Thomas was clearly surprised, but he rapidly shrugged it off. “The giant demons are no threat now that the gates have all closed. We can deal with it.”
“The gates haven’t all closed. A new one has opened. Mass and his team told us about a gate a hundred feet high.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow, his pupils seeming to flicker. “How exactly did Mass and his team tell you anything if you ended up shooting them?”
Shit, that was stupid. That was so stupid.
“Because it took a while for Mass to die,” said Tony, trying to sound confident, “and I made the best use of that time. It wasn’t pretty, but men prefer an easy death over a painful one. I wanted to make sure he didn’t have other men in the area. He was built like an ox, so there were plenty of body parts to work with. By the time he died, Mass was begging for his mother.”
“You piece of shit! You fucking piece of shit.”
Tony turned to see a young woman sprinting towards him. She was bright red in the cheeks and spitting fury. “D-Diane? What are you…?”
“You monster! You fucking killed Mass? How could you?”
Tony moved backwards, genuinely afraid of the rage heading right for him.
“Keep your voice down, young lady,” said Thomas, peering around at the many eavesdropping men who were now watching with interest. While it was mostly Thomas’s loyalists, there were plenty who worshipped Mass and the Urban Vampires. Hearing about his death would not be good for morale. “What are you doing here, Diane? You’re supposed to be at Portsmouth, uprooting traitors.”
Diane sneered. “Traitors? You want to talk about traitors? Why don’t we talk about how you murdered Wickstaff in cold blood?”
Thomas hissed. “Colonel Livingstone, please do something about this distraction.”
“With pleasure, sir.” Colonel Livingstone attempted to grab Diane, but Diane whipped out a handgun and shot him in the chest. There was total shock in his eyes. Before anyone could react, Diane spun around and placed her handgun against the side of Thomas’s head. It was enough to keep anyone from taking a shot at her. “I’m the one who’s been working behind your back, you arrogant prick,” she told Thomas. “You think people will just let you get away with whatever you want? You think this is all about you? Portsmouth survived without you, and it will continue to survive when you’re dead. You’re nothing. There’s nothing special about you apart from the fact you murdered a woman who actually mattered.”
Thomas’s throat bulged and he didn’t dare blink, but despite his obvious fear, his words were defiant. “Somebody please deal with this lunatic. She’s lost her mind.”
Diane ground the handgun painfully against Thomas’s temple. “I’m thinking completely clearly. You might have taken everything from me, but at least I’ll get to watch you die. That’s good enough for me.”
“Diane, you are making a mistake.”
“You should’ve seen this coming.”
“I did see it coming, you foolish girl. Honourable young Tom might not have given you up, but every single one of his friends did. I’ve known all along who the ringleader working against me was. You’re an impressive young lady.”
Diane’s cold eyes widened. “If you knew, then why didn’t you—”
“I wanted to see who you spoke with. Colonel Wanstead is likely already dealing with anyone you’ve been confusing with your mad lies. Pity you left them to die just to pursue some childish revenge.”
“You don’t know anything, you piece of shit. If you did, you wouldn’t have a gun to your head.”
“I meant it when I said I was impressed. If I had had men half as sneaky as you in Iraq, we would have caught Saddam in a day. You can kill me, but it will change nothing. My people are in place. Wickstaff will still be dead.”
Diane readjusted her grip on her handgun. “I’m just an invisible little waif of a girl, right? Killing you would be more than enough to give me satisfaction.”
“So do it.”
Tony couldn’t stand this any longer. He peered down at Colonel Livingstone, lying on the ground with his chest blown open, and knew there was no way out of this for Diane. She was a warrior until the end, but something had happened during his absence and she couldn’t come back from it. “Diane, stop this. There’s an army of demons coming and we need to get these people back to Portsmouth.”
Diane spat at him. “You pig. I thought I could trust you. I thought you were a good man. All the times we spoke…”
She was going to blow his cover and take him down with her. Tony could feel the words queued up and ready to spill forth from her mouth. Diane thought he had killed her friend and sided with Thomas, even though the complete opposite was true. There was no way to tell her that though. Not without dooming himself to die alongside her.
Diane’s hand began to shake, the gun at Thomas’s temple trembling. “You were supposed to help Mass, not kill him. Why, Tony? After you helped Mad—”
“Diane, stop! Stand down now and I’m sure General Thomas will go easy on you.” Tony took a step forward with his hands up. His rifle was hanging by his hip. His sidearm was holstered at his belt.
General Thomas gave no indication either way.
“He won’t be doing anything for anyone once he’s dead. I just wanted him to know it was me who pulled the trigger.”
Tony took another step. “You shoot Thomas and I shoot you. There’s no way out for you unless you give up.”
“I already gave up. This is me giving up.”
She was about to pull the trigger. Tony could sense her finger tightening. “Diane. Diane, don’t do this. Mass isn’t dead, okay? I didn’t kill him.”
She turned to him in utter confusion. Her mouth fell open but no words
