More Than Life Read Online Free PDF

impossible for Isa to come with him. The fighting in Kosovo had grown more intense, and it had become harder and harder for the American to reach Mik’s home.
    Their time together became snatched and desperately precious, even more so than before. Such a precarious existence was a way of life for Mik. He could barely remember a time without conflict and hardship, but as time went on, the strain of living a double life began to show on Isa. He lost weight and his skin paled. One night, huddled under their secret bridge, he fell asleep in Mik’s arms.
    Mik watched him for a long time. He ran his fingers through Isa’s slowly lightening hair and traced the dark circles beneath his eyes. He put his lips to his neck and breathed his smoky, spicy scent. He counted his pulse, spellbound. Isa wasn’t much of a sleeper, and Mik knew this secret, stolen moment with him was one in a million.
    Just like Isa.
    Mik felt his heart quicken as reality threatened to mar the rare moment of perfection. The war was reaching its peak, and death and destruction were never more than a heartbeat away. How long could they live like this? It was only a matter of weeks, maybe days, before Serbian forces overwhelmed the capital, and with the war lost, Isa’s mission in Kosovo would be over. He’d return to his own people, maybe forever.
    Surely forever.
    Mik closed his eyes and felt the beginnings of a nightmare creep over him. Their time was nearly up. He could feel it in his bones.
    Isa shifted. Mik felt him start awake and soothed him with a gentle kiss to his temple. “I thought you were going to sleep until tomorrow.”
    Isa glanced rapidly around their damp, shadowed den before he fixed Mik with a rare unguarded stare. “If only. I dream of those nights in the mountains. Sometimes, I wake up and it takes me a moment to believe we’re not there.”
    Mik’s heart ached. “One day,” he whispered. “One day we’ll go back, just us, and stay there forever.”
    “I’d like that.” Isa closed his eyes again. “Tell me about it. Talk to me until I have to leave you again. I don’t want to sleep our time away.”
    And so Mik did. Between snatched, desperate encounters, he talked all night until the sun stole the moon, and a little more of him died inside.
     
    * * * *
     
    Mik was asleep in the attic of Leka’s family home when the door to the house gave way to the force of a man’s boot. He lurched awake and grabbed his pistol. His body prepared for fight or flight, and hearing Rea’s screams from the lower floor, he chose to fight.
    Footsteps pounded the stairs as he slid down the ladder to the first floor. A voice yelled his name, a voice he’d recognize until his dying day.
    “Mik! Where are you? Mik!”
    Mik’s blood pounded in his ears. He thundered down the stairs and met Isa halfway. The world stopped. Isa had always been so unshakable, so solid and steady, and the fear in his eyes now chilled Mik to the bone.
    He’d never seen Isa afraid.
    Leka appeared at the foot of the stairs. “I can hear machine guns and tanks. What’s going on?”
    Isa kept his eyes on Mik. “The Serbs are coming. They’ve broken through the peacekeepers and they’re heading this way. You need to get out.”
    “We’ll fight,” Leka said.
    Resolute, Mik nodded and pulled back the safety catch on his pistol. “We’re not running. Not now. We’ve come too far.”
    Isa tightened his grip on Mik’s arms. “There’s too many of them. This isn’t a fight. It’s a massacre. They are separating the men from the women. The men are being taken away…Mik, they’re going to kill you, they’re going to kill you all.”
    Mik shook his head. “Take Rea and Leka. My parents…”
    “It’s too late!” Isa shouted. “They’ve taken the city. Your parents are already dead. Mik, please. We’ve diverted them for as long as we can. They’ll reach this side of the town any minute. You have to leave now.”
    Fear churned Mik’s stomach until he