Chapter Twenty-Seven: Not Totally Stupid

  According to the System, I was more than twice as smart as I had been five days ago. And maybe the System was right, because I had an answer—at least for Pen—within about thirty seconds.

  “What if I have a hiding spot for you? One where they’ll never find you?”

  Her smile was faint. “The dogs’ll find me.”

  I shook my head. “Nope, they won’t. We probably have some time still. They’re not going to come back here right away. Especially not if… well.”

  I was going to do the Barrows the courtesy of assuming they weren’t totally stupid. I’d chased Robbie off my property not much more than an hour ago, and I’d done it in such a way that he knew I was hostile, potentially dangerous, and that at least one of my dogs had System magic. It would be stupid to come back right away. They’d want to give me time to relax, to let down my guard.

  If it was just me, and if it was still last week, I wouldn’t be so sure. Six men, two dogs, up against me and my three dogs? They’d probably take their chances.

  Of course, they’d think about guns because this was backwoods Florida; they’d assume I’d have at least one and they’d be right. Not because I was worried about home invasions or anything so unlikely, but when a rabid raccoon entered your yard, you did want some way of dealing with it that didn’t involve holing up in the house indefinitely. I wasn’t the greatest shot, and I didn’t do it for fun, but I knew how to fire a gun and I could hit what I was aiming at when it got close enough. And stand your ground is a thing in Florida: if they came onto my land and I felt threatened, they’d know I could shoot to kill and get away with it.

  They still wouldn’t have worried. They’d assume I’d hesitate and they’d be right about that, too.

  But times had changed. We’d shown off enough System magic to make Robbie run like a bat out of hell. Even if they were going to return just to politely ask if I’d seen their missing sister, they’d take some time to think about it first.

  “I think you could probably take a shower if you want,” I said. “If you’re okay with just wet wipes, or maybe some bottled water, soap and a washcloth, we can leave right now.”

  “I—” Pen hesitated. “Wet wipes would be fine, ma’am. But are you sure? I can just go on my own. Now that it’s daylight, I can head into the forest. If I can make it to a road…” She stopped when I started shaking my head.

  “There really are monsters out there now. And not just the human kind. Did you see the dead squirrels in the yard?”

  Pen shook her head. “It was dark. I did think I’d get farther than this, but it was harder than I thought it would be. I kept tripping. I meant to follow the trail into the forest, but when I hit the end of the road, I decided I should wait until daylight. I’m sorry about breaking into your shed.”

  “Breaking? You just opened the door, right?”

  I didn’t lock the shed. Or the garage for that matter. Who was going to steal from me, the bears? They would, of course, if I left anything remotely like food within their reach, but I didn’t.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Yeah, I don’t consider that breaking. I’m glad you found it.” I eyed the cat in her lap. I didn’t need to ask him. Wherever Pen was going, he was going, too. Pre-System, I would have asked if we needed to find something to carry him in, but if he was too heavy for Pen for the relatively short walk ahead of us, I trusted him to follow.

  The dogs had all settled down on their beds again as Pen and I talked, but both Zelda and Bear had their eyes open, watchful. Riley looked cozier, but when I glanced in his direction, he promptly sat up. It was the signal Bear was waiting for. She bounced to her feet and headed straight for the door. Zelda was a little less pushy about it, but she padded over to me and sat down right next to my foot, almost on it. The I’m coming, too message was clear as daylight.

  “All right, we’ll all go,” I told the animals.

  Pen stood, hoisting Gus and draping him over her shoulder. It was a position he was obviously used to, because he didn’t object in the least. The General would probably have demanded to sit properly, but Gus was so happy to have his person back that he didn’t even hint at a complaint. Even his tail stayed relaxed.

  Pen saw the direction of my gaze and maybe my smile, because she stroked a hand down his back and said, tentatively, “Is he saying something? Something I should know?”

  I shook my head. “He’s just happy. Really, really happy.”

  Her smile glowed, and she bent her head so her cheek brushed against his fur. “I really want that. To be able to understand him like that.”

  “Animal communication skill,” I told her as I headed toward the back door. I held the French doors open, and ushered everyone through, then looked around the sunroom with a suppressed sigh.

  I’d thought about leaving a dog home to guard the den—Riley, it would have to be. But if the Barrows showed up while we were gone and destroyed my house, I’d be sad. If they killed my dog, I’d be devastated.

  That said, I really hoped they didn’t destroy my house. I wasn’t going to bother to lock the doors. It was a sunroom, with French doors. Why encourage them to smash the windows?

  “How do I get it?” Pen asked and I had to think for a moment to remember what we’d been talking about.

  “If you practice listening and looking, you might get it on your own, but I think if you want it enough, the System will probably find a way to get it to you. And failing that, there’s going to be ways to earn credits, and I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to earn enough credits to buy skills at a System store.”

  “D’you think I’ll be able to do that?” Pen sounded doubtful as she followed me across the yard.

  “Earn credits?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I don’t see why not.” We’d reached the shimmer. I looked around to make sure that all three dogs were ready.

  “I’m not really… well, I don’t think I could get a job. I’m home-schooled. Which I sorta think maybe means not schooled at all. I know my Bible, that’s for sure, but… Sometimes my brother Luke lets me look at the internet when I visit his apartment. He works construction and Daddy lets me go over there so I can clean for him. He’d rather Luke stayed home, but the boys had to share bedrooms, and Luke said John snored too much, drove him crazy.”

  If Pen was a dog, I’d know whether she was babbling because she was scared or because she was relaxing and feeling comfortable enough to open up. I ought to be able to tell even with a human, because I had a ton of points in Perception, but I couldn’t. Maybe it was a little of both.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  I smiled, trying to make it reassuring, and gestured to the shimmer. It still had its high-pitched hum, but the dogs had gotten used to it enough that they no longer barked at the sound.

  “This is the entrance to a rift,” I told Pen. “When we walk through this spot—” I sort of outlined the shimmer’s boundaries with my hand, “—we’ll be in a different place.”

  “A magic place?” Pen asked, eyes wide.

  “Yes.”

  “Like Faeryland?” She sounded eager.

  I glanced at the shimmer. “Well…” I shrugged. Alas, it was more like Oklahoma. Somehow I suspected the Dollar General was going to be a disappointment. “We all have to go in together, at very close to the same time. Once we’re inside, no one else can enter the same place. They can walk through the breach—this thing,” I added, waving at the shimmer again, “—but it won’t take them to where you are.”

  Pen’s smile was radiant and she clutched Gus to her with enough strength that he wiggled. “You really do have a hiding place.”

  “An almost perfect one,” I agreed. “Just a couple little problems with it. I’ll show you when we get there.”

  I whistled for the dogs and we all entered the breach. The only options my HUD gave me this time were to go to my RMI or the Thorn’s Edge rift, and I chose the rift. If the reason I was in trouble with the Rift Management Oversight Board was because I’d brought JJ into my RMI, I didn’t want to exacerbate the situation by bringing Pen in, too.

  If she could use the RMI, I might have anyway. Comfortable chairs, plenty of coffee and tea—it would have been a good place to leave her. But for her, it would have been like standing in an empty box for however long she had to stay in here. In the rift, she’d have food from the Dollar General, a toilet at the gas station, and something to do.

  Not that she was necessarily going to enjoy the something to do part.

  If I’d been a mom, I’d probably have made my kid eat her vegetables.

  It was morning in fake Oklahoma, too, although cooler than it had been in Florida. The air held an edge of crispness that felt like it would soon burn off in the warmth of the sun.

  Pen was looking around, her expression somewhere between “What the hell?” and “Ooookay.”

  “Not exactly Faeryland,” I said.

  “Not, um… not what I expected, no,” Pen said politely.

  “It is actually magic, though.” I waved toward the Dollar General down the road. “You’ll see when we go inside. Stuff’s all a little weird. Brighter colors, the wrong names, that kind of thing. But it all works just fine. You’ll have food, drinks, wet wipes. Clothing, too.”

  I eyed her. I hadn’t explored the clothing aisle in the Dollar General, but I was pretty sure they sold sweatshirts, Ts and cheap underwear. The selection wouldn’t be great, but she might be able to find clothes that actually fit which would be nicer for her than trying to squeeze into something of mine.

  “There’s only one problem,” I finished.

  For the first time, I tapped Analyze and looked at Pen’s info.

  Name: Penelope (Pen) Barrow

  Title: none

  Species: Human

  Class: Healer

  Level: 4

  Condition: Optimal

  Affiliations: None known

  Her level was a surprise. That was so much higher than I expected. I’d figured she’d be Level 1, with one dead mana-crazed armadillo to her name. Had she been out killing monsters on the side?

  “You’re Level 4 already?” I asked.

  She nodded, still looking around her like she’d never seen Oklahoma dirt before.

  “I get points for healing people. It’s pretty slow, but I did a lot of healing over the past few days.” She pressed her lips together as if she wanted to say more, but didn’t want to let the feeling out.

  “Well, that’s good, because the problem is that the Dollar General, the forest, and the gas station all have monsters.”

  “Monsters?” Her head whipped in my direction and the General let out a yowl as she squeezed him too tight. “Oh, I’m sorry, Gus.” She opened her arms and he leaped to the ground and began licking his shoulder furiously.

  “I’m sorry,” she repeated, kneeling next to him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “He’s not hurt, just embarrassed that he overreacted,” I said. I understood what that licking meant.

  The General gave me a Look.

  “What, do you want her to feel bad?” I asked.

  I would prefer, the General said, with a pointed look at Pen's hands, not to be used as a stress ball. He renewed his licking.

  “Fair enough.” I shrugged.

  “What’s he saying?” Pen asked. She held out a finger in his direction, not touching. He ignored it.

  “No squeezing.” I summed up his wishes, and got back to the point. “The monsters are bugs. Things like giant palmetto bugs in the Dollar General; beetles in the gas station; crickets in the forest. Most of them are pretty low-level. The toughest are around Level 5 or 6. We can stay away from the forest, but we’re going to need to kill the ones in the gas station and the Dollar General so that you can use those places as you like.”

  “Giant palmettos?” Pen said. “I can kill those, no problem.”

  “I want the General killing them, too.”

  The General paused in his licking and gave me another Look.

  “You need levels. Lots of them. I’m going to leave Bear in here with two of you, and she’ll be able to keep you safe, but in the long run, you’re going to be Penelope’s protector. A healer’s never going to be the best fighter and it’ll be your job to keep her safe. Which means you need to kill bugs, too.”

  I have never objected to hunting, the General replied. The twitch of his nose was a veritable lecture in Feline about telling an expert how to do his job.

  “Excellent.” I glanced at the sky. “Are you going to be okay if I leave you here? Like I said, I’ll leave Bear with you and she’s Level 11, she can kill every bug in here on her own without even breathing hard. I’d stay, too, but I don’t want to leave my house alone for too long.”

  The thought of the Barrows breaking in or burning my house down was making me antsy. I’d said I would be sad about the house, devastated about the dog, but really, I’d be devastated by either. I could fix broken windows if I could find the glass, but it was my home. I wanted to be there to protect it.

  “We’ll be fine.” Pen lifted her chin. “I thought I’d be out in the forest, all by my lonesome. This is much better.”

  “Good.” I smiled at her, and then hesitated. “One thing. I’m not real worried about your family, so you shouldn’t be either. I’m going to let them search, and if they try to get rough, well, I’ve got some defensive abilities. My class is a Guardian class, focused on protection. I’ve even got an armor ability if I need it.”

  I didn’t want to share too many details. I trusted Pen, as much as one could trust a total stranger, but I had a feeling that abilities were best kept private. And I definitely wasn’t going to tell her my level. I was pretty sure that it ought to be higher than that of anyone in her family if her Murder Hobo of a brother was only Level 3, but no one needed to know how high my level actually was. In fact, that trait I had, [Body in Balance], meant that her brother would never be able to hurt me.

  Well, that brother, anyway.

  “Do you know what level your family members are?” I asked, my voice coming out more abrupt than I’d intended.

  “My daddy’s Level 6,” Pen said, agreeably enough.

  I bit my lip, then stopped because I didn’t want to show my reaction so visibly. But damn. That was definitely higher than I expected. And [Body in Balance] could only keep me safe from monsters—which yes, included her family—below Level 6.

  “My brothers, I’m not sure. I think maybe Luke is the highest at 5. I know he was talking to Robbie about his class.”

  “Is he—” I stopped, not knowing how to ask the question I wanted to ask with any vestige of politeness. But was he a Murder Hobo, too? Was he mass murdering his neighbors for points?

  “He’s been out in the forest a lot,” Pen continued. “He actually killed a panther, which I thought was sad, but he said it had turned into a monster. I didn’t know whether to believe him, but he was awful bloody and his pants were ripped into shreds, so monster or not, it looked like it coulda been panther damage to me. He didn’t bring the body home, but I guess maybe he was too badly injured. My other brothers…” She paused, then finished, “They’ve been spending more time together.”

  Her eyes met mine, then flickered away. She was back to staring at the ground.

  “Got it.”

  Thanks for reading!

  Next chapter, Friday, March 6, 2026