“Jesus fucking Christ.”
Calista snickers beside me, her eyes on the nipples that are barely staying tucked inside Melody’s dress.
“They have a rather…volatilerelationship.”
“No kidding.”
Melody breaks the kiss with a gasp for air, her cheeks flushed and her lips marked with teeth indents. I stare at her in disbelief, wondering how the hell she ended up in bed with Marlin Seaborn.
“You done?”
“For now.”
Marlin lowers her back to the ground, his white hair sticking up in every direction. Bruises bloom along his lips, red stains clinging to his skin with a sick sort of satisfaction.
“Did you bring the supplies?”
For a split second, I genuinely think he’s asking about condoms.
“He’s got them taped to the inside of his pants.”
Calista answers the question for me, her eyes skittering past the tumultuous couple to the unconscious guards lying on the floor behind them.
“Where’s Maddox?”
“Already in place. I delivered the final dose thirty minutes ago. Which gives us exactly,” Glancing at his watch, Marlin tilts his head, “Four minutes and sixteen seconds.”
“Good. We need the distraction to last long enough for us to reach the access point.”
Melody shifts uneasily beside the white-haired giant, her eyes darting between everyone present.
“And if this plan of yours doesn’t work?”
“It will.” Marlin answers immediately.
“But if it doesn’t-
“I’ve got that covered.”
Shock and disbelief collide in three sets of vibrant eyes.
“And how, exactly, do you have that covered?”
Marlin stares me down, his eyes narrowing with suspicion and a hefty dose of mistrust.
Fucking ironic, coming from him.
“I recruited some help.”
A hushed silence falls as an uninvited guest slinks around the corner. A limp impairs every step, a slight disability that doesn’t deter from the birthday pins decorating every side of his wilted, colourful top hat.
“Did somebody ask for a cup of tea?”
Melody lets out an audible gasp as the old man shuffles closer. Baggy dress shirt tucked into pink pants, wiry strands of grey hair sprouting in every direction, the guy walking towards us bears an unnatural resemblance to the villain we just set loose.
“There is something to be said for an insurance policy, don’t you think?”
Recognition flares as I repeat Marlin’s words back to him. A slow smile starts to spread, a smirk that transitions into something far deadlier.
