bookpower Book 2: Chapter 62: A One-Time Thing
Book 2: Chapter 62: A One-Time Thing
Book 2: Chapter 62: A One-Time Thing
It was a good morning.
That was the most prevalent thought in every facet of Elijah’s mind as he lay on his side, his head propped on one hand as he beheld the goddess he’d met the night before. As she dressed, this time in normal clothes as opposed to the Wonder Woman get-up she’d worn when she had accosted him, she gave him a small smirk. “What?” she asked.
“Do you think there’s a prostitute class?” he asked.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Come again.”
“What?” he said. Then, it hit him what he’d just suggested. “No! I didn’t mean you! It’s just that I was thinking about it last night, and –”
“And you think I’m a whore? I’ll have you know that I’m a well-respected member of this community, and I do not have a prostitute class!” she shouted. Her eyes went to the spear propped against the wall.
Before she could take a step toward it, Elijah leaped to his feet, just in case he needed to defend himself. He didn’t think getting stabbed would kill him, but he didn’t want to experience it regardless. He held his hands out in surrender, “Wait. That’s not what I meant!”
She stopped, put her hands on her hips, and demanded, “Then explain it. If I don’t like your explanation, there’s always the spear. And believe me, I’ve got a good measure of your attributes, so I’m fairly sure you’re not getting away if I don’t want you to.”
“Do men run away from you often?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Not successfully.”
Elijah could believe it, too. While he had no idea what level Delilah was, she’d certainly proven that her physical attributes were up to just about any task. He’d only spent one night with her – and it was definitely a pleasurable one – but he was sore in places he didn’t even know existed. To call her strong would have been an understatement.
If he was in a bit less desperate of a situation, he might’ve wondered why she wasn’t on the power ladder, but as it was, he was far too concerned with explaining himself.
“It was just an idle thought, okay? I’m weird. We’ve established that. I sometimes lose track of things,” he said.
“Do better,” she said, taking a step toward the spear.
“Okay! Okay,” he said. “I spent a long time alone. Like, a long time. Longer than you can imagine. So, I sort of lost some of my...uh...social graces. I’m trying to get them back, but it’s a work in progress. What I meant when I asked about that...other class was that there seem to be classes for all sorts of other professions. And that’s supposed to be the oldest one, right? I’m sure that wherever the system came from had lonely people who would pay for companionship, right? It seems like there’d be just as much call for someone with that kind of class as there is for, say, a carpenter. Or an archivist. Or whatever other non-combat classes are out there.”
“Just idle curiosity, then. That’s your final answer, huh?”
“I should warn you that I am a powerful warrior, and I will defend myself if necessary,” he said. That’s when he realized that he was probably twenty pounds lighter than her, a couple of inches shorter, and as they’d established the night before, lacking more than a few points in Strength.
He was also still naked, which he only realized when Delilah’s eyes flicked down to his most private bits. But he stubbornly refused to cover up. She’d seen all there was to see, anyway. It wasn’t as if he had anything to hide after the night they’d spent together.
“You really believe that, huh?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “Scrawny thing like you.”
“Uh...I spent two years with barely enough food to survive,” he said. “I think I’m in pretty good shape, all things considered. And let’s not even talk about when I got digested by a whale. Or whale monster, I guess. I was down to skin and bones after that.”
“A whale monster? Where in the world did you encounter a whale monster?”
“In the Sea of Sorrows. Or something like that. I forget the name, if I’m honest,” he said, hopping off the bed. “My point is that you shouldn’t make light of someone who’s been through what I’ve been through. Bad form, and all that.” She narrowed her eyes again, and he added, “My other point is that, in no way, shape, or form did I mean to impugn your reputation. If I did, I apologize wholeheartedly and throw myself upon your generous mercy.”
He ended with as dramatic a bow as he could muster.
“You’re not getting laid again.”
“What?”
“You heard me. It was fun. I had a great time,” she said. “But this was always going to be a one-time thing.”
Elijah nodded, but he really didn’t know how to respond to that.
“Also, please stay away from my sister.”
“What? Why? I mean, she came for me!”
“Ugh. Please just...no. Just no.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong!”
Isaak just shook his head. Then, he cleared his throat before asking, “Where are you going to go?”
Elijah was more than happy to move the conversational topic to something else, and he said, “There’s a town a few hundred miles from here. It’s called Kalajma. That’s the next stop.”
“I thought you wanted to go to Seattle.”
“I do,” he said. “And how do you know that?”
Indeed, he’d never revealed his plans to Isaak. Suddenly, he was suspicious.
“Delilah told me. She said you told her about it last night.”
“We didn’t do much talking last night.”
“Gross.”
“Where did you really hear it?” Elijah asked.
“Fine. It was from Atticus. When we got back into town, someone told me that you two had gotten kind of friendly. So, I went over there today and asked about you,” Isaak said. “He told me about Seattle.”
“What else did he tell you?”
“Nothing!” Isaak said, taking a step back.
“Easy, kid. I’m not going to attack you. Jesus. People are so paranoid. Like I’d just murder a kid in the middle of town,” he muttered. “Just don’t tell anybody else, okay? I’m not exactly hiding here, but I don’t need my business all over town.”
“You might’ve made friends with the wrong person, then. Everybody knows Atticus is the town gossip,” Isaak revealed.
“Of course he is,” Elijah said, running his hand down his face in exasperation. In reality, it wasn’t really that surprising. In retrospect, it wasn’t even that frustrating. Atticus was just a friendly guy who was probably on good terms with everyone in town. Of course he’d talk. Elijah could just hope that he hadn’t revealed all of his secrets. “It’s fine. I’m leaving anyway, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come this way again.”
“Don’t you want to know where Seattle is? It’s to the southeast. Close to five-hundred miles, though. At least according to the last peddler that came through here,” Isaak explained. “He seemed pretty sure about it, though, and from what I understand, it’s not a good situation down there. But that was more than a year ago, so I’m sure things have changed.”
“Do you know anything else about it?”
Isaak shook his head. “And that’s second-hand information. For all I know, the peddler was lying. But he seemed sure that Seattle was in that direction, and I don’t see why he would lie about that part.”
“Me neither.”
After that, the conversation went on for a few more minutes, but it was clear that Isaak didn’t have any more information. So, Elijah said goodbye, patted the cat on its bristly head, then set off to the southeast. Hopefully, before too long, he would reach Seattle and find his sister.
So, it was with some degree of optimism that he left Argos behind and set off into the wilderness.