"Chic chic." Manhal laughed, happy and loud. The sound bounced off the bloodstained ground. All of his teeth showed. Chloe had thought one side would be dark, maybe stained, maybe rotten, but in disappointment, all of his teeth were white. Too white. Like bone bleached under a sun that had never set.
"You have guts," he said, voice dipping low, then rising again. "Chic chic. But I like it." his laugh sounded neither human nor animal. It was coarse and ingrating. Air besides him creaked at every laugh.
Chloe sighed. Her hand came up and slapped her forehead, helpless. The impact stung, but not as much as the situation. Now she had to save her third sister from being marked as interesting prey by Manhal. She didn't have time for this. She didn't have the energy for Deena's theatrics.
