Layna’s fangs gleamed in the light as her smile widened. “Of course, Vance. Ask away.”
“Those spider cocoons have people in ‘em, right?”
Layna giggled like a schoolgirl, not quite the reaction I’d been expecting. “Yes!” she answered gleefully. “And I put some of them there myself! They’re bad people, and they deserved their fate. Don’t you also punish bad people?”
“I’m a strong believer in justice.”
“Ooh, ooh, me too, me too!” she gushed. “Tell me about the ways in which you’ve executed bad people! Tell me all the details, all the juicy, delicious details, don’t leave out anything. Tell me exactly how they died. What their faces looked like when you dealt out your justice. Yes, yes, tell me everything!”
This cute girl had a taste for violence and blood, it seemed. Shit, well, I guess I did too. I didn’t exactly follow the paths of assassin and necromancer because I was a dyed in the wool pacifist.
“If I were to tell you about every evil chump I’ve killed in the name of justice, we’d be here all night,” I said.
“I don’t care,” she said, almost tripping over her words in her haste to get them out of her mouth. “Tell me about all of them. Every single one!”
I had to chuckle. Her enthusiasm was infectious.
“All right, all right, I’ll tell you about a couple of ‘em. I do still have to prepare for that meeting later, remember? I’ll give you one for the road, though. This one time, I was crypt diving. I’d just become a necromancer. There was this paladin who’d been hunting me, a pompous asshole from the Church of Light, had a stick shoved so far up his ass it was scraping the roof of his fucking mouth. Anyway, this goblin’s bell end came for me in his golden armor, with his golden greatsword—a walking stereotype, I know. . .”
So I told Layna exactly how I’d kicked the paladin’s ass. She reveled in all the juicy details, seeming particularly delighted when I told her how, after killing him, I’d made his skeleton explode out of his fresh corpse.
“I wish I could do that,” she murmured, “have bones burst out of corpses, watch all the blood and innards fly all over the place. Haha, who knows, it could get in the hair and eyes of the others still waiting to receive their pummeling! It must be a sight… a magnificent, delicious, awe-inspiring sight.”
I thought I was already catching on to some signs that particularly interested me in girls of her type, so I told her a few more stories. It turned out I’d read the signs well: I swore she was dripping wet by the end of it. Her face was flushed, as was her cleavage, her nipples pressing through the fabric of her dress. She was breathing heavily, nibbling on her lower lip. I was sure that all I had to do was tell her about one more death, and that crimson dress would have flown right off all by itself, and she’d be on her knees, slobbering over my hard cock.
As tempting as it was to try out this hypothesis, I had to stop. She had made clear that the Council of Aith would be greatly offended if my party and I were late. I didn’t want any unnecessary obstacles to stand in our path. Our objective was clear and singular: we needed to obtain passage through this city as soon as possible.
“I’ll tell you more stories later,” I said, hating the fact that I had to stop here even though she was virtually begging for more. “I really have to prepare for the council meeting.”
“Ugh!” she gasped. “You’re such a tease, Vance! You take a girl so far, then just stop. I’m not letting you leave the city before I’ve heard of every single heartbeat your hands have stopped.”
With that, Layna turned around and walked away. My eyes remained locked on that firm ass of hers until she disappeared around the corner. I forced myself to stop thinking about going after her and ripping that dress off for a better look before I headed to my party’s chamber.
“Lord Vance,” Rollar said as I walked in, “what’s the latest regarding the Council of Aith?”
“The Webmaven has called on the council to meet tonight,” I answered, “and they’ve agreed. All of you are welcome to attend—but unarmed.”
“Smells like treachery to me,” Rami-Xayon muttered, folding her arms across her chest.
“It does seem suspicious,” Friya said.
“I will go wherever you wish,” Anna said. It was strange to have her here, but she seemed more eager than any of the others.
“They didn’t say no armor though,” I said, “so I suggest you all get armored up. We have our magical powers too, and besides, we can all handle ourselves well if it comes to unarmed combat.”
“If you’re sure,” Elyse said, not sounding sure herself.
“Trust me.” I flashed her a confident grin. “I’m the God of Death. It takes more than a few extra legs sticking out of your back to take me down.”
My party wasn’t as confident as I was, but they nonetheless obeyed. I wore my full suit of plate armor. In addition to protecting me, it also made me look suitably menacing, which wouldn’t hurt either. Just as I glanced out of the window and saw the moon clearing the top of the tower, there was a knock on the door: an Arachne servant.
“Are you all ready to attend the meeting… my lord?” the servant said reluctantly.
I looked back at my party. Grim-faced, they all gave me a single nod.
“We’re ready,” I said. “If you’d be so kind as to take us there now. Come on, people, let’s move!”
Chapter Twenty-One
I made sure I displayed all my confidence as I marched into the huge main hall of the palace. I didn’t have to do much acting; even though we’d had to leave our weapons outside,
