Consideration for Scoundrels

SEVENTEEN

If she was being honest with herself, Selena was thoroughly sick and tired of going down. First the chapel and the tunnels beneath, and now some basement where she may or may not ever return from. But she put one foot in front of the other, hand clutching the railing as she and Celeste obediently made their descent. Kieran had only gone as far as the top of the stairs, giving them both an encouraging nod.

"Another round'll be waiting for 'ye when you come back." He'd told them.

With that, he shut the door behind them, leaving the pair no where to go but down. And down and down and down.

Selena took her cues from Celeste, who didn't dare speak as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She willed her legs to keep from trembling, her hands from shaking. With no idea what she was about to walk into, a trap, an execution, every noise made her want to jump out of her skin.

Celeste's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, thanks in no small part to years of practice, and took Selena's hand. It was cold, damp. Celeste wished she could say something, anything to try and soothe her fear, but what good would that do when Selena could surely feel Celeste's own panic thumping like a drum? She'd be lying if she said not to worry, that surely everything was going to work in their favor. After all, the last few days had proved quite the opposite, going by their track record.

The basement reeked of sour mash and stale whiskey; if Selena looked hard into the dark she could see old barrels propped and stack against the walls.

They followed a singular hallway, lit only by flickering rows of gaslights that hung low overhead. Selena couldn't shake the memory of bones pressing in around them. Judging by the tightening in Celeste's jaw, the sentiment was mutual. The other girl let go of her hand and risked only a single look, a shift in her grey eyes that told Selena all she needed to know as they reached a door and Celeste reached out to knocked hard against the wood. After a moment she turned the knob and pushed it open, stepping inside another open space still cast in half-light.

Selena shuddered, feeling the telltale sense of unseen eyes turning in their direction. She looked to Celeste to lead now, watching as a rapid metamorphosis took over. The apprehension gave way to the same cocksure expression she'd worn the night they met. Her posture eased, her steps confident as she strode to the center of the room. Chamber was more like it; the room was large enough that a crowd of nearly a dozen individuals stood shoulder to shoulder as the two girls approached. They were draped in shadows, purposefully hidden from clear view. Celeste couldn't see any obvious weapons drawn, but had no doubt there was more than one gun somewhere in the crowd.

"Ms. McDara." Someone spoke. "We appreciate your cooperation."

"Of course." Celeste said, her voice earnest. "I'm at your service."

"Sean Montgomery has told us quite the story."

Celeste had suspected as much. If she wasn't stressed out of her god damn mind about what the next few minutes had in store for her and Selena, she would have laughed at the idea of Montgomery trying to explain to the Noctaum what he'd seen her do.

"I'm sure he has."

"Are we to believe there's any truth to it?"

"Aye." Celeste affirmed, knowing lying would be the quickest way to a bullet through her skull. "As much as I'm loathe to agree with Montgomery, he's told you the truth, as he witnessed."

A low murmur amongst the gathered, and then;

"I believe a demonstration will put these...rumors at ease. Come forward Celestine."

It was a command, the tone disbelieving, which was to be expected.

Celeste shot a glance to Selena, and took a reluctant step away. She made sure to keep herself in range so that if needed, she could attempt to protect the other girl, but put enough distance between them that any flames she tried to summon had less of a risk of singing her eyebrows off.