Not sure what else to do, he held out a hand to her. "I'll be back soon. At least I hope I will."

  "A handshake?" She said, raising an eyebrow as she pushed his hand to the side, stepped in and gave Luke a hug. "You'll be back. Don't forget, you still have a lot to teach me."

  Luke hugged her back. She felt even smaller in his embrace. "I won't forget."

  "But I won't stay in Toledo," she continued. "Send me a message when you're back. I'll be in Chicago."

  "Fo 'sho."

  Dot let him go, shaking her head as she walked over to Curtis. "Don't think you're getting away from me without a hug, mister grump."

  The hug seemed to startle Curtis, who looked uncomfortable, to say the least. "Not sure I like that nickname."

  "Is it making you grumpy?"

  "Shut up."

  She let him go. "You shut up."

  After that, she just gave a wave and started trudging back toward the city center, already on her phone to find another uber.

  "She didn't even wait for these guys to show up," Curtis said, nodding to the helicopter as the door on the side opened.

  Luke peered back at Dot as she was leaving, and gave a quick shrug. "Doesn't matter much if she isn't coming, anyway. Leaving now means she doesn't have to explain herself to a bunch of strangers."

  "Fair enough."

  "Alan didn't know about Hannah," Luke said, watching as a lone man jumped out of the helicopter?

  "So?"

  "He knew pretty much everything we've been up to, even about Hiroki leaving, but he didn't mention Hannah. Don't think he knows about her disappearance."

  "Or," Curtis began, giving a quick wave to the approaching man. "He and everyone else thinks she died in the dungeon, and he has tact enough not to mention her."

  "Huh," Luke said. "Maybe."

  As the new arrival approached the two of them, Luke realized he knew the man. "You're Martin, Alan's bodyguard!"

  They'd met right after Luke woke up after blacking out when healing Alan's brain, and Martin had given him a mana potion to stave off the worst of the headache and diziness.

  "Luke," Martin said, reaching his hand out.

  Luke took it, squeezed, and shook. "Been a while."

  "It has," Martin said, shaking Curtis's hand as well. "And you've been busy."

  "Kind of."

  Martin glanced around. "I was told there'd be three of you. Where is Dorothy?"

  "She isn't coming."

  "Oh?" Martin said, a grin spreading across his face, white teeth gleaming. "Keeping the other Lifeweaver away from us, are you?"

  There was nothing malicious in his tone or expression, so Luke didn't feel the need to obscure the facts. "She's too low level for this, and she doesn't want to fight. If you want to talk with her about joining Alan's guild, I'm sure she'll hear you out."

  "Alan is reaching out to her communication gem as we speak," Martin said, exchanging the grin for a thoughtful look. A moment later, it was back to all business. "So, Luke and Curtis. We have an evil alien person to kill. Ready to meet the rest of the team?"

  "We are," Luke said as they started walking back toward the helicopter and its engines hummed to life. "Alan mentioned they're handpicked to deal with Relian?"

  "Not quite," Martin said, gesturing for them to jump in through the open door.

  Three people sat in a row facing forward, leaving a row opposite them, facing backwards, with their seats. As they climbed in, Luke spotted two more people sitting in the passenger's seat, next to the pilot. That made eight people, all in all. A full party plus Luke and Curtis. Once they were fastened in, Martin handed over headsets, and continued speaking through them.

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  "I have handpicked these lovely people for various reasons, not always specifically for destroying our current target."

  Martin, who was in the seat farthest from the door, facing backwards, gestured to a woman in her forties seated opposite Luke. Her hair was dyed a reddish brown and cut in a Karen type fashion, a sort of stylish bob. She, and everyone else, wore dark gray military type uniforms.

  "This is Linda. Used to work in HR, now she's our indispensible support caster."

  Linda gave them a practiced smile, showing that some of her red lipstick had smudged to her teeth. "Hello."

  Continuing down the line, Martin pointed to a man in the middle seat who was tall enough that the top of his head was smushed against the ceiling of the helicopter. Muscular arms strained the fabric of his uniform and when he spoke, Luke couldn't see his lips moving for the bushy, brown mustache and beard combo that reached down to his chest.

  "I'm Rolf. Some people call me Tiny. Don't call me Tiny," he said, glaring at Martin.

  "Hey Rolf," Luke said. "You a caster too?"

  Rolf's eyes glittered with excitement. "Yes! How did you know?"

  It had been a joke playing off the 'Tiny' nickname, but since the giant man didn't get it, Luke thought it best to brush past it. "Just a hunch."

  "Tiny does wonderful things with barriers," Martin said, putting emphasis on the name.

  "Why you little..." Rolf grumbled, reaching out as if to strangle their leader.

  "Moving on!" Martin said with a chuckle. "Next is Greg."

  "What do you do, Greg?" Luke asked.

  Greg, an almost painfully normal looking man in his early forties, wore a button down, bland, white shirt with a dark gray tie and matching slacks. His thin-framed glasses had slid down his nose, and he pushed them back up with a slow, deliberate gesture. "Greg Miller. I am an accountant."

  "That's not what he was asking, Greggie," Martin said, shaking his head in disappointment before turning to Luke and Curtis. "Don't let his demeanor fool you. Our Ghost Ranger is a hoot at parties."

  "Yes," Greg said.

  "What's a Ghost Ranger?" Curtis asked.

  "Stealth archer," Martin explained.

  "That is a simple and altogether insufficient explanation," Greg protested, his voice slow and without much emotion.

  Rolf jumped in to help. "He also has pets."

  "Ghost pets," Linda clarified.

  "They can be scary," a female disembodied voice said over the helicopter's internal voice system.

  Martin pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "That voice you heard is Cass, our healer."

  "Hello," Cass said.

  "Hi, Cass," Luke said. "What healer class did you pick?"

  "Nanite Medic."

  "That sounds much cooler than Lifeweaver," Curtis said. Ever the helpful friend.

  With Cass being a healer, that meant their party consisted of three spell casters so far. Since Martin and Greg were both damage dealers, that meant the last person would be a tank of some kind.

  "That just leaves our tank, Big L," Martin said. "Laura, our immovable wall."

  "Hi," another voice said. One word, short and clipped.

  "Hello," Luke said.

  Martin pointed to himself. "Me, you've met. Phase Blade. Some stealth elements, but mostly it's a defensive type of damage dealer class."

  "It'll be fun to see you fight," Curtis said.

  "Going up against the Fallen Shepherd is not something I would describe as 'fun'," Greg said.

  "Don't mind Greg," Martin said, banging his fist against the side of the helicopter. With that, the engines revved up and Luke's stomach dropped as they rose into the sky. "It'll be dangerous, but dangerous can be fun!"

  Taking into the air was an altogether unpleasant experience, Luke decided, hanging on to his seat for dear life despite being buckled in. He'd been on planes before, but that this was nothing like that smooth, gradual rise after take off. With the helicopter, you were on the ground one moment, then high in the sky the next, dangling.

  Martin spoke some coordinates into the headset and off they went.

  Dot: "That thing is fast."

  Luke: "I think my stomach is still on the ground down there somewhere."

  Dot: "Good luck! I'll talk to you and Curtis later."

  Luke: "Thanks. Be careful out there."

  Dot: "I will!"

  Her contacting him made Luke think, and he looked around the helicopter, frowning. There weren't enough seats. If Dot had decided to come, she wouldn't have had anywhere to sit. He was about to ask Martin what was going on, but the party leader spoke first, his voice crackling through the headphones.

  "Where to, Lifeweaver?"

  "East."

  "We know that much," Martin said with a chuckle. "Can you be more specific."

  "Give me a moment and I'll try."

  Martin gave a nod then turned to the rest of the group. "While he figures out our destination, let's go over the plan again. Once we have the location, we will rendezvous with the DIA and set up a similar game plan as what they used last time. I hope you've read the brief, but I'll summarize."

  He pointed to his head. "While we hover, Relian gets a sniper round to the brain and a few more for good measure. Once that's done, we drop and the DIA team moves in. Together we'll dispose of the target like we discussed earlier. If the Fallen Shepherd is battle ready once we go in, we'll use the usual configuration while keeping Luke safe and giving Curtis's sword a wide berth."

  "Yes," Linda said.

  That was all.

  "Keep me safe?" Luke asked, as his mind drifted outward, seeking Relian.

  "Alan would not be pleased if you didn't make it through this. That is our main objective, to keep you safe. Johanson was right, you know? You shouldn't be doing this."

  These people knowing more about him than they should at every turn was starting to get on Luke's nerves, so he just ignored Martin's mild objection. Instead, he searched for Relian.

  "East," Luke said. "And a little south. He has moved since I last sensed him."

  "Anything more specific?" a voice crackled over the voice system.

  Luke considered for a moment, then nodded to himself. "Pittsburg."

  "90 minutes," the voice that had to be the pilot said.

  Linda spoke first. "I'll notify the DIA."

  "FBI," Greg said, raising a finger.

  "I'll give the PBP a courtesy message," Martin grunted.

  Curtis leaned over to Luke. "PBP?"

  "I have no idea," Luke said.

  Off they went, heading for what would hopefully be the final confrontation with Relian. It was time to finish this.