Page 196 of Lethal King

Turning back around, I put both hands on my trembling gun.

“Show yourself!” I command.

“I come in peace…”

The familiar voice might as well be a bullet. It rips through my aching chest, leaving a hole where a smidgeon of hope briefly existed.

“… Drago?”

Squinting my eyes, I peer through the darkness.

That’s when I spot him.

The dark figure is like a flash from the past. Only now, what was once a broad and intimidating frame has shriveled down into nearly nothing.

“Easy there, Roz,” Drago quietly insists. His gravelly voice cuts through the quiet knight like a jagged knife as he raises his hands into the air.

“You brought me here?” I ask, just confused enough to momentarily let my guard down.

“What? No. I thought you were the one who texted me?”

My fingers clamp down around my gun handle. Fucking hell. Not this again.

“I didn’t do shit,” I mumble.

Even with my barrel pointed directly at his head, Drago continues his steady approach.

To my disgust, I react by backing away. Before I can stop myself, the same soft mound I tripped on early catches me in the back of the heel.

I stumble, but I don’t fall.

“Are you alright?” Drago asks, his old voice filled with fake concern.

“I’m fine,” I curse, looking down.

I don’t find any relief on the ground. Instead, I see what keeps tripping me.

A skeletal hand reaches out of the mound I nearly tripped on. It’s a grave. The bones are too small to belong to an adult.

“Fucking hell,” I grimace, flinching away from the horrifying sight. Traumatic memories threaten to pound me down into the earth. I try to ignore them.

It’s impossible.

My gun drops to my side. My eyes close. I see the fire that engulfed this village. I see the frightened silhouettes of the women and children as they run from the flames. I see them fall as they’re shot in the back.

No one was allowed to escape.

No one but me.

Guilt weighs me down. I fall to my knees, new tears filling up my eyes.

Then, I feel a pressure on my shoulder. It’s not warm, but it’s not cold either.

A hand wipes the tears from my cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Rozalia. I truly am. You never deserved any of this.”

I don’t resist as Drago helps me back to my feet. I can’t.