Chapter 37: His Heart
Eve and Malakai watched as two figures walked out from the shadow, the gun each of them held pointed at the both of them.
These two were the additional presence he’d felt. His brow shot up and he cackled.
"What’s funny, Malakai?" Patro questioned, eyes narrowed dangerously.
Malakai grabbed him by the chin with the hand he had wrapped around his throat and tipped his head back to have him look at him.
Patro swallowed.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
The man’s eyes stretched along with a malicious smile and the tip of his claws dug into the skin of his jaw, drawing blood. "I thought you were clever, Patro. But you can be rather stupid sometimes. Overestimating yourself like an idiot."
"Meaning what?"
Malakai forcefully lowered his head and made him look at his two men. Behind each of the men were Caius and Yuri, their own pistols aimed.
He said, "These two will have two of your men dead in less than two seconds. What will you do? Do you think you can kill me before I kill you?" he asked. "Eve will kill your woman before she attempts to pull that trigger. And you? Who will you choose to kill first? Me or Eve? Do you think I’ll let you kill Eve before lodging a bullet into your head or slitting your throat?"
"Tell me, Patro," he whispered to him. "The choice is all yours. Let my wife go and we’ll settle this deal like it should have been done in the first place. If you decide otherwise, we’ll have to see who walks out here alive and who doesn’t. Would you like to gamble?"
Patro’s lashes flickered and he slowly breathed out, a frustrated smile emerging on his lips.