"Edward."

 

"Gray," he gasped, pushing the bloody core against his chest. "Please, just listen to me. I can explain."

 

"Even if I missed it, the way you proposed dividing our party should have been the last drop."

 

Separation shouldn't have been considered in such a hazardous zone.

 

"Listen to me," Edward shouted, his flaming eyes piercing mine. "Those hunters! They said they got their hands on what they wanted, right? The reason why I suggested that was because I thought there was still something else left for us to take!"

 

"Really?"

 

"Obviously!" He nodded. "You must believe me, Gray."

 

A pathological liar.

 

"You were also the one that shot the first arrow," I said.

 

He always knew monsters were in our vicinity.

 

"Are you even listening to how ridiculous you sound?" He wore an expression as if I had seriously insulted him. "I know you're hurt, and very scared, but you must stay calm. I'm using a crossbow, remember? Who else, given our circumstances, should have reacted first?!"

 

He deceived us like this all along.

 

"Get a grip on yourself, Gray"—he reached a hand behind his back—"Now let's get out of here and..."

 

Taking a step forward, he tried to slash my throat with the shaft of an arrow. I smacked his wrist away. And with the other arm, I delivered a short jab, cracking his nose before he landed with his traitorous ass first on the rumble. His deranged mug and my knuckles were both splashed with blood. Edward brushed the scarlet liquid, stunned by what had occurred.

 

"Did you really just break my..."

 

Leaning in, I grabbed his collar and drew him in for another whack on his cheek. The cretin laid now on his back, and I fumed above. "Talk," I ordered, "about the sleeping aids."

 

That's why Logan and Lucas were taken without any resistance.

 

"Sleeping aids?!" Edward repeated, unable to mask the distress in his tone. "You're insane, Gray! Why would I do something like that to my own friends?!"

 

You never thought of us as friends.

 

"What about Oliver?"

 

His unexpected absence was most likely caused by Edward as well. Natasha, too...

 

"You have no right..." he growled, understanding I pieced together the whole truth. "You have no fucking right to blame me, Gray. Not when you guilt-tripped everyone into risking their lives to accompany you here. And all for what, money for your tuition?"

 

I held my breath in the same manner he did.

 

"When Logan called, he must've asked you about Artemis. It was all over the news, wasn't it? And it doesn't even take a genius to put figure it out," Edward rambled, the affectionate impression he had as he tried to win me over long gone. "You must've kept your silence like a stinking dog caught doing something wrong—the way you're doing now—and that moron offered to bring you to the 4th District."

 

A squint like no other emerged on my face.

 

"Since he just wanted to help you, and by justifying that way, Logan fooled himself into thinking he was doing something nice for you," he said, "when in reality, he was only trying to deal with his low self-esteem. Hey, are you keeping up with me, Gray?"

 

"That's nonsense..."

 

"You manipulated everyone around you, Gray," he added. "And what's worse is the fact that you're not even aware of it!"

 

He's right.

 

"So, what gives you the right to friggin' judge me, eh? When you're the actual monster around here?!" Edward exclaimed, a look of disdain on his face. "You dragged us all here! Logan is bleeding on the pavement or somewhere beneath this wreck, and Mara is already dead, all because of you—because you wanted some quick buck to buy the time you needed to focus on your fictitious studies while attending some academy you're not qualified even getting into!"

 

You're trying to distract me, I thought to myself as I observed him searching for a rock with his lanky fingers to pound my head with. Through all that fervent blabber of his, this filthy rodent didn't notice the solace I found in the cold handle of my artifact.

 

"Why did you do it?"

 

"To leave this shithole city behind!" he answered, his twisted emotions finally flowering on his face as he prepared to strike me. "I deserve a whole lot more than—gah!"

 

I clutched his neck with my fingers and forced his head down. That familiar tuck echoed, his ambush reaching a standstill as I inserted the tip of the dagger into his mouth.

 

He grasped my wrist but couldn't bring himself to quiver his head. I peered down at him, drowning in his screams as he made one last desperate attempt at survival. This demented dog is to blame for everything.

 

"D-don't—"

 

The hollow runes reflected in his astonished eyes.

 

"I've played along with you for far too long," I spat out acid.

 

Increasing the power in my arm, I slid the blade from the corner of his lip and lacerated the flesh all the way to his cheek. With loud shrieks and vigorous seizures, Edward's face flushed red with an asymmetrical smile like no other. I held him still, gently tapping the other side I had yet to carve.

 

"G-Gray..." he muffled, hanging on to dear life, "...stop..."

 

"Of course"—I retracted my arm—"we're comrades, aren't we? You've been through enough."

 

His eyes nearly burst out of their pockets, brimming with unmistakable relief. The agony was over. "T-thank you—"

 

This son of a bitch actually believed me.

 

I shoved the relic into the thin skin at the base of his neck. Baffled, he lowered his vision to the bulging handle, incapable of discerning what I did as the pain had yet to set in.

 

Then Hell broke loose.

 

Edward choked on the blood that was gradually clogging his throat as he tried to breathe. Trying to stop the warm liquid from leaking out of the fresh fissure with both of his hands was futile: I'll make sure he stays dead. I raised my weapon and plunged it into his chest. The artifact depleted its mana, eroding and twisting with each stab.

 

His sobbing, tremors, and muffles subsided, but the mundane thuds persisted, regardless of the bones and muscles in the way, sending compelling shudders through my body. I never considered halting until the scorching poison coursing through me had dried, leaving just a void in my stomach.

 

Edward retained that fearful expression carved on his disproportionate grin even after he departed. Good. Traitors deserve worse.

 

Inhumane growls erupted from my obscurity as I straightened myself, faraway gleaming eyes peering at me through the thick veil of dust lingering in the Central Plaza. The horde will clean up the shambles I left behind. And I could already imagine them salivating over this shithead's cadaver. Their rough numbers were hard to determine, but that was alright. Logan, Lucas, Melody, and I: We'll make it out alive.

 

I had a promise to keep.

 

And I wasn't going to be the one to break it.