“Take a good look, Ezekiel. What do you see?” Isaac pushes the hood off his head, and I’m startled to see that he’s bald now. His hair is completely gone, which doesn’t make any sense given how much he used to be obsessed with it—always claimed it was his best feature. His vanity would never so much as allow him to dye it, and he’d rage for hours if his barber cut an inch more than he liked. There’s no way he’d ever shave it willingly. No way. And then I notice everything else I missed before—the sallow skin and lost weight.
Holy.Fuck.
He’s sick.
No. Not just sick.
Isaac is dying.
I wonder what his followers thought of that. No doubt he found a way to twist the truth and blame me. And that’s when I realize how much I do not care. From the looks of it, Isaac has been getting his due for a while now.
“When did you find out?” I ask curiously. Not that I give a shit.
“A month after you were kidnapped.”
Ten years. He’s been sick all of this time. “You mean rescued,” I correct. “From you.”
“Your life finally had meaning when you were with me, Ezekiel.”
“What do you want from me, Isaac?”
“I want you to take that gun, and I want you to shoot yourself. I am meant to live forever.You”—he points a finger at me—“were never even meant to beborn.”
“Yes, I know. Our father cheated on your mother with mine, and she killed herself in front of you when she found out about me. That’s all very sad, but I stopped giving a fuck the first time you strapped me to that table. You stopped being a victim when you broke apart families and manipulatedthousandsinto suicide because you just couldn’t accept that sometimes life isn’t fair. You’re a murderer, Isaac. A serial killer with an LLC. And I’m done with you.”
Behind me, I hear Aurelia begin to stir just as I see a lone figure stagger from the woods while clutching his side.
“You will never be done with me,” he snarls. “Not until you’re delivered unto Thanatos and I am delivered from Death. It is your duty as one of my blood.”
“You know,” I say when I hear the rapid whir of helicopter blades as the medevac approaches. “I was going to beat the shit out of you and maybe torture you for some karmic retribution, but it looks like fate already has that covered. And as for family,I’ve got that covered too. Every second I spend on you is a second less I have with them, so enough chitchat. Goodbye, Isaac.”
I lift my gun, and his disciples raise theirs.
“Do you really think this will end well for you, Ezekiel?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
Two shots ring out, each one from opposite directions, and the disciple to his left drops followed by the one on his right. Khalil emerges from the shadows, clutching a gun in his hand, and behind me, Aurelia groans as she rises into a sitting position while holding her own gun.
Isaac looks around, finally realizing he’s alone.
There. That look. The fear of death finally enters his eyes. There are no more disciples, no more sheep to hide it from. There’s also no cage to throw me in or a table to strap me to.
It’s just him and me.
Khalil kicks Isaac in his back and sends him to his knees while I turn to help Aurelia up.
“You okay?” I ask her while leaning down to brush the tip of her nose with mine.
“I’ll live,” she answers. “You?”
I smile down at her. “I’ll live.”
Those two words carry a heavier meaning for me though, and I see the moment she realizes it too. “Good.”
“Ayo, Zeke. I really liked your speech about not needing to torture him and all, but there’s no reason why we can’t kick the shit out of him for a little bit.”
Aurelia raises her hand. “I’m down for some stomping the motherfucker out.”
