After rolling over in bed and finding no body to run into, I sat up and looked around. Not only was the bed empty, but Nate didn’t happen to be sitting in a chair staring at me.
“Holy crap, I must have entered the Twilight Zone,” I said as I climbed out of bed. Since I was alone, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get my shower. I grabbed my knives, some underwear, my usual jeans and my An apple a day will keep anyone away, if you throw it hard enough t-shirt and headed to the bathroom.
Nate had apparently already used the shower, because my shampoo was in place and there was water everywhere. He could be messy when he put his mind to it, but usually was good about cleaning up after himself.
I made quick work of scrubbing the dirt and grime away. I couldn’t express how much better I felt once the swamp was finally washed away. I strapped on my knives and put on my clothes. After a quick brush of my hair, I was ready for the day.
I proceeded downstairs to see what my missing fiancé was up to. I figured he was busy plotting against me, so the less time he had, the better. From the living area I heard him speaking.
“I know. I’m just worried that she won’t like the idea of sitting on the sideline,” he said. “She isn’t one to put others in a position that she wouldn’t do herself.”
“But wouldn’t she be safest there?” Elan asked. “We must keep her safe at all costs. That’s what I’ve repeatedly heard the past day and now that I’m with your group, I want to do my best to see that she stays in one piece.”
“Since she’s listening to us now, she may want to voice her own opinion on the matter,” Nate replied. “Come here, honey, and listen to Elan’s latest idea.”
“Good morning, guys,” I said as I entered the room. “So far, I have to say I’m not liking the plan. If it involves me having a layer of bubble wrap taped around me, you better come up with a different idea.”
“Give me a chance to explain,” Elan said. “At the start of the battle, I think I should pretend to be you. That way, away from the fight you can see if any of your powers will work without having to take on fire during the process. If nothing else, once you determine that, there will be two of us on the battlefield and the warlocks will be confused as to which one is the real you. I’ve seen you use your fire abilities, so I should be able to replicate them during the fight.”
I took a seat next to Nate and thought over his plan. It had its merits. I wasn’t sure if anyone could handle two of me, in fact I was pretty sure Rick’s head would explode.
“So you aren’t really asking me to not fight, just hang back and test the waters. I might be okay with that, especially since two of me is bound to be better than just one. Since I’m supposed to be their main focus, any confusion in that matter would help, but why stop at just two? Can you create an illusion of a bunch of me?”
“Now you’re thinking,” Elan replied. “The more of you there are, the more they’ll be distracted. Much easier for the rest of the guys to cut off their heads.”
“So you’re good with this idea?” Nate asked. I felt the doubt behind his words, and I didn’t blame him.
I hated undercover investigating, where I had to pretend I was someone else. When it came to combat, I lived to prove I could hold my own against an opponent.
“I think so. I’d rather be there at first, and I’m not sure there’s enough logic for me not to be, because I can find out whether my powers work almost instantly, but I’m willing to give Elan’s plan a try. I think it’s important to Elan that we trust him, and I want to be able to say I’m worthy of the trust he puts into us.”
“You don’t know how much that means to me, my queen.” Elation flooded Elan’s face. The phrase toothy grin had never been as true as it was on the big man’s face.
“You really need to can the queen stuff. I’m Avery to my friends and that filthy hen to those who are not. Feel free to call me Avery.”
“Thank you, Avery, for giving me this opportunity to prove myself to you. I promise not to let you down,” he said, keeping the smile glued to his face.
“I’ll hold you to that. Now I need to get some food in me, so we can discuss what we’re going to do today without my stomach doing the talking for me.” I gave Nate a quick kiss, and then navigated to the kitchen.
There I found the berserkers at it again, with thankfully different results.
“Morning, dollface,” Kyle said when he saw me enter. “We figured Vinnie makes you pancakes all the time, so it can’t be all that hard. He may have that computer brain of his, but that shouldn’t mean he’s necessarily an expert chef.”
I had to disagree with him, but I didn’t say anything. Vinnie had access to professional chef’s recipes and how-tos. I wouldn’t ever admit it, but he was probably better around the kitchen than I was.
“We’ve been keeping everyone else away until you got a chance to try them,” Liam added, handing me a plate. Oh no, I wasn’t sure I liked being their pancake guinea pig. Rick wasn’t close by to serve as taste tester.
“I’m surprised you were able to keep hungry wolves out of here. Have you guys tried them yet?” I asked, trying not to be too obvious about the fact that I wouldn’t take a bite until someone else did.
“Of course we have. We wouldn’t try to give you something that we didn’t verify was edible first. We’re new in the kitchen, so we’re well aware there may be issues,” Kyle replied. “If you put enough syrup on them, you won’t even notice we added a little bit too much salt.”
“That isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but here goes nothing,” I said as I slathered on enough butter to grease a stuck pig, and then poured double the pancake syrup I usually did on top.
I took a small bite and could still taste the extra salt, but they were right that the syrup cut it down some. “They aren’t horrible. If you hadn’t warned me about the salt, I may be choking right now, but I think I’ll be able to eat a couple.”
“Good enough for us. We’ll watch the salt next time. Our problem was we each didn’t think the other had added it, so we both did, and then I think we both forgot that we added it, so we added more,” Liam explained.
“Maybe next time you should try something like French toast. That way you don’t even have to worry about the salt level,” I suggested.
“Good idea, pancakes are kind of Vinnie’s thing anyway. We didn’t have any other ideas, but we’ll work to expand our recipe box,” Liam said. “So, are you all ready for today?”
“Sure, have you heard Elan’s latest idea?”
“The one where he pretends to be you?” Kyle asked. “Yup, we’ve heard it. You sure you can trust him after we found out he was working with the warlocks? Nate told us what you had to say about it, but he was kind of working with the enemy.”
“I have no doubt in my mind. He’s on our side now, and he’ll be treated as one of our family,” I lectured them in case they had any of their own doubts.
I knew it was hard to reassure everyone before they got a chance to see him in combat. Actions spoke louder than words, and Elan would get his moment to prove he wanted to join with the winning side.
“No problem, your highness. We just wanted to see where you stood on the matter,” Liam said. “I actually like the idea of there being two of you. It kind of makes me wish you had a sister.”
“Then you’re going to love the fact that we’ve added on to that and will now create the illusion of even more. They won’t know where to turn, and while they’re trying to figure it out, we can go around and chop off their heads,” I explained. I finished up my pancakes and realized there were a lot of parts to the plan I wasn’t sure about yet.
“Hey guys, pancakes are ready, come and get them,” Liam shouted. The guys come pouring in and I moved out of the way, so they could get their breakfast. “I’m not so sure about the more than two of you idea. I understand the confusion, but for what we’re wanting to do, wouldn’t it be better if they weren’t alerted that they needed to search for the real you??
??
He had a point, and I assumed everyone else heard it as they streamed into the kitchen. “Maybe we’ll have to save that idea for later,” I admitted.
I hadn’t seen Vinnie yet, which was a little unusual, so rather than watch everyone else stuff their face, I wandered around until I found him in an empty bedroom. He shook his head and I could tell he was just finishing his daily download.
“Good morning, Vinnie. Anything good out there on the Internet?” I asked.
“Nothing great. I’ve been trying to do scans to find communications between the warlocks and so far I’ve found a couple encrypted messages that look promising, but I’m still working on the encryptions. After the last warlock we dealt with, I’m surprised they found someone smart enough to come up with a code I couldn’t immediately hack.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ve been known to crack a few encryptions in my day, so if you want an assist, let me know. I’m sure you’ll probably have it figured out before you could even transfer the code somewhere I could get to it, though. So, where do you fit into today’s plan?”
“I’m with you at the beginning. Rick’s not too happy with Elan’s idea, because he has to be separated from you. The robot missing from the party won’t be as big of a giveaway as the protector,” he explained.
“I had assumed I’d be by myself. I’m surprised they’re giving me any kind of bodyguard. It’s a better show if everyone they’re expecting is right in front of them.”
“What planet are you living on?” he asked. “None of those guys, myself included, would leave you alone with the warlocks around. It was suggested that half the wolves stick by your side, but the warlocks already know the number of local wolves. They’d figure things out pretty quickly if any of them were missing.”
“I was across the street for a while by myself when I went to sleep last night,” I pointed out to him.
“Yeah, you along with five wolves camped out around the house. They followed behind right after you and Elan made it into the house. You may not have had anyone else in the house with you, but you were adequately protected.”
It really shouldn’t have surprised me. The only thing that was a little shocking was that Rick hadn’t been perched outside my window until Nate joined me.
“Well, I guess it’s nice to know they care. Have you heard what the plans are for the hours leading up to the big battle?”
“Joseph was hoping the local wolves could get a couple training sessions in real quick. They can fight, but aren’t properly trained for what they’re going to face today.”
“Do I get to help with the training?” I asked.
It would be a nice warm-up for later and I always had extra energy to burn. I could use the opportunity prove to the new fighters that I knew what I was doing. I didn’t want any of them jumping in my way and getting themselves hurt.
“It’s my understanding that you’ll be leading it. You fought a warlock by yourself just a week ago, so everyone agreed you were the best person to train the newbies,” he answered.
“Oh goodie. I’ll have them puking up their breakfasts in no time,” I said, jumping up and rubbing my hands together. I already had plans for the torture to come. “I’m going to go change into something more suited for working out.”
“I’ll meet you in the gym soon,” he replied. “I always love watching you beat up on the little boys.”
“One of these times you’re going to have to join us. I know you’re afraid that you might hurt us with your metal fists, but you have to realize by now we’re made of stuff just a little stronger than the average human.”
“That day is coming very soon. I think I’ll take on one of the guys before I graduate to your level though. You can be scary when you fight,” he said.
“Who me?” I said in my innocent voice before breaking out laughing. I headed back to my bedroom and threw on my sweats and the top I wore to bed the night before. I was going to have to take another shower anyway after the workout, so I didn’t really care if they were clean. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail, and then skipped back downstairs.