Worlds Collide

Adrian nursed his coffee, letting the warmth soothe his nerves. It was Friday afternoon. That meant that, before long, all of his squires would be here, in one place, so that he could tell them that their lives were changing forever. He took another sip.

Rhys walked in to join Adrian in the kitchen. They had both arrived early at Christine’s apartment. “Nervous?” he asked.

“That obvious?” Adrian replied.

“Not really,” Rhys answered. “But I think I’m starting to get how to read you.”

“Damn,” Adrian said flatly. “Missed my chance to beat you at poker.”

“You could never have beaten me at poker,” Rhys laughed.

“When have you ever been in a casino?” Adrian asked incredulously.

“You don’t need a casino to play poker, grandpa. It’s called the internet.”

Adrian raised his eyebrows, conceding the point. “I guess we’ll have to see some time, once things settle down.”

“Yeah,” Rhys agreed. He looked around the kitchen. “Should we have put out snacks?”

“What?” Adrian asked.

“Well, we’re having people over. I don’t know. Some chips and dip or something?”

“I don’t think people are going to have much of an appetite once we get started,” Adrian told him.

“Guess you’re right,” Rhys said, rubbing his arm. “Doesn’t make much sense, does it? Maybe I’m a little nervous too.”

“I’m the one who has to explain to these people that their whole world is changing. What do you have to be nervous about?”

“Just meeting them, I guess. The other squires. Feels kind of like the first day of school.”

Rhys did seem worried, Adrian noticed. At a guess, he probably hadn’t had an easy time making friends growing up. Add in all the insecurities from his changes, and Adrian could understand where he was coming from.

“I’ve got something that will cheer us up,” Adrian told his friend. “The spirits clued me in on a little secret. Christine has a change she doesn’t know about yet.”

“Really?”

Adrian nodded. “They made her like to get compliments.”

“It’s a little out of character,” Rhys said, “but it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.”

“Any compliment,” Adrian added with a smile.

“Oh.” Rhys’s eyes widened as he smiled back. “This could be fun.”

“Come on, let’s try it out.”

Adrian walked out of the kitchen into Christine’s living room, where she was busy rearranging pillows on her couch. He nudged Rhys, who had followed him, with his elbow.

“Um, hey Christine,” Rhys said awkwardly.

“What’s up?” she asked without turning around.

“I uh…just wanted to tell you…um…your place looks nice?”

“Thanks,” Christine said. “Although Mary is the one who did most of the decorating.”

Adrian gave Rhys a look, rolling his eyes. Rhys just shrugged, so Adrian made a turning motion with his finger, telling him to try again.

“I…like your outfit,” Rhys began. “It doesn’t make you look stuffy at all.”

“That’s nice of you to say,” Christine replied, taking a break from fixing up the place to smooth over her sweater. “It’s hard to dress right in academia as a woman. Dress up too much and no one takes you seriously, but not enough and they look down on you for that too.”

Well, that had sucked the fun out of it, Adrian thought to himself. Rhys must have been thinking the same, because he wasn’t laughing. Now it was Adrian’s turn to shrug. This should have been a blast, poking fun at Christine’s uptight demeanor. Why was it so hard?

“Well, it makes you look nice,” Adrian finally said, defeated.

Christine had moved on to brushing invisible crumbs off the couch, but she paused for a second. “Oh…um…glad you think so.”

She sounded almost flustered. That, at last, got a chuckle out of Adrian. He turned, but Rhys didn’t look amused. If anything, he looked…scared.

“What’s the matter?” Adrian whispered.

Rhys shook his head.

Adrian’s mood soured. “Spirits again?”

Rhys didn’t say anything, but the look on his face was all the confirmation Adrian needed.

Rhys licked his lips, started to say something, but stopped, then started again. “I…um…I b-bet you…” Rhys blushed furiously as he **** the words out. “I bet you can fit a massive…cock…up inside your…fuck hole.”

Christine stood up, looking around the room for anything else she thought might need fixing up, and didn’t even blink. “I guess I’ve never thought about it, but it’s sweet that you think so.” She moved on to adjust a painting that couldn’t possibly have been askew.

Adrian, utterly shocked, stared at Rhys, who, for his part, stood with his eyes closed and shoulders pulled in, looking awful.

“What did you say to him?” Adrian thought to the spirits, furious.

“That is between him and us,” they answered unhelpfully. “We promised that we wouldn’t tell.”

“Bullshit,” Adrian thought back, but there was no reply.

“Come on, Rhys,” Adrian said, taking him by the arm. “Let’s leave Christine alone now.”

She spared them a glance as Adrian pulled Rhys back into the kitchen, but remained behind.

“I’m sorry,” Rhys said when they were out of earshot. “I didn’t want to.”

“I know,” Adrian said gently. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. You know that, right?”

Rhys’s eyes went wide. “Please don’t make me.”

Oh, shit, Adrian thought. Rhys looked like he had seen a ghost.

“I won’t,” Adrian said softly. “I just want you to know you can trust me.”

“I do,” Rhys said earnestly. “It’s just…personal.” He wouldn’t meet Adrian’s eyes.

Adrian did his best to keep his demeanor warm, for Rhys’s benefit, but inside, he was raging. The spirits had it out for Rhys, and he didn’t deserve it. So far as Adrian knew, they weren’t this cruel with any of the other squires. He would have to do something about it. Rhys deserved a break.

A knock sounded from the front door, and Adrian knew that his confrontation with the spirits would have to wait. Today, he had bigger fish to fry. He left Rhys in the kitchen with an apology and went back into the living room, where Christine stood in uncomfortable anticipation, clearly unsure of what to do with herself. Adrian opened up the front door to find Ivy standing on the other side.

“Hi!” she said, a grin eating up her entire face.

“Hey,” Adrian smiled back. “Come on in.”

Ivy was dressed in a frilly, sea foam green blouse and a pair of tight-fitting, dark blue jeans. Her eyes were shadowed with mascara and a faint blush of eye shadow, matching her top and bringing out her light blue eyes.

She hadn't worn a bra, Aidrian noticed with some surprise. The light material of her top rested softly over the modest swell of her breasts, and the faint outline of her nipples peeked through. The effect was enticing, and Adrian did his best not to stare, though he got the impression Ivy wouldn't have minded if he did.

She’d clearly put effort into her appearance. And why shouldn’t she? She thought this was a date. It left an acrid taste in Adrian’s mouth, killing the joy he’d initially felt upon seeing her. He didn’t like doing this.

Ivy glanced around the apartment. “Am I early?”

“No,” Adrian told her. “Right on time. You’re just the first to get here, other than us.”

“Sort of a weird energy in here for a party,” Ivy noted.

“It’s…more of a hangout,” Adrian said, rubbing the back of his neck. “This is Christine, by the way, the host. Christine, this is Ivy.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ivy said, holding out her hand.

“You too,” Christine said, though she didn’t take Ivy’s hand and was instead looking at Adrian. “Do you think we could talk real quick? Before everyone else gets here?”

“Sure, I guess,” Adrian answered, unsure of what Christine could want. “Ivy, the kitchen's right through there. Can you get yourself something to drink real fast? The guy in there is Rhys. He’ll get you situated.”

“Not a problem,” Ivy said, initially looking a little dejected, but smoothing it over to offer him a smile. “As long as you promise to come find me.”

“I will,” he promised.

Ivy turned around and gave him a little wave as she left.

“What’s this about, Christine?” Adrian asked.

She took a breath and idly tugged at a strand of her hair. “I’m sorry I’ve been a little distant the past few days,” she began.

“We could have used your help with the club. Things got a little dicey for a minute.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve…had a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?” Adrian prodded.

“Do you know what an existential threat is?” she asked in response.

“It’s something that’s a big problem, yeah?”

“It’s a threat not just to your safety, or even your life,” Christine told him seriously, “but to your being. Your very existence.”

“Araqiel,” Adrian intoned, understanding.

Christine nodded. “Her court is…changing me.” She held up a hand, forestalling Adrian’s comment. “I know you know that, but it isn’t just superficial. They’re changing the way my mind works.”

“We already brought it up,” Adrian said, thinking that Christine wanted him to ask Araqiel again if there was any way to stop the changes.

“I know,” she told him. “And I accept that we can’t do anything about it, at least not yet. But that’s not my point. I’m worried that if these changes keep stacking up, I’ll start to act in ways that…that aren’t me. That I won’t _be _me.”

Adrian winced, guilt biting him hard over how he and Rhys had played with exactly one such change not ten minutes ago.

“I want you to promise me,” Christine said soberly, “that you won’t…take advantage of me.”

Too late, Adrian thought bitterly. Although he had to admit to himself that it hadn’t been too bad, the comment the spirits had somehow **** Rhys to make aside.

“I promise,” he answered. “You can trust me on that.”

“I do,” Christine told him. “But should I? What if I only believe you because Araqiel is making me? What if I’m already too far gone to see the danger?”

She wasn’t that far off. The initial squire bond _had _made her more inclined to trust him. But the effect was relatively minor.

“If that were the case, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Adrian reassured her. “You were one of the first people I told about this whole thing because I trusted you. And I’d like to think that, since then, we’ve become friends. Whatever happens, I have your back.”

“I just want to make sure you have _my _back,” Christine pleaded. “Not…whoever I become.”

Her tone was morbid, and it chilled Adrian’s blood. “Don’t talk like that. We don’t know that it’ll get that bad.”

“I don’t need coddling, Adrian. I’m not Rhys. My eyes are wide open. Swear to me that you’ll do as I ask.”

“I swear it,” he told her earnestly.

She sighed. “Thanks. It’s good to get that off my chest.”

Christine’s doorbell rang, a high-pitched two-tone signaling the arrival of yet another squire. Adrian put his hand reassuringly on Christine’s shoulder. Did he imagine it, or did she lean in?

“I have to deal with the others. Are you going to be ok?”

Christine nodded. “If I’m not, I’ll suppose they’ll change that too.”

---

Rhys sulked in the kitchen, mortified at what he'd had to say to Christine earlier. He hadn't wanted to, but the spirits had threatened to tell Adrian about Rhys watching his porn movie. The very idea was awful. So Rhys had chosen the lesser evil.

Rhys's morose mood was cut short when the girl walked in to join him in the kitchen. He couldn’t help it. He froze. Rhys had never been good with women, but this was something more than that. She was adorable, short, with dainty features to match. Her slight, girlish build made her seem delicate, but her colorful makeup and sparkling blue eyes told a different story.

“Hey,” she said. “I’m Ivy.”

“Oh!” Rhys almost shouted, snapping out of it. “Ivy. Adrian’s mentioned you.”

“He has?” she said with a smile. “Good things, I hope.”

“Of course,” Rhys replied, trying not to stumble over his words. “You…go to Marlinth, right?”

“Mhm,” Ivy nodded.

“Me too! I’m doing robotics.” Rhys shrugged, aiming for nonchalant, but worrying he hit dorky instead.

“Oh cool! Do you ever make, like, those robots that fight each other?”

Ivy mimed a knife chop with her hand, and Rhys nearly fell in love right there.

“Um…no. The leagues are…it’s all very political. Who you know and all that.”

“That’s too bad,” she said. “Hey, I’m supposed to find a guy named Rhys. Adrian said he’d be around to help me get a drink. Know where he is?”

“That’s me,” he told her.

“Oh!” Ivy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Of course. Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. Must be a little scatterbrained from classes earlier.”

Rhys wanted to melt into the floor. She’d thought he was a girl. Crushing embarrassment and shame threatened to pulverize him into sludge. He knew he should say something, but the words wouldn’t come. He was stuck.

“So…about that drink?” Ivy asked with an apologetic smile.

She was sweet, too? Rhys wished desperately that he could have met her before all this had started, before he had become completely undateable instead of only mostly undateable.

“Yeah,” Rhys answered, forcing himself to move. He opened up the fridge. “Right in here. We have water, of course, orange juice, and a few cans of soda. I think those are Christine’s roommate’s, but I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Anything…harder?” Ivy asked.

“Um…” Rhys looked around, spying a bottle of wine unopened beside the stove. “Sure. Let’s crack this open.”

He rummaged around in the drawers until he found a corkscrew. He probably shouldn’t be offering up Christine’s wine like that, but he wanted to seem cool, and in college, that meant being liberal with ****, even if he’d never really liked to drink. Not that he’d been swimming in opportunities. Rhys wasn’t the kind of guy who got invited to parties.

He got the bottle open with a pop, then scrounged up a pair of wine glasses.

“Heavy pour,” Ivy noted. “My kind of man.”

Rhys winced, though thankfully, his back was to Ivy. The truth was that he had no idea how much wine to pour. At least she’d appreciated his mistake, and at least she’d called him a ‘man’.

He turned around and offered her one of the glasses.

“Cheers,” Ivy said, clinking against his, then taking a sip. Rhys followed suit. “So,” Ivy led in. “Christine. What’s her deal?”

“She’s at Marlinth, too, actually,” Rhys said after he swallowed his wine. “She’s a grad student. Anthropology.”

“Hm.” Ivy pursed her lips. “Her and Adrian?”

Rhys almost snorted. “Oh god, no. I don’t think Christine’s the kind of woman who’s ever felt…well, attraction,” he laughed.

“Stuffy academic type?”

“You have no idea.”

Ivy took a big sip, seeming pleased.

“So what are you studying?” Rhys asked. He knew it was a lame question, but he’d heard that if you wanted a girl to like you, you had to get her talking, and his brain was too much like soup to come up with anything more interesting.

“Communications,” she told him, holding up a hand. “I know, but I’m pre-law track.”

“Guess I know who to call if I get in trouble with the law,” Rhys laughed awkwardly.

“Not just yet,” Ivy shrugged. “But hopefully in a few years.”

“Well, yeah…I just meant, you know.” God, he was awful at this.

“I know what you meant,” she chuckled. Then, Ivy looked over her shoulder as the doorbell chimed. “Is this thing finally getting started? I didn’t want to be late, but it looks like maybe I could have taken a little longer getting ready.”

Be careful what you wish for, Rhys thought. These were Ivy’s last few minutes of blissful ignorance. He watched the door intently through the kitchen’s exit as Adrian strode over. He wondered who the next squire he’d get to meet would be.

---

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Lareina told the presumptuous ass who opened the door.

Adrian just raised his eyebrows. “Opal. Glad you could make it.”

“I didn’t ‘make it’. I’m here to tell you to fuck off. You don’t tell _me _when and where to be.”

He seemed infuriatingly calm in the face of her anger. Ignoring her comment, he said, “Come on in.”

Lareina was walking through the door before she could protest that she wasn’t staying. Well, fine. This would make it easier to have it out with him.

“That’s Christine,” Adrian said, pointing to a redhead sitting on the couch in cheap, frumpy clothing. Then he pointed to the next room over, where the faint sound of voices could be heard. “And in there are Rhys and Ivy.”

Lareina widened her eyes. What did he think he was going to get here? She didn’t do group stuff. Maybe he was the kind of weirdo who liked to watch. That would be just like him.

“You and your limp dick can get fucked,” she hissed. “I’m not doing shit for you or your friends. Lose. My. Number.”

Adrian sighed. “Christine, this is Opal.”

The redhead, Christine, was watching with a shell-shocked expression. “Um, hi.”

Lareina shot her a glare, which had the intended effect of stopping her from saying another word.

“Listen,” Adrian said. “Opal. Take a breath. You need to calm down.”

She returned her glare to its real target, Adrian. “Oh, do I _need _to? I don’t think I do.”

“You’re here already, aren't you? What’s the point in acting like this?”

“The point is that you need to get it through your thick head that you do not dictate my god damn schedule. And if you think that I would ever so much as touch you again, then you’re even more of a dumbass than I thought.”

That got Christine to raise an eyebrow and finally got a reaction out of Adrian. He hid it well, but Lareina could tell. He was embarrassed. Had he not told these people what she did? God, had he been planning on telling them she was his girlfriend? If that was the case, she was going to enjoy blowing up his spot. Fucking pathetic.

“Look,” Adrian told her, stepping in and lowering his voice. “I didn’t ask you here today for 'work'. Just…hang around, and you’ll see.”

“Jesus, do you think we’re friends or something?” She didn’t bother keeping her voice down. Let him be embarrassed by her.

“For God’s sake, will you just…” He took a deep breath. “Alright, message received. Now, are you going to go?”

She wanted to. She wanted to spit one last insult in his face and storm out, hopefully making a big enough scene that his friends would whisper behind his back for years to come. Maybe clarify he’d had to pay - a lot - to fuck her. Really drive the wedge in.

But for some reason, she couldn’t. When she tried to formulate the sentence, or to turn and go, it just…wouldn’t happen. The words slipped through her mind like grains of sand, and she couldn’t quite seem to get her feet moving.

“Ok then,” Adrian said. “So you’re staying.”

She fumbled through a few more tries at telling him to fuck off. In the end, she settled on, “What the hell is this anyway?”

“A hangout,” he told her.

“We,” she said, pointing between them, “do not ‘hang out’.”

“Try it and see how it feels,” he shrugged.

What a god damn asshole.

A loud knock on the door interrupted the conversation. That was a cop's knock if Lareina had ever heard one. Please God, she thought, let his sad little excuse for a party get broken up. It would be so funny. Of course, Lareina hadn’t taken any money from him, so she was in the clear.

Adrian stepped past her to see what the problem was.

---

“Hey there,” Amira said, once Adrian answered the door. “So this is the right place then?”

“This is it,” he said, smiling wearily. He stepped aside to let her into the reasonably spacious two-bedroom apartment. A bookish-looking redhead was seated on the couch in front of a turned-off TV, and a drop-dead gorgeous Latina woman in a designer blouse and skirt stood with her arms crossed a few feet into the entryway.

“Everybody,” Adrian said, “this is Amira.”

“Hi guys,” she waved. The redhead seemed cold, the Latina downright hostile. Amira’s wave faltered.

“Amira, this is Christine, and that’s Opal.”

“Nice to meet you,” Amira said weakly, giving Adrian a questioning look.

“I’ve got to deal with something in the kitchen real quick,” Adrian said, “but why don’t you talk to Opal for a minute? I’ll be right back.”

Adrian beat a hasty retreat to the next room over, leaving her alone with the pair of strangers. Great.

If Amira was honest, though, she wasn’t that upset to get a little bit of space. Her dream the night before was still on her mind. Not that Adrian would have any idea about that, of course, but she did, and it made her uncomfortable. She’d almost decided to bail on Adrian's invite, but she wasn’t sure when she was going to get a better chance to snoop around.

“So, Opal…how do you know Adrian?”

She waited for a beat. “Business associate.”

“Oh.” Was she involved with the club then? Interesting. “What kind of work are you in?”

“Jewelry.”

Like getting blood from a stone. Amira resisted the urge to frown. She had plenty of experience by now in asking questions of people who didn’t want to answer. The trick this time would be making it seem like she wasn’t conducting an interrogation.

Now, naturally, the next question was: what kind of business did Adrian have with a jeweler? Gemstones could be an easy way to traffic illicit funds, she supposed, but that seemed a little too ‘crime novel’ to be it.

“Adrian works with you on that?” Amira asked.

“No,” Opal said firmly. “No. It’s my business.”

“So what do you two work on together?” Amira asked, selling the casual nature of the question with a slight cock of her head.

“He provided a small investment. I’m still getting off the ground. But he’s not involved.”

If she was lying, she was doing it very smoothly. Amira spotted a pair of earrings glinting beneath Opal’s wavy hair. “Are those yours?”

Opal paused, then reached up to brush her hair away and lifted her earlobe, giving Amira a better look. “I made these about a month ago.”

Amira had to admit, they were stunning. Each was a thin gold hoop, about the diameter of her thumb. At the bottom, they swirled around in a helix, with tiny, glinting gemstones on each of the turns.

“Real gold?” Amira asked, half to continue her line of questioning, but half because, well, they were very nice earrings.

“Of course,” Opal said, just a hint of haughtiness in her tone. She seemed to chew on her words, but, evidently, decided to break from her previously taciturn manner. “I find gold much easier to work with than other metals. It’s very ductile, you know. So you don’t need as much equipment. It’s actually much harder to plate something in gold, even if the materials are cheaper.”

“Well, they look incredible,” Amira replied honestly.

“Thank you.” Opal gave a slight smile, reserved and elegant, but, Amira thought, sincere.

“How long did it take to make those?”

“These were pretty hard, to be honest. So, a while. Getting the helix at the bottom consistent was a real trick. Then setting the stones, since the metal there isn’t flat, was a pain.”

“Worth the work though,” Amira said, admiring them.

“I thought so.”

“Would it be rude to ask if you have any for sale?” It couldn’t hurt for Amira to get a better look at the venture of Adrian’s ‘business associate’. But also, Amira wouldn’t mind owning something like that.

“Not at all,” Opal laughed lightly, fully out of her shell. “I have a few pieces I think would look great with your complexion. They are a little pricey, though.”

Amira tried not to feel disappointed. “Ah, well, then maybe not. The city doesn’t exactly pay well.”

“What is it that you do?” Opal asked.

“I’m a cop,” Amira answered simply.

“I thought so,” Opal said wryly. “You have the knock.”

“Oh,” Amira replied. “Sorry. **** of habit, I guess.”

“You know, I went on a date with a cop once. He worked in VICE. Do you know anybody there?”

Amira shook her head. “Not really. I mostly just work my beat. What was his name?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Opal said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “He didn’t get a second date anyway.”

The icy atmosphere in the room had finally thawed, and Amira felt comfortable enough to go over to the couch and settle in. “Do you mind?” she asked the woman seated there. Christine, Adrian had called her.

“No, of course not.” Christine motioned for her to take a seat, and Amira did.

“What about you?” Amira asked. “What do you do?”

“I’m a grad student at the university. Anthropology. Specializing in Sumer.”

Opal joined them, taking a seat in a nearby chair so as not to overcrowd the couch. “Does that pay well?”

“Not even a little,” Christine said matter-of-factly.

“Nice apartment though,” Opal noted.

“The university subsidizes rent if you live near campus,” Christine explained. Otherwise, my roommate Mary and I could never afford the place.”

“How’d you meet Adrian?” Amira asked.

“Oh, um, he…was helping me with a project.”

Amira clued in on the lie immediately. It wasn’t hard. Christine was a terrible liar. Plus, her answer made no sense. Amira may not know Adrian particularly well, but she was pretty certain he had nothing to contribute to a project on the culture of an ancient civilization. Amira didn't want to press too hard, though. Christine might have only been lying because she and Adrian had met in some embarrassing way. Still, though, both of the other women had been rather tight-lipped about their connection to Adrian, and that was suspicious.

“We’ve both answered,” Opal chimed in. “Your turn.”

“How I met Adrian?” Amira asked, clarifying.

Opal nodded.

“I was working a case for him. Someone on the other side of a business deal seemed shady, so he came in to give a report.”

“And you two hit off?” Christine asked, trying to seem only vaguely interested. Amira made a note: the redhead was into him.

“I wouldn’t put it that strongly,” Amira answered, doing her best not to remember how it had felt in the dream when Adrian had cum on her face. “But yeah, I guess so.”

“He mentioned you really helped him out with the club,” Christine said.

How much did she know about that, Amira wondered? She might only mean arresting Rocco, but if she knew about what had happened the night before, then she was involved up to her elbows in whatever Adrian had going on.

“Just doing my job,” Amira smiled.

A timid rasping came from the front door.

Opal laughed. “Whoever that is is definitely not a cop.”

---

Adrian was all too happy to pawn Opal off on Amira. He could still feel her eyes glaring daggers into his back as he walked away. He found much more pleasant company in the kitchen.

“Who was that?” Ivy asked, contorting her face. Next to her, Rhys was craning his neck to get a look at the living room.

“Opal,” Adrian sighed. “She…wasn’t happy with the tone I used when I asked her over.”

“Dude,” Ivy said flatly. “That chick hates you. Why’d you even invite her?”

“I sort of have to include her in these things,” Adrian answered cryptically.

Rhys nodded. “Had to be done.”

Ivy clearly didn’t understand, but chose not to press the issue. “Well, I’m just glad you finally came in here to join the cool kids’ club.”

“I promised to come find you, didn’t I?” Adrian replied.

“Took you long enough, though,” Ivy smiled, sidling up next to him. Her arm came to rest against his as they both leaned against the counter.

“Duties of a host,” Adrian apologized.

“I thought Christine was the host?” Ivy asked.

“It’s her apartment,” Adrian clarified, “but I’m the one who invited everyone.”

“You know what would help?” Ivy grinned. “A glass of wine.”

Adrian thought about it. “Fuck it. Why not?”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Ivy laughed.

“Coming right up,” Rhys told him, fetching a third glass from Christine’s cabinets.

“Rhys and I were just commiserating over our shitty jobs,” Ivy said.

“I’ll cheers to that,” Adrian grumbled as Rhys handed him his glass. “To shitty jobs and the customers who make us work them.”

The three clinked glasses and drank. Adrian had no idea whether the wine was any good. He’d always preferred beer. He hoped they hadn’t opened up anything too expensive.

“Thankfully, we won’t be working them much longer,” Adrian added.

“What do you mean?” Ivy asked.

“Did Rhys not tell you?” Adrian raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, right!” Rhys interjected. “We bought a nightclub! Well, Adrian did. But I helped.”

Ivy gave them a skeptical look. “What? Really?”

“Mhm,” Adrian nodded. “Bought and paid for.”

“Holy shit!” Ivy laughed. “That’s amazing! Which club?”

“Gilt,” Adrian answered.

Ivy made a sucking sound through her teeth. “Oh…”

“Yeah,” Adrian said, taking another sip. “We know.”

“There’s, like, a moratorium on that place,” Ivy told him. “None of the girls will go there.”

“Understandable,” Rhys agreed.

“It’s a little…” Ivy trailed off.

“Rapey?” Rhys finished for her.

“I mean, I wasn’t going to say it,” Ivy laughed.

“The idea is to remodel,” Adrian conceded. “Hopefully, when we reopen, we can build up a better image. Make it, I don’t know, trendy?”

Ivy cackled.

“What?” Adrian asked.

“It’s just…I’m trying to picture you running a ‘trendy’ nightclub.”

Rhys joined in laughing, then, imitating Adrian’s voice, scowled and said, “Hey, we need more neon. The kids like neon.”

That got Ivy to burst out with another round of laughter, and Rhys smiled at her, proud.

“Do you even know anything about dance music?” Ivy teased.

“I…mostly listen to rock,” Adrian admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sounds like you might need some help then.” Ivy gave him a delicate grin, placing a hand on his arm.

“I definitely could,” Adrian told her. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Rhys frowning.

“Plus,” Ivy continued, “I could bring some of my sisters over for the big grand opening. Get a buzz going.”

“I’m not sure we’re going for a college bar vibe,” Adrian told her.

Ivy raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to turn down a bunch of hot sorority chicks. At your nightclub.”

Adrian snorted. “Guess I really do need help, huh?

A light rapping at the front door caught his attention. “That’ll be the last guest,” he breathed.

“Not many people,” Ivy noted.

“It’s meant to be a small gathering,” he said. “Now, duty calls.”

He extricated himself from Ivy, who had begun to lean against him, and braced himself. There was only one squire left, and he wasn’t sure how exactly this was going to go down.

---

Faith shuffled her weight between her feet uncomfortably while she waited in the hallway. Crushed by guilt and fear, she’d barely slept, and she had the bags under her eyes to prove it. Dennis had known something was wrong, but God bless him, had given her space. It only made her feel worse.

She had waffled back and forth on whether to show up. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear, hoping that all of this would just go away. In the end, though, she’d finally worked up the courage to leave her apartment. She needed to settle this before things got any worse.

Adrian opened the door, and Faith's heart stopped. Memories of what they’d done in her home flooded back to her. What she’d said. What she’d let him see. And worst of all, how much she’d liked it. She tried not to panic.

“Faith,” Adrian said calmly, hand on the door frame.

She screwed her face up. “What happened yesterday was a mistake!” The words came tumbling out, **** through her lips by power of will alone. Her instinct was to run away, but she made herself stand her ground.

Adrian looked behind himself, into the apartment, where Faith could hear the muted tones of conversation, then took a step out into the hallway and shut the door.

“I know,” he sighed.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done,” Faith admitted, close to crying. “And it won’t ever happen again.”

“I know,” Adrian repeated.

“The only reason I’m here is to ask you to leave me alone.”

“I know,” Adrian said gently, for the third time.

This wasn’t going how Faith had imagined it would. “Then why’d you invite me here?”

“Why don’t you come inside, and I can tell you?” he asked.

Trust. It was all about trust. First, she’d violated Dennis’s. Now, she’d lost the trust in herself that if she went into that apartment, she’d be able to control herself. And finally, this man, who had given her absolutely no reason to do so, wanted her to trust him.

Faith shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Adrian sighed. “Nothing like what happened yesterday is on the table. We aren’t even going to be alone. There’s five other people in there. Hell, one of them’s a cop.”

Faith felt like a cornered mouse. “Why?”

“It’ll all make sense,” he promised. “It may even make you feel better. What happened between us...it...wasn’t your fault.”

Faith wasn’t sure how that could possibly be the case. But could it hurt to hear him out? At the very least, she shouldn’t antagonize this man. She hadn’t decided yet whether or not to tell Dennis; it hurt too much to even think about it, but Faith was positive that if Adrian told him for her, it would end her marriage.

“Let’s go inside,” Adrian said. He tried to place a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, but Faith flinched back.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s…it’s all right,” she replied. She smoothed down her dress - a new one she’d bought, which, while still modest, did display some cleavage - and wiped at her eyes. “I’ll come in.”

“Good,” Adrian breathed, relieved. “This won’t take long.”

Faith’s anxiety pounded, but a small kernel of curiosity was beginning to take shape as well. What could this possibly be? As Adrian let her in and she stepped across the threshold, it occurred to her that as gentle as he’d been, he’d never actually apologized.

---

All six of Adrian’s squires had finally arrived. There was no putting it off any longer. This was happening.

“All right, everyone,” he called out, loud enough to be heard from the kitchen. “Gather round. We’re ready to get started.”

Faith shuffled nervously next to the TV while Rhys and Ivy joined them in the living room. Amira watched him with curiosity, Opal with contempt. At least she wasn’t yelling anymore.

“For those of you who haven’t met yet,” Adrian said, “this is Rhys and Ivy. Guys, this is Amira, Opal, and Faith.”

Introductions were made, but quickly. People wanted to know what was going on.

“Christine,” Adrian told her, “why don’t you let our guests have the couch?”

“Oh,” she replied. “Sure.”

Faith and Ivy sat down next to Amira, with Opal already seated off to the side, while Christine and Rhys took up positions standing behind the couch.

Adrian moved to rifle through a small bag of supplies he’d brought along from home and left in the corner of the room. Finding what he needed, he returned to in front of the couch. He knelt and set down a dinner plate to protect Christine’s carpeting. Then, he used a lighter to soften up the bottom of a candle before securing it onto the plate. While he got the candle lit, he spoke.

“There’s one more…person…who is going to be here today. When they get here, please, try not to talk.”

He had already secured permission from Araqiel for his squires not to kneel. It would be too difficult to get them to comply before they understood the situation. Araqiel had agreed, acknowledging that it was unusual, if not unprecedented, for squires to not know their station before being introduced to it. It had, however, stressed that this was a one-time exception.

“Is this some kind of Ouija board thing?” Ivy asked.

“Something like that,” Adrian dissembled.

“Cool,” she replied. “I love party games.”

“Aren’t we a little old for this?” Opal complained.

Adrian ignored her. He took a deep breath. The moment was upon them. Nothing would ever be the same for the seven people in that room. He spoke his master’s name three times, and Araqiel appeared.

Adrian felt the stunned silence at his back. Araqiel’s midnight markings on her too pale skin, and her inhuman red eyes with their millennia of knowledge, gave it a fearsome countenance. Thankfully, nobody screamed or fled. Idly, Adrian wondered if Araqiel had something to do with that, or if he had just gotten lucky.

“So these are them?” it asked.

“They are, my liege,” he confirmed.

Araqiel swept its gaze over the crowd. “Only one warrior among you,” it noted. “But I suppose you all have talents you could bring to bear. My knight could have been saddled with worse, all things considered.”

“Adrian…” Ivy spoke up. “What the fuck.”

“May I stand to address them?” he asked Araqiel.

It nodded in response.

Adrian stood up onto his feet and turned to face his squires, Araqiel looming over his shoulder. Ivy and Faith both looked terrified. Amira’s hovering hand could have been going for a gun. Opal’s face was completely blank. Even Christine and Rhys looked intimidated. Adrian had to remind himself that the pair had only met their patron once before.

“This all started a couple of weeks ago,” Adrian led in. “I was sick, and I wasn’t going to make it. It was…it was going to hurt. Without a cure, I started to look for…less conventional means of treating my illness. I found Araqiel.” He motioned behind him with his chin.

“In return for curing me,” Adrian continued, “I swore myself to Araqiel’s service as its knight. I did not realize, though, that the terms of that engagement would pull in other people from my life.”

“What are you saying?” Amira asked with a deep-set expression.

“I’m Araqiel’s knight,” Adrian explained. “And you are my squires. Together, the seven of us in this room are tasked with advancing Araqiel’s interests here on Earth.”

“Not a fucking chance,” Amira said darkly.

“What exactly does that mean?” Opal asked carefully, face still a mask.

Adrian stepped aside so that Araqiel could answer.

“I lead the third court of the House Lust,” it intoned. “There are certain states of affairs that we find pleasing in the mortal world. Ones that align with our values. As would follow naturally, there are also states of affairs we find displeasing. Your job is to foment the former and forestall the latter.

“Additionally, my court is home to many Spirits of the Script, who will, pursuant to my interests, arrange various trades with mortals that come with contractual obligations on our part. These spirits are mostly autonomous, but you may be called upon to see that such obligations are met.”

“What are you?” Amira asked.

“An archon of House Lust,” Araqiel replied. “Nothing more, and nothing less.”

“You’ve used a lot of words to say pretty much nothing,” Amira pressed.

Araqiel’s demeanor hardened. “I have countenanced these breaches of etiquette long enough. I will not be spoken to this way.”

Rhys set a cautionary hand on Amira’s shoulder, who looked up to him and, seeing the fear in his eyes, let the matter drop.

“I have fulfilled my purpose here,” Araqiel told Adrian. “You will handle the rest.”

He bowed deeply, its order needing no further input from him, and Araqiel vanished.

The room was stunned silent. At his feet, the candle dripped wax as the flame danced slowly. Then, almost everyone recovered all at once.

Opal was irate. Amira demanded answers. Ivy looked around the room with pleading eyes. Faith had pulled her legs up to her chest.

“Quite!” Adrian shouted. Regaining his composure, he leveled them with a stern look. “I know this is a lot to take in. I’m here to help. Christine and Rhys have known about this for a little while, and can help too.”

“Are you out of your god damn mind?” Opal shouted.

“Can we just-“

“I don’t give a shit about your cancer!” she yelled over him. “Drop dead for all I care.”

“I think we need-“

Opal stood up. “Whatever the fuck this is, I want nothing-“

“Shut up! And sit down.”

Opal's mouth immediately slammed shut, compelled by the power of her bond. Adrian took a deep breath, breathing out through his nose. That act of authority had regained him some standing, and the others were all looking at him expectantly.

“Let’s make one thing clear,” he told them. “This is not optional. None of us, not even me, can walk away from this.”

“So we’re trapped?” Ivy asked.

“That’s…not the word I would use,” Adrian answered. “But we are in this.”

“I still don’t understand what this even means,” Amira questioned.

“To be honest,” Adrian told her, “I’m still not clear on specifics myself. We haven’t been given any official tasks yet. Araqiel was out of commission for a while and is still working on rebuilding her influence. That’s what the nightclub is about. A sort of home base we can run operations out of.”

Amira shook her head. “I knew there was something up with that whole deal. Never would have guessed this.”

“There was also the thing in Scotland,” Rhys added.

Amira gave Adrian a questioning look.

“We had to get a cloak from Scotland," he told her. "It’s a knight thing. Anyway, there was some resistance.”

“So this is dangerous?” Ivy asked.

“I…it can be,” Adrian admitted. “But Christine, Rhys, and I were all fine.”

“It was pretty close,” Christine said.

He shot her a look. She was not helping.

“This is evil,” Faith whispered, speaking for the first time since he’d invited her in.

“It’s not that simple,” Adrian sighed.

“That creature was a demon,” Faith said, looking around. “We all saw it. And it serves one of the deadly sins. It said so itself.”

“There’s more to it,” Adrian told her. “That guy, what’s his name…”

“Dante,” Christine offered.

“Dante. He didn’t tell the full story. Araqiel’s House is all about passion. Excitement. Joy, even. Living life to the fullest. It isn’t just about sin.”

“Get thee behind me,” Faith spoke under her breath, crossing herself. From his brief time in her home, Adrian hadn’t picked up on her being especially religious, but he supposed that an experience like this could bring it out in anyone.

“There is one other thing,” Adrian said. “About this arrangement. Our bond with Araqiel has certain…implications. We’ve all been affected. Some of you might have noticed…changes. To your body or…your behaviors. Usually accompanied by whispers in the back of your mind.”

Ivy gasped, Faith’s mouth dropped open, and Amira, unexpectedly, blushed.

“That’s what…that…um, nevermind…” Ivy trailed off.

“We can’t do anything about them,” Adrian explained, “but they shouldn’t hurt us either. Some of them may be harder to deal with than others, but whatever happens, I think it's important that we can rely on each other.”

“Shouldn’t hurt us?” Faith asked, beginning to cry.

Adrian immediately regretted his choice of words. “Faith…”

But she was already standing up. “I can’t be here.”

Adrian turned, holding up a hand impotently, as she raced out of the apartment, sobbing. The door shut hard behind her. When Adrian turned back around, his other squires were all staring at him with questioning looks. He shook his head. He was not about to explain to them that he'd manipulated Faith into cheating on her husband.

“For what it's worth," he said, "I’m sorry. I didn’t know any of this would happen.”

“It’s true,” Christine offered. “The ritual he used was described in Sumerian. I’m the one who translated it. It didn’t say anything about any of this.”

At least not in the parts he’d bothered to let her finish translating, Adrian thought. Thankfully, she didn’t clarify that detail.

“So what now?” Amira asked.

“I don’t know,” Adrian answered honestly. “I guess…I’ll be in touch. If Araqiel has something for us to do, I’ll let you know. But we’re done here for today.”

As soon as he said it, Opal stood up and strode out the door. She didn’t say a word, even though Adrian was pretty sure that by dismissing her, he’d countermanded his previous order to stay silent. The door slammed behind her hard enough to rattle the television.

Ivy was the next to stand up. “I…I need to think about all this.”

She looked…sad. Adrian wished he had something he could tell her. “I understand.”

She hesitated, like there was something she wanted to say or do, but whatever it was, she decided against it. “Bye,” she said weakly. Unlike Opal, she shut the door gently.

“So what?” Amira asked. “We’re supposed to fight that thing’s enemies?” She looked around the room. “A grad student, a couple of kids, a housewife, and a rich spoiled brat?”

“We do have some advantages,” Adrian told her. “Being a knight comes with abilities. I’m told that as I grow more powerful, you guys will get some, too. So we won’t be toothless.”

Amira seemed skeptical. “What kind of abilities?”

That question caught Rhys’s attention, Adrian noticed. Christine looked thoughtful, too. He told them about how he could hold people in conversation, though he left out that he could sense arousal.

“Not going to help much in a fight,” Amira noted.

“Better for avoiding them,” Adrian admitted. “But Araqiel doesn’t seem to prefer direct confrontation, so hopefully we won’t be called on to fight all that often.”

Amira grew pensive, then opened her eyes in surprise. “My leg.”

“What about it?” Adrian asked.

“I hurt it,” she told him. “Years ago. But yesterday, I was able to run down that alley without a problem.” She looked up at him. “That’s because of this?”

Now that he thought about it, he had noticed her limping before. But not since yesterday.

“Stands to reason, though I can’t say for sure.”

Amira rested her chin on her hand, thoughtful. “Do we have to hurt people?”

“I asked the same thing,” he said. “I can only tell you what Araqiel told me. We don’t go after people who aren’t in the game.”

“Sebastian wasn’t involved with any of this,” Amira pointed out.

“He was a criminal,” Adrian said flatly. “You really think that’s a big exception?”

Amira shrugged, conceding the point. She stood up, then walked up close to Adrian and held out her hand. “I’m in.”

“What, just like that?” he asked incredulously.

“Just like that,” she told him.

Adrian wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He shook her hand. “Can I ask why?”

“The changes seem like a small price to pay to get my leg back,” she admitted. “Besides. You may be able to handle yourself, but somebody is going to have to look out for the others. How do you think it would have gone down if Faith had been there yesterday?”

A chilling thought. “I appreciate it,” he said sincerely.

Amira nodded. “Let me know if anything comes up. Christine, Rhys, it was nice to meet you.”

They said goodbye as well, and then they were alone. Just the original three.

“That could have gone worse,” Rhys said.

“Could have gone better,” Adrian grumbled, crashing down into the couch.

Rhys sat on the other side. “Not much better. I don’t know what you were expecting.”

“Yeah,” Adrian sighed. “To be honest, I was pretty worried. I guess this is good enough.”

“You’re going to have to work with the others, though,” Rhys told him.

“I know,” Adrian answered. “But for now, they need space to process.”

Christine sat down in the chair where Opal had been. “I don’t think you made it clear how much the transformations could affect them.”

“I didn’t want to scare them,” Adrian said defensively.

“If I’d known about this,” Rhys said meekly, motioning at his body, “when you’d told me, I never would have joined up. But then I’d have had to deal with it all on my own. I think you made the right call.”

“Thanks, Rhys.” It felt good to have his approval, even if he didn’t need it.

“They should be ready,” Christine insisted. “We don’t want them blindsided.”

“I’ll bring it up the next time I talk to them,” Adrian promised.

That seemed to mollify Christine, who nodded. She looked at a clock hanging on the wall. “Mary could be getting home soon.”

“We’ll get out of your hair,” Adrian grunted as he got up off the couch. Rhys stood to follow. Adrian was his ride. “Thanks for letting us do this here.”

Christine shrugged. “You were right. We wouldn’t have all fit in your apartment.”

“Can’t wait to get a bigger one,” Adrian mumbled. “It’s about time this deal started paying off.”

“Didn’t it save your life?” Christine asked.

“You know,” Adrian smirked, “other than that.”

He gathered his things and offered to hug Christine goodbye, but she blushed and declined. No skin off his back, she could be weird about that kind of stuff. With the hard part behind him, Adrian felt an immense weight lift off his shoulders. It was time to go home.