Page 76 of Shadow of Death

“It’s not light. It’s twenty percent of our take,” Harold said.

“You’re trying to tell me that’s twenty percent? Bullshit. If that’s twenty then maybe our share needs to increase to thirty or forty.”

“At some point, you’re going to push so hard it’s not going to be worth getting along, no matter what the cost.” Harold’s face was flushed.

I could’ve sworn I heard his heart pounding as he held himself back from striking Varic. It would’ve been nice to see, but I knew what would happen. There would be nothing fair about this fight. Varic would shift and Harold would be dead.

“You remember the last time you said no? You want a repeat of that? Think carefully about what you say. We might decide that one of your men is easier to deal with,” Varic said.

What had he done to these people? If he could threaten his brother’s life, what kind of treatment would a stranger receive?

Harold stood there stiff enough that he looked like he might crack.

He finally nodded, so slight it was barely perceptible. “I’ll go check and make sure there wasn’t a mistake.”

I was trying to keep calm myself. I wasn’t going to be able to do these visits with Varic for long without cracking. I had to get out of this situation, not only for me but for Charlie, too. Iglanced around, taking in the scene and wondering if there’d be a way to slip out without them seeing me.

“It’s not much to look at, but there’s quite a few settlements around we take a cut from,” Varic said, misconstruing my interest in the terrain. “We’re quite comfortable, if you hadn’t noticed.” He smiled, wrapping an arm around my waist, as if we were already a thing.

Now that Kicks had publicly dumped me, it was going to be harder to stall Varic. At the same time, maybe I wouldn’t need to stall him that long. I just had to swallow down my disgust long enough to find an opening.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I think you’ve got quite the nice…”

Suddenly the feeling of standing near the abyss was back. Charon was near. He had to be. I turned, looking for the source of the feeling.

“What? You hear something?” Varic said, looking around.

“Something’s here.”

“What?” he asked, growing more concerned.

He’d dropped his arm from my waist and was looking all around when I was pulled to another place.

I was in the arena, Charon in front of me. The main area was lit, and I could feel the presence of the audience watching me from the darkness surrounding us. Other than that, there was no hint at what was to come.

“Are you ready to be tested again?” Charon asked, his voice as grave as ever.

He was asking me on the wrong day. I was done. I was so done I’d make a well-done steak look rare.

“No. I’m notready to be tested.” I was past being snippy and ready to bite his head off. “I’m done with your games. I’m done with this.” I waved at the place, the charade of it all. “I wantanswers.”

There was a suspiciously long delay before he said, “That is not an option. You’ve already accepted our terms.”

“What are you going to do if I don’t play along? Kill me?” I stepped closer to him, trying to see what was inside that black abyss beneath the cloak. “You were supposed to kill me last time. Did you decide not to, or are you not capable?”

“You’re just going to make it hard on yourself by not cooperating,” Charon said.

Hard? The last test had nearly killed me. I’d probably come within an inch of my life. Any harder and I’d be dead. And I wasn’t certain that hadn’t been the purpose. I was actually ready to bet my life on it, in fact.

“You and your games can fuck off,” I said. I was at my limit. I couldn’t take another second of life like this. I wasn’t going to be threatened like this day after day. I was ready for their worst.

“You must,” he said. “You have a choice. You can have the two people you love the most, Charlie and Kicks, survive until they die of natural causes many years from now, or you can save the last of humanity.”

He was talking as if I were still ready to play along, as if he hadn’t heard anything. And with these rules? It was an impossible choice. It was a fake test. I didn’t know what their angle was, but nothing was as it seemed.

“Fine. My choice is all of the above. I choose Charlie, Kicks,andthe last of humanity.” There were whispers in the dark.

He didn’t respond for some time. “That is not an option.”

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