Jess frowned. “A pair of rapists.”

  The wraith made a small hissing noise and shook her head. “Castration would have been appropriate. I agree with Luneira, my lord. Killing them was the right thing to do. Merciful even.”

  Joel took a deep breath and nodded. He leaned in gently kissing Jess, who smiled at him for doing so. “Don’t let me become a monster. Please?”

  “If I thought you were capable of being a monster, I wouldn’t be sharing a bed with you,” Jess pointed out. “And don’t give me that machismo shit. I know where you sleep and I have access to sharp objects. You’re bigger and tougher, but don’t think for a moment I couldn’t do it if I thought I had to.”

  Joel thought over her words, then kissed her again. “Just keep it that way. You’re important to me.”

  She smiled slightly. “Let’s finish up our patrol. Once we’ve cleared the complex, we should work on getting Dale’s people settled in.”

  “Right.” Joel nodded and looked at his vassals. “Let’s go ladies.”

  “It’s strange, seeing a man with such authority,” the wraith commented.

  “Extremely,” Luneira agreed. “But I find it… acceptable.”

  Joel didn’t bother commenting. He had gotten a few vibes from Luneira at the start. Hearing the wraith add to them only confirmed a few things. Though he didn’t feel at all threatened by them. Not now, at least. They’d first come into his lives as a kind of mini-boss scenario. Luneira, using a viscous liquid form to suffocate him as he awoke one morning. And the wraith, appearing during a roaming horde attack on Mitch’s nearby settlement, Paradise.

  Their group continued along the complex. Moving east to west. There were a few pockets of hellhounds about. And Joel made a point to stay away from the units where he had killed Dante and Bryson. Or… Bryson at least. Dante had died due to suffocation under Luneira’s liquid form. In either case, Joel wanted little to do with the memories. Even if his lovers had tried to soothe his nerves regarding the justification of the action.

  Joel was able to see the back gate at the western entrance to the complex. It was shut up tight and⁠—

  “My lord,” Luneira whispered.

  Joel stopped and looked. Luneira was staring at a patch of trees to their right. It was a walkway stuffed between two of the buildings. Joel couldn’t hear anything, but Luneira’s ears twitched, she obviously could. Right before she shifted to her liquid form.

  An arrow flashed out, striking her in the middle. The arrow pierced deeply, but Joel already knew that in her liquid form, that wasn’t an effective way to harm her. To damage her liquid form, you needed to carve pieces out of her. Not that it mattered in the least to Joel as he drew his sword and swung ahead of his group to ward off further attack.

  “HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Joel roared.

  He didn’t expect a nearby window to shatter. Nor for three armed men to leap out and charge across the street. Joel spun to face them. The first came in with a hammer. Literally just a sledgehammer from the hardware stood. Plastic handle and all. Joel spun to face him as an arrow shot out from the trees once more.

  Jess, who had been spinning around to get into position, yelped as the arrow slammed into her shoulder.

  “Bash!” Joel snarled as the hammer wielder closed in.

  “CHARGE!” came a screamed reply.

  Joel, winding up to strike the man with his shield, suddenly found his timing off. The man’s speed doubled, and he dropped his shoulder. Before he could brace for the impact, the hammer wielder dropped his shoulder and crash tackled Joel.

  Off balance and taken by surprise, Joel fell back, landing hard as the man with the hammer kept going for a few steps. Putting him out of the way as the two others closed in. The first held a spear. It looked like he’d taken an angle grinder to a shovel, carving it into a rough triangle, before hammering the edges around to reinforce it. The weapon was crude, but still dangerous, as the man ran alongside his partner.

  The partner carried a makeshift shield. Wooden boards nailed together and held in place to his arm with rope. His other hand, he swung a hatchet.

  With Jess stumbling back from the arrow in her shoulder, Buster leaped to her defense. The spear holder lowered his weapon, warding off the hellhound, while the axe holder swung around, only to yelp as a green figure lashed out from behind. Joel only caught a glimpse of movement before a spray of blood filled the air.

  “KEVIN!” the hammer wielder roared, before screaming in rage as a black mass of eyes slammed into him. He roared and clawed at Luneira in her battle form, but was unable to pull her off as she consumed him.

  “Shit!” a distant voice cried out. “Mitch said these guys were pretenders!”

  “Mitch?” Joel snarled as he shoved himself upright.

  The wraith suddenly appeared before Joel, swatting an arrow out of the air, before vanishing once more. Joel blinked in shock before hoisting his shield to protect himself as he rounded on the spear holder. His friend with the axe was bleeding badly, his shield hung limply at his side as he helped ward off Buster.

  Jess was off to one side, looking scared and in pain, which set Joel off even further.

  “BOLSTER!”

  His body tensed and his muscles swelled. The surge of strength sent Joel into a rage and he dropped his shoulder into his own charge.

  “Dammit!” the spear holder kicked out at Buster before spinning his weapon to point at Joel.

  “Bash!” Joel used his ability once more.

  This time, he timed it right. Only he wasn’t aiming for the man. The spear took the brunt of the attack. The ability knocked the tip high and almost pulled it completely from the man’s grip. Which provided a perfect opportunity for Joel to thrust his sword forward, plunging it straight into the man’s chest.

  “James!” the axe holder yelled, confirming that he was Kevin. “You fucking bastard!”

  “Says the assassin,” the wraith giggled as she appeared to his left, carving a groove along the ribs of the man’s uninjured side.

  Joel kicked James in the chest, shoving the dying man off his sword with the same movement. Then turned to Kevin, who had a look of horror on his face. Seeing movement off to the side, Joel realized what was about to happen.

  “Block!”

  The arrow that struck him in the face snapped as if striking stone. Kevin stared in horror as Joel gave him a savage grin.

  “Go get the archer for me,” he ordered before stepping closer to the wounded axe man. “I have a few questions, and if I don’t like your answers. I’m going to ask someone else.”

  Kevin’s eyes darted to one side. Joel, seeing the state he was in, didn’t think it was a distraction and glanced back. Luneira was pulling herself free of the now perfectly still hammer wielder.

  “It was Mitch’s idea,” the axe wielder blurted. “He said that you were posers. That anyone with a backbone could have taken you down and the only reason you came to help was to make him look bad.”

  “Mitch, the one who ran away during the fight and only showed up after we left?” Joel snapped. “That Mitch?”

  “He said you’d accuse him of things,” Kevin said and frowned.

  “How accurate has he been so far?” Joel asked, as a blood-curdling scream came from the bushes where the archer was.

  “Oh fuck,” Kevin began to cry. “Please don’t kill me, man. I was stupid.”

  Joel was almost about to promise just that. Only he heard a whimper. Glancing over, Jess was sitting on the road, clutching at the arrow in her shoulder while Buster lay at her feet. With a growl, Joel turned back to Kevin.

  “About that.”

  “Thanks Marlene,” Joel said with a smile.

  “It wasn’t a bad wound, but my healing isn’t perfect,” the cleric replied. “The wound was pretty deep and something’s telling me it hurt the tendon as well as the muscle.”

  “Looks like you’re down for a couple days,” Joel grunted.

  “I’ll be okay, though, won’t I?” Jess frowned as she rolled her shoulder, only to wince in pain.

  “You should be,” Marlene assured her. “Really though, this was the kind of thing you might have needed surgery for. If that arrow went in on a different angle, you might have ended up with a lung injury. There’s also an artery in there it could have hit.”

  “More reason to go murder that fucking piece of shit,” Joel growled.

  Marlene blinked at the sudden hostility. “You didn’t get the guy who did this?”

  “We got him alright,” Joel grumbled.

  “I made sure of it,” the wraith hissed and grinned widely. “My lord’s justice was swift.”

  Joel didn’t comment on that. Swift for her must have meant something completely different. Then again, Kevin was quite happy to spill the beans on everything he knew. Which, admittedly, wasn’t much. But he did so, while crying hysterically as the wraith toyed with her prey. When she returned, it was with a smile bordering on manic. Reinforcing the idea that she, like Luneira, was not human in any sense.

  “So you were ambushed, then. Jess was injured and… Was it random?” Marlene asked as she stepped back and started washing her hands.

  Jess sat up. Her bra was stained red from her blood and she let out a sigh as she looked at the remains of her shirt. To save on time and wound aggravation, they’d simply cut it free.

  “Luneira,” Joel turned to the curvy woman guarding the door so nobody would walk in unannounced. “Can you fetch a shirt for Jess, please?”

  “Yes, my lord,” She nodded and rushed off.

  “I’ll take the door,” the wraith said, walking in to guard it.

  “Who’s going to help you scout now?” Jess asked, giving me an apologetic smile.

  “You could ask Amanda,” Marlene suggested.

  “Isn’t she a thief?” Joel asked.

  Marlene shrugged. “Aren’t thieves just a type of rogue? Rogues can be ranged specialists.”

  “Timothy’s a rogue, though,” Jess pointed out. “I just don’t know what use a thief is.”

  “Either way,” Joel cut in. “I’ll speak to her.”

  “Speak to me?” Amanda’s voice carried.

  The wraith looked back, and Joel gave a small nod. She stepped aside, and Amanda came in, with Luneira behind her. Luneira held a spare shirt for Jess, who accepted it as Amanda frowned when she saw all the blood.

  “Luneira said you got hurt, but this looks bad,” she admitted.

  “I’ll need a few days off to recover.” Jess nodded. “We were just talking about the possibility of sending you with Joel. He needs some ranged support.”

  “I’m a thief, I… don’t really have the skills for that,” she said and then tapped her chin in thought. “But… I have some stealth based skills?”

  Joel thought for a moment. “That might work. What kind?”

  “Umm.” She tilted her head and her eyes went blank as if reading something in front of her. “I have Identify, like Jess. I also have hide, and quick step.”

  “You’re more of a utilitarian class,” Joel said with a nod. “How does hide or quick step work?”

  Before everyone’s eyes, she seemed to just… vanish. It was only for a moment. Before she was suddenly back. Enough to break the line of sight if you were trying to watch her.

  “I didn’t even hear you activate it,” Joel said with a shake of his head.

  “I think that’s part of it,” Amanda agreed and then nodded. “Yeah, quick step gives me a temporary speed buff. If I combine the two, it’s enough to make people lose track of me while I run away. Not great in a fight⁠—”

  “Wrong,” the wraith grunted.

  Amanda frowned and looked over. “It’s⁠—”

  “More complicated than my blink ability,” the wraith stated. “But you can achieve the same thing. Breaking sight lines and rushing around to stab someone in the back. Incredibly useful techniques. Do not disparage yourself. You are far deadlier than you realize.”

  Amanda stood there for a few moments before nodding. “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome,” the wraith said with a stately nod of her head. “I would be happy to help train you. Some of my techniques will be beneficial to you.”

  Amanda glanced at me, and I shrugged lightly. “Okay,” she said and smiled. “I think I’d like that.”

  “Got that Jennifer Hills vibe,” Jess whispered.

  Joel frowned before remembering the movie character. “Would that be in poor taste, do you think?”

  “Call her Jenny,” Jess suggested.

  “Jenny?” the wraith looked over. “Who is this Jenny?”

  “A woman who killed a bunch of men who wronged her terribly,” Jess smirked.

  The wraith nodded. “Jenny… My lord?”

  Joel shrugged. “If you want to be called Jenny, I don’t mind.”

  “Then I shall be called Jenny.” Her grin was wide. For those who didn’t know her, it looked almost predatory.

  Chapter Two

  “Hold up,” Joel cautioned in an attempt to slow them down.

  Ahead was the street where Mitch had started his little town. Only it didn’t look quite as welcoming as before. There were heads mounted on sticks. Not human ones, at least. But it still gave the impression that this wasn’t somewhere welcoming of strangers.

  “My lord, do you wish me to scout ahead?” Jenny asked.

  “Do they really not call you by your name?” Amanda asked.

  “Not even when I asked them to,” Joel said with a sigh. “It’s okay though.”

  “Sometimes I like to call him master,” Luneira joked.

  That earned her a scowl, and she gave a small pout, but dropped it.

  “Anyway,” Joel said and cleared his throat.

  They were still far enough away that he was confident they hadn’t been seen yet. The street they’d come down had plenty of trees for cover, as did the houses along the road. Currently, the four of them were crouched down in the front yard, where a metal fence joined with a row of broken bushes.

  “I don’t think we want to come back this way anytime soon,” Joel continued. “But I don’t think I want to just ignore them, either.”

  “They may be weak after the attack,” Jenny pointed out. “They might be vulnerable.”

  “I’m not about to kill them out of hand,” Joel disagreed immediately. “Mitch is a bastard, and I’d gladly kick his fucking teeth in. But there’d be an awful lot of random people living in there who are just trying to live their lives.”

  “I’m glad you’re trying not to be a monster about this,” Amanda said and touched his arm. “But that’s hardly the point if they’re sending people to kill us.”

  Joel nodded. “You’re right. It’s… I dunno. Is it justifiable to be the bad guy, just because Mitch is? I just feel like if I have to reduce myself to his level to deal with him, I may as well have let him win, y’know?”

  “I get that,” Amanda agreed with a nod.

  “The strong should rule the weak,” Luneira stated implicitly.

  “As we should know,” Jenny nudged the night hag. “He bested the both of us, remember?”

  “In more ways than one,” Luneira said and her grin was salacious.

  “Alright, you two.” Joel shook his head. “We were just out for a quick scout. I’d have liked to go over and talk to them on the gate, but they shot at us last time just because Luneira was with us.”

  Joel recalled it all. They were scared and acted dumb. He had to put a few people in their place. That would probably lead to bloodshed now. Those who stuck around to fight probably got some levels or equipment like he and the rest of his team did. In fact, he’d gained a total of three perks. None of which he’d used yet. Instead, he’d held off, hoping to figure out what came next. And if he had some serious boons, that meant Mitch and his people likely did as well.

  Joel remembered that day, when he felt that suffocating feeling out in the street. He wasn’t sure if that was a skill of Mitch’s or a warning of Luneira’s attack. If his faith wasn’t as high as it was, Joel would have assumed it was the former. Morpheus wasn’t willing to help in the matter either, remaining silent to the questions he’d posed regarding the topic.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Joel grumbled and pulled back out of sight once more.

  Luneira, Jenny and Amanda followed along behind him. Joel and Amanda knew the area fairly well and cut through an abandoned home, before scaling a fence to end up in the unit complex Joel had taken over. From there, it was a short walk back to the street where they had started.

  Things at home were different now. With water tanks on the upper floors of the unit complex, life had improved for them all. Hot water was still a luxury reserved for a quiet bath. But running water in general was now possible. Squishy the nraab was growing into the pool. He’d more than doubled in size, making a few people nervous when they found out about him.

  Ever the little squish though, he was only ever interested in grabbing a treat or two leftover from dinner, and getting some scritches on the top of his shell. Like Buster, under the demonic visage, he was a little cutie.

  With Squishy filtering the water in the pool, it gave them a constant supply of fresh water. That water was periodically pumped up into the tanks mounted upstairs in the units behind Joel’s home. Those tanks were connected to the gutters to collect rainwater as well, but it had yet to rain. Joel had organized a system where everyone would take turns pumping. People like Helen and the kids weren’t required to put in any effort. But Joel kept things fair by placing higher priority on people with higher strength stats. Which put him firmly at the top of the list for pumping duties.

  It wasn’t particularly hard work. Just long and laborious, having to pump so much water up to a second story building. The water used throughout the day was collected if possible and returned to Squishy’s pool overnight. Which was probably the reason he was growing so well. It seemed that he was able to quickly and easily filter out any contaminants, from dirt to soap and even harsh chemicals. It just took some time.

  The water situation wasn’t the only thing that changed. The farms had as well. After pulling down the fences between all the homes, there were decent, if spread out, sections of land. With Emily as the farmer and Peter as a butcher, they worked in an odd but efficient manner. Mostly due to Emily’s buffs and Peter’s reluctance to explore his class better. The man was a recent convert to veganism when Morpheus struck—leaving him in the lurch, trapped between his newfound ideology and sheer survival.