When the evening wrapped up, Conor headed for his SUV parked around back. As he reached to open the door, a shadow loomed over him.             “Hand over the pendant, Roviin Felkir,” a gruff hand tightened on his shoulder.             Conor panicked, but images of his short training with Celia flooded his mind. He ducked and spun, trying to process the odd words the man had spoken. “What do you want? And what did you call me?” Conor backed toward the Spice Emporium hoping to draw attention. Four more figures appeared, one was

The next week, Mr. Nuri called for a meeting with Conor. The team assembled in the large boardroom of Vokrizin. It was the first time this large room had been used. When Conor arrived, he saw Mr. Hartland there, who had negotiated his original contract with NewAge Gaming.             “Mr. Hartland, how goes business these days?”             “Very well Mr. Brantley. “I like the new office space, but I noticed on the way in this is Vokrizin. I am not sure I am familiar with the company. Will they be partnering with us?”

Tuesday morning, Conor was working his shift at Jackson's furniture,  helping his teammate Ryan move a large sofa from the floor to the loading bay for a client when a familiar voice made him nearly drop the sofa.             “Hey, pay attention!” called Ryan, struggling to keep his end up.             Conor quickly lifted his end back up and maneuvered the corner into the back warehouse. Once the sofa was placed, Ryan demanded, “What gives? Have you gone spacey on me?”

The next day, Conor left his office apartment and went to the conference room. He peered around the corner and saw Kayle sitting at the secretary desk. “Kayle, would you please call the team for a meeting?”             “Sure thing Mr. Brantley,” she replied with a smile.             A few minutes later, Mr. Nuri, Jarad, Anna, and Abby piled into the conference room and took their seats around Conor.  

as the weeks went on, Conor found himself drawn once more to the community center. Since Cara had left on her trip, he felt the urge to visit more often. When he arrived, several of the kids rushed out to greet him.             Little Hannah piped up, “Did you bring us anything, Mr. Conor?”             Conor couldn’t help but chuckle, “Not this time, but perhaps you will let me play with you some. How does that sound?”