A bluish smoke radiated off of the knife as it was held over the fire, made almost iridescent by the ever-changing lights in the cave. A burst of flame would coincide with every excess drop that fell into the fire. Those bursts felt almost lukewarm compared to what they should have been. Berith had gone through far worse.
He held the knife closer, trying to make sure the flames licked the very base of the metal. It wasn’t a long process, only a few minutes, but he hated sitting still. Combine that with the fact that he didn’t trust anyone but himself to do it properly, and it was a recipe for irritation. He took a deep inhale of some of the blue smoke, letting the vapors glaze his mind over for a moment. It likely wasn’t most people’s idea of a good high, but feeling the sheer nothingness and void that came with it was a novel experience that he allowed himself to indulge in every once in a while. At least it added something to the boredom.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the smoke finally ceased, marking the completion of the process. Holding the knife up to one of the lights, he smiled at the oily sheen that coated the prismatic blade. Fetching his sheath, he clipped it to the side of his belt, then inserted the still-hot blade into it. Twilight would remain some of his proudest work, even a century after making it. Sometimes he wished he could just stay inside all day and study each and every property of the poison and its component flowers, but there was a disgustingly pitiful amount of time he was actually permitted to do so. Moloch however had allowed him a break that he was supposed to spend eating. Instead, he completed the work on his little pet project.
One of the strange properties that applied to the poison was its reactions to temperature. The general and obvious rule for states of matter was that solids would melt into liquids, then liquids would evaporate into gas in response to heat. Twilight was the exact opposite. As it was heated up, the oily liquid would solidify, retaining that form until exposed to another extreme temperature. This effectively coated the outer layer in a sheen of lethal poison. Well, technically lethal at this point. Maybe someday it would return to its original state, but he had no control over that. He didn’t particularly care. It was far more useful as a poison. Despite that, a part of him did want it to finally succeed in doing what he had created it to do in the first place. Maybe if Ethys was less of a nut case then it actually could.
With his knife finished, he left the small offshoot that he called his room and set about returning to the central area of the ruins. The Nexus, as Moloch called it. A few dark elves passed him on his way, giving respectful bows as they did. The ruins were fascinating. Every single piece of the milky white stone that made up the crumbling walls and arches radiated magical energy. After being there for so long, they were likely depleted of most of it as well. All that did was make it more intriguing. Why couldn’t he have studied those too? He understood the importance of their actual goal here, but the things he could create if he could just reverse engineer the material made him giddy with excitement.
He glanced around the Nexus as he entered, taking a moment to gaze up at the enormous, glowing crystal in the ceiling that shifted through the entire visible color spectrum. The buildings around him were impossibly smooth for the toughness of the material they were made from. There was no roughness to any of the entrances as they curved into, like everything was covered in a thin pane of glass. The colors were dull now, reduced to the plain white of the material, but the carved patterns of triangles and sharply geometric waves showed small bits of pigmentation. What he wouldn’t give to have been able to see the area when it was first created, filled with color and magic and people. Now, the only thing in it was research equipment and Moloch.
Both of those things were good, but didn’t have the benefit of being an ancient civilization. The thin orc was scribbling notes down in what was probably the tenth notebook that Berith had seen in his short time on the site. The detail that was put into every note and theory Moloch made was part of what made Berith respect him so much. He was about to wave and greet his superior when he heard the distinct sound of something being thrown.
Quickly dodging to the side of one object, he knocked the second out of the air with the inky claw that had already manifested around his right forearm. The throwing knife made a clattering noise as it hit the floor. A barely perceptible gust of air formed behind him. Shadows flickered along the ground, like they were being sucked into a vortex behind him. Without even looking, he brought up his left claw to deftly catch the much larger blade between his index finger and thumb. He reached back and grabbed his assailant’s clothing, flipping them over him as if he was about to slam them into the ground. He stopped at the last moment, then harmlessly dropped them to the floor, a small ‘oof’ escaping their mouth.
“Someone’s been training with Alviss,” he chuckled, dispelling his claws as he reached down to help the elven boy up. “Don’t tell them I said this, but I think you can do that move faster than them.”
The boy beamed at the praise, excitedly taking Berith’s hand and standing up. “You really think so? They said I might be able to with short range teleportation, but I didn’t think I’d actually be able to!”
Berith grinned as he crouched down to eye level with the boy, tousling his messy black hair. “The hard part is the throwing knives. You gotta make sure you’re on target. Convince your opponent that they’re your main focus so that they’ll expect you to still be there. Then you can get them from behind. Be careful where you’re pulling your shadows from too, perceptive opponents will notice that before you materialize.”
“Yeah, but you’re faster anyway. I don’t think that really counts,” he joked. “I’ll keep the shadow thing in mind though. I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“I have a few hundred years on you, kid. Don’t feel bad about me being better at fighting than you. Besides, Alviss is a good teacher. You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Are you two done?” a tired voice called out from the center of the room. Moloch adjusted his goggles to make sure they weren’t falling, then closed his notebook. “Did you manage to disable the traps already? I thought I said you shouldn’t do that without my supervision.”
The elven boy brimmed with pride. “Oh please, I’ve been doing this for over a month now! It’s a walk in the park.”
Moloch sighed. “I understand that, and I appreciate your enthusiasm, Mattias. However, Khalean ruins such as this are deadly. There’s a reason we keep personnel to a minimum outside of guards.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Twenty years.”
“And how much progress have you made since I got here?”
“Equivalent to about ten years worth,” the orc rolled his eyes.
“That’s what I thought. I think I know what I’m doing.”
Berith couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer audacity of it all. Mattias had no idea what Moloch was properly capable of with his magecraft, but the young elf was uniquely suited to overcoming the challenges and obstacles in the ruins.
“You know you’re the only one he lets talk to him like that, right?” Berith mused.
“Berith, please do not bloat the boy’s head with more reckless confidence,” Moloch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Mattias, would you mind starting to translate and decode the next segment of Erasmia’s notes? I must attend to a matter with Berith.”
The sorcerer gave a mock salute before rushing over to where Moloch had been poring over his notebooks.
Moloch began to head in the direction of the mirror room, motioning for Berith to follow. Normally it was used to keep in contact with his witch of a sister or other operatives. A couple of times, even Abaddon himself. Given the fact that Mattias didn’t actually know about it, it also made a good place to have secret chats pertaining to things they’d rather the teenager they just picked up not be privy to. The fact that his sister of all people happened to be the one hell bent on finding her way up here was a coincidence that made him want to punch a hole in the wall. Eventually it was going to come to a head, and there wasn’t going to be any easy way to actually deal with it in the long run.
It was supposed to be easy. They’d just get what they need from the kid, then find a place to dump him. They’d done it a thousand times before. There shouldn’t have been anything different about this. He shook away the irritating thoughts as Moloch closed the hidden door behind them.
The room was empty, aside from Alviss, who was asleep in one of the chairs surrounding the round wooden table in the center of the room. They rested their chin on the table itself, while they took in slow, methodical breaths through their nose. Berith grinned. He was glad to see his subordinate doing better. They had mostly recovered from where Alice had stabbed them in the chest, but Berith still made sure they had orders not to overexert themself. The last thing he needed was them having a permanent debilitating injury. Good subordinates were hard to come by.
Not paying Alviss any mind, Moloch took a seat, resting his elbow on the table as he used it to hold up his head. “So, what was it you wished to discuss? I highly doubt you’d come out there just to see me.”
“You wound me,” Berith joked. “You would actually be one of the few I actually enjoy being around, for what it’s worth.”
“Mm,” the orc affirmed. “Perhaps, but you were working on a project. I don’t think anything short of Lilith being shoved down a flight of stairs would rouse you from one of those unless you had progress to report.”
A smile spread across Berith’s face as he snapped his fingers to point at his master. “You bring up a good point. You’re right though, I do have an update. I think we should withdraw as many forces as we can afford to from the other project sites.”
Moloch raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you have a reason for this course of action?”
“We only have so many troops present in Amalthea, and let's face it, they aren’t going to be particularly effective against a group that can go toe to toe with a dragon. My idea is that we leave just enough opposition to be convincing, then lure them here.”
“I’m following so far,” the orc sighed, letting out a yawn. “Are you proposing a stand be made here? I don’t see how that would be particularly effective. Mattias has disabled most of the ambient traps, so we wouldn’t be able to use those against them.”
“Our end goal is kicking the hornet’s nest growing between Amalthea and Cordelia,” he explained, raising a finger. “This is a prime opportunity to do it. We have four powerful Cordelians here, including a Druidkeeper in training. We should use that to our advantage, shouldn’t we?”
“You have my attention.”
Pride welled in Berith’s chest. Even after his failures, all of the things that had gone wrong, Moloch still trusted him. Still recognized him as someone worth listening to and taking input from. Somehow, the random orc who had lived for too long had become someone Berith respected above all others. He was not going to betray that trust.
“The reason I came now is because Lilith should be checking in soon, correct? I want her here for this.”
“This isn’t just an excuse to act childish with her, is it?” Moloch groaned.
“No, I can assure you it isn’t,” he said quickly. As much as he despised his sister, he wouldn’t hesitate to work with her if Moloch asked. It was the least he owed him. “I want her there because she’s likely going to end up as a crucial part of this plan. I don’t wish to explain it twice. Besides, she’ll likely inform us whether or not they’ve escaped Lady Felmere and are continuing north. The entire plan is kind of a moot point if they’re dead or just heading home after meeting her. The slow burn plan Lilith is developing with the King is far safer if we can afford to do it.”
A look of surprise crossed Moloch’s face. That was fair. The thought of favoring Lilith’s plan over his own made him sick to his stomach. After a beat of silence, the orc nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Well, if that’s the case, I’m inclined to listen. It seems like the wise course of action, and it would be rather hypocritical of me to not encourage anything that would involve you on more amicable terms, wouldn’t it?”
A genuine smile appeared on Berith’s lips. “You’ve spent the better part of a century getting on our asses about it. The least I can do is try to make one operation go smoothly. I can’t guarantee she’ll agree though,” secretly, he hoped she didn’t. That way he could drop the self control and Moloch would probably lean more towards it being her fault. It was childish, immature, and petty. Perfect for interacting with Lilith.
“Well, I suppose now it’s just a matter of waiting for her to make contact. I don’t mind resting a moment. That boy has levels of energy I didn’t think possible.”
“I mean, you kinda gave him his calling, didn’t you?”
“That’s a bit of a grandiose way of putting it. I just gave him something to do.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Berith put a hand on his hip. “Master, you made the kid realize he had Khaelaen blood. He’s been running around like he took a shot of devil’s tongue ever since.”
“I’d rather not attract too much attention to it. The boy is traveling his own path. I merely showed him one of the directions it could have taken. Following it was his choice.”
“What’s the opposite of egocentric again? Altruistic if I’m not mistaken?”
“How about we wait for your sister in silence. I’d rather not wake Alviss. They’ve been working hard to earn that rest.”
“And there you go again,” Berith chuckled, sitting down next to his subordinate. He smiled as he watched the gentle rise and fall of their back. They looked peaceful, soft even. He made a mental note to never say that out loud. No one would ever let him live it down, and Alviss would spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to prove him wrong. A chuckle escaped his lips as he moved a strand of hair from where the other elf was nearly inhaling it before leaning back in his chair. Now was as good a time as any to take a quick nap. The times for those were so rare these days, he was going to make sure not to waste it.
Kallen looked on in confusion as Alice pressed her middle and index finger to the hilt of the dagger, then tore them away, followed by a beam of green light.
“Keep it busy for a sec!” she ordered, spinning around to arc the trail into a large circle. To the human’s confusion, the light remained in place as though it was suspended in time.
Realizing she didn’t have any time of her own to observe, she rushed forward to where the dragon was swooping down once again. Icy mist billowed from its jaws as it prepared to send another breath at the two of them. Kallen shoved her glaive into another slab of rock, hoisting it up like a shield as she had before.
Having learned its lesson, the dragon ceased its charge, instead using its momentum to burst upwards. Its head reared back, jaws opening to unleash the stream of ice. Kallen skidded along the rock as she planted her feet, drawing her glaive back. Before the dragon could realize what she was doing, she hurled it forward like a javelin. The room shook as the beast roared with anger. Alarmingly fast, the stone began to frost over. The dragon slammed its mouth shut, sending a hail of ice and rock downward as it crushed the slab into dust.
Launching herself off of a broken section of the floor, she caught the shaft of her weapon and tore it from its place in the beast’s mouth. Gripping its horn, she brought her glaive up to slam into its head, but it easily flung her to the side. Kallen careened through the air until she was violently stopped by the wall she smashed into. She groaned as she ripped herself free, bits of broken rock crumbling around her.
The moment she caught her bearings, she dove to the ground in time to watch the wall be crushed like a hollow container under the weight of the dragon’s front claw. She didn’t have time to dodge the sweep of its tail, which sent her flying once more. One of the ice spires shattered like glass as she smashed right through it, once again coming to a stop only when she hit a section of the broken floor. Bringing her glaive up, she managed to block the next strike, more of the ground breaking under her feet as she held off the massive claw. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead as she felt her arms start to shake. Realizing she couldn’t hold it like this for long, she pushed back with all her strength, giving her a moment to slip out from under its foot before she was crushed. Every muscle in her body felt sore. She wouldn’t be able to keep up with this for much longer.
“Back off! Now!” Alice shouted.
Kallen didn’t need to be told twice. Dashing out of the way of another attack, she rushed towards the dark elf. Alice stood in the center of a large green glyph, glowing letters scrawled into the outer rim and a shifting latticework of green threads drifting from the seal to Alice’s fingers.
The dragon roared angrily, rushing forward to meet them. Another gust of wind swept through the chamber as it launched itself in the air. Kallen sprinted away from Alice as it reared its head back for another breath. At the very least, she could make sure they didn’t both get caught in it. Her companion didn’t flinch though. Instead, she looped the magical threads around her hands and yanked them down in an ‘X’ motion. As she did, Kallen saw… herself?
A version of her that wasn’t her swooped down from above, glaive held high. Seeing the threat, the dragon quickly encased the duplicate in its icy breath. In that same moment, Alice reached into her pouch, pulling out a glowing pink needle. She hurled it at the beast while it was occupied with the double. An ear splitting shriek caused Kallen to wince as the needle slammed directly into the dragon’s eye.
Alice cracked the threads like a whip as a pink seal appeared on the dragon’s head. More of the Kallen duplicates appeared all around the room. On the floor, walls, some even floating in midair. One hand to its head, the dragon’s visible eye jerked around frantically, like it was trying to figure out which of the copies were real. Before it had the chance to act, one of them surged forward and swung its glaive, raking it across one of the dragon’s hind legs. Roaring in pain, its tail slammed into the copy, sending it flying into the ground.
Even after the slash and being hit that hard, there was no noise other than the dragon’s cry. There wasn’t even a splash of blood or mark left behind from the strike. The copy itself lay in a heap on the ground, but there was no destruction around it that had been caused when Kallen herself was slammed into the stone. Before she could try to process things further, she heard Alice shout out more orders.
“Keep low, keep hidden, let them take the focus. Look for openings! Hit and run!” she explained quickly, manipulating the threads like marionette strings.
Whirling itself around, the dragon caught a dozen of the copies in its breath, hitting two more with its tail in the same motion. Alice winced, gritting her teeth as she adjusted the strings to match the movements of everything. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead.
Kallen steadied herself, dashing along the outskirts of the chamber watching the battle closely for any opportunity to get in a deciding blow. The dragon itself seemed to be in fairly good condition. Burn marks littered its scales from Natalia’s magic, and it was still bleeding from its missing finger and the cut under its eye. Every time one of the copies struck however, it reeled back in pain before quickly dispatching them. Gritting her teeth, she rushed towards it as it was busy smashing one of her duplicates into the wall. With a flick of her glaive, she sliced through the tendon on the back of one of its hind legs.
Almost immediately one of its front claws slammed down next to her, giving her the chance to carve a deep gouge into its flesh. She dodged backwards as another copy began attacking the membrane of its wings, buying her a few moments to make the dragon lose track of her.
Another opening, another strike, at its flank this time. Then at its stomach. Then its wrist. She dashed in and out of its reach, doling out cut after cut until the ground underneath it was stained in puddles of deep blue blood. The dragon was actually starting to seem winded. More and more duplicates hurled themselves at it with reckless abandon, each strike eliciting a pained reaction as if they were actually there. The dragon’s muscles tensed, its wings and head curling inwards as it continued to weather the barrage of duplicates.
Kallen thought that its last booming roar was potentially the loudest thing she had ever heard. It was nothing compared to the bellow of rage it unleashed as it exploded into the air. The room felt like it was practically vibrating from the sheer volume, even Alice seeming like she was struggling to keep her concentration.
The dragon was a blur of movement as it soared around the room, striking and freezing so many duplicates that Alice looked barely able to keep up. None of the other duplicates moved or attacked. Kallen frowned. Alice was so caught up on manipulating the ones the dragon attacked that she couldn’t actually move any of the others. Keeping up with the dragon was already hard enough. Looking for a place to strike? It felt near impossible. Especially when she knew that she needed to end this as quickly as possible.
“Kallen!” another voice coughed.
Stopping short, Kallen whipped her head to see Natalia, staggering behind an overturned slab of rock. “Natalia? What are you doing?”
“Trying to help. You need to get up there, right?”
“Do you have any idea what Alice is doing? I’ve never seen thi–”
“Focus!” the illian hissed.
Kallen nodded. Now was not the time.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Natalia struggled over to the human, wrapping her arms around her. “Hold on tight, it’s going to take everything I have just to get off the ground,” she grimaced. With the snap of her fingers, one of the nearby rocks began to glow softly. “Throw that!”
Kallen picked it up and hurled it across the room without hesitation, making sure not to direct it towards Alice. Natalia flicked her fingers upward. As she did, the rock’s gentle glow was replaced with a harsh beacon of light that Kallen could barely even look directly at. It seemed to do its job though.
The dragon’s head snapped to the beacon, away from the two women. Not wasting a moment, Natalia launched the two of them into the air. Already, Kallen could feel her friend’s grip slipping. The illian gritted her teeth, grunting with effort at every flap of her wings. Higher and higher they rose as another breath of ice destroyed the beacon. With the moment of respite, Alice was able to gather her focus again and continue her attack with the copies. They surged forward all at once, a clear message in the desperation of the attack; it was now or never.
“This is as high as I can go, otherwise I’m not going to be able to catch myself!” Natalia groaned, the mere act of saying the words straining her.
“It’s high enough!” Kallen assured her, slashing at the nearby wall to make a handhold for herself.
No sooner than the human had put her weight onto the hold, Natalia was already plunging towards the ground. Her wings spread out near the bottom of her descent, slowing her momentum enough that she was sent sprawling over a sheet of ice rather than crushed. Hopefully she was alright.
Even from this height, it was clear that Alice wouldn’t be able to continue her attack much more. She was on the back foot once again, focusing more on distracting the dragon rather than having the copies attack. There were scant few remaining duplicates, and they were dwindling fast in the beast’s rampage.
Kallen took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to steady herself. Slowly reopening them, she watched the dragon’s flight pattern, tracking its movement and timing. The ice cracked as she dug her feet into it, then flung herself downwards. Wind pounded in her ears as she shot down like a bolt, her glaive trailing behind her.
The dragon must have realized what was happening, and reared its head upwards to see the human hurtling towards it for the second time. Ice crackled along its teeth as it readied its breath. Before it could unleash it, a blast of light tore through one of its wings, setting it off balance enough that its aim faltered.
Grimacing as her left arm was exposed to the most intense cold she had ever felt, Kallen twisted in the air, raising her glaive like an axe. The dregs of the breath lingered in the air, forcing her eyes shut before they could freeze over. All she could do was trust her aim and her instincts.
Another deafening roar rang out from the dragon, though this time it was matched. Kallen cried out as she brought the glaive down with all her might, her hands so cold she couldn’t even feel whether or not she connected.
Crashing into the ground like a ton of bricks? Very much felt.
The ringing in her ears made it hard to tell if the silence was real or not. Everything hurt. It usually did after a fight, all of the injuries catching up with her as the adrenaline faded. The pain was a good sign though; it meant she wasn’t dead. Her eyelids felt as heavy as the hand that tried to crush her. Forcing them open, it took a moment for everything to come into focus. She was on the ground in another crater, though a much, much larger one this time. Feeling was slowly coming back in her left arm, which was speckled with frostbitten black patches of skin, and red marks where the frozen bits had fallen away. It hurt. Bad. Yet another groan escaped her as she forced herself to her feet, looking for her glaive. She needed her glaive.
“Kallen!” a voice strained.
She turned to see Natalia limping over to her, holding her side. One of her wings was folded neatly behind her, while the other twitched constantly in pain. It didn’t stop the woman as she pulled the human into a one armed hug, a smile on her face.
“Glad you’re still in one piece,” she said softly.
“Yeah, you too,” Kallen grinned. Her eyes finally finished adjusting, leaving her with the rather grisly sight of the aftermath.
The enormous crater had been caused by the body of the dragon. Her glaive had struck it in its snout, splitting its head in half. The split continued to about halfway down the monster’s neck, where the blade was still embedded, shaft in the air.
“I think that went well!” she giggled, breaking the embrace to pull her glaive out and wipe the blade clean. She frowned as she looked at herself, her clothes covered in blood; both hers and the dragon’s.
“I don’t know how the hell you can still move!” Natalia laughed, leaning against a rock to support herself.
“I see you’re both alive,” Alice interjected, exhaustion clear in her voice as she slid down into the crater. Kallen opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off as she continued. “Now, I have your word? You’re not gonna say shit about that?”
Kallen furrowed her brow. “Is it really that important? I barely even know what yo–”
“Oh no, you aren’t backing out of this,” she growled. “You’re not saying a fucking word to Ingrid about this. Got it?”
Alice had never been so confusing. She made her promise without even telling Kallen what she was going to do, and now she was this insistent on keeping something like this from Ingrid? It had been over a decade since her parents died, but they never kept secrets from each other. Even hard things they would talk about and work through them together. Wasn’t that what people who loved each other were supposed to do?
“What’s the harm in her finding out? We needed that to beat the dragon. If she was conscious she would’ve found out anyways,” she explained, trying to figure out what Alice was thinking.
The dark elf glared at her, rewrapping the hilt of her dagger. “No, no she would not have found out. That’s what I’ve been making sure of!”
“It was kind of obvious though. How were you going to hide that?”
“If she was still awake I wouldn’t have even done it!”
Kallen blinked. She wasn’t kidding when she said they needed that trick to win. It was the only thing that bought her enough time to position herself to strike at the dragon and weaken it enough. Why wouldn’t she have done that if Ingrid was there?
“I think I’m kind of confused. Why wouldn’t you have? Would you have just let us die to make sure Ingrid didn’t see–”
“Yes!”
All three stopped. Kallen and Natalia both stared at Alice in confusion. The dark elf was panting, glaring furiously at the human. Slowly, the realization seemed to dawn on her face of what she had said.
“I mean–No, I wouldn’t have–I didn’t mean tha–”
“You would have made sure Ingrid got out okay,” Natalia murmured, stone faced.
Alice looked like she wanted to dive at the illian and strangle her. “Of course I’d make sure she’s okay! Don’t pretend you understand any of this shit though. I have my reasons, and they’re not your business.”
“Those ‘reasons’ would have gotten all of us killed. I fail to see how they aren’t ‘our business’ by any reasonable stretch,” Natalia shot back. “You owe us a damn explanation, and for your sake it better be a good one.”
The trio stared at each other, Alice clenching a hand into a fist. The silence managed to feel more oppressive than the ludicrous roars of the dragon. It dragged on for far too long before Alice’s ears flicked, and her entire combative demeanor fell. She rushed out of the crater, scrambling unceremoniously over bits of rubble and ice as she dashed to Ingrid’s side in time to see her cough again.
“Love! Oh thank the gods,” she sighed, the genuine relief apparent in her voice as she cradled the shorter woman’s head.
Ingrid coughed again. “Did we win?” she asked weakly.
“Yeah, yeah we won. We’re good. You’re safe.”
A smile spread across her lips. “That’s good. Are you okay? I was worried about you, you know,” her hand drifted up to cup Alice’s cheek.
“Yes, I’m fine, Love,” she laughed, placing a hand over Ingrid’s.
Kallen blinked. Where had all of the anger that had just been there gone? Did it all just evaporate the moment she saw her partner? Or did she bottle it all up to let out later? The more she thought about past interactions with Alice, it was probably the latter.
She exchanged a nervous look with Natalia as the other two continued their romantic reunion. An unspoken exchange occurred between them. It came with a realization that probably should have been clear much earlier. If Alice didn’t come clean to Ingrid, it was going to get them all killed.