Chapter One

Ambrose Severen died the day the System came to call. It had been a hot Florida day, and he had decided to grill for his pregnant wife. She was only twelve weeks along, but already she was eating more, demanding weird meals from him. Who was he to question peanut butter on a hamburger? No one, that’s who. He thought as he flipped a patty, the satisfying sizzle of meat filling the air. He had used a special blend of smoked maple seasoning, and the smell had succeeded in luring his pregnant wife from their room.

Alice Severen was a beautiful raven haired woman with bright green eyes lit by a shining intelligence. She wore a simple white blouse, blue jeans and sandals. Her lovely heart-shaped face was even more beautiful when she turned her lips upward in a smile.

I live for that. Alice stepped up to him, a petite five-five to his six-foot-two broad-shouldered frame. She trailed white manicured fingers across the back of his neck.

“Smells good. I see you have the peanut butter ready.” Her soft voice said as she lifted said peanut butter.

He flipped a burger and pressed it into the black grill top.

“Hey, whatever my princess wants, she gets,” Ambrose said, leaning forward to capture a kiss.

She laughed around his lips before pulling away.

“My knight in tarnished armor. Are you looking forward to tomorrow?”

Ambrose reached up and pushed a lock of his red-gold hair out of his eye.

“Course I am.” He placed the metal spatula off to the side of the grill and turned, placing a hand on his wife’s stomach.

“What do you think? You’re a girl, aren’t you? A sweet princess just like your mama.”

Alice giggled and swatted his shoulder.

“I told you already, we’re having a boy.”

Ambrose raised an eyebrow, twitching his lips upward.

“Is that so? How would you know?”

Her green eyes were like sparkling emeralds, the light of the afternoon sun playing across them, highlighting the small flecks of gold in them.

“My feminine intuition, I’ll have you know.”

Ambrose snorted, turning back to the grill.

“Are we raiding tonight?” Ambrose asked her as he started plating the meat.

She settled into one of the patio chairs.

“Well, the guild does expect us online. I don’t know, though…” She trailed off.

Ambrose turned to her, blinking.

“What? You love to raid. I only started playing because you begged me to, love.”

A wave of exhaustion passed over his wife’s face, and as quickly as that, she went from vibrant to deflated. Ambrose was there in an instant, kneeling at her side, concern etching its way onto his features. Alice smiled at him weakly and reached up with a hand to run her fingers through his beard,

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m just tired. Could we pass tonight? I think I just want to go to bed early tonight.”

Ambrose squeezed her hand in his.

“Of course. Tell you what, we will eat, then go to bed and watch a movie. There’s a new Dungeons and Dragons movie I know you’ve been wanting to see.”

Alice closed her eyes, a groan escaping her lips.

“Marry me.”

Ambrose laughed before getting back to preparing the food.

After the meal, Ambrose was good to his word. Alice was still feeling tired and sick, however, and it wasn’t long before he had to pause the movie as she rushed to the bathroom. He held his wife’s hair up as she wretched over the porcelain toilet.

“Oh, sweetheart. What can I do?”

Alice looked up at him, face a picture of misery.

“Could you go to the store and get me some medicine? I know it’s late, but…” she bit her lip.

Ambrose leaned forward, kissing her forehead as he tucked a lock of her raven hair behind her ear.

“Anything my princess wants, she gets.”

Her answering smile was weak but still like the dawn of a new day to Ambrose.

“My knight in tarnished armor.”

Ambrose helped his wife to bed, put on a dark green flannel, jeans, and boots, grabbed his keys, and headed out. His twenty-twenty-three Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat was in his driveway. The car was Ambrose’s baby, the apple of his eye. The green was for his wife’s eyes, and he secretly called the car Alice. He would never tell her, of course. She would tease him relentlessly and probably be a little annoyed.

“Not even the common decency to cheat on me with a real woman? It had to be a car?!”

Ambrose smiled at the sound of his wife’s voice in his head as he turned on the vehicle. It awoke with a roar into the descending night. The car had been a gift for a job he had taken. His last one ever. Ambrose pulled onto the road and headed to the convenience store.

As he drove, Ambrose smiled to himself. Alice had hated him acting like this in the beginning. He wouldn’t let her do anything.

“Quit doting on me like a mother hen, mister! I am not made of porcelain, you know!”

I can’t help but worry. I need to be more than I was. More than just a killer. Ambrose tightened his grip on the wheel.

Retrieving the meds was an easy enough process, even if the teen at the register acted like he was being tortured through the whole transaction. Maybe I’m just getting old. Ambrose thought as he shook his head at the teen's customer service. Next, I’ll be shouting about my lawn and those young whipper snappers.

Mission accomplished; Ambrose headed back home. A black truck pulled up to his curb as he pulled into his driveway. Ambrose closed his eyes, sucked in a deep breath, blew it out, and got out of his car. As he did, he reached into the glove box and grabbed his handgun. He kept himself behind his car door, watching the men climb out of the truck.

The Bruisers didn’t look like gangsters. They wore simple, everyday clothes. The bigger one on the left wore a shirt depicting a wizard with the caption “Fuego!” in big white letters across the front. His head was bald, and the fading sunlight reflected off it like a mirror. His face reminded Ambrose of a bulldog, and his nose had been broken a few times. His brown eyes had a cruel edge to them.

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Ambrose knew him; of course, he knew all three of them. The bulldog was Rudy, and his personality matched his face. Ambrose flicked his gaze to the man on the right. His dark skin shined like polished ebony; his neat crew cut made him look like a cop. A comparison he would have sneered at. He was business casual, with a baby blue dress shirt tucked into beige pants and shiny black boots.

His features were rough, and his nose looked like it had been broken less than Rudy’s, but he still had a member's pass to the experience. His name was Bryce. Those two were not the dangerous ones.

No, the man in the middle of them exuded the danger. Every time Ambrose was in the presence of Eric Delrosa, he was reminded of a coiled rattlesnake. That same light brown skin, viper-like brown eyes. He was dressed like a high school professor, with a patterned sweater vest over a white shirt, dress jeans, and honest-to-God loafers.

He wasn’t tall; the thugs beside him were like giants next to him. His light brown hair was parted to the side, and his clean-shaven features were owlish. His appearance clashed with that coiled aura of danger that lurked just beneath the surface of those eyes and his too-neat appearance. Even his smile was wrong somehow. Ambrose was reminded of a robot trying to be a real boy every time he saw it.

Eric walked forward, wringing his hands like a nervous schoolboy getting ready to ask a woman out. Ambrose was not fooled and clicked the safety off the gun he had at his side just to be ready.

“Lovely evening we’re having, Mr. Severen. It’s good to see you again, I must say.” Eric Delrosa smiled his fake smile and adjusted his glasses.

Ambrose waited, squinting. He kept Rudy and Bryce in his focus even though he outwardly appeared to be giving all of his attention to their boss.

“Yes, well, ahem. Little rude not to say anything back, wouldn’t you say?”

Ambrose simply stared. There it is. If he had blinked, Ambrose would have missed the brief flash of ugly hate that was there and then gone behind Eric’s eyes.

“Sorry to intrude; it’s just that I was hoping you’d be willing to do a job for me. Old times and all that.”

“I’m out,” Ambrose said flatly.

Eric’s smile was nervous. So fake, Ambrose almost scowled, but he kept his expression schooled.

“Yes. I know that. It’s just, well, you have that baby on the way, right? Always nice to have a little extra cash flow when a child is getting ready to enter the world, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’m out,” Ambrose said again.

The men behind Eric shifted ever so slightly. Ambrose did not miss the flare of hot, naked hatred that burned behind Eric’s eyes. As quickly as that, it was gone. He blinked and adjusted his glasses again,

“Maybe hear me out, at least, Mr. Severen. It’s just a collection job. A banker with a gambling problem. He has the assets to liquidate, so you wouldn’t be leaving him as a pauper. Seeing you? I am sure he’ll fold instantly and give you what he owes. Two hundred grand, Mr. Severen. You’ll get twenty percent! Forty grand! That’s quite the payday.”

Ambrose nodded,

“It is.”

Eric beamed, wringing his hands like he needed to wash off something disgusting.

“Excellent! I can get you the detai-”

“Fuck off, Eric.”

Eric Delrosa’s face went blank. Did I flick your off switch, bastard? Ambrose couldn’t help but think in satisfaction.

“What did you say?” Eric’s voice was as soft as a cool whisper. Somehow it still carried.

Ambrose leaned forward.

“Fuck. Off. I’m out. You might have trouble understanding this, Eric, but no means no. Get off my property.”

Eric was a statue. The way he stood there, not even a hair on his head twitched, was inhuman. After what seemed like an age, he turned on his heels and got back into the truck. Rudy and Bryce eyed him with something like respect before following. The truck took off.

Ambrose watched it go before walking into his house.

His wife still didn’t look great, but she placed a soft kiss on his lips anyway before taking the meds.

“Hey, babe?” He said as she turned the faucet on in the bathroom.

“Yeah?”

“Make sure you keep the doors locked and have a gun near you, okay?”

Alice padded back into the room; beautiful green eyes filled with worry as her brows came together.

“What? Why?”

Ambrose settled onto the bed, taking off his boots and tossing them into the closet.

“Eric stopped by,” he said simply.

She placed her hands on her hips, but her eyes looked even more alarmed.

“What did that creep want?”

Ambrose shrugged,

“What else? For me to do a job. Before you ask, of course, I turned him down.”

She sat beside me, fidgeting.

“Eric never did like being told no,” she said mostly to herself.

Alice would know that better than anyone.

Ambrose turned to her,

“Hey, we’re done with him, okay? I don’t do those jobs for him anymore, and you don’t dance for him anymore. We have a new life now, a better one. Just be armed and be vigilant, okay?”

She leaned into him, nodding, and he wrapped his arms around her.

It was not long before sleep took them after that.

“Wake up, Mr. Severen. You have company.” A soft voice said.

What the fuck? Ambrose’s eyes flew open. Before he could move, cold, unyielding metal pressed into his forehead.

“Tsk. I wouldn’t move if I were you. I might get twitchy.” Eric Delrosa said to him.

He sat calmly beside his bed in one of Ambrose’s chairs.

“How?” Ambrose had double-locked his doors, and his security system was state-of-the-art.

Delrosa was not twitching or fidgeting now. He still wore glasses, but now he appeared calm and in complete control.

“It’s amazing what can be accomplished if you know the right people, Mr. Severen. That’s what I do, you see? I know people. Smart homes, as people call them, can easily be exploited by those who control them. Now, are you listening?”

Ambrose swallowed. Kind of hard not to with a gun to my head, Ambrose thought. All he did was nod. Eric smiled, showing perfect teeth.

“Good. That’s good, Mr. Severen. Earlier, I asked you about a job I wanted you to do. It’s fine to say no to me, Mr. Severen. I would not have begrudged you that. Once upon a time, we had an excellent working relationship. The job was me extending a hand. I wanted you with me for what’s coming, but you spit on that hand, Mr. Severen.”

Eric’s eyes glittered as the moonlight reflected off his glasses.

“You disrespected me. In front of others, no less. That demands an answer, Mr. Severen. It isn’t good business to go around letting people think they can say whatever they want to you, I’m sure you can understand that.”

Ambrose sputtered out,

“Look, Eric, I’m-”

“Shhh. We’ll get to that. First, we have to get to the appetiser.”

Eric shot Ambrose in the knee. He jerked, his face contorting as he grabbed at his knee, blood pooling, staining the blanket. He howled as pain bolted through him. He glanced at Alice, sure she would wake up from the noise. She didn’t even stir.

“Oh, she isn’t dead. I can do things you can’t, Mr. Severen. Perks of being special. Better than you.”

Eric shuddered as if in ecstasy. Then he shot Ambrose in the shoulder. He twitched hard to the side,

“You bastard, I’ll-”

Eric flipped the gun around and smashed Ambrose in the face, shattering his nose in a spray of blood. Ambrose groaned.

“I know. It hurts. That was the main course, now it’s time for the desert.”

The gun shifted as fast as a viper strike and went off. Once, twice, three times into the soundly sleeping form of his pregnant wife.

“NO!! ALICE!!” Ambrose sobbed, turned over, and grabbed his wife. He turned Alice around.

Lifeless green eyes stared back at him. No light of intelligence, no dawn bringing smiles. Just. Nothing. A sack of bleeding flesh.

Something inside of Ambrose Severen broke, and hell followed with it.

He turned and lunged at Eric, who shot him in the knee. Pain lanced through him like living lightning, and he fell to the ground, ruby drops spraying forth from his leg like a bursting fountain. Eric was standing, the first genuine smile Ambrose had ever seen on his face.

“I am truly sorry it had to be this way, Ambrose.” He did not sound sorry. He shot Ambrose in the other leg, preventing him from even moving as his body jerked and fire ripped through him. None of it, none of the pain compared to the inferno of hellish fury that bubbled inside him. He twisted his mouth into a snarl, his eyes blazing as he looked up at Eric’s face.

“I’ll kill you for this. I fucking swear I will.”

Eric shrugged,

“I doubt it.”

He took out his phone.

“Oh, would you look at the time? The System should be hitting any moment. You wouldn’t know about it, of course. Only we forerunners knew. I always did have good luck. Goodbye, Mr. Severen.”

He pointed the gun at his back and pulled the trigger twice more. Ambrose’s body spazzed, writhing as the bullets did their grim work. The world warped, the air seeming superheated as a voice of thunder boomed in his head.

[System Integration beginning, please standby…]

Ambrose ignored the white screen with flowing black text that appeared in front of his vision. His fading vision had eyes only for Eric Delrosa as he walked out of his room.

It was likely going to be the last thing he ever saw.