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In the next beat, he spins and lobs the blade through the air.
I swing my head around to see it plunge into the throat of one of the soldiers who was about to lunge at us. The blade pierces an artery dead-on, blood spurting wildly, the guy dropping as he gurgles his last breath all too quickly.
“Thanks,” I breathe, pushing off the van and walking to Wraith.
He gives me a chin lift, then eyes the two guys he’s just killed in mere seconds. “Priest really should have them wearing armor. They would’ve fared much better and actually given us a real fight.”
It’s a very good point, because they usually are packing Kevlar vests beneath their get-up. “He wanted them to lose,” I realize aloud.
“This is merely a scare tactic,” Wraith surmises.
“Worse,” I tell him with a shake of my head. “Provocation.”
“Dealer and Ax.”
I nod. “He’s pushing them to do something rash and reactive.”
He grasps my arm as we reach the motel room, briefly pulling me up short to impart a warning, “Don’t let that be. You have a hold on him. Use it here or it’ll destroy you all.”
“I’m not going to let that happen,” I vow.
He seems satisfied with the vehemence of my conviction and he’s following me into the motel room in the next second.
Into a bloodbath.
Runner is holding Roxana forcibly turned away from what’s taking all of our attention over by the far wall.
Two bodies are dropped on the floor by the foot of the bed and the third soldier is barely alive, being held against the wall and wailed on furiously by Cal. His face is so bloodied and disfigured from the damage Cal’s dealt out that it barely seems human anymore.
“Motherfucker! My daughter! You come after my baby girl? Pieces of shit! Priest wanted the devil, he’s fucking well got him! Now all of you are gonna burn in goddamn hellfire!”
“Cal!” I call.
He stills briefly, but all he says is, “Get Roxana out of here.”
Wraith ushers Runner and Roxana out.
I approach Cal cautiously, stepping over the fallen bodies to get to him and taking in the severe damage he’s dealt out. It’s clearly more than self-defense to protect his daughter.
It’s vengeance.
“It’s all right. It’s over, Cal. It’s over now, I swear it. Roxana’s safe. We’re all safe,” I tell him carefully as I reach him.
His fist halts mid-punch, hovering in front of the guy’s face. The guy himself doesn’t even notice, it looks like he’s actually passed out now.
“Fuck,” Cal grunts, releasing him and stepping back, the guy crumpling to a heap on the cheaply carpeted floor.
Cal takes an unsteady step back and looks down at his shaking hands that are literally drenched in blood. “Always with blood on my hands.” His gaze slides to mine and the darkness there connects with the same in me. I notice it settle him enough to bring him back from the brink, of the risk of being pulled down deep into a never-ending pit of guilt. He told me he’d conquered that, but I guess this was the first test. His next words prove he’s passed as he tells me, “There’s always gonna be. It’s the only way to protect my family. The cards were dealt on all that the second I joined Thorns.”
“I know.” It’s the same for me with Kingmaker.
“I gotta be this,” he says, gesturing at the damage he’s done to the three fallen Gatekeepers. “Trying to let go of all that is why it’s come to this bullshit today. I ain’t gonna risk it again.” He blows out a breath and closes the distance between us. “I gotta stay in the dark so the people I love can walk in the light.”
I nod, knowing well what he’s getting at. “You need to be the villain to spare them from taking on that burden.”
“It’s the only thing that’s gonna keep them safe.”
“Well, you won’t have to do it alone anymore. I’m here with you.”
