Blade and Bullet

Dante

The pain in my hand throbs.

Cassian sits beside me as the family doctor stitches the deeper cut. The needle digs into torn flesh, thread tightening with each pull. I keep my face still, my jaw locked, my breathing controlled.

Pain is nothing new.

But tonight, it carries a different weight, anger, betrayal, and the bitter taste of old memories stirred up by a ghost with a knife.

The doctor fi