The Orc King’s blue glowing eyes popped into my mind. I froze, staring into Kesstel’s glowing diamond blue eyes. It wasn’t the first I’d seen his eyes glow, but nothing good ever happened when they did. Most of the time, it happened because he was angry. Right now, it felt like an instinctive response of one predator meeting another.

Kesstel’s aura fluctuated, wisping around our feet, disappearing, then swirling back, as if it was trying to break out but he was holding it back. The pressure was heavy on my body, but I wasn’t incapacitated by it like before.

Kesstel’s face tightened in a frown, and he reached out to me. His movements were slow, his fingers shaking like he was pressing them through wet cement.

I didn’t know what caused this reaction, but I understood that he wasn’t trying to hurt me. If anything, he was fighting against something that was trying to force him to reject me. It hurt my heart just seeing him struggle like that.

As soon as he reached for me, I reached back. The dirty gloves on my hand disappeared, stored back in my Items Bag, and I took his hand. As soon as our skin touched, the tension in his body lessened and his aura settled. The glow in his eyes disappeared.

Kesstel wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug, mess and all. He wasn’t wearing armor, just designer shorts and a T-shirt. His shirt was soft under my cheek, his heart beating reassuringly in my ears. He rested his chin on the top of my head. “You are so much stronger now … that’s good. Just don’t disappear on me like that again.”

It took me a second to recover from the shock of him suddenly wrapping around me like this. The hot sun on his skin smelled so good. A million times better than the stench of Orcs. My hands snaked around his waist to grip the back of his shirt as I leaned into him. I didn’t even realize that I’d been so tightly strung until that moment when I finally got to relax. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting it to take that long either.”

“Oi, that’s enough lovey-dovey stuff. Especially when I don’t have a squeeze right now,” Tyson appeared at our side and tapped on my shoulder. “Hey little girl, did you really just come out of a Portal?” Where Kesstel was dressed in casual clothes, Tyson wore shining steel and red armor that was designed as flippant as his personality.

Kesstel scowled and brushed Tyson’s fingers away.

Oh right, he was here too. I’d been so focused on Kesstel, I’d forgotten about everything else. My cheeks heated and I stepped back. “Ah yes. That was a Portal. But it’s not the Las Vegas Portal. That’s still out there.”

Kesstel let me go and didn’t back too far away. He frowned at the pile of rubble where the hotel used to be. “So that wasn’t the Portal we’ve been looking for?” Even he sounded surprised that there were two. “That must be why they can’t pinpoint where the Las Vegas Portal is. Between the monsters and the second Portal, it must be throwing off the detectors.” Kesstel focused on me. “Did you do what you needed to do?”

A wide smile spread across my face. “Yes.”

Tyson threw his hands in the air. “Hold up. An E just came out of a Portal. There’s something wrong with that.” Then he paused and peered over my head. “Where’s your rank?”

I blinked at him then looked over my head instinctively, even though I couldn’t see my own name title. Weird. Tyson was still two levels higher than me, so he should be able to see my rank.

Your rank has become moot, so I thought it wasn’t needed anymore, Goddess supplied.

Well, I was going to do something about that, I thought back. I just didn’t plan on house hunting so soon —

Kesstel grabbed my arm, startling me out of my thoughts. “What was that just now?” he demanded, his eyes intense.

I froze, shocked. Was he talking about Goddess? He shouldn’t be able to sense it when she talked to me, right?

Is it because he’s a Boss? I thought I was hiding enough to not be detected. Goddess sounded just as perplexed.

As soon as Goddess spoke, Kesstel’s brows pulled together. His hand twitched on my arm, but he didn’t tighten his finger to hurt me. “What is that?”

My mouth parted then closed as I tried to figure out what to say. Could I tell him what was going on yet? Even if I could, I didn't want to bare my soul right in front of someone I didn’t even know.

Tyson looked between us, completely baffled. “Okay, now I’ve officially gone from third wheel to roadkill. What the hell is going on?”

I swallowed and plastered on a smile for Tyson. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

For a second, Kesstel looked like he was going to argue with me. Instead he let me go. After all, he did know there were things that I couldn’t talk about. I couldn’t even tell him what I was doing when I tailed after Blake days ago.

I glanced at the pile of the rubble towering over us. “What happened to the hotel?” It couldn’t be more obvious that I was changing the subject. I just hoped that the men let me.

Kesstel’s lips thinned. “Nothing important.”

Tyson snorted. “Nothing important, my ass. This guy here threw a fit when we couldn’t find your body, so he decided to take apart the whole building piece by piece to make sure. And he hasn’t moved since.”

Kesstel scowled at the other guy. Was it the summer sun, or were the tips of his ears pink? His face smoothed into a lordly expression as he looked at me. “You look like you need a break.” It seemed I wasn’t the only one who wanted to change the subject quickly.

That was an understatement. I nodded. “A shower, some food, and a nap sounds great.” I frowned down at my body. Two weeks without a bath was just gross. The physiological shadow of going that long without a bath was enough to make me uncomfortable. My hair didn’t feel oily — probably thanks to Goddess. No matter what she did to keep me clean, I was sweaty and bloody now. The hot sun definitely didn’t help with my smell.

“Right. We’ll finish talking after that,” Kesstel said. He waved his hand and the camper appeared on the street not far away. He tilted his head and shot a look at Tyson. Everything about his manner screamed ‘Go away’ to the other man.

Tyson gaped at him. “Hey, no.” He crossed his arms across his chest and glared. “My job is to bring Kesstel back to the party. Knowing you — both of you, actually — if I let you out of my sight, you’re going to disappear like usual. There’s still a lot that we have to know about this little girl coming out of a Portal. And if there’s another Portal out there, any information you know about it.” He looked ready to fight tooth and nail for his preference.

My lips pulled to the side. Everything he just said was true. Well, to a degree. There was a lot I was not going to tell them about the Vapria Portal, but there was some stuff that I could. As a member of the expedition, I did have an obligation to help find the Las Vegas Portal. Which I completely planned on doing. I just wanted to clean up and have a nap first.

“We’ll find you later,” Kesstel stated.

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. It doesn’t matter where I sleep, as long as I can.” Even if there were people around, as long as Kesstel was there too, I should be able to actually get a good shut-eye. Then again, I was tired enough, I could just lie down right here and close my eyes.

“And she needs a Healer,” Tyson put in.

Ah, yeah. It did look like I needed one, although Regen was currently working on me since I was standing still. My HP was going up, but it didn’t do much good to my tired body and mind.

Kesstel glanced at me. Even though I’d never told him, Kesstel was observant enough to know that I self healed. Still, his expression was considerate, asking if I really wanted to go back and find a Healer.

The healing part didn’t matter as much to me, but since we’ve been gone for four days — me in the Portal and Kesstel hanging out of it — we really should check in with the rest of the expedition team. I nodded to the side, in a ‘let’s go’ manner.

Kesstel shrugged. “If that’s what you want.” It didn't really matter where we talked, since he could put a barrier around us no matter where. As long as he wanted it, no one was ever going to eavesdrop on our conversation. Kesstel waved his hand again and the camper disappeared back into his Items Bag. “Let’s get you back to camp.” He scooped me up into his arms.

I was getting so used to him doing that I naturally rested a hand on his shoulder. “I can run myself, you know,” I muttered. “I bet I can even keep up with you easily enough now.”

A smile curled his lips. “I bet, but you obviously need a rest.”

I glanced down at where I was held against his chest. Brownish, red smears spread across his pale blue shirt. “I’m making your clothes a mess. Sorry.”

“It’s not important,” Kesstel said. “I’m more concerned that it's obviously all your blood. You got … hurt a lot.” His eyes narrowed as his aura wisped around his feet once more.

Kesstel leapt forward, running Southwest. The air rushed by me, cooling down the midday sun’s heat, and the buildings turned into different shades of tan that blurred past in an after image. Slowly, my body began to relax more and more. Enough that it was hard to keep my eyes open. I never thought I’d be so content to be in a deserted desert city, but I guess it mattered who I was with.

Tyson caught up, sprinting alongside Kesstel and looked at me. “What did you mean that wasn’t the Las Vegas Portal?”

I blinked away the sleep that threatened and glanced at Tyson. “Just that. There were two Portals in Las Vegas. The one I came out of was a little side one that I stumbled across.” Completely on purpose. “The actual Las Vegas Portal, the one that caused the earthquake and sank the Florida Peninsula, is a different one.” I paused. “But I did find out that the Red Orcs aren’t related to Las Vegas Portal.”

Kesstel looked down at me. “You found the Portal with the Red Orcs?” His voice was a little tense, his brows pulled together.

I nodded. “But I don’t think they’re going to be a problem anymore. Their Portal collapsed.” I was vague enough that Tyson wouldn’t get what I actually meant, but from the way that Kesstel’s eyes narrowed, he did.

“Did you … meet any Blood Mists?” he asked softly. Instinctively, I knew he wasn’t actually asking about the Blood Mist monsters, he was asking about the Warriors of Mist, probably because I’d asked so much about them. Just like me, Kesstel was using roundabout ways to talk with Tyson on his heels.

I paused, then shook my head. “There are no more.”

“What’s a Blood Mist?” Tyson demanded.

I glanced at him. “A ghost monster. A very scary one.”

Honestly, as sad as it was for Goddess, I was glad there weren’t any Blood Mists on Earth. With the abilities I now had, if they were taken and warped by a monster, Earth would fall just as fast as Kathar did. I would have never had the chance to even be born.

Tyson skipped a step. “A ghost monster? An astral type? Those are a pain in the ass without a Mage. Where did you find one of those?”

Kesstel glanced over his shoulder at Tyson. “We’ll talk once we get back. That way she doesn’t have to repeat the same thing twice.”

*****