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I cannot fucking believe the words coming out of his mouth. I know them by heart, having heard them hundreds of times before.

“Where dragons fly untamed, where beasts reign supreme, and where riches are awarded to those who earn them through trial by fire,” I finish his sentence.

Ornix looks at me with absolute confusion written on his handsome features. “How did you know what I was going to say?”

“Because it’s the tagline to one of the biggest MMORPGs out there right now. Dragon Fire Eternity has millions of players,and they all know that speech; it comes from the title sequence. I must be losing my mind.”

He draws away, his upper lip curling with something like disdain. “What is a MMORPG?”

This is the problem with sleeping with the delirium-induced incarnation of an older man. They don’t know anything about contemporary culture or games.

“A massive multiplayer online role-playing game. I see it now. I mean, I’ve never been in the Golden Keep this deep before, but I recognize the map.” I start walking around the room, pointing out of the windows, each one of which matches the cardinal direction of another important zone. “That’s the Cauldron of Hades,” I say, pointing at the volcano. “And those are the Sheets of Siren,” I add, pointing at the ice. “That’s the forest of the Wild Nymph, and over there is the Great Deep, the ocean.”

I laugh at the expression on his face as he stares at me in complete shock. It’s nice to not be the only person who doesn’t know what the hell is going on.

“Those are all the names of our most ancient and sacred locations,” he breathes.

“I know. They’re all in the game.”

“Thegame.” He repeats the word back to me as if it is a deadly insult. I actually feel a little trickle of fear at having spoken to him that way, though it was the truth. I hope whatever drug I am on wears off soon, because this is a hell of a vivid hallucination and I’m starting to wonder if I will get my mind back from it.

“I need to speak to someone,” he says. “Get some rest. Do not leave this room for the moment, not until I return.”

I nod and I let him go on his way, then I make my way over to the bed and I sit down on it, then lie down, then close my eyes and will myself to wake up back in a reality that makes sense.

Ornix

I know precisely who is behind this. There is only one in the house of my bloodline who would dare engage in such blatant sacrilege.

“Nox!”

I bellow my nephew’s name as I enter his chambers. Not entirely out of rage—though I am very unhappy—but out of necessity because his ears are covered with big, thick headphones that block out all the other sounds of the world.

My nephew looks like a younger version of me; well, technically, my brother. He has the same long, dark hair, golden eyes, and a general facial resemblance, albeit less mature. He is wearing an oversized pink sweater and sitting in front of equipment designed in the human realm. He begged for it. He promised me he would work on tools I could use in the human world. The computer is a mystery to me, but he gave me very specific instructions for what he wanted.

He does very little other than look at those screens now. I haven’t actually seen him in months. He’s been working on a project, some kind of code. He explained it to me once, but I wasn’t entirely listening. I have little interest in human baubles with no inherent virtue or value.

He pulls the headphones away from his head and gives me a smile. Equinox has been in my guardianship since the unfortunate incident with his parents, my brother and sister-in-law, when he was just a little whelp.

“Hello, Uncle.”

“I have taken a human mate, Equinox.”

“Good for you, old man.”

I just barely resist the urge to cuff him around the ear. He may yet be due a beating, but I want to make sure I give it for the right reasons.

“Why does my new human mate, who has only just arrived in our realm, already know the entire geography of our continent?”

I ask the question quietly and carefully, not wanting to tip my hand to him. I want him to make a confession.

“Oh,” he says. “Well.”

“Well?” My brow arches.

He looks nervous. “I can explain. Almost.”

“You can almost explain?”