I did my best to keep my eyes glued to the green and gold orbs of the eccentric demigod. I could feel the bloody gold chips shifting beneath my hand, melting and changing shape in my grip as it shaped itself into a...a ring apparently. Not a small one either. A big ass gaudy signet ring from the feel of it. I confidently opened my hand and revealed the newly forged focus to the casino owner.

For the first time since I got here I saw the fuzzy veneer of hedonist nutcase Big Rumpus put on fracture slightly as his eyes narrowed in interest. Those suddenly sharp and intelligent eyes locked with mine as the demigod frowned at me in… what looked to be suspicion. “The imperial seal? Who are you? Why do you have that? More importantly why are you not being protected by someone powerful enough to make sure you don’t get killed for it and how are you still alive if youre stupid enough to take it out and show it to anyone you run into?”

Despite his enduring flippant tone I was astonished to see the blood was actually draining from the demigods face. Whatever the hell this thing was it wasn’t just some useless trinket. Based on what Shawn had said this guy was up there even in highsider circles. Maybe not as juiced as a full on god but definitely scary as all hell, if my focus was so terrifying someone like him was afraid, what the hell was it? And what had I just tried to wager in a hand of blackjack?

I glanced down at the bulky ring and used my newly acquired S ranked skill.

You have used Revelation. Imperial Seal: A dangerous and powerful artifact, this signet ring possesses supreme authority over the infernal planes, among other uses, once per month the wielder can infuse infernal essence into a willing pureblood human to grant them a permanent demonic bloodline. Bloodline granted is random and cant be changed. Recipients are soul bound to the service of their binder.

I blinked for a second, staring at the description in stupefaction. Wait…what? This thing could make humans into infernals? Where had this even come from? Seriously what bloodline was my mother? What would Erin make if she condensed a focus? Shaking off my daze I shoved the ring into my pocket. Hopefully I could leverage this information to convince him to let me leave without stupidly betting something worth more than the lives of everyone I had ever met. Just thinking of what my family could do as infernals was chilling. Already a powerful faction, this could be a game changer for us.

Big Rumpus tore his focus away from the ring slipping into my pocket and locked on my suddenly much paler face. “Get out. No need for a wager I have no intention of winning. If you hadn’t just condensed that in front of me I would rip out your spine for even bringing it here. As it is, you’re clearly of imperial blood and even I don’t take that bloodline lightly.” He sucked his teeth and scowled. “But knowing you exist means if anything happens to you its on my head. Gods damn it. Star!”

Astara, looking confused and a little worried, jumps in fright, squeaking cutely as she’s shocked out of her reverie by her boss’s abrupt shout. “Yes boss? We aren’t killing them? That’s nice, most of them are pretty cute, and did you see the rack on that blonde? I’ve seen tits in space that were more affected by gravity. And that ass, dear gods-“ The confirmation of Star being bisexual and interested in Ali sort of lost its appeal in this situation, but I put a pin that thought as Big Rumpus cut off his maenads terrified rambling.

“Star! Enough. Calm down. No blood shed today. The opposite if anything. I want you to go with them and keep them alive. I doubt anything will be able to kill them off at Hellstrom, which is where theyre from if their newborn auras are anything to go by, but an imperial scion getting himself offed after showing himself to only me would be a massive hassle. Keep the kid safe until I can figure out whats going on, at least from outside interference. Kelloway can deal with it if he dies in the tower.”

Star’s face shifted from worried and a pale to excited within seconds “Really? You mean it? I get to go to college? Oh that sounds like so much fun! I’m going to play drinking games! And start a few orgies! I haven’t been in an orgy since the ones we used to have back home!” She stopped gushing and her face crumpled into a pout “Wait, if I’m going to be at Hellstrom that means I cant shed any blood. What fun is an orgy if I don’t get to eat a few guys?” I’d like to say I immediately became less aroused when she said that part. I would be lying. I mean, she said she WASN’T going to eat anybody, right?

This whole back and forth had confused the living hell out of me honestly. I had no idea what to think about this situation. I was apparently some sort of infernal royalty and I now had an incredibly hot psychotic cannibal bodyguard. I was pretty worried about that honestly, but I couldn’t exactly say no. Big Rumpus was clearly more on the ball mentally than he liked to pretend but this whole gear change made me terrified if I didn’t do exactly what he said he was going to switch back to the whole “murder the shit out of me” plan.

Big Rumpus fixed her with a glare. “No orgies. You can handle your booze easily enough but no drinking games unless you’re with junior over there. I’m sending you on a job, not a teen tour. You stick to him like white on rice until I call you back. I’ll call Kelloway about getting you put in his classes, he owes me a favor, and besides, once he finds out what that kid is he’s going to want as much security on him as possible. I doubt you’ll be allowed into the tower with him at your level, but that’s on him.” He turned to look at me gravely “I realize this all probably sounds like a good thing to you, like something cool is happening. It isn’t. Don’t tell anyone about this, and keep that gods damned ring hidden. If your existence becomes public knowledge…well lets just say you’re going to seriously wish I had just killed you. No wonder your fate is such a clusterfuck.”

And with a shake of his head. He was just…gone. An unseen pressure seemed to lift from the room as all of us sighed in relief. Star bounced over to me giddily and plopped into my lap. “Sooo since I’m stuck with you and cant have any fun unless we’re together…how do you feel about jello shots?” Honestly, out of all the insane shit that’s happened to me this week, this might be my favorite. At least if I didn’t think about how screwed I was in the long run.