Chenn thought about what he’d done. He’d joined Amory because Amory had promised that they were righting things. He’d said that the Balance was in danger, and Andrew Parci was the source of the danger.
At first, Chenn hadn’t believed Amory. Andrew was a kind, generous person. Of course Chenn didn’t know him personally. He’d only talked to him once when he was interviewed for the second time. Andrew had said that Chenn showed promise. That’s why the interviewer had brought him to Andrew. And Andrew had accepted him into the MBC despite his so-called criminal record on Earth.
That was why Chenn had a hard time believing Amory. He still had doubts, but Amory had pointed out that there had been an influx of incidents with powerful magical creatures being released. He had proved that Andrew and Indri were the only two with access to the half of the spell book that would allow such powerful beings to be brought out of the Dark Realms.
It was a good thing, Amory had told him, that Andrew didn’t have the East Base half of the Books of Spells. And faced with such obvious evidence, Chenn believed Amory.
Now though, he was having doubts. He had been close with Indri, and he could only imagine how disappointed his teacher would be. Indri didn’t show emotion in any severe way, but Chenn knew that his teacher still had powerful ones. His eyes could never quite hide what he was feeling from Chenn. Other people might not see it, but Chenn did.
But Chenn couldn’t go back now. West Base knew he had gone with Amory. They would see him as a traitor, and besides that, his teacher was helping and following Andrew, the betrayer of justice and the Balance. Chenn couldn’t abide the idea of returning and apologizing to Andrew for what he believed was right.
“Chenn? What are you doing out here?”
He froze. Vanessa’s soft, lithe form pressed gently against him in the dark. She moved away a second later. He rolled his eyes. Nymphs were so flirtatious, and they never seemed to give up once they decided they wanted a guy.
“Sorry. Didn’t see exactly where you were. I just felt your emotions and knew the general area.”
She was lying. Chenn knew it. She was an Empathic – all nymphs were – and she could get a good idea of other people’s locations just by where their feelings were coming from. She’d bumped into him on purpose.
“Vanessa, drop the act. I already told you in front of everyone that I wasn’t yours to mess around with. Stop bothering me.”
“Stop playing hard to get.”
“Shut up. I don’t want to talk to you.”
She gave a huff. “You’re such a pain.”
“If I’m such a pain, why are you still here?”
“Because I still want you. Why not go out together just once?”
Chenn rolled his eyes, turning to face her. “You never give up, do you? Where are we going to go out? Vanessa, we don’t get paid much for this job. The only reason we got paid when we were on West Base was because MBC has some very rich beings that sponsor it. They have a particular interest in making sure that the universe never gets thrown into another Dark Ages. Earth wasn't the only one to plunge into the Dark Ages, you know. Whole galaxies were plunged into darkness because of the unrest in the Balance.”
“Money isn’t an issue, you stupid boy.”
“First you ask me to go out with you, and then you insult me. Make up your mind, you idiot girl!” Chenn parroted back.
She gave an irritated grunt. “Chenn, just say yes. One night we can just spend a bit of time looking at the stars together and talking. We can take our dinner out away from the rest of these bozos, and we can be alone. It’d be just like a date.”
Chenn took a deep breath. He decided to mess around with her a bit. He knew what he was about to say would push her over the edge, and he hoped she’d go away if he did it. “Hate to break it to you, Vanessa, but I don’t date. Not only that, I don’t like you. You’re irritating. And even if I did date, I wouldn’t go out with you!”
She hissed back. “You’re a jerk, Chenn!”
“Good! Glad we agree! Now go away and stop bothering me!”
She whirled around, slapping him across the face. He recoiled out of instinct, absorbing most of the blow. It didn’t hurt too badly, but it did sting a bit.
Well, let her slap me if it means she’ll walk away and leave me be.
But she didn’t walk away; instead she got right in his face. He thought she was going to hit him again. But she didn’t. Instead, she kissed him hard.
He shoved her away, furious with her. Girls just didn’t make sense. First, they hit you, and then they’re kissing you.
His mouth was dry and tasted bitter. His lips still tingled slightly from her kiss.
“Don’t ever touch me again.” He hissed.
“Don’t act like a cat someone just dumped water on. Can you seriously tell me you didn’t like the kiss?”
Gritting his teeth, he managed a tight, “Yes, I can. Now will you leave me alone?”
“Why? I think you’re just lying because you don’t want to admit the truth.”
“I assure you, I’m not lying. I don’t appreciate being kissed when I’m not willingly participating or when I abhor the girl kissing me. And to show you just how serious I am, if you ever try that again, I will break your nose.”
“So what they said about you was true then. You are violent. Maybe you should’ve stayed in prison after all.”
He staggered back. How did she know that he’d been in jail?
He could see her taunting grin in the moonlight. “Oh, I did some research on you, Chenn, darling. But I won’t tell anyone so long as you do what I say.”
“I don't know where you got your information, but don’t bother blackmailing me. All the men here are probably equally unsavory. Besides, I’ll probably just tell them myself.”
“No, you won’t.” Her grin widened. “Because if you do, you’ll only seem more favorable among the girls. They already drool over you. Do you want it worse?”
“That’s gross, Vanessa. And I don’t care if you tell everyone in this whole stupid camp! Holy cow! I’ll even get up and do it myself if you insist on being such a jerk about it!”
She pouted. “You would not!”
“Would too.”
He stalked away from her and towards the center of the camp where a small fire blazed. Time to turn the tables on her.
“Hey! Everyone!”
No one paid any heed to his raised voice.
“Hey! Shut up, all of you!”
That got their attention. Every eye turned to gaze irritably on him.
He dragged Vanessa into the circle with him.
“Vanessa has something that she knows about me that she wants to share with you.”
She gave him a venomous look. “You low-life scumbag!”
“Watch the language, darling.” Chenn shot back. “It wasn’t my idea to blab my secrets to everyone. That was yours when you tried to blackmail me.” He whispered.
Her cheeks turned cherry red. All the girls gazed intently at him and Vanessa. He took a defiant stance, staring at her.
She opened her mouth to say something. Then she shut it again.
“Come on, Vanessa! Spill the beans! What’s the boy tryin’ to hide?” A voice shouted.
“I’m not trying to hide anything, or I would have capitulated when she tried to blackmail me into going on a date with her. Instead I dragged her up here to tell you all her choice piece of information about me!” He yelled back at the person.
The man fell silent.
“I… Umm…” Vanessa spluttered.
Her face turned several shades darker red. Chenn smothered a laugh. It was so much fun to turn her blackmail back on her.
“I don’t have anything to say. I’m sorry about this. It’s all been a mistake!” Vanessa said to the crowd.
Everyone there burst into laughter. They pointed at her, started talking about what she might have been using as leverage to make Chenn cooperate. But mostly they just laughed.
She turned and rushed past Chenn, but as she did, he caught her muttered words. “I will kill you for this.”
“Just you try it!” Chenn shot back, equally quiet.
She didn’t respond, fleeing the light and ridicule to go hide wherever she had laid out her bed roll.
Chenn walked to where Vanessa had stood.
“Sorry about wasting your time. Apparently Vanessa has decided that she doesn’t have anything to say about me after all.” He walked away from the fire, heading to his own ensconced bedroll. He left the laughter behind, letting it fade into the night. Maybe next time Vanessa will think twice about trying to blackmail me. And maybe she’s learned to leave me alone. That would be a small blessing at least! Chenn thought as he rolled into his sleeping roll and fell asleep.