He slowly turned his head toward Flash.
"You…" His voice was no longer a whisper but a rasp, as if the words were torn from his throat along with the smoke.
"You knew… what this would do to me…"
"Of course I knew, you bastard," Flash bared his teeth in a wolfish grin.
Flash's eyes were wide open, filled with savage joy and a strange, almost triumphant calm.
Gideon dropped to one knee beside Morwen, the pistol still aimed at his head.
His finger trembled on the trigger.
"Who sent you?" he asked quietly, almost in a whisper. His voice cracked on every syllable.
Bruno, who was still holding Ethan, shook his head. Ethan sat slumped against the wall, his palm pressed tightly to his neck.
Blood was still seeping between his fingers, but slower now. He lifted his gaze to Gideon, his eyes clouded with pain and blood loss.
"We know who," Ethan rasped.
Every word cost him enormous effort.
"Let him… suffer… no need to interrogate him…"
Morwen made a sound that was half laugh, half groan. Smoke burst from his mouth with each breath.
"You… think… this is the end?"
He tried to push himself up on one elbow, but his arm gave way.
"This… is only… a temporary body."
"I… will return. I always… come back…"
Flash, still lying on his side, slowly raised his hand and showed Morwen his middle finger. The gesture was crude but perfectly clear.
The corners of Morwen's cracked lips twitched into something resembling a smile.
"Brave… little pup…" he whispered.
"I… will remember… your face… your scent… your eyes…"
The smoke grew even thicker.
It now rose in a column, obscuring the outline of his body. The skin on Morwen's hands began to peel off in thin flakes, like burnt paper.
Gideon remained on one knee, the pistol shaking in his hand. His finger tightened on the trigger but didn't pull it.
Bruno didn't wait.
He gently lowered Ethan to the floor, propping him against a crate, and stepped forward.
The shotgun still hung on its sling, but Bruno didn't reach for it. Instead, he drew a long combat knife from his belt,the handle darkened with age, the blade once engraved but now simply gleaming with rust.
"Stay down, you freak," Bruno said quietly, almost peacefully.
Morwen, already half-dissolved in smoke, only managed to turn his head.
The movement was slow, the wisteria had done its work.
Bruno drove the knife downward, aiming at the base of the neck. The blade sank several centimeters in. Black blood sprayed out and hissed as it hit the concrete.
"Raaargh!"
Morwen let out a low, animalistic roar and surged upward. In one motion he grabbed Bruno by the wrist, twisted it with a sickening crack, and struck him in the chest with an open palm with the force of a battering ram.
Bruno flew backward like a rag doll.
His back slammed into a metal beam with a dull, nauseating thud. He slid down to the floor, leaving a bloody smear on the rusted metal.
The knife fell from his loosened fingers. His breathing became hoarse and ragged.
But even as he fell, Bruno managed to shout:
"Ethan… run…!"
Ethan, still pressing his palm to his neck, crawled toward him. His eyes were wild with pain and rage.
"Bruno… no…"
Morwen slowly rose.
The smoke around him swirled thicker, but the poisonous blue tint was gone, it was turning black. The wound on his neck was already closing. He looked at Bruno lying by the beam and said softly:
"Loyal dog… now I'll have to kill you. But first I'll finish with the target."
He took a step toward Ethan.
And at that moment, Flash appeared.
No one saw him get up.
No one even heard his footsteps. He simply materialized behind Morwen,a shadow among shadows, gripping an old long-barreled revolver in his right hand.
There was only one bullet in the cylinder. Silver. Hand-cast, with a tiny cross carved into the tip.
Flash raised his arm. The wisteria had already nearly paralyzed the vampire's muscles.
His finger settled on the trigger.
Morwen sensed him.
He began to turn, but it was too late.
Bang!
The gunshot roared through the confined space of the hangar. The bullet struck exactly between the shoulder blades, punched straight through the heart, and exited the front, leaving a ragged black hole in Morwen's chest.
Morwen froze.
His eyes widened, not from pain, but from sudden, absolute realization.
"No…" he breathed.
His body began to collapse.
Smoke shot upward in a column, then spiraled around Morwen, rising toward the ceiling.
Inside the smoke, something full of hatred and surprise flickered for a moment. Then everything contracted into a single point, like darkness sucked into a funnel.
And vanished.
Morwen's body crashed onto the concrete — clearly an empty shell. The skin was gray and cracked, eyes open. From the wound in his chest, a black ichor slowly leaked, hissing and evaporating.
Flash lowered the revolver. His hand was shaking so badly the weapon nearly slipped from his fingers.
He dropped to his knees beside Bruno.
Bruno lay on his side, pressing a hand to his chest. Blood trickled from his mouth. He looked at Flash with clouded eyes.
"We got… him…" he rasped.
"Good job… Flash…"
"Give me… a minute to catch my breath… and we'll get the hell out of here," Bruno closed his eyes to rest.
"Hey! Bruno, don't you dare die on us!" Flash suddenly panicked, staring at him.
"Idiot, I'm not dying. I just need to rest…"
"But I'd start worrying about Ethan right now," Bruno's head turned toward Ethan.
Ethan barely looked alive. He hardly had the strength to stand.
"Hey! Ethan, wanna see some magic?" Flash shouted.