A familiar line. Ten years ago, walking through blood toward my broken self, she had said those same words.
I laughed through the tears. “And if I say no?”
She laughed too.
“You’ve already taken his child, that’s enough. Let him go. Let’s act like nothing happened. That’s the best ending we’ll ever get.”
I knew her too well, and I could see the killing intent hidden under her smile; she truly wanted me dead.
Along this road, we had supported each other, and she had once poured all her tenderness into me, almost making me forget how many bodies she had stepped over to reach where she stood today.
No anger, only shame. I grabbed her hand and pressed the gun against my forehead.
“Do it then, kill me!”
“Athena, you know my nature. If I walk out alive today, you’d better be ready to collect the corpse of your pretty boy!”
The sharp click of a bullet being chambered cut through the air.
Athena’s bloodshot eyes locked on me as her fingers tightened around my throat.
“You think I don’t dare?”
“I can let go of the child’s matter, but him, you cannot touch!”
“Waylon, don’t push me!”
I stared back at her with a blank face.