63. Vesper
VESPER
I’d spent the night curled around Locke’s body, our limbs intertwined in a tangle that was almost impossible to extract myself from the next day.
My body is blissfully sore and there are a few finger-sized bruises on my hips, but otherwise, I’ve never felt better.
I stretch and climb from the bed, trailing over to the small shower and turning it on.
As I wash myself, I feel him loom behind me, and without looking, I reach for him.
His large body comes around me, his arms wrapping me tight as we stand in the hot water together.
“Good rest,” he murmurs in my ear, his arms crossed over my chest. His voice is like gravel after a night of heavy sleep.
“Good rest,” I reply, smiling as I stroke my fingers along his arms. “Did you sleep okay?”
He hums. “The best sleep I’ve ever had,” he answers honestly.
“Same,” I admit, glancing over my shoulder at him.
His eyes are bright as he studies me, and as we look at each other, he leans in.
The kiss is gentle, reverent, and it makes me feel like some fragile thing.
I’ve never felt so . . . so . . . worshipped before.
Sudden emotion chokes my throat, but I look away before he can see it and make sure the water washes it away.
Now isn’t the time for tears. This is still the Harrow. And we have a task today.
“Cipher,” I say, tilting my head back against Locke’s shoulder as his hands start to stroke me. “How long until the Harrow Gates open?”
“Nine hours, twenty-three minutes, and fifty-two seconds,” he supplies helpfully.
“We should start making our way toward the Harrow Gate,” I tell Locke. “I’d rather be there early than late in case Dox comes through. If she comes through.”
“She’ll come through,” he says, holding me tight.
“How do you know?” I ask. “You don’t even know her.”
“But I know you,” he murmurs. “And I met her briefly. If there’s a way for her to get through, she’ll be there.”
I cling onto him a little tighter, not realizing I needed that reassurance until he’d given it. “Yeah.”
“We have nine hours, though,” Locke continues. “Should we handle the Gatsby Quest and get it over with?”
I frown. “I don’t want to miss the Harrow Gates.”
“We have nine hours,” he repeats. “We have plenty of time to make it there. The quest isn’t even a hard one. We just gotta bring the green light back.”
I hesitate. “Cipher? Do we have enough time to make it back to the Harrow Gates?”
“There is an eighty percent chance you can finish the quest and make it back to the Gate with an hour to spare. As long as everything goes according to plan.”
I worry my bottom lip. “I’m not sure I want to risk that.”
“Maybe it gives us enough loot to share with Dox, though,” Locke points out. “She’s coming in with no Glitch. We’re gonna have to protect her for a while.”
“But we can literally do the quest after the Harrow Gate,” I remind him.
“But it doesn’t make sense to go all the way to the Harrow Gate and then all the way back across the river and then again, back down to the Speakeasy Sprawl to find the Major Boss. This would save us a lot of time.”
“He has a point,” Cipher says. “And you have an eighty percent chance of completing it with plenty of time."
"I'm more worried about that twenty percent chance of not getting back,” I reply. “There’s also the chance that she doesn’t even come to this Gate you said.”
Cipher hums. “I will do everything in my power to get her to this gate. It will take . . . a bit of code—”
“You have no idea how much I appreciate you trying for me,” I tell him.
“I do,” he answers. “That is why I am doing it.”
Locke chuckles. “It’s a good thing Cipher is just a machine,” he says. “I’d be worried about the competition otherwise.”
Just a machine. I chuckle halfheartedly along with him, knowing that Cipher is anything but just a machine. Everything about the system is almost as human as we are. He has emotions, wants, needs, hunger.
“You should still be worried about the competition,” Cipher declares. “If not from me, at least from the Warden and the Leech.”
Locke snorts. “Vesper wouldn’t be insane enough to give the Leech a chance.”
“Why not?” Cipher asks. “She gave you one.”
Locke stops laughing real quick, his eyes flicking over to me as he clamps his lips shut.
He doesn’t ask me and I don’t give him anything to go on.
I could lie and say that’s not going to happen, but .
. . I’m at least a little intrigued by the Leech, even if I know how bad of an idea it really is.
He’s collared for now, but there’s nothing saying he won’t drain me if given the chance.
In fact, I’m certain he would. It’s his nature, and nature often can’t be changed.
But then that’s what everyone said about Bone Breakers.
Cipher is right. So, I don’t lie. I don’t say anything at all about the Leech.
“Havoc clearly isn’t interested in me,” I point out. “I’m pretty sure my mere presence is annoying to him.”
Locke rolls his eyes. “Even I can see the Warden wants you. If he admits it, that’s a different thing entirely.” He shrugs. “It doesn’t matter.” He presses tighter against me. “As long as I have a piece of your heart, I don’t care if anyone else does, too.”
My throat grows thick with emotion and I hold onto him just a little tighter, just a little longer, before we have to step outside and risk our lives yet again.
“Are you sure we have enough time to complete the quest?” Havoc asks. “I thought you wanted to be at the Harrow Gate early?”
“Cipher says we have an eighty percent chance of completing it on time,” I point out.
His brows raise. “And did he also tell you it’s at least a six hour walk from our current position to the Harrow Gate?”
I open my mouth and close it. “No,” I finally admit. “He did not.”
Havoc nods. “I thought so.”
“We could take one of the mechanical boxes,” Locke offers helpfully. “We’ll make it there a lot faster with one of those.”
Havoc is already shaking his head before Locke finishes. “You don’t want to drive one of the automobiles—”
“Why not?” Locke growls.
“It’s not easy, for one,” Havoc fires back.
“It can’t be that hard to drive one,” Locke argues. “NPCs do it.”
“Because they’re programmed to do it,” Havoc counters. “Trust me. It’s a bad idea to get behind the wheel.”
“That’s bullshit! Just because you’re scared of—”
“Stop,” I growl, cutting off their argument. Stryker is sitting on the lounger nearby, watching everything in silence. He hasn’t offered any information at all, simply enjoying the show.
“Can you drive one of the moving boxes?” I ask Havoc. He shakes his head. “What about you?” I ask Stryker.
He raises his brow at me. “You want me behind the wheel of a machine that could kill you all?”
“If you can control it, yes,” I say, staring at him expectantly.
He sits up, his eyes on mine. “As much as I would like to say yes, I have never had a need to drive an automobile. So no, I have never driven one.”
I sigh. “Then Havoc is right. We’ll do the quest after we get Dox from the Harrow Gate.
And we’ll walk there to avoid any issues.
” Locke opens his mouth as if he’s going to argue.
“We’ll try driving one of the boxes to go complete the quest,” I say, cutting him off.
“So that we don’t spend as much time going from one place to the other. Is that suitable?”
He nods slowly. “Yes. We still have two days to complete the Gatsby Quest, so as long as we complete it by then, we’re good.”
An hour later, after gorging ourselves on food that we can’t take with us, we step out of the Half-Moon Hotel, and head southwest toward the Harrow Gate location.
If we take the entire six hours, we’ll still be there with plenty of time before it opens.
I just want to make sure that I’m the first thing Dox sees when she comes through, so she knows I’ve been waiting for her.
I don’t want her to think I’m dead, or worse, that I’ve forgotten her.
The streets of The Gilded District are just as busy as ever.
NPCs and players stream along the street, fighting for their own space as they walk along the sidewalks and attempt to avoid the moving boxes.
It’s slow moving, both because of the foot traffic and the constant need to wait to cross the streets.
At first, it’s uneventful. A slow shuffle of trying not to step on anyone’s feet.
It isn’t until a few hours later that Stryker makes a sound in his throat and grabs my hand.
I look down at his hold with furrowed brows and then back up at his face. “What the fuck are you doing?”
He starts tugging me away from the street and toward a building. “We need to move.”
Locke and Havoc both notice as Stryker starts dragging me away. The Leech may be muted, but he’s clearly still got some of his strength. I tug back against his hold, but my bones pop and I realize I’m in danger of breaking my wrist if I continue to pull so hard.
“Let me go!” I growl at the Leech, hitting at him.
“Just stop it,” he growls. “Listen to me.”
Locke pulls out his battle axe and Havoc draws his sword. Stevie closes in aggressively. But it’s Svetlana running down my arm with a tiny battle cry as she swipes out at Stryker’s hand on my wrist that makes him let go.
“Ow!” Stryker snarls. “You horrible little beast!”
“That’s right,” Svetlana threatens. “Next time it’ll be your head!”
Stryker throws his hands in the air. “Fine. Don’t listen to me. Stay on the street.”
And then he disappears inside the nearest building. I stare after him, my brows furrowing in confusion.
“Stryker?”
“Come on,” Locke grunts. “Leave him. We have things to do.”
“But he’d said something about—”
The sounds of the crowd are suddenly drowned out by the sounds of giant bells chiming. The NPCs all stop wherever they’re standing and look up, their eyes focused on the sky as the bells chime once, twice, three times, and then fall silent.
“Fuck,” Havoc groans, sheathing his sword. “Is it Fifth Week already?”