Snippet #2679202

After seeing Cassie's face light up, Briella knew that they'd get along just fine. Any girl that liked cameras was a someone that she wanted to be friends with.

Then, the monk replied.

"Please, call me Dawa. I'm glad you asked, my dear. I'm just like a regular monk, but I didn't have to take a vow of celibacy." His voice had dropped an octave, and his smirk had become a pained leer. Was he... was he coming on to her?

Briella blinked and then stared at him. Really stared at him. Slowly, she looked him up and down. Then, Briella deliberately shifted her weight to one leg. She put her hand on one hip and lowered her sunglasses.

"Well, Dawa," she said in a falsely cheery voice, "I'm sure you'd have no trouble staying celibate."

Of course, that's when Leon burst onto the scene with all the force and enthusiasm of a sugared-up puppy. Perhaps a bunny would be a better comparison, with all the jumping around he did. Briella almost laughed at the expression on Tom's face as the younger kid grabbed his sleeve. She wasn't surprised when Tom leaped at the chance to help Duncan (and escape). Honestly, Leon and Tom were hilarious. She'd never say it out loud, but she'd thought it more than once.

While everyone was becoming familiar with one another, Duke had already wandered closer to the farmhouse. As expected. But Briella did not expect his serious, shocked expression as he knelt by the garden. Tom, who'd joined Duke shortly after, seemed just as concerned by whatever was in the grass.

"What's wrong?" Briella jogged over to the two men. "Did you—"

The appearance of the skull caused her to stop.

"Oh, hell," she muttered to herself. Briella pulled out her camera and began taking pictures. The device responded immediatly, and the pictures were crystal-clear. But that didn't matter as much anymore. "In case it moves," she explained out loud, unnecessarily. There was an edge of black humor in her words. "I'm sure the authorities will want to see this."

Well, Duke had mentioned Richard's plan for a show. (Briella wasn't sure how she felt about that. All this tech was practically hers, dammit, and she didn't hordes of producers touching it. Not to mention the impact it'd have on her freelancing.) Dryly, Briella noted that the discovery of a skeleton was definitely exciting enough for prime-time television.