Alex made sure to keep any surprise or recognition from his face. This wasn't the first time he'd heard of an Ancestry. They were the very reason that the Nightmarch family had destroyed and enslaved Claire's home world.

He might not have been anywhere near an expert on them, but he knew enough to know that this was probably a pretty damn big deal. Alex knew enough to know that he had no idea how big of a deal it was.

I'd assume there are different levels of Ancestries, right? Not every single one of them is going to be worth turning a planet inside-out for.

"We're going to need more information than that," Claire said, her answer perfectly measured. Her features hadn't even so much as twitched at the merchant's reveal.

"What do you mean?" Bridget sent her an aghast look. "It's an Ancestry! Do you have any idea—"

"More than you would think," Claire interrupted. "But I'm also not naïve enough to bite at just that. Let's get a bit more detailed. What do you know about the Ancestry? How large is it? Who else has access? Has it opened already, or are you still trying to gain access? Do you have an agreement to hold the peace with other families should you enter, and if you do, would we be bound to it by joining you?"

Bridget paused. She clearly hadn't been expecting those questions. Her brow knit as she examined Claire. "How do you — why do you know so much about Ancestries? You're a Nativeworlder, are you not?"

"It's remarkable how much information you can get out of people when you're bored and left with enough time alone together," Claire said casually. "Especially when there isn't anyone left to save them. I don't believe we were the ones on the hook to answer questions right now, though."

Bridget hesitated for a second. She studied Claire, clearly trying to get some kind of read on the Dhampir, but it was pointless. It would have been easier to analyze the thoughts of a brick wall.

"It's large," Bridget said finally. "We don't know how big, but the entrance had a powerful barrier over it that we're still trying to remove. It's a burial-ground type Ancestry, likely of a Sage level being. The rewards have potential to be enormous. Several Great Families are involved. That should vouch for just how valuable this is."

"Which ones?" Finley asked.

"Gentle Shadow, Crimson… and Starfallen," Bridget said, swallowing before she spoke again. "We'll be avoiding the last one."

Claire's fingers drummed against the table for several long seconds as she thought. Then she nodded. "That's enough to make it clear this is worth our time. But what benefit do we get from throwing in with you? You're allied with another large group. By the time the rewards are split up, it'll be functionally nothing."

"You can keep whatever you kill," Bridget offered. "The Ancestry is huge. If others are anything to go by, it'll be either full of death traps, some manner of labyrinth, or both. There will be more than enough rewards to go around. The only exception will be the bosses. Many of them are going to be immensely difficult to challenge. We'd like your help on them. Nativeworlders like yourselves, unbound by the System… everything lose and a future to gain. Who better to have on our side?"

Alex fought to keep his expression flat. He didn't want to ruin the negotiations, but he could already feel excitement starting to build in his chest.

If the Ancestry is actually some kind of maze, the moment we get inside, we could totally ditch them and do our own thing. This seems like a pretty damn big opportunity.

"I can see why you allied with Alyssa for this," Claire allowed. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "But have you forgotten the bounty on Ash's head? It would be pretty difficult for us to set out and do much of anything without the other families all coming running to cash it in."

Bridget smiled. "Fortunately, they won't be able to tell who you are if you stay within our group. You'd be safe and we'd have no reason to reveal your identity when you're actively aiding us."

Alex's nose scrunched. That was a good point. There probably weren't too many Evokers walking around with his skillset. His abilities were fairly unique. The moment he got into one fight and summoned Glint or any of the others, everyone would know who he was.

Does that really mean we're stuck tagging along with them if we go? That's lame as hell. I don't want to—

"That seems reasonable enough," Claire said, taking Alex by surprise. She gave Bridget a sharp nod. "You can keep your credits. We'll accept your offer — provided you come to a deal with Finley and provide us with a suitable reward for helping you."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Bridget started to nod, but she caught herself midway through the action. "What? You're going to hinge this all on me coming to a deal with him? Do you realize just how valuable—"

"Have fun bargaining," Claire said, rising to her feet. Her gaze drifted to Alyssa. "Is there a private room we can wait somewhere?"

"The guest house I stayed at should be empty," the painter replied, looking slightly confused. "But…" The full series lives on My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|L0EMPYR).

"Perfect," Claire said. Her hand fell on Alex's shoulder and her tongue darted out, running along her lips as her tone shifted to sultry. "We'll go there. I'm hungry."

"You can't be serious." Bridget's lips parted in disbelief. "You're going to leave negotiations this important just so you can—"

"Yes," Claire said with a sharp-toothed smile. "When you fight for your life every day, you've got to enjoy the moments you get. I'm certainly not wasting any more than I have to here. Enjoy your time with Finley. And, for your own good, I hope you come to a deal. Make sure that reward is worth it. I'm not tagging along for anything that isn't worth my time."

Alex rose as well. He half understood what was going on, but he hadn't missed Claire's intonation. She had something in mind. And, whatever it was, he had absolutely no plans of missing it.

"Knock yourself out," Alex said, nodding to Finley. "And don't forget to have fun. There are always more merchants to partner with if things come to it."

Finley rubbed his hands together, an eager spark glimmering in his eyes. "You can count on that. Why don't we start going over what supplies you can provide and the prices you're looking for?"

Bridget barely even glanced in his direction. She stared in disbelief as Alex and Claire both walked outside, followed a moment after by a rather stunned looking Alyssa.

"Lead the way, if you would," Claire said once they were all out.

It was several seconds before anyone said anything. Then, once they were all well along the path, Alyssa glanced over her shoulder at Alex and Claire.

"I can't believe you just did that," Alyssa said. She shook her head and let out a disbelieving laugh. "Did you really just hop out of a meeting about an — well, you know — to bone? Are you insane?"

"Life is short," Claire replied. "Might as well make what you can of it. Are you really saying you'd prefer to just sit around and listen to them haggle?"

"You're potentially turning down an enormous opportunity here," Alyssa said. "This seems a bit short sighted."

"Is it?" Claire arched an eyebrow. Then she shrugged. "Meh. So be it. So, where's that house of yours?"

"Here," Alyssa said as they came to a stop before a rather a rather plain looking building. The door was already askew, revealing a small bed and wooden table within it. "This is where I stayed."

"Perfect. Thanks for the tour," Claire said. She pulled the door open and stepped inside. Alex followed after her. Before he could say or do anything else, Claire hooked a finger into the loop of his tie and loosened it with a sharp tug. She paused to glance back at the other woman still standing stunned just outside the door. "Why are you still here? Come back in ten minutes. I don't want someone listening in. It's weird."

Alyssa's cheeks went bright red. "What? I — I wouldn't—"

Claire closed the door with a thud.

She released Alex immediately, pressing her ear to the door and holding a finger up for silence. A moment later, she pulled away from it and gave him a nod.

"She's gone."

"I — uh…"

Claire rolled her eyes. She flicked Alex in the forehead. "Turn your brain back on. We don't have long."

"I think you might have confused me just as much as you did them," Alex admitted. "What are you doing?"

"Putting them off balance," Claire replied with a shrug. "Alyssa is as stiff as a rod. I've seen people like her before. It's easy to distract someone like her by planting a few pointed thoughts. I needed to make sure she didn't listen in on us — and making it seem like we don't care at all about the results of Bridget and Finley's deal should make sure we get a much more favorable result. Getting placed in a lower order of priority than a carnal urge is pretty rough. Bridget can't be too happy about that."

"Right," Alex said slowly. He shook himself off. "Okay. So what exactly is the goal here? I assume we want to get into the Ancestry."

"We do," Claire said with a nod. "If there are this many Great Families involved, then this is massive. It's exactly the kind of thing that the Nightmarch were after, which means we have to take it for ourselves."

"Doesn't look like Bridget plans to let us do that. We have to stick around her team if we want to avoid bringing every single family down on our heads. There's no way we can fight them all off if they realize who we are."

"That's true," Claire allowed, a grin pulling across her lips. "But Ancestries are huge. Everything I know about them says it can take days — sometimes weeks — to clear them. That's a lot of time. And when we're in a maze… well, it's hard to notice if a few people slip away every once and a while."

Realization dawned on Alex.

"You want to sneak out when they aren't watching and hunt the monsters before they can? Stealing stuff from right under their literal noses is bold."

"Does that mean you aren't in?"

"Of course I'm in," Alex said.

"Then we just need to find a way to make sure nobody can recognize us if we get spotted. Bridget's alliance isn't going to be the only group there. We can probably get disguises, but that won't be enough. It's your powers that are going to expose us."

Alex's brow furrowed as he thought. His summons were really quite distinctive. There just weren't enough Evokers calling Mirrorlands monsters running around for him to effectively hide his identity.

He was painfully easy to recognize.

That is… unless people don't think I'm an Evoker at all.

A slow grin crossed his lips. "I think I might have an idea."