Tainted Waters by Leah R. Cutter
Author:Leah R. Cutter [Cutter, Leah R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: paranormal, pantheon, Mystery, lgbt, D&D
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter Nine
âTake that!â Steve said, rolling the tenâsided die across the board set up in the center of the group.
âMiss,â Gary proclaimed as it rolled to a stop, showing a seven.
âWhat do you mean?â Steve challenged. âThat should be a hit.â
Gary glanced over at the new guy, Erik. He hadnât said much the whole time theyâd been sitting there. He had crazy eyesâcrazier than Patâs, evenâthat kept darting around, futilely trying to watch everyone around them. He wore regular clothes, a Tâshirt and jeans, with sandals. His bald head glistened with sweat, which was kind of gross. It trickled down into his awesome sideburns, growing bushy and wild across his cheeks.
Steve had forgotten it was the Aquatennial that weekend. Thomas Beach was a zoo. The beach itself was covered in boats made out of milk cartons. Gary had proclaimed them lame, but Steve had secretly thought they were kind of cool. Particularly the long barge with Cleopatra reclining on it.
So theyâd had to find a small strip of the boulevard beyond the bike path, next to the street, to set up their game.
âIâve got pluses from dexterity,â Steve pointed out. âAnd thatâs a plusâtwo sword.â
Erik hadnât been paying that much attention, but he glanced back at Gary and nodded.
What, were they coâGMing or something? This had been the guy who sold Gary the creepy light set up on the gaming table in Garyâs basement. Heâd also sold Gary the urn that theyâd used to capture that water godâs soul.
Now, they were playing on a board that Erik had brought. It had felt perfectly smooth to the touch, which was what Steve and the others had been most concerned aboutârolling dice across a pitted area would end up in too many misârolls.
Golden, glowing runes lined the edges of the eightâsided board. Underneath them, when the sun hit the board just right, lurked a second set of runes, green and menacing. Thin, chaotic red lines whirled across the board, connecting the runes to one another.
A manyâsided patch about as big as Steveâs palm squatted at the very center of the board, blacker than Garyâs basement had become. It seemed to go on and on, like it wasnât part of a flat board but an infinitely deep hole.
Steve tried irrationally to avoid rolling dice across it. Not because he thought the dice would disappear down into the depths or something, but because every time he had to reach across that damned hole he got chills.
âYes,â Gary said. âIt was a hit. Roll for damage.â
Steve chortled, picking up his d10, then adding three more. He was gonna hurt this asshole this time. The party just needed a couple more good solid hits, and theyâd kill this monster for sure.
âDonât forget the pluses to damage from my spell,â Mary added.
Steve hesitated. Thieves didnât generally have spells. He certainly didnât remember Mary casting something. Still, more pluses were better.
He rolled all ones and twos.
âDamn it!â Steve said. He picked up his dice from the board, ignoring the chills racing down his back.
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