Chapter 738 (2/2)

“Oh boohoo. So what if they made the games so easy I could accomplish them in my sleep? That’s their own fault.” Annie said, sticking her tongue out at Dozer. “I’ll have you know that aside from me, not a single person has won that toss game. I drummed up business by proving it could be done. They would probably thank me if they could.”

“As you say,” Dozer said with a barely suppressed smile. Annie stood on her tiptoes and Dozer pressed his lips to her forehead. Then she kneeled next to Delilah as the little girl excited crawled all over the teddy bear that was probably double her size.

“Want to take her around?” Annie asked, not looking at Dozer.

Dozer shook his head. Annie's mouth twitched.

“I can only stay for another few hours, I need to get back to Donnyton,” Annie said in a low voice. “We can't get a grasp what that fucking floating city Ifrenne is thinking, but something big is going down in that Danger Zone of theirs. Everyone with a danger sense can point toward it like a compass toward due North. From what we can tell, Drake should be there, but Sydney won’t-”

“No work talk.” Dozer rumbled drily. “A few more hours of vacation.”

Annie gave him a scathing look. “You’ve certainly become domestic, haven’t you? In the old days, you would have charged toward a problem and slammed your head against it.”

“Now I just need to pick you up and toss you at a problem. Your head is harder than mine,” Dozer said with a shake of his head. As if to demonstrate his point, his left hand snaked around her waist and lifted her off the ground.

Annie huffed and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Nathan came back into the room and frowned at both of them. “Did you just come in and leave my door open? Why- Oh.”

A figure loomed in the doorway, wrapped up in a trenchcoat. There was not a speck of flesh visible. What wasn’t covered by the tan trenchcoat or the hat was wrapped in bandages. For several seconds, Nathan just goggled at the figure.

Grinning, Annie tipped her head backward. “Well if you are busy here and I have to leave, how do you feel about leaving Lila with Uncle T?”

Dozer pressed his mouth into a line. If Neveah hadn’t informed him she would be over immediately, he would have taken his daughter out himself. As it was… well, the girl deserved to experience the city.

But parental fear was hard to shake. He took a deep breath. “...fine. You hear that? On your best behavior. And if anything threatens her… don’t worry about collateral damage. Take no chances.”

The figure saluted, then beckoned to Delilah. The two of them had spent some time together already, so Delilah’s eyes immediately brightened and she fast stepped toward her uncle. Just that reaction told Dozer all he needed to know about how much supervision Delilah had with the figure. But what could he do?

Dozer needed to get back to Donnyton soon as well, and if the process of upgrading his Class might take three days...He had already resolved himself to this possibility. There could be no incidents with condensing his Fate. He needed the assistance of the energy that Randidly had access to.

“Oh, Uncle T. If something does happen…” Annie stood up and sauntered over to the figure in the trenchcoat. She winked at him. “...be sure to leave the perpetrator alive. That individual and I will have much to discuss.”

“Delilah, say bye to Mommy and Daddy,” Dozer said patiently.

“Bye-byeeee” Delilah said, not even turning her head. She was speed walking out the door and was making a beeline for the loud noises and bright colors of the Sunset Festival. After nodding hurriedly to Annie, Uncle T chased after the little girl.

“Could be that a walking Skill? That girl spent way too much time with Raina. And she hikes all the fuck over, looking for new places to paint.” Annie said, standing by Dozer’s side. Her tone was playful, but Dozer could see the sadness in her eyes.

Lightly as he could manage, he squeezed her shoulder. “If we didn’t pass her off to other people, when would we put the work in to make her a little brother?”

Annie elbowed him with a wicked smile.

In the back of the room, Nathan looked at them both miserably. “You know, I’m still right here.”