"Then prepare to die."
Fang sat in a small cell, waiting to die. He'd assumed Savitar would splinter him on sight, but that apparently was too easy a punishment.
Instead the bastard was making him suffer even more by dreading it. Not that the dread was what tormented him the worst.
It was regret. Those wounds were the ones that tore through him like shards of glass. He wished so many things were different that at this point death would probably be a relief.
He just wished he could see Aimee one more time. Conjuring up an image of her smile, he reached in his pocket to touch her necklace. It wasn't as good as touching her, but it comforted him on a level he'd never experienced before. Even though she wasn't here, he felt her like a tangible angel.
Damn if the words engraved in her locket weren't right. She was in his heart and the knowledge of her out there, thinking of him, being a part of him, made him feel less lonely.
Alone in a tiny spartan cell with only a toilet, he sat on the hard bench with his elbows on his knees. He could hear the sea outside along with gulls squawking. But it was Aimee's face he saw and it would be her scent that he carried with him to the next existence.
"You ready?"
He looked up to see Savitar in a pair of green cargo pants and an open white shirt. The man's face was completely stoic.
Not that Fang expected sympathy from anyone.
"Yeah."
The clear door slid up as Fang rose to his feet. Savitar led him to the sparkling white beach outside and to what looked like an old-fashioned block. It would be almost quaint if he wasn't going there to die. There was even an executioner standing behind it. Dressed in spiked black armor and wearing a helm in the shape of a ghoul's face, he held an oversized sword. He was so still, he looked like a statue.
Fang was both impressed and repulsed by the elaborate display. "You're not just going to blast me into oblivion?"
Savitar shook his head. "Too humane for the crimes you've committed." He raked a suspicious look over Fang. "You gonna turn chicken and jump out and make me chase you?"
"No. I don't want you going after my family."
"Smart wolf. It sucks to have your family pay for your crimes. Take it from someone with firsthand experience." Savitar gestured toward the black stone block that was stained in places by dried blood.
The largest splatter of it was right where Fang needed to put his head.
His stomach churned at the knowledge that soon his own blood would be added to it. And it brought home exactly what was about to happen to him.
He was here to die. . . .
Honestly, he wanted to run. Anything to have one more day. . . .
But he wasn't about to show his fear to anyone, especially not to the one who was going to kill him. Instead, he reverted to the sarcasm that had seen him through the darkest moments of his life.
It was only fitting it should now see him through his death. "You know, you could wash that nasty thing off between uses."
Savitar shrugged nonchalantly. "Why bother? It's not like you're going to catch an infection the last three minutes you're alive."
"Guess not." Fang sank down on his knees in the sand and glanced away from the dried blood. He looked around the beach and the dark green sea whose waves came rushing up, not too far from him, and realized just how long it'd been since he'd really seen the beauty that existed in the world. How many times he'd taken the sun for granted. Instead, he'd spent his life focusing only on the negatives.
But as he was about to die, he realized the world really was incredible.
"Changing your mind?"
"No." He pulled Aimee's locket out from his pocket, which reminded him exactly why he had to do this. "Can I make one last request?"
"For you to go free?"
He shook his head and held the locket out to Savitar. "Would you make sure that's returned to Aimee Peltier?" He reluctantly let go of it.
Why did it feel like he was giving up a limb?