New Imperium Ch. 02

"Free of charge this time," she smirked at me, her thin ribs still pumping for breath and sending distracting motions through her perfect chest.

I smiled back at her, which only reminded me of the temporarily subdued throbbing in my skull. "How gracious." I took her hand in mine when she was done cleaning herself. "I can't wait for the next thing you have to 'show' me."

Her smile faltered a bit, and she perched between my bulk and the bedside. "There are so many things to show you, my filwyr, for there must be a reason you're here." She stroked my cheek, her touch faint as her whisper.

"A mistake," I grumbled, "a bloody, Emperor-damned mistake. I should never have made it here, through that nightmare portal."

"But you are here. Mekdonas. The daemons Have returned, and already they've broken kings and warchiefs. Their hold grows every day. The Light must've sent you here for a reason." A tear trickled down her cheek, "It must've."

With every fiber of my being, I doubted that this Light -- whether or not it was some distant echo of the Emperor -- had any reason to care about a ragged swindler like me. But, perhaps, something other than good luck had kept the Warp from flaying me into mewling putty. No faith or inquisitorial trinket had spared me. I was a stubborn bastard, but then so were most Imperial so-called heroes who had their guts and souls ripped apart by Chaos.

Emperor's bloody shits, why couldn't this all be some drug-induced nightmare or a psyker's trick?

Ava stared at me, those pale eyes pleading with me. "Alright, darling. We can talk to some priest or holy man of yours in the morning. But first, get me another one of those flasks and tuck yourself in tight. I think better with a woman next to me."

Her smile could've made an Arbiter commute a death sentence, it was so broad and bright. Emperor save us all.