Page 83 of Code Bound
Carefully, I stroke my finger along her back and she lifts against my touch, clearly enjoying it. As I touch her, it almost feels as if someone strokes their own finger down my spine. How strange.
“I think we’re going to be fast friends,” I tell her as I withdraw my hand.
“I declare it,” she nods. “We will be an unstoppable force of female rage. Men will quiver when they see us, in fear and arousal! We will chop off their heads together, like a perfect, synchronized swim team.” She dances across the counter and touches my arm. “You will need new titles of course. ‘System’s Favorite’ does not exactly strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Might I suggest ‘Beast of Brutality’ or ‘Feminine Rage Incarnate?’”
My interface pops up a notification and I tip my head toward it.
NEW TITLE AWARDED: Feminine Rage Incarnate
“Very good, Cipher,” Svetlana purrs. “Now our enemies will faulter when they see us coming.”
I laugh before taking a bite of the food on my plate. The flavors explode on my tongue and I sigh. “I’ve never had a friend like you, Svetlana,” I admit.
Svetlana laughs and steals another piece of meat from Locke’s plate. “And you never will again,” she declares. “I assure you.”
By the time Locke comes back, his plate has been completely cleaned of meat, only vegetables left behind. He scowls at the praying mantis and orders another plate, but he doesn’t react otherwise.
I have to hide my smile behind my hand so he doesn’t see.
CHAPTER26
VESPER
“Okay so . . .” Locke begins, his eyes unfocused as he studies the map. “It looks like we may have completely opened up the Verdant Nexus. Can you ask Cipher if that’s true?”
“You could ask him yourself,” I point out, raising my brow.
Locke shakes his head. “Bastard doesn’t respond to me anymore. I’m surprised I still get the notifications.”
“That is because they are pre-programmed,” Cipher chips in helpfully. “I could turn those off, too, if you would like.”
“Oh sure. Answer when you start to look bad to your favorite,” Locke grumbles. “Fucking bot.”
Svetlana balances on my shoulder, preening herself without a care in the world. I’m still not sure how having a familiar so small helps, or what it means in general, but the large praying mantis is growing on me. She hasn’t spoken much this morning—strange for her—but that just seems to be because she’s busy with all the preening. She’s been meticulously cleaning herself for about an hour now.
Sighing, I stretch my legs out, careful not to jostle the praying mantis on my shoulder. “Cipher, have we opened up all of the Verdant Nexus?”
“Yes,” the system answers immediately. “Traveling in any direction you have not been outside of the current location will open up an entirely new region. I would suggest travelling South. You are not yet a high enough level nor do you possess the keys to travel East.”
“Alright,” I nod. “And how long until the next Harrow Gates open?”
“Sixteen days, five hours, thirteen minutes, and twenty-seven seconds,” he responds immediately
Sixteen days. Fuck. Dox has been stuck in Dross for almost two weeks now, both of us separated, and if she’s still alive, she’ll be able to come through when the Harrow Gates open next. I can’t go backwards. Cipher made it clear I will not survive the transition. So, she has to come here. I have to believe she’s okay, that she’ll make it. If there’s anyone who is strong enough to do it, it’s Dox. I just have to survive that long.
We’re still inside the mushroom safehouse, which we now know is called The Fungus Garden. The leafcutter ants appear to have grown it for their food source, but it also serves as the safehouse. They constantly eat pieces and build up more, so it’s a perpetually changing shape outside.
We’ve been resting here for a few days, long enough that the moist, mushroom smell no longer tickles my nose. In fact, I’ve gone mostly nose blind to it, making it possible to move around without wrinkling my face up. The food here is amazing, though. Almost as good as the AppleFrog’s, so the smell hardly matters once we’ve adjusted to it. This time, I don’t bother smashing as much food as possible into my inventory since I now know it disappears when we leave.
We’re sitting at the bar now, all three of us tearing into the plates in front of us. One last meal to tide us over. We won’t know when the next one is coming.
“Hey, Billy,” I call.
The bartender comes over with a raised brow. “Yes, Player?”
“You never did tell us how you beat us here,” I say, pointing at him with my eating utensil. Svetlana had called it a fork. We don’t have them in Dross so I believe her.
“What do you mean, Player?” he says. “I have not left The Mushroom Garden in years.”
