Nick paced the length of his room, folding his arms as he thought. He hadn’t been rolling the dice since Sunday. He also hadn’t seen Grizzizzik since Sunday. Everyone agreed Grizzizzik couldn’t be around Nick. For punishment, Grizzizzik had now fallen under Hraktar’s care. The fighter didn’t let him out of his sight.

Which created a problem. Nick needed to talk to Grizzizzik. His rogue also needed to be fighting and gaining experience points. But… Nick really didn’t want to see his character right now. This entire situation was complicated.

No. It wasn’t complicated. His rogue was being an idiot, forcing Nick into a corner that was quite abusive.

He needed to figure out how to get out. As much as he hated it, Grizzizzik was stubborn and wouldn’t change his mind until he got what he wanted. Especially since it dealt with getting revenge on his father. Which meant they needed to fight more battles. Every time Nick risked his reputation, he wanted it to count. The longer Grizzizzik stayed below 6,000 experience points, the more it hurt. Level five was a mere five hundred and thirty-five points away. It seemed like Grizzizzik punching Nick made everyone place a hold on their plans to fight a bunch of monsters.

But, with a realization that made his stomach churn, this wasn’t what Nick wanted to talk to Grizzizzik about. Somehow, despite his stomach being a ball of nerves ever since Grizzizzik made the contract, a new concern plagued Nick.

Nick collapsed into his chair and concentrated. If he couldn’t break the contract with Chaos, then he needed to at least share his concern with Grizzizzik. And if people got angry that Nick teleported Grizzizzik, then maybe they could do more digging and figure out why Nick wanted to talk to Grizzizzik so soon after getting punched in the face. Nick had been itching to try out a few phrases to see if he could help clue anyone into this.

Grizzizzik’s character sheet popped into his vision, and Nick didn’t open his eyes until he heard Grizzizzik’s stumbling footfalls. Nick’s eyes snapped open as Grizzizzik righted himself. His rogue brushed his shoulder, glancing at Nick, lingering on the healing black eye before his gaze darted around the room. “No battle?”

“No. A conversation.”

“Ugh. I’d rather have the battle,” Grizzizzik said.

“Sometimes a conversation is a battle.”

Grizzizzik sat on the bed, crossing his arms. “Our last conversation battle went well for you, didn’t it?” Nick’s eyes narrowed, knowing Grizzizzik wanted to get under his skin. “Is this why it took you a few days to—”

“Mr. Stower attended school the past three days, looking confused about where the time has gone.”

Nick wondered if he needed to elaborate any more. The way Grizzizzik’s face dropped told him he didn’t.

Ever since Monday, something was gnawing at him. He couldn’t understand what was eating him until Tuesday, when he stepped into the part of his mind that he used for Grizzizzik. Sitting in math class, talking about averages, he realized the statistical likelihood of Akshi already being back was high. Very high. Not only that, but Akshi always prepared for the days he was gone. He always had things in place to keep the charade going and his crime empire under his control. Especially since he sometimes took days off to regenerate his cells or whatever he did to come back to life. Mr. Stower shouldn’t be recovering from a charm.

“And… Pippa?” Grizzizzik asked.

Nick shook his head. “I haven’t seen her since, either.”

Grizzizzik looked ahead, staring at nothing, lost in his thoughts. The rogue had come to the same conclusion Nick had. There was no way Akshi wouldn’t be prepared for something like this, even on earth. If Mr. Stower was returning to normal, it meant Akshi had dropped him as a puppet. And if Akshi dropped him as a puppet…

“It’s been five days since we killed him,” Grizzizzik said. “He might still be dead, but he might not. He’s moving on. Finding another puppet. Or someone to steal.”

Nick rubbed his chin, feeling nauseous. “Why haven’t you been fighting? I haven’t rolled dice since Sunday.”

“I’ve tried,” Grizzizzik almost spat. “Even tried getting everyone else involved. Every time something happens and we forget about it until that night.”

“Something’s at work here.”

“Is it connected with Akshi?” Grizzizzik asked.

“No. It’s connected to you bringing the perfect personification of chaos to mess with our lives.” The words came out harsh, but somehow not harsh enough.

Grizzizzik rolled his eyes.

Nick sighed, feeling the exhaustion he tried to hold back come crashing down. Akshi was planning something. Possibly kidnapping someone among the group. Everyone was a possibility, but he was mostly afraid about Alejandra. The frosty looks she gave, ignoring him. Alejandra might hand Nick over to Akshi. And by handing Nick over, she was essentially handing Grizzizzik over, too.

“Alejandra is in danger, isn’t she?” Nick whispered.

Grizzizzik nodded. “Yeah. She is. Akshi will use her to get to you.”

“And then to you,” Nick said.

Grizzizzik lowered his rogue hood, rubbing his snake head. “I need that sword.”

“You need your friends. Stop hiding this from them,” Nick said.

Grizzizzik snorted. “Not going to happen.”

Nick about said something when his phone went off, and it was such an odd experience that he stared at his pocket for a few seconds. He pulled out his phone and saw Tyler calling him. Perfect. Nick needed to talk to him, anyway. He flipped his phone open.

“Hey, Ni—”

“Akshi’s dropped Mr. Stower as a puppet, which means he’s trying something else. Grizzizzik and I think he’ll kidnap Alejandra to get to me, and therefore Grizzizzik. Also, our characters can’t fight, and they really need to so they can level up again. They’re so close to level five.”

“—iiick.” There was a pause before Tyler cleared his throat. “Well, um, alright then.”

Nick sighed, leaning back a little. “Sorry, you called?”

“Just… checking up on you. Glad I called.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been a rough week.”

Tyler sighed. “Alright, well, there’s a slightly complicated matter with your dad we need to take care of first, but I have a plan to bypass it, as long as you’re okay lying to your dad.”

“I mean… obviously fine. What does my dad have to do with anything, though?” Nick didn’t think about the possibility of Akshi charming Walt. Holy hell, that would be so much worse.

“So, the idea has come into Walt’s mind that I must be trying to seduce your sister,” Tyler said.

Nick couldn’t help but snort. “Oh, god. Sorry.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Yeah, well, I won’t let Walt keep me from checking on you. And if Walt ever catches me calling Evelyn again, she might get in trouble, and I don’t want that. What I need you to do is program my name into your phone as Rafael’s instead. I’ve got a feeling Walt won’t dig into it too much if he sees Rafael’s name calling you so much.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “That’s actually… a genius idea.”

“I have them occasionally. Just say Rafael’s been checking up on you since you got hurt. I’ll let Rafael know so he can support the story. Hopefully that’s all the lying you have to do, because I don’t want Evelyn to get in trouble on my behalf. Especially with your dad. He’s… scary.”

“Yeah. I know.” Nick glanced at Grizzizzik, who was watching him closely. “Should I program Rafael as you?”

“No, in case Rafael really calls you sometime. Unless… does your dad check your contacts?”

“I’m… not sure. I don’t think so.” Nick had a very short contact list. It wouldn’t be difficult to check it.

Tyler sighed. “I will leave that up to you. You… understand Walt better than me.”

Nick closed his eyes, nauseous. He needed to do it. He didn’t need to think about it too hard. This had to be done. “Okay, let Rafael know I’ll be changing his information to Tyler, and he needs to be careful about calling me.”

“I will.” He sighed again. “As for what you mentioned before with Akshi… I hate how much that makes sense.”

“What do we do?” Nick asked.

“You? Little, I’m afraid. I’ll call up Rafael and let him know about all this, and maybe between him and me, we can talk Alejandra out of her anger towards you.”

“I mean…. There’s a chance Alejandra might not turn me over. Things may be rocky, but Alejandra doesn’t hate me that bad. Right?”

There was a large part of him that asked Tyler that question to hear his answer. Tyler seemed pretty good with people, and he’d seen Alejandra interacting with Nick enough.

The silence stretched for too long. Grizzizzik gave Nick a side look that told him everything he needed to know. All Akshi needed was a small, negative experience before he worked his manipulation skills to get people slitting each other’s throats. Nick and Alejandra had more than a small, negative experience. And it was painfully clear how Alejandra felt about Nick.

“You know? I can… work with her,” Tyler said.

Nick rubbed his forehead, his heart sinking. The realization of it all hit him hard. Akshi dropped Mr. Stower. Akshi now realized the team was strong enough to kill him, and he wouldn’t like them to kill him over and over. Whatever plan he had in motion would begin. And if Alejandra was involved…

God, he hated it. Despite her frosty looks, despite the rocky relationship, he felt a powerful urge to stick by her side, just like Rafael and Derek were sticking by him. If a scaly hand even touched a hair on her head, he might lose it. Alejandra had gone through enough. She didn’t need a crime lord hurting her. For once he understood why Grizzizzik was so desperate for a sword to murder his father.

But Grizzizzik using Nick was abusive, and that needed to stop.

Evelyn threw open the door to his room and stumbled inside, eyes wide as she had her phone up against her ear. Her eyes fell on Grizzizzik, who glanced at her, almost bored. Evelyn walked in further, placing herself between Nick and Grizzizzik. “Yeah. He’s here.”

“Evie?” Nick asked.

Evelyn moved the phone enough so she could talk to Grizzizzik, glaring at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I was summoned,” Grizzizzik said.

Evelyn was confused, glancing at Nick, then back at Grizzizzik.

“Is everything okay?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah, Evelyn just got home. Someone must be calling her to say Grizzizzik disappeared from Hraktar’s care, because I had to portal him here to talk to him,” Nick said.

Evelyn frowned, staring at Nick, but placing herself more firmly between him and Grizzizzik. The rogue’s eyes narrowed, watching Nick distrustfully.

“Uh… Grizzizzik is there? Is everything okay?”

“Not really, no. He’s not punching me, though, so that’s a plus,” Nick said.

Evelyn’s head jerked around to look at Nick, her eyes widening.

“What?” Evelyn asked.

“Is… is there a fight or something? Do you need help?”

“No fight, no. I teleported him here. I was concerned about Mr. Stower, which is why we both agreed something else is up,” Nick said.

“You teleported Grizzizzik to you by yourself?”

Clarissa popped into view. She had been kneeling on the ground, but glanced up, confused, until she noticed Grizzizzik. She scrambled to her feet, her brows furrowed.

“What are you doing here, Grizzly Bear?”

Grizzizzik rolled his eyes. “Just teleport everyone here while you’re at it, so I only have to explain myself once,” Grizzizzik said.

“You shouldn’t have him there by yourself,” Tyler said.

“I know, but… Grizzizzik won’t punch me again. He’s learned his lesson. Hopefully he talks to Ezekiel soon and gives a full confession about what he’s done to make him feel better.” Nick stared right at his character. The rogue glared back. “In fact, with Akshi planning something, we really need to keep leveling up.”

Tyler sighed on the other end. “Yeah. They should. Ezekiel and Prince Sylvar especially.”

“Grizzizzik’s been trying, but they always fall asleep right before.”

“Hmm, let me hear the story from him. Maybe it’ll clue me into what’s going on.”

Nick hesitated, glancing at Grizzizzik. The rogue had never taken his eyes off Nick, though he made sure Clarissa stayed out of arm’s reach. “Alright, I’ll… hand the phone over to him.”

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed as Nick walked over to Grizzizzik. Clarissa, too, straightened. Grizzizzik stared at the phone Nick offered him. “Tyler wants to talk to you.”

Grizzizzik gave the phone another few seconds of studying before he took it between his thumb and pointer finger, holding it against his ear. “What?” Grizzizzik asked into the phone.

Nick folded his arms, waiting. He heard Tyler talking into the other side as Evelyn walked over to him.

“I’ll call you back.” She slipped her phone in her pocket. “Are you okay, Nick?”

“No, I’m not,” Nick said.

Evelyn glanced at Grizzizzik. “Is he hurting you?”

“Not physically,” Nick said, keeping Grizzizzik’s eye contact as Grizzizzik explained the story. His rogue glared at him, even as he kept his voice even to tell the story.

“What the hell does that mean?” Evelyn asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Nick said, keeping his eyes on Grizzizzik.

“He’s hurting you?” Evelyn asked.

“Not physically,” Nick said again.

“This isn’t a time to joke, Nick.”

He finally tore his gaze from Grizzizzik to look at Evelyn. “I know.”

Evelyn frowned. “If he’s giving you such grief, why the hell are you teleporting him to you?” she asked.

Nick sighed. “I’m trying to get him to understand something.”

A shadow crossed them as Grizzizzik moved toward them, moving Nick to one side. Evelyn slapped Grizzizzik’s hand away. “Don’t touch my brother,” she said.

Grizzizzik looked far more amused than in pain until Clarissa stood next to Grizzizzik, eyes dangerous. Tyler was still saying something on the other side while everyone glared at Grizzizzik.

“Fine. I’ll pass the word along,” Grizzizzik said.

Tyler sounded like he was trying to say something else, but Grizzizzik snapped the phone shut and handed it to Nick. Nick took it, holding it close as he kept staring at his character with narrow eyes.

“That Tyler boy believes the reason we can’t battle is because we don’t have anyone there to roll for us. We from the Shrouded Domain can’t go off on our own like that. He doesn’t think everyone from earth needs to be there. Maybe just one person would be enough to trigger everyone else to roll from a distance.”

The silence that followed spoke much. Evelyn and Nick exchanged glances, and Nick already knew Evelyn would call Tyler to make sure Grizzizzik told the truth. Or maybe call Derek to make sure Tyler was telling the truth. He really didn’t like that Walt’s mistrust had trickled onto Evelyn and Tyler. Which reminded him he needed to switch the contact information.

“Checks out,” Nick said. “Worth a shot, at least.”

“I’ll take you back to Hraktar,” Clarissa said.

Grizzizzik finally tore his gaze from Nick to look at Clarissa. “The boy summoned me.”

“And now it’s time to go back.” The warning was clear in Clarissa’s voice. She lifted a hand. “Do I need to drag you?”

Grizzizzik narrowed his eyes. “No.”

“Then let’s go.”

There was another moment’s pause, then Grizzizzik unfolded his arms. “Right.” He and Clarissa left out the door. Nick glanced out the window, waiting long enough to see Clarissa and Grizzizzik walking out of the house before Clarissa changed into a war horse. Grizzizzik made some sort of quip, which caused horse Clarissa to lift a hoof, threatening. Grizzizzik grumbled again and climbed on her back. She galloped off, with Grizzizzik gripping the mane like his life depended on it.

Nick opened his phone and changed the contact information. He needed Grizzizzik to trust his friends. To tell them what was going on. The longer this went on, the more untrusting the other characters would be. The more untrusting, the more Grizzizzik would keep his mouth shut. It was a dangerous cycle.

“So that was Tyler,” Nick mumbled.

Evelyn pulled out her phone, texting. “I picked up on the context clues, thanks.”

“He also said Dad accused him of trying to seduce you,” Nick said.

Despite laughing like Nick had, Evelyn’s face went a deep red, and she looked flustered. “God, Nick. I… he… I’m just…” Nick glanced up at her, and Evelyn focused on texting someone. “Ugh, Dad’s awful.”

“Ah, shit, he accused him of it while you were in the vicinity?” Nick asked.

“Right out of therapy, in fact. He really likes to undo all the progress I make in those sessions,” Evelyn said, not looking at him, her cheeks still flaming red.

“Sorry about that. We’ve got a system where Tyler will call me instead of you, and we’ll use Rafael’s name to hide any suspicion.” Nick finished changing Tyler’s name in his phone to Rafael and moved to change Rafael to Tyler. The silence stretched on, and Nick glanced up to see Evelyn staring at nothing, phone in hand. Her brows were furrowed, and she was gnawing on her bottom lip. “Evelyn?” Nick asked.

That seemed to jolt her out of her trance. She looked back at her phone. “I’ll let Alejandra know Grizzizzik and Princess Clarissa are heading back to their house, so Hraktar doesn’t charge over here.”

She walked out of Nick’s room, shutting the door behind her. Nick frowned before he finished changing Rafael’s name in his phone.