EVIL

Part Twenty-Nine

"Eunice?"

"I know it's part of the game but, God, I hate that name."

"It grows on you."

"Like a fungus." She paused, thought of him, missed him, loved him, their children. Faces parading through her head.

"Fungi are actually quite amazing."

She shivered. "No thank you."

"All right. Come with me. There's something for you to see."

He was the same but, less warm. He seemed almost deflated. "Dad? Are you …?"

He caressed her cheek, something he hadn't done since that light hand on her arm. He'd helped her train, shown her physically how to do much she'd been told to learn but unnecessary touch hadn't played into it.

"You have no idea how much that means to me. Come."