“We all carry them,” Dean said. “It gives you some weight to throw around.”

Standing up, Jason looked around the arcade.

“What’s the local civic authority here?”

“The what?” Dean asked.

“Who’s in charge here?” Jason said. “Who do we tell about the killings?”

“This is Dorgan’s territory,” Dean said.

“Dorgan? He’s one of those three crime lords, right?”

“The Big Three,” Dean said. “They run Old City because people from the Island don’t care so long as the money keeps coming.”

“What about some kind of local government authority?”

“There’s the Duke’s guard,” Dean said, “but they only come over if there’s some kind of threat to Island interests. The Big Three makes sure there isn’t.”

“Five dead adventurers is a long way from nothing, though,” Jason said. “The Adventure Society will be looking into it.”

“So what do we do now?” Dean asked.

“Stick to the plan,” Jason said. “Get you to your family and I get things settled. This is just one more thing to settle.”

97. Integrity is Sexy

97

Integrity is Sexy

With Dean and Jerrick stashed with Dean’s family, Jason decided he had time to stop at his lodgings before getting to business. He was weary, heavy with the blood of the men he killed, even after the crystal wash had cleaned it away. He took a long, luxurious shower and, with a fresh change of clothes, went for lunch with Farrah, Gary and Rufus in their suite.

Madam Landry sent lunch up in the dumbwaiter and they went out to the balcony. Since Jason had become an adventurer, they were seeing less of each other, and eating lunch in the sunshine as they looked out over the ocean was something they did whenever they had the chance.

“You missed a lot,” Farrah said to Jason as they sat down.

“Oh?”

“Gods showed up at Jory’s clinic,” Gary said. “It was something to see. Dominion asked after you by name.”

“What?” Jason asked, half-standing in his chair. “Dominion as in the god?”

“That’s the one,” Farrah said.

“That’s bad,” Jason said, settling back down. “That’s really bad.”

“He seems to like you, if that helps,” Farrah said.

“No, it does not help,” Jason said. “That makes it worse.”

The others recounted to Jason what took place outside the clinic.

“Good for Jory,” Jason said. “He deserves recognition for what he does. And that Davone, guy. Turns out he’s alright?”

“He’s wasted following around that idiot, Thadwick,” Rufus said.

“You should tell him about the other thing,” Gary said to Rufus, who looked over at Farrah, who shook her head in resignation.

“Cowards,” she said. “Jason, we’re going away for a while. There’s a big expedition, and we’re on it.”

“Oh?”

“It finally came out why the Ustei Tribe came south. You remember that waterfall that shut off briefly? The monsters you fought?”

“Of course.”