Guns and Roses

Forty Six ~ Rya

I crouch low behind the bed as gunshots ring in my ears. Mum looks a little bit green as she takes in her surroundings and Dad has his hand on her back trying to keep her calm.

Quinn gulps beside me and keeps his eyes squeezed shut. I grab his hand and squeeze it once before dropping it again. Artie and Switch sit at the opposite end of the room with Freddie watching the door.

We have to wait here until the gunfire stops if I have any chance of surviving today. Dad explained to me that they'll go for me first. Once I'm dead, everyone else will be easy prey as even the people still loyal to the Guerreiros will be forced to turn their guns on them.

A click echoes around the room as Matthew checks his gun again.

My heart is racing and my breathing is becoming slightly ragged. Not now. Please not now. I beg my body to stay under my control.

Quinn's eyes open and he looks straight at me. We just stare at each other for a few seconds and as I look into his blue eyes, the room seems to disappear a little bit. My heart is still racing but I feel like I can breathe properly.

Mum suddenly gets to her feet and I drag my eyes from Quinn's to look at her. Her face is set as she pulls the gun from her waist and checks that the safety's off. "I think that's our cue." She says and I listen carefully to the silence in the house.

I push the brass knuckles down my fingers and flex my hand before sliding the knife from my boot. "This is it." I say.

Dad steps forward and puts his hand on my shoulder. "I'm not afraid, minha. Neither should you be. Alexander taught you well."

Sure. I know how to fight. I know how to kill. But that's not my problem. The problem is that my body is still broken and I cant fight the way I should be able to.

I nod and then step towards the door. I lead them out into the hall and then I start to hear low mutterings from what I believe is the ballroom.

The door is open a crack and I push it open, fully expecting to be shot the second I'm in the room. I'm not.

I look around and see a few dead bodies but not as many as I was expecting. The Petrovs stand in the middle of the room, surrounded by armed men. My men stand with them, watching and waiting for one of them to take a shot at me.

Ellie smiles as we walk in. I cant help the grin that stretches across my lips as I see the ugly scar I made on her pretty face. Galya and Dimitri stand beside her, their posture upright and they stand so still they could be statues.

Two men stand just slightly behind them. I've never seen either of them but something tells me that one of them must be the owner of the house, Trevor Moralis. The other one I dont have a clue.

"No." Mum gasps as she walks in behind me. "You died."

The unnamed man steps forward and smiles at my mother. "Bella. It's been a while has it not? Still beautiful."

A woman jumps from the side of the room and launches herself at Mum. Mum ducks at the last second and the woman stumbles, giving mum the opportunity to jump back away from her attacker. She turns and runs from the room, the woman close behind her.

Artie goes to run after her but is stopped by a loud voice. "No one else leaves this room." Dimitri bellows. I turn back to the Petrovs and step into the middle of the room. Theres no one around me to help me and in this second, I feel more vulnerable than I ever have before.

Ellie walks towards me and stops about a foot away from me. Slowly, she takes off each of the rings that decorated each finger and drops them on the ground beside her. She removes her hoop earrings next and then slides a knife from her sock and another from her waistband before dropping them into the pile too.

"Rya Guerreiro. I challenge you for title of Koroleva." she projects loudly in Russian.

Well I didn't expect that. My grandmother was the only person to claim a title such as Koroleva and I didn't think anyone else ever would.

"I challenge you to a fight to the death. No weapons. Just us." She takes and deep breath and kicks all of her things off to the side. We both watch it skid across the tiled floor and then under the table that's been pushed up against the wall.

I slide off the brass knuckles knowing that I have no other choice other than to accept. I disarm myself and can almost feel myself become more and more vulnerable.

When I look back at Ellie, I see her for what she is. A weapon, carefully crafted for this exact moment.

I scrape my hair away from my face and tie it at the back of my head to try and hide the shake of my hands. As I lift my arms I'm suddenly aware of how exposed I am. If she is to jab at my ribs in this second, it's all over.

She doesnt. This challenge has to be carried out properly and she knows it. We've both had the rules drilled into our heads for as long as we can remember even though challenges are rare.

I drop my arms to my sides and quickly scan her looking for any weak spots. If she has any, I cant see them. I cant even tell if she's left or right handed to try and judge where the first punch will come from.

I kick my things over and they land at Quinn's feet. Our eyes meet and I see the fear in his. He gulps and then nods at me.

I nod back and turn to look back at Ellie. "Bring it, bitch"