blankly.
You will carry out my command, came the voice of Hades. Take his life. Now.
“What the fuck?” I said numbly, fully aware that I appeared to be talking to myself like a maniac. “Him? He’s just a kid—”
You are a human instrument and you do not question me. You obey. Reap. Him. Now.
“He hasn’t even done anything! Why would you—”
Eduardo moved faster than I could blink. I only saw the silver flash of a blade before he buried it in my father’s gut.
My dad wheezed, his breath laced with pain as he clutched his stomach, eyes wide with disbelief.
“No—”
Either from shock or disbelief at what was happening, I moved too slow. And Eduardo, too fast.
Sharp pain sliced through my ribs, blooming out from a central point as the blood spilled over my palm and fingers. Eduardo’s eyes, right in front of mine, were empty, soulless, his face devoid of any emotion as he withdrew the knife from where he had stabbed me.
“Help!” Josh yelled. “Protect the governor! Where is security?”
My knees buckled, head already swimming as I saw Josh scramble over the table to shield the governor from getting stabbed. Eduardo jumped on the conference table, boots stomping over our maps as he walked across the surface and slashed down.
The blade caught across Josh’s forearm as he held it up to shield his face, his cry full of fear. My vision blurred, something solid hitting me, which I realized was the floor. Blood soaked my hands and clothes, staining the floor and filling my nose with the smell of copper. Dad had fallen too, his blurry form leaning against the wall with his hands pressed over his wound.
No, not like this, I pleaded. We cannot go out like this.
I heard the sounds of a struggle, punches and groans and cries of pain. Blurs of movement flew over the long table, Josh and Eduardo locked in a fight, wrestling for their lives.
“Reaper, do something!” Josh sounded like he was underwater. “He dropped the knife but I can’t—agh!”
A thump and Josh went silent, his body eerily still as it draped over Eduardo’s. I couldn’t see the governor, fuck I could barely see shit. My arm felt like a sack of bricks as I fumbled for my holster, finding sweet purchase on the grip of my handgun.
Eduardo was too busy shoving Josh’s lifeless form off of him and the table, sending the governor’s assistant to crumble onto the floor in an awkward position. The fucking traitor dared to glance at me and smirk before jumping off the table and landing on his feet like a cat.
I didn’t move, worried I’d be too slow and he’d stab me again before I could pull the trigger. My dad’s panicked breaths against the opposite wall began to slow and I prayed it wasn’t too late. I needed this fucker to turn his back on me, to write me off as good as dead.
I took a painful, rattling breath and coughed, letting the blood from my lungs coat my lips and tongue.
Looking pathetic and close to death did the trick. Eduardo snorted derisively, turned around and lowered to his hands and knees. He began crawling his way under the table, where the governor had hid.
“No, no! Please!”
My arm was so fucking heavy and couldn’t stop shaking. Each breath felt like another hundred small knives in my lungs. My vision was going dark and I could barely make out the shapes in the room. There was a very real chance I could accidentally hit the governor if my shots went wide. But it was a chance I had to take.
I raised my gun, willing my arm to be steady and the fuzzy shapes in front of me to sharpen into focus. The governor was about to lose his life and I couldn’t afford to wait for a miracle. So, pointing under the table, I used the last of my strength to aim and pull the trigger.
A cry of pain rang out. It didn’t sound like the governor’s so I kept shooting. I emptied my gun, shooting half-blind until my ammo ran out and my arm fell like a concrete block to the floor.
Hades had been silent and uninvolved through the whole exchange. The black dog just stood off to the side, watching, as if waiting for his chance to step in and escort a new batch of souls to the underworld.
He came over to me after I stopped shooting, while I hung between alertness and unconsciousness. While my