The question is, what do you want from the Heartwood?

  Chloe considered. Safe passage. That is all. We are on a mission beyond your woods and are happy to leave you and everything else behind in order to pursue it.

  The old woman shook her head and reached into a satchel of herbs and powders. She drew out some dried leaves, crushed them between her fingers, and sprinkled them into the pot.

  The liquid’s color changed ever so slightly. Her eyes passed over the large pot, which she now realized was engraved with images of the minotaur creatures. Some were battling, some were making love. Above them all, though, was a shining sun with a bull’s face on the front, the rays of the sun replaced by intricately carved leaves.

  You do not even know you lie, the woman said, taking a step back, for the first time looking at them each in turn. Gideon, Ben, and Tag struggled to hold her gaze. When she turned to Chloe, she discovered why.

  Her eyes were bright, and Chloe felt like she was being searched to the very core of the soul. Chloe held her stare for as long as she could, only breaking contact after the woman did.

  “Damn,” Ben breathed. “She really penetrated me.”

  Chloe was impressed that neither Gid nor Tag took the opportunity to quip back.

  What do you think I want? Chloe said, returning her attention to the woman. Why do you have us here?

  A smile crept up the woman’s face. You wanted the shrine, yes?

  Chloe felt a chill run down her spine, her mind betraying the truth before she could think otherwise. Yes.

  Then here you are. The old woman spread her arms wide. The balls on her staff glowed and power shone out, hundreds of mushrooms illuminating the great tree trunks. Thousands of fireflies appeared as if from nowhere, showering the space in light. After the dim glow of the pot, the light level was almost overwhelming.

  Chloe and the others shielded their eyes, and the minotaurs picked them up. They moved quickly, holding them all above the pot, their legs kicking as the heat of the liquid pricked their skin.

  Chloe was the only one to remain calm, her gaze boring into the old woman’s eyes. Why? Why are you doing this?

  It is simple, she replied. The Shrine of the Heartwood is sacred ground. What you seek is something that has been only ours for thousands of years, ever since our ancestors planted the first trees.

  Chloe remembered KieraFreya’s vision, the image of the brown creatures sowing the land making sense in her head now.

  For years, our people have thrived in secrecy within this forest, the only recompense to our gods being the sacrifice of those who cross our borders. We shall return you to the stars from whence you came and restore our lands to the peace that has ruled since eternity began.

  The minotaurs began to chant again. Quietly at first, building up slowly as the minotaur holding Chloe began to raise her above his head.

  Damn, think Chloe. Think…

  Chloe saw a notification and in her panicking mind opened it, seeing a small informational post appear.

  Claiming shrines!

  You have shown great dedication toward one of Obsidian’s gods! There are many gods in Obsidian, some false, and many real. By showing an undying contribution to serving one of Obsidian’s gods, you can now claim shrines…

  Chloe hurried through the information, seeing a section that caught her eye.

  Rewards for claiming shrines

  By ‘claiming’ a shrine, you no longer require the blessing of a god to approve the shrine as a fast-travel point, since you are already on a devout journey of worship. Simply harness the power of the god into the shrine and take what is yours.

  Chloe’s stomach was squeezed as the minotaur prepared to throw her into the pot. She readied herself, hoping the doc and Mia had found the right balance of pain so that this wouldn’t hurt too much on the landing in the scalding liquid, focusing her mind on whatever it meant to convert the shrine.

  Goodbye, Chloe and friends.

  And then a lot happened in quick succession.

  As the old woman grinned her wicked grin, a series of rocks were thrown from the undergrowth, a few of them hitting her head directly.

  The old woman shouted and pointed into the brush, and a second later, several minotaurs gave chase to Jessie and Talbot, who held the giant mushrooms in their hands and began to spray pollen in every direction.

  At the same time, Chloe watched as the pot began to shake, its color changing from rusty brown to the color of fresh-baked clay. The images on it faded and re-emerged as engravings of a powerful woman dressed in to-die-for armor, a sword in one hand, holding the reins of a chariot in the other.

  The minotaur holding Chloe let go, but not before Chloe highlighted a fast-travel option and selected Y to confirm.

  Chloe heard the old woman shouting in rage at the two other intruders, her screams falling into quiet snores as she hit the floor with a thud.

  Chloe’s feet hit the liquid, her HP draining drastically. She called for the others, telling them to check their notifications, hoping that they could all confirm this location as a fast-travel point, not even seeing as their minotaurs dropped them safely on the ground, Chloe’s vision filling with luminous blue as she felt the familiar displacement of death heralding her arrival in the white room.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Demetri struggled to stop himself from laughing as he balanced the laptop on his knees and read through the string of live comments scrolling through the chat box on the right-hand side of the screen.

  Many of the names that popped up had begun to feel familiar to Demetri. He had seen their names appear regularly, giving encouragement, making snide remarks—what Mia called “haters”—and occasionally just throwing out crappy jokes for the others to enjoy.

  Now they were all going nuts, a barrage of emojis and swearwords running in quick succession as the group watched Chloe struggling in the grasp of the minotaur.

  PopPrincess19: 10:45

  Shit! What’s she going to do?

  IAML0rDS4t4n: 10:45

  Die, bitch! Die!

  ArmaggedonTired: 10:45

  OMG OMG OMG

  PopPrincess19: 10:46

  Leave Chlo-zone alone! What’s she ever done to you?

  Demetri sat drinking a glass of Coke, enjoying the entertainment. He was glad to finally have a day off and spend some proper time watching Chloe.

  By this point, he was confident Chloe would pull off another glamorous evasion of death. Now that her party was growing and she was working her way through the map, it wouldn’t be long before she’d take down that bitch minotaur and be back on her feet.

  Demetri craned his head to the slightly open door of Mia’s bedroom, her light snores just about audible. They had had a late night, sharing a couple bottles of wine and playing games while Chloe’s adventure played on the TV beside them.

  It had been their first real night where neither of them had anything to do the next day. Demetri had promised they’d share the morning in bed together, but at 8:30am, he found himself wide awake, somehow completely free of any hangover and finding that he wanted nothing more than to see what Chloe was up to. Hoping to maybe catch her read the latest message he’d sent.

  Demetri had decided to let Mia sleep. He already had a drink and food ready in their respective slots and mugs around the kitchen—bread waiting in the toaster, and so on—so that he could quickly prepare her some breakfast in bed when she woke, but for now, he let her sleep in peace, still not quite able to believe how much he had learned to care for someone so quickly.

  Just a few weeks ago, he had been a lonely psychologist. Well, maybe “lonely” was too strong a word. A working professional, comfortable with his own company.

  Now…

  Now he wondered how long it would be before the honeymoon phase ended and he screwed the whole damn thing up. That was the problem with being a lifelong student of psychology. Many people expect you to fix their problems, but they couldn’t quite believe that you had problems of your own.

  Even Freud, Pavlov, and Bowlby had had problems of their own. Just look at how screwed up their lives had been.

  Something kicked off on the screen. Demetri watched as the minotaur woman was hit by a barrage of rocks. He saw Chloe dropped into the boiling pot, wincing as he imagined what that would feel like, momentarily forgetting they’d managed to fix the pain issue, and the worst she should feel would be some minor discomfort.

  Minor-taur discomfort. Demetri chuckled, the pot now changing color and decor. The minotaurs went crazy, as did the live chat. When the screen went white, it took Demetri a minute to remember that would mean that Chloe would soon be contactable. He lost himself in the live thread, then suddenly snapped alert, almost spilling his drink as he rushed to the headset that called to the white room’s phone.

  “Chloe?” he said, making a bit more noise than he would have liked. He lowered his voice and looked cautiously back at the bedroom.

  “Doc!” Chloe said excitedly. “Who else would it be?”

  “Good point,” he replied, his smile plastered to his face.

  They caught up for a little while on the action and adventures Chloe had been through since their last encounter, recalling her taking down the sandworm, the journey through the volcano, the union of Gallen Hollows, and, now their encounter with the minotaurs.

  “You survived being eaten by a colossal parasite and being attacked by a titan in an active volcano, and the thing that actually kills you is a half-man/half-bull hybrid with a cooking pot?”

  Chloe shrugged. “Hey, you have to pick your moments, right?”

  They laughed, the doc doing his best to stifle his sniggers.

  “So, how’s it going out in the big wide world, Doc? Any updates on my requests? I have no way of knowing what you’re up to out there, so I’ve got to trust you. Trusting is hard for me, especially when I know what a pair of randy teenagers you guys are. Where is Mia, by the way?”

  “That’s a lot of questions, Chloe. Which one would you like me to answer first?”

  Chloe tapped a finger on her chin. “Work backward.”

  Demetri went to answer, then realized he had already forgotten what the order of the questions was. “I’ll answer my way, I think.” His eyes darted to the bedroom again.

  “Mia is asleep at the minute. It’s,” he checked his watch, “10:51am here, and we both had something of a late night.” His words trailed off as he realized how obvious the subtext behind them was.

  “Ooo?” Chloe crowed. “Do I need three guesses to work out what you guys were up to?”

  The doc’s ears glowed red. He was glad Chloe couldn’t see him through the screen. Several cogs in his mind began to whir as he thought about his feelings for Mia, not entirely sure how to process them. He had always been taught (and he had always taught) that talking was the best way to work out what was going on inside you. He stared at Chloe on the screen for a few seconds and made up his mind.

  “Look, it’s not entirely like that,” he said coyly. “The truth is, I like her, Chloe. Like, really like her. I haven’t felt anything like this since...well, the last time we dated.”

  “You guys dated before?” Chloe said, taking her legs off the table and sitting up straight, her full attention on the phone.

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that part. We dated in high school once. It didn’t end well.”

  “So, what’re you saying, Doc? You saying you’re in luuuurve?”

  “No…” Demetri said uncertainly. He sighed. “I mean, I don’t know. You’re a girl, right?”

  Chloe raised her hands. “Hey, I’m happily single. If you want a way to process your confusion, find somebody else.”

  Demetri laughed. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  Demetri weighed his words carefully, his eyes now locked on the bedroom door for fear that Mia would burst in as he was talking to Chloe. “I just really like her, okay? And I’m worried that this is only short-term. That we’re only bonding because of the fact we’re here night and day watching over you. I work a lot and don’t know what’s going on when I’m not here, and I’ve seen relationships implode at the drop of a dime. How do I know this is the real deal when she ended things so abruptly before?”

  Chloe ran a hand through her hair and rested her arm behind her head.

  “Doc, I may not be the best person to ask here, but let me give you some advice from my lens. Mia’s into you, okay? She digs you. Not a lot of people reignite an old high school flame and fall into bed with the man for the sake of it. Sex means something to women, even if it doesn’t to men.”

  “What about those one-night stands you were always bitching about that your friends had?”

  “Oh, that’s different,” Chloe said.

  “Why?”

  “They’re sluts.” Chloe laughed. “Mia’s not that kind of girl. Trust me, I only met her briefly in real life, but she digs you. The way she speaks about you and looks out for you is a sign of that. Just don’t overthink it. That’s how you mess it up.”

  Demetri nodded, feeling strange that it was his turn to be psychoanalyzed. He wasn’t sure he liked being the patient on the figurative couch.

  “Thanks,” was all that he could manage as the two sat in silence and processed this for a minute. Demetri eventually took a deep breath, feeling a need in change of subject. “Well, enough about me. You wanted to know what’s going on in the outside world, right?”

  Chloe said she did, sitting forward enthusiastically as Demetri began to relate the latest news from the city and the wider world.

  According to Demetri, Obsidian had begun to hit the minor news networks, various scrolling headlines showcasing the rise in stock value of Praxis Games Ltd, the little games company with the big heart. There had been another surge in players entering the game, meaning that subscriptions to its service had boosted the company’s overall net worth by 47% in the last three days.

  Because of this, Henry and Henrietta—Chloe’s twin brother and sister—had found themselves on the opposing side of a lawsuit against Praxis.

  Thanks to the clause in Chloe’s contract that stipulated the company should not deal with any of her other relatives while she was inside the game—a handy idea that protected her interests while she was not able to protect them physically herself—the two had been trying to find grounds to sue the company for various types of discrimination and copyright abuse.

  “They’ve got nothing solid, really,” Demetri said, looking up the online news articles with a couple of candid pictures of Henry and Henrietta in power suits and sunglasses, looking mildly pissed off. “It already looks like it’s going to get thrown out of the courtroom, since any judge will determine that their current investment in Oculus is going to be a conflict of interest.”

  “You’re kidding?” Chloe replied. “They’re still in Oculus, while they’re trying to bring me, I mean, Praxis down?”

  “You know Henry and Henriette,” Demetri said. “They won’t let go of anything unless they’ve got another handhold to rely on. They’re very ‘one toe in, one toe out’ people.”

  “You got that right.” Chloe laughed, remembering how indecisive the pair had always been. She had often wondered how they would have survived if they hadn’t had each other. She had heard tales of twins and how strong their connections were, but she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t grown up with them.

  “Is there anything I need to do from my end?” Chloe asked, suddenly feeling a little helpless that she was trapped inside the game.

  “Don’t worry,” Demetri replied. “Your mother and father are monitoring the situation, keeping your secret close to their chest. If anything begins to get borderline serious, they’ve assured Praxis and me that they’ll get involved discreetly and put wrenches in the works.”

  “They’d sabotage their own children?” Chloe said incredulously. “And I thought I already knew the horrible extent that mom and dad would go through for business!”

  “You should take it as a compliment,” Demetri said. “They believe in you. And, besides, the twins have another dozen booming investments in other companies around the world. You think they need this relationship with Praxis? It’s just another shiny penny for them to collect.”

  “I guess. I suppose I should be flattered that my first real investment is worthy of attention from some of the best in the game.”

  “You should.”

  “Speaking of investments…” Chloe grinned, twirling the phone cable around her finger. “I don’t suppose you have an update for me on my requests? I mean, I don’t really ask for all that much…”

  “Don’t ask for much? You realize I spend almost 100% of my spare time watching over you as some kind of digital ethereal babysitter, right?”

  Chloe slapped her hand playfully on the table, the sharp sound leaking through Demetri’s headphones and sounding across the apartment. He heard Mia rolling over in bed, mumbling something to herself. “You realize who asked who to get involved with these guys, right? Also, why isn’t it 100%? What the hell are you doing with the rest of your—oh, wait. Forget that.”

  Demetri chuckled and took a sip of his drink, trying not to let his mind wander back to the fun he had had with Mia last night.

  And oh, what fun it had been.

  “I’m afraid it’s good news, bad news on your requests, Chloe. The good news is that Mia has been speaking to Praxis, and they’re very interested in investing more time into the full-immersion VR pods. Ultimately, it’s their best way to get people hooked on the game and giving them money. More time in-game means more people hooked within the ecosystem, which means a better experience all around.

  “They’ve said they want to roll out around fifty pods within the next week and will be hand-selecting those they deem worthy, sending personal invites—at a hefty price, if I do say so myself.”

  “Do it,” Chloe said more quickly than she meant to. “Fund it. Give it to Gideon, please. Do what you can to make it happen.”

  “Easy now, tiger,” Demetri teased. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you want more of Gideon in the game so you can have him all to yourself.”