By Day and by Night

Chapter 8- I'll Tell You What

Adelae strode into the Lair to find Minelle sitting on the floor by the lockers. She wore a modified bikers helmet with a visor, a loosely fitted green jumper suit, and black combat boots. Minelle pulled the helmet off, rose from the floor and strolled over, picking up one of Adelae's guns that she had placed on the table. Minelle turned the weapon over and over in her hands.

"Are you any good at shooting?" Adelae asked after a minute.

Minelle glanced up. "I've never fired before."

"Why not?"

"I've never needed anything as dangerous as a handgun. I have other methods." Minelle passed the gun between her hands. Adelae adjusted her gloves without responding. As she tightened the straps, she heard the squeak of the door hinges downstairs as the door was unceremoniously wrenched open, followed by Connor's voice. Rather than call out to them, he spoke as if he were mid-conversation with another person.

Two sets of feet came up the metal stairs. Adelae turned to look and heard Minelle set the gun down on the table behind her. Connor came into view, wearing his trench coat and suit-backpack, followed by...

Before anyone knew what was happening, Minelle crossed the room and had a short blade to the second man's throat. In the same moment, Nikolas Radian put his own sword to her gut, though Adelae couldn't tell if he already had it in his hands, or just pulled it out fast enough that no one had seen it.

"Woah woah woah!" Connor put a hand up to each of them. "Calm down!"

Neither lowered their weapon. "What the hell is he doing here?!" Minelle gritted out through clenched teeth.

"I could ask the same of you," Nik growled. Without moving his sword, his eyes flicked to Connor. "Explain."

"Yes, please, ass hat. Explain."

Connor's eyes flitted back and forth between the two. "Can we just point the weapons down—"

"No," Nik stated firmly.

"Not a chance."

Adelae silently observed the two. Big purple bags underlined Minelle's eyes contrasting the alertness of her stance. Her hand stayed steady, her confidence unmoved. Her brown hair hung stick-straight around her face, only moved slightly by her breathing. Nik's typical navy blue suit fit him perfectly in cut and style. Dark hair cut short and styled highlighted his blue eyes, his high cheekbones, and straight nose. The same blue as his father's, Adelae noticed. In fact, he looked quite a bit like his father. His eyes were colder, his expression more hardened than she'd seen him previously, and he looked older, by more than just the two years. Something in him had changed since she'd last seen him. Something destructive.

Her eyes turned to Connor. He wore the goggles on top of his head, and Adelae noticed his face was twisted in fear. He counted each person there as a friend, no matter how loosely. The sudden and unexpected conflict had caught him off guard.

Adelae considered him and put away the gun she hadn't realized she'd drawn. She took two slow steps forward.

"Guys, let's be real for a minute." She turned to Minelle. "This was inevitable."

"You're taking his side?" she roared.

Her extreme reaction surprised Adelae. "I'm not taking anyone's side!" She retorted. "Both of you, please can we put the weapons down? Let's talk about this."

After a moment of silence, Nik replied, "I will when she does."

"No way—" Minelle began.

"Hey hey hey! What about at the same time?" Connor intervened quickly.