I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 73 - So What's the Plan?

"Oh crap, I think I know what this is about," Evangeline said.

"Yeah," Valerian agreed, setting his hands on his hips.

"Okay, well you want to enlighten the rest of us?" Sigismund snapped.

Valerian looked to her. It was her secret to tell.

Evangeline sighed. "Okay, so as you all know, I'm a rogue. And before the whole goblin thing, you know, blew up the tavern before we all met, I was there taking a job to retrieve for a client..." She glanced over at the Phoenix, who was also listening to her speaking. Sigismund noticed her glance, and followed it with her own, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. "...a Phoenix Egg."

Now everyone turned to look at their resident Phoenix.

The Phoenix narrowed their eyes, then resettled their feathers. "I have not been reborn in an egg for a hundred years and if you got any brilliant ideas of doing me in now to trigger that transformation, I'd squash that before I have to set some of you on fire," they said, the threat so matter-of-fact and without malice it sent shivers down everyone's spine. Including Valerian's.

"I have no intention of turning you over for a measly handful of gold," Evangeline assured, taking a daring step closer to the powerful being.

The Phoenix studied her a few moments longer, then roosted down on their perch again. "Good. Glad we could sort that out."

Everyone visibly relaxed their shoulders and it occurred to Evangeline that all of them clumped together like that would have made it easier for the Phoenix to take them all out in one direct fire blast.

Best not to dwell, Evangeline reassured herself. It's just a game. The game would never do that to its players. Not while they're still in the first act anyway.

Deciding she believed that, she turned to the others. "But I still need to deal with this situation. I know that the person who sent me this note in such a direct manner had intended for me to join him exploring the dungeon where we found the Phoenix. Since we've already been there and come back, my guess is he went on without me and discovered how picked over the whole crypt was."

"So you had intended to undercut your compatriot by taking us in there?" Sigismund asked, crossing her arms grumpily.

Evangeline shook her head. "No, no. I just didn't remember that this was a possibility."

"Even with your powers of foresight?" Sigismund sniffed.

"Well, what good is the power of foresight if I don't even think to look?" Evangeline shot back, getting really annoyed with Sigismund's constant suspicion and passive aggressive accusations.

"We all must be judicious with the use of our special abilities," Hagor interjected, setting a supportive hand on the rogue's shoulder. "Evangeline's Meta Knowledge has gotten us through several situation that would have been much worse."

"Yeah, no one's asking you to help her with this anyway," Valerian said, mirroring Hagor's move, but his grip was a bit tighter. More possessive.

Evangeline shrugged them both off and rehitched up her towel. "Valerian's right. This is my problem. I'll solve it," she said.

"Can you just cancel your deal with... whomever you made it with?" Artmond piped in.

Evangeline shook her head. She didn't need to burn a Meta point to answer that. "The kind of person who gave me the money, doesn't care about the money. They want what they want."

"That's okay," Artmond said, patting her on her freshly empty shoulder. "No matter what, we'll help you."

"Aw thanks, Artmond," Evangeline said.

He nodded. "Well we don't have a choice either way right. We're bound together by the collars."

Valerian snorted, turning his head away as his shoulders bounced and danced with not-quite silent laughter. Sigismund rolled her eyes to the sky, pressing a hand to her thinning lips. Even Hagor had to fold his smile back into his mouth to keep from laughing, his eyes shining merrily. What made it worse was Artmond's confused expression at their reactions, clearly not seeing what he said as funny.

"That is technically true," Evangeline agreed, giving her party member a reassuring smile. "And I may not have been able to predict this outcome, but now, since we're out of danger and have some downtime, I'll burn all my Meta points to see the scenarios of what's ahead and we can decide our course of action for the next act."

"The next act?" Sigismund asked, cocking her head to the side, her eyebrows deepening the nearly permanent crease between them.

"You know, the next part of our plan," Evangeline covered. "We could even stay put for a couple days so I can do a long rest and recover those Meta points to make sure we're not missing anything."

"Is that safe?" Sigismund asked.

Hagor nodded. "Technically, yes." He gestured around their surroundings, "While that vampire from a few days ago was able to penetrate my sanctuary, that was more because the natural topography of the area wasn't conducive to shielding us from anything coming from overhead. In here, I don't see that happening. It's an enclosed cave with one entrance, that my sanctuary now controls. Though the priests might not welcome us to stay in their bathhouse for days instead of hours, little rabbit." He aid the last of that to Evangeline.

She considered that for a moment. "Well, let's take our baths now like we're supposed to and then ask if we can stay in another cave-like area similar to this for a couple days to recover."

Hagor nodded. "I like that plan."

With that everyone walked away. Except Valerian who waited with a plate of grapes and cheese that she hadn't notice him fetching. He actually picked up one of the grapes and tossed it into his mouth, giving her a sly smile as he leaned forward. "Okay, now that they're all placated. What's the real plan?" he asked softly, his voice teasing musically at her ear.