Page 100 of Waging War
“Hold your fire!” Félix calls, but he sounds distant and distorted as Bruce’s crazed eyes land on mine.
“You,” he says. Those bottomless black pits glare pure hatred in my direction as if the devil himself has consumed his body and now wrapped his claws around me. “You did this.”
You’ll never be free, my demons say, and when Bruce points the end of his barrel toward me and fires, I believe them.
A high-pitched whine explodes between my ears as I stare down at my abdomen. Blood pours from the open wound, and I press two fingers against it. When I pull my hand away, I watch rivulets of blood slide down, coating them before saturating my palm.
“No!” Hazel screams.
I turn toward Hazel, and she swings her gun up and takes aim. I’m amazed by the sheer beauty of her even as she begins to cry. Every movement grows hazier, slowing down to an unnatural speed.
Cold concrete meets my knees as I clutch my wound, but I can’t force my eyes from the hell’s angel in front of me.
Hazel’s hand grips the gun tighter as she pulls the trigger.
Tears pour from her eyes as ethereal wings suddenly sprout from between her shoulder blades. I blink, in awe as they arch high above her while she fires off three rounds. Those ghostly obsidian wings flinch with the force of each discharge, and I swear I see a faint outline of a woman standing behind her.
Bruce’s body drops instantly and the visions clear. Félix’s angry shouts sound far away as a warm body kneels beside me.
“Ben, can you hear me?” my brother asks.
Concrete smacks my head when I fall back.
“Fuck! He’s losing a lot of blood,” Jack shouts. “Someone help me!”
The ringing in my ears is incessant.
“Ben.” Hazel’s voice has me turning toward her.
A phantom wave pulls me away until the world’s gone completely white.
“Hey, baby,” I say before glancing down at myself.
I’m standing again. We’re both wearing clothes, but aside from that, there are no other objects here. It’s just the two of us.
Placing my palm against the side of her face, I gently swipe my thumb across her cheek. I don’t understand why she’s sobbing.
“Please, Ben… don’t leave me.”
Leave her? Why on earth would I ever leave her?
It’s so warm and comfortable wherever we are, like a hot bath we could sink deep down into and never reemerge from. I rummage through the fog in my mind for a reason she would be upset, but I come up short.
“I’m not going anywhere, baby,” I assure her. Except my mouth isn’t moving—it’s gone gummy, and my tongue’s too thick to form words.
Warm lips brush against my own as she raises up on her toes. “You said you wanted to be there, rough edges or not. Every battle… Y-you promised—” Her voice breaks through another sob.
Please don’t cry.
I reach out for her, but she’s sliding away from me, even though she isn’t actually moving.
What the fuck is going on?
“Hazel!” My mouth doesn’t move, but my voice shakes the infinite white space we’re in to the point that I can’t focus on her any longer.
Distantly, I hear Félix. “Get the body loaded. We need to report this immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” another male says as I’m being jostled.
