“Rather hard to pick things up when you have no thumbs,” the cat explained.
“That’s a talking cat,” Gabriel repeated again.
“I think you broke him,” Sam told the cat.
Gabriel shook his head and tore his eyes away from the cat.
“You can take me to the Spires of Infinity?”
“I know generally where to find them,” Sam shrugged. “Not exactly. Not many
have been out that way in the last century or two. That was ground zero in the Great War. The radiation can still be dangerous even if you’ve been immunized. What do you wanna go all the way out there for anyway?”
“Because I have to.”
“Fine, keep it to yourself. Look, if we go out there you may not be ninety-eight percent pure when we come back again.”
Gabriel sighed.
“Then I guess we don’t have a deal after all.”
“Whoa,” Sam waved her hands. “Hold on. No one said that. I’m just saying it’s really nasty out there. How about you pay me first and then I take you out?”
“You want to go out into that mess pregnant,” the cat asked. “I wouldn’t advise it, Sam.”
“Oh, yeah, that wouldn’t work out too well, would it,” Sam sighed. “Fine. Okay.
Here’s the deal. I take you out to the Spires of Infinity, pay your room and board, and when we get back I get what I want. Deal? I only know the general area to find the Spires, but there will be other towns along the way, and I hear there’s some big military thing going on near the Quarantine Zone too. Won’t be too hard to get directions along the way. And there’s the NVM town of New Hope, it’s supposed to be close enough to see the Spires, and I bet everyone knows where that is. Unless, maybe, there’s something else you’d take as payment?”
Gabriel sighed. He supposed he could have worse girls after him, the innkeeper for example. Still, it was just so twisted! “Deal, I guess.”
“Great,” Sam cried, rushing to hug him tightly. “Oh, thank you so much! Hey, I don’t even know your name.”
“Gabriel Reeve,” he replied when she finally released him. “I’m a lawyer.”
“Is that what they call Lawmen in that Chicago place?”
“Not exactly. I represent criminals to make sure that their rights to a fair trial are upheld.”
“Oh,” Sam said with a disgusted sniff. “One of those.”
“Now, could you leave me be and let me sleep,” Gabriel asked.
“Oh no you don’t! I’m not falling for that one. You’ll slip out the second I’m gone and run yourself right outta town. I’m not letting you outta my sight until we’re well on our way.”
Gabriel gave an annoyed shake of his head. “Fine! But I paid for it so I’m taking the bed!”
“How very chivalrous of you,” Mister Mittens said dryly.
As Gabriel lay down on the bed, Sam turned off the light. Then she plopped
down on the bed next to him, pressing her body against his. She felt feverishly hot, and as much as he hated to admit it, after the biting cold all day long, her warmth was very welcome.
“What are you doing,” he asked.
“It’s big enough to share,” Sam replied. “And you looked cold. You’re lucky I’m not a whore, or you might wake up with a bill in the morning. Just so you know, I do bite, so hands off the valuables unless you plan to make a purchase.”
“I’ve met some crazy women in my time,” Gabriel muttered, “but you win the prize.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Good night, Lawman.”
Trying not to think about what part of her body was touching him where, Gabriel was lulled by her warmth and was soon fast asleep. He would have objected to sharing the bed, but he just couldn’t make himself give up the heat that her body was radiating into him. He’d been with many women in his time, but just by laying next to him, Sam seemed closer than any of them had ever gotten before. It reminded him of his childhood when his mother used to hold him after his father finished beating them both bloody. He hadn’t felt that sort of comfort in over twenty years, and he’d missed it dearly.
Chapter 6: Old Gods
The wind was warm, and it felt wonderful blowing through Kari’s hair.
Grounding her bowstave in the dirt, she closed her eyes and let it pass over her. Taking a deep breath of the clean air, she could hardly believe that she was on a completely different world than the one she’d been born on.
“Well that’s disappointing,” Jonathan sighed. “What sort of adventures are we gonna find in the middle of some farmer’s fields?”
Kari kicked him in the shin on general principle.
“Look at that,” Michael said in awe, pointing and massaging his leg. The twins sometimes complained that they could feel each other’s pain, which was just plain silly.
Kari and Jonathan both turned to look. Expansive golden fields of grain, divided into squares by roads, spread to the horizon in every direction. There were no mountains or hills. Standing in the middle of the flat fields was a single visible building that was so tall Kari could not even see the top of it. The massive, metallic gray shaft stretched for the pinkish sky and beyond, glittering in the sunlight.
“Oh wow,” Jonathan said.
“That thing is huge,” Kari agreed. “Someone must really be compensating for something. I bet we could see the entire world from the top of that tower.”
“I think we just found our first adventure,” Jonathan grinned broadly.
“Oh, I was hoping you’d say that,” Michael nodded eagerly.
“Let’s go,” Kari agreed. “We can’t pass up visiting a tower that huge. But first, Heretics might not be very welcome in this world.”
Piercing her thumb on one of her fangs, Kari quickly drew a symbol in blood on the palm of her hand before the puncture healed over. Hemomancy called upon the power in the blood of a Heretic, the power that made them something more, and at the same time, something less than human. That power could be used to do just about anything from creating illusions, to healing wounds, to calling down the most destructive forces of nature, so long as she knew the symbols of the Demon language to describe what she wanted the power to do. And, of course, she needed a great deal of willpower to control it, else it could rage out of control and burn her to a cinder. Once completed the symbol began to glow with a dark light, and Kari could feel the power calling out to her, waiting to be used. Exerting her will upon it, she forced it to take the form that she wished. The air around her and her brothers blurred and within seconds all traces of their animal traits were hidden away by an illusion. They looked like three human travelers.
“Handy trick,” Jonathan said as Kari pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping the blood away.
“I have to say that I’m at least twelve percent less handsome now,” Michael
sighed.
“You two look just like father,” Kari giggled. “Grow some stubble and you’ll be mirror images.”
“Stubble,” Michael cried with mock indignity. “And cover up this beautiful countenance?”
“Pfft, I’m prettier,” Jonathan snorted.
“You’re identical, you idiots,” Kari muttered.
“That’s what she thinks,” Michael said.
“Indeed.”
“Should we show her where we’re not identical?”
“Don’t you dare,” Kari glared at them, imagining a hundred different things that she really didn’t want to see from her brothers.