Page 151 of No Greater Oblivion

Maybe it makes me prideful or self-absorbed but he’s wounded my ego enough. I won’t allow another rejection from him to cut me to the core.

“Don’t bother. He won’t answer anyway.”

He never does.

Luggage in hand, I still hesitate to leave them behind. This feels so permanent. So final. At the last second, I turn around and I can see the hope in their eyes as they wait for me to speak. Unfortunately, I shatter their illusions swiftly and without prejudice.

“I want you to know this doesn’t change anything. What’s happened between Alejandro and me is separate from the way I feel about you. And I love you, both of you. Very much. Nothing will ever change that.”

This time when I turn to leave, I don’t look back.

37

A LIFE FOR A LIFE

Dahlia

The Present

Anoise in the bushes draws our attention away from Bow Bridge where a confrontation between Li and Rian is starting to escalate. As the sky clears and the flurry of snow dissipates, their figures become more visible. Though from this distance, it’s almost impossible to hear what they’re saying.

Henchman number two spins around. “Did you hear that?”

The shorter one leaves his perch against a nearby tree and looks around. “No. What did you hear?”

“I—”

A gun goes off and Henchman number two crumples to the ground with a cry of agony. Blood oozes from the injury in his leg and stains his frostbitten fingertips. Henchman number four reaches for the gun at his side but gets caught in the shoulder by a flying bullet. Whomever is firing at them must be close by but doesn’t have a clear shot because when they fire again, they miss. He fires into the dark and I try to scream out for help but the duct tape on my mouth prevents me from doing so.

All of a sudden, someone jumps out from behind the snowy bushes and tramples Henchman number four to the ground. During the struggle, the injured man manages to push himself up to his knees and grab at his fallen gun. Eyes alight with rage fiery enough to cut through the darkness, his gaze zeroes in on me.

“Fuck this,” he grunts.

He limps over to me and raises the weapon, finger poised on the trigger. Before I’ve had time to catch my breath or say my final prayers, his head snaps to the side as something hits him from behind. Another gunshot goes off and the sound rattles me to my bones.

The man tries to get up but he’s struck again—in the back of the head with a massive tree branch—and then a third time by a screeching Lyss who keeps her eyes close when she brings her arms around for a fourth blow.

I yell as loud as I can to get her to stop; the man is likely dead and if not dead, then certainly unconscious. After a final, deadly swing of her tree branch, Lyss gasps and releases her makeshift weapon. Taking a large leap away from the body she looks down to make sure he isn’t moving and then gives him a good kick in the rib cage to make sure.

“Holy shit…” she murmurs. “Holy shit. Oh my God! Do you think he’s dead?”

“Alyssa,” Damiano grunts from where he’s struggling in the snow. “Focus.”

“Right, right, right. Sorry. Oh my God….oh my God. Okay Alyssa Marie, focus. You can do this.”

Damiano manages to pin the last man down and traps him in a chokehold. Either the man suffocates or Damiano manages to break his neck, I’m not sure which comes first. I’m too focused on Lyss to pay attention to anything else.

She collapses to her knees in front of me and pulls the tape off my mouth. “Are you okay? Jesus, your eye⁠—”

“What the Hell are you doing here!”

She reaches into her coat for a pocketknife and starts to cut the zip ties around my wrists and ankles. “I wasn’t going to sit at home while you were in danger. Your necklace.”

“What?”

She tugs on the chain around my neck. “You were wearing it today. The tracker inside is how we found you.”

Once my hands are free, I grip her by the shoulders and shake her so hard I’m surprised her head hasn’t popped off her body. “Don’t ever do some crazy shit like this again, do you understand me? Ever! Next time let me fend for myself. You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”