zg_shadows | Break point

"There was never a choice," her voice said calmly. Then she picked up her spear, turned her back on him, and walked away with a measured step.

She couldn't breathe.

"No," Marcus said with contempt. "You fucking a Spiral was a fuckup. The man you love knowing you loved him - that was closure. And you know damn well he deserved that."

"I know very well what he deserved," she told him grimly.

"Shame it took a shadowlord to give it to him, don't you think?"

She pushed through the undergrowth, irrationally furious as it snagged at her clothes and dragged scratches in her skin. She couldn't hear anyone following her. She wouldn't, if it was Marcus. Her heartbeat was pounding in her throat. She couldn't get air past it.

"You need to learn the same lesson that most of the sept do. That ultimately lies are where your downfall comes."

"It's not my downfall I'm worried about, you moron." She almost screamed it at him, knowing it was already too late.

Tree branches snapped back into place behind her. She tripped on the uneven footing. Landed heavily on her hands and knees. Gasped for air.

"You turned from him. You drove him to the bottle, through your actions. Because you convinced him you didn't give a damn about him. All your fucking around, whether it be with his 'best interest in mind' or just plain getting your rocks off.

"You turned a good, strong garou, into a shell of a man. A drunken incompetent. So whilst you're up on your moral high ground, claiming we Shadow Lords think we always know best... why don't you look down on that battlefield for a while."

Her hands were clenched in the leaf litter. Her throat was closed. She tried to sob. All that came out was a strangled cough. She tried to whisper that he wasn't right, but he wasn't wrong enough. Everything she had fought for was in ruins and Robin, oh Robin, and she couldn't breathe...