We arrived back at the house, where Sharp was waiting for us. He looked exasperated as we disembarked the van. He toked on his Churro while Hunter looked on in confusion. "Anyone die?"

  I nod, Wolf shakes her head, "None of us."

  He gestures to me, "Green seems to disagree with you."

  I sigh, glaring daggers at Wolf, who rolled her eyes. There HAD been a casualty: "One of our tour guides got a bit too...enthusiastic."

  Wolf groaned, "We're not supposed to say anything about them!"

  It was my turn to roll my eyes. We had been caught, and there was nothing for it now but to accept the consequences. "He's right here in front of us, and they're right there. What do you think lying will accomplish?"

  As soon as Edge left the car, the doors shut, and the van peeled out, "And I'm guessing this overenthusiastic tour guide is the one who's dead?" I nod, knowing he knew the moment we'd pulled in that we'd broken protocol, that he had every reason to call the mission, I couldn't let myself forget this death that was on my shoulders, I braced myself for the punishment I was sure would come.

  "Is there a body?"

  My head snapped around to look at him, sure I'd misheard him, "huh??"

  He chuckled, "Is there a body? Do I have to call a cleanup crew?"

  I shake my head, "No, it used his body to taunt-"

  He shushed me, "Inside."

  We entered, and he smiled, "No body, no problem. Those locals you met seem to know what's up anyway. You did good, kids. This was an easy shortcut that probably saved us weeks on this assignment."

  I blinked and looked at the others as he continued, "There IS the small matter of the dead kid, but once we get his body back, we'll make it like it never happened; ONE body after an encounter with the Shadowyn is absolutely wonderful...now tell me everything you know."

  I clued him in on everything, absolutely everything, and with every word, he seemed to revel in how interesting and strange this town was, focusing on the Lizard Bridge.

  After I had finished, he paced, "Your friend Charley's right, though. There's no telling why that thing is blocking the way."

  I look around to see the others looking at me angrily, except for Love, who was looking at the floor, which Sharp immediately noticed, "we'll continue investigations later...for now I think you kids should wind down, I'm going to go do some investigations of my own...down at the Fantasy Ranch."

  I was confused. I didn't know what Doctor Sharp was talking about; I hadn't received a rundown of the local stores/restaurants. "The what?"

  He laughed, "Oh, It's a strip club."

  With that, he got his hat and coat and left nothing behind except a cloud of cinnamon-flavored smoke.

  I turned back to the guys only for Edge to slug me in the jaw; I was taken aback by the sucker punch and tried to regain my balance when Wolf shoved me over onto my back, "SHIT!" I coughed as I hit the floor.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Edge's finger pads unfolded and attached to my shirt around the sides of my chest, lifting me up to face the pair of them. "You honestly have no sense of self-preservation!" Wolf hissed.

  I shake my head, trying to evade what felt like a concussion, "What do you mean?"

  Edge headbutted me and let me go, making me slam back into the floor, "if breaking protocol hadn't put those other kids' lives in danger, telling Sharp EVERYTHING probably did!"

  I clutched my head, the throbbing pain not enough to knock me out, which sucked, "Look he's not gonna do that." I croak out. Edge huffs skeptically, "You don't know that!"

  I hold up a hand so they'll let me sit up, "he said. No body, no problem." If we'd had to get the cleanup crew involved, THEN we'd worry, but he seems to be on our side for now.

  "Seems." Was all that Edge said before walking upstairs to our bedroom

  Wolf helped me up: "You said it yourself at the beginning: We don't trust anyone outside of this group."

  I shake my head, trying to get the rattling to stop. " I know...but he's been surprisingly chill..."

  She looked me in the eyes, "He was chill last time."

  I sigh, nodding. She was right. " It's just so easy to forget when he's...god, it's insidious..."

  She patted me on the back, "It's all good, Green. Just remember, OK?"

  She went upstairs, and I turned to Love, "Love?"

  She didn't look up, I grasped her shoulders, "Hey..."

  She gasped and looked up, "Hey...are we home?"

  I suddenly realized as I looked at her, that she had been in the middle of a panic attack since the encounter with the puppet corpse at the Lizard Bridge. I pulled her into a hug, which she reciprocated. As we held one another, she whispered in my ear, "Green, I need a distraction really bad right now, and I'm not going to lie. I'm going to be rough. It can't be anyone else. I need you."

  I pull away and look at her; there are tears in her eyes, "when I saw that boy get skewered, I relived that night in the arena...watching that thing-MMPH." In a sudden move, I hush her with a kiss, letting her feel the warmth of my body against hers, feeling her hands join with mine as the kiss continues. Eventually, the kiss does break, and our eyes meet as she catches her breath, "I get it." I say, "That's fine, be rough with me."

  We spent the rest of the day on the couch.

  The familiarity of the scrambling for relief was saddening to return to. We had been past this, but that was before 919. Now, it wasn't just for relief; it was for control.

  And I was OK with that.

  Each peak was met with tears, and each low was another bone broken, not on purpose. She was cutting loose, rushing up the slope to the next peak, and it wasn't even the home stretch. The sun was going down, and I was certain that Wolf and/or Edge could hear us, but neither of us cared.

  By the time the moon came up, I was a barely conscious, broken mess, and she was passed out next to me.

  The TV, which had been on the whole time, suddenly switched to static from some meaningless sitcom as Love nudged the remote in her sleep, washing its electronic glow of static over the dark living room. I jerked from my stupor to feel my body healing much faster than it had ever done before.

  Even after all this time, The Dragon's gifts were still with me; I felt bones and muscles knitting back together, traveling from far-flung areas of my body to reattach as if someone were gluing me back together; my body felt warm, burning, steam rising off my body as the healing process took place. My shattered pelvis, dislocated lumbar spine, and cracked ribs slowly and painfully reconstituted themselves in the dull light of the TV, which was still showing only static, crunching, agonizing, straining pain that seemed to last hours as my temperature continued to rise.

  Finally, after what felt like 30 or so minutes, I felt the wash of cool air from the air conditioner, the heat abated, and I felt strong enough to move again.

  I sat up and looked at the couch. It had been destroyed, absolutely demolished. She'd flattened it out and made it into a cot on a bed of wooden splinters on the floor. Thank God there were no springs.

  My movement made her stir, "Unh...Green?" She sat up, looking at the couch, "Oh...oh no..."

  I sigh, pointing to the ceiling, "Better the couch than the whole house..."

  She started pulling on her pants, looking at me with worry, "You're right...are you OK?"

  I smiled at her as I did the same. She looked so worried that I couldn't let her know how she had destroyed me. " Nah, I'm tougher than that."