Shit, shit, shit, shit, what do I do now?
I can’t give away 404. Ares will kill him. But I can’t be responsible for these people’s deaths either.
“Ares, stop,” I plead without having anything to offer in return, any kind of leverage I can use except more betrayal. And that, I won’t do.
“This is on you, Brynn. If you don’t talk, they all die,” he snaps again, his voice a lethal promise. He’s gonna kill him, and I can’t do anything to stop him.
404 glances at me, knowing I’m not gonna talk. Then his gaze turns to the people around him, knowing they’re gonna die because of us.
But I won’t betray him—it's just not who I am.
Ares’ jaw tightens, the muscles in his face taut with barely contained fury, and I know he’s gonna pull the trigger. He’s done it before. Taking a life is just a part of his world, a part of who he is.
My heart is beating rapidly, threatening to escape my chest. Yes, I’ve killed before, but not someone who’s probably innocent. I’ve definitely never let anyone innocent die on my behalf.
I need to fix this, but how?
“It wasn’t them—any of them,” I try to deflect, trying to think of something, anything I could say to take the heat off these men.
“Then who?” Ares asks, probably suspecting I’m bluffing. “Tell me who, Brynn, or I’ll start killing everyone here until I have a name. I swear, if I don’t, I’ll just go out in the street and find someone else to make pay. Don’t fucking test me.”
It’s not like I can come up with a random name without ending right in the same spot, maybe just to prolong the agony for a few more hours. I’m even tempted to say I did it myself, but then he would ask how, and I’d have no idea where to begin explaining.
Just before I run out of options, 404 takes a deep breath, his eyes darting between Ares and the other captives. “I…. I helped her,” he says, his voice broken, trembling, knowing he just signed his death sentence.
“Take the others away,” Ares orders Ricky, a dark veil falling over his gaze.
The man forcefully lifts the other three to their feet, dragging them along with him through the path we came from, like they weigh nothing. They’re gone much faster than I would’ve liked, and a burdening silence falls down on my shoulders. Like I’m waiting for the inevitable. And the clock just struck 12.
“Why?” Ares asks, pointing the loaded weapon toward 404. “Why did you betray me?” he snaps, the whole building echoing with his wrath.
“I told you, I can’t do this. I can’t be a part of this. I helped you with everything else you wanted. But I can’t have their deaths on my conscience,” 404 says, like he’s almost resigned to his fate. Like he knew he would end up here, but still chose to walk away.
“That explains you running, it doesn’t explain you betraying me,” Ares hisses, his voice spiked with venom. I can see it in his eyes that he’s ready to pull the trigger.
In a split-second decision, I leap in front of him, positioning myself between his gun and 404.
“No, you won’t kill him because he helped me,” I hold my ground, ready to take that bullet if it comes to that. I won’t break my word and betray the last drop of decency I have left. I won’t betray Elias like that. 404 helped him. I have to take responsibility for that.
“You’re pushing your luck, Brynn,” Ares threatens, but I don’t step away.
“Maybe I am, but you have to go through me to get to 404. Don’t you get it, Ares? I can’t have him on my conscience, too.” I don’t want to, but a tear slips away, rolling down my cheek, hitting the ground. It’s not my fault Elias died. But it is my fault I didn’t protect him. I didn’t get more involved in what he was doing. We were supposed to watch each other’s backs, and I failed him.
“Why did you do it?” Ares demands of 404 again, ignoring me and the tears spilling down my cheeks.
“Because of Elias,” 404 answers, and I instantly see the confusion on Ares’ face, his brows furrow as he processes the name.
“Your boyfriend?” Ares asks, his gaze moving between us, like I’m supposed to say something that makes everything connect.
“Elias wasn’t my boyfriend,” I whisper, still having difficulty saying his name out loud. “Elias was… was with me in the asylum. He was the only one who helped me survive there… and after we escaped,” I trail off, so I won’t start crying. I don’t want him to see me crying. Though I have a poor chance of stopping it. “Elias used to have a thing with…”
“Me,” 404 admits, the same trace of regret in his voice as in mine. “I only helped Brynn get in to find out what happened to him. ”
“Ares, please… you still need him. Let’s figure this out,” I try reasoning with him, and although I don’t like saying please, I’ve said it more around Ares lately than I have in my whole life.
Ares’ eyes slowly go dark, the gun barrel slowly lowers from my forehead down to my mouth, and he slowly pushes it inside. I can see he can barely hold himself back, his muscles shifting, veins pulsing like they’re about to burst. “You know, I can’t decide how you look prettier; with my gun in your mouth or my cock?”
My nostrils flare, and I want to kick him in the balls right now. But that might trigger his gun, and I wouldn’t even get to see him hurting.
