"And after discovering this place, you simply decided to enter?"
"We found someone who offered to guide us." Elion spread his hands slightly. "Would you have expected us to assume that following a hungry little girl would land us in trouble?"
The man's grin widened at the mention of Eva, and Elion found himself wishing he had left her out of the conversation.
There was something unpleasantly knowing about that expression that made his earlier suspicion about the child being bait feel considerably less like a suspicion.
Nevertheless, he had already said too much to withdraw the remark.
"Our people are waiting for us," he continued. "If we fail to return, they'll come looking. I doubt either of us wants that to become necessary."
The man inclined his head, considering the possibility.
Elion could almost hear his own heartbeat in the ensuing silence, each heavy thud making him wonder whether the bastard standing before him could hear it too.
