Page 70 of Last Resort

The one that wasn’t Honey had her hair pinned up with a spike, and her pointy ears were exposed, but they looked different. There were jagged spikes near the tip of each ear.

Breen stared and squinted. “Are those...”

Myro laughed. “Yes, they are. I’m gonna ask.” Myro got up, walked over to the pair, and greeted them. He spoke quickly, gestured toward Poppy, and then listened. He grinned, thanked them, and walked back to the table where Poppy was ordering some mocktails and her appetizer.

Breen grinned and placed his order for a beer and water with lemon. Myro rattled off his order and sat. “Well, that is Honey, and her sister is Asel.”

Poppy nodded. “And?”

“Honey was doing a lot of teaser shots, and Asel is going to be a performer on the day it goes live over on Emerald. She just had today off.”

“Neat.” Poppy smiled as the beverages arrived.

They ate their appetizers, the entrées that followed, and they could see the day’s clips from their vantage point.

It was dinner and a movie, almost like an actual date.

Asel walked to their table and smiled. “Poppy, may I give you a hug?”

She smiled and came around, giving the other woman a hug. Asel was pure muscle and very thin despite her appearance.

Asel smiled. “Illusions are handy things.”

“I don’t remember sending you to the queen’s home.”

“You didn’t. One of the others got me out of the battery pack, and we took ourselves out of there.”

Poppy frowned. “Battery pack?”

Breen understood. “They were draining them like they were draining us.”

“Oh. How many of you?”

“Four. They came at us a dozen at a time. One of the girls was taken when they used her family as hostages. They linked us up and used us for passive energy draw.”

Poppy blinked. “Damn. But you are okay now?”

“Nothing a few dozen meals won’t fix, hence the ice cream.”

Poppy cocked her head. “What is your specialty?”

“Illusion and fire, but it’s cold fire.”

Breen nodded. “That makes sense. They have been out of the country.”

Asel smiled. “Good. I got myself back two years.”

Poppy blinked. “You can do that?”

The woman shrugged. “I did it, so yes. I wouldn’t do it to anyone else. It wasn’t a smooth trip.”

Poppy blinked. “Two years, and you are still...”

“Yeah. I was in hospital on drips for quite a while. They called it an eating disorder but got me mobile, and I was able to get my illusions working again. Then I found a job, and Honey found me, and things felt more normal with every passing day.”

Poppy stared at her. “I feel like I have seen you.”

Win walked up, smiling. “I know I have. I was at the demon wedding. I saw your beta self there.”

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