Page 11 of Severance

Stan keeps running his mouth as I eye his position. The only clean shots I have are limited as fuck. And even then, they aren’t guaranteed clean shots. His head is so close to hers, his shoulders just a few inches above hers and his legs are just outside of hers.

I could shoot him straight in the head and end this shit. He could move a fraction of an inch and that bullet’s going straight through Dahlia’s head instead.

My hand tightens around the butt of my pistol as I assess the angles, deciding on where to aim. The moonlight hits the metallic as I quickly raise it in front of me with my finger on the trigger.

I get one shot and one shot only.

Better make it a good one.

She trusts me.

Dahlia

It all happens so fast.

The loud bang and the sound of the bullet as it whizzes past my head, just barely grazing my ear.

I feel the impact as Stan takes a bullet right below his collarbone. My ear is on fire as a ringing sound fills my head. Stan yells as his body is jerked backward and he quickly releases me. I watch everything in slow motion as his revolver falls to the ground by my feet.

Ignoring the pounding in my head as blood drips onto my shoulder, I crouch down and grab the gun before he has a chance to. Standing back up, my surroundings spin as the whooshing sound in my ears grows louder. My body sways as I try to recover from the head rush from the sudden change in my position.

A hand reaches out and wraps around my arm, holding onto me. The trees slowly stop spinning as I jump from the contact. Glancing down at the hand, my eyes trail up his arm and to his face.

“It’s just me,” Kai’s mouth says, but his voice is as if he’s miles away. “Stan got hit.”

Kai nods his head to the opposite side of me and I follow his eyes to Stan sitting on the ground clutching his chest.

Grabbing my shoulders, Kai spins me around as his worried eyes quickly survey me. “You’re bleeding.”

Reaching for my ear, Kai brushes my hair from my face and away from the side of my neck. Strands stick to the blood as it travels down my skin.

“Your ear,” he says quietly, as he gingerly cups it in his hand and inspects it. “It looks like the bullet just grazed it… tore the skin on the side.”

Kai’s eyes fall shut as his brow pinches together. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. He opens his eyes and his soft brown irises search mine. “Fuck, Dahlia, I’m so sorry.”

My hand finds his and I wrap my fingers around him. “I’m alive because of you, Kai. It’s just a scrape, little bit of blood.”

“Aren’t you two so fucking cute,” Stan barks out a laugh from behind me.

Kai steps around me with his gun pointed toward Stan as he pushes me behind him. “I don’t think you’re in the position to say anything right now.”

Clutching the revolver in my hand, I step out beside Kai. His arm darts out to block me, but he pauses when his eyes land on the gun in my hands. Holding the pistol steady, I point it at Stan as I glance up at Kai. A slow smile creeps onto his face and his expression relaxes as he drops his arm.

With a smile on his face, Kai turns back to Stan as I stand by his side, staring down at him.

“Like I said.” Stan chuckles. “Real fucking cute, you two. So, which one’s gonna do it?”

Impulsively, I tilt the gun down and fire a shot into his thigh.

“Motherfucker!” Stan yells out as he leans forward, clutching his leg. “You little fucking cunt!”

The corners of my lips twitch, watching him on the ground writhing in pain. I glance up at Kai and find him already watching me in awe. I expected him to be pissed off at my impulsivity, but instead he looks pleased.

“He’s yours, bambolina.” He winks as he nods toward Stan.

I look back over at him on the ground, like the pathetic fuck he is.

This is too easy… after everything he did, this isn’t how he should go.

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