DAVE
I was far beyond the point of reasoning. Pain was an afterthought, even as blood trickled down my arm from the bullet wound. It throbbed with each heartbeat, but I didn’t care.
Some of Cedric’s men would die today, and the rest would live the rest of their lives crippled. That was the mercy I was willing to grant them.
I had given them a choice—a chance to walk away. I made it clear they could turn a blind eye and save themselves. They could have let me through to deal with Cedric, and I wouldn’t have held it against them. But they stood their ground, loyal to a man who wouldn’t spare a second thought if the roles were reversed. Cedric didn’t deserve their loyalty, yet they gave it to him blindly.
Even then, I tried to reason with them, up until the moment one of them squeezed th
