“Our superiors will be pleased,” Belinda said.

“Your superiors?” I asked.

“I will tell you more when I return. I’m going to give them a call and do a little investigating to make sure no one else knows about what happened with those PentaTech goons. Well done, by the way!” She grabbed her leather shoulder bag from where it sat neatly beside the dressing table and slipped the codex she had been reading into it.

Before I could ask any more questions, the psycher was out of the room. I exercised my new ability to view the inside of the mansion from above, and I followed Belinda’s progress through the corridor, down the staircase, through the entrance hallway, and out the front doors. I continued watching her until she went to a small shed that I hadn’t noticed earlier. It was only a few seconds later that she came out, riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. She rode it down the driveway until she disappeared from view.

Did her superiors know exactly what was involved in the merging process?

I stared at the outline of the gates, through which Belinda had left the mansion’s area of influence. Beyond, the mist lifted a little, and I could see a little patch of trees which backed onto the wall, separating it from the rest of the suburb. Was this small pocket of the outside world all that Kyrine could ever see? At most, a few leaves, detritus, and trunks were visible. The thought of the beautiful dungeon avatar being trapped inside the mansion made my heart ache suddenly.

Would she ever be able to leave the mansion in her avatar form? Or was she cursed with being trapped inside its walls, like some kind of prisoner? If it were possible for her to leave, then I wanted to make it happen. I didn’t know much about dungeons, but I’d never heard of a dungeon core being able to travel outside their area of influence. Still, I wouldn’t let go of that idea. No one knew what the capabilities of the dungeon might be, given enough time. The thought gave me a thrill of excitement at the potential for power we had available to us to unlock.

Again, I wondered at my own commitment to the dungeon. I’d barely known Kyrine for more than a few hours, and she’d tried to kill me. Sex would make two people closer, even if it was just at a superficial level. But this was something deeper. It had to be the bond we’d made at the merging process. As I thought about it, I realized I could almost feel the bond. It was deep, and powerful, and getting stronger.

“So it begins,” Kyrine whispered.

“What begins?” I asked, startled out of my thoughts.

“Whatever this agency intends for us. Promise me, Jeremy, that you won’t allow me to come to harm.”

There was no hesitation. “I promise.”