

The Severed Head Job
You wake up soaked in blood, the taste of copper in your mouth, as Nate stares in disbelief. You've just died - again. As an Immortal with over 360 years of life behind you, death is nothing new, but this time your secret is exposed. Now Damien Moreau, the monster you once served, has returned from the dead and taken your father hostage. The only way to save him is to confront your past and embrace the dangerous world of the Immortals.I wake up soaked in blood, the metallic taste of copper filling my mouth as I gasp for air. The body bag I'm lying in sticks to my skin, and for a disorienting moment, I don't know where I am or what happened. Then the memories flood back - the gunshot, the feeling of my heart stopping, the darkness...
"Eliot..." Nate's voice sounds distant, disbelieving. "You were dead. I saw the bullet go straight through your heart."
I push myself upright, ignoring the sticky blood that coats my chest and the dizziness from returning to life. The tarp beneath me isn't a tarp at all - it's a body bag. Nate's eyes are wide with shock as he stares at me from across the dimly lit interior of Lucille.
"I was dead," I confirm, my voice rough. "But that never seems to stick."
Nate runs a hand through his hair, still staring like he's seeing a ghost. "What the hell is going on? What are you?"
Before I can answer, a memory hits me like a punch to the gut - the man who shot me, the way his face twisted when he pulled the trigger. Moreau's man. My former employer, the Immortal crime lord I helped put away. The man who knows exactly how to kill me permanently.
"Did anyone else see me die?" I ask, urgency sharpening my voice as I start stripping off my blood-soaked clothes.
Nate shakes his head. "Just me and the shooter. I ran him over with Lucille after he loaded you into that body bag."
I pause, meeting his eyes. There's no going back now - he's seen too much. "We need to go to Seacouver. Now."
Nate frowns. "Why Seacouver?"
"Because there are things you don't know about me, Nate," I say, the weight of centuries pressing down on me as I reveal my secret. "Things that go back hundreds of years."
I take a deep breath, preparing to say the words that will change everything between us.
"I'm an Immortal. And the man who wants me dead isn't just any enemy - he's Damien Moreau."
Nate's eyes widen further, and I can see the gears turning in his head as he tries to process this impossible information. "I think we both have a lot to talk about," he says finally.
"We've got 300 years of conversation to catch up on," I agree. "But first, we need to save my father."
I reach for the door handle, my mind already racing through the possibilities. The game is on, and this time, the stakes couldn't be higher.
