She glances over at Dalmat and, like an idiot, he gives her the okay to step forward. He doesn’t give a shit what happens to her and it’s written all over his face. He got what he wanted; she has nothing left to offer him.
She cautiously steps up to the package, bending over and picking it up. I watch carefully as she opens it and a high-pitch scream leaves her lips, dropping her present to the floor. She crashes down to her knees, wailing as her son's head rolls out onto the gravel. Her body shakes uncontrollably as she holds her chest. I walk forward, causing the other side to point their guns at me, but I never once break my stride. Dalmat actually takes a step back, coward.
“I figured you would want to see the life out of his eyes just like you did with my father. See you in hell, bitch.” I pull my gun from my thigh, pointing it at her head, and fire.
Forgive me father, for I have sinned.
Her body goes limp falling forward, her head landing next to her son’s. New blood stains the ground, giving me sweet delight. Slowly looking up, I catch the Director’s face in pure horror. I take calculated steps backward before I’m back in the safety net of my alliance. I’m actually shocked no one has shot me dead yet but to say they’re shell shocked is an understatement.
“Now, where were we? You have two options. Kneel at my damn feet, and return all the supplies you stole, or you meet the devil himself tonight. Your choice, boys.” I pick at my fingers.
One of the guys on the other side fires off a gun, luckily not hitting anyone. Stupid fucking choice. We were in the middle of a nice conversation. With one swift movement, I’m handed an AR and I point right at the poor soul and shoot him down. Gun shots come from the other side, a bullet breezes right by my cheek. Within a split second, bodies aredropping to the ground and we push forward invading their space.
All of a sudden, the firing stops on both ends and I look to my side with Antonio’s eyes wide. I follow his stare to Dalmat’s fist in the air, halting his men as he’s holding someone by the back of the shirt. The man is beaten to near death, blood caking his face and head tilted down. Who the fuck is that?
“After your parent’s death, I didn’t realize you had a weakness, until today. Stevens over here enlightened me of a special agent that you’ve been in cahoots with. It was easy getting him here with the help we had. Set up a raid to arrest the Mafia. To his surprise, he was sent with a few men to stake out and back up would come later.” My body freezes at what he just revealed.
He yanks the man's head up and Alaric’s beaten face comes into view. My body begins to tremble uncontrollably as my chest rises and falls with actual fear. I did this. He wasn’t supposed to be collateral. He wasn’t supposed to be here.
“Ah, I see it in your eyes. Lower your weapons and you can have him. I give him to you, you let us walk away,” he demands.
I look over at the leaders, pleading them silently to do as he says. I can’t lose him. If I lose him, the darkness will take over and there won’t be a shred of humanity left. They seem to read what I’m asking, lowering their weapons to the ground. We won’t let them leave alive but first, I need Alaric on this side, safe.
He lifts Alaric up by the arm and pushes him forward, causing him to slip and fall to the ground. Alaric struggles but he doesn’t show an ounce of pain as he staggers to his feet. Slowly, he makes his way to me until he’s a few feet away. A gunfire fills the silent air and a bullet hits Alaric, nearly missing his heart.
“ALARIC!” I scream, lunging forward to catch him. His limp body in my arms, we crash to the ground. His blood coats my arms and his chest rises and falls slowly.
Larson and Antonio rush over, one grabbing Alaric and the other grabbing me. Arrid is by his side, helping Larson move Alaric towards the SUVs. Whipping my head around, I lock eyes with the Director who has his arm raised with a gun in his hand.
My vision is blinded with pure rage. It’s time to paint this ground red. Lifting my AR, I fire several rounds causing him to fly back hitting the ground hard. My men push forward and we let it rain with bullets. If world war three were to happen, this is it. We push forward taking out the other side one by one. They start to retreat backwards for cover as they fire off their own. A couple of ours get hit but we can’t stop to help them.
Bullet holes puncture their vehicles, and we take up cover on the other side. I go to move to one side, looking over the edge, and I see a gun pointed causing me to slam back just in time before a bullet passes by. I look back over and fire, taking the guy out. I inch forward, caught off guard when I get hit in the shoulder, causing me to fling back into the side of the car. Luckily for me, my adrenaline is pumping hardcore cause I can’t feel it yet.
A shot is fired from behind me and Deniil hits the bastard who shot me hidden behind the warehouse door. Grabbing my hand, he helps me up and we duck as we rush towards the doors. The noise starts to die down behind us and we take a quick look to see that there’s no more of Dalmat’s men standing.
Standing up tall, we enter the warehouse where the man himself is standing in the middle with two men left. He signals his men to drop their weapons and he raises his hands up in surrender.
“Celeste, please. We can talk about this. I didn’t know he was going to do that. We were going to leave peacefully. I’ll do whatever you want, spare me,” he begs.
“You had the choice but unfortunately it expired. You thought you could have my throne. What a silly thing to believe. You have nothing now. I could let you live, homeless and helpless, but I’m not a good person.” Before he can blink, his body drops along with his two companions.
It’s been a couple days since all hell broke loose. I sit here next to Alaric’s hospital bed watching as he’s hooked up to monitors. He hasn’t woken up since we brought him here. He’s pretty banged up and it hurts like hell seeing him this way. The doctor said he would live but needed time to heal. He didn’t know when he would wake, but he promised he would.
He had surgery to get the bullet out along with trying to fix the cause of internal bleeding. Luckily, it was nothing with the brain and they were able to repair and stop the bleeding. I tuned out a lot of the information after they told me he was going to live.
I feel nothing but guilt. This would have never happened to him if he had never met me. I tried to tell him I bring nothing but dread, but he wouldn’t let me go. If I’m being honest with myself, I didn’t want to let him go either but I should have.
As much as it’s going to hurt, I have to give him the life he deserves, even if it’s not with me. I can’t be selfish because he deserves a happy life. Not one that would have constant violence and chaos. I love him too much.
A gentle knock has my head turning to Monroe and Beckett standing in the doorway. I called them here to be his support.They won’t leave his side. Giving me a sad smile, they enter the threshold as I stand up from the chair.
“I need you to do me a favor.” Tears start to roll down my face. My chest squeezes at the thought of what has to be done.
“Anything. You saved my life and his,” Monroe speaks for both of them.
I look back at his sleeping body and part of me wants to tell them never mind. I can protect him. This doesn’t have to be the answer, but I know that’s a lie.
“Watch over him. Make sure he takes the steps to heal, physically and mentally. I can’t be the one to do it. I only bring chaos and death. Tell him I love him. Tell him he’s the brightest star that guides me through the darkness. Tell him he must not look for me and live his life.” I take a shattering breath as the words shatter me whole.
