Emperor's End (The Ripple System #5)

by Kyle Kirrin

Darling squinted at the sunrise behind us, her face seeming to glow in the morning light. “I remember when Nina and I were younger and we were raiding on dial-up and the guild missed out on a major clear because my mom took the phone off the hook and I lost my connection.” She paused, still smiling. “Honestly, Ton? It’s kind of a miracle it took us this long before something random screwed us over.” She punched him in the shoulder. “It’s part of the experience, man! Gotta stop letting it get to you. I know it’s not that easy, but you still need to do it.”

“So, House: Erasmus?” She smiled. “What about him?” “He was supposed to meet up with Arlann and Sarissa after we left, but we were just talking with the two of them and they said he never showed.” She ate yet another piece. “Indeed. After our negotiations were complete, he decided to depart immediately.”

House's "itchy teeth" is mitigated by her eating that sushi with splinters in it.

Frank and I watched her go. “You seriously bought that?” he said. “Bought what?” “That he just went on a trip? Out of nowhere?” “It’s House, man. C’mon.” “I know! That’s what I’m saying! Okay, look: I need to get this off my chest because she totally just murdered that guy.” “Bullshit.” “Okay. First things first, she comes to us in the middle of a full-blown panic attack and is desperate enough to ask for my help—me, Frank!—so that she keeps her cat.” “Yeah, I remember. You had to wager a pinky.” “Then the next time we see her, she’s suddenly completely fine with no explanation.”

“Then she’s suddenly interested in an item she won’t name, but she really, really wants to know how long it’ll be before people get suspicious about the fact that whatever it is is now missing.” “Now you’re just reaching.” “Then she meets Erasmus and does the world’s most boring tour guide act to drive us away so she can get him alone.” “Not what actually happened.” “Then the last time we see the guy, she’s leading him into a windowless box of a building that’s full of pigs, and also the tour is gonna last two hours and we can’t take breaks so she clearly doesn’t want us inside. “Then he’s never seen again, but we’re expected to believe that he caved completely and left Bella here with House when his explicit goal was collecting the cat from the very beginning.” I paused. “That last bit was sort of weird, I’ll give you that. But she flat out said she’d never hurt another animal lover.” “As long as it could be avoided,” Frank corrected. “And by the way, she didn’t become interested in pigs until well after I made that comment about using them to dispose of bodies as a kid. And I didn’t hear any other animals bumping around in there.” I stopped in place in the center of the crowded room with people standing and drinking all around me. “That is… a much more convincing argument than I was expecting. But you can officially relax: House still can’t lie, man.” He was silent for a very long time. “Oh. Well damn, I forgot about the itchy teeth.” “Yup. And I’ve been watching her eve...