Page 125 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

“Thank you,” Belstrom said, his voice thick with emotion. He placed his free hand over his heart, his next words lacking their usual eloquence. “I did not think I could kill Maxie either.”

“Yes, about that—are you all morons?” Lirion snapped in a mix of frustration and disbelief.

Rain tilted his head back to the heavens before making a face. “I must admit, that description does fit most of the time.”

Lirion side-eyed the pirate and kept going. “Are you seriously wandering around Moorwood with nothing but Hapi’s necromancy skills and a hope in your heart? Not a single healing potion, nothing?”

“We have bandages.” Malfas paused. “That’s about it, yeah.”

Lirion would berate them for their stupidity later. Right now, it was the perfect segue into convincing them to take him.

Standing, he looked each man in the eye. “I want to join you.”

His words made everyone stare. Fenric, though, the hope that lit up in his face was answer enough. Lirion’s feelings weren’t one-sided. Just Fenric’s expression said he wanted Lirion to remain with E.V.I.L.

No one else seemed to understand, so Lirion kept going.

“You need a healer. My fighting skills probably aren’t anywhere near the same level as, say, Rain or Belstrom, but you need combat support. I can supply both.”

Malfas threw a hand into the air, a shit-eating grin stretched across his face. “I’m in favor!”

Well, that was flattering. Aria had said Rain and Maxie seemed in favor of him staying, but having Malfas instantly respond in agreement was quite a compliment.

Rain laughed, a full belly laugh, and swooped in to hug Lirion around the shoulders. “Friend, you are more than fucking welcome to join our insane little crew! Indeed, we are privileged to have you. Any objections to Lirion becoming one of our party? And I’ll tell you now that if you dare object, I’ll keelhaul you off the Dark Lady and feed yer balls to the kraken.”

No one said a single word of objection, though Lirion doubted it had anything to do with Rain’s threat. In fact, there were smiles all around. Belstrom went so far as to lean over Maxie’s still prone form and offer a hand, which Lirion took.

“Truthfully, it has been one of my cherished aspirations during our recent journey that we could prevail upon you to toss aside your aimless wanders and interfuse with our assemblage of rapscallions,” Belstrom said with a gentle and warm smile. He touched his glasses, now speckled with blood. “Your chess skills are remarkable, and hearing you sing in the evenings has become a treasured respite. I think I speak for all of us when I say we never wanted you to leave after the trip up to Baza.”

Had Lirion ever been welcomed so warmly in his life? It was wholesome and platonic, too, a genuine friendship being offered. Lirion teared up and had to blink the tears away.

“Thank you, Bel. I… Thank you.”

Releasing his hand, Belstrom rocked back on his heels and gave Fenric an enigmatic smile. “I am confident there is a fellow member who is even more elated than myself.”

Fenric rolled his eyes toward the night sky as if to dismiss Belstrom’s words. Lirion didn’t expect him to be all gushy toward him now.

“Why are you stating the obvious?” Fenric surprised him by saying.

Oh, thereby meaning…what? Just what all did that imply? Lirion was dying to haul Fenric away from camp and have a conversation, but did he dare when they had been ambushed not even five minutes ago?

Belstrom chuckled, his mountainous chest rumbling, quite delighted his subtle barb had hit its mark.

Sitting up, Maxie poked at his stomach gingerly, then flashed Lirion a smile that was more like his usual cheerful self. “I can attest, Lirion’s skills are sorely needed and very beneficial. I feel mostly healed already. May I say, Lirion, I’m exceedingly happy you’re staying. You’ve become such a good friend to me since our meeting, and I wasn’t looking forward to our parting.”

An eloquent welcome, and very expected from Maxie. “I didn’t look forward to leaving all of you behind, either. In truth, I’ve been envious of you since the start. You’re such a close-knit family. Anyone would want to join you.”

“We’re insane,” Hapi corrected dryly. “And you’re insane for joining us. But welcome anyway.”

Fenric snorted a laugh. “Hard to counter that. We are insane. Just happy your insanity matches ours.” He paused and his sharp eyes traveled over the camp. When he spoke again, his voice had hardened into something colder and more serious. “On that note, welcome, but what are we going to do now? I don’t like the idea of trying to camp out here. We stirred up something, an alarm maybe, that alerted the finfolk we’re here.”

Belstrom grunted in agreement. “The prior occasion we camped, it was not in such close proximity to the fog. When it was indubitably clear we were sojourning, the fiends must have decided to strike.”

Lirion stared down at one of the corpses of the finfolk who’d attacked their camp. He’d never encountered their kind before and had only heard of them in magical tales that seemed more myth than reality. Their skin was slick like a seal’s and a mottled shade of green. They had fins sticking out from the sides of their faces and their eyes were giant black lamps in the middle of their facial features. Inside their mouths were row upon row of sharklike teeth. Fierce and ferocious.

Fenric nodded. “We either need to move our camp farther out or give up on sleep for the night.”

“Or”—Malfas thrust his club into the air with a maniacal grin—“and hear me out here, or we could just return the favor. They ambushed us. Let’s ambush them. Let’s go in and use the advantage of night to wreak some havoc. That’s a thing we could do too. Personally, I’m all hot under the collar after our little skirmish and ready for a proper fight, so trying to sleep again holds no appeal. Who’s with me?”