1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 64

A/N: We are near the end! 

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~

She heard the loud pop of the rifle, then felt the searing pain. But by then, she was too tired to even cry out.

Her legs gave out under her and she felt the scrape of Marie's fingernails through her pullover when she fell. Muffled voices beat against her ears and she could hardly process the words. She saw a figure rushing towards them, his coat billowing behind him like a cape, his lips moving to form words.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Marie and the man who helped them trying to hold themselves steady after she gave out. Hana fell back, her head hitting the slippery porch, one arm flung out to catch something to break her fall.

Breathe, she reminded herself.

Meanwhile, the crash of burning wood and the cacophony of breaking glass took place behind her. Pain had overtaken her senses, knocking the breath out of her lungs. She didn't feel so cold anymore. Just a spreading pain. Was this how it started?

Her head tilted to the side and her fingers scrabbled against the wooden floor in an effort to raise herself. In that moment though, a figure had rushed up to her, blocking her entire view of the mad scene before her. His navy blue coat brushed against her cheek when he knelt beside her and she caught a glimpse of the red shirt he wore under it.

Hana heard him whispering her name, along with other words of comfort. She felt the gentle curve of his arm behind her back and her knees, and suddenly she was no longer on the floor but in the air.

"You're safe now. You'll be alright", she heard as she was carried out into the open, amidst people scrambling for cover as the house crumbled behind them.

Finally.

~

She was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. Her eyelids struggled to open but all she could see was a blur of shapes and colours. She had to tell the person holding her something...something about the pain. The sharp pain.

The words formed in her head and her lips moved but no words came out of her mouth.

She was vaguely aware of being deposited into a warm car, feet in first. Someone had moved in beside her and had placed her head in their lap. Commands in quick Japanese were belted out and the car jerked forward.

"Stay awake!" a voice urged her.

There was a screech of tires as the car skidded on the sleek, icy road and someone cursed. The driver righted the vehicle, and they were soon speeding out of the vicinity of her month long imprisonment.

I can't, she thought she heard herself say as the motion of the car lulled her eyes shut, I'm too tired.

~

"Hurry up! We've got to get out of here!"

Leon spun around and almost fell flat in the snow. Around him, men were scrambling back into the waiting cars, helping the injured along.

The house had collapsed into itself and thick, black smoke billowed from the gaping holes in the roof. He was pretty sure there were no more of Juan or Ichiro's men left. If there were any, they would have been burnt to a crisp. Not that he was about to check.