Jessie just stared at me, eyes widening.

Ellen stood up from the 'bar' and started walking toward the couch. "You're right, Kade. That is way dumber than—"

I stood up. "Okay, it's a crazy idea on the surface, but I'm not saying we do this tomorrow. I'm saying we work toward it. There are a ton of benefits to guilding up. If we have our own territory for, say, E, D, and C-Rank portals, that five percent cut to both the GC and the local guild goes away. GC oversight does, too. We can operate how we want, take the risks we want, without the threat of getting in trouble."

Jeff didn't stand up. He narrowed his eyes instead, then raised an eyebrow. "It seems like it'd also piss off a lot of the current guilds. New guilds always have a hard time. I'm out."

That was expected, but not impossible to overcome. "That oversight includes runs into the deep wastes."

"That's true." Jeff thought for a second. "It would mean runs into the deep wastes. I'm in."

"Good."

"Good."

"Just like that?" Ellen asked. She rolled her eyes.

"No, not just like that. We're probably three months out from making even a starter guild." I stared her down as she sat on the couch. "Guilds need three things. They need at least one team of delvers, facilities to support their team or teams, and a track record of being able to handle the lower-tier portals in an area."

"And I'm trying to put together a team," Jeff said.

"Right. And you've got a tank, a mage, and a fighter, right?" I asked.

"The mage fell through," Jeff said. "Erik joined the Coyotes. That's why I'm trying to pick up Ellen."

"Phrasing," Ellen said, "And I'm not getting 'picked up' by either of you until you explain why your offer's a good one."

"Perfect," I said. "That frees up room for a support or a healer, and I might know a guy who can do both—at least a little. The second thing a guild needs is a home base. Usually, people think about the Acme Towers, or the Iron Falcons' hold on all of Tucson, but there's no rule that says it has to be big and grand, just that it has to be 'capable of serving a guild member's needs.' Right, Jessie?"

Jessie curled up next to Ellen, her head on the mage's shoulder. Ellen stiffened for a moment, then put an arm around my sister as Jessie yawned. "I'm not getting to bed anytime soon, huh? So, uh, unless one of you has like twenty million dollars to buy and rehab the old building out in Surprise, you're looking at C-Rank before you'll be able to afford an old GC center. That's the standard you'd need to be a guild."

Ellen blinked a couple of times. Her mouth opened, then closed. I ignored that. "So, that's a financial problem, but it's one we can overcome over time. Even better, we can do that while we clear portals around Peoria. We all live around here, so it'd make sense to stake out some of this territory as ours, and the Roadrunners can't keep it all clear themselves. That'd give us a track record of success, let us earn money toward buying an old center, and move us closer to a flagship clear like a high C or low B."

"Two things. First, you really think you two can grow that fast? C-Rank clears by July?" Jeff asked.

"Maybe faster," I said. "We'll control all our cores if we work together, and once we've got each other figured out, clears will get safer and faster. We could probably even get you a few cores, see if we can merge something in your build, and move you toward B."

"That's not…I don't need that," Jeff said. "And second, what's the pitch to the rest of the guild? It's not just going to be us three. I'll have to convince the people I'm recruiting, and you'll need to convince your special healer/support hybrid. What do we tell them?"

Ellen raised a hand. "We need to make it clear that the set-up's different from the big five guilds. The Coyotes or Portal Tyrants can offer a quick progression to B-Rank—or occasionally, A. We can't. So we sell it on what it is. Small, tight-knit teams, a less rigid structure, more independence, and a better share of the portal loot. We can afford that, since we won't need as much overhead for bureaucracy. At least, at first. Jessie's got that covered."

"Speak for yourself," my sister mumbled from Ellen's shoulder. "I'm cutting out as much red tape as I can, but there's so much in guild-building."

"So, we're all in?" I asked.

"Yep." Jessie stood. "Can I go to bed now?"

"I am, too," Jeff said. "I've had your back since I moved here. I've got it now." He was right. I'd fought a lot of schoolyard fights, and Jeff had always been ready to pile in if the other guy called for help. That bond went back a long way.

"Yeah, you can go to bed, Jessie. Thanks for suffering for a few minutes for us."

She yawned again. "Alright. I'll look into the whole guild-making process over the next couple of weeks. Night." Then she stood up, pushing off Ellen as she did. The mage put up with it, even trying to help out a little, and Jessie disappeared, heading for bed.

Ellen looked like she was still on the fence. I didn't want to pressure her here, though. I'd have opportunities down the road. "Jeff, I'm interested in joining your team. We'll talk terms later," I said.

"What?" Jeff asked. "Just like that?"

"You're serious?" Ellen blurted. "It's not even a full team."

"Yes. If it's going to take months to get a guild going, I'm not interested in waiting around. We can work together without an armband. Just as long as we are working together. And Jessie can help with the paperwork side of a team. There's gotta be some, right?"

"More than you know, Kade," Jeff said, "More than you could ever know until you've seen it. I take one for the team every time we finish a portal, believe me. Especially if the GC gets to it first."

I stood as Jeff and Ellen got ready to leave. "Okay. Quick recap. Jessie's going to work on the logistics details. I'm joining Jeff's team and getting to work on portals. Ellen, are you in for that, at least?"

"Uh…Yeah. Yeah, I'll join up for a while."

"Perfect. We'll start working on portal clears, keep ranking up skills and finishing merges, and build a reputation—and a bank account. And in the meantime, Jeff and I will work on recruiting possible guildmates."

Jeff nodded. "Sounds good."

Ellen walked to the door. "Let's get going so we don't keep Kade's sister up all night, Jeff."

"Sure." I turned to Jeff and Ellen. "I'll walk you two out."

"Jeff, let me know when your team's ready," I said, leaning into his truck's window. "I'll be good to go whenever, but I'm not waiting around to clear D-Rank portals."

"Sure, sure. Text me if anything comes up near you, and I'll either get the team together or pick-up delve into it when the GC bulletin goes out." Jeff turned the key. The engine revved, and Jeff's station wagon pulled out of the parking garage, leaving me alone with Ellen.

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We stood there for a minute. Then she started walking. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kade," she said.

"Just like that, huh?" I asked.

"Yep."

She was trying to hide something—I just didn't know what. I followed her through the dark garage. It was cleaner and better-lit than the one at my old place, but even so, it was still a parking structure. After a hundred feet or so, she slowed down. "You're a pain in the butt sometimes, you know that?"

"Better than a pain in the hand, right?" I smirked.

"Shut up."

I did. Ellen took a turn down a different row, and when she pressed the fob on her keychain, a car started. A silver sports car. Something from a different country, imported in the last two or three years. Its lights lit up, and it backed slowly out of its spot. Then the driver's side door opened. She climbed in.

I just stood there. Ellen hadn't said anything about her past at any point except a reference or two to her dad, and I hadn't pressed her at all. Now, I wondered if I should have.

The passenger door opened. "Get in," Ellen said.

I did. Then I buckled up. She snorted. "Good idea, Kade. Deimos is a better driver than anyone on the road, but he's a maniac. Is your sister going to be alright by herself?"

"Yeah. She was lying to us all, though. She'll still be up and on her computer when I get back."

"Great."

The engine purred under my feet as the car took off, maneuvering through the parking structure and out onto the street. The whole time, Ellen's hands didn't even touch the wheel. She fiddled with something on the computer screen, and after a moment, the car's internal lights glowed a bloody red. A pulsing electronic beat filled the air. She shuddered theatrically. "I hate this stuff."

"Then why play it?"

"Because it messes with my parents' spyware, and this car's crawling with bugs. I figured it out a while ago, and now, whenever I want a really private conversation, it's bass-heavy music or nothing. What secret are you keeping?" she asked.

"I want to know a few things, first, like who you are," I answered. "I don't even know your last name, much less why you have a car like this, why your parents are spying on you, and why you need to hide from them."

"Okay. My last name is Traynor. My parents keep track of me because that's what they do with everyone who might inherit their company. This is my second—no, third—car, and they've all been bugged, but this one's more bugged than usual, since my system awakened and they're even more worried about keeping me in line now. That's why I need to hide from them. Your turn."

She hadn't really answered any of my questions, and she'd done it in such a way that I couldn't call her on it without sounding like a jerk. I narrowed my eyes, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, I just waited. Dad had done that to me whenever I'd refused to explain why I'd attacked another schoolyard bully or wouldn't answer his questions after a sparring match. I'd hated it, but it worked really well. I'd been using it on Jessie. She hated it, too.

But Ellen didn't crack. She stayed quiet as the car blew through a yellow light. The Deimos autopilot thing weaved through traffic, heading for Loop 303. I noted that it used the toll roads, paid express lanes, and every shortcut it could find—and also that it was consistently pushing twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. I regretted nothing about my choice to seatbelt up.

When Ellen refused to elaborate, I pulled out my phone.

Kade: I'm going to be out for a bit. Talking to Ellen.

Kade: Make sure you go to sleep. School tomorrow.

Jessie: Good luck. Hope you two have a good time!

I ignored her next message, which was full of winking emojis.

The wall loomed to our right as the sports car whipped onto Loop 303. This close, its bulk was all but oppressive; a mass of concrete and steel two hundred feet tall and almost as thick. The Governing Council might operate training centers and regulate delvers across the city, but this was where the majority of their budget went. Guild teams tried to control portals and breaks for ten miles around the wall, but outside of that, it was a no-man's-land. Monsters were everywhere.

And the 303 wall was the only thing keeping them out.

To my surprise, Ellen's car drove to one of the massive, gated checkpoints. They waved it forward, and she rolled the windows down. "Delver registrations?" the guard asked.

We showed them. Ellen said, "We'll be out for an hour."

"You understand there's a mandatory vehicle inspection on return to check for assassin monsters?"

"Yes, sir," she said.

"You're clear to go." The door opened, and the car's engine roared as, for the first time, Ellen took the wheel. We catapulted out into the desert, the sheer force pushing me back into the racing seat. Then, as suddenly as she'd started, Ellen braked, threw the car into park, and got out. "Deimos, we'll be back. Keep the car running. Kade, let's go."

She walked away, her phone on her seat. After a moment, I left mine behind, too, and followed her. We walked through the cacti and scrub until the car's headlights faded to nothing. Then she turned. "No one's listening, Kade. It's just us. You can trust me."

I knew I could. But…in all my digging through the archives, I'd never seen anything about a Path. It might be unique, and it definitely had something to do with the strange core Jeff had handed me. If it got out, the best-case scenario would be guilds headhunting me and monopolizing every single D-Ranked dungeon, trying to recreate the two-boss trap dungeon for the chance at another weird core. The worse—and more likely—scenario was those same guilds going after Jeff, Sophia, and me to learn as much as they could.

So even though I could trust Ellen, I couldn't put them at risk.

Then her hand closed around mine. The scar scraped against the back of my hand, and I winced. "Okay. I want to say yes to your guild offer. It's a good idea, and I see the benefits. But before I do, I have one question."

"Alright. Shoot."

"Do you know what the Traynor Corporation is?"

The last thing Ellen wanted to do was drag Kade into her family nightmare. He'd been way too kind to her—in his own, weird way—to subject him to that hell.

But at the same time, he deserved to know—and she needed his help.

Kade shook his head, and Ellen took a deep breath. She'd already jumped, and there was no way back.

"The Traynor Corporation is my father's creation. A shadow corporation with dozens of shells. He's got his hands in just about every non-guild business worth over twenty million in the Phoenix area. Bob…my father…is the kind of man who treats everything like a business transaction. He knows what he owes people, and what he thinks they owe him."

"Ah," Kade said like he understood. He didn't, but Ellen didn't care. By the time she was done here, he would.

"That goes as much for me as anyone else. I didn't lie to you—he is worried about me, but it's because I should be the beginning of a new business venture, not because I'm his daughter. He wants his own guild, under the control of the Traynor Corporation. I'm an investment."

"And you don't want all that?"

"Absolutely not. All my life, I've been boosted up by Bob's wealth and power. Anyone he brought into the team would be on the fast-track to A-Rank, but it wouldn't be worth it—not for me. And without me, he wouldn't have a leader he could easily control. So I told him no. I told him that I'd lived the role of perfect corporate daughter for twenty years, and that I didn't want that anymore."

"And he gave you a car loaded with spyware?"

"Three of them, yes."

"And you accepted them?"

"I mean, I totaled the others, but yes. That's why this one has Deimos. He'd just have someone spy on me if I didn't take them, though. And he's not actively watching all the time, just checking up on his investment periodically." Ellen could hear the bitterness in her own voice, but she couldn't help herself. "What else? I'm spilling all my secrets, so you might as well ask away. Anything else you need to know?"

"No. It's not really about whether you trust me, is it? It's about your dad listening in?"

"Yes," Ellen said, eyes squeezed closed. She noticed her hand was still wrapped around Kade's, and she let it go like the grip had shocked her.

"Okay. When I merged my Unique skill, I didn't use a D-Rank core. The system called what I used an 'exceptional' core, and it made a mess out of my build. I can't explain the details, but the short version is that Stormsteel Core, my Unique merge, is leaking into all my other merges."

"Oh."

"There's more." I took a deep breath. "You've heard of Laws, but have you ever heard of a Path?"

"No." Ellen couldn't help herself. Her hand dropped to her hip pouch, ready to start taking notes, but before she could grab a sticky note, Kade's fingers wrapped around her wrist like a vise.

"This can't be in writing. It's unique—and if it's not, the only people with Paths are other people who haven't reported their full builds. I haven't reported any new skills or merges to the GC since I realized what was happening, but they can't know about the Path I'm on. If they did…"

"They'd try to replicate it—and they'd try to use you to do it. That's what my dad would do." Ellen stopped, free hand cupped around her chin as she thought. Then she nodded. "The longer you go without a full update, the more the GC's going to pry. That's why you want to form a guild. If we're a guild, with our own territory, they won't interfere with us beyond the basics, and you won't need to update your build. But there's another option. We just need to figure out how to hide it instead."

"I'm not sure that'll work. I've been thinking about those options," Kade said, "and there's no easy one—not with the skills I have access to."

"I believe you, and I get it," Ellen said. She pulled her wrist free from Kade's grip and grabbed his shoulder, locking her eyes on his. "We'll work on it together when you need it, and in the meantime, I'm willing to help you make a guild. I'll see what I can do, financially, but I'm not asking my father for money."

Kade nodded, and Ellen's shoulders sagged with relief as he spoke. "Okay. We don't need money that badly. We'll earn it ourselves, the hard way."

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