61. Vesper
VESPER
“The gates will open tomorrow,” Cipher says. “They will be marked with yellow on your interface maps while open. There will be a crowd in New Babel, mostly those trying to take advantage of fresh players. It is best you be prepared for the chaos of it.”
“Noted,” I tell him as we walk around the boardwalk looking for Stevie so we can head into the safehouse.
We find him at the end of the boardwalk, out over the water, hovering next to a man I don’t recognize.
The man is dressed in one of those fancy pinstripe suits, just like many in the Gilded District are, but he somehow looks more expensive.
Golden jewelry decorates his body, cufflinks, a necklace, a watch, and rings.
He turns as we approach, his eyes lighting up as NPCs tend to do.
“Hello, old sports!” he says excitedly. “Fancy a side quest, do ya?”
“No,” Havoc says.
I raise my brow, curious. We haven’t accepted any side quests yet. Maybe we can use them for grinding. “What’s the side quest?”
The man rushes toward me and takes my hand, dragging me toward the water.
“Lovely, lovely. My name is Jay Gatsby and I have the side quest of all side quests for you if you choose to accept.” He releases my hand and stretches his arms out toward the dark water in a strange way.
I could swear he starts to tremble as I follow his outstretched arms over the river.
I see nothing there but a single green light, far on the other side of the rushing river. “See that light just there?”
“The green one?” I ask.
“Yes, precisely.” Gatsby turns to me. “Your quest, if you choose to accept, is to bring it to me.”
“The light?” I clarify.
Gatsby nods. “It’s so hard to make her understand. I’ve gotten all these things for her.” He shakes his head. “I knew that when I kissed this girl, I would be forever wed to her.”
I frown. “Is it a light or a woman?”
“Your quest, if you choose to accept, is to bring that green light to me,” Gatsby repeats, clearly shutting down any further questioning. “You reward will be great.”
“We shouldn’t accept if you want to be at the Harrow Gate,” Havoc points out. “These quests have time limits, and if you fail, you lose XP.”
“What’s the time limit?” I ask Gatsby.
“You have until the sun rises in three days.”
“That means we can do it after we get Dox,” I say, looking at Havoc. “Isn’t that okay?”
“It’s a bad idea,” he grumbles. “But I’ve heard the loot can be good for this quest.”
“It’s settled then,” Stryker says. “You should definitely do it.”
“No one asked for your opinion,” Locke growls.
“Good thing I don’t care,” Stryker fires back.
“The green light is, like, totally pretty,” Stevie comments. “I bet it would look amazing with Gatsby’s pinstripe suit.”
Gatsby’s grin widens, but he only says, “It’s so hard to make her understand. I’ve gotten all these things for her.”
Sighing, I nod toward Gatsby. “We’ll accept the quest.”
“How splendid,” Gatsby says. “Use this card to call me when you have it.” He puts a paper card in my hand and then turns back to the water. I watch as he slowly reaches out toward the green light again. “Oh, Daisy. I’m coming.”
SIDE QUEST INITIATED
Bring the green light to Jay Gatsby and end his pitiful pining!
TIME REMAINING: 2 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds.
I immediately regret accepting the offer, my instincts screaming at me that I’ve made a mistake, but I tuck the strange paper card away and we all head back to the Half-Moon Hotel. That’ll be a problem for after we find Dox.
Once inside the hotel, we all settle onto the lounge furniture in the lobby and discuss what we’re going to do next.
“Now that we’re Tier Two’s, I think we should hit the Major Bosses in each region,” Locke begins. “We get the keys, and we can enter the inner regions.”
“Tier Two is hardly high enough to defeat the Major Bosses,” Havoc points out. “You need to grind and level up more.”
“Normally, if it were just Vesper and me, sure,” Locke shrugs. “It would be difficult. But we also have you, the Leech, and Steve.”
Havoc shakes his head. “The Leech’s powers are muted. The Ophanim talks. He doesn’t fight.”
“You also have me,” Svetlana interjects. “And of course, I am the reason we shall win.”
Havoc shoots her a look and dismisses her, causing her to make a sound of outrage. “And what about your friend you’re waiting for? If she comes through, she will not have a Glitch yet.”
“We can protect her,” I say, crossing my arms. “Dox is a quick learner. She’ll level up fast.”
“We get your friend and start with New Babel since we’re already here,” Locke nods.
“Then we hit The Shatterlands and then finally return back to the Verdant Nexus. We get the keys, and we’ll enter the inner regions from there.
We’ll grind along the way, leveling us and your friend up, so that by the time we reach the inner sections, we’re stronger. ”
Stryker rolls his eyes. “You lot are so structured,” he groans. “I much prefer chaos.”
“You can go away if you don’t like it,” I tell him with a raised brow.
“Remove this collar and I will,” he purrs, leaning closer.
“Not gonna happen, Leech,” Locke grunts.
Stryker leans closer to me, pressing against my side. “Come on, Beastie. Didn’t you like the way it felt when I sipped from you?”
“No,” I lie, glaring at him.
He laughs, as if he knows it’s a lie. I clench my thighs together.
“Stay away from him,” Cipher says in my mind.
I lean back. “Why?” I ask
“He is a Leech,” he points out. “Leeches main source of power is stealing life force from others. They are worse than Bone Breakers.”
“And he’s wearing Fenrir’s collar.”
“That is not what I mean,” Cipher continues.
“Leeches, they do not get to be Ascendants without a cost, Vesper. They do not make it there without making a few deals. I cannot tell who might own this Leech, and you would do well to stay away from him. He had to do terrible things, even by Dross standards, to reach Tier Five.”
I study Stryker, taking in his short white-blonde hair and his corded muscles.
He watches me study him, a slow grin spreading across his face.
“Ah, good ole Cipher is warning you about me then,” he says, amused.
He leans in closer. “Did he tell you how many players I drained to live? Did he tell you about the decaying wake I left behind me?”
“For someone with intentions of getting in my pants, you certainly are saying the wrong things right now,” I say, staring at him. “And you’re awfully confident for someone wearing a collar with their powers muted.”
He smirks. “When I get this collar off—and I will get it off—I’m going to enjoy bending you over the nearest surface, slamming inside you, and sinking my teeth into your neck, Beastie,” he purrs.
He leans in and it takes everything in me not to lean away, to maintain my control.
His lips press against my jaw, a single, lingering kiss that makes me tense.
“Think of me when you fuck one of the other ones,” he whispers.
“Know that I would enjoy watching. Know that I’ll be envious.
Know that I would do anything to be in their place. ”
And then he stands and heads to the bar in the other part of the hotel, leaving me there to slowly become aware of just how fucking wet I am between my thighs.
Fucking bastard.