Entering his office, Xander wondered if it was really all right to leave Astra alone in the Library. He knew that Rufus and the Chancellor were waiting in the Holy Mouth’s office, but he had prepared Astra for the encounter as best he could. She seemed to agree with Xander’s sentiments. It was up to her whether she agreed to help them or not. Pulling the papers from his Inventory, he set them on his desk and sighed. He’d gotten through grading half of them, but concentrating on research papers...

“They say sighing makes you shorter and considering you’re already fairly short for an Elf…”

Turning, Xander found Kayson leaning against the wall behind the door. The Human man was another Cursed One. He fell somewhere between remaining in public and hiding from the populace. His information guild knew everything about everything. If they didn’t know, they would find out. Xander had made use of them a few times, which was how he’d come to know Kayson. Their shared experience of feeling their Immortal die had made them something closer than acquaintances.

“Is there something you want?” Xander asked, irritated. “And take off those ridiculous glasses.”

“I got them from my Immortal,” Kayson said and smiled. He did take the round lenses sunshades off and folded the earpieces with his other hand, striding forward in a smug strut. “Speaking of Immortals... I heard a little rumor that you’ve been hiding one.”

“Not hiding,” Xander said, separating out the papers he’d graded from those he hadn’t read yet. Anything to not look at Kayson.

Kayson leaned on the edge of the desk next to him. “Then I may speak to her freely?”

“No.” Slapping his papers down, Xander turned to look at the man. “There is no reason for you to do so.”

A grin spread across his mouth as the handsome Human said, “So it’s true she can hear us. The others were betting that she would be like the Immortals before; unable to respond to anything we said outside the script.”

Xander hated dealing with this man. No matter what was said, he got information out of it, somehow. Absolutely infuriating. Straightening, Xander decided to give him a cold glare instead of saying anything else. If Kayson got bored, perhaps he’d go away. By now, Astra would be locked in the Holy Mouth’s office and out of the man’s reach.

Kayson had one last thing to impart before he left. “I’ve been offered a lot of money to arrange a meeting between her and Johnas. He’s keen on becoming an assistant again.”

“Why?”

“Why else?” Kayson replied with a lift of his hands. “Immortals can impart Unlocked Skills, of course.”

“She only has Healer Class Skills,” Xander said.

“But if she were to be led to other Skill Masters, she would be able to get more,” Kayson said. “And thanks for confirming that you are her current assistant. In honor of our longstanding friendship, I’ll give you the opportunity to buy my silence. For a time.”

“You would start a bloodbath,” Xander said, cold dread seeping through his core. “There’s no guarantee she will be willing to make a Pact with anyone else.”

“A little bird told me you killed her. If a weak Healer can kill her, then what chance does she have against anyone else? She’ll break eventually. Time’s up.” Kayson flipped his glasses open and slipped them back on. “See you later, Xan.”

* * *

The door to the hall rattled. Astra glanced towards it, as did the others.

For a second, nothing. Then the frame broke as the door slammed back on its hinges. Xander caught his balance and glanced around the room, expression grim.

Striding in, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. Her grip on the teacup slipped, but she was already out the door by the time it hit the floor. “Xan!” she objected, trying to pull free. “Xan—stop!”

“We need to leave now,” he said firmly. He stopped suddenly and turned to face her. “You and I are in a great amount of danger. We must get you leveled up and quickly.”

Astra stared up at him. He smelled terrified. His expression was as impassive as usual, but his hand on her wrist was trembling.

The Holy Mouth, Rufus, and Jotun were coming down the hall towards them, objecting loudly to Xander’s interruption.

Deciding to trust him, Astra nodded, reached into her pocket, and pulled out her Menu. Going to her teleport list, she selected the Soul Stone Shard she’d dropped just before she died in the Southlands and grabbed Xander’s wrist.

A Teleport circle opened beneath her feet, spreading out with rays of light spiking upwards. In seconds, it snapped closed, taking them with it.

When the greenery of the Southlands unfolded around them, Xander dropped to a knee and breathed heavily, arm still in Astra’s grip. That was apparently something that hadn’t changed with him. He’d always gotten ill whenever she Teleported them to places.

“Okay. Explain now? We’re on the west edge of the Dark Mountains. That should be far enough away, right?”

Xander nodded, his head still bowed, the silver curtain of hair hiding his face. He took a moment longer to find his composure and stood. “Teleporting always makes me... nauseous,” he admitted. Pushing his hair back from his face, he looked down at her. “Word has spread that an Immortal has returned. The Cursed One Johnas has paid the information guild run by Kayson to take you to him.”

“So?” Astra asked as she looked through her inventory for her armor and weapon. She then went hunting for something for Xander.

“They will want you to make a Pact with them in order to have access to Unlocked Skills—” He paused when his clothes exploded in sparks, replaced by the leathers she’d selected.

“But I already have a Porter,” Astra said.

“Exactly,” Xander said. “They would kill me, then begin slaughtering each other.”

Her ears folded down. “That’s a problem for you.”

“And you. They know you are lower level than they are. They will kill you as many times as it takes to force you to do as they wish.”

Tail stilling, Astra stared up at him. “That sounds like a big problem,” she admitted. “The only way to protect ourselves would be to start leveling up our Skills.”

Xander nodded.

Looking away, Astra breathed in, then out deliberately. “So much for your peaceful retirement.” Turning to face him again, she asked, “What about investigating the Soul Stones? There’s going to be no end to this problem as long as I’m here...”

“Unless there are other Immortals,” Xander said, his hands busy pulling his hair back and tying it into a high tail. “In which case, their attention will be diverted for the time being. For now, should you die, allow me to Resurrect you.”

Astra nodded, feeling her cheeks grow hot at the idea of getting rescued by her Porter.