When Astrid collapsed back in the chair, gasping and smiling, we all looked at her left leg. The burns and blisters were gone, the flesh healed. The skin was as firm and complete as it had been before.
Astrid lifted her leg and wiggled her foot experimentally. “It’s completely healed!” she exclaimed, jumping up and hugging Kyrine.
Kyrine laughed, and the other agents laughed too, clapping Astrid on the back and congratulating Kyrine. I smiled. It felt good to see the agents and the dungeon getting comfortable with each other.
Suddenly, Astrid’s face fell. “A shame about my boot and my jumpsuit. I loved these clothes and it’ll be difficult to get another set the same.”
Kyrine tilted her head and gave Astrid a considering look. “Bring them to me tomorrow,” she said, “and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, would you?” Astrid asked, delighted.
“Of course,” Kyrine replied, sounding solemn but smiling a little as she spoke.
“Well,” Selena said, “I’m beat. If you don’t mind, I’m going to turn in.”
Belinda and Astrid yawned and agreed, and Kyrine turned to me. “Would you like to see your new room?”
“New room? Oh, right. That would be amazing!” I said. I hadn’t had a chance to view my new chambers yet, but I knew Kyrine had been working on them. She had the ability to change the internal spaces of the mansion at will and had created custom rooms for each of the agents. I was looking forward to seeing what my room would be like.
Kyrine smiled. “I’ll take you there.”
We all went up the broad carpeted stairway, but at the top of the stair, the agents turned to the right. “Our bedrooms are this way,” Astrid explained.
“But the Keeper’s suite is this way,” said Kyrine. “Come on, Jeremy, I’m excited to show you what I’ve made for you.”
“We’ll leave you to it,” chuckled Astrid, and the three agents made their way away from us down the corridor.
Kyrine and I turned left and walked down the long corridor. It was lit, like the hallway, with candelabras hanging from the ceiling, though these were smaller than those in the entrance hall.
As we walked, Kyrine slipped her arm through mine. “I can feel the monster core that you have in your coat pocket, Jeremy. I’m keen to be able to absorb it.”
I could feel the core, too. It bumped against my hip where it sat in the pocket of my leather jacket.
Since I’d known Kyrine, she had absorbed a few cores already, but those were gifts from Astrid, cores that had been brought to the mansion by the agent. Kyrine had absorbed those cores in much the same way as she had absorbed Astrid’s clothing earlier.
But the one that I carried in my pocket now had been harvested from the Putrefied Cobra I had just fought and defeated. It was my first monster kill since becoming the Keeper, and the first core I had brought back to the mansion myself. It felt special, and I didn’t want to just have Kyrine absorb it without ceremony.
Also, this core was a bit different. The Cobra cultivated according to its own instincts and turned itself into a horrifying zombie version of itself. When I had first retrieved the core from inside its chest, the core had been a terrifying blank black. I’d held the core in my hand and connected with it, and the blackness had sloughed off, leaving the core a beautiful dark brown, like a block of highly polished oak wood.
This cleansing process was new—I’d never heard of it before, nor had the agents—and so I wanted to think about this and explain it to Kyrine before she absorbed it.
When Kyrine absorbed a creature core, it added a summonable version of that monster to the database of creatures which the mansion could summon. As the Keeper, the powers of the mansion passed to me, making me a powerful summoner. I now had a few different monsters that I could summon at will. When I allowed Kyrine to absorb the Cobra core, I would gain the ability to summon a monstrous Cobra.
But not tonight.
“I think I’d rather wait until the morning, if you don’t mind too much,” I said to Kyrine gently, looking to see her reaction.
She pouted prettily but did not object. Then she gave a theatrical sigh and stopped, gesturing toward a beautiful door of dark wood, inlaid with carved wooden panels.
“Very well, my Keeper, if that’s what you decide, that is what we will do.”
I nodded, pleased. I had known that Kyrine would be open to following my will now, but I had expected a bit more pushback than that. “Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
She smiled. “This is your new suite of rooms,” she said, gesturing to the door.
I put my hand on the brass doorknob and turned it. The door felt heavy as it opened with a smooth, noiseless motion before I stepped inside.
Chapter 2
The room beyond was dimly lit, with a heavily curtained window on one side. An opulently blanketed and massive bed sat on the other side. A fireplace was nestled in the wall opposite the main door. A side door led off into another chamber in one corner.
Most of the light in the room came from the small, well-tended fire that crackled and chuckled merrily in the grate. A candle in an old-fashioned glass lamp burned steadily on the bedside table.
I stood in the doorway, taking in the cozy scene.
“Do you
