Page 107 of Where We Ended

Fable’s eyes grew wide, and while he was so focused on his son, I slipped my hand into my jacket and pulled out my gun. Alec noticed and shook his head.

I ignored him and aimed at Fable.

Silas continued to move toward his father, now flipping the metal object around in his hand, as if he’d wielded it a thousand times before.

“Never show mercy.”

Fable tripped and was now on the ground. Silas was only a few feet from his father, and while I knew he needed to be the one to kill Fable, I couldn’t bring myself to lower the gun. And that’s when everything seemed to shatter, like a piece of glass under too much pressure. Silas lunged forward and shoved the rod into Fable’s chest, muttering a few incoherent things that Alec and I couldn’t hear.

I lowered my gun, realizing Fable was no longer a threat. I could feel Alec even relax next to me as Silas continued to mutter angrily over his father’s form.

It was over.

I released a shudder as I returned my gun to my side, seeing Silas stand. When he turned toward me, his shirt bloodied and his face strained, my gaze caught on the smallest movement on the ground. Fable’s hand came up, slow and measured as if time had slowed, just for this moment. My face must have betrayed my fear because Silas stopped mid-step.

My focus went to the gun in Fable’s hand, and how it was aimed directly at me.

Silas swung his gaze to Alec, and I wished I hadn’t seen him ever look like that. The fear and utter horror stamped into his features would stick with me forever…because I never thought I’d witness Silas succumbing to defeat.

We’d lost.

I was about to die.

The gun went off. The echo from the vast room was like an arrow to my ears. Loud, unforgiving, and life-altering.

We’d never come back from this.

Silas screamed. It was a horrible sound, so guttural like his heart was being pulled through his chest.

I closed my eyes and pictured our pond. I saw Silas when he was ten, fishing without a care in the world, and me, watching him while I sat on that brittle dock, soaking in the summer sun.

There was a fevered rush of breath against my mouth and a confession. “I love you.”

My eyes opened as tears rushed forward. Alec was staring down at me, holding me with his good hand…pain twisted his features as his eyes lowered to my lips.

Why was he in front of me?

My hand went to his jaw, confused, right as we started sinking to the ground together.

That’s when I felt the sticky blood begin to coat my chest, but it was coming from Alec’s.

Fable started to scream again, from behind Alec…and Silas must have returned to him to finalize his death.

“I’m so sorry, Artie. You have to forgive me…I messed up so bad. I just didn’t know how else to get your attention. It was like that first time we met.” Blood coated his lips as he began coughing and choking.

“Alec,” I whispered, so shocked and confused that I held his head in my lap, still trying to figure out what had happened. He’d spun in front of me.

He’d moved so that the bullet hit him instead of me.

Understanding finally dawned, creating panic.

“Alec!”

Silas was hammering something into Fable’s lifeless body. There was blood, so much blood… I couldn’t look.

“Artie, you have to forgive me.”

My hands were in Alec’s hair as he continued to rasp his broken-hearted confession, and I was shaking. My head, my hands, my entire body trembled as I slowly processed that Alec was about to die. Silas ran over, coming to an abrupt stop next to us, and dropped to his knees, helping me hold Alec up. I didn’t look to see if he was covered in blood. I focused on the gray thunderclouds that were starting to dim in Alec’s gaze.

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