Eight

VESPER GREY LYSAN POV 

Tonight was the night.

I glanced down at the parcel on my bed, then with trembling hands, I gripped the edge of the wrap and peeled it open. It was a gun. Zevran had sneaked me a gun.

At this moment I was sure he was working on destroying the security system.

He'd given me a watch and told me when to move.

I picked up the gun, the weight of it assuring me of how much damage it could do.

Zevran had said I'll have to take care of the guards at my door myself. He'd also given me directions on where to wait for him so that we could escape together.

I glanced down at all the marks on my body, the ones he'd inflicted over the course of five days while laughing at my screams of pain and terror. He'd left my face because he thought it was too pretty to mar, but every other part of me had been fair game and Ilvane had watched it all happen. 

"It all ends tonight Ilvane. I'm going to make sure you never hurt anyone ever again." I said picking up the gun.

The timer rang out. I got up from the bed, walked toward the door, and yanked it open.

The guard turned, his brows furrowed as he stared at me.

"There's a rat in my room," I said.

"Ignore it. It'll go away" he replied, his gruff voice making my grip on the gun behind my back tighten.

"I'm going to die tomorrow. Is it so bad for me to want to get a good night's sleep while a rat makes a ruckus in the bathroom? Please, you need to help me get rid of it."

The man let out a frustrated sigh. "There better be a fucking huge rat, or you're going to get it," he growled, hitting me with his shoulder as he stepped past me into the room.

If I'd been here for a week, this might not have worked, but I'd been here for three months, so they basically saw me as a non-threat, and that was why he was so confident to have his back to me.

I raised the gun, aiming at the back of his head, my hand trembling slightly. 

"Where the fuck did you say the rat was," he asked, his head starting to turn in my direction.

I pulled the trigger, the silencer on the gun covering up the sound as the bullet swished out and entered his neck.

He toppled onto the bed, his blood soaking the sheets as his body twitched. 

I watched him until he stopped moving, the sound of my ragged breath filling up the room.

I expected to feel some type of way, but all I felt was nothing. There was nothing at all.

I grabbed the map, stepped out of the room, and then started walking; the room that I needed to get to was the only thing on my mind. It wasn't where Zevran told me to go. No, it was at the other end.

*******

Ilvane's room was located at the edge of the building, and just like I expected, he didn't have any guards on standby at all.

The cocky bastard. He probably thought he couldn't be killed. And on a normal day, he would have been right. 

If the security system hadn't been down, everyone would have been alerted the second I stepped out of my room, but Zevran must have done a pretty good job hacking into the system because nothing was going off at all, and the doors opened even without a key card. Everything was so easy, it was both exhilarating and frightening.

Taking in a deep breath, I pushed the door to his room open and stepped in, my hold on the gun steady.

It was a bit dark in the room, but I could make out his form on the four-poster bed. 

The sound of someone showering reached me. Probably a woman.

I really wasn't planning to kill more than three people tonight, but if she got in my way, she was going to make them four.

Walking carefully, I moved toward the bed, my steps light, but draggy as the cuts on my soles started to hurt.

I got around the bed. It was really him on it.

I raised the gun, taking aim at the center of his chest, my fingers tightening on the trigger when the light came on.

Ilvane's eyes opened, our gaze clashing. I pulled the trigger at the same time he moved. The bullet lodged into his shoulder, a guttural cry of pain escaping his lips as he lunged for me, his fist connecting even though I tried my damned best to get out of the way.

I crashed to the floor, the gun almost slipping from my grasp.

"You bitch" he growled, as he grabbed the back of my dress and flipped me from the floor like I weighed nothing.

I raised the gun, and he smacked it away from his face just as I pulled the trigger. The bullet swished past his ear.

He held me down, his hand wrapping around my throat as his other hand tried to take the gun from me.

"You're going to fucking die here" he spat in my face as he cut off my air.

I struggled, and when darkness started to creep up my vision, I brought my knees up between his groin, hitting with all my might and just that tiny break was all I needed. I brought the gun up, my hands pressing hard on the trigger.

Warm blood sprayed over me, the look of horror on Ilvane's face as he stared down at me, haunting.

I shoved him off, then got up, panting as my heart pounded a frantic rhythm.

I watched as he struggled, blood spurting out of his mouth, and then I pointed the gun at his face. 

"I told you I was going to kill you. Look at that, I made good on my promise."

He tried to say something, but all that came out was gurgling sounds as blood filled up his lungs.

"Goodnight, Ilvane; I hope you burn in hell," I said and pulled the trigger.

When I looked up, Zevran was standing there staring at me, horror written all over his face as he glanced down at the split face of his father; then, all of a sudden, the sound of a blaring alarm went off.

My eyes whirled from Zevran to the naked woman in the room who had hit the manual alarm.

My hands shook as I raised the gun in her direction.

Her eyes widened, terror painting them white as she stared at me, fear freezing her at the spot.

I wanted to kill. Wanted to destroy her for hitting the alarm when all I did was kill her oppressor.

"We need to go!" Zevran yelled, grabbing my hand and dragging me along fiercely.

He kicked a trap door in the room open and pushed me inside, then came in after me, and then we went sliding down, twisting, and turning until another trap door was in front of my feet.

"Kick it open!" Zevran shouted, and I did, the adrenaline coursing through my veins numbing the pain from the cuts on my feet.

The trap door flew open and I stepped out of it, the cool night air hitting me in the face.

There was a car parked near a tree.

I stood, staring at it, the gun in my hand heavy.

Zevran rushed past me, yanked open the door, and got in. After a few seconds of messing with the wires, the car roared to life. 

His gaze met mine. "Let's go. Get in"

My mind went numb, the sound of my pounding heart thumping in my ear.

I walked around the car, closed my eyes as I yanked the door open, took aim then pulled the trigger.

Zevran's sharp gasp had my eyes flying open, my gaze moving from the shocked look on his face to the blood that had soaked up a portion of his shirt and was dripping into the car.

He gaped at me, his hand moving to his stomach to clutch at where my gun had hit, his mouth opening with no words coming out as pain filled his eyes and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Taking a sharp breath before the guilt kicked in, I shoved him out of the car, locked the door, got behind the wheel, and drove out of the woods, the tires screeching against the dry, rocky ground.

I broke down as I drove, my whole body shaking and sobs wracking my lungs as Zevran's body disappeared from my sight.

My grip tightened on the wheels.

"You did the right thing, Vesper. Letting someone like Zevran live is only going to hurt more people in the end."

He was only going to kill and destroy people's lives, so this was how it had to end.

It's all over now. It's all over.