James Axler – Stoneface

Instead of trying to avoid the leap, Ryan bounded forward, rock-weighted right hand swinging forward in a short, adrenaline-charged arc. The arc ended as the rock caught Dog in the center of his scarred, sallow face.

He howled as the force of the blow drove him flailing ten feet across the ground. The force also crushed his nose, driving the bone splinters through his sinus cavities, then into what was left of his brain.

Dog jerked, twitched and rolled in the dust. He came up to his knees, blood flowing from his nose. He opened his mouth as if to voice another howl, and a crimson torrent spilled past his lips, splashing on the ground. His eyes lifted to stare skyward, then he fell face first to the ground.

Ryan stood and watched as Dog’s death spasms slowly ceased. He was gasping in lungfuls of air and probing gingerly at the raw abrasions on his face. Every tendon, every muscle in his body was alive with pain. His head throbbed, in cadence with his pulse. The world tilted around him and he sank to his knees.

Then voices were roaring, shouting and cursing all around him, and rough hands hauled him to his feet. He blinked his eye against the glare of torches and flashlights. Around him he could see members of the Family, all white with fury and outrage.

“The son of a bitch murdered Dog. Hold him, gimme my knife!” shrilled a male voice that Ryan recognized as Phil’s.

Ryan struggled against the hands and arms pinioning him, but he was held fast. Fleur, silhouetted by the flickering torchlight, came striding toward him.

“It’s as I said,” she shouted. “He’s a pig, an insurgent, an East Coast spy!”

“You’re full of shit!” Ryan croaked. “Dog was a drugged animal, and you set me up to kill him, you lying”

The back of Fleur’s hand smacked across Ryan’s mouth, his teeth cutting into his lower lip. He reeled backward and spit crimson at her feet.

“Blood for Family blood!” Fleur shouted. “It’s the justice of Charlie!”

Then Hellstrom was there, borne in his chair by four sec men. His face was hidden by the shadows, but light was reflected from his eyes like a pair of tiny stars.

“What is going on here, Cawdor?” he demanded.

Fleur began shrieking before Ryan could collect his wits. She began a furious tirade about how Ryan was deceiving Hellstrom and everyone in the Family, how he had been plotting to betray them to the freezies in Mount Rushmore, about how he was on a secret mission from East Coast baronies, how he had tried to convince Dog to turn traitor, cold-bloodedly murdering the hapless sec man when he was in a sedated condition, simply because he refused to be party to the treachery.

Raging, Ryan roared, “She lies, Hellstrom! She’s jealous of me, she hates me because I saved her life and then spurned her”

A fist struck Ryan painfully and with terrific force in the belly, and he was robbed of all breath. He sagged in the grips of the men holding him. Hellstrom motioned for Ryan’s captors to release him. He found that his legs wouldn’t support him and he fell to his hands and knees, hanging his head and sucking in lungful after lungful of air.

Hellstrom patiently waited for Ryan to stand up again before he spoke. His angular face was expressionless, but he was in a bind, and Ryan saw the knowledge of it in his eyes. He didn’t believe Fleur’s accusations, and he still had a use for Ryan and his people. However, he had to assert his patriarchal status in the eyes of the Family.

“I want no more violence between you two. If you’re making me choose between the pair of you, it’ll have to be settled in combat.”

Fleur said angrily, “He’s an outsider, not Family. We kill outsiders who violate our laws. He hasn’t earned the right.”

“Shut up!” Hellstrom roared. The unexpected fracture in his icy, controlled reserve startled everyone into shamed silence. “I’m ceding him the right! I’ll put off the war council until this matter is settled.”

Fleur ducked her head and murmured, “I beg forgiveness.”