I Die to Rise: Resurrection System

Riley woke to the clatter of pans and the warm, buttery smell of something that contrasted with the prison slop she always woke up to back in the Circle.

Riley had followed the smell down the stairs and through the east corridor, half-expecting to find a cook or a caterer or some other species of hired professional.

What she did not expect to find was Cassandra Anova, in a pristine white apron, standing at a marble island, rolling out pastry dough with the focused precision of someone defusing a bomb.

Riley stopped in the doorway and Cassandra glanced up. Her eyes swept over Riley once, before returning to her dough.

"You’re up early," Cassandra said.

"You cook," Riley replied. It came out more like an accusation than an observation.

Cassandra glanced over her shoulder, one eyebrow arched. "I enjoy it. Keeps the hands busy and the mind quiet."

She set the tray down and dusted flour from her fingers. "Besides, after the past few days we’ve had, thought I’d give you guys a treat."

Riley stepped into the kitchen slowly, like she was entering unfamiliar territory, which she was. The counters were covered with fresh ingredients, bowls, a tray of golden pastries already cooling on a rack, and something in the oven that smelled like it was made out of pure serotonin.

"I figured you’d have people for this," Riley said, hopping up onto a stool at the island.

"I do," Cassandra said simply. "I choose not to use them for this." She paused, then added, "Cooking is one of the few things that requires genuine attention. I find it clarifying."

Riley watched her work for a moment. The efficient, graceful movements. The complete lack of wasted motion. It was very Cassandra, somehow, even in an apron.

"This is weird," Riley said with grudging respect.

Cassandra’s lips curved and she nodded toward the corridor without looking up. "Go wake the others. Breakfast in ten minutes. Don’t let them drag their feet."

Riley slid off the stool. She collected Razor from down the hall without much effort—the smell alone had him conscious and vertical before she’d finished knocking.

Lena’s room however, was empty, the bed untouched.

Riley stood in the doorway for a second. Then she followed Lena’s scent down the hall to the north wing, pushed open the door, and found exactly what the evidence suggested she’d find.

The morning light fell in behind her, and Lena lay across Kurt’s chest, the sheet pulled loosely over them both, breathing in the deep, contented rhythm of a thoroughly exhausted person.

Kurt cracked one eye open and met her gaze without a single trace of shame and Riley’s eyebrows climbed as she planted a hand on her hip.

"Figures," she said flatly. "That explains why I couldn’t find her. Whole room smells like a zoo after mating season."

"Morning to you too," Kurt said. His voice was rough from sleep and not remotely apologetic about any of it. "Riley, was it?"

"Breakfast is ready downstairs." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Cassandra’s cooking. Fancy spread. That is, if you two can stop humping long enough to eat."

She looked at Lena, still dead to the world, a soft purr rumbling in her throat. "Tell cat-girl if she wants seconds, she better get down before Razor eats everything. I’m not saving her any food." She turned on her heel. "And no more funny business. Some of us actually slept last night."

The door clicked shut.

Kurt stared at the ceiling, one hand resting in Lena’s hair, and let out a low, rough chuckle. "Should’ve left her in the Circle," he murmured to no one.

Lena’s tail curled tighter around his leg in her sleep.

He lay there another minute, then hunger and some other pull he wasn’t examining too closely got him up. He eased Lena’s hand off his chest, slipped out from under her, and headed for the shower.

The hot water did its work properly. He stood under it until his muscles relaxed, then toweled off and found a hamper in the corner with clean folded sheets inside.

He pulled the old ones off the bed in one smooth motion, which left Lena immediately curling in on herself, nose wrinkling with a sleepy sound of protest.

"Settle down, love," he said quietly.

She stilled as the new sheet went over her and she sank back into sleep like a stone dropping through water, tail uncurling slowly.

Kurt shrugged on his trench coat over fresh clothes, ran a hand through his damp hair, and headed downstairs.

***

Razor was already seated at the kitchen table, working through a plate with the dedication of a man who’d eaten prison rations for too long.

Riley sat across from him, chin in one hand, watching Cassandra still in an apron, pull a deep ceramic dish from the oven with both hands and set it on the stovetop.

Kurt stood in the kitchen doorway for a moment, taking in the scene. Then Cassandra looked up and met his eyes, and the corner of her mouth lifted. "Have fun last night?"

"Something like that," Kurt said, moving to the counter.

Razor looked up from his plate. "Sleep alright?"

"Beautifully," Kurt said, and Riley made a noise into her tea.

Razor looked between them, brow furrowed. "What’d I miss?"

"Nothing," said Kurt.

"Nothing," said Riley, at the same time.

Razor shrugged and went back to eating.

Kurt reached across the counter and broke off a piece from the dish.

It was something layered and golden, flaky pastry over slow-cooked filling with herbs and rich sauce visible at the edges, and he put it in his mouth.

The moment it touched his tongue, he stopped moving.

"This is incredible," he said.

Razor pointed his fork across the table. "Right!?"

"Where did you even learn—"

"My grandmother," Cassandra said, removing the apron, and folding it neatly over the counter’s edge. "She believed that if you were going to do something, you did it properly or not at all."

"Sound woman," Kurt said, already reaching for another piece.

"She was strong," Cassandra agreed pleasantly.

Lena arrived twenty minutes later, padding into the kitchen in a loose shirt and shorts, dampnhair still settling around her shoulders. She moved like she was completely fine, which was either genuine or an extraordinary performance, and Kurt suspected it was both.

Riley looked up from her plate. "I was really looking forward to telling you you look like shit."

Lena grinned. "Sorry to disappoint." She dropped into the remaining chair at the table. Razor was watching her with a slight squint and a calculating expression.

"Why are you walking like that?" he asked.

There was a beat of silence. Then it hit.

"Oh," said Razor.

He looked at Kurt. Kurt took another bite and Razor looked back at his plate, saying nothing further.

Lena reached across and took the remaining piece from Kurt’s hand without asking, bit into it, and her ears shot straight up. "This is amazing." She turned to Cassandra with complete sincerity. "You made this?"

"She made everything," Riley said, with the tone of someone who’d already processed her own surprise and moved on.

"I’m obsessed with you," Lena said.

Cassandra looked mildly pleased as they ate like people who’d earned it. Considering what they’d been through in the last one week, one could say they did.

The kitchen was warm and bright, morning light falling wide across the marble, and for a while there was nothing more peaceful than good food with people who’d been through something together and come out the other side still breathing.

Eventually Kurt leaned back and said, "We should head back. The guild’s been without us long enough."

"Cassandra." He looked at her. "Pack some of that." He gestured at the dish.

Cassandra blinked once. "I beg your pardon?"

"Peace offering," he said. "For the guild."

"Why," Cassandra said slowly, "would I be offering peace?"

"Just bring the damn dish," Kurt said.

She held his gaze for a long moment, then stood and went to the kitchen without another word, which he’d learned to interpret as agreement.

***

They gathered outside in the morning light, the estate’s grounds gold and quiet around them.

Kurt watched as an old man with white hair and a curling white mustache appeared at the front doors before Cassandra could step through them, moving quickly for his age and bowing slightly as he addressed her in a low, earnest voice.

Kurt stood with the others on the drive, watching from a polite distance.

Then Razor leaned toward Riley. "Pay up. Two thousand credits."

Riley didn’t look at him. "When I’m settled and have my things in order."

"That’s what they all say."

"She really does have an actual butler," Riley muttered, somewhere between resigned and impressed.

"Told you," Razor said.

Kurt glanced between them. "You two bet on that?"

"First thing this morning," Razor confirmed, without a drop of shame.

Cassandra joined them a moment later, carrying the wrapped ceramic dish in both hands with an expression that said she still had reservations about it but had decided to execute it regardless.

Kurt turned to Razor. "So. What now?"

Razor rolled his neck until it cracked. "I’m heading back to the E-rank district. Got some business to sort out."

Kurt reached out, and they gripped hands firmly. "Appreciate the help. Couldn’t have done it without you."

"Damn right you couldn’t." Razor grinned. "You still owe me, by the way. But I’ll give you fifty percent off."

"How generous," Kurt said drily.

"I know, right?" Razor turned to Riley, flashing a two-finger salute. "Pay up when you can, Riley. I’ll find you."

Riley rolled her eyes but smiled.

Then he gave Cassandra a long appreciative look that she acknowledged with a single flat stare, and headed off down the drive, one hand raised in farewell.

Kurt turned to Lena. "Come with us," he said. "Raven’s Crow would be lucky to have you. And I know I would."

Lena looked at him for a moment. Then she stepped forward and pulled him into a proper hug, arms around his shoulders, her chin finding the crook of his neck.

"I’ve got my own toxic-shit people to get back to," she murmured. "They’ve been wondering where I am long enough."

He held her for a moment, then let her step back.

She turned to Riley and gave her a smile. "Let’s both make Urm proud."

Riley’s expression turned complicated. She pulled Lena in, and they held each other for a beat that said everything about the Circle and what they’d survived in it.

Then Lena looked at Cassandra.

She stepped close, close enough to lower her voice. Her gold eyes tracked sideways toward Kurt, who had already found the edge of the wrapped dish and was attempting to quietly extract a piece.

"He’s something, isn’t he," Lena said.

Cassandra watched him. Something like a smile crossed her face briefly. "Yes," she said. "He is."

Lena leaned in and pressed a quick, genuine kiss to Cassandra’s cheek, and Cassandra went very still.

"Stay dangerous," Lena told her.

"Always," Cassandra said.

Lena stepped back, raised one hand in a wave that took in all three of them, and walked. Kurt watched her go until she rounded the gate and the street swallowed her up.

The warmth of the morning felt slightly different after that.

His thoughts went to the guild. To the last time he’d seen Sam, and the fact that he left while she was still unconscious after the Sun Knight debacle.

He’d left without saying anything, which made him feel guilty. The weight of it sitting across his shoulders the whole time.

"The guild... Sam. Should have stuck around until she was conscious."

"That’s what the peace offering is for, is it not?" Cassandra said from beside him, reading him with an accuracy he’d stopped finding surprising.

Kurt said nothing for a moment. Then he looked at Riley, who was watching Cassandra with a particular kind of careful attention.

"You seem different," Riley said to her. Not trying to sound accusatory. Just honest.

"Raven’s Crow has that effect on people," Kurt said.

Cassandra glanced at him sideways. Something in her expression shifted, briefly, before she gathered it back into that measured composure. Then she said, "I’ve contacted Eli. He’ll meet us there."

Kurt reached into his coat for his cigarettes. He pulled one out, lit it, took the first slow drag as smoke curled upward into the morning air.

"Let’s be on our way then," he said.

They walked together toward the gate, and the estate fell quiet behind them.