Page 34 of Shifter Island


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The hinges groaned again.

“We need to get down to fight,” I whispered to Gabriel.

My cousin nodded. “It was fun talking to you, Victor, but I think the time for words has long since passed. When you’re ready for true peace talks, let us know.”

“Ha, you will never get peace from me! I came to make an announcement to you today: the whole of Isla Paraiso will be mine! You will die, and your people will submit to me!” Victor screamed.

Gabriel and I shared a long look. So the madman had officially made up his mind about attacking and annexing everyone who was independent. He wanted to be the Alpha of all the people here, the king of this island.

The gate groaned, and finally the hinges broke. The gate collapsed into the village. I heard a few people scream, and gunshots echoed below us.

“Stay up here and shoot the enemies from above, but make sure not to hit our people. If you can’t fire without hitting one of ours, don’t attack,” I commanded Hender and the people on the wall.

Gabriel and I ran down the stairs. I took the rifle I had on my back and prepared myself to shoot. Gabriel took out his two daggers. He would get rid of any enemies who approached me.

When I saw what was going on next to the collapsed gate, my jaw dropped. “Daphne!” I called out to our mate. She was right there with the people of Santuario, armed with a gun. As Victor’s goons ran inside the village, she aimed, her stance steady, and killed one of the attackers. She quickly reloaded and fired at another, making him go down on one leg. She reloaded again and finished him off.

“Man, she’s good!” Gabriel whistled.

After that we didn’t have time to admire Daphne. Some of Victor’s goons threw themselves at us. Gabriel fought them, bringing them down with his daggers. When the area around us was clear, I aimed my rifle and killed a few more. Others came into Santuario and aimed their attacks at us.

Again, Gabriel brought them down. And again I fired. We worked together while keeping an eye on Daphne. She seemed to be doing great though, defending our sleuth with a ferocity that was commendable.

Eventually Victor must have realized he hadn’t brought enough men to defeat us today. Or he had never intended to win, and the goal of the fight had merely been to harass us.

“Retreat!” Someone called, relaying his orders.

Victor himself never came inside Santuario.

“That fucker! He’s scared of us!” Gabriel shouted and started running after the retreating enemies. “Come on, Ban! We can still get him!”

I ran after Gabriel, but I wasn’t as confident about being able to defeat Victor today. When we were out in the open, on the road leading up to Santuario, we looked around but Victor was nowhere in sight.

“Fuck! He ran away!” Gabriel kicked a stray stone on the ground.

“We’re not ready to kill him either way,” I voiced my concern.

“And when do you think we will be ready? He’s stronger than us, and has more men than Santuario.”

“I don’t know. But today we should be happy with repelling his attack. It came as a surprise to our people. But still we succeeded, and we get to live another day.”

Gabriel stared at me, anger in his eyes. “I hate living this way! Having to worry every day that this asshat will come to harass us! I had a peaceful life. But he’s in the way of us continuing to have a peaceful future.”

“Esteban is right. The people of Santuario suffered some injuries today, but we successfully pushed back against Victor’s attack. You should be happy with this victory, Gabriel.” We both turned towards the gate where Daphne stood. I looked her up and down. She didn’t seem to have suffered any injuries.

“You’re a good shot,” I let her know how much I admired her skills.

“It was a hobby of mine, back when I was part of the Sun of Perez,” she smiled, “and this is my sleuth now as well as yours. Of course I’ll fight to protect my people.”

I stared at her with admiration. “Thank you, Daphne, for wanting to be a part of the family we have created.”

“Of course. This is the best clan I’ve seen. Why wouldn’t I want to be a member? Especially after… ,” she trailed off, blushing, but I got her meaning.

A wide grin appeared on my face. The three of us had been so close just a few hours agoand, hopefully, the three of us would be close like that again soon.

“Right now our priority should be healing and fixing the gate,” Daphne gestured awkwardly to the fallen entrance behind her.

I nodded. She was right.

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