was not going as he’d expected. He’d thought they’d run, or they’d
fight, or something.
There was an odd scraping noise coming from another branch
of the cave system, along with some grunts, but he couldn’t see
what the others were doing, and he wouldn’t leave Alden and
Constance to go find out.
Constance tapped her chin as though deep in thought. “I
seem to recall the elder Liska doing the same thing to Alden.
Amusing.”
Grimacing, Alden pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed it at
the blood. “It is less amusing to be on the receiving end of the
bullet.” Arthur had shot him in the chest. He shouldn’t still be
breathing, much less standing there cleaning himself up.
Constance waved dismissively. “Of course. Now, if you’ve got
that quite out of your system.” She raised an eyebrow and looked
pointedly at the gun.
Utterly mystified and at a loss as for what to do next, Arthur
lowered his hand.
The bearded man stomped into the cavern, glaring.
“And where have you been?” Alden asked, putting away his
ruined handkerchief.
“Had to change my shirt.” The bearded man leered at Minnie.
“It had blood on it.”
“That seems to be a common theme tonight.”
Minnie raised her knife, trembling. “I — you — I stabbed
you in the chest. And Arthur shot you! How is this —”
Constance clapped her hands together. “I do love it when they
try to wrap their little minds around it all. The moment they realize
what they are up against, and their hopes come crashing down.
You can see a bit of their soul shriveling then and there. You were