Consciousness returned to Yuri, and he could feel a soft mattress below him. His mouth was dry, and his head throbbed a little, but he felt otherwise unharmed. The last thing he remembered was approaching the hidden camp and hearing Derek Hargrove, the Guard Captain from Twin Falls conversing with someone in hushed tones. Before he could barge in on the secret meeting, he’d been drugged or something. And now, he was . . . he had no idea where, though it was likely somewhere in the camp he had discovered.

He slowly opened his eyes, careful to avoid any movements that would let his captors know he was awake. From what he could see, he was in a dimly lit tent. There was activity outside, and voices could be heard, though he could not decipher specific conversations.

Yuri didn’t see anyone in his immediate field of vision and slowly turned his head to scan the room. As he looked around the tent, he saw the silhouette of someone sitting in a chair near the foot of his bed. The figure moved slightly, and he could see the outline of wings on the back of the creature.

He tensed at the realization that not only was he not alone, but the person keeping watch over him wasn’t human.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” A familiar voice cut through the silence. The person at the foot of the bed hopped off the chair, and the features of Tairlen, his Elite Trainer, came into focus as the imp came toward the head of the bed.

Yuri sighed in relief and pushed himself to a seated position. He sat still for a moment as his head swam, threatening to topple him back to the bed.

Tairlen clapped his hands twice, and magical orbs around the tent lit up, dispelling the shadows and illuminating the space.

Yuri squinted against the seemingly bright light and looked around. There wasn’t much to see. Other than the bed he had been sleeping on and the chair his Trainer had been sitting on, he didn’t see anything else of note.

“I’m sorry about your reception,” the imp said. “I didn’t know they’d tranq you.”

“So you knew about this?!” Yuri demanded.

“No, absolutely not,” his Trainer insisted. “Well, not the specifics anyway. I knew that they wanted to talk to you. If I had known you would be treated this way, I would have come with you and made sure you were treated with the respect that you deserve.”

Yuri squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead. “Who is they?”

“I don’t know who all of ‘they’ are, but I know who sent the message,” Tairlen said. “It came from a nymph named Asteria.”

The soldier-turned-Tailor raised an eyebrow. “So you had a relationship with this nymph-like woman.”

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no.” Tairlen shook his head. “Nymph is her race, not a description.” Then the imp winked at him. “Of course, it’s usually a description too. If you know what I mean.”

Yuri shook his head. My Trainer is a perv.

The revelation did not surprise the Elite Tailor at all.

“They are worse than Succubi,” the Trainer continued. “At least with those demons, you know that they will eventually devour you. With nymphs, they let you think you are in control until it’s too late.”

Tairlen paused and made eye contact with Yuri. “Never trust a nymph.”

The entrance flaps to the tent were pulled aside from the outside, flooding the interior with bright sunlight forcing Yuri to squint again. A figure dressed all in black entered, and the tent flaps were closed again. The figure took a copper orb out of their pocket and made a show of pressing buttons on the top and bottom before throwing the orb into the air.

“The area is now secure,” a monotone voice said then took out another orb. This one dropped to the ground after being activated, and an instant later, a holographic woman appeared.

She was lithe while leaving no doubt she was a woman. Her tight-fitting outfit left a lot of bluish-green skin exposed. The woman possessed an otherworldly beauty that men would die for . . . and kill for.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Yuri immediately knew this was the nymph his Trainer had referenced.

Even in holographic form, he could feel a spark of longing for the exotic woman. He ruthlessly squashed the desire.

Tairlen stepped forward and nodded at the woman, a wide smile on his face. “You must be our mysterious host.”

“That I am, Master Tairlen. My name is Asteria, and I am the Elite Trainer for the future King.” The holographic woman gave him a pouty frown. “Regrettably, I am unable to attend you in person as I am stuck on the other side of this wretched planet.”

“That is truly unfortunate,” the Trainer said.

Yuri stepped in front of his Trainer and glared at the holographic woman. “Why did you have the Guard Captain from Twin Falls here? How is he involved in all of this?”

The nymph shook her head. “Now, now. Any business I may or may not have with Mr. Hargrove is between him and me. You only need to concern yourself with what business I have for you.”

Tairlen nudged Yuri aside, struggling mightily but eventually succeeding in moving the much larger man aside. “That is a topic we are very much interested in discussing.”

Yuri frowned at his Trainer but nodded his agreement. “Yeah. And I would really like to know why you drugged me. Not the best opening move in a negotiation, by the way.”

Asteria waved her hand casually. “You know how hard it is to find reliable employees. The hired help got a little aggressive. That’s all. I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I assure you, there will be no lasting effects. I can have them killed if you like.”

Yuri sucked in a breath. The cold look on the beautiful woman’s face told him she was absolutely serious.

“Oh, no need to do that,” Tairlen said and glanced at Yuri who nodded in agreement. “No harm done, I guess.”

Yuri crossed his arms and huffed. That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who got drugged.

He didn’t want anyone killed for it though.

The imp pushed on. “We are intensely interested in why you brought us here. Time is money, and we’d like to get back to making it.”

The nymph smiled. “I assure you that this meeting will be worth your time, and if we are able to come to an amicable agreement, your client could very well become one of the wealthiest men on this planet. You will as well.”

Tairlen smiled. “I do like money.”

Yuri cleared his throat loudly.

“What? We do like money, don’t we?” the imp said with a glance at Yuri who just frowned. Tairlin shrugged and turning his attention back to the holographic nymph. “So, what did you have in mind?”

“Nothing overly difficult,” Asteria said and flashed a dazzling smile at them. “I just want you to pass on any important information you happen to come across as it relates to certain individuals.”

“Who?!” Yuri demanded as he stepped closer to the holographic projection.

“That will vary,” she said smoothly. “Right now, I’m interested in learning about the Premier Elite. I believe you are familiar with Mr. McIntyre.”

“Absolutely not,” Yuri said emphatically. “I will not betray Jeremiah.”

“I’m not asking you to betray him,” Asteria said. “I just want to know more about him.”

“Then ask him yourself.”

“Gladly. Will you introduce me to him? I will pay you for that as well.”

Yuri could feel something deep inside himself being drawn to the beautiful nymph. Part of him wanted to tell her everything he knew, hoping it would please her. Another part of him screamed that he should run away.

Tairlen made the decision for him. “We will consider your offer.”

The imp bowed to the holographic woman then grabbed Yuri’s arm. “How can we contact you once we have made a decision?”

The nymph glared at them for a moment then said, “I will contact you in two days.”

Tairlen nodded his head and pulled Yuri toward the tent entrance.

“Choose your side carefully,” Asteria said as they reached the entrance.

Yuri looked back at the nymph and saw that her brow was wrinkled and her lips were pressed together in a frown. He shook his head and pushed his way out of the tent.

What kind of mess have I gotten myself involved in?

Tairlen led the way through the camp, and they quickly found themselves in the forest. Yuri started to ask a question, but the imp held a finger to his lips to silence him.

They moved at a near jog for at least a mile before Tairlen stopped and looked back toward the camp. He stared for several moments before saying, “I don’t think we are being followed.”

Yuri hadn’t sensed anyone, either, but knew there were probably many ways they could be tracked or spied on and would never know it. There was nothing he could do about that so he tried not to worry about it. “We need to get a message to Jeremiah. He needs to know what’s going on.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Tairlen asked.

“She said she wanted to talk to him.”

The imp cocked his head to the side. “You’re going to set up a meeting?”

“Hmph. Of course not. I’m going to tell him about this devil woman. And Derek.”

“So, you’re choosing to side with the Premier Elite.”

“You’re the one who said to never trust a nymph.”

“That I did,” Tairlen admitted. “I’m just not sure putting yourself between her and Jeremiah is a good idea either.”

Yuri shrugged. “I knew I’d have to choose a side sooner or later.”

“We can still play both sides against each other,” the imp suggested. “Then you can take them both out and find yourself at the top of the leaderboard.”

Now there’s the devilish Trainer I know, Yuri thought.

“So, can you get a message to Jeremiah?”

Tairlen’s head dropped and he nodded. “My assistant can get a message to his Trainer’s assistant.”

“Good!” Yuri patted his Trainer on the back. “Now, let’s get back to Twin Falls and tell Mayor Casper about Derek’s duplicity.”