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.

towering fences here, just a waist-high picket fence strung with twinkling fairy lights.

shimmered like tiny fireflies, wrapping the cabins in a

the sight gave Tarquin

and the kids inside

strode forward, ready to see them

Suddenly-

brow creased. He stopped dead,

just stepped on a

he'd be blown to

the cabins. The elders were all legends in

someone had just planted it. Waiting for him to step on

struck him. His eyes darted toward the cabins, his

there, one foot pressing down

scared-just a little

like forever (and a very numb leg), he finally spotted two

a crisp white tracksuit; the

air about them-men you didn't mess

one

doubt about it," the

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

out the second he triggered the mine. Walter was a notorious

the woods at the moment, and he'd already