Kahn swallowed. His eyes were glossy and medicated. "Look, I know how hurt I am. You don't have to hide that truth from me," he said. "So let's just call it what it is. You need to leave me behind. Go to that wall, brother. Get her to safety. It's the only way you'll survive. Leave me here for Father."
Lucian nodded and gripped his hand harder. "I'll come back for you," he said.
Kahn ignored that last part. Instead, he turned his head to face me. "Your father is near the bottom of the landscape, right where the green turns to mud."
"The wetlands?" Lucian asked.
Kahn softly nodded his head and closed his eyes. "Just a few miles from the wall. He's safe for now, but that might not last forever. Father wants him gone for what happened. I think he's ready to give up anything for his chance at ending this."
"Then he will have to answer for his sins," Lucian said.
I grabbed Lucian's arm. "We're not leaving him," I said. "Lucian, we can't. It's wrong."
Kahn shook his head in defiance. "Don't argue with me. This one time, listen to what I say."
Letting go of Kahn's hand, Lucian turned and reached into the bag my father gave him. He pulled out a 9 mm and checked the magazine to make sure it was loaded. "When you're all healed up, you take this gun and find us at the wall. You hear me?"
"If we leave, there won't be any healing," I said. "We can't just pray this thing away, Lucian."
He placed the gun on the surgical table beside him. "And we can't leave your father behind either. We gave him a weapon. We'll leave the necessary medication, sedatives, and whatever food we have in your dad’s bag. It's all we can do."
"In life, we make difficult choices," Kahn said. "I'll be fine."
I looked at both of them with worry, but they weren't budging on this.
"Your father needs your help," Kahn said. "Find him and head to the wall."
I tossed the towel aside and closed my eyes. "Okay, you're right. I'll do what you ask."
"Good. And one more thing," Kahn said.
"Yes?" I asked.
"You make sure he treats you right. He can be a cranky son of a bitch sometimes."
I laughed as tears fell from my eyes. "I will."
Lucian stepped away from the bed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for everything, brother. You didn't deserve this life."
"Neither did you. It was what Father designed for us, eternal conflict between family members. All of that's over now," Kahn said. "Goodbye, brother. And, sister… farewell."
"This isn't the end, Kahn. We’ll find you again. I promise," I said.
He nodded, wistfully. "I believe it."
I took Lucian's hand and, together, we walked down the stairs and out of the building. We were silent, but I knew what he was thinking.
The fight wasn't over, yet. With his father still roaming those woods, the conflict could not end. Only, this time, he was the one being hunted, not us.
We would find my father, tell him about the discovery of the wall, and then we would gear up and fight this thing out.
"Do you have a plan?" I asked Lucian.
"I sure as shit do not," he said. "Don’t worry, critter. Soon, my dad will be dead and buried. We'll find your father and get the hell out of here for good."
"And then what?" I asked.
He spanked my ass and swung me in his arms. "Then, I'm going to devour that sweet pussy for a third time."