Shadow Contract-Chapter 24: The Honest Conversation

The door clicked shut.

Dante stood in the entryway. He was wet from the rain. His coat dripped onto the floor. He did not wipe his feet. He did not take off his shoes.

Sophie sat at the kitchen table. The knife was still there. She had not moved it. She looked at him. Her eyes were gray. Steady.

"Sit," she said.

Dante walked to the table. He pulled out the chair opposite her. He sat. He did not speak. He waited.

Sophie folded her hands on the table. Her fingers were interlaced. Tight.

"You told me no more secrets," she said.

"Yes."

"Then give them to me. All of them."

She leaned forward. The light from the lamp above caught the sharp line of her jaw.

"Start from the beginning. Do not soften anything. Do not protect me."

Dante nodded. Once.

(Kairo): "This is dangerous. Truth is a weapon."

(Mūn): "She asked for it. Give it to her."

(Dante): "I will."

Dante took a breath. He looked at his hands. They were gloved. Black. Stained with oil.

"I have completed forty-seven contracts," Dante said. His voice was flat. Precise. Like he was reading a report. "Forty-three were confirmed kills. Four were acquisitions. Data. Objects. People."

Sophie did not flinch. She listened.

"Three operations were failed. One because of equipment. One because of the target. One because of you." He looked up. He met her eyes. "The first time I saw your face on a target sheet. I stopped the bullet."

Sophie’s breathing did not change.

"I forged your death," Dante continued. "Moro created the files. I delivered them to the client."

"Why."

"To buy time. To find the source."

"What source."

"Me."

Dante leaned back. The chair creaked.

"The demons. Kairo and Mūn. They are not powers. They are parasites." He tapped his chest. Under the fabric. Where the tattoos lay. "They were placed inside me when I was a child. By Ogata Setsuro."

Sophie’s eyes widened. Just slightly. "Ogata," she repeated.

"Yes. He tested subjects. I was the only survivor."

"What do they take."

"Kairo takes memory. Mūn takes sensation."

Dante held up his left hand. He flexed the fingers. "Every time I use Kairo to predict a move. To see the pattern. I lose a memory." He paused. "Usually... it is a memory of you."

Sophie went still. Her hands stopped moving.

"The day we met. The first time you smiled. The sound of your voice." Dante’s voice did not break. It remained steady. Cold. "They are gone. Or they are fading. I do not know which ones will disappear next."

Sophie swallowed. She looked down at the table. "And Mūn."

"Mūn removes pain. I do not feel injuries. I do not feel heat. I do not feel cold." He looked at her. "I do not feel anything unless I choose to."

The room was silent. The rain tapped against the window. Sophie looked up. Her eyes were dry.

"Edward said you were lying," she said.

"I was withholding. There is a difference."

"Yes."

She leaned back. She exhaled. A long, slow breath.

"You told me all of this," Sophie said. "Knowing I might leave."

"Yes."

"Knowing I might be afraid."

"Yes."

"Why."

Dante looked at her. He did not look away. "Because you asked."

Sophie stared at him. She searched his face. For guilt. For shame. For fear. She found none. Only acceptance. She uncrossed her hands. She placed them flat on the table.

"There is one more thing," she said.

Dante waited.

"When you saw the photograph," Sophie said. "The one in the file. The one they gave you to kill me." She paused. "What did you feel."

Dante was silent.

(Kairo): "Do not answer. Emotions are variables."

(Mūn): "He needs to answer. This is the anchor."

(Dante): "I remember."

Dante closed his eyes. For a second. He opened them. "Everything stopped."

Sophie waited.

"The room. The rain. The mission." Dante’s voice dropped. It was lower now. Rougher. "My heart beat once. It hurt." He touched his chest. "I realized I could not pull the trigger. Not because of orders. Not because of logic. Because if you died, the world ended. For me."

Sophie’s breath hitched. Just once. She looked down at her hands. She turned them over. Palms up. Empty.

"You should have told me," she said.

"I know."

"You should have let me choose."

"I did not know how."

Sophie stood up. She pushed the chair back. She walked around the table. She stopped beside him. Dante did not move. He did not look up.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. Her grip was firm. "I am not leaving," she said.

Dante looked up. His eyes were turquoise. Dark in the dim light.

"You know what I am," he said.

"Yes."

"You know what I cost."

"Yes."

"Then why."

Sophie leaned down. She was close. He could smell her shampoo. Rain. Steel.

"Because you are still here," she said. "You lost memories. You lost pain. But you are still here." She squeezed his shoulder. "And I will remember for both of us."

Dante felt something in his chest. It was not pain. It was not memory. It was presence.

(Mūn): "Hold this. Keep this."

(Kairo): "It will fade. Everything fades."

(Dante): "Not this."

Dante covered her hand with his.

"Edward knows about Ogata," he said.

"Then we find Ogata first."

"It will be dangerous."

"Everything is dangerous."

Sophie stepped back. She walked to the sink. She picked up the knife. She wiped the blade with a cloth. She put it away in the drawer. The sound was final. She turned back to him.

"Get some sleep, Dante."

"I do not sleep."

"Then rest. Close your eyes."

She walked toward the hallway. She stopped at the door. "I will be in the next room. If you forget... I will remind you."

She disappeared into the dark.

Dante sat alone at the table. The rain continued to fall. The house was quiet. He looked at his hands. He tried to remember the color of her eyes when they were children. Blue. Gray. Green. He could not recall. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

But he remembered the feeling of her hand on his shoulder. Warm. Real.

(Kairo): "That will be taken too."

(Dante): "Then I will earn it again."

Dante stood up. He turned off the lamp. The room went dark. He walked toward the bedroom. He did not sleep. But for the first time in years... he rested.

Author Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 24! The truth is out, but the bond holds stronger. Dante’s confession was brutal, yet Sophie stands by him. What happens when they hunt Ogata? Drop your thoughts in the comments! Don’t forget to add Shadow Contract to your library and vote with power stones. See you in Chapter 25!