Tells me he's all mine.

Scarlet nudges you. “He’s all yours, Warren.”

You produce the side arm from your hip and shoot his center mass, sending James to the floor in less than a second. Scarlet whistles. “Well, that was lackluster.”

“Not good enough?”

“I just expected some kind of Hollywood fight scene to go down,” Scarlet goes to the body and sighs. “And instead, I got a very realistic representation of how most of these close fights go.”

“Did it as I would any other fight,” you tell her.

Scarlet looks back. “No worries. I respect that. Terminate the threat before they can prove to be an issue, right?”

“Fight smarter, not harder.”

Scarlet grins. “It’s less fun that way, but again…I can respect it.”

“What’s on your to-do list now? Bury the body and lunch?”

Scarlet’s grin goes into a toothy smile. “We can leave the body. There’s a crew for that too. Cleaners and separate contractors to cover up the mess at a professional level.”

She scans the kitchen and strolls over to the pancakes and bacon. “As for lunch, it looks like James got it covered.”

As you watch Scarlet consume James's would-be brunch, you realize Scarlet is more attuned to **** than usual. You glance down at James, feeling no appetite. So instead, you “hang out” with Scarlet, mostly conversing about town as you both beat around the bush, trying to find out more about each other without seeming too **** or evident about your intentions.

All that you achieve is that Scarlet is working with an exclusive outfit. You’ll hopefully learn more about Scarlet when you return to Arabella. By the time you return, it’s dark again, and your social battery is all but drained. Luckily, Delilah has gone home, so you don’t have to distract yourself with any more unnecessary small talk. However, the girl maintaining the bar for the rest of the night spots you and calls you over.

You reluctantly turn and face her and see she has purple eyes that are complimented by her raven-colored hair. You bite your tongue and smile, walking over to talk to her.

“Hello,” you say.

“Hello,” she smiles, flashing her paper-white teeth. “You’re Warren, right?”

You look at her. She looks vaguely familiar, but you can’t pin a name to her. “Who are you?”

The girl with black hair blinks and then looks slightly annoyed. “Miranda,” she says it like it was common knowledge to know her name in town.

“Oh, you’re, uh…Delilah’s friend, right?”

Miranda nods. “She’s talked about me?”

Delilah hadn’t mentioned Miranda much, but you only knew about her because Miranda *was* Delilah’s only friend. “Of course. She’s said a few things about you.”

Miranda smiles brightly but then sighs. Her expression deflates with her chest as she leans into the counter. “I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but Delilah’s got some weird guys following her around now.”

“Weird guys?” You mind races. All this time, you’ve been concerned about Scarlet and Kenji and left Delilah alone. “What do you mean?”

“Just some younger guys that noticed her playing the piano, I think. They were here earlier and tried playing their cards on her,” Miranda pushes away from the counter and produces a rag from her apron. “Obviously, Delilah is pretty fond of you, but I’m more worried about the men doing something.”

“Do you know their names?”

She shakes her head. “No. I just thought you’d like to know, though. They left a little after I took her place. They might’ve followed her home or something.”

Godamnit…

“Thanks, Miranda. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble.”

Miranda smiles again. “Of course.”

United with Arabella, she greets you. She’s dressed for bed but was waiting for you to come back before getting under the sheets. “Master!” she shouts when you lock the door.

“Hey,” you’re surprised by a hug. You hug her, taking in the smell of lingering shampoo and soap. “You doing alright?”

Arabella pulls away, her eyes wide as they stare up at you. “Yes. Much better now. How are you?”

Your expression betrays you, and she frowns. “What?”

“Do you know someone called Scarlet?”

She doesn’t need to say anything to let you know she does. “I do.”

“Well, I’ve been working with her all day today. How concerned do I need to be?”

“Very,” Arabella says. “Scarlet is dangerous and loyal to the Toymaker. She’s been hired countless times to help out with important objectives. I’m afraid she’s here for the girls and me. Possibly you if they know you killed the males.”

“Scarlet didn’t seem too keen on fighting me, but she definitely knows more about me than she’s letting on. I don’t like it much.”

“Is Kenji with her?” Arabella asks.

You nod, and Arabella gasps. “This isn’t good, master. We should leave before we’re discovered.”

“I guess a lot of people know about you already. Someone is bound to say something.”

“Well,” Arabella lets out a **** chuckle. “This place is corrupted by dirty money from syndicates. Almost everyone here has some kind of connection to the syndicate here.”

“You didn’t think about telling me sooner? I would have been trying to get out here instead of bunkering down.”

Arabella frowns. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wedge anything between you and Delilah.”

You’re about to shout at her but decide it’s not worth the effort, nor would it help. “It’s fine. Is there anything I need to know?”

Arabella becomes small. “I did something I shouldn’t have while you were gone.”

“What did you do now?”

“I snuck out a few hours ago while the girls were busy cleaning your gear,” Arabella whispers.

“Please, for the love of God, tell me no one saw you.”

“I don’t think so!” Arabella promises. “But I saw some men harassing your girlfriend. They followed her home.”

“Are THEY bad too? Are they dangerous?”

“No,” Arabella looks down. “I don’t think so. But Delilah looked very uncomfortable with it. I- I mean, of course, she would be.”

You go over to the bed and kick off your boots. Arabella looks at you and holds her hands in front of her. Her tail gently swayed back and forth as she looked at you. “Do you need anything, master? I’m sorry to deliver so much bad news to you after such a long day.”

“What can you do?” You ask with your eyes closed.

“I can leave you be or think of something else.”