The four of us sat down to a delicious meal of baked chicken and roasted potatoes, with a buttery garlic sauce spooned over them that made my taste buds want to dance. Although the meal was reheated, the chicken skin had retained its crispness, which added to the enjoyment of tasting every perfectly seasoned bite of it.

Bliss. That meal was bliss. Jamie had once more proven her supreme status as a creative culinary queen. Why couldn’t I have met her earlier in life? It really didn’t seem fair.

“You gonna eat your food or marry it, Evans?” Pankratz snickered.

“Mm nawt Evanth,” I said between mouthfuls.

“Who are you then?” Cassie asked.

“Eating,” I said impatiently.

“He’s been a big help,” Jamie said as she ate from her own plate. “I’ve been trying to convince him to sign up with us permanently. Stragos, here, is an extremely talented young freelancer.”

“Him?” Pankratz asked disbelievingly. “Jamie, no offense intended, but I think you’re mistaken. Kyler is a glorified pack mule.”

“I wouldn’t have put it like that because it’s rude,” Cassie said while frowning at her brother. “But Nick’s not wrong, mom. I know you can already tell, but just in case he fooled you somehow, Kyler is only a porter.”

“Kids, he cleared out the pond.”

“What?” Cassie asked in surprise.

“Singlehandedly,” Jamie continued.

“That is not freaking possible,” Pankratz said. “There’s like thirty Koler crabs over there! How?”

“Their numbers reached seventy-five by the time Stragos came along,” Jamie informed them. “And he still took care of them! Every single one. What do you say to that?”

“Show me,” said Pankratz.

“I will, after dinner. You want to put some money down on me lying about this?” asked Jamie.

“Nooo,” said Pankratz who had apparently lost at that game many times before. “If you’re the one saying it, I guess it’s true.”

“Damn right it is,” Jamie grinned. “And now I hear you took it upon yourself to hunt down those bandits at their own encampment? Rachel said you took out every bastard one of them!”

“Well, I don’t want to brag, but someone had to step up and do something,” I said humbly. “People were going missing, and no one was doing a thing about it.”

“We were literally on our way there to do something about it,” Pankratz said with a frown while Cassie nodded.

“Yeah, well, move faster next time,” I said. “I have everything in my storage. The bodies of the victims for identification and burial, and the bodies of the thieves to claim the bounty on them. I even brought the merchandise they stole.”

“You are making me so happy right now,” Jamie said giddily.

“I’m always pleased to be of service,” I said.

That was when I realized just what Jamie had said earlier.

“Wait, you know Rachel?” I asked her in surprise. This was new to me.

“Of course, I do, silly,” Jamie said with an amused roll of her eyes. “I think the world of your little sister. And I also think it wouldn’t hurt you to be a little more appreciative of everything she does for you. Family is everything, Kyler.”

Jamie placed her hand on Cassie’s as she spoke and gave it a tight squeeze.

“Um…yes, you’re…right,” I said. “Family is great! I’m certainly going to show my…little sister how much I appreciate her later tonight. I’m looking forward to it already.”

“Just give her a hug, that’s all,” Jamie smiled.

“Oh, I’ll squeeze her until she bursts,” I promised. “So, what else has she told you?”

“Nothing much. Just that the two of you are very close and you both plan to do a little traveling. Oh, and that your thinking can be a little scattershot at times, so she’s the primary brains behind your team.”

“Is that right?” I asked as I began grinning nastily. “She’s the brains, is she? And those were the exact words she used? I’m scattershot, am I? Well, that’s certainly one doomed girl’s opinion.”

“When the hell did you get a sister?” Pankratz asked. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Yeah, you and me both, pal, I thought sourly to myself. “What can I say? Life loves springing its little surprises on us. Papa was a rolling stone and all that.”

“She looks nothing like you,” said Pankratz.

“I didn’t say the stone was good at rolling.”

“Okay, but—” Pankratz started to say, before Jamie held up a hand to silence him.

“Nicholas, these are the Narrows, sweetie. Just because everyone here has a story doesn’t mean we want to share them.”

“Yeah, but Jamie—”

“Nick,” she said slightly more forcefully. “A person’s past is their own business. So long as they contribute, our standing policy has always been not to care. Respect that.”

__

“So, do you want me to do this in here or outside?” I asked later when the time came to turn over the contents of my storage.

“Outside, please,” Jamie said. “Behind the tavern would be best. Just let me get a few people over here to help get everything sorted. Hopefully there won’t be any children out this late in the evening either. I wouldn’t want them seeing this.”

Once Jamie’s helpers arrived, I began releasing the remains of both the bandits and their victims, which I neatly placed side-by-side with each other, with a top and bottom row. Then a few feet away from them, I placed the bandit’s pilfered merchandise.

Pankratz whistled sharply at the condition of some of the bodies. “What happened to these bastards?” he asked, gesturing at the bandits as he spoke. “Not that they didn’t deserve it, but some of these jokers have more holes in them than the bottom of a colander.”

“Nothing that you’d want to see firsthand,” I said as I watched the stolen loot being sorted.

“Why aren’t any of their bodies bleeding?” Cassie asked thoughtfully. She pointed to the victims and said, “Look at the contrast. Both groups were killed with edged weaponry, but despite being in far worse condition, the wounds of the bandits look so…so clean. As if whatever penetrated them was also draining away their blood.”

“That’s a big assumption to make,” I said in a mild tone of voice while simultaneously being impressed by her powers of observation. “When a heart stops beating, blood stops being pumped out of a wound.”

“That’s true, but there should still be some gradual leakage,” Cassie insisted. “What’s more, look at this.”

She knelt by a body and lifted one of its arms. “There should be some pooling here. Depending on the position of the corpse, the remaining fluids in the body should have begun gathering beneath it. But there’s none of that here, because there’s no blood remaining anywhere. What weapon did you use to kill these men, Kyler?”

“Who says I used a weapon?” I asked her. “And why does it matter?”

“Because you’re my mother’s guest and I want to know what sort of man would engage in this level of butchery one minute and then cheerfully eat from her table the next,” Cassie said. “How we treat others reflects our humanity; and frankly, you treated these men like venison.”

She looked me square in the eyes as she spoke, her gaze never wavering. I was surprised by her moral stance, especially when compared to the other students of her academy. The others had a blasé indifference to the violence of their world. This girl, it seemed, held herself to a higher standard.

I found her attitude instantly aggravating.

Not willing to back down to such clueless naivety, I moved closer to Cassie until we stood face to face with each other. Then I plastered a smirk on my face and with as much polite condescension as I could muster, I said, “These were hardly men, as I would define the term, Cass. Thieves? Yes. Murderers? Absolutely. Rapists? Without a doubt. But men? No. They forfeited the right to be treated as such when they chose to live by the law of the jungle.”

“The jungle has no law,” Cassie said, refusing to back down as well. With her hands on her hips, she said, “But people do. You can’t ignore that just because the weak-willed choose an easier path for themselves. That’s just a convenient way of—"

“Getting things done efficiently?” I asked.

“Forsaking your responsibility, actually,” she countered.

“My responsibility? To them?” I asked, my incredulity unfeigned. “To this marauding trash?”

“The ascended are called into being to defend the weak,” Cassie said. “That list includes sinners as well as saints. Hunters hunt monsters and seal fractures. We don’t kill other humans when its unnecessary.”

“Oh, so we just let them kill other humans without commentary, is that it?” I snorted. “Pankratz, are you listening to this tripe?”

“She’s right, man,” Pankratz said.

I turned to him in shock, surprised to see that his gaze was just as steady as his sister’s. “What?” he asked. “Is it that surprising? You can’t call yourself a good guy if you act like one of the bad ones.”

“You two are such fools,” I said while shaking my head. “They’re bandits.”

“Yes, and they killed because they had the power to do so and because it brought them pleasure,” Cassie said. “And it seems that you killed them because you had the power to do so, and it also brought you pleasure. So, if they behave like animals and you behave like them, then where exactly is the line drawn?”

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“And what precisely were the two of you going to do differently if you’d gotten to them first?” I asked. “Were you going to gently suggest they consider changing their ways because they were bringing down the mood?”

“We would have subdued them and brought them in,” Pankratz said.

“The poster said dead or alive,” I reminded him.

“When it’s an option, always choose life, man,” he said. “This fucked up world already has too much death in it.”

In that moment, Pankratz and Cassie each reminded me of two other people I’d known who’d shared similar mistaken beliefs. And for that, I greatly resented them.

“Jamie, are we done here?” I asked as I turned to her for an escape. “The meal was fantastic as always, but too much more of this moralizing could give me indigestion.”

“Sorry, Stragos,” she said with a shrug. “My kids have strong beliefs about what’s appropriate behavior for a hunter. Truthfully, I respect them for it. Too many of the stronger ones live their lives believing they’re allowed to do whatever they want without consequences.”

“I hope I’m not included on that list,” I replied.

“What? No!” she said quickly. “Not a chance! You cleared the pond; you saved a girl’s life, and you took down a bandit crew. That’s more done for the Narrows in two days than Gardenia’s hoity toity hunter’s guild has seen fit to do for us all year.”

“Mom!” Cassie said defensively. “We came to help, didn’t we?”

“I know, I know, angel,” Jamie said as she quickly gave her daughter a hug. “And I’m so grateful for you taking the time to do it. Your final year at the academy is coming up and I know how busy the two of you are about to become. Everyone in the Narrows is proud of you both! It’s just, the city keeps ignoring us. The second we chose to live outside of their walls and away from their authority, we stopped mattering to them.”

“That’s… true,” Pankratz said reluctantly. “I wish I could say it wasn’t.”

“Why?” I asked. “Rebuilding civilization means that places like the Narrows must be vital. Gardenia can’t redevelop the wilds all on their own. What good does it do to ignore you and everything you’re trying to achieve?”

“Honestly?” Jaimie asked. “Because the Narrows and the other reclamations possess an iron core of equalism at our center. The nobles can’t stand the idea of us not being under their thumb. Every success we earn is like a slap to the face of their value system.”

“You’re equalists?” I asked, remembering the term from the day I’d been interrogated at the academy. “All of you? Never mind the bollocks, here’s the Sex Pistols?”

“Less Brit punk, more Thomas Paine,” Cassie said with a smile.

“Then why leave home for Gardenia?” I asked. “Why attend Vandal? That’s their institute.”

“Resources,” Pankratz said. “They’ve got them, we don’t. It’s also a safe way to train and raise our levels without unnecessary risk. Cassie and I both have B-rank potential. Once we’re strong enough, the money we’ll be able to make through the system could let us really turn this place around. Maybe even build an academy of our own! In the meanwhile, we can set examples for other lowborn hunters, and raise awareness of the mistreatment of the reclamations. This whole caste system is ridiculous, man. The ascended were meant to defend humanity, not rule them.”

A fervent light seemed to flash in Pankratz’ eyes as he spoke. It seemed there was a revolutionary zeal in him, an energetic enthusiasm for change which he barely managed to keep under control as he imagined a new and better way for people to live. It was something I’d seen before in other similarly passionate young people.

Yeah, I gave him ten years tops, before the powers that be decided to make him quietly disappear. He’d probably be snatched out of his bed in the dead of night and have a hood pulled over his face. From there, his path would lead to either reprogramming or a slab in a coroner’s office.

Nice guy, really.

Where do nice guys finish, again?

I’m sure it’ll come back to me.

As I walked back to my room in the tavern, I paused by Cassie to say, “I’m going to sleep. Got any other unwarranted criticisms you’d like to sling my way? I’m always happy to hear a new opinion.”

“Well, now that I think about it, you kind of seem like an asshole,” Cassie said with an unfriendly little smile. “Have you heard that one before?”

“No. That was the first time ever,” I said as I gave her a little clap. “My, what refreshing novelty.”

“I’m always pleased to be of service,” she said before pushing past me. “Mom, I’m going to the house,” she announced.

As she walked off, Pankratz gave me an uncertain look, as if he was trying to think of something to say. Then he shrugged and turned to follow her.

“Ah,” I sighed in relief. “The adults once more have the stage.”

In response, Jamie delivered a light elbow to my ribs. “Don’t flirt with my daughter,” she said half-jokingly, half-deadly serious.

“What? I did no such thing,” I said. “Come on, she’s like seventeen.”

“And how old are you, then?” she snorted.

“Not seventeen,” I said firmly. “Hey, about the window—”

“I’ll deduct the cost from your earnings,” she said. “Along with the cost of my tavern’s door. And my patio door. And Doug’s medical treatment.”

“Hey, that last one was on him,” I said. “He was acting a tad aggressive.”

“You can afford to be generous,” she said. “You’re getting twenty-two gold pieces for this score.”

I laughed at that. “Gold pieces, huh? Whatever happened to paper money? What’s with this faux medieval system of currency?”

“It’s what the system likes,” Jamie said. “Doesn’t really matter to me. It’s easy to understand and use, and it’s good anywhere you go in the world. What more can you ask of money?”

I didn’t have a response to that one.

__

“Rachel, are you hiding under the bed?” I asked, as Schulz and I entered my seemingly empty room.

“Yes,” she replied.

“May I ask why?”

“Because I blew your identity and now you’re mad at me, and I don’t want you to hit me,” she said.

“Rachel,” I said as I grabbed a pillow off the mattress and silently raised it. “I’m wounded that you’d even think I’d resort to physical abuse over what was clearly a mistake on your part. Stop being silly and come out from under there.”

“You’re not upset with me?” she asked hopefully.

“I’m not upset with you,” I said to her reassuringly.

“All right,” she said. Then she squeaked with alarm when I nailed her with a ruthless overhead pillow strike. “Okay, now I’m not upset with you,” I said as I tossed aside the pillow and plopped down on the bed.

“You said you wouldn’t hit me!” she complained as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Yeah, and you said you were my little sister. Always trust your animal instincts, brat,” I said sagely. “How did you plant that memory in Jamie’s head, anyway? You’re way too young to be able to mesmerize someone.”

“I don’t know!” Rachel said excitedly. “I woke up and she was there, and she kept asking questions, and I wanted her to shut up, but I knew you'd be angry if I ate her—”

“Very angry,” I agreed.

“So, I just looked in her in the eye and the knowledge suddenly came to me, and I said, what are you talking about? You already know me. And it worked! She paused and then she started acting as though we knew one another. It was awesome!”

“So, you did mesmerize her,” I said, impressed but annoyed. “You’re showing talent with a lot of skills you shouldn’t be able to use, kid. Don’t tell me you already know how to use a lightsaber as well.”

“Vampires have lightsabers?” she asked eagerly.

“Yes. But we call them night-sabers,” I replied.

“Really?!”

“No,” I said, after flicking her on the forehead. “Would you stop being silly?”

“Be kind to me, I’m new at this,” she whined.

“That’s exactly right. You are new. But you’re already capable of so much,” I said. “It’s a mystery. An aggravating mystery.”

“What’s so aggravating about it?” she asked. “Maybe I’m just a chosen one.”

“I already made that joke, Rey.”

“Rey?” she asked.

“Chel,” I finished lamely. Then I leaned back and looked at her. She appeared to be an athletic young girl in her late teens. Pretty, with curly auburn hair and bright blue eyes, but otherwise unremarkable. “Tell me this,” I said. “Is that current form your real body?”

“Yes,” she said with a dazed smile. “This is me, before I was reforged.”

“Reforged,” I said thoughtfully. “So, you were transformed from that into a spear?”

Now, a pained expression appeared on her face. “No. Not quite,” she said. “I… I was chosen as a sacrifice. I remember an altar table, the priest and his stone knife. I remember the pain I felt when he… used it on me. And when I next became aware, I was inside the spear. Unable to speak unless it was with the person chosen to wield me. I remember sleeping, sometimes for decades, sometimes even longer than that, before being used for battle. I thought it was so important back then. I thought I served a purpose.”

A tear slowly began to trickle from her eye as she reminisced. “They tricked me. They used me,” she said miserably. “Manipulated me into volunteering away my own life for their damn cause.”

“Aye,” I said with my eyes closed. “Why wouldn’t they? No one believes more strongly in a cause than the young. We can’t have the old men volunteering to become living weaponry, can we? Who’ll remain to cash all the checks?”

“It was my life, Kyler,” she said.

“It was. And you threw it away,” I said dismissively. “Maybe now with your second chance, you’ll learn to do a little thinking for yourself.”

“I only wanted to serve the goddess.”

“By letting yourself be served up? Next time, I’d consider trying agnosticism,” I replied. When the silence that followed began to feel too stifling, I said, “So, you really must be two thousand years old, huh? I suppose that means I was wrong.”

“I told you I was,” she said proudly. “What finally convinced you?”

“Your power as a vampire,” I said honestly. “Although it annoys me to admit it, you have the strength of an Old Blood. It’s completely ridiculous, but the truth can’t be denied.”

“Aren’t I older than you?” Rachel asked smugly. “Goodness, father, doesn’t that mean you’re the one who should be serving me?”

“Not quite,” I said, amused by her sass. “My senior in years, you may very well be, but I’m still the fifth child of Crusica. I’ve humbled fiends that were twice your age without great difficulty.”

“Sure,” she said. “Back when you like, mattered. Now you’re just a dropout who’s unlucky level thirteen.”

“I’ll get back to where I need to be,” I said confidently. “There’s no rush. We have a base of operations, a steady supply of food, and paying work if we require it. Even a few potential pawns, if we need them.”

“Who was that girl from earlier?” Rachel asked. “She was pretty.”

“Was she? I hadn’t noticed.”

“What do you think her blood tastes like?”

“Rachel,” I said quietly. “Don’t.”

“Sorry,” she said nervously. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking…”

“Hmm,” I said. “What are we going to do about you for tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“More specifically, tomorrow morning,” I said. “We’re going to need to find a place for you to hide. If that’s your new body, then you’ll need to be protected from the sun.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant,” she said. “Don’t worry about it, Kyler! I’ve completely got it covered. Wanna see?”

“Are you going to transform back into a spear?” I wondered.

“What? How would I do that? That’s weird,” she said. “No, check it out. Ta dah!”

Rachel then gave a little spin and threw her arms back as if she was showing off a cash prize a contestant had won on a game show.

“Okay. What am I looking at?” I asked her.

“Kyler! You really can’t tell?” she asked.

“It’s late and I’m feeling dense. So, spill it, already,” I told her.

“I switched my class!” she said triumphantly. “The sun can’t hurt me now!”

“You’re joking,” I said, feeling nearly dumbstruck by her revelation. “Are you serious? You’re a dual classer too? What are you right now?”

“I’m a porter!” she grinned.

This was unexpected.

This was…extremely unexpected.

“What the hell is happening here?” I asked myself.

“Ha! You should see the look on your face!” she chortled.

“What’s in your storage right now? Prove you’re really a porter,” I demanded.

“Why? Don’t you believe me?” she pouted.

“I always prefer evidence first and foremost,” I replied.

“Pfft! Show a little faith in others!”

“First give me a reason to,” I said.

Rachel rolled her eyes at me before complying. Why does everyone roll their eyes around here so often? As far as nonverbal prompts go, it’s so rude. I’m definitely calling out the next person who does it.

She then held out her hands and concentrated. From seemingly thin air, appeared a familiar wooden shaft that had been broken in half. At the end of one of the pieces was a spearhead.

“Your old body?” I asked.

“My old prison,” she said. “Take it please, I don’t want it anymore. Maybe you can duct tape it back together or something.”

I accepted the ruined weapon from her and carefully examined it. Right away, I could see the wooden bits were a wash. They felt brittle to the touch and would probably splinter in my hands if any force was applied to them. There’d be no repairing that. But I could still feel a certain level of mystical power emanating from the steel head. It could either be reattached to a new body or perhaps melted down and reforged into something else.

Pleased by this gift, I nodded to her and placed it in my personal storage. Whatever possibilities this weapon offered me, I could see to them tomorrow. For now, I was tired. It had been a surprisingly challenging night, and I felt the urge to rest.

Unfortunately, I was met with unexpected resistance.

“What do you mean by go away?” Rachel asked.

“I mean exactly that,” I said. “Get lost, I’m sleepy.”

“So am I!” she protested.

“So, get your own room,” I said indifferently. “This one’s mine.”

“But we’ve always slept together all this time!”

“Yes, but now you’re mobile. Quad-abled and everything. Congrats on your personal evolution.”

“Kyler!” she whined.

“FINE, you can sleep on the floor with Schulz.”

Schulz stared at me with a betrayed look on his face as though he were dismayed to realize he wouldn’t be sleeping beside me either.

“Don’t you start with me too,” I warned him.

“Kyler, come on! Please!” she said.

“NO,” I said forcefully. “Know your place, minion. When the Lord of Blood makes a decision, the matter is settled. Now goodnight.”

And with that, I converted my equipment into a loose pair of pajamas, pulled the blankets over my head and promptly fell asleep.

__

The next morning saw Jamie tapping her foot in annoyance when she saw that Stragos and Rachel had yet to make their appearance for breakfast. She liked those kids quite a bit, but she was also a very busy woman and had better uses for her time than playing waitress for them.

When the clock marked them fifteen minutes late, she sighed in annoyance and went upstairs to get them. Knocking on the door before opening it, she said, “KIDS, I’m not your nanny, okay? Would you please—”

She paused and then covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Piled on the small bed was Kyler with an uncomfortable look on his face due to Rachel’s foot pushing into his cheek, while Schulz lay sprawled across them both, carelessly snoring away.

Smiling, Jamie closed the door behind her to let them finish resting.