continued to count, up to six now. I only had an instant to strike. My darkness rushed to the surface and I swiveled the knife outward, fisting my fingers around its grip. As the man was pulling the fry back toward him, hovering over the table, I lifted the knife. I slammed it down, stabbing him through the hand and embedding the knife into the wooden table below.
He screamed out next to my ear and he frantically let go of his gun to grab at the knife. I scooped up his gun as I sprung to my feet. My chair fell backward and before it hit the floor, I had the gun pointed at the back of Sasha’s head. He froze with his own gun pointed at Stefan.
I sensed someone step behind me before something hard pressed into the back of my head. I shifted slightly, seeing one of Sasha’s guards behind me, who I assumed had a gun at my head.
With a gun pointed at me, my gun pointed at Sasha, and Sasha’s gun pointed at Stefan, we were in our own unique Mexican standoff. The room was quiet. Well, except for the man I'd stabbed. He had removed the steak knife and was groaning while clutching his bloody hand.
“She fucking stabbed me!”
“Maura?” I heard Stefan say. I didn’t remove my eyes from Sasha.
“You underestimated me,” I said ever so quietly. My voice sounded so cold and disconnected that even I didn’t recognize it. “If you shoot him, I will kill you.”
“If you kill me, my men will kill everyone in this room, yourself included,” Sasha said over his shoulder.
“You still underestimate me,” I droned, void of any emotion. The longer I stood there, the more numb I felt. I'd already accepted death long before this night. However, if I had to watch Stefan or Jamie die, I’d welcome it with open fucking arms. “I’m not afraid to die. Are you?” I pushed the barrel harder into the back of his head. “Because I’m thinking about taking you with me. It’d be quick. We might not even feel it. The next thing we’d know is our two souls being dragged down to hell to pay for our sins.”
“I told you this was a bad idea,” I heard Jamie say. I was too far gone to pay him any mind. I was going to die. There was no other way out, but I could still try to save him and Stefan.
“Maura?” Stefan said gently. I couldn’t look at him. He’d hinder my resolve because this was goodbye.
“I’m going to count to ten,” I said, copying Sasha. “If you don’t drop your gun, I’ll pull the trigger.”
“Maura!” Stefan barked but I tuned him out.
“One…two.”
“Stefan?” Sasha looked pointedly at Stefan.
“Maura?” Jamie called to me.
Nothing else mattered. Not until Sasha dropped the gun. “Three…four.”
“Dammit! Let me go!” Jamie roared.
“Five…six.”
“Put down the gun. She’ll do it if you don’t,” Stefan said.
“She just stabbed Eitan,” Sasha argued.
“Just do it!” Stefan yelled.
“Seven…eight.”
Sasha lowered his gun and set it on the table.
“Nine…” I still counted, finding it hard to stop. Sasha lifted his hands into the air as an act of surrender. I released a slow breath.
“Maura, drop the gun. Sasha did as you asked,” Stefan ordered.
If I did that, how would he and Jamie get out of here? Without taking my eyes from the back of Sasha’s head, I directed my words toward Stefan. “You need to leave.”
“Maura,” I heard Jamie. He sounded right next to me. “Baby, look at me.” His soft voice pulled at me with irresistible strength. My eyes shifted to my left and found him standing there. “Everything is alright. It wasn’t real,” he said in a soothing voice. “It was just a test. You need to put the gun down before someone else gets hurt.”
“A test?” my voice croaked as emotion filled me and my darkness relinquished control.
“Yes. It was a test to see if you’d crack and give up information,” Jamie explained.
My eyes narrowed as I processed his words. My body was slowly un-numbing and my adrenaline was starting to fade.
A test, I repeated in my head. I looked to Stefan for confirmation. His expressionless fucking face said it all. This was a fucking test!
My fear and desperation were quickly being replaced by blinding rage. I moved the gun from Sasha’s head to point it at Stefan. He stayed still as stone while his eyes bored into mine.
“You promised,” I seethed.
“Maura?” Jamie said calmly, but uncertainty underscored my name.
I shifted