Rafael finished his homework in enough time to eat something. Alejandra walked through the door in her McDonald’s uniform, dropping her hat on the counter.

“So, are you coming to the session tonight?” Rafael asked.

Alejandra shook her head. “And you can tell Nick I’ll find someone else to go to the winter ball.”

Rafael sighed, glancing at his sandwich. “Look, Alejandra, I think we need to have a talk about that.”

“No, we don’t,” Alejandra said. “What he said was cruel.”

“I know. It doesn’t sound like him at all.”

“So I must be lying?” Alejandra asked.

Rafael placed a hand in his hair. “I didn’t say that. I’ll talk to him tonight about it, but… but it makes me nervous to have you stay here by yourself. Please reconsider.”

Alejandra shook her head, heading for the bathroom to shower. “I can’t. Not this week. I don’t want to see Nick, and I have every right to stay home. Don’t threaten me with a possible kidnapping for not attending CCNC. I cannot be around Nick right now.” She slammed the door to the bathroom to take her shower, and Rafael sighed. He couldn’t force Alejandra to attend, especially after what Nick said to her.

But that seemed so out of character for Nick, even when Evelyn reported that yes, he actually meant it. Rafael refused to believe it. Not until he heard it himself.

Rafael’s phone started vibrating and saw Tyler was calling him. He swiped it, placing it against his ear. “Hey, Tyler. Are you there?”

“Yep. Tell Sylvar to prepare to teleport here. I’ve already warned him that Las Vegas is still a desert, but this group will move up the coast of Oregon and Washington. Apparently, a ton of forestry creatures are gathering there.”

“Okay, I’ll go find him.”

Rafael hung up before slipping out the back door. It didn’t take him long to find them. Sylvar and Clarissa were both sitting on the ground, watching the sunset. They both turned when they heard Rafael’s footfalls on the dirt, and he lifted his phone.

“I just got off the phone with Tyler. He’s in Las Vegas now, ready to teleport you,” Rafael said.

Clarissa looked at her brother’s face as Sylvar nodded. “Thank you. I would like to say goodbye to my sister first, if that’s alright.”

Rafael nodded. “Of course.”

Clarissa and Sylvar both stood, whispering. Rafael backed away to give them privacy, but he still saw their body language. Sylvar was the older brother in every way, a slight smile on his face as he told a joke to no doubt lighten the mood before Clarissa wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering something.

Rafael felt a pang of regret. He hadn’t been that older brother for three years. He pushed his little sister away and left her to fend for herself. Rafael thought he was getting better with not feeling so guilty about everything, but then things like this happened and he felt it twist his soul all over again.

They finished hugging, and Sylvar walked over to Rafael. The druid prince looked far better than he had after they saved him from the failed ritual. Tyler put an attribute point into strength, so Sylvar didn’t look as emaciated. The thirty-two hit points also felt better. He had been an enormous help this past week, and Rafael was glad to see him looking stronger.

“Thank you, Rafael, for opening your home to us.” Sylvar grabbed Rafael’s hand and shook it.

“No trouble.” Technically, it wasn’t his home, but Sylvar no doubt barely saw Mariana coming in and out of the house. Rafael rarely saw his mom, too. “If you ever find yourself in Arizona again, my door is always open.”

Sylvar smiled, then glanced up at the sky. “I shall remember that, though this climate might still hurt me.”

“Wait for the winter months. It’s cooler,” Rafael said.

“Well, once I finish destroying the monsters in the forest, I shall come back to help you.”

“We certainly need all the help we can get,” Rafael said.

Sylvar smiled, then closed his eyes. “Alright, I’m ready.”

Rafael texted Tyler that Sylvar was ready. Not long after he sent it, Sylvar disappeared. He noticed Clarissa watching where he disappeared, tears in her eyes. Rafael lifted the phone.

“It’s alright, Clarissa. These people have our email addresses. Sylvar can write to you, and you can write to him. You can even ask Tyler to call him every once in a while.” Rafael didn’t know why he felt the need to comfort her, but she looked so forlorn.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “But… it won’t be the same as him being here, will it?”

Rafael swallowed, glancing at his phone. “No. It won’t.”

Clarissa nodded. “I will be ready to leave shortly. I simply… need a moment.”

Rafael nodded, then moved back into his house.

***

Nick leaned against the door, knowing they were late, but he had no desire to say anything to Evelyn to help her speed through her getting ready process. Honestly, she already got ready this morning. He never understood why she needed to change outfits throughout the day.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Either way, the longer it took to get to the CCNC session, the more he didn’t have to see Grizzizzik. He didn’t want to know what he had to do in order to get these experience points to count toward his warlock level. They gained a lot, but they still had a lot more to go. The monsters weren’t as strong, so the points weren’t as much, either. Grizzizzik got ninety-two experience points for yesterday’s fight. Nick should be grateful they were getting rid of creatures, but he also felt similar to Grizzizzik. They needed to get leveled up as fast as possible, and ninety-two experience points after days of three hundred, sometimes even five hundred experience point days, felt like a bad omen.

Evelyn walked toward the front door, straightening the shoe on her foot. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Nick grunted, then walked out the door. Walt had appeared in the entryway, and Nick wasn’t interested in saying anything to his dad. Walt was waiting for them to leave so he could put the door back on, and Nick didn’t want to ruin that.

Evelyn unlocked her car, and Nick got into the passenger seat. The drive to Derek’s house was long and silent. Nick said nothing the entire time. He hadn’t really said anything to Evelyn since he snapped at her on Monday. He had said little to anyone, honestly. No doubt snapping at his sister made her far more hesitant to talk to him.

They pulled into Derek’s house, and Nick was not surprised to see they were the last ones here. Once Evelyn turned the car off, Nick slipped out and walked toward the front door and knocked.

Miguel opened it, and he smiled brightly at Nick. “Hey, Nick. Come on in.”

“Hello, Miguel. It’s… been a while.”

“Starting the new job next month. Gives me plenty of time to reacquaint myself with home,” Miguel said. “And how’s school going?”

“Good. It’s… good.” They had parent-teacher conferences this week, and considering Walt didn’t come home and lecture him about anything, it meant he was keeping his grades to a satisfactory level.

“Of course things are good. You’ve always been a diligent kid.”

A baseball lodged itself in Nick’s throat. Nick didn’t know if Miguel knew what was happening in Nick’s life, but Derek’s father was talking to him more than anyone had all week and seemed completely relaxed in his presence. It was odd, and it twisted his soul. It was like the memories of what it was like when he had a better reputation among people.

“Yeah,” Nick mumbled as Evelyn approached. “I’ll… be seeing you around, Miguel.”

He moved past Miguel into the house as Miguel said a quick word to Evelyn. Nick waved at Amanda, who waved back, smiling. Derek was leaning against the table, nodding in Nick’s general direction before watching the CCNC characters interacting.

Nick noticed Tyler’s absence right away. It was weird to not see Tyler and Derek chatting about some mythical lore of CCNC while everyone else was arriving. But he realized someone else was missing, too. Alejandra was nowhere in sight. For half a second he panicked, thinking Alejandra had been kidnapped, but he forced himself to calm down. If Akshi had kidnapped if Alejandra, absolutely no one would look this calm.

They talked for a little more when Rafael glanced around. “I guess we’re all here. We can head out.”

“Right. Let’s go.” Derek adjusted the hat on his head. It had the logo of CCNC. The characters started filing out of the house as Rafael approached Nick.

“Hey,” Rafael said.

“Hey.”

The two of them headed toward the door, with Derek moving ahead to get to the minivan to unlock it.

“Alejandra wants me to tell you she doesn’t want to go with you to the winter ball,” Rafael said.

“Right. Makes sense,” Nick couldn’t help but mutter.

“And… I just have to ask. Did you really tell her that Grizzizzik signed a contract with Chaos to get a sword strong enough to kill his father?” Rafael asked.

Nick forced himself not to sigh as he rubbed his temples. He didn’t want to do this. It made him nauseous. Rafael glanced at him, waiting. There was no humor in his old friend’s gaze, and Nick couldn’t mess this up. Nick stopped walking right before they got to the minivan and raised his shoulders. “Yes?” He hated admitting to something he didn’t know he said.

Rafael studied him closely. “Yes, with a question mark?”

Nick cleared his throat. “Yes. I… did.”

Rafael frowned, and Evelyn glanced over at them. “Why?” Rafael asked.

“I…” Nick forced down the instinct to rage as he glanced at Grizzizzik, who watched the whole thing with a curious gaze. “I don’t know. It… won’t happen again, though.”

“Good. I hope not,” Rafael said. “Rather shitty thing to say to my sister, bringing up Grizzizzik’s contract with chaos.”

Nick closed his eyes as more eyes rested on him. “Of course. It… I’m sorry.”

Grizzizzik glanced between Rafael and Nick before looking away, and Nick seriously hoped that meant he was rethinking everything. Something told him Grizzizzik wouldn’t stop until he got the sword, though.

An idea came to Nick. “Hey, Rafael?”

Rafael, who was heading toward the minivan, stopped and glanced behind his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Did you… did Tyler tell you what I said last week? Wondering about what might happen if another person died in our group?” Nick asked.

Rafael blinked, and Nick assumed the conversation switch was whiplash worthy. “Um… yeah. He mentioned your concern.”

“Specifically, about how things we say might change.” Nick went straight to the similarity, seeing Grizzizzik’s eyes narrowing. “How someone might say something and it sort of magically changes into something else.” Nick looked straight at Evelyn, hoping she got it. He wasn’t sure how much more obvious he could be unless he was beating them over the head with a stick.

Evelyn frowned. “Are you saying you actually sense a sixth person in our group? Is that why you’ve been acting so weird?”

Nick closed his eyes, holding back a sigh. “No. No. Just… just that…” Nick was being careful about what he said. He had a feeling if he strayed onto territory that Chaos could change, that it would not change it to his favor.

When he opened his eyes again, he realized everyone had frozen. Nick almost jumped at the strange sight of them all looking at him when he saw the words in front of him.

Roll for insight

Nick blinked, then grabbed the d20. He didn’t know what Grizzizzik was doing. He hated not knowing Grizzizzik’s plans. The last time he had to guess what his character did, he ended up being a pawn in a contract he was suffering under.

Nick grabbed the d20 and rolled it. It landed on an eighteen, and the +4 could only help. Help with whatever Grizzizzik was trying to figure out.

Time resumed, and Rafael stared at Nick. Nick watched Rafael, but kept Grizzizzik in his peripheral. Rafael’s brows furrowed.

“Nick, I don’t understand what you’re getting at. If there was a sixth person in our group, I need an obvious yes or no.”

Nick swallowed. “No.”

Grizzizzik’s character sheet came up, and his new warlock ability burned within him. After leveling up, Grizzizzik gained the ability to cast detect magic without using a spell slot. Grizzizzik muttered to himself quietly, keeping his arms folded as his eyes burned with a black flame. Nick’s breath caught in his throat as Grizzizzik stared right at Derek. He wasn’t sure what that rogue was planning, but he found himself quite worried about Derek’s health.

“Okay, then. Shall we go?” Rafael asked, gesturing toward the minivan.

“Yeah.” The air left Nick’s lungs as Grizzizzik walked over to Derek.

Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out the van key, unlocking the door before glancing at Grizzizzik. “Hello.”

Grizzizzik folded his arms, a cool smile growing across his face. “Tryouts for Beauty and the Beast are coming up. You think you’re ready to try out for the beast?”

Derek smiled. “Of course. I can’t wait.”

Faster than Nick had time to react, Grizzizzik grabbed the front of Derek’s shirt and slammed him against the van, the hell dagger out and pressed against Derek’s throat.