In a short council meeting, Nelsonville refused to discuss a Core or magic. The vibe was so negative that Rowan mentioned twice that he was immune to bullets. Cora kept her suit behind them, a heavy blaster at the ready.

  In the end, Cora took the Core in her inventory, Rowan bought some clothes, sold the car back at a loss, and left for Elkins with the Ranger’s RV. Bree’s family was poor, so moving out from a town that almost chased them away with pitchforks and torches had not been a hard choice. Taking a detour to avoid the radioactive zone, they approached the County from the northwest until they reached the distance from where Cora could call for a portal. They passed through in screams: joy from the children and terror from Bree and her maybe husband. Rowan was too polite to ask.

  They arrived home in time for lunch. Grace and Lizzie came to hug Rowan, the latter eying the newcomers with suspicion. Who are those kids, competition? Daddy won’t adopt them, right? Her thoughts flashed through Rowan’s mind as they hugged, his Insight activating automatically.

  “These are the folks I told you about on the phone, Bree and her family,” Rowan tried to sound warm. “She’s a terrific fighter. This is Grace, my wife, and Lizzie, our daughter.”

  They all shook hands. “Come inside, lunch is ready,” Grace said. “Dmitri made moussaka. He’s the guy waving at us through the window.”

  Eating took some time, and the good food helped relax the tension. In the end, Bree’s partner started to unleash joke after joke, and he was funny. The wear he wore on his face and his rough hands hinted at a life of hard work that didn’t always pay. As time passed, the Ranger started to visibly fret and look frequently at her kids, a boy and a girl about eight and seven, now playing with Lizzie, who had warmed up to them.

  “Just show us where to park our RV, and we won’t impose any longer on you,” Bree’s partner said. “We’d like to spend some time together.”

  “Request denied,” Rowan said. The guests, but also the rest, jerked in surprise. “Lizzie, do you mind taking your new friends to your room? We need to have an adult moment.”

  “Of course, Daddy,” Lizzie’s eyes lightened. “I’ll show them my Viscountess crown and all. It has diamonds!”

  “Not real diamonds, Swarovskis,” Rowan explained as his adoptive daughter pulled Bree’s kids after her. The girl was totally enthused, and the boy was dragging his feet. “Listen, folks, I need ten minutes of your time, then you’re free to go. First, Bree, you’re among the few Awakened with good combative skills. How many are we, again, Cora?”

  The Nekojin, who was in the process of discreetly picking her nose with a nail, pretended she was just scratching it and took out a pad. “Earth-wide, maybe six hundred Classed above C tier, and a few thousand B tier. I suppose Viscardi turned a few people into Thralls or Vampires, but I can’t be sure.”

  “Gh…” Bree’s partner spat some coffee. “For real? Vampires? Do they transform into bats?”

  “Viscardi Blakswarm can transform into a colony of a thousand bats, and if you don’t kill every single one of them, he can get back to full health in seconds by siphoning your Hit Points,” Cora said. “Those he bites don’t transform into vampires; they turn into thralls, mindless slaves. But if someone drinks his blood, then yes, they could become a vampire.”

  “I was offered a Vampire class at first,” Rowan remembered. “Never mind. Here’s the deal. For giving us the Core, you can stay in our County and choose a place for yourself. Land, house, whatever. You like it, we’ll buy it for you.”

  “That’s… generous. Thanks,” Bree said.

  “It’s not. A core is priceless. I can think of a people or two who would have spent millions or more to get their hands on one of those. That said, we did free you from that dungeon, so let’s call it quits. What I propose, though, is to work together from now on.”

  “You want me to be a sort of superhero?” Bree asked. “I don’t think I’m cut for it.”

  “I assure you, you are,” Rowan said. “You can start with easy tasks, like babysitting. It counts as a police job. Isla, a friend of ours, will show you the ropes.”

  “Babysitting counts as police work?” Bree gasped.

  “There are eighteen kids who can do magic, like Lizzie. There is a non-stop protection detail for each, and we’re short on people.”

  “H-how much d-does it pay?”

  In the woman's voice, there was a sound that Rowan knew so well. Could she put bread on the table for her family without risking her life for it? A life that wasn’t worth living in itself but for the joy of seeing their kids grow.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Five grand a month. We kept the dollar as a currency.”

  “Health insurance?”

  “I can work, honey,” her partner patted Bree’s hand. “Let’s take our time, think it over.”

  He was truly caring for her, Rowan realized. It was a good sign.

  “We don’t have health insurance here because there’s no need for it. A pass of hands and a spell cures anything. Dental, eyes, all are covered. Now, back to business, and I’ll be direct. Our town can resurrect people. I’m offering you and your kids a Rezz spot if you stay and fight with us. We might also spare one for your husband when we grow in level. But the town is pretty safe as is anyway.”

  “I understand…” Bree said slowly, nodding. “I’ll think about it… Now, I’d like to spend some time with my family.”

  “Of course. Think it through. Ah, one more thing. When you get time, check your build, and if you need advice, just call me or Cora.”

  In the afternoon, Rowan played with Lizzie, feeling guilty for being on the run or absent often. After an hour and a half of ball games, hide-and-seek, or purposelessly running around, she fell asleep in her arms, exhausted. He put the girl in her bed for a siesta and returned to the porch, sitting on the swing bench beside Grace, fondling her hand.

  “I missed you…”

  “I missed you too,” she returned the caresse, adding a kiss on the cheek. “So, how are things out there?”

  “It’s a big unknown. Tensions, factions, conspiracies… My pal in Louisville told me that every city and state ignores the central government. Things look the same, but no one knows where things will go. The US fears us, the Vampires fear a mobster, The Smuggler—”

  “Sorry? Aren’t they mobsters themselves?”

  “I guess it’s a meaner one. I didn’t have time to ask… Where’s Cora, by the way?”

  “Taking a shower. She helped me bake something for tonight, and the oven made her sweat a lot. I’ll go check if she lies and gives herself a sponge bath again.”

  “Honey, that’s prying,” Rowan put a hand on Grace’s arm. “Give the cat… I mean, the girl, some space. She’s an adult, after all.”

  “Adult?” Grace snorted. “Prying for the greater good is not prying.” After saying that, Grace patted his hand and then fondled his fingers. “I can’t wait for the night,” she leaned forward, kissing him. “Do I have your permission to do naughty things to you tonight? I want to be naughty, extremely naughty…” She moved his lips to his ear, tickling him with her whisper. “Supreme tier level naughty. Are you OK with it?”

  “Oh, goodness…” he gasped. “Don’t ever ask again to be naughty… I like it so much…”

  “Perfect,” she changed her tone to casual, pecking his lips and rising. “Time to check the beast.”

  One minute later, while he was lounging leisurely with a glass of Bourbon in hand, daydreaming about the promised pleasures of the night, an avalanche of terrifying screams rolled over his ears. He couldn’t understand the words, but for sure somebody was killed, or on the point to be, upstairs. Rowan activated a Joint Trip, stepping up in the air like on a stair, then passing through walls until he reached Cora’s room. There, the Nekojin and Grace confronted each other, gesticulating vehemently.

  “Hey, calm down!” he appeared in between, just a second before Grace was going to throw herself at Cora, hands prepared to strangle.

  “I caught her in the act!” Grace screamed.

  “You caught nothing, you uncivilized monkey,” Cora yelled back. “Get out of here.”

  “Girls, let’s behave like adults.”

  “Adults? Look!” Grace forwarded her hand in an accusatory gesture.

  For Rowan, her ire made no sense. Under the window, he could see a big, quite decorated Zen sandbox filled with tiny white granules. The decorations on the walls attracted his eyes akin to magnets: cross-stitch embroideries representing a cute catgirl—the resemblance with Cora was striking—dressed in a pink princess-like neglige in dreamlike poses. The last thing he would have expected from an Engineer obsessed with robots.

  “Hey! Say something,” Grace shook him by the shoulders.

  “So what’s the problem again?”

  “I caught her peeing in the box,” she screamed.

  “Oh My God, Cora, you’re naked! Please dress!” Rowan yelled, covering her eyes.

  Cora wasn’t naked, in fact, but her shapes were quite obvious through her pink neglige.

  “I’m in my room!” Cora clenched her fists. “And I’m paying rent for it. You two go out this instant.”

  “I want that gone. Now. You will use the normal toilet, like normal people.”

  “What’s normal in that? Filthy water sprays back at you as soon you splash something in it. My litter’s Manasand is specially designed to magically destroy any odor and substance.”

  “Rowan? Do something.”

  He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart. She’s right on this. It’s her room, she pays rent, and she's entitled to her… err… cultural heritage."

  [Joint Trip] engaged. 0/10 charges remaining.

  He went down through the floor and returned to the porch after pouring himself another full glass of Bourbon.

  When night came, Grace's anger was still smoldering. She was huffing and puffing as she brushed her teeth. Rowan was in bed, looking at her from the bedroom. She returned to the bedroom, crossed her arms, and frowned at him. “You must learn to behave like a man and stand up for your woman, not side with an alien.”

  “I’ll try, honey,” he made puppy eyes. “It’s just hard sometimes. Mostly when you're in the wrong.”

  Going to the windows, she pulled the heavy curtains completely, then shut off the lights. The room was in almost complete darkness. “You’ve been a bad boy. You don’t deserve the birthday gift I prepared for you….”

  “Birthday gift?”

  “Of course. It’s soon enough, right?”

  “Sort of.”

  Grace came to the bed, putting her index on his mouth. “This is a very special gift. You are not to say a word.”

  “What?”

  “Tut tut tut! Think of it as a beautiful dream. If you speak, you’ll wake up, and the dream goes away. Keep your mouth shut and just go with the flow. Ahum!” Grace cleared her voice.

  The door opened, then closed, and Isla entered the room. Isla wore that sexy robe that always made him stare at her. She approached the bed, slipping out of her dress on the way. She and Grace exchanged a kiss, and then she leaned toward him and pecked his lips. Rowan’s heart skipped a bit, and as he opened his mouth to ask if he was dreaming, Grace pressed her finger on his mouth again. Then, both women slipped under the blankets, and Rowan decided to take things as they were. Who was he to question his wife’s gifts, after all?