Abaddon's Mark

Chapter Twenty-Five

Graydon knocked on Naena's door. She snapped it open, gave him an annoyed look, then stepped to the side and motioned inward. He slipped past her and waited as she closed the door, then found her seat at her desk.

"What?" she demanded.

"Occurred to me tonight that we haven't discussed the sorts of things that I can do for you," Graydon said as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"What do you want?" she asked as if she knew exactly what he wanted.

"See, I've been raised to memorize maps at a glance because sometimes that's all we might have, is a glance."

"Uh-huh. That's nice, dear."

"So, I've just taken a look at a map of university grounds, and there is a little building on a map drawn four to six hundred years ago. Fun fact, this building, near as the university's history goes, has been used as a mausoleum starting approximately one hundred and fifty years ago. Except it's in a cemetery that's existed for almost a thousand years so... what's up with that?"

"Are you excited about that?" she asked, shifting in her chair.

"I don't know why it's on the map," he said. "I know almost everything. Especially about buildings."

"I'm glad you didn't start with asking me if I wanted to go on an adventure, at least," she said.

"It kind of is. It was on a map my father's been hunting down for decades that might lead to the wealth of the arch mages."

"I care because...?"

"Arch mages made things that go boom. And bragging rights."

"Shouldn't I not be looking for more things that set me apart from others?"

"It's only you doing it if you make or find the thing," Graydon said. "This is me, coming to you and asking if you want to go on an adventure with me."

She sighed heavily and stared at the floor for a moment before she looked up at him.

"I haven't been doing this long, I know," she said. "But it seems to me that nothing we do is normal. This isn't some romp in the middle of the night. I mean, it is. But think about that, Graydon. You want to take me into a cemetery in the middle of the night."

"And?"

"It's a full moon."

"And?"

"Bo died, and a demon attacked."

"Two months."

"Graydon?" Naena asked.

"If something bad happens, I absolutely will believe you the next time you protest that it's the full moon, and maybe we shouldn't be doing that thing," Graydon said. He hesitated then added, "Why aren't you out there soaking up the moonlight and cold?"

"Well, it's cold," she responded as she flushed red.

He frowned and looked her over.

Naena sat at her desk with a blanket over her lap. She appeared flush and so very present and there, taking up the room with her presence. Graydon opened his senses just a little and smiled as he did.

"Too bad I missed that," he murmured.

"We are not at that place yet," she snapped back at him.

His grin grew.

"What are you ogling me for?" she demanded.

"You said yet," he said.

What she said in response was not polite in the least. She stood and tossed the blanket onto her bed.