When I came to, Nightfall was dabbing a damp cloth on my forehead. It took a moment for everything to rush back into my head and I jolted up in a panic.

“Shh, calm down,” Nightfall said, a steady hand on my shoulder. “Everything is okay.”

“Everything is not okay! Jackal killed someone!”

“I don’t understand what’s wrong. We kill people all the time,” Jackal said, kneeling next to me and taking my shaking hands in his.

“Yeah, but… not in this world,” I said faintly.

“Bodies don’t despawn here,” James explained. “And as murder is against the law, the police – our law enforcement – will eventually investigate. If they find you, you’ll be sent to jail.”

“Jackal can’t go to jail,” I wept, grabbing him around the shoulders and clutching him tightly to my chest. “This is all my fault. I should have told him not to murder anyone.”

“We kind of have bigger concerns,” James said grimly. “If Jackal’s too stupid to not murder anyone, he’s also likely too stupid to conceal what he is if he gets caught. If the authorities find out we have a pocket dimension full of potential threats, what do you think will happen to Newtopia? What do you think will happen to us?”

“Stop calling him stupid,” I snapped. “He’s not going to jail.”

“You’re really more concerned with getting caught than you are with the actual murder, aren’t you?” James said, looking at me in shock. “What if it had been your sister that he had killed?”

I tightened my hold on Jackal. “James… you were the one who wrote violence into their world. You were the one who normalized murder. Do you know how hard it was to level up doing odd jobs around town? The way you set their world up, killing things is both necessary and incentivised with experience points and loot. You can’t blame Jackal for not knowing this world is different.”

“The others didn’t kill anyone,” James pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

I didn’t want to bring up Jackal’s low intelligence score again. It would be conceding too much to James, but I knew when it came down to it, his simple way of looking at the world had probably been the instigating factor.

See an enemy, kill them.

Especially when I’d set the precedent with Dave. He was only following my lead, doing his best to try to protect me in the best way he knew how.

“Let’s make a new rule,” I said, touching my forehead to Jackals. “No killing people. Not unless at least three people agree.”

“I don’t really see an issue with killing the landlady,” Bastion cut in. “She was going to make life pretty difficult for us.”

“Same,” Brick shrugged.

“It does make sense,” Bruiser said thoughtfully. “If these law enforcement police guys come after Jackal, maybe we should just kill them, too?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Jesus,” James swore.

“Okay, no murder at all,” I said firmly. “That’s the new rule. In this world, you follow all the rules. If there’s a law, you follow it.”

“With the exception of your habitation requirements?” Nightfall added tentatively. “Having us here for more than three nights was against the rules, wasn’t it?”

“Well, that’s kind of irrelevant with Mrs. Greaves gone,” James muttered.

“See? It did solve a problem,” Brick shrugged.

“Gah,” I buried my face in Jackal’s neck in frustration. “Just no more murder, okay?”

“They couldn’t really take me away from you, could they?” Jackal asked quietly.

“Yes, honey,” I said, trying not to cry. “And prison is… not nice. They’d lock you up in a room by yourself all alone to rot. Those rooms are like shoeboxes. No one will be kind to you. I wouldn’t be able to reach you. It’s bad, Jackal.””

“I don’t want to be put in a box,” Jackal said, his fingers gripping me as the reality of the potential consequences sunk in. “I don’t want to be apart from you.”

“We’ve got to fix this. And no more murder.”

There was a chorus of muted agreement. This was what I got for getting involved with a team of warriors. I wanted to scream.

I took a calming breath instead, leaning into Jackal’s neck and trying to clear my head.

It was okay. So far, no one had found or reported her body. No one had come looking for Jackal. I had him here in my arms, perfectly safe. I just needed to keep it that way.

I gathered my wits and pulled back.

“Did anyone see you?” I asked. “Tell me what happened.”

“No, no one saw,” Jackal said. “It was a few days ago. She cornered me and started asking questions. Said she was going to kick you out, so I snapped her neck and chucked her in the dumpster.”

“Jeeeeesus,” James hissed again.

“Well, at least there’s not been any investigations yet. Rubbish collection is in two days though, so she’ll be discovered then and there’ll start to be questions. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in the building gets questioned.”

“There’ll be CCTV footage,” James said. “They’ll have Jackal on film.”

“Shit, you’re right,” I bit my lip. “There are cameras in the entrance.”

“We need to get him out of here. If I can fix the Nexus, we can send him back to Newtopia. They won’t be able to find him there.”

“How far off are you getting it functional again?” I asked.

“There are a couple pieces that are totally blown. I’ve rewired everything else, but I need a few replacement parts, and they’re hard to come by,” James clenched his fists. “We’re going to have to go to Dave’s family’s house and see if we can get a look into his stuff, if they haven’t chucked it yet.”

“Dave’s family?” I swallowed. I’d have to face down the family of the guy I killed?

“He had a Nexus as well. It won’t work if it’s not connected to… Jenny,” he said the name with distaste. “But it’ll have all the parts we need. It could take weeks to order in replacements otherwise.”

“Then we’ll have to do it,” Bruiser said, cracking his knuckles. “If we faced down one necromancer, we can face down more.”

“No!”

I ignored James’ outburst and gave Bruiser a sharp look.

“No murder, Bruiser. They aren’t necromancers. They’re a grieving family.”

“Oh.” He dropped his fists.

“First things first, we need to get into Mrs. Greaves’ office and steal or sabotage that CCTV footage. Make sure there’s no evidence pointing to Jackal,” I said. “We’re going to have to figure out how to get in, though, and subtly. We don’t want people seeing a bunch of smashed doors or busted up locks.”

Everyone looked to Nightfall, who sighed in annoyance.

“I’m sure I can get you in, if you know what you’re looking for on the other side.”

I smiled at him, relieved. “I forgot you were a rogue.”

“I’m glad,” he said with a small half-smile. “It is not my preferred occupation, but I am glad to be of service in any way you need me.”

“James, I’m going to need you as well as our resident tech expert.”

“We’re adding breaking and entering to our crimes?” James asked flatly. “Just like that?”

The weight of it settled on my shoulders, but I carried it with grim determination. Since my life had been turned upside down, I’d apparently shifted from a strait-laced workaholic to a petty criminal… but if it was what I had to do to protect Jackal, I would do it no matter the cost.

He had his head hung against me, looking totally ashamed of having caused so many problems, but I tilted his chin up and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Yes. Just like that.”