Chapter 12: Kevin

W ith my arm secured in a sling, I hurry to the training fields outside of Abaddon. Spotting my friends, people closer to me than anyone else has ever been (except for Lana), I feel a definite spring in my step.

They are gonna looooove this.

"Kevin!" Jess shouts and runs towards me with furrowed brows. "What happened to your arm?"

"A golem. But never mind that –"

"That's brilliant!" Ethan interjects, while Jess leans in to examine my arm behind the fabric.

"What's important is that… wait, ‘brilliant'?" I shoot Ethan a glare. What I really want to do is punch his stupid mouth shut.

"Not that you got hurt, of course." Ethan placates me with what I can see is little sincerity, clearly evidenced by his awestruck smile. "We've just never encountered a construct before."

"Who do you think made it?" Liam asks. He's at least thinking about important things. The wrong important things, but still.

"Guys, who cares about golems and who made them and why they were there! Guess what happened?" I make eye contact with each of them, enjoying the suspense.

"Your balls finally dropped?" Ethan's voice is as dry as the sand around us.

"Fuck you, asshole!" I swear if my arm wasn't in a sling, I'd jump into the Fiery Pits for the guy – but he pisses me off daily.

"Tell us what happened, Kevin." Jessica's always there to make sure we don't kill each other in a fistfight gone too far.

"Right. Our illustrious leader, our great commander, the stalwart presence leading us to victory in every fight –" Everyone groans on cue and my grin spreads further, "– got to third base with an archdemon. Or was it second base? Regardless! There was dry humping."

Jess' mouth falls open, Liam frowns, and Ethan goes bug-eyed.

"What?"

"How did that happen?"

"Was there spanking?"