Page 216 of Code Bound
“It’s settled then,” Stryker says. “You should definitely do it.”
“No one asked for your opinion,” Locke growls.
“Good thing I don’t care,” Stryker fires back.
“The green light is, like, totally pretty,” Stevie comments. “I bet it would look amazing with Gatsby’s pinstripe suit.”
Gatsby’s grin widens, but he only says, “It’s so hard to make her understand. I’ve gotten all these things for her.”
Sighing, I nod toward Gatsby. “We’ll accept the quest.”
“How splendid,” Gatsby says. “Use this card to call me when you have it.” He puts a paper card in my hand and then turns back to the water. I watch as he slowly reaches out toward the green light again. “Oh, Daisy. I’m coming.”
SIDE QUEST INITIATED
Bring the green light to Jay Gatsby and end his pitiful pining!
TIME REMAINING: 2 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds.
I immediately regret accepting the offer, my instincts screaming at me that I’ve made a mistake, but I tuck the strange paper card away and we all head back to the Half-Moon Hotel. That’ll be a problem for after we find Dox.
Once inside the hotel, we all settle onto the lounge furniture in the lobby and discuss what we’re going to do next.
“Now that we’re Tier Two’s, I think we should hit the Major Bosses in each region,” Locke begins. “We get the keys, and we can enter the inner regions.”
“Tier Two is hardly high enough to defeat the Major Bosses,” Havoc points out. “You need to grind and level up more.”
“Normally, if it were just Vesper and me, sure,” Locke shrugs. “It would be difficult. But we also have you, the Leech, and Steve.”
Havoc shakes his head. “The Leech’s powers are muted. The Ophanim talks. He doesn’t fight.”
“You also have me,” Svetlana interjects. “And of course, I am the reason we shall win.”
Havoc shoots her a look and dismisses her, causing her to make a sound of outrage. “And what about your friend you’re waiting for? If she comes through, she will not have a Glitch yet.”
“We can protect her,” I say, crossing my arms. “Dox is a quick learner. She’ll level up fast.”
“We get your friend and start with New Babel since we’re already here,” Locke nods. “Then we hit The Shatterlands and then finally return back to the Verdant Nexus. We get the keys, and we’ll enter the inner regions from there. We’ll grind along the way, leveling us and your friend up, so that by the time we reach the inner sections, we’re stronger.”
Stryker rolls his eyes. “You lot are so structured,” he groans. “I much prefer chaos.”
“You can go away if you don’t like it,” I tell him with a raised brow.
“Remove this collar and I will,” he purrs, leaning closer.
“Not gonna happen, Leech,” Locke grunts.
Stryker leans closer to me, pressing against my side. “Come on, Beastie. Didn’t you like the way it felt when I sipped from you?”
“No,” I lie, glaring at him.
He laughs, as if he knows it’s a lie. I clench my thighs together.
“Stay away from him,” Cipher says in my mind.
I lean back. “Why?” I ask
“He is a Leech,” he points out. “Leeches main source of power is stealing life force from others. They are worse than Bone Breakers.”
