Papa started to wake while we were descending, and you soothed him with words of seduction. Though I wasn’t sure if he recognized you, he seemed to understand this was a rescue mission. Once we landed back in the sewers, you began unstrapping the ropes so that Papa could stand on his own, or at least try.
“Vincent?” he asked. My mask obscured my face, so I took it off and he did as well.
“Papa.” He made a move toward me and I embraced him, careful not to squeeze too tightly.
“Ah,mijo, I worried I’d never see you again.” Tears sprouted in his eyes and mine as well. Jesus, I was just so happy he was alive.
“You’re safe now. We’re going to take you to a place where Azrael can’t reach you.”
He nodded with a sad smile. My beautiful Papa. I ran my hands over his stubbled jaw. “I missed you so much.” I hugged him again.
Just then there was a disturbance above, and the seaborn reappeared. The prisoners couldn’t climb down the ladder while restrained, so weapons were trained on them as they descended into the sewers. Hyas shouted orders from the top of the ladder. I was amazed by how fast it had all happened. It seemed like we’d only just arrived. And then I recognized one of the Imperium captives, the cyclops who’d been my own personal tormentor for so many months.
“Watch him,” I said as Cyclops turned. His one eye spied me in the dark and I recoiled on instinct. He skipped the last few rungs on the ladder and jumped to the ground, boots splashing sewer water everywhere. From inside of his shirt, he pulled out a short metal spear. I thought he’d aim it at me, but no, he was looking at Papa. He drew back his arm, and I lunged, bracing myself for the pain.
“Vincent,” you shouted and made an attempt to shield me with your body, but it was too late. Fire tore through my gut as I fell back into the filthy water. My body seized with a pain that made my vision go dark around the edges. I glanced down to see the handle of a harpoon protruding from my stomach.
“Death to the false god,” Cyclops shouted as bullets riddled his body. “Long live the Angel of Death.”
Then the darkness swallowed me whole.
