I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 38 - Valerian is a Drag

"Where do you want to go first?" Evangeline asked as they marched back through the grove toward the twin trees.

"I suppose we should go talk to the clerics first. Go right to the source of the crime." Sigismund looked around to see if others agreed.

Valerian groaned. "This is a waste of our time and utterly pointless. This is a local political matter and has nothing to do with us, and the likelihood that we can even make a difference is incredibly small."

"It's important to Sigismund!" Evangeline snapped back, getting tired of his whining though agreeing he had a point.

"Why? Is she a cleric of Kish or Ashen? Why exactly does it matter?" Valerian picked at some grime under his nails.

"Oh, that is a good point," Hagor said, unhelpfully. "What god or goddess is she a cleric to?"

"You don't have to answer that, Sigismund," Artmond cut in with surprising concern. Then, he turned to the rest of them. "She doesn't have to answer that."

That took everyone aback. Even Valerian held his tongue for a moment. But just a moment. "Okay, well awkward silence notwithstanding, my question still stands. Why are we doing this?"

Evangeline furrowed her brows then grabbed Valerian's shoulder. "You guys go on ahead," she said to the party, knowing they couldn't get too far but needing to speak to her fellow rogue privately.

"What is the matter with you?" Evangeline hissed.

Smiling darkly, Valerian promptly sat down underneath one of the younger trees lining the path just before they would enter the small ravine. Settling his hands behind his head, he crossed one leg over his knee and settled back, looking content to stay right there.

Evangeline glanced over at the rest of their party, all standing still at the edge of their mutual radius, just before the ravine made the first turn into the cavern where Harrowheart's forge stood. A couple of the druid residents stared at the party a few feet away, just a bit too far to be comfortably talking. Artmond stood closest to them, smiling and carrying on some sort of conversation they were pleased to have with him. They even indicated he should come closer, which, of course, wasn't possible yet, much to the druid's confusion.

Setting her fists on her hips, she shook her head at Valerian. "What is wrong with you?" Evangeline hissed at his mischievous grinning face.

"Nothing. It's a lovely day, and I, for one, am enjoying its bounty to the fullest."

She huffed, realizing that shouting at him wasn't going to get the day-walking vampire to do just that. "Alright, what is it going to take to get you to go along with this?"

"I do believe I've already said. A good reason. I really don't think I'm being too unreasonable. I don't know about you, and frankly, I don't want to know about you, but I have places to be and people who are expecting me, and they aren't the kind of people you disappoint or let down."

"Really? Is that all you want?" Evangeline crossed her arms, not believing it for a second.

Valerian's grin sharpened. "Well, I mean if you're offering, I'll also take a mountain of gold and all the pretty things in the world to play with." He studied her for one weighted moment, and it took that whole moment to wonder, Is he flirting with me?

Then he dropped his hands and jumped to his feet, "But we both know you don't have that, and I like to keep my price reasonable for my clients."

"I'm a client now?" She turned her head up, jutting her chin forward while she cocked her head to one side, not letting his superior height and the too-close proximity show that it affected her.

He sniffed her in, closing his eyes as if savoring it. Then opened his eyes just the slittiest of slits. "Or we could come to another arrangement."

She didn't back down but took a deep breath in. His scent filled her nose; it was a mix of spicy, masculine, and distinct funk men had when they had been sweaty and unable to shower. Not that the funk was bad, but there was also a sour tang underneath it all. If she hadn't smelled it when she had found her father dead, she wouldn't have been able to place it.

Dammit! This is off-putting, she thought.

But he had a point. Why did they want to do this? Yeah, Sigismund clearly had her reasons that she wasn't sharing, but they all lacked other motivation except...

It's what I always do in the game. I always do this quest. It had good loot, we all get a decent amount of leveling up, and it increases...

But she couldn't remember what the last thing it increased was. That pressure to use one of her Meta points exerted itself, to remember some mechanic from the game.

I have a full meter, why can't I remember it?

Despite the temptation, she refused to blow a point on remembering it.

Valerian seemed to sense the tenor of her frustrated thoughts because his expression shifted a micro-inch.

She'd have to deal with him on her own. "You're always doing that, aren't you? Reading every nuance of my expression to predict what I will or won't do next?" she said softly, noting it. "You don't feel anything for me at all."

A tiny pull-back, too reflexive to be hidden under a smarmy smile.

"Hmm, pity. You were starting to get interesting."

Evangeline cocked her head to one side. "You want a reason to keep going?"

Then she turned on her heels and marched over to the rest of the waiting party. "Let's go," she said to them.

"Is Valerian coming?" Artmond asked, glancing back.

"Whether he wants to or not," Evangeline said. "Now march!"

The rest got her implication and did just that, pulling on the magical tether as one unit.

"Woh!" came the yelp as Valerian's singular weight couldn't fight against the force and intent of four others and was yanked after them.

Evangeline smirked and glanced at Sigismund's reflective smirk at the sound of Valerian's head slapping and cry of pain as he was dragged into the stone of the ravine wall. The party dug their heels in and continued on, moving faster as momentum was on their side.

"Valerian are you—" Artmond tried to say as the vampire knocked over the leg of a stall, knocking the products onto the ground. Around them, people were talking animatedly, while the stall owner began shouting at him.

"Hold up, hold up," Evangeline called and the whole party fell back. Immediately, the magical pull disappeared, and they watched as a group as Valerian struggled to disentangle himself from the mess, all the while being batted at by the enraged stall owner with a broom.

To be continued...

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