Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2) Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (good english books to read .txt) 📖

think when somebody is talking to you, doing so while they communicate with you telepathically was almost impossible.

But at least my most important question had been answered. Louie's health was now bound to mine and he couldn't die unless I did. Which meant that my days spent working out were now going to pay dividends. Healthy me meant healthy Louie, and I intended to keep it that way.

"I can't believe it," he said in my head again. "This is amazeballs. Think of all the tactics we can develop together. I can tell you one thing out loud and another telepathically so that we confuse our enemies. Or we can--"

"Buddy, you need to relax," I said out loud, my voice steady, instead of sending him my thoughts. "We'll have time to explore this later."

"You're right," he agreed and turned around to face the Faery Queen again. "We are forever in your debt."

I didn't dare utter any words and simply nodded in appreciation. The ethereal creature smiled one last time and slowly disappeared in front of our very eyes. Our quest had been successful, and we could finally return to New York to take care of business there.

A shimmering portal opened to our right and I could see the inside of my apartment on the other end.

"At fucking last," the dwarf said, walking toward it. "I've been craving a good hamburger for so--." His speech cut off as he stepped through.

I looked around me one last time, taking in the beauty of the faery palace in all of its shining, colorful glory, before following my three companions back to my apartment.

The sun had already set in New York and by the looks of the very few cars on the streets next to Central Park, it was probably quite late into the night. I was feeling a bit dizzy and tried to remember if I'd hit my head anywhere. Not only did I not remember if I'd bumped it, but I found I now couldn't recall any details of what had happened during our quest at all.

The more I pushed myself to remember, the more I forgot. I could recall going to the faery realm, meeting with the Faery Queen, and then meeting her one more time. But everything in between was lost to me in a fuzzy haze.

Not wasting any more time staring out of the large window trying to organize my memories, I unsheathed my swords, crossed them, and put them against the doppelgänger's neck.

"Now you're gonna tell us where they're keeping Leo," I said, clenching my teeth, the pent-up frustration almost boiling over now that I didn't have to restrain myself any longer.

"That didn't work before and it won't work now either," she said, trying to push the swords away with one finger.

I held steady.

"Suit yourself. I am going to help you, but not because of your idle threats."

"That's better," Rory added and cornered her from the other side.

I wasn't sure if it was the hopelessness of her situation or a trick but her expression softened then, almost to the point that I couldn't recognize her in comparison with her previously cold exterior.

"But you'll have to help me too," she said, and her nostrils flared momentarily. "Your friend isn't the only one Abrathion is keeping prisoner."

15

Talk to a friend

"Oh, suddenly you know more about it, do you?" I asked, though I momentarily lowered my swords. "Suddenly you come up with a story. Why would your boss--"

"He's no boss of mine," she hissed. "He has... it doesn't matter. If you promise to help me when we reach the prisoners, I will help you find your friend."

"There is no way we're gonna take yer word for it," Rory added. "Ye've been lying to us since we found ye, posing as the elf, but now ye want us to believe ye're telling us the truth?"

"It's the only story that makes sense though," Louie said. "She stuck to the job even though there was no way she could succeed at it."

"You'd be surprised how many jobs I've finished that looked impossible," she retorted.

"So this isn't the first thing you've done for Abrathion, is it?" Louie followed up, and then immediately sent me a telepathic message. "She took the bait."

"This..." she muttered, trying to find a way out of the corner she'd put herself in by admitting she had been working for Abrathion for a long time. She sighed and then continued. "This is not my first job and it probably won't be last. But I believe you can help me get rid of this arrangement."

"We want the whole truth," Louie pressed on.

"Even if she tells us whatever poppycock she's thought up, would ye even believe her?" Rory said, opening his arms in protest.

"If you're not going to believe me, you can ask your dragon if I'm speaking the truth," she said reluctantly. "You do trust the dragon, don't you?"

For a moment I wondered how she knew about Ommanth at all, and then I remembered I'd spoken to him on that first night we'd rescued "Leo".

"How the hell is the dragon going to know if ye're speaking truth or lies?" Rory said.

"I'm pretty sure he can cast a simple spell that will reveal whether I'm lying or not. Dragons are good with magic that reveals truths."

We looked at each other, a little unsure.

"Well what do you want me to do?" she exclaimed. "It's not my fault you don't want to believe me."

"Actually it is your fault," Louie corrected her. "Let's just ask him, Alex."

"Well, we need to ask him now," I said, as I reached into my inventory for the orb that was holding Ommanth the Beneful. "He shouldn't have kept this from us."

The moment I removed the orb from my inventory, the dragon's loud yawning echoed in the room.

"You got me a bit worried, going on a quest like that and not--" He stopped and sounded like he purred. "Well, well. Isn't this an interesting development? A doppelgänger replaced Leonardo?"

"Ye knew about