Kyrine was looking thoughtful. “I will spend a little time considering how best to end the lives of the villains who will soon visit us,” she said. “I think I will return to my core now, and I’ll join you again later.”

She began to fade, and we all watched as her beautiful form first became opaque, then transparent, and then vanished completely. As she left us, the thoughtful look never left her beautiful face.

Astrid shook her head, marveling. “She’s a piece of work, that woman. I think I’m beginning to like her. You know that in all the time we’ve been living here, I had no idea she could manifest physically like that? I wonder what other secrets she’s got hidden up her sleeve?”

“I guess we’ll find out eventually,” said Belinda.

A sudden thought struck me. “You’re not leaving, then? Your mission is complete, isn’t it? You’ve found a Keeper, and made sure the dungeon and the Keeper merged. Don’t you need to go back to NYC for another assignment or something?”

“We’ve been asked to stay on here,” said Belinda. “Indefinitely. The EDI wants eyes and ears on the dungeon at all times, and also Astrid and I know her moods and have done a lot of research on dungeon lore over the last three months. We’re both staying put, and Selena will be here, too.”

“You’re stuck with us, Jeremy!” said Astrid, laughing and fluttering her eyelashes at me flirtatiously.

“That’s fine by me,” I agreed with a smile.

Astrid and Belinda both said they would likely go and get some shut-eye while I was making my calls. I could understand that. It had been a long night for both of them. I might not need to sleep like a mortal anymore—that was one of the perks of my job as a Keeper—but the same was not true of the two Outworlder agents.

They were both yawning as they headed up the stairs toward their bedrooms. I watched them go for a moment, then turned to the door, Astrid’s phone in my hand.

Chapter 22

I pushed open the big double doors that led out into the grounds of the mansion. It felt good to be outside. The cool air hit my skin and I stretched, drawing in a big deep breath of the fresh air.

Standing on the porch, I looked around, surprised to see that afternoon was already fading quickly into evening. More time had passed than I’d realized today. What with the sparring with Astrid, the levelling up of my monsters, and the revealing of our next mission—the destruction of the Technomancer—I had hardly noticed the day passing.