I reached down and grabbed him by the hair. Hauled him up until his feet barely touched the floor.
“Get up. We’re going to the basement.”
“No—please—I’ll be good—I’ll do whatever you say?—”
“Yes.” I dragged him toward the door. “You will.”
Demetrius heard us coming.
The chain rattled as he scrambled to his feet, pressing himself against the wall, his eyes fixed on the stairs with a mixture of hope and fear.
When he saw Yusef—bloody, bruised, barely able to stand—the hope died.
“What did you do to him?!” Demetrius lunged forward, but the chain caught him short. “He’s just a kid! He’s just a fucking KID!”
I released Yusef, letting him crumple to the concrete floor at the base of the stairs. Then I descended the remaining steps, my footsteps echoing in the cold, bare space.
“He failed a test.” I straightened my bowtie. “I gave him simple instructions. Feed you. Return to his studies. Instead, he spent hours searching for a key to free you. Hours plotting with you to escape. Hours choosing sentiment over obedience.”
“He’s twelve years old!” Demetrius was straining against the chain, veins bulging in his neck. “He’s a CHILD! You can’t expect him to?—”
“I can expect whatever I wish.” I pulled the gun from my waistband. A simple revolver. Six chambers. Only one bullet loaded. “And now, he will learn the consequences of his choices.”
Demetrius’s eyes locked onto the weapon. The fight drained out of him.
“No.” His voice was barely a whisper. “No, no, no. Rashid, please. Whatever you’re thinking—don’t. Please. I’ll do anything. I’ll be loyal. I’ll follow every order. Just don’t?—”
“Yusef.” I turned to the boy, who was still crumpled at the base of the stairs. “Come here.”
He didn’t move. Just lay there, shaking, blood dripping from his lip onto the concrete.
“I said come HERE.”
Slowly, painfully, Yusef pushed himself up. His ribs screamed with every movement—I could see it in his face—but he managed to get to his feet and stumble toward me.
I pressed the gun into his hands.
His eyes went wide. “What?—”
“Shoot him.”
The words hung in the air. Heavy. Final.
Yusef looked at the gun. Looked at his father. Looked at me.
“I… I can’t…”
“You can and you will.” I moved behind him, one hand gripping his shoulder, the other pressing against the back of his head. Guiding his aim toward Demetrius’s chest. “This is the consequence of your choices. You tried to free him. You chose him over me. Now you will end him.”
“PLEASE!” Demetrius was crying now. Actually crying, tears streaming down his face. “Rashid, please, don’t make him do this. Kill me yourself. Shoot me right now, I don’t care. But don’t make my son—don’t make him carry this?—”
“He should have thought of that before he betrayed me.”
“HE’S A CHILD!”
“He is MY blood. MY legacy. And he will learn that weakness has consequences.” I tightened my grip on Yusef’s shoulder. “Shoot him. Now.”
Yusef’s hands were shaking so badly the gun rattled. Tears poured down his face, mixing with the blood from his split lip.
