[Come find me.]

My eyes snapped open. Instantly, I was alert and awake without the faintest bit of morning grogginess. The teal System message hovered in front of my face. It didn’t make a sound when it appeared, but it still had woken me up, like I had been shocked.

The original message disappeared, replaced with a new one. [Hurry.]

I sat up and quietly changed from my PJs into my under armour suit. I didn’t know what was going on, but if the System was acting like this, something was going to happen. It was better to be prepared. Silently, I opened the tan curtain and peeked out.

Kesstel was sleeping on the fold-down table bed, his large frame squished into the small space. His face was angled away from me, giving me a good look at his messy hair in the pale pre-dawn light streaking through the open air vent over the stove. His blue blanket was bunched around the waistband of his PJ pants, revealing his bare back, gently rising and falling.

I froze, unable to take my eyes off him. The longer I stared, the hotter my face got. Just when I was about to go up in flames, I bit my lips and looked away.

Quietly, I opened the front door and fled into the chilly, dry air. I managed to shut the door without making any noise. I breathed out a sigh and hurried across the top of the school building to the edge of Kesstel’s barrier. Once I was far enough away to make sure I didn’t wake him up as I moved, I put on my armor.

Just as I was done tying my hair up in a ponytail, the sound of voices drifted through the air toward me. I paused, recognizing those voices. I hurried through Kesstel’s barrier, feeling the now-familiar shiver going up my spine, and crouched down at the edge of the school building.

Below, four very familiar Hunters in full armor were jogging down the dark street right in front of the school.

“Look, Blake,” Mark said, a half a step behind the other man. “I know what the Pres said, but do you really think this is a good idea? Last time we went into that Portal, we got our asses handed to us.”

Instantly my attention was piqued.

Blake scoffed at him. “Don’t be a dumbass. We made it out just fine.” He kept going with his head high.

“Has anyone else wondered where all the monsters are?” Penny, jogging in the front of all three men, commented. Her words were completely ignored by the men.

Mark snorted. “A third of our party dying doesn’t count as fine, Blake.” He hopped over a pitch-black crevice that broke the sidewalk in two. As he did, he passed in front of me so I could only see his back now.

The nameless fourth man nearly jumped out of his skin. He stumbled a bit as he landed when he jumped over the crevice. “We — we aren’t actually going in though, right? We’re just supposed to find it? That’s what President Price said.”

Blake didn’t answer either man. Instead, his head angled towards Penny. “You’re going the right direction, right?”

She bobbed without looking back. “Yeah, boss. It’s that way.” She pointed southwest.

“How much farther?” he demanded and ran right over top of a broken down, rusty suburban.

She shook her head. “I can’t tell. I just know the matching energy to the sword is this way.” I could barely hear what she said, she was getting so far away. She jumped on top of a light post and peered down the road. “It could be miles, boss.”

Mark said something, but distance jumbled the words together.

My eyes narrowed. So Penny had lied last night when she said she couldn’t track the sword. President Price wasn’t with them, lying to cover their asses, I bet. Then again, I bet it was President Price that instigated the whole thing. Just how far would that man go for glory?

Well, since they were going to be nice enough to show me the way to the Portal, I might as well take them up on the offer. I stood up and started to activate Stealth.

Someone appeared behind me. My kindjal was in my hand and I twisted to attack.

Kesstel grabbed my right wrist and crossed my arm over my stomach, hugging my body into his, as his other hand covered my eyes.

I froze, shocked. “What are you doing?”

“It’s not polite to sneak off,” he said low in my ear. “I might get frustrated if that becomes a habit.”

I wiggled around, completely aware that his chest was bare behind me, but he didn’t let me go. Finally I grabbed his hand with my free left hand and pulled it off my face. As soon as I could see, I stopped struggling. He, in turn, rested his hand on my shoulder. Even though I was restricted, he wasn’t hurting me and I was actually quite comfortable.

“There are things I have to do.” I glared up at him.

He hummed and rested his chin on the top of my head. “I see. So we finally get to go close the Portal? I was starting to get bored.” I didn’t have to see him to know he was staring in the direction of Blake and his team as they got farther away.

I paused, not sure how to proceed. I already knew that the System didn’t like him. How would it react if I brought him along? When it came to fighting the Orcs in the Portal, he’d make things a million times easier. But that was only if the System didn’t freak out because of him.

System, can I bring him? I asked in my mind. I grabbed his hand on my shoulder and turned it over. Carefully I set the kindjal in his hand. The instant it touched his skin, the kindjal disappeared back into the Items Bag.

I frowned, knowing that it was the System’s answer. It didn’t want him near it. I turned my head, watching as a group of dog-like monsters attacked Blake and his team. They must be far enough away that Kesstel’s presence didn’t scare off the monsters now.

“This Portal is special,” I said slowly. “And I need to go by myself.”

“I see,” he said again. “I take it this Portal has something to do with the Warriors of Mist?”

I nodded.

His free hand crossed over and rested on my shoulder again, caging me in all the more. “I don’t like the idea of you going into a Portal without me. There are too many things that can go wrong. The reason I can move from Portal to Portal without problems is because I have an energy crystal. You don’t have one. In fact, I’ve never seen you even touch one. Who knows what will happen if you go inside.”

I looked up at him and smiled. “I’ve been in that Portal before. I have an idea what’s going to happen.” Okay, I had no idea what was going to happen when I found the Portal. My only experience became a mental scar that still hadn’t completely healed. And probably never would. But for Kesstel’s peace of mind, I didn’t mind stretching the truth.

He hummed again, obviously not reassured. “There’s also the time difference, and if the Portal closes while you’re in it. Hell, Earth might not even exist anymore by the time you could come back.”

A jolt of alarm went down my back. I watched Blake and his team finish off the last of the monsters, leaving a pile of carcasses behind them. For a second, I hesitated. Everything that Kesstel said was true, but it didn’t change the fact that I had to go.

I gripped his hand on my shoulder. “I gotta go. I’ll see you tonight.” I smiled at him, lifted onto my toes and brushed my lips across his cheek.

He froze and looked down at me, his wide eyes a deep, deep blue.

I froze, just as shocked. I hadn’t even thought about it before I kissed him. It felt like a natural impulse. I just … did it. It wasn’t even the first time I kissed a boy. But it felt so much more important because it was Kesstel. A humiliatingly hot blush seared my whole face red. Horrified, I looked down, wishing my hair was loose so it could hide my burning ears.

“I … I gotta go.” Unable to take it anymore, I activated Stealth. He still knew where I was, but at least he couldn’t see me anymore. Right? … Right?

“Okay. See you tonight.” Kesstel took a second to squeeze me before he opened his arms and let me go.

I bolted and jumped right off the side of the school. I landed on the top of a light post then activated Feather Step and sprinted after Blake’s team. After a couple blocks, I was able to banish thoughts of Kesstel to the back of my mind enough that I could focus on trailing after the other Hunters.

Kesstel and I had set up camp a mile from the other Hunters, and Blake’s aggressive pace just took us farther and farther from them. All too soon, the sun arched into the sky, chasing away the slight desert night chill and replacing it with dry heat. I followed them South, around buildings, down streets and through a dozen monster battles.

I wasn’t just idle while they were fighting, either. I was pitted against my own fair share of monsters along the way. I stayed two blocks away from them, and maintained Stealth the whole time. I thought that Penny noticed me once or twice, but in the end, they didn’t seem to know I was there. Which was exactly what I wanted to have happen.

Mark hacked a huge flying bug monster with thin wings and baseball sized eyes in half. “I think we’re in Redding territory now.” He flicked the black blood off his great sword and looked at the leaning street light.

Blake grunted. “What does it matter? As long as we find the Portal, it could be in China for all I care.” A water bottle appeared in his hand. He tipped his head and guzzled it down.

Two blocks away, but still within line of sight of them, I bent down and picked up the Drop orbs the bug monsters I just killed had left behind. Breathing heavily, I leaned against the remains of a dark tan brick wall that used to surround a trailer park and chugged my own water down. We’d run six miles already, fighting monsters the whole way, and it was barely noon. Didn’t they need to eat too? I hadn’t had breakfast, and my empty stomach was cramping up.

The fourth guy in their group took off his helmet and wiped his brow then looked up at a sign to their right. “Las Vegas RV Resort? That’s a thing? How can an RV place be a resort?” He looked across the large stretch of broken pavement and random dead trees. Several trashed RVs dotted the parking pad. One was even flipped on its side, the windows and door broken. “Doesn’t look like a resort.”

Mark snorted. “Well, what did you expect? None of this looks like what it used to. Besides, they could call whatever they wanted. If they wanted to call it a resort, they could call it a resort.”

Penny tossed her long hair over her shoulder and motioned down the street. “There’s a pool. Well, used to be a pool.”

Mark laughed. “See? There you have it. There’s a pool. It’s a resort.”

Blake walked over and thumped Mark on the shoulder. “Knock it off.” He grabbed Penny’s arm and dragged the young woman closer. “We’ve been running for miles in ninety-degree weather. And all you keep saying is ‘this way, this way.’ How much longer until we’re there?”

“Calm down, Blake,” Mark reached out to pull Blake off her. “You know it's not like GPS.”

Penny didn’t even flinch. She just pointed at a tall building on the other side of the RV Resort. “There. The trail ends there.”

*****