Frank made a horrible kecking sound, willing the candy to pop back into his mouth. His knees screamed, and he rolled over onto his side, hacking up the lozenge which exploded from his mouth.

"I got it!" he said, coughing. "No, I lost it."

"Where is it?" Elio said.

"I don't know! It's here somewhere," he said, circling an area with his outstretched hand. Then he realized it was pitch black and nobody could see.

He heard a flicking sound, and a moment later Tansy held a small torch in front of her face.

"Oh, you beautiful, beautiful woman," Elio said in all sincerity. "May I?"

Tansy handed the torch to Elio, who kneeled in front of Frank and held it to his face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not, no," he grunted. "Definitely not."

Elio waved the light over Frank's general area, then reached down and picked up the glistening lozenge. He set the torch on the floor and took out a paper wrapper, which he folded around the candy before tucking it into his pocket.

"What just happened?" Frank said.

"What do you mean?"

"Saving it for later?"

"I am, yes."

"That... is disgusting."

Elio shrugged. "You did not seem to mind sharing with me."

"I—wait," Frank said, studying Elio's face. "Are we still talking about candy?"

Elio shrugged again. "You tell me."

Frank chuckled, prompting Tansy to say, "Is this another one of those things I don't want to know?"

"Eh," Elio said with a smile, "that remains to be seen."

Elio led them further down the hall, which sloped downward and took a sharp right turn before ending abruptly at what Frank assumed was another secret door. Elio put his ear to the wall for a full minute, then whispered, "Follow me quietly."

He snuffed out the light and pushed at the wall, which gave way to an opening not unlike a concrete cave. Muffled voices sounded from beyond the walls, while birdsong—actual birdsong this time—echoed lightly in the open space. A narrow, sloping corridor led to an opening that let in a sliver of morning light. They crawled to it on hands and knees, Frank voicing complaints under his breath. Iron grating covered the opening. Elio reached up to unlatch it, then paused and sat on the concrete floor.

"Let us take a moment,” he suggested.

Frank obliged, grateful to be off his knees. "Is it safe?"

Elio shrugged. "Safe as anyplace this day."

“Who even are you, Elio? How did you…” Frank trailed off, gesturing around the cave.

“I am a man of mystery, Frank.”

Frank nodded. “That you are.”

Tansy removed the cap from her water flask and passed it around before taking a swig. She bunched the hem of her skirt and dripped a little water on it, then proceeded to wash her face as the men watched her in silence.

"What?" she said.

They shook their heads and answered in unison. "Nothing."

Stolen novel; please report.

She smiled self-consciously and pulled a mirror from her bag, glancing at Frank and Elio before checking her face and tucking her stray hairs. She produced a small tin containing a light pink salve. She rubbed it on her lips, pressing them together. She swiped the salve again and dabbed it on her flyaway hairs, then applied a little to each of her wrists.

"What?" she repeated when she caught them both watching her. "Have you never seen a woman freshen up?"

Frank caught scents of honey and old-fashioned roses like his grandmother used to grow. He sighed. "You smell so good."

"You said."

"Did I?"

She nodded. "Wildflowers in the sun."

"I said that?"

She nodded again, smiling. They exchanged a meaningful look, or at least he thought so. Then her smile slowly faded, which was not at all what he was going for.

"Can I have that?" Frank said, gesturing toward her mirror.

Elio put his hand over Tansy's, saying to Frank, "Now is not the time, my friend."

Frank looked back and forth between them. "Seems like a good enough time. Why? How bad is it?"

Tansy looked away.

"Seriously?" When neither of them budged, he said, "Look, I wasn't all that pretty to begin with. Can't be too much of a loss."

Elio sighed. "Your nose will heal. It will add character. Truly, it is... not that bad."

Frank held out his hand.

"It is just," Elio said, "your reflection may... surprise you."

"Not likely. I've been waking up to this mug for—"

Frank trailed off as he looked in the mirror. His nose was bad, though not much worse than he had expected. The bridge bulged in the middle and tilted slightly off center. Light purple bruises had already begun forming under his eyes. Dried blood encrusted his nostrils and upper lip. He had half expected all that nonsense, but the rest? The rest of it stole the air right out of his lungs.

He stood abruptly, forgetting where he was. He conked his head on the low concrete ceiling and yelped.

"Shh!" Tansy whispered.

"Frank! Sit down," Elio commanded.

"What the actual fuck, huh?" Frank said, fighting back tears. His voice was an octave higher than usual. He swallowed a few times to clear the lump in his throat. "What the fuck, Elio?"

"It is only temporary."

"I'm old! I'm an old man, Elio, god dammit. What the fuck did you do?" He looked at Elio, but then a thought occurred to him and he turned to Tansy.

"You? Did you do this?" He heard the panic in his voice but couldn't control it. "You used some weird power shit on me?"

She shook her head vehemently.

"I can't," Frank said, his chest heaving. "I can't take it anymore. It's just too damn much for one man to—"

Struck with a realization, Frank gasped.

"Oh, my god!" He cradled his head in his hands and let the tears have their way with him. "Oh, my god. Ada," Frank sobbed. "He took Ada, didn't he?”

Tansy reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Frank. I tried—"

Frank rocked back and forth on the concrete floor, his shoulders heaving as he howled and wept with abandon. "Not the otter," he cried. "Not sweet little Ada."

Tansy and Elio exchanged glances.

"Frank?" Elio said. "My dear, brave, valiant friend. There was nothing to be done."

"I couldn't stop him," Frank whispered, still rocking back and forth. "I hate him. I couldn't stop him."

"None of us could stop him," Tansy said. "We tried. All of us. Frank? Frank, look at me. Please."

He raised his eyes to hers, letting the snot dangle from his nostril because no way in hell was he touching his sniffer again.

"Here," she said, handing him a handkerchief. He just stared at it. She made a face, but reached out and gently dabbed the snot from his nose. It didn't hurt. While she folded the cloth and dabbed at the rest of his fucked up face, she spoke to him softly.

"We all tried, Frank. You should have seen it. You went down, and suddenly everyone started shouting and fighting. It was beautiful. We all tried to stop him, okay? Because of you."

"What?" he croaked, his breath hitching.

"Because of you, Frank."

"Your courage is commendable, my friend," Elio added. "Rash, perhaps, but also inspiring. Truly."

"Yeah?"

They both nodded.

Frank looked out beyond the iron grate and up into the clear blue sky above, remembering. He started nodding as the details came back to him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I remember now." He looked at Tansy. "Something happened. There was a voice. In my head, I think."

She sat straighter. "Yes."

"New ability?"

Her eyes widened. "Yeah."

"Yeah."

Elio looked back and forth between them. "Come, now. No secrets among friends. Am I right?"

Frank's mouth dropped open. "You—oh, you're a good one to talk! Yeah. Uh huh, okay. No secrets among friends, Rivera."

"Oh," Elio said, looking suddenly sheepish. "Alright, Frank. What would you like to know?"

"Okay," Frank said, wiping his eyes dry. "Where the hell were you? How are we here? What is this place? What do you know? Or, hey, how about this? How about you start by telling me why I'm all of a sudden 80 years old?"