Bryce

“Hey babe, it’s time to get up.” Thea kissed my cheek, and I hummed in appreciation before reaching over and pulling her into bed with me. “Damnit, not again. Bryyyce, we’re going to miss the fight if we don’t leave soon.”

“What time is it?” I asked groggily as I pulled her in closer and buried my face in her hair.

“I don’t know. Late. Softie said we gotta go.”

“Check your implants.”

“Uh, it’s 18:43, but I don’t know what that means back on Drassun,” Thea admitted, and I didn’t even process how late it was until after I took a moment to convert it to the right time zone in my head.

“Oh, shit,” I cursed as I rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to get ready. Thea followed a few moments later, picking up my pajamas off the floor. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“Excuse me? I tried like eighty times, but you’re impossible to wake up even when you’re not on drugs. Honestly, princess, it’s a miracle I managed at all.”

“Right, sorry,” I apologized while dangling a toothbrush halfway out of my mouth and trying to wrangle my hair out of my face. “Is everyone ready to go? Actually, is Samira even coming? I don’t think we ever got an answer from her.”

“Yeah, Softie managed to convince her this morning, and I sent them a message to go get her once you woke up.”

“Alright, could you let them both know that I’m planning on trying to get all three of us appointments with Doctor Navarro? I’d like to have him inspect their implants while he replaces mine. Actually, include Ithnaa in that. I’d rather not have any of us use implants from Paradise. At least, for now. I don’t want to risk anybody on the council eavesdropping on our conversations.”

“Sure, I’ll let them know,” Thea said from where she was leaning in the doorway. “But babe, that sounds kind of expensive, and I’m basically out of money. Besides, I’m pretty sure you are, too. At least, for like really big stuff.”

I shook my head before spitting toothpaste into the sink and grabbing a nearby towel to wash my face. “I haven’t checked since coming back, but my finances should be fine. Remember the doll factory where we got the bio-pod to fix Es’s body? Well, Omni-tech never officially shut it down, and the director was funneling nearly the entire budget into an anonymous account. I drained the account, flagged it to be frozen, and redirected all future deposits to one of my own.”

“Seriously? When did you have time to do all that?”

“While you were in Kai’s afterlife.” I took a moment to start on my makeup before continuing. “I was kind of freaking out and needed something to distract myself. It was therapeutic.”

“Committing bank fraud was therapeutic?” She started laughing, which, of course, made me smile. “Babe, you are not normal.”

“Would you love me if I were?”

“Definitely not. Life would be way too boring.”

“I’m glad we’re in agreement.” I frowned at my makeup before giving up on it and starting on my hair. “What about you? Do you just need help liquidating or was Vurdex’s estimate total bullshit?”

“Um, both? I mean, Vurdex was totally lying about everything, and what I gave Zen was basically the last of the iron. Including what was supposed to be in Es’s share, so you’re going to have to spin it to make him think he’s better off with a bunch of shitty jewelry and the deed to some dude’s house.”

“This seems like your fault. Why am I the one who has to convince him?”

“Because you love me? And also, he knows me way too well. So, he’s going to be suspicious the moment I try to explain anything.”

“Fair enough.” I chuckled, then turned towards her with my arms outstretched. “Alright, how do I look?”

Thea looked me up and down with a grin. “Like you still need to get dressed.”

“I have a system.” I rolled my eyes at her as I walked back into our room and opened the wardrobe.

“Babe, I love you, but your ‘system’ is total nonsense.”

I picked out a pair of cargo pants and a low-cut shirt, then quickly got dressed. “Sorry, what was that? All I heard was that you love me.”

Thea shook her head as she smiled at me. “Sounds like you got the important part.”

“I figured. Now, hand it over.” I looked at her expectantly, and she did everything she could to avoid eye contact.

“Hand what over? Hey, it’s getting late. We should head out, right?”

“Thea…”

“Okay, fine.” She conjured a dark red jacket from her ring and handed it to me, but didn’t let go. “This is my favorite jacket. So, please be careful.”

“You realize this is mine, right?”

“Aww, babe, it’s cute you think that.” She grinned sweetly up at me, and I was helpless to defend myself.

“Okay, fine, I’ll be careful. I promise. Just remind me to buy a replacement while we’re on Drassun.”

“Deal,” she agreed, and finally let go before turning around to leave our bedroom. “I was just thinking I could use a new one.”

I pulled the jacket on and raced after her with a smile. “There’s no chance I’m going to get to keep anything I buy, is there?”

“I mean, if you pick something really ugly, then maybe? But Softie will definitely make fun of you if you do that.”

“That’s true, I will,” Sora agreed from where they were sitting next to Ithnaa and Samira on the couch. “What am I making fun of Bryce for?”

“Hopefully nothing. Is everyone ready to go?” I asked as we made our way into the living area.

“We are, and there’s a shuttle waiting for us near Rajak’s compound. I’ll begin teleporting people over as soon as you give the word,” Ithnaa offered, but I was confused.

“You didn’t give Es one of your tokens?”

“No, I was busy arguing with Thea at the time, and it honestly just didn’t occur to me.”

“In that case, let me handle the teleportation,” I offered before turning to address Thea. “Would you mind handing me the artifact I pulled from the prison?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Here you go.” Thea held out a black metal sphere covered in intricate runework. I took it and focused on the leyline intersection near Rajak’s office, causing a portal to appear behind the couches nearby.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“We’ll probably want you to take care of the way back, but I can do this much while we’re being protected by the ship’s wards.”

“Oh, neat. You’ll let me study that, right?” Samira asked as she leapt over the couch and walked over to look at the artifact.

“Sure, just try not to break it.” I handed it to her before walking through the opening. Samira, Thea, Sora, and finally Ithnaa followed me through, then I sent out a tendril of mana to pull at the spell creating the portal, collapsing it behind us.

~~~~~

Around half an hour later and the auto-shuttle was dropping the five of us off outside the crowded stadium, where Daria was impatiently waiting while holding a black parasol. “Captain Virra, we were beginning to doubt that you would make it.”

“Sorry about that, I hope you weren’t waiting out here for long,” I apologized, and the vampire frowned as she pulled out her data-pad. She started scrolling through it while balancing the parasol on her shoulder.

“No, of course not. I received an alert when you arrived at the Syndicate compound, then tracked your shuttle on the way here.” She put the data-pad away before looking back up at me. “The boss wanted to meet with you before the fight, but at this point, that won’t be possible. So, she’s permitted me to act on her behalf.”

“Okay, is there some sort of issue?”

“A number of them, actually, but the most pressing is that the terms of the fight have changed. It’s tradition in a blood duel that the wronged party mandate certain restrictions, and the boss chose to allow both Dezra’s mate and Mazi’s sister the opportunity.”

“A blood duel? Is that a shifter thing?” Sora asked.

“It’s a vampiric tradition meant to allow immortals a formal way of settling differences without inciting millennia-long feuds,” Ithnaa responded. “Admittedly, it’s more efficient than the djinn method of slowly undermining your rival while you orchestrate their downfall, but it's far less satisfying.”

Daria blinked before squinting at the djinn. “Lord Ithnaa? I apologize. The sunlight makes it difficult for me to make out details and I didn’t recognize you.”

“Perhaps we should move this inside, then?” I offered. She nodded before turning around and marching towards the stadium. We followed her inside, and to an elevator, but she didn’t call it. Instead, Daria twisted the handle of her parasol, causing it to collapse into a rod small enough to fit in her pocket.

“That’s much better, thank you. Now, Lord Ithnaa is correct. Blood duels were introduced along with several other vampiric traditions to solve issues that arose due to the drastically increased aggression and lifespan caused by my sire’s blood mixing with shifter DNA.”

“Wait, the Drassun pack is part vampire?” I asked, somewhat dumbfounded, but Daria just frowned back at me.

“Of course. Was that not clear due to their size and my presence? I could have sworn I mentioned that during our meal together.”

I thought back to that night, then shook my head. “No, you said your sire was close to the original pack alpha, but nothing about sharing blood with them.”

“Close in a romantic sense,” Daria corrected. “My sire couldn’t provide the alpha with children, so instead he gave him enough of his blood to convert each living member of the pack into a hybrid. I’m sorry, we’re getting off topic.”

“Uh, right, you were just explaining the terms set by Nikko and Mazi’s sister,” I reminded her, and Daria nodded.

“That’s correct. Nikko demanded the duel be to satisfaction, allowing either party to yield but only ending if the yield is accepted. Mazi’s sister, who wishes to remain anonymous, demanded that the boss not be allowed to accept Es’s yield.”

“Which means Es can let Lysc live, but she can’t let him live,” I pointed out.

“And Es wouldn’t kill Lysc if he could help it,” Thea added before continuing with a sigh. “I guess that’s kind of fair, anyway. I mean, Kai can just bring him back if he ends up dying. She’ll just be really annoying about it. No offense, Softie.”

“None taken, but I think the vampire has more to say.”

“Unfortunately, Kai learned of the fight, and Es agreed to spend two hundred years in her afterlife if he loses in exchange for Kai not killing the boss or anyone in the crowd.”

“Which means if Es loses, then he won’t be able to help us fight Mother,” Thea pointed out before glaring at Sora. “Softie, this is your fault, isn’t it?”

“Not this time. At least, not directly. I might have encouraged her to be more active in Es’s life during his transition, and maybe mentioned that she wouldn’t have to deal with Orrid or Lilith since he was on the mortal plane, but I definitely didn’t say anything about the fight.”

“You’re serious about taking the fight to Mother?” Daria interrupted, and I was the one to respond.

“We are. It’s a long story, but we suspect she’s discovered the spell I created while at the Drania academy, and I’m hoping to kill her before she’s able to cast it.”

She thought for a moment before nodding to herself. “The boss will no doubt be interested in helping should she survive the fight, and if she doesn’t, then I’ll convince Rashka to assist in her place. Either way, expect help from the Drassun pack. We have a vested interest in keeping the Syndicate weak.”

“That’s good to hear, but if Lysc kills Es tonight, then it may complicate things. ”

“Nah, it probably won’t,” Thea corrected me. “Two hundred years is a long time, but it’s not that long. Plus, Kai is a total pushover when it comes to making the people she likes happy. We can just have Softie ask her to let us borrow Es for a bit while we kill Mother, and she’d probably let us.”

“Maybe don’t call my goddess a pushover? But yeah, you’re probably right. Although, we would need to convince her we aren’t putting his soul in any danger, which might not be easy. Bryce spooked her pretty badly at breakfast yesterday.”

“You scared the trickster goddess?” Daria turned to me with a surprised look, and I could only really shake my head.

“My spell scared her, not me. It poses a rather significant threat to anyone with excessive amounts of mana. Which definitely includes gods. To be honest, I’m surprised she’s taking the threat seriously.”

“I keep trying to tell you she’s way more clever than you think.”

“Regardless.” I ignored Sora’s eye roll as I went back to the topic at hand. “Were there any other issues that need to be discussed before the fight, or can the others wait?”

“There’s one I would like a definitive answer on as soon as possible, but we can leave the details for after if that’s alright with you.” Daria paused to wait for my response, so I nodded for her to continue. “Agent Silas is here on Drassun, and he claims to be your brother. Es confirmed it, but Kai insinuated he was planning to kill or capture you.”

“I fucking knew it!” Thea shouted, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions with Kai involved.

“How exactly did she insinuate he wanted to kill me?”

Daria took a moment to retrieve her data-pad before reading directly from it. “If you want to sleep with Es, then it’s Thea you need to impress, not me. And since she knows that you’re either going to kill her girlfriend or lock her away forever, that’s probably going to be an uphill battle.” She put it away before providing more context for the quote. “To be clear, Agent Silas never directly expressed that he wanted to sleep with Es, although the two seemed extremely familiar with each other, and they shared a room last night.”

“Sounds like Kai was just trying to give him a hard time for hitting on her son,” Sora pointed out, and I reluctantly agreed. Although, I was absolutely going to kick Silas’s ass if he was just using Es to get close to me.

But I doubted that was the case. Silas wouldn’t have been above lying to Es to get what he wanted, but unless he had completely changed in the thirty or so years since last I saw him, sleeping with Es to manipulate him would have been a step too far.

“Well, princess, what do you think? Is he out to kill us or just a slut?”

“Excuse me? He slept with your brother. Why is mine the slut in this situation?”

“Who said there only has to be one? Besides, Es is a succubus, he gets a free pass. Or is he an incubus now? I’m not actually sure how that works.”

“Ladies, how about we quit with the slut shaming and actually answer Daria’s question?” Sora interrupted. “Are we worried that Bryce’s brother is going to try to kill her? Oh, also, the gender-neutral term is fuccubus. If you’re not sure which he is, then you shouldn’t guess.”

“Okay, first of which, ‘fuccubus’ is definitely not a real word,” Thea protested. “And second, we were slut praising, not shaming. Hells, I’m glad Es finally got laid again. Gods know it was long overdue. I just know that Bryce doesn’t trust her brother, which means I don’t trust him either.”

“Should I have him detained?” Daria asked, and I shook my head.

“No, that’s probably unnecessary. Silas is definitely dangerous, but he’s not a direct threat to anyone in our group. Well, except possibly Samira, but to get to her, he’d have to get through the rest of us.”

“Huh?” Samira finally looked up from the artifact, and Sora placed a hand on her shoulder.

“There’s a chance the captain’s brother might come after you. So, make sure you stick close to me or Ithnaa while we’re here.”

“Oh, sure. No problem.” She went back to studying the artifact, and I chuckled.

“Like I said, it shouldn’t be an issue. Just keep an eye on him, and watch for illusions. He's not a natural caster, but he likely has more than enough technology to make up for it.”

She nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. If you’re ready, I can escort you to your seats.”

“Lead the way,” I agreed, and she turned to press on the console near the elevator door. The moment she did, I watched the color drain from the world around me as a nearly transparent black smoke filled the air. An icy chill ran down my spine as a dangerous, feminine voice spoke from behind me.

“Ms. Virra, I apologize for the interruption. I was originally planning on catching you after the fight, but now I’m concerned that should Es be killed, I’ll be dragged away before I have the chance. So, it seemed prudent to handle this now.”