Chapter 7

So a Warlock and a Paladin walk into a bar. It seems like there should be a good joke there somewhere. I was starting my second bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon (there is a story there) when I saw him enter the Red Horse Saloon. He looked a hell of a lot different in street clothes but then again I figured I did also. I gave him a wave and ordered a whiskey sour. Nights like tonight were very rare but very nice. A chance to sit in a bar with an old friend and bitch about women and work.

Gwydion hit the table the same time his drink did and we made a silent toast to our third member of the musketeers.

“Still drinking that swill? I thought for sure making a few bucks would improve your taste.” he smirked.

“HAH, I will have you know I went through a beer snob phase for two years after I made my first 100 million. Turns out I just really like a cold PBR.” I laughed

“I am gonna need another one after this to get the image of that twit Jeffery going down on my sister. Thanks for putting that out there yesterday. How did you know?” he asked as he sipped his drink.

“Know what?” I replied.

“That the only thing she let’s him do is go down. She won’t even kiss him. I can’t even feel sorry for him he is such a bootlicker.” he laughed “The other guys were razzing him pretty hard when they thought I was out of earshot. You just keep making friends don’t you?”

He slid a folder of papers over to me.

“New edicts for our Street Paladins. A nice letter explaining the process of apprehending unknown supernaturals. With a stricter enforcement of penalties for failure to comply. Looking into the case of your apprentice they could have apprehended her under the immediate public safety clause. Apparently there was a death shell released at a boarding house four stops west of the bus they located her on. Heavy necromancer magic residue and four people dead.” He looked at me seriously.

“Yup, and if they knew more about what the hell they were doing I wouldn’t have been able to stop them. Not my problem. We both know there is precedence for leniency when it involves unknowing use of power. I am sure you are also aware that I am in the process of making restitution to the families involved. The Council wanted to be very clear about my duties earlier today trust me.”

If you haven’t guessed yet Gwydion and I met at law school.

“HA! I heard about that. You introduced a potential Archmage necromancer and a risen succubus Warlock to the magical community. How did that go over?” he laughed.

“About as well as you would expect.” I said. “They questioned Chloe’s use of her death shell during her gang rape to try to break her. Then they hit her with her power usage during her attack and nightmare. She held up really well. I had to let her face it head on. She will be going through tougher than that before it is all over.” I took a long drink of beer to let my face regain it’s composure.

“I feel for the kid, I had heard they were pretty rough on her.” He said slowly. Then he smirked again. “I also heard you took Xath aside afterward and had some words? Something about dueling him for head of the Mage’s circle and giving him to some incubi for a week?”

“How many spies do you guys have in open council? Let’s just say that he no longer sees the need to be unnecessarily cruel when dealing with scared apprentices.” I smirked back.

“So you tell me. How did they take the addition of a risen succubus Warlock?” I asked turning the tables on him.

“About as well as you would expect.” He grinned. “She definitely had them charmed quickly enough and there are a few who are willing to stand behind her due to her risen status. I checked the archives. There hasn’t been a risen demon in over 800 years. You are even getting some respect from the Holy Templars for that trick. Although you are also getting some hate. Don’t you know that us Paladins are the only ones who should be concerned about other beings souls? How on earth are you going to handle that anyways? I mean you in love is a joke. You in love with a succubus is downright creepy.”

I finished my bottle of PBR and ordered another round.

“I am simply not going to worry about it. I have a law firm to run, a huge personal project I am working on, and have many different factions of many different organizations wanting me to go away. This love thing I am totally gonna put on Xandra and just follow her lead. I know my strengths and weaknesses and emotions are a definite weakness.” I smiled at the waitress as she brought me my beer. “You remember how the last one worked out.” I couldn’t help the small tone of bitterness in my voice.

“Yeah brother I know.” He finished his drink and grabbed the next one. “you know she still loves you right?” he said cautiously.

I laughed.

“It has been over 5 years now and she broke up with me. If there was any man worth pining for I am sure I am it, however, she has had to have moved on by now.” I replied.

“Nope. Despite everything she is carrying a torch for you. She is just too damn stubborn to admit she screwed up.” he said as he gave me a careful glance.

I changed the subject and we continued to talk and bitch about life and work. I only do this once or twice a year and really enjoy it. This may come as a shock but I am not exactly the touchy feely type. I learned long ago that my job and my status required me to act a part and truthfully it is not much of an act. I really don’t lose sleep at night over getting a drug dealer’s conviction overturned. I feel no responsibility for his actions. He does his thing and I do mine. When my firm helped break the nurses strike at Oakland General Hospital I felt nothing but happiness that the check cashed. I put a daycare in my office building, not because I am a nice guy but because over half my paralegal staff are women and it is a great retention tactic. Xandra once said I would rather poke my eye out with a stick than examine my feelings. She was completely right. The last thing I wanted to do was think about my ex. Especially now that Xandra was taking care of this whole relationship thing. I reached for another beer and found that somehow while we were talking I had downed 2 more than I thought. On the heels of this realization was the fact that I was in no shape to drive back.

I am sending Chloe to get you boss. Xandra sent.

I can call a cab I sent back

She wants to drive the GTO, apparently her dad had one. Plus I think she needs to get out of the tower for a bit. she sent

Something wasn’t adding up but I was feeling no pain and could use the time to sober up a bit ... Gwydion was trying to recall the the name of the T.A. with the huge tits who always wore the tightest shirts. (Gloria) He only had three drinks but was a much lighter weight than I was. We were both feeling no pain as we watched an attractive little brunette enter and make her way toward us. It took me a second to realize that it was Chloe. I had seen her in her homeless garb along with the sweats and t-shirts that she would wear during the few times we trained. This was the first time I saw her made up. She was really quite attractive with the fresh faced girl next door look. She did a double take at my companion and if this were a cartoon her eyes would have bugged out and her jaw would have hit the floor. For his part Gwydion had no problem admiring the lithe form that was walking up toward us. I felt an emotion and being slightly inebriated I decided to examine it. It wasn’t lust or jealousy. It was ... protectiveness? is that even an emotion? There was no way on earth that Gwydion would do ANYTHING to hurt this girl but I found myself thinking that he better not. Time to start sobering up and putting a lockdown on this thinking stuff.

AWWW that was cute boss. Want me to buy you a shotgun for when her date asks her out to the prom? Xandra sent.

HA! She is my apprentice and will be one of my greatest magical legacies. Of course I want to protect her. Besides we need her for the Keychain Project. Nothing to see here. I sent.

How are you in my head so much now? We are far enough away you shouldn’t be able to read me so easily. I sent

I don’t know. she sent But I blame you. My powers are all over the place. It was your undying devotion and lovableness that allowed me to rise from the decadent demon sexpot to the decadent risen sexpot. she sent. I could feel the smirk in my head.

I asked for one last water and closed out our tab. While the waitress was ringing us up I headed over to the bathroom. That is the problem with beer. You don’t buy it you just rent it. I chuckled at the bad joke as I relieved myself and washed my hands. I was at that tipping point now where I could feel myself sobering up. As I left the restroom I couldn’t help but notice that all the attention seemed to be focused on the dance floor. As I wandered past I saw some guy holding Chloe trying to dance with her while what appeared to be a couple of his buddys moving to intercept a stalking Gwydion. There was something not right about Chloe as she had her eyes shut tight and was trying to get away from the guy grabbing her. As I pushed through the crowd I noticed one of the cowboys stand right in Gwydion’s path. Without breaking stride my friends hand hand shot out and caught the interloper right in the throat. As the goon rocked back grabbing at his neck Gwydion reached around to the back of the guys neck and shoved him back behind. Goon number two was a step behind his buddy and received a headbutt that caused an almost audible snap as the goon dropped to the floor. Our resident dance master had his back to the enraged paladin and never saw the blow to his kidney that sent him to the ground. Gwydion gently held Chloe as she started sobbing. All three thugs were on their knees in various stages of pain. I put my hand in my pocket and summoned a pair of brass knuckles. Quickly weaving a spell that would make people not notice me I went around and threw a right cross into every one of those motherfuckers faces. From the outside I was hoping it would look like they just fell over. Next I conjured up a 30 second mass memory wipe spell and threw it across the entire room.While everyone was disoriented I shifted myself and the three unconscious goons outside. About a minute later Gwydion came out with his arm around Chloe.