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Darla’s scream was bloodcurdling.
Benjamin cackled behind me, his breath fanning my clammy neck.
And my wild gaze collided with my wife’s terrified one.
The temperature was so hot, sweat trickled into my vision. Through the blur, I still caught tears slipping out of Darla’s eyes. She mouthed my name over and over again.
Zeno. Zeno. Zeno.
Adrenaline skyrocketed through my veins and with another roar, I managed to elbow Benjamin’s ribs. He gasped and his hold loosened. I knocked him over. The gun fell sideways and before he could lunge for it, I knelt above him.
I needed to finish him before going to Darla. As long as he’d live, we’d never make it out of here alive.
Blind rage gripped me as I pounded my fists into his face repeatedly, the fire feeding my wrath. I punched my brother to a bloody pulp. His face cracked open like a volcano, oozing out blood like lava. Droplets speckled my face as I beat the fear of God and me into him. “I-I’m s-sorry, Zed. It was an accident. P-Please, I’ll n-never do it again.”
Pulsing with anger, I seized his throat and reached for the discarded gun.
“No, Benjamin,” I spoke with scary finality, bringing the gun to the centre of his forehead. “You will never do something like that ever again.”
For the last time, Ben’s glassy blue eyes met mine, his face an array of sweat, blood, and snot.
“You…betrayed me…first, Zeno,” he whispered.
There was no fight left in his frame and for once, the punisher within me was conflicted.
But I didn’t have the time to decipher his words right now.
Tears stung my eyes until one slipped down and landed on Ben’s bloody cheek.
He gave me a faint smile, as though telling me to finish him.
There was no other course of action.
It had to be this way.
With a sorrowful grunt, I shot my little brother three times in the skull.
His blood splattered all over my face and neck.
The sound of the gunshots still reverberated inside my head like the final nail pounded into a coffin.
A wooden post crumbled to the ground, surrounding Benjamin De la Croix’s body like a pyre.
Adrenaline still kicking through me, I dove for Darla.
I managed to break through the fire separating us and get to my wife, who was barely holding on. No pained whimpers. No screams. Just an empty look in her eyes.
It felt like I was watching the life slowly drain out of her like a man on death row, minutes away from his ending.
Smoke in the air filled my lungs and I coughed, scooping her in my arms.
“Zeno,” Darla mumbled and the little display of life gave me all the strength I needed to get us out of here.
“I’m here,mon ange.” I put pressure on her wound. “Hang on. I’m going to get us out.”
“I wanted to save you…I’m sorry.” Her eyes fluttered shut. “I love you.”
“No,” I hissed, palming her face. “Keep your eyes open, goddammit! You promised—you promised you’d never leave me!”
