The sound erases everything. The violence. The rage. The red I've been lost in.
Daniels goes still. Instantly. Completely. His body jerks once and then nothing.
What's left of his head hits the tile.
I freeze.
My hands are still on his throat, but there's nothing to hold onto anymore. No pulse. No struggle. No life. Just meat and bone and fading heat.
Eden is still crouched beside me. Blood on her face. Her hands. Splatter she doesn't seem to notice. Gun still pointed at what used to be his head.
She stares at what she did. Needs to see it. Needs to know it's real.
She's too still. Too calm.
The gun trembles in her grip. Just once. Then her hand locks down. Wills itself still.
I let go of Daniels' throat. Sit back on my heels.
The bullet wounds throb. Grind. But I can't look away from her.
"Eden."
She doesn't move.
"Eden. It's over."
Her gaze clears. She comes back from wherever she went.
I reach for the gun. Gently. Just covering her hand with mine.
"You can let go now."
She looks at the gun. At Daniels' body. At me.
Then she lets me take it.
I set it aside. Far from both of us.
Neither of us moves. Just breathing. A dead man between us and blood drying on her face.
"You didn't have to do that."
"Yes." No waver in her voice. "I did."
"I had him."
"I know."
"Then why—"
"I wasn't saving you from him." She looks at me. Her eyes sharp now. Present. "I was saving you from yourself."
She sees it in my face.
"You kill a cop—even a dirty cop—you're a dead orc walking." She doesn't waver. "An orc strangling a police officer to death? They'd never stop hunting you. But me?" She glances at Daniels' body. "I'm a traumatized witness who stopped her attacker. Self-defense."
I can't breathe.
