Page 26 of The Devil's Dilemma

Conrad righted the chair with Joel still in it as if he weighed nothing.

I’d not taken my gaze from Joel, whose eyes widened in sheer terror as Dante approached him.

My heart beat so quickly, and my breathing shallowed. Dante’s horns, once white, were now black and tinged with red, and had grown to at least six inches.

What the fuck?

“You fuck with me, and you suffer the consequences. I had considered letting you go. I thought maybe I was being a little unfair keeping you here. Perhaps I should have relented and let you go in the morning, teaching your little brain a lesson. But fuck that. You deserve everything you’re going to get.”

Just when I thought he was going to do something, he walked back to his desk and opened a drawer.

He took out two guns. Not semi-automatics but revolvers.

“Don’t shoot me. Please don’t shoot me.”

Tears ran down Joel’s face. I’d only ever seen Joel cry once when he was ten and his dog had died. He’d been inconsolable for a week before he’d shrugged it off. It was then he got into trouble, and we, being the sheep we were, had followed him.

He was the leader of our little gang, and seeing him now pleading for his life upset me in ways I couldn’t explain.

Dante picked up the guns, spun the barrels, and closed them with a resounding click.

“Oh, I’m not going to shoot you.”

So why the hell did he have the guns?

Conrad walked over to me and undid my hands. I shook them out. A tingle shot up as the blood pumped through them.

“You put so much faith in your friend Austin. He’s your lucky charm, remember? Well, let’s see how lucky he is.”

What the fuck? “No way. I’m not doing it. I’m not shooting him.”

“If you’re as lucky as he says you are, you won’t. What do you have to lose?”

“My fucking best friend. That’s what. I can’t. I won’t.” My voice trembled, and my knees shook. This was fucking unreal.

“Austin, Austin, Austin.” Dante approached me, a gun in his outstretched hand. “Take it. Go on.”

How could I escape this?

“No, I can’t. Don’t make me.” I shook my head and backed away.

“Then I don’t have a choice.” He put the muzzle at Freddie’s temple. “You either do this, or I kill Freddie.”

It was an impossible decision. How much did I trust my luck?

Chapter seven

Dante

If Joel had justkept his big mouth shut, we wouldn’t have been standing here now. Me, with a gun against Freddie’s head, handing another to Austin.

But here we were. I’d heard the warning in Conrad’s voice, but the devil in me had had enough. I’d been good for far too long. It was time to have a little fun.

“Take the gun, Austin.”

I offered it to him, and once again, he backed away, shaking his head. Gone was the colour from his cheeks, but right now, I needed him to take the gun.

“Do it, Austin,” a terrified Freddie said. “I don’t want to die.”

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