AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unger raises his hand—while looking at Errol, not his boss.
"What is it?" Errol asks.
"Could I go out there to see if Munro is really sitting outside?"
"I have a better idea." Errol turns sideways to the cavern entrance. "Let's go out there together and see. You can all come with us to learn what the selkie is doing."
Errol tosses Frisk's gun to me.
I catch it and aim the muzzle at Frisk, who puckers his lips.
"Feel free to shoot him," Errol tells me, "if he steps one millimeter out of line. Or if he just annoys you too much."
"Oh, he's done that plenty already." I hold the gun with both hands, one braced under the grip for extra support. "Don't worry, Errol. My dad taught me how to use a gun when I was eight years old. I'd won three sport shooting medals by the time I was fifteen."
And yeah, that's true. My father believed every woman should know how to defend herself.
Errol winks at me, then leads all six of Frisk's lackeys outside. They shuffle along like zombies, but Errol strides out the door with confidence. I guess we really have worn those guys out. They need a nap and a cup of hot cocoa, the poor mercenary babies.
Yeah, I have trouble sympathizing with them.
I keep my eye on Frisk even while I peek out the doorway to see what Errol and the lackeys are doing. When Frisk makes a minute move, I tap my finger on the gun's trigger guard. "Uh-uh-uh, Mr. Frisk. Move one more muscle and I'll shoot your kneecap off. Try it again after that, and you'll be singing soprano."
Wow, when did I turn into a tough chick? I like it.
Frisk slumps against the wall, sitting cross-legged, and glares at the pool.
I peek out the doorway again, where I can see Errol and the lackeys have halted near the pool's edge.
"Any moment now," Errol says in a dramatic stage whisper, "the selkie will appear. Don't get too close. The selkie males are known to be aggressive to human men if they smell a woman nearby."
The lackeys back away from the pool.
I check on Frisk, but he's still sulking, almost pouting. Then I glance out the doorway just in time to witness Munro MacTaggart shooting up out of the pool, spraying water over the lackeys and Errol. Some of it even mists onto me. The lackeys freeze, their eyes wide. Two run back into the cavern and clamber over the slab into the passageway.
Munro slaps his palms down on the pool's edge to heave himself out of the water. Then he shakes himself, spewing more water onto the remaining lackeys. Milliken and Unger stagger backward. One guy tries to escape into the cavern, but he swerves a little too far to his left and slams into the doorway. Eyes wide, he shoves away from the wall and races into the passageway—in pursuit of his buddies, I assume.
"The selkie has arisen," Errol pronounces in a tone reminiscent of a circus showman. "Behold the wonder of the seal-creature."
Okay, he might be going a touch overboard. But Unger and Milliken are lapping it up.
"Don't kill us," Unger says. "You can have the girl, we don't want her."
Munro stalks up to the two men, while water continues to sluice off him. He shakes his head, releasing a shower over the lackeys. In his gruff, growly voice, Munro says, "The Wild Man wants to know what you mean to do with the ancient treasures you've uncovered here. They belong to the ancients, not to you lot."
"We don't want that dirty old crap," Unger says. "Take it. We'll do whatever you say."
"I say go into the catacombs and find your mates. Stay with them. Do not return to the entrance cavern. Do not cross the slab ever again once you've stepped into the passageway. Do you understand?"
The men nod vigorously.
"Go, then," Munro says, flinging an arm out to indicate the cavern entrance.
Unger and Milliken bolt for the cavern. They don't seem to notice me as they hightail it into the passageway and keep running, their footsteps pounding and the sound gradually waning.
Errol and Munro exchange smug looks, then return to the cavern.
Frisk refuses to look at them, keeping his head turned away as he speaks. "That was a childish trick."
