BXBX NOVEL Chapter 84: You Have My Blessings
Angus was up at dawn and walking through tie corridors calling out in a loud booming voice,
"Get up, ladies and Gentlemen. It\'s time to go!!!"
"Angus, stop yelling," Charles said with a deep frown as he walked out of his room, all dressed.
"Agreed," Stefan said. He was dressed as well but was still rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes.
"Come on," Angus said and led them while still calling out for the others to wake up.
Triss stepped out. Henry did as well a few minutes later. He had swapped out the coat he wore yesterday for a jacket instead. He kept the rest of his clothes the same though. Including the black Hat with the steel buckle.
"Morning," Triss told him with a smile.
Henry returned her smile,
"Good morning," he said.
They joined the others and followed Angus\' lead as he called out for the last two.
The door to a room creaked open soon enough and out of it walked Devon, dressed in a shirt and jacket that both had their sleeves ripped off to grant a full view of his muscles. Barely a minute later, Dana walked out of the room as well.
"Oh," Charles said looking only mildly surprised that Devon and Dana appeared to have spent the night together.
Dana would have liked to not indicate that she had noticed the looks everyone was giving her but she couldn\'t help but glance over at Henry whose eyes were only slightly wide.
And then his eyes returned to their normal sizes as he managed a smile with his lips twitching,
\'You know what, knowing them both, I think they make a good match. A couple that bullies together sticks together.\' Henry thought.
"Good for you," Was what he actually said.
Devon was pushing out his chest with a sense of pride. There was a smile on his face but when he heard Henry\'s words, the smile became a frown and he let out a grunt.
Henry heard the grunt and knew it was meant for him so his smile got even wider. Teasingly wide.
"You both have my blessings," he said.
"Who would want it?" Devon asked as he glared at him with his extra-long canines trembling with his annoyance,
"Who even asked for it?"
"Well, you have it now," Henry said with a shrug, "You\'re welcome."
"Don\'t want it," Devon said, "Take it back."
"Can\'t. Won\'t," Henry said and gestured at Dana with his head,
"Besides, Dana seems to want it. She\'s all giddy-looking."
All eyes went to Dana and her cheeks which were already rosy got even redder but even then, she didn\'t —couldn\'t— look away from Henry.
"Wait," Triss said holding out a palm, "How— Why did this even happen?"
Dana made to open her mouth but Stefan beat her to it,
"Is it not obvious? These two horndogs have been wanting a piece of each other for ages…"
"They have?" Triss asked, surprised.
Stefan nodded,
"They have. I\'d assume they think anything can happen while we rob the Black Manor. Probably figured they might not get another chance so might as well just take what could be their last night to \'Bang it out\'."
Stefan said those last three with a suggestive wiggling of his brows and a smirk on his handsome face.
"People do that kind of stuff together in case they die?" Triss asked like the concept was so alien to her.
Stefan nodded,
"They do."
"Oh," Triss said suddenly feeling like she might have missed an opportunity. Her eyes darted to Henry who was still smiling at Dana\'s flushed face but she looked away quickly lest anyone caught on. Especially, Henry.
The thing was, with his Perception at 15, Henry caught the look. Fleeting as it was.
"Alright, that\'s enough of that," Angus said while waving his hand about,
"And no more talks of death. We\'ll all be fine. Trust me."
Angus led the way to the courtyard and then to the wagon of explosives which he pressed his hand against as he addressed the six Dionisio Gang members in front of him,
"Taking it all will only slow us down. And for a distraction, we certainly won\'t need it all. Fill up your saddlebags and let\'s get going."
Devon took more of the explosives than anyone else due to his horse being large and soon they were all lined in a formation and riding out of the Hadron Mansion\'s grounds.
Henry allowed himself one look behind him at the Mansion\'s walls and he caught a glimpse of Yelena at the entrance with her hand raised in goodbye. He replied with a head nod that he knew she saw before he returned his sight forward and focused on the task at hand.
-
•••
Angus had the Gang riding as fast as they possibly could. The only pauses they took were to allow the horses to recover their Staminas before getting right back on the path.
While Saint Claret was the closest the town of New Freudein and its environs could ever hope to get to a City with high standing in the Valearen country, it was also very much removed from the Countryside.
Angus led the Gang without much worry or care for towns like New Freudein and their Lawmen. He believed that, if they met up with any such blockades, they\'d break through it easily.
The thing was, there was a nervous energy gripping the Dionisio Gang members and it made them almost wish for confrontation. Just people they could deal with and shake off some of the uncomfortable thoughts that were creeping up on them.
Alas, it was like trouble had decided to take a day off.
The most exciting thing to happen was the sighting of a group riding across an intersecting path.
Despite the distance between the Dionisio Gang members and the group of riders, Henry and the others could all see just how heavily armed the group was. With nothing official about the riders\' dressings and an air of malice and notoriety that surrounded them, there was no doubt what they were.
"Bounty Hunters," Charles said with a frown.
The others agreed and Henry had wondered what the riding group would think if they looked over;
Would they guess they were Bounty Hunters as Charles had done to them or would they suspect they were the Dionisio Gang wanted all over the countryside?
\'Either way, if they look over here, they\'ll want to investigate,\' Henry thought with a hand going to one of his guns.
The others were not paying attention to him but, in synch, they did the same. They even sported smiles at the opportunity presented to stretch out nervous muscles.
"Hold on," Angus said with a hand held up in caution but even then he didn\'t direct them to slow down.
By the time the Dionisio Gang was at the intersection where they had spotted the riding group, the group had already ridden past and were riding so fast, that they were quickly dwindling in the distance.
"No point looking for trouble if our paths don\'t cross," Angus said and with many disappointed sighs, guns returned to holsters.
"You know they were probably looking for us, right?" Charles said.
"Not probably," Devon said in a deep voice, "Definitely."
"Doesn\'t matter," Angus said while shaking his head,
"Save all that excitement for Saint Claret."
And that was that.
The rest of the ride passed in silence and the occasional arching of necks to spot any passerby Bounty Hunter they could let loose on.
That behavior, however, stopped when they neared Saint Claret\'s environs because according to Angus, the City was teeming with Special people.
They rode carefully now. Trying not to draw too much attention to themselves and finally, when the Sun began to set, they arrived at the \'famed\' City.