Theo
The pub wasn’t open yet. It wouldn’t be for a few hours.
So it was that much stranger when I heard pounding on the door of the back office.
I’d gone in early to start sorting through things.
My top bartender, Stella, had maintained everything perfectly since I left.
I’d be leaving almost everything in here behind, but was sure I had some scattered personal belongings that I’d want to bring with me.
So far, that looked like a handwritten note from Graysen thanking me for his job, some napkin origami from a beloved customer, and my first coin ever made that wasn’t paid for by blood.
I looked through the peephole, seeing a familiar magenta face.
“Mykie, everything okay?” I asked against the gust of winter air that rustled the paperwork behind me when I pushed open the hefty iron door.
“I just needed to see that you’d returned safely with my own eyes.
Rude to not say hi to me when you were at G.P.O.
yesterday.” She ducked under my arm and stepped into the crammed room.
It was more of a glorified closet, really.
All attempts I’d made to keep it tidy were futile, I was sure Stella would change it for the better once I left her the pub.
“For some reason, they didn’t give me roaming privileges,” I laughed, squeezing her into a big hug. I would miss this needling female.
“You and Graysen both decided you’re huggers now, huh?” she groaned, but her arms snaked between mine.
“How are they?”
“She was taken again, but we got her back. They’re living off grid now.
” Mykie’s pointed ears twitched backwards, then to the sides.
Mixed feelings. Understandably. Graysen and Mykie had been inseparable since they found themselves on the same side of a barfight five years ago.
Their duo had been my problem to deal with ever since.
“Where did they take her?”
“Tesilvis.”
“Huh.” Tesilvis was a dense northern forest known for its deadly wildlife.
Those beasts made Cyciciah’s look like Nurghle.
It was at the very end of my Western Continent exploration list, because it was the one I was least likely to survive.
Surprising they managed to build a factory there in the first place.
Mykie wiggled out of my embrace and leaned against the cluttered metal desk behind her. “I got an inside look of the pod room. It’s a lot of goddesses, Theo…” Her expression turned solemn. Pale.
“I take it you guys weren’t able to save them all?”
“Just Faeryn and one of her sisters,” she admitted. “I’d love to convince Arne to lead a raid immediately, but we’d be severely outnumbered. One day though… that facility is going down.”
“One of her sisters?”
“Yeah, she insisted on being let out by the woods. She seemed fairly capable, so who was I to tell her she couldn’t run around Tesilvis’ hellscape if she wanted to?”
“Sure,” I shrugged. Too late to second-guess that decision on Mykie’s behalf.
“I don’t mean to keep you. Like I said, just wanted to see your big head with my own eyes.
You know, make sure it’s still on your shoulders and not in the mouth of some unholy beast.” She tapped a knuckle against my skull.
“Really glad to see you made it back. Stella is great and all, but she doesn’t even know how to play Doors. ”
Do I tell Mykie that I’m leaving? I didn’t have the heart in that moment for the full truth. “Stella will be running things a lot more going forward.” It was a less definite way to put it. There was still plenty of time to reveal the truth. That I was leaving Virylan.
Mykie had already taken her exit. “Then tell her to learn some card games! I’m running low on friends here!” she called over the wind.
“Oh, wait, Mykie!” I shouted, holding the door open. She was a fast walker, already halfway across the plaza. She looked over her shoulder. “Tell Erith to swing by here later today! I need to talk to him about something!”
I got a stilettoed thumbs up as she turned to keep walking, smooth black hair whipping around her lower back.
“Stella, you like the pub, right?” I asked as we looked out at the handful of occupied booths. Slow night.
“Of course I do!” she chimed, tucking a curl from behind her set of large Thornian horns into the red bandana on her head.
“How would you feel about taking it over for me?”
Her eyes widened, thick lashes batting in surprise. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” Her rough, rigid talons clicked together uncertainly.
“My most recent hiking trip has me considering living in nature.” An avid outdoorsman cover was the best way to explain my eccentricities to somebody who didn’t know the first thing about the horrible socio-political situation.
“I’m thinking about passing the pub on, and you’ve always done well by it. ”
“Are you sure I’m best? I don’t even know what—”
“Hold that thought,” I said, spotting the green scales of an Arielna passing the front windows. “Can you handle things without me for a bit?”
“You know I can,” she chirped, still sounding completely thrown off.
“Hi, Erith,” I greeted as he stepped inside the bar. We’d met a few times when I hung out with Mykie, but it’d been a while since I participated in that social scene, and he was the newest member. “Let’s chat in the back.”
In the office, I ducked around the low-hanging lightbulb on the ceiling and leaned against the cold back door. Erith’s black eyes darted around the crowded room before he mirrored my posture, leaning against the door we’d just come through.
“I thought you should hear it from me and not Arne—”
“Too late.” He shrugged. “They told me where I’d be stationed this morning.”
He didn’t sound happy about the placement. But at least he didn’t sound particularly unhappy? His tone was factual. Same as I’d always been. Weapons don’t have preferences. “Did they tell you about who you’ll be going with?”
“Arielna named Mitus, right?”
“Right.” I felt an urge to apologize preemptively.
I really was prioritizing Vivian’s feelings over everybody else’s.
And in a way, I was prioritizing my own redemption over Erith’s lifestyle.
Maybe he didn’t want a partner at “work”.
He definitely didn’t need one. Especially not one who was inexperienced, uninformed, and moody.
He looked at the frown that was pulling at the corner of my mouth. His sharp ears, pierced with golden rings, pressed against his head. “I’ve been to Drifael once. Had the best stew of my life there.”
He was offering me some reassurance, and it was appreciated. “If you can get Mitus trained up, maybe eventually we won’t need both of you. You could return to Virylan.” That was assuming Mitus wanted to stay in Drifael. I didn’t get the sense he was particularly happy here in Virylan.
“I asked around about him. My colleagues implied that, if his bartending is any evidence, I have my work cut out for me.”
“He doesn’t like dealing with the public,” I admitted. “But I don’t think he’ll give you much trouble. He would probably appreciate learning to throw a proper punch.” Could be a great way to get some of that pent-up, grief-fueled rage that I suspected he was dealing with out.
“And who do you suggest I let him beat up?” he snorted, his sharp teeth peeking from between his thin lips in an amused smile.
“I won’t tell you how to train.” I shrugged, holding up four hands innocently.
He huffed out a laugh. “Mykie told me you let your trainees wail on you for practice when you worked for G.P.O. It set a shitty precedent for other supervisors after you left.”
“Mykie should stop starting rumors.” Especially true ones. I figured it was much safer for my trainees to practice on me, rather than their first fight being with someone who wanted to kill them. Nothing wrong with that.
“Don’t worry, there are plenty of rumors out there that didn’t start with Mykie,” he grinned. Erith had a soft, socially aware mischief to him. He was the right one to pair with Mitus. I could clearly see that now.
“All positive I assume?”
“Depends on what sick fuck you ask,” he chuckled. “So, this female we’re supposed to protect, does she know about the goddesses?”
“She knows about the goddesses and has a natural intuition that it’s all best kept secret.
I don’t think she knows about E.A.R.T.H…
” I hadn’t mentioned it, and to my knowledge Vivian hadn’t either.
“You can likely trust her with that information if it’s helpful…
but be delicate with introductions. Identifying yourselves as grunts sent to protect her may not go over well.
She’s quite self-sufficient.” I paused to think of a better solution.
“You should bring some socks for her to mend. That’ll get you in her good graces quickly. ”
“Socks?”
“Any damaged clothing. She’s a talented seamstress, and it seems to be her preferred way of making friends.”
“Gotcha, I’ll bring tasks.” He nodded skeptically.
“I’m renting half a duplex for her. Arne can get you guys into the other unit with enough bribery. Make nice, then mention you’re friends of mine there to help Vivian.”
“And will you be explaining this plan to Mitus?”
I scratched my scar. “I think it’s better you handle that with him.
” I hoped Erith didn’t know what I’d done—why Mitus was coming along on this.
But when his sharp, witty expression softened, I knew he did.
It would have been part of the debrief before he was sent here.
Theo, top paid hitman of the organization, throws fit over killing mailman.
“Convincing him to join shouldn’t be too hard. Arne is offering one hell of a sign-on bonus.” He raised a brow.
My heart ached. Arne was trying to make this easier on me by extending a sweeter deal to Mitus.
The male couldn’t just let me hold a grudge against him forever.
I wanted him to be in the wrong. I wanted to stay the victim of my past actions.
But he wasn’t my enemy. Despite a busted brow, concussion, broken nose, curses, and several blows shared between us—we were friends with history.
“That’ll help,” I agreed, trying to not let the heaviness in my chest reach my expression. “I’m spending the rest of winter wrapping things up here. Gotta pass the pub off, sell my house, donate all my shit…”
“You really spent one season with a female and are uprooting your life? That’s very Arielna of you but…” He looked at my four arms, reminding me I was a Quadmos.
When he put it like that, it sounded like a bad idea. Sure, I wasn’t an Arielna who could identify my fated mate at first meeting, but I was certain this was the best idea I ever had. Nothing had ever felt so right. “She is my life now.”
He tilted his head skeptically, but smiled softly, nonetheless. “And you’re sure she’s alright through the end of winter? Is anyone watching over her?”
“She’s safe,” I said confidently. “Nobody but Ida knows she’s up there. And even I couldn’t trek through those blizzards to the top of that mountain.”
“You're about to return to either a very needy, or a very pissed off female, my friend.”
Would she be pissed off? She knew my absence was temporary. I’d built her a cabin. I was leaving my entire life behind to be her willing and eager servant. Sure, Viv was unhappy when I left. We both were. Separating for a season was a hard thing.
I didn’t see why any bad feelings would be directed at me. But if they were, I’d be more than happy to get on my knees and beg for her sweet forgiveness.