CHAPTER 240: ORIN

"What?" Jack asked Katie, with a shit-eating grin.

"Did you really have sex with Samantha’s mom?!"

"Yep. And it was actually Samantha’s idea. Though I suspect she didn’t really think through that suggesting, because she ran out of the room, beet red, when she realized it was actually going to happen."

"But Mrs. Norwood is so... so..."

"Straight-laced? Plain-Jane? Boring?"

She nodded mutely.

"Lorie said she hid her wild side out of fear she would give her daughter bad habits."

"But you and her..."

"Yep. I think she initially suggested it just to fuck with Samantha. It’s just so cute when Sam turns beet red like that. But it had been ten years for her, and I think she wanted to decide for herself if she wanted to join my outer circle. So she asked to take me for a test drive."

"So, um, is she, um, one of us now?"

"No, she’s officially part of my outer circle. Think of that as being like a fuck buddy or friend with benefits. But I suspect that in a few decades that might change. For now, she’s just happy if I fuck her every few weeks."

Katie took a deep breath and shook herself.

"Well, as long as Samantha’s happy."

"She is. Embarrassed, but happy. So, ready to have a candid chat with your dad?"

"I thought I was. But after this bombshell? Now I’m worried my image of my dad will also be shattered."

"We can do this another time if you want."

"No, let’s do this now."

He led Katie to the interview room and then made a new snapshot. When he located her father, he found him still awake and pacing in his office.

When Orin’s copy appeared in the gazebo, Jack made the now standard subconscious obedience modification, told Orin to speak honestly and forget that he’d heard the command.

As soon as Orin appeared, he’d tensed and scanned the room, then turned to Jack and said, "I don’t know how you did this, but you need to send me back immediately. My men’s lives are at stake!"

"You are a copy, Orin. Your original is still in your office and is unaware of this conversation."

"How is that even possible?!"

"Through the powers granted to me by a divine artifact. "

"Can you save my men?"

Orin owned a private military company, and Jack assumed that some of Orin’s men, out on assignment, had gotten themselves into a bad situation.

There was desperation and hope in Orin’s tone, and Jack got the feeling that Orin cared about his men as people and not just as assets.

"I don’t know. What’s the situation? Why do they need saving?"

"They’re trapped with no way out. Boxed in by a damned army. Bad intel-"

Orin stopped and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"My best team is cornered in a warehouse in northern Sarmatia. They were supposed to exfil through a tunnel connected to the warehouse, but the tunnel is collapsed and now they are boxed in. Once their ammo runs out, they are fucked."

Katie gripped his arm and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Please, Jack. Please save them if you can. They’re good men."

He could sense her concern over their connection and got the impression she knew the men Orin was talking about.

He’d been on the fence about whether or not he would help Orin save his team, but Katie’s plea helped him decide.

"How much time before their ammo runs out?"

"Less than an hour. But their position could get shelled in the next ten or fifteen minutes."

"Okay. Right now, time here runs ten times faster than in the physical world. So one minute there is ten minutes here."

Orin took another deep breath and visibly relaxed as he let it out.

"Good, good. Can you help? What can you do with this divine artifact?"

"First give me their exact location. I need to take a look at the situation."

He could probably teleport Orin’s team to a safe location. But having those men disappear from one location and suddenly appear in another would announce to all the wrong kinds of people that some new kind of ability was possible.

At the very least, Orin’s men would know about it, and Orin would know it was Jack that had the ability. Something he was not willing to risk without insurance.

If the tunnel wasn’t completely collapsed, just blocked in one section, then he could possibly teleport the team past the blockage. But it would still expose him to Orin and his men.

Regardless, he would have to require them to accept a soul bond with him before he would save them. It was the only way to protect himself and his girls.

Orin showed Jack where the warehouse was on a map, then Jack took a larger snapshot, located the warehouse and checked the tunnel.

It was only blocked near the warehouse and looked like it might be a fresh collapse.

"Okay, here’s the deal. I can theoretically get your men past the block in the tunnel. But doing so will expose me to both you and your men. That is a risk I am unwilling to take unless you and they agree to something."

"What?"

"One of the abilities I have it to form soul bonds. A person soul bonded to me is unable to reveal my secrets or take any action to harm me. It will also cause that person to become loyal to me faster than you would expect given the circumstances."

"You want me and my men to accept a soul bond with you so that can ensure we keep your powers secret?"

"Yes. If you think your men are willing to even entertain the idea, I can summon copies here and we can discuss the matter together. If most of your men agree, but some refuse. I can either leave your entire team to their fate, or they can agree to leave the dissenters behind."

"Fuck!" Orin sounded more disturbed or distraught than angry.

"If word got out that I have any of these powers, I’m screwed, my girlfriends are screwed, your daughter is screwed."

"No, I get it. You need to protect you and yours. I just hate the idea of leaving men behind."

He scrunched his face up for a second in concentration, then said, "I think they’ll go for it. Please call them here, or make copies, or whatever. Even at ten to one, we’re burning seconds."