#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Sacrifices

  After leaving his sister, Nikolai breathed through the WM-D as he walked through the thick smoke and continued across the platform after taking Kat's gun. He looked at the Beretta; he had gained another trophy. Nikolai tucked the gun in the front of his pants, quickened his pace, and ran beside the length of the train. He saw the shadow of a man's head in the last subway car, walked over to the window, and smashed through it. He grabbed the man, dragged him out, and then wrestled with Johnson. Nikolai had about a hundred pounds on the man. Nikolai grabbed his gun hand and slammed it on his own knee. Johnson dropped his weapon, and they continued wrestling as Nikolai put him in a headlock. The ghostly mist started to dissipate and through the white, Nikolai saw Kim raise her gun and aim for him.

  Minutes later...

  "Setna's plight be upon you and your household!" Johnson shouted.

  "Did you just put a curse on me?" Kim yelled. "You Isis heathen! Take it back! Take it back or I'll..."

  Nikolai felt the bullet penetrate his own leg, but refused to let go of the bodyguard.

  "Heathen?" Johnson snapped and then grunted for the pain in his leg as he tried to free himself. "Aren't you the pot calling the kettle black? You Sphinx wretch!" His face reddened as he couldn't break free of the Closer's vise grip. "You want me to take back the curse or you'll what?" Johnson collapsed to his left knee. It was the leg where the bullet had hit. "You'll shoot me again?"

  "Oh hades! Stop your whining! It's like I'm talking to Katharine!" Kim took aim again.

  Johnson lifted a hand and yelled, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I take back the curse! May blessings fall upon your house!"

  "Hold still!" Kim yelled. "Or I'll miss my mark again."

  "Miss again?" both men shouted.

  "It would help if you both held still!" she snapped.

  Johnson's view...

  Puck! She's serious and if I don't do something, she's going to kill me.

  End Johnson's view...

  He fisted his hand and hit Nikolai's leg, and Johnson hit the leg several times till he struck the bullet wound. Nikolai bellowed like a Medved and released him, and Johnson rolled away from him and went for his gun. Nikolai pulled the Glock 25 from his shoulder holster and fired, and the first shot missed. Johnson fired, hitting him in the shoulder, and Nikolai fired again, hitting him in the forearm. Johnson dropped his gun and held his injured arm as blood flowed.

  Kim fired and hit Nikolai in the chest, and Nikolai wildly fired at her as he fell back. Kim dove to the ground, and then Nikolai roared and stood. He lifted the Glock 25 to shoot her when he heard a man's voice then his sister's in the distance, and he turned to the front of the train. He saw Natasha shouting at a man while she was sitting on someone else. Nikolai realized the man nearing his sister was one of the bodyguards they left for dead. He and his sister had been careless, but his sister would fix their error. Nikolai turned back and focused on his current situation as he and Kim stared down the barrel of the other's gun.

  Johnson spotted Andrews in the distance and yelled, "Get out of here! You're in no condition to help us!"

  Near the front of the subway train...

  Step. Drag. Step. Drag. Andrews walked the curve connecting the two stations as he held his fisted right hand close to his chest while the other uselessly dangled by his side. Blood dripped down his injured arm, and several bullet wounds darkened his black business suit. He could still help. He could still make a difference. He wouldn't let another client die. Step. Drag. Step. Drag.

  Near the back of the subway train...

  Kim was too close, and if she shot the Closer, he would fire back and hit her at this range. She had to make a kill shot, and she wasn't that good with a hand gun. She kept her eyes on Nikolai.

  Near the front of the subway train...

  Some distance from Andrews, Kat still had trouble breathing with Natasha on her and where she had kicked her in the ribs. She tried again to look at Andrews, but couldn't see him. "Run," she tried to yell, but nothing came out. She tried again and was able to utter, "You have to..."

  "You can wait!" Natasha punched her in the face as she yelled, "Be quiet!"

  Kat lost consciousness.

  Natasha stood and spoke to the bodyguard in the distance, "Foolish man, you should have fled when you had the chance. Instead, you chose to come find us." She threw a knife and hit him in the left shoulder. "You must be seeking misery."

  Andrews paused as the blade struck, but continued on as if he didn't feel pain. Step. Drag. Step. Drag. He left the curved walkway connecting the stations and stopped.

  "You are seeking punishment!" Natasha ran at him and ran some distance and then she spin kicked, knocking him to the ground. "Foolish man... It would have been less painful if you waited for your death at the first subway station."

  She watched Andrews land hard, but he managed to keep his fisted hand to his chest. He rolled over to his side and tried to get up, but as he tried she walked over to his side and kicked him so that he lay flat on his back. She sat on his crotch, parted his suit jacket, and moved her hands up and down his bloody shirt, feeling his muscular form beneath the wet material. "Your foolishness will also give me some time to play with you." Unsheathing a knife, Natasha forcibly ran the blade along the front placket cutting off buttons and then she ripped open his shirt. Several bullet wounds seeped blood as she placed her hands back to his chest and smeared the red liquid around as if she were playing in warm mud. She leaned down, deeply breathed of the iron-like scent, and the familiar aroma aroused her and their foreplay started as she let out an elated gasp. She bent to his ear and excitedly whispered, "From Moscow, with love."

  Natasha removed her WM-D, set it to the side, finding the air in the subway didn't bother her, and bent to him. She put her mouth over his and forcibly dipped her moist tongue to his pressed lips. He tried to resist her unwanted fondling, but he didn't have the energy to stop her. She penetrated his mouth, and the more he fought the more aroused she got till he stopped resisting all together. She lifted from him and the red imprint of the Executioner's Adieu marked his lips.

  "You are quiet attractive. It is too bad we met as adversaries. We might have had some good times." She felt his muscles and moved her hand to his groin. "Some very good times, my delicious little rabbit."

  "S-stop," he said.

  "You want me to stop?"

  "I'm... I'm going to stop you." His voice rose as he said, "I'm going to stop you from killing them!"

  "How are you going to stop me when you can't even prevent me from fondling you?"

  "I will," he said. "I'll..."

  Some distance from them...

  Katharine's view...

  I come to, roll to my side, and see blurry images of Andrews and Natasha in the distance. I have to move. Natasha's going to kill him!

  I slowly rise to my knees as I scream in my thoughts. Move! She's going to kill him! I manage to place one foot on the floor. Hurry! He can't die. Argus... Andrews can't die.

  End Katharine's view...

  Natasha replaced her mask, drew the blade back to cut his throat, paused, winked at him, and stabbed him in the chest. Gore sprayed her mask, and she laughed as she uttered, "See, you could not stop me."

  "Nooo!" Kat yelled. "No!" Exhausted, she started to stand. "You witch!"

  Andrews grabbed the blade with his left hand, and his eyes widened for the pain. He felt his life slipping away.

  "See... You have fallen prey to the Wolf, and now I will go take out the Mark." Natasha went to move when Andrews grabbed her, and she tried to pull away from him, but he clamped down on her. "Let go of me, you filthy beast!" she shouted and struggled, but couldn't free herself. Natasha couldn't believe his strength. He had been weak as a rabbit's kit, and now he was like a steel trap. "I said let go of me!"

  Andrews wouldn't release her a
nd with all his strength, he swore, "I won't let go. I have you. The Wolf has fallen prey to her own carelessness."

  Natasha turned, shouting down the tunnel, "Nikolai, come help me!"

  At the back of the subway train...

  "Tasha!" Nikolai rushed past Kim and Johnson toward his sister. "I am coming!"

  Natasha turned back to Andrews as he spoke.

  "Matthew... Karen... Beth... I'm sorry. Daddy won't be coming home." His eyes closed and he died as his right fist loosened and dropped what he held; it was a metal object, and it fell to the floor.

  Natasha gasped then turned and yelled, "Nikolai, grenade!"

  "Tasha!" Nikolai shouted as an explosion flared up behind his sister and sent her flying through the air. "No!" He rushed past Kat to his sister's side as quickly as he could with his injured leg. Nikolai dropped his gun and cradled his sister in his arms.

  Near the front of the subway train...

  Katharine's view...

  I manage to stand, then start moving my battered body, and I walk past Nikolai and Natasha and walk a little farther to Andrews. I stare at his blown apart form. He sacrificed his life. I divert my gaze from the bloody sight. He sacrificed his life to save Melissa and the children. A deep sorrow flows over me.

  "Did you fulfill your sense of duty?" I whisper, then my sadness turns into rage, and I shout, "Was this worth not seeing your own children grow up?" I fist my hand and shout again, "Why did you do this? You didn't have to die!"

  My rage vanishes as guilt replaces it, and I whisper, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect your sacrifice. I know you loved your children, and with this selfless act, you have guaranteed a future for them. Please forgive me. Forgive me for not saving you."

  End Katharine's view...

  Moments earlier...

  At the back of the subway train...

  Kim covered her eyes as the blast catapulted Natasha backwards, and then Kim ran to Johnson, questioning him, "Are you all right?"

  He nodded, pulled himself to the side, and leaned against the wall. "I won't be walking out of here on my own." Johnson removed his tie and wrapped it around his leg to help stop the bleeding. He had nothing to tie around his shoulder. "What about Melissa and the children?"

  Kim looked to the tunnel they had escaped through. She still needed to complete her Closing, so Kim said, "I'll go check on them." She ran toward the tunnel.

  At the front of the subway train...

  The sound of Nikolai crying drew Kat out of her thoughts, and she looked to where he cradled his sister.

  "Tasha, I am sorry," Nikolai spoke as he wept. "I should have protected you."

  Natasha reached up her hand and tenderly stroked his cheek. She could hardly hear him. Since her head was turned when the grenade went off, her face showed no signs of burns. "Hush, brother. It was I that was careless. Do not blame yourself for this." Her burned and bloodied left arm dangled, and the left side of her body had taken the blunt of the explosion. "Brother, free me from this agony," she whispered. "Free me and then you can complete the Closings."

  Nikolai remembered the story of Salandra and Draven; it was the book that inspired their aliases. "I cannot free you, my sister in the fur."

  She forced a smile, realizing the quote and saw in his face the heartache. "I know." Natasha looked to him and fear overcame her as her body felt cold. "I am afraid. Do not leave me. I do not want to die alone."

  "I will not leave you," Nikolai told her. "I will never leave you."

  Kat held her side and walked to them, and they didn't hear her approach, so Kat reached down and picked up his Glock 25. She checked the gun to make sure the safety was off.

  Nikolai heard someone behind him and reached his hand underneath his suit jacket. He pulled the Glock 19 from his back holster and turned his body halfway, aiming at her.

  She aimed back as the sight of him cradling his sister reminded Kat of when she held Preacher in her arms. The deep hollowing sadness returned, and she knew what he must be going through. "Give-up your Closing," she insisted.

  "I will never give-up," Nikolai declared.

  "Then we're forced to shoot each other," Kat said. "Then who will take care of your sister?" She remembered the name he yelled. "Who will take care of Tasha?"

  He turned his head, staring at his twin. "You would let us go?" Nikolai faced Kat and asked, "After we murdered two of your own, you would let us go?"

  The image of Andrews flashed in her mind. "You killed two people today." She visualized the photo of his children. "You took away the father of three, and I should kill you..." Kat remembered cradling Preacher in her arms and how she agonized over his death. "But the killing needs to stop." She glanced at Natasha and remembered the story of Draven and Salandra. "If you love your sister, go now. Save her and never come back."

  Full of anguish, Nikolai shouted, "I will not run! I will gun you down where you stand!"

  "You shoot. I shoot. Most likely we'll both die, and so I ask my question again. Who will take care of Tasha?"

  "Brother."

  He turned to his sister.

  "It hurts so much, and I am so cold." She pleaded with her eyes. "Help me. Make the pain go away."

  "The Closings." Nikolai insisted, "We must complete our Closings."

  "Nikolai, the pain. It is so great. If the Closings mean so much to you, then kill me. Make the pain go away."

  His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "No! I cannot!"

  "Then take me to a hospital. Make the pain go away. Take me to a hospital or kill me."

  He cried, "I will save you." Nikolai glared at Kat. "This is not over." He stood, lifting his sister into his arms and then he started out of the subway and shouted as he left, "You should have killed us when you had the chance. You will regret letting us go."

  Kat watched as they left then glanced at the Glock 25 she held, wondering if she would regret it. Kat walked to the back of the subway train and found Johnson leaning against a wall. She ran and knelt by his side. "Are you all right?" Kat saw that he had been shot in the shoulder and leg.

  "Yes, I'm fine. Your partner asked the same question. Do I look that bad?"

  Kat searched the area, saw her Beretta on the floor, but found no sign of her. "Where is Kimberly?"

  "She went to check on Melissa and the children. What about the Closers?"

  Kat panicked as she answered him, "The Raven and the Wolf won't bother us anymore." She picked up the Beretta and ran through the tunnel. "I'm going after Kimberly." Kat disappeared out of sight.

  Johnson's view...

  "What about me?" I mumble, looking around the now empty subway station. I moan for the pain in my leg. I still can't believe her partner shot me. Setna's plight be upon her!