Flint's shoulder.
Flint screams, drops the gun, and stumbles back away from the cage clutching his shoulder.
Shadow's on him in two strides.
Grabs him by the throat and slams him against the barn wall hard enough that the whole structure shakes.
Flint's making choking sounds, blood pouring from the gunshot wound in his shoulder, his feet barely touching the ground as Shadow holds him up by his neck.
"You threatened to cage my wife," Shadow says, his voice absolutely terrifying in its calmness. "You knocked her unconscious. You kidnapped her. You put your filthy hands on her."
Dad approaches from the other side, his gun still drawn but lowered now.
Blood on his hands from shooting Snake.
His face is granite. Cold. Deadly.
"You put my daughter in a cage," Phantom says quietly. "Like an animal."
Flint's eyes are wide, terrified. "Wait—wait—we can work this out—it was just business—the debt?—"
"You made it personal," Shadow says, "when you touched her."
"Where's Venom?" Dad demands. "Where's your father?"
"I don't—I don't know?—"
Shadow's hand tightens. "Lie again."
"Houston!" Flint chokes out. "He's in Houston! At the clubhouse! He didn't come—said this was my job—please?—"
"How many brothers does he have?"
"Twenty! Maybe twenty-five! I don't know exactly! Please?—"
Shadow looks at Dad. Some kind of understanding passes between them.
"No—" Flint's voice breaks. "Please?—"
"You should've thought of that," Shadow says, "before you put your hands on her."
Two gunshots.
Simultaneous.
Both Shadow and Dad fire at the same time.
Flint's body jerks. Drops.
Dead before he hits the ground.
I'm watching from the cage.
Watching my husband and my father kill the man who kidnapped me, who threatened to cage me permanently, who wanted to own me.
And I feel... relief.
Not horror. Not shock. Not disgust.
