Chapter 3 #3
Rose stared up at the white ceiling of the house she and Oscar were currently occupying.
It belonged to a couple who put an ad up for a house sitter while they were on an extended vacation abroad.
Rose had intercepted the communication with the actual house sitter and posed as the homeowner, canceling their services.
As far as the homeowners were concerned, Rose was Meredith Grayson, a twenty-three year old student looking to make a few extra dollars while on sabbatical from school.
Personally, Rose thought the name was very unoriginal of Meredith’s parents, but then she’d been named after the most popular flower on the planet, so she really had no room to judge.
She was such a fucking idiot. Of course the small town wouldn’t be running a charity auction with such large bids!
She hadn’t even looked until later what the others were being bid on.
Hell, the starting bid had only been fifty dollars!
And instead of doing a hundred, just to give back to charity, she’d literally done a thousand times the starting amount!
Idiot.
Stupid.
No wonder Keys had been confused. She really couldn’t blame the guy. She’d already transferred the money, too. She didn’t want Keys to feel obligated to or to flake on such a large amount. It was for charity, after all.
Moron.
And he’d asked her if she was still up? Of course she was! Her brain would fixate on this as her latest embarrassing moment, playing it over and over and over and over in her head, criticizing everything and making her feel even more foolish than she already did. There would be no fixing this.
She’d taken a perfectly good friendship, probably the most honest one she’d ever been a part of, and she’d stomped on it with shit-covered boots.
Imbecile.
Well, she wasn’t going to sleep any time soon, that was for damn sure.
Getting up, she was careful not to disturb Oscar.
After her embarrassing debacle in a town thousands of miles away, they’d worked on a finger painting project that had resulted in a bath to get the colors out of both of their hair.
Leaving the bedroom door open so she could hear Oscar if he woke up, Rose headed across the hall to the spare bedroom where she had her current system set up.
If the homeowners checked their security feeds, they would see a single woman walking around their house.
She’d written a code to override the storage images so Oscar wasn’t recorded.
It was a handy bit of script she’d borrowed from Keys.
Fuck! She winced at his name, her mind automatically brought back to the afternoon before. She needed a true distraction. She’d never get to sleep at this rate if she kept fixating on her latest stupidest action.
After checking on Poison and the Non Cras, all of whom were asleep in the motel they were crashing at for the night, Rose logged into her World of Warcraft account.
Too bad Aelindra the Night Elf couldn’t solve all of Rose’s real world problems, but at least raiding a dungeon in the Icecrown Citadel would keep her from dwelling on it too much.
* * *
Thornveil: [leans arms against the bar counter] So what’s a Resto Druid doing in a place like this?
Aelindra: [sigh] How’d you find me?
Thornveil: [takes a seat on barstool] You’re the one who’s drinking moonberry juice in a warlock hangout. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were the one searching for me.
Aelindra: [drinks from goblet] Not intentionally. [glances at demon glaring from across the bar] The Slaughtered Lamb certainly lives up to its reputation.
Thornveil: [flags down barkeep and orders a rotgut]
Aelindra: [looks to left] A Forsaken who partakes?
Thornveil: [broody] Didn’t want you drinking alone. Kind around these parts will eat you alive if you’re not careful.
Aelindra: [snorts] I don’t need a white knight, and certainly not from an Undead Lock.
Thornveil: [grabs drink and walks off] Suit yourself.
Aelindra: [grumbles, takes a drink, and follows] Is it just a coincidence that you happen to find the darkest corner in the bar to brood in?
Thornveil: [rolls drink in hand] When I come down to your hangout, I’ll be sure to pick out every stereotype YOU indulge in.
Aelindra: [sits] Touché.
Thornveil: [leans forward against table] What are you doing here? Really?
Aelindra: [shrugs] Just…wandering. I couldn’t sleep.
Thornveil: [smirks] Even after I wished you a good night?
Aelindra: [glares] I see you’re not doing any better at it.
Thornveil: [shrugs] Already warned you I was far from normal. Yet here you are, in the seedy underbelly of Stormwind City, turning heads with your moonberry juice.
Aelindra: [crosses arms over chest] Well, apparently, I’m full of surprises.
Thornveil: [leans back against wall] Do tell. What sort of surprises does a Night Elf have to offer me?
Aelindra: [glares] You’re not making this easy, you know.
Thornveil: [waves off] If you wanted easy, you wouldn’t have tracked me here.
Aelindra: [grumbles] Look, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t embarrass you. Trust me, I’m embarrassed enough for the both of us for the next three lifetimes. I just hope you’ll forgive me.
Thornveil: [stares in silence]
Aelindra: [waits impatiently]
Thornveil: [stares in silence]
Aelindra: [groans] For fuck’s sake! Just say something!
Thornveil: [lifts eyebrow] There’s a Nerubian queen beneath Azeroth making deals with the Void. I’m going to kill her. Want to come?
Aelindra: [perks up] Really?
Thornveil: [stands] Try to keep up, Druid.
Aelindra: [leaps to feet] Your overconfidence better not get us killed, Warlock!
Thornveil: [grabs High-ilvl staff with Mastery] I’m already dead, Elf.
Aelindra: [grabs High-ilvl mace] Is this where I say something clichéd like, “It’s Morphin Time! Shadow and Forest unite!”
Thornveil: [stares] Keep that up and I’ll feed you to the Void myself.
Aelindra: [follows after, singing] “Go, go, Power Rangers…”