Villain Ch 1877. Bone Against Bone
The sound echoed through the crooked alleyways, deeper than before—less hollow, more human. It didn't clang like metal striking metal. It rang like bone against bone. Slow. Deliberate. Measured.
Allen sheathed his sword in a slow, lazy motion. Smoke still curled around his boots, tendrils rising from the corpses—or what passed for them—that now stained the cobblestone black. The fog hissed with it, thick as soup, curling around ankles like fingers that hadn't learned to let go.
Shea stepped up beside him, wiping her blade-wings down with two feathers that sizzled softly as they absorbed the lingering magic. She glanced sideways, narrowing her dark eyes. "You looked excited, Allen."
Allen grinned, not bothering to hide it. "I am."
The smile wasn't for the blood. Not just that.
It was for the puzzle.
Because now—finally—it had a shape.
