Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (hardest books to read txt) 📕

you should,” Lia said, leading me by the hand back towards the front of the store. I noticed that Val and the unconscious guard were both gone upon our return. Marin still stood in the same place we had left her, staring at the small dot of blood on the wall where the guard’s head had impacted. As we approached, she looked back to us with a blank expression, then did a double take as she regained her wits.

“Ah! I’m sorry, I was just, uhm, thinking, is all,” Marin stammered to the floor. “D-did you need something? I have, uhm, food, and drinks, in the back room.”

“No, thank you though,” I said, holding up my hands. “I wanted to apologize for how I just acted. I shouldn’t have been so aggressive towards you and your sister, and then my actions after that...I’ve made a pretty bad first impression, and I hope we can move past that.”

A visible wave of relief washed over her face. “No, I get it! If I was as strong as you, I would’ve thrown them out days ago.” She laughed nervously and put her hands behind her head. “Don’t worry about it, Lux. Everybody’s just a little stressed out, right?”

“Right!” I smiled. “Thanks, Marin. Now, I assume Val took our sleeping friend out to our wagon?”

“Yeah, she told me to stay put while she ‘cleaned up’ outside,” Marin explained with heavy air quotes. “It’s not like I’m some little kid, I can help too! I want these Company jerks gone as much as anybody.”

“As much as it surprises me to say this, I agree with Val on this one,” I said with a light chuckle. “Val, Lia and I aren’t supposed to be in the city; it doesn’t make much of a difference if we get caught walking down the road or hauling unconscious guards around, we’re still in trouble either way. You, on the other hand, are supposed to be here. As long as those two guards don’t wake up, nobody else will know that you were involved in any of this.”

“I guess you’re right…” Marin murmured as she stared at the floor. “I wish there was something I could do, though.”

“You’ve already helped us out a bunch!” Lia chimed in. “Before we talked to you, we hardly knew anything about what was happening in the city. Now we know who is leading the rebels, where the leaders might be, and when the best time to explore the city would be.”

“That’s true,” I followed up with a sly grin, “you already gave us more information than all of King Virram’s scouts and advisors.”

“Really?” Marin asked, beaming. Her chest swelled as she looked back and forth between us. “Oh, I know! I’ll go get you some food before you leave, and I’ll try to think of anything else that could help along the way!” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and dashed away towards the back of the shop. She paused at the counter momentarily to look over the shattered bowl and spilled soup, gave a small disappointed shake of her head, and then disappeared into the back room.

“I’m still finding it hard to believe she’s actually related to Val,” I mused as the sound of clattering cookware and annoyed yells rang out from behind the counter.

Lia giggled. “Oh, I can see it. They’re two sides of the same coin; I bet if we stuck around Val long enough, we’d see flashes of Marin come through. Small flashes, of course.”

I put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against my side, pausing to appreciate the small moment of peace. “Thanks for calming me down,” I said quietly. “I imagine I’ll need your help with that a lot more in the near future.” While it was true that the overwhelming storm of panic and anxiety that was my mental state had calmed to a tolerable roar, I knew it would return stronger than ever at our next inevitable encounter with the Dominion.

“I’ll be there when you need me. I promise,” she replied, looping her arm around my waist. “Whatever happens now, you’re stuck with me. No matter what.”

“That goes both ways, you know. You’re the most important thing to me in the world; no matter what happens tonight, I’m going to keep you safe.”

She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. “Tonight?”

“Tonight,” I nodded. “If we’re going to save the world, we don’t have any time to waste.”

“So, you’ve got a plan?”

“Oh, sure, I’ve got dozens of plans. I won’t know which one is best until we get some more intel, but they all lead to the same goal,” I said with conviction. “We’re ending the occupation of Attetsia. Tonight.”

***

12. ONE LAST CALM

I took a bite of the sandwich Marin had prepared for me as I heard the door open at the far side of the store. Since the incident with the guards, I had maintained a constant perimeter with Detection, so Val entering wasn’t surprising; I had watched her load the three guards into the wagon, bind and gag the two men who laid unconscious, make a brief attempt at washing away the bloodstain in the middle of the street, and drive the wagon out behind Marin’s store to the unloading dock, which sat out of sight of the main road.

“I am back,” Val announced as she crossed the room to the counter where the three of us sat. “The guards have been taken care of.”

“Thank you,” I said without turning to face her. While I knew I owed her an apology for my outburst earlier, I hadn’t yet been able to find the words to explain myself.

“I made you a sandwich!” Marin called out, hopping up from her chair to run behind the counter. She produced a similar meal to my own, a small salad and a sandwich of smoked meats, and set it at the empty place setting next to mine.

“Thank you, Marin,” Val said as she sat down,