The next morning, they drove further north along Highway 101. Tess sat in front while Ayden sat in the back again, playing with the computer. She got bored when the road became surrounded by forest. “Yay, redwoods,” she said sarcastically.

“You have redwoods on Kelstone?” Gabe asked.

“Sure, the Ifori Forest is full of them,” she said. “Not that many people go there though. It’s where the elves live and they don’t like humans.”

“In a redwood forest?”

“Yeah, and the Saelythian elves live inside them. Their buildings are grown out of the trees, which makes it really hard to find their village, because you don’t even see its buildings until you look real close.” This led him into a lot of questions about the elves, something she knew a lot about since Cael was half Saelythian and was raised by his elven mother in that village.

Gabe was quiet for a bit while they ate lunch at a tavern called Denny’s. Tess couldn’t imagine what more he could ask, but halfway through their meal, more questions came. He seemed more interested in her world than she was with his. “So, are your gods real?”

She gave him a strange look. “Of course.”

“How many are there?”

“Twelve,” she answered, and then just gave the information she knew he wanted. “Daegon: God of Light, Malluk: God of Darkness, Aryst: Goddess of Healing, Mortalia: Goddess of Death, Eolys: God of Magic, Kellum: God of War, Tandra: Goddess of Love, Chira, Goddess of Justice, Faraad, God of the Sea. Um… Nathora: Goddess of Nature, Ona’Ess: goddess of the woodlands.”

“Nature and woodlands?” He asked. “Isn’t that the same?”

She shrugged. “Ona’Ess isn’t really a proper god, she doesn’t have a true temple or clergy or anything. She was an elf that got made into a goddess because Nathora fell in love with her.”

“You some of those role-playing types?” the waitress asked as she came to pick up some empty plates.

“Yep,” Gabe answered easily, giving her a friendly smile and ignoring her attitude before turning back to Tess. “True temple?”

“Ayd, I feel like I’m at school all over again,” she complained.

Ayden shook his head. “You’re doing fine. Deep breaths,” he teased.

“Sorry,” Gabe said sincerely.

“Don’t be, she just likes to whine,” Ayden told him. Tess smacked his leg and he laughed.

“There is one true temple for each god on Kelstone,” Tess answered. “They’re the ones that have spires that point up to where the god, or goddess that they serve is.”

“Except…” Ayden prompted.

“Except for Malluk, the god of darkness, because he lives on a plane that’s down instead of up,” she answered in a bored monotone voice. “Oh and Brex, he’s the only god to live on the Mortal Plane. He doesn’t have any temples either, just one place where he pretty much constantly parties with his followers. And he doesn’t have a domain anymore since he left the Immortal Planes.”

“Tess isn’t too fond of him.” Ayden put in.

“Wait, have you’ve met an actual god?” Gabe asked.

“Two actually, Brex and Aryst.” Tess said.

“And Zavos, the Angel of Death, though he’s not actually an angel,” Ayden said.

“How’d you get to met them?” Gabe asked.

“We had to get Brex’s help to get to the Temple of the Gods so we could see Aryst so Sera could ask for her power back,” Tess told him. “Not that he’d help her but luckily Viv’s a slut so…” She glanced over at him. “It’s another long story.”

“She screwed a god?”

“Yep.”

He smiled. “That’s got to be an experience.”

“Or not.”

He chuckled. “Okay. So what are they like?”

“Aryst is beautiful, soft, forgiving,” Ayden answered. “She’s the embodiment of compassion.”

“What’s Brex the embodiment of?” Tess asked. “Sex?”

“Shouldn’t that be love goddess territory?” Gabe smiled.

Tess frowned. “Love and sex aren’t the same thing.”

“Trust me, I know. It was meant jokingly,” he said. “Why so edgy?”

“It’s not you,” Ayden told him. “She has her own issue with that.” She leaned against him and he put his arm around her. “You’d think after almost a year she’d let it go though. Especially when everyone else has.”

“You cheat?” Gabe asked.

“Ayd would never!” Tess said indignantly.

“Oh.”

“No, she didn’t either,” Ayden said, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

“So what happened?”

Tess sighed. “Ayd and I have been best friends since we were six, he was in love with me for most of it, but I was a moron and didn’t realize it until after I unfortunately had sex with Matt and—”

“That guy you’re friends with?”

“Yeah, it was just sex, just once… it’s not like I think of him like that anymore. And he’s married to Sera now anyway. He’s family.”

He shook his head at her defensiveness. “Feel guilty much?”

“You’re really nosy,” she retorted.

“So I’m told. Well?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she said with another sigh.

“Well, it’s in the past, it’s dumb to feel guilty,” he said helpfully.

“It’s not your business.”

“Then why are you telling me?”

“Because you asked.”

Gabe smirked. “Well, we should get back on the road.”

Ayden fought a smile as he stood and pulled Tess with him.

They got to Arcata just after four in the afternoon and decided to go straight to the buyer’s house. They drove up to the east side of the small town and found the blue, two-story house at the edge of a redwood forest. But no one was home. They waited in the car for a while, figuring the guy was probably at work and hoping he kept what Gabe called bank hours.

“So you guys don’t seem too freaked out about anything here,” he commented. “I mean it’s a different world.”

Tess shrugged. “We fight monsters, when we see a new one we don’t scream and run away. Why would this freak us out?”

“And it’s not really that different anyway,” Ayden put in. “Our social cultures seem similar, we speak the same language, people look the same, more or less. The only real difference is that you have electricity and the things that go with it, like TVs and microwaves. And you have cars. But we have things you don’t; magic, monsters, and different races like fairies and elves. It’s just a trade really.”

“Well I’m glad you’re not like the people in the movies,” Gabe told them.

They didn’t ask, instead, Tess said, “You know what I wish we could bring back with us?”

“You mean aside from your grandma’s picture?” Gabe asked, she looked at him in surprise, and he laughed. “The frame was empty, it wasn’t hard to guess why.”

“Tess, we’re not supposed to bring anything back,” Ayden reminded her.

“Oh, it’s just a little picture, it won’t hurt anything,” she argued. “Besides, think of how much Dad will like it. Imagine if you didn’t have that picture of your mom.”

Ayden just nodded and didn’t say anymore.

“So what do you wish you could take?” Gabe asked.

“Video games,” Tess answered.

“Yeah. So, what do you do for fun on Kelstone?”

She shrugged. “Fight, sex… what’s so funny?”

“Nothing, I just love how blunt you are,” Gabe said. “You don’t get that from Falcon.”

“She gets it from her uncle mostly,” Ayden said. “He doesn’t believe in being embarrassed… by anything.”

“Same here.”

Tess smirked. “Ayd hates it.”

“No I don’t. I just wish you’d keep certain things private,” he muttered.

She turned to look at him. “Everyone knows we have sex. Even with you always keeping me quiet all the time. If I never said anything, they’d still figure it out. And you should be happy, I could always give details, like last night in the shower when you—”

“Tess,” he groaned.

She laughed delightedly.

“So what else do you do?” Gabe asked, chuckling himself.

“Practice… um… read stories,” she said. “Well, Ayd reads, I listen.”

“He even reads to you.” Gabe smiled. “He braids your hair, cooks your food, tucks you in… is there anything he doesn’t do?”

Tess frowned, but Ayden spoke up before she did, “I do it because I want to.”

“I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s obvious that you enjoy taking care of her, so it works,” Gabe said, then looked at Tess again. “But I bet you’re used to being taken care of even without him. I couldn’t imagine Falcon having a child that wasn’t completely spoiled. He’s just that guy.”

“Her mom’s like that, too,” Ayden said. “But yeah, mostly her dad.”

Gabe nodded. “You’re lucky to be so well loved,” he told her seriously.

She smiled now. “I know.”

“All kids should be so spoiled if you ask me, I know mine will be.”

“Planning on starting a family with Kelly?” Ayden teased.

Gabe shuddered but also laughed. “No thanks. But someday, when I find the right woman. Might take a while though because I won’t be happy until I find… well, something like what you two have.”

“What do you mean?” Tess asked.

“You balance out, you put each other first. You’ve got the package: friends, lovers, partners. That’s the kind of thing’s worth fighting for, or waiting years for.” He shot a smile at Ayden.

Ayden nodded. “You know, I never thought about what it must be like to have to look for that someone. I mean, Tess came into my life before I’d thought about that kind of love. I’ve always known she was the one.”

“Must be nice. But it’s not bad looking either, there’s plenty of nice women to pass the time with until I find the one. And I’m only twenty-four. What?” he asked when Ayden made a face.

“You’ve been an adult for eight years and still haven’t found anyone.” He shrugged. “Just sad.”

“You’re an adult at sixteen on Kelstone?”

“Yeah, I forgot it’s eighteen here.”

Gabe nodded. “Well, it’s more than typical here for someone my age to be single.”

“Not as much in our world,” Ayden said.

“Korin was twenty-four when he met Viv,” Tess pointed out.

“He’s from Snowy Pine, not a lot to choose from up there,” Ayden told her.

“Matt was… yeah, guess he’s not a good example,” she said with a small chuckle. “Oh hey… he’s home.” She nodded toward a red truck that just pulled up.

They waited a little while longer, letting the guy get settled, before they went to knock on the door. The man was maybe in his forties, with short brown hair, a beard, and a potbelly. “Tom?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah, who are you?”

“My name’s Gabe. I’m the one you bought the orb from on eBay.”

The man frowned. “What do you want?”

“We need the orb back. It was a mistake to sell it.”

“It’s really important,” Tess added.

“Well too bad, I bought it, it’s mine,” Tom told them.

“Can we just buy it back?” Ayden asked.

“We’ll give you however much you want,” Gabe told him.

He shook his head stubbornly. “No, and that’s final. Now please leave,” he said and closed the door on them.

Tess reached for her daggers. “So much for the nice way.”

Gabe grabbed her hand. “That’s not a good idea,” he said as he started walking back to the car, pulling her with him. “We’ll come back in the morning,” he told them quietly. “We’ll wait for him to leave, then break in and take it back. That way no one gets hurt.”

Gabe decided to take them to what he called a tiny mall in Eureka, the next town over. They entered through glass doors into a food court. Tess wanted to get a burger and fries, but Gabe insisted that they would eat somewhere healthier later, to which Tess grumbled and rolled her eyes.

But fast food was quickly forgotten when they rounded a corner and she saw the arcade. Though the level of noise was deafening, she had to go in and play every game there. After a while, Ayden just waited outside with a headache.

Tess found that she really liked air hockey, but she especially loved the racing games. After they left, Gabe had to tell her several times that she was definitely not driving the real car.

They looked at a video games store next, but didn’t stay long since they didn’t bring her father’s gaming console with them and were going home tomorrow anyway. 

As they reached a fork in the giant hallway, Tess stopped abruptly and gaped. “What is that?” she asked, her eyes wide with excitement as she watched kids jump and slide down huge, cushy structures.

Gabe smiled. “I don’t think they allow adults to…” His sentence trailed off as she ran for the place. He shook his head and laughed as he and Ayden went after her. “Sorry,” Gabe told the employee who was calling after Tess. She was climbing up a slide and not paying any attention to him. “I’ll pay for her.”

“This place is for kids,” the man said.

“Oh, trust me, she’s a kid,” Gabe said. “I’ll give you an extra twenty if you just let her go.”

The man thought for a second, then nodded.

“Thanks.” Gabe paid, then went to sit on a bench with Ayden. “Not tempted?” he asked.

Ayden chuckled. “No. I like watching.”

Gabe smiled and he watched her, too. She was now jumping and doing flips inside a bouncy room with net walls, the kids around her telling her that she was awesome.

“Thanks by the way,” Ayden told him.

“For what?”

“Being cool with her.”

“No problem. She’s a cool girl,” Gabe said.

Ayden smiled. “Yeah.”

They watched as Tess climbed to the top of the highest one and the kids looked up at her with wide eyes. “Don’t do it!” a little girl called.

“Do it!” a boy told her.

Tess grinned and jumped off, doing two flips before landing. But unused to a bouncy floor, she fell back and laughed while the kids cheered.

An hour later they finally got her out and went to look at the rest of the mall. They stopped when they got to an intersection that had a playground in the middle and Ayden’s eyes lit up when he looked to the right and saw a large bookstore.

“Shall we?” Gabe asked with a smile.

But before Ayden could answer, Tess slapped Gabe’s arm lightly, getting his attention. “Look, cookies,” she told him, pointing across the way. “Give me some money.”

Gabe shook his head, but obligingly pulled out his wallet and gave her one of the green pieces of paper with the number twenty on it.

She took it and went. Instead of going around the play place, she ran up one of the slides to the top of the structure, then flipped to the ground on the other side. She grinned at the murmurs of awe from the people nearby as she went to get her cookies.

Gabe laughed. “Are you sure she’s nineteen and not nine?”

“She just gets like this when she’s excited,” Ayden told him with a fond smile. “Though she wears me out, it’s probably my favorite thing about her.”

“She’s definitely a free spirit,” Gabe said.

Tess came back a couple of minutes later with a bag full of different kinds of cookies. She handed over a few pieces of paper to Gabe, then took a bite of a chocolate chip cookie.

Gabe put the change in his pocket and asked with a smirk, “So, you gonna eat them all, or can you share?”

“Depends on how many you want,” she told him seriously.

He chuckled. “Just one.”

“Okay,” she said easily and opened the bag to let him pick. After he took a snickerdoodle, she handed Ayden a peanut butter cookie—his favorite.

“Thanks,” Ayden told her. “Come on, I wanna go in there,” he said, pointing to the bookstore.

He wasn’t surprised when she frowned. “I wanna go back to the bouncy place.”

“We’ll meet you there later,” Gabe told Ayden. “I’ll go babysit for a while,” he said, grinning at Tess who just rolled her eyes. She gave Ayden a kiss, then tried to run off, but Gabe caught her wrist. “No running inside. Now be good and walk or I’ll have to hold your hand,” he teased.

Ayden laughed and Tess shoved Gabe playfully. While she walked away with Gabe and ate her cookies, Ayden happily headed for the bookstore.