“Let’s go.” Clay nudged me toward the house. “They won’t stay jelly for long.”
We reached the house without issue, but raised voices warned us the siblings weren’t happy. We crept to the azalea bushes planted beneath the kitchen window overlooking the backyard and hunkered down to listen in. The curtains had been drawn, so there was little chance of us being seen, and their voices were loud enough I doubted we would be overheard either.
“The Boos should have returned by now,” Markus snapped. “Something is wrong.”
“You’re paranoid,” Trinity countered. “They’re dragging their feet, as usual.”
“What if those agents circled back? They’re not just going to forget about us. What if they found the bones?”
“We would know if our onryos had been vanquished, wouldn’t we?”
“I don’t know.” His footsteps retreated as he began pacing. “Any word from Aspect?”
“He hasn’t been online.”
“What about Bowser or Dreadnaught?”
“Nothing since yesterday.”
“Aspect said he would be in touch. It’s been three days. He never goes that long between check-ins.”
“Maybe they caught him.” I could almost hear her shrug. “He’s the one passing out arcane information. Maybe he gave the spell to the wrong person, and they turned on him. Or maybe one of the others summoned a badass they couldn’t control, and it killed them.”
The silence told me Markus was considering this as a possibility.
“We need to find the Boos.” His heavier footsteps grew closer. “Let’s go yank on their chains.”
“Good grief.” Trinity huffed. “I have three orders to fill. I can’t keep running off to play with your toys.”
“You helped me summon them, so it’s your responsibility to help me control them.”
“I wouldn’t be stuck traipsing around in the woods if you hadn’t been determined to have the Boo Brothers.”
“They weren’t my pick, and you know it.” His annoyance rang clear. “Aspect chose the Boos for us.” He didn’t sound happy about it either. “Two of us, two of them.”
“Just think.” She sighed. “You could have summoned the Baymont Butcher, Trixie Vein, or Gigi Savage.”
“Either way, you owe me,” he clipped out. “For Dad.”
Another quiet descended that was somehow louder than the first.
“I’m sorry.” Markus exhaled. “I shouldn’t have gone there. What he did to you…”
“He deserved to die,” she said without an ounce of remorse.
“No argument here.”
The rustle of clothing and shuffle of feet made me think they might have hugged, but it was brief.
“Let’s go.” She forced a brighter tone. “I have to be ready for the big tournament next Saturday.”
“Forget the tournament.” He joked with her. “I’m still waiting for an upgrade on my beard.”
The siblings’ banter made them easy to track as they exited the house and entered the yard, all smiles and chatter. They had committed atrocious acts, and they didn’t care. They had gone dark side too long ago to save if their cavalier attitudes were any indication.
We eased around the side of the house and intercepted them before they reached the tree line.
“Markus and Trinity,” I began, and that was all the warning they required to bolt.