across the ground, straining to reach the gun I’d lost.

“What do you think?” Lana spat. She looked between the three of us with all the feral suspicion of an animal that knew it was about to be cornered.

Priyanka stopped, and, like there was some magnetic force between them, Lana froze in place as well.

“I really don’t know,” Priyanka said softly. “Explain it to me while we get the hell out of here.”

Something switched off in her, and Lana’s tone went flat again. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re mine.”

“You’re damn right I am, Sunshine,” Priyanka said, trying for a pained smile as she knelt down beside Roman, checking his pulse.

Oh, I thought, putting that much together as well.

“That’s not…” Lana began. Her nostrils flared as she