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“Then I’ll get rid of your woman,” Cromwell snarls back. “She’ll bleed out like Fabien here.”

And with that, he pulls out another knife from the inside of his suit jacket.

There is nowhere for Baptiste to go. Cromwell blocks the doorway. There are no weapons at hand.

Cromwell strikes at Baptiste. There’s a slash in the air, a slice into flesh, and then my friend falls to the ground beside me, his hand raised to protect his face. Blood leaks from his forearm.

“Sylvie...”

He’s breathing his woman’s name.

Cromwell stands over us.

He’s won.

I’m bleeding out, and Baptiste just needs to be finished off, and then all of Cromwell’s enemies are gone. All evidence of the Masked Killer gone.

“Clement,” Baptiste whispers, face inches from my own. “Help me.”

But Clement is frozen as he stands in the corner. He can’t hurt his own father. He’s conflicted into stillness.

But someone has to do something.

Cromwell bends over Baptiste, ready to deliver the killing blow.

I’m in so much pain. My hands are covered in my own blood. I can barely feel my legs.

Energy spills from me, but I have enough for one final, desperate act.

You are my legacy, son.

With all my dying strength, I rise to my feet. Unsteady, I rip the knife out of my stomach. Warmth pools out of me, but I don’t care.

I look at Cromwell.

He looks at me. He can’t believe I’m standing.

The shock pauses him for me to tell him one more thing...

“You’re no father to me.”

And with the same knife he used to stab me, I stab Cromwell where his heart should be.

The man opens his mouth in surprise. A moment of stillness passes between us as the knife twists deeper.

“I... raised... you...”

“Don’t fall into the trap of sentimentality, Cromwell.”

The Supreme Elder of the Castaways turns to Clement.

“Help.”

“You’ve broken the Code,” Baptiste stammers from the floor. “You tried to kill me. You killed Elwood.”

Cromwell snarls. He lifts his free hand, still grasping the knife that he cut Baptiste with. He aims it down at me...

And then Clement rushes in. He grabs his father’s arm and looks him square in the eyes.