WICKED | WILLIAM FRANKLYN-MILLER

⟶ 18 | THE AUCTION

[WILLIAM]

⑅

"Leaving so soon?" Robert Ash sneered, a sick grin on his face. "The auction hasn't even started yet."

If I said the room got smaller, I might have been telling the truth. The overwhelming reality of the situation was closing in on us, the escape I thought we'd have was narrowed, and it smelled like fear.

"Get out of our way," I said, though I knew my voice was far from calm.

Robert frowned. "I knew you weren't a waiter."

"Obviously, you dimwit."

My insults were specks of dust under the man's watch, and he quickly dismissed them from thought. He took a step forward. I took a step back. His eyes kept darting between me and the woman next to me, ideas churning in his head as he eyed us both.

"What was it you wanted?" I scoffed at him. "Collateral?"

He waved a hand. "Of a sort."

"Why don't you kill Kent instead of her?"

"He's a business partner. She's nobody."

"She's more than you are."

"Maybe to you," the man smirked. "But if she's that important to you, I ought to kill her right now."

He reached for his pocket, and I seized my chance. Perhaps he was bluffing, but I knew someone like Robert Ash wouldn't show up to a fight unarmed. He was the kind of person who'd carry matches hidden all over his body. He was the kind of person to have poison in his blood.

I was right.

The second I lunged towards him, he whipped a dagger out of his pocket, unsheathing it and raising it above his head. Lovey yelled something from behind me, but I was too lost in the moment to understand it. My priorities were this: get out.

Robert put up a fight. He was messy—but skilled—and his un-honed techniques were tricky to get a hang of. When he swung, I dodged. Where he faltered, I attacked. Fighting him like this reminded me of the first time we'd met—though I was younger, and my hair was dyed. You got me demoted, I wanted to say. I should have killed you when I had the chance.

Of course they didn't recognise me. They're killers. It's about death, not the one who dies.

Dodging another blow from the man, I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, kicking in his knees so he'd crumple to the ground. His dagger clattered to the ground, echoing inside the small room.

"Not so dangerous without your wife, are you, Ash?" I spat out. "Leave my girl alone, or next time, I'll kill you."

He opened his mouth to speak, but I elbowed him in the skull, knocking him out completely.

Lovey had backed up into the corner of the room, holding the chair in her hands. She looked like she was going to throw it, but decided a shield would have been best. It almost brought a smile to my face to see it. You're learning how to protect yourself, I wanted to say. I'm proud of you.

Holding out my hand, I beckoned for her to follow me.

She did.

⚘

The issue was getting out unnoticed. The auction was already in progress—I could hear the slamming of gavels against a podium—and two strangers walking out would cause a stir. Waiting, I pressed my ear up to the door as I waited for the right moment. Everyone would be distracted once the newest piece came out, and we'd be able to move then.