Page 88 of Captured By the Scaled Outlaw
“Yeah, that!” Kinsley cackles while flicking Lowell’s fleshy horns. “‘From prisoner to savior’ sounds pretty good, right?”
I can’t decide what to choose. The amount of free will I have with this single bolt is nauseating; No plan or rationale makes sense.
I don’t know what to do.
Nilsan itself isn’t evil, but what good is that if the people who make it up are? If I’m indebted to one? Can I even outsmart him? Does the end justify the means?
I can’t decide.
I don’t know.
What doIwant?
“Shoot me, May. It’s over for Gaia 4,” Lowell pleads, again.
I hate the expression on his face. I no longer enjoy seeing him riddled with fear or pain. I agonize internally, my cheek splitting further by how hard I bite it.
When I can no longer trust my thoughts, there is only one thing I can listen to. One thing I’ve refused to acknowledge and thought of as a hindrance rather than an asset. Something I chastised Lowell for following, thinking it to be idiotic.
Instinct.
“You know what?” I start, lifting my crossbow to align the crosshairs.
Kinsley’s eyes widen, as do Lowell’s.
After decades of abiding by a strict decision-making process, I trust my first instinct. I choose whatfeelsright in this moment, like ananimal chasing a dopamine rush. I choose the option that will satisfy the desire that bubbles up in my chest without a second thought.
I finally understand why Grandma warned me against this type of life. Because of this feeling, maybe I have become a worse person, or maybe not. I’ll never know, but I don’t think I care.
“As someone once said to me—” I cannot stop my grin as I giggle. “Let me be selfish.”
The bolt releases from the string.
Chapter 30
Kinsley’s head splits in two, the explosive-tipped bolt pushing his skull out from beneath his skin. The hot and gummy debris splatters over my clothes and Lowell’s face.
A scientist swivels around in reaction, only to be met with the blunt end of my crossbow that knocks them out cold. With a bolt in my fist, I drive the metal end into the eye socket of another scientist, sweeping their legs to bring them to the ground.
Adrenaline scorches my extremities as I strike my fist into the nose of the remaining scientist, their expression just as dumbfounded as the others’. Once they are felled, I ensure that they won’t be able to get back up by crushing their throats.
Surrounded by bodies, I drop to my knees and let my crossbow fall to the ground. I’m wracked with the aftereffects of the rush, my vision doubling and my body trembling.
“Ha!” Lowell laughs, a whining wheeze catching in his throat as another chuckle bubbles up. “I thought you were going to kill me!”
He continues to laugh as tears slide down my cheeks, which is strange, because I don’t feel sad. I’d never mourn someone like Kinsley, but I expected to be inundated with regret and mourning for the death of my career and life I once knew.
But alas, I feel no such thing. If anything, I’m mourning the loss of my book and clothing collection in my old apartment.
At this thought, I can’t help but laugh.
Through squinted eyes, I gaze at Lowell, his pupils filling his irises like moons over bright, full sun.
“You thought I was going to shoot you?” I ask, my chest bouncing with laughter.
He nods, trying to drag himself over to me and failing. His arms barely function. “Well, yeah. I thought you’d be dying for the chance to get a leg up in Nilsan. I accepted my death like ten minutes ago and kind of welcomed it.”
From how he’s rambling, I see that he believes his assumption.
