Earnest smiled, guiding her out of the leprechaun’s booth. “Looks that way.” 

Ronnie looked down at her feet and nodded- she was feeling so frustrated that she couldn’t trust her voice at this point. Silently, she walked off, only to be stopped when Earnest grabbed her arm. “Hey,” he said, turning her around to face him and resting a hand on her cheek. “Don’t worry… we’ll figure this out, all right?” 

Ronnie huffed, hugging her shoulders. “Not like I have much of a choice… as usual.” 

At that, he pulled her close, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “You have a choice… it’s just that it’s a shitty one.” 

She laughed so hard that she snorted. “Asshole.” Lightly, she shoved him in the chest, but Earnest just grinned, only allowing himself to sway slightly. “You know,” she said as they left the casino, “the mission is over. You don’t have to pretend to be my date anymore.” 

Earnest just shrugged, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “What if I enjoy having you as my date?” 

“Then I’d say you have low standards,” Ronnie replied, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Time to get back to the real world… we got a riddle to solve, and I’ve got a goddamn dress to get out of.” 

He smirked, letting his eyes dance with flecks of yellow and green. “Need any help with that?” Ronnie almost said something sarcastic, but her mouth dropped open with horror as realization crept into the back of her brain. “Um,” she croaked, twiddling her thumbs, “how far was the range on this charm again?” 

“Hundred feet, give or take… why?” 

Ronnie licked her lips nervously, carefully avoiding his gaze as they walked past the centaur. “I don’t have a place that’s even remotely big enough for the two of us,” she muttered, dropping her voice to almost a whisper. “You, uh, wouldn’t happen to have enough for a hotel, would you?” 

Earnest paused, resting his hand on the small of her back. “My place is small, but we’ll fit just fine,” he replied casually, her dress shimmering with multicolored swirls. “It’ll work out.” 

“I think we need to set up some rules,” Ronnie retorted, glaring up at him. “This part of the job is done, so playtime’s over.” 

“Says who?” Earnest asked mildly, opening the door for her as they exited the casino. “We can just as easily—” 

Before he could say another word, a furry hand clamped down on Ronnie’s arm. “Not inside anymore,” Wangchu growled. “Time to pay your debt, Rainmaker.”

Ronnie reacted instinctively. Yetis were still mammals, and that was a point in her favor. She slammed the butt of her fist into his groin. As Wangchu doubled over in pain, she brought her elbow up into his chin.

Unfortunately, his bones were dense, and the second shot wasn’t as effective as it would have been on a human. The yeti roared, bringing a fist up and wide, aiming for her face — thankfully, Ronnie could sidestep it easily. Her back hit the door, slamming it shut with a thud before Earnest could leave.

Wangchu brought his other fist around, which connected with Ronnie’s jawbone this time, causing the coin in her hair to fly to the ground. Her head snapped to the side with the impact, and she gasped in a breath as she ducked down to avoid the next blow. The impact landed on the door, shattering the glass. Trying to give herself space to dive for the coin, Ronnie kicked out at his knees.

Just then, Earnest slammed the door open with a snarl, his wings out as he threw himself between Wangchu and Ronnie. Not one to miss an opportunity, she grabbed for the coin and a shard, quickly opening a shallow cut on the top of her arm. Using her blood to draw a pair of runes, Ronnie activated them with a swipe of blood over the coin, causing her soul to ripple as Earnest’s power passed over the bridge.

Wangchu froze, caught in her stasis field. She paused, suppressing a gasp from the magic use. “Don’t have a debt to you, asshole.”

“YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!”

Ronnie shoved at Earnest, trying to push him out of the way, not missing the pure violet in his eyes — the grekelhind didn’t move, and his claws were inches from the yeti’s throat. “Give me a reason I shouldn’t rip your throat out right now.”

“This isn’t your business, grek.” Wangchu struggled against the invisible bonds. “You don’t fight fair, human.”

Ronnie had to laugh. “Since when do humans fight fair?”

Wangchu just roared.

There was only one way to solve this, and she would have to time this perfectly to avoid getting her or Earnest mauled by the yeti. Well, at least Earnest would heal quickly — she might have some bruises.

Typically, she would gut the yeti, but this wasn’t a normal situation — though she didn’t have her knife, Ronnie had more than enough soul to work with, thanks to the bridge. She quickly sketched more runes, hoping the spell would work. It wasn’t part of her standard repertoire because the soul cost was usually too high, but today was different.

Ronnie kicked gravel over the previous runes to break the stasis field and activated the new runes. The stasis field broke, and Wangchu came out swinging — Earnest caught his fist before the blow landed. Then the second spell hit, and Wangchu dropped to all fours in a cry of pain.

Gaping, Ronnie couldn’t help being slightly exasperated and impressed by the yeti’s stamina. “Fuck! That was supposed to kill him!”

Wangchu stumbled up enough to tackle Ronnie down. Blows rained on her face and body, making her see stars. She tried to buck him off, but the yeti was too heavy — she felt something snap, and a blinding pain shot between her eyes. Then Earnest blinked over, kicking the yeti in the head. Realizing there was an additional threat, Wangchu turned his attention to the grekelhind with another shout, grabbing Earnest’s legs.

The grekelhind darted forward with his claws extended as he lunged for Wangchu.

Ronnie saw Wangchu’s pulse beat once, twice… then Earnest ripped his hand across the yeti’s throat — there was a gurgle, then a gasp, followed by silence.

Earnest dragged the dead yeti off Ronnie and scooped her up. She groaned. “You need a healer.”

Ronnie felt like someone had pureed her insides, but she still glowered at Earnest. “‘M fine,” she grumbled, running her tongue over the inside of her mouth and checking to see if she still had teeth. “Been through worse.” 

“Why does that not surprise me?” Earnest grumbled, rolling his eyes. With a deep sigh, he bent over and scooped her in his arms. “Time to go, champ.” 

Ronnie tried to struggle, but her arms felt like lead- when her hand connected with his arm, she winced with pain. “I can do it myself,” she said feebly, shivering as a breeze passed over her body. “I don’t need your help.” 

“I’m pretty sure you do, seeing as our friend here just pounded you into the pavement,” he snapped, ignoring her protests as he stepped through the aether. “And besides, the concrete just ate your dress. What, you feel like showing everyone out here your ass, or are you gonna settle down so I can get us out of here?” 

Oh. Ronnie blushed furiously, thankful that the swelling in her face probably hid the color. “The coin,” she croaked, trying to rack her brain for the important things. “Where is it?” 

Earnest shh’d her, stopping at her car and opening the passenger door. “Still here,” he said quietly, carefully lowering her into the passenger’s seat. “Don’t worry about that now… I just need you to stay awake, ok?” 

Ronnie just stared at him with confusion as he buckled her in. “Can you even drive a car?” 

Earnest just sighed, closing the door and heading to the driver’s side door- the car screeched in protest, but eventually, the door gave in and creaked open. “How else am I supposed to get around?” 

“I don’t know,” Ronnie slurred, trying to talk around her rapidly swelling mouth. “I just thought you-” she gestured wildly with her hand, rapidly noticing the massive rip in the front of her dress, “-you know, traveled everywhere?” 

Reaching for her purse and grabbing the keys, Earnest started the car and headed for the road. “Easier to blend in this way,” he replied. “I manage.” Leaning her head against the cool glass, Ronnie closed her eyes. “Where are we going?” 

“My house,” Earnest replied, making her jerk forward with alarm. Instantly, his hand shot forward and held her back. “And before you throw a fit, I need to get someone to heal you — you look like shit, Ronnie, and I’m pretty sure most creatures in the planar community won’t voluntarily come near you with a ten-foot pole.” 

“Then take me to a hospital,” Ronnie grumbled, peeking over to glare at him. “Problem solved.” 

“I see that blow to the head made you forget our little time clock,” Earnest said witheringly, causing Ronnie to groan. “We go there, and we miss our deadline, easy. Just… chill out and let me handle this, ok?” 

“Fine,” Ronnie grumbled, closing her eyes again. “Just don’t try anything stupid, ok?” 

“On my honor,” Earnest said seriously, causing her skin to warm with the strength of the promise, “I will never do anything that you don’t want me to do.”