His heart skipped a beat.

Images of Frank’s mauled face and the knot at the base of his dick burned behind John’s eyes as mixed screams of fear and pleasure rang in his ears, making him shudder. “Not… that I know of,” he hedged. “Not fully, at least.”

Emily’s close proximity made him nervous, but now she was near enough that he was able to spot pale scars that covered her face and chest, barely distinguishable against her alabaster skin. Her breath washed over his chest as she looked over his body, the hood hiding her face again. “Have you shifted partially, maybe?”

That question ripped his eyes away from examining her freckled cleavage, and the witch, hearing his sharp intake of breath, stepped back again. The glow behind her eyes was dimmer now. “Yes.” He clutched his hands at his sides, determined not to let the fear make him lose control. “Twice, I think.”

“Twice?” The herbalist looked him over, pulling a small leatherbound journal and feather pen from a hidden pocket in her dress. “I guess that’s why you need the herbs,” she mumbled to herself, turning her back to him and writing in the notebook. “How’d you learn about it, by the way?”

John was wary again, unsure how much he could or should share after the stern warning from Dakota. The huntmaster’s face flashed into his mind and a shiver ran down the new lycan’s spine. His voice shook a little and he cleared his throat to answer, “I was given a little. They said it would help.”

Her hand paused, holding the tip of the pen to the paper in her journal as Emily eyed him warily, her voice soft and unsure. “They gave you poison and sent you on your way?”

“They tried to make me stay,” he half growled in response, already defensive of the pack he could have been a member of, with Tala at his side. “I honestly didn’t believe them. That I was one of them, I mean. That’s not something you just find out.” He sighed, exasperated, and ran his hands through his messy hair.

“Find out?” The herbalist’s right eyebrow raised in a perfect arch over her emerald eye. “What do you mean, ‘find out’?”

John realized he’d said too much and clamped his jaw with an audible snap.

She watched him. Waiting for his stance to relax, but it didn’t. After a moment, she sighed. “Okay. Let’s start with easier stuff, maybe. My name is Emily, what’s yours?”

“John.”

Her eyebrow raised and the gamer couldn’t tell if it was doubt or curiosity. “Alright, ‘John’,” she emphasized his name. ’It was doubt,’ he nodded to himself.

“No, honestly. My name is John. John Newman.”

Emily snorted. “Really? It sounds like a bad porno name.”

He chuckled, thinking about his own name in that light for the first time. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

Emily giggled for a moment before collecting herself with a shake of her head, a half chuckle in her voice. “So, what was that spell you cast when you came in?”

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, but he remembered the note on his Observe. “You can detect magic?” His voice wavered slightly, breaking on the last word.

“Yeah.” Emily’s answering smile was impish and she paused a moment before continuing, a faint flush coloring her pale cheeks. “Only in my shop, though. And only if you cast a spell.” A glimmer of light sparked in her eyes for just a second before she continued. “Which brings us back to what spell you cast?”

Biting his lip, John debated his options. ’I need her help, but what all can I comfortably tell her? Does she even know anything that I don’t?’

“You cast it again on Felix, didn’t you?” She tilted her head curiously as she asked.

“Yeah,” he sighed, giving in. He needed someone to talk to and Emily didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt him. ’As long as I don’t tell her anything about the pack, I’m not breaking any rules.’ “I did.” He took a deep breath to steel himself before launching into it. “It’s called Observe and it tells me some information about whoever, or whatever, I cast it on.”

Her pen scratched furiously across the page, writing down everything he said, the green of her eyes alight with interest. “I’ve never heard of this scrying spell. What kind of information does it show you?”

“Well…” He pulled her Observe sheet back up and spent the next minute describing what little info he got.

“I don’t understand,” Emily kept her eyes on her paper, scanning the words she wrote. “You get it as a pop-up screen like on a computer?” Her penciled brows knit together in the middle. “What do you mean by ‘I have video game’ powers?”

John groaned internally. “I can’t explain it very well, I wish I could screen-share with you so you could see what I do.”

Ability Unlocked - Party
You can now invite other people to your Party, removing friendly fire and allowing you to share minor abilities between. This also gives you a Party inventory for shared items.
Cost: $5 for initial invite, no upkeep.
Current party limit: 3

’Well, that’s not obvious.’

You’re welcome.

“Er, thanks…” he mumbled aloud.

“What for?” Emily looked up from her journal.

John’s cheeks felt hot and he stammered again. “The, uh, goddess, I guess, that gave me my powers. She heard me complain. Gave me a Party system, I guess.” It was obvious by the blank look on her face that she had no idea what he was talking about and he grumbled under his breath. “Here, just… Invite Emily to Party.”

He could see the window appear before Emily’s eyes, the surprise making her drop her pen on the ground. He gave the window a closer look and had to repress a snort, chuckling to himself. ’Did she steal that screen from GoF or does it just look that way because it’s the one I’d expect?’

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s part of my power. That’s what I mean by pop-ups,” the gamer explained. “If you hit accept, I think I can show you what I saw when I used Observe on your cat.”

Hesitantly, she lifted her hand and tapped the ‘Accept’ button, making the window close automatically. Her name, health, and mana bar appeared above her head and John smiled. “So, Emily, see anything different?”

The witch blinked a few times, gathering herself, before she looked over at her customer and gasped. “What’s that above your head?”

“If you see the same thing I do, it’s my health and mana. I think that’s because we’re in a Party together.” He pulled back up the image of her Observe window and there was a new window that popped up in front of it.

Share with Party?
Yes No

He clicked yes and this time it was her notebook that fell. Her eyes wide and glowing again, she read through the window. “That’s a lot of information,” she mumbled.

“I’ll probably get more when it levels up,” he shrugged.

“John,” Emily bit her lip, closing the window and bending down to pick up her pen and journal. “Can I, please, bring you into my training room?” She stepped closer to him, the top of her hood barely reaching his chin.