Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

In the distance, the hunt in the forest was still raging.

It was too far away to hear any screams, but the roars of wild beasts echoed through the trees.

Tarquin glanced down at the numbers glowing on his wristband.

Over fifty illegal poachers had slipped into these woods-now, more than half of them were dead.

Only twenty-two left.

Not a flicker of surprise or sympathy crossed Tarquin's face.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, he thought. They brought this on themselves.

He tapped his wristband, switching to the navigation screen, and started trekking toward the lodge. There were still a few dozen poachers back at the house waiting to be dealt with.

The forest was wild and thick. No trails, just tangled roots and brambles everywhere.

Lucky for him, Tarquin was no stranger to the wilderness. With his digital map guiding him, he found the old cabins soon enough.

The elders' cabins were a circle of eight wooden lodges, each one snug against the next.

All two-story, all built from sturdy oak, all practically identical.

Six of the elders had a place of their own. Elysia and the kids shared another. The last was a communal storeroom, stacked with supplies and food-canned beans, jerky, crackers, peanut butter, and all sorts of homey essentials.

fairy lights.

fireflies,

the sight gave Tarquin a sense of warmth

thinking of Elysia and the kids inside made

forward, ready to see them

Suddenly-

He stopped

he'd just

be blown to bits. Just

cabins. The elders were all legends in their own right-ho way they'd let anything so dangerous get this close to

Waiting for him

eyes darted toward the

one foot pressing

scared-just a little

very numb leg), he

crisp white tracksuit; the other, a

certain air about them-men

one

doubt about it," the other

knew who they were. He called out, "Hey Quincy. Hey

mine. Walter

Howard were out of the woods at the moment, and he'd