“Yep.”
In sudden understanding, she nodded. “So this is why you don’t worry about money?”
“That’s part of the reason. Wait here,” I said and dove back into the deeper water.
My next search took a little longer, but before I ran out of air, I found one of the little stones I was looking for. I retrieved it and swam back to Tess.
I handed the robin’s egg size rock to her and waited. She eyed it for a moment before asking, “Quartz?”
I grinned. “Not hardly.”
She stared at it for a little longer and looked at me quizzically. “You can’t be serious.”
“Of course I can be.”
“Wow, this would make a hell of a ring,” she said as she rotated her left hand over and held the raw diamond against the back of her ring finger.
“What?” I said.
She grinned at me and then shoved against my chest. “Not for me, you duffus.”
“I knew that.”
“Yeah, right. Boy, for a super powerful Wanderer, you can certainly be gullible.”
“I am not gullible,” I disagreed.
She grinned. “Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that. So, you’ve got a secret hoard of a butt-load of loot. You just come hit the bank whenever you need a little cash?”
“Pretty much. Walt showed me this place. It’s been the source of our finances for hundreds of years. I don’t know what the other Wanderers used, but those of us in North America have had this bank to rely on.”
“And there aren’t any locals to steal your loot?”
“There are locals, but gold is more common in this world and it has far less value than on Earth. I’m not sure about the diamonds, but I don’t think the locals have the technique needed to cut diamonds.”
“Cool, so you just take these to a local jeweler and sell them?”
“Now days, back when I started out the U.S. government wouldn’t allow private ownership of gold bullion. It had to be in the form of jewelry, but it was easy enough to take it to Canada or Mexico for conversion.”
“Wait, you couldn’t own gold?”
“Pretty much. I think it was 1975 when U.S. citizens were allow to own gold again. It was a holdover from the days of the great depression. I never understood the reasons, but Walt explained it to me after the first time he brought me here.”
“I never heard of that,” Tess said.
“You’re a little young for it to matter to you.”
She frowned momentarily. “You know, I understand that you’re so much older than me, but until you bring up things like this, I kind of forget it.”
“Because of my boyish good looks?”
She laughed. “Yeah, that’s it all right. So this was why you brought me here?”
“Unless you want to think it was because I wanted to ravish you while we were skinny dipping,” I said with a lecherous grin.
Tess stepped close and rubbed her flesh against mine. We kissed for a brief moment and then she pulled away. “I’m sure you’re always ready to ravish me.”
I grinned. Hell, for someone who started out trying to have a platonic relationship with his apprentice, I had certainly turned into some kind of hound dog. At first, we’d only had sex after a bout of training in which our emotions had been amped by our meshing. Now it seemed like we had sex at the drop of a hat. We did train daily, so we were always meshing, but something seemed different now. I wasn’t waiting for her to instigate sex because she needed the release. We were both instigators now and we were both acting like randy teenagers who had just discovered sex.
I shook off the thoughts. It was just healthy sex, not anything to concern myself about.
“Well, we should get going. I wouldn’t want you to stay in the water until your skin prunes,” I said.
Tess grinned. “Or until you’re able to perform again?”
I shook my head. “We’ve still got training to do and there are still a few creatures we haven’t located yet. We should get that job finished up before Verðandi sends us something new.”
“You’re the boss,” Tess said. “Lead on.”
I grinned and then swept her into my arms. She draped one arm behind my neck as I carried her back to where we left our clothes.
Chapter 6
Alexander
Pain, great agonizing bolts of pain, radiated across my chest as I struggled for air. I coughed again and warm liquid splattered across my face.
What? Wasn’t I supposed to be dead? I couldn’t be dead and be in this much pain.
I wiped at my face with my left hand and opened my eyes. It took a moment for the shapes to come into focus, but when they did, there was a drop dead (ugh, bad description) gorgeous woman bending over me.
“You cannot stay dead this day for Fate has need of you,” she said as she offered me a hand.
“What?” I reflexively took her wrist as she gripped mine. She pulled me to my feet, and I swayed dizzily. “Wait…what?”
I looked around for the men who had ambushed me, but beside the beautiful woman and her Pegasus, the roof was deserted. Wait? Did I say Pegasus?
I stared at the winged horse for a long minute and felt the urge to hurl shake me.
Bending away from the woman, I tossed my afternoon snack and a couple of beers to the rooftop.
The woman was kind enough to hold onto me and make sure I didn’t fall on my face, which, I’ll tell you was a definite possibility.
I straightened and wiped at my mouth with the back of my bare arm.
Shit! That hurt too. Looking down, I could see the wide gash one of the knives had left in my forearm muscles. White
