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Fleur pretended to gasp. “Oh my! Is that our kind, perfect sister actually being—-” A pause. “Sarcastic?”

Aurora nodded seriously. “Such an abominable thing.”

Soleil glared at the two. “Why are you ganging up on me?”

“Because you’re being unreasonable,” Aurora answered readily. “You know what I mean. That night was obviously a setup, andit was meant to kill us. So yes, that makes it very, very personal.” She paused—-

And at that moment, a twig cracked in the not-so-far distance.

Their plan to lure out their target had worked, as expected, and the Orpheline sisters smiled.

“They always give themselves away like that, don’t they?” Aurora remarked.

Fleur’s shoulders moved in a dainty shrug. “What can you expect from idiots?”

“Who are you calling idiots?” A man stepped out from the darkness. Small and thin, he had an unshaven look about him and possessed the most unhandsome posture, with his stooped shoulders and bow-legged walk.

“You, I’m afraid,” Soleil murmured apologetically. The trail had not gone cold, but they had pretended otherwise because the location they had chosen was perfect for their needs, allowing them a fair chance of survival even if they were outnumbered.

And so they had deliberately dawdled, pretending to be troubled, when all they wanted was to lure their opponent out – right where they wanted the traitor to be.

Soleil sang out, “Come out, come out, wherever you imps are.”

As she spoke, said imps crawled out of their hiding places. There were ten of them, horrible, vicious-looking creatures that made up the lowest ranks of Hell, but even so they were demons, not at all easy to kill, and would obey only certain humans—-

Like those who made bargains with the devil, Soleil thought sadly,and believed they could get away with it.

Stepping forward, she told the traitor gently, “We know your name is Wilbur and that you worked as a runner for the Enforcers. We know that you haven’t shown up for work since your attempt to have us killed. If you tell us the truth about what made you do this and who’s ordered you—-”

“Shut up,” the man snarled. “You talk too much.” He gestured to the imps, growling, “Kill them!”

No second order was needed, the imps charging towards Soleil and her sisters, mindless in their need to wreak havoc.

Letting her blade fly, Aurora smiled humorlessly as it found its target. But her smile faded when she saw the traitor getting away. “Go after him, Soleil—-”

“We can handle this.” As if to prove her point, Fleur slashed the throat of an imp that had been able to avoid her arrows and come near her.

Despite her insides clenching because it didn’t feel right to separate – she and her sisters had always fought together – Soleil spun around and tore after Wilbur.

Creeping vines began to slither in the ground, forcing her to jump and dance around them, knowing that if she allowed herself to be caught, it would never let her go. It hampered her progress, but not as much as it was slowing Wilbur down, because he was clearly unused to any physical test.

Even so, he clearly wasn’t in the mood to quit, forcing himself to get back up even as he cursed every time a vine managed to slash the cloth and skin on the back of his legs.

When he looked at her over his shoulder, Soleil saw his face whiten just before he turned and made an unexpected twist, straight into the mist shrouding the deeper region of the woods.

Her heart lurched.

Soleil hadn’t survived this long by living fearlessly. No, what enabled her to win every battle was to treat each fight as the last, and to never ever think her enemy was weaker.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

And right now, the worst wasn’t Wilbur getting away.

The worst was to piss off the wraiths that lived in this forest and make them think she was their enemy.

“Don’t be a fool,” Soleil cried out when she saw Wilbur move closer and closer towards the eerie-looking mist. “You know there’s a possibility you won’t be able to come back—-”

Wilbur faced her, demanding bitterly, “And what do you propose otherwise? That I go back and await justice?” He shook his head wildly. “You don’t know what it means to be like me! Living in the fringes, always having to kiss people’s arses! Everyone thinks you’re all bloody heroes, the great defenders of the city, when you’re just like everyone else,” he spat. “You’re no different from the monsters beyond these woods. You’re worse, the way you treat those you think are too weak, too cowardly—-” He reached out for something behind him.