It was dark outside.

I didn’t remember getting knocked out, but I was waking up, so the High Priest probably did it after dropping that revelation on me.

I was also tied on top of a box, with a chain around each of my ankles, each of my wrists, and my neck. It wasn’t very comfortable.

“Awake already?” Lyssa came over and jumped on top of me to sit on my chest as I looked up at the stars. “We’re going to have lots of fun in a little bit.” She picked up a little figurine that was on the box by my hip and turned it over.

“That the item?” I tried to look around, but the fire that was burning a little ways away wasn’t lighting up things enough so that I could see who was on the right side of me. Someone else was doing something above me and I felt a tug on the chain around my neck.

“Yep.” She set the cool stone on my chest and I realized that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. “So many rules…” She slapped my side twice. “Have to do it in an unclaimed city, have to do it above floor fifty, have to do it on a full moon.” The milky woman looked up at the sky. “But you get to live forever!” I did not like the way she smiled at me. “Or at least as long as we’re alive you can’t stay dead.” She picked up the statue again. “It’s not very clear on how that works.”

“Would you stop playing with that!” Rishard walked over and took the figurine away from her and put it back where she’d picked it up. “Go help Meson get the others ready.” He grabbed her shoulder as she jumped down. “Don’t kill anyone.”

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“All of this so you can give me orders?” I tried to move, but there was no give in any of my bindings.

“Not just give you orders.” Rishard smiled, showing his shark-like teeth. “Imagine sending an army of unkillable soldiers into a city. Think about the information that could be retained when our spies are caught, but are able to come back to us after our enemies think they’ve killed them.” There was an evil glint in his red eyes. “What if the other could get experience by killing you over and over again?” He took a deep breath. “We could raise an army so fast if they were getting sixty-five thousand experience every time they killed you.”

My body tried to shudder, but the tingles only ran up and down my nerves. “You think the other Gods will stand for that?”

“If we have an army, who cares?” Rishard laughed. “Though I would have preferred the bald one. He seemed like he was holding back.”

I closed my eyes. Nyssa was going to be a wreck when she woke up. “What did you do with the others?”

“They’re being prepped for the ritual as soon as you are done.” He patted my cheek. “You’ll see your girl soon enough.” He flicked something up into the air and caught it, then put it on my chest.

I looked down at the fake pairing ring that we’d gotten to help sell that we were a couple. Apparently it had worked because they were still buying it.

“Though there isn’t much for her to inherit.” Rishard started to walk away. “But at least the two of you will be together for a long time.”

I watched him walk away laughing, then closed my eyes and waited for them to start and wondered just how hard it was going to be for Tres to break whatever it was that they were about to do to me.