Page 159 of Code Bound
STRENGTH: 7
AGILITY: 10
VITALITY: 10
WILLPOWER: 10
CHARISMA: 8
LUCK: 6
FRACTURE POINTS: 0
CORRUPTION: 15%
CURRENT BUFFS AND DEBUFFS:
-8 to strength while under the effects of giggle water.
-4 to luck while under the effects of giggle water.Time remaining: 1 hour and 21 minutes.
“There,” the rat queen coos. She wraps her claws around my shoulder and her expression hardens. “Now . . . get on your knees, Bone Breaker.”
I stare into her eyes and tilt up my chin. “No.”
The first puncture of her claws is painful. The second is downright excruciating. Still when she asks me again, I tilt up my chin.
“Get. On. Your. Knees.”
I bare my teeth as I grin. With a deep breath to steel myself, I straighten my shoulders despite the pain and look her in the eyes.
“No.”
CHAPTER44
VESPER
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Svetlana asks as we stare at the entrance to the sewers. “Locke is a formidable partner, dah, but his head isn’t even perfectly round.”
I don’t blame her for her unease. It had taken me about an hour to find someone willing to tell me how to find the Rat Kingdom and another hour after that of walking around the streets until I found one of the manholes they told me would lead down into the sewers. Now, I’m staring at the metal plate in the ground and wondering if I’d somehow made a mistake. Not in deciding to rescue Locke, but in doing this alone. Still, it isn’t like I have a ton of help. Svetlana and Stevie will have to be enough. The Ophanim had been waiting for us when we’d rounded the corner, and I’d been equal parts relieved to see him and annoyed that he couldn’t have just lead us to the fucking manhole. When I’d asked him about it, he’d just spun his rings fast and said, “Girl, I’d been rabbit hole deep in a gay club, and like, I could just stop watching the show. The drag queens deserved all the hype. You get it? Like, I know you totally get it.”
I didn’t get it. I still don’t know what he’d been talking about.
I glance at the biblically accurate angel behind me now, watching him curiously. I’m still hesitant to piss of the Ophanim, especially since he’s only an ally because he wants to be. “Can you control your glow?”
“Of course, I can, Girl,” he replies. “I amthebeacon of light.”
“Good. We’re gonna need it,” I say, reaching down for the manhole cover and lifting. It doesn’t move at first, the metal plate too heavy for me to lift immediately, but after a second of straining, it moves and then lifts just enough for me to get it over the edge of the concrete. I shove at it as hard as I can, sliding it out of the way so hard, my muscles start to ache. It takes me too long to move it, precious minutes that Locke doesn’t have, but I finally get it out of the way enough for me to squeeze through the opening. I peer into the darkness, searching for any sign of a threat. Nothing. I look at Stevie. “Would you mind?”
Instead of answering, he drops down through the opening and lights up what looks like a grimy, disgusting tunnel.
“Gross,” Svetlana says as she follows my gaze, “but at least it’s not cold.”
I move over the hole and drop down about three meters before my boots hit concrete. I crouch, looking around before plucking the Sunlight Medallion from my inventory. I use ten XP to charge it up and hang it around my neck, but it’s mostly just in case I get separated from Stevie. He gives off enough glow for us to see in a three-meter radius. It’s not enough to go far down the tunnel, but at least we’re not going to be stumbling through the dark.
“Alright. Which direction?” I ask.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Svetlana replies helpfully.
