RD 5 Ch 47

Circe and I only got partway through our meal before the man I was watching got up to move away.

“Go,” I gestured to Circe.

“Why aren't you?” she frowned, though she was already halfway out of the chair at my word.

“Because, between the two of us, I'm far less subtle than you,” I said, gesturing at my very unsubtle frame. I was at least a head taller than the crowd when I went anywhere and quite literally stuck out.

“Fair point.” Circe chuckled. “You'll catch up?”

“Yeah, after I pay the bill. Dining and dashing's probably not the way to stay in Kathy's favor.” I answered. It might get Kathy’s attention, but certainly not her trust.

Circe gave a little wave and was off to trail the demon.

Predictably, Kathy came back over to check on me. “Did you scare her away already?” she asked, playful. With Circe gone, Kathy appeared to be more comfortable flirting with me.

“If only she were that easy to get rid of.” I started to flirt before clearing my throat. “No, just… something came up, and I'll need to hurry after her.” I laid ten system gold on the table. “This good?”

Kathy scooped the currency up in a heartbeat. And I understood her interest; system gold was worth far more than the other currencies of the world that were quickly forgotten. “You're settled if you want to catch up with her,” she said.

I flashed a thank-you smile and headed out.

I couldn't help but keep Soul Gaze active now that we had spotted one demon. I needed to make sure we understood the full situation.

I scanned the crowds as I moved quickly down the street, chasing after Circe's blue hair, which stuck out in the sea of people about their day.

To my surprise, she was fairly adept at trailing a target. By the time I caught up with her, she had put a large gap between us and the man we were following, but clearly knew where he was going at all times.

“How are you keeping track of him?” I asked.

Circe buffed her nails, smirking as she looked over at me. “A girl's got to have a few secrets.” She glanced at me, cleared her throat, and admitted, “It's an ability. Live long enough and there are definitely times you need to trail someone.”

“And it was exactly what we needed right now.” I hooked my arm through hers. “Do you have a general direction or a sense for where he is?” I asked, hoping to get a little more clarity.

“Direction and distance,” Circe replied with a smug smile, confident in her gift, which was better than most tracking abilities. “He might be able to shake it off if he knows what's happening, but then I'll at least know his last location.”

Arm in arm, we strolled down the street, Soul Gaze sweeping the crowd. “Well then, I suppose you're in charge of where we go for now,” I said.

“Let's stroll,” Circe said, not a trace of urgency in her gait.

“We should make this look casual. Even if he sees us several times today, we're just another pair of shoppers to him.” I told her.

“That's the goal.” She paused to admire herself in a glass window and then leaned forward to point at a display that drew my attention away from the street.

“See something you like?” I asked. Playing along with what she was doing.

“What do you think of this one?” she said.

“For you or someone else?” I prodded.

She pointed at a piece of jewelry that had an inlaid enchantment meant to protect the wearer from a sudden attack, though it would only block something of the B rank at best. “For me,” she hesitated. “I supposed I could get a gift for Simone.”

“Whatever you want.” I shrugged. Even if the necklace’s enchantment was less than useful in comparison to her current strength, she might like the way it looked. “But why Simone?” I asked, curious.

Circe pursed her lips. “Of all the people the ladies in your circle need to impress, it’s Simone.” She tipped her head, considering something silently.

“Why not get Merlin a gift?” I offered, genuinely hoping the two of them might use the trip to at least start to resolve whatever had gone wrong.

Circe scoffed. “Merlin would never take a gift from me. Much less something like this.”

“Why not? It’s not as if it’s going to rear up and bite her. Besides, it would go well with her eyes.” I nudged, and Circe arched a manicured blue eyebrow at me as if I’d missed something vital before only now to recognize it in someone else.

“Should you really be complimenting another woman while you’re out with me?” she asked.

“Circe,” I said, grinning, “I hate to tell you, but if that makes you jealous, there’s a lot worse coming.”

“It’s not that it makes me jealous. It’s just proper manners is all.” Her tone was clipped but not unkind. I watched her carefully for a moment, then shrugged.

“Noted. I’ll try to be careful in the future. But it really would go well with her eyes. If you don’t want to buy it for her, I might.” I told her.

My words earned another long look, but before she could answer, she straightened. “He’s moving,” she said suddenly, perking up and tugging me along.

I had half a mind to call her out on the obvious distraction, but that wouldn’t help. Instead I let her pull me, arm in arm, and adopted the role of a slightly overwhelmed tourist on a date.

The act worked. People paid less attention to us than they might otherwise.

“You’re a little better at being inconspicuous than I expected,” Circe observed, drawing me up short in front of another shop.

“Of course.” I gave a small, dry smile. “I did more than just crack heads in my previous life. I also had to investigate a few problems. The only way to investigate is to fit in.”

Circe waggled a brow suggestively on how I might have done that. “Not really looking at this particular store,” she said, then pulled me back into a stride. “Blending in has never been my priority,” she admitted. “When I was trying to get taken seriously, and even after I led the Heros branch, it was more about standing out than melting into the crowd.”

“We all have our own circumstances,” I said quickly. “But you never know what you’re capable of until you try.”

“Perhaps I should try blending in a bit more, at least with your people.” She considered her words a moment later. “It’s not about what I did or didn’t do in the past,” she said softly. “It’s about what I feel I need to do now.”

I saw then that it wasn’t ego so much as a rule she’d learned to live by. “You fit in fine, Circe. In case you haven’t noticed, they are all strong women. My worry is that you and Merlin’s tension will spread through the group over time. Two people who can’t get along tend to infect the whole team by making everyone choose a side. I don’t like organizations where everyone has to second-guess everyone else.”

Circe nodded, looking mildly chastened. Then she pointed toward a little shop window down the way. “He paused in there for a while,” she said. “He could be taking his time on the way back. If he felt your inspect, he might be wary and trying to lose a tail.”

I’d already spotted the man farther down the street, but Circe’s tracking had kept much tighter tabs on him than I’d expected. “All right. Let’s see what they have.”

We slipped inside and I brushed aside a beaded curtain. It had been ages since I’d seen that type of decoration.

“Hello! Another customer,” a woman called, her voice carrying a strange blend of accents that might have been Indian with a hint of French-Canadian. She smiled, welcoming us.

Circe clung to my arm and gave my bicep a not-so-subtle squeeze as she answered, “We’re just perusing.”

“Ah, enjoy. If you have any questions, please let me know,” the shopkeeper said, then let us wander without the usual sales person breathing down the back of our necks.

I activated Soul Gaze and scanned the items. Most of them were what I expected of this type of shop: protection charms, trinkets that dealt particular elemental damage, and a number of utilities any adventurer would welcome.

“Oh, this is pretty.” Circe picked up a necklace and splayed it across her chest to get my attention.

“You don’t need that,” I said without inspecting it. “You’re pretty enough as you are.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw a wry grin from the shop owner as we played our parts as two flirting lovers.

Circe pouted at me as if I were being cheap and spun back around to shop.

I turned to the shop owner. “Anything else selling particularly well?” I asked, rudely inspecting her as I spoke.

There was no delay in my inspect. She was very human. If the inspection bothered her, she didn’t show it; she paused, humming in thought. “Well, I did happen to sell a few of these today. It’s what most people come here for.” She gestured to a wall near the counter and pulled one off to hand me.

“And what’s this?” I asked.

“I call them stunner charms,” she smiled. “Brief flash, loud noise, and a little extra oomph. You never know when you’re in a dungeon how much stalling a monster, or another person, comes in handy.”

I grunted in agreement. That’s why I had blinding charms myself. “What do you think?” I asked Circe, holding it out.

She snorted. “If someone needs something like that, then it’s because they’re too weak.” 

The shop owner scowled, and I knew then that we had her on the hook.

“I bet even people from the sects use them,” I said, trying to draw the obvious conclusion.

Sure enough, the shopkeeper perked up. “There was a man from a sect who just bought the deluxe version of these.”

“From a sect? There’s a deluxe version?” Circe perked up.

“Well, I don’t have any more. I make them to order,” the shop owner hesitated, clearly regretting a missed sale.

“Oh, well, what if we ordered some of those, Bran?” Circe asked, putting a hand on my bicep. She was doing that specific touch quite a lot and I almost wanted to flex them for her just to show off.

I rubbed my chin. “I don’t know how much longer we’ll be around here before we head back.” I answered, clearly catching the shop owner’s attention.

“Are you two from a sect?” she asked.

I waffled. “Don’t know if you’d call it a sect exactly. We have a number of bases worldwide. I suppose we’d fit in somewhere between the sects and the clans. About twenty thousand official members and plenty of farmers and workers around our bases.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes nearly bugged out. “Really? What are you doing here?”

“Actually, we’re recruiting,” I said, leaning on the counter. “There’s an enchanter down the street we came for, but they’ve seemed less than interested.” I shook my head sadly.

“Of course,” she puffed up and pulled away from her role as eager seller. “The area’s safe enough that few want more than they have here. The world’s gone to hell in a handbasket,” she added.

I couldn’t help but nod. She was right, after all. It really had gotten worse. “What about you? Are you from around here?” I asked as Circe went back to shopping.

“A few hours away,” she said. “But when everyone started congregating here, it made no sense to stay put. So I moved up here and got this shop rolling. I used to be an artist.”

“I can’t blame you. The one thing we have to do right now is be adaptable. Humanity’s survival is at stake,” I said, testing her reaction to see if she’d show if she was knowingly supporting the demonic side.

She bobbed her head. “Things are getting rough out there. But what’s a girl to do?” She shrugged.

Circe slipped up behind me and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go, Bran.” She sounded far too peppy; I half wondered if she’d pilfered some item. Or maybe running away with me was giving her the same glee.

I led her out the door and the decently crowded street.

“What was that?” Circe tilted her head like a curious kitten.

“I was just looking to see if she was involved with the demons or not.” I said.

“We can both clearly tell she is not. Even if she was selling the demon her wares.” Circe glanced down the street. “We’ll follow behind him and see if there are any others here?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” I nodded, letting Circe weave us through the crowds.