Dr Jessop gazed around at us, forlorn. “If I’d known the danger I was putting her in, I’d never have sent Liza out there. I should’ve gone in her place.”

“You couldn’t know what was going to happen. When we get somewhere safe, I’ll explain what’s going on and why I have a gigantic spider working for me.”

“I’d very much appreciate that,” he replied.

While Blake tried unsuccessfully to ignore Spidey’s hungry gaze, I pulled everyone out into the hallway. “I’m open to suggestions on what the hell to do. Every minute we wait, more of the Disciples arrive.”

“We can’t go out, so why not go down?” asked Sun. “Use your spell, burn a hole like you did to the goblin machines, and we can jump to the room below.”

“That doesn’t answer what we’ll do when we get to the ground floor, but it’s a start,” I agreed. “I’ll do it in the kitchen. I don’t want Blake seeing what we’re capable of.”

“He’s already seen,” warned Cody. “Your spider and our attack is enough.”

I shook my head in denial. “He didn’t see our skills in action. Cris knocked him senseless with her nova, and then I clobbered him with my sword. For all the CID know, if they even bother to come and find Blake, Spidey’s just linked to all the other craziness that’s going on. Milley will be in on the mutated insects, you can count on that.”

I picked out a patch of bare boards and cast smite. A great void opened up in the ceiling, revealing the night sky high above us. The energy struck downward like a laser, searing a perfect hole in the floor three feet wide. Like a switch had been flipped, the beam vanished and the portal overhead returned to its solid state. We had our escape route. Hearing a heavy thud, I walked around the hole, taking in as much of the room below as I could. The energy had burned a perfect quarter circle through the corner of the table below, incinerating the leg and the lino beneath, and it was this toppling furniture I’d heard.

“If we’re patient, we can do this all the way to the bottom.”

Sun withdrew her warcleaver. “Or if we don’t have time to wait for your cooldown, I can clear the way.”

“I want to do it as quietly as possible if we can.”

“The table falling wasn’t quiet,” she retorted.

“Touché, but I’ll be more careful next time. Let’s get the doc and get to the ground floor, or the basement. Maybe we can fight our way out through the alley.”

“We could, but the old man will slow us down,” said Sun. “We should leave him.”

“He may do, but at the moment he’s our only link to Liza. He might’ve overheard something while here, or be able to shine a light on the genetic changes taking place. I don’t know what else to do.” We were back at square one, and for the first time on the world, I had absolutely nothing to compartmentalise. Liza was gone, to god knew where. Lake was a ghost, haunting some far corner of the world, and Milley was out of reach. My quest log mocked me with its emptiness.

“Ok, we take him. It’s a shame we can’t store him like the horses. It would be safer.”

“We could always pop a saddle on him and try it?”

Cris laughed. “You leave your sexual fantasies out of this.”

“He’s a bit too old and bit too he for my tastes.”

“Don’t be so close-minded,” she teased. “It’s 2022.”

“He’s all yours,” I offered.

“I prefer my men tall and muscular.”

“Now who’s being close-minded?” I chuckled.

“We don’t have time for your foolishness,” said Sun, scowling at Cris. “One jester was bad enough.”

“And now you have the privilege of fighting with two jokers,” Cris beamed, patting her on the back.

I heard my friend growl and tried to placate her with a wink. “Tense situations need a way to release the high levels of stress. We do it by messing around.”

“Hit something instead,” she grumbled, following me out of the room.

“We’ll have you cracking wise in no time,” said Cris, eliciting a grunt of dissatisfaction.

I stashed Spidey away, which caused another small start on the part of Jessop. Blake relaxed as much as he could from his tether. He looked like a white piñata, and I was sorely tempted to give him a couple of swings with my now obsolete mace. The mental break brought no pity from me based on his past deeds. You didn’t end up as a paid gunman for the CID without having a murderous nature.

“We’re leaving, doctor. We’d like you to come with us,” I offered.

“What about me?” asked Blake.

“I wasn’t talking to you!” I marched over, grabbed him by the base of his pod, and spun for all I was worth. The soldier turned into a moaning blur as he whipped around and around. “Doctor, after you.”

“I’m actually a professor,” he replied, joining Cody in the hallway.

I was close behind Jessop when I heard Blake throw up, spraying a wave of coffee and undigested dinner in a circular pattern. I had no idea if he would be hurt by the centrifugal force, and I didn’t really care. My only regret as we left the black-site was leaving the two hefty square blocks that had saved us from their bullets, and then the gang itself. Retrieving them would only expose us, so I followed the others. Jessop fell through the hole with a squawk of fear, but Sun was waiting below and caught him before he could snap a leg. Cris was next, then Cody, and finally myself. The smell of something sweet cooking below wafted up, erasing the stink of bodily fluids and gunpowder. I regretted that we had pulled the residents into the scheme, and as I landed gracefully in their kitchen, I pulled out another wedge of notes and slipped it into their fridge.

“You’re going to bankrupt yourself if you keep giving away your money,” Cris chided.

“It’s not my money. I just kill things and get paid for it.” I showed her my ring. “With this, I don’t even need to loot the bodies. I’m like a hoover, sucking everything up as I go.”

“You certainly suck,” remarked Sun.

“Someone’s getting the lingo down!” I congratulated her.

A golden crusted pie caught my eye, and I did something I’m not proud of. I snatched up a spoon and helped myself to a small slice of the cooling dessert. It was apple and cinnamon, my favourite. As I chewed the delectable pudding, I turned to find everyone staring at me.

“What?” I said, spitting pastry everywhere. “I could get killed today.”

“If I’d baked that, I’d kill you,” said Cris.

“I did leave them a small fortune,” I argued, leaving the pie alone.

“And a giant hole in their ceiling that leads to a wiped out black-site with a pile of corpses who will stink by the end of the week. And one not-corpse that’s liable to scream and shout until someone cuts him down.”

“Hmm, good point,” I said, adding another bunch of notes to the milk drawer.

“Have you got enough to pay everyone on our way down to the basement?” asked Sun.

I was about to answer, but a succession of heavy cracks and flying splinters of metal and wood preceded the front door collapsing inwards. The Disciples who’d shot out the locks and hinges were in first, the smoking barrels of the shotguns aimed right at our little party. Jessop stood tall, jutting out his chin proudly in face of the danger.

“Don’t you move!” barked one of the men. He had slightly fewer face tattoos than Sun, though not by much. Most of his coverings were comprised of knives, guns, and satanic symbols.

“Do we fight?” whispered Cody, barely heard over the ringing in my ear.

We could no doubt kill a sizeable number of the gangsters, but our inevitable cooldowns and their inexhaustible numbers would be our undoing. We had a couple of other tricks, and it was these that set off a crazy plan in my head. “No, stand down. Unless they look like they’re going to do something drastic, and then do whatever you need to.”

“Stop talking!” snapped the second shotgun wielder, as more poured in from outside.

I moved to the front of the group. “Our argument isn’t with you and yours. We’ve done nothing, so let us leave in peace and we’ll be on our way.”

“I told you to shut the fuck up!” The man flipped the gun over and made the crack me in the face with the wooden stock. I caught it mid-strike and just held it there, staring at the Disciple. He yanked and twisted, but I held firm until he got the point, and then let go.

“We just want to leave without any more bloodshed,” I explained.

“I’m afraid we can’t let that happen,” said a new voice. One that was measured and self-assured. Stepping around the destroyed door frame, the guy was dressed in a suit that was worth more than my yearly takings. The character tag identified him as Rhys Payne. He was handsome, in a cold, stare right through you way. Brown hair was swept back from a proud forehead. His skin was an even, glowing brown from extensive sunbed use. The pearly white teeth sparkled as he regarded us from a pair of piercing green eyes that reminded me of poison.

“You’re in charge?” I asked, facing down two dozen twitchy barrels of his gang which pointed at us from all around him.

“I’m afraid not, but my employer is very keen to meet the people who were brazen enough to sneak into our building and attack our business associates.”

“We made sure to keep your people out of it. Our argument is with Milley and the CID, not the Disciples.”

“Well, I must say I do appreciate that, but it doesn’t change the fact that you attacked our colleagues, and by extension, that’s an attack on our organisation. Handing you over for the general to do with as he sees fit will go a long way to showing goodwill on our part.”

There was little chance of us walking away, but I thought I’d give it one more try. “Let us leave in peace. If you take us, your whole world will change, I can promise you that.”

“That’s what I’m counting on,” replied Rhys with a smirk.

“Shall we tie them up?” asked shotgun guy.

“Are you going to do anything silly?” Rhys asked us.

The question was meant to mock, as if the guns trained on us were guaranteed to give them the upper hand. Walking away into the night was no longer on the table, so my actual plan was now going to be put into action. “We’ll behave, just tell your guys to be cool. We don’t want any accidental weapon discharges, do we?” I asked, putting on a show of being worried.

“They’ll only shoot you if you give them a reason. What Milley will do to you is another matter, but you handled these soldiers without a scratch, so who knows what the future holds. As long as we get a nice discount on our rates, you can kill another fifty of the arrogant bastards for all I care.”

“Then I guess we’re coming quietly,” I replied, noting the disdain in which he talked about the mercenaries.

Rhys looked past our group to the patch of burned lino. He glowered at us, then moved into the kitchen, staring at the ceiling speculatively. “Interesting. I don’t see any cutting equipment.”

I held my tongue and shrugged. Rhys grinned, without mirth. He already knew something very strange was going on here, and I fully intended to play on that. The perfectly burned circle that hadn’t spread flames any further only added to the mystique of our presence. He stepped past us, giving Sun a thorough checking over. From his expression, I took it to be partly intrigue, and another part the exact same look Cuthwin had displayed. An appreciation for the beauty of the barbarian’s otherness.

“Shall we?” he offered, politely holding an arm out to guide the way.

We followed his instruction, stepping over the shattered door and out into the packed hallway, the Disciple’s hateful eyes watching our every move.