CHAPTER 101

"And you can't just have dead Caretakers wandering around," he muttered. It explained so much about why it was important to have a banshee to escort the dead, and why the shadow was so eager for a part of Mike's soul. "Damn, that's scary stuff."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. None of the souls in his little kingdom can move on. They live in a state of fear, constantly reliving this battle they had, and I was busy trying to fight them off before he caught me in a trap and tossed me into the fires below." She shook her head, causing more soot to drift onto the ground. "It seems like you've been roped into something bigger than you expected."

Mike laughed. "Oh man, I've stumbled into a bad situation that's bigger than I understand? Must be a Wednesday, this kind of thing never happens on a Thursday."

The succubus smiled, and stood. "Well, that's the news I have. I'm going back to the house to wash up. Hell soot doesn't just come off, and I need a good scrubbing, so..." She blew him a kiss. "See you in your dreams."

He smiled and watched her go. When she stepped through the door flap, there was a brief cry of alarm when she startled someone, but words were exchanged and he heard nothing more from outside.

Eventually Zel came in, checked his wound one last time, and told him to go home and leave it alone. He thanked her for her help and gave her a big hug before departing. She muttered something to him about paying attention from now on, and he begged her for forgiveness, which caused a small smile to break across her face.

Once outside the yurt, he was a little disappointed to see that Lily hadn't waited for him, but he had plenty of company as the centaurs escorted him home.

Over dinner, he was informed that Tink was still working on restoring power to the house. Apparently the electrical surge had damaged the panel in such a way that she wasn't able to get power to the whole house at once, and she had to wait for some additional materials to arrive before she could rewire some of the rooms that had damaged outlets. The rats were helping her with the work, but it was taking them quite a long time.

Beth said very little to him over dinner, and he couldn't help but notice that Kisa kept watching her with a grin on her face. The cat girl sat at the opposite side of the table and vanished once her food was done. He briefly wondered if he should track her down and see how she was adapting, but figured it might be better to wait until she was ready.

Dinner came to an abrupt end when Quetzalli, who had eaten enough food that her belly bulged out, inspected her knife for several moments and stood from her chair. Before anyone could react, she abruptly knelt down and shoved the utensil into the nearest outlet using her considerable strength.

Sparks blew across the floor, and Quetzalli's eyes flickered with amusement just before the room was plunged into darkness. Tink shrieked in anger and left to check the panel. Beth quickly escorted the dragon from the room while discussing electrical safety.

When he went into the kitchen to drop off his dishes, Mike looked out the window to see Naia, Dana, and Lily at the fountain. Dana sat along the edge in a pair of shorts, her feet in the water and a drone resting next to her. Naia was summoning bubbles up around the succubus, who popped them with her tail while scrubbing herself off. Steam rose from the fountain, and he wondered if Naia had turned it into a giant hot tub.

"Hmph." A disapproving voice came from behind him, and he turned to see Sofia illuminated in the fading light of day. She watched the trio at the fountain before turning toward the kitchen. "Looks like I'm going to have to wash everything by hand tonight," she announced, then turned on the sink. "Must be nice to just lie around."

There was just enough light to see by, so Mike picked up a nearby towel and started drying the dishes as she washed them.

"Dinner was good, thank you," he told her, almost afraid to break the silence.

She grunted, then scrubbed at a large pan.

"Actually, thank you for all the meals you cook. I think I'm starting to put on a little weight, which is saying something. I was always skinny growing up, but now I'm putting on some muscle." He patted his belly. "Maybe someday I'll get to see my six pack."

"Please. We both know that it's the magic." She handed him the pan a bit forcefully, which pushed him off balance.

"I guess. But you keep everybody fed, and I appreciate it." He dried the pan before putting it away. "Hey, I was wondering if you could help me with something tomorrow. I need to look into how to get into the Underworld."

The cyclops groaned and threw her hands in the air. "Of course you do. Can I expect everyone to drop by the Library after breakfast, then? Guess I should make breakfast easy to clean up after."

"What? No, it's just gonna be me." He tossed the towel on the counter. "I'm grateful that everyone wants to help, but I think I need to do this on my own for now."

"So...it's just going to be you tomorrow?"

"Unless Death follows me in, yeah."

"Hmm." She turned off the sink and dried her hands. "I expect you'll be there all day?"

"No, just until noon. There's still some repairs to be made, and I need to coordinate with the centaurs. I also need to check in with Quetzalli. I think Beth's had enough of her for a bit. Might do a walk through of the house with Reggie, depending on how the afternoon goes."