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I shot back to the temple, wanting to talk with Daeva about her guards.

Daeva was frowning in front of her statue when I arrived. The warm morning light washed through the columns, breaking up the interior of the temple. Both mine and her statues were well lit with a shadow between us. And she was standing in that shadow as she watched the statues. Her face was pinched in a frown.

“Problem?” I asked, setting myself down.

“I was unable to find the two guards last night. When I went to talk to you, it… uh… seemed like you were busy.” She hesitated, hanging her head. “The maidens said you already left for the day, so I was waiting for you.”

Daeva shook her head but didn’t look at me. “I’ve failed, and it makes me wonder if I deserve this statue.”

“Well, at least you understand that you still might have some flaws.” I smirked. “Please, you’ve done a wonderful job here. All societies have problems. It is how you fix them that shows if you deserve this statue.” I comforted her first before getting to the point.

“The two you couldn’t find, does one of them have a grasshopper mutation?” I asked.

She faced me, her blue eyes wide with interest. “Yes.”

“Then the pieces are starting to come together. The drug was a venom from a man with a snake mutation that ran a chicken farm. The guard was buying it from them. The guard is working for Roach.” I told her.

“The chicken farm?” Daeva confirmed and looked like she was about to take off and deal with them herself.

“Yes. The man and the woman dealing the venom are dead. They were also keeping an eye on Pollen along with providing information to Roach on new supers entering the city. I think he was trying to figure out who he could recruit.” The thought made me frown.

A dark cloud seemed to cover Daeva’s face. “I should have been harsher in the beginning. It took me time to realize that sometimes getting rid of problems permanently was the best approach. All of these people deserved a true second chance, but there was a point where giving them too many new chances proved they weren’t suitable for New Haven.”

“We’ll catch these people. Let’s put an official order out for this Grasshopper muta.” I tried to move the current investigation forward.

She shook her head. “Already done. When I couldn’t find her last night, the rest of the guards were talked to. They are on the lookout. The other one was part of the night guard and seems to have disappeared along with them.”

I frowned. “Super speed and telepathic. Chances are, she picked up thoughts about what we were doing and bolted along with this other guard. She either went into the wilds or went to where Roach is hiding. There was a tunnel under the chicken farm. It went out into the forest, but I didn’t investigate further. There are probably other tunnels.”

Daeva gave me an odd look. “New Haven is built on the ruins of an old city from before the titans. There are a lot of underground structures. I don’t think we will be able to search without putting the guards in too much danger. We’d need strong supers to do a search like that.”

“Or more expendable ones.”  I thought about Obsidian’s clones. “I need to go to Point City today for something anyway; I'll bring Obsidian back. She can clone herself and just flood your city looking for them.”

“You are going to Point City?” Daeva seemed more interested in that part.

“Skel and Doctor Wells think they have a viable monster fruit for me. It would give me a new power. But I’m going to Wells’ lab to do it. She has the best set up should something go wrong.” I shrugged, nothing against Skel.

Daeva’s eyes focused on someone behind me.

I turned to see Skel.

“No worries. Her lab is much better than mine.” Skel admitted. She was carrying a number of items off her bony body and a few empty bags too.

“Hoping to bring some supplies back?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes please. I didn’t think it would make much of a difference for your power.”

I grunted. “Let’s go wake up everybody else, if they aren’t already. We should get started, and Stella can sleep on the way. Are you coming, Daeva?”

I knew the answer, but I wanted her to feel invited.

She shook her head. “I can’t leave the city. Not with this going on. Please come back quickly.”

It wasn’t a great time to leave the city for me either, but with the ant poison out, I felt confident Daeva could handle whatever happened.

I kissed her cheek. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow night at the latest.”

Daeva grabbed at the spot I had just kissed and looked at me with a brilliant smile. “I’ll keep New Haven standing.”

***

Kim looked up as Beatrix entered and closed the door quietly behind her before letting the excitement show on her face. “He’s coming back?”

The director of the BSH tapped the device meant to create a field of static. When supers were everywhere, it was smart to be cautious with sensitive information.

“Yes. They have an experiment with Monster Fruit. Apparently, coordinating with the mad scientist in New Haven has been highly beneficial to Wells. Production of it has been impossible for the BSH from just the fruits we’ve acquired. She’s light years ahead of us with access to the production in New Haven.” Kim rubbed at her forehead.

Wells and the Skel character were able to pull ahead of the entire BSH.

What the fuck was surrounding Miles? Some Aura of Luck?

“I’ve managed to reschedule Miles’ team’s schedule. And yours.” Beatrix sat down in the chair excitedly. “My own too.” She added belatedly.

“Well, he’s going to be here this afternoon at his place.” Kim couldn’t focus anyway and turned off her tablet. “We can go together.”

Kim’s door opened to an angry Hendricks. Hendricks stepped through the sound field. “Did you not hear me knocking?”

Kim pointed to the device on her desk. “I was in the middle of a sensitive conversation.” She was done with Hendricks.

“Your numbers aren’t going up fast enough.” Hendricks demanded. “We have timetables that cannot be missed.”

“Uh. Should I leave?” Beatrix was already getting up from her chair.

“Yes.” Hendricks snapped. “Get out.”

“No. Stay.” Kim found herself doing it just to defy Hendricks, and it felt good. “She’s my best analyst and has top level clearance. Go ahead. What numbers?” Kim leaned on her hand and tilted her head.

She knew she looked far too young, and that made bullies like Hendricks underestimate her for better or worse.

Hendricks huffed. “Your villain arrest numbers are too low. Get them up.” Of course she wouldn’t give me the actual numbers she wanted. Politicians excelled in saying something without saying it.

Pratt’s recruits were low, which meant she wanted more people in jail for him to pick from because those women didn’t have a choice.

“Things have just calmed down quite a bit. That’s a good thing. I think the military’s show of force against Void really scared a lot of them.” Kim shrugged. “You’ll see the conviction rate is up, but I can’t just summon new villains out of mid-air.”

Convictions were up because Pratt’s plan actually managed to drain the system of the desperate people with violent powers. As a result, those that were left really needed to be put away. Minor penalties were way down.

Hendricks glared. “If you don’t get the numbers up, I’m going to authorize the military’s reacquisition of managing heroes, and Pratt will put them to use where we need them the most.” She sneered and spun before making a show of leaving.

Kim rolled her eyes. Hendricks always stormed off. It was such a pointless power move.

“Is she saying what I think she’s saying?” Beatrix asked.

“Yeah. I can’t wait for Miles to get back and kill her and Pratt. Something fucking stinks about both of them. Can you look into it? I can’t figure out why Pratt is so obsessed with pushing into the wilds.” Kim frowned. There was something she was missing.

She couldn’t help but wonder what it was that Pratt and Hendricks were after.

They had hinted at a possibility of gold or oil deposits, but the land had already long been surveyed for natural resources before the arrival of titans.

While the towering trees and roaming monsters were new, the land and whatever lay beneath the surface was still well understood.

It seemed unlikely that they would be after scraps that supers might be able to extract. So, just what were they after?

“I’ll look into it. Am I allowed to pry?” Beatrix asked.

“Consider this a potential villain’s influence on our mayor and general.” Kim’s expression became hard. “We need to understand what they are doing. And I’d like to know before Miles gets here if possible.”

“You got it boss. I’ll have something before we head to Miles’ place.” Beatrix bounced out of her seat, and Kim knew that connecting the request to Miles had definitely given the analyst some extra juice. She was smitten.

But Kim couldn’t blame her. Miles had a mystery and powerful charm about him.

As long as Beatrice didn't get in her way to helping Miles find his destiny, it was harmless. Angelina had made it clear that she didn’t think his future was to be a hero, but Kim would just find another name for it.

Kim leaned back in her chair, daydreaming about Miles seeing her again. She wanted him to stick around this time. They were just starting to push past the walls he’d had up as Miles.

Another knock interrupted her daydreams.

“Yes?” She growled and Venus opened the door, walking into her office.

Kim straightened up.

Of Miles’ women, Venus was the most important as far as Kim was concerned.

After she learned the woman basically lived in Miles’ head, Kim had put every effort she could into trying to win her over.

“I need a favor.” Venus was calm, though Kim suspected she was as giddy as the rest of them that Miles was coming back.

“Sure, what is it? Also, how far away is he?” Kim asked.

Venus frowned and looked into the distance for a moment. “He’ll be here around 4pm. At least, that’s his guess. I would like to have The Tailor make me a few outfits that aren’t for hero work.” Venus kept her face calm.

Kim scratched her head. “Sure. If she’s fine with it. Work it out between the two of you. I’m pretty sure she does some other work in the off hours. What’s it for?”

“Miles.” Venus’ answer was short.

Kim wondered if it was a sex thing. She knew Mona had worn a maid outfit before for Miles, and he must have enjoyed it. Honestly, it made Kim feel a little old at times, but Miles was an old soul too. He wasn’t aging past mid twenties, and that meant they could grow old together.

Maybe he’d even help her find some new kinks she didn’t know she had.

She’d just have to be patient and get herself included now while she could.

“Was that all?” Kim stopped her mind from drifting too far.

“Pretty much.” Venus stopped glaring at her. “I’ll see you at the house later. Thanks for getting us time off. I wouldn’t want to miss this.”

That was about the best she got out of the hero ever. Kim gave Venus her best smile. “Not a problem at all. Come ask me for anything, anytime.”

The door closed behind Venus, and Kim’s smile faded. The woman was pretty cold to everyone. But Kim suspected that was just her being tightly wound.

Poor woman.

Kim picked her tablet back up and saw a message from Pratt, the subject told her it was much the same threat that Hendricks had come by to deliver. Didn’t the mayor have better things to be doing?

“Politicians.” She scoffed and remembered to turn off the noise barrier before deleting Pratt’s message. “Miles, come back so that you can deal with those two.” She swiped idly through her tablet as she wondered if that made him a hero.

Angelina had said he was above a hero, and Kim had to admit that wasn’t crazy.

Even if Kim wanted to, she couldn’t easily topple the bureaucracy of Point City. Part of that was because she was immortal, but people had taken to ignoring her to keep her power down. Even after she hung up her cape, people hadn’t forgotten her power.

Pratt most certainly had a containment protocol for her.

But that wasn’t the case for Miles. Nobody could ignore Void. His mystery persona had struck fear into the hearts of Hendricks and Pratt like none other.

If he came and got revenge and fixed whatever was going on with their venture into the wilds, that seemed like something a hero would do.

Kim knew she was having these questions because Angelina had seeded them, but they were valid.

Not everyone would see him as a hero, but the point was he would be doing the right thing for the whole.

Kim shook her head. Things had been much clearer before, but then there was always the old saying. ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Maybe she was starting to understand the complexity that came with the amount of power Miles contained.

***

“Master.” Stella whined on my lap. “We haven’t had sex once on this trip.”

I glanced at Vaash and Skel; both on the invisible sled with us. “There’s a reason for that.”

“Don’t mind me.” Skel said. “It would be an interesting observation. Educational even.”

Stella squeaked and ducked around my side.

She seemed to often forget that Skel was there until the bony woman spoke. Her fear of ghosts still had her jumping every time Skel spoke.

“That’s not helping Skel.” I glowered at the woman who could only shrug.

“It’s okay, Stella.” Pollen tried to comfort the scared super. “Skel is on our side. And your master is next to you; everything is okay.”

“Ghost.” Stella glared over my shoulder at Skel.

“I’m not a ghost.” Skel clarified. “We’ve determined that I’m a contained consciou—“

We all looked at her strangely and Melody spoke up. “You died, and you animated bones to interact with the world. Let’s drop the science and just call you a ghost.”

Stella seemed to be ignoring that conversation as her tail pushed through my toga, but it got caught in the folds and she frowned. “Damnit, Master. What power are you going to choose?”

I wasn’t sure which part was frustrating her more, the lack of sex or not knowing what power I would take.

Her tail finally found my skin and quickly wiggled its way to her goal before it started to draw circles that came close but didn’t touch.

“Stella.” I warned.

She was the picture of innocence, minus the demon bits.

“I just want to make sure you are in a clear state of mind before picking your power. They say that post nut clarity is the most clear headed a man can think.” She said seriously.

“I have yet to see the scientific studies that verify that.” Skel spoke up, making Stella freeze in her motions.

“Well, if that’s the case.” Melody teased, leaning over and nibbling on my earlobe.

I used my power and pulled both of them off me. “Just a little longer Stella. Then you can fly around. Jellybags and Obby have probably missed you, and they probably are starved of big booby succubus hugs.” I couldn’t believe I was starting to speak her language.

Mona was laughing in the back of my mind.

Stella stopped and thought about it with her brows pinched. “You are probably right, but that just means that your succubus needs to be completely full so she can give the best hugs.” She pounced on me.

The carriage burst into laughter.

Somehow Stella logic always seemed to circle back to the same thing.

Not that I was really complaining, but if I didn’t push back all the time, I’d never make it out of bed.

The truth was slowly sinking into me.

I loved my harem and would do anything to protect them, even if that meant shedding my humanity to become far stronger.

Mona dug around my mind, and I let her. I’d need her help if I was going to pretend to be the same Miles after the monster fruit.

Comments

Marvin bennett

Hey when do you think you start the next dungeon book. Just curious because im 4 chapters in and i dont wanna read yet and just wanna wait for more books 😭

Chris Stephan

You have Beatrix spelled Beatrice in one instance.