Page 84 of Gunslinger Girl

Too many heartbeats passed. She began to shake.

An instant before she gave in, a heartbeat before her arm would have dropped and they would have known her for a weakling and a coward, the man’s eyes went wide with surprise. He jerked forward, a thin, scarlet stream spurting from his lips. Startled, she pulled the trigger. A black hole opened on his forehead as a spray of red and gray issued out behind him—a brief, gory halo.

He was dead before he hit the floor.

Across the arena, Eva straightened from her throw, smoothing the front of her dress calmly. Pity nearly dropped her gun when she spotted the hilt of the knife embedded in the mercenary’s spine, but a wave of cheers hit her like a slap to the face.

You’re still onstage.

She holstered her weapon as the Zidanes came over. Eva gave her a knowing look and took one of her hands. Marius took the other.

Chained together like that, they bowed.

CHAPTER 27

Stiff-backed and cold as ice, Pity exited the tunnel, pushing past everyone until she found herself in a shadowed corner. On the floor, a mass of ropes lay piled like intestines. She collapsed onto it and pressed her forehead to her knees, hands clenching and unclenching. She could still feel the jolt of the gun firing. Part of her wished that she could rewind time and empty every last chamber into the mercenary. The rest of her wanted to throw her guns to the ground and never touch them again.

A shadow fluttered at the corner of her vision.

“Pity?” Halcyon stood over her, hat in hand, mouth twitching with a hesitant smile.

Her eyes ached but remained dry. “I’ll do better next time, boss.” Whether it was a promise she could keep was beyond her at that moment.

Halcyon crouched down next to her, bringing with him the scent of roses. “It’s done,” he said, his voice unusually soft. “Done and over. Over and done. You did very well.”

Something in her snapped. “No, I didn’t!” She began to shake again, harder than before. “I couldn’t… I tried, but—”

“Pity, stop,” Halcyon said. “The beast is fed. The city has been given its bloody meal and will remain sated for the time being.”

The tremors paused. “What?”

He sighed. “A wild animal kept in a cage is still a wild animal, even when it licks its owner’s hand and rolls over to show you its belly,” he said. “As long as Cessation is Cessation, and the Theatre makes it our home, we must pay the city our pound of flesh. We are lucky to get by as cheaply as we do. When one of us does what you did tonight, Pity, they do it for all of us.”

“I… I don’t know if I can do that again.”

“And I wouldn’t ask you to, but the beast will have thorns on its rose.” He stood. “The others will be on their way to the Gallery by now. May I escort you there?”

“No, please.” The thought of the laughter, the decadent joy, turned her stomach. “I can’t. Not tonight.”

“Of course not!” Halcyon’s usual manner returned. “You are, understandably, overcome by finally exacting revenge upon that mercenary scum. I shall carry your condolences with me in place of your person.”

“Thanks, boss.”

As he departed, Eva appeared, as soft and quiet as a breath. She said nothing, only gathered Pity to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, an infusion of strength that was enough to make Pity’s stiff limbs work again.

But they had only gone a short way before Adora intercepted them, arms crossed forebodingly.

“She wants to see you.”

“I told you to kill him.”

No conversation. No accusation. Only a statement. Pity perched on the edge of a couch, confined in the plush pit while Selene assessed her from above. It was not unlike being back in the arena, a notion that made her grip the cushions tighter. The show still clung to her, an intangible, greasy film of revulsion and self-reproach. She ached to physically wash it away, but the sanctuary of her room felt a million miles away.

Selene, emanating chill irritation, paced to a bar inset in the wall and began to fix herself a drink. “Not Eva. Not Marius. You.”

It happened so fast. “The audience didn’t know; no one could tell—”

“I knew,” Selene cut in. “I could tell.”