Name:

Theon Osman

Race:

Human

Gender:

Male

Title:

None

Level:

23

Unspent Points:

5

Health:

100/100

Mana:

117/140

Stamina:

100/100

Strength:

10

Vitality:

10

Endurance:

10

Dexterity:

11

Agility:

10

Intelligence:

11

Willpower:

10

Psychic:

14

Perception:

12

Charisma:

10

Luck:

0

Theon distributed his points, bringing everything except luck up to at least ten. Last time he distributed his points he felt himself growing stronger and his exhaustion vanishing. This time though, he felt a searing hot pain.

He could feel his legs and arms burning, but they paled in comparison to the burning sensation coming from his face. He could feel his teeth moving and straightening, and the bones in his face seemed to be shifting around.

He screamed out in pain as he dropped to his hands and knees, even his throat was burning. Then as quickly as it came the pain went away.

“That was the girliest scream ever, I feel embarrassed for both of us,” Vasuki said.

Theon, still breathing heavy, got to his feet and said, “That’s cause my throat was burning!”

Ben, meanwhile, was waving his shotgun around trying to figure out where the threat was coming from. “What happened?!” he asked.

“Don’t put any points in charisma, unless you really have to,” Theon said as he dusted his hands off and picked up his weapons. He noticed his fingernails, and even his hands looked a little different.

Ben turned to look at Theon before nodding, “You look healthier.”

“I better after going through that. Anyways, are you ready?”

Ben nodded before thanking Theon yet again.

Theon shrugged off his gratitude, he wasn’t even sure that Ben’s wife was alive, but he kept his doubts to himself.

Theon followed Ben to the front door, it was cracked open, but he couldn’t see inside. After a quick glance, and a nod from Theon, Ben pushed the door aside.

The first thing Theon could see was that the front door opened to a living room that was separated from a kitchen by just a countertop. The second thing he noticed was all the movement that seemed to be coming out of every nook and cranny.

Ben fired his shotgun before Theon could really tell what was going on. Then imps began rushing them, and it seemed like a lot more than twenty or thirty.

“Damnit!” Ben shouted. “Why won’t this thing shoot!”

Theon could hear Ben’s shotgun clicking as he tried to shoot without pumping it. He grabbed Ben’s shoulder and pulled him out of the doorway before trying to pull the door shut. There was something blocking it though, and he couldn’t get it to shut completely.

“Ben, hold this door so it wont open anymore! We can fight a few at a time like this!”

Ben was as white as a sheet, shaking like a leaf, and covered in sweat, but he did as Theon asked.

Theon pointed his shotgun at the crack in the door as he waited for the imps. The door handle was of the gaudy vertical bar variety, it curved back into the thick wooden door. He didn’t doubt Ben could hold it in place, unless the imps got to his hands. Based on what he’d seen from inside the house, whoever Ben was before this happened, he was probably wealthy.

Theon didn’t have anymore time to postulate on Bens financial situation as the first imp tried to squeeze through the foot-wide crack. If it didn’t have wings it could have probably slipped right through. It looked exactly like Ben had said. It was a tiny little devil looking creature, red skin speckled black, horns on its head, sharp claws and teeth.

It practically evaporated as Theon’s shotgun barked. Two more came to take its place in as many seconds and Theon dispatched them the same way. He took advantage of the reprieve to shove more shells in his shotgun. He fumbled and dropped a few, but he was able to fill it back up before he had to start shooting again.

He repeated the process for about a minute until he finally ran out of shells and had to start using his sword. Ben had just stopped screaming and yelling, so Theon was worried he might be on the verge of passing out or something.

“You ok?” Theon said as he slashed down at two imps at once.

Ben nodded weakly as Theon pressed the blade against the wooden door, chopping an imp’s head off.

“Hold it steady!” Theon yelled as the door started to open wider under the pressure of his blade.

Theon decided to just stab and slash, for fear the door would open more. The imps were filling up the gap now, and he doubted he could have kept them back with just the shotgun. The good news was the corpses were filling up the gap and making it harder for more to push through.

It eventually got to the point where he had to clear an opening for more imps to come through. He used the opportunity to gather the shells he’d dropped and load his shotgun.

By the time the imps stopped coming, his arms were burning with exhaustion and he was covered in sweat too. He told Ben he could let go of the handle as he tried to steady his breathing.

He could see now why the door wouldn’t shut, it was unhinged. The bottom of the door was running into the ground. Once they both had caught their breaths and prepared themselves they pushed the door inward.

Ben finally threw up, Theon couldn’t blame him though it wasn’t something he’d forget anytime soon. There was a mound of chopped up imp body parts just on the other side of the door. They had a black oily blood that seemed to look like and have the same consistency of crude oil, but the smell was far worse. It smelled like putrid fish oil and raw sewage and seemed to have some poison effect that made their eyes water and nose run.

They decided to try the back door, the entire time Ben was shouting his wife’s name, Kate. There wasn’t a response and Theon’s stomach was twisted in knots with worry about what Ben would do if she was horrifically eaten by the imps.

The whole house smelled terrible, apparently the imps were defecating in it all day. They’d turned the house into some sort of nest. There were a few stray imps that they were both having to put down. Apparently, Ben had figured out how to operate the shotgun from watching Theon.

Theon heard a banging once they’d gotten to the upstairs. Ben must have heard it too because he started shouting even louder.

“Ben take it slow there might be more!”

It was no use though, Ben took off for the sound of the banging, and Theon chased after. Ben ran through what looked like a master bedroom and up to a door on the other side. There weren’t any imps, but Theon didn’t let down his guard since he didn’t know what was beyond the other door. Until he heard a woman’s voice.

After Ben finally managed to convince her it was safe she opened the door, which led to a bathroom. Kate could have been considered a beautiful woman if her blonde hair wasn’t so disheveled, and her blue eyes weren’t so bloodshot red.

Theon leaned against a wall with a smile on his face as he listened to Ben and Kate tell each other their stories. They were both laughing and cry, holding and consoling one another. That wasn’t what was making Theon smile though, it was the happy ending, and the fact that Ben’s wife, Kate, wasn’t dead.

The smell was starting to get to him and he didn’t want to intrude on Ben and Kate, so he headed downstairs. He made his way through the house and out the backdoor quickly where he took large gulps of air and spat a few times in a futile attempt to remove the taste and smell.

He looked at his sword, it was covered in the oily blood, and he noticed he was also splattered in it. He tried to wipe his sword off in the grass for some time, before using a garden hose to clean it off.

“I might need another bath, and new armor,” Theon said.

Vasuki just laughed before saying, “Check your quest kid.”

Theon nodded, as he headed back to the cruiser, so he could fill up his shotgun. A moment of guilt washed over him at the thought of prospering from other peoples suffering, but he shoved the feeling down. He convinced himself it was a win-win situation, they get help and he gets a reward.

Theon gasped as he stopped walking and re-read the notification. “Is this some sort of sick joke!?” Theon asked.

Vasuki just laughed and said, “I told you to give him that crappy rifle. The shotguns are expensive.”

“Well, he’ll just have to give it back then, I don’t want this, it’s sick!”

“I know!” Vasuki said in mock exaggeration. “Here I am stuck as your servant, I can only control your body when you sleep! How’s that for a twisted and sick fate? All I can do is watch on in horror as you make one stupid decision after the other!”

“What stupid decision?!” Theon asked. “And also, why is the price going up?”

“I’m joking, I’m just joking calm down! Though, I do think your body could be better utilized under my direct control. Other than that, it hasn’t been too bad.

“As far as the price, they’re probably violating some law, trying to get out of their indentured servitude no doubt. Either that or they’re hurting you in some way and the price is being offset by the additional fees.”

“Are you always trying to make me paranoid?” Theon muttered as he got to the cruiser and started loading his shotgun. “That reminds me, you never told me how you killed that person using my body.”

Vasuki chucked nervously, and Theon froze to listen as he said, “Oh that, he tried to stop me from collecting the weapons from the police station. He tried to stop me by shooting at me, so I reciprocated.”

Theon let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and shook his head. Vasuki had killed a cop to steal all these weapons, and probably the cruiser too. He felt sick to his stomach about that, but if not for the weapons Kate would probably be dead or wind up dead at least. It wasn’t out of the question whether he’d be dead too.

Theon’s shaking head turned into a slight nod, but he didn’t say anything. As much as he wanted to chastise Vasuki for it, he also wanted to thank him for it. His help had been invaluable, and it seemed that he could be expected to help Theon and if not him, then at least for their combined survival. Getting into a fight with him over it now would be fruitless and could only create a tension with Vasuki. A tension he didn’t need to have with someone who lived inside his brain.

So instead of cornering Vasuki, he decided to shift gears to the present. “Can I cancel this bill they owe me?” he asked.

“That’s impossible, all debts must be paid in full.” Vasuki hesitated for a moment before continuing, “You know this could actually be a good thing for us, and them really. I mean how long do you think they’ll survive on their own?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Theon shrugged and said, “Depends if they run into monsters.”

“Turn around,” Vasuki said.

Theon did, and he caught a glimpse of something a few houses away. What he managed to see before it darted back behind the house was a head with black hair and skin, and two large eyes. The eyes were too large to be human and Theon instinctively whipped the shotgun up and pointed it in that direction.

“What the fuck was that!?” Theon hissed.

“Dunno, but it’s been watching us since we left that house. Don’t worry if it attacked I woulda taken control.”

It seemed like Vasuki had read his mind, he was going to ask why Vasuki hadn’t told him about it until now. The answer was obvious, because Vasuki wanted to take control of his body. But not telling him about this was taking things too far.

“Damnit Vasuki!” Theon hissed, anger and fear was pouring out of him and he was starting to shake.

“I recommend you try to get that radar thing. If that creature was going to attack us I’m pretty sure it would have already though kid. I think it’s been watching us the entire time we’ve been here. It could have attacked when you were killing the imps I think.”

Theon could sense more than see Ben and Kate approaching slowly from their house. He turned to them and shouted, “Get in the car, there’s something out here and it’s fast!”

Theon took his own advice as he slipped into the driver seat and shut the door quickly. He watched closely for the monster as Ben and Kate, who were now at a full-on sprint, made their way to the cruiser. They were both surprisingly fast, no doubt faster runners than him. Ben got in the passenger’s side and Kate got in the back with the weapons.

Ben asked as he got in the car, still breathing heavily, “What is it?!”

“I don’t know shut the door! Probably a wraith or something!”

“I doubt that,” Vasuki said. “Probably a dark elf, or drow I think. Wraiths can’t stand light right?”

Theon checked his new notification, another quest to kill the drow that was stalking him for a pitiful hundred credits popped up.

“Yeah it’s a drow, I’m not fighting that for only one hundred credits,” Theon said as he set the cruiser in drive and took off.

“Wait!” Kate said a bit frantically.

Theon glanced back at her, she was the ideal trophy wife. He could see the slight white circles over her eyes from her visits to a tanning bed. She’d changed out of her pink bathrobe and sported sweats and a white t-shirt now. She also had the bow and quiver with arrows that Ben had taken. Ben seemed to have changed and cleaned up a little as well. He had a fresh pair of jeans and a button-up dress shirt on, but Theon didn’t see the shotgun he’d given him.

All three of them still reeked of the imps though and Theon cracked his window despite his worry. The smell was too strong for him in the confined space.

“What?” he asked as he slowed the cruiser, but he knew what.

“It says were your indentured servants now!” Kate half yelled as she waved her arms in front of herself.

She seemed to have paused, waiting for him to respond, Ben was watching him closely too. He frowned, here it was, the conversation he dreaded having.

He nodded slowly as he flicked his eyes from the road to the two of them. “Yeah I noticed that.”

Silence rang out for a moment in the car as he swerved around the corpse of what looked like it used to be a troll. Theon noticed it looked like it was probably killed by the imps, death by a thousand bites. That thought heartened him, if the monsters were killing each other all the better for the people.

“You noticed that? Cancel it!” Kate was practically screaming now, and she was pointing at him.

“I can’t,” he said as he pulled over and stopped. “At least that’s what Vasuki says.”

Vasuki gasped, “What don’t trust me kid? I’m offended!”

Theon closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he white-knuckled the steering wheel.

He could hear Kate ask, “Who?”

Ben answered, “It’s a parasite inside his brain.”

He could hear Kate half-heartedly laughing before silence fell on them. He peeked a glance and saw Ben and Kate sharing a look that only veteran couples could.

Theon brought up the quest he’d gotten from Ben and read it out loud to them.

Quest for help from Ben Summers.

Ben Summers has enlisted your aid to save his wife.

Reward: 7,900 GC, indentured servitude equivalent to the amount of 432,653 GC.

Global Bonus: 10,000 GC

Ben told Theon how they were both informed they were unable to pay the required fee and were notified that they were now listed as indentured servants to one Theon Osman. They had spoken amongst one another about how it was ridiculous and that they weren’t going to be indentured servants. That was until they started getting headaches and were informed that they were too far from Theon without permission and their fees started increasing. They hurriedly changed before rushing towards him until the headaches dissipated.

“Good thing I didn’t drive away, what would have happened to them Vasuki?”

“At a guess? Their heads would have eventually exploded,” Vasuki laughed. “Then their debts would have gone to next of kin.”

Theon grimaced as Ben gave him a pleading ‘well what did he say,’ look. Theon just shook his head slowly.

“We’re not your slaves!” Kate declared before holding her head and grunting. “Damnit, headaches!”

“Honey stop!” Ben shouted. “The price is going up!”

Vasuki laughed as Kate shot lasers from her eyes at Ben, but she didn’t say anything else.

Ben turned back to Theon and said calmly, “If you take us to the bank, or give me your account number, I can wire you money. I don’t know if it’ll be enough but I’m willing to pay it to take this debt off.”

Vasuki started laughing even louder. Theon could feel his giddiness and it was starting to affect him. His head swam ever so slightly as he shook his head again.

“That money is useless. Listen kid, they must benefit you in some tangible way to pay off their debt. That debt is equivalent to the help you gave them, that includes the shotgun, ammo, kills, and the value of Kate’s life, not including their violations of course.”

“Where’s the shotgun?” Theon asked as his eyes glanced around Ben.

Ben blanched as he said, “I left it in the house, I’m sorry. With the headaches I must have forgotten it.”

Theon didn’t understand how he could possibly forget it. His shotgun was constantly glued to his hand, he couldn’t forget it if he tried.

“See kid?” Vasuki said. “They can’t survive on their own, you’re technically saving their lives twice.”

“Yeah but I don’t want to have everyone I save as an indentured servant!” Theon shouted in the car.

“Don’t accept the quests then, you won’t get any rewards though. Besides, what’s the point of saving them if you just abandon them and let them die after you’re gone?”

Ben and Kate just watched and listened to half the conversation as Theon said, “Stop reveling in their misfortune and help me solve this, how can they pay this debt?!” Theon didn’t add, so that they could go their separate ways, he felt the two of them were a liability, as cold as that was.

Vasuki seemed to pick up on his thoughts as he said, “Humans are pack animals, we’re technically safer with them around. As far as the debt goes, I already told you. Give them orders, have them do things that benefit you and the debt will go down.”

Theon’s eyes darted to his rear-view mirror and he thought he caught a glimpse of the drow. He took his foot off the brake and started driving aimlessly again, faster this time.

“Where are you taking us?!” Kate asked in a panicked voice.

“Nowhere, just away from there, that drow is still hunting us I think.”

Ben asked, “So what did Vasuki say, how can we pay the debt if not money?”

“He said you have to follow my orders and do things that benefit me. The debt will go down then he says.”

Kate practically screamed, “I’m not sleeping with you!”

Theon felt nauseous as he saw Ben’s features harden. “And you never will! I’m not that kind of person!” Theon spat back angrily as he pulled the cruiser over again, thoughts of the drow shoved to the back of his mind.

“Listen!” Theon said sternly as he jabbed a finger in each of their directions. “I don’t want you here anymore than you want to be here, odds are you’ll get me killed! You couldn’t even fight those weak imps, and I started with orcs and wargs chasing me across the city!

He turned his eyes back on Ben who shrunk back under his glare, “You left the shotgun I gave you back in your house! It was most of your debt probably! Tell me, how were you going to fight if something attacked you on your way back to me? For instance, that drow that’s hunting us?”

Theon’s eyes searched around for the drow before continuing, “I’m not going back for it either, I’m not going back in that house period. Especially when were being hunted! I have plenty of guns, but only one life!”

There was a long moment of silence as Theon saw both of them slowly take on a look of defeat, each in their own way. Bens eyes seem to sink into his head, large bags under them as he paled and seemed to age. Kate lowered her head and started shivering as she clasped her hands in her lap.

He felt bad about snapping at them, and they looked like children who’d been scolded by their dad. With everything that had happened to him though, from the wargs and orcs, the parasite in his brain who’d killed a cop, and this indentured servant thing he’d finally had enough. Truthfully, he was surprised he was handling it all so well, he suspected his higher willpower was to thank for that. With that thought he doubted ten was average.

Ben was the one who finally broke the silence. He said softly, “Tell us what you need us to do then. Again, I’m sorry about the gun. It won’t ever happen again, I swear.”

Theon glanced back at Kate, and his expression softened as he saw the streak marks that tears were leaving down her face as she gazed back at him.

They were both handling it way better than he thought possible. Sure, Ben probably realized he needed to get another gun from him. But most people weren’t that adaptable to sudden change, at least that’s what Theon thought based on his life experience dealing with people. He figured they were both in some sort of shock from everything that had happened today.

His cynicism got the best of him though, his eyes thinned as he asked, “What?! You’re both just going to take a bite out of this shit burger and swallow it down?”

Ben chuckled as his gazed drifted somewhere in the distance, there was barely any mirth in it. “What were we going to do Kate?” Ben asked, not even looking at her. “Stay at home and wait for the cavalry?” He gestured to a pillar of light that indicated something spawned in the distance. “How long before more demons came?”

“Imps,” Theon couldn’t help himself as he interrupted Ben’s speech. “Those were imps not demons, trust me, be glad they weren’t demons.”

Ben turned to look at Kate as he said, “See? The safest place we can be right now is with this young man. Indentured servant or not we’d be here anyways, if he’d let us come with him. He killed a dinosaur earlier today, I saw it chasing him down the street.”

Kate gasped as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “There are dinosaurs here too now? And demons?” Her eyes were wide as she looked from Ben to Theon in the rear-view mirror.

“Orcs, wargs, imps, high elfs, drows, dinosaurs, trolls, haven’t seen any demons yet but I have no doubt they’re out there somewhere. I have a quest to kill a dragon too.”

His eyes scanned around, looking for the drow, he hadn’t seen it and he hoped they’d lost it. “Listen, I’m hungry, and you both need weapons and armor if you’re coming with me.” He gestured at his thick leather ‘armor’ Vasuki had gotten him. “It’s not much but it might stop a zombie bite, I have vests in the back and weapons, but what you’re wearing isn’t much of a defense.”

“You just had to say it,” Vasuki said. “You just had to say zombies.”

Theon did his best to ignore Vasuki while Kate and Ben debated on the best location to get said supplies. Apparently, Kate hadn’t eaten since yesterday, she’d been trapped in her bathroom all day and had access only to tap water. After much deliberation they decided they could get everything they needed from a Walmart not far from where they were.

Theon was hesitant to go there, he knew it would be chaos. Ben and Kate both managed to convince him though, since they had plenty of weapons. It was decided that Ben would stay back with a shotgun and guard their weapons while Kate and him went inside to gather what they needed.

As they pulled up Theon noticed that it was far less chaotic than usual, and that was before the apocalypse. The few people he did see were in a rush, but there weren’t many. He pulled the cruiser up right in front of the doors and decided to park there. He could see the cruiser from inside if he stood in line with the automatic doors, and he doubted he’d get a ticket, or have someone ask him to move.

Kate had the bow and arrows she’d gotten, and Theon found out, to his shock, that she knew some archery. He wasn’t satisfied that would be enough though and he had to order her to bring an actual gun as well. Vasuki had told him it was a Colt M4 Carbine. He wasn’t sure if she could shoot it, so he had her shoot at the Walmart wall before he was satisfied.

It took a great force of will, but he swapped out his shotgun. Vasuki had convinced him that if he had a weapon he could shoot with one hand, then Vasuki could control the sword in the other. The gun came with a belt and holster, so he strapped it on, but kept the gun in hand regardless.

Other ‘shoppers’ took great pains to avoid them, some going as far as to turn around and head back the way they came. They weren’t attacked by anything, and the longer it took them the more nervous Theon became. The greatest obstacle he had to face was waiting for Kate to pick out something that looked good, then wait for her to put it on in the dressing room.

It was another set of leather motorcycle gear, but instead of black, it was completely bright pink. He was shocked they even made them in pink, but he didn’t stop her. Vasuki complained that she would be too visible at night time, but Theon didn’t want to be too bossy and let it go.

He pushed the cart around, the sword wedge between the metal bars to free his left hand, as Kate filled it with another set of ‘armor’ for Ben, black like his. She was a professional shopper compared to him, she picked the best of everything. She got three helmets for them, various foods, drinks, sleeping bags, camping supplies. It was taking effort just to push the cart by the time she was done filling it to overflowing.

Ben who was sitting in the driver’s side of the cruiser, sat with wide eyes watching everyone and everything. The look of relief was visible on his face when they returned, and he came out of the car to help Theon unload everything in the trunk.

The trunk had other police gear in it, but Theon haphazardly shoved it aside as he started unloading their supplies. “I got it,” he said. “Just keep watch while we load this in the trunk. I don’t want anyone or anything sneaking up on us and keep an eye out for that dark elf.”

Vasuki tried to convince Theon the merits of having them around, he couldn’t really argue either, it was a big help having them around. He knew he couldn’t have both guarded his weapons and gone shopping at the same time. It felt like an unseen weight had lifted slightly from his shoulders as he let out a sigh and climbed into the passenger’s side.

“Where do you want me to go?” Ben asked.

It was an excellent question; one Theon had no answers to. It was getting late but with Vasuki to take control he didn’t need to worry about a place to sleep.

He was about to ask Vasuki for any suggestions he might have before he sucked his breath in. At the corner of the Walmart he could see the drow. He didn’t just catch a glimpse of it either, it stepped out from around the corner and he could see it completely.

It was a she, and she was looking right at him. At least he figured it was a female based on her face, the way she moved and the slight rise on her chest that could be seen through the robe. He knew elves were supposed to be beautiful, and it was possible it was a male, but somehow, he doubted it. He could feel her, and it was very feminine to him.

Theon remembered the first quest he got, it said that the orcs were tasked with killing him for a chance to return home, wherever that was. If he had to guess, she had been given the same task of killing him. Except she wasn’t attacking him.

She was obviously some kind of magic user though, so he didn’t doubt an attack could come at any moment. She held what looked like an ebony staff with a glistening, smooth black stone at its top. The staff looked more grown than fashioned as it seemed to be intertwined half way around the bottom of the oblong oval stone in a swirling pattern. He had to force himself to draw his attention from the stone, which seemed to be drawing not only his attention but also the light around it in at a matching swirling pattern to the wood.

He knew he was under some sort of mind control, because he could hear Ben and Kate screaming somewhere far away, at least it sounded far away to him. He knew they would attack her at any moment and the Drow seemed to read his mind as she tilted her head to the side inquisitively.

He could only see her face since she was wearing a black robe. He remembered the black hair and skin that he’d caught at least one glimpse of but now he also saw her unusually large, deep ruby red eyes. Her skin was black of course, but it was the pattern that he found beautiful. It was like a stones natural pattern with shades of varying degrees of black and dark grey. Interspersed the pattern grouped and occasional formed coherent patterns, most notably swirls and circles, he didn’t know if those were tattoos or some kind of natural discoloration.

“Stop,” he heard himself say. “She hasn’t attacked yet just wait, if she does shoot her.”

He knew it wasn’t him saying that and it annoyed him. He didn’t know if it was Vasuki or the Drow, and he was getting tired of other people using his body. The Drow seemed to sense this as well and she halted her walk. He hadn’t even noticed she was walking towards him, but now she stood just a few paces from his window, his head was turned to face her.

She seemed to study his face for an inappropriately long amount of time. Then with a suddenness that shocked everyone, she parted her plump black lips that would have been gothic on anyone else, and words gushed out in a rapid torrent.

He wasn’t certain they were words, since it was so beautiful. It was a like a mixture of a poem, a song, and a question all at once said by someone who descended from Orpheus himself. It seemed to rhyme, in a sing-song tone that ended as if it were a question. He hadn’t the faintest clue what she’d tried to convey though.

He did however feel a connection with her through whatever magic she was using on him, so he focused on that. He started to notice that he could feel her emotions, and he started to become more self-aware in case she could feel his. She felt intensely vulnerable, afraid, lost, and yet hopeful somehow.

He knew, or at least he thought he knew what was going on. He just hoped that she wasn’t manipulating him somehow, or that the emotions he felt hadn’t been fabricated.

The magic started to slip away, and he could control himself again as she reached out a hand to touch his face. It hit the glass of the door and she was startled back by it. He rolled down the window as he took a quick glance around, Ben and Kate were dumbstruck and fearful looking, as were several other people he could see inside the Walmart.

“Kid!” Vasuki protested. He could feel Vasuki squirming around, in total turmoil and tried his best to ignore it.

She reached out again and tested for the barrier, before her hand continued its journey and her fingers touched his cheek. He knew his skin must have felt like sandpaper because her hand was unbelievably smooth and soft. He gazed into her eyes as he felt her mentally and emotionally, and he knew she could feel him as well. The sensation of being vulnerable was overwhelming now, and he wished to pull her inside the car before someone randomly shot her.

“Hero,” he felt her say in his mind. “Where am I?”

He almost jerked back, half afraid she was infecting his brain, and half shocked she called him a hero. He steadied his mind and answered, “Earth.”

Her head twisted slightly to one side and her eyes squinted before she asked, “From which lands does Earth call home?”

He was confused by her question, so he tried to clarify. “Right now, we are in the city of Laramie, on the continent North America, which resides on the planet Earth.” He hurriedly added, “You’re not safe here, will you attack us?”

Her eyes went from a wide shocked to a thinned suspicion quickly and she asked, “Will you attack?”

“I think you already know the answer to that, no. Now answer the question.”

Her eyes left his to look at Ben and Kate, then behind him where he couldn’t see in the parking lot. Her expression betrayed her as she saw something she feared, but it didn’t matter, Theon could feel her emotions. Her eyes met his again, and there was something of a challenge in them. “Promise me protection and safety and I swear my loyalty to you,” her eyes darted to Kate as she finished speaking in his mind.

Vasuki wailed in indignation about how Theon was a fool and how he was going to get them both killed, but Theon ignored him. He trusted his instincts, they had kept him alive until now. He thought it might have something to do with his unnaturally high psychic ability, but whatever it was he trusted himself.

“I promise,” Theon said to her firmly, his thoughts echoing his words.