Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.

  ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

  When Sarah entered the small Italian restaurant where they had agreed to meet, Tomas rose from the bench seat at the corner table where he’d been waiting. Sarah gave him a dazzling smile. Despite the misgivings that had plagued her during the entire drive over, it was a major relief to see him again.

  Her enthusiastic greeting seemed to surprise him, but he responded with a smile of his own and said, “Glad you could make it.”

  “You look good,” Sarah said as she crossed the mostly-empty room. “Must’ve lost what, fifty pounds?”

  Tomas grimaced. “More like a hundred. It’s good to be home.”

  “I saw you on tv yesterday. Great performance.”

  “I’m just glad it’s over.”

  “You pulled it off. Well done.”

  Tomas extended a hand to shake, but that would never do. He was one of the few people who knew what had really happened in the vault. After the last few crazy days, the sense of relief she felt seeing him again was nearly overwhelming. She stepped close and threw her arms around him in a powerful hug.

  Tomas grunted from the pressure, and Sarah quickly released him. Idiot! She had to watch her strength.

  He gasped in a breath, then chuckled, regarding her with surprise. "I wasn't expecting such a warm greeting.”

  “It's been a rough week. I needed that. Sorry I squeezed so hard.”

  “You've gotten stronger.”

  She shrugged. “I've had a lot to deal with, and I've been processing by working out.”

  “That’s a good way to cope, but that's not everything, is it?”

  Of course Tomas would be able to sense that she'd grown immensely in power, especially after she nearly squeezed him to jelly. Dummy, what happened to being careful? That burst of relief at seeing someone who understood what she’d experienced in the vault had thrown off her entire plan.

  Now something in his gaze reinforced her original plan for caution. He clearly sensed something had happened to her, but he didn't look exactly pleased about it. He was too much of an enigma to ignore the sense of warning.

  She might owe Tomas her life, but she didn’t pretend to understand him. He had proven himself immensely resourceful and far more interesting than she ever imagined. On the surface, he might look unremarkable, but he was far more than his looks, and at the moment, she sensed a hint of danger.

  When she hesitated, he gestured her to take a seat at the table, then slid into the bench seat opposite her. He simply sat there, watching and waiting. She needed to tell him something, yearned to lay it all out there, but still understood so little about the world she'd fallen into.

  So she sighed and nodded. “There is more, but I don't really know how to explain it.”

  She blew out her breath, organizing her thoughts. She had hoped to start more slowly, but she’d blown that careful opening. She had to share something, so she mentally braced herself and continued.

  “When Mai Luan’s rune circle exploded, it nearly killed me.”

  His eyebrows rose sharply. “I had no idea. You joined us almost immediately after the blast, and you looked okay.”

  “I was. That was the first weird thing.” She chuckled. “Or I guess maybe one of the weirdest things on that very weird day. I survived only because the energy from the blast changed me and made me stronger.”

  That was mostly true, and she watched Tomas closely for his reaction. He cocked his head to one side thoughtfully, browse furrowing. “Things don't usually work that way.”

  Sarah laughed. She couldn't help it, and some of her tension drained away. “Tomas, nothing in that vault was normal. Nothing works the way that she did.”

  “True, but there are norms for wielding the kind of rune powers she did. She might have been crazy strong and terrifying, but she should not have been able to change your Body rank from an explosion. That’s what happened somehow, wasn’t it?”

  She nodded. “I’m way stronger, but I’ve never heard of Body rank. Is that like our F-factor?”

  It sucked having to play such games, but without her path, she never would have known what a Body rank was, and she wasn’t ready to lay everything on the table right away.

  He nodded. “It’s related, but of course you wouldn’t know. Consider it a gauge of your physical power. What I’m trying to figure out is how a destructive rune explosion could boost your Body rank instead of just killing you.”

  She shrugged. “I was hoping you could tell me. I was hurt really bad, then healed, and ended up stronger. That’s all I know.”

  His frown deepened. “I'm glad you recovered so quickly, but it still makes no sense. I'm not a rune expert, but I thought I understood the purpose of that rune circle. It should not have been able to produce the results you experienced.”

  Sarah spread her hands. “Then how do you explain it? I’m glad I survived, but you’re way more of an expert than I am.”

  The waitress arrived with drinks, and they placed their food orders. Tomas sipped a soft drink, clearly considering his words before speaking.

  “You've put me in a difficult position, Sarah. I was hoping to meet today mostly to thank you for your help, make sure you are okay after everything, including those gunmen attacking the party, and wish you well.”

  He'd asked her to lunch just to say goodbye? She didn't believe it, and that was not nearly enough. She needed his help, and she needed access to Eirene.

  So she raised one eyebrow and asked, “Those were the only reasons you wanted to see me? After all those weeks of teasing, I expected something a little more, Tomas. I'm seriously disappointed here.”

  He chuckled, and his face reddened just a little. Was he blushing? That was so unexpected and adorable, Sarah reached out and took his hand in hers before consciously deciding to.

  He looked startled at her touch, but then met her eyes, and his gaze contained an unmistakable intensity. She’d guessed right. His teasing hadn’t been just an act, at least not at the end. They'd gone through a great deal together in a short amount of time, and they’d gotten to know each other far deeper then she'd ever expected.

  More surprising than the feelings that shone clearly in his gaze before he concealed them was the little flip her heart made in response. She wasn't entirely ready for that. On one level, she liked Tomas, but this complicated an already-complex situation.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Why not push that angle a bit, though? If not for all the questions she needed answering about her path, she could date guys who were more physically handsome and less enigmatic. She could follow Jill's lead and let it be known she was available. She could rake in all sorts of invitations from rich and handsome men, but the thought made her cringe.

  She did not need a rich guy to take care of her, and she'd learned from experience that a lot of really good looking guys were as shallow as a lot of really good looking women. She'd never met anyone as resourceful, brave, or interesting as Tomas. Or as dangerous.

  She needed help, needed answers, and maybe if they had a deeper connection he’d be less likely to react badly to revelations about her path. Something of her thoughts must have reflected in her own gaze, because his eyes widened slightly and he suddenly looked a little nervous. That was even more endearing.

  ‘Tread very cautiously here, girl’, She chided herself. Tomas was not a man to trifle with, but she was so far out of her depth, she couldn’t help clinging to that tiny bit of leverage.

  Maybe it could become something real too.

  Tomas cleared his throat, but did not pull his hand away from hers. “I want to shield you from more danger, but the more questions I answer and the more you dig, the greater the risk for you. This is not a safe world you’ve stumbled into.”

  Sarah was happy to let him change the topic and pull back from that unexpectedly intimate look. It had served its purpose. Now she needed answers.

  “I think I've already been in a lot of danger, and I need to know what's happened to me.”

  “The danger is more real than you know. Those gunmen who attacked the restaurant?”

  “What about them?”

  He hesitated before adding “I suspect they might have been sent from Mai Luan.”

  Sarah blanched, her heart racing with a flash of icy fear, “One of them did seem to recognize me. How can you be sure she sent them?”

  “I can't be sure, but there's enough evidence to suggest it.”

  As he spoke, he patted her hand absently. Then he seemed to realize what he was doing and froze. She couldn't help smiling, which only made him look more nervous. He'd done all that crazy spy stuff and leaped into battle against a seemingly-unkillable enemy without hesitation. Now, just sitting at a table and holding her hand made him nervous?

  How unexpectedly adorable. Tomas was a study in contradictions.

  “You've caught a glimpse behind the curtain, so to speak. That opened you to quite a bit of danger. You might already be a target, but if you step any deeper into this world, I guarantee you will be. I don't want you to get hurt.”

  Sarah grimaced. The thought that Mai Luan was not only alive, but possibly hiring hitmen to target her and other body donors was simply terrifying. Part of her wanted to jump in her car and just drive and not stop for a couple of days. Hiding might be smart, but then she would get no answers about her path.

  He watched her, giving her time to think through everything. After a moment, she met his gaze and said, “Like you said, I might already be a target. I need answers, I need information, and if I walk away now, I won't have any way to defend myself.”

  “Fair enough, but Sarah, there's so much you don't know.”

  “Then explain some of it,” she said, holding his gaze. When he hesitated, she continued. “You can start by explaining those symbols in the vault, especially the ones that she was drawing in thin air with glowing light. What does that all mean, and how do a bunch of glowing symbols blow up?”

  “You don't start with the simple questions, do you?” He asked with a smile.

  “Those runes did something to me. Don't you think I have a right to know?”

  He sighed. “Sarah, runes are a dangerous business, and people who mess with them almost always end up in a bad place.”

  That was not encouraging, but that only meant she needed to understand even more than ever. “Those people who mess with runes, are they all like Mai Luan?”

  "Sarah, what did I just say?"

  “I know, it's just, she freaks me out, assuming she did survive and maybe even targeted me and the other donors.”

  “She is alive. I guarantee it.”

  Sarah started to ask another question, but he raised a hand. “I can't get into specifics about why or how. Not here.”

  “Fair enough. Can you at least tell me if all the people who mess with runes are like Mai Luan?”

  He chuckled. “Thankfully, no. Like I said, runes are a dangerous business, but there's a variety of people who get involved in them. Mai Luan is perhaps one of the most dangerous, but not the only one.”

  “Okay, but you have to tell me something, especially if I have to worry about hit squads now.”

  “Those gunmen had nothing to do with runes.”

  “I didn't see any glowing symbols, but the threat of nearly dying again was like a flashback to the vault anyway.”

  He took her hand again. “For someone who understands so little of this world you've stumbled into, you did amazingly well, Sarah.”

  “Thanks. Not dying is a great motivator.”

  That got another smile. “Okay. A lot of people who get involved with runes often try to use them for evil purposes, like Mai Luan did. Most are a lot weaker than she is, but they cause a lot of damage, and they almost always get put down sooner or later.”

  She wanted to ask more about that, but he'd already warned that he couldn't say much, and it was not the most important question. There was no good way to ease into the subject, so she just blurted it out.

  “Can runes mess with what people see?”

  He frowned. “In what way?”

  “Like, are runes tied to things like those bits of memories we started seeing? Jill once mentioned that she thought she saw like a computer screen with her F-factor rank pop up in her vision when she woke up from a transfer once.”

  The partial lie was the best she could come up with, but it sounded weak even to her.

  Tomas frowned. “That's not good. I thought her soul fragmentation was not too bad, but if she's seeing things, She might be more fragmented than I thought.”

  “So it does happen? Is it tied to runes, or the machines?”

  “No, I haven't heard of anyone with soul fragmentation seeing visions of floating screens or anything else. Some runes can mess with your senses, but again, I haven't heard of anything quite like that.”

  Sarah frowned. This was not helping.

  Tomas continued. “Anyone who could figure out runes to do stuff like that would be a menace. They’d have to be put down fast.”

  Again with putting people down. Was he one of the people who had to do that, or did he just know about people who did? People like Eirene maybe?

  Sarah had hoped to discuss her path with him, but his warnings made her nervous. If he knew everything about what was happening to her, would he decides she was one of those people who needed to be put down?

  He liked her, but would that be enough to save her?

  “I'd like to talk with Eirene,” she said, trying a different approach. “I have so many questions, but I have no idea how to reach her.”

  He grimaced. “Sarah, finding Eirene is not easy right now.

  “But you did. She returned you to your body today, didn't she?” Sarah asked with a spark of inspiration. To think Eirene had been so close. Maybe she was still in the area?

  The idea was both thrilling and terrifying. She wasn’t sure which feeling was stronger, but she needed to risk interacting with the dangerous facetaker again.

  Tomas gave her an appreciative smile. “You don't miss much, Sarah. She did, but she's already gone. Getting too close to her could be dangerous.”

  Sarah sighed. “We covered that already. Danger. Got it. But I can't move on until I get at least some of my questions answered, and if this is not the time or the place, maybe if you take me to Eirene we can find a time and place.”

  Tomas hesitated, regarding her for a long moment. She feared he would say no and just leave forever. So she added in a teasing tone, “Besides, you've been hinting for weeks that you want to take me on a vacation.”

  He chuckled and nodded once. “Fine. I can see you're not going to drop this.” He leaned back, thinking for a moment before nodding again. “I'm heading out of town this afternoon. How would you like to come to New Orleans in a few days to meet me?”

  “New Orleans? Sounds like a great first date.”

  She meant it as a final joke, but again she caught that momentary flash of deeper meaning in his gaze. Were her increased stats helping her spot things like that, or was he just terrible at concealing his emotions?

  Maybe visiting him in New Orleans could accomplish a whole lot more than just talking with Eirene? As she considered the idea, she found she liked it more and more. He really was fascinating, but flirting with him was literally flirting with danger.

  What choice did she have? If he thought she was romantically interested, he might be more protective, less likely to turn her in to those nameless folks who put down folks who messed with runes. And maybe they could have some fun while tracking down her answers. A win win for both of them.

  He regained his composure quickly and asked, “You sure you want to call it a date?”

  She leaned forward and took his hand again, holding his gaze steady. She nodded more slowly and said, “Yeah. I think I do.”

  His face reddened just a bit again. Just as adorable as the first time. It passed quickly, but she'd seen it. She liked it, and she decided to embrace the romantic angle for every reason it might help.

  “Okay, then. Grab a flight to New Orleans in three days.” He shared his phone number and added, “Send me your flight number and I'll pick you up at the airport. Pack light, but bring enough for a week. And don't forget your passport.”

  “My passport? New Orleans is in the US still, right?” She joked.

  “New Orleans is our first stop. The rest, we'll have to see. Let's call it a surprise.”

  She grinned. “I'm liking where this conversation is going. Usually guys try to surprise me with flowers, not vague suggestions I might need my passport.”

  He raised his glass. She clinked hers to it and gave him a dazzling smile. She had not gotten the answers she wanted, but she was eager to see what happened in New Orleans.

  The food turned out to be absolutely delicious, and they spent the rest of the meal chatting about lighter topics. When they finished, she gave him a much gentler parting hug, which he returned.

  “See you in a few days, he said.

  “I'll be there.”