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cillian had once been less a devil, and more a friend, though at the time, they’d both been swathed in the same darkness. bo felt it creeping up his ankles, even without the miasma.[break][break]

“cillian.”[break][break]

his gaze wasn’t unlike the one he’d had before in the alleyway in sootopolis, when the underboss had chased off hungry dogs set to tear him up. it was not friendly – but it was tired. a certain light was gone, perhaps surrendered to the dark once again.[break][break]

“i wanna make a deal for my family’s safety.”

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the chill of dread passed through him. had something already happened in the time since he’d left atkins farm that morning? after taking months to try and convince himself that he was being paranoid, had they really been watching that closely the whole time?[break][break]

of course they knew he’d gone back to work. he was on a list somewhere. he still had a file, that much he was sure of.[break][break]

”what are you talking about?” his stony expression cracked, panic flashing beneath in gold. “know what?”[break][break]

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'your father is dead.'[break][break]

the chill passed, leaving behind only a numbness. a strange hollow feeling in his chest, and for some reason, his first thought was, then why don’t i see his ghost too?[break][break]

an even greater mystery was the first and only word out of his mouth on the matter. ”good.” he surprised himself.[break][break]

the moment felt surreal, the breeze only the soft fingers of deceptive demons, reaching out from another realm to call him to some distant home. perhaps it was at the bottom of the ocean.[break][break]

like a wave, coldness returned. the ebb and flow of a familiar torture.[break][break]

caden maher was alive for now.[break][break]

for now – if he didn’t make the same damning decision as CIAN MAHER .[break][break]

”he won’t.”[break][break]

he will.
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staring at his old friend, he realized that this deal probably wouldn’t last. if it came down to it, he would fight for caden maher . it pained him to think of his brother alone in an organization that hated his family enough to kill them.[break][break]

”yeah. willow atkins , and roman maher – that kid you attacked in the ultra deep sea. no hard feelings though, he’s a bit of an asshole anyways.” his tone was dry, the look in his eye giving away the suppressed desire for violence. [break][break]

what did he offer in return? ”i won’t kill anybody.” he paused then, knowing he could die right there and cillian would simply go about the rest of his evening. ”i won’t fight. they’ll expect me to, but i’ll fake it.” [break][break]

”i’m going back to the rangers. it’s looking like i’ll probably be fallarbor’s captain. i’ll turn a blind eye to things, give you whatever intel i can.” not everything.[break][break]

”and i’ll tell you what i know about the league’s max honey.”[break][break]

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fortunately, cillian seemed to misunderstand the veiled threat that slipped out. assurance that rocket would not force him to bloody his hands again only drug up terrible memories, that would perhaps never leave him for long.[break][break]

cillian held his hand out to shake, and every fiber in bo’s being told him to walk away, but he knew there was no going back. he’d called the underboss from the shadows, taken his time. it was as good as done.[break][break]

he reached out, noting with quiet surprise the claws of the devil’s hand as they sealed the deal.[break][break]

“thank you.”[break][break]

they were sickening words to utter.[break][break]