I stood up ready to leave. It reminded me of one of those awkward moments with my wife’s family back home. She always lost track of time and I was the one who had to make the decision to leave. I felt like an arsehole every time. The look her mum gave me, like I’d just ran over their dog. Every. Single. Time.

  This was a bit like that.

  Nyx eyeballed me as I rose from the seat he’d provided. Rex and Jack immediately followed my example and I motioned as if to leave.

  “Such a rush,” Nyx sighed, “well, at least allow one of my people to escort you back. These halls can be quite unforgiving to strangers.”

  I nodded and he motioned to one of the succubae who placed her palm on a small, mana activated, button on the far column. I heard trotting as someone jogged through a side door. He seemed shaky like one of those tiny handbag dogs rich women liked to carry around in their purses.

  “Jamie, please show our guests out,” Nyx said, flashing a smile in the direction of the young man.

  Jamie?

  Standing before me was a man I recognised. We’d been in a faux party together for the adventurer exam once upon a time. During the dragon attack on Havar he’d been thrown and badly damaged. The last time I’d seen him he was wrapped head to toe in bandages, like a mummy.

  “Jamie?” I said, flabbergasted as I stared at the man. He looked uninjured, but he had deep, black bags under his bloodshot eyes.

  “Kaleb?” He replied skittishly.

  “I wondered if you two might know each other,” Nyx said slyly. “Jamie, please escort Kaleb and his team off the premises. Make sure they get back to Castalor safely would you?”

  ***

  “I really don’t like that guy,” Bell moaned as we left the bathhouse and returned to the corridor. “He gave off some seriously rapey vibes. Like not just those ‘close guy friend who would given the chance’ vibes either, I’m talking full on ‘follow you down and ally with a knife and an erection’ vibes.”

  “Thanks for that wonderful imagery there, Bell,” Jack grumbled.

  I was barely listening to them. I was still shocked that Jamie was here. Alive. Working for a guy like that. Staring into the back of his head as he led us into the main bar section of the club, I kept seeing him getting swatted like a fly by that dragon over and over again in my mind.

  After a short while, I decided to just come out and ask him. “Jamie, what happened to you?”

  Looking at me over his shoulder he smiled, though it didn’t reach his thousand yard stare, “shall we get a drink before you go?”

  I nodded.

  “Well if you’re catching up I’m going to go grab a drink at the bar,” Jack said, leaving the group. He obviously knew the main areas of the Morningstar pretty well. Rex nodded to me and then followed after him.

  Since when were those two so chummy? I wondered.

  “I heard there’s a mean strip club in the back,” Bell said with a grin. “I’ve never been to one, so I might go check it out.”

  “No worries,” I replied, “just don’t get into any trouble and watch your back.”

  “No need,” she winked, grabbing Panda under his arms and pressing him into her sternum like child with a plush toy. “I’ve got protection.”

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  Panda looked at me with eyes that pleaded for help. It was that same look a dog gives its owner when it’s bath time. Though I hoped for Panda’s sake he wouldn’t return to me soaking wet.

  Nodding my goodbyes to them, I followed Jamie to a private booth in the far corner. The club wasn’t as busy this time as it had been in Havar, but the clientele was quite different. It seemed to have been rebuilt. The club itself occupied a dimensional space that could be accessed from any Morningstar entrance.

  However, from what I understood, the back rooms were location dependent. So this one likely had a different basement sublevel to the one we’d rescued Bell from before. In the same way, I doubted the bathhouse was located outside of Havar, which meant Nyx lived in the capital city.

  It was possible to portal between cities using the Morningstar Hotel and Spa gateways located in the reception area. However it was off limits for most people. You either had to work for them or be a VIP. I guessed that was how Jamie got here. Something must have happened to him in Havar, then he’d somehow gotten mixed up with these goons and ended up working for Nyx in Castalor. Poor guy, he was quite a long way from home.

  “What’s your poison?” He asked as I took a seat at the booth. As we sat down the thumping dubstep-style music faded to a dull thud. The booth must have been gated with soundproofing mana.

  “Something dark,” I said. He nodded and pressed his hand onto a small palm reader on the table. A few moments later, two glasses of dark liquid poofed onto the table. “Impressive, I bet that little trick doesn’t come cheap.”

  “Nothing here does,” he replied quietly. “Only the best for the dirtiest money on the continent. But that’s not what you want to talk about is it?”

  I shook my head. “The last time I saw you, you were covered in bandages and I was told you were lucky to live. It’s only been a month or two. What happened?”

  “It’s a long story,” he replied sadly, his eyes refusing to meet mine.

  “I’ve got time.”

  “Fine,” he huffed, downed his drink and then ordered another. He downed that too and then began to speak. “After Lucas Regina became king he ordered the court healers to fix me up, along with a bunch of other people who were hurt by the dragon attack.”

  “Lucas is king? What the fuck.”

  “Looks like you’ve missed a lot. You’d be better off asking him about it. Anyway, I couldn’t face going back to adventuring after that. I wandered around Havar for a while, tried a few jobs here and there but I’ve got no skills outside of water magic and Havar is an island, they don’t need my water.

  “I ran out of money and ended up on the streets, running odd jobs here and there. A friend of mine, Billy, he told me about this high-stakes game at Morningstar. Said he’d spot me and everything. All I had to do was play using his chips.”

  I could immediately guess where this was going, but I let him continue.

  “Turned out the chips were rigged and I got caught. The syndicate gave me two options, death or servitude. Naturally I chose the latter.”

  “Well that was a stupid thing to do,” I replied.

  “You have no idea the kind of bind I was in,” he said, but there was no fight in his words. “You’d have done the same in my position.”

  “No I wouldn’t,” I said coldly. “I would have gotten back up and continued fighting. In fact, that’s exactly what I did do.”

  He was silent, still refusing to look at me, so I continued. “Look Jamie, I… me and my team I mean, we can break you out of here if you want. That whole mess with the dragon wasn’t your fault. The gambling trick was stupid, but you don’t deserve to be stuck in this pit for the rest of your life.”

  He looked at me for the first time, a dry smile appeared on his lips but only for a moment. “Thanks for the offer, but it’d never work. Nyx is a god and I work directly for him now, there’s no way he’d let you take me. Besides, I’m actually kinda good at this. I like it here.”

  “Ok, if you’re sure.”

  “I am, but thanks all the same.” He placed his hand on the scanner again and another drink popped up. I didn’t even remember drinking mine. He slid it towards me. “By the way, there’s a black market through that door.” He indicated a small, inconspicuous passage near the bar. “They sell some top-quality wares down there. You should check it out before you go. I’ll be at the bar when you’re ready to leave. A word of warning though, don’t go wandering in the back rooms. It’s dangerous back there.”

  “I suppose Nyx has something worth protecting?”

  “You’re damned right, he’s got a vault, largest I’ve ever seen. Apparently it’s a bust though. I heard a rumour that he keeps the skins of his enemies in there. Creepy shit.”

  Skins? I thought, if that means what I think it does then we’ll have to rob this bastard eventually. Not today though, we need a plan and the party needs some rest.

  Sipping my drink, I considered his offer and decided to go take a look at the black market. I wanted desperately to send a message to Lucas asking him about this coronation I apparently missed, but I didn’t have his chat info. Outside of my team, I only had Sally and Freja.

  Trying my luck, I sent another message to Sally.

  Kaleb: Hey, how are you doing? I know this chat is blocked but it wouldn’t kill you to still check It every once in a while you know. By the way, have you heard Lucas has been made king? I just heard from someone in Castalor. WTF.

  This chat is currently blocked.

  God damn it Sally.