We made a quick night of it. Quick showers for the both of us when we got home since it was almost 1 am by that point. I pulled a robe out of my INVENTORY and Blaze did the same from hers. We watched the spawn across the street while standing on my porch, each of us with an arm around the other

  The robe was surprisingly comfortable against bare skin. This one had come from a human Mage instead of the Orc Mage so it only had the +1 DEFENSE.

  The spawns were the common three Goblin Warriors and four Kobolds, facing off against Carlos the Paladin as their Tank, Sara and Bailey Holden for casters. Art R was healing for them, and they had a thief.

  This was the first time I’d seen him on their guild runs. He was a Level 1 thief named HechtYah. He only had STEALTH and BACKSTAB, but he’d taken two weapons and was using daggers in both hands. His name was Jayden Hecht, which I found out later.

  Using his STEALTH, the thief waited back by the door to avoid being noticed when the spawns came out. The spawn Mage was a Human Air Mage. HechtYah got his BACKSTAB on the Mage after it cast its first spell. It wasn’t a kill, but the ICE and MANA BOLTS from the Holdens finished it. Then they returned to firing ICE and MANA BALLs at the fighters. The fight was over slightly more than a minute later.

  There wasn’t any traffic at the moment, so we strolled across the street to congratulate them and meet the new person. Apparently, they hadn’t told the new guy I lived across the street. This was his second run with the guild. He’d joined earlier the previous day.

  He wore the usual all-black of a Thief class but had a red gaiter pulled up to disguise the lower part of his face. I shocked him when I said, “Defias Brotherhood. It works for me. The local dungeon isn’t the Deadmines, but it will do.”

  The rest of the group looked at me like they didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. They probably didn’t.

  “I’ll let HechtYah explain it. We’re just here because we were about to go to bed and wanted to say hi. We’ve been busy.”

  “Hey, guys!” Carlos yelled. He held up robes that looked like ours. “I just got robes like the ones they’re wearing.”

  “We got them in the dungeon. They’re good for something to wear if you’re in a hurry.” Blaze told them. “They can add INTELLIGENCE or DEFENSE, and sometimes something of each.”

  I cast DETECT MAGIC on it. “This one has +1 of each. Put them in your INVENTORY before you wear them. They’ll come out clean.” I told him.

  “It gets rid of the blood? Great!” Carlos replied with a big grin.

  “This is the first I’ve heard of Human Mages showing up in these spawns,” I said. “Pass the word around and warn people about them. We faced several in the later rooms of the dungeon.”

  Looking at them, and thinking about the dungeon, I informed them, “The five of you could take on the first four rooms easily. The next four you can probably do. After that, be very careful. I think the best in your guild can handle them, and some of the third group of rooms.”

  We talked a few minutes more, then headed back inside and to bed.

  “Same bed and cuddle?” Blaze asked.

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  “I can do that,” I answered her. And we did.

  My alarm went off. I thought I’d turned it off, but apparently not. It woke us both up. This time, she had her arm across my chest and her head on my shoulder. I reached over and stroked her hair. Her eyes were closed. She made soft noises, telling me she was enjoying it. I enjoyed it too.

  “I wish we could keep doing this, Will. But this is still a workday for me,” she told me.

  “I know.” I kissed the top of her head. “Too bad you can’t work from home.”

  “Wish I could. They want us to use their computers for information we need to encrypt on both ends. My old laptop isn’t up to their specs for it.”

  “Have them give you one that is,” I told her.

  “Wish I could. This is technically an office job. I’m supposed to send other agents out to do things. I don’t have an assistant who can cover for me…not for more than lunch.”

  “You had to remind me of food. Now my stomach’s rumbling. Thanks loads.”

  She moved her hand down to my belly. “I don’t feel it rumbling. Maybe you’re imagining things?”

  “Just keep your hand in that area,” I told her. “You’ll feel it, eventually.”

  “How long is eventually?”

  “Don’t know. An hour or two?”

  Blaze slapped my belly and laughed. “Just for that, I’m getting up now. I’m hungry. For food,” she added. Throwing the comforter off of both of us, she rolled over and got out of bed. Her robes appeared on her, and she headed to the other bathroom.

  “Oh well, I tried,” I told myself and did the same thing on my side. Robe and slippers for me.

  Blaze was faster than I was this morning. She had coffee out and was stirring up an egg and chopped sausage scramble with some of my frozen minced vegetables. She added cheese on top as she finished it. Reaching for the coffeepot, I poured myself a mug before sitting down. Hers was in easy reach next to the sink, and half her coffee was already gone.

  “Let me know when you want lunch,” I said. “I got a message saying the GRA wants me at the convention center this morning. For, and I quote, more information on the dungeon and our experiences and reactions as we went through it.”

  That made her laugh. “Better you than me. You put up with them more than I would.”

  “Even the one who didn’t want us to leave so we could get Shadow to work?” I asked.

  “You might ease up on threatening them, but the look on his face when Shadow grabbed him was almost worth it.”

  “It was, wasn’t it.”

  “I’m getting worried about her.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “She’s getting too quick to threaten someone like she did. It worked because he wasn’t Game-trained like she is…or martial-arts trained to get out of that move. I told her on the way back not to threaten people that fast. She can scare them, but if it hadn’t been her, and if I didn’t trust her not to hurt him, I should have arrested her. You walk that line too. You need to take it down a couple of notches as well.”

  What she told me was the main thing I thought about while I ate a few forkfuls of breakfast before replying. “You’re right. But I still get to warn them they can’t always expect others to protect them. Everyone who can needs to help.”

  “You think it will get that bad? People will die” Blaze asked me.

  “People are already dying. I don’t know how many, but I’m sure it will get worse before it gets better.”

  “I agree. Will we’ll find a way to live with this? Not just the two of us, but the rest of humanity. We’re some of the ones who’ll make that happen. I don’t care if you wear a black hat…you’re still a white hat when it comes to doing what’s right.”

  Pondering that over the rest of my food, I finally told her, “I think you’re right. I’ll do my best not to do it. I can’t swear I’ll never do it, but I’ll work on it.”

  She laid her hand on mine and smiled. “Thank you. That’s all I’m asking for.”

  “Thinking of things to do, let me know when you want lunch. I’m taking you shopping over lunch. There are some things I need to do and get at the STORE, and then we’ll have lunch in their TAVERN afterwards. My treat.”

  “Do I get a say in this?” Blaze asked, laughing.

  “Nope. Give yourself at least an hour for lunch. I’ll let the GRA know about our plans in advance. I’ll pick you up.”

  “Yes, sir.” She smiled as she said it.

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