Page 78 of Harmless
A man had come out of—no, wasforcedout of—one of the houses. His wrists were bound in front of him so tightly that the skin was an angry red and bleeding. Two women dragged him forward by each arm, another with an assault rifle walking directly behind them.
The man was drugged or incapacitated in some way. He couldn’t get his feet under him, no matter how much he scraped, dragged, and kicked his heels. The guy was terrified and trying to run. The woman with the large gun drove the butt of her weapon into his kidney, making him freeze up with pain.
Some women gathered along the sides of the walkway to watch, even one with a child on her hip, but most of them carried on doing their business like it was any other day.
They dragged him toward the gazebo and up the stairs with the gutter running down the middle. That was when the guy really started to struggle, and even pulled one arm free of the hold. He spun around but the bitch with the AR was ready, and she crashed the butt of her gun into his face.
He crumpled to the ground with a cry of pain, hands cupped over his nose which was definitely broken. Blood coated his fingers and dripped down his chin.
“You can’t escape your crimes anymore,male,” the woman with the gun said before she spit on him, then slammed her weapon down against the side of his head. And again, against his ribs.
“I didn’t commit any crimes!” He curled up to protect himself, the blood mixing with tears on his face.
They had barely gotten started on whatever this was, and I’d already seen enough.
Astarte, we have to do something. How do I get out of your body?
There is nothing you can do for this one, Aurora.Her mental voice was sad, defeated.
Bullshit! We can’t just watch this.
Youmustwatch this, it hasn’t even begun. Your human body is too far away to save him, anyway.
Thenyousave him! You’re a fucking god!
I cannot. This one is already lost.
“Your entire fucked-up gender is a crime,” the armed woman said to the cowering man on the ground. “Gone unpunished for thousands of years, until now. We’re not your victims anymore.”
“I never did anything to any of you! Please, this is a mistake!”
“Letting you live one more day would be a mistake,” she sneered back. To the two other women, she said, “Get him up.”
He was picked up by his arms again, his strength flagging as they continued up until they were under the gazebo’s roof. Once there, they forced him to his knees and cut the binding at his hands, only to reshackle his wrists to chains attached to the support beams so that his arms spread out to the sides. His head bent low, defeated.
Meanwhile, I was fighting beak and claw to do something in this dove’s body. Divebomb and peck some eyes out. Hell, even shitting on someone’s head might be enough of a diversion.
You don’t have control over this form, Aurora.Astarte was back to sounding permanently annoyed with me.
Well, this guy is about to get killed, and you’re not doing a damn thing!I screamed back. For all my effort, I might as well have been punching a brick wall.
There is nothing we can do for him. Other deities are standing by to guide him to a peaceful end.
He’s not dead yet! We can still help him!
Death is the most natural occurrence in the universe, even when it feels cruel. I’m sorry, Aurora, but this is how it needs to be.
Fuck that! This poor man hasn’t even done anything wrong, has he?
He was only unlucky.
God, no…
While I continued to deny everything, the scene playing out before me was worse than I could have imagined. The bitch with a gun couldn’t just shoot him to end his misery. No, she adjusted the strap so her hands were free while the gun rested against her back and took out a hunting knife from a sheath on her belt.
A small crowd gathered at the base of the incline now, staring up at the bound, bleeding man like he was about to break into a song and dance.
“The Dark Mother is a voracious goddess,” said the knife wielder to those below. “No longer is She satisfied with only full moon sacrifices. Now She thirsts for the blood of men at every new and full moon.”
