Auction of Souls: Fantasy GameLit RPG Series (Pixel Dust Book 3)

by David Petrie

  “What’s so funny?” Max stared down at her.

  Nix settled down. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to be wrong before.”

  “What are you wrong about?” He eyed her carefully, watching for any sudden movements.

  “About you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I thought you’d go through with it.” She looked away. “Who would have thought Kira’s echo could talk you down off that ledge? Seriously, that damn fairy isn’t even here and she’s still screwing up my plans. Honestly, if I had known she was going to make everything so difficult, I would have just found someone else.”

  “Your plans?” Ginger furrowed her brow. “You mean you wanted Max to torture you?”

  “A bit.” Nix shrugged.

  “Are you insane?” Ginger threw up her hands. “Why would you want to be tortured?”

  Nix tilted her head from side to side as if debating on telling the truth. Then she looked up to meet Max’s eyes. “I wanted to see how far you would fall.”

  “That’s disgusting.” Farn covered her mouth with her hands.

  “What kind of person does that?” Max couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Somehow, she was worse than he imagined. “Haven’t you taken enough from us? Now you want to tear me down to your level on top of it all.”

  “No,” Nix scoffed. “I would never torture someone. It’s pretty much the worst interrogation technique you can use. Just gets you bad info. Anyone that tells you otherwise is stupid.” She rolled her eyes as if Max had been an idiot for thinking it might work. “And no, I’m not trying to hurt you. That’s just an unfortunate side effect.”

  “Then why?” Max held out both hands, pleading for answers.

  “I just wanted to see you do it.” She tapped the side of her right eye.

  “Oh god.” Ginger sucked in a breath. “She’s recording.”

  Max froze, along with Farn and Ginger.

  Nix gave a smug nod. “Yup, have been recording everything I’ve seen all night. And until now, it was going according to plan. All that was left was to get a video of me at your mercy, begging for you to stop.”

  “Who would you show that to?” Max avoided looking into her twisted eyes.

  “No point in hiding things now.” A Cheshire grin slithered across her face. “She’s alive.”

  Max’s heart skipped a beat, grabbing onto the last thread of hope that he had been clinging to for months. Ginger squeezed his hand tight. They were the words they had fought to hear.

  “Kira’s alive?” Farn lunged past him.

  “Of course she’s alive.” Nix blew out a ridiculous raspberry. “She’s no good to me dead.”

  “Give her back!” The Shield bent down and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking the reynard for all she was worth.

  “No.” Nix narrowed her eyes.

  “Why?” Farn let her go and collapsed to the wing, her claws scratching the surface.

  “Because I’m not done with her yet.” Nix rolled her eyes.

  Max shook off the shock and confusion. “What do you need her for?”

  “She’s the key.” Nix lowered her voice to a whisper so it was barely audible over the wind.

  “The key to what?” Max crouched down beside Farn.

  “Everything.” Nix’s ears pricked up. “Kira is the first of her kind. A human-AI hybrid with the ability to overpower any system in the world. She’s incredible.”

  “And that’s why you’re recording everything tonight?” Ginger placed a hand on Max’s shoulder as she stared down at Nix. “It was some kind of attempt to manipulate her.”

  “Pretty much.” Nix let out a long sigh, sounding like a leaky tire before turning away. “Kira has been… uncooperative.”

  “That sounds about right.” Max laughed. “What, did you think you could just kidnap her and she would fall in line?”

  “I had hoped so, but obviously she doesn’t trust me and nothing has worked to motivate her. She just keeps fighting.” Nix’s ears drooped, suddenly looking exhausted. “She can be annoying when she wants to. There are so many puns.”

  Max couldn’t stop a goofy smile from taking over. Just the knowledge that his best friend was alive and doing everything she could to irritate Nix was enough to make his heart soar.

  “And so you thought that showing her a recording of me hurting you would, what? Convince her to behave?”

  “I did.” Nix sat up straight. “I need her full cooperation without fighting me every step of the way, so forcing her or threatening the people she cares about is out of the question.”

  “So you got creative?”

  “I thought that if I showed her how far you had fallen after losing her, Kira might realize how much you all needed her back. All she has to do is help me, and I’d let her go. Plus watching me get tortured by her friends in her name would probably get me some sympathy.” She frowned. “So thanks for being a good guy and ruining my plan.”

  “Would you really let her go if she gave you what you want?” Max let a few links of silver chain slip through his fingers.

  “I’m not sure.” Nix gave him a surprisingly warm smile. “The Feds know about her and they’re scared. After what she did back in Reliqua during the heist, I don’t think they would allow her to exist. Right now, the safest place for her might be with me.”

  “So we’re back to square one then.” Max stood up. “You still have our friend and have no intention of letting her go.”

  “It seems that way.”

  “You know we’re still going to come after you.” Max rested his hand on the butts of his guns. “Somehow we’ll find you out there and come knocking.”

  “I expect nothing less.” Nix laughed.

  Ginger stepped forward. “Laugh all you want, because we might find you faster than you expect.” She glanced back to Max and gave him a wink.

  “Good luck with that.” Nix raised her hand, jingling the chain that hung from the manacle on her wrist. “What do you plan to do about this? Doesn’t one of us have to die to unlock these?”

  “Ahh...” Max trailed off realizing he didn’t really have a plan.

  “Last I checked, there was a Nightmare attacking this ship, so you all have your work cut out for you.” Nix pressed a finger gun to the side of her head and mime shooting herself. “Probably just blow my head off and get on with things then?”

  “Okay.” Max drew his pistol and shoved it in the reynard’s face. Her ears went back and she closed her eyes in preparation. A moment went by before Max took his finger off the trigger. “Actually, I have a better idea.”

  “And that is?” Nix cracked one eye open.

  “There are quite a few of those void creatures down there.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the crowd of inky forms scrambling to get into the theater back on the deck. “And you and I have fought beside each other before. I’m not quite ready to let you out of my sight yet. So how about we go do some good while you’re here?” He pulled on the chain, forcing her to stand up.

  “Fine,” she groaned.

  “Are you serious?” Farn gave him a sideways glance.

  “I am.” Max started heading back down the wing, dragging Nix behind him.

  “It is literally the least she can do.” Ginger took his other hand. “Don’t love her being chained to my boyfriend, though.”

  “Does that mean I haven’t screwed up my chance?” Max smiled at her, but found her looking away. “Umm, you okay?”

  Ginger didn’t respond, instead she stared down at something near the bottom of the ship.

  “Is that…?” Farn caught up to them, taking a moment to gawk at the scene as well.

  Max squinted down at the observation deck below. It looked like a person standing on the railing, ready to jump to their death.

  “Is that Seven?”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Seven stood on the railing on the Night Queen’s lower deck, clinging to a lamp post while a lante
rn swung back and forth in the breeze. She didn’t mean to hesitate. It only gave her time to think. Now, after standing there for what seemed like forever while a battle raged on the deck above, she found herself unable to move.

  The view below was incredible. She stared out over the world and let it take her breath away. Sure, she had seen Noctem before, but she hadn’t really paid attention.

  The lights of a city shone in the distance as a mountain range cut through the horizon with rivers flowing toward an ocean on one side. Below, the glow of camp fires flickered like tiny sparks in Noctem’s eternal night. She could swear she could smell the smoke riding the wind up to meet her.

  It was beautiful.

  Finally, she shook her head and stepped one foot into the emptiness.

  Stop hesitating.

  It will be over soon.

  Just jump, and put all this insanity behind you.

  She leaned forward, her hand gripping the light post tighter, as if rebelling against the rest of her body. Then, with one final exertion of her will, she let go.

  “The hell are you doing?” a familiar voice shouted from directly above her.

  Seven’s hand shot behind her, catching the lamp post and pulling herself back until she could wrap her entire body around the pole. Her eyes widened as a confused-looking Ginger swung into view on a grappling line.

  “Are you out of your mind?” The Coin flew past her in a wide arc that eventually brought her back to hang precariously in the emptiness. “Get down from there.”

  “I can’t.” Seven shook her head. “Leftwitch told me to jump so I can respawn back in Lucem.”

  “Why the hell would she tell you to kill yourself?”

  “She wants the contracts I bought. Jumping is the fastest way back.”

  “Okay, sure, but you can give them to her later.” Ginger reached out awkwardly to get one foot on the rail and pulled herself in. “We have a Nightmare to fight up there, and we need all the help we can get. That includes low-level Venom mages. So get down from that railing and help us put Void back in its box.”

  “You can’t be serious! I haven’t even fought a regular boss, let alone a Nightmare.”

  “So what? I’ve fought plenty of Nightmares before.” Ginger finally got a foot over the rail and dropped down to the deck behind Seven. She stumbled a bit, just as a black shape that vaguely resembled a player fell from above to pass through the space where she had been hanging. Ginger cringed. “Okay, maybe I haven’t fought a Nightmare quite like this.”

  “You don’t get it.” Seven’s voice cracked. “I did this.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I didn’t know, but I brought the Nightmare here. Leftwitch wants to kill the rulers of Noctem and throw the world into chaos.”

  “Why would she want that?”

  “To get more viewers?”

  Ginger rolled her eyes. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all night.”

  “I know, I don’t like it either, but I have to do this.” Seven loosened her grip on the lamp post. “Leftwitch is still my boss. If I don’t jump, I could lose my job. I don’t have a choice.”

  “What if you did?” Ginger’s mouth curled into a wry smile.

  “What?” Seven pulled herself closer to the post.

  “Quit!”

  “Are you even listening? I can’t quit.”

  “Yes, you can.” Ginger reached into her coat and pulled out a small box, retrieving a silver ring from inside. “You can quit and come and work for me.” She thrust the ring up toward Seven. “Something you said earlier got me thinking.”

  “What?” Seven stared down at the ring, a small heart with a keyhole sitting at its center.

  “Follow the money.” Ginger stepped closer. “You said that if we wanted to find Nix out in the real world, then we should follow the money. Now I don’t know anything about accounting, but I could certainly use someone that does.”

  “Are you offering me a job?” Seven furrowed her brow.

  “How does Head Accountant of House Lockheart sound?”

  Seven’s mouth fell open, not sure what she should even say. Lockheart was at the center of a conflict that she didn’t understand. Not to mention they were a bunch of morally gray misfits in way over their heads. Joining them could be dangerous.

  She stood on the rail, teetering on the edge with her back to the world below. Behind her was a sure thing. Her place as Royal Assistant Seven was a done deal. She didn’t like it, but it was work and that was all she needed. In front of her… well, that was insanity.

  “What kind of pay would there be?” Seven had to run the numbers anyway.

  “Ahh.” Ginger’s face went blank as she stood there, still holding up a ring. Clearly, she hadn’t expected a negotiation. “Whatever the Silver Tongues were paying you, on a one-year contract position.”

  “Contract position?” Seven didn’t like the sound of that.

  “It is what it is. We’re not made of money, so unless we pull off another heist, there’s a limit to our coffers. I can keep you employed for one year. In that time, you can find something else.”

  Seven frowned. It was true, Lockheart didn’t really have a source of income other than theft, so expecting more would have been unreasonable. Still, she had to look out for herself and her husband.

  “What about benefits?”

  “Benefits?”

  “Health insurance.”

  “I don’t know, we’ll give you a stipend or something and you can get your own.” Ginger reached up for Seven’s hand. “Now get down here.”

  “But what about Max’s plan to torture Nix? You shouldn’t even need me if he can make her talk.”

  “That fizzled.” Ginger raised both hands in an exaggerated shrug. “Max isn’t as heartless as he tries to make people think he is. He wasn’t able to go through with it. But we were able to find out that Kira is alive and we’re taking that as a win. So how about it? You want to join the winning team?”

  Every instinct in Seven’s body told her to refuse, to jump and take the sure thing. That was why it surprised her when she reached out and took Ginger’s hand.

  “Welcome aboard.” The Coin placed her new house ring in Seven’s palm.

  “Thank you.” Seven started to remove her old one, just as Cassius’s voice rang out over the Silver Tongues’ chat line.

  “Hey Seven, if you haven’t killed yourself yet, I could use another hand up here on the ship’s bridge. Need to make sure the Night Queen goes down in flames, in case Void can’t get the job done.”

  Seven’s cheeks warmed as a ridiculous smile spread across her face. The spark inside her that she thought was dead began to grow.

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Why not?” Cassius sounded annoyed.

  “Because I quit.”

  “You what?”

  “You can’t quit.” Leftwitch suddenly joined in, sputtering like she had just spit a drink from her mouth. “You still have my contract items–”

  Seven pulled the Silver Tongues’ ring off her finger and tossed it over the side. Then she slipped on her new one, feeling it resize around her finger to a perfect fit.

  “You know…” Ginger gave Seven a conspiratorial wink. “You do still have a couple contracts, and in Noctem, possession is ten tenths of the law.”

  Seven thought about it for a second, surprised at herself for not feeling guilty. Normally, taking something that didn’t belong to her wouldn’t have even crossed her mind, especially anything that had cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. She reached in her pouch and pulled out the rebirth quill that had the ability to respec her character.

  “Feel like making a change?” Ginger raised an eyebrow.

  “You go on ahead. Right before I tossed my ring, I heard Cassius on the house line. He’s on the bridge and plans to crash the ship.” Seven ran her finger down the feather. “I’ll catch up after I do some math here.”

  “Okay.” Ginger ho
pped up onto the rail and fired her grappling hook. “Don’t take too long. I am paying you now.” Then she shot up toward the main deck.

  Seven watched her new boss until she was out of sight. Then, without any further hesitation, she took out her journal and opened it to her character page.

  She already knew what changes to make. Seven scratched out her race and class. They had both been chosen to help her appear professional, but now… well, Lockheart just didn’t seem like the type of house that dressed for business.

  Seven wrote in her new choices, pushing the math to its limit. Her meager fifty-five upgrade points weren’t going to go far and she needed to make the most of them.

  After making some adjustments, she got to her name.

  Royal Assistant Seven.

  She started scratching it out, but stopped when she got to the last word, Seven. Everyone had been calling her that all night, so it seemed odd to change it now. Instead, she wrote in a new word before it and stopped to admire her choice. Seven laughed to herself at the name, feeling embarrassed and excited at the same time. It was ridiculous, but so were all the choices she’d made in the last few minutes.

  She brushed a lock of blue hair from her face, the color having been an accidental choice made during character creation. Seven scratched her hair color out and changed that too, because, why not?

  As soon as she was finished, she snapped her journal shut, making the changes permanent. The quill in her hand burst into flames the instant she did.

  The fire spread to her hand, sending a twinge of fear through her body. She tried to shake it off but it only climbed her arm further. When it reached her shoulder, she realized the flames didn’t hurt. She closed her eyes and let the fire consume her. It burned away the Royal Assistant that she was, leaving someone new standing in her place.

  Someone... magnificent.

  Seven smiled and pushed a few locks of fiery red hair back behind her new pair of horns. Then, she set off toward the bridge.

  Cassius was going to wish he’d stayed in Lucem.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven