By the time I got home, Blaze’s car was already in the driveway. My stomach tightened. Was this going to be good or bad after we’d cut her out of the trip to the commune?

  “Only one way to find out?”

  Inside, I spotted her stretched out on the couch. She’d changed into her usual T-shirt and shorts, engrossed in scrolling through something on her phone.

  “Hello. You’re back early today. It’s good to see you relaxing,” I said as I removed most of my gear and hung it on the coatrack by the door.

  She didn’t answer, but I caught her eyes flick up at me before sliding back down to her phone. So, she’d heard me. I went to my room, cleaned up, and changed into black slacks and T-shirt

  Back in the kitchen, and wanting to feel human again, I poured a fresh cup of coffee and headed toward my office.

  That’s when she finally spoke. “Will. We need to talk.”

  "Shit. The phrase that usually means something bad’s about to happen.

  “Should I sit down first?” I asked.

  “Probably.” She sat up, crossed her legs, and set her phone aside.

  “OK.” I set my mug on the end table between the two recliners, and lowered myself into my chair. “What’s up?”

  “I heard you took evidence from a crime scene. Why would you do that?”

  Relief flooded through me. Not as bad as I’d feared. “Simple answer? It’s too dangerous to let it get loose. Have you talked to Bhaarrt and Ingrid about it?”

  “No. Why should I? This is a legal matter.”

  “Contact Ingrid. Ask her first. Then I’ll explain more. Trust me this far. Please.”

  She hesitated, eyes narrowing as she thought. After nearly a full minute, her expression went slack, gaze distant. I sipped my coffee and waited, breathing in the heavenly sharp scent of roasted beans.

  A few minutes later she came back to herself and looked at me differently.

  “You put it in a lead box and buried it somewhere? Ingrid said she’d never felt anything so evil. It had her and Daryll wanting it, even with a HOLY SHIELD covering it.”

  I nodded. “I’ve been around those things more than anyone except Iago. I can still feel them calling to me. I hope I’m strong enough to resist. The game characters I’ve played, when alignment mattered, were mostly good or neutral. Usually lawful or neutral. I’ve tried most alignments. Chaotic Evil can be fun for a while, but I could never keep it going.”

  “I saw you as a good man from the first time we met,” she said softly. “That’s one reason I agreed to sleep here that first night, and why I came back. Until now, you’ve done nothing to change my mind.”

  “Thank you. I’ve tried.”

  “I know you have. You’ve kept me in coffee, and your cooking isn’t THAT bad,” she added, laughing. “I’ve felt safe here.”

  “Thank you. I’ve tried to make it safe.”

  She tilted her head. “Do you remember what PokerRun said about wanting him to be a sheepdog?”

  “Yeah. I knew the reference. Are you saying I’m a sheepdog?”

  Her mouth curved into a smile. “Leader of the pack. I’ve heard you call yourself a shield mage since you mostly cast shields.” I nodded again; it was true. “Now you’re risking yourself to protect people again, aren’t you?”

  “You could say that.”

  “I just did. Sheriff Harper said you told him you put it in the Game Bank. Ingrid mentioned a safe deposit box. Do you think it would be safe in one?”

  “Nope. Too close to people. We could still feel it, even after Father Stoddard did what he could to seal in the evil. Ingrid too. It has to be far away from everyone…especially me…until we figure out how to destroy it safely. And most of all, what the hell it actually is.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “What do you mean, what is it? It’s something he got in the Game.”

  “That’s the problem. It’s not. It has powers in the Game, but he’d had those items for years. He didn’t enchant them. Something else did. I talked to Albert Holmes after the STORE refused to buy them. The clerk said they weren’t theirs.”

  “What did he say? Do you have enough money to pay him?”

  “Not close. But he’ll tell you the price of the answer. That part’s free.”

  Blaze threw up her hands. “Are you going to make me drag this out of you?”

  “Yep. Sho am."

  That finally cracked her into laughter.

  “How much?” she pressed.

  “He doesn’t want money. His price is the soul of a dungeon.”

  Her brow furrowed. “The soul of a what? Will…dungeons like in games don’t exist, and they sure don’t have souls.”

  “They don’t exist yet,” I said. “The Game rules say they will. The Mage LIGHT spell even tells you how far you can see inside a dungeon.”

  “Right…if it’s in a spell description, it has to exist. Got that. But what about this soul thing?”

  “Some GameLit stories have a Dungeon Core subgenre. An intelligent being runs the dungeon. Sometimes it was once human. It shows up as a hidden gem, heavily defended. You could call that the soul of the dungeon.”

  “So, you have to hide this thing until dungeons appear…then you or we beat it, kill the core and take it to him?”

  “That’s what it sounds like. Yeah.”

  “Will? Do you really think we can do that?”

  “With the five of us? Maybe. But it means we’ll have to go in as soon as one shows up.”

  “When?” she asked.

  “The way things have been changing, could be as early as 7 a.m. tomorrow. Or maybe the day after. Or a month. Depends on when it decides to kick us out of the nursery.”

  “Do you really think we can kill a dungeon?”

  “Maybe. If it’s at the level of current spawns or just a bit stronger, sure. If it requires the whole party to be at my level…no. We can’t.”

  She stared at me. “Will. What if something happens to you? Does that thing just sit there until someone finds it?”

  “That’s the most likely outcome.”

  “Shouldn’t someone else know where it is? To protect it?”

  “Who could handle it without getting corrupted?”

  “That’s the problem, isn’t it?” she murmured.

  I nodded.

  “Do you think I could do it?”

  “Sure. For a while. Hours, days, maybe weeks if it’s far enough away. But if it works like the stories, eventually you’d turn into an evil Fire Mage. That plus five levels in one jump…it’s one hell of a rush. You’d be stronger than me. I went from one to six. Not as big a leap.”

  “And you think I’d want that?”

  “I think anyone would. At that point, you wouldn’t care what it cost or who it hurt. I don’t want that to happen. Not to you. Not to anyone.”

  She looked down, silent and thoughtful.

  I sipped my coffee, watching her work through the same mental steps I had. “She’s trying to figure out how to beat this thing too.”

  Half a cup later, my thoughts were cut off.

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [Will. We have a report of something strange.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Strange in what way?]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [one of the parties clearing county spawn sites saw something on their way back. Said it looked like the blue portal the spawns came from. They swear it wasn’t there when they passed earlier. It’s set on a hillside, not flat on the ground.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [That is strange. Anyone else report something like that?]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [No. Not yet. They swear it wasn’t there earlier.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Let me guess. You want me to look at it and tell you what it is?]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [I wouldn’t chat with you otherwise. Can you do it?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Do you want it done now, tomorrow, or sometime later?]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [What do you think?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Yeah, right. How can I find it?]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [I’ve got GPS coordinates for it.]

  “Blaze.” I broke her train of thought.

  She looked up.

  “Can you take some GPS coordinates from Harry and plot them on a map?”

  “Sure. Give me a moment. What’s up?”

  “We’ll find out in a second.”

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Go ahead.]

  He sent the numbers. I read them aloud to Blaze, who tapped them into her phone. She brought the screen over, showing me the map with a marker southwest of town. I knew the area vaguely.

  It was nowhere near where I’d buried the box or the NeedLess commune. That alone eased a heavy weight off my chest.

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Got it. I know the area. Let me guess, you want an answer in, oh…two minutes?]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [HA HA. Very funny. You can have ten. The sooner the better. Thanks, Will. Let me know soonest.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Harry Sakraney] [Will do. Thanks for ruining my evening.]

  [Harry Sakraney:] [William of Brinsford] [Any time.]

  “There’s a portal of some kind in the side of a hill. Not a spawn point. Get your gear on. I think I know what it is.”

  Her eyes widened. “You think it’s a dungeon, don’t you?”

  “I think it will be at 7 am tomorrow morning.”

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