Daniel Smith was not happy. He hadn't been happy for a while, but in particur he was really upset to be standing at the edge of the Great Salt Lake, staring at an enormous undrinkable body of water. His girlfriend, Karen Walker, did not seem any more pleased. She turned and gred at him, starting yet another argument between the two young adults.

  "I fucking told you that this was a waste of time," Karen began. "You should have listened to me instead of that damn trollop at the bar back near Cheyenne. I told you she didn't know what she was saying, you should have asked to talk to her boss or someone with more braincells than cup size."

  Daniel pinched his nose, trying to ignore the shrill ranting. In the months before the apocalypse, he'd started dating Karen. She was athletic, very attractive, and incredibly easy to convince to get naked. She and Bridgette Meyer also hated each other, which was a huge bonus, because Daniel had tried to use her as leverage to make Bridgette jealous and Karen had readily agreed, willing to be very vocal and public about how much time she spent fucking the captain of the football team. Oh, Bridgette denied she was jealous, but Daniel knew better. He could tell that Bridgette was just refusing to admit her feelings and longed to be in Karen's pce beneath him each night.

  So he'd come up with his pn of how to put her in a situation where she had no choice but to finally confront and admit her feelings for him, consummating their retionship as Prom King and Queen. It had almost worked, too, until that bitch said her father was going to kill him. He knew it wasn't her fault, it was probably one of her friends that told her to say it. Daniel had asked around to a few folks and everyone generally agreed that Mr Meyer was quiet, friendly, and could absolutely fucking murder everyone in town without blinking if he had to. He probably even had pns prepared on how to do it, too.

  And so Daniel had sulked off into the shadows, trying to find a way to get his revenge. Then the world had ended, most people vanishing, and he found himself standing around with his buddies from the football team, suddenly in charge of the only people left in society. Daniel was back on top, the king of the hill, and ready to take what the world owed him. And the first item on his list of things to cim was Bridgette. Oh sure, he'd keep Karen around at this point. With the world ending, it wasn't like there were rules or anyone going to judge him for having two women. And Karen would help keep Bridgette in line, the shrill harpy more than happy to hate-fuck the busty redhead into submission for him.

  Once again, Daniel had nearly succeeded, both Bridgette and her friend Alice on the verge of accepting his protection and joining his team until that fucking nerd Colin had ruined it with his fake dragon attack. He'd kill that scrawny moron if he ever saw him again, the meddling idiot. They were this close to joining him, at which point he'd probably have handed Alice to one of his minions and taken Bridgette for himself. Although, Alice looked pretty hot now too, suddenly with a pair of huge tits after graduation, so maybe he'd take both of them. Karen could easily manage both of the women for him.

  Daniel cursed silently, staring at the ke again. The universe hated him. He'd unlocked his css, been gaining in power, had started to come up with a pn for how to once again convince the Meyer girl she needed a strong man like him to cling to, and then the fucking troll had showed up. It was at that point that Daniel realized he was out of luck in Defiance, told his football teammates to go try to stop the troll, and made a run for it. Karen had seen him duck between the houses and followed him, so he figured it was worth bringing her along. She could cast a few spells and having a warm body to fuck never hurt when spending all of your time on the road, so it was a win-win.

  He'd seen a few of the team get killed by the troll before they got out of sight, which only further solidified that he'd made the right decision. However, Daniel wasn't exactly sure where to go. Karen said she had a cousin who lived out in Idaho and that she thought they could take refuge there. It seemed like a really long way to go, but there weren't a lot of other options. And so the two of them had spent the st month walking across the midwest, stealing food and sleeping in ditches, hiding from monsters where possible, and taking advantage of the kindness of strangers to stay for free and eat and drink when they found what passed for civilization.

  As the miles dragged on, Daniel became more and more convinced it had been a mistake to bring Karen with him. She was such a nagging bitch, giving him a hard time about everything he did, constantly bossy and demanding, confident that every decision she made was the right one and that everyone would bow to her. She'd even mouthed off to a guy running a tavern a week ago, calling him a dickless maggot when he gave them cold stew for free. Sure, the stew was pretty awful, but you couldn't really compin when you hadn't eaten in two days and someone gave you food for free. The tavern keeper had gnced at Daniel, winced, and said he felt sorry for him having such a bitch as a girlfriend. Karen, of course, insisted that Daniel stick up for her, so he'd swaggered up and shoved the guy, kicking him in the balls and telling him not to badmouth such a wonderful woman.

  At that point, the entire vilge had ganged up on Daniel, beating him unconscious and dragging him a mile down the road where they left him in a ditch filled with cow manure. Karen had waited until he was conscious again and then started bitching about how he was such a useless fighter and how could he keep her safe if he couldn't handle eight vilgers at once? Fucking bitch, he grumbled to himself. Daniel blinked, suddenly realizing that she'd stopped talking and was waiting for him to reply.

  "Look, it can't be that hard to get to Cascade, Idaho. So what if we ended up walking a little further south than we meant to? We mostly know where we are now, we can head north. It'll be fine."

  "Daniel, I swear to god you got hit too many times pying football. That's hundreds of miles you've taken us in the wrong direction, all because you're a man who refuses to ask for directions. If there was any justice in this world, I'd be the one in charge," Karen ranted.

  "If there was any justice in the world, you'd be dead," Daniel whispered to himself. "And maybe I'd be happy."

  "That could be arranged, should you wish it," a suave voice came from behind the two arguing teenagers. "I'd even be happy to do it for you, if you don't want to get your hands dirty."

  Daniel spun, shocked by the sound of an unfamiliar voice so close to where they stood. The voice was attached to a man, handsome and tall. His bronze skin seemed to indicate a Hispanic background of some kind, slicked back bck hair and a neatly trimmed goatee rounding out his face. His eyes ... seemed to bck-on-bck, with even the sclera of his eyes being bck, although there was a swirl of almost fiery specks that occasionally appeared. It was incredibly weird and creepy and entirely unnatural, yet another thing from this new magic world. His build was athletic and muscur, but not beefy, and he was garbed head to toe in bck leather clothing with a variety of daggers and vials attached to his clothing.

  "Who the fuck are you?" Karen stepped behind Daniel, gring at the stranger while using Daniel to shield herself from danger. "What are you doing near us, creep?"

  "Well? What do you say?" The man asked Daniel, totally ignoring Karen.

  With a heavy sigh, Daniel shook his head in the negative. "No, just wishful thinking. I couldn't, not really."

  "Pity," the man said, turning to walk away. "I was looking forward to some fun. I thought you had a spine, just for a second there."

  "Hey, wait!" Daniel suddenly stepped forward, shouting to catch the man's attention. "How about someone else?" The mysterious stranger turned back to the two teenagers. Daniel thought the man was looking at him, but honestly it was so hard to tell with the all-bck eyes. "We, uh, we're from Iowa. And there are some people there that the world would be better off without. Are you interested?"

  "What's in it for me?" The stranger cocked his head, looking curiously at Daniel. "Iowa isn't that close."

  "Why do you want to get something from it? You were willing to kill her for free, just because you heard me mumbling." Daniel pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the former cheerleader huddled against his back.

  "What the FUCK?" Karen suddenly interjected, having been confused what the conversation was about. Her shrill voice rose in panic. "Daniel? What the fuck do you mean? KILL ME?"

  "Shut up, you stupid bitch," he snapped at her, turning back to the bck-cd man. Karen gasped in surprise, totally caught off guard by Daniel's blunt comment. Daniel continued, "What do you want in return for the job?"

  The stranger paused, almost seeming to listen to something. His face broke out in a wicked grin as his odd gaze seemed to flicker between the two teenagers. "My boss seems to think you have some promise, or at least could be useful to our efforts. I think we can make a deal. I will offer you both training and power, helping you to grow strong and unlock special abilities previously unavaible to you. You will travel with me, assisting me on the tasks that I am performing for my patron. You will obey me as we do these tasks, but I suspect you'll grow to like the work and won't compin much. In return, we only ask that you sign a contract, and you'll pay us something insignificant as part of the binding agreement."

  Daniel blinked, stunned by the man's generosity. "I mean, fuck yea! That sounds like a great deal. Where's the contract?"

  Karen paused, pulling at Daniel's shoulder. "That seems too good to be true, Daniel. I don't trust him. And who is his boss? Maybe we should talk to his supervisor directly before signing anything?"

  The man stepped forward, magically summoning an ornate wooden desk with what appeared to be a leather portfolio on it, opened to a page of odd-colored parchment. He handed a gold fountain pen to Daniel, gesturing toward the desk and the contract. Daniel stepped forward, signing his name without any hesitation and not even reading the contract, although he found himself wincing in pain as something in his stomach seemed to hurt. Maybe a pulled muscle? He was sure he'd be fine in the morning, but wow what a weird pain that was. Daniel handed the pen back to the stranger with a smug grin on his face, completely at ease with his choice.

  "And you, miss?" The man stepped close to Karen, who turned pale with fear at the stranger's menacing appearance. "I'd love to be able to close the deal with you as well. I believe we have much to offer each other."

  "Fuck off, weirdo. I won't sign until I talk to your supervisor. I want his assurances on this. You might have gotten Daniel to sign, but he's never had enough brains to pn more than five minutes ahead." Karen crossed her arms and gred, determined to escate the situation.

  The man roared with ughter, spittle flying from his lips, nearly reaching the angry girl. "Your parents named you well, although I don't think the name meant what it did until after you were born. Maybe a premonition? You are such a cunt, Karen. You want to talk to my supervisor? Well ... I hope you're ready." The man closed his eyes, whispering something to himself. He re-opened his eyes, only for upside down pentagrams to be reflected in his eyes. The pentagrams were made of fire, Karen realized. His voice was now deeper and Karen caught a whiff of brimstone as an unusual smoke seemed to emerge from the man's pores.

  "I can promise you revenge, Karen," came the changed voice. The man stepped forward, reaching out and running a hand along her cheek. Karen froze, transfixed by the predatory gaze, as she felt a trickle of urine begin to run down her leg. She had never been so afraid in her entire life. "I can promise you power. You'll never be happy in this life, but I can help you make others' lives as miserable as your own. But if you'd rather say no to Xavier and die here instead, I can promise you that your soul will end up with me regardless. So really, it's not much of a choice for you after all."

  Karen jerked her head in assent, unable to speak. Her mouth was dry, her heart was pounding, her body absolutely shaking with fear. The man, Xavier, blinked and his eyes were back to normal. He held out the pen toward her again, "So what's it going to be? Ready to join the winning team, Karen?"