Will you still deserve Sera if you do this?
I never fucking deserved her. Taking his life will make them safe.
I want to pull the trigger… I also don’t.
Say something to piss me off, motherfucker.
Make me do it.
Stop looking so fucking feeble.
“Fuck it. Goodbye, Gideon.”
My finger starts to depress the trigger when I’m knocked off balance by one of the prone figures on the floor, the impact jolting the gun loose. It discharges once, the report sharp enough to rattle through my skull, and I lose my grip entirely.
I turn and stamp down on the fucker, driving my boot into his jaw and sending him skidding back across the floor.
Silence.
For a second, no one moves.
Then Gideon lets out a broken, hysterical laugh.
“The Lord has shown me mercy!” he gasps. “The Lord—”
The door opens.
Chace wanders in, cocking his head as he takes in Gideon still alive and me with the gun lying useless on the floor.
“Looks like you missed,” Chace says casually. “I heard the gunshot. Didn’t think you’d even pull the trigger, to be honest. Good for you.”
“Uh, sir,” Igor says, grimacing.
“What’s wrong, Igor?”
He lifts his hand, revealing a clean through-and-through hole. My dad is shuffling around behind him, cursing under his breath.
“Praise be!” Gideon calls out.
Chace snickers and steps forward, drawing his own weapon. He pistol-whips Gideon to the floor, teeth scattering across the concrete.
“You missed this piece of shit,” he says, “but you managed to shoot a hole through Igor’s hand and clip your old man?”
“What?” I stare at him, suddenly feeling sick. I’ve hated my dad for most of my life, but I don’t think I wanted him dead. And I definitely liked Igor.
“I am so sorry, Igor.”
“It is good,” he exhales softly, cradling his hand to his chest.
“Dad… you okay?”
My father shifts, jaw tight. “Son. You shot me in the ass.”
Oh shit. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t fucking laugh.
My dad is the first to break, a rough laugh slipping out of him, then Igor follows, then Chace, like it’s all too absurd not to. Even I start laughing before I can stop myself.
Gideon, meanwhile, is a broken, muttering mess on the floor.
