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⊹ Book 1 of the Aldergrove Duology ⊹
After being told he has only six months left to live, Clementine decides to track down his sister's murderers, leading him to Aldergrove A...
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⤠ ≻ ◈ ≺ ⤟
After dinner, Clementine and his allies headed up to Elliot's room. He'd never seen Elliot so desperate to leave a place before, but he understood why. Brendan seemed like the kind of man who hit his wife and child and convinced them it was their fault he'd done it.
He sighed, looking down at the two cards in his hand. "Hit me."
Mathew handed him another card.
"Damn it," he mumbled, placing down his ace, five, and nine.
"I'm sorry about my dad, guys," Elliot mumbled as he placed down his queen of hearts and ace.
Everyone placed their losing cards down and let Mavis shuffle them all back into the deck.
"Don't be sorry," Clementine said.
"Yeah. It's not your fault he's an asshole," Sebastien added.
Mavis handed them all a new pair of cards. "He's a very rude man," she grumbled. "His face needs to be hit with a pan."
"He needs more than a pan to the face," Clementine mumbled.
Elliot didn't say anything. He just nodded and took his cards.
"What's a speaker?" Sebastien asked, breaking the silence.
"Uh...well, that's an old term for what my family are," Elliot answered. "They used to communicate with deities and trapped souls and stuff like that. I don't know why he acts so proud, though. He never even harnessed the ability."
Sebastien scoffed as he held his hand out for another card. "And he had the audacity the belittle Clem."
"I don't really care," Clementine said with a shrug.
"Well, I'm sorry again," Elliot said. "I wanted today to be fun for everyone, but he ruined it, didn't he?"
Mavis shook her head. "It was still a really nice dinner, Elly. I liked trying all of those foods—it's put me in a happy mood!"
"We should all go and thank her properly," Mathew suggested.
Elliot nodded slightly. "Well, we should wait until my dad leaves. I don't think he's too happy that I brought all of you home. My aunt was fine, but...well, he's never really liked anything we did."
"I'm out," Sebastien mumbled, placing his cards down.
"Same," Clementine said.
Mathew placed down a ten, a six, and a five. "I win."
They handed their cards to Mavis, who shuffled them back into the deck. But as the sound of smashing glass echoed from downstairs, the deck fell out of her hands, spilling cards all over the floor.
