Joy is rubbing her eyes in exasperation while Velle looks confused.
“That’d be me,” Dr. Love says, he and Felix trotting down the other staircase.
Apparently, the commotion has brought everyone out of hibernation. Dash, Kemper, and Dash’s dad emerge from the back. Byron and Trevel also pop out to look over the bannister from the third floor.
“Ah. So yer the arsehole I promised meh first bullet to,” Finn Jameson says to Lemuel.
The doctor just stares.
“Dad, I can’t believe I have to say this to youagain, but please put the gun down and stop threatening to shoot my friends,” Joy gripes, grabbing the Tommy gun from her father.
“What’s going on?” Dash whispers to me.
“Well, that’s Joy’s dad,” I hum. “And apparently he told Lemuel he was going to shoot him? I’m still fuzzy on the details.”
“Mr. Jameson, I apologize if I worried you.” Lem, as usual, is stoic as hell, even at gunpoint. “I was being held hostage when you called, after being tortured for a week, so it wasn’t the best time for me to be speaking to a stranger on behalf of their daughter.”
“Yer forgiven, son,” Finn says definitively. “But that brings me to the other reason for meh visit…” He holds his hand out, and the guy behind him hands him a new Tommy gun. He cocks it in the same aggressive—but still pretty badass—manner. “Bring me The Ivory!”
“Finn, look,” Velle steps forward. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up. It’s been a crazy day, but basically… it’s been sorted.”
Finn Jameson’s surprise, confusion, and rage seem to be cancelling each other out. “Sorted…?”
“Yea.” Velle is clearly trying to pacify this person, who I’m justguessingcould fly off the handle rather easily. “No need to fight anymore. It’s over.”
“What’re yeh saying to me, boy??”
“Daddy, the war is over. We won!” Joy joins in, she and her partners smiling and nodding like bobbleheads.
Finn doesn’t appear placated whatsoever by this news.
He looks around at the rest of us. And now we’re all nodding.
“Yea, totally.”
“No more war…”
“We crushed it.”
“Crushedit…” Finn repeats the words as if they’re foreign to him. “Right. Well, then,where’sThe Ivory?”
Velle and his partners share a nervous look.
“He’s, uh…”
“Right here,” The Ivory’s voice booms from the top of the stairs, and our faces spring.
“Oh, there he is,” I mumble awkwardly.
“Finn. It’s been a while,” The Ivory croons calmly, standing up on the third-floor landing, wearing an extremely bougie-looking white robe, clutching Angel to his side, the both of them rumpled and distinctly well-sexed. Angel’s legit wearing only his dress shirt. “It’s good to see—”
Finn fires a round above their heads.
The Ivory dives on top of Angel, the two of them vanishing from sight while my ears ring.
We all pretty much just hit the deck. I’m in a pig-pile, Kemper, Lemuel and Dash’s dad attempting to cover us.
Peters pulls his gun, I’m guessing as a reflex.
