Are they here for revenge? Will they be as bribable as Nick? Lucas looked up and locked his gaze on Valerie.

“It’s strange to actually see you with a spine for once,” Malik, the man next to Valerie, continued. “Saving the day and doing the right thing for the village? Where was that when we were facing Xun Guan?”

“Easy, nya! We can’t be faulting him for that. He just couldn’t stand killing his favorite little NPC girl,” Valerie said.

“Maybe. But it was still cold, brother,” Malik said flatly. “What you did. Do you know how long we had to farm to get the items back just to complete that quest? That wasn’t very nice of you.”

His words made it seem as if the two had forgiven Lucas for his betrayal, but his icy tone and the angry glances said the exact opposite. He might have been able to keep his voice dull and lifeless, but his eyes were red with rage and his smile was definitely forced and fake.

“Sorry,” Lucas said, shrugging dismissively. “I had my reasons.” He didn’t feel like dealing with this, and he couldn’t afford to waste time on it. All it took was a single quick glance to know that neither was a healing class, and he felt confident that, if push came to shove, he could kill them both where they stood. It’s good to be a boss, he thought as he puffed out his chest and refused to back down from whatever intimidation play Malik was trying to make.

“And why is frumpy with them?” Valerie asked, shifting her glare to Nick. “What happened? He killed you, and you scampered back over to see if he’d do it again?”

“I think the better question is: Why wasn’t he with you? Were you only keeping him around to fill the roster?” Lucas asked Valerie. Then, turning to Malik, he added with a sneer, “Or was it that you were worried he’d be a third wheel and ruin the mood?”

“There’s no reason to be hostile, brother,” Malik said.

“I think there are plenty of reasons,” Lucas countered. “I think that, right now, you want to kill me where I stand. If so, the feeling is mutual.”

“Lucas, just let them pass,” Nick advised cautiously. “We don’t want a confrontation. Let’s just go get our quest reward.”

Lucas looked over at Nick and saw something very familiar: his sister-in-law’s shirking and shrinking from any sort of argument or push back when she was in college. He remembered very well that the apparently now-pushy Liu had, at one point, been a meek wallflower, and Lucas had stepped in to stop her from being bullied on more than one occasion. He’s the same as she was: no friends, but plenty of enemies. Weakness invites that kind.