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In a short council meeting, Nelsonville had refused to have anything to do with a Core or magic. The vibe around was so negative that Rowan had mentioned twice he was immune to bullets, and Cora had stayed inside her suit at all times.

In the end, Cora had taken the Core in her inventory, Rowan had bought some clothes, sold back the car at a loss, and they left toward Elkins with the Ranger’s RV. Bree’s family was poor, so moving out from a town that almost chased them away with pitchforks and torches had not been a hard choice. Taking a detour to avoid the radioactive zone, they approached the County from the northwest until they reached the distance from where Cora could call for a portal. They passed through in screams: of joy, from the children, and of terror, from Bree and her maybe husband. Rowan was too polite to ask.

They arrived home in time for lunch. Grace and Lizzie came to hug Rowan, the latter eying the newcomers with suspicion. Who are those kids, competition? Daddy won’t adopt them, right? her thoughts flashed through Rowan’s mind as they hugged, his Insight activating automatically.

“These are the folks I told you about on the phone, Bree and her family,” Rowan tried to sound warm. “She’s a terrific fighter. This is Grace, my fiancée, and Lizzie, our daughter.”

They all shook hands.

“Come inside, lunch is ready,” Grace said. “Dmitri made moussaka. He’s the guy waving at us through the window.”

Eating took some time, and the good food helped relax the tension. In the end, Bree’s partner started to unleash joke after joke, and he was funny. The wear he wore on his face and his rough hands were a hint of a life of hard work that didn’t always pay. As time went on, the Ranger started to visibly fret and look frequently at her kids, a boy and a girl about eight and seven, now playing together with Lizzie, who had warmed up to them meanwhile.

“Just show us where to park our RV and we won’t impose on you any longer,” Bree’s partner said. “We’d like to spend some time together.”

“Request denied,” Rowan said. The guests, but also the rest, jerked in surprise. “Lizzie, do you mind taking your friends to the garden, or your room? We need to have an adult moment.”

“Of course, Daddy,” Lizzie’s eyes lightened. “I’ll show them my Viscountess crown and all.”

“It’s not a real crown, just a strass diadem,” Rowan explained as his daughter was pulling Bree’s kids after her, the girl totally enthused and the boy dragging his feet. “Listen, folks, I need ten minutes of your time, then you’re free to go. First, Bree, you’re one of the few Awakened with good combative skills. How many are we, again, Cora?”

The Nekojin, who was in the process of discreetly picking her nose with a claw, pretended she was just scratching it and took out a pad. “Earth-wide, we have maybe six hundred Classed above C tier from the Awakened Town Cores and accidental awakenings. I suppose Viscardi turned a few people into Thralls or Vampires, but can’t be sure.”

“Gh…” Bree’s partner spat some coffee. “For real? Vampires? Do they transform into bats?”

“At night, Viscardi Blakswarm can transform into a colony of a thousand bats, and if you don’t kill every single one of them, he can get back to full health in seconds by siphoning your Hit Points,” Cora said. “Those he bites don’t transform into vampires, they turn into thralls, mindless slaves. But if someone drinks his blood, then yes, they could become a vampire.”

“I was offered a Vampire class at first,” Rowan remembered. “Never mind. Here’s the deal. For giving us the Core, you’re free to stay in our County and choose a place for yourself. Land, house, whatever. You like it, we’ll buy it for you.”

“That’s… generous. Thanks,” Bree said.

“It’s not. A core is priceless. I can think of a people or two who would have spent millions, or more, to get their hands on one of those. That said, we did free you from that dungeon, so let’s call it quits. What I propose, though, is to work together from now on.”

“You want me to be a sort of superhero?” Bree sighed. “I don’t think I’m cut for it.”

“I assure you, you are,” Rowan waved his hand. “You can start with easy tasks, like babysitting, then, after Isla, a friend of ours, shows you the ropes, you can be police.”

“Babysitting?”

“There are eighteen kids who can do magic, like Lizzie. There is a non-stop protection detail for each and we’re short on people.”

“H-how much d-does it pay?”

In the woman's voice, there was a sound that Rowan knew so well. Could she put bread on the table for her family, without risking her life for it? A life that wasn’t worth living in itself but for the joy of seeing their kids grow.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Five grand a month. We kept the dollar as a currency.”

“Health insurance?”

“I can work, honey,” her partner patted Bree’s hand. “Let’s take our time, think it over.”

He was truly caring for her, Rowan realized. It was a good sign.

“We don’t have health insurance in here, because there’s no need for it. A pass of hands and a spell cures anything. Dental, eyes, all are covered. Now, back to business, and I’ll be direct. Our town can resurrect people. Both I and my wife were revived once. I’m offering you and your kids a Rezz spot if you stay and fight with us. In time, when we grow in level, we might spare one for your husband too. But the town is pretty safe as is anyway.”

“I understand… I’ll think about it… Now, I’d really like to have some time alone with my family,” Bree said.

“Of course. Think it through. Ah, one more thing. When you get some time, check your build, and if you need advice, just call me or Cora.”

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In the afternoon, Rowan took time to play with Lizzie, feeling guilty for being on the run or absent so many times. After an hour and a half of ball games, hide and seek, or just purposelessly running around, she fell asleep in her arms, exhausted.

He put the girl in her bed for a siesta and returned to the porch, sitting on the swing bench, next to Grace, fondling her hand.

“I missed you…”

“I missed you too,” she returned the caresse, adding a kiss on the cheek. “So, how are things out there?”

“It’s a big unknown. Tensions, factions, conspiracies… My pal in Louisville told me that every city and state is de facto ignoring the central government. Things look the same, but no one knows in which direction things will go. The US fears us, the Vampires fear a mobster, The Smuggler—”

“Sorry? Aren’t they mobsters themselves?”

“I guess it’s a meaner one. I didn’t have time to ask. And everybody fears the Warlord, who is a sort of supervillain escapee… Where’s Cora, by the way?”

“I told her to take a shower. She helped me bake something for tonight and the oven made her sweat a lot. I’ll go check if she lies and gives herself a sponge bath again.”

“Honey, that’s prying,” Rowan put a hand on Grace’s arm. “Give the cat… I mean, the girl, some space. She’s an adult after all.”

“Adult? Hah!” Grace snorted. “Prying for the greater good is not prying.” After saying that, Grace patted his hand and then fondled his fingers. “I can’t wait for the night,” she leaned forward, kissing him. “Do I have your permission to do naughty things to you tonight? I want to be naughty, extremely naughty…” She moved his lips to his ear, tickling him with her whisper. “Supreme tier level naughty. Are you OK with it?”

“Oh, goodness…” he gasped. “Don’t ever ask again to be naughty… I like it so much…”

“Perfect,” she changed her tone to a casual one, pecking his lips and rising. “Time to check the beast.”

One minute later, while he was lounging leisurely with a glass of Bourbon in hand, daydreaming about the promised pleasures of the night, an avalanche of terrifying screams rolled over his ears. He couldn’t understand the words, but for sure somebody was killed, or on the point to be, upstairs. Rowan activated a Joint Trip, stepping up in the air like on a stair, then passing through walls until he reached Cora’s room. There, the Nekojin and Grace confronted each other, gesticulating vehemently.

“Hey, calm down!” he appeared in between, just a second before Grace was going to throw herself at Cora, hands prepared to strangle.

“I caught her in the act!” Grace screamed.

“You caught nothing, you uncivilized monkey,” Cora yelled back. “Get out of here.”

“Girls, let’s behave like adults.”

“Adults? Look!” Grace forwarded her hand in an accusatory gesture.

For Rowan, her ire made no sense. He could see a big Zen sandbox under the window, and a quite decorated one, filled with tiny white granules. What attracted his eyes akin to a magnet were the decorations on the walls around the room, cross-stitch embroideries representing a cute cat-girl—the resemblance with Cora was striking—dressed in a pink princess-like negligee, in dreamlike poses. The last thing he would have expected from an Engineer obsessed with robots.

“Hey! Say something,” Grace shook him by the shoulders.

“So what’s the problem again?”

“I caught her peeing in the box,” she screamed.

“Oh My God, Cora, you’re naked! Please dress!” Rowan yelled, covering her eyes.

Cora wasn’t naked, in fact, but in her underwear, pink bra, and panties, but that was going into too much detail. For his eyes, her shapes were quite obvious.

“I’m in my room!” Cora clenched her fists. “And I’m paying rent for it. You two go out, this instant.”

“I want that gone. Now. You will use the normal toilet, like normal people.”

“What’s normal in that? Filthy water sprays back at you as soon you splash something in it. My litter’s Manasand is specially designed to magically destroy any odor and substance.”

“Rowan? Do something.”

He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart… this is between you two. If it's sanitary enough, what's the problem? If you ask my opinion, give Cora some slack, she's entitled to her cultural… err… heritage."

Joint Trip activated. 0/10 charges remaining.

He went down through the floor and got back on the porch, after pouring himself another full glass of Bourbon.

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When night came, Grace's anger was still smoldering. Rowan was in bed, looking at her as she brushed her teeth in the bathroom. She returned to the bedroom, crossed her arms, and frowned at him. “You have to learn to stand up for your woman, not side with an alien.”

“I… will try, honey,” he made puppy eyes. “It’s just… hard sometimes. Mostly when you're in the wrong, you know.”

Going to the windows, she pulled the heavy curtains completely, then shut off the lights. The room was in complete darkness. “A wife's never in the wrong. You’ve been a bad boy. I forbid you to look at me while we’re making love.” He felt her approaching, and then she touched his face, putting her sleeping mask on him. “Here. You’re not allowed to get it out until I say so.”

“But I’m not seeing anything anyway,” he protested.

“Tut tut tut! One more word, and I’ll sleep with Lizzie. Ah, yes… I’ll go check on her. I’ll be back soon. Don’t. Take. That. Off.”

The door opened, then closed, then opened again thirty seconds later, then finally closed for good. She came to bed, and mounted him, without any word. Strange enough, there was a timidity in her caresses and movements that hadn’t been there before. Soon, though, things began to heat up. Again, against his expectations, she didn’t use her skills, this time, but compensated with an intensity of the movements he hadn’t felt before… but he liked it. An hour later, after experimenting with every position that he could think about, he fell asleep, exhausted.