Book 4, chapter 23

The soft flutter of pages turning filled the tranquil warehouse, the deathly silence only interrupted by Zee's soft breathing. 

She stood near the front doors of the warehouse, standing over the corpse of an Allevark.

Blood pooled around the assassin's head, staining his fur and cloak a deep crimson. She took a deep breath, as streamers of pure energy leaked out of cracks in her aura, guided to form a complex ritual diagram.

The living book hovered in front of her, opened to the first page. The book looked small, and thin, with only about a hundred pages. 

All the pages were blank, at least until the book decided to show her something in its vast library.  A day after she got it, she had fed it one of the books Tar gave her to study, and now the book could display anything that had been written in the book it ate. 

She suspected the book had some sort of spatial storage inside, though she doubted it was the same as the one she crafted into her necklace. For one thing, the book somehow remembered the knowledge of all the books it consumed.

Zee shook the idle thoughts from her mind, as the ritual snaked around her target. The ritual diagram formed a cocoon of energy around the dead assassin, wrapping him up In a dense web.

Now for the last step. The ritual needed a focal point, something to channel the soul into.

Zee didn't want to be that focal point for obvious reasons, namely because she would start to reek of taboo, which would make some people try to kill her sight.

Maybe there was a way around it? So far, she had mostly used Dern as the focal point for the ritual. No one had tried to stab her for being a heretic, so he must be the one gaining taboo from the ritual, and not her. That probably explained why his presence was getting more ominous.

She considered calling Dern back but quickly shook off the thought. Zee wanted to see if she could store Brandon's soul somehow and had some ideas of how to do it.

What she was doing might have been considered highly immoral, but the guy had been trying to stab her only a few minutes ago. 

With a mental thought, Zee pulled a finger-length crystal from her spatial storage, tossing it to the warehouse floor in front of her with a soft clank.

It was a beast splinter, from an E-grade monster, and would hopefully contain the man's soul. Or it would blow up, and the soul would escape.

Zee let out an anxious breath and formed a net of energy around the beast splinter. Well, here goes nothing.

Expecting things to go horribly wrong, she shrouded her body in the dark blue mist of spirit echo and activated the ritual. Her eyes widened in fascination as the air cracked above the gemlike beast splinter. 

There was a harsh sucking sound, followed by a familiar scene. 

Brandon's body twitched before a ghostly figure was wrenched free, a perfect likeness of the former assassin.

The man flailed and screamed a soundless cry, his eyes wild as he was dragged towards the splinter next to his body. Zee watched on with a mixture of disgust and fascination, as the man's soul was sucked into the splinter.

The sucking sound abated after only a few seconds, the gemlike splinter glowing softly. Zee didn't move, watching from a safe distance.

She was right to be cautious, as the gem cracked ominously a few seconds later. To be safe, she had backed further away, ducking behind some piled crates for cover.

The splinter shattered with a loud bang, small shards shooting everywhere.

Peering over the crates, Zee watched on. With the beast splinter destroyed, Brandon's soul dissipated into thin air, absorbed back into the world river, going wherever souls went after their bodies died.

"Huh, maybe I need a stronger beast splinter to contain a person's soul?" Zee mumbled aloud.

There was a soft, yet insistent nudge at the back of her mind, from the cage that contained her inner world.

It was Kur Zul who was demanding her attention.  She usually ignored him, but maybe he had something useful to say for once. She opened a very small hole in his cage, just enough for them to speak.

"I'm busy, what do you want," Zee asked warily.

"That experiment you just performed. I might have some things in my tower that would be perfect for containing a soul," Kur Zul replied, his voice that of a sagely scholar.

"That's awe fully generous for a backstabbing ghost," Zee said. Her brows furrowed. "Let me guess, you are going to lure me inside your tower, then try to posses me again," 

Kur Zul didn't respond immediately, taking a few seconds. " I wanted to apologize for my behavior. My actions were hasty, and I'll thought out," Kur Zul said.

Her eyebrows shot up. The last thing she had expected was an apology.

Why would the scheming ghost apologize for anything?

"I'm not buying your remorseful tone. Tell me what you want, or I'm going to go back to ignoring you again," Zee said coldly.

Kur Zul sent her a mental sigh.

"I have realized that for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with each other. I was hoping we could have a more amenable relationship. Something similar to you and that Ashary," Kur Zul said.

Zee snorted in derision, "Do you think I am an idiot? Giving you that kind of freedom could end very badly for me." Zee said, tempted to ignore his request out of hand.

"Your team needs a healer, I can fill that role," Kur Zul said, his tone more desperate. 

"You are a healer?" Zee asked, trying not to get too excited. Finding a healer who was willing to risk themselves in combat was no easy task.

"Not exactly... I am a barrier specialist, with some flesh-altering skills. If you get the summon skill on your next rank up, I can be your team's healer," Kur Zul said.

She pondered his words, noting the particular phrasing he used. 

"Explain what you mean by flesh-altering skills," Zee demanded.

"They are a variant of healing skills. I can either warp flesh, or close it, sealing wounds, and even reattaching lost limbs. My skills will not heal the flesh, but they do close the wounds, and stop bleeding," Kur Zul replied smoothly.

"Let me think about it," Zee said, resealing the cage in her mind.

Well, that was unexpected. She glanced around the gore-covered warehouse, spotting a bucket. Might as well get to cleaning whilst she thought on the ghost offer.

For several hours, she scrubbed the warehouse wall with a foamy sponge.  Washing at the gore she scrubbed in a clockwise motion. It was a tedious chore, though she had nothing better to do at the moment, and frankly, it was a good distraction while she thought over Kur Zul's offer.

By now, her soap-filled bucket was dark red, the water inside stained by blood and other yuck. Her eyes flitted back to where the second unexploded corpse had been. Brandon's corpse was gone now, turned to ash thanks to the soul-sucking ritual.

Clutching the sponge tighter she scrubbed the wall furiously, wishing she could forget that all too recent memory. Watching someone explode was bad enough, but performing a soul-sucking ritual on a person was another thing altogether. 

What had she been thinking? She sighed tiredly. That was the thing, she hadn't been thinking. It was just another stupid impulsive decision she had made. 

Her eyes flitted back around the gore-covered warehouse, most of which was hardening, the blood turning almost black. After several hours stench of death was nearly overwhelming. Despite that, she kept on scrubbing, working her way around the large room. 

She was supposed to be resting, and recovering, but she wouldn't allow herself to rest until this mess was cleaned up.  Occasionally, the distant rumble of explosions echoed in through the open double doors, some of them making the warehouse shake. 

It was still dark out, and Dern was out of range of mental communication, so there was no telling how long she had been at this. The only telling sign was how far Dern had traveled away from her.

If she focused, she could sense his general direction, though not what he was doing. Knowing him, she bet he got bored of killing undead and went to make more dangerous explosives with Yukna.

That thought reminded her of the explosive the two dead assassins' used to blow up her room.  She walked towards her former room.

The door had exploded outwards, and wood chips were spread everywhere, with some remnants of the bed that had been inside. It was a shame to see the room in such a state, as she rather liked that comfy bed. 

Out of the corner of her eye, a certain living book hovered down next to a pool of blood. The book opened its cover, looking as if it were about to taste the blood.

"Hey! Don't you dare, I just barely got the blood and soot off you," Zee snapped.

At her sharp tone, the leather-bound book froze a mere inch from touching the blood with its pages. 

Its cover ruffled unhappily. After a few seconds of deliberation, the book gave her what could only be a rude gesture. Zee cringed as the book dipped one of its blank pages in the pool of blood as if tasting it. 

It was disgusting, though also intriguing. She raised an eyebrow as the pool of blood started to disappear, sucked in by the book. Now, that was new... Once done, the book moved on to the next pool of blood, drinking it up as well.

Zee wasn't sure why, or how the book was doing it, but it was better than any mop. Like a willow Jack, the book darted from puddle to puddle, cleaning the blood stains far faster than she could with her sponge and bucket. 

Huh, well, this actually wasn't so bad. With the book's help, she had the warehouse clean of blood and gore in no time.

She even found a wide broom to sweep up the wood splinters that scattered across the main warehouse floor. 

Now, if only she could get rid of that smell, or find a solution for the bed that had been annihilated. Explaining the smell in the warehouse was one thing, explaining the room and bed was another.

Amidst pondering the conundrum there was a soft gasp at the door.

"Oh my, what is that horrid smell?" Asked a familiar femanine voice.

Zee glanced over the stacks of crates, just as Allison and Malden enter the open doors of the warehouse. Bastion came in next, followed by Greg, the lot of them looking exhausted.

She waved, and the four walked over.

"Zee, what is that foul smell," Allison asked, plugging her nose. 

She shrugged. "I have no idea," Zee lied smoothly. There was no way she was admitting fault here. 

Next to the princess, Malden stared intently at the ruined remains of the room she was standing beside. Malden looked about ready to blow a gasket.

"Zee…. What did you do to my room?" Malden asked dangerously.

"Well, ummm, some assassins sort of broke in and blew it up," Zee said lamely.

"You expect me to believe that? An assassin just broke in and blew up my bed?" Malden asked, bewildered.

"That was your bed?" Zee asked.

"Yes, it was, now stop dodging the question. What happened here?" Malden insisted.

Zee gestured towards his room, which looked like a hurricane had come through.

"While I was sleeping, two assassins broke in, walked over here, and tossed one of Yukna's grenades into the room," Zee said.

"Now you are just messing with me. Why would anyone do that besides you?" Malden asked.

Zee folded her arms. "Someone was trying to kill me. They waited until Yukna left, then attacked," Zee replied.

Allison placed a calming hand on Malden's muscled shoulder. 

"Someone tried to kill you?" Allison asked, some concern breaking through her usually passionless expression.

"Ya, two people. One was an Allevark named Brandon, and the other, was a human named Ferd. From what I could tell, they were only here for me, though they never said why.  I got the impression they were hired for the job. I don't think it was a personal grudge," Zee said.

Bastion snorted. "Sounds pretty personal to me. Did you find any marks that stood out, like tattoos on their skin?" Bastion asked, his expression grim.

Zee shook her head. "Uh, no, I didn't think of that. But, I might know who the culprit is. I think it may be the blood hawks. I sort of beat some of them up pretty bad yesterday when they were trying to rob an old man's shop," Zee replied. 

Allison ran a hand down her pretty face.

"Zee, why can't you go a single week without causing us problems?" Allison asked tiredly. 

Zee rocked back on her heels.

"What, that old man needed help. It was the right thing to do," Zee replied defensively.

Bastion took a step towards her. "Sorry love, but our not-so-glorious leader does have a point. You do have a bad habit of causing trouble," Bastion said.

"See, even pretty boy agrees with me," Allison said.

"Don't call me pretty boy, it's demeaning," Bastion said, giving Allison a rude gesture.

"Of course, just as soon as you stop using women's gel to style your hair," Allison said sweetly.

"Hey! Women's hair gel is the good stuff. The men's stuff is awful, it smells like tree bark and is gritty," Bastion replied defensively.

"I agree with the pretty boy, it makes my fur smell nice," Malden cut in.

Zee shook her head at the threes bickering, focusing on the only sane person in the warehouse.

Since her boyfriend and the two royals were having a verbal sparring match, she turned to her last hope of support.

"Greg, you will back me right?" Zee asked hopefully. 

The large dark-skinned Armenian grunted, stroking his beard. "I don't know, I am still on the fence about women's hair products," Greg rumbled thoughtfully.

Zee sighed. And they said she was a scatterbrain?

Zee cleared her throat loudly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Can we please focus up, Assassin's tried to kill me," Zee said. 

"Sorry, it's been a long day," Allison said sheepishly. 

"Zee is right, we should get back on topic. Like the fact she blew up my bed," Malden said.

"Do you have selective hearing Maldy," Zee asked. "I told you, it was the assassins who blew it up." 

His fluffy black ears twitched," They blew it up trying to kill you, therefore it's your fault," Malden said, accusingly. 

She folded her arms," That's stupid logic, and you know it. It was not my fault," Zee retorted.

Allison stepped between them, looking annoyed," "It's just a bed, you two need to calm down. I am exhausted, I am sure you are too. How about we all go take a bath and get some rest? As for assassins, we can go visit Rin tomorrow, he probably knows who might have hired the killers," Allison said.

Zee had to agree. She was tired and knew she was on edge. A few hours of rest was nowhere near enough.

She glanced around the crates that were piled in the warehouse.

"Ya, let's go back to grandpas estate, it actually has a bath, and beds. Not to mention it doesn't reek of death," Zee said.

It was a unanimous decision, that no one argued with. After nearly an hour, they arrived at the estate her grandpa was staying in, each heading to their own rooms.

Zee had a bath, then went to bed, passing out almost immediately. She awoke to the sounds of not-so-distant thunder. The window shades raddled, the bed vibrating from an aftershock. That had been going on for a while now, though never so close.

Beside her Bastion lay with his eyes closed, his face relaxed, his expression serene.  Resting her head on his shoulder, she ran a finger along a scar that crossed his ribs. It was a new scar, one he had gotten very recently. 

His chest rose and fell, his soft breathing comforting somehow. Moments like this, wrapped in his arms made it all seem worth it.

It made all the trouble she got herself into seem less horrible somehow. 

At least one part of her life was a constant. Even with all of her eccentricities, he stuck around, always having her back.

She was lucky. She had found a guy who would put up with her shenanigans, even when things got messy. 

Even her grandpa approved, well, at least she thought he did. That sparked an odd thought. 

What would her parents think of Bastion? Her mom might bond with him over cooking, but she wasn't certain about her dad. Alister, her father would probably disapprove of her dating a former criminal. 

Her brother Nathan on the other hand would probably tease her relentlessly. 

That though made her laugh softly. 

"What is it?" Bastion asked, stirring awake.

"Just thinking about you meeting my family," Zee replied.

Bastion snorted," Should I be worried? That was your evil laugh I just heard," Bastion said.

"I don't have an evil laugh," Zee said.

"Sure you don't," Bastion replied, nodding sagely. 

She pushed herself up, the blankets falling down, exposing her bare shoulders. His bright orange eyes drifted down towards the curves of her bare chest. 

"So, wanna get some breakfast?" Zee asked, raising her arms above her head in a languid stretch.

"Uh, huh," Bastion replied, his tone distracted.

Letting out a content sigh, she scanned the room, spotting her clothes in a pile on the floor.

"What do you want to eat?" Zee asked. 

"I don't know," Bastion said, his tone distracted.

Zee glanced back at the man and his distracted response. He was still staring at her naked form.

"Hey,  Bastion," Zee said snapping her fingers. "My eyes are up here," 

"Uh, huh, so they are," Bastion replied, not bothering to look away.

She smacked him across the shoulder.

"Hey, that's not nice," Bastion said, rubbing his shoulder.

"It's not nice to stare either, come on, let's go get food," Zee said.

" What? When did it become illegal to stare at my beautiful girlfriend." Bastion said with an adorable pout.

"No one said it's illegal. I mean seriously, it's like you stop listening the moment I take my shirt off," Zee muttered. 

Bastion reached off the bed, and picked up a shirt, grimacing as he sniffed it.

"That's not true, I always listen to what you have to say," Bastion replied.

"Really? What was I just asking you earlier?" Zee asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhh, so, what do you want to eat?" Bastion asked, changing the subject.

"That's what I thought. As for breakfast, I was thinking of steak," Zee said.

"Isn't that a dinner food?" Bastion asked dubiously.

"Who cares? Dinner, breakfast, don't you know that rules were meant to be broken?" Zee asked, rifling around on the floor for her necklace that housed her spatial storage.

Bastion laughed in amusement. 

"Whatever, I am going to have toast and eggs like a normal person," Bastion replied.

Zee placed her foot on his side and pushed, causing Bastion to tumble off the bed, dragging the bed sheets with him. Grinning, she leaped off the bed, tugging on her robes as she scurried across the carpeted floor.

Bastion scrambled to his feet, untangling himself from the blankets. He hurled a pillow at her, which missed, smacking into an ornate vase making it tilt precariously.

A second pillow was already mid-air, when she slipped out the door.

"This isn't over!" Bastion shouted, his voice muffled through the door.