Page 73 of The Shade of Things
A loud whistle pierced the air. Laurent came around from the side of the club, glaring like he welcomed the opportunity to blow off steam by committing murder.
“Shut the hell up for five seconds,” he barked at us, then did a double take. “Why is the golem armed?”
“I had to shoot the fog machine,” Emmett said. “It was making everyone crazy. Too bad you didn’t sense it.”
Laurent swore.
My paranoia was fading, but as with all nightmares, I couldn’t entirely shake the sensation off.
All of us humans exchanged somewhat sheepish apologies.
“Everyone meet out back,” Laurent said. “The next section awaits.” He headed off.
The players went inside long enough to grab their stuff.
“Can I get the gun back?” Eli said.
“Sure.” Emmett handed it over, grip first.
“Gun safety, nice.” Eli checked the weapon before chambering it.
The golem shrugged, tucking the cane under his arm. “I watch a lot of cop shows. Know what’s what. I’ll go get your packs, o fragile humans. Wait here.”
I laughed weakly, holding my hand out for Eli. “That was some shit, huh?”
“I didn’t mean anything I said in there.” He worried his lower lip between his teeth. “You know that, right?”
“Obviously. And same.” I tried not to read into how long it took for him to take my hand and twine his fingers with mine. Still, just like a deep splinter, that last hard shard of paranoia was lodged deep, and I had the unshakable belief that the worst was yet to come.
