"Tessa, please say something."
Her eyes were still wide open, completely blank and her neck dangled strangely. Her face had completely paled and she was awfully still that Dante felt as though he was witnessing death for the first time again. He was too frightened to even touch her, feeling as though the only sanity he had left.
"You're not dead, you're not dead."
For years, he had barely even focused on her. When she decided to completely erase herself from the family, change her name and alienate herself from Draco, she had at least kept in touch with Dante—although he had begged. Draco had sent Dante to murder her, but instead, he found her and embraced her into his arms. They had gone through rough patches and it hadn't been perfect, but he could still recall countless times he sobbed into her arms and she never brought it up.
"Tessa, you're my little sister," his eyes swelled as he choked, "you can't be dead.
"Tessa...is...dead?" Dante didn't even turn around as he heard Reno's quivering voice nearby. As if this had caused Reno's mental sanity to break, he burst into blood curdling screams, falling backwards and crawling as far as he could, only to be stopped by a nearby tree trunk. His back slammed, but his shouts didn't stop, gripping his scalp as he thought of both the dead bodies of Lori and Tessa. They had never expected to lose anyone, especially not this quickly. Nothing had been going according to plan and there was only the two of them that had to face this monster.
The loud booming cackles of their father surfaced, blurring away their cries and screams. Even though his presence was heavy and engulfed them, Dante couldn't peel his eyes away from the corpse of his sister. As for Reno, every time he blanked, the horrifying images were bold and vivid that he felt as though he would faint. It was no surprise that a few seconds later, he leaned to the side and vomited.
"On your feet, boys." His father rolled up his sleeves with a murderous grin curling his lips. "I've trained you for years, you've endured the most atrocious pains. This is no way of leaving this world," he antagonized, bending his knees slightly and lifting his fists. "I am honoured to have this fight to the death."
Was this really happening? Had they always been doomed from the start? What were they thinking? What had motivated them to think that they stood any chance against his beast? He wasn't even human; how had he not only survived the rocket but sent it flying back? Dante felt as if his whole world was collapsing, as if an earthquake was being flipped upside down right in front of his sight and there was nothing he could do.
There was no sign of Lucius, Jules, Jake, and most importantly, the love of his life that he had promised a future, Nate. This meant...he swallowed hard, lowering his head and resting his elbows on his knees. His fate was sealed; the chances of him leaving this battle alive were slim to none. They had never talked about this happening, but one thing was certain; he was definitely going to die by a brawl.
Finally, after numerous long exhales, he slowly pushed himself to his feet and faced his father. For a moment, his legs quivered and he could barely stand, but he had to, because he needed to avenge his family. He stepped past Tyler's body and lifted his fist towards his father. The entire world around them seemed to have blurred completely as he stared within the golden gaze of the one who had raised him.
It had been an adventure of trauma and hurt within his care, endless bashing and destroying, losing their sense of humanity and taught not to love since emotions was a path to their demise. He had forced them to kill when they were children, to kill other people their own age, to kidnap and torture, to prove that they could continue in his footsteps set in stone since before Draco's birth.
But enough was enough.
Dante's squeezed his fists terribly tight that his nails dug inside his palms. He was going to choose his own future and form his own path, and that path was filled with love and care and compassion and empathy. And he was going to be a better human than his father ever could or would ever be, and that was why he lifted his dagger as he tightened into his fighting stance.
YOU ARE READING
The Submissive Assassin (BxB)
Romance''After a few seconds of them staring at one another, Dante finally spoke. But his voice had changed; it was breathless and soft, echoing with a sweetness that Nate could have never imagined existed within him. With the knife left on his palm for Na...
