She took another step back, and a genuine sparkle of amusement touched her gaze.

  “Let’s talk about the basics of the Game.”

  Chapter 11

  Something about Mayce’s demeanor had changed.

  The acerbic, irritated tone had vanished from her voice, and there was a level of childlike enthusiasm in her voice as she hopped back up onto the stairs and pounced a little farther onto the top of a worn loading ramp. She dropped down into a balanced crouch that reminded me of a particularly cute gargoyle and gestured at us with a ‘lay it on me’ wave of her hand.

  “What’s the prize for winning the Game?” Elsie asked.

  “How do you level up Cards?” I asked at the same time.

  Mayce let out a short bark of laughter. “You don’t win the Game, Tex. No one’s managed it before, and I don’t think anyone ever will. I guess it’s technically possible to kill every other Player and have all the best Cards at once, but there are too many Players to make that easy.”

  Her eyes glimmered with approval as she called up the answer to my question.

  “Decks have a maximum of five Cards at once,” Mayce told us. “No more than that, and unless you’re carrying around some busted shit”—she gave me a nod as I dispelled my runic display of my magical Cards—“then you need to break down Cards you’ve received and use them to level up the others you’re still holding.”

  “How do you manage that under pressure?” Elsie asked. “I mean, when you get Cards—”

  “Feels like someone’s just given you the best orgasm of your life?” Mayce cut in.

  Elsie blushed furiously, and Mayce’s face actually split into a genuine grin.

  It looked good on her.

  “I guess…” Elsie managed.

  “That’s where a lot of new Players get caught,” Mayce told her. “That initial rush has gotten a lot of newbies killed. Even professional Guild hitters struggle with it. Better the Card, the bigger the rush. Then you’ve probably got a split second to shuffle the new Cards into your Deck, upgrade your other ones, and adjust to the new power levels.”

  I had a sudden image of Elsie getting gutted while her eyes rolled back in pleasure, and my teeth clamped together with a snarl. She enjoyed the high, but if she was using her rage-inducing Utility at the same time, it’d leave her open to an opportunistic Player.

  “How do you get around that?” I asked.

  “Cripple people,” Mayce replied instantly. “You might’ve already figured out that we’re pretty much unkillable by normal means. Bullets, knives, guns, possibly nukes—none of that shit works on us if it’s not magic. But you take a single shot from an Item or Spell?”

  “Hurts just as bad,” I said.

  “Exactly,” Mayce agreed. “Which is where Guilds come in.”

  Elsie frowned. “Run us through that. If we’re going to kick the hornet’s nest, we may as well know what we’re going up against here.”

  “People figured out hundreds of years ago that Players worked better together,” Mayce said. “You can cover each other’s weaknesses, push through post-combat highs, and evenly divide resources for your team. It’s a good system, mostly, but there are problems with it, too.”

  “The human element,” I said.

  “Exactly,” Mayce agreed. “Guilds are opportunistic lunatics these days. Three main ones that you’ve probably heard of. Dragons, Leviathans, and Giants. They’ve all got their own turf—”

  Elsie shot me a pleased look. “You already called that.”

  “—and their own ways of fighting and building up their Players,” Mayce continued as if she hadn’t heard her. “Dragons are all about aggression and swarm tactics. Think of a pack of wolves or hyenas. They’ll hit you fast, hit you hard, and use their numbers to wipe you out.”

  “Doesn’t seem like your Deck matches that philosophy,” I pointed out.

  Mayce’s mouth twisted into a fierce smile. “Fuck ’em. Why do you think I left?”

  My respect for her cranked up another couple of notches.

  “What about the Giants?” Elsie pressed.

  “Different breed of animal,” Mayce told her. “If I had to put you to a Guild, Tex, it’d be the Giants. They’re all about individual strength, and they tend to run in smaller teams. Much more territorial, too. Each and every one of them is a powerhouse, and they take pride in that.”

  “So they invest more in training up their members, rather than recruiting expendables?”

  “Exactly like that,” she agreed. “No need to plug the ranks with cannon fodder if you’ve already got a pack of experienced professionals. That’s how they play the Game, and that’s what they’re good at.”

  I thought back to the first Player we’d run into. He fitted the description.

  “And the Leviathans?” I asked. “Daine said they’re ‘not friendly’. Given what we’ve already run into, that can’t be an understatement.”

  “They keep to themselves,” Mayce said. “And they fight dirty. Dragons will send waves after you if you’ve got something that they want or need. They’ll recruit just about anyone. Giants tend to keep to themselves and rely on better planning and structure to get results. Leviathans like to catch people when their back’s turned. You don’t trust what they say, and you sure as hell don’t get caught on their turf if you value your life.”

  “Like a deep-sea monster,” Elsie realized.

  “Exactly,” Mayce nodded. “Rise up out of the depths quick, chomp down on whatever they can find, cause a shitstorm, and then drop back into their lairs until they see another meal. Dragons might be opportunistic, but they’re reckless fucks. Leviathans are smart, and that’s what makes them dangerous. They won’t make a play unless they’re sure they can win.”

  “And we’re walking straight into their lair,” I muttered. “Perfect.”

  Mayce hopped down from the loading ramp and landed easily on the concrete. “Yep. That’s why Daine can’t get any of his pet Sharks to run a raid like this. You piss off the Leviathans and they’ll catch you when your pants are down.”

  I took a minute to process everything Mayce had told us. She’d been upfront, and she didn’t have a good reason to lie to us. She was just as invested as we were in safety. The enthusiasm in her voice was a marked change from the surly-bitch energy she’d radiated since she’d surprised us near Castledaine Pub. The information about the Decks had been welcome, and it was something that I needed to figure out for Elsie. My own Divinity Card took the edge off—I wouldn’t have to make a snap decision on what Cards to sacrifice—but Elsie and Mayce didn’t have the same trick up their sleeves.

  I had two more questions that needed answering.

  “Monsters,” I said. “Elsie and I picked up our first Card from a knarlback. It couldn’t have been a Player, right? So where do they come from?”

  Mayce grimaced at that. “Plenty of people ask that question. Dragon Guild says that they come from the Other Side. Another dimension or something. They’re one of the only ways that regular vanillas can join the Game. Word on the street is that the Arbiters have something to do with it. Opening up portals to let creatures through, shit like that.”

  “So they can get new Players?” Elsie said, stunned.

  “Or so pre-existing Players get stronger,” Mayce replied. “Giants are big on making sure they have access to those monsters. Dragons tend to go after Players, and Leviathans”—she shrugged—“take what they can get when it’s passing them by.”

  “Helps explain why the street was empty,” Elsie told me. “The Arbiters must’ve pulled some strings or something to keep regular people away from the monster.” She turned back to Mayce. “Does that happen often? Arbiters letting monsters through?”

  “It’s a rumor,” Mayce reminded her. “Arbiters keep to themselves, and most Players are scared shitless of them. You really don’t want them knocking on your door because it means that they’re about to start taking away your levels or nudging other Players towards you.”

  “Seems like an easy thing to abuse,” I observed.

  “Harder than you’d think,” she fired back. “They come after you if you’re threatening to expose the Game. It’s the only way it gets kept out of the vanilla’s lives. They still notice the weird, don’t get me wrong, but if you tried talking to a journalist?”

  I grimaced. “Public enemy number one.”

  “Exactly.”

  Elsie grinned at Mayce. “You’re a good teacher.”

  “Well, if we don’t all get killed doing the impossible, I guess I will be,” Mayce told her.

  “Speaking of… you said you’d looked around the Leviathan fight club?” I asked.

  “From a distance,” Mayce said. “Didn’t want to get too close.”

  “So we’re shooting blind until we get inside,” I said. “Not exactly optimal.”

  “Daine gave us a strategy, though,” Elsie pointed out. “We head in, get into one of these pit fights, and create a distraction.” She turned to Mayce. “And someone here can turn invisible. That’s got to count for something.”

  “New Card,” Mayce said. “I don’t want to rely on it. I haven’t had the time to put it through its paces yet, and I don’t want to get caught somewhere I shouldn’t be. That’ll bring the whole house down on our heads, and we’re not ready for that kind of heat.”

  “What we really need is a getaway vehicle,” I said. “Some way or someone who can get us back to Castledaine if things get hairy. We can’t just walk a prisoner out of there, especially if they’ve got her under guard.”

  Mayce gritted her teeth. “I don’t exactly have a car stashed in my backpack.”

  I thought back to my truck with a pang of heartbreak. “I did until a knarlback took it apart. Thing’s probably impounded or at the wrecker’s. Otherwise, I’d use that.”

  “Know anything about stealing cars?” Elsie asked Mayce.

  The homeless assassin glared at her. “Why would you think that?”

  Elsie backpedaled a step. “I just thought—”

  I slid smoothly into the conversation before Mayce could drop back into being a sarcastic pain in the ass. I wanted to maintain her conversational tone, where she was friendly and used nicknames for us. Snappy, short, and sharp Mayce wasn’t going to help us come up with a plan.

  “I might,” I offered. “Mayce, what do you know about Bess?”

  “Not much,” the girl told me. “Quiet, keeps to herself, allegedly a hell of a Player.”

  “Why wouldn’t they just kill her?” Elsie asked.

  “Because it hurts Daine?” I suggested. “Gives them leverage, maybe makes the Sharks easier to hire?”

  “Daine doesn’t negotiate like that,” Mayce said, but her eyes widened. “Makes a lot of sense, though. Bess runs all the books on the Sharks. She helps put the contracts together, can get people from one place to another, and I hear she’s the major liaison between the Guilds and the Sharks.”

  “So why go after her?” Elsie asked again.

  “Because,” I said slowly, “that cuts off outside help for the Guilds.”

  We all stood in tense silence for a minute.

  “And if you can start war in Switzerland,” Mayce said finally, “then nowhere’s safe.”

  “So this isn’t just a normal pickup,” I said. “This is serious shit.”

  “Shifting the balance of power kinda serious,” Mayce said. “Fuck, I didn’t even think about it. Sharks aren’t going to stick around Daine if they can’t get access to him. And they won’t travel here for contracts, either.”

  “Are we picking a side here, then?” Elsie asked.

  I shook my head. “We’re getting paid. We may as well be Sharks ourselves.”

  “No wonder he was happy to be so generous with us,” Elsie said.

  My checklist of things I needed to accomplish appeared in my head again.

  “We need to scout the place out first,” I said. “See if we can find a car to steal. We head in, introduce ourselves, get into a fight—like you were saying, Else. Which leaves finding Bess up to you, Mayce.”

  Mayce exhaled sharply. “No pressure.”

  “Hey, you wanted to come along.”

  She frowned at me. “Didn’t realize I’d be doing all the work.”

  “You got a summon you want to put into the fight instead?” I asked.

  The former Dragon shook her head quickly. “I don’t mess with that shit.”

  “Then we’re relying on you to find her. Think you can manage that and get back to us without being seen?” I asked.

  “What do you have in mind, Matt?” Elsie asked me.

  “Once we know where she is,” I said, “then it’s just a case of getting her out. We find an exit route, get a car running, and then improvise a distraction. Should give us the time and the space we need to get Bess clear. Then we get back to the Castledaine, and we’re safe.”

  “What kind of distraction?” Mayce pressed.

  I grinned at her. “No idea yet. I’ll figure something out.”

  The three of us looked at each other for a moment. A fierce swell of something warm and primal started up in my gut. I couldn’t tell if it was just the adrenaline, the excitement of doing something so obviously illegal and dangerous, or pride at having two powerful women by my side. I decided that it was all three and thought about our luggage problem.

  “You got anywhere that we can stash our gear?” I asked Mayce.

  “I’m homeless, remember?” she replied.

  “Could try the Hudsons,” Elsie said.

  “Don’t want to bring them into this, remember?” I reminded her. “Guess we’ll have to work with it until we’ve found what we need. You two ready to do this?”

  Mayce’s genuine smile flicked out at me again. “Got to start sooner or later.”

  “You can show us the way, then.”

  She nodded and led us back around the abandoned warehouse and through the hole in the fence. Elsie’s breathing hitched up as we started down the street and headed east. The broken-down warehouses and boarded-up windows of dead businesses grew more and more common, and we turned down the end of a long cul-de-sac. Mayce held up a hand to stop us at the corner of the street. The three of us stepped over the curb and up to the corner of a building that must’ve once been some kind of post office.

  The location of our kidnapped accountant sat right at the end of the street.

  Warehouses flanked either side of a three-story building. Faded paint on the sides told us that it’d once been some kind of bottling plant, but bottling plants didn’t have cars worth as much as a house parked out front. I could see movement around a main entrance, and I peered closer to try and get a feel for what we were walking into.

  “Four guys on the main door,” Mayce said beside me.

  “Place like that has to have a back entrance,” Elsie noted.

  “Probably just as heavily guarded,” I said. “We’ll have to go in through the front.” I watched a couple in their forties with expensive clothes step through the front doors and into the warehouse within. “Here’s to hoping there isn’t a cover charge.”

  “Shouldn’t be,” Mayce said. “Not a lot of Players are high rollers like that.”

  “You’re saying they tend to look more like you?” Elsie teased quietly.

  Mayce shook her head. “Money like that means they’re either inner-circle Guild types or they’re out-of-town Leviathans. Cars all look on the expensive side. You sure you can jack something like that?”

  I shook my head. “Too many electronics. We need something older.”

  My eyes settled on a plain white pickup parked beside the warehouse. The tray was piled high with crates, but it looked unattended and ancient enough for me to get into if I needed it. A coat hanger could get you a long way if you needed to get inside. I didn’t have a history of hot-wiring a vehicle like that, either.

  “We’ll need a set of keys,” I said. “See that Ford?”

  Elsie nodded. “Looks like a gorgeous old pick-up. I could get her started.”

  I stared at her. “You what?”

  “Listen, you learn things on a farm,” she told me, defensively. “Sometimes you lose keys or you just need to get an old girl started with a little elbow grease.”

  “What do you know, we’ve got a hick scientist with us,” Mayce snarked.

  “Well, that takes care of that,” I said. “Just got to pray it’s still there when we’re done finding Bess and fighting off monsters.”

  I pushed out from behind the decommissioned post office, and the three of us started down the street. There weren’t any cars moving in or out, and I could hear a soft roar rolling out from the old bottling plant. The fights had already started. The three of us did our best to look inconspicuous as we stepped past Aston Martins, Jaguars, and Teslas and through the main gate of the plant. The four security guards watched us approach with a lazy arrogance in their eyes, and I took an immediate disliking to them.

  “Let me do the talking,” I said with an undertone.

  “Be my guest,” Mayce muttered back.

  A quick scan over the Leviathan’s security wasn’t encouraging. They all had the same gray-black suit ensemble, matching ear pieces, and looked like they ate an entire set of weights each morning. I gave the tallest guy a smile as we got closer and nodded to the front entrance.

  “Here for the fights,” I said.

  “Got three Players here,” one of the guards said into his mic.

  The guards spread out a little and angled themselves until the three of us were standing in the center of a rough semi-circle. I didn’t like the feeling of having people on our flanks, but I couldn’t do much about it. Each of these guys probably weighed as much as a fridge, and they carried themselves with the air of professional meatheads.

  I couldn’t tell if they were Players or not, and I had no intention of finding out.

  The tallest, baldest bouncer took a step forward. “Who recommended you?”

  My mouth went dry as I quickly conjured a lie up into my head. “A Shark from downtown. Told me that this was the place to go to put my summons through their paces.”

 

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