DYING MOURNINGS, original

sixteen : golden rays & bullet holes

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𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 : 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐒 

& 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐒

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Aiden Tobias stood in my kitchen, shoulders hunched over himself and shaking. From the top of the stairs, I could hear him muttering to himself. He was going through my cabinets and when he found what he was looking for, he turned and saw me. He held a box of old cereal in his hands.

"What the fuck?" I gasped, gripping the railing as he stared up at me, one hand in the box. "Have you been staying here?!"

He dropped the tension in his shoulders and he pulled a handful of cereal out, eating it as he spoke. "Can't go back to my place, too many of your lover's men patrolling it."

"Get out," I snarled, making sure he saw Spiorad gripped tightly in my hand. I would not be defenseless this time. "I don't care if the police are corrupt with demons or whatever the fuck, I'm going to call them if you don't get out–"

"I was sure I had killed you," he said, interrupting me to lean against the island. He continued to eat from his palm, his chewing obnoxiously loud in the quiet house. "You should've bled out in minutes."

I gritted my teeth together. "Guess I'm just lucky."

"Want to test that luck a second time around?"

"I'd rather pass."

He shrugged, sticking a finger into his mouth to suck off the crumbs. "Surprised you came out here all on your own, aren't you and the boss shacking up?"

"He's hardly your boss anymore."

He laughed, wagging a finger at me. His clothes were disheveled, which wasn't like him at all. Even in the dark he looked exhausted, like something had been gnawing at him. "Did he save you? Is that how you survived? Did he come to your rescue like the dog he is?" He shook his head, laughing again. "Having him on a short leash is smart, I like that. Does he even know you're here? That you're going to die?"

I tightened my grip on my knife and she hummed in response, a soft vibration of the power I knew I would have this time around. I would not allow him to pull the gun out before I had my turn with him. A soft, growing pain spotted my vision but it didn't stop me as I snarled out, "You're lucky it's just me here. If Crow had been? You would've been dead the second you walked through that door."

"Aw, you really think he could've been able to stop me?" he chortled. "Me?"

"You're not special."

"I'd clearly beg to differ."

He set the box of cereal down and reached behind him, pulling his gun free from his waistband. It was different from the last time and I knew then it must've been a silencer. It seemed that he wanted to do his job better, to do it differently than last. But if he had thought I was dead, then who was he going to use that gun on instead?

"Even if you succeed in killing me tonight," I murmured, pushing away from the banister to head down the steps, "you won't get away with it. There's a handful of people who know that if I die because of a silly gun that it's your fault."