I’m not an artist I’m a fucking work of art
The goon watched the bag leave his hand and the stone enter it with the sort of hunger that suggested he was after more than some pretty bauble. Still, clutching the necklace and holding it to the light, he grunted some form of agreement and tossed it behind him for one of his lackeys to catch. Neither of them managed it, and of course they both started scrabbling to pick it up.
Either way, it gave the ringleader time to reach out and snatch Eloise's wrist, jerking her forward a good foot or so. "I don't reckon it's worth that much up close," he informed her. "You're gonna sweeten this deal, darlin'. The night's young and we got plenty of time on our hands. Now get on those soft little knees and earn i--"
Whatever he had been about to say would cut off rapidly into a sort of... gargling noise. So consumed had he been (and his thoughts, besides) in whatever the former duchess would be doing with her hands and mouth - by choice or otherwise - that he had neglected to gaze over her shoulder.
Where a larger man would have been obvious, Jack had been able to amble along the shadowed pathway without so much as a wink of notice. And he'd wasted not one second of time, reaching over Eloise's shoulder to plunge something small and thin and ever-so-sharp into the side of the thug's neck. Blood began to flow, to pour from the wound, and naturally, madness ensued.
Either way, it gave the ringleader time to reach out and snatch Eloise's wrist, jerking her forward a good foot or so. "I don't reckon it's worth that much up close," he informed her. "You're gonna sweeten this deal, darlin'. The night's young and we got plenty of time on our hands. Now get on those soft little knees and earn i--"
Whatever he had been about to say would cut off rapidly into a sort of... gargling noise. So consumed had he been (and his thoughts, besides) in whatever the former duchess would be doing with her hands and mouth - by choice or otherwise - that he had neglected to gaze over her shoulder.
Where a larger man would have been obvious, Jack had been able to amble along the shadowed pathway without so much as a wink of notice. And he'd wasted not one second of time, reaching over Eloise's shoulder to plunge something small and thin and ever-so-sharp into the side of the thug's neck. Blood began to flow, to pour from the wound, and naturally, madness ensued.
