《Crazy Seduction(erotica)》


 1

    Stanley Garin was a serious young man. He wasn¡¯t a big man or a powerful man or even a particrly handsome man but he was intelligent and passionate.


    What was he passionate about? Not sports. His 5¡ä 7¡å slimly built body andck of athletic abilities made him despise team sports as he¡¯d always been excluded. Politics? Boring! Women? While he yearned for femalepanionship, he did so in silence as his tongue betrayed him around women he found attractive.


    No, what Stanley loved most wasputers. He loved programming them. He loved building them. He loved connecting them together. He just¡­ understood them! He knew what to expect from them and for him, they behaved in rational, expected ways. That wasn¡¯t to say he¡¯d never encountered a faulty piece of equipment but he had an innate ability to quickly identify the ky bit, rece it, and restore order to his life once more. Simple! Much simpler than rtionships with people.


    Having such a serious nature, he¡¯d struggled with the social aspects of school from the junior to the senior grades. He wasbeled a ¡®weird nerd¡¯ by the other kids. This was an even more shunned subss of the belittled ¡®nerd¡¯ social strata in the school¡¯s ecosystem. He was smart, quiet, and easy to teach so the teachers were grateful for one less challenge in their days.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Once he¡¯d reached college though, he came into his own and excelled in every technical course he took. Fromwork administration, database administration, programming, information security, he¡¯d excelled in anything he could enroll in that involved his belovedputers. He¡¯d just graduated at the top of his ss. He knew he had prospects out the wazoo¡­ if he¡¯d allowed himself to use silly terms like ¡®wazoo¡¯. He was destined to work at a Fortune 500pany.


    So what the hell was he doing in the server room of this small, obscure financial investment house in lower Manhattan? He gazed around at the equipment in despair. Older generation switches with flickering amber trouble lights. Old style 4U servers in the server racks droning with the unmistakable sound of wobbly and failing power supply fans. The power protection was a joke and their backup system? What backup system?


    He turned his face to the stern looking woman who was giving him this tour. She¡¯d said her name was Olive. She was maybe an inch taller than he was but four times his width. Greying brown hair, no style clothing and a grim look in her eyes. She was probably only in her fifties but she had jowls! He had no trouble speaking with her. There was no attraction at all.


    This was his very first job interview since graduating and he was only doing it as a favor to one of his professors who¡¯d sent him the rmendation. It had been going along fine until she led him into thebyrinth in the basement.


    That was another thing! They kept their servers in the basement! IN MANHATTAN! They were below sea level!


    ¡°Can you work with this?¡± Olive asked him with a gravelly voice.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Her thick eyebrows went up. ¡°No? But you came highly rmended. They said you were top of your ss! They called you a savant with technology!¡±


    ¡°Really? Somebody called me a savant?¡± Stanley said in surprise, secretly pleased.


    She scowled at him and his hint of a smile disappeared. ¡°You¡¯re saying you can¡¯t maintain this system?¡± she growled.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m saying yourpany can¡¯t afford to maintain this system. It¡¯s about to fall over. You need to rece it- soon! Now! And you need to move it up like, three floors at least.¡± Stanley was past the point of worrying about getting this job, not that he¡¯d expected to actually ept it. He could feel the tech down in this pit crying out for a quick and merciful death. It was time for some ugly truth.


    ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t know what trolls built this system,¡± she nced at him sharply, ¡°but they did you no favors. Yourpany is in serious danger of losing its most valuable asset, its information! If you don¡¯t take immediate steps to relocate your server room, rece this stuff with more current and stable technologyandget some emergency power protectionanda proper backup system yourpany could die! It hurts me to see this. You need to address this before you hire anyone to maintain it.¡± Seeing the scale of thework he knew they needed to hire a team to rece it. He looked around rubbing his suddenly stiff neck muscles and sighed. The intive whine of the power supply fans was getting under his skin.


    When he turned back to his interviewer he froze in surprise. Standing behind her was a tall, raven haired beauty in a very expensive suit. The woman oozed authority and wealth and Stanley¡¯s mouth immediately went dry.


    ¡°It¡¯s refreshing to hear such honesty in a job interview,¡± the woman said with a voice like silk wrapped steel. Stanley could only stare. Her Spanish heritage was evident in her lovely ent.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor! To what do I owe the honor of a visit from our CEO today?¡± the plump woman gushed, her dour expression banished in her employer¡¯s presence. Olive was practically simpering.


    ¡°Normally I wouldn¡¯te down here at all except my people can¡¯t get their work done when their ess to the Inte disappears every five minutes,¡± the tall woman said calmly but there was definitely a threat beneath her tone. Stanley was mesmerized by the woman¡¯s voice.


    He picked up a little tremble as the subway went by and heard a corresponding odd vibration noiseing from the server racks. His entire being vibrated in sympathy with the distressed hardware. He turned his wide eyes to Olive.


    ¡°The racks are bolted down to the concrete floors with no vibration dampening? The building¡¯s over a subway! I¡¯m surprised the servers haven¡¯t shaken themselves apart!¡± he gasped then quickly leaned away from Olive when the woman turned to snarl at him. For just the briefest second he could have sworn her eyes were glowing green!


    ¡°OIive! Leave us!¡± Ms. Vimor barked and Stanley flinched. Olive bowed her head and rushed from the room.


    Stanley was mortified. This job interview was going from bad to worse. Now he was face to face with the raven haired executive and he felt his tongue die in his mouth as he looked up into her dark eyes. Were they brown¡­ or dark gold? Either way they held him fast.


    She was much taller than he was, maybe 6¡ä in her two-inch heels, and stunningly beautiful! Her eyes were her best feature but it was a close contest as the rest of her was pretty spectacr as well. The expensive business suit emphasized her lush curves and it was all he could do to keep his eyes from roaming them.


    Her head tilted ever so slowly as she gazed at him. The tip of a pink tongue slipped out briefly to wet her sensual lips.


    ¡°Do you know how to save us from these technological dangers?¡± she asked as she slowly raised one exquisitely shaped eyebrow.


    ¡°Y-y-you hire awork d-duh-design firm toe in and analyse your c-c-c-¡­ your system as it is n-n-now and tell them what your p-puh-perceived needs will be for five to tuh-ten years from now. Then give them the m-money they¡¯ll need to build it,¡± Stanley stuttered and gasped his way to the answer. He was sweating profusely before this smartly dressed business woman and his face felt like it was on fire.


    ¡°But couldyoudo it?¡±


    Stanley froze. ¡°Me?¡± he squeaked.


    ¡°Yes, if we supplied arge team of workers to follow your explicit instructions, could you design a recement system and have it up and running within¡­ let¡¯s say a month. The team would work around the clock on your orders.¡±


    ¡°W-wouldn¡¯t you rather hire a cpany with p-puh-previous experience?¡± he eximed.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question. Could. You. Do. It.¡±


    He stared into her eyes but his mind was already rapidly assembling a list of requiredponents. He found himself nodding. He froze at his own unexpected audacity.


    ¡°Do you think you could take a look at what might be causing the Inte outages?¡± she asked.


    He blinked then turned to walk down the row of server cases, looking for any visible sign of where the public lines entered the system. At the end of the row behind thest rack he finally found a router mounted to a sheet of wood improperly bolted to a wall. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the crappy little consumer level router which had only the most rudimentary security features. As he watched, another subway train went by and the sheet of wood swayed. The length ofwork cable between the router and rack was a little short and pulled tight with each sway. This was tugging at the connector. He turned and jumped as Ms. Vimor was standing very close behind him. He looked up into her curious eyes.


    ¡°This one duh-doesn¡¯t take a genius to f-figure out.¡± He turned to face the hardware so he could pretend to be talking to it. Much better. He could feel himself rx. ¡°Rece this cable with a longer one and the problem with your connection to the Inte should be resolved, temporarily at least. Someone should secure this panel to the wall properly as well. More importantly the router needs recing with something that can be used to give thepany a truly secure connection!¡±


    She turned and left for a moment, returning with a bin ofwork cables. He looked at her in surprise.


    ¡°We need to s-suh-schedule a downtime window to¡­¡± he stopped when he saw her annoyed look.


    ¡°I did mention everyone was already experiencing downtime every five minutes. I believe we can dispense with the formalities this time,¡± she insisted. He nodded.


    Looking in the crate he selected the appropriate cable and quickly swapped out the existing one, running the excess up along the cable channel hanging from the ceiling. He turned back to her and nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± she gasped.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Did I hear you mentioning the server room shouldn¡¯t be in the basement?¡± she asked calmly, the hint of a smile on her lovely lips.


    He nodded once more.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± she said and spun on her high heels, dropping the bin of cables under a table on her way by. Stanley found himself following her out of thebyrinth to the elevator bank. He struggled to keep his eyes off of her lushly curved ass. Her perfume was light and almost imperceptible but it was making him feel¡­ just a little tipsy and more than a little stimted.


    She stepped into the elevator which opened as she approached it and Stanley stepped in beside her. She tapped her ess card against a sensor and the elevator chimed recognition. She pressed the button for the top level. They rode in silence and Stanley struggled to calm his mind and his erection.

 2

    The elevator stopped and they stepped off into a lobby. The woman nodded to the tworge men in dark suits standing on either side of double doors. They nodded and opened the doors for her. Stanley looked at them with wide eyes as they trained their eyes on him the entire time he walked past. He got the impression they were watching for just the slightest hint that he was a threat and they¡¯d take him down. Hard.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Ms. Vimor led him down a long hallway and stopped before an opaque ss door with another sensor. Once she tapped her ess card to it the liquid crystal in the ss cleared and he could see arge board room table and many chairs around it. The room was empty otherwise. She opened the door and walked in. Stanley followed. When the door closed there was a sudden hush as the room was soundproofed.


    ¡°We are on the top floor. This room is in the center of the floor away from all the windows. It¡¯s used once a month. Otherwise it remains empty. If we were to build the newwork room here we could build a new boardroom in the basement,¡± she suggested.


    He looked at the room and took in the twelve foot ceilings. The carpet would have to go. They could take it back to the cement floor and add a raised floor. He could see the racks of servers, the air conditioning vents and exhaust, the power panels, the cable guides- He walked over to the far wall and put his hand against it, trying to envision where the cables would run to the lower floors and where the room¡¯s heat could be dumped.


    He was nodding to himself as the picture came together in his mind.


    ¡°Would this room suffice?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Do we have roof ess? Permission to install a diesel backup generator there? Extra air conditioning units?¡± Stanley was lost in a world of design and forgot to be nervous as he answered automatically.


    She was tapping something into her phone. ¡°I will find out. We own the building so permission is only dependent on city building codes.¡± She looked at him. ¡°Do we have a deal?¡±


    The question snapped Stanley out of his beautiful daydream and pped him in the face with reality. He was only recently out of college and this would be his first job! He wasn¡¯t qualified to do what she was asking. He opened his mouth and nothing came out. He closed it and cleared his throat. He faced the wall.


    ¡°I really think you would be better off hiring apany that does this kind of work. I¡¯m hardly qualified and the task is huge! They¡¯ll have ess to arge group of installers to do the cable runs and the server builds. I¡¯m just talking about the hardware here. I still have no idea about all the software that you currently use and what upgrades you¡¯ll need to move to.¡±


    ¡°I can get you a team of thirty workers. Absolutely dedicated, hard-working and dependable,¡± she insisted.


    He turned to stare at the woman who was putting the future of herpany in his hands. He was overwhelmed.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    She tilted her head again. ¡°Why what?¡±


    ¡°Why are you p-p-putting this much f-fuh-faith in my ab-abilities? You d-duh-don¡¯t even know me!¡± he gasped.


    ¡°Olive wasn¡¯t the only one who read your transcript from the college. They were quite impressed with your abilities. Savant was the word they used. I know Professor Stagg. He doesn¡¯t give praise like that unless it¡¯s deserved.¡±


    He feltpletely off bnce. The old man had been a thorn in his side all the way through his five years at the college. Stanley got excellent grades in the old man¡¯s sses but he had to fight for every point. To hear he had such a high opinion of him now¡­ he didn¡¯t know what to think.


    ¡°Besides, I knew a Garin¡­ a long time ago. He was¡­ a most extraordinary man,¡± she smiled gently to herself as she remembered. When she returned from her memories she pinned Stanley once more with her dark eyes. ¡°Do we have a deal?¡±


    Stanley¡¯s inner voices were screaming at him. The cautious, timid one wanted him to tell her he was ttered but he¡¯d pass. The louder voice told him he needed to ept this challenge as it was a once in a lifetime deal.


    ¡°Ok.¡±


    ¡°Ok?¡± she said with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°S-sorry. Yes, we have a d-deal,¡± he said, his voice quavering.


    ¡°Good. Follow me.¡± She spun once more and Stanley rushed to catch up.


    She walked a little further down the hall and came to another ss door but this one was clear and he could see it led to a small waiting room with an executive assistant¡¯s desk. A beautiful young woman sat behind the desk and looked up with a smile at them as they entered. Her eyes widened when she looked at him.


    Stanley felt his tongue go numb once more as the woman was a younger version of Ms. Vimor. Same long raven hair except hers was pulled back into a ponytail. Samerge, dark eyes, high cheekbones, and a slim nose above full sensual lips. The only thing she was missing was the impression of power and dominance. Instead she seemed to exude a warm and happy friendliness.


    ¡°Good morning mother.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Stanley thought.


    ¡°Paloma, you know you¡¯re supposed to address me as Ms. Vimor at the office,¡± the older woman sighed as her daughter¡¯s face slipped into a contrite expression. Her eyes slid over to Stanley and her smile was back.


    ¡°Hello!¡±


    ¡°Hi!¡± Stanley managed.


    ¡°This is Stanley Garin. Stanley, this is Paloma Vimor, your executive assistant.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± Stanley gasped as Paloma¡¯s smile brightened.


    ¡°You¡¯ve found a recement for Mr. Hokensev?¡± the young woman chirped happily.


    ¡°Yes, just now.¡±


    Stanley was looking between the two women and his knees were beginning to wobble. The mother saw his trembling and gently took his arm and guided him into his new office to sit in one of the chairs before therge desk. Stanley¡¯s eyes took in the heavy and dark stained wooden furniture filling the room.


    ¡°This furniture belonged to the previous upant of this office. You may change it to suit your taste.¡± She turned to the doorway where Paloma was hovering. ¡°Dear, contact the head of HR, Ms. Gunderan, and have her bring up a full executive contract.¡± She looked back at Stanley. ¡°You can start today, yes?¡±


    Stanley was taking slow, deep breaths to calm himself and just nodded.


    ¡°Is he alright?¡± Paloma asked.


    ¡°Yes, dear. Ms. Gunderan please,¡± the mother said and Stanley picked up the steel in her tone. Paloma disappeared from the doorway instantly.


    ¡°I- I¡¯m s-sorry for being a b-bother,¡± Stanley gasped as he struggled to get his brain back to functioning. It was all happening so quickly. When the day started he¡¯d hoped he would end up in his own cubicle in a pod farm surrounded by other techs, maybe in charge of ordering and installingwork adapters in workstations. Here he was sitting in his top floor office with an executive assistant, a gorgeous one at that, responsible for thepany¡¯s entire IT infrastructure! It wasn¡¯t supposed to happen this way.


    Paloma reappeared in the doorway. ¡°She¡¯s on her way.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, dear. Have all of Mr. Hokensev¡¯s personal items been removed from the room?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Ms. Vimor caught Stanley¡¯s eyes once more and he felt locked in ce. ¡°Do you like this furniture or would you like to change it.¡±


    He used the excuse to look away from her amazing eyes. ¡°It¡¯s kind of¡­ heavy and the room is¡­ dark? Are those ckout curtains over the windows?¡± he asked in puzzlement. The woman nodded with a frown as if they offended her too. ¡°I¡¯d like to remove those.¡± He looked at the furniture. ¡°Could I get something modern? ss and steel?¡±


    When she looked around the room he did as well. ¡°I like the deskmp and the floormp though.¡± They were the only two items he did like. The rest made him feel uneasy. He nced at the woman standing in the doorway.


    Paloma was smiling widely and quietly pping her hands. Her mother snorted quietly.


    ¡°Yes, you can have this.¡± She turned to her daughter. ¡°Dear, I believe you will find Mr. Garin here far more agreeable to work for than Mr. Hokensev.¡± Paloma¡¯s smile just got wider. ¡°Summon the workers,¡± the mother said and her daughter disappeared once more.


    The doorway was suddenly filled with a broad-shouldered woman with intensely blue eyes. She had to be 6¡ä 4¡å in her low heeled ck boots, surpassing her boss in height as well as width. Fair skinned and blond, the head of Human Resources was a powerfully built woman who gave him the impression that she could probably take both of the men he¡¯d met in the elevator lobby in a fight, at the same time.


    ¡°Ms. Gunderan, may I present the newest member of our executive team, Stanley Garin,¡± the CEO said.


    Stanley stood up to shake the hand of the tall blond. He saw her long hair was pulled back in an intricately woven braid and the bottom was sped with a shiny gold cylinder which he spotted as it swung like a pendulum when she moved. She was also in a business suit but with a skirt which showed off her muscr but shapely legs.

 3

    ¡°Wee aboard, Mr. Garin,¡± the woman said with a smile and she gave the CEO a questioning nce. Vimor shook her head almost imperceptibly but Stanley caught it and Gunderan¡¯s raised eyebrow response. He wasn¡¯t sure what that was about but he was in a bit of a daze. The woman¡¯s voice was surprisingly feminine. He had been expecting a much deeper octave thates from body building and possibly taking enhancers. On closer examination though there was nothing masculine about Gunderan. She was lovely, just big!


    ¡°Th-thank you,¡± he stumbled and she grinned at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not scaring you, am I?¡± she asked sweetly, ignoring the scowl from her boss.


    ¡°N-no, I get like this around puh-pretty women,¡± he forced out then froze, wide eyed at what he¡¯d just said. To the head of HR none-the-less. AND the CEO! He closed his eyes and put his face in his hands.


    ¡°Oh, I like this one!¡± Gunderan chuckled happily.


    ¡°Sigrid!¡± her boss snapped.


    ¡°Fine but I can¡¯t help it if he¡¯s so cute,¡± she chuckled at Vimor¡¯s growl. She turned to Stanley who was looking at her once more. ¡°This is a standard executive contract for our firm. Please read it before signing it. I can answer any questions you have as you go through it.¡±


    A group of men showed up in the doorway. Stanley looked over at them and immediately felt a little uneasy as they were all so strikingly simr. They all were roughly the same height, had the same hair color, and generally the same facial features. They could be twins, if that happened in groups of¡­ eight?


    ¡°Ah, we¡¯re in the way, aren¡¯t we? Let¡¯s move to my office,¡± the CEO said.


    ¡°Is this furniture going to storage?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Do you want it?¡± Vimor asked.


    The tall blond moved to sit behind the desk and ran her hands over the surface. Then she gave it a heavy thump with her fist. The heavy desk took it in stride. She grinned. ¡°Yes please!¡± She looked over to the men in the doorway. ¡°Please strip it back to the natural wood then give it a light oiling and a sent before delivering it to my office.¡±


    The closest man in the doorway nodded then the rest picked up the nod. Again, the hairs on the back of Stanley¡¯s neck stood up.


    Ms. Vimor stood up and gestured for Stanley to follow her. Gunderan followed him. They made their way down the hall into another waiting room. Sitting at a desk to the right of the inner door was a beautiful, dark haired man who must have been the CEO¡¯s executive assistant. Beyond the inner door was a corner office. He sighed when he saw the view from the expansive windows. Her desk, situated in the apex of the two bands of windows was exactly the kind of furniture he liked. A wide ss surface on a steel tubing frame. On closer examination though the ss surface was a blending of different kinds and colors of ss. It looked something like a Kaleidoscope. Very pretty.


    The CEO gestured for them to sit on the couch to read through the contract while she returned to her desk to get some work done.


    It took Stanley some time to get through the document as he¡¯d never read one before. There were a lot of uses regarding confidentiality and some rather strict and ominous sounding penalties for breaching them. Sigrid was very helpful in rifying some of the legalese and by the end he feltfortable about signing the document. There was still the matter of filling out the fields for hispensation.


    Ms. Vimor gestured for them to join her so they stood and sat in the chairs before her desk. She leaned back in her chair as she held Stanley¡¯s eyes with hers. ¡°I¡¯m going to start you off with an annual sry of $320, 000 with profit sharing, and full benefits. We will review your performance after six months and make an assessment at that time if additionalpensation is warranted. Is this eptable?¡±


    Stanley rarelyughed but he couldn¡¯t stop himself from bursting intoughter now, thinking the woman was kidding. He looked around for the hidden cameras and saw only the two women watching him with puzzled expressions. When they didn¡¯t join in hisughter quickly choked off. ¡°I- I thought you were juh-joking and this was all an borate puh-prank.¡±


    Ms. Vimor just held his eyes with hers.


    ¡°It- it is highly eptable,¡± he squeaked. Ms. Gunderan nodded and wrote in the figures. She slid the document over to him on the desk to sign. He took the pen and added his signature to the document.


    ¡°As a final authorization, we do require a tiny drop of blood in this box at the bottom of the form,¡± the head of HR said and he stared at her in surprise. She reached over and gently took his hand. She pricked his finger with a pin she suddenly had in her hand and gently squeezed the finger until a single droplet of blood fell to the paper.


    Before it touched the paper the droplet vaporized with a tiny puff.


    The women went absolutely still and looked at Stanley closely. The young man in question was looking closely at the paper in puzzlement. He leaned forward to look closer as a second drop fell to the paper. It too disappeared with a slight hiss and pop.


    ¡°How is that happening?¡± he said slowly with wide eyes.


    He missed the exchange between the executives. The head of HR was staring at the CEO with an intense expression and the brte just gave her head one brief, sharp shake to shut down the unspoken question.


    ¡°We can dispense with that formality for now Sigrid. Thank you. That will be all.¡±


    The tall blond gathered up the contract and with a final nce at her boss left the office. Stanley put his finger in his mouth but it had already stopped bleeding.


    ¡°Your predecessor, Mr. Hokensev, may have kept notes on the existing equipment. You should work with Paloma to review all of his documentation. I believe you will find her to be highly motivated and she will prove to be indispensable.¡±


    He nodded to her.


    ¡°You can find your way back to your office, yes?¡± He nodded. She held out her hand which he shook. ¡°Wee to VRL Investments,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Now, go save us from disaster!¡±


    Seeing he was being dismissed he stood up. ¡°Th-thank you for this op-op- chance!¡±


    She smiled and made a shooing motion with her hand as she turned back to her work.


    He made his way to the door and as his hand touched the handle she called to him once more.


    ¡°I¡¯ve received reports that our Inte connection is remaining stable. That¡¯s an excellent start! Keep it up!¡±


    He smiled back at her and nodded.


    He walked back tohisoffice and stopped in surprise when he saw there was already a silver que with his name printed on it on the wall next to the door. It also said ¡®CIO¡¯. He had to take a moment to absorb that.


    When he stepped inside he saw Ms. Gunderan speaking in hushed tones with Paloma who burst into a smile when she saw him.


    ¡°Wee to VRL, Mr. Garin!¡± she said cheerfully. The way she said thepany name made it sound like she was saying ¡®virile¡¯.


    He smiled at her and nodded to the head of HR who returned the nod as she headed out.


    Then Stanley was alone with the beautiful young woman with the bright smile.


    ¡°P-please call me Stanley.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I couldn¡¯t do that Mr. Garin! It¡¯s disrespectful,¡± she eximed with wide eyes.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Wuh-we¡¯re the same age!¡± he blurted, starting to feel a little dizzy in her presence.


    ¡°Please, I¡¯m an Executive Assistant. You, you¡¯re a Chief Information Officer!¡± she gushed and leaned forward over her desk towards him.


    Suddenly Stanley¡¯s eyes were trapped in her deep¡­ deep cleavage. He pulled his eyes away and saw she was looking at him expectantly. ¡°Uh, what was I doing?¡±


    ¡°What would you like to do first?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Oh! Right, Ms. Vimor said you c-c-could get me all of Muh-Mr. Hokensev¡¯s documentation on the existing n-nwork inventory,¡± he said. He gritted his teeth as he was bing frustrated with his stuttering.


    She nodded and walked out from behind her desk to enter his office. He followed and was stunned to see the ckout curtains were already gone, he had a pretty nice view, and the desk had been reced with a modern ss and steel model. He noticed theck of aputer on the desk but assumed they would let him pick his own. After all, he was in charge of that now.


    He saw Paloma lean over one of the ck filing cabs against the wall and open a drawer. Was she intentionally wiggling her ass at him? No, it couldn¡¯t be. He pulled his mind back from where it was trying to go.


    ¡°Oh NO!¡± Paloma gasped.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°His files! They¡¯ve been destroyed!¡± she eximed.


    He walked over to stand beside her and saw the drawer was full of ashes. ¡°Someone burned them?¡±


    Paloma had a stern look on her face. ¡°It was probably Mr. Hokensev himself. He became rather¡­ hostile in hisst week with us.¡±

 4

    Stanley was a little worried about what that might mean when he did his visual inspection and inventory of thework and systems equipment which he would have to rely on without the documentation.


    He turned to look into her lovely dark eyes as she pushed the drawer closed. ¡°Can you get me an org chart? I n-need to know the size of the c-cpany and how many wuh-workstations I can expect we¡¯ll be su-supporting.¡± He looked away with a scowl.


    He felt a hand on his arm and looked back in surprise.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be nervous around me. I¡¯m here for you one hundred percent,¡± she said gently, herpassion showing in her eyes.


    He did feel himself calming a little and smiled at her gratefully.


    She bit her plump lip and pulled her hand back from his arm reluctantly. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    He cleared his throat and nodded, feeling his nerves settle down. Now he was in hisfort zone. ¡°We do an inventory manually. We start at the bottom and work our way up!¡± She smiled at his enthusiasm and her eyes sparkled at hisck of stuttering. She gave him a firm nod.


    He led the way back out to her desk where she sent a quick request to HR to get a new org chart sent to them and to get her tablet.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep notes of your findings,¡± she said and he smiled in return.


    They made their way back down to the basement and Paloma showed him the code to manually ess the server room until he had an ess card. Once inside they got to work.


    It took them hours to record every piece of equipment in the room but they made an excellent team. Paloma¡¯s enthusiasm never waned and Stanley was in his element. He truly felt rxed around this beauty and that was a first. He kept his thoughts professional as while he longed for a girlfriend he knew he would be working closely with her and had to keep this rtionship professional.


    Once they were done he had a much firmer grasp on the scope of thepany¡¯s current equipment and the scope of just how much danger it was in. He began to have doubts in his ability to achieve his goal. He felt Paloma¡¯s hand on his arm once more.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the size of this task intimidate you. I know you can do it! I can see you understanding everything you found in here and that¡¯s amazing to me! You know what needs to be done! That¡¯s far ahead of what most people could achieve so quickly.


    He felt his confidence returning.


    ¡°Can we do a quick inventory of the equipment in use on each floor on our way upstairs?¡± he asked and she gave him a happy smile.


    Paloma led him to the main floor. ¡°Reception and Security are the only departments with terminals. It¡¯s my understanding that the two reception terminals have minimal ess. Let me introduce you to Mr. Duncan, our head of security.¡± She opened a locked door and led him down an ess hallway to the security offices. He¡¯d noted the cameras in the lobby and the camera in the hallway as well. When they reached the door to the security office they had to buzz to be admitted.


    Once inside Stanley quickly made note of the terminals they had and the vast number of screens they had to review. Most seemed to be picking up feeds from external cameras but a surprising amount were internal.


    They had a small array of servers in a corner of the office and he squatted down to take in their make and model.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor! What are you doing bringing a stranger into the Security Office!¡± growled a thick Scottish ent.


    Stanley stood and turned to face the source of the voice and had to crane his neck back to see the eyes of the speaker. He was as tall and intimidating as the two men guarding the top floor elevator lobby. ming red hair and a red beard dominated his features but he had pale blue eyes and freckles over a nose that looked many times broken and reset poorly. He was wearing a ck suit but looked like he¡¯d be far morefortable inbat gear.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Mr. Duncan, this is Stanley Garin. VRL¡¯s new CIO.¡±


    Bushy red eyebrows rose up then his eyes hardened as he closely examined the small man standing before him.


    ¡°Aye, Ms. Gunderan sent me an update on a new employee. Your mum also sent me a note,¡± the man said, not taking his eyes from him.


    Stanley held out his hand. ¡°Nice to meet you, sir.¡±


    The security chief gripped his hand hard and pumped it a few times then released it with a smile on his face. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you as well. Are you going to fix the mess that bastard Hokensev left us in?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yes sir. That¡¯s the n. Your servers are going to be on the list of recements. They¡¯re much too slow to keep up with the load you¡¯re putting them under. I¡¯m only seeing regr cameras. Are you intending to add some with thermal imaging capabilities?¡± He got a nod and raised eyebrows from the man. ¡°These servers won¡¯t do it.¡± Stanley said looking back at the machines in the corner. ¡°The power backup is a joke and that wall of monitors, they¡¯re old school CRT¡¯s aren¡¯t they. Everything has to be reced.¡± His expression showed his frustration. How had these systems been left to rot for so long?


    Mr. Duncan smiled at Paloma who grinned back at him. ¡°Mr. Garin,e with me and I¡¯ll get you your security ess set up.


    They went to the man¡¯s office and soon Stanley was set up with his own ess card to the building. The card gave him ess everywhere including the elevators up to the executive level but did not open the other executive offices and the Security Office door.


    Stanley looked at Paloma. ¡°Am I going to find antiquated hardware on every floor?¡±


    ¡°Not in the ounting Department,¡± the Security Chief growled.


    Paloma nced at Stanley and nodded.


    They moved on, going floor to floor until they reached the second to top floor where each workstation was rtively new and each monitor was a wide aspect 27 inch LCD t panel. They¡¯d reached the ounting Department. Stanley looked around in surprise. This was the technology every floor should have been using.


    They were approached by a slim, older man who had to be at least 6¡ä 2¡å. Stanley wondered if there was an unspoken HR prerequisite for being tall he had somehow bypassed. He picked up Paloma¡¯s unease and looked a little closer at the approaching gentleman.


    ¡°Ah Ms. Vimor, is this the new CIO I¡¯ve been hearing about?¡± the tall man said with an odd hiss behind his words.


    Paloma nodded and unconsciously moved slightly behind Stanley as she turned to address the CFO. ¡°Mr. Pfister, may I introduce Stanley Garin.¡±


    The man eagerly held his long fingered hand out to shake. Stanley noted he wore a variety of rings on each finger, some being quite ornate. Just as the young man slid his hand into therger grip a static spark shot to Mr. Pfister¡¯s hand striking three of the rings causing the old man to yelp and yank his hand back.


    ¡°Wow! That was quite the static shock! Are you alright?¡± Stanley asked as the older man didn¡¯t look well at all. He was looking at Stanley in dread. Then he looked at his rings.

 5

    Seeing the older man was unsettled Stanley saw an opportunity to go on the offensive. ¡°I noticed that all of the workstations on this floor are current where all of the lower floors are struggling with ancient equipment. Can you exin that?¡± he asked.


    The man wasn¡¯t really paying attention to him as he fussed with his rings. ¡°Their workstations are perfectly functional. There was no need to upgrade them.¡±


    Stanley looked at the man in surprise. ¡°That decision falls under the purview of the CIO.¡±


    Mr. Pfister was beginning to look a little desperate to get the rings off but they looked stuck. He was also beginning to look a little¡­ green. ¡°Yes, but the PO¡¯s are approved by me so nothing is purchased without my say so. So, I decide.¡±


    Paloma took Stanley¡¯s arm and quickly pulled him away as she could see he was starting to get angry.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    She got him into the elevator and they rode it up to the top floor. ¡°We need to speak with your mother,¡± Stanley grumbled to Paloma. She nodded and they made their way down the hall. When they got there her executive assistant, Felix, asked them to take a seat.


    They must have been there for ten minutes when Mr. Duncan entered the waiting room and was directed to go straight in to see the CEO. Stanley¡¯s eyes were wide with shock as he took in the ripped state of the Security Officer¡¯s suit and a ssh of what looked like blood on the man¡¯s arm and cheek. Paloma ced her hand on Stanley¡¯s arm to keep him seated and it calmed him down. Another ten minutes passed then Mr. Duncan emerged with a smile on his face. He nodded and winked to Stanley and left.


    ¡°You may go in now,¡± Felix said.


    They rose and entered the office. Ms. Vimor gestured for them to take the seats across from her desk.


    They sat and Stanley immediately slid forward on his chair. When the woman turned her dark eyes on him he felt it like a physical shock through his body. She was just so lovely!


    ¡°Muh-Ms. Vimor, I d-d-don¡¯t¡­¡± Paloma put her hand on Stanley¡¯s arm and he felt himself calm. He kept his eyes on the surface of the CEO¡¯s desk. ¡°¡­ believe I¡¯ll be able to resolve thispany¡¯s technical crisis without an immediate adjustment in policy. The CIO must be the one who decides on what purchases are made for thepany¡¯s IT requirements, not the CFO.¡± He looked back gratefully at Paloma and she smiled at him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that will be an issue for us any longer. Mr. Pfister is no longer working for VRL. I believe you will find his recement to be much more reasonable,¡± the woman said with a wide smile.


    ¡°But- but I was just speaking with him-¡± he said in shock.


    ¡°And you left him in a very talkative mood. When Mr. Duncan spoke with him after you left he confessed to embezzling from thepany with Mr. Hokensev¡¯s assistance. This gave us grounds to¡­ fire him for breach of contract. He was¡­ escorted from the building. We won¡¯t be seeing him again.¡±


    Seeing the stunned look on Stanley¡¯s face she nced at the clock and smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve had a very busy first day. It¡¯s well past eight so why don¡¯t you head home and we¡¯ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thank you Ms. Vimor. Good night,¡± Stanley said as he got to his feet. He admitted to himself he was tired. He was eager to move forward with this project but he needed to sleep. He also had a longmute ahead of him.


    Paloma followed him out of the office and down the hall to the entrance of his office.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll head home and I¡¯ll see you in the morning,¡± Stanley said, fidgeting.


    ¡°See you in the morning. I¡¯m so d you¡¯re part of the team,¡± Paloma said with a smile.


    Stanley¡¯s head spun a little and he nodded with a grin of his own. ¡°Thanks! Good night!¡±


    He made his way to the elevator lobby and was surprised when the two security agents nodded to him as he waited for the car to arrive. He nodded to them in return and took the elevator to the lobby. Mr. Duncan was there and nodded to him as he left. The man was wearing a new ck suit and there was no sign of the blood he¡¯d seen earlier.


    Stepping outside Stanley felt an incredible rush of joy shoot through his body. He had a job, a challenging one at that, doing something he loved and was being paid quite handsomely for it! He wouldn¡¯t be just working on one smallponent of thepany¡¯s tech but would get to work on all of it! Not only that, he had a beautiful woman assisting him. A woman he could actually talk to without swallowing his tongue! He hoped this would help him be able to speak with other women and maybe even meet someone he could date! He walked north towards the subway station his mind lost in his memories of Paloma¡¯s smile.


    He was passing an alley a short distance from VRL when a hand reached out and yanked him off his feet, tossing him deeper into the dimly lit alley. Other hands took a grip on his arms and dragged him further in then yanked him up to his feet. He was being held between two very strong people he couldn¡¯t see.


    Suddenly a bright light was shining in his eyes and he blinked away the tears. He looked to see who was holding him and¡­ he still couldn¡¯t see them. They were still shadows. His mind shied away from that as he squinted against the re to look towards the headlights. Someone was standing between them, backlit.


    Stanley couldn¡¯t see his features but he was tall and wearing a tailored suit. Broad shoulders and a slim waist. Maybe he was a swimmer? Stanley had heard that swimmers had this kind of physique.


    ¡°Mr¡­. Garin, is it? Stanley Garin?¡± The voice was deep, rich, and cultured. He couldn¡¯t ce the ent.


    ¡°Y-Yes? Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t really matter right now does it? Now that I know who you are I have what I need,¡± the voice said with amusement.


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t understand. What do you want with me? Why are you doing this?¡± Stanley was starting to get scared. Today was turning out to be really, really weird.


    ¡°Give it to me!¡± the voice barked as he faced sideways towards someone out of view. Stanley saw his profile and the man had the perfect features of one of those Michngelo statues.


    An arm reached in towards the man holding a 4¡å metallic cube. The man took it and walked towards Stanley until he was just two feet away. Stanley¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. The man was beautiful in an unearthly way. He was smiling at his prisoner, enjoying the look of awe, basking in it.


    ¡°Stanley, you are going to do me a favor. Not because you want to but because you won¡¯t really have any other choice.¡± He gave Stanley a smile as if he found himself rather clever. ¡°You see, in this quantum paradox trap is a demon. A truly nasty one but it¡¯s my demon. It¡¯s under a binding to me so when I let it out of the trap it¡¯s going to enter your body and be you. Then you¡¯ll go home, get a good night¡¯s sleep and start your workday tomorrow as my personal minion inside VRL.¡±


    ¡°No thank you please,¡± Stanley said, his voice wobbling in fear. This guy was insane. Demons? Who knows what was really in that little box.


    Surprise flickered across the man¡¯s perfect features and he barked out augh. ¡°Oh my, that was precious! So polite! Sorry, I¡¯m still going to do it. Nice try though.¡± The man nodded to the people holding Stanley and they reached across to rip his shirt open to expose the skin of his hairless chest.


    Stanley cried out in fear then felt the cold metal of the cube pressed against his sternum and looked down to see it. It was difficult to look at as the ornate patterns on the sides of the cube seemed to be moving in multiple directions at once. He nced up to see the man smiling with his brilliant white teeth exposed.


    Then he heard a click.


    An explosion of light and electricity blew the smiling man backwards, tossing him bodily up and over the car. The headlights blew out and the alley fell into shadow and after images of the lightning.


    The shadowy men holding Stanley¡¯s arms weren¡¯t so lucky. They were tossed sideways to impact the brickwork of the buildings, like bugs on a high speed windshield.


    Stanley was the epicenter of the explosion and didn¡¯t emerge unscathed. The rebounding shockwave returning from the brick walls on either side of him pped him down to the ground where hey dazed. His eyes were rolling but when they became ustomed to the low light in the alley he saw dark figures bundling the tall man into the back of the car. Then it screeched backward out of the alley and elerated away. Stanley felt eyes watching him and someone stepped out of the shadows and stood before him.


    He had to be hallucinating from whatever explosive had been in that box. The being standing before him was red, covered in blood, and naked. Very naked. He looked up to the face and yellow eyes glowed as they pinned Stanley in ce.


    ¡°I should thank you for freeing me but¡­ that¡¯s not what I do.¡±

 6

    Stanley gagged on the odor of its breath. The stench of diseased rot and death dripped from the being and Stanley tried to move but his limbs weren¡¯t responding.


    ¡°You¡¯re small but you¡¯ll be an adequate snack.¡± Sharp teeth shed in its wide grin.


    ¡°PERHAPS I¡¯D MAKE A MORE SUITABLE MEAL, FOUL DEMON!¡± boomed a voice from the entrance of the alley.


    Stanley turned his eyes over to see arge woman running towards them. The naked figure hissed in anger and spun, looking for an exit but the alley was closed at this end. It turned to face its attacker and leathery wings ripped from its back. It leaped into the air desperately pping to get altitude. Shadows were filling the alley, cast there by its wide wings.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    The woman running towards them gave a thunderous battle cry and leapt upwards. Huge wings of white burst from her back, their light driving back the shadows. The demon hissed louder and threw something dark at the woman.


    A shield of light appeared on her arm and deflected the ck spear then she was upon the demon, driving the point of her own spear deep into its chest with a wet popping sound. It screamed and she heaved upwards on the shaft of the spear, ripping the razor-sharp tip up through the demon¡¯s corrupt flesh until it split the skull in two. Gore rained down onto thene.


    Stanley was lying on his back watching this scene from a fantasy movie y out in the air above him when his view was obscured by a wonderful and wee sight. Paloma¡¯s beautiful face was looking down at him. Her lovely features were marred by an expression of fearful worry but the fact that she was worried about him made him smile. Her lips caught his smile and timidly returned it as his mind began to slide into oblivion.


    Before he slipped away he saw the Valkyrie descending towards him, vast white feathered wings effortlessly slowing her descent, and he thought how simr she looked to Ms. Gunderan¡­ if the woman had been into cosy.


    Stanley needed to get home. The need pulled at him, droned in his ear and poked him with sharp sticks. Finally, his abused mind could take no more and pushed him into the conscious world.


    Before his vision returned he heard voices. Arguing. Something familiar about the voices. Ah, that was Ms. Gunderan and the other softer voice belonged to¡­ Paloma!


    HOME!


    His eyes popped open as he gasped and Paloma squeaked in surprise.


    ¡°Mr. Garin is awake!¡± herrge blondpanion said unnecessarily.


    His eyes were still having some trouble tracking but he eventually found the sources of the voices and saw a stern and worried expression on the face of the Head of HR. Paloma¡¯s was lit up with a smile.


    ¡°How are you feeling Stanley?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I have to go home,¡± he blurted, looking around at the unfamiliar room.


    ¡°Until we know your ce is safe it¡¯s probably better if you stayed here with me,¡± Paloma answered with a worried look.


    ¡°Sure. I need to go home. Now.¡± Stanley said and tried to get up. That¡¯s when he noticed he was tied to the bed. He looked at his wrists and saw silk ties securely binding him to the bed.


    ¡°Uh¡­ what- what¡¯s going on?¡± he asked cautiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s for your own safety.¡± Ms. Gunderan said but she looked ufortable about his bindings as well.


    ¡°I have to go! Now! Untie me!¡± Stanley was beginning to feel desperate. The need to get home was ringing like a bell through every cell of his body.


    Paloma sat on the edge of the bed and tried to calm him but suddenly his eyes rolled back and he arched his back in a huge gasp.


    As he retreated into the peace of oblivion he heard a gentle but ancient voice in his mind whispering ¡®Toote¡­¡¯ and he was gone.


    Sigrid stared at the unconscious young man on the bed with wide eyes. Nothing was what it seemed with him! She¡¯d felt something when she first met him but Cam had given her a warning look to back off so she did. Then when his blood refused to be recorded? Cam intervened again.


    When she got the panicked call from Paloma saying someone was attempting to abduct her new boss Sigrid hade running. Why Paloma had been secretly following the young man she didn¡¯t know but she¡¯d arrived just as a massive explosion released a demon from its containment trap. The energy needed to destroy the trap AND the demon¡¯s binding would have been considerable.


    She hadn¡¯t had the pleasure of dispatching one of the infernal beings for a very long time so she¡¯d enjoyed herself with this one.


    Stanley hadn¡¯t appeared injured from being at the center of the st but maybe he did appear dazed. He¡¯d been unconscious when shended at his feet. Paloma insisted she carry him to the young woman¡¯s condo as it was closest. Sigrid had wanted to drop him off at his ce so he could wake and think it was all a crazy dream. Paloma insisted it was safer to take him to hers as the abductors might try again. The girl hadn¡¯t really exined why she¡¯d thought it was necessary to tie him to her bed, aside from saying it was for his safety, but it looked like it had been a good precaution after all.


    There was a quiet ticking noiseing from the bed which was rapidly speeding up. Paloma began to lean over Stanley¡¯s body to discover the source of the noise. Instinct made Sigrid grab her and jump back from the bed. She held the struggling girl against her chest then both froze as light begin to bend around Stanley. There was an odd twisting and folding which they had to look away from. With a sharp crack reality reset itself over Paloma¡¯s bed. Stanley was gone. In his ce was something neither had ever seen before. At least not in person.


    A head full of long, thick, dark brown hair with broad, bone white ridged horns curling and twisting out of the hair near his temples. Dark brown furred and pointed ears stuck straight out from his head and dipped downwards slightly.

 7

    Its face had Stanley¡¯s features but they were just a little longer. Still youthful in appearance but definitely no longer slim and slight. He now had a broad, muscr chest and powerful arms with three thick fingers and a thumb on each big hand. His clothing could not contain his new configuration andy on him in torn shreds. Most dramatic of his changes was his lower half from his waist down. Densely furred and powerful, his legs had be those of some kind of goat right down to hisrge cloven hooved feet.


    ¡°What- what is he?¡± Paloma gasped.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s a Satyr but his horns are bigger than I was expecting. I¡¯ve never seen one before. They- they¡¯re supposed to be extinct!¡± Sigrid said quietly. ¡°He, or I think more likely someone else, went to a great deal of effort to keep him disguised. I¡¯ve never seen that kind of mor before. It wasn¡¯t oveying his true self with a false image. It was actually altering reality around him so he could¡­ be¡­ a Human. That¡¯s magic at a level I¡¯ve never seen. Magic that alters reality¡­ that¡¯s Master Level.¡±


    She thought back to her interactions with him and she could see no guile in his behavior at all. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if Stanley was aware of this. He may not know what he really is.¡± She spotted the silk ties that once bound him to the bed. They were loose on the surface of the mattress. ¡°Paloma, you need to secure him to the bed, tight this time, he looks much stronger than he did before.¡±


    The girl nodded and rushed forward to secure his arms and legs to the bed. She was a little too good at this activity for Sigrid¡¯sfort. Once she saw he was tightly bound Sigrid walked out to get her coat, Paloma following.


    She pulled it on as she looked into the wide eyes of the young woman. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m going to go get your mother and bring her here. If he wakes keep him calm and secured until we get back.¡± Pausing, she walked back into the bedroom. She pulled out her cell and took a quick picture as convincing Cam would be so much easier with it.


    ¡°Lock up behind me and don¡¯t let anyone else in!¡± Sigrid said as Paloma followed her to the door.


    With a final stern look in the young woman¡¯s eyes she was off.


    Paloma closed and locked the door. She touched the rune next to it to set the ward. If something Magic tried to enter they were in for a nasty surprise. She rushed back to the bedroom and stopped at the foot of the bed.


    Shivers ran up and down her spine. A Satyr! She¡¯d known Stanley was special the moment she saw him! It was her gift to sense potential. While her mother had a touch of it and at times used it in her business dealings, Paloma hid how strong her gift truly was from everyone, even her mother. It was one of the skills of being a Seer and she didn¡¯t want to be a tool for her mother¡¯s business dealings.


    When Stanley had first entered her waiting room she¡¯d seen an aura of wild energies around him like she¡¯d never seen before. He waspletely unaware of it. She¡¯d picked up pretty quickly that on the surface Stanley was what he appeared to be. A young man, awkward around women, morefortable around technology, but at his core a decent person. She smiled as she recalled how he¡¯d calmed at her touch.


    There was one more thing about Stanley that she found almost irresistible. He was a virgin! Combined with this genuine innocence it had taken all her willpower to resist the urge to tear off his clothes and feast on his essence. Of course, her mother would have demoted her to working in the cafeteria with the hags if she¡¯d failed the most basic lesson her kind was taught the moment they reached sexual maturity.


    With their risk of being exposed increasing every year due to the Human¡¯s ever more clever surveince technology, the Hidden Races had to remain vignt and take every precaution.


    She wanted so much to rx and allow her own mor to dissipate but she knew Stanley was going to have a hard-enough time epting his own change. One thing at a time.


    Paloma stood watching him sleep and admired his new body. He still had a sweet innocent look on his face but his torso and arms were giving her not so innocent ideas. The buttons that hadn¡¯t torn free in the alley had all popped due to his expanding proportions and the seams were torn so she reached over and spread the two sides apart to get a good look at his bare chest. For all the hair, well¡­ fur really, on his lower half, his torso was remarkably free of hair. Even his thick arms were bare of hair. His face was baby smooth under her fingertips.


    The long hair on his head was also silky smooth and so wonderfully luxurious as she ran her fingers through it. Tingles ran up and down her body and she moaned. Biting her lip she forced herself to take a few steps back from the bed.


    Her breath wasing in gulps and her body ached for release. Danger signals! What was taking Sigrid so long to bring her mother?


    Sigrid was trying to get past Felix to Cam but her assistant insisted his boss could not be disturbed while she was on this call to Japan. So here she sat stewing in the waiting room.


    ¡°How long do these calls normally take?¡± she finally sighed with exasperation.


    Felix shrugged and looked over at her. ¡°It varies.¡±


    ¡°And there is no way you can get a message to her?¡± Sigrid pushed.


    ¡°I was given strictest instructions not to disturb her in any way. The Japanese official she is speaking to is very sensitive to the slightest sign of disrespect. Her cell phone is off and her office line is muted. Her entire attention is on this man.¡± Felix exined.


    Sigrid growled and sunk into the sofa a little deeper. She hoped Paloma wasn¡¯t having any trouble with Stanley.


    ¡°WHAT- WHAT¡¯S HAPPENED TO ME!?!¡± Stanley bellowed as he looked down at his body in shock.


    ¡°Stanley, please just rx! Everything is ok.¡± Paloma said in a calming tone and rested her palm on his chest. She could feel his heart beating strongly and rapidly under his dense muscles. More tingles shot through her body and she bit her lip.


    ¡°OK?!? IT¡¯S NOT OK! MY BODY ISN¡¯T MY BODY ANYMORE! AND I¡¯M STILL TIED DOWN!¡± he yelled as he pulled at his bindings.


    ¡°They¡¯re for your safety! Please calm down! Take some deep breaths!¡± she pleaded as she ced both of her hands on the thick bs of his chest muscles. Her self-control was beginning to crack.


    Stanley tried to do as she said but he was sure he¡¯d lost his mind. He looked to the right and saw his right arm, thick with muscle and his hand- THREE FINGERS?!? He pulled once more at the silk ties but they were too well knotted to slip free. He lifted his head which felt strangely heavy. He saw Paloma¡¯s lovely hands resting on his chest. It didn¡¯t look like his chest but he could feel her hands on him, could feel her kneading the muscles. Looking further down just increased his distress. What happened to his legs? Why were they covered in fur?


    ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯ve mutated? Did that guy in the alley inject me with some weird experimental drug?¡± he moaned.


    ¡°Stanley, you didn¡¯t mutate! This is just your real shape, you were wearing a disguise, a mor over your true self before. It wore off or was damaged in the explosion in the alley,¡± she tried to exin.


    His eyes snapped to hers. ¡°You were there? Did you see what happened? Why were you there?¡±


    ¡°I- I followed you from work. I saw something in your potentials, your possible futures, that concerned me so I followed you. I saw them abduct you. I called for help then I watched them try to possess you with the demon.¡± Paloma was running her hands over his torso, enjoying the feeling of the hard muscles of his stomach.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Demon¡­¡± Stanley gasped as her touch was confusing his mind and making him feel¡­ really good.


    ¡°Yes, a demon. I heard the man say he wanted to use you as a spy inside my mother¡¯spany. Perhaps Mother knows who he is.¡± She gently pinched his nipples and Stanley gasped once more and writhed on the bed.


    ¡°What- what are you doing? Paloma!¡± he asked trying to get her attention. She looked up at him and he saw her licking her lips.


    ¡°Oh Stanley, I¡¯m sorry to spring this on you but the world is filled with creatures like you and me. Magical, wonderful beings who stay hidden from Humans for our and their safety.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m human!¡± he asserted.


    Paloma slid her hands out along his strong arms and sighed as she brought her face down closer to his. ¡°No Stanley. Your disguise was Human but your true self is this. I¡¯ve never seen a mor soplete that even the wearer is unaware of what they are.¡± Her body was burning with need and he was so delicious! Her control was gone. She brushed her lips across his and pulled back teasingly.


    Stanley thought he heard an odd emphasis when Paloma said ¡®human¡¯. It didn¡¯t quite sound the way he said it.


    ¡°Wait! Wait! You said- you said creatures like you and me but you¡¯re obviously human!¡± he asserted.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not! You¡¯re only seeing my disguise. I was going to take it slow but you¡¯ve got me too excited,¡± she cooed.


    Dropping your mor was something that was never done in public or any ce that wasn¡¯t considered to be secure. But here in her bedroom¡­ in her own private sanctuary, here she could rx her guard and allow her mor to dissipate. She looked down at Stanley¡¯s true form. Since he was no longer hidden she could allow herself to be who, and what, she was.

 8

    Concentrating she felt the enchantment slip into its paused state. Like a falling curtain of glitter the ovey she wore to hide her true self from the world dissolved. Beneath it her skin shimmered iridescently between deep blue and ck. Her hair was still the color of obsidian but it was thicker and fell to her mid-back. Horns, much smaller than Stanley¡¯s, slimmer and shorter rose from her temples and curled back. Her facial features were much the same as her mor showed, though her eyes were a littlerger and her lips were fuller and ck, making her white teeth gleam. Her ears had pointed tips which aimed up and back.


    As his wide eyes moved down her body he froze. She was naked! Her tits were¡­ big! Bigger than he¡¯d seen when she showed him some cleavage. Her curves were all more exaggerated than before but he couldn¡¯t see more as she was crawling up his body. Then she rubbed herself over his torso. God! That felt so good! He was responding to her quickly.


    She pressed her amazing tits against his chest and looked down into his eyes. The gold in her eyes was much more prominent now. He swore they were beginning to sparkle.


    ¡°What are you?¡± he breathed, mesmerized by her beauty. Why he wasn¡¯t terrified by her sudden transformation and her alien appearance was lost in his desire and need for her.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Subus,¡± she purred but he didn¡¯t seem to understand what that meant.


    She saw the awe glowing in his eyes and her need for him exploded. Then she felt something hot pressing insistently against her thigh. Something big!


    Paloma slid to the side to look downwards. Stanley lifted his head to look down as well.


    ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!?¡± he cried in shock.


    Rising up from between his densely furred thighs and through the tattered remains of his pants was something that had no business being attached to him. He knew how small he was down there and he¡¯d finallye to terms with it. Stanley the human was endowed with a member on the small side of average. Ok, well on the small side. What was boldly standing at attention between his legs was frighteningly thick and impractically long¡­ in his opinion. There was such a thing as too much of a good thing! This wouldn¡¯t fit in the ces he wanted¡­ one day to¡­ put¡­ it in. Worse than that, it didn¡¯t even look like it belonged to a human!


    Stanley¡¯s eyes once more took in his tantly non-human lower half. The region this new development grew from. ¡°oh god,¡± he whimpered quietly.


    ¡°Mmmm, Stanley! It¡¯s magnificent!¡± Paloma cooed and reached down to wrap her fingers around it. She thrilled over the fact that her fingers couldn¡¯t close around it. When he moaned with need at her touch, shivers ran through her body. Her need was getting out of control and she had to feed, soon! Gripping it up near the tip she pulled down and the skin rolled back to expose a deep purple head.


    ¡°It¡¯s got spikes,¡± he groaned in dismay.


    She admired the thick head which capped the heavy shaft and indeed there were small pointed projections along the ridge of it. She ran her thumb along them and discovered they were stiff but soft.


    ¡°OH! OH FUCK!¡± he cried out from the sensation, arching his back.


    She couldn¡¯t wait any longer and slipped down the bed to press her tongue against his hot flesh. He tasted so good! Her long candy pink tongue slipped out to wrap around his shaft three times and squeezed.


    ¡°OMIGOD! Oh geezus! What- what are you doing?¡± he asked.


    She chuckled sexily, unable to talk with her tongue stroking his cock up and down like a wet fist. When she reached the head she uncoiled her tongue and licked at the spikes and purred at their silky smooth texture.


    ¡°OH! AHHH! FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuck,¡± Stanley was mumbling as his body experienced this bliss for the first time. It was quickly bing too much for him. He felt something happening in his body. A pressure and a need.


    She stretched her mouth wide and forced his thick cock deep inside until it hit the back of her throat. The points rubbed against her pte and she squirmed at the tingling sensation. God she wanted him! She wanted all of him! Taking a deep breath Paloma drove forward pushing the thick flesh deep into her throat.


    ¡°GAH!!!¡± Stanley bellowed as his orgasm suddenly struck sting ropes of cum deep into Paloma¡¯s throat.


    She squealed at the sudden flood but her eyes rolled back as the pure essence from his cum flowed through her being. This was virgin cum at its finest quality but above this was a strange energy, something wild, primal, and natural that soaked into every cell of her body, feeding her like she¡¯d never experienced before.


    Her throat automatically squeezed and milked his thick cock as she swallowed his seed until he was finally spent. Completely satiated from therge meal she¡¯d taken from him, she slowly pulled him from her throat, the ridges on the head stroking and tickling her all the way out.


    Stanley was panting and his eyes were rolling from his first experience. It had been so quick! Was it always so fast? He hadn¡¯t imagined his first time would be like this. The absurdity of that thought struck him. How could he have imagined this? He tugged at the ties. He didn¡¯t want to be used like this anymore.


    ¡°Untie me,¡± he gasped quietly.


    Paloma was resting on his chest, barely remaining conscious as her body tried to drag her down into sleep to absorb the glut of energy she¡¯d consumed. She wasn¡¯t able to think straight. She felt sofortable and content lying on his chest.


    ¡°Untie me,¡± he whispered again.


    She surfaced once more and extended her ws. The nails of her fingers and toes rapidly grew into three inch curved des. She stretched out over his body, dragging the ws outwards along his arms and legs, gently scratching him until she reached the silk ties. She stopped as a thought flitted through her groggy brain but she couldn¡¯t catch it. Something she needed to do or not do¡­ it didn¡¯t matter. She began to slip away once more.


    ¡°Untie me,¡± he breathed.


    Her ws snagged and tore through the silk as if it were tissue paper and he was free. As she rxed once more the ws shrank back to be her regr nails again.


    He waited until her breathing became deep and even, signalling she was in a deep sleep. Then he slowly eased her from his body until he was able to slip out from under her. He slid off the bed and stood. He expected to wobble or teeter on these new legs but they just felt like¡­ legs. He knew they bent in directions he wasn¡¯t used to but as he carefully made his way out of the room he feltpletely stable. If anything, they felt more stable than his original legs.


    Closing the bedroom door, he took off his shredded pants. His wallet, subway pass, house keys, phone, and the new ess card were all still in the pockets. He took them out and ced them on the coffee table in the living room. Then he went looking for a mirror.


    He wandered around the lovely condo until he found mirrored closet doors by the front door. He froze. His hands went up to therge ram horns curling out of his skull. He touched his furry ears and watched them flick and bob as he¡¯d tickled them.


    And what happened to his hair! He always got a sensible short cut once a month like clockwork so he could tame the little waves that would appear. Now his head looked like a mop! So much wavy, messy hair!


    He looked back up and his face was his¡­ almost. It was stretched top to bottom a little. He ran his hands over his face then stared at his hands. He realized he wouldn¡¯t be able to type with fingers this thick. The precision work of assembling servers and PC¡¯s would be impossible too.


    He shook his head violently and stared back at himself. Who was he kidding? He couldn¡¯t go back to his life looking like this! He couldn¡¯t even go outside! He was¡­ what the HELL WAS HE?


    He nced back at the bedroom door. What had Paloma called herself again? A Subus? That sounded familiar but he couldn¡¯t ce it. He¡¯d certainly never seen anything like her before. His erection throbbed with need as he thought of her. He scowled down at it. It was like it had a mind of its own! Thinking about the beauty in the other room was charging his need for her again and he caught himself with his hand on the door handle.


    Shaken, he took a step back and walked back into the living room.


    What was he going to do? His new life with his awesome new job was¡­ wait a minute! Paloma looked human when she was at the office! Maybe she could show him how to do that too! He was in the bedroom standing beside the bed before the thought had finished forming in his mind. He stopped to admire her lush curves and he felt a warmth rush over his body. His cock grew harder as he picked up her scent. He inhaled deeply and his need grew.


    He was in trouble.


    Felix looked at Sigrid the moment the light switched off on Cam¡¯s phone. ¡°Now.¡±


    She nodded gratefully and rushed to the door. She gave a firm knock and stepped in almost before she heard her boss acknowledge it. She quickly closed it behind her.


    Cam looked up in surprise as Sigrid rushed across the room. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Someone tried to snatch our new CIO tonight. Paloma was following him and called me when it happened. I got there just as they tried to use him as a host for a Demon-on-a-Leash.¡±


    Cam gasped and stood up but the tall blond just raised her palms to calm the woman. ¡°The protection on him that blocked his blood from being recorded kept the demon from entering but the explosive bacsh tossed his attackers back, broke the demon trap and its binding.¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes widened but once more Sigrid held her palms up. ¡°I dispatched the demon, that felt good, but Stanley was knocked unconscious. Paloma argued that his ce wouldn¡¯t be safe until we knew who tried to trap him. We took him to her condo.¡±


    The CEO¡¯s face drew into an angry scowl. ¡°She¡¯s a Subus! A young one. He¡¯s a virgin! She¡¯s going to feed from him!¡± She began to move out around her desk.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°There¡¯s more.¡± Sigrid said grimly.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Whatever his protection was must have been drained by the explosion. It ran out when we had him tied to her bed. He¡¯s not Human.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡±


    Sigrid fished her phone out and brought the picture up and showed it to Cam.

 9

    ¡°A SATYR?!? Oh my god! You left a young Subus and a young Satyr alone together?!?¡± Cam gasped and raced for the door. ¡°Felix! Have my car waiting downstairs! Have Mr. Duncan meet me there! Sigrid, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Paloma was so hot! Her skin tingled with need. As she was dragged from the depths of her rest her eyes cracked open and she felt eyes on her. She felt their caress on her body and she began to squirm as the tingle began to be concentrated on the sensitive flesh between her legs. She felt herself growing wet and she began to pant. She wanted him, this watcher. She felt his hunger radiating from him in waves. His hunger was raw and untamed. Unconsciously she drew her knees together and lifted her ass up from the mattress whimpering with her own need for him to touch her, taste her, and take her.


    She jumped whenrge hands gripped her hips and yanked her closer to the end of the bed. She cried out in joy when his tongue roughly stroked across her dripping pussy lips and sucked in her breath when his tongue thrust deeply into her wet channel. She moaned in disappointment when his tongue pulled away but screamed silently when his thick cock reced it and drove deep into her body. It stretched her wide and filled herpletely and then some. Her voice had failed her though she continued to scream as he fucked her roughly with his desperate hunger.


    She was losing her mind. It was so good! It was too good! She¡¯d never had someone take her so passionately. She¡¯d had a few men get rough with her, y the dominance game or just been cruel. These were weak gamespared to what she was experiencing now. There were no cruel intentions here, just hunger and intense need. Her body was responding automatically, rushing up on her release yet he showed no signs of weakening or even slowing. She- oh fuck- she wasn¡¯t going to- FUCK!st!


    A Subus¡¯ body was the perfect receptacle for a Satyr¡¯s lust as it adjusted to fit his size and took the driving impacts without damage.


    That said, there were limits to how much pleasure Paloma could absorb. Stanley still showed no signs of slowing or reaching his own release as she crashed through a jaw clenching, full body earth tremor orgasm which rolled on and on until she was spent.


    Stanley pulled free from her body and she looked back weakly at the heavy appendage bobbing and swaying before his body. He flipped her onto her back and tossed her further up the bed as she squeaked. He leapt on the bed kneeling between her legs and guided himself into her wet opening, driving himself deep once more. She was stunned to feel herself respond.


    He captured her mouth with his and kissed her. She took his face in her hands and guided the kiss, slowing him down and his hips slowed down as well. Soon they were moving together,nguidly, enjoying the sensations as they arrived and passed. Paloma heard Stanley moan and knew he was finally getting close to his release. She was grateful as she was exhausted and was about to hit her second peak as well.


    She heard him gasp and then he drove himself deep onest time, grinding himself against her once he reached bottom. Her pleasure was sharp and intense and she cried out as she clung to him, riding her pleasure higher. Stanley came explosively, roaring his bliss as his hips twitched and rolled, surge after surge of cum firing deep inside her.


    Paloma once more felt the wildfire energies sweeping through her body but there was nowhere for it to go, her cells were already saturated. She cried out as more and more poured into her and her body began to change in reaction to the overflow. Her blue-ck skin started to lighten, the energies bleaching her pigment. Once the pigment was reced it looked for other ces to go.


    The sound of running feet came from outside the bedroom and Mr. Duncan burst into the room. He jumped to the bed and pulled Stanley off of Paloma, wrapping his arms under Stanley¡¯s and behind his head, pinning him.


    Ms. Vimor and Ms. Gunderan rushed in after the Security Chief and took in the scene. Seeing her daughter¡¯s skin bing a pearly white she turned on Stanley and saw his erection was still surging. Surprising everyone she dropped to her knees and took his cock deep into her throat.


    Stanley cried out and his body spasmed as the halted orgasm suddenly continued. He jolted three more times as the rest of his cum was swallowed by the woman.


    She squeezed the remaining cum from his rxing cock as she pulled it free from her mouth. She rose back to her feet as Stanley slumped in Mr. Duncan¡¯s grip.


    ¡°Sit him in the chair.¡± Cam said pointing to the corner as she used the tip of her finger to scoop a little spilled essence into her mouth.


    Sigrid was red faced with shock and embarrassment as she handed her a tissue. ¡°What the hell did you do that for?¡± she growled.


    Cam¡¯s eyes shed a warning at the tall woman. ¡°Paloma has taken an overdose. I had to know if his energy is toxic. The small sample I took was safe enough for me and now I know she¡¯s not in any danger.¡±


    In truth, the ¡®small sample¡¯ she¡¯d taken was currently flooding her body with waves of bliss she was struggling to hide. She blinked as she looked at her daughter¡¯s shimmering skin. She reached out to touch the young woman¡¯s thigh with her fingertip and Paloma gasped and sighed in her sleep. Cam¡¯s head snapped back as a wave of wild energy surged up her arm, the overflow bleeding off of her daughter. She blinked herself back to self-awareness in the arms of Sigrid.


    ¡°My god! She¡¯s saturated!¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Sigrid asked as she held the woman carefully until she was able to stand on her own.


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never seen anyone absorb that much energy. She¡¯s going to need to burn it off. She can¡¯t contain any more.¡±


    ¡°What about this one?¡± Mr. Duncan drew their attention back to the corner where Stanley sat on the chair with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. His cock had finally rxed but remained a¡­ sizable distraction for Cam while her body was still buzzing happily. She turned to Sigrid.


    ¡°Could you find something for him to wear in the closet?¡± she asked the tall blond. Cam approached Stanley who looked up when he saw her feet.


    ¡°Are you alright Stanley?¡± she asked gently.


    He made a stifled snorting sound and looked at her incredulously. ¡°I don¡¯t think so! What do you think?¡±


    She frowned. Sigrid returned with a robe. A veryrge robe. Cam looked back at her daughter and sighed. She took it and handed it to Stanley. ¡°Please put this on and we¡¯ll talk out in the living room.¡±


    He took the robe and stood. He put it on and tied it tight around himself. It was big, even on his new body and reached the ground. He saw it had a hood as well and wondered what kind a dressing gown this was. With a troubled nce over at Paloma, he followed Cam and Sigrid out into the living room.


    The two women sat on the couch and Stanley took a chair beside it. Mr. Duncan sat on a stool near the door. Guarding the exit.


    ¡°Was this your first time?¡± Cam asked.


    Stanley reeled back at the personal question. This woman was his boss, not someone he wanted to discuss losing his virginity with!


    Cam closed her eyes and shook her head. ¡°The first time you changed.¡±All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Stanley¡¯s face flushed. ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t understand. What the hell am I? How did I¡­ change? Can you tell me how I can change back?¡± he gasped. ¡°And¡­ what the hell is a Subus?¡±


    ¡°Have you never read any books on fantasy, folklore, myths and magical beings?¡± Cam asked.


    He frowned and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s all nonsense and a waste of time. Superstitions are a weakness of the mind. There are far better things to upy a mind with like Science. Real information to absorb and understand,¡± he said firmly.


    Cam shared a look with Sigrid and caught the Security Chief¡¯s wide amused grin.


    ¡°Stanley, you¡¯re a Satyr. A creature out of the myths you are denying as nonsense,¡± she said gently.


    He looked at her as if she¡¯d just taken his candy, poisoned his puppy, told him Santa us was real after all and the lunarndings were faked on a sound stage in Hollywood.


    ¡°A Subus is another creature from those myths.¡± She looked down at her sped hands to arrange her thoughts. ¡°Let me put it this way. Your perception of reality has just been expanded to include a new field of study. The Hidden Races. That¡¯s what we are and that includes you as well. Satyr¡¯s are¡­ ancient. There hasn¡¯t been a recorded sighting of one in¡­ millennia. It was thought they were extinct yet here you are!¡± She looked at Sigrid. ¡°You said his mor wasn¡¯t an ovey.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. His disguised state was truly Human. Reality itself bent around him to hide his true nature. When it¡­ powered down reality unfolded and here he was,¡± Sigrid exined.


    Stanley realized he was hearing it again. The odd emphasis on ¡®human¡¯. He couldn¡¯t exin it but he could hear it. First Paloma, now Ms. Gunderan was doing it. He pushed that aside as his mindtched onto another possibility.


    ¡°Wait! Wait! What if¡­ what if my human self is the real me and THIS is the disguise!¡± Stanley gasped desperately. He looked at the others and saw difort in the women¡¯s eyes and outright pity in Mr. Duncan¡¯s eyes. He looked back at Sigrid. ¡°You said reality was folded so why couldn¡¯t that reality be as valid as this one?¡±


    Sigrid thought about that and finally nodded. ¡°I cannot deny the ¡®realness¡¯ of the reality you held before you changed as itwasas valid as this one. However, it begs the question, why hide true Human nature with that of a member of an extinct race when every member of the Hidden Races is forced to use a mor to hide themselves as Human just to survive?¡±

 10

    Stanley¡¯s initial excitement at the woman¡¯s eptance of his idea faded as her subsequent argument sounded entirely too logical and reasonable.


    ¡°Let¡¯s set that aside for now. The question is, how do we help Stanley get his disguise- or alternate reality, back in ce?¡± Cam said to calm the young man.


    ¡°Are you wearing an item the spell is anchored to? An enchanted ring, bracelet, or pendant? Even an earring would do,¡± the big Security Chief suggested but Stanley just shook his head.


    Sigrid sat forward. ¡°There was a strange ticking just before the conversion. The ticking sped up then¡­ you changed.¡±


    ¡°Where was the tickinging from?¡± Cam asked.


    The blond shook her head. ¡°We couldn¡¯t tell. It seemed to being from somewhere on his body but I wasn¡¯t close enough. Paloma was closer. I barely had time to pull her away before it happened.¡±


    ¡°Paloma won¡¯t be in any condition to answer questions for a while,¡± Cam said with a frown.


    ¡°I- I didn¡¯t hurt her, did I?¡± Stanley said hesitantly.


    ¡°No, our Mr. Duncan got to you just in time. You should know something about Subi. We feed by draining energy from the men we have sex with. That can be energy directly from their life force which is the most filling but is dangerous to the man or it can be from his bodily fluids, preferably his sperm. Satyr¡¯s are beings of intense sexual appetites and your,¡± she saw Stanley was getting embarrassed so she toned it down, ¡°ejacte contains a tremendous quantity of purest energy. I¡¯ve never felt anything like it. A palmful is likely enough to sustain an adult Subus for two to three days, maybe longer.¡± She nced back at the door. ¡°She received more than a small amount, didn¡¯t she?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t speak so he just nodded.


    ¡°She¡¯s having trouble containing the energy. It will eventually dissipate and she¡¯ll have to burn the excess off but she won¡¯t need to feed for some time. Her color change is concerning. We¡¯ll have to wait and see. It shouldn¡¯t affect her ability to activate her mor enchantment.¡±


    ¡°What is magic? Is it energy?¡± Stanley asked, trying to get his science based belief system to ept this new reality.


    ¡°Yes, exactly. Some of the Hidden Races can tap into this energy and directly manipte it. Make it do things that affect the tangible world around us. They¡¯re wielders. For others, like Satyrs, Subi, and Valkyries, our abilities are fed by this energy. We¡¯re more of a¡­ conduit for the energy.¡±


    ¡°But where does the energye from?¡± Stanley asked.


    Cam looked at Sigrid as this was quickly going beyond her knowledge.


    Sigrid picked up the conversation. ¡°Think of here and now as a singleyer. Everything we see and feel is our reality. There are oveyingyers, alternate realities which are as real as ours but are vastly different in their energy levels. Some of theseyers interact and bleed their energy into ouryer. Some beings adapted to use this energy and were shaped by it.¡±


    Stanley nodded as his brain got a handle on the information. He suddenly jolted. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    Cam checked her watch. ¡°It¡¯s almost midnight.¡±


    ¡°SHIT! I have to get home!¡± Stanley leapt up then stopped to look down at his feet¡­ hooves. His face fell. ¡°How am I going to be able to go home when I look like this! How can I face my Baba looking like¡­ like a goat man! She¡¯ll have a heart attack!¡±


    ¡°Your Baba?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°I live in a room in my Grandmother¡¯s attic.¡± He frowned once more at his cloven hooves. ¡°I was so looking forward to having a job where I could afford my own ce! Now that¡¯s all messed up!¡±


    ¡°Stanley, this isn¡¯t going to affect your job. We¡¯ll get your disguise back.¡± Cam insisted and she saw he took a littlefort in her assurance.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just call her?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a telephone. She¡­ doesn¡¯t like technology. She¡¯s very old school,¡± he admitted. ¡°While I¡¯m living under her roof I have to be home by noter than 10PM every night. I¡¯m in so much trouble!¡±


    The others smiled at him and he realized how silly that must have sounded. He grinned self-deprecatingly. ¡°She¡¯s really sweet but she¡¯s also really strict.¡±


    ¡°Are you rted by blood?¡±


    Stanley blinked at the odd question. ¡°Of course, I am. She¡¯s my Baba!¡±


    ¡°Then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem bringing you home in this condition. Call it woman¡¯s intuition but I believe it¡¯s highly likely that she knows. If you like I can approach her and test the waters before you face her.¡±


    The more Stanley thought about going home, the more he felt like he had to. There was almost apulsion to get there. He nodded.


    They all stood and Cam helped him raise the hood and he was pretty much covered. If it hadn¡¯t been for the hooves that showed with each step he might have been able to pass forpletely human with an oddly wide hood. He loaded the robe¡¯s one cavernous pocket with his stuff from the coffee table.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to check on Paloma one more time then we¡¯ll go.¡± Cam said and Sigrid followed her into the bedroom leaving Stanley alone with Mr. Duncan.


    He looked over at the big man. ¡°Are you human?¡±


    The Security man stared at him expressionless for an ufortable period of time then shook his head with a wide smile. ¡°Lycanthrope.¡±Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    Stanley shook his head to indicate he didn¡¯t know what that meant.


    ¡°Werewolf.¡±


    Stanley¡¯s eyes widened. He knewthatword. The man¡¯s smile just got wider. Hedidhave a lot of sharp looking teeth.


    ¡°You¡¯re a newbie so I¡¯ll let it go but a word to the wise. Never ask anyone questions like that,¡± the big man growled quietly. A chill ran down Stanley¡¯s back.


    Cam and Sigrid rejoined them and they let themselves out of the condo and locked it up. Stanley walked closely behind the two women with Mr. Duncan directly behind him. He kept his head down and his hood hiding as much as it could. They took the elevator down to the lobby and walked out the front door. They moved out of the range of the building¡¯s cameras where Cam¡¯s limo picked them up.


    Sigrid pressed the inte and gave Stanley¡¯s address. The limo got underway as Stanley stared at the big blond nervously.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Did- did you read my mind for my address?¡± he said, his mouth going dry.


    ¡°Stanley. I work in Human Resources. You gave me your address when you gave us your resume,¡± she said gently.


    He sagged back in the chair. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Everything is upside down and I- I don¡¯t know which end is up anymore. It¡¯s like¡­ It¡¯s like I¡¯ve discovered that all the stuff I thought was a frivolous waste of time is now on the final exam and I didn¡¯t study any of the material!¡±


    That drew chuckles from thedies and a smile from Mr. Duncan. They rode on in silence until they finally reached the outskirts of the city.


    ¡°That¡¯s a longmute!¡± Cam said looking at her new employee.


    ¡°Another reason to get an apartment closer to the office. That and avoiding the 10PM curfew,¡± he said with a small smile.


    They pulled onto a side road which dipped downwards and found themselves driving into a dense fog. Cam shared a look with Sigrid then her Security Chief. Stanley caught her nervousness.


    ¡°There¡¯s a bog on either side of the road here so it often gets foggy,¡± he assured them.


    ¡°Any other houses on this road?¡± Mr. Duncan asked.


    ¡°Uh, no. Just Baba¡¯s.¡±


    They reached a gate so the limo stopped.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯d bettere with you. She can hear my voice¡­¡± He paused. ¡°Well, it¡¯s deeper but I think she¡¯ll know it¡¯s me. She¡¯s not fond of strangers.¡± Cam nodded and they got out.


    Stanley in the lead, they went through the gate and got three steps in when Cam, Sigrid and Mr. Duncan just stopped. Stanley made it two more steps before he realized he was alone. He turned around and saw them looking past him with fear in their eyes. He turned and saw Baba standing on the front steps.


    The woman was old, deeply wrinkled, her body bent and weathered with age but she had a strength in her eyes that was fearful to look upon. Her peasants dress was worn and faded. She slowly stepped down the stairs as she kept her eyes on the group.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯mte Baba but I¡¯ve had¡­ quite a difficult night.¡± Stanley confessed.


    ¡°Lift the hood. Let me see you boy,¡± the old woman said slowly.


    Sighing, he lifted the hood and pushed it back. He watched the old woman¡¯s face but she showed no fright or surprise, just regret and annoyance.


    ¡°You knew, Baba?¡± he whispered.


    ¡°Yes, boy. I knew. You¡­ you weren¡¯t supposed to know. Not for a long time yet.¡± She looked in annoyance at the three standing behind him. ¡°What to do with these meddlesome creatures. Show yourselves!¡± she barked sharply.


    Their disguises ripped away.

 11

    Cam¡¯s skin was deepest ruby red and ck and shimmered even in the dim light of the courtyard. Stunningly beautiful with voluptuous curves, her sensuality pulled at Stanley¡¯s body but the fear in her eyes as she watched the crone on the steps dampened his lust.


    Sigrid hadn¡¯t changed but he could see her wings were pinned to her back and glowed dimly. She definitely looked ufortable.


    The change for Mr. Duncan was the most dramatic. Standing upright on wide paws with obsidian ws, his hugely muscled body was covered with blood red fur. His head was that of a huge wolfplete with a muzzle full of deadly teeth. His tongue was lolling in fear and his teeth gleamed.


    ¡°Baba?¡± Stanley turned back to his grandma.


    ¡°What is it boy?¡± she said with a frustrated tone.


    ¡°Please, these are my friends. They saved me tonight!¡± he said.


    Her eyes snapped to his and he felt the impact of her stare. She was looking for truth. He¡¯d suffered this from her before so he rxed. He knew he was speaking the truth.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor gave me a most wonderful job at herpany. Doing what I love! Earlier tonight a man, a strangely handsome man, attacked me and tried to put a¡­ a demon inside me. There was an explosion instead. Ms. Gunderan arrived to fight and kill the demon. She saved me. I was unconscious and they took me somece safe but I changed into¡­ this.¡±


    ¡°What about this beast? What value couldhehave to you?¡± the old woman clearly looking for someone to punish, growled while pointing a crooked finger at the werewolf. It began to whine.


    ¡°Mr. Duncan¡­ he saved me from hurting someone¡­ someone I like very much. Please Baba, I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening but do they have to fear you? Do I need to fear you?¡± he said quietly.


    Old eyes held his and she growled. She swatted his cheek but he recognized the hit as her way of telling him he¡¯d won the point. The others suddenly sagged and gasped for breath.


    ¡°You know who it was that attacked the boy?¡± Baba asked Cam.


    The woman nodded. ¡°I- I believe I may know. An old business and ex-life partner. Most likely attempting to get inside information from mypany.¡±


    ¡°BAH! Such bothersome trivia. A n long enacted has taken an unexpected turn. There is nothing for it but to allow it to follow its new course.¡± She looked at Stanley contemtively. ¡°Your true destiny may yete to pass.¡±


    The ancient woman turned and made for the stairs. She stopped on the second one up and turned back to Stanley. ¡°You begin a new life today. This is goodbye. You will not return. I will offer you just one favor.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye? But¡­ you¡¯re my only family-¡± he gasped, stepping closer to her.


    ¡°One. Favor,¡± the crone growled.


    Stanley swallowed and nodded. ¡°Could- could you make me human again?¡±


    Her eyes trapped his again and he fought back the tears that threatened to get free.


    ¡°Know that this is your true self. I can give you back the false reality you believed was who you were but it cannot be permanent. Each day you must revert to this form for an extended period of time. While you lived with me I ensured you did this while you slept.¡±


    He nodded as what else could he do. She gestured for him to get closer and once he did she ran her thumbs over his eyelids then lifted his right hand. He could suddenly see he was wearing a ring made of some kind of ck stone on his ring finger. He jerked in surprise seeing it there for the first time. She swatted his cheek to get his attention. He looked into her eyes again.


    She spoke quietly so the others could not hear nor could they see what they were doing. ¡°Don¡¯t y with this ring. Turn it only for the purpose of changing. Turn itpletely around in one continuous motion then reverse it all the way back, again in one motion. This will initiate the change.¡± She looked into his eyes until he nodded to acknowledge the instructions. She stopped whispering as she continued. ¡°Remember, you must return to your true self for an extended period of hours. This allows it to recharge. More importantly if you don¡¯t then your body will forget its original shape and you will not survive the switch when the ring discharges. This is all I can give you,¡± she said gruffly.


    ¡°Thank you, Baba. For everything,¡± he said.


    ¡°Go,¡± she snapped.


    He nodded and pulled the hood back up. Not to hide his horns but his tears.


    The group made their way back to the limo, slipping behind their mor disguises once more. Once inside the vehicle, the driver got them moving back to the city. Stanley leaned against the door, turning his face away from the others.


    Sitting next to the young man, Mr. Duncan leaned forward to whisper to Cam. ¡°Baba Yaga?!? Seriously?¡± He spoke softly but his tone was incredulous and fearful.


    She nced over at Stanley but he made no indication that he¡¯d heard. She looked back at her security officer and saw his hands were shaking, badly. Then she noticed hers were too. She looked at Sigrid but the woman was watching Stanley intently.


    Therge blond woman gestured for the security chief to swap ces with her and she moved to sit next to Stanley. She touched the young man¡¯s shoulder and when he turned to face her she pulled him into a hug. He froze for just a moment then he was hugging her in return and the tears started to flow. He cried silently against her shoulder as she held him, his body shaking with the intensity of his grief.


    The others watched with guilty looks. They¡¯d forgotten what it meant to Stanley to lose his only family. For him, he¡¯d known her only as Baba, the grandmother who raised him. He had no knowledge of her position as one of the most powerful and terrifying witches of the old ones.


    And now he was homeless, without even the clothes on his back.


    When his tears finally ran dry he pulled back from the woman and she smiled in his face. ¡°For tonight, you will sleep on my couch. Tomorrow we will find you a ce of your own.¡±


    He nodded then looked into her eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡± She nodded.


    Cam spoke with the driver and the limo eventually stopped before a brownstone on a quiet street.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see you in the morning, alright?¡± Cam said as Stanley prepared to follow Sigrid from the car. He looked at her, nodded then exited the vehicle. He stood on the street and watched the long car drive away.


    ¡°Stanley,e inside. You¡¯ve had a long day.¡± Sigrid said gently and he carefully lifted the hem on his robe to climb the steps up to the door. They went inside and she locked up behind them. She guided them into her living room and came to a halt so suddenly he bumped into her back.


    ¡°What-¡±


    ¡°Quiet. Someone¡¯s been in my home,¡± she growled quietly.


    Stanley peered around her and saw two cardboard boxes on the coffee table. On top of one of the boxes was a painted stone. His breath caught in his throat. He stepped around the woman.


    ¡°Stanley, no!¡±


    He looked back with a sad smile. ¡°It was Baba. These are my things. I don¡¯t know how but she left me my things.¡± A tear rolled down his cheek as he picked up the heavy fist sized stone. It was a meteorite actually. He¡¯d found it on one of his walks in the forest with Baba when he was very young. He used it to keep his bedroom door open in the summer to get a breeze in his room. She¡¯d insisted he paint it with a thick coat of ck paint so it wouldn¡¯t get rust on her floor. He smiled at the memory.


    He set the chunk of cold iron down on the table and opened the first box. His books were inside and the charging cable for his phone. Baba¡¯s home had no electricity so he charged the phone when he was in his sses at school. He pulled it out now to charge the phone overnight. He took the phone from his pocket and plugged it in by the couch.


    The second box contained his clothes. He sighed as they were just jammed into the box. He began pulling the items out and refolded them as he went. He found his toiletry kit at the bottom of the box and sighed with relief. He stacked the clothes neatly back in the box once he was done.


    Sigrid arrived with bedsheets for the couch and made up a bed for him.


    ¡°Would you like something to eat?¡± she asked but he just shook his head. ¡°Try to get some sleep and I¡¯ll see you for breakfast. There¡¯s a washroom in the hallway.¡±


    ¡°Good night and thank you, Ms. Gunderan.¡±


    ¡°Sigrid, please,¡± she said with a smile.


    He returned the smile. ¡°Thank you, Sigrid.¡±


    She nodded and left the room to climb up the stairs to her bedroom on the second story.


    Carrying his toiletry kit, he found the washroom and brushed his teeth, scowling at the stranger in the mirror.


    Then he went back to the living room and turned the lights off. He took off his robe and slipped under the sheet on the couch. It was prettyfortable but the events of the day were stirring his mind up.


    First major event, he had a really great job! He was so looking forward to getting back to it!


    His Executive Assistant was beautiful and she¡¯d had sex with him! Granted she was a Subus¡­ and having sex was how they ate¡­ so¡­ that diminished his special moment somewhat.


    He¡¯d discovered mythical creatures exist and that he himself was one. He thought about that revtion and it didn¡¯t feel too positive to him. He would have preferred to remain in the dark about that.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    But the worst thing to happen today was the loss of his Baba. He knew that one day he would have moved out and only seen her on visits and he was mentally preparing himself for that day but it hade too soon and she was clear that he wasn¡¯t allowed to visit. She was out of his life and there was a terrible void in it now. He felt the tears welling up once more.


    He yawned hugely and suddenly found himself slipping under.


    ¡°Good night Baba,¡± he whispered automatically to the empty room.


    His gentle exhtions began as his day finally ended.


    ¡°Good night boy,¡± the room whispered back.

 12

    Stanley sat behind his desk in his new office looking out the window. Morning sunlight streamed in and warmed his body. His human body! He saw his reflection in the ss smiling back at him.


    True to her word, the moment he woke up this morning when he spun the ck ring on his finger as Baba instructed he felt the briefest moment of dizziness and found himself in his original human body. He¡¯d never felt so relieved in his life! The ring had even magically resized to fit his much smaller human finger! To think he¡¯d always had the ring there but just hadn¡¯t been able to see it. That confused him so he pushed the thought from his mind.


    He¡¯d also discovered that he¡¯d want to be naked each time he changed as the folding of reality had a nasty effect on any clothing he wore. The huge robe he¡¯d had on when the change began showed rips and tears in it when he was human again. That sucked and needing two distinct and very different sets of clothing sucked too.


    He¡¯d have to buy himself a hooded robe for home. Speaking of home, Sigrid was going to meet him at lunch to take him over to a building which had a condo ¡®he needed to look at¡¯. The building apparently catered to the ¡®Hidden Races¡¯. He sighed. That was something else he was going to have to get used to.


    He heard noisesing from his waiting room and leapt to his feet. He¡¯d been disappointed to see Paloma wasn¡¯t at her desk when he¡¯d arrived. He needed to talk with her, make sure she was ok. He rushed out of his office.


    ¡°Paloma!¡±


    ¡°EEP!¡± squeaked a petite blonde woman as she spun to look at him with wide eyes. Lovely, soft brown eyes.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry! I thought you were Paloma,¡± he gasped in embarrassment.


    ¡°Do you give her a heart attack every morning too!¡± the woman scolded him and he froze when he heard her lovely Irish ent.


    ¡°Actually, this is only my second day. I¡¯ve barely begun to make all the mistakes I¡¯m going to make working here,¡± he said with a blush.


    Her scowl became a small smile as she saw his apologetic expression. She tilted her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you were doing in Mr. Garin¡¯s office but you¡¯d better be off before he arrives or he might sick Mr. Duncan on you.¡± She made a shooing motion to direct him out of the waiting room.


    Stanley blinked at her.


    ¡°Am I not being clear? This is the office of the CIO. I¡¯m not sure which floor you should be on but you¡¯d better find your way back to it quickly. If you want you can leave me your name and if the younger Ms. Vimor calls in I¡¯ll tell her that her paramour stopped by to say hello.¡±


    Stanley was soaking in her ent and could have stood there listening to her speak all day but he had things to do. ¡°Sure, Stanley. Stanley Garin.¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes shed to his as she looked confused. ¡°Are you¡­ Mr. Garin¡¯s son?¡±


    ¡°I never met my dad but I¡¯m pretty sure I had one so I¡¯m going to say yes.¡± He was beginning to enjoy this.


    ¡°You. You¡¯re Mr. Garin aren¡¯t you,¡± she peeped in embarrassment.


    He grinned. ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry sir! It¡¯s just¡­ you¡¯re soyoungfor a CIO!¡± she blurted as her face became a lovely shade of warm pink.


    ¡°Yeah, I agree but that¡¯s the job they gave me,¡± he acknowledged.


    Her phone began to ring. She rushed over to it to answer. ¡°Mr. Garin¡¯s office. Yes, he¡¯s right here. I¡¯ll let him know.¡±


    After she hung up she turned back to him and collected herself. ¡°That was Ms. Vimor, our CEO. She would like you to join her in her office. Once again, I apologize.¡±


    ¡°Really, it¡¯s not a problem. Your name?¡± Stanley said as he moved towards the door.


    ¡°Siobhan Whn.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s lovely! Like your ent.¡±


    ¡°What ent?¡± she said and smiled teasingly as he looked back in surprise. He smiled in return and stepped out into the hall.


    It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d almost reached the CEO¡¯s office that the realization struck. He had to put a hand out to brace himself against the wall as his surprise was so profound. He was so dazed he nced at his hand to ensure he hadn¡¯t switched back to his Satyr form. Four fingers and a thumb. Still human.


    He¡¯d just had a conversation with a pretty blond woman who he found very attractive and not once did he stutter. The stutter was gone! It was such a relief! He wondered what cured him but he wasn¡¯t going to look too closely in case that caused it to return.


    Stanley walked into Ms. Vimor¡¯s waiting room and smiled at Felix. The man returned his smile and gestured for him to go right in. The door was open so he looked inside as he stepped through the doorway.


    ¡°Ah, good morning Stanley. Close the door behind you please.¡±


    He closed it and walked over to the chair she gestured to. ¡°Good morning, Ms. Vimor.¡±


    ¡°When it¡¯s just us, please call me Cam,¡± the woman said with a smile and he shed back to the night before when she¡¯d dropped to her knees at his feet and- He pulled his mind away from that moment but his face flushed with embarrassment.


    ¡°Thank you, Cam. How is Paloma? I noticed she isn¡¯t in today. She¡¯s OK, isn¡¯t she?¡± he asked with concern.


    ¡°Yes, I believe she¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s just going to take some time for her to burn off all that energy she absorbed. I¡¯ll check in on her a few times today.¡±


    Stanley just nodded and Cam handed him a tablet. ¡°She told me to give you the notes she took yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Perfect!¡± he eximed as he saw the hardware listing he and Paloma made the day before. ¡°Uh, I need to get started on preparing the new server room. Did you by any chance hear back about our ess to the roof for adding in a diesel generator and an air conditioning unit?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have permission to install units up to a specific size. I¡¯ve just sent you the restriction list and you can tell me if it is sufficient.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually have aputer of my own yet. I¡¯ll be getting on that immediately. Did you CC my assistant?¡± he exined.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Great, I¡¯ll check with her. Now about the interior work in the existing boardroom?¡±


    ¡°Who did they send you as a temp for Paloma?¡±Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Siobhan Whn.¡±


    ¡°Good. Have her summon the workers. You can tell them what you need them to do and they will get started.¡±


    Stanley felt a chill run up his spine. ¡°Is there anything¡­ strange about those guys? They give me the creeps.¡±


    Cam looked him in the eye. ¡°Mr. Duncan informed me that he spoke with you about asking questions regarding the Humanity of beings you meet.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he said don¡¯t.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Rule number one is you don¡¯t talk about the Hidden Races. This is critically important. The only time it¡¯s safe to do so is when you are in a sanctuary with the appropriate runes activated. My office, when the door is closed, is a sanctuary. Your office is not. You need to be trained to be eternally vignt so we won¡¯t be protecting your office. There will be wards but they will just re painfully loud should you slip and say something forbidden.¡±


    Stanley frowned but he acknowledged it was probably a good idea.


    She paused to choose her words so he would understand. ¡°The workers we use for menialbor are artificial men. Tools powered by magic. They pass for Human but they¡¯re just a simcrum. Ultimately loyal and trustworthy but you need to give them explicit instructions and the moreplex the task the more specific you need to be.¡±


    He stared at her. ¡°Is everyone at VRL a member of the Hidden Races?¡±


    ¡°No. That¡¯s actually what I called you in here to discuss. Last night you discovered you are one of us but because you grew up as a Human you haven¡¯t had any of the training required for hiding your true self.¡±


    ¡°The spell hides my other self,¡± he rified.


    Cam caught his evasion and frowned. ¡°Stanley, you need to find the strength to ept the truth of what you are. For your safety and the safety of those around you. If you can¡¯t say it¡­¡±


    Stanley scowled and looked away. He knew what she was saying was true but he¡¯d been given no choice. He sighed. He¡¯d never been able to stay mad. It just felt so unfair. He sighed again. Shit.


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m not human. I¡¯m a Satyr. One of the Hidden Races. Is there a handbook or manual to learn all this?¡±


    Cam smiled. ¡°No Stanley. That would be a little too dangerous to leave lying around.¡±


    ¡°What about those Myths and Legends books? Couldn¡¯t I read up on all the different kinds of beings in those?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°Unfortunately, what you¡¯ll find in them is mostly misinformation. Far simpler and safer to create a wide variety of fanciful lies to muddy the waters than try to disprove the truth. The Greeks called your people Satyrs and the Romans changed the name to Fauns but neither really understood,¡± Cam said with a sad smile.


    ¡°So¡­ how will I learn how to behave around others?¡± he said in frustration.


    ¡°You already know how. Act like a Human. That¡¯s how we all survive,¡± she exined.


    ¡°Oh!¡± he said in surprise.

 13

    ¡°I understand Sigrid is going to be taking you over to a condo building at lunch to check out an avable unit. All of the units on specific floors in that building are sold to people like us. This is done in every building we share with Humans as a precautionary measure. The buildings have a mix but the floors are not intermixed. Even numbered floors are for Humans. Building management in these buildings is always run by someone from the Hidden Races and they ensure this division is maintained. There are many buildings in the city like this. If this one doesn¡¯t appeal we can try to find another. I¡¯d like to exhaust those options before risking you staying in a non-controlled building.¡±


    ¡°I lived in the attic of an old cottage in a swamp. I think anything with actual working electrical outlets will be fine,¡± he said with a small smile. ¡°I can¡¯t begin to tell you how grateful I am for your support and guidance. I¡¯mpletely out of my element.¡±


    ¡°Outside of ensuring you switch back to your true self at night to recharge and let your body remember its real shape, nothing in your life really has to change. Your job is still the same. I need you to rescue us from the technical nightmare we¡¯ve found ourselves in. That¡¯s just technology. You like technology.¡± Stanley grinned and nodded. ¡°Act like you usually do-¡± she paused as she suddenly realized something. A smile spread across her face. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be having trouble speaking with me now. Is that because of what we didst night?¡± she asked with an impish smile.


    Stanley¡¯s face turned quite red but he shook his head.


    ¡°No, no. I- uh, just seem to have gotten over my stutter. Last night¡­ well probably everything that happenedst night had something to do with it,¡± he reluctantly agreed.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± she smiled. ¡°Thanks to you I won¡¯t have to feed for a few more days.¡±


    Stanley stared at her as she recalled the moment and gave herself a little shake.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯d better get started,¡± he said as he squirmed. She noted his difort.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve upset you Stanley. I¡¯ll do my best to keep our rtionship purely professional from now on,¡± she said contritely.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said with a grateful smile and stood.


    She nodded to him and he went back to his office carrying the tablet. Siobhan looked up and smiled at him. ¡°Siobhan, I need you to call the workers who will be preparing the new server room. Have them meet me in the board room, please.¡±


    ¡°Right away, Mr. Garin,¡± she responded.


    ¡°Stanley, please,¡± he said as he turned to head down the hall.


    ¡°Yes, Mr. Garin.¡±


    He looked back in surprise and saw she was on the phone but there was just the hint of a smirk on her lips. Cheeky girl.


    Stanley shook his head and went to the board room. He took it all in once more and the n began to form in his head.


    The funky ss wall on the hallway side with the liquid crystal privacy membrane could stay as it added exceptional sound proofing.


    The carpet and undey would need to be pulled up and the concrete under it would need to be free of any dirt and dust. He would order the server room raised flooring system.


    There was a noise behind him and he turned to see a group of men enter the boardroom. There had to be at least twenty of them and they were all wearing the same outfits. Grey cks, white dress shirt with a ck tie and ck shoes.


    He took a deep breath to settle his nerves and addressed the one in the center as he¡¯d seen Cam do.


    ¡°I need this table disassembled and put into storage with all of these chairs. I need the projection system including its screen disconnected and put into storage as well. When all of this is done let me know and I¡¯ll give you the next set of instructions. Understood?¡±


    The center worker nodded and the nodding rippled outwards through the rest of them. Stanley¡¯s skin crawled. He made his way back to his office and saw Siobhan was off the phone.


    ¡°I need a tape measure. A big one.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mr. Garin,¡± she responded with a cheeky smile and picked up her phone. Stanley sighed and looked to the doorway to see the workers passing by, each carrying a chair. He went to his office and realized he still didn¡¯t have aputer. He needed something now. Something powerful but portable as he expected to be taking his work home with him on asion. He went back out to tell Siobhan that he was heading out for a bit. He¡¯d stop by the ounting department to see if they had apany credit card he could use.


    At her desk a worker was delivering arge reel type tape measure. ¡°Thank you,¡± Stanley said and took the device from its hands. The worker nodded and joined the others in the hall and Stanley saw the table was going by in sections. He thought he might as well get the measurements now so he made his way back down the hall to the new server room. He enlisted the aid of one of the workers and they took measurements of the room while the others took thest of the furniture out.


    Another worker arrived with adder followed by another with a tool box. They set up under the projector and began disconnecting it from the cables while some others worked on taking down the screen.


    Stanley entered the dimensions of the room into his phone then handed the wound up tape measure to the worker assisting him. ¡°This can go back to where it came from,¡± he said and the worker left with a nod. Stanley watched him leave and realized he could work with these guys¡­ as long as he didn¡¯t think of them as anything other than guys. Another shudder went through him.


    The room had been quickly emptied and the workers came back for further instructions. Once more he addressed the one in the center.


    ¡°Ok, now we need the carpet and undey removed. I don¡¯t know if you will reuse the carpet so maybe you can just roll it up and put it in storage? Once you have the floor back to concrete the whole room needs to be cleaned. This means washing the walls and floor with damp rags to ensure they are clean and as clear of dust as possible. Understood?¡±


    The worker nodded and the acknowledgement rippled outwards. Stanley didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever get used to that. With a nod of his own he made his way back to his office.


    ¡°Siobhan, I¡¯ll be out for thirty minutes or so.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Where shall I say you are?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m picking up a newputer for myself. Back soon,¡± he said with a smile and she returned it.


    He took the elevator to the next floor down and went looking for the new CFO. He spotted some workers recing arge section of drywall and tried not to think of how it might have been damaged. He found the corner office and was greeted with a huge smile from the executive secretary at the desk just outside the door.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    ¡°Good morning Mr. Garin! I¡¯m Anna, Ms. Summerly¡¯s assistant. How may I help you today?¡± the middle-aged woman asked. She was very smartly dressed and had one of those auras of totalpetency that led one to suspect she could run the department if the need arose.


    ¡°Good morning Anna! Ms. Summerly is the new CFO?¡± At her nod he continued. ¡°I was wondering if she had a moment to speak with me.¡±


    ¡°One moment.¡± She spoke quietly into her phone then gestured to the closed door with a smile. He nodded his thanks and knocked before entering.


    A woman stood up from behind her desk and came around to shake his hand. Stanley¡¯s smile froze a little as he realized Ms. Summerly was identical to the woman sitting at the desk outside the door. Including the clothing she was wearing.


    ¡°Anna is my twin,¡± the woman said with a smile as she read his surprise. ¡°My name is Eve.¡±


    ¡°Stanley. Pardon me for asking but doesn¡¯t working with your twin present some difficulties with mistaken identity?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not so far but this is only our first day in the new job so we¡¯ll just have to see!¡± she replied with a friendly smile. ¡°I understand it was partially due to your intervention with the former inhabitant of this office that I was able to get this promotion.¡±


    ¡°What? No, I couldn¡¯t have had anything to do with that. I¡¯d only met the man once and it was a very strange and rude conversation at that. My first and only impression of the man wasn¡¯t very good,¡± Stanley admitted.


    Eve gave him a smile for his modesty then gestured for him to sit as she returned to her chair behind the desk. ¡°What can I do for you this morning?¡±

 14

    ¡°I just wanted to touch based to let you know I¡¯m going to need to make some rather expensive purchases in very short order. The deadline for recing all of the faulty and outdated equipment is extremely short. I need to know if this is going to present any issues for your department,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor spoke to me this morning to fill me in on the project. I have been authorized to support any and all purchase orders you submit to the department¡­ as long as it pertains to technology and software for VRL,¡± she finished with a coy grin.


    He smiled in return. ¡°I guess I¡¯d better cancel that beer fridge and foosball table order. I do have a more immediate requirement though. I have noputer of my own and I need to pick one up this morning. Is there apany credit card I can use for that?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. I can take care of that immediately.¡± She ced her thumb against a desk drawer and there was an audible beep and click. She pulled the drawer open and looked inside to pull out a ck and gold credit card. She turned to her terminal and tapped out something on the keys. ¡°Ok, it¡¯s activated. There is no credit limit on this so again, only purchases for VRL. We watch the bills very closely. Don¡¯t even add a pack of gum to the invoice. Alright?¡±


    ¡°Understood! Thank you!¡± Stanley said and epted the card from her hand and added it to his wallet. When he looked back at her she was still smiling at him. ¡°Congrattions on your promotion and thanks again.¡±


    ¡°Anna and I are looking forward to working with you Stanley!¡± she said standing up to shake his hand once more.


    ¡°Same here,¡± Stanley said and made his way out of the office. He nodded to Anna and made his way to the elevators and down. He stepped out and headed left as his favorite tech shop was only a few blocks away. He kept his eyes open and left himself space when he crossed alley ways. He had no intentions of being grabbed again.


    It didn¡¯t take him long to select a machine that would meet his needs and soon he was heading back to the office with his purchases. He felt eyes on him as he walked along the street and nced over his shoulder a few times but it could have just been paranoia due to carrying the expensive equipment along the street in bags that advertised where he¡¯d just shopped.


    As he stepped up to VRL¡¯s ss doors he saw the distinctive shape of the car fromst night¡¯s abduction attempt reflected in the ss. He spun to see its tail lights move off down the street. He went inside and headed directly to the security office. They buzzed him in.


    ¡°Is Mr. Duncan in?¡± he asked a man watching the bank of monitors. The man simply pointed towards his office.


    The door was open so Stanley knocked on the door jamb. The Security Chief looked up and smiled.


    ¡°Mr. Garin! How are you this morning?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good! Better. Do you have a second?¡± Stanley asked.


    ¡°Sure. Close the door and pull up a chair,¡± therge man said gesturing to the seat in front of his desk.


    Once he was seated he suddenly felt silly for wasting the Chief¡¯s time. ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing¡­ but on the way back from the store I think I was followed by the same car that was used in the attempted abductionst night.¡±


    Mr. Duncan looked at him until he began to squirm. ¡°You think or you know,¡± the big man asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m just being paranoid,¡± Stanley apologized and began to rise.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. Did you see the car this morning or not?¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Driving slowly past the front of the building.¡±


    ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°Just a few minutes ago.¡±


    Mr. Duncan turned to hisputer and selected the camera feed on the street in front of the building. Stanley winced at the low-res quality of the image. Mr. Duncan nodded his agreement with a growl. He rolled the time back on the camera until Stanley could be seen holding the bags. He slowed the reverse until the back end of the car could be seen. He froze it there. There was no way they could read the rear te.


    ¡°This car?¡± Duncan asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Pretty distinctive. Very expensive. One is owned by someone Ms. Vimor knows quite well. I¡¯ll let her know he¡¯s still a problem. She can deal with him. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Great! Well¡­ thanks and I¡¯ll see you around,¡± Stanley said as he definitely got the impression that their little chat was over.


    He was almost out the door when he turned back. ¡°Can you send me a count of how many cameras you intend to upgrade?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Stanley nodded and headed upstairs. When he reached his office, Siobhan looked up from her desk. She smiled when she saw the packages he was carrying.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯ve bought yourself a newputer! Is it the ultimate gaming rig with all the megabytes and the video thingy.¡±


    ¡°Video thingy?¡± Stanley asked.


    She waved her hand dismissively. ¡°My younger brother is always going on about the floppity flips or the Giga-whatcha-ma-call-its! He likes to y games and is saving up for his ultimate gaming rig.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well¡­ no. This is strictly a business machine. I won¡¯t be ying any games on it. I actually don¡¯t y video games,¡± he replied with a shrug.


    ¡°You don¡¯t- My, aren¡¯t you a serious young man!¡± she said with wide eyes and a smile.


    Stanley grinned smugly. ¡°I guess that¡¯s what it takes to be CIO and have a lovely assistant!¡± His face froze when he heard the wordsing out of his mouth. He might have somehow miraculously been cured of his stutters but that didn¡¯t mean he was suave enough to pull off a line like that without his face spontaneously igniting.


    ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯m sorry-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright this time. I¡¯ll let you off the hook. But if you¡¯re going to get all charming and flirty with me next time I¡¯ll feel obligated to tell your true love that you¡¯re a bit of a yer,¡± she scolded him with a false scowl on her lips.


    ¡°True love?¡± he mumbled in confusion.


    ¡°Have you forgotten her already? My, youarea yer!¡± she grinned, enjoying how his face got hotter and hotter. ¡°The lovely Ms. Vimor junior, of course!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s- she¡¯s not- I mean¡­ I¡¯ve got work to do!¡± Stanley huffed and went into his office. He pulled the notebook PC out and quickly finalized the software install on it to make it usable. He heard a sound from the doorway and looked up to see Siobhan standing there leaning against the door jamb, a contrite look on her face as she bit her lip.


    ¡°Yes?¡± he said, just a bit guarded.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I teased you a little too much.¡±


    Stanley nodded his acknowledgement of her apology.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that you were flirting with me so I thought-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. I really am. Until yesterday I couldn¡¯t even look at a pretty girl much less talk to one-¡± Stanley¡¯s voice ran out on him again as he realized he¡¯d just called Siobhan pretty. He gave her an apologetic look and she just nodded her eptance of thepliment.


    ¡°You may not be intentionally flirting but youdoknow how to make ady feel special,¡± she said. With a grin she turned and went back to her desk.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Stanley tried to get his head back in the game and the name of the game was saving VRL from its technical debt before it copsed under its unstable foundation. He connected to the mail server with the credentials Sigrid gave him this morning. Apparently, HR had an interface for defining ounts for theirwork resources.


    He read Ms. Vimor¡¯s messages to him with the information he needed on the diesel generator and air conditioning units. He read over the building code restrictions then did some research on units he thought he might need. He wouldn¡¯t know the actual requirements until he¡¯dpleted his server room design but so far it looked like the building codes weren¡¯t going to hinder him.


    He¡¯d just begun putting together a list of recement equipment based on the inventory he and Paloma had created when Sigrid poked her head in his office door.


    ¡°Hey, are you ready to look at the condo?¡±


    Stanley blinked at her then looked at the time on his screen. ¡°It¡¯s lunch already?¡±


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s one o¡¯clock. I spoke with yourprettyassistant earlier and she let me know you¡¯d gone out. I figured you¡¯d need at least an hour to get some actual work done.¡±


    He put his face in his hands when he heard her emphasis on ¡®pretty¡¯.


    She grinned. ¡°As head of HR I have to tell you that you¡¯re treading some dangerous waters with all this flirty talk. Lucky for you Iamthe head of HR, I know you¡¯re not some kind of yer, and I like you.¡±


    He pulled his hands away from his face and gave her a defeated look. ¡°My mouth is just as troublesome as it was when I stuttered¡­ just in a different way.¡±


    ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go look at the unit I got a line on. The property manager said he would only hold it for us until this evening so we have to look now.¡±

 15

    Stanley signed his PC out and followed her out of his office. Siobhan smiled and gave him a wave as he left. He waved back then followed Sigrid out of the building.


    They took a subway and transferred to the path train to Jersey City. The building was apparently right on the Hudson and had a view of Manhattan. When they walked up to the building Stanley looked around at the neighborhood. He saw a lot of expensive looking cars and well-dressed people in them. He looked questioningly at Sigrid.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I might have lived in an old cottage with no electricity in a swamp but I¡¯m not so sheltered that I can¡¯t recognize real estate which I can¡¯t afford,¡± he said. He was puzzled why Sigrid was taking him here as she knew how much he made.


    ¡°Normally, that would be the case but I had a talk with Camst night. In light of your special circumstances and nature, if you find the unit satisfactory VRL will purchase the property as an investment. You will then be able to live in it at a reasonable rental rate you¡¯ll pay back to VRL.¡± Sigrid exined.


    Stanley stop dead and stared at the woman. She took two steps before noticing he wasn¡¯t beside her. She turned to look back at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°A reasonable rental rate? Again, rental of a condo in this neighborhood would be way too expensive. Wait, is that how VRL intends to get my sry back?¡± Stanley said with a scowl.


    Sigrid scowled back at him. ¡°No! We don¡¯t work like that!¡± She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. ¡°Ok, I get that it might look like that but when I said reasonable I meant a rental rate of $1500 a month. It can¡¯t be free for legal and tax reasons and even at that rate we are going to have to do some clever bookkeeping.¡± She saw he was beginning to rx. ¡°Look, VRL sees you as a major investment as well. We think you can help us in critically important ways. How we got into this mess is a ck mark on us. We need you to help us back to a safe and secure position. We hope to build a long term rtionship with you. That means we want you to be happy.¡±


    Stanley was seriously ttered by her honest words and sincere tone and was trying his best not to look it. When she smiled, he knew he¡¯d failed at keeping it from his face. He sighed. ¡°OK, I get it and I appreciate it. I do. Seriously though I would be fine with a small studio apartment in a much lower scale neighborhood.¡±


    ¡°But VRL couldn¡¯t invest in such a property unless we bought the whole building and that¡¯s not really an option,¡± she exined. ¡°And trust me, the apartments like that are still stupid expensive or way too far from the office. We¡¯d prefer you to be closer to the office. Even this is farther than we¡¯d like but there is just no avability within Manhattan.¡±


    He nodded his understanding and they continued on. They followed a tenant into the lobby and went to the security desk. Sigrid let him know they had an appointment with the property manager.


    A few minutester a very short but stout man walked up to them. Stanley noticed he was old though he couldn¡¯t exactly say how old he might be. The man was wrinkled and had moles and hair growing from them and- Stanley caught himself staring but noticed the man was staring right back at him.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Sigrid Gunderan from VRL. Cam Vimor set up our appointment?¡± she said, wondering if the man was going to acknowledge her. Old eyes flicked to her and the man nodded.


    ¡°My apologies. I am Johann Bruger, the property manager. Please follow me to my office.¡±


    He led them down a hall to a tastefully decorated office and gestured for them to enter and take a chair in front of his desk.


    Stanley saw the man run his hand over the door jamb as he closed the door, wondering at the gesture. Mr. Bruger made his way behind the desk and they heard the hum of the chair lift him up so they could see him.


    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry but there seems to have been some misunderstanding about the avability. The unit in question is on the ninth floor,¡± he said, emphasizing the floor number as he looked Sigrid straight in the eye.


    ¡°Ah, yes. I see the confusion,¡± she smiled.


    The man behind the desk rxed and smiled.


    ¡°Mr. Garin is one of us. His protection is stronger than ours. It cannot be detected.¡± Sigrid said calmly and the man¡¯s smile fell away and his eyes darted to Stanley and back to Sigrid.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± A nervous smile reced the man¡¯s earlier confused one.


    ¡°I can tell you¡¯ve enabled a sanctuary rune as well as¡­¡± she paused momentarily to close her eyes. ¡°¡­ an integritypulsion?¡± She frowned at the property manager. ¡°What kind of people do you normally allow into the building?¡±


    The old man¡¯s brows came down in his own scowl. ¡°If you can detect the rune you can obviously counter-act it. You also are aware that I cannot allow¡­ the others to inhabit this unit!¡±


    Stanley was looking between the two in confusion. He finally settled on just looking at Sigrid. ¡°Is he saying¡­ what I think he¡¯s saying? I¡¯m too human to live on the floor the unit is on?¡±


    Sigrid sent him a warning look.


    ¡°What? You said he has a sanctuary rune in ce. It¡¯s safe to talk, right?¡±


    She turned to face him. ¡°Yes. The sanctuary rune is active. However, what you are is not something we will discuss.¡±


    He caught the implicit warning in her eyes and nodded reluctantly. He turned to face Mr. Bruger and saw the man giving him an evaluating look before returning his gaze to Sigrid.


    ¡°Am I to take your word on this matter?¡± Mr. Bruger said carefully.


    ¡°Mine, Cam¡¯s and VRL¡¯s,¡± Sigrid stated.


    The old man looked at Stanley closely onest time and nodded. ¡°Ya.¡± His ent leaked out possibly indicating an emotional response to the mystery that sat in the chair across from him. The property manager looked back to Sigrid. ¡°Shall we go to see the unit then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please.¡±


    They stood and followed Mr. Bruger to the elevators. The building was only nine stories so this unit was on the top floor.


    ¡°Unit 901 is an 800 square-foot, one bedroom condo with a south and east view. Unfurnished. The asking price is $710, 000.¡± He nced at Stanley who made a choking noise when he heard the price. Sigrid just nodded so the man opened the door and led them inside. The space was functional if not exceptional but the view made up for some of that. The floors were hardwood except in the kitchen and bathroom where it was a neutral grey te tile. There was a good-sized balcony facing south and a mostly unobstructed sightline to the Hudson River to see some of Manhattan skyline. They looked at the kitchen, bathroom,undry facilities, and finally the bedroom which was spacious enough to take up to a king-sized bed, Sigridmented.


    ¡°But I only need a single,¡± Stanley insisted.


    Mr. Bruger did his best to stifle his snort and hide his smile as Sigrid leaned in to speak softly. ¡°You may one day havepany in that bed so maybe a queen makes more sense.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Stanley said, his face burning.

 16

    They walked out into the open living room and Sigrid looked at Stanley. ¡°So, what do you think?¡±


    He blinked at her. ¡°I think it¡¯s really nice and has everything I could need. But you know I don¡¯t need something this nice-¡±


    Sigrid held up her hand and turned to the property manager. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to your office to work out the details.¡± The man nodded with a smile.


    Stanley took a final look around at the condo he would need to furnish. It was so much nicer than his room in the attic and it made him feel like a grown up. Of course, he had no idea how to furnish a condo¡­ or cook a meal¡­ or wash his own clothes as these were things his Baba had insisted on taking care of. Something else to learn. So much for feeling like a grown up.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    The thought of the old woman also dimmed his spirits. He missed her, gruff as she was.


    As they made their way back downstairs to the main floor Stanley¡¯s mind went back to the myriad of things he had yet to do to rece VRL¡¯s sickwork. How was he supposed to do all this domestic stuff too?


    ¡°Stanley, could you give us a moment? Wait for me in the lobby?¡± Sigrid asked as they exited the elevator.


    ¡°Uh, sure,¡± he managed before the statuesque blond followed the small man down the hall back to his office.


    He wandered down to the lobby and made himselffortable on the couch in the sitting area. As it was early afternoon there wasn¡¯t too much traffic in and out but he did see a few people. He thought about that. Were they¡­ people? Humans or members of the Hidden Races. He had to ept that both were now ¡®people¡¯ to him.


    He heard the sound of someone struggling and looked to the inner door. A woman with long blonde hair and too many parcels was trying to hold the door open and get her bags inside. He looked over to the security desk but the man behind it showed no signs of noticing.


    Stanley got up and jogged over. ¡°May I lend you a hand?¡± he asked.


    The bluest eyes he¡¯d ever seen froze him in ce. He noticed she was young, probably his age and was wearing scrubs so she probably worked in a hospital. When she realized he was just trying to be helpful her eyes softened and she smiled at him. He was once more locked in ce as she had such a wide and brilliant smile with just a hint of an overbite.


    ¡°That would be much appreciated, thank you!¡±


    Her words broke his paralysis and he picked up the six grocery bags at her feet while she took the remaining four. He was surprised she was trying to carry so much. ¡°This is a lot to carry. You might want to consider one of those-¡±


    ¡°Grocery buggies? Yeah, mine died about two blocks back. The wheels came right off! Cheap piece of crap,¡± she exined and looked at him expectantly.


    As her eyes were level with his he realized they were the same height. He blinked at her wondering what she was expecting.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sandy.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Uh, Stanley. Stanley Garin.¡±


    ¡°Are you visiting someone, Stanley?¡± she said with a coy smile.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m looking at buying one of the units or rather thepany I work for is and I¡¯ll rent it from them,¡± he answered.


    She gestured towards the elevator and he moved. ¡°Who do you work for?¡±


    ¡°VRL. They¡¯re an investment house in Manhattan,¡± he said and watched her press 4. Something clicked in his mind. Fourth floor. Human. Damn.


    ¡°What do you do at VRL?¡± she asked, still smiling as he watched the numbers absent mindedly.


    ¡°CIO,¡± he replied but his mind was going over the implications of making friends with humans in the building. He missed her skeptical look as they exited from the elevator and went down the hall a little.


    ¡°Really. You¡¯re the CIO?¡± she smirked.


    Stanley came out of his thoughts as he realized she didn¡¯t believe him. He considered that and knew she had every right to be doubtful. It sounded crazy to him as well.


    She was unlocking her door. 404. ¡°Yeah, I know. I just started yesterday and it still seems like a dream.¡± He nced back at the elevators. ¡°Can I leave them here? I¡¯d better get back. It was nice meeting you, Sandy!¡±


    ¡°Yes, thanks for the assist. It was nice meeting you! Wait! Which unit are you looking at?¡±


    He started back and looked over his shoulder. ¡°901.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll see you around, Mr. CIO!¡± she said with a wide smile which was a little bit dazzling. He smiled and nodded as he stepped back on the elevator.


    When he stepped out into the lobby he spotted Sigrid standing in the waiting area looking more than a little worried.


    ¡°Where did you go?¡± she asked with her brows furrowed.


    ¡°I just helped a woman carry her bags up to her unit,¡± he answered.


    She stared at him incredulously. ¡°Stanley, what the hell?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    She pitched her voice so only he would hear it. ¡°Would you get into a stranger¡¯s car if they offered you a lift?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not!¡± he scowled.


    ¡°You were just in a kidnapping attempt yesterday and I heard from Mr. Duncan that the same people were following you today! You have to start being more careful! There are people in this building that might¡­ not have your best interests at heart,¡± she said ncing around.


    He gave her an exasperated expression. ¡°Wellthat¡¯sless than helpful.¡±


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t talk about it here. What did she look like? What unit does she live in? Please tell me you didn¡¯t enter her condo!¡±


    Stanley was starting to worry if he was going to be safe living here. ¡°She¡¯s young like me. Long, straight blond hair and blue eyes. A nice smile. Her name is Sandy and she lives in unit 404. I left her groceries outside her door and I returned to the lobby.¡±


    ¡°Ah, an even floor. Good. Good.¡± Sigrid mumbled to herself as she rxed then her eyes snapped to Stanley¡¯s. ¡°Wait a minute, nice smile?¡± She looked troubled.


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Maybe we could talk tonight so I can get some instruction on how I¡¯m supposed to live my life now?¡±


    Sigrid heard the pain in his voice and just nodded as they made their way out of the building and headed back to the office. A talk was a good idea.


    Paloma sat quietly in her living room concentrating on the me of the lit candle on the coffee table before her. She¡¯d closed the blinds and the room was dark except for the tiny me. She used this one source of light to focus her mind and close out the deluge of images that now shed through her mind unbidden.


    The sex she¡¯d had with Stanley the night before had been unlike any she¡¯d ever had. Even now she felt the echoes of her epic release and she craved more but she knew she wouldn¡¯t need to feed, and probably shouldn¡¯t feed, for a long time. The wild magic coursing through her cells made her feel like at any moment she might instantly transcend into a state of pure energy and leave her flesh behind.


    The drawback for this intense energization was that her minor psychic gift had been supercharged. The Wild energy had found somece to go.


    When she¡¯d awoken this morning, her mother had been sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Unlike the glimpses she¡¯d had before now the aura around her mother was brilliant and chaotic. She watched the woman sleep for at least ten minutes trying to filter through the confusing ovepping images in the aura but her mind couldn¡¯t identify what she was seeing or decipher its meaning. She just didn¡¯t have the training for it.


    That¡¯s when she¡¯d noticed the changes in her skin. Her lovely ck and deep blue coloration had be a pearly silver white. She extended the ws on her fingers and they were also white! She let them retract and thought about getting up to look in the mirror.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake. Good!¡±


    Paloma looked at her mother and her aura was just as chaotic as before. She instinctively pushed back on her abilities and they¡­ muted. She sighed in relief and looked away, ncing at the rm clock. It was still early but¡­ what day was it? She suddenly had the sensation of time dtion.


    ¡°What day is it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ve only slept overnight,¡± Cam assured her.

 17

    Paloma nodded getting her bearings. She looked up suddenly. ¡°Stanley!¡±


    ¡°-is fine. We took him homest night and met his Baba.¡± Cam frowned as that encounter still haunted her.


    ¡°Baba? Is that a term for ¡®Grandmother¡¯?¡± Paloma asked missing her mother¡¯s expression.


    ¡°Yes, she was¡­ his grandmother. She was also Baba Yaga,¡± Cam fixed her eyes on her daughter and saw the shock and fear there. Good. She was pleased Paloma recognized the danger.


    ¡°Stanley is rted to Baba Yaga?¡± Paloma squeaked.


    ¡°I believe she¡­ adopted him. For what purpose, I don¡¯t know. She mentioned he was somehow involved in a long-term n that we disturbed.¡± Paloma gasped in fear but Cam raised her hand to calm her daughter. ¡°Stanley convinced her not to hurt us.¡±


    Cam watched her daughter¡¯s eyes, pale blue since her transformation, begin to glow at the mention of Stanley¡¯s rescue. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± she barked.


    Paloma blinked back at her in confusion.


    ¡°He¡¯s part of something Baba Yaga is cooking up! I don¡¯t want you getting involved with him! It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m his executive assistant. I work for him.¡± She recalled something important. ¡°He¡¯ll need the notes we made yesterday!¡± Paloma insisted, trying to bypass her mother¡¯s intervention without directly confronting her, something she couldn¡¯t do.


    ¡°No, you work forme. I¡¯m the CEO, remember?¡± Cam insisted.


    ¡°But¡­ I like working with Stanley and we are a great team. He needs me to meet the deadline you set for him. You know how effective I am,¡± Paloma said quickly before her mother¡¯s mind was set.


    Cam closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She did know how good her daughter¡¯s work was. Ithadmade her indispensable to their previous CIO. Even if the bastard had been embezzling from thepany with that snake Pfister, something Paloma had suspicions of and brought to her attention.


    ¡°Fine. You work with him. That¡¯s all! I think it¡¯s abundantly clear that you can no longer feed from him. His energy is far too¡­ potent.¡± Cam looked away from her.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    Paloma¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You fed from him too!¡±


    Cam looked sharply back at her daughter but she could not deny the truth. ¡°You were overdosing! I had to confirm if his energy was toxic!¡±


    ¡°And after the first small amount to confirm this you stopped?¡± Paloma pushed.


    Cam¡¯s eyes narrowed as she realized her daughter was bing testy. ¡°Paloma!¡±


    The girl dropped her eyes. ¡°Sorry, mother.¡±


    They each took a few deep breaths to calm down.


    ¡°Truthfully¡­ it was fortunate Stanley was almost finished when he was pulled away from you. If I¡¯d fed any more I might have passed out as well,¡± Cam said to ease the tension. Paloma smiled as they shared the memory.


    ¡°My next concern is the effect it had on you. Your pigmentation has altered dramatically! Your mor may not be able to cope with this sudden change. How do you feel?¡±


    Paloma closed her eyes with a wide smile and stretched in satisfaction like a cat sleeping in the sun. ¡°Sooooo good!¡±


    ¡°But what about your mor?¡± her mother insisted, though she struggled to keep the smile from her lips.


    Paloma opened her eyes and pouted. ¡°Fine.¡± Concentrating she felt for the mor spell bound to her¡­ and discovered it was gone. Actually, a few wisps remained but as she watched the edges slowly faded away. She looked at her mother. ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°Gone?¡± Cam eximed.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s- it¡¯s dissolving,¡± Paloma said faintly.


    Cam frowned. That wasn¡¯t supposed to be possible. She¡¯d have to contact the Fae who bonded the spell to Paloma when she was only a baby. These spells grew and evolved with their owners and never, ever failed. A trustworthy mor was their best and only defence. ¡°I¡¯ll arrange to get a new mor for you. Until then you¡¯ll just have to stay inside your home.¡±


    Paloma nodded distractedly then yawned widely. Her eyes suddenly felt heavy. ¡°I¡¯m so sleepy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. Rest. Stay inside. Don¡¯t answer the door. I will return at lunch,¡± Cam said as she pulled the covers up to her daughter¡¯s chin.


    Paloma smiled as she felt the familiar gestures from her mother and soon she was asleep.


    Cam did return at lunch and Paloma watched her speak to one Fae official after another trying to reach one that would take her seriously. A mor spell fail? Impossible! Finally, she reached someone senior in the organization that seemed more shocked than dismissive. She arranged to visit that night. She asked that the subject meditate to clear her mind of all worries as to apply a new spell at this stage of one¡¯s life required a good amount of mental assistance from the subject. Infants were easily bonded to their mor spells as their minds were far more malleable.


    So here Paloma sat in the dark, focusing on the candle, working on disciplining her mind, preparing for her new mor spell.


    ¡°Child¡­¡±


    Paloma blinked and looked closer at the me. There was nothing special to see there.


    ¡°Child¡­¡±


    She looked to the darkness beyond as the voice seemed to being from the darkest shadows. A chill ran down her spine.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Good child. You like my boy?¡±


    Paloma froze. It was her.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she squeaked, afraid to speak anything but the truth.


    ¡°What do you see when youseehim?¡± the voice asked.


    Paloma heard the emphasis on the repeated word and knew Baba Yaga was aware of her ability. Her mouth went dry but she had to answer. ¡°I see- I saw something special¡­¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t know what it is?¡±


    ¡°No. I never do. I just see the potential.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­ That¡¯s good, child.¡±


    Paloma found herself holding her breath. She took a gulp of air.


    ¡°Be kind to my boy¡­ Life won¡¯t be.¡±


    The candle went out and Paloma might have screamed. Just a little. When she found the courage to move she reached out in the darkness to touch themp next to the couch and its soft light filled the area around her. The candle¡¯s wick had simply drowned.


    She rose from the couch and checked the rune by the front door. It wasn¡¯t active. She set it and wondered if her mother had forgotten to set it when she left. Perhaps Baba Yaga turned it off herself. Someone as powerful as her was not likely to be stopped by this simple rune.


    Paloma took another candle from the drawer and went back to her meditation. Now more than ever she needed to settle her mind¡­ and nerves.


    Two hourster she was finally returning to a calm and floating state when she felt the gentle ping of the door rune being deactivated by her mother. She could feel Cam¡¯s presence through the rune¡¯s magic which gave her some additional peace of mind. She wanted to tell her mother about her afternoon visitor but something warned her to keep silent. Apulsion! Sneaky witch!


    She sighed and turned on the light as her mother entered the apartment.


    Walking to the windows Cam opened the blinds. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Better. Calm.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. The specialist should be here shortly.¡± The doorbell rang and Cam raised an eyebrow as she smiled. ¡°I¡¯m pretty good!¡±


    Paloma smiled at her mother and rolled her eyes.


    Cam went to the door and returned with a slight, grey haired woman, maybe 4¡ä 10¡å, dressed elegantly in a tan raincoat over ck cks and shiny leather shoes. She was leaning slightly on an ebony walking stick. With the merest flick of her fingers the raincoat she¡¯d appeared to be wearing disappeared to be reced with a ck business jacket over a gray silk shirt. Everything about this Fae was hidden behind a mor. This wasn¡¯t too surprising considering her upation.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Investigator Heriahn. I understand there is a im of a failed mor.¡± Her voice was light but crisp.


    Looking at the wispy aura around the woman Paloma was struck by the feeling of despair. The potential in the woman seemed to be almost gone. She¡¯d never been able to see the auras of the Fae before. Now she wished for that to be the case again. She held her tongue as keeping her secret was far more important. ¡°Yes, my mor has dissolved,¡± she said. She and her mother had decided Stanley¡¯s name and nature would be kept secret if possible.


    ¡°Dissolved?¡± the investigator said with a disbelieving tone.


    Paloma shrugged. ¡°Please see for yourself.¡±


    The Fae nodded, speaking words softly to itself, and looked closer. Her eyes began to gleam oddly. Then they flew wide. ¡°Itisdissolving! Only the barest hint of it remains!¡±


    ¡°Will you build upon the original mor or will you create an entirely new one?¡± Cam asked.


    Heriahn shook her head slowly. ¡°There is nothing left to anchor to with the original binding. It must be removed first. Let us sit down. We must prepare. Did you meditate and clear your mind?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready.¡± Paloma said.


    ¡°Good.¡± The woman sat on the couch next to her facing her and reached for her hands. Once they were linked she looked into Paloma¡¯s eyes. ¡°First we will remove the original binding. It will have a deep connection and it may be painful to remove so please be prepared to remain calm and strong. I will guide you.¡±


    Cam took the seat across from the couch and watched nervously.

 18

    ¡°Take a deep breath and release it. Good. One more. Good. Alright, let¡¯s begin,¡± the Fae sighed out a string of words that Paloma heard but as quickly as they touched her ears they were gone. The Fae reached out with her mind to gather up the wisps of binding. They proved to be difficult to grasp initially due to their frayed edges. She concentrated harder and finally managed to lock on to the damaged spell. She began to tug, expecting to follow the remnants down to their source in the core of Paloma¡¯s being. Instead they pulled up towards her with almost no effort at all. The shreds of magic came faster and faster as she pulled and she never once dipped into Paloma¡¯s core.


    Suddenly it was over and nothing of the original binding remained within the young woman. The tattered remains in Heriahn¡¯s grasp simply¡­ melted away. She caught the briefest glimpse of the ends of the ethereal strands and saw¡­ charring? She looked at Paloma who opened her eyes.


    ¡°Are we going to start?¡± she asked.


    Shaken, Heriahn looked over at Cam who frowned.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°The binding came loose with no effort. It was burned from her core!¡± Heriahn eximed.


    ¡°Will you be able to apply a new one?¡± Cam asked.


    Heriahn frowned and nodded curtly. This was her profession. Of course she could!


    The Fae blinked her eyes at Paloma as she uttered some specific words of magic from her toolkit, attempting to see the source of the scorching, what might be inside the young woman that could have destroyed such a strong spell. She understood now how the spell dissolved. A binding unbound from its host loses its integrity very quickly when no longer powered by its host. What she didn¡¯t know was what caused the spell¡¯s connection to Paloma to be burned away. Curses, corrupting spells and other ipatible magics were the most likely cause. She nced at the young woman, worried what she might find inside her. She also had to be cautious to not trigger an aggressive reaction if it was a curse. She had no desire to share the curse.


    Taking a deep breath, she rattled off a rapid string of sybles while holding the shape of her strongest shield spell in her mind. It formed perfectly and she felt its smooth protection all around her. Magic could flow outwards but not inwards.


    Next, she prepared the anchor spell which would bind the new mor to Paloma¡¯s inner core. She formed this just outside of her shield and inspected it. It was perfect but she prided herself on the craftsmanship of her work.


    Finally came the preparation of the mor itself. She¡¯d made hundreds of these so it was simple to do. Normally the mor¡¯s shape was that of a Human infant with some general features of the host, hair and eye color if applicable. This time she built a generic adult sized mor and bound it to the anchor spell. She inspected this and was satisfied. The final shape would have toe from the mind of its host. She would need Paloma¡¯s assistance at that time but not until then. She looked at her with eyes glowing bright yellow.


    ¡°It¡¯s time. Open yourself to me and no matter what, ept what I give you. Don¡¯t resist. Don¡¯t fight it. It must bind fully or the new mor will just fade as this one did. I will tell you when to step into the mor and shape it to your will. Make sure you have prepared the image in your mind.¡±


    Paloma nodded nervously then closed her eyes and took some deep breaths, centering herself. She allowed herself to rx as she thought of the single me in the dark.


    Heriahn nodded with a smile as she saw the young subus slip into a receptive state of mind. Uttering the words under her breath she formed the image of her probe and carefully reached through the being before her to the space beyond, inside. She prepared herself to watch for signs of whatever burned the initial mor spell. She felt an odd resistance and applied more pressure. The probe was being deflected.


    She leaned back a little and looked again at Paloma. She remained receptive and rxed. Nothing had ever deflected one of her probes before. Maybe someone shielded her with something old and rare?


    Heriahn was beginning to feel uneasy. She wasn¡¯t really a specialist with what she was about to do but she knew a few power words and she¡¯d be damned if she would admit to these Subi she was incapable of doing her job. Her pride would not allow this. She constructed her probe spell once more andced it with just a little ancient Fae magic using the old words.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    This time the probe met less resistance but there was a strange sympathetic vibrationing back through the spell. Heriahn suddenly felt like she was falling forward until she came to an abrupt stop at Paloma¡¯s core. The Fae gasped in shock as wild magic raced back through the link ignoring the presence of her shield.


    Paloma¡¯s eyes snapped open as she stared at the Fae, seeing her as she really was, ancient, crippled and diseased. The Fae was dying and had been for a long time. The connection between them going through the probe was frighteningly intimate.


    More immediate for Paloma, the probehurt! The Fae magic was grating harshly against the wild magic saturating her body, the two energies being slightly out of phase. The discordance made her teeth and jaw ache and a sharp spike was being driven through her head.


    She desperately needed the Fae to finishnow.


    Her urgency raced back through their link, washing over Heriahn who frantically reworked her spells to adapt them to the wild magic contained within the young woman. They didn¡¯t need to speak as their thoughts were instantly being shared. The mor activated in it¡¯s dormant state and Paloma rapidly imprinted her body image onto it.


    The pain grew too intense for Paloma to cope with rationally. She struck out blindly at the probe and felt it shatter and dissolve under the raging wave of energy flooding through her mind. She may have screamed.


    Heriahn certainly did and flung herself backwards, surging out of the young woman¡¯s being. The old Fae passed out, falling into Cam¡¯s arms as Paloma slumped back against the cushions panting and holding her head as the pain slowly dissipated.


    ¡°What happened? Are you alright? Did it work?¡± Cam asked in a panic as Heriahn began toe around.


    As consciousness returned to the Fae she noticed her own mor was no longer active. She reached for it but she was in too much pain to draw the magic forward. She would have to wait. She shook off Cam¡¯s hands roughly. ¡°Cloak! I need a cloak,¡± she rasped through her raw throat. Cam left to get the woman one of the heavy garments every Hidden Races member kept in their closet, just in case.


    The disease Heriahn had battled for so many centuries was close upon her tonight. She could feel its ws in her deep. She¡¯d used too much energy on this girl and she resented it. She red at Paloma.


    ¡°How did youe by this energy child? Who did you feed from?¡± she barked as Cam re-entered the room.


    Paloma looked to her mother whose expression turned cold.


    ¡°Who we feed from is none of your business!¡± she snapped.


    ¡°Wild magic! With a strength not found in the realm of Magic we draw from. That¡¯s Fae Council business! Expect a summons tomorrow,¡± the crone barked back and pushed herself to her feet leaning heavily on her cane and grabbed the cloak. She dragged it around herself and shuffled out of the apartment.


    Cam locked the door behind her, setting the protection rune. She rushed back to her daughter. ¡°The mor! Did it take?¡±


    Blinking at her mother Paloma pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the couch and steadied herself. She closed her eyes and looked inside for the mor and there it was, waiting for hermand. She called it forward and heard her mother gasp. She opened her eyes and saw her mother looking at her with wide eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Didn¡¯t it work? It felt like it worked!¡±


    Cam tugged her daughter to her feet and led her to the front door where thergest mirror was. Paloma stumbled when she saw herself, or the woman she now appeared to be. ¡°Oh my god!¡± she gasped. ¡°How¡­ how do I exin this?¡± she cried.


    As before her mor followed her hair and eye color. Her new mor kept her white hair but deepened the blue of her eyes. Her brows arched high but the nt of her eyes remained almost unchanged. She looked exotic and her curves were barely subdued. She could definitely pass for Human but she would be attracting a lot of attention unless she dressed to lessen the impact of some of her ¡®attributes¡¯. She had some non-prescription sses she would now have to wear to downy her eyes.


    The problem was she looked nothing like Paloma Vimor! She caught her mother¡¯s concerned eye in the mirror. ¡°How can I go back to work looking like this?!?¡±


    Cam considered the issue. mor spells were based closely on their host¡¯s true state so they would evolve with them as they aged. Seeing her daughter¡¯s new mor in ce she now knew the changes Stanley had brought her were permanent. She saw Palomaing to the same realization.


    So. Paloma would have to be someone new as well.


    ¡°Paloma Vimor has moved back to Spain and her cousin Marisa hase to fill in for her until further notice. I will ask Sigrid to obtain the required documentation.¡± Cam said firmly.


    The woman in the mirror looked at her in shock and began to cry. Cam understood only too well. In her long life span she¡¯d had to see a number of her own identities pass on. While it was early, this was only Paloma¡¯s first time but it wouldn¡¯t be herst.


    ¡°You are now Marisa Vimor and I will call you niece but remember you are always flesh of my flesh and I love you no less thanpletely.¡± She pulled the young woman into a hug and rocked her in her arms as the tears flowed.


    When the tears ran dry Marisa pulled back and looked at her ¡®aunt¡¯. ¡°Was¡­ it like this when you changed your identity to Cam Vimor?¡± she said with a shaky voice.


    Cam nodded. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s like this every time. I will walk you through the process over the next few days.¡± Her ¡®niece¡¯ sucked in a few stuttering breaths and seemed to be getting control back so she smiled at her. ¡°Once we¡¯re both confident you have this new identity locked in we¡¯ll introduce you to thepany. Everything will be fine. I¡¯m more concerned about how we will keep Stanley away from the Fae Council. I need to speak with Sigrid tonight. Are you going to be alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m still tired and that bonding really hurt!¡± Marisa said.


    ¡°Get some sleep and I¡¯ll check in on you on my way to work.¡± Cam said and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

 19

    Marisa hugged her and watched her leave.


    When she was alone she looked to the mirror at the new person she was to be. ¡°Marisa.¡± She liked the name. She¡¯d even wondered what it might be like being a blond. She frowned. She hadn¡¯t expected it to be permanent.


    She reached inside and disabled the mor. There was no transition. No glittering curtain of sparkles. The mor just stopped and she was looking at the new coloring of her Subus form. Frightened, she reached for the mor again and it snapped back into ce. It was so easy! Before there had been a momentary effort to switch and there was always a dy in the removal as the mor dissipated. Now the change was instant and effortless! She looked inside again at the spell and discovered it wasn¡¯t alone. There was another dormant spell waiting for activation. She touched it with her mind and suddenly recognized it! It was the shield spell that Heriahn had tried to protect herself with. The Fae¡¯s shield had been useless against her wild magic but this shield¡­ it was reworked to use the wild magic as its power source! She called it to activate it and felt the smooth surface of it snap into ce around her. It was much stronger than the one she¡¯d felt around Heriahn!


    So now she had her very own shield and it was a good one! She had no idea why Heriahn had imnted it with the mor but she was keeping it!


    She smiled at her new blond reflection. Whoa. She was really going to have to do something to minimize the impact of that smile. Fake retainer? She sighed.


    Her thoughts turned to the old Fae and the grief she was going to cause Stanley.


    Heriahn shuffled down the stairs into the subway. She passed her illusionary pass over the turnstile as she ¡®pushed¡¯ the machinery, wincing at the pain of using even this small amount of magic but the gate let her pass.


    She painfully made her way down the steps to the tform and saw the train pulling away. Damn it! She¡¯d have to wait for the next one. She shuffled over to the seats and eased herself down onto one and spoke the words to a simple ¡®do not disturb¡¯ spell to make others avoid her. She leaned back and closed her eyes feeling the damage tonight¡¯s session had done to her.


    She was so weary. She hadn¡¯t expected to deal with wild magic! And so strong! Magic was disappearing from the world as the membrane between this ne and the realm of Magic slowly closed.


    It was the Human¡¯s fault for corrupting the world. Their disease sickened this ne and to protect the others, the membranes were sealing up. This fact was only known by the Fae and they were keeping it to themselves.


    To encounter this tonight¡­ she had to inform the Fae Council. Let them know there might be a source of magic powerful enough to expedite the purging of the disease and its source, the Humans. Whoever the Subus fed from was someone the Fae needed to know about. They would get the information from the girl.


    A foul odor wafted over to her and she opened her eyes to look in the direction it wasing. A homeless woman was easing herself down two seats over. Heriahn scowled. Her spell should have kept everyone away but in her weakened state the spell¡¯s potency was obviously not as powerful as it should have been. It certainly wasn¡¯t as powerful as the smell of unwashed flesh this old woman was giving off. The few other people on the tform were giving them both a wide berth. She realized they probably thought they both smelled this bad. She scowled, closed her eyes and reached for a stronger avoidance spell. She moaned a little as the strength it took to invoke the spell sapped her and sent pain shooting through her body.


    She was startled to hear a chuckle from the old woman who should have been rushing away at this point. Heriahn painfully turned her head towards the woman and saw a wide smile was on her face.


    ¡°That was a waste of your remaining strength, now wasn¡¯t it,¡± the woman cackled quietly.


    Heriahn blinked in confusion, her head spun with the pain she was in and she felt the disease digging in deeper.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re not well are you? How unfortunate for you¡­ but fortunate for me,¡± the homeless woman whispered behind her grin. Then as Heriahn watched in dismay the homeless woman began to cough loudly, deep, wet hacking barks causing the few remaining people on the tform to look away.


    The Fae heard it then. The almost silent words of power beneath the coughs. But it was toote to respond as the disease in her core awoke with new energy and stole herst remaining years in a blink of an eye. As she sank into that most final darkness she looked one more time at the old woman who was shambling away. When the old crone turned the corner to exit the tform, Baba Yaga smiled back at her and Heriahn saw nothing more.


    Sigrid sat in her favorite chair, under her softest nket, in front of her small firece sipping herforting tea after having dinner with Stanley. She contemted the young man sitting in the chair across from her. He was having a rough week.


    ¡°So VRL now owns the unit?¡± he asked.


    ¡°As of tomorrow afternoon. You¡¯ll get the keys at the office. You can move in any time after that,¡± she nodded.


    He thought for a moment. ¡°I need to get furniture. Dishes. Towels. Groceries? I don¡¯t know how to use the stove or cook for myself. I¡¯ve never used a washer or dryer. Baba¡¯s cottage had no electricity and she took care of those things and never asked me to learn. I see now I should have prepared myself much better.¡±


    Sigrid tilted her head with a smile. ¡°You need a housekeeper for a one bedroom condo?¡±


    He looked at her sharply but saw she was just teasing. ¡°Ha ha, I¡¯m such a helpless male.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯re right, until now you¡¯ve led a sheltered life but you have to learn some time,¡± Sigrid suggested.


    Stanley looked at her bleakly. ¡°I have less than a month to rece all of VRL¡¯swork hardware and software. I got a good start on it today. We¡¯ll have the delivery of the new air conditioner and diesel generator next week. The electricians will install the new lines from the roof to a new panel in the new server room this week. I finished the design of the newwork topography and will begin ordering the servers tomorrow. Based on the volume of the order and how little set up I¡¯ve asked them to do, I¡¯ve managed to negotiate some excellent prices too. I¡¯ll begin configuring the servers as soon as they begin arriving. There is so much to do. I can¡¯t fit all that in and learn how to be self-sufficient at home at the same time. Plus, there¡¯s the fact that my current savings won¡¯t cover the cost of the stuff I need to get for the apartment.¡±


    Sigrid realized he was a little over-burdened. ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll find someone to temporarily deal with the household issues. VRL will furnish the ce with the basics as we have some furniture in storage like couches, tables, and chairs. Not a bed naturally so we¡¯ll have to buy that. We¡¯ll hire a housekeeper to keep the ce tidy, take care of theundry, and make you meals. Once you have VRL¡¯s situation in hand you¡¯ll need to learn how to deal with your own household issues. I¡¯ll get you training in that.¡± She watched Stanley slump in relief.


    ¡°That would be great! Thanks! I want to learn how to be independent and self-sufficient but there¡¯s just too much to do at the moment!¡±


    ¡°Now, as to the other issue.¡± Sigrid looked at Stanley withpassion. ¡°As someone who isn¡¯t Human having a rtionship with a Human is not a good idea. Rtionships only survive if you can bepletely honest with your partner and let¡¯s face it, this is as big of a secret as theye. You cannot share this with a Human. To do so puts all of us at risk and that won¡¯t be allowed. Steps will be taken to discredit or silence the Humanandthe one who couldn¡¯t keep the secret. You will never know whose been asked to do it.Youmight one day be told you have to destroy someone¡¯s credibility or even kill to protect us all. It¡¯s never done lightly and it¡¯s only done to ensure our survival. The sooner you ept that the easier life will be.¡±


    ¡°So, I can¡¯t even be friends with a human?¡± Stanley blurted.


    ¡°No, of course you can. You just can¡¯t ever have the kind of rtionship with one that requiresplete honesty. Think about it! You have to switch to your true form every night. That means no overnight Human guests,¡± Sigrid exined. ¡°Speaking of changing, shouldn¡¯t you be in your true form now?¡±


    Stanley shrugged with a sullen look.


    Sigrid looked him in the eye sympathetically. ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing. It¡¯s just the truth. Learn to not only ept it but embrace it. It¡¯s who you really are and that¡¯s wonderful. You have a lot to learn about yourself. Granted you¡¯re learning itter than most but it¡¯s still good!¡±


    He smiled at her effort to make him feel better. She really was a good personandshe was a Valkyrie! Then he winced. ¡°I forgot. I ruined the robe I hadst night when I switched back to my¡­ human disguise while I was wearing it. That folding reality thing really wreaks havoc on clothes. I¡¯ll need to pick up some clothes for my true self.¡±


    She smiled at his initial efforts to ept his new state of being. ¡°I¡¯ll loan you one of mine until you get one for yourself.¡± She frowned. ¡°You should take some measurements once you¡¯ve changed so you can get something that fits. I¡¯ll get you a tape measure.¡± She stood up and made her way upstairs to her bedroom.


    Stanley sat and stared into the mes. He suddenly thought of Paloma and wondered how she was. Maybe he could go see her tomorrow at lunch. He¡¯d ask Sigrid- ¡°What is that?¡± he asked in dismay as he saw the short, white, gauzy nightgown Sigrid was carrying in her hands.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°What? Hey! Beggars can¡¯t be choosers. You can buy your own robe tomorrow. For tonight, all you have is this and I want it back in one piece so change before you put it on and take it off before you change back!¡± Sigrid griped.


    ¡°Sorry! It¡¯s just so¡­ girly.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I¡¯d like girly things or look good in them?¡± she asked with raised eyebrows.


    Stanley froze. ¡°No of course you would! You¡¯re beautiful!¡± He caught her pleased smile and frowned. ¡°Hey! You said you¡¯d stop teasing me!¡±

 20

    She gave him an innocent look. ¡°I did? I don¡¯t recall ever saying that.¡± She gently tossed the garment in his direction and it opened and settled over his head like a parachute. He pulled it off but not before he picked up her delicate and pleasing scent from the garment. He blushed strongly and she looked at him questioningly again. ¡°What?¡±


    He looked away, embarrassed. ¡°You smell pretty too,¡± he muttered.


    It was Sigrid¡¯s turn to blush as he caught her by surprise. She became flustered and shooed him towards the guest bathroom. ¡°Go get changed and be careful with that! It¡¯s one of my favorites.¡± She realized it really was and wondered why she¡¯d loaned that particr one to him.


    Stanley went to the bathroom and took off his clothes. He set them on the toilet seat with the robe and took a deep breath. He calmed his mind and thought of the instructions. Twist one way then all the way back. He felt no difference but when he opened his eyes the stranger was looking back at him in the mirror. Taller, stronger, bigger in many ways. Looking down at himself he took in powerful muscles, the brown fur on his legs, and the¡­ appendage hanging between them. Geezus, that was his too.


    He looked around but nothing else in the small room had been disturbed so it looked like he had gotten it right.


    Sighing he pulled the robe on and realized it was just a little translucent. He frowned and tied it tighter to double the fabric up front. He looked down and realized he was as covered as he was going to get. He walked back out to the living room where Sigrid had made his bed on the couch once more. She turned when she heard him enter and almost managed to hide the snort and grin as she spun back to the couch.


    ¡°No, really. Go ahead. Let¡¯s dress the big, bad Satyr in the pretty, girly gown,¡± he growled.


    She spun back and he saw she was smiling broadly at him. Her eyes were twinkling in happiness again and his frown melted away as he wondered what he¡¯d said this time.


    ¡°You think my gown is pretty and girly?¡± she asked.


    He looked down at himself. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s very delicate and soft.¡±


    Sigrid tilted her head as she looked at hisrge arms in the sleeves. When he looked back at her she gestured for him to kneel down with her on opposite sides of the coffee table. Curious he did as she asked making sure the gown didn¡¯t get caught ore open. They faced each other across the small but sturdy table.


    ¡°Valkyries are seen as warriors. Strong, fierce, and unforgiving. All of that is true. I loved dispatching the demon the other night. It¡¯s been a long time since I got to really battle one to the death! It made me feel alive! I¡¯d like to test the strength of those big arms of yours. You should know your strength for one day you may need to call on it to save yourself. Right now, you don¡¯t know your limits. I think I would be an excellent sparring partner for you to test your strength against.¡±


    ¡°Sparring? I can¡¯t fight you! I can¡¯t fight anyone! I don¡¯t know how to fight!¡± he eximed.


    She raised her hands in surrender. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean we¡¯d fight. I was just thinking a little, friendly arm wrestling. Have you done that?¡±


    ¡°No, but I know how it¡¯s done,¡± he said calming down.


    ¡°Good! Now, I don¡¯t want you to hold anything back. I need to gauge your true strength so just keep pouring it on. Remember, I¡¯m a Valkyrie. I can take it,¡± she smirked and he nodded.


    They rested their elbows on the table and grasped each other¡¯s hands. ¡°When I say go, start pushing and keep your elbow on the table at all times. Most importantly,¡± she caught his eyes with hers, ¡°you don¡¯t know how strong your Satyr side is. You can¡¯t be limited to your Human strength.¡±


    He nodded and concentrated on his grip. My god her hand was soft!All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Ready?¡± she asked bringing his mind back to the task at hand. He nodded. ¡°Go.¡±


    Stanley pushed and saw Sigrid¡¯s eyes widen slightly as a smile slowly slipped onto her lips. He dragged his eyes from her mouth to look at her hand. Her knuckles were white with the effort of keeping his arm in ce.


    She said he didn¡¯t know his limits and he couldn¡¯t be limited to human strength. Ok then. He took some deeper breaths and really poured it on, bunching his arm muscles as hard as he could to force her arm back.


    It started to happen. Sigrid¡¯s arm was ever so slowly falling back. Her teeth were bared in a fierce snarl and her eyes absolutely sparkled with joy. Stanley was tiring and his arm was beginning to shake.


    Sigrid immediately moved her other hand up as well to grip his hand and stop the battle.


    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s good for now. You did amazingly well. If you were to exercise those muscles regrly I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if one day you beat me. I stopped you now as you might have injured yourself if you continued. Again, you did really well! I¡¯m really impressed.¡±


    Stanley grinned happily. He¡¯d never achieved any real sess with physical endeavors before. He¡¯d actually managed to impress a Valkyrie! That had to be like winning a gold medal in the Olympics on his first attempt! Of course, his arm did hurt.


    ¡°Thanks! I think I¡¯ll go to sleep now. I have a busy day tomorrow and my arm¡¯s a little sore,¡± he said with a self-conscious grin.


    She nodded with a smile of her own and stood up. She used her left hand to pull him up by his left hand.


    ¡°Sleep well, Stanley. See you in the morning.¡±


    As she climbed the steps up to her own bedroom she used her left hand to massage the knots out of her right bicep. If she was being honest, Stanley¡¯s wasn¡¯t the only arm that was going to suffer an injury if she hadn¡¯t stopped the battle. His strength hadpletely surprised her. He¡¯d almost bested her and¡­ would have if she¡¯d let them continue. First he treated her like the woman she craved to be seen as then he won a strengthpetition against her. She was seriously turned on right now and going upstairs was the smartest thing she could do for him. Stanley didn¡¯t need any more confusion in his life.


    But damn, it was going to be difficult getting to sleep tonight.


    Stanley waited until he heard Sigrid¡¯s door close upstairs before he undid and took off the robe. He was almost painfully erect so he was d Sigrid wasn¡¯t there to see how he treated her generous hospitality.


    With adolescent horniness!


    The woman had been nothing butpassionate and generous to him, doing her best to ease his transition into living as a member of the Hidden Races and here he was dwelling on how soft her skin was, how good she smelled, how lovely her blue eyes were when they sparkled with joy, and how amazing her mouth looked when she smiled¡­ those lips. GAH! He was just making it tougher for himself to get to sleep.


    He folded the dressing gown and ced it on the end table next to the couch. He crawled under the covers and turned off the light.


    The next twenty minutes were torture. Stanley picked up her scent from the dressing gown and his arousal just wouldn¡¯t subside.


    ¡°Pheromones.¡±


    Stanley yelped as he hadn¡¯t heard Sigrid¡¯s stealthy approach. He flipped on the end table light.


    She was leaning against the opening to the living room, watching him. Her braid was undone so her long blond hair was flowing freely down her back and over her shoulders. Stanley thought she looked stunning!


    ¡°You can¡¯t help it. It¡¯s what Satyr¡¯s do and any receptive female nearby is going to be drawn to you,¡± she exined from the doorway.


    Stanley did his best to cover his erection with the sheets. ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯m so sorry! I had no idea!¡± he moaned.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok Stanley. Why don¡¯t we just take care of that so we can both get some sleep tonight?¡± she said looking at the bulge in the sheets.


    ¡°Take care of it?¡± he asked quietly.


    Instead of answering, Sigrid slipped the thin shoulder straps to her nightie from her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. His eyes flew wide and he gasped.


    ¡°My god you¡¯re beautiful!¡± he sighed. Sigrid¡¯s self-control finally broke and she strode over to him to tug away the sheets. She knelt over his body on the couch and positioned herself over his thick and very hard cock. She guided the head inside her very wet pussy and dropped down over him, driving his cock deep inside until he filled her. She threw her head back and moaned in bliss.


    Sigrid hadn¡¯t been able to sleep either with her body demanding some kind of release of the sexual tension. She¡¯d gotten up to look for some chocte in the fridge and slipped downstairs silently when she heard Stanley tossing and turning. That¡¯s when she detected his pheromones. She could have easily resisted them but honestly¡­ she didn¡¯t want to. They made an excellent excuse to do what she¡¯d craved.


    ¡°Oh! Sigrid! Oh my god! That¡¯s so good!¡± he gasped. He looked up and saw the gorgeous blond biting her lush bottom lip. He sat up and hooked his hand behind her neck and pulled her into a kiss. She squeaked and tried to push away but his kiss was insistent and passionate. She found herself melting against him as they kissed deeply.


    Finally, she pushed him onto his back and began to ride his cock. Up and down, slowly at first, gradually increasing her pace. She felt so incredibly good and Stanley¡¯s face showed his own bliss.


    His big powerful hands cupped her breasts to caress and squeeze them as her hips drove him deep, faster and faster.


    ¡°Stanley, I¡¯m going to- FUCK! I¡¯m so close!¡± she whimpered with need.


    He moved his hands down to her hips and began to drive his hips upwards, mming their bodies together. He was also close and he needed to warn her.

 21

    ¡°Sigrid! I¡¯m going to cum! We should st-¡±


    ¡°DO IT! I¡¯M CUMMING! STANLEY! CUM! FUCK!¡± she wailed as she leaned forward over his chest, her hair flowing over him, covering his face, filling his senses with its sweet scent.


    His hips sped up on their own until the sound of their bodies brutally pping together filled the room.


    ¡°FUCK! YES! OH FUCK YES! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!¡± Sigrid screamed as her orgasm took her just as Stanley¡¯s roared through him.


    He felt his cum firing up into Sigrid, stream after stream. Suddenly, her enormous white wings unfolded from her back, sshing their shining brilliance across the room. Each and every feather shone with crystal sharpness as he watched wide eyed, his body continuing to surge and pulse with his own release. Sigrid¡¯s body began to glow with the pure white light and her long blond strands began to slowly rise. The look on her face was transcendent.


    Stanley¡¯s orgasm finally ebbed and he rested back on the sofa looking up in awe at the beautiful Valkyrie. She seemed to being back to herself slowly,nguidly, reveling in the pure pleasure of their joining. She shook her head from side to side slowly and her hair settled down on her shoulders and back. Only then did she look down at him and blush when she saw his worshipful expression.


    ¡°Oh my god Stanley! I haven¡¯t felt this good¡­¡± she blinked as she tried to recall a time when she¡¯d felt so energized and vital. Even in the fury of righteous battle when she¡¯d killed that demon she¡¯d been aware of her aches and tension. Now? It felt like anything was possible!


    ¡°It was pretty amazing for me too,¡± he said quietly, not quite able to believe he¡¯d just made love to this¡­ goddess.


    She leaned over him once more, a wide grin on her lips. ¡°That was just what I needed!¡±


    Stanley didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. It was his pheromones that started all this. He suddenly felt very remorseful for forcing someone so gracious into this. He looked away, unable to face her with his guilt.


    Her smile slipped away when she saw him looking so awkward. Then she realized she was still riding his softening cock. She felt guilty for using him like that.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Stanley. I was a little too forceful-¡±


    ¡°NO! No- please¡­ don¡¯t apologize for this. None of this was your fault. You¡¯ve been nothing but a perfect host and I-¡± His voice cracked with his self-disgust.


    ¡°No-¡± she began but he interrupted once more.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only made love twice now in my life and I¡¯m just learning so I apologize for not knowing about my pheromones or how to control them. I¡¯m mortified that I forced you into this!¡±All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°HA!¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s bark ofughter derailed Stanley¡¯s train of thought and he blinked at her.


    ¡°No one forces a Valkyrie into anything, especially sex! Your pheromones are strong but not stronger than my will.¡± She sighed at his look of confusion. ¡°I wasn¡¯tpletely honest about my reasons for having sex with you Stanley. I truly wanted to. You¡¯ve been droppingpliments about my femininity since we met and tonight you pulled out the stops. Then you almost bested me in arm wrestling. That was so hot! A woman can only take so much flirting before she wants to act on it.¡± She looked away with a gentle smile on her lips. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t get very many opportunities for sex as there are very few Hidden Races I wouldn¡¯t break under my muscles and Humans are out of the question. You proved you were strong enough. I¡¯m sorry for letting you think it was all your fault. I like you Stanley and I really, really enjoyed that!¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± he said softly. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I tell you?¡± she asked and he nodded. She smiled with a shrug. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to hurt you but it was easier to say it was just a physical need than to add moreplexity to your life right now.¡±


    He looked at her. ¡°Theplexity of knowing I have someone out there that likes me enough to share a tremendous intimacy with me? I can deal with that kind ofplexity. It actually makes my life feel lessplex,¡± he admitted.


    She smiled at him and nodded again. ¡°You¡¯re a pretty smart fellow, Stanley. I won¡¯t withhold these truths from you again.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°Maybe you could put your wings away now. They¡¯re a little hard to look at, they¡¯re so bright!¡±


    She nced over her shoulder and her mouth dropped open. ¡°Oh my god! I didn¡¯t even feel they were open. They feel solight! Andpowerful!¡± She stepped off the couch releasing Stanley at the same time and called for her armor and weapons in her mind.


    Stanley had to cover his eyes as her white armor gleamed like the sun as did her shield and spear. Then the light in the room dimmed so quickly it felt like the room was plunged into ckness even though the one end table light was still on. He blinked and realized she¡¯d just put it all away.


    ¡°Wow! That was intensely bright! Blinding!¡± he muttered.


    ¡°Was it?¡±


    He stared at her incredulously. ¡°You couldn¡¯t tell?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Not from inside. It just feels¡­ good!¡± She frowned slightly as another thought came to her. ¡°Another reason I let you think it was just a physical thing was the fact that while I really wanted to, we really shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m head of Human Resources. You¡¯re the CIO. We work together. We can¡¯t act too familiar at work as it will get awkward for everyone,¡± she said, her frown deepening as she came to terms with the scope of her mistake.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s ok. I get it but you don¡¯t have to worry about my behavior towards you changing at all,¡± he assured her.


    She looked at him curiously.


    ¡°When we first met, I thought you were some kind of divine angel saving me from demons and worse, the pain of losing my only family. I held you in the highest regard and could only admire you from a distance as I¡¯m not worthy. Now? Now I know it¡¯s true.¡±


    Blue eyes looked back at him with tears pooling in her thickshes. ¡°Stanley-¡± she choked around the lump in her throat.


    He smiled and held up his hand. ¡°It¡¯s ok. I know how our rtionship has to remain. I had a wonderful time tonight and I still hold you in the highest regard. You are a great person. I hope one day I will be as good.¡±


    Sigrid was shaken. No one had ever spoken to her like this before and more than anything she wanted to grab Stanley and hug him but she could see he was already pulling back. Giving her room to restore their rtionship back to the friend level. She knew she had to respect that. To respect his wishes. She nodded and smiled shakily. ¡°Alright then. Sleep well Stanley. See you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Good night, Sigrid,¡± he replied.


    She climbed the stairs and went back into her bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed she noticed her phone was shing. She picked it up and saw it was a message from Cam asking her to call immediately. It was from a couple of hours ago. She¡¯d missed it. She dialed.


    ¡°Sigrid! Where have you been?¡± Cam¡¯s voice blurted from the phone.


    ¡°I was speaking with Stanley. He is still having issues and he needed to talk.¡±


    ¡°He may haverger issues as of tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What? Why? What happened?¡± Sigrid asked in rm.


    ¡°Paloma needed a newspecial dressand the dressmaker wasn¡¯t pleased about making a house call but she did. Something went wrong during the creation of the new dress and the dressmaker told us she¡¯s going to report to the council of dressmakers that Paloma¡¯s diet was to me.¡±


    Sigrid understood perfectly the code Cam was using and knew what it could mean for Stanley if the Fae Council got involved. Nobody messed with the Fae. They had a very bad reputation for ying dirty.


    ¡°Damn it! Can¡¯t he catch a break with anything?¡± she growled.


    There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line then a chuckle. ¡°I think someone is taking a liking to our new friend.¡±


    Sigrid bit her tongue and squirmed. ¡°Of course, I like him. He¡¯s a good kid! Even you have to admit that!¡±


    ¡°Even me? What does that mean?¡± Cam¡¯s tone grew a little cool.


    ¡°When you take your CEO hat off,¡± Sigrid replied evenly.


    Cam knew this familiar argument and didn¡¯t really want to go there tonight. ¡°Yes, well¡­¡±


    ¡°More importantly, did Paloma get her new dress?¡± Sigrid said to change the direction of the conversation.


    Gratefully Cam sighed. ¡°Yes. Better than before but¡­ she¡¯s going to have to leave thepany to go back to Spain. My niece Marisa will being to take over her responsibilities.¡±


    Sigrid gasped. She knew what this meant as every Hidden Race member with an extended lifespan did. Paloma was no more and Marisa was her new identity.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the paperwork started in the morning. When can we expect our new employee to begin?¡± Sigrid asked quietly.


    ¡°In a few days,¡± Cam replied.


    ¡°Is there anything we can do about the previous matter?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you if this is something we should contact Walter about,¡± Cam asked hesitantly.


    ¡°NO! Absolutely not!¡± Sigrid bristled. She hated Walter Zhao, VRL¡¯s legal representative. ¡°We do that and we might as well say goodbye to our new friend. We need him too much right now to let that happen.¡± She took a deep breath and heard Cam do the same on her end of the line so she felt the same way. ¡°Let¡¯s see how we can deal with this on our own. If all else fails, I¡¯ll personally call on our new friend¡¯s family before Walter.¡±


    ¡°Sigrid!¡± Cam gasped.


    ¡°Last resort.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Cam replied with a stern tone. A chill ran down her spine and she wondered where Sigrid¡¯s bravery came from. She wished she had a fraction of it.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try to get some sleep. I suggest you do as well,¡± the Valkyrie suggested.


    ¡°Right. See you in the morning.¡±


    Sigrid hung up andid back on the bed. Her body still felt wonderful! She set her rm, shut off her light and closed her eyes.


    So, Stanley thought of her as some kind of divine angel? She only hoped she could live up to his opinion.

 22

    Stanley was feeling a lot more optimistic about his chances of getting the newwork up and running in short order. Over the past week, he¡¯d had the electricians in, the server room raised flooring was in, the diesel generator was installed on the roof, the server room racks were being installed right now by a crew of workers, and he had three of the key servers in his office having their software installed.


    On the personal side, he¡¯d moved into his new condo and as promised he had furniture. Hand me downs from VRL except for the new bed. There were sheets and towels and he had a housekeeper who let herself in every morning to prepare him breakfast and when he got home there was dinner for him on the table. So far, he¡¯d only caught glimpses of her as she ducked out the door in the morning and at night but he always called out his thanks. She was a tiny thing. Japanese, he thought, with a thing for colored wigs. He swore he¡¯d seen red, pink, green, blue, and violet hair. All of it long, straight, right down to her back. Whatever made her happy! His ce didn¡¯t have much in it but it was spotless and he was well fed and his clothes were cleaned every day. That seemed a little excessive but he wasn¡¯t going toin.


    He missed Paloma. She never returned to work and Cam let him know she had to return to Spain. Her niece Marisa would being to take over the position as his executive assistant.


    Speaking of Cam, she¡¯d been on edge for thest week and had appeared quite distracted in their update meeting the day before. He was worried about her. Maybe she was worried about Paloma.


    He checked on his software installs and saw they¡¯d be busy for the next few hours. He left his office and walked out to let Siobhan know he was going to speak with Cam. He stopped by the server room and thest few racks were going in ce. The cable guides arrived and he showed a few of the workers what he wanted done with those with the blue print he¡¯d taped to the ss wall. They nodded in unison and he left them to it.


    Cam¡¯s assistant Felix announced his arrival and gestured for him to go in. Stanley opened her door and closed it behind him. He walked across the room and took in Cam¡¯s exhaustion. His smile slipped away as he got closer. ¡°Please don¡¯t take this the wrong way but you look terrible!¡±


    She quirked the corner of her mouth up at his words and raised an eyebrow. ¡°How am I to take that the right way?¡±


    ¡°I just mean you look exhausted! Are you not sleeping? Are you worried about Paloma? She¡¯s a smart woman, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine!¡± Stanley gushed in concern.


    Cam leaned back in her chair and sighed with a smile on her face. Stanley really was a sweet young man. She felt a familiar tug and forced it down.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not worried about Paloma. I haven¡¯t slept well but worse, I haven¡¯t fed since¡­¡± she struggled to recall then her eyes widened. ¡°since that night when you were with Paloma at her condo.¡±


    He recalled that night very well. ¡°Wait a minute, Subi feed on sexual energy¡­ oh.¡±


    She looked troubled but a little desperate too. ¡°It¡¯s ok Stanley, I will try to go out to find a meal tonight.¡±


    He saw the doubt in her eyes and realized she was probably going to let this continue and that could be dangerous. While he was uneasy about making the offer, he knew there was something he could do to help. ¡°With all due respect, I think you need to feed now. I- I can help with that.¡± He looked at the windows. ¡°Is there somece we could go for some privacy.¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes red with hunger. She wanted to say no but thest week of waiting for the damn Fae Council to pounce had prevented her from leaving Marisa¡¯s side for any extended periods. She knew they would go to the condo to speak with her. Here Stanley was offering to feed her which, from herst experience, was more than filling. She made the decision. To protect Marisa, she¡¯d do it. She reached to her inte. ¡°Felix, Stanley and I are not to be disturbed under any circumstances¡±.


    ¡°Understood, Ms. Vimor.¡±Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    She pressed a hidden button under the desk¡¯s surface. A click announced the door¡¯s deadbolt was set. Another button lowered the curtains and closed them. The privacy rune was active so they had their privacy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Stanley. I shouldn¡¯t but you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve put off feeding for too long. I¡¯m exhausted and at risk for making poor decisions. This might be one of them.¡± She smiled tiredly.


    Steeling himself he began undressing. He knew what she needed and he knew she¡¯d seen him naked before but it was still very ufortable taking his clothes off in front of the beautiful woman. Her hungry smile didn¡¯t make the task any easier.


    As if reading his mind, she exined. ¡°Sorry for smiling but I usually have to hunt for my meals. Rarely do they seek me out and offer to feed me. It¡¯s¡­ nice.¡±


    To take his mind off the process he kept her talking. ¡°How do you hunt?¡±


    She tilted her head as she watched him unbutton his shirt. ¡°I go to clubs and look for an avable man with the right scent.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t imagine you¡¯d have any trouble attracting a man,¡± he said inly.


    She grinned. ¡°You¡¯re right, I don¡¯t but thank you. The trouble is not every man is suitable for a meal. There has to be the right kind of energy in him. Subi can scent this. If the man is sick he smells sour. If he¡¯s sterile, there¡¯s almost no scent. When it¡¯s right¡­¡± she inhaled deeply and smiled serenely. ¡°It¡¯s like spring winds across a mountain meadow.¡±


    Stanley paused. ¡°Flowers?¡±


    She shook her head holding her smile. ¡°No Stanley, life!¡±


    ¡°Ahh! Ok, I think I¡¯d better switch to my true self.¡± He stepped to the middle of the room, turned his back on Cam, and closed his eyes. He found the experience visually disturbing. He held the image in his mind and twisted the ring. He heard a gasp and opened his eyes and turned to see Cam staring at him in shock.


    ¡°Does that hurt?¡± she asked quietly.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± He shrugged and looked ufortable. ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t want to repeat what happened to Paloma so we can only do it once. How do you want to do this?¡± He sounded ufortable but his cock was waking up, excited by the prospect.


    Cam stood and prowled around the desk. As she got closer she dropped her mor in a cascade of sparkles. Ruby red lips smiled at him showing her pearly white teeth. Her skin shimmered like wettex but he knew from touching Paloma, she would feel softer than anything he¡¯d felt before.


    Stanley cleared his throat as he looked into her gold eyes. ¡°Why- why the sparkles?¡±


    A distasteful expression passed quickly over her features. ¡°A cruel trick of the Fae who provide for the Hidden Races who need mor spells. The only Fae mor spells that don¡¯t do that belong to the Fae.¡± She smiled once more. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that. I have to decide how I want to feed from you! I could take this lovely cock in my mouth and take your load down my throat.¡±


    Stanley¡¯s cock was throbbing in her grip and he was beginning to pant.


    ¡°Or you could take me from behind over my desk. That¡¯s a faster way to take the energy,¡± she purred.


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s do that one!¡± Stanley gasped as he felt his cock reach full erection.


    ¡°Mmmm, I like how you think, Stanley. Let me just get you lubed up.¡± Cam sighed as she stepped back and bent at the waist to run her tongue over the thick head of his cock. He moaned and his hips struggled to thrust forward but she had a good grip on the base of his cock. She drooled over him and stroked him until he was good and wet.


    Then she spun to rest her arms on the top of her desk and presented him with her ass and wet pussy.


    Stanley dipped down and stroked her flushed skin with his tongue roughly. She was delicious and he let his tongue explore her depths as she gasped.


    ¡°OH! That¡¯s good-¡± she began then gasped as the head of his cock pped against her swollen lips. ¡°Fuck! Mmmm, yes! OH FUCK!¡± she cried out again as Stanley gripped her hips and drove his cock deep into her body.


    He pulled out to the head and mmed himself deep once again as Cam gripped the desk¡¯s edge. She hadn¡¯t expected the strength of his thrusting and struggled to get control over the sex once more. She began to drive her hips back as he pushed forward but he just drove himself harder. Their bodies mmed together, his balls pping her clit with each stroke. He was relentless and seemed tireless as she felt herself losing control.


    ¡°FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! STANLEY! FUCK!¡± She cried out with each impact and felt herself getting closer. ¡°Cum Stanley! Cum! Oh FUCK! I¡¯M- I-M-¡±


    He sped up and his thrusts were rocking her desk. ¡°I¡¯m there Cam! Cumming!¡± he growled out between his teeth. He mmed himself deep onest time and rocked her hips against him as he exploded deep within her pussy.


    ¡°AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± she cried as her orgasm tore through her. As her pleasure spiked she felt his wild magic sshing into her, her body gobbling up the energy to saturate her being. Her eyes flew wide and she fell silent as everything went white.


    When she blinked open her eyes, she was looking up into Sigrid¡¯s and Stanley¡¯s relieved expressions.


    ¡°What happened?¡± she asked. She realized she was on her couch and her mor was back in ce, an emergency activation since she¡¯d passed out. Stanley was in his Human form too and dressed.


    ¡°You passed out so I changed back and called Sigrid. You weren¡¯t out for long,¡± he answered, relief in his voice.


    ¡°What the Hell! Haven¡¯t you been feeding?¡± Sigrid growled.


    Cam stretched on the couch feeling so much better. She felt energized and ready to take on the world. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t had time. I¡¯m still waiting for the damn Fae Council to show up!¡± she barked back then caught Sigrid¡¯s warning nce.


    ¡°Fae Council? Who¡¯s that?¡± Stanley asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be concerned about Stanley,¡± Sigrid said bluntly.

 23

    ¡°Wow! You are a terrible liar,¡± Stanley eximed. ¡°Now, who are the Fae Council and whyshouldI be concerned,¡± he insisted.


    Cam looked guiltily at Sigrid who frowned then nodded. Cam turned back to Stanley. ¡°Paloma lost her mor when she overdosed on your energies. We had to call in a Fae to create a new mor for her. It almost didn¡¯t work because of her oversaturation. The Fae wanted to know where the energy came from. She informed us that she was going to report her findings to the Fae Council who would investigate. So far no one has shown up. This isn¡¯t like them at all.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it was just an idle threat? Maybe no one ising,¡± Stanley suggested.


    ¡°The Fae don¡¯t make idle threats,¡± Cam said with a frown.


    Stanley looked at the two women who were both lost in their concern. He knew nothing about the Fae Council and had no idea what it meant that they hadn¡¯t acted. He could provide nothing positive to this worry session so he headed for the door. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time or energy to waste on a bunch of what if¡¯s so I¡¯m going back to work. My software installs need me. I¡¯d suggest you two put the worry aside for now as well but you know better, right? Cam, please don¡¯t wait so long between feedings next time.¡± With a wave he opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind him.


    Sigrid snorted with a wide grin on her face. ¡°Cheeky little shit, isn¡¯t he!¡±


    Cam struggled to keep her own grin hidden then gave up and smiled. ¡°Indeed, he is. He¡¯s also right, about a couple of things. We have other things to do that are more productive than waiting and worrying. Marisa is ready to return to work tomorrow. We are going to have to somehow inform Stanley that Marisa used to be Paloma but he can¡¯t ever address her as such. We don¡¯t know if Satyrs are long lived.¡± Cam went silent for a moment.


    ¡°What¡¯s the other thing he was right about?¡± Sigrid asked, looking at her pensive friend.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, that I shouldn¡¯t wait so long next time before I feed. That sounded like an offer to me and I will definitely take him up on it. His energy is wonderful!¡± she said with a satisfied smile. Her eyes widened as she caught Sigrid¡¯s expression try to remain impassive.


    ¡°Youarea terrible liar! You¡¯ve had sex with him too!¡± Cam eximed.


    ¡°Just once! A moment of weakness! He¡¯s so damn sweet! He unintentionally wooed me!¡± Sigrid scrambled to deflect Cam¡¯s usation.


    ¡°Wait a minute! Valkyrie¡¯s aren¡¯t going to bed anyone they consider too frail. Have you seen Stanley?¡± Cam chirped.


    Sigrid squirmed. ¡°Human Stanley? Not a chance. Satyr Stanley? Much¡­ much¡­ stronger,¡± she admitted.


    Cam smiled and looked at her friend. ¡°Well, well, well. I know intimately what his energy does for a Subus. What does it do for a Valkyrie?


    The blond looked at the drawn blinds and smiled. ¡°You might want to cover your eyes at first.¡±


    Marisa paced her living room going out of her mind. She was so incredibly bored. She knew her mother- aunt was arranging for her to begin tomorrow but she couldn¡¯t understand why it couldn¡¯t have been today. Stanley needed her. She was useless here!


    The doorbell rang and she froze. The protection rune was sending her the vibe of a stranger and security hadn¡¯t called so this was likely the Fae council. Her mother wanted to be here when they arrived and had spent most of the week with her, training her on her new identity but also waiting for their arrival.


    The doorbell rang once more. It was toote to do anything about it now. She walked to the door. ¡°Who is it?¡±Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Inspector Ghammen.¡±


    Male voice. Definitely Fae. She opened the door. In the hall stood a very good looking, slim man dressed elegantly in a tan raincoat over ck cks and shiny leather shoes. It must be a uniform. ¡°Come in Inspector.¡±


    He stepped inside and they moved into the living room. As he looked around, Marisa saw his lips moving. She felt the Fae magic scanning the room. She triggered her shield just as he turned his attention to her. His magic probe slid off and around her and his eyes widened ever so slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m following up on thest call Inspector Heriahn made. She¡¯d been called out to rebuild a mor,¡± he said with a doubtful tone.


    It was time to use the cover story she and her mother had worked out. It might serve as a good counter for Heriahn¡¯s statement.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. She did mine. We think it was damaged during that terrorist attack years ago. It started unraveling.¡±


    ¡°May I see the mor transition?¡± he asked carefully. It was a rude question but he was a Fae inspector so she¡¯d expected it. Still, it earned him a re. She dropped the mor and snapped it back in ce. She¡¯d felt his attempt to probe her when the mor came down but her shield was still in ce.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a standard transition for non-Fae,¡± he said, his frustration at being unable to get past her shield starting to show in his tone.


    It was time tounch their second defensive move. ¡°Yes, Inspector Heriahn did not appear to be well and had significant difficulty in binding the new mor to me. It was a very painful experience! I was surprised to see the transition was different but she left before I could ask about it. She also left using one of my cloaks.¡±


    Ghammen froze when she mentioned Heriahn had appeared to be ill. No Fae would allow a weakness to be visible. To mention she used a cloak indicated the Fae was in distress. Considering how their people had found the inspector this made sense. The appearance of the body indicated the long term disease had been the cause of her death but she should have had years left. Performing this binding may have been too much for Heriahn and it drained her past the point where she could suppress the disease.


    Still, he was frustrated by that shield. He wanted a look inside this woman¡¯s head to get the truth. This went against very strict cross species Hidden Races policies and was a forbidden practice but the Fae yed by their own rules when it came to investigating the death of one of their own. Onest attempt then.


    Marisa used her sight on the Fae to see if he was also suffering from the disease. Instead she saw a rapid build-up of dark energies.


    When Ghammenunched his mental probe, it didn¡¯t plunge into the mind of a helpless, unaware female as he¡¯d expected but was effortlessly deflected by a fully enraged Subus in attack mode. Her mor was gone and her ws were fully extended. The razor-sharp tips carried her imprable shield spell around them and ripped through his mor to score deeply across his actual cheek. Worse still, the damaged spell he¡¯dunched clung to him, embedded in his own wounds marking him as a rapist. He attempted to flee but she spun and struck him in the temple with her heel. As he crumpled to the floor it never urred to him how she¡¯d seen the attacking or how to hit his actual face through his mor which was a good foot lower than his mor indicated.


    Marisa took deep breaths as she struggled to regain control of her rage. She could easily kill the Fae at her feet and desperately wanted to but his guilt was in to see for anyone with even the minimal amount of sight. Instead she bound his real arms and legs using her sight and called the authorities.


    Not the New York Police Department but inspectors from the Hidden Races Council. She filed herint and asked for at least five representatives including a Fae. This was her right as one species filing aint against another was a high-level charge.


    Within the hour, a group of five arrived and found the Fae struggling against his bonds on her living room floor. He screeched something at the Fae Representative who said a few words and he shut up immediately. The other four frowned at the Fae Representative as she¡¯d spoken out of turn. Marisa sat in the living room with them and went through the events of the encounter and exined the circumstances of the first visit from Inspector Heriahn as she had for the Fae tied on the floor wearing the rapist¡¯s mark.


    There was one major drawback for Marisa that came with filing theint. She had to divulge her ability as an unregistered, untrained seer to exin how she saw his imminent attack. This would go on record and her mother would learn of it and know she¡¯d been kept in the dark all these years. She regretted that but not enough to let this rapist go free. She would also likely be called upon to serve on somemittee or other administrative body using her ability for the good of the people. Ugh.


    Each of the representatives asked questions and reviewed the information they had. The four red at the Fae Representative for preventing the prisoner from speaking in his defense. Again, she¡¯d broken protocol and there would be ramifications amongst the Council.


    Finally, they thanked Marisa for her cooperation and let her know they would be in touch.


    ¡°Before you go I would like to ask one question.¡± They nodded, even the Fae, though reluctantly. ¡°I¡¯m a little confused about why Inspector Ghammen was here at all. I answered his questions but he still tried to rape my mind. What was he here for?¡±


    The four turned to the Fae Representative who looked like she¡¯d just stepped in something offensive. Sighing she looked at Marisa. ¡°He is investigating the death of Inspector Heriahn.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s dead?¡± Marisa¡¯s shock was clear and honest.


    ¡°Yes, seemingly from this disease you im to haveseen,¡± the Fae snarled.


    Marisa¡¯s eyes red and shelookedat the female. It was there, too. And it was advanced. Her knowledge and surprise must have shown on her face.


    The Fae¡¯s eyes shed with shock and humiliation as she rushed out of the condo. The others realized what had happened and gave her concerned looks. A representative of the Japanese Spirits Combine leaned in towards her. ¡°Get training in your abilities soon. Learn when to use them and, more importantly, when not to.¡±


    She nodded in regret and he returned it with satisfaction. Two others hoisted the bound Fae between them and covered him with a nket. Suddenly he wasn¡¯t there. They left the condo as well. She locked up and went back to the living room to drop into a chair.


    So Heriahn was dead. Before she could make her report about the wild magic she found. Killed by the same disease the Fae Representative had. Something had elerated the disease¡¯s timeline.


    Or someone.


    Looking into the shadows of the room she kept thatst thought to herself.

 24

    Stanley woke with the distinct impression that someone was watching him. It had to be his new housekeeper as no one else had keys to his condo and he could smell something good cooking in the kitchen. He opened his eyes and looked at the end of his bed. Long ck hair. Very pretty. Petite in stature, a few inches shorter than he was and slim. Her most striking feature though were the five colored fox tails moving behind her back. Red, pink, green, blue, and violet. He had no idea what to make of this. The tails twitched, became the more familiar red, ck and white of a fox¡¯s tail then vanished behind her.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± she said.


    He blinked. This was the first time she¡¯d spoken to him. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°I am Yuko.¡±


    ¡°Stanley.¡±


    ¡°You are a puzzle.¡±


    ¡°I am?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A game is being yed and you are a key piece. Maybethekey piece,¡± she said with a tilt of her head. ¡°We do not know what the goal of this game is. Is it good or bad? We do not know what will happen if the game is allowed toplete.¡±


    ¡°Allowed toplete. That sounds ominous,¡± he said nervously to the small woman who had been watching him sleep, defenseless. Maybe he should ask for her key back.


    She smiled at him. ¡°I think you are good but good pieces can be used to do bad things.¡±


    ¡°Good things too though, right? I want to do good! That should count for something,¡± he urged.


    ¡°It should?¡± She looked truly puzzled by this concept.


    ¡°Of course!¡± He nced at the clock. Five minutes until his rm went off. Good enough. He turned it off and caught a sh of blue hair as she left the room with a nce and a smile back at him.


    He really should ask for her key or better, get the lock changed.


    He got up and switched back to his human state before he took a shower. He¡¯d discovered that being fresh and clean as a human tranted directly into being fresh and clean as a Satyr but it took much less time to dry off without all the fur.


    After getting dressed he went out into the kitchen. He took a deep breath. He wasn¡¯t good with confrontation. Yuko was once more headed for the door.


    ¡°Yuko, wait.¡±


    She paused and looked back.


    ¡°I need your key please.¡±


    ¡°My key? Why? Have I not served well?¡± she asked as the smile slipped from her face.


    ¡°You have done an awesome job and I am very happy with your work.¡± Her smile returned and she turned to the door again. ¡°However, you said some things this morning that¡¯s left me feeling like my life may be in danger from you if you continue to work for me. I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m going to have to let you go.¡±


    She spun back to face him desperately. ¡°No! Please! I take back what I said! Let me stay!¡±


    Stanley paused seeing her dismay. ¡°I- I wish I could. I really liked having you work for me but you can¡¯t take back what you said. I no longer feel safe with you. Please give me the key.¡±


    Large dark eyes looked up at him and filled with tears. ¡°Please¡­¡±


    Stanley¡¯s heart was breaking but he had to remain strong. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡±


    ¡°Mother will learn of my mistake and will tell my father to cut off my allowance and send for me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± he said in surprise.


    ¡°The Japanese Spirits Combine will learn of my mistake and they will send me away. I do not wish to go away. All my friends are here in New York City! It is so fun here and so dull at home!¡± Tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks.


    ¡°So, don¡¯t leave,¡± he suggested.


    ¡°You do not understand! I cannot be disobedient to my parents. They pay for everything! When they learn of my failure they will cut off my funds and I will be forced to go back to Japan and leave my friends. My life will be ruined!¡±


    He blinked at her. She¡¯d put him in a bad ce. He no longer felt safe with her but he didn¡¯t want to ¡®ruin her life¡¯. He nced at the clock. He had to get to work soon. His stomach was in no mood to eat now. He sighed.


    ¡°Listen, I won¡¯t fire you now but I want to speak with you tonight when I get home. You have until then toe up with a really good reason why I should continue to trust you and not fear for my life. If you can¡¯t, you¡¯ll give me the key and leave. Understood?¡±


    She nodded as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. On impulse he reached out his hands to gently tilt her face up and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. ¡°No more tears, please.¡±


    She dipped her head in a nod and did her best to hide a shy smile.


    His thumbs tingled oddly and he shook them out as he grabbed his keys andptop case. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tonight.¡±


    She nodded and smiled at him, her tears already drying. He felt better about that.


    His newmute was definitely shorter than his old one and he rather enjoyed moving with the throng of people to get to work. He was feeling particrly charged this morning. The server builds were moving along really well. The power protection system was going in today, more electricians, and if all went well the backup system and the storage solutions he ordered would be arriving. The new servers hummed happily and smoothly under his hands and he¡¯d spotted the one badwork interface card early on and reced it. That would have set him back a week if he¡¯d missed it.


    Cam also promised him an executive assistant with Paloma¡¯s talent was arriving today. He really enjoyed working with Siobhan but she didn¡¯t really understand technology or anticipate his needs like Paloma had. He tried not to get too discouraged but he doubted he¡¯d ever find someone as gifted as Paloma.


    As he walked the final block to the office he got the prickly back of the neck sensation and nced over his shoulder. He spotted the same car once more tailing him and frowned. He turned back and saw Mr. Duncan stepping from the front door of VRL walking towards him. He heard the engine rev behind him and the car sped off past them down the road. Mr. Duncan looked at Stanley with a concerned frown on his face.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Duncan. Glorious morning to be stalked, isn¡¯t it?¡± Stanley said with a grin on his face.


    ¡°Aye. I¡¯ll have another word with the CEO about this,¡± he grumbled.


    ¡°Thank you. That would be appreciated. Have a good day!¡± Stanley said as he entered the building. He took the elevator up to the top floor and walked down the hall to his office. Siobhan was packing up her things at her desk.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Garin!¡± she said with her cheeky smile.


    ¡°Good morning, Ms. Whn,¡± he returned.


    ¡°Oh! Who¡¯s the saucy one now?¡± she said with a grin.


    ¡°Just giving as good as I get,¡± he grinned in return. ¡°I¡¯ll miss the verbal sparring. You have been an excellent executive assistant as well.¡±


    ¡°As I will miss your energetic butrgely futile attempts to teach me the ways of the giggety flippety flops,¡± she sighed theatrically causing him tough. ¡°Before you get toofortable, Ms. Vimor asked me to send you directly to her office when you arrive. I understand your new executive assistant has arrived. She¡¯s a real looker. Half the fes in the mailroom are sticking pins in their CIO voodoo dolls as we speak. The other half are still crying that Paloma has left.¡±


    He nodded and put his bag in his office. He took a quick look at the servers on the test bench he¡¯d set up, saw they were still happy, and locked up behind himself. With a nod to Siobhan he headed to Cam¡¯s office. Felix gestured for him to go in so he knocked and stepped inside closing the door behind himself.


    He turned and got three steps into the office noticing Cam behind the desk, Sigrid sitting across from her and another blond woman sitting in the chair next to Sigrid. This woman stood and turned to face him. She smiled. Stanley stumbled to a stop.


    The woman was more than a ¡®looker¡¯ as Siobhan had mentioned. She was stunning! Stanley felt like a moth drawn to her brilliance. His eyes widened and he couldn¡¯t stop the smile from spreading across his lips. He felt his posture straightening and his chest puffing out. These were automatic corrections and they seemed ridiculous considering how intensely beautiful she was and how in and small he was.


    That¡¯s when it hit him. He¡¯d felt it but he hadn¡¯t recognized it. The pull he¡¯d felt earlier. It wasn¡¯t just her beauty. He- he knew her. He could feel a familiarity in every cell of his body. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.


    ¡°Paloma?¡± he whispered.


    Her smile softened. ¡°Not any more Stanley. My name is Marisa now. You have to let my old identity go just as I had to.¡±


    He blinked in confusion. ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°The change I went through the night we had sex. All that energy, it permanently altered my anatomy and how I look. I¡¯m several inches taller. Longer legs, longer torso and longer arms. Several inches wider around my chest. It also burned away my old mor. I had to get a new one but you can see I don¡¯t look like Paloma at all. It¡¯s impossible to exin these changes, so for the Humans I had to take on a new persona. I¡¯m Marisa now.¡±


    ¡°I- I¡¯m so sorry! I had no idea-¡±N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok Stanley. I¡¯ve had a few days to take it all in. I¡¯m good with it,¡± she smiled. ¡°Are you ready to have me work with you as your executive assistant?¡±


    Stanley¡¯s face split into a wide grin. ¡°Yes!¡±


    Cam got his attention. ¡°Stanley, for the first few days at least you¡¯ll have to act like Marisa is a stranger. She¡¯s going to be meeting everyone for the first time again,¡± Cam cautioned him and he thought about that and nodded.

 25

    Stanley was excited to get started and wanted to bring Pal- Marisa up to speed on all the updates he¡¯d put in ce. ¡°When can we get started?¡±


    The three women smiled and Marisa moved forward to follow Stanley out.


    When the door closed, Cam shared a look with Sigrid. Marisa had just finished filling them in on the Fae¡¯s visit the previous day. Cam was shocked to learn her daughter had some strong seer abilities and truthfully was a little hurt this had been kept a secret from her. She understood Marisa¡¯s hesitance to let anyone know. The only reason she had divulged it was to punish that bastard Ghammen and to protect Stanley. If Cam and Sigrid read the situation properly the Fae council wouldn¡¯t press the issue. One of their own had been caught red handed perpetrating the most heinous of crimes one race could do to another and there was a very usible answer for their outstanding questions. They¡¯d avoid any overt interference with Marisa.


    While Marisa hadn¡¯t said it out loud Cam and Sigrid read between the lines and both had strong suspicions as to who was responsible for preventing Heriahn from speaking to the Fae Council. They were both nervous about what her ultimate n was for Stanley but for now all they could do is not interfere.


    Cam¡¯s line buzzed. ¡°Yes, Felix?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Duncan on the line.¡±


    ¡°Put him through.¡± There was a click. ¡°Mr. Duncan, you¡¯re on the speaker with myself and Sigrid.¡±


    ¡°Very good. We¡¯ve had another situation with the car following our Mr. Garin to the office. I was waiting for them this morning when Mr. Garin arrived. When I stepped outside they sped off.¡±


    ¡°I see. It looks like they aren¡¯t going to stop without some direct intervention.¡± Cam sighed.


    There was a deep chuckle from the other end of the line. ¡°Yes, it seems that way.¡±


    Cam looked across the desk at Sigrid whose eyes were almost glowing. ¡°Mr. Duncan, would you be so kind to arrange for a car to take the three of us on a visit.¡±


    ¡°Right away.¡± The line went dead.


    ¡°My ex, Ulysses wants to know what¡¯s so special about Stanley. I know him. He won¡¯t give up until he gets what he wants. His little enterprise doesn¡¯t hire Humans. That makes things a little easier for us.¡±


    Cam and Sigrid left the office and nced in the new server room where Stanley was excitedly exining all of the new equipment and how it was alling together to Marisa. Unlike Siobhan, Marisa ¡®got it¡¯. She¡¯d retain everything Stanley exined and would be able to retrieve itter in conversations. Cam had asked her if she wanted the CIO role but Paloma hadughed at the time. She¡¯d exined that while she understood the nature of theponents she didn¡¯t have the skills required to design a system, make theponents work together, or maintain them.


    VRL¡¯s CEO and Head of HR left the building where they met the Security Chief in the back of the limo. Cam gave the address and the three rode in the back quietly. As they approached the headquarters for ¡®Ulysses Global Investments¡¯ Cam leaned forward to address Mr. Duncan.


    ¡°Did you bring sunsses?¡± she asked.


    ¡°No,¡± he replied curiously.


    Cam nced at Sigrid who smiled in anticipation. ¡°You take the security office then. We¡¯ll take the executive offices. Wait in the lobby for two minutes for us to reach the top floor. Thest I heard, they didn¡¯t hire Humans. Scent first then happy hunting.¡±


    The Security Chief¡¯s eyebrows rose high then he too was grinning hungrily.


    The neighborhood wasn¡¯t as upscale as the one VRL was located in. The building was older and more run down. They walked in and Duncan took a seat on a couch that had seen better days. His eyes scanned the area and his nostrils were red. He grinned.


    Cam went directly to the elevators with Sigrid at her back. They entered the car and rode it to the top floor. Cam knew Ulysses had a ridiculouslyrge office on the south side of the floor with arge waiting room between him and the elevators. They entered the waiting room and crossed it towards the executive secretary¡¯s desk. Cam immediately identified her as a young Subus, barely out of college. Most likely sexually abused by Ulysses. She pulled a business card from her jacket pocket and handed it to the young female.


    ¡°Take this to VRL and apply for a position there,¡± she said firmly. The woman looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°Go. Now.¡±


    The secretary grabbed her purse from her desk and ran for the elevators. Cam looked at Sigrid who was looking at all the extra doors leading into the waiting room. She smiled and nodded to Cam.


    There were two doors which had to lead into Ulysses¡¯ office as they were huge, old carved oak double doors. Cam opened one and slipped inside.


    Sigrid smiled and walked slowly to the center of the waiting room. By now Mr. Duncan was making a nuisance of himself downstairs. Pretty soon- ah.


    The doors around the room opened almost simultaneously and people, dressed in the shadow garb she¡¯d seen in the alley during Stanley¡¯s attempted abduction, began to pour into the room. Sigrid picked up the foul scent of Ghouls and Goblins, no Human¡¯s at all. Their clothes absorbed the light from the room which became dimmer and darker until she was surrounded by at least twenty five of Ulysses¡¯ shadow troopers. Only the dim light from the florescent above her illuminated the carpet around her. All other light was being sucked away.


    ¡°You made a terrible, terrible mistakeing here alone and unarmed.¡± The voice came from someone in front of her but she couldn¡¯t tell who spoke. She could barely see where one started and the next one ended.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    She looked down and rubbed her shoe against the floor. ¡°Shame about the carpet. They should have tiled this room.¡±


    There was an uneasy shift as they heard her confidence. Then the lights went out.


    The explosion of white light was more terrifying for itsplete silence. It was as if a small nuclear device had exploded where the tall blond had been standing a fraction of a second earlier. The st wave ripped through the shadows like smoke and mmed the troopers against the outer walls.


    Some, the lucky ones, went through the ster, missing the studs to fall unconscious on the floors beyond. The wall leading to Ulysses¡¯ office was cinderblock and wasn¡¯t so forgiving to those smashed against it. Those who remained in the room and recuperated quick enough tounch a counter attack were met with a huge blurring streak of white light so intense it blinded them temporarily and left them dazed. If weapons were brought into y a streak of light would sever the offending limb. The air in the room became a vortex, spinning and tossing the bodies of the unconscious and injured around like so much confetti. The secretary¡¯s desk, bolted to the floor, umted a stack of broken bodies against its windward side.


    The streak darted to the bodies of the fallen then finally moved to the center of the room once more. Huge wings pped, cancelling the force of the winds.


    Sigrid looked at the carnage around her and remained vignt in case one of the fallen had any fight left in them or if reinforcements arrived. She grinned, hoping for thetter.


    As Cam walked into Ulysses¡¯ office she rolled her eyes. He¡¯d ced his desk on a raised tform. The man looked up sharply then smiled as he saw who it was walking towards him.


    ¡°Cam, how lovely for you to visit. I take it that little disturbance downstairs is your doing,¡± he said smoothly. She saw his hand slip to the edge of his desk. Most likely calling his security.


    ¡°You made a mistake Ulysses.¡±


    The Incubus frowned. He didn¡¯t make mistakes and he certainly didn¡¯t like it when people told him he did. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about,¡± he said, bristling.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten sloppy and you¡¯re obviously on your way down the food chain,¡± Cam said, stopping a few feet from the raised tform.


    Ulysses snarled then mped down on his reaction. Cam knew how to push his buttons and she did it well.


    But he¡¯d kept an eye on her movements since the incident in the alley and he knew something she was trying to hide. She normally went out clubbing to find a source for her meals. His spies told him she hadn¡¯t fed in days. She was weak!


    He¡¯d fed the night before. Met a bachelorette party and had two of the bridal party and the bride before calling it a night. Not a quality meal but quantity was sufficient to make him feel quite energetic.


    He stood and stepped down from his desk to walk around to face her. ¡°You must be a little delirious from hunger to walk into my inner sanctum to yap at me like the petty little bitch you were when we were together.


    Cam snorted and looked at him with utter contempt.


    Ulysses ground his teeth together. She was infuriating! He struggled to keep his calm.


    ¡°This new toy of yours. Stanley Garin, I think his name was. I¡¯m going to take him and find out what makes him tick-¡±


    He didn¡¯t see the blow until it hit then he was on the ground with her standing over him. Her mor was gone and her gold eyes glowed with an intense brightness. He didn¡¯t understand. She hadn¡¯t fed!


    His head rang with the power of the blow. The room kept sliding sideways and that made him feel so nauseous. Something was wrong in his head.


    ¡°You¡¯re nothing Ulysses. You keep lying to yourself in a sad attempt to make yourself feel important but every action you take shows that same sad desperation. You haven¡¯t realized yet that your pinnacle was when you were with me catching the crumbs I threw you. When I realized you had nothing to offer I cut you loose like the piece of trash you are.¡±


    He tried to push himself to his feet but her foot mmed into his chest and knocked the wind from his lungs. He wheezed and whimpered. Why was this happening? How was she so strong? Why was he so¡­ weak?


    Her foot slipped up to his neck and he felt the des of her toenails resting on the pulse in his neck. He held as still as he could as his lungs strained to inhale. His eyes looked up at her fearfully.


    ¡°Do you understand now? I will no longer tolerate someone of such low standing interfering with anything or anyone who belongs to me. If I hear of you again, I will end you. Because you are nothing.¡±

 26

    An uncontrolled sob burst from Ulysses. He tried to stop it but he couldn¡¯t. Her lip curled as she stepped from his neck and strode away, snapping her mor back into ce. He turned his head to watch her open the door. He willed his troops to fall upon her and tear her to shreds. Instead Cam¡¯s wretched pet Valkyrie stood there calmly waiting for her master. His eyes widened as he took in the carnage she stood in. The carpet was soaked in the blood of his warriors but the tall blond didn¡¯t appear to have a scratch on her. However, shewaswearing sshes of blood from her victims.


    ¡°Are we done here?¡± Sigrid asked with a bored tone.


    Cam nced over her shoulder at the broken man on the floor.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said turning away with a cold finality.


    He shuddered and closed his eyes. Broken.


    Cam and Sigrid took the elevator down, wiping the blood from their shoes off on the cheap carpet.


    When they stepped out they saw Mr. Duncan leaning against the wall waiting for them. He had more than a little blood on him. He took in the streaks on Sigrid and Cam¡¯s spotless attire. He had a few cloaks over his arm. He dropped one and handed the other to Sigrid before donning thest one himself. He listened to his earpiece then nodded. They left the building, crossed to the limo and headed back to the office.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Any trouble on your end?¡± Cam asked the Security Chief.


    ¡°None at all. Set off an EMP in their Security Office. Blew all their surveince equipment. Set off another in their server room. They¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Resistance?¡±


    ¡°Ten of those shadowy goons about eight regr ghouls with guns, knives and clubs. Took a minute or two.¡±


    Cam looked at Sigrid.


    ¡°Twenty-six of his shadow troops. Twenty-eight seconds.¡± She smiled at the Security Chief who tipped his head to her with a wicked grin.


    ¡°Ulysses shouldn¡¯t give us any more trouble. Continue to keep an eye out for him just in case but we should be fine.¡±


    The limo took them down into the garage as the extra discretion was warranted due to the condition of their clothing. There was a small gym in the basement with locker rooms and showers.


    Cam cleaned her shoes and went back to her office. Sigrid and Duncan required more thorough cleaning. Their clothes went into the incinerator with the cloaks and they put on the spare outfits they kept in their lockers before heading back to their regr jobs.


    Like regr people do.


    As Stanley arrived home he saw a familiar figure trying to navigate her grocery buggy through the front door. He reached out and held the door open for her and she nced back at him, a wide smile appearing on her face.


    ¡°Hey stranger! So you moved in after all! Stanley, right?¡± she chirped happily. She continued into the lobby and he followed.


    ¡°Hi Sandy! Yeah, I moved in a couple of days after we met,¡± he said.


    ¡°And you haven¡¯te to visit!?!¡± she said in mock outrage.


    ¡°I did mention I just started a new job and that¡¯s been consuming my every waking moment,¡± he exined with a grin.


    ¡°Even after work?¡± she said fixing her eye on him usingly.


    He patted the side of hisptop case. ¡°I bring the work home with me.¡±


    She looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°Wow, you didn¡¯t get a new job, you¡¯ve be a ve! Listen I¡¯m a nurse so I do twelve hour shifts but at least they give me time off once in a while to recuperate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only this crazy right now because I¡¯m working on an enormous project with a limited time frame. It will settle down in a few weeks.¡±


    ¡°A few weeks? If you don¡¯t get down-time you¡¯ll burn out and that won¡¯t help you or yourpany. You don¡¯t work on the weekends, do you?¡± she gasped.


    ¡°Well, I had a lot to do so I did work during thest one,¡± he answered awkwardly.


    She put a hand to her forehead. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Stanley. Don¡¯t mind me. I just get a little overexcited when I see someone in danger.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok, really. I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll take some time off this weekend¡­ uh, what day is it?¡± he asked.


    She gave him a concerned look. ¡°Thursday.¡±


    ¡°Ah, well, I¡¯ll take a day off this weekend¡­ maybe.¡±


    She frowned and turned for the elevators as he followed. ¡°If you do let me know. I have a bunch of friendsing over this Saturday evening around 7pm for a casual little get together. We throw on a bad movie and critique it for fun. It¡¯s always a st. You¡¯re wee to join us.¡±


    She pushed 4 and he pushed 9. ¡°Unit 901, right?¡± she asked.


    He nodded. ¡°Unit 404,¡± he said and received a smile for remembering. Her eyes were just a little bluer than Marisa¡¯s, which seemed impossible until he was looking into them.


    ¡°Saturday, two days from now. 7PM. Open invitation to unwind!¡±


    He grinned as she got off the elevator. ¡°Got it.¡±


    ¡°Be there!¡± she blurted as the door closed.


    He really did like her but Sigrid¡¯s words about rtionships returned to him. Still, she said he could be friends with humans and Sandy did say there was going to be a number of her friends there. He decided he would go to her party.


    He got off the elevator and walked to his door. He took a deep breath as tonight he was going to have to fire Yuko if she couldn¡¯t prove his safety with her. He certainly couldn¡¯t think of a way. He opened the door and immediately stopped in the threshold. The lighting in his condo was¡­ different. The wood floors absolutely gleamed and there was a new woven mat by the front door. In the living room all the hand me down furniture was gone and in its ce was new furniture that had a distinctive Japanese style! He looked down and saw Yuko kneeling on the floor wearing a traditional kimono.


    ¡°Wee home Stanley-san!¡± Yuko said, not yet looking at him. She reached out, pulled his shoes off, and set them on the new mat.


    He closed the door behind himself. ¡°What-¡±


    She looked up at him finally and her smile slipped into a worried look. ¡°Are you not pleased? Are you not happy to see me?¡±


    He finally managed to look away from the changes she¡¯d made to his condo to really look at her. She looked¡­ truly lovely. He felt a tugging sensation drawing him closer to her and her smile began to reappear.


    Stanley closed his eyes and shook his head to clear the fog that was forming there. He felt himself re-center and he opened his eyes to see the surprised expression on Yuko¡¯s lovely features.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m happy to see you. You look very pretty in your kimono,¡± he mumbled as he walked past her down the hall into his living room. His head jerked left as he saw his bedroom had been transformed as well. He took a few strides to stop in the doorway. ¡°Where¡¯s mybed!¡± he barked. There were mats covering the entire bedroom floor and what looked like a futon was in the center of the room where his bed once stood. The room was beautiful but¡­ his bed! He didn¡¯t own any of the furniture that was now missing. VRL paid for his new bed and he understood it was very expensive.


    He looked back at Yuko who was standing in the middle of the living room wearing an almost panicked expression.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand! Why are you acting like this?¡± she moaned.


    He shook his head. ¡°Acting like what?¡±


    ¡°You should be in love with me!¡± she wailed and dropped to her knees as the tears began.


    Again he felt the tug and he knelt down to lift her from the floor. Once more he gently lifted her tear stained face with his hands.


    Then she was kissing him and he was on his back and her mouth was so sweet and¡­what the fuck just happened?!?


    Stanley pushed her face from his, his wet fingers tingling madly as his head spun. She opened her eyes to blink at him in confusion and need, her body writhing over his.


    ¡°Why are you stopping? We both want this!¡± she asked intively.


    ¡°Yuko¡­-san, I just spoke with you for the first time today. I shouldn¡¯t be feeling this way. I-¡± he stopped and looked at his hands. Why were they tingling so much? Her¡­ tears? His mind shed back to earlier this morning when he brushed her tears away with his thumbs. They tingled then. Something in her tears?


    ¡°What have you done to me?¡± he growled, suddenly feeling manipted. His anger flushed away the lust and need which had threatened to overwhelm his mind.


    She blinked at him. ¡°We are bound. You are mine and I am yours. Why do you fight it?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask to be bound, to anyone. Is it your tears?¡± he asked sternly.


    She nodded holding his eyes with her dark pools of¡­ whoa! His mind was still reeling with the chemical intoxicant from her tears.


    Her body felt way too good on his and he was showing his appreciation. She felt it and smiled as she doubled her efforts to grind against him. Her face was showing she was more than a little excited too.


    ¡°We- we can¡¯t do this! We- wait a minute! Is this your answer to being allowed to stay?¡±


    She continued to squirm against him but from the way she dipped her eyes and her frozen expression he knew he¡¯d guessed correctly. ¡°If I fall in love with you- no, wait, if I¡¯m forced to fall in love with you, then I won¡¯t fire you and you get to stay and party with your friends?¡±


    She was pouting now but her eyes were zed as her grinding continued. It felt good for him too but he wanted his answer.


    Stanley suddenly rolled over and she was under his body now. The pressure on her sensitive bits increased but he stopped moving and her desperation increased.


    ¡°I¡¯d like an answer please,¡± he asked as calmly as he could.


    She gasped and tried to move but he held her still. He wasn¡¯t very strong in his human form but he had enough leverage to do this.

 27

    ¡°Yes! It was not nned but when you touched my tears this morning I thought I had found my answer. You should have fallen in love with me. It is what happens,¡± she whimpered.


    He blinked at her. She¡¯d tried to control him with some kind of¡­ biochemical leash? That sounded usible. He definitely felt something, that tugging at his emotions, clouding his judgement. Somehow it wasn¡¯t overpowering and considering how her tears were all over his hands now he must be immune¡­ god, her lips needed kissing- Whoa! He gave his head a shake to clear it. He came back to himself.


    ¡°And all this?¡± he said gesturing with his arm at his new, beautiful furnishings. His movements ground himself against her and she sighed, her eyes ring with her lust.


    ¡°Yes! We would be married and I would live with you!¡± she cried, doubling her efforts to grind against him.


    He was fully erect now. Far more modest in size than his¡­ other state. He frowned. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you rather have sex with me in my real form?¡±


    ¡°NO! I donothave sex with the beast!¡± she snarled and Stanley froze with the absurdity of her statement. Wasn¡¯t she part¡­ fox?


    ¡°But¡­ you have a fox tail,¡± he muttered in his confusion.


    ¡°Yes! I am Kitsune but not when I have sex!¡± she panted with need. ¡°Please Stanley! You are not the only one affected by our binding!¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡± he frowned.


    ¡°We are bound. You are mine and I am yours. My body needs yours,now!¡± She managed to rock her pelvis against his and they both moaned with the pleasure they got from that.


    He looked down at her in confusion. He didn¡¯t know her, they¡¯d barely talked, yet he could feel his body reacting to hers, wanting her. He knew it was because of whatever her tears had done to him.


    ¡°Please,¡± she whispered as she arched her body under his.


    Then he was kissing her.


    She moaned and writhed under him and he felt her heat pressing against his hardness. He felt her hands frantically undoing the ties on her kimono and he eased up on the pressure for her to open the garment. Her hands moved urgently and suddenly she was¡­ gloriously naked beneath him, lying on her open kimono.


    She grabbed his shirt and pulled it up his body until it was over his head and he tugged it free.


    Yuko pushed him over onto his back and reached down to undo his pants. She tugged them down just to mid-thigh, far enough to allow his cock to be free. He nced down and was both relieved to see his human shaped dick was still in ce and worried that she wouldment on it¡¯s- No, she didn¡¯t seem to mind at all as she immediately threw her leg over his body and ground her wet pussy against his hot shaft.


    ¡°Stanley-san,¡± she cooed as she made him slick with her juices.


    She reached down between her legs and lifted him up to touch her wet opening. Then he was inside and sliding deeper. He was surprised by how tight she was as he really wasn¡¯t- Oh FUCK!


    Yuko began bouncing up and down on his cock, squeezing the hell out of it as she moved faster and faster.


    He was dazed by how intense she was and how fast this was all happening. It also felt amazing! He realized he was losing his human virginity. Paloma, or rather Marisa, had taken his Satyr virginity.


    He looked up to see her expression of intense concentration and felt her beginning to tremble. He was surprised to see her tits wererger than he expected considering her size. He reached up and cupped them in his hands and sighed as they felt so soft.


    The effect this had on Yuko was dramatic. She ced her hands over his and squeezed so his grip was almost cruelly tight on her flesh. She began to m herself down on his body and he gasped as this increased the intensity for him. He felt his release rushing up on him. Her stiff nipples were trapped between his fingers and her bouncing was making him tug on them.


    ¡°Stanley-san!¡± she screamed as her body began to go through intense tremors. This triggered his release and he pulled her down to take her mouth with his. His tongue caressed hers as she moaned into his mouth with the sensual pleasure of it.


    They ground against each other, gasping and sighing as their bodies wrung out thest bits of pleasure from their joining. Exhausted she rested on his chest as he tried to catch his breath.


    Stanley stared up at the ceiling as he felt the odd tugging sensation moving through his body. He now knew what it was and its effect on him was greatly reduced since they¡¯d consummated their ¡®rtionship¡¯. His mind was clearing and he was bing acutely aware of how this wasnotwho he was or wanted to be. Yuko felt really nice on top of his body but she was stillrgely a stranger to him. A stranger he¡¯d just had sex with.


    After a time, Yuko stretched over his body and lifted her head to smile at him. The smile faded when she saw his unease.


    ¡°You have not fallen in love with me?¡± she asked quietly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, no. The tears didn¡¯t work on me¡­ notpletely at least,¡± he said. Her eyes began to look ssy. ¡°Please, no more tears. Can we just talk? Like adults?¡±


    She nodded and slid off of his body. They pulled their clothes on and made their way into the living room. There was a couch and love seat but both were very low to the ground. He sat on the couch and was surprised by howfortable it was. Yuko sat next to him, close to him and looked up at him through her bangs with a sad look in herrge dark eyes.


    ¡°Trying to make me fall in love with you wasn¡¯t a good n. Don¡¯t you think I should be allowed to choose who I fall in love with?¡± he asked.


    ¡°But I would make a perfect wife!¡± she insisted.


    ¡°What¡¯s a perfect wife?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I will keep your home clean and make your meals and have babies for you!¡± she eximed.


    He suddenly froze as he looked at her. ¡°Dammit. I should have used a condom. You aren¡¯t on birth control, are you?¡± She shook her head.


    ¡°I will not be pregnant this time though. I am not in heat,¡± she exined and a huge sense of relief washed over him. He¡¯d pick up some condoms tomorrow and carry one around should¡­ something like this¡­ happen again. Considering his sudden increased level of sexual activity this was now a necessity. He¡¯d talk with Marisa tomorrow. He took a deep breath and rxed before speaking again.


    ¡°Those things do sound nice but I think I should find someone who will share those responsibilities with me and will pursue her own goals. Someone who has a life of their own which they will share with me. We¡¯ll havemon interests and sometimes differing opinions but we will listen to each other. However, right now, I¡¯m not looking for a wife or even a girlfriend. I¡¯m just starting my adult life and it¡¯s pretty crazy and busy and I just don¡¯t have time to think about that. My current responsibilities take up too much of my time. I don¡¯t n on searching for a mate for some time.¡±


    ¡°You do not have to search. I am right here. I will be anything you need me to be,¡± she pleaded.


    He sat back and looked at her. He didn¡¯t understand why she sounded so desperate. ¡°Why are you so eager to marry me?¡±


    She looked at herp and mumbled something.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t hear you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told my father we are engaged!¡± she cried and hid her face in her hands as the tears returned.


    Stanley sat there stunned. He looked around. ¡°The furniture?¡± he muttered.


    ¡°His wedding present to us,¡± she squeaked.


    ¡°Why? Why would you tell him that?¡± Stanley asked.


    ¡°Because you were supposed to be in love with me!¡± she howled then threw herself down against the sofa cushions and sobbed.


    Stanley was getting angry. He¡¯d been manipted by Yuko and put into this terrible situation. He wasn¡¯t going to be part of her lie as well.


    ¡°You¡¯ll just have to tell him the truth. Clear up this whole misunderstanding,¡± he growled.


    Yuko looked up at him in fear. ¡°I cannot do that!¡±


    He looked back at her with a scowl. ¡°What do you mean? Of course, you can!¡±


    Yuko was suddenly clinging to his shirt, looking up into his eyes with a desperation in hers. ¡°My father is a very proud man! He would be very embarrassed to learn that his wedding gift was based on a lie! His position in Japan¡¯s government would be in jeopardy if it came out!¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Stanley barked. This situation was rapidly getting worse. He had to think of a way out. ¡°You could just tell him that the tears didn¡¯t work on me!¡±


    She looked away in shame. ¡°I did not tell him about the tears at all. He¡¯s Human.¡±


    Stanley was lost. ¡°What? Wait¡­ How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Mother is a Kitsune but Father does not know.¡±


    He leaned back against the cushions. This was a world he had no experience with. He had no idea what to do. ¡°Maybe you should tell your mother it didn¡¯t work and she could tell your father¡­ something.¡±


    She shook her head in shame. ¡°I cannot tell my mother that I used my tears in this way.¡±


    Stanley caught the difference. ¡°What do you mean ¡®in this way¡¯? Your tears have multiple uses? You purposefully chose to use them as some kind of ¡®love potion¡¯ on me?¡± he growled.


    ¡°I was desperate! You were going to fire me and I would have to leave New York City and all my friends!¡± Yuko gasped.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who dug the hole we¡¯re in with your lies. I want nothing to do with this situation. Tell them the truth!¡± he growled.


    ¡°I-¡± she began then the doorbell rang.


    He looked at her and she looked at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not expecting anyone. Are you?¡± he asked quietly but she shook her head with wide worried eyes. ¡°That isn¡¯t going to be your father, is it?¡±


    ¡°No! He is in Japan,¡± she whispered.


    He got up and went to the door as the doorbell rang a second time. He caught his reflection in a mirror and wiped Yuko¡¯s lipstick from his mouth¡­ and closed the zipper on his pants. He peered out the peephole and saw someone he wasn¡¯t expecting at all. He looked back but he was alone.


    He opened the door. ¡°Sandy! I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you so soon!¡±


    She had a ss baking dish in her hands covered with stic wrap. It looked like brownies. ¡°Now that I know you moved in I thought I¡¯d bring you a little housewarming gift to wee you to the building!¡± she said with a grin. ¡°May Ie in?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± he quickly nced behind himself but coulde up with no excuses so he turned back and smiled. ¡°¡­ sure.¡±

 28

    He stepped aside and she walked in. She slipped off her shoes when she saw him in his socks and followed him down the hall into the living room, her eyes growing wider, taking in the lovely d¨¦cor.


    ¡°Your ce is gorgeous! Very¡­ minimalistic but ssic¡­ Japanese?¡± she asked looking at him finally.


    ¡°Yes¡­ I like it,¡± he finishedmely as it was the truth and he had no way to exin how all this furniture got here.


    She nced towards the open bedroom door and squeaked in surprise as a lovely woman in a kimono stepped out of the room and approached. She couldn¡¯t take her eyes from the lovely creature.


    ¡°Ah, this is Yuko. She¡¯s my-¡±


    ¡°Fianc¨¦,¡± Yuko finished as she took the dish of brownies from Sandy¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Housekeeper! A naughty one at that! Wait, I didn¡¯t mean it like that! ¡®Naughty¡¯ in the way she spoke out of turn¡­ just then.¡± Stanley stumbled over his words, his face turning a deep red with embarrassment. ¡°Mypany hired her to take care of the ce,¡± he finished in a mumble.


    ¡°I¡­ see. Well I just came to deliver this and to invite you again for Saturday but if you¡¯re busy-¡± she said looking over at the lovely young woman.


    ¡°No! I mean, yes! I will being on Saturday!¡± he blurted.


    Sandy smiled at him and he began to rx.


    ¡°Good! I¡¯ll see you then. It was nice meeting you Yuko!¡± Sandy said, smiling at her and received a small bow from the woman which delighted her. She grinned back at Stanley and headed for the door where she slipped her shoes back on.


    ¡°Thank you for the brownies!¡± Stanley said as he let her out and she grinned happily back at him. Once she was gone he locked the door, leaned back against it and shivered. That was close! Scowling, he headed back to the kitchen where he saw Yuko heading with the brownies.


    She was closing the fridge door and turned to look at him.


    ¡°The fianc¨¦ thing ends here. If you want to lie to your parents leave me and my friends out of it. I will not lie to your parents if they ask me for the truth. I understand you thought you had valid reasons for doing this but you dragged me in without regard for my feelings or asking if I¡¯d be a willing participant. I am not. Is this understood?¡± he said sternly.


    She stood before him, head bowed, hands sped before her. She looked¡­ very sweet. He felt the tug again and pushed back against it. He resented the fact that she¡¯d tried to manipte him and she embarrassed him in front of Sandy.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°Why did you tell Sandy I was your fianc¨¦?¡± he asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s Human. You cannot have a romantic rtionship with her so telling her I¡¯m your fianc¨¦ should help her understand the boundaries of your rtionship from the beginning. Is this not helpful?¡± she asked looking up at him from under her bangs.


    He wanted to argue but suddenly the whole situation was just too much and he was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. ¡°Listen, we can talk about this in the morning. I¡¯m too tired to eat or to deal with this. Once you¡¯ve cleaned up you should go.


    She began to say something but her voice came out as a squeak and she just tipped her face down.


    ¡°What is it?¡± he said wearily.


    ¡°I no longer have a ce to go,¡± she muttered.


    He looked at her incredulously. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°I gave up my apartment. All my belongings are here,¡± she whimpered.


    Stanley¡¯s stomach knotted. Shit, she burnedallof her bridges.


    ¡°You can stay here tonight but tomorrow you get your apartment back. You need to find your own way out of this mess. I¡¯m going to bed. Or whatever that thing is in there. Tomorrow you find all the furniture you moved out of here and get it back as well. That stuff belonged to VRL.¡±


    ¡°It went back to VRL today,¡± she said quietly.


    He paused. ¡°Including my bed?¡±


    ¡°That went back to the store. They have an excellent return policy.¡±


    He sighed. What a mess.


    Stanley brushed his teeth and took a quick shower to freshen up after their little romp on the floor. When he was ready he stood naked in an open space in his bedroom and closed his eyes. He twisted the ring and when he opened his eyes he was a Satyr once more. Heid down on the cushions and pulled the sheets over himself. It was surprisinglyfortable.


    He was beginning to nod off when he heard his bedroom door open and close. He saw the petite form of Yuko approaching.


    ¡°What is it? What¡¯s wrong?¡± he said.


    ¡°May I sleep here tonight?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ maybe that¡¯s not such a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± she begged quietly.


    Stanley sighed. ¡°Ok, fine. But no funny business. Oh, I forgot. You don¡¯t like my Satyr form.¡±


    She quickly slipped under the covers and pressed her small body against his side much to his surprise.


    ¡°I did not say I disliked your Satyr form. I said I would not have sex with it.¡± She was quiet for a moment but he got the impression she wasn¡¯t finished. Finally she sighed as she let the truth out. ¡°Your penis is too big for me in this form. Only the Human one will fit.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Why didn¡¯t you just say that? I got the impression you didn¡¯t like Satyrs,¡± he said in surprise.


    She snuggled in closer. ¡°That is silly. I have never met one before. How could I dislike them? Besides, you are Stanley-san no matter which form you are in,¡± she sighed happily and was soon breathing deeply.


    He was secretly pleased by her acknowledgement of him being himself in both forms but he puzzled over something she¡¯d said earlier. He explicitly recalled her saying she wouldn¡¯t have sex with the ¡®beast¡¯ yet here she was happily cuddling him¡­


    By ¡®beast¡¯ she couldn¡¯t have been referring to his¡­ no.


    Stanley suddenly realized he wasn¡¯t feeling that tugging sensation any longer. Maybe it only affected his human form?


    His thoughts spun around in his brain until sleep finally took him.


    Stanley felt pleasantly stuffed as he rode the train to work. Yuko had gotten up early and made him a wonderful breakfast as he¡¯d missed supper the night before. He¡¯d discovered that whatever she¡¯d done to him with her tears did not survive his switch between his human and Satyr forms. Apparently, it broke the link for her as well. A handy thing to know.


    Before he¡¯d left he told her she had to get her ce back and move out. She pouted but finally nodded.


    He made his way into the building and immediately headed for Sigrid¡¯s office. He nodded to her executive assistant then Sigrid waved him in. He closed the door behind himself.


    ¡°Good morning! Can we talk?¡± he asked with a raised eyebrow and nced at the ceiling.


    ¡°Good morning to you, Stanley! Yes, it¡¯s safe to talk here,¡± she said with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you were informed but all of the borrowed furniture is back in VRL¡¯s possession and the lovely bed you bought for me went back to the store yesterday.


    ¡°What? Why did you do that?¡± she asked in surprise.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t my doing. It was Yuko, the Kitsune you hired to be my housekeeper,¡± he said with exasperation.


    Sigrid froze. She reached over and picked up her phone.


    ¡°Cam? Do you have a minute to talk with Stanley and me? In my office, yes. Thanks!¡± She hung up. When Stanley was going to ask what¡¯s up Sigrid just raised her finger for him to wait.


    There was a knock on the door and Sigrid pressed a button on her desk to unlock it. Cam stepped in and closed it behind her. She walked over and took the seat next to Stanley with a curious expression on her face.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± he said.


    ¡°Good morning! What crisis has arisen today?¡± she asked cautiously seeing the tension in Sigrid¡¯s face.


    ¡°Stanley, start at the beginning,¡± Sigrid asked.


    He sighed and decided the beginning was when she woke him up staring at him from the foot of his bed. He filled in the two women on what she¡¯d said and how he reacted and howshereacted when he told her he was firing her.


    ¡°Oh my god Stanley! You touched her tears?!?¡± Cam cried.


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s ok! The effect wasn¡¯t very strong and since I switched forms it¡¯s gone,¡± he said to the two upset women. ¡°It would have been nice to know you shouldn¡¯t touch a Kitsune¡¯s tears though.¡±


    Sigrid and Cam shared a guilty look.


    He continued by describing what he found when he got home and what Yuko had told her parents.


    ¡°Fianc¨¦?¡± Sigrid blurted.


    ¡°Her father is some important member of the Japanese government and he¡¯s already paid for the wedding gift, the furniture. She can¡¯t tell him it was a lie as he would lose too much stature from the scandal. I told her I wouldn¡¯t be a part of the lie,¡± Stanley exined. He looked between them again. ¡°Why did you hire Yuko?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! I hired a housekeeper from a Brownie service,¡± Sigrid eximed


    ¡°Brownie? Isn¡¯t that a Girl Scout organization?¡± he asked in confusion.


    ¡°Wrong kind of Brownie. They¡¯re one of the Hidden Races.¡± Cam said but Stanley just scowled and shook his head in frustration. ¡°Taking care of people¡¯s houses is what they specialize in.¡± Cam continued.


    ¡°Seriously I need some kind of who¡¯s who guide for all these different races.¡± Cam just shook her head with a frown. He sighed. ¡°Ok, so you hired a Brownie and I got a Kitsune instead. Somebody changed the order. I¡¯m hoping nothing nefarious happened to the Brownie who was supposed to do the job.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call the service,¡± Sigrid mumbled.


    Stanley nodded. ¡°Listen. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. That¡¯s pretty clear. I do know I want nothing to do with whatever ¡®game¡¯ that might be ¡®afoot¡¯. I just want to do my job which I really need to go do right now. So, if you don¡¯t mind I¡¯d like to get back to it.¡± Stanley pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

 29

    Cam nodded and he popped up from his chair and hustled away.


    When the door closed again Cam looked at Sigrid with a worried expression. ¡°Are we in trouble?¡±


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°We may be ground zero for whatever she has nned for him.¡±


    ¡°We need him!¡± Cam said meaning thepany but she realized it was more than that now. She caught Sigrid¡¯s eye and knew her friend was thinking along the same lines. The Valkyrie frowned.


    ¡°VRL needs his technical expertise and now that we¡¯ve experienced the rush of his energy it¡¯s not easy to contemte giving that up.¡± Her frown deepened. ¡°We might have to though.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t really know who the yers are in this game! Other than his ¡®adoptive parent¡¯ who seems to be the mastermind and won¡¯t be sharing her n, we don¡¯t know who else is involved, targeted, or will eventually be impacted. From the hints Yuko gave, it seems at least a faction of the Japanese Spirits Combine has taken an interest in him. He makes them nervous-¡±


    The light on Sigrid¡¯s phone lit up and the woman frowned. She pressed the button. ¡°Yes, Margaret?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got Felix on the line looking for Ms. Vimor. She has a priority call from Japan on hold,¡± the executive assistance¡¯s voice said through the speaker.


    Cam stood and headed for the door with a look back at Sigrid who hung up. She opened the door and nodded to Margaret as she headed for her office.


    ¡°She¡¯s on her way back,¡± the woman said to Felix.


    Cam stepped into her waiting room and Felix was wide eyed and speaking into his phone. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s just returned to her office. I¡¯ll put your video call right through, Minister Imamura.¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyebrows went up. The official never called her and never at this hour. With her door closed she turned off her cell and collected herself behind her desk. With a press of a button Yuji Imamura, one of Japan¡¯s senior cab Ministers was looking out at her from her PC screen. He preferred to speak face to face and wasn¡¯t averse to using this technology.


    She was surprised to see he was not calling from his workce. The room behind him appeared to be some kind of study with paintings and bookshelves. He was also dressed in a¡­ dressing gown?


    She dipped her head towards him. ¡°Minister Imamura, my apologies for the dy. I was not expecting your call. Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°No! Everything is not alright! I do not enjoy receiving calls in the middle of the night from my daughter telling me your CIO has called off their wedding! What kind of man is he to do this to her?¡±


    Cam was momentarily frozen. Yuko¡­ Imamura? She cleared her throat. ¡°This is the first I have heard of a wedding. I will speak to him immediately to get to the bottom of this-¡±


    ¡°He must reconsider and apologize to Yuko. The wedding must proceed. Much is at stake.¡± He held her eyes so she would understand that what was also at stake was the business VRL did with his government which was considerable. Losing it wouldn¡¯t cripple them but it would hurt¡­ significantly. ¡°I understand. I will do what I can from here-¡± The man nodded and disconnected leaving her with her mouth open.


    Shit.


    Marisa smiled as she saw Stanley enter the waiting room. ¡°Good morning, Mr. Garin!¡± she said with a broad smile.


    ¡°Good morning, Pa- Marisa!¡± he stuttered and smiled apologetically at his gaff.


    She gave him a raised eyebrow and he hustled past her to unlock his office. He checked on thetest server builds and felt them humming happily. These servers would be moving into their newlypleted server room. He¡¯d stopped by the server room and relished the chilly air. The air conditioner had been installed and the room was ready for server upation. The workers had installed all thework cables as he¡¯d requested. New lines would be run throughout the building this weekend. Each workstation would have a new cable waiting for it when the new servers were ready to take over. The initial step was to move the existing workstations from the oldwork cables to the new ones. He¡¯d have toe in on Sunday to make sure all of the workstations connected to the newwork. He was also running scripts to transfer the data from the old servers to the new ones on Saturday. The office would be closedpletely this weekend for these moves. The following weekend would be the roll out of the new workstations.


    Three new servers were being delivered to his office for their software to be set up on them today. As promised the security office servers were being reced and Mr. Duncan would have them next week.


    He walked out to see Marisa taking a call. She finished up and hung up giving him a worried look.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°First the good news. Your servers have arrived and are on their way upstairs,¡± she began.


    ¡°Excellent! They¡¯re early! Now, what¡¯s the bad news?¡±


    ¡°Ms. Vimor would like to see you in her office immediately,¡± Marisa said quietly.


    He¡¯d just seen her a few minutes ago! What else could have gone wrong? ¡°That- that¡¯s not necessarily bad news¡­ is it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t sound happy,¡± the beauty pouted uneasily.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯d better go see what it is,¡± Stanley mumbled and quickly left his office.


    Felix gestured for him to go right in and he closed the door behind himself.


    Cam got straight to the point. ¡°Yuko¡¯s father just called me. He got a call from his daughter who told him you called off the engagement. Unfortunately, he does a veryrge amount of business with VRL and he is threatening to pull those investments if you don¡¯t apologize to Yuko and marry her.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Stanley gasped.


    ¡°We have toe up with a strategy that will extract you from this mess and will save her father¡¯s reputation,¡± Cam said.


    ¡°That little BRAT!¡± Stanley growled. ¡°All of this is Yuko¡¯s fault! She¡¯s been manipting me from the beginning yet she¡¯s taken no responsibility for her actions at all!¡±


    Cam looked at him. ¡°You¡¯re right, she needs to face the consequences of her actions. Informing her mother will take care of that. There¡¯s still the matter of her father¡¯s pride.¡±


    ¡°Marriage can¡¯t be the only solution to that problem. He has to be ok with my not marrying Yuko!¡± Stanley gasped.


    Cam thought about that for a moment while she eyed Stanley critically. ¡°If we speak with Yuko¡¯s mother and exin what¡¯s been going on she would be on our side most definitely. She could convince her husband that Yuko¡¯s y time in New York is over and she needs to grow up. He¡¯d still be faced with the public humiliation of acknowledging his being manipted by his daughter¡­ unless you¡¯d be willing to take the fall for him. For them both actually.¡±


    Stanley looked worried. ¡°Uh¡­ what would that entail?¡±


    ¡°You said he¡¯d have to be ok with you not marrying Yuko. If you were willing to publicly dere yourself unfit to marry her and you called off the wedding out of respect for him, he could walk away from this with more respect.¡± She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Stanley, I know it¡¯s a lot to ask of you but the young Kitsune created the unstable situation that needs to be dealt with quickly before she makes it worse.¡±Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°When you say publicly¡­¡±


    ¡°You would address him in the legiture so his peers could hear your confession,¡± Cam stated calmly.


    ¡°In Japan. I¡¯d be in Japan. Standing in the building with them¡­ in Japan,¡± Stanley gasped in shock.


    ¡°It would need to be done face to face. Would you do it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°What would I be confessing to? What makes me unworthy?¡±


    ¡°He would ept you saying she deserves a husband from Japan. The cab would love that.¡±


    He blinked at her and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. ¡°No. I can¡¯t say that,¡± Stanley said firmly.


    ¡°Second best answer you could give him is that you couldn¡¯t give him grandchildren.¡±


    Stanley¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at Cam in shock. He thought about that. It truly would be humiliating to say such a thing but that would make it all the more convincing he supposed. Could he say that in public? He scowled as he realized he had little choice if he wanted to protect his job and his new¡­ friends. He nodded.


    Cam rxed. ¡°First though, I need to speak to her mother. Let me take care of that.¡± She looked at himpassionately. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for this Stanley. We will all owe you a tremendous debt.¡±


    He just nodded stiffly and rose to his feet. He let himself out and made his way back to his office. Marisa looked at his closed off expression and began to rise from her chair when he closed the door to his office. He hadputers to configure.


    At least they didn¡¯t manipte him.


    Stanley spent most of Saturday with the workers ensuring they had no issues with rewiring the building. The cables for each floor had different colors and the workers understood where each set went. By the time he left at 5PM he¡¯d installed several servers in the server room and had run some tests. The Security department¡¯s servers would be ready to install on Monday morning.


    He also had backups running for the existing servers over the fibre links he¡¯d had run from the basement server room to the new server room in the penthouse. That was running smoothly.


    He headed home, picking up a few items for the party on the way.


    His condo was quiet when he arrived. There¡¯d been no sign of Yuko since yesterday morning. The Japanese furniture was still there but Yuko¡¯s clothes weren¡¯t. Some of his favorite t-shirts were gone too.


    He got dressed and headed downstairs a little after 7PM and rang the doorbell on 404.


    A few secondster the door opened and lovely blue eyes were looking back at him as Sandy gave him a wide smile.


    ¡°Stanley! You escaped!¡± she cheered.


    ¡°Very funny! I told you I would be here,¡± he said with a self-conscious grin.


    ¡°Are those for me?¡± she gasped.


    He remembered he was carrying the bouquet of flowers and nodded as he handed it to her. ¡°I don¡¯t get invited to many parties, this is my first actually, so I don¡¯t know how it works. I guessed I shouldn¡¯t arrive empty handed.¡± He presented his other hand which was clutching two bottles of wine. The clerk told him it was very good wine and it certainly cost like it was.


    ¡°Ooo! Red wine!¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°That looks like good red wine! Come in! Only my bestie Dayshia is here so far. The others are on their way.¡±

 30

    They walked down the short hall into the open concept kitchen/dining room/living room and a woman was standing up from the couch to meet him. She was just a little taller than Stanley and pleasantly plump and curvy. She had expressive eyes and a naturally smiling mouth with full lips. ck kinky hair fell in waves to her mid pack. A crimson V-neck blouse was currently struggling to keep her generous upper assets covered while her round bottom was squeezed into very tight stretchy pants. Stanley shook her hand when Sandy introduced them. Dayshia¡¯s dark skin almost made Sandy¡¯s paleness glow byparison.


    ¡°This is the chivalrous young man?¡± Dayshia asked with a smile and Sandy nodded as she put the flowers into a vase.


    ¡°You two work together?¡± Stanley asked, cing the wine with the other bottles on the granite countertop and they nodded.


    ¡°Yes, tonight everyone but you will be from the hospital. We¡¯re a tightly knit bunch.¡± Dayshia said with a grin.


    The doorbell rang once more and Sandy rushed off to answer it.


    ¡°So, what do you do?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m the CIO of VRL, an investment house in Manhattan,¡± he said.


    The woman¡¯s eyes quickly scanned up and down his body. ¡°CIO. Of an investment house in Manhattan?¡± The doubt was evident in her tone. He grinned and nodded.


    ¡°I know! It seems crazy to me as well but that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing,¡± he said with a small smile.


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re good at your job?¡± she asked with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°They think so,¡± he responded. She nodded, impressed and he once more thanked Marisa for breaking him free of his inability to speak with pretty women.


    ¡°Who¡¯s good at his job? Me!¡± boomed from a tall, slim man with a trimmed beard standing in the doorway. Stanley and Dayshia looked at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind Roger. He has an overinted sense of self-worth,¡± Dayshia leaned over to say to Stanley.


    ¡°Hey! That almost hurts my feelings! Stop speaking of inted thing you naughty, wicked woman!¡± Roger said bouncing his eyebrows at Dayshia. He moved forward and shook Stanley¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Roger Jensen. Intern atrge.¡±


    ¡°Stanley Garin, CIO at VRL.¡±


    ¡°Fuck me! You¡¯re a CIO? That¡¯s aputer thing, right? Can you fix cell phones because mine stopped working this morning?¡± The man fished his phone out and handed it to him.


    Stanley was impressed with the energy this guy had. It was almost contagious. He nced down at the phone in his hand and noticed it was slowly making its way through the interface. He frowned.


    ¡°Roger! Stop being a cheap bastard and take it to a repair shop like I told you to!¡± said a tall woman with her long ebony hair pulled back in a ponytail as she exited the hallway with Sandy following.


    Stanley looked up and smiled at thetest arrivals and Sandy moved to make the introductions.


    ¡°Patricia, this is Stanley. Stanley, Patricia.¡±


    ¡°Please call me Tish. Everyone does. I like it more than Patricia,¡± the tall woman said with a smile as she shook his hand. Aside from being at least 5¡å taller than him the lovely woman was slim and long limbed. She turned back to Sandy when her eyes caught thebels of the wine Stanley brought. She looked at Sandy.


    ¡°Did they give you a raise or something? Buying the good stuff now?¡± Tish asked.


    ¡°A present from Stanley,¡± Sandy grinned.


    Tish¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Old money?¡±


    Stanley didn¡¯t understand and looked back at her in confusion.


    ¡°Wealthy family? Or did you sell your Inte start-up?¡± Tish asked.


    ¡°Oh! No, neither of those. I just have a good paying job and this is the first party I¡¯ve ever been invited to,¡± he replied.


    The bell rang one more time and Sandy headed off. Stanley looked back to the phone and after a few seconds handed it back to Roger. ¡°Uninstall that app, restart the phone and it¡¯ll be fixed.¡±


    The tall man looked at him then the phone. ¡°But I just got this app this¡­ morning.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s got a broken resource stack implementation. It gobbles up all the memory and processor time avable,¡± Stanley exined as Roger looked at him in surprise. The man removed the app and restarted his phone. Stanley realized they were all watching in anticipation to see if it worked. He knew it would but the others doubted.


    ¡°HEY! It¡¯s working!¡± Roger shouted happily as the interface shed back to life and loaded smoothly.


    ¡°Huh! I guess you do know a little something aboutputers,¡± Dayshia grinned.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a bad app on a cell phone,¡± Stanley said self-deprecatingly.


    ¡°Yeah, but you only had it for a few seconds!¡± Roger gushed happily.


    Sandy returned with the final two guests. A petite Hispanic woman with curly hair and a slim but fit looking older man with close cropped grey hair were carrying bags from which the most mouth-watering scents were emanating.


    ¡°Stanley, this is Vanna and Gary,¡± Sandy said. Roger and Tish took the bags from them into the kitchen.


    Hands were shaken and greetings made before Sandy looked to Stanley once more.


    ¡°It worked?¡± He nodded. ¡°Now everyone is going to be calling on you for tech support,¡± she said with a grin.


    ¡°I only do that as a party trick,¡± he replied, smiling modestly.


    Sandy went into the kitchen with Dayshia. They set the food out on trays and brought them out to therge coffee table in front of the couches in the living room. There were samosas, pastizzi, spring rolls, California rolls, pizza slices, mini-sliders, nacho chips and guacamole, and a few other things Stanley didn¡¯t recognize.


    The furniture wasid out in a square around therge table. With arge-screen TV on the wall therge couch faced it over the table. A loveseat sofa encroached into the space a dining room table would have been and twofortable chairs were across the table from the loveseat with their backs to the floor to ceiling windows.


    ¡°Your home is lovely!¡± Stanley said to Sandy.


    ¡°Thank you! I inherited it from my grandmother when she passed on two years ago. It was a major improvement on the apartment I was renting at the time,¡± she replied.


    ¡°The Roach Motel had character!¡± Roger teased and Sandy shivered as she recalled the ce.


    ¡°Stanley, you get the ce of honor here in the center of the main couch tonight as you are our special guest,¡± Sandy said, indicating where he should sit. Dayshia took the spot on his left. Tish took the first chair to Dayshia¡¯s left and Roger took thest chair. Gary and Vanna sat on the loveseat.


    ¡°Should I open Stanley¡¯s wine?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°Ooo! Let me!¡± Tish said, leaping to her feet to rush around the table to the kitchen.


    Sandy followed her and they brought generous sses back for everyone. Once seated Sandy lifted her ss to make a toast. ¡°To another lovely get together with my friends and our special guest Stanley without whom we would only have cheap wine to toast with!¡±N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    He watched the others as they swirled the wine in the long-stemmed sses, sniffed the bouquet, then sipped. He mimicked their actions and raised his eyebrows as he tasted wine for the first time.


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting vor!¡± he said as he looked at the ss.


    Tish was smiling happily with her eyes closed, savoring theplex undertones. When her eyes opened she looked to Stanley. ¡°Thank you for bringing this wine. It¡¯s lovely!¡±


    Roger put his empty ss down on the table and grinned at him. ¡°That was some yummy booze!¡± Tish made a sound of protest as she looked at him in outrage which was only partially feigned.


    ¡°Let¡¯s dig in!¡± Roger said, piling some of the pastries onto his paper te.


    Vanna was also enjoying her wine very much and Gary was swirling it about in his mouth to catch all of the vors.


    They munched away on the foods and sipped at their wine, aside from Roger who was told by Tish to switch to the cheap stuff as he had the pte of a garbage truck. The man just shrugged and poured himself a ss from Sandy¡¯s selection.


    ¡°Whose turn was it to pick the movie?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°Mine! Ha HA!¡± Roger eximed dramatically.


    There was a collective groan from the group and Stanley looked around curiously as he took another sip of the good wine.


    ¡°Are you going to make us watch porn again?¡± Gary grumbled.


    ¡°I will not watch that filth again!¡± Vanna stated emphatically.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t porn! That was erotica but no this time we are going much more mainstream,¡± Roger imed.


    He pulled a DVD case from where he¡¯d hid it in the chair cushion earlier for dramatic effect. ¡°Stripteaser!¡±


    More groans from the group.


    ¡°This is not porn?¡± Vanna asked Gary.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s got some fairly big name Hollywood actors in it. Debbie Moore. Brett Reynolds,¡± he said with a weary tone.


    ¡°Ohhhhh, I like Brett Reynolds!¡± Vanna purred and the group chuckled. She grinned happily at them.


    Roger put the movie in and they settled in to watch. Sandy went back for thest bottle of the wine Stanley brought and topped up the sses for Tish, Vanna, Stanley, and herself. Dayshia and Gary passed and Roger was on his fourth ss of the cheap stuff.


    As the movie went on and the pained groans made them chuckle the wine rxed Stanley to the point where he was almost falling asleep. He was resting back against the cushions and had both Dayshia and Sandy gently leaning on him from both sides. He was all toasty in the soft cocoon.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Everyone froze as the sound reverberated in the condo.


    Then the doorbell rang.


    Sandy got up and Stanley struggled to get to his feet but the room spun and he fell back against Dayshia.

 31

    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry! I- I think I¡¯m a little drunk,¡± he apologized.


    ¡°Where is he?¡± a voice shrieked down the hallway.


    Stanley froze then pushed himself up onto his feet and stood there swaying. He turned his head as Yuko barged into the living room with Sandy right behind her. She was wearing his t-shirt over tights.


    ¡°You! It is your fault!¡± Yuko barked with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± he replied.


    ¡°I am to go back to Japan! They are cutting me off! Because of you!¡± Yuko raged.


    In a moment of rity, he took a step closer to her and spoke softly. ¡°Can we talk about this privately?¡±


    ¡°No! My life is ruined because of you!¡± she yelled, ignoring his suggestion.


    Stanley¡¯s frustrationbined with the wine in his system knocked his restraint aside and his anger red. ¡°Hold on one second! None of this is my fault. You were the one who tried to trick me into marrying you and you were the one who told your father we were engaged. Then you told himIcalled off the wedding so he would call my boss and make threats?!? Exin to me how any of that wasmyfault,¡± he yelled.


    He saw her moving her hands and something in him screamed in rm. She was going to use magic- right here in Sandy¡¯s apartment! He stepped forward and grabbed her hands in his. It was all he could think to do. The pain was excruciating as the iplete spell broke free of her control and shed outwards as a wave of light and energy. The electrical breakers popped and the condo was plunged into darkness as everyone copsed.


    Stanley felt a gentle touch on his forehead and opened his eyes. He found himself on the floor looking up into the eyes of an older Japanese woman. Very pretty but definitely older. He blinked and sat up. The room was dimly lit but he could see the others slumped on the chairs. Sandy was on the floor next to him. He saw she was breathing.


    ¡°Are they ok?¡±


    ¡°Yes, just stunned. Like a stun grenade. You can tell them Yuko had one. I detected the burst and came from my hiding ce upstairs where I was waiting for her. I must take my disobedient daughter home. I will see you again in Japan in a couple of days. Thank you for doing this for my husband and please ept my apologies for allowing this to get so out of hand.¡±


    He nodded his eptance and she rewarded him with a small smile. Then she stood in one smooth motion, lifting her daughter onto her shoulder. She moved down the hall and was gone.


    Stanley shook the tingles out of his hands and gently touched Sandy¡¯s forehead like Yuko¡¯s mother had touched his. Eyelids fluttered and Sandy was looking up at him.


    ¡°What? What happened?¡±


    Stanley couldn¡¯t think of a more reasonable response so he used the suggested one. ¡°She had a stun grenade. I woke up and she was gone,¡± he exined and stood up to move to the others. Once he¡¯d woken them he made his way to the power panel and flipped the breakers to their on position. The lights came back on.


    ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± Roger asked.


    ¡°Sorry, the housekeeper mypany hired for me became fixated on me and when I didn¡¯t reciprocate she got a little¡­ hostile. I¡¯m terribly sorry you got involved in that!¡± he said apologetically as they all watched him with wide eyes. ¡°I- I think I¡¯d better just go home. I had a lovely night. Thank you so much for the invitation. It was very nice meeting you all.¡±


    With that, he made a hasty exit.


    Roger stood up and looked at the others. ¡°We are DEFINITELY inviting him back to the next party!¡±


    Monday morning Marisa had her first session with a professional seer. She¡¯d be registering with her and getting her first assessment. Then the lessons could begin. The one skill she¡¯d learned on her own, and she would have gone mad if she hadn¡¯t, was how to put her talent into a muted background state. That skill must have been a survival technique. Her seer vision was still active, it never really stopped, but she could mostly ignore the shes of colors, auras, and hazy, superimposed alternate potentialities surrounding each person she looked at.


    Her doorbell rang and she opened the door to see the smiling face of a woman with a frizzy mane of sandy blond hair. She wore a flowy, flowered sun dress, sandals, and many rings and nes. She was slim and stood about 5¡ä 5¡å but even to Marisa¡¯s muted seer sight she shone as a beacon of calm and joyful light.


    ¡°Good morning! Marisa?¡± the woman asked with a cheerful voice.


    ¡°Yes, good morning.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Katrina. You¡¯re assigned teacher.¡±


    ¡°Pleasee in!¡± Marisa said and stood aside to let the woman into her condo.


    The woman walked in and closed her eyes with a wide smile. Marisa locked up and watched the woman reach the center of her living room and slowly turn in ce with her arms outstretched, fingers moving like she was plucking the strings of a guitar.


    ¡°You have a lovely home! Such good energy flow!¡± Katrina sighed. She opened her eyes and looked behind her at the sofa and sat. She patted the cushion beside her with a smile.


    Marisa sat and smiled at the woman who took a small paper notepad and a pencil from her oversized purse.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the official stuff out of the way first. I¡¯ll need your personal details to register you in our Seer Community,¡± Katrina said.


    Marisa answered a few questions that didn¡¯t dip too deeply into her personal life. Mostly just her Human system ID¡¯s. Privacy was still one of the most precious aspects of every member of the Hidden Races.


    ¡°How long have you had the seer ability?¡± Katrina asked.


    ¡°Since I was in my early teens but recently it became¡­ much stronger.¡±


    Putting the notepad and pencil away with a sigh, Katrina smiled once more at Marisa. ¡°Now, with your permission I would like to open my sight to take in your aura. Once I¡¯ve got a good impression of that I¡¯ll begin outlining each step of my evaluation. We will also go over some basic do¡¯s and don¡¯ts.¡±


    Marisa nodded nervously and the woman took her hand. ¡°Rx. I¡¯m here to help, not hurt.¡±All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Marisa¡¯s smile returned and she did her best to rx. She watched as Katrina rxed and her eyelids closed slightly. Then they flew wide.


    ¡°Oh my! Your aura is beautiful! So bright and colorful!¡± the woman gushed.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, right?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s very good!¡± Katrina answered. ¡°OK, may I assume you are able to control the activation of your abilities? You seem too calm to be continuously immersed in the flow,¡± Katrina noted.


    ¡°Yes, thank goodness! It¡¯s never off but I can mute it to the point where I can ignore it,¡± Marisa said with a relieved smile.


    ¡°It never goes awaypletely?¡± Katrina asked in surprise and a little concern.


    ¡°No, but it¡¯s much easier to push into the back of my perception when it¡¯s muted,¡± Marisa assured the woman.


    ¡°OK, well, what I¡¯d like to do now is do a reading, again with your permission.¡± Katrina asked looking the younger woman in the eye. Marisa nodded.


    Once more she rxed and watched Katrina¡¯s eyelids rx. Her hazel eyes began to glow slightly and Marisa watched the seer¡¯s expression go from surprise to shock.


    Katrina quickly closed her eyes and put her hands over them. She began muttering a mantra to center herself.


    ¡°Is¡­ is something wrong?¡± Marisa asked nervously.


    ¡°No! No, it¡¯s¡­ your energy levels are so¡­ intense! I¡¯ve never seen anything like it,¡± Katrina said quietly. ¡°You say you¡¯re currently muting your abilities?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Marisa answered in concern.


    Katrina patted her hand. ¡°Not to worry. All is good. I need to do another reading, with your permission, as you slowly open your seer sight.¡±


    ¡°On you?¡±


    Katrina gave her an impish smile. ¡°Is there anyone else present?¡±


    Marisa giggled nervously and shook her head.


    ¡°Then yes, on me. Do it as slowly as you can.¡±


    They faced each other and rxed. Once more Katrina¡¯s eyes began to glow slightly.


    Marisa released her hold on her vision and Katrina¡¯s aura exploded into brilliant gold and yellow. An almost overwhelming sense of calm flowed from the woman in everyyer of her potential. The oveys ran deep and each was a simr vor of joy and peace. The beauty of such a future drew tears to Marisa¡¯s eyes. One rolled down her cheek breaking her focus and she pushed her vision back into it¡¯s holding state. She blinked and saw Katrina slumped back against the cushions, unconscious.


    She squeaked in fright, terrified she¡¯d hurt the future she¡¯d witnessed but Katrina began to stir.


    ¡°Katrina! Can you hear me? Are you alright?¡± Marisa said, patting the woman¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Wha¡­ Oh¡­ yes, I¡¯m fine. Just¡­ overloaded,¡± Katrina said quietly as she struggled to resurface. She looked at Marisa with a puzzled expression. ¡°Your abilities aren¡¯t- they don¡¯t behave like anything I¡¯ve seen. The power. It feels chaotic. Wild. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to train you after all. Seers are taught by other seers who are able to synchronize their abilities andpare results. Your power levels are far beyond anything I¡¯ve seen and they overwhelm my own.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you describe the methods¡­¡± She stopped when she saw the sad look in the woman¡¯s eye.


    ¡°It¡¯s not something that can be described. It¡¯s a new sense that can only bepared with its like. But your skill is unlike any other. You will have to be your own teacher. I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Katrina said and Marisa felt herpassion.


    ¡°What I can pass on is the most basic of rules. Never do a reading without explicit permission. I have no idea what you¡¯d see when you do.¡±


    ¡°Potentials. Possible future paths and the energies from them. I think,¡± Marisa said quietly.


    ¡°How far?¡± Katrina whispered. ¡°NO! No, don¡¯t answer that!¡± She yelped as she shook with reaction. ¡°Sorry. With the strength of your vision I was almost seduced with the idea of that knowledge. This is another basic rule. Don¡¯t speak of the future as they are only potential routes and knowing them does not guarantee their bing true. The only way to live is to live each day as ites.¡± She looked away and centered herself once more. She looked into Marisa¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I did pick up that the source of the energy is someone very important to you and that you are protecting him. I¡¯m not going to pry or report this. I know genuine emotion when it clobbers me over the head.¡± She smiled and got one from Marisa too. ¡°I do hope one day you¡¯ll be able to fully disclose how you came to have this energy. Maybe then we could find you someone who might be able to train you.¡±

 32

    She shook her head as she looked at herp. ¡°For now, I will indicate in my report that you aren¡¯t suitable for training. That¡¯s not as rare as you¡¯d think. This will satisfy the Security Ministry who are such a pain in the ass for us seers.¡± They shared a smile. ¡°You¡¯re very fortunate that you are able to suppress the perception of your seer sight. With the levels you have, if it was always on your sanity would be at risk.¡±


    They stood and Katrina pulled Marisa into a warm embrace. ¡°Good luck, Marisa!¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Marisa had tears pooling in hershes from relief and the intensepassion this woman was showing her. She followed the woman to the door and locked up once she was out.


    She¡¯d been so worried at theplications the Hidden Races Council was going to impose on her life and now that was no longer an issue. She¡¯dpletely lucked out with the woman assigned to be her teacher.


    She nced at the clock. She had time to get to work only a little bitte.


    Stanley was sitting in Sigrid¡¯s office looking at his new passport. He was even more impressed because he¡¯d never applied for one.


    ¡°This is going to work?¡± he asked hesitantly.


    Sigrid looked up at him from her desk with a slight smile on her lips. ¡°Of course. Why wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I don¡¯t know. Because I never officially applied for one. Because I don¡¯t have any personal documentation like a birth record I could have supplied to get a real passport. Because I have no one who could vouch for knowing me long enough to qualify as a guarantor? Pick any one of those or all of them.¡±


    She smiled at him broadly. ¡°It¡¯s as real as any passport issued directly from the US passport office. Obtaining a registered and epted passport is just part of the service the Hidden Races have to offer. You aren¡¯t unique in not having documentation.¡±N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    She looked at him fidgeting in his chair. ¡°Do you have a suitcase?¡±


    He shook his head with a frown.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Stanley?¡± she said looking him in the eye.


    He tried to look away but she was giving him an open and earnest expression. ¡°I¡¯m scared! I¡¯ve never flown anywhere before. I¡¯ve never been away from the States. I don¡¯t speak thenguage! I¡¯m going to bepletely dependent on Cam.¡± He looked down at his hands. ¡°I have to say something very embarrassing¡­ humiliating in front of a bunch of strangers.¡±


    Sigrid sighed. It hurt her to see Stanley go through this. To lie to pay for someone else¡¯s mistakes. Just the thought made her skin crawl. She couldn¡¯t do it. ¡°You know we have no right to ask you to do this Stanley. It isn¡¯t fair. I understand he is worth a lot of money but-¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯m going to do it. I said I would. But¡­ that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m happy about it,¡± he said with a sigh. He pushed himself to his feet. ¡°I don¡¯t even know if I should be sending the furniture back¡­ to where it came from¡­ which I don¡¯t know.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m starting to get used to sleeping on the sleep mat on the floor. It¡¯s veryfortable.¡±


    She smiled at him.


    ¡°Thanks for the passport. I¡¯ll pick up a small suitcase on the way home. I have to get back to it. So many more servers to get installed. Another reason I wish I wasn¡¯t going,¡± he grumbled as he left her office.


    He took the elevator down to the main floor and visited the security office. Mr. Duncan was out on the floor doing rounds as therge wall of CRT monitors was being reced by the new higher resolution t panel monitors. The workers had all of the old monitors removed and the support rack for the new screens was being bolted securely to the wall. Each of the mounts would have abeled set of cables identifying which screen it was. These would be plugged into the back of the new, high resolution t panel disys and the other ends would be connected to the video bus of the new control system waiting to be installed. The operators would be able to switch the new monitors to any camera in the building, group the disys, or use the entire array as one big monitor.


    The workers were doing a good job so he went back to his office upstairs to check on the three servers he had running a burn-in script. He feltfortable working on three servers at a time. Any more and he felt the process went slower. They were looking good so he checked the backup software server and it hadpleted validating the firstplete backup. He started the restore to the recement server and watched that for a short period to ensure it was working. He was delighted with the throughput on the new servers and their fast storage. The restore would take significantly less time to perform than the backup from the old storage.


    Speaking of the old storage, he began the differential backup to pick up any additions, changes and deletions since theplete backup. He set it to run over the next three days so when he got back from Japan¡­ Shit. That thought derailed him every time.


    He would restore the backed-up data to the new storage when he got back and put the database server and storage into production immediately. The start of the change-over. The other servers would rapidly be rolled out over the following two weeks.


    He would be beyond the date they¡¯d asked for but there really wasn¡¯t a faster way to do this with only one person controlling the server builds and deployments. And he was losing all this valuable time flying around the world.


    He was watching the progress of the data restore when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Marisa¡¯s concerned expression. He hadn¡¯t seen her this morning so she must have just arrived.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I called out to you several times and I saw you staring off into space. Are you ok?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sorry, my mind was miles away. Over 6, 700 to be honest,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°You¡¯re worried about the trip? Ms. Vimor told me all about it. I am very sorry you were put into this situation,¡± she sighed.


    Stanley took her hand and held it in his. ¡°I feel better when I hold your hand. Can youe with us?¡± he said with a slight smile.


    ¡°I wish I could but my boss gave me this big list of steps I have to follow on a rigid time schedule to keep the instations on track. He¡¯s a real ve driver!¡± she said with a grin.


    Stanley smiled up at her and nodded. He kissed her hand and released it when he realized what he¡¯d done. He looked around but they were alone.


    She smirked and waved her finger at him, hiding the fact that she was tingling madly from his kiss. ¡°Ms. Vimor called to say you should head home soon to pack. She will pick you up tonight to take you to the airport. It¡¯s a private jet with a discrete bedroom to¡­ let your hair down and get some sleep.¡±


    That eased one of his worries. ¡°Thanks. Ok. I guess I¡¯m off then.¡± He stood up and she suddenly pulled him into a hug. God, she felt good in his arms!


    She released him and slipped away. He watched her leave then gathered the stuff he¡¯d need for the trip. He locked his office on the way out but Marisa was not at her desk. He headed home.


    On the way he picked up a suitcase and a new toiletry bag to carry his grooming stuff.


    He got inside his apartment andid out his interview suit on the sleeping pad. He arranged which clothes he would bring and included a few spare pairs of underwear and socks. He folded everything neatly and packed it in his new suitcase. He put his toiletry items in the bag and packed it away too. He zipped it closed and wheeled it out to the hallway when his doorbell rang. He went to the door and looked out the peephole. It was Sandy!


    He opened the door and she smiled cautiously at him. ¡°Hi!¡± she began.


    ¡°Hello! How are you doing?¡± he responded.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. May Ie in for a minute?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Oh, sorry! Of course,e in.¡± Stanley said and moved aside.


    She walked in and spotted the suitcase in the hall and paused for a second and walked into the living room to sit on the couch.


    She ran her hands over the surface as she smiled. ¡°I really like your furniture.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s grown on me too. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be keeping it though. It turns out it was a wedding present from Yuko¡¯s father. For a wedding I never agreed to or even knew about until it was toote.


    ¡°Are you going somece?¡± she asked pointing to the suitcase.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m flying to Japan to clear up this whole mess so I can get back to a more normal life,¡± he sighed.


    She nodded and smiled at him. ¡°My friends all really like you. Even Roger who is suspicious of everyone. But you fixed his phone and he got to experience a stun grenade so he was pretty excited when you left. He said he¡¯d like to experience a stun grenade again. That man has never been quite right in his head.¡±


    Stanley just smiled and shook his head in amusement.


    Sandy¡¯s expression became serious. ¡°I just came by to let you know that you are always wee to visit and hang out with us. You seemed a little nervous about upsetting usst time and you should know, none of us were upset. Surprised, yes, but not upset.


    ¡°Thanks! I¡¯d like that! Maybe when I get back we can make ns for another movie night.¡±


    Sandy burst into a grin and Stanley couldn¡¯t help but smile back. His cell pinged with a text and he nced at it.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry, my lift to the airport is here.¡± He hammered out a quick response and put his cell away as they stood. They made their way out of his apartment and he locked up. Sandy smiled at him as they walked to the elevator.

 33

    ¡°I¡¯ll work on getting our schedules organized so we¡¯re off next weekend. I¡¯ll let you know during the week if I¡¯m sessful,¡± she said.


    They stepped into the elevator and Stanley nodded to her. ¡°Looking forward to it. This time I¡¯ll cut back on my drinking.¡±


    ¡°It will be your turn to pick a movie! Make it a good one!¡± Sandy grinned as she stepped off on her floor and she gave him a happy wave as the door closed.


    Stanley made his way down and outside where he got into the back of the waiting limo.


    ¡°Good evening,¡± he said.


    ¡°Good evening, Stanley,¡± Cam responded, smiling over at him. The limo got underway and they settled back for the drive.


    ¡°What¡¯s a good movie to share with friends?¡± Stanley asked and Cam¡¯s brows rose.


    ¡°That depends on the friends, doesn¡¯t it?¡± she replied with a smile. ¡°How good are these friends?¡±


    Stanley thought about that. ¡°Well, they are very close with each other but I¡¯m the new guy. It¡¯s my turn to choose the movie.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re probably going to want to see your favorite so bring that one,¡± she suggested then caught his expression. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Baba had no electricity at her house. No TV. We didn¡¯t go out to see movies. The only movies I saw were at school and they were all bad,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°Oh! Ok¡­ well, you can¡¯t go wrong with bringing a ssic. This group of friends, men or women?¡±


    ¡°Two men and four women,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Ah, ok. Casanca. Released in 1942. A truly lovely film,¡± Cam sighed with a smile.


    ¡°Great! I¡¯ll buy a DVD for the party!¡± Stanley grinned.


    ¡°Who are your new friends?¡± she asked.


    Stanley immediately felt a little defensive. ¡°Just a woman from the building and some of her co-workers.¡± Seeing the look on Cam¡¯s face he continued. ¡°Sigrid had the talk with me. I know the restrictions and limitations. It¡¯s just nice to have friends for the first time in my life. It¡¯s nice to actually be able to talk to people without stuttering. I can¡¯t tell you how much better this feels.¡±


    Cam gave him a sympathetic look but he turned his face to the window and they rode in silence the rest of the way.


    Once they were in the airport Stanley¡¯s nervousness increased as he looked at his passport.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what. Give me your passport, we¡¯ll go through together and I¡¯ll do the talking,¡± Cam said with her hand out. Stanley ced his passport in her hand. They joined the ticket line.


    When they reached the counter Stanley stayed close and answered the questions and nodded when required and soon they were on their way through the Security check. Once they made it through Stanley rolled his head to reduce the tension in his neck. He followed Cam to their gate and down the ramp to the waiting jet.


    He was greatly impressed with the luxurious interior and belted himself into the plush seat.


    ¡°I assume not all nes are thisfortable,¡± he sighed happily and Cam chuckled as she shook her head.


    They taxied out to the runway to join the queue of nes and were soon elerating down the runway. Stanley gripped the arms of his seat as the jet leapt into the air and soared upwards.


    Once the seatbelt sign clicked off Stanley looked at Cam with wide eyes. ¡°That was pretty scary!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll bending for refueling in Anchorage, ska then we¡¯ll fly on to Tokyo. We won¡¯tnd in Japan until close to 2AM but Minister Imamura made arrangements for us in Haneda International airport,¡± she exined.


    Stanley just nodded uneasily as he thought about meeting the man. Would he be angry? Would he make the public confession more difficult? He pushed those thoughts from his mind and looked over at Cam who had taken out herputer.


    ¡°Do we have Inte ess?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes. The connection details are on the card in the seat pocket,¡± she replied.


    Stanley got hisputer out and got it connected to the ne¡¯s WiFi. He settled back with a smile. He was going to be able to do some work after all!


    Hourster they heard the announcement that they would bending shortly. Stanley blinked his tired eyes and saved his work. He stowed hisputer and buckled in again as they made their descent. Thending was smooth and he nced out the window as they pulled up to the gate.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to leave the ne while they refuel. It shouldn¡¯t take long,¡± Cam said.


    Once the door was open they made their way out and into the terminal.


    ¡°Stay close as we¡¯ll be boarding shortly,¡± Cam said holding Stanley¡¯s eyes with hers.


    He nodded absently as he looked around the waiting area. He needed to stretch his legs so he wandered down the hall a distance then made his way back slowly. He caught the relieved look on Cam¡¯s face before she hid it behind a newspaper she¡¯d picked up.


    ¡°Did you really think I¡¯d slip away to live out my life as a backwoods hermit just to avoid this?¡± Stanley said as he plopped himself down in the chair next to her.


    She put down the paper to look at him and had the good grace to look guilty for thinking it.


    ¡°I said I¡¯d do it. I keep my word.¡±


    ¡°Sigrid is not happy with me about this. She said I should never have asked you to do it.¡± Cam admitted.


    Stanley smiled as he thought of Sigrid. She was a woman of strong principles. He looked up to see the troubled expression on the lovely CEO¡¯s face.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I understand what¡¯s at stake here. I know you have to protect VRL and the people who work there. I just arrived at thepany and I want to protect it too. It¡¯s also¡­ notpletely Minister Imamura¡¯s fault that his daughter got us into this situation,¡± he sighed.


    Cam tilted her head at Stanley. ¡°Notpletely?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s her Dad. Isn¡¯t it a parent¡¯s job to teach their children about right and wrong and epting responsibility for their actions?¡± he asked.


    Cam nodded as she looked closely at him. She was going to ask him about how he felt about not knowing his own parents but she didn¡¯t want to upset him after asking so much of him already.


    They heard the announcement to board once more and made their way back onto the jet.


    Stanley was less nervous this time but once they were in the air thete hour caught up to him and he yawned widely.


    ¡°You should get some sleep. The door there leads to a small bedroom. You should switch and recharge. With the time zone hopping we¡¯re doing it¡¯s going to confuse your time sense and we¡¯ll have to keep track of when you¡¯ll need some privacy to do that.¡±


    Stanley blinked at her then nodded. He went to the door at the back of the seating area and went into the room beyond it. There was a queen size bed and an actual shower, albeit a small one.


    He took off his clothes and spun the ring. He had a moment of intense vertigo and his eyes snapped open as he gasped. He was in his Satyr form and nothing else had moved so¡­ what had caused that terrifying sensation of falling?


    It was only then that the thought came to him that doing the switch while flying hundreds of miles an hour in a jet thousands of feet above the ground might not be safe to do. A shiver went through him but he just shook it off and climbed under the sheets. He missed his new bed but not enough to stay awake for long.


    Sometimeter he felt Cam¡¯s soft body slip under the covers and snuggle in next to him. He only surfaced for long enough to acknowledge her arrival. She didn¡¯t try anything so he just allowed himself to drift off again but before he did the realization that he¡¯d be in Japan upon waking washed over him. So far away. He wondered how Baba was doing then slipped into the depths of sleep.


    Stanley stood in the antechamber of the Japanese Parliament building waiting for the session to end. He and Cam, who was his interpreter, would be introduced then he would make his statement to Minister Imamura. He and Cam had gone over what he was going to say. He would speak in English and pause for her to trante his words into Japanese.


    As some of the ministers spoke fluent English she had to trante faithfully so his words had to be genuine and heartfelt.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    There was a tap on the door and a young man nodded to them. It was time.


    Stanley followed the man with Cam right behind him. They entered a vast chamber and paused until they were introduced. As they walked down the aisle Stanley felt many eyes on him. Luckily most eyes were being drawn to Cam as she was definitely an exotic distraction in this room of mostly men.


    Once they reached the front of the room they turned and faced the gathering of government officials. Stanley felt like a bug under a magnifying ss. Cam had pointed out in advance where the Minister was seated and had shown him an image of him so when he addressed him he was able to see the stiffness and worry on the man¡¯s face. He nced at Cam as the room went silent. She nodded.


    He turned his eyes back to the Minister then bowed, deeply and held it for a time. He stood upright and addressed the man.


    ¡°Minister Imamura. My name is Stanley Garin. I was¡­ engaged to be married to your daughter Yuko,¡± he began and waited for Cam to trante this. ¡°With deepest respect and humble apology I must¡­ withdraw my offer of marriage.¡±


    Once Cam said this there was a definite rumble of discontent amongst the gathering. Some were looking at Yuji Imamura with joy at his apparent humiliation. It was time for Stanley to set the hook. He shivered but pushed ahead.


    ¡°It is my deepest shame that I would not be able to provide you with the grandchildren you deserve. This is why I must withdraw from the marriage. My respect for you and your position in this great government is too great to allow my¡­ limitation to reduce your future happiness and contentment.¡± Stanley bowed once more but bent so quickly this time he lost his bnce and went down on his knees and clocked his forehead on the floor.


    He was slightly dazed and needed a moment so he remained there. He felt Cam¡¯s hand on his back as she tranted. The slight pressure she was applying was a hint to remain where he was. In his current state of embarrassment, not facing the room full of foreign government officials was ok with him even if he was on the floor.


    The room went silent and soon Stanley saw expensive shoes walking up to him. Cam¡¯s hand moved to his arm to help him up and Stanley stood once more.


    Minister Imamura was looking a little ovee with emotion but kept it tightly controlled with just a slight smile on his face. His eyes though, they showed his gratitude inly. He bowed slightly to Stanley who returned it twice as deep but kept from falling this time.


    ¡°I ept,¡± the man said.


    Stanley bowed once more and his relief was evident on his face.

 34

    Cam bowed to the Minister as well then led Stanley out of the room and back into the small waiting room outside of the main hall. She turned Stanley to face her and gave him a slight smile as she held his eyes with hers. ¡°Did you fall or was dropping to your knees and pressing your face to the ground done for effect?¡±


    His face burned with embarrassment. ¡°I was so bloody flustered I lost my bnce,¡± he said quietly.


    ¡°Well it was brilliant and shut down the man¡¯s opponentspletely. He¡¯s gained a tremendous amount of status from that one act,¡± she said equally quiet.


    He looked at her. ¡°Why aren¡¯t we leaving? Aren¡¯t we done?¡±


    ¡°Minister Imamura¡¯s wife will pick us up and take us to his estate. We are having dinner with them tonight and will fly home afterwards. They want to thank us properly,¡± she replied.


    Another young man approached them with their luggage and gestured for them to follow him. They did and made their way to an underground parking lot where the man held open the back door of a ck limousine. Cam entered first then Stanley and they took the rear bench. Facing them on the rear facing bench was Yuko¡¯s mother, the woman who Stanley met in Sandy¡¯s apartment. Their luggage went into the trunk.


    When the door closed, the car began to move.


    ¡°You have done my husband a tremendous honor. Not only have you spared him the embarrassment of publicly losing the engagement, you have grandly demonstrated how much you respect him. It was¡­ beyond expectation and his detractors and opponents have been greatly disadvantaged today. Thank you!¡± she said earnestly.


    Stanley didn¡¯t know what to say so he just nodded to her with a humble smile. Then he remembered something. ¡°The wedding present! The furniture. I was going to send it back so you could get the refund but I don¡¯t know what shop Yuko got it from.¡±


    ¡°Please keep the gift as thanks for your efforts today!¡± the woman said.


    Stanley looked at the woman in surprise. ¡°Oh! Thank you!¡±


    She dipped her head to ept his thanks. ¡°My name is Harumi. My spirited but undisciplined daughter Yuko has been sent to our country estate to contemte her errors of judgement.¡± She frowned unhappily then made some subtle gestures with her hands. The space within the back of the car suddenly went silent and he felt a strange muffling sensation. Harumi continued now that they had privacy. ¡°Her use of her powers within the home of a Human is most concerning. She will need to go before a disciplinarymittee to address this crime. I am just thankful you were able to counteract the spell before shepleted it. I did not have time to ask you that night how you did it so this is still a mystery to me!¡±


    ¡°I- I just grabbed her hands when I saw she was moving them and felt the energy building. I¡¯ve never felt anything like that before and I don¡¯t know anything about spells,¡± Stanley admitted.


    Cam gasped and Harumi¡¯s eyes went wide as she looked at him in shock. When she finally got her voice back she leaned forward. ¡°You grabbed her hands? With your own?¡±


    He nodded as he looked at her in worry. ¡°Was that a bad thing to do?¡±


    Both Cam and Harumi nodded.


    ¡°Would you grab a pot of boiling water by the sides of the pot?¡± Cam asked him.


    He gave her an exasperated scowl and Cam closed her eyes as she nodded. Of course, he didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°How does he not know these things and how was he not injured?¡± Harumi asked Cam pointedly.


    ¡°Unfortunately, this isn¡¯t something we¡¯re able to discuss,¡± Cam said.


    ¡°Not able or not willing?¡± Harumi pressed.


    Cam paused. ¡°For the safety of everyone involved it¡¯s both,¡± she finally responded.


    Harumi didn¡¯t look satisfied by that answer but seeing Cam¡¯s difort she wouldn¡¯t push any further.


    They drove on in silence for a while. They found themselves in a very posh, gated neighborhood and pulled up a long driveway to a lovely single story sprawling house. Harumi exited first and they followed her out. Harumi exined their bags would remain in the trunk until they left unless they needed them. They shook their heads and followed the woman into the home where they dropped their shoes at the door. They walked further into the building.


    Stanley¡¯s eyes were wide with delight. The rich, gleaming woods and paper dividers with their palette of earth tones were artistically illuminated by subtle and pleasing lighting. Combined with the minimal clutter the space soothed his soul. ¡°Your home is so beautiful!¡± he sighed and Harumi smiled and nodded to him in thanks.


    She led them to a small patio overlooking a koi pond and a small garden. They took seats and rxed as servants brought them tea.


    ¡°My husband will be home soon though he may take some time to ept the apologies of his opposition.¡± She turned her head as the door chimed. ¡°Ah! That must be our other daughter Jun. She is two years younger than Yuko. Unlike her sister, Jun remained in Japan and attends university here in Tokyo,¡± Harumi said as a petite, young woman approached them. She nodded to her mother then to Cam and Stanley.


    Harumi began the introductions. ¡°Jun, this is Cam Vimor and-¡±


    ¡°Stanley-san,¡± Jun finished for her, looking him boldly in the eye.


    He blinked and tilted his head slightly as he returned her appraising look. She was a little taller than Yuko for being younger than her sister and her silky ck hair only reached her shoulders. She was very slim and pretty though she tried to hide that behind ck rimmed sses which didn¡¯t appear to have prescription lenses. She also didn¡¯t smile but kept her expression very neutral. She was dressed in casual clothes, a printed t-shirt with some broken English slogan on it, deep blue stretchy pants and ck slippers.


    ¡°My sister spoke of you to me,¡± she said but Stanley wasn¡¯t sure if that was good or bad. Sensing his hesitation, she continued. ¡°Yuko has always been¡­ too quick to act without thinking. I am sorry if she has caused you trouble.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thank you,¡± Stanley replied, feeling a little relieved.


    ¡°Jun is studying Computer Science,¡± Harumi said proudly.


    Stanley¡¯s eyes widened happily. ¡°That was my area too!¡± he said.


    Jun looked at Stanley closely. ¡°Yuko did not tell me what you do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m CIO at Ms. Vimor¡¯s investment house in Manhattan,¡± he exined.


    Jun looked over at Cam who nodded in response to her doubtful expression.


    ¡°You are a very young CIO,¡± Jun remarked to him.


    ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot,¡± Stanley sighed.


    ¡°Do you know anything aboutwork security?¡± Jun asked. ¡°I have an assignment due this week and something is not working. Could you take a look at thework I have configured?¡±


    ¡°Dear, Mr. Garin has traveled a long way to endure a very trying ordeal. Perhaps this is not-¡± Harumi began.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind at all! It will take my mind off of it!¡± Stanley said as he climbed to his feet. He looked to Cam who just smiled and waved.


    ¡°When your father returns, we will be having dinner so you have until then,¡± Harumi stated and her daughter nodded as she turned and led the way to her room. Stanley followed.


    He admired the beautiful woodwork along the way and smiled at Jun when she opened the sliding door to her room. He went inside and grinned when he saw the workstation she had with the server rack next to it. The equipment was current and power protected. He looked back at her and nodded indicating he was impressed. She gave him a slight smile in return then walked over to the main terminal to log in.


    Once she was in she looked back at Stanley. He stepped next to her and she began to exin the issue she was having. She brought up the firewall rules on the screen to show him the rules she¡¯d put in ce. He didn¡¯t see anything wrong per se but it wasn¡¯t how he would have written the rules. He kept that to himself.


    ¡°I think we should run a benchmark on thework. Then some diagnostic routines to ensure the equipment isn¡¯t where the fault lies.


    ¡°This is all new equipment. It has been inspected by my professor. There will be no hardware faults,¡± she insisted.


    ¡°Your professors don¡¯t add faults to the equipment to increase the difficulty of debugging issues?¡± he asked.


    She gave him a shocked and outraged expression.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no. Humor me. Let¡¯s run the benchmark,¡± he said.


    She didn¡¯t look pleased as she obviously thought this was a waste of the limited time she had his help. He set up the test and ran it on eachputer on her smallwork. Then they reviewed the results.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Stanley frowned. They weren¡¯t seeing the performance he was expecting from the router. ¡°May I run a diagnostic routine on the router?¡± he asked. She nodded with a look of concern.


    He set up the test and ran it against each port. One of the ports on the router was running at half duplex. ¡°Port 7. What¡¯s it connected to?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The firewall,¡± she responded.


    ¡°Do you have a free port on the router?¡± he asked.


    ¡°There are two.¡±


    ¡°Switch the cable on port 7 to one of the free ports,¡± he suggested.


    She raised her eyebrows in question but moved the cable.

 35

    ¡°Run the authentication process once more,¡± he said and when she did the connection was made.


    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s working! What¡¯s wrong with port 7?¡±


    ¡°I think it was manually configured to use half duplex mode. Do you recall doing that?¡± he asked.


    Her frown turned into barely suppressed rage and Stanley was happy it didn¡¯t seem to be directed at him.


    ¡°No, but I know who did it,¡± she growled. ¡°Someone in my ss who said he would help me.¡±


    ¡°Did this person work on your router?¡± Stanley asked.


    ¡°He¡­ had the opportunity,¡± she said with a blush as she looked away.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Ohhhh!¡± Stanley said as he clued in. She¡¯d had this ¡®friend¡¯ in her bedroom. ¡°Why, uh, why would he have sabotaged your assignment?¡±


    ¡°So he could take my ce as top of the ss,¡± she said stiffly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t mean to embarrass you. What he did was really mean. The way to get back at him would be-¡±


    ¡°To gut him with a fishing knife!¡± she snarled.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°No! You show up with your project not onlyplete but exceeding expectations by implementing military grade encryption.¡± Stanley said with a grin.


    She blinked at him. ¡°We don¡¯t have ess to that level of encryption,¡± she mumbled.


    ¡°Pffft! It¡¯s easy. Let me show you how it¡¯s done,¡± he snorted with a grin.


    Stanley spent the next fifteen minutes carefully exining in great detail how to add next to unbreakable encryption to the data packets on herwork. When he was done and sure that she understood he gave her a big smile. ¡°This is the best revenge. This guy thinks your project is busted but you show up with it not only working but more secure than any student¡¯s proje-MMMMppphh!¡±


    Jun pulled Stanley down to the floor with her mouth fastened on his and her tongue thrusting deep inside. She was frighteningly strong and very passionate as she writhed on top of his body, grinding against his groin.


    He put his hands on her sides to push her off but that just seemed to excite her more and her kisses became more frenzied. She was moaning and sighing as she pressed herself firmly against him. He couldn¡¯t stop himself from reacting which just made her coo in excitement.


    Finally, she pulled back from his mouth to moan loudly as she felt his cock swelling and pressing against her mound.


    ¡°Stop!¡± he gasped.


    ¡°What?!? Why? This feels so good!¡± she moaned as she rubbed herself up and down his shaft.


    ¡°I said Stop!¡± Stanley barked as he pushed at her torso but his hands justnded on her small tits, squeezing them and she cooed once more.


    ¡°JUN!¡±


    From the floor, Stanley craned his head to look up towards the door. Harumi was standing there with a shocked and angry expression on her face. He tried to pull his hands away from Jun¡¯s tits but she¡¯d pinned them there with an arm.


    ¡°Get off of our guest! Immediately!¡± the angry mother growled.


    Jun finally seemed to register that her mother was there, was angry, and Stanley wasn¡¯t participating. She looked down at him. ¡°Yuko said you were good at sex.¡±


    Stanley frowned. ¡°She also didn¡¯t ask me if I wanted to have sex.¡±


    Jun rolled off of him. Stanley got to his feet and did his best to straighten his clothes. He realized she¡¯d somehow managed to pull his zipper down. He zipped up and turned his red face back to the mother who gestured for him to join her. She turned her attention back to her daughter.


    ¡°You will not be joining us for dinner tonight Jun. Apologize to Stanley.¡±


    Jun rose to her feet and did look ashamed. ¡°I am truly sorry for forcing myself upon you. I see now that you are not attracted to me.¡±


    Stanley sputtered. ¡°Wait a minute! I never said that! I think you¡¯re beautiful! It¡¯s- it¡¯s just not a¡­ good time to be¡­ doing that. It¡¯splicated.¡±


    She caught his eyes with hers and he felt the heat and passion in hers rush through his body. ¡°Some other time then?¡± For just a second he saw the sh of her fox tail and realized she was also Kitsune.


    His mouth dropped open and he found himself nodding as his voice failed him. A gentle hand guided him out of the room and started him down the hallway. He felt the woman walking just a pace behind him as they approached arger open space. She moved before him, and they stopped at the threshold, still out of sight of the people inside.


    ¡°My apologies for how my daughters allowed their passions to guide them so willfully. Let me go in while you¡­ calm yourself,¡± she said looking at the slight bulge still pushing against his pants.


    He blushed and nodded then he was alone. He closed his eyes to take some deep breaths to center himself and felt the first gentle twinges of his need to recharge make itself known. His eyes shed open. He¡¯d forgotten with the time zone jumping that his sleep cycle was all skewed. The nervous rush was enough to kill any desire he had so he was able to enter the room.


    When he rounded the corner he saw Minister Imamura speaking with Cam with his wife at his side. The man turned to him and smiled. He immediately walked over and shook Stanley¡¯s hand.


    Stanley returned his smile. He recalled that the man was not aware of the Hidden Races. Blissfully ignorant as Stanley had been not so long ago.


    ¡°So you have met my daughter Jun?¡± the man asked.


    Stanley looked him in the eye and saw only a father¡¯s pride. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s very smart and lovely as well.¡±


    ¡°Did you help her with this problem she has?¡± Yuji asked and Stanley paused for a second.


    ¡°Oh! Thework issue. Yes, though she would have found it eventually,¡± he replied honestly.


    ¡°It was very important to her for her grade,¡± the older man said with gravity.


    Stanley smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s going to get top grades for her assignment now. Maybe even bonus points.¡±


    ¡°Bonus points!¡± Yujiughed happily and patted Stanley on the shoulder.


    He wasn¡¯t sure what was so funny about that but Stanley just grinned and allowed himself to be directed towards the dining room table. He caught Cam¡¯s eye and mouthed the word ¡®time¡¯ to her. He was relieved to see she picked up on the cue. She nodded and spoke quietly into Harumi¡¯s ear who nced at Stanley and nodded to Cam.


    They took seats at the table and the servants immediately began bringing out the food. It smelled delicious and Stanley¡¯s mouth watered. He watched Cam for clues on what to do as he¡¯d never dined with government officials in Japan before. He smiled to himself as he thought about how his life had changed so dramatically.


    ¡°What amuses you so Stanley-san?¡± Yuji asked.


    ¡°I was just thinking of how much my life has changed in such a short time. Not that long ago I lived in a cottage with no electricity in a swamp while I attended college in New York City. Then I got my first job with Ms. Vimor¡¯spany. Now I¡¯m dining with important government officials in Japan. My head is spinning with how rapidly this all happened.¡±


    ¡°So youe from humble beginnings. This is a good thing! Your progress must make your parent¡¯s very proud,¡± Yuji said.


    Stanley nced at Cam before addressing him. ¡°I- I never knew my parents. I was raised by my Ba- my grandmother.¡±


    ¡°Humble beginnings, indeed,¡± the minister said with a sympathetic look.


    They turned their attention to the meal and Stanley was pleased to discover it tasted as good as it smelled.


    The Minister and his wife took turns asking Stanley questions about his childhood and his enjoyment of working with technology considering hisck of exposure to it early in his life.


    When Stanley caught his head dipping to his chest he snapped his eyes open and looked at Cam with a worried look. He felt the need to change in the back of his mind. She nodded to him.


    ¡°I think we must cut our visit short. We need to get back to the airport for our flight home and Stanley looks like he¡¯s about to fall asleep at the table,¡± Cam said smoothly.


    Faces smiled in his direction as he struggled to keep his eyes open with a sheepish grin.


    ¡°You are wee to stay the night and fly home tomorrow,¡± Yuji suggested.


    ¡°That¡¯s very gracious of you but business demands we return as quickly as we arrived,¡± Cam countered graciously.


    The Minister nodded as he knew all too well the demands of business. They all stood and once more Yuji took Stanley¡¯s hand in his. ¡°I cannot say how grateful I am for what you did for me today. I understand my daughter Yuko put us all into this unfortunate situation but how you chose to resolve it has solidified my position and authority in the government. Thank you!¡±


    Stanley didn¡¯t know how to respond so he just bowed to Yuji which drew a warm smile from him.


    Cam collected him and they headed back to the door. They said their goodbyes and the limousine picked them up to take them to the airport. Stanley fidgeted and did whatever he could to hold back the need to switch. He looked desperately at Cam but she just shook her head indicating it wasn¡¯t safe to talk.


    They finally reached the airport and got their bags. After checking in Cam had to exin Stanley¡¯s agitation as a reaction to his jetg. The security people nodded as they saw his sleepy eyes. They were allowed into the waiting area where they sat by the gate.


    ¡°How much longer?¡± Stanley gasped as he felt a vibration travelling through his body. He adjusted the strap on hisputer bag one more time.


    ¡°Hang in there. Maybe ten minutes at most,¡± Cam said with a concerned look.


    ¡°What- what happens if I can¡¯t make it? What do we¡­ do?¡± he groaned.


    ¡°We really didn¡¯t think this one through. We¡¯d have to call in support. I have a number¡­ oh, thank god! There¡¯s the flight crew. Stay put, I¡¯ll go speak with them!¡± Cam said as she jumped to her feet and rushed away to speak with the captain. He and the co-pilot spoke with Cam quietly and both nodded to her. She gestured for Stanley to join them.


    He pushed himself to his feet and struggled to walk over to them as he concentrated on maintaining his human shape. He followed the crew down the jet bridge. The pilot and co-pilot turned left to go into the cockpit and Stanley rushed right, dropped his bag on a chair, and made his way directly into the bedroom at the back.


    He closed the door behind himself and without bothering with his clothes he spun the ring holding the image of his Satyr form in his mind.


    The transition was not smooth this time.


    Reality snapped around him with a vengeance and hisrge form was thrown against the inner wall of the ne with great force.


    He crashed to the floor and everything went ck.

 36

    Cam was sitting in the hospital waiting room when Marisa, Sigrid, and Mr. Duncan rushed in.


    ¡°How is he?¡± Marisa gasped.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from the doctor yet.¡±


    ¡°Why did you fly him all the way home before getting him medical attention!¡± Sigrid barked. She¡¯d been in a state since receiving the shaky call from Cam hours before.


    Cam red at her. ¡°I wasn¡¯t given a choice!¡± A shiver went through her as her mind shed back to the moment.


    There was arge thump from the back which shook the ne. Then the lights suddenly went out, plunging her into darkness. She felt the cold hand on her shoulder and the voice by her ear sent a burst of terror through her.


    ¡°Bring him home.¡±


    Only three words but Cam knew exactly who had spoken them and how far away she¡¯d been when she spoke them. The lights came back on and the Pilot was finally able to open the stuck cockpit door. He came rushing back into the passenger section.


    ¡°What was that?!?¡± he called out as Cam looked into the back room. She saw Stanley¡¯srge body on the floor and the broken stic panels on the side wall where he¡¯d mmed against them. Bits of stic were in his fur and his clothes were shredded.


    She turned to tell them to call an ambnce but her voice stuck in her throat. She took a breath and felt thepulsion ease. ¡°Get us home,¡± she managed.


    The pilot looked like he was going to argue but he suddenly turned and made his way back to the cockpit.


    ¡°Cam!¡±


    She snapped back to the present to see Sigrid holding her shoulders.


    ¡°Sorry. I had a¡­ visit from someone we all met that first night. She told me to bring him home. I had to,¡± she said with a shiver.


    Marisa touched her mother¡¯s arm and the woman seemed to rx. ¡°What happened to Stanley?¡±


    ¡°We flew to Japan and he switchedte to recharge after we flew from Anchorage. We got into Japan and he switched back. It was only 2AM there so we went all the way to 10PM the following night before we boarded the ne. Stanley was barely keeping it together. He needed to switch but he couldn¡¯t until we had the privacy of the ne. Something must have gone wrong during his change. There was a terrible crash and when I looked inside the room he was unconscious on the floor in his other state. The inside wall of the jet, just the stic interior part, was smashed to bits.¡±


    Marisa gasped and made a sympathetic noise.


    ¡°He slept all the way back to ska. We refueled but stayed on the ne this time. I don¡¯t know what was happening to the flight crew as they acted like we weren¡¯t there from that point on. When we got back to New York I called in the support teams to extract him but when I went back to check on him he was back to his other state but still unconscious. The sheets were shredded but at least he didn¡¯t get thrown against the wall again.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still watching over him?¡± Mr. Duncan asked quietly.


    Cam nodded. ¡°He isn¡¯t to know,¡± she found herself saying and looked nervously at Sigrid as she touched her lips. Sigrid shared her worried expression.


    ¡°Geezus,¡± the big man growled nervously.


    They all jumped when the doctor pushed through the door.


    He looked at them in surprise. ¡°Are you all here with Mr. Garin?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I brought him in,¡± Cam stated. ¡°How is he? Can we see him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s badly bruised. Was he in a car ident or fall from a height?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see it happen but I believe he fell,¡± Cam answered as honestly as she could. ¡°Anything broken?¡±


    ¡°Miraculously no, and no concussion thank goodness but he¡¯s going to be in a lot of pain for a little while. I¡¯ll prescribe him some strong painkillers but they¡¯re highly addictive so he should try to limit his intake when possible,¡± the doctor exined. He looked at the group. ¡°I think initially only one visitor. I¡¯ll write up the script and I¡¯d like to keep him overnight for observation-¡±


    ¡°No! Sorry, he needs toe home. Now,¡± Cam blurted, once more feeling thepulsion ring.


    The doctor scowled at her. He looked upset but nodded brusquely and left the room with Marisa following. Cam sagged against the back of the row of chairs.


    ¡°I assume the crone knows what¡¯s best for him,¡± Sigrid said quietly and Mr. Duncan shivered.


    Marisa followed the doctor into the private room where Stanley was resting. She sighed as she saw the bruising on his arms on top of the sheets.


    He had a nasty bruise on his jawline as well.


    The doctor checked the readings on the monitor, confirmed the IV drip contained the painkiller he¡¯d ordered, then nodded to her as he left.


    ¡°Oh Stanley,¡± she moaned gently.


    His eyes cracked open at the sound of her voice. ¡°Hello Marisa,¡± he said weakly.


    ¡°Shhh¡­ rest. I¡¯m so sorry you injured yourself,¡± she said.


    He turned his hand over on the bed next to her and she slipped her hand into his. He sighed happily.


    ¡°There is something in your touch that sooths me. That makes me feel like everything is going to be ok,¡± he whispered.


    Tears popped up in her eyes as she recalled the words the old woman spoke about how life wouldn¡¯t be good to her boy. So far her words had been fairly prophetic.


    She did her best to suppress her sight when she looked at Stanley as there was something big in his future and that event had a kind of gravity to it. It pulled at her new, more powerful abilities so she looked away.


    ¡°Am I hideous?¡± he murmured.


    ¡°What? No! You¡¯re just bruised. You¡¯ll heal,¡± she assured him.


    His eyes closed and he fell asleep once more. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. When she pulled back he had a sweet innocent smile on his lips.


    Cam signed the release forms for Stanley and with Mr. Duncan¡¯s help to carry the unconscious young man they took a limo back to his condo. Sigrid carried his suitcase, Marisa had hisputer bag, and Cam had his keys while the big man gently cradled Stanley in his arms.


    ¡°OH MY GOD! What happened to Stanley!¡±


    They turned to see a young blond woman in hospital scrubs rushing up to them.


    ¡°And you are?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sandy, his neighbor and friend!¡± she blustered as she looked nervously at the big man carrying Stanley.


    ¡°Ah! Right. Stanley was in an ident. He¡¯s badly bruised but otherwise uninjured. I¡¯m Cam Vimor, his employer. Could we get him inside?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Sorry.¡± Sandy said and rushed forward to get the door. The rest followed, the big man carefully navigating Stanley¡¯s prone body through the doors.


    Sandy got a close look at the bruises on Stanley¡¯s face and her eyes widened in shock. She looked at therge woman with a long blond braid and her eyes widened as the white blond beauty stepped past. She followed and ducked into the elevator with them at thest second though she was pressed up against the abundant chest of the young beauty.


    ¡°I¡¯m Marisa Vimor, Stanley¡¯s executive assistant.¡± She tilted her head towards the woman with the braid. ¡°This is Sigrid Gunderan, VRL¡¯s Head of Human Resources. Carrying Stanley is Mr. Duncan, our Head of Security. My mother is the CEO.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s eyes were wide with surprise. So many top level executives looking after Stanley. But then he did say he was the CIO. ¡°It¡¯s great you¡¯re all so concerned with Stanley¡¯s well-being!¡± she ventured cautiously.


    Marisa smiled warmly. ¡°Stanley is a very special young man. We have a major investment in him.¡±


    Sandy giggled nervously, overwhelmed by the raw beauty of the people protecting her neighbor. Even the silent Mr. Duncan had a¡­ savage beauty about him. She felt a shiver run down her spine as he smiled at her stare.


    The elevator stopped. ¡°Your floor I believe,¡± the HR Executive said as she looked to Sandy.


    ¡°Oh! Uh, ok. I¡¯ll check in on Stanleyter I guess,¡± Sandy stuttered as she stepped back from Marisa¡¯s warm body. She felt the oddest urge to step forward again to return to that soft embrace. She gave herself a shake as her face flushed.


    ¡°When Stanley is awake I¡¯ll let him know you were asking about him. It was nice meeting you,¡± Marisa said kindly as the door closed.


    Dazed, Sandy made her way to her condo. She felt so tingly where she¡¯d touched Marisa. She wasn¡¯t attracted to women! She wasn¡¯t!


    As she let herself into her front door she realized she might be willing to amend that policy for Marisa. The idea shocked and thrilled her equally.


    Up on the ninth floor, Cam opened Stanley¡¯s front door and made her way inside. She looked at the furnishings in surprise as the others followed her in.


    ¡°Oh! This is lovely!¡± Marisa gushed.


    ¡°Where is the bedroom?¡± Mr. Duncan growled.


    ¡°The door to the left,¡± Sigrid offered.


    ¡°Is that his bed?¡± the big redhead said in surprise, looking at the mattress on the floor.


    Marisa took her shoes off and hurried into the bedroom to pull back theforter. She guided the big man to gently set Stanley down but he moaned as his body settled down onto the pad.


    Stanley¡¯s eyes opened and he looked up. ¡°Wha¡­ Dad? Where am I? Why do I hurt so much?¡±N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    The Security Chief nced uneasily at Marisa. Dad?


    ¡°It¡¯s the pain meds. They¡¯re confusing him,¡± she said with a grin.


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Duncan? Are your servers working? The software is new. I got thetest version. How about the monitor bank?¡± Stanley struggled to ask as his eyes threatened to close again.

 37

    ¡°They¡¯re great, Stanley. Everything works perfectly! Good job. Get some rest,¡± the man said awkwardly.


    ¡°Good¡­¡± Stanley said with a smile and drifted off.


    Marisa covered him with the nket and followed Mr. Duncan out into the living room where Cam was sitting with Sigrid. She took a seat across from her mother as the big man made his way into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and made a happy noise when he spotted a baking pan of brownies. He pulled it out, got a knife from the drawer, and carried both back to the living room. He sat next to Marisa, peeled back the stic wrap, and cut her a brownie which she epted with a smile. He cut two more for Cam and Sigrid then one for himself.


    ¡°Oh my god, this is good!¡± Marisa sighed as the choctey treat melted in her mouth.


    ¡°Did Yuko make these?¡± Cam asked looking suspiciously at the square in her hand. Marisa stopped eating to look at her nervously.


    ¡°No, I believe these were from the pretty blond neighbor,¡± Sigrid exined.


    Marisa sighed in relief and took another bite. ¡°So good!¡±


    ¡°How did it go in Japan?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Better than expected. Stanley was marvelous in his addressing the Minister and left him with a very secure position in the cab. Afterwards we had a lovely dinner with him and his wife but we mistimed Stanley¡¯s recharging and had to leave rather hurriedly,¡± Cam exined. ¡°You may get a bill for the damage to the inside of the jet.¡±


    ¡°So no more taking the boy overseas,¡± Mr. Duncan said firmly.


    She looked to him and nodded. ¡°Last time. After seeing what happened with Marisa, I don¡¯t believe the idea of getting Stanley a mour from the Fey is an option. He¡¯s notpatible with Fey magic. He has to stick with his current method which has strict timing requirements. The repercussions of not following the timing is too severe.¡± She looked sadly at his bedroom door. ¡°It will also have a very restrictive impact on his social life speaking of the pretty blond.¡±


    Marisa nodded sadly. She¡¯d felt Sandy¡¯s attraction to Stanley, her genuine concern. There was only pain ahead for them if they pursued that.


    Cam looked at Marisa. ¡°How goes the technology upgrade? Are we safe yet?¡±


    ¡°Stanley has worked some real miracles. The equipment he¡¯s configured is working perfectly. I don¡¯t understand how he does it but he gets the most out of every system he installs. It all just works for him. We would have been migrating over to the new data server and file storage systems if Stanley hadn¡¯t been injured. He¡¯s going to have to rework the data backup and restore n with this set back. It will add a couple of days. That would have been the beginning of the rollout of the new servers. I mean aside from Mr. Duncan¡¯s which are already in production,¡± Marisa exined.


    ¡°How did you jump the queue?¡± Cam asked her Security Chief.


    ¡°The boy treats me like a father,¡± he smirked.


    Marisa smiled at him and shook her head. ¡°Stanley said Mr. Duncan¡¯s servers were the easiest to upgrade and as his system protects all the other systems Stanley prioritized it.¡± She turned to the redhead. ¡°Were you aware that Stanley configured our new firewall to send you reports of intrusion attempts?¡±


    The man grinned wickedly. ¡°Yes, its honeypot and back trace feature are especially helpful.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re being hacked?¡± Cam blurted.


    Marisa grinned with pride. ¡°Were. Past tense. He sent the details to Mr. Duncan. Stanley identified the back door ess someone added into our old firewall and reced the whole thing with an ¡®N¡¯ Dimensional Labyrinth. That¡¯s what Stanley called it at least. He wrote the software himself in college. All I know is that it can thwart any kind of cyber-attack we tried to throw at it. Stanley keeps trying to break it with new hacking methods he reads about but so far it¡¯s imprable and all attempts are reported to Security.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°This weekend the new workstations are to be rolled out. I need to speak with Stanley to see if we should proceed with that as we were going to switch over to the newwork at the same time which requires the data server and file storage to be in ce. If he says yes, it will take all of the workers to manage the instations,¡± Marisa exined.


    Sigrid finished her brownie and stood up. ¡°We should be getting back to the office. Are you going to stay to watch over him?¡± she said looking at Marisa who nodded. ¡°Save the receipts for any meals you order and we¡¯ll cover the expense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bring over a bag of clothes and essentialster,¡± Cam said as she stood and handed Stanley¡¯s keys to her daughter.


    Mr. Duncan cut himself another brownie square and put the pan back in the fridge before joining the two women. He grinned back at Marisa, chocte crumbs on his lips, as she locked up behind them.


    She went back to Stanley¡¯s bedroom and looked in on him. He was sleeping peacefully. She knew his current meds would likely run out around dinner time. This meant he should be able to get a few more hours of pain free sleep before she¡¯d need to give him a pill. She went back out to the living room and checked the pills her mother had received from the doctor. Then she curled up on the couch to rest her eyes just for a bit.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    She jolted awake when she heard the phone ring. She got up to answer it and saw it was 6:30PM.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me. Buzz me in,¡± Cam¡¯s voice said so she pressed the 9 button and heard its rasping tone. While she waited, she went to check on Stanley and saw he was moving restlessly.


    She heard a knock and moved to let her mother into the condo. She had Marisa¡¯s suitcase with her.


    ¡°Thank you for this,¡± she said as she took the case from her hand.


    ¡°How is he?¡±


    ¡°I think he¡¯s ready for his next pill,¡± Marisa said with a frown.


    Cam walked over to the bedroom door and looked in. ¡°He¡¯s going to need to switch before he does. It¡¯s time. Let¡¯s get him on his feet and out of his clothes.¡±


    ¡°Really? He has to be naked?¡± Marisa asked skeptically.


    ¡°The change shreds clothes,¡± Cam said, scowling at her daughter who moved to pull the nket from his body.


    Cam knelt down on one side of Stanley and Marisa took the other side.


    ¡°Stanley. It¡¯s time for you to change so we¡¯re going to stand you up and get you undressed. Ok?¡± Cam said gently.


    His eyes opened and he smiled at her and then Marisa. They gently held his shoulders and helped him sit up.


    ¡°Ohhhh,¡± he moaned quietly. They stood and held him as he got his legs under himself. Then they lifted him and he sucked in a sharp breath. ¡°Oh fuck,¡± he whispered.


    Looking at her mother with concern, Marisa helped her quickly undress him and they had him stand on his own. The livid bruises covering his torso were awful to see and they bit their lips to keep from gasping.


    ¡°Are you able to do it?¡± Cam asked as he wobbled slightly on his feet.


    ¡°Stand further back,¡± he mumbled.


    They moved then he put one hand in the other. They couldn¡¯t see what he was doing with his hands but the air twisted around him and a Satyr was before them. He copsed as they rushed to catch him.


    ¡°Stanley!¡± Marisa cried out.


    He just moaned so they straightened out his limbs on the bed and pulled the nket up over his muchrger body. It took all theirbined strength to move him and they were as careful as they could be to not hurt him.


    ¡°Would you like something to eat?¡± Marisa asked.


    His eyes opened and he looked at her. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you a pill and some water,¡± she said.


    Cam stayed with him while Marisa went out to the living room and got the pills. She poured arge ss of water as well. She went back into the bedroom and knelt next to him.


    ¡°Stanley, open up,¡± she said and Cam gently lifted his head so she could put the pill on his tongue. Then she held the ss to his lips and he drank it all.


    Cam let his head rest back against the pillow then ran her fingers through his silky soft hair as she looked down at him fondly.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry this happened Stanley.¡±


    ¡°S¡¯okay.¡± He was struggling to stay awake.


    ¡°Rest Stanley. I¡¯ll check in on youter,¡± Marisa said as she and her mother stood and left the room.


    ¡°Are you going to be safe with him tonight?¡± Cam asked when they were in the living room.


    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t need to feed for a few more days at least,¡± she sighed at her mother¡¯s caution.


    Cam nodded and rubbed her fingers together as she recalled how soft his hair had been. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going to head home then. I¡¯ll stop in on the way in to work tomorrow.¡±


    Marisa didn¡¯t bother to argue. She knew her mother would be here regardless. She just nodded and followed her to the front door. She gave her mother¡¯s cheek a kiss and closed the door behind her after being subjected to another look from the woman.


    She walked back to the living room and dropped herself onto the couch. She just closed her eyes when there was a knock on the door. Sighing, she pushed herself back onto her feet and walked back to the door.


    ¡°We¡¯re fine, mother!¡± she eximed, pulling the door open.


    The blond neighbor was looking at her in surprise as she stood there holding arge pot of something which smelled very good.


    ¡°Sandy?¡±


    ¡°Hi Marisa. I was worried about Stanley and thought I might pop up and bring him some supper. It¡¯s homemade chili.¡±


    Marisa froze. She couldn¡¯t let her in as Stanley was in Satyr form and unconscious at that.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s really nice of you but this isn¡¯t a good time. I just gave him his pill and he¡¯s just fallen asleep again.¡±


    ¡°This is really heavy and it¡¯s getting hot so can I set it down on his stove?¡± Sandy said.

 38

    Marisa bit her lip then nodded as she stepped back. She followed Sandy down the short hall and immediately ducked behind her to shut Stanley¡¯s bedroom door as the other woman headed for the kitchen. They met back in the hall.


    Sandy looked behind Marisa and raised an eyebrow. ¡°You know, I am a nurse.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but this isn¡¯t a hospital so Stanley¡¯s privacy matters here,¡± Marisa said gently.


    a


    ¡°But I¡¯m a friend!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not up for visiting friends at the moment I¡¯m afraid,¡± Marisa countered.


    Sandy panned her eyes down Marisa¡¯s body and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a very good Executive Assistant. Very protective.¡±


    Marisa returned the smile. ¡°I like to think so.¡±


    ¡°But are you his friend?¡± Sandy asked with a coy smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m that as well but tonight I¡¯m his assistant first.¡±


    ¡°Are you anything else to Stanley?¡± Sandy asked, trying to sound casual. Her voice held just the slightest tremor in it which gave away how intimidated she was by Marisa¡¯s beauty.


    Marisa fixed her eyes on Sandy¡¯s and saw the woman¡¯s nerve break.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that waspletely rude of me. Ignore my question. I¡¯ll be going-¡± Sandy groaned and turned to leave.


    She stopped when Marisa caught her arm in a gentle grip.


    ¡°Have you had dinner?¡± Marisa asked her. ¡°I have this delicious smelling chili if you¡¯d like some.¡±


    Sandy grinned nervously and nced towards the bedroom door.


    ¡°It will be just us two girls. Stanley is still off limits. Agreed?¡±


    Sandy nodded and they moved into the kitchen to get themselves bowls of the chili.


    Marisa found a nice bottle of wine in the fridge and opened it for them.


    They sat on the stools at the breakfast bar and raised a toast.


    ¡°To Stanley¡¯s quick return to good health!¡± Sandy said and Marisa nodded. They drank and both made appreciative noises. ¡°Stanley has good taste in wine for someone who never drank beforeing to work at yourpany.¡±


    Marisa smiled and ate a spoonful of the chili. ¡°Oh, this is really good!¡±


    Sandy grinned at the look of happiness on Marisa¡¯s face.


    They ate in silence for a while, just enjoying the good wine, thefort food, and the friendlypany.


    Sandy drank quicker than Marisa as she was still nervous with the gorgeous woman. She kept looking at the sses she was wearing. She swore the lenses weren¡¯t prescription.


    ¡°Do you like my sses?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Sandy blurted.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been staring at them,¡± Marisa noted.


    ¡°Oh god, have I? How rude! I¡¯m sorry! It¡¯s just¡­ you don¡¯t seem to need them and they hide your lovely eyes,¡± Sandy gushed.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Marisa smiled at thepliment. ¡°Maybe I need them to hide my lovely eyes.¡±


    The nurse gasped in surprise and reached over to hold Marisa¡¯s arm. ¡°Why would you want to do that? Beauty shouldn¡¯t be hidden!¡±


    Marisa could tell Sandy was a little tipsy but that didn¡¯t prevent the tingles from spreading outwards from the woman¡¯s touch. She hadn¡¯t been lying to her mother that she wouldn¡¯t need to feed but a little snack wouldn¡¯t be unwee. She reached up with her free hand and removed her sses, letting Sandy feel the full power of her direct attention.


    ¡°Ohhh, your eyes are beautiful!¡± the woman cooed and her grip on Marisa¡¯s arm tightened ever so slightly.


    Marisa took another sip of her wine while holding Sandy¡¯s eyes with hers and saw the woman squeeze and rub her thighs together as she squirmed on her bar stool. Sandy took another gulp of her wine as well but she couldn¡¯t look away.


    The young subus would have to tread carefully as this was someone close to Stanley. Someone he interacted with. She didn¡¯t want to leave him with more troubles than he currently had.


    ¡°Would it be too forward for me to say that I think you¡¯re beautiful as well?¡± Marisa said, sinking the hook. Sandy began to take deep breaths and her nipples were beginning to show against the tight fabric of her top.


    ¡°No¡­ that would be ok,¡± Sandy mumbled as her eyes went to Marisa¡¯s lush lips.


    When Marisa bit her lip Sandy moaned and unconsciously leaned closer to her. Marisa matched her motion and soon they were face to face.


    ¡°Do¡­ do you like girls? I¡¯ve never-¡± Sandy squeaked.


    ¡°I like sex,¡± Marisa breathed then her mouth was on Sandy¡¯s and the woman melted against her body as their tongues caressed.


    Sandy¡¯s nipples felt like diamonds through the thin material of her top and bra. Marisa¡¯s fingers gently squeezed and tugged on them and Sandy gasped into the kiss. The heat of the kiss escted and Sandy¡¯s hands sunk into the thick white tresses on the back of Marisa¡¯s head.


    Marisa gently pulled the other woman to her feet and guided them over to the sofa in the living room all the while maintaining the kiss and subtly caressing her body to increase her passion. Sandy was gasping and moaning as she sank back against the cushions. She was entirely under the thrall of the Subus now and Marisa was taking her time to ensure both of them enjoyed this.


    Moving her mouth to Sandy¡¯s throat, Marisa¡¯s tongue felt and measured the rapid beating of the woman¡¯s heart. She was ready. She pulled back to tug the shirt up and over Sandy¡¯s head. The young nurse tried to return the favor but getting the tailored silk blouse past Marisa¡¯srge tits proved impossible without undoing the buttons. Sandy¡¯s eyes were wide with excitement as she finally exposed the satin andce bra.


    ¡°Even your lingerie is beautiful!¡± Sandy sighed.


    ¡°It makes me feel pretty!¡± Marisa said simply.


    Sandy gaped at her. ¡°You don¡¯t need clothes to be gorgeous!¡±


    Marisa turned a sexy, wicked smile on the dazed woman beneath her. ¡°Let¡¯s find out if that¡¯s true.¡± She reached back and popped the sp on the bra and let it slip forward and off, tossing it aside.


    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Sandy sighed as she looked at the most perfect breasts she¡¯d ever seen. Full, round and firm with pink are and deeper pink nipples which were stiff with excitement. She couldn¡¯t stop herself from reaching forward to cup and squeeze them in her hands. She¡¯d never touched another woman¡¯s tits like this before but she wanted this. Marisa was cooing and sighing which just made her want to touch her more. Seeing the pleasure on Marisa¡¯s beautiful face was¡­ doing things to her own body.


    Marisa slipped her hand under Sandy¡¯s back and released the bra, tugging it forward and off. Her modest breasts were freed and Marisa wasted no more time. She moved down to kiss her deeply, pressing her tits against Sandy¡¯s making the woman moan with pleasure.


    Sandy had never felt anything so sensual before and was being carried away on a wave of delicious euphoria. Her nipples ached with their stiffness and her pussy was begging for attention.


    She felt hands on her hips tugging her yoga pants and panties down and she just lifted her ass to ease their descent.


    Marisa¡¯s tongue was so delicious and when the woman asionally nibbled on Sandy¡¯s lips, bolts of pleasure shot through her to the wetness below. Her need to be touched there was getting out of control. She tried to move her hands down to touch herself but Marisa pinned her hands and pulled them above her head. The beauty pulled back from the kiss and smiled down at her.


    ¡°No, my sweet woman. That¡¯s for me,¡± Marisa said, her voice breathy and smooth.


    Sandy yipped in surprise as Marisa nibbled her way down her neck and squirmed as the woman¡¯s tongue teased her tits before finally reaching her stiff nipples.


    ¡°OH! FUCK YES!¡± Sandy cried out as Marisa sucked and caressed her nipples until she thought she¡¯d go out of her mind. They¡¯d wanted attention and now they were overwhelmed by the sensations. It was almost too much! ¡°Oooo! Fuck! Geezus! Ahhhhh!¡±


    Marisa¡¯s tongue began to move further down and Sandy¡¯s body tensed in anticipation. Her muscles trembled and twitched with every dart of the clever tongue.


    When it dipped into her hot pussy as lips sucked on her swollen clit Sandy¡¯s body arched below Marisa. She screamed as she grabbed the white blond hair and held the woman¡¯s mouth against her throbbing pussy as wave after wave of bliss exploded over her. The tongue stroked in and out and went deeper than she expected it could, bringing her pleasure higher and higher until her world hovered on the edge of consciousness.


    Just before she slipped away into that nirvana her mind shed an image that shocked and excited her beyond her ability to cope. Consciousness fled, carrying that image deep into her subconscious.


    Marisa was drinking deeply from Sandy¡¯s gushing pussy when she felt the woman¡¯s body suddenly go ck. She pulled back to look up in surprise. She¡¯d been so careful to keep her on the raw edge of bliss without sending her over. This shouldn¡¯t have happened! Marisa was highly excited and needed release of her own.


    When the heat of Stanley¡¯s thick cock pressed against her wet pussy she yelped in shock then moaned loudly as it sank slowly into her depths. With Sandy sprawled out over the sofa, Marisa had to move down so she was hanging over the arm with her ass presented for easy ess. Big hands held her hips in ce as the huge cock went deeper and deeper, filling her up sopletely. He felt so hot and delicious inside her.


    She knew they couldn¡¯t be doing this. Not in front of a Human, even if she was unconscious! She tried to break free from the rapture her body was going through and escape his grip but she only managed to wiggle her hips. He grunted and mmed himself forward to p her ass with his pelvis. He moaned and held himself very still.


    Marisa was shaking with the sensations flooding her body. She had no leverage to escape his grasp and she didn¡¯t think she could as he felt too good inside her. She felt him throb and swell so deep inside and bit her lip to contain her moans.


    He finally moved again but it was only to slowly draw his cock out to the head. He was moving so deliberately slow that every ripple and bump was dragging against her flesh exaggerating the sensations. She began to pant with need as he pushed forward once more, driving his cock deep into her pussy. Her mouth dropped open and she pped a hand over it to contain her guttural moans.


    She needed release but this slow fuck was excruciatingly stimting without being intense enough to push her over the edge. She felt the precipice so close.

 39

    She gave Sandy a worried look as she had no idea when she¡¯d return to consciousness. She needed Stanley to finish, quickly but he was¡­ why was he moving so slowly?


    Marisa turned her head to look over her shoulder. Stanley¡¯s eyes were barely open and zed with the drugs in his system. He was also trembling from the pain of holding himself upright. She could see his bruised muscles twitching from fatigue. It was only the drugs blocking the pain receptors that enabled him to stay upright. She gasped in dismay seeing the pain his body was experiencing.


    Still he thrust in and pulled out, driving Marisa insane with lust until her own body began to tremble with fatigue. She needed to cum so badly! She squeezed his cock with her pussy as he pushed himself deep and he slid a thick thumb into her ass.


    Marisa¡¯s mind exploded as the sudden intensity triggered a chain reaction in her. Her mor dropped and she moaned as her limbs stretched outwards, electricity jumping and shing through her nerves as she mped down on his thick cock.


    When he suddenly began spraying streams of energy rich cum into her she cried out in pure joy as her body gobbled up the wild magic. Her cells craved the power in his essence and glutted themselves once more.


    When she finally came back to herself, she was resting her cheek on the belly of the blond nurse. She snapped her mor back in ce and cautiously looked up at Sandy¡¯s face but she was still out.


    Cautiously lifting herself off of the woman she realized Stanley was no longer inside or behind her. She pushed herself to her feet and stifled a cry of dismay as she saw his body copsed on the floor. He was still in his Satyr form so she struggled to get him to his hooves and helped him back into his bedroom and onto the bed. She pulled the nket over him, saw he was out, and stepped outside to close his door.


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    Marisa squeaked as she spun to look at the sofa.


    Sandy raised her hands in rm. ¡°Is everything ok?¡± she asked cautiously.


    Heart hammering in her chest, Marisa leaned back against the door. ¡°Yes, you just startled me. You were sound asleep when I went in to check on Stanley- he¡¯s ok,¡± she said quickly at the woman¡¯s look of concern. ¡°I just heard a noise so I checked it out.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s eyes traveled down Marisa¡¯s lush body and took in the flush on her smooth skin. Then she noticed something¡­ embarrassing. ¡°Uh, you¡¯ve got something¡­¡± she murmured as she tentatively pointed down.


    Marisa looked down and turned her back on Sandy as she slipped a finger between her thighs. She felt something wet and scooped it out. Looking at her finger she saw it was arge blob of Stanley¡¯s cum. She stared at it, struggling not to suck it into her mouth when her instincts were screaming at her to do just that.


    Enough! She pushed the finger away and spun quickly to go into the kitchen to rinse it off. Her outstretched finger caught Sandy¡¯s open mouth as the woman had approached her in concern and was about to speak. Surprised by Marisa¡¯s finger Sandy closed her lips around the digit.


    Marisa yanked her finger back but it was toote. Sandy looked at Marisa in shock as she ran her tongue over the stuff left in her mouth. She looked like she was trying to determine what it was when her eyes rolled back. The energy from the wild magic was flooding through a bodypletely unprepared for it. Marisa caught her and carried her back to the couch.


    Humans were generally unaffected by magic as their cells weren¡¯t attuned to the energy. Wild Magic was a new ball game. It didn¡¯t behave like the magic the Hidden Races interacted with. It was¡­ unpredictable.


    Marisa held Sandy in her arms and tried to wake her but the woman was caught in the torrent of energy. Her long blond hair was spread out on the sofa like a mane. Marisa¡¯s jaw dropped as the hair began to gleam as if it were freshly washed and in direct sunlight. Then it moved like it was in a gentle breeze. Tentatively Marisa ran her fingers through the hair and Sandy cooed in her sleep. It felt ultra-soft and light between her fingers.


    They sat like that on the couch for the next forty minutes as Marisa struggled to think of some way to exin to Sandy why her hair was so shiny and seemed to move on its own.


    Fuck! She¡¯d really messed up.


    When the woman began to stir, Marisa looked down into Sandy¡¯s eyes as they slowly opened. A slow smile spread across the woman¡¯s face as she looked up at Marisa¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°I feel so good in your arms,¡± Sandy said. Then she tried to open her eyes wider and struggled to do so. ¡°Hoo, I drank too much tonight! My head is spinning!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll walk you home,¡± Marisa said with a relieved smile, earning another one from Sandy.


    They stood and put their clothes back on.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been with a woman before. Does this mean I¡¯m a lesbian?¡± Sandy asked in a daze.


    ¡°Are you still attracted to men?¡± Marisa asked as she buttoned her silk blouse.


    Sandy thought about that and how thinking about Stanley gave her tingles in good ces. ¡°Yes, yes I am.¡±


    ¡°Then maybe thatbel isn¡¯t applicable. Better yet, you could do what I do and ignore thebels entirely,¡± Marisa suggested.


    Sandy smiled and put a hand out against the wall to keep her bnce.


    Marisa gathered up Stanley¡¯s keys and let them out of the condo. They took the elevator to the fourth and Marisa walked her to her door. ¡°I had a lovely time tonight. Thanks, too, for the chili.¡±


    Sandy snorted and looked back at Marisa in awe. ¡°I had¡­ one of the most exciting nights of my life.¡± She pushed her hair back unconsciously as it was sliding over her neck. ¡°I¡¯m still feeling a little dazed. I¡¯d better get some sleep. Please tell Stanley I was asking after him.¡±All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I will. Good night.¡± She leaned forward and gave Sandy a kiss on the lips and felt something caressing her breasts. As she pulled back she saw Sandy¡¯s hair sliding off her silk blouse. The woman appeared to be unaware of it entirely but she was still a little dazed. Hopefully the magic would wear off soon.


    Once Sandy went inside Marisa returned to Stanley¡¯s condo and settled in on the couch. She didn¡¯t dare sleep in the same bed as Stanley. She¡¯d hurt him enough tonight.


    Sandy tugged off her clothes and dumped them in the bin. She stood before the mirror and ran her fingers over her body feeling a lingering afterglow. She tried to think of how many sses of wine she¡¯d had but gave up when images of Marisa kept intruding.


    My god, she was beautiful and she said Sandy was beautiful too!


    She certainly felt beautiful! She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed happily which turned into a yawn. She walked into her bedroom, slipped under the sheets, and turned off the light. She didn¡¯t bother with an rm as the following day was her day off. It was salon day with Dayshia.


    She frowned. She was going to cancel her appointment. She suddenly had no desire to cut her hair.


    She closed her eyes and let herself drift off. As she rxed an image shed into her mind. It felt like a memory but it had to be a memory of a fantasy or a dream. Arge creature was standing before her. Massive horns, long flowing dark hair, he had a powerful chest and strong arms. But the lower half of his body wasn¡¯t clear in her mind.


    Except for his massive cock.


    Terrifying and exciting, it rose from between his dark thighs demanding relief.


    She whimpered in her sleep and the image mercifully went away.


    Then she longed for its return.


    Cam sat on the sofa staring at her daughter in disbelief and shock. Marisa looked miserable. Granted she glowed with an energy and vitality which made Cam envious, but emotionally the young woman was a wreck.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I never nned for it to happen! I had no idea it could happen! He was asleep! Drugged! I was just having dinner with his neighbor and she was being so sweet. I got caught up in the moment!¡± she moaned.


    ¡°Why did you let her in? Stanley was in his Satyr form!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t let her anywhere near the bedroom. She didn¡¯t see him,¡± Marisa assured her mother. ¡°She was also drunk when she left so she would have doubted her eyes if she had.¡±


    ¡°But you had sex with him¡­ in front of a Human!¡± Cam pressed with outrage.


    Marisa¡¯s face was filled with shame. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I don¡¯t know why he came out-¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Satyr! It¡¯s what they do! They¡¯re sexual mas! A Subus having sex nearby must have felt like a raging bonfire for Stanley. He couldn¡¯t help but be drawn to you!¡± Cam exined.


    Marisa¡¯s expression of dawningprehension and grief let her know she¡¯d gotten through finally. Marisa burst into tears and her mother moved to console her. The young woman cried on her shoulder as she rubbed her back.


    ¡°Why is Marisa crying?¡±


    The two women jumped at the sound of Stanley¡¯s voice. They saw him in Human form standing in the bedroom door with his bathrobe on. His bruises could still be seen on his chin, neck and arms as they poked out of the sleeves.


    ¡°What are you doing up?¡± Cam said.


    ¡°The drugs are making me feel ill. I need to clear my head. Now, why is Marisa crying?¡± he asserted.


    ¡°We had sexst night!¡± she blurted.


    Stanley¡¯s eyes snapped wide. ¡°You didn¡¯t change again, did you? Are you alright? I didn¡¯t hurt you, did I?¡± he blurted in dismay.


    ¡°No! No Stanley. I¡¯m fine, but you were in such pain! I hurt you!¡± Marisa cried.


    He hobbled over and sat next to her as they moved to give him room. ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t remember anything fromst night. I certainly don¡¯t remember being in pain. I¡¯m sore now but it isn¡¯t too bad. I want to see if I can endure it. I don¡¯t like how I feel on the pills.¡±


    ¡°There- there¡¯s more,¡± Marisa sniffed as she held Stanley¡¯s eyes. She saw she had his full attention. ¡°I had sex with Sandy.¡±


    ¡°You fed from Sandy?!? She¡¯s my friend! You don¡¯t get to feed from my friends!¡± he barked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t seduce her. She was flirting with me! It was sweet and I¡­ let it happen. That¡¯s when you came out of the bedroom and fucked me.¡±


    Stanley pulled back in horror. ¡°She saw me?!? As that!?!¡±


    ¡°No! She passed out when I was bringing her to her release.¡± Marisa assured her then a guilty look crossed her face and she turned away from him to look directly into the hard look from her mother. She knew her mother saw the guilt.


    ¡°What happened, Marisa,¡± she asked sternly.


    ¡°A-after Stanley had sex with me he passed out so I got him back into his room. When I came out Sandy woke up. I had some of Stanley¡¯s cum on my thigh. She noticed and asked what it was.¡± She closed her eyes at the stressful memory. ¡°I- I might have identally made her eat it.¡± At their outraged cries she continued. ¡°I mean it was an ident. It was on my finger and I turned suddenly and she was in the way so my finger went into her mouth. She swallowed it.¡±


    Stanley was reeling with thetest revtion. He didn¡¯t know what to say or what to do. How was Sandy going to behave around him now? Would they still be friends?¡±

 40

    Cam was deeply worried. She was at least aware of the potential for disaster considering the wild magic contained in his cum. ¡°What happened to her?¡± she asked in dread.


    ¡°What the HELL do you mean, what happened to her?¡± Stanley gasped.


    ¡°She only got a little so the change was minimal!¡± Marisa cried.


    Stanley stared at the young woman in shock! Change? Sandy changed? ¡°What happened to my friend?¡± he asked quietly.


    Marisa had tears running down her cheeks. ¡°Her blond hair. It looks really fresh and clean now¡­ and it moves on its own. She wasn¡¯t aware of it¡­st night. She passed out from the experience and didn¡¯t recall eating your cum!¡±


    Stanley looked at her with his mouth agape. He didn¡¯t know what to do or say. This was so far out of his realm of experience. He looked at Cam for help but she seemed to be lost in thought.


    ¡°It¡­ it should wear off. You said it was just a small amount? Probably it was just enough to trigger some temporary alteration. It should fade soon enough. Hopefully,¡± Cam said but her tone wasn¡¯t very convincing.


    ¡°Oh my god! Am I a danger to those around me? Maybe I should be abstaining from sex entirely!¡± Stanley blurted in desperation.


    ¡°NO!¡± Cam and Marisa yelped simultaneously then looked at each other in embarrassment.


    ¡°No, Stanley. That¡¯s not necessary. We just need to be more careful. Have you had sex in your Human form?¡± Cam reasoned.


    He looked at her ufortably then nodded.


    ¡°Was there any¡­ energy transfer at that time?¡± she asked.


    He thought about his night with Yuko and shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s only when you are in your true state. That makes sense. Humans must never see your true state so they shouldn¡¯te into contact with your essence.¡± Cam exined.


    ¡°What do I do about Sandy?¡± he asked miserably.


    ¡°There is nothing you can do. Like I said the effect should fade over time. It sounds subtle so not drawing attention to it will let her exin it away as something mundane like static electricity moving her hair. It will be ok Stanley.¡± She gave him a sympathetic look. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back to bed and get some rest?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to sleep now. I need to log in and do the incremental backup so we can proceed with the server switchover this weekend,¡± he exined.


    She looked at him to see if he was pushing himself too hard but he just looked determined. Maybe working would upy his mind. She nodded to him and stood up to leave. On impulse, she bent down and took his face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth. He looked at her in surprise when she released his face and pulled back.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I put you through that ordeal in Japan. I should have paid closer attention to your sleep cycle to ensure you had the opportunity to recharge properly,¡± she said sincerely.


    Stanley blushed and nodded to her, not knowing how to react to the intimacy. She was still his boss and her beauty still dazzled him.


    With a final hard look at her daughter who stood as well, Cam walked to the door and Marisa closed up behind her. The young woman rushed back to Stanley¡¯s side.


    ¡°Can I make you some breakfast?¡± she asked.


    He shook his head as his stomach wasn¡¯t feeling up to eating. The drugs were still going through his system and he felt queasy. ¡°Could you get me myputer? It¡¯s in the case in my bedroom.¡±


    With a quick nod, she rushed to get the machine. When she returned, he powered it up and connected to the office. It was time to get to work.


    Marisa made herself breakfast and managed to get him to eat some lightly buttered toast with tea. He was pleased by the throughput on the backup job and let her know they would be ready for the switch over on Saturday.


    He made a face as he looked at her. ¡°I need a shower and to do someundry. My robe is a little funky.¡±


    She grinned happily and helped him to his feet. ¡°I can help you with that.¡± She guided him into the bathroom and undid his robe. She quickly took off her own clothes as he looked at her in surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to help you get washed. No fooling around. I need a shower too,¡± she insisted.


    He did his best to not stare at her incredible tits and ass as they stood under the spray. She turned him to face away from her and gentlythered his body. The bruises weren¡¯t too painful but the ache quickly killed any sexy thoughts he was having.


    She washed his hair, rinsed and he was ready to get out to dry himself as she turned her attention to washing herself. He ran a towel carefully over his body, groaning quietly as the motions caused him to ache badly, then moved to the bedroom to get dressed. He slowly pulled on a t-shirt, underwear, socks and jeans and shuffled back out to the living room.


    There was a knock on his door so he hobbled over to it and looked through the peep hole. It was Sandy and Dayshia!


    Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he opened the door.


    ¡°Good morning Sandy! Dayshia!¡±


    Sandy shed him a wide smile. ¡°Stanley! I¡¯m so d to see you back on your feet! How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Better. Pleasee in!¡± he said standing aside. As she passed a lock of Sandy¡¯s hair reached out and caressed his face, stroking his lips. Dayshia passed by rolling her eyes as she saw his look of surprise.


    ¡°That girl has the wickedest case of fly away hair I have ever seen!¡± the dark beauty sighed. ¡°I told her she should go for a shorter cut.¡±


    Sandy looked back with an outraged expression.


    ¡°I- I think her hair is lovely as it is!¡± Stanley offered and Sandy¡¯s smile came back amplified.


    ¡°See! Stanley agrees with me! The long hair stays. I love it! Besides it has so much body this morning and looks so healthy it would be criminal to cut it!¡± Sandy gushed, running her fingers through it.


    Dayshia snorted at her friend¡¯s enthusiasm.


    Sandy¡¯s expression turned sympathetic as she took in the bruises. ¡°They told me you were in an ident. What happened?¡±


    Stanley froze. He didn¡¯t know what the cover story was so he went with the next best answer. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°Did you strike your head? You should be in the hospital!¡± Dayshia said in concern.


    ¡°They took me to a hospital. My head is fine. I¡¯m just badly bruised,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Stanley, who was-¡±


    Marisa walked into the hall with only a towel wrapped around herself and came to an abrupt halt. ¡°Oh! Hello!¡± she said with a smile as she saw Sandy¡¯s delighted expression.


    Stanley¡¯s face flushed a deep red as the lovely blond stood there smiling at his guests. His tongue refused to help him in this situation and he looked away from her as she looked incredible in that towel.


    ncing at Stanley¡¯s embarrassed expression Sandy took his looking away as a gentlemanly gesture. She smiled and took over the introductions. ¡°Dayshia, this is Marisa Vimor, Stanley¡¯s Executive Assistant.¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s eyes were climbing skyward. She knew Sandy had a soft spot for Stanley and here was a direct threat to her friend¡¯s happiness. She went on the offensive. ¡°Executive Assistant? What were you assisting him with this morning?¡±


    ¡°Dayshia!¡± Sandy gasped in dismay.


    Marisa just smiled as she knew a protective friend when she met one. Instead of answering she went to Stanley and lifted the hem of his t-shirt so Dayshia could see the extent of his bruising. The woman winced seeing the purple, green and yellow streaks across his chest.


    ¡°Stanley cannot shower himself properly with this kind of injury. I¡¯m his friend as well as his assistant,¡± she said gently.


    Dayshia¡¯s mouth moved but she had no response to that. She looked at Sandy for help but her friend was just grinning at her.


    ¡°Marisa is a very protective Executive Assistant and a very good friend,¡± Sandy said with a wide smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get dressed. I¡¯ll be back shortly,¡± Marisa said as she picked up her suitcase and walked into Stanley¡¯s room. She nced over her shoulder with a demure smile and dropped the towel just as she disappeared from sight giving them all a glimpse of her exquisite ass. The door closed.


    Dayshia looked at Sandy incredulously but her friend was still looking towards the door and grinning.


    Sandy was also tingling madly as she recalled the previous night. She looked at her friend. ¡°Isn¡¯t she amazing?¡±


    Stanley had reached the limit of his strength so he moved to the sofa and eased himself down slowly. Sandy moved to help him but he shook his head and got there on his own.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you take a pain killer if it¡¯s that bad?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like how they make me feel,¡± Stanley said quietly as he leaned back against the cushions.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°Pain free?¡± Dayshia snorted.


    ¡°Drugged,¡± Stanley returned and the woman acknowledged that with a nod. He sighed. ¡°If it gets worse, I¡¯ll take one.¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you in bed?¡± Sandy said sitting next to him. Dayshia sat on the chair across from the sofa and admired the d¨¦cor.

 41

    ¡°I had some work to do. It doesn¡¯t take long, it¡¯s not strenuous, and I can rest here as I do it,¡± he responded gesturing to hisputer on the coffee table. He looked at the two women curiously. ¡°Is this your day off?¡±


    ¡°Yes! It was supposed to be a salon day so we could get our hair and nails done but somebody got cold feet,¡± Dayshia said giving Sandy a stern look.


    ¡°A woman is entitled to change her mind,¡± Sandy said with a small smile on her lips.


    ¡°We¡¯re still getting our nails der!¡± Dayshia insisted and Sandy nodded.


    Marisa returned to the living room and all eyes turned to watch her approach. She was wearing an off the shoulder red knit sweater which exposed a lot of wless skin and clung to her full breasts. Below, she wore tight white jeans which emphasized her curves. Sandals dangled from her finger as she went barefoot. They could see two silver rings on her toes.


    ¡°Damn girl!¡± Sandy gasped with a huge grin.


    Marisa smiled and twirled for her.


    Dayshia was struck speechless and looked at her friend in question. Sandy just blushed and squirmed as she looked away. Dayshia made a note to question her on her odd behaviorter.


    ¡°Would you like to join us at the nail parlor?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°Thanks, but my ve driver boss is demanding I go to the office to prepare for the big rollout this weekend,¡± Marisa said with a sweet pout.


    Stanley snorted and smiled at her. He really did need her to check on the workstation builds.


    Sandy gave him the evil eye but she wasn¡¯t really serious.


    He shrugged. ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m a hard man to please.¡±


    Sandy giggled and even Dayshia cracked a smile at the image of Stanley bossing the taller beauty around.


    ¡°Well I just wanted to check in on you since Marisa wouldn¡¯t let me see youst night. She¡¯s such a¡­¡± Sandy began then lost her train of thought as she looked into Marisa¡¯s smiling eyes.


    Dayshia pushed herself to her feet when Sandy seemed like she wasn¡¯t going to finish the thought. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry you got hurt Stanley and I hope you get better soon. Are you going to be able to join us this weekend for a movie night or are you going to be working?¡±


    He winced. ¡°Yeah, this weekend isn¡¯t good. Next one should be open though. That will give me time to heal as well.¡±


    Sandy stood beside her friend and they shared a look. ¡°That works for us,¡± Sandy replied. ¡°It will be you¡¯re turn to pick the movie,¡± she insisted.


    He recalled Cam¡¯s suggestion. ¡°How about Casanca?¡±


    Sandy squealed happily and pped her hands. ¡°Yes! I love that movie!¡± Dayshia was nodding with a smile as well.


    ¡°Good, that¡¯s what I¡¯ll bring then,¡± he said definitively.


    He struggled to his feet as they protested and he shuffled after the two women to the door. When they got there, they surprised him by taking turns kissing him on the cheek. Once more Sandy¡¯s hair moved forward to caress his neck and face as her lips pressed against his skin. He blushed and smiled at them as they waved and headed down the hall to the elevator. He closed the door as he turned to face Marisa.


    ¡°Ok, Sandy¡¯s still oblivious of her hair¡¯s new mobility. Even Dayshia thinks it¡¯s just static. We should be good. Especially if it fades,¡± Stanley sighed as Marisa nodded.


    ¡°You do need me to go to the office, don¡¯t you,¡± she said. He nodded to her and she smiled. ¡°Whatever you need, Stanley,¡± she said.


    He smiled and hobbled back to the living room. He grabbed hisputer and eased himself down on the sofa. He checked on the backup and it was working smoothly. The next incremental would be tonight when the office closed then the real work would begin.


    ¡°We are on track for deploying tonight so I need you to confirm the new workstations are ready and ensure the staff are logged out and their old workstations arepletely shut down. Then I¡¯ll get thest backup and get started from here,¡± he instructed and she nodded with a smile.


    She was standing before him and a nervous look passed across her face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I- I just wanted to apologize to you for how badly I screwed upst night. Mother was right. I should never have allowed Sandy into your apartment while you were in your true form. That might have been catastrophic! It was a bigpse in my judgement and I¡¯m truly sorry,¡± she said anxiously and bit her lip, holding him with her nervous gaze.


    He swallowed and nodded slightly. ¡°This is all new to me. I¡¯m starting to glimpse just how dangerous it could have gotten for both me and for Sandy. We¡¯ll just have to try harder.¡±


    Marisa dipped down and kissed Stanley deeply before spinning, grabbing her purse, and rushing to the door.


    Stanley sat on the couch, his lips tingling madly from her kiss, and listened to his front door deadbolt engage. He saw his keys on the coffee table so he realized she must have the spare set. He¡­ was ok with that.


    Struggling to get his mind back on his task he turned back to hisputer.


    Out on the street eyes watched the stunning blond exit the building and slip on herrge sunsses. She strode purposefully past the white utility van as she made her way to the path train back to Manhattan.


    ¡°Subject is on the move. Follow?¡± the watcher asked the listener over his encrypted cell.


    ¡°No. What is her state?¡± the listener replied.


    The watcher rolled back the thermographic video of the blonde¡¯s passing and eyes widened.


    ¡°Her energy levels are almost off the scale. Much higher than yesterday¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve potentially found the source then. It must be the new one. He¡¯s new to the building as well,¡± said the voice.


    ¡°Should we collect him?¡± the watcher asked, eager to act.


    ¡°No. The building is off limits. The source will have to be picked up discretely somewhere between his home and office. Keep watching.¡± The line went dead.


    The watcher settled back to wait for his prey.


    The Fae were nothing if not patient.


    The weekend passed as Stanley expected it would. He ran his processes remotely from his living room and Marisa managed the physical steps from the office. By Monday morning the staff arrived to slick new machines next to their desks withrger, sharper monitors, and fresh, clean keyboards and mice. Best of all they had a much-improved working experience.


    With the new servers in ce, even the ounting people with their previously upgraded equipment found a difference in the speed of their ess.


    There were still some services that Stanley would be migrating in theing days, a few servers to build, but the critical systems and data were now protected which meant Cam and the senior level executives could breathe a sigh of relief.


    Thepany¡¯s data was safe, backed up, and isted from external intrigue by Stanley¡¯s data security systems.


    As for internal intrigue Mr. Duncan was surprised and delighted on the very first day when he received an automated report of one of the Sales Department staff attempting to move files to an unauthorized external drive. He immediately had a friendly one on one conversation with the man and discovered, using his own tried and true methods, the employee was selling the information to apetitor.


    The Sales Department had an immediate opening that afternoon.


    Marisa returned to Stanley¡¯s condo each night to ensure he was eating and healing and ¡®guarded¡¯ him each night, in his bed, though they refrained from having sex as she was ¡®saturated¡¯, in her words.


    As the week progressed, Stanley¡¯s bruises faded nicely. His return to a steady and timely transition between forms seemed to be expediting his recovery and the actual switch went back to being smooth and effortless each night and morning.


    As he¡¯d be so acutely sensitive to the ring¡¯s demand for recharging he discovered that only six and a half to seven hours was required for the ring to fully recharge. Switching back to his Satyr form during the day for an hour or so extended the time he could remain in human form at night. He thought that was pretty cool!


    Thursday morning Marisa and Stanley went in to work together and she brought her suitcase with her as it was time for her to go back to her own condo. As they pushed through the front doors Stanley was surprised by a hero¡¯s wee from arge group of happy coworkers in the lobby.


    He stood there with a stunned look on his face as Cam, Sigrid, Mr. Duncan, and the Summerly twins from ounting smiled and pped in front of a gathering of staff. He turned to look at Marisa¡¯s smiling face.


    ¡°You knew they were going to do this?¡± he asked with a smile.


    Her smile just broadened as she nodded.


    He shook his head and made his way forward to shake the hands and ept the pats on the shoulder from his coworkers. Soon enough they began to head back to their desks.


    Cam approached and smiled at him. ¡°So, are you done?¡±


    ¡°The critical systems are done. I don¡¯t have many more servers to rece. Maybe four, five more days? We¡¯ll need to wipe the old machines and dispose of them then you can begin renovating the old server room into a new boardroom,¡± he replied with a smile.


    She moved a little closer and spoke quietly. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my bruises no longer hurt and they¡¯re fading nicely,¡± he responded.


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯d be up to a little feeding?¡± she asked casually and touched the corner of her mouth with the tip of her tongue as her eyes held his.


    Stanley felt that sexy gesture right down to his balls. His face flushed and his tongue failed him. He resorted to just nodding.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    She smiled happily and dazzled him with a sh of teeth. ¡°Whenever you have a moment this morning then?¡±


    He nodded again and did his best not to stare as she turned and prowled away, the very image of an apex predator.


    Mr. Duncan brought his attention back as he shook Stanley¡¯s hand. ¡°You did an excellent job with the new security protocols and the reporting process for internal espionage. Good work!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Thank you! I thought you might find that useful!¡± Stanley said with a happy smile.


    With a nod the Security Chief headed back to his office.


    Sigrid touched his arm as she passed and he nced at her. ¡°Come by my officeter? I need to speak to you.¡±


    ¡°Anything wrong?¡± he asked, recalling previous emergencies.


    She blushed and shook her head then was quick walking back to the elevators as Stanley wondered what was up. Maybe there was another threat?


    Marisa returned from talking with Siobhan who was grinning at Stanley. He smiled and waved at her.


    ¡°Shall we go up or would you like to linger in the praise?¡± Marisa teased.


    He rolled his eyes and got into the next elevator with a group of people from the marketing department. Siobhan jumped in as the doors began to close and bumped into Stanley¡¯s chest. The car was tightly packed so they had to remain that way much to his embarrassment.

 42

    To make matters worse Marisa¡¯s tits were pressing against his back and he could feel her breath on his neck. He began to react and did his best to keep from pressing his groin against Siobhan. Marisa was so close behind him he couldn¡¯t pull back very far so he tried not to move.


    ¡°Which floor?¡± he asked, his voice cracking.


    She gave him her crooked smile. ¡°I work in the Marketing Department now. A big promotion from temp services.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions!¡± he said and gave her a happy smile as he tried not to sigh. God, he loved her Irish ent.


    Marketing was just below ounting so he spent the time smiling awkwardly and looking up at the numbers. Her face was so close to his and it felt so good to be sandwiched between the two women.


    When two ount managers got off a floor below marketing Stanley breathed a sigh of relief but when the doors closed he found himself still wedged between the two women. Realization appeared in his eyes as his face flushed with the frustration. The elevator stopped and Siobhan stepped back from his chest and out of the car with a wicked grin on her face. She nodded to Marisa over Stanley¡¯s shoulder as the other Marketing people exited too. When the door closed it was just Marisa and Stanley left.


    ¡°What? Why-¡± he sputtered.


    ¡°We saw what mother was up to and felt your engine could use a little priming,¡± Marisa said with a grin just as wicked as Siobhan¡¯s had been.


    Stanley¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°She knows?!?¡± he gasped incredulously.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Marisa raised her palms to calm him. ¡°Only that mother likes you and wants you¡­ that way. Siobhan is a good friend of mine and she¡¯s very discrete.¡±


    Stanley was stiff as iron and his pants were too tight.


    Marisa reached past him to wave her ess card by the sensor to get the elevator moving upwards again.


    ¡°Maybe you should check in with the CEO before getting started on the servers,¡± Marisa suggested subtly as they stepped out onto the top floor. He nodded to her with a blush and headed down the hallway towards Cam¡¯s office.


    Felix smiled at him and gestured for him to go right in. He nodded to the man and wondered if he knew what Stanley was here to do as well.


    He knocked on the open door and Cam looked up with a smile. Her eyes went down and her smile became wider.


    ¡°Close the door behind you please,¡± she said as she stood and came around her desk. Her blinds were already drawn.


    He heard the door lock behind him and he moved forward to meet her. ¡°Haven¡¯t you been¡­ feeding?¡± he asked awkwardly.


    She stopped and considered his unease as she tilted her head slightly. ¡°Am I embarrassing you, Stanley? Making you ufortable? If you don¡¯t want to do this, just let me know.¡±


    He squirmed as his body did want to do it. Very much. ¡°I do want to but I think we should be a little more discrete.¡±


    ¡°Was I indiscrete?¡± she asked in surprise. ¡°I thought I was speaking very softly.¡±


    ¡°It was more the look you gave me and the incredibly sexy way you walked away that left little doubt as to what you wanted¡­ and were going to get,¡± he said cautiously.


    ¡°Oh!¡± she said in surprise and smiled happily at his description. She drifted closer.


    ¡°That! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about. The way you move is so seductive and provocative!¡± he gasped.


    Her smile became sultry. ¡°Stanley, my silly boy. I am a Subus after all. It¡¯s my nature.¡±


    She dropped her mor and his eyes went wide with lust. She was so exotically beautiful and he wanted her so much. He knew this maism was just a trait of her race but it made no difference. He had to be with her.


    Her mouth was on his and his tongue was chasing hers as her nimble fingers undid his clothes.


    He was standing naked before her when he came up for air from the kiss. He blinked as he looked down at himself then faced her hot gaze. ¡°You- you¡¯d better step back a little for this,¡± he gasped.


    She did and he brought his hands together as she watched his cock go from small Human torge Satyr in a blink. She¡¯d wanted to see the actual transformation happen but the distortion of reality was too difficult to watch. She smiled hungrily as she took in hisrge muscr body and the appendage bobbing before him demanding her attention.


    She immediately dropped to her knees before him and stroked the length of his heavy cock with her active tongue. ¡°Oh Stanley! It¡¯s so beautiful!¡± she moaned as she pressed her lips to the hot skin. He threw his head back as it felt so good!


    His muscles tensed as she sucked him into her mouth and worked the thick head deeper and deeper into her throat. There was a residual ache from his injuries but he could ignore it as it was being drowned out by the intense pleasure.


    ¡°Oh fuck, Cam! That¡¯s so amazing!¡± he purred and her movements sped up.


    She was taking him so deep into her throat and he could hear her struggling to get a breath between each thrust.


    Finally, she pulled him from her throat and looked at the slick flesh. Her eyes locked on his. ¡°Stanley, I need you to fuck me. Fuck me hard!¡± she panted.


    He immediately pushed her onto her back and grabbed her legs behind her knees and pushed them back until her ass came up off the floor. She cried out in bliss when he stroked the tender flesh of her pussy with his tongue then wailed when he forced it deep into her ass.


    He fucked the tight orifice with his tongue as she thrashed in his grip. His strength wouldn¡¯t be denied and she began to crest with a small release. Her pussy drooled and ran down the crack of her ass.


    When he suddenly withdrew his tongue she gasped in protest but her words were lost in a scream as his cock plunged deep into the slick wetness of her pussy. He continued to push her legs back so he could pound her body with his pelvis.


    ¡°AHHH! FUCK! YES! YES! FUCK ME! STANLEY!¡± she wailed as his thrusts became more forceful. She could feel his hot flesh forcing and spreading her open as the barbed head tickled her insides. The sensation was beyond anything she¡¯d felt before and she was rapidly approaching a huge climax.


    She nced up at Stanley¡¯s face and saw he was beginning to tense up, signalling his release as imminent. His movements began to include trembles and twitches.


    Suddenly, he sucked in a deep breath and drove himself in deep to rock back and forth against her clit.


    ¡°YES! FUUUUUUUUUUCK! AAAAHHHH!!!¡± she cried as her body mped down on his cock which fired stream after stream of hot cum into her body. There was so much! She whited out for a short moment.


    She felt her body lifting up into the air as if it weighed nothing. She felt the oddest sensation of movement then Stanley¡¯s mouth was on hers and his kiss was so sweet. He was caressing her soft lips as he pressed her back against the cold tiles of the shower in her personal washroom. Then her mind was lost again as her sated body sluggishly absorbed the heavenly energy he continued to feed into her. It was so delicious she almost began to cry when he finished and withdrew from her.


    He turned on the water and cleaned them both gently while supporting her trembling muscles. He shut the water off and toweled her dry after seating her on the toilet. Then he dried himself and carried her out to her couch.


    ¡°Your mor. Put it back in ce,¡± he whispered into her ear and she gasped gently, pressing her cheek to his. When her mind returned, she activated her mor. She heard him sigh and he rested her back against the pillows. She smiled and slipped into a deep sleep.


    Stanley switched himself back and got dressed as he watched Cam smile serenely in her sleep. He sighed and went to her phone to call Sigrid. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do. This time he could tell Cam was just asleep but should he just leave her sleeping on the couch and go back to work? Didn¡¯t she have things to do today? He watched her as he listened to the phone ring.


    ¡°Hello Cam.¡±


    He returned his attention to the phone. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s Stanley.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Is she alright? Did- did she overfeed?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s just sleeping it off but I¡¯m not sure what to do. Should I just leave? What do I tell Felix? Does he know¡­ what she does?¡±


    ¡°Hang on. I¡¯ll be right there,¡± she said and the phone went dead.


    Stanley hung up the phone and pressed the button on the desk to unlock the door. A couple of minutester there was a gentle knock and Sigrid let herself in. She saw Stanley sitting in a chair in front of Cam¡¯s desk with a sad smile on his lips. She looked over at the sleeping CEO and sighed.


    Sigrid sat in the chair next to Stanley and saw he was looking a little lost. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    He shrugged and looked away.


    ¡°Speak to me Stanley,¡± she said gently.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know how to act. I¡¯ve just discovered that I¡¯m part of a secret group of beings hiding from humans, but amongst them. I know very little about these other races except for the fact that they exist. Because they have to remain hidden I¡¯m always on edge trying to keep the secret from people who may or may not be one themselves. There¡¯s no secret handshake or gesture so I can¡¯t tell. It¡¯s exhausting. You all seem so at ease with it but I¡¯ve had no training to make it second nature.¡±

 43

    He looked over at Cam. ¡°Take my current situation. I¡¯ve just had sex with a gorgeous Subus. She¡¯s¡­ sleeping off her meal. In the human world, I just entered the CEO¡¯s office for a meeting and now I have to leave it with her asleep on the couch. How do I exin that if someone asks? I don¡¯t know if Felix is human or not. What would I say to him? I¡¯m no good at lying or quicklying up with usible excuses.¡±


    Sigrid gave Stanley a sympathetic smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Stanley. Normally this wouldn¡¯t happen and you wouldn¡¯t be put on the spot like this. Cam should have waited for a more appropriate time and ce. I¡¯m afraid she¡¯s bing addicted to the energy you can provide. This led to some obviously poor judgement. I understand Marisa had a littlepse of her own recently. I think it¡¯s a Subus thing. Due to their nature, your being a Satyr brings out the hedonist in them.¡± Seeing Stanley¡¯s unhappy expression, she hastened to address his next fear. ¡°It¡¯s not just the energy you give them that attracts them to you. They genuinely like you. We all do. You¡¯re pretty important to us¡­ in many ways.¡±


    Stanley saw Sigrid¡¯s face heat up. Her hands were sped together tightly in herp.


    ¡°It¡¯s my turn to askyouwhat¡¯s wrong,¡± he said.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be if it can make a Valkyrie ufortable,¡± he stated, holding her eye.


    She felt a little zing pass through her when he said ¡®Valkyrie¡¯ with awe in his voice.


    ¡°I feel terribly selfish mentioning it now,¡± she said with a nce over at Cam.


    He looked at Cam as well then took in Sigrid¡¯s blush. ¡°Oh. OH!¡±


    ¡°I was wondering if you were feeling better maybe you¡¯d like toe over to my ce for dinner and a movie,¡± she blurted in a rush.


    ¡°And a little love making, Valkyrie style,¡± he thought. She looked so very cute with her pink cheeks. His admiration must have shown on his face as her blush got deeper.


    ¡°What!?!¡± she squeaked in her tension.


    ¡°Sorry, you just look so sweet!¡± he said with a smile of his own. ¡°I¡¯d love toe to dinner. How about tomorrow night?¡±


    She waspletely flustered when he said she looked sweet and all she could do was nod.


    ¡°Now, what do we do about leaving with Cam asleep?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about Felix. He¡¯s one of us. I¡¯m not going to tell you anything more about him as it¡¯s personal. You should learn that most important fact. We don¡¯t talk about our true selves as it¡¯s a safer habit to develop,¡± she exined.


    He nodded and stood up. ¡°Thank you, Sigrid. As usual your grace andpassion have soothed my worried mind,¡± he sighed.


    She grinned at him and shook her head. ¡°Such a charmer!¡±


    He looked at her in surprise then grinned self-consciously.


    They left the office, closing the door behind them quietly. Sigrid whispered something to Felix who just smiled and nodded.


    Stanley caught himself considering Felix who just returned his look curiously. Stanley blushed and smiled at the man as he left.


    He made his way back to his office and studiously avoided Marisa¡¯s knowing look as he opened his door. Three new servers were sitting there waiting for his attention. He smiled and rubbed his hands together.


    It was going to be a good day! It was time to get to work.


    Hourster something was trying to distract him.


    ¡°Stanley!¡±


    He looked up and blinked towards his doorway. He¡¯d been code spelunking in some trend analysis software for Mr. Constantin who was in charge of a team of Asset Managers. He¡¯d heard from Marisa that Stanley had ¡®mad programming skills¡¯ so he¡¯de to Stanley to ask if he could look for a mistake in the code that asionally skewed the figures for longer term investments.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    Marisa was standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been calling you for a few minutes!¡± she pouted.


    ¡°Sorry, this code is reallyplex. I got lost in it,¡± he exined and rubbed his eyes. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s after 6PM! Time to call it a day.¡±


    ¡°Right, right. Ok, thanks!¡± he sighed and made a note of the line of code he was on. He¡¯d get back to it in the morning. He looked at the three servers humming happily behind him. He ran through the shutdown routine on all three until they were quiet. He¡¯d get them moved to the server room tomorrow as well.


    He locked his office, shouldered hisputer bag and smiled at Marisa as she packed up to go home herself. ¡°It¡¯s going to feel odd being home alone after your visit,¡± he said with a wistful smile.


    She looked at him with concern. ¡°Do you need me to stay over tonight?¡±


    He shook his head and grinned self-consciously. ¡°No, I¡¯ll be fine. I have to get used to taking care of myself. It¡¯s part of growing up, right?¡±


    She smiled at him and nodded.


    They took the elevator down together and he saw something was missing. ¡°Where¡¯s your suitcase?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going out for drinks with Siobhan tonight. I¡¯ll bring the suitcase home tomorrow,¡± she exined.


    He nodded. ¡°You and Siobhan had a little fun with me this morning.¡±


    Marisa giggled and grinned at him as she nodded.


    ¡°There will be payback. I¡¯m not sure how or when but I will have my revenge,¡± he said holding her eyes with his as he raised one eyebrow to show he meant business.


    Showing how seriously she took him she giggled harder.


    They met Siobhan in the lobby and Stanley pointed to his eyes and back at hers to let her know he was keeping his eyes on her. She burst into giggles too and the twodies left arm in arm, out to enjoy their night, have a drink or two, and possibly dash some dreams.


    He snorted as he watched them leave. He knew he was just kidding himself. There was no way he¡¯d be able to get revenge on them for their teasing. Smiling to himself he headed outside and thought about what he¡¯d do tonight.


    He remembered the party this weekend and the movie he had to pick up. He recalled a shop on his way to the train where he could get that. He¡¯d pick up a few bottles of that wine they liked too.


    The night was pleasantly warm and he was feeling much better so he enjoyed the walk.


    The shop had a huge selection of electronics as well as DVD¡¯s so he wandered through the store looking at the big TV¡¯s. One looked like the one in Sandy¡¯s ce. There were so many different models and sizes. There¡¯d been no TV in the cottage when he grew up. There was no electricity. He certainly saw TV¡¯s when they went into the city but he¡¯d never really shown any interest in them. He had his books.


    He stopped and just absorbed the barrage of information beaming at him from the wall and the shelves on both sides of him. He didn¡¯t have a TV in his condo and wondered if he should get one. He had hisputer and could watch videos on its screen if he wanted to but¡­ he really wasn¡¯t interested. He smiled as he realized he was content without one.


    ¡°Hey there! Aren¡¯t these amazing? Are you looking to pick up a TV today?¡± a man said from just over his shoulder. Stanley turned to look at him and saw the name tag from the store.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Not today?¡± the man said with a grin.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to have one of these in my home,¡± he rified.


    The salesman immediately lost interest in the weirdo and moved on.


    Stanley watched him walk away then made his way over to the movies. He had to get help to find where they kept the ssics but he left the store with the DVD he was after. The wine shop was just a few doors from the entrance to the train so he tucked his purchase into his shoulder bag and continued walking. The streets were busy with other shoppers and people just enjoying a stroll.


    The wine shop was fairly quiet with only two other customers who were heading to the checkout as he came in. On the way to the back where the good stuff was kept he spotted and added one of those padded carrying bags to his cart as it would keep the bottles from clinking as he walked. He didn¡¯t want to advertise to the winos that he was ready to party.


    He decided he¡¯d get three bottles this time. It was a little extravagant but thest party he¡¯d attended hadn¡¯t ended so well so he wanted to make it up to them.


    Stanley paid for the wine, wincing at the price, and put the bottles into the padded bag. As he stepped out of the shop he noticed a white utility van parked in front of the shop. Its side door was open.


    He felt a mighty shove and dropped the padded bag as he tumbled forward into the side door of the van. Rough hands grabbed him and his bag and tossed him the rest of the way in to hit the far wall. Whoever had pushed him followed him inside and mmed the rolling side door closed. The van immediately surged away from the curb.


    Stanley¡¯s head spun from the impact on the wall. He felt something sting the side of his throat and the world shifted sideways as his spinning senses dropped him into a deep dark pit. He was out before he could even get a look at his attackers.

 44

    ¡°It¡¯s time!¡±


    Stanley¡¯s mind rebelled at the voice but it was insistent and drew him up from the depths. As his eyes fluttered open he saw he was in a room with a thick wooden door and grey cinderblock walls. The floor was grey cement and he was sitting in the middle of it with his arms tightly taped together behind his back around a steel pole.


    With consciousness came terrible nausea. Waves of it. He immediately leaned to the side and threw up as the waves washed over him. He heaved until he felt turned inside out.


    Even in his wretched state he realized he was naked. Another bad sign.


    ¡°Yes, the drug has a nasty after effect. It will pass,¡± a soft voice said from the doorway.


    Stanley groggily looked up and saw a small impably dressed grey haired man standing a few feet inside the door. He was maybe 5¡ä tall and very slim but his suit was exquisitely tailored and looked very expensive right down to his handcrafted leather shoes. He had several gold rings on the slim fingers of both hands and he was holding ace handkerchief up to his nose.


    Everything about the man was¡­ dainty.


    ¡°Who¡­ who are you? Why are you doing this?¡± Stanley gasped out. He felt his head beginning to clear as the nausea gradually diminished.


    The man smiled at Stanley. ¡°You have the good fortune to be addressing Inspector Leaharin, Master Inquisitor for the Fae Council.¡±


    Stanley¡¯s head dropped forward as his strength sagged with a residual wave of sick. His muscles clenched once more and he spat to the side.


    ¡°Clean him up!¡± the inspector called out in revulsion as he left the room. Stanley hoped they¡¯d get him some clothes too as the room was on the chilly side and he felt so exposed.


    When the st of cold water hit him, Stanley cried out in shock. He struggled to breathe in the hard stream of water. The water hit him and the floor around him and flowed down towards a drain in the far corner of the otherwise empty room. Once the torrent was finally shut off he was shivering badly. He looked towards the doorway and his body went rigid in shock. Standing just inside the room were two¡­ creatures holding a firehose. They were grinning back at him in malice.


    Topping out at 4¡ä, their hairless, wrinkled skin was the color of ashes. They had small dark eyes and wide mouths of sharp teeth now clearly visible. Their ears were long and pointed upwards but it was their legs which shocked him the most. They were like Stanley¡¯s when he was in his Satyr form only without the fur. Wide cloven hooves cked against the cement as they turned and left with the hose.


    One returned with a push broom and swept the remaining water towards the drain in the corner. It managed to jab Stanley a few times with the broom and grinned at his cries of pain.


    ¡°Out!¡±


    The creature scowled towards the Inspector who¡¯d returned to the room but it obeyed themand, after poking Stanley painfully one more time with the broom.


    When the door closed Leaharin looked towards Stanley once more. ¡°I¡¯ve found Goblins are useful for collecting suspects and grunt work but little else.¡±All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Goblins?¡± Stanley croaked out between his chattering teeth.


    The dapper little man examined Stanley curiously. ¡°You y the role of an oblivious Human better than most but you cannot deny you are more.¡±


    Stanley blinked at him in surprise. ¡°I was told not to talk about that.¡±


    ¡°Here,¡± the man gestured around them, ¡°here there can be no secrets from me. This is my work studio.¡±


    ¡°What do you do?¡± Stanley asked uneasily.


    ¡°I extract truth.¡±


    The grin on his face wasn¡¯t the least bitforting.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to go home now,¡± Stanley said. ¡°My friends will be worried and will be looking for me.¡±


    ¡°s, they aren¡¯t going to find you anywhere,¡± Leaharin smiled. ¡°My studio is very well hidden. It¡¯s like you fell off the face of the world.¡± He chuckled to himself then rubbed his hands together.


    ¡°Why are you doing this? What have I done to deserve this?¡± Stanley asked as he shivered.


    The small man crouched down to look into Stanley¡¯s eyes. ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡± When Stanley shook his head Leaharin sighed. ¡°You can thank the young Subus Marisa Vimor for your treatment today. She drew our attention when she somehow lost her mor. This doesn¡¯t happen. It¡¯s quite impossible. When our Investigator met her death under suspicious circumstances a second Inspector was dispatched to speak with the young Subus. Her answers failed to satisfy the questions. Then she managed to block his mental probe. This is something else that doesn¡¯t happen. Do you know how she was able to do this? Hmmm?¡±


    Stanley shivered and trembled but shook his head in bewilderment. ¡°Please, I¡¯m so cold!¡±


    Leaharin just sighed once more and looked at Stanley in disappointment.


    ¡°Subi are magic infused beings but are not wielders of magic. They are connected to the realm of magical energy which gives them some of their attributes but they cannot manipte this energy to bend it to their will. The Fae are gifted with the ability to directly ess the energy and create spells from it. We graciously bind mor spells to the races who don¡¯t have this ability so they may disguise their true aspect. The spells can be simply switched on and off. Are you following me?¡±


    Stanley nodded as he shook.


    ¡°So how does a Subus learn how to block a Fae mental probe? How does she maintain an energy level far exceeding anything we¡¯ve ever seen?¡± The Investigator¡¯s eyes bore into Stanley¡¯s but he continued to just look back in confusion. A sudden frown appeared on the being¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re not going to like the methods you are forcing me to use. You should just answer the questions.¡±


    ¡°I- I- I d-don¡¯t know,¡± Stanley said through chattering teeth.


    ¡°Stanley, Stanley, Stanley, I believe you do know. She visited you in your new condominium and when she left she was glowing with energy like the sun above. There is no one in the building that could have done that. You, you are the new element in this story. What are you?¡±


    He kept his mouth shut as¡­ he¡¯d been told not to talk about it. Mr. Duncan was the first one to let him know it was the pinnacle of poor behavior to question someone about their species. No matter how well dressed this man was he was an ill-mannered brute in Stanley¡¯s opinion. He wasn¡¯t worthy to speak to so Stanley just turned his eyes away in disgust. He missed the look of surprise and rage that flitted across the Fae¡¯s face.


    ¡°Have it your way. I will have my answers. The truth cannot hide from me,¡± Leaharin growled.


    He stood before Stanley and began to make bold gestures with his hands as he muttered to himself.


    Stanley had never seen anyone performing magic before. Real magic, not shitty sleight of hand card tricks. While he was fearful of what the Fae was going to use the magic for, seeing the energy being bent into strange luminescent shapes which floated in the air around them was fascinating. The shapes seemed to know where to go and soon Stanley saw they were forming a circr around them both.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±


    Stanley felt the tug of the ring telling him he needed to switch. He begged for more time. He didn¡¯t want to show the Fae what he was. He somehow knew that would be¡­ very, very bad. He wasn¡¯t in the state he¡¯d been in back in Japan so he knew he could hold it off¡­ for a short time.


    Leaharin finished and held Stanley¡¯s eyes with his which were glowing slightly with the build-up of magical energy he was channelling through his body. ¡°Last chance Stanley. Will you tell me what I want to know?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°So be it.¡±


    With a gesture one of the symbols, a frosty blue squiggle floated down towards Stanley¡¯s head. He leaned his head away from the light but it followed him and pped up against his forehead.


    ¡°AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!¡± Stanley screamed and thrashed against the steel pir he was tied to as the intense cold burrowed into his head.


    He missed Leaharin¡¯s next gesture but at thest second, he saw the white circles descend to p up against his temples.


    His muscles locked in rigor as every cell in his body took a shot of voltage. The circles and the cold band pulled away and he sagged to the ground with no muscle tone.


    ¡°Now the truly repugnant part begins. For the Queen,¡± Leaharin muttered to himself and Stanley froze at the cold cruelty in his voice.


    Stanley lifted his eyes painfully to see the Fae move closer to reach down and hover his hands just next to his temples.


    The sudden sensation of having his mind peeled open for the Fae to look inside horrified Stanley. Being physically vited instead would have been a mercy. Leaharin was exposing the very essence of who Stanley was.


    The Fae¡¯s presence grew then just seemed toe to a stop.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Leaharin whispered with interest followed by a quick and painful tearing sensation.


    Stanley was wide open.


    His defilement was¡­plete. It was too much. He wanted Leaharin OUT! NOW!


    His muscles were still locked in the aftermath of the white rings which waited close by for another chance at him should he regain some motor control.


    But Stanley realized he could still move his fingers. His arms were taped together behind his back and his hands were together.


    He didn¡¯t pause to think about it. There was nothing more important than getting the hideous and foul creature out of his head.


    He spun the ring.


    Leaharin was leaning over Stanley, almost touching him, close enough for Stanley to feel the heat radiating from the Fae¡¯s skin.


    Far too close when reality snapped, folded and twisted around Stanley¡¯s body.


    The Fae screamed as the bones in his hands and arms shattered into powder. Stanley was abruptly alone in his mind once more and he sagged in relief. The scream came to an abrupt squealing stop when the Fae¡¯s lower jaw folded down and merged with his throat. Leaharin¡¯s spine bent backwards with a wet pop then he was viciously flung across the room, crashing in a limp pile against the door jamb.


    The cloud of magic torture tools Leaharin had activated for his work began reacting violently to their master¡¯s condition and the warped space they¡¯d been in.


    The white circles pped together and exploded in a huge thunderp which tumbled Stanley head over hooves into the back corner of the room as his bindings had ripped free.


    The steel pir was now the focal point as one after another of the spells were drawn to the heavy post. sts of radiant heat then intense cold then ultrasound vibration, electric shock, acid, liquid me, then ice shards all struck the metal, rushing up and down the surface to ssh against the ceiling and floor.


    Arge ball of pulsing grey energy seemed to be holding back until it suddenly rushed in and clung to the post, oozing up and down and spreading outwards in all directions as it thinned out. Stanley struggled to squeeze himself tighter against the wall to avoid the encroaching¡­ mist? Liquid? He couldn¡¯t tell. It slowly stopped moving and seemed to sink into the concrete. He watched in shock as the hard surface aged before his eyes, cracking and king. A fine powder began falling from the ceiling.

 45

    He was dazzled by a new sh of light as the now rusty post took another st of electrical energy. The remaining spells were continuing their assault.


    Sensation began returning to Stanley¡¯s body and he shook with relief. He could feel his ability to control his muscles returning quickly.


    He realized he was over the grate and below he could see fast flowing water. He pressed his nose to the grill and picked up the scent of foul air. It was probably a sewer line. Still, it might be his only way out.


    Stanley hooked a thick finger into the grill and pulled. The grill began to rise and he got his other hand under the lip to tilt it up to rest back against the wall. The opening was too small for his Satyr body to fit but his human form would fit. Dropping down into the sewer was not his favorite option. He twisted the ring again and snapped back into his human shape but he could feel he had only minutes left before he¡¯d have to switch back.


    He looked down into the pit, trying to psyche himself up to drop inside but he chickened out. Instead he made his way around the room, hugging the walls as the steel post continued to get sted by one state of raw energy after another. He was almost to the door when the ceiling finally began to give. A huge chunk of concrete dropped from above and brought a dusty office desk down with it. The desk cracked and tumbled towards Stanley who leapt back to avoid it. It stopped before it reached him and stayedrgely intact. The concrete had smashed against the floor and somerger pieces of rubble went straight through. The floor was showing signs of fragmenting under the sts which continued to pop, crackle, and re.


    Stanley ducked behind the broken desk as the door to the room pushed open. He heard outraged screaming as they spotted the Fae crippled on the floor. Then louder curses as they rush back to the open grate. Stanley slipped from his hiding space and rushed over to the door. He looked down at Leaharin and was shocked to see the Fae¡¯s eyes were open and watching Stanley with seething hate.


    The pir finally gave and fell into the space below the building dragging chunks of the floor and the two screaming Goblins with them. The few remaining magic remnants followed the pir into the hole and exploded at once.


    Stanley leapt through the doorway and fell to the floor in the next room. He looked back just as Leaharin tumbled off a small ledge of flooring into the darkness and dust below, a look of terror in his eyes.


    Pushing himself to his feet Stanley spotted his clothes and hisputer bag. Theputer was sitting on the table next to the bag with his cell phone. Also on the table, beside a stack of hard core porn magazines, was a tablet PC in a quality leather case and an expensive looking leather bound journal with an ornate pen. Stanley shoved everything, except the magazines, into his bag and grabbed his clothes. The building groaned and vibrated under his feet so he ran for the door on the opposite wall. He found a staircase and had to use his cell as a shlight to help him climb up to the next floor. He exited out into a wide empty room, probably an abandoned warehouse. The building¡¯s floor felt firmer here so he decided to get dressed.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±


    He cursed the inner voice. He stuffed his clothes into the bag and set it down on a dusty table. He stepped away and twisted the ring.


    Being in his true form felt like a relief but now he was naked and trapped in an abandoned building who knows where. There may also be more Goblins or Fae around. He grabbed the bag, his cell phone, went to an outer door, and listened. He could hear nes taking off somewhere nearby.


    The old door was locked with a heavy metal bar across it but no keyed lock. He passed his shlight over the door¡¯s edges but saw no sensors for an rm so he lifted the bar away and turned his shlight off before opening the door a crack. The unused hinges creaked loudly and he held his breath but he was alone after all. Outside was pitch dark but he could see the street, a street light which was dimly illuminating somethingrge, round and orange but what it was he couldn¡¯t tell. He left the door open a crack.


    He struggled to make a call with his cell using his much thicker fingers. He finally had to resort to using voice control. He didn¡¯t have Mr. Duncan¡¯s number but he did have Sigrid¡¯s so he quietly asked his phone to call her.


    He huddled down beside the door as he peered outside looking for movement. Nothing. He heard ringing. And more ringing.


    ¡°Hello? Stanley?¡± she asked, her voice sounded sleepy.


    He fought back a relieved gasp at the sound of her concerned voice. ¡°Sigrid! I- I¡¯m in trouble!¡±


    She was instantly alert. ¡°What happened? Where are you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! I was grabbed on my way home and drugged. I woke tied up in a basement. He was¡­ torturing me.¡± Stanley froze when he returned to the moment when he felt the Fae¡¯s mind sliding into his. ¡°I- I got free. I can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m in a big warehouse. It looks abandoned. I can hear airnes nearby. I- I¡¯m scared.¡±


    ¡°Stanley, does your phone have a map application?¡± she asked.


    He groaned at how dense he was.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok, just open the map and tell me where it says you are,¡± she said gently.


    ¡°Hang on. Uh, my fingers are too big for this phone. Wait, I have something,¡± he gasped softly.


    He fished the fancy pen from the bag and discovered he could use it with the touch screen. He brought up the map and saw he was next to Newark Bay just south of Newark Liberty International Airport.


    ¡°Sigrid, you there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, where are you?¡±


    ¡°It says I¡¯m in Elizabeth, New Jersey.¡± He read out the street address and he heard the scratching of a pencil as she wrote it down.


    ¡°Hang tight Stanley, we¡¯reing to get you. We¡¯lle as fast as we can.¡±


    ¡°Can you bring me something to wear? Something big to hide in?¡± he said timidly.


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll text you when we get there. Stay hidden until I do,¡± she said and hung up. He wanted to keep speaking with her but that would just dy her.


    Sitting on the floor, he examined the pen he was using and discovered it had no ink so it must be a stylus for the tablet he collected. He put it away and kept watch, hoping they¡¯d hurry.


    He must have nodded off as a sudden sound caused him to jump.


    He looked around in a panic. The sound came again and it wasing from inside his bag. He pulled the tablet out and saw a small green light shing. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do. When it dinged once more he jumped and the tablet slipped in his big fingers the cover flipping open. The screen lit up, brightly sshing his face with light. He closed his eyes protectively.


    A feminine voice gasped. He opened his eyes and stared back at the most ravishing redhead he¡¯d ever seen.


    She was staring back at him in surprise and delight.


    ¡°My, my, my¡­ what do we have here? A Satyr?!? How delicious!¡± she cooed. The way she said ¡®delicious¡¯ made Stanley feel like he¡¯d already been licked.


    He opened and closed his mouth in surprise.


    ¡°Hello beautiful!¡± she said to him.


    He managed a croak noise and her eyes went up to his horns. ¡°Aren¡¯t you lovely!¡± she sighed. ¡°It¡¯s been a¡­ very long time since I¡¯ve had the pleasure of meeting one of your kind.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve met another Satyr?¡± Stanley finally managed to get out in his surprise.


    Her expression turned sympathetic. ¡°You haven¡¯t, have you? Poor dear.¡±


    He was frozen in her gaze but managed to shake his head.


    ¡°Your horns are farrger than a Satyr as young as yourself should have.¡± The tip of her tongue ran along her upper lip. ¡°Normally they¡¯d be just nubs. I wonder what else is so well¡­ developed.¡±


    Stanley squirmed ufortably. Her voice was doing things to him. ¡°I- I have- to go.¡±


    ¡°Tut tut, do not disconnect me. I¡¯ve called to speak to Leaharin,¡± shemanded with her smooth voice.


    Stanley¡¯s tongue felt like it was drying up again. Fuck, she was intimidating! ¡°I- I think he¡¯s dead.¡±


    If he thought her gaze was fearsome before now it felt almost physically painful. ¡°Did you kill my Leaharin?¡± she asked softly.


    The horror and rage he¡¯d felt when the Fae opened his mind suddenly burst forth. ¡°He was in my mind! He opened¡­ me! It was rape!¡± Stanley cried out shaking the tablet.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­ shhhhh my little one. It¡¯s over now. Be calm. Be calm,¡± the ethereal beauty said gently as Stanley took deep gulps of air and wiped at his eyes which were tearing with reaction. ¡°He can¡¯t hurt you anymore.¡±


    Stanley felt his body calming and realized she must be extremely powerful if her influence could be felt remotely through a piece of electronics. He began to be very worried. He sucked in a breath to calm his nerves and looked at her. ¡°Who- who are you?¡±


    She blinked in surprise then smiled as she¡¯d enjoyed the rare sensation of being surprised. ¡°I¡¯m Queen of the Fae. Queen Mab. I¡¯m your Queen.¡±


    ¡°My Queen?¡± he blinked in return.


    ¡°How could you not know? Satyr¡¯s are a Fae race. Or were before they were all murdered by jealous Humans.¡± She took in his bewildered expression. ¡°Oh my darling, we have so much to talk about. Why don¡¯t we start off with your name?¡±


    He knew he should hang up, throw the tablet into the river and hide under a rock but he¡­ just¡­ couldn¡¯t. ¡°Stanley. Stanley Garin.¡±


    ¡°Stanley, how could you not know you¡¯re one of the Fae?¡± she asked calmly.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I was raised as a human. Disguised as one. I just found out recently I was a Satyr,¡± he mumbled in embarrassment then froze as her eyes began to glow. He could see a terrible rage building in them and he shrank back from the screen. She noticed his fear and mped down on her emotions fiercely, getting control of herself until she closed her eyes briefly to take a calming breath. When her eyes opened once more they were warm andforting.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll have my people collect you to bring you to me in Irnd. I¡¯ll exin everything to you when you arrive.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t travel! A recent trip to Japan almost killed me!¡± he blurted in fear.


    She looked at him curiously. ¡°Then my people will bring you to a ce in New York where we can speak more freely.¡±


    ¡°Leaharin was one of ¡®your people¡¯ and he raped me,¡± Stanley eximed.


    ¡°Did he know you were a Satyr at the time or were you ¡®disguised¡¯ as a Human?¡± she asked slowly.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Well then. A Fae would never mind probe another Fae,¡± she said simply as if that justified his action.

 46

    ¡°NO ONE deserves that!¡± Stanley barked and mmed the lid closed on the tablet. He caught her surprised gasp before the connection broke. His nerves were jangling with rage and fear as his mind swung back and forth between his memory of what Leaharin had done to him and what he¡¯d just done to the Queen of the Fae.


    He supposed as Queen no one ever hung up on her. He shut the tablet¡¯s power off just in case she tried to call back.


    He had a sinking feeling that he¡¯d just done something really bad. Really, really bad. He sat with his back against the door jamb and pondered just how fucked up his life was bing. Was it even salvageable at this point?


    He yelped when his cell chirped at him. He looked at it and saw a text from Sigrid. ¡®We¡¯re here. Where are you?¡¯


    He peeked out the window and saw arge ck SUV parked next to therge orange thing.


    He needed to make sure it was her. ¡°What can you see out your window?¡± he typed and sent.


    ¡°An orange sign shaped like a big wheel of cheese,¡± popped up on his screen. He felt his body rxing when he read that.


    ¡°I¡¯m in the door across from that,¡± he sent.


    He watched the car door open and the tall woman start jogging towards the building but not moving to his door. He creaked the door open a little more and she changed direction.


    He pulled the door open enough for him to get out and Sigrid was there with the cloak. He tugged it on and she immediately took his arm and pulled him back to the car. They got into the back seat and he saw Mr. Duncan was at the wheel. They started moving immediately as Stanley sagged back against the seat. His body began shivering in reaction and Sigrid held him close.


    ¡°What happened? Did you get a good look at your attackers?¡± she asked.


    He nodded. ¡°Goblins. Two of them. They grabbed me, drugged me, and brought me here to a small man. A Fae.¡±


    ¡°Damn. They didn¡¯t give up after all,¡± Mr. Duncan said from the front seat.


    Stanley¡¯s trembling continued but he gently pushed away from Sigrid so he could see her face. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me I¡¯m Fae too?¡±


    Sigrid looked at him in surprise. ¡°Did the Fae see you as you are now?¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    A huge tremor went through Stanley¡¯s body and he squeezed his eyes shut as he relived the moment. His teeth chattered a little when he came out of it.


    ¡°He¡­ he was in my brain. I had to get him out¡­ so¡­ I changed when he was leaning over me. He was too- he was too close so it folded and broke him.


    ¡°Oh my god, Stanley!¡± Sigrid gasped and moved to hug him but he held his hand up to stop her.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±


    ¡°Satyr¡¯s don¡¯t exist anymore, I mean besides you. Most of the sses that were once considered Fae are no longer thought of that way. Each is independent now. Most¡­¡± She paused to stare at Stanley in confusion. ¡°Wait, you said the change broke the Fae as you changed. How did he-¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t him. Queen Mab told me.¡±


    The truck suddenly swerved into a parking lot and stopped suddenly. Mr. Duncan turned off the engine and spun in his seat to stare at Stanley over the seat. ¡°Queen Mab was there? Boy, how did you get away from her?¡± he growled.


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t there. She called Leaharin on his tablet-¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Leaharin? The Fae¡¯s Master Inquisitor?Hewas the Fae you broke?¡± the big redhead barked.


    ¡°Roy! Calm down!¡± Sigrid scolded.


    Stanley blinked at the two ring at each other. Roy? He had a first name?


    ¡°Calm down? The boy is the focal point in something muchrger than any of us is capable of dealing with! We need to negotiate our way out of this mess! We cannae stand between the Witch and the Fae Queen!¡± he raged.


    ¡°Do we abandon our friends?¡± Sigrid asked with a cold voice, her body trembling with righteous fury.


    Mr. Duncan opened his mouth and looked at Sigrid in desperation as she held his eyes. He was the first to look away. ¡°Naw.¡±


    ¡°Stanley is our friend. He didn¡¯t ask to be part of this¡­ whatever it is and he needs our help. He will get it!¡± she said firmly. ¡°Now, please take us to Cam¡¯s.¡±


    Before they could move two ck SUV¡¯s and a white van raced by. Their truck was thankfully hidden by the fencing for the parking lot and the deep shadows.


    ¡°Stanley¡­ did the Queen mention sending someone to collect you by any chance?¡± Mr. Duncan asked carefully.


    Stanley nodded, his eyes wide.


    Mr. Duncan nced once more at Sigrid then turned back to the wheel. ¡°Right. Cam¡¯s.¡±


    He slowly pulled out of the parking lot and drove away once he confirmed the Fae¡¯s vehicles weren¡¯t anywhere in sight.


    Exhaustion pulled Stanley into a fitful sleep as they drove and Sigrid watched him wrestling with something in his subconscious. The fact that he¡¯d been mentally raped by the Fae was horrifying to Sigrid and that he¡¯d resorted to killing Leaharin to save himself must have left a mark on Stanley¡¯s psyche.


    She called Cam to let her know they were iing.


    Forty minutester they pulled into the basement garage of Cam¡¯s building and took one of the few remaining visitor spots. Sigrid gently woke Stanley who yelped as his eyes snapped open. She made sure his cloak was fully covering him then led the group to the elevator. They made their way up to Cam¡¯s condo. She opened the door as they arrived and ushered them inside, locking up behind them.


    ¡°Are you alright Stanley?¡± she asked as she followed him into the living room.


    He was taking in the expensive art and the luxurious furnishing so he initially missed the question. At Sigrid¡¯s gentle touch on his arm to guide him down onto the sofa it sank in.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he blurted in embarrassment. ¡°Sorry, your home is¡­ stunning.¡±


    She smiled at him. ¡°Thank you. Now, what happened? From the beginning.¡±


    He took a deep breath and felt their eyes on him. He had to get this out so he just began.


    When he was done, he saw the troubled looks in their eyes. Mr. Duncan was back to looking agitated.


    ¡°I agree we need to help Stanley but how? This is so much bigger than we are!¡± the man eximed.


    ¡°Am I Fae or not?¡± Stanley asked.


    Cam looked at him. ¡°The Fae, today, are seen as just the race of magic wielders. The Goblins work for them but the other races have dered their independence. What you said makes it sound like Queen Mab didn¡¯t really ept that, though she said she did at the time. Her people still give mor spells to non-magic wielding races who were once under her ¡®domain¡¯ but that just serves her best interests. With theplexities of living amongst the Humans and their ever-watching electronic surveince it had be too difficult for all these individuals from so many races to maintain that fealty and follow the rituals.¡±


    ¡°So, she let them all go to better protect us all but she didn¡¯t really give up her expectations of ruling them,¡± Sigrid suggested and Cam nodded thoughtfully.


    ¡°Why all the interest in me?¡± Stanley asked next. ¡°Other than being thest of my kind, whether I¡¯m Fae or not, I¡¯m just one of the non-wielders of magic. Am I even magic infused like Leaharin said Subi are?¡±


    Camughed and Stanley looked at her in confusion. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Stanley, but you have to know that you aredefinitelyinfused with magic as your experiences with Marisa, Sigrid and I prove.¡±


    ¡°Sigrid?¡± Mr. Duncan gasped.


    ¡°Easy Roy. Yes, I¡¯ve had sex with Stanley. We¡¯re just friends. Like you and I are,¡± the Valkyrie exined.


    Stanley was looking between the two of them in shock and embarrassment. He pulled his mind back to the current trouble. ¡°Oh ok, but isn¡¯t it just the same magic?¡±


    Cam frowned and looked towards Sigrid. ¡°I¡¯m not a wielder but I can tell it¡¯s not the same at all. It¡¯s a wild magic. Fresh and powerful. As fantastical as it sounds I think it¡¯s probably from a different realm. It¡¯s also notpatible with the magic the Fae control as it burned out Marisa¡¯s mor when she overdosed. I¡¯ve been careful to avoid that, so far. The Fae who came to bind a new mor to Marisa was badly affected by the wild magic saturating Marisa¡¯s body.¡±


    ¡°This begs the question, as you are a Satyr which should be linked to the same magic realm we all are, what did your¡­ caregiver do to you that linked you to a different one?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°How about the answer to the question of where Stanley has been all this time if thest Satyr was killed in the purges millennia ago?¡± Mr. Duncan asked then looked to Stanley. ¡°Sorryd, but you shouldn¡¯t exist.¡±


    ¡°How far back do your memories go?¡± Cam asked.


    Stanley sighed as he¡¯d never had much luck with trying to recall anything from his early childhood. He cast his mind back and froze as a memory he¡¯d never seen before rose up. It was a smiling face looking down at him as he was on his back. The face filled him with joy, peace, and a terrible longing. She had sandy blonde hair pulled back in a long braid,rge blue eyes, tall and tufted ears with small slim horns rising from her temples. A second face joined the first and Stanley choked out a gasp. Fire red hair and beard, blue eyes and bone white horns curling out of his hair near his temples. The beginnings of horns like his. The male was smiling at him as well and Stanley¡¯s chest hurt so much.


    He knew. He knew these were his parents. Every cell in his body screamed it. Whatever else that rapist had done, he¡¯d freed up some sealed away memories for Stanley.

 47

    There was only one person who could have hidden them and her betrayal was overwhelming.


    He put his face in his hands and the tears came. Deep, soul wrenching sobs tore through him.


    ¡°Stanley! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sigrid said putting her arm around him. He leaned against her and shook as his grief crashed through his defenses.


    The woman looked at Cam who looked back, equally concerned.


    It took some time but Stanley eventually got some control back but he felt hollowed out. He was limp in Sigrid¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Stanley, what happened?¡± she asked gently.


    ¡°I can remember.¡±


    ¡°Remember? Remember what?¡±


    ¡°My parents. Leaharin must have cleared a memory blockage.¡± He frowned. ¡°She- she hid the memories,¡± he forced out between his teeth, an irrational rage almost getting loose. He breathed slowly and it subsided.


    Stanley¡¯s eyes went to Mr. Duncan. His me red hair and beard. So much like his father¡¯s. A tremble went through his body. ¡°My- my father- he looked like you.¡±


    Mr. Duncan leaned back in surprise.


    Stanley had another epiphany. ¡°Mother¡­ she looked¡­ a little like Sandy.¡±


    The tears threatened to return but he pushed them back. He couldn¡¯t let himself get trapped in despair. ¡°What do I do now? I don¡¯t want you to be in any danger. Maybe I should just go speak with the Fae-¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Everyone looked in surprise at Mr. Duncan who was on his feet. He looked distinctly embarrassed after his outburst and sat back down.


    The doorbell rang and Mr. Duncan leapt to his feet again and began moving to the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably Marisa. I called her,¡± Cam called out.


    He returned with the pretty blonde who immediately ran to sink to her knees before Stanley.


    ¡°Oh my god, Stanley! Are you alright?¡± she gasped, holding his hands.


    His emotions almost got away from him again but he brutally forced them down and nodded to her shakily.


    Cam leaned forward to bring her daughter up to speed quickly. ¡°The Fae have been watching you and saw your increase in energy after being with Stanley in his condo. They kidnapped him and the Fae¡¯s Master Inquisitor mind probed him to learn his secrets. He reacted by switching when the Fae was too close. Stanley killed the Fae and was able to escape but not before speaking with Queen Mab. She¡¯s now aware of his presence and attempted to ¡®collect¡¯ him again. She wants him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Marisa cried and pressed her face to his legs. She didn¡¯t want to see the aura pulsing around Stanley now. There was so much darkness in it. So much potential for grief, pain, misfortune and even disaster. She was still nowhere near being skilled at interpreting the images she saw but she could ¡®feel¡¯ the tides turning against him or at least directing him down a path of great hardship. The witch¡¯s words wereing back to haunt her.


    Stanley shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. We¡¯re all caught up in this thing my Baba¡­ she started.¡± He paused as that sunk in. This situation was entirely of her making. He could see now that he¡¯d been manipted from a very early age. She wasn¡¯t unkind to him, not really, but she needed to exin what happened to his parents and what had changed for him. He looked into Marisa¡¯s lovely eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know what n she had for me but it¡¯s putting too many people I care about at risk. I need it to stop. I think I need to find her and ask her to exin what she¡¯s done to me and what she¡¯s expecting of me.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that! She¡¯s¡­ not the forgiving type. You can¡¯t make demands of her-¡± Sigrid gasped.


    Stanley smiled and took the woman¡¯s hand in his. ¡°I grew up with her. Better than anyone, I know what I can and cannot do.¡±


    He looked over at Mr. Duncan. ¡°Could I get a lift out to her house? I¡¯ll go in by myself this time.¡± The man nodded, having no desire to meet the witch again.


    ¡°Hang on! No one is going anywhere-¡± Sigrid eximed, bing rmed.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok Sigrid. Please let me do this. I have to try,¡± Stanley said.


    Sigrid looked at the others for backup and they all looked thoughtful. Finally she had to admit that if anyone could get answers from the witch it was Stanley. ¡°I¡¯ming with you!¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t. I¡¯ll go in alone and if things go south Mr. Duncan-¡±


    ¡°Roy.¡±


    Stanley blinked at the man then nodded with a grateful smile. ¡°Roy cane back to tell you. This way no one feelspelled to do something heroic.¡±


    ¡°Besides you,¡± Sigrid muttered helplessly.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just going to ask some questions. Maybe she will answer. Maybe not. I hope she will,¡± he said sadly.


    He turned his attention to Marisa. ¡°In case¡­ the three servers in my office are ready to be installed in the server room. You have their locations on the diagram I sent you. That will be thest of the upgrades. The system is safe and sound now. The equipment in the old server room can be scrubbed, disconnected, and disposed of. From this point on it¡¯s just a daily task of maintenance.¡±


    He stood and helped Marisa to her feet. She immediately pulled him into a hug. Next was Sigrid and she held him a little tighter than wasfortable but he knew where it wasing from so he didn¡¯tin. Cam hugged him as well. Trying to keep his emotions in check, he pulled his hood up to hide himself and followed Roy out of the condo and down the elevator to the truck.


    As they pulled out on the street he looked over at the man and saw the grim expression. ¡°When we get there, you can drop me off at the end of the street. That¡¯s where the bus stop was and I¡¯m used to walking from there.¡±


    Roy nced at him then frowned. ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve let you down somehow.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Stanley said in surprise.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been the most supportive voice,¡± the big man continued.


    ¡°I think you¡¯ve been the voice of reason in the group. You¡¯re probably right. This is well above our ability to control or deal with. The smartest move is to distance yourselves from me.¡± He saw a look of guilt pass over Roy¡¯s face as he heard his own words.


    Stanley continued. ¡°Listen I have no idea how magic works. If it¡¯s not technology based I¡¯m lost. But I can see the group¡¯s reactions to the names of the people who control that power and I can see how worried you all are. I honestly believe you and the others are better off without being dragged into this.¡±


    His words didn¡¯t seem to cheer Roy up so they drove on in silence. Stanley was still tired so he leaned up against the door and rested.


    As he slipped away he thought he felt Baba running her fingers through his hair as she used to when he was just a young boy to help him fall asleep. Now the memory was bitter sweet but he still faded quickly.


    *********


    Sigrid frowned at Cam and shook her head again. ¡°I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s time to involve Walter.¡±


    ¡°Stanley and Roy are right. We are out of our league and if we have to start dealing directly with the Queen of the Fae we need a skilled negotiator. You know Walter could do that for us!¡± Cam insisted.


    ¡°And you know Walter doesn¡¯t do anything for others. He has to have a stake in it or he can¡¯t be bothered. This time there would be something for him. You remember how much of an obsessive collector he is of rare and unique items. How excited do you think he¡¯d be about a Satyr?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on! Even Walter wouldn¡¯t stoop to keeping Stanley captive for his collection!¡± Cam gasped as she looked at Sigrid in shock.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the power of hispulsion. You know what he is. It¡¯s in his nature.¡± Sigrid warned.


    Marisa just gave her mother a worried look.


    Sigrid tried another approach. ¡°If Stanley is sessful with getting some answers from the witch then we reassess-¡±


    ¡°Seriously, do you really believe she¡¯s going to tell him her n for him?¡± Cam scoffed with a raised eyebrow.


    Sigrid¡¯s mouth opened in shock but nothing came out for a moment. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you back me earlier when I said he shouldn¡¯t go?!?¡± Sigrid eximed as her voice returned.


    ¡°Because he needed to go as he¡¯d be ming himselfter if he didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll tell him anything and I think she¡¯s been protecting him-¡± Sigrid made her own noise of disbelief and Cam held up her hand. ¡°In her own way which is not overt. Heisstill alive. When he gets back we need to ask him about speaking to Walter.¡±


    Sigrid sat back and looked Cam right in the eye. ¡°If we take him to see Walter, I will be next to Stanley at all times and he is not to leave my sight.¡±


    Cam saw her friend¡¯s determined expression and nodded. ¡°We will need to call Walter to see if he has time to see us.¡± Receiving a nod from the Valkyrie she picked up the phone and dialed VRL¡¯swyer.


    ¡°What if he¡¯s asleep?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°Walter doesn¡¯t sleep.¡± Cam answered as she listened to the phone ring.


    ¡°Cam! How lovely of you to call- oh! This is early for you! Everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Good morning Walter. If everything was alright you know I wouldn¡¯t be calling to ask for some of your very valuable time,¡± she responded. ¡°I have Sigrid Gunderan and my niece Marisa with me. May I put you on speaker?¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Certainly.¡±


    Cam put the handset down and pressed the hands-free button.


    ¡°How is this?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I have ensured our connection is private so rest assured you may speak freely. Is this call in regards to the little crisis developing between a certain new employee of yours and the Faemunity?¡±

 48

    Sigrid¡¯s face flushed with anger. She hated that he seemed to be so well connected but did nothing with the information unless it benefited him directly.


    ¡°What little crisis?¡± Cam asked cautiously.


    ¡°Someone of great import in the Fae Royal Court was discovered dead this morning in a magically shielded building near Newark Bay. The body was badly disfigured then crushed under cement blocks. It was reported that items of great value belonging to this court official were taken as well.¡± Walter said with an edge of excitement in his voice, no doubt he wanted these items.


    ¡°Are charges being filed?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Strangely they seem to be holding off on that for the time being. A request has been made to speak to ¡®a person of interest¡¯ said to have been at the location at the time to determine what may or may not have urred,¡± Walter offered casually.


    ¡°The person of interest?¡± Cam asked cautiously.


    ¡°A new employee of VRL. One Stanley Garin,¡± Walter replied.


    ¡°I see,¡± Cam sighed. It was both better and worse than she hoped. The Fae weren¡¯t filing charges with the Hidden Races Council so they wanted to keep this out of the court system. She wasn¡¯t sure if that was safer for Stanley or not. His official standing amongst the Hidden Races had yet to be defined. The courts would make that determination¡­ if he was introduced to them. His anonymity which they¡¯d been protecting for, to be honest, less than selfless reasons may now have be a hindrance to keeping him safe.


    ¡°Are you going to introduce your new employee to me? Is he there?¡± Walter asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the answer to that too?¡± Sigrid growled before Cam could stop her.


    Walter chuckled. ¡°Ah Ms. Gunderan, so protective. Such an exemry Head of Human Resources though the title is¡­ demeaning. I see many, many things but I value privacy too as you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not convinced of that. How many fingers am I holding up?¡± Sigrid said as she flipped the bird towards the phone.


    He chuckled again. ¡°I assume one and a rude gesture at that.¡± Marisa¡¯s eyes were wide with surprise.


    Cam red at her friend. ¡°Sorry Walter. To get back to the matter at hand, we were just talking about making that introduction. We will speak with him about it when he returns¡­ from his attempt to gather some crucial information. I should let you know now, this involves not only the Queen of the Fae but a certain master level witch.¡±


    ¡°My, you are moving in deep currents,¡± Walter said cautiously.


    ¡°By happenstance, not intent,¡± Cam assured him.


    ¡°Are you looking for an expedient exit?¡± Walter asked in a curious tone.


    ¡°No!¡± Sigrid blurted before Cam could block her.


    ¡°No, we¡¯ve made a major, long term investment in this particr employee and intend to see that through,¡± Cam replied, staring Sigrid down.


    ¡°I see.¡± Walter¡¯s interest in Stanley was evident. ¡°Well then by all means bring him around at your earliest convenience so I might meet the young gentleman who inspires such fierce devotion in his fellow executives.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Walter. Goodbye.¡± Cam said and shut the connection before Sigrid could respond.


    ¡°Antagonizing Walter doesn¡¯t make the task of protecting Stanley any easier!¡± she barked at Sigrid.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t trust him!¡± Sigrid growled back.


    ¡°Neither do I but of all of us, he stands the best chance of mediating a cease fire amongst these bigger yers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never met him, have I?¡± Marisa asked her mother.


    Cam smiled. ¡°No, Walter rarely leaves his home. He¡¯s a bit of a recluse. He finds using a disguise to be demeaning.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think he can help Stanley?¡± she asked her mother who nodded.


    ¡°The question is, will he. And at what cost,¡± Sigrid added. She shared a worried look with Cam.


    Sandy was in the staff room sitting on the bench by her locker. She¡¯d just finished a long overnight shift and was preparing to go home when Roger mmed through the door with his cell phone in his hand. She yelped in surprise.


    ¡°Sandy! Thank god you haven¡¯t left yet!¡±


    ¡°Roger, please, I¡¯m exhausted. I don¡¯t want to see any titty pics or videos of animals eating people. I just want to go home,¡± she moaned. Even her flyaway hair was limp this morning.


    He looked at her in confusion then shook his head. ¡°No, no! It¡¯s not that! I just came across a video someone shot of a sidewalk abduction in Manhattanst night. The footage is a little rough-¡±


    ¡°Did you not hear me? I¡¯m tired! I want to go home! Show me tomorrow night at my ce when we get together for Stanley¡¯s movie night,¡± she growled and gave him a baleful look.


    ¡°That¡¯s just it, see! I think the guy being abducted is Stanley! Look!¡± he said excitedly holding out the phone.


    She gave him another skeptical look, fully expecting to see a clip of someone shing their tits. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time he¡¯d done it. The video clip started with a pretty woman walking along the sidewalk towards the camera. She was smiling and Sandy was about to growl at Roger when the woman¡¯s expression went from smile to worry. The camera spun to see what she was looking at. It showed the front of a wine shop and someone walking out the door with aputer bag like Stanley¡¯s over his shoulder and carrying a bag of wine bottles in one hand. In profile the man certainly looked like Stanley. Then someone standing by the shop¡¯s front window leapt forward to shove him hard. He dropped the wine and fell forward towards the open side door of the white van. Hands from inside grabbed him and yanked him inside as the one who shoved him followed him, mming the door closed. The van peeled away from the curb and the video ended.


    Sandy shook her head. That couldn¡¯t have been Stanley. She hit the rey button and watched the movie a second time, then a third to pause it when the man could be seen in profile. The video wasn¡¯t terribly sharp but the more she watched it the more convinced she was that it was Stanley. She pushed an errant strand of her hair from the screen.


    She looked at Roger who was squirming with tension. ¡°I think that¡¯s Stanley-¡±


    ¡°GOD! Yes! I knew it!¡± Roger exploded in relief.


    The door pushed open to admit Dayshia and Tish who was holding her own cell phone horizontally, ying the video. They both had worried expressions.


    ¡°Did you see-¡± Tish began then saw Roger bouncing on his toes and Sandy sharing their worry.


    ¡°Could it be a prank? A hazing ritual?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°COME ON! Did you see how hard that guy hit Stanley from behind?!?¡± Roger gasped incredulously.


    ¡°The video is making the rounds and the police are asking for assistance in identifying the guy ¡®potentially¡¯ being abducted,¡± Tish said as she read the details under the video. ¡°No one has been reported as missing.¡±


    Roger grabbed his phone back but Sandy grabbed his hand before he could start typing a response to the post.


    ¡°Hold on! Before we embarrass Stanley let me see if I can reach him. He just went through an ordeal of some kind in Japan. If this isn¡¯t him it might cause him a lot of additional grief,¡± she said sternly.


    ¡°But they¡¯re asking a question I know the answer to!¡± Roger whined, desperate to add his voice to the onlinemunity¡¯s request.


    ¡°Roger! Grow a pair!¡± Tish barked.


    He stuck his tongue out at the tall brte but pocketed his phone begrudgingly.


    ¡°Do you know his phone number?¡± Dayshia asked.All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Sandy frowned. ¡°No, but he works at VRL Investments. This time of day he¡¯s probably on his way to work. I¡¯ll call his office when I get home.¡± She was quiet for a moment. ¡°It makes no sense. How could it be Stanley? Who could possibly want to abduct him?¡± she muttered. She yed with her hair as that seemed to make her feel a little better these days.


    Roger¡¯s eyes were wide. ¡°He works in an investment house and he¡¯s in charge of their technology? Haven¡¯t you seen any movies from this decade? Cyber-crime is the new frontier for the criminal element. Stanley could give them back door ess to their ounting system and siphon off millions!¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ve seen too many movies from this decade,¡± Tish told Roger with a frown but she was worried just the same.


    ¡°It could be organized crime from Russia or any of the European countries!¡± Roger enthused.


    ¡°You¡¯re not making me feel any better about this,¡± Sandy growled. She huffed and looked into the anxious eyes of her friends. They hadn¡¯t known Stanley for long and really didn¡¯t know him at all but they had a really good feeling about him. She could see they were concerned about him and that made her like them even more. They were good people. Just like Stanley was.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll head over to VRL before heading home,¡± she said and they all smiled.


    ¡°We¡¯lle with you,¡± Dayshia said.


    Sandy felt better about that too.


    Stanley stood in front of his old bus stop in human form, dressed in the loose track pants, sweat shirt and running shoes Mr. Duncan picked up for him in a 24-hour big box store. He was looking down at the new section of concrete sidewalk that stretched out ahead of him where the oldne way used to be. In the light of a new dawn there was no sign of the old gravel side road that led down into the swamp. He turned to look to where the road used to go and there was no sign of the swamp. Instead a huge billboard showed an image of a new industrial park to be built on the freshly bulldozed mound of dirt that buried the wend¡­ and his childhood.


    Mr. Duncan set the blinkers on the truck and joined Stanley on the sidewalk. ¡°Fuck, it¡¯s all gone.¡± He nced at Stanley¡¯s stricken expression and immediately felt bad for his callous words. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry Stanley.¡±


    ¡°Can- can you give me a minute?¡± Stanley mumbled as he stared out over the expanse of ttened dirt.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Roy said quietly and went back into the truck.


    Stanley walked behind the ss booth of the bus shelter and touched the graffiti doodles he¡¯d added to the back of the metal corner posts when he was much younger. He felt a wave of relief wash through him. It was proof that his childhood existed. He rested his forehead against the cool metal and closed his eyes.


    ¡°Baba, why?¡± he said in anguish.


    ¡°Everyone wants to know why.¡±


    His eyes snapped opened and the old woman was sitting on the bench inside the shelter. ncing at Mr. Duncan, he saw the man seemed oblivious to her presence.


    Stanley rushed around to the opening, keeping his eyes on her. She was looking back at him with an unhappy frown.

 49

    He had so much he wanted to ask her but pushing to the front of his mind was the image of his parents. It would not be denied. ¡°I remember them. I can see their faces.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± she snapped, and he remembered she detested when he wasn¡¯t clear.


    ¡°My parents. The Fae who broke into my mind cleared the blockage and I remember them.¡±


    ¡°I will have to deal with this Fae,¡± Baba growled and he could feel the rage boiling within her.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead,¡± Stanley blurted, drawing a surprised smile from the old woman. ¡°Tell me please, my parents, what happened to them? How did¡­ how did you get me?¡± Stanley begged and her smile instantly disappeared in a scowl.


    ¡°You think I killed them and stole you?¡± she asked in a quiet, stiff voice.


    ¡°My heart says no but I¡¯m lost in this world of magic and intrigue. You¡¯re more than who I thought you were. Please!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t beg! I didn¡¯t raise you to beg!¡± she snapped angrily.


    Stanley knelt in front of her. ¡°You did raise me! You¡¯re the only parent I had growing up and I am eternally grateful. But I¡¯m a Satyr and I know now my parents were Satyrs and the race hasn¡¯t existed for a very long time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. The Satyr¡¯s were all viciously murdered by Humans. The very creatures I raised you to believe you were,¡± she said as she peered into his eyes as if gauging his reaction.


    ¡°My- my parents were murdered by humans?¡± he asked shakily.


    The witch nodded. ¡°I located them the night they were killed and spoke to them before the savage mob arrived. I could not save them but I gave them the opportunity to save you. They loved you enough to agree.¡±


    Tears ran down Stanley¡¯s cheeks as he shook with grief and relief. His parents loved him and his Baba hadn¡¯t killed them. That was important to him. He nodded then he looked into her old eyes. ¡°But something happened to me.¡±


    The witch smiled slightly as she looked at him. ¡°Yes.¡± There was something in her eyes that felt like intent, patience, and anticipation.


    ¡°I¡¯m different than the others.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her eyes began to twinkle with mischievous delight.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    She broke their gaze and threw her bony hands in the air in exasperation. ¡°That question again. I will not give you its answer because it¡¯s not time.¡±


    He looked at her but knew not to press her any more on that. ¡°The Fae Queen has spoken with me.¡± The old woman¡¯s eyes snapped back to his.


    ¡°Did she now?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°She said I was one of hers. A Fae.¡±


    ¡°As your birth happened during the time interval she ruled them all I suppose she is¡­ technically correct. The current treaty makes no provisions for an extinct race.¡± Baba reasoned calmly.


    ¡°She wants me,¡± Stanley said nervously.


    Old eyes examined his young ones for clues of his intent. ¡°Will you give yourself to her? Know this, she never gives up that which is freely given. What is taken however, may escape,¡± she said cryptically.


    ¡°I won¡¯t go willingly. She¡¯s terrifying!¡± Stanley gasped.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Beautiful and terrible, I believe it is said,¡± Baba agreed casually, seeming at ease once more, knowing that Stanley wasn¡¯t under the Queen¡¯s thrall. She pushed herself to her feet with a quiet groan.


    ¡°My friends are in danger. How can I protect them?¡± Stanley blurted.


    ¡°Their fate is no concern of mine nor should it be of yours. Interfering meddlers,¡± she grumbled as she stepped past Stanley to exit the shelter. They saw Mr. Duncan jump in sudden shock and stare back at the old woman¡¯s sudden appearance.


    The witch turned back to face Stanley and gave his face a swat. ¡°Pay attention. Be vignt. You will know what to do when you have to. I didn¡¯t raise a fool. Stop looking for me here. I¡¯ve moved on. So should you.¡±


    She shuffled away to walk behind the bus shelter and as she passed the corner post she didn¡¯t reappear on its other side behind the clear ss. Stanley didn¡¯t bother following as he knew she¡¯d be gone. He had no idea how she did it but he had to ept that she could.


    He walked to the passenger door and had to knock to break the man from his shock and unlock the door. Once he was inside he looked across at the big redhead. ¡°Sorry, she frightened you. I didn¡¯t know you couldn¡¯t see her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make no apologies for being afraid of Baba Yaga. She might be your grannie but she¡¯s one of the most powerful witches that ever existed. She scares the pee out of me,¡± Roy growled as he got the truck started and headed back in the opposite direction.


    Stanley just nodded to the man and kept his silence. A short timeter Stanley spotted a shop and asked him to pull into the lot. They went inside and Roy was surprised when Stanley picked up a padded carrying bag and three bottles of expensive red wine.


    ¡°The Go- the bastards made me drop the wine I bought when they grabbed me,¡± he growled.


    Once he¡¯d paid they got back on their way.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the wine for?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been invited to a party this weekend. I intend to be there. The Fae aren¡¯t going to make me change my ns,¡± he insisted while he scowled out the window. He missed Roy¡¯s impressed look.


    They made it back to Cam¡¯s without trouble and were greeted at Cam¡¯s door by three anxious women.


    They drew Stanley back to the sofa and sat him down between Marisa and Sigrid. Roy smirked at Stanley¡¯s flustered expression and carried the bag of wine over to put it next to theputer bag.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Cam asked her Head of Security quietly.


    ncing over at Stanley briefly, Roy spoke quietly to his boss.


    ¡°The swamp is gone. Filled in with dirt and bulldozed t. His old home is gone,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh my god! How did Stanley take that?¡± she gasped.


    ¡°He was pretty shook up. I went back into the truck to give him some privacy. There¡¯s just the bus stop out on the road where the side road used to be¡­ but she was there. She came to speak to him.¡±


    A shiver ran down Cam¡¯s spine.


    ¡°I thought Stanley was talking to himself as I couldn¡¯t see her. Then she walked out from behind a pane of clear ss as she was about to leave. The way she just appeared and disappeared was scary as fuck!¡± He looked at Stanley thoughtfully. ¡°She was kind enough to him though.¡±


    They walked over to join the others.


    Sigrid looked at them. ¡°She acknowledged she changed him but not why.¡±


    ¡°You learned more than I expected you would,¡± Cam said gently to him.


    ¡°I learned my parents were killed by humans and saved me by giving me to her.¡±


    ¡°So, either she was there that very night and somehow kept you in a state of suspended animation through the intervening millennia or¡­ she learned how to reach back in time to collect you from your parents. I can¡¯t begin toprehend the power she¡¯d need to be able to do either of those things! Neither should be possible!¡± Sigrid said in awe.


    ¡°We need to focus on the now for a moment, Stanley,¡± Cam began. ¡°While you and Mr. Duncan were out we spoke to VRL¡¯s legal representative, Walter Zhou, who let us know that the Fae are making noises about an important member of their Royal Court who was killedst night. He indicated that they are not filing charges for the moment as they want to speak with you.¡±


    At his sound of protest, she raised her hand to calm him. ¡°Before you even entertain the idea of speaking with the Fae we feel you should meet with Walter. He can act as a go-between and perhaps we canpletely avoid a face to face with the Fae entirely. Especially the Queen.¡±


    ¡°Walter Zhou. What kind ofw does he practice? If he¡¯s corporatew will he be able to deal with this?¡± Stanley asked nervously.


    ¡°Walter is well versed in every form of legal practice. He¡¯s¡­ had time to study it.¡± Sigrid acknowledge begrudgingly.


    Stanley picked up on her unease as she wasn¡¯t good at hiding her true emotions. ¡°You don¡¯t like him.¡±


    She looked him in the eye and shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s an excellentwyer but he¡¯s also¡­ extremely self-serving. He doesn¡¯t do anything unless there¡¯s something in it for him, personally. This makes me suspicious of his motives.¡± She looked at Cam¡¯s scowl. ¡°He has the right to know whose parlour he¡¯s entering.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a big spider?¡± Stanley gasped, staring at Sigrid with a shocked expression.


    Everyone looked at him and Sigrid snorted. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry Stanley! I didn¡¯t mean that in the literal sense! He¡¯s not an Arachnid.¡±


    Stanley rxed a little then stared at her again. ¡°But there is a race of Spider People amongst the Hidden Races?¡±


    ¡°Arachnids, Stanley. Not ¡®Spider People¡¯.¡± Marisa said calmly. ¡°They are typically very shy but nice people.¡±


    He shivered but forced his mind back to the issue at hand. ¡°So this Mr. Zhou, he could help me but there will be a cost?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay his bill-¡± Cam began.


    ¡°It¡¯s not money I¡¯m worried about,¡± Sigrid interrupted.


    ¡°Ok, this option isn¡¯t sounding like it¡¯s much better than the Fae!¡± Stanley blurted.


    ¡°Only because Sigrid is letting her personal dislike of the man interfere with her better judgement!¡± Cam growled as she tried to stare the Valkyrie down.


    Sigrid turned to Stanley and took his hand. ¡°Listen, Stanley. Cam is right. Walter can be a great asset in dealing with the Fae. She¡¯s also right that I don¡¯t like him but know this. I will be there with you, by your side, and I will protect you. I give you my solemn promise.¡±


    He read the conviction in her eyes and nodded to her showing he trusted her.


    ¡°Can we get moving then?¡± Cam said in exasperation.


    ¡°Give us a few minutes,¡± Sigrid said as she stood, pulled Stanley to his feet, and led him out of the living room as the others watched curiously.


    She held his hand as she brought him down the hall and into a guest bedroom. She closed the door behind them, then moved to close the blinds.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Stanley asked anxiously.

 50

    She returned to stand before him and her face was warming up with a blush. ¡°This isn¡¯t how I wanted to do this but I need to be at full strength if we¡¯re going to see Walter.¡± She began tugging at his sweat shirt.


    ¡°What? Oh! Now?¡± he gasped.


    ¡°Please, Stanley!¡± she begged and he thought she looked so sweet he couldn¡¯t stop the smile from spreading across his lips. ¡°What?¡± she asked with a pout.


    ¡°You¡¯re so adorable!¡± he blurted.


    She was practically vibrating with need. ¡°Stanley, you need to change, now, while I can still hold myself back.¡± She began to pull her own clothes off rapidly.


    He stepped back and yanked his sweater up and over his head and pushed his pants off as he kicked his shoes off. He pushed his clothes into a pile with his foot.


    He held her eyes with his as he stepped back. ¡°Stay back while I change. It¡¯s dangerous!¡± he said firmly. She nodded.


    With a quick nce around he saw he was clear so he twisted the ring. The moment he was in Satyr form Sigrid was in his arms, kissing him. She felt so good against his body and her tongue tasted so good!


    He reached down and lifted her up against his body, making her squeak with surprise. She automatically wrapped her legs around his hips and felt the heat of him rise up to press against her.


    Sigrid¡¯s head was spinning. She was usually the aggressor and being handled passionately was both shocking and highly erotic. She moaned into the kiss as he squeezed her body against his and walked them to the foot of the bed. Then he was knee walking them awkwardly up the mattress. He toppled forward tond on her and mmed his horns against the headboard. The wood cracked loudly as he split the dense lumber. He looked up in dismay at the destruction.


    ¡°To hell with the bed! Fuck me!¡± she growled and she felt his cock surge as it pressed against her.


    He tipped his head down and took her eager mouth with his as he moved his hand to squeeze her full breast. She moaned into the kiss and held him more frantically. Her passion was getting him very excited and he needed to taste her.


    He moved his kisses down her throat as she gasped and writhed under his body. When he took her stiff nipple into his mouth she cried out and grabbed his horns to hold him still but that didn¡¯t stop his tongue from teasing the tender nub.


    ¡°OH FUCK! Stanley! FFFFFFAAAAHHHHHKKKK!¡±


    He dragged his teeth gently over the sensitive are and she clung tighter to him, curling her head over his and hissing out his name. When he gently kissed and released the tingling flesh she uncurled with a gasp and rxed her grip on his horns. He wasted no time moving to the other nipple, sucking it between his lips.


    ¡°AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! SHIT!¡± she cried as she arched her back, forcing her soft flesh against is mouth. He rolled her other nipple gently between his fingers, giving it light tugs and she squirmed frantically under him but he kept her pinned to the bed. He ground his hard stomach muscles against her mound and he felt her body going through minor quakes.


    As she thrashed in ecstasy, she drove her heel into one of the bed posts. It gave with a sharp crack and the lower left corner of the bed suddenly sagged as the frame tore away.


    Stanley looked up from Sigrid¡¯s hot body when he heard the loud sound but she turned his face back towards hers. Her eyes with intense with lust.


    ¡°Take me Stanley, I need you inside me, now!¡±


    She tried to flip them over but was shocked when he pinned her arms back and lowered his face to hers to take a deep kiss. While she was dazed by the kiss he moved the head of his thick cock against her wet pussy and pushed ever so lightly to dip inside.


    She moaned once more as she struggled to free her arms. His thickness slowly drove deeper into her body. She was shaking uncontrobly as she wanted him to move faster. It felt too good!


    When he finally rested his body against hers he rocked side to side to tease her clit.


    ¡°Oh! Oh! Oh fuck! Oh Stanley! Shit! Shit! Oh fuck!¡± she panted.


    He released her wrists and her hands immediately went to his ass to squeeze him tighter against her. She felt so incredibly hot and tight around his cock.


    ¡°This feels so good Sigrid!¡± He sighed as he took in her flushed face. Her blond hair fanning over the bed, her eyes were dreamy with the bliss they were sharing. A look of awe came to his face as he was enthralled by her. ¡°Goddess. You¡¯re a goddess! So incredibly beauti- mmmph!¡±


    She kissed him hard as she was ovee with emotion.


    Stanley drew himself out slowly and mmed himself forward to p their bodies together. Sigrid broke the kiss and gasped.


    ¡°Yes! Finally! Fuck me Stanley. Don¡¯t be gentle! I need it!¡± she cried as she moved her heels to his ass to assist his thrusts and to open herself wider.


    He pulled out to the head then thrust himself in faster and faster until the wet p of skin on skin bounced off the room¡¯s walls. He increased his speed and held nothing back as he watched her face. Her smile grew as her eyes closed in happiness.


    Soon he was brutally pounding her against the mattress and she was pulling at him to make him thrust harder. The damaged bed frame was squeaking and cracking in protest. With a final creak and snap the other three corners of the frame shattered and the box spring dropped a foot to hit the floor. Stanley paused for only a second before he continued as Sigrid hadn¡¯t notice at all.


    ¡°OH! OH! YES! I¡¯M THERE! FUCK! YES! HARDER! FASTER!¡± Sigrid screamed as she wed at Stanley¡¯s ass which was pumping like a machine.


    It was too much for him. His orgasm exploded through his senses as Sigrid wailed through her own. He clung tight to Sigrid¡¯s body and rocked his pelvis against hers as deep as he could be, firing stream after stream of hot cum deep inside the Valkyrie. It felt like it wassting forever as Sigrid squeezed his ass and shook under his body. He could hear her sucking in a deep breath as her body absorbed the huge surge of energy.


    Suddenly the room shed white as her wings tore their way out from under them with a loud ripping noise. Chunks of fabric and padding flew everywhere. Metal springs and bits of them bounced off the walls, ceiling and floor.


    Stanley kept his eyes tightly closed but the brilliance of her wings was bleeding through.


    ¡°Sigrid! Put them away before I go blind!¡± he moaned.


    ¡°Wha- What?¡± she gasped,ing back to herself. Her hips continued to undte, milking thest drops from him.


    ¡°Your wings!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Oh Stanley! That was so good!¡± She stopped when she noticed the mess they¡¯d made of the bed. ¡°Uh, you should get off of me before I close them or they¡¯re just going to make a bigger mess of the mattress.¡±


    He pulled his softening cock from her body and she gasped and shook through a little aftershock. He held his arm in front of his eyes and knelt on the bed.


    Sigrid sat up and snapped her wings back. They moved so effortlessly she couldn¡¯t keep the grin from her face. Then she looked at Stanley¡¯s heavy cock hanging down between his legs and a thrill went through her body. ¡°It¡¯s safe to open your eyes now Stanley.¡±


    He did so cautiously, then dropped his arm. ¡°Oh my god. What have we done?¡± he moaned in dismay at the destruction.


    ¡°I¡¯ll buy her a new bed. That was worth it!¡± she giggled then giggled some more and wrapped her arms around herself in happiness. She felt¡­ high! She¡¯d never indulged in drugs but this must be what they felt like!


    She looked back at him and caught his look of wonder. ¡°Stop it! You¡¯re going to get me going again!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Cam¡¯s furniture could take any more,¡± Stanley said as he looked around.


    They stood, carefully avoiding the splintered wood from the frame and the bits of bedsprings.


    ¡°Do I have time to grab a quick shower? I haven¡¯t had one since¡­ yesterday morning. I¡¯m feeling a little gritty. And now sweaty.¡± He smiled at her and she nodded. She guided him into the small bathroom connected to the room. He switched to his human form as it was quicker to wash a smaller body and dry a furless one. They took a quick shower to freshen up and managed to get through it and dry off without giving in to the temptation. They dressed then went back out to see the others. Mr. Duncan was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Roy?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°When the pheromones started pumping he made a quick exit. He said he¡¯d be downstairs in the truck when we are ready to go,¡± Cam said. ¡°Was that really required? Now?¡±


    Sigrid just smiled broadly and nodded quickly.


    Marisa returned from peeking in the room. Her eyes were wide with shock. ¡°Were you battling or having sex? The bed is destroyed!¡±


    Cam made a squeak of dismay and rushed off to see for herself. They heard her make a much louder, much angrier noise when she got there. ¡°SIGRID!¡± she yelled. She returned with a full head of steam. Stanley shrank back from the rage in her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯ll buy you a new bed and mattress set,¡± the tall woman said but her smile never left her lips.


    ¡°Yes, you will,ter. Let¡¯s go!¡± Cam growled.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    Stanley grabbed hisputer bag and the bag of wine.


    After this visit, he wanted to go home!


    Sandy stood in the lobby of VRL trying to get the young woman behind the desk to contact somebody who could let her know if Stanley was in. It seemed that she was new to thepany and wasn¡¯tpletely familiar with the phone system nor did she recognize the names Sandy mentioned.


    She noticed Roger was making a nuisance of himself and had actually gained the attention of one of the members of the security department. Well, he was on his own. She turned back to the pretty woman across the counter.


    ¡°Stanley Garin! He¡¯s the CIO!¡± she gasped at the greeter bing too frustrated with the nk looks from the woman.


    She saw a pretty and petite blond woman with the softest brown eyes standing at her elbow.


    ¡°Excuse me, I overheard you mentioning Stanley¡¯s name. I¡¯m Siobhan, I worked for him as his assistant for a time. How are you acquainted with Mr. Garin?¡± she asked with a delightful ent.

 51

    ¡°Stanley¡¯s my neighbor. I¡¯m Sandy Marlow. I¡¯m just trying to confirm he¡¯s alright.¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s eyebrows elevated. ¡°Now, why wouldn¡¯t he be?¡±


    Sandy turned to look at Tish standing a few feet away with Dayshia. ¡°Tish, do you have the video queued. Could you show it to Siobhan?¡±


    The tall brte came over and yed the video for Siobhan who squeaked in shock when Stanley was shoved into the van.


    ¡°That does look like Stanley doesn¡¯t it!¡± she eximed to Sandy who just nodded with a worried look.


    Siobhan turned to the young woman at the counter. ¡°Give me the phone and dial extension 3333.¡±


    She held the receiver to her ear and listened. Her expression became frustrated. She looked at the woman again. ¡°Hang up and dial 3001.¡± She listened and heard it pick up.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor¡¯s office.¡±


    ¡°Felix, this is Siobhan in the lobby. I¡¯m looking for Marisa or Stanley but they aren¡¯t answering. Have you heard from either?¡±


    ¡°Hi Siobhan! No, I haven¡¯t seen either and their door is closed.¡±


    ¡°Is Ms. Vimor in? Maybe she knows.¡±


    ¡°She hasn¡¯te in yet. I haven¡¯t received any news from her,¡± Felix said with just a hint of annoyance in his voice. Siobhan sympathized, knowing how difficult it was to manage someone¡¯s calendar if they didn¡¯t keep you in the loop. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Felix asked.


    ¡°Open up your web browser and enter this address,¡± Siobhan said and read out the letters. Soon she could hear the video ying in the background.


    ¡°Oh my god! Was that Mr. Garin?¡± Felix eximed.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to determine,¡± Siobhan said grimly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put a call in to Ms. Vimor. Hold please.¡± The line went to soft music.


    Siobhan looked to the anxious faces of the three women. ¡°Felix is the CEO¡¯s personal assistant. He¡¯s trying to reach her now.¡±


    ¡°The CEO keeps tabs on Stanley?¡± Dayshia asked in surprise and Tish looked equally intrigued.


    Sandy smiled, recalling a certain elevator ride with the executives of thepany. ¡°Not just the CEO. The heads of HR and Security as well.¡±


    Siobhan shared a small smile with Sandy. ¡°Stanley¡¯s a friend ma, isn¡¯t he?¡± she said.


    The group watched as one of VRL¡¯s big security officers led a struggling Roger from the lobby and pushed him outside the building. ¡°Is he with you?¡± Siobhan asked quietly.


    Tish just sighed and shook her head. ¡°Not at the moment, he isn¡¯t.¡±


    The line opened again and Siobhan turned her attention back to Felix.


    ¡°She¡¯s not picking up. I left a message. Mr. Garin¡¯s personal line goes directly to voicemail as does Ms. Gunderan¡¯s and Mr. Duncan¡¯s,¡± he said.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Siobhan asked.


    ¡°Without being able to connect to anyone who might have an answer I don¡¯t know. They may be aware of the situation and may be working on a way to resolve it. If so, our involvement would definitely not be wee. Or they may just be out of contact for other reasons and not be aware of this. I can¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°Should we call the authorities,¡± Siobhan asked, emphasizing thest word for Felix to pick up on it.


    He made a hesitant sound. ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave that with me? I¡¯ll make a few more attempts to reach someone and if I still can¡¯t reach them I¡¯ll make the call.¡±


    ¡°Ok, thanks very much Felix!¡± she said and hung up.


    ¡°Well?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°We can¡¯t reach any of the people who might know where he is nor can we reach his personal line. They may be aware of the situation and be on top of it. We shouldn¡¯t interfere if that¡¯s the case. If they aren¡¯t aware then we¡¯ll take steps. Felix will continue to try to connect with them. If he can¡¯t get someone he will contact the authorities.¡±


    She saw Sandy was still feeling anxious so she reached out and pulled her into a hug. Dayshia and Tish immediately joined in and all were feeling a little better afterwards.


    ¡°I have to get to my job upstairs but here¡¯s my cell number so you can call meter. I¡¯ll take yours as well. I¡¯ll keep in touch with Felix during the day to get updates. I¡¯ll call you if I hear anything.¡± She looked out the front doors to see Roger pacing back and forth, waiting for them. ¡°Try to keep your friend out of trouble,¡± she said with a grin. Tish snorted.


    Once they¡¯d exchanged numbers, Siobhan waved and headed to the elevators. Sandy turned to her friends. ¡°I- I guess I¡¯ll just go home and wait by the phone.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll all go to your ce and take turns waiting for the call while the other¡¯s rest,¡± Dayshia insisted. They looked out the door. ¡°Not Roger though. No one would get any sleep,¡± she growled and the others giggled.


    They went outside and Roger was immediately with them. ¡°Can you believe they forced me to leave the building?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s unbelievable about that? You were acting like a crazy person!¡± Tish barked at him.


    ¡°What? Just because I tried to warn them someone might be forcing Stanley to ess their financial data from outside? How is that crazy? He¡¯s missing, man! Abducted in broad daylight! OK, it was at night but they did it in in sight of bystanders. Totally ballsy, like the Russian Mob¡­ or maybe the Yakuza! You said something happened to him in Japan, right? GEEZUS! Why are we just standing here? We need to call in the Feds!¡±


    ¡°Stop! We aren¡¯t calling anyone! While you were ranting at the security staff we made a constructive contact and spoke with the CEO¡¯s executive assistant. He is trying to reach her and the other execs to get an update. He will contact the authorities if he can¡¯t reach them. We¡¯d just be muddying the waters and that wouldn¡¯t help Stanley at all.¡±


    Roger seemed to dete and looked at the others in frustration. ¡°So, we¡¯re expected to just sit and wait.¡±


    ¡°Go home Roger. We will call you when we hear any news. This is the best thing we can do for Stanley,¡± Dayshia insisted.


    Defeated he nodded and headed off towards the subway. Considering how upset they¡¯d be if they knew, he kept to himself the fact that he¡¯d texted the NYPD Stanley¡¯s name and home address after he got tossed from the building.


    That couldn¡¯t hurt, could it?


    The drive to Walter Zhou¡¯s mansion took an hour and had them driving north into the secluded and wooded neighborhoods on the border of Connecticut. Walter Zhou worked out of his home, a huge manor hidden in the forest at the end of a longne.


    As they pulled up thene Cam looked over the seat at the others. ¡°Walter is especially paranoid about photos so please leave your cell phones in the truck.¡±


    She took hers out and saw it was shing with a number of messages. She frowned and put the phone in the glove box. She¡¯d listen to themter.


    Stanley pulled his cell phone out and noticed its battery was dead. He handed it to Cam as Sigrid handed hers over.


    Cam looked to her daughter with raised eyebrows.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I forgot mine at home,¡± Marisa exined.


    ¡°So did I. I wasn¡¯t exactly my sharpest when Sigrid called me,¡± Mr. Duncan growled then yawned.


    They parked in a shady spot and exited from the truck. Roy remained as he wasn¡¯t needed inside and he really needed a nap.


    The rest made their way to stand on the wide front step, waiting for someone to answer the doorbell they¡¯d rung.


    Stanley was fidgeting nervously so Marisa took his hand and he began to calm down. He gave her a grateful smile then twitched as the big door creaked open. Inside was a small Chinese woman. Young, maybe in her twenties, and pretty. Her skin was very pale, almost white, as if she¡¯d never been in the sun. Her jet-ck hair was arranged skillfully and pinned in ce. Loose it might have reached the back of her knees.


    She wore a simple white gown with red trim, tied at the waist and white slippers. Looking to her gently smiling face Stanley immediately realized she was blind as her eyes were milky white.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Hello, Cam Vimor and friends here to see Walter Zhou.


    ¡°Ah yes, he mentioned you may be visiting today. Pleasee in.¡± She turned and walked away, expecting them to follow. They entered, Sigrid bringing up the rear and closing the door behind them.


    Stanley was surprised to see how dark the home was inside. Drapes were drawn over every window, the walls were covered in dark rich wood, and the light fixtures were few and far between. He supposed the woman didn¡¯t need the light but he was extra cautious walking through the halls not to bump into anything.


    What d¨¦cor he could see looked exceptionally expensive. Art hung on the walls, ornate vases and sculptures sat on antique tables in the hallway. He wondered if Mr. Zhou enjoyed the art that sat in the dark.


    They reached a staircase leading down and the woman paused to touch a switch on the wall and the stairway was lit. Stanley was surprised to see just how far down the stairs led. As they descended he realized this wasn¡¯t your standard basement. It had to go deep underground.


    ¡°There¡¯s a natural cave system under the house. Walter took advantage of this. He¡­ needs the space.¡± Sigrid said for Stanley¡¯s benefit.


    They finally reached a rectangr antechamber leading to an ornate set of double doors.


    ¡°You should change now,¡± their guide stated.


    Stanley looked at her in surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s his way, his house, his rules,¡± Cam exined.


    Stanley caught their guide looking away with a shiver. His nervousness increased.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok Stanley. I brought your cloak.¡± Marisa said as she dropped her mor.


    He nodded and began to undress, casting a nce over at the petite Chinese woman. She was looking somewhere past him and hadn¡¯t reacted at all to Marisa¡¯s change.


    Cam dropped her mor in a shower of sparkles and she looked at her daughter with a hit of jealousy for her instant transition.


    Stanley looked at Sigrid curiously.


    She smiled at him. ¡°I don¡¯t use a mor. I just call for my armor and weapons when I need them.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± he said as he hesitated, his thumbs under the stic of his waistband.


    ¡°Stanley? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Cam asked, seeing his hesitance.

 52

    He shook his head with a deep frown then pushed his track pants down, stepping out of them. He studiously avoided looking at the women as he knew they were all looking at him and he didn¡¯t want to react to their interest. Once he was naked he stepped away from his clothes and twisted the ring. Reality folded.


    ¡°AAAAAIIIEEEE!!!¡± their guide shrieked and threw herself away from Stanley as she pressed her hands to her eyes. Everyone stared at the woman in shock. She was curled up in a ball on the floor at the base of the stairs, trembling.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Stanley asked Sigrid anxiously. His nerves were buzzing.


    Cam moved towards the servant but the petite woman quickly pushed herself to her feet. She kept her face averted from them.


    ¡°I am fine. My apologies for the outburst. Please- please enter the chamber when you are ready. I will be here when you return,¡± she said quickly then rushed up the stairs and was gone.


    They looked at each other and turned to walk to the other end of the antechamber. Stanley left his clothes on a bench against the wall and hurried to catch up with the others. Sigrid moved to stand beside him as Marisa helped him put his robe on.


    ¡°Ready?¡±


    Stanley nodded.


    ¡°Before we go in I want to assure you Walter Zhou is no danger to you. We are with you.¡± Cam said and Sigrid nodded with a serious expression.


    ¡°You know, saying stuff like that that just makes me more nervous,¡± Stanley said in exasperation.


    Marisa smiled and took his hand. He sighed.


    ¡°This! This is what calms me down,¡± he said to the two women as he lifted Marisa¡¯s hand in his. They smiled at him and moved to open the doors.


    Inside was a rough stone walkway leading downwards. They exited out into a vast cavern the extent of which could not be seen in the inky ckness. The acoustics made the chamber feel vast and it was much warmer than Stanley expected. There was an odd smell and he made a face at Marisa which she nodded to. She found it unpleasant too.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh, you made it! Wee!¡±


    The voice seemed toe from everywhere.


    ¡°Walter, could we tone down the theatrics for Stanley and Marisa¡¯s first visit?¡± Sigrid growled.


    ¡°This is the trouble with Valkyries! No romance in their souls!¡± the voice sighed but seemed to be focused on a point in front of them¡­ and up.


    Stanley raised his eyes and saw two veryrge gold eyes glowing in the darkness about fifteen feet up. Suddenly two small burst of me puffed out of the nostrils on its long face. As the smoke dissipated Stanley could see the enormous bearded jaws. It shot tiny spitballs of fire unerringly against some torches and the light level increased to the point where Stanley could see at least some of the¡­ dragon¡¯s long serpentine body.


    Its scales were a dark green bordering on ck but shimmered iridescently in the firelight. Looking back up at its head Stanley realized the ¡®beard¡¯ wasn¡¯t hair or fur but smoke that clung close to his jaws!


    From the slight grinding noise Stanley looked down and saw its enormous ws scratching the hard stone. It¡­ it was real!


    ¡°Oh¡­ You¡¯re a dragon!¡± Stanley mumbled.


    ¡°And you are the impossiblee to life! A Satyr? Here? Now? How fascinating!¡± the dragon¡¯s deep voice purred as its eyes glowed brighter.


    ¡°I- I¡¯ve seen the pictures and art pieces but I never understood how beautiful dragons could be in real life!¡± Stanley said in a daze then snorted in incredulity as he heard what he just said. ¡°Real life,¡± he mumbled again a little desperately as the room began to tilt.


    He dropped to his knees then forward onto his hands as his head spun.


    ¡°Stanley!¡± Marisa cried as she dropped down to her knees beside him.


    ¡°Is he alright?¡± Walter asked as he looked towards Cam.


    ¡°Stanley?¡± Sigrid said as she knelt on his other side.


    He was taking deep slow breaths with his eyes closed. ¡°Sorry, I just felt dizzy. It¡¯s just too much all at once¡­ I- I need to take a minute,¡± he said quietly.


    Cam addressed theirwyer. ¡°Stanley only very recently discovered he was a Satyr and that the Hidden Races exist. He was raised as a Human.¡±


    ¡°How awful!¡± Walter eximed and it was clear even in Stanley¡¯s dazed state that it was the idea of being human that disturbed the Dragon the most.


    Sigrid and Marisa helped him up onto his hooves and he thanked them quietly.


    ¡°Sorry, I never expected¡­ this. I guess there are limits to my ability to deal with shocks,¡± Stanley said contritely.


    ¡°No need to apologize Stanley. At least you didn¡¯t run away screaming or simply go mad. Your mind is far more resilient than you give yourself credit for,¡± Walter said with a smile.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    He felt a little better though the cavern was way too hot to be wearing the heavy cloak. He was burning up so he shrugged it off.


    Gold eyes widened as he could now fully see Stanley¡¯s Satyr nature. ¡°Now I see why the Fae are so eager to get their hands on you! You are definitely unique and an intriguing mystery! Valuable indeed!¡± Walter said smoothly and moved closer.


    Sigrid stepped forward, cing herself between the dragon and the others, ring up at the huge beast. ¡°Resist the temptation Walter or your days of collecting are over.¡±


    Walter¡¯s glowing eyes narrowed as it red down at the Valkyrie. ¡°Don¡¯t make threats to me in my domain, little one. Especially threats you cannot-¡±


    ¡°Sun.¡± The huge cavern exploded with brilliant light and Walter cried out in shock. The others had thrown their arms up over their eyes as Sigrid had made them rehearse in the truck on the way to Walter¡¯s.


    Sigrid¡¯s huge wings stretched outwards from her back in all their glory, zing like the sun, extinguishing all shadows.


    ¡°ENOUGH! STOP! PLEASE!¡± Walter bellowed.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Darkness returned instantly and even though they¡¯d protected their eyes they had to blink away the afterimages. Except Sigrid who hadn¡¯t noticed the change at all.


    ¡°How- how is it possible for you to contain so much power?¡± Walter gasped as he looked at the Valkyrie.


    Sigrid thought about that a moment. ¡°Stanley. He¡¯s changed me. He¡¯s linked to an alternate realm of magic and has shared that with me. I can feel my own connection to it now as well. The witch changed Stanley when she collected him from his parents. We don¡¯t know how she did that or what her intent was for doing so. She¡¯s a master of not only magic but of the long game. Who knows what her ns were for Stanley.¡±


    ¡°Were?¡± the dragon asked.


    ¡°When we first met, her she told us we¡¯d interfered with her n and he was now on a new course. She said Stanley¡¯s ¡®true destiny may yete to pass¡¯ but she¡¯s refused to divulge what that might be.¡±


    ¡°You questioned her on it?¡± Walter asked skeptically. No one pushes Baba Yaga.


    ¡°No, Stanley did. She raised him as her own. They have a rtionship. She¡¯s very protective of him. Remember that.¡± Sigrid said firmly.


    ¡°You might have opened with that information,¡± the huge beast grumbled, still upset about her disy of power in his home. He turned his attention back to Stanley. ¡°A new realm of magic! That might also exin the Fae¡¯s lust for capturing him! How might I sample this new power?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not-¡± Stanley began ufortably and Cam came to his rescue.


    ¡°Stanley isn¡¯t a wielder of magic. He¡¯s a conduit like Subi and Valkyrie. Marisa¡¯s mor spell was burned from her core when she over-saturated herself with Stanley¡¯s energy. The wild magic isn¡¯tpatible with the old magic. The Fae who reced Marisa¡¯s mor was badly affected by it. I suspect wielders might not bepatible.¡±


    The dragon fell silent as it contemted the Satyr before it.


    ¡°Dragons are magic wielders too,¡± Marisa exined quietly to Stanley who appeared a little lost.


    ¡°The only wielder who might have some idea of how to tap into it is probably Baba Yaga,¡± Cam offered. She looked within then smiled at Sigrid with wide eyes. ¡°You¡¯re right. I can feel it too. I¡¯m linked to the realm of wild magic. What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t feel it after my first time with him,¡± Sigrid replied.


    The two women looked at Marisa who¡¯d been with Stanley more than them.


    The young Subus nced at Walter who was watching with interest. She looked back to her mother. ¡°I¡¯m connected to the new realm as well. My new mor is powered by the wild magic.¡± She kept the existence of her shield to herself.


    Sigrid wanted to get on with the question of what to do about the Fae then get the hell out of Walter¡¯s house. ¡°Are the Fae going to press charges? They kidnapped Stanley off the street, drugged him, and took him to that secluded spot to torture answers from him. They don¡¯t have any grounds to defend their actions. All Stanley did was defend himself and escape.¡±


    ¡°There is the matter of the ¡®valuable items¡¯. Stanley, did you perhaps take something that did not belong to you?¡±


    He blinked up at the huge face and could almost feel the intense interest in its eyes. ¡°Uh, I grabbed myputer and cell phone which were next to myputer bag. I also took a tablet PC, a leather bound journal, and what I thought was a pen. I think it¡¯s actually an ornate stylus for a touch screen. Probably the tablet.¡±


    ¡°DO YOU STILL HAVE IT?¡± Walter boomed as he moved closer. Once more Sigrid stepped forward to re at him and the dragon reluctantly moved back.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s in myputer bag¡­ in the truck,¡± Stanley said uneasily.


    ¡°Get it! Bring it to me!¡± he insisted.


    ¡°The stylus, what is it really?¡± Cam asked.


    Gold eyes narrowed suspiciously. Cam put her hands on her hips and tilted her head at him. ¡°Seriously, if it belongs to the Fae none of us want it.¡±


    Walter rxed as he realized something and epted her answer. ¡°I suppose it wouldn¡¯t work for you anyway now that you¡¯re no longer linked to the same realm of magic as we are.¡± He passed his eyes over them and came to a decision. The truth it was. ¡°It¡¯s a kind of reliquary. It contains a physical artifact from the realm of magic. They are extremely rare. It was said that Queen Mab had two of them. One she loaned out to special servants, such as thete Leaharin.¡±

 53

    ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± Sigrid asked suspiciously.


    Walter snorted at her tone. ¡°It strengthens the holder¡¯s link to the realm for a period of time. Amplifies their ability to draw on the magic.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s to keep someone from using it constantly, to build the strength of their link to godlike powers?¡± Sigrid boldly asked.


    ¡°The Reliquary itself. It manages the flow and closes if there is too much draw. You can certainly strengthen your power, probably to two¡­ maybe three times your usual levels but that¡¯s it. It wears off eventually and you¡¯ll have to wait for the same period of time to use it again or risk having it have the opposite effect. As it is useless to you, you should give it to me.¡± He decided to keep to himself the fact that the old magic was weakening. He wanted that Reliquary!


    It was Cam¡¯s turn toy down thew. ¡°Not so fast, Walter. First, you¡¯re going to help extract Stanley from this mess. Call the Fae as Stanley¡¯s legal advisor and get them to back off.¡±


    He scowled at the Subus. ¡°This is the Queen of the Fae we¡¯re talking about. She cannot back down without losing the respect of her court. She¡¯s just asking to speak with Stanley. That isn¡¯t unreasonable.¡±


    ¡°She imed him as hers the moment she saw him. That isn¡¯t something a reasonable person says,¡± Cam argued.


    ¡°Cam, ept that Stanley has to at least speak to the Queen. Grant her that and potentially nullify the threat of future attacks. Deny her and she will not stop until she takes him from you. Know this,¡± Walter exined.


    Cam fumed. She looked at Sigrid who took up the argument.


    ¡°Ok, be Stanley¡¯s go-between and set up a meeting. With witnesses from the Hidden Races Council. If we are disclosing Stanley¡¯s existence, then it has to be before the others as well so Queen Mab doesn¡¯t have a chance to snatch him and hide him away. He needs to ensure his independence. The Treaty of Independence for the former Fae races makes no mention of Satyr¡¯s as they were extinct by the time it was written. We¡¯ve been told Stanley was born during the time the Queen reigned over them all, so technically he may still be her subject but he¡¯s living in this age and has no desire to be a subject of the Queen. That¡¯s true, isn¡¯t it Stanley?¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Yes! Uh, I want nothing to do with the Fae. They¡¯ve shown their true colors and they aren¡¯t for me!¡± he asserted.


    Walter snorted at Stanley¡¯s stern expression.


    ¡°Now, they are expecting to get these ¡®items¡¯ back from Stanley. How are we going to deal with that if you want the reliquary?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s simple. The building where Leaharin¡¯s body was discovered is not owned by the Fae. They were trespassing when they brought Stanley there. With the death of Leaharin, the reliquary and anything else he left behind became lost property. Stanley was free to remove them from the building as they were evidence of his abduction. His subsequent exchanging of the reliquary to me for my legal services will be documented and he will receive a receipt for the transaction. A contract is something the Fae understand quite well. They have to ept its legal standing. Stanley will be off the hook so to speak, in regards to the reliquary at least. You can give them the tablet and the journal though I would be very interested in seeing what the Master Inquisitor was writing in it. There must be something about Stanley in there.¡±


    ¡°Write up the contract. While you do that, Stanley will get the items.¡± Cam said and nodded to Stanley.


    Walter moved further back in the cavern to his office to produce the receipt as Sigrid kept her eye on him. Stanley walked back up the ramp to step through the doors to where his clothes were. He closed the doors behind him then froze when he felt lips on his neck. His muscles just stopped responding to him and panic began to surge through his mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for this.¡±


    He felt a sharp pinch then a darting tongue licking the wound on his neck as his body tingled. The bite was cold and there was no pain. The tongue paused from its darting to press against the wound then he heard the soft but rapid patter of her feet as she rushed away towards the stairs.


    When his body suddenly unlocked he pitched forward against the doors with a crash. His unclenched muscles dropped him to the floor and he rolled over onto his back. His head was swimming and his body was shaking from unspent adrenaline.


    The door burst open and the three women charged through, Sigrid in the lead. ¡°Stanley! What happened?¡±


    He looked up into her frightened face as his teeth chattered. ¡°I- I th-think she b-b-bit me!¡±


    ¡°What? Where?¡± she yelped.


    ¡°Neck.¡±


    Sigrid moved his head to the side and sure enough there were two small red holes on the side of his neck. They weren¡¯t bleeding.


    ¡°That BITCH!¡± Sigrid roared.


    ¡°Am I going to die?¡± Stanley asked in a quiet, frightened voice. His shakes were quickly settling down.


    ¡°What?!? No! No Stanley, you¡¯re in no danger. The bite has no permanent effect. Depending on how much of your blood she drank you might feel a little woozy. That will pass.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you yell like that?¡± he asked.


    ¡°She attacked you! Stole blood from you! That isn¡¯t done and it won¡¯t go unpunished!¡± she growled in outrage. She was also feeling horribly guilty at failing to keep her promise to protect him. There was also the fact that it happened the moment he was out of her sight, something she¡¯d said she wouldn¡¯t let happen. Her anger turned to shame. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Stanley! I should have been with you!¡±


    Stanley reached out and took her hand to reassure her that he wasn¡¯t ming her. ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡±


    ¡°Marisa, go get Stanley¡¯sputer bag from the truck. Keep an eye out for the vampire,¡± her mother said and the young subus snapped her mor in ce as she rushed away, ws extended.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she wanted to do it.¡± Stanley said weakly as he struggled to sit up with Sigrid¡¯s help. His head was really spinning. He must have lost more blood than he thought or maybe he was just recovering from the scare and adrenaline rush.


    ¡°Marisa? She doesn¡¯t mind,¡± Cam said, confused by his response.


    ¡°No, I mean the woman who bit me. She¡­ apologized before she did it. It felt sincere and a little bit desperate. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    They turned their faces to the doors of the cavern to see a petite Chinese man in a ck silk dressing gown. A red dragon was embroidered upon it. He couldn¡¯t have been more than 4¡ä 8¡å and looked like stretched leather over bones. His eyes though, were sharp and Stanley could see the strength in them. This was his mor, his illusion¡­ and it displeased him. The hugely powerful dragon became the frail old man.


    Walter saw Stanley¡¯s look of surprise and scowled. His eyes flicked to the staircase and he seemed to be trying to decide something but he sagged and turned an annoyed expression at Cam and Sigrid. ¡°You may have cost me a very useful servant. If she was desperate enough to attack one of you in my home then she¡¯s desperate enough to have fled the house, even without her sight. By now Meixiu is most likely out of my reach. I will search the neighborhood for her just the same. She was my servant for many, many years and I had her trained perfectly. She was the youngest daughter of the president of apany I purchased decades ago. A gift to show his respect.¡± Walter pursed his lips together in a deep frown. ¡°If I have to find another and begin the training all over again, it will cost me a great deal of valuable time.¡± He turned a baleful eye on Sigrid.


    ¡°We had nothing to do with your losing your ve. She attacked Stanley without provocation then ran away. Did you give her a reason to run?¡± Sigrid growled through clenched teeth.


    Marisa returned with theputer bag and Walter¡¯s moodpletely reversed. ¡°Ah! You have it!¡± he said eagerly.


    ¡°Contract first,¡± Cam said.


    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± he agreed as he kept his eye on the prize. He pulled a scroll from the sleeve of his gown and handed it to Cam. She unrolled it and read through the text. She nodded and handed it to Sigrid who read it as well. Satisfied, she turned to Stanley who was now holding hisputer bag.


    ¡°Put this in a secure pocket inside the bag and give Walter the reliquary,¡± Sigrid said.


    He slipped the scroll into the bag and zipped thepartment closed. Then he fished out the stylus. In the brighter light of the antechamber he could see the delicate scrollwork of its metal shell. The tip which he¡¯d originally mistaken for a pen was made of some smooth stone. It was lovely but he wanted nothing to do with it. He reached to hand it to Walter who took a step back.


    ¡°Wait! I don¡¯t want to activate it just yet. Give me a moment!¡± Walter said eagerly with a grin and shuffled away as quickly as his old body would let him go.


    Stanley nced at Sigrid who had an annoyed look on her face.


    ¡°Why is Walter¡¯s mor so old? It hampers his movement so much. He¡¯s obviously so much stronger and more vital as a Dragon.¡± Stanley asked quietly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not Fae magic. He makes his own spells. I¡¯ve never witnessed him change. You¡¯d have to ask him¡­ but I suggest you don¡¯t,¡± Sigrid said.


    ¡°I heard his question and I¡¯ll give him an answer,¡± Walter said returning with a small tray lined with silk. He held the tray out and Stanleyid the reliquary gently on its surface. The man smiled at Stanley and nodded. Stanley reached into his bag and handed Walter the leather-bound journal as well, bringing another delighted smile to the man¡¯s face. He shrugged as he epted the tablet as well though it was clear he had no interest in it.


    ¡°Dragons don¡¯t use a mor or any kind of spell. We have the ability to trante our true form into any other form but certain aspects of our true form are maintained. As a Dragon, I¡¯ve been around a very long time so my Human form approximates that age. I could use other shapes but Human is the one I must use to survive here so I try not to switch to it very often.¡±


    He turned to Sigrid. ¡°I never switch in the presence of others as the distortion of reality can have¡­ detrimental effects.¡±


    Stanley made a choking noise as he shed to the memory of Leaharin screaming when he was folded in two. Sigrid gave him a sharp look, clearly wanting him to remain quiet.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Walter asked.


    Stanley looked away, unable to speak.


    Cam stepped forward. ¡°Stanley has had a very rough couple of days. He needs rest. Real, uninterrupted rest. He won¡¯t be able to rest easy until we can put this all behind him. When are you going to contact the Fae Council?¡±


    ¡°I will contact them now as well as the Hidden Races Council. Will Stanley be avable this weekend to meet with them?¡± Walter asked.


    Stanley looked at Cam with pleading eyes. ¡°No, Monday is early enough. Give him time to recover from the attack,¡± she responded. Stanley¡¯s expression was grateful.


    Walter nodded to himself. He could work with this. ¡°I¡¯ll need his address for the Hidden Races Council records.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll email you the details. Thank you, Walter,¡± Cam said as she gathered up Stanley¡¯s clothes from the bench and began leading them from the room.


    Stanley watched her with surprise as he¡¯d expected to switch and get dressed here but he guessed there was a change of ns. He nodded to Walter, pulled his robe on, and hustled after the others.


    He noticed Cam had switched her mor spell on as they climbed the stairs. He made to ask Sigrid but she just shook her head at him.

 54

    When they reached the vestibule before the front doors Cam set the clothes on a small table there. ¡°Now Stanley. Quickly please.¡±


    He blinked at her then dropped the robe and kicked it forward as he stepped back from thedies. He twisted the ring and snapped back into his human form. Marisa stepped close with his clothes and he dressed himself as quickly as he could.


    ¡°Cam¡­¡±


    Walter¡¯s voice was doing that omnipresent thing again but this time he didn¡¯t sound happy.


    ¡°Yes Walter?¡± she answered cautiously towards the ceiling, now assuming there were hidden cameras.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°How is it that Stanley alters his form like a Dragon?¡± the voice returned, slow and calm but there was an undercurrent of barely contained rage. This confirmed her suspicions about the cameras.


    ¡°You would need to ask Baba Yaga that question. This was her doing. Remember, she took Stanley as an infant. She hid his true form from him his entire life. She didn¡¯t ask the Fae to give him a mor and I believe you are starting to understand why,¡± Cam said.


    ¡°I see.¡± There was silence. ¡°Send me his details. Have a good evening.¡±


    Dressed, Stanley left the mansion holding Marisa¡¯s hand and Sigrid brought up the rear, keeping any eye out for danger. Or reprisal.


    The sun was just dipping under the horizon when they made it back to the truck where Mr. Duncan was waiting patiently. He took in the tense expressions and held his questions until everyone was seated and they were on their way back down thene.


    ¡°Did everything not go alright? Is Walter not going to help Stanley? I heard from Marisa about Stanley being bitten but did something else happen?¡± he asked.


    ¡°We discovered where Stanley¡¯s ability to switch shapeses from. Dragons change the same way. The witch obtained the switching power from one and that likely meant the end of the line for the Dragon.¡±


    ¡°Shit,¡± Roy said quietly.


    They reached the end of thene and pulled out onto the quiet road which would take them out to the thruway back to the city. They got maybe half a mile from Walter¡¯s ce when they spotted someone wearing a white gown with red trim sitting in the middle of the road.


    ¡°That¡¯s Meixiu!¡±


    ¡°May You?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°The vampire! The one who bit Stanley!¡±


    ¡°Should I elerate?¡± he asked.


    ¡°NO!¡± Stanley and Marisa cried out.


    ¡°She¡¯s kneeling in the middle of ourne, head down and hands on her thighs. That doesn¡¯t look like a stance of aggression but¡­ she¡¯s a vampire. I don¡¯t know much about them.¡± Cam said examining the woman they were approaching.


    Mr. Duncan stopped the truck twenty feet away from Meixiu, keeping her in the headlights and Sigrid got out. She gestured for the others to stay inside.


    Slowly walking closer she looked for signs of movement, preparing herself to fight. She stopped eight feet from the kneeling woman who looked so tiny.


    ¡°I am so very sorry for my actions. It was my first and only opportunity to escape in a very long time,¡± the woman said with a trembling voice.


    She tilted her face up and the first thing Sigrid noticed were her dark eyes. The milky white was gone. She was no longer blind.


    ¡°I see your eyesight has improved,¡± Sigrid said carefully.


    ¡°It was the young man! He broke Mr. Zhou¡¯s curse!¡± the young woman gasped.


    ¡°Stanley? How-¡± Sigrid began then she recalled that he¡¯d changed before her and how she¡¯d reacted. ¡°Your blindness was caused by a curse from Walter?¡±


    ¡°To keep me from escaping!¡± Meixiu blurted as her lips trembled.


    ¡°Why did you bite Stanley?¡± Sigrid growled and the Meixiu dipped her head forward in shame.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou wouldn¡¯t feed me often so I was always weak and dependent on him. The only extra food I could get was from vermin that entered his home. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to get far if I didn¡¯t feed. Again, I¡¯m so sorry for my actions but I had to escape. Please don¡¯t take me back! I would rather you kill me. I¡¯m- I¡¯m unable to take my own life.¡±


    ¡°Why are you waiting here?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°I have nowhere to go. I don¡¯t know this country. I¡¯ve been inside Mr. Zhou¡¯s home for a very long time. Since I was sent here from China. I was only a child then. I¡¯m frightened,¡± Meixiu moaned.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Sigrid sighed. ¡°Stay here.¡±


    Sigrid walked back to the car and rted what she¡¯d been told.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Cam sighed.


    ¡°We have to bring her with us,¡± Stanley said firmly.


    ¡°Stanley! She bit you! She may want to do it again!¡± Sigrid eximed in frustration.


    ¡°She¡¯s apologized. You know her reason. Her parents gave her away as a present! We have to help her!¡± Stanley gushed then realized he was getting a little overly emotional. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m a little shaky at the moment. But I stand by my words.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t stay parked on this road much longer,¡± Mr. Duncan said.


    ¡°Fine. We take her with us but then what?¡± Cam said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep her with me for now,¡± Sigrid sighed. ¡°My ce has enough room.¡± She turned to face the young woman. ¡°Meixiu! Come here.¡± Looking inside the truck she pointed to the back seat for Stanley to sit with Marisa. Sigrid would keep an eye on Meixiu in the middle seats.


    The woman in question approached and Sigrid gestured for her to enter the truck and move to the far seat. She climbed in and Sigrid showed her how to put on a seat belt. Then they went on their way.


    Meixiu gasped and clutched the armrests.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t been in a car before?¡± Stanley asked.


    ¡°No, I was brought to Mr. Zhou¡¯s a long time ago. There were no cars then. We rode in my parent¡¯s carriage to the ship. I remember¡­ horses. My time on the ship was terrible. Then I was given to Mr. Zhou and I woke in his home. I have been there ever since.¡±


    They were quiet for a time as they digested the horror of her story.


    Stanley finally faded and fell asleep cuddled against Marisa¡¯s shoulder.


    Meixiu looked over the seat at Stanley and looked into Marisa¡¯s eyes. She mouthed an apology and Marisa nodded with a small smile.


    She turned back to see the tall blonde next to her giving her a troubled and evaluating look.


    This one would not be so quick to forgive her.


    Stanley woke with a snort in the back seat. The truck had parked. He saw he was alone with Mr. Duncan who must have dropped the others off on the way. They got out and the big redhead walked him inside, carrying his bag of wine bottles, and took him right upstairs to the door of his condo.


    ¡°Stay inside this weekend and get rested up. I¡¯lle back for you when it¡¯s time for the meeting,¡± he said gruffly.


    ¡°Thanks for everything, Mr. Duncan,¡± Stanley said quietly.


    ¡°Roy.¡±


    Stanley smiled and nodded to the man then closed and locked the door. He walked into the kitchen to put the bottles on the counter. Next he made his way into the living room. He pulled his cell phone out of his bag and plugged it in to charge the dead battery.


    Speaking of batteries, he realized he¡¯d spent a good deal of today in Satyr form so the ring wouldn¡¯t need to charge too soon. Still he had to keep the cycle so he¡¯d have a full charge for the next day. He looked at the clock and saw it was only 9PM.


    He jumped when there was a sharp knocking on his front door. Sick dread shot through him. They¡¯de for him. His cell was dead, the condo phone only worked to operate the front door, so he had no way of reaching any of his friends. The Fae were going to break down his door and take him by force and he¡¯d never see his friends again.


    He peeked around the corner at the front door.


    ¡°Stanley? Are you in there?¡±


    A huge tremble of relief rocked through his body as he recognized Sandy¡¯s voice. Suddenly it was all too much and he found himself opening the door and taking his friend in his arms as he broke down and wept. She burst into tears as well as she clung to him. More arms held them both and he looked up to see Tish, Dayshia, and Roger were all there.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside,¡± Dayshia suggested gently.


    He nodded and released Sandy. He had to gently untangle himself from her hair and felt its gentle resistance. He kept his worry about that from his face. He moved back inside his condo with Sandy clinging to his hand as he led everyone inside.


    Roger brought up the rear and locked the door.


    They all took seats in the living room and Stanley struggled to get his emotions under control.

 55

    ¡°We¡¯ve been worried sick about you all day! Roger spotted a video of you being abducted online. We went to your office but you weren¡¯t there and no one could reach you or any of the executives.¡±


    ¡°Was it the Russian mob? Were they after you to get them back door ess to the financial data at your office?¡± Roger blurted excitedly.


    Stanley looked at him in surprise.


    ¡°Roger, shut the fuck up!¡± Dayshia growled. ¡°Can¡¯t you see he¡¯s still shaken by the ordeal?¡±


    ¡°I- I didn¡¯t really see them too well. I was drugged and woke up in an old building by a bay. It copsed while they tort- hurt me but I managed to get away. They didn¡¯t.¡± It was the truth or at least enough truth for him to say convincingly.


    ¡°Holy fuck!¡± Roger blurted as the others stared at him in horror.


    ¡°Oh my god, Stanley!¡± Sandy eximed and pulled him into a hug and once more he was enveloped by her hair.


    When she recovered from her shock she held him out at arm¡¯s length to look in his eyes as her locks settled to rest on her chest. ¡°How did you get away?¡±


    ¡°The pole they taped my arms around fell through the floor and I got out of the room before the rest of the floor broke free. I found my bag in the next room and carried it upstairs where I called for help.¡±


    ¡°You called the police? Then why are they still looking for you?¡± Roger asked.


    ¡°I called Sigrid- Ms. Gunderan, head of HR at mypany,¡± he replied quietly as his mind absorbed the fact that the police were looking for him. This could be bad.


    ¡°Why did you call her?¡± Sandy blinked.


    ¡°It was- I remembered her number,¡± he said with a shrug. He couldn¡¯t really say the real reason but they epted his state of mind at the time probably wasn¡¯t at its best. ¡°She and our head of Security picked me up and took me to the CIO¡¯s ce. We went to speak to awyer this afternoon. I¡¯mying low until Monday.¡± Stanley heard himself babbling so he shut up.


    ¡°Siobhan called me just minutes ago when the CIO¡¯s assistant called her to say you were ok and on your way home,¡± Sandy exined.


    ¡°You spoke with Siobhan?¡± Stanley asked, his mind struggling to keep his two worlds separate. He knew the Hidden Races interacted with humanity but the awareness didn¡¯t run both ways so that¡¯s where the dangery. He was too shaky at the moment so his safest bet was silence.


    Sandy smiled. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a lovely person! She really helped us out this morning. Roger made a nuisance of himself and got tossed from the lobby of VRL but she started calling people to get information. She said she¡¯d call when she heard something and she did.


    ¡°Yeah, then you sent me home when you three came here. You left me to fret all day. If I hadn¡¯te over when I did I would have missed this!¡± Rogerined.


    Tish gave him a weary look and he pouted.


    There was another sharp rap on the door and Stanley jumped again.


    ¡°Let me answer it,¡± Roger said with a growl as he leapt to his feet.


    The tall man stormed over to the door and nced through the peep hole. Two serious looking men in tan raincoats over ck cks. He pulled the door open. ¡°Yes?¡± he boomed belligerently.


    They stared up at him in surprise.


    Roger noted they both had slim builds and a gauntness to their faces. Both also now had expressions like they¡¯d just smelled something bad. One chose to speak and his aristocratic voice grated on Roger¡¯s irritated nerves.


    ¡°We need to speak to Mr. Garin.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Garin isn¡¯t entertaining guests in his home this evening,¡± Roger said in an equally haughty tone.


    ¡°You are a guest are you not?¡±


    Roger paused at the boldness of the question. ¡°No. I¡¯m a friend. There¡¯s a difference.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, he needs to speak to us.¡±


    ¡°I said, not tonight,¡± Roger said leaning closer.


    The elevator chimed and three people exited and headed down the hallway in their direction. The raincoat wearer not speaking with Roger nced back and paused when he saw the surprised and angry expressions on the approaching faces. He reached out to touch the sleeve of his partner who was about to respond to Roger with some belligerence of his own. The speaker paused and looked in the direction his partner was looking. His face froze and his jaw clenched in frustration.


    Roger took in the neers when he saw how upset the two at his door had be. There was an older woman, maybe in her sixties, slim and wearing a nicely tailored but severe business jacket and skirt. The one in the middle was almost as tall as he was, looked younger than the woman, had anky build, close cropped ck hair, and chunky stic rimmed sses. The third was short and barrel chested with long red hair and a braided beard. The short man looked like he was all muscle.


    The three took a good look at Roger who just stared back. They nced at each other with cautious expressions.


    ¡°Are you here for these clowns or are you wanting to speak with Mr. Garin as well?¡± Roger asked before anyone else could speak.


    The woman was their spokesperson. ¡°We have business with Mr. Garin.¡±


    ¡°Like I told these two. He isn¡¯t seeing guests tonight. Come back on Monday,¡± Roger exined.


    The tall one with sses frowned. ¡°That won¡¯t do. We need to speak with him tonight.¡±


    ¡°No, he needs toe with us tonight,¡± the agitated man in the raincoat asserted.


    ¡°You will leave before this bes a reportable offence,¡± braid beard said to the two at the door.


    Suddenly there was a palpable tension and the five people froze as they eyed each other warily.


    Tish appeared at Roger¡¯s elbow. ¡°What the hell is going on out here? We can hear you arguing from the living room-¡± She saw Roger was grinning at the esction before him. She immediately picked up on the tension. From the way they were holding their bodies, she swore they were about to pull out weapons.


    ¡°Nobody do anything stupid. Remember, this is a residential building full of innocent bystanders,¡± she berated them scornfully.


    The elevator dinged once more and eyes flicked back to see who else was approaching.


    Tworgish men in rumpled suits were walking towards them. From her years in the ER Tish immediately recognized the swagger. Here came two of New York¡¯s finest.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? A floor party?¡± the one in the brown suit called out with a cheeky grin as his partner in a dark blue suit scanned the group with cold eyes. The five visitors immediately rxed their stances.


    ¡°Tell Mr. Garin we will return and he must join us when we do,¡± the raincoat closest to Roger said tersely and moved off into the stairwell followed closely by the other. Tish grabbed Roger¡¯s arm to keep him quiet.


    ¡°We really must speak with Mr. Garin at his earliest convenience. Before the others,¡± the woman said stiffly.


    ¡°You have a business card?¡± Roger asked and got three nk looks.


    ¡°We¡¯ll return as well,¡± the older woman said and they left.


    The cops stood aside as the three passed on their way to the elevator.


    ¡°Was it something we said?¡± brown suit snorted.


    ¡°I¡¯m Detective Harmon and this is Detective Morris,¡± the big man in the blue suit said to Tish and Roger. ¡°This is Stanley Garin¡¯s ce? You¡¯re not him, are you.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Roger said with a grin.


    ¡°This idiot is Roger Jensen,¡± Tish sighed.


    ¡°Roger ¡®RogerDodger¡¯ Jensen?¡± Detective Morris asked with a grin as he nced at the scribble he¡¯d made earlier in his notes of the address on the message they¡¯d received.


    The tall intern¡¯s smile slipped off his face and he nced nervously at Tish as she looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°Uh, yeah. How-¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re following up on the tip you texted in,¡± Morris said.


    Tish was staring daggers at Roger so he panicked. ¡°We saw the video of Stanley getting nabbed and the security goons at VRL weren¡¯t listening to me about how he was probably being used to hack into their financial systems and they tossed me out! I was trying to help! I was angry! I angry texted!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re such a moron,¡± Tish growled.


    ¡°Is Mr. Garin in? We need to speak to him,¡± Harmon said.


    Tish pushed Roger back into the condo and gestured for the two officers to follow. They all walked down the short hall into the living room.


    Stanley looked up from the couch at the two big men in suits and looked at the badges they held out briefly.


    ¡°I¡¯m Detective Harmon. This is my partner Detective Morris. I understand you were grabbed off the streetst night and tossed into the back of a van. What can you tell us about it?¡±


    Stanley¡¯s mouth was dry. He was really in over his head and way out of hisfort zone. He took some deep breaths to calm himself.


    ¡°I remembering out of the wine shop. Someone hit me from behind and I was pulled into the van. They stuck a needle in my neck. I woke up in the basement of an old building. My arms were taped together behind me around a metal post.¡± His body shook as a tremor went through him. Sandy held his hand.


    ¡°Did you see their faces?¡± Harmon asked.


    Stanley¡¯s mind shed the Goblin¡¯s hideous faces at him and he twitched. ¡°No¡­ not clearly,¡± he muttered as the cops shared a look.


    ¡°There was a man there. Small, slim, wore a lot of rings. He¡­ he tortured me.¡±


    ¡°You saw this guy¡¯s face?¡± Morris asked. ¡°You can give a description to a Police sketch artist?¡±


    Stanley nodded. He saw no point in protecting the dead Fae.


    ¡°How did he torture you?¡± Harmon asked.


    Stanley twitched again as he relived the man sliding into his brain. He shook his head to get the images and the sick feeling out. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it!¡±


    Harmon frowned and changed direction. ¡°What did he want?¡±


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t know. The building began falling apart,¡± Stanley said quietly.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Falling apart?¡± Morris blurted.


    ¡°The pole he was tied to fell through the floor and the bad guys fell in but Stanley got away!¡± Roger blurted excitedly.


    Detective Harmon frowned at Roger then looked at Stanley.

 56

    ¡°That¡¯s what happened. The building just crumbled and I got out of the room but they fell through the floor.¡± Stanley said.


    ¡°They?¡± Morris seized on the detail and pressed.


    ¡°The small man and two others. I didn¡¯t see their faces as it was dark and dusty from the basement falling in.¡±


    ¡°Then what happened?¡± Harmon asked.


    ¡°I found my bag in the next room so I went upstairs and called a friend to pick me up,¡± Stanley said and yawned widely as he was quickly fading. It had been a very long and eventful day.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call the police?¡± Harmon asked bluntly.


    Stanley red at the man and let some of his exhaustion into his voice. ¡°I just wanted to go home. My kidnappers were dead or at least badly injured. Punished enough. I didn¡¯t know who they were and at that point I didn¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°The police have been looking for you ever since the video was releasedst night. Why didn¡¯t youe forward, contact us?¡± Morris asked.


    Stanley sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about the video and I just found out from Roger a few minutes ago that the police were looking for me. Listen I don¡¯t mean to be rude but I¡¯m exhausted and I¡¯d really just like to go to bed and sleep through the weekend so if you don¡¯t mind.¡± He looked towards the door.


    ¡°We need the location of the building where you were takenst night. As you remarked, people probably died there. We received no reports of that,¡± Harmon insisted.


    Stanley looked at them in surprise as he thought it had been reported. He then frowned as he tried to recall the address. He looked over a Dayshia who was closest to his phone. ¡°Would you please unplug that and hand it to me?¡±


    She did and once it started up he saw he only had a few minutes of power at most. He needed to get a new phone with a better battery. Pushing that thought aside he opened the map application and nced at the detectives who were watching him curiously. ¡°It¡¯s how I discovered where I was and how to ask my friend to pick me up.¡± He read out the address and they wrote it down.


    ¡°Who were the people gathered outside your door this evening?¡± Harmon asked.


    ¡°What people?¡± Stanley asked.


    Roger spoke up. ¡°There were two separate groups of people trying to get in to see you tonight. Two thin men in matching raincoats. Then three people who couldn¡¯t have looked more different if they tried. An older woman, a tall skinny guy, and a short muscr guy with a red beard in braids. The two groups seemed to know the other. The first two said you had to go with them and the others wanted to talk with you first. They all said they¡¯d be back. Do you know them? Do they work at VRL too?¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    Stanley felt a sick dread. The ones wanting him to apany them had to be Fae. The others he had no idea who they were. He needed to call Cam or Sigrid. Mr. Zhou was supposed to make them leave him alone, wasn¡¯t he?


    He couldn¡¯t answer the questions so he just shook his head and shrugged. From the scowls on the detective¡¯s faces he could see they were not satisfied with the answer.


    ¡°What do you do at VRL?¡± Morris asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m the CIO.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± the detective said skeptically.


    ¡°Hey! The guy¡¯s a freaking savant with technology!¡± Roger boasted and Stanley looked at Roger sharply in surprise. ¡°He fixed my cell phone after looking at it for less than a minute!¡± Roger continued and Stanley rxed.


    ¡°So you are in charge ofputer systems that have ess to confidential financial information as Mr. Jensen suggested earlier?¡± Harmon asserted.


    ¡°Yes, but-¡±


    ¡°So these people might have been after the assets of VRL? They might have been preparing you to hack into VRL?¡± Harmon interrupted.


    ¡°I- I guess that could have been their intent,¡± Stanley allowed. He couldn¡¯t exactly tell the detectives that Leaharin was actually after him. ¡°But VRL can¡¯t be hacked, externally. At least not by currently known methods,¡± Stanley said wearily.


    ¡°Pretty high opinion of your work,¡± Morris snorted.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t aputerwork so secure it can¡¯t be hacked,¡± Harmon insisted.


    Stanley just looked at him. He didn¡¯t have to prove anything to the detective. He knew it was secure.


    ¡°You telling me you haven¡¯t built in back door ess for yourself to get in?¡± Morris scoffed.


    ¡°Why would I do that? That just weakens the integrity of the system. Dumb. Are we done?¡± Stanley growled. His exhaustion was making him bolder than he naturally would be.


    The detectives shared another look. They had an angle to work with.


    ¡°If we have any more questions-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be here,¡± Stanley said with a nod as he sagged back against the cushions. He handed the phone back to Dayshia and she plugged it back in.


    Tish walked the detectives out and locked up behind them.


    ¡°Stanley, we¡¯re going to go too. Do you need someone to stay to keep an eye on you?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°No, thanks though. I¡¯m just wiped. I need to get some sleep.¡± He looked at their concerned faces and once more he struggled to contain his emotions. ¡°Really, thanks for looking out for me,¡± he said with a rough voice.


    Sandy pulled him into a hug and he gasped and clung to her as well. When he released her Dayshia had to gently tug her to get Sandy to follow her out. The blond looked back at Stanley as he followed them to the door. ¡°I¡¯m just downstairs if you need me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± he said with a nod. ¡°The party is still on tomorrow, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if you¡¯re up to it!¡± Sandy smiled back at him.


    ¡°I definitely want some normality back in my life right now. A movie night would be so good!¡± Stanley sighed.


    Sandy and her friends smiled back at him. ¡°Excellent! It¡¯s on!¡±


    He locked up behind them then went immediately to his phone. He had enough juice to make a short call. He dialed Cam.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Cam? My phone is almost out of power so I have to make this quick. Two people came to my door tonight to get me to go with them. My friends from the fourth floor made them go away. There were also three other people who wanted to talk to me but they were sent away too. Two detectives stopped by to ask me about the abduction and they maye by VRL. They all said they areing back. What should I do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call Mr. Zhou. They shouldn¡¯t have visited tonight. Rest easy. We¡¯ll take car-¡± Cam said before the phone¡¯s battery died.


    Stanley cursed at his phone and plugged it in again.


    He did feel better for knowing Cam was aware of the issue and sounded like she would take steps to keep these people away. He hoped he¡¯d be able to have a normal weekend at least. He¡¯d worry about Monday on Monday.


    He yawned mightily and made his way into his bathroom to brush his teeth then got undressed. He checked the lock one more time then went into his bedroom and spun the ring. A ring that likely once belonged to a Dragon. Or worse, was made from a piece of a Dragon. With a shudder, he tucked that thought away in the back of his mind, switched off the light and climbed under the covers.


    He¡¯d have the weekend to worry about stuff he couldn¡¯t control. Now, he just wanted to sleep.


    Unbidden, the image of his parents smiling down at him in his crib came to him. He gasped at the pain of their loss. He knew it happened long ago but he¡¯d never known them and now that he remembered, it felt like a raw wound. Emotionally unprepared, the tears came and he cried until exhaustion took him.


    Detective Harmon and Morris stood next to their car with Detective Ken Hillsdale from Newark¡¯s Fifth Precinct watching the construction workers trampling all over their crime scene.


    Hillsdale gave the other detectives a confused look. ¡°This is the ce?¡±


    Harmon scowled and nodded. ¡°This is the address we were given.¡±


    The New Jersey detective shrugged and walked over to the site, the other two following him. He gged down one of the workers and shed him his badge. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge here?¡± The worker pointed to a big man wearing a red and ck check jacket looking at blueprints unrolled over the hood of his truck. The three detectives walked over to him.


    ¡°You in charge here?¡± Hillsdale asked as he once more showed his badge.


    The bear of a man turned to face them and his bushy eyebrows went up. ¡°Yeah, Site Foreman Reggie Dord. What¡¯s going on? I got permits!¡±


    ¡°We got a report that this site was used in a kidnappingst night. That at least three people may have died in the copse of a room in the basement,¡± Harmon said.


    ¡°Last night?!? Did they use explosives?¡± Reggie asked.


    ¡°No. The witness indicated the room just fell apart and the floor fell in.¡± Harmon replied. ¡°You think it was explosives? Were there signs of an explosion?¡±


    ¡°Just fell apart?¡± the man snorted and gestured for them to follow. He grabbed three hardhats from the back of the truck. ¡°This is one of the weirdest jobs I¡¯ve ever been called in to do,¡± he said as he handed out the headgear. ¡°Watch your step.¡±


    He led them inside the building which was brightly lit with lights they¡¯d strung up. They crossed a wide empty space to the entrance to a stairwell. Harmon noted how clean the floor was. They descended to the basement and saw another pristine room. There was an opening in one wall which looked like it might have had a door at one time but it was gone now. Beyond the doorway they could see the floor to the room was mostly missing as was the ceiling.


    As for signs of explosives there were none. In fact, the walls were in good condition. No scorch marks, chipping, holes, or cracks that one might expect after an explosionrge enough to blow out a ceiling and floor.


    ¡°You guys do quick work!¡± Morris said.


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. It was like this when we got here. Someone cleaned this room, the room above, and the main floor leading out. Even the debris down in the pit was hosed down with a power steam washer. It was still a little steamy when I arrived.¡±


    They saw adder leading down into the rubble filled pit below the missing floor. In the far corner they saw an opening to a sewer.

 57

    There was a team working on welding in new rebar in ce to rebuild the floors.


    ¡°ording to the report, the floors just fell inst night. Wouldn¡¯t a safety inspector have to inspect the building and sign off on it before it could be fixed?¡± Hillsdale asked.


    ¡°I got the inspector¡¯s certificate. I wouldn¡¯t send my crew into an unsafe worksite.¡± Reggie insisted. ¡°The building is sound. It¡¯s built like a bunker! That¡¯s what makes this so weird! I have no idea how these two floors failed so spectacrly. The damage is so localized!¡±


    The cops looked themselves but aside from the obviously missing floors they could see no evidence of a st or shockwave.


    ¡°Who ordered the repairs?¡± Harmon asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d have to check the work order. It¡¯s in my truck. I think thepany was Ulysses something. The check came from a numberedpany and it was good. We were paid in full to do an expedited repair. Rece two damaged floors,¡± Reggie exined.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go look at that work order,¡± Harmon suggested.


    They made their way back outside and Reggie pulled the documents out of the cab of his truck. ¡°Yeah, here it is. Ulysses Global Investments.¡± He handed the work order to Detective Harmon who added the name and address into his notes.


    ¡°Are we ok to continue working here?¡± Reggie asked.


    ¡°Is there going to be ess to the debris at the bottom when you are done recing the floors?¡± Morris asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Morris looked at Harmon who nodded. He turned to the site foreman. ¡°The crime scene, if there is one, was professionally cleaned. We may send some people to look for evidence in the rubble but that¡¯s it. You can repair the floors.¡±


    With a nod to Reggie the detectives made their way back to their cars.


    ¡°Mob?¡± Hillsdale asked the others.


    ¡°Possible but it doesn¡¯t feel like their work. Everything is moving much too fast. Too efficient but there are too many loose ends. I don¡¯t buy the kidnapping victim¡¯s story about his escape. It¡¯s too clean,¡± Harmonined.


    ¡°Clean like the crime scene,¡± Morris growled and his partner nodded.


    ¡°We¡¯ll check out this ¡®Ulysses Global Investments¡¯ tomorrow and see what their connection is.¡± Harmon said.


    ¡°Hey, you guys keep me in the loop. I¡¯m curious to hear what actually went down here.¡± Hillsdale said.


    ¡°Sure Ken! Have a good night. Say hello to the missus for me,¡± Morris said bouncing his eyebrows at the other detective as he leered.


    ¡°Yeah, just you never mind my missus. She¡¯s too good for the likes of you, Morris!¡± Hillsdale barked at the man with a grin.


    They got into their cars and went their separate ways.


    As he drove back through the Hond tunnel to the ind Harmon brooded over the weird direction this case was now taking. He had a bad feeling about that. He nced over at his partner who was smiling out the window.


    No doubt thinking about Ken¡¯s wife. Lech.


    Stanley was relieved to hear from Cam in the morning that Mr. Zhou had been sessful in reaching the Fae Council and the Hidden Races Council and arranged for both sides to hold off until a meeting on Monday morning. So, Stanley had the weekend to dpress.


    He listened to and erased the messages in his voice mail. There wasn¡¯t anything he needed to do about them now. Felix would have reached Cam by now anyway.


    He spent the rest of the morning and afternoon connected to the office catching up on some work. Reviewing the backup logs and debugging the trend analysis software for Mr. Constantin soothed his nerves with their mundane nature.


    He yelped ¡®Eureka¡¯ when he finally tracked down the errant bit of code responsible for the bad math. He put the fix in ce and rpiled the application. Once it was in ce he sent a note to the leader of the Asset Management Team letting him know it was fixed.


    ncing at the clock he saw he had about an hour to get ready for Sandy¡¯s party so he took a nice hot shower, groomed, and dressed himself in something nice. A ck dress shirt and grey jeans.


    He took the wine from the fridge. He¡¯d put it in just before his shower as he¡¯d read that the proper temperature for red wine was in the low to mid-sixties Fahrenheit. The bottles went into the carrying bag and he slipped the DVD into one of the empty slots in the bag as well.


    After one final look at himself in the mirror he grabbed his keys and phone and moved to his front door. He peered through the peep hole to confirm the hall was empty as he still carried a little bit of anxiety. He let himself out of his condo and locked the door. He heard the rattle of keys and turned to see his nearest neighbor locking up after herself.


    In the nervous nce Stanley gave her, his heightened perception of her shed into his mind.


    Her skin was palest white. Her straight, jet ck hair curled in to touch the base of her long slim neck. Full sensual lips of deepest ruby and eyes so dark he swore they were all pupil. She had a slim nose and high cheekbones which made her eyes appearrger in her heart shaped face.


    She had to be at least 5¡ä 10¡å and she was very slim. The smart, tailored ck suit she was wearing just made her skin seem that much whiter. She had a red, open necked blouse under the jacket and the cuffs showed slightly beyond the jacket sleeves. This drew his attention to her hands which were slim and long fingered with long nails matching the color of her lips.


    He swallowed as she looked back at him. She seemed equally nervous so he forced a smile onto his lips. ¡°Hello.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± she replied quietly.


    ¡°I¡¯m Stanley.¡±


    ¡°Michelle.¡±


    ¡°I just moved in not that long ago. You¡¯re the first neighbor on this floor I¡¯ve met.


    ¡°I work nights. I should be going or I¡¯ll bete.¡± She nodded with a small smile and made her way to the elevator. Stanley joined her in waiting. They stepped inside and she pressed the ground floor button and he pressed 4. She nced at him then down at the bag of wine.


    He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m going to a friend¡¯s party.¡±


    Her eyes went wide as she looked at the number again. He realized there were probably few people from odd numbered floors interacting with the tenants of the even numbered floors. He sighed.


    ¡°Yeah, but their good people,¡± he said and she looked closer at him in surprise.


    The elevator stopped and he stepped off. ¡°Have a good night!¡± he said back to her and she nodded to him as the door closed.


    He hoped he hadn¡¯t offended his first neighbor.


    Making his way over to Sandy¡¯s door he nced at his phone. He was one minute early. He stopped outside the door and fidgeted.


    The door suddenly opened and Sandy was standing there with a surprised look on her face. ¡°Oh! Hi Stanley!¡± She nced down the hall.


    ¡°Hi Sandy!¡± he said. ¡°You look very nice!¡±


    She blushed and twirled her sun dress for him a little and they both grinned. ¡°Come in!¡± she said.


    He followed her in and pulled the DVD from the bag. ¡°I got the movie.¡±


    ¡°Ooo! It¡¯s one of my favorites!¡± Sandy gushed.


    He held the bag out. ¡°I brought more of that nice wine too. I chilled it.¡±


    ¡®Thank you, Stanley. Come have a seat.¡±


    They walked into the living room and sat next to each other on the couch.


    ¡°How are you feeling today?¡± she asked gently.


    ¡°Much better, thank you! I just stayed inside and worked on debugging a program for work and that was really rxing,¡± he said with a smile and she giggled. ¡°What?¡±


    She held up her hands and shook her head with a smile. ¡°If that¡¯s what rxes you, good for you!¡±


    The doorbell rang and Sandy jumped to her feet and went to answer it.


    Stanley got up as well and carried the bag of wine into the kitchen. He touched the bottles and felt they could use a little more time in the fridge.


    He was closing the fridge and heard a noise behind him. He turned to see a stranger dressed in a tan coat.


    ¡°AHHHH!¡± Stanley yelled and threw himself back against the far counter.


    The stranger also jumped in fright. ¡°FUCKIN HELL! GEEZUS, you fuckin¡¯ scared me! I almost dropped this!¡±


    Stanley¡¯s heart was pounding as he stared wide eyed at the courier holding a crate against his chest.


    ¡°It¡¯s fuckin¡¯ heavy! Where am I putting it?¡± the man growled.


    Sandy came around the corner to give Stanley a concerned look then spoke to the courier. ¡°Just put it on the counter there. Thank you.¡±


    The man set the heavy box on the counter and with a final re at Stanley he left.


    As Sandy went to lock up, Stanley turned to the sink and washed his hands. It gave him a chance to still their shaking.


    ¡°Stanley, are you alright?¡± Sandy said gently from the entrance to the small kitchen.


    ¡°I- I guess I¡¯m not as alright as I thought I was,¡± he said facing the sink.


    The phone rang and Sandy answered it, keeping her eyes on him. ¡°Hello?¡­ ok, I¡¯ll buzz you in.¡±


    She looked back at Stanley. ¡°The gangs arrived. Most of them anyway. Vanna and Gary went upstate this weekend for a little couple¡¯s getaway.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re together?¡± Stanley asked, struggling to get back to a calm state.


    Sandy smiled. ¡°Yes, they¡¯ve been kind of courting for a few years. They only recently decided to see if they could be a couple.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± Stanley said with a smile.


    The doorbell rang and Sandy went to open it. Stanley heard the happy voices of Tish, Dayshia and, of course, Roger.


    ¡°We bringa da fooda!¡± Roger boomed in a terrible Italian ent.


    They came around the corner and smiled at Stanley.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Stanley! My man! Looking sharp!¡± Roger said cheerfully and loudly. He had tworge insted bags in his hands which he proceeded to carry in and put on the counter.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Stanley replied with a smile. ¡°Something smells delicious!¡±


    ¡°Itsa spaghetti  bolognaise anda garlica breada!¡±


    ¡°Someone please stop him¡­ or hit him. Either is fine,¡± Tish groaned as she walked into the kitchen with two more bags. The small kitchen had reached capacity with three people so Stanley eased out to walk into the living room where Sandy was speaking quietly with Dayshia.


    ¡°We have sorbetto for dessert!¡± Roger cheered and Stanley grinned back at the man¡¯s enthusiasm.


    He turned back and found his face nted in Dayshia¡¯s bosom as she gave him a firm hug.

 58

    He blinked in surprise and his face flushed in embarrassment when she finally released him. ¡°What- what was that for?¡± he asked, flustered.


    ¡°We¡¯re just concerned about you,¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°Is someone going to address the elephant in the room?¡± Roger asked when he wandered into the living room with a serious expression on his face.


    Stanley looked at him with trepidation.


    Everyone else just waited.


    ¡°What¡¯s in the BOX!?!¡± Roger whined, pointing at the crate.


    It was Sandy¡¯s turn to blush. ¡°Never you mind. That¡¯s just for me. I¡¯ll open itter.¡±


    Roger moaned in frustration while Tish and Dayshia looked intrigued.


    Sandy waved her hands dismissively. ¡°Let¡¯s just get dinner served before it gets cold.¡±


    Stanley was quite content to let Sandy keep her secret as he had one of his own that he could never share.


    They got tes and served the spaghetti with a rich meat sauce. The garlic bread was hot and buttery and they went quiet for a while.


    Stanley brought the wine out of the fridge and Tish cheered when she saw he¡¯d brought more of the delicious red. A bottle was opened and they all had a ss. He thought it went really well with the bolognaise sauce. They made their way through two of the bottles before they finished dinner.


    The sorbetto was a cold and delicious way to end the meal.


    Once they felt stuffed they all took their customary positions in front of the set and sipped at another ss of wine from the third and final bottle while Sandy got the movie ying.


    Then it was all Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Stanley, in his tipsy state, was mesmerized andpletely taken with the story. By the end a few tears rolled down his cheeks unnoticed by him but Sandy and Dayshia, cuddled in on either side of him, watched with a smile.


    When the credits rolled, Stanley looked to the others in awe. ¡°What a lovely story!¡± he gasped.


    Smiles were beamed at him and Roger popped to his feet as he nced at his watch.


    ¡°I hate to eat, watch a movie, and run but I told some buddies I¡¯d meet them forst call at a pub in my hood so I have to skedaddle! Sandy, as usual I had a lovely time¡­ even though you never opened the crate. You still have time! I¡¯ll even help!¡±


    ¡°Goodnight Roger!¡± Sandy said firmly.


    ¡°Fine! See if I ever disclose any secrets to you again!¡± he grumped.


    ¡°Is that a promise?¡± Sandy replied with a grin and got a dramatic look of anguish from the tall man. Sandy got up and gave Roger a hug as she followed him to the door. He waved goodbye to the others and was gone.


    When Sandy returned to the living room Dayshia and Tish were standing next to the crate.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to keep it a secret from us are you?¡± Dayshia said with a grin.


    Sandy¡¯s face flushed pink as she nced over at Stanley who was looking up at them from the couch.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Pitching her voice low she leaned towards her two girlfriends. ¡°It¡¯s about that recurring s-e-x dream I mentioned,¡± she whispered.


    ¡°Oh my god! Now I have to see it!¡± Dayshia gasped oblivious to Sandy¡¯s embarrassment.


    Tish¡¯s eyes were twinkling with excitement as well. Sandy tilted her head towards the living room and Dayshia snorted dismissively. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know the context. To him it¡¯ll just be art!¡±


    ¡°Should I leave?¡± Stanley said, picking up Sandy¡¯s embarrassment but not knowing the cause.


    ¡°NO! I mean no, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s just a sculpture I saw online and ordered. It caught my fancy,¡± she said hurriedly.


    Dayshia snorted as she¡¯d heard about the dreams and knew it had caught her friends ¡®fancy¡¯ in a big way. She was dying to see this dream in three dimensions. She rushed into the kitchen and looked in the bottom drawer to get the screwdriver and a small hammer Sandy used to hang pictures. She held the tools up to Sandy.


    ¡°Fine!¡± Sandy said in exasperation, taking the tools from her grinning friend¡¯s hands.


    They braced the crate as she pried open one side of the box.


    Stanley was standing, watching the front of the crate slowly open as he sipped the remains of his wine. He was feeling a pleasant buzz and smiled at the excitement on their faces. The side panel suddenly fell away and packing peanuts poured out of the box. There, inside, standing 24¡å tall, was a replica of him.


    In Satyr form.


    Stanley¡¯sst swallow went down the wrong pipe then up his nose as he gasped and went into a coughing fit. Tish immediately came to his aid with a bunch of napkins and guided him to the washroom. He went inside and closed the door. He did his best to clear the wine from his lungs and nose. He managed to miss getting wine on his clothes so he looked at his bleary eyes in the mirror and pulled his shoulders back. Showtime.


    Exiting the bathroom, he saw three different expressions from three different women. Tish just smiled as she looked amused. Dayshia¡¯s expression was thoughtful as if she was trying to determine why he¡¯d reacted as he had.


    It was Sandy¡¯s expression that gave him pause. She looked¡­ hurt. Defensive. He wasn¡¯t sure where that wasing from.


    ¡°My apologies, I swallowed the wine down the ol¡¯ windpipe,¡± he said apologetically. He made his way back to the front of the crate and saw they¡¯d brushed away the rest of the packing material. The statue was fully on disy including the oversized penis in full erection.


    ¡°What is it?¡± he asked as it seemed like a safe way to start.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Faun,¡± Sandy said, still a little defensive.


    ¡°Satyr?¡± Stanley blurted, unconsciously correcting her then bit his tongue.


    ¡°Two names for the same thing, I think. One¡¯s Greek and one¡¯s from the Romans,¡± Tish replied as she admired the sculpture.


    Stanley made a show of looking around at the other art in the room. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were interested in ancient myths?¡± he said with a voice he was sure sounded wobbly and thin. Thankfully they either didn¡¯t notice or put it down to his earlier coughing fit as they all turned their eyes back the sculpture.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s lovely!¡± Tish said.


    ¡°He¡¯s very¡­ excited,¡± Dayshia grinned.


    Sandy looked unhappy or dissatisfied. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ right.¡±


    ¡°Oversized for sure,¡± Dayshia agreed.


    Stanley was looking at the sculpture and the hair on the back of his neck was rising. He was seeing where the artist got it right¡­ and wrong. It was a little mesmerizing.


    ¡°No, the horns. He got them wrong. They shouldn¡¯t be short and pointy like that. They should be like¡­ like¡­¡± Sandy struggled.


    ¡°Ram horns,¡± Stanley muttered in a daze and three sets of eyes turned to lock on him.


    Sandy took three quick steps and grabbed his arms as her eyes searched his. ¡°YES! Yes, that¡¯s it! Have you seen it too?¡±


    Stanley blinked at her, cursing inwardly. ¡°Seen it? It¡¯s a myth! They don¡¯t really exist!¡± he babbled.


    ¡°I know that! I know! I mean, where did you see a faun with the ram horns? I¡¯ve been seeing him in my dreams almost every night for over a week! I need to know where I saw him originally!¡± she gasped as she clung to him fiercely.


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t- I can¡¯t recall,¡± he stammered under her intense stare.


    Her frustration boiled up and she growled as she spun quickly to stare at the statue. Her long hair swung up and hovered like a slow-motion blonde cloud. Tish and Dayshia stared with wide eyes as the nimbus floated behind their friend¡¯s head. Wanting to hide its odd behavior Stanley instinctively reached his right hand deep into the mass of floating hair as her friends yelped and grabbed his arms to stop him from touching what must be a huge static charge.


    Instead of a snap, crackle, pop, or any other violent effect, the hair quickly coiled itself around his arm. A wave of delicious sparks shot up his arm and chased through every nerve. His head snapped back, his eyes closed, and his mouth dropped open as his face flushed.


    Facing away, Sandy sucked in a quick breath and moaned as intense tingles cascaded from her scalp down through her body right to her toes. The image of the Satyr from her memory surged into her mind and she gasped as she could almost feel his breath on her neck.


    Tish and Dayshia were caught in the feedback from Stanley and both felt their bodies sh through an exquisite bliss.


    Sated, Sandy¡¯s hair rxed and slid away from Stanley¡¯s arm, breaking the connection.


    ¡°Oh¡­ oh my¡­ god! What was that?¡± Tish sighed happily as the residual tingles faded slowly. She dropped her grip on Stanley¡¯s arm and rubbed at her tingling nose.


    Dayshia pulled her hand back quickly from his other arm and looked back and forth between Sandy and Stanley in confusion. An image had shed in her mind and she was having trouble figuring out where it came from. She turned her head to examine the statue once more. She froze when she realized how much it didn¡¯t match the picture in her mind. She saw the essential wrongness of it.


    Stanley was wobbling on his feet. He rubbed at his face with his hands then looked down to see he was tenting his pants badly. ncing at the others and catching Dayshia¡¯s troubled look he discretely lowered his hands to cover himself.


    ¡°You felt that too, Stanley?¡± Tish purred. She¡¯d seen the evidence.


    Sandy turned to face him and saw his cheeks had gone bright pink.


    ¡°I- I think I¡¯ll head home now. I had a lovely time tonight,¡± he said with a rough voice.


    ¡°Are you sure you can¡¯t stay a little longer?¡± Sandy asked and bit her lip.


    The sight of that went straight to Stanley¡¯s cock so he shook his head and eased around the three women. They followed him to the door. When he turned to say goodnight, Tish stepped up and took his face between her hands and kissed him. She was a great kisser. She released him and he had to brace himself against the wall.

 59

    ¡°Good night, Stanley,¡± Tish said sweetly and he nodded in a daze.


    Dayshia¡¯s kiss caught himpletely by surprise as it was so quick and intense then she was disappearing down the hall to the living room. He turned back to the door and into a deep and sensual kiss from Sandy. God! She felt, and tasted, amazing!


    As the kiss parted, a lock of her hair reached forward to stroke across his lips. Sandy didn¡¯t even appear aware of this as she was looking him in the eye with a smile.


    Then she stepped back, closing the door and he was out in the hall. He made his way to the elevator and up to his floor. He let himself in and locked up. He had to lean back against the door to catch his breath.


    He wasn¡¯t at all sure what had just happened¡­ but his body sure liked it. He stripped off his clothes and got ready for bed.


    But sleep wasn¡¯t quick to im him tonight.


    Back in Sandy¡¯s condo the three women were busy grinning at each other.


    ¡°He¡¯s a pretty good kisser! A little gentle for my tastes,¡± Tish sighed.


    Something about thatment triggered a recollection for Dayshia. She looked to the statue again. ¡°Three fingers.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s head whipped around to stare at her friend. Her mouth dropped open in shock.


    ¡°Bigger muscles. Much bigger,¡± Tish sighed, looking at the art piece too, now.


    Sandy stared at her as well. ¡°Long brown hair,¡± she said quietly and her friends nodded, Tish with a dreamy smile and Dayshia with wide troubled eyes.


    ¡°And an absolutely monstrous cock!¡± Tish giggled.


    Dayshia had reached her limit. ¡°How the hell are we all seeing the same image!?! I know I¡¯ve never seen this¡­ Satyr¡­ Faun¡­ thing before in my life! Yet now it¡¯s front and center in my mind!¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Sandy asked.


    Dayshia shook her head. ¡°Your crazy hair got all charged up and Stanley put his hand right into it! I grabbed his arm-¡±


    ¡°I grabbed the other one!¡± Tish blurted with a grin.


    ¡°Next thing I knew I was¡­ feeling¡­ really good!¡±


    ¡°Me too!¡± Tish sighed.


    ¡°I felt incredible! My whole body did!¡± Sandy sighed. ¡°Stanley put his hand into my hair?¡± she asked quietly.


    Tish had a sexy smile on her face as she recalled Stanley¡¯s reaction. ¡°I think it felt really good for him too!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when I saw the¡­ Faun!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when I was remembering it!¡± Sandy said with wide eyes.


    Dayshia blinked at her friend. ¡°No¡­ no, that¡¯s not possible,¡± she said as she shook her head.


    ¡°Hey! Crazy shit happens!¡± Tish said with a shrug. ¡°Maybe something about that static charge let us all synchronize our minds for just a second. That¡¯s all the time it would take to share an image.¡± She raised her hands. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that¡¯s what did happen. I¡¯m just suggesting that maybe it could have happened that way.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in telepathy or any of that other mystical shit!¡± Dayshia growled.


    Tish held up her hands in surrender but smiled. ¡°I¡¯m just offering a potential exnation.¡±


    ¡°There has to be a more reasonable answer,¡± Dayshia insisted.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s head out and on the way we¡¯ll try toe up with answers your silly rational mind will ept,¡± Tish said with a grin. She gave Sandy a hug as did Dayshia and they headed home.


    Sandy tidied up the packing peanuts and realized she¡¯d be sending the sculpture back. The differences between it and the image of the Faun in her memory were too annoying to let her keep it.


    She¡¯d send it back in the morning.


    As she prepared for bed she thought about that amazing feeling she had when Stanley touched her hair. A new wave of tingles, gentle this time, trickled from her scalp to her toes as she smiled and hugged herself. She twirled a lock of her hair around a finger as sheid back on her pillow. She had warm thoughts of Stanley as she recalled their kiss tonight. He seemed pretty tipsy. She wondered if he¡¯d remember in the morning. She doubted she¡¯d ever forget. Tish was right. He was a good kisser!


    Detective Harmon scowled at the polished concrete floors. He¡¯d spent all of his Saturday trying to get an address for this business and then most of his Sunday trying to reach the super of the building to get him inside when he discovered the business seemed to be shut down.


    ¡°Geezus! I wish my ce was this fucking clean!¡± Morris growled.


    The building super looked between the two angry detectives. ¡°Is there a problem with how clean it is? The previous tenant moved out and removed the leasehold improvements they made as per their leasing agreement.¡±


    ¡°Do they normally scrub and polish the concrete?¡± Morris asked.


    ¡°No¡­ never.¡±


    ¡°When did Ulysses Global Investments close up shop?¡± Harmon asked him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe¡­ ten days ago? I got a message from the owner saying he was breaking the lease. A few dayster I came by and found it like this. I wish all tenants were this good about cleaning up when they left,¡± the super said.


    ¡°Do you have an address for the owner?¡± Harmon sighed.


    ¡°Mr. Ulysses? No. The only address I had bounced his mail back to me. I always contacted him here but his checks always cleared at the bank,¡± the man responded.


    ¡°Geezus, the guy¡¯s name is Ulysses? Sounds like a tool.¡± Morris grumbled.


    ¡°Are all the floors like this?¡± Harmon asked.


    ¡°Thepany only used the ground floor, the second floor and the top floor though they rented the whole building,¡± the super exined. ¡°The other floors are as clean. Like I said, a good tenant.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± Harmon sighed. Another dead end. He wanted to go back to speak to their witness. See if the name Ulysses rang any bells with him. If that didn¡¯t work maybe he¡¯d let Morris get the truth from the little guy.


    He sighed as he knew he wouldn¡¯t really do that but he was starting to taste the rot in this case. It was turning his gut. This scrubbed clean building set his instincts off. They were telling him that, like the original scene of the kidnapping, someone died here.


    Someone was keeping secrets. He wondered exactly how much Mr. Garin knew.


    Stanley rxed back against his sofa after handing Marisa a cup of tea. She¡¯d brought him some dinner and they¡¯d enjoyed the meal.


    He¡¯d brought her up to speed on the events of Sandy¡¯s party, omitting the kissing, and she was wearing a concerned look on her face.


    ¡°The magic isn¡¯t fading,¡± she murmured quietly.


    ¡°What happens if she draws attention to the fact that her hair actually does have a mind of its own?¡± Stanley asked.


    Marisa¡¯s face showed her worry quite inly so he inferred something bad might befall his friend to silence her.


    ¡°Shit! How do I warn her to keep it quiet without giving anything away or making her want to know more? This is my fault!¡± Stanley eximed.


    ¡°It¡¯s more my fault than yours, Stanley.¡± Marisa said sadly.


    ¡°Then what are we going to do about it!¡± he asked.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t anything we can do about it. We aren¡¯t magic wielders. We can¡¯t take the magic away. Saying anything to her is just going to make matters worse for her. If she shows up on the Hidden Races Council¡¯s radar as a problem¡­ steps will be taken.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re not wielders maybe we could ask a wielder to nullify the effect on her hair for us!¡± he said excitedly.


    ¡°Who? Walter? You must have picked up on how he feels about Humans. The Fae? Not fans of Humanity either. Their solutions would involve violence of some kind,¡± she sighed.


    ¡°What about Baba? I could ask her!¡± he blurted.


    Marisa gave him a sad smile. ¡°Do you really believe she would make this kind of effort for a Human? How do you think she feels about Humanity?¡±


    Stanley recalled her expression when she told him his parents had been murdered by humans. She¡¯d been testing him but he didn¡¯t know for what.


    ¡°She¡¯s human-¡±


    ¡°She likely was¡­ once. A very long time ago. I don¡¯t believe she holds any connection to the race anymore,¡± Marisa said softly.


    Stanley surged to his feet in frustration. He needed to do something!


    Marisa leaned forward to catch his eye. ¡°There¡¯s also the matter that the magic which¡­ changed Sandy isn¡¯t the old magic. It¡¯s stronger. Feeling my connection to it I can feel how weak the old magic has be. I doubt the current wielders would be able to do anything to suppress or control it. Their solutions, again, would be more permanent.¡±


    ¡°Fuck! I hate all this secrecy!¡± he barked.


    ¡°You understand its importance though, right?¡± she asked cautiously.


    He sagged back to the couch. ¡°Yes,¡± he said in defeat. He was just one man. What could he do?


    There was a loud knock on the door. Marisa shared a look with Stanley. He rose to his feet. Marisa joined him as they walked to the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m not expecting anyone,¡± Stanley said quietly.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    He reached the door and looked through the peephole.


    ¡°It¡¯s the detectives!¡± Stanley said as he pulled the door open. The two men were not smiling.


    ¡°Mr. Garin. We have some additional questions,¡± one said as his partner was openly checking Marisa out. Stanley bristled until he felt her hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Come in officers,¡± she said, gently pulling Stanley back to the living room.


    They closed the door and followed them in.


    ¡°And you are?¡±


    Stanley recalled this one was Detective Harmon.


    ¡°I¡¯m Marisa Vimor.¡±


    The detectives¡¯ eyes locked on her. ¡°Vimor of VRL¡¯s Vimor?¡±


    ¡°My aunt, Cam Vimor, is the CIO. I¡¯m Stanley¡¯s Executive Assistant,¡± she said with a smile.


    The other detective snorted and Stanley gave him a frown.


    ¡°We went to the address you gave us Mr. Garin but the site had been professionally cleaned. There was also already a crew repairing the damage. Paid for by ¡®Ulysses Global Investments¡¯.¡± The detective was watching Stanley¡¯s reaction


    ¡°You seem to know that name, Executive Ass-istant Vimor,¡± Detective Morris said with a greasy smile.

 60

    She threw him a bored look and turned to the other detective to answer. ¡°They¡¯re apetitor of VRL. I believe my aunt knew the president.¡±


    ¡°Used to be apetitor. Closed up shop. No forwarding address.¡± Harmon said with a scowl.


    Marisa didn¡¯t have to fake her surprise and Detective Harmon frowned as another lead seemed to be going cold.


    ¡°Any idea why this tool Ulysses would want to kidnap little ol¡¯ Stanley here?¡± Morris asked Marisa.


    The detective was getting under Stanley¡¯s skin. He scowled at Morris. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go ask him?¡±


    ¡°We tried. His office was cleaned out, right down to the cement floors and even those were scrubbed and polished. Anything you¡¯d like to tell us about that,¡± Morris growled at Stanley in return.


    Stanley just shook his head in confusion at the man. ¡°What the hell would I know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not buying this bullshit about the floor just falling in so you could miraculously escape! I wanna know what really happened in that basement! What secrets are you hiding in that big brain of yours?¡± Morris yelled getting right up in Stanley¡¯s face.


    Heart pounding and blood roaring in his ears as he shed back to Leaharin¡¯s rape, Stanley froze as he felt himself touching his ring with teeth bared in a snarl. He saw Marisa¡¯s wide frightened eyes and slowly pulled his hands apart as he allowed his face to rx. He nced towards Detective Harmon who was watching him closely with confusion in his eyes and tension evident in his stance.


    Taking slow, deep breaths Stanley turned from Detective Morris and sat on the sofa.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s time you both left. If you have any more questions please contact mywyer, Walter Zhou. Good evening, gentlemen,¡± Stanley said stiffly as tremors ran through his muscles.


    Morris looked like he wanted to continue but Harmon touched the back of his arm to move him towards the door.


    Marisa locked up behind them then rushed back to Stanley¡¯s side.


    ¡°Oh my god Stanley! I thought you were going to kill him!¡± she said quietly. She pulled him into a hug and they rocked together on the sofa while he struggled to get his equilibrium back.


    As they walked out the front door of the building Detective Morris rolled his stiff neck muscles. He had a lot of unspent adrenaline. He would have liked to beat the little punk down then taken his assistant¡¯s sweet ass for a ride¡­ if Harmon hadn¡¯t been there. He snorted in frustration and looked at the other man to catch a strange expression on his face.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Why do you have to y the bad cop so well?¡± Harmon sighed.


    ¡°Who says I was yin¡¯?¡± Morris grinned. He liked to pull the man¡¯s chain and dance on the edge of danger. He barked augh as he headed for the car and missed Harmon¡¯s grimace and nce back at the building.


    Detective Harmon knew Stanley Garin was a small man. He wasn¡¯t a big bruiser like Morris. But he couldn¡¯t shake the impression he¡¯d been a split second away from seeing his partner¡¯s death.


    ¡°It was a fascinating read.¡±


    The two representatives of the Fae council red at Walter across the expansive surface of the oak desk in thewyer¡¯s study. Upon its surfacey the leather-bound journal once owned by Leaharin. Next to it was the tablet PC.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°Are we to believe you have reviewed the encrypted contents of a private journal of the Queen¡¯s Inquisitor?¡± the Fae who¡¯d introduced himself as Ikehorn said quietly.


    ¡°This act alone has sealed your fate,¡± the other Fae, Kelshard, growled.


    ¡°Oh please. The encryption was child¡¯s y to one such as myself. As for my fate, I haven¡¯t invested in a life this long to take needless risks now. No, we have too much to gain by our mutual cooperation to consider my little trespass to be of any concern to either of us,¡± Walter chuckled.


    ¡°What could one such as yourself have to offer the Fae?¡± Ikehorn said in disdain to the old man across the desk.


    Walter smiled. ¡°A means to extinguish the pestilence of Humanity once and for all.¡±


    The Fae¡¯s expressions froze.


    ¡°I thought that might catch your attention. Leaharin was very troubled by the damage Humans are causing the world and the effects this is having on our link to the realm of magic, the source of our power. The ns he outlined in his journal have potential butck a decisiveness that would guarantee their elimination. They breed like vermin. It is necessary to expunge them all in one act.¡±


    ¡°There are billions of them. How could that many be¡­ expunged as you say without damaging the very environment we must preserve?¡± Ikehorn asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s where our cooperationes in,¡± Walter smiled wickedly. ¡°For decades, the Fae have been maintaining and priming a spell which currently epasses the. In itself it has great range but there is no payload. It achieves nothing. I can supply the payload that will act decisively to eliminate all Humans within the focal area of this spell. Every Human on the. Gone.¡±


    Ikehorn was disturbed that the Dragon was even aware of the spell but his partner leaned forward in interest. ¡°We¡¯re listening,¡± Kelshard smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s good but I¡¯m done talking to lowly underlings such as yourself. For the rest, I¡¯ll only speak to the Queen.¡± Walter leaned back with a satisfied smile.


    The Fae¡¯s expressions immediately went back to scowls.


    ¡°The Queen does not entertain idle boasts. What proof do we have of this payload?¡± Ikehorn sneered.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say the Queen¡¯s current object of desire is integral to the payload¡¯s delivery,¡± Walter offered.


    ¡°The Satyr?¡± Kelshard blurted.


    Walter nodded slowly.


    The Fae shared a troubled nce then Ikehorn pulled out his cell. ncing at the old man across from him he dialed and waited. He murmured into the phone when it connected and momentster he ced it face up on the desk.


    A circr disc of light formed above the cell roughly three feet in diameter. When the light focused Walter was facing Queen Mab.


    ¡°Greetings your Majesty. I am Walter Zhou,¡± he said in introduction.


    The Queen did not look happy. She was not used to being denied and did not like it. Being unable to get possession of the Satyr had put her into a terrible mood. Before her was one of the people obstructing her. ¡°Why am I speaking to the legal representative who is denying me what is rightfully mine before the scheduled meeting?¡± she said sharply. Ikehorn and Kelshard twitched.


    ¡°I asked to speak with you to discuss a matter that concerns us both greatly and how our cooperating will greatly benefit us both.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. What matter causes us both great concern?¡± she asked, holding his eyes with hers.


    ¡°The extinguishing of our link to the realm of magic.¡± This was a title he¡¯d read in the journal.


    Now he had her attention. ¡°You¡¯ve read my Leaharin¡¯s journal.¡± Death was hinted in her tone.


    ¡°The issue was already known to me. I have watched the state of our connection to the realm diminish for centuries. The journal¡¯s reference was merely a confirmation from an outside source,¡± Walter said calmly.


    She was quiet for a moment. ¡°And this cooperation. How would it benefit us both?¡±


    Walter smiled. ¡°By eliminating the cause. Completely. Once¡­ and for all.¡±


    ¡°The Humans. You propose a means to eliminate Humanity?¡± she said in an amused tone but there was no amusement in her eyes. ¡°I have heard such suggestions before and none have proven to be more than empty boasts. No one has enough power to do such a thing. Except the Humans themselves of course. But they¡¯d take the rest of us with them.¡± Her expression turned bitter.


    Walter leaned forward and lost his smile as well. ¡°You are correct. Alone, no one has the power tounch such a powerful spell but together it can be done.¡±


    ¡°Together?¡± she snorted delicately. ¡°Since when are Dragons team yers?¡± Mab said, raising one exquisite eyebrow in question.


    ¡°Indeed, we are solitary beings. However, like the Fae, Dragons are wielders. We too are dependent on ess to the realm of magic. The boundaries between here and there are closing to protect the other side from the rot Humanity has polluted this world with. We would both benefit from eradicating the cause. Reversing the damage can only begin when the source is dealt with.¡±


    The Queen was silent for a time as she pondered the being before her.


    ¡°What would our part be in this¡­ n,¡± she asked carefully.


    ¡°ess to the Fae¡¯s global ovey spell,¡± Walter stated.


    Her eyes red for a moment when he mentioned the spell. It was one of their greatest secrets. The Dragon knew too much but she wasn¡¯t sure if he knew its role in holding back the disease her people suffered from. She could not allow the spell to be harmed.


    Walter continued as if unaware of her sudden reaction. ¡°The Fae spell has the benefit of epassing the globe making it the perfect vector for a payload I am uniquely qualified to create and deliver.¡±


    ¡°This spell cannot be altered. It will not be disabled,¡± she said with finality.


    ¡°Neither is required. It needs to continue exactly as it is. Undisturbed and spanning the. My payload would merely use its focus as a location vector to iste its targets. The payload draws no energy from the ovey.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ payload. How can you know it will work?¡± Mab asked.


    ¡°The means for our deliverance was introduced to me just the other day. You¡¯ve met him too, I understand. A creature from long ago. Last of his kind.¡±


    ¡°The Satyr!¡±


    ¡°Yes. What you may not be aware of is his origin. A certain vic witch saved him as an infant from death during the ancient purge and raised him in present day as a Human. How she pulled him from that time to the present is still unknown. However, she used a very special method of disguising him. It worked so well, even he was unaware of his true nature.¡±


    Fae mor spells worked outwards so the subject remained aware of their true shape and dimensions. To be unaware of yourself was something the Fae had difficulty conceiving. Queen Mab included it seemed as she frowned at him.

 61

    ¡°I will not exin how it works. The witch obtained the ability to disguise him at the cost of one of my kind. This is a debt I will see her repay.¡±


    ¡°Now I know you are boasting. She is too powerful for you to kill,¡± the Queen smiled.


    ¡°I won¡¯t harm a hair on her head¡­ but I¡¯ll still have revenge for the life she took.¡± He waved his hands and frowned dismissively. ¡°But that is secondary to the main goal of ridding ourselves of the Humans. The witch made a fatal error when she took the ability from my kin to hide her pet Satyr. Because of her hubris, she¡¯s given me the means to destroy all of Humanity. With your help, of course.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t offered any proof that you can deliver what you say you can,¡± the Queen said with a frown but he saw she was intrigued.


    ¡°You are aware of Sympathetic magic?¡± he said to her.


    She tilted her head at him with a frown indicating she wasn¡¯t impressed with his stupid question.


    He nodded in apology. ¡°I¡¯m a master of its use. I¡¯m also the only one who can link a spell to the means the young Satyr uses to disguise himself. He is the perfect weapon to use against the Humans.¡±


    Queen Mab was leaping ahead with her understanding of what he was suggesting. ¡°You intend to kill the Satyr when he uses his method of disguising himself as a Human? How could this possibly be used in Sympathetic Magic? He¡¯s a Satyr.¡±


    ¡°He isn¡¯t disguised as a Human. He bes one.¡±


    Queen Mab stared at the old man smiling back at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a disguise,¡± she muttered in shock.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°If you design the spell to kill him as a symbol of Humanity you expect this to target every other Human within the focus area of the spell,¡± she said, working it out in her mind.


    ¡°A focus area defined by your existing globe spanning spell. That¡¯s the critical element. My payload spell must have ess to your spell. It must be integrated sufficiently to use its range. Otherwise we just kill a unique creature for no value at all.¡±


    ¡°That is a concern of mine as well. He is one of my subjects. He is unique and I want him. Giving him up is only conceivable if what you promise is actually possible and you can truly make it happen. Only under that singr circumstance would the loss of this precious specimen be regrettable but eptable. Rebuilding our world to a state before Humans poisoned it¡­ is far more desirable,¡± she said.


    ¡°It is possible and I can make it happen. I¡¯m the only one who can,¡± Walter said.


    ¡°You¡¯ll understand my concern considering the fact that you are currently betraying your client. The being you are legally obligated to protect. Oath¡¯s were taken to that effect, were they not?¡± Mab said with another raised eyebrow.


    Walter scowled. ¡°Stanley Garin has no legal standing in current society of the Hidden Races. When disguised, he is fully Human and would fall under the legal protection of the Human¡¯s court system. When in his true state, he is not from this time as Satyr¡¯s are not mentioned in the ords. He is, as you say, yours¡­ based on ancient precedent. My legal responsibility is transferred to his representative¡­ you.¡±


    ¡°Spoken like a truewyer,¡± Mab said with a smile that didn¡¯t reach her eyes but Walter nodded as if epting praise just the same.


    Queen Mab considered the old man before her then made a decision. ¡°I will speak to my people to determine if we can provide ess to just the focus area of our ovey spell. If they say this is possible then I will grant you ess to it. When will you be ready?¡±


    ¡°Our best and maybe only opportunity will be during today¡¯s meeting. I can produce the payload in time. Could your people be ready?¡± he asked.


    Her eyes red with anger. ¡°You set too tight a deadline!¡±


    ¡°I will contact all parties and state I need more time to review the precedents in the ancientws. I will ask to postpone until the evening. That is the best I can do,¡± Walter offered.


    Queen Mab nodded, still frowning.


    ¡°I will send the request for rescheduling momentarily. To avoid suspicion, do not respond until an hour before the scheduled time,¡± he suggested.


    She nodded stiffly. ¡°Agreed. Until this evening.¡± The disc of light shed to darkness.


    Ikehorn retrieved his cell. ¡°What will happen to the Humans? Are we going to be left with billions of rotting corpses?¡± His partner Kelshard grimaced at the concept.


    ¡°Not at all. They will simply sh out of existence,¡± Walter said with a smile.


    ¡°All of them? At once?¡± Kelshard asked, failing to hide the awe in his voice.


    Walter nodded. ¡°Now, I have important work to do so if you don¡¯t mind.¡± He shoved the journal and tablet PC across the desk towards the Fae.


    The Fae scowled but got to their feet, picked up Leaharin¡¯s items, and made their way out of the house.


    Walter locked up behind them and set his wards. The home hummed quietly as the protection spells activated. Nothing was getting in now.


    He made his way down to the cavern in the basement and willed his body to expand back to his Dragon form in relief. Space unfolded and he stretched opened his wings. The tips brushed the walls. He allowed himself a moment of excited anticipation at the thought of being able to fly in the open skies again. Stealing his freedom to fly as he pleased was the cruelest crime Humanity was guilty of in his opinion.


    He went to his office and narrated a note requesting the postponement and sent it to all parties in the scheduled meeting. That sent away he moved to the center of the cavern to begin his preparation for building his spell. He had to be precise as this one was going to be his best work ever.


    He smiled as he thought of thanking Stanley for making this possible. It was his delivery of the reliquary that would give Walter the strength to create such a powerful spell.


    He plucked the ancient device from the silver tray and touched the runes on it in sequence. There was a click and the tiny apertures on the side of the device opened. Resting these against his skin he felt a prickly sensation as the matter within almost touched him. The reliquary didn¡¯t allow for actual contact as that would destroy the contents. Just being this close to the physical manifestation of the other side was enough to focus his connection to the realm. He could feel it like a cool spring breeze whispering across his wings and his eyes glowed brightly as the energy seeped into his bones.


    He remembered when he always felt like this when he was much younger. Before the Human¡¯s began to outstrip the resources of their habitat and befoul the air,nd and sea. It was time they were stopped.


    With the newfound rity and strength, he focused his mind on the task at hand. He had a spell to craft to set things right.


    Thanks to Stanley.


    *******


    Monday morning found Stanley standing in the new server room listening to the happy hum of the servers and switches. The new firewall was protecting them from the baddies out in the world. The new backup system was protecting their investment in their data. Thework was serving this data to the workstations at speeds never before seen in thispany¡¯s history. The users were happy and productive¡­ well, theirputers weren¡¯t holding them back. Stanley could attest to that, at least.


    He¡¯d done what he promised to do. VRL¡¯s technical debt was a thing of the past.


    Maintenance of the hardware and systems he¡¯d installed would take some of his time as he needed to keep on top of thetest threats and advancements.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Now he was turning his attention to the custom software VRL used to do trend analysis and asset ount management. While code spelunking in the software for Mr. Constantin he found areas which needed improvement so he was going to approach Cam about spending time on that.


    He left the server room and walked back to his office. Marisa looked up from her desk as he entered and she gave him a smile.


    ¡°Finished admiring your handiwork?¡± she said with a grin.


    He answered her smile with one of his own. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a good system. I¡¯m happy with it.¡± An unwee thought came to his mind and dimmed his smile. She picked up on his mood change immediately.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    He sighed as the thought wouldn¡¯t leave his head. ¡°If¡­ if I have to go with them-¡± He held up a hand to stop her protest. ¡°I¡¯ve written up instructions for maintaining the backups and the other systems. The firewall is custom so I don¡¯t have docs for that. Safer that way. It can be reced with any standard firewall hardware if necessary.¡± He rubbed his hands together nervously.


    Marisa got up from her chair and walked around her desk to give Stanley a hug. ¡°It won¡¯te to that. Mr. Zhou said he has a line on protecting you from them.¡±


    They heard a knock on the doorjamb and looked over to see Siobhan standing there with a little smile on her lips.


    ¡°Any chance I could get in on that hug?¡± she said.


    Stanley smiled at her and she rushed over to wrap her arms around him and squeeze.


    ¡°I just came by to do this and to say good luck this afternoon,¡± she said after she pulled back from him.


    ¡°It¡¯s been moved to tonight,¡± Marisa said with a pout.


    ¡°Oh! How are you feeling about that?¡± she asked Stanley with concern.


    ¡°Mixed feelings. It feels like a reprieve but it also prolongs the anxiety,¡± he said quietly.


    They froze in surprise when Mr. Duncan walked past the door with Detectives Harmon and Morris on their way to Cam¡¯s office.


    Stanley and Marisa shared a worried look.


    ¡°Who were those two?¡± Siobhan asked.


    ¡°Detectives investigating my abductionst Friday,¡± Stanley said absent mindedly.


    Siobhan shared a wide-eyed look with Marisa who shook her head to discourage further questioning at this time. Instead she leaned forward and kissed Stanley¡¯s cheek, surprising him.


    ¡°That¡¯s for luck!¡± Siobhan said and headed out with a smile at the two.


    ¡°Thanks Siobhan!¡± Stanley said as she slipped out the door.


    He went back to worrying and Marisa did as well. She hoped her conversation with her motherst night would help her mother deal with the two detectives.


    Cam rose from her desk to walk around it to shake the hands of the two men. Stepping out into the waiting room, Mr. Duncan closed the door behind himself after giving her a quick look.

 62

    She picked up from their scent, their touch, and looking deeply into their eyes that Detective Harmon was intelligent, stable, and healthy while his partner was a borderline psychopath with liver disease and a bad addiction to cocaine. She gestured to the chairs before her desk and walked back to hers. She felt their eyes on her ass but Harmon looked away while Morris struggled not to act on his impulse.


    Once they were seated she leaned forward slightly to trap their eyes in her cleavage andunched her first question.


    ¡°Gentlemen, how may VRL be of assistance to you today?¡±


    Harmon cleared his throat and began. ¡°We¡¯re investigating the abduction attempt on one of your employees, Stanley Garin.¡± He watched her reaction closely and all of the physical cues he¡¯d been expecting were present. She was worried about her employee, frightened that the abduction had even happened, and relieved that he¡¯d gotten away safe and sound.


    ¡°During our investigation, we discovered the scene of the crime had been cleaned professionally and was being repaired. These repairs were paid for nominally by apany you are acquainted with ording to your niece. Ulysses Global Investments.¡±


    Cam frowned. ¡°They went out of business weeks ago. I find it unlikely that they could be involved in this.¡±


    ¡°You were aware of thepany¡¯s dissolution?¡± Harmon asked.


    Cam was aware that Morris was staring at her tits rather tantly. As this kept him upied she ignored him, aside from pulling her shoulders back slightly to expose a little more of her chest. ¡°Yes, and it came as no surprise. Ulysses is a terrible businessman.¡±


    ¡°Why- why would he try to abduct Stanley?¡± Morris blurted, shifting on the chair to give his erection room in his pants.


    Cam looked at the Detective in surprise. ¡°You have evidence of Ulysses¡¯ involvement in the actual kidnapping?¡±


    From the scowl on Morris¡¯ face Cam knew the answer was no.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think so. There probably isn¡¯t any. He¡¯s not that bright. Of course, the kidnapping failed so that¡¯s very much his style,¡± she said shaking her head.


    ¡°That seems like a rather personal observation,¡± Harmon noted.


    ¡°Yes, well¡­ I had a brief rtionship with the man before I realized how useless he was. It was a long time ago. The only reason he started his little investment firm was to try to show me how wrong I was to dump him. Once more, he failed.¡±


    She could tell Detective Morris was bing agitated by her ball busting. So, he was likely a misogynist too. Wasn¡¯t he a delight! She ran a finger down the side of her neck and saw Detective Morris watching the fingertip descend. She could tell he was ripe for cracking. Any moment.


    Cam and Mr. Duncan had met at Sigrid¡¯sst night to discuss why the Fae had chosen to implicate Ulysses in the crime. The only reason they coulde up with was to focus attention back on VRL. They were breaking another Hidden Races rule. When dealing with the Human legal process never implicate another member of the Hidden Races. She would have to bring this to the Council¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Do you have an address for Ulysses? Does he have ast name?¡± Harmon asked.


    ¡°Sorry. No, I¡¯vepletely distanced myself from him so I have no knowledge of his whereabouts at all. And he always went by the one name,¡± Cam answered.


    ¡°Could he have grabbed Mr. Garin to force him to steal yourpany¡¯s digital assets or to hack in to simply destroy yourpany?¡± Harmon asked after ncing at his partner who just seemed fixated on the woman¡¯s chest.


    ¡°I could specte but I honestly don¡¯t have any real insight into what thoughts go through that man¡¯s little brain. I can tell you that Stanley designed our newwork to eliminate that kind of risk. All external ess is vetted by a rather ingenious firewall of his own design that immediately notifies our Security personnel should the behavior of iing requests fall outside of expected parameters.¡±


    ¡°Shit, this is a new level of bullshit! Every software developer adds in a back door for themselves!¡± Morris barked, venting his intense frustration.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Not Stanley,¡± she said with a satisfied smile. She could see the Detective was well beyond his endurance.


    ¡°Fuck this!¡±


    ¡°Morris!¡± Harmon barked as his partner suddenly stood up.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m done. This case is going nowhere because none of these people want to cooperate. They don¡¯t want to know who kidnapped the little shit. Fuck, they could all be in on it for all we know. I¡¯m done wasting my time. We haven¡¯t even proven a crime actually happened! All we have is that damn amateur video which could have been faked and the weak testimony from a few witnesses but none of it proves anything. There are cases out there that need our attention more than this one.¡± The big man headed for the door.


    Harmon looked at Cam in embarrassment and stood as well. ¡°Thank you for your time.¡±


    Cam stood and shook his hand across the desk. She scented him once more and smiled. He smelled very good.


    With a final nod, Harmon rushed out after his partner. He stopped and handed her assistant his business card.


    He caught up with Morris at the elevator. He took in the flushed expression and the almost manic look in his eye. Their escort, therge red bearded brute in a ck suit stood behind them in silence. The elevator arrived and they all got in.


    Harmon wanted to ask his partner what the fuck was wrong with him but he¡¯d have to wait until they were alone. It was an awkward ride to the lobby. As they made their way to the front door the Security officer finally spoke.


    ¡°Have a good afternoon, detectives.¡±


    Morris looked back at the smiling man. ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    Harmon saw the red head chuckle as Morris pushed his way outside.


    Once they were on the street heading back to the car it was Harmon¡¯s turn. ¡°What the fuck is wrong with you?¡±


    Morris stopped and took a deep breath. He turned to re at his partner. ¡°Why are we wasting time on this case?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our job! Crimes weremitted and we solve them! It¡¯s what we do, detective!¡± Harmon growled.


    ¡°What crime? There is nothing to this case! The shrimp gets grabbed but gets away! The scene is a demo zone but it¡¯s been professionally cleaned. Dead end. The name on the work order leads to an empty office building that¡¯s also been cleaned. Dead end. None of the people involved have anything to say. Even the so-called victim told us to fuck off! It¡¯s time to drop the case because THERE. IS. NO. CASE!¡± he finished with a shout.


    ¡°Tell me your gut doesn¡¯t tell you that people died in the crime scene! Even that office building gave off the vibe!¡± Harmon eximed.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter because there¡¯s no proof! And nobody cares! What the fuck is wrong with you that you can¡¯t see that!¡± Morris bellowed back. He red at his partner but could see he wasn¡¯t getting through to the Boy Scout. ¡°Fuck it! I need a drink. Maybe two.¡± He raised his hand and gged down a passing taxi.


    Harmon stared at Morris in surprise and frustration. He didn¡¯t stop him though. As the taxi pulled away he actually felt a little relieved. He still had a job to do. When he¡¯d stopped after leaving Ms. Vimor¡¯s office he¡¯d spotted a calendar entry on the executive assistant¡¯s screen while he distracted the man with the card. He hadn¡¯t been able to read much but he saw a 7PM meeting that said ¡¯45 Rockefeller¡¯ and ¡®Stanley¡¯.


    Detective Harmon intended to be there too.


    Stanley was doing his best to keep his breathing under control. He admitted to himself that he was riding the edge of panic and had been all the way uptown to Rockefeller Center. Apparently there was arge meeting room in a sub-sub-basement that was magically shielded from surveince and set aside exclusively for Hidden Races Council business. There he would be presented to the Council as well as representatives of the Fae Council. His secret would be out in the open¡­ well, notpletely.


    Their SUV stopped before the huge building and everyone but their driver exited out on the sidewalk. Stanley felt his feet carrying him away from the others and only the firm grip of Mr. Duncan¡¯s hand on his shoulder kept him from bursting into a sprint. He stopped and looked back at Roy and saw he was smiling at him. He forced himself to turn and follow Cam and Sigrid who were all giving him sympathetic smiles. Marisa wasn¡¯t looking his way but followed her mother, eyes on the ground.


    Roy¡¯s arm rested lightly over his shoulder, his big hand on Stanley¡¯s right. He took strength from that gentle support.


    Walter was waiting for them at the entrance to the building with a wide smile. Stanley couldn¡¯t help but see the Dragon¡¯s wide maw full of razor sharp teeth. He took nofort from thewyer¡¯s smile.


    They made their way inside and walked through the concourse to a service elevator which took them several floors down into the basement. Then it was a trek through nk hallways to a set of stairs that took them down once more. They exited into more nk hallways and after uncounted turns Stanley was looking at huge metal doors that wouldn¡¯t have looked out of ce in a bank¡¯s vault. Two men in dark grey suits stood on either side of the door. They stared hard at Stanley but after a few quiet words from Walter they nodded to thewyer and pulled the massively heavy doors open.


    The area beyond the doors was impossible to see clearly. It was like trying to see through rippling water. The group moved forward and passed through the barrier which tingled on Stanley¡¯s skin.

 63

    After a walk down a short hall he gasped as he took in the vastness of the space. They were¡­ outside!


    The sky above them was a crisp blue Stanley had never seen before. Birds chased each other and sang in the trees. The sun was just beginning its descent to Stanley¡¯s right but its warm light filled the area ahead.


    The air smelled wonderfully fresh and he picked up the delicate scent of the flowering bushes that encircled the round clearing they were approaching. Butterflies and bees flew from flower to flower. Behind the flowers the forest began.


    ¡°How?¡± Stanley gasped.


    ¡°It¡¯s a form of illusion. A shared memory. I¡¯ve been informed this is a present for you.¡± Walter said as he admired the flowers.


    ¡°For me?¡± he squeaked.


    ¡°This is a memory of the world as it was when you were born. It¡¯s a present from Queen Mab.¡± he said with another of those Dragon smiles.


    Stanley looked away from those teeth towards the people awaiting their approach. They were separated into two groups. Therger group on the right was made up of a variety of people. He saw a tall slim man in thick stic rimmed sses standing next to an older woman in a business suit. Next to them was a short but strong looking red bearded man with braids in his beard.


    Stanley blinked in surprise as he recognized his beautiful brte neighbor who was returning his surprised look. She looked away with a blush.


    There was also arge blond man who Stanley thought looked like a male version of Sigrid. He nced over at her and she smiled at him and shook her head slightly. She knew what he was seeing. He smiled in embarrassment.


    Turning his eyes to the left his gaze was trapped by eyes so green and so deep he forgot to breathe. Marisa touched his arm, breaking the trance, and he took a deep gasping breath as Queen Mab turned her eyes aside with a pleased smile on her lips.


    ¡°Shall we get started?¡± Walter asked.


    Detective Harmon cursed under his breath as he back tracked once more in the basement hallway. He¡¯d lost sight of his target when they got into the elevator but he¡¯d noted the floor they got off on and tracked them this far.


    When he¡¯d seen the big security agent stop the smaller man from escaping, he knew something was up. Something Mr. Garin wanted nothing to do with.


    But now, he was lost.


    He walked around a corner and almost bumped into a stunningly handsome man carrying a small cooler. The man looked at his frustrated expression and a wide smile appeared on his sensual lips.


    ¡°Lost?¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Harmon felt himself rxing in that smile and struggled to maintain his caution.


    ¡°Just a little turned around.¡± He shed his badge. ¡°Detective Harmon, NYPD.¡±


    The man¡¯s smile just got wider though the look in his eye was a little manic.


    ¡°Well met detective! I¡¯m Ulysses. I believe we were meant to meet here!¡±


    Harmon stared at Ulysses in surprise.


    ¡°I can help you find who you are seeking and help you get the answers you are after,¡± Ulysses said with a grin.


    ¡°How do you know I¡¯m looking for some-¡±


    ¡°Stanley Garin.¡±


    The detective paused again and looked closer at the man.


    ¡°He¡¯s at the center of everything. I¡¯vee to ask some questions of my own. Perhaps you will join me?¡± Ulysses asked and Harmon found himself nodding.


    Ulysses set off down the hall in the direction Harmon had juste from but he rushed after the man.


    As they reached the end Ulysses touched the wall and a door to a stairwell swung open. Ulysses looked back at him with an odd smile.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t see that, could you?¡±


    Harmon shook his head.


    Ulysses chuckled and descended with the detective following.


    They reached another basement level and more hallways but Ulysses never slowed. Then he came to an abrupt stop as they reached yet another corner.


    ¡°The guard dogs aren¡¯t going to appreciate seeing you down here so stay here until I deal with them,¡± the smiling man said quietly.


    ¡°Deal with them?¡± the detective asked.


    He lifted the cooler. ¡°Feed them something to help them sleep. Stay put!¡± Ulysses said as he strode around the corner boldly.


    Detective Harmon heard some low murmuring and the air pressure changed in the hall as if a window had opened. Then came roaring and the sound of the cooler splintering.


    Harmon peeked around the corner just as tworge men slumped to the floor.


    Ulysses gestured for him to hurry over but quietly.


    Harmon did but looked at the men nervously as their mouths were smeared with blood. Inside the door drew his attention as there was a rippling curtain of¡­ water? He had no time to investigate this as Ulysses grabbed his arm and dragged him inside, grinning merrily to himself.


    Then they stepped¡­ into the impossible.


    The big blond man had a surprisingly high pitched voice. At Walter¡¯s request, he began with introductions.


    ¡°My name is Isaac Nils. I¡¯m the Minister of Diplomatic Affairs. I¡¯ll be the arbitrator for tonight¡¯s meeting. Firstly, it is my great honor to introduce her royal highness, Queen Mab, ruler of the Fae.¡±


    Everyone bowed towards the Queen but she only had eyes for Stanley and he was beginning to sweat. Isaac introduced the two Fae agents with the Queen but Stanley missed their names due to the roaring in his ears.


    The arbitrator turned to introduce the Hidden Races Council members. The older woman in the tailored suit was Lise-Anne Hoek, Minister of Security. The tall,nky man with the sses was Clive Darrowess, Racial Affairs Minister. The man with the braided red beard was Rand von Deussel, Council Investigator in charge of the Eastern United States.


    Michelle Beaumont was a historian working for the Council. Stanley immediately had a million questions for her. She knew stuff! Once more she blushed under his excited and pleased look.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, I believe you mentioned you would like to make an opening remark?¡± Isaac said. Walter nodded and stepped forward to address the gathering.


    ¡°We are gathered here tonight to review a very delicate matter. Nothing less than the legal standing of an individual from a race long thought lost. In fact, we have learned that he is the only one of his kind. He came to the attention of the Fae council after a series of unfortunate mimunications.¡±


    Marisa had been trying to keep from looking at Stanley as even her muted seer sight was beginning to show her confusing and frightening shes around him she couldn¡¯t interpret.


    While she¡¯d averted her gaze from everyone on the way in, she looked sharply at Walter when he tantly minimized the Fae¡¯s horrid attacks. Her sight red to full power as she peered at the small man and saw his aura was filled with darkness, fire and death at a scale unimagined! There was such a finality to the images and hecked theyers of potential. He was on a single track and it only led to death. Her head spun from the horror. Sigrid managed to catch her as the strength in her legs gave out. Cam was immediately at her side.


    As Stanley turned to face Marisa, Walter seized the opportunity. He looked to the Queen. She nodded and whispered a word of power. Almost imperceptibly, the grass under Stanley¡¯s feet glowed as he was linked into the Fae¡¯s Global Ovey spell.


    Walter immediately stepped forward into the circle and gripped Stanley¡¯s right hand as he bound his payload spell to the small man with a few brief utterances. His use of the reliquary when creating the spell ensured its potency and he still felt the extra strength of his link coursing through him. He smiled as he felt his magic sink into the Dragon bone ring Stanley wore. He released Stanley¡¯s hand as the man snatched it back and shook it as if it stung. Walter hoped it did.


    ¡°What?¡± Stanley asked, having missed what Walter just said.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be expected to switch to show the Council your true form,¡± he uttered.


    Stanley looked at him in surprise then scowled. He was going to have to get naked before them? He angrily began taking off his clothes and tossing them aside as he looked back at Marisa who was only now opening her eyes from her faint.


    Marisa felt the urge to vomit but pushed it down deep as she felt her mother and Sigrid supporting her. Their energy was in tune with hers and they gave her strength. She opened her eyes and saw Stanley standing before her pulling his pants off and shucking off his underwear. His back was to the Fae and the Council Ministers, thest group watching with shock. She looked back to Stanley as he reached for his ring and her seer sight red once more.


    Death. One path. Death.


    Behind him, the spectre of death, unfurling Dragon wings and grinning madly.


    ¡°NOOOOO!!!¡± she screamed and tried to leap to her feet.


    Space bent around Stanley and a Satyr stood in his ce. Huge, powerful, and naked.


    ¡°NOOOOO!!!¡± Marisa wailed as she finally made it to her feet to fling herself against his chest. He wrapped his powerful arms around her and she dropped her mor.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he eximed.


    ¡°He cursed you! He¡¯s stolen your life!¡± she cried against his shoulder.


    ¡°WHAT? WHO?¡±

 64

    As she clung to his body her visions were sharpening. ¡°Walter! He¡¯s nning to kill you¡­ no¡­ EVERYONE! Oh my god! You¡¯re the trigger!¡±


    Thewyer¡¯s professional smile was wearing thin as he watched the young Subus disclosing his plot. His expression turned sour.


    Eyes turned in his direction. Lise-Anne stepped forward. ¡°We were told your seer abilities were untrainable.¡±


    Marisa was shaking in Stanley¡¯s arms but she faced the Minister of Security. ¡°I¡¯m untrainable by current seers because they aren¡¯t powerful enough to guide me.¡± Her eyes turned to Walter who stepped back as the young woman¡¯s eyes red bright white. ¡°I see you for the monster you are, bringer of death, you diseased-¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Walter roared and exploded upwards into his true form. He cast his wings wide and red down at the pitiful beings at his feet. ¡°It¡¯s toote for your whining. The spell is cast and primed. There is nothing you can do to keep young Stanley from fulfilling his true destiny.¡±


    Sigrid was suddenly glowing with an intense white light in her armor. ¡°And what destiny is that, foul creature.¡±


    ¡°The Death of Humanity,¡± the Dragon said with a wide smile.


    Ulysses walked down the short hall towards the gathering, still clinging to the arm of the detective. He looked back at the man and grinned at the stupid look of incredulity on the detective¡¯s face. He loved seeing how lost the man was.


    He pulled him next to the wall and they stopped partially hidden behind some bushes. It wasn¡¯t the best cover but nobody seemed to notice them.


    Ever since he¡¯d woken screaming in the night two days ago from a nightmare he couldn¡¯t remember, he¡¯d had a burning desire to confront the source of his current misery. Stanley Garin. The name resonated in his head. It drove him forward.


    And there he was. The little runt himself.


    He was next to Cam. Ulysses couldn¡¯t stop a whimper of fear from escaping his lips when he saw her. His eyes shot to the detective but the man was still too stunned to notice any sound he made. He looked back to the people standing in the clearing. The young woman was falling and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Magic was being used. Powerful magic. He saw the Queen¡¯s lips move to cause the grasses below Stanley¡¯s feet to glow faintly. Then the old man grabbed Stanley¡¯s hand and spoke words of another spell. Ulysses had no idea why this excited him so much. Something big was happening and he had no idea what it was except he had the weird sensation that it was exactly what was supposed to happen.


    When the young woman screamed, he felt a sudden sharp pain at the base of his skull, like a pin prick or an insect bite. He no longer felt the excitement of a moment ago and he couldn¡¯t understand why he was here at all. He didn¡¯t want to be. The pain at the back of his head got worse and worse and he felt himself getting weaker and weaker. What was happening?


    Harmon was lost. He¡¯d stepped through the looking ss and nothing made sense. He was in the subbasement of a skyscraper in Manhatten and he was in a room that looked like a forest clearing. The air was fresh and sweet with the scent of flowers and trees. Insects were flying around and the sky above was¡­ sky. Impossible sky!N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    He¡¯d long stopped paying attention to the nutcase who¡¯d brought him here. He was lost to his own thoughts.


    Looking at the group of people he spotted Stanley Garin in the midst of them. He saw both of the Vimor women, the security man from VRL, the three people from the hallway outside Stanley Garin¡¯s condo, and others.


    Stanley was stripping naked? The young woman was screaming something-


    Harmon felt his mind struggling to make sense of what his eyes were looking directly at. What happened to Stanley? What the hell was that? He nced back at Ulysses and screamed as he leapt away tond on his back, watching in horror.


    The husk of Ulysses hung from the lips of an old crone who was sucking him dry as she filled out. She spat the remains of the man from her lips and smiled at the detective.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time to make our dramatic entrance,¡± she cackled. She pointed forward and Harmon couldn¡¯t stop himself from standing and turning to face the group. When the old man transformed into a Dragon Harmon just shook his head as it couldn¡¯t be real. The Valkyrie¡¯s sudden brilliant presence pushed his mind a little further towards madness. The Dragon was saying Stanley was destined to destroy humanity?


    ¡°That¡¯s our cue. Let¡¯s join them, shall we?¡± the old woman said and Harmon found himself offering her his arm to support her as they walked forward.


    The others suddenly gasped as they became aware of Baba Yaga walking towards them supported by the arm of a Human.


    The Dragon hissed at the old woman but she paid it no attention as she was smiling at the Queen.


    ¡°Hello Mab.¡±


    ¡°Hello Witch,¡± the Queen said coldly.


    Baba Yaga looked to Stanley and the young Subus clinging to him. She snorted and winked at the girl.


    ¡°Hello boy.¡±


    ¡°Hello Baba.¡±


    The witch looked at the gathered people all staring back in shock and fear and she frowned. ¡°Do you think its polite to expect my Stanley to stand before you in his true state while you hide behind these feeble disguises?¡±


    Mr. Duncan was the first to drop his mor and stood before them in all his vicious glory.


    Cam dropped hers and nced to the detective who seemed to be suffering shock after shock to his mind. She grew worried for him.


    Sigrid allowed her armor and weapons to fade but kept her eyes on the Dragon who was moving uneasily, his eyes never leaving the witch. The hate in them was clear to see but she could tell he was plotting his next move. She would be ready for it.


    The Council Ministers were less willing to drop their mors and Baba flicked a hand towards them in annoyance, ripping their disguises away.


    Isaac¡¯s buff body was reced with a skinny, scale covered one with a fish head. Stanley blinked in surprise.


    Lise-Anne stood before them or rather hovered in ce on delicate translucent wings. Her fairy body was only six inches tall and she looked like a young girl. With a frustrated pout she allowed her body to expand in size until she was standing before them appearing as a 4¡ä tall child¡­ with wings.


    The tall man in sses was reced by a small man dressed entirely in brown. He was smaller in stature than Lise-Anne¡¯s expanded child.


    Rand¡¯s change was minimal. He was a dwarven warrior and the only real change was the appearance of his leather battle armor and the two axes strapped to his back. He snorted at the witch.


    Moaning in fear, Michelle tried to hide herself but in the circr clearing there was nowhere for her to go. Her transformation was the greatest. She was Humanoid from the tip of her scalp to her lower abdomen where her spider body began. While her Humanoid parts were covered in pale, almost white skin, the rest was covered in ck chitin armor. While the rest of her facial features were distinctly Human, her eyes wererge and ck with two additional, smaller eyes at her temples.


    ¡°Is there a need for such cruelty?¡± Queen Mab said to Baba Yaga.


    The witch fixed her old eyes on the frowning Queen. ¡°Cruel you say? Well, the Fae are experts in that aren¡¯t they! Attempting to mind rape the girl. Raping the mind of my Stanley!¡± she finished with a yell and the ground rumbled with her anger.


    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you protectyour Stanley?¡± Queen Mab asked sweetly, ignoring the other woman¡¯s rage.


    The witch snorted and fixed her eye on the Queen. ¡°Though we like to pretend otherwise, andarefar more aware than these children, we aren¡¯t omniscient, are we Mab. Besides, the boy learned a valuable lesson on the true nature of the Fae from that experience. As you know.¡±


    ¡°What about Mr. Zhou¡¯s cruelty! He¡¯s cursed Stanley!¡± Marisa cried out.


    The Dragon hissed at the young Subus but Sigrid stood between them with a spear of blindingly white light suddenly in her hand.


    The witch looked to Sigrid. ¡°Put away your toys, woman. The Wyrm isn¡¯t about to risk his death. He covets time more than any treasure to risk losing the rest of it.¡±


    ¡°Baba Yaga, please. Let me treat the Human,¡± Cam said, unable to take seeing the detective¡¯s distress any longer.


    The witch nced at the twitching Human and nodded with an annoyed frown to the Subus who slipped up to lead the man off to the side.


    Cam turned him away from the others and held his eyes with hers as she caressed his temples to sooth him into a receptive state. Then she kissed him, overwhelming his mind with bliss to nk his short-term memories or at least fog them. She felt him rx further until she lowered him to the ground to rest his head in herp. His mind was calm and resting. With luck he¡¯d put this down to a bad hallucination. Cam ran her fingers through his hair and he smiled in his sleep.


    Baba walked up to Stanley, picked up his shirt and handed it to him. She gave his face a pat. It was the gentlest she¡¯d ever touched him and he smiled at her as he tied the arms of his shirt around his waist to wear it like an apron.


    ¡°What did Walter do to me?¡± Stanley asked quietly.


    The witch turned to the Dragon and frowned at the crick in her neck she got from looking up at him. She pointed at the ground before her and the huge head was dragged down to thud against the dirt. He struggled for a bit then held still with fear in his eyes as he realized he reallywasoutssed by the old woman standing before him.


    ¡°Tell me Wyrm of this masterful curse you¡¯ve linked to the boy,¡± Baba said contemptuously.


    The Dragon¡¯s eyes red with hate once more. ¡°You made it possible! Your heinous crime of killing a Dragon to harvest the switching abilities for your pet.¡±


    Baba Yagaughed in his face and the rage built in the Dragon¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Stupid Wyrm! I didn¡¯t kill your kin for the ability. It was chained in a pit of its own filth, wings savagely cut from its back by its Human captors.¡± She nced at Stanley¡¯s face to ensure he heard yet another atrocity the Humans were guilty of. She turned her attention back to the Dragon. ¡°Can you imagine its misery? It wanted to die but its chains prevented even this escape. I bargained with it. Its form altering ability for the perception of an eternity of bliss before it expired. It most gratefully epted.¡±


    Stanley felt himself rx as once more he heard that his Baba was capable ofpassion and the ring he wore wasn¡¯t the product of murder.


    Walter was confused but still enraged. ¡°The Humans must still die!¡±


    ¡°Why does he keep saying that? What has he done to me?¡± Stanley asked.


    ¡°I believe the Wyrm would like you to use the ring once more tounch the cursed spell.¡± Baba said and saw the excitement re in the Dragon¡¯s eyes. ¡°Stanley, don¡¯t touch the ring,¡± she said and he nodded with wide eyes. Baba looked at his hand and smiled. ¡°A rather elegant Sympathetic Magic spell. I expected nothing less.¡±

 65

    ¡°What?¡± Stanley started, surprised by her words.


    She gave him an annoyed look then closed her eyes and moved her open hands over his body. She felt the tug of magic. Someone was attempting to unbind a spell from Stanley. She grinned widely when she opened her eyes once more and looked over to see a hint of frustration on Mab¡¯s face. Most would simply see a calm and impassive expression but Baba had centuries to learn her opponent¡¯s tells. Mab was furious.


    ¡°He told you it would be safe, didn¡¯t he, and your failsafe release just failed,¡± she cackled at the Queen.


    ring at her murderously, Mab neither confirmed nor denied her words. Baba just shook her head in amusement.


    She looked back at the young Subus. ¡°What does your seer sight see of the curse Stanley is bound to now?¡±


    Marisa closed her eyes and shook her head as she didn¡¯t want to see the death bound to him so tightly.


    ¡°Girl! Open your eyes and tell us.¡± Babamanded and Marisa gasped as she felt the weight of thepulsion settle on her. She looked at Stanley¡¯s worried expression, opened her sight and gasped. There were two paths! The finality of death was there still, sucking all of the light and warmth from the room until she moved her perception to the new path. There was a glimmer of warmth and the possibility of happiness there. It was still greatly overshadowed by the first but it was growing. Marisa mped down on her sight and moved her eyes to Baba gratefully.


    ¡°Speak only of the curse!¡± the witch said sternly.


    Marisa jumped and nodded obediently. ¡°It¡¯s linked to his ring. If he changes back to a Human, he dies. All Humans die.¡±


    Baba Yaga smiled and walked towards the Queen. ¡°Well, aside from Stanley¡¯s death which I would take very personally, the oue of the curse seems like a win for the Hidden Races, doesn¡¯t it? No more Humans. The Earth could be allowed to heal so the link to the realm of Magic would heal and reopen. Life would certainly be better for most of the Hidden Races. Not all, but certainly the Fae would benefit. But how could this spell on Stanley reach every Human on the?¡± she asked staring Mab right in the eye.


    ¡°Our Global Ovey spell,¡± the Queen ground out between her teeth.


    ¡°Yes, that. That would let the Dragon¡¯s spell find all Humans, every single one, and target them all at once,¡± Baba said, nodding thoughtfully.


    Stanley looked at his hand in fear. He tried to remove the ring but discovered it wouldn¡¯te off.


    ¡°It¡¯s permanently attached, boy. Bound to your own skeleton. I couldn¡¯t have it falling off, now could I?¡±


    ¡°Baba, take it away! Stop the spell!¡± he cried out.


    ¡°I can¡¯t. The Dragon¡¯s curse is very cleverly designed. It¡¯s embedded in the very material of the ring itself, which is bound to you.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what if I cut my finger off?¡± Stanley gasped out.


    Baba¡¯s eyebrows went up in surprise. She admired his strength to even contemte the act.


    ¡°The ring could still be turned as long as it is bound to part of you. The curse could beunched¡­ though the one who turned it would likely be killed due to proximity. Who would you trust to keep the finger? Before you ask, I won¡¯t take it.¡±


    Stanley looked at the people gathered around him. Some were sympathetic but others looked like they seriously wanted him to spin the ring. Especially the two Fae agents with the Queen.


    Baba saw their enthusiasm too. She turned to Stanley. ¡°Something else to note. The Fae¡¯s ovey spell is now permanently bound to you as the Queen has just discovered to her dismay. As we speak your magic is bing more and more interwoven with the Fae¡¯s spell, reworking it. By now, it¡¯s likely fully integrated.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Queen Mab eximed.


    Baba gave her an amused look. ¡°Oh yes, didn¡¯t the Wyrm tell you about that? The boy¡¯s not linked to the same realm of Magic as the rest of the Hidden Races. His Magic is wild, chaotic, and ipatible with the old Magic. It¡¯s far stronger and tends to bend the old Magic to its will.¡±


    ¡°That ovey is keeping my people alive as this world is poisoned by the Humans! The Fae protect the secret of all of the Hidden Races! Without us they would be exposed and the Humans will kill them all!¡± Queen Mab raged.


    Baba turned to Stanley. ¡°You have been given an awful power. If you spin the ring to return to your Human form you will die but you will also take all of the Human¡¯s on the with you. Do this only if you wish to save the from the Humans. Personally, I find them to be closer to a viral infection than a sentient race. Remember, the Humans took your parents from you. They exterminated your entire race as well as others. If you do this, you will protect the Hidden Races¡­ with the exception of those who are reliant on the Humans.¡± She looked over at Cam who was watching them with the Detective sleeping on herp.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Queen Mab snapped angrily. ¡°Now that he¡¯s bound to it, what effect will his death have on the Ovey Spell?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re finally catching on. I was starting to think you¡¯d lost your edge.¡± Baba grinned evilly at the Queen. ¡°Ask the people who maintain your precious spell.¡±


    Mab was staring daggers at the witch. The very air between them crackled with violent potential energy. Finally, she muttered something to her agent Kelshard and he quickly rushed from the room to make a call.


    ¡°While we wait for confirmation I have to decide what to do with this naughty Dragon.¡± Baba said turning back to Walter. He shot his wings forward to strike the witch but- she wasn¡¯t there. Freed of her control Walter sprung into the air and pped hard to get altitude. He would strike her with his fire from above.


    Sigrid felt a pat on her arm and looked to see the crone smiling up at her.


    ¡°He¡¯s all yours,¡± Baba said simply.


    The Valkyrie grinned broadly and leapt upwards. Her huge, brilliant wings snapped out to beat effortlessly to lift her higher in the sky. Her armor and weapons shone with a pure white light as she chased after the inky ck Dragon.


    Her heart soared with righteous joy. This was right. This needed to be done.


    ¡°WHAT¡­ THE¡­ FUCK!¡±N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    The remaining people in the clearing turned and looked back towards the hallway and saw an injured Fae being gripped around the neck and held against the chest of a Human in a rumpled brown suit.


    Morris was holding his gun out and was swinging it back and forth as he tried to grasp what he was seeing.


    A creepy old woman smiling at him.


    A fish man.


    A little girl with fluttering insect wings.


    A red bearded dwarf out of some nerd¡¯s wet dream.


    A huge red haired wolfman!


    FUCK ME! Was that a huge fuckin¡¯ spiderdy?


    Then he spotted Harmon lying down with his head on thep of a sexy woman¡­ thing! His partner had a smile on his face so maybe she fucked him unconscious?


    There was a second sex kitten hugging a horned freak with furry legs and hooves. The face though¡­ it looked fam- No.


    ¡°Stanley Garin?¡± he asked incredulously.


    ¡°Hi Detective Morris.¡± Stanley replied, keeping an eye on the swinging gun.


    ¡°Start- start talking!¡± Morris yelled at him.


    ¡°I have no idea where to begin. How could I possibly describe what you¡¯re seeing in terms that make sense to you? Shit, it doesn¡¯t make sense to me at times,¡± Stanley sighed and saw Morris was looking a little less freaked out. This was a good start.


    ¡°OK, how about I just start knocking off a few freaks and we¡¯ll see if the answers get easier.¡± His eyes were pulled to the spider and he aimed his gun at her. Shit! He hated spiders and this was a big one. It would be very satisfying to kill it.


    Stanley released the sexy chick and stepped between him and the spider holding up his hands. That pissed Morris off. He would have shot him but he wanted answers first.


    ¡°Please I¡¯ll give you a quick rundown of what¡¯s happening! Just please don¡¯t shoot anybody!¡± Stanley begged.


    Morris noticed the old bitch frowned when she heard Stanley. So, she didn¡¯t like hearing Stanley beg? Too fuckin¡¯ bad.


    ¡°Youst saw me in my human disguise. The big guy flying around up there is mywyer. He really hates humans so he fucked me over big time by putting a curse on my method of disguising myself. If I change now to be human again the curse will kill me and all humans.¡±


    Morris looked at him as Stanley waited. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying you¡¯re stuck looking like a freak?¡± Morris asked skeptically.


    ¡°A Satyr, yes.¡±


    ¡°A freak.¡± Morris growled.


    ¡°Ok, a freak,¡± Stanley said to keep him calm.


    The old woman frowned once more.


    ¡°What is your fuckin¡¯ problem, you old hag?¡± Morris growled. Then he spotted his prisoner moving his lips as if talking with someone. He smacked his gun against the man¡¯s temple. ¡°Did I fuckin¡¯ say you could talk?¡±


    He looked back at Stanley with a mad grin. ¡°You know, nothing you¡¯ve told me so far exinsshitso why don¡¯t you just go and change back into a human so we can have a nice sane conversation,¡± the detective suggested.


    Stanley blinked. Didn¡¯t the detective hear what he said? ¡°I- I can¡¯t change. It¡¯s like I told you. I change, I die, every human dies. You die.¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t be allowed to change back as that would kill him and he is keeping my people alive,¡± a seriously scary intense chick with a regal bearing said as she approached. Morris almost jumped out of his skin as he hadn¡¯t seen her before.


    The old woman looked at the approaching woman in surprise. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it seems the alterations to the global ovey is done but it¡¯s not failing. It¡¯s true that my people can no longer maintain it but the spell is continuing to work and, if anything, appears stronger. Thank you, witch. For the first time, your maniptions might have actually benefited us. Stanley has be even more important to us. The Fae must protect him at all cost.¡± The regal woman nced up and then to Stanley.

 66

    ¡°Stanley, take fourrge steps backwards now please,¡± she told him. He did, immediately, pulling Marisa with him. The old crone, grumbling under her breath stepped away as well.


    Morris was pissed off at how stuck up the intense bitch was as she stepped back as well. She was doing that whisper thing again and he felt his rage re. It was time to put a slug in someone¡¯s head. She looked like a perfect volunteer.


    Walter was bing exhausted. He was so out of practice and he was old. Even for one as long lived as his kind could be, he was old. The Valkyrie showed no signs of slowing or weakening. The skies they flew in were limited as they were merely a memory. He had to veer away from the edges as he felt them approaching and each time he did he felt the cursed woman gaining on him. In a straight flight, he might be faster than her but he didn¡¯t have the space.


    If he couldn¡¯t outfly her he would go on the offensive. He coiled his neck back to rapidly spit fireballs at her but she dodged and twisted through the stream of missiles then shot forward.


    Panicking, Walter sted a huge gout of fire then radically altered his vector while hidden by the cloud of fire. He felt his wings strain painfully. He wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off this move more than once but that¡¯s all he needed. He swung his tail in a wide sweep to hit her as she burst out of the mes right¡­ THERE!


    The heavy tail swung through the dissipating fireball to hit- nothing! Once more his muscles strained topensate for the efforts he was making. He twisted and tried to look in every direction as she wasn¡¯t hard to find with that obnoxious glowing. He sailed in a circle frantically looking for the Valkyrie but she was nowhere to be found. Could- could he have knocked her from the sky with the fireball? He scanned the clearing below but she was not there. She fell into the forest?


    His eyes locked on Baba and he forgot about the Valkyrie. He still had some of the extra power from his link. He shot downwards preparing to spit fire at the crone. If he could cause enough chaos he might have a chance of escaping this damn trap.


    Toote, he heard the high-pitched scream of wind ripped apart by the Valkyrie¡¯s wings as her attack came out of the sun. He wrenched his body badly as he twisted at thest second to put his ws between them but it was her spear that greeted him. The point drove through his chest and punched out the other side through his spine. He felt the moment his lower half lost sensation and his wings lost their coordination. He wasn¡¯t too far above the clearing but now he was in freefall.


    Morris swung the gun¡¯s muzzle back towards the snooty bitch giving orders. Fuck, he hated bossy chicks! This one needed to die. No one was going to talk to the cops about what happened down here so there was no need to resist his natural impulse.


    He grinned in anticipation then screamed in pain as the goon he had in a headlock bit down on his arm deeply. Blood spurted as sharp pointed teeth punctured a vein and Morris felt his left hand go numb as intense pain shot up his arm. His right arm was being pushed upwards, spoiling his aim at the woman. ncing up at his gun he just had time to see the sky filling with the body of the falling monster.


    He didn¡¯t have time for another scream.


    The Dragon¡¯s body mmed to the ground, crushing the detective and his hostage.


    Huge white wings beat the air as Sigrid settled down feather light on the chest of the huge beast. She took a grip on her spear and wrenched it from the wound, blood spurting from the hole as the pierced heart drained Walter¡¯s blood into his chest.


    The Dragon struggled to lift its head to look at the Valkyrie standing on him. He coughed lightly and blinked his zed eyes. ¡°You¡­ are just¡­ a puppet¡­ of the witch.¡±


    Sigrid smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t do this for her. I¡¯m taking your life for what you did to Stanley and Meixiu. What you¡¯ve done to him is beyond evil but we will see it undone. What you did to Meixiu? She was just a child! She told me. She told me the horrible, sick things you forced her to do. I do this for her¡­ this is HER VENGEANCE!¡± Sigrid bellowed as she drove the point of her spear into Walter¡¯s skull between his eyes and into his brain. There was just a quick sh of terror before the life drained from therge eyes. Sigrid kicked his snout as she yanked her spear free. She flicked the gore from the weapon then put it away. Leaping from his chest she sailed gracefully down to the ground and took a moment to give thanks.


    ¡°Put the lightshow away.¡±


    Sigrid nced over at the squinting crone then put away her armor, the clearing dimming significantly.


    ¡°Nicely done,¡± Baba said to the Valkyrie as she walked slowly past. She proceeded to climb up onto the Dragon¡¯s chest as the rest watched in surprise.


    The witch pulled somerge ornate scissors from the pocket of her apron and proceeded to cut her way into the Dragon¡¯s chest cavity. The sight of the old woman cutting her way inside the Dragon was horrifying as was the sound of bones breaking.


    They heard a triumphant cry from inside and the witch crawled back out of the steaming cavity clinging to arge circr ring of ck bone. She was covered in blood and bits of Dragon flesh. As she crawled back down to the ground however, the blood and flesh soaked into her clothes and skin so she was clean by the time her feet touched the ground.


    ¡°Stanley,e here! I have a new ring for you,¡±


    ¡°Are you mad?!? Absolutely not!¡± Queen Mab cried.


    Baba red at the Queen. ¡°You are partially responsible for spoiling his disguise so you have no say in how he protects himself from the Humans now.¡±


    ¡°Spoiling? The ring is a doomsday weapon!¡± Marisa eximed. ¡°You have to find a way to remove it or defuse it!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯thaveto do anything, girl!¡± the witch snapped.


    Stanley¡¯s mind was reeling. All he¡¯d wanted was to have a quiet life working with tech. Now he was being told he was a doomsday weapon. The device that made it possible for him to have that peaceful life was now the trigger to ending it all. He didn¡¯t want so much responsibility! It wasn¡¯t fair but¡­ since when had his life been fair. ¡°Baba, I don¡¯t want another ring.¡± he said.


    The witch turned her scowl on the Satyr. ¡°And how are you going to hide your true self from the Humans? They will kill you. You understand this?¡±


    ¡°Yes Baba, but to have two rings, one which just returns me to my human state and the other which kills me and every human-¡±


    ¡°And Fae,¡± Queen Mab insisted.


    Stanley blinked at her then nodded. ¡°The danger of spinning the wrong one would be too great.¡±


    ¡°Stupid boy! I taught you left from right on my knee when you were just an infant!¡± Baba growled.


    He smiled. ¡°And I will always love you for your lessons, for saving me, and for raising me to be the man I am today. You¡¯ll always be my Baba.¡±


    She stared at him then made a frustrated snort as she stuffed the bone ring into her apron pocket. ¡°I¡¯m keeping this for when youe to your senses.¡± Then she eyed him closely. ¡°How will you survive in the Human world?¡±


    ¡°There is no need. He wille with me and reside in luxury for the rest of his days,¡± Queen Mab said with a satisfied smile.


    ¡°Thank you, but no. A luxurious prison is still a prison,¡± Stanley said firmly, drawing a grin from the witch.


    ¡°We have to protect you! The fate of the Fae depends on it!¡± the Queen insisted.


    ¡°Taking my freedom is not the same as protecting me! I have a life! A really good one, I want to live it. I- I deserve to,¡± Stanley growled.


    Baba Yaga looked please and turned her eyes to the Queen expectantly.


    ¡°What?¡± Mab growled.


    ¡°How are you going to repay my Stanley for your betrayal and reward him for how he is healing the Fae?¡± she asked smugly. She was enjoying having the Fae Queen in her debt. Well, Stanley¡¯s debt.


    The Queen locked eyes with the witch and her jaw muscles jumped. She wanted so badly to kill her but the old woman was not so easily dispatched. A thought came to her. ¡°We will give him a mor,¡± Queen Mab insisted.


    Baba rolled her eyes at the Queen who stiffened at the insult. ¡°Did you not hear the point about Stanley¡¯s Magic being ipatible with the Fae?¡±


    Marisa switched back to her Human mor then paused it as Baba turned to her. ¡°It worked with me and I¡¯m linked to the new Magic now. Maybe it will work with Stanley?¡± she said timidly as the witch watched her with a menacing eye.


    ¡°How did this Fae manage against the new Magic?¡± the witch asked quietly.


    Marisa looked away. ¡°Not well.¡±


    ¡°That is not your concern, witch. To do this properly Stanley will need toe with me to my home- for a brief interval only!¡± she rified for Stanley who looked like he was about to protest.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°If he goes with you he will have an escort from the Hidden Races Council to ensure his timely return. After all, as he said, he does have a life,¡± Lise-Anne insisted.


    Showing uncharacteristic boldness Michelle moved closer to the group. ¡°His legal standing as a member of an independent race must be agreed upon before he leaves this room. This was the original and primary goal for this meeting, was it not?¡± The shy woman trembled slightly as she asserted herself.


    Queen Mab red at the Arachnid but under the scrutiny of all of the room¡¯s upants, especially Stanley, she begrudgingly nodded. ¡°Agreed.¡±


    Michelle pulled a scroll from a tube strapped to her thorax and quickly filled in the date and Stanley¡¯s race on the appropriate line, holding the document t between her front two legs. She looked to Stanley with a hopeful smile as she turned the document towards him.


    Stanley discovered he was feeling more rxed around Michelle now so he moved to her and took the pen from her hand to sign the document. She gave him another smile as she epted it back.


    The Arachnid looked to the Queen who stiffly moved forward and signed the document as well.

 67

    Lise-Anne and Rand added their signatures as witnesses and Michelle tucked the scroll back into the tube for safe keeping.


    ¡°How long will Stanley be in Irnd?¡± Lise-Anne asked.


    ¡°We must gather the most skilled Fae we have to build him a mor. It will take a week, two at most. I do not give up the lives of my people willingly. We will find a way to do this as safely as possible,¡± the Queen stated with finality.


    Stanley was collecting the rest of his dropped clothes into his arms and looked at her with trepidation. He didn¡¯t want anyone to die!


    ¡°Michelle, Rand. Would you please apany Stanley on this journey?¡± Lise-Anne asked. Rand nodded immediately but Michelle looked a little surprised to be asked. She finally nodded. She handed the scroll to the Security Minister who tucked it away. The fairy hesitated for just a moment then looked to Baba Yaga.


    ¡°There is still the outstanding question of how you rescued a Satyr from so far in the pas-¡± Lise-Anne began but stopped abruptly when the witch red at her with murder in her eyes.


    ¡°Baba?¡± Stanley said cautiously to defuse the situation. The old woman looked him in the eye, took a deep breath then snorted.


    ¡°I will not speak of this. Never ask again,¡± she said with cold finality.


    Queen Mab wasn¡¯t finished however. ¡°His horns!¡± she sighed with deep satisfaction.


    Baba¡¯s eyes shot to hers but she allowed a slight nod to the woman.


    The others obviously still had questions but clearly knew it was best not to ask.


    Lise-Anne, Clive, and Isaac nodded to the group, bowed to the Queen, activated their mor disguises and left with the scroll.


    ¡°There is still the matter of the Human interlopers. Well, the live one,¡± Mab said. ¡°The dead will be immted once we leave the chamber.¡±


    Baba went to Cam and knelt down beside the woman. She touched the detective¡¯s temple and a bump and bruise suddenly formed. ¡°He will have a mild concussion. Tell him you found him in the stairwell where he must have slipped and fallen. Tell him you were bringing Stanley to meet his family for the first time and he went to visit them.¡± She looked to Mr. Duncan. ¡°You! Furry one! Change back and carry this man back to the concourse.¡±


    Roy moved forward and lifted the detective gently in his arms.


    Seeing this as permission to re-engage their mor spells everyone who had one activated it and made their way out of the clearing towards the hallway.


    On their way, they noticed the shrivelled and dried husk of what might have once been a man. Ity discarded on the floor by the bushes. They shared uneasy nces. Obviously, this was the work of Baba Yaga as she was thest one in. They scurried past.


    Once everyone was out of the chamber the shame faced, groggy guards pushed the huge doors closed. Queen Mab ced her hand on the door and spoke the words of power. The memory inside the room copsed in on itself, squeezing tighter and tighter within a bubble of magic until the contents sh ignited. The temperature continued to climb until all matter in the bubble was converted into a ball of sma. This energy was moved into an adjoining facility where the power trickled back into the building¡¯s power grid to reduce their electric bill by the amount the hidden basement levels consumed.


    Cam, Marisa, and Sigrid were hesitant to leave Stanley but Baba pointed them towards the exit so they knew they likely didn¡¯t have much time before the detective woke. They quickly gave Stanley kisses then rushed away after Mr. Duncan.


    Before disappearing around the corner, Marisa looked back and opened her sight to him once more. She saw the bright path was much more present than it had been before. She knew he would have the path of death linked to him until they found a way to break the curse.


    Baba swatted Stanley¡¯s face to get his attention and he looked into her eyes. He could read her question there. He just nodded so she smiled and walked away.


    Stanley was left with Queen Mab, her remaining agent, Rand, and Michelle. He looked to the Queen. ¡°How am I going to get out of the building looking like this?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to a private underground parking lot in the adjoining building. Stay close and I¡¯ll shield you within my aura.¡±


    He nodded and she hooked her arm through his. They walked down a corridor leading in the opposite direction the others went.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have my passport!¡± Stanley eximed.


    The Queen smiled indulgently to him. ¡°No need to worry about that. I¡¯ll get us there.¡±


    He looked at her in surprise and she smiled gleefully.


    ¡°Stanley, we are going to have such a lovely time while you are visiting,¡± the Queen purred.


    He nced at Michelle and Rand and they gave him reassuring smiles. But they couldn¡¯t feel how good the Queen¡¯s body felt against his, sense how her perfume was making his head spin, or hear how her breathing was beginning to quicken.


    He was in trouble.


    Sandy dragged the squeaking grocery cart behind her cursing the greedy, sadistic bastards who designed them to fall apart so quickly.


    She shed back to the first conversation she¡¯d had with Stanley and her mood dipped closer to despair. She fought her grief back and blinked away the impending tears.


    It had been a little more than a month since he ¡®went to visit family overseas¡¯. Marisa had called her to let her know he¡¯d be away for a short time.


    Then, a weekter, the beauty had shown up on her doorstep. This time the message was he wasn¡¯ting back. There¡¯d been an ident-


    Sandy sucked back a gasp as her emotions threatened to get loose.


    The wheel of the cart chose that moment to break loose and roll off into the street to be crushed under the wheels of a bus.


    She stood on the sidewalk frozen by the sheer fucking mean spirit of fate.


    She tried one more step but a grocery cart with just one wheel is more of an anchor. She¡¯d loaded down on food as she wanted to cook for her friends as a way to lift her spirits.


    Fuck it!


    She kicked the remaining wheel until it broke free. Then she gripped the cart¡¯s handle and dragged the metal cage scraping along thest block to her building. She pulled the bags out of the broken cart at the front door and struggled to maneuver herself and the heavy, awkward bags inside.


    ¡°May I lend you a hand?¡±


    Sandy yelped and dropped one of her bags but a hand shot forward and caught it before it hit the floor.


    She remained frozen as therge man collected all of the bags from her numb hands. She couldn¡¯t help but stare at the stranger with the familiar features.


    He was at least 6¡ä with broad shoulders, strong arms, and big hands. Long, soft brown hair fell to his shoulders. His tailored shirt showed off his trim waist and the ck pants hinted at powerful legs.


    But it was his face that held her eyes, unable to look away. So familiar but¡­ different.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Stanley?¡± she squeaked quietly.


    The man shook his head sadly. ¡°Sorry, no. Henry. Stanley¡­ was my¡­ brother.¡±


    Sandy suddenly realized how ridiculous she sounded. This man¡­ this beautiful,rge man couldn¡¯t possibly be Stanley. But his brother? Yes, there was definitely a strong family resemnce.


    She realized she was standing in the doorway gaping at the man who was carrying all of her grocery bags effortlessly. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m so sorry! I¡¯m Sandy! I was-¡±


    ¡°A good friend of Stanley¡¯s. Yes, he told me. I hope¡­ we can be good friends too,¡± Henry said with a hopeful smile. His voice was simr to Stanley¡¯s but deeper.


    Sandy¡¯s face opened with a wide smile. She nodded and made her way to the elevators. They entered and she pressed 4.


    ¡°Are¡­ are you here to collect his things?¡± Sandy said with just a little pain in her voice. Henry¡¯s face showed sympathetic pain of his own.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m moving in. I¡¯ve been offered Stanley¡¯s condo and position with VRL.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Sandy eximed with wide eyes. ¡°Are you good with technology too!¡±


    Henry smiled self-consciously and looked away shyly. ¡°VRL thinks so,¡± he said.


    Sandy¡¯s breathe caught in her chest at the gesture. The man shared so much with Stanley! Her heart ached at his loss but this meeting felt like he was still somehow with her, watching over her.


    She opened her door and he followed her inside to ce the groceries on her kitchen counter.


    He looked around with a smile. ¡°You have a lovely ce!¡±


    She blushed. ¡°Thank you!¡± She had an idea. ¡°Would you like to join me and my friends for dinner tonight? It¡¯s just a casual get together. They¡¯d love to meet you!¡±


    Henry seemed to think about it for a moment then nodded with a smile. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡±


    Sandy smiled widely then blushed at his obvious look of delight. ¡°Come by at 7pm?¡± she asked looking up at him through her bangs.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be here,¡± he replied with another smile.


    She followed him back to her front door. When he turned to say goodbye she spontaneously leaned forward and gathered him into a hug.


    Henry froze for just a moment then he was hugging her too in his strong arms.


    She swooned just a little at the feel of his big, hard muscles.


    Blonde hair swept forward to envelop and caress Henry¡¯s head.


    Sandy giggled as she pulled back to collect her unruly hair. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about that! I don¡¯t know what gets into my hair sometimes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem,¡± he chuckled. He caught a lock of the shining hair in his fingers and pressed it against his lips with a gentle smile.


    Sandy gasped as pleasure cascaded through her body from her scalp to her toes. Her mind shed back to Stanley¡¯s kiss and the memory warmed her heart.


    ¡°Until tonight,¡± he said as he slipped out the door.


    Sandy leaned back against her door and hugged herself as she bathed in the afterglow of his kiss.


    She suddenly recalled who else, or rather what else, Henry reminded her of!


    Grinning madly, she couldn¡¯t wait for her friends to meet her new neighbor!

 68

    Henry fought off a strong sensation of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as he sat on the couch between the two beautifuldies. He knew this was a recollection of thest movie night he¡¯d attended in Sandy¡¯s condo.


    Sitting between the bubbly pale skinned blond with her wide, delighted smile and the pr opposite of her BFF Dayshia whose expression was as dark as herplexion, Henry smiled tentatively at Tish who was facing him on the plush chair to his left. She was rather obviously undressing him with her eyes.


    On the love seat across from Tish, Roger was making no effort to hide his suspicion.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying you¡¯re Stanley¡¯s brother. A brother he didn¡¯t even know he had up until just before thisfamily reunionin, of all ces, Irnd! You don¡¯t even have an ent- and neither did Stanley!¡± the tall male nurse eximed incredulously.


    ¡°Roger!¡± Sandy eximed in outrage. The man drew an angry re from Tish as well, but Dayshia barely nced his way.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s ok. I get it. It was weird for me too!¡± Henry said reasonably.


    He¡¯d only returned from Irnd a few days earlier to begin the next phase of his life as a new man.


    Henry Gable. Stanley Garin was, for all intents and purposes, dead and had to stay that way.


    He could no longer be Stanley unless he wished tomit suicide and take all of Humanity with him.


    So, Henry, it was.


    His new name even came with a backstory. He was the adopted son of thete Evan and Marie Gable of Aurora, Illinois. This information would be avable should anyone do a hunt for it. Paper records too!


    His visit to the emerald isle hadn¡¯t been a family reunion at all. He¡¯d gone there on the invitation of Mab, Queen of the Fae. With his ability to disguise his true nature corrupted by a deadly curse, he had to turn to the Fae for a new means to create a normal human visage. The Fae were masters at creating and bonding magical disguises to the Hidden Races, a collection of unique, magic-infused peoples. He¡¯d only recently discovered he was a member of this mysterious group of beings.


    While he¡¯d been raised as a normal, if small, human being, to his dismay, he¡¯d discovered that this was just an illusion. The night his magical protection temporarily failed he reverted to his true self, a Satyr, plucked from an ancient era in Earth¡¯s past by the witch Baba Yaga. He¡¯d also discovered that humans wiped out ¡®his people¡¯ millennia ago making him the only one of his kind.


    That¡¯s not to say he was alone. He was a member of the Hidden Races. He had thepany of the Witches, Fae, Subi, Valkyries, Lycans, Dragons, Kitsune, Vampires, Goblins, Ogres, Brownies, Gnomes, and even spider people- no, they were called Arachnids. And there were even more races he wasn¡¯t aware of yet. Magical, mythical creatures really and truly existed but they had to hide amongst the far more proliferate human race or face extinction at the hands of the humans.


    Unlike the magic mor spells used by his new friends, his original disguise was bonded to and activated by a dragon bone ring. Unlike Fae mors, the ring¡¯s magic made him not just look like a human; he became one while it was active. The ring recharged as he slept in Satyr form. He¡¯d finallye to ept this and had been slowly learning the limitations this duality imposed on his life and how he interacted with others, especially true humans. People who could never know his secret.


    Then he was used as a pawn in a cruel and evil n.


    A vengeful dragon ced a powerfully crafted curse upon the ring. Then, with the help of Queen Mab, ruler of the Fae, the curse was linked to her globe-spanning, area effect spell, expanding the curse¡¯s deadly reach. If the ring were ever used to activate his human disguise, Henry and every human on Earth would vanishpletely, leaving the to the Hidden Races.


    The curse left Henry unable to hide his existence as a Satyr.


    The curse¡¯s existence also had to remain a secret as some of the Hidden Races might attempt topel him to use it to rid the Earth of the human gue. When Queen Mab discovered that her -globe-spanning spell was now irrevocably linked to Henry¡¯s life, she was outraged. The spell¡¯s main function held an ancient Fae disease at bay and kept them alive. Henry needed to remain alive for the spell to remain active!


    To resolve the loss of his disguise, the Queen invited him to Irnd, promising him an imprable mor and she¡¯d spent the first week summoning her most seasoned mages, wizards, or whatever their name. Magic and its use were still strange to him.


    The attempt to bond a Fae mor to Henry¡¯s core was thergest challenge the Fae had faced in millennia. His link to the realm of Wild Magic was much, much stronger than a typical connection, though he had no idea why, nor could he even feel it. It justwas. The Wild Magic was much stronger than the old realm magic too, making the task that much more difficult and dangerous.


    Queen Mab had insisted her people use extreme caution and to pull out at the first sign of losing themselves in the powerful, and ipatible, energies. The gathering of magical talent had been significant.


    In the end, it was the sacrifice of one old Fae master who discovered the trick was to give his skills over to the very raw energy they¡¯d fought to control and to let the Wild Magic work itself into the spell he shaped. He¡¯d shielded the others from the brunt of the magic as he showed them the way until he sumbed to the torrent. The others, working in unison finished his work then escaped from Henry¡¯s inner being, only slightly crispy from the effort.


    In the end, Henry had a mor, unlike anything the Fae had ever created. It handled the basics, allowing him to hide his Satyr form behind the image of a human equivalent.


    However, the serious and diminutive Stanley everyone knew was no more. In his ce was a 6¡ä 2¡å man with broad shoulders, strong arms, and big hands. Long, soft brown hair now fell in waves to his shoulders. He had a muscr torso which led to a trim waist and powerful legs. His disguise more closely resembled his true size and shape while hiding a few significant features of his Satyr form. Gone was his furry lower half, goat legs, big ck cloven hooves, his ram horns, and his pointy, drooping furry ears. Instead, he looked like a human. A big one.


    Best of all, his hands were human, able to perform the intricate work of server assembly, and most importantly, and using a keyboard.


    On top of this basic mor functionality, he discovered it had unexinable physical and metaphysical attributes. Where a Fae mor was visual trickery affecting the perception of those around the wearer including the perception of human technology, Henry¡¯s did that and more. It seemed to twist thews of physics, and he hadn¡¯tpletely grasped the extent of its boundaries.


    Those who used a Fae mor remained partially aware of the separation of their true physical attributes and those of the image they hid behind.


    From insidehismor, Henry perceived himself as the image he portrayed. He felt the four human fingers and thumb on each human looking hand even though he knew he only had three much thicker Satyr fingers and a thumb on each hand. He couldn¡¯t feel the weight of his horns and his ears were back to being mostly immobile.


    Oddly, his strength when the mor was active was that of the human disyed. He only had ess to his true levels when he dropped the mor.


    Best of all, due to the strength of the magic feeding his disguise, Henry didn¡¯t have to turn it off to recharge it. He could remain as a human indefinitely. The spell remained in ce even while he slept. It was strongly suggested, however, that when possible he maintain the habit of switching back to his true self at night. Doing so would help him maintain a healthy attitude towards what he truly was.


    So here he sat, looking like a human with his human neighbor and her human friends hoping to be epted into their group as Stanley had once been. While it had only been, what, three weeks since Henry came into being, he¡¯dpletely adopted his new persona. It felt likehim.


    He looked to Roger as the man seemed to be demanding an answer. He¡¯d give him the best he had.


    ¡°I grew up in Illinois. I was adopted but didn¡¯t know that until they passed away and I received their will. An uncle in Irnd contacted Stanley and me. We met there,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°And you just so happen to have the same technical skills as your brother?¡± Roger huffed, but Henry just looked at him expectantly.


    Roger saw that question wasn¡¯t going to get him a satisfying answer, so he moved on. ¡°VRL just up and hired you and gave you Stanley¡¯s job and condo?¡±


    ¡°They just lost their CIO. I needed a job, and my skills do epass the same areas as Stanley¡¯s did. And, we clicked when we met,¡± he said awkwardly. He hated lying to his friends, but as Sigrid had carefully exined to him, this was for their protection as well.


    ¡°Enough Roger. I didn¡¯t invite Henry here to endure the third degree from you!¡± Sandy growled, and Roger leaned back against the love seat cushions with a pout.


    Wanting to change the subject to happier topics, Henry looked to Sandy. ¡°Where are Vanna and Gary?¡±


    Eyes looked at him in surprise. Two sets continued to hold suspicion.


    He recalled he wouldn¡¯t have met them as Henry, but he had his excuse ready. ¡°Stanley told me you had a couple in your group. Isn¡¯t that the Vanna and Gary he told me about?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Yes, but they won¡¯t be back. They eloped and moved to Argentina to be closer to Vanna¡¯s family. I¡¯ve received a few emails since they left,¡± Sandy replied.


    ¡°Wow! Argentina! That seems sudden,¡± he said in surprise.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Vanna was homesick. Had been for years and Gary would follow her anywhere,¡± Tish sighed with a smile.


    Henry smiled at Tish. ¡°Gary was a romantic.¡±


    ¡°Yes. How about you? Are you a romantic, Henry?¡± Tish purred.


    He blinked at the intensity of her gaze. ¡°Uh, I- uh¡­ I don¡¯t know. I suppose I must be since I agree Gary did the right thing.¡±


    Roger surged to his feet, and all eyes turned in his direction.


    ¡°Well, this has been a slice, but I need to go. Got people to see. Have a lovely night. Sandy, lock up behind me?¡± He nodded to the others then strode away quickly.


    Sandy gave Henry an embarrassed look then jumped up to her feet to chase after her friend. She caught up to the tall man as he waited by the door.


    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you? You¡¯re acting stranger than you normally do!¡± she hissed at him quietly.

 69

    Roger sent a troubled look back in the direction of the living room and shook his head in frustration. Even he couldn¡¯t put the finger on why he was so agitated. ¡°Something isn¡¯t right about him. He¡¯s- he¡¯s too much like Stanley. They grew up apart, in different states even,pletely different environments, yet I¡¯d swear they grew up together.¡± He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just too soon.¡±


    Sandy pulled the big guy into a fierce hug, and Roger returned it. He kissed the top of her head and got a face full of hair in return. He gently pushed her back and rubbed his tingling face. ¡°You need to invest in a humidifier and better conditioner for your clingy hair!¡±


    She snorted gently and gave him a little push.


    He turned serious again. ¡°I want you to be careful around him. We don¡¯t know his true agenda. Not really. He¡¯s too sexy.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Sexy?¡±


    Roger scowled. ¡°Handsome. Good looking- Oh fuck it, you know what I mean!¡± he finished with a quiet growl. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at work tomorrow.¡± He quickly ducked out the door, leaving Sandy in a state of confusion. She shook her head as she locked the door, and headed back to the living room.


    When she arrived she saw her spot on the couch had been stolen by Tish. The tall brte was sitting very close to her guest. Sandy should have moved to the chair Tish vacated but found herself taking a seat on the edge of the coffee table directly before Henry.


    He saw the women were surrounding him. He wasn¡¯t sure what was up. ncing to his right, he was pretty sure he knew what Tish wanted. He smiled at Sandy¡¯s happy expression and looked to Dayshia, who was no longer scowling but did look distracted by something. He turned back to Sandy.


    ¡°So¡­ were we going to watch a movie?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry, we didn¡¯t pick one up,¡± she said.


    He nodded.


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    He looked to Dayshia who, it seemed, finally found her voice. ¡°Twenty-four.¡±


    ¡°Older than Stanley then?¡± Dayshia continued.


    ¡°Yes, just a little,¡± he said. Age was another part of his backstory. He¡¯d been ruthlessly grilled on it until his responses became automatic.


    ¡°Girlfriend?¡±


    He blinked in surprise. ¡°Uh, no. Never.¡±


    ¡°Never? You must have haddies chasing you!¡± Tish gasped.


    He shrugged. ¡°I- I was too shy. A tech nerd with my nose always in a book. I guess if they did I¡­ just never noticed.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s a damn shame!¡± Dayshia blurted forcefully causing Sandy and Tish to burst into giggles. Henry¡¯s face flushed with embarrassment and he gave them a small smile. He needed to redirect the conversation away from himself.


    ¡°How about you three?¡± he said.


    ¡°You want the three of us to be your girlfriends? Ambitious!¡± Tish said with a twinkle in her eye.


    Henry¡¯s smile fell away. ¡°No! I mean- That¡¯s not what I meant! I was just-¡± he stammered.


    Sandy patted his knee. ¡°She¡¯s just a tease! She knew what you meant!¡±


    He looked at Tish, and she was feigning innocence until Sandy gently pped her knee. Then she began to chuckle.


    ¡°Sorry Henry, but you¡¯re just too sweet not to tease!¡± Tish sighed happily.


    He shook his head slightly. ¡°Will I get an answer to my intended question?¡±


    Tish nodded and shed a wide smile at him. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anyone at the moment. My hours at the hospital make dating too difficult, and the club scene is such a draining experience.¡±


    He looked to Sandy who just nodded at Tish. ¡°I¡¯m in the same boat. Difficult hours and I don¡¯t fit into the current dating scene in New York.¡±


    They looked at Dayshia who gave them an imperious look. ¡°I¡¯m between boyfriends at the moment.¡±


    Tish made a small sound of disappointment. ¡°A, I liked sh! I thought he was a good match for you!¡±


    The dark beauty looked away. ¡°Yes, sh was promising until he insisted I attend his church because I had to be weed and epted by themunity.¡± She faced her friends with a stern expression. ¡°You know I live by the rules of my faith, but I¡¯m not going to force them on anyone else.¡±


    They nodded then Sandy looked back at Henry. ¡°What about your family? Other than Stanley, I mean.¡±


    ¡°As I mentioned, my folks passed away a few years ago. They were older when they adopted me and had no other kids or siblings of their own. The uncle in Irnd turned out to be an honorary uncle. A friend of our birth mother with no useful information about her and no knowledge of our father.¡± He smiled at Sandy. ¡°How about you? Any siblings?¡±


    Sandy sighed and rolled her eyes. ¡°I have an older brother. He¡¯s awyer somewhere in Nevada. He moved around a lot and just stopped keeping in touch. He had a falling out with us country bumpkins and ran off to be someone important. I guess he made it. My parents are retired and still live next to their friends in a small town no one¡¯s heard of in Iowa. It isn¡¯t even on most maps as people keep forgetting it¡¯s there.¡± She smiled at Dayshia. ¡°I was the girl who arrived from nowhere,¡± she said as she grinned at her friend whose smile showed she recalled saying that to her when they first met.


    Henry gave Dayshia an inquisitive look, and she nodded. ¡°I have an older sister. Beth. She still lives in Chicago and keeps an eye on my dad who lives in a senior¡¯s home because he has Alzheimer¡¯s. He raised us when Mom died six months after I was born. He was a good man. My sister married a man just like him, and they have three kids of their own. Great kids too! I see them over the Christmas holidays.¡± She looked over at Tish with a small grin. ¡°Tish has me beat on the count of nieces and nephews though.¡±


    Henry turned to look at the woman in question and drew back a little in surprise as she was so close. Had she been smelling his hair?


    Tish blushed and nodded. ¡°Yes! Yes, I have arge family,¡± she blurted to deflect attention away from the fact of being caught with her nose in Henry¡¯s silky locks. He smelled warm and manly!


    ¡°I¡¯m the seventh child and youngest in my family. Most of my siblings have families of their own. There are lots of kids. Most have at least two. My oldest sister had six kids, and her oldest has a baby of her own.¡±


    Henry smiled at the thought of Auntie Tish surrounded by kids. ¡°Inspired?¡± he asked with a gentle smile and saw Sandy¡¯s smile be a pained expression as a small twitch appeared at the corner of Tish¡¯s lips. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry! Was I thoughtless?¡±


    Tish gave him a weak smile, and he could see her shake it off. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. You couldn¡¯t have known. I can¡¯t have kids. Motorcycle ident.¡±


    ¡°You ride?¡± he blurted in embarrassment to change the subject and once more saw Sandy wince. He shot her a desperate look. ¡°Sorry, I have to shut up.¡±


    Tish chuckled and took his hand in hers, smiling at how well her long fingers fit in his bigger hand. ¡°Stop worrying. I¡¯m fine now.¡± She looked into hispassionate eyes and smiled wistfully. Somehow, this time, the words just seemed to flow painlessly from her lips. ¡°I was married for a short time to the wrong man. I was young and stupid. He was dangerous and exciting, and I was mostly blind to his faults. He rode a big, beat up Harley, but he was also hot-tempered and reckless. One night as we were headed home on the interstate, he got pissed at a driver who pulled in front of us dangerously. Pete kicked the guy¡¯s car while we were going sixty miles an hour and the guy bumped us back. Knocked us both off the bike. Pete broke both his legs and an arm. I broke my pelvis, my left arm, and leg, and was in aa for three months. When I woke up, they told me I¡¯d lost a baby I wasn¡¯t even aware I was carrying. The night of the crash, the doctors had to perform some drastic surgery to save me. The result, I won¡¯t be having kids.¡±


    Henry took her other hand in his, and her smile strengthened. ¡°I¡¯m ok with it now. It happened so many years ago, and I have so many kids to dote over now without having to bear any of the responsibility.¡±


    He smiled at her then his stomach growled, loudly.


    Giggles of released tension burst out of Sandy, and the others chuckled.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°Anyone want to go out for dinner? My treat!¡± Henry asked. He recalled that he should be unfamiliar with the neighborhood, so he looked to Sandy. ¡°Any suggestions for local eateries?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a Thai ce that isn¡¯t too far away. It¡¯s walking distance,¡± she replied. Tish and Dayshia grinned and nodded.

 70

    ¡°Should we make a reservation?¡± he asked.


    Sandy was already dialing and smiled at them as she listened to it ring.


    They listened as she sessfully booked them thest table for four with a promise to be there in five minutes. Once she hung up, they scrambled to their feet and rushed out of the condo. They took the elevator down and rushed outside. The night was beautiful, and they fast walked up the street and over one block to the small, single-story building. Sandy got them inside and seated at their reserved table in the back corner momentster. Henry sat with his back to the wall with Sandy seated next to him. Tish took the seat across from him, and Dayshia was next to her. Menus were handed out, and the waiter was delighted when they immediately began to order dish after dish.


    They ordered drinks as well. Tish looked at Henry¡¯s curious expression. ¡°Do you drink?¡± she asked


    ¡°I¡¯ve had wine before,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°Let me order for you,¡± she said, and he nodded. She gave him a long evaluating look then faced the waiter. ¡°He¡¯ll have a Long Ind Ice Tea.¡± The man nodded and rushed away to get their order started.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty strong drink,¡± Dayshia cautioned.


    ¡°He¡¯s a pretty big man!¡± Tish grinned.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it you don¡¯t have to drink it all,¡± Sandy told him, and Tish pouted at her.


    It didn¡¯t take long for some of the appetizers to arrive and they were passing them back and forth as their drinks arrived.


    Once the wait staff had moved on, Sandy raised her Cosmopolitan, and the other¡¯s raised their drinks as well. Tish had a Manhattan and Dayshia was drinking a Mojito. ¡°To my new neighbor to wee him to New York and the building! To Henry!¡± she cheered and the others joined in except for Henry who just nodded to them.


    He took a tentative sip and was surprised to find he liked it. It didn¡¯t seem that strong. He nodded in appreciation to Tish who smiled happily and stuck her tongue out at Sandy. The blond rolled her eyes at her friend.


    The chicken satay was delicious in the peanut sauce, and the spring rolls went fast.


    ¡°We should order more of these!¡± Henry gushed.


    ¡°Slow down fe! We have plenty more fooding. Pace yourself!¡± Sandy replied with a grin.


    A loud slurp sound drew all eyes to Henry¡¯s ss. His straw was draining the dregs from the bottom. A waiter was immediately at his elbow. ¡°Another?¡±


    Henry smiled and nodded to the man who hustled off to the bar with the empty ss.


    ¡°Remember what I said about pacing yourself?¡± Sandy said, but Tish was delighted.


    They talked a little about the hospital and the kooky patients they¡¯d encountered this past week while Henry listened with rapt attention. The drink appeared at his elbow, and he immediately drank half.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa, WHOA, partner! Strong drink! Empty stomach! Not a goodbination!¡± Sandy cautioned.


    He looked at her in confusion. ¡°What? I ate some satay and spring rolls. My stomach isn¡¯t empty.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not enough to absorb the alcohol!¡± she exined.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is much alcohol in this drink. It tastes very good! And it¡¯s cold and refreshing!¡± he returned.


    ¡°I¡¯m just sayin¡¯ pace-¡±


    Tish had had enough. ¡°Let the man enjoy himself, Girl Scout!¡±


    Sandy narrowed her eyes at Tish as she didn¡¯t like that nickname. Tish was more than a little bit of a shit disturber though not as much as Roger. Sandy was more of a rule follower. That was all. She didn¡¯t need lessons in behavior from this one!


    ¡°Peace!¡± Henry said, cing a hand on theirs. ¡°Iwillslow down my drinking.¡±


    Sandy smiled.


    ¡°But Iwillhave another,ter.¡± It was Tish¡¯s turn to smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look now but we are drawing the attention of our neighbors,¡± Dayshia quietly said as she faced Tish. Of course, that just made everyone nce over at the upants of the next table. Four young women in oversize t-shirts, yoga pants, too much jewelry and make-up with teased up hair were staring at Henry with expressions of delight. Three were Japanese, but one was Indian and had very dark skin and lovely eyes. She nced over timidly.


    The boldest of the group with shocking pink hair smiled at Henry. ¡°Excuse me, please. Are you rted to Stanley Garin?¡± she asked in a thick ent.


    Henry¡¯s eyes widened as he looked back at them. He didn¡¯t recognize any of the young women, so he had no idea how they recognized him.


    ¡°Uh, yes. I¡¯m his brother. How do you know Stanley?¡± he managed.


    ¡°We are friends of Yuko Imamura,¡± the bold one answered. She held up her phone, and there was a picture of him, as Stanley, stepping out the front door of his building. Yuko had taken a picture of him and shared it with her friends?


    ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± he began then saw the looks from his table. ¡°Stanley told me about Yuko,¡± he quickly exined.


    ¡°Where is Stanley?¡± the timid girl asked. She had a ring through her nose with a chain leading down inside her t-shirt. He tried not to follow it with his eyes though he was having a little trouble keeping his eyes steady.


    ¡°Uh, he recently died in an ident while overseas.¡±


    The group moaned in dismay. ¡°Yuko will be so upset when she hears!¡± pink hair eximed.


    Henry paused. How would Yuko find out? Wasn¡¯t she being punished in Japan? ¡°Stanley mentioned something about her going back to Japan?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. But Yuko will be back soon. Her father has forgiven her, so she is allowed to return!¡± the bold one cheered and her friends picked that up.


    ¡°Ah, ok. Well, it was nice meeting you.¡± He paused as he wondered at the coincidence of meeting them here. ¡°Do you live around here?¡±


    ¡°No. Yuko¡¯s father bought a condo for her and her sister in a building very near here. We came to take pictures of us standing outside of it to send to her. Oh! Could we take one with you?¡± Her friends were suddenly excited by the idea, and all pulled out their cells.


    Henry felt rocked by the news that Yuko was not onlying back but was bringing her sister and might be living in his building! He caught Tish and Dayshia looking at him curiously as he¡¯d paused for so long. He turned a smile to thedies at the next table. ¡°How about after dinner?¡± he suggested, and they pouted but agreed.


    He turned back to his table and saw their expectant expressions. He swallowed and nced to the other table, but they were back to looking at the pictures on their cells.


    He spoke quietly to keep his words from their neighbors. ¡°Stanley spoke to me about his encounter with¡­ his housekeeper. He said it hadn¡¯t gone well, but she was sent back to Japan and thought she would be there permanently.¡± He looked at them. ¡°You met her too?¡± He knew they¡¯d recall that night and saw them nod.


    ¡°Stanley told you a lot for having just met you,¡± Dayshia said with a slight frown.


    Henry had expected this. He¡¯d prepared for it as well. This time, he had the truth to defend himself.


    ¡°Yes, we discovered we had a lot ofmon experiences growing up, and we shared a lot. You could say we had an instant and deep bond.¡± He smiled faintly as he recalled seeing his new human disguise in a mirror and how he¡¯d broken down and cried. He sucked in a breath and tried to start again. ¡°He said-¡± Henry paused as his emotions suddenly welled up and almost overwhelmed him. He forced it down and took a deep breath. ¡°He said that he grew up without friends too¡­ he said being brought into your circle and being epted by the people at VRL¡­ those were the happiest moments of his life.¡±


    Henry wiped his eyes roughly then sucked back the remains of his drink. He nodded to the waiter who spotted the action and headed off to the bar once more. The man was remarkably attentive!


    Henry felt hands settle down on his and squeeze. He nced down and saw three hands resting on his on the table. He gave thedies a shaky smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re among friends here too, Henry,¡± Sandy said.


    He struggled to smile as his emotions surged again. ¡°Thank you,¡± he managed with a rough voice. Another drink arrived, and he reached for it. He caught Sandy¡¯s concerned look and set the ss down.


    She leaned against his shoulder, and her hair immediately swept up to rest across his back and interwove with his long wavy brown hair. Dayshia rolled her eyes and sat back, releasing Henry¡¯s hand. He pretended not to notice her abrupt pulling away and Sandy¡¯s overly fond hair.


    Sandy¡¯s face rxed, and she smiled in contentment.


    Their meals began arriving, and Sandy reluctantly sat properly in her chair. Her hair released him with only a slight tug.


    They enjoyed their meals and got to sample from each other¡¯s tes as each had chosen something different. Some were too spicy for Henry. He tried quenching it with his drink, but that only had the effect of making the room spin a little. Sandy leaned against his side as she giggled at his reddening face.


    Tish reached across the table and poked a piece of bread between his lips. ¡°Bread to soak up the spiced oils,¡± she exined but let her fingertip linger on his lower lip for longer than was entirely necessary. His eyes lifted to lock onto hers as he felt a strange and gentle tingling on his neck just below his ears and beginning on the sides of his torso under his arms. Tish was smiling mischievously, but she gasped softly when she saw the heat re in his eyes. She pulled her hand back, but her body was already tingling.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    Another drink was ced on the table before Henry distracting him and the tingling faded.


    ¡°Last one,¡± Sandy said firmly to the waiter as she straightened up in her chair and he nodded, giving her a nervous look.


    Dayshia chuckled as she looked across at Sandy¡¯s concerned expression. ¡°Such a good little mother.¡±


    Sandy scowled at Dayshia. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    Her friend smirked at her. ¡°You¡¯re such a righteous young woman! Never willing to take a risk and live dangerously.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true!¡± Sandy barked. ¡°Take that back!¡±


    Tish was grinning at thedies and had to add her two cents. ¡°Sorry Sandy, I have to agree with Dayshia. You¡¯re a sweet girl, as pure as the driven snow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Sandy hissed.


    Henry was aware of how agitated Sandy¡¯s hair was bing though Dayshia and Tish couldn¡¯t see it. He began sliding his left hand off the table to reach for it before it moved into view.


    Dayshia reached across the table to take Sandy¡¯s hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing! Being innocent and a bit of a prude these days is sweet!¡± Dayshia insisted.


    ¡°Oh, I think prude is a little strong,¡± Tish said putting her arm around Dayshia shoulder.


    Sandy nodded firmly. ¡°Thank you-¡±


    ¡°Virginal is more urate,¡± Tish said.

 71

    Feeling a little unbnced, Henry grabbed the edge of the table with his right hand catching Tish¡¯s under his as he reached his left into the mass of blond hair that was about to surge upwards in anger.


    ¡°I had sex with Marisaaaaaaahhh¡­¡± Sandy blurted before her head snapped back in bliss. The shock traveled through the circle, engulfing them all in the cascade of sensation as Sandy¡¯s hair wound itself around Henry¡¯s forearm. His, Dayshia¡¯s, and Tish¡¯s heads all mirrored Sandy¡¯s movements precisely as their nervous systems synchronized for that brief instant.


    Unbidden, an image shed into Henry¡¯s mind. Marisa¡¯s lovely face smiling wickedly at him/Sandy from between his/Sandy¡¯s thighs. This time, however, the image was apanied by the oddest and most exquisite sensation of the ravishing blonde teasing his/Sandy¡¯s clit until he/Sandy came explosively. His mind filled with a wonderfully intense glow, then he felt himselfing back to his body. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Dayshia¡¯s mouth moving, but no sound wasing out.


    She sucked in a breath. ¡°no, no, No, No, NO!¡± Dayshia growled as she snatched her hand away from Sandy¡¯s and shrugged off Tish¡¯s arm. ¡°No! That did NOT just happen again!¡± She closed her eyes briefly as a sympathetic shiver raced through her nerves which were still tingling.


    Conversations around their table stopped, and heads turned in their direction. Henry scowled at them, and people returned to their conversations and meals, only asionally casting looks at them over their shoulders.


    Their closest neighbors, however, were much more obvious and unabashed about their intense interest in what just happened at their neighboring table. The young women were staring at Sandy who¡¯d loudly confessed to having sex with someone named Marisa? Then it looked like the entire table had an orgasm. They hadn¡¯t seen shit like that since Yuko had taken them out to that truly freaky sex club!


    The Indian girl focused on Henry with disturbing intensity, but she remained quiet.


    He slipped his hand free of Sandy¡¯spletely spent hair. He nced over at Tish who had caught the motion and was smiling at him knowingly.


    ¡°What¡­ what happened?¡± Sandy asked as she blinked her big blue eyes at her friends.


    ¡°Well, I guess I have to take back what I said about you being pure and virginal. Not that I¡¯ve ever been attracted to another woman but damn that was a happy ending!¡± Tish confessed in surprise. She was giving Sandy an impressed smile.


    ¡°I said no! That didn¡¯t just happen! I did not see or feel that! Uh uh! No!¡± Dayshia insisted, clearly upset.


    ¡°Ohe on, Dayshia! Don¡¯t be silly! Just because you can¡¯t exin it doesn¡¯t mean you have to deny it! It doesn¡¯t have to alter your entire world. Just a small perceived corner of it. It happened! We all experienced it!¡± Tish eximed then looked to Henry. ¡°Oh my god! How would that have felt for a man?¡±


    He blinked at her as the room wasn¡¯t so steady anymore. The booze was finally kicking in. He considered the question until they thought he hadn¡¯t heard it. ¡°That¡­ was a first for me¡­ in a number of ways. It was very nice!¡±


    Tish turned to Dayshia who was looking at Henry sadly. She leaned a little closer to speak softly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make you a lesbian or even bisexual you know. If that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡±


    Dayshia shook her head in annoyance. ¡°No! It¡¯s not that at all. It¡¯s this freaky mind to mind shit! That doesn¡¯t happen!¡±


    ¡°I think you need to re-evaluate that opinion¡­ but that¡¯s just my opinion. And Sandy¡¯s. And Henry¡¯s,¡± Tish continued.


    Sandy was still feeling tingly, and her scalp felt invigorated. She reached up to run her fingers through her thick flowing hair and closed her eyes in bliss as gentle waves offort rippled through her. ¡°Mmmmm, I feel sooooo goooood!¡±


    ¡°Henry had his hand in your crazy hair,¡± Tish purred with a wicked smile.


    ¡°Is that what does it?!?¡± Dayshia eximed a little too loudly. ¡°Stanley did that too thest time you dragged us into this freaky shit! I swear girl, I¡¯m gonna shave your head while you sleep!¡±


    Sandy¡¯s eyes red as she bristled with rage. ¡°Don¡¯t you DARE threaten my hair!¡±


    ¡°Calm down! Everyone!¡± Henry growled quietly, and the twodies thumped back in their chairs to re at each other.


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t think Sandy meant to do anything to anyone. It just¡­ happened. I¡¯m sorry that disturbed you¡­ so much Dayshia, but if I¡¯ve learned anything¡­ so far in my short life, it¡¯s that fighting what is¡­ brings far more grief¡­ than just epting it and moving on,¡± Henry finally managed to get out.


    Tish reached across and patted his hand. ¡°That was lovely. Are you ok?¡±


    He blinked at her. ¡°I- I think I drank too much. The room is¡­ moving around¡­ more than a little.¡±


    Sandy raised her hand to summon the waiter. ¡°The check, please.¡± With a nod, the man rushed away.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get you home,¡± Dayshia said, still looking a little troubled.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    Henry paid the bill with his new credit card, obtained for his new identity, and they helped him out of the booth.


    ¡°The picture?¡± the pink haired woman asked from the next table as the others dropped their cash on the table to cover their bill.


    ¡°Sure, outside?¡± Henry asked.


    Smiles beamed back at him as thedies scrambled to follow.


    When everyone was out on the sidewalk, the young women handed their phones to Dayshia and Tish and crowded around Henry. Sandy watched from the side as they took picture after picture.


    ¡°OK, that¡¯s good. We have to say goodnight,¡± Henry insisted, and thedies rushed forward to collect their phones. Grinning at the pictures, they thanked Henry and dashed away in a cloud of giggles.


    ¡°Huh! We take the pictures, and Henry gets the thanks! Spoiled brats!¡± Dayshia grumbled.


    Sandy walked over to Henry and hooked her arm through his as he was swaying slightly. ¡°Come on you. Let¡¯s get you home.¡±


    Tish took his other side, and Sandy offered her other elbow to Dayshia who shook her head timidly. She followed as they headed back.


    The night was lovely, and Henry took a deep breath to try and clear his head, but he was too blitzed. The world continued to spin. He chuckled to himself at that thought. The idea that he would be able to feel the earth¡¯s rotation! Still, he tilted his head back and let his mind open to the world around him.


    He imagined his mind elerating outwards, expanding faster and faster until he could almost see¡­ everything. He sighed in wonder as he was stunned by the sheer vastness of the Earth and the wonder of floating above it all! He suddenly felt a tingle of energy out there. It tasted familiar but smelled fresh and new!


    Looking down at the Earth below him, he could see little tears in the globe. He reached out and touched them as the spun by below him. The tears widened at his touch, and the fresh energy red and shed for a time at those locations. He shook his head in confusion as his senses were blending and distorting oddly.


    ¡°Henry! Wake up!¡±


    He was pulled back to the now and became aware of his arms held tight and two strong hands pressing against his back to keep him from toppling back. ¡°Wha¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn, he¡¯s a heavy brute!¡± Dayshia huffed from behind him.


    He got his legs taking his weight again and blinked at the worried faces on each side of him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what happened?¡±


    ¡°It looked like you were passing out!¡± Sandy eximed.


    ¡°Wow¡­ Sorry! I drank way too much!¡± he sighed. ¡°I need to get to bed. I have work tomorrow.¡±


    They made it the rest of the way to the building and took him right up to his door. He leaned back against the wall next to it as he stuffed his hand into his pocket to get his key. His hand was stuck, and Sandy gripped his arm to help him pull.


    He looked up to see Tish standing before him with a sultry smile on her lips. Then she was pressing her body against his, and her mouth was caressing his lips. God, she was a good kisser!


    That tingling he¡¯d felt on his neck and sides earlier began again, just a little stronger this time and a kind of hunger red. He pulled his hand from his pocket, dropping his keys. His hand continued to rise until he had a grip on the back of Tish¡¯s head and her ponytail. The kiss deepened, and they thumped against the opposite wall as Henry pressed his body against hers.


    ¡°Henry!¡±


    Sandy¡¯s voice broke through the surging lust, and he pulled back from Tish¡¯s mouth as he gasped and shook.


    ¡°Tish, he¡¯s drunk. Wait until he¡¯s sober to make your move,¡± Sandy said reasonably.


    Henry saw Tish was searching his eyes, and he could see she was conflicted, but she finally nodded.


    ¡°Good night, Henry,¡± she managed then slipped out of the space between him and the wall. He leaned his head forward to rest his forehead against the cool surface as he tried to quiet the raging lust shaking his body. His neck felt flushed as a heat radiated outwards from there and his sides to the rest of his body, not a torrent but trickling out through his limbs.


    Tish fanned her flushed face with her hands as she stared wide-eyed at Dayshia. ¡°He got me so hot!¡± she mouthed to her friend with a grin. The dark beauty smiled as she was also feeling tingly for some reason and rubbed her thighs together.

 72

    Sandy, experiencing tingles of her own, picked up his keys and turned to unlock his door as Dayshia moved to help Henry straighten up to get him through the door. Tish didn¡¯t trust herself to touch him again.


    Henry felt Dayshia¡¯s soft body pressing against his and is lust red once more. He turned in her arms and found her mouth with his. Her tongue thrust into his mouth as her hands slipped down to squeeze his ass. She moaned softly when she felt somethingrge and hard pressing against her intimate parts as he sensually sucked on her tongue.


    ¡°DAYSHIA!¡±


    Her mind snapped back to reality, and she moved her hands to his chest to push back. She felt his gentle resistance, but finally, he leaned back from her and swayed on his feet. She looked down and saw he was showing against his pants and her eyes widened.


    ¡°Henry, you need to drink some water then go to bed,¡± Sandy said softly as she bit her lip.


    He nodded and tried to clear his mind which felt like a forest fire was raging within it.


    Sandy ducked in to give him a peck on the cheek only to find her hands in his hair as his gripped handfuls of hers. Their mouths were locked together, and the sensation from a massive build-up of sexual tension made their skin prickle.


    Dayshia looked at Tish as they felt it too. ¡°I¡¯m not touching that!¡± she insisted angrily.


    Tish realized it wasn¡¯t safe either. ¡°GOOD NIGHT, HENRY!¡± she yelled.


    The noise startled the two kissing, and they pulled back.


    ¡°Go inside and go to bed!¡± Tishmanded, and he nodded absentmindedly as he stumbled inside and closed the door behind him. They heard the lock snap closed.


    Sandy was breathing hard as she looked at her friends. Her hair flowed behind her back like a serpent preparing to strike. In a daze, she moved to hug them, but they both jerked back a step.


    ¡°Uh uh! I am not touching you when you are all charged up! I learned my lesson!¡± Dayshia said shaking a finger at Sandy. ¡°Good night! We¡¯ll be taking the stairs. Come on Tish.¡±


    ¡°Night, Sandy!¡± Tish said as she ducked into the stairwell to follow her friend, leaving the dazed blonde to make her way to the elevator.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    As they climbed down the stairs, the two women were deep in thought regarding their first meeting with Henry. Once they stepped outside of the building, they looked upward and took a deep breath to clear their minds.


    Tish smiled at Dayshia as she recognized they were still in sync. She decided not to bring up that fact to the woman. ¡°Quite a kisser isn¡¯t he!¡±


    Dayshia looked over in surprise then smiled. ¡°Yes, he is. He¡¯s also packing some serious meat.¡±


    Surprisedughter burst from Tish as she stared at her friend in shock.


    ¡°What? He is! Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t feel that!¡± Dayshia purred hungrily. ¡°He¡¯s got an anaconda down there!¡±


    Tish was stillughing at the exaggeration as he hadn¡¯t felt that big, but she also recalled how good Henry¡¯s body had felt against hers; including the firm ridge pressing against her tender bits. Herughter petered out as she took a deep breath and sighed in frustration with a frown. ¡°Fuck, I¡¯m horny.¡±


    Now it was Dayshia¡¯s turn tough, but it didn¡¯tst long as she had to agree. She was hungering for some action too. ¡°Shit.¡±


    ¡°Wanna hit a club?¡± Tish asked quietly.


    With a final, frustrated look back at the building, Dayshia shook her head. ¡°We have work tomorrow.¡±


    Tish scowled as they made their way towards the Path Station to go home. ¡°Shit.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, losers!¡±


    This greeting met with good-natured curses from the crew sitting in the control room of the nuclear power nt in Brokdorf, Germany.


    ¡°Pay up! Papa needs new shoes!¡± Edmund teased his coworkers. ¡°Come on! Hoffenheim wonst night like I said they would so pay up.¡±


    There were some light grumblings and assertions that Borussia Dortmund had just had an off night, but they reached into their wallets to give the man his reward for betting on the winning football team.


    After paying, the floor supervisor pointed Edmund to the two men on the far side of the room. They appeared oblivious to the others as they leaned over a bank of meters and controls. ¡°Stop your gloating and go give Heller and Karl a hand. They¡¯ve been looking at those readings all night.¡±


    Edmund grinned at his boss and headed over to collect from the two men. As he got closer, he saw they were concentrating on the screens. They looked concerned and tired.


    ¡°Good morning, losers!¡± Edmund said quietly so as not to startle them.


    Karl turned to look at Edmund with relief. ¡°Ah so good you are here. I need you to do a physical inspection of one of our cooling pools.¡±


    Edmund smiled and ruffled the wad of cash in his hand until Karl rolled his eyes and reached for his wallet. After he paid Edmund and nudged Heller to do the same, he got Edmund¡¯s attention again.


    ¡°The sensors in cooling pool two are acting up. They are flickering off and on with their readings.¡± Karl exined.


    Edmund¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Any temperature change?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s just it. Everything is stable and good, but the detectors are showing odd drop-offs of radiation like they are being shut off and on,¡± Heller insisted.


    ¡°How many sensors? Which grid?¡±


    ¡°All of them in pool two,¡± Karl said.


    ¡°Electrical?¡± Edmund asked, and Heller shook his head in frustration. Karl just patted the man¡¯s shoulder to calm him.


    ¡°We need a physical inspection,¡± Karl said, looking back at Edmund.


    Edmund nodded and headed downstairs to get suited up.


    Once he was in his protective gear and made his way to the entrance to the cooling chamber, he tapped the mic on his helmet. ¡°Are you reading me?¡±


    ¡°Loud and clear,¡± Karl¡¯s voice came through.


    ¡°Right. Going in,¡± Edmund said and flipped the camera on. The light mounted on the other side of his helmet came on as well.


    ¡°Signal is good,¡± Karl confirmed.


    Edmund went through the heavy door and walked around pool one, looking down into the blue depths. ¡°Any issues with pool one?¡±


    ¡°None. All sensors optimal.¡±


    Edmund grunted and continued to pool two. He nced inside and caught movement. Instinctively, he threw himself back andnded on his ass.


    ¡°EDMUND! WHAT HAPPENED! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!¡± Karl yelled.


    ¡°Sorry! I- I thought I saw something in the pool! Scared me,¡± Edmund said with a voice made shaky by adrenaline. ¡°Hold on.¡±


    He climbed back to his feet and inched closer to the edge of the pool. He peered over the edge and caught the motion again and ducked back.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Karl barked.


    ¡°You saw it too? Thank goodness because I thought I might be losing my mind.¡± He steeled his nerves and leaned forward again. His eyes widened as he saw something swimming in the pool. ¡°Are you seeing this?¡±


    ¡°What the hell is that? A manta ray?¡± Karl asked, wonder in his voice as he watched the graceful ¡®wings¡¯ p as it circled the cooling pool.


    ¡°Not like any I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± Edmund said quietly. ¡°It¡¯s big! It¡¯s translucent in sections, and it might be bioluminescent as well.


    ¡°The pattern, Karl!¡± Heller¡¯s voice came through. ¡°It¡¯s passing over the sensors, and they stop registering while it¡¯s there and start again when it moves on!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get a better look,¡± Edmund said quietly.


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Karl said.


    Edmund slid his foot up to the small wall circling the pool then transferred his weight to it to lean forward until he was able to see the entire pool. The creature in the water was peacefully swimming over the spent fuel cells, pausing now and then for whatever reason it might have before moving on. The lights moving through its body were mesmerizing, and Edmund found himself leaning closer and closer to the water.


    ¡°Edmund! Not so close!¡± Karl snapped, and Edmund came back to himself in time to pull back before he toppled into the pool.


    ¡°Sorry! The lights! They¡¯re beaut-¡±


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Karl said a split second before a jet of water shot from the pool to rip through the camera light mounted to his helmet.


    Edmund crashed to the floor with his helmet partially twisted. In a panic, he straightened it and realized the left side of his helmet was gone! He scrambled on hands and knees towards pool one.


    ¡°EDMUND! Get on your feet and run!¡± Karl bellowed.


    He pushed himself up and began to run when he heard an odd keening sound. He spun to look back and saw a tentacle-like limb stretching out of the water towards him. The bioluminescence was rippling up and down its length, but its surface was beginning to smoke like it was cooking. The bizarre sight froze him. Those watching the feed from his camera went silent as well.


    The limb began retracting towards the pool, but the tip was heating up fast. Edmund realized the keening was the sound of it burning.


    ¡°Edmund- you- Edmund, leave now,¡± Karl¡¯s voice said faintly in his helmet.


    He turned to obey as the now ming tip exploded, spraying hot liquids in an arc.


    Edmund screamed as the left side of his face took a direct hit. He turned and ran for the exit. Stumbling through, he mmed the door before copsing. Consciousness fled from the terrible pain coursing through his face and sinking into his body.

 73

    Two men in hazmat suits rushed to Edmund and lifted him by his arms to drag him to a decontamination suite. They stood under a spray on the way in then, once inside, they got his suit off and went to work spraying him down.


    One ran a Geiger counter over him then pointed it to the wicked looking burns on his face. It remained rtively silent. The men looked at each other and sagged with relief.


    ¡°Thank god!¡± Heller said.


    Arnd, one of the day-shift control center technicians, looked closer at the burns. ¡°They¡¯re fading!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Heller said as he leaned closer to catch thest of the terrible burn marks dissipate. Edmund¡¯s slightly pocked skin looked as normal as it had been.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on in there?¡± Karl¡¯s voice boomed through the inte.


    ¡°Edmund¡¯s burns are gone!¡± Heller said.


    ¡°Gone? What do you mean gone! How bad were they?¡± Karl asked.


    Heller and Arnd looked at each other.


    ¡°The entire left side of his face looked like it was going to peel off. Now it¡¯s- fine,¡± Arnd answered.


    ¡°You two, leave the room. Now!¡± Karl insisted. Arnd was already moving, but Heller saw Edmund¡¯s eyes begin to flutter, and a cold shock went through his body. Instinctively, he rushed for the door.


    Heller was a little embarrassed to find himself pushing Arnd out the door before mming it closed and locking it.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Arnd asked him, but Heller could only shake his head and gesture to the window looking into the room. They took their helmets off.


    Karl entered from the control room and headed straight over to the window. ¡°Did either of you touch Edmund directly, skin to skin?¡±


    The two men shook their heads and looked at Karl with concerned expressions.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what that thing in the pool is but Edmund may have biological contamination. We¡¯ve called the CDC as well as other agencies. Anyone we could think of that might give us some answers while keeping a lid on this. We don¡¯t need a public panic on our hands.¡± They looked through the window, Karl and Arnd right next to the ss, but Heller stepped back slightly as a shiver ran down his spine. He didn¡¯t share his observations with his colleagues.


    They¡¯d see soon enough.


    -=-


    ¡°FUCK! WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIGHTS!?!?¡± Edmund cried out as he stumbled around in the decontamination suite. Ripples seemed to bounce off every surface in the room, and everything painted in reds with hot spots of white here and there and sshes of ck in the corners of the room.


    ¡°Edmund!¡±N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    He jumped as the sound leapt at him from his left and bounced around the room. He followed the ripples with his eyes, watching as they bounced off surfaces and dissipated.


    He recognized the voice. ¡°Karl?¡± he asked and was surprised to see the sound of his voice project away from him as waves to hit the wall and scatter.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Karl. Are you ok? How are you feeling?¡±


    He looked around and found the source of Karl¡¯s voice. There was a speaker mounted up on the wall. He walked closer and put out his hand. He reached the wall and felt ss under his fingers.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with his eyes?¡± another voice yelped.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Edmund asked.


    ¡°¡­ that was Arnd. Can you see us?¡± Karl¡¯s voice asked gently.


    ¡°See you? No, where are you?¡± Edmund asked, beginning to panic.


    ¡°We¡¯re on the other side of the window, right in front of you!¡± Arnd¡¯s voice blurted.


    Edmund stood before the window running his fingers over it. He could feel the ss, but he couldn¡¯t see through it. In a moment of inspiration, he pped his hands together and ¡®saw¡¯ the boundaries of the window, the wall before him, and the door just to the right. He walked to it unerringly and grasped the release handle to find it was locked. He made his way back to the window.


    ¡°Edmund, how do you feel?¡± Karl¡¯s voice asked again.


    ¡°Scared. Freaked out! Why can¡¯t I see through the ss?¡±


    ¡°He found the door handle quick enough,¡± Arnd¡¯s voice muttered.


    ¡°Why am I locked in?¡± Edmund called out.


    ¡°We have to have a doctor confirm you are ok. Standard protocol. Do you remember the explosion?¡± Karl¡¯s voice asked.


    He nodded and put his hands carefully on the left side of his face. When he didn¡¯t feel any damage, he smiled in relief. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel injured now. I feel fine.¡±


    ¡°Your face had terrible burns, but the wounds just faded away,¡± Arnd¡¯s voice called out.


    His fingers went back to his cheek as he frowned. He wished he could see it. He held his hand out in front of this face and sighed. He saw something! Quietly humming, he was able to ¡®see¡¯ his hand in the waves of sound. With the softer sound, he found he could make out extremely high detail, right down to the fine hairs on the back of his hand


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Karl¡¯s voice again.


    He looked ahead at the window where Karl was presumably watching him. He grinned crookedly. ¡°I can see sound.¡± He felt a little light headed after making that discovery. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to go lie down.¡±


    He turned and pped his hands together, sending out a wave of sound. The room¡¯syout disyed before him, so he turned towards the bed, walked straight to it and dropped himself on it. Maybe if he just got a little sleep, his eyes would cooperate again.


    -=-


    Karl, Arnd, and Heller watched Edmund walk unerringly back to the bed. Karl turned off the inte and looked to the others.


    ¡°He can see sound?¡± Arnd asked incredulously.


    ¡°You saw his eyes. They¡¯re just dark red orbs. No iris. No pupil. Just red. He shouldn¡¯t be able to see anything, yet we saw him navigate the room without any trouble. He can see, somehow.¡± He turned his head towards Heller who hadn¡¯t said a thing since leaving Edmund in the room. ¡°You¡¯re very quiet.¡±


    Heller jumped slightly. ¡°Hmmm! Oh, I- I¡¯m at a loss for words. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. I¡­ don¡¯t know what to think.¡±


    ¡°Think what you like but keep your mouth shut. That orderes from the top,¡± Karl said with a frown. ¡°Can you watch him until I can find someone to relieve you?¡± Heller nodded. Karl nced back in the window and headed back to the control room with Arnd at his heels.


    Heller walked back to the window and watched Edmund sleeping. He felt a little better knowing the man couldn¡¯t see through the ss.


    When he¡¯d first seen the red eyes, he¡¯d almost lost his shit. Old tales his grandpa used to tell him about a race of beings that hunted his people on moonless nights. Then Edmund admitted to seeing sound.


    Fuck.


    Something very big was happening. Heller felt it in his bones. Edmund was Human through and through or had been. Now he was something else. Heller had to get word to the Hidden Race Council the moment he got free from work. There were protocols for emergency contact.


    He just never imagined that in his lifetime he¡¯d have to invoke them.


    Henry had the blinds of his office closed, and his head was resting on his desk when Marisa found him the next morning.


    ¡°You ok, Henry?¡± she asked softly.


    ¡°please¡­ stop yelling,¡± he whimpered.


    ¡°That bad, huh? Did you take anything for it?¡± she whispered.


    ¡°I- uh- didn¡¯t have anything at home. I haven¡¯t gotten around to stocking the bathroom medicine cab,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°Oh, Henry. I¡¯ll get you something,¡± she whispered as she slipped away. Momentster she returned with arge bottle of water and three pills. He eyed them. ¡°Take these and drink all of the water.¡±


    He did as he was told then smiled fondly at Marisa. ¡°I¡¯d say you were an angel if I didn¡¯t already know you¡¯re a Sub-¡±


    BEEEEEEEEEP!


    The shrill rm tone screeched loudly from the ceiling inte speaker.


    Henry¡¯s eyes closed slowly as the noise bounced off every pain receptor in his body. He raised his hands in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he whimpered, and the tone ended.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard you slip,¡± Marisa said softly with a sympathetic wince.


    He nodded then settled his head back onto his desk.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you an hour then you have to be in the executive meeting.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he breathed then let his mind slide away from the pain.


    -=-


    Queen Mab was breathtakingly beautiful, but it was a beauty that Henry had difficulty appreciating. Some were drawn like a moth to a me, but Henry had witnessed the madness lurking just below that thin veneer and wanted nothing to do with her. Unfortunately, he needed her to give him a new human disguise. He was in Irnd as her guest, had been for weeks, waiting for her team of mages to gather and prepare. It¡¯d been days since thest arrival was introduced to him and he sat through yet another interview so they couldunderstand their patient.


    Between all of these interviews, he¡¯d had to be avable to entertain Mab¡¯s whims. Activities ranged from tea parties, formal wear ballroom dances, to a drunken orgy to rivalthe mad parties of Dionysus himself, ording to Mab. He managed to avoid having sex with any of the participants at the orgy thrown in his honor. The Queen was not pleased. In her rage, she may or may not have murdered the two female servants wearing mors to appear as Fauns.


    Their faces shed in his mind causing him to cry out in despair.


    ¡°Henry! Wake up!¡±


    He returned to the present feeling Marisa¡¯s soft hand resting on his shoulder, gently nudging him to wakefulness. He reached up to ce his hand over hers. It always made him feel better to touch her hand.


    ¡°Dreaming again? The same?¡± she asked gently.


    He pushed himself up to rest back against his chair and closed his eyes. ¡°No¡­ it was earlier on the trip this time.¡±


    Marisa ran her fingers through his thick, soft hair and enjoyed the sensation. Henry smiled and rxed as she touched him. When she reluctantly pulled her fingers free, he made a little involuntary sound of disappointment. She grinned at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to go downstairs to the executive meeting. You don¡¯t want to bete for your first one. You know how Mother gets when she¡¯s made to wait,¡± Marisa said with a smile.


    Henry blushed as the first thought that came to his mind was Cam pouncing on him for a feeding the first time they¡¯d been alone after he¡¯d returned from Irnd. He squirmed at the memory.


    He stood and disconnected hisptop from its docking station and smiled at Marisa as she walked back to her desk.


    He took the elevator all the way to the basement as VRL hadpleted the renovations on the old server room. They had a brand new executive boardroom where the old servers once suffered in the depths of the building. He couldn¡¯t help but think of the space as a dungeon for torturing servers. It made his skin crawl to think of their old setup.

 74

    As he stepped out of the elevator, his eyes widened in surprise. The dully lit corridor was no more. Cream colored walls with lovely art hanging upon it caught the eye. Warm hardwood floors gleamed and what caught his eye was the lighting. It was indirect, but he swore there was sunlight sshing across the ceiling here and there. He wondered how they did that. Maybe it was sr tubes piping real sunlight from the floors above?


    Two of Mr. Duncan¡¯s security personnel stood guard in therge, pleasingly lit vestibule beforerge dark oak double doors. He smiled and nodded to the men who returned the smile and nod while opening the doors for him. He felt a little weird with this treatment as he was capable of opening doors for himself. He wondered at VRL¡¯s seemingly over-the-top emphasis on security. He had to admit though, instead of being intimidated by the silent sentinels, the staff seemed to takefort in their presence. He¡¯d never seen anyone cast a worried look in their direction.


    Of course, he hadn¡¯t been present when these same men collected the guilty parties his new security protocols detected moving corporate data onto unauthorized devices.


    That had only happened on two asions, and the message was received. Don¡¯t fuck with VRL. With the ¡®spies¡¯ identified and removed, the office settled down into a positive andfortable environment.


    Beyond the doors was arge room with arge round table in the center. Chairs circled the table with aptop docking station before each. Some sat in their assigned chairs, while a group of executives stood by the sideboard pouring themselves a cup of coffee, tea, orange juice, or spring water. There was a selection of cookies as well.


    Today¡¯s would be his first executive meeting as Henry Gable. During his time at VRL as Stanley Garin, there hadn¡¯t been an executive boardroom to have the meetings in as he¡¯d been busy converting it into the new server room. So during that time, Cam had resorted to one on one meetings or small group meetings in her office. He hadn¡¯t attended any of the group ones, so this was a novelty for him.


    ¡°Henry! Good morning!¡±


    He smiled as he turned to face Sigrid Gunderan, VRL¡¯s head of Human Resources. Tall, broad-shouldered and powerfully muscled, she¡¯d lost none of her dazzling femininity for her size, in his opinion. The woman¡¯s blue eyes shed with happiness as she smiled at his enthralled gaze. Her long blond hair was pulled back in herplex and lovely braid, bound by the gold cylinder swinging behind her.


    ¡°Good to have you,¡± she said.


    ¡°How was the HR Conference? Florida, right?¡± he asked.


    She grimaced and shivered. ¡°I have no idea why those hotel conference rooms have to be so damn cold! I get it! The state is sunny and hot, but that doesn¡¯t mean they need to ovepensate by setting the thermostats so bloody low inside!¡±


    He grinned at her then made a pouty face of false sympathy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me bite that lower lip,¡± she growled quietly for just the two of them to hear.


    A flush appeared on Henry¡¯s face as he nced at the others.


    She gave him a yful grin and headed over to her seat.


    Henry smiled to Eve Summerly, their new CFO. For a second, he wondered if he was smiling at Anna Summerly instead. He couldn¡¯t tell the twins apart as they looked, spoke, behaved, and even dressed identically. Luckily aside from this one entricity, they were excellent at their jobs, and the ounting Department staff were all very happy with their new leader and her personal assistant.


    The previous CFO had been a bit of a tyrant apparently and was embezzling from thepany. When he was Stanley, he¡¯d somehow helped flush him out, though they never really exined to himhowhe¡¯d helped. Honestly, he didn¡¯t want to know as it probably involved magic and he was still ufortable thinking about how intimately linked he was to the stuff.


    The co-conspirator in the embezzling was Henry¡¯s predecessor, Mr. Hokensev, who was the former CIO. Their conspiracy led thepany into a terrible technical debt with antiquated and cut-rateputer systems and a failingwork. Cam Vimor, VRL¡¯s CEO, brought Stanley into thepany to save them from that fate by taking on the role of CIO and personally designing and building their new systems from the ground up. In short months, he¡¯d reced almost all of their hardware andwork technology and some of the software as well.


    He smiled and sighed as he could almost feel the happy hum of VRL¡¯s new server room on the penthouse level from all the way down here in the basement.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    ¡°That¡¯s a smug smile if I¡¯ve ever seen one.¡±


    Henry turned to see where the snarkyment came from and looked into the smiling eyes of their head of Security, Mr. Duncan. Henry had finally discovered the man had a first name. Roy. While he¡¯d been invited to use it, he still didn¡¯t feelfortable addressing the intimidatinglyrge red-bearded man so informally yet. The dark suits he and his team chose to wear just increased the impression of size and danger.


    ¡°No, it was just a happy one!¡± He gestured to the well-appointed boardroom. ¡°This is a much better use of this space.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure your precious machines are enjoying their lofty new home while we¡¯re stuck down here in the muck,¡± the big man grumbled.


    Surprised, Henry gave a short bark ofughter. He looked around again at the lush appointments. ¡°How could this be considered ¡®muck¡¯? It¡¯s gorgeous!¡±


    ¡°Ay, but ever since I heard you moved the servers to get them above sea level it gives me the willies to be down here!¡± heined. Roy rolled his big shoulders and made his way to his chair.


    Henry looked at the table and wondered where his position was. He spotted a man with salt and pepper hair and dark-rimmed sses waving at him and pointing to a chair next to himself. As he walked over to the chair, he recalled meeting the man while he was doing the upgrades, when he was Stanley. The man held out his hand, and Henry shook it.


    ¡°Hi, Frank Caprelli, Operations,¡± the man said with a broad smile.


    ¡°Hi, Henry Gable, CIO.¡±


    ¡°Shit, do you ever look like Stanley!¡± the man gushed. Then he leaned forward a little to address the woman on Henry¡¯s other side. ¡°Roz! Doesn¡¯t he look like Stanley?¡±


    The woman in question gave Frank an exasperated look then aimed an apologetic smile at Henry. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for your loss. If Frank weren¡¯t such a boob, he¡¯d be sympathetic too.¡±


    ¡°Oh shit, ya,¡± Frank said as his smile dropped away. ¡°It sucks that you meet your brother just to lose him so quick.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. I mean it¡¯s not, but, you know,¡± Henry waffled. He wasn¡¯t good at this. Still, he got a relieved smile from Frank and a warmer smile from the woman who was Siobhan Whn¡¯s boss if he recalled correctly.


    ¡°I¡¯m Rosalind Wingham, Marketing and Communications,¡± she said as she shook his hand.


    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± he replied.


    She passed her eyes over his features as she reminisced. ¡°You know, your brother wasn¡¯t with us for very long, but he did some amazing things for thepany. We¡¯re all in his debt.¡±


    Henry smiled and nodded as he squirmed inside. He felt weird hearing this praise and didn¡¯t know how to react. He just did his best and stayed silent. That seemed good enough.


    He looked around the table and saw Myron Glickman was next to Rosalind. He led the Auditing Department. There was also an external auditing team, but they didn¡¯t attend the executive meetings.


    In the next chair sat Akshay Bhatt, Head of Compliance. Henry hadn¡¯t spoken with him yet. Then Mr. Duncan, Sigrid, two empty chairs, Eve Summerly, Noah De Hann who was VRL¡¯s in-house legal counsel and someone else he hadn¡¯t spoken with, and back to Frank.


    The far doors pushed open, and Cam entered, striding forward with energy and purpose. Her eyes locked on Henry¡¯s for a moment and he felt the heat in that look all the way down his torso to his balls. There was just the hint of a smile on her lips, and his mind shed back to their reunion when he returned from Irnd. He had no doubt she was thinking of it at this moment too.


    She was every bit as gorgeous as she had been the first day he met her in this very location, not that long ago really. Raven haired and stunningly beautiful from her dark eyes to her sensual lips, and her curves to drive a man to distraction. She stood six foot tall in the designer two-inch heels she preferred. Her crisp business suit spoke of style and sophistication, her keenly intelligent gaze demanded your respect and attention, yet the raw sensuality she exuded promised- ah, Henry had to turn his mind from that.


    His eyes caught motion behind her, and he was surprised to see a face he¡¯d never seen before. The woman was maybe 5¡ä 8¡å and her suit jacket, crisp white blouse, and skirt spoke of fine tailoring and money; as did the ring on her right hand. The sheer quantity ofrge, shimmering diamonds clustered on that one piece of jewelry was daunting. Henry¡¯s ears picked up the gentle tones of the dozen or so fine gold wrist bangles she wore.


    She was of Indian descent and truly lovely with an odd intensity. Her skin was cinnamon toned, and she kept her gleaming, straight ck hair loose. It hung down to just above her ass. Her features were fine with dark brows above dark brown intense eyes. Gold framed rectangr sses perched on a slim nose adorned with a small gold stud on the left side. Henry thought she might be wearing the sses in an attempt to tone down the intensity of her eyes which almost, almost seemed to be glowing slightly. She wore deep red lipstick on her full lips which were currently frowning slightly.


    Henry picked up the distinct impression that she wasn¡¯t exactly happy to be here.


    Cam gestured to the chair next to the CFO for the new woman then took her own. When Mahati sat, the CEO addressed her people.

 75

    ¡°Good morning, everyone. I have two introductions to make before we get started. I know I mentioned most of this in the note I sent outst Friday, but I¡¯m making it official here. I¡¯d like to wee Henry Gable, brother of our dear departed Stanley Garin. He will be taking over as our CIO, and we look forward to working with him.¡±


    There was a polite round of apuse while Henry smiled and nodded, experiencing a surreal out of body sensation of watching people he knew, weing him for the first time. He wasn¡¯t sure how many of VRL¡¯s executives were members of the Hidden Races so, following the rules, he acted like no one was and kept his mouth shut!


    ¡°Next, I¡¯d like to introduce VRL¡¯s new external legal counsel. Mahati Chandra will be taking over Walter Zhou¡¯s efforts on our behalf. She will also work with Noah and his team.¡±


    There was another round of apuse which received the merest of acknowledgment from thewyer.


    Cam nced at the woman questioningly, but Mahati simply raised an eyebrow slightly in return.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s get started,¡± Cam said turning her gaze back to the team.


    Henry was excited to be involved in his first executive meeting, but that enthusiasm quickly waned as the discussion turned to a recent review of risk analysis and fund management.


    ¡°Henry? We keeping you awake?¡±


    He jolted in his chair as he¡¯d been falling asleep. ¡°NNN! Sorry, I didn¡¯t sleep wellst night.¡± He blinked at the others. ¡°Too excited about my first day of work.¡±


    That generated a burst ofughter from the others and his face pinked up.


    The conversation continued, but this time Henry concentrated on just staying awake.


    Finally, Cam finished going through her agenda and sat back to smile at Sigrid. ¡°Time for question period. If you have anything, you¡¯d like to say or questions to ask, fire away. We¡¯ll go around the table starting with Sigrid. Take it away.¡±


    The blond smiled at her friend. ¡°I only have a request for everyone to follow up on the email I sent outst week regarding the vacation offenders. These people haven¡¯t taken their allotted vacation days, and that¡¯s an issue for them as well as us. Please speak with your staff identified on the report and get them to use up those outstanding days. Thank you.¡± Several people made a note to do this.


    ¡°Mr. Duncan?¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Everything is good. We¡¯re getting in a shipment of thermal imaging cameras this week and to ensure coverage; we¡¯ll be running extra shifts while the old cameras are reced. We¡¯ll try to keep the overtime to a minimum.¡± He included thatst part for the CFO as she was looking at him questioningly. She nodded happily.


    As it was his turn, Akshay just shook his head as did Myron next to him. Rosalind smiled at Cam and over at Henry. ¡°One of our Junior Marketing Associates made the observation that our marketing kits are outdated in that they fail to reflect the modernpany that we¡¯ve be. With our state of the artwork security and all the improvements being made to manage our client¡¯s data we can and should be presenting these features in our marketing material.¡±


    Cam frowned. ¡°Won¡¯t drawing attention to ourwork security just make us a target?¡± She looked to Henry.


    He nced over at the hopeful expression on Rosalind¡¯s face then back to Cam. ¡°It might. Our firewall addresses most current hacking methods, but we¡¯re still partially vulnerable to DOS attacks-¡± He immediately caught the annoyed look appearing on Cam¡¯s face. ¡°A ¡®Denial of Service¡¯ attack. A flood of meaningless requests that tie up our connections to prevent legitimate traffic from reaching our servers. To mitigate this vulnerability we¡¯ve got redundant connections through three providers. The ¡®N¡¯ Dimensional Labyrinth in our firewall is configured to identify and iste DOS attackers into a holding pen, rerouting valid traffic inwards and responding outbound through the alternate connection. Customers on the affected inbound connection will experience a slowing of their ess purely due to the increased volume. I- This has been tested, and ording to Stanley¡¯s records, it works.¡±


    He mped his mouth shut as he¡¯d almost slipped.


    ¡°So¡­ are you saying you¡¯d befortable with letting Marketing publicly make ims of our security measures?¡± Cam pushed.


    Henry looked over at Mr. Duncan whose face showed his disapproval. He knew the man was right, but there was also something to be said for tooting your own horn to drum up business. He caught Roy¡¯s eyes rolling as the man read the smileing to his lips.


    ¡°Yes. Let me know when it reaches the public, and I¡¯ll keep an eye on the traffic analysis tools to see if there¡¯s any subsequent increase in suspect traffic,¡± Henry said to Cam and Rosalind. The Marketing exec grinned happily at him, and he heard Mr. Duncan sigh.


    ¡°Henry, do you have any questions or statements for your first exec meeting?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m good. Thanks!¡± Henry replied with a smile.


    Frank had nothing to add or ask and it went to Noah who weed Mahati and learned they¡¯d be meeting in the afternoon.


    Then it was Eve¡¯s turn. She looked to Henry with a hopeful smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been asked to find out if you were aware of some programming Mr. Garin was doing for the Investment Managers.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll bepleting that work,¡± Henry said with a nod.


    Eve¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Excellent. We assume you¡¯ll need time to get familiar with the code and to grasp the changes Mr. Garin had intended so when should I tell them you n to roll out the changes?¡±


    ¡°It should be ready in a week or two,¡± he said.


    Eve blinked in surprise. ¡°A week or two?¡±


    ¡°Are they in a hurry? I don¡¯t think I can do it any quicker than that,¡± Henry exined with a concerned expression.


    ¡°No! No, that¡¯s quick enough! It¡¯s just sooner than I expected,¡± she eximed.


    ¡°Oh, well, I¡¯m a quick study, and I like programming¡­ and stuff,¡± Henry said stumbling to a halt. Fuck, he hated this.


    Eve just sent him a smile then indicated to the CEO that she had nothing further to say.


    Attention turned to their newwyer as it was her turn to speak. ¡°If the meeting to discuss VRL¡¯s in-house business has concluded, I would like to speak with Ms. Vimor, Ms. Gunderan, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Gable privately please.¡±


    Cam frowned but nodded. ¡°Meeting adjourned. Thank you, people.¡±


    The executives not mentioned in Mahati¡¯s list stood and with a few nces back at her made their way out of the meeting room.


    When the door closed, Cam pressed a control on the table before her, and there was a detectable pressure change in the room¡¯s air.


    ¡°Ok, we are in private mode, and the door is locked,¡± Cam stated and turned to look at Mahati. ¡°I had hoped we would have a more civil rtionship with our new external counsel. You¡¯ve been abrupt to the point of being rude, and I don¡¯t know where this attitude ising from.¡±


    Mahati looked down at the surface of the table and seemed to be collecting herself. She took off her sses, folded them, and ced them on the desk before her. When she looked up at Cam, Henry once more swore he could see a slight glow to her eyes as the whites were so brightpared to her dark irises.


    ¡°Please make no mistake. I am not VRL¡¯s legal counsel by choice but by necessity. There has been a shocking disregard for ourws perpetrated by this very group. The Hidden Races Council is well within their rights to take steps to sanction every one of you but especially Mr. Gable.¡± She finished by pointing an using finger at Henry who stared back at her in surprise.


    ¡°I was appointed your legal counsel by the Hidden Races Council to ensure ourws are upheld and we contain the chaos that has ensued since the arrival of Mr. Gable or rather Mr. Garin,¡± Mahati said tersely.


    ¡°Well, now that we know we¡¯re all just a big happy family, Henryd,e sit next to me. There¡¯s no sense in you being off all alone over there,¡± Roy said, gesturing for him to move.


    Henry stood and walked over to sit in the chair next to the big redhead who smiled at him. Henry saw that Sigrid and Cam were smiling at him as well, but the CEO¡¯s expression turned grim once more as she turned back to Mahati.


    ¡°If we¡¯d broken anyws of the Hidden Races we¡¯d already be in custody or dead. If you¡¯re here to try to intimidate us with vague usations, don¡¯t bother. We¡¯ve had to deal with far bigger fish than you in thest few months, we¡¯re a little tired of it, and would like to get back to living normal lives, thank you very much.¡± Cam said with steely calm.


    Something red in the eyes of thewyer. ¡°Fish? Youpare me to fish?!?¡±


    She suddenly stood, forcing her chair to roll back. There was a sh of light and in the ce of the lovely Indian woman stood something Henry had never encountered before.


    Her head and upper torso were still human shaped- except for her second set of arms. From the waist down, however, that¡¯s where Henry¡¯s mind had to give up on his old human preconceived notions of ¡®normal¡¯ and ¡®reality¡¯ and just ept that the coils of a veryrge snake couldplete someone¡¯s lower half.


    ¡°TheN¨¡ga, to this day, are revered as gods! We defined the veryws we live by today! We¡¯ve held the highest positions of authority in every level of the Hidden Races Council since its inception!¡±


    Cam rxed back in her chair. ¡°Am I speaking to one of the original N¨¡ga?¡±


    Thewyer shifted on her thick, muscr coils. ¡°What? No, I am the great-great-grand-daughter of-¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve had to deal directly with Baba Yaga and Queen Mab. They trumpgreat-great-grand-daughter of someone important.¡± Cam interrupted, and Mahati¡¯s mouth snapped shut. Her eyes suddenly began to glow, and everyone was up and out of their chairs walking backward away from the enraged female. mor¡¯s dropped, and a Subus, Valkyrie, and Werewolf faced off against the N¨¡ga.

 76

    Then there was Henry. He continued to sit and stare at this new amazing being. He was more than a little mesmerized by the shimmering colors of the sari she wore over her upper half and the gleaming deep green, blue and gold-flecked scales on her snake lower half. Her lustrous ck hair rose up and fanned out behind her head much like a cobra¡¯s hood.


    ¡°You will show me the proper respect, or I will make you understand the severity of your mistake,¡± she hissed at the three before her.


    Threatening his friends was a ssh of reality to clear Henry¡¯s dazed brain. He frowned and stood as well, switching into his Satyr form in a blink.


    Glowing eyes twitched to him, and he saw them widen.


    ¡°It¡¯s true¡­¡± Mahati murmured as she scanned his body top to bot- Her eyes stopped at his very obvious nudity.


    ¡°Damn it, Henry! Can¡¯t you wear pants, underwear, even a fucking apron to hide that thing?¡± Roy growled in annoyance.


    He looked down and groaned. ¡°Oh sorry, I forgot to put my kilt on this morning before I switched.¡±


    He looked up to see Mahati muttering something as her four hands made odd and intricate gestures. The small hairs on his neck began to stand on end as he felt the energies building. He found himself stepping forward to reach out and grab her hands just as she brought her lefts and rights together.


    ¡°NO!¡± Cam screamed, but it was toote.


    The spell Mahati had primed copsed as Henry¡¯s tight grip broke her control over it. The resulting st wave of energy exploded outwards, tossing Henry and Mahati away from each other.


    Sigrid snapped her shield in ce just as she pulled Cam to her side. The wave deflected around them, but Roy was blown back against the wall and fell to the floor unconscious.


    The moment it passed, Cam¡¯s ws were out, and she was striding towards Mahati with murderous intent. Sigrid¡¯s cooler mind prevailed, and she stopped her friend from gutting thegreat-great-grand-daughter of someone important. They stared down at the N¨¡gi and saw she was breathing but out cold.


    They moved to Roy and saw he wasing around. He appeared uninjured aside from a nasty bump on the head. His rapid healing response would take care of that, so he waved them off as he got to his feet holding his head.


    Henry had tumbled head over hooves to stop against the far wall of the room. Cam and Sigrid knelt on either side of him and gently eased his heavy body away from the wall andid him out on the soft carpet.


    ¡°How are his hands?¡± Sigrid asked. She was worried he would have deep burns.


    Cam gently turned his palm upwards, but there wasn¡¯t a mark on him. Sigrid found the same thing on his other hand.


    ¡°How does he do that?¡± The tall blond said as she looked across his body to her friend.


    ¡°It¡¯s the second time I¡¯ve heard of him blocking magic. The first time was with Yuko-¡±


    ¡°YUKO!¡± Henry yelped as he suddenly sat up, causing Cam and Sigrid to fall back onto their butts. He hissed and shook his hands as they were tingling badly, like hundreds of tiny needles were pricking them.


    He nced over to look at the twodies staring back at him in surprise. ¡°Are you ok?¡± he asked.


    Sigrid climbed to her feet and moved to help Cam up. She looked back at Henry who remained sitting on the floor. He was rubbing his hands on his legs and grimacing. ¡°We¡¯re fine. What¡¯s wrong withyou?¡±


    ¡°Feels like my hands fell asleep. They¡¯re all prickly! What happened?¡± he asked as they helped him stand.


    ¡°You don¡¯t remember grabbing Mahati¡¯s hands as she prepared tounch a spell?¡± Cam said then swatted his shoulder in frustration. ¡°You have to stop doing that!¡±


    Henry blinked at her and rubbed his shoulder. ¡°I- I don¡¯t remember doing that.¡±


    Sigrid shared a worried nce with Cam and led them back to stand next to Mahati who was beginning to show signs of waking.


    ¡°O¡­¡± the prone N¨¡gi moaned. She lifted her hands, all four of them, and they looked badly sunburned.


    ¡°What spell were you trying to cast on Henry?¡± Cam asked calmly.


    Mahati suddenly sat up and looked around wildly. Her eyes stopped when they found Henry standing before her with a concerned look on his face. He showed no signs of damage yet her hands felt like they were on fire! She winced and shrank back from him. With her hands in this condition, she couldn¡¯t use her magic. ¡°What are you?!?¡± she whimpered.


    He nced at Sigrid in confusion then back at the N¨¡ga. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m a Satyr. The only one.¡±


    Sigrid stepped a little closer and red at her. ¡°You see now? He¡¯s immune to your magic so no more stupid stunts like that one. Got it?¡± she barked, and Mahati nodded pitifully.


    ¡°Are you going to be ok?¡± Henry asked gently, and she looked into his eyes for a moment before nodding.


    ¡°You are¡­ not what I expected,¡± she said quietly. ¡°My sister said you were¡­ kind. I did not believe her.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows went up. He¡¯d met her sister?Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Cam frowned and nodded. ¡°Yet you seemed to be ready for a fight the moment you arrived. Care to exin why?¡±


    Mahati collected her thoughts and coiled her tail underneath herself. This raised her head slightly above the others which made her feel a little better. ¡°The Hidden Races Council came to my family to ask my mother to take the position of VRL¡¯s external legal counsel. She refused as was her right, being the matriarch of the family and far too important to work for apany as insignificant as VRL.¡± Cam bristled but held her tongue. ¡°Instead, I was appointed in her ce.¡± Mahati took a deep breath and continued. ¡°I- I¡¯ve never worked outside of the family practice. I¡¯m an expert in corporate and civilw, both Human and Hidden Races but¡­ I¡¯ve never worked directly with a client before. I read the dossier and familiarized myself with the case and¡­ I thought I understood the threat Mr. Gable represented for the stability of our society-¡±


    ¡°So you thought you¡¯d just take him out quick with a lethal spell and solve everyone¡¯s troubles, especially your own,¡± Sigrid growled and saw from thewyer¡¯s widening eyes that she¡¯d gotten it right. The Valkyrie¡¯s armor snapped into ce flooding the room with light. The spear looked especially intimidating in her fist.


    ¡°Sigrid! Please! Put your weapons away. There¡¯s been enough violence today, and it¡¯s not even lunch-time yet!¡± Henry pleaded. ¡°She made a mistake. She paid for it. Let¡¯s put it behind us and move forward.¡± He turned his eyes to Mahati. ¡°Please don¡¯t try to kill me anymore. I¡¯m not a bad guy. I only want to live my life in peace. There was also some stuff missing in that file like if you kill me, the Fae race might perish as well.¡±


    Her eyes flew wide, and he realized he was right about the file.


    ¡°What? How?¡± thewyer gasped.


    Henry looked ufortable as Cam and Sigrid were scowling at him. He was speaking on things he was not allowed to discuss. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve said more than the Council allows. Just believe me when I say there would be unexpected ramifications. As Sigrid said, it wouldn¡¯t have worked anyway so- moot point.¡±


    Mahati looked like a light breeze might knock her over. She looked between them and sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve made such a mess of this so far. Mother is going to be most upset with me.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to say anything,¡± Henry said and looked into the eyes of Cam, Sigrid and Mr. Duncan who wore a frown on his face but nodded to show he agreed.


    ¡°There is still the matter of my burns. I can¡¯t hide these,¡± Mahati moaned.


    ¡°That¡¯s something you¡¯ll need to deal with on your own. You could go to the Fae as they have excellent healers. Just don¡¯t tell them what you were trying to do when you got hurt,¡± Cam suggested.


    She nodded, and once more a sh of light preceded her switch back to her disguise. Everyone followed suit until only humanity was represented in the room. ¡°I¡¯ll have to postpone my meeting with Mr. De Hann,¡± she said gesturing to her hands.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let him know,¡± Cam said and received a nod.


    Mahati began to turn then looked back. ¡°Should either Baba Yaga or Queen Mab attempt to contact you, you must contact me immediately as your legal representative. This is mandatory as a condition of Mr. Gable¡¯s ongoing freedom.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Sigrid growled. ¡°There can be no conditions on his freedom!¡±


    ¡°By order of the Hidden Races Council, this condition has been invoked. If you¡¯d like to protest, you may bring your concerns to the attention of the senior members,¡± thewyer stated. She looked into Henry¡¯s eyes once more, then nodded to him and walked from the room with as much dignity as she could. She had to deactivate the lock with her elbow; then she was gone.


    Once the door closed, Henry looked at the unhappy faces of the others.


    ¡°I knew they were acting too supportive. I should have known there¡¯d be a cost,¡± Cam said quietly.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem too daunting a request,¡± Henry offered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a request! It¡¯s a condition. Just the first of many until you have no freedom left at all,¡± Roy grumbled. ¡°If we don¡¯t find a way to get them to back off and I meanpletely, they won¡¯t stop until you are locked away in a dark pit somewhere, drugged and paralyzed.¡±


    Henry looked at the big man in dismay. ¡°Damn, that¡¯s pretty grim.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but it¡¯s a possible oue,¡± the security man said.


    ¡°So my new allies are worse than the Fae?¡± Henry said with a scowl.


    Cam sighed and shared a look with her chief of security. ¡°That¡¯s one oue and a dark one at that, but that¡¯s what makes Roy so good at his job. He sees potentialities that others block from their perceptions. That doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s right in this instance. That may be a long way down the line, but I agree that we need to take steps now to show conditions are not eptable.¡±


    Henry looked at the others in dismay. ¡°Can¡¯t I just go back to being a CIO and keep my head down?¡±


    Sigrid looked at him fondly and nodded. ¡°Why don¡¯t you head back upstairs and get back to that.¡±


    He gave her a grateful smile, nodded to Cam and Roy, grabbed hisptop and hustled away.


    He left before they could change their minds.


    Once the door closed again, Cam turned to Sigrid. ¡°Would Henry have been immune to the N¨¡ga¡¯s spell?¡±


    Sigrid shook her head doubtfully. ¡°The energy she was channeling would have blown a hole through the back wall after incinerating him if she¡¯d managed to focus it. I don¡¯t know how Henry did it, but he was damn lucky to defocus her spell when he did.¡± She gave them a grim look. ¡°But she now thinks he¡¯s immune so she won¡¯t try again.¡±

 77

    Cam frowned as she looked at her two friends. ¡°I feel like we messed up in protecting Henry but how could we have known the legal representative the Council appointed would try to assassinate him?¡±


    ¡°Ay, we couldn¡¯t. Sometimes luck ys a greater part than strategy. And luck, good and bad, circle thed like vultures.¡± Roy said with a scowl and took some deep breaths to settle his nerves.


    Cam nodded. ¡°Ok, put some thought into how we can get the Hidden Race Council to back off on their conditions. We will meet again at the end of the day to brainstorm.¡±


    Roy and Sigrid nodded, and the three headed upstairs to begin their regr duties.


    It was just a regr business day after all.


    **********


    ¡°Who¡¯s fucking with the satellite imagery? I swear to God if the guilty party doesn¡¯t step forward and confess to creating these creative little masterpieces I will hunt you down and grind your balls under my sharp, pointy heels!¡±


    The room went silent. Nervous eyes looked over monitors at Janice Whetstone, Director of the Climate Research Division of the EPA as she fumed from the doorway. Half of the technicians in the room were female, and even they were worried about that threat.


    ¡°Nobody? No modern-day Rembrandts want to confess to doctoring satellite images from thest run?¡± Janice asked with a sweet tone that fooled no one. She noted evident shock in the eyes of several of the techs as they heard the crime. She frowned when she felt the light touch on her arm. She turned to see a messenger in the hall. He handed her a folded piece of paper and made his escape. Janice read the paper, and her frown deepened.


    When she turned her attention back to the team, they hid a little farther behind their monitors.


    ¡°I was just informed that some older images as far back as three weeks ago show the same doctoring. All images are now being reviewed to determine the true scope of this little sabotage!¡± the Director raged.


    ¡°Director Whetstone! Please join me in my office,¡± a voice said from behind her.


    She turned to see Rick Mondeyo, the department manager standing behind her. He was a big man and very dark skinned. Handsome in a swarthy ethnic way. The man was in jeans, a t-shirt, and sandals. Not office attire but then she recalled he was off this week.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you on vacation?¡± she said tersely, doing her best to ignore his dark eyes, sexy mouth and how tight those jeans were!


    He nodded and gestured for her to precede him down the hall. He leaned in the doorway and saw many grateful smiles.


    ¡°Debs, join us please.¡±


    The tech in question gave him a deer in the headlights look as all eyes turned to her. He shook his head reassuringly and gestured for her to join him. She popped up from her chair and rushed after him and the Director who was almost at his door already.


    Rick let them inside, flipped on the light and moved around his desk to turn on hisputer. He gestured for Janice to take a seat and indicated to the tech to stand by. He logged in to his PC and got it into the Archive application. Then he turned his attention back to the Director.


    ¡°I have ess to the raw files that immediately go into the archive. They are undoctored files. The files you and the other directors receive have been processed but never doctored.¡± He held up his hand to forestall her protest. ¡°Please give me the file ID so I can find the source file.¡±


    She read out the ID, and he ran a cross-check to find its source. He then pulled a copy of the raw file to his local desktop. He also copied the digital version of the file she had in her hand.


    ¡°Could you get the light, Debs?¡± he asked as he turned on the ceiling mounted projector which lit up one of his walls. His desktop projected on the wall. He opened the raw image file in his editor then the processed one. Next, he gestured for Debs to sit at his desk before the PC.


    He looked to the woman seated across the desk from him. ¡°Which quadrant of the image had the anomalous artifacts?¡±


    Janice snorted at his dancing around the issue, but she looked to the photo and read out the numbers.


    ¡°This is the digital file which produced the photo you hold,¡± he said then turned to his tech. Receiving a nod from Rick, Debs pulled up the area of the photo and made a noise of surprise. There in the sky above southern Missouri was a strangely crooked rainbow giving birth to a bright white cloud. To the west of the rainbow, open skies. To the right were several big fluffy white clouds spreading out in a triangr formation.


    ¡°Magnify this quadrant to look for artifacts,¡± Rick said to the tech.


    ¡°Artifacts?¡± Janice asked.


    ¡°All of the tools used for manipting digital images leave some form of ¡®evidence¡¯ behind-¡±


    The tech was shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t see any artifacts, but someone could have pixel painted these, sir. That doesn¡¯t leave artifacts.¡±


    Rick looked at his worker doubtfully.


    ¡°Well?¡± Janice asked belligerently, hearing a possibility of sabotage.


    ¡°Debs, how many pixels in the affected area of this image?¡± he asked.


    She zoomed out and selected the area containing the anomaly. ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°What does ¡®Oh¡¯ mean?¡± Janice said testily.


    Debs looked up at her boss. ¡°Too many pixels to have done it manually.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. There would be no way someone could have used that method to alter the images in the time between image capture and archiving. These are unaltered files. The anomaly is there, and the image you are seeing is a faithful copy of what was happening in the sky over Missouri. No one doctored the images you reviewed. I can¡¯t exin what you see but- it is what it is!¡±


    Debs snorted at her boss¡¯ weak joke then wiped the smile from her face seeing the hostile frown on the Director¡¯s face.


    Janice huffed. She¡¯d wanted to get to the bottom of this and return to her superiors with a simple answer. She also really wanted to dish out some punishment. Frustrated, she turned her attention to the hunk of manliness next to her. She didn¡¯t have to leave empty-handed. She opened her mouth to invite him to dinner.


    ¡°If that¡¯s everything, I have to get back to my niece¡¯s birthday party. My boyfriend was so upset that I left it toe here,¡± Rick sighed.


    Janice¡¯s mouth snapped shut as her expression soured. With a brief nod, she quickly walked from his office to head back to hers.


    Debs was looking up at her boss in surprise. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had a boyfriend!¡±


    Rick leaned over to shut down his PC, gestured for the woman to proceed him out of his office, and locked the door. Then he turned to face her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t. Janice isn¡¯t worthy of this,¡± Rick said, gesturing to his body with a coy smile and headed home. Debs aimed her enormous grin at his back.


    She turned and sprinted back to her team. She just had to share.


    -=-


    Sigrid was worn out after a long day. The encounter with Ms. Chandra at the exec meeting had been stressful but trying to work out a solution to get the Council to back off on putting conditions on Henry¡¯s freedom had been worse. They hadn¡¯t made any progress in their brainstorming session in Cam¡¯s office, so they decided to call it a day.


    She smiled to herself as she climbed the stairs to her home. It was no longer a big empty home.


    She opened the door with her key and smiled at the young woman standing in the entryway.


    ¡°Good evening, Meixiu.¡±


    ¡°Good evening, Sigrid,¡± the petite Chinese woman said with a smile and a bow. ¡°How was your day?¡±


    Sigrid locked the door and smiled at the seemingly young woman before her wearing her new favorite garb, an oversized t-shirt and yoga pants. Meixiu had the outward appearance of someone in her early 20¡¯s, but she¡¯d been alive since sometime in thete eighteen hundreds. As a vampire, she was ¡®gifted¡¯ with an extraordinarily long life.


    Walter Zhao, VRL¡¯s previous legal representative, had been a dragon, another long-lived race. He¡¯d epted Meixiu as a gift from her parents when she was a young child. He proceeded to bring her to America, enved her in his mansion, and trained her to be his servant. When she reached her twenties, he¡¯d arranged to have her infected with a vampire virus to lock her biologically at his preferred age. That process was horrifying and excruciatingly painful but Walter wanted it, so it was done.


    The virus was thest vestige of an extinct Hidden Race. While only Humans could be infected, it was the virus that linked the host to the realm of magic and gave them abilities and long lives. The moment Walter was sure the infection had taken hold, he¡¯d ced a curse upon her to take away her sight. She¡¯d spent the next century in the dark.


    Some of the¡­ tasks Walter had given her during that time horrified Sigrid when she¡¯d heard of them. Each time she recalled them she reced the thoughts with the satisfying memory of driving her spear through Walter¡¯s brain and watching the life fade from his eyes.


    For all the horrors she¡¯d been through, Meixiu was a kind and gentle soul. She¡¯d never let Walter change her basic core values, and as long as she was obedient, he didn¡¯t care what she did or was.


    Sigrid had been introducing her to present day life and guiding her in how to function in it in the hopes she might learn to be independent.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

 78

    ¡°My day was tiring,¡± she said with a smile as she walked into her living room and dropped onto the couch. Meixiu followed her in and sat a short distance away. ¡°We met VRL¡¯s new external legal representative. Mahati Chandra. She¡¯s a N¨¡ga, a wielder and a strong one at that. She was directed by the Council to contain Henry. Instead, she decided that immediately eliminating him would serve the greater good.


    ¡°NO!¡± Meixiu gasped.


    Sigrid held up her hands to calm the woman. ¡°Henry¡¯s fine. He grabbed her hands as she was about to release the spell and- broke it? I¡¯m not even sure how to describe what he did. The energies just copsed into a wave of force. Knocked Mahati and Henry away from each other to the outer edges of the room. Knocked them both out but Henry had no injuries at all. Mahati¡¯s hands received burns. She¡¯ll need healing.¡±


    ¡°You did not kill her for attacking Henry?¡± Meixiu asked in surprise.


    ¡°It was tempting, but Henry defused the tension in the room. Promises were made to y nice from now on. Mahati was impressed in spite of herself,¡± Sigrid said with a small smile on her lips.


    Meixiu smiled happily. ¡°Henry is a good man!¡±


    Sigrid nodded and smiled in return. ¡°Yes, he is. Now, how was your day?¡±


    ¡°The shortwave radio you bought for me was very entertaining! I found some¡­ stations?¡± She looked to Sigrid and received a nod. ¡°¡­ where they spoke a dialect close to my originalnguage. The television was a less entertaining experience. I do not understand why people find improper behavior so enticing. Bad people get rewarded while virtuous people get treated so poorly.¡±


    Sigrid nodded unhappily. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a sickness in this culture.¡±


    ¡°Are you hungry? I prepared your dinner. It¡¯s being kept warm in the oven,¡± Meixiu said with a smile.


    Sigrid returned her smile. ¡°You know I don¡¯t expect you to cook for me. You¡¯re my guest, not my servant.¡± She looked around and saw not a speck of dust, and everything ced just so. Neat and clean.


    ¡°This is why it gives me such pleasure to do this for you! You¡¯ve been so good to me! This is the least I can do to repay you,¡± Meixiu gushed.


    ¡°There is no need but thank you!¡± Sigrid pushed herself to her feet and made her way into the kitchen where Meixiu slipped on the oven mitts and moved her dinner te from the oven to the small table by the back window.


    ¡°May I give you a hug?¡± Sigrid asked as she stood next to the table.


    Meixiu¡¯s face lit up with a happy smile, and she moved into the tall blonde¡¯s embrace.


    Once the hug ended, Sigrid sat and began to enjoy the meal. Meixiu was an excellent cook.


    ¡°This is so good! Thank you! Are you going out for your own meal tonight?¡± she asked the petite woman. Meixiu only went out once or twice a week. Sigrid had trained her as best she could on avoiding being seen by security cameras and quickly discovered Meixiu was an expert at not being seen when she didn¡¯t want to be. Just part of a Vampire¡¯s skillset.


    They¡¯d also discussed who was a viable target for meals. Meixiu got particr satisfaction from hunting those who preyed on the weak. Aiming for the criminal element, Meixiu walked through some dangerous areas. If a mugger or rapist tried to attack her, she sprung her trap. She never took more than a few mouthfuls from her targets. In the morning they would wake, naked in an alley with no memory of her or what happened the night before. Meixiu was particrly sensitive to rape and when these monsters woke they¡¯d find their balls had been tied off very tightly with a small silk ribbon. That damage was irreversible. Much like rape.


    The petite beauty nodded happily to Sigrid.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stay out toote,¡± Sigrid said as she extended her wrist out to Meixiu. ¡°Be sharp out there.¡±


    Gently holding Sigrid¡¯s arm in her hands, she pressed her lips to the inner wrist and darted her tongue over the skin there, numbing it. A sharp prick from one of her razor-sharp fangs started the flow of blood. She drank a small amount then pressed her tongue once more against her skin and the healing enzymes sealed the wound. She finished by kissing the tender flesh. ¡°Thank you!¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Sigrid pulled her arm back as tingles ran down her spine. She insisted Meixiu ¡®top up¡¯ from her before heading out as the Wild Magic in her blood supercharged the girl¡¯s awareness and this protected her on her hunts.


    ¡°When will you be visiting Henry again?¡± Meixiu said with a sly smile.


    Sigrid gaped at her in surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Your energy levels seem to be a little low.¡±


    Sigridughed as Meixiu slipped out the back door with a grin.


    She very much enjoyed sharing her home with the cheeky girl.


    Going back to her meal, she wondered what Henry was up to now?


    ***************


    Henry rubbed at his eyes and pushed back from his desk. Blinking blearily, he looked at the clock on his screen. 9:43 PM. He frowned. It was just too easy for him to get lost in his work. He barely recalled Marisa telling him she was heading home and he should too as he¡¯d been so deep in the code for the Investment Managers application. He¡¯d finish tomorrow, but he didn¡¯t need to push this hard.


    He saved his work and shut down theptop. He locked it into its base as he wasn¡¯t taking it home tonight. He stood up and stretched his back, giving himself a shake.


    He had to stop doing this. He was slipping into his old patterns. Bing isted by locking himself away with his work. He needed a real life. Bnce.


    Stepping out, he pulled his office door closed and headed out. He smiled and nodded to the two men stationed in the executive level lobby and received the same in return. As security was present, one of the execs must still be working. Then he noticed they were joining him to go down. He was thest exec working tonight!


    As he waited for the elevator, he listened to the men talking andughing about their hunting trip this past weekend, and he felt a familiar longing. A need to belong. He was only beginning to gain eptance in Sandy¡¯s circle of friends but, aside from Roger who still hadn¡¯t warmed up to him, their interest in him was mostly based on physical attraction. He wished he had friends with simr interests. A group he could just hang out with and befortable around.


    He stepped into the elevator, and they followed him in, continuing to talk about their ns. They went down to ground level, and the guards made their way to the Security office with a final wave to him. On his way past the empty reception desk, Henry waved to the security cameras as well.


    The air outside was warm as they were still at the beginning of September. He decided he would do a little shopping. He had to pick up painkillers in case he drank too much again.


    He walked along the street doing a little ¡®people watching¡¯ and saw a few watching him back, which was a new development. When he was Stanley, he never really registered on people¡¯s attention. He kind of preferred that.


    He spotted the 24/7 drug store and made his way inside. He grabbed a basket and began making his way up and down the aisles. He stocked up on shampoo as he had so much more hair now! He¡¯d seriously considered going back to a short haircut, but Marisa, Sigrid, Cam, and Siobhan all emphatically vetoed the idea. They said his long wavy hair was gorgeous and suited his new look far better than short hair would. So, for now, more shampoo.


    In the next aisle, he faced a huge variety of painkillers. He was beginning to get frustrated when he finally spotted a bottle with pills that matched the ones Marisa gave him this morning. That went into his basket too.


    One more aisle and he was standing before a vast array of condoms. He¡¯d promised himself he would get some and he hadn¡¯t yet. If anything should happen between himself and any of thedies in Sandy¡¯s circle he¡¯d be prepared. He had no idea where to start. There were too many options for color, size, thickness, texture, lubricant, non-lubricated, spermicide, and material. His head spun with the choice.


    ¡°You look lost my friend. Maybe I could offer you a little advice?¡±


    Henry turned to look at the man standing next to him. He had a friendly smile, nice eyes and was almost as tall as Henry. He was sharply dressed as if he was on his way to a club which he may well have been as there was one a few doors away.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Yes, please. I¡¯ve no idea which one to choose.¡±


    ¡°Then you are speaking to the right man!¡± came a boisterous voice to Henry¡¯s left.


    Another man dressed for clubbing walked up and threw his arm around his friend¡¯s shoulder as he grinned at Henry. ¡°Nate here should own stock in thesepanies considering how much practical experience he has with their products!¡±


    ¡°Joey! Come on, man! You¡¯re making me sound like a douchebag! Get outa here!¡± Nate growled with a thick but fake New York ent and pushed hisughing friend away. ¡°Why I oughtta!¡± he fake threatened the other man who continued tough and walk away.


    The dark-skinned man looked back at Henry apologetically. ¡°Don¡¯t mind that mentally deficient nutcase. He¡¯s right though. I do know which ones work best.¡±


    Henry smiled at their casualradery and thought that this was exactly what he was missing in his life. He was envious of Nate but looked back at the shelves as he didn¡¯t want the man to see it.


    ¡°Ok, do you have an allergy totex?¡± Nate asked.


    Henry shook his head.


    ¡°I would rmend lubricated and having the spermicide in the lubricant isn¡¯t a bad idea, but regr lube is also fine. Now, unless thedies specifically ask for it, leave the colored ones for the couples looking for ways to add some spice.¡± Nate continued.


    Henry nodded as this was helpful.


    ¡°And speaking of spice, don¡¯t use the condoms which heat up or cool down unless, again, they specifically ask for that. I¡¯ve seen a few women in pain from the chemical heat they add to the condom.¡± Nate pointed to the shelves. ¡°That eliminates these.¡± He gestured to the areas which had the undesirable condoms. ¡°Which leaves these.¡±


    Henry sighed in relief with the greatly reduced selection he now faced.


    ¡°Next question: pickle, banana, or ntain?¡± Nate asked.


    ¡°DUDE! You can¡¯t ask about another dude¡¯s junk!¡± Joey yelled from the end of the aisle.


    ¡°Hey! Then stop asking to see mine!¡± Nate barked back, and several male voices joined in on the ribbing of Joey who took it with a grin and good-natured curses. Henry¡¯s eyes widened as he realized Nate had a posse of friends with him in the store. His envy grew.

 79

    Nate turned back to Henry whose face was a little red. ¡°The condom sizing only matters if you truly are ntain size. Pickle and banana can use a regr sized condom but should never use the ones designed for ntain.¡±


    ¡°Geezus Nate! All this sexy talk is making my pickle stiff!¡± a voice called out from his friends and drewughs.


    Nate just shook his head with a grin. He looked back at Henry curiously.


    Henry just looked at him then pulled a box of 20 lubricated xrge condoms from the shelf and dropped it into his basket.


    ¡°ntain it is. Good for you!¡± Nate said with a sincere smile and picked a box of 6 lubricated regr condoms for himself.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the ntain?¡± a female voice demanded to know from behind Henry.


    ¡°Good evening,dies,¡± Nate said with a rxed smile.


    Henry turned to see two women walking down the aisle towards them. He saw they were dressed for hitting the clubs. Their shimmering skimpy party dresses disyed a lot of skin. They wore lots of jewelry as well. Their glitter eyeshadow was bold colors, too. Henry realized he knew nothing about clubbing.


    The one who spoke was a ck woman with her hair in tight braids that hung down to mid-back and ended with ornate wooden beads which clicked as she moved. Her dress struggled to contain her bounty both upstairs and down.


    Her friend was Hispanic with big hair hanging down to her ass, huge gold hoop earrings, and the roundest breast imnts Henry had ever seen. A gold ne dangled the name ¡®Luna¡¯ just above herdeepcleavage.


    He caught motion from the corner of his eye and saw Nate was pointing to him with a smile.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Really? This white boy is the gifted one?¡± the braided woman said, turning a skeptical expression towards Nate. Her smile suddenly became sultry as she eyed him up and down. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not you?¡±


    Nate smiled and shook his head. ¡°Scouts honor.¡±


    Braidsughed. ¡°Yeah, right. Like you were a boy scout!¡± She looked to the embarrassment on Henry¡¯s face. ¡°Him? I could believe.¡±


    ¡®Luna¡¯ stepped forward to press her tits against Henry¡¯s hard chest muscles as she smiled up at him. ¡°?Vaya, Trissa! I like them innocent!¡±


    He felt an immediate surge in his pants as she rubbed her stiff nipples up and down his chest. Then her hand slipped between them, and she was squeezing his growing erection through his pants.


    ¡°?Dios m¨ªo!¡± she gasped with wide eyes. ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Her expression of surprise became one of wicked delight. ¡°Too bad for you bitch, he¡¯s mine now!¡± She squeezed him between her fingers, and he swelled further. ¡°?Voy a montar tu po tan duro esta noche!¡± she purred.


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t know what you just said, but it sounded very pretty,¡± Henry said then gasped as she rubbed him harder through his pants. Trissa slipped her hand downstairs as well, and the two were rubbing him. In the back of his mind, a hunger was waking, and his body began reacting faster than his brain could keep up. He suddenly felt tingling heat rush down his neck and sides of his torso to spread and pass outwards through his limbs. His eyes held Luna¡¯s and hers instinctively widened as she reacted to the raw need she saw there. She leaned in and inhaled his scent, her eyes ring with a heat of her own.


    Again, motion drew Henry¡¯s eye, and he saw Nate staring at him strangely. He was also leaning towards Henry and¡­ inhaling?


    Trissa, the braids wearer, squeezed herself closer, jostling her friend with a scowl. ¡°Move aside puta! Let me see!¡±


    ¡°Who are you calling puta, bitch? Isaidhe wasmine!¡± Luna snarled as she spun to re at the other woman.


    ¡°Ladies, no need for anger! The night is young. The club is steps away, and we can enjoy ourselves in there-¡± Nate said smoothly, but it was toote. Trissa pped Luna who roared with rage andunched herself at the other. The two grabbed handfuls of each other¡¯s hair. Screams ensued.


    Henry took a step back, then another. His passions surged but not for violence. He wanted nothing to do with this. He saw Nate on the other side of the two women and a group of mening to his rescue.


    How nice it must be to have that. Buddies. Guys to just chill with and who rushed to help whenshit got real. Hisst glimpse of Nate was of him between two friends. He was staring back at Henry in shock and confusion. He was reaching towards Henry.


    Henry frowned sadly and turned to make his way to the cash as two of New York¡¯s finest rushed past him to deal with the mess behind him.


    The heat was still coursing through his body, and he had no idea why he felt this way. He¡¯d never felt like this before! It felt good, but this wasn¡¯t the time or ce. Especially with the cops so close. He had to calm down!


    The clerk stared up at Henry with wide eyes as she rang his items through the checkout. She licked her lips and smiled at him as he paid. Henry suddenly wanted to taste that tongue, and for a moment the woman looked like she might climb over the counter to get to him, but he picked up the shopping bag and rushed from the store.


    Shit! What was going on? A tremor went through his body, and another wave of heat rushed out to the tips of his fingers and toes.


    More officers arrived and rushed inside as Henry walked away. He quickly made his way into the subway and was d the train wasn¡¯t too full.


    He found a seat in the middle of the car, set his shopping bag on hisp, and tucked his head down to keep from looking at anyone else. On the way in he¡¯d noted several young couples in the seats around him but they weren¡¯t looking at him, so he turned his thoughts inward and closed his eyes. He still felt the flush of the heat rushing through his body and radiating from him, and he was almost painfully erect. His need was ring as he struggled to calm himself! He didn¡¯t know what was happening to him but as good as this felt he- Was someone moaning? WHAT THE FUCK!


    Opening his eyes, he nced over his shopping bag at the couples around him. He was stunned to see they were in various states of undress and passionately kissing. The young man and woman closest to him were having sex! She was riding her boyfriend¡¯s cock like a wild thing, and the man was loudly moaning as he squeezed her tits. The others began ripping off their clothes to get to each other as well. Henry watched in dazed amazement as the orgy erupted around him. He throbbed and ached in his pants but made no move to join in. Sighs, moans, and cries of bliss filled the subway car and Henry grit his teeth as his need red once more. Passengers in other cars were watching in shock through the window. Some were taking pictures. He tucked his face closer to his shopping bag to hide.


    When the train finally reached the next station a group of police officers were waiting for them and rushed on board to grab them. Henry was cuffed and hustled off the train as some of the officers began to strip as well. Someone yelled ¡®GAS!¡¯ and there was a panic to get to the stairs.


    Suddenly, a ck female officer who was close to his height took a firm grip on his arm. It was difficult to tell with the vest she was wearing, but he got the impression that she was thick bodied. She was certainly stronger than he was as she roughly pulled him up the stairs and pushed him into the back of her cruiser. She¡¯d taken his shopping bag from him and was standing outside the door looking through the items inside. When she spotted the box of condoms, she looked back in the window at him. He just looked back at her, trying to hide the need in his eyes. She frowned then licked her lips. Henry saw her walk away to speak with one of the other officers. He throbbed and shook as his need pulled at him. Another wave of heat rolled through his body. What the hell was happening to him?


    The front door opened and the officer got in, closing the door with a thump. She gasped and looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes bing a little intense. Then she faced forward, started the cruiser, and pulled away from the curb with a screech of rubber.


    They drove in silence for a while until Henry noticed the residential neighborhood they turned into, not a police station. They also seemed to be going faster than before. ¡°Excuse me, officer? Where are we going?¡± Henry managed.


    She nced at him in the mirror but remained quiet. She drove them into a quiet neighborhood of small single story homes and abruptly pulled into a driveway, taking the cruiser all the way down thene to the backyard.


    Henry¡¯s mind was struggling to surface from his lust, but it still had control of him. If anything it was bing more intense. He knew he should be worried about what she was doing as this was not a police station but somehow he wasn¡¯t picking up a dangerous vibe from her. She was strong and had used her strength to move him around, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any anger in her actions.


    The woman was taking deep breaths in the front seat when she suddenly pushed the door open and got out. She opened his door, and he saw she had his shopping bag in one hand. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the cruiser. He found himself bent over the trunk of the car and her hands were patting his legs as she looked for weapons. He gasped when she groped his cock through his pants.

 80

    ¡°Shit,¡± she sighed quietly, and a tremble went through her body. Then Henry was being pulled upright and marched to the back door of the house. She pushed him against the wall and held him there with one arm as she unlocked the door. Then he was being pushed inside and down a short hallway to the bedroom. The shopping bag hit the floor as she spun him and her mouth was on his. His need red again.


    Her kiss was demanding and almost bruising, but he sucked on her tongue as she undid his belt. She pulled back from the kiss to tug his pants and underwear down.


    She pushed him roughly, and he fell back on the bed. She took a moment to tug off his shoes, pants, and underwear. He looked up at her as he squirmed higher on the bed while she pulled her clothes off. This took a while as she also had a vest on under her uniform. All the while his cock throbbed against his belly, and the internal heat flushed his skin.


    He finally got a good look at her. She had to be 6¡ä with a strong, heavy body, carrying just a little extra weight on her breasts, belly, ass, and thighs. She was not so much fat as thick and solid. She kept her hair short and wore a serious expression. She had a broad nose and full lips which he longed to kiss again. She had to be in her early thirties and had worry lines on her face. As she was a cop in New York, this wasn¡¯t a surprise.


    She was looking more and more desperate to take him and finally tore her panties off.


    ¡°Condom!¡± he croaked from a tight throat, his rational mind scoring that one small victory.


    She bent and ripped open the box, scattering the contents on the floor. She picked up a strip and tore one free, pulling it from the foil package.


    Then she was on the bed rolling the condom over his cock as he gasped and squirmed. She knee walked over his body and sat down to pin his cock to his stomach with her pussy. She stroked him up and down this way as he moaned. Finally, she could wait no longer. She lifted his cock and forced it inside her.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± she gasped as more and more of him slid deep inside. She made grunting noises as she struggled to amodate all of him.


    Henry¡¯s mind filled with the bliss he¡¯d been aching for. His hips began to roll, and this made the woman grunt and move faster. That felt better for him, and his hips rocked more. Soon she was mming her ass down against his pelvis, and he was rocking side to side to keep pace. Henry marveled at her strength as she maintained this high level of effort at a brutal pace for minute after minute.


    ¡°Fuck! Fuck, I¡¯m gonna cum!¡± she suddenly growled.


    He sped up, and she threw her head back as her orgasm struck. She shook and moaned through the waves and gradually folded herself down to rest across his body.


    Henry hadn¡¯t reached his release yet, and his hips continued to roll slowly, sliding himself in and out of her. She sighed and stretched her body against his, and he moved a little faster.


    ¡°Shit, that feels good,¡± she mumbled. She pulled back to look into Henry¡¯s eyes then her mouth was on his again, this time she was sucking on his tongue.


    He wanted to put his hands on her, but cuffs still pinned them behind his back. Instead, he began to bounce her hips against his, pping her clit as he drove himself deeper and deeper.


    ¡°AH! FUCK! FUCK! FFFFFFUUUUCCCKKK!!!¡± she cried out as a second release overwhelmed her. Henry¡¯s orgasm was suddenly right there. The heat flowing through his limbs surged, and he thought he might spontaneously burst into mes. He filled the condom, and he could feel it begin to run up the sides, threatening to spill out inside her. He arched his back and felt himself slip free.


    Henryy panting on the bed as he felt his body slowly returning to normal. The heat inside him ebbed and dissipated, and he felt his mind sharpening once more.


    The woman was also panting and trembling on his chest. She looked him in the eye and guilt suddenly red there. She pulled back and sat on the edge of the bed facing away.


    They were quiet for a while.


    ¡°Shit. Look, I¡¯m sorry. I- I don¡¯t know what came over me,¡± Mary said quietly.


    ¡°Hi, my name is Henry. Henry Gable.¡±


    She looked at him in surprise, snorted softly. A smile finally appeared on her lips. ¡°Mary Carsten.¡± She had nice eyes.


    ¡°Nice to meet you, Mary.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± she asked with a troubled look. ¡°I practically raped you.¡±


    He shook his head briefly. ¡°I never said no or stop, and I certainly didn¡¯t try to stop you, so it wasn¡¯t rape.¡±


    Her eyes took on a stricken look. ¡°You¡¯re not married, are you?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Single. Not even dating.¡±


    She finally smiled in relief and shook her head. ¡°What the hell was that? I¡¯ve never behaved like that before.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, this has never happened to me either,¡± Henry said. ¡°Are you married?¡±


    She looked away. ¡°Separated.¡± She seemed to be collecting herself then she looked at him again. ¡°What about those people on the train?¡±


    ¡°They just spontaneously started having sex. I had my eyes closed at first, so I didn¡¯t see it start,¡± Henry exined.


    She nodded and chuckled. ¡°Some new kind of weird sh mob?¡±


    Henry shrugged. ¡°Can- can you remove the handcuffs now?¡±


    She grinned down at him as she turned her body towards him. ¡°What if I¡¯m not done with you yet?¡±


    He chuckled as he saw she was only teasing.


    She moved closer and looked at the mess in his condom. ¡°Damn, you were backed up there I see.¡±


    He rolled his eyes then gasped as he felt her gripping the base of his cock and squeezing upwards as she peeled the condom from his semi-rigid erection. She got most of the cum inside the condom and tied the open end closed. ¡°Shit, that¡¯s more than I¡¯ve ever seen¡­ from one man at least.¡± Her eyes went to his. She dropped it into a trash can next to the bed.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ more than I wanted to know,¡± he replied with a grin.From N?velDrama.Org.


    She grinned wickedly as she looked at the spilled cum on his balls. ¡°Such a mess.¡±


    Before Henry could react, she bent forward and sucked up the spige on his balls. He felt them tighten once more, then she took his cock into her mouth to suck and squeeze out thest drops. He cried out in surprise as she sat up to grin at him, swallowing her mouthful. Her eyelids fluttered then closed as she slumped over his chest, pinning him to the bed once more.


    Henry froze. The Wild Magic in a single drop of his cum on Marisa¡¯s finger made Sandy¡¯s haire alive. Mary swallowed a lot more than that!


    He didn¡¯t know what to do! Worse, he was handcuffed and trapped under her body. He couldn¡¯t do anything even if he thought of something. He could feel and hear her breathing, so that was good, right? Fuck, she was heavy!


    Maybe she¡¯d wake soon or move. Henry thought about dropping his mor but the cuffs? Would they break or would hisrger wrists take damage? He slumped back on the bed and watched her for signs of changes.


    Eventually, his eyelids drooped, and exhaustion took him down.


    -=-


    ¡°YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!¡±


    Henry jerked awake and looked down at the end of the bed in fright. Morning light streamed through the curtains and lit a police officer in uniform standing there. He had a terrible look of rage on his face. He was older than Mary, white, with a Van Dyke beard peppered with grey. Henry blinked at him then the man was pointing his gun at Mary¡¯s naked back as she stretched out across his chest.


    ¡°ROT IN HELL YOU CHEATING SLUT!¡±


    ¡°WAIT!¡± Henry yelled.


    The gun fired twice in rapid session, and the shots were deafening in the small room. Henry cried out in fear.


    ¡°WHA!?! FUCK! Motherfucker!¡± Mary yelled as she jolted awake, a massive shiver running up her spine. She blinked wide-eyed at Henry¡¯s shocked and terrified expression then turned her head to look at the man at the end of the bed. ¡°Jeff! What the fuck are you doing in my house! I told you we were over! Get out, you lying, cheating, piece of shit loser!¡±


    The man stared at her in shock, slowly shaking his head in disbelief.


    Mary and Henry watched in horror as Jeff brought the gun to his temple and blew his brains out all over her bedroom wall.


    Henry closed his eyes and tried to keep his stomach from heaving as his body shook with unspent adrenaline.


    ¡°Geezus,¡± Mary whispered as she moved to the end of the bed to look down at her ex-husband¡¯s body. She felt something pressing against her knee on the bed and picked up two ttened slugs from the mattress. She looked at them on her palm and looked around the room quickly to see what he¡¯d shot but saw no sign of any damage. What the fuck? Two misfires then Jeff¡¯s fatal shot? Someone up there was looking out for her!


    ¡°Can you please undo the cuffs?¡± Henry begged.


    She looked back at him and saw he was still naked from the waist down. She tried to recall what happened after they had sex but she must have just fallen asleep on him. She felt incredibly well rested. She gave herself a shake as she realized he was still waiting.


    ¡°Oh my god¡­ Henry was it? I¡¯m so sorry you got dragged into this mess!¡± Mary said sliding off the bed to get her keys from her belt on the floor. She rolled him onto his side and undid the cuffs.


    Henry rubbed his sore wrists and slid off the other side of the bed to rush into the washroom. He bent over the toilet as his body heaved. He barely finished when he felt Mary¡¯s hand pulling on his arm.


    ¡°You have to go Henry. Now.¡±


    He grabbed a quick ss of water, rinsed and spit. He quickly pulled on his underwear, pants, and shoes. Then Mary was shoving his shopping bag into his hand, pushing him down the hall, and out the back door. She pointed to the gate in the back fence, and he hustled to it, out it, and into the alleyway. He picked a direction and began walking.

 81

    The neighborhood was only beginning to wake as he made his way through it. He forced a smile onto his face as he nodded to thedies walking their dogs. He saw a busier street up ahead. Behind him, he heard sirens going by.


    Now all he needed was to find a ce to g down a cab.


    He shuddered. OK, maybe he should speak to someone about what he¡¯d just witnessed too. He increased the speed of his walk.


    ***********


    Xiong hiked to the top of the mountain behind his vige once a week to visit the shrine he built on the teau. He kept it tidy, did a little sweeping, reced the incense and candles, and when necessary did some repairs on the small structure. He would have loved to have built a full-size temple, but that would have been pushing his luck. The shrine was small enough to be ignored by the local government.


    His old bones ached from the arduous climb as he finally stepped onto the small t area, but he knew the ache just meant he was still alive.


    This morning, the air on the teau was fresh and crisp. Certainly cleaner than the air trapped in the valley below. The factories down the road spewed their smoke in a constant exhtion, filling the valley with their smudge. Three years earlier, Xiong lost his wife to lung disease. He sent his children away to his brother¡¯s farm before the smoke could take them as well. He remained behind as he had to take care of his home and the shrine.


    Taking deep breaths of the clean mountain air, he did his morning exercises and smiled at the rising sun. It was going to be a beautiful day.


    He collected the broom from the tiny shed he¡¯d built off to the side by some bushes and swept the stone tiles surrounding the shrine. Each of these stones he¡¯d personally carried and ced. Then he dusted the shrine itself.


    As he worked, a shadow crept across the teau. He nced towards the sun and saw arge fluffy cloud approaching. Its shadow was quite dark, so he assumed it was heavy with rain. He would be grateful if the rain cleaned the air in his valley, even if for just a little while.


    From this elevation, the iing cloud looked like it might just skim over the top of the shrine. Xiong paused his work to watch it move, and his wrinkled brow added one more wrinkle as he realized he couldn¡¯t feel the breeze pushing it along. Such arge cloud would need a stiff wind to move.


    Hearing an odd rumble behind him, Xiong just had time to look over his shoulder to see a slightly smaller cloud rushing up the mountain from the valley below. He stared wide-eyed as the surprisingly solid cloud rushed over his head and clipped the point of the spire on the temple. The fluffy stuff seemed to shudder as it lifted higher to avoid the now jagged point.


    Xiong felt a mist coat him and realized it wasing from the tear in the cloud. The cloud¡¯s wound?


    He turned his eyes to follow the movement and saw the iing cloud appear to slow, but it made no other evasive moves.


    Xiong stared in wonder as he realized the clouds were behaving more like living creatures, which was very odd. He had the strangest sensation of watching two male lions fighting for dominance.


    The tworge masses reached each other, but there was no sh of teeth or baring of ws. Instead, they began to bulge upwards, and his perception once more swung back to reality as this looked very much like regr storm clouds building and climbing skywards if a little faster than usual.


    He heard deep rumbles, and the ground shook from frequencies too low to hear but easily felt. More and more of the mist settled down on Xiong, drenching him. Every hair on his body began to stand up as an enormous charge built in the sky above the teau.


    He knew he should run, but his body was too old for such youthful exercise. Besides, he was feelingfortable here on the mountaintop. Even the rain warmed him when he¡¯d expected it to give him a chill. So he turned and sat on the base of the shrine facing out over the valley below as the battling clouds drifted above his head.


    The charge continued to build, and Xiong chuckled now at how it tickled him.


    The mist continued to fall, and Xiong sighed and watched the valley below with a smile.


    A terrible crack and boom shook the mountain as lightning ripped down through the smaller cloud, tearing it apart.


    The shrine was the final destination for all that energy. The small structure exploded as the powerful bolt yed over the entire area with its white-hot sma. The light showsted for almost twenty seconds then therge cloud drifted down into the valley.


    Late in the afternoon, two of Xiong¡¯s neighbors climbed the mountain trail, worried about their friend. They¡¯d seen the terrible storm raging at the top of the mountain and grew worried when he didn¡¯t return.


    When they reached the top, they prepared themselves for the worst, and it appeared to be true. The wooden shrine was gone, sted into small charred splinters. Aside from the stone base, there was nothing left. The stone tiles had odd scorch marks and abstract lines etched into them from the storm¡¯s unleashed energies.


    They heard a gentle scraping sound and cried out in surprise as they finally saw its source.


    Late afternoon sun glistening from its outer surface, a stunningly beautiful being was patiently sweeping bits of shrine into small piles. It had the appearance of multicolored ss, and while it captured and reflected the sunlight, light shone from its core. It paused to turn and look at the two men who watched with wide eyes. Their eyes grew wider with recognition.


    Xiong smiled and waved to his friends then turned back to his slow sweeping.


    Such a mess! He had so much to do!


    -=-


    Heller was on edge and had been for a couple of days.


    The people from the CDC had checked Edmund out for biological poisons, testing him for a variety of potential causes. From what Heller was overhearing, the results wereing back negative. The man was healthy- except for being blind to light and seeing sound waves.


    Today a group from the government wasing in to meet with Edmund and to transfer him out. He¡¯d been ordered to be present as he was a familiar voice for Edmund and it should keep him calm. He was terrified to be in the same room as the red-eyed monster!


    Edmund was his childhood nightmares brought to life. He had to thank his grandpa for telling him those horrible stories when he was so young and impressionable. Jerk!


    Karl entered the antechamber outside the containment room and smiled in relief at seeing Heller. He looked over to ensure the inte to the containment room was off.


    ¡°Heller! d you could make it! I¡¯ll be thrilled when this whole thing is over, and we can get back to business.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Heller responded, biting back thement that he¡¯d been ordered to be here.


    ¡°Did theyplete the task of removing the carcass of that thing from the cooling pool?¡± Karl asked.


    He nodded. ¡°Yesterday. It was highly radioactive which makes Edmund¡¯sck of radiation poisoning so much more confusing.¡±


    Karl nodded with a worried look.


    The double doors leading from the admin wing opened, and three broad-shouldered men and one tall woman entered, all wearing police uniforms. These officers were the security detail for the government officials. The woman walked over and checked Karl and Heller¡¯s credentials. Heller was startled then entranced by the intensity of her almond-shaped eyes, one of which was light amber while the other was a deep shade of blue. It almost felt like she was looking through his mor but he knew that was impossible. She quietly thanked them for their cooperation and spoke into the mic on her shoulder. Heller had extensively traveled, so he recognized her subtle ent as Egyptian.


    She turned and nodded to the other officers before taking up station at the side of the room facing the window into the decontamination chamber. A group of four men wearing dark suits and grim expressions entered and moved to shake Karl¡¯s hand. Arnd wasst to arrive and was checked out by one of the big officers by the door before he was allowed to join Heller.


    ¡°Shit! I almost missed this!¡± the man whispered to Heller.


    ¡°I wish I could have,¡± Heller sighed. Arnd looked at him with raised brows, so Heller continued. ¡°Those red eyes of his give me the creeps!¡± Arnd snorted in amusement. Heller subtly moved to put Arnd between him and the door to Edmund¡¯s room.


    Karl moved to the inte to get things moving along. They¡¯d rigged a curtain across the window and only opened it when Edmund said he ready.


    Pressing the button, Karl nced at the group and leaned towards the mic. ¡°Good morning Edmund. Are you ready?¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    A weird crunching sound came from the speaker. Then silence.


    ¡°Karl?¡±


    Heller shivered at the odd slurring from Edmund.


    ¡°May I open the curtain? You havepany,¡± Karl asked.


    ¡°Oh¡­ oh god. Karl, it was trying to kill me. I had to¡­¡±


    Karl looked back at the group with concern. He reached forward and opened the curtains.


    There was blood sshed across the inside of the ss. In the middle of the room was Edmund, standing over the corpse of one of the cleaning staff. The man¡¯s throat was ripped open.


    Edmund was making his little tick sounds as he looked at his hands. His fingertips now sported hooked ws, dripping gore and blood.


    One of the officers immediately reached over and turned the inte off. The female police officer spoke into her mic, and the double doors opened once more. The four government officials were hustled away by officers who¡¯d been waiting in the hallway. The doors closed immediately, and the policeman turned the inte back on.


    They could hear Edmund panting, and Heller saw his teeth had grown in length as well. His jaws dripped with blood.


    ¡°What happened Edmund?¡± Karl asked carefully.


    ¡°It¡¯s a monster, Karl. It came in the room to kill me. I- I had to defend myself.¡±


    ¡°Are¡­ are you eating him?¡± Karl gasped.


    ¡°IT! IT! It¡¯s not a man! It¡¯s a monster!¡± Edmund yelled, clearly shaken by his actions.

 82

    They traded uneasy nces, and the police officers pulled out their guns.


    ¡°Ok, Edmund. We are going to remove you from the room and take you to a ce you can get cleaned up.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ ok.¡± Edmund said, looking down at the corpse again. He licked his lips.


    Two officers entered the room, one with handcuffs and the other with his gun drawn.


    Edmund allowed himself to be cuffed and pushed from the room.


    The moment he was in the antechamber Edmund made a loud click and scanned his red eyes around the room. He nted his feet as he stared at Karl.


    ¡°MONSTER!¡± he screamed, yanking his arms apart. The links between the cuffs surrendered with a ping and Edmund was leaping at Karl, ws out.


    A single loud crack filled the room, and Edmund¡¯s head exploded in a red mist. His twitching body collided with Karl and the two went down in a pile.


    Karl bellowed for someone to get the body off of him, so Arnd and Heller dragged it to the side. Karl was gagging as he was covered in blood.


    Heller trembled with relief now that Edmund was dead. The hooked ws and long teeth finished the resemnce Edmund had to the stories his grandfather told him.


    The dead man in the room might have been the assassin sent because of his report.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    He looked back to the officer whose shot saved Karl. The woman¡¯s calm and lovely eyes stared back, her expression nk. Ah, a second assassin then and an expert shot too. He nced at Karl who he now assumed was a member of the Hidden Races too. He must have reported Edmund to the Hidden Races Council as well. They were damn lucky they were sent a second assassin.


    The Council moved quickly. Another shiver ran down his spine.


    He¡¯d be revisiting all of his childhood nightmares tonight.


    *******************


    ¡°No firewall is unbreakable! For every lock, there is a key!¡±


    Graham rolled his eyes as he listened to Kent spewing his favorite catchphrase for the umpteenth time. If he weren¡¯t such good friends with the security tech nerd, he¡¯d reach across the table and p him.


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you what I heard. This young chick in Japan submitted a school project that incorporated a firewall that has yet to be prated,¡± Graham insisted.


    ¡°Ohhhh¡­ a Japanese school girl? I bet she hasn¡¯t been prated either!¡± Kent giggled.


    ¡°Dude! Gross!¡± Graham hissed as he gave his friend a warning nce then looked to see if anyone overheard them. Their shared interest in hardcore hentai was a secret they both needed to keep that way to keep their jobs.


    Kent nodded his head with an apologetic look across the table. ¡°Seriously though, send me the address, and I¡¯ll take a look.¡±


    Graham tapped a few things on his tablet and set it down again, returning to his sandwich. ¡°Done,¡± he said around a big bite, and a piece of it fell out of his mouth.


    ¡°Dude! Gross!¡± Kent said with a big grin on his face. They both broke intoughter and Graham had to struggle to keep from spewing the rest of his mouthful.


    After they¡¯d eaten, Kent passed aic book to Graham containing a micro USB drive with thetest three episodes of their favorite lolicon hentai series. Kent then made his way back to his desk. He nodded to a few coworkers on the way. He didn¡¯t notice that most ignored him.


    He so loved working for the NSA. He loved hacking into other people¡¯sputers and, working for the good guys; now he had permission to do it! He hadn¡¯t caught any terrorists yet, but he¡¯d only had the job for a little under five years.


    Kent made his way back to his desk and frowned when he got there.


    Someone had left another box of tissues and a small bottle of hand lotion next to his keyboard. Worse than that there was- he hoped it was yogurt, dripped across the keyboard and on his mouse.


    ¡°You think that¡¯s funny, but it¡¯s pathetic!¡± he called out to the mental morons who yed the prank. He thought he heard chuckling, but he wasn¡¯t sure which of these jerks wasughing at him.


    He pushed the lotion and tissue into the trash can immediately. Once, he¡¯d taken them home as, hey! Free lotion and tissues! Then he¡¯d discovered they were bothced with capsaicin. His cock and right hand had been in burning agony for days.


    He unplugged the soiled keyboard and mouse, setting them aside to rinse offter. These were just decoys anyway. Unlocking his drawer, he pulled out his real keyboard and mouse. It wasn¡¯t the first time someone messed with his desk. He¡¯d gone to his manager once, but that had yielded nothing. So he took care of it himself.


    He¡¯d thought that once he was clear of the jocks and mental weaklings in high school and college and had a real job, the abuse would stop. What made its continuance doubly disappointing was the fact that tech nerds surrounded him! The very people who¡¯d endured the abuse alongside him through their school careers.


    Giving himself a shake and taking a deep breath, he pulled up the email Graham sent him. Work always made him feel better. He loved sneaking past someone¡¯s firewall to peer into their innerwork and the data they were trying to hide. It gave him a feeling of satisfaction and power.


    Kent was pre-authorized to go wherever he pleased on the, aside from government or military sites, as he¡¯d passed every certification test the NSA had. His skills were second to none, he came and went without leaving a trace, and senior management valued that.


    Making his way to the Japanese school¡¯s firewall, he saw it was one for which they had backdoor ess. So, with a contemptuous snort, he slipped inside. He polled the avable ess and found theputerb. Paydirt! He found the open port for the school girl¡¯s project. He set up a scanner to read all packetsing to and leaving the port and started a log to record the data. That done he backed out ensuring he left no backtrace and smiled to himself. Tomorrow morning he¡¯d have something to review. He¡¯d find the key to the lock on that innocent looking port. He couldn¡¯t wait.


    The rest of the day was fairly dull. He rinsed off the decoy keyboard and mouse and reinstalled them before heading out. He made his way home and spent the evening slipping past the firewalls of his favorite animation studios to make copies of theirtest creations. Two more episodes of Graham¡¯s favorite Loli series. He thought the lead character was just a little too sweet-natured, but his friend was obsessed with her. Whatever, it made Graham happy.


    He checked his dark web bulletin board and served a few requests for illicit vids to his customers, depositing the bitcoin in his offshore ount. He wondered how Graham would react if he discovered Kent provided a means to distribute the real stuff. Would he turn him in to the authorities or would he ask to participate? As Kent didn¡¯t know for sure, Graham could never learn this secret.


    The next morning he rushed in and retraced his steps to the Japanese school¡¯sputerb. He saw the log file was still there but hadn¡¯t grown very much. So, not a lot of traffic. He transferred the log file out and cleared all references to the transfer from the school¡¯swork. Once more he slipped out of theirwork clearing his tracks.


    Now the real work could begin. Kent opened the log and reviewed the packet data. There was the header, and that was fairly straightforward. He saw the source and destination addresses but when he looked at the data it was encrypted. No matter, he applied his analysis tool to identify the type. That took a little time, and Kent felt his excitement rising the longer it took. This might be something good!


    The tool finally pinged, and he felt a little disappointed as it disyed the match. It was such a simple and antiquated encryption method it was one of thest to be checked. Damn. He decrypted one of the packets and looked at the contents. He looked at the packet¡¯s data, and all he saw was a series of gibberish characters. More encryption used inside the encrypted packet? He extracted the characters and started his analysis tool on that. The long wait and no match. Maybe it was another key? Keys inside keys was a possibility. He needed to look at another packet to see if its data was different.


    He created a script to extract the data from every packet he collected and soon he had a folder with 250 distinct files. He ran aparison script, and all 250 files came back as unique. So, there was a chance that this wasn¡¯t gibberish but hidden data. He thought there was a very good chance. It was just using an unknown encryption method. Sweet!


    Kent requested ess to the NSA¡¯s decryption engine. Based on a massive series of supeputers, it would look for patterns at a pace no human mind could ever achieve. While he waited for permission, he prepared the input file for decryption, inputting each data file he¡¯d extracted and added the header data next to each.


    He had time, so he investigated the destination address. The packets went to an IP based in New York. Hmmm¡­


    A little more poking and he had thepany data. VRL Investments in Manhattan. Why was a Japanese school girl¡¯s high school projectmunicating with an investment house in the US? With a little more investigation, he discovered the student, Jun Imamura, was the daughter of Minister Imamura, a high ranking official in Japan¡¯s government.


    He poked at VRL¡¯s firewall, and it refused him ess, so he wrapped his packets in the antique encryption and borrowed some ID¡¯s from the stolen packets. Running his connection test again, he was pleased to see he was inside. Before him was a listing of thepany directories. He dipped inside one and brought up a listing of files. Spreadsheets. The date stamps on the files were yesterday. He set up a download script to grab a sample then pushed back in his chair with a deep sense of disappointment. The firewall in ce at VRL was so simple to break. Worse, he found no evidence of the mysterious encryption. He knew the packets shipped from the school to the investment house, but after scanning thework, he found no sign of the packets. Verdict, dull with anomalies. A call from his section chief drew his attention away.

 83

    It took all day for his ess request to finallye back with an affirmative and he had to speak with three senior executives to exin his findings. They found public record of Minister Imamura¡¯s business dealings with the New York investment house. That was above board. It was thebination of this rtionship plus the undisclosed use of an unknown encryption technology between his daughter¡¯s project on the Japanese school server and the USpany¡¯swork that made them take an interest.


    He fed his prepared data file into the decryption engine and headed home once more.


    The next day he rushed in hoping to see the report but saw a note requesting his presence in a conference room. Grinning, he quickly sent a few of the files he¡¯d pulled from VRL¡¯s server to his supervisor then rushed upstairs and knocked on the door of the conference room before entering.


    His boss was inside as well as his boss¡¯ boss and two other people, a man and a woman who he didn¡¯t recognize.


    ¡°Good morning, Director Yosman. Supervisor McCalin,¡± he said, greeting them in ranking order. He nced to the two strangers.


    McCalin had a weary look on his face. ¡°Kent, let me introduce you to agents Gerrod Kaiba and Fran Sparling. They will be heading up the investigation of the use of this currently unbreakable cipher.¡±


    ¡°Unbreakable?¡± Kent asked in surprise and his face lit up. ¡°The Engine failed?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it failed. Try not to get too excited about it,¡± the supervisor said.


    ¡°Sorry sir,¡± Ken muttered, ncing at the smile on the director¡¯s face.


    ¡°May we assume the firewall at VRL Investments is using the same encryption?¡± McCalin asked.


    Kent smirked at his boss. ¡°You may not. Their firewall was a joke. I was able to slip inside and just before the meeting I sent you a few sample files found inside.¡±


    With an annoyed frown, McCalin linked hisptop to the projector then pulled up one of the email messages. He opened one of the spreadsheets, and his face showed shock and embarrassment. ¡°What the hell is this? Didn¡¯t you check any of these?¡±


    The screen was showing the file contained odd text:


    ¡°Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt utbore et dolore magna aliqua¡­¡±


    Below this was a photo of two women of extrarge proportions squeezed intotex outfits. They were engaging in some very risqu¨¦ behavior.


    The supervisor opened two more and found the same kind of content in each. The images just became more graphic. He was red-faced, and his eyes nervously flicked to his boss before they locked on Kent in rage. ¡°This is decoy data!¡±


    Kent was shaking his head in shock and embarrassment. ¡°There was no sign of the site being counterfeit. Every test I ran against it confirmed I was inside.¡±


    ¡°Inside a honeypot,¡± McCalin growled and Kent¡¯s ears burned with humiliation.


    The supervisor turned his head to his boss. ¡°I think we can safely say VRL is using a very advanced firewall if one of our best can¡¯t recognize he¡¯s been tricked.¡±


    Kent appreciated the off-handpliment, but he was too angry. He wanted to take those bastards at VRL down!


    ¡°What about the Japanese side of this. We know the school project has a firewall which is imed to be imprable. Is it?¡±


    ¡°I- I haven¡¯t tried to break past the firewall there yet,¡± Kent replied.


    McCalin tapped a few keys on hisptop, and Kent¡¯s desktop appeared. ¡°Ok, you can demonstrate to us now how to get inside.¡± He slid theptop over to Kent.


    ncing at the others, he set up the connections and brought them through the school¡¯s firewall to theputerb. ¡°This is the port where the project is running. I collected packets the port was sending and receiving, but I did not attempt to enter. I will do so now.¡±


    Following what he did for VRL he used a previously provided packet¡¯s header ID to get past the firewall. Sure enough, there was a directory with folders and files. ¡°We¡¯re inside, but I think we¡¯re in the decoy site. The file names are the same.¡±


    ¡°So we don¡¯t know what¡¯s really behind these firewalls nor do we know what data is transferring between them,¡± the Director said.


    ¡°No sir,¡± McCalin admitted.


    The senior official sat back and pondered that for a bit. He didn¡¯t like not knowing. He looked to the young man glowering at the screen. It was clear from his expression that healsodidn¡¯t like not knowing. ¡°Can you get past this firewall?¡±


    ¡°No firewall is unbreakable! For every lock, there is a key!¡± Kent said with a tight voice.


    The Director nodded. ¡°Concentrate on the one at VRL. Let¡¯s not set off an international incident if we can avoid it. Try not to show your hand but get inside. Find out how it ticks. I¡¯ll give you until next Tuesday. That¡¯s when I want to send our agents here to speak to the principals at VRL. Get them something more than the link with the Japanese school project.¡±


    Kent nodded and felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. It was Friday. Including the weekend, he had only three days to crack this bitch. He wasn¡¯t going to be getting much sleep in those days.


    He just had to find that fucking key.


    Henry walked in the front door of VRL and smiled at the receptionist who was beaming a bright and cheerful smile at him. As he made to walk by, she crooked her finger at him to invite him closer. He changed his path to approach her desk.


    ¡°Good morning, Kiera!¡± he said.


    ¡°Late morning, Mr. Gable?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I, uh¡­ slept through my rm.¡± He saw the clock was indicating 9:45 AM but he¡¯d hadn¡¯t been sleeping well due to the suicide he¡¯d witnessedst week. He¡¯d stayed in and rested all weekend trying to catch up on the sleep he was losing. He hadn¡¯t been able to get it out of his dreams. He hadn¡¯t spoken to anyone either as he hoped he could just put the whole thing behind him. That wasn¡¯t going so well. He pushed it out of his mind once more. ¡°Please call me Henry.¡±


    Her smile widened as she looked up into his eyes. ¡°Henry, Mr. Duncan asked me to direct you to his office when you arrived.¡± The tip of her pink tongue danced lightly across her upper lip.


    ¡°Ah! Ok, thanks. Have a good day!¡± he said as he turned to head off to the security offices. He felt her eyes on his ass as he walked away and his face burned a little. He didn¡¯t have these issues when he was skinny little Stanley.


    He passed through the gauntlet to get into the inner sanctum of the Security Department, greeting the uniformlyrge men inside with a nod and a smile then walked over to the private office of their chief. The door was open, so he knocked on the door jamb.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Duncan.¡± He still felt awkward using the man¡¯s given name.


    The chief looked up, and he wasn¡¯t smiling.


    ¡°Not a good morning?¡± Henry asked cautiously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if having the damned NSA poking around yourwork ssifies as a good start to the day,¡± the huge redhead growled.


    ¡°The NSA? They can¡¯t get in but having their attention at all is probably not a good thing,¡± Henry sighed.


    ¡°Thanks for the enlightenment. Join me on a visit to the CEO¡¯s office.¡±


    Henry heard the tone and knew it wasn¡¯t a request.


    They made their way back out to the lobby and took the elevator up to the top floor. Henry nced in the door on his way past his office, and Marisa looked at him in surprise.


    They got to the CEO¡¯s office and her personal assistant Felix gestured to them to go right in.


    Cam smiled at them, but her smile dimmed when she saw the grim expression on the security chief¡¯s face and the concerned look on Henry¡¯s.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened!¡± she asked cautiously, looking to Henry first, hoping for a less grim oue.


    The security chief would not be denied. ¡°The bloody NSA is trying to snoop ourwork. I got a notice from Stan- Henry¡¯s firewall that the spooks were spending too much time poking about. They pounded on it all weekend. They know it¡¯s got smarts they can¡¯t get past so it¡¯s got their attention.¡±


    ¡°So? Without a warrant, they aren¡¯t allowed to see past the firewall.¡± Cam said.


    ¡°Commercial firewall apps have backdoor ess written into them. That¡¯s why I wrote my own,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°You should have created one that looks like a boringmercial product which lets them in to see fake data,¡± the security chief grumbled.


    Henry smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t have mine emte anymercial products as I didn¡¯t want to piss off those developers and get sued for copyright infringement. Anyone who gets past the initial gate but doesn¡¯t have a valid keyistaken to a dummy environment with fake data files. Spreadsheets filled with Lorum Ipsum text and image files pulled from their own local Inte cache folders.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still not hearing anything we need to be concerned about,¡± Cam said looking at Roy.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to know why they decided to look at us at all and why they are so persistent in their attempts to get in,¡± the security chief said darkly.


    ¡°Do you want me to hack theirwork to find out?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°WHAT?!? NO- Don¡¯t be daft! I don¡¯t want you to be poking your nose about in the Federal Government¡¯swork!¡± the big man barked in rm then saw the suppressed smile on Henry¡¯s face. He looked to Cam and saw she was smiling too. His expression turned sour. ¡°Oh, let¡¯s all have a bigugh at the only one with any sense when ites to matters of security.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Roy but you walked right into that one,¡± Cam said with a smile. She raised her hand to forestall his next protest. She looked to Henry. ¡°Without breaking anyws, see what you can learn about our new best friend.¡± Henry nodded to her and dropped his smile when the security man fixed an eye on him.

 84

    ¡°Just you be really careful with these jokers. They¡¯re bad business to mess with,¡± the man huffed and received a nod.


    With a final glower, Mr. Duncan turned and left, closing the door behind him, leaving Henry with Cam.


    She smiled at Henry. ¡°So, Henry is settling in with your new neighbors?¡± She used his new name to reference his new identity.


    He smiled happily. ¡°Yes, they¡¯ve weed me with open arms. They¡¯re good people,¡± he said fondly.


    She nodded. She¡¯d heard reports from Marisa and had to agree Henry had found himself a good circle of friends. ¡°Are you still friends with the member of the Hidden Races Council, Ms. Beaumont?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re still getting used to each other¡¯s forms. Michelle¡¯s equally squeamish. My arachnophobia isn¡¯t as bad as it used to be but she¡¯s struggling a little with my having horns and hooves. She¡¯s really nice though.¡±


    ¡°Does she talk shop with you?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°No, we agreed to keep our work and home lifepletely separate. I think it¡¯s healthier that way,¡± he said with a smile which faded as he saw the disappointment on her face. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I was just hoping we might have an inside line on Council business where you were involved,¡± she admitted. She saw the ufortable look on Henry¡¯s face and raised her hands. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not going to ask you to do anything that will make you ufortable. You¡¯ve struck up a friendship with her, and I¡¯m not going to jeopardize that.¡±


    Henry smiled in relief. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    She nodded and looked back at her screen, obviously ready to get back to work. ¡°Remember what Roy said but see if you can find a way to make them lose interest in us.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡±


    He paused as he contemted telling her about his ordeal with the policeman¡¯s death but with the NSA poking about he thought he¡¯d keep the NYPD issue to himself.


    Henry stepped out of her office, smiled at Felix on his way by, then headed for his own office.


    As he walked into the outer office, Marisa looked up at him with a smile.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Gable!¡± she said with a wide smile, dazzling him in the process. While her mor hid her Subus attributes, it did very little to mute her intense beauty. Even the non-prescription sses she¡¯d taken to hiding behind couldn¡¯t diminish it.


    He blinked to get his mind back online and returned her smile. ¡°Good morning, Marisa!¡±


    Her expression turned curious. ¡°What¡¯s up with Mr. Duncan?¡±


    Henry reached back and rubbed the back of his neck as he winced with embarrassment. ¡°I might have attracted the attention of the NSA with our new firewall.¡±


    Lovely blue eyes widened in surprise then worry.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok though. I can¡­ well I¡¯m not sure what I can do yet, but I¡¯m going to work on that today.¡±


    ¡°Should I reschedule your 11 AM with the Marketing team?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Huh? No, that¡¯s fine.¡± He said as he made his way to his office. He noticed a new door handle. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°Orders of Mr. Duncan. Biometric readers are recing the ess card readers in the building. They¡¯re starting with all the doors for the executive officers. The biometrics of the owners are the handle¡¯s keys. Just grip the handle for it to identify you,¡± she exined.


    His eyebrows went up as he gripped the handle and heard thetch pop open. ¡°When did he take my biometrics?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Have you visited the Security Department recently?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°This morn-¡± he stopped as he recalled the new handle on the Security Office door. ¡°Sonuva-¡±


    Marisa¡¯s giggle snuffed out his annoyance immediately as it was such a sweet sound.


    He shook his head and looked back at her. He admired her long smooth neck then realized he could see it because her hair was teased up onto her head. Elegant in a retro way.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry for not noticing before. Your hair looks lovely like that!¡± he said with a smile.


    She nodded to him demurely. ¡°Thank you, kind sir.¡±


    Her dress also looked rather fancy, if from a bygone era. ¡°Are you going out after work?¡± he asked.


    She smiled. ¡°Very good, Henry! You¡¯re getting better at this! Yes, Siobhan and I are checking out a new club after dinner. Its theme is the Cold War espionage years. You dress up as either a Russian or an American spy. I chose American and Siobhan is dressing as a Russian.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a fun ce!¡± he said.


    ¡°Would you like to join us? I know a ce where we could get you a wonderful Russian General¡¯s uniform!¡± she said with a delighted smile.


    He grinned back at her. ¡°Thanks, no. I¡¯m not much of a dancer.¡± His mind shed back to Nate and his group of friends heading to the club. He sighed. ¡°Have a good time though!¡±


    ¡°Oh, we will!¡± she said which left little doubt in his mind that she was hunting tonight.


    He turned and let himself into his office before she could see the conflicted look on his face. He understood that, as a Subus, she needed to feed and sex with humans was her primary source of energy.


    The first night they met, they¡¯d discovered that she was also able to feed on his energy. Recently though, she seemed to be resisting her urge to be with him. He could almost feel her resistance if that made any sense. Perhaps she recalled the close call of her overdose? He felt bad about that, so he was willing to give her space and try to be understanding about her reluctance to look to him for recharging. That sounded better than feeding. He knew he was being stupid feeling jealous of the people she would be hunting tonight. To her, they were just food.


    Cam had no such reservations about using him for a meal as he¡¯d discovered when he returned from Irnd. He twitched as he¡¯de to do when his mind returned to his visit to the Emerald Isle. He forced his anxiety down and dropped himself in his chair.


    Cold War or not, he had a spy of his own to uncover.


    *************


    Kent was fried. He¡¯d spent the entire weekend at the office using every trick he had to crack open the fucking firewall at VRL. Several times he¡¯d experienced a moment of absolute joy when it seemed he¡¯d peeled back thest defense wall only to find he was facing another. He¡¯d been awake for over 50 hours, tossing back energy drinks to keep his brain riding the edge of maximum sharpness but now he was struggling. He had to make a report to the Director tomorrow, and he had nothing to show for his efforts.


    Having exhausted every legal and semi-legal authorized method, he had one more weapon at his disposal, but he couldn¡¯t use it from work. His home system had better ess to what he needed to do. Besides, the team he was going to call upon to assist him couldn¡¯t see he was connecting to them from the NSA. He signed out from his work terminal and left his office.


    ¡°Kent! Where ya goin- shit! You don¡¯t look so good buddy,¡± Graham said as he leaned away from his pungent friend.


    Looking at Graham nkly for a few seconds, recognition finally red in his eyes. ¡°Graham! Sorry. Had a long weekend here. Working on a secret project. I need to head home. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    He wobbled away, and Graham just watched him leave with a worried look.


    Kent had a few narrow misses on the drive home and drank another energy drink in a vain attempt to keep his edge.


    When he got inside his home, he started up his system. Then he realized he¡¯d left the firewall signature files on his work PC. For the next ten minutes, Kent had a screaming fit. Breathing deeply, he decided he couldn¡¯t afford the time to drive back to get the files, so he used the back door ess code he¡¯d added to the NSA firewall to hack into his office PC. Blinking with exhaustion, he realized he was using the wrong password and had to cycle through three attempts to get in. Finally, he transferred the files to his home PC.


    He hammered the received files with his virus scanners and several other tools to ensure they weren¡¯t hiding anything inside. Then he copied them to a USB stick to manually transfer them to his dark web PC which was on a physically separatework. He used this connection to route itsmunication through a series of proxy servers. Once in ce, he began making preparations for bringing the might of the darkest team of hackers on the web to bear on VRL. If his efforts were like using dynamite to blow a hole in the VRL firewall, the dark team were like a thermonuclear bomb. He giggled at that visual. He¡¯d worked hard gaining their trust.


    Now they¡¯d do the hard work for him.


    Lise-Anne Hoek was Minister of Security for the Hidden Races Council. It was one of the highest positions one could have in the secretive organization. She¡¯d worked hard to get where she was and was proud of the work she¡¯d done over her long tenure. Humanity remained blissfully unaware of their magic based neighbors outside of the fanciful stories the Council themselves spun and supported and a few ¡®nutcases¡¯ whose credibility they destroyed.


    Today she heard evidence that her work might being undone by some unknown force. This made her very, very worried. As one of the Fairy folk, this wasn¡¯t a state of mind she could tolerate for long. They were people of action, and if something worried you, you did something about it!


    She was standing before a 17th-floor window overlooking the reservoir in central park as the sunset. In her Human disguise, she could be taken for a woman in her sixties, dressed in a tailored business suit. In reality, she physically resembled a six-inch tall young girl who hovered on tiny wings. This wasn¡¯t something that would go unnoticed, even in New York.


    She appreciated the view, but there was business to attend to. The argument raging at her back was getting out of control.


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± she barked crisply, and silence returned as she turned to look at the group.


    A short, barrel-chested man with a braided red beard was ring at his blonde counterpart seated across from him on a facing couch. The redhead was Rand von Deussel, Council Investigator in charge of the Eastern United States. He was one of the dwarven race and a damn good investigator, normally able to keep his temper. When faced with his blond cousin Thane del Neev, Investigator for Western Europe, tempers always red. The blonde¡¯s face was also red with suppressed anger.

 85

    Michelle Beaumont was also seated on the couch next to Rand and looked ufortable in the tense environment. As one of the Arachnid race, her people were typically calm and reserved and avoided disys of aggression. She was the Council¡¯s historian, a quiet and private woman, and had already informed them that the anomalies reported matched nothing on record.


    Thane wasn¡¯t happy with her response as he¡¯d insisted the man who saw sound, in his opinion, had clearly be one of the dTesh, an ancient enemy the Hidden Races had hunted to extinction millennia ago. Rand upped the ante by calling his cousin¡¯s response reactionary and emotional. That was her cue to weigh in.


    ¡°The man in question is dead. Whether or not he¡¯d be a dTesh is a moot point. We don¡¯t have ess to his body, and even if we did, as Michelle indicated, we have no certified documentation on dTesh anatomy to identify it. Their extinction urred before the council made such records. We won¡¯t get an answer to that,¡± she exined calmly.


    The fifth member of their meeting returned from taking a call. Tall, and skeletally thin, the man had pale skin and almost no body hair. His eyes were pale and widely spaced on either side of a nose toorge for his face. By Human standard, his disguise was ugly. Lise-Anne knew his true form was that of a veryrge raven. The ¡®spirit animal¡¯ race was extremely rare and intensely private. Only Ra¡¯Anek¡¯s intense need to collect data kept him on the Council as its Minister of Risk Assessment. He vetted all information regarding threats of exposure and anomalous events. He worked closely with Lise-Anne, and today the look on his long face was grim.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± Lise-Anne asked.


    ¡°ne crash. A smallmuter struck one of those new pseudo-clouds. Eleven passengers, three crew. No survivors. All Humans. Nothing left of the pseudo-cloud. They¡¯re denser than real clouds, but when struck by a ne at speed they be highly vtile,¡± he said in his quiet monotone. ¡°Something keeps them aloft, and something enables their ability to generate massive electrical charges. When arge mass strikes them with great force, the result is a significantly concussive explosion. Ripped the ne in two, front to back.¡±


    Rand scowled. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they avoid it? A ne that size would have radar. They must have realized there was something ahead with mass! I can understand a small two or four-seater without this equipment but not this. Do the clouds absorb radar?¡±


    ¡°No, they show up on the radar,¡± Lise-Anne said, as she¡¯d been following the reports of this new phenomenon.


    Both Rand and Thane had baffled expressions.


    ¡°Human error,¡± Ra¡¯Anek said, and the two investigators scowled.


    ¡°You said there¡¯s no evidence of what they struck? What about the ck box and flight recorders?¡± Lise-Anne asked.


    ¡°They¡¯ll be under high-security lockdown. Getting ess will be exceptionally difficult and would likely draw suspicion,¡± Rand said. ¡°Our best course of action is likely generating a noisy and messy public outcry against the pilot and the airline. Lawsuits and social media floggings. We could also rattle the reactionary groups with the terrorism angle. It probably looks like damage from a bomb.¡±


    Lise-Anne nodded and made a note to get her team assigned to this. She looked up at the group. ¡°What about the source? Has anyone been able to determine what is triggering these urrences? We¡¯ve had two incursions? How should we be describing them?¡±


    Rand looked at Lise-Anne, and she caught the expression and his brief nce at Ms. Beaumont.


    She directed her attention to the Arachnid. ¡°Actually, before we continue Michelle, I think we¡¯ve probably used enough of your time, and I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ll have any more questions for you if you wanted to head off to work.¡±


    ¡°Oh! OK. I¡¯ll go then. Goodnight,¡± the woman said quietly and nodded to the others. She rose to her feet and quickly left the apartment.From N?velDrama.Org.


    They felt the privacy field release and snap back into ce as the door closed once more.


    Rand sat forward on his chair. ¡°The earliest sighting we¡¯ve tracked urred approximately three weeks after the Dragon linked the Satyr to the Fae¡¯s globe-spanning spell.¡±


    ¡°Is there a direct connection between him and these ¡®invaders¡¯?¡± Lise-Anne asked.


    Rand looked to Ra¡¯Anek. ¡°We¡¯d need a wielder to test the magic of one of them to see if it is the same Wild Magic found in the Satyr.¡± The tall man looked to Lise-Anne in question.


    She looked at the investigator. ¡°Let¡¯s hypothesize. Let¡¯s say the incursions are directly linked to Mr. Gable as he¡¯s called now. What would you propose to do about it?¡±


    Rand scowled. He knew the Fae would protect the Satyr as their lives now depended on him. ¡°We need more information. If the invaders are from the same realm of Wild Magic, we need to know if he¡¯s attracting them somehow or creating the breaches. If he has nothing to do with their appearance, then we look elsewhere. If he is responsible, we go to the Fae and request their help in containing him.¡±


    Thane, for once in agreement with his cousin, nodded. ¡°For the good of all of the Hidden Races, the Fae included.¡±


    -=-


    A soft chime brought the old soldier to a fully alert state instantly. He nced at his cell, positioned next to the bed. He swung his legs out from under the sheets and sat up to answer on the third ring.


    ¡°Colonel Devlin.¡±


    He listened to the quiet voice on the other end of the line and memorized his orders. He frowned as it wasn¡¯t the typical mission he received.


    He didn¡¯t bother saying goodbye when the voice stopped talking but hung up and made his way to the washroom to shower. He took a quick one in cold water and dried himself quickly. It was the early hours of the morning in Frankfurt, Germany but his official visit was over, and he¡¯d been ordered to return to the States to take up a new challenge.


    His driver was ready for him when he left the front door of the small one-bedroom bungalow the Army rented for him. He lived alone and didn¡¯t need much space as he was a follower of a minimalist lifestyle.


    He rode in silence to the air base and boarded the waiting transport ne. Once he strapped in, he settled back toplete his night¡¯s sleep. His mind went back to the quiet voice and his open-ended orders. ¡°Unknown threat to be contained and/or eliminated. Fully sanctioned.¡± The unknown target was atypical. Usually, he was aimed at an identified target and made it go away quickly and quietly.


    He allowed himself a small smile. He was being given free reign to run the mission his way. The Intelligence agency which collected the information for his mission had only been able to determine there was a potentially credible threat to society but it was escting faster than they could manage. They needed it identified, then eliminated quickly and quietly. He could do that.


    He¡¯d done exactly that on hisst mission and got the job done, but a weak-minded excuse of a soldier leaked word of his methods. So he¡¯d been transferred to the base in Germany while the situation at home cooled. He had important people in Washington backing him, so he bided his time and waited for the next call.


    He was good at being patient. He was also good at making decisive actions when others hesitated.


    This time he was hunting the cause of a downed smallmercial aircraft. A cause linked to an anomaly he needed to get ahead of and snuff out. All he had were some reports of clouds that didn¡¯t behave like clouds. Clouds that were making it dangerous to fly the skies over his country. Someone had either fabricated a new technology to take down aircraft or, if the report was urate, it was biological, proving someone was fucking with Mother Nature. He would find that someone and end them before the sheep began to panic and questioned their leaders.


    He¡¯d do it because that¡¯s what his country needed from him.


    -=-


    Sigrid was surprised to find Meixiu wasn¡¯t by the front door when she got home. She chastised herself for her expectation as Meixiu didn¡¯t have to be there but Sigrid had grown ustomed to the evening greetings. It had be their little ritual.


    She walked into her home and smelled home cooking and heard an odd sound. She went back to the kitchen and Meixiu was listening to her shortwave radio with rapt attention. She squeaked in surprise as the tall blonde entered the room.


    ¡°Oh! You startled me!¡± Meixiu gasped.


    ¡°What are you listening to that has you so absorbed?¡± Sigrid asked curiously.


    The young woman¡¯s face lit up with her excitement. ¡°Something amazing has happened in China! I think it was also close to where I was born!¡±


    Sigrid grinned at her enthusiasm. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°A mighty storm struck a mountaintop near a vige, and when the vigers went up to the top they found a man made of ss!¡±


    ¡°A sculpture?¡± Sigrid suggested.


    ¡°No! It moves! It is a man, but he¡¯s made of ss. Wonderfully beautiful ss!¡±


    Sigrid frowned in worry, and Meixiu¡¯s smile dropped away. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Either the local Human government will suppress this or the Hidden Race Council will,¡± Sigrid said gently.


    ¡°But it¡¯s toote! They are talking about him on the radio! Listen!¡± Meixiu said, pointing to the shortwave.


    They listened, but the voices were now silent. There was only static. Meixiu nced at Sigrid in surprise.


    ¡°Overt signs of magical activity are suppressed by any means possible. This protects us all. You understand this, yes?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Meixiu looked sad. ¡°I understand¡­ but I would have liked to have met the ss man.¡±

 86

    Sigrid opened her arms, and Meixiu moved into her embrace.


    ¡°Me too,¡± she sighed.


    **************


    Henry found himself once more staring at hisputer screen at work as the sunset.


    He¡¯d gotten a break early on in the day when the he¡¯d ced over the NSA firewall detected an intruder. He was running VRL¡¯s intrusion detection algorithms on a third partywork. This would not be detectable to them, outside of a slightg, as it reviewed iing traffic. He had the intruder¡¯s feed captured and analyzed and found password attempt entries. He set those aside forter use. He logged the identity of the owner of the workstation, and when the intruder pulled some files, Henry detected them as his signature files. He appended a g byte on each signature as they transferred. Inert on their own, if the files were added to data packets sent through the Inte, they activated other capabilities. Most important of these was the breadcrumb trail the data packets left.


    He now believed he knew who the intruder was.


    There was silence for hours as this ¡®Kent¡¯ fellow from the NSA nned his next move. When the data packets next appeared it was on the dark web.


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows rose. Kent had to be going off script. Henry doubted Kent¡¯s employer sanctioned his new activities. But then, they might. He watched Kent engage with some pretty subversive ounts, and slowly a picture emerged of the man¡¯s n. He was recruiting them but being cagey about it. He wasn¡¯t disclosing the target of his attack which just increased their interest.


    Henry was almost tempted to let them try. It would give his firewall a true test.


    There was a knock on his door, and Henry looked over to see Mr. Duncan standing there.


    ¡°Hi! You¡¯re just in time to see our NSA snoop, whose name is Kent by the way, attempt to hire the dark web¡¯s most notorious hackers to crack our firewall,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Roy barked and rushed around to stand behind Henry. He peered at the screen which was only showing a grid of encoded packet data. ¡°I can¡¯t make heads or tails of this! What¡¯s it say?¡±


    ¡°It says it¡¯s time for me to shine a light on Kent so these evil doers can see who they¡¯re truly dealing with,¡± he said.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t going to see who it is that¡¯s telling them, are they?¡± Roy asked in a worried tone.


    ¡°Are you nuts? Unlike Kent, these guys have real potential to be dangerous. No, I¡¯m going to make it look like Kent sent a packet without stripping the ID from it. They will immediately backtrace it, and vo, the NSA is trying to set them up.¡± He nced at the screen and fired a packet off.


    He pointed to the screen. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll color code this.¡± He entered a couple ofmands, and the text blocks in the interface changed colors. ¡°The blue ones are the hackers Kent is trying to hire. He¡¯s the shit brown one. The yellow ones are incidental ounts, browsing the boards. This red one is me or my seemingly legit connection to the board. I¡¯m watching this overview from a signal piggybacking the legit connection.


    ¡°The blue ones are disappearing!¡± Roy noted.


    ¡°Yes, they are. They¡¯ve seen Kent¡¯s true identity. I think we¡¯d better-¡± He stared at the screen then shut down the window.


    ¡°What happened?¡± the security chief asked.


    ¡°Well, one of the dark web hackers is more paranoid than expected. They tried following my legit ount and discovered it led to a dead ount in Germany. It was safer to shut down before he or she discovered my piggybacked link.


    ¡°So¡­ how will you know if it worked?¡± the big man asked.


    ¡°We keep an eye on the activity reports for our firewall. That¡¯s always been our first line of defense and early warning system,¡± Henry said as he shut down hisptop.


    ¡°You drop a bomb then you just go home?¡± Roy asked incredulously.


    Henry blinked tiredly at him. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m tired. It¡¯s past time for me to go home. There is nothing I can do outside of trusting the firewall will hold. They could still knock out the services that give us our connection, but we should be fine.¡±


    He saw the big redhead was not happy. ¡°Look, if one of those dark web hackers decides to stick his nose where it doesn¡¯t belong and bes a nuisance I have ways to deal with that, but there¡¯s no sense in starting a war we don¡¯t need to fight. Right now, the worst they will think is that I¡¯m one of them and I just saved their asses,¡± Henry assured him. He saw the man was morefortable with that. Henry snorted. ¡°You know that Kent opened a backdoor in the NSA¡¯s firewall for his personal use? The balls on that guy!¡±


    Roy snorted as well. ¡°That¡¯s something the NSA would like to know.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they will. ording to Kent¡¯s email logs, he has a bestie at work named Graham. This bestie is going to report him,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Why would he do that?¡± Roy asked curiously.


    ¡°Because Kent sent him an email from his work PC bragging about it and included the connection details. To save his ass, this fellow Graham will have to report it,¡± Henry shrugged.


    Roy grinned at Henry. ¡°Masterfully done. You surprise me!¡±


    Henry frowned. ¡°What¡¯s that phrase? All¡¯s fair in love and war? I don¡¯t love Kent.¡±


    Roy scowled. ¡°Wait a minute, email logs! I told you not to hack into the NSAwork!¡±


    He looked into the eyes of the other man. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I just followed Kent in when he opened his connection, and I left before he did.¡±


    The security chief fixed his eye on Henry. ¡°I had no idea you could be this devious. You¡¯re making me wonder if our firewall has hidden ess too.¡±


    Henry rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m done saying it. Either you believe I have integrity or you don¡¯t.¡± He made shooing motions to the bigger man. ¡°I want to go home, and I have to lock my door. Unless you have backdoor ess to my new door handle.¡± Which, of course, he did.


    Roy snorted in amusement and left the room. ¡°Good night,d.¡±


    ¡°Good night, Roy.¡±


    The chief smiled back at Henry¡¯s use of his name, but his smile dimmed as he saw the weariness in the young man¡¯s bodynguage as he walked away down the hall to the elevators.


    Roy would ask Sigrid if she knew what was up with the boy. Though he wouldn¡¯t admit it, he worried about him.


    -=-


    ¡°NO! NO! NO!¡± Kent raged.


    His dark web contacts disappeared one after another in rapid session.


    He sat there looking at the screen wondering what happened. He had them all primed. He was about to deliver the payload, a nice juicy target for them to attack with riches within. Then they just left.


    He had nothing. Tomorrow when he went to work, he¡¯d stand before the Director, his supervisor, and the two agents and tell them he had nothing to give them. The firewall remained impervious. Could he do it? Yes¡­ maybe, but not without more time and perhaps exclusive ess to the Decryption Engine.


    He slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes. He just needed a moment¡­ He¡¯de up with another n¡­


    As Kent slipped into an unconscious state, he missed the flicker of lights on his router and the gentle whir of his dark web PC¡¯s hard drives spinning up to speed as his visitor had a look around.


    Henry felt a weariness seeping into his bones. He needed sleep. He needed seven hours ofuninterruptedsleep.


    He¡¯d almost nodded off in the train and was dragging himself thest block to his condo. All he could think of was hisfortable bed waiting for him.


    As he approached the front door of his building blue and red lights began lighting up the area around him, and he heard a single whoop from a police siren. He stopped and turned to look back as a police cruiser pulled up to the curb next to him. The passenger side window rolled down.


    ¡°Henry Gable?¡± the officer asked.


    He nodded.


    ¡°Get in.¡± The man gestured to the back door.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Henry asked, beginning to wake up.


    The cop sighed, pushed open his door and got out. He was arge, physically intimidating man with an angry look in his eyes. He reached back and opened the door. ¡°The captain wants to speak to you. Downtown. Get in.¡±


    Henry looked back at the man in concern. ¡°Am I being arrested?¡±


    The man sighed. ¡°No. Get in.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so,¡± Henry said and turned to leave. He¡¯d have to call-


    Rough hands grabbed Henry, spun him, andunched him into the back seat. The door mmed shut, and he saw the big man pick up the shoulder bag he¡¯d dropped and walk behind the cruiser to drop it in the trunk.


    ¡°You- you can¡¯t do this!¡± Henry said to the officer sitting behind the wheel.


    ¡°Save it for the captain.¡±


    Henry cursed under his breath that he¡¯d left his cell in his bag. The big officer got back in the cruiser, and they pulled away from the curb.


    He kept his mouth shut as saying anything might make his situation worse. Besides, they weren¡¯t speaking to each other as they drove.


    Once they arrived at the station, the big cop opened his door and gestured for him to get out. He nced back to where his partner was getting his case from the trunk, but the big one pushed him forward and guided him inside.


    As they made their way through the station, Henry spotted Mary Carsten sitting at a desk. The expression on her face was not happy. She also looked exhausted.


    They reached a door and shoved Henry inside.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Sit down. The captain will be with you in a moment.¡±


    Henry took a chair. He could see the big man was looking for an excuse to manhandle him again.

 87

    He wasn¡¯t sitting for long before the door opened and an older man in a suit stepped inside. Henry gauged him to be in his sixties. He was maybe 5¡ä 6¡å, but he was wide shouldered and looked very strong. His face held a scowl as he took the chair across from Henry. He ran a hand through his close-cropped grey hair then fixed his eyes on Henry¡¯s.


    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Lowes. Last week you were taken into custody by officer Carsten during a disturbance on the Path system. An orgy had broken out on one of the cars. The one you were inside. Officer Carsten failed to deliver you to the station house for questioning. The next morning Officer Jeffrey Carsten was found dead in the bedroom. Evidence found at the scene indicates she¡¯d engaged in intercourse with an unknown male.¡± The man stared at Henry expectantly.


    Henry¡¯s nerves were buzzing as he relived the shooting once more. ¡°Charges?¡± he managed to croak through his tight throat.


    The captain¡¯s scowl deepened. ¡°One of my best officers died under suspicious circumstances-¡± Henry almost blurted that the death was a suicide but he caught himself at thest second. ¡°and you¡¯re involved!¡±


    ¡°This is where I tell you I want mywyer,¡± Henry said as his hands began to shake.


    There was a terrible crashing sound outside and angry shouts. The captain shot him an angry look then went to the door. He yanked it open to see Mary fly over a desk to crash to the floor on the other side. Henry jumped to his feet and looked over the captain¡¯s head to see where she¡¯dnded. She was instantly back on her feet, rushing around the desk and snarling at the big cop who¡¯d manhandled Henry.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Is that the best you¡¯ve got little man?¡± she sneered, and the cop threw a punch at Mary who tried to dip under it, but the huge fist struck her in the temple. Mary¡¯s head rocked back, but she immediately countered with a right to the man¡¯s kidneys. The cop grunted in pain then threw a series of body blows against Mary who just grinned and ttened the man¡¯s nose with a sharp crack. As he stumbled back in pain and shock, Mary followed up with a punch to his sr plexus and a shove which tumbled him over a desk to copse on the floor, groaning.


    ¡°Who else wants a piece of me? Huh? Fucking cowards!¡± Mary growled at the angry faces around her.


    The captain barged out into the open area. ¡°Officer Carsten, stand down.¡±


    Henry spotted his shoulder bag on the floor and hooked the strap with his toe as he stepped back into the interrogation room. He probably only had seconds. He dug out his cell and sent a quick text.


    Snatching the cell from his hand, the big guy¡¯s partner red at him as he stuffed it into the shoulder bag and left the small room once more, mming the door shut. A few minutester the outer squad area had quieted down, and the cop returned to drag Henry from the interrogation room. He was pushed down some hallways, then pushed into a holding cell. He was surprised to see Mary Carsten was in the cell to his right. In the cell to his left, the big cop was holding a bloody rag to his nose and ring at the two of them.


    Turning his attention back to Mary, he noticed she no longer looked exhausted. After the beating she¡¯d taken, Henry had expected her to be a mess. Instead, she looked bright-eyed and alert. She caught his eye and made a tiny shake of her head. He looked away as he¡¯d gotten the message loud and clear. No talking.


    He settled himself back on the bench and closed his eyes. He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his arms over his chest. His exhaustion came crashing over him, and he let it pull him down.


    Hisst conscious thought was his hope that his text reached its destination.


    *********


    Siobhan was doing her best to keep from bursting into giggles as she watched the tall, handsome man in the finely tailored suit try futilely to pick up Marisa.


    When he¡¯d first approached them, martini in hand, doing his best to pull off a suave James Bond impression, they¡¯d both looked at him with interest. He had a ssic strong jaw, sensual mouth, and cool blue eyes which probably served him well in the past as his confidence was evident. As he passed his eyes over the two women, they could tell he was evaluating the option of bedding them both.


    Then he opened his mouth, and the illusion broke.


    ¡°What brings two fine bitches to this club?¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s stomach turned immediately. Bitches? Really? She rolled her eyes as she turned to herpanion and caught the sh of challenge in Marisa¡¯s eyes. She watched a vacant looke to the happy blonde¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re cute!¡± Marisa giggled with her best airhead impression.


    Seeing he¡¯d lost the option of a threesome, the tall man focused his attention on the stunningly lovely blonde. She was wearing the most tantalizing perfume. It made his heart race and his extremities tingle as he swelled in his silk boxers. Fuck! He wanted her more than anything in his life he realized. He blinked to clear his thoughts and get himself back on the script. The bitch would be his!


    ¡°You- you¡¯re ravishing!¡± he blurted then mped his treacherous mouth closed.


    Wide eyes blinked at him nkly. ¡°Ravishing? What¡¯s that mean?¡± Then she hit him with another burst of giggles which jiggled parts of her anatomy which jiggled very well indeed if his rapt attention was any indication.


    Pulling his eyes back to hers. ¡°I- I mean you are exquisitely lovely,¡± he said, forcing himself back onto the script he¡¯d developed. He¡¯d won his way into the beds of many women with his routine, but he was inexplicably clumsy with it tonight. Perhaps it was his intense need for her. He needed to calm down but he couldn¡¯t. He needed her.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re a pretty boy, too!¡± Marisa giggled.


    ¡°Thank you. Why don¡¯t we-¡± He froze as her words sunk in. ¡°Boy, too?¡±


    Big but vacant blue eyes looked into his then dipped down. He followed them with his own, barely managing to get past the beauty¡¯s outrageously delectable cleavage, over her tight stomach to see the swell of her hips and the definite outline of a sizable cock pressing against the tight fabric of her dress. His eyes widened in shock as he realized she wasrger than he was.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to be deep inside you!¡± she breathed quietly just for him. For a moment, just the tiniest second, he contemted it.


    Siobhan could no longer suppress herughter as the man quickly walked away towards the exit, his face burning. She looked down with amazed eyes to watch the bulge on Marisa¡¯s dress smooth away. ¡°Oh, you have to teach me that trick!¡± she gushed to her friend.


    Marisa smiled and shrugged, drawing a cute pout from Siobhan. She couldn¡¯t tell her friend that her ability to control her mor in these limited ways was entirely due to her new connection to a realm of Wild Magic. She¡¯d filled her in on some of the details but not the dangerous ones.


    While Marisa was by no means a wielder, she¡¯d discovered the strength of her link and the strength of the magic itself had given her a little more control as well. She couldn¡¯t do much, but she was learning to have fun with it.


    Besides Siobhan didn¡¯t use a mor so, moot point.


    She nced around the room as she took a sip from her drink. She was hoping she would meet some nice healthy man she could take back to her ce and fuck silly. She wasn¡¯t too hungry tonight, but she needed to confirm if feeding from a Human gave her the same level of energy she received before her change. Henry¡¯s energy was so potent; she was worried she might be addicted to it like her mother was quickly bing.


    Another worrisome fact was that when Henry made those delightful little gestures of affection like kissing her hand or even when he just held it. Afterward, she felt the sensation of having fed, a little. Worse, she couldn¡¯t tell if she was feeding off his life energy, something she never wanted to do! He certainly showed no signs of a drain, nor was there any discernable diminishing of the strength of his lifeforce.


    She had no one she could ask about this, so she kept it to herself and did her best to protect Henry from her needs. This brought her back to tonight. Someone in this upscale club had to be- Siobhan touched her arm as they both spotted the handsome ck man walking up to them with a friendly, confident smile on his face. Marisa¡¯s eyes flicked over his shoulder where she saw a group of four men watching him approach them with smiles of anticipation on their faces. So, they were his posse? Interesting!


    She directed her eyes back to him as he approached their table. She heard Siobhan make a quiet purring noise. She liked what she was seeing. Marisa did too.


    His suit was correct for the club¡¯s theme period, and he looked very good in it. He also approached at afortable pace, another sign of his confidence.


    Marisa had her seer vision mped down as tightly as she could as she didn¡¯t need it to detect a healthy subject.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Nate. I¡¯m not disturbing a private party, am I?¡± he asked with a sh of pearly white teeth.


    ¡°Not at all Nate. I¡¯m Siobhan, and my friend here is Marisa,¡± she said with a smile of her own.


    ¡°The club has an interesting motif, but I think that lovely Irish ent isn¡¯t going to fool anyone into believing you¡¯re Russian,¡± he teased.


    ¡°What ent?¡± she asked with a coy smile, and he nodded with a smile of his own.


    He looked to Marisa. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you said to the fellow who just left, but it was very effective.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°He sealed his fate when he called us ¡®fine bitches¡¯.¡±


    Nate winced then shook his head. ¡°How do these Neanderthals continue to survive in this day and age?¡± he asked sadly.


    Siobhan grinned at his response. ¡°Think you can do better?¡±


    Nate smiled at her and held out his hand. ¡°Nate Walker. Frence Creative Copywriter.¡±


    Siobhan was impressed in spite of her natural caution with smooth-talking Romeos. She shook his hand, and there was nothing limp about it at all.


    Marisa shook his hand as well and gasped involuntarily as her talent red. Potentials shed across her sight as she looked into his surprised eyes.


    Nate leaned towards Marisa and cautiously sniffed. His mouth dropped open in shock, and then he smiled excitedly. ¡°I found you!¡± he gasped quietly in awe.


    Marisa pulled her hand back in a daze as she forced her talent back into its paused state. His scent backed up the visions her mind had shown her. He was an Incubus! He was also- No! The visions were only potentials. Her thoughts were in turmoil as it tried to deny the images she¡¯d seen. She wasn¡¯t ready.

 88

    There was a buzz in her clutch purse, and she weed its distraction. She plucked her cell out and looked at the screen. Her eyes widened in dismay.


    ¡°SHIT!¡± she eximed.


    Siobhan was watching her friend in concern since her reaction to Nate¡¯s touch. She knew Marisa¡¯s talent for precognition was very strong and she must have seen something disturbing to look so shaken. When she cursed at her cell, Siobhan¡¯s concern deepened. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.


    Marisa looked at her in anguish. She looked over at Nate whose expression was beginning to show his concern as well.


    ¡°I- I have to go!¡± she blurted.


    ¡°What? No!¡± Nate eximed desperately. He didn¡¯t want to lose her! She was the only Subus he¡¯d ever met since he escaped the clutches of the first one.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Henry¡¯s in trouble. A friend.¡± She exined to him. ¡°I have to go!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯lle with-¡± Siobhan began.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°No! I mean, it¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll be contacting¡­ people from work to help. Stay, please. Enjoy. Get to know our new friend here,¡± Marisa said looking deeply into Siobhan¡¯s eyes and was relieved when her friend picked up the message. She looked to Nate.


    ¡°It was nice meeting you. Perhaps we could meet again. I really have to go, now!¡± Marisa said and rushed away.


    Siobhan ced a hand on Nate¡¯s chest to prevent him from following. ¡°She needs to do what she needs to do. Why don¡¯t we go get a drink, and you can tell me a little more about yourself?¡±


    Nate looked towards the door he¡¯d seen Marisa leave through. Then he looked to Siobhan. He sniffed cautiously.


    ¡°Do your friends think you¡¯re odd for taking a big ol¡¯ whiff of everyone you meet?¡± she asked him with a frown.


    He had the good grace to look embarrassed. ¡°Yes, they havemented on it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not polite.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the only way I can detect-¡±


    ¡°THAT is something you DON¡¯T discuss in public. How can you not know that?¡± Siobhan asked incredulously. She knew from Marisa¡¯s look that Nate was one of the Hidden Races so he should have known better.


    Nate looked at her in exasperation. ¡°Sorry, I must have slept through that ss in high school.¡±


    Siobhan looked into his eyes and saw he was genuinely oblivious. ¡°Ok, we really need to go somewhere private where we can talk. Will your posse be ok without you tonight.¡±


    Nate looked at her again and a smile formed on his lips. ¡°Is this discussion going to include breakfast?¡±


    She snorted at his cheekiness. She couldn¡¯t help herself from smiling back at his confident grin. ¡°y your cards right and it might.¡±


    ¡°Lead on.¡±


    -=-


    Ra¡¯Anek flew through the dark skies. He rarely got the opportunity to fly these days as his Raven form was toorge to be taken for a natural creature. Night flying wasn¡¯t his favorite activity, but tonight it served the greater good. He was hunting the pseudo-clouds to get a sample of their magic.


    He¡¯d flown into Tulsa, rented a car and headed northwest towards Pawhuska. When the sun set, he found a spot to pull over and took to the skies. It felt good to stretch his wings.


    He was curious to see if these cloud creatures were truly from the same realm as the magic that flowed through the Satyr. He¡¯d get a sample from the cloud, and he¡¯d have an opportunity soon enough to test the Satyr for theparison. Tonight was just to satisfy that curiosity. He hadn¡¯t mentioned to the others that he was doing this.


    As Minister of Risk Assessment, he¡¯d already decided on his own that Mr. Gable needed to be contained regardless of his test tonight. That¡¯s what he was going to report to the Council, and if they didn¡¯t agree with his request to imprison the Satyr, it was within his purview to order a hit team to take him out to protect the Hidden Races.


    Mr. Gable¡¯s link to the Fae¡¯s healing spell would cause it to fail with his death. Ra¡¯Anek didn¡¯t care what happened to the Fae except they provided disguises for the others. With the copse of the spell, the Fae would be in a very desperate state. A prime opportunity to negotiate very favorable terms in a bargain.


    Ra¡¯Anek¡¯s people had found the cure for the wasting disease centuries ago. They¡¯d secretly applied it to all of the Races- except for the Elven Fae. Even Ra¡¯Anek¡¯s long memory failed to retrieve the reason for the omission. Perhaps he¡¯d willed himself to forget. No matter.


    So either Mr. Gable would be contained, where he could study the Satyr¡¯s link to the Wild Magic or he¡¯d have the Satyr assassinated, and he could force the Fae into a bargain. There was no losing option for Ra¡¯Anek here.


    Lightning jumped between two thunderheads on the horizon so he tipped his wings in that direction.


    Soon he was circling the massive twin towers, and the first thing he noticed was how fresh the air smelled. The tang of metals and the chemical stew was missing! The closer he flew, the sweeter the pure air became. They were purifying the air! Consuming the poisons and releasing fresh air!


    He also noted his feathers were tingling madly. There was magic here and it was stronger than he¡¯d felt in a while. He needed a direct sample. He tipped his wings and banked in towards the surface of one.


    At thest second, he red his wings and flew up the side, dragging his hooked ws through the fluffy matter. He watched the cloud tremble then his vision filled with intense blue, white light as a bolt of sma shot down the side of the cloud. It intersected with his body and the ground, trapping him in the tube of raw energy. Blended with the sma, Wild Magic in a strength he¡¯d never imagined flowed through the core of the beam. He lost all control of his body, and his senses were blinded. When he hit the ground, it caught himpletely by surprise. Bones shattered, blood sshed, but he clung to his consciousness with his formidable will.


    The pain was intense, so heid still. He looked up at the thunderheads which moved on as if he meant nothing. He realized the cloud pped him out of the air much like a horse struck a fly with its tail. He felt a little indignant about that.


    The ground around him positively hummed with the Wild Magic. It was soaking in and spreading outwards. That was troubling. He spotted small nts begin to sprout up through the sandy soil around his body, highly energized by the magic. The nt life looked healthy and normal, but their growth was abnormally quick. He struggled to pull his mind back to his predicament until he heard noises of someone approaching. He peered into the darkness and eyes looked back at him.


    Coyotes! He reached for his magic to send them on their way but felt nothing. He was physically paralyzed and still reeling from the hit of the strong magic. His wasn¡¯t responding!


    The coyotes moved in, and he squawked weakly. Teeth tore into him, tearing chunks of meat from his broken body, sending searing pain along his nerves. His body slipped further into shock.


    As his brain shut down, he could have sworn he saw his spirit brother Coyote sitting on a rock watching him die, having a good chuckle over the delicious irony of his end.


    *************


    Stanley paced in the luxurious room he had in Mab¡¯s pce. His heavy hooves made no sound on the highly polished wood floors. This sound dampening was due to an enchantment meant to prevent disturbing people in neighboring rooms, but he found the effect a little unnerving. It was like he wasn¡¯t there.


    He understood that tonight was the night. The Fae ¡®master magicians¡¯ had reviewed the information they¡¯d gathered in their exhausting interviews. They¡¯d conferred with Mab over the best course of action to build him a mor while protecting themselves from the brute power of the magic coursing through him.


    He drank another ss of water to wet his dry mouth but instead, it just went straight to his dder, and he had to pee again.


    He went into the huge washroom and lifted his kilt to pee. He¡¯d taken to the garments as they were exceptionallyfortable. He felt himself rx as the stream hit the water.


    ¡°A good flow. A sign you have a healthy prostate.¡±


    Mid-stream he felt his muscles mp down painfully. Wincing, he turned his head to face the delighted smile of Mab as she watched him from the doorway.


    ¡°I¡¯d ask you for privacy, but this is your domain isn¡¯t it,¡± he sighed.


    Her grin widened. ¡°You catch on quickly! Very good Stanley! Don¡¯t stop on my ount.¡±


    He faced forward and willed himself to rx and start again. He knew Mab was expecting him to admit he couldn¡¯t so this was a major, if insignificant, win for him. He rolled his shoulders and felt the knots of tension slowly ease. He closed his eyes and let himself finish.


    Opening his eyes, he saw Mab was standing next to him with paper in her hand. He epted the paper and dried himself, dropping it in the bowl then pulled the chain to flush.


    ¡°You intrigue me Stanley, and that isn¡¯t easy to do these days,¡± she said quietly as she gave him an evaluating look as he turned to her, dropping his kilt to cover himself once more.


    ¡°One of the burdens of immortality?¡± he asked.


    She smiled and seemed to think on that before nodding. ¡°I suppose so.¡±


    Stanley couldn¡¯t imagine what that must be like. Having seen some of the twisted behavior the Queen had inadvertently exposed during his visit, he was beginning to believe madness was the eventual destination.


    ¡°How did that old witch pull you from the past? How did she link you to the realm of Wild Magic? Can you link wielders of the old realm¡¯s magic to the new realm without killing them?¡± Mab whispered, and her eyes glowed on thest question.


    He wasn¡¯t about to try answering her. Mainly, because he didn¡¯t know the answers himself, but equally, he thought Mab having those answers would be a dangerous thing.


    ¡°Intriguing,¡± she continued as her eyes dropped down his body to his kilt. She ran her fingers over the material covering his cock. He felt that, and it began to swell automatically. ¡°I suppose you don¡¯t know too much about Satyrs, do you Stanley?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Only personal first-hand knowledge,¡± he agreed quietly.

 89

    ¡°Creatures of insatiable lust! Rapist and defilers of Human females!¡± She gave him a crooked smile at his frown as she continued to brush her fingers over his kilt. ¡°That was how the Humans of the time described your people. They had no love for the Satyr race. Well, the males didn¡¯t. The females liked them just fine. Maybe just a little too much perhaps. Back then, the Human race was slightly more primitive than it is today and females had no say at all. The Human men hunted down everyst one-¡± she stopped with a smile. ¡°Everyst one but you. All because your kind were better lovers than the Human males could ever hope to be. It was their jealousy that drove their murderous desires.¡±


    Stanley¡¯s body was getting mixed signals as it always did with Mab. She could be so damn sexy as she stroked him to full rigidity effortlessly, but her words threatened to drive his desires away.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had many Satyr lovers. They were the only ones who could truly satisfy my needs.¡± She pouted as she contemted how long it had been. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about what went wrong at the orgy I threw in your honor.¡±


    Henry¡¯s mind immediately shed to the death of the two servants. ¡°Murder always ruins a party,¡± he thought to himself.


    ¡°It had all the necessary ingredients to trigger your lust, but you remained fully in control of yourself throughout the party. Unaffected.¡± Queen Mab murmured as she gently squeezed the bulge pressing against his kilt.


    His breathing was bing rough as her fingers skillfully drew his pleasure higher and higher.


    She reached down and lifted the edge if his kilt up so she could see the naked flesh of his cock. She purred happily when she saw howrge and hard it was.


    Henry still had trouble epting the alien looking appendage was attached to him. He certainly felt its connection, however.


    ¡°Henry, you¡¯re in your early twenty¡¯s, yes?¡± she asked gently as she went back to teasing his cock with her long fingers.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he grunted through clenched teeth.


    ¡°How much time per day were you allowed to remain in Satyr form.¡±


    He struggled to think as his body throbbed with need. ¡°Uh¡­ 6 to 7 hours. While I slept.¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhh, that¡¯s it. Crafty old witch. You were only allowed to fraternize with the Humans as a Human. Your true body hasn¡¯t matured yet. Soon though, I think. Satyr¡¯s reach sexual maturity early. The first experiences, until you learn some control, should be entertaining,¡± she purred. She took a grip on his shaft and began to pump him vigorously.


    She had him right on edge, so this stroking pushed him over the edge quickly. ¡°Cumming!¡± he moaned as he felt his balls tighten up. He leaned his head back and closed his eyed as she skillfully milked his cock. When he finished, he opened his eyes and saw that was exactly what Mab had been doing. As she released his spent cock, she held up a ss beaker full of his cum and examined its contents with a satisfied smile on her crimson lips.


    ¡°Thank you, Henry. I¡¯ll see you tonight.¡± With that, she strode away, off to do who knows what with his ejacte. He knew it was full of the Wild Magic which was toxic to wielders, like her. Maybe it was for the spellcasting tonight? He somehow didn¡¯t think so.


    He began to feel defiled. He wasn¡¯t much more than ab rat to the Queen, and now that she¡¯d gotten what she wanted, it was back into the cage for him. He stood there in the washroom as his emotions went off the rails.


    His body began to tremble then shake as his revulsion to her touch caught up to him.


    ¡°HEY! WAKE UP!¡±


    Henry jolted awake as someone pushed and pulled at his shoulder. He yanked himself away from the unwanted touch and tumbled off a bench tond on a concrete floor. He blinked in a daze as he looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. A cage?!? ¡°Wha? Where am I?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in jail, fuckwit.¡±


    The voice was very nasal and came from the side. Henry nced that way into the angry, bloodshot eyes of therge police officer that brought him to the station. Right. He was at the police station.


    Henry pushed himself to his feet and looked to his right into the concerned eyes of Mary Carsten.


    ¡°You ok? That was one hell of a nightmare,¡± she said gently, and he saw in her eyes that she somehow knew it was more. Unsettled, he just nodded and sat back on the bench. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Queen Mab was there again, so his eyes snapped open, and he leaned forward to rub his hands together as they¡¯d suddenly gone cold.


    There was a loud noise from down the hall then the click of heels on concrete as they all turned their heads towards the sound.


    An officer with a grim look on his face was leading an Indian beauty with a matching grim expression.


    Henry sagged with relief. His text had reached Marisa. The cavalry had arrived.


    The officer unlocked his cell and gestured for him to exit. Henry joined them in the hall, and the cell door was locked again.


    ¡°Mr. Gable. Are you well?¡± Mahati asked him. He nodded, still a little shaky from the dream. ¡°Which of these officers is responsible for illegally forcing you to apany him to the station?¡± she asked as she looked in the other two cells.


    Henry pointed to the man with the broken nose. He got a cold look in return.


    Mahati took in the damage to the man¡¯s face. ¡°Were you responsible for his injuries?¡±


    Henry looked at her in surprise. He pointed to Mary. ¡°No, she did that after he attacked her.¡± He saw Mary give him a little smile and the other officer cursed quietly.


    ¡°We are done here,¡± Mahati stated and headed off back down the hall.


    Henry nced at the officer in the hall who gestured for him to follow, so he did. When they walked into the area where the fight broke out, he saw the Captain standing in their way.


    ¡°Captain Lowes. Several officers in this precinct, including yourself, have vited my client¡¯s civil rights. These are serious offenses, and I¡¯ll be filing a grievance with the city-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a murder investigation-¡±


    ¡°No Captain, it is not. I¡¯ve read the police and the coroner¡¯s reports. It¡¯s a suicide which you and some of your men have chosen not to ept. You have stepped beyond the bounds of thews you are duly sworn to uphold,¡± Mahati insisted.


    ¡°How the fuck did you get your hands on-¡± the captain began when four men in suits entered the squad room and approached. The man in the lead held up his badge.


    ¡°Captain Lowes? I¡¯m Captain Danson of Internal Affairs. Come with me, please,¡± the man insisted.From N?velDrama.Org.


    Huffing with annoyance the precinct captain left with the man and stepped into one of the interrogation rooms.


    Mahati spoke to one of the officers, and they walked away toe back a few momentster with Henry¡¯s shoulder bag. He epted it and went through the contents to ensure everything was still there.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± Henry quietly growled as he pulled his destroyed cell from the bag. There were smudges of a boot heel on the cracked screen. He held it up incredulously for Mahati to see. She scowled then nodded.


    Mahati put her hand around Henry¡¯s arm and guided him out. When they reached the street, a ck SUV pulled up, and thewyer guided him into the back seat. The door closed and she touched something on the edge of the door. Henry felt his ears pop gently and looked to her.


    ¡°A privacy screen. Now we can speak. Your text reached Ms. Vimor but was lean on content,¡± she said with a frown.


    ¡°They weren¡¯t going to let me call anyone. The fight between the two officers caused a distraction, so I grabbed my cell and banged out a quick text. Help, Pct, and the station number were all I had time for.¡± He looked at her in puzzlement. ¡°How did you find out about the officer¡¯s suicide so quickly?¡±


    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Don¡¯t question our firm¡¯s methods when they lead to your freedom.¡± He nodded with wide eyes, so she returned his questioning look. ¡°What¡¯s your involvement with this case?¡± she asked.


    He gave her an unhappy look.


    ¡°I¡¯m yourwyer. I need to know.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°I- I was with Officer Carsten in her home when the cop who killed himself broke in. I woke, and he was standing at the end of the bed. He-¡± Henry stopped himself from telling her about Mary¡¯s ex shooting her. He¡¯d never be able to exin how she survived. ¡°They screamed at each other then he put the gun to his head and-¡± Henry stopped talking as the scene suddenly shed back in his mind, and his stomach threatened to heave its empty contents. He tried the window button with trembling hands, but it didn¡¯t budge. He looked at her desperately. ¡°Air! Now!¡±


    Mahati disabled the privacy field, and Henry¡¯s window went down. He put his face into the gap and took deep, slow breaths. A few minutester he raised the window and settled back against the seat with his eyes closed. The shakes had finally settled down. The field went back on.


    When he opened his eyes, he saw thewyer was staring intently at him, so he turned his eyes back to the window. He didn¡¯t want to talk about this anymore. Not with her at least. Definitely with Marisa, Sigrid, Cam, and Mr. Duncan. He looked to Mahati and shrugged.


    Thewyer frowned at him and moved on. ¡°They said they had physical proof of your presence at the time of the event. What could that have been?¡±


    He forced his mind back to the morning and twitched as he relived the man shooting himself. He pushed past that moment. ¡°I threw up in the toilet, but I flushed. My fingerprints would be on the toilet handle- and a ss I drank water from¡­¡± A shocked expression slipped over his face as a realization struck. ¡°oh shit. The condom.¡±


    She nodded seriously. ¡°Yes, that would speak of immediacy. Now, why were you having sex with the officer?¡±

 90

    He scowled at her. That was rather private.


    She red in return, and he sighed. ¡°I was riding the train and an orgy spontaneously broke out-¡±


    ¡°The gas attack in the train!¡± she gasped. ¡°It was on the news!¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah. I think that was just me. I don¡¯t know anything about gas but the passengers all just started having sex around me, and I was so¡­ incredibly horny,¡± he sighed at the memory. ¡°She pushed me into her patrol car. She didn¡¯t take me to the station but to her ce instead. We had sex. Talked afterward and fell asleep.¡± His expression became bleak. ¡°Then that happened.¡±


    Mahati was staring at him. ¡°You caused a group of strangers to have sex in public, were taken into custody but instead of being charged you were taken to the officer¡¯s home to have sex.¡±


    He looked at her for a moment then nodded.


    ¡°So we could im you were both affected by the gas,¡± Mahati suggested.


    He nodded slowly.


    ¡°Obviously, your being the source of the gas will remain a secret,¡± she insisted, and he just stared at her because, yes, that was obvious.


    She had the good grace to look embarrassed as she realized what she¡¯d said. She then stared at him haughtily. ¡°It is also obvious to me that you require counselling for the trauma of watching the officermit suicide. I¡¯m going to rmend this to the head of HR at VRL.¡±


    He nodded once more and sagged in the seat. Spending a night in jail wasn¡¯t exactly restful. He yawned broadly.


    ¡°I also rmend you get some sleep today. I¡¯ll inform your office that you are taking the day off,¡± she insisted.


    He looked to her to protest but just nodded instead. She was right. He needed this. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She nodded to him and looked out her window. It was her turn to look lost in thought. She needed answers.


    ***********


    Siobhan stretched on her bed, enjoying the feel of the luxurious silk sheets. She nced over at the gorgeous hunk sleeping next to her, currently facing away. She¡¯d have to thank Marisa for bowing out this time. She knew Nate was attracted to her gorgeous friend but he¡¯d certainly shown her a good time.


    They¡¯d also had such a fascinating talk before things got physical. She¡¯d discovered that Nate had grown up thinking he was Human! He¡¯d only learned of his true nature close to a year ago on Hallowe¡¯en. A rather aggressive Subus tried to make him her ve, but he¡¯d escaped. He¡¯d been looking for another Subus since that day. One who wouldn¡¯t try to enve him.


    Siobhan promised to take him to VRL this morning to meet Marisa and Cam.


    He¡¯d lost his job when his boss became infatuated with him, and it got awkward at the office. He said he learned a lesson from that time.


    They¡¯d enjoyed a bottle of wine. Due to Nate¡¯s tion at having finally seeded in finding Marisa after almost a year, Nate had gotten a little tipsy. Then a little frisky. That suited Siobhan just fine. She showed Nate a few tricks of her own. He¡¯d been so enthralled that she made him forget the condom he¡¯d initially insisted on using. She wasn¡¯t keen on the feel oftex, so she was very pleased when he¡¯d given in.


    The sex had been very good for her, and it must have been good for him as well as he was still here. She couldn¡¯t recall what happened after they¡¯d finished. She must have fallen asleep. That was a little embarrassing.


    She felt him stir and turned her face to smile at him as he turned his head to face her. He blinked his eyes open then they blinked wide open.


    ¡°Uh, hello,¡± he said cautiously.


    She snorted in amusement. ¡°That¡¯s a strange morning greeting! Did I snore or fart in my sleep?¡±


    His eyes widened further. ¡°Siobhan?¡±


    ¡°Was I that unmemorable?¡± she pouted.


    He shook his head. ¡°No! It was amazing! I thought maybe you were a twin sister. It¡¯s- weren¡¯t you blondst night? Was that a wig?¡±


    She frowned in confusion. ¡°What are you on about?¡± She reached up and felt the slick softness of her seal pelt. She recognized its feel. She panicked as she never showed anyone her pelt! Selkie¡¯s had a bad track record of having their pelt¡¯s stolen. She leapt from the bed, backing away, and pulled her hands forward. Instead of the pelt, she was looking at the mahogany brown hair. Incredibly soft, thick, luxurious hair and lots of it! It hung down to her ass! Thankfully it continued to have the gentle waves her blond locks had. She might be able to say it was dyed but the length! She ran her fingers through and over it. It felt like her seal pelt, but this hair was attached to her head.


    She rushed back to the side of the bed and pulled her purse open, but the pelt wasn¡¯t inside. She panicked, but her hands went to her hair again as she stepped back once more, eyes on Nate¡¯s look of confusion. Her mind just kept telling her the hair was her pelt.


    ¡°What? What? What?¡± she muttered to herself in shock as she ran her fingers through the silkiness. That felt so good! Familiar. She wrapped the silky locks around herself as she settled to the floor.


    Nate scrambled to the edge of the bed and stared in open-eyed wonder as a mahogany brown seal blinked back at him. The seal¡¯s head tipped up and up until it folded back and the fur parted. Siobhan¡¯s face was there, and the look of peace on her features made Nate rx. She rose up to her feet again, and the seal just became her hair once more.


    Large brown eyes opened, and she gave herself a little shake to calm her trembling. ¡°Oh my, that felt better than it ever has!¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what are you?¡± Nate asked in wonder.


    She smiled at him. ¡°That¡¯s one of those forbidden Hidden Races questions but considering I just showed you the most private thing I do, I suppose telling you I¡¯m a Selkie is no worse.¡±


    She moved to stand before her dressing mirror and froze. ¡°I don¡¯t understand! How did this happen?¡± In the corner of the mirror, she caught his expression change to a look of guilt. She turned back to him with hands on hips.


    ¡°Was I wearing a condomst night?¡± he asked cautiously. She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s only happened once before, with a human woman, and the change then wasn¡¯t so good. It¡¯s why I wear condoms. Not sure why I didn¡¯tst night,¡± he muttered.


    ¡°The wine,¡± she said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± He looked bleakly at her. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡±


    She held up her hands. ¡°Aside from the hair color and length change, it¡¯s¡­ not so bad. It may be an improvement,¡± she said, with just a slight tremble in her voice. Truthfully, the magnitude of this change was rocking her world! Having her pelt with her, as part of her while she was in her Human form was a dreame true! She no longer had to worry about someone stealing her purse or getting their hands on the pelt!


    The fact that she¡¯d changed so dramatically was terrifying, but the final result was so much better she was having a hard time being upset about it.


    The only drawback she could see at the moment was, how was she going to exin how her hair grew so much overnight? As it was her pelt, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to cut it.


    This could be problematic.


    ¡°Should I show you my true form now that I¡¯ve seen yours?¡± Nate asked timidly.


    Her attention returned to him, and she smiled. ¡°Show me yours, and I¡¯ll show you mine?¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°Yeah, kinda like that. Have you ever seen an Incubus before?¡±


    ¡°No. Let¡¯s see it then,¡± Siobhan said.


    He climbed off the bed and closed his eyes. Then he opened them, nced to the sides and turned himself slightly. He gave her a little embarrassed smile then his eyes closed once more. There was a reverse sh where the light around him suddenly dimmed and in his ce was a creature made of darkest night. His skin had silver spots which made his obsidian skin look like a starry night sky. His powerfully built body was dreamy, but his cock was dauntinglyrge.


    Then he opened his wings, and she understood why he¡¯d turned his body. When they stretched out, they easily touched the far walls. A fifteen-foot wingspan?


    ¡°You can fly?¡± she squeaked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯m still building my wing strength. The first time I opened them wasst year, and they were very weak. They¡¯re much stronger now, but I don¡¯t know where I¡¯d go to practice unseen.¡±


    She nodded, approving his caution. ¡°Your coloring is unique!¡±


    ¡°So Oletha told me. Of course, she¡¯d also nned on keeping me chained. For that and these,¡± he said pointing his thumb over his shoulder at his wings.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Oletha was the Subus you told me aboutst night?¡±


    He nodded grimly. ¡°Marquise Oletha Thanemark. From the UK. I do my best to keep tabs on her in case she returns. Luckily, she¡¯s a famous artist, so her fans make noise in the art trades and online when she moves from ce to ce. She¡¯s returned to New York City about six times since we first met. Nothing in thest few months though.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s determined to find you,¡± Siobhan said with a worried frown.


    ¡°Luckily I¡¯m renting a room from a friend and I pay her cash, so my name isn¡¯t on any address listings,¡± he said with a smile.


    ¡°Cam may be able to help you with your issue with the Marquise.¡±


    ¡°Anything she could do to make that nutcase leave me alone would be wee!¡± Nate eximed.

 91

    Siobhan¡¯s rm clock began to chime softly, and she sighed. ¡°Time for work.¡± She looked at Nate with a smile on her lips as he switched back to his Human form. He was gorgeous in both forms!


    ¡°I¡¯ll head back to my apartment, get freshened up and change my clothes. I want to make a good impression for Marisa and Cam,¡± Nate said as he began to dress.


    Siobhan smiled and nodded. ¡°What time should we expect you?¡±


    Nate shook his head. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take me long. Noter than 10:30 AM?¡±


    Siobhan pulled on her dressing gown and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll set up a meeting with them for you when I get in.¡± She moved closer and tilted her face up for a kiss. Nate smiled and gave her one.


    She patted his chest as she pulled back. ¡°Thanks for a lovely night!¡±


    ¡°Thank you for being so patient and exining so much about the Hidden Races,¡± he returned.


    She held a finger up to her lips to indicate he should be silent about that and he nodded with a smile.


    Siobhan walked Nate to the door and locked up behind him. With a happy smile, she headed for the bathroom to have her shower and thought about how she was going to exin her new hair. She envied Marisa now for her mor. She might have to get one. Today she¡¯d wear a bulky, long sweater over her hair.


    She needed to talk to Marisa about many things.


    -=-


    Nate smiled to himself as he left Siobhan¡¯s building and headed for the subway. He¡¯d had a wonderful time with the beauty the night before but more than that, he¡¯d found someone with answers who wasn¡¯t trying to make him a ve. She¡¯d answered his questions patiently, and now she was going to arrange for him to meet two Subi, one of whom was Marisa.


    He had to admit to himself that meeting her again was what was making him smile the most. When he¡¯did eyes on her across the room at the club the night before, he¡¯d felt a burst of electricity course through his body. Her beauty and poise drew him like a moth to a me, and he¡¯d actually had to work at maintaining his calm as he approached the two blondes. Siobhan was certainly a beautiful woman, but Marisa moved his heart in ways he couldn¡¯t describe.


    When he¡¯d picked up her Subus scent, his joy wasplete! He¡¯d wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms at that moment but he¡¯d seen something in her eyes and her expression of shock derailed his ns. When she fled, he¡¯d wanted to chase her, but his better judgment and Siobhan¡¯s hand prevented him.


    Now, he was grateful the petite blond (brte he reminded himself with chagrin) had stopped him. He felt far more prepared this morning. He wouldn¡¯t make a fool of himself and ther on about things the Hidden Races didn¡¯t say out loud.


    He grinned as he rounded thest corner and looked towards the stairs leading down to the trains.


    Instead, his eyesnded on a face he didn¡¯t expect to see.


    ¡°Hello, Nate.¡±


    ¡°NO! ACKthh-¡± Nate¡¯s mind lit up as the tip of a stun baton was pressed against the back of his neck.


    The two men who¡¯d silently approached him from behind caught him before he copsed and helped him into the back seat of the car parked at the curb. They climbed in as well and closed the door.


    Oletha smiled as she slipped into the front passenger seat. The driver pulled away from the curb and drove off down the quiet morning street at a leisurely pace, merging into the regr Monday morning traffic, just anothermuter.


    ***********


    Henry stepped from the ck SUV and looked back into Mahati¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Rest today. I¡¯ll speak with you tomorrow at VRL,¡± she said, and he could only nod and close the door.


    He watched the big vehicle pull away then headed for the front door. As he made his way to the elevator, he heard someone call out to him.


    ¡°Henry!¡±


    He saw Sandy entering the lobby, so he waited for her. ¡°Your shift just ended?¡± he asked.


    She nodded and gave him a concerned look. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be heading off to work now? Are you feeling ok?¡±


    Her genuine concern andpassion once more rattled his self-control in his exhausted state and he was only able to shake his head stiffly. He pressed the button to call the elevator.


    ¡°Henry? What happened?¡± she asked as she ced a hand on his arm. They stepped inside and pressed their floor buttons.


    He looked back at her in her hospital scrubs. She was a nurse so she must have seen the aftermath of a lot of bad things. Suddenly he needed to talk to her about what he¡¯d seen. ¡°Can- can I talk to you about something? I mean, if you aren¡¯t too tired.¡±


    She smiled at him. ¡°Of course you can!¡± She pressed the door close button when the elevator opened on her floor. ¡°You¡¯ll feel morefortable talking in your own home.¡± He nodded at this as they ascended.


    Henry led her into his condo and turned back to look at her. ¡°Can I get you something to drink?¡±


    She shook her head then reached back to pull the hair scrunchie from her locks. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s better,¡± she sighed as she ran her fingers through her mane of blonde hair. ¡°It only feelsfortable when it¡¯s free.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s lovely,¡± he said quietly, and her smile warmed him.


    She sat on his couch and patted the cushion beside her. ¡°Talk to me, Henry.¡±


    He sat and tried to think of where to begin as she waited patiently.


    ¡°Uh, you¡­ did you hear about the subway gas attack?¡±


    She grinned. ¡°Yes, everyone¡¯s been talking about it at the hospital! The vids keep getting pulled off the social media sites. Not the worst kind of gas attack I suppose.¡±


    He nodded and looked at his hands in hisp. ¡°I was there.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s mouth dropped open as she stared at him. ¡°In an adjacent car?¡±


    Not looking at her, he shook his head.


    ¡°Oh my god! But we watched all the vids of the event before they got pulled offline and we didn¡¯t- Oh! You¡¯re the shopping bag man!¡± Sandy gasped as she recalled one clip which panned past someone hiding behind their purchases.


    He nodded, still facing hisp. ¡°I was taken off the train first, cuffed, and handed off to a police officer. She, uh, she must have been affected too as she didn¡¯t take me to the station. She took me to her ce.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s eyes were very wide now. ¡°Oh! Were you affected too? You didn¡¯t seem to be on the train.¡±


    Henry nodded again. ¡°Took longer for me.¡± Then he lifted his eyes and looked into hers. ¡°Afterwards, it wore off, and we talked. Then we fell asleep.¡±


    Sandy squirmed a little as she tried to hide her difort.


    ¡°The next part is hard to¡­ I don¡¯t like thinking about it¡­ but I¡¯ve been having nightmares¡­ and I¡¯m so tired,¡± he sighed wearily as his lower lip began to tremble. She began to look concerned.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok, Henry. Take your time.¡±


    He looked back down at his sped hands. ¡°The next morning, I woke up and saw a man, another cop, standing at the end of the bed pointing his gun at us.¡±


    ¡°OH MY GOD!¡± Sandy gasped and took his hand in hers.


    ¡°He was her ex. He said some nasty things to her. She said some things back. I thought- he was going to shoot us! I thought I was dead! He-¡± Henry¡¯s chest felt tight, but he pushed onwards. ¡°He put the gun to his temple- pulled the trigger.¡± The image shed in his mind causing him to twitch badly then Sandy was holding him tight. He wrapped his arms around her, and the tears came. He wasn¡¯t sure why he was crying. Anger, fear, despair, each crashed through his mind, jumbling his thoughts and his tears kept falling. He shook and held Sandy until, eventually, his tears ran dry.


    Sandy sat back and looked into his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve been carrying that around since it happened. You needed to release that tension and fear.¡±


    Henry nodded, unable to speak.


    ¡°If ever you need someone to talk to, please know you cane to me,¡± she said gently.


    Sandy had the strangest sensation of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as she recalled Stanley¡¯s ordeal with the kidnapping. Henry¡¯s reactions were so incredibly simr.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    A loud knocking on the door made them both jump. They looked at each other then Henry stood and walked to the door with Sandy at his heels. He paused to wipe his eyes and looked through the peephole.


    ¡°Shit,¡± he said softly. It was Yuko and Jun!


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Henry suddenly recalled he shouldn¡¯t recognize the people outside his door. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not sure, but it might be Yuko.¡±


    Sandy pulled him back as she took a turn at the peephole. ¡°It is!¡± She suddenly pulled the door open as Yuko made to knock again.


    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s you. Again.¡± Yuko said tly.


    ¡°Have youe back to throw another stun grenade?¡± Sandy growled.


    ¡°I did note to speak to you. I need to see for myself what my friends tell me,¡± she said stiffly. She looked past Sandy right at Henry. Her expression froze. ¡°Oh! Stanley¡­¡± she sighed softly, hints of longing in her quiet voice.


    Henry was raging inside but struggled to keep it from showing. Yuko was a loose cannon who could ruin everything. She was also devastatingly lovely withrge dark eyes and lovely lips. Still petite at 5¡ä 4¡å, she¡¯d lost a little weight on her already slim body, and her silky, ck hair now reached down past her ass. He found his mind rattled once more. ¡°Stanley¡¯s gone. I¡¯m Henry,¡± he said stiffly and a little harsher than intended. He watched her cautiously.


    Yuko suddenly spun and pushed into the stairwell to disappear down the stairs. Her sister watched her go then turned to face them with a small smile. Henry noticed her hair was a little longer now too, but she still hid her lovely dark eyes behind the non-prescription, dark-framed sses.


    ¡°I am Jun. I apologize for my sister¡¯s behavior. We have moved into 708. We knew Stanley. I only met him once, but Yuko was¡­ emotionally involved. In her way.¡±


    ¡°Wee to the building,¡± Sandy said to her with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you! It was nice to meet you both.¡± She nodded to Sandy and held Henry¡¯s eyes for just long enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck. Then she pushed into the stairwell to follow her sister.


    Sandy turned back to Henry. He sagged back against the wall and rubbed his face, yawning widely.


    ¡°I take it you aren¡¯t going to work today.¡±


    He shook his head wearily. He was worried about Yuko¡¯s and Jun¡¯s presence in the building and what that might mean. He was just too exhausted to deal with it now.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Good. Get some rest. Call meter? Maybe you coulde down to my ce for dinner. We¡¯ll order pizza?¡±


    He smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you, Sandy! For everything!¡±


    She smiled at him and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s what good neighbors do!¡±


    He raised his eyebrow. ¡°You haven¡¯t lived in the city for very long have you,¡± he said with a smirk.


    ¡°Get some rest, funny boy,¡± she said and kissed him on the cheek before walking towards the elevators.

 92

    Henry smiled and closed his door. Sandy was good people. The world needed more people like her.


    As he got ready for bed, he realized hewasfeeling a little better aside from the beginnings of a headache. He took some painkillers and drank a ss of water to prevent dehydration.


    Talking it out with Sandy had helped. He didn¡¯t know why it was so easy to talk to her, but he was grateful she was there for him.


    Speaking of good people, he needed to check if the not so good people had tried their luck with the VRL firewall. He logged in and brought up the logs. He smiled. Just the usual casual poking. So it seemed Kent wasn¡¯t sessful in wrangling his hit team after all.


    An image of Jun popped into his mind, and that triggered his recollection that he¡¯d left the remote instance of his firewall running on her high school project. He sent amand to the VRL firewall, and a shutdownmand would go out with the next scheduled update packet.


    He shut down and crawled into bed.


    Sighing, he pulled the covers up and let himself drift off, casting off his troubles for just a little while and hoping for a little dreamless sleep.


    -=-


    Kent was living in a waking nightmare.


    Due to his exhaustion, he slept through his rm. He didn¡¯t have time to shower or change his clothes and raced out of the house to drive at reckless speeds to get to work.


    He¡¯d tried to buy a coffee to perk himself up on his way to work, but his credit card wasn¡¯t working, and neither was his bank card. Then when he got to work and walked up to his desk, his PC was missing. The pranksters had gone above and beyond this time.


    ¡°You FUCKING ASSHOLES! Where¡¯s myputer?¡± he screamed.


    Arge man in a dark suit and a t top haircut appeared next to his pod. ¡°Kent Davidson?¡±


    ¡°Did you take myputer?¡± he blurted in a daze.


    ¡°Kent Davidson?¡±


    He frowned and nodded.


    ¡°Come with me please.¡±


    Kent shuffled after the big man down the corridor to one of therger boardrooms. He looked around in surprise when he entered as he saw Director Yosman, Supervisor McCalin, and Graham standing together and some FBI agents in a second group.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Did you crack that firewall?¡± Yosman asked.


    Kent sagged with a frown. ¡°No, sir. I need additional time. It¡¯s like nothing I¡¯ve ever encountered-¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s all yours,¡± the director said to the FBI agents.


    The middle agent walked up to Kent and wrinkled his nose at his stench. ¡°Kent Davidson, I¡¯m cing you under arrest for trafficking child pornography. Agents are in the process of collecting theputers at your residence as we speak-¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that!¡± Kent barked as a second agent cuffed him. They took his cell and put it into an evidence bag.


    ¡°We can and are,¡± the first FBI agent said. Then he turned to the NSA agents. ¡°Thank you for your assistance with this Director Yosman. Good luck with that breach.¡±


    Kent stared at Graham, but the man wouldn¡¯t look at him. Two agents took his arms and dragged him away as the nightmare continued.


    ¡°This can¡¯t be happening,¡± Kent gasped, panic seizing his throat.


    One of the agents grimaced and nced over at him. ¡°The fun has only just begun.¡±


    Director Yosman red at McCalin as it was his man who caused the breach. Graham Wilkins brought them the email from Kent disclosing the backdoor ess but it was toote. Someone had already used that ess to infiltrate theirwork. The extent of the damage was under assessment.


    ¡°State of the art firewall technology circumvented by a fucking hack added by your man! We spent millions developing that software. When the FBI is done charging that punk, I¡¯m going to press charges of our own to make sure he never sees the light of day.¡±


    McCalin scowled but nodded. He turned his eyes to Wilkins. ¡°You have anything else you¡¯d like to tell us?¡±


    Graham froze like a deer in the headlights. ¡°No, sir.¡±


    ¡°Get back to work then,¡± McCalin barked and Graham rushed from the room.


    Yosman glowered at McCalin. ¡°You¡¯ve got an eye on that one?¡±


    The supervisor nodded. ¡°He¡¯s under the microscope.¡±


    The Director rubbed his face with his hands. He was going to have to report this breach to the president, and that was likely the end of his career. Many heads were going to roll because of that little freak¡¯s doing. But maybe they could salvage something. ¡°How good was Kent?¡±


    McCalin stared at his boss incredulously.


    ¡°With the tech!¡± he rified angrily.


    ¡°Oh! Well, he was one of the best we had. Maybethebest.¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    Yosman thought about that. ¡°Yet he couldn¡¯t break this firewall he was investigating. We need that software. Get someone to review Kent¡¯s findings. Get it to agent¡¯s Kaiba and Sparling by the end of the week at thetest. We¡¯ll send them to VRL next week.¡±


    McCalin nodded then quickly left.


    The Director stood in the empty room, thinking about the short length of time he¡¯d had this position. He wasn¡¯t going out like this. He¡¯d ensure the agency was secure once more. He¡¯d brief the agents personally. They were going toe back with that firewall technology or there¡¯d be no reason toe back.


    *************


    Time would not be denied, even for theimmortal.


    Queen Mab wasn¡¯t particrly worried about growing old. She was already very, very old. What shewasconcerned about, was power. In particr, the waning nature of it, especially in recent times. That was what led her to make what might be the most foolish decision in her long life. Binding the Satyr¡¯s dragon bone ring to the Fae¡¯s Global Ovey Spell had put her in a precarious position. She¡¯d been working on a n to extract herself from the mess since that day.


    She learned the spell was in no danger of copsing after its conversion to being powered by the Wild Magic. If anything the spell was stronger. There were positive signs that the disease was abating. Her people would be cured, given time.


    That¡¯s where the trap was. As time passed,herpower was diminishing. The Fae power base was the original realm of magic and ess tothatcontinued to diminish. They¡¯d witnessed a growing number of breaches to the realm of Wild Magic, but the corruption the Humans brought to the world was slowly closing off the ess to the realm the Fae drew upon.Hermagic was waning!


    She immediately thought of the witch responsible for this entire mess. Baba Yaga had her crooked fingers in this and Mab couldn¡¯t yet put all the pieces together to see the crone¡¯s n. ying the long game was something the witch did exceptionally well. She¡¯d thought she¡¯d had a grasp of the master n at the sanctuary beneath Rockefeller Center and enjoyed watching it fail.


    Now though, she believed the crone¡¯s n hadn¡¯t ended with the Satyr¡¯s refusal to spin the ring and end Humanity. She now believed the game continued. Baba Yaga had yed her once more. That thought threatened to push her into a rage, so she forced it down.


    The Satyr, though, he intrigued her. While not a wielder, the powerful magic coursed through his body. She¡¯d tested his seed and found it saturated with the chaotic energies. While she currently could not use this new power herself, due to being a wielder of the old realm¡¯s ipatible source, it had given her a brilliant idea.


    Henry would be the key element in a new spell she was creating. The difficulty would be in getting him to be a willing participant. She wasn¡¯t blind to the fact that she terrified him. She¡¯d gotten quite used to that. She expected it when dealing with vastly inferior beings. They could feel their deficiencies, and thathadto be frightening.


    Mab summoned Ikehorn to her chambers. Her most loyal subject and enforcer had fallen into mncholy since his partner sacrificed himself in the sanctuary. She would give him a mission to rekindle his spirit.


    When the Fae arrived, she had him sit next to her on the small couch. She saw him tremble at the honor and smiled.


    ¡°I have a mission for you,¡± she began and watched him immediately perk up. ¡°The Satyr, I need something from him he will not be willing to give.¡±


    ¡°I will take it-¡± Ikehorn growled fiercely.


    Mab chuckled and looked at her agent fondly as he looked back in question. ¡°I have no doubts as to your abilities, but in this instance, it¡¯s something I need him to give willingly. That¡¯s one of the requirements of this particr ingredient. It¡¯s aponent of thergest spell I will ever have crafted. Nothing less than the survival of the Fae is at stake, so sharpest attention is required.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Queen!¡± Ikehorn said trembling with new purpose.


    ¡°I need leverage against Henry Gable. Put surveince teams on the Humans who are important to him. Bring me your report by the end of next week.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Queen! Thank you!¡± the agent eximed. At her nod, he bowed and rushed from her chambers.


    Mab smiled again. She knew Ikehorn woulde through for her.


    She turned her attention to working on the other keyponent of the spell. That was a very delicate but exhausting task, but the end goal would vastly reward her and her people for the physical toll she paid now.


    No matter how painful it might be.


    -=-


    Siobhan went immediately to Marisa¡¯s desk the moment she arrived at work. She needed to tell her about Nate, but she also wanted to confirm she was ok after rushing off the night before. She sighed in relief when she saw the gorgeous blond behind her desk. Marisa gave her a brilliant smile then her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the mahogany hair. Surprise gave way to confusion then rm.


    ¡°What happened to your evening with Nate?!?¡± she gasped.


    Siobhan smiled at her friend for her concern. ¡°The night was eye-opening and delightful, and we need to talk about it¡­ privately.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Ok.¡± Marisa stood and joined Siobhan by the door.


    ¡°Is Henry in yet?¡± Siobhan asked with a nce at his closed office door.


    Marisa shook her head with a worried look that disappeared as quickly as it formed. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him yet,¡± she said simply. She looked at her friend and saw she wasn¡¯t buying it.


    ¡°Was this the crisis that pulled you out of the clubst night?¡± Siobhan asked gently.

 93

    Marisa gave her friend a troubled look and Siobhan raised her hands in surrender. ¡°Never mind. Follow me.¡± She led the blond down the hall into the executive washroom. She checked the stalls, and they were alone. She wasn¡¯t going to say anything that vited Hidden Races rules, but her demonstration was for Marisa¡¯s eyes only. The blond in question was looking at her cautiously so she took a deep breath and took off her sweater.


    Marisa froze as she took in the beautiful cascade of hair that reached her friend¡¯s ass. Hair that hadn¡¯t existedst night.


    ¡°A wig?¡± she asked with a tight throat. She knew better.


    Siobhan ran her fingers through it and sighed. ¡°No, it¡¯s all mine, and that¡¯s not the most significant change.¡±


    ¡°Whatis?¡± the blonde gasped.


    Leaning forward slightly to whisper, she brought her lips next to Marisa¡¯s ear. ¡°It¡¯s my pelt.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Marisa blurted.


    Siobhan nodded. ¡°I had glorious sex with Natest night, and this morning I discovered my¡­ most precious possession was now my hair. This is so much better than it was before. I never have to worry about losing it, or someone stealing it, again!¡±


    ¡°How!¡± Marisa gasped as she shook her head.


    ¡°Nate! He exined that¡¯s why he insists on wearing a condom. Once before he forgot to wear one and his partner changed.¡± Her smile slipped away. ¡°He said that change wasn¡¯t¡­ beneficial for her.¡±


    Seeing Marisa¡¯s outrage building, Siobhan jumped ahead. ¡°He insistedst night too but you know I hate the feel of condoms and¡­ I got him drunk.¡±


    Marisa pulled Siobhan into a tight hug out of fear for her, and her sight momentarily red before she forced it back. Thankfully, she hadn¡¯t felt anything dark or foreboding but knew that could easily change based on decisions made or not made or a multitude of other factors. She hated this ability!


    Sighing, she held Siobhan out at arm¡¯s length and looked into her pretty brown eyes. ¡°Was there anything else unique about Nate?¡±


    Siobhan blinked in surprise. ¡°He- he didn¡¯t know he was¡­ what he was, until recently. He didn¡¯t know! How could he not know?¡±


    Marisa nodded definitively. ¡°Let¡¯s go to mother¡¯s office,¡± she said.


    Siobhan read her expression then cautiously nodded as she slipped the sweater back on, once more hiding the length of her new hair.


    They walked down the hall, ncing through the ss wall at the servers blinking their lights happily at the ss. Henry wasn¡¯t there either.


    Felix indicated they could go right in, so they did.


    Cam looked up from her desk with a smile which became a question when she caught the expressions on the two young faces. Siobhan closed the door behind them.


    Then Cam noticed her hair. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a lovely shade of brown! It looks very nice on you!¡±


    Siobhan smiled and nodded to the CEO then slipped her hands beneath her hair at the back of her neck and lifted the silky smooth hair from inside her sweater.


    Cam¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. It wasn¡¯t a wig, and there was no way she¡¯d been hiding this much hair under a blond wig the day before. She locked the door and set the privacy rune. She looked to Marisa who nodded to her. She looked back to Siobhan. ¡°You¡¯ve had unprotected sex with Henry?¡± she asked.


    Siobhan stared at her in surprise. ¡°Henry?¡±


    Cam looked sharply at her daughter.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°There is another Hidden Races member like Henry,¡± Marisa exined.


    ¡°What?!? Another Satyr?¡± Cam eximed then held her hand up. ¡°Wait! We need Sigrid and Roy in here.¡± She made the calls and unlocked her door. Within the minute Sigrid arrived with Roy following momentster. Cam held up her hand to forestall Sigrid¡¯s immediate question and locked the door once more, activating the privacy rune. She turned to her daughter. ¡°Please exin yourst statement to me.¡±


    Marisa nodded. ¡°Siobhan and I went to a clubst night, and we met a very nice young man. When I shook his hand, I had a sh from my talent. I knew he was an Incubus, not a Satyr, but there was¡­¡± She swallowed and once more forced back the images she¡¯d seen. ¡°¡­ a strong potential on him. I received the SOS from Henry at that moment. I left, and Siobhan stayed to speak with him.¡±


    Roy was ring at Marisa because Siobhan was present and they were divulging information about Henry. Then he noticed Siobhan¡¯s dramatic change.


    ¡°What happened to your hair?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°Hey! That was my question!¡± Sigridined.


    ¡°The young man from the clubst night is linked to the realm of Wild Magic. He had sex with Siobhan, and now she¡¯s linked to the realm too.¡± Marisa exined. Siobhan¡¯s eyes flew wide in shock as she looked to her friend.


    ¡°And all that happened is your hair changed length and color,¡± Sigrid asked.


    Siobhan nced at Marisa who nodded to her. She sighed. ¡°No, I¡¯m a Selkie. My hair is now my pelt.¡±


    ¡°That seems¡­ much more practical!¡± Sigrid said thoughtfully, and Siobhan nodded with a relieved smile.


    ¡°How did ¡®Nate¡¯e by his link to the Wild Magic?¡± Roy asked cautiously.


    Marisa sighed. ¡°This is the part you aren¡¯t going to like. Siobhan, tell them the other unique thing about Nate.¡±


    The new brte found herself the focal point of Mr. Duncan¡¯s intense stare and a chill went down her spine. ¡°Nate exined to mest night that he grew up as a Human with Human parents. He wasn¡¯t aware of the existence of the Hidden Races until this past Hallowe¡¯en.¡±


    ¡°SHIT!¡± Roy eximed. ¡°We are not getting involved with another of her¡­ experiments!¡±


    ¡°Roy! Calm yourself! We don¡¯t know she¡¯s involved with Nate!¡± Cam snapped as she took in Siobhan¡¯s nervous stare at the security chief. ¡°Siobhan, please continue.¡±


    The young woman nced at her and nodded. ¡°He said he was almost abducted by a Subus by the name of Marquise Oletha Thanemark. From the UK.¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± Cam eximed with a frown then gestured for her to continue.


    ¡°After she failed to capture him that time she returned to New York six times, but he was able to avoid her by watching the art trades and online posts from her vocal fan base. She¡¯s a famous artist, ording to Nate.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s after him for his link to the Wild Magic,¡± Cam suggested.


    Siobhan shrugged. ¡°Nate said it was because of his unique coloring and his wings.¡±


    ¡°Wings! You¡¯ve seen them?¡± Roy pressed and Siobhan nodded quickly. ¡°The witchisinvolved!¡± Roy snapped.


    At Siobhan¡¯s questioning look, Cam exined. ¡°We haven¡¯t had wings in millennia.¡± She caught Sigrid¡¯s eye. ¡°The witch pulled him from the past, like Henry.¡±


    Roy growled and nodded towards Siobhan.


    ¡°Oh for Pete¡¯s sake Roy, Siobhan has been physically transformed by Nate as Marisa was by Henry! She¡¯s on the inside of the secret now!¡± Sigrid scoffed then turned to the young woman. ¡°Everything you hear in this room is secret and privileged information, not to be discussed outside of this group. This is a ruling straight from the Hidden Races Council which is also aware of Henry¡¯s unique status. Is that understood?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes!¡± Siobhan gasped. ¡°Who is this woman who can pull people from the past?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll not be speaking the witch¡¯s name aloud. Is that understood?¡± Roy barked as his eyes went to each of them.


    Ignoring Roy¡¯s intensity, Sigrid continued. ¡°Where is Henry? Ourwyer dealt with the police issuest night, didn¡¯t she?¡±


    Cam¡¯s inte buzzed, interrupting them. She answered. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Ms. Chandra is here to speak with you, Ms. Gunderan, and Mr. Duncan,¡± Felix replied.


    ¡°Speak of the devil,¡± Roy muttered.


    Cam gave them all a stern look. ¡°No one mentions Nate.¡± She unlocked the door and pressed the inte again. ¡°Send her in.¡± She looked at her daughter. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you and Siobhan back after this.¡±


    Marisa and Siobhan prepared to leave. The sweater was once more in ce, hiding the beautiful mahogany hair.


    The door opened, and Mahati stepped in and paused as she saw everyone standing facing her. Marisa and Siobhan smiled and nodded politely as they passed. Mahati closed the door behind herself and Cam activated the lock and rune.


    ¡°How is Henry?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Mahati locked eyes with her then rxed as she saw therge blond was just concerned. ¡°He has been extracted from the immediate danger at the police station, but wemaybe called in to give a statement regarding his involvement in the subway gas attack-¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Roy eximed.


    ¡°After dropping Mr. Gable off at his condo, I spoke with my Mother regarding Satyrs as she has significant knowledge of ancient history. The study of it is a pastime of hers. This bodily function is something Satyrs do or did. They could release pheromones inrge quantities to cause a sudden loss of inhibitions. Legend has it they could generate spontaneous orgies at social gatherings. When I spoke with Mr. Gable about what happened that night, he confessed that he felt¡­ a strong sexual excitement and people around him suddenly began to have sex. We know from the news that the effect lingered on the train after his removal, the police officers and rescue workers sumbed to it when they entered the subway car. That¡¯s where his pheromones concentrated.¡±


    Sigrid recalled her first encounter with this. Their first time. A sweet smile crossed her lips and she caught Cam watching her with a knowing smile of her own. She forced her smile away then saw Mahati was watching her as well.


    ¡°You¡¯ve experienced these pheromones?¡± thewyer asked.


    Sigrid snorted in surprise at the bold question. ¡°Yes, but they¡¯re not something a Valkyrie¡¯s will can¡¯t resist.¡±

 94

    ¡°Not that you tried,¡± Cam said with a grin, surprising another snort from Sigrid.


    ¡°Regardless, Mr. Gable was collected from the subway car by a police officer and was ced in her cruiser. The officer took a concentrated dose of the pheromones within the vehicle. Instead of taking him to the police station she took him to her home and proceeded to have sex with him. The following morning her ex-husband entered her home, found them in bed, and shot himself in the head before Mr. Gable¡¯s eyes.¡± She looked into Sigrid¡¯s shocked eyes. ¡°He¡¯s exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress.¡±


    ¡°Damn! That¡¯s why the boy has looked so exhaustedtely!¡± Roy muttered then looked to Sigrid. ¡°I was going to ask you to speak to him.¡±


    ¡°Henry witnessed a suicide and didn¡¯t speak to anyone about it?¡± Cam gasped.


    ¡°Where is he now? At home?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Mahati nodded. ¡°I told him to take today off to rest as he slept poorly in the precinct¡¯s jail cell. You should make arrangements for him to get counseling when he gets in tomorrow.¡±


    Sigrid raised an eyebrow as she watched the younger woman. Mahati realized she was telling the Head of HR how to do her job. ¡°Apologies.¡± Sigrid nodded. Thewyer nced at her watch then back to Cam. ¡°I must meet with Mr. De Hann.¡±


    The CEO nodded and unlocked the door.


    With a final nod to the group Mahati left, and Roy closed the door behind her. He looked to Cam who activated the privacy rune. ¡°Along with getting Henry help for the trauma of witnessing that man offing himself, he needs someone to train him to control his pheromones. He can¡¯t be causing orgies amongst the Humans! The Council will immediately stuff him into a dark pit.¡±


    ¡°Sigrid, outside of that one time at your ce, can you recall any other time when he lost control?¡± Cam asked.


    The tall blond thought on that and shook her head. ¡°No. It must be a recent issue. If it¡¯s a Satyr¡¯s bodily function, who can give him advice on it? This is like a more advanced ss of Sex Ed, only with no guidebook.¡±


    Roy and Cam both looked to her hopefully and she sighed.


    Cam then called Marisa and asked her to return with Siobhan.


    Momentster, the two young women entered the office and closed the door.


    ¡°Henry won¡¯t be in today. He¡¯s taking a day off to recuperate from his ordeal at the police station,¡± Cam told them.


    Marisa¡¯s face wore a worried expression, but she nodded to her mother.


    Cam activated their privacy once more and immediately addressed Siobhan. ¡°When can we meet Nate?¡±


    ¡°Do ya not listen to a word I say?¡± Roy blurted in frustration.


    Cam fixed her eyes on his. ¡°Of course I listen, but sometimes I don¡¯t agree with you. Finding out about this young Incubus might help Henry. Besides, it sounds like he may need our help with the Marquise. I¡¯ve heard of her. She¡¯s trouble, and she¡¯s not going to give up.¡±


    ¡°Nate said he hadn¡¯t read anything about her visiting New York since thest time several months ago. And she visited multiple times since he escaped her the first time. Maybe she realized howrge New York is and how futile it was to search for him.¡±


    Cam shook her head. ¡°The Marquise is a hunter. She¡¯s patient. She¡¯s probably nning her next attempt.¡±


    Roy looked at Siobhan as he listened to Cam talk about the other Subus. Hunting he understood. ¡°You say she¡¯s from Ennd?¡± The new brte nodded to him. ¡°If she¡¯s going to try to avoid her fans she can¡¯t takemercial flights. Too public and her travel ns are public knowledge. Besides, she intends to bring him home I assume. That cannot happen on amercial flight.¡± Sigrid shared a quick smile with Cam as the Security Chief¡¯s mind worked out the scenarios.


    ¡°She might hire a private jet, but she¡¯d still have to get through the terminal and security. Plenty of opportunities to get noticed. She might fly from a smaller regional airport if the ne was capable of long distances. Difficult but not impossible. Getting Nate back to Ennd by this method may prove difficult unless they take some extreme measures to avoid detection. Considering the passenger they¡¯re Shanghai-¡± Roy went silent as his thoughts raced ahead.


    The women stared at him. Marisa went to speak to Cam, but she raised a finger.


    ¡°Ship. She¡¯de by ship. Cargo or freighter, more than likely. Slip in and out of port with no one the wiser. You said it¡¯s been months since thest attempt?¡± Roy asked Siobhan, and she nodded.


    Roy continued. ¡°She¡¯d need time to find a ship. One with a crew that would look the other way regarding her cargo. One week to a month to cross from Ennd depending on the ship. They wouldn¡¯t want to stay in port here longer than it took to load cargo for the return so she¡¯d hire a team here to get a location on her prey. She¡¯d arrive and collect him.¡± Roy looked into Cam¡¯s eyes. ¡°She¡¯s had time. She might already be here.¡±


    Siobhan was looking seriously spooked.


    ¡°Where is Nate now?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°He said he was only going to get cleaned up at his apartment, and he¡¯de to VRL to meet you and Cam at 10:30 AM at thetest. He was very eager to meet you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s close to that time now. We¡¯ll keep an eye out for him.¡± Cam said. ¡°Now, what are we going to do with your rather dramatic change?¡± she said looking at Siobhan.


    ¡°I- I could keep wearing sweaters to cover it,¡± the brte suggested.


    ¡°What about cutting it?¡± Roy suggested, and four women red at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s her pelt!¡± Sigrid eximed.


    ¡°Maybe I could get the Fae to give me a mor?¡± Siobhan said as she looked to Cam.


    Marisa stepped closer and lifted her hands but looked into Siobhan¡¯s eyes for permission. The woman nodded to her. Marisa slid her fingers into the hair and closed her eyes as her senses red. ¡°The magic feels identical to Henry¡¯s. Nowhere near as strong though. The Fae would have to do the same kind of mor as they gave Henry.¡±


    ¡°Which means asking Queen Mab for a favor. That¡¯s not something to be done lightly,¡± Cam said with a worried expression.


    Marisa lifted the hair, so the bottom reached Siobhan¡¯s shoulder des, how long her hair had been the night before. She smiled. ¡°Siobhan, this is Wild Magic. It¡¯s very strong and can react in odd ways. Do you recall how I made my dress bulge outwards at the club? I willed it to change and it did. With your will, tell your hair to shorten to this length.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a wielder!¡± Siobhan eximed in shock.


    ¡°Neither am I but the Wild Magic has supercharged my talent, and I can do that little trick. Your pelt is your talent, and now it¡¯s linked to a very strong source. Give it a try. Be firm and decisive. You¡¯re the boss!¡± the blond said with a smile as she released the silky hair.


    Siobhan smiled nervously and closed her eyes. She frowned with concentration, and they watched as the wavy locks slowly shortened until the tips just reached her shoulder des.


    ¡°She¡¯s wielding!¡± Roy blurted. Sigrid and Cam were watching with wide eyes as well.


    Marisa tilted her head. ¡°In a limited fashion and only because the magic behind it is so much stronger. We can¡¯t affect anything beyond our bodies, and even then, the changes are small.¡±


    Siobhan reached up to feel her shortened hair and gave Marisa a nervous look.


    ¡°Tell it to go back to full length,¡± Marisa said gently.


    Siobhan nodded and closed her eyes. She sighed as the hair slid down her back to her ass once more.


    She squealed happily and leapt to wrap her arms around her friend as Marisa chuckled. When she¡¯d collected herself, she shrank her hair back to its shorter length and nodded with a relieved smile to Cam.


    ¡°When Nate gets here, is he going toe to you first?¡± the CEO asked Siobhan who nodded. ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll make sure I keep my morning open.¡± The lock clicked open.From N?velDrama.Org.


    That was an obvious dismissal, so Marisa and Siobhan headed out to their desks.


    Roy still didn¡¯t look happy, but he nodded to Cam and left.


    Sigrid stuck around looking unsettled.


    ¡°Henry will be ok. He¡¯s got a good support base,¡± the CEO said to her friend.


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t talk to us. That¡¯s what¡¯s got me worried. I¡¯m going to speak with Marisa. I¡¯m going to see if he¡¯s said anything to her,¡± Sigrid said sadly.


    Cam nodded and the blonde left to walk down the hall to Henry¡¯s office. Marisa was sitting behind her desk. ¡°Hi, can we have a little talk in my office?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Marisa immediately stood and followed Sigrid.


    Once they werefortable with the door closed and their privacy assured, Sigrid sighed and looked into Marisa¡¯s concerned eyes. First thing, she brought the young woman up to speed on Henry¡¯s involvement with thegas attack, his subsequent witnessing of the suicide, and how that was affecting him. Marisa was struggling not to cry.


    ¡°I take it he didn¡¯t mention any of this to you?¡± Sigrid asked gently.


    Marisa was only able to shake her head.


    ¡°I got the impression that you two were close. Any idea why Henry might not have felt he could talk to us about this?¡± Sigrid said cautiously.


    Marisa¡¯s tears finally escaped as she began to cry.


    Sigrid¡¯s instincts made her want to move to Marisa¡¯s side, but she remained in her chair and pushed a box of tissues across the desk. These seemed like tears of guilt, and Sigrid needed to know why.


    Marisa took some tissues and held them to her eyes. She struggled to stop, but her guilt kept pounding her. She took some deep breaths and finally managed to force them back. She looked at Sigrid who was waiting patiently. ¡°I- I¡¯ve k-kept Henry at- at arm¡¯s length recently. He- m-might have r-read that wrong.¡±


    ¡°Why would you do that?¡± Sigrid blurted in surprise.


    Marisa strangled the tissues between her hands. ¡°I was worried that I might be- the feedings- I don¡¯t want to hurt Henry!¡±


    ¡°Have you been hurting Henry?¡± Sigrid asked with a controlled voice, and Marisa heard the tone.


    She shook her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so, but his energy is too good. I¡¯m worried I¡¯ll be addicted. Like I think Mom is bing.¡±


    ¡°Has Henry indicated he¡¯s noticing a loss of energy?¡± Sigrid said then recalled Roy¡¯sment about how tired Henry was. She fought to keep the scowl from her face. If the girl was overfeeding from Henry, she was going to do something about it.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been with Henry since he got back.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Sigrid eximed in surprise.

 95

    ¡°His energy is extremely potent. I can go much longer between feedings. I went to the clubst night to see if I could find a suitable Human to ensure I could still feed on their energy. Then I got the text and had to leave.¡±


    Sigrid wanted to get the conversation back to Henry¡¯s resistance to speak with them. Marisa had been the closest of them. So she was the first to answer. ¡°He didn¡¯t speak to you about dreams he was having?¡±


    Marisa looked at her curiously. ¡°He told me earlier that he¡¯s still having nightmares of his time with Queen Mab.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s more resilient than he knows. Most go mad when they spend extended periods of alone time with Mab,¡± Sigrid grumbled. ¡°Nothing about the suicide?¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    Marisa¡¯s face fell. ¡°As I said, recently we haven¡¯t been as close as we were before.¡±


    Sigrid sighed. ¡°Do me a favor? Speak with him. Let him know what¡¯s going on with you. Tell him your fears and let him figure it out for himself.¡±


    Marisa nodded and looked down at her hands in shame.


    ¡°Hey, this isn¡¯t all on you! He didn¡¯te to me to talk about it either, and I thought he knew he could talk to me about anything. I¡¯m going to ask him about that tomorrow when he gets in,¡± Sigrid told her to ease the young woman¡¯s self-recrimination.


    That got a small smile from Marisa.


    ¡°Thank you, Sigrid.¡±


    The tall blonde just nodded and smiled in return. With a nod, Marisa stood and left the office.


    Sigrid turned her mind to the task of finding professional help for Henry. It hurt that he hadn¡¯te to her about it, but she put that aside. They¡¯d have their talkter.


    She called Henry¡¯s number but hung up before it rang. She scolded herself. He needed his rest.


    She sighed as her mind kept returning to him. Truth be told she was a little addicted herself, but it was his charm that had her hooked.


    Giving herself a shake, she turned her mind back to the task at hand.


    She had work to do. Work that would help Henry heal.


    >>>>>>>>


    Nate slowly surfaced from a dark pit. His head felt like it might shatter with the least movement, so he held still and breathed in and out in slow deep breaths.


    ¡°When will he wake up?¡± rasped an irritated voice. Nate heard a lot of stress in the female¡¯s voice.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never personally experienced a shock stick to the base of my skull so I can¡¯t say for sure. We can try that out on our return journey if you like.¡±


    That voice Nate recognized. He¡¯d hoped he¡¯d never hear it again. Oletha! He fought to control his breathing.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather fly home! I despise traveling by ship!¡± snapped the other woman.


    Nate suddenly realized the odd swaying movements he¡¯d thought was a symptom of his being shocked had an external cause. That was a relief!


    Oletha snorted dismissively. ¡°That would be rather awkward for you considering they have no record of you entering the country.¡±


    The other female growled and for a second Nate swore some breed of big cat was in the room with them. Maybe a tiger or a leopard.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I let you convince me to join you! Three weeks on this bloody ship and when we finally get here you don¡¯t even let me join the hunt!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t pout, Chantelle. I exined that. The team I hired found our Mr. Walker here weeks ago. The hunt was over before we arrived. However, I do have a little treat for you. You get to collect the blond.¡±


    From the purr in Oletha¡¯s voice, Nate suddenly felt uneasy about the fate of thisblond.


    ¡°She¡¯sing with us?¡± Chantelle asked with a strained voice. Nate¡¯s unease red into worry.


    ¡°Yes, and she¡¯ll be in your care, so I expect you to be on your best behavior.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Chantelle said in an offhand way. A promise with no intent. Worry became dread. He heard a sigh.


    ¡°Still, I can¡¯t believe all this effort just for a fuck!¡± Chantelle said, the pout back in her tone.


    Oletha chuckled. ¡°While heisan amazing fuck, that¡¯s not why I collected him. I have big ns for him, but that¡¯s a tale for the return trip. I may even give you a demonstration if you behave. For now, though, you have to get moving if you¡¯re going to collect your travelingpanion. I¡¯ve texted you the address. Straight there and back, please. We have a schedule to keep. The ship sails tonight! Off you go.¡±


    Nate heard the door close. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was alone, so he continued to breathe in and out slowly, willing himself to rx.


    He was almost undone when fingers pressed down on his cock through his pants, but he kept the hitch in his breathing minimal, and she missed it as she gently rubbed his dormant cock.


    ¡°Oh, the future I have nned for our people, Nathan. We¡¯re going to do big things,¡± she sighed quietly.


    Her hand lifted, and momentster he heard the door close again. He waited to the count of thirty before slowly opening his eyes and this time he was alone. He nced around, but he saw no obvious cameras. What he did see was a very beautiful bedroom. He also noticed he was chained once more but this time spread-eagled to a bed. The cuffs on his wrists and ankles were very strong, but the bed itselfseemedweaker. Hemightbe able to free himself if he destroyed what looked like a very expensive piece of furniture. His freedom was worth more than the bed but it was going to make a lot of noise when- if, it broke.


    He slowly pulled his legs and arms in to take up the ck on the chains and discovered there wasn¡¯t much.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to break.¡±


    Nate jumped at the sound of Oletha¡¯s voice then tugged sharply. The bed frame bent, but as Oletha said, it didn¡¯t break. What Nate has assumed was deeply polished wood was enameled andcquered metal instead. Both were shiny, but metal wouldn¡¯t shatter.


    ¡°LET ME GO!¡± Nate yelled in frustration, looking for her. She didn¡¯t appear to be in the room, so that answered his question about the hidden camera. He spotted the ceiling mounted speaker.


    ¡°Let you go? Don¡¯t be silly! I just caught you. This time I¡¯m keeping you. Settle back and rx,¡± she purred.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather die than be you¡¯re ve!¡± Nate yelled, surprising himself with the brutal honesty in that statement.


    The speaker was silent for a bit. He went back to tugging on his restraints.


    ¡°Would you live to protect Jo Hart?¡±


    Nate froze. What did Oletha know about his best friend? The blonde! They were going to kidnap her too! He had to escape to protect her! He pulled harder on the chains, and the bed creaked.


    Oletha pushed through the door, and his eyes went to her. She was as lovely as she¡¯d appeared when he¡¯d met her at the art gallery the previous October. Tall and svelte, pale skin and long straight jet ck hair. ck lipstick and eyeshadow. Large, pale grey eyes that looked deep into your soul. He tore his eyes away from hers when he felt her slipping into his mind. He yanked on the chains and metal squealed. He risked another nce at her and saw her frustration as she thrust the stun rod against his neck.


    The world lit up once more. Then nothing.


    -=-


    Henry was having that weird dream again. The one where he was floating over the earth watching the little tears in the globe as it turned below him. With a giddy smile, he reached out to gently touch them as they passed by, seeing them re with color and widen temporarily. He suddenly wondered if he should be doing that, so he pulled back to just watched the lovely colors. Crazy rainbows! He grinned at his ability to interact with these dreams.


    A strange trill sound dragged him to the surface of his mind and into awareness. He found himself looking up at the living room ceiling. He was on his couch, but he couldn¡¯t recall how he got there. Rolling his head to the side, he saw a bottle of painkillers on the table and a half-finished bottle of water. The room swam a little, and he blinked stupidly at his cell phone which was ringing. He reached for it, but it stopped just before he got his fingers on it. He picked it up anyway and went back to staring at the ceiling.


    When the room stopped moving, he looked at the phone. The screen was shattered, but he could barely make out the name of thest caller. Sandy. Shit! He was supposed to have dinner with her! He sat up and held his head. He was still only wearing the shorts he slept in, so he needed to get dressed.


    A thumping headache he¡¯d woken up with was gone, but in its ce, he had quite the buzz. He looked over at the painkillers and wondered how many he¡¯d taken. He must have walked to the bathroom for the pills, the kitchen for the bottle of water, and made it as far as the couch where he took them.


    He tried calling Sandy back, but the screen was unresponsive. He couldn¡¯t have answered if he¡¯d tried.


    There was a knock on his door.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    That was Sandy. He pushed himself to his feet and staggered down the hall. He opened the door, and big blue eyes looked at him then panned down his body before snapping back up to his face.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer your phone,¡± she squeaked.


    ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s broken and I- I had a headache. Bad one. I think¡­ I took too many pills,¡± he said.


    She moved into the doorway and gently pulled him into his kitchen and turned on the light. She tipped his face down and checked his eyes. She pressed fingers to his neck and felt the strong, healthy heartbeat. ¡°How do you feel?¡± she asked.


    ¡°My headache is gone. I feel totally loopy though,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°How many pills did you take?¡±

 96

    He tried to recall. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t remember. I took two before sleeping but I woke with a wicked thumping headache, so I went to get more pills. Then I woke up on the couch when you called.¡±


    ¡°Have you eaten anything today?¡±


    He thought about that and shook his head.


    She nodded and looked into the bottle on the table. It was pretty full, so Henry couldn¡¯t have taken a dangerous amount. She rxed. ¡°Go get dressed. Dinner¡¯s at my ce. We need to get some food into you. That will help.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Shoo!¡± she said with a grin, and she gestured to his bedroom.


    He went to get dressed and closed the door.


    When he¡¯d received his mor, Cam exined that he would be able to include clothing in his disguise, but it was a skill he would have to practice to ensure it was perfect. Today he was feeling far from perfect, so he stuck with real clothes and slipped on his jeans and a ck t-shirt. He walked out of his bedroom to grab his wallet, phone, and keys. He slipped on some sandals and followed Sandy out. They took the elevator down and she let them into her condo. On the way to the living room she grabbed her cell and a take-out pizza menu.


    They sat on the couch, and Henry¡¯s stomach growled as Sandy opened the menu. They chuckled about that then got down to the business of ordering their dinner.


    Sandy called it in then nced at his destroyed phone. ¡°I have my old cell you can use until you get a new one. It¡¯s not anything fancy, but the batterysts.¡±


    ¡°That would be great!¡± he said, and she popped up to her feet and dashed off to her bedroom to return a minuteter with a small box. She handed it to him, and when he opened the box, he stifled a snort.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t dis my phone!¡± Sandy pouted.


    Inside was a pink glittery monstrosity. The protective case was studded with fake gems, and on the back, there was an image of a unicorn? He looked at Sandy, suppressing hisughter. She finally giggled herself, so it was safe for him to chuckle as well. She still gave his bicep a little punch.


    Henry smiled and set it down on the table and powered off his busted phone. Luckily,thatbutton still worked. Then he fished the little sim card extraction tool from the box and extracted his card. He had to remove the protective case from Sandy¡¯s phone and found it was just in white. He put his sim inside and booted the phone. After a few moments it started but showed the battery was almost dead, so Sandy plugged the charger into the wall, and he connected it to the phone.


    ¡°You don¡¯t mind if I skip the case, do you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I should make you use it just because you don¡¯t appreciate its art,¡± Sandy grumbled, but not seriously.


    ¡°Thank you for the loan. The art is a glimpse into the heart, mind, and soul of its owner.¡±


    Sandy sat back against the cushions giving him an evaluating look as she tried to determine if she¡¯d received apliment or not. She chose to believe she had so she nodded. ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±


    ¡°And thank you again for being there for me this morning,¡± he said, holding her eyes with his and she blushed with a smile on her lips.


    Then she gave him a stern look. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have kept that bottled up. You could havee to me earlier.¡±


    He squirmed a little on the couch. ¡°We were only getting to know one another. I¡­ felt awkward dumping all that on you!¡±


    ¡°You were ok talking with me this morning,¡± she suggested as she unconsciously yed with her hair.


    Henry did his best to ignore the fact that her hair seemed to be enjoying the ytime. ¡°Uh, I think I¡¯d just reached a breaking point.¡±


    She just nodded as she looked at his mouth distractedly. Catching herself, she popped up to her feet again and walked over to the TV. ¡°Would you like to watch a movie?¡±


    ¡°Sure, what do you have?¡±


    She picked up the DVD Stanley had left with her. ¡°Have you seen Casanca?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I love that movie!¡± he sighed.


    Her smile widened. ¡°Would you care to see it again?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    She got it started and rushed back to the sofa. She plunked herself down and realized she was tucked up against Henry¡¯s side. She looked up at him with a small smile, and he just rested his arm along the back of the sofa so she could be morefortable against his side. Soon they were enthralled by the movie.


    They only had to pause it momentarily when the pizza arrived, and Henry paid for it. They gorged themselves on pizza and wings while they enjoyed the movie.


    As the credits rolled, they grinned at each other as they rested back against the cushions.


    ¡°Great movie! Good food!¡± Sandy sighed.


    ¡°Hey! You forgot ¡®Great Company¡¯ too!¡± he eximed with mock disappointment.


    Sandy giggled and rolled towards him to hug him. ¡°A! Of course, I meant to say that!¡± She pulled back a little then looked in his eyes.


    Henry picked up her happy grin and marveled at the twinkle in her lovely blue eyes. She seemed to personify pure joy. She leaned in, and he prepared to feel her soft lips.


    Henry¡¯s new phone began ying Rick Astley¡¯s ¡®Never Gonna Give You Up!¡¯ loudly from the coffee table, and they both jumped. Sandy pulled back with a sigh.


    ¡°Sorry, no one calls me on my cell. It must be important,¡± he said.


    She pouted sweetly but nodded. He looked at the number and frowned. It was Mr. Duncan! ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Henry! We need your help. Are you in your condo?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m at Sandy¡¯s,¡± he said, ncing at the woman in question who was watching him curiously.


    ¡°Sorry to disturb your evening but I need you to call me back from your ce. Alone,¡± Roy said with tension in his voice.


    ¡°Oh, uh, ok. Give me a couple of minutes,¡± Henry said and hung up. He looked at Sandy apologetically. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m going to have to cut our evening short. The head of security needs me for something urgent.¡±


    Sandy pouted but nodded, and they got to their feet. He collected the AC adapter from the wall and stuffed it and his old phone in the box.


    She walked him to her door, but before he could touch the doorknob, she gently turned him to face her and pulled his head down to hers. Henry felt tingles travel through his body when their lips touched, and the kiss might have continued, but he pulled back as he recalled the urgency in Roy¡¯s tone.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to do more of that,¡± Sandy said with a dreamy smile.


    ¡°Yes¡­ definitely,¡± Henry sighed then stepped out and hustled to the elevator.


    When he was back in his condo behind a locked door, he dialed Roy.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°Ya, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°We have a situation. A special young man, much like yourself, was supposed to visit VRL today at 10:30 AM. He failed to show then and hasn¡¯t shown up yet. This young man has a stalker. She¡¯s some famous artist from the UK. She¡¯s special like Cam and Marisa. She¡¯s idle rich and has tried to pick up the young man several times before. He was warned off on the previous attempts as her fan base reports her movements. We believe she may have seeded this time because she traveled by ship. I believe she¡¯s managed to arrange transport for herself and a security team to get here, collect him, and travel back to the UK. She¡¯ll be traveling as incognito as possible and won¡¯t want to alert the authorities. I have a contact in the Port Authority. He got me a listing of all the cargo,mercial ships currently in port. It¡¯s a singlerge ¡®t file¡¯ whatever that is. The data I need is in there. We need you to filter the list down to the most likely candidates.¡±


    Henry was still a little stunned by the statement that the young man was special like him. He grabbed hisptop and booted it up. ¡°Why cargo ships?¡± he asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s transporting human cargo. She¡¯ll need a way to get him back to Ennd, drugged and chained down, away from prying eyes. Container. Cargo ship. I need you to identify the ships returning to Ennd. Quickly. We think she may have him. Can I send you the data,¡± Roy exined.


    ¡°Yes, send it to me.¡± Something about this n seemed just a little too dark. ¡°You say she¡¯s rich? Very rich?¡± He did a quick Inte search for stories of people traveling by cargo ship and checked out some images of the living conditions. Functional but nowhere near what the truly rich woulde to expect.


    Roy was only paying half attention to what he was saying as he emailed the data file. ¡°What? Oh yes, stinking rich. Old money.¡±


    ¡°Then why wouldn¡¯t she take a yacht? Ride in luxury?¡± Henry suggested.


    ¡°Too much attention on celebrities! Weren¡¯t you listening?¡± Roy chided him.


    Henry thought about that as the file came in. ¡°Ok, notheryacht but she¡¯s rich. This woman would have rich friends with yachts. She could probably convince one of them to take her to New York City. If she¡¯s like Cam, she wouldn¡¯t have too much trouble convincing this friend.¡± He shook his head as he read the list of ship names. The cargo ship idea felt too much like something Roy would do. It would be inconceivable for someone used to luxuries.


    He pulled up the header row on the file and thankfully it included column names. He fed the data into his parser routine and injected the resulting data into a spreadsheet¡¯s columns and rows. The resulting output file was toorge. He¡¯d never be able to get it back to Roy. He saved the file then deleted a bunch of columns containing less useful information. Sorting the file by destination port showed some ships bound for Ennd. Saving it once more to a new name produced a much smaller spreadsheet which he proceeded to email back to the security chief.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Roy, I¡¯m sending you the finished spreadsheet, but I still think she came in on someone else¡¯s yacht. That¡¯s my guess at least.¡±


    ¡°Noted. Thanks.¡± The line went dead as a loud knocking began on his door.


    Henry answered it and blinked in surprise at the group waiting in the hall. Cam, Sigrid, Marisa, and Siobhan were all looking at him anxiously. He stepped back, and they moved inside.


    ¡°You have a lovely home!¡± Siobhan sighed as she looked around.


    ¡°Thank you! I like your new hair color!¡± Henry said with a smile for her. Then he looked to Cam, Sigrid, and Marisa who had their eyes fixed on him but wore three different mixed expressions. Cam¡¯s was of lust/hunger, Sigrid¡¯s was anxious/shy, and Marisa looked guilty/sad? He was worried by their emotional states. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

 97

    Cam answered. ¡°Marisa and Siobhan met a young man the other night at a dance club. He¡¯s an Incubus, but like none you¡¯d find now. A witch you know personally likely pulled him from the past, as she did for you.¡±


    Henry nced at Siobhan who smiled at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m in on the secret now too,¡± she said.


    ¡°So I wasn¡¯t the only pawn in her game?¡± he asked.


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t appear that way now.¡±


    ¡°But a Subus from Ennd has her talons on him now, we believe,¡± Cam exined.


    ¡°Yeah, Roy just told me,¡± Henry said distractedly, his eyes returning to Marisa¡¯s which still held guilt which he found disturbing. ¡°Hold that thought, please. Marisa,e with me.¡± He held out his hand.


    She took his hand, and he led her into the bedroom and closed the door. It was the only room he had with privacy- other than the bathroom.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he said gently, keeping her hand in his.


    ¡°I heard what happened with the police officer,¡± she said softly. Henry twitched, and her sadness increased. ¡°You haven¡¯t spoken about it with me because of how I¡¯ve behaved towards you recently.¡± His expression told her that she was right. ¡°I¡¯ve been worried that I¡¯ll be addicted to your energy and begin to draw on your life force.¡± She looked down at her hand in his. ¡°Even in this small touch, I can feel myself gaining strength, draining you.¡± She tried to tug her hand away, but he held tight.


    ¡°If you¡¯re getting energy from my touch, I can tell you I don¡¯t feel iting from me. I don¡¯t feel in any way drained after I hold your hand or kiss it, or when you run your fingers through my hair or any of those small gestures of affection. Just the opposite! It gives me such a feeling of peace and calm! I don¡¯t know about the addiction thing. That¡¯s something only you would be able to tell. Understand though; I have no concerns if you need to feed on my energy. I don¡¯t feel any reduction of my life energy afterward. Well, nothing that a little sleep doesn¡¯t restore,¡± he said with a small grin. ¡°If you decide you can¡¯t be with me because of an addiction issue, I¡¯ll ept that. Just talk to me.¡±


    She pulled him into a tight hug. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Henry! I¡¯ve been a fool!¡±


    ¡°Shhh, it¡¯s fine. Not foolish at all. It was sweet if unnecessary,¡± he said gently.


    Marisa pulled back to look in his eyes. ¡°Mother¡¯s going to ask you to feed her. She¡¯s going up against a much older Subus, more powerful. She needs the edge.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fine.¡± He was thinking of the others waiting in the next room and how that might feel awkward. For him at least. Cam wouldn¡¯t think twice about it.


    They went back out to the living room, and Cam looked up at him expectantly.


    ¡°Roy just called me to get the names of the cargo ships¡­ but I don¡¯t think she¡¯s there. It doesn¡¯t make sense for someone used to luxury and having the option for luxury to choose a cargo ship.¡±


    ¡°How do you think she got here then?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°I think Roy was right about hering by ship and if it were someone like him doing this, then the cargo ship would be the way to go. But she¡¯s rich. I get that if she used her own yacht, then her fans might report that but she probably has rich friends. One of them probably has a yacht. A big one to make the Antic crossing.¡±


    ¡°How do we find the yachts?¡± Cam said.


    ¡°Ships are tracked by satellite these days. I¡¯ll bet you there¡¯s a websites which tracks marine traffic,¡± Henry said as he sat down in front of hisputer once more. He searched and in short-order, found a website that showed a global map with hundreds of colorful gs all over it. ¡°I¡¯m going to filter this to just pleasure craft.¡± He did so then used the zoom control to expand the map to see just New York. There weren¡¯t very many remaining. He brought up the names of the ships and searched each. He ended up with three luxury yachts reported as recently arrived.


    ¡°Three. A Sultan owns one.¡± He turned hisptop and showed them the picture. He turned it back and pulled up a picture of the next one and showed it as well. ¡°This one is owned by a Russian industrialist.¡± Searching for an image of the third, he put it on the screen and showed them. ¡°The third is owned by a British entrepreneur.¡±


    ¡°Has she associated with any of them?¡± Cam asked.


    He did another search and only found one hit with an association. Sultan Salim bin Khattib unveiled a sculpture designed by the Marquise before one of his office towers. ¡°That¡¯s not much of a connection. He likes her art.¡± Henry did searches on just the owner¡¯s names. ¡°The Sultan doesn¡¯t seem to travel to Ennd too often. Sir Dennis Tyndall, the entrepreneur, lives in London. He might have more opportunity to interact with her. Lev Mikhailov seems to like partying in London. He¡¯s there often.¡±


    ¡°Where is Roy going now?¡± Cam asked.


    Henry looked at the data once more. ¡°Some of the ships are loading at the Port Newark Container Terminal off Newark Bay. And two are at a terminal off Upper Bay.¡±


    ¡°And where are these luxury yacht¡¯s moored?¡±


    ¡°Two are in Manhattan. One is at the Chelsea Pier, and one¡¯s at New York City Marina. The third one, the Jolly Jenny is- huh,¡± Henry looked up in surprise and turned his head towards the windows.


    ¡°What?¡± Sigrid asked, and Henry¡¯s eyes snapped back to her.


    ¡°Uh, the Brit¡¯s yacht is just a couple of blocks from here in Liberty Harbor. Seems like an out of the way marina to pick for such a luxury ya-¡±


    Cam pulled Henry to his feet mid-sentence and looked to Sigrid. ¡°Call Roy and get him to meet us there!¡± She tugged Henry to his bedroom and closed the door behind them.


    ¡°Thanks for waiting until we had some privacy,¡± Henry snorted in annoyance.


    Cam knelt before Henry and began to undo his belt. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the rush but we need to get to her before she leaves and I need to recharge. She¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°Older and more powerful. Marisa told me,¡± he sighed.


    Cam smiled as she tugged his underwear down to his ankles. ¡°Mmm! I love this new mor! Your cock is exactly asrge as I need it to be!¡±


    Henry was about toment on that but gasped instead as she took him deep into her mouth. She could do things with her tongue that no human could. His cock quickly grew thick and hard in her talented mouth, and they both moaned in pleasure. She began to do long strokes from the head down to the base, taking him effortlessly into her throat.


    ¡°Oh my god, Cam! That¡¯s driving me crazy!¡± he moaned as she gently scratched at his heavy balls while mming him deep into her throat again and again.


    Cam paused her sucking for a moment as she lifted his heavy sack on her palm. She moved her hands to take a tight grip at the base of his cock and pulled her mouth clear with a pop.


    ¡°GEEZUS!¡± he gasped.


    ¡°Henry, when was thest time you had sex? Thest time you came?¡± she asked.


    He looked away as thinking about that made him think of the night with Mary and the following morning.


    ¡°Not for a few days then?¡± she answered herself, and he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re a little backed up here. There¡¯s going to be a lot.¡±


    He looked in her eyes and wondered what she meant by that.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    She began to stroke his cock, and his hips twitched forward with need. She smiled. She continued to stroke until his breathing signaled he was close.


    ¡°SIGRID!¡± she called out.


    Secondster the tall blond was opening the door and stepping inside.


    ¡°WHA- CAMILA! What the hell!¡± she shouted as she closed the door and faced it.


    Cam looked curiously at the tall blonde¡¯s back as Henry pulled futilely at her fist around his cock so he could turn around. ¡°He¡¯s carrying an enormous load of cum here. If I don¡¯t get you to stop me after two swallows- three maximum, he¡¯s going to put me to sleep again. We can¡¯t afford that! We need to be sharp! Besides you probably need a recharge too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s- that¡¯s not how I do it!¡± Sigrid growled, still facing the door.


    ¡°Oh for Pete¡¯s sake! Turn around. You¡¯ve seen this before and what do you mean that¡¯s not how you do it?¡±


    Sigrid turned around, and her face was bright pink. Henry thought she looked adorable and he must have made a sound as her blue eyes went to his and her hands went to her burning cheeks.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me that way!¡± she growled weakly.


    Cam felt the surge of his cock and grinned. ¡°Ah, he likes that!¡± She shook her head. ¡°Remember no more than¡­ four-¡±


    ¡°THREE!¡± Sigrid said and stepped forward to force Cam¡¯s mouth over Henry¡¯s cock once more.


    The brte released her grip on the base of Henry¡¯s cock as she resumed her sucking.


    ¡°Oh god, I¡¯m- I¡¯m there!¡± Henry said desperately.


    Cam squealed as the first shot hit the back of her throat. The second was close behind as the flush of energy from the first washed through her body. The second wave crashed past the first, and she pulled back as the third rope of cumnded on her tongue. Sigrid yanked her back tond on her ass. Then she turned, bent over, and flipped up her skirt, pulling her panties to the side.


    Henry needed no further prompting as he drove himself deep into the Valkyrie.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± Sigrid howled as he filled her. She was excited and very wet, but she was a long ways off from an orgasm. Henry pinned her ass back against him as he fired his cum deep inside her. Sigrid closed her eyes as the Wild Magic surged through her. After the third wave, Sigrid reached behind herself, grabbed Henry¡¯s cock and pulled herself clear. She could feel him pulsing in her tight grip, and she looked to his desperate expression. She couldn¡¯t take any more, and when she looked to Cam, she saw the woman was recovering.

 98

    ¡°MARISA!¡± Sigrid called out suddenly.


    Secondster the door opened, and the blond beauty took one look at Henry¡¯s face before dropping to her knees before him and taking him deep into her throat as Sigrid released her grip.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Henry gasped as he curled over Marisa¡¯s head as his stalled orgasm resumed.


    Siobhan was standing in the doorway, watching wide-eyed. Sigrid would have closed the door, but she was struggling to keep her wings from opening.


    When Henry uncurled, Marisa squeezed his cock from base to head to get thest of the cum from him. She stood with a smile for him and saw him staring at the doorway as he gasped for breath. She turned and saw Siobhan frozen with surprise. She walked over to face her friend.


    ¡°What happe-MMMFF!¡± Siobhan began then Marisa kissed her, transferring his essence into the brte¡¯s mouth. ¡°MMM!¡± Siobhan squealed at the vor then the energy shed through her nerves as she swallowed. Shenguidly pulled back from the kiss. ¡°Wha-¡±


    ¡°Does it feel different than the energy you receivedst night? Marisa asked.


    Siobhan held still and thought about that. ¡°Stronger¡­ much.¡±


    Scalp tingling deliciously, her hair grew down to her calves then stopped. Her eyes closed and she shivered as her skin tingled with goosebumps. ¡°oh shit¡­ that feels so good!¡±


    Henry joined them in the doorway once he had his pants on again and stared at Siobhan¡¯s hair. ¡°What the hell!¡± he breathed.


    ¡°Her change beganst night on her date. Your magicpleted it just now.¡± Marisa exined as she guided her tingling friend back to the living room. Henry followed, and momentster a grinning Cam joined them.


    ¡°I feel so good!¡± she sighed.


    Sigrid finally joined them and gave Henry a timid little smile. When he returned her smile, she blushed and roughly pulled him into a hug.


    ¡°You¡¯re so sweet!¡± he whispered in her ear. She pushed him back, eyes ring, and shook her finger at him. ¡°Don¡¯t get me started again!¡± He chuckled.


    ¡°Did you reach Roy?¡± Cam asked.


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s gone radio silent. I left him a message telling him where we¡¯re going. ¡°Can we get there by foot?¡±


    Henry was watching Siobhan make her hair contract until it only reached her shoulders. His jaw was hanging open, and Marisa reached over and lifted it closed for him. He blinked at her then looked over at Sigrid. ¡°Sorry, wha- oh! It¡¯s very close by, but the mooring is in the far side of the channel, and you¡¯ll have to go all the way around. Driving makes more sense.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡± Sigrid said and gestured to the door.


    ¡°Wait, you mean us?¡± Henry asked in surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to take Roy time to see I¡¯ve left a message and more time to get to us. She could leave before he gets there. She might be getting ready to leave right now! We need to go!¡± Sigrid insisted.


    They exited the condo, Henry locking up behind them, and took the elevator down. They rushed outside and stuffed themselves into Cam¡¯s car.


    ¡°For making a rescue, shouldn¡¯t our escape vehicle berge enough to contain all of us? We barely fit now!¡± Henryined, squeezed in between Marisa and Siobhan in the back seat. The twodies were grinning at Henry¡¯s squirming.


    ¡°We find the yacht, confirm he¡¯s on it, then we prevent it from leaving until Roy, and his team can get there,¡± Sigrid said calmly.


    Henry stared incredulously at the side of Sigrid¡¯s face until she noticed and looked back. ¡°What?¡±


    Henry sighed. ¡°One. That truly sounded like an oversimplification. Two. We¡¯re not a Seal Team-¡±


    ¡°Cheeky,¡± Siobhan snorted, and Marisa burst intoughter.


    Henry looked at them like they¡¯d lost their marbles but continued. ¡°Three. Have you confirmed that Roy and his team are evening?¡±


    Sigrid turned in her seat to look into Henry¡¯s nervous eyes. ¡°Siobhan can find the yacht faster than any of us without being seen. She may be able to disable it as well.¡± She looked to Cam. ¡°Do you have jumper cables or a length of chain in the trunk?¡±


    Cam looked at her oddly. ¡°Jumper cables? Why would I have those? Idohave plenty of strong, light chain though.¡±


    Sigrid held up her hands to stop any further exnation. She looked back to Henry. ¡°Siobhan can tangle the rudders with the chain. Or the anchor. It¡¯s a temporary measure, but that¡¯s all we need.¡±


    Henry looked to Siobhan who was smiling back at him. ¡°I¡¯m more than just apretty girl, you know,¡± she said with a grin, reminding him of his awkwardness with her the first time they¡¯d met.


    ¡°I know! I suppose¡­ because you¡¯re here, you must be someone capable of doing these things,¡± he said, struggling to find the words.


    Siobhan just grinned and nodded to him as she ced her hand on his leg. Marisa rested her hand on his other leg. He gave their matching grins a wary look.


    Sigrid continued. ¡°Confirming our target is on board is going to be the more difficult task-¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just disable the ship and wait for Roy?¡± Henry suggested.


    Cam nced at him in the mirror. ¡°We have to get him away from the Marquise before she¡­ powers up.¡± She grinned at Henry.


    Henry¡¯s cheeks burned as he recalled the little party in his room.


    ¡°Does that happen to you a lot?¡± Siobhan asked quietly.


    He nced at her curious expression. ¡°No, that was a first,¡± he mumbled.


    Sigrid picked up where she¡¯d been interrupted. ¡°Cam and Marisa will create a diversion by confronting the Marquise. I assume the ship will have Human armed guards I¡¯ll need to get past-¡±


    ¡°HOLD ON! Do you hear what you¡¯re saying?¡± Henry eximed. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the other majorplication. Because of its size, the only mooring for the yacht is at the end of a long narrow dock with many other boats. There may be people in those boats. We may not even be able to get on the dock as there are gatehouses on each dock. You probably need a key or a code. It might as well be a castle with a moat. It¡¯s a ship¡­ on water. Surrounded by¡­ deep water.¡±


    Siobhan reached up and gently turned his chin to make him look at her. ¡°Henry, can you swim?¡±


    He sucked in a sudden breath. ¡°NO! Ok? I don¡¯t know how to swim! And I¡¯m not a fighter. I¡¯m useless in this situation. You¡¯re talking about walking directly into danger, and I won¡¯t be able to help or protect anyone!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think we can take care of ourselves?¡± Sigrid asked with a little stiffness in her tone.


    He locked eyes with her. ¡°Of course, I do! I know exactly how capable you are, but you¡¯ll be out in the open, unable to use your abilities without being seen. That doesn¡¯t make it easier for me to hide in the shadows while my friends are risking their lives!¡±


    ¡°Henry, we need someone to watch for Roy and direct him to our location when he arrives. I was hoping you could do that,¡± Sigrid said calmly, and he nodded shakily. He knew she was keeping him out of harm¡¯s way as the more capable yers took risks and got the job done.


    Then they were driving down the road parallel to the marina. They pulled into the parking lot entrance, and Cam took a ticket to open the gate.


    ¡°When Roy gets here he¡¯ll be driving directly over the field to get to the parking lot. He won¡¯te in through the gate. He¡¯s going to need to know where to turn in to get to where we¡¯ll be,¡± Sigrid exined.


    Henry was looking at the path along the water¡¯s edge and worried at how many lights were lighting up the entire length. He couldn¡¯t see the boats yet to know how many witnesses there would be. They parked midway between the first two light standards where the light was the dimmest.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to look for the yacht. I¡¯ll be right back,¡± Siobhan said quietly. Henry pped his hand over the ceiling light, muffling it as her door opened and closed.


    ¡°Good thinking, Henry. We¡¯ll make a spy of you yet!¡± Sigrid said with a smile and reached up to switch the dome light off.


    Henry was watching where Siobhan had ducked into the bushes in the shadows. Then she was done, and a dark shape bounced across the path and dove into the water.


    ¡°Now we wait,¡± Cam said.


    Henry was fretting about the lights. They needed a way to turn them off.


    Not too long after, Marisa made a noise and pointed. ¡°She¡¯s back!¡± she chirped as the dark shape shot out of the water and bounded across the path into the bushes. Momentster, Siobhan was rushing across the grass to the car. She slipped inside once more.


    ¡°Hey! Watch the leather seats with your wet¡­¡± Cam began then stopped as she stared at the grinning and bone dry young woman. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but this is so much better than its ever been!¡± Siobhan was vibrating with excitement.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Did you find the yacht?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Yes! The Jolly Jenny is where Henry said it would be, at the end of a dock, three to our left. There¡¯s a lot of movement on the deck. They may be getting ready to go.¡±


    Cam and Sigrid shared a look and exited the car. As they moved to the back, Marisa and Siobhan stepped out as well. Not wanting to be left in the car, Henry got out and looked around. He walked back and saw Cam handing Siobhan a coil of the chain.


    ¡°Will you be able to carry this in your other form?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Yes. Notfortably, but yes,¡± Siobhan said, examining the chain.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take any chances. If you can use the chain to block them from leaving immediately, do it. Be careful,¡± Cam said.


    Siobhan grabbed the chain and dashed off back to the spot she¡¯d first entered the water.


    Cam looked at Marisa, and they shared a nod. With a nce to Sigrid, they headed up the path.


    ¡°Do you have Roy¡¯s cell number?¡± the tall blond asked.


    Henry pulled out his phone and showed her his call history. She nodded as he¡¯d been thest call.


    ¡°Call him and get an update on his ETA,¡± she asked as she turned to walk towards the dark grassy field.


    ¡°Wait. How are you going to get on the ship?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°I can fly, remember?¡± she said in exasperation.


    ¡°Yes, but you glow like the sun!¡± he eximed.


    She smiled at his description. ¡°I¡¯m going to suppress that. It¡¯s not easy, and I can only do it for short periods, so short flights.¡± She turned and jogged off into the darkness.


    Henry stood behind the car feeling useless. He called Roy, but it went to voicemail. He left a quick but detailed message telling him what was happening. Then he hung up.


    He looked into the trunk and spotted arge hooded cloak much like the one he wore the night his original human disguise first failed. He lifted it out and pulled it on. He grabbed the tire iron as well. He closed the trunk. Looking at therge building at the start of the walkway leading to the docks, he pulled the hood up to hide his face then went to see if there was something he could do about all these lights.

 99

    Cam and Marisa walked up the path and reached the first challenge. The door in the small gatehouse blocking ess to the dock. Luckily this one seemed to be guarded by a single man wearing a white uniform. Marisa smiled at her mother and stepped closer to the gate.


    ¡°Hello,¡± she said with a sultry tone.


    The man looked at them through the mesh on the door. He nodded cautiously but took a step closer.


    Marisa nced at the ship at the end of the dock. Another security guard was watching them. She locked her eyes on the guard at the door and smiled.


    His lips immediately matched her smile. ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think you can. We were asked to join our good friend Oletha for a little fun.¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes were beginning to show a ssy aspect that indicated her influence was oveing his will. Much quicker than normal, Marisa noted. He¡¯d experienced this treatment before and potentially often.


    ¡°Maybe we could have a little fun too?¡± Marisa said, setting the hook.


    ¡°On¡­ on a list¡­¡± he muttered.


    ¡°She just called us. She was very insistent. I¡¯d hate to make her wait.¡± Marisa said with a pout, and the guard¡¯s resistance crumbled.


    ¡°Sure, right.¡± He reached out and opened the door for them.


    ¡°Do you need to tell your friend back there everything is good?¡± Cam suggested with a little push.


    ¡°Of course,¡± he replied and touched his shoulder.


    Cam and Marisa walked past, and each gave him a little kiss on the cheek, nking his mind. ¡°Open the door for our friends who will being shortly, alright?¡± the brte said, and he just nodded.


    That taken care of they walked towards the end of the dock, eyes scanning the boats lining each side. They counted twenty-four boats in total with therger yacht at the end. There wasn¡¯t one light showing in any of the boats and ncing over at the docks on either side they saw no lights there either.


    ¡°Did you notice something off about hispliance?¡± Marisa whispered to Cam, maintaining her smile.


    ¡°Something wrong there. I¡¯ll take the next one,¡± the brte responded then slid a brilliant smile on her lips as they reached the guard at the gangway for the yacht.


    ¡°May I help you?¡± the guard said, ncing beyond them in annoyance at his counterpart back at the gate.


    Cam moved forward slightly to catch his eye. She decided to convince this one with the least amount of push as he also showed small signs of abuse.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Cam Vimor. I¡¯m here to speak with Marquise Oletha Thanemark. She¡¯ll want to speak to us. It¡¯s in regards to our mutual acquaintance, Nathan Walker.¡±


    The man opened his mouth, most likely to deny she was onboard but stopped short when Cam and Marisa both gave him a look. With another scowl at the guard by the gate, he turned and walked up the gangway and stepped into a doorway.


    Marisa looked to her mother. ¡°That was bold. What if she wasn¡¯t here?¡± she whispered


    Cam smiled slightly and spoke equally quiet. ¡°She¡¯s here. I can smell her on these two. She¡¯s leaned on them heavily. Besides, she traveled all this way for a precious cargo she¡¯s tried so often to acquire; she¡¯s not going to leave it unguarded until she gets it home.¡±


    There was a deep rumble as the yacht¡¯s motors throbbed to life. They shared another look. The Marquise was going to run.


    There was a terrible grinding screech noise then the motors went silent. Cam smiled at her daughter.


    The door on the cabin above them flew open, and a tall, slim raven-haired woman stormed out and down the gangway.


    She stopped at the bottom and red at them. Hostility was rolling off her in waves. ¡°What have you done to my ship?¡± she said with a cial tone.


    ¡°What have you done with our friend?¡± Cam asked calmly.


    Eyes locked and the air between Oletha and Cam crackled with energy as each tested the other¡¯s will. Cam felt the pressure the Subus had abused the Human crew with but fed her energies into pushing back.


    ¡°You two don¡¯t have any idea who you¡¯re dealing with. You¡¯re infantspared to me,¡± Oletha said contemptuously as shepletely ignored Marisa, concentrating her effort on Cam who refused to crack under strain.


    ¡°You¡¯re Marquise Oletha Thanemark. From Ennd. A visitor to our home,¡± Marisa said.


    ¡°You need to turn around¡­ and walk away,¡± Oletha said slowly and crisply, death implied in each word.


    Cam held the woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°That isn¡¯t going to happen.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know who he belongs to, does she?¡± Marisa asked her mother, her eyes never leaving the Marquise.


    ¡°He¡¯s mine, and I¡¯ll kill you both before you set foot on this ship!¡± Oletha spat, frustrated by Cam¡¯s unnatural ability to hold her at bay.


    ¡°You know when he came from, don¡¯t you?¡± Marisa continued.


    Oletha heard the emphasis, and her expression froze just a little. She wasn¡¯t aware anyone else knew.


    ¡°Do you know anyone powerful enough to pull someone from the past? It¡¯s not us.¡± Marisa admitted freely.


    Oletha¡¯s dark eyes were beginning to show doubt, and she hated that feeling. If she couldn¡¯t overpower the bitch¡¯s will, she had other weapons at her disposal. She¡¯d ensured privacy by convincing all of the owners of the surrounding boat they should go home for the week. The crew was currently under her thrall, and she¡¯d clear their memories after the trip, so she wasn¡¯t worried about them.


    ¡°She¡¯s not going to listen to reason,¡± Marisa sighed as she tried to loosen her grip on her seer sight just a little to read the Marquise. Her mind suddenly filled with shes of blood and pain, death, very, and madughter. She staggered back under the assault andnded on her ass.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Cam¡¯s attention shifted for a split second and Olethaunched herself forward with a savage grin. ws extended and a lightning fast sh would open that throat-


    Except she wasn¡¯t there. The swipe missed Cam by a foot at least. She shouldn¡¯t be able to react and move that fast! Snarling, Oletha fed her rage into her strength andunched another attack.


    From the outside, they looked like a blur with an asional grunt or brief cry of pain.


    When they stopped, they were halfway back to the gatehouse. They were both breathing hard, and both were sporting blood from a number of shallow cuts.


    Oletha saw her opponent was tiring while she still had the energy to spare. With age came capacity and she¡¯d been feeding off the crew during the trip over. She knew she¡¯d mentally break them by the time they returned home, but she didn¡¯t care about the fate of a few useless Humans. Not when she had a new race of powerful Subi and Incubi to create with Nate¡¯s assistance. Willing or not.


    The bitch she faced now wasn¡¯t going to interfere with her ns.


    She was going to die.


    -=-


    Sigrid watched from a distance away in the shadows. She was waiting for Cam to capture the woman¡¯s attentionpletely. When they blurred into hazy shapes, Sigridunched herself skyward and spread her wings as she forced back the light. That was extremely difficult to concentrate on while attempting to stay in the air. It took way too much energy, but she beat her shadowy wings until she was shooting forward towards the stern of the yacht. There was one crew member there looking down into the waters behind the ship.


    At thest second, she swooped upwards, tucked her wings away, and dropped in a ballistic arc right onto the crewman whose face mmed against the railing as she drove him to the deck. Sigrid confirmed he was still breathing, but he was unconscious. She hustled forward and made it inside. She quickly rushed through the passageways on her way to the front of the ship, pausing only to nce inside each room as she went. She took out two more crew, mming them against bulkheads and doorways. Finally, she entered a bedroom with a man chained to the bed. This had to be him. Then again, the woman was a Subus. She might have a few men chained to beds.


    ¡°Nate? Nate Walker? I¡¯m Sigrid, a friend of Cam Vimor¡¯s.¡± she said to the sleeping man.


    Eyes popped open as he¡¯d been faking his sleep. ¡°Thank god! Do you have the keys to these cuffs?¡±


    ¡°No, close your eyes, tight. Don¡¯t open them until I say and DON¡¯T MOVE,¡± she instructed.


    He looked at her cautiously but did as she asked.


    Sigrid pulled her sword, and it shed brilliantly as she struck the chains, severing them like brittle stic. She put the sword away throwing the room into darkness. ¡°Ok, you¡¯re loose.¡±


    Nate opened his eyes again. ¡°What was that bright light?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A mistake. It¡¯s given away my presence. We have to go now to get you off the ship!¡± Sigrid growled.


    One of the guards suddenly burst into the room with a gun in his hand. Before he¡¯dpleted his step, Sigrid had her shield up and leapt across the room to m him against the wall. As he copsed, the gun bounced loose and fell at Nate¡¯s feet.


    Blinking away the spots he was seeing from the sh of her shield, Nate bent to pick up the gun.


    ¡°Have you used one before?¡± Sigrid asked sternly.

 100

    He stopped and squinted at her. ¡°Uh, no.¡±


    ¡°Then leave it. It¡¯s more of a liability in an untrained hand. Let¡¯s go,¡± she nced outside and darted to the left.


    As annoyed as he was, he had to admit she was right. He¡¯d probably shoot his foot or worse, his rescuer.


    With a frown, Nate rushed after her.


    -=-


    Henry inspected the building to find the light¡¯s power source. He finally had to admit it was futile. He made his way to the bushes a short distance from the dock where the yacht was. He saw Cam fighting with another woman. He couldn¡¯t see Marisa and his nerves were buzzing with worry. He jumped when his phone rang suddenly. He pressed the answer button and looked around, but he was alone. He put it to his ear. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Henry! Where are you?¡± Roy barked.


    ¡°Oh thank god, Roy! Cam is fighting her. You have to get here! Quick!¡±


    ¡°Where. Are. You!¡±


    ¡°Liberty Landing Marina!¡± Henry blurted.


    ¡°Yes but where?¡±


    ¡°Oh! About halfway down the field between the two entrances to the parking lot!¡± Henry said, his heart in this throat as he saw Cam get knocked back but score a sh across the cheek of the Marquise causing her to reel back.


    The phone went dead, and arge SUV pulled into the parking lot with a screech. Henry began to move to it but ducked back when the driver got out and quickly crossed over to the passenger side. It wasn¡¯t Roy. The driver was a tall and slim, dark-skinned woman. She opened the passenger¡¯s door and reached in.


    She hauled another woman out of the car and hoisted her over her shoulder. Blonde hair fell forward, and Henry made a noise of surprise as it looked like Sandy. He moved to step out of his cover and hands pulled him back, making him squeak in surprise.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Henry! Quiet!¡± Siobhan hissed quietly.


    He turned to her in relief then found himself flying back to crash down on the paved parking lot. He dropped the tire iron which slid away into the darkness. His head and shoulders took a heavy blow, dazing him. When he could see straight, he noticed the blonde wasying on her back on the grass. He looked back towards the bushes and saw the woman had her hands around Siobhan¡¯s throat and had her off the ground, choking her out. He was on his feet running for them unsteadily before he knew what he was doing. The woman dropped Siobhan and spun, clubbing him on the side of his face. He cartwheeled into the bushes. She hit like a truck. From his new vantage point on the ground on the other side of the bushes, he saw the woman stop and watch the fight on the dock. She started to move in that direction.


    He could hear Siobhan coughing, but Cam and Marisa were in danger now. He couldn¡¯t take this woman as Henry the human. She was just too strong. He pushed himself to his feet again and dropped the mor. He was grateful for the cloak covering hisrger body. He straightened the cowl over his horns to hide them as he began to run towards the woman. She heard the thud of his hooves and spun to face him. He leapt forward and wrapped his arms around her squeezing her against his chest.


    Searing painnced through his shoulder as she sank her fangs into his thick muscles. Terrified, he ran into one of the light standards and crashed right through it, tearing it from its base. The woman in his arms took the impact across the back of her head and her bite loosened. Henry continued to charge forward and took out the next two light standards as well, each smashing into the woman¡¯s skull. He found himself running back towards the dock. His shoulder was screaming in pain, and he was wobbling on his hooves, but the woman had gone limp in his arms, and he didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Suddenly, he crashed through the door of the gatehouse and collided with the guard who sailed off the dock into the water. He dropped the body of the woman. Her mouth covered in his blood, she bounced off the side of the ramp and rolled off the dock into the water.


    Henry was still moving forward, but his brain was no longer driving. The lights around him went out, but the spots dancing in front of his eyes made him swat at them as he careened forward.


    He was a runaway train, and the tracks were running out.


    -=-


    Cam was approaching exhaustion. The older Subus looked spent as well as Cam hadnded some damaging blows. Cam had managed to avoid deep injuries, but she couldn¡¯t keep it up. Roy needed to get here soon. Or Sigrid. Even in her weakened state, Oletha was too deadly for Marisa to fight.


    They were taking a momentary breather, assessing each other for weaknesses and Oletha knew she was wearing Cam down. She smiled. Her endurance was phenomenal, but then Cam¡¯s ability to go toe to toe with the much older Subus was impressive as well.


    ¡°We could have been allies. I would have made you my second inmand,¡± Oletha sighed.


    ¡°The second seat in Hell is still Hell,¡± Cam said.


    There was a loud crash back on shore, and both risked a nce to see one of the lights fall. Then a second and a third.


    Oletha was no longer smiling. She knew this wasn¡¯t one of hers. Then the gatehouse exploded into pieces, and someonerge in a hooded cowl was charging down the dock. He dropped the woman he was carrying, and they caught a glimpse of her bloody face as she bounced off into the water.


    Cam saw Oletha¡¯s shock at seeing the woman fall and chose that moment to make herst all-out effort. She leapt past the Marquise and raked her across the eyes, blinding her. The lights on the dock suddenly shut down as Cam fell into the back of one of the parked boats and crashed up against the inner wall, utterly spent. She looked back to see if Oletha was dropping on her for the kill. But instead, she saw Henry m Oletha down against the dock and charge over her, one of his heavy hooves cracking her skull open like a grape as he stumbled by.


    But he wasn¡¯t stopping.


    -=-


    There were two guards with guns by the back of the ship, and they were well and truly spooked, shooting at everything. Sigrid had to change course, and they ended up in the upper bridge which was empty. Sigrid spotted surveince screens showing scenes from the bedroom Nate had upied. She tore the hard drives from theputers and drove her sword through them. That would be sufficient for clearing them.


    ¡°We¡¯re on the top deck! How do we escape from here?¡± Nate growled.


    ¡°I have wings so I might be able to glide us down to the dock but suppressing the light and flying is too draining. Carrying you as well would be impossible. I¡¯m too damn visible otherwise.,¡± Sigrid said.


    Nate looked at her nervously. ¡°I have wings too, but I¡¯ve never flown with them.¡±


    ¡°No time like the present. Start by gliding and if it isn¡¯t working too well, drop into the water,¡± Sigrid suggested.


    ¡°Shit,¡± Nate cursed softly tugging his shirt and pants off, leaving his underwear. His shoes and socks were missing. Then he allowed himself to change.


    Sigrid watched him unfold his wings with wide eyes. ¡°You should have no trouble gliding down.¡± He felt a little better about that. Their attention was suddenly drawn to themp posts on shore being knocked down.


    ¡°That¡¯s got to be Roy.¡± She looked at Nate in relief, ¡°The cavalry in other words. They¡¯re a little fierce to look at, but they are all great people-¡±


    They froze in surprise when the gatehouse exploded then Sigrid saw who it was. ¡°Oh my god! That¡¯s Henry! He¡¯s hurt!¡± Then everything went dark as the power feed died for the dock and ship. Emergency lights flicked on just as the yacht shuddered from arge impact.


    Sigrid was out the door and over the railing in a split second. Wings snapped out in all their blinding glory for the second it took for her to glide down to the doc.


    Nate was right behind her, holding his clothes tight against his chest. His descent was slower than Sigrid¡¯s, so hended midway along the dock. He closed his aching wings. That was fun, if painful.


    He saw he was pretty close to Oletha¡¯s dead body. As much as he despised her, he couldn¡¯t look at her this way. It was too brutal and final.


    Siobhan raced past him, then he was facing a huge fanged beast.


    ¡°You must be Nate,¡± it rumbled, and he just nodded.


    ¡°ROY! HELP US!¡± Siobhan yelled before leaping into the water after Henry.

 101

    Nate stood aside as ¡®Roy¡¯ went around him to run back towards the ship. Nate took a moment to switch back to his human form and tugged on his pants and shirt. Then he noticed a lovely woman struggling to climb out of the back of a boat onto the dock. She seemed very shaky, so he moved to help her.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said with a slight moan.


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯m Nate Walker,¡± he said, enthralled by her beauty and her scent. She was a Subus!


    ¡°Cam Vimor. Help me, please,¡± she said gesturing to the end of the dock. They saw Sigrid and Marisa with their hands on the side of the ship pushing outwards to maintain a wider gap between the dock and the ship. Roy reached down and pulled a man from the water. Heid him out on the dock and Nate gasped at the wound on his shoulder. Blood spurted, and Nate cried out again when the red furred beast moved his mouth to the wound. Was he biting him?


    ¡°Calm yourself. Roy is healing him, sealing the wound,¡± Cam exined.


    Roy pulled back and turned his face to Cam in confusion, his toothy maw coated in Henry¡¯s blood. His eyes rolled back, and he slumped sideways, but Sigrid caught him before he fell off the dock. His body rippled, and arge, red-bearded and very unconscious human remained.


    ¡°Dammit! I forgot about the blood!¡± Cam cursed. Sigrid gave her a worried look, but Cam just shook her head and gestured for the men rushing down the dock to hurry. Two immediately leapt up and pulled themselves over the railing to search the yacht. The other two went to Cam after looking at Roy¡¯s bloody face and Henry¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Get Roy to his truck. Take him back to his ce. He needs to sleep this off.¡±


    One of the men hoisted Roy over his shoulder in a fireman¡¯s carry and followed his partner back up the dock.


    ¡°Is Henry still bleeding?¡± Sigrid asked bending down to inspect his shoulder. She sighed in relief as Roy had done his job before passing out. The closed wound was red and angry looking.


    Nate finally got a good look at the man lying on the dock. ¡°Oh shit! It¡¯s him!¡±


    Sigrid nced sharply at him. ¡°You know Henry?¡±


    Nate blinked at her. ¡°Huh? No! I mean, I met him once in a drug store. He- he seemed like a nice enough guy but I never got his name before all hell broke loose and he left.¡±


    A seal surged out of the water andnded on the dock. She shook herself, shedding the water, then stood up, bing Siobhan. Dry once more, Siobhan had nasty bruising around her neck. She smiled at him then looked to Cam.


    ¡°I managed to get the guard out of the water. He¡¯s alive, but I can¡¯t find the bitch who tried to strangle me.¡± She lifted her chin and Marisa winced at the sight of the bruises.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need a containment team on this site,¡± Sigrid sighed.


    ¡°Luckily Mr. Duncan called for one on his way over here,¡± a voice called out from behind them.


    The group turned and stared in surprise at Mahati walking towards them. Thewyer nced down at the dead woman on the dock and grimaced.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± she said, looking a little ill.


    ¡°Marquise Oletha Thanemark,¡± Cam said.


    ¡°The artist?¡± Mahati eximed in surprise and received a nod from Cam. ¡°What happened to Mr. Duncan-¡± she stared in shock at the wound on Henry¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Wait! Did he bite Mr. Gable?¡±


    Siobhan stepped forward and disyed her bruised neck. ¡°No, the bitch who did this to me, bit Henry. He lost a lot of blood. Roy helped him.¡± She nced at Marisa, not knowing how much to say.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we should be staying here ying twenty questions. The police will arrive soon,¡± Cam suggested.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I¡¯m to brief the cleanup team while you run away, so in twenty words or less please,¡± Mahati insisted as she stared into Cam¡¯s exhausted eyes.


    ¡°Oletha was kidnapping Nate Walker here.¡± She gestured to the man still wearing the shackles. ¡°He wasing to see us this morning but didn¡¯t show. We came to convince her to let him go. She wasn¡¯t willing to listen to reason.¡±


    Mahati nodded. ¡°What about the blond woman up on the grass?¡±


    ¡°Jo!¡± Nate gasped and moved to go to her. Mahati raised her hand to block him.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Mahati asked.


    ¡°Jo Hart. She¡¯s my best friend! She¡¯s not like us, she¡¯s human,¡± Nate blurted.


    Mahati jolted back, staring at him wide-eyed. She caught the wince on the other faces present then the sudden contrite look on Nate¡¯s. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± she growled, suddenly furious.


    Cam sighed. She was just too tired toe up with something convincing. She held Mahati¡¯s eyes. ¡°We believe Nate is the same as Henry. We can discuss this more thoroughlyter.¡±


    Eyes ring with anger Mahati nodded. ¡°We most definitely will.¡± She looked to Nate. ¡°Learn what not to say, or you¡¯ll soon discover how much danger your loose tongue will create.¡± Mahati huffed in frustration as she looked him over. ¡°Yourbest friendhas been drugged unconscious. The clean-up crew will take her back to her home. My advice, stay away from her.¡± She aimed a final re at the others. ¡°Everyone leave now.¡± Then she headed back up the dock.


    Cam saw Nate was looking a little lost and sighed. ¡°Nate, if you don¡¯t mind, you¡¯lle home with me tonight?¡± He nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take Henry to my ce to heal,¡± Sigrid said.


    Cam looked to Marisa and Siobhan. ¡°Catch a ride back with the Security team?¡± They nodded then everyone moved.


    They passed the iing clean-up crew. Cam wondered what the cover story was going to be then pushed that from her mind as Nate helped her back to her car. She watched Sigrid carefully ce Henry in the back seat of one of the security team¡¯s SUV¡¯s as Marisa and Siobhan climbed in the back of another. The big vehicles all left the way they¡¯de in. Back over the grass to the road. Cam sedately drove back to the exit and handed her ticket to one of the clean-up crew who was inside the booth with an unconscious guard, likely erasing all video recordings. Cam nodded, and the gate went up.


    They pulled out onto the road and headed back to Manhattan. She felt weary and hungry.


    ¡°You¡¯ll find a key that should work on those cuffs in the glovebox,¡± she suggested. Nate grinned and found the small set of keys on a ring. He quickly released the cuffs from his wrists and ankles.


    She knew Nate had Wild Magic flowing through him, so she hoped he was up for a little feeding. She looked over at him and saw his hunger clearly in his eyes. They shared a smile.


    Roy jolted upright with a gasp and looked around at familiar surroundings in confusion. He was on his bed- but he wore his default emergency mor. There was dried blood on his face. Whose blood?


    ¡°What the hell?¡± he muttered to himself.


    ¡°Hey! You awake in there?¡± a voice called through his bedroom door. He recognized it as Rick Santos, one of his crew. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and walked to the door to open it. Rick and Billy Cooper were sitting on his couch watching TV with their feet up on his coffee table. Billy was tossing and catching his football.


    Roy raised an eyebrow. ¡°Comfortable?¡±


    They grinned back at him.


    ¡°You feeling better, boss man?¡± Billy asked.


    Roy touched the dried blood on his chin and realized he felt great! ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good. What happened?¡±


    The two men stopped grinning and nced at each other. ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡± Rick asked.


    Roy frowned. ¡°I remember arriving at the marina and helping Siobhan Whn to her feet. She mentioned a female attacked her. I smelled Werepanther on her then we ran for the dock. I- uh, someone was in the water? Then I woke up here. What am I missing?¡±


    The two men shared looks and stood.


    Roy¡¯s hackles rose as he scented the change. They were instinctively reacting to a perceived mental weakness. Their pack leader had to be of sound mind to remain leader. Tworge werewolves were suddenly standing in his living room, and Roy shifted a split secondter. The two challengers instantly froze as their eyes went wide with surprise. Then both whimpered their submission and exposed their throats.


    Snorting his eptance, he nodded to them. Everyone switched back to Human form.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see you at the officeter, Mr. Duncan,¡± Billy said with a subdued voice.


    He nodded suspiciously and watched the two leave with nods back to him. Roy locked up behind them and made his way back to the washroom. He needed a shower.


    Facing the mirror, he frowned and dropped his mor. He instantly snarled at the vicious looking beast baring his fangs back at him in the mirror. Then he froze as he realized the unfamiliar face was his, just different.


    He was bigger than before! Bigger muscles! Longer, sharper ws and teeth! His eyes were a littlerger too!


    SHIT! As he looked more carefully, he realized how incredibly sharp his vision had be. When he concentrated, he could detect the smallest details and movement.


    What the FUCK!


    He switched back to Human and went back into the bedroom to grab his cell. He dialed Sigrid.


    After four rings she sleepily answered. ¡°Roy? You know what time it is?¡± she grumbled.


    ¡°What happenedst night?¡± he barked.


    There was a pause. ¡°Are you ok?¡±


    It was his turn to pause as he thought about that. ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m¡­ different.¡±


    ¡°Better or worse?¡± she asked.


    He had to admit he felt pretty damn good. ¡°Better, but how!¡±


    Sigrid was silent, and he listened intently. He could hear the gentle slide of silk against her skin.


    SHIT! The sensitivity of his hearing had increased!


    ¡°Henry.¡±


    Roy reeled back in dismay. ¡°I had sex with Henry?!?¡± he hissed.


    Sigrid snorted then burst intoughter. When she got control again, she answered. ¡°No! Of course not! His shoulder was injured, badly! There was blood. You helped him as you can.¡± She left it at that.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Of course. He suddenly felt stupid.


    ¡°Roy, can we talk about this in the morning?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Sorry for calling so early.¡±


    They hung up, and Roy sat on the edge of the bed, thinking.


    Downsides. There were always downsides.


    Hmmm¡­


    He couldn¡¯t think of them at the moment.


    -=-


    Henry woke feeling like someone had beat on him with hammers. His jaw was stiff, and the right side of his face swollen. He could barely open his right eye. He must have moaned as Meixiu¡¯s concerned face appeared above him.


    ¡°Are you awake Henry?¡±


    He tried to nod but painnced through his shoulder and he hissed instead.


    ¡°I will get Sigrid,¡± the petite woman said.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Henry struggled against the pain for a short time then the blonde beauty was looking in his eyes. She gave him a little water through a straw.


    ¡°How bad is the pain?¡± she asked.


    ¡°What is agoodpain?¡± he managed to whisper. She smiled in sympathy with a twinkle in her eyes.


    ¡°You need to disable your mor. You¡¯ll heal faster in your true form. You¡¯re in a safe ce. You can rest in that form as well,¡± Sigrid exined.


    Henry triggered the change, and the pain dimmed just a little, but any relief felt like an improvement! ¡°Better!¡±


    Sigrid smiled then she frowned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stay in the car?¡±


    He cast his mind back and recalled seeing someone who looked like Sandy but wasn¡¯t. ¡°Thought I saw Sandy in danger. Wasn¡¯t her. Then that woman was choking Siobhan. She hit me. Hard. Then she was going after Cam and Marisa. I couldn¡¯t¡­ I didn¡¯t know what to do so I grabbed her after I switch back to this and¡­¡± His memories fragmented from that point. He knew he was panicking and in terrible pain, but he didn¡¯t want to admit that in front of the Valkyrie.

 102

    ¡°Is everyone ok?¡± he asked instead.


    ¡°Yes. We got Nate away from the Marquise. Cam, Marisa, and Siobhan are all good. A few cuts, some bruises. Roy called in a Council clean-up team. Mahati received a statement to share with us. The team left the scene with enough clues to give a reasonable and mundane cover story to exin what was found, including the death of the Marquise and the ship¡¯s crew.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all dead?¡± he gasped.


    Sigrid nodded sadly but held off on telling him his part in the death of the Marquise. ¡°The clean-up team killed the crew to eliminate loose ends.¡± Sigrid hated the Council¡¯s team default solution.


    ¡°The story is that she, and her friend Chantelle, both known for the esction of their thrill-seeking, borrowed the yacht to sneak into New York City to kidnap the child of one of the city¡¯s crime syndicate families. Documents hinting at this were on the ship. The stunt went bad, and the target family took their revenge. They torched the yacht with the Marquise¡¯s body chained to the bed.¡±


    ¡°What if they ask the families?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°None will admit that this could happen to one of their children and all could have done what happened to the Marquise. They¡¯ll all believe one of the other families did it so they¡¯ll all maintain their innocence but not vigorously. Since no one will im it, they¡¯ll all use the story to their advantage and as a warning.¡±


    Henry rested back against the pillows, stunned by the viciousness of the solution. ¡°This all happenedst night?¡± he asked cautiously.


    ¡°Yes- oh! Roy called in the middle of the night. Apparently when he licked your wounds to seal and heal them¡­¡± she paused when she saw Henry¡¯s horrified expression. ¡°Oh stop it! Werewolves have all kinds of healing capabilities. Besides, you can¡¯t catch anything from him. Anyway, while healing you, he got a mouthful of your blood. The Wild Magic saturating it knocked him out and when he woke he¡¯d changed.¡±


    Henry gave her a worried look. ¡°Better or worse?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Roy said better. He hasn¡¯t called me back yet so I don¡¯t know what the changes are.¡± She saw Henry was still worried so she ran her fingers through his hair. ¡°He didn¡¯t sound upset. It¡¯s good.¡±


    He smiled for her then his eyes slowly shut while she enjoyed his soft hair. Soon he was breathing deeply with a gentle smile on his lips.


    Meixiu looked at Sigrid¡¯s matching smile then followed her out of the room.


    As they made their way downstairs Meixiu caught Sigrid¡¯s eye. She¡¯d exined the events of the night to Meixiu in great detail. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell him he killed the Marquise?¡±


    Sigrid frowned unhappily. ¡°Henry¡¯s a gentle soul. That information would make him very upset. I don¡¯t think he was aware of what he was doing by the time he ran over her. It was an ident. There¡¯s no need to tell him as it would just cause him pain.¡±


    Meixiu thought about that and nodded to the tall blonde. She was such a good judge of people. Far better than Meixiu who¡¯d been sheltered for so long her ability to empathize with others sometimes felt like it had atrophied fromck of use.


    She liked Henry. He was kind. She remembered when he was Stanley Garin, a much smaller man and it pleased her that, even with hisrger body, he hadn¡¯t changed inside.


    Marquise Oletha Thanemark sounded like a very bad person to Meixiu. She felt like the universe was bncing itself by having such a good person remove the bad. There were a lot of bad people out there in the world. It made her feel better when good triumphed. She allowed herself a little smile. Sigrid called her a romantic.


    Maybe she was.


    She couldn¡¯t wait for Henry to get better. She wanted to show him just how much of a romantic she could be.


    ***********


    Nate stretched his arms above his head and yawned mightily. The night before had been amazing! Cam was an exciting and skilled lover. Sex with her, both timesst night, had been better than his one experience with Oletha. He frowned as he recalled that woman¡¯s gruesome end. He gave himself a little shake. He wouldn¡¯t let himself brood over that as the night¡¯s ultimate resolution was so much better than finding himself on his way to Ennd to be a ve.


    Like his time with Oletha, he didn¡¯t feel like he¡¯d fed. The sex had been amazing, but it was just that, sex. Not that he was in any way disappointed! Cam imed to have received energy from it, so she was happy.


    He looked around the stylish and expensively furnished room and smiled. Certainly morefortable than his rented bedroom in Jo¡¯s apartment. His happiness immediately dimmed again as he recalled the words of the lovely brown skinned womanst night. Stay away from Jo, she¡¯d said. The blond was his best friend! He didn¡¯t want to lose her!


    ¡°What¡¯s that frown for?¡± Cam said as she entered the bedroom.


    ¡°Not for anything you did!¡± Nate said, recing his expression with a smile.


    She raised an exquisite eyebrow as she held his eyes and Nate shrugged gently. ¡°I was thinking about my friend Jo. That womanst night told me to stay away from her but- I need her. She¡¯s my friend.¡±


    ¡°So keep her as a friend. Just be cognizant of the dangers you potentially represent for her. Henry has a small circle of Human friends. They¡¯re precious to him.¡±


    He winced again when he heard her mention humans. She even said ¡®human¡¯ with a different emphasis than he did. ¡°Sorry for screwing upst night when I mentioned Jo wasn¡¯t like us.¡±


    ¡°That brings me to a question I have for you. You were unaware of your true state untilst year, yes?¡± He nodded. ¡°During your life did you ever spend time with a little old vic woman in a peasant¡¯s dress?¡± Nate slowly shook his head as he couldn¡¯t recall such a person. Cam continued. ¡°A very grumpy, unpleasant woman-¡±


    Lights came on behind Nate¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh! There was that one time back on the night with Oletha. A woman matching that description walked up to me, scowled at me strangely for a moment and said ¡®Shit!¡¯ before walking away. She made an impression, but I haven¡¯t seen her since. I don¡¯t recall seeing her before that day.¡±


    Cam nodded as she pondered that. ¡°That was probably her. She¡¯s the one responsible for pulling Henry from the past. Like you, he grew up believing he was Human and learned nothing of how to disguise his true nature as he was unaware of it. Unlike you, he lived with the crone. His introduction to the Hidden Races was not smooth.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get to know him,¡± Nate said.


    ¡°You should. Henry could use a friend to pull him out of his solitude. A male friend especially,¡± Cam said. ¡°You need to get cleaned up as I need to take you to the office today to speak with Mahati Chandra, thewyer you metst night. You¡¯ll also need to meet with the heads of the Hidden Races Council as you represent another ¡®Wild Card¡¯ for them. You need to be on their good side as we all depend on them for our continued existence,¡± she finished.


    Nate looked at her in trepidation. ¡°That¡¯s not intimidating at all!¡±


    She nodded. ¡°It helps to maintain that caution. Remember, the Hidden Races are greatly outnumbered by Humans who, for the most part, would hunt us to extinction if they knew we existed. Secrecy means our survival. That can¡¯t be over-emphasized. Tremendous effort is made to ensure any hint of our existence is eliminated, sometimes fatally, as happened with the ship¡¯s crew fromst night.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± Nate gasped.


    Cam nodded. ¡°The crew I met were showing signs of mental distress. Oletha abused their minds on the trip over to New York. She overfed which was why she was so strong. Who knows how damaged she would have left them after the return trip.¡± She frowned sadly. ¡°The clean-up team took the expedient course of action and killed them, using their deaths as part of the cover story.¡±


    Nate stared at her in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ frightening!¡±


    She nodded. ¡°The Council takes our safety and survival seriously. You¡¯ll need to prove you aren¡¯t a threat to that-¡± When Nate made a noise of protest she held up her hands. ¡°We¡¯ll help you as we helped Henry. We¡¯re the best ones equipped to deal with this, and we¡¯re in your corner. Make no mention to anyone about your link to the realm of Wild Magic, nor it¡¯s transformative effect on others.¡± She gave him a sympathetic look as she saw the lost look on his face. ¡°Your new life isn¡¯t as bad as it may seem at the moment. There are many amazing aspects you have yet to discover. You have to learn a new set of rules. You¡¯re already an expert at the most critical one.¡±


    He looked at her curiously.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°How to behave like a Human. You and Henry do it far morefortably than us,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Now, go get ready. I washed your clothes, but you have no shoes or socks. When you¡¯re finished in the washroom, I¡¯ll show you how to include clothes in your mor.¡±


    He smiled and slipped out of bed. He walked up to her and gave her a sensual kiss. She smiled and gently pushed him toward the door.


    ¡°That was lovely, but we need to move!¡± she said with a smile.


    He double timed it to the washroom she mentioned and took a quick shower. She met him in the living room with a magazine open to a picture of an ad with a well-dressed male model.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need a visual aid at first, and it might take a few tries to get it right, but you¡¯ll get it. First, drop your mor,¡± she instructed.


    He did and smiled at her.


    She lifted the magazine and held it before him. ¡°Now, look very carefully at the image. Make a mental note of the style and design of the shirt, the jacket, the cks, the shoes, and socks. Absorb all of the little details of his outfit. See yourself in those clothes. Imagine how they feel and move on you. Keep looking at the picture and keep it in your mind as you engage your mor.¡±


    Nate was suddenly human again, but this time he had clothes on- minus the shoes.


    ¡°You stopped thinking about the shoes,¡± Cam said with a smile. ¡°Once again.¡±


    It only took two more attempts with him staring intently at the picture to get it right, and Cam praised him for the sess. She tore the page from the magazine and stuck it in her purse.

 103

    ¡°Until you can do it without the visual aid and it¡¯s second nature, stick to real clothes if you are going to hang out with Humans as no one can afford a constantly changing wardrobe. You need to maintain a fixed set of clothing. I¡¯ve been doing this long enough that I keep a wardrobe set in my mind.¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± he nodded. That made sense to him.


    They made their way down to her car for the drive to work. As she drove, she nced over at him to catch him admiring her.


    ¡°I have another question for you,¡± she said. ¡°And I want you to think carefully before you answer. The Council may ask you the same question, and you¡¯ll need an honest answer.¡±


    Nate was still feeling a little nervous about meeting this group, but he nodded to her. ¡°Shoot.¡±


    ¡°What do you want out of your life now that you¡¯re aware of your true self?¡±


    Nate¡¯s eyebrow rose. ¡°What do I want?¡±


    ¡°Yes, what does your life look like to you now? How do you envision your life going forward? Give it some thought.¡± Cam concentrated on getting them through the busy morning traffic as Nate sat quietly thinking.


    He knew he couldn¡¯t do anything with his new state that would attract any attention. It was a colossal secret that he couldn¡¯t share. So really, it came down to what did Nate the human want? The answer came to him quickly. A soul mate. Like his dad found with his mom. He knew he couldn¡¯t have that with a human. He now knew he was a slow acting poison for humans. In a physical rtionship at least. His tonic rtionship with Jo hadn¡¯t caused her personality to warp.


    He suddenly realized he hadn¡¯t checked on her and the guilt mmed down. ¡°I need to call Jo. Make sure she¡¯s ok. She was taken back to her apartmentst night, wasn¡¯t she?¡± he asked as he searched his pockets for his cell. Then he recalled these clothes were just a mor but didn¡¯t recall the phone being in his other pants.


    Cam nodded then caught his frown. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    He looked at her. ¡°I think I lost my cell! What if it was on the yacht?¡± he asked anxiously.


    Cam shook her head. ¡°The clean-up crew doesn¡¯t make mistakes. Besides Oletha wouldn¡¯t have allowed you to keep it. It was likely destroyed to keep you from being located by it.¡±


    Nate slumped back in his chair. ¡°Another reason to hate her, as if I didn¡¯t have enough.¡± He saw Cam¡¯s sympathetic smile and sighed as he collected his thoughts. He considered the woman beside him. From her condo and her car and her role as CEO of her ownpany he knew she was sessful and wealthy. Things he aspired to be one day. But she lived alone. He was deeply curious about that.


    ¡°Maybe I should have asked this before we enjoyed ourselvesst night but, is there a Mr. Vimor?¡± he asked.


    She snorted softly. ¡°No, I¡¯m not married.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason? I understand there aren¡¯t many Incubi. Is that why?¡± he asked.


    She gave him a curious nce. ¡°Subi and Incubi don¡¯t typically stay with one partner for very long.¡± She paused as his question exposed a significant gap in his knowledge about their kind. ¡°You probably haven¡¯t been told this yet, and I¡¯m sorry to tell you so bluntly.¡± He looked at her nervously. ¡°One of the important things to know about Subi and Incubi is that we have very long lifespans. Barring idental death, we can live for hundreds of years. Spending that much time with one partner would be difficult. It¡¯s just not in our natures. Our longevity also means at some point you¡¯ll have to end your rtionship with your Human friend before she realizes you aren¡¯t aging as she is. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Nate stared out the windshield at nothing at all while Cam¡¯s words circled in his mind. It was both amazing and depressing news. He¡¯d received the gift of living to see the future, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to share it with Jo or bring her with him. To hide his secret, he was going to have to abandon her. The shock deepened as he thought of his gang of friends from high school and college; Joey, Dave, Jeff- shit.


    He returned to the present when Cam touched his arm. He nced around and saw they were parked in an underground parking lot. ¡°Oh! We¡¯re here?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to hit you with that information unprepared.¡±


    ¡°No, I was going to have to learn sometime. It¡¯s good. I mean, some of it is good. The other part¡­¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Without knowing from the beginning, of course, you¡¯d form strong rtionships with your Human friends.¡±


    The unfairness of it filled Nate with a directionless rage. ¡°We can¡¯t tell anyone?¡± he blurted.


    ¡°No. Never. You¡¯d be putting their lives and ours at risk. The Council takes steps to ensure the secret remains protected,¡± Cam exined carefully.


    ¡°Right. I get that.¡± He sighed wearily. ¡°I mean, I knew I¡¯d be saying goodbye to them eventually but¡­ I thought I¡¯d be able to grow old with them. Share all that crazy old man shit with the guys.¡±


    Cam just waited patiently.


    He ran his hands over his face. ¡°Right. OK. I got this. Let¡¯s go meet thewyer.¡±


    They got out and made their way to the elevators. Nate¡¯s mind was taking him all over the ce. He had so many questions.


    The elevator took them up to the top floor. Nate eyed the tworge men standing by the doors in the elevator lobby, and they eyed him as they nodded to Cam.


    He spotted the nametes for the executive offices as they walked down the hall and he paused next to one. ¡°Henry Gable, CIO,¡± he read aloud. Cam smiled at him. ¡°That guy is a CIO? He can¡¯t be much older than me!¡± he blurted.


    ¡°He may be a little younger,¡± Cam replied with a smug little smile. ¡°Marisa is his Executive Assistant.¡± She nced in the door, but her daughter wasn¡¯t in yet.


    ¡°How did hend the CIO gig?¡± Nate asked.


    Cam gestured for him to follow and led him down the hall to pass before the windows of a server room. Nate admired the shing lights. The room was visibly a server room, a very neat and tidy one with lots of hi-tech looking equipment inside but he knew close to nothing aboutputers. ¡°Very nice.¡±


    She smiled and motioned for him to continue following her. They entered a waiting room with a good looking man behind a desk.


    ¡°Good morning, Felix! This is Nate Walker.¡± The two men nodded to each other with a smile. ¡°Has Ms. Chandra called yet?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°Good morning. Ms. Chandra called to say she would arrive in,¡± he nced at the clock on his screen. ¡°¡­ fifteen minutes.¡±Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be with Nate until she arrives.¡± Cam nodded and walked over to open the door to her office. With a nod to the man behind the desk, Nate followed.


    He looked around as she closed the door behind them. He was impressed with the luxurious appointments of her corner office.


    Cam walked behind her desk to take her seat while gesturing to Nate to take a seat before it. ¡°While my door¡¯s closed and the privacy ward is active, you may speak freely about anything. She started up her PC and brought up a picture on therge screen, swiveling it to show him. The image was of a dark and decrepit space filled with oldputer racks. Dust, mess, and loose cabling abounded. ¡°This is what we had before Henry arrived. Actually, at that time his name was Stanley, and his mor presented him as a much smaller man. A professor friend of mind at a local college taught him and determined he had savant level talent withputers. I interviewed him and offered him the position. In a very short time, he took us from that to what you saw in the hall.¡±


    Nate nodded in appreciation. ¡°How did he go from this small man to the one I sawst night?¡±


    Cam sighed. ¡°Most of the story is top secret by order of the Council, but I can tell you he came to need a new mor as his old one¡­ became cursed. Don¡¯t ask me or anyone for that matter about the curse. We can¡¯t give you details. His new mor looks more like his true shape and size, minus the non-Human aspects.¡±


    ¡°What is he?¡± Nate asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s one of those questions you just don¡¯t ask-¡±


    ¡°Right! Sorry!¡± he blurted as he kicked himself mentally.


    ¡°Not to worry. We¡¯ll teach you how to behave. We helped Henry.¡±


    Nate thought about how Stanley had done the work, and now Henry was continuing it. ¡°How did you exin Henry taking over Stanley¡¯s job?¡±


    Cam smiled. ¡°Henry looks like Stanley¡¯s older brother, so the cover story is that their mother put them both up for adoption. They met in Irnd recently but Stanley ¡®died¡¯ in an ident while there. Henry came back to the States, and as he had simr skills, we offered him the job. He also lives in the condo Stanley rented from VRL. The tricky part was reintroducing Henry to the friends he made in the building. I understand so far, they¡¯ve epted him.¡±


    ¡°Hidden Race or human?¡± Nate asked.


    ¡°Human.¡±


    Nate frowned crossly. ¡°How is he going to deal with the aging issue? Is he going to have to abandon them as I will mine?¡±


    Cam gave Nate a sad look, and he sighed, holding his hands up indicating she didn¡¯t have to answer that. She did anyway. ¡°Henry isn¡¯t like us. He¡¯s unique, and we don¡¯t know how long his life span will be. That said, if he shows no signs of aging while his friends do, he¡¯ll have to leave them behind too.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, that anger just crept up on-¡± Nate began then Cam¡¯s inte buzzed. She gestured that she understood as she answered.


    ¡°Yes, Felix?¡±


    ¡°Ms. Chandra, Mr. Duncan, and Ms. Gunderan are here.¡±


    ¡°Please send them in,¡± Cam said, unlocking the door.


    Roy was the first one in and immediately grabbed two extra chairs to set them beside Nate who¡¯d stood to greet the new arrivals. Roy shook Nate¡¯s hand. ¡°Roy Duncan, Security Chief.¡±

 104

    ¡°Nate Walker, frence creative copywriter,¡± he returned. He shook Sigrid¡¯s hand and nodded to thewyer who was holding herself back a little as she looked to Nate.


    Cam locked the door and activated the privacy rune once more.


    ¡°Exin,¡± was all Mahati said as she looked to Cam.


    The CEO sighed then began. She exined how Siobhan Whn had discovered Nate had been unaware of his true nature until the previous October. At that time Oletha Thanemark had tried to abduct him. She¡¯d attempted multiple times since the first. Siobhan invited him to visit yesterday, but Oletha managed to capture him. She was almost sessful in kidnapping him, but they found her location and retrieved him from the yacht when she attacked Cam.


    ¡°How does this make him like Henry?¡± Mahati asked with a frown. ¡°Aside from hisck of knowledge of his true nature?¡±


    ¡°The easiest way to prove it would be a demonstration. Nate, we wouldn¡¯t normally ask you to do this but could you show Mahati your true self?¡± Cam sighed as she pressed the button to close her blinds.


    He looked into her eyes and saw she was serious, so he stood. He moved to the open space before the couch and smiled at the group. All eyes were on him. He closed his eyes and triggered his mor to drop.


    Roy gave a frustrated growl as he turned to Cam. ¡°Dammit! Could ya not tell thed to wear something underneath th¡¯ mor! Between him and Henry!¡±


    Nate looked down, and there it was. His Incubus junk. Big, jet ck, ridged, red and exposed for all to see. He spun to turn his back towards them and opened his wings.


    ¡°Wings!¡± Mahati gasped, struggling to recover from the peep show.


    ¡°Yes. Incubi haven¡¯t had wings for thousands of years. Before you ask, there has never been a case of a random activation of the dormant genes. He¡¯s been pulled from that era, as Henry was,¡± Cam said and looked to Nate. ¡°Thank you. You can switch back.¡±


    He looked at her nervously over his shoulder. ¡°I- uh, need the picture.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± She stood and walked over with the page and held it up before him as he concentrated. This time it took four attempts as he was nervous. ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of it,¡± she said gently as he gave her an apologetic look.


    Mahati had recovered some of her haughtiness and stared down her nose at Nate. ¡°While startling, this doesn¡¯t prove he was involved with the witch. Did she raise him too?¡±


    Cam looked to Nate to answer that, and he turned to thewyer. ¡°I have regr parents- human parents¡­ I was adopted. I think I met the woman you¡¯re talking about once. She showed up the night I discovered what I was. She walked right up to look me in the eye. She looked disappointed and pissed off then walked away. That¡¯s the only time I recall seeing her.¡±


    ¡°Your mor has a non-standard transition which means it wasn¡¯t given to you by the Fae. Did you ever try to trigger your mor before that night?¡± Mahati asked.


    He shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I had a mor. When Oletha tried to get me to trigger it, I felt this terrible feeling of fear and panic. She said someone had ced a strongpulsion spell on me to resist using or even looking for it.¡±


    Cam shared a look with Roy whose face held a frustrated scowl. Mahati noticed. ¡°You two have experienced this?¡±


    ¡°Aye, tis th¡¯ witch,¡± Roy grumbled, his agitation bringing out his ent.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of her trademarks. Using fear topel people to do, or in this case, not do something,¡± Cam stated with a grim expression. ¡°It¡¯s not pleasant to experience.¡±


    ¡°We must inform the Hidden Races Council immediately! You should have notified me-¡± Mahati began to raise her voice.


    ¡°We just did! We only just rescued Nate from the Marquisest night!¡± Sigrid stated.


    ¡°And I called youst night on my way to the marina,¡± Roy stated, holding her eyes with his.


    Nate shifted uneasily in his chair. ¡°Is there some danger involved in not immediately calling them? Are they going to send assassins after me?¡±


    Everyone began to speak, trying to ease his fears until Mahati raised her hand for silence.


    ¡°No, you are not in any danger, and they will not assassinate you. I apologize if I gave you that impression. Iamconcerned that these three take on too much authority in issues that should be managed by powers greater than them.¡± She raised her hand again to stop the protests. ¡°When dealing with entities such as Baba Yaga and Queen Mab, two of the most powerful witches in existence, one leaves the decision making to the authorities-¡±


    ¡°Sometimes those authorities don¡¯t make decisions, but instead, react, following practices which are short-sighted and cruel when viable alternatives exist!¡± Cam insisted. When Mahati opened her mouth to argue, Cam raised her hand to stop her. ¡°Let me finish.¡± Thewyer red at her but nodded stiffly. ¡°If we hadn¡¯t intervened in Stanley¡¯s case, tell me, what course of action do you think the Council would have taken? What oue do they typically utilize? Would they have shownpassion to a young man whose whole world was turned upside down? Who discovered his grandmother wasn¡¯t rted to him and he had no real family? A young man who just wanted to work onputers and have some friends? A young man who wasn¡¯t a threat to anyone! A young man like Nate.¡±


    Mahati sat with arms crossed, breathing hard and nostrils ring with her frustration.


    ¡°Think about it, please,¡± Sigrid asked gently and intense brown eyes locked on the blonde¡¯s earnest blue eyes.


    Nate nced back and forth between Mahati and Cam. He was confused, so he caught Mahati¡¯s attention. ¡°Pardon me if this sounds rude, I don¡¯t mean to be, but I¡¯m truly confused here. As awyer, who¡¯s your client? The Council or VRL?¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes showed her pleased surprise while Mahati¡¯s narrowed with anger.


    ¡°It looks like you took that as criticism. I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯re talking about my continued existence, so I thought maybe I should ensure I had fair representation¡­ if that¡¯s even allowed,¡± Nate continued.


    Mahati huffed as she realized his question was honest and she was in a spot.


    Cam took the opportunity of that moment of silence tounch her second attack. ¡°The Council appointed your firm to us. We didn¡¯t choose your firm. Nor have we signed any contracts, yet, so legally we aren¡¯t your client. I didn¡¯t refuse as I generally support their efforts to keep us all safe. However, I don¡¯t agree with all of their decisions or practices. Frankly, I would wee some intelligent oversight and review on those policies. I also wanted to see if you would be a good fit. That said, I believe we would all be morefortable if our external legal counsel was inourcorner.


    Mahati blinked in surprise. ¡°Are you firing me?¡±


    ¡°Just the opposite. I¡¯d like to offeryouthe job of VRL¡¯s external legal counsel. I¡¯ve done my research. Your mother¡¯s firm is highly respected, and your certifications are excellent. As you said, you don¡¯t have ¡®in the field¡¯ experience, but I believe you would be a quick study. You can call on our Mr. De Hann for any questions you may have as well. I¡¯ll offer you the same terms I gave Walter Zhao. I have a contract you may take with you and review. Ites with just one condition.¡± She slid arge sealed envelope across her desk to thewyer.


    Mahati¡¯s eyes narrowed once more. ¡°What is this¡­ condition?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like you to shake Marisa¡¯s hand.¡±


    Mahati frowned. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a seer, untrained but powerful. She sees potentials. Her read from you will tell me if I should trust you. I already feel good about this decision but as this affects more than just me, a second opinion is required.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know my future!¡± Mahati gasped in outrage.


    Cam shook her head. ¡°From what she¡¯d told me, her talent doesn¡¯t work that way. I¡¯m only looking for her overall impression of you. I¡¯m just going to ask her to answer one question. Should I ept you as VRL¡¯s legal counsel, yes or no?¡± Cam exined.


    Mahati was looking very defensive. She plucked the envelope from the desk. ¡°Let me read the contract. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m even interested. You seem to be a focal point of chaotic events.¡±


    ¡°May you live in interesting times,¡± Nate murmured to himself, but Roy heard and smiled.


    ¡°Aye, it has its ups and downs,¡± the big man agreed.


    Cam leaned forward and caught Mahati¡¯s eye. ¡°Can we agree to hold off on reporting Nate¡¯s existence to the Council until you¡¯ve decided on the contract? I¡¯ll need time to find alternate counsel should you reject the contract. I should inform you that otherw firmsareapproaching us with offers to use their services.¡±


    Shaken by the direction the conversation had taken but struggling not to show it, Mahati nodded stiffly to Cam. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know tomorrow. Until then Mr. Walker¡¯s- special circumstance can remain unreported.¡±


    She stood, nodded to the group and left.


    Once the door was closed and locked once more, everyone let out a sigh of relief and smiled at each other.


    Except for Nate who still looked worried.


    ¡°Why does it feel like I¡¯m jumping from the frying pan into the fire?¡± he said.


    Sigrid smiled at him. ¡°It only seems that way because to you the council seems like a great big unknown. We got Henry through this. We¡¯ll help you with this as will he.¡±


    Nate nodded to her, feeling a little better. ¡°How is he doing?¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°He¡¯s a little weak from blood loss, but I have someone watching over him. He¡¯ll be back to full health in a couple of days. I¡¯ll take him back to his condo tomorrow.¡± There was a buzz at her hip, and she lifted her cell to see a text. ¡°Ah! Speak of the devil. One sec.¡± She typed out a quick reply and smiled at them when she put the phone away. ¡°Henry woke up hurting from the beating he tookst night. I told her to give him some pain meds.¡±


    ¡°I think I should set him up with some self-defense training,¡± Roy said with a frown.


    ¡°Maybe Nate would like that training too?¡± Cam asked.


    Nate held up his hands. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m a lover, not a fighter.¡±


    Roy rolled his eyes while Cam chuckled.


    ¡°Ok, Mr. Lover. What do you do for a living when you¡¯re not wooing thedies?¡± the CEO asked.


    Nate smiled. ¡°I¡¯m a frence creative copywriter.¡±


    ¡°Frence by choice?¡± Sigrid asked with a raised eyebrow.

 105

    Nate winced and shook his head. ¡°I might have burned a bridgest year. The night I discovered what I was I went to the boss¡¯ Hallowe¡¯en party. She got a little frisky, and I let her take me to bed. Incredibly dumb move but I wasn¡¯t at my best that night. The next day at work when I tried to tell her we should keep things professional, she blew up and fired me. It was quite the scene. Since then, she¡¯s made it her life goal to ckball me with every ad agency and marketing firm in New York. I get jobs at smaller ces, but none have offered me anything long term.¡±


    ¡°If you can maintain a professional attitude in the workce, I have friends in a fewrger firms. I could put in a good word and probably get you an interview,¡± Sigrid said.


    He smiled broadly at her. ¡°Lesson learned. I definitely can. That would be wonderful!¡±


    Sigrid smiled. ¡°Give me your cell num- ¡± She stopped when she saw Cam shake her head.


    ¡°OIetha probably took his cell from him when she grabbed him,¡± the CEO exined.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll pick up a new one today when I cancel my old one. Speaking of calling, could I call my friend Jo? I need to see if she¡¯s ok,¡± Nate asked.


    ¡°You can use the phone in the waiting room just outside. Dial nine then the number,¡± Cam said. ¡°Wait for Sigrid when you¡¯re done, ok?¡± Cam instructed.


    ¡°Sure,¡± he said with a smile as he stood and trotted over to the door.


    After stepping through and closing it behind him, he smiled at Felix and used the phone to dial Jo¡¯s cell.


    After four rings she picked up. ¡°Hello?¡± Nate thought she sounded shaky.


    ¡°Jo? It¡¯s Nate. Are you ok?¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, Nate! Where are you? You didn¡¯t answer! I thought she got you! It¡¯s all over the news! I know you said not to, but I was about to call the police to see if they found you! I¡¯ve been going out of my mind!¡± Jo gasped then started to cry.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Jo. Are you home?¡± he asked, his guilt stabbing him deeply.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she managed through her tears.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t get me. I¡¯ve been¡­ hiding with some people I met in Manhattan. They got me a lead on a job as well. I¡¯ming home shortly. Are you going in to work?¡± he said quietly.


    ¡°No¡­ called in sick.¡±


    He frowned. Jo never did that. Something must be seriously wrong. ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± she said pitifully and hung up.


    Nate hung up and looked at the door anxiously. He needed to get home, now. He stood and went to the man¡¯s desk. ¡°I have to leave. Could I leave a message for Sigrid?¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Felix said handing him a pen and a notepad.


    Nate quickly wrote down Jo¡¯s address and a brief message for Sigrid letting her know he¡¯d be back soon.


    ¡°Could you see she gets this?¡± he asked Felix who nodded. ¡°Thanks!¡±


    He headed for the elevators. He needed to see his friend. The one he¡¯d never lied to. All that was going to change and there was nothing he could do about it.


    He had to protect Jo as much as he could.


    **************


    Henry surfaced to the steady beat of his pulse hammering on his brain. He moaned quietly, and the sound drew him further into consciousness. His face also hurt, and his shoulder was throbbing with each beat of his heart.


    ¡°Are you awake again?¡±


    He turned his eyes to see Meixiu standing next to the bed. ¡°Pain.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯ll ask Sigrid what I should do,¡± the petite woman said. She tapped out a message on her cell phone, and momentster it pinged with a reply. She squeaked in delight. She loved texting! ¡°I¡¯ll be right back!¡± Meixiu rushed away.


    Henry tried to getfortable, but it was no use. Everything hurt, and he was so hungry!


    Meixiu was suddenly by his side again, and she had a bottle of pills and a bottle of water. ¡°Um, how much pain are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°A great deal of pain,¡± he gritted out, eyeing the pill bottle.


    She looked at thebel with a frown. ¡°Oxycodone. Have you taken this before?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Meixiu huffed. ¡°She said I could give you a couple of painkillers so I¡¯ll give you two.¡±


    Henry shifted on the bed and gasped with a spike of pain in his shoulder.


    Watching him with concern, she sighed. ¡°Maybe three.¡±


    She poured them into her hand and dropped three pills into Henry¡¯s mouth. She tipped the water bottle to trickle the water into his mouth. Then he swallowed the pills.


    ¡°Food?¡± Henry begged.


    Meixiu smiled at him and nodded quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a meal. Back soon.¡± She skipped out of the room.


    He once more tried to adjust himself on the bed to sit up a little and was left panting after he gave up. His head swam, and he closed his eyes but refused to pass out.


    Time passed as he stared at nothing in particr. He could hear the asional sound of Meixiu working in the kitchen. He must have phased out for a bit because he was suddenly aware of the small woman standing on the bed, one foot on either side of him. She took a grip on his torso under his arms and lifted him to a seated position against the headboard of the bed. He was impressed with her strength but waited for the pain which never came. He realized he was feeling pleasantly fuzzy.


    Meixiu fed him soup and bread, then a few strips of bacon. He turned his face when he¡¯d had enough.


    ¡°You will have steak and vegetables for dinner tonight,¡± she said with a happy grin.


    ¡°This meal was very good,¡± he sighed contentedly as she dabbed his lips, her eyes twinkled happily.


    ¡°Are you in any pain?¡± she asked.


    He shook his head, and the room swam. ¡°Noooo.¡±


    She giggled at his silly look.


    His eyes settled on her pretty face, and his smile widened. He was feeling very rxed, and the pills had obliterated his natural inhibitions. ¡°Has anyone told you how lovely you are?¡±


    She blinked in surprise then burst into embarrassed giggles as she covered her face with her hands.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hide your beauty!¡± he sighed with a pout.


    She pulled her hands away, but her eyes still showed how embarrassed she was.


    ¡°There she is! So prett-OOMmm!¡± Henry¡¯s eyes went wide as Meixiu¡¯s mouth was suddenly pressed against his as she¡¯d leapt up on the bed with him.


    Henry moved his hand to the back of Meixiu¡¯s head into her silky hair. He noticed her tightly closed eyes and she wasn¡¯t moving her lips but just pressing them against his. He gently sucked her lower lip between his and caressed it with his tongue.


    Her eyes opened in surprise, and she pulled back.


    ¡°What¡­ what was that?¡± she asked quietly as she looked at his mouth.


    It was his turn to look at her in surprise. An embarrassed shock went through him clearing the fog. ¡°Uh¡­ I was kissing you? Weren¡¯t you kissing me?¡± He suddenly felt awkward, like he¡¯d overstepped. ¡°You didn¡¯t¡­ that- didn¡¯t you kiss me?¡± he mumbled.


    She was looking into his eyes. ¡°I thought I was kissing you, but I didn¡¯t do what you did!¡±


    ¡°Youdidkiss me! Good!¡± Then he had the ufortable thought that her kiss was more of a friend zone thing.


    ¡°What were you doing?¡± she asked, her eyes going back to his lips.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I thought you were being¡­ intimate. I didn¡¯t understand you were only giving me a friendly kiss. I¡¯m sorry if I offended you or made you ufortable.¡±


    She locked on his eyes again. ¡°Do it again.¡±


    Eyebrows climbing, he looked questioningly at her, and she nodded.


    He pulled her face gently down to his and sensually caressed her lips, sucking on them lightly. He felt her sucking in surprised breaths, and she moaned softly.


    The drugs and the food were fighting to drag him under but she was so soft and delicious, he wanted to keep kissing her. She straddled his body and began rubbing herself over his stiff erection which was covered only by a thin sheet. That felt too good, and his mind began to slide away. He struggled to remain in the here and now, and his kisses took on some of that needful urgency. She was making little desperate sounds of her own as she ground her pussy along the hard ridge of his cock. There was no way his Satyr sized erection would fit inside her small body, but the pleasure they were both feeling from the rubbing was intense.


    When he slipped his tongue between her lips, she squeaked and sucked on it. Her body began to shake and twitch as her orgasm struck fiercely.


    Henry felt a sudden warmth between them as her orgasm tripped his own release. His eyes rolled back, and he was dragged into oblivion as his mind floated up into the clouds.


    Meixiu felt Henry¡¯s body rxing under her, and she opened her eyes to see he was unconscious. Her body tingled madly from their y, and she felt the heat between them.


    Henry was so gentle! She¡¯d told Sigrid of the times Walter had raped her. That monster hadnotbeen gentle! She never knew sex could be so tender! She smiled down at her gentle giant, sleeping peacefully.


    She moved off the bed and lifted the sheet to look beneath. She grinned as she saw Henry had also enjoyed it. She would need to change the sheets.


    Curious, she reached under the sheet to gently run a fingertip through the pool of cum on the hard muscles of Henry¡¯s stomach. Sigrid said she was supercharged by this.


    Without a second thought, she dragged her fingers through the mess and scooped it up. Then, she stuck them in her mouth and sucked them clean. As she swallowed, the Wild Magic surged through her body, lightning branching out in all directions. Her head snapped up, and she stumbled back from the bed as every cell in her body sucked in the energy. Tingling became trembling, then shaking. She screamed silently as her vision began to fill with white light and terror shot through her as she recalled her blindness in Walter¡¯s domain.

 106

    She ran from the room and leapt up the stairs to get to the room Sigrid gave to her. She threw herself onto her bed as her muscles began to cramp and stretch. Her bones felt like they were on fire as her body continued to shake like it was going to vibrate apart and explode into sparks simultaneously. Her ears filled with the swooshing roar of her blood rushing through her veins as her heart beat faster and faster. She pulled a pillow over her face and screamed her terror into it.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Sigrid! She needed Sigrid to save her but her head filled with static, and she could no longer see anything beyond the sh of stars. She¡¯d never find her phone now.


    Whimpering, she prayed her curiosity hadn¡¯t killed her.


    -=-


    When Cam¡¯s door closed behind Nate, Roy turned towards Cam.


    ¡°Who are these externalw firms approaching VRL?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°No one we¡¯re seriously entertaining the idea of using. She needed to believe it,¡± Cam smirked.


    He shrugged then grinned. ¡°So is it my turn to show what Henry¡¯s little gift has done to me?¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes lit up as she smiled at him. ¡°What? What changes did you experience?¡± she asked excitedly.


    His grin turned wicked as he stood to move to the spot Nate did his big reveal. He dropped his mor, and both women sucked in a surprised gasp as they stared wide-eyed at his new form.


    ¡°Oh my god, Roy! You look fierce!¡± Cam gasped. ¡°I mean, you were fierce before but this¡­ it¡¯s apletely new level!¡±


    Sigrid was frozen, staring at him in surprise. When he switched back, he held her eyes. ¡°Well?¡±


    She gave herself a little shake. ¡°My instincts were screaming at me tounch an attack. I¡¯ve never seen a lycanthrope with such¡­ aggressive offensive capabilities. The changes aren¡¯t just cosmetic, are they.¡±


    Roy smiled. ¡°No, they¡¯re not. I¡¯m stronger than before. My teeth and ws are sharper and harder. There are drawbacks, though it took me some time to find them. While it was exceptionally difficult to talk in my previous Were form, now it¡¯s impossible. I think my mental aggression has been boosted too as it¡¯s harder to control. In a real fight, I¡¯m going to have to be extra careful to restrain my impulse from killing.


    His friends frowned at that.


    ¡°Healing?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°At least fifty percent faster.¡±


    ¡°How many times did you stab yourself to calcte that?¡± Cam asked with a raised eyebrow.


    Roy looked a little defensive. Sigrid snorted.


    Cam stood and walked around her desk. She leaned in and scented Roy. She locked eyes with Sigrid. ¡°Wild Magic. He¡¯s linked to the new realm.¡±


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Like you, he still has his mor. Marisa is the only one who¡¯s lost hers so far-¡±


    ¡°She overdosed!¡± Cam insisted.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Exactly. The Wild Magic is stronger than old realm magic, but in reasonable doses, it adapts old realm spells to be powered by the new energy. Roy¡¯s mor lost the Fae transition when it¡¯s dropped. Yours too.¡± Cam¡¯s answering smile was very satisfied.


    The tall blond looked critically at Roy, and his eyebrows went up. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°With this change, would you say you¡¯ve evolved or regressed?¡± she asked.


    ¡°What?!? What kind of question is that? Evolved!¡± he barked in annoyance.


    Her critical look remained. ¡°Physically, I¡¯ll admit you¡¯ve be Lycanthrope 2. 0, but mentally you¡¯re making it sound more like a regression to a more aggressive, less bnced state.¡±


    Roy frowned at her exnation, but he looked like he was unable to argue the point.


    Cam¡¯s smile dropped. ¡°Shit! Has anyone other than us seen your new state?¡±


    Roy nodded to her cautiously. ¡°Two of my crew, Rick Santos and Billy Cooper. The ones you ordered to bring me home.¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± Sigrid said, her mind leaping to the same ce Cam¡¯s had already gone. ¡°Did they see who you were helping before you passed out?¡±


    Roy was getting annoyed. ¡°I assume so! They were there! What are you two on about?¡±


    ¡°They know you¡¯re an evolved form of Werewolf and they know how to make it happen for themselves,¡± Cam said.


    Roy¡¯s face dropped. ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    He immediately made his way to the door and left the office quickly.


    Sigrid watched him go then noticed someone missing from the outer office. ¡°Where¡¯s Nate?¡± she murmured.


    ¡°Felix? Where did Nate go?¡± Cam called out.


    Her assistant walked in with the piece of paper which he handed to Sigrid. ¡°He made a call and seemed rather upset afterward. He rushed out after leaving the note.¡± He nodded then went back to his desk, closing the door behind himself.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone to see his friend Jo Hart,¡± Sigrid read.


    Cam frowned. ¡°Is he ok out there on his own? I¡¯m still feeling a little paranoid. Have we ounted for everyone trying to get himst night?¡±


    Sigrid frowned. ¡°I think so, though they never recovered the body of OIetha¡¯s partner. The police have divers in the water at the marina. She fell off the dock into the water after Henry crashed her through the dock¡¯s gatehouse.¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°She bit Henry!¡±


    Sigrid immediately picked up how bad that could be. ¡°She looked unconscious when she fell into the water. Could she have survived?¡± she asked.


    Cam picked up her phone. ¡°Felix, please forgive the rude question but, your family, good swimmers or sinkers?¡± She paused, and her eyes went to Sigrid with dread. ¡°Ah, thank you. Could you order a car and contact Roy and have him meet us in front of the building? Thanks.¡± She hung up as she stood.


    ¡°Good swimmers then,¡± Sigrid sighed getting up to follow.


    ¡°Experts,¡± she said, opening her door. ¡°Felix, please reschedule my afternoon appointments to tomorrow.¡±


    He nodded to her. ¡°Mr. Duncan asked for you to text him the address and he will join you as soon as he can.¡±


    She thanked her assistant then she and Sigrid made their way down to the lobby and out to the waiting car. Sigrid gave the address and asked the driver to get there as quickly as he could.


    Sigrid fired off the text to Roy then rolled the issue around in her mind as she watched the scenery out the window. If Oletha¡¯s partner had survived, there¡¯s no reason to believe she¡¯d stick around. But if she did, if she were out for revenge for what happened to her friend, they¡¯d all be in trouble if she¡¯d been changed by Henry¡¯s blood too.


    She turned her head to look at Cam. ¡°Are you back up to full strength?¡±


    Cam must have been thinking along the same lines as her eyes showed her unease. ¡°No, I doubt I¡¯m even half. Nate was a delightful lover, and he¡¯s linked to the same source of magic, but Henry is far more potent. How about you?¡±


    ¡°I still have plenty of energy but thinking about what we may be facing, I¡¯d feel better if we were both at our peak.¡± Sigrid sighed.


    Cam nodded. ¡°Roy had better hurry.¡±


    -=-


    Rick Santos epted the towel filled with ice cubes and gently ced it against his swollen eye. ¡°Shit!¡± he hissed.


    ¡°Tell me again what happened with Billy before he hit you,¡± Roy said as they sat in the privacy of his office.


    Rick nced at his boss. ¡°I got in early this morning and found him clearing out his locker. He was all jittery and mumbling to himself. I called his name, and he almost jumped out of his skin. He screamed at me for spooking him. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was getting out before things got heavy. I asked him what he meant, and he looked at me like I was nuts. He said you¡¯d changed and that changed everything. I¡­ might have called him a coward. Then he hit me with a club he pulled from his locker.¡±


    Roy stared at his subordinate grimly. ¡°What the hell spooked him so much?¡±


    Rick held up his free hand. ¡°I have no idea. He seemed to be trying so hard to fit in, and he was bonding with us. Then after what we sawst night, he was so shaken up. I¡¯ve never seen him this upset. On the way back to the officest night I heard him mumble something that sounded like unfair.¡±


    Roy watched Rick. Billy¡¯s reaction to Roy¡¯s new state was odd, but Rick seemed fine. ¡°Shit.¡±


    Rick nced curiously at Roy. ¡°So¡­ was it Henry¡¯s blood that¡­ boosted you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to say this once. Henry¡¯s not to be touched. Thed¡¯s surrounded by more chaos and pain than I¡¯ve seen anyone carry. The Hidden Races Council circles him like vultures. They¡¯ve ssified all information about him as top secret. Transgressions will received the severe punishments, possibly death. A second group I cannot mention is also protecting him for their own selfish needs. I can¡¯t stress this enough. For your safety, keep what you¡¯ve seen to yourself and keep your lips shut. I need to deal with Billy now.¡±


    Rick scowled savagely. ¡°I want to be there to see it.¡±


    Roy couldn¡¯t stop his answering grin. He liked Rick. He was one of his original pack members from way back. As dependable as they came. He nced down at the file on his desk. ¡°You up for a visit to Billy¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Rick growled in delight.


    With a nod, Roy stood, and they exited his office to stop by the security desk. Roy passed along instructions to immediately send a team of three to the address Sigrid sent him. He¡¯d text her on the way to Billy¡¯s. He hoped the bastard was still there as he had a few questions.


    He needed Billy to exin his actions.

 107

    Henry was floating high above the earth again. He watched the globe spin slowly by beneath him and was awed by its beauty. Here and there he saw shes of lightning leaping through the clouds, and after a while, he began to see a difference in how the lightning moved in some storms. A few storms seemed to be directing where the bolts went. He never saw their fingers of electricity spreading horizontally. Always channeled down the side of the thunderheads to strike the ground, the ocean surface, or another nearby thunderhead. Their bolts were wider as well, blue-white beams of supercharged energy.


    He moved closer to a couple of these ¡®battling clouds¡¯ over the ins in the middle of¡­ Kansas? From this high up, Henry¡¯s ability to tell where exactly he was, was poor at best. He saw they were over farnd and in the far distance to the south he saw the signs of a small town, still enjoying the sunlight.


    He moved closer to the clouds and watched them rumble at each other, pushing and straining to force their opponent down, unsessfully. They were both truly enormous but seemingly an even match. Henry was awestruck by their majesty. Something silver and incredibly fast shot past the edge of one of the clouds and Henry¡¯s attention was pulled away to follow the dot as it curved in a long arc that would bring it around to make another pass.


    It was an air force jet! Maybe an F-15! Henry wasn¡¯t skilled at identifying jets and nes, but it was exciting to watch. He wondered what it would be like to be inside the cockpit.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Light blurred with motion, and suddenly Henry was looking over the shoulder of the pilot at his controls. He yelped.


    The pilot jerked in his seat.


    Henry could hear a muffled droning sound, but he couldn¡¯t make out any words. The pilot was speaking to someone, and they were responding but what they were saying was mush to him.


    The jet banked sharply and began to rush back towards the two behemoth¡¯s battling in the sky. Henry fought back the urge to whoop with excitement. This was the coolest dream he¡¯d ever had!


    Then the pilot prepared to fire on the clouds.


    Henry frowned. That felt wrong. Looking at their massive size, it also felt bloody stupid. Like a wasp harassing a whale.


    ¡°No,¡± Henry said.


    The pilot jerked in his seat again and squeezed the trigger for a small burst, raking the north side of both clouds.


    More droning but with sharper tones as the pilot seemed to be arguing with the person on the other end.


    The clouds suddenly changed course and began moving rapidly in a southerly direction, towards the town.


    The pilot removed his finger from the trigger for his guns and turned the jet on its side as he arced away from the twobatants. Henry sighed quietly to himself and enjoyed the ride. He was mesmerized by how real it all seemed yet how surreal it felt.


    The jet was climbing, and Henry realized they wereing back at the towering clouds from the west at altitude. He nced down and saw the clouds had covered a surprising amount of ground while they turned and climbed. The town wasn¡¯t more than a few miles south from them at this point. Henry looked at the rows of buildings and smiled at what looked to him like a sleepy little prairie town. The biggest structure appeared to be a small football stadium at the northern edge and-


    The sound of the guns firing spooked Henry and he turned his attention forward to witness the high powered rounds once more tearing into the north nk of both giants. The jet was going to pass by right next to the two in a few seconds. The air before the jet began to glow with a blue-white light.


    Henry knew what came next and they were about to fly directly into the bolts of sma. He threw his hands forward as the air ahead of them ripped apart in the sma beam. In the fraction of a second, before they hit the beam, space before them ripped open in a prismatic burst of colors.


    And they were gone.


    -=-


    ¡°What do you mean he¡¯s disappeared from radar? Did he crash? Did the pilot eject? His only target was some bloody clouds!¡± Colonel Devlin barked at the flight controller.


    Airforce Lieutenant Colonel Michaels frowned at his visitor. ¡°You indicated to me that they weren¡¯t clouds,¡± he said, pitching his voice for the two of them to hear.


    ¡°Yes, yes, technically they aren¡¯t, but they haven¡¯t shown any offensive capabilities to date. Certainly, nothing that should have caused your pilot any issues.¡± Devlin growled. ¡°I need eyes on the scene.¡±


    ¡°Senior Airman Greer is approaching thest known coordinates of Major Thomas,¡± the flight controller said as she tracked the second pilot on the radar.


    ¡°Command, this is Greer. No sign of the Major or any indication of wreckage in the surrounding area,¡± the pilot¡¯s voice said over the radio.


    ¡°Standard sweep, airman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ming around. Uh, there¡¯s a major storm to the south, over the small town- SHIT-¡± the pilot gasped then the signal cut off with a sharp squelch.


    ¡°Airman Greer. What¡¯s your situation!¡± Michaels called out.


    There was nothing but static bursting from the radio.


    The flight controller looked back over her shoulder in shock. ¡°Pilot down.¡± She looked at the Lieutenant Colonel. ¡°Sir, that noise at the end. It had the same wave signature as an EMP. A veryrge one.¡±


    Devlin locked eyes with the flight controller. That was something he was waiting for ever since he received the leaked report from China. He turned to Michaels. ¡°My troops will take over the investigation from the ground now. Thank you for the assist.¡±


    He turned and briskly walked from the room, leaving the Lieutenant Colonel sputtering.


    Once he got outside, he called his team as he climbed into the back of his personnel carrier. They were underway immediately, heading back to the base.


    ¡°Gordon, ready the troops. We may have a containment situation on our hands. Full hazmat. Be ready to roll in fifteen.¡±


    ¡°Acknowledged.¡±


    Devlin smiled to himself as he hung up. It was good to have his old team back. Minus a few weaklings. Gordon Crane was a damn good soldier and ran a tight unit. Devlin had worked with the First Lieutenant on several ops including hisst one, and Gordon was still punishing himself for how that one ended. If that made him more vignt on this one, all the better.


    He still had no idea where these cloud-like creatures wereing from, but he now knew they were showing up all over the globe. The only clue they had were some still images they¡¯d received from the EPA. They seemed to show the clouds appearing spontaneously out of thin air with a burst of color. They were bing a liability for aviation though there hadn¡¯t been another case of amercial airne striking one. Some near misses but no more than the usual near misses between nes.


    He¡¯d lied to the Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. Hewasaware of the creature¡¯s offensive capabilities. They could somehow produce and direct extremely powerful lightning. They also appeared to have other abilities.


    The leaked report he¡¯d read on his recent visit to Washington was about a new entity in China. The document mentioned a brief yet abnormally intense storm, and a localized EMP before the entity appeared. It was a man made of a ss-like substance, but it moved. Due to an overly excited soldier, they now knew the entity wasn¡¯t brittle but was able to deflect bullets without any visible damage. Not even a scratch!


    And the Chinese government had exclusive ess to him.


    During the briefing with his contacts in Washington, they¡¯d expressed their concerns with this imbnce. He reviewed the details from the Chinese report and indicated he might be able to resolve it. They didn¡¯t ask him how. They just said to make it so.


    When Devlin arranged to have the air force pilot fire on the two specimens he¡¯d located above those rural cornfields he suspected they might respond with equal violence. Injured, they should also move away from the attack, towards the town.


    The flight controller¡¯sment about the EMP was what he¡¯d been waiting for. It meant those creatures were doing their lightning thing.


    The Colonel would take his team to that small prairie town and lock it down. If he found what he suspected he might, it would bring bnce back to the world. The idea that the Chinese government had something they might exploit against the US didn¡¯t sit well with him. It didn¡¯t sit well with his friends in Washington either.


    His country needed him to act, so he made it happen.


    -=-


    Ikehorn sat in the back of the surveince van just up the street from the brownstone containing his quarry. They knew the Satyr was involved in the mess at the marina and became injured. Queen Mab had not appreciated hearing that news. Her rage had been terrifying. Now, his team was charged with ensuring no harm came to the Satyr while they watched him.


    They had no visibility to the inside of the residence, but they were watching the front and back exits.


    The Valkyrie left this morning, and there¡¯d been no activity since. Ikehorn wondered if the Satyr was well enough to take care of himself as he¡¯d been alone for hours.


    He was tempted to put on a disguise and ring the doorbell to see if their target would answer.


    Instead, he just sat back and waited.


    Their tedium was finally interrupted when a ck SUV rushed up the street and stopped before the Valkyrie¡¯s brownstone. Tworge men exited and looked up and down the street. Ikehorn knew they wouldn¡¯t see him in the shielded van.


    ¡°Who are these men?¡± he asked and Deslin, the Fae operating theputer in the back of the van, captured their faces from the video feed and ran a facial recognition routine on them. As theputer searched, Ikehorn watched them climb the stairs. They didn¡¯t knock or press the bell. One was concentrating on the door while the other scanned his eyes up and down the street. They were breaking in!


    ¡°No matches. Unknown,¡± Deslin eximed.


    ¡°This is not a sanctioned visit. We¡¯re going to have to stop them,¡± Ikehorn said eagerly.


    Deslin was more of a tech than a field agent, so he wasn¡¯t excited about the prospect of confronting these men. ¡°They look like they¡¯rebat trained. We¡¯re not-¡± Seeing Ikehorn¡¯s re he amended that statement. ¡°I¡¯mnotbat trained.¡±


    ¡°Queen Mab wants the Satyr kept safe. You passed firearm training, or they¡¯d never let you join a field team. Bring extra clips,¡± Ikehorn instructed as he checked the spare clips for his gun. He saw the two men slip inside the front door.

 108

    Ikehorn contacted their teammate guarding the back door. ¡°Heatne.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°We have two unknown men infiltrating the house from the front and one waiting in their vehicle. Any activity in the back?¡±


    ¡°All quiet.¡±


    Ikehorn moved to the back door of the van as Deslin checked his gun and spare clips. ¡°I prefer using magic,¡± the Fae grumbled, and Ikehorn scowled at him as he touched his mic.


    ¡°Heatne, watch the back door. Don¡¯t let them get by you.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    Ikehorn looked to Deslin who nodded his readiness. The mission leader picked up a small puck-like disk. ¡°I¡¯m going to put a stunner on their truck. That should take care of the driver but if not, be ready.¡±


    Activating his mor, he chose the plumber disguise to match their van. Deslin did the same then they exited the back door.


    The driver of the waiting SUV saw two older gentlemen walking up the sidewalk carrying tool boxes. He watched them for a bit, but they seemed harmless.


    As they reached the side of the SUV, Ikehorn activated the stunner¡¯s ma and tossed it against the driver¡¯s door. The waiting driver had his hand on the window¡¯s edge and took the shock through his body as the SUV stalled. He slumped forward. Ikehorn trotted up the stairs to the front door as Deslin kept an eye on the unconscious brute behind the wheel. Then he joined Ikehorn at the top. They peeked in the door¡¯s window, but the coast appeared clear.


    They shared a look then slipped inside, dropping their mors. There was no need to hide their identities inside.


    -=-


    ¡°Shit! Roy¡¯s not going to join us. He¡¯s sending some of his people instead. He¡¯s dealing with a potential sleeper agent in his team who knows about Henry,¡± Sigrid said as she read the text.


    Cam frowned, but she understood that Roy needed to deal with that issue first. She wished she¡¯d had time to recharge from Henry. But he was healing so¡­


    Her frown deepened as she realized just how much she¡¯de to rely on his energy. Never before in her life had one source of food taken on this much significance! Sigrid had questioned her before about her appetite for Henry. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was addicted to his energy. She¡¯d have to hit a nightclub to ensure Human sources still worked for her. That was a worrying thought.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be ok. I didn¡¯t use too much energyst night,¡± Sigrid said, misinterpreting her friend¡¯s expression.


    Cam forced the frown from her face and smiled at Sigrid.


    They rode on in silence until they arrived at the small apartment building.


    Sigrid came out of her daze with a guilty smile. ¡°So, what¡¯s the n? How do we exin chasing Nate over here?¡±


    Cam smiled. ¡°The truth, or a piece of it. One of the two people reported having been after Nate is on the loose and we heard he was upset when he left the office. We¡¯ll offer them both a safe ce to be until they find Chantelle.¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Where is this safe ce?¡±


    Cam shrugged. ¡°With us to begin. That¡¯s what I was hoping Roy would be able to offer.¡±


    ¡°Do we wait for the security team?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Cam shook her head. ¡°No. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    As they walked towards the front door, Sigrid scanned the rooftops and alleys for signs of attack.


    Cam knew her friend was vignt, so she concentrated on what she was going to say to convince the Human to leave her home without raising any questions.


    She hoped she was in a reasonable mood.


    -=-


    ¡°Where the hell were you?!?¡± Jo yelled at Nate.


    He stood helplessly in front of his friend, worried about her current state of mind. She wasn¡¯t acting like herself at all, and he was terrified she¡¯d been harmed. Physically, she showed no signs of injury, aside from slightly puffy eyes from crying. No bruises or abrasions on her petite, curvy body. It was the absence of her usual sunny disposition that was worrisome. He understood she¡¯d been frightened, but his assurances and apologies seemed to be falling on deaf ears. Again, not like her.


    Everything he¡¯d heard about this council made him suspect they¡¯d hurt his friend mentally. There was also the possibility that the one who ¡®collected her¡¯ hurt her. He was trying to get Jo to tell him what happened to her the previous night but all she wanted was information on him.


    ¡°I told you. I met this girl at a club, and she said she had a lead on a job so I went to speak with them but then I heard about Oletha so I-¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t call?¡± she blurted angrily.


    He blinked at her interruption. ¡°I- I told you, I lost my cell. I was trying to make a good impress-¡±


    There was a firm knock on the door, and Nate caught Jo¡¯s twitch and the slightly haunted look in her eyes. He went to the door. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Cam Vimor and Sigrid Gunderan.¡±


    Nate opened the door to stare in surprise at the two women standing in the hall. Sigrid was scanning both ends of the hall with her eyes. The hair on the back of his neck stood up to see her on guard in a ce he thought of as a haven.


    ¡°What- what are you doing here?¡± he asked.


    ¡°May wee in?¡± Cam asked.


    He nodded then stepped back turning to look at Jo who was staring wide-eyed at the two beautiful women entering her apartment. She immediately wiped at her eyes and tried to neaten her hair.


    Nate locked the door and made the introductions. ¡°Jo, these are the women who have a lead on the job for me, Cam Vimor and Sigrid Gunderan.¡± She nodded with a jerky movement.


    ¡°Why are they here?¡± Jo asked nervously, her eyes flickering back to Nate.


    Sigrid gave the petite woman a gentle smile and spoke before Cam could. ¡°Our apologies for intruding. Nate made a great impression with us during the interview. When we heard about his troubles with this artist Oletha, we wanted to help. It¡¯s our understanding Oletha¡¯s partner is still atrge-¡±


    ¡°CHANTELLE!¡± Jo blurted loudly, and her eyes rolled back as she began to fall.


    Cam blurred across the distance to catch her and gently eased her down on the couch. She scented the woman¡¯s breath. ¡°Someone drugged her, more than one substance.¡± She gently touched her temples and closed her eyes. A frown crossed her lips. ¡°Someone also pushed a suppressionpulsion on her mind. Not too gently.¡±


    Nate snarled, but his anger swung to dread. ¡°Did they damage her?¡±


    Cam smiled and shook her head. ¡°No, I can fix this. The drugs will have to work their way through her system. They willpletely flush in a day or two.¡± She closed her eyes again and began to ease thepulsion from the woman¡¯s mind.


    ¡°This Chantelle terrified her in some way,¡± Sigrid said.


    ¡°She¡¯s still alive?¡± Nate asked.


    Sigrid held his eyes and spoke quietly. ¡°There is a good chance of that. A good deal of Henry¡¯s blood was on her mouth. You understand how Siobhan changed when you and she were together? Chantelle may have experienced arger change. Or she might have drowned, but we have reason to believe that didn¡¯t happen.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Nate looked anxiously back to Jo. ¡°So, why are you two here?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like to move the two of you to a more secure location,¡± she answered.


    Nate¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°With us, until we can get an answer from Roy, who¡¯s dealing with some fallout fromst night,¡± Sigrid concluded.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bring her back to the surface. It was safer for me to remove the blockage and dull the intensity of the memories so they¡¯ll feel hazy and like a bad dream. I don¡¯t want to do more until I hear from her what she recalls from before being drugged. I can nk the memories if her mind can¡¯t find a rationalization to help her ept them but I¡¯d rather not, as a gap often causes obsessive reactions,¡± Cam exined.


    Nate looked at her with surprise. ¡°Am I going to be able to do that?¡±


    Cam smirked. ¡°Incubi talents are more¡­ coercive.¡± She stood and gestured for Nate to take her spot. ¡°She¡¯ll need the familiar when she wakes.¡±


    He sat on the couch with Jo¡¯s head on hisp while Cam rejoined Sigrid. ¡°Stroke her hair. That will bring her back to awareness,¡± she said.


    He ran his fingers through her hair, and she began to stir. Nate smiled as one slowly appeared on his friend¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Mmmm¡­ Bev?¡±


    Nate¡¯s smile faded as he heard her sigh the name. Bev. The woman Jo should have married and grown old with. Instead, Jo pushed her aside to follow Nate¡¯s pattern of one night stands.


    It was like a sudden p in the face. It was clear to him now. He may not have warped Jo¡¯s personality with a physical rtionship, but he could no longer deny the truth of how he¡¯d poisoned his best friend¡¯s attitude towards rtionships because he needed her. For purely selfish reasons. He¡¯d watched her throw away the one thing he now knew he would never have. He wondered if it was toote.


    ¡°Nate? What- what¡¯s wrong? Why are you crying?¡± Jo asked as she looked up at him.


    He just shook his head and wiped his eyes as he couldn¡¯t begin to express his remorse for what he¡¯d done to her. He would make it up to her somehow.


    Jo sat up and jolted when she saw the two women standing before them. Then the memories slipped back to the surface. ¡°What happened? Did I faint?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. It happens. You¡¯ve been through a shock? Can you recall what happened to youst night?¡± Cam asked, prompting her to think back.


    Jo frowned. ¡°I got homest night. Someone was waiting on the stairs. Chantelle! The hot model from the art galleryst year! I- she-¡± A deeper frown appeared. ¡°She grabbed my arm. It hurt! Then she-¡± Her hand went to the side of her neck. ¡°She stuck a needle in me!¡± She looked around her apartment. ¡°I- woke up on the couch. The TV was on, and the news was showing the story of that artist and how she was dead on a yacht.¡±


    Sigrid stepped forward and knelt before Jo and held her eyes withpassion showing in hers. ¡°As Chantelle hasn¡¯t shown up on the police¡¯s radar yet, we¡¯d like to put you up in a safer ce. You should pack clothes for a few days in a suitcase. Your toiletry items too,¡± Sigrid suggested as she nced at thete afternoon rays of sunlighting in the windows. They needed to get moving. She also wanted to get back to Henry.


    Jo looked at Nate, and he nodded to her. She carefully got to her feet and made her way into her bedroom to pack.


    Nate stood to do the same in his bedroom but paused when Cam touched his hand.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talkter,¡± he said and moved to the bedroom.

 109

    Cam watched him go with a sad little frown. She looked to Sigrid who was standing at the window. She saw her friend wave to someone outside and give a thumbs up.


    Sigrid looked to her. ¡°The security team is here.¡± She pulled her cell out to quickly check in with Meixiu to see how Henry was doing. She hit send and watched the screen with a smile. Meixiu got such a thrill from receiving them and always responded instantly- except this time. Her smile dimmed. The second text failed to get a response, so she tried calling her cell. No answer. Odd. Very odd.


    She called her home number, and no one answered. The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong at home.¡± Cam gave her a questioning look. ¡°Meixiu isn¡¯t answering texts or the phones. That doesn¡¯t happen.¡±


    Cam took out her cell and pulled up Roy¡¯s number. Henry¡¯s immediate safety took precedence over chasing down a leak in his department.


    She stared at Sigrid as a sudden thought struck. What if- what if Roy¡¯s leak was involved with what was happening at Sigrid¡¯s? ¡°Get that security team up here. They can take Nate and Jo to the Four Seasons in Manhattan. I¡¯ll book them adjoining rooms, and our security team can watch over them there. We need to get back to your ce now!¡± Sigrid nodded and left the apartment.


    ¡°Nate!¡± Cam called out.


    He stepped out of his bedroom immediately. ¡°What? What¡¯s happened?¡±


    Cam shook her head as Jo poked her head out of the door to her room. ¡°Nothing. Sigrid is bringing the security team upstairs. She and I have to go. The team will take you two to the Four Seasons in Manhattan. I¡¯ll book you rooms there until the police settle the issue with Chantelle.¡±


    He blinked at her in surprise. ¡°Oh! Ok.¡± He traded a nce with Jo who was staring at him as if he¡¯d just announced being the winner of the Power Ball Lottery. ¡°Ok with you?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± she blurted.


    Cam nodded and went to the door when she heard a knock. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    ¡°Sigrid.¡±


    She opened the door and entered with one of the security team. The other two were in the hallway keeping watch.


    Sigrid made the introductions. ¡°Nate, Jo, this is An. He and his friends in the hall will take you to the hotel.¡± They nodded to therge man.


    Cam stepped forward. ¡°My apologies for not taking you there ourselves but feel free to order room service and enjoy the amenities the hotel has to offer.¡±


    With a final nod, Cam and Sigrid headed out. Cam immediately called the hotel and booked two adjoining rooms on VRL¡¯s ount. They rushed across the yard and jumped into the back of their waiting SUV. They pulled away from the curb.


    A dark blue van pulled out and followed, unseen.


    In the tailing vehicle, Chantelle smiled. She knew if she staked out the little blond bitch¡¯s apartment the Incubus would show up. She¡¯d nned on making him name the bitches responsible for Oletha¡¯s death. She hadn¡¯t expected them to show up too! When the Subus and the Valkyrie rushed out of the building, she had a choice. Stay and deal with the three Werewolves before killing the Incubus or follow the departing SUV and see where it took her. Maybe she could get the brute who changed her too.


    Not that she minded her new Were-form. It was significantly stronger and much deadlier.


    No, the problem was, in the change she¡¯d lost her mor. She¡¯d had to resort to physically changing to her Human-form. That was something mors made redundant for Were-beings. Physically transitioning between the two forms was excruciatingly painful! She hadn¡¯t had to do it since she was a child during her emergency training drills. God, she¡¯d hated those!


    Worse, switching from Human to Were required an immediate meal topensate for the energies lost in the transition.


    She heard whimpering from the back of the van and looked over her shoulder at the van¡¯s owner, bound and gagged.


    Her meal for when she became a Werepanther again.


    Soon.


    Roy was struggling to contain his frustration. He and Rick had arrived to find Billy¡¯s house surrounded by police cars. That didn¡¯t bode well for them being able to have a quiet talk with the man.


    The quiet neighborhood had drawn a crowd of gawkers. As he walked closer to the police line, Roy overheard a few residentsining that this is what happens when a house is rented out instead of lived in by the owner. He figured Billy had been renting as owning one of these small homes was probably beyond his means- unless he was also collecting a paycheck from someone else.


    They spoke to one of the officers at the police tape and were guided over to speak to a detective. Therge man in a dark blue suit turned to look at them with a frown. The expression froze when he saw it was Roy.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Detective Harmon. It¡¯s been a while,¡± Roy said watching the man¡¯s left eye tick. He¡¯d lost weight, but it didn¡¯t look good on him. In general, he wasn¡¯t looking too healthy. Roy picked up the scent of alcohol, rum maybe. Another bad sign for another victim of the witch¡¯s maniption. He knew Cam had tried her best to limit the damage, but the shocks must have gone too deep into his mind.


    ¡°What- how are you involved in this?¡± Harmon struggled to say calmly.


    ¡°Billy Cooper worked for me at VRL. He quit this morning, but I never had a chance to make an exit interview. We came to speak to him.¡±


    Harmon swallowed and looked away. ¡°Well, you¡¯re out of luck. He won¡¯t be giving any more interviews.¡±


    Roy frowned. ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡±


    Harmon looked Roy in the eye, then as quickly looked away. ¡°Happens when you¡¯re strung up like he was.¡±


    ¡°He hung himself? I wouldn¡¯t have taken him for the type tomit suicide,¡± Roy said softly.


    The detective looked at Roy sharply. ¡°It¡¯s a fucking mess in there. That was NO suicide!¡±Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Easy detective,¡± Roy said gently.


    ¡°NO! DON¡¯T! YOU¡­ PEOPLE¡­ AT VRL, DON¡¯T-¡±


    ¡°HARMON! What the FUCK!¡±


    They turned to see an older detective storming up to them, red-faced.


    ¡°Get back to the station! I knew it was a mistake taking you back out into the field,¡± the gruff man scolded then looked to Roy as Harmon walked stiffly back to his car. Roy saw Harmon¡¯s hands tremble and felt sorry for him.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± the detective asked.


    ¡°Roy Duncan. Billy worked for me as in-house security at VRL Investments. Until this morning, when he quit,¡± he said quietly


    ¡°You¡¯re here now because?¡± the old man growled as he scribbled in his pad.


    ¡°Billy never gave an exit interview.¡±


    The detective snorted. ¡°Listen, if we have any questions we¡¯lle find you. For now, the investigation is ongoing, and this is an active crime scene. Get behind the police tape.¡±


    Roy nodded and led Rick back to the tape and they ducked under it. Roy sighed and looked to the other man. ¡°You live nearby, don¡¯t you?¡±


    That drew a smile from Rick as his boss had remembered. ¡°Just a few blocks west of here.¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°Why don¡¯t you head home. Take the rest of the day off. Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t tell the boss.¡±


    Rick grinned. ¡°Thanks!¡± He turned and walked away before Roy changed his mind.


    An older woman approached and plucked at Roy¡¯s sleeve. He turned to look at her. He immediately picked up the scent of tea, shortbread cookies, and a cat- maybe more than one. She was maybe in her early seventies and dressed like a suburban grand-mom.


    ¡°Dearie, did that man say it was suicide?¡± she asked and his ears picked up the subtle Scottish ent. He smiled as he shook his head. She took this as permission to ramble on. ¡°Well, there was a suicide not a week ago just three doors down! A police officer shot himself in front of his wife! The Carstens. Such a nice couple! She¡¯s a policewoman! I heard some officers saying Jeff confronted Mary and her lover. The officers who came to investigate all thought it was murder, but there¡¯s no way Mary would do such a thing. You can tell about people! You can see in their eyes if they¡¯re capable of such evil-¡±


    ¡°Did you know the young fe who lived here?¡± Roy jumped in, and she smiled at his ent as well.


    ¡°I only saw hime and go. The two who visited him today were frightening. They looked the type to have murder in their hearts,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Tell me more!¡± Roy said with a smile. He needed to ensure the woman didn¡¯t offer this information to the detective. If he could distract her long enough, then the shitty detective would be on his way.


    The woman¡¯s eyes twinkled in delight. ¡°Would you like a cup of tea?¡±


    ¡°That sounds delightful! Lead on,¡± he said with a smile.


    The woman paused. ¡°Do you like cats?¡±


    ¡°I love them¡­ but, they never seem too fond of me,¡± he gave her an unhappy look, and she patted his arm tofort him.


    ¡°Cats are most mysterious creatures. Their whims are not for the likes of us to discern,¡± the woman said with a smile as she led him across the street to the house two doors over.


    Mary Carsten watched them leave from where she¡¯d stood, resting backfortably against a tree. Helen was such a busybody but otherwise, a sweet old woman.


    When the detective had identified the big man was from VRL, she started paying attention. She¡¯d learned Henry Gable also worked at VRL. They¡¯d gotten him out of jail the night she of her suspension. She saw the paperwork before she left.


    Now here they were in her neighborhood once more.

 110

    She liked Henry and had a good feeling in her gut about him. She couldn¡¯t see him mixed up in anything shady. That said, she was going to keep an eye on the big redhead.


    She just had to keep her eyes open. Damn fatigue.


    -=-


    Tworge men stood next to the bed and stared at the creature lying on it. Ram horns. Furry lower half with goat¡¯s legs and cloven hooves. Big. Naked and it smelled like sex. The men nced uneasily at each other.


    It must have been drugged as it didn¡¯t wake up when they entered the room or when they poked it. It was breathing shallowly, and its pupil responded very slowly when they lifted an eyelid.


    One of the men pulled arge antique syringe from a leather pouch on his hip and shoved it into one of the veins on the Satyr¡¯s thick arm. He drew the blood until the syringe was full. When he pulled the needle out, the spot began to bleed.


    ¡°Shit! He¡¯s bleeding!¡± the other announced, earning a scowl.


    ¡°Give me a second!¡± the one with the syringe growled as he reached for the bandage in his pocket. They froze as a tiny spot of green light appeared over the injury and the hole sealed up. The light winked out then reappeared on the Satyr¡¯s shoulder, spreading over the entire area of damage there, like a dim green fog. The men shared uneasy looks.


    A cell phone began ringing, and they froze. When it stopped, and they heard nothing, they sighed. Then the home phone rang, and they froze once more. Still no noise.


    ¡°OK, time to leave,¡± the first said as the syringe went back into the leather case. The other one ran for the door. He got to the top of the stairs and surprised two Fae quietly climbing the steps. With a snarl, he dropped his mor and dove at them. The front Fae jumped to the right over the banister, grabbing it to keep from falling. The second Fae got off only one shot, but it caught the leaper between the eyes and passed through his brain. He still crashed into the Fae, taking him down the stairs tond in a pile at thending. They mmed against the drywall, punching a huge dent in it.


    Ikehorn heaved himself back over the banister and rushed upwards to face a Werewolf in midleap. It raked Ikehorn¡¯s cheek with its ws and drove its knee into the side of the Fae¡¯s head as it passed over him.


    Kicking off the wall, the Were grabbed the bannister to swing out into the open space and dropped ten feet onto a small table in the hall below. The furniture splintered under his weight and he sprawled on the floor with a loud grunt.


    Shaking off the badnding, he pushed himself up, grabbed the body of its fallen teammate, now back in its mor, and sprinted towards the back door. Rounds from Ikehorn¡¯s gun hit the body draped over his shoulder, but one grazed his calf. He engaged his mor as he crashed through the back door, knocking another Fae over the railing of a small deck onto the bricks below. He leapt down and scaled the back wall to heave himself over it. Their SUV was rushing down the alley towards him. He threw the body in the back seat and crawled in after it, mming the door. He nced at his driver who looked a little singed. ¡°DRIVE!¡±


    They sped away as he checked the hard leather case on his belt.


    Due to a broken sp the syringe was no longer inside. ¡°FUCK!¡±


    His boss wasn¡¯t going to be pleased that he¡¯d lost one of his pack to a team of Fae. He would be arriving without the proof too. He contemted telling the driver to head for the Canadian border.


    It wouldn¡¯t be far enough.


    Still, he had Billy¡¯s confession and the fact that the guy who changed Roy Duncan was a big goat man.


    It would have to do.


    -=-Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Back inside the brownstone, Ikehorn climbed down the stairs and checked on Deslin.


    ¡°Am I dead?¡± the injured tech moaned.


    ¡°No, you did very well. Now, get up! We need to check on the Satyr. If it¡¯s dead, you may wish you died here on the stairs,¡± Ikehorn scolded.


    He helped Deslin to his feet and other than scrapes and bruises he seemed to be fine. Ikehorn¡¯s face was a screaming agony, but he pushed the pain aside. He had a mission for the Queen.


    They climbed the stairs and entered the bedroom the Werewolves, he now knew, had exited. They moved to the bed and stared at the Satyr.


    ¡°Is it dead?¡± Deslin asked.


    Ikehorn was staring at the dim green haze hovering over the injury on the Satyr¡¯s shoulder. Was that a good or bad thing? The side of the Satyr¡¯s face was swollen too, with a green glow over it. He tilted his ear over the Satyr¡¯s nose. ¡°He¡¯s breathing but barely.¡±


    He pulled back, and Deslin stared at his face with wide eyes. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The uh¡­ green. It¡¯s on your face now too,¡± Deslin pointed out as he took a step back.


    Ikehorn realized his face didn¡¯t hurt as much now. Whatever. He reached over the Satyr and lifted an eyelid. Widely dted pupils. ¡°Maybe they drugged him.¡±


    ¡°DON¡¯T TOUCH HIM!¡±


    Deslin jumped, grunted in pain, and dropped his gun which bounced under the bed. Ikehorn looked to the doorway and saw a tall, slim Chinese girl. Her skin was baster white, but her lips were crimson. Intense dark eyes focused on them, and he could feel his willpower drawing away.


    ¡°We are not here to harm,¡± he said and felt thatpulsion ease.


    ¡°Who caused the damage in the hallway?¡± the girl asked, slowly gliding forward.


    Her movements were mesmerizing, so Ikehorn looked to the Satyr. ¡°Two men broke into the house, and we followed them in, catching theming out of this room. They attacked, and we defended ourselves.¡± He pointed to the Satyr. ¡°I don¡¯t know what they were doing in here, but the Satyr is under the influence of some drug. His breathing is slow and shallow. We need to call a healer.¡±


    She was beside the bed and looked to the green glow on Henry¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What is this? Did you do this?¡±


    ¡°No, it was there when we came in. I moved too close, and now it¡¯s on my cheek,¡± Ikehorn exined.


    ¡°It¡¯s all over you now,¡± Deslin noted, taking another step away.


    The ethereal beauty leaned over the Satyr with a worried look on her face.


    ¡°Henry? Wake up! Where are you?¡±


    -=-


    Henry was terrified. He¡¯d finally realized that something was terribly wrong. He was no longer sure thiswasa dream. Maybe this was a hallucination from the drugs? It felt like a lucid dream. He wasn¡¯t surewhatwas happening, but he was sure there was no fucking way he could create a dream this bizarre on his own. When he realized he had some control, it was no longer fun to be flying in the jet as he felt responsible for the life of the other passenger in this dream, the pilot.


    When they¡¯d flown through the rift, for want of a better term, he felt an immediate surge of energy. It felt like he might pop like thergest Fourth of July firework in history. Instead, the energy just snapped and crackled along his nerves making him very lightheaded.


    When he came back from that buzz, he saw the pilot was struggling to keep the jet in the air. They were in a vast cloud bank, but the pilot was hitting the denser sections as if he couldn¡¯t see them. They were blindingly obvious to Henry. He suddenly got the impression that they were in a giant factory or nursery for those cloud things!


    They were rapidly approaching a huge, dense mass ahead yet the pilot showed no signs of turning, so Henry reached down and gently pushed the pilot¡¯s hands to the right. While the man resisted at first, he finally epted the course change, and they narrowly missed the giant. Soon they were flying along smoothly, swooping side to side to avoid the fluffy obstacles in their way. The vibrations diminished, and the pilot seemed to rx.


    When they suddenly burst free of the clouds, Henry gasped at the vista. The world was spread out before them, but it looked nothing like Earth. The sky above was yellow! The sun was reddish-orange and three times the size it should have been! The nts were all colored in tones of red. There were rivers of molten rock flowing below them in the direction they were flying and in the distance was a mountain range taller than anything seen on Earth.


    Something huge and ck was beating its wings to climb up to intercept the jet. In the nanosecond Henry had to decide, he pushed the stick forward, and the pilot squeezed the trigger. The ck thing shredded into bits. As they fell back to the surface, bright yellow strings swooped in to devour them. The pilot pulled back on the stick.


    A light began to sh on the instrument panel. Fuel. Shit.


    The pilot began looking for a ce tond below, but Henry looked up.


    Rainbows. They winked into and out of existence above them. They had the same colors as the rift, but they were beginning to fade.


    When the pilot moved the stick forward, Henry pulled back. He looked at the control for the thrust and pushed it forward. The pilot caught on and added extra speed as he centered the nose on their target. An rm began to re its dire warning.


    Henry reached forward and grabbed thest copsing rainbow and held it open with every bit of willpower he had. It twisted and bent in the grip of his will.


    They punched through into blue skies and soon after heard the sharp tones of someone barking orders over their radio.


    The pilot barked something happy sounding in return and made some course changes as he struggled to get the failing jet safely to the ground.


    Henry heard something. ¡°¡­ where are you!¡± called a distant voice. Tugging.


    Henry mmed back into his body, dragging along the energy he¡¯d collected on the other side. His body arched up as it took a huge gasp of air. The green glow on his shoulder exploded like a shbulb. Ikehorn¡¯s full body glow triggered next and when the light waves intersected two small arcs of lightning jumped from Henry¡¯s horns to strike Ikehorn. The shes stunned the Fae and Meixiu, and they fell to the floor, dazed.


    Deslin recovered first and immediately went to Ikehorn. He gasped as he looked at his unconscious partner. The facial wounds were gone! He looked younger than before!


    ¡°Ikehorn!¡±


    The Fae opened his eyes and looked up at Deslin. Then he wondered why he was lying on his back. He stood up and immediately felt the difference. Nothing hurt.


    ¡°Your face! It¡¯s healed.¡±

 111

    Frowning, he touched his injured cheek, and his eyebrows went up. The skin was whole and felt smooth and free of wrinkles. He saw the young woman move to Henry¡¯s side again. The Satyr was breathing deeply and smoothly once more. The wound on his shoulder was gone. So, the green light was a healing spell- Ikehorn¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he connected the dots. He needed to leave right now.


    ¡°We¡¯ll leave him to you,¡± he said brusquely to the woman and dragged Deslin with him, only pausing for the agent to pick up his gun. They hurried down the stairs and saw a ck SUV pull to a stop in front of the brownstone. It was the Valkyrie!


    Ikehorn reversed direction and nced down when his eye caught sight of something out of ce. Quickly moving to the debris of the shattered table, he bent to pick up the pieces of an old ss syringe. There was blood on the floor where the syringe had been. Had the Werewolves been after the Satyr¡¯s blood? Why? He tucked the device in his jacket pocket and pulled Deslin to the back of the house and out the shattered back door. They found Heatne dead, head tilted at an unnatural angle on the bricks below the patio. Ikehorn lifted the body onto his shoulder and pointed to the gate on the back wall. ¡°Magic.¡±


    Deslin smiled and cracked the lock with a quickly whispered spell. They slipped out into the alley and rushed away in the shadows. Throwing their mors back on, adjusted for the load Ikehorn was carrying. They circled the block to get back to the van and loaded thetools, actually Heatne¡¯s body, into the back.


    Ikehorn had to get to Queen Mab. She needed to know the Satyr was pulling the Global healing magictohim.


    As Deslin drove, Ikehorn looked up and gasped softly. The Aurora Borealis? Visible above, even with light pollution of the city? It faded as he watched.


    Many disturbing signs tonight.


    -=-


    As they got closer to Sigrid¡¯s home, they began to notice people out on the street looking and pointing up towards the sky. They rolled down their windows and stuck their heads out to look up. Both were stunned to see the northern lights overhead.


    They pulled their heads in, closed the windows, and shared a look.


    ¡°Go faster!¡± Sigrid instructed the driver.


    Minutester they pulled to a stop before her home. Sigrid got out and headed for the stairs as Cam slid over to exit Sigrid¡¯s side of the truck.


    The front door wasn¡¯t locked. The first danger sign. Next, she saw the smashed hall table with blood in the splinters. She could see her back door was missing. Something serious went down.


    ¡°Meixiu!¡± she called out.


    ¡°Sigrid!¡± came the reply from the top of the stairs.


    As Sigrid watched in stunned surprise, a tall version of Meixiu danced down the staircase like her feet never touched the ground. She rushed up and flung herself against therger woman¡¯s chest. Sigrid wrapped her arms around the trembling girl. ¡°What happened to you?¡± she gasped.


    Meixiu pulled back and gave her a guilty look. ¡°I was with Henry. I sampled his essence. Too much of it. It changed me. It hurt, and I was frightened!¡± Then she waved her hands between them to ignore that as a delicate pink tone showed on her cheeks. ¡°He is sleeping upstairs, but there was an attack in the house! Two men broke in and were after Henry. Two Fae followed them in and fought with them and drove them away.¡±


    ¡°The Fae did that? Are they still here?¡± Sigrid asked carefully.


    ¡°No, they left just after Henry healed himself¡­ and one of the Fae.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Cam gasped from behind Sigrid who was blocking the doorway, subconsciously protecting her friend. ¡°Sigrid, move inside!¡± Cam eximed in frustration. She pushed past the blond and gaped at the destruction. ¡°Call in a cleaner team. I¡¯m going up to see Henry!¡± she called out as she dashed up the stairs.


    She found Henry asleep on the bed and after inspecting his chest, arms, and head for injuries, lifted the sheet to confirm everything was in working order down below as well.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Sigrid asked as she rushed in.


    ¡°Just making sure they didn¡¯t injure anything important,¡± Cam insisted.


    Sigrid rolled her eyes and made the call for the cleaners while Cam lifted an eyelid and took his scent.


    ¡°Someone drugged him!¡± she gasped. Looking to Meixiu, she frowned. ¡°He¡¯s deeply unconscious. I don¡¯t know what those men gave him but what didyougive him?¡±


    Meixiu looked nervously between Sigrid and Cam. ¡°I just gave him the pills from the bottle on the top shelf, as Sigrid instructed.¡±


    ¡°Did I say top?¡± Sigrid asked while she tried to remember. ¡°Wait! Did you give him my Oxycodone? How many?¡±


    ¡°Three,¡± the young woman squeaked.


    The twodies nced at each other and Sigrid shook her head. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have reacted this strongly to three. Loopy yes, but I don¡¯t think it should have knocked him unconscious.¡± They watched him sleeping peacefully for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Meixiu. I should have just said the acetaminophen. We¡¯ll watch him tonight. He shoulde out of it soon. I¡¯ll take him to his ce in the morning. He can go back to work the day after,¡± Sigrid decided.


    The doorbell rang, and Sigrid rushed away to answer it.


    ¡°The Fae, did they mention why they were watching the house?¡± Cam asked.


    Meixiu shook her head. ¡°I am grateful they were. I was upstairs bing this,¡± she gestured to her new body. ¡°I could not see or hear, and my body was in such pain from growing. Then it was suddenly over, and I heard gunshots and crashing sounds. I couldn¡¯t walk properly as my body moves so oddly now. It took me time to get downstairs to this room. It was over when I arrived. The older Fae had a badly cut face but after Henry healed him the wounds were gone and he looked much younger! Henry¡¯s wounds were gone too!¡±


    Cam was aware of Henry¡¯s link to the Fae¡¯s globe-spanning healing spell, but she couldn¡¯t mention it to Meixiu. Maybe Henry was learning how to use it for himself?


    More concerning for her was the mystery men who broke in to get to Henry. She needed to know who they were. With a nod to Meixiu, she headed downstairs. The team was arriving with tools to do the physical repairs. The broken table debris was already gone, and the floor was mopped clean. She looked toward the back door and saw Sigrid talking to one of the workers. And Roy. She headed back there too.


    ¡°Roy? Where were you?¡± she barked.


    The big man frowned as he turned to her. ¡°One step behind, again.¡±


    Cam huffed as she looked into his troubled eyes. They couldn¡¯t talk while the workers were present. Her nose twitched, and she raised an exquisite eyebrow. ¡°Do I smell cat?¡±


    Roy nodded with a small smile. ¡°Weirdest thing. I met some cats who like me. Maine Coons. They¡¯re huge! And fluffy!¡±


    ¡°You gonna get one?¡± Sigrid asked with a grin.


    Roy put a casual expression on his face. ¡°I¡¯m not ruling out the possibility.¡±


    The lights suddenly went out when a transformer on a pole down the back alley exploded in sparks. All houses on the alley were now dark.


    ¡°Dammit! What now?¡± Sigrid growled.


    Roy moved to the back door, and they saw his silhouette against the dim light from the next street over. He inhaled deeply. ¡°Not a coincidence. We havepany. It¡¯s another kind of feline. Get the workers out the front door. Protect Henry.¡±


    With that, Roy disappeared into the dark alley.


    -=-


    Mary parked her motorcycle at the end of the block. The vibration of the big bike on the ride had kept her awake, and surprisingly, she felt a little more alert.


    She¡¯d followed the redhead from Helen¡¯s ce across town to this neighborhood of brownstones. Definitely moving up in the world. She watched him climb the stairs and head inside one of the homes, midway down the block.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    She was about to head down the sidewalk when she caught a distinct sound. A scream began but suddenly choked off. Frowning, she looked back down the row of homes to memorize the location of the one he¡¯d entered then she jogged down thene to an alley that ran between the two rows of homes. Someone had parked a dark blue van a short distance up the alley, and it was bouncing oddly on its springs. Another stifled scream came from inside. That was a cry of pain!


    She ran to the back of the van and pulled open the right door as the left had no external handle. A young man with a mop of hair and a thick beard tumbled out into her arms. She caught the terrified look in his eyes, the gag over his mouth, and his bindings. He tried screaming, but something inside the van yanked him from Mary¡¯s grip back into the shadows. His scream cut off with a gurgle and crunch.


    Mary stumbled back from the door and narrowly avoided the left side smashing open. In the open doorway was something from a nightmare. Dense ck fur, powerfully muscled, enormous fangs and ws, it was crouching in the back of the van staring at her. Its jaws dripped blood and bits of flesh. Its eyes wererge and seemed to glow slightly with an inner light. The streetlight reflected oddly off the yellow irises.


    Mary¡¯s mouth worked, but she couldn¡¯t speak as the creature unfolded itself as it stepped from the van. It couldn¡¯t be real. Was it an illusion or projection?


    ¡°Ugly fucker,¡± Mary finally managed to gasp out then mmed against the brick wall on the opposite side of the alley to fall onto her back, staring at the sky. She hadn¡¯t even seen the ping. Any thought of that thing being an illusion was gone. She shivered as energy flowed back into her body. She didn¡¯t have time to think about that as the beast bent over to grab her leg. Frightened, she kicked it in the chin with all her might with her other foot. It grunted in pain as blood gushed from its mouth.

 112

    Mary crashed into the side panel of the van and the metal bent inwards deeply. She pushed herself free of the indent and was seized once more in therge wed paws of the monster. The unreal nature of the moment struck her. She should have felt terrified, but instead, she was tingling with energy and struggling not tough with the sheer joy of how good she felt. She grinned at the face of the big cat monster. Then she mmed her forehead into its nose. It yanked its face back sharply, so Mary lifted both legs and kicked it in the chest, breaking its grip. She hit the ground and tried to get to her feet, but the beast pounced on her to pound on her with its closed fists, bouncing her head against the paving.


    Struggling to keep her giggles under control, she gazed up at the monster which stared at her, confusion and frustration showing in itsrge yellow eyes. Mary knew she should be terrified but theck of pain and injurybined with how good she was feeling instead just wiped her cares away.


    The beast turned its head to look at the dim street lights in the alley then Mary was flying through the air. Her back mmed against something which gave. A huge explosion of sparks shot out around her. Electricity arced through her body andthathurt very much. She screamed soundlessly as she dropped to the ground and hit the paving. The street lights went out, and Mary slumped,pletely stunned by the shock from the power transformer. She struggled to watch the creature, but it was moving up the alley. She could only see parts of it in silhouette.


    The numbness in her limbs was slowly dissipating, but she was back to feeling exhausted. She finally connected the dots. Being hit made her feel energized. She needed to get hit. She had no idea why it worked, but she needed it to beat on her.


    But she couldn¡¯t even get off the ground.


    A deep thud sounded from an impact up the alley, and she turned her eyes in that direction once more. It seemed like something else was in the murky shadows fighting with the monster. They grappled and rolled around, and suddenly one of them was airborne. She watched it tumble through the air in an arc until it crashed down on top of her.


    ¡°Yes!¡± she sighed from under the furry beast as energy flowed into her body. It scrambled to get off of her, and she squinted in the alley¡¯s dim light. She could barely see it, but it seemed to be staring back at her. She thought this one looked more like a monstrous wolf.


    ¡°Hit me, fucker!¡± she growled at it.


    It gave her a gentle shove towards the exit to the alley, then it was fighting for its life as the first monster dropped on it from above. ws shed, teeth snapped, and fur ripped free.


    She tried to get closer, but the damn wolf thing kept pushing her away. Screaming in frustration, she leapt onto the back of the cat thing and pulled on its ears as hard as she could. It spun and pped her so hard she sailed up the alley and over one of the gates into a backyard to crash against a brick firece.


    Mary immediately got back on her feet and tried the gate. It was locked, and she was on the wrong side of the wall. Frustrated she kicked the door, tearing it from the hinges and sending it flying into the alley. She stared with wide eyes then ran back down the alley to the fight.


    ¡°You call that a hit? Come on bitch!¡± she bellowed then noticed the wolf monster was in trouble. The big cat had its jaws around its throat and was squeezing.


    ¡°Fuck! Hit me-¡±


    The wolf savagely kicked her, and she flew backward through the open back doors of the van to smash out the front windshield. She bounced and skipped a few times but the moment she stopped she was on her feet running back to the fight. She grabbed the jaws of the cat and wrenched them apart with a scream until she heard the crack of bones. It made a choking wail sound and tried to grab her, but she slid onto its back and wrapped an arm under its flopping jaw and squeezed. She poured everything into the effort and heard another loud crack. The monster went still in her arms.


    She pushed it off and took deep gasps of breath while staring up at the sky.


    Then she heard the cracking of bones and turned her head to see the cat monster was copsing in on itself. She stared in shock as the fur fell away and the limbs reshaped.


    Mary sat up and looked at the dead woman lying on the pavement next to her. She looked up and saw the big redhead watching her wearily. He looked exhausted, but he certainly wasn¡¯t a badly injured wolf monster.


    ¡°Oh fuck. Fuck!¡± Mary moaned as she looked again at the dead woman.


    The man tried to say something, but his voice was still raw from- no, that happened to the wolf thing, didn¡¯t it? Shit!


    Mary leapt to her feet and looked down at her shredded and bloody clothes. She ran from the alley, dodging the man¡¯s outstretched arm. She got on her motorcycle and sped away. She needed to get her head straight.


    She¡¯d just killed a woman- or a monster.


    What did that make her?


    When Henry woke the next morning, he felt great! He stretched and yawned then nced down to see he was naked and in Satyr form. Looking around, he saw he was in one of Sigrid¡¯s guest bedrooms. He sat up and tried to recall how he got there.


    ¡°Good morning, Henry!¡±


    He turned his head, and his eyes widened in surprise as he pulled the sheet over his nakedness.


    ¡°Meixiu? What hap- you changed!¡± he gasped. Her cheeks pinked up as she glided over to the bed. ¡°You move differently too,¡± he mumbled as it was a little mesmerizing.


    ¡°Yes, I changed yesterday after we¡­ enjoyed each other. I sampled your essence, and it changed me. I¡¯m still getting used to how to walk with this taller body. I feel like I might fall from this great height but I don¡¯t. Everything feels different!¡±


    He blinked at her as he had no memory of them being together. ¡°I- we¡­ were together?¡±


    She stared at him. ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡±


    His brow furrowed as he tried to remember thest thing- ¡°The marina! Are Cam and Marisa ok? Sigrid? Did they find that guy who¡¯s like me?¡±


    Meixiu looked at him sadly, and his worry grew. ¡°Are they ok?¡± he said with a small voice.


    ¡°Yes! Sorry! Everyone is ok. I¡¯m sad because you have lost some memories,¡± she said contritely.


    He sighed in relief that no one was hurt. ¡°How much time?¡± he asked cautiously.


    ¡°All of yesterday and some of the night before,¡± she exined.


    Henry¡¯s stomach grumbled, and Meixiu¡¯s smile returned. ¡°Would you like me to bring you some breakfast?¡±


    He pushed off the unease from the memory loss. He¡¯d deal with itter. ¡°I¡¯m going to take a shower then I¡¯lle downstairs,¡± he replied. Meixiu smiled and turned to leave.


    ¡°I think your new look is very attractive,¡± he said with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you, Henry,¡± she said with a demure smile over her shoulder, then she walked out of the room. He struggled not to gawk.


    He slipped out of bed and concentrated on the image of his human self in a dressing gown. His mor activated and he found himself in an oversized cloak. Not what he asked for but whatever. Good enough to get him to the washroom in the hall.


    As he stepped out of the bedroom, he smelled paint fumes. And a chemical cleaning agent. Sigrid must be redecorating.


    He grabbed a towel from the linen closet and went into the washroom. He stepped into the shower and reset the mor to be naked. He got the water running and sighed as the hot water poured over his head. He washed his too long hair and rinsed the shampoo out. He winced as he got a little in his eye.


    As he let the water pour over his face to clear the soap from his eyes, he felt hands begin rubbing suds onto his back. He yelped then looked over his shoulder. Cam gave him one of her sexy smiles. Her hands traveled down his back and over the hard muscles of his ass. Then her tits were pressing against his back as her soapy hands slipped around to the front of his body. She pulled him tighter against her tits as she washed his arms, chest, stomach and finally his cock and balls.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    He sighed as he grew harder in her skilled hands.


    ¡°Henry, I want the real thing. Please?¡± she pleaded sweetly.


    As much of a pain as it was to dry his fur, he couldn¡¯t deny her anything when she sounded like that. With a sigh, he dropped his mor.


    ¡°Oooo fuck, YES!¡± she gasped as she held his heavy member in her hands.


    ¡°I need this inside me!¡± she whimpered.


    Once more, he was her willing servant. He turned and lifted her against his chest. She was trembling and ready, so he positioned the thick head at her opening and gently lowered her onto him as he spread her wide.


    She sucked in a long breath, almost a hiss as he sunk deeper and deeper. He was amazed she could take so much, but she wasn¡¯t human, so he didn¡¯t know her limitations. She certainly wasn¡¯tining.


    ¡°Oh fuck Henry! That feels so good!¡± she whimpered as she clung to him.


    Finally, she reached the bottom and had all of him. ¡°Give me a sec to adjust. Holy fuck Henry, you fill me up so well!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing at Sigrid¡¯s so early?¡± he asked.


    Her eyelids fluttered open. ¡°What? Oh, I slept herest night. We took turns watching you.¡±


    His eyebrows went up. ¡°Watching me?¡±


    ¡°Mmmm¡­ yes, you were having a strong reaction to the painkillers Meixiu gave you, so we watched over you. I need you to move now,¡± she sighed. She kept the news that unknown assants might have drugged him to herself.


    He squeezed her ass cheeks in his big hands and bounced her against thest inch of his cock in short but rapid strokes each ending with a bump to her clit.


    ¡°AH! FUCK! AH! HENRY!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s ¡®we¡¯? How many people watched me?¡± he asked as he struggled to keep the strokes short.


    ¡°Fuck! You¡¯re driving me crazy!¡± she gasped and looked into his eyes. ¡°Uh, so hard to think! SHIT!¡± She panted for a bit as the pping continued. ¡°Muh-me! Sigrid! Shit! Meixiu- AHH! Oh! And Roy! Fuck me!¡± she pleaded. He was surprised and more than a little touched by the number of people looking after him.


    Now Henry started the long strokes, still ending them with a p against his body.


    ¡°AAAAAAHHHHH!!! YYYYYYEEEEESSSSS!!!!¡± Cam cried out.


    ¡°Are you close because I¡¯m almost there!¡± he gasped.


    ¡°YES! THERE! OH PLEASE, I¡¯M¡­ THERE!¡± she pleaded.

 113

    He was concerned about putting her to sleep again. ¡°Should I pull out on three likest time?¡±


    ¡°No! I need it all today!¡± she whined as her body began to quake.


    He gave her a questioning look; then it was toote to second guess as his orgasm began and he erupted into her body in surges.


    ¡°Ohhhhh yyyyeeesssssss, Henry!¡± she cooed as she felt her body be flush with energy once more. She pushed away any nagging concerns about addiction for now and just rested her cheek against his shoulder. She was feeling so warm and sleepy in his arms.


    Henry recalled once telling her she should call on him if she needed to feed and wondered if she went to anyone else. He¡¯d ask her about itter. He decided to get some answers about the missing hours in his memory.


    ¡°Did Meixiu tell you I lost some memory?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ oh yes. It¡¯s all ok. Likely just the drugs you were on and maybe the self-healing you did,¡± she purred.


    ¡°Self-healing?¡±


    ¡°Mmmm¡­ you sustained injuries in the rescue of Nathan. We brought you here to heal. Yesterday, Meixiu said your injury had a green glow over it, it shed brightly, and healed you. We think you tapped into the Fae¡¯s global healing spell.¡± She pushed herself back to smile at him. ¡°Are you finished in the shower? I need to use it now.¡±


    He nodded, pulled himself free, and gently set her on her feet, holding her until her legs stopped wobbling. A quick rinse and he stepped out of the shower to dry off, grumbling at how much longer it took. Once he was rtively dry, he enabled his mor with a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. It was one of his go-to outfits as it was so simple.


    He walked down the stairs, and the smell of paint was strong on thending. As he walked back to the kitchen, that smell gave way to the delicious scent of breakfast cooking and his stomach growled.


    As he reached the back of the house, he saw Sigrid and Roy sitting at a table by the window overlooking the small patio. Sunlight was streaming in, and the scene looked so cozy and domestic he had to smile. Meixiu was by the stove preparing the food and singing quietly to herself.


    ¡°Look who¡¯s finally awake,¡± Roy grumbled.


    Sigrid looked up, and a wide smile spread across her face. She quickly stood and pranced over to pull Henry into a hug for a firm squeeze.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± she asked as she pulled back to look in his eyes.


    He smiled at her. ¡°Good! Hungry!¡±


    Meixiu smiled over her shoulder at him. ¡°It¡¯s almost ready. Take a seat.¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    He nodded to her and gave Sigrid a look as she wasn¡¯t releasing him.


    ¡°Did¡­ did something happen while I was asleep?¡± he asked, wondering why Sigrid was extra clingy this morning.


    Roy snorted. ¡°Sleeps through world war three and wonders what all the fuss is about.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Henry gasped.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to Roy. He¡¯s still cranky from almost dyingst night,¡± Sigrid said fondly, finally releasing him.


    Another grumble from Roy. ¡°I don¡¯t need the reminder.¡±


    Henry quickly walked over to Roy and sat in the chair next to him. ¡°Are you ok? What happened?¡± he asked in concern.


    Roy nced at Henry¡¯s worried expression and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Healing. I¡¯ll be good by tonight. Unless you can pull that healing magic from the sky again and heal me now.¡±


    Henry looked at him in confusion. ¡°I- I don¡¯t think I know how to do that.¡±


    Roy looked at Sigrid. ¡°He doesn¡¯t remember anything.¡±


    Henry looked to Sigrid for an answer. She smiled gently.


    ¡°Apparently while you were injured and riding a high from the painkillers, you may have pulled on the Fae¡¯s global healing spell to fix your shoulder.¡±


    He shook his head and put his fingers to his shoulder. ¡°Other one,¡± Sigrid said.


    He switched but felt no residual pain or scarring on that one either. ¡°What happened to my shoulder?¡±


    ¡°Bit by a Werepanther. Badly,¡± Roy said and sipped his tea.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to be one, am I?¡± Henry asked.


    Roy scowled at him then looked to Sigrid. ¡°Has he learned nothing?¡±


    ¡°Oh Roy, stop being so testy! You know he¡¯s had no upbringing with this stuff!¡± Sigrid scolded the man. She looked to Henry. ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way. It¡¯s not transferable by biting.¡±


    ¡°She came backst night to finish the job and dispatch the rest of us. She was juiced up on your blood, so she wasrger than any Werepanther I¡¯ve ever seen. If I hadn¡¯t juiced up myself I wouldn¡¯t havested a minute,¡± Roy sighed.


    Henry looked at him. ¡°How did you get¡­juiced up?¡± he asked quietly with wide eyes.


    Roy scowled. ¡°Your blood, boy! Your injuries from the marina rescue! I helped you by sealing the wound. I swallowed a mouthful of your blood in the process. The magic changed me.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Right. Sorry,¡± Henry said quietly as he nced at Sigrid¡¯s face which was red from her barely containedughter.


    Meixiu saved him by cing arge te of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast in front of him. With an annoyed look, Roy stole one of his slices of bacon.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go to work. Thank you for the hospitality Sigrid,¡± Roy said as he stood. She popped to her feet and gave him a kiss and a hug.


    ¡°Thank you, Roy, for protecting usst night!¡± she said looking him in the eye.


    He looked away. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure I can im that.¡±


    ¡°Even if that woman made the final kill it sounds like you were instrumental in helping her do it! A team effort! Don¡¯t deny how important that was!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should thank her or kick her ass for being such a distraction during the fight,¡± he grumbled.


    Sigrid grinned and gave him a gentle push. ¡°Go to work. I¡¯ll see you thereter.¡±


    As Roy was heading out of the kitchen, Cam was walking in with a wide, satisfied smile. He just shook his head and walked by. She looked back at him then turned to Sigrid.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with Mr. Sourpuss?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Maybe the question should be, why are you looking so- YOU DIDN¡¯T!?!¡± Sigrid suddenly gasped in outrage.


    Cam¡¯s expression froze.


    Sigrid looked to Henry who was studiously eating his breakfast and keeping his eyes on his te. His ears, however, were bright red.


    She looked back to Cam. ¡°He just came out of a drug induceda! Couldn¡¯t you give him at least a day to recover?¡±


    ¡°I feel fine-¡±


    ¡°Hush, Henry! This is about Cam¡¯sck of control and her growing addiction,¡± Sigrid said.


    Cam gasped. ¡°You can¡¯t talk to me like-¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can because I¡¯m your friend and sometimes friends tell you stuff youneedto hear, even when you don¡¯twantto hear it,¡± Sigrid said firmly.


    Cam huffed and pouted with her arms crossed under her breasts. Henry caught himself staring, so he forced himself to return to his meal.


    ¡°See! Henry enjoys it too,¡± Cam said, obviously having caught the direction of his stare.


    ¡°He¡¯s a young male Satyr! Of course, he¡¯s going to find a Subus irresistible! The issue here isyourability to resist!¡± Sigrid eximed. Cam dropped down in the chair Roy exited and nced at Henry. His cheeks were pink. Then she looked over at Sigrid who¡¯d also noticed his embarrassment.


    ¡°Yes! I admit I crave the energy I get from Henry. I feel so incredibly good and powerful after sex with him. But he¡¯s also so damn sweet! You know exactly what I mean!¡± Cam asserted.


    Sigrid sighed as she closed her eyes and nodded. ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t jump on him every chance I get!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get enough chances,¡± Meixiu said as she ced a coffee in front of Cam, who burst intoughter at Sigrid¡¯s shocked and embarrassed expression.


    Henry looked at the tall blond beauty in concern. ¡°Have- have I not been there for you?¡± he asked her quietly, ashamed he might have neglected his friend.


    She squirmed under his earnest stare. ¡°It¡¯s ok Henry. You have a full calendar. We just don¡¯t always find time to- be together.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have ns tonight. Would you like to go out to dinner with me?¡± he asked.


    Cheeks burning, she nodded with a sweet smile.


    He was caught by her beauty once more and just gazed into her twinkling blue eyes in awe.


    She suddenly pushed herself to her feet and fixed her eyes on Cam. ¡°This doesn¡¯t get you off the hook aboutyourinability to resist!¡± Cam just smirked as Sigrid¡¯s own addiction was clearly evident.


    ¡°AAAAGGGHHH! I¡¯m getting ready for work!¡± Sigrid stormed off.


    Meixiu took her seat and sipped at her tea, a small smile on her lips.


    Henry finished eating then looked to Cam as he wiped his mouth. ¡°What exactly happened with Royst night? Who was he protecting us from?¡±


    ¡°Chantelle Gauthier. She¡¯s the co-conspirator of Oletha Thanemark. She¡¯d ingested arge quantity of your blood and changed as well. She was a Werepanther and became extremely dangerous. Roy encountered another powerful woman in the alley who helped him defeat Chantelle. We were lucky to have the clean-up team onsite as they had to remove the evidence immediately.¡±


    ¡°Who was the woman?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know. She ran off the moment Chantelle was dead.¡±


    Henry sighed. There was so much he still didn¡¯t know about the Hidden Races. Were some vigntes? That seemed dangerous with the Council having their hit squads for people who didn¡¯t follow the rules. He paused. Maybe she was a member of one of these squads?


    Sigrid walked back into the kitchen. ¡°I¡¯m ready to go. The car will be here shortly. Henry, we¡¯ll drop you at home-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going with you to the office. I don¡¯t need myptop as I can use another PC when I¡¯m there,¡± Henry insisted.

 114

    Sigrid looked him in the eye. ¡°I said you were taking the day to recover.¡±


    ¡°I feel great! Besides, if I stay home, I¡¯ll only work from there,¡± he said with a smile.


    ¡°Why does no one listen to me?¡± she growled as she spun to stomp back to the front door.


    Cam stood and followed her out with a sly smile.


    Henry turned to Meixiu. ¡°Thank you for taking such good care of me. I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t remember yesterday.¡±


    ¡°It is too bad as you taught me something,¡± she said with a slight smile.


    ¡°I did?¡±


    She nodded then her mouth was on his, and the tip of her tongue dipped into his mouth. Henry¡¯s body jolted with the sensation, and he might have moaned just a little.


    ¡°MEIXIU!¡±


    The young woman pulled back with a guilty smile for Sigrid as Henry wobbled.


    The tall blond collected Henry while giving Meixiu a stern look and led him by the arm to the front door and out. Meixiu followed to lock up.


    Henry climbed in and found himself pressed between the two lovely women when Sigrid got in. He heard both begin to purr at the sensation.


    ¡°No! Nope! Out!¡± he said firmly, and Sigrid hopped back out with a surprised look. Henry followed her out then rounded the front of the vehicle to sit in the passenger seat up front. He rested back with a sigh as the tingling heat on his neck settled down.


    He had work to do today!


    -=-


    Nate was lounging on the decadentlyfortable bed in his hotel room watching the news. He was feeling particrly spoiled after sleeping in Cam¡¯s wonderful bed and now this cloud of a mattress.


    Speaking of clouds, there was this crazy story on the news about a rogue air force pilot flying in Kansas who started shooting clouds. He disappeared only to reappear eight minutester in the skies above Fort McMurray, Alberta. There was a lot of angry saber-rattling between the governments of the two countries. The Canadians used the US of flying top-secret experimental aircraft missions into their airspace. The US wanted the pilot and the jet back, immediately.


    The pilot was demanding asylum as he¡¯d been guided there by a divine presence. The media was having a st with their headlines forMajor Tom,but nobody was taking him seriously.


    Meanwhile back in Kansas, in the small town where the pilot originally departed US airspace, tragedy struck at a high school football stadium when a sudden and fierce rainstorm swept over the field catching the two teams and the spectators by surprise. The clouds above then unleashed a hellish amount of lightning onto the sodden crowd. Electronics up to a mile away fried in the pulse.


    Within hours, Army trucks rolled into town with personnel wearing hazmat suits. They quarantined the town, and the press weren¡¯t being allowed anywhere near the grisly scene. The conspiracy theorists were having a field day.


    ¡°Are you watching this too?¡± Nate called out as he thought he heard an echo through the open door between their rooms.


    Jo came running into his room wearing one of the super plush hotel bathrobes. Her bubbliness seemed to have returned after a good night¡¯s sleep.


    She jumped up on his bed and crawled up to lean back against the pillows he set up for her against the headboard. ¡°This is crazy shit!¡± she gasped.


    ¡°They¡¯re saying the ne flew over sixteen hundred miles in eight minutes! That¡¯s like, uh¡­¡± Nate struggled to do the math.


    Jo squinted at him as she worked it out too. ¡°Twelve million miles per hour?¡±


    He gave her an incredulous look. ¡°What?!? No! It¡¯s- twelvethousandmiles per hour.¡±


    She stuck out her tongue. ¡°Sue me! I¡¯m a creative genius, not a math nerd.¡±


    ¡°The point is, it couldn¡¯t possibly have flown that fast. So either the Air Force found a way to warp space, or it¡¯s a hoax, maybe to spook the Russians.¡±


    Jo stuck out her bottom lip. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a hoax. They always end up admitting that,¡± she sighed. ¡°What about the town? Those poor people! That¡¯s so scary! You¡¯re living there, minding your own business then BAM! Mother Nature kicks your ass, and the army locks you in the town, cutting off all ess to the outside world.¡±


    They sat quietly watching the news anchors filling the air with useless spection, repeated ad nauseam.


    ¡°I hope they don¡¯t find her.¡±


    Nate looked over at Jo¡¯s profile in surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t want them to find the freak who attacked you?¡±


    ¡°Then we could stay in this luxurious hideout forever,¡± Jo sighed.


    Nate snorted. ¡°Our benefactors are exceptionally generous, but there are limits.¡± He lifted the TV remote and flipped to the local news. The weather was going to remain warm for a little while yet.


    ¡°Who cares how it is outside when it¡¯s so perfect inside,¡± Jo pouted.


    ¡°We have to go outside at some point. Life is out there,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Overrated. This bed is better than anything you¡¯d find out there.¡±


    He gave her a sad look. ¡°Other people are out there.¡±


    She snorted. ¡°Other people bring us room service. We meet people!¡±


    ¡°No offense to Steven, the busboy but I¡¯m talking about people we can have more meaningful rtionships with.¡±


    ¡°Meh,¡± was her response.


    He continued to look at her profile as she stared at the screen.


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    He looked back to the screen, and they were disying the portrait of Chantelle Gauthier. The dark-skinned beauty¡¯s body washed up on the shore not too far from the marina where Oletha had died.


    ¡°Well, we had a lovely night¡¯s sleep at least,¡± Nate said.


    ¡°Poo.¡±


    He regarded her for a while until she looked at him.


    ¡°What? Do I have a booger dangling from my nose?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Gross!¡± he growled. ¡°No. I- I¡¯m¡­ I just want to say I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    She looked at him curiously. ¡°For what?¡±


    He looked away. ¡°For whatever role I yed in ruining your chances with Bev.¡±Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    She scowled at him. ¡°Why did you have to ruin a perfectly good moment of beingzy with thoughts of her?¡±


    ¡°Because what you had with her is what I want most in the world and what I fear I¡¯ll never have.¡±


    The scowl became a re. ¡°So why don¡¯tyoumarry Bev?¡±


    ¡°When I find someone who loves me as much as she loved you, I¡¯ll marry them,¡± he sighed.


    The re now included scorn. ¡°Oh please! The man who gets more action than anyone I know would give all that up for monogamy?¡±


    ¡°For my soul mate, I would. In a second. You know I¡¯ve always wanted to find a match like my parents.¡±


    Jo looked away. ¡°Yeah, well¡­ that doesn¡¯t happen for everyone.¡±


    ¡°It could happen for you.¡±


    Eyes shed. ¡°Why the sudden interest in matchmaking?¡±


    He looked away. ¡°Just having an epiphany of the impact I have on those around me.¡±


    ¡°Wow, ego much?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve tried to have rtionships with eleven women. Eleven decent, friendly, happy women-¡±


    ¡°Batshit crazy, you mean!¡± she snorted.


    ¡°Afterwards.¡±


    She blinked at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how they all were, afterward. Ask their friends how they behaved before me. I did. Well, the ones who would talk to me.¡±


    Jo turned to face him with a serious expression. ¡°You don¡¯t seriously believe there is something about you that turned nice girls into those monsters, do you?¡±


    ¡°My belief is immaterial. It happens.¡±


    She watched him and saw his conviction. ¡°Wait, how is this rted to Bev and me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the twelfth woman.¡±


    Eyebrows went up. ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°You are the only other woman I¡¯ve had a long-term rtionship with,¡± he confessed.


    Her mouth worked, but nothing came out, at first. ¡°You¡¯re lumping me in with the crazy bitches?!?¡±


    ¡°No. Your personality remained true. You are just as sweet and funny as you¡¯ve always been. It¡¯s your attitude towards long-term rtionships and love that¡¯s twisted since I met you.¡±


    She looked at him, speechless.


    He continued. ¡°You¡¯d been in a rtionship with Bev for three years when we met, and you two were such a good match. You both had a life n and simr dreams. I brought home one sexy tart after another, parading them by you without thought. You became restless while I struggled to find what you and Bev already had.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°I know you had sex with Mnie, right before I broke up with her¡­ and you with Bev.¡±


    She jolted at the memory and looked at him cautiously.


    ¡°Mnie talked about how pretty you were and asked me if I¡¯d consider a m¨¦nage ¨¤ trois. By the end, she¡¯d convinced herself I was already having sex with you.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you?¡±


    It was his turn to stare at her incredulously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m not interested, but I always thought you¡¯d at least try. Don¡¯t straight men typically think Lesbian¡¯s just need a good fuck to straighten them out?¡± she scoffed.


    ¡°NO! Geezus- I don¡¯t know. Listen, I can¡¯t speak for other men, but no, I¡¯ve never thought that! Besides, I wouldn¡¯t, with you,¡± he finished awkwardly. She pulled back like he¡¯d pped her and his face fell. ¡°Come on! I didn¡¯t mean it in a bad way! I wouldn¡¯t want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship! Sex would kill it. You¡¯re my best friend! I need you!¡±


    She was quiet for a while just looking at him. ¡°Then why are you bringing up something painful.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Because agoodfriend would have stopped you from throwing away something as good as what you had with Bev. I didnothing! Isaidnothing! Purely selfish, I was only thinking of me.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I can make my own decisions?¡± Jo barked.


    ¡°Of course I do. But no one makes decisions without some outside influence. I¡¯ve been a terrible example. One night stand after one night stand, and now you seem to be following the same pattern-¡±


    ¡°Maybe I want that! Maybe I¡¯m enjoying it!¡± Jo yelled.


    He turned sad eyes on her. ¡°If you were, you¡¯d smile more often like you did when you were with her.¡±


    Jo slid off the bed to stand next to it and faced him. ¡°You know what? Fuck you. I¡¯m going home. And I¡¯m keeping the robe!¡± She stormed off, mming the door between their rooms. He heard the lock snap into ce.


    He sighed. There was a knock on the main door.

 115

    He peeked out the door and saw An the VRL security man, so he opened it. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Walker. I¡¯ve received word that the danger is over, so the security team was released.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we saw it on the news. We¡¯ll check out this morning.¡±


    ¡°Very good sir. VRL is picking up the tab.¡± He paused and looked back with a slight smile. ¡°Including the robes.¡±


    Nate smiled guiltily. ¡°Thanks!¡±


    With a nod, the big man walked away and joined two others as they went to the elevators.


    Nate closed the door and nced at the door to Jo¡¯s room. He went to take a shower. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do next.


    He seemed to be burning bridges again. Maybe it was time to build new ones?


    Henry was wearing a very sharp ck jacket over a charcoal grey dress shirt, open at the cor, ck dress pants, and ck leather shoes. He¡¯d been taught the basics when he initially received his mor. He had some basic casual wear outfits memorized but had never tried anything beyond that.


    While Cam warned him to stick to real physical clothes for his human body whenever possible, on special asions like this, he could incorporate fancier clothes into his mor once he was skilled enough. For now, he used a picture on his cell he¡¯d pulled from a website to help him visualize it.


    The cell phone was new as well as Sandy¡¯s hadn¡¯t survived being crushed against the side of a yacht then dunked in the harbor. He¡¯d have to pay her back somehow for destroying it.


    Cam had said she wanted his date to go well as she felt bad about pushing Sigrid so hard. He thought she might have an ulterior motive, but he kept that to himself as he also wanted the date to go well. She¡¯d exined she taught Nathan to do this and, now that Henry had a real mor, this would work for him as well.


    He was looking forward to finally meeting Nate again.


    For now, though, Henry was sitting across from Sigrid in a lovely intimate restaurant trying to keep his eyes in his head. She looked gorgeous! Her long blonde hair was partially teased up but fell in cascades over her shoulders. Her makeup was minimal, but her glow of happiness took his breath away. She was smiling at his obvious appreciation of her beauty.


    ¡°Henry! Stop! My cheeks are beginning to hurt from smiling!¡± she said quietly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± he blurted softly. ¡°I¡¯ve just never seen you look this radiant before!¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, stop!¡± she gushed.


    Henry looked down at his te. The ck halter-style evening gown she¡¯d selected wasn¡¯t tantly sexy, but it did hint at the wonders it contained. The Valkyrie had wonders in abundance.


    The waiter arrived and took their orders. Henry chose something light. Truthfully he didn¡¯t even recall what it was as his eyes kept stealing looks at Sigrid. She ordered a bottle of wine.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    When they were alone again, Sigrid leaned forward slightly, and his eyes dipped to nce at her cleavage before guiltily lifting to her eyes.


    ¡°This is why I told you to meet me at the restaurant!¡± she sighed.


    She¡¯d had her nails painted a deep, bold red and she seemed a little self-conscious of that decision. She normally just wore a clear coat. Her hands moved nervously around the table¡¯s surface, adjusting the tablecloth and the setting.


    Finally, Henry reached across the table and took her hands in his. She smiled in relief as her hands now had something meaningful to do.


    ¡°I like the color! It looks good on you!¡± he said admiring her nails and enjoying her soft skin.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t too¡­ dark? I don¡¯t know why I let Cam talk me into this color! Red looks better on her!¡± she fretted.


    ¡°Sigrid.¡± He held her eyes and spoke with conviction. ¡°Since when do you let anyone talk you into anything? You chose this color becauseyouwanted it. Now, what does this color mean to you?¡±


    She held still as she looked at her nails resting against the palms of his big hands. ¡°Passion,¡± she blurted then her face flushed with heat.


    He nodded. ¡°I like it! Definitely a good word for you!¡± he said with a smile. Her eyes twinkled with her happiness.


    The wine arrived, and he released her hands. He¡¯d only be having one ss tonight as he was still a little freaked out about losing a day to the painkillers.


    Once they were alone again, they touched sses and smiled at each other. Henry nodded to Sigrid after his sip. ¡°Very nice wine! Good choice! I mean, I¡¯m no wine aficionado, but I like it!¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± she said. She looked at her ss, and he saw her preparing herself.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± he asked.


    She shook her head faintly. ¡°When you experienced that traumatic event with the police officer, you didn¡¯t tell anyone about it. I was wondering if I ever made you feel like you couldn¡¯t talk to me?¡± she asked quietly.


    He held her eyes. ¡°No. Absolutely not. Ever since that first night when you¡­¡± He nced around, but they had privacy. ¡°rescued me, you¡¯ve shown me nothing butpassion. You have been incredible-¡±


    ¡°Then why-¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was probably because I didn¡¯t want to think about it. At all. I pushed it back into my mind and tried to forget. But I couldn¡¯t. It kept surfacing.¡±


    ¡°I have the name of a doctor who you can speak to,¡± Sigrid offered.


    He smiled at her and lifted her hand to his lips, gently pressing them to her knuckles. ¡°Thank you. When I could no longer bear to keep it inside, I spoke with Sandy. She¡¯s an excellent listener too. That took the edge off. I¡¯m sleeping better, for the most part. Granted, that might also be due to recent activities. I¡¯ve had the nightmare again, but its intensity greatly reduced. I¡¯m hopeful the worst of it is over. If you believe the doctor can help me make it go awaypletely, I¡¯d be willing to see them. Truthfully though, I do feel better.¡±


    She looked into his eyes, and he did seem calmer and well rested. However, she wanted him healthy in bodyandmind. ¡°I¡¯ll set up an appointment for you to talk with her.¡± He nodded.


    Their meals arrived, and they made small talk. Most of therger topics were off limits for discussing in public. None the less, they enjoyed themselves as Henry flirted with her to keep the smile on her face.


    Finally, she held up her hands. ¡°Ok, you have to stop. My cheek muscles are sore from grinning like a fool.¡±


    He grinned back at her then his expression changed to concern as her smile drained away quickly. He saw she was looking over his shoulder and turned to see what she saw. He understood why she stopped smiling.


    The Fae agent Ikehorn was approaching and right behind him was Queen Mab. The agent pulled a chair from a vacant table across from their table and positioned it for Queen Mab to sit facing them. Then he stood back, and the Queen sat with a smile on her perfect lips.


    Sigrid was watching her cautiously, but Henry was wobbling back and forth between being terrified and pissed off. ¡°Queen Mab, I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you¡­ any time soon, especially here in New York, and certainly not while I was on a date,¡± he blurted as his frustration won over his fear.


    She smiled at him. ¡°I do enjoy visiting this city from time to time. I¡¯ll be spending a month or two here. After receiving a rather disturbing report from Ikehorn, I felt it was in everyone¡¯s best interest that I address some points with you directly.¡±


    Henry wasn¡¯t surprised that she ignored his annoyance at the interruption, but hewassurprised that she hadn¡¯t punished him for it. He nced at Ikehorn and caught the displeasure in his expression. Then he took a closer look at the Fae. He looked very fit and vital! Younger too?


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve noticed Ikehorn¡¯s recent makeover. I understand he has you to thank for that. You¡¯ve been manipting the global healing spell for your personal use.¡±


    Sigrid shifted ufortably at Mab¡¯s speaking openly about magic, and the Queen turned her attention to the Valkyrie. ¡°Within my area of influence, we haveplete privacy including protection against all forms of Human electronic surveince.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware of manipting anything. That¡¯s not my thing,¡± Henry said honestly.


    Mab looked into his eyes and saw he was speaking the truth. She frowned. ¡°Aware or not you must not treat the spell as your personal first aid kit. Which brings me to my second point.¡± Her eyes turned to Sigrid, and there was a suppressed rage there that made the hairs on the back of Sigrid¡¯s neck stand at attention. ¡°Why is Henry being ced in dangerous situations which resulted in his need to be healed? I believe he indicated he just wanted to work onputers. That sounds like a safe and dull upation. No danger there,¡± Mab insisted.


    ¡°They told me to stay with the car. They didn¡¯t ce me in danger. I did¡­ to protect my friends,¡± Henry rushed to their defense. Mab turned her green-eyed stare on him, and beads of sweat popped up on his forehead.


    ¡°Do I need to remind you of your importance to the Fae? We need you alive and healthy. We don¡¯t needthemalive and healthy.¡± Mab said with a frosty rity.


    Ikehorn caught the motion of someone approaching and watched in surprise as they were able to ignore the aversionpulsion of the spell. Then he recognized Lise-Anne Hoek and Rand von Deussel from the Hidden Races Council. They stopped a distance away from the edge of the spell and waited to be acknowledged.


    Ikehorn leaned in and whispered to the Queen. She pursed her lips in frustration and turned her head to look to the two council members. She gestured for them to approach, willing the spell to give them ess.


    Once they were close, they gave her shallow bows. Lise-Anne appointed herself speaker for the two. ¡°Your majesty. We weren¡¯t expecting to meet you here tonight.¡± She nced over to Henry and saw his difort at the Queen¡¯s presence as well.

 116

    Mab just watched them, waiting for them to get to the point.


    ¡°We¡¯vee to speak with Mr. Gable in regards to some recent rming events we believe he might have influenced.¡±


    ¡°Aside from the rather suspicious fact that everyone seems to know where Henry is at all times, haven¡¯t you appointed awyer to VRL to keep an eye on him? Shouldn¡¯t you be addressing your questions through her?¡± Sigrid jumped in. ¡°Oh! I suppose I don¡¯t need to notify her we¡¯ve met with Queen Mab now that you¡¯re here too.¡±


    Lise-Anne gave her an angry scowl. ¡°There¡¯s been a rather dramatic development in Kansas. Containment is at risk. We believe the magic involved is the same magic coursing through Henry.¡±Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°You have proof of this and his involvement?¡± the Queen asked.


    The two nced at each other as theyhadno proof, yet. ¡°We believe Ra¡¯Anek was collecting pure samples from the pseudo-clouds when he went missing. They found his rental car abandoned in a location near one of their entry points.¡±


    Henry looked at them. ¡°And, I¡¯m responsible for these events how? I¡¯m not a wielder, and I¡¯ve never been to Kansas!¡±


    Rand gave him a frustrated scowl. ¡°We don¡¯t know how it¡¯s happening. We do know these things didn¡¯t begin happening until you became linked to the Fae¡¯s global spell.¡±


    Henry continued to look at the shorter man. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask to be linked to any spells. I don¡¯t want anything to do with magic. I just want to live a quiet life, working onputers. Dull, safe, mundaneputers.¡± He looked at Queen Mab as he said this and the corner of her lips curved up slightly.


    ¡°Indeed, Henry has kept up his part of the bargain. I believe your part was to remain hands off. Do you have Pixies following him? No more. Did you put conditions on his freedom? That ends tonight as well. Tonight¡¯s confrontation during his dinner date doesn¡¯t appear to be very hands-off either,¡± Mab said with more than a hint of steel in her tone.


    The two council members shared a look. Lise-Anne picked up the conversation for her frustrated colleague. ¡°This meeting wasn¡¯t meant to be confrontational. Merely an opportunity to share our concerns with Henry, and, as you are here, yourself. Our mission is nothing short of protecting the survival of the Hidden Races-¡±


    ¡°And you feel Henry is a threat to that?¡± Mab asked bluntly.


    There was a definite pause. ¡°We didn¡¯t say that,¡± Lise-Anne recovered.


    ¡°In the spirit of sharing concerns let me share something as well. As long as Henry¡¯s linked to the global spell keeping my people alive, he¡¯s protected by the Fae. Not one hair on his head is to be disturbed. He has indicated to me that he¡¯s ¡®not aware of manipting anything¡¯ and that¡¯s good enough for me. I suggest it¡¯s good enough for the Council as well,¡± Mab said. She turned her face away from them. Their audience was over.


    Lise-Anne bowed and Rand nodded stiffly, barely meeting the requirements for civility but the Queen graciously let it go. The councilors turned and left quietly. Mab watched them leave from the corner of her eye and only when they were beyond her influence did she turn her attention back to Henry.


    ¡°As wedoknow you manipted the spell, what circumstances led to you not being aware of it?¡± he said fixing her eyes on his.


    Henry looked nervously to Sigrid who was frowning as she thought about that.


    ¡°He was under the influence of some very strong painkillers. Deeply under,¡± Sigrid said as she looked to the Queen.


    ¡°Because he was ced in danger and became injured,¡± Queen Mab stated coldly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make extra effort to avoid activities that may lead to danger,¡± Henry offered, and Sigrid threw him a sharp look.


    Mab smiled. ¡°That¡¯s all I ask, Henry. Take care of yourself and stay in control of your mind,¡± she said sweetly.


    ¡°In control of my mind?¡± Henry mumbled.


    She nodded with a little smile on her lips. ¡°If drugs can cause you to interfere with the spell, then I suggest any form of intoxicant might have the same effect.¡±


    He looked at his half-empty wine ss.


    ¡°Moderation and vignce. You bear a great responsibility,¡± Mab nodded. She stood, and Henry automatically stood as well. She gave him a little smile and walked away. Ikehorn moved the chair back and nodded to Henry with a subtle but satisfied smile on his face as well as he moved to catch up to his Queen.


    Henry dropped himself into his chair, and a tremor went through his muscles. His eyes lifted to see Sigrid¡¯s worried look.


    ¡°She seriously messes with my nerves,¡± he mumbled to her.


    ¡°You need to be careful of what you agree to with her or any ¡®of her kind¡¯ for that matter,¡± Sigrid warned.


    He gave her a worried look. ¡°Did I sign away my soul?¡±


    She snorted and smiled at him. ¡°No, I think you¡¯re good on that front, so far.¡± She saw him rx a little. ¡°The smiles you saw on their faces as they left were because you¡¯d adopted a conciliatory attitude towards them. Friendly is fine but be on guard against giving anything away for free. They must pay for everything they want. They understand deals and bargains but will rob you blind if you show you¡¯re willing to give it away.¡±


    Henry sighed. ¡°Right. Something else to remember.¡± He took some calming breaths as he looked to Sigrid. He felt himself rxing and appreciated the beauty before him. His eyes took in her intricate hairstyle once more. ¡°You¡¯re so lovely.¡±


    ¡°Henry, would you mind if we skipped the dancing tonight? And dessert?¡± she asked.


    He blinked at her then caught on to her true intention. ¡°Oh! Sure!¡± He gged down the waitress who rushed over and apologized for herck of attention. Henry assured her it was fine and asked for the bill. The flustered woman rushed away and returned shortly. Henry paid after quietly choking at the price they charged for the wine.


    As they left the restaurant, they walked arm in arm and enjoyed the feeling of their bodies touching.


    ¡°Would you like toe back to my ce?¡± Henry asked.


    Sigrid smiled and gave him a little nod as she looked into his eyes.


    Henry was overwhelmed with how sweet she looked, so he stopped to face her. He leaned in and kissed her, and she made a needful little sound.


    She eagerly epted the caress of his lips on hers and sucked on his tongue when it slipped past her parted lips.


    They pulled back and rested their foreheads together.


    ¡°Henry! Your kiss is making my heart race!¡± she sighed.


    He lifted his hand and gged down a taxi. They hopped in, and he gave his address.


    Sigrid and Henry left space between them but held hands. Any more contact than that and the activities in the back seat could quickly be x-rated.


    After a painfully long drive, they were in front of his building, and he paid. They entered the building no longer touching as the proximity to their ultimate destination was making it harder to refrain from bolder touches.


    They managed to make it up to his floor and inside his door without touching. The lock snapped closed, and eyes met.


    Before she could speak, Henry dropped his mor and was pinning her to the wall with his naked body as he kissed her deeply. She moaned and grabbed his ass in her hands pulling him tighter against her.


    He felt a tremor rock through her body as he ground his pelvis against hers.


    He suddenly pulled back and bent down to throw her over his shoulder. She squeaked in surprise as he carried her to his bedroom, his arm wrapped around her legs.


    When he set her down on her feet next to his bed, he spun her and pulled the zipper down on her dress. She reached up and lifted the dress¡¯ halter cor over her head and let the dress pool at her feet.


    Henry knelt behind her and slipped her panties down her legs as she gasped. He turned her to face him and took her ass cheeks in his hands, giving them a firm squeeze as he stroked her pussy with his tongue.


    ¡°FUCK! HENRY!?!¡± she cried out as she grabbed his horns.


    He continued to knead her ass as he ran his tongue over her sensitive flesh,


    ¡°OH! FUCK! Henry, you¡¯re going to make me cum!¡±


    He kept up his teasing and sucking as she ground her pussy against his mouth with an almost bruising pressure.


    ¡°OH- THAT¡¯S IT! I¡¯M- I¡¯M CUMMING!!!!¡± she wailed as her legs shook. He had a good grip on her, so she was in no danger of falling, though her legs had turned to rubber.


    He eased her down onto his bed as she panted and trembled through her bliss. She wasn¡¯t a light woman, so Henry had to use all of the strength in his Satyr body to keep from dropping her. As she caught her breath, he slipped away to freshen up as she¡¯d sprayed him a little at the end. When he returned, she was stilling down and blinked at him. ¡°I¡¯ve never reached orgasm that way before,¡± she sighed with a gentle smile.


    He leaned forward to kiss her, and she pulled back a little with a nervous nce, so he gently blew on her face. She smiled when she scented the mint on his breath then her face flushed with embarrassment.


    ¡°I figured you might be a little squeamish about tasting yourself on my lips,¡± he said with a smile.


    She put her hands over her face and gave an embarrassed moan.


    He took her hands and moved them to the mattress and held them there as he moved his body over hers. She sucked in a breath as the hot tip of his cock brushed up against the wet lips of her pussy. That gasp turned into a moan of pleasure as he rubbed his hard shaft across her opening.


    She held his eyes as he looked into hers. When he tipped his hips back to drop the head of his cock down against her pussy her eyes red with need. He pushed forward and slowly, ever so slowly, his thickness forced its way deeper into her body.


    ¡°Oh, that feels so good!¡± she sighed.


    He eased back out and forward again to go a little deeper each time but maintained the slow pace as it felt so incredibly good. Henry knew he probably wouldn¡¯tst long if he elerated his thrusts.


    She grunted gently as his body finally rested against hers.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± he asked gently.


    ¡°Yesss¡­ it¡¯s wonderful!¡± she sighed as he shifted his weight on her body.


    He rolled his hips.


    ¡°FUCK! AH! Oh geez! I¡¯m a little sensitive!¡± she hissed.


    ¡°Do you want me to stop?¡± he asked.


    ¡°NO!¡± she yelped, causing them to both to chuckle.


    Henry began to make slow strokes, and Sigrid¡¯s hips began to do a roll of their own.


    ¡°Can I be on top?¡± she asked, and Henry recalled the time they¡¯d destroyed the bed in Cam¡¯s guest bedroom. He loved his bed, so he nodded quickly and pulled free, making her squeak.


    Sigrid pushed him down onto his back and swung her leg over his body. She positioned him against her and pushed to take him all the way to the base in one stroke.


    From that point on her need drove her. She lifted and dropped her body on Henry¡¯s pelvis faster and faster.


    He struggled to hold back as his orgasm was right there. He would hold off for the gorgeous Valkyrie.


    ¡°That¡¯s good¡­ I¡¯m right there!¡± she panted.

 117

    He reached up and took her heavy breasts in his hands and squeezed her nipples between his fingers. She threw her head back as her movements switched to a rapid rocking as she ground her clit against him. Her mouth was open, but she wasn¡¯t making any sounds. Henry could no longer hold back and felt his cum surge up inside her. He nced to his window blinds and was relieved to see they were closed because-


    Sigrid¡¯s wings snapped open, blindingly bright as she sighed and shook over his body. He released her breasts and pulled his arms over his eyes as he held them tightly closed. He grinned to himself. Sigrid was so refreshingly open and honestpared to Queen Mab and even Cam. He felt a little bad aboutparing Mab and Cam but understood the significant difference between those two women was their intent. Cam always considered Henry¡¯s happiness. Mab? She just wanted something in return. Always.


    He felt Sigrid gently pulling his arms away from his eyes and blinked up at her. Her wings were away, and she was smiling down at him.


    ¡°What¡¯s that smile for?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I was just thinking how nice it was to have such a visible sign that I¡¯ve pleased you,¡± he said cheekily.


    She gave him a fake look of outrage and gently pummeled his chest with her fists. Heughed and pulled her down to lie across his body. His lips found hers, and they enjoyed a sweet kiss.From N?velDrama.Org.


    Pulling back slightly, she smiled at him. ¡°Obviously, you pleased me very much.¡±


    ¡°Good! I was very pleased as well,¡± he said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Speaking of being pleased, I¡¯ve meant to ask you if you¡¯ve experienced that pheromone burst again, like the time in the subway.¡±


    ¡°No- wait.¡± He thought about that. ¡°I felt the start of it when I was squeezed in between you and Cam in the SUV this morning.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why you moved to the front seat.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°So what we did tonight didn¡¯t trigger it?¡± she asked curiously.


    He realized that was the case. ¡°Huh. It didn¡¯t.¡± He shrugged with a frustrated frown. ¡°It would be great to be able to speak with an expert on Satyr physiology. Other than Queen Mab, that is.¡±


    Sigrid eased off of Henry to lie on her side beside him, leaning her head against her palm so she could see his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we can¡¯t be more help with that,¡± Sigrid sighed.


    He snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t expect you guys to have all the answers! You¡¯ve been so amazing helping me through all the changes so far! The heat, I guess it¡¯s just something Satyr¡¯s experience once they mature to a certain age. I think I¡¯m just a little dyed because Baba kept me as a human for most of the time. I¡¯ll learn how to control it.¡±


    Sigrid looked impressed and nodded to him.


    ¡°So¡­ do you want to stay tonight?¡± he asked.


    She smiled at him. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll take a rain check on breakfast. I have some errands I need to run tomorrow morning which will be easier if I get an early start from my ce.¡± She leaned in and gave him another kiss.


    ¡°Ok, rain check,¡± he purred when she pulled back.


    Sigrid stood and gathered her clothes, taking them into the washroom.


    Henry stood and switched to his human mor. He tugged on a robe and was waiting for her when she came back out.


    ¡°Thank you for a delightful evening,¡± she said with a happy smile.


    ¡°I had an amazing time too. But next time, let¡¯s not invite Mab and the Council members,¡± he quipped.


    ¡°Sounds like a n!¡± she agreed with a smile.


    He kissed her, and after a moment she patted his chest as she pulled back.


    ¡°Mmmm! See you on Monday! Have a good weekend!¡± she purred with joy glowing in her eyes.


    ¡°You too!¡±


    She opened his door, and he watched her walking away. Damn, he could watch that all night. He waited until she got into the elevator with a smile and a wave.


    As the elevator door closed, Michelle stepped out of her apartment with a nce in both directions. She spotted Henry, and he caught a look of concern crossing her face.


    ¡°Good evening, Michelle. Everything ok?¡±


    ¡°Good evening, Henry. Could- could I speak with you for a moment?¡±


    He blinked at her and nodded. She locked her door and quickly walked to his and went inside as he stepped aside.


    He locked up and followed her to the living room.


    ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to talk to you about Council business, but it¡¯s been bothering me,¡± she said with a trembling voice.


    Henry had some idea what they might have said due to their visit at dinner. He¡¯d let Michelle off the hook. ¡°They think I have something to do with weird stuff happening in the world because of my link with the Fae¡¯s spell.¡±


    Michelle stared at him with wide, nervous eyes.


    ¡°They confronted me about it while I was out on a date with a friend tonight,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Oh! And?¡±


    ¡°Queen Mab crashed the date first, so she told them to back off.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to tell her that Mab thought he might be messing with the healing spell when he was inebriated.


    ¡°Queen Mab!?! She¡¯s still following you?¡± Michelle squeaked nervously.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯sin townand thought it might be a good idea to drop by and tell me to take care not to injure myself because of how important I was to their global healing spell.¡± He sighed. ¡°I get the feeling she¡¯s not the type to give up.¡± He saw Michelle was feeling better. She¡¯d stopped herpulsive hand-wringing. She had such lovely hands that it was almost painful to see them moving in distress. ¡°You can go to work with a clear conscience and rest easy,¡± he told her with a gentle smile on his lips.


    A surprised and relieved smile popped onto her face, and spontaneously she pulled him into a hug. Once he got past his surprise, he wrapped his arms around her as well.


    She immediately pushed him back, so he released her and looked at her startled expression.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± she blurted, her face turning pink.


    ¡°Hey, no problem! No harm in a hug,¡± he grinned.


    She shed him a pretty smile then hesitantly moved to the front door. ¡°I- I should get to work.¡±


    He followed her and opened the door for her. ¡°Thanks for thinking of me,¡± he said sincerely.


    She paused, eyes watching his mouth, then she rushed off to the elevators with a quick wave.


    Henry stepped inside and locked up as he shook his head with a smile. It was truly nice to have so many people looking out for him.


    He was really d tomorrow was Saturday. He¡¯d promised himself that he was going to take the weekend off. No work.


    He had to make some new lifestyle choices as free time gave him more opportunities to have a social life. He was only now realizing how much his life was missing this.


    What was that phrase? All work and no y makes Henry a dull boy.


    While a dull life had appealpared to what he¡¯d been through, Henry had no desire to be a dull boy.


    After the fight in the alley, Mary had gone home to shower and change into clothes that weren¡¯t destroyed. Then she rode her motorcycle north until she was riding along small country roads, sticking to the paved ones. She stuck to the speed limits while she rode as it was her mind that was racing.


    She let her thoughts run in circles. It always came back to the same two things.


    VRL and Henry Gable. They were at the center of all the weird shit that had happened to her recently.


    She remembered finding the two ttened bullets the morning after her night with Henry. She now realized Jeff had tried to shoot her. Somehow, she was bulletproof? That would be useful for a cop if they let her go back to work. From the hints she¡¯d received from friends on the inside, the brass was leaning in the other direction. The stink of corruption from her precinct was sticking to all the officers, guilty or not.


    Knowing Jeff had tried to kill her cleared away thest doubts she had about him. He¡¯d expected the bullet to pass through her to kill Henry too. No wonder Henry had looked so terrified that morning.


    Her gut was standing by its assessment of Henry, but hedidhave answers to her questions. She would get them.


    Foremost in her mind though, was the fact that she¡¯d killed a woman. But she hadn¡¯t been a woman when Mary killed her, right? Mary was probably going to have to turn herself in for that. She couldn¡¯t see her future beyond that action.


    She¡¯d stayed overnight in a small roadside motel and went for breakfast in the connected diner this morning. She was only going through the motions as eating food didn¡¯t seem so important anymore. Above and behind the counter, she saw the newscast on the TV mounted there. A reporter was talking about the police finding the missing body of the second half of themob kid kidnap crew. Oletha Thanemark¡¯s aplice, Chantelle Gauthier, had been found. Her body had washed up on the shore next to a golf course off Upper Bay, a short distance from the marina.


    Mary almost dropped her coffee mug when they disyed a photo of Chantelle. It was the woman she¡¯d killed! She sat staring at the set wondering what the hell was going on! She knew where the woman died. She knew who¡¯d been there at the time. The body was moved! As she watched the full story, she began to wonder if any of it was true. How wide did this conspiracy go? She looked around the restaurant, but no one paid any attention to her.

 118

    She needed answers and needed to talk to someone. In her mind, she saw that detective on her street yelling something about VRL to the big redhead. Maybe Detective- Harmon? Yes, maybe he had some answers.


    She paid for her breakfast and headed outside. She had a long drive ahead to get back to the city. She had a detective to interrogate.


    Then she¡¯d hunt down Henry.


    -=-


    Rand fumed as he paced back and forth in Lise-Anne¡¯s office.


    After their meeting with Henry and surprise guest Queen Mabst night, the two councilors had gone their separate ways. Lise-Anne returned to headquarters to track thetest developments, and Rand caught a flight to Kansas and did some recon. He¡¯d met up with his Central States counterpart, but they¡¯d been unable to get close to the town due to an extraordinary amount of paranoid military security. Even with their no-see-um spells active there was no real opportunity to see the townspeople directly.


    They did manage to find two drunk soldiers and heard onein about guarding ¡®marbles¡¯ before his less drunkpanion shut him up.


    Rand flew back to New York and came directly to their office to let the Minister of Security know they weren¡¯t going to be able to contain the scene unless they brought in serious firepower. Lise-Anne was not pleased with his report.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to bring this to the attention of the Hidden Races Congress,¡± she griped.


    ¡°That¡¯s just going to slow the decision-making process!¡± Rand growled.


    Lise-Anne scowled at him. ¡°I know!¡±


    ¡°We yed our hand against the Satyr too early!¡± Rand continued.


    She stared at him. ¡°Are you just going to bark the obvious at me?¡±


    Rand scowled and sat on the couch with a grumble.


    She leaned back against her desk and slowly rocked her head from side to side to release the tension in her sore neck muscles. ¡°I¡¯ve recalled the watchers,¡± she sighed.


    ¡°You know she has the Fae watching him-¡±


    ¡°YES, I¡¯M AWARE!¡± she yelled, and he looked at her sourly. She sighed. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s been a long night. We got word that the event in China is unsettling the region. Civil disobedience is way up. Even with a military lockdown by the government the locals are insisting they be allowed to visitthe ss man.¡±


    Rand stared at Lise-Anne. His mind was racing ahead. ¡°Do you have a description of this ss man?¡±


    The woman watched him carefully. ¡°Our agent said he was transparent, translucent, and colorful like-¡±


    ¡°Marbles,¡± Rand finished. Her eyebrows went up.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    He shook his head. ¡°What if what happened in China was the same thing that happened in Kansas? Only here, it happened on a muchrger scale.¡±


    ¡°They turned to ss?¡± she said incredulously.


    Rand held her gaze. ¡°We overheard one soldier mentionguarding marbles, but I didn¡¯t connect it. The ss man in China. Is it a statue?¡±


    ¡°No, it moves. Not quickly but it does move independently,¡± Lise-Anne answered.


    ¡°So maybe we assume the people in that small Kansas town were changed into ss as well. What will the Humans do? They won¡¯t think it¡¯s magic as they have no frame of reference. Instead, I think they¡¯ll try to contain and study them. Force a science framework around it. What I don¡¯t know is if these new beings will try to escape.¡±


    Lise-Anne nodded thoughtfully. ¡°It¡¯s in our best interests to support the Army¡¯s efforts. Keep this under wraps. That¡¯s going to be my rmendation for the Council. We¡¯ll bring that to the Congress.¡± Rand nodded.


    The two sat quietly contemting their next moves. Rand was going over what was said in the restaurant the night before. He frowned with a grunt.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Satyr. Mab was lying.¡±


    Lise-Anne lifted her eyes to look at him. She could see he wasn¡¯t just letting his frustration drive him. She sighed and nodded as her suspicions were pointing to the same conclusion. ¡°So, what can we do about it?¡±


    ¡°What we can¡¯t do is stop the surveince on him. Just make sure they¡¯re aware that the Fae will be watching for them as well,¡± Rand suggested.


    She also thought they had to continue watching him, so she nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll let them know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably a long shot but if they catch the Satyr causing the anomalies we can deal with the Fae from a position of strength.¡± Rand frowned. ¡°We¡¯ll also need a contingency n for containment in ce should the threat escte dramatically. Easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission.¡± He held Lise-Anne¡¯s eyes as he couldn¡¯t risk saying the words out loud, even in the security and privacy of her office. Such words, released to the ether could manifest some powerful and lingering causalities on their own.


    ¡°Short of a final solution which none of us could afford, the best we can ask for is to contain and disable the threat permanently. Fire and forget?¡± she suggested quietly.


    He considered that. ¡°Conditional.¡±


    ¡°Term?¡±


    ¡°With the current time frame for the events, no more than three months.¡±


    It was Lise-Anne¡¯s turn to be surprised. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Three months,¡± he said firmly. ¡°Tracking the trend, I¡¯d be surprised if the contingency didn¡¯t activate earlier than that.¡± He took a deep breath as he preferred a face to face confrontation personally. ¡°You have someone in mind?¡±


    Lise-Anne nodded with a sly smile, and he held up his hand. Fire and forget. Better if he didn¡¯t know the name of the weapon they were about tounch.


    They settled in to work out the trigger conditions.


    This is where the finesse was required. Lise-Anne was far better suited for this work, but Rand¡¯s hands were going to be just as dirty.


    -=-


    Finding Detective Harmon wasn¡¯t too hard. Mary just went to the bar closest to his precinct. This time of night it was pretty empty, and the few people inside were too far gone to pay attention to anyone else. The bartender barely nced in her direction since she wasn¡¯t walking up to the bar.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    She found Harmon, alone in a booth at the back, nursing a tumbler of scotch. She could tell he¡¯d had a few. She stood next to his table, and bloodshot eyes lifted to look into hers. Something was torturing the man. She wondered how much longer he¡¯d be able to endure it.


    He examined her for a moment then lights came on in his eyes. ¡°You were at the crime scene yesterday.¡±


    She smiled gently as this proved his observational skills were still intact at least. ¡°Mary Carsten. I live a few doors down from the home of the deceased.¡±


    ¡°You talk like a cop.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Currently suspended.¡±


    He looked back to his drink. ¡°So, suspended Officer Carsten, why are you here interrupting me getting my drunk on?¡±


    She slid into the other side of his booth, and he looked at her in surprise. ¡°I overheard you at the scene speaking with the big redhead from VRL,¡± she said and watched him twitch. His eyes locked on hers with a re.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing to say about that or them!¡± he growled menacingly.


    ¡°Just listen then. Recently I was involved with the subway gas attack case. I was on the scene and collected a potential suspect. I was to transport him to the station-house, but I¡¯d been affected by the gas too. Instead, I took him to my ce where we had sex.¡± Harmon was looking more embarrassed than angry now. ¡°The gas wore off, and I felt incredibly guilty and embarrassed. The suspect introduced himself to me as Henry Gable.¡± She watched the detective, but he made no signs of recognition at the name which made her feel a little better.


    ¡°I must have passed out from the gas as my next memory was waking up the next morning with my ex in the bedroom pointing his gun at us. I told him off, and he shot himself in the head. I sent Henry home because¡­ I wasn¡¯t thinking straight at the time. Cops from my precinct arrived, and a bunch of them said I did it. The coroner confirmed it was suicide, but the Captain wouldn¡¯t ept that. They brought Henry in for interrogation. The Officer who brought him was a buddy of my ex and attacked me. We all ended up in cells. Henry¡¯swyer got him out in the morning. Thewyer brought Internal Affairs with them, and the station house restructured. All new chain ofmand. A number of us got suspended pending review. I found outter that thewyer worked for VRL as did Henry. He¡¯s their CIO though he seems a little young for the position.¡±


    She stopped to look at the detective whose hands were trembling visibly. He wasn¡¯t telling her to stop, so she pressed on. It seemed a smart move to omit the changes she¡¯d undergone. There was no way she could exin it even to herself.


    ¡°Then you show up on my street for that murder scene. VRL shows up too. I decided to follow the redhead-¡± Harmon jerked slightly. ¡°¡­ back to Manhattan to a neighborhood of brownstones. I was about to follow him when I hear a scream down an alley. I investigate and see a van bouncing around. In the back was a guy all tied up and something fucking monstrous-¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Harmon yelled and mmed his palm on the table. His eyes were wild with fright, and he slid out of the booth to stand up quickly. He jabbed a finger at her. ¡°NO!¡± Spittle dripped from his lips unnoticed.


    She stared at him in shock as he hustled out of the bar, knocking a few chairs over in his haste. There was no sign of the bartender, and the other customers had passed out. She slid out and ran after the detective. She spotted his retreating back up the sidewalk and called out to him. He nced over his shoulder and walked faster. When she started to follow, he sent a panicked look at her and started to run.


    He never saw the bus that hit him.


    Mary froze in shock. One second he was there and the next he was gone. Her legs automatically turned her around and walked her away at a normal pace. From the impact, she knew the detective was dead. She couldn¡¯t be involved in this, or her career as a cop was over. While she was horrified by what happened, she hadn¡¯t pushed him in front of that bus which had raced for the light. Out of service, the driver was tantly speeding to get back to the depot.


    The streets were empty, so she made it back to her motorcycle without being seen. As she rode home, questions circled in her mind. What had Harmon experienced that affected him so badly? What was VRL¡¯s involvement? His hands shook when she mentioned the CIO, but he didn¡¯t recognize Henry¡¯s name. What did that mean?


    She had too many questions.


    Henry was going to answer them.

 119

    Saturday morning, Henry sent Sandy a text and asked if she had ns for the night. She excitedly texted back that they should go out for dinner then go dancing. She said the whole gang would be avable and they¡¯d pick a fun club. He realized he had to try dancing at least once, so he agreed to the n and received several celebratory emoticons from Sandy via text. He assumed that was a good thing.


    The next problem was, looking in his closet, Henry realized he had nothing nice enough for clubbing. He remembered how Nate dressed for going out when he first met him in the drug store, and Henry had nothing like that. He wasn¡¯t ready to attempt it with his mor, so he headed over to Manhattan to shop for clothes. While he managed to find a few outfits in thest store he tried, he determined that shopping for clothes was one of his least favorite activities.


    This made him feel a little grateful to know that one day he¡¯d be able to integrate any outfit into his mor. For now, though, he was a long way off from being able to do that. He still didn¡¯t understand how his mor worked to allow human clothes on his Satyr body, but he pushed the contrary thoughts to the back of his mind and tried to ept it. He¡¯d just have to refrain from switching back to his true form while dressed in his new, real, clothes.


    He went down to Sandy¡¯s at 7:30 PM and Tish opened the door when he knocked. He was captivated by her as she wasn¡¯t sporting her usual ponytail but was letting her long, ebony hair flow over her shoulders and midway down her back. She also had a modest amount of makeup on and was wearing a very ttering, and tight, dark blue dress that disyed her long, toned legs as it clung to her fit body.


    ¡°Good evening, Henry!¡± she said with a happy smile.


    ¡°Good evening, Tish! You look incredibly lovely!¡± he finished awkwardly, but her smile just widened in delight.


    ¡°Come in! We¡¯re just waiting on Roger,¡± she said sweetly.


    Once inside, she took his arm and walked him into the living room. His eyes widened when he saw Dayshia in a tight, glittery gold dress that disyed her ample cleavage for maximum effect. The contrast of the bright dress against her dark skin was eye-catching. From her satisfied smile, he realized that was her intent. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m beginning to feel underdressed. You look amazing, Dayshia!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Henry. You look very handsome in your outfit,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Delicious!¡± Tish agreed with a mischievous grin. He nced at her with a nervous smile which just fueled her enjoyment.


    Just then, Sandy walked out of the bedroom door adding some dangly, glittery earrings. Her hair glowed like spun gold and flowed down over her shoulders which were visible in her off the shoulder red dress. Like the others, her dress clung to the curves of her body. Unlike the others, hers stopped just above the knees, not at mid-thigh.


    ¡°Wow!¡± was all Henry could manage.


    ¡°Thank you! You look great! I love the bold print of that shirt!¡± Sandy gushed with a happy smile.


    ¡°Now I know I¡¯m underdressed,¡± Henry sighed as he took in the three gorgeous women in their party dresses.


    ¡°Nonsense! You¡¯re dressed perfectly for going dancing!¡± Sandy insisted, and Dayshia nodded in agreement. Tish looked like she was undressing him with her eyes and he felt a stirring down below.


    ¡°The saleswoman said thisbination was perfect for going dancing, but she said that about every outfit she brought me. After a while, it just started to sound like she wasn¡¯t serious,¡± he said with a frown.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Did a little shopping today, did you?¡± Dayshia asked with a smile.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think T-shirts would be appropriate for this evening.¡±


    ¡°Got that right!¡± Dayshia nodded.


    There was a very loud knock on the door, and Henry jumped, ncing back over his shoulder.


    ¡°That¡¯s just Roger,¡± Tish said rolling her eyes as she went to the door to let him in.


    Henry smiled at Sandy as they waited.


    ¡°I¡¯m here! The party can begin!¡± Roger loudly announced as he barged into the living room.


    Henry smiled at him as the man ran his eyes up and down his new outfit.


    ¡°Damn! I have that same outfit at home, and now it¡¯s gonna look like shit on me!¡± Rogerined with a frown.


    Henry¡¯s face fell, but Tish came to his rescue.


    ¡°Man up, Roger!¡±


    ¡°Bite me, beanpole!¡±


    ¡°You mean damn sexy beanpole, twerp!¡±


    ¡°Are we going to trade insults or are we going out to dinner?¡± Sandy asked, staring at Roger. The man threw his hands in the air in surrender.


    Sandy had called for a couple of taxis, so they all went downstairs. Roger tugged Henry to join him in the second car. Thedies pouted, and Sandy pointed to her eyes then to Roger¡¯s to warn him to behave.


    Roger gave the driver an address in Manhattan, and they were on their way. Then he turned to look at Henry.


    ¡°Henry¡­ may I call you Henry?¡± Roger started.


    Henry smiled at him. ¡°Sure. It¡¯s my name so feel free.¡±


    ¡°What are your intentions towards Sandy?¡± the man asked bluntly.


    Henry couldn¡¯t stop the snort of amusement. Then he saw Roger was waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re serious?!?¡± Henry said in surprise, but Roger said nothing.


    Henry thought about it for a moment. ¡°I want to be friends with Sandy. I¡¯ve mentioned that I didn¡¯t have friends growing up, so this is truly special to me.¡±


    ¡°What if she wants more than friendship? What if she¡¯s envisioning a white picket fence around a charming little bungalow in the suburbs with 2. 1 children ying in the yard?¡± Roger pushed.


    Henry¡¯s smiled sadly at Roger. ¡°That sounds really nice, but I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s going to happen for me, children especially. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ll be able to have them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think she deserves to know that?!?¡± Roger eximed testily.


    Henry blinked at the man who seemed genuinely upset. ¡°Uh, she hasn¡¯t even asked me to be her boyfriend! Why would that havee up in conversation? If it ever does, I certainly won¡¯t lie to her. I¡¯d never intentionally hurt Sandy. Or Dayshia or Tish. You¡¯re not worried about them too?¡±


    Roger looked defensive. ¡°Sandy¡¯s an innocent. The others need no protection.¡±


    Henry smiled. ¡°And you¡¯re her big brother?¡±


    The man said nothing but his defensive look was still firmly in ce.


    ¡°I can only give you my assurances I¡¯ll do my absolute best not to hurt her, but they¡¯re just words. I¡¯ll let my actions speak for me,¡± Henry said with a gentle smile.


    Roger took a deep breath as he held Henry¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll be watching.¡± Henry nodded, and Roger continued. ¡°I¡¯m still upset you look better in that shirt than me.¡±


    Henry chuckled and shrugged. Roger looked away, but Henry thought he caught a little smile at the corner of the man¡¯s mouth.


    They rode on in silence and when they arrived Roger looked at him. ¡°Pay the man.¡± With that, he hopped out of the cab. Henry dug his wallet out and paid the fare before joining the group on the sidewalk.


    ¡°You cheapskate!¡±


    Henry looked at Tish in surprise as she punched Roger¡¯s arm.


    ¡°OW!¡± the tall man yelped as he stepped away from the angry woman.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Henry asked.


    Tish looked at him. ¡°Your first time out with us and he made you pay for the taxi, didn¡¯t he!¡±


    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s ok,¡± Henry mumbled looking to Roger.


    ¡°See! He doesn¡¯t mind! Besides, he¡¯s loadedpared to me!¡± Roger asserted.


    ¡°He¡¯s a lot of good thingspared to you!¡± Dayshia growled as she held the intern¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we put this aside and go inside for dinner?¡± Henry suggested with a hopeful smile.


    Sandy looped her arm around Henry¡¯s and lifted her nose to Roger. ¡°Someone knows how to behave like a gentleman.¡± She moved forward, and Henry had no choice but to go with her. Dayshia and Tish followed, leaving Roger to catch up.


    When they got inside Henry looked around with interest as the decor was very modern, yet intimate. The subdued lighting gave privacy to the numerous round booths in various sizes. The owners designed the ce for groups of 4 to 6. Anyrger and the tables became toorge to be functional or to hear across. Plush leather bench seats ringed the tables. Decorating the restaurant and adding mood lighting were a multitude of brilliantly colored ss sculptures in interesting shapes, all lit from underneath to make them glow.


    Once they settled into their booth, Henry looked to the others. ¡°Have you eaten here before?¡±


    They shook their heads and Tish, seated to his left, patted his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve read some very good reviews.¡±


    The waiter arrived and asked for their drink orders.


    ¡°Long Ind ice tea?¡± Tish asked looking at Henry with a wicked smile.


    ¡°No, not this time. I promised myself I would refrain from drinking,¡± he insisted earnestly. ¡°When we go to the dance club I¡¯ll order one just to calm my nerves about making a fool of myself dancing,¡± he exined.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine!¡± Tish said with a happy smile.


    He ordered water with lemon and the others chose their favorite mixed drinks.


    Henry decided he would eat light as dancing on a nervous stomach would be difficult enough without feeling bloated too. The stir-fry bowls sounded yummy, so he ordered one when the waiter returned to collect their orders. Sandy and Tish followed in his footsteps and ordered the same.


    Once they were alone, Roger immediately leapt into histest conspiracy tale. He told them the Chinese government was holding everyone in a remote vige hostage to protect the secret that they had an alien cornered on a mountaintop nearby.

 120

    ¡°Where the hell do you hear these stories?¡± Dayshia eximed.


    ¡°It¡¯s on the dark web. That¡¯s not all the weird stuff that¡¯s going on,¡± Roger insisted.


    ¡°None of these stories can be verified. It¡¯s just wild fantasy! You¡¯re talking about a vige in rural China. Who¡¯s going to get a news crew to that location to validate the story?¡± Dayshia challenged him.


    ¡°Fine, that location might be a little difficult to get to but what about that small town in Kansas the US military has mysteriously quarantined? Poison gas? Radioactivity? I call bullshit, and I¡¯m not the only one!¡± Roger insisted.


    ¡°So what, you¡¯d have someone break into the town based on what? The suspicion that the danger isn¡¯t real? Why would they go to this much effort if there was no threat to life or our society?¡± Tish asked.


    Roger gaped at her. ¡°You would be ok with someone hiding the truth of extraterrestrial life from you?¡±


    Henry was enjoying the spirited back and forth. He decided to join in. ¡°Here¡¯s a question for you Roger. What do you think would happen to society if we suddenly received absolute proof of life out there? We¡¯ve barely evolved past our poop throwing monkey origins. Would it be fair to say there would be an upheaval of the established order?¡±


    Roger grinned. ¡°I certainly hope so!¡±


    ¡°And there you have it. Roger is an anarchist,¡± Tish sighed. The man shrugged.


    ¡°You understand there is a better than even chance that the initial response to that news will be intensely negative and reactionary,¡± Henry suggested.


    Roger nodded. ¡°Society needs a reboot.¡±


    Henry leaned back and pondered the serious expression on Roger¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t doubt that Roger believed it, even weed it. ncing at Sandy, he wondered if Roger understood how much this contradicted his previous protective statements for the woman.


    ¡°This is why no one votes for you to head up anything at work,¡± Dayshia sighed.


    Tish chuckled at Roger¡¯s annoyed look.


    ¡°Did anyone else see the northern lights over the city?¡± Sandy asked excitedly.


    ¡°Careful, Roger will im the Northern Lights are camouge for UFO¡¯s!¡± Tish teased.


    They slipped into an easy banter, and Henry just enjoyed listening to the flow. He offered a word or two when prompted, but mostly he just listened.


    These were his friends. He soaked in their happiness and how they included him. Well, thedies did at least. He still got the impression that Roger was still holding him at arm¡¯s length.


    Sandy, Tish, and Dayshia were feeling veryfortable with him now, and there was a lot of casual and affectionate touching which Henry had never really experienced before. He was seriously bing enthralled by the three beauties, and their smiles showed they could tell.


    Dinner was delicious, and Henry agreed with Tish that the reviews were spot on and this was absolutely a new favorite.


    The dance club was many blocks away so it would be another round of cabs. Tish insisted this time Henry would go with her and Roger would share one with the others.


    Sandy gged down a taxi, jumped in with Dayshia and Roger, and they were off.


    It took a few more minutes before Tish managed to g another empty taxi down. She squeezed in next to Henry even though there was plenty of room in the back seat. He looked at her curiously, and she smiled happily as she took his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m so looking forward to dancing with you! I was thrilled to hear from Sandy that you were going to join us tonight,¡± she said and bit her lip.


    The sight of her lip caught between her white teeth trapped his eyes, and he felt himself drawn towards her.


    Suddenly Henry felt his bnce shift as the car veer to the right. He mmed up against the window, clocking his head against the ss.


    ¡°Ow! What the hell!?!¡± Henry growled at the driver as he rubbed his temple while looking around to see what they¡¯d swung around so dramatically.


    The driver nced in the mirror curiously. Incredulous at his callous attitude, Henry looked to Trish to see how she was. He was surprised to see her looking just a little upset.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t want to kiss me you could have just said so,¡± she said quietly.


    ¡°What? Of course, I want to kiss you, but the taxi just veered into the nextne!¡± he said equally quiet.


    She looked at him cautiously. ¡°The taxi didn¡¯t change course, at all. We¡¯ve been moving straightforward for a few minutes.¡±


    He blinked at her. ¡°But I felt a distinct vector change. I felt the gee¡¯s tug me to the left. I think I even heard you call out for help the moment it happened.¡±


    Now she looked worried. She pulled his face close and looked at his pupils. She used her cell phone shlight to test his pupil dtion and saw no signs of a concussion. Finally, she sat back and shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything. You were leaning in for a kiss, and then you pulled away sharply and banged your head on the window.¡±


    He saw she was still upset and he had no way to exin his distinct recollection of being pulled to the left and the cry for help. He sighed internally. Another freaking mystery. However, he could deal with one issue right now.


    He put a serious expression on his face. ¡°There¡¯s only one way to see what happened. Re-enactment.¡±


    Tish¡¯s lips curved up slightly at his studious look.


    ¡°I believe you were there, you were biting your lip-¡± She did it again, and a thrill shot through him. This time his lips found hers, and they were kissing passionately.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    Henry pulled back to blink at the driver. ¡°Oh, right.¡± He paid the driver as Tish was still recovering.


    He reached around her and opened her door. He helped her out of the taxi, and the cooler air finally got through to Tish¡¯s dazzled mind. ¡°Wait, I was supposed to pay for the taxi!¡±


    ¡°You cheapskate!¡± Roger barked as he appeared next to them on the sidewalk. He aimed a punch at Tish¡¯s arm, but Henry caught Roger¡¯s fist in his palm. It was a gentle enough punch, but Henry couldn¡¯t let anyone hurt Tish. He shook his head at Roger who pouted at him.


    ¡°Hey! There¡¯s a big difference between my momentary forgetfulness and your deliberate action,¡± Tish barked as she red at Roger.


    ¡°What distracted you from your arrival here?¡± Dayshia said knowingly with a big grin on her face.


    Tish was wearing a smudge proof lipstick so she just grinned and looped her arms through Sandy¡¯s and Dayshia¡¯s as she moved towards the line for the club. Henry and Roger followed.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I thought you said you weren¡¯t going to hurt Sandy?¡± Roger whispered to Henry.


    ¡°Does she look hurt to you?¡± Henry whispered back as he gestured to the smiling woman. ¡°I told you, she hasn¡¯t asked to be exclusive.¡±


    They had to wait in line for some time as it slowly inched forward. Henry was beginning to wonder if this was the dance club experience. They spent the time people watching and a lot more casual touching. Henry was in heaven!


    Eventually, they reached the front of the line, and the door man let their group inside. Roger and Henry had to pay a door charge, but thedies got in for free.


    Dayshia immediately pulled them all out onto the dance floor. Henry squeaked nervously as he hadn¡¯t fortified his courage with alcohol first.


    He did his best to rx and flow with the music, but he was overly conscious of the position of his feet and his arms. After the second number, Roger took pity on him and dragged him to the bar.


    ¡°We need you to get some happy juice in you so you can rx!¡± Roger said into his ear. The bar area was very busy, so Roger took Henry¡¯s order, a simple rum, and coke, and waded into the crowd. When he returned with drinks in hand, he didn¡¯t let Henry pay for his. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have stiffed you in the taxi. It¡¯s my treat.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Henry said. He took a sip and reeled back a little. ¡°Wow! That¡¯s strong!¡±


    Roger shook his head. ¡°They use a strongly vored Rum.¡± He saw thedies waving at them toe back to the floor. ¡°Bottoms up, thedies are waiting!¡± Roger bellowed and tossed back his drink.


    Henry gaped at the man then looked to see Sandy beckoning. He tossed his drink back and went into a coughing fit. That was awful Rum!


    Roger grinned at him as he¡¯d ordered him a double then threw in a shot he¡¯d bought separately. He almost giggled, knowing how hard this was going to hit Henry. One drink? Pussy.


    They rejoined thedies and picked up where they left off, and after only a couple of songs, Henry began to feel morefortable shaking his ass to the music. He turned and shook his ass at Sandy, and thedies hooted and cheered. He felt some groping as well, but it didn¡¯t bother him too much. Roger seemed to be having a good time as well.


    Tish, Dayshia, and Roger went in search of a table while Sandy continued to dance with Henry. He was very rxed by this point. The number slowed down, and he felt Sandy¡¯s body press up against his. There was the asional bump from strangers on the crowded dance floor.


    He smiled at Sandy then her lips were on his, and he went with it. She slid her tongue into his mouth, and he chased it with his. He slid his hands down to her ass and squeezed her cheeks making her moan into his mouth.


    He felt so good! Warm and tingly. The other dancers were still rubbing against them unintentionally. Without warning, heat rushed down his neck and sides, continuing out through his limbs. Sandy moaned and kissed him deeper which just fueled his heat. He lifted her up against his chest as she ground her pelvis against his.


    The heat surged through him again, and Sandy¡¯s silky hair engulfed his head.


    Someone crashed into Henry¡¯s back, and he stumbled forward only to trip over the bodies of a couple writhing in ecstasy on the floor. He somehow kept his footing as Sandy clung to his chest. Her legs wrapped around his hips. She was running her tongue along his neck, and that felt too good.


    ¡°HHNNRRYY!¡±


    He turned and spotted Roger also on his feet amongst the writhing bodies. The man was holding a wet bar towel over his mouth and nose and gesturing frantically for Henry to follow him as he scrambled away, carefully avoiding the bodies.


    Henry wanted to lie down with Sandy and make love to her until she screamed enough! Instead, he forced himself to carry her over the orgy, down a corridor to a backdoor where police were grabbing people as they left and passed them back.


    Henry was still burning up and the hands grabbing him started to travel over his body. In a moment of rity, he suddenly knew he had to get away. His face was stillrgely covered by Sandy¡¯s soft hair, and the alley was dark and chaotic, so there was a chance.


    Sandy was rocking and trembling through a release caused by the grinding and jostling as he carried her out. She panted against his neck sending shivers up his spine.


    He saw Roger hacking and coughing against the far wall with a wide-eyed Tish and Dayshia by his side.


    ¡°Roger!¡± he croaked.

 121

    A fight suddenly broke out in the crowd behind Henry as passions red erratically and chaos exploded in the narrow alley.


    Roger reached forward to take Sandy when Henry pulled her from his chest. The crowd behind him crashed into his back. Hands grabbed him and pulled him into the mass as he watched his friends staring at him in dismay. A fist struck his cheekbone, and he heard Dayshia scream, then he was lost in a sea of jostling, groping, and pushing bodies. Strong hands grabbed his arms from behind and dragged him bodily through the chaos into the deeper shadows.


    He heard a gate open and close then he was ced back on his feet. He found himself walking unsteadily along a sidewalk; his arm held only to provide support. He looked at his guide and saw Ikehorn ring up at him.


    ¡°You need to suppress your pheromones!¡± the Fae growled.


    ¡°How?¡± he slurred.


    The Fae stopped to stare at him. ¡°Are you drunk?¡± he asked incredulously.


    Henry rocked on his feet as he tried to focus on Ikehorn¡¯s face. ¡°Shit! I only had one-¡± Light dawned slowly. ¡°Bastard spiked my drink.¡±


    Ikehorn wanted to beat the drunk senseless, but his Queen had ns for him. He sighed.


    ¡°Contain it. Pull it in andpress it down until you can lock it away,¡± the Fae said slowly as he looked into Henry¡¯s ssy eyes.


    Henry felt the heat radiating from his core out to the ends of his fingers, toes, and other parts. It made him feel like a balloon.


    Contain it. Ok.


    Closing his eyes, he envisioned the balloon deting, getting smaller and smaller, shrinking down inside his body, centered on his core. The smaller the balloon got, the smaller the ball of heat became. It also became hotter as it shrank, but he did his best to ignore that as it became a pinpoint of white-hot sma. He imagined sealing it inside a small ss bottle deep inside him. When the cork went on, he opened his eyes and felt at peace.


    Ikehorn was staring at him oddly again.


    ¡°Are you sure you aren¡¯t a wielder?¡± the Fae asked quietly.


    Henry made some sudden hand movements approximating what he¡¯d seen Master Inquisitor Leaharin do and Ikehorn¡¯s eyes flew wide in fright.


    Nothing happened of course, and Henry began tough, loudly. ¡°Sorry man, that was too easy!¡±


    Infuriated, Ikehorn pulled on Henry¡¯s arm to drag him down the street. He pushed him into the front passenger seat of the surveince van and buckled him in. He got behind the wheel and nced over at the drunk who had the oddest look of concentration on his face.


    ¡°Do you hear them?¡± Henry mumbled then he suddenly lurched to the right and mmed his right temple against the window.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Henry moaned as he gently touched his bruised face.


    Ikehorn snorted in disgust and got the van moving. The next time he looked over the Satyr was half asleep. He¡¯d get the drunk home then he¡¯d be done protecting this damn fool! He would go immediately to speak with his Queen. He¡¯d collected the evidence she needed.


    The Human females the Satyr was with tonight were special to him. They were his weakness.


    Henry dozed but struggled to remain awake as the voices were bing clearer and more desperate.


    He felt the van moving and eventually it stopped. He was pulled from the van and marched to the front door of his building. He fumbled with his keys and got into the lobby. Ikehorn looked like he might leave but Henry wobbled. Cursing under his breath, Ikehorn led Henry to the elevator, took him up to his floor and out into the hall.


    Michelle Beaumont was leaving her unit when she saw the Fae struggling to get Henry to walk down the hall. She was immediately suspicious of the man¡¯s intent, especially when she saw the bruises on Henry¡¯s face.


    ¡°What happened to Henry?¡± she asked a little sharper than she intended.


    The Fae sighed as he stared at the woman. ¡°He¡¯s drunk and got into a fight. I pulled him out and brought him home. He can take it from here.¡± With that, he leaned Henry against the wall, went back to the elevator and took it down.


    Michelle moved closer and smelled the alcohol on Henry¡¯s breath. ¡°Why did you drink so much?¡± She muttered to herself.


    ¡°One¡­ spiked¡­ Roger,¡± Henry mumbled as he struggled to stay awake.


    Michelle didn¡¯t know who Roger was. Uneasily, she put her arm around Henry and gently guided him to his condo. She used his key to open the door and guided him inside. He kicked off his shoes, so she did the same then walked him into his bedroom.


    The bed was on the floor!


    She tried to set him down gently but the moment he felt the mattress under him Henry¡¯s body went ck, and he copsed onto it tugging her down with him. Michelle lost her bnce and ended up sprawled over Henry¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Mmmmmm¡­¡± he purred, his eyes closed.


    Michelle was frozen. She¡¯d never been with a man before, and here she was in bed with one! Granted, he was almost unconscious. Strangely, that made it easier for her. He wasn¡¯t holding her down, and she was inplete control.


    As she rested on his strong body she knew she should get off, but he felt so good, and he didn¡¯t seem to mind. She watched his mouth.


    She couldn¡¯t.


    She wouldn¡¯t.


    Nervously watching his closed eyes, she shifted slightly higher on his body and trembled when he adjusted his position under her. She could feel his breath on her face, and aside from the spice of the Rum, it wasn¡¯t too bad. His eyes were still closed, but he had a little smile on his lips. She dipped her face closer, then closer still until her lips touched his. At first, he didn¡¯t move, and she held her breath. She was enjoying this!


    Then, ever so gently, he nibbled her lower lip with his and sparks shot through her body.


    Her hand was on the door handle leaving his condo before she became aware she was fleeing. She closed the door again and rested her head against it, heart pounding. She looked over her shoulder then made her way back to the door of the bedroom. He was sound asleep and still smiling. She sighed in relief. Her lips were still tingling, but she¡¯d had enough excitement for tonight. She left his keys on the coffee table and went to the front door to slip her shoes back on. She spun a long thread of strong silk and looped it over one side of the deadbolt handle. Then she opened the door and looped the silk under the door. Stepping out into the hall, she pulled the door closed behind herself and tugged on the silk. The deadbolt snapped into ce, and she coiled the thread and tucked it into a pocket as she walked down the hall towards the elevator. As she stepped inside, she smiled and touched her lips.


    She hoped Henry had sweet dreams.


    -=-


    Mary now had even more questions for Henry. She had no doubt hewassomehow involved in the subway gas attack.


    She¡¯d found his address and arrived at his condo to see him leave in a taxi with another man. A second taxi following them had three nicely dresseddies in it. She moved to follow, but a white van pulled out and cut her off. She held back and realized the van was tailing the taxis so following it would follow Henry.


    She observed the van while the group had dinner. One of the upants followed the group into the restaurant and left before them. They took up the chase once more when the group headed out again. She figured out they were going to a club and sure enough, the van stopped down the street from the venue, and the man exited once more and somehow managed to get into the club before the group.Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Mary discovered stakeouts were tedious but things got exciting when the patrons started running out the door, and police began to arrive. When the van left without its second upant, she made a split second decision to follow it. It didn¡¯t go far as it stopped next to an alley two blocks away. She spotted Henry being helped along by the man who¡¯d entered the club before them. He loaded Henry into the van, and she followed them back to Henry¡¯s condo where she saw the man help a very drunk Henry inside. A short timeter the man returned, got in the van and it drove off.


    Mary sat in a little park facing Henry¡¯s building wondering if she should barge in and demand her answers now while he was drunk. She was confused and disappointed about his involvement in the second gas attack.


    Finally, she decided to wait. She was tired of sneaking around. It was time to visit the lion¡¯s den.


    She¡¯d confront Henry at VRL directly.


    -=-


    Dark. Absolute dark. Crushing, draining dark.


    Henry felt the tug again only this time it pulled his mind alone as his body rested. He felt the pull through the magic permeating his being. Magic he wasn¡¯t even aware of while awake. The distance he traveled flew by in an instant.


    He found himself in arge room. He couldn¡¯tseeanything, but it feltrge and what sounds prated the walls gave the impression of cavernous space. Surrounding him he could feel close to one hundred distinct minds, all waiting for him to do something.

 122

    He didn¡¯t know what they wanted. He couldn¡¯t see them and that frustrated him.


    Why was it so bloody dark?


    Hunger.


    That intense impression came from the minds around him. They were starving! The urgency to talk, tomunicate with them was driving him to distraction as was the background of desperation he felt in his mind. Some of them were very weak. He moved around the perimeter of the room, but there was no light and no unlocked doors. He needed light as the minds did.


    The rainbow! He could get some light into the room! He desperately reached towards the wall and used his will to rip space apart in a brilliant re of multicolored light. He kept up the pressure and the gap widened in the rippling rainbow. The space in the gap filled with yellow skies, a red hillside, and the reddish-orange sun. It was low in the sky and shone its brilliant light straight through the gap to strike the still beings in the huge chamber. Light scattered everywhere as their bodies absorbed and directed the beam. Henry looked away from the gap and saw they were in arge school gymnasium!


    He felt their collective sigh in his mind as the sunlight fed the beings he was now able to see. Henry was dazzled by how beautiful they were! Multicolored ss in a generally humanoid shape but in various shapes and sizes.


    The prism effect within their bodies directed the light wider and further back until the light touched every ss being. They began to glow from within their cores. Henry felt their desperation easing, and a grand joy began to fill them. This light was exactly what they needed. It was where they needed to be. The ss beings began to move towards the opening. Henry was getting tired from holding it open so he pushed his own urgency through his link to them and they all moved faster. The closer they got to the rip to the alternate dimension, the more energy they pulled from the light and the faster they moved.


    Finally, there were only three left on this side of the tear which was beginning to copse. These stopped beside Henry. He felt their gratitude, but they all pointed away from the rip and slightly to the right. He listened. He felt a single mind crying out to them. It felt them leaving and didn¡¯t want to be left behind. He sent his assurance to the three, and they rushed through the opening to join the others. Henry watched them moving away down the hillside, and the feeling of the contentment which filled them bled through to him. As he released his grip on the gap, something huge and ck rushed through the tear into the dark gym before the opening copsedpletely. Frightened, Henry¡¯s mind fled the chamber and flew away into the night, drawn towards the solitary mind. The enormous distance shed by in an instant.


    Henry found himself floating on the mountaintop teau next to thest ss being. He was weary beyond measure, but he¡¯d promised. He felt the loneliness in this one and sent assurances, feeling its hope in return. He reached out with his will once more, envisioning the hillside once again and a smaller tear shed into existence. The effort to widen it enough for the being to step through drained him severely.


    The ss Man could see the others down the hill, and his happiness surged through their link, and this gave Henry a little strength. As it walked towards the opening, Henry heard angry screaming and turned to see a group of soldiers running towards the ss Man to prevent his escape. The soldier in the lead seemed to be the one in charge as he was screaming most violently and pointing his gun at the rift.


    Henry desperately tried to block the soldiers and a second tear appeared before them. This one showed only yellow sky. Keeping it open was impossible for Henry in his weakened state, and it copsed shortly after the squad leader tumbled through. His scream of rage turned to terror then silence as the small rift snapped shut. The squad of soldiers mmed to a stop, frozen in shock. They watched the ss Man step through the first opening and walk away into the red field. Through the opening, in the far distance, they saw their leader plummet from the sky into a river ofva before the rift snapped closed. Henry watched the men share nervous nces then turn and walk away.


    Weary beyond measure, Henry turned to face home, but he didn¡¯t have the strength to make the journey. Instead, he let his mind drift upwards into the sky to join with the Fae spell and hoped it would guide him the long way home.


    -=-


    Siobhan woke to the sound of her cell ringing. She blinked blearily at it and fumbled it before she managed to hit the answer button.


    ¡°Hello?¡± she mumbled.


    ¡°Siobhan? I¡¯m so sorry to call you but Henry was grabbed at the dance club, and I don¡¯t know how to reach anyone else at VRL!¡± a voice frantically babbled.


    Siobhan was immediately awake when she heard Henry was in danger. She sat up. The voice- ¡°Sandy?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Take a breath and tell me what happened. Who grabbed Henry?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know! There was another gas attack like the one on the subway, and everyone was tearing their clothes off to have sex or trying to escape the dance club! Henry carried me outside, but a fight broke out, and he got pulled into it. Roger thinks he saw someone pulling Henry away. Once the police cleared the fight, there was no sign of him.¡±


    Siobhan was stunned. She didn¡¯t know who would have kidnapped Henry. ¡°Is Roger with you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Put him on, please.¡±


    She heard the sound of the phone being passed then Roger¡¯s voice. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Can you describe the person who took Henry?¡± Siobhan asked.


    ¡°It looked like the guy who came to Stanley¡¯s condo after the kidnapping. Hey! His family has the shittiest luck when ites to being grabbed! OWW! Fuck! Stop it! I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    Siobhan heard female voices raised in anger and Roger taking ps.


    ¡°What did he look like?¡± Siobhan called out.


    ¡°Shit! Stop! She¡¯s asking me a question! Fuck- uh, look like? Uh- like an aristocratic snob. Smaller than Henry but he dragged him away.¡± Roger said with a pained voice.


    ¡°So Henry didn¡¯t go willingly,¡± Siobhan asked to rify.


    ¡°No but¡­ he took a few punches from the crowd and¡­ he might have been a little drunk,¡± Roger said reluctantly.


    Siobhan heard Sandy arguing with Roger. She heard something about only one drink. Roger then admitted to spiking his drink to help him rx. More screams of outrage and the sound of ps. There was a loud clunk noise and a shriek followed by fumbling sounds.


    ¡°Siobhan, are you there?¡± Sandy asked in a panic, having picked up the dropped phone.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m going to call Marisa. She has keys to Henry¡¯s ce,¡± she said.


    ¡°You think they took Henry there?¡±


    Siobhan heard the other women at Sandy¡¯s elbow. ¡°Where? Took him where?¡± they asked in annoyance.


    ¡°Shhh! I can¡¯t hear! She said home! Go ahead,¡± Sandy said.


    Siobhan smiled in spite of her worry as she knew these women liked Henry very much. ¡°I¡¯m not one hundred percent sure but it¡¯s the first ce to look. Marisa will also let the others know.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll meet her there! Thanks, Siobhan! You¡¯re the best!¡± The line went dead.


    Siobhan blinked at her cell in surprise. Sighing, she looked at the clock and was d it was Sunday as she wasn¡¯t getting back to sleep any time soon. She¡¯d sleepter. She made the call.


    -=-


    Marisa, Sigrid, and Meixiu stepped off the elevator at Henry¡¯s building into an argument in the hallway before his unit.


    ¡°You will all leave. Last chance!¡± A small, wide and hairy man in a dressing gown growled at threedies in party dresses.


    ¡°Not until we hear Henry¡¯s ok! Oh, thank god! Marisa!¡± Sandy gushed in relief as she saw theming.


    The small man turned and locked eyes with Sigrid who fought back a snarl as she picked up the scent of a demon.


    ¡°Is there a problem here?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Noisy bitches are knocking on the door!¡± the man growled, his eyes never leaving Sigrid¡¯s.


    ¡°All¡¯s quiet now. I¡¯d say it¡¯s time to move on,¡± Sigrid said between her teeth, sounding a little like a female Clint Eastwood.


    The demon panicked as it leapt for the stairwell door, mmed through, and ran down the stairs.


    All eyes turned to Sigrid in silence as she struggled not to give chase.


    Marisa recovered first. ¡°You knocked on Henry¡¯s door?¡±


    Sandy jumped and looked to the gorgeous blond. She smiled and nodded then her smile dropped away. ¡°He¡¯s not answering!¡±


    Marisa moved to the door with her keys then looked back at the nervous expressions. ¡°I¡¯ll be going in. Alone. I don¡¯t know what state Henry will be in if he¡¯s home, so this is to preserve his dignity. No arguments or you¡¯ll deal with Sigrid.¡± She finished with a smile to take the sting out of her words, but they nced at the intimidating woman nheless.


    Tish, Dayshia, and Sandy stood back as Marisa let herself in and locked up behind herself.


    ¡°Which unit did the unpleasant one live in?¡± Sigrid asked to draw their attention away. Dayshia pointed to the first door past the stairwell. Sigrid saw it was across from Michelle Beaumont¡¯s condo. She moved to stand before the door. She reached out to almost touch its surface then pulled her hand back as she¡¯d felt the sickening evidence of its inhabitation. No one else would likely notice, but Valkyries were particrly sensitive to their spoor. She pulled out her phone and sent an email for a clean-up team to visit the unit. She CC¡¯d Johann Bruger, the property manager.


    The original tenant whose shape the demon had stolen would be dead, likely smeared over the walls inside. She needed to start hunting the demon soon, while the trail was fresh and before it took another host. It wouldn¡¯t be back.


    She noticed the threedies looking curiously at her and Meixiu. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m Sigrid Gunderan, Head of Human Resources at VRL. This is Meixiu, my friend and roommate.¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sandy Marlow. This is Tish Evans and Dayshia Morrison.¡± She nced at the door nervously. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t she-¡±


    The door opened, and Marisa stepped back out into the hall. She smiled at the nervous and eager expressions. ¡°Henry is inside, asleep. He has a few bruises on his head and face. He also stinks of Rum. A lot of it.¡± She scowled. ¡°He can¡¯t drink! He¡¯s such a lightweight when ites to alcohol.¡±


    ¡°I could kill Roger!¡± Tish hissed.


    ¡°Can we see him?¡± Sandy pleaded.


    Marisa shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s in no shape for a visit. In the afternoon maybe? I¡¯ll let him know you were here checking on him,¡± she said with a sympathetic smile.


    Sandy smiled at her. ¡°You¡¯re as protective of Henry as you were for Stanley.¡±


    Marisa nodded with a smile then saw Sigrid gesturing and turned her attention to her.


    ¡°Do you need me for a bit? I¡¯m curious about that creep who ran away earlier,¡± she asked.


    Marisa nodded. Sigrid stepped into the stairwell and was gone.


    Dayshia looked at the others with wide eyes and a grin. ¡°Damn! She¡¯s my new definition ofbadass!¡±


    Marisa and Meixiu chuckled and nodded while the others grinned.


    Sandy moved forward and hugged Marisa. ¡°Thank you for taking such good care of Henry. I¡¯m so sorry we lost track of him at the club.¡±


    ¡°Not your fault. Just keep him away from alcohol and keep an eye on that fellow, Roger,¡± Marisa said with a frown.


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ll deal with Roger,¡± Tish promised.


    ¡°Give me your number, and I¡¯ll give you mine,¡± Marisa said to Sandy as she pulled out her cell.


    That done, Dayshia and Tish waved and pulled Sandy with them to the elevator and left.

 123

    The moment the elevator door closed Marisa¡¯s smile slipped away, and she pulled Meixiu into the condo and locked the door.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Meixiu asked nervously as they moved to the bedroom.


    Marisa dropped to her knees next to Henry and put her ear to his mouth. Then she looked to the other woman. ¡°He¡¯s breathing, but it¡¯s very shallow, and he¡¯s not waking up!¡±


    Meixiu touched Marisa¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯ve seen this before. When he was injured and healing in Sigrid¡¯s guest room, he did this!¡±


    ¡°How did you bring him back?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°I leaned close, and I saidHenry? You need to wake up! Where are you?¡± she said as she demonstrated. They held their breath as they watched him.


    ¡°Do it again,¡± Marisa said.


    ¡°Henry! Wake up! Where are you?¡± she said louder.


    Marisa¡¯s cell rang, and she nced at it and frowned. Sandy? She held up her hand for Meixiu to be quiet.


    ¡°Sandy? What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°The Northern Lights are back!¡± she eximed. ¡°So bright this time!¡±


    ¡°Hang on.¡± Marisa and Meixiu rushed out of the bedroom and went out on the balcony to look up. Sure enough, the sky above the building was showing a green glow. It was across the section of the sky above, but from their perspective, it was much brighter directly above this building. Marisa covered the phone and turned to Meixiu with wide eyes. ¡°Keep calling him back.¡± The woman rushed inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s very beautiful!¡± Marisa said as she listened for Meixiu.


    ¡°I- I just wanted to share that with you,¡± Sandy said, drawing a smile to Marisa¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Thank you for this. It¡¯s lovely!¡± Marisa replied.


    She heard a sudden, sharp and loud intake of breath from inside the condo. Loud enough that Sandy heard it too.


    ¡°Was that Henry?¡± she gasped.


    ¡°Just a nightmare. I have to go. Good night Sandy. I¡¯ll speak to youter, ok?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Bye.¡±


    Marisa looked up, and the green was quickly fading. It was a little frightening to think Henry had a link to that. She moved into the bedroom and knelt down again.


    Henry¡¯s eyes were slightly open but rolling.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sick¡­ gonna be¡­ sick¡­¡± he moaned.


    Marisa and Meixiu managed to get him up and into the washroom where he lost his stomach contents into the toilet. The women shared sad looks while Henry heaved and moaned.


    When he began to shiver and shake, they got him up, rinsed his mouth out, and got him back in his bed. Marisa crawled under the nket with him to warm him up. He began to drowse.


    There was a knock at the door, so Meixiu went to answer it. It was Sigrid, so she let her in.


    ¡°Did you see the Northern Lights?¡± she asked, and Meixiu nodded.


    ¡°It was Henry. He was lost out there, and we called him back.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Sigrid gasped and rushed to the bedroom door.


    Marisa was easing herself out from the sheets as Henry had fallen asleep. She gestured for Sigrid to be quiet and left the room, closing the door.


    They moved to the living room. ¡°It looked like Henry was having an out of body experience. The stupid spell he¡¯s linked to must be drawing him out when he¡¯s drunk or otherwise incapacitated,¡± Marisa said with a scowl.


    ¡°Henry was very sick when he came back,¡± Meixiu offered, and Marisa nodded.


    ¡°He lost what was left in his stomach then got the chills,¡± Marisa said sadly then leaned back from Sigrid. ¡°You might want to take a shower. I take it you dealt with the man who fled?¡±


    ¡°Demon,¡± Sigrid confirmed with a nod and a smile then sniffed herself and grimaced. She made her way into Henry¡¯s bathroom.


    Marisa and Meixiu dropped themselves onto the couch.


    ¡°It is very dangerous for Henry to do this,¡± Meixiu said. ¡°What if we hadn¡¯t called him back?¡±


    Marisa sighed as she agreed but she didn¡¯t know how to protect him from it.


    They dozed on the couch until they heard a noise and saw Sigrid exit the washroom wrapped in a towel. She nced at them then dipped into Henry¡¯s room for a moment and came out with some clothes. She went back into the washroom, and when she came out, she was wearing one of Henry¡¯s T-shirts and track pants.


    Marisa grinned at her.


    ¡°Shut up. Demon ruined my clothes. Their blood doesn¡¯te out.¡± She pouted then a little smile appeared on her lips. ¡°These smell like Henry.¡±


    ¡°Why does Henry not have a TV?¡± Meixiu asked with a frown.


    Sigrid snorted. The vampire hadn¡¯t experienced television during her entire long life, not long ago she considered it inferior to radio, and suddenly she thought it was an essential service. ¡°He doesn¡¯t consider it important.¡±


    ¡°We were just discussing how we could protect Henry from future out of body episodes,¡± Marisa said.


    Sigrid raised an eyebrow. ¡°And your idea was?¡±


    Marisa and Meixiu just shook their heads sadly.


    ¡°As long as he¡¯s linked to the spell he¡¯ll be endangered by it,¡± Sigrid sighed. ¡°Queen Mab is in town, and you know she¡¯ll be aware of tonight¡¯s event. You said it was his man that brought Henry home?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what Siobhan said- dammit! I forgot to call her.¡± Marisa popped to her feet to go into the kitchen to make the call.


    ¡°Is it not strange that they interrupted your date to warn him from using the spell then saved him from a fight and brought him home?¡± Meixiu asked.


    ¡°They need him healthy,¡± Sigrid said.


    ¡°I do not trust their motives,¡± Meixiu said with a scowl and Sigrid could only nod.


    Marisa settled back on the couch. ¡°Ok, Siobhan can go back to sleep.¡±


    Sigrid gave her a look. ¡°Are you staying here?¡±


    Marisa nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on him today and go home tonight. Thanks foring over with me.¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s smile was a little bloodthirsty as she thought of the demon. ¡°I¡¯m d I did.¡± They all stood, and Marisa walked them to the door where they hugged. Meixiu loved this ritual most of all. With a good night, they left, and Marisa locked up. She headed back to the couch. She was lucky it was veryfy.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    She nced at the bedroom door and considered joining Henry, but that was a bad idea. Just warming his body had felt too good.


    So the couch it was.


    As she made herselffy, she recalled the firmness of Henry¡¯s body. She squirmed a little and sighed.


    She hoped Henry felt better in the morning.

 124

    Henry looked down at sleeping beauty in his living room, the early morning rays of sunlight shining through her hair. She was breathtakingly lovely, and he felt his heart jump a little in his chest. But that was just a natural reaction to a Subus, even disguised behind a mor as she was, so he let it pass.


    He¡¯d taken off his party clothes and slipped on his white T-shirt and jeans mor leaving his feet bare. This was a skill he knew he¡¯d have to keep practicing.


    He went to the kitchen and began the process of cooking breakfast. He was getting better at it. As it was the weekend, he¡¯d make a hearty meal. Bacon, eggs, toast, jam, and orange juice.


    He was feeling surprisingly good after the rough night before. His facedidhave some tender spots. Someone punched him? Some moments fromst night were still blurry.


    He puttered in the kitchen, being as quiet as he could, but eventually, he heard stirring in the living room.


    ¡°Hey. When did you get up?¡± Marisa sleepily said as she approached.


    ¡°About fifteen minutes ago.¡± He watched her yawning and frowned. ¡°If you¡¯re still tired go lie down on my bed for a while.¡± She shuffled up to kiss him on the cheek, stole a piece of bacon from his te, then shuffled off to the bedroom and closed the door.


    He smiled and finished making his breakfast.


    With hisptop open on the breakfast bar, he started it up and brought his food over. He opened a browser and pointed it to one of the news aggregator websites. The top story was the quarantined town in Kansas again.


    This time there was amateur video of terrible events happening at a high school on the edge of town. The videographer managed to set himself up in a blind at the edge of a cornfield with a huge telephoto lens and caught it all.


    The story reported that the army had trapped something in the school gymnasium, but it broke free and went on a killing rampage. While faces in the video weren¡¯t sharp due to the heat ripple over the long distance, the actions were clear enough. The creature looked like a long, wide ribbon of ck which rippled and undted to propel itself through the air. Lining its long lean body, sharp ck spikes projected outwards. That¡¯s all the detail he could make out.


    It looked like it was having some trouble getting airborne as it bounced along the ground in front of the open gym door, thrashing this way and that, impaling the startled soldiers on its spikes. Someone who looked important with lots of colorful service ribbons on his chest faced down the creature and managed to get some shots off before losing his head to a snap of a toothy maw which suddenly appeared at one end.


    The beast tried flying away after the ughter, but one of the surviving soldiers opened up with a 50mm before it got out of range and brought it down. One of the rounds hit something vtile inside as it exploded with a thump, sshing the field with its guts. The army went on full alert and swarmed over the area. That¡¯s where the vid ended.


    Henry¡¯s fork remained forgotten, halfway to his mouth which hung open. He was reliving his dream from the night before. About a nightmare creature that came from the other side and hid in a darkened gymnasium.


    It wasn¡¯t a dream. It was real!


    Shit! He¡¯d let that monster in from the other world. He let that sink in for a moment, feeling a chill work its way down his spine. The death of those soldiers was on him. That wasn¡¯t a good feeling. Not at all.


    He gave himself a little shake as that wasn¡¯t the only thing that happened in his ¡®dream¡¯. If he¡¯d let the monsterin, then he¡¯d also rescued all those ss people from starving to death in the dark gym. They¡¯d been put there by the soldiers. Left to die there buthe¡¯dfreed them. Something good came of his actions. There was a bnce of bad and good. He allowed himself to take responsibility for both. This didn¡¯t eliminate the pain he felt for the soldier¡¯s death, but saving so many ss people eased it considerably. He put those feelings aside to consider the real problem, what upset him the most.


    He was messing with magic. That was something he¡¯d vowed not to do. He had no interest in magic and desperately wanted to avoid it. But no matter howbadlyhe wanted to live a normal, magic-free life, it kept creeping in, twisting and tangling his ns, and poisoning his actions. He looked at the ck ring on his finger, and a terrible rage swept through him. He wanted it gone so badly he contemted cutting his finger off. When his temper cooled, he found himself holding his knife poised above his knuckle.


    A knock on his front door startled him, and he dropped the knife.


    He stood, picked up the dropped cutlery, ced it on the counter, and took a deep breath to settle his nerves before walking to the door.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    He opened it and Yuko was standing there. He blinked in surprise at her determined expression. He nced to the face of the smaller woman standing next to her. He recognized her but couldn¡¯t ce where he¡¯d seen her. Dark skin, long ck hair,rge pretty and dark eyes, ring in her nose with a chain leading down into her t-shirt- oh! He pulled his eyes back up to her face which now had a knowing smile on her pretty lips. The Thai restaurant. He looked back to Yuko.


    ¡°I must speak with you. May wee in?¡± she asked.


    Still unsettled, he stepped back, and the two women entered.


    They slipped off their shoes and walked into the living room as Henry followed.


    Yuko looked to the closed bedroom door. ¡°You havepany?¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°The blond from downstairs?¡± she asked bluntly.


    He shook his head and struggled to get control of the situation. ¡°Who I have in my bedroom is none of your concern.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if it¡¯s safe to talk,¡± Yuko exined, holding his eyes so he would understand her meaning. He nced at the smaller woman who just nodded to him.


    ¡°Oh! Yes.¡± They took seats on the couch.


    ¡°You are Stanley,¡± Yuko blurted, her voice demanding but shaky too.


    He looked at her closely and saw she was trembling slightly. He began to get nervous. ¡°I¡¯m Henry¡­ now.¡±


    A shudder went through her body, and she closed her eyes. ¡°But you were Stanley, once.¡±


    Not sure where she was going with this, he nodded cautiously. ¡°Yes.¡±


    A smile bloomed on her face, and she rxed. ¡°Why do you look so different?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a mor¡­ from the Fae.¡± He nced to the other woman whose eyes hadn¡¯t left his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t get your name.¡±


    ¡°I am Kali Chandra. Mahati¡¯s sister.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyes went wide in surprise.


    ¡°Is it true you defeated her magic?¡± she gushed with excitement, her body practically vibrating with it.


    He nodded as it suddenly felt unsafe to say more.


    He looked to Yuko whose expression was showing doubt again as she ran her eyes over his body.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I can see through Fae mors, but I cannot see through yours. When you were Stanley, it wasforting that you were as you appeared.¡± Yuko said.


    Henry wasn¡¯t about to tell them about being linked to an alternate realm of magic, but he was no good at lying, so he just shrugged. Her presence here and now was making him nervous. ¡°Is that what you wanted to speak to me about?¡± That came out a little sharper than he intended.


    Yuko¡¯s eyes shed to his, and he saw hurt and doubt in them. ¡°What have I done to earn such anger?¡± she snapped.


    He rocked back. ¡°Why do you continue to refuse to take responsibility for your actions!?!¡± Henry barked.


    The bedroom door opened and Marisa stepped out with a concerned look. ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°Marisa, this is my new neighbor Yuko. You remember her, don¡¯t you? She¡¯s the one who tried to use her tears to make me fall in love with her, then told her father we were engaged and, oh yeah, forced me to go to Japan to humiliate myself in front of theentire Japanese government!¡± Henry finished with a yell.


    He caught motion in the corner of his eye and leapt on Yuko, pinning her to the couch while grabbing her hands. The beginnings of her spell snapped and copsed in his hands, and the wave of force blew outwards, tossing pillows and Kali from the couch tond on the floor several feet away with a thump.

 125

    Henry red down into tear-filled eyes, but he could see she wasn¡¯t so much sad as frustrated. She was ring back at him but squirming under his body. He¡¯d had enough. ¡°Is attacking me your only response to having your mistakes pointed out-mmmph!¡±


    Yuko kissed him fiercely and desperately as he jolted with surprise. He released her hands in an attempt to push himself off, but her arms went around his torso to cling to him. He couldn¡¯t prevent his body from responding, but his mind wanted nothing to do with this. She moaned in frustration when he finally managed to pull free.


    She looked into his confused eyes, pushed clear of him to leap to her feet and ran from his condo, grabbing her shoes on the way. The room fell silent.


    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Kali gasped as she climbed back to her feet. ¡°Youcanblock magic!¡± Her eyes glowed with her excitement. ¡°It was very nice meeting you again. I hope to see much more of you in the future!¡± With that she turned and rushed from his condo, taking her sandals with her.


    Marisa moved to the door and locked it before quickly returning to Henry¡¯s side. ¡°Are you ok?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± he mumbled as he rubbed his tingling hands. He looked into her concerned eyes and shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t figure Yuko out at all. First, she wants to kill me; then she¡¯s kissing me?!? Which is it? Kiss or Kill?¡±


    Marisa smiled. ¡°Why can¡¯t it be both?¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows rose.


    Her grin widened. ¡°She¡¯s a woman! We are wondrous creatures of inscrutable intentions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doomed,¡± Henry moaned in despair.


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned with the second woman. Who was she?¡± Marisa asked.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Kali Chandra. The younger sister of Mahati, VRL¡¯s external counsel.¡±


    It was Marisa¡¯s turn to look surprised. ¡°She said, she¡¯s met you before?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°A little while ago I went to a local Thai restaurant for dinner with Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish. She was at the next table with some of Yuko¡¯s friends. I had no idea who she was at the time. I didn¡¯t know her name until today. She told Mahati about me though. That was before Mahati met me and tried to kill me.¡± He sighed. ¡°Too many people trying to kill me.¡±


    She kissed him on the cheek again. ¡°Any bacon left?¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    He let out a long sigh. ¡°I never finished my breakfast. Barely started actually,¡± he said looking over at the breakfast bar where he¡¯d almost cut his finger off. He frowned.


    Marisa popped up to her feet and walked over to the bar to sit in his chair. She began eating his breakfast. As he approached, she shot him a cheeky smile. He snorted and began to prepare another meal.


    ¡°Shocking stuff happening in Kansas! I¡¯m amazed the Council hasn¡¯t found a way to suppress this.¡± Marisa said as she looked at the website Henry had pulled up. She yed the video and gasped in shock.


    Henry didn¡¯t say a word. He just kept preparing his breakfast. When it was ready, he sat next to her and ate quietly, never looking at the stories she was reading. She was mumbling to herself as she was shocked by what she learned.


    ¡°The Colonel running the operation was one of the victims of the creature.¡± She read silently for a bit. ¡°From what it says, he is- was a controversial, hard liner in Washington. Mostly due to his interrogation techniques on prisoners in thest war. He still had his job so he must have had friends in high ces.¡±


    Henry wasn¡¯t listening as he was lost in his memories of the night before. If he rxed and let them bubble up on their own, they filled in the nks from the time he¡¯d been out of his body. Now, the ones surfacing were drawn there by Marisa¡¯sments regarding the Colonel. He now knew thesememorieswere artifacts of his mind to mind conversation with the ss People. That name resonated with him. He could see¡­ images, memories¡­ he knew they weren¡¯t his. Thankfully, they didn¡¯tfeellike his so he could distinguish them as separate.


    Finally, he felt her attention turn back to him.


    ¡°Henry? What¡¯s wrong? You¡¯re so quiet.¡±


    ¡°He was starving them,¡± he said quietly.


    ¡°Who was?¡±


    ¡°The Colonel. He ordered the soldiers to jail the ss People in the gym. Blocked off all the light. That¡¯s how they fed.¡±


    She was looking at him nervously. ¡°Henry, how do you know this?¡± she asked softly.


    He squirmed. ¡°I thought it was just a surreal dream. I¡¯ve had them for a while. But after seeing that story online¡­ I now know it was real. I visited themst night. The ss People. They were calling out to me¡­ through the¡­ energy in me. They were starving, some close to death, desperate. I¡­ opened a way for them to the other side, helped them escape but that ck thing came back through before I closed the rift and fled.¡±


    ¡°Other side?¡± she squeaked.


    He frowned. ¡°The source of the energy or magic within me. The ss People like it there.¡±


    ¡°Have you been there?¡± Marisa asked, and he looked into her troubled eyes. He shrugged. ¡°I¡­ I think so? It seemed familiar? What I thought were just dreams are memories, and they¡¯re bing sharper. Red grassy hillside, yellow sky, and a big red-orange sun throwing off the most amazing light. Sorry, I think thatst impression was from them.¡±


    Marisa was staring at Henry. His out of body experience included interacting with the physical realm and telepathy of some kind. That was significant power! But he showed no other signs of wielding capabilities! ¡°So, you went to Kansas?¡±


    ¡°And China.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± she eximed.


    ¡°There was one more of the ss People there. He was so lonely. He¡¯d been talking with the others and wanted to go with them, so I went there and helped him escape the soldiers.¡±


    ¡°HENRY!I¡¯ve heard of powerful wielders being able to cast their minds into the surrounding neighborhood or maybe a nearby city but never traveling around the globe! You could have lost your connection to your body! You could havedied! Promise me you¡¯ll never do that again!¡± She took his hands in hers but forced her seer sight way down as there were substantial fluctuations in Henry¡¯s aura. She was too frightened to see the images.


    He shrugged as he couldn¡¯t promise something he seemed to have little control over. He looked at Marisa¡¯s hands holding his and tookfort from her touch. ¡°I remember feeling so tired. I had nothing left after thest one escaped. No strength to get back, so I just let the Fae healing spell take me up into the sky, and I drifted.¡± He paused as he recalled. ¡°Then I heard Meixiu. I don¡¯t know why her voicees through so clear, but it guided me back.¡± His eyes widened as another memory solidified. ¡°Oh! She pulled me back when I flew with the fighter pilot into the other side! Ididgo there!¡±


    Marisa pulled him to his feet and held him tight against her. He could feel her trembling, so he rubbed her back until she calmed.


    ¡°I never wanted any of this. If I could, I¡¯d go back to just being little, insignificant Stanley Garin on his first day at his first job, working for VRL with you. Honestly, that was the best day of my life,¡± he said longingly.


    Marisa¡¯s heart was breaking. She pulled back from the hug and kissed Henry deeply, and he returned it with an almost desperate need to connect. Maintaining the kiss, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his room and eased her down on his bed. He finally pulled back as Marisa released her mor, so he did as well. She lifted her arms to him, so he leaned down and kissed her deeply once more as her arms wrapped around him. He felt safe in her embrace. Her touch calmed him more than anyone else¡¯s. She¡¯d been there when he was a small man, stuttering in the presence of beauty and her touch had untied his treacherous tongue.


    He gently lowered hisrger body over hers, and she sighed as they met. They rocked together, stroking against each other, increasing their need. Her body was receptive to his, and they fit together so well. His kiss became demanding, and she pulled him tighter as he finally slipped inside.


    Marisa broke from the kiss to gasp as he was sorge in his natural state. Hot and thick, she felt him sinking deeper and deeper into her body. Marisa craved this! She needed more and wrapped her legs around his powerful thighs to pull him deeper.


    Henry gasped and trembled as this was intensely intimate. He looked into her eyes, and she looked back and smiled at him. God, she was so incredibly beautiful, and she wanted him! That fact centered Henry¡¯s world and gave his life a foundation. He was so grateful for her presence in his life. He knew Subi were wired differently than humans when it came to rtionships, but he could feel Marisa¡¯s genuine emotional connection to him, and that gave him strength.


    He drew himself out and thrust forward. Marisa¡¯s eyes flew wide, and her mouth dropped open in a gasp as she clung to him tightly. His desire surged, and he sped his movements until he was driving her against the mattress harder and harder. She was crying out in bliss, and her voice had risen above the register for hearing. He felt her begin to lose coordination as her release tipped over the edge and crashed through her senses. He was right behind her, and thick ropes of cum surged into her depths.


    ¡°HENRY! OH! Ffffffffffuuuuuukkkkk!!!!! Sssssoooooo gooooooood!¡± she sighed in ecstasy as the Wild Magic flooded through her cells once more.


    They clung to each other for long minutes as they enjoyed the ebb of their pleasure. Henry tenderly kissed Marisa¡¯s forehead and cheeks until she giggled and gently pushed him back. She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling and noted his aura was calm once again. Still shot through with dark streaks which she refused to examine closer, but the bright zones gleamed with promise. She avoided looking too closely at those as well.


    Eventually, they had to separate though they moaned to each other which ended in giggles. Once apart they went to the shower and cleaned up, human disguises back in ce.


    They got dressed in their mors once more and moved back to the bar to clean up their dishes.


    ¡°Oh, before I forget again, Sandy, Tish, and Dayshia said they wanted to visit you this afternoon. They were truly upset when you were grabbed at the clubst night.¡±


    Henry recalled the event and winced. ¡°My drink was spiked by Roger.¡±


    Marisa smiled. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s going to get a beating from thosedies for that.¡±


    Another fact burbled up from the depths of Henry¡¯s brain. ¡°Ikehorn, Mab¡¯s¡­ man? He brought me home.¡±


    Marisa nodded with a little frown. ¡°I don¡¯t trust him, and I certainly question his motives. It worked out this time but staying away from the Fae is always a safe route.¡±

 126

    ¡°Agreed,¡± Henry said with an emphatic nod. He began taking ingredients out of the fridge and cabs.


    Marisa looked at him curiously. ¡°What are you up to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bake some cookies.¡±


    Marisa grinned and pped her hands in delight. She sat at the counter and watched Henry puttering around, making precise measurements of the ingredients, following the recipe to the letter. Once the trays went into the oven and he set the timer, Henry cleaned the mess he¡¯d made.


    ¡°Is there a way to do this that avoids this?¡± he asked with a frown gesturing to the untidy counters.


    Marisa grinned at him. ¡°Practice.¡±


    He smiled and nodded as he washed and dried the bowls.


    Once the kitchen was tidy once more, they moved to the living room and sat together on the couch. Henry¡¯s cell rang, and he saw it was Sandy.


    ¡°Hi, Sandy!¡±


    ¡°Oh good! You¡¯re awake! How are you feeling?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I feel good!¡± he said, smiling at Marisa.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Are you up for a visit? Tish and Dayshia will be here a little after noon, and they¡¯re bringing an assortment of wraps and sds for lunch.¡±


    ¡°That sounds lovely!¡± he said and looked to Marisa. ¡°Marisa is here too. Will there be enough food?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Sandy gushed, thrilled to hear the blonde was still there.


    Henry grinned hearing Sandy¡¯s excitement and nodded to Marisa. ¡°So, we¡¯ll see you then?¡±


    ¡°Yes! See you then!¡± Sandy said happily and hung up.


    Henry smiled at Marisa. ¡°We have lunch ns.¡±


    **************


    Ikehorn dozed lightly in the anteroom of the Queen¡¯s chambers. When he¡¯d arrived the night before, eager to make his report, he¡¯d waited as the Queen was indisposed.


    He was aware that the final preparations of her most powerful and secretive spell to date was taking a severe toll on the monarch. While she hid it well, Ikehorn had served her for centuries and knew her tells.


    Plus she was burning through her personal staff like tissues. Mistakes earned harsh punishments, though none of the women had been killed¡­ yet.


    He heard a soft clearing of a throat and opened his eyes. It was a young female Fae with pale white skin, raven hair, and a slim, petite body. She was a true beauty, but she stood in profile with eyes downcast.


    ¡°The Queen will see you now,¡± she said quietly.


    Ikehorn heard the edge of pain in her voice and noticed she was keeping the left side of her face turned from him. He stood and approached her. She froze, and a lovely blue eye darted to him nervously.


    ¡°Look at me,¡± he said firmly.


    Trembling, she turned her face slowly towards him, and he saw the damage. Three deep and raw scratches crossed her cheek, from her ear to just above her red lips. The wounds already showed signs of decay which hinted at the curse Mab had embedded in her flesh. The scarring would be permanent and would undoubtedly spread. It pained him to see how it already horribly marred the symmetry of her beautiful features.


    Impulsively, he reached a hand to hover over her injury. The girl sucked in a frightened gasp as she thought he might punish her too. The Queen¡¯s man wasn¡¯t known for his patience and sympathy. She swayed slightly, dizzy from the pain, and touched his hand to her cheek.


    The green sh surprised them both, and the girl swooned. He caught her before her legs gave out and gently sat her on a nearby couch. His eyes locked onto her face and she saw his shocked expression. Frightened, she lifted a hand to touch the ripped flesh only to encounter smooth skin. Fingertips shook as she traced the path where seconds before had only been ruin. She couldn¡¯t take her eyes from the man who¡¯d healed her and saw a dawning awareness appearing in his eyes.


    Ikehorn seized the girl¡¯s shoulders in a painfully tight grip as his eyes held hers. ¡°You will speak to no one about what just happened. You will leave now. You will return to Irnd and go to my estate. Is this understood?¡±


    ¡°But the Queen-¡±


    ¡°I will exin your absence. Go now!¡± he growled and released her.


    She caught his hand and held it against her healed cheek as her grateful eyes looked up at him.


    His heart moved in his chest in an unfamiliar and ufortable way as he gently tugged his hand free and stood back. ¡°Quickly now,¡± he mumbled, looking away.


    He heard her stand and rush to the door. He couldn¡¯t stop himself from ncing in her direction and caught her looking back at him from the doorway with the slightest of smiles on her perfect lips and a gleam in her eyes. Then she was gone.


    Ikehorn scowled as he struggled to get his treacherous thoughts under control. He took slow, deep breaths and straightened his jacket.


    So the Satyr had left him with anothergift. His aptitude with magic had been rudimentarypared to the others, and he¡¯d never had enough skill to heal with it. Closing his eyes, he looked deeply into his core but couldn¡¯t detect the source of his link to the healing magic. He felt no different, aside from his renewed vigor and youth of course, and theplete absence of the disease. He still hated the Satyr for his refusal to serve their rightful Queen, but his ire was bing strained by these alterations.


    Giving himself a shake, he stepped into the main room and saw Mab sitting by the window gazing out over the city.


    The building they were in was unique in that it was two separate buildings in one. The initial twenty stories was a ssic iron-framed structure found throughout New York City. The five-story structure built atop that contained no cold iron in its construction. The elevator that serviced the top five storiesskippedthe floors of the mundane building entirely, jumping from the extra basement level to the first story of the crowning building.


    A misdirection spell drew attention away from Mab¡¯s home away from home, and only an array of sixty-foot rooftop antennae appeared in photos. The roof of the twenty story tower was lush with greenery surrounding the small castle sitting atop it. Thendscaping, too, was only visible when standing on the roof¡¯s surface.


    Mab¡¯s chambers were on the top floor with a stunning view. A view she was currently appreciating.


    She turned her head slightly at his approach. ¡°Ah, Ikehorn. I understand you¡¯ve brought me news?¡± She looked beyond him, and her expression darkened. ¡°Where is that foolish girl Lilliette?¡±


    Ikehorn gave her a crisp bow he knew the Queen preferred. ¡°My Queen, I¡¯ve sent her away.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± Enraged eyes locked on him and a tremor ran down his spine. Her control was not as strong as it once was.


    He bowed again. ¡°Apologies, but I could see the girl was bing a distraction from your work. We all serve you, but only the best must surround you now, to ensure your focus is not- burdened by these trivialities.¡±


    He held still and prepared himself for death. When it didn¡¯te, he allowed himself a slow exhale as the Queen slowly nodded.


    ¡°Yes, of course. You are quite correct. I should have a wiser and more skilled maid. Your house manager, Bronagh, is most precise and correct in her duties and would be perfect for this role.¡±


    Ikehorn froze as the woman in question was the most senior and trusted member of his staff. The strict old woman practically raised him. She had value in his life. He might be condemning her to death, but he could not refuse his Queen.


    He wasn¡¯t blind to the fact that this was also a lesson for him about overstepping his bounds. His moment of sentiment had a terrible cost.


    ¡°Of course, my Queen. I will call for her immediately. She will feel most honored for this opportunity to serve you directly.¡±


    Mab nodded, pleased once more. ¡°Speak to me of what led you to my chamber so early in the morning?¡±


    So the Queen had been aware of his waiting. Fine. ¡°As you directed, I followed the Satyr who went out for an evening of entertainment with his Humanpanions, the same ones who have been under observation for their behavior patterns. What I witnessed confirms your suspicions. He is deeply and emotionally attached to the creatures.¡±


    Mab smiled, but it brought her face no warmth. ¡°Tell me of them.¡±


    Ikehorn nodded. ¡°There are three females. All young, though perhaps a little older than the Satyr. There¡¯s a fair skinned blond female who lives in the building. Her name is Sandy.¡± He thought there might be something off about this one, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it.


    ¡°The second, an ebony-skinned female named Dayshia who has a more generous figure. Perhaps almost exaggeratedly so.¡± He nced at the Queen in embarrassment.


    ¡°The third one is fair skinned, tall and slim with long ebony hair. Tiss? Tess? I couldn¡¯t quite make out her name. During their dining period, I witnessed the Satyr¡¯s¡­ I¡¯d almost want to call it love, if that term wasn¡¯t offensive when linked to Humans.¡±


    He caught Mab smiling at him and looked at her curiously. ¡°What? Did I miss something?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never had a pet, have you,¡± Mab remarked, watching his face.


    He shifted ufortably. ¡°I had a spider once.¡±


    She tilted her head in interest. ¡°Really? How did you feel about your spider?¡±


    He blinked at the question. ¡°I- didn¡¯t feel anything about it. It was a spider.¡±

 127

    ¡°Then your choice of pet gave you no perspective for understanding Henry¡¯s affection for hispanions.¡± She shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter though, as you¡¯ve brought me the most excellent news. It concerned me that we might have to use one of his friends from his work. That would have greatly reduced Henry¡¯s desperation for our assistance as they have solutions avable for them. Now, these pets of Henry¡¯s will be our avenue to getting his willful participation in the spell.¡±


    She paused to take a few shallow breaths as pain shot through her body. Ikehorn caught the slight tightening of her skin at the corner of her eyes. She turned them to him again.


    ¡°It must be this week. Select one of thesepanions and bring upon them an unfortunate ident or circumstance. It must fall short of death but cause a significant and potentially life-threatening injury that will require Fae assistance to heal. Be precise.¡±


    Ikehorn looked to Mab in confusion. ¡°Human flesh isrgely unaffected by Fae healing magic,¡± he said.


    ¡°There are ancient words of power that surpass the resistance of even the most mundane flesh. If Henry doesn¡¯t seek us out for the medical intervention, we will have to offer it. We must be prepared tobe in the neighborhood. Then we can enter into the negotiation for the fee andplete the spell.¡±


    Ikehorn nodded. He understood this part of the n at least. He knew a couple of discreet and highly skilled wet-work operatives he could call upon to assist. He didn¡¯t personally take on this kind of work.


    ¡°I will arrange for it to happen as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Do not fail me!¡± she insisted.


    Ikehorn bowed deeply, and he felt the Queen¡¯s pleasure radiating from her. Another sign of her diminishing control.


    He left quickly and headed to his room one floor down. He penned a note for Bronagh to immediatelye to the assistance of the Queen, transferring her to the monarch¡¯s staff. He included a few lines about how grand an honor it was and how sorry he was to see her leave his service but he knew this was a demotion in position at least, with an uncertain future. He felt the slightest twinge of guilt about that. On the other hand, based on the brutal lessons Bronagh tested him with as a child, he was doing what he needed to do. He sealed the letter with a little spell to ensure only Bronaghg could open it. He summoned a courier, and the message was off. Bronagh would be at the Queen¡¯s beck and call within hours.


    Now to arrange another painful misfortune.


    **********


    Henry knocked on Sandy¡¯s door a little before the time Sandy was due to head upstairs.


    He smiled at Marisa and Michelle who was ast minute inclusion to their party.


    Thirty minutes earlier there¡¯d been a knock onhisdoor, and he¡¯d answered it to see Johann Bruger standing there.


    ¡°My apologies but you will need to leave your unit for roughly three hours. We need to fumigate the floor as the clean-up crew works on Unit 909,¡± the short man said with a smile. ¡°You may return¡­ noter than 4 PM.¡±


    ¡°Do I need to do anything with my unit?¡± Henry asked.


    Johann shook his head. ¡°No. Just ensure all persons and animals are removed from your unit when you leave and do note back before 4 PM. You don¡¯t have any pets, do you?¡±


    Henry smiled and shook his head. ¡°Are the other floors going to be affected?¡±


    ¡°No, just this one.¡±


    ¡°Ok, thanks!¡± he said, and the man walked back to the elevators.


    Before he closed the door, he watched some workers enter unit 909. They were kitted out in full hazmat suits, so he wondered what had gone on in that unit. Henry spotted Michelle stepping out of her condo. She wobbled a little, looking a little dazed. Then he realized she worked nights so she¡¯d usually be sleeping now. ¡°Michelle, are you ok?¡±


    She turned to look at him, and he could tell she was still in the state of semi-consciousness. She nodded.


    ¡°Do you have somewhere to go until 4 PM?¡± he asked.


    She blinked at him and shook her head.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have lunch with some friends on the fourth floor. You¡¯re wee to join us,¡± he suggested.


    She shook her head nervously and bit her lip.


    ¡°Oh, well, if you change your mind. We¡¯ll be at unit 404,¡± Henry said.


    With a nod, he ducked back into his condo to let Marisa know they had a change of venue. He called Sandy to let her know they needed to do this at her ce and she weed them toe down.


    When Henry opened his door once again, Michelle was standing outside his door with a lost look on her face. She also still looked very sleepy.


    ¡°Changed your mind?¡± he asked.


    She looked at him timidly. ¡°I¡¯m not good around strangers.¡±Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Strangers are just friends you haven¡¯t met yet,¡± Henry said with a smile.


    ¡°Henry! That was so corny. Even for you,¡± Marisa moaned with a smirk as she stood just behind him. Michelle smiled at them.


    He just shrugged with a smile and looked to Michelle who finally nodded.


    So, here they were standing before Sandy¡¯s door. When it opened, the petite blonde¡¯s happy face smiled up at him and Marisa, then looked curiously at Michelle who seemed to be hiding behind Henry.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I brought along my neighbor Michelle. She works nights, so the order to leave our floor was a bit of a rude awakening.


    ¡°Oh my! If you¡¯d like I can change the sheets, and you can sleep in my bed until you can go back to your condo,¡± Sandy offered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to put you to any trouble,¡± Michelle said quietly in surprise.


    Sandy gave her a bright smile. ¡°It¡¯s no trouble at all. Pleasee in. Just give me a second to set it up for you. Have a seat in the living room. Henry, I¡¯ll leave you to make the introductions.¡±


    They made their way into the main room and Tish, and Dayshia stood to meet them.


    ¡°Michelle, these are my good friends Dayshia and Tish. This is my neighbor Michelle.¡± They shook hands. ¡°She works nights, so Sandy has graciously offered her a ce to sleep until it¡¯s clear to go back to our floor. You¡¯ve met Marisa.¡±


    ¡°This istheMarisa?¡± Tish asked with a wide grin.


    The woman in question raised an eyebrow at Henry, and he blinked in surprise. ¡°Uh, sorry, I thought you¡¯d met Tish.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met Dayshia before but not Tish,¡± Marisa said and shook the woman¡¯s hand. ¡°Yes, I¡¯mtheMarisa.¡± Tish¡¯s eyes were showing her mischievous glee.


    Marisa and Michelle took seats on the couch on either side of Henry and Dayshia, and Tish took the loveseat. Michelle shyly smiled as she leaned a little against Henry¡¯s side. He could tell she was still hovering on the edge of sleep.


    ¡°How were you feeling this morning, Henry?¡± Tish asked, drawing his attention from Michelle.


    ¡°Good! I mean, I was sickst night, but I felt better by the morning,¡± he rified.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Roger spiked your drinkst night,¡± Dayshia said. Tish nodded as Dayshia looked closer at Henry¡¯s face. ¡°You still have some bruising on your cheekbone where I saw you take a punch.¡±


    ¡°Who pulled you from the fight and brought you home?¡± Tish asked.


    ¡°Hey! No asking the interesting questions until I¡¯m present,¡± Sandy said as she walked out of the bedroom. ¡°Sorry it took longer than expec- ted,¡± she paused as she saw Michelle was asleep, resting her head against Henry¡¯s shoulder. He smiled back at her in embarrassment. Sandy just shook her head with a grin.


    Marisa stood, and Henry carefully moved to scoop Michelle up in his arms. She was surprisingly heavy, but he guessed her true shape would likely mean additional mass? His mind shied away from the physics or magic involved.


    He managed to lift her, and she settled her head against his chest with a smile on her red lips. He smiled at the others who were looking back at him with odd smiles of their own.


    Sandy guided Henry back to the bedroom where she pulled back the sheets for him. He gently eased the woman down on the bed, and she sighed in her sleep. Tucking the covers over her, he stepped back and followed Sandy out. She closed the door and grinned up at him. ¡°y your cards right, and one day you may get to carry me in your arms to bed,¡± she whispered cheekily.


    Henry was caught by surprise by her confession, so he nodded with a slight blush. They joined the others.


    ¡°I was just telling them how you bumped into a security consultant from VRL at the clubst night and how he recognized you and got you home,¡± Marisa offered when they got back, and Henry nodded to her gratefully. What she¡¯de up with was a much better story than anything he¡¯d fabricate.


    He looked to Sandy. ¡°Where is Roger?¡±


    She scowled. ¡°He¡¯s in our bad books right now. What he did to youst night was so far beyond ok, he¡¯s got to start acknowledging how out of control he¡¯s bing. We¡¯ll have an intervention with him at work on Monday, and if he doesn¡¯t agree to reign in his chaotic behavior and seek help for whatever is causing it, we¡¯re going to have to limit our interaction with him. He¡¯s putting us all at risk, and that¡¯s not ok.¡±


    Henry couldn¡¯t argue with them about that. While he liked Roger, getting him drunk wasn¡¯t cool. Shit happenedst night because of it. A Colonel and some soldiers would be alive today if Henry had been sober. On the flip side of that, the ss People would likely be dead. He was feeling off about the entire ordeal.


    Seeing his frown Tish moved to the couch next to him and took his hand. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry we didn¡¯t keep a closer eye on him.¡±


    Her hand felt so good in his. Their fingers were the same length, so it was a full-contact kind of hold. He looked up and gave her a shy nod.


    ¡°Anyone else hungry?¡± Tish said holding his eye, and he caught the double entendre. He nodded as Dayshia rolled her eyes and stood to help Sandy bring over the trays of wraps and individual sized sd bowls.


    Henry looked to Marisa in disappointment. ¡°I forgot to bring the cookies!¡± She returned his sad look.


    ¡°You baked cookies?¡± Dayshia asked in surprise.


    He nodded with a crooked smile. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m working on my kitchen skills. Learning to be independent.¡± He put food on his te and sat back to begin eating.


    As Henry enjoyed a BLT wrap, Sandy caught his attention. ¡°I was getting my mail in the lobby when I saw Yuko heading out this morning with a friend. She looked very sad. I think she might have been crying.¡±


    Henry frowned and forced down hisst bite. ¡°Really,¡± was all he managed to choke out of his tight throat.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Sandy said, noticing his difort.


    He shrugged it off with a weak smile. ¡°It¡¯s cool. I guess I¡¯m just holding what Yuko did¡­ to Stanley, against her.¡±


    ¡°She seems a little unstable,¡± Dayshia observed. ¡°I mean, who carries a stun grenade in her purse?¡±

 128

    Henry couldn¡¯t argue with that. He knew her over-indulgent father spoiled her, but he couldn¡¯t share that bit of insider knowledge.


    ¡°I hope what happened at the dance club hasn¡¯t turned you against the idea of going out dancing with us!¡± Tish said with a hopeful expression.


    ¡°No, I¡¯d like to try it again, just without the booze.¡± He sighed. ¡°I still have to get over my awkwardness with dancing. I have two left feet!¡±


    Tish¡¯s face lit up with a broad smile. ¡°We can help you with that! You just need to learn a few steps and befortable with them. When you get out on the floor with the music ying, you follow the steps you¡¯ve learned with the beat. Soon it¡¯ll be second nature, and you can rx!¡±


    He realized that was a great idea! He nodded, and she pped quietly with a grin.


    They finished up their lunch and moved the coffee table to have room to move. Sandy put on some music at a low volume as all they only needed was a beat to follow and Tish started Henry off with some simple forward and back steps. Henry watched Tish¡¯s feet, and once he had her pattern, Tish reached over and lifted his chin so he couldn¡¯t see his feet. He bobbled a little but she kept him moving, and he settled into the pattern.


    The afternoon was spent learning moves, none tooplicated for the noob dancer. Each of thedies managed to work in a slow dance with Henry. Closer to dinner time, Michelle made an appearance and had a turn as well. As that happened, Sandy enjoyed a slow number with Marisa though she blushed and grinned happily through the song. Marisa had to tone down her naturally sensuous moves but still got an appreciative nod and grin from Tish and a slightly envious look from Dayshia.


    They munched on the leftover sandwiches and sds for supper then Marisa said that she had to head home. She shook hands and hugged Sandy then Henry walked her to the door and got a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He closed the door and walked back to the living room. ncing at Michelle, Henry saw she was ready to leave too. He turned to his host.


    ¡°Thank you so much Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish for the delightful hospitality, delicious food, and the dancing lessons. I¡¯m feeling ready for our next night out at a club. Without the drinking!¡±


    He got smiles and chuckles for that.


    ¡°It was very nice meeting you all, and it was extremely generous of you to let me sleep in your bed,¡± Michelle said to Sandy who smiled and gestured dismissively.


    They walked to the door.


    ¡°Henry? Aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡± Dayshia said with a slight smile on her lips.


    He looked back curiously. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Our goodbye kisses.¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s lips were on his, and he squeaked slightly in surprise. Then he was kissing her in return as she pressed her soft body against his hard muscles. Finally, she pushed back gently, and his lips followed until they parted. His eyes opened just in time to see Tish slip in against his body as Michelle watched in wide-eyed surprise.


    Tish was an excellent kisser, and Henry was swept away by her passion. He was reaching for her ponytail when she suddenly pushed back from the kiss with a gasp. He was dazed and focusing on her mouth as his neck began to tingle. Tish took another step back, and Henry looked down into Sandy¡¯s hungry gaze.


    The blond tilted her face up to him, and his mouth came down to meet her soft lips. Her hair swept forward to caress his face and he gently pushed it back by running his fingers through it. Sandy¡¯s kiss was sweet, slow and tender and the tingle eased.


    Michelle cleared her throat timidly which broke the moment, and Sandy pulled back with a happy smile.


    ¡°Have a good night Henry!¡± she said.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    He nodded, still dazed from the kiss and stepped out into the hall. Michelle followed him out and took his elbow to guide him to the elevators. They heard a burst of excited giggles as Sandy¡¯s door closed.


    When they were alone in the elevator, moving up to their floor, she nced at him. ¡°Does that always happen?¡±


    He nced at her in embarrassment and thought about it. ¡°I- yes, I believe so, though not usually so aggressively. They trulyarelovely people,¡± he said with a wobbling smile. She smiled and looked away shyly.


    They exited the elevator and read the sign Johann posted on the opposite wall that said the floor was clear for habitation again. They walked towards their units.


    When Michelle reached her door, she turned to Henry, and he looked to her with a smile. ¡°Thank you for introducing me to your friends. They are, as you say, lovely people.¡± He nodded to her and waited as she seemed to have something else to say.


    ¡°Could we- I mean, would you- can I- never mind,¡± she finished in a huff as her face got redder and redder.


    She¡¯d been watching his mouth the entire time so he guessed that she might be asking if they could kiss as she¡¯d just witnessed. While he knew in reality Michelle was an Arachnid with the body of an enormous spider, her shy and gentle nature muted his instinctive fears. He reached out to touch her hand as she turned away. He stepped closer as she faced him and he could see she was trembling. ¡°I would like to kiss you if it would be-¡±


    Henry found himself pressed against the opposite wall with Michelle¡¯s mouth pressing firmly against his. He moved his lips to kiss her, and she gasped quietly as her mouth tried to follow his lead. It was bing awkward. He pulled back slightly. Resting his fingers ever so lightly on her jaw, he leaned forward and gently stroked her lips with his. She sighed and trembled under his fingers. He pressed a little firmer and dipped the tip of his tongue between her lips. She made a cute little mew of need and slipped her tongue out to caress his. He sucked on her tongue, and she squealed, pulling back from him to take a few steps back, staring at him.


    ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡± he asked cautiously.


    She shook her head vigorously, making her lovely ebony hair swing back and forth. ¡°I must go. Thank you. Good night!¡± With that, she slipped into her unit to close and lock the door.


    He paused a moment, unsure what just happened. Michelle¡¯s assurance that he hadn¡¯t done anything wrong seemed to be refuted by her actions. Looking at her door, he sighed and moved on to his. He stepped inside and locked up. He smelled nothing to indicate his unit had been affected by thefumigation.


    He sat on the couch and wondered where his rtionship with the threedies at Sandy¡¯s ce was going. He valued their friendship, but they weren¡¯t shy in letting him know in no uncertain terms that they were interested in something a little more intimate.


    Having learned his lesson from Sandy¡¯s hair, if they wanted a physical rtionship with him he was going to have to insist on condoms and be extra diligent in preventing a reurrence of what Mary Carsten had done.


    He had to protect them. From himself.


    ***********


    The chairs around the VRL Executive boardroom table were full except Henry¡¯s. He waste for the meeting. Cam frowned at Sigrid who shrugged.


    The door at the end of the room opened, and Henry rushed inside carrying hisptop. He stopped next to Cam and began to gush. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I¡¯mte! The N- uh, agency is back to poking at our firewall again but not so vigorously-¡±


    ¡°Henry, sit down so we can start the meeting,¡± she said.


    He nodded, and his eyes flickered over to the stern expression on Mahati¡¯s face.


    He rushed to his seat and plugged hisptop into the table¡¯s built-in base station to re-establish hiswork connection. He quietly apologized to his neighbors Rosalind and Frank who both shrugged it off with smiles. He sent a nod to Sigrid and caught Roy¡¯s concerned look. He was likely still thinking about what Henry had begun to say about the NSA.


    Cam called the meeting to order, and the executives reviewed the minutes of the previous meeting then went on to speak of new items. Henry¡¯s attention kept slipping back to hisptop¡¯s screen which showed another NSA tech poking about his firewall unsessfully. Then they were gone. He checked the date stamp of thest attempt and calcted they¡¯d been at it for thirty-six straight hours almost to the second. This hacker followed the rules and ran checks for all the known exploits butcked the creativity of Kent. It was like they were only going through the motions.


    He paused. A distraction? He ran a script to look for any out of the ordinary patterns in the reports he was pulling from the server room equipment. Then he scanned the support hardware like the power backup and the Cooling system and spotted the anomaly. The chiller was working harder than usual as the web servers were consuming almost twice as much power as they typically did. It was a like a custom denial of service attack. He checked the web servers and saw some unexpected calls. Examining the records closer, he saw the exploit they were using and groaned quietly. He adjusted the firewall rules to filter all queries to the webservers against the previous cache entries to detect duplicate calls. Subsequent identical calls would now be identified as such and ignored. Once he posted the rule fix, he watched the traffic on the web servers, and they showed an immediate decrease in spurious transactions. He kept his eye on the gged reports and soon he saw the affected servers cooling as the redundant calls were skipped and the load decreased. He smiled. Clever hacker. If the server room¡¯s cooling stack hadn¡¯t been able to easilypensate for the additional heat of the overworked CPU¡¯s, they might have faced a meltdown.


    ¡°HENRY!¡±


    He jumped and looked at Cam guiltily.


    ¡°What has your attention so focused that you missed me calling to you for thest minute?¡± Cam growled.


    ¡°Sorry, the hacker just tried to overload the web servers to cause them to overheat. The server room¡¯s AC was running harder than it normally does due to the temperature increase. I blocked the redundant calls on the website, and the CPU temps are returning to their normal levels. That kind of attack won¡¯t be a threat anymore. What- what were you going to ask me?¡±


    Cam snorted. ¡°I was trying to determine if you had any ideas why we¡¯re receiving reports that our website is slow.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well¡­ that would be it. It should be back to normal shortly,¡± he remarked.


    His eyes went to Roy who had that grim look again.


    ¡°Maybe we could add that to our marketing message. Servers so secure they keep their cool even under attack.¡± Rosalind suggested cheekily, and Roy made an involuntary moan. Chuckles erupted around the table.


    ¡°Very funny but we need to deal with this persistent attacker,¡± Roy grumbled.


    Cam nodded. ¡°And we will. I have a meeting at 5 PM today with two representatives of the agency we believe is responsible. Henry, please make yourself avable for this meeting which we¡¯ll take in my office. Try not to bete for that one.¡±


    He gave her a sheepish smile. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    They moved on and, crisis averted, Henry paid attention.

 129

    When they concluded the regr meeting, Mahati once more asked for Cam, Roy, and Sigrid to remain behind foranother matter.


    Once the others had all filed out and the room was private, thewyer looked down at the table and cleared her throat.


    She looked at Cam and began. ¡°I addressed the points raised at ourst meeting with my mother. I asked how I could truly represent VRL when the Council was my client. She wasn¡¯t pleased that I was questioning her decision. I won¡¯t go into the details of our discussion, but I can sum it up by saying I¡¯m no longer associated with my mother¡¯sw firm but have begun the process of establishing a headquarters for my firm.¡±


    There was shocked silence from the others.


    ¡°I¡¯ll understand if you wish to look for alternate external counsel but I can assure you I have a tremendous breadth of knowledge and I¡¯m highly skilled.¡±


    ¡°Are you interviewing for the job?¡± Cam asked in surprise.


    Mahati looked at her questioningly then nodded slightly.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    ¡°You¡¯ve never had to interview before, have you?¡± Sigrid asked curiously.


    Mahati turned her eyes to Sigrid and shook her head cautiously.


    ¡°For an internal counsel job, you¡¯d usually bring a resume which indicates your training, skills, and work experience. For external counsel we¡¯d ask for references from your client base, interview some of them, and review your case history,¡± Sigrid said with a kind smile.


    ¡°I have worked in my mother¡¯sw firm my entire life. Since I¡¯ve been able to read. I¡¯ve read all of the legal texts and case history in the firm. I have an eidetic memory so mother had me working in research. As I insisted, I was allowed to take the bar exam which I passed easily. I¡¯ve received training as a trial attorney, but while my mother paid for the training, she never allowed me to leave the family property unsupervised. Being assigned the VRL case was my first experience in the outside world. She did not want to do it, but I forced her hand when I volunteered in the presence of the Council members.¡±


    Sigrid rocked back in surprise. ¡°Wait- what? Youvolunteered? Why did you give us such a hard time in our first meeting?¡±


    Mahati looked distinctly ufortable. ¡°It was my first time working outside the firm, and I tried to emte how I thought my mother would act. I¡¯m sorry for how I behaved that day.¡± She looked down at her hands on the table. ¡°Now that I have chosen to set my destiny, I find myself unable to return to the family estate. I stayed in a hotelst night. I didn¡¯t like it. I need to find a permanent dwelling of my own.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re looking for a ce in the city?¡± Roy asked, and she nodded. ¡°How are you fixed for funds?¡±


    ¡°I have personal investments and ounts. Separate from my mother¡¯s ounts andpletely under my control. I have¡­ sufficient funds,¡± Mahati said acknowledging Roy¡¯s question. She looked at Sigrid who was looking at her with a strange smile on her face. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Are you aware ofAngelus Vindictae Ultrices?¡± Sigrid asked her and Cam turned her head to look to her HR Chief in surprise.


    Mahati searched her memory and found an obscure reference from an ancient Hidden Racesw book she¡¯d read as a child. ¡°Yes, it covers the transference of property rights of the demonically possessed to an avenging angel.¡± She paused as she looked for an urrence of its use. ¡°Thatw hasn¡¯t been enacted in a long time. Not for¡­ three decades. Thest case was in Italy. A small vige-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough. She has my vote,¡± Sigrid said with a smile. Cam and Roy looked at her in surprise. ¡°Thatst case was my mother. She dispatched a demon who¡¯d taken the ce of the vige¡¯s magistrate. She still lives in the vi on that mountain.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the trip down memoryne Sigrid, but I think I¡¯ll need to think on this. Oftenwsuits can be avoided just because the name of thew firm strikes fear into the opponent. That¡¯s one of the goals of having outside counsel.¡±


    Sigrid shrugged with her enigmatic smile. ¡°That wasn¡¯t my only reason for mentioning it. I¡¯m now in possession of a very nice two bedroom condo in Henry¡¯s building. To be precise, the unit next to his.¡±


    Cam gawked at her. ¡°A demon was living next to Henry?¡±


    The tall blond nodded. ¡°The original upant was a bridge troll. Festil Vlodsky. No family which simplifies the Humanw side of things. Not sure when the Demon moved in and reced him.¡± She looked to Mahati. ¡°The point is, if you¡¯re interested I¡¯ll sell you this condo for market value with no markup.¡±


    Mahati blinked at Sigrid in surprise. ¡°Is it in Manhattan?¡±


    Sigrid snorted in amusement. ¡°No, if you want a condo in Manhattan you¡¯re on your own. There, the avability is minimal, and the cost is maximum. For Stanley, we found a great building in Jersey City with a lovely view of Manhattan. If you want, you can join me at the unit tonight to take a look. I¡¯ll be doing my own cleansing of the condo to ensure no remnants of the demon remain. The clean-up crew is exceptionally thorough, but this demon was particrly sneaky and foul! I want to ensure the next tenant receives a purified home.¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you keeping the condo for yourself?¡± Mahati asked.


    ¡°I own a brownstone in Manhattan. It¡¯s all I need,¡± Sigrid said with a smile.


    Mahati nodded to Sigrid and received a smile from the blond. She then turned to Cam. ¡°I will leave you to contemte the option of hiring my firm¡¯s services. I can assure you, what Ick in established reputation, I exceed in professional expertise.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your firm called?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°M. Chandra, LLP.¡±


    Roy smiled at Cam. ¡°Is that intimidating enough for you? Her mum¡¯s firm is Chandra, LLP.¡±


    ¡°How did you get away with that?¡± Cam asked.


    Mahati raised a perfect brow. ¡°It¡¯s my name. Besides I registered it years ago before I knew my mother had no intention of allowing me to leave the research department of her firm.¡±


    Comprehension dawn on Roy¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re her archive! Like the backup technology, Henry set up for us! Mahati¡¯s mum hadher! You remember everything with absolute recall?¡± Thewyer nodded. Roy looked to Cam. ¡°She has my vote too.¡±


    Cam looked a little worried. ¡°As youareso valuable to your mother, are you confident she won¡¯t try to interfere with your new found independence to draw you back to her employ?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m certain she will attempt it, but very was abolished quite some time ago, and now that I¡¯vee to my senses, I will not return to a life of false promises and servitude.¡±


    Cam watched her for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m leaning towards epting your offer, but I¡¯m going to have to go through the contract again. It wasn¡¯t written for signing on a new legal entity. That introduces some risk to VRL. I need to refactor the contract to address this. And before this, I still want to get Marisa¡¯s impression of you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to do that now if you can guarantee she won¡¯t divulge anything she sees to anyone, including myself,¡± thewyer said firmly.


    Cam nodded and called Marisa to join them in the boardroom.


    Mahati tried to keep a calm expression on her face as she addressed Cam. ¡°How many times have you called upon your daughter to do this?¡±


    Cam shook her head. ¡°This is actually the first time.¡±


    There was a knock then Marisa entered and walked over to the table. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m considering taking on Ms. Chandra as VRL¡¯s external counsel. Before I do, I would like you to read her potentials- just to get an impression from her. Nothing more!¡± She hurried toplete her request as Marisa¡¯s eyes red with anger. ¡°Should I or shouldn¡¯t I, based on the overall weight of the impressions you receive. Thepany is potentially cing itself at risk with an unprovenw firm. The final decision is mine.¡±


    Marisa was struggling to control her breathing as this was precisely what she¡¯d wanted to avoid. Cam saw her unease. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to ask this of you. If it wasn¡¯t so important, I wouldn¡¯t have asked.¡±


    ¡°Are you unwilling to do this?¡± Mahati asked curiously and with a little relief.


    Marisa closed her eyes, took a deep, slow breath and opened them to look into Mahati¡¯s nervous eyes. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I have no desire to be thepany Oracle as my abilities are untrained. I can see potentials very strongly, but I cannot interpret them. Assigning a value to them is something I¡¯m not entirelyfortable with,¡± she said stiffly.


    ¡°Oh! I don¡¯t want to know what you see,¡± Mahati blurted.


    Marisa nodded, understanding. ¡°Then I suggest you keep your eyes closed as I can¡¯t promise what I see won¡¯t show in my expression.¡±


    Thewyer froze then nodded. ¡°What do I need to do?¡± She stood to face Marisa.


    ¡°Nothing. Just hold out your hands and close your eyes,¡± Marisa said. She saw Mahati was prepared, so she gave her mother one more annoyed look, took Mahati¡¯s hands in hers, then released her control on her sight. The room exploded with the potentials of the people around the table. Mahati¡¯s were clearer due to their physical contact, but the noise was difficult to filter out.

 130

    She closed her eyes, released the hands, and pushed her talent back into a parked state. ¡°Please move a little distance from the table so I can put my back to it,¡± she instructed, and Mahati opened her eyes and stepped away from the table. Thewyer immediately closed them again. Marisa faced away from the others and took Mahati¡¯s hands as she opened her sight once more.


    Now the potentials bursting forth were only those of the woman before her. As usual, the images made no sense to her as they ovepped so densely. But she was able to feel the power radiating from them. As this was her first time reading a wielder, there was spice, texture, and weight to the reading she¡¯d never experienced before.


    She opened her mind to the flow of images and let them sh by. She was relieved there were no dark streaks like she saw in Henry¡¯s aura. Mahati¡¯s was an explosion of brilliant colors! The only darkness was a grey haze surrounding the impression of a stern, dark-skinned older woman who resembled Mahati. Then images of the VRL execs shed by with a prismatic burst, and Henry red within this.


    Suddenly, a wave of intense emotions hit Marisa. She sucked in a deep breath. They swept through her, and she gasped softly as a bubble of profound longing gripped her, then vanished. Layers of different emotions surfaced and burst, most were deliciously positive, and all tried to pull her inside. Marisa struggled to remain separate from the torrent of Mahati¡¯s emotions as the intimacy was too intense.


    Another burst of images of Henry shed in her mind, painted with the emotions. She gasped again as the intensity took her breath away and she found herself frantically sifting through theyers to see where the feelings were anchored, to know what they meant. They rang crisp and sweet in her mind, but she couldn¡¯t hold onto them. The effort drained her, her muscles protested, and she lost her grip on Mahati¡¯s hands as her legs gave out.


    Cam caught her before she fell but had to ease her down as her legs continued to shake.


    Marisa felt genuine respect and affection for Mahati, but her intellect rejected that as- it couldn¡¯t be real. She hadn¡¯t spent any time with her to honestlyknowthe woman. The one-sided intimacy left her confused and dazed. She finally opened her eyes as she heard her mother whispering questions of concern in her ear. She nodded and lifted her eyes to the woman she¡¯d justread.


    Mahati looked stricken as she watched Marisa¡¯s reaction.


    Marisa caught the expression and shook her head gently with a weary smile. Conflicted by her emotional state, she realized she¡¯d have to let that go. It had no meaning in this circumstance.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I was just caught off guard by the strength of the reading, not by what I saw. It was my first time reading a wielder,¡± she said breathily.


    ¡°Oh! Oh, is that good?¡± thewyer asked with a trembling voice.


    Ignoring thewyer¡¯s question, Marisa looked into her mother¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You should.¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes widened in surprise at the strength of conviction she saw in Marisa¡¯s eyes. She gave her a little nod. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She helped her up, and Marisa nodded to the group and left, walking a little stiffly.


    When she saw the door close behind her daughter, Cam turned to the group. ¡°I believe I¡¯m ready to proceed now.¡±


    Mahati smiled a little shakily and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for the revised draft. In the interim, I ask that you do not sign any documentation from my mother¡¯s firm. She is not above strong-arm tactics to get what she wants.¡±


    Cam nodded. ¡°We¡¯re used to dealing with characters like that, aren¡¯t we Roy.¡±


    Roy just gave the CEO a sour look. He¡¯d be happier with fewer dealings with them.


    ************


    Dayshia was going to bete for work, and it was all Henry¡¯s fault!


    She¡¯d had the strangest dreams all night and she¡¯d woken in an¡­ excited state. In them, she was running from a ram-horned Satyr. The one they¡¯d seen in the shared vision at Sandy¡¯s ce. While she still wasn¡¯tfortable with what happened that night, she¡¯d stopped denying it happened.


    While she was dreaming, she hadn¡¯t been afraid so much as nervously excited about what it would do to her when it caught her. It was more sexy than dangerous.


    When it finally did, it swept her up in its powerful arms and kissed her until she was left panting. She pulled back from the kiss and Henry was smiling down at her with a hungry look in his eye.


    Of course, the image of being carried in powerful arms came from when Henry took his neighbor Michelle into the bedroom the day before. That had been so hot! The kiss in her dream had almost been as intense as the one she¡¯d shared with Henry as he left.


    Her toes wanted to curl even now as she thought about it. Damn! He was a good kisser, and the feel of his hard body against her softer one was so delicious, including the massive bulge she¡¯d rubbed against¡­ SHIT! She was distracting herself again!


    She hurried forward to rush down the stairs into the subway. She paid her fare and made it down to the tform where she heard her train approaching in the tunnel.


    Shit! Her phone!


    Dayshia opened her cavernous purse and began digging furiously.


    She couldn¡¯t go to work without her cell!


    -=-


    A short distance from the dark-skinned beauty, a skater punk leaned up against the wall, his backpack with a skateboard on his back, and watched her from under the brim of his hat.


    Rohann was wearing the youthful mor over his far more austere features. As a Fae assassin, he had numerous disposable mors avable to switch to in an instant to prevent observation and capture.


    Ikehorn had given explicit instructions that the female was not to be killed but must suffer a severe injury that would require Fae intervention to survive. Killing her would have been simpler, but he was a consummate professional. He rarely turned down a task and couldn¡¯t turn down one from the Queen¡¯s man. His spotter, Dalewin, was on the opposite tform in the mor of a pregnant Asian woman. He was watching the target and indicated to his partner by sying his fingers on his domed tummy that the female was prime for taking. Even from behind Rohann could tell she was distracted.


    He eased himself forward casually, listening to the sound of the approaching train, timing his approach so he would be in the perfect position to engage the target. She was going to strike the side of the trainafterit entered the station but while it still had sufficient forward momentum to cause the head trauma they needed. Observing her size and estimating her mass he gauged the amount of force he would need to apply to her shoulder des in a shove to get her tounch forward head first into the train. He was ready. ncing at his spotter, he saw the ok sign, a circr stroke across the tummy.


    The tform was crowded but not so packed that he¡¯d have difficulty escaping.


    The train rushed into the tform and Rohann counted while the woman continued to hunt through her purse. He couldn¡¯t have nned this better. Casually bringing his hands forward to the straps of his pack, his countdown was rapidly ending in three¡­ two¡­ one.


    With a frustrated grunt, the woman spun in ce.


    Rohann¡¯s perfectly timed and weighted thrust earned him tworge handfuls of soft tit. He couldn¡¯t prevent the automatic squeeze reflex. He looked up into shocked and outraged eyes as his jaw dropped in surprise.


    The heavy purse struck him on the left temple, and he went down hard, bouncing the right side of his face against the cement tform. Stars exploded then his mind slid into darkness.


    -=-


    The police officer took Dayshia¡¯s statement as his partner cuffed the groggy perp.


    ¡°I was hunting in my purse for my phone. When I couldn¡¯t find it, I turned around, and this little creep grabbed my chest! He grabbed and squeezed! Hard! It was almost painful!¡±


    The officer was struggling to keep from staring at her generous bosom and the thought of grabbing her himself was almost irresistible. He kept his eyes on his notes as he scribbled them down.


    ¡°Listen I have to go home to get my cell, and I¡¯mte for work-¡±


    A muted ringing came from within therge bag. Frowning, she looked inside again and opened an inner zipper to discover her ringing phone. She saw it was her boss calling. She nodded to the officer and answered it.


    ¡°Hi, Margaret.¡±


    ¡°Dayshia? Is everything ok?¡± her voice said cautiously.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry for beingte. I was assaulted on the train tform. I¡¯m giving the police my statement, then I¡¯ll be right in,¡± Dayshia exined.


    ¡°Assaulted! Are you hurt?¡± her boss gasped in shock.


    ¡°No. A creep just grabbed my chest!¡± Dayshia said in outrage.


    ¡°Oh! Well, I told you they would get you in trouble one day!¡± Margaret said cheekily.


    ¡°Very funny. I¡¯ll be in soon. Again, sorry for beingte.¡±


    ¡°Not your fault¡­ this time,¡± Margaret said with a smile in her voice.


    Dayshia hung up and looked to the officer who was staring at her cleavage. She bounced her tits once, and his eyes shot back to hers to see her frowning at him. ¡°Are we finished?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have your information so we¡¯ll be in contact,¡± the man said, unable to keep his eyes from dipping once more as he spoke.


    Dayshia snorted and moved to enter the train that just arrived. Men were such ves to their dicks.


    Her mind went back to a particr shape she¡¯d felt pressing against herst night, and she grinned to herself wickedly.


    As the train pulled out of the station, she missed seeing the police running for the stairs to catch the fleeing skater punk who¡¯d somehow got free of his cuffs. He bumped a pregnant Asian woman who almost fell on the stairs and blocked the police from continuing the chase.

 131

    Henry was mentally absorbed by a code trace when he heard someone calling his name. He looked towards the closed door and heard it again with a knock this time. He got up and opened the door to see Marisa giving him an exasperated re.


    ¡°You called?¡± he asked hesitantly.


    She pushed past him and marched over to his desk to look at his phone. With a frustrated snort, she poked a button to disable it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t press this button! It prevents me from reaching you on the inte!¡± she growled softly.


    He moved closer to see which button she was pointing at. ¡°I thought that was the Forward to Voicemail button.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s the next one down. This one is the Do Not Disturb button! How can someone so brilliant withputers get so confused with the phone system?¡± she insisted.


    He couldn¡¯t help but stare in awe as her beauty shone through her ire.


    Seeing the adoration on his face, she sighed and shook her finger at him. ¡°Push that button again without telling me first, and I¡¯ll have it disabled!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Marisa,¡± he said meekly but with a little smile on his lips.


    ¡°You have a visitor. I¡¯m sending him in.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Henry looked at the clock. The day was getting away from him again.


    A momentter Henry was looking at a vaguely familiar face which was smiling cautiously at him. The man walked in and closed the door behind himself.


    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s you!¡± Henry gasped.


    ¡°Nate Walker. Henry Gable, yes?¡± Nate said holding his hand out to shake.


    Henry shook it then gestured for him to sit. He took his chair and paused for a second. ¡°Hang on.¡± He pressed the inte button. ¡°Marisa?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°How am I going to have aprivateconversation with Nate?¡± he asked, holding the eyes of the other man who looked back curiously at him.


    Henry heard a click, then his door opened. Marisa looked him in the eye then touched his door jamb then tapped it. Then she closed the door once more. His phone beeped, and he activated the speaker. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Privacy has been activated. Until the door opens again,¡± Marisa said.


    ¡°Ah! Thank you!¡±


    After the click, Henry looked across at a man who¡¯d shared the most profound, life-altering experience with him.


    ¡°How did those condoms work out for you?¡± Nate asked with a grin.


    Stanley snorted in surprise at the question and smiled back at him. ¡°Not the first thing I expected you to ask.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ not sure where to begin.¡± He gestured over his shoulder at the door. ¡°Isn¡¯t closing the door enough to have a private conversation?¡±


    Henry sighed. ¡°My office¡­ ensures I don¡¯t say anything about the¡­¡± He lifted his eyes to the ceiling speaker. ¡°¡­ Hidden Races.¡± When the speaker remained quiet, he rxed. At Nate¡¯s confused look, he exined as he pointed to the ceiling. ¡°The speaker emits a sharp tone any time I say something I shouldn¡¯t. It¡¯s a training aid since I grew up oblivious to the existence of the Hidden Races and the reality of magic.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s so hard not to say the wrong thing!¡± Nate gushed.


    ¡°The trick is to ignore it. I never wanted anything to do with any of this. Still don¡¯t, to be honest. It¡¯s easier to keep being human,¡± Henry sighed.


    ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re not,¡± Nate rified.


    ¡°Right, but it¡¯s ok to act as if you were because that¡¯s what protects everyone,¡± Henry said.


    Nate nodded. ¡°You were at the marina. Part of the team who rescued me. I was on the ship with Sigrid, and we saw someone big crash through the gatehouse and charge down the pier right at Oletha. Sigrid said it was you. You looked totally badass!¡±


    Henry squirmed. ¡°I have no memory of that. I can¡¯t remember anything from a few minutes before that happened to when I woke up in Sigrid¡¯s guest room.¡±


    ¡°The lights went out, so I don¡¯t know how you got past Oletha. When I got down to the dock the big redhead dude, uh¡­ Roy, he was fishing you out of the water with Siobhan¡¯s help.¡± Nate said with a grin.


    Henry shrugged and changed the subject. ¡°I was told that you¡¯re from the past as well. Did you grow up with human parents?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re amazing! They told me I was adopted, but I had no real interest in finding my birth parents. I call them every once in a while, but I haven¡¯t visited my folks in months. Guess I¡¯m a bad son,¡± he said with a guilty smile. ¡°How about you?¡±


    ¡°I grew up with Baba Yaga.¡±


    Nate¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Isn¡¯t she supposed to be some kind of Uber Witch or something?¡±


    ¡°To me, she was just my baba¡­ grandmother. I only found out a short time ago that she¡¯d collected me from my parents¡­ an extremely long time ago. I grew up here, in the present. She¡¯s since¡­ disconnected herself from my life now, too.¡±


    Nate saw the sadness in Henry¡¯s eyes and realized he¡¯d definitely gotten the better deal, parent-wise at least. He wasn¡¯t sure what to say about that. He looked around the office. ¡°I hear you¡¯re good withputers.¡±


    Henry gave him a small smile and shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m a tech nerd. Except for office telephones apparently. Ipletely lucked out to get a job with Cam¡¯spany. Landing the CIO role right out of college was a fantasye true!¡±


    ¡°Speaking of fantasies, how did you end up with Marisa as your assistant?¡± Nate asked with a broad smile.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Luck beyond anything I have ever experienced before. She was the executive assistant to the previous CIO, and she¡¯s as brilliant as she is lovely. She gets tech. After we reced all the servers and workstations, I asked her why she didn¡¯t take the job for herself, but she said that while she understands much of it, she doesn¡¯t have the desire to create and manage awork. She is a savant at organizing, so she helped me bring VRL from severe technical debt to cutting edge in a very brief period of time.¡± He realized he¡¯d been gushing and Nate was grinning at him.


    ¡°Me thinks youlikeyour executive assistant!¡± Nate chuckled.


    Henry squirmed some more. ¡°Of course, I do! What¡¯s not to like!¡±


    Nate leaned back in this chair and locked eyes with Henry who watched him cautiously.


    ¡°What do you like to do for fun, Henry? Dance clubs? Base jumping? Running naked through Central Park at night?¡±


    Henryughed as he recalled Queen Mab¡¯s insistence that he refrain from doing dangerous things. ¡°I¡¯m just learning to dance. I¡¯ve been to a dance club once. Someone spiked my drink and the evening went downhill from that point. Mostly, I¡¯m pretty sedentary. Most of my hobbies revolve aroundputers.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a gamer?¡± Nate asked with raised brows.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m more into researching thetest trends and coding.¡±


    Nate grinned. ¡°A serious young man! But you like dancing?¡±


    ¡°Learning to,¡± Henry nodded.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Nate smiled and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Would you be resistant to the idea of enjoying another night out at a dance club?¡±


    ¡°No, I intend to give it another try. Did you and your friends end up going out that night we met in the drug store?¡± Henry asked curiously.


    Nate barked augh. ¡°You mean the night you had two tigresses fighting each other for the chance to party with you?¡±


    Henry blushed and nodded.


    ¡°Naw, once the police got thedies sorted out and took our statements none of us felt like hitting the club,¡± Nate said with a shrug.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Henry said, knowing he¡¯d been the cause for thedies losing their cool.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Not your fault! Anyway, it worked out for the best as we decided to go to more upscale clubs. That¡¯s where I met Marisa and Siobhan. My life is looking better already! I had a job interview, and next week I start my new job. This is thanks to a reference Sigrid gave me. Everyone at VRL has been so amazing!¡±


    Henry fondly smiled as he thought of his newfamily. ¡°Yes, theyarethe best! It¡¯s great to have such good friends!¡± Henry thought he should ask Nate a question, so he fumbled through one of his own. ¡°What, ah, how do you rx and recharge?¡±


    Nate smiled. ¡°I visit art galleries and just soak in the talent.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows went up in surprise. ¡°Museums too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, originally I went to them to meet women and learn how to talk about art intelligently as thedies like that. I frequently went until one day I discovered I truly enjoyed appreciating art! I fell in love with the work of the masters, and I became a bit of an expert on them if I do say so myself.¡± He gave Henry a grin which faded as he continued. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t visit them anymore.¡± At Henry¡¯s curious look he exined. ¡°I dated some of thedies who work at therger museums and¡­ it didn¡¯t end well. Now, they can be a little¡­ resentful when I show up.¡±


    Nate didn¡¯t want to talk about that, so he thought of his friends instead and recalled the conversation he¡¯d had with Cam about them. ¡°You¡¯ve met my crew, well¡­ some of them. They¡¯re lots of fun. I think you¡¯d have a great time with them too. You should join us when we hit the clubs.¡± Henry smiled and nodded, so he continued his thought. ¡°Do you hang out with anyone?¡±


    Henry¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Yes! I met a neighbor in the building I live in, and she invited me to hang out with her friends. They all work together in a hospital.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we could all go to a club and get to know each other?¡± Nate suggested.


    Henry nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll see if they¡¯re up for that.¡±


    ¡°Great! Just to let you know, all my old friends are human,¡± he said.


    ¡°My friends are human too,¡± Henry stated.


    Nate nodded. ¡°So¡­ Cam dropped a bomb on me recently. She told me my lifespan as an Incubus could run into multiple centuries. All of my friends are going to grow old and die while it will seem like I don¡¯t age at all. She told me that before the age disparity bes evident to them, I¡¯ll have to move on.¡±


    Henry¡¯s smile slipped away. ¡°Did she say how long Satyr¡¯s live?¡±


    Nate shook his head. ¡°She didn¡¯t know. I guess it¡¯s going to be await and seething. If you age at the same rate as them or close to it, then you get to keep your friends for that lifespan.¡± Now it was Nate¡¯s turn to look a little sad.


    ¡°Shit,¡± Henry sighed. ¡°It¡¯s cool to think about getting to see the future but without my friends?¡±

 132

    ¡°I know. Not every discovery I¡¯ve made about my new state of being has been wee news,¡± Nate sighed.


    ¡°The same for me. Almost none of it was wee,¡± Henry said. They were both quiet for a bit.


    Nate suddenly grinned. ¡°Listen to us pathetic losers! Boohoo! We¡¯re magic-infused miracles, surrounded by sexy, beautifuldies who seem to be earnest in their desire for us to be happy!¡± Henry snorted in surprise and couldn¡¯t stop the smile from slipping onto his lips. Nate nodded to him. ¡°That¡¯s better! Take it as ites and make the best of every situation, I¡¯ve always said!¡± he finished with a bark ofughter.


    ¡°I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,¡± Henry said, quoting his favorite movie but imitating Bogart poorly.


    Nate gave a pained groan as he grimaced yfully. ¡°Buddy, you¡¯vegotto work on your impressions.¡±


    Henry shrugged with a grin. He liked being abuddy.


    ¡°Give me your cell number, and I¡¯ll give you mine. When you¡¯ve spoken with your friends about it we can make arrangements to meet at a club,¡± Nate suggested pulling his new cell phone out.


    Henry saw it was the same model as his. ¡°Hey, good choice,¡± he said gesturing with his phone.


    Nate nodded, and they swapped numbers. ¡°Hey, listen, I know you¡¯re an important CIO and all, so I¡¯ll get out of your hair for now but give me a call if you want to hang out or just want to talk, ok?¡±


    ¡°Will do! Thanks!¡± Henry said. He stood and shook Nate¡¯s hand.


    Nate moved to the door and opened it. He looked back at Henry with a mischievous grin. ¡°Subus,¡± he said quietly, and the ceiling speaker squealed. He winced andughed at Henry¡¯s flinch.


    Shaking his head, Henry sat back down at his desk once Nate was gone. He tried to get his head back into the code spelunking, but he kept grinning as his thoughts returned to how much fun it would to have Nate as a friend.


    That made him think of his human friends and his smile slowly faded. He pressed the inte.


    ¡°Yes, Mr. Gable?¡±


    ¡°Could youe in here please?¡± he asked. When Marisa appeared in the doorway, he pointed to the door jamb questioningly, and she understood. She activated the privacy rune, stepped inside, and closed the door.


    ¡°Nate told me that he¡¯s going to live a long time. He said that I might too,¡± he began, holding her eyes with his.


    ¡°It¡¯s a possibility. We don¡¯t know the lifespan of a Satyr,¡± she said gently.


    ¡°What about Sandy? Could I have altered her lifespan with the Wild Magic?¡± he asked nervously.


    Marisa shook her head. ¡°I seriously doubt it. She doesn¡¯t have a powerful magic scent which would indicate a strong feed linkage. I¡¯m surprised that her hair hasn¡¯t gone back to normal already. This proves she¡¯s connected but just enough to maintain the minimal level of animation for her hair.¡± She gave him a serious look. ¡°You must prevent further exposure to additional Wild Magic.¡±


    Henry nodded vigorously. Having seen what happened with just a small drop, the thought of what would happen to Sandy with arger sample terrified him.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Marisa asked.


    He saw she was giving him a concerned look. ¡°I¡¯m feeling fine. Back to normal. Well, as normal as I get,¡± he said with a smile. He was d to see her smile return.


    ¡°Are you and Nate going to hang out together?¡± she asked.


    He nodded. ¡°I think so. He has arge group of friends, and they go dancing a lot. I¡¯m going to ask Sandy and her group toe along. Maybe you and Siobhan could join us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to go dancing with you!¡± Marisa said. ¡°Let me know when you n to go.¡±


    Henry¡¯s PC pinged at him with an instant message from Eve Summerly from ounting. He was working on the automation of some reports for her and he needed to get back to it. He gave Marisa an apologetic smile, and she nodded and stood.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to it,¡± she said with a smile.


    ¡°Thanks, Marisa!¡± he replied, returning her smile.


    He sighed and read the message from Eve. The smile remained on his lips. He reallydidlove his job.


    He just hoped the craziness in his life that distracted him from this stuff would finally settle down or better yet, leave him alone.


    ************Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Before she headed home, Marisa reminded him of his 5 PM meeting. He thanked her and made a quick note in the code¡­ and a tweak here¡­ before putting a bookmark in the file he was reviewing. He¡¯d pick up from there in the morning.


    He locked up and walked down the hall into Cam¡¯s waiting room. Henry found it odd that Felix wasn¡¯t at his desk. He was always in before Cam and left only after she did. Still, Henry had a 5 PM meeting which he was not going to be¡­ he nced at his phone. SHIT! He was a minutete!


    He knocked quickly then pushed inside. ¡°Sorry I¡¯mte-¡±


    The first thing that hit him was a wave of pheromones. He was almost instantly hard and stumbled a step or two into the room. What he saw shocked himpletely!


    Cam was pushed over the front of her desk, her dress in tatters, as a dark-haired naked man fucked her from behind. He was pulling at her hair violently and pping her reddened ass. A second naked person, a red-haired woman, was doing her best to swallow the man¡¯s tongue as she frantically ground herself against the man¡¯s hip. She was also pping Cam¡¯s other ass cheek cruelly.


    Henry didn¡¯t hear the usual moans and groans from Cam. She was screaming and crying, but the couple paid her no heed. She bent her head around to look at him, and he saw tears running down her face.


    ¡°HENRY! GET HELP!¡± she cried as she pped something on her desk. His ears popped with a sudden change in air pressure.


    He staggered back as the two rapists turned to look at him with crazed looks in their eyes. Bouncing off the door jamb, Henry spun and raced down the hall. He heard the soft thump of feet hitting the carpet behind him.


    ¡°HELP!¡± he yelled and almost instantly the two security staff from the elevator lobby were racing towards him.


    ¡°Drop!¡± one yelled, and he instantly threw himself down to sprawl out on the floor as the two leapt over him. He heard a gun go off and a deep growl then the sound of impacts. Silence followed. Henry turned and saw the guards zip tying the unconscious naked couple. He tried to stand to run back to Cam, but a hand caught his shoulder. He looked up into Roy¡¯s concerned face.


    ¡°Cam-¡± Henry began, but Roy stopped him.


    ¡°Lad, I need you to go downstairs and wait for me in the lobby.¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°She called me upstairs. I¡¯ll deal with this. Please, Henry. Wait for me downstairs. Don¡¯t say anything to anyone. I¡¯ll take your statement of what you saw shortly.¡±


    He looked at the big redhead and nodded slowly. ¡°Sure, ok. I¡¯ll be there.¡± Roy helped him to his feet, and he walked to the elevator and rode it down to the lobby. He wobbled over to the guest chairs and dropped into one. His mind was spinning. Cam? Raped?!? It made no sense! She was a Subus! He closed his eyes and tried to settle his thoughts.


    He didn¡¯t see the woman who entered the building and headed straight for him.


    -=-


    Roy watched Henry leave and sighed. He didn¡¯t like doing it, but it was best for thed not to know, yet.


    He nodded to his men and noted one was sporting a bullet wound on his arm. It looked like a through and through. ¡°Get some pictures of that and find the slug.¡± He walked past and found Cam sitting on her couch with a nket wrapped around her. Conscious of the camera recording his words and movements he knelt at her feet. ¡°We¡¯ve caught the two rapists. How are you?¡±


    ¡°I was RAPED! How do you think I feel!¡± she screamed, as she held his eyes. She nodded almost imperceptibly.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to call the police-¡±


    ¡°Wait! Wait¡­ just wait.¡± Cam gasped.


    Roy picked up the lingering scent of her pheromones. The vents were going full speed now, but she must have pushed hard to create enough to saturate therge room with enough to break past the agent¡¯s natural inhibitions to get them to a state of raw impulse. She must be exhausted.


    Cam sighed. ¡°They were NSA. We need to call the Director. He needs to deal with this. I don¡¯t want this all over the news, and I don¡¯t need my reputation sullied either.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked.


    ¡°YES!¡± she snapped.


    Roy stood and frowned. He looked towards her desk. ¡°I¡¯m taking the meeting recording for your protection.¡±


    She nodded, and he walked to the desk and entered a code on the keyboard to stop the cameras. He confirmed it had saved and saw the recording wasplete. ¡°Ok, we¡¯re clear.¡±


    She finally rxed. ¡°Good! How¡¯s Henry?¡± She wasn¡¯t faking the bruises, scratches, and exhaustion but the victim attitude had been an act.


    ¡°Really shaken. I¡¯ve asked Henry to wait for me down in the lobby,¡± Roy said.


    Cam looked at him in surprise. ¡°The lobby? Why not in your office?¡±


    ¡°Thed¡¯s too bright, and there are too many screens linked to cameras in there. We need to exin this to him carefully, not have him stumble upon it and get the wrong idea. By the way, one of mine was shot through the arm.¡±


    ¡°Did you get pictures before he healed himself?¡± Roy nodded. ¡°I¡¯m going to make the call,¡± Cam said moving to her desk. Roy remained in the office but stayed quiet as she navigated her way through the gauntlet of assistants until she was speaking to Director Yosman directly.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor, this had better be damn important as I was about to speak with the President,¡± the man barked.


    ¡°Your agents, Kaiba and Sparling came to visit me this afternoon. They made some bold usations about mypany, myself, one of my employees, and then they began with threats. They became physically abusive and finally raped me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s preposterous! There is no way in hell these agents would have done such a thing! I don¡¯t know what game you¡¯re ying.¡±

 133

    ¡°GAME! This isn¡¯t a game! What they did to me WASN¡¯T A GAME!¡± Cam roared then took some deep breaths. ¡°The meeting was recorded. Video. Audio.¡± She cued up the recording to the spot where she¡¯d pushed the agents beyond their ability to resist their impulses.


    ¡°So, it¡¯s to be ckmail from some fabricated evidence.¡±


    Cam pressed y. ¡°You fucking whore! Yosman wants the software, and you¡¯re going to give us what we want! Come here. I said FUCKING COME HERE!¡± There was a sound of a hand striking skin and Cam¡¯s cry of pain. She stopped the yback and looked to Roy who nodded appreciatively at her acting.


    They heard a choking sound of the director trying to contain his reaction. ¡°What do you want?¡± the man said quietly, surprised and shaken by his recognition of Kaiba¡¯s voice.


    ¡°I want you to deal with them! I don¡¯t want this video to go public. I don¡¯t want to go to the police. I don¡¯t need my reputation marred by this! I want you toe here to take your people away. I want assurances from you that they¡¯ll receive punishment for their actions! I want an apology from you for what they did to me.¡± Her voice broke a little on thest demand.


    There was silence on the other end for a moment. ¡°Where are my agents?¡±


    ¡°Our in-house security managed to catch them and secured them. One of my people was shot in the arm by your agent in the process. When can you be here?¡±


    More silence then quiet cursing. ¡°I¡¯ll be there in ny minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Cam said and hung up. She looked to Roy. ¡°Henry-¡±


    Roy¡¯s cell vibrated, and he lifted it to his ear. ¡°Roy.¡± His expression went dark. ¡°Shit! Tell everyone to back off! Nobody touches her!¡± He hung up and looked to Cam. ¡°The one who helped me in the alley behind Sigrid¡¯s is in the lobby. She grabbed Henry, and now she¡¯s tossing my people around.¡± He ran for the elevator.


    He hoped she was still there when he arrived.


    -=-


    Mary walked in the front door of VRL and stood for a moment watching the workers on their way home. It was the end of the day after all. Mostly, they seemed happy. Could mean it was a nice ce to work or that they were relieved to leave.


    She spotted Henry on one of the guest chairs, resting his eyes. He didn¡¯t look happy. Maybe he¡¯d learned one of VRL¡¯s dark secrets that drove a New York Detective to an early grave. She marched over to stand next to his chair and red down at him. He still hadn¡¯t noticed her, but her frustration was bubbling to the surface. Finally, she kicked his chair, and he yelled out in fright, wide eyes looked up at her in fear. His overreaction triggered a release of her nervous energy. She reached down, grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet. She pulled him in close to snarl in his face.


    ¡°What did you do to me?!?¡±


    He looked around the lobby at the people stopping to gape at them. He looked back to her and shook his head. That wasn¡¯t what she wanted to hear. She gave him a shake. ¡°What happened to me?¡±


    Henry tried to lean closer to whisper to her, but she just shook him again. ¡°Speak up!¡±


    He was beginning to look a little panicked when she heard a voice behind her. ¡°Step away from Mr. Gable.¡± She nced over her shoulder to see a couple ofrge men in dark suits. They had the bruiser aura about them of security goons.


    ¡°Piss off, I¡¯m talking to him,¡± she snapped.


    ¡°Last warning,¡± the other security agent growled quietly. Additional agents were entering the lobby to shepherd the bystanders out the front door and to direct those exiting the elevators to leave by the rear entrance. Soon they had the space to themselves.


    ¡°I said piss off!¡± She shoved Henry, and he dropped into the chair once more.


    That was all the guards were waiting for. They jumped on her and quickly learned she wasn¡¯t going to be a simple takedown. She was surprisingly strong!


    Mary spent the afternoon at a boxing gym sparring with anyone willing to get into the ring with her. She threw very few punches but took them hour after hour until no one wanted to try to take her on. She¡¯d worn out every opponent and left the gym feeling like she might ignite with the energy she contained. When she¡¯d walked behind enemy lines, she felt like she was armed with atomic bombs.


    She mmed the two men together then shoved them to send them tumbling. Another guard leapt forward andnded a brutal right to her chin, but she just grinned and stepped inside his reach to hit him with a rapid series of rabbit punches to his ribs. He copsed as one broke. Mary was caught in a flying tackle and crashed into the hard, polished stone floor. She drove her knee up into the man¡¯s crotch and hit him in the kidneys making him cry out. She shoved him aside, rolling to her knees and was preparing to leap back to her feet when Henry dropped to his knees before her and wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug.


    ¡°Please! I can tell you everything you need to know, but it has to be in private!¡± he pleaded quickly into her ear.


    With an explosive snort, she pushed him away, her anger and frustration not ready to be swayed by sweet words. He tumbled into the chairs to clock his head against a sharp metal corner, gashing the back of his scalp. He winced and touched the area and saw blood on his hand.


    She got to her feet and gestured for the next opponent to give her a try, but they all just stood back.


    ¡°Fucking cowards!¡± she raged.


    ¡°No, just well disciplined,¡± therge redhead she¡¯d met before said as he strode through their midst to reach Henry. He pressed a handkerchief to Henry¡¯s wound and moved Henry¡¯s hand to hold it in ce. Then he stood to face the woman who bested his crew.


    ¡°Did youe here to beat people up or is there something I can help you with?¡± he asked.


    She red at him as frustration surged within her. ¡°Detective Harmon is dead. Something terrified him so much he couldn¡¯t live with it. Something involving VRL. Now he¡¯s dead.¡± She was surprised to see the sadness appear in the big man¡¯s eyes. He was genuinely sorry to hear about Harmon.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t VRL. We can talk but not here. I don¡¯t even know your name. I¡¯m Roy. Roy Duncan.¡±


    Mary was still jittery from the energy she¡¯d absorbed. She was going to have to watch her intake from now on. She suddenly wanted to be¡­ elsewhere.


    She looked to Henry who was giving her a sad look of his own. Enough. ¡°You want answers? Askhim. He seems to know everything.¡± She turned and walked away.


    The guards between her and the front door stiffened and looked past her, presumably to their leader. Then they parted, and she pushed through the door and walked into the crisp night air.


    She¡¯d find Henry at a quieter location and get her answers from him then.


    -=-


    Roy looked at Henry and caught a few of his crew eyeing the bloody handkerchief. So, the story had gotten out. He sighed. ¡°Come on Henry, let¡¯s get that taken care of.¡± He wiped the drops up on the corner of the chair.


    They left the lobby to walk into the security office and the small infirmary. Roy closed the door and locked it as Henry watched nervously.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°We need to seal the cut. Head wounds bleed too much. I¡¯m going to do the honors which means I have to change,¡± Roy exined.


    Henry nodded and rxed again.


    ¡°I¡­ evolved with thest time I did this so please remain calm.¡± Henry nodded again, though his eyes did widen.


    Roy reced Henry¡¯s hand with his own on the cloth. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Roy dropped his mor, and the room became so much smaller. Before Henry could react, he yanked the handkerchief away roughly which, of course, broke the scab and blood surged up once more. Roy¡¯s tongue pressed against the wound and he licked Henry¡¯s head and hair clean of the blood. Two more licks and the wound closed.


    He popped the bloody fabric into his maw of sharp teeth and quickly chewed while rolling and squeezing it with his long tongue. Soon the entire cloth was light pink from the blood and Roy was swallowing. He spat the shredded remains into the trash then grabbed the countertop as the energy rushed through his cells. He managed to remain conscious but just barely. Once he was stable again, he swapped back to his Human disguise.


    Tingling madly, Roy looked to Henry and struggled to contain his snort. The young man¡¯s hair was wet from wolf spit and was sticking up all over the ce.


    Henry moved to the small sink and wet his hair, running his fingers through it.


    ¡°How is Cam? I don¡¯t understand how that happened to her,¡± he said in anguish.


    Roy looked at the innocent confusion and despair on Henry¡¯s face and sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk in my office.¡±


    Once they were behind Roy¡¯s door, he began. ¡°You know the two Cam was meeting with were NSA agents?¡± Henry nodded. ¡°Cam discussed potential oues of the meeting with me in advance. What you saw upstairs, what you yed your part in, was staged for a camera in Cam¡¯s office. The recording will be used to prevent the NSA from acting against VRS, Cam, and you.¡±


    Henry was watching Roy in shock. Staging a rape? True, it made more sense than a Subus falling victim to it but still, it stretched his credulity to its limits. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°When the questions and demands began to get aggressive Cam saw how to use the agent¡¯s personalities against them. She released pheromones to amplify their natural inclinations,¡± Roy exined.


    Henry rocked back in his chair. He recalled the overwhelming power of her pheromones when he first entered. How excited he became and how quickly.


    ¡°I watched from here to keep an eye on her, ready to send the two guards from upstairs into the room if Cam lost control.¡±


    ¡°SHE WAS CONTROLLING THEM?¡± Henry eximed.


    Roy winced. ¡°Control is too strong a word. It was more like she was stoking their fires and there was a chance that fire could have taken over and they¡¯d slip into madness.¡±


    Henry remembered the crazed look in their eyes when they turned to look at him. ¡°I think they did, in the end,¡± he said quietly

 134

    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re a mess right now. Emotionspletely out of control,¡± Roy conceded.


    ¡°Why did she do this?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°The agents were threatening to shut VRL down, to arrest Cam and you on bogus charges just because they had the means to do it. Complete abuse of power. They wanted your firewall, the secret of how it works. They didn¡¯t like not being able to poke around in our private files. Cam defused their threat by making the agents a liability to the NSA, by recording the ordeal, and by acting as she did, to make it credible evidence. We¡¯re sorry to put you through that, but it was necessary to make it look credible. She and I worked out the scenarios and this way was our best chance at sess. She was never in any real danger, being far stronger than both of the agents. Cam would never have gone through it if she hadn¡¯t thought it was essential for the safety of VRL and its people.¡±


    Henry sat back and thought about that. He finally looked up at Roy. ¡°Is she ok?¡±


    Roy smiled at Henry¡¯s genuine concern. ¡°Aye, but she¡¯s sore and exhausted. The effort to express that much pheromones alone would have drained her.¡±


    Henry thought about that. ¡°Does- will she need a feeding?¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Roy grinned. ¡°I think she would very much appreciate that¡­ after speaking with the Director of the NSA. He¡¯s set to arrive shortly, and she needs to appear as she currently does. I¡¯ll meet with Cam and him. You need to be close by in case he wants to speak to you. You can tell him exactly what you saw, no embellishing. Also, we¡¯re telling him that your brother created the firewall and you only maintain it. Let¡¯s stick with that, all right?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Henry mumbled.


    ¡°Thanks, and again, our apologies for the ordeal you went through,¡± Roy said.


    ¡°What happens to the agents?¡± Henry blurted.


    Roy watched Henry¡¯s expression and saw his worry. ¡°Understand, Cam didn¡¯t make them do anything they didn¡¯t want to do. She just lowered their natural and societal inhibitions, and their impulses took over. I¡¯m not saying they deserved it, but if you¡¯d heard how they treated her from the start in the meeting, you¡¯d quickly get the idea that these weren¡¯t nice people. So, what goes around,es around,¡± he finished firmly, and Henry nodded his acknowledgment.


    ¡°Now, about thedy who can toss my crew around like puppets.¡±


    ¡°Mary Carsten. Police officer. She was the one who picked me up from the subway-¡±


    ¡°AH! The one whose husband- oh, sorry.¡± Roy stopped when he saw Henry flinch.


    ¡°Yes, that one. Mary was affected by thegas,and we had sex. I insisted on wearing a condom, but she still managed to¡­ ingest arge quantity. I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s be, but she¡¯s no longer human.¡±


    ¡°What? She was Human?!?¡± Roy eximed.


    ¡°Yes. Before her exposure to the magic,¡± Henry nodded as he watched Roy¡¯s face.


    Roy scowled as he struggled to understand. ¡°They don¡¯t change. Humans are immune to magic!¡± he insisted.


    ¡°Not Wild Magic. It changes them, but the oues are random. For the Hidden Races, it seems to boost their existing abilities, but for humans, I think there¡¯s an element of chaos at work. You never know what will happen,¡± Henry sighed.


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Hold on, how do you know all this? Has it happened before?¡±


    Henry looked at Roy in surprise. ¡°Didn¡¯t Cam tell you about my neighbor Sandy?¡±


    ¡°NO! GEEZUS! You changed her too!?!¡± Roy barked.


    Henry held up his hands. ¡°Not directly-¡± He closed his eyes and shook his head as there was no way he was going into the details with Roy on what happened. He looked to the man again. ¡°¡­ never mind, yes, but her exposure was limited, so she hasn¡¯t noticed. A minimal change, not aplete transformation. I didn¡¯t have sex with her, but she still came into contact with¡­ some.¡± He felt awkward talking about sex with Roy. Like talking to his Dad or something. His embarrassment must have shown on his face as Roy suddenly caught on and became flustered himself.


    ¡°Ok, ok. You, uh, you need to avoid sex with Humans,¡± the man mumbled his advice.


    Henry gave him an exasperated look. ¡°I try but¡­ I¡¯m a Satyr. It seems like it¡¯s something wedo. It just happens!¡±


    ¡°Sex doesn¡¯t just happen!¡±


    ¡°Can- can we not have this conversation now?¡± Henry pleaded.


    Roy threw his hands up. ¡°Fine! Be more careful!¡±


    Henry nodded as his cheeks burned.


    ¡°This Mary Carsten. Where does she live? I need to speak with her.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get her address. I took the bus the morning after, but I was shaken up, so I wasn¡¯t paying attention. Her ex¡­ he pointed his gun at her back. She was on top of me, and he shot her twice before turning the gun on himself.¡± Henry forced out.


    Roy blinked at him. ¡°She¡¯s bulletproof?¡±


    Henry nodded, thinking of the fight in the stationhouse and how energized she seemed in the jail cell afterward. ¡°I think she gets energy from the impacts. The more she¡¯s hit, the stronger she gets,¡± Henry guessed.


    ¡°Yeah, I picked that up when she saved my ass in the alley behind Sigrid¡¯s house. Of course, her interference caused me toneedher intervention,¡± he grumbled.


    Roy¡¯s phone buzzed. ¡°Hold on,¡± he said to Henry as he picked up and listened. ¡°We¡¯ll be right up.¡±


    He hung up and looked at Henry. ¡°The Director of the NSA will be here shortly to collect his people. We¡¯ll go up, and you wait in your office for us to call for you, ok?¡±


    With a nod, Henry stood, and they went to the elevators. As they reached his office, he went inside with a nce at Roy who nodded to him. He sat at his desk and poked around the firewall logs to see if there had been any further attempts but nothing outside of the usual amateurs.


    Thinking of what he might face, he made some preparations. He tinkered and fidgeted and kept ncing at his phone. He wondered what happened to Kent. These were the guys who unleashed him on VRL.


    Henry jumped when his phone beeped. ¡°Yes!¡± he squeaked.


    ¡°Join us in Cam¡¯s office please,¡± Roy said tersely.


    Henry was going to answer, but the line was dead. He locked up on the way out of his office, and as he entered Cam¡¯s waiting room, he saw two of Roy¡¯s men standing across from two strangers in dark suits. He raised his eyebrows at the security team, but they just smiled at him, so he walked past to the door. He knocked then entered.


    His eyes went immediately to Cam, and his heart leapt in his chest at her bruises and apparent exhaustion. He felt a definite pull and need tofort her. Her eyes lifted to his and she caught thepassion. She got a little teary-eyed and looked away. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was genuine or part of the act for the Director. That thought made him distinctly ufortable.


    Henry saw the grim expression on Roy who gestured to the chair between him and an older man in a beautifully tailored suit. That man¡¯s expression showed his seriously conflicted emotions. Embarrassment warred with resentment, frustration, and outright rage. He nodded to the man and sat.


    ¡°Henry, I was telling Director Yosman here that the firewall was a custom creation of your brother, Stanley, and you manage it for us,¡± Cam said quietly.


    Henry nodded and looked to the Director who red at him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be blunt as that seems to be the theme for the night. The NSA wants the firewall technology VRL is using. I understand you are the only one who currently understands how it works,¡± Yosman said to Henry who nodded slightly wondering where he was going with this.


    ¡°I¡¯d like you toe work for us-¡±


    ¡°No, thank you,¡± Henry immediately said.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard my offer,¡± the Director said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to. I¡¯m happy here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be protecting your country!¡± Yosman insisted.


    Henry stared at him. ¡°My country would be safer if it didn¡¯t have to deal with some of the people who work for you.¡±


    ¡°What the hell does that mean?¡±


    ¡°The first time someone from the NSA tried to hack us, when he discovered he couldn¡¯t, he attempted to hire the most notorious dark web hackers to do it for him. It seems they figured out who he was before they fell for it. These were the same people who, I understand, hacked into the NSA servers-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ssified!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s publicly avable. The information is freely avable on the dark web. It¡¯s all you see on the message boards. How anot-so-whitewhite hat hacker from the NSA tried to trick them and lost everything while handing over the keys to the kingdom. His personal history is there for everyone to see! He had a disgusting sideline business!¡±


    ¡°Fine! He was a disgusting little troll, but you can¡¯t judge us by him!¡± the man snapped.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s true, but just this morning another hacker from the NSA attempted to overheat our web servers to cause them damage. They used a website exploit I¡¯ve since plugged. How ethical is that? Is that the kind of behavior I¡¯d be expected to adopt if I worked for you? No, thank you.¡±


    ¡°What proof do you have that this hacker was from the NSA?¡± Yosman growled.


    Henry blinked at him. ¡°You aren¡¯t aware of the bell?¡±


    ¡°What bell?¡± the man growled.


    ¡°The dark web hackers tagged all of your IP¡¯s. When someone from the inside tries to hack someone on the web, the connection leaves an NSA calling card and ys a ringing bell sound.


    The Director stared at Henry to see if he was joking but realized he wasn¡¯t. ¡°My people would have noticed this!¡±


    ¡°Not if they¡¯re watching from inside. The hack probably hides itself to keep you in the dark. You¡¯re going to need all new connections.¡± Henry sighed. ¡°Listen, you have smart people. You need to raise the bar on the ethical behavior-¡°

 135

    ¡°Our enemies aren¡¯t concerned with ethics!¡±


    ¡°Then how do we differentiate between them and you? There¡¯s protecting yourself, and there¡¯s being a dick. The first is defensive. The second, offensive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough Henry,¡± Roy finally said to intervene as he saw Henry¡¯s agitation growing.


    Henry looked to him and took some deep breaths to calm himself.


    ¡°For National Security, I can have the asset seized.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll save you the trouble,¡± Henry jumped in again and handed the man a USB memory stick. ¡°There it is.¡±


    Roy made a noise of protest while Cam¡¯s eyes shed to Henry¡¯s.


    Director Yosman looked at him in surprise then his look turned suspicious. ¡°You¡¯re giving me the software? What¡¯s the catch?¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°The catch is the fact that without the encryption key you can¡¯t decrypt the application source code to customize the included configuration files for any otherworks. No configuration, no firewall. The catch is that the encryption key exists nowhere except in the mind of its creator, Stanley Garin.¡±


    The Director¡¯s eyebrows rose as he looked to Cam. ¡°The one who died recently in Irnd.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we can¡¯t help you with your request for the firewall. It¡¯s running on thework Stanley installed it on, and that¡¯s all we can ask of it,¡± she said smoothly.


    ¡°We could have people review the code on your servers!¡± the man eximed.


    ¡°It¡¯s a ck box, encrypted application. There are only a few controls avable and no way to adjust the local configuration file without the encryption key.¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Wait! It was running in Japan on a server at a school there,¡± Yosman challenged.


    ¡°It was only running a remote version of the New York instance, used the New York configuration, and only for a limited time. Again, Stanley did it,¡± Henry exined. ¡°You¡¯ll find the remote copy has deleted itself.¡±


    Looking at the memory stick in his hand, the man deted a little. His expression became stubborn once more. ¡°I¡¯m going to have my R&D people review this. Maybe they can reverse engineer the encryption.¡±


    Cam looked to Henry who was nodding to the man.


    ¡°Let me know if you have any sess with that,¡± Henry said and got an annoyed look in response.


    The Director stood, and Henry and Roy rose as well. Cam remained seated.


    ¡°Once more I extend my sincerest apologies to you Ms. Vimor for what transpired here today. I¡¯mpletely shocked they could have done such a thing, but the evidence is damning.¡± He touched his pocket where another memory stick containing the evidence rested. ¡°They will be punished for their actions. Thank you for letting us deal with this privately.¡±


    Cam nodded stiffly. Roy led the Director to the door and opened it for him. He stepped out, and Roy nodded to his two men who would escort the visitors out.


    With the door closed once more, Cam activated the privacy ward, and Roy rushed back to re at Henry. ¡°Tell me you didn¡¯t give him the software! After everything Cam went through!¡±


    Henry turned a pained expression to the woman who was carefully watching him. ¡°I¡¯m horrified you went through that! I wish you¡¯d thought to ask me what we could do about their wanting the software. I figured they weren¡¯t going to ept no for an answer, so the obvious answer was to give it to them, without the encryption key.¡±


    He looked to Roy. ¡°Yes, that memory stick has the firewall application on it in an encrypted state. It doesn¡¯t matter. It will take a few millennia to crack the key, even with their beefiest hardware. If they evere back to ask us what the application password is, we¡¯ll know they decrypted it, but I think we¡¯ll be long dead by that time.¡± Henry frowned. ¡°Or not, if what I¡¯ve learned about my potential longevity is true.¡±


    Cam watched him to see how he felt about that. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t speak to you earlier about it. The Hidden Races typically have longer lifespans topensate for not being prolific breeders.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my cue to leave,¡± Roy said with a final frustrated nce at Henry, and they watched him step out of the office and close the door behind him.


    ¡°He gets squeamish being in parental discussions,¡± Cam said to Henry who just nodded recalling his earlierbirds and the beesconversation with the man. She stiffly climbed to her feet and walked over to the couch, holding her hand out to him. He helped her down and sat next to her, holding her hand.


    ¡°I understand why you didn¡¯t tell me your n for today, but if you had, we might have been able to avoid this,¡± he said softly. The CEO nodded wearily. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for involving you in the little act we had to put on for those creeps. Your honest reactions were integral. I want you to know I never want to be anything less thanpletely honest with you. It¡¯s crucial you know that,¡± Cam said, looking into his eyes.


    He nodded and lifted her hand to his lips. ¡°Thank you. Now, we should get you home and in bed to recover.¡±


    He caught the look of hope in her eye and smiled. ¡°And fed.¡± Her smile held sweet relief.


    Cam arranged for a driver to drive Henry and her home in her car while they cuddled in the back seat. They parked in her spot, and the driver left them at the lobby to head back to the office. They rode up to Cam¡¯s floor, and Henry could tell the ordeal had taken more out of her than she wanted to admit. He scooped her up in his arms as they exited the elevator and he carried her down the hall to her unit.


    ¡°Mmmm, I could get used to this!¡± she purred. Her door unlocked as they stood close to the handle, so he carried her inside. She locked the door again, and he kicked off his shoes before making his way to the master bedroom toy her gently on the bed. He heard her sigh in relief.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re up for a feeding. Maybe you should rest first,¡± Henry said in concern.


    A cute little pout appeared then smoothed away as a sultry smile reced it. ¡°Oh, there are many ways we can do this that won¡¯t strain¡­ me.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t stop the smile from slipping onto his lips. Cam patted the bed, and he took a step back which made her look at him in surprise. When he began to unbutton his shirt slowly, her satisfied smile returned, and she eased back against the pillows to watch him undress for her.


    Henry wasn¡¯t very skilled in the arts of seduction, but Cam loved the innocence of his attempt. He pushed the shirt off his shoulders while he ran his fingers down his hard stomach muscles. The shirt dropped to the floor. He tugged the belt loose then the pants slid down as he turned his butt to her. She purred her approval at his silk boxers, and her purring got louder as he slid them down slowly. He bent down to pick up his clothes and tossed them onto a chair as he looked over his shoulder. ¡°They¡¯re real, so I don¡¯t want them wrinkling,¡± he said with a slight grin. Off went his socks and he turned around. Her eyes went to his cock which was at half-mast and climbing. She licked her lips in anticipation which made his cock jump.


    ¡°Do you want me to switch to my true form?¡± he asked.


    Her eyes were devouring him as she shook her head. ¡°No, this will do just fine! Climb up on the bed and rest back against the pillows.¡± She slid over to give him room then she dropped her mor.


    It was Henry¡¯s turn to pause in appreciation of her breathtaking allure. Her skin was a mix of deep ruby red and ck which looked like wettex. He knew how incredibly soft it was. Her mane of thick ck hair almost obscured the thin and short ck horns rising from her temples to point back. Her dark gold eyes happily twinkled as she saw the awe on his face.


    Once he was in ce, she swung her leg over him and brought her lips to his. He gasped at the feeling of her full tits pressing against his chest, and her tongue slipped between his lips to stroke across his. He moaned and reached for her, but she pulled back from the kiss.


    ¡°No, you lie back and let me touch you. I¡¯m still a little sore, so this works for me. Ok?¡±


    He nodded, speechless as he gazed into her eyes. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him again, deeper this time. He could feel himself throbbing at maximum rigidity, waiting for her promised touch.


    She pulled back and kissed her way down his body, teasing his nipples until he was writhing under her.


    Cam gave him a sultry smile, and she kissed his trembling stomach muscles.


    Finally, she reached his cock, but she didn¡¯t immediately give it any attention. Instead, she gently lifted his heavy balls in her fingers and purred.


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re heavy with cum for me!¡± She pressed her lips against each of them, and Henry gasped at the feel of her soft kiss. Her tongue slipped out and stroked his balls until she had to hold him down.


    ¡°FFFFFUUUCCCKKK!!! Cam! You¡¯re driving me insane!¡±


    She chuckled and sucked one of his balls into her hot mouth as her fingers finally wrapped around the tight skin of his cock.


    ¡°YYYEEESSSS! Fuck! Yes!¡± he sighed as her fingers slowly stroked up and down his shaft as her tongue caressed the weight in her mouth.


    Cam released his testicle with a pop, and he sighed in relief but grunted as she moved to take the other one into her mouth.


    She moaned, and he sucked in a sharp breath as the vibration did delightful but intense things to his sensitive dangly bits. Her fingers began to speed up their stroking, and his hips started to lift off the mattress.


    She released his other testicle with a pop, and he sagged to gasp for breath. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ almost¡­ too much!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only begun!¡± she purred.


    Cam moved her fingers down to ring the base of his cock and held it pointing straight up in a firm grip. She extended her long tongue and stroked him from base to head in long slow licks, each ending with a flick at the head which sent spikes of pleasure through his entire body.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± he grunted out between his clenched teeth.


    When she wrapped her tongue around his cock twice like a wet fist and pumped it slowly up and down while gently fondling his balls, it was too much.


    ¡°FUCK! Cam! Shit! I¡¯m close! I- I¡¯m gonna-¡±


    Cam suddenly lifted her head over his cock and took him all the way to the base while gently scratching the underside of his balls.

 136

    ¡°FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!¡± Henry eximed as he felt her throat sucking the ropes of cum from his throbbing cock. The pulses of ecstasy went on and on as his body shook and jolted through each surge. It was one of the longest releases he¡¯d ever had. He slowly came back to his senses and realized Cam was still sucking and swallowing. He got worried about how much she was taking so he tried to lift her head.


    She growled and clung to his thighs tightly. She was so freaking strong! It felt like he had a tiger clinging to him. She swallowed again.


    Seriously worried now, he dropped his mor to get ess to his Satyr strength. His change also meant Cam suddenly found a much thicker and longer cock jammed deep in her throat. She instantly choked and pushed at his legs to clear her abused airway. Then she lost muscle tone and went limp. The Wild Magic in herrge meal had begun to surge through her body, replenishing her exhausted and drained cells.


    Henry lifted her head clear of his cock and heard her body suck in a deep breath. He fixed a stern eye on her sleeping face. He saw her cheeks were wet from her watering eyes and her lips were swollen from the suction she¡¯d applied.


    That¡¯s when he noticed her mor hadn¡¯t automatically snapped into ce. He was sure it was a safety feature. Now his worry red into full-blown panic. Had he ruined her mor as he¡¯d done to Paloma¡¯s? Was Cam going to need a new mor and take on a new persona too? Shit!


    He gently lifted her body in his arms, cradling her against his chest. Then he knee walked to the edge and stepped from the bed. He pushed the quilt and sheets down and gentlyid her on the mattress with her head on a pillow. Finally, he pulled the sheets up.


    He watched the unearthly beauty sleep for a moment then moved his lips to her ear to whisper to her.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Cam, you¡¯re home, safe, and in your bed. Activate your mor please.¡±


    He¡¯d done this with her once before, and it¡¯d worked then. He prayed for it to work now.


    She sighed in her sleep, and suddenly she no longer appeared as a Subus. Her beautiful ebony hair, spread out across her pillow, was now streaked with a deep red that gleamed slightly. That was new! Thankfully, it could be exined away as a cosmetic change. The good thing was, she looked human and like her original self! Henry sighed in relief. He carried his clothes out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He freshened up in the guest bathroom and pulled his clothes on once more.


    Looking at his cell, he realized it wasn¡¯t veryte. Time to head home. He went to the kitchen and scribbled down a quick note for Cam, telling her he¡¯d see her at work in the morning. Then he let himself out of the condo, hearing the door lock behind him.


    Henry left the building and headed for the subway. He picked up a slice of pizza on the way and scarfed that down in no time. He hadn¡¯t realized how hungry he was so Henry grabbed another slice at a second shop just before he got to the subway. That was gone before he reached the tform.


    Having eaten, he yawned as he waited for the train. It had been a full day, and all he could think of was snuggling under the sheets of his bed.


    The ride downtown was uneventful, but when he transferred over to the Path, he stumbled into arge group of young people dressed in their party outfits; lots of skin showing and lots of flirty behavior. Henry smiled at their excitement. He wondered where they were going.


    Looking around, he noticed several couples holding hands and some were kissing aggressively. He suddenly started to panic that he was once more the source but he wasn¡¯t feeling the heat coursing through him. To confirm, he reached for it and something popped in his chest. Heat exploded outwards through his body from his core. Just as quickly, Henry mped down on it as he had with Ikehorn after he left the dance club.


    Onlythistime, it didn¡¯t want to go back into the bottle. It wanted out. Two nearby couples began to kiss passionately.


    Trying to hide his desperation, he looked at the crowd surrounding him and realized if his pheromones released here, it would be like tossing a lit match into a gunpowder vault. He closed his eyes and squeezed the heat tighter and tighter to lock it down. The effort was intense! He ced his hand over his heart and pressed in a futile attempt to help, as only willpower worked for this.


    ¡°Are you ok, sir?¡±


    Henry jolted and almost lost his grip as a rookie Police Officer moved to stand before him. He was probably close to Henry¡¯s age. Nervous eyes looked back at him. He smiled at the man.


    ¡°Yes, just a little indigestion. Pizza.¡± He made onest push and felt the sh of heat sink deep inside once more. ¡°It¡¯s going away.¡±


    Relief blossomed across the man¡¯s face. ¡°Ah, the greasy stuff will do that to ya.¡±


    Henry smiled in relief as well. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I always go for the bad foodte at night.¡±


    That brought a grin to the officer¡¯s face. ¡°You take care now.¡± He moved off to break up the overly amorous couples. Henry wondered if the police presence on the train was to watch for recurrences of the previousgas attack.


    When he wasn¡¯t the target of anyone¡¯s attention, he very carefully felt for the heat and found it poised for release, with a bloody hair trigger at that, as he was still overly aware of the loving couples around him! He wondered how this¡­ ability? Bodily function? How could this thing be useful? How did Satyr¡¯s end up with this¡­ power to create orgies? More of a party trick than an essential skill. And why was it so potent with humans? Damn inconvenient!


    He was grateful to get off the train, but as he walked home along the walkway next to the Hudson River, he worried about the ticking time bomb he had inside him. Ikehorn¡¯s advice had turned out to be the worst thing to do! Suppressing it didn¡¯t make it go away, it just dyed the release. He¡¯d barely been able to contain it in the subway this time. He wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d be able to block it the next time it wanted toe out to y.


    He thought back to the first time it happened. The heat had stopped once he¡¯d had sex with Mary. Suppressing it just seemed to make it stronger.


    When he reached the empty lot next to his building, he had a strange thought. Maybe he could release the pheromones here in the lot where it wouldn¡¯t affect anyone. He still had the issue of how he would stop it once unleashed. He didn¡¯t want to y with himself in public. Getting caught like that would be disastrous! But the heat getting loose in a crowd might be worse. Fretting over it, he found his feet had walked him into the dark lot. He looked around and saw he was alone.


    Before he could chicken out, he reached inside and found it had faded into the background. The trigger had gone dormant. There was no imminent release. He tried to force it, but it ignored his efforts. ¡°Fuck!¡± he blurted in anger then looked around in embarrassment.


    Frustrated, he turned and walked back to the entrance of his building.


    As he reached the front door, he met a group walking in from the street. He recognized them as friends of Yuko, including pink hair, Kali, the other two from the restaurant, and two newdies he hadn¡¯t seen before. He instantly went on guard, surrounded by the pretty women.


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s Stanley¡¯s brother!¡± the young pink haired woman eximed.


    ¡°Henry Gable,¡± Kali corrected quietly.


    The other¡¯s looked to her in surprise, and she returned the look. ¡°He¡¯s going to be my new neighbor, the least I could do is learn his name.¡±


    ¡°You bitch! You¡¯ve been holding out on us!¡± pink hair growled.


    Holding up her cell, Kali exined. ¡°Ijustheard from my sister. She¡¯s buying the condo next to his, and I get to move in with her.¡± She had a very pleased look on her face.


    Henry gave Kali a surprised look. Mahati was going to be his neighbor?


    Kali turned her lovely dark eyes to his. ¡°We¡¯ll be seeing more of each other, soon,¡± she purred.


    He caught the double entendre as did her friends and they burst into excited giggles.


    ¡°You better not let Yuko hear you talking like that!¡± pink hair chided Kali with a sly grin.


    Henry opened the front door and held it for them. Thedies all found a way to touch him as they passed. Almost without warning, the heat strained to get free once more.


    He had a sudden epiphany. It was groups! It didn¡¯t trigger when he was alone. It didn¡¯t trigger when he was one on one with a partner. But exposed to a group of attractive people, that¡¯s when the pheromone surge did its work. Knowing it was prepared to escape, Henry managed to block it once more, but he was starting to worry seriously. He needed to talk with Sigrid and ask her what to do.


    ¡°Want to ride with us?¡± pink hair cheekily asked as she gestured to the elevator. Her friends giggled.


    He smiled at her. ¡°You go on ahead. I have to check my mail.¡±


    A few made cute sounds of disappointment, but they walked off to take the elevator to Yuko¡¯s ce.


    The moment he was alone he closed his eyes and pushed at the heat. It was easier to force down, and he wondered if that was because he was alone. The first time he¡¯d only been with Ikehorn, and itpressed easily. Doing it in the subway had been near impossible, but he¡¯d been within arge group. He was getting a better picture of how this was working. He just had to avoid crowds.


    In New York City.


    Henry dumped the flyers he found in his mailbox into the trash then made his way up to his unit.


    Once inside he pulled out his cell and dialed Sigrid. It went to voicemail immediately, so he hung up. He¡¯d talk about it with her in the morning.


    Tomorrow he¡¯d splurge and take a taxi to the office.


    He wasn¡¯t going to let his hormones be the boss of him.

 137

    Sandy was feeling particrly upbeat this morning. While not a gloomy person by anyone¡¯s standard, today she felt almost giggly.


    The previous day had been so much fun at work as Dayshia told and retold herboob grabberstory to the rest of the staff they worked with, each time her satisfaction at putting the creep down for the count made her eyes glow. While many in her audience were more mesmerized by her cleavage than the story, her bestie had enjoyed being in the spotlight and left everyone with a warning to watch out forweirdosin the subway.


    Last night, all night, Sandy had many beautiful dreams about Henry and woke with such a case of the tingles she had to deal with it in the shower. No doubt this was a significantponent in why she was feeling so good.


    On top of that, this morning her hair was feeling unusually silky soft and shone with health. She had to make a concentrated effort to keep her hands out of it.


    As she¡¯d promised Dayshia, she kept her eyes open forweirdos, but she only saw the usual crush ofmuters. She smiled at a young ck NYPD officer she¡¯d be casual friends with as he visited their hospital frequently and rode the same train as her. Every day, he got off at the stop before hers.


    ¡°Good morning, Officer Baker! Don¡¯t you look smart in that uniform!¡± she said with a broad smile.


    ¡°Good morning, Ms. Marlow. You are looking exceptionally vibrant this morning!¡±


    Sheughed as they yed the little game they enjoyed. Today was going to be a perfect day.


    -=-


    Dalewin and Rohann were ready to make their second attempt. This time Dalewin would take the point, and Rohann would be the spotter.


    Their mors disyed them as a couple of skinheads with ugly racist tattoos. Their disguises made the other passengers ufortable around them and less likely to make eye contact. As they were behaving themselves on the early morning tform no one wanted to start something. The cop was keeping an eye on them, but even he left them alone. ording to Ikehorn¡¯s surveince report, he exited the train before the target so that¡¯s when they¡¯d strike. The tform was busy, but they needed to enter different doors to give them space around the mark.


    As the train entered the station, Rohann moved further up the tform while Dalewin moved closer to the target. That earned him another look from the cop, but he just let the nce slide off as if he hadn¡¯t noticed. The doors opened, and they pushed their way onto the crowded train.


    Dalewin almost had an opportunity to hit the target as he followed her in but they were too far from the hospital. The n had him stabbing the female in the back to knick the heart. It required an exact aim and significant strength. The wound would bleed, and she¡¯d need immediate surgery. The injury would leave a permanent weakness¡­ unless the Fae intervened. n B was to stab her in the kidneys.


    He was an expert with knives, far better than Rohann, so it was natural that he take the point.


    As he was standing so close, he had to listen to the cop and the target inanely babbling to each other. He traded a nce with Rohann up by the next door to check in. His partner rubbed his nose. That was the back off signal as Rohann thought he was too close to the target. He nced over his shoulder, and there was no room to move behind him. So be it. He felt eyes staring at him and nced down to see a young ck man looking at him with hate in his eyes. Those eyes flicked to the cop then back to his. Hmmm¡­ he didn¡¯t calcte for another distraction. No matter. If he needed to take out the young man too, so be it. He wouldn¡¯t have to hold back as he would with the target.


    The train rode on stop after stop. Few left so less were able to board. Dalewin noted the angry young man had his head down as if dozing.


    The next stop was the cop¡¯s.


    Then he would strike. He would seed where Rohann failed. He allowed himself a little smirk. Rohann was such a perfectionist and had a long list of sessful kills. Almost twice as many as Dalewin. It felt good to see him miss once in a while and to step in to finish the job for him.


    ncing across the train, he caught his partner¡¯s disapproving scowl. He schooled his expression. How did Rohann always know what he was thinking?


    -=-


    Baker chuckled. ¡°Tell Dayshia the next time I¡¯m in I¡¯m going to ask her to describe her assault in explicit detail.¡±


    Sandy giggled at the thought. She knew Dayshia liked Mr. Baker even though she¡¯d vowed she¡¯d never date a police officer. ¡°I¡¯ll let her know. Oh! Here¡¯s your stop. Be careful out there! Watch out for weirdos.¡±


    The officer grinned at her and tipped his hat which earned him another brilliant smile. He moved to the door and kept his eye on the skinhead standing next to it. The doors opened, and he walked by the man, but it seemed like he didn¡¯t even register on the punk¡¯s radar; speaking of weird.


    The doors closed and with a slight feeling of unease, he nced in the window to see Sandy¡¯s lovely smiling face onest time.


    -=-


    As the train began moving again, Dalewin palmed his dagger. It had a long slim de as it was designed to slip between the ribs and prate deep into the victim¡¯s torso. He began his countdown.


    The target remained oblivious to her imminent danger and was rtively still. Dalewin was confident he could hit the target at precisely the correct spot with sufficient energy.


    They passed the halfway point to the next stop, so it was time. The assassin eased his body closer, just so-


    The fist that caught him on the ear was small, and the punch was poorly executed so, while it hurt, it caused no real damage. He spun and expertly jabbed the de into the young man¡¯s chest, copsing his lung. As he turned back to hit the target, a roar of rage erupted from the seat next to his stabbing victim. A huge ck man surged to his feet, shoving people to the side, knocking the target away from Dalewin.


    As he turned to dispatch this second distraction, a huge paw gripped his face and drove his skull back against a handrail. Blood sshed the passengers seated there.


    That¡¯s when the screaming began.


    -=-


    Sandy felt a sharp bump forward and managed to turn to see a tattooed man having his head cracked against a handrail. She stepped back, away from the violence. Suddenly, Sandy gasped as someone behind her tugged on her hair. She cried out as the tugging became painful. A sharp, loud crack rang out followed by a high pitched scream of agony.


    The train jolted to a stop in the station, and the skinhead behind her pushed outside through the opening door, cradling a visibly broken wrist.


    Something fell to the floor behind her with a tter, and she turned to see it was a knife. That bastard cut her hair?!? Oh my god! Who does that?!? She pulled it over her shoulder, but she found no gaps. It looked intact if not as bouncy and shiny as it was earlier.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    She turned back and saw a young man sitting on a seat with blood on his shirt and lips. Her training kicked in as people screamed and fled the train.


    ¡°I¡¯m a nurse, someone call 911,¡± she called out, and the brute who¡¯d crushed the skinhead¡¯s skull looked at her hopefully. Now that his rage was gone, she saw the simple innocence and desperation in his eyes. She turned her attention back to the young man he was fretting over.


    She¡¯d do what she could.


    -=-


    Ikehorn was in a rage. This team ofeliteassassins was proving to bepletely ipetent! Sent against mere Humans on two separate asions, they not only failed to take out their targets, this time one ofthemwas taken out by a bystander! And the excuse his partner was iming?


    ¡°What the hell do you meanher hair broke your wrist?¡± Ikehorn eximed.


    ¡°I had a perfect opportunity to strike, and her hair seized my hand and bent it back until my wrist broke.¡± Rohann asserted.


    Ikehorn stared into the frustrated eyes of the assassin. ¡°She¡¯sHuman!¡±


    ¡°Is she?¡± Rohann growled.


    Ikehorn leaned over the map of Central Park he had resting on the table before him and red into the eyes of the assassin. ¡°I ran the surveince team for this group personally, and they are all Human. What happened to your wrist must have another exnation.¡± The assassin opened his mouth to argue.


    ¡°ENOUGH! We only have one more chance at this. We will target the tall, dark haired female. Her surveince report shows she exercises by running through Central Park early in the morning. She has a few favorite routes, all which pass through this secluded, treed intersection. We set up an ambush here. A simple armed mugger scenario. Shoot her-¡±


    ¡°Have you not seen my wrist? I shoot with my right. You need a precise aim for the type of gunshot wound you¡¯re asking for.¡± He stared down at where Ikehorn was pointing. ¡°An old Dryad is living in a tree at that junction. She¡¯s ancient and slightly mad. It wouldn¡¯t take much to tip her into attacking. We disguise ourselves as police to ensure she doesn¡¯t kill the target and call in the ambnce at the appropriate time.¡±


    Ikehorn huffed with frustration. He didn¡¯t like Rohann¡¯s n. There was too much that might go wrong. ¡°Let me see your wrist.¡±


    Frowning, the man lifted his arm. Surrounding the wrist was a faint green glow from the spell a healer bound to the damaged limb. It would protect the injury like a shield as well as aid the healing process. While it would take Humans six weeks of convalescence, the Fae only needed two to heal fully with their magic.


    Ikehorn didn¡¯t have two weeks! He needed Rohann betternow! Concentrating his will, he passed his hand over the wrist before the man could pull away. The lightest touch¡­


    The green sh obliterated the spellbound to the man¡¯s wrist, and Rohann leapt back in shock.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL are¡­ you¡­ What did you do?¡± Rohann started yelling but finished quietly as he carefully flexed his healed wrist. The terrible bruising was gone. It moved freely, but it was still a little weak. His hand still had a slight tremor in it when he used the muscles. Time would heal that.

 138

    ¡°The Queen needs this taskpleted sessfully. We have no more time for dys¡­ or mistakes.¡± Ikehorn growled. ¡°Can you shoot now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but still not with the uracy required. I don¡¯t know how you healed the bones so quickly, but I wouldn¡¯t put faith in my marksmanship with this tremble in the muscles. My n still makes more sense!¡± he insisted.


    Ikehorn growled in frustration. He hadn¡¯t wanted to expose his new abilities to anyone else, but Rohann forced his hand. For nothing, it seemed. Dammit!


    ¡°Fine! But we will both need to be as careful as possible to ensure nothing gets beyond our control.¡± Ikehorn asserted. He received a silent nod from Rohann.


    Ikehorn pointed to a junction on the map. ¡°Meet me there tomorrow at 5:30 AM.¡± The man memorized the location and nodded. ¡°And speak to no one about what I did for your wrist. Queen¡¯s orders.¡±


    He didn¡¯t often invoke the Queen¡¯s authority. As her man, he had the right to, but he was all too aware of the responsibilities that came with it. He would have to kill the person he issued it to, should they fail toply.


    Rohann was aware of this as well and nced at Ikehorn uneasily. He nodded then left.


    Now all Ikehorn had to do was survive exining to Mab how the second attempt failed.


    Tish smiled as the early morning rays of sun touched her face when she climbed the stairs to street level from the subway. She loved the city in the early morning hours. It was her favorite time of day. While New York never slept there were times like this when the hectic pace eased, and a person could take a few deep calming breaths.


    She crossed the street, making her way into the grounds of Central Park and found a spot to do her stretches. As usual, she saw she wasn¡¯t the only one who used these early hours to get a little run in before the busy day.


    Due to a mixup on the subway, she¡¯d managed to get to the park a little early, so she was gifting herself with an extra eight minutes of running this morning.


    Smiling to herself, she wondered if Henry would be interested in joining her one morning. She¡¯d love to run with the man. Hell, she¡¯d love to do many things with the man!


    She snorted and got a careful look from another woman doing her stretches.


    Muscles sufficiently warm, she began with a light jog. Music ying softly in her earbuds, she set her course and let her muscles carry her away.


    -=-


    Rohann arrived early and cased the wooded intersection where the trap was to be sprung. He noted the Dryad was sleeping fitfully at the base of her tree. Appropriately, she wore the disguise of an old female Human wearing dirty, tattered and torn clothes, one of the city¡¯s numerous homeless. He knew she would make the perfect weapon.


    What Rohann had withheld from Ikehorn was how he intended to push the ancient being into homicidal madness. Screwing the silencer onto the barrel of his gun, he moved to the shelter of bushes next to the running path. The three bullets he¡¯d fire into the tree contained a fast-acting poison that would kill the giant oak. It would take mere seconds for the specialized shells to leak their poison into the tree. Once that happened, the Dryad would feel the tree¡¯s impending death, and she would associate the attack with the Humans using the path.


    He prepared his next mor. He currently appeared as a Human jogger himself. When the chaos erupted, he would switch to the disguise of an NYPD officer. Naturally, he¡¯d have to kill the Dryad.


    He checked the time. Ikehorn would be arriving at their rendezvous any moment, but that was just around the corner. Looking down the path, he saw a man running along the trail- He spotted the tall female a short distance behind the first runner. SHIT! The target was early!


    Raising his weapon, he put the three poisoned slugs into the trunk of the tree at six-foot intervals.


    The Dryad immediately jolted awake and turned to the tree, gripping its rough bark in her bony hands.


    She began to wail.


    Loudly!


    The male runner rounded the corner and slowed slightly to look cautiously in the direction of the old woman. Her head whipped around and Rohann could see the rage in them. Good but not enough. He fired another bullet into the tree from his cover in the bushes behind the runner.


    The Dryad¡¯s rage exploded into a murderous frenzy. She picked up a thick branch from the ground like it was a twig and charged at the runner.


    The man stumbled back, tripping on a root and fell on his ass. He only had time to raise an arm before the heavy club caved in his skull.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Blood sprayed across the bush Rohann hid behind as he heard the approach of the target. He nced in her direction and saw she was bing aware of something wrong as she rounded the corner. She was too close to avoid it now.


    Rohann turned his head to look back to the Dryad just in time to see the bloody end of the branch drive into his skull.


    Then nothing.


    -=-


    Ikehorn, disguised as one of New York¡¯s finest, scowled when Rohann missed the rendezvous but immediately began running when he heard the wailing from the wooded intersection. The wail became a snarl as he raced into the secluded area to see the Dryad drive a huge branch into the face of a jogger hiding behind a bush.


    A gun fell from lifeless fingers, and Ikehorn knew it was Rohann.


    Just then, their target entered the intersection and tried to sprint past the old woman. The Dryad spun inhumanly fast to club the woman¡¯s lower back.


    Ikehorn heard the sharp crack of breaking bones as the target flew forward to copse on the dusty surface of the trail. She screamed and tried to crawl away, but her legs weren¡¯t responding. She looked back over her shoulder in terror as the crazed woman stepped closer and lifted the branch for the killing blow.


    Ikehorn emptied his clip into the Dryad, a cluster where her heart should be and the rest into her head. She was dead before she hit the ground.


    A silence settled momentarily then came the sound of hooves as two mounted police rushed into the scene.


    ¡°Call for an ambnce!¡± Ikehorn yelled as he made his way to the dead jogger then circled the bush to look down at Rohann¡¯s disguised body. His face was caved in gruesomely. Ikehorn knelt and palmed the gun to slip it into his pocket.


    ncing around himself, he saw he was hidden from view. He switched to a mor of a jogger and rushed around the other side of the bushes. He waved his hands to the mounted police as if he¡¯d just arrived to make a grisly discovery. ¡°Officers! There¡¯s a dead man in the bushes- OH!¡± He feigned shock at seeing the other body.


    ¡°Sir! Please stand back! This is a crime scene!¡± the officer kneeling next to the injured woman barked.


    ¡°I¡¯m a doctor,¡± Ikehorn blurted with a practiced nervous wobble in his voice.


    With a frustrated scowl, the officer gestured for him to approach.


    Ikehorn rushed forward and knelt next to the tall brte. He reached for her and felt an intense tug of his body preparing to heal her. Ikehorn threw himself back tond on his back a few feet away. The two cops investigating the other bodies looked back at him suspiciously. He gave them an embarrassed smile. ¡°Sorry, muscle cramps from stopping too quickly.¡± With a grunt, they went back to ignoring him.


    He eased himself closer to the crying woman. He knew now he couldn¡¯t risk touching her. He needed her injured for the Queen¡¯s n. Still, he needed to confirm she wasn¡¯t going to die.


    ¡°Where does it hurt?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°My back,¡± she managed to force out between sobs. ¡°I can¡¯t- can¡¯t feel my legs!¡± Her voice was bing shrill with her panic.


    He could see the skin on her lower back was severely cut and bruised from the clubbing. Beneath the torn and bloody skin, he could see the distinct impression of her crushed vertebrae. Several severe misalignments were visible. The bones were destroyed as if hit by a truck. Certainly exceeding the damage, an old woman should have been able to do with a branch. Toote to do anything about that. He leaned away from her slightly as he¡¯d been getting too close.


    Ikehorn was feeling ill from denying thepulsion to heal her. That disturbed him deeply as she was only a Human. He wasn¡¯t even sure if it was possible considering the extent of the damage.


    ncing at the officers, he saw he had only a moment, so he had to trigger the second half of his n. He held her eyes and whispered the ancient words of power Mab taught him. Instantly she stopped crying, and he had her full attention. She was highly receptive in this state. Time to nt the suggestion.


    ¡°Henry Gable. You need Henry Gable. He can help you. He is the only one who can. You need him. He will make everything better. Let no one else try to help you. When you get to the hospital, call for him. Sleep until then.¡±


    The woman slumped, and one of the officers rushed back to check on her. ¡°What did you do?¡± he barked.


    Ikehorn put a panicked look on his face. ¡°I didn¡¯t touch her!¡±


    The other cop stepped from behind the bush. ¡°Where¡¯s the officer who went to look at the victim back here?¡±


    The two looked to Ikehorn who stared back at them in puzzlement.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone, but I didhearsomeone rushing away through the brush.¡±


    ¡°SHIT!¡± the cop by the bush cursed. ¡°Fucking coward left us with his mess!¡±


    His partner nodded then looked to Ikehorn like he was a liability. ¡°We can take it from here,¡± he growled as an ambnce crunched to a halt on the gravel path a short distance away.


    Ikehorn nodded to the man and climbed to his feet. With a nce back at his target he walked towards the ambnce and met the paramedics. As they looked to him, he spoke the ancient words again and gave them instructions to take her to her hospital. Her friend¡¯s anguish would pressure the Satyr to get healing for her. He released them then walked away. He needed to disappear as he¡¯d spent too much time at the scene and people with cameras were beginning to gather. He left the park and found a spot to switch back to his default mor. Moving back out to the street, he stepped down the stairs to the subway to join his victim at the hospital.


    He had to present an offer to a Satyr.

 139

    Henry visited Sigrid in her office first thing when he arrived at work, and she greeted him with a happy smile. That smile slipped as she saw the tension in his eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± she asked.


    Henry snorted with a mix of amusement and frustration. ¡°That¡¯s bing our thing. Always another problem,¡± he sighed, and she gave him a sympathetic smile which made him think of what Nate said about the beautiful women supporting their happiness. He couldn¡¯t keep a chagrined smile of his own from spreading across his face.


    Sigrid watched his expression change. ¡°What¡¯s the smile for?¡± she asked curiously.


    He shook his head gently. ¡°Nothing. Just something Nate said to bring things into perspective.¡±


    Her smile widened. ¡°I like this man even more if he can put a smile on your face like that.¡±


    Henry could only nod as he agreed. Then his expression turned serious. ¡°Did you hear what Cam didst night with the NSA agents?¡±


    ¡°No, what happened.¡±


    He filled her in on the details and how he¡¯d resolved the issue with the Director with his solution.


    ¡°They should have spoken to you first!¡± Sigrid said with a frown. Henry picked up from her bodynguage that she was pissed at her friend.


    ¡°I said as muchst night. Regardless, with what happened I think they¡¯re going to leave us alone. That doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t be watching. Eternal vignce is the price we pay.¡± Henry sighed then smiled at Sigrid.


    The inte buzzed. ¡°Yes?¡± she asked.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor is here to see you.¡±


    ¡°Please send her in,¡± Sigrid said.


    The door burst open as Cam surged through the door and closed it behind her. She spun to see Sigrid and Henry watching her in surprise.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re both here!¡± Cam gasped.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± Sigrid asked, and Henry snorted involuntarily then murmured an apology.


    Cam yanked off the big Hollywood sunsses and stared at them intently.


    Henry shared a look with Sigrid then turned back to Cam. ¡°What-¡±


    ¡°My eyes!!!¡± Cam eximed.


    ¡°Are you having trouble seeing?¡± Henry asked in concern.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s not it!¡±


    ¡°Maybe if you joined us over here we could see what you want us to notice about them?¡± Sigrid suggested gently.


    Cam quickly moved up next to them, and they both immediately caught the difference.


    ¡°Oh! They¡¯re lovely!¡± Henry gasped. Her dark brown eyes once had small flecks of gold in them, giving them the impression of being a dark gold. Now those flecks were more substantial, and her eyes had a subtle but perceptible gold glow to them.


    She smiled nervously at him then turned to Sigrid.


    Sigrid wasn¡¯t smiling. ¡°Tell me how you came to have these alterations to your mor, Cam.¡±


    The woman in question was no longer smiling either. ¡°Don¡¯t preach to me-¡±


    ¡°How did it happen?¡± Sigrid asked with a calm voice.


    Cam huffed and crossed her arms across her chest under her heavy tits in a very defensive posture. She caught Henry trying not to ogle her pushed up breasts and some of her anger dissipated. ¡°I- I seriously depleted my energy levels with pushing two NSA agents beyond their ability to restrain their impulses. I was in a desperate state. Henry offered to feed me. I needed the energy.¡± Her expression turned a little dreamy. ¡°It was very¡­ potentst night and¡­ I may have be a little aggressive.¡±


    Sigrid looked to Henry whose face looked like it might ignite. ¡°How aggressive?¡±


    He nced between the two of them then looked down at Sigrid¡¯s desk. ¡°She growled at me and gripped my legs to keep me from pulling free.¡±


    ¡°And you stopped her, how?¡±


    He looked away then back to her. ¡°I dropped my mor and choked her with it.¡±


    ¡°PFFFFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Sigrid burst into loudughter as Cam pouted and looked everywhere but at them.


    Henry stood and moved to stand before the gorgeous brte, taking her hands in his. ¡°I think you look incredibly beautiful! You¡¯re eyes still look human, just with an exotic touch. I think they¡¯re stunning!¡± He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles.


    Her eyes were looking into his, and he swore he could almost see the gold sparkling happily.


    ¡°Thank you, Henry,¡± she purred.


    He nced at Sigrid and saw she was getting control of her amusement. He still wanted to talk to her about his issues with controlling his heat, but Cam looked like she needed Sigrid more. ¡°I¡¯ll talk with you twoter, ok? I should get started on my day.¡±


    She nodded with a smile, and he let himself out.


    Sigrid sighed and shook her head. ¡°Henry¡¯s right, theyaregorgeous! May I assume your actual eye color changed as well?¡±


    ¡°Yes! They¡¯re now brilliantly gold, but I¡¯m not sure how to exin these,¡± Cam stated, gesturing to her eyes.


    Sigrid tilted her head as she examined her friend¡¯s eyes. ¡°Tell people your ophthalmologist prescribed corrective contacts which have a side effect of emphasizing the natural gold in your eyes. I also like the highlights in your hair.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Cam said with a smile as she touched her hair fondly. Then she caught the look in Sigrid¡¯s eye and her smile slipped again. She sighed and nodded. ¡°OK, I admit it. I lost controlst night. I pushed myself too hard with those agents and left myself in too desperate a state to be able to control my appetite.¡±


    Sigrid nodded in satisfaction, d her friend could see the mistake she made. Then she grinned. ¡°So he choked you with it?¡±


    Cam¡¯s eyes red with the memory, and a tingle ran down her spine as she bit her lower lip. ¡°It was so thick; it filled my throat!¡±


    Sigrid threw her hands up in surrender. ¡°Sorry! Don¡¯t need to know the details!¡± The image of it was shing in her mind giving her tingles too.


    Cam snorted and put her shades back on with a satisfied smile of her own as she knew what Sigrid was thinking. ¡°I leave you with that¡­ delicious thought. Have a lovely day!¡± she said as she let herself out.


    -=-


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Gable!¡± Marisa said with a brilliant smile. ¡°You¡¯re a littlete this morning.¡±


    Henry returned his assistant¡¯s smile. ¡°I stopped to talk to Sigrid¡­ and Cam.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I didn¡¯t see you pass by,¡± she said.


    ¡°No, I was with Sigrid when she dropped by,¡± he exined a little awkwardly. Her brows rose.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± she asked in concern.


    He gave her an exasperated look. ¡°Were those questions asked as frequently before I started working here?¡±


    She gave him a smirk.


    ¡°Ask your¡­ aunt. All I can say is she got a small taste of what Paloma faced the first night¡­ Stanley and¡­ her¡­ never mind.¡± As he struggled to keep the names straight, he stumbled to a stop as his words just felt weirder and weirder.


    Just then Cam rushed by and waved, her shades in ce hiding her eyes once more, the red highlights in her hair catching the light beautifully.


    With a final surprised look at Henry, Marisa rushed out to chase after Cam.


    Henry let himself into his office and settled in behind his desk with a sigh. He needed to put this stuff, this non-human stuff, in the background. He started up hisptop, and his calendar app popped up a reminder for a trade show he was supposed to attend today. It was going to have a lot ofwork security vendors in attendance as well as lots and lots of tech. He tingled in anticipation!


    He opened a desk drawer and smiled down at the box of business cards Marisa had printed for him. It would be the first time he¡¯d be presenting himself in public to his ¡®peers¡¯ with his title. He admired the embossed piece of cardboard.


    VRL Investments


    Henry Gable, CIO


    He giggled then caught himself and nced to the door. If he wanted anyone to take him seriously, he¡¯d have to kill the impulse tough like a little girl.


    He pocketed a bunch of cards and nced at his calendar once more. Marisa had cleared his day for him. He smiled at her incredible efficiency. Henry shut down hisptop and decided against bringing it. Cell in his pocket, he exited his office and bumped into Marisa as he stepped into the hall.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry!¡±


    She shed him a grin. ¡°Off to the trade show?¡±


    He smiled in return. ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Look, but don¡¯t buy anything! Eve tells me we have no budget for the next two years,¡± she admonished him gently.


    He snorted and nodded. ¡°Understood. Not to worry, I¡¯m just shopping for ideas primarily.¡±


    ¡°Fill your cart then!¡±


    Heughed and headed off to the elevators with a wave.


    Getting to the Javits Center took a little time and registering took a little more, so it was almost noon when he finally got to walk the floors of the convention center. It was only when he was in the center of the building that he recalled his intention to avoid being in crowds. He looked around and saw most of the attendees were male. He spotted women in the gathering, but the majority were men. He rxed somewhat as he realized how absorbed everyone was with the tech. Just like him. He grinned and got to it.


    As a throwback to the old days, some vendors hiredbooth babes, models dressed suggestively to draw customers to the disy. Thesedies were more of a distraction as they seemed so out of ce now.


    He saw a few booths which were making ims of military-level encryption with nog, so he made his way over to review what they had to say. The salesmen were eager to speak to him and dly took his card, but he could see their disbelief when they read the CIO title. He actually saw one toss his card into the trash as he left the booth. That pissed him off, but he wasn¡¯t going to try to change the fool¡¯s narrow little mind.

 140

    It waste afternoon when Henry¡¯s cell vibrated, indicating a text. He¡¯d been unable to get a cell signal all day due to the oversaturation of the local cell towers. The crowds were beginning to thin and ess was only now starting to be avable once more. He¡¯d paused by a small alcove with food and drink and was finishing off when he felt it.


    Plucking the phone from his pocket, he saw it was from Sandy. ¡®Call me¡¯ was all it said. The timestamp was a few minutes ago indicating that¡¯s when he finally got a connection. He didn¡¯t know when she actually sent it. As he had no signal now, he made his way towards the back of the building to try his luck there. He shared a smile with another man who was holding up his cell trying to get a signal as well.


    Henry felt his phone vibrate as another text came in. It was Dayshia also asking him to call. He frowned. The phrase ¡®What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡¯ passed uneasily through his mind.


    ¡°Trissa! It¡¯s Mr. ntain!¡±


    Henry looked over his shoulder hearing the delighted voice. The twodies he¡¯d met in the drug store, Luna and her beaded-braids friend Trissa were standing behind him with hungry grins on their faces.


    ¡°Oh! Hello!¡± he muttered, wondering how he was going to cut this short. Then he noticed both were wearing the clingy gowns he¡¯d seen earlier at a booth which hired such eye candy.


    The Hispanic woman still had big hair hanging down to her ass, huge gold hoop earrings, and her big round breasts were barely contained by her dress. She visibly wasn¡¯t wearing anything under the gown as her pierced nipples were pressing against the fabric. Her gold ¡®Luna¡¯ ne rested just above her deep cleavage.


    Trissa licked her lips then grinned at her friend. Her tight dress also struggled to contain herrge breasts and ass. No undergarments were worn by this woman either. The otherdies in the booth weren¡¯t quite so¡­ outrageously developed. Henry guessed these two were the ¡®big guns¡¯ brought in when the day began to wind down, for pulling in the stragglers.


    ¡°You know, we never did get toseethis ntain!¡± Trissained.


    ¡°Cierto, mi amigo,¡± Luna said.


    Henry stared at them in surprise. ¡°This isn¡¯t really-¡±


    ¡°Now now. It was because of you; the cops dumped us in lockup for the night! I think that means you owe us a little peek. If you¡¯re lucky, a little touch too!¡± Trissa insisted boldly.


    He gaped at the suggestion, and Luna swept in to press her big tits against his chest. That felt very good! She ground her body against his, and he felt himself respond.


    ¡°?Su cuerpo es tan jodidamente duro!¡± Luna purred as she rubbed herself against his muscles.


    ¡°What?¡± he muttered as he looked into her eyes.


    ¡°Mmmm, I was just telling Trissa how hard you were,¡± Luna sighed.


    ¡°Getting there,¡± he sighed making her giggle excitedly. Then he gave himself a mental shake. ¡°I- I have to call-¡±


    Trissa moved up to take Henry¡¯s phone from his hand and tucked it into his pocket. ¡°Uh uh! We¡¯re going to take a little break somece private where we can enjoy ourselves.¡±


    He looked at her with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s a convention center! Where-¡±


    He suddenly found himself squeezed between the two soft bodies and practically dragged to the back wall, through a door there, down a short corridor, and through another door.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    His eyes went wide as he saw a row of makeup tables and a fewdies in various states of undress.


    Some squeaked at his intrusion.


    Trissa scowled. ¡°Shut your mouths! He¡¯s just here for Luna and me to have a little fun with!¡± she barked at the surprised women.


    Behind racks of women¡¯s dresses and costumes was a sizeable modr sofa positioned against the far wall. The couch was half regr depth and half double depth lounge, which was almost a bed.


    Henry tried to resist, but the duo were surprisingly strong and insistent. The back of his legs hit the lounge and down he went. Before he could push himself back up Luna was stretched out over his body, and her mouth was on his. Her lips were so soft, and her tongue was in his mouth as her tits pressed him down.


    He tried to push her off but grabbed handfuls of tit instead which made Luna writhe and moan. She was almost sucking his tongue from his mouth. She shifted her lower body to the side to give Trissa ess to his pants.


    He felt someone tug his shoes and socks off then hands were on his pants. Seconds and some aggressive tuggingter he was naked from the waist down.


    ¡°YES! That¡¯s a nice one! Maybe a little white for my tastes but nice an¡¯ fat!¡± Trissa said with satisfaction.


    Luna pulled back from Henry¡¯s mouth to look back and admire Henry¡¯s erection. ¡°Bitch, your pussy won¡¯t give a shit what color the cock is!¡±


    ¡°Condom! In my jacket pocket!¡± Henry eximed in a gasp.


    While Luna hunted for the condom, beads tickled Henry¡¯s legs then he felt the warmth and wetness of a mouth trying to take him all the way down unsessfully. Trissa choked and pulled free.


    ¡°Fuck! He¡¯s too fat to fit in my throat!¡±


    ¡°One extrarge condom,ing up,¡± Luna said with a grin.


    Henry heard the foil rip then felt the tighttex rolling over his cock. Luna pressed a fat tit against his face, and he got to work on the nipple.


    ¡°AAAYYYEEE so fookin gooood!¡± she hissed.


    ¡°Shit! He does have a nice cock!¡±


    That voice came from the gap between the clothing racks. Henry craned his head and saw two of the women who¡¯d made noises of protest over his being in the room now watching the activities with interest.


    ¡°Ignore the putas and suck my pretty pussy!¡± Luna said swinging a leg over Henry¡¯s head to sink over his face. He had no other alternative, so he ran his tongue over her tender flesh and sucked her clit into his mouth.


    ¡°?Mierda! Me chupe tan bien!¡± she gasped then moaned as she threw her head back.


    Trissa wasted no time in throwing her leg over Henry¡¯s hips and forced his cock into her wet opening.


    ¡°Fuck! I want to ride that too!¡± one of the observers moaned.


    Thebination proved to be too much for Henry. The trapped heat rushed out from his core to flush his skin. Intense tingling rushed down his neck and sides. Trissa and Luna inhaled deeply and threw their heads back as their bodies caught the st wave of his pheromones.


    Beads loudly clicked as Trissa began mming herself down on his cock faster and faster. He reached up to grab Luna¡¯s nipples as he thrashed her clit with his tongue. She squealed and shook as she crested hard. She threw herself sideways onto the sofa as she gasped for breath. Before Henry could move, one of the watchers, a redhead, took Luna¡¯s position and settled her shaved pussy over his mouth eagerly. He thrust his tongue deep into her, and she grabbed his hair to pin his face between her legs.


    ¡°Fuck! I- I¡¯m there! FUUUUCK! SO BIGNNNNNNGGGGHHH!¡± Trissa¡¯s pussy was mping down on Henry¡¯s cock as her muscles spasmed. The pressure pushed him back from his release then she was suddenly pulled clear and dumped on the floor by the woman who¡¯d earlier said she wanted a ride.


    Lunaunched herself at the woman who hurt her friend with a roar of rage. They went down with a crash, and they rolled around on the floor screaming and wing each other.


    ¡°FUH-FUH-FFFFFFUUUUUUUUCCKKKK!¡± the redhead squealed as Henry squeezed her tight ass cheeks and sucked her through a release. When she sagged to the couch to gasp for breath, Henry got a chance to take some deep breaths of his own. He finally had time for a clear thought and realized he had to get away before something terrible happened. He saw everyone was distracted, so he sat up and pulled his pants up. He could still feel his body pumping out the pheromones, and there was no way to suppress it in the presence of thesedies. He grabbed his socks and shoes and quickly walked out between the racks of clothes, snagging a ck shawl to hide his face.


    He ducked out into the hall, and instead of heading back to the main floor with all the attendees, he rushed down the corridor in the opposite direction towards the back of the building. On the way, he spotted a washroom, so he ducked inside. He quickly washed his face, rinse his mouth, and removed the condom. He stared at his throbbing erection and tried to will it away, but the waves of heat continued to rush through him. Even with him being alone, it refused to settle down. Instead, he just pulled up his pants and tidied his clothes, getting his socks and shoes on finally. He peeked out the door in time to see Luna and the two otherdies running for the main hall, all in various states of undress. Trissa followed behind at a slower pace. Once they¡¯d all pushed through the door into the main convention hall, he ran for the back door.


    Henry hit the push bar on the security door hard, causing its shrill rm to begin wailing as he stumbled outside. He held the ck cloth over his head like a shawl to block the view of any nearby cameras and walked quickly along the street beside the building to the corner. He had the light, so he walked across like he hadn¡¯t a care in the world. Then he kept walking until he found an empty side street leading away from the river. He stopped midway up the block to catch his breath. His body still felt like it was pouring heat from his core. He had to do something about that before he walked up the street and joined the crowds of people up there.

 141

    Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his solitude on the side street. No crowd. No need for the heat. When he felt the pressure of his need lessen, then lessen more, he pulled the heat inwards again. It was easier now, but it still took so much effort to contain it. He wished he¡¯d been able to have a release of his own as it would be over. Instead, he moaned with the effort to contain it one more time. He was shaking with exhaustion when he felt it sink deep inside once more. The shawl blew away, down the street and he didn¡¯t have the energy to chase it. Instead, he pulled out his cell and saw his messages had finally arrived. As he read the texts, his expression swung from shock to fear and he pushed himself to run up to the main street. There were no avable taxis, so he crossed the road and ran a few more blocks to get beyond the crowds around the convention center. Only then was he able to finally g down an approaching taxi. He sagged into the back seat and gave the name of the hospital and asked him to hurry.


    ¡°Are you sick?¡± the driver asked nervously.


    ¡°What? No, no. I¡¯m just exhausted from walking around the trade show. A friend of mine is in the hospital. She¡¯s- hurt,¡± Henry said. That seemed to calm the driver as they pulled away from the curb and set off quickly.


    Feeling like no time at all had passed, Henry jerked awake as the driver called out to him.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Henry mumbled and paid the fare.


    He climbed out of the taxi and rushed into the hospital. He looked at the directory and was immediately lost. He pulled out his cell and banged off a quick text to Sandy telling her where he was and asking how to get to her. Secondster a reply came back saying she would be right there.


    He fretted as he waited as he went over the messages he¡¯d received. They didn¡¯t say more than Tish had been attacked and was hurt. He heard a noise and turned. Sandy wrapped her arms around him and burst into tears. He held her tight as his heart froze in his chest. He caught himself about to ask those same damn questions, so he reined in that noise. ¡°Tish?¡± His throat was tight.


    She pulled back to look at him as she realized he didn¡¯t know. ¡°She¡¯s upstairs. She¡¯s hurt bad, but she keeps asking for you! She refused surgery! She refused all medical treatment! We¡¯re terrified she has a brain injury as well! Where were you? Why didn¡¯t you answer the texts or pick up the messages? Didn¡¯t you hear from Marisa? Did you see her? She said she¡¯d go find you!¡±


    ¡°I- I was at a trade show at the Javits Center. The cell towers were overloaded, so your text messages only came through when I was leaving, a short time ago. I came straight here when I saw the messages! I never saw Marisa!¡±


    Sandy leaned against him as she trembled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s been such an awful week! Dayshia was molested on the subway tform two days ago. Someone attacked me with a knife on the subway yesterday and now Tish!¡± He squeezed her in a hug as his mind reeled at her news. Then she pulled him down the hall to the elevators.


    While they took one up, Henry thought about the odds of three of his friends being targeted for attacks three days in a row and was immediately suspicious. Then he noticed Sandy¡¯s hair wasn¡¯t reaching for him. Looking closer, it seemed dull and t. He put his fingers in it, and it moved but with minimal energy. He knew he should be relieved the magic was finally fading but instead it made him sad for her sweet hair. Now he worried about that too.


    They stepped from the elevator and rushed down the corridor past the nurse¡¯s station where he saw a lot of glum faces and some tears. He was beginning to panic.


    Sandy pushed through the door, and Dayshia looked over at them hopefully. Her face lit up with a relieved smile, and she ran around the bed to pull Henry into a tight hug. That felt incredible, but Henry was looking at Tish in the bed. ¡°What happened to her?¡±


    ¡°We tried getting you-¡± Dayshia began.


    ¡°He was at the Javits. No reception,¡± Sandy interrupted her to exin. Dayshia was shaking, and Henry held her tighter.


    ¡°She¡¯s been asking for you all day!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I came the moment I got the messages saying where you were,¡± Henry exined.


    He released Dayshia and moved to the bed where Tish¡¯s torso was strapped to the bed leaving her arms free. She turned her head slowly then began to cry with relief.


    ¡°Henry¡­ oh thank god¡­ you came! You¡¯re the one¡­ only one¡­ you can fix me¡­ make me all better.¡±


    Henry nced desperately at Dayshia then Sandy. ¡°Fix her?¡± he asked quietly.


    ¡°She¡¯s been saying that since she came in. She won¡¯t let the doctors operate on her. Drove the doctor nuts,¡± Dayshia replied.


    ¡°She¡¯s on powerful painkillers now, but even before she had them, she was iming you were the only one who could heal her.¡±


    ¡°Henry¡­ please¡­ I can¡¯t feel my legs,¡± Tish said and cried softly.


    Henry¡¯s face fell as he stared at her in shock. He looked at her legs then looked to Sandy and Dayshia. They were both in tears as they nodded.


    He dipped down to kiss Tish¡¯s forehead, but she caught his face between her hands and guided his lips to hers. The kiss was desperate, but it deepened until she was moaning into the kiss as her tongue chased his in his mouth. He was caught off guard by her sudden need.


    Sandy and Dayshia reached over to gently lift Tish¡¯s arms from Henry¡¯s back to let him up.


    The moment he felt the other two women touch him the heat exploded from captivity and surged through his body once more. He tried to cry out in dismay, to tell them to run, to make himself run¡­ but he had nothing left. He was barely able to stand as the pulsing resumed unchecked.


    Everyone sucked in a sharp breath then Dayshia pulled Henry¡¯s face to hers and kissed him fiercely. He lost himself to the heat coursing through him and the sensual feel of Dayshia¡¯s lips.


    He gasped when a hand slipped inside the zipper of his pants to take hold of his cock and squeeze. He heard Tish sigh and knew it was her. With her other hand, she pulled the sheet over her down and ced his right-hand t against her stomach. He felt her hard muscles trembling under his fingers, and his heart yearned for her to be healthy.


    Sandy knelt and undid Henry¡¯s pants and tugged them down. She saw Tish¡¯s hand stroking and squeezing the thick cock, and she knew she had to have it in her mouth. She pushed her head into the small gap between Dayshia and Henry to slide the thick head between her lips. She wanted more. Her head was swimming with her need for him!


    Dayshia¡¯s whole body was on fire just from Henry¡¯s kiss! She needed more! She felt Sandy squeeze between them and begin to bob her head up and down over his cock. She snorted as she knew there was no way small little Sandy would be able to get his anaconda into her mouth. Dayshia needed to try!This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Tish¡¯s mind was swimming with the fog of the drugs, the dull pain in her back, and the roaring of her need for Henry. Her left hand fondled his heavy balls as she watched Sandy enjoying his cock. She needed him too!


    Henry must have still been on edge from his little y at the Javits Center as his orgasm was right there and Sandy¡¯s mouth was in a very dangerous ce. ¡°Sandy! Stop! I¡¯m gonna cum!¡± he gasped. His right hand was still pressed tight to Tish¡¯s stomach as she clung to it. He tried to grab Sandy¡¯s head with his left, but Dayshia gave him a sexy grin and caught the hand as she began to move down to join her friend.


    Sandy was in heaven as what she was doing was so sexy! She felt his cock swelling in her mouth! She¡¯d never done this before, but it seemed she was doing something right as Henry was about to cum. She wasn¡¯t sure where it wasing from, but she felt a faint echo in her mind, an intense desperation for her to continue.


    ¡°Oh! Oh damn! Fuu-¡± Henry gasped then it was toote. Thick ropes of cum sprayed into Sandy¡¯s mouth, and she swallowed as quickly as she could.


    She suddenly pulled back, catching another ssh across her forehead down to her chin. She managed two more steps back before her legs folded under her as she crumpled to the floor.


    Dayshia missed this as she swooped down over his cock and took it all the way down to the base. ¡°FUCK! OH! DAYSHIA!¡± he cried out as his orgasm continued in surges. He had to close his eyes with the intensity.


    The dark-skinned beauty sexily moaned as she swallowed quickly. She pumped Henry¡¯s cock a few times, then the room suddenly red with colors she couldn¡¯t identify. She, too, stepped back as her muscles went loose, slowly taking her down to the floor next to Sandy.


    Tish¡¯s left hand immediately grabbed Henry¡¯s cock and slid up to the thick head. She squeezed it in her fist with gentle pulses.


    ¡°Fuck! Oh, fuck! FuckFuckFuck!¡± he shuddered as she milked thest sts of cum from him. When he sagged back, she lifted her hand to her face and opened her fist. She stared in surprise at how much of the thick white substance she¡¯d caught. She saw Henry slowly turning his eyes to her, so she held them as she pressed her palm to her mouth. She sucked up all the sticky stuff, slid it across her tongue then swallowed it. She caught his look of shock before her eyes rolled up.


    Henry¡¯s body went through two more tremors then the heat finally dissipated. His mind began to clear¡­ except for his exhaustion. He looked down and watched Sandy¡¯s hair growing and glowing with new vitality. It was now well beyond anything that could be mistaken for ¡®static cling¡¯ or ¡®flyaway¡¯ human hair. Humans didn¡¯t havethis much hair! He couldn¡¯t get a handle on how long it was as it seemed to stretch and contract as it began to flow slowly.


    Its ability to move on its own, independent of the sleeping woman¡¯s will, marked it as something alien. It rose from the floor and reached out to him, so he lifted his left hand to let the hair gently coil around his fingers. He jolted and gasped as anotherrge strand wrapped around his shrinking cock to stroke and squeeze it from the base to the head, milking thest drops of cum. When it released him, he didn¡¯t see where it took its prize. He watched it wipe Sandy¡¯s face clean as well. What was it doing with the cum? Exhaustion pushed the question from his mind.


    The sentient hair pulled his underwear and pants up and worked the zipper and button. He snorted gently, impressed by how talented her hair had be then he felt an odd snap under his right hand and turned his eyes back to Tish. He almost jumped away as the sheet over her lower half was lifting oddly. She was paralyzed, so what was that?!?

 142

    As his right hand was still held down against Tish and his left was being held by Sandy¡¯s hair, a coil of her hair moved to pull the sheet down for him. Henry cried out in shock. Her legs! Dark ck fur was growing over them as her knee and ankle joints¡­ relocated, causing the sheets to lift. For a brief moment, he thought she might be moving them on her own, but theirck of tone once transformed dispelled that illusion.


    Her feet were shrinking into cloven hooves, much like his though smaller. He quickly nced up to her face and saw small bone white horns slowly growing out through her ebony hair. Her eyes widened slightly, and hershes grew and thickened. Her ears became pointed, grew fur with feathered tufts at the tips, and pointed up. Her eyebrows thickened into fur with cute little curls forming on them. All the fine hairs were disappearing on her upper torso and arms, leaving smooth skin with a slight smattering of light freckles.


    She- she was bing a Satyr right before his eyes!


    But her limp legs still didn¡¯t move. Transformed but not healed. A cruel irony.


    Ikehorn was frustrated beyond measure. He¡¯d waited in the hospital all day to speak to the Satyr, to present the Queen¡¯s offer to heal his¡­ pet.


    But the Satyr didn¡¯t show.


    All bloody day, Ikehorn waited until the Satyr finally showed up, stinking slightly of pheromones. Fucking around while his friends needed him. That was a mark against him in Ikehorn¡¯s book.


    He¡¯d waited further still, allowing the Satyr time to fully realize the dire nature of her injuries and be desperate for their help. Finally, he walked down the corridor with his look-away mor active to pass by the nurse¡¯s station unchallenged. Stopping outside the door, he prepared himself and readied his speech. He was going to present the Satyr with an offer to heal the female. He only hoped the Queen¡¯s physicians would be able to repair such extensive damage.


    He still itched to do it himself, and he savagely forced that down.


    It was time. Ikehorn applied an avoidance spell on the door to keep unwanted visitors away while he was there then pushed through the door.


    The power of the pheromones in the small space was still potent, and Ikehorn staggered slightly. He managed four steps into the room when his feet slowed to a stop. The scene before him defied exnation.


    Two prone bodies, the ebony-skinned woman and the¡­ blond were lying on the floor next to the bed. The blonde¡¯s hair was now much, much longer! It gleamed and moved on its own!


    The Satyr, still in disguise, stood beside the bed, braced against it in exhaustion. His left hand was gently holding the blonde¡¯s hair, and his other was touching a female Satyr on the mattress.


    What?!? NO, it was the one they¡¯d crippled! The tall, dark-haired woman was now a female version of Gable! He did this?!?


    The eyes of the Satyr had widened with panic when he first entered, but calmed when he saw who¡¯d joined him in the room. That calm turned into confusion then suspicion. Ikehorn had no time to dy. The scene threw him, but he needed to salvage the Queen¡¯s n. Time tounch into his story.


    ¡°I was informed of the¡­ injuries yourfriendexperienced today. I¡¯vee here to offer you the Queen¡¯s assistance in healing her.¡± His eyes strayed back to the female Satyr. Her legs still appeared to be limp and unmoving. Good.


    Henry scowled, and suddenly Ikehorn found himself suspended above the floor. The hair had a grip on his wrists and ankles and carried him effortlessly to face Henry.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    ¡°Put me down, this instant!¡± Ikehorn snapped. He was surprised at the strength in the hair. It felt more like braided steel cable.


    ¡°My friends have been telling me again and again, never trust the Fae, especially one offering a deal. I¡¯m slow at getting the nuances of this new reality I¡¯m now living in, butthatfact is sinking in. In the past three days, three of my friends were attacked? Dayshia and Sandy are ok but something truly horrifying happened to Tish, and suddenlyyoushow up to offer toheal her?¡± He shook his head as he struggled with what his mind was screaming at him. ¡°I¡¯ve been told, nothing is free from the Fae. There is always a price.¡± He went quiet again as he turned his eyes to Tish, still sleeping peacefully. Still crippled. It couldn¡¯t be. It was barbaric! He turned horrified and incredulous eyes back to Ikehorn.


    The facts clicked into ce in his mind. ¡°Queen Mab wants something from me. Something big. She needed leverage-¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ikehorn asked angrily, but the hair shook him. That rattled his cool.


    ¡°You¡¯re lying! Sandy¡¯s¡­ hair can tell! So help me if you don¡¯t start telling me the truth I will instruct the hair to start pulling.


    Ikehorn heard the truth in his words and desperately tried to find a way to save this situation. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you what she hasn¡¯t shared with me!¡±


    ¡°You did this to Tish!¡± Gable growled, and Ikehorn felt his shoulder pop out of joint as the hair pulled a little too much. He automatically healed himself with a green sh on his shoulder. The pain though, that remained.


    He noticed the Satyr had gone silent and looked at him.


    ¡°That green light! You can heal! You can heal Tish!¡± he eximed to Ikehorn.


    The Queen¡¯s n would be ruined! He had to stop this! ¡°I¡¯m not a healer! I don¡¯t know how it works! And I¡¯ve never repaired anything this¡­ severe. I doubt I¡¯d have the strength or skill! I¡¯d do more harm than good!¡±


    Henry scowled at him again. ¡°It¡¯s not skill; it¡¯s will. I may not be a wielder, but I¡¯ve picked up that much. You need strength?¡± Gable dropped his mour, tearing and ripping through his clothes. ¡°FUCK!¡± He looked at his clothes in dismay. ¡°Well¡­ shit. Never mind!¡± Therge Satyr held his eyes. I¡¯ve got plenty of strength to spare, and I¡¯ll lend you my will and desire. Let¡¯s do this!¡±


    Ikehorn was bing genuinely desperate. ¡°Wait! You said it yourself, the Fae do nothing for free! There must bepensation for doing this!¡± he groaned as the hair stressed his joints once more.


    Henry¡¯s eyes bore into Ikehorn¡¯s. ¡°Thepensation is your continued survival. You¡­engineeredthe situation which caused the damage you are now going to repair. You oweTisha debt. Now you pay it back. Besides, I can feel your need to heal her.¡±


    Ikehorn¡¯s face burned with directionless rage. He¡¯d failed the Queen. Then the Satyr¡¯s words sank in. ¡°Wait, what do you mean you can feel it?¡± he asked in dawning horror.


    The Satyr lifted his left hand which was still coiled with the hair. ¡°We¡¯re connected. The hair is feeding what it feels from you to me. I can roughly feel your need to heal her. That sentiment is the only thing keeping you from being torn limb from limb. Enough talk, time to heal.¡± He looked down at the unconscious female. ¡°I¡¯m not a wielder, but I¡¯m starting to feel my connection to the global healing spell. I- recall the sensation of pulling it to me. I¡¯m going to try to do it now. You do the rest. Is that understood?¡± Henry looked fiercely into his eyes, and Ikehorn nodded, fascinated in spite of himself.


    Closing his eyes in preparation, the Satyr calmed and momentster the room began to glow with the green light of the global healing spell, bing brighter and brighter as he drew it to himself.


    The hair moved Ikehorn closer to Tish¡¯s body and positioned his hand next to the Satyr¡¯s muchrger one. He suddenly felt the enormous umtion of the healing power at his disposal. He also felt the incredible strength of the Satyr¡¯s will, his desire to bring Tish¡¯s body back to a state of perfect health once more. With a final gasp, Ikehorn gave in to his need to heal the woman and prepared the image in his mind. Perfectly aligned vertebrae and an unbroken spinal column. He felt the weight of the task settling over him and almost lost faith until the Satyr¡¯s mind slid in next to him and presented him with the power to achieve¡­ anything.


    The room¡¯s door burst open, and Ikehorn looked back over his shoulder as he dangled over the bed. A tall, dark-haired man was standing in the doorway ck-jawed in shock. He suddenly surged into the room as a coil of the blonde hair yanked him in by his belt buckle. He opened his mouth to yell, and another strand slipped something between his lips. The man grabbed the hair and began to choke. Then his muscles went limp as he copsed to the floor next to the others.


    Ikehorn nced over to the Satyr who¡¯d missed this entire exchange as he still had his eyes closed. He turned his attention back to the female Satyr and calmed his mind, allowing the offered energy to fill his being. When it felt like he might be incandescent, he directed it down through his hand touching her as he held the image in his mind.


    Heal.


    The room exploded with green light like a sh bomb, stunning everyone including the blonde¡¯s hair. The windows blew out and loose, small objects flew about the room as if a mighty wind circled the chamber. The Satyr released his grip on the hair and slumped next to the bed as Ikehorn dropped to the floor.


    As the channel and focus point of all that energy, Ikehorn discovered he¡¯d been least affected and recovered before his captors. Looking at the altered humans, Ikehorn¡¯s quick mind leapt to an alternate n. He leaned closer to the dazed Satyr. ¡°How will you protect your friends now in their changed state? How will youdisguisethem?¡± He caught motion in the corner of his eye and leapt backward over the stirring hair, turned and ran from the room. He paused to reinforce the avoidance spell on the door as he wondered how the tall man had gotten past his original one. Then he rushed into the stairwell to run down the stairs to the ground floor. He calmly left the hospital and found a ce to keep an eye on it. He pulled out his cell and contacted his team to bring the surveince van.


    As he settled in to watch for the Satyr¡¯s next move, he hoped the seed he nted in his mind took hold. He was still outraged that he¡¯d been used to thwart the Queen¡¯s n.


    He had to ensure he salvaged it. His very life depended on it.


    Ikehorn felt a dawning realization that he very much wished to live. He wanted¡­ to go home.


    Someone was waiting there for his return. His heart jumped in his chest.


    Unsettled by these unfamiliar feelings, he tried to get his mind back on matters of import. Like serving his Queen.


    Lovely blue eyes remained in the back of his mind as he watched the hospital.

 143

    Marisa walked across the lobby to the admitting desk and smiled at the man sitting on the other side of the window. Meixiu was walking beside her, and she saw the man¡¯s eyes were jumping back and forth between them. She allowed herself a sly smile.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to see Patricia Evans.¡±


    ¡°Uh, visiting hours are over.¡±


    Meixiu leaned forward and locked eyes with the man. His mouth slowly dropped open and the entrance door buzzed as he unlocked it. Sigrid had been waiting next to the door, so she opened it. Marisa and Meixiu joined her, and they stepped inside.


    The Valkyrie lean closer to the Vampire. ¡°Meixiu, we need the camera¡¯s shut down and all recordings of the past day deleted. Can you find the security office and get them to do that?¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Come up to the room when you¡¯re done as we¡¯ll need help getting them out.¡± With another nod, she rushed away.


    Sigrid and Marisa continued to the elevators. ¡°So how did Henry sound when he called?¡± the tall blond asked in worry.


    ¡°Exhausted. Frightened. Desperate.¡±


    ¡°You went looking for him at the Javits Center?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°I got as far as the door. The crowd was toorge, and I drew too much attention. I tried calling Henry but getting a connection was impossible. So I went back to the office to wait. That¡¯s where I got Henry¡¯s call. He said he was here at the hospital, something had happened to all of his friends, and he needed to get them out of the hospital unobserved. There is some kind of repelling spell on the door so they should have privacy until we get them out,¡± Marisa exined.


    ¡°Who put a spell on the door?¡± Sigrid asked suspiciously.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say, but I can guess,¡± Marisa muttered.


    They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall. Two nurses were sitting at the nurse¡¯s station, a veteran and a newbie by the look of them. Both looked up as they heard the approaching footsteps. ¡°May I help you?¡± the older one asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to see Patricia Evans,¡± Marisa said sweetly.


    ¡°Visiting hours are over. They should have told you that downstairs,¡± the woman replied with a frown.


    ¡°He said we could go right up as we¡¯re close friends,¡± Marisa said.


    The veteran nurse looked over at the trainee. ¡°Rnd is such a sucker for a pretty face,¡± she snorted then turned back to send them on their way. She jumped a little as a lovely third woman had suddenly appeared. A beautiful Asian girl.


    ¡°We are special friends,¡± Meixiu said looking deeply into the eyes of the older nurse whose expression went ck.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The veteran gestured for them to proceed down the hall. The younger nurse made a sound of protest then was caught by Meixiu¡¯s gaze. She slumped in her chair, and Meixiu wobbled on her feet.


    Sigrid caught her elbow. ¡°Are you ok?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had topel so many people before. These are good people, so I haven¡¯t fed from any of them. I¡¯m so hungry!¡± Meixiu moaned.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see Henry. Maybe you can feed on him,¡± Sigrid suggested as they walked down the hall and Meixiu¡¯s face brightened up.


    ¡°Are all of the cameras disabled?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°Yes, and the recordings for the past week have been erased. The security team will not remember anything that happened tonight.¡± Meixiu said wearily.


    ¡°Youhavebeen pushing yourself tonight!¡± Sigrid said in concern.


    They suddenly wanted to turn around and move away, so they knew they¡¯d reached the right door. Sigrid pushed through the spell and touched the door, breaking the binding in the magic, allowing it to dissipate. She knocked gently on the door. ¡°Henry? It¡¯s Sigrid, Marisa, and Meixiu.¡±


    There was silence, so she tried the door, and it only moved in a short distance before it stopped.


    ¡°Henry?¡± Marisa called out.


    The door suddenly pulled open and blond hair swooped around the edge to wrap around Marisa¡¯s body and carry her into the room.


    Marisa¡¯s eyes were wide with surprise as she felt the full body hug as she was enveloped by glowing blonde hair. Her feet weren¡¯t touching the ground, and she could feel the strength in the strands, but she also sensed affection in the grip. A burst of relieved and giddy giggles escaped from her. ¡°Sandy?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still unconscious.¡±


    Marisa looked to the bed and saw Henry slumped against it in a white t-shirt and jeans. What drew her attention next was the creatureinthe bed. It was clearly Tish but¡­ it wasn¡¯t. ¡°What?¡± she gasped quietly. Then she noted Sandy, Dayshia, and a tall, dark-haired man all unconscious on the floor. ¡°What?!?¡±


    Sigrid and Meixiu moved into the room to gaze at the sleeping Humans in surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer all your questionster. For now, we need to get them all out of the hospital before they wake up or someonees to investigate.¡±


    ¡°I thought- Tish was badly injured, wasn¡¯t she?¡± Marisa asked in shock. ¡°It¡¯s not safe to move her¡­ is it?¡±


    Henry¡¯s expression was troubled and flipped between doubt and wonder. ¡°Ithinkwe healed her. Either way, we can¡¯t leave her here, like this!¡± He shook his head as he rubbed his face.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Marisa and I will get some gurneys. Meixiu needs to feed if you can manage it. She used too much energy clearing the way for us to get in and out unseen.¡±


    Henry nodded, and Meixiu smiled at him gratefully. He switched his mor to drop his clothes and Meixiu burst into giggles.


    ¡°No, I just need a little blood,¡± she said as she admired the view of his naked body.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry!¡± he said with a deep blush. The white t-shirt and jeans shed back onto his body.


    ¡°Uh, how do I get out of this embrace?¡± Marisa asked.


    Henry reached a hand towards the hair and immediately strands wrapped around his fingers. He smiled with a chuckle. ¡°She¡¯sdelightedto see you!¡± he said, gazing fondly at the blonde locks. Marisa was gently lowered to her feet and released from the grip. The hair floated before her like a glowing cloud.


    ¡°She?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°Later,¡± Sigrid said and tugged Marisa¡¯s hand to follow her out.


    Meixiu moved closer to Henry, but he raised his free hand.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    ¡°Let me exin what¡¯s going to happen, or you may find yourself in an angry tangle,¡± he said.


    The hair moved closer then he nodded to Meixiu. She looked nervously at the hovering gold locks but slipped in against Henry¡¯s chest and hugged him. He smiled, and she kissed him sweetly. When she pulled back, he tilted his head, and her lips went to his throat. She bit gently and quickly drank as she felt tendrils of hair wrap around her arms. She licked to seal the small wound then pulled back as the energy swept through her, recharging her spent cells.


    When she opened her eyes, she noticed she was bound tight. ¡°Henry?¡±


    He opened his eyes blearily and saw her situation. ¡°Sorry.¡± He frowned and the hair released her.


    ¡°I¡­ will get a gurney too,¡± Meixiu said, watching the hovering wall of hair nervously as she backed away.


    As she rushed from the room, Henry tugged the hair closer. ¡°Friend,¡± he gently admonished. It touched where Meixiu fed, so he pressed the locks to his lips. Sandy sighed in her sleep.


    Sigrid wheeled a cart in and looked at him curiously. ¡°There are only three gurneys avable on this floor. You have four people to extract.¡±


    Henry looked at the group nervously. ¡°I can carry Roger.¡±


    She scowled at him, seeing his exhaustion. ¡°No, that will draw too much attention. I¡¯lle back for him.¡±


    Henry didn¡¯t feel it was safe to separate them, but he just nodded as he didn¡¯t have the will to argue. He helped gently load Dayshia on the gurney. Henry and Sigrid shared a look as Dayshia¡¯s eyes wererger than before. Hershes were longer and thicker as well.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take her down to the car. Send Marisa down with Sandy next¡­ if you can get her hair to behave. Thene down with Meixiu and Tish. I¡¯lle back up to get Roger.¡±


    Henry nodded, and Sigrid wheeled Dayshia out.


    Marisa pushed an empty gurney into the room and looked to him. Henry exined to Sandy¡¯s hair what they needed to do with Sandy. He needed a name for the hair as she was an independent entity but he¡¯d wait for Sandy to tell him.


    When Marisa pulled the top sheet off, the blonde hair lifted Sandy onto the gurney and pulled the sheet over her. Marisa smiled at Henry and pushed the rolling bed out. He saw a tendril of hair wrapped around Marisa¡¯s wrist as they stepped out the door.


    He went to the bed and carefully slipped his hand under Tish¡¯s back and slowly slid his fingers down while touching the line of her spine. He was sweating bullets, but he found no misalignments. He lifted her in his arms andid her out on the gurney Meixiu wheeled in. She covered their patient with a nket and were ready to go.


    With a final worried look at Roger, he gathered his torn, real clothes and followed Meixiu out. At least Roger appeared Human in case anyone came to check on the room.


    As they made their way through the hall, he noticed the hospital was so quiet. Too quiet. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± he asked.


    Meixiu gave him a slight smile. ¡°There wasn¡¯t many here, but those that are will rest until we leave.¡±


    He didn¡¯t want to know what she meant by that, so he let it go.


    They made it to the side entrance where Sigrid gave them a relieved look. ¡°I¡¯ll take Meixiu back up with me. You get Tish into the truck.¡±

 144

    Henry lifted Tish and gently ced her on the middle bucket seat. He tilted it back slightly, belted her in, then noticed Dayshia and Sandy were on the back bench seat with Marisa between them. The mane of blonde hair was stretched out across all three like a nket. He grinned at Marisa.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Marisa said and snuggled in between the twodies.


    Suddenly Sigrid and Meixiu rushed out of the hospital and jumped into the front seats.


    ¡°Sit down and buckle in, Henry!¡± Sigrid called back tersely as she started the truck.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Roger-¡±


    ¡°Now!¡±


    Henry shut up and fastened his seatbelt as the truck pulled away from the building. They joined traffic on the main roads and headed for the expressway. ¡°What happened to Roger?¡±


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t there when we returned to the room,¡± Meixiu said.


    Henry sat back and fretted about that. What did the man see? What happened to him? He recalled opening his eyes to see Roger included in the group of unconscious friends.


    He was also an anarchist who believed the society needed a good kick in the ass. Now, he was out there with potentially some kind of physiological change, who knows what kind of abilities, and a head full of unexinable images. Dammit! The situation was going from bad to worse.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± he asked.


    Sigrid nced in the mirror. ¡°Walter Zhao¡¯s house.¡±


    ¡°What? Why there? He¡¯ll have left wards on the ce! Powerful ones!¡± Marisa argued.


    ¡°It¡¯s secluded, and Meixiu lived in the house when Walter created the wards, so she¡¯s excluded from their effect. She believes she knows how Walter disabled them. She¡¯ll go in and shut them down. She¡¯s very brave!¡± Sigrid said with a proud smile for her housemate and received a grateful smile in return.


    They drove on for a while then Sigrid could wait no longer. ¡°Henry, what happened?¡±


    He sighed. He had some exining to do, and they had a little time.


    A strand of hair stroked his cheek affectionately. He reached up to take it between his fingers and kissed it. ¡°Did you know Sandy¡¯s hair almost died? I mean, before, it was only partially energized but it was alive then. Sandy told me she was attacked in the subway yesterday and in the attack, her hair became dull and lifeless. Dayshia was also attacked the day before that, but she wasn¡¯t injured. Today it was Tish¡¯s turn only this time they were sessful.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s they?¡± Sigrid asked though she had an idea.


    ¡°The Fae. Queen Mab wants something from me. She needed leverage, so she went after my friends,¡± he said as he ground his teeth in frustrated rage.


    ¡°How did they change?¡± Marisa asked.


    Henry looked at Marisa. ¡°The usual way.¡±


    Marisa frowned. ¡°But Tish was hurt, crippled I thought.¡±


    He looked away with a bleak expression on his face. ¡°I know. Not a circumstance where sex should have been on anyone¡¯s mind. Tish was desperate from her injuries, and her behavior was anything but normal. She refused care and said I was the only one who could help. Her emotions were going off the rails when she saw me. She kissed me. When Dayshia and Sandy leaned against me to stop Tish, my pheromones exploded out.¡± He shuddered with self-loathing. ¡°I¡¯d suppressed it for too long and when the three women triggered it, I¡­ I couldn¡¯t stop it.¡±


    ¡°How long have you been suppressing it?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Henry thought about that. ¡°Four or five days. Since the nightclub.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you release it earlier?¡± Marisa asked.


    Henry shook his head sadly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know how. I tried when it was safe to do as no one was around but it wouldn¡¯t¡­e out to y.¡± He took a deep breath to calm himself. ¡°This is all new to me but I¡¯ve learned suppressing it isnotthe route to go.¡±


    Henry ached for sleep, so he leaned his temple against the window, and soon the motion rocked him to oblivion.


    -=-


    Keeping an eye on the blonde locks, Meixiu reached back to shake Henry¡¯s shoulder. He jolted awake.


    ¡°What?!?¡± he blurted.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± she said.


    She addressed the group. ¡°You should all stay in the truck until I ensure the house can be safely opened. I don¡¯t know what defenses Walter added to the wards. If he did change them after I escaped you could be caught in the st.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going with you!¡± Sigrid insisted.


    Meixiu smiled at her gratefully.


    The twodies stepped out and walked up to therge front door.


    ¡°I can feel the ward. There¡¯s a pressure. An impulse to leave. Unpleasant,¡± Sigrid said quietly.


    ¡°Walter didn¡¯t like visitors. Especially when he wasn¡¯t home,¡± Meixiu replied. Shewasfeeling better with Sigrid¡¯s presence and being able to ¡®defang the dragon¡¯ by using her captor¡¯s first name. She¡¯d always called him Master or Mr. Zhao. Sigrid taught her she no longer had to treat him with respect he didn¡¯t deserve. Doing this made her feel much better.


    While she was terrified to step back inside this home, she knew it would help her break free from his control if she did it by her own free will. Anything she could do that he would not have approved of felt like a victory.


    They stood before the door and from Sigrid¡¯s expression she could tell the ward was working full force. She marveled at her friend¡¯s strength of will. Another reason to feel confident. Also, she felt none of the effects so this meant Walter hadn¡¯t alter the wards.


    ¡°No change,¡± she sighed, and Sigrid gave her a cautious smile.


    ¡°The lock is keyed to my grip,¡± she said and reached for the handle.


    ¡°Wait-¡± Sigrid warned but toote.


    Electricity shot through Meixiu¡¯s body as the trap sprung. She could feel Walter¡¯s malignant intent permeating the spell he¡¯d added to trap his errant ve should she return. It wasn¡¯t meant to kill, or she¡¯d already be dead. She saw Sigrid reaching for her.


    ¡°No!¡± she spat through her clenched teeth, and Sigrid leaned back from the rage in her voice.


    Meixiu noticed the trap spell was struggling to put her down on her knees and realized Walter¡¯s magic wasn¡¯t stronger than the Wild Magic coursing through her. She grit her teeth and pushed back, hard.


    The trap spell was the first to fall with a loud snap. She kept up the pressure and let her senses spread out over the home. She attacked any magic that reacted aggressively to her presence and one by one they failed and burned out. The home¡¯s passive protections were still active, but they were no threat, so she left them alone.


    When she was done, she sagged and released the doorknob. Sigrid caught her in her arms.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± the Valkyrie gasped.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s safe now. The wards are gone. I¡¯ve destroyed all of Walter¡¯s offensive magical protection on the building.¡±


    Sigrid looked at her in shock. ¡°How?¡±


    Meixiu gave her a tired but satisfied smile. ¡°My magic is stronger than his!¡±


    Sigrid grinned at her and pulled her into a quick hug.


    When Sigrid released her, Meixiu reached out and opened the door with a push.


    ¡°Walter didn¡¯t lock the door with a key?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t like to carry them, and he didn¡¯t need to,¡± she said with a weary sigh.


    ¡°Are you going to be ok?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I will be fine.¡± She turned to face the door. She stepped inside the threshold. ¡°I will turn on the lights and get fresh sheets on the beds upstairs.¡± She smiled back at Sigrid, feeling very pleased with herself that she¡¯d defeated Walter¡¯s magic. She couldn¡¯t begin to say how grateful she was for Henry¡¯s gift of the Wild Magic! It gave her confidence and a new peace of mind. There was nothing left in this house for her to fear.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    With a proud nod and smile, Sigrid went back to the truck and moved it right up next to the front door. The unloading process went smoothly with Henry cradling Tish in his arms, Sigrid doing the same for Dayshia, and Marisa guiding Sandy¡¯s hair as it carried Sandy. Meixiu had found the light switches, so the house was well lit as they made their way inside. They climbed the stairs to the second floor to find Meixiu had removed the dustyforters. The sheets beneath were clean at least.


    ¡°I will find fresher nkets to ce over the top sheet,¡± she said before slipping away with theforters.


    Sigridid Dayshia down on the bed in the first room, pulled the sheet over her, then struggled with the window to get it open. She finally managed it and joined Marisa in the second room. ¡°I¡¯ll get the windows open in their rooms. The air is stale in this house.¡±


    Marisa nodded. ¡°Tomorrow we¡¯ll throw open all of the windows.¡± She pulled the sheet up over Sandy and epted a touch on her lips by a tendril of hair. She smiled and followed Sigrid to the third bedroom where Henry stood staring down at Tish. They saw his hands were shaking and they shared a troubled look. Sigrid moved to open the window then they gently guided Henry out and back down to the main floor. They went into a sitting room just to the left of the front door. Meixiu joined them there.


    ¡°Are you ok, Henry?¡± Sigrid asked.

 145

    He lifted his eyes from the floor to her and shook his head. He had a stricken expression. ¡°No. No, I¡¯m not. I¡¯ve just ruined their lives! They would have been better off if they¡¯d never met me.¡±


    ¡°Henry! Don¡¯t say that!¡± Marisa eximed.


    ¡°It¡¯s true! Look what I did! They¡¯re no longer human! I did that! Me and this damn magic inside me! And what fucking good is having the ability to cause spontaneous orgies?!? Maybe it¡¯s a damn good thing the humans killed off the Satyr poption if all we can do is make people fuck!¡± His breathing wasing in gulps. ¡°Wild Magic is just a curse on top! Twisting and warping people into random shapes!¡± A sob tore through him. ¡°You know, I was so caught up in my troubles that I didn¡¯t even realize how much of a monster I¡¯ve be until I stopped to watch Tish sleeping. I turned her into a Satyr! I was admiring how lovely she looked, and that¡¯s when it sank in! I only saw what I wanted! Why the hell couldn¡¯t I see that?!?¡±


    Sigrid grabbed his shoulders to look him right in the eye, and he flinched at thepassion he saw there. ¡°Because you¡¯re not a monster, Henry. None of what¡¯s happened is your fault-¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    He pulled away. ¡°No, I can¡¯t me anyone but myself. I knew I wasn¡¯t human and I knew my life wasplicated and had dangers they¡¯d neverprehend. I was warned that I shouldn¡¯t make friends with humans, but I ignored all of that because I wanted them. My selfishness led to this.¡±


    ¡°Henry, it¡¯s not wrong to want to have friends! You just weren¡¯t prepared to be what you are! That¡¯s Baba Yaga¡¯s fault! You¡¯re not a monster! You¡¯re a good man caught in a bad situation. You¡¯re still learning about what it means to be a Satyr!¡± Marisa insisted.


    Henry slumped back against the cushions. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter¡­ they¡¯ll never forgive me, and I don¡¯t me them. They shouldn¡¯t forgive me. I¡¯ve ruined everything.¡±


    Marisa knelt before him and ced her hands on his knees as she looked up into his eyes. ¡°You haven¡¯t ruined anything. You¡¯ve changed them. As you were changed, when you discovered you were a Satyr. Do you remember how lost you were; how reluctant you were to ept the change? But you had us to guide you. We bless the day you came into our lives! You¡¯ve enriched them. You¡¯ve changed us too. Will you run away from the responsibility of helping your friends through this transition? Or will you be there for them as we were for you?¡± She could see he was struggling with his self-loathing. ¡°We know you¡¯re a good person. We know you¡¯ll help them any way you can. It¡¯s your nature to be kind, loving and supportive. It¡¯s who you are.¡±


    He looked down at his hands in hisp, and a tremor went through him.


    Sigrid stood behind Marisa. ¡°We should all try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.¡±


    Henry lifted his eyes to look at them. ¡°You go on up. I¡¯m going to stay down here a while,¡± he said quietly.


    ¡°You shoulde upstairs with us-¡± Marisa began.


    ¡°No, please. I just- I just need to be alone for a bit. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± He gave them a weak smile, but no one believed it.


    Short of carrying him upstairs they couldn¡¯t force him, so the three women nodded and left the room, looking back at him sadly.


    He sat alone on the couch and listened to them climb the stairs. He let his exhausted mind go back to a point in the evening when he was lying on the floor, dazed after healing Tish. Ikehorn¡¯s words came back to haunt him.


    ¡°How will you protect your friends now in their changed state? How will you disguise them?¡±


    Henry wasn¡¯t stupid. He knew what Ikehorn was after and he desperately wished he had an alternative. He could think of none. He had to right the wrong he¡¯d done to his friends. He couldn¡¯t change them back, but hecouldget them mors to disguise their new states. Which meant making a deal with the devil herself. The very monster who¡¯d plotted to harm his friends. The injustice of turning to Mab for a solution burned within him. But his shame at what he¡¯d done was stronger so he had no choice.


    He sat quietly for a while just looking out the window into the darkness beyond. When he felt he¡¯d waited long enough, he stood and walked to the door. He opened it and saw Ikehorn standing on the gravel drive a short distance from the door, as Henry suspected he would be. The Fae looked at Henry cautiously.


    Henry gestured for him to enter then walked back to the sitting room and took a seat. Momentster Ikehorn appeared in the doorway and nced nervously towards the stairs, but they were alone.


    Gesturing to the chair before him, Henry fixed his eyes on the Fae. ¡°I hate what you did. I hate what Mab ordered you to do. I hate what I¡¯m now forced to do.¡± Ikehorn now looked worried, and Henry stared at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Queen Mab indicated to me that it was important that you repay the debt willingly,¡± he said quietly, ncing to the doorway.


    Henry stared at the Fae with a scowl.


    ¡°Is your friend healed?¡± Ikehorn asked suddenly, and Henry heard genuine concern in his voice. That threw him a little.


    ¡°Yes, her legs aren¡¯t limp anymore. I can feel their tone is back. She hasn¡¯t woken yet, so I don¡¯t know if her recovery isplete. There is also the matter that I turned her into A FUCKING SATYR!¡± Henry spat. Ikehorn watched him.


    ¡°How?¡±


    Henry looked at him. He saw only honest curiosity and concern. A great weariness swept through him. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Something to do with the Wild Magic I¡¯m linked to. It¡¯s powerful, and humans can be affected by it. Randomly. I don¡¯t know why Sandy got sentient hair or why Dayshia¡¯s eyes changed or why Tish became like me-¡±


    ¡°I saw your hand on her stomach. Were you touching her throughout her change? Perhaps it used you as a temte,¡± Ikehorn suggested.


    Henry blinked in surprise at him as he hadn¡¯t considered that. Suddenly the stupid idea of bringing back the Satyr race popped into his head. He closed his eyes tight and violently shook his head to rid himself of the ludicrous concept. Hadn¡¯t he just imed how it was a good idea they were killed off? ¡°Whatever. That¡¯s how it happens.¡±


    ¡°So youarea wielder. You will the Wild Magic into their bodies,¡± Ikehorn pushed.


    Henry scowled at the man. ¡°No! I don¡¯t control it! They have to ingest¡­ something from me,¡± he finished with burning cheeks. He looked away in embarrassment.


    Ikehorn leaned back in surprise. ¡°Oh? OH!¡±


    ¡°What does Mab want?¡± Henry said to change the subject.


    Ikehorn shook his head. ¡°You will need to ask her. She just wanted you to ask for something only we can supply. Healing or mors for your friends, both are significant requests which will require equally significantpensation.¡±


    ¡°Your inability to appreciate the value of doing a good deed for its own sake is what diminishes your race in the eyes of others.¡±


    Ikehorn leaned back stiffly. ¡°We are not unique in our insistence on fair bnce-¡±


    ¡°No¡­ don¡¯t speak to me about fairness. You have no concept,¡± he snarled then sucked in a few deep breaths as he settled his mind. ¡°Tell Mab I¡¯ll being to see her to ask a favor.¡±


    The Fae rxed for the first time all day and actually smiled gratefully. He stood and handed Henry a card. ¡°This has my number and the address of the building where the Queen is staying. It will also get you into the underground parking lot¡¯s lowest level where you¡¯ll find the roof service elevator. I¡¯ll let her know you¡¯reing. Please, make it soon.¡± He paused as a conflicted look of difort crossed his face. ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry your friend was hurt, and for the role I yed in that. I- I serve the Queen,¡± he finished awkwardly.


    Henry waved his hand to gesture for the Fae to leave and dropped his head into his other hand.


    Completely unsettled by his need to apologize and the difort he felt at the Satyr¡¯s distress, Ikehorn walked to the doorway where he came face to face with the Asian girl. He nodded to her then left the house.


    Meixiu locked the door behind him and looked in on Henry. He was curled up on the couch, and she thought she heard him crying softly. Not knowing what to do she backed away and slipped upstairs to her room.


    She¡¯d speak to Sigrid about this in the morning.


    Sandy woke feeling better than she¡¯d ever felt in her entire life. Her body was tingling with energy. She stretched and felt the nkets pulled down, so she opened her eyes to see who the impertinent culprit was. Maybe she wasn¡¯t finished sleeping! Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw her hair pulling the nkets back over her. She quickly reached up and slid her fingers into her hair. Tingles rippled down through her body from her scalp, and she cooed involuntarily. Eyes snapping open again, she sat up suddenly and reached out to gather her hair back from the nkets. It came willingly to pool in herp. That¡¯s when she noticed its length and the strength she felt in it. This was far more hair than she¡¯d had¡­st night? Her time sense failed her.


    She looked around and didn¡¯t recognize anything. The bedroom was filled with beautiful antiques. The window was open, and fresh air swept into the room. There was an open door to the left, and she could see a hallway. A faint mustiness lingered in the air like she was in an old, rarely visited museum. She began to worry but calmed when her hair rose up to stroke her cheek. She felt its affection, and she couldn¡¯t feel any fear for this strange new phenomenon as her hair¡¯s intent came through their link clearly. Sandy knew her hair was a ¡®she¡¯ but she had no idea how it came to be. An image of a horned Satyr shed in her mind, and Sandy squeaked in surprise.


    Movement in the doorway caught her attention, and she looked to see Marisa smiling in at her.


    ¡°Marisa! Thank god! Someone familiar! I woke up, and everything is different!¡± Sandy gasped.


    Marisa¡¯s smile wobbled a little as she approached the bed. ¡°May I sit?¡±


    Sandy¡¯s hair straightened out the sheets on the edge of the bed as they both watched.


    Sandy¡¯s eyes went to Marisa and saw she wasn¡¯t shocked or frightened or disying any sign that she found this the least bit odd. ¡°You know what¡¯s happened to my hair,¡± she said quietly.


    Marisa nodded. ¡°The world¡¯s a lot moreplicated and wonderful than you previously knew. There¡¯s an entire undeyer that was hidden from you and for a very good reason. I¡¯ll get to that reason shortly. Stanley called it energy and, it is that, but we call it magic.¡±


    ¡°Magic¡¯s real?!?¡± Sandy gasped excitedly.


    Marisa held up her hands for calm. ¡°As I said, someplications and dangers must be understood. Everything you know about magic probably came from the fiction you¡¯ve read or watched on TV. Most of that is wrong. You¡¯re going to have to learn about it from scratch.¡± Sandy nodded eagerly.


    ¡°Some people are linked to this magic, and it affects them in different ways. People who can tap into the magic and bend it to their will, to affect the world around them are called wielders. People who have the magicinthem and are changed in strange and wonderful ways, sometimes gaining new abilities, are conduits. The people who are immune to the magic are Humans. They may not be immune to what wielders do, or to the abilities of conduits but the magic itself passes through them unfelt.¡± She looked to Sandy and saw she was following her so far. Marisa took a deep breath as the next part could get tricky. She picked up the scent of the Wild Magic saturating Sandy. Much, much stronger now. ¡°You were Human. Now, you¡¯re a conduit.¡±

 146

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not human? How?¡±


    ¡°Initially your exposure to the magic was due to an ident. Do you recall the night we were intimate?¡±


    Sandy blushed and nodded.


    ¡°The next morning you woke and your hair was shiny and full, and you felt so good about it you decided not to get it cut.¡±


    Sandy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t like this!¡± she eximed.


    ¡°No, you¡¯d only been exposed to a small sampling of the magic-infused essence.¡± She watched Sandy¡¯s eyes. ¡°Last night you received a muchrger sample, and it linked you permanently to a realm of Wild Magic. Your hair is now fully alive.¡±


    Sandy realized she¡¯d been stroking her hair on herp. It was wrapped around her body hugging her as she was trembling.


    ¡°Sample¡­ I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Marisa smiled as she tried to exin. ¡°You ingested something at the hospitalst night? From Henry?¡±


    Blue eyes widened. ¡°OH! You mean Henry¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a conduit too. He¡¯s bound to a new realm of powerful Wild Magic. It saturates his body and consuming his essence transferred that magic to you. It¡¯s chaotic energy so how it affects Humans is random. You received this wonderful hair. I understand it¡¯s a she. Does she have a name?¡±


    Sandy ran her fingers through it as she thought about that. She didn¡¯t feel it offer anything, just a sense of¡­ anticipation. ¡°I don¡¯t think she has one. She¡¯s so beautiful, I¡¯d like to give her a name that says that.¡±


    Marisa smiled. ¡°She¡¯s beautifndstrong! She lifted me right off my feet when we met in the hospital.¡± Marisa stroked the gleaming hair. ¡°How about Kesini? It meansone with beautiful hair.¡±


    Sandy grinned happily, pping her hands, and her hair swept up to wrap around Marisa in a hug. ¡°I take it that¡¯s eptable!¡± the Subus said with a smile.


    ¡°A beautiful name for a beautiful¡­ being!¡± Sandy said happily.


    ¡°Kesini, wee!¡± Marisa said, and kissed the hair she gathered in her hand.


    ¡°Ooo!¡± Sandy sighed as she felt the kiss as well.


    Marisa gave her a wicked smile. ¡°This opens all kinds of¡­ possibilities.¡±


    ¡°What are you?¡±


    Sandy and Marisa turned to face the door. Dayshia was standing there looking at them with a shocked expression. Her newrger eyes were glowing in subtle shades of blue, gold, and green.


    ¡°Dayshia! Your eyes are gorgeous!!!¡± Sandy gasped.


    ¡°And your hair is alive!?! But who or what is that sitting next to you?¡± Dayshia gasped.


    ¡°What are you talking about? You know Marisa!¡± Sandy scolded.


    Marisa held up a hand to stop Sandy. ¡°What do you see when you look at me, Dayshia?¡± she asked.


    The dark-skinned beauty blinked her long featheryshes at Marisa twice before answering. ¡°You have pearly white skin, white hair, pointy ears, and horns!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Sandy gasped in outrage.


    Marisa grinned. ¡°It¡¯s ok. Her new eyes are seeing through my mor. I¡¯m wearing a spell to disguise me as Human, so I can live and work amongst them.¡±


    ¡°Amongst us, you mean,¡± Dayshia corrected.


    ¡°We¡¯re not human anymore,¡± Sandy said to her bestie.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Dayshia snapped with a frown. She entered the room to look in the mirror above the bureau. ¡°Oh my god! What¡¯s happened to my eyes?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re lovely!¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°They are¡­ but I can¡¯t go out in public looking like this!¡± Looking back at Sandy¡¯s outrageously long mobile hair she shook her head. ¡°We won¡¯t pass for human,¡± Dayshia fretted.


    ¡°You¡¯re right; you won¡¯t.¡±


    Dayshia looked to the doorway and shrieked.


    Sandy looked to her friend in surprise as she saw Henry standing there. She blushed as she remembered what she did the night before and what she¡¯d swallowed.


    Dayshia rushed over to Sandy and pointed excitedly back at Henry. ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± At Sandy¡¯s amused look Dayshia¡¯s annoyed scowl came back. ¡°No! The Satyr! Henry¡¯s the Satyr!¡± Dayshia froze as she looked more closely at Henry, taking in therge ram horns, the downwards pointed furry ears, the broad hairless chest, his powerful arms and his furred goat¡¯s legsplete with cloven hooves. What she saw hanging between those legs took her breath for a moment. There was no question in her mind. This was the same Satyr she¡¯d seen in Sandy¡¯s mind and had been dreaming about ever since. But that made no sense. ¡°How could you be the Satyr when we didn¡¯t meet you until after Stanley¡¯s death?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Sandy asked as her face began to show her concern for her friend.


    Marisa saw this and took Sandy¡¯s hands in hers. Kesini wrapped a tendril around their hands.


    ¡°Henry¡¯s wearing a mor to look Human as well.¡± She looked at him. ¡°Show Sandy your true self.¡±


    ¡°I forgot to wear my kilt. I¡¯m naked underneath,¡± he mumbled.


    ¡°Yes, you most certainly are!¡± Dayshia eximed.


    Henry looked to Dayshia¡¯s beautiful eyes then to Marisa in question.


    ¡°She sees through mors,¡± Marisa exined.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Henry said. With a weary sigh, he dropped his mor but moved his hands to hide his privates.


    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Sandy cried as a shock of familiarity shot through her. The image she¡¯d been obsessing over for so long! She scrambled to get out of bed and rushed over to him, Dayshia right behind her.


    Sandy tentatively touched his chest while Dayshia cautiously squeezed his thick bicep while her eyes locked onto his horns.


    ¡°Oh! Are we squeezing Henry this morning?¡± Sigrid said with a grin as she arrived at the doorway.


    Dayshia looked cautiously at her and Meixiu who was standing behind the tall blonde but rxed when neither showed any sign of being more than they appeared.


    ¡°Your eyes are so lovely!¡± Meixiu remarked to Dayshia with a wide smile.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she replied. ¡°I still don¡¯t know how it happened-¡±


    Sandy interrupted as what Dayshia had said earlier about the Satyr appearing before Stanley died was ringing like an rm in her head. ¡°Henry, how could I have a memory of you like this when we didn¡¯t meet until after Stanley died?¡± she asked with a trembling voice.


    She saw guilt and remorse in his eyes as he held hers with his.


    ¡°I¡¯m Stanley.¡±


    Sandy sucked in a painful breath then pped his face. The room went quiet, and the big man just hung his head in shame.


    ¡°Why? Why did you tell me you died?!? I was devastated!¡± Sandy cried.


    Sigrid and Marisa began to exin but Henry held up his hand, and they stopped. ¡°She deserves to hear it from me.¡± He looked into Sandy¡¯s eyes once more and swallowed to clear his tight throat. ¡°Just before I went to Irnd my¡­ disguise, the magic which made me look like the man you knew as Stanley, became¡­ unusable. It was no longer safe to use it. I went to Irnd to get a new mor, but when I got it, I discovered it looked nothing like Stanley. I couldn¡¯t return and im to be the same person. No one would have epted it. So Stanley had to die. I hated that and all the lies that went with it, but I had to go along with it to be safe and to protect Marisa, Sigrid and all of the others. And you.¡±


    ¡°Others?¡± Dayshia asked.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°The Hidden Races,¡± Henry said. ¡°I grew up thinking I was human. My Baba- my adoptive grandmother raised me as a human and kept me in the dark about my true nature. Until the night my mor failed, and I was suddenly¡­ this. I knew nothing about the Hidden Races, and I¡¯m still learning.¡± He looked to Marisa. She dropped her mor, and Sandy squeaked.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Subus. Sigrid is a Valkyrie and Meixiu is a Vampire. Before you jump to any conclusions, please know that everything you¡¯ve read and seen in the media about races like ours isrgely false and meant to mislead, disprove, and hide the fact of our existence. Humans have a proven tendency to kill what they don¡¯t understand. We are far fewer in number than Humans so we must remain hidden. We¡¯d be hunted down and killed otherwise, as they did to Henry¡¯s people millennia ago. Henry is unique. The only Satyr-¡±


    ¡°Untilst night,¡± Henry muttered, the shame returning to his face.


    Sigrid picked up the story. ¡°Now that you¡¯re no longer Human, you¡¯re in the same situation as us. You¡¯ll need to keep your new nature a secret, to protect you and us. We¡¯re going to try to help you with that-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already been arranged. Queen Mab will give them mors,¡± Henry said with finality.


    ¡°Queen Mab?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°Henry- what have you done?¡± Sigrid asked him with a stricken expression.


    ¡°Only what needed to be done. To repay the debt I owe,¡± he said.


    ¡°You owe this Queen money?¡± Dayshia asked.


    Henry looked to her. ¡°No, my debt is to you and Sandy¡­ and Tish.¡±


    ¡°TISH! I forgot about her! Is she still at the hospital?¡± Sandy gasped.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°She¡¯s in the next room.¡±


    Dayshia grabbed his arm and spun him to face her. ¡°YOU MOVED HER?!? She has a broken spine!¡±


    ¡°Had¡­ a broken spine.¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s mouth opened and closed as she stared into his eyes. Finally, she found her voice. ¡°Had?¡± she gasped quietly.


    ¡°A Fae named Ikehorn and I¡­ we healed her. But she¡¯s still asleep, so I don¡¯t know if she has all of her sensations back,¡± he exined quietly. When they tried to go around him, he held out his arms. ¡°There¡¯s something else you should know. She changed too. The Wild Magic changed her¡­ more dramatically than you two.¡±


    Kesini gently moved Henry aside to allow Sandy to enter the hall. Sigrid stood back as Meixiu gestured to the next bedroom. Dayshia followed her bestie.


    When they stopped next to the bed, they stared at their friend in shock.


    ¡°Horns!¡± Dayshia eximed quietly.


    ¡°Her ears look like Henry¡¯s only her fur is ck like her hair¡­¡± She shared a look with Dayshia. Kesini reached out and pulled the sheet down to expose Tish¡¯s body. She was still wearing the hospital gown.

 147

    The first thing they noticed was her arms. The muscles wererger and more defined. Tish had been an avid gym rat and kept fit, but this was¡­ almost Henry¡¯s level of fitness.


    They both squeaked with surprise when the dropping nkets exposed her ck furred lower half.


    ¡°She¡¯s a Satyr?!?¡± Sandy eximed.


    Tish stirred and stretched. A full body stretch, including her legs, right down to her¡­ hooves.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Tish said with a little smile on her lips as she looked up at her two friends. ¡°Wow, the drugs they gave me are doing weird things to my head. You guys look funny,¡± she said weakly.


    ¡°How¡­ how are you feeling?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°So goooood!¡± she said, smiling broadly. She ran her fingers down her hard stomach muscles and, with a little frown, over her thighs. She squeezed and poked the muscles in her legs as her eyes widened.


    ¡°Uh, I can feel that. Guys! I can feel my legs! I CAN FEEL MY LEGS!¡± she cried out excitedly and sat up, sharply. She stared down at her furred legs ending in cloven hooves, and her eyes rolled back as she slumped back to the bed. Kesini caught her on the way down and eased her back against the pillows.


    Henry entered the room and saw the shaken expressions on Sandy¡¯s and Dayshia¡¯s faces. Sandy turned to look at him.


    ¡°Why is she a Satyr?¡± she asked cautiously.


    He frowned with a conflicted expression. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The magic typically decides. Ikehorn suggested it was because I was in contact with her during her transformation. Tish held my hand pressed against her stomach the entire time she changed.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Ikehorn again? A doctor?¡± Dayshia asked.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°He¡¯s Queen Mab¡¯s man. Her enforcer.¡± His expression turned dark. ¡°He¡¯s the one responsible for the attacks on you, Sandy and Tish.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Dayshia gasped. The others crowded into the room to hear this.


    ¡°Queen Mab wants something from me. She needed leverage, so she told her man to set up an ident for one of you. They knew I was aware of the Fae healers and Ikehorn would offer their services to heal the one he¡¯d arranged to have injured.


    ¡°How do you know he didn¡¯t do it himself?¡± Sigrid barked.


    Henry looked into her eyes and slowly shook his head. ¡°He didn¡¯t. When he healed Tish, we were momentarily connected. I shared my strength and will as well as the power from the global healing spell. I¡­ I felt his relief at being able to heal her. He¡¯d been there. He was responsible for engineering the circumstance under his Queen¡¯s orders, but he didn¡¯t personally injure Tish.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still guilty,¡± Sigrid insisted.


    ¡°Yes, and he¡¯s aware of the fact. He apologizedst night. By healing Tish, he eliminated the reason I would have for calling upon Mab for healing my friend. Except, now that I¡¯ve ruined their chance to lead normal human lives, pulling them into the crazy magic shit we have to deal with, the only way I can make amends is to get them mors of their own. The only ones with the skills to do that are the Fae. This means I have to make a deal with Mab.¡±


    ¡°We could go to the Hidden Races Council with their case and¡­¡± Sigrid began but gave up on the point as there was nothing they could do topel Queen Mab to do the right thing. ¡°Shit. What does she want?¡±


    Henry shivered as he relived the moment in the washroom of his room in Mab¡¯s Irish castle. ¡°She wants me.¡±


    ¡°No! She can¡¯t have you!¡± Marisa eximed.


    Sandy looked worried after seeing Marisa¡¯s fear. ¡°What do you mean she wants you?¡±


    Henry gave Sandy a grim smile. ¡°Mab is ancient¡­ immortal, I think. She¡¯s an incredibly powerful witch. She¡¯s also quite mad and can be terrifying. She told me¡­ Satyrs were the only creatures¡­ able to satisfy her.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯d cripple one of us just to have sex with you?¡± Dayshia scoffed. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s not your ego talking?¡±


    Henry gawked at her and burst intoughter. When he got control back, he smiled at her. ¡°I wish it was that simple.¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t have sex with you! She¡¯s a wielder! She¡¯s linked to the old realm of magic. Your Wild Magic is toxic to her!¡± Marisa insisted.


    Henry shrugged. ¡°If it isn¡¯t sex, do you think she¡¯s going to ask me to rebuild her officework servers? I¡¯m out of answers here. This is Queen Mab. Probably the second most powerful witch in existence. She can likely magic up a foolproof condom.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s more powerful?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°Baba Yaga,¡± Sigrid and Marisa said in unison.


    Sandy¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Baba? Henry¡¯s Baba?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°She raised me from a baby but hid all references to magic the entire time.¡±


    ¡°Also a terrifyingly powerful being,¡± Sigrid muttered.


    ¡°Not to me,¡± Henry frowned sadly.


    ¡°So you just have to have sex with this Queen, and she¡¯ll give us disguises?¡± Dayshia asked.


    Henry, Sigrid, Marisa, and Meixiu gave her looks which clearly expressed what they thought of her oversimplification.


    ¡°What? Is she hideous?¡± Dayshia asked defensively.


    He shook his head. ¡°No. She¡¯s as intensely beautiful as she is dangerously insane. Understand, if sheislooking for sex it won¡¯t be for a quickie. She¡¯ll have something more long-term in mind.¡± He looked away, and a violent shudder went through his body. He rolled his neck to ease the tension out of it and his shoulders. ¡°Getting a mor is no pic either-¡±


    ¡°Henry!¡± Marisa barked, scowling at Henry for scaring thedies.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Sorry, but they deserve to know.¡±


    ¡°Not helpful right now,¡± Marisa asserted. She looked to the nervous women. ¡°It¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll help ease you through it. I had to have my mor reced after my first night with Stanley. I overdosed on his magic. It¡¯s notpatible with the old realm¡¯s magic, so it burned out my original mor.¡±


    ¡°How do you overdose on magic?¡± Sandy asked, but Tish began making noises like she wasing around again.


    Henry switched back to his human mor. Sandy pulled him forward so Tish would see him first.


    Longshes fluttered as her eyes slowly opened.


    ¡°Henry?¡± she said whisper quiet.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m having bad hallucinations. I think the drugs are too strong. Call the nurse,¡± Tish asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re no longer in the hospital. The drugs would have worn offst night. We had to take you outst night after we healed your back,¡± he exined gently.


    Her eyes locked on his and began to tear up. ¡°I knew¡­ I knew you were the only one-¡±


    Henry winced. ¡°Yeah. You might want to hold onto that gratitude. It was my fault you were injured-¡±


    ¡°Henry! You didn¡¯t force them to attack your friends!¡± Sigrid insisted.


    ¡°They targeted my friends because they wanted something fromme,¡± he growled over his shoulder. ¡°Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish would have been better off if they¡¯d never met me!¡±


    Sandy made a sound of protest. Dayshia just gave him an evaluating look. Tish was confused.


    ¡°The fastest way to exin what happened to you is to show you. First off, magic is a real thing. epting that as fact will help you ept the next things you are about to see. I¡¯m wearing a disguise made of magic. I don¡¯t know how it works, but I can turn it on and off. I¡¯m going to turn it off so you can see the real me. Ok?¡± he said gently. Tish nodded nervously.


    Henry moved closer to the bed so his naked state would be hidden by the mattress when he switched. He dropped his mor, and her eyes went very wide. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s you! We saw you! It was¡­¡± Her brows went down as the how if it slipped into her mind.


    He nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the Satyr you saw in Sandy¡¯s mind when we were all linked. I was Stanley then.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡±


    ¡°The magic that disguised me to look like Stanley¡­ became unusable. I had to get a new disguise. When I did, it looked nothing like Stanley so I couldn¡¯t keep being him. I had to be Henry.¡±


    ¡°Why did you tell us you died?¡± Tish asked quietly.


    ¡°To protect myself, and to protect people like me. People like you are now. Humans can never know about us, and you¡¯re no longer human.¡± His eyes dropped in shame. ¡°That¡¯s my fault too. I was exhausted and lost controlst night. We had unprotected sex. The magic in me affected you three.¡±


    ¡°Unprotected sex? I was in a bed with a broken back! How did we have sex?¡± Tish eximed.


    Henry looked away as his face heated up. ¡°You uh, you used your hand. You caught a significant amount of my¡­ stuff. It¡¯s saturated with the Wild Magic. You¡­ swallowed it. Sandy and Dayshia did as well, before you, just¡­ more directly.¡± Sandy¡¯s cheeks warmed up as her eyes twinkled with a secret thrill.


    Tish nodded as she could picture that. She locked eyes with him. ¡°You made me a Satyr?¡±


    ¡°Not intentionally. The magic seems to be random in picking how it will affect humans, but you were holding my hand against your stomach. Maybe that guided the transformation process? I have no idea. Magic isn¡¯t my forte,¡± Henry said.


    He switched back to his human disguise. ¡°I¡¯m going to arrange for you three to get mors of your own. This way you can go back to your lives. You can never show your true selves to a human. There are a number of rules actually.¡±


    Tish nodded as she looked down at her body with troubled eyes. ¡°So I have a new body?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s the same one, just transformed by magic.¡±


    She slowly nodded as she thought about that. ¡°This transformed body should feel weird and unnatural¡­ but it doesn¡¯t. I¡¯d- I¡¯d like to stand up now,¡± Tish said.


    They moved back, and she sat up and slid her legs over the edge of the bed.


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t have¡­ normal feet! How do I stand?¡± she asked timidly.


    Henry smiled. ¡°My first time was a little scary too, but hooves are amazingly stable.¡±


    Tish put hers on the floor and pushed herself off the bed. She wobbled just a little then settled into it.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Sandy asked.


    Tish smiled a little tremulously. ¡°Good¡­ I feel¡­ amazing! Strong!¡±


    Henry nced at Sigrid with a small smile then gave Tish and encouraging smile. ¡°Satyr¡¯s are strong.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°You healed my back with magic?¡± Henry nodded. ¡°Yesterday, Doctor Sumeer examined me. He told me I¡¯d never walk again. If I get this disguise that lets me look human again, how do I exin this?¡± She gestured at her being able to stand.

 148

    ¡°Does he have proof? X-rays?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Sandy and Dayshia both shook their heads. ¡°Tish wasn¡¯t allowing them to do anything until Henry arrived. Being vocal about it too,¡± Sandy asserted.


    Henry looked back to Sigrid whose expression showed her doubt. ¡°At a minimum, you¡¯ll have to avoid this doctor. That probably means you shouldn¡¯t return to work at that hospital. I¡¯m sorry,¡± she suggested.


    Tish seemed to be thinking about that. Then she looked up into Henry¡¯s eyes. ¡°If you can heal me then you can heal others!¡± she eximed.


    He shook his head. ¡°No. If we expose the fact that magic is real, then all of the Hidden Races are at risk. They¡¯d be hunted down and killed or end up in ab, dissected to find out how it works. A horrifying end.¡± He sighed. ¡°We can live normal-ish lives, hiding in in sight in our disguises but we cannever, everletanyhumans know we exist. That includes family. They can¡¯t know!¡± He nced at Sigrid, and she nodded to pick up the exnation.


    ¡°There¡¯s a Hidden Races authority which enforces this secrecy. They are¡­ brutally effective in ensuring the fact of our existence stays a secret. I don¡¯t know the numbers, but apparently, we are few while the human poption counts in the billions. We don¡¯t have a census. It would be too disheartening to know just how outnumbered we are,¡± she said. ¡°To start, why don¡¯t we go downstairs and have some breakfast. Marisa and I went out to pick up some basics first thing this morning.¡±


    Henry stepped closer to Tish. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry this happened to you. All of it and to all of you!¡± he said including Sandy and Dayshia in his apology. ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you in any way I can.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss itter,¡± Dayshia tersely said as she moved to follow Sigrid downstairs.


    The others followed, but Tish held back and touched Henry¡¯s chest to stop him as well. He looked at her curiously.


    ¡°Drop the disguise.¡±


    He looked at her in surprise, realizing she¡¯d be able to see¡­ everything. She raised an eyebrow at him, so he did as he was told.


    She looked down and smiled. ¡°Hoo. That¡¯s what I remember. Dayshia¡¯s right. We¡¯ll discuss how you can make it up to uster.¡±


    With a sexy smile, she turned and followed the others downstairs.


    Henry activated his mor once more and paused when he felt a pinch. He took a moment to adjust for the sudden tightness of his pants. He didn¡¯t know why his mor didn¡¯tpensate for that.


    -=-


    Ikehorn stumbled into the bedchamber the Queen assigned to him in the New York castle. He leaned back against the closed door and sucked in a painful breath as his broken ribs grated together. Blood flecked his lips as his lung was punctured as well.


    He locked the door and stepped away from it. He managed two steps then stopped. A tremble went through his body as he recalled the beating he¡¯d just received. He faced the door and muttered a few words of power.


    If Mab¡¯s trained ogres tried to enter now, they¡¯d be liquified most painfully. He knew the Queen would kill him for that, but he was never letting them touch him again.


    He painfully made his way to the bed, desperate to rest on its surface. The willpower needed to suppress his healing was reaching its limit. He needed to heal himself soon, but the Queen forbade him to use his new abilities until he reached his bed, under his power.


    She¡­ hadn¡¯t been pleased with his report that he¡¯d been forced to heal the third human pet of the Satyr. Disclosing the truth about his new ability had been a calcted risk. He¡¯d seen his death in her eyes at that moment. Her control was eroding badly as her new master spell drained so much energy from her. Before she struck him down, he presented the alternate trap he¡¯d used to catch the Satyr. He exined how much morepelling it was as all three of the female pets were affected plus one male. The favor the Satyr would have to ask for left him at the mercy of the Queen.


    There¡¯d been tense moments while Ikehorn watched Mab swing between her impulse to kill him and her pleasure at now having an excellent bargaining position.


    ¡°Ikehorn, you continue to surprise me. I am very pleased with this new solution. I will summon the mages once more. This will be a new challenge for them, yes?¡± The Queen smiled at him, and he finally allowed himself to breathe. He bowed deeply and reverently.


    ¡°There is still the matter of your failure to fulfill my original n because, how did you put it? Ah yes, you were forced to heal the female. It seems like you¡¯ve forgotten how to prioritize your Queen¡¯s needs over your own. I can help you with that,¡± she sweetly said as she made a gesture.


    Ikehorn¡¯s arms were suddenly caught in the tight grip of one of Mab¡¯s pet Ogres. Large, barely sentient savages, they were loyal servants and brutal enforcers. The fact that Queen Mab now had them around her in the castle was yet another sign of her diminished capacity. Resorting to the violent thugs meant her subtlety was leaving her.


    ¡°Ikehorn, listen carefully. You are not to use your healing abilities until you reach your bed. Heal yourself before that, and it will be thest healing you do. Is this understood?¡±


    A cold sweat flushed across his body as the Ogres smiled at the Queen.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill or cripple him. Aside from that, you have three minutes to show my dear Ikehorn how much damage you can do short of those two conditions.


    A second Ogre grinned and made a big fist.


    Ikehorn lost track of how many times the brute hit him. All of his concentration was reserved for holding back the healing impulse.


    When it was over the Ogre holding his arms released his grip and Ikehorn fell to the floor.


    ¡°You may go now. Remember, not until you reach your bed,¡± Mab said sweetly.


    His left arm was broken from the overly enthusiastic grip of his captor. He had broken ribs, a punctured lung, some missing teeth, a crushed nose, and more cuts and bruises than he could count. He pushed himself to his feet and shuffled off with as much dignity as his body allowed.


    As he reached the door, he heard her snapping at the Ogres. ¡°Clean up that blood! Not with your tongues! Revolting morons! Finish licking then mop the floor!¡±


    Now Ikehorn¡¯s bed was before him, but he stopped himself and slowly made his way into the washroom. He dropped his mor to stand naked before the sink. He gently cleaned himself so he wouldn¡¯t get the sheets dirty.


    Finally, he walked back to the bed and faced it. ¡°Thank you, Queen Mab, for the valuable lesson,¡± he said aloud. He picked up the sensation of her satisfaction. So¡­ she¡¯d been watching.


    He pulled the sheets down and eased himself between them. As he fully rxed on the mattress, he finally reached for the healing, and a massive sh of green light lit up the room.


    Hey there panting from the effort and the memory of the pain. That would linger for some time.


    ¡°Ikehorn?¡± Mab called out.


    Her voice seemed to being from the ceiling. ¡°Yes, my Queen.¡±


    ¡°You will arrange for Henry to be here on Friday. They should arrive at 10 PM. The mages were summoned for Henry¡¯s pet Humans. There will be a party that night with the main event at midnight. This is the optimal time for the spell. Do not fail me again.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Queen.¡±


    As his exhaustion pulled him into oblivion, he made a mental note to contact the Satyr the moment he awoke.


    He wouldn¡¯t survive another lesson from Mab.


    -=-This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    After breakfast, Sigrid and Meixiu left to pick up groceries, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and some changes of clothes for thedies while Marisa told them she¡¯d sit down with thedies and Henry to bring them up to speed on their new reality and for a question and answer period.


    Dayshia spoke first. ¡°I need to contact our boss, Margaret, and let her know we won¡¯t be in¡­ for a while. What do I tell her?¡±


    Marisa nodded. ¡°Tell them you took Tish to see a specialist and you may need up to a week,¡± she said with a shrug.


    Dayshia nodded then dialed and got through to her boss. From the look on Dayshia¡¯s face after she gave the excuse, her boss wasn¡¯t happy. ¡°It¡¯s for Tish,¡± she finally said ncing guiltily at her friend who just nodded.


    ¡°Listen, has Roger contacted you?¡± Dayshia asked then her expression became worried. ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll keep in touch. Thanks, Margaret.¡± She hung up then looked at the expectant faces.


    ¡°Roger¡¯s in the wind. He didn¡¯t answer his cell when they called him; we probably have messages on ours too. There¡¯s been no word of him at the hospital which is inplete chaos since our departure. Hospital administration is on everyone¡¯s ass for the weird shit that happenedst night. It seemseveryonefell asleep and the techs in the security room somehow deleted a week¡¯s worth of recordings up tost night, so they have no visuals of what happened. They¡¯re ming it on a gas leak.¡±


    Marisa nodded. ¡°Good.¡±


    Dayshia turned her attention back to Henry. ¡°How soon can we get these disguises?¡± she asked bluntly. Then she frowned. ¡°Will this¡­ mor let me see you in your disguise again? It¡¯s hard to not stare at your¡­¡± Her eyes rose from his groin to his head. ¡°¡­ horns. Especially with that faint pulsing glow.¡±


    Henry stared at her. ¡°Pulsing glow?¡± She nodded as she looked to them again. He shook his head as he didn¡¯t want to know. ¡°mor spells powered by the Wild Magic do strange things to thews of physics as I¡¯ve discovered. But you¡¯re new eyes still see right through it, so I have no idea.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll contact Ikehorn this afternoon to set it up.¡±


    They walked through the house towards the sitting room and admired the art hanging on the walls. Tish stopped dead before one of them. ¡°I¡¯m no art expert but¡­ is this a Renoir?¡±


    Marisa looked to the painting of the lovely young woman brushing her hair. ¡°I doubt Walter hung up anything but originals. I understand he wasn¡¯t the sort to tolerate forgeries in his collection.¡± The others looked around at the sculptures and paintings with a new appreciation.


    ¡°That would make this art worth a fortune! Whereisthe owner of this house?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°He died a couple of months ago. He was a dragon. Apparently, they really do hoard treasure,¡± Henry said.


    Dayshia stopped to look at him in disbelief. ¡°Really. A dragon. Firebreathing and all?¡±


    Henry just nodded. ¡°He was¡­ not a nice person. He held Meixiu captive in this house for more than a century. He blinded her with magic. He¡­ he did something bad to me as well. He¡¯s the reason I can no longer use the mor of Stanley.¡± At Marisa¡¯s look, he stopped.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Dayshia said suspiciously.


    ¡°What was what?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°You just sent Henry a warning nce to shut him up,¡± Dayshia insisted.

 149

    Marisa sighed. ¡°Your new eyes are very perceptive. Henry was talking about something the Hidden Races Council has forbidden us to speak of.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me? These people can make it illegal to talk about stuff?¡± Sandy asked incredulously.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a seat in the lounge, and I¡¯ll give you a rundown on the key yers and the rules we live by.¡±


    They moved into the sitting room, but Tish stopped in the doorway. ¡°The windows aren¡¯t covered. What if someone sees in?¡±


    Henry nced at therge windows and could see the driveway outside. ¡°Marisa, stand in front of the window there. I¡¯m going to go outside to see what I can see.¡± She moved to stand where he directed as he walked outside. From the driveway directly before the sitting room windows, he couldn¡¯t see Marisa. He saw an empty room instead. He realized Walter must have added some kind of spell, enchantment, or whatever wielders called their magic, to the windows to hide the people inside. He went back inside to join the others, gently easing Tish into the room.


    ¡°The windows show the room, but no one inside is visible. Must be another spell,¡± he exined with a frown.


    He took a seat on a couch and Tish moved to sit down next to him with a coy smile. She was watching Dayshia who was sitting on the chair across from them.


    The ebony beauty frowned at Tish. She tossed a pillow to Henry. ¡°At least cover that thing up.¡±


    Tish pouted mischievously. ¡°No fair you get x-ray vision too!¡±


    Dayshia gave her an incredulous stare. ¡°I don¡¯t understand how you can be so calm about what happened to you! He made you into a Satyr! Then there are those people¡­ what did you call them?¡± she asked looking at Henry.


    ¡°The Fae.¡±


    ¡°The Fae broke your back because they wanted something from Henry. He¡¯s right! He dragged us into this crazy world of magic and monsters!¡±


    Sandy bristled. ¡°Dayshia! Don¡¯t you dare me Henry for the actions of those people! If they were civilized beings, they wouldn¡¯t have resorted to such terrible acts! Henry is a good person! He doesn¡¯t think like these Fae! He could never have known they were going to hurt us!¡± she growled.


    Tish took up the argument. ¡°I don¡¯t me Henry for my injuries. I agree with Sandy. He couldn¡¯t have known. What matters to me is what he didafterhe found out! He healed my broken back! That¡¯s impossible by everything I know about these kinds of injuries. The damage was too severe. As Iid in that hospital bed all day, the best oue I could see in my future was a life being confined to a wheelchair. I¡¯m a runner! That wasn¡¯t the life I wanted, but it was the life forced upon me. I can¡¯t begin to tell you how grateful I am for being rescued from that!¡±


    Dayshia held up her hands. ¡°I ept that his ability to heal you was¡­ above and beyond. But couldn¡¯t he have left you- leftall of us, as human?¡±


    Henry¡¯s shame deepened as he epted her me. He knew, in his heart, he deserved it. Suddenly Sandy¡¯s hair reached across the room to wrap its silky locks around him in a hug. He picked up a distinct feeling of gratitude for bringing her to life. He felt Sandy¡¯s joy as well. He lifted his eyes to look over at her.


    ¡°Kesini and I thank you for giving her life! I¡¯m delighted to have my new friend!¡± Sandy eximed. She looked at Dayshia and Tish and grinned at them. ¡°Kesini means one with beautiful hair.¡±Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Tish held out a hand and a tendril of the blond hair wrapped around it. She smiled as she felt its affection. ¡°Amazing!¡± she sighed. She caught Dayshia¡¯s uneasy nce and gave her a gentle smile.


    Dayshia huffed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the least bit upset about how much you¡¯ve been changed?¡± she insisted looking at her friends. Sandy just smiled and shook her head. She gently tugged on Kasini, and she released Henry to coil up on Sandy¡¯sp.


    ¡°Being a Satyr isn¡¯t something I imagined for myself,¡± Tish snorted in amusement. ¡°How could I have imagined this?¡± She shook her head in disbelief with eyes filled with wonder. ¡°Magic is real! I¡¯ve be a creature of magic! How fucking cool is that?!? And I feel incredible! Truthfully, how do you feel?¡±


    Dayshia looked between her two friends with a conflicted expression. Finally, she sighed. ¡°Ok, I feel good. My back doesn¡¯t hurt from carrying these,¡± she gestured to herrge breasts. ¡°My feet don¡¯t hurt either from carrying the rest. But I don¡¯t look human! I¡¯m not human! What about my n to meet a nice young man and get married and have kids!¡±


    Tish barked augh. ¡°Since when did you have that n?¡±


    Dayshia gave her a haughty look. ¡°I don¡¯t tell you everything.¡±


    Marisa smiled. ¡°Let me take you through a few of the new rules you¡¯ll need to be aware of.¡± She had their attention, so she began.


    Henry sat back and watched his friendsing to grips with their new lives, and he had to admit they were taking it far better than he had. He was ready to ept their hatred of him for what he did but, aside from Dayshia, they were expressing no such negative emotions. Especially Tish. But then, she liked the idea of magic while he¡¯d wanted to deny its existence. Still did, if he was honest with himself.


    The conversation went on as thedies asked questions and he learned a few things as well.


    He started to worry about getting them mors and introducing them to the Queen of the Fae- he froze, and Marisa caught his look.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Uh, we need to do something about their legal standing amongst the Hidden Races; the treaties between the Fae and them. I mean, I¡¯m pretty sure Tish is going to be covered by mine but where do Sandy and Dayshia fit into the treaties? Which Hidden Race do they belong to?¡± he asked.


    Marisa looked at the two women. ¡°Good question. We need to bring in legal counsel. I¡¯m going to call my mother to arrange for Mahati toe to speak to us,¡± she said as she popped to her feet to make the call in the next room.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Mahati?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s VRL¡¯s externalwyer,¡± Henry exined. ¡°I understand she¡¯s moving into the condo next to mine with her sister.¡± He saw their interested looks. ¡°There¡¯s something I should mention about the building. People from the Hidden Races inhabit all the odd-numbered floors. Only humans are allowed to own the units on the even numbered floors.¡±


    ¡°Are they going to demand I move out?¡± Sandy gasped.


    Henry frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I hope not. We can ask Mahati. I doubt this has ever happened before.¡±


    Tish patted his leg to get his attention, and he was very conscious of her hand on his thigh.


    ¡°When do I get to meet the other Satyrs?¡± she asked.


    Henry opened his mouth then closed it to take a swallow. ¡°There aren¡¯t any. Untilst night, I was the only one. My¡­ people were wiped out by angry mobs of humans millennia ago. My adoptive grandmother is a powerful witch. She somehow pulled me from the past the night my parents were murdered. She raised me in the present.¡±


    ¡°Why would she do that?¡± Dayshia asked.


    Marisa shook her head as she walked back into the room. ¡°That¡¯s a question you never ask Baba Yaga. She had ns for Henry. She may still. It¡¯s generally a good policy to avoid her at all costs.¡± She looked at Henry¡¯s frown. ¡°Sorry, but it¡¯s true. She has agendas no one can fathom and powers no one can match.¡±


    Henry hung his head and nodded. He knew it was true, but he couldn¡¯t shake the bond he felt for the old woman.


    Marisa gave him a sympathetic smile then looked to the others. ¡°Let me just rify something I was speaking of earlier before Tish woke. When I first met Stanley, I went by the name Paloma, and my mor looked much different than it does now. I was a little shorter, raven-haired, and not quite as busty.¡± She grinned at Henry, and he blushed. She looked back at the attentive gaze of Henry¡¯s friends.


    ¡°When I discovered he was a Satyr I- well, as a Subus, I was intensely drawn to him, and we had unprotected sex, twice. I had no idea of his link to a new realm of Wild Magic nor was I expecting to be affected by it. As it was my first exposure to his Wild Magic and I received so much, it burned out my old mor which was powered by the old realm of magic. It also changed me physically. For conduits, first exposure to Wild Magic seems to enhance our existing states. Because my physical changes were so dramatic, when I received my new mor it incorporated those changes, and I looked nothing like my old self. Like Henry, I had to take on a new identity. I became Marisa, cousin of Paloma. I now have to call my mother Aunt in public. You can see howplicated it gets to maintain the secret.¡± Thedies nodded thoughtfully.


    ¡°That said, I just spoke with my mother. She¡¯s going to meet us here tonight with Mahati and Roy, our head of Security. She¡¯s going to ask Mahati to speak to Michelle Beaumont to get a copy of Henry¡¯s Treaty. As Henry mentioned, it should cover Tish, but we will see what we can do for Sandy and Dayshia.¡±


    He looked to Marisa. ¡°Is Michelle going to join us here too?¡±


    The lovely blonde blinked at him. ¡°I don¡¯t think so but she might.¡±

 150

    Henry turned to Dayshia. ¡°How do you feel about spiders?¡±


    Tish chuckled seeing Sandy¡¯s immediate squeamish reaction.


    Dayshia saw it and smiled as well. ¡°I¡¯m fine; I love them! Sandy¡¯s the one frightened by bugs.¡±


    He looked to Sandy. ¡°Is it a phobia?¡± he asked seriously.


    Sandy looked embarrassed. ¡°No! It¡¯s just a little aversion. Why?¡±


    ¡°The Hidden Ones are made up of all kinds of people. Theye in different shapes and sizes, but all are disguised by mor spells to appear human. Walter Zhao was an enormous dragon who looked like a dried up old Chinese man when he disguised himself. You need to practice not reacting to the strange beings you¡¯re going to see out there. Remember, as far as anyone needs to know, we¡¯re all just human. That¡¯s how we all survive. Like me, you have the advantage of having grown up as a human, so you know how to behave. You already fit in.¡±


    The threedies nodded at this and seemed to beforted by the thought then Dayshia¡¯s expression soured.


    ¡°Fit in except for how we look,¡± she insisted.


    Tish rolled her eyes. ¡°Henry said he¡¯s going to get us magic disguises of our own. So you can look human too.¡±


    ¡°He just has to have sex with a scary, insane Fae Queen first,¡± Dayshia grumbled.


    Henry shook his head firmly. ¡°No. She¡¯s going to have to do the disguises first.¡±


    Tish was looking at him in surprise. ¡°It¡¯s true? You¡¯ll have to have sex with this Queen?¡±


    Henry shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t truly know what she wants. She¡¯d strongly hinted that she wants sex with a Satyr, but she¡¯s linked to an old realm of magic that isn¡¯tpatible so it¡¯d be hazardous for her. That doesn¡¯t mean she hasn¡¯t figured out a way to do it.¡±


    ¡°Henry thinks she¡¯ll want to keep him,¡± Sandy asserted, and Kesini moved restlessly in her agitation.


    ¡°No! She can¡¯t have you!¡± Tish gasped as she clung to his arm.


    ¡°It¡¯s all guesswork at this point. There¡¯s no sense in getting worked up-oomp!¡±


    Tish¡¯s mouth was on Henry¡¯s, and then her tongue was wrestling his as she clung to his body. She was much stronger! The energy flowing between them was escting quickly.


    ¡°TISH!¡± Dayshia gasped in annoyance.


    The voice jarred Henry from the kiss, and he gently pulled back from the soft lips as his head spun. His heart was pounding, and he could hear his blood rushing to parts of his body he knew he shouldn¡¯t be thinking with at the moment. Tish¡¯s lovely face captured his attentionpletely. Her eyes were closed, and she was trembling in his arms. He saw her gently bite her lower lip as she opened her amazing soft brown eyes. His mind flew back to their kiss in the back seat of a cab, and he wanted her so badly- WHOA! Henry released Tish and stood up quickly, the pillow on hisp tumbling to the floor.


    ¡°DAMN!¡± Dayshia gasped as she gawked at his suddenly exposed awakening member.


    He turned his eyes towards her and realized what she was seeing. He stumbled out of the room as quick as his legs could carry him. Aiming himself towards the back of the house, he exited the back door to wander out into therge, private yard. He took deep gulps of air to calm himself, and that seemed to be working. He climbed up the three steps on the gazebo in the backyard and sat in one of the chairs.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    He closed his eyes and listened to the wind rustling through the leaves in the surrounding forest. He¡­ he needed advice, but he couldn¡¯t trust his body¡­ or himself, around these women. He needed male advice.


    Henry pulled his cell from his pocket and called his only male friend. After three rings he heard the connection made.


    ¡°Hey, buddy! What¡¯s up?¡± Nate said with a friendly tone.


    He immediately began to feel better, and that surprised a snort from him. He rushed forward in embarrassment. ¡°Hi, uh, I was wondering if you were free tonight?¡± he said with a tight throat.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ve got something happening around the dinner hour, but I could get together with you after dinner? Hey, is everything ok?¡± Nate asked in concern.


    Henry shook his head then realized Nate couldn¡¯t see the gesture. ¡°No, not really. I¡¯ve really fucked up, and I could use a little advice.¡±


    ¡°My advice is free and worth every penny,¡± Nate said with a smile in his voice. ¡°Where do you want to meet?¡±


    Henry looked around. He couldn¡¯t leave. Maybe Nate woulde to him? ¡°If I gave you an address and paid for the fare, could you meet me at a mansion we¡¯re staying in for a few days north of the city? I can get you a lift back to the city tonight, or you could pack a bag and hang out with us for a few days until we return. There are plenty of rooms.¡± Something popped in his mind. ¡°Oh! If youe up, I¡¯d like you to tell me if the art hanging on the walls is from these masters you mentioned. I¡¯ve been told one is a Renoir, but I wouldn¡¯t know a Renoir from a kid¡¯s paint by numbers.¡±


    ¡°You had me at hanging out in a mansion upstate. Telling me about the art is just making me salivate. Sure, I could use a little getaway!¡± Nate sighed. ¡°Text me the details.¡±


    Henry smiled in relief. ¡°Will do. Text me when you get here, and I¡¯lle out and pay the driver.¡±


    ¡°See you tonight!¡± Nate said and hung up.


    Henry immediately sent the text then put his phone away. He sat back and looked at the trees at the edge of the property line. It was soothing to listen to the wind, so that¡¯s what he was going to do. He knew he had to call Ikehorn, but that could wait.


    He needed just a little time to breathe.


    -=-


    Sigrid and Meixiu stepped in the front door with their arms full of shopping bags. These were plunked on the floor just inside the door as they watched Marisa walking back from the kitchen with a sad expression on her face. They followed her into the sitting room.


    She addressed the group. ¡°Henry¡¯s just getting some air in the backyard. We¡¯ll leave him be until hees back in on his own.¡± She held the eyes of the threedies until she was sure they got the message. Sigrid and Meixiu looked at Marisa in concern, but she shook her head.


    Sigrid frowned. She needed to know. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°We were talking about what Queen Mab wanted from him and¡­ I kissed Henry. Desperately. Passionately. Sorry, I¡¯m not sure what came over me,¡± Tishmented.


    ¡°Lust!¡± Dayshia eximed.


    Tish raised an eyebrow at her friend. ¡°Says the woman getting the free peep show and being all noisy about it!¡±


    Dayshia huffed in annoyance and looked at Tish with a frown. In light of what they¡¯d just felt and seen, they couldn¡¯t maintain their annoyance with each other, and both burst into giggles.


    Then Dayshia suddenly frowned.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to deny how upset I am that my life¡¯s been turned upside down! I never asked for this! I don¡¯t want it!¡± she growled.


    Sigrid sighed. ¡°Stanley felt the same way initially. He grew uppletely unaware of his true nature and was content to believe magic was foolish nonsense. He had hisputers, science,ws, and rules.¡± She shook her head. ¡°When he discovered he was a creature out of myths and legends he had a tough time epting it. It¡¯s only been recently, as Henry, that he¡¯s begun to use terms like ¡®us¡¯ and ¡®we¡¯ when he speaks of the Hidden Races. He would never have wished these changes on any of you. If he hadn¡¯t been exhausted and under the influence of his pheromones he might have been able to stop youst night.¡±


    ¡°Stopus?!?¡± Dayshia gasped.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Henry didn¡¯t know what it meant to be a Satyr. His Baba only taught him how to be Human. She blocked his development as a Satyr both mentally and physically. Now that he¡¯s permanently in Satyr form, hidden by his mor, we believe his development is catching up. Think of it aste puberty. One of the fun things he discovered is that his body, under certain circumstances, releases clouds of pheromones which drop inhibitions and supercharge the sex drive for nearby Humans and himself. He¡¯s working on being able to control this, but it¡¯s early days.¡±


    ¡°The subway gas attack and the dance club!¡± Sandy gasped. Sigrid nodded.


    Dayshia was looking at her in shock. ¡°Do you mean to tell me he made us have sex with him?!?¡± she raged.


    Sigrid scowled. ¡°No! Of course not! His pheromones don¡¯t control your will! They drop inhibitions. They allow you to follow your desires without hesitation. Be honest; you wanted Henry as much as he wanted you!¡±


    Dayshia pouted, but she couldn¡¯t deny that truth. She finally nodded. ¡°But¡­ did he know having sex with us would change us?¡± she asked.


    Marisa picked up the conversation from there. ¡°Yes, and he¡¯s devastated that he was unable to stop, but he was exhausted and had been suppressing his¡­ heat past the point where it would be denied. It overpowered him.


    ¡°Henry goes into heat? What is he, a cat?¡± Dayshia snapped.


    ¡°Dayshia!¡± Sandy barked back.


    The dark beauty put her hands up in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I know, that was uncalled for. I¡¯m just¡­ really upset.¡±


    Sandy stood and crossed to her friend. She held open her arms. Dayshia looked up into Sandy¡¯s loving eyes then stood to ept the hug. Kesini wrapped herself around both of them. Dayshia¡¯s eyebrows rose as she felt the affection emanating from the new being.


    Tish pranced over to wrap her strong arms around them all.


    ¡°Okay, okay, enough with the warm fuzzies,¡± Dayshiained half-heartedly. She admitted to herself that she did feel better. Tish, Sandy, and Kesini released her, and they smiled at the watchingdies.


    ¡°We have new clothes and toiletries if you¡¯d like to freshen up,¡± Sigrid suggested.


    Dayshia smiled in relief. ¡°Yes please.¡±


    They went through the purchases and divided out the items.

 151

    As Meixiu guided the threedies upstairs to get them towels, Sigrid joined Marisa in the kitchen at the back of the house. They could see the gazebo from there and Henry, sitting in it looking off into the woods.


    ¡°Maybe we should go see if he¡¯s ok or needs anything?¡± Marisa asked.


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°No, I think he needs a little space for the moment.¡±


    ¡°What are we going to do about Queen Mab?¡± Marisa asked in a worried tone.


    Sigrid gave her a smirk. ¡°What are we going to do? What makes you think wecando anything?¡±


    Marisa¡¯s face fell.


    ¡°It¡¯s Henry¡¯s bargain to make. We¡¯ll offer him advice beforehand, but you know the Fae are holding all the cards.¡±


    ¡°Mother¡¯s not going to ept that you know.¡±


    Sigrid nodded with a smile. ¡°And I¡¯ll ask her the same question. What makes her think shecando anything?¡±


    They both sighed and watched Henry peacefullymuning with nature; allowing him this breathing space.


    Nate sent a text to his buddy Joey and let him know he¡¯d see him this afternoon to drop off his luggage. He was going to do something for Jo he should have done a long time ago. Had he known.


    Taking onest look around the apartment, he saw no evidence of his having lived there. He¡¯d jammed his stuff into two old army duffle bags.


    He let himself out of the apartment, locking it behind himself and pitched the keys through the old mail slot so she¡¯d see them on the living room floor and know it was permanent.


    He took a taxi to Joey¡¯s ce and dropped the bags off in the small second bedroom Joey used as a gym. His buddy was letting him crash there until Nate got himself a new apartment of his own.


    He packed his toiletries and a few changes of clothes in his backpack for a visit with Henry. Next, he sent a text to Jo to ensure she was still on for meeting him at their favorite intimate restaurant. He¡¯d called the owner to reserve the booth in the back corner as it had the most privacy. Jo replied she was still up for it and would be there.


    The next part was the trickiest step in his n. He was going to call upon a talent he¡¯d spoken with Cam about but hadn¡¯t yet attempted.


    He let Joey know he¡¯d be out of town for a few days and took a taxi to a florist shop in Jo¡¯s old neighborhood. He walked in and looked around nervously. He was in uncharted territory, and he prayed he wouldn¡¯t make matters worse with what he was about to attempt.


    A woman approached him with a professional but toothy smile. She was maybe in herte fifties, petite in stature but curvy with extra padding in her boobs, tummy, and ass. She wore her long blonde hair pinned up, but it wasn¡¯t a ttering look.


    ¡°You look like you might need some help,¡± she chirped with a light British ent.


    He smiled at her and saw her posture improve just a little and her already wide smile widen just a little more. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m hoping I might speak with Bev Livingston.¡± His eyes dropped to her name tag and saw her title said store manager. She caught the direction of his eyes, and she lifted her heavy breasts a little higher.


    ¡°Oh! Are you a friend of hers?¡± the woman asked curiously, beginning to preen.


    He nodded and turned on the charm. ¡°My name¡¯s Nathan. Bev dated my roommate.¡± Here was where he needed to stretch his wings so to speak. He leaned in a little closer to the woman and locked eyes with her. He smiled and felt her attention lock into him. ¡°I need to speak with her, privately.¡± As instructed, he gently pushed the woman mentally with his will and saw her sway slightly as her eyshes flutter. Too much. He eased off.


    ¡°Oh, I think I can arrange something for you,¡± she said quietly and grinned at him with a twinkle in her eye. He nodded gratefully, and she headed into the back room. A momentter, she poked her head back out the door and gestured for him to follow. He did and spotted Bev standing with her back to them. The older woman tilted her head towards the younger woman to indicate he should proceed as she stepped back out into the store, checking out his ass in the process.


    ¡°Hello, Bev.¡±


    The woman in question squeaked and spun to face him. Tall and slim, auburn hair tied up in a long ponytail, she still had the pretty, girl-next-door wholesomeness he recalled when she was with Jo.


    ¡°Nathan! What are you doing back here? It¡¯s staff only,¡± she said ncing to the door. Still a stickler for the rules he observed with a small smile.


    ¡°Your manager said I could be here.¡±


    Bev frowned slightly. She knew he¡¯d charmed his way in and disapproved. She wasn¡¯t impressed, but he didn¡¯t hold that against her.


    ¡°I want to apologize. For my part in¡­ what went wrong.¡±


    Her chin came up, and she crossed her arms. Defensive. Not a good sign. Change in tactics. More honesty.


    ¡°Truthfully, I want to apologize for being the leading cause,¡± he said sincerely. Bev¡¯s frown deepened, but her arms rxed a little.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say you were-¡± she began.


    ¡°If you speak to any of the women I dated more than once you¡¯ll see how my involvement in their lives has affected them. These used to be sweet, kind, and generous women and now they¡¯ve be bitter, maniptive, and generally unhappy people. Speak to their friends or former friends. They¡¯ll tell you. I did that. The only consistent variable in the equation is me. I¡¯m poison in a rtionship.¡±


    Now she was shaking her head in denial with her frown still in ce. She might have partially believed him, but she denied it even to herself.


    ¡°Jo was spared most of that because¡­ we¡¯re only friends. But I did have an impact. I paraded an endless stream of women past her, and this poisoned her as well.¡±


    ¡°Jo got what she wanted-¡±


    ¡°No. No, she didn¡¯t. She¡¯s not happy. Not like she was when she was with you. She rarely smiles. Her humor is bing darker. She¡¯s losing hope.¡±


    Bev sucked in a breath as, for her, this was a significant loss.


    ¡°I¡¯ve poisoned her mind, but it isn¡¯t toote. I¡¯ve been so selfish for so long. I wanted her friendship no matter the cost to her. But I¡¯ve seen what that¡¯s doing to her and¡­ I love her too much to continue.¡±


    Bev¡¯s eyes were wide with worry.


    ¡°I¡¯ve moved out of her apartment, and I¡¯m leaving her life. She needs to heal. For her, it¡¯s still possible.¡±


    Bev gasped. ¡°She¡¯s going to be so hurt!¡±


    Nate knew Bev had depths to her he¡¯d never witnessed, but her empathy for her ex took his breath away.


    ¡°You can¡¯t honestly believe you¡¯re responsible for changing those women!¡± she said.


    ¡°I do, but my belief isn¡¯t as important as the facts. I spoke to their friends. The ones who would speak to me. The story was the same in every instance. They went from sweet innocence to¡­.¡± Nate¡¯s expression froze as he looked into Bev¡¯s gentle eyes, now filled with puzzled concern. ¡°You! Oh my god, I never realized.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I was looking for you!¡± He caught the stiffening of her posture. ¡°No, not you specifically. What you and Jo had. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been searching for. I was subconsciously choosing women like you so I could be as happy as Jo was! As happy as my parents are. Something I¡¯ll never have.¡±


    Bev stepped closer and reached out to touch his arm. ¡°You can¡¯t give up!¡±


    Nate¡¯s heart felt lighter as he saw the strength of herpassion. He needed to push forward. This visit wasn¡¯t for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not important here and now. Is it toote for Jo? Have you moved on?¡±


    Bev¡¯s eyes locked on his and he saw the pain there. She shook her head slightly.


    ¡°Jo never stopped loving you. I led her from her truth because I wanted her for myself and I wasn¡¯t the friend I should have been. Please don¡¯t give up on her!¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Bev had tears in her eyes now. ¡°She hurt me!¡±


    ¡°She never would have if it hadn¡¯t been for me! I know she regrets that every day! I have to save her from my influence, so I¡¯m leaving. I have to be the friend I should have been before.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t leave her-¡±


    Bev¡¯spassion was swinging his way, and he couldn¡¯t have that. He pulled his arm from her gentle grip and gave her a small smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m missing the important bits that you and Jo have which make long-term rtionshipsst. Jo needs you more than me. She always has. I finally understand that.¡±


    Bev pulled him into a fierce hug, and he allowed himself a moment to enjoy the pure emotion. Then he gently pushed her back. He looked into her eyes.


    ¡°She¡¯s going to be waiting for me at Christov¡¯s at 6 pm, in the booth in the back corner. I gave the manager a letter to give to her at 6:30 pm or earlier if she tries to leave. It may seem maniptive for me to say this but she¡¯s going to need you more today than she ever has.¡±


    ¡°A letter?!? You should tell her in person!¡± Bev gasped in shocked outrage.


    Nate shook his head sadly. ¡°I¡¯m not as strong as you. I¡¯d cave if I had to deal with her tears and she needs this. I love her too much to stay.¡±


    ¡°You know you sound crazy when you say that,¡± Bev said with a worried expression.


    ¡°She¡¯s on a downward spiral. This mercy is going to feel like abandonment. Will you save her?¡± Nate asked earnestly.


    Bev looked into his eyes, seeing his concern. She nodded shakily then looked to the clock on the wall then the door to the shop anxiously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get to leave for another hour!¡± she eximed.


    Nate felt the weight of the world sliding from his shoulders. ¡°Give me a moment,¡± Nate said and walked back out to the front. The manager immediately approached him with an eager smile once more. Maybe he pushed her a little hard earlier. He looked to her name tag again. Meredith. Right. He could do this.


    ¡°Are you finished with Bev?¡± the woman asked with what she probably thought was a sultry smile.


    He nced out the front windows as if he was looking for someone watching the shop. The manager followed his eyes nervously and squeaked when she looked back to see he was much closer to her.


    He dropped his voice to a deep rumble and looked deeply into her eyes. ¡°Yes, Bev will keep an eye on someone important. I have to leave the city, tonight.¡± Meredith watched him with wide eyes. ¡°Before I leave,¡± He moved closer still, brought his lips to her ear, and flexed his will once more to make her ept the words he was about to say. ¡°I have to make love to you, or I¡¯ll regret the missed opportunity for the rest of my life!¡±

 152

    ¡°Ohhhhh!¡± she tittered then froze as she saw the burning desire in his eyes. ¡°Now? Here?!?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Send Bev home for the night and put the closed sign in the window. I saw a couch in the back room.¡± He suddenly grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest. ¡°Can¡¯t you feel my heart racing?¡± He pulled the hand slowly down his chest, over the hard muscles of his stomach and stopped over his growing erection. It was a useful skill to be able to will that into being. ¡°Can¡¯t you feel what you¡¯re doing to me?¡± She was gasping and trembling as her fingers squeezed. ¡°I need to be with you! Please!¡±


    It was his begging that tipped the bnce. The manager marched to the door of the back room and pushed it open. ¡°Bev, I¡¯m closing up early tonight so you can go home now. Quickly, dear.¡±


    Momentster Bev hustled out of the back room with her purse and jacket, a surprised expression on her face. She nced over to Nate then rushed out the door.


    Meredith locked up behind her and flipped the open sign on the door to closed.


    Nate walked backward towards the back room slowly unbuttoning his shirt, exposing the muscles of his chest. Meredith stalked after him with a wicked smile on her face. Once they reached the sofa, she pounced like a tiger and carried him down to the cushions.


    It was his turn to squeak in surprise.


    A little over an hourter, he gave Meredith a final kiss at the door of the shop. He admired her beautiful blonde hair spilling over her shoulders then tore himself away, missing her pleased smile. He marched away with purpose in his step. Once he was out of sight of the store, he allowed himself to sag as he began to look for a cab. He was exhausted! Meredith was insatiable! He allowed himself a smile. She was also pretty damn skilled at sex! Bedding older woman was new to him, aside from Cam of course, but she was a Subus, so she didn¡¯t count.


    He¡¯d done his best to not feed on her as he didn¡¯t want to ruin Bev¡¯s work situation.


    He finally managed to get a taxi, and once he¡¯d convinced the fellow to take him to the address, Henry gave him he settled back to rest. He checked his pocket and realized he only had three condoms left. He¡¯d had six earlier in the day.


    Thinking ahead, he wondered who was staying with Henry in this mansion? Would Marisa be there?


    With that thought in his mind, he let himself nod off.


    Henry felt his cell buzz and nced at the screen. It was Nate, texting from the driveway. He left the sitting room, went to the front door and stepped outside. He saw the man smile from the back seat of the cab. The front passenger side window went down, and Henry passed the driver his credit card as Nate climbed out of the taxi. Giving the driver a good tip, Henrypleted the payment and the driver headed back to the city.


    Nate stood next to him gawking at the size of the building. He looked at Henry with a grin. ¡°Who owns this?


    Henry smiled at the man¡¯s easygoing nature. ¡°It used to belong to awyer¡­ who was a dragon and did some very bad things. Then, he died. Now¡­ I think it belongs to a friend of mine. Come on inside.¡±


    They moved through the front door, and Nate¡¯s eyes widened when he spotted the art on the walls. ¡°Oh my¡­ you weren¡¯t kidding about the art,¡± he said reverently.


    Henry watched his expression with interest. Clearly, the man recognized some of these paintings.


    There was another knock on the front door, and Henry answered it as Sigrid and Marisa joined them in the front hall.


    ¡°Oh! Hello Nate! I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you!¡± Sigrid said in surprise as she nced to Henry.


    ¡°Uh, sorry. I invited him,¡± Henry said quietly.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Henry.¡± She could tell he needed his new friend to be here. Nate was smiling at Marisa, oblivious to anyone else in the room.


    With a relieved smile, Henry opened the door, and Cam was suddenly in his arms. He blinked in surprise as he looked into Roy¡¯s concerned eyes.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± the big redhead asked.


    ¡°Yes, thanks,¡± Henry replied quietly.


    Cam pulled back to look deeply into his eyes. She opened her mouth but stopped as they heard the deep rumble of a motorcycle rolling up the driveway. It stopped before the house, and the rider pulled off her helmet. Mary red at them but locked her eyes on Henry.


    ¡°I knew if I followed him I¡¯d find you!¡± she said to Henry while pointing at Roy.


    Henry stepped around Cam and Roy to walk to Mary who¡¯d parked her bike.


    ¡°Mary, I¡¯m so d you¡¯re here. We can finally talk, and I can answer all of your questions. I¡¯m so sorry I couldn¡¯t exin earlier, but you¡¯ll understand why soon.¡±


    She held herself stiffly. ¡°I heard through a contact at the station. There was another urrence of that gas attack. This one was at the Javits Center. Affected a smaller group of women this time. That was you, wasn¡¯t it.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. He nodded. ¡°And was it you at the hospital where everyone fell asleep, and security wiped the footage?¡±


    ¡°I was there, but I didn¡¯t do any of that.¡± He sighed. ¡°There are reasons for those¡­ actions at the hospital. To protect people. A lot of people. Can we go inside so we can exin it all?¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    She still seemed hesitant, but he just waited as there was nothing he could say to make her ept his word.


    Finally, she nodded, and they went inside. Nate rushed excitedly back to the front hall with an enormous grin on his handsome face. ¡°This ce is amazing!!! It¡¯s like a museum! I recognize the style on a lot of the paintings and sculptures! Definitely some from the masters, pieces I¡¯ve never seen before! OH! Youhaveto see this painting in the study! It¡¯s a scenic of a river, and I¡¯d swear the water¡¯s moving! It¡¯s mesmerizing!!!¡± He paused in his gushing as he noticed a new face. ¡°Oh! Hello!¡± he said with a nod to Mary. ¡°Are you one of us too?¡±


    ¡°Nathan!¡± Cam and Sigrid sighed.


    ¡°Oh! So sorry! Just a little over excited about the art!¡± he said then looked to Mary with a chagrined smile. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    She looked at Henry with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°All part of the exnation,¡± he said.


    ¡°We brought dinner for everyone,¡± Roy said pointing back to the truck.


    ¡°What did you bring?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°A little of everything. I need help carrying it in,¡± Roy replied.


    Sigrid, Henry, and Nate followed him out and carried the bags back to the house. The scents made Henry¡¯s stomach rumble with hunger. When he was inside, he saw Mary staring at Sandy, Dayshia, but especially Tish as they descended the stairs from their rooms on the second floor. They were wearing some simple dresses and tights purchased for them, and Tish had opted to skip the tights for her furry legs. Mary¡¯s head whipped back to give Henry a shocked look.


    He gave her a guilty nod. ¡°They changed like you did, but in different ways. Please let me introduce Sandy Marlow, Dayshia Morrison, and Tish Evans. This is Mary Carsten.¡±


    ¡°She was changed too?¡± Dayshia asked, tearing her eyes away from Nate to look closer at Mary. ¡°She looks human to me.¡±


    Mary was awestruck by the beauty of Dayshia¡¯s eyes. ¡°Human?¡± she mumbled.


    Henry moved past Mary but stopped next to the threedies. ¡°Mary¡¯s change won¡¯t require a disguise, but shewassignificantly changed.¡± He looked to Nate who was watching thedies but trying not to be obvious about it.


    ¡°Dining room is down here!¡± Roy¡¯s voice called out to get them moving, and Henry continued with Nate right behind him.


    His friend moved close. ¡°Is that the situation you were talking to me about earlier?¡±


    Henry looked him in the eye and nodded grimly.


    ¡°Wow. All four?¡± Nate¡¯s eyebrows rose.


    ¡°Mary was the first. A little while ago. In total there are five. There was another person in the hospital roomst night. Roger Jensen. He disappeared before we could bring him back to the house,¡± Henry said quietly.


    The dining room had one of those ssic long tables that wouldfortably seat twenty. He wondered if Walter had ever hosted that many people. Sigrid was setting the food out at one end. They put the bags on the table, and Sigrid and Roy began unpacking them.


    ¡°A man too? Not that I¡¯m judging!¡± Nate said with a grin, and Henry snorted. He was grateful Nate was here.


    ¡°No, I have no idea how Roger received the¡­ stuff but if I had to bet I¡¯d say Kesini stuck some in his mouth. I saw her¡­ collecting some after we¡¯d¡­ finished.¡± Henry replied awkwardly.


    ¡°Sorry, which one is Kesini?¡± Nate asked as blond hair stroked the back of his hand. He looked to the petite woman with an enormous amount of hair. Some of which was floating before him.


    Henry pointed to the hair. ¡°Sheis Kesini. Andsheis Sandy. She¡¯s a good friend and a neighbor in my building. This is Nathan Walker, a friend I recently made.¡±


    Sandy was smiling brightly at Nate as he shook her hand. ¡°It¡¯s lovely to meet youandKesini!¡± he said charmingly.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Sandy responded gleefully.

 153

    Seeing Dayshia approaching and how she was watching Nate with a shocked expression, he remembered she saw through mors. It was toote to warn him. He had no idea what Nate¡¯s natural state looked like, but it waspletely drawing her attention.


    ¡°This is Dayshia, very good friend of Sandy and her co-worker as well,¡± Henry said. ¡°Nathan Walker. My new friend.¡±


    ¡°Enchant¨¦,¡± Nate said with a cheeky smile as he raised her hand to his lips. Dayshia squeaked a little.


    Henry leaned in closer to Nate¡¯s ear. ¡°Dayshia¡¯s eyes see through mors.¡±


    ¡°OH!¡± Nate eximed in surprise. He wasn¡¯t sure how to behave, and his flustered expression seemed to set Dayshia¡¯s mind at ease. She smiled timidly at him. Kesini took Dayshia¡¯s hand and gently guided her by Nate.


    Tish was next, and Nate¡¯s face opened up in a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve seen ssic paintings of Fauns, but I never thought I would meet one in real life,¡± he said in delight.


    Tish smiled at him and nced to Henry. ¡°I think I like the name Faun better than Satyr. It¡¯s softer and feels feminine.¡±


    ¡°It suits you,¡± Henry said with a nod then realized that sounded a little flirty. Her smile and the twinkle in her eyes told him she thought so too. She ran her fingertips across his chest as she walked by.


    Mary wasst. ¡°This is Mary Carsten. Mary, this is Nathan Walker.¡± They shook hands and said their hellos. Henry saw the food was ready and people were taking seats, so he gestured for them to sit at the enormous table.


    Cam, Marisa, and Meixiu joined them, and he saw Nate perk up when Marisa sat across from him.


    Henry looked down the table and smiled to himself. His friends. He knew he owed them so much and he was going to make things right for them. Tonight, he was going to try to put that out of his mind and just enjoy-


    His cell began to ring, so he pulled it from his pocket to frown at it. He moved to the next room to answer. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Gable. This is Ikehorn.¡±


    Henry¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Queen Mab has indicated you should arrive noter than 10 PM on Friday evening. The mages will be prepared for your friends at that time.¡±


    Henry felt a little relief, but his dread picked up. ¡°What- what does she want in return?¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation then Ikehorn responded. ¡°I don¡¯t know. That, you will need to negotiate with Queen Mab.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Expect ate evening as there will be a party following the mage¡¯s work which will conclude sometime after midnight,¡± Ikehorn exined.


    ¡°I doubt anyone is going to feel like partying.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ is non-negotiable,¡± Ikehorn said reluctantly.


    ¡°Oh¡­ fine. See you then.¡± Henry hung up. Shit. He took some deep breaths to calm his nerves.


    ¡°Is everything ok, Henry?¡±


    He looked to see Cam in the doorway, a look of concern in her eyes.


    He put a brave smile on for her. ¡°Sure. I was just making arrangements for the mors. Apparently, there¡¯s a party afterward.¡±


    Cam¡¯s expression didn¡¯t lighten. If anything, she seemed more unsettled. ¡°The Queen is throwing a party?¡±


    He nodded as his smile slipped away.


    She moved forward and it was her turn to show a brave face. She gathered him into her arms and hugged him. ¡°We¡¯ll all be there for you.¡±


    He sighed in relief. ¡°Thanks, Cam.¡±


    They walked back to the dining room and took seats. The choices were Thai, Chinese, Burgers, Pizza, and sds. He grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and settled back. Everyone but Mary chose something to eat and began. Mary stuck to bottled water.


    As they ate, Sigrid began a process to bring the group together. She started by introducing herself and gave a little blurb about what she did. Cam spoke next, and the pattern was set. Once it went around the table, Sigrid began talking about what it meant to be one of the Hidden Races. What new and unique responsibilities the ¡®newbies¡¯ would now be facing.


    Cam picked up the conversation to give them an overview of some of the different races they may meet but stressed that, except to Dayshia¡¯s eyes, they would appear as humans as they wore mors, magic disguises the Fae produced for the Hidden Races that cannot provide their own.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t exactly understand what a mor is,¡± Mary stated.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish were changed and require spells to make them appear Human so they can live amongst the Human poption. Your change didn¡¯t alter your appearance, so you don¡¯t need one. Races like Satyrs or Fauns, Subi, Incubi, Lycanthrope, Fae, Arachnids, and others, all need to put on a Human disguise. It¡¯s a magic spell, a construct made of magic energy itself, which is bound to you and alters your appearance, so people and cameras see the disguise and not the real you. It can be turned on and off.


    Mary looked to Roy. ¡°That night in the alley. Therge wolf monster. That was you?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°But we¡¯re not monsters. That¡¯s a term left to those with malicious intent and evil tendencies.¡±


    Mary thought about that and nodded to herself. Then she looked to Henry. ¡°You¡¯re wearing a mor?¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°What are you?¡±


    He nced at Roy then back to Mary. ¡°One of the first things I learned when I discovered I wasn¡¯t human was, you don¡¯t ask questions like that. Assume everyone is human and behave like they, and you,arehuman. This protects everyone but especially yourself.¡± Seeing Mary¡¯s frown, he went on. ¡°Now, we¡¯re in a controlled environment, so it¡¯s safe to drop my mor here.


    He pushed back from the table and brought his napkin with him. He unfolded the cloth and held it before his groin. He gave the table an embarrassed smile. ¡°I forgot to wear my kilt under my mor.¡± He turned his eyes to Mary and dropped the disguise.


    She lurched to her feet in surprise. ¡°You¡¯re a- you¡¯re a¡­¡± she gasped as she stared at him wide-eyed.


    ¡°A Satyr. Only one of my kind untilst night when Tish became¡­ a Faun,¡± he exined. Mary moved up to stand before him.


    ¡°You changed her as you changed me? How?¡± she asked.


    ¡°When I was very young, I was linked to a different realm of magic than the rest of the Hidden Races. Their magic has no effect on humans, but the new magic is powerful, chaotic, anddoesaffect humans. My body is saturated with it. My¡­ semen is charged with it as is my blood. If ingested, it can cause dramatic and random changes in humans. With sufficient quantity, it links the person to the same realm of magic as me, so their abilities be powered by the stronger magic.


    ¡°You knew this when we had sex?!?¡± Mary barked.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I insisted on the condom!¡± he returned.


    She blinked at him as her recollection wasn¡¯t entirely sharp for that night. ¡°If you had a condom on then how?


    ¡°You removed it for me. There was a lot still on me so¡­¡± he leaned in to whisper. ¡°¡­ you used your mouth to clean me off.¡±


    She red at him. ¡°And you didn¡¯t stop me?¡±


    He blinked in surprise. ¡°You caught me by surprise, so I didn¡¯t have time to stop you. You had my wrists cuffed behind my back, under me!¡± he argued.


    Nate snorted, and Sandy couldn¡¯t stop her blurt of surprised giggles. Tish had a big grin on her face as well.


    Henry¡¯s face was burning as he looked back at the table to see the smiles there. He looked back to Mary who was struggling to deal with her mixed up emotions. His heart hurt to see that. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I tried to prevent it but I failed, and that¡¯s on me. I will do whatever I can to make it up to you. You won¡¯t need a mor- uh¡­¡± he had a sudden thought, so he turned to face Marisa. ¡°Is Mary linked to the new realm? Is her changeplete?¡±


    Marisa stood and walked around the table as Mary watched her nervously. ¡°It¡¯s ok, I just need to take your scent,¡± Marisa said to ease the woman¡¯s concerns. She leaned in to put her face next to Mary¡¯s and inhaled deeply.


    ¡°I take it you¡¯re not human either,¡± Mary said quietly.


    Marisa leaned back and smiled. ¡°No, I¡¯m a Subus.¡± She dropped her mor. Mary gasped at the intense beauty of the alien looking woman standing next to her. ¡°Mary¡¯s definitely linked to the new realm. The link is strong so her change should beplete,¡± Marisa said confidently.


    Nate, sitting next to Mary, gasped as well and stood to drop his mor as he stepped closer to face Marisa. The pearly white of her skin sharply contrasted with the darkest ck of his. He reached out to take her hand.


    Marisa¡¯s sight red again as she felt an undeniable pull towards the handsome Incubus. Images shed through her mind,yers uponyers of intensely personal possibilities¡­ the potentials were overwhelming. She closed her eyes and pushed with all her might to stop the onught and gradually her mind calmed as her ability slipped into its paused state once more.


    Strong arms were around her, and that felt warm and safe and natural. Her eyes opened, and she saw Henry watching her from a few steps away. She couldn¡¯t read his expression as it seemed to be rapidly changing. He threw his mor on as he looked away and excused himself, walking from the room. She heard the back door open and close.


    She gently pushed back from Nate, and he looked at her in concern.


    ¡°Are you ok? You were trembling, and you began to copse,¡± he asked quietly.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m better. Thank you.¡± She nced into his eyes and felt that tugging again, so she quickly nced away. Her eyesnded on her mother¡¯s all too knowing gaze.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Sigrid was getting to her feet to go after Henry, but Cam reached out to catch her hand. ¡°Please. Let me.¡± She stood and left the room. She¡¯d wanted to speak to him since she arrived. It was about time she did.


    -=-


    Mary looked at Roy who was finishing up his dinner and gestured for him to join her. He wiped his mouth and stood to follow her to the side of the dining room.


    She looked up at him. ¡°I need to know. How was VRL involved in what happened to Detective Harmon?¡± she asked quietly.


    Roy nodded and sighed. ¡°Not all Human minds cope with the sights you¡¯ve seen tonight. Good on you for dealing with the changes so well.¡± When she just held his gaze with an expectant expression, Roy continued.


    ¡°Some months back Henry was kidnapped by some Fae. The kidnapping was caught on amateur video, and it went viral. Detective Harmon and Detective Morris investigated. Henry managed to get free, but when they met him at his condo, he couldn¡¯t tell them the truth, of course. He¡¯s terrible at lying, but the case reached a dead end as the loose ends had been tidied up by the Fae. Detective Harmon continued to investigate though Morris wanted nothing to do with it. Harmon followed Henry and got tangled in the middle of a power struggle between two powerful witches, both of whom were using Henry for their selfish purposes. Harmon arrived with the stronger of the two witches, and he must have seen her do something truly terrifying as he was almost catatonic with fear. Truthfully, she scares the piss out of me just to be in the same room with her, so I suppose Harmon didn¡¯t stand a chance. Cam can heal minds if the trauma doesn¡¯t go too deep. She tried to help Harmon and went on somedateswith him afterward, trying to fix the damage, but she could tell he was slipping away. He finally didn¡¯t show for a date, and that was that.¡±

 154

    ¡°What happened to Morris?¡± Mary asked.


    ¡°Crushed under a falling dragon,¡± Roy answered.


    Mary blinked at him. ¡°Crushed by a dragon?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°The previous owner of this mansion. There arerge caverns under the house where Walter Zhao could drop his mor and stretch out his wings. He couldn¡¯t fly down there, but he could be what he was.¡± At Mary¡¯s incredulous stare, he continued. ¡°There aren¡¯t a lot of dragons left.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what happened to this one?¡±


    Roy scowled. ¡°Walter was a slippery one. He tried to do something I¡¯m not at liberty to talk about, under a Hidden Races Council edict. Trust me when I say it was evil on a level that makes Hitler look like a schoolyard bully. Caught us all off guard¡­ except for the witch-¡±


    ¡°Ok, who is this witch you keep talking about?¡± Mary said in frustration.


    ¡°I¡¯ll not speak her name as that might draw her attention,¡± Roy snapped.


    Mary gave Roy an evaluating look. ¡°Superstitious?


    ¡°Cautious,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Listen, if you want more information about the witch, speak with Henry. She raised him from a baby after all.¡±


    Mary¡¯s eyebrows went up in surprise.


    ¡°He¡¯s the only one with any affection for her. Anyway, she knew he was up to this big evil, or rather she caught him in the act of it and prevented him frompleting it. The dragon responded by trying to kill her.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ she killed him instead.¡±


    ¡°No, Sigrid chased him into the sky, outflew him, outfoxed him, and knocked him out of the sky. Hended on the Detective who was about to start shooting. Then Sigrid drove her spear through Walter¡¯s brain for what he¡¯d done to Meixiu.¡±


    Mary was shaking her head. ¡°Wait, wait. Sigrid chased him into the sky?¡±


    Roy looked back at her. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a Valkyrie. She has the loveliest wings!¡± He sighed as he saw Mary¡¯s confusion. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m sorry to dump all these new concepts on you all at once, but I want to bepletely honest with you, so you know that we¡¯re the good guys, or at least we try to be. I was hoping to sit down to talk to you about something else.¡±


    She considered the man before her. As fantastic as it sounded, she believed his story about Harmon and Morrison. With the beings, she was meeting tonight and her experience with Roy in that alley, her gut was telling her she could trust him. ¡°Now¡¯s a good time for me,¡± she said.


    ¡°Good! Ok, well, it¡¯s like this. How set are you on being a police officer?¡± he asked.


    Her brows came down in a frown. ¡°Why are you asking?¡± she asked, her tone automatically defensive.


    ¡°I was hoping you might considering to work at VRL. If you can control your temper that is.¡± He had a little smile on his face when he said it, so she wouldn¡¯t be offended.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    ¡°I had reason to be angry, at the time,¡± she growled.


    ¡°No, you thought you had a reason, but you weren¡¯t ready to listen. I¡¯m d we had the chance to talk tonight,¡± Roy suggested.


    She held his eye, but he just waited, and she finally nodded. Then her look turned cautious once more. ¡°What would I be doing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what your skills make you suited for, but I think you¡¯ll find working for VRL to be far more rewarding than the NYPD. We¡¯re security for an investment house and for the most part that¡¯s a pretty cushy job. But I run my pack as amando team. We protect the employees of VRL, and sometimes we¡¯re called upon to defend thepany from external threats of a non-Human nature. This may entail protection details or even ck ops missions if the threat proves to be dangerously hostile and requires intervention. I think you could be a definite asset to the team.¡±


    ¡°How do you get away with running ck ops missions in New York City?¡± she asked, curious.


    ¡°We train hard, and they¡¯re all seasoned professionals. It¡¯s not just a lot of machismo bullshit. It¡¯s about teamwork and intelligence gathering. Henry has been a positive influence for thatst part.¡±


    Mary looked at Roy¡¯s earnest expression and thought about her recent issues with the NYPD. She frowned. ¡°I still have to deal with the hearing. I¡¯m not sure if they intend to press charges against me.¡±


    ¡°Join VRL, and you¡¯ll have Mahati¡¯sw firm support you through any legal difficulties you have with the police, at no cost to you,¡± Roy suggested.


    Mary smiled at Roy. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not in sales?¡±


    He just chuckled at that. He watched the woman consider her options, but he was pretty sure she was in. His pack was down one member with the loss of Billy, but Mary would be a definite improvement. Just to hedge his bets he gave her one of his most charming smiles.


    Her amused snort wasn¡¯t the expected reaction, but it didn¡¯t look like he¡¯d harmed his sales pitch.


    -=-


    Cam followed Henry out the back door and saw he was sitting in the gazebo. She walked to it, climbed the stairs and Henry turned his head to look at her. She saw shame on his face.


    ¡°Henry? What¡¯s wrong?¡± She pulled up an ottoman and sat close to him.


    He sighed. ¡°I- I was so fucking jealous just then, and that made me feel colossally stupid. I¡¯m a fucking Satyr. I stick my dick anywhere its wee, and when it¡¯s not, I flush the area with pheromones tomakeit wee. I¡¯m attracted to so many women, that¡¯s not something anyone can build a solid rtionship on. Besides, Marisa is a Subus, and my new friend Nate is an Incubus. Of course, they¡¯re meant to be together!¡±


    ¡°Firstly, let me address the race card you just threw down. Ulysses was an Incubus, and I¡¯m a Subus, but our rtionship didn¡¯t work. Beingplimentary races doesn¡¯t have anything to do with making it work. There¡¯s a much moreplex level of chemistry involved. The key ingredient in any sessful rtionship is empathy. A willingness to put yourself in someone else¡¯s position to understand how they may feel. Ulysses failed miserably at that and instead tried topete with me.¡± She saw Henry understood, so she moved on.


    ¡°As for your being a Satyr, that doesn¡¯t make you less attractive as a mate! And I¡¯m not saying that as a Subus but as someone not locked into Human preconceptions of rtionships. Your adopted parent did an amazing job of raising you as a Human, but she did you such a disservice by teaching you their biases too. You arenotHuman. As long as it doesn¡¯t jeopardize the security of the Hidden Races, you don¡¯t have to follow Human social norms when it conflicts with your true nature. Youcanhave multiple concurrent rtionships if the other parties ept that from the start. Subi are emotionally wired for this as well.¡±


    Cam gave Henry a sad smile. ¡°You need to let go of those ipatible life concepts. They¡¯re just going to make you miserable. Jealousyisa stupid emotion. It only hurts you and the ones you care for.¡±


    Henry nodded to Cam. ¡°Is this the tough love speech?¡±


    She smiled in return. ¡°Exactly that.¡± She stood and reached down a hand. ¡°Come on; we need to finish indoctrinating your friends into this brave new world of magic.¡±


    He groaned but epted her hand to stand next to her. They walked back to the back door, and as it opened, they heard a scream. Henry rushed forward and saw Mahati standing in the doorway to the dining room with Michelle at her back. Both were looking into the room with shocked and worried expressions. Henry eased past to see Dayshia gasping for breath next to the table; her chair knocked over.


    ¡°I thought you said you were ok with spiders,¡± he asked gently to the frightened woman.


    ¡°I said I love spiders, but you said nothing about snake people!¡± Dayshia snapped.


    ¡°She can see me?!?¡± Mahati eximed, her surprise emphasizing her ent. Michelle was wearing a surprised but oddly pleased smile on her face.


    Sandy and Tish stared at the petite beauty in the doorway with new appreciation.


    ¡°Dayshia¡¯s eyes are extraordinary! They can see through mors to the truth below,¡± Henry said.


    Mahati stormed into the room to confront Henry. ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but she needs to be able to see mors! The Hidden Races Security Division won¡¯t take lightly to someone who reacts like that!¡±


    Henry looked to Dayshia who was struggling to cope with the fact that a tall snake person was standing so close. He sighed and considered his new friend. It was time to thinkwayoutside the box. This was chaos magic, after all.


    He turned to take her hands in his. ¡°You know what I looked like before you changed. I¡¯d like you to try to see me like that now.¡±


    She blinked at him. ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± she muttered.


    He gave her a small grin. ¡°Your eye¡¯s abilities are controlled by magic. Chaotic magic at that. How it changes people and what abilities it gives them is unknowable until you experiment. If you can see through the magic that even fools technology, maybe your eyes can see in different ways. Like maybe you can see into the different spectrums such as infrared? Maybe, if you tried, you could see mors too. Give it a try. From the few experiences I¡¯ve had with magic, the trick seems to be asserting your will with a firmly defined intent. In your mind, tell your eyes you want to see me as you remember seeing me. Push with your will.¡±


    Dayshia still looked unconvinced, but she closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them again, her mouth dropped open in surprise and she jolted back.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re glowing red and smoke ising from your mouth!¡± she gasped then turned her eyes to thewyer. ¡°You¡¯re not glowing at all. I mean, not from your snake parts.¡± A shiver ran down her spine.


    Henry rxed and smiled. ¡°That confirms your ability to see in other ranges. You¡¯re seeing infrared.¡±


    Dayshia blinked her lovely eyes at him. ¡°What- what do I do?¡± she asked in a quiet voice.


    ¡°You were likely thinking about what I just said about seeing in infrared. You need to see me as Henry when you met in Sandy¡¯s condo. You have to hold the image in your mind. Try again. Use your will. See what you want to see,¡± he coached her gently.

 155

    She nodded and closed her eyes again. Frowning, she recalled the meeting and her mind jumped to kissing him in the entranceway to Sandy¡¯s condo. Her frown slipped into a smile. She opened her eyes and there was Henry smiling at her.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re you!¡± she squealed excitedly. She looked to the doorway. ¡°Michelle!¡± The woman beamed a smile at her. Dayshia looked to the two who had been Subus and Incubus moments before. ¡°Marisa! Oh, hello! Youaretall, dark and dreamy! Enchant¨¦ indeed!¡± she purred as she looked at Nate. He grinned back at her.


    Finally, she let herself look to Mahati and sighed. ¡°You don¡¯t look like a snakedy anymore.¡±


    ¡°What am I wearing?¡± Mahati insisted for proof.


    ¡°Dark blue suit jacket over a crisp white blouse and matching blue skirt. ck, tall boots,¡± Dayshia said in relief. Henry was smiling at her with a thoughtful look, and she caught it. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It makes me wonder what else you can do with your eyes?¡± he said.


    ¡°Right now I¡¯m just happy to see what I¡¯m supposed to see. Having options is for another day,¡± Dayshia returned. She rushed over to hug Sandy and Tish.


    Mahati gave Henry a worried frown.


    He shrugged. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you needed? I hope so because it¡¯s all I¡¯ve got.¡±


    She sighed then addressed the group. ¡°I need to speak to the new applicants for Hidden Race status.¡±


    Mary looked at Henry questioningly.


    ¡°Yes, this applies to you as well. You may look human, but you have beyond-human abilities. You need protection,¡± he exined. He gave Mahati a worried look. ¡°Tish would obviously be covered by my Satyr Treaty, but what about the others.¡±


    Mahati¡¯s frown finally eased. ¡°Everyone, please take a seat.¡± They found their seats around the dining room table once more and made space for the neers. Mahati addressed the group. ¡°Thanks to Michelle,¡± she gestured, and the woman nodded. ¡°¡­ your treaty covers them as well.¡± She looked to Michelle to take over, but she just shook her head shyly, so thewyer continued. ¡°The contract was created from an ancient temte, and the Hidden Races Council indicated it should be edited to eliminate any sections that wouldn¡¯t apply to Stanley at the time.¡± She looked around and saw she had everyone¡¯s attention now.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Stanley?¡± Mary asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m Stanley or was before I had to change my mor. I had to take on a new identity as my new mor didn¡¯t let me look like Stanley anymore,¡± Henry exined.


    Mahati nodded and continued when she saw Mary¡¯s slight nod. ¡°He was one of a kind, so the section on offspring was gged for removal. Michelle thought that was unfair as, in her words,life finds a way. She not only left the section in but kept all of the redundant and generic verbiage describing the various processes for offspring generation. There is plenty oftitude to cover the creation of a new species of post-Humans. That¡¯s especially true since Henry was involved in the creation of each of them. Queen Mab signed the document, and a sufficient number of senior Council officials did as well, so it¡¯s binding.¡± She looked to Henry. ¡°It is my understanding you will be going to see Queen Mab to obtain mors. Is everyone receiving one present?¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°There was one more. Roger Jensen. He disappeared the same night he was exposed to the magic. There¡¯s been no sign of him since.¡±


    ¡°Knowing Roger, he¡¯s trying to find some way to undermine society with his new powers,¡± Tish grumbled.


    ¡°Is he?¡± Mahati asked in concern.


    Tish jolted as she hadn¡¯t realized she¡¯d spoken aloud. She had a guilty look on her face as she nced at Dayshia and Sandy, but all three nodded reluctantly.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to report that to the Security Council. There¡¯s too much at risk,¡± thewyer stated.


    ¡°Roger isn¡¯t going to be easy to find. He¡¯s a huge conspiracy nut, and now that he has proof, he¡¯s going to run with it. When he¡¯s not with us, he hangs out with other conspiracy nuts. I don¡¯t know how they think, so I have no idea where they¡¯d be,¡± Tish exined.


    ¡°Do you have a recent picture of him?¡± Mahati asked.


    Sandy nodded. ¡°I do. On my phone upstairs.¡±


    At Mahati¡¯s look, Sandy rushed off to get her phone.


    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to Roger when they find him?¡± Mary asked.


    ¡°It depends on how serious he is about exposing the truth,¡± Roy said grimly. ¡°With the very survival of the Hidden Races at stake, the Council will take extreme measures to ensure secrecy is maintained. Our personal survival depends on that as well. Did Roger ever tell you how you would survive if he managed to destabilize society and bring it all crashing down?¡±


    Dayshia and Tish shook their heads sadly.


    ¡°That¡¯s because his mission to end it was more important to him than you were. Sorry to be blunt butthat¡¯show he thinks,¡± Roy exined.


    Sandy returned and shared the image with Mahati. She also gave her his address.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± thewyer said as she quickly wrote a message to the Council¡¯s Security Division, attached the image and sent it off.


    ¡°Am I going to have to move out of my condo?¡± Sandy blurted to thewyer.


    Mahati blinked at her. ¡°Where do you live?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in unit 401 of the building Henry lives in,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Oh, yes. I¡¯m sorry. That building is one of a group in the five boroughs which has iron-d rules, backed by the Hidden Races Security Division. Only Humans are allowed on even numbered floors. Due to yourspecial circumstances,I¡¯m sure we can get your name to the top of the waiting list for another unit on an odd numbered floor. No guarantees on how soon it would be though.¡±


    ¡°But I inherited the condo from my grandmother!¡±


    ¡°Who was Human, as you were when you inherited it. You arenotHuman now. We cannot break this rule. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Mahati insisted.


    Sandy looked sad, and Henry¡¯s heart hurt once more for what he¡¯d done to her. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    She looked at him then walked over and hugged him. Kesini wrapped herself around both of them, and they shared a smile as her affection was clearly felt by both.


    ¡°You can stay with me until an apartment bes avable,¡± Henry offered, and Sandy¡¯s eyes widened in surprise.


    ¡°Do our apartment buildings have the same rule?¡± Tish asked.


    Mahati looked to her. ¡°There aren¡¯t many in the city that feature this segregation. Most choose to live amongst Humans in non-segregated buildings. I understand VRL¡¯s decision to arrange for Henry to move into the apartment he did as his circumstances and theirs made this the best option. Give me the addresses of your buildings, and I¡¯ll check to see if they have segregation. Odds are, they don¡¯t. In that case, I¡¯ll arrange to have your apartment¡¯s registered and prepared before you return to them. A team from the Hidden Races Security Division will visit to ensure your windows are treated to hide your true selves from the outside world as well as confirm there are no hidden surveince devices inside the unit. Any doors from the outside will be adjusted to disy an indicator that someone has entered your unit such as building maintenance and inspection. When you see this indicator, you must immediately contact the team to do another sweep. It¡¯s a minor inconvenience, costs nothing to you personally, and is mandatory. Failure to do this puts us all at risk and will be treated as a threat to us all. You don¡¯t want that.¡± Seeing their nervousness, she nced to Sigrid who took over.


    ¡°It seems a little daunting but understand one thing; it¡¯s for your protection as well. Anyone puttingyouat risk is going to be dealt with to ensure your safety.¡±


    ¡°Like Roger,¡± Dayshia said softly.


    Sandy perked up nervously. ¡°What do you mean bydealt with?¡±


    Sigrid turned to look at her. ¡°If Roger is insistent on exposing the fact of our existence as part of his anarchist agenda, then equally extreme measures will likely be taken to ensure that doesn¡¯t happen. I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s that critical.¡±


    The room went quiet as people thought about that.


    Nate was aware that the mood in the room was bing gloomy, so he tried to redirect it. ¡°I just moved out of my friend Jo¡¯s ce, and I¡¯m crashing in my buddy Joey¡¯s workout room until I can find a new ce to live. Any suggestions?¡± He bounced his eyebrows with a grin and got a few chuckles.


    ¡°Finding an affordable ce in New York is a battle in itself. Good luck with your hunt!¡± Sigrid said with a smile.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Mary caught Mahati¡¯s attention. ¡°I own my own small one bedroom home. Am I going to need to do all that magic shit to my home too?¡± Roy snorted in amusement at her tone and got a smile from her.


    Thewyer gave Mary a careful look. ¡°You have no visual manifestation of your non-Human nature?¡±


    Mary looked to Henry who shook his head. ¡°No, I guess I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Then no. However, if you entertain other Hidden Races in your home, you¡¯d need to inform them that your home has no protection. It is wiser to have the windows treated and the address registered. Again, it costs nothing and protects us all,¡± Mahati said with a raised eyebrow.


    Henry saw Mary was satisfied with that answer and was appearing much morefortable with the group. He watched Roy move closer to speak with her as Nate moved to talk to Marisa. He sat back and watched Sandy, Tish, and Dayshia talking with Mahati, Meixiu, and Michelle, who was actually joining in on the conversation.


    Recalling his earlier conversation with Cam, he nced a Marisa and saw she was smiling happily at Nate andughing at his jokes. That man was clearly smitten, and Henry allowed himself a moment to let that sink in. He couldn¡¯t hold it against Nate for being attracted to Marisa, especially when the feeling seemed to be mutual. He was going to step back and let that develop into whatever it might be. He owed Marisa that much at least.

 156

    He got up and made his way to the doorway, but passing by Cam, she caught his hand.


    ¡°Is everything all right?¡± she asked.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    He smiled down at her and Sigrid who were seated next to each other at the dining table. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ok. I¡¯m just feeling a little tired, so I thought I¡¯d get a little more fresh air before I went to bed.¡± He kissed Cam¡¯s hand then lifted Sigrid¡¯s to kiss hers as well. Their eyes happily twinkled as he turned to head towards the back of the house.


    When he opened the back door, he noticed the air temp had dropped, so he pulled a hooded cloak from a nearby closet. While he didn¡¯t feel the cold, he knew he had to keep up appearances. Not that there was any expectation of being seen in the private backyard. Still, a good habit to build. He pulled it on but wore it open as he walked outside and followed the path once more to the gazebo. It was quickly bing his favorite ce on the property.


    He sat next to the railing this time so he could look up at the stars. There were so many!


    After a short time, he heard the door open and close and footsteps approaching the gazebo. He sighed as, this time, he didn¡¯t need someone tocheer him up.


    He nced to the gazebo steps and saw another hooded figure climbing up to join him. He paused as he couldn¡¯t tell who it was and it was very dark. When the figure stood before him, a little light from the house shone into the hood¡¯s opening, and Henry finally saw it was Tish.


    ¡°They informed me I shouldn¡¯t go outside without a disguise in ce, but here, I could get away with a cloak,¡± she said quietly.


    Once more the guilt settled on Henry¡¯s shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry-¡± he began. Soft fingers touched his lips to stop his words. She sat down on the cushioned bench next to him and pulled her fingers away to look into his eyes.


    ¡°Henry, you don¡¯t have to apologize for this. I¡¯m ok with it, I truly am!¡± she said earnestly. ¡°As gifts go, it waspletely unexpected, absolutely astonishing, and intensely exciting. It¡¯s also so much better than the alternative I was facing. I don¡¯t hold you responsible for what the Fae did to me either, so park that guilt somece else as well,¡± she finished with a grin.


    ¡°The words thate to my mind areplicated, unwee, and dangerous. From the time I first discovered magic is real and how tightly it¡¯s integrated into my life, I¡¯ve been struggling to avoid its interference.¡±


    Tish grinned at him. ¡°How¡¯s that been working out for you?¡±


    He snorted in surprise and shared a smile with her. ¡°Obviously, not as well as I¡¯d intended. I¡¯ve been told that my link to the magic is much stronger than it should be. I don¡¯t know what Baba intended. I¡¯m not a wielder, so I can¡¯t use the magic to make it do things. So¡­ why is my link so strong?¡±


    ¡°Did you ever ask her?¡± Tish asked.


    Henry gave Tish a wry grin. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s not big on the questionwhy. She refuses to answer any question beginning with that word.¡±


    ¡°Then maybe you could phrase your question another way, like, for what purpose was I given this strong magic link?¡± Tish offered with a cheeky smile.


    He snorted quietly in amusement. ¡°The next time I see her, if I ever do, I¡¯ll give that a try.¡±


    Tish yed with the edge of his cloak as she let her eyes roam over his chest. ¡°Have you¡­ ever seen thisother world?¡± she asked quietly as her eyes came up to look into his.


    Henry could see she was almost trembling with excitement. When he nodded, she squeaked a little then looked embarrassed by it, but her enthusiasm won out.


    ¡°How? When? What¡¯s it like?¡± she gushed with wide eyes and a bright smile as she clung to his cloak.


    He chuckled and tilted his head towards her. ¡°That¡¯s the thing. I can¡¯t exin thehowof it without breaking the oath I made to the Hidden Races council to keep certain information secret-¡±


    At her sudden pout he rushed to continue. ¡°Icantell you about the other world.¡±


    She eyed him then nodded. ¡°Could¡­ could you tell me about it as your¡­ real self.¡±


    He paused to look at her in surprise then nodded slowly. He nced around then pulled the hood up to cover his head. Then he dropped his mor. The cloak immediately filled with hisrger muscles and the hood popped backward tond on his back. He scrambled to tug it back over his horns as he nced around but they were alone. He also closed it over hisp. He turned his eyes to the delighted expression on Tish¡¯s face and sighed.


    ¡°First off, I should tell you what I was told about the realms of magic. They exist in the same space as our world but are offset slightly, like¡­ different frequencies on the radio dial. With a radio you can adjust the tuning to listen to different stations but,¡± He gestured to the air around them. ¡°They¡¯re all already here in the same space. In this case, eachyer, or realm, vibrates at a different frequency allowing it to upy the same space and not be seen or felt. Most arepletely separate from each other and don¡¯t interact in any way. There was one that bled its energy through to our¡­yer and this energy affected the creatures living here. Some can use the energy to do things, wielders. Some are changed by the energy, conduits, like us. The rest aren¡¯t affected at all, humans.¡± He saw she was following so he continued.


    ¡°Baba somehow discovered a new realm which began to bleed its energy through to ouryer. She bound me to it, and Nate I guess. The energy is stronger than the original realm, but its frequency is notpatible with the old realm. For wielders, it¡¯s toxic.¡±


    ¡°If theseyers are here but invisible, how did you see it?¡± Tish asked breathlessly.


    ¡°Through a breach. A tear between theyers. It looks like crooked, jagged rainbows and they move oddly. Things can pass through from oneyer to the next. Things like¡­ fighter jets.¡±


    ¡°OH MY GOD! I saw that on the news! That¡¯s what happened?¡± Tish gushed.


    Henry nodded.


    ¡°So, the pilot¡¯s ranting about seeing another world is the truth?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite spectacr too. Huge red sun, red-tinted nt life, and volcanic activity all under a yellow sky. Weird but beautiful in a raw way. Strange creatures live there, but from that, far up in the sky, we didn¡¯t see any signs of what we¡¯d call civilization,¡± Henry agreed. Then he noticed Tish was staring at him with wide eyes. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°From that far up in the sky? Henry, what does that mean?¡± she asked quietly.


    His smile dropped, and he fidgeted next to her as her grip tightened on his arm. ¡°I was having an out of body experience at the time. I kind of¡­ hitched a ride with the pilot.¡±


    ¡°Henry! You were the guardian angel the pilot was talking about?!?¡±


    ¡°I never watched the news stories on him, so I don¡¯t know what he said. He was about to be blown out of the sky so I¡­ helped him through to the other side then we found a way to get back just before he ran out of fuel. I returned to my body, and hended¡­ somewhere in Canada,¡± he exined.


    Her mouth was open, but she wasn¡¯t saying anything. ¡°You¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Completely top secret! You can¡¯t talk about that to anyone. Well, no one outside of our immediate group and they¡¯ll need to be warned not to tell anyone. We can¡¯t even tell the Hidden Races Council, and definitely no human can know,¡± he insisted.


    ¡°The pilot is being treated like a mental case. He¡¯s going to be out of a job, and he¡¯ll never fly again!¡± Tish eximed.


    Henry gave Tish a sad look. ¡°I know. It¡¯s so unfair. But if I hadn¡¯t intervened, he¡¯d just be dead. Being considered a nut means he won¡¯t besilenced. I¡¯m not kidding when I say secrecy is critical. The Hidden Races Security Division doesn¡¯t mess around. They don¡¯t need any more excuses to target me. They already want me¡­ contained. That wouldn¡¯t be good for me.¡±


    ¡°These people sound frightening!¡± she said quietly.


    Henry took her hands. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m painting a grim picture. Day to day, life really won¡¯t be any different than it was before. Behave like a human, and we know how to do that, and everything is the same. They leave us alone unless we be a threat to the secret. It¡¯s one of the best-kept secrets, ever. Of course, the threat of genocide by fearful humans makes it easier to keep.¡±


    Tish thought about that then pulled her hands free to reach up to run her fingers over his horns. ¡°When do we get to be who we truly are?¡±


    He held her eyes with his. ¡°In the privacy of our homes. We can¡¯t go out in public without our mors engaged. There won¡¯t be any prancing through Central Park as Satyr and Faun.¡±


    She grinned as her mind took her back to the previous morning when she was thinking of asking Henry to go running with her. Now the idea of running with him in their new states sent a thrill through her. ¡°Is there nowhere in the world we could go running freely in our natural states?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°I think humans are pretty much everywhere these days and those ces where they¡¯re not; their satellite-based cameras are watching. From what I understand it¡¯s getting more and more difficult to hide from human intrusion. Maybe one day the secret will get out. It just can¡¯t be because of something one of us does.¡±


    ¡°What about the world of Wild Magic? Can we go there?¡± she asked.


    ¡°There are some really dangerous creatures living there. One of them got through a breach and killed some army people before they managed to take it down. It¡¯s apletely unknown world. I don¡¯t think it would be safe to pop over to visit and go for a run. Sorry.¡± He gave her an apologetic smile, and she nodded her eptance.


    ¡°It was just a silly idea.¡± She took his hand in hers once more and felt a little thrill to feel how well their fingers fit together even in this newrger size. Henry¡¯s big hands felt¡­ powerful. That sent a different kind of tingle through her. ¡°Maybe once I get my mor you coulde running with me one morning?¡± she asked hopefully.


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯ve never gone running before. I¡¯ll try not to slow you down.¡±


    She smiled impishly. ¡°We should work on your endurance,¡± she said as she flipped the sides of his cloak open to expose his nakedness and swung a leg over his to sit on hisp. Before he could do more than blink in surprise, she was kissing him, and his need for her surged. His hands automatically went to her ass, and he pulled her tighter against himself.


    Tish purred happily at the feel of his firm grip and rolled her hips to grind against his hardening shaft.

 157

    Henry¡¯s rising cock was trapped under Tish pressing against her firm ass cheeks. When he pulled the hem of her dress up, he quickly discovered she wasn¡¯t wearing panties.


    Tish pulled back from the kiss and raised herself to let his cock p against his stomach. Now she began rubbing herself along its length, and her eyes widened nervously. ¡°Shit! Youarebig!¡± She recalled Dayshia¡¯sments about anacondas, but her perception had never indicated this. ¡°How did you hide this?¡± she gasped quietly.


    Henry¡¯s body was trembling with need as Tish continued to rub her wetness up and down the underside of his cock. ¡°Cam said¡­ my mor¡­ it adjusts based on the needs of the observer.¡± He squeezed her ass tighter as he stroked her against his cock faster.


    ¡°Oh fuck, Henry! That feels so good, but I need you inside me! If it fits,¡± she finished with a tremble in her voice.


    ¡°We¡¯re Satyrs, or Fauns if you prefer. We were built for this,¡± he growled with need. He lifted her effortlessly as she reached down to point his cock up to meet her descending pussy. When the heat of its head pressed against her soft, wet lips, she threw her head back in ecstasy.


    ¡°Oh! Oh my, Henry! Yes!¡± Tish gushed as this felt better than her fantasies over the past weeks ever did.


    Henry eased her down over his cock in small increments, allowing her time to adjust and to keep his brains from leaking out his ears. This felt too good. Her insides matched the contours of his flesh perfectly. All the strange ridges and soft spikes on his Satyr cock met their natural partner, and that was stimting him to a rapid release. He struggled to keep it at bay for as long as he could.


    ¡°Shit! Oh shit! Too good! Henry! Oh, fuck!¡± Tish gasped as her body shook with her desire. She tried to make Henry speed up but his strength would not be denied, and he was setting the pace. She leaned forward and kissed him deeply causing him to lose focus for a moment. That was all she needed to push herself down to take the rest of his cock inside. The intensity of her feeling of fullness made her moan and hold very still. She heard Henry¡¯s answering sigh. She was thrilled that he was feeling as good as she was!


    He caressed her lips with his once they¡¯d caught their breath. The intimacy was intense, and she quietly purred as she chased his tongue with hers.


    When Henry lifted her to the tip of his cock and dropped her down to fill her once more, she broke the kiss to moan. It was too much!


    He did it again and again, faster each time, and she struggled to contain her voice. She wanted to shout out her joy at the bliss of their connection. His strong hands on her ass, his heat deep inside her, his powerful shoulders under her hands and his densely muscled thighs under her legs as they met again and again. It was all too much, and she felt herself tripping over her orgasm.


    ¡°I¡¯m cumming! Henry! I¡¯m there!¡± she cried. Her hips began an erratic rolling as he pinned her down against his body, forcing himself deeper than before.


    Henry was desperately relieved as he¡¯d been barely managing to hold back his release. Now he let go and surge after surge of cum jetted into her depths. ¡°Fuck! Oh, Tish! So good!¡±


    She clung to him as she felt his heat filling her. What she wasn¡¯t expecting was the boost of energy she suddenly felt rushing through her body. As quickly as that spread out to her extremities, a sensation of sated lethargy began to spread through her. She leaned forward to rest her cheek on his shoulder and felt/heard their horns click against each other as she did. She smiled at the strange experience.


    ¡°That was¡­ indescribably perfect¡± she finally managed to pant as Henry rubbed his fingers up and down her back under her dress.


    He chuckled, and that made her gasp as the gentle bouncing sent tingles through her sensitive bits. Henry was shrinking down below so he lifted her clear with a mutual gasp.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to do that again¡­ and again,¡± she purred.


    ¡°Yes, please!¡± he agreed, and she gave him a sweet kiss.


    When the kiss ended, she pulled back and yawned. That caused her to giggle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m just so tired all of a sudden. I think I¡¯d better call it a day and head off to bed. You¡¯re wee to join me but no more ytime tonight.¡±


    He gave her another quick kiss. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll take a rain check on that tonight.¡±


    She nodded with a sweet smile then carefully got to her hooves with Henry¡¯s assistance. Before she turned away, she gave him a bright smile. ¡°Thank you for healing my back and for giving me this amazing new life.¡±


    He was surprised by the strength of her sincerity and his throat closed with emotion. He nodded to her, not trusting himself to speak.


    She gingerly made her way down the steps of the gazebo and with a final happy smile back at him she walked back to the house.


    Henry remained outside for a time, just admiring the stars and trying to prepare his mind for the uing event with Mab. She wanted something¡­ big. His mind went around and around but he couldn¡¯te up with what it might be. Sex just didn¡¯t seem like the answer.


    Finally, he gave up and walked back into the house. Sigrid and Meixiu were sitting in the kitchen drinking tea.


    ¡°Feeling better?¡± Sigrid asked him.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    His eyes went to her to see if she might be referring to his spending time with Tish, but her look seemed innocent. He realized he was feeling a little more rxed having taken the time to catch his breath. He wasn¡¯t any closer to an answer, but he wasn¡¯t as nervous. He gave her a nod and smiled at Meixiu as well. Then he noticed how quiet the house was. His question must have been written on his face as Sigrid answered without him asking.


    ¡°They went home. Cam and Roy left first closely followed by our new friend Mary. Roy told me she¡¯s going to quit the police force ande work for VRL.¡± At Henry¡¯s raised eyebrows she grinned. ¡°Roy feels she would be an asset to his team and Cam agreed. We have better wages and pension n as well.¡±


    ¡°Your neighbor Michelle hung out with Sandy and Dayshia while Mahatipleted the paperwork with Meixiu for the transfer of ownership of Walter¡¯s assets to her, including his rather sizable list of bank ounts and investments. Meixiu is the sole inheritor of the entire estate. Mahati and Michelle left shortly after that. Your friend Nate was very vocal about how much the art might be worth, but we¡¯ll need to follow steps to remain anonymous when selling it. The Hidden Races Council has a means for doing this.¡±


    ¡°He also dragged us into the study to see a painting he found there. It¡¯s like nothing I¡¯ve seen. I¡¯d swear it¡¯s been imbued with magic. I picked up emotions from it. We all felt the same thing. If the Security Council gets wind of this artist, I think she¡¯s going to face some- difficulty.¡±


    Henry frowned then he thought of his art fanatic friend. ¡°WhereisNate?¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s eyes watched him carefully as she answered. ¡°He took a room upstairs on the third floor and went to bed.¡± She paused ever so slightly before continuing. ¡°Marisa joined him.¡±


    A shock went through his body, but he forced it back. Wasn¡¯t he outside just minutes ago, having sex with Tish? He had to let that jealousy go. He wasn¡¯t going to let go of his feelings for Marisa, but he had to ept she might have simr feelings for others. He knew Marisa was attracted to Nate and his new friend was attracted to her in return. He had to listen to Cam¡¯s words of tough love. That brought a hint of a smile to his lips. He nodded to Sigrid, and she rxed a little with a small smile of her own.


    He looked to Meixiu and smiled at her. ¡°So, now that you¡¯re a wealthy woman of leisure, what are you going to do? Travel the world? Buy a small ind? Party on a yacht in Monaco with the rich and famous?¡±


    She giggled and shook her head. ¡°None of those things sound appealing to me. I have discussed this with Sigrid as I¡¯ve been truly happy for the first time in my life living with her. As long as I¡¯m wee in her home, I will remain.¡±


    He nodded appreciatively. ¡°What about the mansion?¡±


    ¡°Once I¡¯ve sold off the assets, I will offer it to the Hidden Races Council for a good price. Nathan said he would help me identify which art pieces are most likely to be truly valuable. The river painting, I will keep. It¡¯s so peaceful,¡± she purred happily.


    Henry nodded then stretched his tired limbs as a yawn leaked out.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long day. We should all get some rest,¡± Sigrid suggested. ¡°I understand you slept in the sitting roomst night. There are beds avable. Where will you sleep tonight?¡±


    Henry looked into her eyes and saw she was inviting him to share her bed. To sleep. No expectations. He smiled and nodded to her, and she returned his smile.


    Meixiu stood with a sweet little secret smile of her own and moved to tidy up. Sigrid stopped her to give her a quick hug and kiss on the top of her head. Then she led Henry upstairs to a lovely room on the top floor facing the backyard. He walked to the window and looked down at the gazebo. He honestly found that to be a peaceful spot. He turned and dropped his mor as he made his way to the bed. He thought the mattress was oddly high and he had to climb up onto its plush surface. He tucked himself under the sheets and nced over the edge nervously.

 158

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sigrid asked as she settled in on the other side.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten used to having my mattress on the floor. Regr beds feel too high now but this one¡­¡±


    She snorted softly and cuddled in against his side. He nced down at her head on his chest and settled back and the pillow. This was definitely morefortable than the couch downstairs, but his mind wasn¡¯t ready to settle down yet.


    He was going to find out tomorrow what the Queen wanted in return for the mors, and he knew, whatever it was, he¡¯d pay it for the sake of his friends.


    He owed them that much.


    It took tworge SUV¡¯s to carry all of the people apanying Henry to the Queen¡¯s Manhattan residence. They pulled into the underground parking and took the ramps to the lowest public level where a gate blocked the next ramp. A surly looking goon stood guard. Roy showed the card Henry handed to him and gestured to the truck following them. The guard returned the card with a nod and raised the gate for them to continue down. When they reached the lowest level, they found parking spots close to the elevator.


    They got out and gathered in front of the trucks as they looked around. There were only a few other vehicles. Sandy, Tish, and Dayshia were wearing the hooded cloaks Meixiu gave them before they left the mansion for the ride here. Kesini kept slipping tendrils out of the hood only for Sandy to push them back in.


    Mary had chosen to remain in her ck jeans, a grey t-shirt, and ck leather jacket. Meixiu was wearing a white silk dress that flowed as she moved. She looked especially luminescent next to Mary.


    ¡°Are there no other guests attending this party?¡± Cam asked.


    Sigrid shrugged then moved to stand before the threedies who¡¯d be getting mors, but she focused on Dayshia. ¡°Are you seeing mors?¡± Dayshia nodded. ¡°Good. You want to stay that way until we leave. Do your best to maintain a poker face. The Fae wear mors of great beauty, but often this hides less appealing features. The Queen especially. She¡¯s ancient and exceptionally powerful.¡± She looked to the other two. ¡°It¡¯s best not to look too long or too closely at her if you can help it, regardless of being able to see through her mor. The beauty of her mor can be a little unsettling too. Demure nces are perfectly fine and expected.¡±


    ¡°Are we in any danger?¡± Dayshia asked.


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°No. No more than if you were visiting the Queen of Denmark or Ennd. Just show Queen Mab the same level of respect you would show them.¡±


    ¡°What about this Hidden Race Council? Are we in danger from them?¡± Mary asked. Nate nodded with a worried expression.


    ¡°No, leave them to me,¡± Mahati said confidently.


    The group walked over to the elevator bank, and Roy pressed the button. Momentster the wide doors opened on one of the most luxurious elevators Henry had ever seen. Sandy gave him an exaggeratedly impressed look, drawing a smile from him. He nodded to her as the group boarded. The light on the button for level one pulsed, so they just settled in for the ride.


    Dayshia sat on the plush bench with a regal air, and Tish snorted. Sandy giggled, but Henry could tell it was nerves. Far quicker than they expected, the elevator binged, and the doors opened. In the hallway, they faced four huge, fierce and rough looking men.


    Roy stepped out first and let the first of the security men frisk him for weapons.


    Sigrid stepped forward, and the big goon leered as he rubbed his hands together, stepping closer. Sigrid¡¯s gaze promised death, and his leer dropped away quickly. He grunted in annoyance and pulled free a short club hanging on his hip.


    He suddenly folded back in two, squealing in pain.


    ¡°That¡¯s no way to greet our visitors.¡±


    Queen Mab¡¯s voice was pure honey and sex and drew every eye. The remaining security men carried their injured member away quickly.


    ¡°Henry! Wee to my little home away from home!¡± Mab sighed as she came forward to lift her hand for Henry¡¯s kiss. She only had eyes for him. He took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips, earning him a satisfied smile.


    Finally, she looked to the others. ¡°You¡¯ve brought along your little friends. You have quite the posse now. Isn¡¯t that the term in use at the moment? Posse?¡± She smiled at her cleverness. She looked to the three women in cloaks. ¡°You may ce those robes on the hooks.¡± She gestured towards the side of the corridor. ¡°You can be assured of privacy and discretion within my castle.¡±


    Dayshia, Sandy, and Tish took off the heavy cloaks, showing they were dressed uniformly in ck silk dress shirts and ck yoga pants, with ck sandals for Dayshia and Sandy and ck hooves for Tish. No longer hidden by the voluminous robes, Mab¡¯s eyes widened in delight as she saw their distinct states. ¡°What have you done?¡± she said with a smile, ncing at Henry.


    He cleared his tight throat. ¡°Queen Mab, may I introduce Sandy Marlow, Dayshia Morrison, and Patricia Evans.¡± He nced at Mary. ¡°And Mary Carsten.¡±


    Mab gave Mary the briefest nod, but the other women received a thorough eyeballing until each felt a little uneasy. She was particrly taken with Tish. ¡°Another Satyr! How remarkable! nning on bringing your people back?¡± the Queen asked Henry with a coy smile. She missed the twinge of pain that shed across Tish¡¯s face, but Henry didn¡¯t. He shook his head as he ground his teeth at her unknowing cruelty.


    Mab shrugged and returned her attention to Mary.


    Henry didn¡¯t wait for Mab¡¯s question. ¡°Mary¡¯s change doesn¡¯t require a mor, but she¡¯s here to meet the Council members as well.¡±


    Mab¡¯s lips did a little downturn at the mention of her other guests. ¡°Oh yes, they¡¯re here too.¡±


    ¡°My friends from work, Cam Vimor, Marisa Vimor, Sigrid Gunderan, and Roy Duncan.¡± The Queen nodded regally to them.


    ¡°Meixiu, who was a ve of Walter Zhao but escaped to be our good friend and master of Zhao¡¯s estate,¡± Henry said with a smile for the sweet woman who smiled in surprise at his words. Meixiu bowed deeply to the Queen who nodded to the Vampire with a slight smile on her lips. She also seemed to enjoy the karma at y there.


    ¡°This is my new friend Nathan Walker.¡± Nate was openly dazzled by the Queen, and she enjoyed that very much. She lifted her hand, and he moved forward to kiss it as Henry had. The Queen¡¯s smile showed she appreciated this as well.


    ¡°Finally, may I introduce Mahati Chandra, my legal counsel,¡± he said as she bowed to the Queen.


    ¡°You brought awyer to the party?¡± The Queen¡¯s eyes showed her displeasure.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    ¡°Again, to meet with you and the Council members. Business before pleasure?¡±


    Mab¡¯s eyes glowed slightly at the reminder of the evening¡¯s main event. She was impatient but knew she couldn¡¯t rush the spell¡¯s timing. ¡°Indeed. Come, the mages are ready for your friends.¡±


    She led them down a hallway paneled with lovingly hand buffed exotic woods. She reached double doors guarded by two of the goons they¡¯d met earlier. They opened the doors before Mab reached them, so she walked through without pause.


    Henry tried to take it in stride that a room inside a house would have the sky as a ceiling and soft grass as a carpet. There was no sign of the outer walls as the illusion showed a distant horizon with a hint of mountains. The air was fresh, and smelled faintly of wildflowers. Another Fae illusion but master level. He remembered the room under Rockefeller Center where his life took such a dramatic change¡­ at the hands of Queen Mab and Walter Zhao. He nced back to his friends, and they were all stunned. He saw Mab¡¯s amusement over their shock and awe. While that irritated him, calling her out on it wasn¡¯t a smart move.


    Ahead, he spotted the familiar faces of some Senior Council members who seemed to be waiting for them; Lise-Anne Hoek, Minister of Security, Clive Darrowess, Racial Affairs Minister, and Rand von Deussel, Council Investigator in charge of the Eastern United States.


    He also spotted the Minister who looked like a hunky male version of Sigrid. Henry recalled this mor hid a being with the head of a fish on a skinny scaled body. Isaac Nils, the Minister of Diplomatic Affairs.


    None of the Council members looked pleased to be here. They were openly staring at the threedies in confusion.


    The only member of their group not frowning was Michelle Beaumont. She smiled at Henry.


    Beyond the council members, standing in the lush de next to an arrangement of chairs and cushioned benches, were the Fae mages. There had to be at least twenty-five of them. Most but not all of them were the same ones who¡¯d given Henryhismor. They watched him warily as they recalled the ordeal. Henry stumbled slightly as his memories of the night shed through his mind. Mab was instantly at his elbow and guided him to the side where a small table and chairs under an umbre had been set up. Mab took a chair and offered the second to him. She nced up to see Mahati standing behind Henry at his shoulder.


    ¡°Henry and I have a matter to discuss¡­ in private,¡± Mab stated firmly.


    ¡°A contract negotiation? As hiswyer, I would be negligent if I didn¡¯t attend to look out for his interests,¡± Mahati said calmly.


    The Queen¡¯s eyes red with anger.


    ¡°It¡¯s my first negotiation. I would be grateful for being allowed Mahati¡¯s counsel,¡± Henry blurted to forestall Mab¡¯s bacsh. Her eyes immediately went to his, and he saw he¡¯d said something she liked as hers held only satisfaction now. Her emotional flip-flopping was making him feel very uneasy. She usually showed far more restraint than this. He wondered what it meant.


    ¡°Remember that gratitude,¡± she purred. Her eyes moved over to the threedies. ¡°I see we have three new mors we need to link to¡­ what, Humans?¡±


    ¡°Post-Humans I think is a more urate term. Human Plus? Regardless, they aren¡¯t strictly human anymore,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°And how did this miraculous transformation ur?¡± Mab asked.


    Henry nced at Mahati who just nodded. He looked back at the Queen. ¡°You¡¯re aware my¡­ essence is saturated with Wild Magic. They were exposed to sufficient amounts, and it changed them permanently and significantly.¡±


    ¡°Wild Magic changes Humans? Fascinating! Such variety too! How does that happen?¡± Mab leaned forward in interest and exposed a delightful amount of cleavage in the process.


    Henry tugged his eyes away and caught her smile. ¡°It¡¯s chaotic and random.¡±


    Mab¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Random chance resulted in a Satyr?¡± she said, giving him a doubtful look.

 159

    Henry shifted ufortably. ¡°Her transformation may have happened that way because I was in contact with her during her entire change.¡± At her raised eyebrow, he sighed in exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m not a wielder! I don¡¯t understand how magic works! I don¡¯t evenwantto know how it works. I¡¯m happy to leave it to you!¡±


    She nodded as she agreed magic was for wielders to control.


    ¡°You¡¯ve brought me three¡­ individuals who need mors. If I do this for you, I expect three favors in return.¡±


    Henry felt Mahati¡¯s hand rest lightly on his shoulder, and he closed his mouth as he¡¯d been about to agree.


    ¡°These favors must be defined in scope if not in substance,¡± thewyer said in her calm, professional manner.


    ¡°Scope?¡± Mab said, her eyes locked on Mahati¡¯s. Henry felt a pressure building between the two women. Wills were shing.


    ¡°Yes. The favors cannot, in any way, impinge upon Henry¡¯s physical or mental freedom. They must not, in any way, endanger him physically or mentally. And those two conditions also apply to those Henry considers important to him.¡±


    Mab went still as she reviewed the points in her mind. Suddenly, she smiled. ¡°I can agree to that! Harming Henry, or his friends is the furthest thing from my mind.¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Henry made an involuntary choking sound as his mind took him to the night he found Tish horrifically crippled from an attack Mab, herself, ordered. He wanted to jump up and scream BULLSHIT directly in her face, but he knew he couldn¡¯t. His friends depended on him to give them a chance at getting their lives back. He fought back the bile that threatened to climb up his throat then lifted his eyes to look into Mab¡¯s. Her expression was open and curious. She knew he knew and she was waiting to see what he would do. She was also quite aware his hands were tied.


    ¡°Past is past,¡± he ground out, and her smile widened slightly.


    ¡°But never forgotten.¡±


    Mab froze as she looked into his eyes and he held her gaze. He wasn¡¯t going to be the first to look away this time. Realization of this began to appear in Mab¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°So we have a deal,¡± Mahati blurted and drew their attention. They nodded and shook on it.


    Giving Henry a final nce, Mab stood and walked back to the others with Henry and Mahati following.


    Lise-Anne immediately stepped forward to address the monarch. ¡°Good evening, Queen Mab. Thank you for the invitation but¡­ what are we doing here and who are these people? Aside from the new Satyr, whose existence is a shock, I don¡¯t recognize the Races these two are from,¡± she said pointing to Dayshia and Sandy. Kesini rose up and fanned out in annoyance over her condescending tone. ¡°Are they your creations?¡±


    Queen Mab aimed her shark¡¯s grin at the councilwoman. ¡°Not mine. Henry¡¯s. He¡¯s altered his Human friends¡­ identally?¡± she asked Henry with a coy smile.


    He frowned. ¡°Yes, identally. Wild Magic has the power to alter humans.¡± Henry looked to Mahati who stepped forward and gestured for the four former human females to join her.


    ¡°These four women were once Human. Now, they are more,¡± she said.


    Clive pointed to Mary. ¡°Is she wearing a mor?¡±


    Mary shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t need one.¡±


    Lise-Anne looked upset. ¡°We have a problem. There is no contingency for Human¡¯s being altered by magic because¡­ it doesn¡¯t happen. They belong to no treaty-¡± Queen Mab¡¯s eye lit up, and she moved to speak.


    ¡°They¡¯re mine.¡±


    Everyone looked at Henry. ¡°My treaty covers their creation asoffspring. My treaty protects them.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no offspring section in your treaty. You¡¯re one of a kind.¡± Lise-Anne nced at Tish. ¡°Or were when it was created. There was no need for the offspring section.¡±


    ¡°Yet it¡¯s there, and you all signed it. So it¡¯s binding,¡± Henry replied firmly. The Council members looked to the historian.


    ¡°There was limited time, and the request to remove the sections was missed,¡± Michelle said quietly.


    ¡°Youdon¡¯t miss things!¡± Rand growled.


    Michelle drew herself up to full height and stared down her nose at the much shorter man. ¡°When I¡¯m given sufficient time to prepare the required documents properly, you can be assured of one hundred percent uracy. I was not, so you received less. As you noted, there was one Satyr. The inclusion of the unedited section was too insignificant to reconvene all parties to sign a new revision.¡± She handed Lise-Anne the treaty. The Security Minister skipped to the Offspring section and quickly reviewed the text. Her expression just soured as she read. Finally, she handed it back to Michelle to look to the others.


    ¡°The treaty is binding. Post-Humans are protected by it,¡± Lise-Anne confirmed, ncing at each of the other Council members and Queen Mab. ¡°What about this missing male, Roger¡­ Jensen,¡± she grumbled, looking at his details from the message on her cell.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been unable to contact him. He¡¯s an anarchist, impulsive, and highly motivated by conspiracy theories. Finding him quickly is imperative. While we don¡¯t agree with the more¡­ extreme measures the Security Division may choose to deal with him¡­ we understand the danger he represents,¡± Henry acknowledged with a sad frown.


    While the Council members were not happy with the inclusion of the post-Humans, they saw no benefit in challenging the validity of Henry¡¯s im, for the moment.


    Lise-Anne was particrly uneasy about the slippage this seemed to be imposing on their security. With firmly drawn lines between the Hidden Races and the Humans, it was easier to defineUsandThem. Now the Satyr was bringing Humans intoUs. The lines were blurring and she couldn¡¯t, wouldn¡¯t ept that. She nced at Rand, and she saw his agreement. Their decision tounch their contingency n now felt utterly justified.


    Rand nced down at a vibration in his pocket. He pulled his cell out and ignored the frown from Mab. He read the text, and his face paled. He looked to Lise-Anne, and she knew something was very wrong. Rand struggled to get control then looked to the Queen.


    ¡°Thank you for the gracious invitation but¡­ I¡¯ve just received news of a death in the family. I¡¯m afraid I must leave. I must return to Germany, to collect his body.¡±


    ¡°A parent?¡± Queen Mab asked curiously.


    He shook his head with a troubled frown. ¡°Cousin. Thane del Neev.¡± The Queen nodded, granting him leave and he gave her a deeper bow than he usually would. He turned to go, and Lise-Anne walked a few steps away with him. She whispered something to him, and Rand shook his head fiercely. Those watching this heard him growlmurderbefore he stormed off. Lise-Anne walked back to the group with a worried expression.


    The Queen had an interested twinkle in her eye then gestured for Henry¡¯s group to proceed. Marisa and Henry led their friends forward to meet the mages. Mahati stayed behind to bring the others up to speed on the contract he¡¯d made with the Queen.


    ¡°Is this going to hurt?¡± Sandy asked nervously.


    ¡°Not for long. The Fae know how to bind mors to people linked to the Wild Magic. They won¡¯t linger. Their old realm magic won¡¯t let them,¡± he said gently.


    Seeing thedies unease, Marisa picked up the conversation from this point. ¡°The link between you and the mages is very intimate, and they are as open to you as you are to them. Normally bindings like these are done to infants whose unformed minds don¡¯tlook back. The mages don¡¯t like it so they willplete the binding and leave as quickly as they can. You mustn¡¯t resist them as they are delivering something you want. Your job is to concentrate on the photo you brought, locking that image of you in your mind so you can impress it upon the nk mor they will bind to your core. They will tell you when it¡¯s time to do that.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too hard,¡± Tish responded and received a nod from Marisa.


    Dayshia took a deep breath and stepped forward to stand next to the first bench. An older Fae approached with six others behind him. ¡°My name is Joren. We will begin with a shallow insertion to determine the strength of the foreign magic. The Satyr¡¯s link was so strong we lost one of our own to it. We¡¯ve learned how to perform the binding, but we need to know how much of this magic we will be working within. Please recline and clear your mind. Allow us ess and remain calm. There will be no binding in this first stage.¡±


    Dayshia nced at Marisa then stretched out on the bench on her back.


    Marisa addressed the Fae mage. ¡°The Wild Magic within them isn¡¯t as strong as Henry¡¯s. While linked to the new realm, the flow doesn¡¯t feel like a raging river as it does with him.¡± The older mage gave her an evaluating look then tilted his head to her in eptance and thanks for her assessment. Relief was visible in his expression as well. He gestured for some of the others to hold back. It initially looked like he intended to have the entire group participate in the exploratory dip into Dayshia¡¯s mind.


    Only four mages took up positions around the bench and closed their eyes. Marisa saw them taking deep, slow breaths which quickly became synchronized as they linked minds and prepared for the effort.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Dayshia chirped as she suddenly felt the presence ofothernessin her mind. She instinctively pushed it out.

 160

    The four Fae wobbled and opened their eyes to re at the woman on the bench.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Marisa asked as Queen Mab watched with interest.


    Joren spoke for them. ¡°You were correct regarding the level of magic for this one. It will only take three mages to protect a fourth who does the work of imnting and binding the mor. However, her will is abnormally strong. She must allow us in toplete this work!¡±


    Tish snorted. ¡°Dayshia? Strong-willed?¡±


    The woman in question fixed an eye on her friend. ¡°Hush you! They just caught me off-guard. Now that I know what to expect I should be ok.¡±


    Joren traded a look with the Queen but received no sympathy from her. He nodded and gestured to the three others who would be his protection. He fixed a stern eye on his patient. ¡°You must workwithus, notagainstus.¡±


    Marisa leaned over her slightly with a gentle smile. ¡°Remember they are giving you what you want and need. Concentrate on the photo and soak in all of the details,¡± she coached. Dayshia nodded shakily then lifted the snapshot Sandy had taken of their group at their previous year¡¯s office Christmas party. They all looked incredibly happy in the photo! She smiled and nodded to Joren having fixed in her mind how she looked in the picture. The Fae nodded stiffly, and the group prepared themselves once more.


    Dayshia was surprised again by the sudden impression ofothernessinside, but this time she forced herself to let it happen. This became harder and harder to do as that otherness slipped deeper into her mind. Their presence was adding a grating vibration, discordant and unsettling, like nails on a chalkboard, squealing door hinges and cold fingers down the spinebined. The deeper they went, the harder it became to endure. She was about to scream when she felt a calming presence next to her. Marisa?!? An image shed through her mind of the gorgeous blonde between Sandy¡¯s/her legs, and she felt Marisa¡¯s surprise and amusement. That made her feel better. Marisa¡¯s calm was an oasis.


    They followed the mage¡¯s minds deep into her core, and while it didn¡¯t get easier, Marisa¡¯s presence made it bearable. They reached the bottom, and Joren¡¯s voice sounded like it came from all around. ¡°I begin. Prepare to imprint the image.¡±


    A shudder ran through her body but Marisa held her in a warm hug, and she rxed a little.


    The actual binding was a pain almost beyond her ability to endure. Dayshia screamed in her mind, her throat paralyzed at the moment, and clung to Marisa who whispered soothing sounds to her, protecting her from slipping into madness.


    ¡°Now,¡± Joren said, pain evident in his tone as well.


    Dayshia thrust the image of her joy filled face and happy dance at the nk outline the Fae prepared for her and felt it sink into ce.


    ¡°This is your activation trigger,¡± the Fae indicated and once he was assured Dayshia had it memorized he and the others fled from Dayshia¡¯s mind. The vacuum they left with their abrupt departure left Dayshia dazed. After a moment, she probed the trigger and was surprised to see a second one. She felt a gentle pressure from Marisa to avoid that one. Then the woman slipped away as well.


    Dayshia opened her eyes and saw the pretty blonde smiling down at her. She raised an eyebrow at the woman for the secret they shared, but Marisa just shook her head minimally.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Thank you for the assist,¡± Joren said to Marisa. ¡°Are you up to helping with the others?¡±


    The Subus nodded with a smile. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to need a few hours of sleep.¡±


    Dayshia discovered she was exhausted and didn¡¯t have the energy to stand. She was barely able to keep her eyes open.


    ¡°I know, it takes a lot out of you. It¡¯s ok. You can take a little nap to recuperate,¡± Marisa told her. Echoes of the pain rolled through her muscles.


    ¡°Please activate the mor,¡± Joren instructed. ¡°You have to activate and deactivate it manually while conscious. If you suddenly be unconscious or expire it will activate automatically,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Expire!?! The mor activates if I die?¡± Dayshia gasped.


    Joren looked at her in surprise. ¡°Of course!¡±


    Dayshia still looked a little disturbed, but she reached for and touched the trigger.


    The change was instantaneous. Resting back on the bench was an entirely human appearing Dayshia.


    Sandy and Tish squealed with excitement as Joren handed Marisa arge mirror for Dayshia to see her new mor. Marisa held it above her so she could see the change. Stunned, she ced her hands on her cheeks and stared at her reflection in delight.


    ¡°It¡¯s me! I¡¯m back!¡± she gushed in relief.


    The Fae mage frowned. ¡°It¡¯s only an ovey. Your true self is beneath the surface of this illusion.¡±


    ¡°If her mor¡¯s nature follows mine, it might have a more physical presence than a normal Fae mor,¡± Henry suggested.


    Dayshia gave Henry a confused look when she tore her eyes away from the mirror.


    ¡°A Fae mor would only hide your nowrger eyes under theimageof human-sized eyes. Touch your eyelid, and you¡¯d be poking yourself in the eye. Tell me what you feel if you touch your eyelid now,¡± he exined.


    Dayshia cautiously raised a fingertip to touch the delicate skin of her lid. She rxed with a smile as she felt only skin. No difort from a poke in the eye.


    Henry returned Dashia¡¯s smile and looked to Joren. ¡°It¡¯s an augmented mor. Don¡¯t ask me how it works. It messes with thews of physics.¡±


    ¡°Henry, that¡¯s science! This is magic! You just have tobelieve!¡± Tish giggled in delight.


    Her smile was infectious, and he found himself sharing her joy. Then he noted Queen Mab was watching him closely with an enigmatic smile on her lips. He looked away quickly.


    ¡°Dayshia, close your eyes and get some rest. We¡¯ll keep watch over you,¡± Marisa said gently, and the woman gratefully smiled as she let her exhaustion take her.


    ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± Joren asked.


    Sandy stepped forward and nced nervously at Dayshia who was snoring softly. She plucked the photo from the bench as it was her memory aid as well. The petite blonde moved to the second bench and rested back on it. Kesini wrapped herself around Sandy in a hug.


    A fresh group of four mages took their positions. The lead mage in the group presented himself to Marisa.


    ¡°I am Russvenn. I will bind the mor. You will keep the subject calm and receptive.¡±


    Marisa blinked at the Fae¡¯s emotionless, almost mechanical delivery.


    ¡°Isn¡¯thethe life of the party,¡± Sandy snorted, and Marisa began to giggle.


    Sandy smiled and took her hand. ¡°Does it hurt?¡± she asked in a little girl voice, and Marisa saw how frightened she was.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you and so will Kesini. Speaking of which,¡± She took hold of a strand of blond locks. ¡°You mustn¡¯t hurt any of these Fae as they help give Sandy her mor. Take your lead from me. Comfort Sandy. Is that understood?¡±


    Marisa felt reluctance but Sandy¡¯s support came through their connection with Kesini, and they sensed the hair agree begrudgingly.


    ¡°We will do the initial test insertion,¡± Russvenn indicated and nodded to the others.


    Sandy closed her eyes and squeezed Marisa¡¯s hand.


    Alien minds dipped into hers starting a loud scraping buzz. They immediately fled.


    Marisa watched the unsettled expressions on the Mage¡¯s faces. ¡°We need additional reinforcements. The Wild Magic is too strong,¡± Russvennined. He looked to the waiting mages and gestured for an additional six to join them.


    To distract herself, Sandy looked at the photo and smiled as she wasughing merrily at the photographer. She couldn¡¯t recall who took it, but it had been a fun party. She examined the details of how she looked and nodded. Once more ready, the Fae wasted no further time but plunged into Sandy¡¯s mind. She gasped and pinched her eyes tightly closed in pain. Kesini began to rise to strike back, but Marisa¡¯s sudden presence swept in and gathered the two in a tight hug. Kesini settled down and turned her focus on Sandy who clung to her and Marisa, whimpering slightly inside.


    She cried out when the Fae stopped at her core. Marisa thought maybe ten Fae was more than what was required, but she focused on soothing the frightened blonde. The rough vibration was intense, and Marisa could feel the Fae¡¯s desperation to leave.


    ¡°Prepare the image,¡± Russvenn¡¯s voice snapped.


    Secondster the searing pain of the binding swept through Sandy¡¯s mind, and she screamed internally, her body frozen as Dayshia¡¯s had been. Marisa whispered to her, and she felt Kesini straining to attack the Fae, but Sandy was holding her too tightly.


    ¡°Now!¡± Russvenn¡¯s voice rasped.


    Sandy mmed the image of herughing at the party into the nk, and there was a loud groan from the Fae who buckled under the force. Sandy pulled back and the image bonded to the nk.


    ¡°Trigger here.¡± Russvenn blurted then the Fae were gone.


    Sandy gasped once more, but this time it was in relief. She sluggishly examined the trigger and saw the second one. Marisa¡¯s exhausted mind pushed her away from that one then slipped away.


    When Sandy opened her eyes, she saw Henry, in Satyr form now and wearing only a kilt, carrying Marisa away in his arms.


    ¡°What?¡± she mumbled.


    Cam moved to her side and epted the mirror from Joren.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. Marisa just needs to rest. She told mest night that she was going to do this, but I wasn¡¯t sure she¡¯d be able to. Subi only skim the mind¡¯s surface with the shallowest dives. Her talent allows her to go deeper, but it seems to take a great deal of energy.¡± She saw Sandy¡¯s eyes were struggling to stay open. ¡°Before you sleep, trigger your mor to test it.¡±


    Sandy touched the trigger in her mind, and Kesini vanished to be reced by normal blonde hair to mid-back. Most startling was itsck of animation. It was just hair.


    Sandy¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Kesini!¡± she squeaked and sat up. She felt her presence in her mind and her warm hug around her body, but she couldn¡¯t see the glowing blonde locks at all. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re invisible!¡±


    Cam nodded. ¡°That makes sense. The only difference for you is your lovely new hair. OH!¡± Cam¡¯s eyes flew wide as something squeezed and lifted her tits.


    ¡°KESINI!¡± Sandy gasped, her face glowing with embarrassment. The hair released the tits making them bounce in Cam¡¯s dress. ¡°I¡¯msosorry!¡± Sandy moaned pitifully.


    Cam shook her head with a small smile. ¡°You¡¯ll want to teach Kesini to keep to herself when you¡¯re in disguise to not give away her presence. She has to assist the disguise.¡±


    ¡°Yes! I mean, I will!¡± Sandy blurted. She sank to the surface of the bench as the little burst of adrenaline ran out and her strength with it. ¡°I just need¡­¡± Her eyelids drooped, and she was out.

 161

    Kesini lifted her gently and centered her on the bench. For anyone watching, it looked like Sandy was levitating. Cam made a mental note to speak to Sandy about how Kesini should behave.


    ¡°Shall we proceed with the final mor binding?¡± Mab asked.


    ¡°We need a brief respite to recharge, my Queen,¡± Joren replied wearily.


    She pouted but saw there was nothing for it. ¡°Brief?¡±


    ¡°Certainly no more than thirty minutes.¡±


    ¡°You have twenty,¡± she said with finality. She wanted her third favor sewn up, and there was a party to host. Her other guests would begin to grow restless.


    ¡°Yes, my Queen,¡± he said and backed away with a bow. She returned to her chair under the umbre beside the little table, and Joren returned to the mages. As a group, they dropped to the grass to meditate or sleep. The ones who had yet to participate looked at their colleagues with worried expressions. They kept ncing over at Tish then over to Henry who was back by the entrance of the room by a bench where Marisa was resting.


    -=-


    Henry knelt next to the beauty, holding her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m just tired. I¡¯m not hurt,¡± Marisa said to him with a smile. She saw Nate¡¯s concerned expression. ¡°There¡¯s no need for this much worry!¡± she insisted.


    ¡°You copsed after you helped Sandy!¡± Henry said firmly.


    ¡°You¡¯re exhausted!¡± Nate argued.


    ¡°Can¡¯t Cam assist with Tish?¡± Henry asked.


    Marisa shook her head. ¡°My talent allows me deeper ess. Just not so frequently without exhausting myself. I need to rest.¡±


    ¡°Do you need to feed?¡± Henry asked quietly.


    She smiled at him. ¡°Not here.¡±


    He nodded, and she closed her eyes. He and Nate moved a short distance away to stand guard and let her rest.


    ¡°So¡­ she can feed on you too?¡± Nate asked.


    Henry nced at Nate and noted his attempt to appear merely curious. Beneath that, Henry saw a little jealousy. Nate was more than a little taken with Marisa. Henry was determined to be an adult about this, so he just nodded. Nate sighed.


    Mary came over. ¡°This is the weirdest party I¡¯ve ever attended,¡± she grumbled quietly.


    Henry snorted as Nate chuckled and they shared smiles with her. Nate nodded emphatically. ¡°I second that and I¡¯ve been to someme college parties.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it gets weirder,¡± Henry hinted. ¡°Did you¡­ feed?¡± he asked quietly. Mary raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. She tipped her head in the direction of Roy, though she finally snorted a little herself. ¡°The big guy felt a little weird about doing it, but he fed me quite well.¡±


    Nate was looking at her with evident curiosity. ¡°Ok, you two, enough with the secrets. Fill me in!¡±


    ¡°Only if you tell me yours,¡± Mary replied with a look of challenge in her eye. Nate just grinned and nodded.


    Mary leaned in, and Nate began to whisper in her ear, so Henry left them with Marisa to speak with Sigrid, Cam, Meixiu, and Roy. Mahati was chatting with the Council members.


    Sigrid took his hand. Henry could see the worry on her face as well as Roy¡¯s.


    ¡°Three favors?¡± she asked quietly.


    ¡°For three mors,¡± Henry said with a nod and a smile that fooled no one.


    ¡°Any hints on what these favors will be?¡± Cam asked.


    Henry just shook his head.


    Everyone took seats and tried to rx. They enjoyed the fresh air and gentle breeze in the grand illusion the Queen had prepared for them. Servants brought them drinks of purest spring water delicately infused with the subtle vor of mountain flowers.


    Not Henry¡¯s favorite but it wet his dry mouth. He knew it was just nerves, but that knowledge gave him nofort.


    -=-


    Lise-Anne was fuming. The council¡¯s summoning to this event by Mab was insulting enough but to be tricked into acknowledging these¡­ new additions, the post-Humans, as a protected adjunct to the Satyr¡¯s treaty was making her skin crawl. She wished Rand was here as his support helped keep her anger in check.


    She was also worried about his state of mind. Someone had murdered his cousin in Germany. Considering how tough the Dwarf race was, whoever bested Thane del Neev was a significant threat. She would ensure Rand had the council¡¯s full support in locating and hunting down this killer.


    Isaac Nils approached her with a professional smile on his face. As a trained diplomat, he was quite good at disguising his unease.


    ¡°Minister,¡± he began with a friendly nod, but his use of her title told Lise-Anne this wasn¡¯t going to be small talk. She responded with the title for him as well.


    ¡°I suppose being on hand for the introduction of a new race falls under the duties I¡¯m expected to do, but does it feel odd to you that the council has been asked to attend the party? Unless we are greeting additional representatives, I¡¯m out of my element,¡± he asked quietly, his smile fixed in ce.


    Lise-Anne nodded slightly and shrugged. ¡°It isn¡¯t typical, but sheisthe Fae Queen and refusing her invitation would have had¡­ consequences.¡±


    Isaac nodded. ¡°Do you think we¡¯re looking at the only attendees for the party in this room?¡±


    Lise-Anne frowned as she casually nced around the chamber. Itdidseem odd for there to be so few people attending one of the Queen¡¯s parties. They were usually extravagant affairs with a hundred or more guests. ¡°Maybe the other guests are already here, in another room?¡±


    Isaac nodded thoughtfully, but even the trained diplomat¡¯s unease was beginning to show.


    The Minister of Security nced over towards the Queen and saw her watching them. She nodded to Mab with a smile but felt a chill run down her spine at the almost predatory smile she received in return. The Queen was nning something.


    She wished Rand was here.


    -=-


    A short timeter, Tish stood beside Marisa and looked at her sleeping friends with trepidation. ¡°How¡­ difficult is this?¡±


    Marisa was pretty exhausted herself, her twenty-five-minute nap barely scratched the surface of her need, but she smiled at the tall brte. ¡°It¡¯s different for everyone, but itisdraining.¡±


    Tish nodded then made herselffortable on the bench. Her hooves extended past the end as she was much taller than the Fae who the furniture was designed for.


    Joren and Russvenn were conferring with a third mage, giving him an update on what they¡¯d found. Finally, this one walked over to speak to Marisa and Tish.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kallish. We understand that the Satyr-¡±


    ¡°Henry,¡± Tish corrected.


    The Fae paused to look at her and nodded. ¡°Yes, Henry. He was¡­ involved in the process of transforming you. There is some concern that the level of Wild Magic in you is elevated to dangerous levels. We¡¯d prefer to do the initial insertion with the entire team. This may cause some additional difort due to the discordant frequencies of our magics.¡± He looked to Marisa. ¡°It might not be safe for you to participate this time.¡±


    Marisa stared him down. ¡°She needs me. I¡¯ll be there.¡±


    Tish looked to Marisa with grateful tears in her eyes. They held hands as the Fae took their positions.


    ¡°The entire team?¡± Mab curiously asked as she approached.


    Kallish bowed to her. ¡°Yes, my Queen. There is a high probability that her level of Wild Magic will be high. We are just taking precautions for the initial test.¡±


    Mab nodded. ¡°Proceed.¡±


    With another bow, Kallish took his position next to the bench.


    ¡°Deep breaths and rx,¡± Marisa said quietly to Tish who nodded and closed her eyes.


    Tish immediately felt herself tensing up as a terrible grating vibration began. It quickly dissipated, and she opened her eyes to see all of the mages looking at her with various levels of concern.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mab asked.


    Joren addressed the Queen. ¡°It is as we expected. The Wild Magic is very strong in this one. Not as strong as the Sat- not as strong as it is in Henry but almost more than we can deal with.¡±


    ¡°Almost?¡± Mab asked in a tone that assured the mage that she wasn¡¯t about to ept a negative response.


    ¡°Yes, we¡­ could use a sink,¡± he suggested tentatively.


    She looked at him until he began to sweat. Just before he broke, she nodded. She turned to face the entrance of the room and gestured for one of her guards to join them. The big man rushed over to stand next to the mage. He bowed to his Queen then Mab looked into his eyes and the guard¡¯s muscles locked up. The Queen nced at Joren. ¡°Your sink.¡± The mage nodded gratefully to her and moved back to the other mages.


    ¡°What do they mean bysink?¡± Tish asked Marisa quietly, but the woman just shook her head with tension showing around her eyes.


    ¡°We will begin,¡± Kallish said.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Once more Tish felt the grating vibration drilling into her mind and gasped in pain. She felt Marisa¡¯s calming presence settle in next to her and she clung to her as she listened to the soothing murmurs.


    Allowing this to continue was bing impossible when every instinct was screaming at her to push them out. It was only Marisa¡¯s support that made her resist that impulse. The¡­ noise? Sensation? The ipatibility of the mage¡¯s presence in her mind increased the deeper they went until she thought she might fly apart. She could feel Marisa weakening as well, so she reached out to her and tried to give her strength. Energy flowed between them, and for a moment the dissonance eased as Marisa¡¯s presence strengthened.

 162

    ¡°STOP THAT!¡± Kallish¡¯s voice boomed.


    Tish felt the anger and fear from the mages as they prepared toplete their work.


    ¡°DO NOT CALL UPON THE MAGIC!¡± Kallish snapped.


    Tish hadn¡¯t been aware she was doing that but felt a thrill course through her to think she had.


    ¡°Prepare the image. We will bind the mor now,¡± Kallish growled, but Tish could feel his fear. She could sense all of their fear.


    Then the white-hot pain of the binding was the only thing filling her awareness. Marisa shunted some of the pain away, and Tish¡¯s mind came back to her. She wasn¡¯t sure how long she¡¯d been out.


    ¡°Now! The image, quickly! We cannot hold this much longer!¡± The mage¡¯s voice showed the strain they faced. Tish pushed the image of herself onto the nk mor, and the Fae sighed in relief as they fled her mind immediately.


    Then it was just Tish and Marisa, who remained to pull her attention to the trigger for the mor. Tish felt two, but Marisa indicated for her to leave the second one alone, for now.


    They surfaced, and Tish opened her eyes to see Nate carrying Marisa away in his arms.


    Cam smiled at her. ¡°She¡¯s sleeping.¡±


    Tish saw the mages were also lying down in the grass in various states of consciousness. Some were looking at her with anger; others disyed revulsion and fear. None seemed happy. She looked back to Cam who was now holding up the mirror.


    ¡°Time for your mor.¡±


    Tish reached for the trigger in her mind, and when she opened her eyes again, she was looking at her face with her original human eyes. Her face had returned to her human appearance with thinner eyebrows and furless ears. Speaking of fur, she reached down to her thighs and felt skin. Lifting her head, Tish looked down as she wiggled her human toes. She touched her temples, but the horns were gone as well. She was back.


    A sudden fear shot through her that it had been a dream, so she quickly reached for the trigger once more and shed back into her Satyr form again. She sighed with relief to feel the fur under her fingertips.


    Cam chuckled. ¡°You seriously don¡¯t mind that Henry changed you!¡±


    Tish could only grin and shake her head as she switched back to her human disguise. Then she felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over her.


    ¡°Sleep. You did very well,¡± Cam said softly.


    Smiling as the words warmed her heart, Tish drifted off. She really liked Marisa¡¯s mom.


    -=-


    Queen Mab was broadly smiling as she approached Henry. Ikehorn was at her side, but his eyes locked on therge man the mages had used as a sink for the pain and strain they¡¯d encountered in the dive. They¡¯d shunted the stress and duress through to him. Henry also looked to the guard, at the blood on his trembling lips. The man¡¯s entire body was vibrating slightly as his muscles remained locked in a rictus. Henry shared a nce with the smaller Fae.


    Mab caught the look and gave Ikehorn a cruel smile. ¡°Does it not please you to see your tormentor in this state?¡±


    Ikehorn nced at her then back to the brute. ¡°It should¡­ but it doesn¡¯t. I would put him out of his misery,¡± he said softly, a troubled expression crossing his face.


    Mab frowned. This wasn¡¯t what she¡¯d expected of him. Where was the razor sharp whip she used to keep her court in order? She gazed at him with an evaluating eye. ¡°Maybe you¡¯d like to heal him?¡± she asked, equally quiet.


    Ikehorn looked at her in shock as his revulsion at the idea surged. ¡°No!¡±


    Mab¡¯s cruel streak red. It was such a delicious idea she needed to see it happen. ¡°But I think you should!¡±


    Ikehorn¡¯s mouth was moving, but there was no sound. Plenty of emotions were crossing his face now as he visibly struggled with his need to deny this request. Desperation won out. ¡°I don¡¯t have the strength to repair such severe damage!¡± he gasped.


    Mab smiled sweetly at him. ¡°You healed worse on your own body after they yed with you.¡± She delighted at the twitch that went through the Fae¡¯s body as he recalled the torture. Henry gaped at her.


    ¡°Th-that left me depleted. I haven¡¯t recovered my strength yet! I don¡¯t have ess to enough magic to do this!¡± he asserted, his inner conflict causing him to tremble.


    Now Mab wanted it even more. She needed to see how Ikehorn healed others, but truthfully, shewantedthe cruel pleasure it would bring her. She looked to Henry and an idea formed. ¡°You healed Henry¡¯s little Satyr friend with his assistance.¡± She looked to Henry. ¡°You could do it again, couldn¡¯t you Henry. Give us all a demonstration of how you help heal. Did you know Ikehorn had only a rudimentary level of magic ability before you interfered with him? He had to work so hard topensate for this; I think that¡¯s what made him such an effective enforcer. Now?¡± She tilted her head to gaze at Henry as she waited for his answer. She knew what it would be, of course.


    He blinked in surprise at her and opened his mouth to speak.


    ¡°Are you asking for a favor from Henry?¡± Mahati asked from his side.


    Mab¡¯s eyes locked on thewyer and rage red behind them. ¡°A simple thing-¡±


    Showing no awareness of the Queen¡¯s danger signs, Mahati continued. ¡°Not for a non-wielder. It is a significant effort for Henry who doesn¡¯t have your powerful wielder abilities.¡±


    Queen Mab was trapped by her need to see Ikehorn heal the Ogre who nearly crippled him and her desire to preserve her three favors from Henry. Spending one of them on this seemed frivolous but¡­ she couldn¡¯t back down in front of these witnesses. The Queen finally nodded to Mahati to grant the point the other woman had won. She¡¯d find some way to get back at the interfering bitch.


    Mab was aware the youngwyer was a member of the Chandra family and knew how powerful the matriarch was. This one, however, wasn¡¯t showing the proper degree of fear and respect. Mab could see these emotions reflected on the faces of Henry¡¯s co-workers which made her feel a little better, but she wasn¡¯t going to forget the impertinence of this one. She would pay for what Mab had just lost.


    Mahati turned to Henry. ¡°If you do this for the Queen, you will fulfill one of the three favors you owe her.¡±


    Henry nodded gratefully to her and looked to Ikehorn who was watching him with wide eyes.


    ¡°Shall we make this man¡­ better?¡±


    -=-


    Ikehorn was reliving his nightmare at the hands of Mab¡¯s Ogres. He was being punished by Mab once more, but he¡¯d lost track of what he¡¯d done to deserve it this time. He¡¯d disappointed her?


    She wanted him to heal the monster that took such glee in beating him almost to death. The very idea made his skin crawl.


    He tried to exin how it wasn¡¯t possible but he could tell she wanted it. It was yet another sign of her diminished capacity that she allowed her desires to dominate.


    When she brought the Satyr into the mix, Ikehorn thought he had an out, but once more Mab¡¯s desire won out.


    He looked at the determined expression on the Satyr¡¯s face.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Shall we make this man¡­ better?¡±


    Ikehorn barely suppressed sputtering incredulously in response. Make an Ogre better? Was the Satyr as simple-minded as their patient? They were brutes without the intelligence to know any better. Without a moralpass orpassion- Ikehorn froze as a thought urred to him.


    It was bold. It was daring.


    It could very well be suicidal. The Queen would execute him if she discovered what he¡¯d done¡­ unless he took precautions.


    Could he do this? He looked into Henry¡¯s eyes and saw his awareness. Then he realized the man had phrased his question to guide Ikehorn¡¯s thoughts to this.


    He recalled being in the hospital room with Henry preparing to heal the female. The power being presented to him then, and the strength of the willpower backing it made him feel like a god at that moment. He¡¯d felt like he had enough power to do anything!


    Finally, he nodded to Henry and turned to Queen Mab.


    ¡°For safety sake, everyone should move back. To give us room to work and to avoid¡­ spillover.¡± Ikehorn said with a slight quaver in his voice.


    A smile slipped back onto the lips of the Queen. It didn¡¯t fill him with warmth like it used to. The cruel glee was just a little too evident.


    He moved stiffly to stand before the injured guard. He could feel his need to heal pulling at him, and he shuddered as he knew he was going to give in.


    ¡°Having some trouble?¡± Mab asked sweetly.


    Ikehorn looked back at her and shook his head briefly. ¡°No, my Queen.¡±


    He looked to Henry and realized he¡¯d stopped thinking of him asthe Satyr. That shook him as well. ¡°Are you ready?¡± he asked brusquely.


    Henry nodded and closed his eyes.


    Ikehorn looked into the fearful, almost mad eyes of the Ogre. ¡°I¡¯m going to heal you. I¡¯ll take the pain away. I¡¯m¡­ going to make you better,¡± he exined, and some of the fear left the eyes. Confusion took its ce. Ikehorn understood that it couldn¡¯t conceive of receiving mercy from someone it had tortured. He held his hands out just above the surface of the Ogre¡¯s body and passed them up and down. The damage was extensive. The shunted stress from the mages ripped through the muscles, nerves, and other soft tissues of their ¡®sink¡¯ leaving him to bleed to death internally, in absolute agony.


    He nced to Henry and was surprised to see the man surrounded by a thick, deep green aura. The room began to take on a green tinge as the illusion spell soaked in the healing spell¡¯s magic as well.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hold this for long. It¡¯s harder to do inside this building,¡± Henry gasped, eyes tightly shut.


    Eyes wide, Ikehorn nodded then closed them to concentrate. The amount of power Henry was holding was more than a little frightening. Ikehorn was grateful to know he wasn¡¯t a wielder.


    He held an image of a healed Ogre in prime health in his mind. Then he looked deeper. He bumped up his intelligence to match his own and more importantly he gave him a conscience,passion, and caution. Thest was his protection against Mab discovering the change. He held this ideal in his mind as he reached for Henry¡¯s power and will. The flood almost overwhelmed him until Henry pulled back.


    Wasting no more time he opened his eyes and ced his hands on the Ogre. The green sh was intense and violent.

 163

    The copse of the environment illusion spell caught everyone by surprise. The magic dissolved in a rapidly expanding wave, spreading outwards from Ikehorn¡¯s position. The Ogre and Henry fell to their knees, but Ikehorn remained standing and stared at the shocked expressions of the gathered people. He looked to Mab who sent a runner from the room, likely to confirm the illusion breaking wave remained within the chamber. There were a lot of illusions that needed maintaining in the rooftop castle. The room now showed its rich wood paneling. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with the riches of the Queen¡¯s priceless library of books and ancient scrolls. These were just copies as the originals never left her castle in Irnd.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Henry pushed himself up to his hooves and reached a hand down to the Guard. That one was blinking in confusion but pushed the offered hand away and managed to stand on his own. He gave Henry and Ikehorn a troubled look then walked away.


    Queen Mab approached with an odd smile on her face. She looked excited and angry at the same time. ¡°That was an extraordinary disy. You used far too much magic for one spell, but I cannot deny you achieved the desired result.¡±


    Ikehorn bowed deeply, and Henry nced at him then nodded to the Queen to acknowledge her weak praise.


    Her smile widened. ¡°Now we get to the fun part of the evening. It¡¯s time to join the party!¡± She offered her arm, keeping her eyes on Henry¡¯s. Ikehorn sagged with relief as they walked away. Mab paused and looked over her shoulder.


    ¡°Ikehorn, keep an eye on our three guests until they wake. See to their needs. If they are up to it, you may bring them to the party in the Great Hall.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Queen,¡± he said with a bow.


    He was to be a nursemaid. It was clear to him now that the Queen was going to relieve him of his duties as her enforcer. When he thought of that, he was surprised to realize he didn¡¯t mind anymore. The idea would have left him feeling suicidal once, but now¡­


    He just wanted to go home.


    -=-


    Lise-Anne walked with Clive and Isaac as they followed the Queen and her Satyr escort. Missing from their group was Michelle, who remained with the sleepers as an excuse to avoid a party she was too shy to attend.


    Looking forward, she examined Henry Gable. While everyone else wore their mors, he remained in his true form, and she had to admit he was an imposing figure. They were going to join a party already underway. Considering the ease with which the Fae expanded rooms with illusions she was looking forward to seeing what they¡¯d done with thisGreat Hall. She was also curious to see who the other guests were, if there were any.


    The Queen stopped before the staircase and turned to address the group following her. Three of her guards were waiting there.


    ¡°The Great Hall is on the fourth floor midway down the corridor. My men will guide you. Henry and I will make our appearance after you¡¯ve joined my other guests. Enjoy!¡± With that, she stepped into the elevator with Henry, and they were gone.


    ¡°This way,¡± one of the guards indicated and gestured for them to follow him. He began to climb the stairs, and Lise-Anne moved forward with the others following.


    Soon they were all walking down the corridor on the fourth floor. Lise-Anne nced back and saw Henry¡¯s coworkers were showing expressions indicating various degrees of nervousness. Aside from the resting Subus and her dark-skinned male protector, the dark-skinned female in the leather jacket had also remained behind to watch over the three sleeping women. Michelle hadpany.


    The rest of the group stopped before arge set of double doors.


    Two of the guards opened the doors, and the sound of music poured through them. Sweet, decadent, and sensual, the sounds drew them further into the room as their eyes tried to take it all in. The music was designed to make you want to stay, to listen to the next song, to be a part of it, but it was only oneponent in the trap.


    The most profound element for most was the ceiling. Once more it was covered with an illusion, but this time it was a star-filled night sky, amplified significantly to be brighter and more densely clustered than ever seen before. The stars were fantastically brilliant amongst colorful nebe which painted the room with shades of blues, greens, reds, and gold. When the hallway doors closed behind them, the full impact of the vibrant colors took their breath away.


    Once their eyes freed themselves from the splendor of the skies above they saw the outer edges of the vast chamber furnished withrge circr sofas the upants had to climb into. Plush cushions filled each, making them resemble beds. There was a dance floor in the center of the vast room, surrounding a circr DJ¡¯s booth. A good number of the partygoers were enjoying themselves there. Servants were circting with trays of drinks, food, and drugs.


    Mab had set them up for a surprise, and it wasn¡¯t entirely pleasant. The servants were naked males and females barely out of their teens. Their youth was part of the illusion. The males all appeared to be blue-skinned Djinn with gold ankle and wrist ve bands and piercings in sensitive ces. The females all had wet skin and long wet hair to look like Naiads, fresh water nymphs. Andallof the servants were exquisitely lovely. So far so good.


    The cruelty of this illusion was the fact that neither race existed any longer. Back at the dawn of the Hidden Races, representatives of the Naiads and the Djinn swore their people would not hide amongst the Humans.


    So they were executed. Down to thest one.


    They¡¯d never been numerous to begin with, but it was a savage massacre none-the-less and remained a ck mark on the souls of the descendants of those original members of the Council.


    Lise-Anne found their inclusion at the party to be particrly disturbing. It was as if Mab was sending a message to the Council. She turned to share a troubled look with Isaac. His attention was drawn away by a group approaching from behind her. She nced back, and her eyes went wide in surprise.


    ¡°Chancellor Mugawee! I wasn¡¯t aware you were in town!¡± she said in greeting to the leader of the Hidden Races Congress. She nodded to the two congress officials apanying him, Ilsa Kl?ckner, Minister of Finance and Elena Vel¨¢zquez, Minister of Environment. Lise-Anne hadn¡¯t expected to see these three until the congressional meeting next month.


    The Chancellor was wearing the mor of a slim, 5¡ä 6¡å African man in his mid-sixties with greying hair. Lise-Anne knew he was one of the Ninki Nanka, though she¡¯d never seen his real shape. The threat of him shifting to it was often enough to calm contentious members of the Congress in heated arguments. Seeing him in this venue was more than a little rming as he rarely traveled and never to the States.


    The man gave Lise-Anne a frustrated look. ¡°The surprise trip was courtesy of our host and was more like a summons than an invitation as we passed through a door in the congressional offices into an audience chamber next to this hall. I suspect most of these guests arrived the same way.¡±


    Queen Mab kidnapped the Chancellor and two ministers? Lise-Anne and Nils gasped in shock.


    ¡°The Regent has been most gracious, so far. Are you aware of her agenda for this event?¡± Mugawee asked and received a shake of their heads. He looked around with a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever found myself in strangerpany.¡±


    Lise-Anne followed his eyes and gasped once more.


    She had to agree with him.


    -=-


    With the grand illusions to catch their attention, the new arrivals couldn¡¯t be faulted for not noticing the other guests whose normally exceptional appearance was rendered mundane by the backdrop.


    It was Meixiu¡¯s surprised squeak that drew her friend¡¯s attention. Sigrid looked to her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Kate Kardellian! And that¡¯s Beyond with Jay-D!¡± she gasped excitedly, seeing the celebrities she recognized from TV. Her eyes darted from group to group, and she sucked in an excited breath. ¡°Oh! Oh! Cara Delevine and Miranda Carr!¡± At Sigrid¡¯s questioning look, she exined. ¡°They¡¯re famous supermodels!¡±


    Meixiu¡¯s head was spinning. There were so many famous people in attendance. She could see others she didn¡¯t recognize but may have been celebrities from other countries. She gasped when she spotted the members of a K-Pop band on the dance floor with two gorgeousdies from India who could easily have been Bollywood celebrities. It was a multicultural celebrity blitz!


    Sigrid and Cam shared a nce, and Roy¡¯s expression became grim.


    ¡°Fae Queen, super-secret hidden castle, magic driven d¨¦cor, and Human celebrities. Henry¡¯s still in his natural form.¡± He looked at the others in his group.


    ¡°This is going to be bad,¡± he rumbled.


    -=-


    As the Chancellor and his ministers made their way towards the doors, Lise-Anne¡¯s head was turning quickly in all directions identifying the rich and famousHumancelebrities in attendance. She spotted current NYC Mayor William de stio reclining in a nearby couch with a drink in his hand. He seemed to be dazzled by the ster disy above.


    She slipped her cell into her palm. She had some precautionary measures to make. With a frown, she realized there was no signal which meant there was a shield on the vast room. Considering the nature of the guests attending, that containment would actually work in her favor. She queued up some texts to have certain assets activate the moment signal was avable again. The cell went back into her pocket.

 164

    Then her eyes caught sight of someone approaching that made her breath freeze in her chest. Ever since the¡­ presumed death of Ra¡¯Anek, she¡¯d been expecting to encounter another member of hisfamily. The ¡®spirit animal¡¯ race was an insr group, but they watched out for each other. Seeing who was approaching and knowing his reputation, she wished it was a different rtive. She didn¡¯t know his real name as he never gave it out.


    ¡°Well met, Minister Hoek,¡± the tall, handsome man with the crooked smile said. His piercing blue eyes locked on hers.


    She leaned forward and pitched her voice for his ears only. ¡°Greetings, Huehuec¨®yotl! I- I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you here!¡± She looked around. ¡°But then, I wasn¡¯t expecting to see any of these guests!¡± she admitted.


    The tall man smiled as he looked around. ¡°Coyote is fine. Yes, our host is up to something. Something with great potential to cause social upheaval. I couldn¡¯tnotattend as I¡¯m drawn to such events.¡± He nced around. ¡°This certainly beats hanging around a tech expo waiting for announcements of thetest cell phone features.¡±


    Lise-Anne stared at him with a shocked expression.


    He snorted andughed aloud. ¡°Sorry, your expression is priceless! I don¡¯t do that. Really.¡±


    She gave herself a shake. ¡°We believe Ra¡¯Anek may have met his end. I want to give you my condolen-¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Coyote interrupted with a smile then gave her an evaluating look. He nodded slightly. ¡°It¡¯s true, he¡¯s left this ne of existence, but I expect he¡¯ll be waiting for me in the next. Or he may decide to give this one another go.¡± He shrugged then looked around the room casually.


    ¡°What- what¡¯s happening here?¡± she asked.


    With a wide grin, Coyote shrugged again. ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait and see, won¡¯t we.¡± He touched her arm as he moved past her to disappear amongst the other guests.


    Lise-Anne¡¯s nerves were on high alert. She wished Rand was here. She suspected she was going to need all the help she could get when this party went off the rails as Coyote¡¯s attendance suggested. The being was an agent of mischief.


    Much better than even odds.


    She walked closer to the door and noted the Chancellor¡¯s group was being directed back to the party by the guards posted there and her difort increased. She reached into her pocket as she wanted to check for a signal again but¡­ her cell wasn¡¯t there.


    Her head whipped around once more, but this time she was trying to locate Coyote.


    Queen Mab wasn¡¯t the only one up to something. Shit!


    Henry stood in a luxuriously appointed apartment. The entire top floor of the castle was the Queen¡¯s personal and private space. Her quarters were huge and filled with beauty. The art, the furniture, the textiles, and even the window treatments all spoke of the wealth and style of the monarch, each acting as an ent to the beauty of the Queen herself. It was the natural setting to find her rxing. He nced at her, and for the first time in this visit, she did look rxed and happy. That was a very good look on her. When the intensity dialed back just a little, Mab¡¯s beauty tugged at Henry¡¯s libido with the power of the sun. He felt himself reacting, and for once, he didn¡¯t feel the prerequisite fear.


    ¡°May I offer you some Nectar? It¡¯s the real deal, minus the gift of immortality. They used the original recipe, and it¡¯s only mildly intoxicating. I guarantee you; it tastes better than anything you¡¯ve ever tasted before,¡± she said with a gentle smile.


    Henry felt the smile right down to his toes, but he shook his head faintly. ¡°I¡¯ve been told I need to keep in control of my mind.¡±


    She poured herself a small ss of the golden liquid and sipped it while she kept her eyes on Henry.


    Once more he felt drawn to her, and he struggled to focus on anything else other than how lovely she looked and how much he wanted her. He knew that allure was only an aspect of her mor but his body didn¡¯t care. Intellectually, he knew what lurked just beneath the beauty and steeled himself against his desires.


    Mab swallowed delicately, and her green eyes watched him with interest. ¡°You fascinate me, Henry. You¡¯re an enigma of magic and a social studies puzzle wrapped into one.¡±


    A snort of amusement burst from him in surprise. ¡°I get the first part but the second?¡±


    She gestured to a small couch, and they sat, turned slightly to face each other, knees almost touching.


    ¡°I¡¯ve known many Satyrs in my life, and I¡¯ve studied their behavior. While there were unique variations, as a group, they were confident, outgoing, and assertive. You were raised by that overbearing witch and forced to inhabit a physically diminutive Human form. Subsequently, you don¡¯t share those traits with your ancestors. It¡¯s ssic Nature vs Nurture.¡±


    Henry saw the point she was making and found himself agreeing with her, but she was still making him feel like a test subject in somebody¡¯s experiment. His displeasure must have shown on his face.


    ¡°This is another difference. Your face is far more honest in exposing your true feelings than theirs did. I¡¯ve offended you somehow.¡±


    Henry¡¯s first impulse was to deny her words, but he found himself unwilling to lie to the woman who lied tohimso boldly.


    ¡°I¡¯m not ab rat. I¡¯m a person¡­ with true feelings. You often talk about me like I¡¯m some kind of experiment.¡±


    She went still and held his eyes with hers for a moment. ¡°Do I?¡±


    He saw she was honestly curious, so he just nodded.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to do something I rarely do so listen carefully. I¡¯m sorry for making you ufortable. It¡¯s difficult for me to rte to others and to know how my words affect them.¡±


    Henry was stunned to hear Mab apologize. It must have been difficult for her. He didn¡¯t trust himself to respond appropriately, so he nodded.


    ¡°While I¡¯m expressing remorse I should mention the Orgy I threw while you visited me in Irnd. I see now you weren¡¯t ready, both physically and mentally, to participate in such an event.¡± He could only look at her in surprise as she continued. ¡°You¡¯ve only recently begun to experience the physical manifestations of your people¡¯s greatest gift to Humanity.¡±


    ¡°My what?!? Did you call it a gift?¡± he asked incredulously.


    ¡°For that period in history, it was a gift. The current day Humans need no assistance in over breeding. Back then, life was much harsher for early Humans. Stress reduced the female¡¯s ability to reproduce, and the males were struggling too. Satyrs provided a much-needed respite from the daily trials of life. Once, local Satyrs would be invited into Human viges to participate in fertility ceremonies and the birth rates naturally increased. It wasn¡¯t your people¡¯s fault that Human females were drawn to the Satyr at the party and sought them out between these ceremonies in the hopes of a little extra stress relief. Unfortunately, the males didn¡¯t like this.¡±


    Henry struggled to ept that there was some value to his¡­ pheromone sex bomb, or at least had been. He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s more than a nuisance. Because of suppressing it, it got stronger, and I wasn¡¯t able to stop it when my friends triggered it. I was too exhausted to stop them from being exposed to the Wild Magic.¡±


    ¡°Who told you to suppress it?!?¡± Mab eximed.


    ¡°Ikehorn.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not-¡± Mab stopped and paused as she considered her next words. ¡°He¡¯s weak. As I said before, he was never a strong wielder, so he wasn¡¯t the right person to turn to for advice. But, you didn¡¯t know.¡± She watched Henry for a moment. ¡°You did change him, you know. Before, he was an excellent enforcer. Hard, decisive, and when he needed to be, vicious. Now, you¡¯ve made him into a healer. He¡¯s be¡­ soft, empathetic. Those attributes don¡¯t fit his role.¡±


    Henry was worried at the tone she was using when she spoke about Ikehorn. Like she was considering ways to discard him. ¡°People change. Grow. He has¡­ new value in the way he is now.¡±


    She just nodded and looked away.


    Henry was beginning to feel awkward. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be joining the party?¡±


    Mab smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯m the host. I always make a grand entrance. Eager for some fun? I can¡¯t wait for you to meet our guests!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Who did you invite?¡±


    She smiled slyly at him. ¡°TheBeautiful People.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows went up. Considering the mors the Fae wore, he wondered how much more beautiful people could get.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for me to ask for my first favor,¡± Mab said with a slight smile and a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.


    He looked to her as he instantly became tense.


    She pouted at his expression. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be bad, I promise! I think you¡¯ll find it very pleasurable!¡± she insisted as she stroked his arm.


    His expressions changed from worry to surprise in a sh as he caught on. ¡°But- the Wild Magic! It¡¯s toxic to wielders! It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±


    She gave him a genuine smile and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. ¡°You¡¯re a sweet man to be so concerned, but you needn¡¯t worry. All that work I did when youst visited me in Irnd has given me a solution to that¡­ little inconvenience. I have a way to make it perfectly safe!¡±


    Henry knew Mab would find a way to get what she wanted, but now that she was hinting at it, the reality was sinking in. He took a deep breath. ¡°The favor? You want me to make love to you?¡±


    She burst into giggles, and he found it very odd to hear such a gentle and happy sounding from the older female. ¡°Oh Henry, you aresucha refreshing breath of fresh air! Such an innocent!¡±


    He blinked at her as he was off bnce once more. Wasn¡¯t that what she wanted?


    ¡°I want to host a fertility ceremony your people were famous for.¡±


    ¡°Fertility- an orgy?¡± It suddenly became clear to him what she was after. ¡°You¡¯re asking me to use my pheromones to trigger an orgy?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Henry. Exactly that! It¡¯s beensolong since I felt truly engaged with my partner! Satyrs were the only ones capable of making the experiencepletely fulfilling for me. Besides, my guests are expecting something truly unique. The ancient ceremony will thrill them like nothing ever has. This favor doesn¡¯t break any of the conditions yourwyer requested, so youwillhonor your promise, won¡¯t you?¡± She fixed her dazzling green eyes on him, and that perfect lower lip pouted once more with devastating effect. He wanted so badly to kiss her it took his breath away.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    ¡°Yes¡­ but- but I still have very little control over it,¡± he exined as his voice returned.

 165

    Mab¡¯s smile lit up her face as she heard his agreement. She stood and took his hands to pull him to his hooves. ¡°Oh, what fun we¡¯re going to have!¡± She began to pull him towards a set of ornate double doors at the far side of the room.


    Henry nced over his shoulder toward the elevator. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be joining the party- uh, orgy?¡±


    ¡°We will, my eager boy! But first, we¡¯ll start in my chambers.¡±


    His body was already beginning to react to her soft hands on his, the promise in her eyes, and the happy smile on her lips. But the reaction didn¡¯t include the heat. ¡°Th-that¡¯s not going to trigger the pheromones,¡± he gasped as they entered the bedroom. His eyes went immediately to the bed. Tall and thick mahogany pirs rose from the four corners of the plush mattress. The sheets looked so inviting, only Mab¡¯s purring drew his attention away from them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have any trouble triggering the proper kind of reaction from you,¡± she said with a wicked grin. She drew Henry to the end of the bed and slid up against his body. She was rubbing her body against his, and that felt delicious.


    While Mab had toned down her intensity to a level that made Henry almost forget the monster within, he realized he wasn¡¯t totally at ease with her yet. He cleared his throat, and she looked into his eyes questioningly. ¡°Is it toote to have a little of that Nectar?¡±


    Her smile shed across her face once more, and he wobbled a bit from its impact. She was so incredibly lovely. ¡°Not at all,¡± she said.


    He expected they¡¯d return to the living room but Mab reached an arm back, and two small crystal sses appeared in the palm of her hand in a slight re of light. They each held a few swallows of the golden liquid.


    ¡°What shall we toast?¡± she asked as she handed him his ss.


    He found himself sinking into her green eyes. ¡°Uh, to a sessful ceremony?¡± he said absently.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Her eyes glowed a little brighter as her smile widened. ¡°That¡¯s perfect!¡± She raised her ss to him then sipped as Henry did.


    The Queen wasn¡¯t wrong. Nectar was the most wonderous liquid he¡¯d ever passed across his tongue, slid down his throat, or gifted to his stomach. His eyes closed involuntarily as his body trembled with joy. He opened his eyes to look at the ss and saw there was enough for a second swallow. The intensity of his sudden need to drink it made his head spin. He took some slow deep breaths and forced his body to rx. Gritting his teeth, he shook his head and passed the ss back to Mab.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone refuse the second sip,¡± she said, the pleasing sensation of surprise bringing a smile to her lips once more.


    ¡°You failed to mention exactlyhowgood it was¡­ but¡­ I suppose words aren¡¯t sufficient,¡± Henry said with a strained voice as he looked away from the ss. Another tremble went through his body, and he felt his muscles rx, just a little. A pleasantssitude began spreading through his body. She¡¯d also failed to mention its potency, or maybe she just didn¡¯t understand his sensitivity to intoxicants. At least he wasn¡¯t drunk this time, just rxed.


    Mab stretched her arm out again and, with another small sh, the sses vanished.


    ¡°More and more you surprise me, and that is such a wee sensation,¡± Mab purred as she returned to rubbing her body against his.


    Now Henry¡¯s libido woke up with a vengeance. With his momentary unease suppressed by the buzz of the potent Nectar, there was no holding back his desire. He moaned as the Queen¡¯s svelte form ground against his body and his kilt began to rise in the front.


    ¡°Mmmm! That feels promising! See, I told you this would work out,¡± Mab said with satisfaction dripping from her words.


    ¡°You feel amazing, but this won¡¯t trigger the pheromones,¡± he sighed.


    Mab raised an eyebrow as her hand slipped under his kilt to take a grip on his heavy cock.


    ¡°Fuuuuck!¡± Henry moaned as Mab¡¯s fingers wrapped around the hot flesh and squeezed.


    ¡°Are you sure-mmmph!¡± Mab squeaked when Henry¡¯s mouth found hers as he pulled her against him in his strong arms. When he lifted her off her toes and spun her around, her eyes widened in surprise. Then she was on her back on the bed, and he was pressing his hard body down on hers. The pressure between her legs felt delicious. His kiss was a little raw, but his need fanned her passion, and she gave in to it for the moment. It¡¯d been a long time since she¡¯d felt this.


    Henry couldn¡¯t get enough of her lips and her talented tongue. She felt soft and hot under his body, and he began to rock his pelvis in circles over hers.


    ¡°Oh! Yes! Henry! That¡¯s good!¡± she sighed as she pulled back from his mouth. She inhaled his scent and, while he smelled pleasantly warm and masculine, a tiny frown appeared between her brows. She couldn¡¯t detect the pheromones yet. Her previous Satyr lovers would have been flooding the room by now ensuring her receptiveness. She was eager to continue, but she needed his heat for her ns. She suddenly gasped as the hard ridge of his cock strummed across her clit. Fuck! He could make her cum without the stimtion of his pheromones!


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Henry? Why aren¡¯t you expressing your heat?¡± she softly asked as she kissed his cheeks while undting under him, trembling from the shots of pleasure coursing through her.


    He slowly blinked as he was so fucking turned on. He found Mab¡¯s eyes with his, and he was falling into their green depths once more. ¡°Doesn¡¯t happen one on one,¡± he sighed as he caressed her lips.


    She suddenly realized he wasn¡¯t trying to be difficult. It honestly wasn¡¯t going to happen! It had to! It was a crucial element in the spell. All her preparations would be for naught. She¡¯d made a critical mistake, an assumption based on her previous experiences with Satyrs. Henry was proving once again to be an exception to the rule, and that would derail everything!


    She had to think quickly. Henry said it wouldn¡¯t work one on one. She could call for some servants, but that had been disastrous in Irnd. She nced over to a door at the side of the room. Her pet¡¯s antechamber. She could use them, but they might prove to be difficult to control with Henry added to the mix. She only had them trained for herself. She nced at the clock as she felt another twinge go through her body. She couldn¡¯t dy. It needed to happen tonight. She had too much riding on this. That gave her an idea.


    ¡°Henry, I need to be on top,¡± she whispered, and he rolled them over, his big hands going to her ass to drag her against the hard ridge of his cock. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy that then she gestured to the door. It unlocked and slowly swung open.


    Curious crooning came from inside then two faces looked out the doorway. They sought the Queen then noticed she wasn¡¯t alone. They hissed and rushed the bed.


    Mab made a sharp sound, and the two females froze instantly, looking to her in fear. Henry came out of his fog of desire in a sh due to the shock of seeing the two Subi. He also recalled his time with Mab when her servants displeased her. That thought was a ssh of cold water on his libido.


    While his exposure to the race was somewhat limited, these two Subi were distinctly different from Cam and Marisa, and he couldn¡¯t look away. They were remarkably identical from their five-foot eight-inch height, their svelte, hard muscled bodies, and their gleaming and hairless red-orange skin, including their scalps. The only extra padding they had appeared to be concentrated on their tits and asses which he supposed were a Subi¡¯s tools of the trade. From their foreheads sprouted seven-inch red horns, curving back to deadly points. Their ears pointed upwards as well, and theirrge eyes werepletely ck and almond shaped. Slim noses were above full lips which were currently slightly open as they panted softly in their excitement/fear, showing their gleaming white teeth and not so insignificant fangs.


    Henry managed to pull his eyes from them to look to Mab in question.


    The Queen smiled at him. ¡°Do you like my twins? I managed to save them from being murdered by their mother when they were born. They are quite affectionate.¡±


    Henry was off bnce once more with thistest development. He felt his desire cooling further, and Mab frowned when she sensed him softening. She sat up to straddle his body then made another sound, and the twins looked at her in surprise then back to Henry. They moved to the sides of the bed and climbed up to stretch out on either side of him. Timidly, they looked up to Mab for confirmation and received a nod.


    Henry carefully watched as they moved their faces closer to his. He couldn¡¯t tell where specifically they were looking as their eyes had no pupils, beingpletely ck. They leaned in and sniffed his skin; one made a pleased sound as the other gently licked his cheek with the tip of her tongue. Henry¡¯s eyebrows went up as the licking one purred to her sister who also took a lick. Then the first one slid her mouth over his in a caress. That sent sparks through his body and parts that were falling asleep woke once more. He felt Mab enjoying this new firmness as her hips began to rock and grind again. Then he had no brain cells left to acknowledge the Queen as the Subus¡¯ caressing kiss deepened and her tongue was doing some¡­ intensely sensual wrestling with his own. Her plump, soft lips locked on his, and that was pure heaven. She began to make little needful mew noises, and Henry reached maximum rigidity. He heard Mab¡¯s purrs and her breathing began to sound like she was panting as well.

 166

    When the Subus pulled back from the kiss, she stared at her sister across Henry¡¯s chest. Something passed between them as the second one quickly leaned over to kiss Henry too. She was a little more forceful than her sister, but Henry was immediately caught up in her passion and moaned into the kiss. She made mewing noises as her sister had. She tugged on his arm to slide his hand under her body.


    Henry jolted when he felt the hot, slick softness of her wet pussy pressing against his fingers. When his other hand was pressed up against the wet opening of the other Subus, Mab lifted his cock to position it for entry. It was suddenly too much, and the pheromone nds tingled fiercely, and his heat exploded out along his limbs.


    The twins cried out as Henry slid a thick finger into each of them as they inhaled his pheromones. Their heat burst forth as well as they clung feverishly to his arms.


    Under the triple onught of their scents, Mab lost strength in her legs and dropped onto Henry¡¯s pelvis, driving his cock deep into her body. She soundlessly screamed as the sensation of being filled beyond capacity overwhelmed her. Mab held very still, but she could still feel Henry¡¯s powerful heartbeat deep within herself. Even that felt like too much, so she willed herself to remain calm and more importantly, not to move.


    Henry¡¯s mind was threatening to leave his body. The two Subi were alternating between kissing him and teasing his nipples. He wasn¡¯t so much into the nipple y, but they were so incredibly excited there wasn¡¯t much he could do to stop them. He was pumping two fingers into each of them now, and from the sweet noises they made, as they struggled to kiss him, he knew they loved his attentions. He smiled at one when she pulled back from his lips, and she paused before giving him a sweet, shy smile. Then he lost view of her as her sister imed his mouth with hers.


    When Mab began to move, he moaned, and his hips began to lift. It felt too good. He caught her eye between kisses and saw a deep satisfaction in them. When the bed started to move, he thought he might be hallucinating, but he saw Mab leaning slightly topensate for the turning of the bed. Then he saw the whole bed was lowering towards the floor and realized they were descending into the fourth floor. That¡¯s all he had time to observe as Mab began to rise and fall on his cock with vigor. Soon, her pale skin was gleaming with her sweat.


    The twins resumed their kissing, and he felt their inner walls pulsing and squeezing his fingers as they came explosively. The one not sucking on his tongue began nibbling at his ear, and his mind soared away.


    The heat continued to pour from his body, and the Subi contributed to that as well.


    He was in heaven but descending into¡­. what?


    -=-


    Roy was the first one to detect the flood. Lifting his sensitive nose, he took a careful sniff and reeled back. He looked to Sigrid and Cam. ¡°Pheromones! Powerful ones,ing from above.¡±


    Sigrid took the scent as well and locked eyes with Roy. ¡°It¡¯s Henry¡­ and something else.¡±


    Cam noticed the guests closer to the center of the room were beginning to pull their clothes off and make their way to the closest circr sofa.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling very strange,¡± Meixiu moaned as her pale skin began to flush.


    Sigrid¡¯s brows came down as she realized Henry¡¯s heat was getting stronger. She licked her lip as it was pushing her will harder than it had before.


    ¡°These effects are caused by Henry¡¯s pheromones?¡± Mahati gasped as she unbuttoned the top few buttons on her blouse and struggled to keep herself from climbing onto the sofa pit.


    ¡°Shit! It¡¯s all I can do to stay in disguise and not ravish someone!¡± Cam muttered, visibly trembling.


    ¡°It has to be Mab. She¡¯s intensifying the pheromones somehow,¡± Roy said through clenched teeth.


    By now the effects were being felt right to the edges of therge room. The servants were being pulled onto the sofa tforms to be ravished by, or to ravish the guests there. The Fae seemed to be equally affected.


    While the Humans were particrly sensitive to the pheromones, Roy saw the Council members sumb to them one after another with Lise-Anne being thest to maintain her dignity before climbing onto one of the sofas to tumble around with the upants found there. He looked to Sigrid, puzzled. ¡°Why are we able to resist?¡±


    ¡°It has to be the Wild Magic. It¡¯s stronger than the old magic. That might mean Mab is messing with Henry¡¯s heat, maybe boosting it with her magic.¡±


    Mahati looked distinctly embarrassed, ufortable, and desperate as she squirmed next to Roy.


    ¡°We¡¯re rather conspicuous, being the only ones still on our feet,¡± Roy noted.


    There was a sudden sounding from above like delicate ss bells tinkling. Something in the center of the ceiling was descending.


    Roy swept his arms out and gathered the women to his chest and pulled them to the shadows next to the side of one of the sofas. They were close enough to the center of the room to have a clear view of the circr tform slowly descending. It was spinning gently as it dropped, giving everyone a good show. The first thing they were able to see was a four-poster bed. Lit with invisible spotlights, this was another bit of magical trickery.


    When Mab came into view, her flushed pale skin gleamed with sweat under the lights. She had her eyes closed tight as she energetically rode atop her currently hidden partner.


    Cam pushed against Roy to give herself a little space. Her face reddened as she tingled where he¡¯d pressed against her. She cast a look at Sigrid whose only sign of being affected was a slight beading of sweat on her forehead and upper lip. Mahati¡¯s control was gone. Clinging to Roy, she was desperately grinding against him. He gave Cam a concerned nce, but there was nothing for it. They had no antidote for this.


    Then she realized she couldn¡¯t see Meixiu. ncing over the back of the sofa, she saw the young vampire straddling actor Zack Effram and riding him hard. Cam looked incredulously at Sigrid, but she just rolled her eyes and shrugged.


    Roy was keeping his eyes on the tform as wave after wave of pheromones spread out over the gathering. Moans and cries of ecstasy rose from every corner of the room. The intensity was increasing, and some of the calls sounded almost desperate. He held Mahati close and let her find her pleasure against the hard muscles of his leg.


    The tform was now low enough to see Mab wasn¡¯t the only one on the bed with Henry. Two red skinned Subi were writhing on either side of Henry.


    ¡°NO!¡± Cam hissed in outrage. ¡°Ferals?!?¡± Her eyes widened as she took in their distinct coloration. She immediately recognized them for what they were. She also now knew the source of the heightened pheromones. It was a blending of heat from the three of them.


    Sigrid gave her friend a worried look.


    Cam shook her head in embarrassment and tried to get control over her anger and her loose tongue as she looked away. Ferals weren¡¯t something Subi talked about, especially outside their race.


    The fact that Mab had a set of twins and likely kept them as pets was beyond repugnant! It also broke the treaty the Queen had with the Subi!


    What was that crazy bitch up to?!?


    -=-


    The tform finally reached the dais in the center of the room where the DJ had been moments before. A subtle shield spell activated on the dais to keep visitors away. From the inside, the light outside the shield grew dimmer then the inner surface became a domed mirror giving an amplified and distorted view of the bed. When the lowering stopped, Mab realized she was reaching her limit. She looked down at Henry to see if he was close, but she couldn¡¯t see him past her pets.


    She snapped out a sound, and they should have leapt from the bed. Instead, they looked to her and bared their fangs as they clung to Henry¡¯s arms! They¡¯d bonded with him!


    Trying to hide her rage from Henry she flicked her hands, and the two Subi were flung from the bed in either direction to tumble off the tform. The energy field angrily snapped as they passed through it and, unconscious, they slid across the floor to crash up against the nearby sofas.


    Henry blinked up at Mab, and she bit her lip in relief as she could see he was desperately close himself.


    She prepared her master spell, the trigger on the tip of her tongue. Then she swooped down and kissed Henry deeply as she tugged on his arm to indicate he should be on top. Henry followed her wishes, and she grunted as the extra pressure pushed him even deeper inside. They both gasped as they ground together. His hips twitched then began to move on their own, long but fast strokes, pounding her against the mattress.


    ¡°YES! HENRY, YES!¡± she cried.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna cum! I need to pull out!¡±


    ¡°DON¡¯T YOU DARE!¡± Mab roared as her rage slipped her control.


    Henry rocked back and almost pulled free. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ dangerous!¡± he mumbled, as he looked into her eyes.


    She closed them and pulled at his hips to force him deep once more. Once she bottled up her emotions, she allowed herself to speak. ¡°I- I told you. It¡¯s safe. Fuck me¡­ please.¡±


    Still a little unsettled he began to thrust once more as she clung to him tightly.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Mab felt it approaching. She hadn¡¯t felt this good in a very long time. ¡°yessss¡­ harder!¡±


    Henry was right there, but he could tell Mab needed a little more so he grit his teeth and followed her instructions. Soon he was back to pounding her against the bed, and her smile was back.


    ¡°That¡¯s it! I- fu- cum! Now!¡± Mab¡¯s eyes flew open as she felt the pressure break and ecstasy exploded through her body.


    Henry cried out as he felt her begin to tremble and he released his control. He erupted deep inside her, filling her with his hot cum in surge after surge. His heat finally broke, and Mab¡¯s cries turned into gibberish sounds. He looked down at her in concern, worried the Wild Magic had affected her brain.


    But she was looking up at him with glowing green eyes and the strange words wereing out of her mouth faster and faster, the pitch of her voice rising as well until it was just a high pitched whine. There was a massive sh of light, amplified by the mirrored dome surrounding them and a shockwave blew Henry up and backward. His outspread wrists struck something to be pinned as his ankles became tangled as well. When his head cleared, he found himself suspended between the tworge posts at the foot of the bed, his arms and legs tightly bound by thick vines growing from the wooden pirs. Before him, Mab looked far morefortable suspended in a hammock swing made of the same fibrous cables between the posts at the head of the bed. An aura of the green healing light surrounded her, and he could feel himself drawing it in rapidly for her. She faced him with her legs spread and raised slightly. She quickly twitched, and her expressions were shing by on her face like she was moving in fast motion. He frowned as he didn¡¯t understand what was going on. None of this had ever happened before, so it had to be something Mab was controlling, but what?


    Then he nced up and noticed the thin tendrils of silver light bleeding from his horns up to the mirrored surface of the dome. That surface had changed its shape to reflect some of that light through the green aura to touch the top of Mab¡¯s head. He couldn¡¯t tell where the rest of the light was going.


    His eyes finally locked onto an unusual motion. It was Mab¡¯s tummy. It was growing, and a sick horror filled him.


    She was making a baby. And it was his.

 167

    Marisa surfaced from her sleep and saw Nate sitting and dozing next to her bench. He had an arm resting across her protectively. She recalled their previous night¡¯s activities and smiled. He was a very skilled lover, and with no danger of altering her with his essence, he was finally able to rx and enjoy it thoroughly. They hadn¡¯t used a condom and Nate was so expressive about how amazing she was, she finally had to kiss him to shut him up. She chuckled at the memory, and his head popped up as he looked to her.


    ¡°What? Are you ok?¡± he asked in concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Feeling better even,¡± Marisa said with a smile. She spotted Tish walking over in her Human disguise with a smile on her face, so she sat up. Nate stood and stretched the kinks out of his back.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± the tall brte asked gently.


    Marisa nodded. ¡°I feel fine. Just a little tired. Nothing a good night¡¯s sleep won¡¯t cure.¡±


    Sandy came running over, and Marisa couldn¡¯t get over how different she looked with Human hair. She already saw Kesini as an integral part of the blonde. Her bestie Dayshia was walking over at a more sedate pace speaking with Mary and Michelle. Once they were all gathered around, Sandy nced around then leaned in to whisper. ¡°What¡¯s the second trigger for?¡±


    Tish and Dayshia leaned in a little closer as well. The others were listening curiously too.


    ¡°It¡¯s for a shield spell to protect you against offensive magic attacks. It probably won¡¯t block spells from master level wielders like Queen Mab or Baba Yaga but anyone less, most definitely.¡± She looked to Mary whose expression showed her disappointment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t give it to you but I¡¯m not a wielder, and I could only sneak it in while the Fae mages bound their mor spells.¡± She looked to the other three. ¡°It¡¯s best to keep it a secret until you need it.¡± She looked back to Mary. ¡°In a magic attack, stay behind one of these three.¡±


    ¡°Magic attack. Like we¡¯d recognize it happening,¡± Mary snorted, and Marisa acknowledged her point with a small smile and a shrug.


    ¡°Company,¡± Michelle quietly said as Ikehorn approached.


    They turned to look at the Fae who bowed slightly to them. Tish spoke first.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who healed me with Henry?¡± she asked, her expression guarded.


    He paused and looked to her with a sorrowful expression. He cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯m also the one who orchestrated the n to have you and your friends injured to ensure Henry¡¯s cooperation in the Queen¡¯s n.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡± Marisa asked.


    He looked to her but shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He looked back to Tish and bowed deeply. ¡°My apologies for the pain I caused you and your friends.¡±


    Marisa¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard a Fae apologize¡­ for anything!¡±


    Ikehorn looked to her again. ¡°Yes, well¡­ I¡¯ve changed.¡±


    Marisa smiled. ¡°Henry changed you.¡±


    Stiffly, Ikehorn nodded. Then he frowned. ¡°In strange and significant ways. I- I¡¯m finding myself questioning my previous behavior and regretting much. It¡¯s¡­ difficult to process.¡±


    ¡°You heal people now. Compassion is a necessary attribute for that. A conscience leads to empathy,¡± Marisa said gently.


    He nodded then frowned nervously. ¡°This change has not pleased the Queen.¡±


    ¡°Which brings us back to her ns for him. I think we should go attend this party to see if he needs any assistance,¡± Marisa said as she stood.


    The others traded nervous nces, especially Michelle, but they followed Marisa and Ikehorn to the double doors. Before they arrived, the ceiling pulsed once with a silver light.


    Ikehorn looked up in surprise. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible. The floors are supposed to be isted. Magic shouldn¡¯t be able to bleed from one to the next.¡±


    They turned to the doors, but two of Mab¡¯s security goons stepped in front of them to block their way.


    ¡°Toote to join the party now,¡± one growled with a sneer on his lips. Ikehorn looked to the other and saw intelligence in its eyes and difort in its expression. Just following orders.


    ¡°We need to go see if Henry is ok,¡± Sandy insisted.


    Dayshia dropped her mor and allowed her eyes to return to their new natural state. She gaped at the massive Ogre Sandy was facing off against, and her mouth went dry.


    ¡°The doors only open for us and we¡¯re not opening them for you. Go sit down,¡± it growled.


    Unable to look away from the brute Dayshia reached out a hand blindly to pull Sandy back, but the blonde stepped forward into the guard¡¯s personal space.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t hearing me. We need to go see Henry, now,¡± the small blonde said firmly.


    The Ogre¡¯s minimal patience ran out, and he swung a big backhand at Sandy as Dayshia sucked in a terrified breath. Kesini snapped forward to intercept the p and grabbed the Ogre¡¯s arms, legs, and throat to m him up against the door he¡¯d been blocking. He struggled, but he couldn¡¯t move. As his air slowly ran out his rage turned to fear.


    Sandy turned her head to face the other guard who just stood blinking at the small being before him. Dayshia suddenly realized he couldn¡¯t see Kesini as Sandy was still wearing her mor.


    There was a solid knock on the door behind the frozen guard. He nced at the door then back to Sandy. She tilted her head to indicate he should open it. So, he did.


    Standing in the doorway was an old woman. She was deeply wrinkled, her body bent and weathered with age, and her peasant¡¯s dress was soft, worn and faded. For all her apparent age, her eyes held a fearful strength.


    ¡°Baba Yaga!¡± Marisa gasped.


    Sandy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re Henry¡¯s Baba? He misses you so much!¡±


    The old woman frowned. ¡°He¡¯s a fool, then,¡± she insisted, but there was no bite to her words.


    She looked curiously at the guard pinned up against the door gasping out hisst breaths.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Sandy said, realizing what Kesini was about to do. The guard suddenlyunched from the door to sail over their heads and crash to the floor halfway across the room where hey still. Sandy dropped her mor, and Kesini was visible once more.


    ¡°A Gorgon? I haven¡¯t seen one of your kind in a very long time,¡± Baba said with interest. She then looked to Dayshia who was doing her best to not look at her. ¡°Face me,¡± the old witch snapped.


    Dayshia felt thepulsion and involuntarily looked to her. She sucked in a breath then rxed as she only saw an old woman. Baba was either preventing her from seeing beneath a fa?ade, or she was what she appeared to be. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with your race, but truth seeing is a dangerous gift to give to someone so young. Practice caution and discretion. Keep what you see to yourself.¡± Dayshia nodded shakily.


    Tish dropped her mor, and Baba¡¯s eyes widened. She opened and closed her mouth a few times as something passed behind her ancient eyes. Then her jaw snapped shut as Baba turned her face away for a moment. Turning back to Marisa, she was frowning. ¡°Whereisthe boy! Someone is meddling with power they should not!¡±


    Marisa moved closer and pointed up. ¡°Queen Mab¡¯s thrown a party, and he¡¯s preventing us from joining it.¡± She indicated the remaining guard.


    Baba considered the Ogre, and it dropped its mor too. Sandy, Tish, and Mary gasped. The old witch smiled. ¡°You¡¯re surprisingly civil and cooperative for one of your kind,¡± she said.


    ¡°That¡¯s his fault!¡± the Ogre grumbled, pointing a thick finger at Ikehorn.


    ¡°Meddling Fae,¡± Baba snapped angrily, but Tish stepped between them, closed her eyes, and activated her magic shield. The old witch frowned and noted the strength of the defense. It wouldn¡¯t stop her, but it would take a vast amount of energy to get through. Baba needed to save that for Mab if required.


    ¡°Please. He¡¯s a healer now,¡± Tish pleaded slowly opening her eyes.


    Baba noted the shocked expression on the Fae¡¯s face. He hadn¡¯t expected the Satyr to protect him.


    ¡°Can we go see Henry now?¡± Sandy asked.


    The witch sighed in frustration but nodded. She looked to the Ogre. ¡°Lead me to him.¡± The guard just nodded and left the room to head for the stairs. The witch followed with everyone else rushing to keep up.


    Ikehorn touched Tish¡¯s arm as he walked next to her. She nced at him. ¡°Why?¡± It was all he could manage through his tight throat.

 168

    Tish considered him for a moment. ¡°You said it yourself. Henry changed you. You aren¡¯t the same person who did those things, and you expressed remorse for doing them. I can also forgive you as my life now is so much better than it was before. Thank you for healing me.¡±


    Ikehorn nodded shakily and fell behind a little so he could wipe his eyes, unseen by the others. This swelling of emotions was anothergiftfrom Henry. Before, the strongest sentiment he¡¯d felt was hate and even that he had to work at to maintain. The depth of the feelings he was able to ess now? Overwhelming! It was like¡­ he was suddenly seeing the world in color for the first time.


    Then he caught Baba Yaga ncing back at him. She frowned then looked ahead. A chill ran down his spine. How could this¡­ being have raised someone like Henry?


    And why was she here now?


    -=-


    When Mab threw the two Subi from the bed, Cam moved from her hiding ce. Keeping low, she rushed forward and reached the first one just as a massive sh of light exploded from the tform. She looked up and saw Henry was in trouble. He was bound spread-eagled between the two, footboard bedposts and a silver light was draining from his horns. That silver light began leaping from the top of the energy shield over the central tform to each of the surrounding sofas. These were suddenly forming domed energy shields of their own, trapping their upants inside. She looked back to Sigrid in shock but saw her friend yanking Meixiu clear a split second before the field snapped in ce over that sofa. The actor and two other couples remained inside, unconscious the moment the field activated.


    The room also began to glow with the green healing aura as each energy dome filled with it.


    Cam looked up in awe at the web of silver threads spreading outwards from Henry¡¯s trap to all of the other domes. Inside each, the upants were twitching minimally but in fast motion.


    She looked back to Sigrid who was tending to a very groggy Meixiu. The young vampire finally nodded and hugged herself as tremors shook her body.


    Cam checked the unconscious Subus and saw it was breathing and had no visible injuries. She kept low as she moved around the central dome to find the second Subus and it was also unconscious but otherwise uninjured. The CEO carefully lifted the sleeping twin and carried her back to her sister, gently setting her down. Confirming they were both unconscious, she rushed back to the others.


    ¡°I take it they¡¯re alive?¡± Roy asked, and she nodded. ¡°They¡¯re Subi, but I¡¯ve never seen one like them before. You called them feral. What does that mean?¡±


    She gave her head a brief but firm shake. ¡°Later, we have to get Henry out of that energy dome somehow. How¡¯s Mahati? She¡¯s our only wielder.¡±


    The female in question was resting back against the sofa, staying clear of the energy field. She looked to Cam, her face still flushed with the aftereffect of the pheromones which thankfully were dissipating. She looked distinctly embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ well.¡±


    Roy looked into the dome, and his eyes widened. He looked back at Cam in shock then rushed forward to peer into the force field with Henry. ¡°Shit!¡± he eximed softly then rushed back. ¡°This wasn¡¯t an orgy. It was some kind of fertility ceremony for the specific purpose of producing a baby for Mab! She¡¯s pregnant and developing fast. The silver lighting from Henry¡¯s horns might be elerating time within the domes.¡± He moved to peer into a few other domes. ¡°Other pregnancies are developing in these domes as well! In the Humans!¡±


    Sigrid looked to Meixiu then back to Roy. ¡°elerated time? How are they remaining alive without food and wat- OH! The healing magic!¡± she gasped. He nodded.


    ¡°Henry¡¯s trapped in the dome with Mab. Can you get him out?¡± Cam asked Mahati who frowned and hovered her hand close to the energy field momentarily. She looked back to Cam.


    ¡°Not without great risk to the upants. I could probably overload the field, but it may fail¡­ explosively. There are energies at work here I¡¯ve never seen. The silver light-¡±Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Is none of your affair so don¡¯t be meddling in things you don¡¯t understand.¡±


    They turned to face the voice and froze. Baba Yaga!


    She was walking amongst the energy domes, looking inside each like they were disy cases in a museum. Behind her was the rest of their group.


    Marisa moved forward to hug her mother. Then she spotted the ferals. ¡°What-¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talkter.¡±


    Baba would have none of that. ¡°Oh! What do we have here?¡± she said with glee. ¡°Feral Subi? Mab has been a bad girl, hasn¡¯t she! Exposing such a guilty secret! How will you exin this to your friends?¡±


    Cam red at the witch. ¡°Brutal necessity.¡±


    Baba looked into her eyes and nodded gently. ¡°A good answer.¡± She moved off to look into the other domes.


    Cam sagged then looked back to the others who were watching her. She sighed resignedly.


    ¡°On exceptionally rare asions, Subi are born in a feral state. It¡¯s a form of birth defect. They all share the same physical characteristics you can see. Worse, they suffer from specific gic defects that limit ess to some areas of the brain while heightening others. The result is stunted intellectual growth and behavior driven by increased aggression and wild instinct. The Fae won¡¯t waste time and effort giving them a mor as Ferals won¡¯t use them. This behavior makes them too much of a threat to the Hidden Races secret to be allowed to live. As horrific as it must be for a new mother to do, feral children must be euthanized at birth. For the safety of us all.¡± She shuddered as she contemted it. ¡°Mab must have stolen these¡­ twins, which are the rarest of the rare.¡±


    ¡°What do we do about these two?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Baba said from a few rows away.


    Roy looked uneasily between Cam and Sigrid. Thetter just shrugged. Baba had spoken. They weren¡¯t powerful enough to argue.


    When the witch returned, she fixed her eye on Sigrid who was scowling at her. ¡°What is it, woman?¡± she asked testily.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to break Henry out of this trap?¡± the Valkyrie blurted, relieved to get the question out.


    ¡°And kill all these living souls?¡± Baba asked incredulously. Sigrid looked at her in surprise causing the old woman to cackle with glee. She sighed with contentment once she finishedughing. ¡°It¡¯s true. I don¡¯t care about any of these insects under the domes. However, the children they are creating is a different matter.¡±


    ¡°Children?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°This was a fertility ceremony. I counted thirty-two new infants about to enter the world, imminently,¡± Baba exined.


    Sigrid looked around at all the¡­ incubators. That¡¯s what they were. ¡°Human children-¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Baba grinned manically. ¡°None of these newborns will be human. Soaked in the Wild Magic from their inception, what forms they will take is unknown. These will be exceptional children, but they cannot remain with their birth parents. The Hidden Race Council will have to find homes for them. Surrogate parents. They have quite the task ahead of them.¡±


    Tish stepped forward, back in her Human disguise as the Ogre, who remained in the hallway, had warned them that the room contained human guests. ¡°I could take care of one!¡± Sandy and Dayshia looked at her in surprise.


    Baba smiled at the tall woman and approached her. With a gesture she canceled Tish¡¯s mor, forcing her back into her new form. Tish blinked at Baba in surprise as the witch gently patted her tummy. ¡°You will have your hands full with this one. Don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ I¡¯m not- I can¡¯t be! I can¡¯t have a baby!¡± Tish stammered, almost panicked.


    Baba shrugged. ¡°But you are and you will.¡± She turned her attention back to Sigrid oblivious of the impact her words had on Tish. Sandy and Dayshia rushed to her sides to brace her as her trembling legs began to give out.


    ¡°I cannot break the link until Mab¡¯s spellpletes. If I try, I kill everyone contained within the energy fields, including the developing children.¡± The witch looked to Mab who was watching her thoughtfully through the shimmering light of the dome. ¡°She knows it too. It was her gamble that I wouldn¡¯t risk Henry. But I¡¯m more interested in the child growing within her. What purpose does she have for a child at her age?¡±


    ¡°How long until the spellpletes?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Baba looked into the interior of the closest sofa. ¡°Minutes from now. Time is moving much quicker within the fields. She will pay for meddling with what she shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Everyone but Baba jumped as they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. A tall man with a crooked smile walked around the central dome and walked over to them. He was smiling at the witch.


    ¡°Well met, Baba Yaga,¡± he said.


    ¡°Coyote. I suppose I¡¯m not surprised you¡¯re here,¡± she replied.


    He nodded. ¡°Plenty of potential for social upheaval here. I would have been here sooner, but I had some texts to send for the Minister of Security.¡±


    Baba¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°You work for the council now?¡±


    His smile was wide and toothy. ¡°You know me. I work for everyone¡¯s best interests. Even if they don¡¯t know it yet.¡±


    Sigrid was bing anxious about the impendingpletion of the spell. Their bantering wasn¡¯t helpful in this situation. ¡°If the Humans wake when the spell concludes, we¡¯ll have a massive breach of the secret, if we haven¡¯t already. These are famous personalities in Human culture. They can¡¯t just disappear,¡± Sigrid eximed.


    Baba red at her. ¡°And how is this my problem?¡±


    Coyote gave her a sly grin. ¡°Is it not in thechildren¡¯sinterest, to maintain the secret?!?¡± He¡¯d been listening in, of course.


    ¡°Why would you care? Aren¡¯t you an advocate for change?¡± Baba challenged him.


    Coyote shrugged. ¡°Subtle yet profound change is best. This¡­ this is blunt force trauma. There is no finesse or cleverness to this. I¡¯m disappointed in the Queen. She can do better than this.¡±


    Baba frowned as she considered that point. ¡°I still haven¡¯t determined her true intent. This could be a decoy.¡± After a moment of silent staring around, Baba began hissing like an old steam engine. Then she looked around at all the sofas and seemed to be counting.


    ¡°Uh, excuse me?¡± Dayshia said.


    ¡°Silence!¡± Baba snapped as she tried to put the pieces together.


    ¡°The Queen is leaving.¡± Dayshia asserted with a cross look at being dismissed.


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Baba looked at Dayshia in surprise then over to the central dome. It looked like nothing had changed but¡­


    ¡°Where is she going?¡± Baba asked. Dayshia pointed up.

 169

    They heard the sound of ss bells tinkling then there was a brilliant silver and green sh before the vast chamber plunged into darkness as every energy field copsed simultaneously.


    Another bright sh exploded outwards in a wave from Baba, filling the Great Hall with its light before the room went dark once more.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Something to keep the Humans unconscious for a few hours. That should be enough time for you to find a way to deal with them,¡± Baba growled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean ¡®forusto find a way¡¯?¡± Sigrid asked from the darkness.


    Then began the wailing of the newborn infants.


    Sigrid called for her armor, and the white light painted the area around her. Baba was gone. Coyote, as well. ¡°Shit!¡±


    ¡°The Ferals! She took them!¡± Cam gasped.


    ¡°She did warn us to leave them alone,¡± Roy muttered.


    Mahati stepped forward, muttering under her breath, and began to touch the sofas as she walked by them. Her spell caused them to glow softly, illuminating their upants and the space around them.


    Roy and Sigrid spotted Lise-Anne walking towards them with a baby in her arms. Clive and Isaac followed. Behind them, an old ck man and two women carried children in their arms.


    ¡°Yours?¡± Cam asked the Minister of Security carefully.


    The Council member shook her head, still a little dazed by her experience. ¡°How- how long were we in there?¡±


    ¡°No more than twenty minutes,¡± Roy replied. ¡°How long did it feel like?¡±


    Lise-Anne shuddered, and the baby fussed in her arms. ¡°Months. A year? Maybe a little more.¡± She finally shrugged then focused on the child in her arms. ¡°We have to get the children to a safe ce.¡± She looked to the glowing sofas. ¡°We have to-¡±


    The big doors at the end of the room burst open, and dozens of agents from the Security ministry poured through. All dressed in matching ck uniforms with visored helmets they moved amongst the sofas, each carrying arge duffle bag. Their team leader came to a stand before Lise-Anne.


    ¡°We received your message and prepared what you asked for.¡± He gestured to the unconscious people in the closest sofa. ¡°These are the Humans we need to treat?¡± the agent asked.


    ¡°Treat?¡± she asked in confusion. The texts she¡¯d prepared hadn¡¯t explicitly outlined a n as she hadn¡¯t had time to create one before her phone was-


    ¡°Are you well, Minister?¡± the agent asked as he watched her.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    She straightened her posture and shifted the baby to her other hip. ¡°Apologies. I was caught in one of Queen Mab¡¯s timepression traps. I¡¯m having a little trouble recalling what I sent you.¡±


    The agent¡¯s eyes widened. He leaned in to bring her up to speed.


    While the Council and its clean up team were preupied, Sigrid pulled her group to the side. Like Baba, she was also of the opinion that Mab might have meant for this to be a dying tactic. When she saw she had their attention, most of them anyway as babies tended to be distracting, she addressed them.


    ¡°We need to go after Henry. Mab¡¯s already broken her contract with him. She has him held captive,¡± she insisted.


    Mahati was nodding. ¡°I¡¯m shocked that she managed to do it. The rationalizing required to allow her to break a contract in this way. Unheard of.¡±


    ¡°Which means Henry could be in significant danger,¡± Cam asserted. She looked to Dayshia. ¡°You say she went up?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the whole tform, bed and all, just rose straight up and disappeared into the ceiling,¡± Dayshia said pointing to where it went.


    ¡°So we have to go up too,¡± Cam said.


    Roy looked a little ufortable. ¡°Didn¡¯t the witch go up there?¡±


    ¡°You heard her; she¡¯s not interested in Henry anymore. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s capable of loving anyone. She only wants the baby Mab is making and who knows for what! We have to go up to help Henry!¡± Sigrid argued. Roy looked her in the eye and nodded.


    The group moved to the hallway outside the darkened chamber. There was no sign of the smart Ogre. The lighting was much better out here, and Roy did a quick headcount. Then he noticed Ikehorn was still with them. ¡°No offense but we¡¯re going upstairs to confront your Queen about how she abducted our friend. We¡¯d all feel much morefortable not having a Fae wielder at our backs as well.¡±


    Ikehorn looked from face to face then nodded. ¡°Apologies. I find myself at a loss for what I should do now.¡±


    ¡°Go home,¡± Sigrid suggested, and his face lit up for a second then the doubt came back.


    ¡°Whatever it is you decide to do, do it elsewhere,¡± Roy said sternly.


    Ikehorn just nodded. ¡°I will be in the garden outside.¡± He moved off in the opposite direction down the hallway. Sigrid wasted no further time and headed for the stairs up to the next level. As the group rounded the corner, they saw their way blocked by four of therge goons.


    ¡°I could probably incapacitate them with a spell-¡± Mahati suggested.


    Cam shook her head. ¡°It would be best to reserve your magic until we reach the floor upstairs. We may need all of your strength then.¡±


    Roy grinned at Mary. ¡°This seems like a job for us.¡±


    Mary shared the grin and stepped forward next to Roy. She looked back. ¡°Sandy, don¡¯t let anyone get past you and Kesini.¡± The small blond smiled and nodded to her.


    Roy looked at her curiously, but Mary just smirked. She liked having a secret of her own.


    -=-


    Henry witnessed the birth of his first child, while tied to the bedposts. It also happened incredibly fast. As the bed rose back up to the ceiling, Mab had been a blur as her violent motions indicated she was in intense pain or at least significant difort. Then it was over, and Mab had a beautiful girl in her arms. The newborn grew a few months older as they rose to the fifth floor, Henry¡¯s chest felt like it might explode as she watched the angelic face as she slept.


    The tform sealed itself back in Mab¡¯s bedroom once more, and with that final tinkle of bells the spell was broken, and the energy field copsed. The silver light was no longer being pulled from Henry¡¯s horns, though the draining sensation continued subtly.


    Mab took a deep breath and closed her eyes. ¡°That was an unpleasant experience!¡± she sighed weakly. She gave him a feeble smile. ¡°Almost there. Just one more spell.¡±


    ¡°What? What have you done?¡± Henry gasped as he tried his bindings.


    ¡°It¡¯s what I¡¯m about to do that should interest you more,¡± Mab said as she gently set the infant on the middle of the bed. Henry couldn¡¯t take his eyes from her face. Her eyes began to open, and Henry saw they were the most incredible shade of blue.


    He heard a creaking and looked up to see Mab binding herself to the top bedposts like he was. The hammock had given way to single vines growing from the posts.


    Mab stared across at him, and her green eyes began to glow once more. Grinning maniacally, she opened her mouth. Henry screamed as the words she spoke stabbed at his eardrums and made his brain boil like angry bees trapped in his skull.


    His horns once more poured out the silver threads, but these were reaching down to touch the baby. The light yed over the tiny body¡­ and she began to age. Slowly at first through the infant and toddler years, then faster to reach and pass through the teens, and back to a slower pace through the twenties to stop somewhere close to thirty. That was how she appeared to Henry¡¯s horrified gaze at least.


    The silver threads faded and Henry slumped against his bindings.


    He heard a chuckling deep in a chest and forced his eyes open. The thirty-year-old woman stretching on the mattress was grinning widely and turned her eyes on Henry. Glowing, green eyes.


    He immediately looked to the woman hanging in the bindings before him. Her mor was gone, and her actual age was evident. He stared in shock at the ancient being before him who looked at him with innocent blue eyes.


    ¡°oh my god¡­ what have you done?¡± Henry breathed in horror.


    Mab sat up and grinned at him. ¡°I gave myself a new start in a young body with your link to the realm of Wild Magic. Itisvery powerful. With my vast knowledge of spells and this powerful new magic source, I¡¯ll be able to do¡­ anything! The Fae will rise again to rule the world and put those pesky Humans in their ce.¡± She pouted sweetly. ¡°I had intended to begin my new era tonight by sending all those fools I gathered downstairs out into the world with proof of their insignificance. They were to be my heralds, announcing my return to power. Their children would be my foot soldiers. The Hidden Races Council would realize their time had passed.¡± Her expression soured. ¡°Typical, Baba Yaga has arrived to interfere.¡±


    ¡°BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR CHILD?!?¡± Henry roared and pulled at his bindings.


    The baby trapped in the crone¡¯s body jolted in surprise and began to cry.


    Mab made an expression of false sympathy for her old body and frowned at Henry. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, without magic to sustain her ancient body she won¡¯t suffer for long. Only minutes, in truth.¡±


    Henry stared at Mab in shock. She was a monster!


    ¡°You broke the deal.¡±


    Mab looked at him sharply. ¡°I did NO such thing!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re holding me captive!¡± he growled.


    ¡°Please, this is just a little bondage y. Human¡¯s do it all the time, and it¡¯s only momentary, not permanent,¡± she asserted dismissively with a grin.

 170

    He shook his head. ¡°Far more damning, you¡¯re physically endangering someone I consider important to me.¡±


    She looked at him. ¡°Who?¡± She shook her head as it came to her. ¡°You can¡¯t mean the infant? She¡¯s a stranger to you! She can¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°I watched her grow, and I witnessed her birth. She¡¯s part of me! Of course, she¡¯s important to me. She¡¯s my daughter!¡±


    Mab looked at him with a strange, angry and anxious expression. She finally shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re lying about her importance to you.¡± She gave her head an angry shake then pushed the thoughts from her head. ¡°No!¡±


    She slipped from the bed and pranced over to her closet to find a gown. ¡°It is so refreshing to go without a mor and look this good!¡± She stepped out of the room.


    Henry looked across to his¡­ daughter and his heart began to pound. He had to save her. She couldn¡¯t die! Not when she was just born. Not like this!


    Gritting his teeth, he began to pull on his bindings with everything he had. He recalled Sigrid saying he didn¡¯t know the limits of his strength, so he fed that into his efforts and every muscle bunched and strained.


    He was almost at his limit when he heard it. A high pitched creaking. With renewed energy, he threw his head back and pulled just a little harder. His muscles were beginning to tear, but still, he strained with everything he had.


    The frame suddenly failed with explosive force, and splinters flew outwards from the shattered pirs. Henry fell forward onto the mattress and scrambled to get to his hooves to catch Mab¡¯s old body as it fell from the dying vines. The damage he¡¯d caused sent a cascade of failure through the entire bed frame. He gently lowered her to the mattress. Her blue eyes were fading, and the lost look in them tore at his heart. He began to cry as he rested his forehead against hers.


    ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!¡± Mab screamed as she returned from the powder room. She cursed as she stepped on a sharp splinter.


    Henry ignored her as he pulled at the healing spell. He needed his daughter to live. To get better. She needed to be young again! He wasn¡¯t a wielder. He could pull the energy to him, but he didn¡¯t know how to shape it. He needed help!


    His body bent backward in agony as fire raced over his nerve endings. He screamed and almost lost consciousness. The pain ended, and he looked over his shoulder to see Mab grinning as she shook her tingling fingers.


    He red at her. ¡°Monster. You¡¯re a foul monster.¡±


    Mab¡¯s new face contorted with rage before she hit him with another bolt of pain. He grit his teeth and tried to endure it but ended up screaming once more. He threw his hands up to block her, and the space between them ripped open.


    The rest of the magic bolt went through to the other realm and yed harmlessly over the beautiful ss surface of Xiong¡¯s back. He had no nerves to carry the fire. He could store the energy though. He was getting quite good at that in their new home.


    Xiong turned and looked at the surprised face of the woman. He felt the familiar mind of the one who saved him nearby. Henry reached out to it tomune and Xiong instantly picked up the situation. He was saddened that the child was in danger. He looked to the green-eyed woman and released some of the energy he¡¯d saved to give it back to her. She flew back to crash against the wall and slump down to the floor, her ankle bent at an unnatural angle. Xiong realized he¡¯d given the energy back harder than she¡¯d given it to him though he still felt flush with the delicious energy. He bid farewell to the sad one who released his grip on the gate once more so he could concentrate on saving his child.


    As it closed, Xiong wished him luck. He recalledhischildren and knew how special they could be.


    Henry felt a spark as the gate closed and he tapped his horns against Mab¡¯s old body. That draining sensation came back then it grew stronger and stronger. He looked up and saw a thick rope of silver light emit from his horns and ssh across the room. He tried to aim it, but it swung wildly. When it struck his daughter¡¯s true body, Mab screamed as she woke. The silver rope suddenly split and its other end snapped to the other half of the magic spell, Mab¡¯s original body.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    Mab looked down at herself as she began to grow younger. She screamed as she dropped below 25 and the effect elerated.


    The doors to the room exploded inwards, and a huge Ogre rushed in only to stop in shock at the scene. He didn¡¯t know what to do. The sounds of battle entered the open doorway. He nced nervously behind himself.


    ¡°HELP ME! I¡¯M YOUR QUEEN!¡± Mab screamed before her body dropped more years, taking her into her teens.


    A mental push apanied themand so the Ogre couldn¡¯t resist it. In that moment, he saw the bright new future the Fae healer had given him stripped away but he was powerless to stop it.


    He rushed across the room and picked up the Queen as he ran. The guard didn¡¯t slow, even though the silver beam was ripping years from his body as he ran. He tucked the Queen against his body and leapt against the fifth story window, crashing through to fall into the garden below. He rolled midair to protect her andnd on his back.


    The silver thread broke the moment they passed through the window, and the entirety of it snapped back to focus on Mab¡¯s old body. The years peeled away turning into decades and soon centuries. Wide blue eyes stared up at him as he struggled to control the flow, but he quickly realized he couldn¡¯t slow it down much less stop it. Mab¡¯s body became younger and younger as Henry desperately tried to pull away physically. If he couldn¡¯t prevent it, she was going to regress into nothing.


    He managed to stumble a few steps away from the bed when he heard a noise behind himself. He just had time to turn to see Baba dropping the body of an Ogre over his horns. The massive weight crushed Henry to the floor and broke the thread of magic. The dead weight atop him absorbed the energy and winked out of existence in a silent implosion. The corresponding sudden expansion of the vacuum mmed Henry violently against the floor.


    Henryy there slipping in and out of consciousness as Baba walked past him. When she came back into his view, she was holding a baby girl. She set the baby on the floor next to him and whispered words that tickled and teased his hearing. Henry hissed as his right hand ttened on the floor, and the fingers syed. He couldn¡¯t move anything but his eyes, so he watched the baby¡¯s tiny right hand do the same thing on the floor next to his. He looked up at Baba as she knelt next to them.


    ¡°Ba¡­ ba?¡± he gritted out.


    She looked to him, and her eyes held a strange mix of emotions. He thought, hoped, he sawpassion in there, and maybe even love, but it was gone before he was sure. ¡°She¡¯s still dying. She¡¯s a creature of the Wild Magic trapped in an old realm body. You can¡¯t help her but I can. Hush now.¡±


    Baba pulled her ornate scissors from the pocket of her apron and opened the des as Henry¡¯s eyes widened in terror.


    When she mmed the points through their hands into the wood floor, she severed his right ring finger at his palm, and the baby¡¯s as well.


    Henry tried to scream, but he couldn¡¯t draw a breath in his frozen state. His eyes went to the baby and saw she was wailing silently as well.


    Baba pulled the scissors free, wiped them on her apron carefully and put them back into her pocket. Then she gently lifted both fingers and switched their ces. His finger was bigger than the baby¡¯s entire hand.


    He watched in horror as she whispered some words he couldn¡¯t quite hear, and the pain began again. The tiny finger was connecting to his severed knuckle and growing to fit. Nerves linked up, tendons reattached, veins reconnected, and sensation returned with a vengeance. He saw his severed finger was shrinking and binding itself to the baby¡¯s hand as she struggled to cry. He tried, but he couldn¡¯t move to protect her.


    The magnitude of what Baba was doing exploded into his consciousness, and he struggled to speak. The ring! He had to stop her from putting his curse on the child. It wasn¡¯t fair to her! He locked eyes with the crone, and for the briefest moment she appeared to be considering his plea for her to stop this madness, but she looked away.


    When the baby¡¯s finger had grown to fit his hand, he was shocked to see it looked like his old finger, minus the ring. Baba whispered again and lifted the baby in her arms. The witch touched his horns, whispering once more, words that sent sharp pains through his brain, and the subtle draining sensation stopped. She turned away and walked a short distance before pausing to look back at him.


    ¡°Goodbye, Boy,¡± she said with sad eyes.


    ¡°no¡­ please¡­ don¡¯t take her¡­¡± he managed, but Baba stepped back into the shadows and was gone.


    The moment she was gone the binding on his body released, and he screamed. All the pain, rage, horror, sorrow, and frustration burst forth as he could no longer contain it. It was too much. His mind finally shied away from the onught, and he passed out.


    A small mercy.

 171

    The fifth floor, Mab¡¯s domain, wasn¡¯t just protected by the Ogres at the base of the stairs. While they prevented ess to the top level, a squad of Fae soldiers suddenly arrived in the hallway behind them.


    Bringing up the rear of their group, Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish were the first to hear them and only had seconds to react.


    ¡°Magic Attack!¡± Tish gasped as she triggered her shield. Sandy and Dayshia got theirs in ce a split second before blue lightning struck the air before them. They shrieked in fright, but the bolts just fizzled out as the electricity scrabbled across the surface of the shield. In fear, the women linked hands and watched their shield form a wall and spread out before them, blocking the next volley of blue lightning. Michelle huddled down behind them as well, trembling in fear.


    A streak of white leapt over their protection to shoot towards the soldiers. It struck with tremendous force, tossing their bodies against the floor and walls like rag dolls. As quickly as it began, the battle ended with Sigrid standing over the fallen Fae soldiers. She poked a few with her spear, but they were down and out. She trotted back to the friends and grinned widely.


    ¡°Excellent defense coordination!¡± she eximed. The three just looked at the Valkyrie in awe and nodded weakly. She took up a position beside them with her shield at the ready.


    ¡°Save your energy for Mab!¡± Cam called out from the middle of their group.


    Up ahead, Roy and Mary were going toe to toe with the four Ogres defenders. Both were holding their own, much to the rage of their opponents. Mary was taking a pounding but released that energy with devastating blows against their bodies. Bones were snapping, and blood sprayed, but the brutes wouldn¡¯t stop their attacks regardless of the damage they took. Their rage consumed them, leaving no room for rational thought.


    ¡°We need- to finish- this!¡± Mary gasped to Roy.


    He saw the Ogre holding the top of the stairs turn and charge back towards the Queen¡¯s chambers. ¡°You ready to get serious?¡± Roy asked her as he sent his opponent flying back against the wall. It shook off the blow, ignoring its missing ear and roared.


    Mary gave Roy a quick look ¡°Seems the only way,¡± she said with a frown as she broke the leg of the guard rushing at her. It still managed to m her into the corridor wall, but she rushed back to kick it in the ribs, driving it back to strike the stairs with its back.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they using guns?¡± Dayshia muttered to Sigrid.


    The tall blonde gave her a grim smile. ¡°They can¡¯t fire one inside the castle without risking the building¡¯s magic bindings. The building isn¡¯t truly here. Mundane explosions send shockwaves through magic. It wouldn¡¯t be good to have the building fall into the between with all of us inside.¡±


    Dayshia looked closer but to her augmented vision the building¡¯s integrity showed no sign of disappearing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll exinter. I¡¯m going to assist Roy and Mary. Hold the line!¡± She spun and leapt over their group. She drew her sword and prepared to surge forward as she saw an Ogre jump at Mary. She lifted her shield just in time to block the spray of gore as Mary drove her fist through the brute¡¯s skull while Roy swept his ws upwards, opening his opponent¡¯s torso from groin to throat.


    ¡°Dammit, Roy!¡± Sigrid bellowed as the dead guard¡¯s shredded guts rained down from above, sshing off the shield.


    He surged forward to finish off hisst opponent with a savage bite through his throat.


    Panting, blood dripping from his jaws, he turned to look into Mary¡¯s eyes just as she snapped the neck of the goon she was choking out. She didn¡¯t shy away from his gaze, and he grinned at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re one messy motherfucker,¡± she said.


    He switched back to his mor and began tough when a terrible cry sounded from up the stairs.


    He and Sigrid were the first through the door with Mahati close behind, spell prepped forunching, bnced on her fingertips.


    But Mab wasn¡¯t there.


    Baba Yaga wasn¡¯t there either.


    And there was no sign of the baby Roy had seen growing in Mab.


    As Sigrid was bringing Henry around, Roy moved to the massive hole in the window and looked down to see the dead body of thest guard. His bodynded on the grass, but his head struck a stone walkway. Roy frowned as he spotted Ikehorn¡¯s body crumpled on the ground a short distance away.


    Sigrid knelt next to Henry who suddenly burst into deep, soul-crushing sobs.


    ¡°Henry? Are you hurt?¡± she asked gently.


    He rolled his head from side to side slowly.


    The room pulsed slightly then dimmed.


    ¡°Shit! We have to go! Henry, get up!¡± Sigrid said as she grabbed his shoulder.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sandy nervously asked as she watched Sigrid haul Henry to his hooves.


    ¡°Oh my god! It¡¯s slipping away!¡± Dayshia gasped as she finally saw what Sigrid meant.


    ¡°Mab is pulling the plug on her castle!¡± Cam eximed. ¡°Hurry! We have to get out of here before it takes us with it!¡±


    -=-


    Marisa was still exhausted from her efforts and running up the stairs drained her even further. She looked to Nate in desperation as she didn¡¯t know if she¡¯d be able to keep up.


    Nate dropped his mor, scooped Marisa up in his arms and jumped out the window. His wings snapped open and, after a brief moment of terror, they found themselves gliding around the building. Marisa clung to him with her face pressed tightly to his neck. They tumbled onto the soft grass when they reached the bottom. Marisay next to Nate gasping for breath. When she felt her heart rate dropping back to normal, she looked over at him and saw he was grinning at her.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    She reached over and pped his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again!¡± she scolded.


    ¡°On the contrary, do it again!¡±


    Marisa looked up and saw a teenage girl looking down at her.


    ¡°Ah ah ah! Stay right there,¡± Mab said as she gestured to Marisa who was struggling to rise.


    Suddenly, Marisa felt like a giant¡¯s hand was pressing her into the grass which covered the rooftop. Nate leapt to his feet but Mab touched his forehead, and he blinked in confusion at her, his facial muscles going ck.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to glide me to safety, my dear Nathan?¡± Mab asked.


    ¡°yes¡­ Marisa, of course,¡± he said, distractedly.


    Marisa stared up at Nathan and struggled to get a breath, to call to him and wake him from the spell, but she was beginning to see spots before her eyes.


    ¡°Sorry, I haven¡¯t quite gotten control over this body or its magic just yet,¡± Mab said with a shrug and a gleam in her eye. She led Nathan away and waved goodbye to Marisa with a cruel grin.


    All Marisa could do was watch Nate climb up onto the ledge, hug the young woman to his chest as his wings spread wide. He tipped over the edge and was gone.


    Marisa couldn¡¯t breathe. She needed to scream, but she had no breath. She looked towards the castle which was flickering light and dark. She needed help, but she couldn¡¯t call for anyone.


    And Nate was gone.


    -=-


    Cam stared at the window where her daughter had been carried through. Roy was standing at the edge and nodded.


    ¡°They¡¯re gliding. Going around the building. They¡¯re ok. We have to go now!¡±


    ¡°Michelle, can you take someone down the outside with you?¡± Sigrid asked.


    The woman looked at her and nodded. ¡°But I can only hold onto one.¡±


    ¡°Take Dayshia and move away from the building once you get down. Find Marisa and Nate,¡± she instructed.


    Michelle immediately dropped her mor and held out her hand to Dayshia.


    ¡°Kesini- she says she wants to climb down as well!¡± Sandy eximed nervously. ¡°She can do it.¡±


    Sigrid nodded, and Sandy rushed to the window¡¯s edge and lifted off her feet as Kesini took control. Sandy squeaked only a little then smoothly flowed out the window and down as her hair found or made grips in the stone, lowering her quickly down the outside wall.


    Michelle spun a web and bonded it to the window frame. Then she hugged Dayshia to her chest and used her front legs to support the woman as well while she lowered herself out the window.


    Mahati looked panicked, and Sigrid picked up on that immediately. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a fast runner. I¡¯ll never make it in time,¡± she squeaked.


    ¡°Sigrid, take her out the window. Glide her down but go dark. The illusion is failing so you¡¯d be visible otherwise.¡± Cam said.


    The Valkyrie looked to Meixiu. ¡°I can climb down as well!¡± the petite woman insisted.


    Sigrid frowned but nodded. She looked at her remaining friends. ¡°Hurry!¡± she said a little desperately then lifted Mahati against her chest and sprung backward out the window, spreading her wings once she was clear.


    Meixiu was immediately out the window and climbing downwards.


    When it was only the four of them left in the room, Tish seized Henry¡¯s hand and tugged at it as she dropped her mor. ¡°We have to run!¡±


    He nodded and followed as Roy rushed by holding Cam¡¯s hand.


    Henry was only dimly aware of the rush to exit the building as they ran down the stairs. His hooves unerringly found the steps and his muscles pumped to keep up with Roy and Tish. Cam was in Roy¡¯s arms now as they could move faster that way.


    ¡°This wasn¡¯t how I envisioned us running together!¡± Tish gasped with a worried smile. He locked eyes with her, and that halted his slide into a dark funk. Mab¡¯s horrific theft, Baba¡¯s cruel act, they had to take a back seat to the imminent danger to Tish. The building suddenly dropped an inch under their feet.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to make it to the ground floor!¡± Roy yelled as the group ran down the stairs from the third.


    Henry saw a possible exit ahead. ¡°The window!¡± he yelled in response.


    Roy put on a burst of speed and shot away as Henry and Tish charged down the final steps.


    -=-


    It took Sigrid a significant effort to glide carrying a passenger and keeping her wings dark, so the grass caught her by surprise and they bounced and tumbled on thewn, knocking the wind from them.


    She looked up at the castle which was fading from this reality significantly as the radio towers bled back into their actual location. She rose and pulled Mahati to her feet. They ran around the building until they saw the others gathering around someone on the ground. As they got closer, Sigrid saw it was Marisa.


    ¡°What happened?¡± she called out.


    ¡°She can¡¯t breathe! Something¡¯s holding her down!¡± Sandy cried out and tried blowing into her mouth, but her chest couldn¡¯t rise.


    Mahati reached out to feel the spell, and she looked back nervously at Sigrid. ¡°I can¡¯t break the spell. The magic is too strong! It¡¯s trying to tten her to the roof¡¯s surface.¡±


    Kesini suddenly stabbed deep into the ground around Marisa¡¯s body. Muted sounds of destruction began as Kesini ripped through the roofing materials, then the support structure beneath until Marisa suddenly dropped ten inches. They heard her suck in a deep breath then wheezed it back out as the pressure returned.

 172

    ¡°Keep going! Drop Marisa below roof level. The spell should stop there,¡± Mahati eximed.


    More terrible noises came from the building structure below Marisa¡¯s body which continued to drop in increments. They all leapt back as the roof gave with a final squeal of protesting metal. Marisa disappeared into the darkness below with Sandy falling in as well.


    ¡°Sandy!¡± Dayshia shrieked.


    They heard coughing and rxed a little. ¡°I- I¡¯m ok! We¡¯re ok. Kesini caught us,¡± Sandy¡¯s voice said from the darkness. Marisa could be heard coughing as well.


    ¡°What happened to the spell?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Mahati held out her hands and muttered a few noises. ¡°Dissipated. Itpleted its task.¡±


    Michelle moved forward after bonding her webbing to a railing and lowered herself into the hole. They heard Sandy squeak in fright then her apologizing. Momentster Michelle brought her back up to the surface. Kesini was positively drooping.


    ¡°What happened to Kesini?¡± Dayshia asked anxiously.


    As Michelle went back down for Marisa, Sandy gathered her limp hair in her arms. ¡°She¡¯s exhausted¡­ and dirty! She needs a good shampooing!¡±


    Once Marisa was back they saw the castle suddenly dim as it began its final slip into the between. There was a crash of ss, and a huge red beast came sailing through the debris of the second story window. As they were in midflight the lights suddenly dimmed then came back with a vengeance as spotlights lit up the antennae array on the rooftop. Roynded on the pebbled roof surface with a thump. He sprawled out, and Cam rolled across the roof until Sigrid caught her.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Henry and Tish?!?¡± Sigrid yelled.


    Cam looked up in a daze and nced back. ¡°They were¡­ right behind us!¡±


    They stood looking at the cluster of antennas¡­ where their friends should have been.


    -=-


    Henry could feel it. The building was slipping away into¡­ nothingness, forever in all directions. The building was going to drop away before they made it to the window.


    In desperation, he thought of the magic realm, the ss People, and threw his right hand out to open a tear.


    But his finger was bare.


    He was no longer wearing the ring which linked him to the Fae¡¯s global healing spell. In that moment, he realized he could no longer feel the subtle buzz of potential from the energy waiting for him to reach for it.


    The magic no longer waited for his beck and call.


    He couldn¡¯t open the way for them to escape.


    Despair stabbed through him as he looked to Tish. She didn¡¯t deserve this. She deserved so much more-


    Orange light poked him in the eyes, startling him into pinching them closed. His hoof caught the edge of a stone on the uneven ground, and he went sprawling in a field of tall red grass. Once he slid to a stop, he lifted his face and spat out a mouthful of nt matter. He looked back and saw the rip sealing. Xiong and a second ss being lowered their arms and the opening snapped shut. For the briefest moment, he was looking back into an absence of everything. Then it was gone.


    He nodded gratefully to the two beings and felt their joy at having savedhimthis time.


    Henry pushed himself to his feet and turned to see Tish standing a short distance away in the grass. Her mouth was open in shock as she took in the yellow sky, the enormous red-orange sun dropping to the horizon, and so many shades of red in the nt life.


    Pushing himself back to his hooves, Henry inhaled slowly to get his first deep breath on this world. It was the first time he¡¯d been here physically. He smiled at the air¡¯s strange and subtle blend of sweet and spicy, like a hint of cherries and cinnamon.


    He walked up beside Tish and saw the joy on her face. ¡°Wee to the realm of magic,¡± Henry said to her gently.


    She turned to look to him as a tear slipped down her cheek. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± she said struggling for words to describe what she was feeling. Then she noticed the two beings standing patiently nearby. ¡°Oh!¡±


    Henry smiled. ¡°These are my friends. Two of the ss People. Xiong and¡­ Dave.¡± The second name came through his link to them.


    ¡°Dave?¡± Tish blinked in surprise as she waved to them.


    Henry nodded. ¡°They used to be human but got caught in a strange and intense lightning storm back home. That¡¯s how they described it at least.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking with them?¡± Tish asked, a sparkle of excitement twinkling in her eyes. Henry touched his temple and nodded again making her bounce happily on her hooves.


    ¡°Wait! How did they get here?¡± she asked breathlessly.


    ¡°I got them here,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°Like you got us here!¡± she gushed.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°No, they opened the tear to get us here.¡± He gestured to the two beings watching them. ¡°They must have heard my call. I- I can¡¯t open the way any longer.¡± His throat tightened as he held his right hand in his left, staring at his bare finger. Mab¡¯s finger? His¡­ daughter¡¯s?


    He felt a smaller hand touch his chest gently. Compassionate eyes looked into his. ¡°What happened?¡± Tish asked, but he could only shake his head. It was too soon; he was too raw.


    She pulled him into a hug, and he struggled not to let his grief explode forth again. He felt the love and support from all of the ss People linked to his mind. They saw everything and shared his horror and sorrow. He sent his love and gratitude to them as well.


    When Tish pulled back, she smiled at him until he managed to return it. ¡°While Iamthrilled to be one of the first people to stand on a¡­ alien, alternate Earth¡­ does it have a name?¡±


    Henry looked to Xiong and Dave and smiled. ¡°They don¡¯t rely on words too much anymore, but after they first arrived, they called it Eden.¡±


    Tish grinned at the two ss figures and nodded. ¡°Lovely name! Lovely ce! But how do we get home? Our friends won¡¯t know we got out of the castle! They¡¯ll be devastated!¡± Tish looked more and more distraught as she thought of her friends.


    Henry looked to Xiong and felt his response. The two beings turned and walked away. Henry held out a hand and wrapped his arm around Tish to calm her and guide her after them.


    ¡°They¡¯ll open a gate for us, but they need to recharge. Earliest is midday tomorrow.¡± He gestured to the setting sun. ¡°That¡¯s their main energy source, and they used up a lot to get us here.¡±


    They followed their escorts a short distance across the hillside meadows until they reached a clearing in a group of trees where the others rxed on the grass.


    Tish watched them moving around, and Henry could tell she had questions. The beings were different sizes, but all were humanoid in shape. Their facial features were minimal, but Henry knew they maintained their distinct personalities. It was just their drives that had taken a dramatic change. Body shape, wealth, social status all became meaningless in their new state of being.


    ¡°So many!¡± Tish gasped quietly.


    ¡°Poption of a small Midwest town out watching their children y football!¡± Henry exined softly.


    ¡°What?!? Them? But they were reported as dead!¡± she gasped quietly.


    ¡°Yet here they are, very much alive. Happier than they¡¯ve ever been. They¡¯d love their rtives to join them but they don¡¯t know how to duplicate the circumstances that led to their creation, and most wouldn¡¯t volunteer to go through it,¡± he said.


    Tish looked at him. ¡°They told you all this?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Not in words. They¡¯re sharing their minds with me. I¡­ it feels like memories. It¡¯s hard to exin. When linked like this, I can recall things that happened in their lives. I don¡¯t look too closely as it feels like I¡¯d go mad if I did. Too intimate and too much.¡±


    The smaller beings brought soft grasses by the armload as bedding for them. Some of the ¡®elders¡¯ brought stones, wood, and kindling for a fire pit.


    Another adult shot sparks from one of his limbs, and soon they had a lovely little ze going in the pit. The fire had the bonus of trickle feeding the smaller ss People who joined them in a circle around it.


    Henry had to act as trantor as they discovered they couldn¡¯t connect to Tish¡¯s mind.


    It wasn¡¯t too long before Tish began yawning and their hosts began to slip away to wait for dawn¡¯s light in their dormant state.


    Henry bid the final members a good night and headed for the bed of grass. Tish settled down next to him and cuddled up against his side.


    She was silent for a while, and Henry thought she¡¯d drifted off. But she was trying to determine how to ask him a question. ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm?¡±


    ¡°Your Baba. I get that she¡¯s an incredibly powerful witch but¡­ is she a truthful person?¡±


    He felt a shock go through his muscles when she surprised him with the question. Thinking of Baba was¡­ difficult after what she¡¯d done.


    Tish felt his reaction and was immediately contrite. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Henry! Never mind-¡±


    He frowned. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. You just surprised me. Is she truthful?¡± He thought back and looked for lies she might have told him. ¡°She¡¯s kept things from me. Important things. But she¡¯s not the type to speak lies. She¡¯s always demanded the truth from me and has no patience for less than direct speech. I can¡¯t recall hereverovertly lying to me¡­ so, yes, she¡¯s truthful. Why?¡±


    Tish was quiet once more, and Henry began to worry.


    ¡°When you healed me with Ikehorn¡­ did you only fix my back?¡± she asked quietly.


    He went back to the night, not that long ago though tonight it felt like a lifetime. He recalled wishing with all his might that she would be made whole,plete, and healthy. He also remembered Tish¡¯s confession about her ident. ¡°I might have been concentrating on fixing¡­ everything,¡± he said cautiously.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.

 173

    She sucked in a quick breath, and suddenly her lips were on his. She kissed him feverishly, but he picked up a difference this time. She was crying!


    ¡°What- Tish! Wait! What happened?¡± he finally managed as he gently pulled her back to see her face. Tears were running down her cheeks, but her eyes were shining with joy, and she was smiling at his look of confusion and concern.


    ¡°Baba Yaga told me I was pregnant. It¡¯s ours.¡±


    ¡°Oh! OH! Oh, Tish!¡± Henry¡¯s face showed his shock.


    ¡°Are- are you happy?¡± she asked, suddenly nervous.


    Henry pulled her to him and held her close. He was going to be a daddy! Again! ¡°I can¡¯t begin to tell you how happy I am!¡±


    She clung to him, and they both shed tears. But that was ok. They were tears of happiness. Henry did feel a pang of sorrow at the thought that their child may never meet their half-sister.


    He pushed that aside and just enjoyed the pure happiness of the moment. With how his life went, he had to savor these small intervals as they arrived.


    Meixiu sat by herself in the dark gazebo behind the mansion and waited. The others were inside, shedding tears of loss but she knew in her heart that Henry, and Tish, were alive. Sigrid has asked her how she knew, if she was in contact with him somehow, but she just shook her head. Meixiu couldn¡¯t exin how she knew. She saw the pity in Sigrid¡¯s eyes but knew the woman was hurting, so she took no offense.


    After the castle vanished, they¡¯d done a frantic but futile search for their friends amongst the antennae and machinery. Then the Minister of Security arrived to tell them they had to leave as the Human authorities would being shortly to discover the Celebrities in theirdrugged state. The clean-up crew had managed to move them all to an empty floor in the office building andmade preparations. Escorted from the roof, Roy had to restrain Cam while Sigrid carried Marisa. They¡¯d driven from the building moments before the police arrived.


    The drive back to the mansion was quiet, the only sound being soft crying. Meixiu let everyone back into the home then made her way back here as Henry seemed to like it.


    She¡¯d been out here for almost 24 hours. She¡¯d nodded off a few times only to jolt awake at bird calls, wind noises, or when Sigrid came out to check on her. But she hadn¡¯t lost hope.


    The back door opened again, and Meixiu knew it was Sigrid once more checking on her. She smiled faintly at how much Sigrid cared for her. She trulywasa beautiful soul.


    ¡°Meixiu? You shoulde inside and have something to eat.¡±


    ¡°Not hungry.¡± She¡¯d said the same earlier in the day. It was true as well. She felt¡­ nothing.


    A pain suddenly began to grow in her chest, and she frowned. What was the source of this hurt?


    She felt nothing.


    Because he was gone.


    She found herself on her feet, running down the steps and into Sigrid¡¯s open arms. The pain exploded, and tears flowed as sobs wracked her slim body. Sigrid held her close. Protecting her in her arms. Sharing tears with her. Sharing the loss.


    They remained that way until the pathway suddenly lit up with a warm orange light. Sigrid sucked in a sharp breath.


    Meixiu released her grip on Sigrid and spun in ce and look back to the gazebo. She frantically wiped the tears from her eyes as the rip widened and orange sunlight spilled through, bathing them both in its glow. Tish hopped through and moved aside as Henry quickly followed her through the opening. Both were in their Human mors.


    Meixiu moved faster than she ever had and was pressing her body against Henry¡¯s chest, clinging to him as her tears started again. Henry¡¯s strong arms wrapped around her and held her close.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Meixiu. We couldn¡¯t get back until now. Our friends needed to recharge before they could open the way. They saved us too,¡± he said gently.


    She rubbed her face against his chest then looked back through the opening at the ss Man gazing back at her. She gaped in surprise. Still clinging to Henry, she began speaking very rapidly in Chinese to the being on the other side of the tear in space.


    Henry grinned in surprise. When she finished, she looked up at him in puzzlement as the ss Man hadn¡¯t responded.


    ¡°Xiong is very pleased to meet you as well. He says hewasfrom the same province as you and understood you very well. He also said you¡¯re wee. He¡¯d like to talk longer, but he must release the opening.¡± Henry bowed to him and expressed his gratitude to them all once more in his mind. He felt their joy then the gate snapped closed. The area fell into shadows once more.


    Screams of surprise and excitement immediately began at the back door of the mansion as his friends inside realized who was standing in the gazebo. Henry and Tish moved down the steps to meet the onrushing group. Meixiu clung to Henry¡¯s arm, almost afraid to let go as if he¡¯d suddenly disappear if she did. Unsettled by her earlier breakdown, she watched Henry anxiously. She finally had to let go when the others reached out to hug him, but she stayed close.


    Sigrid pulled Henry into a fierce hug, and he kissed her. A big tremble of relief shook her body, and he kissed the tears on her cheeks making her hup and giggle.


    The moment he released her Cam was in his arms, and she was kissing him and crying, talking a mile a minute. Henry held her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly until she calmed.


    Marisa was next, and he held her in his arms as she trembled. He noticed the sadness in her eyes when she pulled back. He was immediately concerned.


    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked.


    Marisa¡¯s bottom lip trembled as she gave him the news. ¡°It¡¯s Nate. I think Mab took him. I think it was her but younger. We can¡¯t find him.¡±


    He froze as an intense rage swept through him. The Queen¡¯s name pushed him beyond his ability to think coherently. If she¡¯d been within his reach, he would have dly murdered her with his bare hands. No one could have stopped him.


    ¡°Henry? Henry!¡±


    Roy¡¯s voice cut through the red haze clouding his sight, and he came back to himself. ¡°Oh, Roy!¡±


    The big man abruptly pulled him into a tight hug then immediately held him out at arm¡¯s length to look him over as if looking for injuries. ¡°Ayed. It¡¯s good to have you back in one piece. We thought we¡¯d lost you. What happened?¡±


    Before he could answer, Sandy and Dayshia pulled Tish over to him, and they gave him a group hug. While he couldn¡¯t see her, he felt Kesini¡¯s warm hug as well.


    Suddenly, it was all too much. Henry looked to the joyful and relieved faces around him. His friends- no, his family. The love they showed him him was more profound than he ever expected to have in his life. Then he thought of the new life inside Tish, and he wobbled a little on his feet.


    ¡°Henry! Are you ok?¡± Sigrid gasped.


    He felt Kesini bracing him, so he just smiled at Sigrid then turned that smile on the others. ¡°So much better than ok!¡± He looked to Tish, and they shared a special smile. Then his stomach grumbled. ¡°We haven¡¯t eaten or had anything to drink since before we left. We weren¡¯t sure what was safe to consume there.¡±


    ¡°OH! I will make you and Tish dinner!¡± Meixiu squeaked and rushed away, finallyfortable he was here to stay.


    ¡°There? Where did you go?¡± Mary asked as she stood slightly behind Roy, curiosity burning in her eyes. Henry reached out and hugged her too then stepped back to look at the others.


    ¡°We¡¯ll tell you all about it, but maybe we could sit down first? They had no chairs on the other side!¡± Henry said, and chuckles erupted around him.


    ¡°Where are Mahati and Michelle?¡± he asked as they walked back into the home.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to call them to give them the good news!¡± Cam gasped and rushed ahead to get to her cell phone.


    Sigrid guided them to the dining room, and everyone took chairs around the big table, Henry and Tish sitting next to each other with their backs to the wall facing everyone else.


    Once they were settled and listening, Henry began by exining the ss People. Then he told them how they¡¯d been saved and taken to the alternate world which was the source of their magic. Tish added in how they¡¯d done a little exploring while their hosts absorbed enough energy to open the rift for them. They¡¯d even been able to go for a run, as long as they kept their eyes open for the flying ck ribbons. Nasty beasts!


    ¡°What happened here? I didn¡¯t get a good look at who was at the party. Anyone we know?¡± Henry asked.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Cam answered. ¡°We don¡¯t know what she intended, but she brought Human celebrities and public figures to the castle.¡±


    Henry gawked at her. ¡°Mab said with her new power, the Fae would rise again to rule the world and put the Humans in their ce. She was going to use her guests as heralds for her return. Did she expose the Hidden Races?¡±


    Cam shook her head. ¡°Minister Hoek¡¯s team was as efficient as it was quick. They couldn¡¯t cover all the anomalous activities and facts, but they spun up a story that the public can ept. The story is that a new, technologically savvy cult lured them to the building with promises, injected them with a potent hallucinogen, and strapped them into virtual reality simtion in an attempt to brainwash them into joining. To corroborate this, each wore a VR headset, and they had injection marks on their arms, covered with a bandage. Theywereinjected with a harmless substance that mimics LSD and mescaline. The blood tests will be inconclusive, but there¡¯s enough to cast a shadow of doubt and reduce the credibility of the alternative; that their virtual dream experiences were real. Not a perfect cover but it provides a mundane and believable answer. The Feds are never going to close this case.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°There is still the issue of how these celebrities were snatched from their homes all over the world only to show up in a building in New York instantaneously. Mab¡¯smagic dooris causing the Hidden Races Council a tremendous amount of grief but a few hints have been dropped here and there on the web about new technologies thatsomeoneis perfecting. Not a perfect cover story but it does point away from magic.¡±

 174

    ¡°Can we get back to Mab¡¯s new power?¡± Sigrid asked once Henry had absorbed Cam¡¯s information.


    He grit his teeth. ¡°She- she had a child from me. A baby girl. Then, somehow, she stole her body. Switched ces. She left our child¡¯s mind in her ancient body to die. She needed a new body, one linked to the new realm of magic.¡± Expressions of horror and dismay were evident on their faces.


    Marisa nodded. ¡°It worked. She looked like a young teen when I saw her. She told me she hadn¡¯t gotten control of the body or the magic yet, but shewasable to create a spell that almost killed me.¡±


    ¡°That much power in the hands of the mad queen in an adolescent body. That¡¯s a thought to keep one awake at night. Where was the other witch? Why didn¡¯t she stop this? She may no longer hold the title of strongest witch now!¡± Roy growled.


    Henry looked down at the table. ¡°She was there. She was waiting. Mab¡¯s spell made the¡­ temporal energy? Time magic? Whatever, it made that stuff in my horns leak out. I managed to use it to make Mab¡¯s ancient body regress to a baby, but Baba took her. She said¡­ said the baby would still die because Mab¡¯s body was old magic¡­ and ipatible. She said I couldn¡¯t help her, but she could. I- I¡¯m wondering now if she had other ideas about using Mab¡¯s body. Ways to get back at her.¡± The thought filled him with dread.


    He stopped there. He kept the news that he no longer had the doomed ring to himself. He knew that while he wore it, no one else could see or feel the ring so they couldn¡¯t be aware that he wasn¡¯t wearing it now. He¡¯d keep that secret from everyone. He could protect his daughter from being targeted for the ring at least. Besides, he just couldn¡¯t bring himself to talk about it.


    Meixiu spared him from having to say more as she brought in a tray with their dinner. His mouth watered at the scent. He looked into her eyes and thanked her gratefully. He was surprised to see the need in her eyes, so he nodded to ept her unspoken request and a blush spread across her face as she smiled.


    He and Tish ate in silence until they realized how quiet it had be. When they nced up, everyoneughed self-consciously at being caught staring fondly at them.


    Conversation started up at the table again, and Henry listened to the tone of it. Rxed. Happy. Relieved to the point of being a little giddy perhaps. That silliness made him think of Roger. The energetic, wild man with no filter. As the thought made him a little sad, he kept it to himself. He didn¡¯t want to disturb their current mood. He¡¯d ask about the manter.


    For now, he¡¯d enjoy this time with his family.


    Life was getting back to normal. Normal-ish. Henry got up in the morning, got dressed in real clothes, ate breakfast and took the subway to work. He enjoyed his job of solving technical issues, increasing efficiency and effectiveness of theirputer hardware and software for the staff, and he returned to his condo at night. A mundane lifestyle and pure bliss for him.


    Granted Cam still called on him for a feeding or two as did Marisa now. He could see she continued to worry about Nate. He learned that official requests sent to the Fae yielded no results yet.


    He¡¯d also gone on a date with Sigrid then Meixiu this week, but he expected this frequency to taper off once they¡¯d recovered from the shock of his presumed demise.


    As he left the Path station to walk home, he recalled his visit with the Hidden Races Council when he gave his statement on what happened. He¡¯d brought Mahati with him, and she¡¯d protected him from the overly aggressive attitude of Rand von Deussel who¡¯d been in a foul mood from the moment they arrived. That Hoekdy hadn¡¯t been friendly either.


    Weird shit continued to happen in the world, and they thought he was somehow to me. Not that they came right out and said that. Henry didn¡¯t disabuse them of the idea that he remained linked to the Fae¡¯s Global Healing spell.


    They may have also been upset about the ongoing fallout from Queen Mab¡¯s party. The cover story had been sufficient to answer most of the questions about what happened that night, and the public epted it. However, the instantaneous travel aspect continued to gue the Council. A significant portion of the guest list lived in Los Angeles. None recalled traveling. No sign of the hinted at technology surfaced and people refused to believe in instantaneous travel, so it remained a mystery.


    Additionally, furtherplications arose. There was the aftereffect of the hostages being immersed in a healing spell for a little over a year. The Security Team could not have covered this unless they¡¯d murdered every guest, eradicating their bodies in the process. While they¡¯d confiscated and destroyed all of the cell phones they discovered, they¡¯d only dealt with the cosmetic evidence on the hostages. They¡¯d shaved heads and clipped nails to eliminate this timeline evidence. They hadn¡¯t been informed about the healing spell, so they missed the internal aspects and fled before the Human authorities arrived.


    There were some miraculous cures. Drug and alcohol addictions were gone. Diseases ranging from nail fungus to cancer, cured! These healed celebs were being more than a little vocal about their improved health. While they were upset about being kidnapped, they wanted to find their captors to thank them. But no sign was ever discovered.


    Life moved on.


    Sandy was back at work, and so far Kesini was behaving admirably. The fact that the petite blonde was now able to manage therger patients without assistance impressed her manager, and she received praise for improving her strength for the job. Sandy likened Kesini¡¯s assistance to wearing an invisible suit of powered body armor, only silky soft and beautiful.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Dayshia was now going to medical school. On her first day back on the job she¡¯d discovered her eyes had a way of seeing below the skin. While assisting a doctor, she saw a tumor the man had missed. He¡¯d taken the bulge along the woman¡¯s leg to be muscle tissue, but she¡¯d looked deeper and saw it for what it was. While she¡¯d annoyed the doctor at second-guessing him, she¡¯d managed to intimidate him into taking a second look. He informed her the next day that she¡¯d been right, but he¡¯d no longer be asking her to assist him. She enrolled for medical school the next day. She wanted to be a surgeon!


    Tish got a job at a hospital where she¡¯d previously worked. They were grateful to have her back. She missed working with her friends, but Sandy was the only one left from the original group still working there. This location allowed her to avoid Doctor Sumeer who might create trouble for her due to her miraculous healing.


    There remained no sign of Roger and that worried everyone.


    The housing situation was undergoing a little adjustment as well.


    Dayshia moved into the second bedroom of Michelle¡¯s condo. Michelle had secretly cravedpany, and with Dayshia¡¯s appreciation of Arachnids, it was a good match. Dayshia also helped draw Michelle out of her self-imposed istion, making her more social and confident.


    Tish¡¯s apartment wasn¡¯t in a segregated building, so her unit was prepared by Hidden Races services before she moved back in. It would only be temporary though.


    Sandy was sharing Henry¡¯s condo with him while hers went onto the market. The property manager was keeping an eye open for the next avable two bedroom unit on an odd numbered floor. Henry needed a more spacious apartment as Tish would be moving in with him and they¡¯d need a room for the baby. Sandy would take over ownership of Henry¡¯s condo at that time.


    With Sandy working mostly night shifts, they hadn¡¯t been at home together until the previous night.


    They¡¯d had a lovely dinner and watched a romantic movie on Sandy¡¯s big TV, now mounted on the wall of his living room. When it was over Sandy pounced on him, and they made out on the sofa for a time. He enjoyed her soft lips, and she trembled at the feel of his. Running his fingers through Kesini¡¯s soft hair sent shivers of pleasure through both her and Sandy. It was rxed and casual, and their passions grew slowly. Finally, he stood and lifted her in his arms.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting to do this,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°Then waste no further time!¡± she grinned.


    He carried her into his bedroom and gently set her down on the bed. He kissed her and felt her tongue slip into his mouth. He sucked on it, and she moaned.


    When he pulled back to tug his shirt up over his head, he looked down and saw Sandy¡¯s dreamy eyes gazing at his torso. She reached out and ran her fingertips down the hard muscles of his stomach until she reached his belt. Kesini was busy undoing it. Her eyes widened as she saw the bulge on his jeans. She bit her lip nervously and looked up into his eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming about this night for so long,¡± she said anxiously. He just smiled at her, so she continued. ¡°I¡¯ve also been dreaming about your Satyr form, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d survive sex with a Satyr.¡±


    Henry snorted in amusement. ¡°I¡¯d never do anything to hurt you! Cam told me my mor is sensitive to the ¡®needs of my partner¡¯ so I¡¯ll only be the size you need. I don¡¯t notice a difference, but apparently, there is.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me to exin how that shit works.¡±


    She grinned up at him. ¡°You don¡¯t like magic do you?¡±


    He smiled in return. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± He assisted Kesini in pulling off his pants, and Sandy purred happily.


    ¡°I like magic! I like it a lot! Give me some of that magic! I may need many, many samples.¡±


    He helped her off with her shirt, a button down as Kesini wasn¡¯t keen on pullovers. Next went the bra as Kesini slid Sandy¡¯s jeans and panties off.


    ¡°I swear Kesini is more eager than I am!¡± Sandy giggled.


    Henry chuckled then began kissing his way down Sandy¡¯s body. Her giggles quickly became moans then cries of bliss as Henry¡¯s lips and tongue reached her most sensitive regions.


    He brought her to a gentle peak, and as she floated back down from Heaven, he gently guided his cock into her hot, wet pussy. He noticed Kesini was spread out over the pillowsnguidly rippling in the blissful tingles. So, it was good for her too!


    ¡°Ooo! Fuck that was amazing!¡± Sandy purred.


    He took his time easing himself deeper, and they both sighed as he finally rested his body on hers.


    ¡°Henry¡­ that feels so good!¡± she sighed.


    He kissed her tenderly then pulled himself out and thrust forward.


    ¡°Ah! Again!¡± she begged. So he did.


    Soon, his hips were pping against hers, and her heels were pulling at his ass as she cried out in joy.


    His release exploded just after Sandy¡¯s, and her eyes flew wide as the energy flowed into her body.


    He rested atop her as they both panted, catching their breath.


    ¡°Sample one,¡± Sandy teased.


    For all her sassy talk, Sandy only managed tost through one moresampleand that one was rxed and yful. Shedidask him to stand and pose in his Satyr form after their second time.


    ¡°One day Iwillmake love to you in this form!¡± she purred then drifted off to sleep, blissfully satiated. Kesini was spread out over the pillows,nguidly blissed out in the shared afterglow.


    Henry grinned as he returned from his memories of the night before. He was in the home stretch, walking along the waterfront walkway from the path station to his building. Dayshia and Michelle were hosting dinner at their ce tonight. Tish would be there too. This was another move to help socialize Michelle. Havingpany in her home was a big step. He was looking forward to it.


    ¡°Henry.¡±


    He slowed his pace and looked around.


    ¡°Henry.¡±


    He stopped and looked to a bench tucked in under some trees. There was a street person there, wearing a torn and dirty three-piece suit.


    ¡°Please¡­¡±

 175

    He moved closer and was shocked to see it was Ikehorn! Roy told him he thought the Fae was dead. Henry looked around but there were only a few other people around, and none were looking his way.


    The second reason he was shocked was that the Fae were in a sort of self-imposed lockdown. Their Queen had broken some important Hidden Racesws, abused treaties, and was locked away in her castle in Irnd, unwilling tomunicate with anyone or answer for these things. The Fae Race were operating on a work to rule and house arrest basis to reduce tensions as they waited for word from Mab.


    He walked over to the bench and stared down at the man. He didn¡¯t look so good. ¡°Ikehorn?¡±


    He got a brief nod. ¡°Help me,¡± the Fae sighed.


    ¡°What can I do?¡± Henry asked. ¡°Do you need money?¡±


    ¡°I need to heal my wounds. Mab¡­ I healed her. Then she fired me. As a goodbye present, she stabbed me,¡± the healer rasped.


    Henry felt a re of his rage. That bitch needed killing. Not that he had the power to do it. Even Baba may not have that ability at this point. His heart sank as he realized he no longer had the means to help Ikehorn. He hadn¡¯t shared that with anyone, least of all a Fae. What was that about deals and the Fae? Maybe he could frighten him off by demanding a favor. Then he wouldn¡¯t have to disclose the truth.


    ¡°If I do you this favor you will owe me. Big time,¡± Henry bluffed.


    Ikehorn looked at Henry in surprise. Then his face fell. He nodded weakly. ¡°I deserve that. I just want to go home. Someone is waiting for me there. Someone important. I will owe you anything you ask. Just help me get home.¡±


    Henry suddenly felt like a creep. Ikehorn was in love and just wanted to live so he could be with his loved one. He hung his head in shame.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ikehorn asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I was trying to scare you off so I wouldn¡¯t have to tell you.¡± Henry looked around again, but they were alone. He looked into Ikehorn¡¯s confused eyes. ¡°I no longer have the ring that¡¯s linked to the healing spell. I can¡¯t pull the healing magic to me,¡± he whispered.


    Ikehorn¡¯s eyebrows went up in surprise. ¡°I thought it was bonded to the bone. Your hand seems fine.¡±


    Henry sighed. He was going to have to tell the whole story. Inexplicably, he trusted this Fae, even after all the shit they¡¯d experienced. He sighed. ¡°Baba cut the finger off and the same finger from Mab¡¯s old body. She swapped the fingers and bound them to us. Then she took my daughter.¡±


    Ikehorn blinked at him. ¡°So¡­ the ring is still on your finger, but the finger isn¡¯t on your body?¡±


    Henry considered that and nodded. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s on Mab¡¯s old body. The one our daughter is trapped in,¡± he exined. A shiver ran down his spine, and his rage suddenly surged. He fought it back and took some deep breaths to calm himself.


    Ikehorn was staring out at nothing as he worked on a solution. He turned to look at Henry. ¡°Sympathetic Magic. You can reach her through her finger. And she can reach you with yours. I don¡¯t know if it will work, but you may be able to draw on the healing energy through this link to her. Would you be willing to try?¡±


    He stared at the desperate man and slowly nodded.


    ¡°We begin by making a connection to Mab¡¯s old body through her finger.¡± He stared into Henry¡¯s eyes. ¡°If this is painful at first, push through it. You only need to set it once.¡±


    Ikehorn took a deep breath and held his hands over Henry¡¯s right. He muttered a few words and pushed with his will.


    Henry¡¯s finger felt like it wasing off, in a fire. He swallowed his scream.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± Ikehorn said then muttered the words again.


    The pain struck again, but this time there was¡­ an echo? Was that pain going to his daughter as well? ¡°Wait-¡±


    The Fae spoke again, and the pain shot through his finger. An equal pain returned from¡­ elsewhere.


    ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t! She¡¯s just a baby! She doesn¡¯t deserve this pain!¡± Henry said trying to move his hand, but it froze in ce. The pain suddenly faded, and his hand moved freely once more.


    ¡°It¡¯s done. Call out to your daughter. Let her hear her father¡¯s voice,¡± Ikehorn said, slumping on the bench, his face ashen.


    Henry looked at the Fae in concern then looked to his finger. ¡°Just speak aloud?¡±


    The Fae looked at him like he was dense. ¡°No, not your actual voice. Hold your finger to pass along the sensation of touch and will your voice to her.¡±


    Henry followed the instructions and apologized to her for causing her pain. He sent her his love and felt something in return. A motion and a sound. The lightest brush of a mind which felt like nothing more than the momentary focus of attention. Then a light, tentative touch. He concentrated very hard and felt wet and teeth. ¡°She¡¯s teething! The finger is in her mouth!¡± Henry gasped then he couldn¡¯t see as tears filled his eyes. He struggled to hold back his emotions as relief, joy, and sorrow crashed through him.


    ¡°I used too much energy. Mab always told me I was sloppy with my spells.¡± He painfully sighed as he thought of the Queen¡­ who stabbed him¡­ and left him to die. Who told him with a cruel smile as hey on the grass bleeding out, that she¡¯d fed Bronagh to her Ogres. The pain of that was finally dull, and he shook his head slightly as none of it mattered right now. ¡°I must try the healing. I¡¯m too weak to do it myself. Will you try to pull the healing spell to our location and lend me your strength?¡±


    Henry looked away from his finger into the pained expression on the Fae¡¯s face. ¡°Will it hurt the baby?¡± He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue from his pocket.


    Ikehorn frowned. ¡°Did it hurt when you pulled the healing magic to you?¡± Henry shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s the same for her.¡±


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s try. Should we go inside?¡± Henry asked nervously.


    Ikehorn shook his head. ¡°If I move, I bleed out. What little healing I managed was insufficient and is failing. I must do it here¡­ and now,¡± he said breathily as his brow furrowed.


    Henry did one more visual scan of the area around them, and it was as clear as it was going to get. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the ring on his finger, imagining it was still on his body. When he felt that synchronize to his nervous system, he reached for the magic and¡­ it came! He opened his eyes and saw Ikehorn watching him collect the green light with a desperate, hungry expression. Henry pulled harder, and the area around them began to glow with the green light. He mentally pushed it to the Fae who greedily epted it. The light shed, and Henry found himself on his butt on the ground a few feet away.


    Ikehorn took a deep breath and finally rxed as the pain was gone. He slowly stood and straightened his jacket. He closed his eyes, and a new mor appeared over his dirty clothes. Then he moved to helped Henry to his feet and shook his hand.


    ¡°Thank you, Henry. What can I offer you in return?¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve already done it. You gave me a link to my daughter and proof of life. Consider the debt repaid,¡± he said sincerely.


    The Fae watched him for a moment then bowed deeply. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we will meet again, so I hope you find peace and contentment in your life.¡±


    Henry nodded to the Fae. ¡°Good luck in your life as well, Ikehorn. Be careful out there.¡±


    With a final nod, Ikehorn walked away and soon vanished from sight.


    Henry suddenly felt the creepy sensation of being watched, so he briskly walked towards his building. The feeling didn¡¯t leave him until he was inside the front door and he looked back. He just caught the trailing edge of a tall man dressed in ck, walk around the corner of the building across the street. Maybe the man had been watching him, but he couldn¡¯t tell.


    Shaking the feeling from his shoulders, he headed inside. He had a dinner party to attend, and his mood had improved dramatically. While he couldn¡¯t share it, he had some good news!


    His daughter was alive!


    -=-Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    The Pixie Observer hiding in the tree above the bench leapt into the sky in her pigeon disguise and flew towards Manhattan as fast as her wings could carry her. From what she¡¯d overheard from her vantage point, she had significant news to bring to Minister Hoek!

 176

    When the injured Fae dragged himself to the bench under her, she knew she was in a prime spot for observing the Satyr. She recognized the Fae from the team briefing and knew he would likely attempt to contact the Satyr as he returned from work.


    The Pixie Observer team positioned themselves in key locations in the city along Henry¡¯s daily path. They were using maximum stealth spells to hide from Fae observation as well, though this wasn¡¯t as criticaltely. It was tiring and worse, boring, but it had finally paid off! The Satyr no longer wore the ring bound to the Fae¡¯s healing spell. That sure sounded like significant news!


    She¡¯d witnessed the Satyr was still able to draw the healing magic to himself, and she¡¯d almost been blown from the tree when the Fae used it to heal himself. A brute force use of magic but undoubtedly effective.


    It would be up to her boss to determine what to do with this news, but there was only one oue she desired.


    She wanted to stop hiding in that damn tree disguised as a stupid pigeon.


    -=-


    Maintaining a smooth, confident stride, Roger walked away from Henry¡¯s condo, heading back towards the Path system. He¡¯d witnessed Henry interacting with the injured man and just saw that man leave under his own power,pletely healed. Henry was the focal point in Roger¡¯s current investigation.


    He¡¯d smelled the blood on the man. A lot of it. It set off some impulses he¡¯d had difficulty restraining.


    Roger was hungry. All the time now. He hadn¡¯t been able to appease that need. Not since that night in the hospital when everything changed.


    No. When Henry changed everything.


    As he walked, he maintained cautious surveince of the area around him, tracking the movements of everyone within his observation zone. Tonight, that was only two punks spraying tags on the wall of an alley off the waterfront path. The hiss of the spray paint cans was unmistakable and familiar.


    Then he smelled it. Beneath the bite of spray propent was something sweet and savory. His mouth began to water. He turned his head, following the scent. It was the punks. He adjusted his step, moving silently as he got closer. The smell wasing off only one of them. The other stank of cigarettes, sweat, and grease.


    ¡°Creating art?¡±


    ¡°FUCKSHIT!¡± the unpleasant smelling one screamed in surprise at Roger¡¯s sudden appearance in the alley¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°I used to do some fairly righteous tags before I moved on to more aggressively subversive acts,¡± Roger said with a grin. He struggled to remain calm as the scent was pulling him closer. The other one¡¯s nervousness was beginning to bother him.


    ¡°You some kind of badass rebel?¡± the calm one asked condescendingly. ¡°Is that why you¡¯re wearing your hat¡¯s brim pulled down to hide your face? You here to show us how it¡¯s done?¡±


    Roger grinned so they could see his bright, white teeth. ¡°No, not at all.¡±


    He swung his left arm out, and his ws ripped the throat out of the smelly one. Gurgling, the youth dropped to his knees then fell forward onto his face.


    Whistling quietly, Roger tilted his head up until he was looking into the terrified eyes of the deliciously scented one.


    The young male stared back into the blood red orbs and noticed those white teeth were significantly longer and sharper than normal teeth. The youth struggled to keep from wetting himself. ¡°What the fuck are you?¡± he whimpered.


    Roger¡¯s whistling was reflecting off the inhuman features of the being before him. He¡¯de to realize in the days since his change that no one else knew these inhuman creatures were living amongst the poption. He¡¯d been gifted with a way to see the truth finally.


    Coming back to the present, he realized his dinner just asked him a question. How rude he was to make him wait.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. What are you? You¡¯re certainly not human!¡±


    The youth lost control of his dder, and Roger wrinkled his nose.


    ¡°You- you can see¡­ me?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I can see everything now.¡±Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Mere steps away from the alley where Roger feasted for the first time on inhuman flesh, a young couple made their way along the riverside walkway towards a condo building overlooking Manhattan. There was a unit on the fourth floor that just became avable, and they had a viewing tonight. Seeing it up ahead, they hurried their eager steps.


    They were very excited to be getting a chance to move into such a lovely building in one of their favorite neighborhoods. It was so much more peaceful here and far less dangerous than the nightmare of where they lived now.


    It was a virtual dreame true.

 177

    Henry Gable contemted the knife in his hand. The grip wasfortable and seemed designed to fit therger hand of his Satyr form. The eight-inch de was wickedly sharp and tapered to a deadly point. Greatest caution was required when using it to keep his fingers connected to his hand.


    His eyes automatically went to his right ring finger.


    Mab¡¯s finger.


    It looked and felt like his now, but he knew it once came from the hand of the mad queen. Not that she¡¯d personally experienced the agony of its removal. That cruelty was inflicted upon their newborn daughter, whose mind was now trapped in the Fae¡¯s body.


    Henry¡¯s mind spun as he once more tried toe to terms with the evil Queen Mab and Baba Yaga had done that night.


    Envious of Henry¡¯s link to a source of magic more potent than her own, Mab designed a master level spell to create a new body for herself, a body linked to the realm of Wild Magic as Henry was. The most heinous aspect of her spell was that it required a child born of her and Henry.


    The powerful but vile spell tapped into Henry¡¯s link to a Fae healing spell and the temporal energies trapped in his horns to support and expedite the process of having the child. Then it sessfully transferred Mab¡¯s mind into the newborn¡¯s body and the child¡¯s mind to hers. Mab had a new lease on life with ess to powerful new magic while their daughter was destined to quickly die in Mab¡¯s ancient body.


    Henry somehow managed to tap into the temporal energies himself to keep his newborn daughter from dying of old age as Mab fled, and he returned the ancient body back to that of an infant. Still, it took Baba Yaga¡¯s assistance to keep her alive.


    Thoughts of the old witch sent a spike of pain through him. She¡¯d had her own horrific ns for his daughter that night. Without concern for the pain she caused, she¡¯d used her supernaturally sharp scissors to remove the right ring finger from his and the baby¡¯s hands and swapped them, using her powerful magic to reshape and resize them for their new hosts.


    His right ring finger with its dragon bone ring was now connected to the tiny hand of his infant daughter. The small piece of jewelry was bound to a curse so powerful, triggering it would result in the immediate eradication of all Human life on earth.


    The idea that his innocent child was carrying the burden of an extinction-level weapon and the unknown agenda Baba had, which required the infant to bear it, tormented his sleep.


    But there was nothing he could do about it because Baba Yaga took his daughter when she vanished that night. He hadn¡¯t seen the crone or his baby since.


    However, Henry knew the child was alive as he had a little magic of his own now, courtesy of a Fae healer he¡¯d saved. While Henry wasn¡¯t a wielder who could bend magic to his will, he was so saturated in Wild Magic, he had enough power to link minds with his daughter through the bond they shared of their traded fingers.


    As often as he could, he¡¯d reach out to her mind and express his love for her. Each time, he¡¯d feel her sweet response. It wasn¡¯t as good as holding her in his arms, but it was all he had.


    ¡°Henry! Did you cut yourself again?¡±


    He was brought back to the present by the outcry and nced at the beautiful Faun rushing over to see him where he stood behind the kitchen ind. He nced down at the surface before him. The sharp knife was resting on the cutting board next to the peppers he¡¯d been slicing. He held his right ring finger in his left hand as he did when he reached his mind out to his daughter.


    He shook his head and released his finger as he smiled at the lovely creature, now standing next to him. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Sorry, my mind was wandering again.¡±


    Tish gave him a gentle frown. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re banished from the kitchen until your braines back to you. Too many sharp objects in here for it to be safe for people with distracted minds. Shoo!¡±


    She gently pushed hisrger body from behind the ind, giving his buns a yful squeeze through his kilt as she did so. He managed to keep his lust in check as he enjoyed the feel of her strong hands on his ass.


    Being a Satyr seemed to mean his body was always a blink away from carnal excitement. At least, it felt that way since his sexual maturity finally began to take effect. Before working at VRL, he¡¯d been disguised as a Human using the magic in the dragon bone ring. He¡¯d spent his waking hours in Human form, and this dyed the maturing of his true Satyr nature considerably. He was still learning how to control his lust and pheromone release, thetter only now bing second nature.


    Henry smiled back at Tish and let himself be moved from the food prep station. He began tidying up the living room instead. The decor was a strange mix of Japanese minimalism and Bohemian eclectic. The ample space contained his furniture and Tish¡¯s, but there was plenty of seating for their guests.


    They were having a house warming party tonight. They¡¯d been in the condo for only two weeks, and he still felt a little off about their new digs. It was in the same building on the same floor as his first condo. He loved how much space it had, theyout, the view of the water, and of course, its location, buthowthey obtained the condo still felt¡­ wrong.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    Unit 909, at the other end of the floor from his old unit 901, became avable after the gruesome murder of a young man in a nearby alley seven months earlier. The youth¡¯s parents eventually decided they could no longer live in the building and returned to Europe.


    VRL purchased the muchrger condo as it was a better investment. They sold unit 901 to Sandy, who used the money from her unit¡¯s sale, 404, to cover most of the cost. Henry assisted her with the remaining amount as he felt responsible for causing her to no longer be Human, a requirement for living on the building¡¯s even-numbered floors.


    Due to a momentarypse of his self-control and circumstancesbeyondhis control, Henry¡¯s Human friends became magic conduits like him. Sandy was the first to change and ultimately became a Gorgon, a being with sentient hair, stronger than steel, and flirty as hell.


    Sandy¡¯s bestie, Dayshia, also lived on the ninth floor, sharing a two-bedroom condo with Michelle Beaumont, who often worked nights and had secretly cravedpany when she was home. Being an Arachnid, Michelle lucked out with Dayshia, who was not in the least put off that her roommate had the lower half of an enormous spider.


    Dayshia became a truth seer when the Wild Magic altered her and her friends. She could see through mors, the magic disguises that hid the Hidden Races from Human eyes, and the ever-present cameras of Human civilization. She was discovering her eyes could do a lot more as well.


    Tish became a Faun, the female counterpart to Henry. She preferred the term Faun over Satyr, but truthfully, the names were interchangeable.


    Also affected that night was their friend Roger, but he was in the wind, and no sign of him could be found. As the man was an anarchist at heart, they were especially nervous about him disclosing the Hidden Races¡¯ existence. The Council currently had their hunter/killer teams out looking for him, but they had other more critical issues to deal withtely.


    While Henry¡¯s first condo had been apact one-bedroom, this one was easily four times the size. It was an ¡®L¡¯ shaped space wrapped around the south-west corner of the building. The south view was lovely, while the west view was of the trees and apartments across thene beyond the foliage. At least the westerly windows wererge and let in a lot of light.


    In the ¡®L¡¯ southern arm was arge open concept kitchen against the interior wall. It was state of the art, and Tish was thrilled. A long granite ind with arge sink, built-in dishwasher, and wine cooler separated the kitchen from an expansive dining/living room with floor to ceiling windows running along the southern wall.


    The ¡®L¡¯ west arm began with a decent sized balcony on the corner of the building, followed by a spare bedroom which would be a nursery, and then the master bedroom with a four-piece ensuite and walk-in closet. Henry thought the soaker tub and separate shower was excessive, but Tish loved the utility and decadence of having both.


    An interior divider wall separated the hall to the bedrooms from the corridor leading to the front door. A three-piece guest bathroom was just inside the entrance, the door to their full-size stacked washer/dryer set was next, and a reasonably spacious hall closet was next to that. Storage was limited, but the condo had more space than either had experienced before.


    Henry smiled as he watched Tish busying herself in the kitchen. She looked radiant, though aside from the glow, there was very little evidence of her pregnancy. She¡¯d been concerned at first, but the Hidden Races doctor they¡¯d found assured her that the baby was doing fine. She assured Tish that while they had no records of the term of a Faun pregnancy, she definitely shouldn¡¯t expect it to match a Human¡¯s.


    Cam also assured them that long terms were typical for Hidden Races and may hint at Satyrs¡¯ lifespan expectations, another current unknown.


    Someone knocked on their door, and Henry shared a look with Tish then nced at the clock. The party didn¡¯t start for thirty minutes. They activated their mors, casual party clothes, then Henry, in his Human disguise, walked down the hall to answer the door.


    He looked through the peephole and saw Sandy in a pretty blue party dress, so he opened the door.


    ¡°Hi, Sandy¨COOF!¡±


    Henry felt his head and shoulders engulfed in silky softness with just a hint of strength. Sandy had her mor active, so her real hair was invisible, and Henry could see the blush on the pretty woman¡¯s face. He stepped back, and Sandy followed, so he was able to close the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. Kesini knew we wereing to see you today, and she¡¯s been such a pest all day as she¡¯s missed you,¡± Sandy said with a pout.


    Henry gently gathered the hair in his hands and moved it from his face to hug it against his chest. Sandy dropped her mor, so he was able to see the glowing golden locks in his arms. He blinked at Sandy.


    ¡°Missed me? We walk to the path station and ride the train together almost every day,¡± he said in confusion.


    Sandy shifted in embarrassment, then her eyes locked on his. ¡°No, she misses all the¡­ intimate time we had when we were living together.¡± Her blush deepened, and he finally understood.


    A smile slipped onto his lips. ¡°SoKesinimisses the intimate time, does she?¡± he said with a teasing tone as he stroked the squirming hair.

 178

    Beautiful blue eyes red as she held his gaze while tingles ran down her spine from his touch. ¡°No, not just her.¡±


    The sweet honesty of her response made him instantly regret his teasing. He¡¯d moved out of his old condo two weeks ago. It was true; Sandyhadenjoyed his attentions most nights in the months leading up to his departure as she¡¯d moved in with him after vacating her unit on the fourth floor.


    With the demands of moving into his new ce and the extra duties he had at work, writing a new firewall application for a contract Cam made with the US Government, he¡¯d been rather preupiedtely.


    He moved forward and took her face between his hands, her eyesshes fluttering from the tingles he was sending through her skin. Then his mouth found hers, and she wrapped her arms around his hard body, crushing herself against him. They were both covered by Kesini¡¯s golden locks.


    Henry slid his right hand around to the back of Sandy¡¯s head, deep in her hair, as his left slid down her back to her ass, pulling her sensitive bits tight against his growing erection. She gasped against his mouth and kissed him harder. The kiss went on as Sandy ground her body against his, her hands clinging to his ass. Kesini was beginning to tremble from the sensation feedback from Sandy. He pulled her tighter to him as his hips rocked sensually, strumming her body.


    Suddenly, Sandy¡¯s moans became a short squeak as her pleasure tripped over the edge into a delicious release. Her body vibrated against his as she clung to him. She pulled back from the kiss to rest her forehead against his cheek as she panted. Kesini released her grip on them both andpletely rxed.


    ¡°God, I¡¯ve missed that,¡± Sandy sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Sandy. I never meant to neglect you. It just got so busy¨C¡± He stopped when she pressed a fingertip to his lips.


    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize. I get it. You¡¯ve got your new ce, and you¡¯re settling in with Tish, who¡¯s carrying your baby. Something on the side is thest thing on your mind.¡±


    A voice came from behind Henry. ¡°Whoa there, girlfriend! Don¡¯t be forcing Human pre-conceived notions on us like that!¡± Sandy peered around Henry, who turned to see Tish standing next to them, frowning at her friend in annoyance. ¡°Henry¡¯s a Satyr, and he¡¯s got a big heart with plenty of love for all of his friends. He has two Subi, a Valkyrie and a Vampire, all sharing intimacy with him as well as us. He and I aren¡¯t a couple in traditional Human terms. Sex is sex, and love is love. He¡¯s just been really busy with worktely.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry, I just thought¨C¡± Sandy began.


    ¡°Yeah, I know, but you¡¯re wrong. I have no issues with Henry being intimate with his friends. He¡¯s not my property. I love being with him, and he loves being with me. That¡¯s good enough. We¡¯re not some hokey TV family; life is far more interesting than that.¡± She sniffed and frowned. ¡°Now, my Faun sense of smell is much stronger than my Human one was, so maybe you can use the extra time before the party to freshen up from your sexy time?¡±


    Sandy¡¯s face flushed with embarrassment, and she squeaked before engaging her mor and rushing out the door.


    When it was closed again, Tish looked at Henry with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have led her into the bedroom to do that? Now we¡¯re going to have to light a candle to burn off the scent of sex. We don¡¯t want to give our guests the wrong impression, now do we.¡± She made shooing gestures again. ¡°Go get the matches and the candle in the top left cupboard in the kitchen.¡±


    Henry gave Tish a quick kiss and hustled away to follow her instructions. She was right. He really did love being with her, as he¡¯d enjoyed living with Sandy. He realized living alone was not for him. He needed someone in his life to keep him from falling into his old solitary patterns.


    She went back to the kitchen and carried the snack tray over to the wide coffee table while he collected the candle and matches. He carried them back to the front entrance and set the pretty candle in the candle stand on the narrow table in the hall. The candle was a light yellow-gold color, roughly six inches tall and two inches wide. He lit it and lowered the stand¡¯s ss chimney over it. After a few moments, he was surprised to pick up the subtle scent of fresh mountain air and wildflowers. He looked closer at it.


    ¡°Where did you get this candle?¡± he called out.


    She walked up next to him and smiled with her eyes closed as she inhaled the lovely scent. ¡°That¡¯s much better!¡± She opened her eyes to grin at him. ¡°It¡¯s a new business that opened up a small shop near my hospital. They sell products with all-natural scents. The candle wax is beeswax. The scentes from the wax, which is collected from the hives of bees in different locations. This one was from a hive in the mountains of Colorado.¡±Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry inhaled deeply, and with his eyes closed, he would swear he was standing in that meadow. Then he felt his body resonating with the scent. His eyes opened, and he stared at the candle. Wild Magic. He was sure of it. The wax was subtly emitting Wild Magic. He looked to the smile on Tish¡¯s face. ¡°How-how do you think they make the candles do that?¡±


    She gave him a silly grin. ¡°Do what? It¡¯s just a candle. Honey picks up the vor of the flowers the bees feed on; why shouldn¡¯t their wax? Don¡¯t overthink it. Just enjoy it!¡± She walked back to the kitchen to check on the wine. ¡°By the way, only one drink for you tonight! We don¡¯t need you going on a mental walkabout!¡±


    He gave the candle another troubled look but put it out of his mind. If Tish couldn¡¯t detect the magic in its scent, then it was probably nothing to worry about. The strength of her connection to the realm of Wild Magic was second only to his own, and her sense of smell was stronger than his. Her hearing and eyesight were better than his too.


    He sighed. Magic was stupid.


    He went back to preparing for the party. Aside from their odd collection of furniture, he was delighted with how their new apartment turned out. Maybe it wasbecauseof the mix of styles that he felt so much at home here. It felt like himandTish.


    When the next knock came from the door, it was only a few minutes before the party was to begin. Henry opened it and smiled at Sandy, who was in a lovely red party dress now. Behind her was Dayshia dressed in her favorite color, gold, and Michelle in her favorites, ck and red. All three were wearing their inside slippers as they came directly from their apartments. He stepped back and let them in.


    Sandy gave him a kiss on the lips with an invisible stroke across the front of his pants from Kesini. That made Sandy blush, but she was smiling as she walked into the living room.


    Michelle stepped up to Henry with a nervous yet excited smile, and he leaned forward to let her press her lips against his. She was much morefortable with these intimate gestures now, as long as he made no moves she might interpret as an attempt to restrain her. She could grab his shoulders and kiss him deeply as she was currently doing, but he kept his hands at his side.


    She ended the kiss when Dayshia gently made a throat-clearing noise behind her. Blushing prettily, Michelle smiled at Henry and followed Sandy.


    Dayshia closed the door behind herself and gave Henry a hungry smile. She was letting her hair grow and, tonight, wore it like a huge mane of dense curls. He itched to sink his fingers into the luxurious mass, but Dayshia¡¯s entire body was a severe distraction for his hands. She grinned as she saw his need for her and suddenly pulled Henry against her chest to kiss him. Herrge breasts were squeezed between their bodies, and Henry¡¯s libido was waking up fast. He felt the heat in his body beginning to tingle, likely caused by kissing so many women so close together. But this was supposed to be a house warming party, not an orgy. He focused on Dayshia¡¯s lips¡¯ soft texture and how good they felt when he stroked them with his lips. By concentrating on her alone, he felt the heat dissipate as tender, one on one sex didn¡¯t trigger it. Dayshia¡¯s heat, on the other hand, rocketed from his sensual kissing and his hard body pressing on all the right ces. She finally pushed him back and watched his mouth with wide eyes. The tip of her tongue touched her plumped lips quickly as she caught her breath.

 179

    ¡°Damn, you¡¯re getting too good at that! You almost made me tear your clothes off!¡± she purred.


    Henry nodded to her with a gentle smile. They hadn¡¯t been¡­ intimate since that night in the hospital. The night he lost control of his heat and changed her and her friends forever. He knew she was frightened to do more than kiss, and that made him sad. She was the one who most resented the change, though she wasing to terms with it recently as it was so useful for her bing a doctor, and ultimately, a surgeon.


    ¡°I love what you¡¯re doing with your hair,¡± he said, his voice still a little rough.


    Her eyes shed to his as she saw how he was restraining himself. Her gaze softened, and she smiled as she primped her hair just a little. ¡°Yes, I love it almost as much as Sandy loves hers. Now, if I could just get Kesini to stop ying with it.¡±


    Henry chuckled as he pictured the blonde locks ying within the mane of dark curls.


    Dayshia took a step towards the living room, then stopped and sniffed the air. ¡°Wh-what smells so good?¡± she sighed. Sandy and Michelle must have been sneakily listening in as they immediately came back to the door to take a whiff themselves.


    ¡°Is that flowers?¡± Sandy said, with a happy smile.


    Henry pointed to the candle. ¡°Tish found this beeswax candle.¡±


    Michelle looked at him, curiously. ¡°Beeswax candles don¡¯t have a scent.¡± He just shrugged, so thedies moved into the living room to question Tish on it. Henry smiled as he saw Dayshia¡¯s hair begin to move seemingly on its own. Sandy needed to drop her mor so the other guests could see her mischievous hairing.


    There was another knock, and Henry opened the door to see his first guests from outside the building. Sigrid and Meixiu smiled back at him as they graciously epted his gesture to enter. It was almost June and a warm spring, so they hadn¡¯t worn outerwear. He took in the dramatic contrast between the two women. Sigrid¡¯s powerfully muscled Valkyrie body was beautifully enhanced by a lovely green mid-thigh dress that ttered her long, muscr legs. Meixiu¡¯s slim, long-limbed Vampire frame was wrapped in a long, flowing white gown with a red sash. The almost dainty impression belied the strength in Meixiu¡¯s petite body.


    Sigrid stepped close and got a warm bear hug from Henry. She felt so good in his arms, and she was enjoying the hug as well. ¡°What smells so good?¡± she asked when she looked around.


    Henry stepped aside and pointed to the candle, then to the end of the hall where they could hear Tish talking about the candles. With a grin, Sigrid slipped off her shoes and put on a pair of guest slippers before moving to join them.


    Henry saw Meixiu was watching him with a slight smile on her lips. He noted she seemed a little weary. After giving her a hug, he held her shoulders and looked into her eyes. ¡°Is everything okay?¡±


    She nodded bashfully and nced down the hall to ensure Sigrid wasn¡¯t within earshot. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just a little worn out from my nightly patrolling.¡±


    His smile dropped. ¡°Patrolling?¡±


    Her smile slipped too. ¡°I¡¯m hunting the serial killer.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Meixiu! You shouldn¡¯t be putting your life in danger!¡±


    She reached up and touched his lips with her fingers to quiet him. ¡°I am not seen if I wish not to be.¡±


    He looked at the slim girl and felt the slight tremble in her fingers. ¡°You¡¯re not feeding.¡± Her eyes widened in surprise at his urate guess. ¡°You can¡¯t help anyone if you don¡¯t help yourself first!¡± He leaned his face closer to hers and gave the Vampire a stern look. ¡°Feed from me.¡±


    Her eyes got a little desperate, so he knew she¡¯d put off feeding for too long. She needed the blood to maintain her strength, and Henry¡¯s blood was supersaturated with Wild Magic, which would greatly energize her.


    He gathered her to him with her back to his chest and held his left wrist before her face. He could feel her trembling in his arms, then she gripped his hand and his forearm in her hands and brought the soft skin to her lips. She darted her tongue out to lick the inside of his wrist. Henry felt the area go numb, so there was just the briefest pinch when her teeth bit in. Then she ced her lips to the punctures and drank. It went on longer than he expected, but she finally paused then licked the wounds to activate her healing enzymes to close the holes. She rested her front teeth against his skin and took slow even breaths as the energy swept through her like a tsunami. When she released him, he had to keep her steady.


    ¡°I think I took too much,¡± she said quietly as she struggled to stay awake and on her feet.


    He frowned, then scooped her into his arms, making her stare at him wide-eyed. ¡°You need a little snooze. You can join the party once you wake.¡± Rxing, her eyes immediately closed, and her head rolled in to rest against his chest.


    He carried her down the hall, brieflying into view of the living room, then turned right to head down the bedroom hallway to the master bedroom. He set her down on the Japanese bed he¡¯d grown to love. This piece of furniture, he¡¯d insisted on keeping in their bedroom. Tish got used to it quickly.


    He slipped her shoes off, closed the door behind himself, and turned to see the group ofdies in the hallway watching him. He gestured they should return to the living room. He left Meixiu¡¯s shoes by the front door then joined the others in the living room.


    Once he got there, Sigrid immediately spoke up. ¡°What happened to Meixiu?¡± Her eyes caught the slightly pink color on his wrist and recognized that immediately. ¡°She fed from you?¡± she said in surprise.


    ¡°She looked a little tired, so I gave her a meal. She took a little more than she expected to. She¡¯ll join us when she wakes,¡± Henry said, keeping the Vampire¡¯s nightly activities private, for now.


    Another knock announced more guests, so Henry used the excuse to escape further questions.


    He opened the door to see Mahati and Kali Chandra standing there. Mahati looked dazzling in a royal blue and gold saree. Henry froze as he took in her gleaming, straight ck hair cascading over her shoulders. Large, dangling gold earrings and delicate gold chains entuated the elegant look. Her cinnamon skin tone seemed a little redder than usual as she fidgeted under his stare.


    ¡°Are you going to rudely gawk at us, or are you going to invite us in?¡± she asserted. Her full crimson lips were frowning once more as her dark eyes shed.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Mahati! Pleasee in! You look amazing in that beautiful dress! Breathtaking!¡± Henry stammered as he gushed.


    ¡°It¡¯s a saree, not a dress¡­ but thank you,¡± the woman said, her tension reced with surprised pleasure. Her lips now held a pleased smile. She moved forward, and Henry tore his eyes away to look to the younger sister. Once more, he found himself staring, as the young woman, who he¡¯d only ever seen in baggy t-shirts and yoga pants, was also wearing a saree, but hers was ck ented in gold and left the tight muscles of her midriff exposed. Her long ck hair was teased up with only a few curls framing her lovely face. The whites of her dark eyes were entuated by dark kohl make-up and seemed to sparkle with her amusement. The chain she usually wore between her nose and nipple was missing, but the impressions ofrger piercings on both nipples were clearly visible against the tight fabric.


    ¡°You look¨C amazing too, Kali!¡± he finally managed as she moved inside. She demurely dipped her eyes to him with a satisfied smile.


    Mahati turned back to face Henry a short distance down the hall. ¡°It¡¯s my understanding that for housewarming parties, it is customary to bring a gift. You refused this?¡±T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry nodded. ¡°We agreed to suspend that particr tradition this time. Your time and presence are enough of a gift.¡±


    The woman nodded with another pleased smile and went the rest of the way down the hall to turn left and join the others in the living room. Her sister followed with a sly smile on her lips. He didn¡¯t really understand Kali¡¯s intentions, so he¡¯d have to keep an eye on her. She seemed to enjoy shaking things up.


    ¡°Hi, Henry!¡±


    He turned back to the open door and saw Mary Carston standing next to Roy. They were both wearingmando ck, and he raised an eyebrow. Mary smirked as she looked down at herself.


    ¡°Yeah, Roy mistimed the duration of our training camp with his pa- with his team. We came straight here from there, so you get us in ourbat gear.¡± Roy had the good grace to seem apologetic, at least.


    ¡°You two are wee in any outfit,¡± Henry said with a smile. ¡°Pleasee in!¡± He gave Mary a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek, then surprised Roy with a hug. They took off theirbat boots and slipped on the slippers. Slightly shaken, Roy stopped by the candle and looked back at Henry. ¡°Speak to Tish about the candle, but yes, it gives off the scent of a mountainside meadow.¡±


    He heard the elevator ding and poked his head out the door to smile at Cam, Marisa, and Siobhan as they approached. All three looked gorgeous, but the mother and daughter Subi exuded a little extra confidence. All three wore sleek, body-ttering party dresses, and they looked like they spent the day at a salon. The Subi had a natural ability to dazzle the eye, but today they had a glow about them, which Henry knew was due to Friday¡¯s¡­ feedings. Bothdies had individually asked Henry for a recharge. Cam took him in her office, and Marisa surprised him with her request in his office. Both werefully charged. Henry¡¯s face warmed as he recalled their appetite yesterday.


    He forced his attention to Siobhan, which wasn¡¯t too difficult as she was also stunningly lovely with soft brown eyes, a megawatt smile, and her long waves of gleaming mahogany hair. As she could now manage its length with some limited control over her link to Wild Magic, she¡¯d begun tolet it grow, and it now reached her mid-back. Its natural length reached her ankles, but he doubted she would allow it to be that long day-to-day.


    Like Cam and Marisa, Siobhan had been upgraded by exposure to Wild Magic. She was a Selkie and now no longer needed to carry around her magic-infused pelt in a purse as it had be her hair. She only needed to will it to be her pelt to transform herself into her seal form.

 180

    She¡¯d initially been exposed to the new magic by a man who wouldn¡¯t be attending the party tonight, Nate Walker. There¡¯d been no sign of Henry¡¯stest friend since Queen Mab took control of his mind and used him to escape. The suspicion was that Mab still had the Incubus with her in her castle in Irnd, but the impregnable fortress was locked tight. That was something else that troubled Henry¡¯s dreams.


    Thedies reached his door, and each gave him a sensual kiss before going inside. While he¡¯d expected it from the Subi, he was a little surprised by the passion in Siobhan¡¯s kiss as Henry hadn¡¯t been intimate with her¡­ directly, though he¡¯d helped herplete her upgrade with Marisa¡¯s assistance. He blinked at the cheeky smile she gave him over her shoulder as she dropped her shoes, slipped on the guest slippers, and joined the others in the living room.


    He locked up and moved to the entrance of the open space. He panned his eyes over his friends, and aside from Meixiu, all were present and ounted for. They were all making themselvesfortable on the couches and chairs. He joined Tish and took drink orders to ensure everyone had a ss in their hand ranging from cool spring water to fruit juice to twelve-year-old scotch for Roy and Mary. The veggie trays were being enjoyed as well.


    The knock on the door caught him by surprise as he was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t invited anyone else. With a nce at Tish, he went to the door and looked through the peephole. He blinked in surprise and pulled the door open. Twodies stood there in theirplimentary colored party dresses, looking so sweet and innocent. If it hadn¡¯t been for Yuko¡¯s penchant for trying to kill him with her Kitsune magic, he¡¯d have let down his guard. Instead, he looked at them cautiously.


    ¡°Yuko. Jun. You both look very lovely today¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you going to invite us in?¡± Yuko asked, her voice trembling just a little. Jun hooked her little finger around her sister¡¯s and settled her older sibling¡¯s nerves.


    Jun tilted her head at Henry. ¡°Kali invited us to your party. She did not inform you.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ no, she did not. But¡­ she would not,¡± Henry sighed gently, and Jun¡¯s eyes twinkled with amusement. They were both aware of the dark beauty¡¯s enjoyment of generating chaos.


    Henry nodded to himself. He could rise to this challenge. He faced Yuko, whose eyes looked troubled. ¡°I wee you two to join the party, but I ask that you refrain from activities of an explosive nature.¡±


    Jun burst into giggles at Henry¡¯s careful choice of words, and even Yuko cracked a smile, looking up at him sweetly from under her bangs. Her eyes twinkled a little as well.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± the older sister said quietly.


    ¡°Then pleasee in,¡± he said, standing aside.


    They stepped inside and waited for Henry to close the door and lead them to the living room. He caught Kali¡¯s eyes immediately, seeing her anticipation, and raised an eyebrow. The young woman grinned as her sister looked at her in disapproval. When Yuko and Jun came around the corner, conversation lulled as all eyes looked in their direction.


    ¡°Some of you know or know of Yuko Imamura and her sister Jun. They live on the seventh floor. Please make them feel wee,¡± Henry said. Eyes went to him next, and he nodded to his friends.


    Tish gestured for them toe further into the room and offered them a drink. They both indicated white wine, so she busied herself with getting that while Henry found them chairs to sit in. When he had hisst two guests situated, Meixiu appeared in the doorway with a shy look on her face. She hustled over to squeeze herself between Sigrid and Marisa on one of three sofa¡¯s Tish and Henry filled their new ce with. He got her a ss of spring water, which she epted with a grateful smile.


    Henry and Tish moved to stand by the kitchen ind, facing their friends, and raised a toast.


    Henry cleared his throat, and all eyes went to him. Once, that much attention would have crippled him with stage fright, but these were his friends, something else that was rtively new for him. He felt wealthy beyond measure for having so many and beingfortable with them. He missed Nate, but he pulled his mind from those thoughts.


    ¡°Thank you all for joining us in our new home. If it weren¡¯t for the incredible generosity of Cam and herpany, VRL, and the efforts of Sigrid to make the deal, we would not have had the opportunity of living here.¡± There was a polite round of apuse for the twodies. ¡°I¡¯d also like to take a moment to reflect on the humbling and often frightening nature of fate that made this unit avable. I hope the terror responsible for these murders is quickly caught and brought to justice for the sake of the victims and their families.¡±


    Everyone followed Henry¡¯s lead and raised their ss to join the toast.


    Once done, Roy spoke up. ¡°We offered to join the Council¡¯s efforts to hunt down the killer, but they refused,¡± he said as Mary nodded. ¡°Instead, they¡¯re insisting on a curfew for all Hidden Races members who don¡¯t need to be outside at night.¡±


    Michelle nodded. ¡°The Council has confirmed that five of the six victims have been members of the Hidden Races. They believe the first Human was likely a mistake since all others have been non-Humans, and there are so many more Humans out there. Five to one seems like a pattern.¡± Henry was pleased to see howfortable Michelle was bing amongst their group. Not that long ago, she was almost crippled with shyness when asked to speak before people.


    Mary looked at her. ¡°So, the human murdered at the first crime scene was just coteral damage?¡±


    Michelle nodded again. ¡°The trauma to the Human¡¯s body was much less severe.¡±


    Roy wasn¡¯t finished. ¡°I don¡¯t understand the Hidden Races Council¡¯s thinking on this. New York is just too big to cover everywhere this monster hunts, even with the number of agents they have at their disposal. They should incorporate our teams. The packs that live around the city are all willing to participate.¡±


    ¡°The Council likely has enough trouble keepingtheirteams invisible to the Human police patrols,¡± Cam offered.


    ¡°I think you¡¯ve hit the nail on the head when you saidmonster hunts. Based on what I¡¯ve heard from my contact within the Coroner¡¯s office, I believe the killer is feeding off his victims,¡± Sigrid added.


    Several people squirmed ufortably hearing this.


    Michelle spoke again. ¡°Some of us work nights, but I take cabs and keep to the well-lit main roads. This seems to be a good way to avoid danger. So far, all of the victims were attacked outside, at night, in darker neighborhoods.¡±


    Mary frowned as her former police detective skills were intrigued by the case. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be a pattern for their preferred location. The first murders were here in Jersey City. The second scene was in Brooklyn, then Manhattan, Queens, and finally Yonkers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of territory to cover. How are they getting around? Do they have a car?¡± Roy then looked at Michelle. ¡°Taking a taxi may not be as safe as you think.¡±


    ¡°Roy!¡± Cam scolded.


    ¡°What? They may be driving a taxi. That would exin how they¡¯re in so many locations,¡± he exined. ¡°No one pays attention to another cab on the road.¡±


    Mary shook her head. ¡°That theory only works if the victims were traveling to somece distant. The first Hidden Races victim was a block from his home and walked there with a friend, who was also killed. Were the other victims far from their usual routes?¡±


    Michelle paused as she recalled the reports she¡¯d read. ¡°No¡­ all of the victims were close to their homes or businesses or directly between them.¡±


    Mary looked at Roy. ¡°So, the killer may be using a cab to get themselves around the city, but they aren¡¯t using the vehicle to lure their victims to these dark spots tomit the crimes.¡±


    ¡°The Hidden Races aren¡¯t easy targets. We fight back! Wielders will use their abilities against attackers!¡± Yuko suddenly blurted.


    Roy responded. ¡°We don¡¯t know anything about the killer except they may be able to see through mors to identify non-Human targets. Five to oneisa pattern. They cause vicious damage to their victims, and as Sigrid mentioned, they seem to consume parts of their victims. I suspect they¡¯re Hidden Races themselves and have ws and teeth like a Werewolf. I can¡¯t specte on their motive.¡±


    ¡°No one can see through mors! That¡¯s impossible,¡± Yuko insisted.


    Dayshia began to chuckle. ¡°Nothing is impossible, girlie.¡± She dropped her mor, and her gorgeous, oversized eyes red with brilliant blue, green, and gold light from within. ¡°Oh! What lovely and colorful tails!¡±


    Yuko¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What are you?¡± she gasped.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Dayshia smiled gently at her as she switched back to her Human mor. ¡°We don¡¯t know. Even Baba Yaga didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh! Di¡¯ ye hafta mention her name?¡± Roy snapped in annoyance as he nced around, looking for shadows.


    ¡°Roy, you know she¡¯s not likely to show her face around Henry any time soon,¡± Sigridined.


    The big redhead nced over at Henry and seemed to calm himself. ¡°Right, tha¡¯s true. Sorry,d.¡±


    Henry shrugged. He was aware that Baba wasn¡¯t going to visit him as she¡¯d stolen his daughter from him. She hadn¡¯tpletely driven a stake into his heart to kill his love for her, but their rtionship was¡­ severely strained, to put it mildly.


    ¡°If we can put a bookmark in the discussion about the serial killer, has anyone heard anything about a certain mad Queen?¡± Marisa asked the group but seemed to be directing her attention to Michelle, who was privy to the Council and seemed willing to share. Henry knew she missed Nate. He missed Nate too! They both suspected Mab still had him.

 181

    ¡°The Fae are no longer restricting themselves to work to rule or house arrest. Last month they went back to their day to day routines and actually seemed more cooperative than before, with one exception. Any requests for information about Queen Mab is met with silence. They won¡¯t or can¡¯t speak about her. It¡¯s almost like she doesn¡¯t exist for them.¡± Michelle gave Marisa a sympathetic look.


    ¡°She broke the deal.¡± Eyes turned to Mahati, who continued. ¡°When Queen Mab enacted her spell at the party, she broke the deal Henry made with her for the mors for his friends. She requested three favors in return. The deal I brokered was simple: The favors cannot, in any way, impinge upon Henry¡¯s physical or mental freedom. They must not, in any way, endanger him physically or mentally. And those two conditions also applied to those Henry considered important to him.¡±


    She watched that sink in with the other guests. ¡°Mab used up her first favor making Henry assist with the healing of the Ogre. No risk there. A simple exchange. The second favor was participating in the Fertility Ceremony. It was during that event that she broke the deal. She intentionally bound him against his will. This act impinged upon his freedom. Then she had his child and took its body, leaving the child to die of old age. This act physically endangered someone Henry considered important to him, his daughter. When he attempted to protect the child, she attacked him with her magic. This act endangered him physically, which broke the third and final condition of the deal.¡±


    The others were realizing how severely the Queen broke the deal, an unthinkable breach for a Fae.


    Mahati nodded to Henry. ¡°Shortly after the night of Queen Mab¡¯s party, I filed a grievance against the Queen with the Fae Court, outlining the terms of the deal and the actions she took which broke all of its conditions. The court called one witness: Ikehorn, Queen Mab¡¯s former Enforcer. He confirmed the charges. The sanctity of honoring a deal is the cornerstone of Fae society. They aren¡¯t above finding a loophole in a poorly worded deal to wiggle out of having to fulfill their side, but our deal was solid and not open for interpretation. The court found their Queen at fault. Mab has been dethroned. They won¡¯t speak of her again. Unfortunately, this also means they won¡¯t help us get Mr. Walker back.¡±


    The room was quiet as everyone stared at Mahati incredulously. Henry moved to stand before her then knelt at her feet. He took her hand in his and looked her in the eye. ¡°Thank you for this justice for my daughter.¡± He kissed her hand as she watched him with wide eyes.


    Cam¡¯s mouth was open in shock, but nothing wasing out. She gave herself a shake. ¡°You went after the Queen of the Fae in a Fae court?!? You do realize if you lost the case, your life would have been over, and that would have been the best-case scenario!¡±


    Mahati was trapped by the admiration in Henry¡¯s eyes. It made her feel a little drunk, and his touch was sending unfamiliar but intriguing tingles throughout her body. Her face was flushing once more, so she tore her eyes away from him and looked to Cam. ¡°I couldn¡¯t lose this case. My evidence was unquestionable, the deal was simple, concise, and watertight, and the crime perpetrated could not be ignored by the court. I also spoke with my mother to get her opinion of the Fae Court¡¯s current political climate before presenting my case. Mab¡¯s recent decisions have put her people at risk multiple times. There wasn¡¯t a better time to file the charges against her.¡±


    ¡°Well, you certainly have a pair of brass ones on you to take on the Mad Queen on her home turf,¡± Roy said with a wry grin.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Your confidence is admirable, but nothing is straightforward with the Fae. You took a major gamble, and thank the stars above it worked. This time.¡±


    Mahati huffed at the fear in their voices. She looked back to Henry, who was still watching her with awe in his eyes. She smiled as his hero-worship made her efforts feel so worthwhile. She¡¯d never felt so good about her work before.


    ¡°Henry, let¡¯s serve the hors d¡¯oeuvres,¡± Tish said, drawing his attention away.


    As he sent onest smile to Mahati on his way to the kitchen, he missed Yuko staring daggers at the dark-skinned woman.


    Kali¡¯s subtle smile saidshedidn¡¯t.


    Colonel Gordon Crane leaned back against the seat cushions in the executive jet the army used to take him to and from Washington, DC, for his debriefings. Due to the sensitive nature of his mission, this was the best method for his travel. He assumed this was how his formermander, Colonel Devlin, made his reports as well.


    His mind shed back to the day Devlin lost his life to something not born on this Earth. That little fact wasn¡¯t widely known. Whatever the hell that ck ribbon creature had been, he knew it hadn¡¯t originated on the he called home. For him, it was the unequivocal proof that Devlin was right, they were at war, and for the first time, the enemy wasn¡¯t us.


    It was shortly after that tragic event that he¡¯d been called to Washington for his first debriefing. He realized now how unprepared he¡¯d been for what came next.


    Then, he¡¯d been First Lieutenant Gordon Crane, but he¡¯d learned upon his arrival at the Pentagon that he¡¯d been promoted to Colonel. He waited for the other shoe to drop. In his experience, rapid promotions only came in times of deep peril.


    He¡¯d been ordered to get everyone out of the town and personally report to the Colonel¡¯s chain ofmand in Washington, immediately. Before he left, he¡¯d delegated the task of bugging out to his next inmand and headed for the closest airport. He¡¯d had to run a gauntlet of the press, but he smartly kept his mouth shut. Next, he was sitting in a windowless meeting room somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon, across the table from three very grim-faced men in dark grey suits. He only recognized the Director of Homnd Security, Stephen Dawes. The other two were unknown to him. The conversation came back to him.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Colonel Crane, do we have containment?¡±


    Gordon looked to the speaker. ¡°Yes, Director. The town was evacuated immediately upon our arrival. Most civilians were unconscious, and none of the conscious were in the proximity of the stadium. There are no civilian witnesses. Unfortunately, there¡¯s no sign of the ss entities.¡±


    After the¡­ flying creature escaped from the gymnasium and massacred some of his teammates and Devlin, they¡¯d opened the gym to find it empty.


    Where the ss entities went was a mystery, as was where the flying creature came from.


    ¡°We received word that the Chinese troops are leaving the remote province empty-handed and minustheirleader as well,¡± Dawes admitted, and Crane stared at the men in surprise. ¡°Apparently, a doorway opened and the ss being stepped through.¡±


    ¡°When did this happen?¡± Gordon asked.


    ¡°We understand it was the same night ours went missing,¡± the Director replied.


    Crane thought about that. ¡°A globally coordinated extraction?¡±


    ¡°By who? Did anyone get past your people?¡± Dawes asked, and Crane shook his head definitely.


    ¡°No, sir. The gym was built on a solid concrete pad. We had soldiers on the roof of the gym and a full guard encircling the building. The building was sealed. Unless¡­ unless this doorway was opened inside the gym from the other side. The location the entities were moved to,¡± Crane suggested.


    One of the other men finally spoke. His voice was like tumbling gravel, and he had a thick southern ent. ¡°Shit, that¡¯s a nightmare scenario I¡¯d rather not consider. Doorways that open in our most secure locations, bypassing all security measures?¡±


    Gordon could only nod. The idea gave him chills too.


    The third man finally spoke. He was tall and handsome, but his smile was slightly crooked. There was¡­ a look in his eye, or maybe it was his bodynguage, but something made the hair on Crane¡¯s neck stand on end to be the man¡¯s focus of attention. ¡°Colonel Devlin spoke highly of you. He ced a great deal of faith in your abilities and judgment. We depended on the Colonel to spearhead some sensitive missions where our society¡¯s very stability was threatened. Can we rely upon you to the same degree?¡±


    Gordon Crane was no fool. He knew the stakes Colonel Devlin yed for, and some of the decisions the man had made led to questionable actions. This thought led him to recall their previous mission. That said, he had no doubt in his mind there was a greater good Devlin had been working towards in every case. Devlin never shared those decisions with anyone. Now, Gordon was being asked to follow in the man¡¯s footsteps to protect his country. He might not make the same decisions as Devlin did, but putting his country first?


    He could do that.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± he said with conviction.


    There was a subtle easing of tension in the room.


    ¡°We need you to get a handle on these pseudo-cloud creatures. We need to contain them, control them, or find a more efficient way to eliminate them. Just let us know what you need, and we¡¯ll get it for you. Report only to us. This is top secret at the highest clearance level, and there must be no hint of this in the press or the public. Is this understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    The Director opened his briefcase and slid a dossier across the table. ¡°This is everything we know about the creatures.¡±


    Gordon saw the docket wasn¡¯t very thick. He nced inside and saw the data on the first ne-pseudo-cloud collision was in there. As was a report on the Chinese ss entity.


    ¡°Have your troops been evacuated?¡± Dawes asked.


    ¡°I received word when Inded in Washington that they¡¯ve left the town and have moved the quarantine zone out to a five-mile radius,¡± he reported.


    ¡°The town will be sterilized to ensure nothing is left behind and to validate the cover story,¡± the man with the gravelly voice said.

 182

    Gordon thought that was overkill and would generate more attention, but he wasn¡¯t being asked his opinion. He nodded.


    ¡°There seems to be a number of therger pseudo-clouds congregating in Missouri. You might want to take your team there to start. Thank you for taking on Colonel Devlin¡¯s mission.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my honor, Director.¡± He stood as the briefing was obviously over. He ced the docket in his briefcase, locked it, and then nodded to the men and left the meeting room.


    He had his marching orders, and he¡¯d much rather be out in the field than in some stuffy meeting room any day.


    Today, Gordon was once again returning from that meeting room. The pseudo-clouds¡¯ incursions were increasing, and months after that initial meeting, they still had no definitive n for stopping them. They¡¯d discovered it was possible to kill them, but their current methods were inefficient and not always sessful.


    Meanwhile, there¡¯d been some disturbing news from the other side of the world. A colossal breach had formed over the south pacific midway between the inds east of Australia and west of Fiji. It was caught by the satellite cameras of the Climate Research Division of the EPA. Where previous breaches let in individual pseudo-clouds, this one gave birth to a monster. The cameras were now tracking the vast cloud bank¡¯s trajectory, taking it eastward towards Wallis and Futuna, seemingly flying against prevailing air currents. Then it was discovered to be releasing smaller pseudo-clouds on multiple vectors. It was being likened to a flying aircraft carrier, only twenty timesrger than anything the US had on the seas. They would have to do something about it before it got too close to the US west coast.


    More disturbing were the stories of entire poptions of remote Pacific ind chains disappearing after these storms passed overhead. There¡¯s no sign of them or foul y, and their boats remain where they left them. No clues were left behind to exin their disappearance at all.


    Crane¡¯s current mission had him heading back to the wheat belt, Nebraska this time. His team¡¯s research into the pseudo-cloud¡¯s internal anatomy was looking promising. They¡¯d had the eggheads in engineering build them some new mapping radar tech. They nned on using it to discover what was inside the fluffy masses that let them direct their movement and store the energy they used to zap each other.


    Satellite imagery showed two massive beasts moving towards each other, and they¡¯d likely meet tonight at dusk.


    He and his team intended to be there to meet them.


    -=-


    The huge clouds rumbled and collided above the expansive wheat fields as Sam sat in his harvester watching from the edge of the property. Bolts of lightning asionally shot down between them to strike the ground, and he grinned each time he saw it.


    He¡¯d been a storm watcher since he was a little kid. While his sister would run and hide under her nkets, he¡¯d be right there by the window, taking it all in, fascinated and excited at the same time.


    These new storms, though, he¡¯d never seen anything like them. The clouds seemed¡­ different. They didn¡¯t behave¡­. normally. They seemed to move with a will of their own. He¡¯d even seen them move against the wind!


    The two thunderheads he was currently watching looked like they were bumping chests threateningly. Well, that¡¯s what it looked like to him.


    He picked up the mic on his radio to call his buddy Jake in the harvester idling next to his.


    ¡°Do you see them? They¡¯re fightin¡¯!¡± he gushed.


    ¡°Sam, they¡¯re clouds. Clouds don¡¯t fight. Hey! Didn¡¯t you hear that guy on TVst night? He exined this. It¡¯s just oddly charged ions identally released from that Commie nuclear power nt over in Russia. The stuff got up in the sky and collected in the clouds. I¡¯m not buying that it was idental, though!¡± his friend grumbled. Jake was convinced the Ruskies were the source of most of their woes.


    Sam hadn¡¯t watched TV the night before as he¡¯d been driving the back roads with Jeannie, his wife, who was also an avid storm watcher. She liked to make love in their truck while lightning shed in the skies above them. His mind took him back to how wild she¡¯d beenst night.


    Jake¡¯s voice interrupted his sexy thoughts. ¡°The science guy said there was no danger from radioactivity, but the ions were makin¡¯ the clouds push other clouds with the same charge. Like mas.¡±


    ¡°Mas?!? Pffft! What a load of crap that is!¡± Sam scoffed. ¡°These clouds ain¡¯t behaving like mas. I¡¯m tellin¡¯ ya, they¡¯re alive and acting like¡­ like¡­¡± he strained his mind to think of a creature Jake would recognize had the same behavior.


    ¡°Walruses.¡±


    Sam burst intoughter at Jake¡¯s quiet, almost reverent, suggestion. He looked over at the man in the cab of the other big farm machine and was d he hadn¡¯t pressed the mic button. His friend was watching the vast clouds bumping each other, and his mouth was hanging open in awe. Sam was more than a little impressed with his friend¡¯s ability to take that leap. He pressed the button. ¡°Exactly! It¡¯s like they¡¯re fightin¡¯ for dominance!¡±


    Jake looked over with a grin. ¡°King of the Clouds?¡±


    Sam shared augh with him.


    Suddenly the sky shed a brilliant blue-white, and the ground below their machines hummed loudly. The engines shut down on both harvesters, and the lights went off. They looked back at the towering clouds to see one had an enormous rip down its side. It began to slowly drift lower. Sam noticed the other cloud was rising twice as fast as thewoundedcloud was falling. Rain began to hit the harvesters¡¯ windshields and seemed to being from the rip in the dropping cloud.


    He cracked open the side window and saw Jake do the same. ¡°Does that look like a wound to you?¡± Sam called out across the gap.


    ¡°Shit, yeah. Is this rain supposed to be the cloud¡­ bleedin¡¯?¡± Jake replied, his voice strained by wonder. ¡°What¡¯s the rising cloud doi-GEEZUZ!!!¡±T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    While they¡¯d both missed the lightning strike that caused the gash, they got an eyeful of the next. An enormous bolt of pure white light shot down the side of the rising cloud to stab deeply into the dropping one. There was a second sh, this one yellow anding from the core of the injured cloud. An enormous fireball erupted upwards following the path the bolt had carved. The upper cloud was now in trouble as the mes climbed up its outer surface. It released a deluge of rain after a moment, shedding its outeryer to cool the rising fire. The victorious but now smaller cloud moved off to the south.


    As Sam and Jake sat in their harvesters gawking at the light show overhead, the rain began to taper off.


    The cloud that¡­ exploded was quickly thinning out into a misting rain. Sam spotted something a little more substantial and shiny drifting down tond in the field not too far ahead of them.


    He suddenly had a burning need to see that¡­ thing from inside the dead cloud.


    He needed something to carry whatever he found, so he grabbed his lunch bag and took his sandwiches out of the reseble container Jeannie had packed them in. She always put his lunch in sandwich bags, then the rigid stic container to keep him from squishing them, then that went into his lunch bag. For once, he was grateful for the extra packaging. Dropping the now empty container in the lunch bag, he opened the door to his harvester and stepped out, item carriers in hand. The mist cooled his skin as he turned his face up to it. It felt good!


    ¡°Sam! What the hell are you doin¡¯? Get back inside! You don¡¯t know what that stuff will do to you!¡± Jake yelled from the now open door of his own machine.


    ¡°It¡¯s just water! Besides, didn¡¯t you say the science guy said it was harmless?¡± Sam grinned at his friend. He climbed down from the cabin to the ground and set off across the field while he still had light to see with thete afternoon¡¯s setting sun poking under the clouds from the horizon.


    ¡°Dammit, Sam! Wait up!¡± Jake called out.


    He waited for his friend to catch up, then the two men walked out into the field.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Jake asked, turning the brim of his baseball cap to keep the rain from his face.


    Sam wiped his own face and pointed to a spot not too far ahead. ¡°Something fell out of the dead cloud,¡± he said and grinned at Jake¡¯s cautious look.


    ¡°Why are you bringing your lunch?¡±


    Sam snorted. ¡°I¡¯m not. Just the container in case we find something worth keeping.¡±


    Jake nodded at his friend¡¯s quick thinking.


    They came upon a sizeable ring-shaped scorch mark in the wheat and stopped beside it. The burned section was a good three feet from its outer to inner edges, and the inner circle itself had to be around twenty-five feet across.


    ¡°What the hellisthis?¡± Jake eximed.


    Sam looked at it, then looked up. ncing back at the distance they were from their harvesters, he smiled. ¡°I got it! This is where the first lightning bolt from the surviving cloud touched down. It musta been a tube!¡±


    ¡°Well, it burned the wheat to a crisp!¡± Jake growled.


    ¡°Yeah, but look at the growth inside the burn! Look how healthy it is!¡± Sam gushed.


    They walked around the scorched zone and admired the tall, strong stalks. All the wheat was much taller and healthier than it usually was this time of year. They didn¡¯t normally harvest this early in the season, but the grain was ready, so they had to be, too. Sam turned away and hurried on to the spot where the shiny substance fell. Jake caught up to him and looked down at what seemed like aluminum foil.


    ¡°Tin foil?!? We came out in this rain to look at tin foil?¡± Jakeined.


    Sam scowled at him. ¡°It was inside the cloud! That means something! Maybe it¡¯s like one of those foil party balloons! Or a weather balloon! This could prove they¡¯re man-made! Maybe there¡¯s some kind of radio control receiver nearby!¡±

 183

    Jake¡¯s expression suddenly turned angry. ¡°It¡¯s the damn Ruskies! They¡¯re sending drone clouds over here to¡­ to¡­¡±


    ¡°Zap our wheat?¡± Sam asked, suppressing his grin.


    ¡°Yes! Zap our¨C¡± Jake caught the amusement in Sam¡¯s eyes. ¡°Fuck you! What¡¯s your idea then?¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t got one yet. I need more information. Help me look for the controller. It should have fallen in the same ce as this shiny stuff or close by.¡±


    The two men carefully inspected the ground. Sam paused to use a broken wheat stalk to poke several foil strips into onepartment of his stic lunch container. The foil was so thin, he was afraid touching them with his fingers might tear it. The box protected it well enough, and he slipped it back into the lunch bag.


    ¡°Sam! I found something!¡± Jake yelled out.


    Sam hustled over to Jake¡¯s side to see what he was looking at. Hanging on some bent over wheat stalks was a thin mesh of fine gold threads roughly two-foot square. At each thread intersection was a t, oval translucent stone that glowed with a faint yellow light. The gems had stuff embedded in them like¡­ like¡­


    ¡°Is that amber? The stuff prehistoric bugs got caught in?¡± Jake asked, and Sam gave him another impressed look. Jake had been watching the History Channel. He took a closer look. It did look a bit like amber.


    The mesh wasn¡¯t connected to anything, so Sam lifted one corner while Jake got the other. A burst of light exploded outwards from the mesh, and the two men found themselves on their backs in the wheat.


    ¡°What¡­ what happened?¡± Sam asked as he sat up. His eyes widened as he saw they were quite a distance from where they¡¯d been.


    ¡°Whoo boy! That amber packs quite a punch!¡± Jake said with a silly grin as he sat up.


    Sam snorted as that tickled his funny bone for some reason. He was all smiles, too, though he didn¡¯t know why. Both of them were now thoroughly soaked as the rain seeped into the ground.


    Sam stood and helped Jake up as well. They walked back to the mesh.


    Jake peered closely at it. The mesh had split in quarters, and two of them, the sections Sam and Jake touched were no longer glowing. The remaining two pieces still had a glow.


    Sam spotted his lunch bag on the ground. He dumped the container out and used the bag as a glove to pick up one of the lit mesh sections. This went into the secondpartment of his stic container, which he sealed tight. Then he put the second lit piece in the lunch bag for Jake. He left the dull sections on the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get a couple of pieces of the foil for you and Brenda too. Souvenirs. May be worth something someday!¡±


    Jake smiled at him gratefully as Sam used his broken wheat stalk trick again to push a few strips into the lunch bag and handed it to him.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Jake said, then looked down at their sodden clothes. ¡°I guess we should go home and get some dry clothes before we go back to work.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Sam said, then grinned wickedly. ¡°I¡¯m gonna give Jeannie a big ol¡¯ wet hug first!¡±


    Jake started to chuckle thenugh as that seemed hrious. He wasn¡¯t sure why he felt so good, but he decided Brenda would get a big wet hug, too. ¡°Let¡¯s get outta here!¡± he said. Sam nodded with a big grin on his face. Obviously, he was also feeling pretty damn good!


    Sam carried his container and Jake, the lunch bag, as they walked back to the harvesters. The wheat they moved through was tall and healthy, and they found no sign of the scorched ring or the circle of taller wheat they¡¯d spotted earlier. That spot had spread outwards, and the crops around them had taken on the health and tallness of the stuff they¡¯d seen in the circle. They shrugged and began to run towards the big machines. As it felt so good to run, they went right past the harvesters and continued down thene between the fields. They ran faster and faster,ughing with each other in their delight. When they reached the parking lot, they hopped into their trucks and waved to each other as they went their separate ways.


    Sam just lived a few miles down the road in a small trailer set back from the highway. He parked and ran to the door with his container in hand. He stepped inside, and Jeannie looked up in surprise from her seat on the couch. Petite but plump and sexy, she beamed a smile at her husband.


    ¡°What are you doing home so early!¡± she asked with a grin. She caught sight of something glowing in the container he dropped on the seat of the recliner next to the door.


    He kicked off his boots and moved to the couch to drop his body on top of hers. She immediately began to squeal.


    ¡°Sam! You¡¯re soaking wet! You¡¯re getting me all wet too!¡±


    He chuckled wickedly. ¡°Am I getting you all wet, baby? Are you all juicy for me?¡±


    Her eyes red with hunger as he ground the bulge of his swelling cock against her pussy through her thin panties.


    ¡°Oh fuck, that feels so good!¡± She moaned and clung to him, any concerns of being wet lost in her need for him. ¡°Get those wet things off and fuck me!¡±


    Sam smiled and pulled his shirt off.


    ¡°Ooo! Sam! You¡¯re all shiny!¡± Jeannie purred as she ran her fingers over the wet skin on his chest and stomach. A puzzled frown appeared on her face. His muscles felt firmer thanst night.


    Sam stood and shucked off his clothes so fast she couldn¡¯t follow it with her eyes. Then he was pulling her panties off. She began to giggle nervously as he was moving so fast. That giggle became a moan as he stretched his body over top of hers and drove his hard cock deep inside.


    ¡°Ohhh! Fuck baby! Slow it down! Make itst!¡± she sighed.


    Sam tried, but it felt so good, and Jeannie was so hot and wet for him. His hips began to move faster and faster, pping their bodies together.


    ¡°Fuck! Oh! Ssstop! AH! Baby! Slow! AH!¡± Jeannie was overwhelmed by the intensity of her orgasm, which rushed up on her from the rapid ps to her clit. ¡°FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!!¡± she wailed as she clung to him, feeling his heat firing into her. That felt so good as well.


    Theyy together panting in the afterglow, and Sam smiled down at her. ¡°I love you, sexy woman!¡±


    She beamed a huge smile up at him and pulled his face down to hers to kiss him. When he pulled back, she gave him a little push. He got the message and pushed himself up to sit back against the couch¡¯s armrest while she sat up against the other end.


    ¡°Whyareyou home early, and why are you¡­ we, soaked?¡± Jeannie asked as she wiped the water from her face. She looked down and saw her skin was all shiny too. She pulled off her sodden shirt, and her fat tits were slick with the wetness as well. ¡°How did I get so wet?¡±


    ¡°Jake and I watched two of those strange clouds I told you about. They were dukin¡¯ it out over the field we were going to harvest. One killed the other one, and this ain¡¯t rain darlin¡¯, it¡¯s cloud blood,¡± he said with a big grin.


    She gave him a smirk and shook her head as she stood. ¡°Cloud bloodisrain!¡± she snorted in amusement. She walked over to the recliner and admired the glowing from the container. She reached down and popped the lid.


    ¡°Jeannie, wait¨C¡±


    She touched the mesh, and a sh tossed her across the room to hit the couch. It went over, taking the two of them with it. Sam was immediately at her side, gently pushing the hair back from her face.


    ¡°Jeannie? Baby? Jeannie!¡± he nervously called to her.


    Her eyshes fluttered as she resurfaced, then flew wide open. ¡°What? What?¡±


    He helped her stand, and she was trembling on her feet. ¡°You okay, baby?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tingling!¡± She scrambled to look over the couch at the recliner. The stones were no longer glowing in the mesh. ¡°What was that thing?¡±This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    ¡°It fell out of the cloud along with the foil,¡± he exined.


    She looked at him incredulously. ¡°It came from the cloud?¡± He nodded with an excited smile.


    They righted the sofa, and she made her way back to the mesh, which was now on the floor. She looked to the chair and picked up one of the silver strips as Sam gently picked up the other one.


    ¡°Careful, it¡¯s super thin, but like tin fo¨C¡± he began, then realized the material was melting in his fingers. It wasbining with the wetness on his skin¡­ and spreading! He looked at Jeannie, and the silver was already up to her shoulder. She was trying to wipe it off, but it just stuck to her other hand. He looked down at himself and saw the silver was spreading across his chest.


    ¡°Sam?¡± Jeannie called out with a nervous tremor in her voice.


    He looked at her again, and it was covering her face and soaking into her long hair. She wasn¡¯t panicking or having trouble breathing, and she seemed to be able to see as she watched it move down her body. ¡°Are you feeling okay?¡± he asked.


    She nodded cautiously. ¡°What is this stuff?¡±


    ¡°I-I have no idea, but I gave some to Jake, and he¡¯s gone home to see Brenda. I gotta warn him!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you!¡± she insisted and shot away to the bedroom to get dressed. There was a loud crash, shaking the entire trailer, followed by almost hysterical giggles.


    Sam rushed into the room to see Jeannie picking herself up from the floor. The bedside table was smashed to splinters. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I ran in here and was going too fast to stop!¡± she gasped, her silver eyes wide with surprise.


    He looked at the mirror above the dresser and gasped. He was also covered head to toe with silver. He looked back to the destroyed furniture and Jeannie.


    ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    ¡°No! I-I feel fine! Not a scratch. Sam¡­ I feel fast!¡± she grinned. ¡°I-I want to run!¡± she said with her sweet giggle.


    She pulled on her sweat pants and sweater, and he put on his jeans and a t-shirt.


    ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go to Jake¡¯s!¡± Sam said and reached out a hand.

 184

    The moment Jeannie ced her silvered hand in his, he felt their minds link. He stopped and looked at her as she gazed back at him in wonder. ¡°I truly never knew how much you loved me until this moment,¡± he whispered in awe. She gasped and pulled him to her to kiss him fiercely. He was a foot taller than she was, so he had to bend down to do it, but he¡¯d kneel at her feet for the rest of his days if she asked.


    She pulled back from him and looked into his reflective eyes. She saw herself there and him in her reflection. A convergent series of smaller and smaller images were inside each reflection. It was breathtaking and dizzying. ¡°More kissingter!¡±


    They rushed from the bedroom, slipped on their shoes, and left the trailer. Sam looked at the truck. ¡°Drive?¡±


    ¡°Run!¡± she grinned, and he nodded happily. She¡¯d never been a runner as her chunky body was just too fleshy and heavy to make it enjoyable. Now? It felt like nothing was holding her back.


    They released hands and started off rtively slow. Jeannie was ted to discover nothing hurt as her silver covered body shook and quaked. Giggles burst from her again.


    ¡°Faster!¡± she gasped, and it was Sam¡¯s turn tough with delight. They picked up the pace, and their shoes flew off. They didn¡¯t even slow down. Their feet felt no pain running on the asphalt, and they had excellent traction, so they pushed harder to go faster. Jake¡¯s ce was only a fifteen-minute drive down the highway. They let themselves elerate again.


    ¡°Whoa! We almost passed the house!¡± Sam called out as he grabbed Jeannie¡¯s hand once more to pull her onto the dirtne to Jake¡¯s parent¡¯s old farmhouse. They stopped on the front porch and grinned at each other.


    ¡°Our clothes! Jeannie shrieked as she saw she was only wearing the tattered remains of the track pants¡¯ waistband and strips of the sweater.


    Sam had a little more on his lower half, but his jeans were shredded, and the t-shirt was gone. He still had his wallet and keys in his pocket, but he didn¡¯t think they¡¯d survive another run. Strangely, he didn¡¯t really care. He shrugged and tapped his chest. ¡°Just think of this as a suit of shiny knight¡¯s armor¡­ or body paint.¡± He thumped on the door as she ducked behind him. ¡°Jake! It¡¯s Sam and Jeannie!¡±


    Jake opened the door and stared at them in surprise. He was covered in silver too.


    ¡°Ah, you touched the silver strip too,¡± Sam sighed. Jake nodded with a frown. ¡°Brenda?¡± Sam asked.


    ¡°Naw. She got pissed off when I hugged her and got her all wet. Now she¡¯s mad at me cuz she can¡¯t dry off, and I can¡¯t get the silver off.¡±


    ¡°Did she touch the yellow stones?¡± Jeannie asked.


    Jake looked at her, then looked away. ¡°No. Are you naked?¡±


    Jeannie squeaked in embarrassment and hid behind Sam once again.


    Sam just looked down at his ripped clothes. ¡°Our clothes didn¡¯t survive the run over here.¡±


    Jake looked past them to the driveway bit Sam¡¯s truck wasn¡¯t there. ¡°You ran here? Jeannie ran here too?¡±


    The petite but plump woman moved out to face Jake. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?!?¡± she said indignantly.


    Jake raised his hands in surrender. ¡°Nothin¡¯! I meant no disrespect! I¨C uh¡­¡± He looked closer. ¡°Have you lost weight?¡±


    Sam and Jeannie looked at her body, and shedidlook a little slimmer. ¡°Maybe it was the running. Wewererunning pretty fast! Got here in just five minutes!¡± she said.


    ¡°Geezus! Thatisfast!¡± Jake eximed.


    ¡°Let me talk to Brenda. You fes wait here,¡± Jeannie insisted and pushed past Jake. She smiled back at Sam then disappeared inside.


    Jake and Sam moved to the railing and looked out into the darkness. ¡°I can see everything as clear as if it was day. It¡¯s just not so brightly colored.¡± Jake sighed. ¡°What happened to us? Should we be telling someone?¡±


    Sam thought about that and shook his head. ¡°Naw. I think we¡¯d get in trouble if we did. End up with scientist pokin¡¯ things into us. I don¡¯t want that for Jeannie and me.¡±


    Jake just nodded in agreement. He didn¡¯t like the sounds of that either. ¡°What do we do then?¡±


    Sam thought about that for a bit, then nodded to himself. ¡°I want to go back to that field and collect the rest of that silver stuff. It¡¯s too dangerous to leave it.¡±


    ¡°Dangerous? It¡¯s all over us! What do you mean dangerous?¡± Jake eximed nervously.


    Sam tried to calm his friend. ¡°I mean dangerous in the wrong hands. Can you imagine criminals being able to move this fast?¡±


    Jake frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t think it was the silver stuff that made us fast. Coulda been the weird rain or, more likely, the sh from the stones. Still, I agree we should keep this stuff out of anyone¡¯s hands but ours for now. What¡¯rewegonna do with it?¡±


    Sam just smiled. ¡°Not sure yet. For now? We¡¯ll just collect it and run?¡± he shrugged.


    There was a loud crash from inside the house. Jake rushed inside with Sam at his heels. Brenda¡¯s tall and lean frame wasying back against the far wall in the living room. The piece of mesh was on the floor, the light no longer emanating from it. Jeannie was picking herself up from where shended against the opposite wall. She used Sam¡¯s lunch bag to pick up the silver foil and dropped it on Brenda¡¯s head. It immediately began to melt and spread as it had with Jeannie.


    Jake looked upset, so Sam patted his friend¡¯s arm and strongly picked up the man¡¯s emotions. Jake spun to look at him in surprise. ¡°Oh! Sorry! I should have realized it would work with you as well as Jeannie,¡± Sam apologized.


    ¡°Is that some mind to mind shit?¡± Jake asked in a quiet voice, and Sam nodded.


    ¡°Freaky, ain¡¯t it,¡± Sam said with a smile.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°What!?! Oh! What¡¯s happened?¡± Brenda gasped as she woke.


    Jake knelt next to her. ¡°Hey, how ya feelin¡¯?¡± he asked gently.


    ¡°I-I feel¡­ different! In a good way!¡± she said.


    He took her hand, and she gasped. ¡°Oh! Oh, Jake! I love you too!¡±


    He kissed her tenderly then helped her stand. Jeannie was grinning at her friend. ¡°What?¡± Brenda asked.


    ¡°Feel like doing a little running?¡± Jeannie asked.


    Brenda¡¯s smile widened. She¡¯d never been athletic, but as a girl, she¡¯d used her long legs to run all over her parent¡¯s farm. She nodded to her friend as something in her was eager to re-experience that thrill.


    ¡°Can you get your big thermos?¡± Sam asked his friend. He nodded and zipped away to return from the kitchen a secondter with it in his hand. Brenda¡¯s eyes flew wide in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re much faster now!¡± Jeannie gushed. She looked at her husband. ¡°Where are we goin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°To the field to get the rest of the silver stuff. Then¡­ I don¡¯t know. We can decideter,¡± he said. His wife nodded to him with a smile.


    They left the farmhouse and grinned at each other excitedly.


    Sam looked down at their shoes. ¡°You won¡¯t need those as they just fall off anyway.¡±


    ¡°We might as well lose the clothes as they won¡¯t survive the run either,¡± Jeannie said, shucking the remnants of her sweatpants and sweater as Sam grinned at her, undressing as well. He nced at his wallet and keys and realized he wasn¡¯t going to need them anymore. They just didn¡¯t seem important now.


    ¡°Naked? You want me to go streaking?¡± Brenda squealed.


    Jake nodded with a big grin.


    Giggling nervously, Brenda dropped her clothes in a pile on the frontwn as Jake followed suit. Soon, four naked silver figures stood together in the grass. Sam took Jeannie¡¯s hand and felt her joy. She reached out and took Jake¡¯s hand. He was startled and dropped the thermos but smiled at the woman. He then took Brenda¡¯s hand, and she reached for Sam¡¯s other hand.


    ¡°Oh!¡± they said simultaneously as the intense sense of joy passed through them all. Reluctantly, they released hands.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go runnin¡¯!¡± Sam said, and they were gone.


    A few minutester, they turned off the highway towards the field and stopped next to the big harvesters. Brenda was all smiles as she looked at Jeannie. Then her eyes went wide. ¡°You¡¯re slimming down!¡± she gasped.


    ¡°We¡¯re all getting slimmer!¡± Sam said, poking his t tummy, which had been soft earlier in the day.


    Jake smiled at his own improved physique then realized he¡¯d left the thermos on his frontwn. He looked to the highway and saw a convoy of ck SUVs led by one of those big army personnel carriers turning off onto the dirt road.


    ¡°Shit! We gotpany!¡± he said.


    Sam noticed the missing thermos and the approaching cars. The first vehicle elerated. They¡¯d been spotted. ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s get what we can get and run!¡± He tugged Jeannie¡¯s hand as Jake ran into the field with Brenda.


    They instantly felt a rush from the magic saturating the wheat around them.


    ¡°Ooo! What feels so good?¡± Jeannie purred as they went deeper into the field.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s the energy from the lightning that struck the field,¡± Jake offered, and Sam grinned at him. Jake was bing a regr Mr. Science! It was as good an exnation as anythinghecoulde up with.


    They found thest scraps of the foil and tried collecting it, but it just soaked into their existing coating. They each grabbed some until it was gone.


    ¡°FREEZE!¡± a voice yelled out over a loudspeaker, and an intense spotlight shone in their direction.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Jake asked.


    A shot rang out, and a high-pitched whiz screamed off Sam¡¯s shoulder, deflected upwards. He looked down where the bullet struck, but there wasn¡¯t so much as a scratch.


    ¡°Now I know what the silver stuff is good for. That didn¡¯t even hurt,¡± Sam mumbled.


    ¡°They answered the question. Full speed away,¡± Jeannie said.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Sam concurred. ¡°Follow me to the gate.¡±


    He shot away through the field, and the others followed in single file. The wheat brushed past them, sliding off their frictionless mirror-smooth surfaces. They suddenly reached the edge, and Sam blew through the gate like it was tissue paper, stopping on the dirt road just beyond.


    ¡°What happened?!?¡± Jake gasped.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Jeannie asked in concern.


    Sam examined his body but found no injuries, not even a scratch, from bursting through the metal pipe gate. ¡°I¡¯m good. I was going too fast to stop to open it for you guys,¡± he said with a grin.

 185

    They all looked back at themotion their sighting had caused. This far away, they were invisible in the dark, but they weren¡¯t going to take any chances.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to need to stick to night time outings. With this shiny coating, we¡¯ll draw too much of that kind of attention in the daylight.¡± Jake suggested.


    Sam thought that was good advice and nodded with a smile. Besides, he was too charged up to think about sleeping.


    ¡°Where do we go now?¡± Brenda asked. She was still riding the high from the running and from the energy she got from the magically charged and enhanced wheat field.


    Sam looked to the far horizon and saw a distant sh. He reached out to take Jeannie¡¯s hand. She smiled the moment she picked up his intent through their connection. Words were redundant. She reached for Brenda¡¯s hand, and that woman held Jake¡¯s hand. They all shared a grin.


    Storm chasing it was.


    -=-


    Colonel Crane watched in frustration as the four silver beings raced away at inhuman speeds. ¡°Who fired his weapon,¡± he barked.


    ¡°Corporal Yablonski, sir,¡± his sergeant replied.


    ¡°Yablonski! Sergeant Tennison will be drilling you on basic weapons handling tonight,¡± he growled.


    ¡°Yes, Colonel!¡± returned an embarrassed and worried response.


    ¡°Do we have a visual on them? Anything on the new radar tech?¡± Crane asked.


    ¡°Negative Colonel. They scattered the radar too widely to get a read on them.¡±


    ¡°Did anyone see which way they went?¡± he asked in frustration.


    ¡°Thataway, sir!¡± Yablonski said anxiously, pointing across the field.


    Crane looked to his sergeant. ¡°Get a team over to the other side of the field to see if there¡¯s any evidence of their passing through. I doubt they¡¯re still there.¡±


    The woman rushed off to send one of their trucks to perform the search.


    The Colonel walked up to the personnel carrier and spoke to the driver. ¡°Green! You were closest. What did you get on the camera?¡±


    The driver tapped the tablet mounted on the dash of his truck and frowned. ¡°Just a lot of weird reflections, Colonel. There wasn¡¯t a lot of light at first, but even when we had the headlights pointed in their direction and swung the spot at them, the picture went to shit!¡± He tried rolling the frames by slowly, but none showed the target clearly.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Gordon snapped.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why the camera is so messed up, but what wesawwere four mirror-like silver people standing in the wheat,¡± Green said. ¡°One was shorter than the others.¡±


    ¡°What were they doing, though?¡± Gordon asked as he stared out at the field.


    One of the other soldiers from the first truck trotted up to the Colonel. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything where they were standing, but it looked like they were picking something up.¡±


    Gordon looked at the two harvesters positioned like they were going to venture out into the field. The cab doors were open as well. ¡°Get me the names of the two drivers. They might have witnessed the pseudo-clouds in battle.¡± The team was supposed to arrive before the clouds met, but they¡¯d been dyed as their new radar imaging tech was delivered to the airportte.


    Corporal Dane, standing next to him, rushed over to the first big machine and climbed up to the cab. He spotted a photo pinned to the window. A young and happy couple, the man with a goofy smile and his shorter, thick wife beaming a blissful smile at the camera. There was another man in the background. He plucked the picture from the window. There was writing on the back. Then he spotted some sandwiches resting on the seat. He left his lunch?


    He looked over at the other harvester and saw his sergeant climbing down with a lunch bag in her hand.


    Dane climbed out and down and followed Mick back to the Colonel. Mick was showing him the contents of the lunch bag. There was a letter inside, a bill from the cablepany, and a highlighted circle on the bill around the total.


    ¡°We have a name. Jake Miller. His address isn¡¯t too far from here.¡± Crane said with satisfaction.


    Dane disyed the picture he found in the harvester he climbed into. ¡°This may be the driver of the other vehicle. The names Sam, Jeannie, and Jake are printed on the back.¡±


    The truck that had investigated the other side of the field returned, and Yablonski hopped out to rush over to the Colonel. ¡°We found evidence of them breaking through the gate on the other side, but they left no trace on the broken gate.¡±


    Crane looked at Green. ¡°Iste the sharpest frame from the video showing these beings.¡±


    He looked to the sergeant. ¡°Start doing a sweep. See if you can find anything these beings might have been here to collect. I¡¯m taking a team with me to this Jake Miller¡¯s ce to see if he can shed any light on what they saw.¡±


    He walked back to his truck, and his driver moved them back out onto the highway. It only took fifteen minutes to reach the farmhouse, and they pulled off onto the dirt driveway. As they climbed out of the truck, Gordon shone his shlight across the yard, and something caught the light and reflected it back. He stopped and walked out onto the grass and found arge thermos lying on its side. Close by was a set of keys and a wallet. The tattered remains of a woman¡¯s tracksuit and shredded men¡¯s jeans were found as well. Next to the thermos were two piles of clothes, a man¡¯s and a woman¡¯s, not torn but in good condition.


    Crane¡¯s driver, Corporal Dne, walked up to stand next to him. The stocky young man looked at the clothes and back to the Colonel. ¡°They got undressed on the frontwn?¡±


    Gordon picked up the wallet and checked the ID. Sam Lagrange. There was a picture of his cute, cherubic wife inside as well. She was shorter than the others, and it suddenly clicked in his head. ¡°I think we may have found our silver people.¡±


    His driver found the wallet in the back pocket of the intact jeans. ¡°Jake Miller,¡± he read aloud. ¡°I guess they didn¡¯t need clothes anymore?¡± Dne asked.


    ¡°Look at the condition of these clothes.¡± He paused to absorb what he was seeing. ¡°Jake Miller lived here. The other two didn¡¯t. They probably ran here. We saw how fast they move. These clothes are destroyed. The fabric probably couldn¡¯t endure the speed.¡±


    ¡°Colonel! We found something!¡±


    Crane turned towards the house and saw the front door was open, and Specialist Green was standing in the doorway. The Colonel joined the Specialist and followed him inside. They stopped in the living room. ¡°Signs of a struggle?¡± Green asked. There was minor damage on either side of the room, and in the middle on the floor was a fine gold mesh with small, dull yellow stones at the wire¡¯s intersections. The gems contained visible inclusions.


    ¡°Is this amber?¡± the Specialist asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it barehanded but get it into a sample container. We¡¯re taking it with us,¡± Crane exined, then took another look around. There was a tiny piece of foil in a lunch bag on the floor. He looked closer at the shiny piece of metal and noticed it wasn¡¯t wrinkled as tin foil would be. ¡°Put that bag and the foil in a sample container too.¡±


    He saw more pictures of the two couples. He pulled one from a frame as it showed all four people facing the camera. These had to be the people they saw. ¡°Let¡¯s go people, we have to move.¡±Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    He made his way outside and looked for an address in Sam¡¯s wallet. He looked to Dne. ¡°Get me an address for Sam Lagrange.¡± The Corporal nodded and rushed back to the truck.


    Once Specialist Green was in the truck with the sample container, they headed off to the other home. It proved to be a trailer, and Crane let himself in with the keys he brought with him. Inside, they found more of the mesh. A piece of furniture was broken in the bedroom as well.


    They hustled back outside and drove back to the field. Once they were parked, the Colonel went to speak with the sergeant. The men were still doing a sweep of the area. Gordon dug out the picture of the four people. He gestured for Mick to join them. He showed her the photo as she¡¯d been at the front with Green.


    ¡°Based on body shape and height, could these four people be the ones you saw?¡± he asked.


    She looked at the image, and slowly she began to nod. ¡°Height wise, they look like a match. It was hard to make out any features though, as the reflections were insane¡­ sir.¡±


    Crane nodded to her and moved back to his truck. He looked to his driver. ¡°I need you to get me everything avable on these four people. Names and addresses of family, friends, coworkers, anyone who might offer them shelter.¡± Dne nodded and went to work.


    Crane didn¡¯t really believe they would seek out family. He didn¡¯t think these four beings were the same people anymore. He looked out over the field of wheat as he contemted thistest development. The ss People were odd enough, but this was somethingpletely new. The next phase?


    It had been Colonel Devlin¡¯s theory that they were looking at preliminary attempts at some kind of invasion. The people of Earth were being reced with these alien monsters. Devlin told him they were lucky the recements were so easily identified. If they looked human, there¡¯d be no way to stop them. The Colonel told him they would have to act decisively to protect their country, and the world would follow their lead.


    He would have to return to Washington to report this new type of invader to the Director and the other two men, whose names he still didn¡¯t have.


    He frowned. He didn¡¯t like investigating unexinable shit.


    Or having to report it to mystery men.


    Lorelei Reichenbach, a young up-anding artist in high demand, sat alone at the small bar set up in the corner of the art gallery. She felt drained, disappointed, and worse of all, lonely.


    Hertest showing had been another smash sess, with all three of her paintings being snapped up by collectors after a feverish bidding war. When it looked like the bidding on the third painting would result in a fight between two Octogenarians, Lorelei was forced to defuse the pressure in the room with a quiet little song she sang just under a perceptible hearing level. Her ability to control others with her singing was a new talent for her, but she was quickly learning its limits. Living in such a dynamic city with so many wildly different people, she¡¯d had plenty of opportunities to hone her skills and had mastered subtle techniques for managing people around her. The biggest drawback of her new expertise was that she¡¯d caught herself manipting Emily, her lover.


    When she realized what she was doing, it stung like a brutal p. She couldn¡¯t forgive herself for breaking the promise she¡¯d made to herself. The next morning, she broke up with the beautiful blonde and sent her on her way with enough money in her bank ount to carry herfortably for six months. She eased Emily¡¯s heart and mind with a song for her final maniption. Emily had a good job, and with her skills and looks, she¡¯d be fine. Emily wouldn¡¯t be alone for long.


    The same couldn¡¯t be said for Lorelei. While she¡¯d received plenty ofpliments for being tall, svelte, and lovely, she wasn¡¯t as approachable as Emily. A small part of that might be due to how her moodtely matched her choice color palette, dark and cool. She preferred dark blue-ck lipstick and nail polish and ck eyeshadow.


    It was more likely due to how the important people in her life, aside from Emily, had all failed her, leaving her with trust issues. She¡¯d built a wall around herself.


    She sighed as she was just procrastinating. It was time to go home, but her condo was empty, and she wasn¡¯t looking forward to sleeping alone again. She could easily find someone to warm the sheets with her, but her skin crawled at the thought of manipting a stranger to have sex. She wasn¡¯t feeling strong enough tonight to do it without relying on her abilities.


    So, alone it was.

 186

    She left the art gallery allowing thest two employees to lock up behind her and finally go home, too. She turned in the direction of the main road where taxis would be easier to catch. She walked along the dark street, humming a little song for protection. With a serial killer roaming the streets of the city at night, she was taking no chances. This particr song was unique as it turned Humans away and made them forget they saw her. For non-Humans, it made them stop and put their hands on their head. This identified them for Lorelei so she could speak to them to get more information about the Council. She would then make them forget her afterward.


    She was fully aware the Council was still a threat to her life, but they seemed to be hiding in the shadows. She needed to be proactive to protect herself, and for that, she needed information.


    She was walking through a tunnel of scaffolding when arge man suddenly fell from the tform above to the sidewalk six feet in front of her. He moaned as hey on his back with his hands on his head.


    Not Human.


    She sang a little louder, and a second attacker stumbled to a stop behind her. Keeping her song going, Lorelei turned to see a 5¡ä 4¡å woman watching her with wide, frightened eyes, her hands on her head. The woman¡¯s eyes darted to the moaning man, and her concern was clearly visible. So, they were a couple or partners, at least. The Council sent a team after her?


    Lorelei gestured for the petite woman to join the man. She rushed over to her partner and checked his condition. Lorelei saw the woman rx as she confirmed there was no damage. She helped the big guy up to his feet. Lorelei saw he was close to her height but very broad in the shoulders, a powerful man. She changed the song slightly then stopped.


    ¡°What are your names? Yourrealnames,¡± Lorelei demanded.


    The big man blinked in surprise at her when he felt apulsion he couldn¡¯t deny. ¡°Raymond King.¡±


    ¡°Eleanor King,¡± came from the woman clinging to the man. ¡°Though, we go by Hollings here.¡±


    ¡°Do you work for the Council?¡± Lorelei asked bluntly.


    Raymond looked at her cautiously while Eleanor nced around.


    ¡°Council?¡± he asked quietly.


    Lorelei was getting frustrated, and she tried to recall the actual name the dwarf had used. ¡°The¡­ Hidden Council?¡±


    Now both of her attackers were watching her with surprised expressions. The small woman answered. ¡°No, we don¡¯t. This isn¡¯t a safe ce to talk about that. Not talking about it is rule one.¡±


    The tall brte red at the two before her. ¡°What were your intentions for me tonight?¡±


    The couple nced at each other briefly before they were forced to speak in unison. ¡°Dinner.¡±


    Lorelei snarled at them. ¡°You were going to eat me?!?¡±


    ¡°No, just a small amount of¡­ blood. You wouldn¡¯t even notice, and typically you wouldn¡¯t remember,¡± Eleanor continued, struggling to exin quietly.


    It was Lorelei¡¯s turn to stare at them in surprise. She knew they were telling the truth, but the idea of being fed from was still repugnant. ¡°You¡¯re like¡­ Vampires?¡±


    ¡°We pay for the meal,¡± the big man said with a crooked smile as he nced at his wife. The woman looked embarrassed and defensive.


    ¡°Yes, we are. It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t recognize the distasteful nature of our dietary requirements, so¡­ I leave a little money in the pockets of those we feed from. We don¡¯t have a choice as to what we eat, but we do try to make it as non-intrusive as we can.¡±


    Lorelei snorted. Why she found this Vampire couple to be somewhat charming, she didn¡¯t know. She wasn¡¯t getting her answers. They didn¡¯t work for the Hidden Council, so they were a dead end. She had to decide what to do about them. ¡°When you aren¡¯t biting people, what do you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a public defender, and my wife is a surgeon. A damn good one, too,¡± he said proudly.


    The woman smiled. ¡°He¡¯s an excellentwyer!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more impressed by your ability to freeze us in ce. I¡¯ve never experienced this before. As we¡¯ve shared who and what we are, will you do the same?¡± Raymond asked.


    Lorelei frowned and shook her head.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve offended you,¡± Raymond said gently.


    Lorelei was confused and upset. Her night was going from bad to worse. She¡¯d intended to send her attackers into the Hudson River, but now, they didn¡¯t seem quite so evil. She might have felt better if she could have punished someone evil, but now?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I am! Idoknow the Council wants me dead, but I don¡¯t knowwhy! I just want to be left alone!¡± she snapped, and her voice broke when she said it as she really didn¡¯t want to be alone at all.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    She closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn¡¯t and shouldn¡¯t waste any more time. Eyes shing open, she held the couple in her gaze as she sang another verse. She stormed off, leaving them swaying on their feet, her instructions imnted.


    She made it to the main avenue and gged down a cab.


    She just wanted to put this whole night behind her.


    -=-


    Twenty minutester, Raymond became aware he was leaning back against a boarded-up door, and he was behind stic sheeting. He had his arms wrapped around Eleanor, and she was staring nkly at his chest.


    ¡°Dearest?¡±


    She blinked, and a little wrinkle of concern appeared between her eyes. She looked up at him. ¡°What happened?¡± She nced around. ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t recall,¡± he replied. He put his hand into his pocket and fished out his cell phone. He nced at it and saw the recorder was running. He stopped it and saved the file. He held the phone up as he looked at his wife. ¡°I think we¡¯d better go home and find out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we ate tonight,¡± Eleanor said as she looked inwards to assess her energy levels.


    Raymond held her eyes. ¡°I have the oddest feeling we narrowly avoided taking oustmeal.¡±


    Henry and Tish¡¯s party was winding down, and some of their guests were beginning to leave as they had ns for Sunday morning. Tish gave Sigrid and Meixiu hugs, and Henry walked them to the door.


    ¡°You have a lift home?¡± Henry asked Sigrid quietly as he pulled her to his chest. Her lovely blue eyes twinkled at his concern. She nodded.


    ¡°Cam has us using the car service. You know, I could take this monster out if I fought it,¡± she said with a raised eyebrow and a little smile on her lips. A Valkyrie¡¯s warrior pride was a touchy topic.


    ¡°I have no doubt you would be victorious in a face to face battle, but we have no idea what the killer is capable of or how they fight. They might y dirty and ambush their victims without warning.¡± He purposefully held Meixiu¡¯s eyes with his, and she dipped her eyes in acknowledgment.


    Before Sigrid could ask what that was about, he took her face between his hands and kissed her tenderly. When he pulled back, her eyes had a dreamy quality to them, and her cheeks were glowing a fetching shade of pink.


    He was having trouble keeping a look of adoration from his face. Sigrid went from fierce warrior to intensely cute so quickly! ¡°We¡¯re still on for Wednesday night at the Met?¡± he asked, and her eyes lit up again as a grin spread across her lips. She nodded, and he returned it. ¡°Great! See you at work on Monday.¡±


    He could no longer resist her charms and gave in as his eyes became trapped by how sweet she looked. She huffed with a look of exasperation and slipped her shoes on, and stepped out into the hall.


    Meixiu was immediately in his arms, kissing him aggressively. He held her tight until she pulled her face back from his. ¡°I will be careful too. I won¡¯t try to catch the killer, but if I can get a description or location, that will help!¡±


    He nodded to her. ¡°Please be careful. You¡¯re important to me.¡± He gently set her on her feet, and with the sh of a bright smile, she was out the door.


    Cam and Marisa were the next to leave. Siobhan, too, as she¡¯d caught a lift with them.

 187

    ¡°You have a lovely home Henry,¡± Cam said with a smile.


    ¡°I have you to thank for that.¡± He paused as he had an epiphany. He looked her in the eye as he took her hands in his. ¡°I have you to thank for so much more.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Ah, well¡­ I¨C you¨C¡± Cam stumbled with her words as her face heated up. Marisa burst into giggles as she watched her mother be tongue-tied. Cam shot her an annoyed look. When Henry¡¯s lips pressed against her cheek, she gasped and blinked at him as an unfamiliar emotion surged in her chest. She smiled and couldn¡¯t stop. ¡°Thank you, Henry.¡±


    Marisa was still grinning at her mother¡¯s bewilderment when Henry took her hands in his next. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him cautiously.


    ¡°I believe you may have some inkling how grateful I am that you were there when I first started at VRL and for how you came to my rescue again and again. I wouldn¡¯t have made it this far without you at my side,¡± he said sincerely and watched Marisa¡¯s mouth open and close with no sound.


    Cam snorted, seeing her daughter caught in the same sincerity trap. She watched Marisa lock up when Henry leaned in and gave her cheek a sweet kiss and felt a sympathetic tug in her own heart. She didn¡¯t know what that feeling was. She also didn¡¯t know what it was about Henry that drew her so strongly. Subi didn¡¯t form long term rtionships with anyone. They just weren¡¯t wired to have the emotional capacity.


    Yet, there was something about him, aside from the wonderful energy he gave her. That was just food for a Subus like herself. She and Marisa had both gone to clubs recently and brought home healthy men for a tumble in the sheets and to feed from them. It was a relief to know they could still feel charged from regr Human men. Still, she preferred Henry, and it wasn¡¯t just for his energy.


    She puzzled over that as she and Marisa slipped on their sandals and stepped out into the hall.


    Siobhan was smiling up at him. ¡°You are such a sweetie, Henry!¡±


    She threw her arms around him and squeezed. He hugged her with equal vigor.


    She tilted her face back to look him in the eye. ¡°I need to speak to you on Monday. Think you can set aside thirty minutes for me before lunch?¡±


    ¡°Sure¨CMmmm!¡±


    Once more, Siobhan kissed him fiercely then rushed out after her ride.


    Henry leaned out his door to see the brte jump into the elevator with a grin on her face.


    He went back inside and closed the door as he touched his lips. He realized they were getting a lot of use tonight.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    He ducked into the washroom and cleaned off a few smudges of lipstick.


    A few deep breaths, and he was ready to join the others. He met Roy and Mary in the hall, putting their boots back on. He opened the door for them and got and gave another kiss on the cheek to Mary.


    Once he returned to the living room, he saw the only remaining guests were residents of the building. Kali and Sandy stood by the windows, enjoying the view with a wine ss in their hands. Michelle and Dayshia were by the ind, helping Tish pack up the leftovers. Yuko and Jun were sitting on a couch across the coffee table from Mahati, who was by herself. He settled down next to thewyer and gave her another smile. He knew he might be acting a little silly, but what she¡¯d done to Queen Mab felt so good, he couldn¡¯t stop smiling at her. Mahati was returning his smile, so she didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    He suddenly felt the cushions on his other side drop as someone thumped down next to him, too close. He turned to see Yuko staring up at him from under her bangs. Her eyes were ssy as if she was moments away from crying. She was also breathing a little fast.


    ¡°Are you okay, Yuko¨C¡±


    ¡°Why do you smile at the cold-blooded one all night and not me?¡± Yuko blurted, the scent of wine heavy on her breath. ¡°Who is she to you?¡± Her voice was bing sharp.


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows went up, and he nced over at Jun, who was watching her sister in concern. He looked back and saw a tear run down Yuko¡¯s cheek. Henry automatically lifted his hand to wipe it away.


    ¡°No! You mustn¡¯t touch her tears!¡± Jun eximed, but Henry just smiled at her as he cupped Yuko¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. We discovered I¡¯m immune to her tears,¡± he said gently. Then Yuko was climbing onto hisp to kiss him.


    She was so insistent; Henry couldn¡¯t brace himself and tumbled backward. He felt something soft under his back, but he couldn¡¯t see past Yuko¡¯s silky hair, which was surrounding his head. Her lips were pressed against his, and he instinctively kissed her in return. That just made her more aggressive, and her tongue came into y.


    He tried to push her off, but his hands on her body just made her moan and squirm.


    ¡°GET¨CGET OFF!¡± Mahati yelled as she dropped her mor and pushed the couple from herp.


    The push from the thick coils of muscle was a little too forceful. Henry and Yukonded on the coffee table, a sturdy piece of hardwood furniture that easily withstood the impact. The ssware, wine sses and whiskey tumblers, and the dishes resting on its surface were another matter. The shove and Henry¡¯s pained gasp from the broken ss stabbing into his back were enough to distract Yuko from her need for Henry. She pulled back and saw he was hurt, and Mahati was standing on her coils, ring at her.


    Her wine-addled senses told her here was the real enemy keeping her from happiness. She leapt back from the tall N¨¡ga and moved her hands together as she recited the words. Multicolored tails shed into sight behind her.


    Mahati¡¯s danger sense was ring. This crazed drunkard was going to use a spell against her, inside the building!?! She automatically summoned her own magic and wove the energies into a weapon of her own. It was a race tounch their spell first.


    Henry felt every hair on his body stand on end as the energies shed into being. His eyes snapped open, and he could see Mahati bringing her left and right hands together. He dropped his mor and used his Satyr strength to leap from the table, arms stretched wide to scoop Yuko to his chest as he sailed over the facing couch, dragging Jun with them as he went.


    Yuko¡¯s spell copsed against Henry¡¯s chest and sent the three of them tumbling in opposite directions. Yuko and Jun were immediately stunned unconscious.


    Mahati¡¯s powerful counterspell cut through the air towards the spot Yuko had been standing a split second before. Instead, it mmed into the shield surrounding Tish as she leapt into its path. She red at the N¨¡ga as the deadly energies fizzled out, spitting sparks left and right, lighting up the shields Dayshia and Sandy used to protect Michelle and Kali.


    ¡°No MAGIC ATTACKS in my HOME!¡± Tish snapped.


    ¡°I-I was defending myself! The drunk Kitsune was trying to kill me!¡± Mahati insisted.


    Tish quickly walked over to see how Henry was doing. He was dazed by the st, but his back was a bloody mess. The ss had cut deeply into his back muscles. ¡°Shit, he¡¯s going to need medical attention.¡±


    Henry struggled to stay conscious. It was so hard, but he needed to heal. He felt himself reaching for the ring and its link to the Global Ovey Spell. A sweet gurgle bubbled through his mind, and the power came, faster and faster until the room began to glow.


    Mahati gasped as she felt the magic building. She recognized the green light as the Fae¡¯s Global Ovey Spell. ¡°What? What¡¯s happening?¡±


    Sandy looked out the window and saw the sky above the building was beginning to glow. ¡°I¡¯ve seen this before! It¡¯s the Aurora Borealis!¡± Her head whipped around as she looked incredulously at Henry. ¡°It¡¯s Henry? He¡¯s causing this?!?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Fae¡¯s healing magic,¡± Mahati exined as she watched Henry. She moved closer to him and saw his body was glowing with the energy, but he wasn¡¯t healing. ¡°He can pull the magic to him, but he can¡¯t use it?¡± she guessed, and the others nodded.


    Sandy suddenly worried about how badly he was hurt if this was happening.


    Tish looked over to Dayshia. ¡°You¡¯re training to be a surgeon. Can you help him?¡±


    Dayshia turned her eyes to Tish. ¡°What? This is magic! I¡¯m not a wielder!¡± She looked to Mahati. ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it?¡±


    ¡°I might be able to use the magic, but I¡¯m not a healer,¡± Mahati said, then looked to Dayshia. ¡°If you¡¯re prepared to use your skills, I can back your efforts with magic.¡±


    Dayshia still looked hesitant, but Tish and Sandy were begging with their eyes. When Jun made sounds like she wasing around, they all looked to Yuko, but she was still unconscious.


    ¡°Keep an eye on that one!¡± Mahati said, pointing to Yuko. Kesini immediately wrapped herself around the Kitsune.


    ¡°How¨C what am I supposed to do?¡± Dayshia said as she knelt next to Henry. She dropped her mor and used her vision to peer beneath his skin. She found multiple ss shards left in his muscle tissue.


    ¡°You are a healer. Envision how you would normally heal him. I will provide your actions with the magic required toplete the actions your will defines,¡± Mahati exined.


    Dayshia nodded distractedly. She hadn¡¯t performed any surgeries on her own before, but she knew how to do it from witnessing so many. She reached out her hands over Henry¡¯s back.


    When Mahati touched her back with all four of her hands, Dayshia squeaked in fright as she knew the giant scary snake was right behind her.


    Michelle was suddenly on Henry¡¯s other side, looking into her friend¡¯s eyes. ¡°You can do this! We all have faith in you!¡±


    Dayshia looked around and saw the smiles on the faces around her. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. When she opened them again, she envisioned being in a surgical suite standing next to her patient. She held out her palm and quietly asked for forceps. She felt the gentle pressure of something pressing into her palm. Dayshia was surprised to see the green light in the shape of the surgical tool in her hand. She pushed her doubts aside and used the tweezer shaped implement and her enhanced vision to go after the ss fragments.

 188

    Henry grunted from the pain of Dayshia performing surgery on his back without anesthetic. He knew he had to remain awake and to keep the energy flowing. That took everything he had.


    Tish watched in amazement as Dayshia¡¯s hands moved with confident precision as she quickly cleared the shards from his back. Each one was extracted then dropped into a dish made of the green light. She almost expected to hear a metallic ping from each dropped piece. She did hear Henry¡¯s grunts of pain and realized he was fighting to stay conscious through this. She marveled at his strength and will power.


    Dayshia was loving working with tools made of light. Once she was sure she¡¯d removed even the tiniest fragment, she handed off the forceps, which faded away, and was about to ask for the suture needle and driver. Instead, she ran her fingers through the green light as she imagined how it could be used since it worked perfectly as the tools she¡¯d needed. ¡°Can this be used to seal the wounds?¡± she asked Mahati without turning to look at the snakedy.


    She heard the smile in the woman¡¯s voice. ¡°If you will it to act as an adhesive, then that¡¯s what it will be. Your skill is quite brilliant!¡±


    She smiled at thepliment but focused her mind as she envisioned the tools she¡¯d need to apply the thin bead of dermal adhesive. Once she had her tools, she quickly went from wound to wound, sealing the skin. When she was done, she passed her hands just above the surface of his skin and willed the energy to prate his skin to boost his natural healing. These days they were using light to stimte regrowth of tissue, so she envisioned it working here. She sat back when she was done. ¡°I¡¯m done, Henry. Rest.¡±


    They watched the green light fade as Henry finally gave in and passed out. His mor immediately reset him to Human, but he was also naked. Dayshia smiled at his unblemished back. She knew he wouldn¡¯t have any scars when he recovered.


    ¡°Oh my god, Dayshia! You¡¯re amazing!¡± Tish gushed as she dropped to her knees to wrap her arms around her friend. Sandy was squeezing her from the other side, and a few free strands of Kesini got a hug in as well.


    Once they released her, she stood, took a deep breath, and turned to face Mahati once more. She rxed as she saw the woman was back in her mor as a petite woman in a saree. ¡°Thank you for helping me help Henry.¡±


    ¡°The honor was mine. I¡¯ve never assisted in a surgical process before, and watching you work was thrilling!¡± Mahati said with a smile.


    Dayshia frowned slightly. ¡°How much of what I did was you?¡±


    Mahati held up her hands as she shook her head. ¡°It was all you. All I did was enable you to touch the magic and guide it with your will. I believe you will be a brilliant surgeon.¡±


    ¡°Why is Henry naked?¡±


    Heads turned to see Jun sitting up and staring at Henry¡¯s body.


    ¡°I believe the real question should be, what¡¯s up with your sister?¡± Tish asked. ¡°Why is she acting so obsessed with Henry?¡±


    Jun looked at her unconscious sister, and her expression became both pained and sad. ¡°I was unaware she¡¯d attempted to ensnare his mind with her tears. That exins much. If my mother knew, she did not share that with me.¡± She looked to Tish. ¡°I think Yuko is soul bound to him. I believe I heard Henry say he is immune to her tears.¡± Heads nodded as they¡¯d heard him say that as well. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean the binding between Yuko and Henry is broken. His link to her may no longer exist, but she will remain bound to him until she is pregnant with his child. It is the price of using her tears in this way.¡± She shook her head incredulously as she went back over her sister¡¯s behavior, seen in this new light. It all made sense to her now. ¡°Henry is a Satyr, so I don¡¯t understand why Yuko would have done this. She knows she cannot mate with anyone other than a Human. Binding herself to someone she cannot mate with only leads to madness.¡±


    The otherdies shook their heads as they couldn¡¯t exin it either.


    ¡°I need to carry Henry into the bedroom so he can rest. I¡¯ll need help,¡± Tish said as she dropped her mor. She was much stronger in her Faun form.


    ¡°No, Kesini. You need to keep Yuko under control,¡± Sandy said to prevent her hair from releasing her hold on the Kitsune.


    Mahati dropped her mor. ¡°I will assist you.¡±


    Tish gently rolled Henry over onto his back, and several of thedies made little involuntary noises when his cock was exposed. Tish grinned as she knew each of them was seeing something a little different. It was one of the unique properties of Henry¡¯s mor. He would look andbethe desired size and shape from the observer¡¯s perspective.


    ¡°Still looks like an anaconda to you, Dayshia?¡± she asked with a sly grin as she spotted her friend¡¯s wide-eyed stare. She knew Dayshia had yet to take Henry to bed. Not fromck of interest, of course. She wasn¡¯t sure why Dayshia was so resistant to the idea.


    Dayshia jerked her eyes away from Henry¡¯s groin and frowned at Tish. However, she couldn¡¯t maintain her annoyance with her friend as the woman was enjoying the moment so much. Dayshia found herself snorting in amusement, which just triggered the rest of them until they were all giggling, except for the unconscious Yuko and Kali. Dayshia saw thetter¡¯s expression no longer showed her smug satisfaction from the chaos she¡¯d yed a significant part in engineering.


    Truthfully, the wide-eyed young woman looked shocked and more than a little nervous.


    Dayshia had to admit what she saw was also a little intimidating, but it made her tummy tremble with nervous desire, not fear. Kali no longer looked confident, and that was¡­ interesting.


    She looked to Mahati, who was picking up Henry¡¯s legs with all four of her arms while Tish had her strong arms under Henry¡¯s, resting his head against her shoulder. They lifted hisrge body carefully, and Tish walked backward out of the living room with Mahati following.


    Tish was watching Mahati¡¯s expression as they slowly made their way towards the bedroom. The woman¡¯s eyes kept finding their way back to Henry¡¯s cock. It suddenly dawned on her that Mahati¡¯s expression contained a burning curiosity. She was probably a virgin!


    ¡°First one you¡¯ve seen in person?¡± she gently asked when they were alone.


    Mahati¡¯s eyes immediately went to her, herplexion reddening, but she saw Tish wasn¡¯t judging her, so she reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°They don¡¯t get much nicer considering his mor matches it to your ideal,¡± Tish said with a grin.


    Mahati stared at her. ¡°My ideal? How would it know if I¡¯ve never¡­¡±


    Tish looked back at her in surprise, then down at the unconscious man. ¡°Uh, that¡¯s an excellent question. I have to admit, magic is still very much a mystery to me.¡±


    They gently set Henry down on the low bed then stepped back to gaze back down at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for using offensive magic at your party. It reallywasin self-defense,¡± Mahati said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m really impressed with your shield spell! It¡¯s exceptionally strong!¡±


    Tish nodded. ¡°Theye in handy, being around Henry.¡± She felt a little sad about that. Too much trouble clung to the big man.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Mahati was back to staring at Henry¡¯s privates. She looked pensive, and Tish almostughed at her expression.


    Finally, the dark beauty spoke. ¡°Do you think Henry¡¯s mor could actually make it possible for Yuko to be pregnant? I mean, that¡¯sherideal, yes?¡±


    Tish blinked at her as her jaw dropped open. ¡°I-I have no idea. I thought it might be just the size and shape, but fertility as well?¡± She shrugged. ¡°You know more about magic than me, but Idoknow that Henry¡¯s sperm is saturated with Wild Magic, and I¡¯ve been told that it¡¯s toxic to wielders.¡±


    ¡°Henry¡¯s mor is unlike any I¡¯ve dealt with before,¡± Mahati admitted. ¡°As you say, it would normally be dangerous for Yuko. However, there¡¯s still this ideal matching nature of Henry¡¯s mor, and we don¡¯t know its true extent. A good test would be for her to be with Henry sexually, but he¡¯d wear a condom while she concentrated on her need for Human sperm. After he climaxes, the sperm in the condom could be tested to see if it¡¯s purely Human.¡±


    Tish rolled her eyes. ¡°So romantic! That wasn¡¯t how Mab did it. She had sex with his Satyr form. How did she avoid their ipatibility?¡±


    The dark-skinned beauty scoffed. ¡°You have any ideahowwe could ask Mab?¡± She shook her head as she contemted theplexities involved. ¡°Henry¡¯s magic is so unpredictable!¡±


    Tish smiled as a little thrill tingle ran down her spine. ¡°Wild Magic! It¡¯s so exciting!¡±


    TheN¨¡gaaimed an amused smile at the woman with a raised eyebrow. Tish grinned at her. ¡°Hey, I was once Human with no concept any of this was real! The world changed for me overnight, and this one is far more exciting!¡±


    ¡°I notice you¡¯ve even adopted our way of sayingHuman,as well,¡± Mahati stated.


    ¡°Yeah, I picked up that difference pretty quickly,¡± Tish said with a nod.


    ¡°You switched sides quickly, too.¡±


    Tish¡¯s expression became serious quickly. ¡°No. For me, it¡¯s never been an Us vs Them situation. I get that we need to hide from the Human poption, and Ipletely understand why. I don¡¯t think my attitude towards this change could be considered typical. I think Dayshia¡¯s is closer to how most would react. Change can be frightening.¡±


    ¡°I heard my name, and we¡¯re all wondering how long it takes to put someone on a bed,¡± Dayshia said as she walked into the room. Mahati blushed then switched back to her Human mor. Dayshia smiled gratefully at her.


    Tish turned to her friend. ¡°Mahati had a most excellent idea! You know how Henry¡¯s mor conforms to the observer¡¯s ideal? Yuko needs Henry to give her a baby. It might be possible if Henry¡¯s mor includes that capability.¡±

 189

    Dayshia¡¯s eyebrow rose up and seemed to disappear into the mass of curls. ¡°Is that even possible!?!¡± she gasped.


    Mahati nodded cautiously. ¡°I¡¯m no expert in Wild Magic, but for traditional magic, it¡¯s the strength of the will and desire that shapes the capabilities of the magic. Considering her only other option appears to be madness, I think if Henry¡¯s willing, it¡¯s worth an attempt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll speak to him about it when he wakes,¡± Tish said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go speak with Yuko about it. She woke up, and Jun is talking with her, but I¡¯m d Kesini has a firm grip on her,¡± Dayshia said.


    Sharing worried looks, Tish and Mahati followed Dayshia back out to the living room. Tish noticed there was no sign of Kali.


    ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HENRY!¡± Yuko spat as she tried to thrash loose from Kesini¡¯s coils. She was standing but unable to move.


    ¡°Nothing. Henry is restingfortably after Dayshia and I healed the injuries he sustained in the brief skirmish,¡± thewyer exined.


    Yuko red at Mahati but seemed to calm down a little.


    ¡°He is my friend. Nothing more,¡± Mahati expressed, and Yuko¡¯s face burst into a sudden smile, then her expression wobbled to dread. ¡°He will hate me even more now than he did before.¡±T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Tish moved right up to her and took her face between her hands. ¡°Henry doesn¡¯t hate you. He¡¯s just confused about how you¡¯re acting. Jun exined it to us. You¡¯re magically bound to him. You need his baby to break that spell. I-I think Henry can help you with that. I¡¯ll speak to him when he wakes. I¡¯ll exin what¡¯s happening with you, and if I know Henry, he¡¯ll want to help.¡±


    Yuko¡¯s eyes began to well up, and recalling Jun¡¯s warning, Tish quickly pulled her hands back.


    ¡°Henry¡¯s not Human. Stanley was. I need a baby from a Human,¡± she admitted quietly.


    Sandy frowned in confusion. ¡°How could Stanley have been human. I thought that was just a disguise.¡±


    Mahati moved closer. ¡°Stanley¡¯s method of disguising himself as Human relied upon a Dragon¡¯s spell, which altered reality around him, so hebecameHuman while it was active. He can no longer use that original disguise. That said, it¡¯s still possible that he could help Yuko. Wild Magic seems much stronger than the magic I¡¯m linked to. Henry¡¯s mor is designed to fulfill the¡­ needs of the one he¡¯s with. Your need is for Human sperm. If he agrees to try, keep that topmost in your mind, and will it as your greatest desire. I¡¯m sure this won¡¯t be difficult for you.¡±


    Yuko watched the dark-skinned beauty and saw the reddening of her cheeks. She¡¯d said she and Henry were just friends, but Yuko wasn¡¯t so sure that was the other woman¡¯shonest desire. She looked away as her heart flipped. The alcohol was interfering with her rational mind. Her binding was triggering irrational impulses, like attacking a N¨¡ga. All she could do in response was nod.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve overstayed our wee, and we¡¯ve certainly misbehaved. I apologize for my actions and my sister¡¯s meddling, which likely led to this confrontation,¡± Mahati said sincerely. She looked around and discovered Kali was missing. ¡°She¡¯s not here. Typical. I will express my displeasure at her behavior when I see her. Thank you for inviting us.¡±


    Tish nodded and walked the lovely woman in the saree to the door.


    Kesini let go of Yuko once Mahati was gone, and the young woman wobbled on her feet. Jun took her arm. Yuko looked shamefaced and still a little tipsy, but she addressed the group.


    ¡°Iamsorry for my behavior, as well. I honestly appreciate your efforts on my behalf. Please give my apologies to Henry and thank him for me for saving my life.¡±


    The group made sounds of eptance, and Tish let the two out of the condo before returning to see Dayshia, Michelle, and Sandy cleaning up.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to do that!¡± Tish eximed.


    ¡°Henry would have helped you if he wasn¡¯t recovering, again,¡± Sandy said with a sad little frown.


    Tish nodded with an equally sad expression. ¡°He seems to be such a focal point for crisis and cmity.¡±


    Dayshia hugged Tish and Sandy rushed over to join in the hug with Kesini. Michelle held back as she was still notfortable with that yet, but she smiled at the others.


    The phone rang, and Tish released her hug to go over to answer it.


    Sandy looked to Dayshia and Michelle. ¡°Henry¡¯s the cause of New York¡¯s Aurora Borealis sightings! I¡¯m torn between being excited and terrified!¡±


    They looked over at Tish, who was speaking quietly to someone and frowning in concern. When she rushed across the room, the others gave chase.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Sandy called out to Tish, who was making a beeline to the master bedroom.


    ¡°Roy caught a report on the radio about the Aurora Borealis appearing over the Hudson River again, and he called Cam, who was also on the road. She¡¯s on the phone. I need to check on Henry.¡±


    They crowded into the bedroom and knelt on the bed next to the big naked man. Tish lifted an eyelid and saw Henry¡¯s pupils were tiny and didn¡¯t respond to light. She put her ear over his nose. Then she sat up looking upset and lifted the handset to her ear again.


    ¡°Cam? His pupils aren¡¯t responding to light, and his breathing seems shallow.¡±


    They waited as Cam spoke to Tish. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wait for your call. Thank you!¡± She hung up and looked to the others who were watching with wide eyes.


    ¡°Henry¡¯s mind has left his body again. It gets trapped in that green light, the healing spell, and wanders after he¡¯s been injured.¡± The others gasped. ¡°Meixiu seems to be able to immediately draw him back, so Cam is going to try to get her toe back to our condo.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡± Sandy asked nervously.


    ¡°We can try talking to him. He may hear us ande back on his own. It can¡¯t hurt.¡± Tish said.


    Dayshia leaned down and spoke into his ear. ¡°Henry! Youe back to us, right now!¡±


    There was no change, and she shared a worried look with Tish, Sandy, and Michelle.


    Tish wondered where Henry went.


    -=-


    Floating over a darkndscape, Henry sleepily watched the shes of light in the clouds below. He knew he shouldn¡¯t be here, but he didn¡¯t have the required energy to go back to where he needed to be. Worse, he didn¡¯t know the way.


    Instead, he let himself be swept along by the currents in the Global Ovey Spell. It seemed much stronger than it did before. While the spell¡¯s healing properties were still based on the old magic as that was the only kind the Fae responded to, it now had a baseyer of Wild Magic, which seemed to be acting like a power induction charger for the healing spell. The strength of the spell was significantly boosted. Additionally, the magic¡¯s flow had gone from a gentle swirling current in the upper atmosphere to a rushing river, leaping and surging forward.


    The spell¡¯s purpose, to heal the Fae, felt like it was nearingpletion. He wondered what it could be used for once it healed the Fae. It was a shame that Humans were immune to the energy. It passed through them without effect. Wild Magic, on the other hand, wreaked havoc on Humans. He thought of his friends, and for a moment, he could almost hear them.


    All hell broke loose below him as a dense cluster of pseudo-clouds savagely attacked each other. Henry felt his curiosity drawing him closer. He drifted downwards and saw dim lighting on the ground between at least two dozen mid-sized clouds as they jockeyed for position. He thought he sawrge oil tanksid out in a grid below the fighting storm clouds. Henry felt the presence of arge body of water to the east, an expanse of desert to his right, and saw the lights of a nearby city just north of the battle.


    There was a terrific burst of light as two of therger pseudo-clouds fired their sma beams down their sides to strike each other simultaneously. Instead of reaching their targets, the energy channels struck two of the oil tanks. The resulting explosion ripped open two additional tanks, and giant fireballs rose towards the attackers. Therger pseudo-clouds weren¡¯t able to avoid the fire and lost most of their mass in a deluge that fell upon the destroyed tanks. Something reached critical within the two scorched behemoths, and two almost simultaneous explosions ripped thempletely apart. Golden light shot outwards in two rtively slow-moving expanding rings, which lit up the enormous billows of smoke from the burning oil. Henry was almost dazzled by the light show. He looked downwards at the lit-up streets, and based on the writing he saw on some signage, he guessed he was over a small city in the Middle East.


    The remaining pseudo-clouds in the cluster were shedding their mass of Wild Magic charged water as they rushed northwards over the city, seemingly running from the golden rings. A few stragglers which shed too much of their energy were caught by the golden light. This triggered explosions from within them as well, but they just dropped something shiny onto the streets below. Henry followed the surviving creatures closely and could see the peopleing out of their homes and shops to see the gorgeous lights passing overhead.


    Henry wanted to scream at them to go back inside, but they were dancing in the rain, getting drenched in the magically charged liquid.


    Seemingly driven into a frenzy, the surviving pseudo-clouds began to attack each other once more over streets filled with people. The magically charged bolts struck the ground again and again as the rain continued to fall. The city¡¯s electrical grid failed in the onught, and Henry had to look away as the constant shes were almost blinding.

 190

    The golden rings caught up to the battle, and one after another, the inner workings within the remaining clouds exploded, dropping their shiny debris onto the streets below.


    The battle over, Henry¡¯s mind drifted down to street level, and he stared in horror at the devastation around him. Not everyone survived the skirmish. People in cars had been roasted alive by the sma. Out of control vehicles had plowed into pedestrians, and shattered multicolored ss could be seen where these collisions had urred with people in the process of bing the ss People.


    Henry now understood how they were created.


    Then he saw her.


    So small and precious¡­ and dead.


    The infant must have been thrown from one of the crashed cars. Henry wanted to do something for her, but he couldn¡¯t even cover her body in his disembodied state. He was powerless.


    When he next became aware of his surroundings, his attention was drawn by arge group of ss People slowly wandering around in shock.


    As he moved closer, the ss People nearby stopped and looked at him. They could somehow see him, as the ones in the gymnasium had and Xiong did on that mountaintop. He could feel their fright, so he did his best to assure them. In his private thoughts, he wasn¡¯t sure how the local government would react when they found the people changed like this. He feared they¡¯d be treated as the other ss People had been, or worse.


    He wished he could open the door to Eden. Then they could join Xiong and the rest.


    He continued floating through the streets, seeing the thirsty soil absorbing the rain but unable to feel the fine mist which continued to fall, the remnants of the dying clouds. He tried to make sense of the aftermath of the battle, and each time he met them, he eased the fears of the newly transformed. A small sh of gold light up ahead drew him to the scene of a man who still seemed Human. He was soaking wet andying in a puddle with a big grin on his face. He had a fine gold wire mesh with dull yellow stones at the wires¡¯ intersections in one of his hands. In his other hand were some strips of tin foil. Henry watched as they melted against his skin, sliding up his arm. It didn¡¯t cling to his clothes but slid underneath, bonding to his skin. Henry could only watch as it covered his face and continued into his hair and down over his other shoulder. Henry felt like he was holding his breath, but the man in the puddle didn¡¯t seem to notice. He suddenly stood up and began to run up the street, faster and faster, until he zipped away and out of sight.


    He couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯d just witnessed. Henry looked around and spotted more of the amber stones and gold wire. These stones were glowing with golden light, and there were more strips of the silver foil very close by. He realized this was the shiny debris he¡¯d seen dropping from the dead pseudo-clouds. He reached out to touch it.


    A tugging sensation began, and Henry found himself sliding away from the mesh. He couldn¡¯t deny the pull. He floated back the way he came until he arrived in a wide za next to some apartment towers. The ss People were congregating there and calling for the others to join them. This was the tugging sensation. They were speaking through the magic. He suddenly recalled the ss People from the gymnasium and how they¡¯d called out to him, pulling him to them through the magic in him.


    He also recalled Xiong calling out to him that night, so he moved closer to the group¡¯s center. The ones standing there seemed to be the ones rallying the others to join them. Henry reached out a phantom limb and touched the one who appeared to be the leader. His fingers passed through the ss surface, but his connection felt like it was boosted considerably. He sent an image of Xiong and the sensation he¡¯d had when he¡¯dmunicated with him. He showed his memories of Eden, and suddenly the ss People became very excited. He felt their hope.


    Henry was beginning to quickly tire as he felt a significant drain. Communing with them in this state took so much energy. He left them with a sense of urgency to reach out to his friends on the other side through the magic. Then he pulled back and let himself float upwards to rejoin the flow of the Global Ovey Spell. It trickled energy back into him, but he was so weary. He wondered if it would feel different if he did this when he wasn¡¯t injured or inebriated.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    The light dazzled him once more, and he thought the pseudo-clouds were having another battle, but it was just the sun as he flew towards the daylight side of the. Below, nothing seemed familiar. He was lost once more as the Earth turned below him. He felt a monstrouslyrge presence over what might be the Pacific Ocean, then he was beyond it. Then it was dark again.


    He was stunned at how quick the flow of magic had be over the globe. There was no sensation of movement except for the sight of the world turning below.


    He watched the man-made lights below as he passed over what he thought might be the west coast of the states, then he was plunged into the rtive darkness of the mountains and the ins beyond.


    Henry was so tired. He just wanted to go home. How much longer was he going to be trapped up in the sky?


    Where was his body?


    John F. Kennedy International airport was crowded and noisy, which suited Minkah¡¯s purposes. While she was weary from her long flight from Cairo, she preferred to arrive when the airport staff were busy and stressed. While she didn¡¯t enjoy the long queues and being immersed in the smell of Humans, the time she¡¯d spend under the customs agents¡¯ scrutiny was usually shorter.


    Not that her paperwork wasn¡¯t perfect or would raise a g. She¡¯d been doing this for a long time and was a master at getting through international travel hubs with no ripples at all.


    Minkah Kamh Nassor Meskh, born in Cairo, Egypt. Age, 30 years. Sex, female. Height, 178 cm. Weight, 63 kg. upation, Security Consultant. She wasn¡¯t carrying a weapon as she would be supplied whatever she needed by those contracting her work. Besides, shewasa weapon. She used her looks to distract her opponents as well as customs agents. Every target she¡¯d faced underestimated her due to her beauty. She was tall and long-limbed with a tight, lean body. She had wavy jet ck hair to mid-back, a light tan skin tone, a heart shape face with full sensual lips, and intense, expressive eyes, one of which was light amber while the other was a deep shade of blue. That was all the distraction she¡¯d need to get past airport security.


    She¡¯d been requested by the Hidden Races Council in New York months ago, but she¡¯d been upied hunting the killer of Thane del Neev, Investigator for Western Europe. Her investigation yielded no results at all, which was evidence in itself. She¡¯d never encountered such apleteck of information. No one saw anything or remembered seeing anything, at least. She didn¡¯t count it as a failure on her part as she¡¯d been exceptionally thorough, almost to the point of driving some potential witnesses to file nuisance charges against her. Nothing had shaken their conviction that Thane had been alone when he died, and none recalled why he was there in the first ce.


    She sighed as she inched closer to the customs desk. She casually watched the people around her. All Humans, as far as her sensitive nose could tell, but she was right in the midst of them, so that was not an urate test. She smiled to herself as they had no idea they had a Bastet standing next to them. She felt eyes on her and ignored them once she determined they were just drawn by her beauty.


    Then it was her turn to present her documentation, and she¡¯d lucked into an agent who looked like he was well pastdone-for-the-day. A few curt questions barked at her, a curious look at her mismatched eyes, her passport was stamped, and she was through.


    Walking across the arrivals hall, Minkah reflected on thest time she¡¯d visited the city. It was so many years ago. She had no friends here. Truthfully, she had no friends anywhere. She never felt the need to get to know anyone, as she might have to kill them.


    A slight smile came to her lips as she heard the happy squeal of lovers reuniting, their kisses passionate and demanding, and their arms holding each other so tight. She mildly wondered what that might feel like. She¡¯d taken lovers over the years, but none of them had truly satisfied her. She¡¯d never returned to a lover once she¡¯d bedded them. Her string of disappointments prevented her from actively looking.


    Minkah prided herself on being self-sufficient. Perhaps that was just a trait of Bastets, as shapeshifters had a reputation for deception. People seemed to feel ufortable around her, so it was for the best that she remained alone. She had no problems findingpany to share her bed on the asions when she felt that need. It was better to be able to cut them loose directly afterward.


    Instead of relying on others¡¯ validation, she found satisfaction in being the best at her job, eliminating threats to the Hidden Races. She was an assassin.


    She was hearing reports of the number of risks increasing and their frequency elerating. For her, this pattern began with the red-eyed sound tracker in the Nuclear facility. That one had been disturbing, and she¡¯d found it immensely satisfying to kill the creature. Especially since it had killed and partially consumed a fellow assassin.


    She¡¯d found the look on Heller¡¯s face amusing as he¡¯d seemed so surprised, yet it was his report she was acting upon. The other assassin had been summoned by the facility manager as she¡¯d seen his report was filed a full day after Heller¡¯s.


    Maybe Heller thought the other assassin had been the one he¡¯d ordered. It no longer mattered, but she still enjoyed the memory of his look.


    She sank back into the cushions of the cab¡¯s seat and gave the driver her destination. Soon they were making their way into the heart of the big city.


    While killing brought her no thrill,pleting her missions neatly and efficiently gave her a deep sense of satisfaction. Her reputation was spotless, and she¡¯d never failed in a mission.

 191

    The case of the death of Thane del Neev was still open. She didn¡¯t consider it a failure as she wouldn¡¯t stop until she found the guilty party and ended them.


    Her destination tonight was an apartment in a building next to Central Park. She¡¯d be staying there during her visit.


    She would meet her client in a seventeenth-floor suite after dropping off her carry-on luggage in the apartment the Council kept for these purposes.


    Minkah watched the city out the window and marveled at how much it had changed since she¡¯dst visited.


    When the taxi finally stopped before the building, she paid the driver and got out. She stretched her tight muscles as she panned her eyes around. She noticed a small sign across the street indicating the Metropolitan Museum of Art was nearby. She hoped she might get a chance to visit while she was here, but the mission took precedence. Her eyes tracked all nearby motion, and before she got dizzy from the sheer volume of it, she set off across the sidewalk and went in the front door.


    She went up to the fifteenth floor, found the door to the apartment she was to use and punched the code into the digital door lock to open it. She listened and took the scent before flipping the light switch next to the door. A single floormp in the corner of the living room illuminated a mostly empty space. She entered and took in how minimally furnished it was. Essential requirements were met with no concern for style. The room contained two mismatched high back chairs, themp, and a small table between the chairs.


    The dining space had a card table with four steel and vinyl padded chairs pushed up against the windows. A smallmp sat on the card table. A basic kitchen faced the dining and living rooms.


    She moved to the bedroom and saw a single, double bed, an end table with a cheapmp on it, and a small three drawer bureau. She left her carry-on on the bed then immediately left the apartment to head back to the elevator to go up two more floors. She saw the meeting would take ce two floors above the unit she was staying in. She knocked on the door and listened. The privacy field must have been active as the lock clicking open was the first sound she¡¯d heard from inside.


    When the door opened, she looked down into the suspicious gaze of a red-bearded dwarf. She recognized him as Rand von Deussel, Council Investigator for the Eastern United States and cousin of Thane del Neev. She wondered why he was here tonight. Was he working in his investigator¡¯s capacity to assist with the new assignment, or was he here as the cousin looking for vengeance?


    He grunted quietly, stood aside, and gestured for her to enter. She did, and when the door closed behind her, she felt the slight pressure change from the privacy field engaging. She walked down the hall to enter the living room. There was more furniture here than her unit had. Two couches faced each other across a coffee table. End tables, a small area rug under the table, and pleasant scenic pictures in frames hung on the walls.


    On one of the sofas sat a woman in her sixties, dressed in a tailored business suit: Lise-Anne Hoek, Minister of Security and Minkah¡¯s contact.


    The assassin sat on the sofa across from Lise-Anne. ¡°Why is he here?¡± she asked, gesturing to the Dwarf.


    Rand scowled as he took a seat next to Lise-Anne.


    ¡°I¡¯ll exin that momentarily. I see we are dispensing with the niceties,¡± the Minister said with a weary look.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Minkah saw the strain on the face of the woman across from her. That made sense considering how difficult her job had be in recent weeks.


    The older woman slid a dossier across the coffee table. ¡°You weren¡¯t the resource I originally requested. The target¡¯s unique circumstances escted my request to the highest levels, and the Chancellor himself insisted I wait for your avability. I understand your specialty is assassination, but your reputation for managing difficult assignments made you the best candidate for this one.¡±


    Minkah¡¯s brows rose when she heard the leader of the Hidden Races Council administrative branch had involved himself in one of her missions. That raised the stakes. She frowned as she opened the dossier.


    There was a collection of candid pictures of the target taken from a hidden camera as he was walking outside. One showed him smiling as the sun was on his face, and he looked genuinely happy. Looking at the other images, she noted that he was tall, muscr, and handsome with shoulder-length wavy brown hair. One image stood out in the set and caught her attention. The target was walking within a group of people on a busy city street, likely on their way to work based on the quality and angle of light. A couple of women behind him were visibly checking him out with admiring smiles on their faces.


    She could read a lot about a man from his eyes in candid photos like these. She was a little puzzled as his expression didn¡¯t show the confidence she expected from such arge, good looking specimen. She knew it was just one still image but using it as context, the remaining pictures showed he was morefortable alone than amongst strangers.


    Her eyes returned to the image of him enjoying the morning sun. She thought he looked most attractive in that picture. It seemed a shame to terminate him but if that was the job, so be it.


    She looked at his biographical data and froze. She looked to Lise-Anne incredulously. ¡°His adoptive grandmother is Baba Yaga?!?¡±


    The woman had the good grace to wince. ¡°Yes. She has demonstrated a certain¡­ level of¡­ concern for his well-being.¡±


    Minkah slowly set the dossier down on the table¡¯s surface and pushed it away as she gave the two people across from her a stern look. ¡°As you indicated, my specialty is assassination. A termination mission is out of the question for this target. I¡¯m not suicidal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons why it¡¯s not a termination mission,¡± Rand growled.


    Once more, Minkah¡¯s eyebrows inched upwards. ¡°One of the reasons? You need more?¡±


    Lise-Anne frowned as well. ¡°There is also the possibility that his continued survival is required to keep the Fae alive.¡±


    Minkah made a choking sound. ¡°Why were my services requested?!?¡±


    ¡°Read the rest of the docket,¡± Rand said in annoyance, pointing to the file.


    The assassin frowned but picked up the docket and continued reading past the reference to the witch.


    As she read, she caught the motion of Rand ncing at his cell and heard his quiet grunt of exasperation. She looked at him, but he shook his head, so she went back to reading.


    Finally, she set the docket on the coffee table again. ¡°It¡¯s not an assassination. It¡¯s an abduction and containment exercise. You must have teams avable for that who¡¯d be able to take a single target. I don¡¯t understand why I¡¯m involved at this point.¡±


    ¡°Due to the possibility of interference from the crone, his continued ess to the Fae¡¯s Global Ovey Spell even though we have reason to believe he lost this, the potential for Fae surveince, his link to a domain of Wild Magic which may thwart magic attacks, and the number of Wild Magic powered beings who stay close to him, information on them is included in the dossier, we need your expertise for engineering an extraction n,¡± Lise-Anne insisted. ¡°Everything you do up to the moment you pull the trigger is required for this mission. This time, instead of killing him and escaping, you¡¯ll capture him and get him to containment. The Chancellor was explicit that we need your expertise.¡±


    Minkah was secretly pleased that the Chancellor held her work in such high esteem, but this wasn¡¯t a time to bask in praise. She couldn¡¯t make reasonable and rational decisions if she was high on des.


    She looked at Rand, who was almost vibrating with his frustration. ¡°Did the message which upset you involve the target?¡±


    He held her eyes, then nodded. ¡°There¡¯s been another sighting of the bloody Aurora Borealis. This time they were able to identify it was centered over Jersey City, where the target lives.¡±


    Minkah frowned. ¡°A lot of people live in Jersey City.¡±


    ¡°Only one of them is linked to the Fae¡¯s healing spell,¡± Rand exined. ¡°When the magic is concentrated, it looks like wispy green curtains in the sky.¡±


    Minkah picked up the docket once more and scanned the biographic data page. ¡°This says he¡¯s a conduit, not a wielder. How could he influence the Fae spell?¡±


    Lise-Anne sighed as she was treading on more secrets. ¡°He used to be connected to a magical artifact which was directly bound to the Fae¡¯s healing spell. This artifact was taken from him, but somehow he¡¯s still able to interact with the spell¡­ without being a wielder.¡±


    ¡°What good would it do him if he cannot use the magic?¡± Minkah insisted.


    ¡°He has friends who are wielders, but they aren¡¯t linked to the Wild Magic, so theycoulduse the Fae¡¯s magic he gathers to him,¡± Lise-Anne said as she recalled the file. ¡°They live in the same building too. Yuko and Jun Imamura. They¡¯re Kitsune. Mahati and Kali Chandra. They¡¯re N¨¡ga.¡±


    Minkah leaned back against the couch cushions as her travel fatigue seemed to suddenly catch up to her.


    N¨¡ga. Shit. They could be seriously powerful opponents if it came to that. She¡¯d taken a Kitsune down before. They were not as much of a threat.


    Her eyes widened as the name finally registered. ¡°Chandra? As in Indrani Chandra?¡±


    Lise-Anne nodded. ¡°Her daughters.¡±


    Minkah grimaced. Moreplications. Still, she knew she was going to take the job. Damn.


    ¡°I work alone. I don¡¯t want or need people interfering.¡± She saw the two across from her rx as they took that as her eptance of the mission. ¡°That said, when the target is isted and ready for transport, I¡¯ll require immediate assistance in getting him to the containment center. The collection team will need to be nearby.¡± She frowned as she tried to recall if the file mentioned the destination.


    Lise-Anne slid another sheet across the table to her. Minkah looked at her in question. She¡¯d withheld the location?


    The Minister of Security leaned forward. ¡°This containment facility ispletely off the books. No record of it exists. Outside of the three of us, only the Chancellor is aware of its existence, but even he doesn¡¯t know its location. Its function is to contain risks to our secrecy and security, which require study before termination. This target will be a permanent resident. To ensure you are not observed by the Fae, a Pixie surveince team will be used as spotters for Fae. They will report to Rand, and he will be your collection team. Until youplete the mission, he will be at your service. As you wish to work without interference, he will be nearby, able to respond within seconds when contacted.¡±


    Minkah frowned but understood this was the best she could hope for in this mission.

 192

    She took a look at the sheet and saw the facility was in Hainesburg, NJ, just a little more than an hour¡¯s drive from the target¡¯s home. At least she wasn¡¯t going to have to do a long-distance road trip with the Dwarf and the target. She memorized the route and address then handed the sheet back to Lise-Anne.


    ¡°I¡¯ll begin my preliminary surveince on Monday,¡± she said. ¡°Did you bring my requested items?¡±


    Rand nodded and stood to go into the next room. He returned with a small suitcase which he set on the coffee table before her. He took his seat before she opened the case.


    Minkah reviewed the contents to ensure they¡¯d missed nothing she¡¯d ordered. The bottom of the suitcase was foam-lined to securely hold the items in ce. She saw the twin SIG-Sauer P229 handguns with a dozen extra clips loaded with hollow-point ammunition. Suppressors for the pistols. Ten throwing knives and twobat knives.


    Also fitted into the foam was a burner cell phone for keeping in touch with Rand and three auto-injectors. She pointed to the drug injectors as she looked to Lise-Anne. ¡°Are these calibrated to the target¡¯s body mass and metabolism?¡±


    ¡°While we don¡¯t have information on his metabolism, they¡¯re guaranteed to put him under,¡± she confirmed, and Minkah nodded.


    The top of the case had a mesh holding packages containing the holsters and straps for carrying the weapons and extra ammo. She saw two more boxes of hollow points and wondered if they thought she was going to war. She understood the omission of the sniper rifle as the mission parameters had changed. She¡¯d do a more thorough review in the privacy of her room. For now, it seemed like she had everything she needed. She ced the target¡¯s dossier in the case and closed it.


    She looked to Rand. ¡°I¡¯ll contact you when I¡¯m ready to begin.¡± She nodded to them both, lifted the case, and left the apartment without another word.


    Once she was in the apartment on the fifteenth, she pulled the dossier out of the suitcase then stored the luggage in the bedroom closet. Walking into the dining room, she turned on the smallmp and sat at the card table, and nced once out the window overlooking the dark park across the street. She plucked the pictures from the folder and spread them out in front of her. She scanned her eyes over them, memorizing Henry Gable¡¯s features so she¡¯d be able to pick him out of a crowd at a nce.


    This was shaping up to be the most challenging assignment she¡¯d ever undertaken. Killing the target would be a walk in the park byparison.


    As the night grewte, she sat quietly on her chair, vexed by that one image of the strong, handsome man wearing the expression that didn¡¯t belong on his face. She couldn¡¯t help but get the impression she was looking at a smaller, less confident man somehow hidden inside arger body.


    The fat tire bicycle¡¯s plush suspension absorbed the worst of the bumps on the monstrous city¡¯s dark streets. Roger chuckled to himself at his clever thoughts. New York trulywasbig, and yes, it contained monsters, too.


    Roger¡¯s stomach rumbled as he hadn¡¯t eaten in a while. It was time to find another of the creatures hiding in in sight. He was discovering there were fewer of them than he first guessed. This made them harder to find, and his meals came farther apart than his appetite preferred.


    He was always hungry.


    The original owner of this bicycle had been one of the first monsters Roger had killed and consumed.


    Before Roger became what we was now, he would never have epted that he could be a killer. The idea of eating his victims would have been revolting and ludicrous!


    That was before he¡¯d discovered how natural it felt to hunt these freaks hiding amongst humanity. He¡¯d once been one of those blind sheep. Now¡­ now he was so much more, and monsters were delicious!


    The press didn¡¯t know about the death of the man who¡¯d given Roger more than a meal because he¡¯d been a hermit and apparently had no family or friends. The main reason for theck of news on thisvictimwas that his body¡¯s remains were sealed in a defunct deep freeze in the man¡¯s home.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    Needing a ce to stay, Roger stepped into the man¡¯s life. He now lived in the dead man¡¯s grubby ground floor apartment in an abandoned building and used the man¡¯s bicycle to explore the city at night. How he¡¯de to own such an expensive two-wheel machine quickly came to light when Roger found his apartment full of stolen merchandise and a surprising amount of cash.


    He¡¯d quickly learned that it was a truism that no one pays attention to someone on a bicycle. He¡¯d almost been in several idents as distracted driversunched their two-tonne death machines across intersections without care. Roger¡¯s new reaction time and strength had saved him each time.


    In his favor, he¡¯d been able to ride past his targets, catch their scent, and ambush them without them being aware of him until he attacked.


    He enjoyed riding the bike as it let him move almost invisibly throughout the city. The bike¡¯s frame was wrapped in dirty, ck hockey tape, perhaps to disguise it and hide it from its original owner.


    Using some of the money from his hideout, Roger picked up ck track pants and a baggy ck hoodie. Granted, in the store, he¡¯d had to pretend to be blind when he bought the clothes as he no longer saw color with his new eyes.


    Roger reflected upon his new abilities to finallyseethe truth. Before that fateful night, he¡¯d been one of the seemingly small number who were aware of a¡­ wrongness in the world. He¡¯d felt it in his being that he was somehow immersed in a vast conspiracy, but he could not make sense of it.


    When he arrived at the hospital that night, he¡¯d immediately gone to Tish¡¯s room but was blocked at the door. He¡¯d felt a desperate need to turn away, to leave the area, but his friend Tish was inside, and he had to see her. The other nurses said they¡¯d heard she was permanently crippled. Nothing was going to keep him from seeing her. It took everything he had to push through that door and burst into the room.


    He¡¯d been utterly unprepared for what he saw next. The image was seared into his brain and remained sharp to this day.


    Arge being with curling horns and furry goat legs had been leaning against the hospital bed with his right hand resting on the stomach of a smaller goat-legged being resting on the bed where Tish should have been. Therger goat being¡¯s left hand held a coil of golden hair, which was just part of a considerable mass currently attached to Sandy¡¯s head. More strands of the same hair held a small man with pointy ears suspended above the bed, holding one of his hands to the belly of the being in the bed. Then the incredible strong hair captured him, and he passed out.


    When he woke, he was alone, feeling an intense need to get away, to hide. All he could see were outlines, but he managed to rush out of the room and ran down the stairwells faster than he¡¯d ever done before. The hospital seemed oddly quiet, so he snuck out through the workman¡¯s door. He spotted an SUV parked by the hospital¡¯s side door and saw the shape and features of Henry Gable carrying the goat-legged being who¡¯d been in the bed. He now knew that being was Tish. Before Roger was spotted, he rushed off into the night.


    The first day at his apartment was difficult. Dealing with his new sight was terrifying, but he slowly learned how to use it. He slipped out that night and found he could easily navigate his way around without the need for any light.


    But he was so incredibly hungry! He surprised himself when he caught and ate his neighbor¡¯s cat. It didn¡¯t stop his hunger, but it showed him what he was capable of.


    On his way back to his apartment, he spotted a team of creatures casing the ce. There were six of them. Two that reminded him of the small man who¡¯d been in the hospital room and four others with wildly different shapes. They were hunting for him, so he¡¯d faded back into the darkness and never went back.


    He¡¯d found a quiet ce to hide and rest in an abandoned factory. There were plenty of rats to eat, and he realized he wasn¡¯t squeamish about hunting and eating them. While they kept him alive, he found them unsatisfying.


    As he hid and learned about his new abilities, making nightly excursions to spy on the people who had once been his friends, he began to put some of the pieces together. Tish had been changed into some kind of goat-legged monster. Sandy now had all that hair, which moved on its own. Dayshia? He wasn¡¯t sure what her change was, and she still intimidated him too much to get close enough to check.


    He also learned he had some drawbacks. He couldn¡¯t see through ss, and reading signs and printed material, like money, was particrly difficult. Not impossible, unless the written surface had beenminated.


    ss being opaque to him meant Roger couldn¡¯t drive. Granted, he hadn¡¯t known how to drive before his change, so no loss there.

 193

    His mind returned again and again to that first night. He knew everything hinged on the attractive stranger who had tried to take Stanley¡¯s ce in their group of friends, Henry Gable.


    Roger had been suspicious of him from the very beginning, and now it seemed he may be at the center of the conspiracy. He had to be connected in some way to therge, horned goat-legged monster he¡¯d seen in the hospital room. However, the night Roger got close enough to get a good look at him, he appeared human.


    That was also the night Roger got a taste of his first monster. It had been like nothing he¡¯d ever tasted, and he wanted more. He¡¯d encountered the recluse next, and aside from another filling meal, he got himself a permanent base, a means of transportation, and some pocket money.


    He¡¯d used the bicycle to ride all over the city to hunt for his meals. He already knew how to travel through the city to avoid big brother¡¯s video surveince, so that skill came in handy.


    Tonight, he was close to the Bronx Zoo. He hadn¡¯t hunted in this part of the city yet. As he passed the zoo¡¯s closed gate, he picked up the scents of the resident animals and the humans who visited and worked in the zoo. The visitor scents were rtively faint as the day was done. But there was one scent that triggered his saliva nds. It was intense, pungent, and definitely not human or animal. It came from inside the grounds, so he was going to have to break in.


    He found a pocket of dark between the streetlights and under the trees where he chained his bike to a tree. He tucked the key into a tear under the seat as who would look there?


    While his new eyes couldn¡¯t see color or detect light and dark, his skincouldfeel the pressure of light, be it natural or man-made. It was simple to find darkness as it was the absence of that pressure. Daylight was ufortable, so now, his waking hours were during the night.


    Turning, he faced the eight-foot-tall chain-link fence topped by barb wire. Once, he would have been blocked by this obstacle, but as the scent of his dinner filled his senses, his body began to itch and shift. He quickly pulled off his clothes before the change progressed too far. He wrapped his hoodie and sweat pants around his running shoes and used the hoodie¡¯s sleeves to tie the bundle to the bicycle frame.


    Naked, he stood in the deep shadows as his arms and legs stretched, giving him a few more inches of height and reach. His hands extended their six-inch ws while the ws on his toes were just two inches. Both were deadly sharp and hard enough to cut through the chain-link, but he had a better way to get past the fence.


    He crouched down and gauged the top of the fence, then sprung upwards, clearing the sharp wire by a few inches. He sailed over the obstacle in an arc,pletely inverted as he reached the apex and continuing on tond silently on his feet. He remained crouched as he scanned his surroundings.


    Drool ran down his chin as the thick, pungent pong of the monster drifted by on a light breeze. His teeth had extended as well as his jaw hinge stretched down topensate. Long and razor-sharp, his teeth were perfectly suited to ripping the meat from his dinner.


    He scented the air and determined his quarry was moving away to the north. He loped along the lit path, keeping to the shadows as best he could. He slowed and stopped when he spotted the big man up ahead. Roger¡¯s drool was freely running as he could almost taste the flesh of this brute.


    He was downwind from his quarry, but the animals were agitated, and their noises painted the scene for Roger¡¯s eyes. The monster was bulkier than any he¡¯d faced yet with thick bs of muscle. It had small eyes, pointed ears, and jutting up from its bottom lip were two tusks. It had to be at least seven feet tall.


    Roger began to wonder if he¡¯d be able to take on such a giant creature. His hunger wasn¡¯t willing to give up when such a heavy meal was before him. He crept forward.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there! You can¡¯t be here. Zoo¡¯s closed.¡±


    Roger paused as he heard its deep voice calling out. There was no fear in the voice, but the creature sounded a little simple-minded. He hesitated, but his hunger pushed him forward.


    The big man didn¡¯t run. He began walking towards Roger, which made him pause again. There was no scent of fear. This monster was strong, so he obviously believed he could defeat anything he faced. The monster¡¯s stride was long, so he was only twenty feet away at this point. It was toote for Roger to run and remain unseen.


    Instead, he attacked.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    The monster wasn¡¯t ready for Roger¡¯s frontal attack, but it did manage to throw one of its arms up to protect its face.


    Roger¡¯s teeth sunk deep into the thick meat of its forearm as he raked his ws down the chest of the brute. It grunted then struck Roger in the side of his chest with a powerful right fist. Ribs creaked but didn¡¯t break, and the monster¡¯s eyes widened as it began to realize its strength might not be enough. When Roger¡¯s feet kicked against his rounded gut, ws dug in, then Roger sprung away, ripping the big man¡¯s stomach muscles as well as a chunk of muscle from his arm.


    The brute cried out in pain this time and stumbled forward. Roger sprung up and over the monster, narrowly avoiding another swipe of the huge right fist. Heshed out with his ws and left deep gouges across the left side of the creature¡¯s face. He got the beast¡¯s eye too, and its next cry was full of fear. Roger felt a thrill course through him.


    He moved in for the kill and found himself sailing over a wall and a deep moat from a powerful backhand from its uninjured right arm. He struggled to catch a breath then crashed to the ground inside an enclosure. He was immediately attacked by tworge and very agitated beasts with sharp teeth and ws.


    Roger¡¯s ws and teeth were sharper and more vicious as he fought for his life. He killed one lioness and drove the other off with severe injuries. His head whipped around as the scent of his target moved away.


    The giant monster was almost to the security office when Roger dropped onto his back and sank his teeth into his thick neck. Dagger-sharp teeth stabbed deeply until they crunched bone and hit the spinal cord.


    Roger rode the paralyzed body down to the ground. He didn¡¯t release the grip on his bite until he was sure the creature wasn¡¯t going to surprise him again. Just in case, Roger used a single w to open its neck. It gurgled for a bit, then the twitching weakened. He rolled the huge body over onto its back. Small eyes filled with shock and fear stared up at him.


    It was taking too long, and Roger was too weary from his injuries and his hunger. He could wait no longer. He forced two ws into the big man¡¯s gut just below its ribs and tore downwards, opening him up. He didn¡¯t have time to wait for the beast to die, so he began eating his organs as it shook and gasped under his ws.


    As good as it was for Roger, he didn¡¯t have time to enjoy it as someone was likely to investigate. Still, Roger glutted himself on the monster before he finally stumbled away off the path towards the fence he¡¯d leapt over. He was bleeding from several cuts and scratches from the lions, but with a full meal in his belly, these wounds were already healing quickly.


    When he reached the spot he¡¯d entered the zoo, he picked up the sound of the bike lock chain rattling against the frame. Someone was stealing his bike?!?


    He sprang over the fence tond just behind a small man trying to figure out how to steal his bicycle. The lock¡¯s chain was extra thick, as was its small U-lock. The thief was trying to pick the lock.


    Roger must have made a sound as the bike thief spun with a knife in his hand and froze.


    ¡°What the fuck are y-uurrkk!¡± he began to shriek, but it turned into a gurgle as Roger shed his throat with a single w. Before the man could fall, Roger gripped his jacket and crotch and heaved him over the fence.


    Roger heard a sirening in the distance, so he quickly dressed and willed himself to rx to be able to put his runners back on. He unlocked and unchained the bike so he could quickly ride in the opposite direction from the sirens. Once again, he kept to the side streets as he rode in a wide arc to bring himself back to his hide-out. The sky was just beginning to lighten, which told him once more he¡¯d fucked up and taken too long tonight. He stopped a block away and did a quick but thorough check of the neighborhood, extending his senses in all directions but saw no signs of watchers. He rode his bike back to the home and settled himself in for the day.


    He looked around the dump he now had to spend his days in and frowned. This wasn¡¯t how he wanted his life to be. He was supposed to be the one who opened the eyes of the world to how empty and corrupt their societies had be. He was going to usher in a new era of pure anarchy, as mankind was supposed to live! When he discovered the monsters living amongst them, he thought that exposing them would send civilization into a tailspin, but even when he left their monstrously deformed corpses for others to find, no one seemed to see their true shapes! It wasn¡¯t working, and that made him angry!


    As he sank back against the worn cushions of the old recliner chair, he smiled as he felt the pain from his bruises, cuts, and scratches gradually ease. He healed remarkably quickly after a meal. He assumed this was a survival trait of whatever he¡¯d be. That question, what the small bike thief had been trying to say when Roger ended his life, burned in him. He needed to know. Roger¡¯s mission was gaining no traction.


    He was betting that Henry Gable knew the answers to his questions. Maybe it was time to get them.


    There was a rapid knocking at Henry¡¯s door, and Tish ran to open it. Sigrid and Meixiu were there with anxious and guilty looks on their faces, respectively. Tish stood aside as Meixiu rushed in and headed for the bedroom immediately.


    When she got there, she saw Dayshia sleeping next to Henry as Michelle and Sandy were groggily sitting up on Henry¡¯s other side. They eased themselves off the bed.


    Michelle wore a very pleased smile on her face as she¡¯d slept with a man for the first time in her life. Slept. Baby steps.


    Sigrid and Tish arrived in the bedroom, and the tall blonde looked at the others in surprise. Tish smiled self-consciously. ¡°We¡¯ve been taking turns talking to him all night. Where were you two?¡±


    The two shared a guilty expression. ¡°We were hunting the serial killer. Our cell phones were off.¡±


    Meixiu wasted no more time but climbed onto the bed to stretch out next to Henry. She moved her lips next to his ear.


    ¡°Henry? You need to wake up! Where are you?¡± she pleaded.


    They waited, but nothing happened.


    ¡°Henry! Please wake up!¡± Meixiu cried.


    Still nothing. The small woman looked at Sigrid with a stricken expression. ¡°I should have been herest night!¡±

 194

    Sigrid just pursed her lips and shook her head. She felt equally to me as she¡¯d managed to get Meixiu to confess what she¡¯d be up to and told her they would go out together from now on for safety. ¡°Try again.¡±


    Sigrid turned to Sandy. ¡°Go out on the balcony and look up. Tell us if you see a change in the color of the sky.¡± Sandy nodded and dashed for the door.


    The tall and slim Chinese woman nodded and clung to Henry. She repeated her calls and listened to his breathing between each attempt. He¡¯de back so quicklyst time. That it was taking so long now was seriously frightening her.


    Sandy called out from down the hall. ¡°The sky above is turning green!¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    Meixiu looked hopefully at Sigrid, who nodded. The smaller woman moved her mouth closer to his ear to speak insistently. ¡°Henry! Where are you? Come back to your body, NOW!¡±


    Henry¡¯s body heaved as he sucked in a deep breath. Everyone screamed, squealed, or squeaked in surprise, Dayshia waking with a scream on her lips. She blinked and looked at Henry¡¯s waking state. Sandy came running when she heard the noise.


    Meixiu clung tighter and kissed Henry, whose eyes were fluttering open.


    ¡°Meixiu, give him a chance to fully wake up!¡± Sigrid admonished her roommate.


    Henry¡¯s eyes were rolling in his head. ¡°Oh god¡­ What¡­ Did that¡­ what happened?¡± he muttered.


    Tish climbed on the bed and leaned over him to look into his eyes. ¡°You were injuredst night. Your mind left your body again after you were healed.¡±


    Henry was looking at her in dread. ¡°Shit¡­ it happened again. This time I didn¡¯t cause it but¡­¡± He tried to sit up, and Tish helped him. He looked to Meixiu. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. ¡°Thank you for bringing me back.¡±


    ¡°We tried talking to you all night to get you to return! What is it about Meixiu¡¯s voice that makes you hear her!¡± Dayshia asked.


    Henry blinked at her then looked to the others, who were all waiting for an answer. ¡°Thank you. I-I recall hearing your voices¡­ as I passed by in orbit.¡±


    Sandy squeaked in surprise. ¡°Your mind was flying around in outer space?!?¡±


    A shudder went through Henry¡¯s body as he shook his head. ¡°No. More like the upper atmosphere.¡± He looked to Sigrid. ¡°The flow of the Wild Magic is much faster than it was before, and it¡¯s much stronger. I was caught in the current and went around the again, again, and again.¡±


    She looked frightened by his admission. ¡°Henry. Out of body experiences don¡¯t normally allow for that much distance between the mind and body. You could be permanently lost out there.¡±


    Meixiu¡¯s breathing was bing faster as she began to get more and more upset. ¡°You will not do that anymore!¡± she snapped at him in fright.


    He felt it then, apulsion to obey. He smiled as he pulled her into a tight hug. ¡°I know why Meixiu¡¯s voice draws me back!¡± he said with a shocked smile. The others looked to him. ¡°She¡¯s able topel people with her voice. I felt a pull! Is that some kind of Vampire ability?¡± He looked to Meixiu and Sigrid.


    The muscr blonde smiled as she bumped her forehead with the heel of her hand. ¡°Ah! Of course. I should have remembered, but she¡¯s the only Vampire I know.¡±


    Henry suddenly looked ufortable. ¡°Sorry, I need to use the facilities. While I do that, Tish, can you turn on the TV to a news channel? Look for a story on an epic storm in a coastal Middle East city. His expression was a little bleak. He tried to get out of bed only to end up on the floor, his muscles weak and trembling.


    ¡°Henry! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tish asked nervously.


    ¡°I seem to have no strength left, and I¡¯m so hungry,¡± Henry moaned.


    ¡°Kesini and I have this,¡± Sandy said as she moved closer to lift Henry to his feet and helped him over to the washroom. Dayshia and Tish raised their eyebrows at the apparent ease Sandy had with lifting her muchrger patient. They shared a grin with her, then guided the others out of the bedroom to the living room.


    Tish got the TV going and scanned through the news channels. It didn¡¯t take long to find a story on a devastating explosion that killed hundreds in Kuwait City.


    With Sandy and Kesini¡¯s assistance, Henry soon returned to join them and gave them all hugs. He was still a little shaky, so Tish immediately began preparing breakfast with Meixiu¡¯s assistance.


    Henry stared bleakly at the screen, which was showing a very long view of Kuwait City. The press crews weren¡¯t being allowed to get close. Troops were also unable to move into the city from outside because of a wall of viciously whipped up sand and dust encircling the city. It didn¡¯t look natural. There were asional shes of silver from within the dust clouds. The news feed cut to a drone cam one of the news teams snuck into the area and deployed. They¡¯d positioned it a short distance outside arge open space on the southern edge of the city. They were showing a huge gathering of gleaming humanoid shapes in this area. There had to be close to two hundred of them!


    ¡°What¨C What are those?!?¡± Dayshia gasped.


    Henry twitched and looked to the dark beauty. ¡°ss People. I was therest night. I saw them being created. The pseudo-clouds were fighting. They flew over the city streets, shedding their mass, saturating everything with Wild Magic charged rain. The people wereing outside to stand in it and watch the light show in the sky. Then the remaining clouds unleashed another attack. The lightning was intense, and when it was over, the people were either dead or had be ss.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, Henry!¡± Sigrid said, realizing he¡¯d been inside what must have felt like a war zone.


    ¡°So much death!¡± he muttered as he watched as the screen split to keep one side with the drone footage and the other showing scenes of the amassed military might, just outside the stationary sandstorm. A single tank rolled forward. The news camera focused on this attempt to probe the wall.


    Suddenly, a single silver humanoid rushed out of the swirling clouds of sand to rush up to the side of the tank. The split-screen switched to a single view of this silver being and the tank. The camera was too far to make out small details, but they could see it standing next to therge vehicle. A soldier sticking out of the top of the tank pointed his handgun at the silver being and pulled the trigger. The silver being didn¡¯t react at all at first. It just seemed to touch its chest. Then it stepped forward and kicked the tank¡¯s track multiple times, faster than the eye could track. It finally rushed back into the sandstorm. The Tank tried to move forward again, but the track that had been kicked no longer turned. It was broken.


    ¡°What was that?!?¡± Sigrid eximed.


    Henry was peering closely at the video, trying to make out how many of the silver beings were racing back and forth in that cloud of sand. It became apparent to him that they were creating the blockade to¡­ protect the ss People? That was the first thing that came to his mind.


    ¡°Henry!¡±


    He looked to Sigrid, who was staring at him intently. ¡°Hmmm? What?¡±


    ¡°I was asking you if you saw the silver manst night too? Did hee from the other side?¡± she asked.


    He shook his head. ¡°I only saw onest night, and he was human before he changed. He was soaked with the rain from the pseudo-cloud, but he didn¡¯t get hit by the lightning. He picked up some debris that fell from one of the dead clouds. It was some shiny yellow stones and the silver strips which melted over his skin. The Silver People are, or were, Human. The one I sawst night ran away really fast after he changed.¡± He pointed to the TV. ¡°There seems to be more of them now, and I think they might be protecting the ss People.¡±


    ¡°The sandstorm is moving!¡± Dayshia called out. They turned back to the TV and saw the swirling sand and dust¡¯s outer boundary was indeed moving away from the troops and into the city streets, racing back to the field where the other beings waited for something. A few silver beings were running around the open park¡¯s periphery to keep the Human citizen within the city from interfering with the ss People inside.


    A reporter stated that the poption of Kuwait City was almost two and a half million, so Henry was grateful, so few had ventured out into the storm. While there seemed to be hundreds of people gathered to see this event, they kept their distance.


    While that was happening, the drone cams caught the sh of orange light in the center of the open space where the ss People were gathered.


    ¡°Xiong and the others heard their call! It¡¯s an opening to Eden!¡± Henry shouted excitedly.


    The ss beings surged forward slowly and began passing through the rip in space. Considering the number of ss People, how slow they moved, and the energy it took to keep that rip open, Henry knew most weren¡¯t going to make it through.

 195

    The opening shrank a little, then a channel formed in the crowd before it, allowing several Silver People to pass between them and go through. They began pulling the ss People into Eden, picking the smaller ones up and carrying them inside only toe back for another. Therger ones were just dragged. The Silver People were so fast they began collecting their loads from Earth¡¯s side to rush inside. They quickly cleared the area before the rip. Then they just stopped, and another group of Silver People rushed in from projecting the field to take over ferrying the new ss People through the tear. They were quickly making a dent in the number of ss People waiting in therge open area, but the rip began to shrink.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    While all this was happening, the news anchors were specting madly about invaders from space.


    The drone camera was knocked out of the sky, and the news channel video feed switched to the long-range camera outside the city, which just caught the tail end of the jet¡¯s pass over the field and the fireball it left behind. The ne must have dropped an incendiary bomb. Not to be undone by the military, a second news drone quickly flew toward the park, and they soon saw the long scorch mark and trench cut by the explosion. Some ss People could be seen climbing out of the channel no worse for wear. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the civilians who¡¯d be standing outside the field but in the st zone. The Silver People, all of them now, were rushing the remaining ss beings through the rip, which had shrunk considerably. It was a constant blur of silver as the group rapidly disappeared through the opening. They suddenly stopped as the orange light winked out. The rip had closed. There were only a few dozen ss People left on Earth¡¯s side. Some of the Silver People were on Eden, but at least a half dozen remained on Earth. They weren¡¯t moving. The news anchors continued to spout one wild theory after another.


    ¡°Can they open another doorway to Eden?¡± Michelle asked.


    Henry shook his head slowly as he stared at the screen. ¡°Not for a while. It takes a lot of energy to do it. Maybe tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have that long! The troops are almost there, and the people seem agitated as well!¡± Sigrid said.


    Henry just shook his head. If he still had the ring, he¡¯d have a stronger link to magic, and he might¡¯ve been able to open a gate from this side, but that was all useless as hedidn¡¯thave the ring. The frustration coursed through him, but he could do nothing.


    The remaining Silver People suddenly raced away, faster than the eye could follow. The civilians surged into the open space brandishing whatever weapons they could get their hands on. The ss People encircled the smaller ones and linked arms, their backs to the onrushing Humans.


    The human¡¯s fear made them vicious, and their attack was terrifying and brutal, but try as they might, they couldn¡¯t damage the incredibly tough ss.


    The news feed cut suddenly to return to the shocked faces of the people sitting behind the desk. They didn¡¯t have anything intelligent to add.


    Tish joined them in the living room and muted the TV. She looked at Henry¡¯s conflicted expression. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    His eyes met hers, and he just shook his head as he looked away. How could he exin his sudden rage and desire to spin that damn ring! Humanity was so quick to give in to its fear and hate when faced with the unknown. This was just another wake-up call for the members of the Hidden Races, himself included.


    However, he knew he had to be so careful not to fall victim to the same rash impulses he despised. There weregoodHumans. His eyesnded on Dayshia, Sandy, and finally Tish, the best examples he had for quality Humans, until he changed them. His emotions suddenly surged, and he pushed himself to his feet to pull Tish into a tight hug.


    ¡°Oof! Henry, what¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked with concern.


    He couldn¡¯t speak as he struggled to get control over his emotions again.


    Tish pulled him towards the barstools by the kitchen ind. ¡°Let¡¯s get some food in you. I can feel your muscles trembling.¡±


    As he sat, Meixiu ced in front of him a full te of eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast before him, with a ss of orange juice to wash it down.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said quietly and received a sweet smile in return. He began eating, oblivious to the looks of concern thedies were sharing behind his back.


    Sigrid flipped the channel to a local station. ¡°Fuck!¡± she eximed as she spotted the headline on the screen next to the news show host. The serial killer had struck again.


    ¡°We were out therest night patrolling Manhattan, and the killer struck in the Bronx!¡± Sigrid growled.


    ¡°Turn up the volume!¡± Dayshia asked, and Sigrid bumped it up.


    ¡°¡­ horrifying attack in the Bronx Zoo overnight. On location is our field correspondent, Marley Banx. Marley?¡±


    The camera cut to a young and cute-as-a-button, pale-skinned blonde woman with a sassy bobbed hairstyle. She seemed to be struggling to keep from vomiting. Her expression was intensely grim. She¡¯d probably only reported on fluff pieces before. Today, she¡¯d been forced to report a much grittier story.


    ¡°Thanks, Dave. Behind me, you can see the south entrance to the beloved Bronx Zoo, where hundreds of happy visitors enter to enjoy the park. That won¡¯t happen today as the zoo is closed for a police investigation. Sometimest night, one of the overnight security guards was brutally murdered close to the African Lions exhibit. In a startling twist, two of the park¡¯s lions were also murdered in this vicious attack!¡±


    The screen split to show the main news anchor in the studio as well. ¡°You mean two of the zoo¡¯s lions werekilled?¡± he said, trying to get her to amend her statement. She shook her head vehemently and widened her eyes. ¡°No Dave, it was murder! Lioness¡¯ Nadalli and She were discovered in their enclosure. Both suffered terrible injuries which lead to their deaths!¡± There was a surge of activity behind her as police rushed by. Marley looked frantically to her right, and the camera followed to show several officers tape off a section of the sidewalk next to the zoo¡¯s fence. There was some mumbling off camera, then the picture swung back to the stricken face of the reporter.


    ¡°Dave, we just got word that a fourth victim was found just on the other side of the fence, mere steps away from us. In fact, there appears to be blood stter on¡­ the¨C HHHURRRRKKAAAaaah!¡±


    The petite blonde reporter suddenly ejected a surprising amount of her stomach contents before the video feed went back to the studio, capturing their grimaces.


    Sigrid quickly muted the TV then looked sheepishly over at Henry, who was struggling to keep eating after hearing the awful sounds behind himself. He needed the energy, so he kept at it.


    Sigrid looked over at Meixiu. ¡°The killer got the security guard, two lions, and someone on the sidewalk outside the fence but hid the body inside the park.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t get why he attacked the lions. The victim on the sidewalk was likely a surprise. They caught him leaving, so he killed them.¡±


    ¡°This killer sounds very dangerous if they can kill lions too! Maybe it would be better to leave this to the authorities,¡± Sandy suggested nervously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Human authorities can deal with this, and the Hidden Races authorities aren¡¯t numerous enough to cover every part of the city,¡± Sigrid insisted and shook her head.


    ¡°Breakfast is ready for anyone who wants some,¡± Meixui offered.


    Sigrid stood and joined Henry at the ind. Miexiu slid her a te.


    Michelle left the living room to give Henry a kiss on the cheek. ¡°I must go.¡± He turned to face her.


    ¡°Thank you for watching over me with the others. It means a lot to me having such incredible friends,¡± he said.


    She gave him a brilliant smile then left with Tish, who locked up after her.


    Once everyone remaining had a te, aside from Meixiu, whose diet had been met by Henry the night before, they found space around the kitchen ind and enjoyed their meal.


    Tish pouted at Henry. ¡°I¡¯d love to get a dining room table to fit everyone, but we¡¯d have to give up on the extra seating in the living room.¡±


    He sighed and nodded. ¡°The get-togetherst night proved the setup we have works, but you¡¯re right, not for a dinner party.¡±


    ¡°I can probably guess, but why don¡¯t you fill us in on how you got injuredst night,¡± Sigrid asked.


    Henry nodded as he looked at her. ¡°It was partly my fault. I was so impressed with how Mahati dealt with Mab, I was paying her a lot of attention. Yuko became jealous then drunk. She jumped on me to kiss me, and we tumbled back onto Mahati¡¯sp. That¡¯s when Mahati dropped her mor and heaved us off her onto the coffee table.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need to buy a new set of stemware,¡± Tish noted, and Sigrid winced.


    ¡°Yeah, it ended up embedded in my back,¡± Henry sighed with a wince of his own from the memory of the pain.


    ¡°That¡¯s when Yuko began an attack spell against Mahati. Is that how it¡¯s said?¡± Sandy asked. Henry shrugged as he still didn¡¯t know himself.


    Sigrid¡¯s face flushed with anger at the thought of the wild Kitsune able to wield magic but with no sense in her head.


    Dayshia saw where Sigrid was going and spoke up. ¡°Mahati was right there with a magic attack of her own. Henry tackled Yuko and took her and Jun over the back of the second couch. Her spell seemed to just pop. While that happened, we got our shields up, and Tish blocked Mahati¡¯s¡­ shot.¡± She looked to her bestie. ¡°You¡¯re right. We need lessons on the vocabry of magic. I feel stupid even talking about it.¡± Sandy nodded with a frown.


    Sigrid looked at Tish with wide eyes. ¡°You stepped in front of an attack from a N¨¡ga?¡±


    Tish suddenly looked nervous and defensive. ¡°I had no problem blocking it, and it just fizzled out over our shields. No one got hurt.¡± She suddenly got angry. ¡°How are we to know what¡¯s safe and what¡¯s not safe to do!¡±


    Sigrid held up her hands in surrender. ¡°My apologies! You¡¯re right! You couldn¡¯t have known. I¡¯d love to have a shield like yours.¡± Her own shield shed into being, strapped to her arm, and she smiled at it fondly. ¡°Mine would also have stopped the energy, but I would have definitely felt it.¡± She released the shield, which vanished, then she looked to the others who were all blinking the spots from their eyes. ¡°Oh! Sorry about that! I keep forgetting how much brighter it is now that I¡¯m linked to the Wild Magic.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a weapon in itself,¡± Dayshia noted and got a bright smile from the Valkyrie.


    The tall blonde shook her head. ¡°Still, Yuko is bing a problem. She should have been punished by her own people in Japan for using an attack spell inside a home.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Was that what happened in my old condo that night she barged in to yell at Stanley? It wasn¡¯t a stun grenade?¡± Sandy gasped.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Henry is somehow able to copse spells with his hands. The energy just gets released in a wave and knocks people silly. He did the same to Mahati when she first met him. He¡¯s been lucky, though. He shouldn¡¯t do that!¡± She red at Henry, who nodded sheepishly.

 196

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re awake, Jun exined why Yuko is behaving so badly,¡± Tish said, and Sigrid looked to her curiously. Henry¡¯s expression was more guarded.


    ¡°She said that the binding she used on Stanley with her tears is still affecting her as she is soul bound to him until she¡¯s pregnant with his child.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± he eximed in shock. ¡°She said the binding was broken for her, too!¡±


    Tish gave him a sad look. ¡°She lied.¡±


    ¡°GAH! That little¡­ FUCK! She drives me nuts!¡± Henry eximed.


    ¡°Jun said that Yuko will be driven mad if she doesn¡¯t find a way to break the bond, and there¡¯s only one way. She needs a child.¡±


    Henry¡¯s mind was reeling with thistest disclosure. Pieces were falling into ce. The reason for Yuko¡¯s release from her punishment in Japan, the purchase of a condo in his building, and the times she attempted to kill him! ¡°I¡¯ll bet you thereisanother way to break the bind. My death. If I die, the binding is gone.¡± Yuko couldn¡¯t have maneuvered her own release or the condo purchase. It also couldn¡¯t have been her father. ¡°Shit! It¡¯s her mother! All this time, I thought she was on my side!¡± he looked at the startled expressions on his friend¡¯s faces. Not Sigrid, of course, as she was aware of the detail and was nodding thoughtfully.


    ¡°Yuko¡¯s Mother would naturally side with her daughter. Kitsunes are rare, precious. As Yuko is trapped by the soul binding, the mother would give her daughter every opportunity to escape from it,¡± the Valkyrie reasoned. She caught Henry¡¯s eye. ¡°You cannot hold her actions against her, mother or daughter, as this is instinct.¡±


    Henry saw the conviction in his friend¡¯s eyes and slowly nodded. ¡°But what do I do? It¡¯s not like I can just be Stanley for a while so Yuko can get pregnant.¡±


    Tish stood next to him and took his hands in hers. ¡°As Yuko is a wielder, there is a danger that the Wild Magic in you would be toxic to her. However, Mahati exined that it might be possibleifyour mor¡¯s special properties truly adhere toherspecific needs.Shewould need to be very explicit in her desires. She needsHumansperm. Mahati suggested a test run, but you¡¯d wear a condom. The result could be checked to see if it¡¯s Human. I¡¯m guessing that means it wouldn¡¯t contain Wild Magic.¡±


    She saw that Henry was looking very ufortable. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    He squirmed a little. ¡°I¡¯m a little weirded out by the thought of Mahati discussing how I should be having sex.¡±


    ¡°Because she¡¯s a snakedy? I get that,¡± Dayshia said sympathetically.


    He shook his head. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s just¡­ we¡¯re not like that. She¡¯s a coworker¨C¡±


    Sigrid raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she looked at him with a t expression.


    ¡°No, uh¨C I mean¡­ she¡¯s a friend¨C¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    Sandy, Tish, Dayshia, and Meixiu all matched Sigrid¡¯s gestures and expression.


    ¡°Come on! You know what I mean! I don¡¯t think of her in that way!¡± he growled in frustration causing thedies to giggle at sessfully teasing him.


    Tish poked him gently in the chest. ¡°You don¡¯t, or you haven¡¯t yet?¡± she suggested with a coy smile.


    Henry knew they were just having a little fun at justugh it off, but for some reason this morning, he just couldn¡¯t.


    He suspected the main reason was the expectation that he¡¯d participate in giving Yuko a child. That topic, children specifically, was still sensitive to him. He felt like he¡¯d somehow failed the daughter he had with Mab. His initial joy at discovering he would be a father for Tish¡¯s child had faded with his worries about being fit to be one. He was still thrilled for Tish that she was getting the baby she¡¯d always dreamed of, but no one, to this day, had asked him if he was ready to be a dad.


    Henry forced a smile to his lips and nodded slightly, drawing a few more giggles from thedies. He stood and stepped around Tish. ¡°Thank you for breakfast. I¡¯m going to take a shower, alone!¡± he added as Tish¡¯s eyes lit up. She pouted to him, but he just walked away.


    Once he was in the bedroom, he collected a clean kilt from his drawer and walked into the bathroom. He closed and locked the door and tossed his new kilt onto the counter next to one of the sinks. Standing before therge mirror on the back of the bathroom door, he dropped his mor. He took a moment to remove his old kilt and pushed it into theundry bin. Then he took a good long look at the Satyr in the mirror.


    He was tall and very strong. Not that his strength was useful in the slightest against the magic of Mab or Baba Yaga. Both had easily bested him in the strength category because they were wielders, and he was just a conduit.


    Baba connected him directly to the realm of Wild Magic. While he couldn¡¯t feel it, its power coursed through his veins and hummed in every cell in his body. He apparently contained more magic than anyone had ever seen on Earth. And that didn¡¯t even take into ount the temporal energy stored in his horns!


    Yet, he could do nothing with any of it.


    He couldn¡¯t use it to stop Mab from stealing their daughter¡¯s body.


    He couldn¡¯t use it to stop Baba from switching his and his daughter¡¯s fingers.


    He couldn¡¯t use it to stop Baba from stealing his child from him.


    Now he had another childing from Tish and Yuko needed one too.


    He wouldn¡¯t be able to protect those children either. Any children-


    An impotent rage filled him and just as quickly drained away, leaving him feeling hollowed out.


    He looked away from the mirror and switched back to his Human mor to step into the shower.


    Who was he kidding? He was just a tech geek. He wasn¡¯t hero material.


    For that matter, how could he even be a father?


    Henry was more than a little sleepy and was in a deep funk when he arrived at work on Monday morning, so he missed hearing Roy calling out to him in the lobby. The big redhead caught up to him just before he stepped onto the elevator.


    ¡°Henry!¡± Roy called out once more.


    Henry twitched and turned to see the concerned expression on Roy¡¯s face. ¡°Oh, hi, Roy. What¡¯s up?¡±


    The big man put an arm around Henry¡¯s shoulders and guided him away from the elevators. They stopped by a small seating area. Roy quickly nced at an old man reading a VRL brochure then dismissed him.


    He turned his attention back to Henry, who seemed shaky. ¡°Are you okay, son?¡±


    Son. Henry sucked in a sudden breath that caught in his chest. His exhausted state wrestled him for control over his emotions.


    Roy was immediately contrite. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to say that¨C¡±


    Henry held up a hand as he forced his breathing to steady. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I-I slept terriblyst night. I¡¯m barely functional today.¡±


    ¡°Why did youe in?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°The special guest list? The Directors of the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI will be here to pick up their new firewall packages. Cam asked me to be avable.¡±


    The woman in question had just stepped off the elevator and overheard thest bit. ¡°What did I ask for? Henry! You look exhausted! Why are you here?¡± she said in dismay as she approached.


    ¡°I asked Henry that question first, and it sounds like it¡¯s your fault,¡± Roy remarked.


    Cam frowned then pointed to the elevators. ¡°Hold that thought. We¡¯re taking this upstairs to my office.¡±


    They stepped into an open car, and she pressed the button for the top floor. The controls were biometric sensors and determined she was allowed, so up they went. They rode in silence, and the men followed Cam to her office. Henry nodded to Felix as they passed through the outer office.


    Once they were seated and the privacy field was engaged, Cam looked to Henry. ¡°Why are you so exhausted? Does it have anything to do with the reason you called upon the Fae¡¯s healing spell?¡±


    Henry shrugged. ¡°No. I just slept poorly.¡± He nced up at Cam, who was still waiting. ¡°Nightmares.¡± He didn¡¯t want to get into the details as they would try to tell him it wasn¡¯t his fault when he knew it really was.


    ¡°Would you like to talk to someone about it? It doesn¡¯t have to be us,¡± she added.


    He shook his head.


    Roy and Cam shared a look. ¡°What made you need to call on the magic again?¡± Roy asked. It was the question he¡¯d wanted to ask when he saw him arrive.


    Henry shrugged again. ¡°Just Yuko and Mahati waging a magic battle at our condo. I got injured in the process, but Dayshia and Mahati were able to use the spell to heal me.¡±


    ¡°A Kitsune and a N¨¡ga had a magic battle. Was Yuko vaporized?¡± Roy eximed.


    ¡°No, I broke Yuko¡¯s spell, and Tish blocked Mahati¡¯s with her shield,¡± Henry exined. At Roy¡¯s incredulous look, Henry frowned. ¡°If you want more details, speak with Mahati.¡±

 197

    ¡°I¡¯d love to get that shield spell for my pack and Mary,¡± Roy sighed.


    Ignoring Roy, Cam got Henry¡¯s attention once more. ¡°You came in for this afternoon¡¯s meeting with the Directors? Why don¡¯t you take a nap in the interim?¡± She gestured to her couch.


    He was sorely tempted, but he had a few things he had to take care of, and he¡¯d promised to set aside time for Siobhan for whatever she needed. ¡°I-I can¡¯t. I¡¯ll try to take a nap at lunch, and I¡¯ll go home directly after our meeting. I-I should get started.¡± When he got a nod, he stood and headed for the door with his head down.


    Cam looked to Roy then unlocked the door before Henry got to it. He went through and closed it behind himself. He gave Felix another nod then headed to his office. He sighed in guilty relief when he saw Marisa wasn¡¯t at her desk as he really wasn¡¯t up for another conversation. He unlocked his office door, stepped inside, and locked it behind himself before dropping his ass in his seat. He leaned forward to rest his face in his hands. He was so tired.


    When he caught himself nodding off, he pushed himself upright and booted hisputer. He had work to do before Siobhan arrived. He¡¯d spent Sunday putting the finishing touches on the documentation for the new firewall applications. The new code was basically a lite version of what VRL was using, but he¡¯d rewritten some modules to make the differences significant enough to prevent anyone from reverse engineering it to break VRL¡¯s firewall. He¡¯d surprised himself to discover how many ways there were to create an ¡®N¡¯ Dimensional Labyrinth. Each agency was receiving different code, so a breach of one wasn¡¯t a threat to the others. Of course, theirbyrinths only went to three levels before letting the potential hacker know they were getting nowhere.


    He was pleased with the work, and while he hated documentation, he was proud of the package he¡¯d produced. He even thought his old professors in college would agree.


    Right after his nap at noon, he nned to head down to the boardroom to triple check the test server he¡¯d built for this demonstration. He knew the techs would want proof, so he was going to give them what they demanded. He knew his check was redundant, but he was nothing if not thorough.


    The software was ready. The documentation was ready. The test rig was ready.


    He felt a little better about himself.


    He realized, if his life had gone as young Stanley Garin had initially nned, this might have been the only measure of sess and failure he¡¯d have faced.


    He stared out his window at nothing as he reflected on how little pain that life would have contained¡­ but how little love as well.


    -=-


    Cam called for Sigrid once Henry left her office. The blonde arrived shortly, and Cam locked her door once more as Sigrid took a seat next to Roy.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Sigrid said cautiously as she saw the concern on her friends¡¯ faces.


    ¡°It¡¯s Henry. Something¡¯s bothering thed, and he¡¯s closing himself off. He¡¯s hurting, but he won¡¯t talk about it,¡± Roy said. Cam and Sigrid blinked in surprise at the big man who scowled back at them. ¡°What? Can¡¯t I be concerned for the boy?¡±


    Cam held her hands up to calm Roy. ¡°Of course, you can! We¡¯ve just not heard you express it so clearly before!¡±


    Roy squirmed. ¡°Yes, well¡­ Iamconcerned! He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s like a son to me, and no one likes to see their kid in pain!¡± Even he surprised himself with that confession.


    Once she recovered from her surprise, Cam looked to Sigrid. ¡°When you and Meixiu were at his ce Sunday morning, did he say anything that might exin this new behavior?¡±


    Sigrid thought about that for a moment, then looked up. ¡°You saw the news about the ss People in Kuwait City?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Cam eximed.


    Roy¡¯s expression just showed his worry. ¡°The cat¡¯s out of the bag on that one. There¡¯s nothing the Hidden Races council can do about that. Way too much publicity on that. Did-did Henry have anything to do with that?¡±


    ¡°No, but he was there while his mind was on walkabout. He witnessed it. He saidso much deathwhen I asked him about it. He might have seen some truly horrifying things.¡±


    Cam frowned sadly at Sigrid. ¡°He needs to talk about this with someone. If he continues to refuse, we may need to have an intervention for him.¡±


    The others nodded.


    ¡°So, is VRL going into thework security software business?¡± Roy asked Cam.


    She smiled gently. ¡°It was actually Henry¡¯s idea.¡±


    Roy frowned. ¡°Did he have second thoughts about giving them the source code to VRL¡¯s firewall source code?¡±


    Cam shook her head. ¡°No, he said he thought that a better way to get the agencies off our back would be to truly give them what they wanted. Henry said he figured out how to write a new firewall. I approached the new Director of the NSA, who brought in the other two agencies¡¯ directors. We had a meeting, and they all showed interest in having Henry write them an application. They¡¯reing in today at 2 PM with their senior technical people to review the code and take delivery of the applications.¡±


    ¡°How much are they being charged for the software?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Two hundred and fifty thousand for the application, if they use it and they will, plus a yearly service contract for fifty thousand,¡± Cam said with a smile.


    Roy¡¯s eyebrow rose. ¡°Is that price high or low?¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t getting an exclusive, so we can sell it to otherpanies. How manypanies do you think would be interested in a firewall the three top US Security agencies use? The banks alone will be beating down our doors to get this. We¡¯re going for volume,¡± Cam said.


    ¡°Let me know how Henry is in the meeting,¡± Sigrid asked as she stood. Cam nodded to her, and Roy stood as well.


    It was another Monday, and they all had work to do.


    Siobhan entered Henry¡¯s waiting room just before 11 AM and smiled at Marisa, who gave her a brilliant smile in return.


    ¡°Good morning, Marisa!¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Siobhan! Ready for your appointment?¡± the executive assistant asked with a cheeky smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me more nervous than I already am!¡± Siobhan scolded gently, her Irish lilting through clearly.


    ¡°You¡¯ve no reason to feel nervous. This is Henry we¡¯re talking about! He¡¯s one of the sweetest men I¡¯ve ever known,¡± Marisa sighed.


    Siobhan rxed a little. ¡°Right. Okay then, I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Marisa nodded and picked up the phone. ¡°Henry? Your 11 AM is here.¡± She listened then nodded to Siobhan as she hung up. ¡°Go right in.¡±


    The brte smiled at her blonde friend and opened Henry¡¯s door to step inside. She closed the door behind herself and smiled at the handsome man sitting behind his desk. He looked a little weary, and that made her hesitate. ¡°Good morning, Henry. Are you okay? You seem tired.¡±


    ¡°I must look like a wreck as everyone is telling me that,¡± he replied with a weak smile.


    ¡°Not a wreck, just tired,¡± she assured him.


    ¡°An improvement since this morning then.¡± He held his hand up and smiled to forestall her next question. ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep wellst night, and it was a busy weekend.¡± He gestured to the chair before his desk.


    She sat and smiled at him across the desk. ¡°I wanted to thank you again for inviting me to the party.¡±


    He looked at her in surprise. ¡°Silly girl! You¡¯re one of my treasured friends. Of course, I¡¯d invite you!¡±


    Siobhan smiled happily at being considered treasured. At the same time, it made what she wanted to ask of him more difficult to do.


    She nced up at the ceiling speaker. ¡°Is it safe for us to speak of things not spoken of?¡±


    Henry followed her eyes then smiled at her. ¡°Yes. I graduated finally. No more squealing rms.¡±


    She returned his smile. ¡°Good, good.¡± She shifted on her chair as she prepared herself. ¡°This isn¡¯t something I¡¯mfortable talking about. You¡¯re aware of my true nature, but we don¡¯t share these particr details about ourselves¨C¡±


    Henry held up a hand. ¡°If you aren¡¯tfortable talking about something, why are you? I hope you aren¡¯t under the impression you have to with me!¡±T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    She shook her head as she looked down at her sped hands on herp. ¡°No, it isn¡¯t like that.¡± She took a deep breath and smiled at Henry¡¯s concerned expression. ¡°You recall how I originally became linked to the Wild Magic? I¡¯d been with Nate, and the next morning I woke to find I¡¯d transformed most wonderfully.¡±


    Henry nodded, wondering where this was going.


    Siobhan pushed onwards. ¡°You recall shortly after that you had a little¡­ get-together at your condo with Cam, Sigrid, and Marisa? Marisa shared your essence with me and dered my transformation wasplete?¡±


    Now it was Henry¡¯s turn to squirm as he recalled the¡­ he¡¯d just call it an emergency recharging session. Hedidremember watching Siobhan¡¯s lovely hair growing until the beautiful mahogany strands reached her ankles. ¡°Y-yes,¡± he forced out, and she gave him a knowing smile.


    ¡°Marisa said my transformation wasplete, but she was wrong,¡± she said wistfully, and Henry¡¯s eyebrows rose.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± he asked cautiously.


    She looked at herp once more and steeled herself to speak an intimate secret known only to the Selkies. She knew Henry would never force her to disclose it, but as she was about to ask a friend to share intimacy with her without any rtionship expectations, the one-sidedness of the transaction made this feel necessary. She¡¯d tested him with her passionate kisses at the party. While he¡¯d returned them delightfully, she knew he was likely to remain in the friend category. Intimate friends, at best.


    As if reading her mind, he leaned back in his chair and looked at her seriously. ¡°Stop. I can see you¡¯re struggling with whatever you¡¯re trying to say. That means what you are about to say is something you know in your heart you shouldn¡¯t say, and I want you to stop. I told you before. You don¡¯t need to tell me anything you don¡¯t have to. You are my friend, and I would do anything for you, no questions asked. You need to have your transformationpleted, which means you need¡­ another exposure to Wild Magic,¡± he said, delicately.


    Siobhan watched him in surprise as he waspletely serious. She blushed as she nodded.


    ¡°Is your schedule open tonight? You cane by my ce, or I could visit you at yours?¡± he suggested gently.


    ¡°My ce,¡± she immediately said, then blushed again. She wasn¡¯t sure why she was getting so flustered, but Henry was so sweet. ¡°I¡¯d be morefortable at home.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll need your address.¡±


    Siobhan pulled out her cell and sent him the details. ¡°Do you like seafood?¡±


    He blinked in confusion. ¡°Uh, yeah, I think so.¡±

 198

    ¡°Good! I¡¯ll make us dinner. I make a mean seafood and pasta dish!¡± she exined and enjoyed how Henry¡¯s face flushed hot pink.


    ¡°Th-that sounds yummy!¡± he stuttered as he nced at the message on his cell. ¡°Seven it is.¡±


    Letting him off the hook, Siobhan stood and walked to his door. ¡°See you then, and thank you!¡±


    He just nodded as his cheeks felt like they were glowing.


    Siobhan left his office, closing the door behind herself, and looked to Marisa¡¯s curious gaze.


    ¡°So?¡± her friend asked, her need to be filled in evident in her tone.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Siobhan said.


    Marisa¡¯s curiosity red. ¡°About what?¡±


    Siobhan headed for the door and nced over her shoulder with a happy little smile. ¡°Heisthe sweetest man.¡±


    She grinned as she left Marisa with a frustrated look on her lovely features.


    As Siobhan walked to the elevator, she felt the tingles of anticipation run up her spine. She wassolooking forward to their first date.


    Carl de Bellisle sat brooding in his study. He was a big man, slightly taller and broader of shoulder than Roy Duncan, the man he was brooding about. It irritated Carl beyond measure that his extra size wasn¡¯t enough to force Roy to submit.


    As the leader of his pack and president and chief litigator for hisw firm, Carl was used to calling the shots. His current ns were being hindered by a ghost from his past.


    He looked to the spot before his desk once more as he recalled the corpses of two men he¡¯d left cooling on a carpet he now missed. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have dirtied his hands with such business, but they¡¯d disobeyed him and had taken steps which seriously jeopardized a very delicate n. He¡¯d had to put that n on hold to see if it was still salvageable.


    The idiots had had the gall to tell him they¡¯d killed the agent he¡¯d infiltrated Roy¡¯s team with and had broken into the home of one of VRL¡¯s executives for somemagic blood?!? All Were blood was magic! And a Satyr? Seriously? Why not Santa us? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be magic too?


    He¡¯d felt no remorse for putting a slug into their brains. He did miss the rug, though.


    Carl considered how he was going to salvage his n. Back then, he¡¯d been testing the waters when he offered hisw firm¡¯s services to VRL. He¡¯s heard about Walter Zhao¡¯s death and saw a perfect opportunity to make an introduction. He knew Roy Duncan was part of thepany¡¯s executive team, so he thought he might be able to gauge their satisfaction with his work at the same time. Unfortunately, the CEO was a little too canny and gave nothing away during their call. He¡¯d been unable to read her and now regretted not arranging a face to face meeting. He was going to remedy that mistake soon, even at the risk of meeting Roy as well.


    Carl had wanted a toe hold on the east coast since he¡¯d solidified his position in New Orleans a century before. This was his third attempt to expand into this market. His previous attempts had met with sabotage. He¡¯d dealt with the culprits of the first one, and the Dean pack no longer existed.


    The second failure was more of a catastrophe and involved a very personal loss for Carl. The fire which destroyed his NY office also cost him his son. Roy¡¯s security firm worked the buildingplex and caught the firebug as he fled, but the fire was already out of control by then.


    Roy managed to pull Carl¡¯s wife and daughter from the burning building, but it copsed before he could get to his son. Carl couldn¡¯t bring himself to forgive Roy for choosing so poorly that night. They¡¯d fought, but they were too evenly matched. Truthfully, had Roy not been injured and tired from the rescue, he might have bested Carl.


    Following the disaster, the fire marshal imed the fire¡¯s rapid esction was due to Carl¡¯spany¡¯s negligence to bring the building up to code. Damages to the surrounding buildings led to awsuit that set hispany back decades and pushed him back to New Orleans.


    Then, on the cusp of his third attempt, those idiots attacked the home of one of VRL¡¯s chief execs. He wished he could bring them back to life so he could see the lights go out in their eyes when he shot them again.


    ording to Dwayne¡¯s ount of Billy¡¯s confession during his interrogation, Roy had be some kind of evolved Werewolf. An Uber Were. Carl cursed under his breath.


    Being cautious, Carl had pulled back to New Orleans, temporarily. He¡¯d bided his time, and during that interval, he¡¯d assigned some investigators to confirm Roy¡¯s new state. If they determined hehadbe an Uber Were, they were to find out how it really happened.


    A Satyr. Really.


    Carl¡¯s patience had run out. He was no longer willing to wait, and the bloody investigators had proven to be useless. He would take steps to get the answer he needed himself. It was time for action.


    An email arrived, and Carl¡¯s mood swung upwards. The spy he¡¯d sent into VRL emailed him an image of a young man with Roy and a note which contained a delightful bit of information. It seems Roy might have a son of his own.


    Perhaps Carl would be able to bnce the scales of justice for the loss of his son after all.


    Henry sat in his usual seat in the boardroom by himself. Hisptop was connected, and he was watching traffic flow on thework through his private external connection. Everything was optimal for today¡¯s meeting.


    He¡¯d isted all of thework ports in this room from VRL¡¯s internalwork. They had external ess to the Inte, but that¡¯s it. WiFi was locked down as well. The test server was scrubbed clean and ready for the install.


    He nced at the clock and saw it was time. He stood and faced the door.


    Momentster, it opened, and he saw Cam enter with a smile for him. She held his eyes for a moment, and he could almost feel her question. He smiled and nodded gently and saw her smile widen slightly.


    Behind her, Henry saw three men wearing expensive suits, and two of the men were watching her ass. Henry understoodpletely. Her bottomwasspectacr.


    There were two men and a woman in less expensive suits following their bosses. These were the techs, the people who would be judging Henry¡¯s application to see if it was worthy of their eptance.


    Cam led the group over to stand before Henry. ¡°Gentlemen anddy, I¡¯d like to introduce you to Henry Gable, the man who wrote the firewall applications you will be reviewing today. Henry, this is the new Director of the NSA, Wace Granger,¡± Henry shook the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Director of the FBI Charles Starkley,¡± Henry shook his hand as well. ¡°And Director of the CIA, Maurice Hall.¡± Henry noted he was thergest of the three men and felt the man¡¯s grip to be a little excessive. He managed not to flinch, and Hall had a slight grin on his face as he released Henry¡¯s hand.


    Cam caught but ignored Henry¡¯s subtle flexing of his hand to return its cirction. She addressed the next three individuals. ¡°The Directors have brought with them today their Network Technology Leads. From the NSA, Robert Miller. From the FBI, Yasmin Brooks, and from the CIA, Laurence Franklin.


    Henry shook the hands of the techs, then Wace Granger raised an immediate point. ¡°Ms. Vimor, may I ask for a little rity?¡± Cam nodded with a curious smile. ¡°You just said Mr. Gable wrote applications, not an application. That was just a slip of the tongue?¡±


    Cam just turned to Henry, who saw he was up.


    ¡°Actually, it was not. While the bulk of the code sharesmon modules for look and feel, resource management, biometric signature integration, and such, the actual engine of the application each agency will use is distinct from the others.


    ¡°What?¡± Wace asked. ¡°Why would you do that?¡±


    Henry blinked at the man. ¡°Well, in the unlikely event one of the agency¡¯s firewalls is somehow breached, the others wouldn¡¯t fall victim to the same attack. Isn¡¯t that¡­ something you¡¯d want?¡± He looked at the techs, who were nodding thoughtfully.


    ¡°We were told you didn¡¯t have the source code for the firewall Stanley Garin wrote for VRL. Our tech department has been trying to decrypt the source archive you gave my predecessor unsessfully for months. Now you¡¯re telling me you¡¯ve written not one but three distinct firewall applicationsparable to Mr. Garin¡¯s?¡± Wace pushed.


    Henry held the man¡¯s eyes. ¡°Comparable? Yes. They behave almost identically to the original, but it¡¯s new code, and I believe I¡¯ve optimized some areas to make it more modr. That¡¯s how I can give each of you a distinct application. Thereisa depth to the original that is not included in these, but I believe you¡¯ll find them to be as secure.¡±


    ¡°Unless someone knows the back door ess code,¡± Maurice said with a smirk.


    ¡°Mr. Hall, like Stanley, I don¡¯t include back doors in my application code. Additionally, if the code detects the hardware attempting to circumvent the security rules of the app, a clear indication of a hardware back door added in the manufacturing process, it notifies you then shuts thework interfaces down.¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

 199

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re saying the application has ess to the hardware¡¯s system-levelmands?¡± Yasmin asked with a frown.


    ¡°Only for the actual transmission and receipt of data packets through thework interfaces. The app is responsible for managing the flow of data through these cards. If there are unounted data bits in the stream, that¡¯s something the application will identify and act upon,¡± Henry indicated.


    ¡°That¡¯s not feasible! It would add way too muchg to the interfaces!¡± Laurence Franklin insisted.


    Henry grinned at the group. ¡°Does this mean we¡¯ve reached the demonstration portion of the presentation?¡±


    The three techs were all frowning but eager to see Henry¡¯s outrageous ims go up in smoke.


    Henry walked the group over to the test rig. ¡°This is a de server I purchased and configured for running the firewall application. The specs for this are in the data packages I¡¯ve prepared for you. This configuration is optimized for the demands of the application. You can¡¯t scrimp on the hardware requirements as you¡¯re going to run this machine hard. It needs lungs to breathe and legs to run.¡±


    The three techs stared at Henry for his odd choice of words, then flipped to the specs page to see just how loaded the machine was. Eyebrows went up, but it wasn¡¯t outrageous. They quickly scanned the page to see how Henry had configured the rest of the specs.


    Robert looked up with a frown. ¡°There are more powerfulputers avable to manage the load you¡¯re going to be throwing at these processors¨C¡±


    ¡°But none have the sweet spot for the kind ofputation my app will demand of these processors. The app is coded to take advantage of the capabilities of these processors. Let¡¯s install the app and see what this baby can do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a Ferrari. It¡¯s aputer!¡± Maurice scoffed.


    Henry looked to the man. ¡°Today¡¯s fastest sports cars wouldn¡¯t be possible without machines like these to design them on. That said, I like to think the same meticulous handcrafted care that went into creating the first Ferraris goes into my code. So, thanks for pointing that out.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to spend an hour installing an application, perhaps we can leave you techs here while we speak with Cam about the contract,¡± Wace suggested.


    ¡°The install takes seven minutes. There are four steps. You can see it on page ten. A biometric ID is required. Someone on your team will need to beit, the person in charge of all configuration changes. It¡¯s suggested you have at least three people authorized for this ess for redundancy. You can add their biometric ID by repeating step three but be aware, the more IDs you add, the more chance for human failure you may encounter. Pick your most trusted individuals; again, we suggest a maximum of three, and restrict ess to them.¡±


    He looked to the Director of the NSA. ¡°Mr. Granger, would you care to do the honors of installing the firewall?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyebrows went up as Henry held out a USB stick to him. ¡°You think I can do it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Wace, show us how much of a nerd you can be!¡± Maurice said with a snide grin, ignoring the weary looks from the three tech leads present.


    The Director red at the other man and epted the stick while the techs stood back to see history in the making.


    Henry held the instructions open for the man, and to the Director¡¯s surprise, the application was up and running within eight minutes. Henry disyed the firewall server¡¯s performance specs by projecting the status screen on the boardroom¡¯s wall.


    ¡°Our test setup has a basic web server on the other side of your firewall. There¡¯s just one page, and here is the address. Now the techs get to try to break through your firewall to get to the webserver,¡± Henry said in challenge.


    The three tech specialists grinned as they brought out theirptops and connected them to thework. Henry gave them the addresses of the firewall and the webserver.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    Over the next thirty-five minutes, all three tried every tool they had at their disposal to get past the firewall, but they all got trapped in thebyrinth. They were keeping their bosses updated with each tactic they used.


    ¡°Are we allowed to bring in external support to crack this?¡± Yasmin asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Henry said. Yasmin immediately used her cell to contact her team and started rattling off instructions for them to begin testing as well.


    He looked to the NSA Director. ¡°It¡¯s my understanding you have a powerful code-cracker system at your headquarters. You want to have your people try to hit the firewall directly? We can watch the performance numbers to see how our server copes with your big iron smashing away at it while the FBI team tries their attack. I¡¯m really curious to see how it will deal with the multi-prong assault!¡±


    He caught Cam¡¯s raised eyebrow but just smiled.


    Wace looked reluctant but nodded to Robert, who called up his team to get them to point the big server array at VRL¡¯s single de firewall test server. Henry watched the graphs projected on the wall and saw the FBI team¡¯s attempts nudge the numbers higher. He smiled as he saw the result of the Crackere online as the numbers were climbing and climbing until almost all of the processor power was maxed out.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we add in your email address so the server can let you know how it¡¯s doing,¡± Henry suggested to the Director. The man nodded, and Henry showed him how to find the configuration page to enter the reporting address. They saved their result, and momentster, Wace saw an email appear on his cell from the firewall server. It indicated it was under attack and listed the Source IP¡¯s of its attackers.


    ¡°How is it able to send out a message while we¡¯re saturating your connection with attacks?¡± Robert asked incredulously.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Email is tiny, and the firewall server won¡¯tpletely over saturate. I¡¯ve configured it to reserve some resources for local activity. Don¡¯t you hate it when you can¡¯t type in even a simplemand as there are no resources left? Additionally, we have a three ISP connection, so you¡¯re only saturating one of them. How to do that is also outlined in the documentation.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re tying up one of the live connections to our website?¡± Cam asked in concern.


    ¡°Well, these guys are, but our customers won¡¯t have noticed yet,¡± Henry assured her.


    The boardroom doors opened, and Roy walked in with a scowl on his face. ¡°Oh-oh. Looks like Roy got a message saying we¡¯re under attack too,¡± Henry said with a small smile.


    ¡°Mr. Gable. What¡¯s this about an attack?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Sorry, Mr. Duncan. I told these fellows to hammer on the test server. That¡¯s tying up one of our connections. I should have let you know in advance. My apologies,¡± Henry said contritely.


    Roy made an annoyed noise, red at the gathered interlopers, then turned on his heel and left.


    Henry faced the wide eyes of the visitors. ¡°That was our head of security. He gets alerts of all forms of attacks.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s very good at his job,¡± Cam added with a slight smile. She got nods for that.


    Henry grinned and rubbed his hands together as he looked to the techs. ¡°Where were we?¡±


    -=-


    Cam leaned back in her chair with a broad satisfied smile on her lips. She was happy to see a simr smile on Henry¡¯s face. He was leaning back in the guest chair before her desk, glowing from the sess of his demonstration.


    ¡°Did you hear that jerk Maurice try to recruit me at the end of the demo? What a putz!¡± Henry chuckled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself, Henry. They all wanted you on their team. Even with the documentation in their hands, none of their tech leads wereprehending how you made it work,¡± Cam insisted.


    Henry waved a hand dismissively. ¡°They¡¯re smart people. They¡¯ll get it, eventually.¡± He yawned as his eyes closed.


    ¡°You said you were going home after the demo,¡± she said softly.


    ¡°Change of ns. I have a date. Going to Siobhan¡¯s ce at seven. I have to stick around and leave from here,¡± he said calmly.


    Cam smiled and stood. She walked around her desk and patted Henry¡¯s shoulder to get him to open his eyes. ¡°You should still get some rest. Stretch out on my sofa and sleep there. I¡¯ll wake you with time for a shower, and I¡¯ll have the car service take you there and home.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That would be great! Thanks!¡± Henry heaved himself to his feet with Cam¡¯s help, then walked over to drop himself down on her couch. She tugged off his shoes and sat on the sofa down by his feet.


    ¡°If you like, I could help you rx,¡± she said, looking at him hopefully as she bit her lush lower lip. Part of his anatomy woke up, and she caught the motion against his pants. Her smile grew as he did.


    ¡°That would be nice too,¡± he smiled.


    He almost chuckled at the joy on her face as she expertly undid his pants and had them and his underwear down to his thighs in seconds.


    ¡°Ooo Henry, this is my new favorite reward for a sessful business deal!¡± she cooed.


    His brows went up as he watched her wet her lips with the tip of her pink tongue.


    Then he sucked in a sharp breath as she pressed her plush lips to the head of his cock. When she brought her tongue into y, he might have whimpered a little. He wasn¡¯t too proud to admit she could drive him mad with pleasure and have him begging for release in seconds.


    Cam knew he needed rest more than y, so she refrained from extending her pleasure and brought him to a glorious and explosive release deep in her throat in only five minutes.


    She felt her cells gobbling up the energy, but there wasn¡¯t much room for more. When she realized she¡¯d reached her limit and was at risk of overloading, she reluctantly pulled her mouth clear and collected the remaining surges of cum in her palm, milking him with her other hand. She stared at the pearly white liquid, so full of life and Wild Magic. It took every ounce of willpower to not suck it into her mouth and swallow it. As it was, the energy was soaking into her skin.


    She stood and rushed into her washroom to wash it down the sink. Her instincts screamed at her for wasting it, but she was already feeling a little light-headed. She needed to burn off some of this before she went to her dinner appointment tonight. Arriving to this particr meeting fully charged was a smart move but overcharged and spaced out would be disastrous.

 200

    Cam changed her mor into her workout clothes before walking out of her washroom. She saw Henry had tidied himself up and was snoring softly. She paused to watch him for a moment and felt that odd tugging in her heart again. She gave her head a shake and went to her desk to call Sigrid.


    ¡°Hey, are you avable now to join me in the gym?¡± she asked when Sigrid picked up.


    ¡°Now? Let me check,¡± the Head of HR said as she checked her calendar. ¡°Yeah, I can spare an hour. I¡¯ll meet you down there.¡±


    Down there meant the basement where Roy¡¯s security personnel had a gym. Once they built the boardroom, they realized they had sufficient space for this additional purpose. The team and a few executives were given ess to it. No Humans were allowed inside. They¡¯d be able to push themselves beyond Human capabilities, and she had energy to burn! It felt like she was walking an inch above the floor.


    Cam gave Henry another fond look and added a trench coat over her skin tight workout clothes. She might meet some staff members on her way down in the elevator. No sense in driving them to distraction.


    The security team in the gym was another thing. A little teasing was good for the soul.


    Lorelei opened her eyes and stared at her living room ceiling, convinced she had somehow slipped into purgatory.


    Her life felt empty and stagnant. Even painting was bringing her no joy.


    When she thought back to when this began, she had to ept it was just before she sent Emily away. Her maniption of people around her was like a slow-acting poison on her soul. She just felt more and more isted.


    She knew the cause. Her fear of thisHidden Races Councilkept her from connecting with others, and she was sick of living in fear!


    Finding the Council was proving to be almost impossible. Stumbling across non-humans was too infrequent, and the risk was too high. The Vampire couple seemed friendly, but they had no involvement with the people she needed to talk to. She didn¡¯t know who she could trust.


    She sat up on her couch and looked at her favorite painting. Today, evenitbrought her no peace.


    With a sigh, she turned her thoughts to more mundane things like day to day living.


    Her paintings brought in good money, but that might notst, so she needed to ensure the money she had was working for her. She started up herptop and logged into her bank¡¯s website to check her ounts and investments. Her ounts had the expected amounts, but she froze when she saw her investments. They weren¡¯t growing! She was losing money! What the hell?!?


    She grabbed her cell, called the branch she dealt with, and made her way through the phone maze to speak with her investment manager.


    ¡°Mike Collins speaking.¡± He sounded happy, at least.


    ¡°Mike, this is Lorelei Reichenbach. There seems to be some problems with my investment ount. Its value dropped, and significantly.¡±


    ¡°Heh! Well, that doesn¡¯t sound good! What¡¯s your ount ID? I¡¯ll take a look.¡± The man¡¯s bubbly attitude was starting to get on her nerves.


    She read off the ID, and he mumbled to himself as she heard his hunting and pecking on his keyboard. Then a sigh.


    ¡°I see the issue. Those investment packages were ressified by the US Treasury department. We had to reprocess them, and they incurred fees during that process. As this reduced their value below the new minimum levels, the ounts were downgraded, requiring additional fees. All of this was exined in the letter HQ sent out to all affected investors. You would have received itst week¨C I see the g on your ount indicating you did,¡± he exined.


    Lorelei knew she hadn¡¯t received any such notice. ¡°I didn¡¯t receive it.¡±


    ¡°Yet our records indicate we sent it,¡± Mike immediately replied. She knew he¡¯d yed this game with all of his affected clients.


    Suddenly it was all too much. As much as she wanted to sing a song to Mike to help him discover the joy of forcing his bank forms up his ass, she kept her lips closed as she took deep breaths.


    ¡°Mike. Move the funds from my investments into my savings ount.¡±


    There was a pause as he would lose amission if she dropped his investments. She hummed a little obedience tune. ¡°I-I can do that. There¡¯s a fee¨C¡±


    ¡°Waive the fee, Mike.¡±


    His voice took on a whining tone. ¡°I¡¯ll have to pay the fee personally.¡±


    ¡°Mike, you¡¯re the one who sold me the bad investment package. Don¡¯t you feel any responsibility at all?¡±


    ¡°Nnnooo,¡± he sniveled.


    ¡°Waive the fee.¡±


    More silence then a sullen response. ¡°Okay, your money is in your savings ount.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mike.¡± She hummed her forget-me refrain and hung up.


    It was only then that she remembered the call was recorded. She shook her head as there was nothing she could do about it now.


    What she needed to do was find a better ce to manage her investments. She went online and did some searches for reliable, secure, conscientious investment management. There was so much out there. She added criteria for a local office as she wanted to speak face to face with someone. That didn¡¯t really narrow her options too much. She knew she didn¡¯t want some mainstream corporate giant as she was tired of being a number.


    She sat pondering the sheer number of options she had and felt the weight of the decision weighing on her. She had to push forward, or nothing would happen.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    Doing a search on where the investment houses were clustered in Lower Manhattan, she spotted one on the edge of a neighborhood she enjoyed spending time in. Good shops, good restaurants, and lovely streets for wandering in. It seemed like a dumb reason for picking an investment house, but it cost her nothing to click on the red pin.


    VRL. She¡¯d never heard of it. She opened the link to the website in a new browser tab so she wouldn¡¯t lose her search results if this turned out to be a dud.


    She was pleased by the clean, simple design of the website. There was a natural flow to the navigation of the pages, and that resonated with her. Someone working on this design was a kindred spirit. She smiled to herself then she tried to push the warm fuzzies aside. She read through the firm¡¯s offerings, and they seemed open to dealing with individualsandbusinesses. They even had a section describing their recent investment in state-of-the-art security.Thatappealed to her.


    Lorelei wrote down the name, number, and address as VRL was definitely a contender.


    She went back to her search results page and checked out six more websites.


    When she was done, she¡¯d narrowed it down to three contenders. While VRL was sticking in her mind as her first choice, she wanted alternatives. She picked up her cell and started making calls. She wanted to set up appointments to speak to them.


    Once more, the contact at VRL¡¯s made her feelfortable with their friendly, easy-going attitude. On her second call, her list¡¯s newest investment house came across as a little more mercenary. The final call was to the most well-known investment house, but they had difficulty granting her an appointment the following day. They finally told her they wouldsqueeze her in. This didn¡¯t leave her with a warm and fuzzy feeling.


    Now she had a n to visit all three tomorrow and had appointments at all three. VRL would best.


    She understood getting control over her financial future wasn¡¯t the answer to her issues¡­ but it was a start.


    Henry actually felt a lot better as he sat in the back of the ck SUV Cam had arranged for him. She¡¯d woken him, and they shared a shower together. Apparently, she¡¯d gone for a workout to burn off the excess energy after their little ytime. She¡¯d overdone it, and he massaged the knots from her muscles as best he could in the shower. As she purred about her, once again, loose muscles, she told him he had a career as a masseuse if the wholeputer thing didn¡¯t pan out.


    More impressive to him was the fact that he¡¯d actually managed to take a shower with a gorgeous, naked Subus and not have sex! That was quite the achievement! He was very proud of his improved self-control.


    Henry had to mor some clothes for himself as the ones he¡¯d worn to work had gotten a little sticky from their earlier fun. Not that he had any grounds toin.


    As they pulled up to her building, he saw it was an older, three-story structure but well maintained. It had character and was surrounded by simr apartments. He¡¯d noted a subway entrance just up the street, so that was convenient. He didn¡¯t know how long he¡¯d be, so once they stopped, he let the driver know he¡¯d find his own way home. The artificial man just nodded and headed back to VRL.


    He¡¯d stopped along the route to pick up a bottle of wine. The shop owner had suggested a crisp white like a Pinot Grigio to pair with the seafood pasta, so that¡¯s what he had. He hoped Siobhan liked it. He¡¯d be restricting himself to one ss.


    She buzzed him into her building, and he took the stairs just inside the door to reach the top floor.


    She opened the door before he knocked and dazzled him with a happy smile when she spotted the wine in his hands.


    ¡°Henry! How thoughtful!¡± she said as she epted the bottle.


    He smiled and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek, but she managed to turn to catch his lips with hers for a brief kiss.


    Smiling mischievously, she ushered him inside. He slipped his shoes off and nced around. It wasn¡¯t arge space, but it was tastefully decorated, warm, and weing. He could see Siobhan¡¯s affinity with nature in her choices of colors and textures throughout the apartment. Rich earth tones, fresh green, and deep blues were found in thefortable-looking wood furniture, the cushions, and the window treatments. Small, flickering digital candles were ced randomly all around thebined dining and living room.

 201

    Soft music was ying, and the artist was singing in anguage that teased his brain.


    A small kitchen was tucked into the corner, and heavenly scents were floating out its door.


    ¡°Something smells wonderful!¡± Henry said with a wide smile.


    ¡°Thank you, Henry!¡± Siobhan said, preening as if he¡¯d justplimented her. Henry nced at her in surprise, then gave her a raised brow as she giggled.


    ¡°How went your big meeting today?¡± she asked over her shoulder as she went to the kitchen to chill the wine.


    Henry nodded to himself. ¡°Cam said it was a sess, so that¡¯s good enough for me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful! Give me a sec and make yourselffortable.¡±


    Henry sat on the sofa and took in the art around the room. Beautiful seashells, surf-polished ss, some rough but interesting stones, and photos of wild coastlines with rustic cottages on hillsides. And sheep. He spotted several small plush sheep dolls scattered throughout the apartment.


    Siobhan returned from the kitchen, and Henry turned his face to her. ¡°Sheep?¡±


    She blushed as her eyes darted around to touch on the members of her flock. ¡°Yes, they remind me of my childhood.¡±


    ¡°Irnd?¡± he asked, nodding towards the picture of the hillside cottage.


    Her smile softened as she nodded.


    ¡°Do you go back?¡± he asked.


    She shook her head, and her smile became a little sad. ¡°Nothing to go back to. My parents have passed on, and I¡¯ve no other family left in Irnd. After I left, I lived with rtives in a small vige on Canada¡¯s east coast for a few years. Then I set off on my own to go to University in Montreal for three years. Finally, I moved here and got a job at VRL. The rest is history.¡± Henry grinned at her. ¡°Dinner¡¯s ready. Come on.¡±


    She led him over to the small table and got him seated. Then she went back into the kitchen. She returned momentster with the bottle of wine and a corkscrew, setting both down before him.


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯ve never uncorked a wine bottle before,¡± Henry admitted sheepishly.


    ¡°You bring them but don¡¯t open them? For shame! I¡¯ll teach you in a moment,¡± she said with a cheeky smile as she headed back to the kitchen.


    Henry examined the bottle and the tools while he waited. Soon enough, she arrived with their dinner tes. The scent instantly made Henry¡¯s mouth water.


    ¡°Oh, man! I must be hungrier than I thought as I¡¯m about to drool over the ce settings. That smells incredibly good!¡± he eximed.


    She curtsied while holding a te in each hand, then set them down on the table.


    Henry smiled as he admired the te of delicious-looking angel hair pasta with the pan-seared scallops and shrimp. He spotted button mushrooms and peas, maybe some chopped shallots and diced garlic as well. He had to swallow again as his fingers itched to pick up the fork and dig in.


    Instead, as promised, Siobhan took her seat and directed Henry on the art of opening a corked wine bottle.


    She sighed as he poured a little wine into a ss for her to taste. ¡°It¡¯s a shame, really, but this skill may soon no longer be needed. Screw top bottles are taking over. The tradition of uncorking will be lost.¡±


    Henry just gave her a sympathetic look, though the screw top idea sounded eptable to him.


    She smiled as she swallowed the wine. ¡°Excellent choice, Henry!¡± He poured more into her ss and some into his.


    He chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to tell the salesman in the wine shop he has good taste.¡± He lifted his ss and smiled at the beauty. ¡°To good friends, a great meal, and sess in your future!¡±


    She smiled and nodded to him as she touched his ss with hers. They sipped as they smiled at each other.


    ¡°I never got a chance to ask you how you like your new job in the Marketing department,¡± Henry said as he lifted his fork.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Oh, I love it! It¡¯s so much more fulfilling than working in the assistant pool. I really get to flex my creative side,¡± she said with a happy sigh.


    Henry took a bite, and his taste buds cried out in ecstasy. He savored the first bite until he was forced to swallow. ¡°This is delicious!!!¡± he eximed, and Siobhan grinned happily as she enjoyed a forkful herself.


    When Henry recovered from his first bite, he caught Siobhan¡¯s eye.


    ¡°It was your idea to update our marketing materials with information about our improved security, wasn¡¯t it,¡± he said with a grin.


    She put an innocent expression on her face. ¡°Not if you¡¯re speaking to Mr. Duncan, it wasn¡¯t. I heard he was less than pleased with the idea.¡±


    Henry chuckled. ¡°Yeah, when I backed Rosalind¡¯s request, he wasn¡¯t too happy with me either. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the traffic, and while there has been an uptick in suspect connections, no real threats have emerged yet. I assume this message was also added to our website?¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s look of pride was unmistakable. ¡°Yes, and they¡¯ve even let me assist with designing the website¡¯s look and feel. That¡¯s what I love the most in my new job!¡±


    ¡°The truly fortunate are those who work at what they love,¡± he said with a sigh, then caught Siobhan grinning at him. He smiled self-consciously. ¡°I-I think I read that on a greeting card once.¡±


    They enjoyed their meal and the wine, but Henry refused a top-up on his ss as they finished up. ¡°I can only have one a day.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a cheap drunk?¡± she grinned.


    ¡°The cheapest!¡± he blurted, and she giggled. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why my tolerance for alcohol is so minimal.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with getting a little rxed, Henry,¡± the brte gently teased.


    ¡°I agree, but when I get really drunk, which doesn¡¯t seem to take too much, my mind gets tugged out of my body, and it goes on a walkabout. That¡¯s what Tish calls it.¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You have an out of body experience? Where does it take you?¡± She pictured floating above the city and maybe circling the Statue of Liberty, which was pretty close to his condo.


    Henry sighed. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve orbited the¡­ uh, I lost track of how many times. I visited Kansas once, a mountaintop somewhere in China, and most recently, I was in Kuwait City.¡± His smile became a little brittle. He had to pull his thoughts away from that. Far away.


    Siobhan was stunned. That was¡­ much too far to be separated from your body. Her mouth opened and closed. She wasn¡¯t sure what to say.


    ¡°Actually, the farthest I¡¯ve been was to the world of Wild Magic¡­ though I¡¯m not sure if you can measure the distance as I¡¯m told it¡¯s just another dimension oveying our own. An alternate Earth, I suppose,¡± he pondered on that, oblivious to the shock on his dinnerpanion¡¯s face.


    ¡°Henry, it shouldn¡¯t be possible for you to be that far away from your body,¡± Siobhan said quietly.


    He looked at her and saw she seemed upset. He reached out and ced his hand over hers. ¡°There is so much happening to me and around me that I can¡¯t exin and can¡¯t control. It¡¯s the damn magic. I don¡¯t want it, but I don¡¯t have any choice about that either. I really don¡¯t like leaving my body behind when I go flitting around the sky. I feel even less in control than I usually do.


    ¡°Can you feel the magic?¡± she asked with a strange enthusiasm.


    He watched her as he shook his head and saw she seemed to being to a decision about something.


    ¡°Selkies can,¡± she almost blurted.


    He realized this was the thing she hadn¡¯t wanted to say in his office. He wondered why she had now.


    She pushed on. ¡°We¡¯re connected to its flow. Just as we can feel the currents of the oceans we swim in, the currents in the magic that touches¡­ everything around us, speak to us. We can pick up on the location of Humans moving through it untouched. We feel conduits like us absorbing it, slowing the current by the smallest increments. I¡¯m always amazed no one else can feel wielders bending the flow to their will and altering its course.¡± She saw Henry was listening with interest and shed a quick smile at him. ¡°Since my change, I can¡¯t feel that sensation anymore. I miss it. I didn¡¯t realize how much I¡¯de to depend on it. I¡¯m hoping the loss is due to my transformation being iplete.¡± She caught Henry¡¯s look of worry and raised a hand. ¡°I know. Its loss may be permanent. The Wild Magic changed me in incredible ways, and my new state is such an improvement over how it used to be, but if there¡¯s any chance that I might be able to get that ability back, I¡¯d like to try.¡±


    He still has a look of concern on his face. ¡°What is it, Henry?¡±


    ¡°This current of magic, now that I think about it, I have felt it.¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s eyes widened excitedly. ¡°When?¡±


    He nodded as his mind went back to his most recent experience. ¡°It was when I was out of body. My mind floated up into the sky, and the magic was drawing me around the world.¡± He looked into her eyes. ¡°How strong was the current you felt?¡±


    Her eyes took on a dreamy quality. ¡°The pace of the current changes. It rushes then ebbs. It¡¯s mostly a gentle flow.¡±


    He shrugged as there was no way topare their experiences with exact uracy as it was subjective. ¡°When I was up in the sky, the Wild Magic felt more like a raging river. I couldn¡¯t fight it. I just let it take me where it wanted to go. Maybe down here, it will be calmer.¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s expression told him she was not in the slightest deterred by his words.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Anything you need¨C I¡¯ll do¨C uh, sure.¡± His face felt hot, and Siobhan giggled at his flustered state. ¡°How-how should we begin?¡± he asked.


    She stood and held out a hand to him. He took it as he stood and let her draw him into the small living room. As he watched her curiously, she had him help her move the coffee table to open the space, and then she put on some slow music. ¡°How about we start off with a dance?¡± she said softly.


    He grinned self-consciously and nodded. ¡°That sounds great.¡±


    He took her in his arms, and they began to sway gently. ¡°You and Marisa seem to enjoy going to dance clubs.¡±


    She nced up with a crooked smile and saw he was just curious. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fun to dance, and teasing the Romeos is even more fun. Marisa does it to feed, as well, but I¡¯m just looking for a quick tumble in the sheets. Ady needs a little stress relief once in a while.¡±

 202

    Henry snorted as he contemted how often he was being used for stress relief these days.


    Siobhan pulled back slightly to look up at his face in false outrage. ¡°What? Don¡¯t you think women enjoy casual flings, too!¡±


    ¡°Uh, you do know who you¡¯re talking to, right?¡± he asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°The one thing I¡¯m very aware of is the sex drive of my female friends.¡± His expression suddenly froze with remorse. ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯m so sorry! That was an overshare.¡±


    Siobhan burst into delightedughter and clung to him. ¡°Ah, Henry. You¡¯re so charming!¡±


    They swayed to the music, enjoying the feel of their bodies touching. Siobhan purred as she enjoyed squeezing his muscr body. She recalled being pressed up against Stanley¡¯s chest in an elevator with Marisa pressed up against his back. Stanley had been amuchsmaller man. She marveled at the difference between the two sizes of the same man.


    She tilted her face up to ask him about it when his lips found hers. Sparks shot from their kiss to all the tingly ces on her body. She wanted tough in surprise and delight, but this felt too good. She pressed herself harder against his muscles and felt him respond most wonderfully. Something was waking and pressing against her insistently.


    His lips never leaving hers, Henry scooped Siobhan up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom door. She had to admit, her head was beginning to spin a little with how his passion was thrilling her. Her tongue thrust into his mouth and found his. He sucked on it gently as his tongue caressed hers. She feltthatlike a live wire touching her most intimate ce.


    When he set her down on her feet next to the bed, she began tugging frantically at his shirt. She had to get him naked.


    Henry pulled back from the kiss with a smile on his lips as he took over the task of stripping his mored clothes away with a thought. Siobhan giggled as she stopped to admire his muscles. Her hands immediately went to them, and she touched the hard bs of muscle on his chest, then slid down to feel the trembling of this stomach.


    ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you beautiful¡­¡± she sighed softly.


    His fingers touched her chin to tilt her face up to his so he could taste her mouth again. She swooned slightly but felt his big hands settle on the skin of her back. Somehow, the buttons of her shirt hade undone, and it was on the floor, resting on top of her skirt.


    Henry¡¯s fingers fumbled only slightly when undoing her bra strap, then it too was at her feet and her breasts her being cradled in his strong hands. She gasped and leaned against them as he continued to tease and thrill her lips.


    Finally, she remembered she¡¯d been tugging at his pants for a reason, so she gently pushed his chest to break the kiss. With a cheeky grin, she looked down, and there it was, exactly as she recalled it when she saw him in his old bedroom with Cam, Sigrid, and Marisa. The pleasing shape and size were before her, but this time it was for her alone-their first time.


    Before he could move, she dropped to her knees. She took a moment to take in the sight of his naked body, then she wrapped her fingers around the hard and hot skin of his cock.


    ¡°Ahhh, that feels good!¡± Henry sighed.


    She chuckled then stroked her tongue along the bottom of his cock, all the way from the base to the tip, as he gasped. She wanted to tease him more, but her need overruled her.


    She took him in her mouth and forced it deeper and deeper until it reached the back of her throat. She was bing so fucking turned on; she wasn¡¯t sure how much longer she could hold out. She stroked him in and out of her mouth as she felt his muscles trembling.


    The moment she pulled him free of her mouth, he lifted her in his arms once more. He settled her down on the bed gently, then he was over her, his wonderful lips kissing and caressing their way down her body. She cooed and gasped as he found all the most sensitive ces, and her need for him surged. He surprised her when he stroked her pussy lips with his tongue then firmly kissed her clit. Her hips rose off the mattress as she sucked in a deep breath and grabbed his head to pull him tight against her.


    His tongue was doing things to her that threatened to derail her mind. ¡°Fook, you¡¯re good at that, Henry!¡± She lifted her head to look down her body to see the smile in his eyes as his tongue worked its magic across her tingling pussy. She dropped her head back as the intensity became too much. ¡°Please, Henry! I need you now!¡±


    He kissed his way up her body, spending a little extra time enjoying her nipples as her fingers tangled in his hair, then she felt the head of his cock resting against her wet opening. She sucked in a sharp breath as the heat surprised her.


    She reached between them to take him in her hand. He felt so good as she stroked his heavy appendage against her lower lips. When he pushed forward, the head plunged inside.


    ¡°Ahhhh! Yes! That¡¯s it, Henry! Fook!¡±


    Henry grinned happily down at her flushed face.


    ¡°What?¡± she gasped curiously.


    ¡°I love your ent!¡± he sighed as he changed the direction of his stroke to slowly draw himself out to the tip. Her heels slid up his legs to pull him back inside.


    ¡°What ent?¡± she asked with a crooked smile.


    He raised an eyebrow and pushed in faster.


    ¡°FOOK!¡±


    ¡°That one,¡± he teased.


    ¡°Less talking, more¡­ that!¡±N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    ¡°Your wish is mymand,¡± he said formally, and his hips sped up. Her eyes shed wide for a moment, then her heels assisted his thrusts.


    ¡°Yes, Henry. That feels so good! Oh my GOD!¡± she eximed as his pelvis began to bump into hers at the bottom of each stroke.


    She pulled him down to kiss him deeply with her arms wrapped around his back. His thrusts became more aggressive, and she gasped into his mouth as the bumping against her body was driving her closer and closer to her limit.


    Henry was quickly losing control, as well. Her kiss was so sweet, and her body felt so good under his. He was trying not to crush her under his weight, but she was squeezing him so tight it was difficult to maintain his strokes. Finally, he had to resort to circr gyrations with his hips, which ground his pelvis against hers. Siobhan¡¯s lovely brown eyes shot wide.


    ¡°Now, Henry! Oh my God!¡± she cried out as she squeezed her arms and legs tighter around him. Her body began to spasm, and he felt her mping down on his cock. That was enough to push him over the edge, and his release began. He was as deep as he was going to get.


    Siobhan felt Henry¡¯s cum surging into her. Her body immediately began greedily soaking up the Wild Magic, and she felt its power. She reached with all of her willpower for what she¡¯d lost, her perception of the magic around her.


    The difference was subtle at first. Just a trickle of awareness, like a light breeze ying with her hair as it passed and the afterimage of a burst of color. ¡°Henry! I can feel it again!¡± she cried softly.


    She strained to open herself entirely and her body spasmed as a sudden burst of light, sound, scent, taste, and touch exploded against her defenses. Stunned, she was wide open now as her sixth sense was forced to ept a new frequency.


    She realized Henry was right. This wasn¡¯t a calm and tranquil ebb and flow. It was a mighty river crashing against and leaping over obstacles, sweeping everything away with its boundless energy. The old magic was nothingpared to this!


    The Wild Magic¡¯s energy soaked into every cell, and she felt herself almost glowing with the power. Then it was overflowing and spilling into the spaces between her cells. ¡°Enough! S-s-s-stop!¡± she stammered.


    Henry immediately pulled himself free of her body, and she took the next two sshed across her stomach before he was able to get a hand in front of his cock to catch thest one in his palm. He watched the woman squirmed on the bedsheets. Not knowing what to do, he hopped off the bed and rushed over to the small bathroom, where he quickly rinsed his hands. He grabbed a washcloth, soaked it in warm water, and hustled back to Siobhan to clean her off. He started with her stomach and moved down.


    She gasped loudly when he pressed the washcloth between her legs and opened her eyes in shock.


    Henry swore he saw tiny sparks of gold in her beautiful brown eyes. ¡°Oh my! Henry! It¡¯s¡­ so lovely!¡± she whispered in awe as she looked around the room.


    He was more than a little worried about that. ¡°You said you¡¯d be able to feel the flow of magic. You said nothing about seeing it!¡±


    She turned to look at him and squeaked as she closed her eyes tight. She turned her head away from him quickly.


    ¡°What happened? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Henry gasped.


    ¡°You! You¡¯re glowing like the sun!¡± she eximed. ¡°Wait! Wait¡­ I can control this. Give me a second,¡± she said as she frowned in concentration.


    Henry watched his friend taking slow, even breaths. He felt her body trembling, almost as if it was going to shake itself apart. This began to lessen as she controlled her breathing. Her head suddenly turned, and she flinched.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he said in concern and gently touched her shoulder.


    ¡°AAAAAHHHHH!¡± she cried out as she recoiled from his fingertips.


    Henry was in full panic mode now. It was Marisa all over again. His causing her to overdose on Wild Magic remained one of his strongest regrets. How it seemed he¡¯d hurt another of his friends!


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Siobhan! This was obviously a bad idea¨C¡±


    ¡°NO! No, Henry. It¡¯s going to be okay. I just need to learn how to control the input. So much! Every sense! Before, it was just a faint perception of the magic around me, but now I can see it. I feel it. You sound like a roaring bonfire, crackling with energy. You glow like the sun and smell delicious¨C¡°

 203

    She froze as an expression shed across her face.


    Siobhan suddenly pulled his face to hers, and her tongue was in his mouth in a frantic kiss. She moaned and shook as she flopped back down to the bed.


    ¡°What was that?!?¡± Henry eximed.


    Her eyelids were still closed as she leaned her face away from him, panting and licking her lips as if trying to capture thest drops of ice cream from her lips. He watched this odd behavior with increasing unease.


    ¡°Damn, Henry! You taste so good! Like nothing I¡¯ve ever had before!¡± she gushed.


    He leaned back from her. ¡°What have I done?¡± he muttered in dread.


    ¡°No, Henry! Please! It¡¯s good, I-I just need to recover from the initial shock, and I¡¯ll be able to get control of my senses once again.¡± She went quiet, and a look of embarrassment crossed her face. ¡°This may sound like a terrible request after what we just shared, but it might be easier for me to get control back if I was alone. You¡¯re just too strong a source of Wild Magic.¡±


    Her face froze again, and she faced him without opening her eyes. Her jaw dropped open. ¡°Youarea source! It¡¯sing fromwithin you!¡±


    Henry was still feeling awkward about being kicked out so soon after their intense intimacy, so herment about being a source took a moment to sink in. He paused and looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m a source?¡±


    She nodded and tried to open her eyes but snapped them shut again as she held up a hand to shield her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s like there¡¯s a¡­ tear in space within you that leads to the realm of Wild Magic. It¡¯s¡­ pouring through.¡± She turned her head from him as she could feel where he was in the room without seeing him. Her perception of magic was back, one thousand-fold! She opened her eyes and watched the energy flowing away from Henry to ssh against the walls around them before seeping through. Her head began to spin as her senses started to overload again.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Henry. It¡¯s too much. I¡¯lle to see you tomorrow, okay?¡± she said delicately.


    ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll see you tomorrow,¡± he said as he backed out of the bedroom, where he reset his mor with the outfit he¡¯d arrived in. He walked to the door and reached for the doorknob when he heard the bedroom door open.


    ¡°Wait! Henry!¡±


    Siobhan rushed over to him in her dressing gown with her eyes closed but somehow didn¡¯t collide with any of the furniture in her haste.


    She thumped against his chest and hugged him tightly. ¡°Thank you, Henry. You don¡¯t know what this means for me!¡±


    ¡°No more stubbing your toes walking through your apartment in the dark?¡± he teased gently, his voice still a little shaky.


    She pushed back as her face flushed with intense tingles from holding him. She gave him another of her crooked smiles. ¡°Cheeky fellow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow,¡± he said with a smile.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    She tilted her face up for a kiss, and he cautiously leaned down to gently press his lips to hers.


    Her arms went around his neck, and her tongue was suddenly in his mouth as she moaned.


    He gently untangled himself from her arms and tongue and held her at arm¡¯s length as she panted.


    ¡°Good night!¡± he said as he ducked out her door and closed it behind himself. He made his way down the flights of stairs and adjusted himself in his pants. Damn, she was sexy!


    He stopped in her lobby and rested his forehead against the cool tile of the wall. He let the tingles fade, and cold reality slipped back into his mind.


    He pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed a number before he could talk himself out of it. It rang.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hi, Marisa! It¡¯s Henry. Sorry to bother you¡­ but I need your help.¡±


    Her voice returned with tension in it. ¡°What¡¯s happened, Henry? Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m fine. I was just with Siobhan, and I can¡¯t really give you any details, but¡­ I think she might need some help or advice.¡±


    ¡°Henry, you¡¯re not making sense. You had a date tonight with Siobhan, yes? What happ¨Coh!¡±


    He could almost hear the lightbulbing on, so he continued. ¡°Yeah. She said she just needed to be alone, but I¡¯m worried I¡¯ve done something¡­ bad. Maybe you could call her and see if she needs help?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll call her now. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s fine. Take care, Henry. Good night!¡±


    He looked at the cell¡¯s screen with a sigh, then tucked it away.


    Stepping outside, he nced around at the dark streets. He wondered if he should have had the car wait. Shrugging, he walked to the subway entrance and managed to catch the train as it entered the station. He rode this until he was able to transfer over to the Path train to New Jersey.


    His mood on the way home steadily dropped


    The night was clear and warm tonight as he walked down the pathway along the water¡¯s edge towards his condo. He was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed tonight. Tish was working a night shift, which was fine as he didn¡¯t feel like he¡¯d be goodpany at the moment.


    A stab of guilt went through him as he worried about Siobhan. The image of her rushing across the room with her eyes closed returned to him, and he felt his initial dread once more. He¡¯d fucked up her senses, or maybe it was more urate to say Wild Magic did that. He was tired, frustrated, and sick of magic!


    ¡°Mroww?¡±


    Henry came out of his funk to look down at a ck cat sitting on the path, looking up at him. He was immediately entranced by her eyes, one amber, and one blue. He wasn¡¯t sure why he thought the cat was female. It just popped into his mind. ¡°Hello there, beautiful!¡±


    ¡°Mroww?¡±


    ¡°My name¡¯s Henry. What¡¯s yours?¡± He looked for a cor but no luck. She might be a stray.


    The cat walked past Henry and looked back at him. ¡°Mroww?¡±


    Did it want him to follow? He¡¯d heard of that behavior before, but tonight he just didn¡¯t have the energy. Instead, he walked over to the bench he¡¯dst shared with Ikehorn and dropped himself wearily on it. He looked out at the darkness over the water.


    He caught motion in the corner of his eye and saw the cat was now sitting on the bench watching him.


    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m just too tired to go wandering in the night. Besides, there are things that go bump in the night out there that you should be careful of.¡±


    The lovely eyes just watched him, so he looked back out into the darkness. ¡°So many troubling things out there, and I can¡¯t do anything to help anyone.¡± His expression turned bleak. ¡°I¡¯m asked to help a friend, and I might have fucked up her life instead.¡± His breath caught in his chest, then more words blurted out. ¡°I can¡¯t protect the children,¡± he hissed quietly, thinking of his daughter with Baba Yaga, thinking of the dead infant in Kuwait City, and thinking of his child in Tish¡¯s womb. He snorted bitterly. ¡°How can I be a father if I can¡¯t protect them? All this fucking magic, and I can¡¯t do shit with it!¡±


    He leaned forward and put his face in his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. He held his tears of frustration and despair back through sheer willpower alone. He felt overwhelmed by the responsibility he felt for the children he had no power to protect.


    Henry felt a gentle nudge on his arm and looked down into mismatched eyes, watching him cautiously. He eased himself back on the bench and took slow even breaths. When he felt his equilibrium return, he gave the cat a weak smile. ¡°Sorry for indulging in a moment of self-pity. It gets to be too much to cope with sometimes.¡± He took another deep breath, then held out his hand for the timid cat to sniff. He felt the gentle rasp of a rough tongue licking his finger. He smiled a little more as he watched the cat breathing through her mouth. He was sure that behavior meant something, but he had no clue what. It just looked sweet and brought a smile to his face.


    ¡°Henry? Is that you?¡±


    He looked in the direction of the familiar voice and saw Dayshia on the path. ¡°Hi, Dayshia. What are you doing out sote?¡±


    ¡°I could ask you the same,¡± she insisted.


    He smiled at her. ¡°I was just talking with my new friend here¨C¡± He turned his head, but the cat was gone. He heard a gentle snort behind him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have enough friends? Now you¡¯re making up imaginary ones?¡± Dayshia teased.


    ¡°What? No! It was a cat! Probably a stray¡­¡± He stopped when he saw the amused expression on her face.


    ¡°Very funny,¡± he huffed.


    ¡°Come on, Cat Whisperer. Let¡¯s go inside. Is Tish working tonight?¡± she asked as she held out a hand to him. He nodded.


    They began walking the final steps to the front door when Dayshia suddenly froze. She squeezed Henry¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯re being watched,¡± she said stiffly.


    Instinct made Dayshia¡¯s eyes re violet as she swept her gaze across the path behind them. Her sight peered into the shadows until they heard a shriek. A tall, roughly human shape jumped to his feet from behind some bushes across the road and scrambled to run away. Dayshia leaned forward and stared harder at the figure. He screamed in pain as he sprinted away and dove around the corner of a building.


    Henry watched this in shock as he¡¯d felt Dayshia pulling on his Wild Magic while she¡¯d¡­ attacked their stalker. He hadn¡¯t seen what she was doing, but it certainly had an effect on¡­ the shape of their stalker was suddenly familiar


    ¡°Was that¡­?¡± Henry began.


    ¡°Roger,¡± Dayshia confirmed in a grim voice. ¡°I felt the pressure of someone staring at us, and it wasn¡¯t a friendly gaze. There was a definite malignant intent behind the gaze. He was preparing to attack. I-I could feel it! I don¡¯t know what Roger¡¯s be, but I doubt he was looking to talk about good times.¡±


    While he was shaken by the encounter, he could tell Dayshia had been deeply affected.


    He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She looked at him in surprise, so he exined. ¡°All of this is my fault¨C¡±


    ¡°How is Roger¡¯s intent to attack us your fault?¡± Dayshia asked in confusion.


    ¡°Changing him, all of you, was my faul-¡±


    Dayshia took his shoulders in her hands. ¡°Stop. I know I was pretty hard on you for what happened, and I regret that now. I shouldn¡¯t have treated you so harshly because, in my heart, I knew you¡¯d never intentionally harm us. You¡¯re a good person. I was scared, and Ished out at the easiest target. I¡¯m so sorry, Henry. Like Tish, my life has been greatly improved by my change. I wouldn¡¯t choose to be human again over this. Thank you.¡±


    Henry forced the lump in his throat down and pulled Dayshia into a hug. She felt wonderful, but he was so exhausted by the emotional rollercoaster this day had been he caught himself yawning.


    Dayshia must have noticed, too, as she guided him to the front door. ¡°You¡¯ve had enough fun today. Bedtime for Henry.¡±


    He gave her a chagrined smile and a nod as he held the door for her when they entered.


    She was right. He¡¯d had enough.

 204

    Minkah waited until the coast was clear and no eyes were on her before switching back to her Human form. She stepped out of the shadows by the tree next to the bench and looked to the front door where her quarry had gone.


    He wasn¡¯t at all like she¡¯d expected. Her impression of the smaller, timid man in therge body had been strengthened by their encounter. If he¡¯d followed her to the alley, she would have tranquilized him and stuffed him away in the council¡¯s dungeon. She wouldn¡¯t have heard his confession. He was going to be a father, and he wasn¡¯t ready. He seemed to have endured some unresolved trauma involving a child. That had shaken his confidence badly.


    He¡¯d shown her kindness and didn¡¯t try to pet her or pick her up. Instead, he¡¯d held out his hand and let her set the pace. She¡¯d tested his magic with a taste, and that made her fur stand on end. He¡¯d just smiled at her, but at that moment, he could have done anything to her as her senses were overwhelmed by a new kind of magic. Only the arrival of a new threat jarred her free from her paralysis, and she¡¯d fled.


    The woman who spoke to Henry¨Cher quarry¨Cwas one of the altered Humans she read about in the dossier. What was missing from the file was a description of her powers. Minkah witnessed the woman spot a predator that even she¡¯d missed. It was another red-eyed sound tracker. Fear shot through her, and she didn¡¯t like that.


    What happened next was beyond her experience, and if it hadn¡¯t been for the extended color range her feline eyes were capable of, she would have missed it. The woman somehow projected high-intensity beams of ultravioletser light from her eyes. The red-eyed monster seemed to be particrly sensitive to this wavelength and found it intensely painful. It fled but sustained multiple wounds before it escaped.


    She overheard Henry and Dayshia talking after the woman drove the creature away and was shocked to learn they knew its identity. It was their missing friend, Roger Jensen, the one the Hidden Races Council had been hunting.


    Now, unless there were other examples of this creature In New York, she highly suspected Roger Jensen was their serial killer. The one she¡¯d killed in the nuclear facility causedparable damage to the other assassin as this killer was doing to its victims. It consumed its prey.


    Minkah was calling tonight a sess. She¡¯d gathered intel on the target. She¡¯d witnessed the capabilities of one of his Wild Magic powered friends.


    She also had a lead on the serial killer, which she¡¯d hand over to Lise-Anne Hoek.


    It was a good night.


    Carl watched his dinner guest crossing the restaurant, drawing every eye in the room. He felt the strong pull on his attention too, and a stirring down below as he imagined what it might be like to take the Subus to bed. He frowned slightly as he couldn¡¯t recall ever feeling such a strong effect from her kind before. The woman paused in her journey to his table, and he almost feltpelled to join her. His frown deepened before he forced his self-assured smile back in ce.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    She was speaking to three dark-skinned women at a table by the window, and while they were all smiling, Carl picked up a change in the room¡¯s tension level.


    He saw Cam respectfully bowing her head to the centermost woman, and he realized the trio must also be Subi. He could never read their age by just looking, but the one in the middle must rank higher than Cam for her to earn the gesture. Carl hadn¡¯t felt anything from these three. They were either suppressing their nature, or Cam was pushing hers to the max, perhaps to impress him.


    He nced around the restaurant at the other patrons. There weren¡¯t many tonight, maybe three other upied tables. He had three of his men sitting at tables of their own, as well. This was just a precaution you took when visiting a territory under someone else¡¯s control.


    None of the customers were Human, this being a very exclusive restaurant, and all were behind their mors. He saw everyone was aware of Cam¡¯s arrival.


    After a few more words and another head bow, Cam moved on to approach his table.


    He stood and smiled at her, leaning in to press his cheeks to hers.


    ¡°Thank you for joining me for dinner tonight, Ms. Vimor.¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Cam,¡± she purred, and he feltthatin his pants as well.


    She smiled at him again, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel the impact of that brilliant disy. He nced over at the table of three and saw them frowning angrily in Cam¡¯s direction. They suddenly stood and marched out of the restaurant.


    He looked back to his guest with a raised eyebrow as he knew she was also aware of their departure.


    ¡°Any trouble?¡± he asked delicately.


    ¡°An internal matter,¡± she said mildly, indicating she wouldn¡¯t speak of Subi issues with him. He nodded and gestured to a chair he held for her. She sat, and he moved to his seat.


    He personally didn¡¯t consider Subi, or Incubi for that matter, in the same category as the Hidden Races¡¯ real hunters. Considering their diet, he equated them much lower on the food chain, closer to leeches than sharks.


    Upon reflection, with the force of will rolling off the woman before him, he was willing to concede her the status of apex leech. This thought helped push back some of the uneasiness he¡¯d begun to feel.


    ¡°I love your Cajun ent!¡± Cam sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a breath of fresh air.¡±


    Carl smiled and tipped his head to her in thanks. ¡°You¡¯ve managed to keep some of your Spanish alive as well.¡±


    Cam nodded slightly. ¡°One of the costs of moving from ce to ce is that it puts a strain on the valuable but intangible aspects, like ents and cultural traditions,¡± she said a little sadly.


    ¡°Something lost, and something gained, I suppose,¡± he agreed.


    The waiter arrived with the menus, and Carl took the initiative to order an expensive bottle of red wine.


    Cam nced at him as the wine he¡¯d selected wouldn¡¯t pair well with the sd she was considering. He seemed oblivious to his faux pas. She ordered the sd anyway. Carl chose a steak, rare, and the waiter left.


    ¡°This restaurant is best known for its preparation of meat. Yet, you went for a sd?¡± he asked with a smile.


    ¡°The difference is that I eat to enjoy the vors and textures, not for sustenance,¡± she said with a small smile. ¡°I took care of thetter before I arrived.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes,¡± he nodded as if she¡¯d shared some wisdom.


    Cam returned to a point she¡¯d been making earlier. ¡°What pulls you away from New Orleans? I understand your business is doing well there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, business is good! So good I¡¯m looking for new pastures to add,¡± he boasted.


    She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s my understanding that such activities usuallye with some strife from those already in those pastures.¡±


    He nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Yes, it can, which is why it¡¯s not done without first establishing a strong base. Only then should one set their sights on new territory.¡±


    The waiter arrived with the wine and served them both after Carl pronounced it delicious. They were soon alone once more.


    ¡°And what territory might you be setting your sights on?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°New York, of course!¡± he said with a gesture of his arm to epass everything.


    Cam fixed her eyes on the man. ¡°Which part?¡±


    ¡°All of it! Eventually.¡±


    She rxed a little and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Ambitious. Where will you start?¡±


    Carl raised his ss. ¡°At its heart, of course. Manhattan.¡±


    Cam took a sip of the wine and did her best not to spit it in his face. It was bitter and heavy, much like the man who ordered it.


    ¡°Ah. That¡¯s a pasture that¡¯s been tended to very well for a long time. The surrounding pastures have been peacefully tended for an equally long period, and all get along in a very civil way. I¡¯ve certainly not heard any rumblings of discontent from the othermunities regarding how these areas are being managed.¡±


    Carl shrugged. ¡°Othermunities¡¯ concerns are their concerns. This is¡­ an internal matter.¡± He smiled as he used Cam¡¯s words against her.


    ¡°Unless it threatens to expose us all,¡± she rified.


    Carl fixed his eyes on Cam. He didn¡¯t like her implied threat. He didn¡¯t want someone likehertellinghimhe had to give up on his expansion n. He put a smile on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been doing this for a long time. I control New Orleans and arge portion of southern Louisiana. I think that gives me the authority to say I know what I¡¯m doing when ites to territory acquisition and management.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, New Orleans is not New York City. Theparative poption densities alone set them worlds apart¨C¡±


    Carl raised a hand to stop her from continuing, then waved it dismissively. ¡°I didn¡¯t invite you here to review the merits and challenges of the n. I¡¯m aware that Roy Duncan, leader of the Manhattan Pack, works for yourpany, VRL. I wanted to assure you that when I take over the territory, the security responsibilities his team is currently fulfilling for VRL will continue without interruption. Additionally, unlike Roy¡¯s little operation, de Bellisle Enterprises includes aw office to cover VRL¡¯s legal needs.¡±

 205

    Cam leaned back in her chair with a small smile on her lips. She was watching the smug expression on his face. ¡°You certainly have a surplus of self-confidence. It¡¯s too bad that¡¯s not all that¡¯s required. You have to be able to y well with others.¡± She sighed because Carl¡¯s smile was being reced with a look of annoyance. ¡°This is what I¡¯m talking about. When people tell you the truth, you¡¯ll need to be able to recognize it and appreciate it. We¡¯re all at risk at the moment with the strange events urring all over the globe. Now, more than at any other time in history, we need to be treading lightly and cooperating with each other. Have you watched the news recently? Attention is being focused on things that should not be seen. And you want to start a turf war in one of Earth¡¯s most populous cities?¡± She threw him a disappointed look.


    He hit the tabletop with a big fist, and conversation died off around them.


    He kept his voice low, but there was a definite edge of suppressed rage. ¡°I give you the courtesy of assuring you that your business will not only be protected against disruptions in your security arrangements but will be enhanced by the services of ourw office, and you treat me like some country bumpkin? The arrogance¨C¡±


    Cam leaned forward and held his eyes as she spoke calmly. ¡°You¡¯re busy empire building during a global security crisis, and you sayI¡¯marrogant? I¡¯m just givingyouthe courtesy of advising you how badly timed this initiative is and how poorly viewed it will be with the Hidden Races Council.¡±


    Before he could explode, she hit him with another verbal jab. ¡°As for the services of yourw office, here¡¯s a hypothetical question for you. Let¡¯s imagine that we did take on yourw firm for VRL¡¯s external legal counsel. Then one of our employees is cheated on a deal he made with, let¡¯s say, Queen Mab. How would you proceed with gettingpensation for this employee?


    Carl snorted at her outrageous hypothetical scenario. ¡°You have yourpanypensate the employee if you believe the idiot deserved it, warn them never to deal with the Fae again, and they get to live. Youdon¡¯tsue Queen Mab.¡±


    Cam smiled. ¡°The counsel we hired, Mahati Chandra, filed against Queen Mab in the Fae Court¡­ and won. Mab is no longer Queen of the Fae.¡±


    Carl stared at her, then burst intoughter. When he finally recovered, he smiled indulgently at her. ¡°You really blew your credibility with thatst statement.¡±


    Cam simply waited with a slight smile on her lips. She saw Carl¡¯s grin slowly fade as his mind sifted through her words. Finally, he had a question. ¡°Chandra? As in Indrani Chandra?¡±


    ¡°Mahati is her daughter. She¡¯s a very gifted litigator,¡± Cam exined with a proud smile.


    Carl¡¯s expression quickly returned to a scowl. ¡°I still don¡¯t buy for a second¨C¡±


    ¡°Speak to any Fae. Ask them who their Queen is. None will speak Mab¡¯s name. She no longer exists for them.¡± She gave his belligerent expression another look of disappointment.


    ¡°I suspected this meeting would be about a territory grab, and I¡¯d hoped to convince you of its bad timing, but I can see your mind is set on this reckless course.¡± She held his eyes. ¡°None of it matters. You won¡¯t take Manhattan. Roy Duncan controls that territory, and you¡¯re not strong enough to take him.¡± With that, Cam stood and moved to leave.


    Carl quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip with a snarl on his lips. He¡¯d teach this insignificant bitch how strong-


    Fire ripped through his cheek, and he reeled back in agony. The next sh struck his arm, and his grip on Cam went loose as she¡¯d cut the tendons in his forearm. She yanked her wrist free and jabbed him in the chest with her other hand, her ws stabbing deep into his lung. Her strike was faster than his eyes could track.


    Carl saw one of his crew racing up behind Cam, ws, and fangs extended as he pounced. He knew the woman was dead.


    Except she wasn¡¯t there.


    Carl¡¯s man hit the table and crumpled to the floor with a spray of blood.


    Carl jumped to his feet, staggered back, and knocked his chair over. He looked across therge room and saw three more of his men, prone or struggling to sit up, each bleeding badly from a vicious wound. With a Were¡¯s healing abilities, none of the injuries inflicted were life-threatening, but the fact that someone as low on the food chain as a Subus took out his men with ease gave him pause. It wasn¡¯t possible for a Subus to move so quickly, and their ws weren¡¯t capable of inflicting such damage. Something wasn¡¯t right.


    Across the restaurant, standing in the doorway, Cam flicked the blood from her ws then returned her fingers to their normal shape. She looked at her bruised wrist then locked eyes with Carl. She shook her head slowly.


    Turning, she calmly walked out the door without another nce in his direction.


    He looked closer at how she moved, and he finally saw it. She had the confident bodynguage of an apex predator. What was going on at VRL?


    Suddenly, the story of Roy bing an Uber Were no longer seemed ridiculous.


    Tish slipped into bed and snuggled up against Henry as the first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. She was in her faun form, and Henry had dropped his mor before he¡¯d gone to sleep the night before.


    She touched the thick bs of his chest muscles, then ran her fingers across the firm cage of his stomach. A thrill rushed through her as this gorgeous hunk was sharing her bed almost every night! She wasn¡¯t the least bit jealous of the time he spent with the other women in his life. Some were her friends, and some were his coworkers. She liked all of them.


    This morning, he was in bed with her, and though she was tired, she had tingles that needed relief. She needed some Satyr lovin¡¯. She slipped the nkets down and exposed the beast. She was still learning how to make love to Henry in his natural form. He was big down there, and while she was much tougher as a faun, it could still be a struggle.


    This morning she was determined! Besides, her doctor said it was still safe.


    She¡¯d brought along a tube of lube, and she squeezed out a generous amount, then a little more for good measure. She gently slid her hand up the shaft, leaving ayer of the lube behind. She moved her hand down the other side and then used both hands to massage it over the surface. It was so hot in her hands as blood flowed into his cock. She nced up and saw his eyes were open, and one eyebrow was lifted as he watched her. She grinned up at him, and he crooked a finger at her to get her to move up the bed.


    Tish swung her leg over him and straddled his body, rubbing her wet pussy against his now stiff and well-lubed shaft.


    Henry pulled her down so he could kiss her. She did her best not to be distracted by his dreamy kissing, but he still managed to line himself up with her pussy. His hands massaged her ass muscles deliciously until her head was spinning. When he pushed inside, she moaned into the kiss and went limp. This rxed her muscles, which meant Henry was able to slip more of himself inside. The lube was helping, but the feeling of being full was intense. Thankfully, his big, strong hands on her ass kept her muscles from tensing up. Then she had it all.


    ¡°Oh my God, Henry! This is a first!¡± she chuckled.


    ¡°Feels too good!¡± he moaned, and her eyes went to his face in surprise. She thoughtshewas too close.


    ¡°I¡¯m right there too!¡± she said between her teeth.


    ¡°That¡¯s good cuz I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going tost this morning! Nope! Nope, it¡¯s too much!¡±


    Tish clung to him as her body began to shake, crashing her through a beautiful release as she felt Henry¡¯s heat surge into her. Her body felt like it might burst into sparks and tingles as his Wild Magic interacted with her own.


    They kissed and rocked against each other slowly as the bliss settled into a delicious buzz in their nerves.


    Once Henry had rxed enough to withdraw easily, Tish slid off his body to cuddle against his side. Now, she felt she could sleep, tingles satisfied.


    ¡°Before you fade, we should talk,¡± he said quietly as he pushed himself up on one elbow. Tish snuggled closer.


    She groaned. ¡°Tonight?¡± she begged in a tiny girl¡¯s voice.


    He chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be out tonight with Sigrid. Going to the Met.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm¨Cokay. Fine. What is it?¡± she sighed, rolling onto her back.


    He looked down at her lovely face. He dipped his face down and kissed her tenderly. She purred, then her eyes opened to look at his sad expression. She was immediately alert. ¡°What is it? What happened?¡±


    ¡°Dayshia and I met, or I should say, saw Rogerst night.¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    Tish sat up and locked her eyes on him. ¡°Saw? What happened?¡±


    ¡°We were just outside the building. Dayshia said she felt someone watching us. She looked at the bushes across the street, and he jumped up with a scream. Dayshia kept her eyes on him as he ran away, screaming in pain.¡±


    ¡°Pain?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t see what she was doing, but Dayshia chased him off¡­ with her eyes. Afterward, she said she felt him watching us with malicious intent. She felt him about to attack us.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know how her abilities work, but she was intensely seriousst night.¡±


    ¡°How did he look?¡± she asked, but Henry just shook his head.


    ¡°My vision isn¡¯t as good as yours. I couldn¡¯t see in the shadows. When he ran away, I thought I saw what looked like long ws on his fingers, which seems more likely than he was carrying a bunch of knives.¡±


    ¡°So, he reallywasgoing to attack.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°That¡¯s how it felt. Dayshia seemed to be acting on instinct. She grabbed my hand and pulled on my magic when she¡­ was doing whatever it was she was doing to Roger. He certainly didn¡¯t like it.¡±


    Tish gave Henry a bright smile and chuckled. ¡°Dayshia used magic?¡±


    He nodded with a smile of his own, then he looked apologetic. ¡°Sorry to drop this news on you as you¡¯re about to go to sleep.¡±


    Tish shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m d you told me. Besides, it¡¯s no worse than my waking you early for a tumble in the sheets.¡±


    Henry¡¯s mind shed back to the previous time he heard that phrase. Siobhan said it¡­ justst night. He pulled himself back from his memories. He hoped she was okay today.


    ¡°No, being woken up early is much, much worse,¡± he said.


    Tish nced at him in surprise as he¡¯d said it so seriously. He cracked a little smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re so mean!¡± she growled as she pushed at his big body. She nced at the clock and saw it was time for him to get up anyway. ¡°Time for you to go to work!¡± she said with a pout.


    He kissed her resisting lips until she was kissing him eagerly. Then he pulled back and rolled out of bed. He switched to his mor, so she got an eyeful of his naked ass as he walked over to the bathroom to take a shower.


    Tish watched him hungrily, her tingles back from his kissing. Throwing the sheets aside, she hustled over to the bathroom and switched to her own Human mor to share the shower with him.


    He had to take responsibility for these new tingles too.

 206

    Henry arrived at work at almost thirty past the hour and saw Roy standing in the lobby. The big redhead gave him a raised eyebrow. Henry aimed a self-conscious smile his way, then paused before walking over to the man.


    ¡°Good morning, Henry. Is everything okay?¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Roy. I think I need to have a talk with you, Cam, and Sigrid,¡± Henry responded.


    ¡°Can it wait until after our 9:30 executive meeting? I was sent upstairs to collect you,¡± Roy said.


    Henry¡¯s expression dropped. ¡°Shit! Sorry! Itpletely slipped my mind. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The two men took the elevator to the basement level and entered the boardroom just as Cam was about to begin.


    ¡°Take your seats, please.¡±


    Henry hustled around the table and took his seat between Frank Caprelli, the Head of Operations, and Rosalind Wingham, the Head of Marketing. He said a silentsorryto both and got smiles in return.


    Roy paused to whisper something in Cam¡¯s ear, and she nodded. Then Roy froze before stiffly walking over to his seat.


    To Henry¡¯s gaze, Cam looked just a little tense. He saw a curious expression on Sigrid¡¯s face as well.


    When he looked to Mahati, the woman was staring at him and jolted a little when their eyes locked. She quickly looked away. Her darkplexion reddening further. He raised a curious eyebrow, but she refused to look back at him.


    ¡°Now that we¡¯re finally all here let¡¯s get started,¡± Cam began. ¡°I have a special announcement before we get into the minutes of thest meeting. You may have seen our special guests in the office yesterday. We had the Directors of the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA with their Senior Technical Advisors in to review a new firewall application Henry wrote for them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going into the software business?¡± Frank asked.


    ¡°No, just easing the avarice these agencies have for VRL¡¯s firewall. If we give them their own, then they¡¯ll leave us alone,¡± Cam exined.


    Rosalind¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Can we use this rtionship in our marketing materials?¡± she asked eagerly.


    Roy rolled his eyes as Rosalind received a nod from Cam. The CEO had ensured that right in her negotiations. She looked back to Frank. ¡°I¡¯m not ruling out that we won¡¯t find additional clients for the firewall application. Unless these government agencies want exclusivity. They¡¯ll have to pay for that and pay dearly.


    ¡°How are we tracking the ie for this new product?¡± Eve asked. A natural questioning from their CFO.


    Cam smiled. ¡°If the initial consumers don¡¯t want to pay for exclusivity, the application bes a product of VRL with a service contractponent. If they want exclusivity, it¡¯s just a service for these clients with a service contractponent. I¡¯ll send you the details once the deal is finalized.¡±


    She turned her eyes to Henry. ¡°I received an email from the Director of the NSA, Wace Granger. He¡¯s asking for you to make a presentation to key members of the Network Security teams for the NSA, CIA, FBI, and a potential new customer, Homnd Security, at their headquarters in Washington. They¡¯d like you to do the onsite training and the initial install. They¡¯re willing to pay handsomely for the privilege.¡±


    Henry made a choking sound. ¡°It¡¯s a seven-minute install process. Training them how to manage the configuration interface only takes another thirty. The Director did it himself!Hecould demo it for these people!¡±


    ¡°Hey, for an all-expense-paid trip to the nation¡¯s capital, teach me how to do the install, and I¡¯ll take your ce!¡± Akshay Bhatt, theirpliance manager, joked.


    Henry gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, then pointed to Akshay while he smiled at Cam. She just shook her head with a grin.


    ¡°Sorry, Henry. The Directors met you and won¡¯t be fooled by a substitute.¡±


    Henry pouted. ¡°When do they need this done?¡±


    ¡°Could you be avable to fly there Thursday morning? You¡¯d fly back that night. The presentation is scheduled for the morning, and they¡¯ll want to take you to lunch afterward. Probably to try to convince you to leave VRL and work for them.¡±


    There was a burst of protest from a number of the other execs, none louder than Eve.


    Henry smiled at them as he held his hands up to settle them. ¡°There¡¯s nothing they can offer me thatpares to working with you guys. I have no desire to leave VRL!¡± he assured them.


    ¡°It sounds like you could name your price, and they¡¯d pay it,¡± Frank insisted, still a little disturbed.


    ¡°But they wouldn¡¯t have you, Frank. Or Rosalind, Eve, Myron, Noah, Akshay, Roy, Mahati, Sigrid, or Cam. Or all the amazing people who work in your departments that I get to support. It may sound sappy, but I think of all of you as my family. Money is nice, but it doesn¡¯t rece family.¡±


    Rosalind made a sweet noise and stood up next to Henry with her arms out. He blinked in surprise, then stood as well and gave her a warm hug.


    Frank jumped up next and gave him a hug too.


    Henry looked over at Cam in embarrassment for making such a scene, but she gave him a sweet smile.


    They retook their seats, and Henry had another question for Cam. ¡°I¡¯m not going by myself, right? You¡¯re going along to work on the contract, yes?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going alone, but it won¡¯t be me apanying you. This is Washington, DC. We¡¯re sending you to the capital with legal representation. Mahati will ensure everyone ys nice.¡±


    All eyes turned to Mahati, who squirmed under their attention. Then she saw Henry¡¯s relieved and happy expression, and an odd heat bloomed in her chest. She nodded to the others and widened her eyes at Cam, who took the hint.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the business at hand.¡± She took control of the meeting, and they moved on to the mundane day to day items. Henry practiced his skill of staying awake.


    Once they finished the executive meeting, Cam asked Henry to stay behind with Roy, Sigrid, and Mahati to discuss the trip to Washington. The rest stood, and Eve strode purposefully around the table with her eyes on Henry and a smile on her lips. The other execs paused to watch curiously. As she got closer, she gestured for Henry to stand, and everyone smiled as they caught on. She pulled him into a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her.


    Once Eve released him, Myron and Noah shook his hand, but Akshay wanted a hug. He got one, then they all made their way to the exit. The door closed, and the seal went in ce. Cam grinned at Henry.


    ¡°I thought the meeting was going to copse into a group hug session,¡± she said with a grin.


    ¡°You¡¯re injured, and I scented a Were did it. What happened,¡± Roy rumbled.


    Everyone else looked between the two with surprise on their faces.


    Cam looked over at Roy and controlled her expression. ¡°Roy, you need to promise me you will remain calm.¡±


    Roy¡¯s face gave nothing away, but he nodded stiffly.


    ¡°When Walter Zhao died, the news that VRL no longer has external counsel was released, and several agencies contacted me to let me know they were avable. One of them was Carl de Bellisle¡¯sw firm.¡±


    Roy snarled and rose out of his chair but stopped and sat once again.


    Cam watched him until he nodded. She nodded as well. ¡°I listened to him and let him know we were already pursuing other options.¡± She gestured to Mahati.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Last night I had a business dinner with Carl¨C¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Roy asked tensely.


    Cam sighed. ¡°Yes, he was here in New York. I wanted to hear histest pitch so I could get a handle on what he was up to.¡±


    ¡°THE BASTARD IS AFTER A TERRITORY GRAB!¡± Roy snapped.


    ¡°ROY!¡± Cam snapped in return.


    The big man was struggling to remain calm.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about your ability to keep your shit together in your new state. Can you lead?¡± Cam said, point-nk.


    Roy¡¯s head snapped back as if she¡¯d pped him. His eyes widened then narrowed as a deep rumble began.


    ¡°Roy?¡± Henry spoke, and the effect on the big redhead was immediate.


    He froze, and his expression of rage drained away instantly. He went silent, and his eyes turned to Henry.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Henry asked quietly.


    Roy shuddered as he shook loose from the grip of the red fog creeping over his senses. He sighed and nodded stiffly. ¡°Yes.¡± He nced at Cam. ¡°My apologies for giving in to my anger. Carl and I have history, and he¡¯s always dangerous to those around him. His obsession for expanding his territory puts his pack at undue risk, and those his pack supports suffer for it.¡± He faced Cam fully. ¡°He injured you. You went to a public ce for this dinner meeting, and he became violent?¡±


    Cam nodded.


    Roy shuddered and took a deep breath. ¡°He¡¯s making a y for Manhattan.¡±

 207

    ¡°New York,¡± she rified.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Roy snarled quietly. He looked to Cam again. ¡°Why did he hurt you?¡±


    ¡°I suspected he was looking to expand into our territory, and I tried to talk him out of it, appealing to his reason especially considering the heightened tension globally, but he was too far gone in his dreams of conquest.¡± She sighed as the next part was not going to go over well. ¡°I told him he¡¯d never take Manhattan as he wasn¡¯t strong enough.¡±


    ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!? You directly challenged a Were?¡± Are you suicidal?¡± Roy snapped.


    Cam remained quiet as she held Roy¡¯s eye.


    He took deep, slow breaths to calm himself, eyes focused on the tabletop. Once he was collected again, he looked at her. ¡°You obviously survived.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I had to fight my way out, but Henry¡¯s gift made that possible. I was tempted to kill Carl¨C¡± She raised a hand at Roy¡¯s choking noise. ¡°¡­ but I wasn¡¯t sure what that would do to his pack.¡±


    ¡°It wouldna be good!¡± Roy stressed. ¡°They need a leader, and it has to be another Were. Carl¡¯s territory is too big. Take him out without someone to take the position, and the pack dissolves with a bloodbath as they fight for dominance. Breaking down an oversized territory has only happened once in my lifetime. It wasn¡¯t done lightly and took strong leaders working together to keep the peace while they subdivided the territory, choosing new leaders for each through managed dominance tournaments.¡±


    ¡°Did you participate?¡± Henry asked, his fascination in on his face.


    Roy looked at him and rxed with a smile. ¡°No,d. I was a mere pup at the time. About your age.¡±


    Henry nodded, then heard the gentle jab. ¡°Hey!¡± he said in protest. He wanted to say more in his defense, but he had nothing to refute the words. He heard Roy¡¯s chuckle and felt better.


    ¡°Carl now knows the kitten has ws,¡± Roy said, looking back to Cam.


    She nodded, but she didn¡¯t smile as she understood that she might have just confirmed for Carl the rumors of Roy¡¯s enhancement. Not that she¡¯d had any other choice. She sighed as she had more potentially bad news.


    ¡°When I arrived at the restaurantst night, I was riding a high from a feeding.¡± She didn¡¯t bother mentioning from whom she¡¯d fed as everyone knew. ¡°I had a surplus, so I wasn¡¯t able to suppress the effect. I¡¯d tried to burn it off in the gym beforehand, but there was just too much. At the restaurant, I bumped into the head of the Subi Association, Nuru Onwudiwe. She was senior to Marquise Oletha Thanemark by a century, at least. She was displeased that I was emitting more power than someone my age should. Her two attendants were also quite put off. There was nothing I could do. I paid my respects, but I was meeting Carl, who was watching. I couldn¡¯t show weakness, and I wasn¡¯t able to reduce my power levels. When I went to join Carl, Nuru left with her attendants. She was not happy.¡±


    ¡°Is she going to be a problem?¡± Sigrid asked. She knew Subi didn¡¯t really maintain an official organizational structure but power levels defined authority for those that cared. Oldest was typically the strongest, which gave them the authority to represent the group to ensure the rights of all Subi were represented. When these same leaders were able to separate their longevity from their power, this made for better leaders. When they were obsessed with their power, this made for poor leadership. She didn¡¯t know which category Nuru fell into.


    Cam shook her head hesitantly. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t. I sent her a note apologizing for any perceived disrespect and exined as best I could without mentioning Henry or Wild Magic. Nuru has been a reasonably stable representative, but she may show up if she feels I¡¯m making a y for her position.¡± She held Sigrid¡¯s eye. ¡°Her attendants are expert spear fighters.¡±


    Sigrid just smiled.


    ¡°I believe Henry has something to tell us,¡± Roy said to the group, and all eyes turned to Henry.


    He looked at Roy in surprise them looked to the others. ¡°Uh, yes.¡± He cleared his throat and sat forward a little in his chair, suddenly nervous. He took a deep breath and began.


    He described meeting Dayshia as he sat on the bench the night before and the subsequent encounter with Roger.


    Roy leaned forward. ¡°You say he was hiding in the shadows about to attack, and he appeared to have long ws?¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°Dayshia said she felt his intent to attack. I saw his ws as he fled.¡±


    Roy was frowning as he ran scenarios in his head. He looked at Henry atst. ¡°I need you to try recalling something for me. Think back to the night of the first murder, which happened just steps from your ce. You said you were sitting on the bench with Ikehorn. After the Fae left, did you pick up this sensation of being watched then?¡±


    Henry blinked at him in surprise. He closed his eyes and took his mind back into his memories. He recalled being excited that he could connect to his daughter. That warmth spread across his chest again. He¡¯d walked towards the building and-


    His eyes snapped open. Hehadfelt he was being watched! The tall, dark figure walking away, down the pathway towards the alley¡­ moments before the murder.


    ¡°You remembered something,¡± Roy said. Henry just nodded with a stricken expression. ¡°He was there, wasn¡¯t he.¡± Henry nodded again.


    Tears began to slowly drip down Henry¡¯s cheek as he suddenly realized Rogerhadbeen there,had beenwatching him, and based on his actionsst night, most likely killed those two kids. What had he turned Roger into? Did that make him responsible for those murders!?! Suddenly, there wasn¡¯t enough air in the room. He began to hyperventte.


    Roy and Sigrid rose out of their chairs and pulled him up to wrap their arms about him. He clung to them as the terror, remorse, and grief rocked him.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mahati quietly asked Cam as she struggled not to rush over to Henry¡¯s side as well. She noted Cam was settling back into her chair. She¡¯d obviously been about to go to the distraught man herself. The CEO just shook her head as she watched Henry with a sad expression.


    His friends holding him didn¡¯t speak until his gasping subsided, and the tears slowed. They just held him.


    Finally, they stood back to give him a little space. Sigrid took Henry¡¯s chin in her fingers and lifted it until she could see his eyes. The pain in them almost made her want to cry, as well.


    ¡°Get the idea that you¡¯re responsible for this out of your head. That¡¯s not true. You weren¡¯t even aware that Roger was in Tish¡¯s hospital room until you saw him on the floor. You said yourself, Kesini was the one who dosed him. You also didn¡¯t make him into what he¡¯s be. You know it¡¯s random.


    Most importantly, the change doesn¡¯t steal your free will. You¡¯re still the same person inside. Dayshia protested her change the most, but she¡¯s not only epted it, she¡¯s using her abilities for the betterment of all,¡± she insisted.


    Roy took over. ¡°Seeing Roger the night of the first event doesn¡¯t mean anything as you couldn¡¯t have known what he¡¯d be capable of doing. The boy sounded like he was a little touched in the head to begin with. His obsession with conspiracy is a prime example of that.¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m the source of the wild magic!¡± Henry forced out of his tight throat.


    ¡°Aye, courtesy of the witch! She gave you no say in that!¡± Roy spat, his distaste for Baba Yaga clear in his tone.


    Sigrid picked up the conversation. ¡°Henry, you aren¡¯t a source of Wild Magic. You just have a lot in you. You seem to collect and attract it.¡±


    He shook his head. He recalled Siobhan¡¯s words from the night before. ¡°I have a rift to the Wild Magic dimension inside me. That¡¯s why I¡¯m so charged with the damn stuff!¡± he muttered angrily.


    Roy shared a shocked look with the others, then held Henry¡¯s eyes. ¡°Who told you something crazy like that? Was it the witch?¡±


    Henry realized he couldn¡¯t divulge the source. He¡¯d promised he wouldn¡¯t, so he just shook his head and stared at the table surface. His mind spun with his realization that Roger was the serial killer, the product of the magic within him.


    He knew he hadn¡¯t chosen what Roger became, and he knew Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish hadn¡¯t be evil. They were still beautiful people. Roger¡¯s obsession with conspiracies must have taken a seriously dark turn when he changed. He just couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of being somehow responsible, or at least involved.


    The others just shared another concerned look between them as Henry went silent.


    ¡°Are you responsible for the sunrise? For the cycles of the moon?¡± Mahati asked Henry sternly.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    He jolted slightly as he stared at her. ¡°N-no!¡±


    ¡°You built a brand newwork for VRL. Are you responsible for how the users use it every day?¡± Mahati continued with her interrogation.


    He shook his head, but she gestured to her ear. ¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± he agreed.


    ¡°Have you control over the intentions and will of others? Are we all puppets to your whims?¡± she pushed.


    ¡°No! Of course not!¡± he gasped.


    Mahati crossed her arms as she continued to hold Henry¡¯s eyes with hers. ¡°So, we agree that there are things far beyond your control. Even those things you were directly involved in?¡±


    Henry jolted again. ¡°Y-yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Was that a question, Mr. Gable?¡± thewyer snapped.


    ¡°No, I mean, yes! W-we agree,¡± Henry stammered.


    ¡°So, there is no need for so much¡­ navel-gazing?¡± the dark beauty asked finally as she hunted for the words.


    Henry couldn¡¯t keep the small smile from his face at her awkward wording. ¡°You are correct. Thank you.¡± Mahati nodded firmly at him. He felt¡­. better! ¡°Would it be okay if I gave you a hug too?¡±


    ¡°You may not,¡± Mahati insisted as her dark skin tone deepened.


    ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± he said with a blush.


    ¡°Perhaps you have work to do today?¡± Mahati blustered.


    Henry nodded and smiled at the others as he made his way to the door and out.


    Once the door closed again, Cam looked at thewyer in outrage. ¡°All he asked was to show his appreciation with a hug.¡±


    Mahati¡¯s eyes shed at the CEO. ¡°You three are too soft on the young man!¡±


    Roy snorted and hid his smile as Sigrid¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°What?¡± the tall blond gasped.


    ¡°You heard me! Henry is too kind-hearted and gentle. You three keep him this way by handling him like fine china. He needs a firmer hand to help him be stronger.¡±


    Roy nodded firmly. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re right. We have treated thed a little too gently. It¡¯s excellent you brought this to our attention, and I¡¯m d you¡¯re taking his best interests to heart. It¡¯s a load off my mind, to be sure, that you¡¯ll be with him on the trip to Washington, DC.¡±

 208

    Mahati smiled gratefully and nodded to the big redhead. ¡°Thank you. It will be a learning experience for both of us. I¡¯m sure Henry will appreciate the guidance I can provide.¡±


    Cam gave Roy a puzzled look but schooled her expression when she caught the twinkle in the redhead¡¯s eye. ¡°Y-yes, thank you, Mahati.¡±


    Sigrid was still bristling as she watched the smilingwyer stand and leave the room.


    When the door was closed again, the tall blond turned on Roy. ¡°What the hell?!?¡±


    Roy chuckled and held up his hands in defense. ¡°Have you no eyes in your head?¡± he teased. ¡°The woman was going all gooey when she snuck looks at Henry in the meeting. Now, she¡¯s taking an active interest in his well-being. That¡¯s a far cry from the attitude she presented on her first day when she attempted to kill him. I do feel better about her protecting him in Washington.¡±


    It was Cam¡¯s turn to chuckle as she stared at Roy in delight. ¡°Whoisthis man, disguising himself as VRL¡¯s brusque Head of Security? He¡¯s much too aware of girly things like emotions and sensitivities.¡±T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Hush, you. I¡¯m just looking out for VRL¡¯s future. Henry is as closely tied to that as any of us. Besides, he¡¯s like a son to me, and I agree that we sometimes do treat him like fine china,¡± the big man admitted with a small smile.


    ¡°I think Henry is perfect as he is! There¡¯s no need to change him!¡± Sigrid insisted indignantly.


    Cam grinned. ¡°Well, there¡¯s proof that Mahati¡¯s efforts are going to be in vain.¡±


    Roy and Sigrid looked at her questioningly.


    ¡°If Henry can wrap a Valkyrie around his little finger, what chance does a N¨¡ga have?¡± the CEO quipped.


    Roy burst intoughter at Sigrid¡¯s sweet pout.


    Roger screamed into a pillow as the pain surged along his raw nerves once more. When thetest wave passed, he slumped on the dirty sofa cushions and panted.


    He had severe, blistering burns across his back, his ass, and a stripe across each thigh.


    But the worst of them was across his face.


    He should have listened to his instincts. He¡¯d been preparing to grab Henryst night as he talked to the weird cat when Dayshia intervened. She¡¯d walked up to Henry, and they spoke for a moment before walking towards his building. Roger¡¯s first reaction when he saw Dayshia was to flee. His instincts were rattled by the sight of her and screamed at him to leave quickly and silently. But he was so sick of living in squalor he decided he could take them both. Dayshia was no longer Human, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to eat her. He¡¯d nned on just ending her suffering as the monster she¡¯d be. He needed to question Henry. The man had all the answers.


    She must have felt his attention as she suddenly turned, and there was pain. It tore across his face, and as he ran from them screaming in agony, the pain returned to rip across his body. He barely managed to get away.


    He found his clothes tied to his bicycle and got dressed as quickly as possible, but the pain was intense. He rode away, each pedal stroke was pure torture, but he pushed through it.


    It took all night, but he made it back to the dump he hid in during the cruel hours of daylight.


    Roger needed to eat. He wouldn¡¯t heal if he didn¡¯t eat. But he couldn¡¯t go out in the daylight. He¡¯d have to wait until nightfall.


    Then he¡¯d hunt.


    The next wave of pain was beginning, so he bit down on the pillow and screamed.


    -=-


    The squad car rolled quietly down the alley between the derelict homes. The upants, two street cops with decades under their belts, kept a careful watch for ambush. They knew the man they were visiting had a bad habit of shooting at uninvited visitors.


    ¡°When was thest time you spoke to Rawlie?¡± Officer DeAngelo asked his partner, Officer ne, as he nervously scanned the building¡¯s windows from the passenger seat. They were the odd couple of their precinct. ne was a huge man with arge frame and muscles turning to fat. DeAngelo stood 5¡ä 7¡å and had a slim physique.


    ne squeezed the wheel in his big hands and frowned as he tried to recall. ¡°Shit, it¡¯s gotta be at least eight months?¡± His voice was deep and rough from vocal cord surgery years ago.


    That brought a scowl to DeAngelo¡¯s face. The two men used the hermit as a source of extra ie, unofficially collectingrentfor allowing him to live in the condemned building. With the extra hours they¡¯d had to put in for the bloody serial killer hunt, they hadn¡¯t been able to get back to their rent collecting. ¡°So, we gonna take eight months of rent from him?¡±


    ne nced over at his partner. ¡°Yeah. I gotta pay for my kid¡¯s music lessons. Fuckin¡¯ brat.¡±


    DeAngelo chuckled. ¡°Shoulda thought of that before ya knocked up Bernice!¡±


    ¡°Hey! She was a beauty¡­ before she got fat¡­ and mean,¡± ne growled quietly, which made his partner bark augh.


    The cruiser stopped on the gravel drive behind the derelict house, and they got out. Walking towards the back door, they continued to scan the windows with their hands resting on their guns.


    No sign of Rawlie.


    Resting on its side next to the back door was a fat tire bicycle. The two cops nced at each other as it looked like a high-end model. ne frowned as he squatted down to touch a spot of something red on the saddle. He brought his finger up to his nose and sniffed.


    ¡°It¡¯s blood, and it¡¯s still tacky,¡± the big cop said.


    ¡°Must be a rough life, livin¡¯ off the streets and bein¡¯ a hoarder.¡± He scowled as he shivered. ¡°Shit! Let¡¯s get this over with. I can¡¯t stand the fuckin¡¯ smell of the guy.¡±


    They entered the building and immediately stopped as they heard an odd sound. Muffled screaming. They shared another nce and pulled their weapons.


    The rank stench of mildew, mold, rot, and burnt meat made DeAngelo suddenly cough and gag. ne shot a quick re at his partner as the screaming suddenly cut off.


    They cautiously moved down a hallway, trying for silence, but that was impossible due to a thickyer of trash on the floor. The hall ended at an open doorway leading to a kitchen. On the right wall was another entrance much closer to them.


    They stopped just before the right-side doorway. All they could hearing from inside was a steady ticking, like a clock, but slower.


    ne gestured he was going to look inside, and his partner nodded. The big man ducked his head around the doorway for a quick look, then pulled back. He looked to DeAngelo and shook his head. The clicking continued.


    ne turned once more to the doorway, and his gun preceded him into the room. He stepped through the entrance, boots crunching on bits of broken ster scattered on the floor.


    DeAngelo moved to put his back to the wall across from the doorway, gun aimed away from his partner¡¯s back. He noticed some falling grit and dustnding on ne¡¯s shoulders and looked down at the ster chunks on the floor. He opened his mouth to shout a warning when ne spun and looked up at a crunching noise above and behind him. He tried to raise his weapon, but a dark shape dropped on him and savagely bit down on his shoulder.


    His gun went off, then went spinning off into the room as he lost strength in his right hand. He was dragged to the floor by his attacker. The agony in his shoulder got worse as whatever was attacking him rabidly chewing on him, snapping bone, shing muscle, and cutting nerves and blood vessels.


    ne lifted his head to call DeAngelo for help, but he saw his partner sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall, blood gushing from the bullet wound on his neck. The shot officer¡¯s mouth worked, but no sound came out. ne was on his own.


    With a mighty roar, the big cop drew upon his ogre strength and pushed himself to his feet, staggering under the bulk of his assant. Turning slightly, he charged across the cluttered room to m the creature through the wall into the kitchen. Wood and ster exploded, cabs full of rotting crap crashed down on them, and the thing released its grip on his shoulder. ne pushed himself back to his feet but wobbled as his head spun from blood loss. He viciously kicked the creature in the ribs, hearing a dull snap. As he tried to nt a second kick on the broken rib, the thing suddenly shifted to the side, grabbed his leg, and stabbed its long ws deep into ne¡¯s inner thigh. A great gout of blood followed the ws when they ripped free.


    ne staggered back and fell as his injured leg gave out. He crashed against an old fridge and slumped to the floor as he felt his life draining away. Turning his head, he looked towards his partner up the hallway. His eyes widened as DeAngelo wasn¡¯t there. The outer door was slightly ajar. He¡¯d gotten out! ne had to give his partner time to call for help.


    Wearily, he turned his face back to the creature, which struggled to free itself from the rubble.


    ¡°What the fuck are you?¡± ne spat as he held onto his consciousness.


    The thing stood as it kicked loose from the broken cabry, then it faced him. Red eyes. Terrible burns on its face, long bloody teeth, and those sharp ws. ne shuddered.


    ¡°What an unexpected gift! A monster that came to me!¡± it said, shocking ne. He thought it was just some kind of beast.

 209

    ne frowned. ¡°Look who¡¯s calling me a monster.¡±


    ¡°But you are a monster! You¡¯re certainly not human. You¡¯re like the one in the zoo.¡±


    Another shock went through Officer ne. It could see through his mor! Also, he¡¯d heard what happened to the guard in the zoo. The way this creature was drooling, he realized that was going to be his fate as well.


    He felt so incredibly sleepy and weak from blood loss but struggled to remain awake. He looked to the hall, his thoughts begging his partner to hurry.


    Then came the tugging and spots of searing pain, which quickly numbed. He looked back and saw the beast tearing into his chest to rip out his organs. It chewed and grinned at him as it swallowed. His consciousness began to recede, but he saw its facial burns begin to fade before everything went dark.


    -=-


    Roger feasted on the organs inside the big police officer until he couldn¡¯t swallow any more. His injuries were healing nicely, and the pain from them was receding as well.


    Only when he sank back on his haunches to let thest few bites slide down into his stomach did he look down the hall to find it empty. The other officer, the human one, was gone.


    ¡°SHIT!¡±


    He scrambled through the broken wall and quickly wiped the majority of the blood off his body with a ratty nket from the floor. He willed his body back into his human shape and rapidly pulled his clothes on.


    He rushed to the doorway and nced outside, clicking furiously. There was a police car behind the building, and the driver¡¯s door was open. He saw the legs of the other officer stretching out the door.


    Roger grabbed arge overcoat from a wall hook and pulled it on as he hustled over to the officer. He was lying half in and half out of the cruiser, quite dead. But in his hand was the mic from the radio. The cop might have called for help. He noted the radio had a light blinking on it, so he remained quiet.


    He had no idea how much time he had before they showed up, but his hideout was blown. He ran back inside and collected as much of the money as his pockets could hold. He grabbed gloves to cover the skin of his hands and rushed back outside. He got on his bike and rode slowly away from the house, sticking to the side roads and backnes. He was five blocks away when he saw the sound waves from sirens approaching rapidly, so he stopped and turned his bicycle upside down, pretending to work on the gears until two cruisers raced by, once more ignoring the cyclist.


    Roger could feel the pressure of the sun beating on his body. He needed to get inside.


    There was another abandoned housing development he¡¯d made a note of during his nightly rides. He flipped the bicycle back onto its wheels and pedaled quickly but calmly towards his new hideout.


    The meal that had delivered itself to him hadpletely healed the burns and replenished his energy. His hunger actually felt sated for the first time.


    For now, he¡¯dy low until the time was right.


    He would have to be more careful about capturing Henry, but he¡¯d get his answers.


    Henry went to his office, hoping Marisa was in, and couldn¡¯t hide his relieved smile when he spotted the gorgeous blonde at her desk. She looked up and picked up his smile with one of her own, though she also looked curious.


    ¡°Can you join me in my office?¡± he asked and received a nod. He opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for her to join him. As she sat in one of the chairs before his desk, he closed his door and set his bag down. He took the second chair and reached over to take her hand in his with a concerned look on his face.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine.¡±


    Henry¡¯s first question froze on his lips as Marisa answered it unasked.


    ¡°I called her, and after speaking for a short time, I went to see her. As you know, I have some experience with controlling my senses. I ran through my exercises with her for a few hours until she could dial her senses back to normal levels. The only one that resists being controlled is her perception of the flow of magic. She can now dial back her other senses, so she only feels the magic with her mind. I had no idea Selkies could do that! It¡¯s so amazing! She told me I could discuss this secret only with you,¡± she said excitedly.


    Henry released the breath he hadn¡¯t been aware of holding and rxed a little. He nodded with a gentle smile. ¡°Siobhan wasn¡¯tfortable sharing it with me, so I told her not to. For some reason, she did anyway.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s sleeping this morning, and I informed her boss and Sigrid that she was taking a sick day. We¡¯re calling it an allergic reaction, in case ites up. Later, she¡¯s going to practice the methods until they¡¯re second nature. She¡¯s fine, Henry. You did good!¡± Marisa squeezed his hand with a grin and looked like she was preparing to leave. He held her hand, looking into her eyes, and she stopped.


    ¡°How areyou?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m just a little sleepy.¡±


    ¡°I mean, about having a little one on the way, with Nate missing,¡± Henry asked gently.


    Marisa smiled in surprise at his concern, and her face warmed up a little. ¡°Thank you, Henry. You¡¯re a sweet man.¡± When he didn¡¯t release her hand, she sighed. ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ I¡¯m sad, but not depressed, thankfully. My hormones are keeping me bnced¡­ maybe they¡¯re leaning me a little towards the positive side, so I¡¯ll have to pay close attention to my mood once the baby is born. Subi don¡¯t normally get post-partum depression, but I suppose there¡¯s always a chance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you, too,¡± Henry stated, and her face got a little warmer.


    ¡°As for Nate, mom said she spoke to you about Subi emotional bonding and how it differs from Human bonding? She actually had to talk to Nate about it, too, as he grew up with Human beliefs, as you did. He spoke to me about it. He was sure he could deny his nature and form a lifetime pair bond with me.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he can. We¡¯ll have to see when we get him back,¡± Henry said firmly.


    Marisa shed a bright smile at him but just nodded, not trusting her words. Then she dipped her eyes and held his hand a little tighter. ¡°He never asked me if I could do the same for him.¡±


    Henry paused as he watched emotions cross her features.


    ¡°I miss him. I may even love him¡­ but it isn¡¯t the deep soul bond he¡¯s searching for. Humans seem to be able to form rtionship bonds for life. For Nate, his parents set the benchmark he¡¯s trying to match. I¡¯m afraid that, ultimately, he¡¯ll be disappointed when he can¡¯t find that for himself. He¡¯s battling nature, and nature always wins,¡± she said with a sigh.


    Henry remained silent as he thought Nate¡¯s wish was truly lovely. Growing up with a surrogate grandmother, Baba Yaga, he didn¡¯t have a simr parental life bonding example. While Baba had shown him affection, in her way, he didn¡¯t know romantic love until he¡¯d begun working at VRL. He hadn¡¯t been exaggerating when he told his colleagues that VRL was his family.


    While Baba remained the closest thing he had to a maternal role model, he knew Roy was definitely the one he saw as his father figure. Henry had lovers he¡¯d shared his heart with. Perhaps, in some cases, that love was more one-sided on his part, but he wouldn¡¯t judge them as what they returned to him was more than he¡¯d ever had in his life leading up to this moment.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have an example of parenthood,¡± he suddenly blurted. His face shed heat as he hadn¡¯t expected to confess this.


    Marisa leaned forward, watching his face. ¡°Henry, are you worried about being a dad?¡±


    He could only look at her with a stricken expression, his tongue frozen in his mouth. He was going to be a parent, and he shouldn¡¯t be saying anything negative about that honor.


    Marisa¡¯s expression softened as she took his other hand in hers. ¡°It¡¯spletely natural to be nervous about being a new parent. I¡¯m nervous about being a mom!¡±


    ¡°I CAN¡¯T PROTECT THEM! THE CHILDREN!¡± he suddenly gasped aloud, unable to contain the shame.


    ¡°What? Protect-¡±


    ¡°Mab stole my daughter¡¯s body, leaving her to die. Baba-¡± He almost spoke of how Baba cut their fingers off to move the ring. ¡°She took my child away.¡± Tears were running down his cheek, unfelt. An image shed in his mind. ¡°I have all this magic in me, but I couldn¡¯t do anything for the dead baby in Kuwait-¡± Sobs ripped from his chest as Marisa slid forward in her chair to pull him to her and held him tight.


    She spoke softly in his ear, whispering soothingly as his grief shook him.


    After a time, the intensity of his emotions waned, and Henry began to get control over them once more. He released his grip on her, settling back in his chair as she slid back in hers.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry for dumping my baggage on you so suddenly,¡± he muttered.


    ¡°Henry! Never apologize for sharing your honest emotions with me. You were obviously carrying your worries all by yourself for too long, and I feel honored that you feelfortable with sharing them with me.¡±


    He looked into her beautiful eyes and got lost in them for a moment. He looked away as his cheeks burned. ¡°Nate isn¡¯t the only one who can im to have fallen in love with you.¡± Hearing her sudden intake of breath, he raised his hands to apologize. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry for saddling you with another unsolicited confession. I understand the difference between Human and Subi love. Not¡­ that I¡¯m Human. Sorry, I¡¯m still a mess.¡±


    Marisa leaned back in her chair as she watched Henry struggling to get control. Her chest felt funny as she tried to understand her own feelings. It was like what she felt with Nate¡­ but much deeper, richer, stronger. Until she could get a handle on it, she¡¯d keep it to herself as Henry had enough on his te.


    ¡°Are you feeling a little better?¡± she asked gently.


    Henry gave her a shaky smile. ¡°Yes¡­ thank you.¡±


    She nodded to him. ¡°You tend to take too much upon yourself. So much of life is outside of our control. To make matters worse, you¡¯ve found yourself forced into the ring with some truly heavyweight opponents. You were never trained or prepared to take them on, so it¡¯s not fair to me yourself for not winning those battles.¡±T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    He looked into her eyes and saw she truly believed this. He had a harder time forgiving himself, but he couldn¡¯t refute her words.


    ¡°Yuko needs a baby from me to save her from going insane. Another child.¡± He sucked in a quick breath but kept it together. He saw sympathy in her gaze.


    ¡°What will you do?¡± she asked softly.

 210

    Henry took a deep breath. He didn¡¯t want to have a child when he was this torn up about the child he already had, but he couldn¡¯t let Yuko slip into madness if he could prevent it. ¡°I don¡¯t even know if it will work. Tish and Mahati are putting a lot of faith in the precise nature of my mor. They believe the desires of my partner will be sufficient to eliminate the magic contained within¡­ my stuff.¡±


    ¡°They did say they had a way to confirm it,¡± Marisa suggested.


    ¡°Yes, a trial run. I¡¯m¡­ probably going to go speak with Yuko soon to see when she¡¯d like to try.¡±


    Marisa did her best to hide the smirk, but he caught the rapid expression change. ¡°What?¡±


    She took a moment topose herself. ¡°You might wish to phrase that a little more delicately. Add a little romance.¡± Her grin finally broke through her control, and he rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Okay. I get it. But in my defense, I don¡¯t know how I even feel about Yuko. As you¡¯re well aware, she¡¯s tried to kill me on a couple of asions,¡± he grumbled.


    ¡°Yet you still want to help her. That says a lot about your character,¡± she said smugly.


    ¡°What? That I¡¯m incurably stupid?¡± he returned.


    She chuckled as she stood. ¡°No. It says you¡¯re a good person. One final word of advice, then I have to get back to work. Speak to Tish. Let her know your concerns about being a parent. She deserves the truth, and I know she¡¯ll feel the same way I do about it.¡±


    Henry watched Marisa and stood to face her. She was serious, and he knew she was right about telling Tish. He wasn¡¯t so sure about her reaction, but that didn¡¯t matter. He owed her the truth. He nodded.


    Marisa shed a beautiful smile at him, her eyes twinkling happily. ¡°That¡¯s my Henry.¡±


    He squirmed under her admiring gaze. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Didn¡¯t you have some backup schedules to check or something?¡±


    Marisa pressed her palms together, which squeezed her tits up and forward as she bowed slightly towards him. ¡°Yes, Master. Your wish is mymand.¡±


    Henry swallowed as his eyes were drawn to her cleavage. She giggled as she left his office. She knew she¡¯d won that point.


    He shook his head and picked up his bag. He had to get some work done today.


    As soon as his erection settled down.


    -=-


    ¡°Eleanor, don¡¯t look now, but a seriously hunky man is approaching our table, and he seems to only have eyes for you!¡± Dr. Lane said quietly to the surgeon she was sharing a table with in the hospital¡¯s cafeteria.


    The woman in question raised her eyebrows and turned to see Raymond almost at her table. ¡°Oh! What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Good afternoon to you too, darling! Hi, Janice! At leastyouthink I¡¯m hunky,¡± Raymond teased.


    The doctor¡¯s face flushed red. ¡°You heard me? Across the room?¡± she gasped in embarrassment. She was sure he¡¯d been too far away to catch her flirty words.


    He touched his lips, drawing her eyes to them. ¡°I read your lips. It¡¯s a handy skill to have in a courtroom.¡±


    Janice gave the gorgeous man a trembling smile and lifted her lunch tray. ¡°I was just heading back up to the ward. I¡¯ll speak to youter, Eleanor. Bye, Raymond.¡±


    Once she was gone, Eleanor scolded her husband gently. ¡°The poor woman is going to be fantasizing all afternoon!¡± the wife said as he took the recently vacated seat and smiled at her.


    ¡°A little fantasy hurts no one.Youlook delicious,¡± he purred in a deep rumble.


    She gave himthe lookand shook her head. ¡°No, we¡¯re not doing that again in the hospital. I finally got the executivemittee to begin listening to my suggestions. I don¡¯t need to lose any credibility.¡±


    Raymond sighed theatrically. ¡°Fine.¡± He nced around and saw they had privacy. He looked back to his wife, and she leaned a little closer, a casual and intimate gesture but designed to let him speak softly yet be heard. ¡°I¡¯ve taken some initial steps as I¡¯ve been thinking some more on that encounter we had the other night. I contacted an old colleague of mine. Called in a favor,¡± he exined, keeping a smile on his lips.


    They¡¯d listened to the recording and found themselves standing in the bathtub behind the stic shower curtain, hugging and leaning against the wall. That had shaken them considerably. Whoever was on the recording didn¡¯t want to be remembered.


    They finally determined how to test it. Eleanor waited in the hallway outside their condo as Raymond began the recording. Two minutes into its yback, Eleanor entered wearing earplugs and shut it off. Raymond was frozen in ce but was able to answer questions about what he¡¯d heard so far. Eleanor wasn¡¯t frozen as it seemed she missed the part which caused this. They began the yback from that point, and she frantically made notes on what they heard. When they found themselves standing in the bathtub again, they went back out to the living room and read the messages.


    This is what they knew. The person who caught them in her spell was a woman and potentially young from the sound of her voice. She was frightened and frustrated, not a goodbination for someone who obviously had a strong ability. She imed she was being hunted by the Hidden Races Council, and strangest of all, she had no awareness of who they were or what function they served. She also didn¡¯t know why they wanted her dead nor what she was.


    On Monday, Raymond returned to the location they¡¯d met her and scouted the buildings she might havee from further up the street. He caught sight of a flyer taped inside the window of an art gallery. It announced an exhibition the previous Saturday evening for an artist¡¯s work that would go on auction after the show. This was the night they¡¯d met the powerful young woman. He went inside to ask about her auction and learned that the artist, Lorelei Reichenbach, had attended. One of the gallery curators had a sour look on her face. When prompted, she reported the auction had been very lucrative, but instead of being thrilled, the artist had been moody and wouldn¡¯t leave afterward. She¡¯d kept the gallery open well past closing.


    Raymond suspected he¡¯d found the name of the woman who trapped him and Eleanor. Her age, mood, and timing all lined up. He left a card and asked if he could be added to the newsletter for uing shows.


    The next step had been very tricky. He needed to determine what hunter contracts the Hidden Races Council were acting on without disclosing his interest. He had a contact within the Hidden Races administration who might have ess to the information. He¡¯d assured the man that his intent was not to forewarn a potential target. It was merely to determine if a potential client was, in fact, being pursued and wasn¡¯t just suffering from a persecution psychosis. That was close enough to the truth for Raymond.


    It took a day, but his man hade through. Unfortunately, the information he had was minimal. Most of the hit squads in the US were focused on finding the NYC serial killer. Overseas there were only two open cases, one in Georgia and one from Germany. His source noted that the German case agent had been refocused on something in NYC with absolutely no other information avable. That was atypical. He disclosed that this redirected agent was also their top producer, so whatever she was doing was of significant importance. As there was so little useful information, the man took a chance and included a picture of the agent, so he could im he¡¯d fulfilled the favor. She was a looker!


    Raymond knew he probably wouldn¡¯t be getting any more information from this contact.


    As he sat with Eleanor, he filled her in on the information he had.


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± she asked.


    He rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I want to help, but she might not want our help. If we frighten her, she might make us go away permanently.¡± He took Eleanor¡¯s hand in his and sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it on the way home tonight. We¡¯ll catch dinner and decide if it¡¯s worth the risk. Speaking of risk, we should be safe enough if the serial killer follows the current pattern. There shouldn¡¯t be another attack for a month.¡±


    ¡°Where do you feel like going for dinner?¡± she asked.


    ¡°How about Hells Kitchen?¡± he asked with a sly smile.


    Eleanor rolled her eyes. ¡°Again?¡±


    He grinned. ¡°What, again. It¡¯s been over a year since we-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m teasing! Fine, we¡¯ll go to Hell¡¯s Kitchen.¡± She smiled and leaned forward as he moved the rest of the distance to give her a kiss. He stroked her bottom lip with his tongue, sending a tingle through her body.


    She red her eyes at him as she enjoyed the sensation. ¡°You¡¯re so bad! I have to get back to work! I¡¯ll see you at eight.¡±


    They stood and headed in opposite directions as they waved to each other. He had a satisfied smile on his face as she grinned back at him, wiggling her hips saucily.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    He left the hospital to return to his office, unable to lose the smile on his lips.


    ****


    Lorelei stepped out of the taxi before the doors of VRL feeling just a little rung out. The two investment houses she¡¯d already visited had left her with a sinking sensation. The older firm was cold and inflexible. The newer house was aggressive and indicated they could design any investment package she could think up, but again, she felt like a number to them. She was pinning her hopes on thisst one. Her first impression when doing the research told her it was the best of the three, so she stood on the sidewalk and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

 211

    She looked up at the building and admired the architecture. Turning her head in either direction, she smiled as this was close to some of her favorite shopping areas. She had good memories here.


    Lorelei realized she was procrastinating, so she stepped up to the doors and walked inside. She nced up at the high ceiling in the lobby and approached the reception desk, and a pretty, young woman looked up and smiled at her.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Lorelei Reichenbach. I have an appointment with Greg Wilson.¡± She realized she was about twenty minutes early. She supposed this would be their first test, how they reacted to her poor timekeeping.


    ¡°Certainly, let me call him for you. One second,¡± the receptionist said.


    She spoke quietly into her phone, then hung up and smiled at Lorelei. ¡°Greg will be down momentarily. Would you like to have a seat?¡± She gestured to somefortable looking chairs.


    Lorelei nodded and moved over to sit and watch the traffic crossing the lobby. The people, employees she assumed, seemed happy and content at first nce. She resisted the urge to sing a little tune to identify humans and non-humans.


    Less than a minute passed before a short man with dark, curly hair and a friendly smile arrived at the desk carrying a tablet in his left hand and was directed over to see her.


    ¡°Ms. Reichenbach? Greg Wilson,¡± he said, holding his hand out.


    She shook the offered hand. ¡°Please call me Lorelei. Sorry, I¡¯m a little early.¡±


    He gestured that it wasn¡¯t important. ¡°No problem at all. If you¡¯d like to follow me, we can speak in the garden room. Any allergies to nts?¡± he asked with a grin.


    Her eyebrows rose as she looked at him with a smile. ¡°No. It¡¯s really a garden?¡±


    His grin widened. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a lovely ce to have private conversations.¡±


    They walked past the elevator bank to enter a door on the corridor¡¯s right side just before the building¡¯s rear doors.


    They stepped into a mountainside jungle.


    Lorelei¡¯s feet slowed as she gazed in wonder at the tiered garden that took advantage of the high ceiling height for its man-made slope. Eight intimate seating areas were scattered up thishillside, taking advantage of the room¡¯s vertical dimensions. A path connected the seating pods and led to their current position, next to somerge rollup doors leading to a patio with more nts, pic tables, and an artificial stream.


    ¡°This is so nice!¡± she said in wonder, and Greg nodded happily.


    ¡°It feels like a perk of my job to meet clients here,¡± he agreed.


    He guided her up the path, and she saw another small stream following the trail. This was connected to a trickle feeder for the nt life decorating the slope. They stopped fairly close to the top and took seats at a small table. Another investment manager was with a client in the seating area a short distance downslope. They wereughing about something, but the sound was being gobbled up by the nts and the gentle trickle of the watering system.


    When she looked back at Greg, he¡¯d set up his tablet on the table and had it turned so they could both see its screen.


    He smiled at her. ¡°You know, we¡¯re not all razzle-dazzle.¡± He waved a hand to indicate their surroundings. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do for you.¡±


    She nodded, and they began the discussion.


    When Lorelei finally leaned back in her chair, her earlier dread was entirely gone. She knew part of the appeal of VRL was this peaceful room, but mostly it was how rxed and friendly their people were and the simplicity of the services they offered. Greg added no pressure. There was no sales pitch, just a clear and straightforward description of what they could offer her to help protect her money and make it grow.


    When she decided to move her investments to thepany, Greg set her up with an ount, which enabled her to log into the meeting room¡¯s free WiFi. She downloaded their app for tracking her investments. Once more, she recognized the flow in the interface, which matched what she¡¯d seen on their website during her research.


    Greg also assisted her with transferring the investment funds from the bank to her new ount at VRL.


    As they finished up, she sighed and breathed in the fresh air. ¡°Thank you so much, Greg. I feel so much better than I did when I first arrived.¡±


    ¡°d I yed a part in that!¡± he teased as he shut down his tablet. It looked brand new.


    ¡°VRL certainly has an impressive grasp of technology. I love that tablet!¡± she said.


    Greg¡¯s face lit up. ¡°Oh my, yes, but that¡¯s due to our new CIO! He¡¯s a freaking savant with technology! Actually, it¡¯s because of him and our former CIO, who was his brother. Stanley was also a tech savant.¡±


    She noted the past tense references and picked up a little sadness in his tone. ¡°Something happened to the former CIO, and his brother took over?¡±


    Greg nodded. ¡°Stanley arrived to save us from a technology disaster. Reced the entire server room, thework, and all of the workstations in almost no time. Then he went to Irnd to meet his brother and died in a car ident. His brother is also brilliant, and VRL hired him to take the CIO position. Henry expanded on Stanley¡¯s foundation and made huge improvements to ourwork and tools. These tablets were his idea. It made this chamber that much better.¡±


    She gave him an impressed look. They stood, and he led her back to the lobby, where they shook hands again.


    ¡°Wee to VRL! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If I¡¯m not avable, one of the less personable investment managers will be d to assist you,¡± Greg joked.


    ¡°Thank you very much, Greg! You were amazingly helpful!¡± she said with a smile.


    ¡°Also, feel free to use our website¡¯s feedback page to say nice things about me! Our head of HR, Ms. Gunderan, who¡¯s that lovely woman standing by the entrance, reads thosements.¡±


    Lorelei was smiling and nodding, but her attention was caught by a gorgeous hunk of manhood who¡¯d just walked by them towards the tall blonde. She was surprised by her reaction to him as she hadn¡¯t been attracted to men since- for a long time. She struggled to understand what was so appealing about this one, aside from his physical attributes. There¡¯d been¡­ something in his eyes as he smiled shyly at her before he passed by.


    Greg caught where her eyes were tracking and saw them widen unconsciously. He resisted the urge to snort. ¡°That¡¯s Henry Gable, our new CIO.¡±


    Lorelei¡¯s attention snapped back to Greg. She blinked at him. ¡°He¡¯s so¡­ young!¡±


    Now he couldn¡¯t withstand the urge to snort. ¡°Yeah, young, handsome, and smart, if you¡¯re into that. Still, he¡¯s got a magic touch with tech.¡± Greg nced at his watch and saw the day was over. He smiled at his new ount and saw she¡¯d taken a step away and was staring at Henry intently. He shrugged and headed back to the elevator bank.


    Lorelei watched the tall couple speaking to each other by the front door. The lobby was much busier now as the employees were heading home. She nced behind her and saw Greg had left.


    She looked at the beautiful man once more, and a burning curiosity captured her. She sang a variation of her identifying song. Humans would make a subconscious gesture of touching their shoulder to flick away imaginary lint. They wouldn¡¯t register the movement in themselves or others. Non-humans would tilt their heads left and right as if stretching the muscles. Again, it would be subconscious and wouldn¡¯t register. She sang the tune gently as she watched as a majority of the people in the lobby touched their shoulders in unison. A few stretched their neck muscles.


    The gorgeous man and woman did neither!


    Lorelei almost cried out in surprise. This was the first time since she¡¯d discovered her ability that it hadn¡¯t worked. She knew the deaf and those wearing earplugs or noise-canceling headphones weren¡¯t affected, but these two were within the range of her song and clearly weren¡¯t deaf as they were speaking to each other.


    When they joined the others leaving the building, Lorelei followed. She needed to understand how they were able to ignore the music.


    She also wanted to get closer to this man.


    -=-


    ¡°Boss! We have an anomaly!¡±


    Roy left his office to join Pete, who was working the surveince system with Kirk. Both members of his pack had an uncanny ability to remain alert for extended periods watching the screens. Roy couldn¡¯t do more than one or two hours before his brain hurt.


    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked.


    Kirk rolled the lobby camera back and froze the image. Pete exined. ¡°Ms. Gunderan is in the lobby. Mr. Wilson is there with a woman who may be a new client. Employees are beginning to leave. Watch what happens when Mr. Gable stops to speak to Ms. Gunderan.¡± He nodded to Kirk, and the video began again.


    Roy watched the screen and jolted when he saw the simultaneous shoulder touches and head wags. ¡°Again!¡±


    Kirk re-cued the video and yed it again. This time Roy watched the potential client. She was watching Henry and Sigrid, and her mouth was moving. His friends didn¡¯t react, but everyone else did. Then she followed Henry and Sigrid from the building.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    ¡°Roll it back and include the audio,¡± he said.


    While it yed, they heard the familiar movement sounds and muted conversation tones from the people leaving then singing. Pete and Kirk rocked their heads side to side, and Roy felt an impulse to do it too, but he could resist. His two pack mates looked to him in question.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t feel yourselves rocking your heads side to side like the people on the screen just did?¡± he asked them.


    Pete and Kirk frowned at each other and looked back at him. ¡°We didn¡¯t see anyone move their heads like you¡¯re describing.¡±


    Mary arrived and smiled at Roy until she saw the concern in his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Roy looked to Kirk. ¡°Roll the lobby footage back to 5:05 PM and y it without audio.¡± He looked to Mary. ¡°Watch the entire group.¡±


    She squeaked a little when everyone moved in unison, except Henry, Sigrid, and the tall woman. ¡°Was that one of those sh mob things?¡± Mary asked Roy, who looked to Pete.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see what you¡¯re talking about,¡± the man reported.


    ¡°What? Everyone touching their shoulder or tilting their heads, and you didn¡¯t see it?¡± she eximed.


    Roy¡¯s expression was grim. ¡°There is something in the audio like music with a post-hypnotic message. I think that woman is trying to filter out the Humans from the Hidden Races, and she can do it without detection unless it¡¯s captured on video. These two brought it to my attention when they watched it without the audio. The moment we yed it with the audio, they did the head movements and now can¡¯t see the actions or recall doing them.¡±


    He looked to Pete. ¡°I need the name of the woman Greg Wilson was meeting as hisst appointment.¡±

 212

    Pete pulled up the calendar app with a worried look on his face and searched Greg¡¯s calendar. ¡°Her name is Lorelei Reichenbach. Boss, I recall asking you toe see the¡­ anomaly, but I can¡¯t recall what it was.¡±


    ¡°Same for me,¡± Kirk agreed.


    Roy looked to Mary. ¡°I¡¯d be curious if you would be affected by the audio.¡±


    ¡°DON¡¯T YOU DARE! I don¡¯t want to have something removing memories from my mind,¡± Mary snapped.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Roy held up his hands in surrender, then he looked to Pete. ¡°Please make a clip of the lobby footage between 5:05 PM and 5:07 PM and send it to my ount. Don¡¯t worry about the memory block. I¡¯ll see if I can¡¯t get it restored.¡±


    He looked at Mary and gestured for her to follow. He ducked into the supply room and handed Mary seven packages of earplugs. ¡°Get Team One. Three vehicles for the return trip. Take a pair of these for yourself and hand the rest out. Earpieces will be useless due to the nature of her abilities. We¡¯ll need to use hand signals only. I seem to be immune to the sound¡­ magic. You might be as well as I suspect it might be due to the Wild Magic but just in case, wear them.¡± Her eyebrows rose then she hustled away. He called Cam.


    ¡°Hi Roy, what¡¯s up?¡± she said.


    ¡°Hi, Cam. Where are Henry and Sigrid going tonight?¡± he asked.


    Cam snorted. ¡°Aren¡¯t you taking your role as Henry¡¯s dad a little far?¡±


    ¡°We have a situation. Where are they?¡± he asked again.


    ¡°They¡¯re going to the Met, then out to dinner.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taking a security team to meet them,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Shit. I¡¯ming too.¡± She disconnected.


    He nodded to himself as he¡¯d expected her to say that. Roy went back to the surveince desk.


    Pete turned to look at him. ¡°We just watched the video of us calling you over to see the anomaly. It¡¯s disturbing that we can¡¯t see what we were talking about or remember it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s tricky shit. I need to show Cam. Did you send me the file?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Yes, boss!¡±


    ¡°Good. We¡¯re heading out, so I¡¯ll see you twoter,¡± he said, looking into their eyes, and they nodded. He didn¡¯t like the unease he saw there. He was going to do something about that.


    He marched out into the lobby and met Cam. They took the elevator down to the garage and saw the SUV¡¯s ready to go. They had VRL drivers for each so the vehicles would remain nearby for the extraction. Team One was in the second and third vehicles, so Roy opened the back door of the first, and Cam entered and slid over behind the driver as he entered and closed the door. Mary was in the front passenger seat and turned to face them.


    ¡°Where to?¡± she asked.


    ¡°The Met,¡± Roy said.


    Mary used her radio to pass that along to the other two vehicles, and they started driving.


    ¡°What¡¯s the threat?¡± Cam asked.


    Roy described the events in the security department with the video. He gave her his working theory. He pulled his cell out and yed the clip for Cam, turning the sound off first.


    ¡°What caused them to all do that?¡± Cam said, then frowned as she scanned the video back to watch the reaction again. ¡°It didn¡¯t affect Henry or Sigrid.¡±


    ¡°The woman sings¡­ magic. Her song didn¡¯t affect Sigrid or Henry, and it doesn¡¯t affect me either. Well, I feel thepulsion, but I can resist it,¡± Roy exined. He gestured to Mary. ¡°I think Mary might also be resistant, but I don¡¯t want to take any chances.¡±


    ¡°So, who is this woman?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°ording to Greg Wilson¡¯s calendar, her name is Lorelei Reichenbach.¡±


    Cam¡¯s expression clouded with a frown. ¡°That name¡­ seems familiar. I¡¯ve read it somewhere.¡± She shook her head as it wasn¡¯ting to her. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we call Sigrid? Warn her?¡±


    Roy shook his head. ¡°As they aren¡¯t affected by the woman¡¯s ability, they shouldn¡¯t be directly at risk, but we are talking about someone with significant power. We were lucky her little test didn¡¯t have a more severe action. There¡¯s a high risk for coteral damage and drawing the attention of the Hidden Races Council.¡±


    ¡°What kind of race has this kind of power?¡± Mary asked.


    Cam thought about that, and there was only one she could think of¡­ and they didn¡¯t exist any longer. Her eyes locked on Roy¡¯s in shock.


    ¡°Aye, tis the witch again, if I¡¯m right,¡± he sighed to Cam quietly.


    ¡°Hello? Is someone going to answer my question?¡± Mary said in annoyance.


    Cam looked at her. ¡°Do you recall Mab¡¯s party? In the main hall, the waiters and waitresses were Fae disguised as Djinn and Naiads. That was Mab¡¯s direct jab at the Hidden Races Council, who were directly responsible for the genocide of these two races when they refused to hide from the Humans with the others. Naiads were said to have the ability to control people with their singing.¡±


    Mary blinked at Cam. ¡°If they¡¯re extinct, how-oh! She¡¯s like Henry! Baba Yaga pulled her through time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s highly likely, but I suspect she isn¡¯t connected to the Wild Magic. The biggest threat she faces is the Hidden Races Council, who¡¯ll probably want her dead,¡± Roy exined.


    Cam beamed a delighted smile at Roy. ¡°You¡¯re protecting her like we protected Henry and Nate!¡±


    He looked ufortable. ¡°Look, you were right about those two, so you¡¯re probably right about this one. I need her to reverse what she did to Pete and Kirk.¡±


    ¡°How do we approach her?¡± Mary asked. ¡°The Met is a pretty public spot.¡±


    ¡°If she panics, she could cause some severe trouble and chaos with the Human patrons. This is a first contact mission. We¡¯ll keep her under observation and look for an opportunity to establishmunication with her. The team will remain out of site, roughly encircling the target, one gallery away at all times, maintaining line of sightmunications. There may be other observers, so we¡¯ll need to watch for that as well. If Hidden Races Council operatives are identified, we¡¯ll need to get the target out as quickly as possible, and that¡¯s our highest risk scenario.¡±


    ¡°Are we putting Henry at risk? Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t be contacting them?¡± Cam asked with a frown.


    ¡°Henry has no training at surveince and security work. He¡¯s an innocent, and he¡¯s safer remaining unaware.¡±


    -=-


    Sigrid giggled at Henry¡¯s attempt to act like the worldly and sophisticated double oh seven spy.


    He arched a brow while maintaining his role, cooling surveying therge chamber they were currently sauntering through. ¡°There¡¯s always a master thief or a foreign spy at the museum. One must maintain a high level of observation, or one will get caught up in their intrigue, be that an international smuggling ring or¡­ a threat to world peace!¡± he said with a soft voice in a terrible imitation of a British ent.


    Sigrid¡¯s giggles burst into fullughter, and Henry¡¯s impression of the world¡¯s deadliest spy cracked into a happy grin. He¡¯d won the prize he was after. He loved seeing Sigrid happy.


    He nced around at the faces turned in their direction. It seemed not everyone was as pleased to hear the joyful sound ofughter. One set of eyes connected with his, and he felt an almost physical jolt at that. She must have felt it as well, as the tall beauty quickly looked away with a flustered expression and returned to looking at the portrait she stood before. Henry swore he saw a blush on her cheek before she turned away.


    Henry looked back to the sweet smile on Sigrid¡¯s face. She also seemed a little embarrassed at her outburst. She yfully pped his arm.


    ¡°Thanks for making me look silly at the museum!¡± she growled with a grin.


    ¡°You¡¯re wee for bringing out your sweet and adorable side,¡± he returned.


    They locked eyes, and he felt her hunger for him. He wondered if they were going to make it through the gallery and dinner.


    They continued to move from room to room, soaking in the culture and building the delicious tension between them.


    -=-


    Minkah was pleased by the serendipity of being able to enjoy the Met while observing her target. This venue wasn¡¯t a good candidate location for apprehending him as there were too many witnesses. She noted there was a significant number of patrons in the museum this evening.


    Whenughter burst from the tall blonde beauty, Minkah¡¯s eyes were drawn to the couple. From the genuine smile on her target¡¯s face as he watched the woman¡¯s joy, she knew these two were a couple or had at least shared intimate rtions. He seemed far morefortable around her than others she¡¯d witnessed him interact with. The way they touched revealed that as well.


    When she saw him cast his gaze around the room, Minkah immediately focused her attention on the painting nearby but picked up an odd squeak sound from the woman next to her. That young woman quickly turned her face from watching her target as well. Minkah saw her blushing and contained a snort of her own. So, the youngdy was attracted to Henry-her target. Minkah understood why-stop!


    She forced herself to focus on the painting before her though she found nothing appealing in it. While allowing her eyes to defocus, she tried to re-establish her emotional distance from her target. The problem was, the more she observed him, the clearer her picture of him became, and the more intrigued she was bing. His personality matrix deviated from what it should have been for someone with his boldly masculine physical appearance. Something significant had happened to him to rob him of the confidence he should be disying.

 213

    Her eyes flicked back to him as he smiled at the blonde, whose intentions for him were clearly visible in her blue eyes. Minkah felt a brief stab of jealousy but brutally pushed that aside.


    She decided this observation session was over. She needed to refocus her mind on the mission. She¡¯d go for a walk to clear her head and-


    Minkah saw the big redhead approaching from the far entrance to this gallery. She read his intent in his bodynguage and automatically turned to walk the other way. She briefly collided with the tall, pale woman before moving on to exit the room. She kept moving until she was outside. A brief nce back showed no sign of the redhead, but a tall, dark-skinned woman in a dark suit was watching her intently. Minkah¡¯s cover was blown. Considering the red-bearded man was the head of VRL security, this woman was obviously part of his team. Minkah headed down the sidewalk but sensed no followers. She walked away to go back to her safe house.


    There, she¡¯d take a moment to get her focus back. She¡¯d stake out her target¡¯s hometer tonight to watch for an opportunity to capture him.


    She had to get this mission back on track.


    -=-


    ¡°Are you all right, Miss?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Lorelei asked in surprise as she turned to look into the concerned eyes of therge red-bearded man standing next to her.


    ¡°You were bumped fairly hard,¡± the man said, quickly scanning her for injuries.


    Lorelei couldn¡¯t stop the smile from popping up on her lips at his genuine concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. It wasn¡¯t too bad, though she could have apologized,¡± she responded.


    He seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief, but worry was still present in his expression. Then she caught movement in the corner of her eye and looked to see the gorgeous brte who¡¯d followed him into the gallery. Were those red highlights in her hair?Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Is everything all right, Roy?¡± the woman asked, and Lorelei picked up a hint of a Spanish ent.


    He looked back toward her. ¡°Yes¡­ I believe so.¡±


    The woman focused on Lorelei, and recognition red in her eyes as her smile widened. ¡°You¡¯re Ms. Reichenbach! The painter!¡±


    Lorelei was surprised as she wasn¡¯t expecting anyone to recognize her as she did her best to keep her face out of the papers. She nodded in confusion.


    The woman held out her hand as she gestured to the paintings around them. ¡°It was seeing you in this context that made me recognize you. I¡¯m Cam Vimor.¡±


    Lorelei shook the soft hand and smiled hesitantly. ¡°You can call me Lorelei.¡±


    Cam gave her another brilliant smile. ¡°This is my good friend, Roy Duncan.¡±


    Lorelei shook his hand as well. His concern hadn¡¯t wholly faded, and that made her a little nervous as she still felt fine.


    Cam continued. ¡°A friend of mine recently inherited an estate which contained one of your paintings. Incredible!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Thank you,¡± Lorelei felt a little more at ease until she spotted the tall blonde joining them with the gorgeous man in tow. Why? Her stomach tightened as the butterflies duked it out inside. From this close, Lorelei could see the woman had quite a muscr physique!


    ¡°Cam? Roy? What are you two doinghere?¡± therge woman asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone.


    ¡°Hi Sigrid, this is Lorelei Reichenbach! She¡¯s the artist who painted the river scene we found in Meixiu¡¯s mansion.¡±


    Blue eyes turned to look at her. ¡°Oh¡­ OH!¡± The woman¡¯s voice went up in surprise.


    ¡°What? Is this VRL night at the Met?¡± the handsome man quipped as he joined them. He smiled shyly at Lorelei, who was puzzled by his question.


    ¡°Henry, this is Lorelei Reichenbach. She painted Meixiu¡¯s river scene painting. The one that seems to move?¡± Cam said, holding his eyes.


    Henry¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a beautiful painting!¡± he said with a smile and reached to shake her hand.


    When they touched, Lorelei gasped as a spark jumped between them. He looked equally surprised as he pulled his hand back, flexing it to relieve the tingles.


    ¡°What did you mean aboutVRL night?¡± Lorelei asked, recovering first.


    Cam answered smoothly. ¡°We all work at VRL. I¡¯m the CEO, Roy is Head of Security, Sigrid is Head of Human Resources, and Henry is our CIO.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± Lorelei prompted as that didn¡¯t exin the dating couple¡¯s surprise to see them.


    ¡°We came to ensure you were safe,¡± Roy said.


    Lorelei¡¯s nerves began to hum. ¡°Safe? In what way?¡±


    Roy nced around, but his team had cleared the gallery. He sighed in relief. ¡°From the Hidden Races Council.¡±


    Lorelei sang a quick tune to freeze everyone in ce as her eyes flew wide. She prepared to run. Then she watched the group look at each other. ¡°What was that?¡± Henry asked curiously.


    Cam¡¯s eyes showedpassion. ¡°I believe Lorelei is a Naiad. That puts her at risk from the Hidden Races Council.¡±


    ¡°W-Why doesn¡¯t my singing work on you?¡± Lorelei blurted nervously.


    Roy nced around again. ¡°This really isn¡¯t the ce to talk about that. I don¡¯t know who that woman who bumped you works for, but shewasan agent, so it¡¯s likely she was Council,¡± he replied. That made Lorelei¡¯s nerves re again.


    Henry looked between the others then held out his hand to Lorelei once more. ¡°These are the good guys. They saved me from the Council as well.¡±


    Lorelei hesitantly took his hand in hers once more, and the spark was smaller this time, but as they continued to hold, a definite tingle could be felt. Her eyes opened in surprise as it felt like¡­ the flow of a river, of a sort.


    ¡°What-what are you?¡± she asked with a quiet voice.


    Henry grinned as he looked to the unease on the faces of the others. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s¡­ one of those things we¡¯re not supposed to talk about. But you¡¯re right, I¡¯m not Human. Can we go somece private to talk about this?¡± He released Lorelei¡¯s hand as he looked to Sigrid. ¡°Rain check?¡± She nodded with a pout.


    ¡°My team will make us a corridor to the side entrance, and our ride will meet us there,¡± Roy said.


    ¡°Your team?¡± Lorelei asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s the Head of Security. He likes to keep his team close by,¡± Cam said with a gentle smile, and Roy frowned at her.


    As they headed to the gallery exit, Roy stopped them. ¡°The Human guards seem to be in some distress.¡±


    Lorelei suddenly realized her song must have caught them. She sang another little tune to rx them and to make them forget what they just saw. She nodded to Roy, then they moved on.


    ¡°My team noticed your little test back in the lobby of VRL and brought it to my attention.¡± He gestured to the cameras in the rooms they passed through. ¡°The surveince cameras caught the behavior of the people, and it stood out like a red g. You¡¯ll want to be aware of that.¡± He smiled at Lorelei, and she saw he was trying to be helpful, so she nodded.


    ¡°Two of my crew can no longer recall what they saw once they heard your song. Is that reversible?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she responded, and relief crossed his features.


    They walked through the museum toward the side entrance, Henry pointing out some of the art to the others as they went. Lorelei observed howfortable this group was with each other, and she felt a longing to belong. She was tired of being lonely. The fact that her singing had no effect on them meant she couldn¡¯t manipte them, and that felt¡­ liberating, and a little unsettling as she couldn¡¯t rely on her abilities to assist her. She¡¯d have to make friends the old fashioned way, and she wasn¡¯t particrly good at that.


    Henry was looking at her again. ¡°Everything okay?¡± he asked gently.


    She blushed. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just not used to people being¡­ unaffected.¡±


    He grinned. ¡°I think you¡¯ll find we¡¯re pretty susceptible to a smile.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grin back at him at his corny words.


    Sigrid groaned. ¡°Henry, that was so cheesy!¡± she teased him. ¡°You¡¯re such a flirt, and this was supposed to beourdate!¡±


    He held up his hands in surrender, his expression innocent of guile. ¡°I wasn¡¯t flirting! I was-¡± He stopped and dropped his hands when he saw Sigrid was just teasing him. He gave her an annoyed look, which pushed her over into a burst of giggles.


    Lorelei was amazed to hear such a girlish sound from a woman who looked strong enough to punch through one of the museum¡¯s stone columns. Their open and genuine behavior with each other rxed Lorelei¡¯s nerves. She just didn¡¯t pick up any signs of ill intent from them, especially Henry.


    Roy got a faraway look in his eyes then rxed. ¡°The agent left the area.¡± He looked to Cam. ¡°Where to?¡±


    She thought about that for a moment. ¡°VRL? My office?¡±


    ¡°Can we order in? I¡¯m starving!¡± Henry pleaded.


    Cam smiled at him fondly. ¡°Yes.¡± She looked to Lorelei. ¡°Any preferences in food?¡±


    Lorelei blinked. ¡°Umm, not really. I¡¯m not overly fond of pizza¡­ or sushi.¡±


    ¡°Thai?¡± Sigrid asked, hopefully.


    Lorelei smiled. ¡°I like Thai.¡±


    Cam nodded.


    They left the building and crossed the sidewalk. They shuffled the order with the extra passengers, and Henry sat in the middle bench seat of the central vehicle that Lorelei was directed to. Then they were driving back to the office.


    ¡°So, you were at VRL today?¡± Henry began.


    She smiled shyly. ¡°Yes, I needed a better ce for my investments.¡±


    He grinned. ¡°VRL is an awesome investment house! And I¡¯m not just saying that as the CIO. The people are the best! Even these guys!¡± He said, hooking his thumb toward the back seat where three big men in dark suits sat. She heard them chuckle.


    She was feeling much more at ease and was looking forward to getting to know the people of VRL.


    Henry, especially.

 214

    The Thai food was delicious and filling, but the conversation quenched the curiosity in their new friend.


    Even Henry, who¡¯d heard this a few times, found it fascinating when Cam, Roy, and Sigrid work together to paint a chronologically urate picture of the Hidden Races¡¯ history and how they remained separate from Humanity for so long. He nced at Mary and saw she was equally enthralled.


    As the trio reached a point where Lorelei entered the picture, they nced towards Henry¡¯s grin. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be great if we could record this for all new initiates!¡± he said.


    Cam raised a perfect eyebrow to look at him. ¡°You know that¡¯s not-¡±


    He raised his hands. ¡°I know, I know, but man! If I¡¯d been told all this at the beginning as you did for Lorelei, it would have made so much more sense to me.¡±


    The CEO gave Henry a sympathetic smile. ¡°Sorry, we must be getting better at it since we had you, Nate, and now Lorelei to exin it to.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°I wonder how many more surprises Baba will be springing on us.¡±


    Lorelei watched Henry¡¯s mncholy expression and Roy¡¯s ufortable grimace hearing the witch¡¯s name. She turned her attention to the big security man. ¡°You seem far more uneasy about her than Henry does. I admit I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve met her, but as you¡¯ve described her, she doesn¡¯t seem that frightening.¡±


    Roy scowled. ¡°Aye, she looks like a wrinkly ol¡¯ grannie, but this disguises how powerful she truly is. While she might have oncee from humble beginnings, her mind is no longer that of a Human. It¡¯s alien, cold, and cunning.¡± He gestured to Cam, Sigrid, and Henry before looking back at Lorelei. ¡°Henry is the only one she¡¯s treated with any kindness. We¡¯re all less than bugs to her.¡±


    Lorelei looked to Cam, whose face was frozen as she recalled her exposure to Baba¡¯s power on their flight back from Japan. The CEO sensed Lorelei¡¯s gaze and gave herself a little shake.


    ¡°It¡¯s true. She¡¯s a creature who lives in the shadows and speaks directly into your mind from that darkness.¡± She shuddered.


    Lorelei¡¯s face froze as she recalled the night she discovered her powers, the cold voice speaking to her from the dark waters, and how even the river pulled back from it.


    Roy was watching her and leaned forward intently. ¡°Youhavemet her!¡±


    Lorelei shook her head. ¡°No. Not directly. But I recall a night when a voice spoke to me from the darkness of a deep river. It was an ancient voice. It told me to wake and to sing.


    Roy surged to his feet and paced to the far side of the office.


    Lorelei twitched as he rose and watched him cautiously. Henry¡¯s handnded on hers gently, and she felt herself rx.


    ¡°Roy finds her difficult to deal with. His mind can usually determine possible oues but not for her. No one can guess her intentions. She¡¯s ying a game, and we¡¯re all pieces in it, but we have no idea what the endgame is.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, Henry! That¡¯s precisely why she scares the piss out of me!¡± Roy gasped in relief.


    Lorelei looked to Henry. ¡°You were the first of her time rescues?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I actually have no idea. It might have been you-¡± He stopped when he saw Roy, Cam, and Sigrid all shaking their heads doubtfully. ¡°What?¡±


    Cam looked ufortable. ¡°We can¡¯t be sure of anything the witch does. However, we all agree that you had to be her n A, so to speak. She was in direct contact with you as you grew up. The others must be contingencies if n A wasn¡¯t sessful. Mab saw to that, or was part of Baba¡¯s n all along.¡±


    ¡°Nathan Walker was- is an Incubus?¡± Lorelei said, correcting herself when she saw their unease.


    Cam nodded. ¡°Yes, though he doesn¡¯t have a very strong link to his magic. You¡¯re a Naiad, and from what I understand, a powerful one.¡± She stopped and looked to Sigrid. ¡°Would you mind if we tested to see which realm of magic you are linked to? Henry and Nathan are linked to the realm of Wild Magic. I¡¯m assuming you are as well.¡±


    ¡°How? What kind of test?¡± she asked, looking at the woman nervously.


    Cam smiled. ¡°Nothing invasive. It¡¯s actually easier with wielders as you project your powers. Magic has a scent, and those who are sensitive can detect it. If you use your magic, I should be able to detect which realm the magic is from.¡±


    Hesitantly, Lorelei sang a little tune to make everyone feel calm.


    Cam leaned closer and inhaled deeply. Her face showed confusion. ¡°It¡¯s not the new realm¡­ and it¡¯s not the old one either!¡± She looked to Sigrid and Roy with wide eyes. ¡°I¡¯d swear it¡¯s from here! It just smells like¡­ here. Nature!¡±


    Roy frowned. ¡°Magic isn¡¯t native to this ne.¡±


    ¡°Lorelei is the only Naiad I¡¯ve ever met. Baba might have done something to her Magic as she did with Henry and Nathan, but¡­ I¡¯d swear she¡¯s just linked to this ne. Linked to Nature itself!¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s how all Naiads were?¡± Roy guessed.


    ¡°So, why didn¡¯t Baba link Lorelei to the new realm as she did the others?¡± Sigrid asked, puzzled.


    ¡°Baba¡¯s least favorite question. Why,¡± Henry sighed.


    Roy thumped back into his chair. ¡°Aye, you won¡¯t get anywhere pondering that one with her,¡± he growled in frustration. Mary patted his hand with sympathy.


    Lorelei frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of being a pawn in a game I don¡¯t know the rules for.¡± She looked to Henry. ¡°How do I know how to react? How did you deal with it?¡±


    Henry smiled sadly, recalling Baba¡¯s almost eager anticipation when she told him of his ability to extinguish all of Humanity. ¡°Baba raised me as a Human. Albeit a small one who had to deal with the cruelty of the other kids and bullying. It wasn¡¯t an easy childhood, and the affection I was shown was limited. When I discovered what I really was, she told me how the humans murdered my parents and killed off the Satyrs. I suppose she was expecting me to harbor resentment from how I was treated and want to see their extinction¡­ but I don¡¯t. She raised me to be a Human and acted towards me as a Human grandmother would. Because of that, I developed a strong affection forher. Maybe that¡¯s why I¡¯m protective ofthem. When we reached the focal point of Baba¡¯s n, there was a moment when I could have ended my life and taken all of Humanity with me. But, because of these people,¡± he gestured to the ones sitting in the room. ¡°I had a reason to live, and I wanted to protect Humanity.¡±


    He dropped his head forward to look at his hands in hisp. ¡°I¡¯m the happiest I¡¯ve ever been in my life because now, I finally have friends!¡±


    Henry looked up and over at Lorelei. ¡°I¡¯d like to include you.¡±


    She smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯d like to have friends, too.¡±


    Roy cleared his throat. ¡°As your friends, we¡¯ll do our best to protect you. You¡¯re a special case as youe from an ancient race of Naiads, and the Hidden Races Council is guilty of their genocide. It was a very dark time in their history. It took decades for them to create a treaty between all but two of the Hidden Races. Those two, Naiads and Djinn, tly refused to hide from Humans. I don¡¯t have any information on how they did it, but it only took a week for the Council troops to eradicate every member of those races and all evidence of them. Your existence might be problematic for the Council, so keeping a low profile is critical.¡±


    Roy nced at the others before fixing his gaze back on Lorelei. ¡°Which brings me to the topic of your art. Your paintings are magic. I mean, they demonstrate actual, working magic. If thates to the attention of the Council, they will increase their efforts to hunt you down to stop you.¡±


    ¡°Do you expect me to go into hiding?¡± Lorelei asked in concern.


    ¡°No, but I¡¯m concerned about that agent from the museum. The fact that she didn¡¯t act against you might mean she wasn¡¯t certain you were her target or that she was there for an entirely different mission.¡±


    ¡°See Sigrid! I told you there was a spy at the museum! There always is.¡± Henry enthusiastically eximed to the blonde. She just smiled and rolled her eyes.


    Roy got back on point. ¡°I¡¯d like to assign some of my guys to keep watch over you. I captured some video of the agent. I¡¯ll have my guys watch it and keep an eye out to see if she attempts to approach you again.¡±


    ¡°Do they need to be in my condo?¡± Lorelei asked.


    ¡°No, not unless that would make you feel safer,¡± Roy suggested, and she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the contact number, and they¡¯ll join you at the door of your building to travel with you. It¡¯ll be three teams of two, which will rotate every eight hours. Speaking of the team, could I ask you to reverse the memory block on my two observers now?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± she said with a nod.


    Roy smiled and went to Cam¡¯s desk to call the two men upstairs.


    A short timeter, Pete and Kirk arrived. They immediately locked eyes on the stranger in the room. Roy smiled at Lorelei, who gazed at the two men and sang a brief phrase. The two men looked at Roy in question.


    ¡°Do you recall the anomaly in the lobby you brought to my attention,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes¡­ shit! I also recall not remembering it!¡± Pete said in concern. Roy looked to Lorelei in question.


    ¡°I simply lifted the block on the memories, but I didn¡¯t remove any memories of their dealing with it,¡± she exined, and Roy nodded. He looked to his men.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to assign you as the second shift for a inclothes surveince team for our new friend Lorelei Reichenbach. There¡¯s an agent who may be targeting her. I¡¯ll send you a video I captured of her. Memorize her appearance and movements. Contact Digby and Danno as they¡¯ll be the first team. Walter and Leo will be the third team. Get everyone familiar with the agent as well. We are observing and protecting only.¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    The two men nodded to their boss, then to Lorelei before heading off to get things moving.


    Roy addressed Lorelei. ¡°You normally travel by subway?¡± She nodded. ¡°Okay. We won¡¯t change your patterns, but you¡¯ll have the two agents with you at all times.¡±


    She nodded, then looked nervously at the others. ¡°You¡¯ve seen what I can do and know what I am. I now know this isn¡¯t something we¡¯re supposed to do, but I feel very exposed here.¡±


    Cam nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a Subus. I¡¯m dropping my mor.¡±

 215

    Suddenly, a being of ruby red and ck was sitting on the sofa, her skin looking like wettex, her curvy body begging to be touched, and short horns rose from her temples through her long flowing ebony hair with red streaks.


    In a blink, she was Cam once again. She looked contritely to Henry. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll give you a warning next time.¡±


    Lorelei nced over at Henry, who was awkwardly crossing his legs with his arms in hisp. Before she could ask him about it, Sigrid spoke up.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Valkyrie. I don¡¯t use a mor, but I can summon my armor, weapon, and wings. They glow a very bright white, which makes it hard to see, I¡¯m told.¡± She smiled at the artist.


    Mary was next. ¡°I also don¡¯t have a mor. What you see is what you get. I¡¯m¡­ tough.¡±


    Roy chuckled at her description until Lorelei looked at him. ¡°Lycanthrope.¡± He dropped his mor and switched back after she yelped in surprise.


    Mary grinned. ¡°Roy is bigger and scarier than his crew, but they¡¯re all werewolves too. Good people, though.¡±


    Lorelei smiled timidly at her then looked to Henry.


    ¡°Did ya wear yer kilt today?¡± Roy said with a scowl, and Henry¡¯s face reddened.


    ¡°I think so,¡± he said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t face us unless you¡¯re sure,¡± Roy asserted.


    Henry nodded and stood. He took a few steps away and presented his back to the group.


    Lorelei gasped when Henry was suddenly transformed into a creature unlike any she¡¯d seen. His upper torso was powerfully muscled with thick arms andrge three-fingered hands. His hair hung down his back, longer than he wore it when human. His ears projected outward and were covered with fur! Most shocking were therge white ram¡¯s horns on his head and his furry lower half.


    Hewaswearing a kilt, so she couldn¡¯t see if the fur on his goat¡¯s legs went all the way up to his ass. Broad cloven hooves had reced his human feet.


    ¡°Lad, are you working out? You seem¡­ bigger,¡± Roy asked.


    Henry nced at him over his shoulder. ¡°Uh, no, I haven¡¯t been,¡± he said hesitantly.


    ¡°Are you going to turn around?¡± Cam asked him.


    He looked down then over his shoulder at her. ¡°I-I¡¯m still showing from your effect on me.¡±


    Cam chuckled happily. ¡°Then, by all means, turn around.¡±


    Sigrid frowned. ¡°Cam. Not the time or ce.¡±


    Henry sighed and slowly turned to face them. He kept one hand in ce to hold down the bulge in his kilt.


    Lorelei¡¯s eyes widened. It was Henry. There was no question. For all the physical differences, the same person was looking at her from those beautiful eyes. She bit her lip, then nced quickly over at Cam, who watched her with a knowing little smile. A blush warmed her face.


    ¡°D-do you have any magical abilities?¡± she asked.


    His face showed his embarrassment. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not a wielder, like you.¡± He looked down as a strange expression of frustration shed across his face. ¡°All I seem to be able to do is cause people to have sex.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± she squeaked in shock.


    His expression swung between shame and embarrassment. ¡°Sorry, that came out wrong.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°Satyr¡¯s can cause spontaneous orgies. It¡¯s a pheromone release. People around me will suddenly lose all their inhibitions and have sex.¡±


    She blinked a few times, then her eyes widened. ¡°The subway and the dance club attacks!¡±


    He winced. ¡°Yeah, not really attacks. Just me losing control of an ability I didn¡¯t know I had.¡±


    Sigrid exined. ¡°Baba Yaga dyed Henry¡¯s sexual maturity by forcing a Human disguise on him for most of his life. It caught up to him recently, now that he is in his true form all the time.¡±


    ¡°Henry, don¡¯t forget you can bump humans up the evolutionarydder to be Hidden Races. That seems to me to be a significant magical ability,¡± Mary reminded him.


    He looked at her sadly. ¡°That¡¯s more of a curse than an ability.¡±


    Lorelei was staring at Henry in shock again. He closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. He no longer needed a hand to hide his groin as the conversation had killed any desire he felt.


    ¡°Baba connected me¡­ directly to a realm of Wild Magic. I¡¯m saturated with it. When I had sex with Marisa, Cam¡¯s daughter, she overdosed on the Wild Magic, and it burned out her mor spell, changed her physically, and linked her to the new realm, too. Wild Magic is much stronger than the old realm¡¯s magic.¡± His voice ran out, and Cam took over the description.


    ¡°Marisa became a more powerful Subus. With the stronger magic backing her, her abilities improved. I¡¯ve also fed from Henry, and while I avoided the overdose, I¡¯ve been strengthened with a link to the new realm as has Sigrid and Roy-¡±


    ¡°Through his blood, not the other. We haven¡¯t had sex!¡± Roy asserted definitively.


    ¡°His blood?¡± Lorelei gasped.


    Roy held up his hands. ¡°Henry was badly injured! I had to lick the wound to heal him. It¡¯s something Lycanthropes can do. I just¡­ swallowed his blood,¡± he exined.


    Henry shook his head wearily. ¡°We were rescuing Nate. It doesn¡¯t matter. For conduits like Lycanthropes, Valkyries, Subi, and Vampires, Wild Magic upgrades their abilities. I lost control of my pheromones when I was with my Human friends. We had sex, and they all changed. For Humans, they be¡­ conduits? Mary became incredibly strong and tough though I¡¯m not sure what kind of Hidden Race she is. Sandy¡¯s hair grew and became sentient, so she¡¯s a Gorgon? Dayshia¡¯s eyes changed so she can see through mors, but I don¡¯t know the name of what she is. Tish became a Faun. That¡¯s another name for a Satyr.¡± His expression twisted again. ¡°Roger¡­ he became a monster. The New York serial killer.¡± He looked at Lorelei, who was watching him wide-eyed with shock.


    Sigrid put her hand on Henry¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Henry, we spoke about this. You have to let it go. How each person deals with their new state ispletely in their control. ording to those who knew him best, Roger wasn¡¯t stable to begin with.¡±


    Henry hung his head and nodded. When Sigrid pulled her hand back, he switched back to his Human mor.


    ¡°Are your human friends hidden away since they changed so dramatically?¡± She nced over at Mary. ¡°Presentpany excluded.¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°Aside from Roger, Henry arranged for his friends to get mors, magic disguises, so they can continue to live and work amongst Humans. They are all doing quite well and are very happy with their new lives and abilities,¡± Sigrid answered.


    ¡°If the Hidden Races Council is as cautious about threats to discovery as you say, why haven¡¯t they arrested Henry? His activities seem at least as dangerous for public exposure as my paintings,¡± Lorelei asked.


    Roy nodded. ¡°There¡¯s always the possibility they¡¯ll change their minds, but Baba left them with a warning to keep their hands off. He was also protected by the Fae by order of Queen Mab, but she¡¯s since been ousted. If the Council¡¯s need to contain him exceeds their fear of these two powerhouses, we¡¯ll deal with that at the time. We don¡¯t give up on our friends.¡±


    ¡°Well said, Roy,¡± Cam said with a proud smile. She looked to Lorelei, who seemed to be processing the information she¡¯d been given. ¡°I think that¡¯s probably enough background for tonight. It¡¯s a lot to digest. Go home and sleep on it. If you have any questions, please give me a call tomorrow. I¡¯ll leave instructions for your calls to be directed to me. If I¡¯m not avable, Sigrid or Roy can be.¡±


    ¡°Not Henry?¡± Lorelei blurted and immediately bit her tongue as she nced in embarrassment at the man.


    Cam smiled. ¡°Certainly Henry, but not tomorrow, as he¡¯ll be in Washington, DC, demonstrating the firewall software he wrote for several government agencies.¡± She grinned at Lorelei¡¯s surprise. ¡°Henry¡¯s a brilliant programmer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another reason the Hidden Races Council should keep their hands off of him. His absence would draw the attention of the US Government,¡± Roy suggested as the thought came to him.


    Sigrid nodded approvingly. ¡°Let¡¯s file that away for when it¡¯s needed.¡±


    Lorelei stood, so everyone else did as well. ¡°Thank you for dinner and for taking me into your confidence. I¡¯m really beginning to get a better picture of the true world I¡¯m living in. I don¡¯t know how this witch pulled me out of the past, and I won¡¯t thank her for what he did to my life, but for the first time, I feel like I have people on my side.¡± The others smiled and nodded.


    ¡°We¡¯ll bring you down to Digby and Danno in the lobby,¡± Roy said.


    ¡°Goodnight!¡± Lorelei said to the group. Everyone said their goodnights as well before Roy and Mary left the office with her.


    Henry dropped into his chair and began putting the chicken he set aside from his dinner into a napkin. He triple-wrapped it with napkins then looked up to see he was being watched. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Preparing a little snack for the trip home?¡± Cam asked.


    He snorted and shook his head. ¡°No. There¡¯s a neighborhood stray cat I¡¯ve seen. It looked hungryst time, so I¡¯m bringing it some dinner.¡±


    ¡°Henry, I don¡¯t think your building allows pets,¡± Sigrid said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not taking it in. I¡¯m just feeding it!¡± he protested.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it starts. It looks at you with those pitiful eyes, and next thing you know, you¡¯re carrying a fifty-pound bag of kitty litter,¡± Cam teased.


    Henry sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not taking it in! And it doesn¡¯t have pitiful eyes. They are quite beautiful and unique. One yellow and one blue eye. Very pretty.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Thatisa uniquebination,¡± Sigrid said as she moved closer to Henry. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, you owe me a rain check on our evening.¡± She rested her hands on his chest as she looked into his eyes.


    He leaned forward and kissed her until she gently pushed him back.


    ¡°Ohhh, no fair doing that to a girl before heading home,¡± she moaned.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said with a little smile.

 216

    ¡°Our next date is going to be at my ce on a Friday night, so there won¡¯t be any work activities the next day andno interruptions!¡± she said with a pout.


    He lifted his cell and opened the calendar app. He scrolled and checked. ¡°You¡¯re in luck. This Friday night is open.¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s delighted squeal was a loud and happy sound as she grabbed him in a hug. Henry couldn¡¯t stop himself fromughing. He tapped the date and entered Sigrid¡¯s initials on Friday night.


    He looked over at the fond smile on Cam¡¯s face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bete for work tomorrow. You and Mahati leave for the airport at 9AM.¡±


    He sighed and nodded. He walked over to the CEO, and he saw her smile begin to get wider. He kissed her with his hand deep in her hair on the back of her head. She gasped slightly into his mouth as he caressed her lips.


    Henry pulled back. ¡°Good night,dies.¡±


    He stepped from the room and heard the giggles behind him. That brought a smile to his face. He collected a bag from his office to carry the cat¡¯s treat in, then headed downstairs.


    The trip home was quiet and uneventful, and soon he was walking along the waterfront walkway towards the condo. When he passed by it, his eyes went to the small shrine set up for the two murdered youths. Someone was adding fresh flowers. It wasn¡¯t going to fade from the public mind until their murderer was caught and punished.


    Henry looked forward and smiled as he saw the ck cat waiting by the bench. It spotted him and trotted closer. It meowed sweetly as it reached his feet. He stopped and bent down to let it sniff his fingers. Once it wasfortable, he stroked its head.


    It moved behind him and looked back, meowing to him.


    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t go on a walk with you tonight. I need to get to bed as I can¡¯t bete for work tomorrow. But I have a treat for you.¡± He sat on the bench and unwrapped the napkins to expose the small pile of chicken.


    The cat jumped up on the bench and sniffed at the offering, then looked up at him. ¡°It¡¯s the chicken from the Pad Thai I had for dinner. I thought maybe you would like a better meal than what you normally get on the street.¡± He examined the cat¡¯s body. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be too skinny, so you must be a good hunter, as well as being so pretty,¡± he said.


    The feline watched him with her startling, mismatched eyes. Then it dipped its head and began to eat.


    Henry smiled and rxed back against the bench as he watched the cat quickly polish off the chicken. He casually looked around and saw they were alone. He looked back at the cat and smiled. ¡°I made a new friend today, and she¡¯s special, like me. Baba pulled her from the past, too.¡±


    Blue and yellow eyes lifted to look at him seriously as her pink tongue licked her lips.


    ¡°And that isn¡¯t even the most interesting thing about her. She¡¯s a wielder, but her magic doesn¡¯te from the magic realms. That means Earth must have magic, too! She¡¯s a Naiad. I¡¯m not totally clear on what that means, but she¡¯s really nice. She was so lonely. Do cats feel lonely? No one should feel that way. I know what it is to be lonely, and it¡¯s a terrible thing. I¡¯m so looking forward to introducing her to all my new friends.¡±


    The cat rubbed its head against Henry¡¯s leg. He automatically ran his hand over the cat¡¯s head, neck, and back in long strokes. Shortly, the cat was purring deeply. It crawled up onto hisp andid down, feet tucked under it.


    Henry was sofortable and calm from petting the cat, he began to nod off as his hands continued to stroke it slowly.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    He jolted awake as the cat leapt from hisp and ran away. He watched it disappear, then looked around to see Dayshia staring after it as well.


    ¡°Oh! Hi Dayshia.¡±


    ¡°Oh, hi?!? What are you doing sleeping outside on the bench!¡± Dayshia said in outrage. ¡°The serial killer is still out there!¡± She red at him, and he stood.


    Henry cringed apologetically. ¡°Sorry! I was just feeding the cat. Then I petted it, and it was so soothing I-I guess I nodded off.¡±


    Dayshia clucked her tongue at him. ¡°You have to be more careful! There is something weird about that cat, too.¡±


    ¡°No! It¡¯s so sweet!¡± Henry eximed in protest.


    She hooked her arm around his and pulled him towards the door to the condo. ¡°You¡¯re too innocent for your own safety.¡±


    Henry nced back, but there was no sign of the cat. He let himself be pulled away.


    -=-


    Minkah, in her Human form, strode towards the entrance of the subway to make her way back to the safe house once more. Her night was¡­ disturbing. How she¡¯d behaved with Henry- her target, was far beyond her usual professional standard. She ate the food he¡¯d brought her! Rule number one: Trust no one and especially not the target! The chicken was delicious, and she was immune to most poisons, so the risk was minimal, but still!


    Then to top it off, she let him hold her while he slept!


    She was going back to the safe house to review all of her actions since taking this mission. Her professional detachment had somehow beenpromised.


    The only positive oue from the evening was learning of the Naiad! The Hidden Races Council would want to hear about that! She had no doubt she¡¯d receive an immediate hit order for her to take the Naiad out.


    She thought about how Henry described her and realized how it would make him deeply sad. That wasn¡¯t really a consideration for herpleting her duty.


    She¡¯d have to investigate further before disclosing what she¡¯d heard. She¡¯d need to identify which of their new friends was the Naiad. Only then could she report on it.


    This dy had nothing to do with Henry- her target!


    -=-


    Meixiu slipped through the shadows with ease tonight. Henry¡¯s blood was still amping up her senses, so she was aware of every movement. She was able to filter out insect, animal, and nt life motions and concentrate on those caused by Humans. She hadn¡¯t encountered any non-Humans in her route tonight, but that wasn¡¯t really unexpected with the curfew and the limited numbers of Hidden Races. Sigrid mentioned that Roy¡¯s theory had the serial killer lying low for now as he¡¯d fed. Still, she felt a need to patrol. To keep her eyes open while remaining invisible to others.


    One of her new abilities, courtesy of evolving, was her enhanced eyesight. While she¡¯d never had issues seeing her way in the dimmest of light, she now saw further into the wavelength spectrum. Infrared and ultraviolet were now within the range her eyes could see if she concentrated. Seeing Infrared was particrly handy as she could now avoid walking into areas lit up with infrared light. This typically indicated the presence of motion-detecting cameras or floodlights.


    She paused when she noted the street ahead was lit up with cone after cone of infrared. This was either a very cautious neighborhood or the sign of a very convincing door to door salesman.


    Meixiu passed this street by and noticed odd movement three blocks ahead. Two figures were leading a third into a darkenedne behind a row of houses. The one being helped was stumbling.


    She leaped forward, keeping to the shadows and remaining as silent as possible. She raced across the distance as quickly as she could, then jumped and climbed up a nearby tree to move out over a branch that had visibility into thene. The smaller of the beings was holding the wrist of the third to her mouth. Meixiu saw her pull back and touch the person¡¯s neck and face before nodding to the tallerpanion, who pulled the opposite wrist to his mouth.


    They were vampires! They seemed to be acting like she did when she fed. Meixiu had never met another vampire before. She had no idea if there was some protocol for this.


    Therger vampire lowered the arm, and the small one did another check on their victim¡¯s health. Then she tucked something therge vampire handed her into the third¡¯s pocket and guided the¡­ she saw him clearly now, young man to the sidewalk where he walked away. The farther he got, the steadier his footsteps.


    Meixiu could now see the features of the small one, and it was a dark-haired woman. She was watching the Human she¡¯d fed from, ensuring he was okay. Therge one hadn¡¯t stepped from the shadows yet.


    Instinct made her leap from the branch in a dive. She twisted in midair tond as soft as a leaf behind the smaller female. She took a grip on the woman¡¯s neck as therge male dropped from the tree before them.


    He snarled, but the woman just held up her hand to stop him. Meixiu could see the tension vibrating in his muscles. Meixiu knew she could jump back into the shadows and disappear, so she took a chance and released the woman¡¯s neck. ¡°I mean no harm, but I will defend myself.¡± She held his eye and pushed with her will, and his eyes widened as he felt her strength.


    He showed her his palms in a peaceful gesture.


    ¡°You are¡­ like me?¡± Meixiu asked.


    The female turned to face her and looked at her closely. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. You feel¡­ stronger than any we¡¯ve met, but we haven¡¯t met many.¡±


    ¡°Why were you watching us from the tree? Were you following us? We are exceptionally cautious,¡± the male asked, his deep voice still holding the tension from earlier.


    ¡°I was three blocks away when I spotted you leading the Human into the alley. Its movements were distinctly different from yours,¡± Meixiu answered. ¡°I was curious, as I have never met any of my kind before.¡± She looked to the woman. ¡°You touched the Human oddly after you fed.¡±


    The male looked at the dim lighting of thene entrance then traded a look with the female before looking back to Meixiu. ¡°We would never have been able to see that level of detail from that distance!¡±


    The female shook her head at her partner. ¡°Maybe introductions are in order. I¡¯m Eleanor Hollings, and this is my husband, Raymond. I¡¯m a doctor, and I was ensuring the man wasn¡¯t harmed by the feeding. Raymond is a public defender.¡±


    Meixiu felt better about this couple hearing that. She saw them looking to her expectantly and recalled what Henry once called her. ¡°I am Meixiu, a wealthy woman of leisure.¡± She giggled at their surprised expressions. ¡°Until recently, I was a ve. I served a cruel master for over a century, but I inherited everything he owned when he died. A friend, who helped free me, gave me that title.¡±

 217

    ¡°Are you hunting tonight, as well?¡± Raymond asked.


    ¡°Yes, but not for food. I¡¯m searching for the serial killer. I hope to track him to hisir so the authorities can capture him.¡±


    ¡°The authorities haven¡¯t been very sessful so far. I heard through my contacts on the police force that he struck again, and this time he killed two of New York¡¯s finest. The police are trying to keep a tight lid on that story,¡± Raymond said grimly.


    Meixiu looked at him in dismay. ¡°That will make things much, much worse! I must tell my friends!¡±


    ¡°Before you go, could we trade contact numbers? We meet so few like us, and you are so much more!¡± Eleanor asked, hopefully.


    Meixiu watched them for a moment, then nodded. She slipped her cell from a hidden inner pocket as Eleanor pulled her cell out as well. Smiling at each other, they traded numbers.


    ¡°Be safe, Meixiu,¡± Raymond said, and she smiled at him.


    ¡°You too!¡± Meixiu said, then hopped backward tond ten feet away on a stone stair railing of one of the homes behind her. Showing off, sheunched herself across the street onto the roof. Herst glimpse of the couple was their shocked expressions. Giddy, she slipped down to the street level on the other side of the homes before realizing this was another street of infrared spotlights. She opened up her gait and raced down thene at her top speed, looking like nothing more than a streak of pale white light. She was always a step outside the cone of light thrown from the floodlights. She leapt sideways into an alley and slowed to a more sedate pace as she exited onto a busier thoroughfare. She spotted a taxi and gged it down, using her will to pull the driver over to the curb.


    Slipping into the back seat, she smiled at the driver and gave him the brownstone¡¯s address. Once they were moving, she slumped back on the cushions. She pushed the driver¡¯s mind just a little more so he wouldn¡¯t remember her when she left and wouldn¡¯t talk while he drove her home.


    She was exhausted. Her showing off led to her wasting all of her energy. She would need to see Henry tomorrow.


    Stupid Meixiu!


    -=-


    Eleanor shared a look with Raymond. ¡°Can we do that?¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°Not even on our best day.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a fascinating one! How did you know she was watching? I missed that entirely,¡± she admitted.


    He sighed. ¡°I would have missed it too, except I happened to nce upwards as I handed you the money from my pocket. I just caught the briefest glimpse of her.¡±


    They hooked their arms and began to walk back to the main avenue to catch the subway. ¡°Did you feel the strength of her presence?¡± Eleanor sighed in wonder.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say Hell¡¯s Kitchen would be good? Dinner and a new friend!¡± Raymond said, suppressing a smile.


    She looked up at him and swatted his arm when she saw the twinkle in his eye.


    ¡°Come on, Mr. Funnybones. Let¡¯s go home. Tomorrow is another day.¡±


    They walked infortable silence for a while as Eleanor¡¯s voracious mind ticked over the possibilities their new friend represented. ¡°Maybe we can arrange to meet Meixiu again,¡± she suggested.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to look needy,¡± he quipped.


    She sighed and rolled her eyes as they stepped out onto the sidewalk on 8thAvenue and headed for the subway. They¡¯d had enough excitement tonight.


    Henry climbed down the stairs of the private jet onto the paving before arge hanger. He¡¯d rather enjoyed the flight from New York to Washington. The view had been spectacr as they flew in over the nation¡¯s capital. Mahati assured him that they would have time to walk the za and see a few monuments before they flew back to New York.


    He¡¯d assumed they¡¯d flymercial, but the NSA insisted they take advantage of their hospitality to the fullest. So, here they were.


    Henry grinned at Mahati, who rolled her eyes mildly at his childlike enthusiasm before moving forward with Henry to greet their hosts.


    Director Granger reached out and shook Henry¡¯s hand firmly. ¡°Good to see you again, Mr. Gable.¡±


    ¡°Nice seeing you again as well, Director Granger. Please call me, Henry.¡±


    ¡°As long as you call me Wace,¡± he returned, pouring on the charm.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry gestured to his travelingpanion. ¡°Please let me introduce Mahati Chandra, VRL¡¯s External Legal Counsel.¡±


    Wace shook Mahati¡¯s hand but looked surprised. ¡°I assure you, you didn¡¯t need to bring awyer to the demonstration today.¡±


    Thewyer in question fielded that one. ¡°We¡¯re aware of that, Director Granger. I¡¯m merely here to ensure any questions you or your team might have regarding the contract can be answered as I represent VRL as well as Mr. Gable. I¡¯m here for him if he has any questions, too.¡±


    ¡°I see. Please call me Wace, as well.¡±


    ¡°And you may call me Mahati.¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°Shall we go?¡± They followed him over to the waiting ck limousine. It was preceded and followed by two ck SUVs. Henry shared a look and a smile with Mahati as the security reminded him of Roy¡¯s.


    The drive through the city was quite enjoyable as Henry took in the scenery while Granger did his best to describe what they were seeing while selling up the idea of living in such a beautiful and historic city.


    They pulled into the Homnd Security headquarters¡¯ grounds and made it through the security gate with minimal dy. After they parked, Wace guided them to the main administration building, where the tech team was waiting for the demo. On the way, he pointed out the facilities and what they were for. Henry felt like he was getting a tour of a university by a recruiter before applying.


    Inside the admin building, the Director took them through a series of halls and doors until they walked out into a vast chamber at the base of tiered seating.


    Henry balked as he looked up at the crowded auditorium. He scanned the group, and there had to be at least sixty people sitting in the audience.


    He turned to the Director as butterflies duked it out in his stomach. ¡°I thought I was just giving a demo to a few cybersecurity teams!¡± He recognized a few faces in the lower tiers: the Tech Leads he met before from the NSA, Robert Miller, the FBI, Yasmin Brooks, and the CIA, Laurence Franklin. They weren¡¯t sitting together this time but instead had people around them. Watching how they were only conversing within their areas, Henry realized they were separated by agency. The center group was all strangers, so were probably the Homnd Security group.


    The Director of the FBI, Charles Starkley, and the CIA, Maurice Hall, were standing before the first tier of seats speaking with another man Henry didn¡¯t know.


    The rows further up were upied by strangers as well.


    Director Granger frowned as he looked up at the seating as well. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± He left to join the other Directors.


    Mahati joined Henry. ¡°Are you well?¡±


    Henry looked away from the eyes watching him. ¡°Ever have a nightmare where you¡¯re in school and have to make a big presentation in front of the ss, but you suddenly realize you forgot to put clothes on?¡±


    Mahati smiled. ¡°No, I¡¯ve never had one of those.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°I assumed it would be a small group of developers and admins. Not this!¡±


    Director Granger was returning with the leaders of the agencies.


    ¡°Henry Gable, Mahati Chandra, I¡¯d like to introduce the Director of Homnd Security and host for this event, Stephen Dawes.¡±


    Henry shook the man¡¯s hand, as did Mahati.


    ¡°So, this is the young man whomands such attention from all of these agencies,¡± Dawes said with a wry smile.


    ¡°It was your people who let the rest of these yahoos in,¡± Wace grumbled.


    ¡°We have many divisions who showed interest in an unbreakable firewall. Some of these scientists are iming it can¡¯t work as the documentation suggests.¡±


    ¡°I hope your agency had them all under a non-disclosure agreement before they were given ess to the documentation,¡± Mahati said calmly, holding Stephen¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°And what role are you ying?¡± Dawes asked as he moved closer to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m VRL¡¯s legal counsel. I¡¯m the one you deal with if we have a breach of contract,¡± she said, not giving an inch.


    Henry cleared his throat. ¡°I haven¡¯t actually given them their software and documentation yet.¡±


    Mahati raised one perfect eyebrow as she continued to look into Stephen¡¯s eyes. ¡°So, whose documentation did you distribute?¡±


    Henry looked to Wace, who shook his head, then Starkley, who also shook his head. These two men red at Hall, who scowled. ¡°What¡¯s the biggie? We all knew Dawes would have to get on board once we signed on, and he has ess to all these eggheads. I knew they¡¯d pick it apart to see how it works.¡±


    ¡°Do you even know what a non-disclosure agreement is?¡± Wace asked wearily.


    ¡°Bite me, Granger,¡± Hall growled.


    Henry looked to Dawes. ¡°Were any of them able to grasp the basis for the firewall?¡±


    Stephen begrudgingly broke eye contact with Mahati and turned to Henry. ¡°No, they didn¡¯t. What I got instead were demands from each of them to be included in your demonstration today.¡±


    Henry nodded and looked to Mahati. ¡°Next question, do we proceed?¡±


    ¡°There is a financial penalty for Director Hall, but if he agrees to pay it, we can proceed,¡± Mahati said.


    ¡°What¡¯s it gonna cost? A couple thou¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Did you even read the contract?¡± Granger retorted.


    ¡°And what part ofbite medidn¡¯t you understand?¡± Maurice snapped.


    Mahati smiled. ¡°As Mr. Granger noted, the amount is clearly spelled out in the contract. Breach of the confidentiality use carries a fine of one-half of the purchase price.¡±


    Hall¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°That¡¯s one hundred and twenty-five thousand dors!¡±


    Mahati pulled a tablet PC from her purse with a stylus. She pulled up the contract for the CIA and went to the page where contract breaches were outlined. She checked the box for Breach of Confidentiality and added her signature and the date. She looked to the CIA Director. ¡°Your signature, please.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not signing that!¡±


    Mahati waited for a second, then looked to Henry. ¡°Our business here today is concluded.¡±


    ¡°My agency hasn¡¯t received the software or training,¡± Dawes said with a frown.

 218

    ¡°But you did receive documentation outside the legal terms of the contract. That issue must be resolved before further transactions. It¡¯s outlined very clearly in the contract.¡±


    Dawes scowled at Hall. ¡°Sign the form.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need two witnesses as well,¡± Mahati said with a smile.


    With an angry expression on his face, Maurice signed the tablet. Wace and Stephen were the witnesses.


    ¡°I could just say you forged my signature,¡± the CIA Director snapped.


    Mahati tucked away the tablet and faced the group. ¡°The signature plus your biometrics the tablet recorded while you faced its camera are incontestable in court.¡± She turned to Henry. ¡°We may proceed.¡±


    The Directors were watching her ufortably as she¡¯d handled them all quite effectively. Henry did his best to hide his smile.


    Instead, he nodded and looked to the podium. There was a server rack standing next to it with a de server installed. He turned to Dawes. ¡°Who on your team will be doing the application install?¡±


    The Director gestured to someone sitting in the center of the lowest row. A slim woman in her mid-thirties moved to join them. ¡°This is Billy James, our Network Security Specialist. Billy, this is Henry Gable.¡± Henry was surprised by a name that didn¡¯t match her dour expression. She was remarkably unremarkable in her grey suit jacket and cks over a white dress shirt and ck shoes. Dishwater blond hair worn short, pale hazel eyes, and thin lips, there seemed to be no spirit in her eyes. He had the eerie sensation he was addressing one of VRL¡¯s artificial workers.


    Henry forced a smile onto his lips, and they nodded to each other. He pulled a memory stick from his pocket and handed it to her. ¡°This is the software for Homnd Security andyourdocumentation. Did you build this test bench server?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°Yes. We couldn¡¯t get thework cards you specified in time for the demo,¡± she said with no inflection in her voice.


    He frowned. ¡°Let¡¯s do a quick check under the hood to see if that¡¯s going to be a problem.¡±


    Henry walked over to poke around in the server¡¯s device manager interface. He dropped to themand line and ran some test scripts. After reviewing the output, he sighed.


    ¡°We can do the install. We can do the configuration. We can even do some mild testing, but we can¡¯t do any true performance testing. These NICs are going to tank if we put them under heavy load, and theywilllock up at maximum load.¡± Henry exined to the Directors and Billy.


    ¡°What¡¯s a NIC?¡± Wace asked.


    ¡°Sorry, a Network Interface Card,¡± Henry exined. ¡°You need to use the ones specified in the documentation and have spares on hand.¡±


    ¡°I understand the install is quick. We¡¯re all busy men. Let¡¯s get this going,¡± Dawes asserted impatiently, obviously still smarting from Mahati¡¯s win.


    Henry nodded to him, then to Billy. She walked to the podium and had therge projection screen on the wall behind them disying the test machine¡¯s interface.


    He faced the audience again, and they settled down. The Directors of their separate agencies went to sit with their people. Someone brought Mahati a chair to sit in at the room¡¯s side, so only Henry and Billy were at the front.


    Henry picked up the wireless earpiece and microphone. He slipped it on and pressed the power button.


    ¡°If you can hear me, please raise your hand,¡± he said with a tight throat.


    All of the guests raised a hand.


    ¡°Great. Hi, I¡¯m Henry Gable. I¡¯m the CIO of VRL Investments in Manhattan, New York. I wrote the software I¡¯m going to demo the instation and configuring of this morning. It-It¡¯s based on the code my brother Stanley designed.¡± He gestured to the server rack. ¡°The test bench is currently configured withwork cards that are not optimal, so we won¡¯t be doing any performance testing.¡± He looked to the woman on the stage with him. ¡°Ms. James has the software on the memory stick. Go ahead and insert that, and let¡¯s get started.


    Billy held up the memory stick, then they got to work.


    With the woman¡¯s assistance, they installed the application and configured it. Instead of seven minutes, it took about fifteen, as Henry described each step to the audience.


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Functioning firewall. Simple so far, right?¡± Henry said, looking at the faces, and no one was arguing. He nodded to himself. ¡°Okay, now let me take you through the functional menu.¡±


    He asked Billy to take them through the menus one at a time as he described the features. The room was mostly silent as they took in the information and made notes. When they reached the end of this part of the demo, he scanned the audience and saw a few impatient faces.


    ¡°So far, it looks like a nicely featured interface, but you¡¯d like to see it in action, yes?¡±


    A few people actually called out yes. Henry smiled and turned to Billy. ¡°Can you disy the external web address for the firewall up on the screen?¡±


    The IP number popped up on the screen. ¡°Okay, people. There is the target. Please have your people connect to this address to try to break through.¡± He looked to Wace. ¡°Director Granger, due to the poor performance of these inferiorwork cards, please don¡¯t aim your code-cracker at it. Youcanhave individuals attempt to break in.¡±


    He looked to Billy. ¡°Keep that IP number on the screen and please open a window with the monitoring options and open the threats report.¡±


    The screen disyed a grid showing just a few connections attempting to breach the firewall. A few more appeared, and then a dozen more showed up. Henry looked up at the seating and saw the groups crowding around their experts as they made their own breach attempts.


    As they worked on hacking or cracking the firewall, Henry left his mic on the podium and wandered over to see Mahati. ¡°I think it¡¯s going well,¡± he said, and she nodded with a smile.


    ¡°The software seems very simple and easy to use,¡± she admitted.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the magic. It¡¯s the mystery underneath that contains all the wonder,¡± he said with a smile.


    Mahati froze. ¡°Magic?¡± she asked cautiously.


    His eyes widened as he shook his head. ¡°No! I was just being dramatic! It¡¯s all science.¡±


    Mahati just shook her head as she watched him.


    ¡°I was very impressed with how you stood up to Dawes and Hall,¡± he said quietly.


    She smiled again. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    He saw the group was bing restless, so he went back to the podium and put the mic back on.


    ¡°Any questions?¡±


    Hands went up all over the hall, and Henry¡¯s expression fell. So much for a quick meeting followed by much sightseeing. Henry pointed to a gentleman four tiers up as he was waving most energetically.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Lawrence Prescott! I¡¯ve seen the documentation on your firewall. It shouldn¡¯t work.¡±


    Henry just smiled at him.


    Flustered, the man continued. ¡°Page 125 shows a diagram describing how this¡­ channelyering works, but it¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Billy opened the documentation on the memory stick and went to page 125. She put it up on the big screen.


    The audience grumbled as they also seemed to have a problem with this.


    Lawrence called out once more. ¡°There is nothing in this that exins how you are yielding the results you are reporting.¡±


    Henry looked to Mahati then back to the scientist. ¡°It¡¯s the processor.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we can all see the diagram refers to the processor. But they won¡¯t produce secondary channels, as you indicate. It¡¯s not designed to produce more than one thread,¡± Lawrence said wearily.


    ¡°Sure, but this chip¡¯s quantum tunneling effect does,¡± Henry said as he went to Billy¡¯s terminal and moved the document three more pages along where his diagram showed the second and third channels trapping hacker traffic.


    He looked back at the audience as the room had gone silent, all eyes on him.


    ¡°Did I fart or something?¡± he said into the silent room.


    ¡°Did¡­ did you say Quantum Tunneling?¡± Lawrence asked.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s not a documented property of the chip, but it¡¯s really handy for building theseyer traps.¡± He looked around the room, and everyone was still staring at him. ¡°Has no one here ever thought to measure energy consumption and output on these chips before? Waste heat doesn¡¯t ount for all of the discrepancy. It¡¯s the tunneling effect. If you can identify it, you can utilize it for multilevel coding.¡±


    It was like Henry had thrown a lit Molotov cocktail into their midst. The scientists exploded into two camps, those scoffing at his outrageous fantasy and those connecting the dots and shouting excitedly about the potential. Then, they turned on each other.


    Shortly, the Directors approached him with their Tech Leads in tow, so Henry faced them. ¡°Uh, I didn¡¯t intend to start a scientist war.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this quantum tunneling thing?¡± Wace asked.


    ¡°In simple terms, it¡¯s the potential ability for an electron to pass through a solid barrier. The chips are being designed smaller and smaller, so the barriers are thinner and thinner. An electron can move from a transistor on one side of what should be a solid barrier to another transistor on the other side. I just found a way to make that work for me in a controlled way,¡± Henry said with a shrug.


    Robert was looking at his boss with wide eyes.


    ¡°What?¡± Wace asked in annoyance, a little unnerved by the intensity of his underling¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have the tools needed to measure this effect, nor do we have the means to utilize it,¡± he said.


    ¡°That¡¯s only because you weren¡¯t aware of it happening. Now, you have an application that proves it works and knowledge of the processors which produce the effect. You¡¯re smart. You¡¯ll figure out how to measure and utilize it. Take a lesson from the astronomers. Sometimes you have to look at what¡¯s missing to find what¡¯s hidden in in sight. The beautiful thing is, even when you know how it works, that does nothing to diminish the security it offers.¡± Henry grinned at them.

 219

    One of the scientists pushed his way through the arguing crowds to get to Henry. He came rushing up to stop before Henry with an excited expression on his face.


    ¡°You must show us how to build arrays of quantum tunneling processors so we can create a probability/potentiality determination engine!¡± the older scientist eximed.


    Henry gave him a hesitant look. ¡°Why the hell would you want that?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± Wace asked first.


    ¡°It can be used to predict things with great uracy! Even social patterns,¡± the scientist eximed excitedly.


    Wace suddenly looked very interested.


    ¡°You¡¯d have to enter so much data just to get the simplest responses, and you¡¯d still have very low uracy. It couldn¡¯t pay for itself.¡± Henry looked to the scientist. ¡°Sometimes doing something just because youcando it is a very bad idea.¡± He didn¡¯t share that he was working on a more straightforward market trend prediction utility for Cam. His tool wouldn¡¯t target individuals.


    He looked at the agitated crowd. ¡°I think I¡¯ve done enough today.¡±


    Robert stepped closer to Henry. ¡°How did you even know it was there?¡±


    ¡°What? The tunneling?¡± he asked, and Robert nodded. Henry shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I was curious about the energy discrepancy, so I just looked for a reason to exin it.¡±


    ¡°My predecessor reported it was your brother who invented this firewall method,¡± Wace said with a confused expression. ¡°Did he leave you notes on it after all?¡±


    Henry froze. Shit. Was he contradicting what he told Director Yosman? He wasn¡¯t a very good liar, so he¡¯d have to use as much truth as he could.


    ¡°He did invent it, but he left no notes. When we were both in Irnd, we talked about things we loved and what excited us. Network security is-was a shared passion. It must have been something he said that made me look where he looked. I got a glimmer into what he saw and was able to finally replicate it.¡± He nced at the Director and saw the man seemed to be buying it. That was a relief! Hall just looked resentful, but Dawes was watching him silently with a thoughtful expression. Henry was most concerned about him.


    He gave Mahati a pleading look, and she nodded. She moved to speak to Director Wace.


    ¡°Thank you for an interesting visit. Could we get a lift to the National Mall? Henry would like to see the monuments.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping to take you both to lunch. I have a table at a very nice steakhouse close to the mall,¡± Wace said hopefully.


    Henry nodded. ¡°I could eat.¡±


    Wace looked to his Tech Lead. ¡°Richard. I¡¯d like you to join us.¡± The man was staring at Henry and twitched when he heard his name. He nodded, earning a small frown from his boss.


    ¡°Granger, can you make arrangements to get the private room. I would very much like to join you,¡± Dawes said.


    Wace didn¡¯t look pleased, but he couldn¡¯t refuse gracefully. ¡°I¡¯ve already reserved that room. They can add a seat.¡±


    ¡°Make it two. I want Billy to join us,¡± Dawes added.


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go,¡± Wace grumbled.


    The volume of the battle behind them increased as they saw Henry leaving.


    Once outside, Dawes and Ms. James peeled off the group to go to their car. The rest headed to the convoy they¡¯d arrived in.


    Before they reached the limo, Wace looked to Richard. ¡°What on Earth has gotten into them? How big a deal is this Quantum Tunneling thing, anyway?¡±


    Richard was vibrating with excitement. ¡°No othermercial applications are utilizing Quantum Tunneling. To my knowledge, it¡¯s only theoretical, stuff for scientists and mathematicians to argue about. If the firewall utilizes it, and I can¡¯t see how it could work any other way, it¡¯s far more advanced than any other technology avable. The potential impact on all aspects ofputing is unmeasurable.¡±


    They got into their limo, and Henry grinned. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m working with it on several new applications. It¡¯s fascinating stuff!¡±


    ¡°All of which are sealed under a non-disclosure agreement, of course,¡± Mahati said boldly, and Henry looked to her then nodded thoughtfully.


    A second ck limousine slipped into their convoy, and they were off.


    Once more, Henry wanted to enjoy the scenery, but the two NSA men were keen on discussing what could be done with Henry¡¯s advanced tech. Mahati shut down questions regarding specific usage as this might impinge on VRL¡¯s proprietary information. They were left discussing hypotheticals, and Henry would agree or disagree about the possibility and feasibility of their suggestions. By the time they reached the restaurant, Wace was equally excited as his Tech Lead. Their area of interest tended to give Henry pause as they strayed into viting personal privacy.


    He was relieved to get out of the limo and stretched after he helped Mahati out.


    ¡°Are you well?¡± she asked.


    He shrugged with a self-conscious smile. ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t think through how excited people might get about the new tech.¡±


    Mahati nodded. ¡°We should discuss this with Cam when we return. We may need to set up a new division to separate it from the investment business.¡± She moved close and looked him in the eye. ¡°Make no promises and offer no solutions outside of the application that has already been delivered,¡± she said quietly.


    Henry nodded and marveled at how lovely her eyes were. So intense.


    ¡°What is it?¡± she asked as she noted he was staring.


    He broke his gaze and shook his head. He went to turn away, but she touched his arm.


    ¡°Henry, speak to me.¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± He nced at her again. ¡°You-you have really lovely eyes,¡± he said quietly to her.


    Those eyes red, and she looked away as her cheeks heated up.


    Dawes and his Tech Lead joined them on the sidewalk and looked curiously at their red faces.


    Granger led them into the restaurant, and the group was met with smiles by the manager. He did a quick count and sent some of his staff ahead to adjust the tables for the extra guests.


    Soon they were seated and looking at menus.


    ¡°Feel free to order anything you like. Would you like a drink first?¡± Wace asked and gestured for the waiter.


    Henry cast a quick nce at Mahati, who was giving him a stern look. ¡°No, I¡¯d better not. I¡¯m a real lightweight when ites to alcohol. Just water, please,¡± he said to the waiter.


    ¡°So we get a few beers into you, and you spill the secret of the firewall tech?¡± Stephen asked with a sly smile that didn¡¯t quite reach his eyes.


    Wace wasn¡¯t amused. ¡°Way to sound like one of Maurice¡¯s ck ops goons, Stephen.¡±


    ¡°It was a joke, Wace. Lighten up!¡±


    The others gave their drink orders as Henry concentrated on the menu to avoid their bickering. He saw what he wanted. He was going to eat light as he knew they¡¯d be doing a lot of walking, and he didn¡¯t want that heavy feeling.


    ¡°After lunch, could we get a lift to the Capitol Building?¡± Henry asked Wace.


    ¡°Interested in learning how the legitive branch of your government works?¡± Dawes asked. ¡°We could get you an insider¡¯s tour.¡±


    Henry paused as that did sound intriguing, but what he really had his heart set on was something else.


    ¡°Maybe next time? Today, I¡¯m more interested in walking the length of the National Mall and seeing the buildings and monuments,¡± he said. ¡°I want to start at the Capitol Building and finish at the Lincoln Memorial.¡±


    Dawes shrugged.


    The waiter returned with the drinks and began to take their orders. The moment he left, Wace¡¯s pitch began. He really wanted Henry on his team.


    From the potshots Dawes fired at Wace and the pitchhemade, it sounded like Homnd Security wanted him too.


    Henry shared a weary nce with Mahati. It was going to be a long lunch.


    Sam, Jeannie, Jake, and Brenda ran along the old abandoned country road in northern Mississippi, almost at Tennessee¡¯s border. They were heading to a hideout they¡¯d found for themselves. While they usually restricted their movements to night time when their silver skin¡¯s reflectivity was far less visible, they weren¡¯t particrly worried about discovery. When they ran full out as they were now, they were moving so fast, the human eye had difficulty registering them.


    Additionally, they hadn¡¯t seen any sign of the army men since that first night. So, they were all feeling pretty good that they¡¯d seen thest of them.


    Taking a sharp left, they raced up a narrow path to an old abandoned shack they¡¯d found in the woods. A short distance from the hut was a run-down barn, which they headed to first.


    Since that first night, they¡¯d been storm chasing all across the prairies. They¡¯d discovered they fed off the release of energy from the new clouds. Their lightning strikes were particrly satisfying, and taking a direct hit would give them enough power to run for a week.


    Then came the dream. A few days into their new lives, they woke with a new mission. They¡¯d all shared a disturbing dream. An ancient voice spoke to them from the darkness and whispered to them to make preparations. When they woke, they all feltpelled to begin collecting the products of the new cloud domination battles and stockpiled the items. They weren¡¯t surewhothat voice belonged to orwhythey needed to hoard this stuff, but it didn¡¯t interfere with their cloud chasing and gave them a sense of purpose, so they did it.


    Today, they returned from another sessful storm chasing day and had a few more items they¡¯d collected to pack away. The barn was now their storehouse for dozens of strips of the silver foil, thirty-six of those wire mesh and lit amber squares sections and roughly twenty gallons ofcloud blood. Thatst item had been the most difficult to save. Collecting it was easy. The battling pseudo-clouds were constantly goring each other, and the stuff just fell from the heavens. They figured out how to catch it in arge tarp, which fed into gallon jugs. The tricky part was running while carrying the heavy containers. It really threw their bnce off.

 220

    They slipped inside and added the three new wire mesh sections, eight foil pieces, and two gallons of the rain.


    When they stepped out of the barn and headed for the shack, a loud buzzing suddenly began, and they felt dizzy, experiencing a sensation much like vertigo.


    Jeannie took Sam¡¯s hand. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± her voice came through their connection silently, but he felt her emotions. She was nervous.


    Sam nced her way to smile at her, then looked at Jake who was tilting his head to the right. A short distance away, a soldier in camo gear could be seen beginning to peek around a tree. His movements were cially slow due to their sped up perceptions.


    He spoke to Jeannie. ¡°Looks like we walked into a trap. They found us. Not sure how, but there it is. How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Dizzy. I could probably fast walk away from it, but it wouldn¡¯t feel good.¡±


    Jake and Brenda moved closer and touched them to share themunication channel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this feeling. They must be crafty bastards to find a way to slow us down,¡± Jake grumbled.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Brenda asked.


    Sam shared a look with Jake and remembered the night this all began, when they watched the two clouds duking it out, and how they¡¯d walked through what they thought was rain, feeling it soak in. It felt good.


    An idea suddenly popped into his head, and all four of them shared the epiphany. Releasing their grip, they moved away from each other, walking with difficulty until they slumped and crumpled to the ground.


    -=-


    Colonel Crane smiled when he saw the silver aliens sumb to the energy field they¡¯d set up around the clearing between the shack and the barn. The mad scientists back in Washington were finally earning their keep. Their device worked! Unlike the failure of the radar device, this one actually seemed to be doing the job!


    Their eyes in the sky satellites had done an excellent job of tracking the speeders once they discovered they emitted a streak of low-level infrared light behind them as they ran. The faster they went, the more energized the particles and the longer the trail. Once his team knew where their targets were hiding during the day, they set the trap.


    His team had gotten a break when he¡¯d been informed that the silver aliens hadn¡¯t returned to their hideout during the night as they usually did. They immediately went to the enemy base, dug in, and set up the equipment as they got reports of their targets returning in daylight. Very fast. They¡¯d just finished hiding when the entities arrived and went into the barn.


    The projectors which emitted the knock out field used enormous amounts of power and weren¡¯t terribly portable. They also only had a few minute¡¯s worth of charge, but it seems that had proven to be enough.


    He didn¡¯t immediately give the order to shut down the field as he wasn¡¯t sure if it was required to be on to keep the beings out. They had restraints ready to lock on the beings, and he saw his team rushing forward to get them secured.


    Then all hell broke loose.


    The alien closest to the barn leapt to its feet and ripped the doors from their hinges before rushing inside. The remaining three also jumped to their feet and pped the restraints from the approaching soldiers¡¯ hands faster than the eye could follow. The soldiers shook their hands painfully.


    All three restraint sets were picked up and pitched at the projector dishes, silencing them and ripping them from the mounts. The buzz immediately cut off with a wailing squeal.


    Corporal Yablonski was caught t-footed as he faced the open barn door. He was holding the metal restraints he was tasked to connect to the silver guy inside the barn. Something suddenly hit him in the chest and shattered against the restraints. He was immediately coughing and snorting to clear his sinuses from the explosion of liquid from the broken bottle.


    The three silver beings in the open area stood before the group of three to four soldiers when ss missiles flew out the open doors of the barn. What followed was impossible to follow with the naked eye, but as fast as the bottles were thrown from the interior of the barn, they were pped out of the air by the silver hands of the aliens who ran circles around the soldiers. Bits of ss were intermixed with a whole lot of liquid that saturated the soldiers quickly. They held their arms before their faces due to the flying chunks of ss, and a few took some minor cuts.


    Then the silver beings began popping their helmets off and dumping the liquid on the bare heads of each soldier.


    ¡°It¡¯s water! It¡¯s just water!¡± Yablonski yelled out as he tried to wipe his face clear.


    Colonel Crane felt a deep dread filling him as he suspected where that water came from. ¡°Sergeant! Get your people out of there!¡± he yelled into his mic.


    Sergeant Michelle Tennison, called Mick by her squad, signaled them to fall back when the next missiles from inside the barn shot out towards them. Their impact was a little more dramatic. The bright yellow stones in the wire mesh shed as they struck their targets, and the soldiers were thrown back tond and tumble, dazed by a shock. Once they were all down, the three silver beings rushed into the barn to join the fourth. Immediately, all four rushed out and touched something to the faces of the soldiers.


    Gordon Crane watched in horror as the silver spread over the faces of each soldier. He shouted in shock when he was suddenly face to face with one of the beings. It came to aplete stop as it stood before him.


    Corporal Dne was pulling his gun from its holster very slowly when the creature turned its head to look at him.


    ¡°If you shoot me, you may hit him when the bullet bounces off.¡±


    Crane held up his hand to his driver. The voice was very hollow and reverberated strangely, but it was definitely speaking English. There might have even been a Central States ent. He looked closer. He thought he might have recognized the face it was showing.


    ¡°You seem to bear the facial features of Sam Lagrange. Did you take his identity?¡± Gordon asked cautiously.


    ¡°IamSam Lagrange. Who else would I be?¡± the entity said and¡­ smiled.


    Crane pushed that aside. ¡°What are you doing to my men?¡±


    A second silver man joined him. Its expression wasn¡¯t so friendly. ¡°What were you gonna do to us with those shackles? Take us to ab and try to cut us open? Since you¡¯re so fuckin¡¯ curious, we gave you your own Silver People to experiment on! Let¡¯s see if you¡¯re willing to do that to your friends!¡±


    ¡°Please calm down, Jake. He¡¯s just doing his job,¡± Sam said and looked back at the Colonel. ¡°Even though his job ain¡¯t too friendly.


    The Colonel looked past these two to see the other two gently helping his soldiers to stand. Except, their faces were now covered in the chrome finish. The two guided the soldiers over to him. He saw Yablonski¡¯s stupid smile and saw Mick was also smiling. Specialist Green wore a grin on his face. Crane looked ufortably at Mick.


    ¡°Sergeant, status.¡±


    Mick came to attention. ¡°The mission failed, sir. The energy field wasn¡¯t effective, and the targets were moving too fast for us to counter.¡± She pulled off her gloves to see her hands were covered in silver as well. ¡°We seem to be silver now, too, and for no reason I can think of, I feel really good. Almost giddy.¡± Her voice had a simr hollowness.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been altered, so your brain chemistry may have been affected. You may be under the influence-¡± Gordon began to suggest.


    ¡°Sir, sorry to interrupt, but I can tell you from personal experience, I¡¯m still Sam, and this is my lovely wife, Jeannie.¡± He gestured to the shortest of the beings, who nodded to him with a shy smile. At least Gordon thought it was a smile. The reflections made it difficult to tell. ¡°This here is my best friend, Jake, and his wife, Brenda.¡± He gestured to the other two. ¡°We¡¯re no threat to anyone. We just want to run and chase the weird storms. We don¡¯t want to be dissected or experimented on.¡±


    ¡°How are we expected to believe you¡¯re not a threat or that you are, in fact, who you say you are?¡± Crane asserted.


    Sam shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s true that we don¡¯t look human, but I think we think human. Ask your own people.¡± He gestured to the changed soldiers. ¡°You saw them be what they are now. You can take the rest of the materials we collected. Just be careful about how you handle them. The order is strange cloud water, glowy stone mesh, and then the silver strips. All of that stuffes from the strange clouds.¡± He turned to the altered soldiers. ¡°I suggest each of you add a few more strips of silver foil. You want your skin to be strong in case you run into things at high speed. You can¡¯t get too much as it just stops absorbing when you have enough.¡±


    Crane¡¯s radio chirped. He looked to the one calling himself Sam, who just smiled at him.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    ¡°Crane here.¡±


    ¡°Is everything okay, Colonel? We see you¡¯re surrounded by the silver aliens.¡± It was Private Jackson, themunication tech he¡¯d left at the vehicles. He was with Private yne and Corporal Rewan, and they were observing with drones controlled from a distance to the east.


    ¡°Yeah. The target disabled the projectors and altered the team. They¡¯re all silver now except for Dne and me.¡± He looked to Sam. ¡°Do you intend to change us too?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. Not unless you want to be,¡± Sam replied.


    ¡°Oh yeah! Do it, sir! It feels incredible!¡± Yablonski eximed, bouncing on his toes.


    ¡°At ease, soldier!¡± Gordon snapped.


    ¡°Sorry, sir,¡± Yablonski mumbled.


    Crane activated his mic again. ¡°Situation is fubar but stable for now. Why did you break radio silence?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sir, but a priority message came in. We¡¯re to head back to Washington immediately. Another group of dreadnaught ss pseudo-clouds is moving on a collision course intersecting over the city.¡±

 221

    ¡°Shit!¡± Crane eximed.


    Sam looked at his friends then back to the Colonel. ¡°These things duking it out over a city would not be good. I don¡¯t know what effect the lightning would have on people, but I can¡¯t imagine it would be good.¡± A sudden pang of guilt made him look to the new Silver People they¡¯d made. ¡°You should know, we get our energy from the lightning. I guess it¡¯s how we eat.¡±


    Jake scowled at Sam, but he just shrugged. He wasn¡¯t about to let them starve to death.


    Brenda and Jeannie went back into the barn and returned with handfuls of the silver strips, handing them out to the soldiers. Brenda took the remaining strips back to the barn when they no longer melted into the soldier¡¯s skin.


    ¡°We have to leave,¡± the Colonel said, looking at Sam.


    ¡°That¡¯s cool with us. It¡¯s up to you what happens to your people. We¡¯re just going to keep running as that¡¯s what feels best. We won¡¯t interfere with you. I¡¯d like to ask that you do the same for us, but maybe you don¡¯t have that authority. I¡¯m asking anyway. We¡¯ll just have to be more cautious.¡± Sam realized his need to collect the stuff was gone. He looked to Jake, but he seemed oblivious.


    ¡°Take it slow at first,¡± Jeannie said to Yablonski and touched his hand. The soldier¡¯s head whipped around to stare at her in shock as he¡¯d felt her emotions! ¡°That¡¯s just another bonus of being what we are,¡± Jeannie giggled quietly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, people!¡± Crane bellowed.


    Mick got her soldiers moving, and they followed the Colonel east, back to where their vehicles were waiting.


    ¡°Colonel, are we really going to be put in ab and dissected? Cuz that sounds really awful, and I¡¯d rather not,¡± Yablonski said.


    ¡°How easy was it for this elite group of trained professionals to take down two farmhands and their wives?¡± Crane grumbled, and his team went silent then began to chuckle.


    ¡°We have a mission to protect civilians in Washington, DC.¡± He looked at their expectant faces. ¡°Anyone here have a problem with doing their duty?¡±


    ¡°NO, SIR!¡± they yelled out.


    The sound they made was weird, but it forced a smile onto his face. Maybe the situation was fubar, but he felt better knowing his people weren¡¯t worse off for the experience and may actually be able to use these new abilities to secure the nation. He had his own squad of super soldiers.


    ¡°OOF!¡±


    Crane looked back and saw Yablonski picking himself up off the ground. The man looked at him, sheepishly.


    ¡°Sorry, sir. My boot slipped off.¡± He looked at theces, but they were tight, so he tugged on the other one, and it came off too. ¡°I¡¯m too slippery for my boots?¡±


    ¡°I guess you don¡¯t need them,¡± Gordon sighed.


    The others quickly pulled off their boots as well.


    He cast a troubled eye over the squad of shiny-faced barefoot soldiers he was bringing back to Washington with him.


    Hissupersoldiers. Right.


    -=-


    ¡°Do ya think they¡¯ll leave us alone?¡± Jake asked Sam.


    ¡°Nah, I doubt it,¡± Sam sighed.


    ¡°What was the point of telling them they could have all the stuff we collected?¡± Jake asked his friend.


    Sam thought about what he¡¯d told the Colonel. ¡°It¡­ I felt like that¡¯s what I was supposed to tell him. Totally weird.¡±


    ¡°You know what¡¯s also weird? I don¡¯t feel that urge to collect it anymore,¡± Brenda stated.


    The others nodded as they realized thepulsion was gone.


    ¡°So, why were we doing that?¡± Jake asked.


    ¡°Maybe it was a mating instinct! We just made new people like us,¡± Jake proposed.


    Sam nodded slowly. ¡°Maybe. That idea makes me ufortable, though.¡± The others nodded in agreement.


    ¡°So¡­ what do we do now?¡± Jake asked.


    Sam smiled at his friends. ¡°Since we¡¯ve been outed by the Colonel, anyone feel like visiting the Nation¡¯s Capital? I hear there¡¯s a really big storm battle about to strike. Maybe we can do a little good there, too.¡±


    Four identical smiles beamed at each other then they zipped away.


    Henry grinned at Mahati¡¯s attempt to hide her smile. The afternoon had been perfect. Now, the two had finally managed to shed their escort and were enjoying the peaceful walk along the mall towards the Lincoln Memorial.


    Peaceful, if not quiet.


    They¡¯d just visited the Washington Memorial and were just moving on when they found themselves within arge group of people with homemade signs and banners demanding the legalization of marijuana. The agents who wereescorting themfell back, and they had privacy, atst, not counting the hundreds of people chanting their message around them.


    Henry caught the eye of one of the agents behind them and pointed to the big memorial at the end of the mall. The man nodded, collecting his partners and briskly jogging towards the roadway. They¡¯d likely catch a ride with the convoy of vehicles keeping pace with them.


    Still, the afternoon was beautiful, and they were enjoying the sights and the sounds of Washington. The scent of poting from the group around them was pungent, so they slowed their pace to allow the others to move past them until they were left behind.


    Henry rubbed at his nose. ¡°Man! That¡¯s one special interest group you can identify easily.¡±


    Mahati chuckled as she looked around, noting they were finally alone. ¡°Our hosts are quite persistent in attempting to recruit you. Theirst offer was significant.¡±


    Henry grimaced. ¡°Yeah, I wish they¡¯d finally get the fact that I¡¯m not interested. I don¡¯t need more money than I currently make. I have no desire to leave my friends.¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    ¡°They do have some lovely museums. You seemed to quite enjoy them,¡± Mahati remarked, referring to the hours they¡¯d spent wandering through the Smithsonian and the Air and Space museums.


    He nced at her and saw her teasing smile. He shook his head with a grin. ¡°Visits only.¡± Henry decided to change the subject, so he turned the topic to her. ¡°How are you enjoying living away from your family?¡±


    Mahati looked at him in surprise but considered her answer before speaking. ¡°I lived my whole life within the walls of my family¡¯s estate, surrounded by my family members. My mother was the ruler of the homestead and controlled the actions of everyone within. The only one who seemed to be able to skirt her rules was my sister Kali. Seeing this, I finally realized how limited my opportunities would be if I stayed and how I¡¯d be a ve. So, I severed ties and struck out on my own. I was not prepared to take on such responsibilities, but at least they weremydecisions.¡± She smiled. ¡°I was fortunate to have met Cam and Sigrid when I did. They gave me a wonderful ce to live and purpose in my life.¡±


    Henry was smiling broadly. ¡°I feel exactly the same way as they did the same for me.¡±


    They walked for a while, smiling as they recalled their good fortune.


    Henry was curious about something she said. ¡°How did Kali avoid the rigid rules of your home life?¡±


    Mahati shrugged. ¡°Kali is the youngest and showed little aptitude for magic. Mother had no use for her. She contributed nothing to the family business, so Mother ignored her.¡±


    Henry nodded slowly. ¡°Leading to her being someone who stirs up trouble for others.¡±


    Mahati sighed and nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s all an effort to gather attention, but it draws the wrong kind. She hase home beaten and bruised more than once- not since living with me! Earlier.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°She has been rather upiedtely, since the night of the housewarming party. Something is on her mind, upying her thoughts, something that makes her fidget and pace. I¡¯ve asked her about it, but she won¡¯t open up to me.¡±


    Henry wondered what could possibly have shaken Kali that much. She was such a calm and cool shit disturber, always in control of the game.


    They were almost to the Lincoln Memorial, and the pot protesters seemed to be gathering there. They were a happy bunch. There was a police presence, but they appeared willing to watch from the sidelines.


    Henry felt a cold drop of rainnd on the back of his neck. The hairs in that location all began to stand on end as the droplet sent tiny sparks through his nerves. He stopped walking and looked back towards the Capitol Building.


    ¡°Henry? What is it?¡± Mahati asked as she saw his smile drain away, reced by an expression of dread. She looked back as well and saw two enormous thunderheads colliding over the city. Lightning suddenly shot down the side of one of them-brilliant white lightning. More droplets of rain arrived, and Henry felt them like mini-shocks. He turned to Mahati. ¡°We have to run!¡± He looked desperately for shelter and pointed to therge stone building ahead. ¡°Get up those stairs and as far into the Memorial as you can.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± she asked, rmed by the fear in Henry¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Those-those aren¡¯t normal clouds! Their lightning is filled with Wild Magic. They change people! The ss People and the Silver People! We have to get everyone out of the rain. It¡¯s saturated with magic, too!¡± he eximed.


    They began to run as people around them watched the approaching storm.


    ¡°Get to cover! Lightning storming!¡± Henry yelled.


    The behemoths collided slightly north of the Capitol Building, and a brilliant sh of light exploded down their sides to strike the buildings and streets below. The thunder¡¯s boom hit the people in the Mall almost immediately, and every light within sight went out. Even the cars on the surrounding roads went dark.


    Between Henry¡¯s fearful words and the boom, people finally began running until there was a stampede headed for the Lincoln Memorial.


    Henry lost sight of Mahati and looked back. He stumbled to a halt as a distance behind him, a mother was pushing her baby carriage as fast as she could go, but she was also holding the hand of a three-year-old struggling to keep up. They were moving too slowly, and the monstrous clouds were getting closer.


    ¡°The children¡­¡± Henry wheezed from his suddenly tight chest. He couldn¡¯t leave them behind, so he began sprinting back through the crowd to get to the children. He burst free from the fleeing mass and poured on the speed.

 222

    As he got closer, he could feel every hair on his body beginning to stand on end. Little sparks were jumping between the strands, and he could taste something metallic. The rain was picking up, as was the wind, and soon he was drenched. The closer Henry got, the brighter the sparks snapping across his body became. It felt like his entire body was being pricked by pins and needles. The woman suddenly looked up at him and stopped with a look of fear on her face, clutching her child to her side.


    Henry looked closely at her and realized her hair was as soaked as his, but hers wasn¡¯t attracting the sparks at all.


    He looked past the woman and saw the tiny sparks leaping through the gap between himself and the approaching storm. He was a lightning rod! FUCK! He had to get away from her and the children! He spotted two young men running by.


    ¡°STOP!¡± he roared, and they froze in fear. ¡°Help her get her children to cover!¡± he ordered, and they rushed to her and got her moving, one pushing her carriage and the other carrying her other child. He ran in the opposite direction, farther from them and closer to the oing storms. The sky darkened dramatically as the monsters rushed closer.


    Another bolt of raw energy shot down the side of the clouds and struck the ground. The boom was immediate and knocked everyone off their feet.


    He was terrified as he¡¯d seen the horrific devastation these storms caused. Everywhere he looked to find shelter, he saw people huddled. There were still too many people in the park. He saw a cluster of people huddled under their drooping protest signs. They were all drenched.


    ¡°GET TO COVER!¡± he shouted at them, pointing back towards the Memorial. Most dropped their signs when they fell onto their asses in shock as they saw a man covered in lightning shouting at them.


    Cursing in fear, he knew he had to distance himself from them as well, so he pushed onwards, running parallel to the reflecting pool. Ahead, he saw another group of people staggering around in the rain, so he mmed to a halt. He cast around for somewhere to go but realized the clouds were almost upon him. He turned and saw the first group he¡¯d told to run for cover were actually running towards him instead! Henry realized he had nowhere to go to avoid people. He contemted running across the pool, but he had no idea how deep it was, and he couldn¡¯t swim.


    As a feeling of hopelessness filled him, he was suddenly facing four of the Silver People. He recalled seeing them help the ss People escape through an opening to Eden. He desperately pointed to the two groups of people. ¡°Please! Please, save them! Get them to shelter! Get them away from me! I¡¯m drawing the lightning.¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    He watched them look at each other, then they were gone. Henry couldn¡¯t feel his legs anymore as the prickling got worse. Maybe he should have asked them to carry him away from the area, but that wouldn¡¯t have saved the people from the lightning.


    The clouds were almost overhead when the next bolt struck downward¡­ and leaped sideways to m down over him.


    His vision filled with blue-white light, and his hearing was overwhelmed with the sound of his blood rushing through his veins. He quickly lost all sensation of his body as his feet slowly lifted a few inches off the ground.


    ¡°HENRY! We need your help!¡±


    He struggled to recognize the voice which seemed to being from all around him.


    ¡°They¡¯re being tortured! You must save them!¡±


    It was¡­ Xiong! Henry didn¡¯t recall seeing any openings to Eden.


    ¡°Please, Henry!¡± The voice wasing through the magic!


    ¡°Where¡­ where are they?¡± he asked.


    In his mind, he saw arge metal hanger on the edge of a desert. Inside were the ss People from Kuwait City. The darkness within wasn¡¯t absolute as the metal sheeting on the walls had holes in it, and the searchlights from the guard towers asionally passed over the building¡¯s surface, sending little beams of light across the starving beings inside.


    Henry¡¯s rage shed, and he reached for them, his mind leaping across the distance. With the power flowing through him from the lightning strike and Xiong¡¯s help, he cracked open small tears under each of the captive beings, dropping them onto a grassy field on Eden, then let the tears seal up as he moved to the next group.


    Shouts of anger rang out from the guards who watched their prisoners drop through the floor and vanish.


    Once the hanger was empty, Henry was exhausted and wanted to rest, but Xiong pointed him to another building next to the hanger. There were three more ss People chained to metal columns. Various tools like industrial stone cutters, acetylene torches, and arc welders littered the floor around them. Six Human men stood in the room, smoking, talking, and gesturing to the being they managed to crack. Henry looked closer and saw it¡­ it¡­ it had been a child.


    Henry roared as his rage exploded. The small building¡¯s windows shattered, and the men dropped to the floor as if the building was being fired upon. The floor beneath them suddenly vanished, and each fell through. The drop was maybe ten feet at most, but they didn¡¯tnd on Eden¡¯s soft red grasses. Instead, they fell onto one of theva flows. Their terrified shrieks and painful screams were quickly extinguished as the molten rock consumed them.


    Henry¡¯s rage faded as quickly as his victim¡¯s cries, and with it went his strength. Xiong was next to him immediately.


    ¡°Let us bring these three home,¡± Xiong said softly to him.


    Henry looked at the three columns once more and opened a tear beneath their feet. The weight of the building resting on the pirs drove them down through the tear. Henry released the rip between the dimensions once the posts were through and struck the grass. This severed the tops from the building, which continued to copse in the desert on the other side of the from Henry.


    But he was unconscious by then.


    -=-


    For the first time in recorded history, people witnessed cloud-driven lightning striking the same spot for forty-seven continuous seconds. Too bright to watch directly and too loud to endure from close range, the disy went on as thewitnesseshuddled under the protection of the shelters they¡¯d run to or were carried to by the surprisingly fast yet gentle Silver People.


    What began as four silver streaks rushing around the Mall, physically plucking people up and carrying them to whatever shelter might be nearby, became two dozen silver streaks, as a secondrger group joined in. Surprising some of the rescued people, they saw the second group was wearing US military uniforms.


    The lightning had been a continuous uncontrolled drain from the clouds above, and they¡¯d begun to glow a brilliant yellow from deep within their cores. The near-simultaneous detonation of the glowing things within the monstrous clouds ripped them apart, and within seconds they dropped their mass as rain. The massive boom of the dual explosion shook the ground, and the huddled people cried out in rm.


    Many had tried to record the scene with their cell phones only to find the devices were dead, knocked out by multiple EMP bursts from the clouds. It was still dark, and everyone was wet.


    With the clouds¡¯ destruction, the sky began to lighten, allowing the early evening light to filter down.


    In the densely packed Lincoln Memorial, Mahati was struggling to contain her panic. She¡¯d gotten separated from Henry, and she couldn¡¯t find him. She wasn¡¯t the only one calling out to find a missingpanion, so the noise made it impossible for her to hear his response.


    She pushed closer to the outer edge of the crowd and saw a woman with two children standing next to two young males gushing about their encounter with aLightning God.


    ¡°He was fuckin¡¯ glowing, man! His eyes were lit up white from within, and electricity was jumping all over him!¡± one male eximed excitedly.


    ¡°I thought he wasing for my children, but he stopped and told these two to help me get to safety. They saved my family!¡± the woman said before bursting into tears and hugging the two young men who were looking very pleased with themselves. Everyone loves a hero!


    Mahati pushed past. That couldn¡¯t have been Henry. He didn¡¯t have powers like that. She reached the steps and spotted one of Wace Granger¡¯s agents scanning the crowd. He spotted her at the same time. ¡°Ms. Chandra! Where is Mr. Gable?¡± he called out.


    ¡°We got separated in the run to the Memorial,¡± she said as she looked around.


    ¡°Henry, where are you?¡± she thought in desperation.


    -=-


    Sam and his group, as well as the changed soldiers, had finished moving people to safety, so they rushed back to the strike zone to see a crumpled body lying face down in the center of a scorched ring of grass and dirt. As the burning snuffed out quickly in the falling rain, the well-trodden ground sprouted new grass and flowers pushed through to bloom before their eyes.


    Brenda tried to step into the ring but cried out in pain, and Jake pulled her back.


    The ground was radiating so strongly, none of them could get close. They felt their energy levels climbing as they soaked in the power radiating from the circle.


    ¡°What the fuck is happening?¡± Yablonski gasped.


    ¡°It¡¯s like the wheat in the field where the lightning struck,¡± Jake said, and eyes turned towards him. He looked a little embarrassed, but he took on the educator¡¯s role at Sam¡¯s grin and urging. ¡°Everyone join hands, and I¡¯ll show you what we saw.¡±


    They were circling the spot and had just enough people to touch hand to hand all the way around. The soldiers were stunned by the openness of themunications and how fast it was. They saw what Sam and Jake witnessed that first night and how the wheat had been affected. Sam also shared how they¡¯d be Silver People. Jeannie squealed in protest as their lovemaking was included, and they all saw how chubby she¡¯d been then. Sam chuckled and sent his love to her, letting the others feel that as well. Then they released their hands.

 223

    ¡°Status report, Mick,¡± Cranemanded through his mic. Their radios were shielded, so they still worked.


    The sergeant was still a little overwhelmed by the shared emotions, but she pulled it together and answered. ¡°Colonel. The pseudo-clouds appear to be dead. The strike zone of thest prolonged bolt is too energized for us to enter. In the center of this zone is a body. We can¡¯t get close enough to make a positive identification or to determine if the person is alive or not. It looks to be a male based on body shape and clothing. The area is sprouting new growth unnaturally fast. Grasses and flowers are actually growing before our eyes. The four Silver People we met in Tennessee were here before we arrived, and they showed us how lightning affects the nt life where it strikes.


    ¡°And how exactly did they do that?¡± Crane asked, weariness in his tone.


    Mick felt a little uneasy with what she was about to confess, but she pushed ahead. ¡°Uh, it seems we can speak mind to mind if we hold hands. We can see each other¡¯s memories if we share them. Feel each other¡¯s emotions, too.¡±


    ¡°Crap. The brass is gonna shit bricks. Okay, secure the area. We¡¯ll send in troops to take control of the strike zone,¡± the Colonel said.


    Sam was on his hands and knees with his face almost to the ground, trying to get a look at the face of the body in the circle, but it was in a fetal position. Yablonski squatted down next to him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the soldier asked.


    ¡°I think this might be the fe who asked us to save the people when we first arrived,¡± Sam replied as he rested back on his heels. Looking at the expression of interest on the young soldier¡¯s face, Sam reached over and touched his hand. The image of the glowing man suddenly appeared in Yablonski¡¯s mind. He yelped and fell back on his ass.


    Mick joined them. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± she asked crossly.


    Sam looked at her. ¡°I just showed him an image of the guy we met when we arrived. He said he was drawing the lightning to himself and needed us to move the people to safety. This has to be him as the lightning sure got him.¡±


    ¡°Let me see that meeting, please,¡± Mick asked, holding out her hand.


    Sam took her hand and shared the memory with her. When they released, Mick looked closely at the body. ¡°I think you¡¯re right. There should be more scorching on his clothes, though.¡±


    Orange light suddenly shone up from the ground under the body as a crack formed under it. It widened, and the body slipped through to fall into the upstretched hands of beings made of ss. Sam and Mick stared in shock through the tear in space and saw they were looking down at a red grassy field where three Silver People were smiling up at them and waving. Sam waved back, and the tear snapped closed.


    ¡°What were we looking at?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°No idea. Maybe a better question is,where were we looking?¡± Sam replied. ¡°I ain¡¯t never seen a ce where the grass is red like that. Jake, you ever seen that in your nature shows?¡± He reached out, and they touched hands.


    When they let go, Jake pondered for a moment. ¡°There¡¯s Japanese blood grass, and some prairie grasses but nothin¡¯ quite like that. Such a rich scarlet shade with wide des. It looked soft as well, the way it was moving in the wind.¡±


    Mick looked at Sam, who grinned. ¡°My buddy Jake is a bit of a nature show nerd. Documentaries too.¡±


    ¡°If that wasn¡¯t Earth, where was it?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°Your guess is as good as mine. Did you see those ss People?¡± Sam asked.


    Mick¡¯s expression froze as she was aware of the existence of ss People but wasn¡¯t at liberty to talk about that.


    Catching her hesitation, Sam nodded to himself. ¡°Ah, I see. Well, that was a first for me, if not you,¡± Sam said gently.


    ¡°Did you see them too! So beautiful!¡± Jeannie gushed. She¡¯d been standing on the other side of the circle when the rip opened, so she had a different perspective.


    That gave Sam an idea. ¡°Everyone who was looking through the hole that appeared, please link hands and share the memory of what you saw.¡± He looked at Mick. ¡°This may give us a kind of 3D view.¡±


    Almost all of them had watched, so when they linked hands and brought up the memory, it blended together until they could see down into the other ce. There¡¯d been arge number of the ss People standing in the field as well as a few Silver People. Orange sunlight was ying over their glossy surfaces. The angle didn¡¯t allow for a horizon view.


    ¡°Sam! The shadows!¡± Jake eximed through their link.


    Then they all understood as he shared his epiphany. The sunlight wasing from almost directly above. They weren¡¯t looking at light made orange by sunset. It was orange at noon, so either something in the atmosphere was tinting the sunlight orange¡­ or the sun shining on that ce was orange.


    ¡°That¡¯s not Earth!¡± Yablonski eximed, his shock reverberating through their connection.


    ¡°Next question, why did the ss people take the body?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°I think he was alive,¡± Brenda said.


    She pushed her memory of seeing his hand closing into a fist as he was lifted down through the tear.


    ¡°Shit! Could that have been like an involuntary twitch? I mean, he was hit with lightning for a long time!¡± Jake eximed. ¡°How could anyone survive being hit with that much?¡±


    ¡°As the Sergeant said, he shoulda been burnt crispy, but he¡¯s not. Let¡¯s not pronounce him dead until we know for sure,¡± Sam suggested.


    Mick looked around and suddenly noticed everyone and everything around them had slipped into slow motion. She nced at Sam, who was smiling at her.


    ¡°You finally noticed how slow everyone¡¯s got?¡± he asked, and she could only nod. ¡°We noticed that when we speak in our heads like this, our brains get faster, we can talk faster, and the world around us gets much slower. When we have to speak the old way, our brains have to stay slow,¡± Sam exined.


    ¡°This could be really useful!¡± Specialist Green enthused, and the others agreed.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Jake noticed an army trucking towards them. ¡°Is that truck carrying that machine you used on us back at the shack?¡±


    The soldiers looked where Jake was pointing and saw he was right.


    ¡°It looks like arger transmitter. It¡¯s probably a lot stronger,¡± Mick said.


    Sam frowned. ¡°I think we¡¯ll make tracks. I suggest you do the same.¡± He and his three friends raced away from the group of soldiers before Mick could protest. She picked up her mic and tried to speak into it and felt her perceptions slow right down as everything around her sped up. The truck was getting much closer.


    ¡°Colonel? The approaching truck seems to have arger version of the knock out field projector. Why-¡±


    ¡°G2,¡± was Gordon¡¯s only response. It was the code they¡¯d worked out on the flight back to Washington.


    Mick signaled her team, and they ran away from the truck at maximum speed. The emitters kicked in, and they wobbled as vertigo destabilized them, but they¡¯d managed to get out in front of the maximum range of the wave, and they pulled away. The sergeant led the way and reduced their speed to eliminate the infrared tracking capabilities of the satellites. They¡¯d go to ground and attempt to contact the Colonel in twenty-four hours.


    Mick hoped he¡¯d be okay.


    -=-


    Colonel Gordon Crane sat in a chair in the same windowless meeting room in the bowels of the Pentagon. Across from him sat Colonel Keith Palmer, the leader of the team who¡¯d tried to capture Crane¡¯s team back on the Mall. When he¡¯d been unsessful, he arrested Gordon and his driver, Corporal Dne, and brought them to the Pentagon.


    Palmer didn¡¯t look happy. Crane was content to wait. He¡¯d read the report his sergeant had texted him before she went into hiding, and he knew he was sitting on a goldmine of information.


    Stephen Dawes stepped into the room with a frown on his face. Following him were the two men Crane didn¡¯t know the names of. He noted that Palmer immediately looked to the older of the two men. So, Gordon assumed he reported tothatman ashereported to Mr. Dawes. The third man aimed a crooked smile at him before taking a chair.


    ¡°What the hell is going on here? Why have you arrested Colonel Crane? And who are you?¡± Dawes asked Palmer.


    ¡°I¡¯m Colonel Keith Palmer. I report to General Baines. I was ordered to observe Colonel Crane. When his team was reced with the silver aliens, he brought them to Washington. When I attempted to secure them, he allowed them to escape. He is jeopardizing the mission.¡±


    Gordon watched Palmer and saw an officer dedicated to the preservation of the country he¡¯d vowed to serve. Basically, he saw himself, so he held no ill will against the man. There was just a conflict of orders, and now he had the name for the old man.


    Dawes looked at Crane and held his eyes. ¡°Is this true?¡±


    Gordon shook his head. ¡°No, sir. He is incorrect on several points. May I speak freely before Colonel Palmer to exin?¡± Dawes nodded stiffly. ¡°We attempted to capture the four silver beings using the energy projectors but were unsessful. In retaliation, they turned my squad into Silver People. Then they stopped to talk to me and exined why.¡±


    ¡°You spoke to them? They speak English?¡± Dawes asked.


    ¡°Yes, sir. They aren¡¯t alien. Theywerehuman. They¡¯ve just been altered by artifacts from the pseudo-clouds. They¡¯re Sam and Jeannie Lagrange and Jake and Brenda Miller. Two Midwest farmhands and their wives. The two men identally became Silver People when they messed around with something they found in a pseudo-cloud that another killed. They, in turn, exposed their wives to the sameponents, and they¡¯ve been chasing the clouds ever since.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying they¡¯re human under that silver skin?¡± General Baines asked.


    ¡°No. They don¡¯t im to be human, physically, but they do say their minds are still human, and their ideals seem to hold true.¡± He looked to General Baines. ¡°My squad is still my squad. Loyal and duty-bound. We were ordered back to Washington to assist with a potentially catastrophic situation. They knew they would be subjected to the idiocy they encountered after the crisis passed, yet they followed my orders and returned with me. They saved many lives.¡±


    ¡°Are you missing the point that they aren¡¯t human any longer, and we need to know how they tick and what kind of threat they represent?¡± Baines snapped.


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of the facts, General. Whatyouaren¡¯t aware of are the facts we collected from the initial group of Silver People, the four midwestern Americans. We know how they became Silver People. They told us how it happened. They showed us how we could make more if we choose to. I witnessed it happening to my squad. When I spoke to the soldiers afterward, they indicated that it actually felt good. Another fact my people collected tonight was how the ss People escaped from the locked gymnasium. It¡¯s as we feared. They can open tears in space and step through. My people reported that they were able to see through arge tear and witnessed arge number of ss People and some Silver People standing in a field of red grass under an orange sun. They¡¯re not on Earth.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± the General eximed.

 224

    Crane shrugged. ¡°I might have gotten more information, but Palmer¡¯s team decided to make his attempt at capturing my team.¡±


    ¡°You informed your team to run. They¡¯re now on the loose,¡± Palmer asserted.


    ¡°No, they¡¯ve gone to ground and will contact me tomorrow. They¡¯re still my squad. They remain devoted to the mission, as do I,¡± Gordon asserted.


    ¡°But they won¡¯te in,¡± Baines growled.


    ¡°Yes, they¡¯lle in, but not if they¡¯re going to be experimented on. Fully human soldiers would behave the same way under this threat, and there¡¯s no need for it. They¡¯ve already proven they¡¯ll tell us everything we need to know.¡± He locked eyes with the General. ¡°Having a squad of bulletproof soldiers able to move faster than we can register with our eyes gives us one hell of an advantage, wouldn¡¯t you say? And remember, we know how to make more.¡±


    That got through to the man.


    ¡°I¡¯d personally like to speak to one of these Silver People,¡± said the man with the crooked smile.


    Crane nodded. ¡°We saw a report from Kuwait that Silver People were assisting the ss People after that massive attack from the pseudo-clouds. It looked like some escaped, and these may be the ones my squad saw through the tear.¡±


    Dawes looked ufortable. ¡°I got word from Director Hall that the ss People the armed forces in Kuwait detained have escaped. The soldiers guarding the prisoners were screaming some nonsense about them falling through the floor. Now, that makes sense.¡± He fixed his eyes on Colonel Crane. ¡°We need information on how they¡¯re doing that and how we can counter-act it.¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Gordon responded crisply. ¡°Out of curiosity, have the ss People demonstrated any offensive abilities, aside from opening rips between worlds?¡±


    That earned him another sharp nce from Dawes. ¡°The building the Kuwait intelligence officers and two CIA observers were working in copsed. The bodies have yet to be recovered from the rubble. No sign of the ones they were interrogating either. That sounds like they have some offensive abilities to me.¡±


    Crane held his tongue, though he could interpret that information another way.


    Dawes looked to the General. ¡°Any more secret teams watching our people? Do you have a team watching Colonel Palmer and his team?¡±


    ¡°If I did, you know I couldn¡¯t tell you about it,¡± the General snapped.


    The ludicrous nature of the situation and the events over the twenty-four hours was suddenly too much for Gordon, and he snorted.


    The others in the room all looked to him.


    He could have apologized or pretended the sound was just a sneeze, but he was so weary of subterfuge. He looked back at them with a frank stare.


    ¡°We have met the enemy, and he is us.¡±


    ¡°Not helpful, Colonel,¡± the Director of Homnd Security said gruffly.


    He just nodded to his boss. ¡°Am I under arrest? If not, I¡¯d like to check into a hotel and get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°The power grid is still down, so hotels won¡¯t be epting new guests at the moment,¡± the nameless man added.


    ¡°You¡¯re not under arrest. We have a few rooms on reserve at a nearby hotel. You can stay there. Bring your team in tomorrow to Homnd Security headquarters. I want to speak to these soldiers directly.¡± He caught a raised eyebrow from the third man on the team and nodded to him. ¡°You¡¯re invited, as well as the General.¡±


    ¡°And Colonel Palmer,¡± General Baines insisted.


    ¡°Leave your toys at home,¡± Dawes said, looking to Palmer and received a nod from him once the General nodded as well.


    A man in a dark suit entered and walked to the Director¡¯s side to whisper to him.


    ¡°Shit! Send two more teams to assist in the search,¡± Dawes said to the man, who nodded and rushed away.


    ¡°Search?¡± General Baines asked.


    Stephen¡¯s expression was grim. ¡°With the chaos the pseudo-clouds caused and the ckout, people have gone missing. Most were running in a panic and got separated from their groups. One of the missing is someone we¡¯re trying to recruit. The young man is a genius withputers. He makes our geniuses look like toddlers discovering an Etch-a-Sketch. If his skills got into the wrong hands, there wouldn¡¯t be aputer on the Inte that wouldn¡¯t be open to them.¡±


    The men shared concerned looks, then Dawes looked at Crane hopefully. ¡°Your team can cover way more ground quickly!¡±


    Gordon nodded. ¡°A brilliant idea. Yes, they could, if they hadn¡¯t been forced to go into hiding until the morning. If your genius is still missing when they contact me, I can send them a picture and have them check every road, alley, and walkway for him.¡±


    Dawes red at the General, whose expression closed up. He looked back at Gordon. ¡°I¡¯ll send you a photo of him. Go get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir,¡± he said. ¡°Where are Corporal Dne, Private Jackson, Private yne, and Corporal Rewan?¡±


    ¡°We only brought in you and Dne. You can bring him with you to the hotel. There was no sign of the others,¡± Palmer said.


    ¡°Fine.¡± As Crane left the room, he caught the nameless man giving him an appraising look. When he held his eyes, the crooked smile reappeared. Gordon looked away, an uneasy feeling in his stomach.


    His instincts told him the man was every bit asplicated and mysterious as the ss People or the Silver People.


    That didn¡¯t bode well for tomorrow.


    -=-


    ¡°What do you mean Henry is missing?¡± Cam¡¯s shrill voice came through the earpiece of the phone the Homnd Security agent loaned Mahati. It was going out over satellite as the local cell towers were all down. She watched the teams coordinating their search. There was a little butting of heads between them and the NSA agents.


    Mahati¡¯s cell had been off and protected inside her shielded purse when the EMP¡¯s went off. Her extra caution against data thieves finally paid off as she had a working phone. Of course, without the cell towers functioning, her cell was a costly paperweight.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling you with a satellite phone borrowed from the Homnd Security people. Power is still out here, no cell towers, and the dark is making the search moreplicated.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Cam asked, conscious of listeners.


    ¡°We were doing a little sight-seeing on the Mall, and a weird lightning storm suddenly struck. Henry got us running for shelter in the Lincoln Memorial, then the lightning started, the lights went out, and everyone was running. We got separated. Afterward, I realized he wasn¡¯t with me, and I couldn¡¯t find him. Teams from the NSA and Homnd Security are looking for him now,¡± Mahati exined, her voice beginning to wobble.


    ¡°Mahati, they¡¯ll find him. He couldn¡¯t have gone far,¡± Cam said to calm her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been this far from home, and I thought I was on top of things. The day was going so well. Henry was enjoying the museums and the monuments. We only had one more to see then we¡¯d catch our flight home. Now, this!¡± She had a lump in her throat, which was hard to talk around.


    ¡°You need to be our eyes on the ground for when they find Henry. We know you can do it. Henry believes in you, you know that. I¡¯m watching the news story now, and I see the ckout is extensive. He¡¯s probably just lost.¡± Cam said gently, and Mahati felt herself calming. Henrydidbelieve in her. She had to live up to that.


    ¡°Yes. Yes, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll be here when they find him. I¡¯ll get him home,¡± she said, feeling her nerves settling. ¡°Thank you, Cam.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mahati! Please keep me informed.¡±


    ¡°I will. Goodbye.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t sure why it was so difficult to find one man. Cam was right. He couldn¡¯t have gone that far.


    Henry couldn¡¯t feel his body.


    Rather, he felt all of it, but it just felt like a big ball of cotton.


    He couldn¡¯t see. He couldn¡¯t hear, taste, or smell either.


    One thing he could feel was magic. He was overloaded with the stuff. He knew that cotton sensation was every cell in his body vibrating so quickly that if any additional energy was added, it would trigger a cascade explosion tearing him apart, right down to the atomic level. He needed to bleed that energy off.


    ¡°Henry? This is Xiong.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t respond verbally, but he pictured a smile in his mind and received a sh of one in return.


    ¡°Thank you for saving our friends.¡±


    He envisioned a thumbs up.


    ¡°You helped save many people in your capital city. No one in therge park was affected by the lightning,¡± Xiong expressed.


    Henry felt him holding something back, so he reached for Xiong mentally.


    ¡°No, Henry, don¡¯t. You were injured. You must rest and heal¡­ as best you can.¡±


    Frustrated by his inability tomunicate, he simply pictured an unhappy face.

 225

    He felt Xiong withdrawing, and through the magic in him, he picked up snippets of a conversation Xiong was having with all of the other ss People. The volume was a bit overwhelming as there were so many voices, and they were upset. They seemed to be talking about making him a ss Person because of his injuries. To save him. Xiong was trying to tell them it wouldn¡¯t work as he¡¯d already been subjected to the same energies, and he wasn¡¯t ss now.


    Henry was beginning to get seriously worried. How badly was he hurt? He felt someone close by and reached out to the mind. It was one of the Silver People.


    It physically touched him, and he linked minds with the young female. Concepts and perceptions were flowing through their link. She was sad. She¡¯d heard he was the hero who¡¯d saved all of the people on this and many on Earth. He imagined looking through her eyes at him, and she allowed it.


    He saw his Human mor, and he looked no worse for wear. That was a relief. He dropped the mor.


    It took every bit of willpower to contain his screams. He was a scorched thing, that if it weren¡¯t for the untouched ram¡¯s horns and hooves, he wouldn¡¯t have recognized as himself. His eyes were gone, and his ears were stubs. His face held a rictus grin as his lips had melted away. How was he even alive!


    Some of his terror must have leaked out as Xiong returned immediately and sent the young silver being from the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Henry. We cannot heal you. We don¡¯t have the power to do it.¡±


    Henry pushed his mind until he could make himself understood. ¡°You¡¯re wielders. I can pull in the healing power if you have a doctor amongst the ss People who can use that power to heal me.¡±


    Xiong was stunned that Henry was able to make his brainmunicate in his current state. His mind came through strong and clear though his body was burnt and melted so severely. ¡°We have a doctor, but she indicates this is beyond her ability.¡±


    Henry croaked in frustration. All this power, and he had no mean to use it!


    He faded, and darkness swallowed him.


    Time passed.


    He wasn¡¯t sure how much, as he was floating in utter silence and a ck darker than he imagined space would be. Thinking about space made him realize he was thinking, and that had to be a good thing. He just needed to get back to his body¡­ or what was left of it. He needed to go home!


    ¡°Not ready to die yet?¡±


    The cold and ancient voice echoed out of the ckness. He immediately recognized it.


    ¡°Baba!¡±


    ¡°You could just give up. It would be so simple, and you would suffer no more pain. This life has given you so much of it. Just let go.¡± Her tone was¡­ wistful? He¡¯d never heard her sound like that before, and he immediately became suspicious.


    Henry paused. Why was she saying this? He allowed himself to believe she wanted him to do it for the briefest moment, but his mind rejected that violently.


    ¡°My Baba didn¡¯t raise a quitter,¡± he growled.


    There was a pause. ¡°Then don¡¯t,¡± she said before fading away.


    He might have imagined it, but he was sure he heard pride in her words.


    He needed to live. He had people out there depending on him, people he loved. He had¡­ a childing. A child he would not leave fatherless as he¡¯d been.


    To join his loved ones again, he needed to get out of this hole, to stop sinking. He reached out with his mind for contact and felt the lightest touch¡­ that way!


    Moving in the direction of the mind he¡¯d touched took such a colossal effort when everything was telling him to just give in.


    Baba¡¯s final words drove him onward.


    She gave him the impression that she was confident that death was just another routine event, something easily circumvented. Maybe for her, it was. He didn¡¯t know what it must be like, living so long. All he could do was try to emte her attitude and push onwards like it was nothing special. Just something to be beaten back, conquered, and set aside. He ignored the lethargy, the inertia, the weariness, and most significant, the pain. He would live because his will said he would.


    The darkness began to lighten until all was white.


    As he surfaced again, he felt two minds close by.


    ¡°He¡¯s back!¡± That was Xiong¡¯s astonished voice. Henry picked up relief in it as well. ¡°Quickly, you must proceed while we have him!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never done this before. No one has!¡± a female voice argued.


    ¡°We owe him more than can be expressed. We almost lost him, and he will not survive much longer in this state. We must make an attempt.¡±


    Henry suddenly felt a fire in his mind and realized he couldn¡¯t move to avoid it.


    ¡°Xiong, hold the tear very still. I¡¯m inserting the crystalline ganglion between the hemispheres.¡±


    Ice pierced the fire in his mind, and Henry screamed mentally.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost at my end, Dr. Hiagawa,¡± Xiong said as his voice faded.


    Blindly, Henry forced a stiffened arm to press his ckened hand against Xiong¡¯s side. He pushed some of his excess energy into the ss being.


    ¡°AH,¡± Xiong cried out mentally, immediately feeling replenished. Henry contained so much energy.


    ¡°The connections are made. He has the tools, but it will be up to him to learn how to use them,¡± the doctor stated as she pulled back then immediately left. Xiong allowed the microtear to seal.


    ¡°Henry, we¡¯ve given you the means to control the magic with your will. It¡¯s from one of the ss People from Kuwait who didn¡¯t make it. We harvested a section of his brain that we now know controls the use of magic for us. We¡¯ve never imnted such an organ into another being. While it should work, this is something new to us. Please try.¡±


    Henry desperately reached for the healing power, but he was on the wrong.


    ¡°Earth!¡± he gasped and shed an image of the northern lights to Xiong. The ss being, powered by Henry, opened a tear in the sky in Earth¡¯s northern hemisphere. Henry reached for his daughter and found only a wisp of her but drew on it until he felt her sleeping presence. In his mind, he kissed her cheek and pulled on the healing magic. It flooded into the room over Xiong and bathed Henry¡¯s body in its soothing green light.


    Henry was terrified by what he was going to do next. He wasn¡¯t a doctor by any stretch of the imagination. He was going to have to rece all the burnt tissue by peeling it away and building new. Not only from his surface but internally, as his tongue, throat, and lungs were damaged, as well. His old nerves were gone, but he had no idea how much this would hurt when the growth began. He wasn¡¯t a wielder, but he knew he had the required willpower. That wouldn¡¯t help him if he was unconscious. Thinking about it some more, he realized that while he wasn¡¯t a wielder, hewasa programmer. Couldn¡¯t a program be a kind of spell?Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    He wrote code in his mind to purge the dead tissues and grow new cells. Everything damaged would be reced. His body already knew how to do that, but he was going to elerate the process. Then he wrapped the core instructions with a self-powered instruction set to maintain the spell until he was healed. He linked the finished code-spell to the healing magic and powered the program with the energy contained in his healthy, magic-saturated cells. Finally, he embedded it with his will to make it run independently of his conscious mind. The final construct felt like a living thing, eager to act. Its finalmands would release the healing magic and feed Xiong some of his unused energy. He was ready. He turned his mind outwards to his caregiver.


    ¡°Xiong, when this is over, whatever my state, please put me back in Washington. Somece they can find me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my friend. Good luck.¡±


    Henry activated his program and immediately choked in agony as the green light covering him red and his crispy ckened skin came off all at once. He coughed as his body purged chunks of his tongue, the scorched lung tissue, and the burns in his chest and throat.


    The burnt surfaces of his muscles came off next. Henry had no eyes to roll back as his consciousness fled, but they soon began to regrow as well. He missed witnessing the muscle tissue growing new cells. Blood vessels, nerves, tendons, ligaments, anything damaged in the st of current was removed and regrown.


    His skin grew back smooth and unblemished, his hair returned, including hisshes and eyebrows. His lower half was no longer naked as his fur returned, dense and curly. The green light covering Henry¡¯s body glowed brighter and brighter until it popped in a sh, and the glow went out.


    Xiong felt a surge of energy as he watched Henry in shock. The man was breathing. He didn¡¯t understand how he coulde back from such life-threatening injuries, but he was d he had. Still, he¡¯d never seen anything like that, and¡­ it frightened him.


    He called out for assistance. As he did, Henry¡¯s mor reset, and he looked human once more, but his clothes were missing.


    ¡°We have no clothes to give him,¡± one from the arriving group said as she felt Xiong¡¯s concern.


    Xiong had no choice but to send Henry back as he was. He opened a small tear and looked for a suitable ce where agents weren¡¯t currently searching. He spotted a cluster of bushes a short distance from the Capitol Building. The assisting ss People lifted and moved Henry from the spot where the burnt skin and hair remained. Xiong pointed to a clear spot on the floor. ¡°I will drop him through here.¡± They set him down.

 226

    Keeping the destination drop zone in his mind, he opened the tear, and Henry fell through to drop three feet to the grass below. The back of his headnded on the small brassmemorative te bolted to the stone next to the bushes. Xiong winced but quickly closed the tear as he saw the beam of a shlight approaching.


    He hoped their friend was okay as they¡¯d asked so much from him. He looked back to the pile of charred remains. Something shiny caught his attention. It was up where Henry¡¯s head had been. Xiong reached down and lifted the crystal ganglion from the ground. His body must have rejected it after he was healed.


    Xiong couldn¡¯t inform Henry that he no longer had their transnted capacity to wield magic. He also had no idea how Henry got it out yetpleted his spell.


    He looked to the others. ¡°We will bury these remains in the forest de to honor our friend, Henry.¡±


    A feeling of joy and love washed through him from the others. The ss People loved the idea, as they loved Henry.


    -=-


    Mahati was driven to a local hospital when she received word that Henry had finally been found. She rushed inside when they arrived, and Wace Granger and Stephen Dawes were both waiting for her.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Henry? Please take me to him!¡± she insisted. The men nodded to her and gestured for her to follow them. They shared an annoyed look at each other as they walked down the hall.


    Wace spoke first. ¡°My team found him next to some bushes, on a parkwn across the street, east of the Capitol Building. He was unconscious and bleeding from a small wound on the back of his head.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s injured?¡± Mahati gasped.


    Not to be outdone by his NSA counterpart, Stephen butt in to exin. ¡°There is no way to know what happened to him as all cameras and lights in the area were knocked out by the storm. The doctors have run tests to see the extent of his injuries. They¡¯re also running a rape kit. We¡¯re waiting on the results.¡±


    Wace jumped back in with a scowl for the other director. ¡°The reason for the rape kit is because he was naked when he was discovered-no clothes, wallet, keys, or cell phone. It might have been a robbery. I¡¯ll arrange to get him some new clothes to wear tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Thank you! Can I see him?¡± Mahati asked as she struggled to keep the tears from her eyes.


    They reached a hospital room with two agents standing on either side of the door, one from each agency. The door opened, and a doctor stepped out to see the gathering. She ignored the two men and immediately locked eyes with the distraught woman. ¡°You. What rtion are you to the patient?¡±


    ¡°I-I work with him, his legal counsel. I¡¯m also his neighbor and friend,¡± Mahati managed.


    ¡°Good enough. You two wait outside.¡± She gestured for Mahati to enter the room with her.


    They walked to the side of the bed where Henry was sleeping. There was a wrinkle of concern or pain between his brows. Mahati instinctively reached over and ran her thumb over the skin there to smooth it out. He sighed in his sleep, and the crease smoothed out as his features rxed. Mahati smiled, pulled back her hand, and looked to the doctor in embarrassment.


    She just smiled knowingly. ¡°The bump on the back of his head wasn¡¯t too bad. The cut was small and didn¡¯t require stitches. There¡¯s no sign of any significant damage anywhere. The rape kit turned up negative.¡± She admired his skin as she ran her fingers over his arm. ¡°I¡¯d kill for skin like his. Baby smooth and soft, like he¡¯s a newborn. How is that fair?¡±


    Mahati shook her head as she smiled at the doctor.


    ¡°He appears to be in a state of exhaustion. Whatever happened to him tonight, it took a lot out of him. I¡¯ll sign him out in the morning.¡± They looked out the window as lights began toe on outside. The city¡¯s power grid wasing back online. ¡°That¡¯s a good sign.¡±


    ¡°Could I stay with him?¡± Mahati asked.


    The doctor smiled and nodded. ¡°But you didn¡¯t hear it from me.¡±


    Mahati thanked her and pulled a chair closer to the bed, with her back to the window and facing the door. As the doctor stepped outside, Mahati saw her address the two men who looked frustrated. She was shaking her head. Mahati smiled as the door closed.


    She pulled out her cell and was delighted to see she had a connection. She dialed Cam, and the woman picked up the phone immediately.


    ¡°Mahati! Speak to us,¡± the CEO gasped, and the sound indicated she had it on speakerphone.


    ¡°I¡¯m with Henry. He¡¯s in a hospital with a bump on the back of his head, and he¡¯s missing his clothes. He¡¯s unconscious at the moment, but the doctor tells me he¡¯s just exhausted. I¡¯ll stay with him tonight and bring him home in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, that¡¯s good news, Mahati! Thank you for being there for him!¡± Cam said, but she could hear others making relieved sounds.


    ¡°Along with no clothes, he has no wallet, keys, travel documents, or cell phone. Director Granger will get him some clothes for his flight home tomorrow,¡± Mahati informed them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for new documentation, wallet, credit card, and keys,¡± Sigrid offered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get him a new cell,¡± Roy said.


    Mahati cleared her throat. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking him home-to his home in the morning. He won¡¯t being into the office.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Whatever you feel is in his best interests. Thank you, Mahati,¡± Cam said, giving Mahati a boost of confidence.


    She took a deep breath. ¡°I will speak to you tomorrow. Good night.¡±


    ¡°Good night.¡±


    She disconnected and leaned back in the chair to watch Henry sleep. He must have been dreaming as his eyes moved under his eyelids, and his little frown was back.


    Mahati moved her chair closer to the bed and took his hand in hers.


    The doctor was right! She was surprised by how soft his skin was. When she finished admiring that, she looked up to his face and saw his brow had smoothed and he was sleeping peacefully. Her cheeks warmed, but she was secretly pleased she could help him sleep. She settled back in her chair with her arm resting on the bed, his hand in hers.


    Sleep had almost taken her when she realized this was as close as she¡¯d evere to sleeping with someone. A thrill shot through her, and she admired Henry¡¯s innocent expression before she let herself drift off.


    Cam woke early Friday morning andy in bed looking at her ceiling, going over in her head the events of the night before, beginning with Mahati¡¯s frantic call to inform her that Henry had gone missing.


    She recalled the momentary sensation of her stomach dropping out from under her when she heard that. It was only Mahati¡¯s impending breakdown that kept Cam from losing it as well. She¡¯d instinctively stepped back from her emotions to calm the other woman. As she¡¯d said on the call, she needed the woman¡¯s eyes on the scene to ensure Henry would be safe once found. Once she¡¯d hung up, her emotions came crashing back, and it took a few moments of fighting for control to steady herself enough to reach for the phone again to call Roy.


    She hadn¡¯t finished pressing his extension when the man charged into her office with Sigrid and Marisa at his heels. Apparently, he¡¯d been following the news of the events in Washington and grabbed Sigrid on his way to her office. Marisa tagged along as they rushed past Henry¡¯s office.


    Cam told them of Mahati¡¯s call then all they could do was wait. They ordered dinner and kept watch on the news reports. The power failure was due to several power substations being knocked out by the storm¡¯s intense lightning sts. Crews were immediately dispatched to rece friedponents. The outagested a few hours.


    When Mahati called to let them know Henry was safe, that sensation of her stomach flipping returned only this time she felt a wave of relief afterward.


    This morning she examined that odd reaction. She¡¯d never really felt the same way for any of her previous lovers. Some had perished in tragic circumstances, and the most she¡¯d felt then was a sad disappointment and a period of mncholy. There hadn¡¯t been any of this emotional upheaval or loss of equilibrium.


    Cam took her shower and got ready for work as her brain struggled to grasp the significance of the change.


    After a small breakfast, she met her driver at the door and got a lift to work. She took the elevator up to her floor, and she still hadn¡¯t worked out a satisfactory exnation for it.


    ¡°Good morning, Cam,¡± Felix remarked as she entered her waiting area.


    ¡°Good morning, Felix.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be having a special visitor this morning. NuruOnwudiwe¡¯sassistant contacted me to let me know the woman ising in to speak with you at nine,¡± he said with a serious expression. He was obviously aware of the significance of this meeting.


    Cam nodded as she was early today. That was fortunate. ¡°Please call Sigrid and have her join me,¡± she said, and he picked up his phone as she entered her office.


    She sat, turned on her terminal, and smiled as it came on instantly, the custom dashboard Henry designed disying all of the pertinent data she needed to start her day. At a nce, she could see all was well. That wasn¡¯t really a surprise as if something had required her attention, she would have received an alert on her cell. That was another improvement Henry added for her. She felt that lift in spirits again as she thought of him and puzzled over the feeling until Sigrid knocked on her door jamb.


    ¡°Good morning, Sigrid. Pleasee in and close the door,¡± she said.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Good morning to you. What¡¯s making you smile?¡± Sigrid asked.


    Cam just waved the question away as she pulled her thoughts together. ¡°I¡¯m going to have a visit today from the head of the Subi Association, Nuru Onwudiwe. She¡¯ll have her attendants with her. On the off chance she challenges me, I¡¯d like to have you by my side to deal with her spear fighters.¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s smile threatened to light up the room. ¡°Certainly!¡±


    ¡°How are your energy levels?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not at my peak, but I can certainly deal with her two attendants,¡± the tall blonde grinned.


    Cam nodded. ¡°I¡¯m hoping this can be resolved without conflict. However, she might still be under the impression that I¡¯m challenging her for her position. She might have used the two days between ourst meeting to charge herself and her attendants.¡±


    Sigrid looked at Cam questioningly. ¡°How¡¯s your energy level?¡±

 227

    ¡°I¡¯m not at my peak either. I had to use a fair amount to deal with Carl de Bellisle. But I don¡¯t intend to fight Nuru. I don¡¯t want her job!¡± she eximed.


    Sigrid snorted in amusement, and the phone chirped. Cam pressed the button. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Your 9 AM is here,¡± Felix said.


    ¡°Thank you. Please send them in.¡±


    Sigrid stood to face the door as Cam joined her. ¡°Remember our visit to Walter¡¯s cavern?¡± the blond asked quietly, and Cam nodded as she smiled at Nuru, who strode in with her bodyguards at her sides. They shut the door.


    The waves of energy radiating from the leader confirmed Cam¡¯s guess that she¡¯d been overfeeding in preparation for this meeting. She sighed, as in contrast, Cam held back on her output the best she could. She forced a smile onto her lips.


    ¡°Greetings, Nuru Onwudiwe,¡± Cam began and bowed her head to the other woman.


    ¡°Cam Vimor, you are not presenting the excess of power you did the other night,¡± Nuru snapped.


    Cam looked up and nodded. ¡°As I exined in my note, that night was an anomalous situation. I was meeting with the leader of one of thergest Were packs in the United States. He doesn¡¯t have a stable mind, so I couldn¡¯t show weakness before him.¡±


    ¡°As you fail to show respect before your leader now!¡± one of Nuru¡¯s attendants red, triggering her partner¡¯s aggression, as well. Suddenly, they dropped the mors hiding their spears, the deadly points falling down to point their way.


    ¡°Sun!¡±


    Cam closed her eyes and threw her arm up before them, but her guests were caught off guard as the explosion of brilliant white light mmed into them.


    Sigrid¡¯s spear spun and knocked aside the two points. Then she turned it again and drove the hardened end of the shaft forward in two quick jabs. Two sharp impacts sounded as the spear women jerked back, knocked entirely off their feet. Sigrid stepped back as she put her weapon and armor away once more. ¡°Moon,¡± she sighed, content with the brief sparring. Such a short thing could hardly be called a battle.


    Cam lowered her arm and blinked at the sight of Nuru rubbing her eyes and gawking at her two unconscious warriors.


    ¡°Please, this isn¡¯t necessary, Nuru. I¡¯m not challenging your position as head of the Subi Association. I have no ambition to take on that role. My position as CEO of VRL makes me happy and brings me all the satisfaction I need,¡± Cam pleaded.


    Nuru knelt and touched the necks of her attendants. They were still alive, but each had a sizable bump on their foreheads. She stood and looked at Sigrid. ¡°You¡¯re stronger and faster than we were led to believe Valkyries could be. You¡¯re certainly blindingly bright when you fight.¡± She looked to Cam. ¡°You showed more power than someone of your age should have. Something is going on here that is far outside the norm. As the leader of the Subus Association, I demand-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry. We¡¯re under an edict from the Hidden Races Council not to speak of this,¡± Cam said. ¡°If you feel you need the information, you¡¯ll need to direct your request to them. I¡¯m unable to tell you anything as they would getwindof it.¡±


    Nuru¡¯s eyebrows rose up as she stared at Cam, hearing her emphasis. She stepped closer until she was almost nose to nose with the woman. Cam didn¡¯t blink, nor did she give ground. Nuru inhaled, taking her scent, and her eyes showed her shock. She looked at Sigrid, who just smiled at her, so she moved closer to the blonde and inhaled once more. Her surprised gaze looked into blue eyes, then over to Cam¡¯s, and noted the gold flecks in her irises almost appeared to be glowing. She stepped back to look at the two women.


    ¡°I see. I will take you at your word, for I believe you¡¯re involved in something that exceeds the scope of the Subus Association¡¯s leadership. I cannot say I¡¯m not exceedingly curious and perhaps more than a little jealous. Venturing into the unknown like the explorers of ancient times has always been a dream of mine.¡±


    Cam smiled and nodded. ¡°If therees a time when the edict can be safely lifted, it will be my greatest honor to contact you at the earliest opportunity.¡±


    Nuru tipped her head forward in thanks, then looked to her attendants and sighed.


    Sigrid smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll call for smelling salts¡­ and ice.¡±


    -=-


    Homnd Security headquarters was buzzing with excitement. Therge auditorium, which only a day earlier witnessed the unveiling of a new technological breakthrough, now contained soldiers unlike any seen before. Their uniforms were a little worse for wear as moving as fast as they did, the fabric took a beating. Still, they stood at parade rest before theirmanding officer in even rows on the auditorium floor.


    Colonel Crane smiled at his people then turned to General Baines, who was eyeing the soldiers critically. The older man turned to Gordon.


    ¡°Why are their uniforms so badly damaged?¡± he grumbled.


    Crane nodded thoughtfully and kept his irritation at the stupid question from his face. ¡°We discovered with the original Silver People that their clothes couldn¡¯t endure the rapid movements of their running. They don¡¯t wear clothes at all. The Sergeant has exined that they haven¡¯t yet run at full speed, so the uniforms¡¯ tougher material hassted longer. They may eventually need to go without as well.¡±


    The general looked at him in shock. ¡°You can¡¯t have soldiers running around with their Johnsons pping in the breeze!¡±


    ¡°Not to worry, General, we don¡¯t have those anymore!¡± Yablonski announced happily. The Colonel and General stared at the Corporal as the room went silent. ¡°I mean, we don¡¯t really need them anymore, and running with them would be painful,¡± the younger silver man said awkwardly.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need them?¡± the General asked.


    Crane frowned at the soldier as he was annoyed with his loose tongue.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. I mean, we don¡¯t eat or drink, so we don¡¯t need to¡­ release stuff, and I don¡¯t think we have sex the usual way,¡± Yablonski answered slowly, obviously regretting his urge to speak.


    ¡°Without one, I guess youcouldn¡¯thave sex the usual way,¡± Gordon asserted.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    ¡°Yes, Colonel. Sorry, sir,¡± the soldier said quietly.


    ¡°This transformation to Silver People has affected their discipline, has it?¡± the General growled at the Colonel.


    Gordon looked to Mick. ¡°Sergeant. Report on status change for Corporal Yablonski,¡± he called out crisply.


    ¡°Sir! Corporal Yablonski continues to be a discipline issue for the squad. No change in status, sir!¡± the Sergeant returned, equally crisp.


    Gordon turned back to the General. ¡°The corporal was new to the team before this change and hadn¡¯t quite achieved the required level of maturity. He¡¯s a work in progress.¡± The General sniffed but chose not to argue the point. Gordon redirected to the older man¡¯s first squabble. ¡°So, their uniforms aren¡¯t really an issue.¡±


    He did a quick headcount and realized their number had increased! ¡°Jackson! yne! Rewan! Front and center!¡± he snapped.


    The three young men were instantly standing at attention before him, as silver as the others.


    ¡°Who gave you permission to change into Silver People?¡± he barked.


    The three looked guiltily at each other but remained silent, so Crane looked to the sergeant who was studiously looking elsewhere. ¡°Why-¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re part of this team, sir!¡± Jackson said crisply.


    Gordon wanted to throttle them, but he understood their youthful enthusiasm and desire. That said, he scowled at the team. ¡°No more!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only you and Dne left, sir,¡± Yablonski offered, then shut up at his Colonel¡¯s frustrated re.


    Rolling his neck to relieve the tension, Crane turned back to the General and was surprised to see the man was looking at the three young men with what could almost be approval.


    The old soldier seemed to realize he was being watched, so he turned to Crane. ¡°If they¡¯re in the army, they need to be dressed as soldiers! We need to be able to identify them by their rank insignia and name badges!¡±


    The Colonel held back his sigh. ¡°I suppose the R&D department will have to spend some time and money on devising a new uniform that moves with them.¡±


    ¡°Is that really your first priority?¡±


    Crane and Baines turned to see a familiar crooked smile and Wace following the man as he watched the General with an annoyed expression.


    ¡°What¡¯s your brilliant suggestion?¡± the General snapped at the smiling man.


    The tall man stopped before the assembled soldiers and gazed at them. His smile didn¡¯t dim at all as he turned his head toward the Colonel. ¡°I¡¯d like to see a demonstration of making a Silver Person.¡±


    The chamber went quiet again, and the soldiers shifted uneasily as they watched this stranger.


    Gordon cleared his suddenly tight throat. ¡°We¡¯d need a volunteer-¡±


    ¡°How fortunate I brought one along,¡± the smiling man said and gestured for someone to enter the room.


    All eyes turned to see a big, handsome marine in dress uniform wheel himself across the floor to stop before the General and snap a sharp salute to the man.


    Baines¡¯ face was a study in control. He was obviously surprised to see the Gunnery Sergeant. He also obviously recognized the man. He nced at the man who brought him with a sh of hate, then went back to the marine with the merest flicker of worry. He finally allowed himself a proud smile. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware you were in Washington, Gunny.¡±


    ¡°General, I flew in this morning after receiving a callst night to report for a special assignment,¡± the man said.


    It was then the marine noticed the rows of Silver People in torn army uniforms. His eyes widened in shock. ¡°General?¡±


    ¡°A moment, son.¡± He gestured for the nameless one to follow him to the side of the room where they had a quiet but sharp conversation.

 228

    Gordon took in the ribbons pinned to the marine¡¯s dress uniform. He¡¯d done some pretty impressive things in his career. He stepped forward and returned the man¡¯s salute. ¡°I¡¯m Colonel Gordon Crane.¡±


    ¡°Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Endale.¡±


    Gordon smiled and gestured to the soldiers, who were now all smiling at him. ¡°I suppose your security clearance has been escted to allow you to witness this, so let me introduce you to my squad. Up until yesterday, they were a group of highly trained human soldiers. We were charged with capturing a small group of Silver People. Instead, my people got turned into Silver People themselves. They¡¯re still the same soldiers, but you can¡¯t really call them human any longer. Not that they¡¯veined.¡±


    ¡°We can run so fast!¡± Yablonski gushed.


    The squad burst into chuckles, and the marine¡¯s eyes widened at the odd sound.


    ¡°Maybe disciplinehasbeen affected,¡± Crane grumbled, and his squad snapped to attention as the argument was over and the two men returned.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m at a loss as to why I was ordered to be here,¡± Christopher said.


    The General looked ufortable, but the other smiled at the marine. ¡°We want to offer you an opportunity to serve your country once more, as these fine soldiers do.¡±


    The marine looked closely at the man¡¯s grin. ¡°Sorry, who exactly are you?¡±


    Gordon perked up as he watched with interest.T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°You can call me Hugh. I¡¯m a special consultant for the Administration,¡± he said with a humble nod.


    The marine watched him critically then looked to the soldiers for a moment.


    ¡°You want me to volunteer to be a silver person. You want someone really fast in a wheelchair?¡± the marine asked stiffly.


    Hugh grinned a little smugly. ¡°We don¡¯t really know what will happen. It might enable you to walk, or it might kill you. We were just told it eliminates your genitals. If they¡¯re essential to you, maybe you should refuse the offer.¡±


    Christopher red at him for almost a minute. Then he looked to Yablonski, whose face was showing the broadest smile.


    ¡°Something funny, Corporal?¡±


    ¡°Just imagining you hitting mach one in a wheelchair,¡± the soldier said.


    Crane retook control of the conversation. ¡°Stupid jokes aside, this ispletely new territory. We weren¡¯t even sure what the Silver People were until yesterday. The four we were attempting to capture turned out to be two farmhands and their wives from the Midwest US. With their speed, they made short work of my team, then stopped to ask us to leave them alone, and told us how to make more. They even gave us the required materials. I witness my team change and can honestly say, aside from this slight decrease in their discipline, they¡¯re the same people.¡± He looked closely at the marine. ¡°Hugh is correct. We have no idea what effect it will have on you.¡±


    Christopher took a deep breath and looked at the General. ¡°I¡¯d like to serve my country again.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ll lose your¡­¡± Baines gestured towards his groin.


    Christopher snorted. ¡°That hasn¡¯t worked since I¡¯ve been in this chair.¡±


    Hugh gestured to a group of men inb coats standing by at the side of the room. They approached carrying three cases and a video camera on a tripod set up facing the marine.


    ¡°We¡¯re doing this here?¡± Christopher asked in surprise.


    ¡°We were in a forest when it happened to us,¡± Mick said gently. ¡°It feels good.¡±


    He smiled nervously at her.


    The recording started, and the three cases were opened.


    One of theb jockeys used tongs to lift the glowing mesh from a case.


    ¡°It¡¯s water, mesh, then silver,¡± the Colonel corrected.


    A second scientist carefully lifted the ss bottle of water from a case. He looked at Crane in question. The Colonel stepped forward and took the bottle from his hands, and approached the marine. ¡°This is water that fell from a cloud we suspect came from another. It¡¯s water, but we¡¯re told it¡¯s required for the rest to work.¡± He paused, then looked to the Sergeant. ¡°Mick, can you detect anything different about this water?¡±


    She approached and dipped her finger in it. ¡°She looked at Crane in surprise. ¡°There¡¯s an energy. It¡¯s refreshing.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t detect that before, as a human.¡±


    Christopher watched her face then turned to the Colonel. ¡°Should I undress?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not necessary,¡± Gordon said. ¡°Are you absolutely sure?¡±


    The doubt in Christopher¡¯s eyes disappeared. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Nodding, Gordon poured the water over his head slowly and moved the bottle to cover his arms and legs as well. When he was done, the marine was soaked.


    Crane turned to theb coat holding the tongs. ¡°Can you throw the mesh at the Gunnery Sergeant?¡± The man looked so nervous, Gordon sighed and took the tongs from his hand to pick up the mesh. He looked to his team. ¡°Specialist Green, collect some of the strips and be ready.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    Crane turned to the others as the marine tried to wipe the water from his face unsessfully. ¡°The Silver People can touch the silver strips with their hands, as after they receive enough, it stops soaking in.¡± He looked back to Christopher. ¡°This part looked a bit startling, but none of my squad were hurt by it. Let it happen.¡± He saw Mick move ten feet back behind the marine¡¯s wheelchair.


    Without further dy, Crane lobbed the mesh directly at the marine¡¯s face. The man flinched but let the meshnd against his face as Crane saw done to his people. There was a sh of light, and the Marine flew back into the arms of the Sergeant.


    ¡°Now, Mr. Green,¡± Gordon called out.


    The Specialist shot to the Sergeant¡¯s side and ced the silver strips on the marine¡¯s face and hands. The cameraman rushed over to get a better shot of the silver foil melting over the man¡¯s face. Green used three more strips before they stopped soaking in.


    Mick had a cautious expression on her face, then she touched the marine¡¯s newly silvered skin. She looked at Crane in fright. ¡°Sir! Something¡¯s wrong. A blockage from his spine! He¡¯s losing energy. I can feel him fading! We- we need to get him more energy!¡±


    ¡°The strike zone on the Mall!¡± Yablonski called out, and the sergeant nodded firmly before looking to the Colonel.


    Crane turned to the General. ¡°Sir, contact the guards at the Mall security zone to let them know they¡¯re about to getpany.¡± He looked to one of his team. ¡°Dane, take the camera along.¡±


    The old man looked worried, but he got on his cell as the squad moved in to pick up the prone marine.


    They rushed out of the room, Corporal Dane following with the video camera he grabbed on the way out. Once they were outside, they poured on the speed, zipping through the morning traffic to race across the city to reach the Mall. The area was cordoned off, but they crashed through the barricades until they were standing next to a lushly green circle of growth next to the reflecting pool.


    Dane pulled back to capture the image of four soldiers supporting and tipping up the big marine¡¯s body as Mick tore his shoes from his silver feet, grabbed his ankles, and held them to the ground inside the circle. Raw power surged up through his feet to the top of his head as he screamed. Mick and the others holding him also screamed, and as a group, they lurched back from the circle to copse in a pile.


    All of them had shared the experience and were severely dazed. Corporal Dane turned off the video camera, pulled his cell from his tattered uniform pocket, and dialed the Colonel. ¡°We¡¯re here, Colonel. One second.¡±


    The big Silver Soldier touched Mick, and she nodded to him as he felt her recovering. He moved to touch the marine¡¯s hand, and the man yanked it back as he crab-walked back to escape the invasion of his mind. He stopped and dropped to his ass as he realized he¡¯d just used his legs.


    Dane stood and lifted the cell once more. ¡°It was sessful, sir. Yes, we¡¯reing back now.¡±


    Mick moved closer to Christopher. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    His mouth moved, but he was struggling with his words. She held out a hand to him as she smiled gently. He eyed her hand for a moment, then cautiously touched it.


    Through their link, she spoke calmly to him. ¡°I¡¯m Sergeant Michelle Tennison, but you can call me Mick. I see you got your legs back. I¡¯m d. You gave us a scare there for a moment. The break in your spine seemed to be draining your energy, like a leaking bucket.¡±


    ¡°How are we able to talk mind to mind?¡± he asked.


    She smiled and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. All I know is we can do it when we touch. Something else crazy happens when we do, though. Just like when we¡¯re running, talking like this makes our perceptions speed up. Take a look around, and you¡¯ll see how everything else seems to be moving so slow.¡±


    Christopher saw a bunch of soldiers running towards them from the destroyed barricades. They were moving so slowly.


    Yablonski reached out from his prone position lying across the other Silver Soldiers¡¯ legs to touch Mick¡¯s foot as he craned his neck to look up at the marine. ¡°Hey, your name is Christopher Endale, right? I just realized Chip is a short form for Christopher. That means we can call you Chippendale!¡±


    The group shared augh through the link, and the marine felt their happiness and relief. They weren¡¯tughing at him; he was being included. They were also shaky from the st of energy they shared.


    ¡°Thanks for doing this for me,¡± he said and felt their satisfaction for being able to help.


    Mick looked back at the human soldiers getting closer. Their weapons wereing up, and their mouths were open as if they were shouting, which they probably were. ¡°We should get back to the Colonel. We¡¯ll start off slow as this is going to be new to you.¡± She stood and helped him stand. He looked down at his legs, and through her grip on his hand, she felt his intense feelings of relief and joy at being able to stand again.


    ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t touch anyone while you¡¯re moving fast. The kic energy transfer would probably turn their bones to powder,¡± Mick warned. ¡°Yablonski hit a tree earlier and turned the trunk into splinters.¡± Christopher nodded with wide eyes. The soldiers all got back to their feet and rushed around the oing soldiers. Mick had her arm around the marine¡¯s back to assist with his first run since he lost the use of his legs. Halfway back, she released her grip, and he ran on his own. She watched his face and saw his broad smile.

 229

    They stopped at the guardhouse where a startled looking soldier stared at them, then just waved them through. They returned to the building with the auditorium. The Colonel, the General, Hugh, and theb coats were waiting for them. Corporal Dane handed the camera back to the technician, who epted it excitedly. He immediately reviewed the recording and made excited sounds to his colleagues.


    The General was trying to school his expression but wasn¡¯t too sessful.


    ¡°How¡­ how are you feeling, son?¡± he asked softly from his tight throat.


    The big marine saluted him with a wide smile. ¡°I feel really good, sir! So much better than I was after the explosion and maybe better than my best day.¡±


    Hugh¡¯s expression was satisfied. ¡°I know a lot of other soldiers who might appreciate the same chance.¡±


    Mick stepped forward. ¡°Sir, what we saw today was just short of a miracle. His body rejected the conversion, and we almost lost him. The injury he sustained created a break in the flow, and he almost bled out his life energy. If it hadn¡¯t been for Yablonski¡¯s quick thinking and the strike zone being so close by, we would have lost him. We don¡¯t know if this will work for everyone, but I wouldn¡¯t want to do it too far from the strike zone. I wouldn¡¯t want to do it very often at all as the strike zone¡¯s energy is too raw.¡±


    The technician turned a tablet¡¯s screen towards the Sergeant. ¡°Was this pose intentional?¡±


    Mick looked at the man then at the screen, which was showing her team propping the marine up while she held his feet against the super-charged ground.


    Christopher surprised them all with his delightedughter. ¡°That¡¯s hrious! It looks just like that shot of the marines nting the g at Iwo Jima!¡± he gasped, and the other soldiers began tough as well.


    Crane watched Baines, who was staring at their newest silver person with a small smile and ssy eyes. It must have been some time since he¡¯dst heard the young manugh.


    ¡°How¡¯s your energy level, Mick?¡± the Colonel asked.


    ¡°Fully topped up, now.¡± She looked at her people who¡¯d been in contact with the marine. They all nodded and smiled. ¡°The others will need to recharge. They can¡¯t touch the surface of the strike zone but getting close to it should be enough. It wouldn¡¯t take long. Permission to send the rest of the team to breakfast, sir.¡±


    Gordon nced at the General and Hugh and just got nods from the two men.


    ¡°Permission to apany them, sir,¡± the Gunnery Sergeant asked the General, who nodded.


    The Colonel smiled at the marine whose uniform was already showing signs of distress. He looked at Mick. ¡°Take the team back and while they¡¯re charging, see if the original four are still in the neighborhood,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± she said crisply and saluted. He returned it then she gestured for the group to fall out. The Silver Soldiers were quickly out the door.


    ¡°Is it wise to be letting the public see them?¡± Baines asked with a thoughtful expression.


    ¡°What kind of impression will it make to demonstrate the US army has Silver People on their team?¡± Crane returned with a small smile.


    The General gave him a little nod as that thought sunk in.


    When Gordon looked over at Hugh, the man was giving him another of his intensely evaluating stares. Finally, he spoke.


    ¡°You¡¯re not like Devlin after all, but I believe that actually works in our favor.¡±


    A chill ran down Crane¡¯s back. What the fuck was it with this guy that set his nerves off so badly?


    -=-T¨ºxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Carl de Bellisle frowned at the news report. The shit trulywashitting the fan out there, but he wasn¡¯t going to postpone his expansion n again. Not when everything was finally falling into ce. His empire was within his grasp.


    He closed the web browser on hisputer and switched his attention to the report he¡¯d received from his spy, and another frown surfaced. He¡¯d tasked them to get more information on Roy Duncan¡¯s son, but the answers he got back weren¡¯t as satisfying as he¡¯d hoped. The handsome young man wasn¡¯t Roy¡¯s flesh and blood, after all. Getting true justice for his dead son was not to be. A tremor of rage ran through his body.


    He took a steadying breath and reread the report. Henry Gable was thepany¡¯s CIO though he looked far too young for the role. Something about that triggered a recollection. Something said by the idiots who killed his spy on Roy¡¯s team. Before they killed Billy, he¡¯d told them how Roy supposedly had be an Uber-Were. Billy said it was the blood of the injured young man. The same man the idiots visited the following day in the VRL executive¡¯s home to collect his blood. They¡¯d imed he was a goat-man, a Satyr.


    Carl leaned back in his chair. So, Roy had no son of his own, but this young man was important to him. That still made Mr. Gable an excellent hostage. His blood might also be the key to Roy¡¯s ascension. It seemed likely that bitch Cam drew her improved abilities from the same source.


    Determined to move forward, he formted a n to extract this young man from VRL¡¯s tender care. Carl would either have what he needed to ascend to the same level as Roy, or he¡¯d have leverage against him to finally bend the stubborn bastard to his will.


    A smile finally arrived on his face, but it was cold.

 230

    Henry¡¯s condo was a hive of activity on Saturday. While his friends all promised to let him rest on Friday after returning from Washington, they began arriving at his ce Saturday morning from ten onwards. He was soon hosting the same group he¡¯d had at his house warming party, the only exceptions being Kali, Yuko, and Jun. This time the guests brought the food and drinks.


    He was pleased to see Siobhan and curious about the mirrored sunsses she slipped on the moment she entered. When he gestured to them, she just smiled and patted his chest as she walked by into the living room.


    He was asked to recount his side of the events in Washington, and that¡¯s where Henry had a problem. His mind shied away from the memories of what happened to him as they were chaotic and horrifying. He wasn¡¯t sure he could share them. He remembered too well, but the images in his mind were difficult to examine too closely.


    So, he gave a sanitized version of the story, omitting the horrors, covering his run back through the Mall, and waking in the hospital. As his friends kept arriving, he was asked to give his story repeatedly until he finally begged Mahati to take over that duty for him.


    He saw Roy watching him, so he wondered if he¡¯d slipped up during the retelling. Roy¡¯s sharp mind caught things like that.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    When Meixiu arrived with Sigrid, he greeted them at the front door and immediately noticed how low the Vampire¡¯s energy level was and insisted on feeding her.


    ¡°I did not wish to bother you so soon after your troubles in Washington,¡± she said timidly.


    Sigrid looked at her in concern. ¡°What were you doing that used up so much energy?¡±


    Meixiu looked embarrassed. ¡°I met two of my kind two nights ago. I may have shown off a little when I left them.¡±


    ¡°You met other Vampires? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Sigrid asked in annoyance.


    Meixiu turned to her in frustration. ¡°I nned to, then Henry went missing, and I was embarrassed by how I used up all my energy.¡±


    Henry wrapped his arms around the Vampire with her back to his chest and lifted his wrist to her face.


    Meixiu¡¯s face flushed as she enjoyed being in Henry¡¯s arms so much, but a feeding was very intimate, and Sigrid was still standing before her.


    ¡°Could¡­ could we have a little privacy?¡± she asked quietly, and Sigrid snorted in frustration and left to join the others in the living room.


    Meixiu pressed her lips to Henry¡¯s wrist and paused as something was significantly different. His skin was new. The spot she¡¯d previously fed from would not have scarred, but there was always a tiny amount of dimpling or thickening at the site. Henry had none of these signs on his wrist. She was intimately aware of the nature of skin due to her diet, and she could tell immediately that the skin on his arm was like a newborn¡¯s, free of any sign of aging, use, or abuse. Her hunger stopped her from spending more time on this oddity. She numbed his wrist and bit gently. She managed three small swallows and suddenly felt lightheaded from a surge of energy. She just managed to seal the bite before she slumped in his arms, unconscious.


    He lifted her easily and carried her to the bedroom once more. This was bing a thing. Sigrid was immediately at his bedroom door as he closed it.


    ¡°What happened?¡± she asked in concern.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. She¡¯d barely started when she passed out. I think she really overdid it when she drained herself,¡± he suggested. ¡°She¡¯s resting now, but I¡¯ll check on her in a little while.¡±


    He took Sigrid¡¯s hands in his and looked into her lovely blue eyes. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about messing up our ns again. We¡¯ll have a date night this week. I promise.¡±


    Those beautiful eyes blinked at him in surprise, then her cheeks flushed. Unable to resist how adorable she looked, Henry dipped forward and kissed her.


    ¡°Mmmmm!¡± she purred as the kiss went on.


    When he pulled back, he heard several gasps from the living room. Sigrid smiled blissfully, then she saw his tense expression and noticed the noises from the next room. She took Henry¡¯s hand and drew him after her.


    The TV was on, and everyone was staring at it in shock. On the screen was a shaky and grainy video of the dramatic storm over Washington¡¯s National Mall. Someone there that night had a functioning cell phone and managed to get a movie of the clouds battling. The scene showed the wide bolts of lightning from the two enormous clouds shooting straight down, then leaping diagonally to strike a dark shape on thewn¡­ for far longer than normal lightningsted.


    The amateur video was shot a long distance from the impact zone. Thework news channel was zooming in, which did nothing to improve the sharpness.


    The reporter¡¯s voice came over the video as they started the clip once more in slow motion. ¡°The dark shape seen in the center of the lightning appears to be the size and shape of a man. Here at the beginning, you can see he seems to be standing. By the end, he¡¯s prone on the ground, in what looks like a fetal position.¡±


    Henry was shaking as his mind drew him back to the moment. He didn¡¯t have any clear memories of when he was the focal point of the bolts. A sharp burst of pain, then his nerves were overwhelmed. He hadn¡¯t known how bad it was until he saw himself through the eyes of the young Silver Person.


    Because he had no eyes of his own. A tremor shook his body.


    ¡°Henry? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sigrid asked as she felt his grip tighten and his trembling.


    Roy looked away from the TV to examine him. He stood and walked over to stand before the younger man.


    ¡°This is you, isn¡¯t it. This is what you weren¡¯t telling us,¡± he asked gently.


    Henry couldn¡¯t speak as his lips were trembling too much. He looked up into Roy¡¯s eyes and saw the man¡¯s concern. Henry stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the big redhead and felt himself being squeezed by Roy¡¯s arms. The tears came then as the horror he¡¯d been holding at bay finally got loose. Roy held him as Henry¡¯s shaking became violent, and his silent crying became sobs.


    Sigrid looked to Cam and Marisa then they all looked to Mahati, who was staring back at Henry in shock. Obviously, she knew nothing of what he¡¯d actually gone through.


    Mary was confused and looked to Tish. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. The guy in that lightning storm can¡¯t be Henry.¡± Tish shook her head, then watched Henry with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible! I¡¯ve seen what happens to someone who¡¯s identally touched high voltage. I¡¯ve responded to calls at ident scenes. This,¡± Mary gestured to the TV, ¡°This wouldn¡¯t leave anything left.¡±


    Roy red at Mary as he felt the impact her words had on the shaken man in his arms. She swallowed her next words apologetically.


    The news program had switched to an at-the-scene interview with a woman with two young kids and two young men standing nearby. ¡°He was glowing as electricity jumped all over his body,¡± she gushed. ¡°I was frightened of him at first, but he just seemed to want to protect my children.¡±


    Henry twitched again, and Roy looked over to Cam and nodded.


    ¡°His eyes freaking glowed from within, man, and hemanded us to bring them to safety. We grabbed the kids, and I¡¯ve never run so fast in my life!¡±


    ¡°Can we turn that off, please?¡± Roy asked. Cam was closest to the remote and pressed the power button.


    Henry released his death grip on Roy and stepped back. He nced up. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said and epted a tissue from Sandy. He wiped his eyes as he steadied his breathing.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Can you tell us what happened?¡± Roy asked calmly.


    Henry looked around at the gathered people. His friends, his new family, the people he¡¯de back from death to be with.


    Cam, Marisa, and Sigrid looked like they were seconds from rushing to him to pull him into a hug.


    His eyes caught Mahati¡¯s look of distress and gave her a small, trembling smile, which seemed to ease her expression somewhat.


    Tish, Sandy, Dayshia, and Mary, their eyes full of concern and confusion, this¡­ stuff still so alien to their Human perceptions.


    ¡°I need to sit down,¡± he said, and Mahati moved over on the couch to let him join her and Tish. He sat between them and took a shaky breath.

 231

    When he felt a little calmer, he looked up and saw he had everyone¡¯s attention. It felt strange to be focused on so intensely, but he pushed past that, too.


    ¡°Mahati and I were in the Mall when I felt the maged rain. I¡¯ve seen what these false clouds can do, so I got scared and told Mahati to run for the Lincoln Memorial. We were almost there, and I couldn¡¯t see Mahati, so I looked back and saw that woman you saw with the two kids. She-she wasn¡¯t going to make it, so I ran back towards her to help her get her kids to safety.


    He took a breath, then gripped his knees until his knuckles went white. Tish ced her hand on top of one as Mahati held his other one. He sucked in a sharp breath, then nodded. He could do this¡­ with a little help from his friends.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know why, but the charge in the clouds was drawn to me. I could feel the power jumping all over me, and I started to glow. Maybe the Wild Magic in the storm was drawn to the Wild Magic in me.¡± He nced over to see Siobhan nodding, as she obviously believed this.


    ¡°I knew I had to get away from everyone, but there were so many people. Some Silver People showed up, and I¡¯d seen them save people before, so I asked them to save them, and they did, just before the two pseudo-clouds hit me with their lightning. It only hurt for a short time, then everything went numb.¡±


    His voice cracked. ¡°Could I get some water?¡±


    Sandy quickly collected a ss of water for him, but Kesini plucked it from her fingers and handed it to him as she approached. Sandy gave her hair an annoyed look but retook her seat across from him.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Henry said after he swallowed some to wet his throat. ¡°While I was in the lightning, Xiong reached out to me and asked me to save the remaining ss People in Kuwait. My mind went there, and I opened tears to drop them through to Eden, the other world. Then¡­ then he showed me three more who were being tortured.¡± He looked at the others, his eyes brimming with fresh tears though it was his rage resurfacing. ¡°They killed a child!¡± He was shaking once more.


    ¡°What did you do, Henry?¡± Roy asked.


    Henry looked away. ¡°I killed them. I dropped all six of them into ava flow.¡± A shudder went through his body as he contemted the violence he¡¯d done.


    Roy shared a look with Sigrid.


    Meixiu had been listening from the hall. She walked into the living room and saw the looks of sadness, shock, and despair on her friend¡¯s faces. She¡¯d heard Henry¡¯s confession and knew he¡¯d been justified in his actions, so she wondered why the others were so upset.


    She moved to kneel before him. She took his hands, and she looked up into his eyes. She saw they were filled with pain. ¡°It was necessary, Henry. People who could do such awful things would do it again.¡±


    He sucked in a shaky breath, hearing her eptance of his actions.


    ¡°Why is your skin new?¡± she asked. Henry twitched, and several of the gathered made sounds of shock.


    He looked from face to face and swallowed to force his stomach to settle. ¡°The lightning burned me¡­ badly, as Mary said. Xiong brought me to Eden, but they couldn¡¯t help me. I saw what happened to me through the eyes of one of the Silver People. I was charred, my skinpletely burned, my face was gone. I¡­ I had no eyes!¡± he forced out, and Mahati and Tish cried out and clung to him. He was crying again as shudders shook his body from reliving it.


    Meixiu moved to stand next to Sigrid and touched her shoulder to get her attention. She leaned down and whispered in her ear. Sigrid gasped and turned to look into Meixiu¡¯s eyes as she nodded.


    Roy leaned forward. ¡°Who healed you, Henry?¡± he forced out.


    Henry blinked at him through his tears. ¡°I¡­ I did.¡±


    ¡°Henry, that¡¯s not possible,¡± Roy said gently. ¡°Was it the witch?¡±


    Henry shook his head and looked up at Roy. ¡°I was dying, Xiong told me they couldn¡¯t heal me, I was slipping away, and Baba came to me in the dark. She told me I could just let go. I knew¡­ she was testing me again. I knew she expected me to fight, so I did. I had so much toe back for. It wassohard, but I came back. Xiong and a ss Person who used to be a doctor imnted a crystal from a deceased ss Person¡¯s brain into mine so I could control magic like a wielder.¡±


    ¡°They made you a wielder?¡± Roy eximed as his eyes went wide. Henry nodded, and Roy¡¯s mind spun, then he shook his head. ¡°Okay, okay, but it¡¯s still impossible to cast against yourself. Otherwise, wielders would be turning themselves into gods!¡±


    Henry frowned as he thought about that. It made sense, but¡­ he was proof it worked.


    ¡°I did it.¡±


    They all looked at him, and that made him feel uneasy, so he exined.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything godlike. I just created a¡­ spell that would run autonomously until itpleted.¡±


    Roy frowned. ¡°Who taught you magic?¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°Okay, it was more of a program than a spell, but I think they¡¯re roughly the same thing; instructions to perform an action, powered by the energy of magic and controlled by the will.¡±


    Roy¡¯s incredulous anger red. ¡°And how did ya manage ta stay aware during a spell that ripped ya apart and put ya back together again?¡± he snapped, his enting through in his agitation.


    ¡°Roy!¡± Cam and Sigrid snapped in response. He just looked at them in frustration as Henry flinched from the memories.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to, so I embedded the spell with my will,¡± Henry asserted.


    Roy stared at the boy, messing with things he had no experience with, making assumptions that would get him killed. Roy needed him to understand how dangerous magic was. ¡°It doesn¡¯t wor-¡±


    ¡°It worked, okay!¡± Henry surged up from the couch as he yelled. He panted as his anxiety shook him. ¡°I was dying! I don¡¯t know how fucking magic works, and maybe that¡¯s good because at least I tried. I never wanted anything to do with magic, but this time it saved me! I don¡¯t intend to use it again.¡±


    Roy¡¯s chest felt tight as he watched Henry shaking from reaction. He stepped forward and pulled him into another hug. He was desperately afraid for the boy, but he couldn¡¯t deny Henry was right. He¡¯d managed the impossible because he didn¡¯t know better. As Henry¡¯s trembling slowed, Roy cast his eyes over the group with a serious expression.


    ¡°No one speaks to anyone about what happened,¡± he said sternly.


    The corner of Cam¡¯s lips curved up slightly. ¡°You mean about how huggy you¡¯ve be?¡±


    Henry snorted explosively against Roy¡¯s chest then pulled back to look up at the man apologetically.


    Roy shook his head in exasperation and squeezed Henry¡¯s shoulder before stepping back to focus on Cam. ¡°No. I¡¯ve always been a hugger.¡± That caught Cam and Sigrid off guard, and they snorted, too.


    He continued in a serious tone. ¡°We won¡¯t speak of Henry¡¯s new state of being a wielder. The Hidden Races Council has too many reasons for grabbing the boy as it is. Informing them he¡¯s miraculously be a wielder, and can use magic in ways no one else can, will guarantee an immediate reactionary response from them.¡± He looked to Michelle as the only active member of the Council in their group. The woman nodded with an equally serious expression, and he gave her a nod.


    He turned back to Henry, who was once more sitting between Mahati and Tish, both of whom were holding his hands again. ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯mfortable about the idea that these ss People put a crystal in your brain.¡±


    ¡°Henry, may I take a look?¡± Dayshia asked. ¡°I want to see how they grafted crystal to brain tissue.¡±


    He squirmed. ¡°Maybeter?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Certainly,¡± she said with a nod, embarrassed that her fascination made her miss his unease about it.


    ¡°Getting back to the events of Washington, the press is all over this Lightning Man, and so far as we know, the Council isn¡¯t aware of Henry¡¯s involvement. If they are paying attention to his movements at all, they¡¯ll have their suspicions. Henry attracts more chaos than anyone I know,¡± Roy sighed. ¡°For everyone¡¯s benefit, no more visits to other cities. Restrict your movements to work and home for a few weeks at least, please.¡±


    Sigrid scowled at the man. ¡°Roy, you can¡¯t impose-¡±


    ¡°Yes. I would wee some semnce of routine in my life right now,¡± Henry said, interrupting her. ncing at the tall blonde, he amended his statement. ¡°As long as we include the homes of my friends in the restricted location list.¡±


    Roy nodded briefly, and Sigrid tried to hide her smile. She nodded to Meixiu as it was time to get an answer to her earlier question. The Vampire moved back to kneel before Henry.


    ¡°Earlier, when you fed me, I noticed another difference. The magic in your blood is far more potent than it was before. I could only manage three swallows before I lost consciousness from the power sweeping through me. Is that due to the lightning or the fact that you¡¯re a wielder?¡± she asked.


    He blinked in surprise at her. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t feel any different.¡± He turned his head to look at Siobhan, but she was facing the window. He could see her eyes were closed behind her shades, so she was still having trouble dealing with her magic sight. His face fell as he felt terrible about that. Then he realized he was staring, so he quickly looked away into Cam¡¯s too aware eyes. She turned her head to look at Siobhan as well. Then Roy was watching her until most were looking in her direction.


    Siobhan sighed deeply and bowed her head slightly. ¡°Funny how a man burdened by so many of his own secrets can¡¯t keep just one from someone else.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Siobhan, I didn¡¯t mean-¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It was bound to be discovered since I¡¯m wearing these indoors,¡± she said with a sigh as she gestured toward her face.


    ¡°How does Henry¡¯s power level connect to your- you can see it?¡± Cam gasped as the dots connected.


    Siobhan nodded. ¡°Please keep it to yourselves as it¡¯s a sensitive secret for my folk.¡± She took off the shades and looked around the room without opening her eyes. She named each person in the room as she pointed directly at them.


    ¡°You can see our power levels too?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°No, I can see you bathed in the reflections of Henry¡¯s power. He¡¯s casting off waves of the stuff. Bathing the room in energy, much brighter than before, as Meixiu noted. Can¡¯t you feel it? It¡¯s hard to imagine you couldn¡¯t.¡±


    The group looked at each other, and slowly, smiles appeared. ¡°I can¡¯t feel the transfer, but I do feel¡­ refreshed,¡± Marisa confessed, and heads nodded. Eyes turned towards Henry.

 232

    ¡°We get a charge just by being near Henry?¡± Dayshia asked in surprise.


    Meixiu giggled at Henry¡¯s embarrassment. ¡°Yes, but not as quickly.¡±


    ¡°Where is that energying from?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°The rift to the Wild Magic dimension!¡± Roy eximed. ¡°Henry told us he had one inside him but didn¡¯t tell us who told him. We thought it was the witch, but it was Siobhan.¡± He looked to the Selkie. ¡°Is the rift widening?¡± He suddenly realized he was practically vibrating with the energy he¡¯d soaked up while hugging the boy.


    Siobhan aimed a weary smile at Henry but shook her head. ¡°The rift is the same size, but the flow is faster, his body is saturated, and it¡¯s casting off the excess. That might be from the lightning or his new wielder abilities, but there¡¯s just so much!¡±


    ¡°Can you see if the crystal the ss People stuck in his head is casting off energy?¡± Roy asked.


    Siobhan looked directly at him without opening her eyes. She shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s like asking if I can see the sunspots when I stare directly at the sun.¡±


    Roy frowned in concern as he looked to the others. ¡°That also makes it dangerous to¡­ charge from Henry. The risk of overdosing has grown exponentially,¡± Roy asserted.


    The gathered females who¡¯d been intimate with Henry immediately protested, strongly. Roy looked to Henry for support but saw Henry was torn. When Roy tilted his head at him, Henry finally nodded.


    ¡°Precautions will need to be taken, at the very least,¡± Henry amended. I don¡¯t want to ruin any more lives.¡±


    ¡°Henry! You haven¡¯t ruined any lives!¡± Tish scolded. ¡°How do you think it makes us feel when you say that? We love our new states! Even Dayshia!¡±


    The woman in question frowned at Tish for bringing up her former resistance but nodded to Henry. When he looked away, she was no longer able to resist peering into his head, searching for this miraculous crystal. She couldn¡¯t find any foreign substances, but she wasn¡¯t sure what she was looking for. She suddenly felt ashamed for looking without permission.


    He looked at his friends sheepishly as he hadn¡¯t realized his words were hurting their feelings. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Tish turned her attention to Roy. ¡°We¡¯ve fully¡­ evolved with the Wild Magic, and our mors are powered by it, so outside of passing out as Meixiu did from an overcharge, what effect are you expecting to happen?¡±


    Roy gave her a frustrated look. ¡°I¡¯m not an expert on this! Who is? I¡¯m just sayin¡¯ things have changed, and extra care is required.¡±


    That message seemed to take, so Roy sighed and addressed Henry once more. ¡°Did you at least get the big government agencies off our backs for a while?¡±


    Henry and Mahati shared a look, and she smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. Henry¡¯s firewall is apparently driven by a technological breakthrough that¡¯s increased their zeal to hire him away from VRL.¡±


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Roy cursed then looked to Cam. ¡°I told you this was a bad idea! Keep a low profile, I said!¡±


    ¡°What kind of technological breakthrough?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°Quantum Tunneling,¡± Henry answered. ¡°It¡¯s theoretical for most, but I¡¯m able to identify which CPUs can do it, and I¡¯ve written code to utilize that capability. It opens up the possibilities ofputing exponentially. I¡¯m working on a market trend analysis application that will give VRL anotherpetitive advantage.¡± He frowned. ¡°Homnd Security wanted to build an array of theseputers to track Human behavior for spying on people. I told them I wasn¡¯t interested.¡±


    Roy dropped himself onto a couch next to Cam with a weary thump. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡±


    Cam patted his leg with a smile. ¡°We appreciate your efforts.¡± That just produced a weary snort from Roy.


    Michelle was watching Henry with wide eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve discovered a practical use for Quantum Tunneling?¡±


    Henry¡¯s expression brightened up. ¡°Yes! You¡¯re familiar with the theory?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I dabble,¡± she said.


    ¡°Nerds,¡± Dayshia teased, surprising giggles from Michelle and a few others as the tension finally broke.


    Tish and Sandy made sure everyone had a te to select their food from the spreadid out on the kitchen ind.


    Soon, everyone was enjoying their meals, and conversation made its way back to the strange changes brought on by the arrival of the pseudo-clouds.


    Roy looked at Henry pensively. ¡°What?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering since you have the ability to open tears between the dimensions, could you do it to make the clouds go back to their home dimension,¡± he said.


    Henry blinked in surprise. ¡°There are at least three problems with that idea. One, I¡¯ve never made one cloud sized. It takes an enormous amount of effort to open them, and it¡¯s tremendously draining to keep them open. Two, I¡¯m not opening the tears the clouds are using to get here now. I don¡¯t know if anyone knows how or why that¡¯s happening. That should be stopped before anyone tries to send the clouds back. The third issue is trying to get the clouds to go back through the tear to their old home. They seem to like it here.¡± He frowned at Roy. ¡°Besides, I have no intention of using magic. It¡¯s nothing but trouble.¡± Thatment got him annoyed looks from hisdy friends, so he looked back at Roy as he gestured to them. ¡°See!¡±


    Cam picked up the topic of thetest chaos. ¡°The Hidden Races Council must be at their wit¡¯s end trying to do damage control on the trouble these clouds are causing. News of the ss and Silver People is too widely spread now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the Antians!¡± Sandy said with a grin. Heads turned to her in surprise, and she blinked at them. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the news reports?¡± More head shaking ensued, so she continued. ¡°The seas are rejecting the waste humans have been dumping into them. All that garbage is washing up on the beaches but only next to popted areas worldwide. Governments are being forced to deal with it. Some stations have reported that the waste is being directed to these locations by a sea-dwelling race the media have named the Antians. They even have some amateur photos of themermaids.¡±


    ¡°Shit, there¡¯s no way to put the cat back in the bag now,¡± Roy agreed.


    ¡°Can¡¯t they just back off and keep their distance from it?¡± Dayshia asked.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    Sigrid shook her head. ¡°The trouble lies in Humans finding out that magic is real. They¡¯ll begin working on ways to understand it and potentially negate it. This would eventually lead to our exposure. Discrediting all sources that reference magic as real is simpler and safer.¡±


    ¡°Like what happened to that fighter pilot,¡± Tish said with a frown.


    Cam nodded. ¡°Exactly. To avoid the genocide of the Hidden Races, some individuals are discredited and given unfair treatment, but the alternatives are far worse.¡±


    ¡°It bothers me too, but I get it, and now it¡¯s more important than ever,¡± Henry added, cing a hand over Tish¡¯s tummy. He recalled speaking with Marisa about his fears of not being ready to be a father. Then came the memory of his wing his way back to life. He hadn¡¯t spoken to Tish about it yet, but he had to, soon.


    The conversation continued on into the evening, and they managed to find some online news clips of the mermaids, but they¡¯d yet to be captured on camera clearly. Finally, people began yawning. The party was over. Henry walked each to the door and gave everyone a hug, except Michelle, who gave him a hug as he just leaned into it.


    Sandy and Dayshia took extra-long hugs, and Kesini was glowing from his shared energy when she finally unwrapped herself from Henry.


    Finally, it was just Tish and Henry. He took her hand and led her back to the couch, where they sat facing each other.


    ¡°How went yourst visit to the doctor?¡± he asked as he wasn¡¯t sure how to begin what he wanted to say.


    She smiled as she looked at him curiously. ¡°She said based on the growth rate and size of the baby now, I¡¯m on track for a delivery in three months.¡±


    He nodded as he thought about that. ¡°How¡­ how are you going to exin it to your family? You¡¯re beginning to show.¡±


    Tish¡¯s hands went to her tummy and cupped the small bulge. Her expression flitted between joy and something resembling panic. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. I know how to be an aunt but a mother?¡±


    He smiled. ¡°You¡¯re going to be an awesome mom. I¡¯m asking how you¡¯re going to exin how you could have a baby after your ident and injuries. Your family knows, right?¡±


    She nodded, and her expression settled on dread. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°You could hide from them until after the birth, then say we adopted.¡±


    She smiled and touched his cheek. ¡°I can tell themIadopted the baby. I don¡¯t have to tell them we¡¯re a couple-¡±


    ¡°No. The baby is ours. I want to be its father. I came back for¡­ her?¡± he guessed, looking at Tish¡¯s sweet smile. ¡°She¡¯s going to know her father. I didn¡¯t get to know mine.¡±


    Tish leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. She pulled back a little to look into his eyes. ¡°It could be a boy, but I think it¡¯s a girl too.¡± She smiled wistfully. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say it¡¯s adopted.¡± His eyebrows rose. ¡°I want to share this experience with them. I¡¯ll tell them I had a radical new transnt treatment and not exin the details. It¡¯ll drive them nuts, but they¡¯ll be too busy shrieking. That¡¯s what my family is like,¡± she said fondly.


    Henry stroked the back of her hand with his thumb as he held her hand. ¡°I¡¯m frightened. I¡¯m frightened I won¡¯t be able to protect the baby,¡± he choked out.


    ¡°Protect the baby?¡± she asked hesitantly.


    He nodded shakily. ¡°Baba took the daughter Mab had with me. I couldn¡¯t stop her, and I haven¡¯t seen her since that day.¡± He held back that he visited her through their linked fingers. ¡°When I traveled to Kuwait City in my mind, I saw horrible things happening to children, and I could do nothing for them. All this magic energy in my body, and I could do nothing. Now that Xiong added this thing in my brain, I may be capable of controlling the magic now, but Roy was right. I was never taught how magic works or how to safely use it. I could never risk trying it on another life.¡±


    Tish took his face between her hands. ¡°I¡¯ve never been one, but I know being a parent isn¡¯t about magic. I¡¯m going to do my best to love our child and live for them. I¡¯ll guide them with advice and listen to them. I¡¯ll ensure they have food for their body and mind, plus shelter, clothing, and life¡¯s necessities. Beyond that, it¡¯s a crapshoot. I¡¯ll do my best. No one can ask more from you.¡±

 233

    She suddenly got a determined look in her eye. ¡°I need to go visit my family. I¡¯ve put this off for too long, and now that I know how much longer it will be, it¡¯s safe to make it official. I can arrange a little time off. I¡¯ll go see them this week.¡± She looked at him. ¡°I¡¯ll be gone for a few days, maybe a week. Think you can manage on your own?¡±


    He grinned and nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t want me with you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to travel, remember? Besides, it¡¯s going to be a scream-fest with my sisters-lots of elevated emotions. The second visit is when I introduce you,¡± she exined. ¡°That¡¯s the grueling ordeal of surviving their inspection and interrogation.¡±


    ¡°Ah, okay,¡± he responded nervously, and she giggled.


    Tish stood and pulled Henry to his feet. ¡°Come on you. You¡¯ve had quite the day. Time for bed.¡±


    He yawned suddenly. ¡°See, you¡¯re casting spells of your own on me!¡±


    They headed to the bedroom arm in arm. Henry felt better after opening up to Tish. She looked pretty happy too. He was looking forward to a good night¡¯s sleep.


    Then he felt her hand slide down his back to cup his ass. He nced over and saw she was biting her lip with a mischievous smile.


    Sleep would be his second objective tonight.


    Tish spent Sunday making arrangements for visiting her family in Phdelphia. Henry smiled as he recalled hearing each sister¡¯s squeals of excitement through the phone as Tish rolled her eyes happily at him.


    Dayshia and Sandy came over and were simrly inspired to visit family. Soon all three were on their phones making arrangements to head off on Monday to see family. Dayshia¡¯s sister in Chicago was delighted to have her visit. Tish¡¯s sisters were fighting over who would host her during her stay, and Sandy¡¯s parents were so happy to have their daughter home after so long.


    Henry asked them to maintain their disguises at all times while visiting and received three annoyed stares in return. The advice from Captain Obvious was not appreciated.


    Tish got a flight for that evening, while Dayshia would fly out on Monday morning with Sandy traveling with her as far as Chicago. The blonde would catch a bus from there toNowhere, Iowa, as she described it. While eager to see her parents, Sandy was least enthused about the journey as she said the bus ride was a grueling ordeal. At least it wouldn¡¯t be as bad as her original road trip from them all the way to New York City.


    After the flurry of activity starting just after breakfast and ending with Tish heading off to the airport and Dayshia and Sandy rushing back to their condo¡¯s to pack, Henry found himself alone on a Sunday night. He didn¡¯t feel like cooking, so he pulled out the wad of take-out and delivery menus to make his choice.


    His cell rang on the kitchen ind, so he picked it up and saw it was Yuko.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Henry? This is Yuko. Tish called me to say you might be avable for dinner tonight,¡± she said nervously.


    ¡°Ah, she did,¡± Henry said as he pictured the sneaky little smile on the tall brte¡¯s face as she called from the taxi.


    ¡°Are you not?¡± Yuko asked quickly.


    ¡°No, she was right. I have no ns. I was just going to order in.¡±


    There was a moment of silence. ¡°Would you like to join Jun and me for dinner?¡±


    Jun would be there. Henry paused. That actually sounded less like a date, so he rxed a little. ¡°That sounds nice. When-¡±


    ¡°Any time. Now, if you like. 708,¡± she chirped, then hung up.


    Henry blinked in surprise then set the cell down. He decided to change his clothes to something a little nicer than a t-shirt and shorts.


    Not that it was a date.


    -=-


    A short timeter, Yuko answered the door and paused to take in Henry¡¯s ensemble. The ck short-sleeved button-down shirt showed off his muscr arms and broad chest, and his grey khaki¡¯s fit very well.


    He was busy admiring her silk blouse, printed with vintage French wine ads in bold colors. Her ck tights hugged her slim legs and ended at pretty white slippers.


    She shed a nervous smile at him, then noticed he was holding a bottle of wine.


    ¡°Is that for me?¡± she asked.


    He smiled and handed it to her. ¡°To match your lovely shirt!¡± he said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ve never been to your ce.¡±


    ¡°Pleasee in,¡± she said, stepping back.


    He entered and left his slippers at the door. He saw the condo wasn¡¯t furnished in the Japanese minimalist style as she¡¯d done to his first condo. Her living room couch and chairs were contemporary, bordering on modern, but they lookedfortable. There were also several boldly colored movie posters on the walls. He saw West Side Story, Kill Bill, de Runner, V for Vedetta, Pulp Fiction, and Excalibur. He raised an eyebrow and looked back at Yuko, who grinned quickly.


    ¡°Jun is very fond of American pop culture.¡± She looked over at the posters. ¡°I just like the colors.¡±


    There were other pop culture references scattered throughout the room, like small figurines and toys.


    He spotted Jun working in the open concept kitchen, and she looked up to smile at him as she worked at the ind. ¡°Hi, Henry!¡±


    ¡°Hi, Jun. Something smells delicious!¡± he returned with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost ready. Please make yourselffortable in the living room.¡±


    Yuko took the wine to the kitchen to open it.


    He sat and picked up aic book left on the couch cushion. He¡¯d seen other kids reading them at school as he grew up, but he¡¯d never had the money to buy one. Baba had made it clear such activities were a waste of time.


    He flipped through the book and found himself enjoying the story and the colorfully costumed superheroes.


    Yuko sat next to him. ¡°You likeics, too?¡±


    He smiled at her self-consciously. ¡°This is actually the first one I¡¯ve ever read. It¡¯s good!¡±N?velDrama.Org content.


    She looked at him in surprise. ¡°You¡¯ve never read aic before? You are so much like Jun. I thought you would readics like her too.¡±


    He nced towards the kitchen, where Jun smiled back at him as she worked. He looked back at Yuko. ¡°I¡¯m like Jun?¡±


    ¡°She means we¡¯re both nerds,¡± Jun volunteered from across the room.


    ¡°Ah,¡± Henry sighed as he leaned back against the cushions. ¡°It¡¯s true we both like technology, but I wasn¡¯t allowed to collectic books or y with toys like these while I grew up,¡± he gestured to the collection around him, ¡°Baba was a little strict about what she considered y.¡±


    Jun looked over at him. ¡°So, it¡¯s true. You were raised by Baba Yaga.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Yes. She was strict, but she was fair and treated me well.¡±


    The twodies were quiet as they struggled to fit that image into their perception of the witch.


    ¡°What did you read growing up?¡± Yuko finally asked.


    ¡°Non-fiction. Mostly science-rted. You know, nerdy stuff.¡±


    Jun and Yuko chuckled.


    ¡°Dinner is ready. Please take a seat at the dining room table,¡± Jun said, so Yuko and Henry stood and walked over to a four-seat table by the window overlooking the water. Yuko lit the candles as Henry sat and smiled at the elegant ce settings.


    Jun approached with a tter of sliced prime rib surrounded by potatoes and carrots. Then he noticed she was wearing a frilly apron and not much else. She¡¯d been behind the kitchen ind, so he¡¯d missed it earlier.


    She noticed the widening of his eyes and smiled demurely. ¡°I am merely the help this evening.¡±


    As she walked back to the kitchen, he saw the g-string disappearing between her perfect ass cheeks. His face heated up, and he nced at Yuko, who seemed to be enjoying his reaction.


    ¡°I understand Tish, Dayshia, and Sandy have all gone to visit family,¡± she said, holding his eyes with hers.


    He cleared his throat and smiled at the wee subject change. ¡°Yes. It began with Tish feeling a little homesick, then it spread to the others.¡±


    ¡°But not you? You do not feel homesick?¡± Yuko asked with a little smile.


    Henry shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s no longer there. Baba¡¯s cottage was located in a bog north of the city, but it¡¯s been filled in. Thest time I went back, everything was just¡­ gone.¡± He shook his head and smiled self-consciously. ¡°I mean, it was just a small cottage with no electricity in a swamp, so not much to be nostalgic about.¡± He saw the beginnings of a look of pity in Yuko¡¯s eye and moved to nip that in the bud. ¡°Not as gorgeous as your home in Japan!¡± he eximed.


    A look of confusion came and went on Yuko¡¯s face as she recalled he¡¯d visited Japan and her parent¡¯s home.


    She nodded. ¡°Yes, it was pretty but not to our taste. Too traditional,¡± Yuko answered as she shook her head.


    Jun was nodding as she approached the table with a gravy boat. ¡°Definitely, mother¡¯s taste. I think even father would have preferred something a little more contemporary.¡±


    She looked at her sister. ¡°Before I forget, Mother told me to let you know if we are sessful tonight, she will expect us to return to Japan immediately.¡±


    Yuko gaped at her sister, and her short temper looked like it was about to make an appearance.


    Jun set the gravy down and held up a hand. ¡°Not permanently. She just said it was critically important for us to not dy our return.¡±


    Yuko pouted but nodded. Disobeying a parent was obviously something to be avoided in their household¡­ as it had been in his too.


    Henry was still confused. ¡°I-I thought you¡¯d need to be in heat or something. Human women have to be at some particr phase of their monthly cycle to be fertile or¡­¡± He stopped as both Jun and Yuko were giving him the look. The one which said he was a man and therefore not an authority on the subject and should shut up.

 234

    When he was quiet again, Yuko spoke. ¡°I¡¯m at peak fertility tonight, and unlike Human women, I¡¯ll know if I¡¯m pregnant within the hour. The Soul Binding will dissolve.¡±


    Henry nodded as he looked at the table surface. The questions were bing more awkward. ¡°There¡¯s still the matter of the child.¡±


    Jun and Yuko looked to him with curious expressions, so he pressed on. ¡°I¡¯ll want to be part of its life.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Junughed suddenly, surprising both Henry and her sister. ¡°But we¡¯re definitely getting ahead of ourselves as we haven¡¯t yet proven your mor can eliminate the Wild Magic. Before that, we should enjoy this meal I spent so much time ving over.¡±


    Henry smiled at her burst of enthusiasm as he watched Yuko¡¯s eyes roll in her head.


    ¡°When I was Henry¡¯s housekeeper, I would make meals for him, and he found them to be delicious,¡± Yuko said casually, but Jun¡¯s eyes picked up the challenge.


    The younger sister ced two slices of prime rib, some potatoes, and carrots on Henry¡¯s te. He smiled and nodded to her as it looked and smelled delicious. She ced smaller portions on her sister¡¯s te.


    ¡°Would you like some gravy, Henry?¡± she asked as she held up the small pitcher.


    He smiled but shook his head. She turned to Yuko¡¯s te and began pouring.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want any, thank you,¡± the older sister snapped, then nced at Henry as she dipped her eyes in apology for her raised voice.


    She scraped the small amount poured to the side of her te and frowned down at it. Her frown became a smirk as she looked at her sister. ¡°You might want to check for lumps next time.¡±


    Jun¡¯s cheeks reddened as she set the gravy boat back on the table.


    Henry was getting a very clear impression of the rivalry between the sisters. As an only child, he had no idea how to defuse it, so he concentrated on the meal. His first bite of the meat made him sigh with pleasure as it was so tender it melted in his mouth. He chewed it slowly to savor the vor. He opened his eyes and caught Jun¡¯s anxious gaze.


    ¡°It¡¯s delicious! I see the Imamura sisters share not only beauty but a talent for preparing wonderful meals,¡± he said as he watched them both.


    He saw them both perk up at hispliment, so he felt relief at that little measure of sess. Then he saw the hunger in their eyes as they looked back at him. They both looked like they might devour him given a chance. He smiled and returned to the meal, which he enjoyed very much.


    He asked questions about the meals they ate at home and learned that their mother was a world-ss chef.


    This led to questions about childhoods, and he found himself talking more and more about his own being raised by the world¡¯s most powerful witch.


    He finally grinned at them as they finished the meal. ¡°Remember, she never showed me any sign that she had any powers at all. She was just my Baba, a strict but caring grandmother. She wasn¡¯t big on showing affection, but I could get hugs from her if I did it in subtle ways. I think she knew when I needed it and didn¡¯t deny me on those asions as I hid my tears and presented a calm fa?ade, even if I was wailing inside.¡±


    Yuko was watching Henry with her fork, forgotten halfway to her mouth. ¡°When¡­ when did you need it?¡±


    He shrugged and smiled self-consciously as his eyes dropped to his te. ¡°You have to understand, I was smaller than the other kids but smarter than most. I wasn¡¯t connected to the same things they were,¡± he gestured to theics and toys around the room. ¡°We shared so little inmon, I was ripe for bullying. Some of the kids were particrly vicious, and I got beat up a few times a year. The teachers in the schools Baba enrolled me in weren¡¯t particrly strong in their abilities, or Humanity, so most turned a blind eye to it. I¡¯de home from school and get my crying done on the way when I was alone, as Baba wasn¡¯t one to listen to that. She¡¯d clean me up, and I¡¯d keep it together until she was done. If I was calm, I could remain on herp in her arms until I fell asleep.¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    He looked up, and bothdies were now fighting back the tears. ¡°Hey! I didn¡¯t mean to make you sad! It all worked out fantastically. Sure, my childhood had its challenges, but the payoff has more than made up for it!¡±


    ¡°You must hate Humans,¡± Jun said softly as she wiped at her ssy eyes.


    Henry smiled and shook his head. ¡°No, not at all. It was a hard time. I saw good and bad kids. I saw good and bad adults. I kept my mouth shut, but my eyes and ears open and I learned I wasn¡¯t the cause of the bullying. They didn¡¯t really hateme. They couldn¡¯t, as none of them knewme.¡±


    He saw he had theirplete attention, so he continued.


    ¡°College was better. I wasn¡¯t getting beat up, at least. I worked hard and learned so much. I-heh¡­ Ileaned into it, as an old professor once told me to do. I found my forte, and I loved it. I still didn¡¯t have any friends, but I found a purpose.


    When I got to this building, I met some Humans who didn¡¯t know me, but they took the time toget toknow me. They were, and are, exceptional people. I don¡¯t know, maybe I¡¯m a pushover since they were my first friends, but they showed me what Humanity could be. So, no, I don¡¯t hate Humans. Except for a certain ex-Queen, I try not to allow hate into my heart.¡±


    He smiled at them, and they nodded. Jun stood and collected their tes to carry back to the kitchen.


    ¡°Do you like sweets?¡± Yuko asked.


    He gave a small nod. ¡°We didn¡¯t have them at Baba¡¯s. I¡¯ve tried them, and I¡¯ve liked some but not so much to eat them every day.¡±


    ¡°I bought some Caste, which is a Japanese sponge cake. It¡¯s not too sweet as American desserts can be. I like it very much,¡± Yuko said.


    Jun brought over three small tes with slices of the cake on each. ¡°I bought ice cream if you¡¯d like a scoop with your cake.¡±


    ¡°Ah, ice cream is my weakness!¡± Henry joked, and they giggled.


    ¡°Chocte or vani?¡± Jun asked.


    Henry sighed. ¡°Chocte, but just a small amount, please.¡±


    She went to the kitchen and returned with the tub to ce a scoop on Henry¡¯s te. She looked at her sister with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°The same as Henry, please,¡± Yuko admitted.


    When she was finished with the ice cream, it went back into the freezer, and she sat so they could all enjoy their desserts. Henry made sure he tried the cake on its own to appreciate its vor, which he quite enjoyed, then they finished off the sweet treat.


    Jun stood and walked over to Henry¡¯s side as she reached back behind her neck to tug loose the tie on her apron. It dropped to expose her lovely breasts. Henry was frozen as she reached a finger down to his te to scoop up a little bit of melted chocte ice cream. Then she dabbed this cold liquid on her nipples.


    ¡°Ooo, that¡¯s chilly!¡± she sighed. ¡°Won¡¯t you lick them clean?¡±


    Henry nced at Yuko, but she was already undoing the buttons on her silk blouse with a hungry look in her eye.


    He felt Jun¡¯s fingers slide into his hair as she guided his mouth to her nipple. He ran his tongue over and around the stiff nub as she gasped.


    ¡°Your tongue is cold!¡±


    He pulled back slightly. ¡°I just ate ice cream!¡±


    Jun pulled his mouth onto her once more, so he sucked and licked both nipples until they were free of the dessert and stiff with her excitement.


    ¡°Henry? Would you clean mine as well?¡±


    He pulled back to see Yuko¡¯s amazing breasts exposed and smeared with streaks of ice cream. He moved his mouth to them, and she moaned as he cleaned and teased her nipples until she was squirming.


    ¡°Maybe we should continue this in the bedroom?¡± Jun suggested.


    ¡°My bedroom,¡± Yuko insisted. Jun dipped her eyes, yielding to her sister¡¯s will.


    Henry slid his chair back and stood as Yuko took his hand, leading him to the bedroom at the end of a short hall.


    Yuko¡¯s bedroom had a canopy bed with strings of small amber LED lights strung up above. They cast a warm glow over the sheets below. The rest of the room was¡­ girly. The walls were a soft pink, and the rest of the furniture showed Yuko¡¯s feminine style preferences. She was also a bit of a slob as several alternate outfits were strewn across her bureau, chair, stand-up mirror, and of course, the floor.


    A gentle but firm touch on his chin guided his eyes back to Yuko, who was blushing.


    ¡°Do not look at how untidy my room became today,¡± she scolded him gently.


    Jun snorted, refuting her im that this chaos was the product of one day. Yuko¡¯s eyes snapped to hers, and once more, Jun dipped her eyes in submission, but her crooked smile remained.


    To forestall an argument which Yuko¡¯s rising color indicated was almost upon them, Henry slid his fingers along her jawline into her silky-smooth hair, making her gasp before his lips found hers.


    Her mouth was hungry for his kiss, and her tongue quickly found his.


    As the kiss deepened, Henry felt small hands undoing his belt and pants. They soon slid down his legs, and he stepped from them as Jun carefully folded them and ced them on the corner of the bureau. She pulled off his low-rise socks and stood to slip her arms around him to start peeling his shirt back over his shoulders as Yukopleted its unbuttoning.


    Henry had to pull his hands from Yuko¡¯s hair to allow Jun to pull his shirt off. Yuko moaned a little as he released her.

 235

    Soon he was standing before them in just his underwear, and Jun wasted no time in running her hands over the front. She was definitely the bolder of the two.


    ¡°You-you remember what you need to keep in the forefront of your mind?¡± Henry gasped out as he grew harder under Jun¡¯s touch.


    ¡°Mmm¡­ Human, no magic,¡± Yuko said as she slid her hands over the hard, and now trembling, muscles of his stomach.


    It was bing difficult to think as Jun¡¯s touch was bing more insistent.


    Her hand slipped inside his underwear, her fingers taking a grip on his cock.


    ¡°Oh yes, this is very nice!¡± she sighed.


    Yuko took hold of the waistband and pulled it down as she knelt before him, exposing Jun¡¯s fingers wrapped around him and squeezing in pulses. He was very near his maximum rigidity.


    Jun released him and knelt down next to her sister. The sight of the two of them looking up at him, inches away from his cock was almost enough to set him off.


    Yuko leaned forward and kissed the tip, and Henry sucked in a sharp breath. She looked up at him with a sly grin as her tongue flicked out to tease the underside of the head.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± he gasped through clenched teeth.


    Yuko looked at her sister. ¡°I believe Henry is very excited. What do you think?¡±


    Jun nced up and pressed her lips against the tip as well.


    Henry¡¯s body was trembling as Jun smiled up at him. ¡°Yes, very excited and delicious!¡± She suddenly ran her tongue along the length of his cock, and his hips automatically thrust forward slightly.


    Thedies burst into giggles at their control over him. With a mischievous shared smile, they both leaned forward and pressed their lips to the sides of his shaft and moved in unison to stroke him from balls to tip, again and again, their tongues licking and teasing with each pass.


    ¡°Oh, fuck!¡± Henry eximed as the sensation was driving him insane. It was so intense and such a tease. ¡°You better slow down, or I¡¯m going toe!¡±


    This just seemed to spur them on as they increased their pace. When they began to take turns sucking him deep into their mouths while the other licked the shaft, it was too much.


    ¡°AH! It¡¯s too much-gonna cum!¡± he cried.


    Jun sucked him deep into her throat then pulled clear just as the first surge exploded out¡­ into a paper cup she suddenly had in her hand.


    Yuko¡¯s right hand pumped him while she gently scratched his balls with her nails of her left hand. The dual sensations triggered Henry through two more surges before his legs got wobbly. She pushed him back until he sat on the side of her bed.


    She turned to her younger sister, who dipped a finger into the paper cup and paused. Jun¡¯s eyes lifted to Yuko¡¯s, and she gave her sister a little shrug. Lifting her finger out, she touched it to her tongue and paused again. ¡°Nothing. I sense no magic at all.¡±


    She poured a little onto her tongue, and Yuko took the cup to taste it as well. They concentrated as they rolled it on their tongues then grinned at each other. ¡°It¡¯s fresh but contains no magic,¡± Yuko agreed. She tossed the rest back and slowly swallowed it as Jun squeaked in protest. With a smug little smile, Yuko smacked her lips. ¡°You¡¯re merely the help this evening, as you said.¡±


    Jun pouted as Yuko stood and tossed the cup aside. The younger sister¡¯s pout became a scowl as she crawled after the crumbled paper cup to properly dispose of it.


    Yuko stood before Henry and smiled. ¡°It worked, Henry. It¡¯s safe. You can give me a baby.¡±


    He reached out and pulled her body to his and kissed her deeply. She made a muffled squeak then she was returning his passionate kiss as he rolled over and positioned them on the bed. Before she could recover, he moved his kisses to her jaw and neck, then down to her breasts and across her firm tummy. She was so caught up in the sensations she didn¡¯t feel him working her tights down her ass then legs until he pulled them from her feet. Then she cried out in bliss as he fastened his mouth on her wet pussy. His need was so intense she was being swept away.


    Henry¡¯s mouth left her, and she felt her legs being lifted as he positioned his cock against her wet lips. His first thrust sank deeper and deeper inside Yuko as her heels hooked behind his legs to pull him to her. When he came to rest upon her, pressing firmly on her clit, she cried out in bliss.


    Then he began to stroke in and out, increasing his speed and energy until it felt like he was trying to drive her through the mattress to nail her to the floorboards.


    She came far quicker than she expected, and still, he drove himself into her. When she hit her second peak and felt her world beginning to white out, she felt him swelling inside her. Her baby! She was going to get her baby with Henry! Joy exploded through her as she weed him deep inside onest time, and his seed filled her with its heat. So much!


    The unique properties of Henry¡¯s mor protected her once more and fulfilled her greatest need. She clung to him, and he kissed her temple as his body trembled through his own bliss.


    He tipped her face back and looked into her eyes, and she smiled up at him.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry kissed her, and she sighed contentedly when he rolled off to lie beside her. He nced around, but Jun was nowhere to be seen.


    He looked back to Yuko and was surprised to see she was sound asleep. He smiled and eased himself off the bed and collected his clothes. Letting himself out into the hall, he closed her door silently.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    Jun was standing in her door at the end of the hall, watching him over her shoulder as a red glow from inside painted her nude body with its lurid colors. His eyes panned down her naked back until he saw therge fluffy fox tail hanging down from between her ass cheeks. He froze as this wasn¡¯t a Kitsune tail. It was a faux fur tail attached to an anal plug. The sight was so jarring from how he pictured her he couldn¡¯t move. She was the younger, innocent sister! She was definitely bolder than Yuko, but this?


    She reached back with both hands and spread her cheeks so he could get a clearer view of the plug filling her ass. ¡°You got me so hot! You aren¡¯t going to leave me unfulfilled, are you?¡± she asked intively with a pout.


    He found himself walking to her door and watched her pout be a wicked smile as she licked her lips.


    ¡°I-I should freshen up-¡±


    Jun reached out and pulled him into her room, closing the door behind him. She guided him to her bed, taking his clothes from his hands to ce them on her bureau. Then she sat him on the edge of her bed and knelt before him to clean his reviving erection with a washcloth and a basin of warm water she¡¯d prepared earlier.


    Henry stole nces at her room between moans at her gentle touch.


    It was smaller than Yuko¡¯s but filled with tech and toys. The wall facing the bed had arge tscreen TV mounted there and was surrounded by shelves. The ceiling light cast off a red glow, as were the bedside tablemps and themp on her desk by the window. He spotted her cell next to the bed with an app open, which controlled the lights¡¯ color. Tech nerd, indeed.


    Looking back to the shelves, he was stunned by the array of gadgets,ics, collectibles, and toys filling them. He almost missed the collection of dildos, vibrators, and other sex toys amongst the statuettes and action figures. Some were ratherrge, and their shape reminded him of his own cock in his true form.


    ¡°You like my toys?¡± she giggled, noticing where he was directing his stunned gaze.


    ¡°I¡­ I suppose I didn¡¯t suspect you¡¯d enjoy such things,¡± he said after clearing his throat.


    ¡°Mmmm¡­ I have a tremendous appetite for sex. There were so few opportunities at home under the watchful eyes of my parents.¡± She stroked her tongue up the underside of his cock and smiled as he sucked in a breath.


    ¡°Your mor is a dreame true for me. I can envision my ideal in many sizes and shapes, and it adapts to that, yet it will feel like a real cock, not like one of my toys! Just the thought is making me so wet! I want to do something I¡¯ve never done before!¡±


    He watched her cautiously as she hopped up to her feet and skipped to the other side of the room, the foxtail between her cheeks bouncing and swaying with her movements. She stopped before her work desk by therge floor to ceiling window and pulled a tube of lube from one of the drawers. As she rushed back, she paused to consider her sex toys and collected one of therger, oddly shaped dildos from the shelf.


    Henry¡¯s eyes widened as she set the items down on the bedside table.


    ¡°What?¡± he asked, looking at therge shape.


    She grinned. ¡°That¡¯s for me. I wantyouwhere I currently have this tail.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Oh!¡± he said in surprise, and her grin widened. She pushed him back, then tapped the screen on her cell phone. The lights began to dim, then changed hue in unison. Red to violet to blue to green, then yellow and orange and back to red. While these slow transitions were happening, Jun climbed on top of Henry and rubbed her wet pussy up and down his stiff shaft. She finally reached down and positioned him before forcing the head inside.


    ¡°OH FUCK!¡± she grunted.


    He looked up at her in surprise as she seemed to be having some trouble amodating him inside. She¡¯d press down then jolt as another inch would slip inside. He wondered at the expression on her face as she really seemed to be struggling to take him.


    He was about to suggest they stop when she mmed her body against him, finally taking it all.


    ¡°Henry¡­ oh fuck, Henry. This is too good!¡± she moaned as she shifted side to side. ¡°You fill me sopletely!¡±


    He was enjoying her heat and pressure as her inner muscles mped down on his cock. ¡°Are you sure you want me in your ass? You seemed to be having some issues fitting me in up front.¡±


    Arge tremor went through her body as he mentioned going in her ass. She kissed him deeply, her tongue wrestling with his. When she pulled back from his mouth, her lips were puffy, and her eyes were ssy. ¡°Yes, I want it so-FUCK!-so much!¡± She began to bounce up and down on his cock but never more than an inch.


    ¡°Ah! That feels really good, too!¡± he managed to say as her movements became more and more aggressive.


    When she suddenly began to mp down on him and tremble, he realized she¡¯d peaked. He was on his way there, but she was obviously done.


    ¡°That was a wonderful start! Now, it¡¯s time for the main event. I want you in my ass!¡± she purred as she stretched out over him. She felt him throb in reaction and grinned.

 236

    She pulled his cock from her body and rested her forehead against his chest as she panted in reaction. ¡°Can you¡­ hand me the¡­ lube and toy?¡±


    He reached over and picked up the two items. She took them from his hand as she moved to the center of the bed. Henry gave her a little room as she poured lube onto the head of the dildo and ran her fingers up and down and around the bumpy surface. Then she turned to him with a smirk. ¡°Your turn.¡±


    She poured lube onto the head of his cock and ensured she had a generous coating on him. She got on her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder at him. ¡°Can you ease the plug from my ass? Do it slowly.¡±


    He parted her cheeks and took a grip on the disc attached to the plug. He gently turned it and tugged in little pulses.


    ¡°ohfuckohfuckohfuck!¡± she panted as her legs trembled.


    He increased the strength of his tugs and saw the tight orifice begin to bulge wider and wider to release the bulb.


    ¡°fuuuuuuuck!¡± she squealed as the tight muscle slid over the broadest part and forced the rest out. ¡°Ooooo! Fuck!¡±


    Jun suddenly spun around to grab Henry and kissed him feverishly. He did his best to keep up.


    ¡°I want you inside me now,¡± she whispered to him as she held his eyes.


    Henry nodded, and she turned away again, presenting him with her gorgeous ass. He picked up the lube and poured some in the crack of her as and massaged it over her rosebud. Jun sucked in a breath as it was still sensitive from the plug she¡¯d worn.


    He massaged a little firmer until she opened for his finger, and he let the slick digit slip inside.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± she gasped.


    When she rxed, he pressed a second inside with the first. ¡°fuckfuckfuck,¡± she chanted softly.


    As he positioned himself behind her, he saw her line herself up with the dildo. So, they were doing a simultaneous pration then. So be it.


    He pressed the fat head of his well-lubricated cock against her ass and applied pressure. It took some time, but eventually, she rxed, and he slipped inside. Her knees gave slightly, impaling her on therge dildo.


    ¡°OH YES!¡± she cried, and he was surprised by how loud she was being.


    It was slow going as he wasrger than the plug had been. She was making concerning noises as well, but each time he tried to withdraw, she¡¯d grab at him to stop him. Finally, he was in, and he felt the pressure of the toy she had in her pussy pressing back.


    When she seemed to calm, he began his outstroke. She hissed and cooed in equal measure, and he was seriously freaked out by her behavior and wanted to pull out and stop as she couldn¡¯t be enjoying this based on the noises she was making. It felt tremendous for him, but that was secondary.


    Before he could suggest they stop, she pushed back to start his next thrust. He involuntarily twitched forward, and she gasped.


    ¡°Yes! Oh, yes!¡±


    He gripped her hips and began to smooth out the strokes, not picking up the pace but keeping it nice a slow. He could feel her body trembling under his hands, but she was continually cooing now as the dual pration was doing good things for her.


    This was also doing amazing things for him, and he felt his own release getting closer.


    ¡°Faster. I¡¯m almost there,¡± she sighed breathily.


    On his next thrust, he doubled the speed, and she threw her head back.


    ¡°Ahhhhh! More!¡±


    He rocked his hips and bit his lip as it felt too good when he sped up again. ¡°I¡¯m almost there,¡± he grunted.


    Her hips were twitching uncontrobly now. ¡°Harder! Fuck me!¡±


    Gripping her slick hips, he drove his cock deep into her as she cried out.


    ¡°Fuck! Fuck me! Ahhhh!¡±


    Henry¡¯s initial impression of Jun was beingpletely obliterated. She was far more mature than he¡¯d assumed, and his incorrect assessment was on him as he¡¯d stopped looking past the surface impression she gave. Her youthful looks and the quiet persona she projected disguised a woman very much in touch with her desires and not afraid to demand them. He increased the power of his strokes, and she cried out her joy at the bliss he was delivering to her.


    ¡°That¡¯s it! Harder! Oh yes! So good! I¡¯ming!¡±


    Henry couldn¡¯t put off his own release any longer and felt his cum filling her ass as her trembling became severe shaking.


    ¡°FFFFFUUUUUUUUCCCKKKKKKK!¡± she screamed as he held on to the thrashing woman.


    She was going limp, so he eased her off and let her drop to the mattress, where shey panting deeply.N?velDrama.Org content.


    He heard a click behind him and turned his head to see Yuko ring at them from the doorway. She spun and rushed back to her room, where she mmed her door.


    Henry stepped off the bed to go speak with her.


    ¡°No,¡± Jun said, and he looked to her. ¡°She won¡¯t listen to you tonight. Besides, she¡¯s mad at me, not you. She¡¯s only disappointed with you for not resisting me.¡±


    ¡°Still, I should say something-¡±


    Jun snorted as she looked back at him. ¡°Nothing you could say is going to sway her tonight. Besides, it¡¯s not as if she loves you. The Soul Binding has been broken.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What?¡±


    She smiled, and a tremble went through her as she enjoyed the afterglow. She opened her eyes and nodded to him. ¡°If she¡¯d still been bound to you and found you in the bed of another, she would have attacked, not stormed away. It seems my big sister is pregnant.¡±


    Henry¡¯s mouth worked, but he had no words. He finally found some. ¡°We didn¡¯t finish talking about my involvement in our child¡¯s life.¡±


    Jun looked away for a moment, and a frown quickly came and went on her face. She then nced at him. ¡°We¡¯re heading back to Japan tomorrow as we promised mother. I¡¯ll send you an email once I¡¯m there, okay?¡±


    He paused as he wasn¡¯t sure what the big rush was, but he was out of his element. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Her smile returned. ¡°Thank you for an amazing evening. It was everything I hoped it might be.¡±


    He was a little embarrassed, but he nodded to her. ¡°I had a wonderful time as well. It was¡­ an eye-opening evening.¡±


    ¡°For me as well,¡± she giggled.


    He shook his head as she smiled at her. He¡¯d been so wrong with his innocent little school girl preconception. She was definitely more of a college girl in her experimental phase. He looked down at his lube covered cock and didn¡¯t want to pull his clothes on over that mess. He took the washcloth she¡¯d used earlier and quickly cleaned himself before he pulled on his underwear.


    Jun rested back against the headboard as she enjoyed the show with a crooked little smile on her lips.


    ¡°Could you lock up behind me?¡± he asked when he was done.


    She nodded and eased herself off the bed. She didn¡¯t bother with a dressing gown but followed him naked back through the apartment to the door.


    He turned to say goodnight, and she pulled his face down to hers, and they shared a sensual kiss.


    ¡°Good luck, Henry.¡±


    He smiled at her odd phrasing and nodded. ¡°To you, as well.¡±


    When he was in the hall, he decided to take the stairs up the two floors to give him time to let his mind absorb the evening¡¯s events. The stairwell was empty, and he climbed as he grappled with the idea of having another child, this one with Yuko.


    He¡­ wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about that. She was a difficult person to rte to as she had such a vtile temper.


    That would be difficult for a child to deal with.


    He frowned again. Maybe some people should get their shit together before they have children or not have them at all.


    He sighed as that could also apply to him.


    He had plenty to think about before he¡¯d get to sleep tonight.


    Monday, life went back to normal for Henry. He rode the subway into the city with too many people and joined the crowds on the sidewalk to walk to the VRL office. When he arrived, he was greeted with numerous requests for reports and sat through a tedious meeting where he contributed little but received three more requests. By lunchtime, he actually had a smile on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s made you so cheerful?¡± Marisa asked as she poked her head in the window.


    He cracked a grin at her. ¡°I¡¯m so busy! I¡¯m going to have to skip lunch.¡±


    Her eyebrows went up. ¡°And this makes you happy?¡±


    He nodded as he looked back to his screen. ¡°Just another day in paradise.¡±


    Marisa snorted and left. When she returned from her lunch, she had a sub sandwich for him and arge milk. He thanked her as he took a bite and went back to coding one of the reports.


    She said goodnight before she left and must have spoken to her mother before leaving as Cam stopped by on her way out and told him his day was over.


    Henry nced at the clock and saw it was seven. He saved his work and pushed back with a sigh.


    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself so hard!¡± Cam growled softly.


    He smiled sheepishly. ¡°Sorry, it just felt so good to be busy with stuff like this. Normal stuff. Something I understand and have control over.¡±


    Cam nodded and pulled him up from his chair to hug him. That felt good, and he sighed happily.


    ¡°I understand, but tomorrow is another day you can fill with the same work. You may have noticed our people have a voracious hunger for information. You slice and dice it for them, and theye back for more,¡± the CEO sighed as she enjoyed his embrace as well.


    He pulled back to smile at her. ¡°It¡¯s true. I love it!¡±

 237

    She chuckled and pointed to his office door. ¡°So, you can go home while there is still daylight ande back to it in the morning.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Yes, dear,¡± he said like a nag weary husband.


    A little zing went through Cam that made her pause for a moment as she looked at his teasing smile. She gave herself a little shake. ¡°Exactly,¡± she asserted and gently pushed him towards the door.


    They left his office and rode down to the lobby, where he stepped out with a goodnight as she was going to the garage.


    Roy was in the lobby speaking with two of his team. The big man smiled at him and nced at the wall clock above the reception desk.


    Henry held up his hands in surrender. ¡°Yes, yes! I know. I¡¯m going home now.¡±


    Roy chuckled. ¡°Have a good night!¡±


    Henry waved over his shoulder and stepped outside.


    The air was warm butfortable, and Henry had a spring in his step as he walked to the subway. It was definitely less crowded at this hour, so it was afortable ride back to his neighborhood.


    As he walked along the waterfront walkway, he enjoyed the light breeze from the river. He felt his body rxing as he got closer to home. Then he recalled everyone was away visiting their families. That put a little damper on his enthusiasm. He realized he felt a bit tired, so maybe he¡¯d just grab a bite and get to bed early.


    As Cam said, tomorrow he¡¯d have all the work he didn¡¯t finish today!


    -=-


    Meixiu smiled across the table at her two new friends. She¡¯d received a text from Eleanor Hollings asking if they could get together tonight. Her shift at the hospital ended at six, so she and Raymond met her at half-past in a coffee shop down the street from the hospital. She was thrilled to meet other Vampires.


    ¡°Your departure thest time we met was amazing,¡± Eleanor said with a wide smile.


    Meixiu shrugged and blushed. ¡°I must admit I was showing off. I used up almost all of my energy outrunning the motion sensors on the next street over.¡±


    Raymond blinked in surprise. ¡°You can outrun the lights?¡±


    She giggled. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s exhausting.¡±


    Eleanor looked at her and could almost feel her energized state. ¡°You seem fine now.¡±


    Meixiu nodded. ¡°I had a feeding.¡±


    Raymond nced at his wife. ¡°Feedings or a feeding?¡±


    ¡°Just one,¡± the tall beauty said with a smile.


    Eleanor¡¯s curiosity was ring, then a sick feeling of dread washed over her. ¡°You¡­ you didn¡¯t kill them?¡±


    Meixiu¡¯s expression shed to embarrassment. ¡°No! Oh, I¡¯m sorry! I gave you the wrong idea. I took only three small mouthfuls, but his energy is so intense I lost consciousness momentarily. I should be good for a week or so. Unless I show off again.¡± She smiled sweetly.


    Raymond was sharing another look with his wife. They had to be so cautious about their diet and took only enough tost them one or two days. To not have to eat for a week! ¡°I don¡¯t understand. How is his blood able to contain so much energy?¡±


    Eleanor was equally shocked. ¡°Would¡­ Could we meet him?¡±


    Meixiu suddenly realized she was divulging privileged information. She looked at her new friends sadly as she bit her lip. She looked around, but they wouldn¡¯t be overheard. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned him as the Council has put a lock on all information about him. I was just so excited to have friends like me.¡±


    ¡°There seems to be a rash of people either hiding from or being hidden by the Council these days,¡± Raymond growled. Meixiu looked to him with regret. Eleanor exined. ¡°The first was a woman who can control people with her singing. She was on the run from the Council.¡±


    Meixiu perked up. ¡°Oh! You¡¯ve met Lorelei Reichenbach? My friend told me about her!¡±


    ¡°Yes, she told us she was worried about the Council, but she didn¡¯t know why they were after her,¡± Eleanor offered.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a safe ce to talk about it,¡± Meixiu said. As her new friends were already aware of the Naiad, she came to a decision. ¡°I think you should meet Henry.¡±


    Raymond and Eleanor smiled excitedly and nodded. The three quickly left the coffee shop and headed to the subway.


    ¡°I will text him to let him know we areing,¡± Meixiu stated as she fired off a message letting Henry know they wereing to visit.


    She couldn¡¯t wait to show him her new friends!


    -=-


    Henry heard a ping, which drew his attention back from where his mind was drifting. He nced at his cell¡¯s screen and saw Meixiu had invited herself over with her new friends. He smiled at her assumption this would be cool with him. He sighed. So much for getting to bed early.


    Whatever. She seemed excited about these new friends. He could be gracious. He banged off a reply stating he was steps from his front door and looking forward to meeting her friends.


    He hit send, then his cell spun out of his hands, over the railing into the Hudson. Then he couldn¡¯t see anything as a ck hood was yanked over his head. It was tied around his throat, but luckily he could still breathe. Then someone punched him in the gut, and he lost his wind. Hands grabbed his arms and dragged him backward. He wanted to yell, but he couldn¡¯t get his breath. More hands grabbed him to hold him still, and he felt a pinch on his arm then a cold sensation.


    ¡°Go! Get that blood back to the boss,¡± a voice barked, and footsteps rushed away as his arm ached.


    Henry felt a cold fear shoot down his spine. How much blood did they take?


    Then he was moving again, stumbling backward. He tried to think of something he could do, but they were so strong.


    ¡°Get him in the van!¡±


    More fear surging through him. He thrashed and managed to shake off their hands, but that just meant he tumbled backward to fall onto his back. A foot kicked him in the side of the head, and he saw stars.


    A heavy mass fell across his body, pinning him down. Then he heard a strange sound, like a sharp metallic cough. After each burst was a grunt, wheeze, or sigh. He was still pinned down, but he fumbled with the tie on the hood until he was able to yank it upwards over his face.


    Then he froze at what he saw.


    -=-


    Minkah could no longer wait. She was going to take Henry tonight. The target! She was going to take the target tonight!


    She cursed inwardly. This mission was messing with her head badly. She took some calming breaths then got into position in the lot facing the walkway he¡¯d being home along. She¡¯d called Rand von Deussel, so he was waiting in the extraction van. He was sick of waiting too.


    She was familiar with the movements,ings, and goings of Henry¡¯s neighborhood, so when the city works van parked at the end of the street two blocks away, her radar went off. She was in her cat form, so she rushed forward and kept to the shadows, out of sight of therge men who exited the truck. They weren¡¯t acting like city employees as they set up a perimeter. They were an extraction team!


    Someone else was after Henry!


    Then she spotted him walking towards the men, oblivious of the danger ahead. He pulled his cell out and smiled as he tapped a message into the keyboard.


    She almost yelled out as two of the men approached him and pped his cell phone from his hand.


    She transformed into her human disguise as she ran forward. They were sticking something into his arm, then the one with the syringe was running away. She sprinted closer as they roughly tugged Henry closer to their waiting van.


    Her suppressed SIG-Sauers were in her hands, and she was firing before she arrived. The thug holding Henry¡¯s right arm took a round through his temple, and down he went, falling over Henry.


    Then she was putting bullets through the heads of each of the goons trying to steal her target. They tried to retaliate, but her aim was too urate, and her hands were too quick. None managed to do more than pull a weapon from inside his coverall. Six thugs went down in quick session, including the driver. She pulled that one from behind the wheel before he made a mess of the vehicle. She looked up the walkway to spot the one with the syringe sitting in the passenger seat of a car on the next block. He was staring back at her in shock. She put a bullet into his throat just before the car reversed back out of sight.


    Her keen hearing picked up the sound of Henry struggling to free himself, so she holstered her guns and rushed around the side of the truck just in time to see him yank his hood off.


    His eyes locked on hers, and recognition red.


    ¡°What?¡±


    She jammed the injector against his neck as his smile began, and her heart clenched to see it copse into disappointment.


    Forcing her emotions down, she yanked open the van¡¯s side door and hoisted Henry inside, and closed the door. Then she climbed behind the wheel and got the van moving. She pulled the burner from her pocket and pressed the quick dial.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Change of ns. Get moving, and we¡¯ll do a vehicle switch-over in the lot under the turnpike,¡± she said tersely. ¡°Send a clean-up crew to this location as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    She drove calmly away from the grisly scene and merged into the evening traffic.


    -=-


    Meixiu looked at the chaos of emergency vehicles, police blockades, shing lights, and news crews swarming over the area just a block from Henry¡¯s home. They¡¯d juste out of the subway and were faced with this nightmare. Raymond was speaking with the police as she stood with Eleanor. She tried calling Henry, but it went to voicemail, and he didn¡¯t answer his texts. She also called and woke Michelle, who knocked on Henry¡¯s door, but he didn¡¯t answer, so he wasn¡¯t home.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    She texted Sigrid, and she responded immediately. She said Roy was on his way.


    Raymond returned, and his expression was grim. He moved their little group away from nearby ears. He kept his baritone voice low, so it didn¡¯t travel. ¡°They¡¯re saying it looks gang-rted-a professional hit. Someone executed at least six men wearing city worker uniforms. Headshots.¡±


    ¡°Not Henry!¡± Meixiu gasped in relief, and Eleanor put her arm around the woman.


    ¡°They¡¯re IDing the victims. Does this seem like something your friend would be involved with?¡± the public defender asked.


    Meixiu¡¯s eyes red, then she calmed. ¡°No. Not at all, but the timing is too close to when he sent me the text, and trouble finds him too often.¡±


    ¡°Meixiu!¡±


    She turned to see Roy walking towards her. She flung herself into his arms, and he gave her a hug as he eyed the two people standing with her.


    ¡°Eleanor and Raymond Hollings,¡± the woman said, ¡°New friends of Meixiu¡¯s. We¡¯ve much inmon with her.¡±

 238

    ¡°I see. Roy Duncan.¡± He eased the girl down onto her feet again and looked at her. ¡°We¡¯ve not been able to reach Henry. When did you text him?¡±


    Meixiu¡¯s bottom lip was trembling, and her eyes were getting ssy. She seemed unable to speak, so Eleanor spoke for her. ¡°It would have been just moments before this happened. He apparently indicated he was steps from his door.¡±


    Thewyer addressed Roy. ¡°I¡¯ve spoken with the police. They said it looks like a gang-rted execution. Sixrge men in city workers coveralls, each killed by a single gunshot to the head,¡± Raymond exined.


    Roy frowned. ¡°Either there were multiple shooters or one highly skilled professional.¡± He looked closer at Raymond. ¡°Exactly who are you to have such a rtionship with the police?¡±


    The big man smiled. ¡°I¡¯m a public defender. They don¡¯t all like me, but some are willing to talk¡­ or can be persuaded to.¡±


    Roy looked at him. ¡°Right.¡± He looked at Eleanor. ¡°What do you do?¡±


    She smiled confidently at him. ¡°I¡¯m a surgeon.¡±


    ¡°Is there something we can do?¡± Raymond asked.


    ¡°I need more information. What I need is to get closer to one of the victims,¡± Roy said in frustration.


    Raymond nodded. ¡°Come on. Let me see what I can do.¡± He looked to his wife. ¡°We¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    Roy followed Raymond into the chaos of shing lights.


    Meixiu watched them go and bit her lip. Where could Henry be?


    -=-


    Minkah sat in the passenger seat of the van driven by the Council Investigator. The small man had mped extenders to the gas and brake pedals to reach them. It made Minkah ufortable, but she couldn¡¯t fault the dwarf¡¯s precise driving.


    They¡¯d met at the designated location, and he¡¯d helped move Henry into his vehicle. He¡¯d also provided the incendiary device to destroy any trace evidence that might be in the van she¡¯d taken from Henry¡¯s would-be abductors. As they drove away, she¡¯d watched with satisfaction as it burned.


    They were almost at their destination, and there had been no sign of anyone following.


    The Investigator¡¯s cell buzzed, and he spared a second to look at it. ¡°Dammit!¡± He tucked the phone away as he gave her a quick re.


    ¡°What?¡± she snapped.


    ¡°The body count you left behind was discovered before our cleanup crew could get to it. Now we have a media circus on our hands!¡± he snapped back.


    ¡°They were abducting Hen- the target! If they¡¯d taken him, it might have been impossible to track them and take control of him. If they¡¯d killed him, that would have had dire consequences, as the file stated. You got what you wanted. This was a sessful conclusion for the mission. That¡¯s what I do. Spin the coteral damage. Isn¡¯t that what you do?¡±


    Rand mped his jaw shut as she had a point. Still, he didn¡¯t like her. He¡¯d caught her slip. She wasn¡¯t as professional about her target as she imed¡­ yet she¡¯d followed through without blinking. He admired her abilities, but her cold nature made him ufortable.


    Minkah turned her face from the driver and nced once more into the back of the van. She could see Henry was breathing, and the drugs were still working. She looked out the windshield and brooded.


    Minutester, Rand turned off the Interstate and headed north on the much smaller country highway. It wasn¡¯t much longer before they turned off onto a smaller road then a long, winding singlene drive, which emerged from a forest into a gravel drive leading to a farmhouse and separate garage.


    Rand stopped the van next to a small post with what looked like a mailbox on top. He rolled down his window and reached out to ce his hand against its side. Then he rolled the window up and drove towards the garage. The door swung up as they got closer, and he got them inside. He shut off the engine but made no move to get out.


    Minkah looked at him, but he only spared her a flickering nce before the floor began to drop slowly. An elevator!


    Once it stopped and doors closed above them, Rand got out, and she exited as well. She pulled the side door open and checked on their¡­ prisoner. She wasn¡¯t about to fool herself. That¡¯s what he was going to be until he eventually died. It seemed like such a waste. She didn¡¯t understand, but her part of the mission was over. She felt a little ill.


    Tworge orderlies in white scrubs appeared with a wheeled gurney. Following them was a thirty-something woman dressed in a white jacket and pants outfit with a loose whiteb coat over top. In a girl-next-door way, she was pretty with her mousy brown hair pinned back in a bun. Her thin nose supported white stic-framed half sses connected to a silver chain, allowing her to rest the eyewear against her modest chest as she reached out a slim hand to the investigator.


    ¡°Good evening, Mr. von Deussel.¡±


    ¡°Good evening, Dr. Leslie,¡± he returned as he shook her hand then nced ufortably at the assassin. ¡°This is Minkah Kamh Nassor Meskh-¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the doctor interrupted with the briefest of nods to her before turning back to Rand. ¡°You¡¯ve brought me our newest guest,¡± she said with delight. She gestured for the two men wheeling the cart to move towards the double doors to their left. She immediately followed with Rand at her side.


    Minkah was stinging from being dismissed so summarily, but she wasn¡¯t ready to leave Henry¡¯s side just yet. She followed and picked up the conversation the doctor was having with Rand.


    ¡°We¡¯re less than half capacity, so another guest is no strain at all. We¡¯ve set his room up as directed, and I can assure you we will maintain his physical condition for as long as his natural lifespan allows,¡± the doctor continued.


    ¡°He¡¯s not to be allowed to be conscious. We have no idea how he¡¯s doing it, but we¡¯re convinced he is linked to the arrival and propagation of the pseudo-clouds.¡±


    The doctor nodded and looked thoughtfully at Rand. ¡°It normally takes a few days to stabilize his medication. The dosage given to him to keep him under in transit will naturally be higher than we will use to maintain him.¡± She moved up to stop the gurney and looked into her patient¡¯s eye. Henry¡¯s pupils were pinpricks. She frowned.


    ¡°He seems to have had a stronger than normal reaction to the sedative. He¡¯s under too deeply, and his breathing is too shallow.¡± She looked to Minkah. ¡°Did you inject him twice?¡±


    ¡°I did not. I used one of the provided injectors against his neck at the time of his capture,¡± Minkah said in a clipped voice.


    The doctor looked away without acknowledging her response. ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse me. I should address this immediately.¡±


    Rand nodded, and the doctor hustled away with the orderlies. Another woman approached them, and Minkah noted she was identical to Dr. Leslie, except her half-sses had ck stic frames.


    The investigator bowed slightly to her. ¡°Administrator Kenzie. We¡¯ve delivered the subject into the care of Dr. Leslie. You¡¯ve arranged a vehicle for our trip back?¡±


    The woman shook her head. ¡°Minister Hoek contacted me to ask you two to remain overnight in case our new guest showsplications.¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± the dwarf snapped.


    Minkah looked at the Administrator. ¡°Where are we supposed to stay?¡±


    She looked at Minkah, and her disdain was evident as she sighed wearily. ¡°While no one stays there, the farmhouse is fully functional. Breakfast is served in our cafeteria at seven. The kitchen is closed now.¡± She pointed to a door at the end of the hall. ¡°That takes you into the house. Good evening.¡± She turned and headed back into theplex.


    Rand and Minkah shared a brief look of unease then she headed off towards the door. Rand fell in behind her.


    Passing through the heavy door, they found themselves inside the basement of the farmhouse. It was dimly lit with old clear bulbs. The door they¡¯d just entered looked like an old, wooden bedroom door from this side. They looked around at the unremarkable basement interior. Aside from being very clean, neat, and orderly, it could have been any farmhouse owned by a clean freak. They climbed the old stairs into the kitchen and saw appliances from the 1960s. Again, spotless. The lights were a little brighter here, but there was a general feeling of tiredness about the home. They did a quick tour of the main floor then headed upstairs. There was a bedroom at the front of the house overlooking the frontwn and thene that led to it. Two more bedrooms were at the back.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take this one,¡± Minkah said from the doorway of therger front bedroom.


    Rand shed a sour look at her then headed to the bedroom farthest from hers. ¡°See you at seven,¡± he grumbled, then closed his door.


    Minkah closed and locked her door, then did a sweep of the room, finding it clear of listening devices and cameras. On the old bed was a stic, shrink-wrapped package containing the bed sheets and pillows. In the ensuite bathroom was another shrink-wrapped package with a toothbrush, toothpaste, facecloth, and towel.


    She wanted to clean her guns, but the tools were back in the safe house in the city.


    Sighing, she made the bed then undressed. The guns went under the pillows, and she settled back to rest.


    She went through all of her actions on this mission, and while she¡¯d never admit it to Rand, she hadn¡¯t performed as professionally as she usually did. It was something about the target, something about Henry Gable. He wasn¡¯t the most exceptional example of masculinity she¡¯d ever encountered, and she¡¯d taken many exciting and talented lovers over the years. Yes, she thought he was handsome enough, and he had a pleasing physique, but there was¡­ something else.


    With an angry snort, she flipped over and forced her mind into reciting her mantras so she could calm her thoughts and bring herself a little peace so she could sleep.


    The mission was over. She would move on. There was nothing left for her to do.


    Was there?

 239

    Henry watched himself being strapped down on a bed that seemed to be able to rotate him 180 degrees. The IV tubes they stuck into his arms would allow this range of motion, so he supposed he was expected to be there a while. They were preparing him to prevent bedsores.


    He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about that. The drugs they¡¯d stuck in him were exceptionally good at ttening any emotions he might be feeling.


    He looked away from his body to the people working on it. The tworge orderlies were brutes but very well-trained brutes. Their big hands moved with practiced precision, and while Henry couldn¡¯t feel it, he could see their almost gentle touches to ensure he was secure but not constricted by his restraints.


    Henry looked closer at their faces, and he saw their intense concentration. Thinking didn¡¯t seem to be their forte. He reached out and touched one. Shit! Henry saw through its disguise. The orderlies were Ogres!


    The one he¡¯d touched pulled back as if stung and looked around. Henry saw it shiver, then it went right back to work with another nervous nce at the fourth upant in the room, a woman dressed all in white. She was watching Henry¡¯s body with intense concentration as well. She was standing before a machine that was taking readings from him. He couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of what the screen was saying but based on her expression, she wasn¡¯t happy about it. He¡¯d seen that expression before. It was on the face of Mab¡¯s Master Inquisitor. He looked more closely at the doctor. He didn¡¯t need to see through her mor. She was Fae!


    After a time, he grew bored of watching her, and something told him it would be dangerous to touch her to see through her mor, so he turned his attention outward. The chamber looked like a hospital room except for theck of windows. This wasn¡¯t a hospital room. It was a prison cell.


    A spike of fear shot through him, and that felt¡­ bad. It was a real emotion, so he weed it after the numbness. Thedy in white snarled something and made an adjustment on her console.


    Henry heard a steady but distant drum begin to slow, the sound faint at first and getting quieter. Gradually, he felt himself getting closer, but the sound remained muted like it wasing through a fog bank. His fear began to fade as well, and he realized the woman had given him another drug. She was smiling now, but there was no warmth to it. She reminded him of Walter, the dragon who¡¯d wanted to collect him for his uniqueness. He¡¯d had a totalck of empathy. This woman had none as well.


    He didn¡¯t want to be here, so he moved to the door and went through it. Henry found himself standing in a white hallway lined with doors on both sides. He turned and saw he was in room number six. There were four more doors on his side of the hall, so there were twenty cells in this hallway. He crossed the hallway and slipped through the door, but the room was empty. He moved through the wall into the next room, but that one was empty as well. All the rooms on this side of the hallway were empty.


    He felt a stirring in his chest and realized it was relief. There were no prisoners on this side of the hall. Crossing to room ten, he found it empty too. He slipped from room to room, seeing they were all empty until he reached his own. The doctor and the orderlies were gone. Little lights flickered on his console, and gentle tones sounded to indicate all was well¡­ or he was dying. He couldn¡¯t really tell, but thetter seemed unlikely. They wouldn¡¯t go to all this effort just to kill him. There were much faster ways.


    He made the assumption that the next room would not be empty, so he slipped out into the hall once more and stepped into the door of room five. He found himself out in the hall once more. The sheer intensity of the psychic pain the upant of room five was experiencing had pushed him clear. There was no mind left, just pain. Unending pain.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    Henry collected himself and moved to the door of room four. Inside was a woman, a Human woman, crying due to her great loss. Grief was pouring off her in waves, and Henry staggered under its weight. Everyone had been taken from her. She was alone, and she couldn¡¯t escape the despair her life was filled with. She wanted desperately to join her loved ones on the other side, but she was trapped here.


    He dragged himself out into the hall and fought back the tears. Holy shit, these people were in pain! He threw an angry nce up the aisle. What kind of monsters were they to do this?


    He hesitated at the door of room three as his emotions felt raw from the previous two. Henry took a deep mental breath, then moved cautiously into the room.


    The lights were dimmed for sleeping, but the upant was awake. He turned his head toward Henry and just looked at him as if Henry was visible. The man¡¯s mouth worked, but he said nothing. He was younger than Henry but gaunt like he¡¯d missed more than a few meals. His hair was long ck waves, and he was wearing striped pajamas, which made him look even younger. Faded bruises showed on his lightly bronzed skin as high cheekbones andrge expressive dark eyes with longshes softened his features.


    He wasn¡¯t strapped down to his bed, which was better than Henry could say for himself.


    Knowing it certainly couldn¡¯t hurt, Henry tried to speak to him. ¡°Hi, can you see me?¡±


    The man twitched then licked his lips. ¡°Are you the devil?¡±


    Henry was shocked as the man could actually see and hear him while he was all floaty and out of body.


    ¡°No! No, I¡¯m not. Why would you think that?¡± he asked.


    The man gestured up at his head then down to his feet. ¡°The horns and hooves.¡±


    So, he was in his true state when he went out of body. ¡°I¡¯m a Satyr, not a demon,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve never hallucinated a Satyr before. Maybe my meds aren¡¯t working anymore,¡± the young man mumbled.


    ¡°You have hallucinations?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Duh, I¡¯m having one now, so yeah. I see all kinds of crazy shit! It¡¯s why they put me in here,¡± he admitted.


    Henry had a thought.


    ¡°I have a friend who can see through mors and see people for what they really are. Maybe you¡¯re not hallucinating. Maybe you¡¯re like her. My name¡¯s Henry Gable.¡±


    ¡°My hallucination now has a name,¡± the young man said quietly in surprise.


    Henry wasn¡¯t sure what he could say to convince him. He¡¯d start with the truth.


    ¡°I¡¯m actually strapped to a bed three rooms that way.¡± He pointed to the left wall. ¡°They¡¯ve doped me up to keep me asleep, but that just makes my mind slip out and wander. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The young man in pajamas blinked in surprise at him. ¡°DJ. People call me DJ. The nice ones do. Most people call me fucking asshole, god damned thief, dirty beggar, and fun names like that.¡±


    Henry realized DJ might have been living on the street. ¡°Were you homeless before they brought you here?¡±


    Eyes too weary for the face they were in watched him carefully. ¡°You know, none of my hallucinations ever asked so many questions.¡±


    Henry had a thought. ¡°Sorry. My friend, who sees through disguises, can see the real being inside. The orderlies here aren¡¯t Human. They¡¯re Ogres.¡±


    The manughed. ¡°Yeah, theyarebig and ugly, so ogre is a good description.¡±


    Henry just looked at him. ¡°No, real Ogres, as in not Human.¡±


    It was the young man¡¯s turn to stare. ¡°What- what do you mean?¡± he choked out.


    Henry moved closer as DJ seemed to be frightened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to upset you. It¡¯s just¡­ magic is real.¡±


    DJ screamed, and Henry stared in shock. The young man was terrified. He moved closer still and reached out a hand to calm him, identally touching his hand.


    Henry was in a cafeteria.


    He looked around and wondered how he¡¯d gotten here. He looked down and couldn¡¯t see his body, so he knew he was on a mental walkabout.


    Then the memories came crashing back. DJ! He was-


    A ripping sensation made Henry scream, and the cafeteria exploded. Tables and chairs flew outwards, away from where he was floating in the middle of the room. A stack of trays was suddenly airborne and spinning in all directions. All the notices were ripped from the bulletin board, and the ckboard card leaning against the far wall shattered into pieces.


    Henry¡¯s eyes snapped open. Someone was fucking with Wild Magic, and he knew exactly who it was.


    He needed to speak with DJ, but first things first. He turned to face her direction and disappeared from the cafeteria just as the two Ogres burst into the room to look around in dismay.


    The boardroom in the lower level of VRL was filled with people, which wasn¡¯t typical for thete hour. The group that filled the room was also somewhat atypical. There was representation from VRL¡¯s management team, namely Cam (CEO), Sigrid (Head of HR), Roy (Head of Security, Marisa (Henry¡¯s Executive Assistant), and Mahati (External Legal Counsel).


    Also present were Mary, Meixiu, and Lorelei Reichenbach, who was invited by Roy as a precaution.


    When she arrived, she spotted Raymond and Eleanor sitting at the table with pleased smiles on their faces.


    ¡°You!¡± she eximed.


    ¡°Friends of Meixiu!¡± Eleanor said quickly, gesturing to the young-looking woman before they could be sung into oblivion again.


    Lorelei watched them suspiciously.


    ¡°We also found some information you may need to protect yourself from the Council. I called in a favor with a contact within the administration to find out who they might have assigned to hunt you. Almost all local agents are tasked with finding and eliminating the New York serial killer, but there were two open cases in Europe. One of the agents was working in Germany when they were re-tasked with something here in New York. As you¡¯re here, she might be here for you. I have an image of her-¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see it,¡± Roy said as he joined them.


    When Minkah¡¯s face appeared on Raymond¡¯s cell screen, Roy swore, and eyes went to him.


    ¡°It¡¯s the woman from the museum! The one who bumped into you!¡± Roy eximed as he stared at the image.

 240

    ¡°So, shewasafter me? For what I did in Germany? Why didn¡¯t she attack when she was standing right next to me?¡± Lorelei said a little more sharply than intended. She was trembling.


    ¡°What did you do in Germany? We¡¯re not judging!¡± Sigrid quickly added as she saw Lorelei begin to tense up. The tall blonde looked at the assassin¡¯s picture and froze-one blue and one yellow eye.


    ¡°I was trying to find out about my birth parents in Germany, and this small man tried to attack me. When he discovered what I could do, he said he would kill me, and even if I stopped him, others in the Council would be sent. He left me no choice,¡± Lorelei said with trembling lips.


    Roy, Cam, and Sigrid nodded to her, and she took strength from that.


    Sigrid looked to Cam. ¡°There¡¯s something about her eyes. Cam, do you remember when Henry was telling us about the new neighborhood cat he was feeding?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he said it had beautiful eyes, one blue and one yellow,¡± the CEO replied.


    Roy looked closely at the image again. ¡°She¡¯s a shapeshifter? With a cat and Human form?¡±


    ¡°Most likely a Bastet,¡± Mahati offered. ¡°Supremely proficient hunters and assassins.¡±


    Roy looked to Raymond. ¡°I think we found the one who took out the team trying to kidnap Henry.¡±


    Lorelei was looking from face to face trying to follow what was going. ¡°Is she after me or not?¡±


    Roy gave her a grim look. ¡°If she was the one investigating the death of the Council agent in Germany, and it sounds like she was, then she¡¯ll be the one hunting you. The fact that she was pulled from her mission in Germany and was stalking Henry meanshewas her target here, not you. She didn¡¯t recognize you in the museum, so her investigation in Germany didn¡¯t identify you. You covered your tracks well. That said, she won¡¯t stop until she haspleted the mission or it¡¯s called off. We¡¯ll work on making sure the council rescinds the contract.¡± He went quiet.


    They could see Roy¡¯s mind was working out the possibilities, and he nced at them when he¡¯d found his most likely scenario. Lorelei watched the others watching Roy and waiting, so she remained silent, too.


    He looked to Cam. ¡°As for Henry, he wasn¡¯t one of the dead on the street, so she wasn¡¯t here to kill him. Due to theplexities surrounding him, the Council needed to bring in their best to capture and tuck him away in a dark pit somewhere.¡± Voices cried out in dismay at hearing this, but he raised his palm. ¡°They¡¯ll take good care of him though he¡¯s an unknown to them. They might try to keep him sedated.¡±


    ¡°SHIT!¡± Sigrid swore, and heads turned in her direction. She nced at those looking at her. ¡°His mind leaves his body when he¡¯s intoxicated or drugged. That¡¯s highly dangerous for him and others, but mostly for him. The longer his mind is outside his body, the harder it is to get him back to it.¡±


    Eleanor¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Does he remember what happens while he¡¯s out?¡±


    Sigrid nodded.


    ¡°What do you mean, dangerous to others? He¡¯s mentally projecting. How could that affect others?¡± Raymond asked.


    ¡°That, I can¡¯t really exin without taking you down a rabbit hole,¡± Sigrid said reluctantly, and Raymond¡¯s eyebrows rose.


    ¡°How far can he project?¡± Eleanor asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the twenty questions?¡± Lorelei finally snapped in frustration. ¡°Henry¡¯s been grabbed by this tyrannical council. We have to get him back!¡±


    Eleanor and Raymond both looked embarrassed by their behavior, so he addressed it. ¡°Our apologies. We meant no harm or insult. We¡¯ve lived for a long time and became excited by the unprecedented nature of these events. By all means, the emphasis should be on finding a means to extract your friend from his imprisonment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll speak to their Minister of Security tomorrow and let her know we¡¯re aware of his captivity and how this is jeopardizing our rtions with several US Government Intelligence Agencies. That should add an ufortable amount of pressure,¡± Mahati asserted.


    At the curious looks directed her way, she continued with a proud tone. ¡°Henry wrote security software for them. They consider him an asset to be protected. They won¡¯t ept that he justdisappeared.¡±This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    ¡°Who were the six who tried to kidnap Henry?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°Raymond managed to convince one of the ambnce drivers to let me take a look at one of the bodies. I didn¡¯t recognize the man, but I could smell Carl de Bellisle on him. They were from his pack. Carl must have ordered them to bring Henry to him. Either Carl knows about his nature, or he was trying to get to me through the boy. But he didn¡¯t get Henry, and he lost a crew. He¡¯s not going to be rational the next time he contacts us. I¡¯m going to have to deal with him. That means I need to start reaching out to the other pack leaders to prepare them.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡± Raymond asked.


    Roy shook his head, then paused. ¡°Do you have a contact within the Council who might know the location of their containment center?¡±


    Raymond frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll contact the guy I know, but I may have closed off that avenue getting the information on the assassin.¡±


    Roy nodded, then looked to Eleanor. ¡°If you can, stay close. It could get messy, and having a surgeon avable would be an asset,¡± he said, then frowned. ¡°I wish Dayshia was here as well. She¡¯s proven her surgical skills under emergency conditions. Having x-ray vision doesn¡¯t hurt either.¡±


    Eleanor¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, and she traded an excited nce with her husband, then noticed Lorelei watching her with a troubled look.


    Roy drew the Naiad¡¯s attention. ¡°Until we get the Council to rescind the contract on you, I¡¯d like to set you up in a safe house.¡±


    ¡°She can stay with me,¡± Cam suggested.


    Lorelei looked like she might argue, but she saw thepassionate smile on the woman¡¯s face, and that eased her concerns. ¡°If it wouldn¡¯t be too much of an inconvenience.¡±


    Cam shook her head with a grin. ¡°I¡¯d be honored. Bring your art supplies in case inspiration strikes. There¡¯s lovely light in my condo.¡±


    Lorelei felt a little thrill at the idea of not being alone. She nodded with a grateful smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll assign a team to help you collect your items, and they¡¯ll take you to Cam¡¯s,¡± Roy said with a grateful nod to the CEO.


    He continued. ¡°The n is to make a two-pronged attack. First, Mahati will spearhead the effort to convince the Council that it¡¯s in their best interest to release Henry. While that¡¯s happening, we¡¯ll work on finding the containment center.¡± He paused and looked to Sigrid. ¡°If he¡¯s on a mental walkabout and has developed¡­ new skills, he might try to contact us.¡± He looked around at the gathered people. ¡°Don¡¯t dismiss the possibility that Henry might be able to contact you. If you see any evidence of this, make a note of it and let us know.¡±


    A thrill ran through the group, and hopeful smiles appeared.


    ¡°Second, I¡¯ll deal with Carl. He¡¯s a threat to everyone. It¡¯s time to take him out, but I have to make preparations first.¡± He nodded to the group and saw they were ready. ¡°Make sure everyone shares their contact details.¡±


    The meeting was over, and everyone moved to trade numbers and gathered into smaller groups to discuss their next steps.


    ¡°You¡¯re an excellent leader Roy. They needed a calm decisive mind in a time of crisis,¡± Mary said with a smile.


    He snorted and leaned closer to her to speak quietly. ¡°Aye, it¡¯s a good thing they can¡¯t see how much I want to rip my way through that Minister of Security and feel her blood on my ws for hurting Henry.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ll have to settle with Carl¡¯s,¡± Mary agreed with a grin.


    Roy¡¯s answering grin was no less bloodthirsty.


    -=-


    The world¡¯srgest wolfpack leader stared at the shivering survivor of the team he sent after one young man.


    ¡°What do you mean they¡¯re all dead?¡± he growled in frustration.


    ¡°They were ambushed by an assassin. Marley was s-s-s-shot through the throat from a b-b-block away!¡± the Were stammered.


    ¡°But did he get it?¡± Carl snapped, not giving a shit about excuses.


    The terrified driver stared at Carl then handed him the thick syringe he¡¯d taken from the hand of his dead partner.


    ¡°Good! Leave,¡± Carl grunted, alreadypletely focused on the prize in his hand.


    He heard the door close, so he looked up to ensure he was alone. He felt incredibly foolish to put so much hope into something that felt like a childhood story, but he wanted so desperately to defeat Roy, to see him broken at his feet.


    Carl walked over to open his door and looked out at his secretary. ¡°I¡¯m not to be disturbed.¡± She nodded to him with wide eyes. Giving her one more stern look, he closed and locked his door, returning to sit behind his desk. He pulled a whisky tumbler from his drawer and emptied the antique syringe into the ss. He was surprised by how much the needle had contained.


    Setting the ss on the desk surface before him, he took a breath and dipped a finger in the blood. He then sucked it from his finger.

 241

    ¡°UHHHH!¡± Carl gasped as sparks rushed through his body. He leaned back in his plush chair and enjoyed the residual tingles for a minute or so. When he was done, he focused his eyes on the tumbler and knew the realization of his dreams was sitting before him. If he got such a charge from a small mouthful of this blood, the power contained within the rest would make him¡­ invincible!


    Without a second thought, he lifted the ss to his lips and tossed the rest back in one swallow. His tongue licked the rest from the ss.


    The sensation wasn¡¯t sparks this time but a small nuke exploding in the core of his chest. Blind from the energy scouring him out from the inside, his arms and legs flung wide as he screamed silently, sliding to the floor behind his desk.


    Terrified, his cheeks wet with tears, Carl struggled to hang on to his sanity while the flood of energy surged within. His extremities drummed against the floorboards, and this body shook violently.


    On the count of three, he went under.


    ********


    Henry felt the rush of his movement around the suddenly stop. He found himself on the edge of a cliff overlooking the angry waves of the Antic crashing against the rocky crags of the north-western shore of Irnd. He paused as knowing exactly where he was in the world while traveling this way was a new and distinct sensation. He wondered if this was a wielder thing.


    He put that aside as he was here to deal with Mab. She was fucking around with Wild Magic, trying to forcibly bend it to her will. That wasn¡¯t working out so well for her. He knew the new magic could not be made toply. However, it responded to invitations to participate quite well. That¡¯s the best analogy he coulde up with to describe the sensation of working with the Wild Magic.


    He could see the microtears between the Earth and Eden opening and closing as pulses in the sky above. This was the damage Mab was inflicting in her tests. He reached out and soothed the rips until they settled and closed. He sensedrger tears as hot spots all around the. What the fuck was she doing? She¡¯d made a mess of things!


    Before him was the North Antic and a small ind. Carrickhesk, his new geolocation sense, told him. He grinned at having this level of information avable to him. It was so much better than relying on his memories of Geography ss in school.


    The ind was just an upthrust of rock in the cold waters, but Henry¡¯s eyes saw what no Human eyes could.


    Atop this rock bnced a five-story castle, the original of the one he¡¯d visited atop the office tower in Manhattan. Surrounding this building was an energy shield to keep out¡­ everyone. Mab had locked her castle down and wasn¡¯t epting visitors. Not from her people, who¡¯d cast her out for breaking one of their society¡¯s most intrinsicws while at the same time putting the lives of the Fae at risk. Two unforgivable sins from their queen, so she was queen no longer.


    She certainly wasn¡¯t epting visitors from the other Hidden Races, and that included him. Too bad.


    He floated across the space between the shore and the outer edge of the energy field. She¡¯d managed to do one thing with the Wild Magic. The dome around the castle was powered with it.


    If he¡¯d been more than just the energy of his mind, this would be as far as he went. Looking at the rooftop patio a short distance away, he pictured himself there, and he was. He moved to the ss doors and looked inside to the familiar bedroom where she¡¯d tricked him into making a baby. He was inside the room before he knew what he was doing. Crossing that threshold, he felt a distinct ping from the old magic. He¡¯d triggered an rm, so he probably didn¡¯t have much time.


    Mab was aware she had a visitor.


    He looked around and saw nothing useful. His eyesnded on the closet where she¡¯d kept the feral Subi twins. He smiled as he recalled how they¡¯d bonded with him and turned on the mad queen. The closet door opened as he concentrated on it, but they weren¡¯t there. He wondered where they were and if they were okay.


    He spotted himself in one of Mab¡¯s many full-length mirrors. In her castle, he was visible in his true form, but light passed through him as well. So, he couldn¡¯t slip around unseen. So be it.


    Henry paused to think. Where would he find information that might be useful? Maybe a map of the house to locate the dungeon where he suspected Nate would be chained up.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    The Library.


    That was two floors down. He remembered what it looked like, and he was there.


    Nate dropped the book he was ncing through as he stared at the translucent presence of Henry. ¡°Henry? You¡¯re dead?¡±


    ¡°Nate!¡± he eximed with joy and moved closer but stopped when Nate stepped back. ¡°I¡¯m not dead. I¡¯m just¡­ visiting mentally.¡± He watched Nate¡¯s expression close up. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    His expression broke. ¡°VISITING!?!,¡± he screamed. ¡°You¡¯re not here to rescue me? She¡¯s fucking crazy, and she tortures me for fun!¡±


    Henry could see his friend wasing apart. It was almost guaranteed that he¡¯d been exposed to some horrific shit. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Nate. We¡¯ve been trying, but she locked her castle away from the world. I would havee earlier, but I didn¡¯t have this ability before.¡±


    ¡°What ability would that be, Henry?¡± a cold voice asked from behind him.


    Nate dropped to his knees, pressing his face to the floor. Shudders were going through his muscles, memories of the pain inflicted upon him.


    Henry watched this as his rage built. He wanted to strike out at her so badly, but Nate needed him more.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it took so long, Nate,¡± he whispered.


    The floor beneath Nate opened, and with a squeak of genuine fear, Nate fell three feet face-first into soft red grasses.


    Henry snapped the tear closed. It was so much easier now.


    ¡°NO! HE¡¯S MINE!¡± Mab shrieked as she lunged forward from the doorway.


    Henry gasped in agony as Mab drove a de between his translucent shoulders. He tried to escape, but it felt like the knife was pinning him in ce. He immediately began to feel a lethargy growing in his mind.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t have Nate, you¡¯ll have to do,¡± she purred, her unhinged mind flipping from rage to yfully homicidal seduction in an instant.


    He felt her fingers changing their position on the handle of the knife as she moved around to his side. Turning his eyes, he finally saw her and sucked in a virtual breath as she didn¡¯t look good.


    Mab¡¯s eyes were sunken and ringed with bruises. She obviously wasn¡¯t sleeping. Her skin was pale, and her cheeks sunken. Maybe she wasn¡¯t eating either. Gone was the mor that made her look inhumanly beautiful.


    ¡°Fuck! You look like shit!¡± he growled.


    She twisted the knife, and he gasped once more as anothernce of agony shot through him.


    ¡°It¡¯s this cursed magic! It¡¯s so hard to make it do what Imand!¡± she snarled.


    Henry wasn¡¯t about to clue her in on how to make it work. ¡°Considering what you used it for the first time, I¡¯m not surprised. If you had your way, you¡¯d blow the whole world into pieces.¡±


    She grinned maniacally at him. ¡°That does sound delicious, but my subjects will first taste the fear and agony they deserve for abandoning me. Then they will die of a painful rot no magic or science can defeat. The spell is almost ready.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you just ept you were a bad queen- Ahhh, fuck that hurts¡­ and you deserved to lose your crown.¡± Madness shed in her eyes, but he was in too much pain to care.


    ¡°Once I¡¯ve punished my people, I¡¯m going to turn my attention to your friends. I¡¯m going to take them apart. One. By. One.¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡±


    Henry¡¯s rage exploded, and everything around him flew outwards. Mab was thrown over a table and crashed into the chairs on its opposite side. She¡¯d lost her grip on the knife when she was tossed away, and it fell at his feet. Fighting to get control over his emotions once more, he lifted the knife with his ghostly hand and felt the lifeforce the de had stolen from him surge back.


    He scowled at Mab, who was just now struggling to pick herself up from the ground. It was almost painful to see her like this. She¡¯d oncemanded awe and respect for being dangerously intelligent, wickedly clever, and highly skilled in all aspects of politics and magic. The long stretch of time or the failing of her magic must have eaten away that brilliance, and all that was left behind was the danger.


    To Henry¡¯s science-based mind, she was much like an aging nuclear warhead in an obsolete intercontinental ballistic missile. It¡¯s usefulness, if it truly ever had any, was gone, and now it had to be carefully disposed of to protect everyone around it. He needed to drive this de into her skull to end her reign of terror once and for all. This was likely his best opportunity.


    His muscles suddenly spasmed as a shock went through his entire body. Everything went white.


    Then he was looking up into the cold eyes of the doctor dressed in white.


    ¡°You¡¯re back with us again. Good.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyes rolled back, his exhaustion taking him down into restful sleep this time.


    Something ttered to the floor, and the doctor frowned as she looked down at her feet. Her eyes widened in shock as ancient words of protection quickly slipped from her lips, their sounds twisting and evadingprehension. She bent then stood holding the handle of the dagger reverently as her eyes took in the etching on the de.


    ¡°M¨¨irleach Anam,¡± she sighed, trembling with an almost carnal joy at feeling the heft of the weapon in her fingers. Her eyes moved to Henry¡¯s face to watch him sleep.


    Then she looked at the ssh of blood on his chest where no injury existed. Where had ite from?


    The doctor struggled to understand how this legendary de came to be in the hand of a prisoner strapped down to a bed in her containment center. She was beyond frustrated that she wasn¡¯t allowed to ask any questions about the prisoner. She¡¯d just been told to keep him sedated.


    After the explosion in the cafeteria, she¡¯d checked on her patients. The two in the first two rooms were quiet, but she¡¯d had to sedate the young man in room three as he¡¯d be very agitated. Coming into room six, she discovered none of Henry¡¯s sensor pads were attached as their adhesive had failed. Also, the monitoring machinery was dead. Then she noticed the patient¡¯s breathing was very shallow, and his pupils were non-responsive once more. She¡¯d had the orderlies bring in monitoring gear from the room across the hall, and she watched very carefully as they reattached all of the sensors. She ensured they did it correctly this time.


    Then she began rebncing her patient¡¯s body chemistry to bring him to just under the consciousness threshold. When he started to spasm as if in great pain, she could see nothing to exin it on the machine, and blood appeared on his gown, but when she checked, there was no wound.

 242

    His life signs began to fade, so she was forced to shock him. It worked but¡­ the dagger. She scowled as she looked at Henry. He had answers, but they were forbidden to her.


    She went to his monitoring station¡¯s console and set the sedative to a slightly lower volume but started his treatment again. She watched his brainwaves move from the regr sleep patterns into a deeper state. She wouldn¡¯t allow him to slip as deep as before. With a final re at the mystery man, she tucked the dagger into her jacket and slipped out into the hall, locking the door behind her.


    She had ns for the ancient weapon.


    -=-


    Tish unpacked her suitcase into the bureau in Kristin¡¯s guest room. She knew she¡¯d be repacking in two days when she went to Steph¡¯s home. Her sisters had set up a schedule of who she¡¯d be staying with over the week. With four sisters and two brothers, she had too many family members to fit into the week, but they tried. Each wanted to have a party at their home to celebrate the miracle of Tish¡¯s pregnancy, but Tish wasn¡¯t sure she could endure that much. Kristin¡¯s partypletely wore her out.


    When she arrived at Kristin¡¯s house, her sister almost passed out when she saw the baby bump. Then the shrieks of joy began. As the rest of the family showed up, the explosions of shock and joy continued. As she¡¯d told Henry, she gave them minimal information about thehowof her pregnancy and instead fielded many questions about Henry. Her sisters exploded into more shrieks as she finally showed them a photo of the two of them together. Steph grabbed the cell and skipped ahead to see a picture Tish had snuck of Henry¡¯s naked Human body from behind. That produced screams the neighbors were sure to hear. Tish was relieved she¡¯d kept her promise to never keep photos of their true selves.


    It was an emotionally charged day.


    She¡¯d missed her family and promised herself she would take more time to visit them more often. She wasn¡¯t sure how this was going to work when she had a Faun child. Regr Hidden Races people didn¡¯t have Human rtives they had to keep secrets from. She couldn¡¯t put them at risk.


    She sat on the edge of the bed and thought about how sweet Henry had been when he¡¯d told her about his worries and his joy at being a father. She felt a warmth enveloping her, and she flopped back on the mattress with a smile as she could feel Henry¡¯s strong arms around her. She looked up and saw the ceiling spinning. She was more tired than she thought.


    Lips caressed hers as she felt Henry¡¯s strong Satyr arms wrapping around her once more.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    She lifted her hands to rest them on his chest as her body filled with warmth and his energy. Her exhaustion caught up to her, and with Henry¡¯s love filling her mind, she fully rxed and felt lips kiss her belly.


    A sweet smile surfaced as she finally fell asleep.


    -=-


    Kesini was restless, and that wasn¡¯t letting Sandy fall asleep either. The truth was, sleeping in her childhood bed felt weird. It was almost like she¡¯d never traveled to New York to make a life for herself, never got a job at the hospital, never inherited the condo from her grandmother, and never met Stanley then Henry. Kesini hugged her, which helped dispel those unhappy thoughts, but she still missed Henry.


    Showing up in town and seeing how little everything had changed had shaken her. It really felt like a bubble in time. Her parents looked older, and the house looked a little more worn down as her father wasn¡¯t able to maintain it as well.


    Kesini was on her best behavior and gave absolutely no sign of her presence. This helped Sandy rx.


    There was some kind of high school gymnasticspetition underway, which had drawn in parents and students from all over the county. The hotels were booked, so Sandy had no choice but to stay in her old bedroom with her folks.


    She met the neighbors and her parent¡¯s friends, and they, too, just looked a little older. At dinner that night, they talked about the same things Sandy had heard when she lived there. Needing to shake that feeling, Sandy talked about her life in New York, minus all the magic stuff. They listened, enthralled, but none were eager to experience it first-hand.


    They talked about the serial killer with fear in their eyes, and her parents showed extra concern for their daughter, but she deflected with questions about her brother. Apparently, her parents hadn¡¯t heard anything from him either.


    Sandy¡¯s thoughts returned to how stagnant this town felt to her and how much she missed her new home and Henry in particr. She struggled to keep her tears at bay, but she was losing that fight as she was so tired from the trip.


    She sucked in a sudden breath when she feltrge hands gently touch her face, thumbs brushing away her tears. It was Henry!


    Kesini swept forward, but there was no one there to hug. She was confused until she felt Henry¡¯s strong hands slide back through her hair to massage her scalp and the back of her head. Kesini trembled and settled to the bed as Sandy sighed happily. When she felt his lips gently kiss hers, and a flush of energy rushed through her, she fully rxed, and Kesini curled up beside her.


    That¡¯s how sleep found them.


    -=-


    Dayshia was pacing in her sister¡¯s guest room. This motion matched how her brain went round and round, struggling with her inability to deal with how she felt about Henry, currently the only man in her life.


    This always happened when she spent time with her sister and her wonderful husband. They were a perfect couple, in her mind at least. They loved, respected, and supported each other even if they didn¡¯t always see eye to eye on all things.


    Dayshia screwed up all her rtionships. There was always something she¡¯d identify as a deal-breaker. Her inability topromise on even the smallest of issues inevitably meant she¡¯d break up.


    Henry¡¯s issues were thergest of all. He wasn¡¯t human. He was a creature of magic. He¡¯d turned her into one too. He upended her entire life without so much as amay I.


    Then there was the fact that he had many lovers. She despised yers but putting him in that category felt wrong, too.


    Yet for all that, she was intensely attracted to him and thought he was one of the sweetest men she¡¯d ever met.


    He made her so confused! The fact that he didn¡¯t match her ideal mate in so many ways made her begin to doubt what her ideal was.


    She wished she could talk with him about it, but she was terrified of the change that might bring.


    Dayshia dropped herself onto the edge of the bed and put her face in her hands.


    She squeaked when she felt the pressure ofrge hands resting on her knees. She felt the warmth and energy from Henry seeping into her body.


    ncing quickly to confirm she¡¯d locked the bedroom door, she dropped her mor and let her eyes scan through a range of frequencies. Nothing.


    Then she thought about how Henry might be here only as energy, so she concentrated on picturing that in her mind as she closed and slowly opened her eyes again. She felt her energy levels draining as she projected a ck light from her eyes, which caused an outline of him to appear, as he knelt before her in his Satyr form. He moved to sit next to her and took her hand in his. The effort to see him this way lessened as he began to feed her more energy through his touch.


    ¡°Henry? Are you okay?¡± She knew he didn¡¯t travel out of his body willfully. His jaw appeared to move, but she heard nothing. She saw him pause then wobble his hand side to side in the so-so gesture. Speaking with him didn¡¯t appear to be possible.


    ¡°Where are you?¡± she asked.


    His hand moved up to bump himself on his forehead. What did that mean? Then he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. Tingles shot through her body. He held her hand against his cheek, and his warmth and magic filled her.


    ¡°Oh! I miss you, too!¡± she gasped.


    The doorknob rattled, and Dayshia snapped her mor back in ce.


    ¡°Dayshia? Are you okay in there?¡± her sister Beth asked from the other side of the door.


    ¡°Yes!¡± she said and felt Henry slip away. She got to her feet and opened her door. Beth nced in the room and saw her sister¡¯s cell on the dresser. She looked at Dayshia.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Henry?¡±


    Dayshia frowned at her big sister. ¡°You still listening at your little sister¡¯s door?¡±


    ¡°I was just passing by this time. Besides, youwerealways the wild one. The one I had to keep tabs on for daddy. Now, don¡¯t you go changing the topic. Who¡¯s Henry?¡± Beth said with her hands on her hips.


    Dayshia pouted and huffed. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s a friend.¡±


    Beth¡¯s eyebrow went up. ¡°A friend you miss that much,¡± she said, nodding downward towards Dayshia¡¯s generous bosom, where a certain excited stiffness was disyed against her nightie.


    The younger sister wrapped her arms in front of her. ¡°Rude!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one getting hot and bothered in my guest room. Where is he?¡± Beth said.


    Dayshia scowled at her sister. ¡°He¡¯s obviously not here! He¡¯s back in Jersey City. He has a condo in my new building.¡±


    ¡°Is he another of your bad boys?¡± Beth asked wearily, and Dayshia burst intoughter at the thought of Henry being thought of that way.


    Beth watched her sister in surprise.


    When Dayshia managed to calm herughter, she smiled at her sister¡¯s burning curiosity. ¡°No. Henry is the opposite of a bad boy. He¡¯s a tech nerd. He¡¯s the CIO of an investment house. He¡¯s all aboutputers,works, and tech.¡±


    Beth¡¯s face lit up with a smile. ¡°A CIO with an investment house? That¡¯s quite the departure for you!¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s earlier troubled thoughts intruded. Henry really was a change in direction for her. She couldn¡¯t keep that doubt from her face, and her observant sister caught it.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is he married? A cross-dresser? Abusive? A Serial Killer?¡±


    Dayshia scowled at Beth. ¡°No! He¡¯s a sweet, kind man.¡±


    Beth looked once more to her little sister¡¯s cell phone. ¡°You have a picture of this prince among men?¡±

 243

    Dayshia nodded and picked up her phone tounch her photo gallery app to scroll through her pictures. She found one Sandy took of her with Henry and handed the cell to Beth.


    Her sister¡¯s eyes widened as she looked at the big man. ¡°Ooo, he¡¯s pretty!¡±


    Dayshia couldn¡¯t keep the satisfied grin from her lips. ¡°And his kisses make me melt in his big hands!¡±


    Beth¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Have you determined if anything else is big?¡± She burst into giggles at her own audaciousness, and Dayshia joined her.


    Chris, Beth¡¯s husband, appeared in the doorway in his jammies. ¡°Can you two keep it down? You¡¯re gonna wake the kids.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, baby. We¡¯ll be quiet. Go to bed. I¡¯ll be there shortly,¡± Beth said to him.


    Dayshia noticed Chris looked pretty good in his sleepwear too.


    The man nodded with a little frown and closed the door gently behind himself.


    Beth turned back to her sister. ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yes, he¡¯s¡­ nicely equipped.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve had sex with him,¡± Beth said bluntly.


    Dayshia¡¯s expression lost some of its joy as she shook her head.


    The older sister¡¯s brows came down in concern. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°You know how I am in rtionships.¡± She took a shaky breath. ¡°I¡¯ve found ws in every man I¡¯ve been with, and I always break up with them. Nothingsts.¡± She looked into Beth¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯re right about Henry, though. He¡¯s¡­ an extreme departure from my usual boyfriends.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have issues like the others?¡± Beth asked.


    Dayshia snorted explosively, and Beth looked at her in surprise. Dayshia gave her head a quick shake as her expression became pensive. She knew what her issues with Henry were, and none of them could be exined to her sister. She shook her head again, more gently this time. When she closely examined the concerns she had, searching for the big deal-breaker, she realized none gave her the same gut-level rejection she¡¯d felt with other boyfriends. ¡°They just¡­ don¡¯t seem as important with him.¡±


    Beth gave her sister a hug. ¡°That¡¯s love, baby girl.¡± She smiled tenderly at her sister.


    Dayshia took a deep breath. ¡°What I have now with Henry is so good, I¡¯m terrified I¡¯ll destroy it if I go further.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t take that chance, you¡¯ll also never know how much better it could be,¡± her big sister admonished gently.


    Dayshia looked into the loving eyes of her sister and knew she was right. She gave her a small nod.


    Beth kissed her forehead as she used to do when she had her big sister talks with Dayshia during their childhood. ¡°Time for you to get some rest. We¡¯re going to see dad tomorrow, and he hasn¡¯t been himself recently. It¡¯s going to be a trying day.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Beth.¡±


    The woman smiled at her sister and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± She went to the door and looked back. ¡°You need to bring that hunk with you on your next visit.¡±


    Dayshia smiled and nodded.


    Beth grinned and went to join her husband.


    Dayshia closed the door and locked it once more, just as a precaution.


    As she settled under the sheets, she recalled the sensation of Henry¡¯s touch tonight and realized she needed to get past her fear. Henry wasn¡¯t going to hurt her. It wasn¡¯t in him to do that.


    She smiled as she thought about Beth¡¯s words. She wanted to know how much better it could be.


    -=-


    Henry was feeling his energy levels dropping as he checked in on his friends. He¡¯d felt an intense need to reach out to them after his ordeal with Mab. Her threat to hurt his friends struck too close to home, and he needed to reassure himself that they were okay.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to find the ones not at home in his current state as he didn¡¯t know their actual location. He concentrated on how he felt about them, and his connection to them through the Wild Magic made them stand out in the distance like arc lights beaming their brilliance up into the sky. Surrounding their beams was a sea of candles, which had to be Humans based on their numbers. He was a little confused that Humans showed up at all, but he pushed that aside with his joy at finding his friends.


    Now, he was discovering that physically moving shit was exhausting, and lifting Tish to reposition her on the bed may have been a little over the top.


    Before he lost the ability tomunicate at all tonight, he needed to tell someone about Mab. As he¡¯d discovered with Dayshia, speaking was not an option.


    Mahati wasn¡¯t lighting up the horizon as she was a wielder of the old magic. Henry knew where to go to find her.


    Home.


    He found himself standing outside his door. Instead of going in, he moved to Mahati¡¯s ce and slipped through her door. He found her burning the midnight oil, working on herptop.


    He looked closer, and she was typing something into a document. He reached past her and pressed the enter key. It wasn¡¯t too difficult, so he felt confident he¡¯d found a way to leave her a message.


    She stopped typing to see her paragraph had broken. Cursing softly, she moved the cursor back to the break and fixed the text.


    Her kitchen sink tap suddenly began running, and she squeaked in surprise. Cautiously, she got up and went to shut it off.


    While her keyboard was open, Henry moved the cursor down and started a new paragraph. He typed quickly, in point form, as he felt his strength waning. He paused as he was beginning to hear sounds from the hospital room. There was a voice speaking words he couldn¡¯tprehend. A Fae spell and the drugs were waning! He focused on the keyboard and pushed thest few keys before he felt himself pulled back to his body.


    Slowly blinking his eyes open, he saw the doctor watching him.


    ¡°There you are. You¡¯ve been a naughty boy, flitting about while your body is secured here. We¡¯re going to have to put up some additional barriers around you to keep you in ce.¡±


    His brow furrowed as how could she have known?


    As if reading his mind, she chuckled, but the humor never reached her cold eyes. ¡°The dagger. I did my research, and thest sighting of it was millennia ago when our former queen used it to clear her way to the throne. No one else has seen it since, yet you brought it to me. This means you went to see her. The bloodstains on your gown tell me she used it on you, yet you¡¯re alive, and you had the dagger when I brought you back. Is she finally dead?¡±


    He tried to re at her, but whatever she¡¯d done to him was making everything so hard to do. ¡°Too soon,¡± he sighed.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    Her eyebrows went up. ¡°Had I waited a few more moments, it would have been done?¡±


    He nodded slightly.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s on me then.¡±


    He needed to tell her Mab was preparing to kill the Fae, but he¡¯d reached the end of his strength. He didn¡¯t sleep, but he wasn¡¯t awake. The spell she¡¯d used on him tied him to the threshold, and he knew that she could keep him there indefinitely. He¡¯d just have to counteract it. It was strong, but it wasn¡¯t Wild Magic.


    If he could break free from the lethargy first.


    Minkah stared at the destruction in the cafeteria with wide eyes. The orderlies were doing their best to separate the salvageable bits, but it was clear they wouldn¡¯t be having breakfast here. Even the coffee maker was a smashed mess.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± she asked as Rand wandered in with a sour look on his face.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the only new inmate in this prison?¡± the dwarf growled.


    She immediately scowled at him as he seemed to target Henry for everything that bothered him, and she was seriously tired of it. ¡°You¡¯ve got him locked in a cell. Didn¡¯t you say he¡¯d be unconscious for the rest of his days?¡± she snapped.


    He red at her. ¡°Listen, nothing about that Satyr is normal or predictable. The rules don¡¯t seem to apply to him, and crazy shit has been happening since the day he first appeared. We should have terminated him the moment we learned of his existence. Back when there was only one of those fucking animals!¡±


    Minkah froze. Satyr? Henry was a member of an extinct race? That seemed significant. Why wasn¡¯t that included in the file?


    Of more immediate concern, Animals? What the FUCK?


    Rand¡¯s speciesism had surfaced, and it was an ugly thing. Her muscles began to vibrate. He froze as well as he suddenly recalled the tall woman beside him was a Bastet.


    ¡°Perhaps you should go back to the city without me. Now,¡± Minkah said slowly, and Rand nodded, walking away cautiously.


    She struggled to get her nerves to calm. Running after the bigot to gut him with her knives might feel good, but it wasn¡¯t a good idea.


    She¡¯d have to find the center¡¯s administrator to arrange for another car for her to drive back to the city. Speak to the woman who¡¯dpletely dismissed her the night before.


    Shit.


    -=-


    ¡°Billy! The boss wants to see you!¡± Ted bellowed over the echoing whine of the crane moving into ce to move the hugedle. He saw the man wave to him and head towards the exit.


    The heat was barely tolerable even from this far out, but at least he wasn¡¯t basting in his own juices in one of those silver suits. Ted was a floor manager now, and his days of working that close to the liquid metal were over. He climbed the stairs to the observation booth, where he could see the entire operations area.


    He had a good crew, and they were going to exceed their monthly numbers. This brought a smile to his face. Maggie was going to be happy with that bonus check he was going to get.


    He kept his eyes on the massivedle as the crane carefully lifted the heavy container and moved it to its pouring position. Slowly thedle tipped, and the molten metal began to pour.


    Ted loved this part. Watching the creation of new steel.


    ¡°Did you hear the report ofst night¡¯s light show?¡±


    Ted nced to his left and saw Mike Bentley, his crew chief, walk into the booth. He shook his head as both men turned their heads back to the pouring.

 244

    ¡°Several of the floor crew im to have seenrainbows wrestlinginside the smelting chamber anddancing across the whole building.¡±


    Ted nced at Mike incredulously. ¡°What? Were they high?¡±


    They watched the metal running down the channel as the pot continued to tip and pour.


    ¡°Apparently not. Medics checked them out. They¡¯re getting a few days off, just in case.¡±


    ¡°Shit! I¡¯d im to see rainbows for that!¡± Ted chuckled.


    He heard Lee up in the crane booth squawk his radio, so he lifted it from his belt.


    ¡°What¡¯s up, Lee?¡±


    ¡°Ted, I got some weird vibrationsing through the crane. I¡¯m seeing a good connection, but- SHIT!¡±


    Ted watched a surge of molten steel gush from the spout.


    ¡°Ted! It¡¯s going over! The bnce is all fucked up!¡± Lee yelled over the radio, and Ted pped the rm button on the wall behind him.


    Lights began shing, and a loud xon wailed. Ted saw his floor team start running towards the exits. ¡°Get out of there, Lee!¡± he yelled into the radio and was relieved to see the man leave the crane¡¯s control booth and run along the catwalk.


    His eyes were drawn to the opening of thedle as¡­ something was moving in the liquid metal!


    ¡°What the fuck is THAT?!?¡± Mike yelled.


    Somethingrge and glowing was climbing out of the opening. It suddenly tipped forward and fell, striking the floor below with a massive thump that shook the building. Ted and Mike were thrown to the floor. They looked at each other in shock, then scrambled to their feet and rushed from the control room, racing down the stairs to get to the exit. They stopped to direct the workers outside and looked back. Arge creature was struggling to right itself. It was tearing the shit out of the surrounding equipment and concrete it was lying on.


    Ted struggled to understand what he was looking at. Its body was roughly shaped like an eggnt, only it was the size of one of those supact cars. It seemed to have three thick limbs, each ending with a wide paddle. He couldn¡¯t see any eyes, but it did have a cluster of hairs on the top of its head, and a jagged tear of a mouth and its squealing was horrifying. Like metal tes scraping together, the noise cut through Ted and jangled his nerves.


    Thest few people from the floor crew raced by, and Ted frowned. ¡°Did you see Lee?¡± he yelled to Mike and saw the man shake his head. Then Ted spotted the man in question wearing a silver suit on the opposite side of the thrashing thing. He was trapped, and the thing seemed like it was about to right itself. Ted noticed it wasn¡¯t glowing as brightly as it had been. That gave him an idea.


    The creature somehow seemed to notice Lee and slowly started dragging itself towards the man. Its screeches took on a different tone, which to Ted sounded aggressive.


    ¡°Mike! Help me!¡± Ted yelled and ran deeper into the nt, closer to the monster. As he reached the fire equipment station, he turned and saw Mike was a fair distance back. He saw he didn¡¯t have much time as the thing was closing on Lee.


    Ted grabbed the fire nozzle and pulled the pin to release the hose. He began hauling the hose closer until Mike and two of his crew got behind him as a third man opened the valve.


    They struggled to hold the hose as the water sted out and struck the ground at the thing¡¯s¡­ feet.


    The cold water exploded into steam when it sshed up against the superheated surface.


    It screamed.


    The sound it made before paled inparison. It was deafening. It was terrifying. It shattered two of their helpers¡¯ nerve, one on the hose and the man at the valve. They turned and ran.


    With only three people to hold the hose, they were having trouble directing it. When the creature turned to charge them, Ted leaned back and managed to tip the torrent of water up to score a direct hit in its horrible maw. The sounds it was making immediately stopped, and it rocked back.


    Lee saw his opportunity and made a run for it.


    The creature mmed one of its paddle-like appendages against the floor just behind the running man causing him to lose his footing and take a nasty tumble. The next strike would tten Lee to paste, and it raised its arm for a second attempt.


    Ted, Mike, and the crewman held the spray on the area under the raised limb until it seemed to freeze in ce.


    Steam continued to pour off the creature, so they concentrated on the area of its ¡®head¡¯ as the water dripping down its body was doing damage as well.


    The beast mmed a ¡®hand¡¯ down on the concrete floor, striking edge-on in a chopping motion as if attacking the iing spray. The floor split in a massive crack under their feet, and the men were knocked down, losing their grip on the hose. It spun crazily as they dragged themselves from its path.


    Ted got to his feet and saw the creature¡¯s hand seemed to be stuck in the floor. He dashed forward and got an arm around Lee. They moved as fast as they could, avoiding the hose as well. They joined up with Mike and the crewman and hustled Lee away as quickly as they could.


    Suddenly there was a sh of light, and the ground heaved under them. They all fell forward onto the floor. Looking back, they saw the creature was gone, and a crater in the concrete was all that was left.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    The crane gave way, and thedle hit the ground with a massive thump, and the remaining liquid metal poured out with three roundish orbs.


    ¡°Oh my god. It-itid eggs in the molten steel?¡± Ted gasped.


    ¡°The eggs are moving! We need to call in the army!¡± Mike eximed as he got up and helped Lee to his feet as well.


    ¡°Nah, just the fire department,¡± Ted replied as they hustled towards the exit.


    -=-


    ¡°We¡¯re getting really odd readings from the caldera. I¡¯m going to send a drone up for some pictures,¡± Freyja Remeksd¨®ttir said quietly as she peered closely at herptop screen. The vibrations being recorded didn¡¯t match anything she¡¯s seen before. Freyja was a volcanologist from d, currently traveling with five fellow volcanologists on a tour of some of the world¡¯s most active sites.


    They were currently in Columbia, studying the Galeras volcano, which once again was showing signs of activity.


    ¡°Most of the drones are down for battery recharging afterst night¡¯s light show,¡± Magn¨²s Kristj¨¢nssonined. He was her life partner and official technical support crew, how she justified including him on this field study trip. He was highly gifted with the equipment they used, so she didn¡¯t feel too bad about choosing him over one of the junior techs from her university.


    At dawn, Freyja and Magn¨²s hiked up to the observation site, which was as close as they could safely get without protective suits. From here, the team couldunch their drones and still be within range for controlling them. Freyja was set up on a small table, and Magn¨²s was currently unpacking his gear.


    He nced over at her and barely contained his snort of amusement as she¡¯d decided to wear the birthday present he¡¯d bought for her. Her short blonde hair was tied back under a brightly colored kerchief with the new GoPro clipped to a headband, looking very much like a third eye on her forehead. He thought she looked adorable.


    The light show he¡¯d spoken of had been captured by five of the team¡¯s drones, sent up by Russian volcanologist, Pavel Morozov. He had twenty-five minutes of video showing rainbows twisting and stretching wildly on and above the active peak. They were still trying to exin how that light energy might have been created, and the theories were wild and varied. The arguments became heated, and Pavel had a lovely ck eye this morning while their German volcanologist, Rolf Keller, had his hand in a make-shift cast. Bruised face or not, Pavel was giddy with the idea of the fame he¡¯d achieved with his unique videos.


    His words finally sinking in, Freyja looked to her husband in dismay. ¡°We don¡¯t have a drone?¡±


    He grinned at her. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. I have our drone, which I didn¡¯t hand over to Pavelst night. Greedy bastard didn¡¯t need any more drones.¡± She grinned at him, so he continued. ¡°It¡¯s fully charged, wearing its heat shields, and ready to go.¡± The shielding was an invention he¡¯de up to allow their drone to withstand the conditions found in the caldera of a volcano, for short periods at least. It was another reason he hadn¡¯t loaned the drone to Pavel.


    He turned on the camera and checked the feed. The signal was strong, the recording was working, and all systems were go. With a loud whine, the props spun up to speed, and up it went. Magn¨²s expertly controlled the flying camera tform as Freyja sat next to him, watching the screen intently. She reached up and activated the GoPro, and he couldn¡¯t suppress his snort then. She yfully pouted and poked him for teasing her.


    ¡°Pavel was bragging he was going to sell the video to a film producer friend of his,¡± he muttered as he carefully navigated around some hot spots and moved the drone closer to the lip of the caldera. ¡°Seriously, he was getting very graphic about what he was going to do withall the pussy his friend was going to throw his way.¡±


    ¡°The man¡¯s a troll,¡± Freyja agreed.


    Magn¨²s agreed the term was a good match for the physical reality of the man. Still, the man was happy and not moping as he so often did. That made him alittlemore bearable. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t stare at Freyja so much. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m reaching the lip. Are the odd vibrations still urring?¡±


    Freyja looked away from the screen to review the readings on herptop. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re stronger than before.


    At Magn¨²s¡¯ sharp intake of breath, she turned her eyes back to the screen showing the drone¡¯s initial view.

 245

    In the molten rock could be seen threerge shapes which appeared to be swimming in theva. They each had three limbs ending withrge paddle-like appendages. They rose to the surface, then plunged deep only to surface again. Each time they did, theva would heave.


    ¡°This beats the shit out of a light show!¡± he muttered, and Freyja burst into nervous giggles.


    Magn¨²s moved the drone closer, and the three slowed their movements, sinking into the molten rock until only their heads were poking out. They could see the hair-like tendrils on their heads twitching.


    He nced at the sensor feed from the drone, and he could see he had less than twenty seconds to get the drone out of that heat. When he looked back at the screen, he saw the closest creature rise slightly, and something told him to move. He pulled the controls back and to the side abruptly as a jet of molten rock shot by. He pushed the controls and flew the drone past the creatures once more, rolling the flying camera in a loop to evade another jet. He was using an evasive pattern to get the drone back over the lip when it went into an uncontrolled spin. Itnded, bounced once, and stopped, luckily with its props pointing skyward. He sent a query to it, and it responded back with a low battery alert. All four props were still functional, so he sent it themand to return home on the quickest route.


    When the drone got close enough to see detail, they could see thending pads were badly melted, and the heat shielding was bent and dangling on one side.


    Freyja observed Magn¨²s carefully removing the damaged heat shield with pliers as the metal te still had some melted rock clinging to it. When she looked back to herptop, she shrieked as the readings were quickly climbing, indicating an imminent eruption. She threw theputer into her backpack as Magn¨²s stopped the recorder and put it into his pack as they both began to run.


    The ground rumbled under them, and they ran faster. The caldera roared, the ground heaved, and a plume of fire and rock was ejected upwards as they ran for their lives.


    As they approached base camp, they could see the others scrambling into the back of the truck, which was already beginning to move, the driver losing his nerve.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± Magn¨²s yelled, waving his arms, and Pavel nced back with a look of terror on his face. He scrambled into the back of the truck and screamed something as he iled his arms. The engine revved with a cough of ck smoke, and the vehicle jolted forward to roll toward the road.N?velDrama.Org content.


    A boulder ejected from the caldera, roughly half the fleeing truck¡¯s size, but many times its massnded on it from above. Magn¨²s and Freyja were thrown to the ground by the impact. He scrambled to his feet, staring at what had once been a truck filled with people, and gave himself a shake. There was no time. He pulled his stunned wife towards the camp where a beat-up old jeep was parked next to the tents. He shoved Freyja into the passenger seat and jumped behind the wheel. They were on the road in seconds, and he put his foot down as the road had long, straight sections. The problem was, it snaked back and forth down the side of the mountain while the eruption went straight down. Once he saw his chance, he put the nose of the jeep over the side and drove straight down the mountainside, working the breaks hard. Freyja screamed as the jeep was always seconds away from crashing, but somehow Magn¨²s kept the jeep¡¯s wheels on the ground.


    More boulders fell from the sky, and he had to brake hard and veer wide to avoid the damage, but he kept up the speed as much as he could. He crossed the serpentine road several times, and on one asion, he floored the jeep through a patch of shrubs to get to the road beyond.


    Finally, he was forced to head straight across pasturend, crashing through fencing and down farmnes, until he reached an actual road. He wasted no time but put his foot down and drove like a man possessed amongst the other drivers, all trying to do the same. He was less concerned about his vehicle¡¯s condition, so he was willing to drive through a gap between cars and lose paint in the process. No one was willing to stop to argue with fiery death breathing down their necks.


    Magn¨²s wasn¡¯t proud of what he did to get himself and Freyja clear of the st, and truthfully, he wasn¡¯t even sure how he managed it during those initial minutes. As he stood on the side of a road, miles away from the horrifying devastation unleashed by the mountain, he thought of the looks on the faces of Freyja¡¯s colleagues in the back of that ill-fated truck. He saw their terror and their guilt, but they weren¡¯t going to wait for the two of them.


    Strangely, if they¡¯d waited, they would have avoided the boulder, but they couldn¡¯t have moved fast enough to get away in time. Magn¨²s and Freyja would be dead as well.


    Dead before they could tell the world of the creatures they¡¯d seen in the caldera. Perhaps the cause for the rapid esction of the eruption. They had proof. They just needed to upload it.


    They held each other tight as they watched the distant city burn.


    Lise-Anne Hoek, Minister of Security for the Hidden Races Council, was ready to call it a day, and it wasn¡¯t even lunchtime yet.


    The reports she¡¯d been getting this morning left her at her wit¡¯s end. Sightings of odd behaving rainbows followed by stories of horrifying creatures wereing in a steady stream.


    A farmer in Montana had most of his herd of cattle decimated by one of those ribbon creatures before the man managed to blow it out of the sky with his hunting rifle.


    A steel mill in Pittsburgh was severely damaged when something alive in the molten metal attacked the workers. The local firemen were being called heroes for thwarting an invasion ofva monsters.


    Most damning of all was a report from Columbia where the two surviving members of a team of volcanologists posted actual video of theseva creatures in a caldera moments before the mountain erupted. Their survival story was flooding the Inte as it was sensational,pelling, andbined with additional video of their desperate escape, impossible to deny. She¡¯d have her team begin their effort to debunk the creature in theva aspect, but in her heart, she knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    Lise-Anne had no agents in Columbia avable to silence these well-respected experts in their field. Truthfully, it was toote.


    Things were going to shit.


    She¡¯d convinced herself that if they contained Mr. Gable, these events would stop, but asst night proved, it just got worse.


    She contemted sending an order to terminate him, but wiping out the Fae at the same time was a little extreme.


    Her desk phone buzzed from her personal assistant.


    She pped the button. ¡°I said I wasn¡¯t to be disturbed!¡±


    The voice was hesitant but firm. ¡°Yes, Ms. Hoek, but Ms. Chandra is here and indicated she knows the true source of the events being triggered.¡±


    Lise-Anne paused. Ms. Chandra had to be Mahati, the one working with Mr. Gable. Anything she said would be biased. Still, she was a Chandra, and sparing her a few minutes could avoid difficulties with her family.


    ¡°Send her in.¡±


    The door opened, and Mahati stepped inside the office and closed the door behind her. She took the chair Lise-Anne gestured to and smiled politely. Lise-Anne did her best to suppress her scowl as the young woman looked too well-rested while she felt like death warmed over.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± Mahati began.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can agree,¡± Lise-Anne replied sourly and received a nod for it.


    ¡°I¡¯m here representing my client, Henry Gable, and his employers, VRL,¡± thewyer began.


    Lise-Anne just held the younger woman¡¯s gaze, waiting for the other shoe to drop.


    ¡°You¡¯re holding Mr. Gable against his will, against Baba Yaga¡¯s directmand, and endangering the Fae,¡± thewyer asserted calmly.


    ¡°You have evidence to back up this im?¡± Lise-Anne said coldly.


    ¡°I do.¡± She opened her briefcase and slid a photo across the desk. On it was a clear image of the Minister¡¯s assassin.


    ¡°Minkah Kamh Nassor Meskh. Bastet assassin on contract with the Hidden Races Council. Currently on special assignment in New York City. Witnessed on more than one asion in contact with Henry Gable in her feline form and once in her Human guise. Last night Henry Gable was being abducted by parties working for Carl de Bellisle when they were executed by a highly-skilled assassin. The odds of two professional assassins of the Bastet¡¯s skill level being in proximity to Henry are astronomical. Once these would-be abductors were killed, Henry was taken.¡±


    ¡°All this proves is that there is a serious leak in my department which I will address,¡± Lise-Anne said grimly.


    Mahati smiled. ¡°I believe you are going to be too busy in the next little while to be focusing on housecleaning.¡±


    Lise-Anne¡¯s eyes narrowed as she looked at the N¨¡ga suspiciously.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t the first or most senior member of the Hidden Races Council I spoke to about this. Chancellor Mugawee was not pleased to be informed that the actions of his Minister of Security would be drawing the attention of every significant security agency in this country,¡± Mahati said with a single raised eyebrow.


    Lise-Anne froze then scowled. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± she snapped.


    Mahati¡¯s expression hardened. ¡°If you are going to run the most important security agency on this and make life and death decisions for the citizens you are tasked to protect, it would be the responsible thing to do to have aplete picture of their interconnections with the world around them before you take steps that might cause a decrease in our security. This means researching more than the widening social circle Henry is developing.¡±


    She shot the Minister a look of scorn then continued. ¡°Henry Gable is a brilliant software developer. Potentially the most brilliant to date. This has drawn the attention of the Director of Homnd Security, Stephen Dawes, the Director of the NSA, Wace Granger, the Director of the FBI, Charles Starkley, and the Director of the CIA, Maurice Hall. All are attempting to woo him away from VRL for his security application development. They consider him a critical asset of the US Government who must not fall into the hands of America¡¯s enemies. And you¡¯ve just imprisoned him.¡±

 246

    Lise-Anne¡¯s jaw was moving, and her face was a deep red of barely contained rage. ¡°What part of remaining under the radar of Human attention has Henry Gable not grasped? Why has he engaged with some of the very agencies who could expose us?¡±


    Mahati held the woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°Did you not hear my mentioning his technical brilliance? When he was Stanley Garin, he was charged with bringing his new employer¡¯s in-house technology from a state of disaster to state of the art. He seeded. The firewall he developed is like nothing else ever developed and uses technology only being talked about theoretically. In his new identity as Henry Gable, he¡¯s improved upon it. The agencies discovered this on their own. To protect VRL and himself from their paranoia and potential incarceration, he offered the application to them.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he offer his technical expertise to us first?¡± Lise-Anne blustered.


    Mahati leaned back in her chair as she studied the Minister¡¯s face. ¡°Interaction with the Hidden Races Council is not something members of the Hidden Races generally seek out. Your reputation for brutal, reactionary responses to anything outside the status quo defines you.¡±


    ¡°What you ignorantly call brutal reactionary responses are in truth, efficient and effective surgical strikes and the only means we have to protect them! Humans are more and more difficult to hide from without the swiftest of actions. We have no choice but to make such decisions!¡± Lise-Anne argued.


    Mahati shook her head sadly. ¡°That you cannot, or will not, see other options, exins why you are in this very situation. Release Henry Gable.¡±


    Lise-Anne¡¯s expression showed an icy resolve. ¡°I¡¯ve not stated that we have him. When such an action is taken, it¡¯s typically for a significant danger to the Hidden Races. Such as the sudden appearance of anomalies like the Pseudo-clouds, the ss People, the Silver People, and now Lava Monsters.¡±


    Mahati tilted her head in interest. ¡°And you¡¯ve identified the source of these anomalies with cold facts and irrefutable evidence?¡±


    The Minister¡¯s patience had run out. ¡°I don¡¯t answer to you. I¡¯m sanctioned to take any steps necessary to protect our ability to remain unseen and unknown. You need to leave. Now.¡±


    ¡°So, you don¡¯t want the information on the actual source of the recent incursions?¡± Mahati asked with a raised brow. ¡°Fine, the Chancellor will likely make better use of it-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t threaten me!¡± Lise-Anne shouted, dropping her mor and lifting into the air on angrily beating wings.


    Mahati resisted the urge to escte as well. Instead, she waited, calmly, eyes on the fairy.


    ¡°You¡¯d do well to remember who you¡¯re talking to, girl,¡± the hovering Fae said with a rage tinged voice.


    ¡°Do you know who I am?¡± Mahati asked calmly.


    Lise-Anne blinked in confusion. ¡°You¡¯re the whelp of Indrani Chandra.¡±


    Mahati shook her head slowly. ¡°No, I¡¯m the one who dethroned Queen Mab in her own Fae Court. What that should mean to you is, I have more important priorities right now than dealing with your temper.¡± She waited to see how the enraged fairy handled that. She gave no sign of the spell she¡¯d prepared before she¡¯d even entered the room. If Lise-Anne lost control and attacked, Mahati would only have enough time to unleash one spell, so she made it a good one. If it came to a battle, powerful or not, the fairy wouldn¡¯t be getting out alive.


    Lise-Anne watched the young N¨¡ga waiting calmly, and something about her confidence sent a treacherous stab of doubt through her. While Fairies of her age were master wielders, she¡¯d heard about the raw power of the N¨¡ga. Then there was the fact that she¡¯d taken Mab out of the game. That seriously gave her pause. She would never have had the nerve to walk into that courtroom. With a deep breath, she nodded cautiously.


    Mahati nodded as she rxed slightly. ¡°I got wordst night that Mab is experimenting with the same Wild Magic Henry is connected to. She¡¯s working on a new spell that¡¯s causing breaches,rge ones, between the realm of Wild Magic and here. These breaches are the cause of the creatures from the other side getting to our side.¡±


    Lise-Anne frowned at Mahati as her curiosity deted utterly. Mahati was pointing the finger at Mab? She knew for a fact that wielders of the original magic could not work with the Wild Magic as it was toxic to them. Of course, now that Mab was in seclusion, she made an excellent target to deflect attention away from Henry. The transparency of thewyer¡¯s ploy was almost sad to behold. ¡°Mab has locked herself behind a field no one can get past. How did you get this information about her,¡± she asked with little enthusiasm.


    Mahati frowned at the Fairy. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how I got it. I received word that Mab is creating a spell to torture her people and then kill them. Then she¡¯ll turn her attention to the Hidden Races. She¡¯s insane and has ess to a source of magic far stronger than anything she¡¯s had in a long time. She¡¯s still learning how to use it, but her magic skill is second only to Baba Yaga. Once she perfects her spell, she¡¯ll unleash Hell upon the Fae, then us.¡±


    The Minister of Security examined Mahati critically. She¡¯d thought the young woman had promise as awyer, but this stunt was pathetic. Mab was still a threat, queen or not, but not in the big bad way thewyer was trying to paint. ¡°Right. Is that everything? I have a busy day ahead.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll free Henry?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not indicated we have him. You¡¯ve identified others who attempted to kidnap him. Perhaps you should check with these other abductors. Good day.¡± Lise-Anne switched back to her mor and settled into her chair behind her desk.


    Mahati blinked in surprise at the woman.


    ¡°Close the door on your way out,¡± the Minister said, holding her eyes.


    The young woman stood and frowned in confusion. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me-¡±


    ¡°Good day.¡±


    Lise-Anne watched the woman leave her office and close the door. She slumped back in her chair as her exhaustion caught up to her again. She¡¯d have to push through it.


    She couldn¡¯t help the issue of the US Security Agencies bing upset about Henry¡¯s disappearance. She¡¯d just have to see how that develops. She could have her team spin something if they needed to show he died in an ident. Give them a badly scorched finger or two.


    She pushed that aside as she still needed to deal with the volcano monsters.


    Shit.


    -=-


    Roy arrived at work feeling a little tired from spending hours on the phone speaking to the pack leaders who ran the regions surrounding Carl¡¯s Louisiana territory. Having endured his terrorizing, they were eager to hear Roy¡¯s n to deal with Carl and his oversized territory. Many were too young to have knowledge of the previous time it had happened, so Roy had to exin the process to them.


    Each of them would be required to absorb an outer block of Carl¡¯s territory and cover the costs of rehabilitating the resident Lycanthropes. Any who could not adjust to normal pack behavior would be euthanized. Brutal, but safer for all.


    None of these leaders would face Carl in battle, so Roy was delegated to be the one to remove him, but he¡¯d been expecting that.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    The core of Carl¡¯s territory would be divided up into reasonably sized regions, and there would be a dominance tournament to find new leaders for them. Roy and the leaders of the surrounding territories would be the judges.


    He was on his way to the elevator when he saw Mahati enter the front doors. He paused as the look on her face was telling him something had gone seriously wrong.


    ¡°Good morning, Mahati.¡±


    Dark eyes shed at him, and she struggled to get control over her emotions. ¡°G-good morning, Roy. I need to speak to you, Sigrid, and Cam. Now.¡±


    Roy¡¯s brows rose, and he gestured to the elevators.


    They took one up to the top floor, and he poked his head in Sigrid¡¯s office to ask if she was in. The elevator dinged behind them, and the tall blonde stepped out to smile at them. That expression fell away quickly when she saw Mahati¡¯s grim face.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Cam¡¯s office,¡± Roy stated, and she nodded as she moved past to drop off her bag.


    Roy and Mahati walked down the hall to Cam¡¯s office, and Felix indicated they could go right in. Sigrid quickly joined them.


    Cam¡¯s smile was strained as she looked between them. She locked her door.


    ¡°Last night, Henry managed to leave me a note on myptop. Just brief points but enough to say he visited Mab. He freed Mr. Walker by sending him to Eden. He also said Mab was causing major breaches between the dimensions as she experimented. Mab is nning to kill the Fae and then us. She has the power and the skill but is still learning how to use the Wild Magic.¡±


    Roy shifted uneasily as he looked to Sigrid and Cam.


    Mahati continued. ¡°I spoke with Chancellor Mugawee this morning to inform him of Henry¡¯s abduction and to let him know the difficulties this would raise with the security agencies. While he gave no sign that he¡¯d sanctioned the action, he expressed his concerns that it could escte into something dangerous between the US and countries they may suspect. I let him know I¡¯d speak to the Minister of Security to pass along his concerns.¡± Mahati took a deep breath. ¡°Minister Hoek is not dealing with the stress of her position well. She was unaware of Henry¡¯s involvement with the agencies, did not appreciate being called out for that, and when I mentioned Mab was the source of the recent breaches, she closed down and made me leave her office. She didn¡¯t believe me!¡±


    Cam shared an uneasy look with Sigrid, then held theirwyer¡¯s eyes. ¡°She didn¡¯t believe Mab was the source because Wielders can¡¯t use the Wild Magic.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but Mab isn¡¯t in her own body-¡± Mahati froze as she saw the guilt on their faces. ¡°Hoek doesn¡¯t know?¡± she asked incredulously.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t safe to tell her,¡± Sigrid exined with a look of regret for forgetting to inform Mahati.


    ¡°And you sent me to convince her without telling ME?¡± Mahati shouted.

 247

    ¡°We¡¯re so sorry. There are so many secrets around Henry. We just forgot which ones were known by you,¡± Sigrid exined.


    Mahati threw her hands up. ¡°We¡¯ve just ruined our chance at convincing the Minister to cooperate, and let¡¯s not forget this woman is sanctioned to send assassins after people she considers a threat. She certainly has enough reason to send them after us.¡±


    Roy growled, deep and angry, and all eyes turned in his direction. ¡°I¡¯m getting a wee bit tired of living under the threat of increasingly unstable leaders. We have our own troubles to deal with.¡±


    They were quiet for a moment as each considered the situation.


    Cam¡¯s phone chirped, so Cam pressed the inte. ¡°Yes, Felix?¡±


    ¡°A Michelle Beaumont is here asking to speak with you. She doesn¡¯t have an appointment.¡±


    ¡°Please send her in,¡± Cam responded as she sent a concerned look to the others and unlocked the door.


    The door opened, and Michelle stepped in and closed it behind her. She turned and looked up to see the others. Her eyes widened. ¡°Is this not a good time?¡±


    Roy snorted as he stood to pull another chair before Cam¡¯s desk. ¡°We¡¯ll all die of old age if we have to wait for a good time.¡±


    Cam sent an annoyed look at Roy as she gestured for Michelle to take the chair. Once she was seated, the CEO looked to her. ¡°What brings you to us this morning?¡±


    Michelle took a deep breath. ¡°I- I thought I might be able to help search for Henry as I have ess to the historical records for the Hidden Races Council. There might have been some record of the construction of the containment center they took him to. It took all night to hunt through the database and track down every project the Council had employed a constructionpany for, but none of the projects I found could be it. There was only one that I couldn¡¯t get background on as all it had was a single non-redacted invoice number. I went into the sub-cer to hunt through the paper files, but when I found the docket for the invoice, there was only a single sheet of paper. It was a handwritten letter that was heavily and sloppily hand redacted. What I was able to read showed it was a bill of sale for a farmhouse in New Jersey. The only other text that stood out was a partial word, Wol, but the rest was redacted, so I don¡¯t know the context.¡± She shook her head. ¡°It could be a wild goose chase. While I found it with the construction projects records, there¡¯s so little usable information.¡±


    Roy was rolling the information around in his mind as Sigrid smiled at Michelle. ¡°It was very courageous of you to do this for Henry. You might have been caught-¡±


    ¡°I was.¡± Tears appeared on hershes. ¡°Security personnel escorted me to Lise-Anne¡¯s office this morning. She charged me with unauthorized ess of files not pertaining to my assigned duties. She fired me, revoked my security clearance, canceled my pension, and froze my assets.¡± Her lips began to tremble. ¡°I have no money for my mortgage payments! I¡¯ve jeopardized Dayshia¡¯s home, too, as I¡¯m going to be homeless.¡±


    ¡°No! You will not. We¡¯ll help you!¡± Sigrid insisted, and Michelle watched her with the beginnings of hope in her eyes. She looked to Cam and saw the samepassionate determination in her eyes.


    Michelle began to cry, but now it was in relief. Mahati handed her some tissues to dry her tears. Knowing her aversion to feeling trapped, they refrained from hugging Michelle, but they gave her supportive smiles, making her feel better.


    Roy got Cam¡¯s attention. ¡°I have to get back to my preparations for dealing with Carl. Can you and Sigrid work with Michelle and Mahati on discovering the location of the containment center?¡±


    Mahati looked at him. ¡°What do you intend to do once you find where he¡¯s imprisoned?¡±


    ¡°Get him back, of course!¡± he snapped.


    ¡°Go, Roy,¡± Cam said, unlocking her door again, and the big man marched out, shutting it behind him. ¡°Mahati, please work on what we can do to keep the Hidden Races Council off our backs. If you have ess to the Chancellor, work that angle, but please keep in mind, we don¡¯t share information on Henry with people outside this group. It¡¯s typically not in his best interest. Again, we¡¯re sorry we forgot to bring you up to speed. We¡¯ll work on Henry¡¯s location,¡± Cam instructed.


    Mahati was tight-lipped but gave her a nod and stood to leave. She looked to the Arachnid. ¡°All will work out somehow, Michelle.¡±


    As she left the office, she schooled her expression to hide the desperate doubt that lingered.


    Henry was pissed off.


    He was scared, too, but holding onto his anger kept the fear from overwhelming him.


    Dr. Bitch was fucking with his head. He¡¯d been riding the edge of sleep for hours. How many, he had no idea as he had no means to track the passage of time. It felt like at least a day, or maybe more. Whatever spell she¡¯d inflicted on him was preventing him from fully immersing into sleep yet prevented him from fully awakening.


    It was driving him nuts!


    Worse, her spell was based on the old realm magic which grated on the Wild Magic inside him.


    He knew he could easily break her spell with a blunt force attack, but he needed her to think she¡¯d seeded. He was still tied down and helpless, so he needed to tread lightly, or she might resort to a more painful or permanent measure to detain him.


    The spell made thinking exceptionally difficult, but he recalled the times he was cramming for his school exams. He knew how to get his mind into a zone where all other concerns and pressures had to take a back seat to a single point of focus. He hadn¡¯t used this discipline in a long time, so he¡¯d used up those hours working his way back through the process until he had his focal point atst.


    What was really pissing him off was that, with all of his other options unavable to him, his only avenue of escape was to turn to the magic within him and try and see if he coulde up with another spell.


    He recalled Roy¡¯s concern for him, but this time he wasn¡¯t going to do anything as dramatic as rebuilding his body. He needed to have his body feed the sensors a loop of the same information they were getting, like a closed-circuit surveince camera being provided a recording instead of a live feed.


    Holding that intent in his mind, he mentally coded a program that would loop the sensations from his body. He could hear the gentle whir of the monitor next to the bed and the quiet pings it made as his readings fluctuated.


    Once more, he infused his will into the tiny program and felt it eagerly waiting to beunched. He listened to the monitor as he activated the program, but no rms went off, so he turned his attention to the spell. He needed it to continue but not affect him, so he gradually linked it to his monitor spell instead. When itsst barb was removed from his mind, he sighed in relief as he felt the grating vibration of the old magic finally fade. His body immediately pulled him under from the drugs running through his veins.


    Idly, he recognized he could write another program to iste the drugs and direct them out of his body if he wanted. For now, though, they were going to help him travel.


    Before he did, he reached out to the geolocation ability and felt the response immediately. Hainesburg, NJ, was his current location. He should have done this before, but lesson learned.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if Dr. Bitch had any additional traps in ce, so he cautiously slipped free of his body and listened. Nothing.


    Instead of immediately rushing off to inform Roy of his whereabouts, he decided to deal with the unfinished business he had next door first.


    Slipping out into the hallway, he heard no rms and felt nothing to indicate a monitoring spell had activated. So far, so good.


    Henry went to DJ¡¯s door and went through.


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Henry looked towards the bed and saw the young man was staring at him with frightened eyes.


    ¡°Sorry if I spooked youst night,¡± Henry apologized.


    ¡°Spooked me? You terrified the fuck out of me! I almost soiled myself,¡± the man spat. ¡°But I suppose that¡¯s what ghosts or delusions do!¡±


    Henry frowned. DJ was going to be more difficult to convince than he thought. First things first, though.


    ¡°The fear you experienced was put there by a very powerful witch. Baba Yaga usespulsions to keep people from looking where she doesn¡¯t want them to see.¡± He saw skepticism, but he pushed on. ¡°Last night, when I touched you, I felt the st of fear too. I also saw your true self.¡±


    Fear shed in DJ¡¯s eyes, so Henry held up his hands. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna talk about that as I can see it triggers her trap. Let me tell you about a couple of my friends and me first.¡±


    DJ watched him cautiously, so he began telling his story gently.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Baba Yaga is ancient and very powerful. No one can determine why she does the things she does. Her ns span millennia. She pulled me from my time way back in the ancient past when I was a baby. She raised me but hid who I truly was, a Satyr, behind a spell that made me appear Human.¡± Henry saw DJ was listening and not freaking out. ¡°I only discovered that a short time ago when the spell broke. It was terrifying for me when thepulsion spell on me broke. Then I was so confused, as nothing made sense, but I met some people who showed me my true self wasn¡¯t bad, just different.¡±


    Henry smiled at DJ, who seemed to be calming. ¡°Then I met a cool guy and discovered he¡¯d also had a fearpulsion on him which prevented him from living as who he really was, an Incubus. Baba pulled him from the past as well, and he was raised by Human parents and never knew he was an Incubus until someone helped him break hispulsion.¡±


    DJ twitched a little, so Henry gave him a moment. When it looked like he was rxed again, Henry continued.

 248

    ¡°Just recently, I met this lovely woman who¡¯s a Naiad. Baba Yaga also pulled her from the past. I have suspicions about why Baba pulled us all here to this time, but she won¡¯t answer that question.¡± He sighed and looked to DJ.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the story, but it has nothing to do with me,¡± DJ insisted, a little desperately.


    Henry looked at him sadly. This wasn¡¯t going to be easy. ¡°There is an organization that keeps Humans from finding out about us. They¡¯re called the Hidden Races Council. They use some terrible methods to ensure people, Humans, and non-Humans, don¡¯t spill any secrets about us. We all wear disguises to appear Human. A long time ago, two of the Races said they wouldn¡¯t hide from Humans-the Naiads and¡­ yours. I¡¯m not saying the name as it¡¯ll probably trigger thepulsion spell Baba ced on you. Anyway, the Council couldn¡¯t get these two groups to participate, so they murdered them-all of them. All except for two apparently, Lorelei the Naiad and you. The fact that you have what you call hallucinations may be because you can see through the disguises the Hidden Races are wearing. The Council would want you silenced as you are putting the Hidden Races at risk. If they discovered what you are, they¡¯d take deadlier action. Just as they would if they found out about my friend, the Naiad.¡±


    DJ was trembling. ¡°I don¡¯t think I like this Council.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not fond of them either. They threatened my friends and grabbed me to permanently stick me in this containment center in the room a few doors away. I understand the importance of hiding from the Humans as they kill what they don¡¯t understand and fear, but there has to be a better way.¡±


    They were quiet for a while, each lost in their thoughts, then DJ broke the silence. ¡°I¡¯m not in love with humanity either. People have been assholes to me my whole life. I don¡¯t have parents and was in the system my entire childhood. When I was pushed out onto the street, I started seeing things. Life went downhill pretty fast. Then I got grabbed in an alley and brought here. I thought it was a hospital, not a prison. The doctor is a piece of work, a real sadistic cunt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met her type before. She¡¯s Fae but one of the bad ones,¡± Henry agreed.


    DJ watched Henry carefully. ¡°You¡¯re being careful not to say something, but I get the feeling you want to.¡±


    Henry smiled self-consciously. ¡°You¡¯re very good at reading people.¡±


    ¡°Survival skill.¡±


    Henry nodded as he took a deep breath. ¡°You need to break thepulsion. Once it¡¯s gone, you can act of your own free will. That said, I got a taste of thepulsionst night, and it¡¯s not going to be easy to get past. Baba did a really good job of building a scary as fuck blockage.¡± He went silent for a bit as he realized why. ¡°I guess she had her reasons.¡±


    DJ caught his hesitation. ¡°What? Why would she lock me down this tight? What am I?¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry held his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be obscure, but I¡¯ll use terms that shouldn¡¯t trigger the response.¡± DJ nodded nervously. ¡°There¡¯s no documentation of what each Hidden Race is capable of, but thereisa tremendous amount of misinformation. I¡¯m the least reliable resource for knowledge of¡­ powers, as Baba prevented me from reading anything that wasn¡¯t science-based. I¡¯m really good withputers and tech, but the Hidden Races stuff makes my head spin. Baba taught me nothing about what I could do. She actually hid it from me. I was the only one of my kind, and I had to learn from scratch.¡±


    Henry felt a pain in his chest as he recalled some of the ordeals he went through as a Human child and knew Baba had allowed him to go through them to push his personality in directions she favored. It didn¡¯t work because his instinctive nature was stronger than nurture in that instance. But he was a Satyr, and DJ was not. His bad experiences with Humanity might have made him spin a cursed ring given a chance.


    ¡°You may have powerful abilities. Going from social pariah to someone containing great power is a tough transition.¡± Henry said gently.


    ¡°Are you going to unlock this blockage or not?¡± DJ snapped, his nerves raw from stress.


    Henry moved closer. ¡°DJ, you¡¯re the only one who can break thepulsion. I¡¯ll be with you to bear some of the pain and stress, but you have to face it and break through it.¡±


    DJ watched him with a sudden wariness. ¡°Why are you doing this? What are you getting out of this?¡±


    Henry gazed calmly back at him. ¡°I don¡¯t know why Baba did this to you. I¡¯m not clear why she did it to Nate or Lorelei, or even me. Pulling us all from the past and putting us into these new lives was cruel. She has ns none of us can fathom. I¡¯m doing this because I believe it¡¯s the right thing to do. My only advice is when youe out the other side, take baby steps to start, and subtlety is best.¡±


    DJ nodded nervously. Henry held out his hand, and the young man hesitantly reached out and gripped it.


    Once more, Henry¡¯s mind was filled with terrible images and sounds. He picked up the image of a small blue-skinned boy curled up in a fetal position. In this ne, DJ was younger.


    He pushed himself forward until he was able to reach out and touch the boy¡¯s shoulder. The horrors exploded violently in Henry¡¯s mind, amplified by his connection to DJ. The pain was so intense it almost forced him to retreat, but Henry realized he¡¯d endured worse. This helped him cling to his sanity with a fierce determination.


    While Henry reeled back under the deluge, he refused to let go of the connection he had with DJ. He let the images and screeches wash over him as he forced himself closer.


    Finally, he moved his mouth closer to DJ¡¯s ear. ¡°I¡¯m here, DJ. I¡¯ve got you. You¡¯re not alone. You can do this. I¡¯m here.¡±


    He pulled the small boy to his chest and took as much of the pain as he could. He listened to the youth¡¯s screams slow then stop. Then Henry felt him move.


    ¡°Th-thank you,¡± came out as a small gasp against him.


    The horrific sounds and images faded quickly until they were left inplete silence and inky darkness.


    ¡°Boy¡­ what have you DONE!¡±


    Henry jolted as his eyes flew open at Baba¡¯s angry shout and found himself hovering next to DJ¡¯s bed. Ice ran down his spine as he recalled the rage in Baba¡¯s voice. The young man was resting back against the pillows, panting, looking like he was waiting for his heart to stop racing.


    His skin also had the oddest blue tint. It was still a lightly bronzed brown, but when looked at directly, it had a metallic blue sheen, like the color was a thinyer hovering just above the surface. He held up his hands and looked at them. Then he looked at Henry. ¡°That voice. Was that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Baba. Yes. She sounded¡­ seriously pissed,¡± Henry said quietly.


    ¡°What am I?¡± DJ asked.


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Oh, I¡¯d hoped you would get some memories when the spell broke.¡± He shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re a Djinn.¡± He got a nk look. ¡°A Genie?¡± he qualified, and DJ¡¯s expression broke into a shocked grin.


    ¡°As in Adin and the Genie?¡±


    Henry smiled weakly. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not really up on those stories, and they¡¯re likely way off base for what you are and what you can do. I believe you¡¯re a wielder, which means you should be able to bend magic to your will. You might want to start off by disguising the blue color on your skin. Disguises are the first and best defense against detection.¡±


    ¡°Where do I find magic?¡± DJ stared at him.


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s just the energy within you. We¡¯re linked to it. I can¡¯t really feel it, so I can¡¯t detect if you are linked to the original source of magic or the new Wild Magic.¡±


    ¡°Okay, how do I use magic?¡± DJ asked.


    Henry squirmed. ¡°I¡¯m really thest person to ask, but try to envision what you want to happen and push with your will. mors are disguise oveys people wear, hiding their true selves and presenting an appearance they want to show. Mine has to hide a lot,¡± he said, gesturing to his horns and furry lower half. ¡°¡­ but for you, just create a filteryer that hides the blue.¡±


    DJ looked at Henry and nodded to himself. He closed his eyes, and after a moment, the blue just faded away.


    Henry smiled at him as DJ opened his eyes. ¡°Perfect.¡±


    DJ looked at himself and grinned. ¡°Holy shit! It worked!¡±


    ¡°Now that you have the basics, you should be able to create mors to look like anything. I don¡¯t know the extent of your abilities. You really need a trainer, someone who¡¯s been a wielder their entire life and maybe has some historical background on Djinns. Listen, these are the most important things to take away from this: You¡¯re not crazy. You¡¯re a Djinn. Magic is real, but secrecy is essential as Humans must never find out about us. Act normal if someone you meet doesn¡¯t appear Human. They¡¯re just one of the Hidden Races.¡±


    DJ¡¯s smile faded. ¡°Why am I getting the feeling you¡¯re saying goodbye?¡±


    Henry paused. ¡°The people running this ce are not good. I¡¯ve met good Fae, and I¡¯ve met really bad Fae. The doctor falls into the second category. Ogres aren¡¯t friendly either. You aren¡¯t tied down like I am. I can get you out.¡±


    DJ frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not going without you! I can undo your restraints!¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°If we open the doors, they¡¯ll know ande running. Ogres are also really tough!¡±


    ¡°How are you going to get me out if we don¡¯t open the door?¡± DJ asked.


    Henry smiled wickedly. ¡°I can open a door to another. It¡¯s where the ss People are living now. They call it Eden. I¡¯ve been there, and it¡¯s really nice. I sent my friend Nate there when I rescued him from a mad Fae who was torturing him. My ss friend Xiong will be able to open a door for you back to Earth. Go to VRL in Manhattan and ask to speak with the Chief of Security, Roy Duncan. Tell him Henry Gable is in Hainesburg, New Jersey.¡±


    He gestured for DJ to get out of bed. A light on the wall above the bed winked on. ¡°Shit, they¡¯re monitoring your bed. Quickly. Stand here.¡± Henry said, gesturing to an empty spot in the middle of the floor. Bend your knees.¡±


    DJ began to crouch then gave Henry a puzzled look. ¡°Bend my- waah!¡±


    Henry heard the gentle thump of the young mannding in the grass just before he snapped the opening closed.


    He felt pretty good about himself. That was two rescues while strapped down to a bed. He wondered if he could help the two patients in the first two rooms he hadn¡¯t checked yet. He slipped through the wall and saw a Fae womanying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, unblinking. He moved closer and realized she wasn¡¯t there. Her body was idling, but there was no one at the controls.

 249

    Henry spotted an odd bloodstain on the fabric over her chest. She¡¯d been attacked? He had a sinking feeling as he recalled his own gown and rushed into room one. A fat Human was on the bed, but he too had a blood-stained shirt and empty eyes. He was dead, but his body just didn¡¯t know it yet.


    The dagger.


    The doctor was experimenting with the ancient weapon.


    Ice shot through his veins as Henry mmed back into his body violently. Vertigo overwhelmed him, and he began to retch. The bed immediately spun him to be face down. The contents of his stomach exploded onto the floor below him.


    When he finished, the bed spun him back into a face-up position. His stomach rebelled, but he managed not to hurl again.


    An orderly began to mop up the floor as he shot angry looks at Henry.


    ¡°What am I going to do with you?¡± the Doctor in white said through clenched teeth in a fake smile.


    ¡°Let me go,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°No. That¡¯s not happening on my watch,¡± she said equally soft. She examined him like an insect under ss. ¡°Something with teeth is in order.¡±


    ¡°You killed the people in room one and two,¡± Henry forced out.


    She flipped a dismissive hand. ¡°There was no value left to glean from their existence, end of term. It¡¯s an eptable loss, and I gained knowledge of how to use M¨¨irleach Anam, so win, win. Now they¡¯re just Ogre Chow.¡± She crooked her head to look at him more closely. ¡°You, on the other hand, have much to teach me. We will have a long future ahead of us where I will get to know every little secret you have tucked away.¡±


    Henry prepared to strike out at her.


    ¡°For now, sleep.¡± She pressed a control on his monitor, and his body betrayed him, his mind dropping out from under him, taking his consciousness with it.


    DJ sat on his ass in the soft grasses lit by starlight alone. Henry had sent him to a foreign world currently experiencing night. He knew it was foreign by the scents and sounds, but his strongest indicator was how his body reacted to just being here. There was a gentle grating sensation, an itch under his skin that said, this was not home.


    DJ grew up in the city, so sitting in a field of wild grass at night listening to strange sounds wasn¡¯t making him any morefortable. He looked around and made an involuntary sound of joy when he spotted a small bonfire a short distance away. He¡¯d arrived facing away from what appeared to be a row of smallish standing stones. Between these, he could see the dancing mes of a fire.


    He stood and walked quickly towards the fire. As he got closer, he could see the fire¡¯s light was visible through the standing stones but in different colors. His footsteps faltered as he approached because Henry¡¯s words came back to him. The ss People. These weren¡¯t stones. They were living beings made of ss!


    He wobbled on his feet as his legs threatened to give out on him and felt gentle hands brace him. He yelped and looked to his side to see his firelit reflection where the silver being¡¯s face should have been. His yelp became a louder one as he pulled away and fell on his ass once more. He looked up as several more Silver People rushed up to look down at him. Henry said nothing about shiny people!


    Some of them parted, and a dark shape stepped between them. In the darkness of the night, it was impossible to clearly see the new arrival.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± a nervous voice asked belligerently.


    ¡°I¡¯m DJ. Who the fuck are you?¡± he snapped back, equally nervous.


    ¡°You¡¯re a DJ?¡± came a confused reply.


    ¡°No! My name is DJ. Are you Nate?¡± DJ was hoping he guessed right. He heard a startled gasp and got the impression the dark shape stepped back a little.


    ¡°How do you know my name?¡± a voice asked quietly.


    ¡°Henry told me you¡¯d be here before he dropped me here too,¡± DJ said as he rxed a little.


    ¡°You know Henry?¡± Nate asked cautiously.


    ¡°Know him? Not really. He showed up in my cell and scared the fuck out of me. Then he told me this crazy story about a witch who pulled people out of the past, including me.¡±


    Nate made another strangled noise. ¡°You met Baba Yaga?¡±


    DJ pushed himself to his feet. He then noticed all the silver people were holding hands, and Nate was holding their hands too. He was inside their circle. He immediately felt trapped. ¡°Hey! What¡¯s going on?¡± He gestured to their encirclement.


    Nate looked down at his hands. ¡°Oh! This is how they can understand what you¡¯re saying. They¡¯re from Kuwait, and most in this group don¡¯t speak English. Linked like this, they can understand you because they hear you through my mind.¡±N?velDrama.Org content.


    DJ was staring at Nate in confusion. ¡°They¡¯re from Kuwait?¡± he asked quietly.


    Nate¡¯s voice seemed more rxed now. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go sit by the fire, and I¡¯ll bring you up to speed on what¡¯s happening here, and you can fill me in on what¡¯s happening there.¡±


    Nate turned and walked back towards the fire, stepping through a gap in the wall of ss People. DJ followed, and the Silver People gathered around them too. They all went back to holding hands.


    DJ now got a better look at Nate and was dazzled by his dark skin, silver spots, and his wings! Nate shuddered, disappeared in sudden darkness that dimmed the light from the fire, and reappeared as a young ck man dressed in a ck t-shirt, ck jeans, and sandals. He sat cross-legged and reached a hand out to the closest Silver Person. DJ sat a short distance away and kept his hands sped together in hisp. He listened as Nate exined how the ss People, now sleeping around them, and the Silver People came to be and how Henry helped them escape to Eden, which they much preferred.


    ¡°So, the storm clouds are from here but are sneaking through to our side and making ss and Silver people?¡± DJ asked.


    ¡°More urately, the clouds are making ss People, and humans are stumbling upon the parts of the dead clouds that turn them into Silver People. Humans are too fascinated by shiny things.¡± He grinned as he looked at the Silver People sitting around them, who were all nodding vigorously.


    ¡°Can they speak?¡± DJ asked hesitantly.


    ¡°Yes, but can you understand Arabic?¡± Nate asked.


    ¡°Hello!¡± one of the Silver being closest to DJ said, and the sound was hollow and strange. It offered a hand, and DJ hesitantly reached out to grip it. His head immediately filled with static, and he yanked his hand back.


    DJ saw all of the others had let go as well and were shaking their hands like they stung. ¡°What?¡±


    Nate looked at him. ¡°You must be connected to the old realm magic. It¡¯s notpatible with the Wild Magic here.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that exins the itch I¡¯m feeling all over my body?¡± DJ said, and Nate nodded.


    ¡°You mentioned you were in a cell? As in prison? Is Henry in prison too? Why didn¡¯t hee through to Eden too?¡±


    DJ shook his head. ¡°I thought I was a hospital for the insane, but Henry told me what I was seeing weren¡¯t hallucinations or delusions, just Hidden Races people.¡±


    ¡°You see through mors? Does that mean I still look like an Incubus to you?¡± Nate asked in surprise.


    DJ stared at him. ¡°No, I saw you change into a human wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals.¡±


    Nate nodded. ¡°I guess you can¡¯t see through it because it¡¯s a Wild Magic powered mor. That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d it does to you. This magic stuff is all new to me, and Henry says I¡¯m a Djinn and should be able to do powerful things with my magic.¡±


    Nate grinned at him. ¡°You¡¯re a Genie?!? Shit! Yeah, you should have awesome powers¡­ ording to the stories¡­ which were written to mislead. Huh. I guess I have no idea what your real powers should be. One thing I do know, you¡¯re magic won¡¯t work so well here as this ce is powered by Wild Magic.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Back to your exnation. You thought you were in a hospital?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but Henry said it was a containment facility run by the Hidden Races Council. I should tell you he wasn¡¯t physically with me in the room when he told me these things. He was-¡±


    ¡°A ghost,¡± Nate mumbled, and DJ watched him cautiously.


    ¡°He looked like one, but he exined he was actually strapped down to a bed in another cell. Then he freaking dropped me through the floor into the field over there!¡± DJ growled, gesturing with a thumb over his shoulder. Nate snorted gently as he nodded. ¡°That¡¯s how you arrived too?¡±


    Nate nodded. ¡°Fell on my face. Ate some grass.¡±


    DJ chuckled. ¡°Does he do that a lot?¡±


    The young man facing him suddenly frowned, and a series of intense expressions shed by. He got control and shook his head. ¡°He¡­ he told me he just got the ability to do it. But he helped a lot of ss People get here, and he helped them save the Kuwait ss people. I¡¯m not sure what the truth of that is.¡± He pulled his hand from the hand of the Silver Person next to him.


    In the firelight, DJ was able to see the expression on the face of that silver man. He was looking at Nate sadly. He suddenly recalled Henry saying Nate had been tortured. He guessed that Nate was still pretty messed up about that. Time to change the topic.


    ¡°Henry asked me to speak to a ss Person called Xiong. He said I can get back to New York with his help. I need to speak to someone named Roy at VRS-¡±


    ¡°VRL. Thepany is VRL, and it¡¯s Roy Duncan,¡± Nate corrected him quietly.

 250

    ¡°You shoulde with me. I have to tell him Henry is in Hainesburg. This Roy is more likely to listen to you as he knows you,¡± DJ said. He watched Nate¡¯s bodynguage as the man froze, then crossed his arms before himself and leaned back slightly.


    ¡°No, he¡¯ll listen to you if you tell him the message is about Henry¡¯s location. I-I can¡¯t go back right now.¡± Nate looked distinctly ufortable.


    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s cool. If you could help me speak to Xiong, that would be great.¡±


    ¡°No problem. You¡¯re gonna have to wait until morning, though, as they sleep until the sunes up,¡± Nate offered.


    DJ just nodded, then yawned. ¡°Sleep sounds good. I don¡¯t want to leave Henry alone with those creeps. I owe him that much.¡±


    Nate nodded, and they watched the fire for a moment.


    ¡°That trick you did with your mor. You included clothes. Do you suppose that would work for me too?¡± DJ asked.


    ¡°It should. mors are just a magic oveyer. Just choose what you want to wear and imagine it as part of your disguise,¡± Nate exined.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± DJ said and went silent for a moment. ¡°Have you met Baba Yaga?¡±


    ¡°I think so, just once. She looked at me and said, shit,¡± Nate sighed.


    DJ chuckled. ¡°Great first impression.¡± Nate shrugged. ¡°When Henry helped break thepulsion she put on me, the witch showed up in our minds and screamed at him. I almost pissed myself, and her anger wasn¡¯t directed at me.¡±


    Nate frowned with concern. ¡°Baba Yaga frightens Roy, and he¡¯s a big scary motherfuckin¡¯ werewolf! Henry¡¯s supposed to have a better rtionship than most with her. Let¡¯s hope that¡¯s true for his sake.¡±


    There didn¡¯t seem to be anything else to talk about, so DJ just settled down next to the fire as Nate did. He watched the Silver People get up and leave until it was only Nate, him, and the sleeping ss.


    ¡°Where do they go?¡± he asked quietly.


    Nate nced over at him. ¡°They chase storms. The lightning feeds them. Just being here on this seems to feed them, but they get an extra boost from lightning. Crazy shit.¡±


    DJ nodded and did his best to rx. It might be a nice ce for the ss and Silver People, but he preferred a more urban environment. Hopefully, in a few hours, he¡¯d be able to get back to it. He hoped Henry would be okay until he did.


    -=-


    Sandy rested back on her pillows and stared at the small, glow-in-the-dark stars she¡¯d stuck to her bedroom ceiling so many years ago. She recalled how proud and excited she¡¯d been as a child as she gazed up at her efforts. Tonight, she was surprised they still managed to hold a glow as her lights had been off for hours. Sleep was evading her, and she knew why. She no longer belonged in this ce.


    She¡¯d endured another day of listening to her parents and their friends discussing local concerns until she felt her brains were melting out her ears. Shortly after dinner, she said her goodnights and went to bed early. In her old room, she worked out what she would tell her parents the next day at breakfast as she arranged a bus ticket back to Chicago for midmorning.


    With a six-hour bus trip to Chicago, then the transfer to O¡¯Hare, and catching a flight back to New York, she didn¡¯t expect to get home until the early hours of the following day. Kesini shifted restlessly. Sandy knew she needed to burn off a little energy, so she decided to go for a run.


    She hadn¡¯t packed any workout clothes, so she opened her closet and poked through the old clothes that still hung there. She needed to get her parents to donate these items to some retro clothing shop. She wouldn¡¯t be caught dead in these outfits ever again!


    Pushing them aside, she stared in surprise at her high school track and field suit hanging on the hanger. It wasprised of a white halter top, red tights, and a blue hoodie. Very patriotic and stretchy, as she recalled. She recalled seeing some girls walking through the shops downtown wearing simr outfits, so her old high school must still be sticking with this uniform. As nothing else in town seemed to advance, she wasn¡¯t surprised they hadn¡¯t either.


    A smile slipped onto her lips as she pulled it out and held it up against her body. She saw it would probably still fit. Sandy wasted no time in stripping off her clothes and pulling on the halter and tights. They were definitely tight, but they didn¡¯t bind as she lifted her knees to her chest. This would be perfect for running. She slipped on some ankle socks, tied on her running shoes, and pulled on the hoodie. Facing the mirror, she gazed at herself critically. The hoodie wasfortably loose, but the top and tights were skin tight. She wouldn¡¯t have gotten away with this in her teen years. She smiled as she thought she looked pretty damn good. Her job kept her fit, and having Kesini as her constant workout buddy was doing wonders for her muscle tone.


    She looked to her door and realized if she tried to sneak out down the stairs, the creaking would wake her parents, and she¡¯d have to exin. Instead, she moved to her window and slid it open. The old oak tree was still there, and the branch she used to climb out onto was perhaps a little closer to the house. Kesini eagerly flowed out the window to test the branch. Finding it firm and strong, Sandy was lifted across, where she climbed down to the ground with Kesini¡¯s eager assistance.


    She set a random direction and began to walk. Once her muscles warmed up, she moved up to a jog. She¡¯d been training Kesini to assist with this as she wanted to go running with Tish and Henry one day. She knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up on her own, but Kesini was a fast learner and was integrated into her body sopletely, she could gauge how much strength to add where and when to make it look effortless.


    They got into a rhythm, and she soon found herself approaching the edge of town. Only darknessy beyond, so she changed direction and ran parallel to the town¡¯s perimeter.


    She felt good. It still took effort as she provided the movements, and Kesini was simply augmenting her strength. Her muscles were expending energy as well. Still, as she moved from a jog to a run, she felt like she was flying with Kesini¡¯s help.


    Once more, she changed direction and found herself running down the main drag through the town¡¯s small downtown core. Nothing was open at this time, so she had the ce to herself. She breathed in the cool air as her lungs worked like a bellows and her legs pumped.


    She missed seeing the police cruiser pulling out of the parking lot next to the city hall to follow her with its lights off.


    When she reached a small industrial section of town, the road ahead of her suddenly lit up with headlights and the cruiser¡¯s red and blue lights. Then she was rolling back over the hood of the car as it struck the back of her legs. If her legs hadn¡¯t been protected by Kesini, they might have ended up broken.


    The cruiser suddenly stopped, and she rolled off to hit the street. Again, Kesini bore the brunt of the fall, but Sandy was still dazed by the sudden attack.


    She heard approaching footsteps and found herself being lifted in a cruelly tight grip and mmed face-first on the hood of the cruiser.


    ¡°Just another tight-assed little cock tease. So many of you fucking bitches in this town,¡± a gruff voice growled as a big handnded on her ass and squeezed hard. Sandy grunted in pain.


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna have a little fun. You stay nice and quiet, and you won¡¯t get hurt. Mess with me, and I¡¯ll fuck you up!¡± he snapped at her as one hand pressed her down against the car as his roaming hand grabbed the tight waistband of her tights and tugged it down to expose her ass.


    ¡°NO!¡± Sandy roared as she suddenly spun under him, dropping her mor in her rage. Kesini exploded out of her hood as Sandy¡¯s hair wrapped fist connected with the officer¡¯s jaw with a sickening crack. Sandy slid off the car onto her feet as Kesini lifted the creep in the air and mmed him face-first on the hood of the car hard enough to cave it in and crack a few of his ribs.


    Sandy stood before the car listening to the heavyset man struggle to suck in a breath. Kesini was angrily whipping back and forth, and Sandy saw his hand trying to pull his gun from his holster. As she caught this motion, Kesini shot forward and wrapped around his hand, crushing the bones, making him scream. Then she tore the holster from his belt, and half of his pants came away with it.


    ¡°GODDAMN YOU BITCH! I¡¯M GONNA FUCK YOU-¡± He screamed through his clenched teeth.


    Sandy had Kesini tear off the rest of his pants until he was naked from the waist down. She then pulled his nightstick from his belt and pressed the blunt end against his puckered asshole as Kesini held his legs open with tight grips on his ankles. His struggles increased as he felt the intruder begin to push inside.


    She was shaking with rage at what this piece of shit had attempted to do to her. She wondered if he¡¯d done it to others. It seemed likely.


    ¡°You stay nice and quiet, as this is really gonna hurt,¡± she ground out between her teeth, unconsciously channeling her inner Dirty Harry.N?velDrama.Org content.


    ¡°N-N-no! Don¡¯t you fuckin¡¯ do-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhh!¡±


    She roughly fucked him with the polished stick until he passed out, then she pulled it from his body and let it drop. With her handspletely wrapped by Kesini, she wasn¡¯t concerned about leaving fingerprints.


    She heard two sharp cracks and saw Kesini releasing his broken ankles. She staggered back as she pulled up the back of her tights to cover her ass. Her rage red again, and she almost picked up the nightstick once more. Instead, Kesini did and threw it through the cruiser¡¯s windshield.


    ¡°We have to go,¡± Sandy mumbled, activating her mor once more as she walked backward away from the scene. The cruiser¡¯s red and blue lights were still weirdly illuminating the empty buildings around them. When she turned the corner, she spun and burst into a run.


    She stuck to the quieter and darker streets until she slipped back into her neighborhood. Kesini lifted her effortlessly up the tree and into her window. Quietly, she closed her window then she stripped off the track and field suit. She looked at it and realized it might have trace evidence on it. She wanted to burn it, but that wasn¡¯t possible. She¡¯d have to take it with her. She pushed it into the bottom of her suitcase and covered it with her other clothes.


    The officer was going to be discovered in the morning as the workers in those buildings arrived. She¡¯d have to remain calm and act natural.


    More than anything, she wanted to leave this ce and get back to her friends.


    As she tucked herself into bed, she clung to Kesini and let her tears finally fall.

 251

    Dayshia dabbed the tears from her cheeks as images of her father today intruded on her thoughts again. Beth had taken her to the home he was in, and Dayshia was shaken by how small her father had be. He¡¯d been such a strong and vital man, but this sickness had sucked all of that away until he was left a shadow of his former self.


    On top of this, his personality, which had always been so calm, firm, and self-assured, had twisted as his mind slowly failed him. Fear and bitterness were taking over. He¡¯d said some pretty mean things to his younger daughter today, and she was torturing herself with self-recriminations for living so far away.


    The man she saw today was not the man who raised them.


    Beth saw how hard the visit was on her baby sister, and they¡¯d spent hours talking afterward. Dayshia knew her sister held absolutely no resentment for staying behind to look after her father while Dayshia left to make a life for herself. She was thrilled to hear she was going to be a surgeon.


    Dayshia was happy to spend time with her sister¡¯s kids, but she realized that it didn¡¯t inspire her to want her own. She recalled teasing Tish and Sandy about her hopes and dreams, including marriage and a family, but she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted that at all. With her new career as a surgeon, she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to dedicate sufficient time to her family.


    Spending free time with Henry¡­ that sounded good. The thought of being a surgeon also made her happy. Being with her friends made her happy, and their group was undoubtedly getting bigger.


    Losing Roger had been painful at first, but she now realized he was always pushing them outside their boundaries, but not in good ways, not in ways that led to personal growth. It was like doing damage control all the time. The fact that he¡¯d be a murderer after his change, that gave her pause. How much of that was due towhathe¡¯d be and how much had been there all the time.


    That thought gave her shivers.


    He needed to be stopped. She knew, if she was given the opportunity, she would do it without hesitation.


    She just hoped her soft-hearted bestie Sandy didn¡¯t interfere.


    -=-


    Tish sank into the overly soft pillow top mattress in Steph¡¯s guest room. Her mind immediately took her to her memory of sleeping on the collected grass on Eden with Henry. All she needed was the slight scent of cinnamon, and his warmth beside her to make the scene for her with her eyes closed.


    She heard a soft knock on her door.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    Steph opened the door and peeked inside. ¡°Still up?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Mind if I visit?¡± her sister asked tentatively, and Tish¡¯s eyebrows went up. Steph wasn¡¯t the shy type.


    ¡°Sure, pull up a cloud,¡± Tish teased as she patted the mattress next to her.


    ¡°Ugh, I told David the mattress was too soft!¡± Steph said as she closed the door behind her. She rushed over and slipped under the covers on the bed next to her younger sister.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d be all talked out,¡± Tish teased her.


    ¡°Are you kidding, me with nothing to say?¡± Steph asked in false shock. Tish just chuckled as she knew it was true. While Steph was eleven months older than Tish, she acted two years younger and never stopped talking.


    Looks-wise, they could have been twins, except Steph preferred a pixie cut for her ebony hair.


    ¡°Oh my god, I missed you!¡± the older sister sighed as she cuddled next to her Tish. ¡°You know, of all of the kids in our family, you¡¯re the only one that doesn¡¯t immediately tell me to shut up?¡±


    Tish chuckled. She missed this.


    Then her mind took her to a painful truth she¡¯d been hiding from herself. Once her baby was born, she might need to stay away from her family until her child was grown enough to know how to remain in disguise.


    Steph caught the sadness in Tish¡¯s eye and pulled back a little to examine her carefully. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I said something to upset you.¡±


    Tish gave her head a firm shake and forced a smile onto her lips. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I-I just missed this too. I¡¯m sorry I live so far away.¡±


    Steph smiled at her. ¡°You could move here! Bring that hunky man of yours with you, too!¡±


    Tish chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m afraid to bring Henry anywhere near you!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s so yummy!¡± Steph growled quietly in her sister¡¯s ear, which caused both of them to burst into giggles.


    Once they got control of themselves, Tish sighed happily. ¡°He is.¡±


    ¡°So, sex is good?¡± Steph asked with a wicked grin.


    Tish snorted softly. Steph was such a lusty girl. Her husband, David, who Tish found to be a cold fish, had his hands full with her. ¡°The sex is¡­ indescribably good!¡±


    ¡°Oooo! You bitch! You weren¡¯t supposed to tell me that!¡± Steph squealed with a pout.


    Tish just smiled and shrugged.


    ¡°Now you¡¯re gonna have to give me all the details,¡± Steph said petntly.


    Tish watched her sister with love in her eyes. Therehadto be some way to keep this. Then an idea came to her, but it was so dangerous she immediately shut it down. She¡¯d¡­ talk to Henry when she got home.


    In the meantime, she had a fantasy to provide the details for.


    DJ was going out of his mind! The morning after he¡¯d arrived on Eden, Nate introduced him to Xiong once the sun had risen high enough to wake the ss Being. Nate touched it to speak with Xiong, and from Nate¡¯s expression he knew the answer wasn¡¯t going to be good.


    It seemed that the ss People had drained themselves recently making home improvements in the valley for all the new arrivals and wouldn¡¯t be able to open a gate probably until the following day. Nate told him the group no longer allowed Xiong to open tears on his own as it took so much energy, it put the being¡¯s life at risk. They spread the effort amongst a group now, which was far safer.


    Spending another day and night on this itchy was torture for him, but at least he had Nate to talk to. That said, he found himself being careful what he said around Nate as the man wasn¡¯t as innocent as Henry had been. DJ was getting the impression that Nate wasn¡¯t warming up to him. That was too bad, but DJ wasn¡¯t looking for a friend at the moment.


    He wanted to get back to New York to deliver his message to this Roy guy to pay off his debt to Henry. In their gratitude, they¡¯d point him to someone with information on what skills he had. If he really was all-powerful, he had some scores to settle and riches to umte. Henry was a nice guy and all, but he knew jack shit about how to live amongst the Humans, or rather, how to rule them.


    He¡¯d waited all day as arge group of the ss People basked in the rays of the orange sunlight. Then by noon the next day, it finally looked like they were ready as the group made their way towards Nate and himself.


    ¡°Last chance to head back to the city with me,¡± DJ said, aware of what the answer would be.


    Nate spread his wings and stretched them. ¡°No, I¡¯ll goter.¡±


    DJ shrugged and looked to the one he identified as Xiong. Nate ced his hand on what might have been Xiong¡¯s shoulder then looked to DJ. ¡°They¡¯re ready to send you back.¡±


    ¡°Will they open the tear near VRL?¡± DJ asked.


    Nate frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a very busy spot. Too much chance of being seen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already put Henry at risk from not reporting his location for so long. If I have to run across half of New York to get to this guy Roy, it might be toote!¡± DJ said, adding a little desperation to his tone.


    Nate shifted ufortably, but the ss People seemed agitated by what they heard through Nate¡¯s ears. They gathered closer and reached out their hands to touch one another. Xiong, DJ recognized by his color and shape, was at the front of the group and held his hands before him. A tiny tear formed, maybe the size of a football, and DJ could see it was in a darkened doorway. A dirty metal door was closed just beyond. Xiong turned the viewpoint, and they could see an alley, and it looked empty. At the end of the alley, people were walking by, dressed in business wear. DJ changed his mor to match and grinned as he was suddenly looking as sharply dressed as the working stiffs. He felt a surge of joy as this was going to work.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    ¡°Perfect! Let me through here!¡± he eximed, riding the high of sess.


    Xiong opened the tear wide enough for DJ, and he wasted no time leaping through. As his feet hit the pavement, the tear snapped closed behind him. He turned to head out of the alley and saw threerge figures standing in the alley entrance gaping at him. They weren¡¯t human.


    He recalled what Henry said about remaining calm when faced with what he once thought were hallucinations. Now he knew he simply saw past their disguises. He schooled his expression and walked towards them.


    The three wererge, furred creatures with wed fingers and toes and face reminiscent of wolves. Nate said Roy was a werewolf, so these must be some of his pack? He smiled confidently.


    ¡°What? Did you see how this guy appeared out of thin air?¡± one said to another.


    Seizing the initiative, DJ stopped before them. ¡°I need to speak to Roy Duncan immediately. It¡¯s about the location of Henry Gable,¡± he said boldly and watched their expressions freeze.

 252

    He didn¡¯t see the ping, but DJ felt it strike the left side of his face in an explosion of pain, then the world went dark.


    -=-


    Henry was fighting to live. The doctor found a method to not only keep him unconscious but unable to leave his body.


    She poisoned him.


    Dr. Bitch discovered that if she gave him tiny doses of Strychnine, his body went through the terrible symptoms, intense muscle spasms in his head and neck which spread to every muscle in his body, with nearly continuous convulsions. The pain was severe, and his body would strain against his bindings. Then he would graduallye out of it. She¡¯d test him and discover the poison was no longer in his blood. A brief intervalter, the monitor device would automatically administer another small dose.


    Under the harsh fluorescent lighting, the doctor was unaware of the pale green glow that would bathe Henry each time he reacted to the poison. He¡¯d created another program that was running independently of his consciousness. It pulled the magic to him and ran a filter over his blood to neutralize the Strychnine. In the brief intervals of semi-coherence, he would work on another program. He needed to stop this insane woman. He could tell his filter spell would eventually fail as, after each cycle, he was a little more physically weakened.


    He desperately needed help, but he couldn¡¯t get more than a few feet from the property line before his body¡¯s physical state yanked him back.


    He was surprised to see the shocked expression on a lovely face with one blue and one yellow eye on hisst attempt.


    ¡°Help me, please. She¡¯s killing me,¡± Henry managed to gasp before he was sucked back into the cycle of agony.


    -=-


    Minkah should have left three days ago, but once Rand left with the car the administrator had arranged, she was told they wouldn¡¯t be able to get another for two days. It arrivedte in the evening the day before, but she chose to stay overnight one more time for¡­ reasons.


    It certainly wasn¡¯t for the cafeteria food. It was dull and vorless.


    There was no intelligentpany to converse with. The administrator and the doctor ignored her, and the two Ogre orderlies had no personalities at all. Minkah wasn¡¯t allowed to see the inmates.


    Two days earlier, Minkah arrived at breakfast to see the doctor and the administrator screaming at each other. She caught the wordescaped. Her ears perked up as she enjoyed a good hunt.


    Before they noticed her arrival, Minkah heard the doctor suggest Henry had somehow assisted the other to escape. The two spotted her then and quickly left the room.


    So, the escapee wasn¡¯t Henry, but he was responsible for freeing another.


    How was that possible? Didn¡¯t they say he was strapped down? Drugged? The file said he wasn¡¯t a wielder, so he couldn¡¯t bend magic to his will.


    Today, she wanted to grab a quick breakfast and leave. She had to get her life back on track. She had a car waiting for her and missions toplete. Yet, she found herself lingering through her meal. Finally, she forced herself to her feet and dumped her tray on the way out.


    As she passed through a dim hallway on the way to the farmhouse, she suddenly stopped as arge horned being with furry legs and hooves was standing before her. She could see the lights down the hall through him, so this was some kind of astral projection. Then he turned to face her, and there was no question, it was Henry. She¡¯d never seen him in his natural state before. He froze with recognition as he looked into her eyes.


    ¡°Help me, please. She¡¯s killing me,¡± he said softly, then vanished.


    Minkah cursed.


    -=-


    ¡°Where the fuck are Sam and Jeannie?¡±


    Jake paced nervously amongst pine trees at the edge of the forest behind a farmhouse in western New Jersey. A few nights ago, they¡¯d all had another shared dream with the ancient-sounding voice. This time the voice told them to look for the Aurora Borealis somewhere in this state.


    So, for some reason, they did.


    Sam was the one who spotted the green glow on the horizon and guided them to this farm that wasn¡¯t really a farm. It was pretty apparent to their experienced eyes that there wasn¡¯t any kind of farming activity happening here.


    Then Jeannie was the first to feel it. Tingling energy, like a tickle of purest electricity. Theypared impressions, and they all agreed that it felt like the lightning strike zone back on the Washington Mall, but without the sharp edges and intensity. It was warm and smooth, and they wanted more! They got closer to what looked like the garage and found if they hid in the woods behind it, they could pick up a trickle charge just by proximity. That meant the source had to be underground. They shared their concerns about that. None wanted to try storming an underground facility.


    When the green sheets of light reappeared, they seemed to be concentrated directly above them. This seemed to confirm their energy source¡¯s location, though how they were connected was still a mystery.


    Sam decided the situation warranted bringing in the assistance of their new friends who had specialized training for this. He volunteered to run back to Washington, and Jeannie insisted on going with him. Jake paced as he knew they should have returned by now. He was worried his friends had been captured for experimentation instead. He had no great love for the government. Shady characters!


    The green curtains started their dance once more as Jake and Brenda watched in fascination. Did they seem a little dimmer?


    He looked to the road, hoping Sam would hurry.


    -=-


    Raymond drove the rental car smoothly along the curvy country road. From the passenger seat, Eleanor was scanning the skies for what Meixiu assured them would be there, a visible sign of Henry¡¯s presence. The highly excited young woman had burst into the coffee shop they¡¯d nned to meet at after work. On her way there, she¡¯d found some images posted on an atmospheric phenomenon subpage of a social media site she followed. Meixiu was excited about posts from a restaurant waitress at a small airport in irstown, New Jersey. The woman recently reported seeing the Aurora Borealis multiple times in the skies just west of the airfield.


    Meixiu dragged her new friends out of the caf¨¦ and had Raymond rent a car at a nearby rental agency. In a short time, they were on the New Jersey Turnpike heading towards the irstown Airport. They¡¯d been driving for over an hour, and the skies had gone dark when they turned off Interstate 80, and Eleanor made a squeak of surprise. She¡¯d spotted a tell-tale green glow beginning in the skies ahead of them.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± Meixiu cried out from the back seat.


    ¡°When will Roy be arriving with his team?¡± Raymond asked.


    When Meixiu didn¡¯t respond, Raymond nced over his shoulder at her then looked to Eleanor in concern. His wife turned in her seat to see a guilty look on Meixiu¡¯s face. ¡°You didn¡¯t call Mr. Duncan?¡±


    ¡°I was too excited,¡± she moaned.


    Raymond pulled into the dark parking lot next to a veterinarian hospital and stopped the engine. He looked over his shoulder as he watched Meixiu¡¯s anxious expression. She was looking out the side window at the glow in the sky.


    ¡°This is a top-secret Hidden Races Council facility you¡¯re talking about. We aren¡¯t supposed to know it exists, much less visit it. They aren¡¯t just going to release him into our custody,¡± he said reasonably.


    ¡°I will make them,¡± Meixiu said with a fierce expression.


    Raymond shared another look with his wife then looked back to Meixiu. ¡°They might have an army in there. Why don¡¯t we do a little scouting and report what we¡¯ve found to Roy? Maybe he has resources in the area he could call in.¡±


    Meixiu pouted but finally nodded. They got out of the car and looked up at the sky. ¡°How far away do you estimate the focus of that light show is?¡± Eleanor asked her husband.


    He frowned as he watched the wispy curtains of green light move and twist. There seemed to be a slight funneling as if the light was being pulled down.


    ¡°I think we should drive up that side road a little way and take another look,¡± he suggested. ¡°I think we need to get closer.¡± Meixiu smiled at him. He gestured to her cell. ¡°Call Roy now and let him know where we are.¡±


    They got back into the car as Meixiu dialed.


    Almost immediately, she sighed. ¡°It went to voice mail,¡± Meixiu said, then left a message with their location. ¡°I will try Sigrid,¡± she said as Raymond drove them across the street and up the smaller sidene. She frowned when she got Sigrid¡¯s voice mail. She left her the information as well.


    Eleanor kept watch on the light as they climbed higher along the curving countryne until she saw it begin to fade.This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    ¡°We¡¯re losing the light. Pull over,¡± she said quickly.


    The moment the car was stopped, Meixiu was out the door and scaling the tallest nearby tree. Secondster, she returned to the ground and pointed to the property across the road. Illuminated by the headlights, they saw a gravelneway between two stone gateposts. The gates were open. On the gateposts and nailed to little sticks stuck in the ground were no trespassing signs, at least half a dozen.


    ¡°Go beyond the gate, and we¡¯re trespassing. Not the friendliest greeting,¡± Eleanor said.


    Raymond sighed. ¡°And we¡¯ve been parked in front of the driveway. If they have cameras aimed at this spot, we¡¯ve made a poor attempt at stealth. Let¡¯s drive up the road a bit ande back on foot.¡±


    Eleanor watched her husband¡¯s face as they entered the car. ¡°Are we seriously going to break into this ce?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll reconnoiter and let Roy¡¯s team do the actual breaking in. They¡¯re better suited for the rough and tumble duties. We can get them the intelligence they¡¯ll need to get in safely,¡± Raymond suggested as he watched Meixiu.


    She nodded. ¡°Roy has not responded to my call, and neither has Sigrid.¡±


    Raymond winced. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll take a look around ande back to the car to try again.¡±

 253

    Eleanor gave Raymond a nervous look as this was far more daring than they¡¯d been in a long time. She was a little rusty when it came to being adventurous. She¡¯d be downright risk-averse.


    Raymond parked the car on a small patch of grass next to the road a few hundred feet up the hill then they all got out.


    It was adventure time. Meixiu seemed to fade into the darkness and was gone.


    ¡°Meixiu?¡± Eleanor called out but heard only the breeze in return.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting too old for this shit,¡± Raymond grumbled as he set off down the hill with Eleanor smirking at his side.


    ¡°You and me both!¡± she said. ¡°Maybe we should leave this to the youngsters.¡±N?velDrama.Org content.


    ¡°I believe Meixiu may be older than us,¡± he whispered as they got closer to the gate.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make me feel any better, you know,¡± Eleanor grumbled, equally quiet. They leapt over the fence and kept to the shadows as they rushed towards the forest at the back of the property. She shot an annoyed look at her husband.


    Dammit, she was a doctor, not amando!


    -=-


    Roy knew he was driving into a trap, but he really didn¡¯t have a choice. He¡¯d received a call from one of Carl¡¯s lieutenants stating they had one of his people who¡¯d stepped out of thin air into an alley a block away from VRL.


    The only one he knew with that ability was Henry. Somehow the boy had escaped the detainment center and had immediately fallen into the hands of Carl¡¯s men. That also sounded like Henry¡¯s luck.


    He nced over at Mary, who was fidgeting due to the stored energy in her body. She¡¯d sparred with the team, not striking any blows of her own, so she¡¯d built up quite the charge.


    In the backseat, Sigrid was calmly taking in the view of the dockyards they were driving into. She imed to be almost fully charged as well.


    Roy¡¯s team was deployed around the neighborhood to contain the invaders. They wouldn¡¯te any closer unless Roy ordered them to. The packs from the neighboring territories were on standby as well, as he¡¯d informed their leaders of this move.


    He was feeling pretty good himself, so he hoped between the three of them in this car, they were a sufficient force to deal with whatever this Lieutenant had cooked up for them. Carl might have been the one who was setting up the ambush, but it really wasn¡¯t the man¡¯s style to let others do his talking.


    They pulled up to the warehouse he¡¯d been directed to and saw it was pretty run down. Carl had apparently purchased the property in preparation for his incursion into Roy¡¯s territory. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was a toe in the door.


    They got out of the car, and Roy scented the air. It was foul from the water and the garbage left on the property, and this covered most of the invaders¡¯ scents, but he still detected the pong of an alpha radiating his dominance. So, he was here. Carl was such a tool.


    He looked to the others. ¡°Carl is on site. He¡¯s mine. Don¡¯t interfere with our fight. His pack needs to see their leader defeated to restore order.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise I won¡¯t kill him if it doesn¡¯t go your way,¡± Sigrid stated bluntly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help her do it,¡± Mary stated.


    Roy snorted. ¡°Let¡¯s hope for the best then,¡± he said with a scowl and caught the little smirk on Sigrid¡¯s lips.


    ¡°A millionughs,¡± he sighed under his breath as he pulled the door open.


    They walked through the outer offices, which were all empty with debris scattered on the floor. The building hadn¡¯t been used for a long time. There was a scent of dust and decay, and there was a feeling of despair about the office area. It didn¡¯t strike any of them as ever having been a happy ce.


    Pushing through the double doors at the end of the hallway, they entered the cavernous space of the warehouse itself. The ceiling was lost to the darkness, as were the far walls. Ahead, in the middle of that dark open area, was a small figure taped to a chair. A spotlight on a stand was set up to shine on the chair from behind, leaving the man in silhouette from the backlighting. They could see his head was slumped forward.


    Roy rxed slightly as he saw the man¡¯s shoulders weren¡¯t as broad as Henry¡¯s, so it wasn¡¯t him. Still, thement about him stepping out of thin air was curiously specific to something Henry could do.


    Tworger men stepped forward to nk the man in the chair. They were heavily muscled, so Roy assumed these were two of Carl¡¯s goons. A third stepped forward and walked to stand before the three. He was slimmer but tall. He addressed Roy.


    ¡°Mr. Duncan. I¡¯m Keith le Br¨¨re, Mr. De Bellisle¡¯s personal secretary. Thank you for joining us in this humble location.¡± He gestured to the warehouse. ¡°We intercepted this one on his way to you. He had a message for you, one he said you would be very keen to get. The location of your pet Satyr.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll take that message,¡± Roy said stiffly.


    A second spot turned on, finally illuminating the man tied to the chair. He was a bloody mess. He had bandages over his ears, one eye, and his nose. His hands were both wrapped in bloody rags.


    ¡°Unfortunately, the effort to extract this information became a little too aggressive as the interrogator¡¯s friends were murdered in their attempt to capture the Satyr.¡± He gestured to the bloody man in the chair. ¡°He¡¯s no longer able to deliver the information, but not to worry, we got it. Our team should be arriving at any moment to extract him.¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s cell vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and nced at the screen. ¡°A message from Meixiu,¡± she exined to Roy casually.


    ¡°Can it wait?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°I should probably listen to it,¡± Sigrid sighed.


    The tall slim secretary was annoyed by their disregarding him. When Roy turned his face back to him, he saw he was being red at. He looked to the damaged man. Henry had likely been involved in opening the tear. Roy needed to get this young man to safety. ¡°Are we done with the theatrics?¡± he said wearily.


    ¡°FUCK, you¡¯re so god damned ARROGANT!¡±


    The voice was loud and rasping, and its source stomped out of the shadows behind the spotlight.


    Roy controlled his reaction when Carl stepped forward and became visible. The man wasn¡¯t using a mor. Gone were his chiseled good looks and trim, muscr form. In their ce was a blunt face with a prominent brow ridge, sunken eyes, a broad, ttened nose, a jutting jaw with jagged, crooked teeth, and a thick stocky body. He looked like a primitive and violent brute, not the polished businessman image he¡¯d developed over the decades. He was wrapped in a rough robe as his body was visiblyrger as well. His voice matched his new visage.


    ¡°Roy, it¡¯s time for you to realize you were never meant to lead. You don¡¯t have the drive. You don¡¯t have the ambition. You don¡¯t have the strength!¡± Carlughed at what he took for a confused look on Roy¡¯s face.


    Roy shook his head in disgust. ¡°You still don¡¯t have a clue about what it takes to be a pack leader these days. Your mind is trapped in the past. You¡¯re unable to change with the times. You don¡¯t care about your pack mates. You use them as tools and discard them when you no longer have use for them. Carl, you¡¯re a shit leader.¡±


    ¡°You think you¡¯re pretty tough because you amped up your Were powers with a little blood from your Satyr. You don¡¯t know power-AAAIIIEEEEEEE!¡±


    For races that physically transformed between forms, mors made that agonizing transition obsolete. They stayed in their beast form and simply hid it with a Human mor. Carl¡¯s disguise had been burned out by the Wild Magic in Henry¡¯s blood. He had to fall back on the old method. Both transitions were intensely painful.


    Carl threw back the robe as he screamed in agony, exposing his naked and warping body. Bones stretched, snapped, and reformed in new shapes. Muscles swelled and tore free from their anchor points to relocate and bind to new locations. Skin stretched, ripped, and stitched back together as fur sprouted and grew to cover. The process took less than a minute typically, but Carl wasrger than a standard Lycanthrope and slightlyrger than Roy¡¯s evolved form, as well. Longer limbs, longer and sharper teeth and ws, and wider jaws. He had a crazed, feral look in his eyes as he changed.


    Finally in his evolved state, the massive monster Carl had be panted, his muscles trembling from the remembered pain. He red down at Roy and curled up the corner of his lip to disy a deadly sharp fang. The pong of dominance radiated from the huge creature.


    Roy felt his instinctual reaction to the bigger Were kick in, but the difference between a beast and a thinking being is the ability to choose to defy instinct and act based on reason. Instead of cowering and showing his throat, Roy dropped his mor and growled low in his chest. He wasn¡¯t as big as Carl, but there was no question, he was equally deadly.


    Sigrid quickly texted a warning to Meixiu that Carl¡¯s people may be on their way. Then she whispered to Mary. ¡°Meixiu and her new friends found where Henry is being kept. I warned her about Carl¡¯s men.¡± Mary nodded without looking away from Carl.


    Sigrid looked between the two alpha Weres and did her best to hide her concern for Roy. Carl seemed to have the edge as he gave off the impression of crazed violence and the mass to back it up. The question was, how long could Roy go toe to toe with such a beast.


    -=-


    Waves of unending pain swept through DJ as he heard the muffled sounds of growling.


    It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this. He wasn¡¯t supposed to end up a chew toy for a bunch of wild dogs. He was a fucking Djinn! An all-powerful being of magic! He was the one who should be inflicting terror and pain upon those that defied him!


    Another spark of agony stabbed through him, but he didn¡¯t even have the strength to moan.


    He didn¡¯t open his remaining eye as there was nothing to see. He just let his mind sink into the darkness.

 254

    ¡°Yes, you can be free of the pain if you just let go,¡± an ancient voice whispered to him.


    He paused as he¡¯d heard that voice before. It¡¯d terrified him then, but now it was trying to ease his suffering?


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re the witch.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Free me!¡± he cried.


    ¡°No.¡±


    He was rocked by the indifference in the voice. She had nopassion at all. But¡­ wasn¡¯t this her fault?


    ¡°You brought me here, to this time. That makes you responsible for my fate!¡± he reasoned.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Despair washed over him, then rage.


    ¡°Why the fuck did you bring me here if you¡¯re just going to let me die!¡± he screamed.


    She was quiet for a moment, then her whisper returned, but she wasn¡¯t really speaking to him. ¡°A contingency n, hmmm. A final and desperate option, not meant to be used unless all other options failed. The boy activating you was unexpected, but his fate is so tangled now, I couldn¡¯t see iting.¡±


    Once more, he felt her indifference to his fate and shuddered at how cold the crone¡¯s voice was. He was somehow¡­ less than insignificant to her. He thought he picked up a wistfulness when she spoke of Henry. Maybe he could use that.


    ¡°My fate is intertwined with Henry¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°Fool. Your fate is nothing¡­ but youcanserve onest purpose.¡±


    -=-


    Sigrid turned to Carl. ¡°Since you got what you needed from the boy-¡±


    She took a single step towards the young man taped to the chair when Carl spun and stabbed his ws deep into the boy¡¯s chest and ripped his heart from the cavity. Sigrid watched his heade up in shock and despair. He was looking directly at her when life left his remaining eye.


    Carl tossed the gore into his mouth and swallowed. He shuddered from the energy this small meal fed to his trembling muscles. Then he turned his bloody grin to Sigrid, and she almostunched an attack. She held back at thest second when Roy held up a hand before her.


    ¡°MMMmmiiinnnne,¡± Roy growled, and Sigrid looked at him in surprise. She recalled he¡¯d said it was impossible to speak in this form. Roy flicked his eyes her way briefly as he nodded to her, and she stepped back as she nodded in return. She wouldn¡¯t interfere.


    ¡°Kill the fucker,¡± Sigrid growled, and Carl snorted in amusement, obviously supremely confident of his victory.


    Everyone moved back to give the two big Weres room to maneuver. Carl¡¯s body was slightlyrger with a longer reach, but Roy¡¯s movements were smoother.


    The initial sh happened almost faster than the eye perceived. Carl surged forward while swiping his deadly ws at Roy, who was suddenly inside his reach and scoring a sh along the inside of Carl¡¯s outstretched arm. As Roy leaped past, Carl spun with inhuman speed and managed to rake the ws of his other arm across Roy¡¯s back. Both stepped back cautiously and assessed their injuries.


    Carl¡¯s arm was already healing though it wasn¡¯t functioning properly yet. Roy was healing too but not as quickly. He was at a disadvantage there.


    Sigrid frowned as she traded a look with Mary. They weren¡¯t going to let Roy die, but they couldn¡¯t interfere.


    Roy was just going to have to fight smarter¡­ or Carl dumber. She smiled. Maybe she could help with that.


    -=-


    Administrator Kenzie reviewed the video as the motion detector caught something at thene entrance leading to the containment center facility. She watched a car stop, and three people get out to look around. A short timeter, they got back in and left. It could be nothing, but it could also be something. She was willing to waste the time of an orderly, sending him outside to confirm. She paged one of the dimwits and gave him the order when he called in. He actually sounded pleased to get the opportunity to be violent. It was in their nature, after all.


    She put it out of her mind and called Dr. Leslie. They were treating each other with extra frost ever since one of their inmates disappeared. She had yet to submit the report on that event to Minister Hoek.


    ¡°What? I¡¯m busy,¡± the doctor demanded.


    ¡°With only three patients to take care of?¡± she fired back.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    There was a pause as she could hear Leslie grinding her teeth. ¡°The new one is presenting additional challenges.¡±


    Kenzie frowned. ¡°You strap him down and drug him. How much of a challenge can he be?¡±


    The doctor sucked in and swallowed her angry retort. She didn¡¯t want to disclose the man¡¯s ability to leave his body and still affect his environment, so she went in a different direction.


    ¡°His metabolism is unique. It¡¯s too sensitive to tranquilizers and sedatives, so finding a proper amount to administer has been very challenging. The order was to keep him unconscious but alive. He¡¯s fighting everything I give him.¡± She stifled a cruel grin as she thought about the delicious pain he was going through from the current treatment. How he survived and bounced back each time was an intriguing mystery, and she found that thrilling! She had so many more experiments she wanted to try on him. But first¡­


    ¡°Why did you call?¡±


    ¡°I must submit a report regarding the missing inmate. How do I exin how he vanished from a sealed cell without a trace? You were thest to see him. You sedated him. This won¡¯t look good on your record. Certainly, it¡¯s a ck mark on mine, but I wasn¡¯t the one to lock him in the room,¡± Kenzie suggested.


    Leslie ground her teeth as she was being thrown under the bus. ¡°You know very well, my bad fortune is yours,sister.¡± Leslie spat the final word as she loathed the idea of being rted to this bitch, much less being her twin.


    ¡°Then give me something I can use to protect both of us!¡± Kenzie spat back.


    Cornered, Leslie was forced to y one of her hidden cards. ¡°I-I believe it was the new arrival. He has¡­ abilities.¡±


    Kenzie was immediately suspicious. She knew her sister too well. ¡°And you¡¯re only reporting them now? What kind of abilities?¡±


    Leslie sighed. ¡°When he¡¯s drugged unconscious, his mind leaves his body. In that state, he retains the ability to manipte his environment. He was likely the cause of the disturbance in the cafeteria. I think he moved the missing patient outside.¡±


    Kenzie was silent as this would get them off the hook, but she was still suspicious about why Leslie kept it secret from her. She would have to be extra vignt around her.


    Since their early childhood, they¡¯d been plotting against each other when they were told they had a conjoined life force. They couldn¡¯t be further apart than a few hundred yards, or they¡¯d begin to mentally degrade. Together, they maintained their genius-level intellects, but apart they could slip into a vegetative state. Neither could tolerate the idea of being dependent on the other, but they were trapped. Each looked for a means to escape, but so far, it had been fruitless. Could Leslie¡¯s hesitance in reporting the abilities of their new inmate indicate she was up to something? She would have to be extra cautious, but she wouldn¡¯t let on that she knew.


    ¡°I can work with this. Don¡¯t hesitate to keep me in the loop in the future,¡± she said with her usual scorn.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Leslie said and disconnected.


    Her phone immediately chimed, so she answered. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°The sky is green.¡±


    Kenzie recognized the dull voice of the Ogre she¡¯d sent outside. ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s green?¡±


    ¡°The sky is all wiggly and green but only above,¡± it said, the effort to exin the phenomenon taxing its vocabry and its limited intellect.


    The Aurora Borealis was above the containment center? That wasn¡¯t good. It would draw attention to them, and that was something she couldn¡¯t abide. The memory of the three standing by their car shed into her mind. ¡°Check the grounds. We may have trespassers.¡±


    The phone disconnected, and she frowned at the receiver. Was he following her orders, or did the clumsy oaf just drop the phone? She called and sent the second Ogre out to assist the first.


    In the meantime, she was going to personally check on their recent arrival. The strangest phenomenon did seem to revolve around him.


    -=-


    Meixiu was perched on a tree branch watching two Silver people hiding amongst the trees behind a garage structure. She wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that. She¡¯d seen them on TV, and they¡¯d protected the ss People, so that meant they were the good guys. She¡¯d also seen a group working for the US Military, and those were people the Hidden Races needed to avoid. Humans now had people working for them that might be able to expose the Hidden Races. She couldn¡¯t take that chance.


    When the big guy suddenly walked around the side of the garage and spotted the two Silver People, he lifted a nasty looking little gun and pulled the trigger. The bullets ripped through the trees where the two had been only a second before. A small trail of kicked up leaves from the forest floor suggested the direction they¡¯d run. The thug with the gun ran after them.


    Meixiu was about to follow when her cell vibrated. She nced around to confirm she was alone, then pulled it from her inner pocket and quickly read the text from Sigrid. Morepany after Henry? Not good! She needed to get him out!


    She sent a quick reply about spotting the Silver People. She hoped Sigrid would have some advice on what to do. This situation had rapidly grown beyond her ability to deal with it.

 255

    Raymond and Eleanor heard the stato burst of an automatic weapon and froze. Almost immediately, they were nearly bowled over by a silver streak that veered around them at thest second. They fell back onto their asses on the soft forest floor. The streak returned to stop and stand before them. Eleanor stared at the two in shock as Raymond watched them cautiously.


    ¡°A big guy with a machine gun ising,¡± one of the Silver People said, gesturing over his shoulder. There was a hollowness about the voice, but it was clearly English with a hint of an ent.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Raymond said as he stood and helped Eleanor up. They heard the heavy thump of the running gunman approaching, so he gave his stunned wife a gentle pull. She nodded to him, then they tapped into their skills and faded into the darkness to slip away from the Silver people, moving off at an angle to avoid the guard as well. Their movements weren¡¯t as smooth and rapid as Meixiu¡¯s, but it sufficed to let them get away.


    Thinking of Meixiu, they hoped she¡¯d avoided the guard too.


    -=-


    Jake grabbed Brenda¡¯s hand. ¡°Did you see that?¡± he asked excitedly as he stared at the point where the couple had been standing a moment before.


    ¡°I did! How did they do that?¡± she gasped in return.


    Their sped-up perceptions picked up the sound of the big guy¡¯s approach. ¡°I think we need to do something about this fe¡¯s weapon before he hurts someone.¡± Jake picked up a rock and grinned at his wife.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Brenda said with a nod.


    -=-


    Kenzie stood next to the bed and watched the man convulsing in agony. In the bright, cold light filling the room, every stretched tendon, every bead of sweat, and every tremor was brilliantly visible to express how much pain her sister was putting the man through. She wasn¡¯t deluding herself to say she actually cared about his state. What was actually bothering her was the glee she could see in her sister¡¯s eyes. She was enjoying this! Disgusting!


    She stared across the bed to see Leslie¡¯s excited expression. ¡°There! He¡¯s beginning to purge the poison! How is he doing it?¡± the doctor gushed as her eyes shed green.


    Kenzie frowned. Her sister¡¯s eyes were blue. ¡°What color are my eyes?¡± she asked.


    Leslie didn¡¯t even look at her. ¡°Blue.¡±


    ¡°Look again.¡±


    With an annoyed frown, Leslie nced up and froze. ¡°They¡¯re green?¡±


    ¡°Something¡¯s not right,¡± the administrator said and looked around. There was too much light. She turned and walked to the doorway, where she turned off the room¡¯s light. They gasped in unison as a green light wasing through the ceiling to cover the bed. The Aurora Borealis! It was in the room! He had to be drawing it to himself!


    She walked back to stand next to the bed and watched the man¡¯s face begin to rx. He really was flushing the poison from his body. She reached out and ran her fingers through the green light. It felt¡­ refreshing. Her jaw dropped open, and she looked across the bed to tell her sister what she thought the light was, but she wasn¡¯t there.


    The de stabbed deeply into her back, almost thrusting up out of her chest. Leslie wrapped an arm around her neck to hold her in ce as the dagger began to make its presence felt.


    ¡°Are you mad?¡± she choked out in shock. ¡°You¡¯re killing yourself too!¡±


    ¡°No, sister, not with M¨¨irleach Anam feeding me your life. Soon, I¡¯ll never have to share anything with you!¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Kenzie squeaked at the name of the ancient de. Already, she could feel the lethargy filling her as the edge drank from her energy.


    ¡°He brought it to me. His mind traveled to Mab¡¯s castle. She used the de on him, but he somehow got free and returned with it in his hand. To deliver it to me,¡± Leslie gloated, her excitement growing as her sister slumped.


    Kenzie stared at the man resting peacefully atst on the bed. In the terrible lethargy, she momentarily forgot her impending doom. How was it possible for him to travel so far? His eyes¡­ they were open, and his lips moved.


    The explosion caught Leslie and Kenziepletely off-guard. The bed suddenly flew apart as each fastener and connection suddenly expanded. Metal shrapnel fired in every direction, one bolt passing through the thigh of the doctor. It was the side rail¡¯s impact that knocked both of them across the room, breaking Leslie¡¯s grip on the de handle in the tumble. Kenzie ended up leaning against the wall next to the door while Leslie was on her stomach on the floor eight feet away. M¨¨irleach Anam was on the floor between them. Kenzie wanted to leap forward, snatch up the dagger, and plunge it into the back of her sister, but she was still too weak.


    The room was getting darker as the green light faded. Her sister had attacked her from the darkness, and Kenzie wouldn¡¯t allow that to happen again.


    She stretched a hand up above her and managed to find a light switch. Pressing it produced a shower of sparks above the remains of the bed, and one light panel lit feebly. In the dim illumination, she saw the pile of scrap metal that had been the bed stir as arge horned creature sat up with a groan. The inmate had dropped his mor, and she was looking at¡­ a Satyr?


    He was pulling the tubes and wires from his body, but the monitor had been smashed beyond salvage and sounded no rms.


    Her mindtched onto that. rm. She needed to trigger the rm.


    Once more, she forced a hand up along the wall and looked up to guide her hand to the emergency rm. She tugged at it feebly until she managed to pull it all the way. A siren sounded in the distance.


    Leslie groaned and whimpered, making Kenzie look to the de in desperation.


    She gasped as she tried to move her body and realized her leg was broken. However, seeing her sister drag herself forward, she tried to get to the de first. The pain threatened to pull her consciousness away.


    When her eyes opened again, she sucked in a frightened breath. Leslie was on her feet with the de in her left hand as her right arm hung motionless.


    ¡°Time to finish the job,¡± Leslie chuckled.


    She was looking into the mad eyes of her sister when they suddenly dropped as the woman fell through the floor. Her scream came up through the tear and slowly became quieter and quieter as she fell from a great height.


    Kenzie looked to the Satyr, who was sitting on his ass, looking back at her wearily.


    She could feel it. Her keen intellect was slipping away, faster and faster. The world was shrinking for her as she stared in dismay at the creature before her.


    The tear snapped closed, severing her connection to her sister, and her eyes rolled back as she slid down the wall. Kenzie and Leslie were gone before their bodies impacted their respective resting ces.


    -=-


    Henry watched in confusion as a woman, who looked so much like the doctor, keeled over and died. Even though he¡¯d saved her from the homicidal doctor. It might have been petty, but dropping Dr. Bitch from a great height onto ava field not only eliminated her evil, but it also destroyed her remains so she wouldn¡¯t pollute Eden. The dagger was also finding a molten end, he hoped. He couldn¡¯t be sure about that, considering the magic imbued in the weapon, but he had hope.


    Opening that tear had taken almost thest of his energy. If he tried to open one for himself, he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep it open long enough to get through it. They¡¯d intentionally fed him poorly to keep him weak andpliant. His head spun with fatigue. He needed food and real sleep in that order.


    He¡¯d switched to his true form as he needed the additional strength just to remain conscious. He¡¯d deleted the program for purging the toxins when he activated his exploded view program. The bed disassembled perfectly thoughunching the spell had been a big gamble. He would have been equally dismantled if the restraints hadn¡¯t exploded into their baseponents at precisely the same time.N?velDrama.Org content.


    Henry pushed himself to his hooves and shuffled towards the door. He tried the handle, but it was locked. He lifted and pressed the woman¡¯s hand against the te next to the door, but that didn¡¯t work either. He squatted down as he contemted the door. He didn¡¯t have the energy to kick it open. He was stuck, and the rms had been triggered.


    Shit.


    -=-


    Minkah stood in the garage before the car the Administrator had arranged for her. It was a piece of junk, but she wasn¡¯t surprised as that woman was a petty piece of shit. Minkah sighed once more. She¡¯d been standing before the bloody car for minutes, her mind looking for an excuse to stay.


    She couldn¡¯t deny it any longer, though she¡¯d stubbornly tried. She needed to check on Henry. His ghostly plea for help had affected her more than she wanted to admit.


    With an angry huff, she spun and marched down the hall towards the admin wing. Passing by the containment ward, she stopped and went to the door. She was surprised to see it was unlocked. She pulled it open and stepped into the hall. She didn¡¯t know which room was Henry¡¯s, so she looked into the first room¡¯s window but saw it was empty.


    A muffled thump came from further down the hall. She held still and listened. When the rm began, she ran out of the containment wing, but its door didn¡¯t automatically close, sealing her in. Cautiously, she went back into the hall and saw a red light shing above a door. She walked to it and looked in the window. The lighting was very dim, but the room looked like a wreck. The bed was a pile of smashed junk in the middle of the room, and arge creature was crouched closer to the door. It was broad-shouldered and hadrge ram horns. Its head hung forward in exhaustion. As if sensing her gaze, the head slowly lifted, and she was looking at Henry.


    He locked eyes with her for a moment, then recognition came to his expression. His eyes dropped, and he slumped in defeat. That stung more than she expected it would. She opened his door but cautiously remained in the hall.


    ¡°Are you here to kill me?¡± he asked wearily.


    ¡°No. I was just hired to bring you here,¡± she replied. Then she spotted the leg of the administrator. She pulled her gun and held it on him. ¡°You killed Administrator Kenzie?¡±


    He gazed wearily at her gun, then up into her eyes again. ¡°No¡­ I thought I was saving her from the mad doctor who was trying to stab her. But she died anyway.¡±


    Minkah¡¯s eyes scanned what she could see from the hall but saw no sign of the doctor. ¡°Is the doctor¡¯s body in there too?¡±

 256

    He frowned at her. ¡°Not anymore. Are you going to kill me now?¡±


    Minkah didn¡¯t know what she was going to do. ¡°What do you mean, not anymore?¡±


    ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t have the strength to exin. I have nothing left. If I don¡¯t get something to eat, I¡¯m gonna pass out. If you¡¯re going to shoot me, go ahead. Otherwise, can you show me where I can get some food?¡± Henry asked weakly.


    With a frustrated scowl, Minkah gestured for him to step out into the hall. With a moan, he stood and swayed. It looked like he was struggling to stay on his feet as he reached the doorway.


    Henry paused as he looked at the next two room numbers. The people locked in rooms four and five deserved their freedom as well. Free from the unending pain and sadness. He looked to his current jailor. ¡°My name is Henry.¡±


    She gave him a cautious look. ¡°Minkah.¡±


    He nodded, then gestured to the two doors. ¡°Minkah, these two deserve to be free.¡± When he saw her getting upset, he shook his head. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean they shoulde with us. It¡¯s toote for them. Their minds are gone.¡± She gave him a skeptical look, and he sighed.


    ¡°The doctor drugged me, and my mind left my body and went visiting. All rooms on that side of the hall are empty, and only the first six on this side had people in them. The doctor killed the first two rooms¡¯ upants with a cursed dagger, just as an experiment. DJ, a Djinn Baba Yaga brought from the past, was in room three, but I got him out.¡± He gestured to room five. ¡°This one is trapped in a state of unending agony.¡± Then he pointed to four. ¡°There¡¯s a Human woman there who¡¯s stuck in a cycle of intense despair. She¡¯s desperate to join her family on the other side.¡± He looked to Minkah. ¡°I¡¯m going to assume you¡¯re a trained assassin. Could you give them some mercy? I don¡¯t know who will take over running this ce, but I can¡¯t risk them continuing to torture these people like this.¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± he said firmly, as he braced himself against the wall.


    She held his eye and realized he waspletely serious. He looked like he might fall down at any second, but he¡¯d spend his limited energy on mercy killing these two. She found herself nodding, so he opened the doors and held their hands as Minkah performed the coup de grace on the two.


    She led him out of the containment ward and down the hall to the cafeteria. He moved slowly and leaned against the wall all the way. By the time they reached therge room, his eyes weren¡¯t tracking so well, and he needed to pause a few times before he made it to a table.


    ¡°Stay here. I¡¯ll see what¡¯s avable,¡± Minkah said, and he just nodded.


    She raided the fridge and found a full box of day-old powdered donuts. She brought them back to the table and flipped open the package before him.


    Henry focused on the food before him and began to mechanically lift the stale donuts to his mouth. He barely chewed as he swallowed one after another.


    She brought him a fewrge bottles of some no-name c. Once he polished off the box of donuts, he drank the three cs. Letting out a mighty burp, he apologized then smiled gratefully to her.


    ¡°That was truly awful, but the sugar and caffeine should keep me on my feet for a short time. Thank you,¡± Henry said quietly. She gave him a quick nod. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± he asked.


    She frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You work for the Council. This is their prison, and I was one of their prisoners because you drugged me and brought me here.¡± He paused as he looked at her calmly, then continued. ¡°I need to get back to my friends as they¡¯re probably worried and doing daring things to rescue me. I don¡¯t want them to get into trouble or be in danger.¡± He frowned as his re-energized brain suddenly remembered a more significant threat. ¡°Shit! Mab! She¡¯s preparing another major extermination spell! She¡¯s going after the Fae first. She¡¯s going to kill them, then she¡¯s going after everyone else. She¡¯spletely unhinged, and now she¡¯s powered by much stronger magic!¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?¡± Minkah asked.


    ¡°When I first got here, and they drugged me, I went to visit Mab when I felt her fucking around with the Wild Magic. I found her castle, and she attacked me. She told me she was almost ready tounch her killer spell. I¡¯ve been here too long. I need to stop her,¡± he said a little shakily.


    ¡°Why you?¡± Minkah asked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Why does it have to be you?¡± she asked.


    Henry slowly blinked as he felt the food begin to feed energy back into his body. He sighed. ¡°Here is where I need to ask you to take a leap of faith that what I¡¯m about to tell you ispletely true. We don¡¯t have time for messing about with long-winded exnations. Mab and I are linked to the same dimension of Wild Magic. At her party in New York, where she grabbed all those Human celebrities, she tricked me into helping her create a baby, a daughter, and Mab switched bodies with her. Then she aged our daughter¡¯s body to its teen years. For endangering the Fae and breaking her deal with me, she was dethroned, and she wants revenge for that and for how we destroyed her original ns. Basically, she wants to kill us and everyone else. I don¡¯t know how she¡¯s going to do it, but it involves the Wild Magic. I felt her experiments. I have to stop her.¡±


    Minkah watched Henry¡¯s eyes and knew he believed every word he was saying. The Minister of Security likely had no idea of what Mab was up to. She decided she was going to take that leap Henry mentioned, but she had a condition.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you, but you must never leave my side. You must give me your word that you¡¯ll remain in my custody while we do this. Afterward, we speak with the Hidden Races Council directly to present your case,¡± she said firmly.


    Henry blinked at her. ¡°Ah, okay. That works for me. I give my word, as long as my friends are not hurt or persecuted by the council for anything they might do to protect me.¡±


    ¡°I can only promise that I won¡¯t take any action against them,¡± Minkah insisted.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Fine. I can feel the junk food picking me up, but this won¡¯tst. Can we go? Oh! What about the ogres, I mean orderlies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with them,¡± she pulled Henry to his hooves. ¡°You might want to change back into your mor.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°Right.¡± He was suddenly Human again but wobbled on his sneaker covered feet. A white t-shirt and jeanspleted his default mor. Minkah nodded as she liked what she saw as she braced his body against hers. She pushed that thought aside as he stabilized and took deep breaths. ¡°I¡¯ll be okay. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They made their way to the garage, where Henry looked in dismay at the piece of junk supact they¡¯d be driving back to the city. ¡°Is this safe to drive on the highway?¡± he asked, worried about pieces falling off, like a wheel.


    ¡°They got it here, so I assume it¡¯s roadworthy,¡± she sighed.


    ¡°Maybe they brought it here on one of those tbed tow trucks,¡± he suggested.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she replied shortly.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    With a worried nce at her, he moved to the passenger door, but it was locked. Minkah opened her door, sat behind the wheel, and reached over to unlock the door. Henry pulled on the handle again with no luck. Minkah used the handle on the inside to open it.


    Henry didn¡¯t voice his concerns again as he could see the anger in Minkah¡¯s lovely eyes.


    ¡°She¡¯s dead, yes?¡±


    It took a second for Henry to respond as he connected the dots to the administrator, but he got it. ¡°Y-yes.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Minkah sighed as she started the engine with the key left in the ignition switch.


    The tiny engine started and sounded smooth enough, though the car vibrated oddly. Henry popped the glove box and pulled out a manual for the vehicle. He scanned the first few pages. ¡°It¡¯s a 1984 Chevy Sprint. It¡¯s only got three cylinders!¡±


    ¡°Put that away,¡± Minkah snapped as she noted the gas gauge indicated less than a quarter tank. She assumed that was enough to get them to the gas station near the interstate entrance.


    She drove them into the elevator, and her hope that it was automatic was answered when the tform began to rise. When it stopped, they heard the sharp burst of an automatic weapon being fired. Henry¡¯s eyes widened as the garage door opened on a chaotic scene. The big orderlies were before the door facing someone to the right. One of the brutes struggled to hold his machine gun with broken hands. After firing a final burst, they threw down the spent weapons and dropped their mors to rush forward into a fight between Weres and Silver People. There had to be a little more than a dozen of each though it was hard to count the Silver People as they moved so damn quick. The Weres were trying to fight them and asionally managed to get in a lucky hit or two, but they only knocked them off their feet momentarily.


    The Were¡¯s fighting was wild and undisciplined, so Henry assumed they couldn¡¯t have been Roy¡¯s men.


    When the ogres entered the fray, it got even messier. One of the Weres was grabbed and ripped in two, sshing blood and gore across the two Ogres. This just sent them into a crazed frenzy.


    Minkah edged the small car out of the garage, but the engine caught a dozen bullets and immediately died.


    ¡°Get out and go to the back of the garage. Find a safe ce to hide. I have to take out the shooters,¡± Minkah said.


    She saw him exit and slipped out her door. She rushed to the edge of the door and peeked out. The shooters had to be on the edge of the forest. She holstered her guns. She¡¯d need to switch to get out of the garage.


    ncing back, she saw Henry tucking himself against the back wall. She smiled.


    Good boy.


    -=-


    Henry scrambled to get out and stayed low as he rushed back to lean against the wood boards of the outer wall. He made himself as small as he could. He looked to the open garage doors and caught the blur of a ck cat running outside and disappearing.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    His head whipped around to stare at the wall. ¡°Meixiu?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here! Are you injured? We saw the green light,¡± she cried through the wall.


    Henry held back his sob of relief as his friends were here. Then he was immediately worried about them. ¡°You need to get out of here! I don¡¯t think these are Roy¡¯s pack, I don¡¯t know who these Silver People are, and there are two insane Ogres as well.¡±


    ¡°Step back from the wall,¡± she called out.

 257

    He frowned but did as he instructed but didn¡¯t move far enough back as the shattering boards crashed into him, knocking him down. He just managed to keep from passing out. When he opened his eyes again, he looked up into distorted reflections of himself as two silver people gazed down at him in worry.


    ¡°So sorry about that, fe,¡± one said.


    ¡°Yeah, we got a little too eager to get through the wall,¡± the other said.


    ¡°Henry!¡± Meixiu cried and pushed between the two to jump on him and kiss his lips.


    ¡°MMmmph!¡± he eximed. When she pulled back, he looked at the two Silver People in embarrassment. They just grinned back at him.


    ¡°We need to leave. These Weres are from Carl de Bellisle¡¯s pack. They¡¯re here to kidnap you again,¡± Meixiu said. ¡°Roy is fighting their leader now.¡± She pulled her cell and quickly sent Sigrid an update. The Silver People helped him up to his feet, but they continued to hold his arms. He looked at them cautiously, so they released him reluctantly.


    ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t know why, but we¡¯re picking up a charge from you. Just being next to you is giving us energy! Oh, I¡¯m Sam, and this is Jake,¡± Sam said with a grin.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Henry,¡± he said awkwardly. He had no idea what would be safe to say to these guys. ¡°We should probably go.¡± Then he recalled his promise. ¡°Shit! I can¡¯t leave without Minkah!¡±


    Meixiu frowned at him. ¡°Who¡¯s Minkah?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the one who brought me here and got me out of my cell. She¡¯s going to help, but I need to stay in her custody. I promised.¡±


    ¡°Custody?¡± Jake asked.


    ¡°Long story, and we have no time. Let¡¯s get out of the garage, but we can¡¯t leave the property without Minkah.


    They mbered out the hole in the back of the garage where two other Silver People were watching for danger. They immediately turned to stare at Henry when he stood before them. He could see they were female.


    ¡°This is my wife Jeannie,¡± Sam said in introduction. The smaller of the two did a strange little curtsey and burst into giggles.


    ¡°And this lovely thing is my wife Brenda,¡± Jake said.


    Henry smiled at the four. ¡°Why do I feel a group hug is in order?¡±


    Jeannie was the first to take up the offer, and Brenda was close behind. With Jake and Sam at his back, he was entirely encircled by Silver People.


    ¡°That was nice,¡± Henry said, suggesting it should end. Sam pulled away first, then Jake. They had to gently peel theirdies from Henry¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Why do I feel so energized?¡± Jeannie said dreamily.


    ¡°He feels like fresh lightning!¡± Brenda agreed.


    Henry twitched as he recalled his experience with the storm in Washington. His eyes became a little haunted. Sam was watching his face, and it clicked as he recalled speaking to the glowing man. Henry matched his size and shape. ¡°Oh my god! You¡¯re the lightnin¡¯ man! From Washington, DC!¡±


    Jake¡¯s eyes widened as well. ¡°Well, shit! That makes sense, don¡¯t it!¡±


    ¡°I-I can¡¯t talk about that right now,¡± Henry gasped as his mind rebelled against dredging those memories up again.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry!¡± Sam said, seeing the panic beginning to appear on Henry¡¯s face. They watched Henry get control of his breathing as Meixiu leaned against his arm to give himfort.


    ¡°I will find my friends and bring them here,¡± the Vampire said softly. Henry nodded, and she faded into the surrounding darkness once more.


    Henry looked around the dark forest and realized he had no idea where he was or how to get home. The four Silver People were standing close with smiles on their faces, and he began to feel awkward as he couldn¡¯t really say anything without jeopardizing the Big Secret.


    Meixiu was immediately next to him and clutched his hand. ¡°Raymond is hurt! I need you toe with me!¡± She tugged his hand, and he moved. He got the impression they were being nked by the four Silver People, but he could only keep his head down at Meixiu¡¯s level to avoid branches to the face and watch for trip hazards as she quickly drew him through the woods.


    They entered a small clearing, and arge but injured man was resting back against the tree with a shorter woman watching him with a desperate expression. The man was pressing his hand over his side, and Henry smelled blood.


    ¡°Henry, this is Raymond and Eleanor. You must help her heal him!¡± Meixiu pleaded.


    He looked at her in surprise. ¡°I¡¯m not a healer! I¡¯m also exhausted. They starved me in that madhouse!¡±


    ¡°We can get you food!¡± Sam blurted suddenly. He grabbed Jake¡¯s hand, and that man nodded. ¡°Yeah, we can do that. There are houses just down the road. They¡¯ll have fridges with leftovers.¡±


    Henry snorted in surprise.


    ¡°Eleanor, give them some money to leave for the food,¡± he said with a weak smile.


    Giving her husband an annoyed look, she pulled some cash from her pocket and thrust it at Sam. He took it, and Jake zipped away after him.


    Henry knelt down next to Raymond and looked to Eleanor. ¡°I¡¯m not a doctor. I¡¯m a CIO for an investment house. I buildputerworks and writeputer software.¡±


    ¡°We avoided the battle, but a stray bullet caught Raymond, and I think it nicked an artery. I¡¯m a surgeon. I need to operate on him, but I have no instruments or an operating room,¡± Eleanor said nervously.


    ¡°I wish Dayshia and Mahati were here. They operated on me when I had ss fragments in my back. Dayshia used the light of the healing spell to make the instruments she needed,¡± Henry sighed.


    Eleanor¡¯s eyes almost glowed with excitement as she imagined working with such tools.


    Sam and Jake were suddenly back, thetter smelling like soup. His wife struggled to suppress herughter at his look of difort. ¡°Hey! It isn¡¯t easy running with liquids!¡± he said with a pout.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    He handed Henry a reusable stic container half full of chicken noodle soup. He thanked him and drank right from the container, gulping down the noodles without chewing. He set it aside and burped again.


    ¡°Excuse me, and thank you. Could someone go back to the garage to see if Minkah is there looking for me?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Sure, what does she look like?¡± Brenda replied.


    ¡°Either a tall brte woman or a ck cat. One blue eye and one yellow eye is the way to identify her,¡± he said hesitantly. The Silver People shared looks, and Brenda rushed away.


    Sam handed Henry a te of fried chicken. epting it, he turned his back and scarfed down the food as quickly as he could without choking. By the sixth piece, he felt his stomachin, so he stopped.


    He looked back and saw everyone watching him. ¡°Sorry. That¡¯s good. Thank you.¡±


    Henry had eaten his fill, and now his abused body wanted him to sleep, but he couldn¡¯t yet. He listened to the continuing fight and gave the others a worried look. ¡°When I pull the healing magic, it¡¯s gonna light up this area and draw everyone¡¯s attention. We¡¯re still too close to the battle.¡±


    ¡°You are fortunate I don¡¯t shoot you myself!¡±


    Henry turned to see Minkah stepping through the trees with Brenda behind her. Neither looked happy.


    ¡°You were supposed to wait for me in the garage!¡± she snapped.


    ¡°My apologies. I wasn¡¯t going to leave without you, but Meixiu¡¯s friend needs help right now.¡± He gestured to Raymond, who didn¡¯t look good. He turned to Eleanor. ¡°He needs blood. Can you take a little from me and feed it to him?¡±


    She looked at him strangely. ¡°I have no instruments-¡±


    ¡°He means with your mouth,¡± Meixiu exined gently.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Eleanor eximed. She was surprised by someone offering to feed her.


    ¡°Take a small amount and feed it to Raymond quickly or you may lose consciousness, and you are needed to operate,¡± Meixiu continued but saw the doubt on Eleanor¡¯s face. ¡°I will do it.¡±


    Henry lifted his wrist, and Meixiu took only a small amount and licked the wounds. She quickly bent down and fed most of the blood into Raymond¡¯s mouth. Then she seized the back of Eleanor¡¯s neck and fed thest drops into the squeaking woman¡¯s mouth.


    The three Vampires trembled as the magic-infused blood sent energy through their bodies. Meixiu recovered first. She felt her cell phone vibrate and stepped away to find a safe ce to check it.


    Shaking off the buzz, Eleanor looked to Henry hungrily then controlled her expression. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    He just nodded and looked to Minkah. ¡°When I light this ce up, can you defend us?¡±


    Minkah nodded. ¡°They are very upied at the moment but do it quickly.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll help!¡± Sam said, and the other three nodded.


    Henry looked at Eleanor. ¡°I¡¯m going to pull the healing magic down, and I¡¯ll give it to you. You need to use your willpower to create the tools you need. Okay?¡±


    She nodded with wide eyes.


    Henry reached for his daughter and felt resistance for the first time. Was someone blocking him? It had to be Baba as she was the only one close to his daughter. He couldn¡¯t fight her, but he didn¡¯t need to. He pushed his love through his connection, and Baba pulled away until he felt the child respond. Her love returned, as did his link to her. He could no longer detect Baba, so he reached for the Fae¡¯s healing magic.


    He felt another presence. Someone was trying to manipte the healing spell! The moment he felt her poisonous intent, he knew it was Mab and knew she was aware of him. He had to stop her from using the spell as a weapon. He needed to defend it!


    The first thing that came to mind was his firewall code. He immediately pulled up the code in his mind, shaping it into a package, authorized to his biosignature alone, powered by the Wild Magic, and driven by his will. He bound this to the Fae¡¯s spell to make it tamper-proof. He didn¡¯t know what damaged she¡¯d already done. The Wild Magic picked up his changes, and he felt them sink inside. He could only hope for the best.

 258

    A shriek of pure rage shot through their connection, and Henry took that as a good sign.


    ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!¡± Mab¡¯s voice thundered through the link, and those gathered around Henry leaned away from the intense hatred as her voice shook the ground around him. ¡°I wasn¡¯t finished!¡±


    Henry felt the corruption dripping from the spell she held ready to add to the Global Ovey Spell. It was a far more aggressive and destructive variant of the Fae Wasting Disease the field was designed to protect against! She was going to invert the protection spell to inflict the very disease it was curing. Only this time, the wasting spell would take days to kill its victims, not centuries. It radiated its murderous intent as she tried to force it through the link, but Henryunched another rapidly bound spell of his own at it. Ripped from her mental grip, the malignant spell was quarantined, then rapidly disassembled into harmless base elements and scattered by the current in the Wild Magic.


    ¡°NO! NO! NO! You insolent cretin! Who gave you the right to interfere with my divine vengeance!¡± Mab spat. ¡°You arenothing! I¡¯m Queen of all Fae-¡±


    Henry¡¯s rage against the creature who¡¯d stolen his daughter¡¯s body threatened to ignite. ¡°Not anymore! Now you¡¯re just Mad Mab!¡± He readied his antivirus spell once more, wondering how it might be used directly against her, but she shrieked in pure fury and vanished.


    Shaking with unspent adrenaline, Henry reached for the healing spell and pulled it gently towards him. However, this time, instead of wispy sheets of mist, an intense green light came crashing down on the clearing like a waterfall. The sky filled with more and more green light falling in beams from above.


    The current in the Wild Magic was so much stronger now. The green light flooded the clearing and spread out in all directions, linking up with other light falls. Henry and Meixiu, who was returning to them, were the only ones who felt the full pressure of the flow. For the others, it was just light acting like a liquid, which was amazing enough to dazzle them. The Silver People felt their energy increase as the light flowed around them.


    As he was standing directly under a torrent, Henry felt his grip slipping on the ground. He was at risk of being swept tumbling away. His strength hadn¡¯t been replenished yet, so, in desperation, he dropped his mor. His strength surged and he dug his hooves into the forest floor.


    Raymond and Eleanor gasped as they looked up at the horned creature standing where Henry had just been.


    The four silver people gawked at him in shock, and Minkah looked concerned.


    Henry nced at them and shrugged. ¡°Sorry, I needed the extra strength of my true form.¡± He felt his connection to his daughter, and the healing spell was firmly linked to him, so he faced Eleanor. ¡°Let¡¯s heal him now,¡± Henry suggested.


    Eleanor just nodded and turned to her husband, who continued to stare at the Satyr. She felt big handsnd on her shoulders and she sucked in a breath as the weight of potential settled upon her. She suddenly felt like she had the power to do¡­ anything. She looked down at the bullet wound, then looked closer and closer as her vision revealed new levels of detail she¡¯d never seen before. She reached for forceps and felt them in her hand. She reached into the wound and felt the forceps capture the edge of the slug. The sensations traveled through the instrument even though it was made of light. She gently tugged the bullet back out along the channel it made on the way in.


    Once she had it out, she dropped it to the forest floor and released the forceps, watching the light simply fade away. She began to search for the bleeder. The nick was small, but blood was trickling out with each beat of his heart. She looked closer still at the artery and made micro sutures with the green light to close the tear, then ran a line of green light along the torn edge like glue to reinforce it. As she backed her vision out of the wound, she repaired the damage she could. She finally blinked her eyes back to normal and leaned back. She felt Henry pull his hands away and the sudden loss of the power he was feeding her made her sway slightly.


    Sitting back on her heels, she gazed down at her husband, who was looking more rxed. ¡°Are you done?¡± he asked in surprise.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said with a smile. She turned her face to Henry, who was rocking on his hooves. He didn¡¯t look so good. ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°So tired,¡± he sighed.


    The sound of fighting was quickly getting closer.


    ¡°They saw us. We have to go! Do you have a car?¡± Minkah said tersely.


    Eleanor helped Raymond to his feet. He nodded to her. ¡°This way,¡± she said. They moved quickly through the woods, stealth no longer their priority.


    Short secondster, they came to a fence, and the four Silver People tore through it, leaving a gap for the rest to get through easily. A short distance up the road, they reached the car. Henry switched back to his mor and leaned against the side of the car panting.


    Meixiu moved to his side. ¡°I got a text from Sigrid. Roy is not doing so well against Carl. The man drank so much of your blood and is stronger. He is hurting Roy badly.¡±


    Fear shot through Henry at the thought of losing Roy, his surrogate dad. It was too much. His strength failed him, his mor reactivated, and he barely registered Meixiu pushing him into the middle of the back seat before his eyes rolled back.


    -=-


    Meixiu hopped in and pulled the door closed, and put her window down as Minkah got in behind the wheel. Eleanor tucked Raymond in on the front passenger side and got in the back seat behind her husband.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Minkah asked.


    ¡°Go to VRL in Manhattan,¡± Meixiu said as she nodded to Sam to make sure he¡¯d heard. Sam smiled as he nodded, and the four Silver People raced away. Meixiu put her window up and lifted Henry¡¯s eyelid. His pupils were tiny, so he¡¯d left his body again. She knew she could pull him back, but she also knew he needed to be where he was going now.


    ¡°Say goodbye to Roy for me too, Henry,¡± she said quietly.


    Sigrid¡¯s idea of sniping insults from the sidelines to enrage Carl was partially sessful. He did lose his temper, and his fighting did get sloppy, but even with Roy¡¯s devastating surgical strikes against the brute, his endurance and healing speed were superior to Roy¡¯s.


    Worse, when Carl did manage tond one of his blows, it did more damage than was being inflicted upon him.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Roy was slowly losing this fight. She¡¯d sent a note to Meixiu after she received one saying they had Henry. She wanted to prepare them for what might happen.


    She looked at Carl and he didn¡¯t look that good either. The bastard thought he¡¯d crush Roy quickly, but they¡¯d been fighting for some time now. Each taking time to heal after attacks as they warily watched the other, gauging the time to strike again. They¡¯d justpleted a pass, and Roy was looking shaken as Carl had seized the legs of le Br¨¨re and used him as a medieval il against Roy. He killed his own man trying to bludgeon Roy to death. It was just another example of how little he cared for his pack.


    Sigrid watched Mary walk up to Roy and say something.


    Seeing his opponent was distracted, Carl surged forward.


    When Roy grabbed Mary¡¯s legs and swung her into the side of Carl¡¯s head, the brute did aplete cartwheel, feet leaving the ground as Mary¡¯s double fist hammer punch cracked his jaw. Carl tumbled and scrambled back, stunned as his confidence took another blow as well.


    Roy released Mary¡¯s legs, and the woman sat up slowly. Apparently, being swung like a club affects the inner ear badly. She wobbled off the floor over to Sigrid¡¯s side.


    ¡°Nice try,¡± Sigrid whispered.


    ¡°Shut it. I¡¯m trying not to hurl.¡±


    Sigrid looked back to Roy and froze. Something was seriously wrong. ¡°What-what¡¯s he doing?¡±


    -=-


    Michelle Beaumont stood at the window of her condo and stared in shock and dismay at the green light surrounding her building.


    She¡¯d been fretting about losing her job and putting Dayshia¡¯s new home at risk.


    When the green light fell, she thought it was lovely, at first.


    Then she saw someone from her building on the sidewalk below walking home. When the light washed over them, their mor immediately dissolved. They were caught out in the open in their true shape.


    This was a personal nightmare for Michelle, and it wasing true! She cried out, but there was nothing she could do as the being lifted their briefcase to hide their face as they ran the rest of the way home.


    Michelle stared at the green light surrounding her and saw it went on as far as the eye could see. She¡¯d never be able to leave the building, but then, she had nowhere to go, now.


    -=-


    Sam and his friends stopped a short distance from the road and held hands.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Jeannie asked.


    Jake shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re definitely going down the rabbit hole now!¡±


    Sam nodded. ¡°People who can disappear into shadows, turn into big goat people-¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Satyr,¡± Jake rified, and Sam grinned at his encyclopedic friend before continuing.


    ¡°ss People, Silver People, furry werewolf people, and two big guys with tusks. Not your typical crowd at the Nascar track.¡±


    Brenda spoke up. ¡°Those people back there seemed like they knew what was going on. I think we should stick with them. The pretty Chinese girl invited us.¡±


    Jeannie nodded, as did Jake. Sam smiled at them as he agreed as well. ¡°Okay, we stick with them. The next question is, do we tell our new army buddies about them?¡±


    Jake frowned. ¡°They disguise themselves as human, and I think I can figure out why. How about we just tell them army boys to meet us in Time Square, Manhattan? That way, if something goes sour, we can get their help quickly?¡±


    Sam smiled and nodded. ¡°You go catch up with our new friends while I drop that hint to the Army.¡±


    They sped away, and Sam got closer to the fighting. He wanted no part of that. He spotted the Sergeant and rushed up to her side. She nced at him.


    ¡°Where have you been?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Watching unbelievable stuff. Listen, when you¡¯re done here, meet us in Time Square,¡± Sam said with a nod towards the battle which seemed to be winding down.


    ¡°Time Square? Why there? What¡¯s going on?¡± Mick turned to ask, but Sam was gone.


    She growled to herself. This night just got crazier and crazier.

 259

    Roy hade to the grim realization that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to oust Carl. The bastard¡¯s energy reserves were too great, and Roy was running on empty.


    He¡¯d underestimated the impact of Carl¡¯s Wild Magic evolution.


    Sigrid¡¯s pissing Carl off had helped, and Roy had scored a killing blow, but Carl¡¯s mind had slipped into a feral state and continued to fight.


    There would be two dead alphas on the cold cement floor tonight.


    ¡°Roy!¡±


    He flicked his eyes over to Sigrid and Mary. They were both watching him with dread in their eyes. They knew he was done.


    ¡°Roy!¡±


    He frowned. It wasn¡¯t thedies calling him. He felt a sudden warmth against his chest, and it wrapped around his back. Was he being hugged? He recognized this feeling and stood up straight. ¡°Henry?¡±


    His fatigue was fading as Henry¡¯s warmth sank into his body. Roy wrapped his arms around himself, hugging Henry in return.


    ¡°I may consider you my old man, but that doesn¡¯t make you old. Stop acting like it! Finish this! I need your help. Mab¡¯s back and the sky¡¯s falling,¡± Henry growled and dumped his energy into Roy, who tasted¡­ stale donuts and c?


    -=-


    Sigrid watched Roy stand up straight and say something quietly as if speaking to someone. He wrapped his arms around himself and smiled with his eyes closed. His red fur began to floof up, making him look like a big fluffy puppy.


    That looked so adorable, she almost missed seeing Carlunch himself at Roy. He was definitely slower than he¡¯d been during the fight, but Roy wasn¡¯t reacting this time. She had no time to call out a warning.


    Just before Carl¡¯s outstretched ws reached the throat he wanted so badly to rip open, Roy dropped below the grasp. Then he immediately exploded upwards, driving the ws of both hands through the underside of Carl¡¯s jaw, up through his skull, deep into his brain. Carried by Carl¡¯s mass and trajectory, the two crashed to the floor, but Roy twisted mid-flight to ensure he would be on top. Looking into Carl¡¯s terrified eyes, Roy clenched his fists, shredding his brain. The monstrously sized alpha twitched violently, made an odd gasping sound, then went still.


    Roy pulled his hands free, stood next to the body, and shook the gore off his ws onto Carl¡¯s corpse. It began to copse in on itself, shrinking back into his Human form.


    Sigrid stared in shock as Roy howled his victory. The vast empty chamber reverberated with the sound and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. The two muscr goons stared at Roy in awe and immediately exposed their throats in submission. He stared at them until they began whimpering, then he switched to his Human form.


    ¡°Return to your homes. I¡¯ll being to make assessments in the next few days-best civil behavior. If I hear you¡¯ve been fighting, both sides die. Pass that message along to the pack,¡± he snapped.


    They nodded and rushed from the building.


    Roy waited until he sensed they were alone, then he dropped to his knees. Sigrid and Mary rushed forward. He sat back on his heels and took some deep breaths as his wounds slowly closed. Mary was rapidly speaking into her mic, alerting the team of Roy¡¯s victory.


    ¡°What happened? I thought you¡¯d taken him out much earlier,¡± Sigrid eximed.


    Roy shook his head. ¡°I did. I scored a mortal wound about eight minutes ago. He was bleeding internally, but he wouldn¡¯t acknowledge it. He¡¯d gone feral by that point. I could do nothing but wait him out, but I had nothing left, and he just kept attacking. We would have both been dead after this fight.¡±


    Mary grabbed his shoulder. ¡°What was that little thing you did at the end there? Looked like you were praying, and suddenly you¡¯re all Bruce Lee, Fist of Fury!¡±


    Roy chuckled, and his smile spread across his face. ¡°Henry visited me.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Sigrid and Mary eximed.


    ¡°It was a mind walkabout thing? He fed me a shitload of energy. Tasted odd, but it worked for onest burst.¡± His smile faded. ¡°He said something about Mab making the sky fall?¡± He looked down at Carl, and thedies helped him to his feet.


    ¡°We¡¯ll call in the clean-up team,¡± Sigrid said as they walked back to the front entrance. The moment they stepped outside, they froze. It was like the Aurora Borealis had melted and was falling from the sky to rush around at ground level like a raging river. They crossed the lot quickly to get into their SUV, and a nearby curl of the green light swung wide and passed through them. They all picked up the pressure sensation and had to lean into the current to stay on course for the truck. Mary insisted on driving as Roy was still weak from his healing injuries. They climbed in and quickly closed the doors. Looking out the windows, they could see the green light falling here and there from the sky like waterfalls.


    ¡°This is going to cause one hell of a panic! We need a master strategy meeting back at VRL!¡± Roy said. ¡°Call Mahati and let her know this is Mab¡¯s doing, and she should call Ms. Hoek-¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s cell vibrated from an iing call. She answered as it was Meixiu.


    ¡°Are you safe?¡± Sigrid asked immediately.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re driving back to the city. Henry is unconscious. I think he went to say goodbye to Roy,¡± Meixiu answered sadly.


    ¡°Roy tells us he did visit him, but not to say goodbye-¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Roy barked indignantly, and Sigrid waved him to silence with a small smile. She continued.


    ¡°Henry gave him enough energy to finish the fight. He also told him that Mab was making the sky fall.¡±


    Meixiu made a surprised squeak. ¡°Is that what¡¯s happening with the green light? We saw it pouring down like it¡¯s never done before. Mab did this? Is it affecting anyone badly? It didn¡¯t hurt us!¡±


    Sigrid was looking out the window, and the sky did seem to be falling in green waterfalls, thousands and thousands of them in all directions. She looked back at the docks and was surprised to see it wasn¡¯t falling over the water, only onnd. A little further out, it appeared to bending on a ship. Was it hydrophobic?


    ¡°We¡¯re in a pretty empty area. Not too many people down here, but it didn¡¯t hurt us,¡± she said.


    ¡°We¡¯re going back to VRL, and the woman who kidnapped Henry is driving us. He insisted he had to stay with her as he was in her custody,¡± Meixiu exined, and Sigrid picked up the woman¡¯s unease about that.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Get back as quickly and safely as possible. We¡¯re going to VRL too. Park in the basement and text me when you arrive. I¡¯ll let you in,¡± Sigrid exined. ¡°How is Henry now?¡±


    ¡°One moment,¡± Meixiu said.


    Sigrid listened and heard Meixiu speaking to Henry,manding him to return. When she came back on the phone, she was upset.


    ¡°He¡¯s not returning! He always did before!¡± she cried.


    Sigrid frowned with worry. ¡°He¡¯s still breathing?¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Meixiu said nervously.


    Sigrid heard Eleanor¡¯s voice. ¡°He¡¯s overextended himself. He was exhausted after he helped me operate on Raymond. We could go to a hospital and get him a glucose and sodium chloride infusion.¡±


    ¡°Meixiu, let her know I¡¯ll have one ready for Henry when you arrive,¡± Sigrid said.


    ¡°Thank you, Sigrid,¡± Meixiu said softly.


    ¡°Be safe,¡± Sigrid replied and hung up.


    She immediately dialed up Mahati, who picked up on the first ring.


    ¡°Sigrid! Do you know what¡¯s happening outside?¡± Mahati blurted.


    ¡°Henry says it¡¯s Mab. She¡¯s done something to the Fae healing spell,¡± the Valkyrie exined.


    ¡°Is it dangerous?¡± thewyer asked.


    Sigrid contemted that question. ¡°Well, it¡¯s heavilyden with Wild Magic. If you get caught in the middle of it, I assume it wouldn¡¯t behave well with your magic. It might even affect your m-¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s eyes widened as she froze in shock. ¡°Oh my god! What if that¡¯s what Mab intended. She strips away everyone¡¯s mors and exposes all of the Hidden Races!¡±


    ¡°Aye, that sounds exactly like something she¡¯d do,¡± Roy growled.


    ¡°Wild Magic affects humans too.¡± Mary reminded them, and they looked to her in worry.


    ¡°Mahati! Stay inside!¡± Sigrid said urgently to her. ¡°Call the Minister of Security and let her know Mab may have triggered something disastrous. Tell her Henry is no longer at the containment facility but remains in the custody of her pet assassin.¡±


    ¡°Kali¡¯s out there,¡± Mahati gasped.


    ¡°Call her. Warn her,¡± Sigrid said and heard the line disconnect. She immediately called Cam.


    ¡°Sigrid! How¡¯s Roy?¡± her friend eximed immediately.


    A smile bloomed on the blonde¡¯s face hearing her concern for Roy. She nced at Roy as he had to have heard that cry. From his pleased smile, he had. ¡°He¡¯s a little worse for wear, but he won. But that¡¯s not our biggest concern at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Roy eximed in protest again, but Sigrid ignored him.


    ¡°Mab messed with the Fae¡¯s healing spell. It¡¯s falling to the ground, and it¡¯s overloaded with Wild Magic,¡± she pointed out.


    ¡°What? Wait a minute!¡± There was the sound of drapes being pulled open. Sigrid heard the sound of two voices gasping. She recalled that Lorelei was staying at her ce.


    ¡°Oh my god! That could burn out mors!¡± the Subus gasped, then her voice became more strained. ¡°It affects Human¡¯s too.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve called Mahati to get her to contact Hoek to give her the head¡¯s up,¡± Sigrid informed her. ¡°I¡¯ve also heard from Meixiu. She and her friends found Henry. The assassin is with him, and he¡¯s apparently in her custody. He¡¯s currently unconscious and likely having another out of body experience. Meixiu wasn¡¯t able tomand him back to his body this time.¡±

 260

    ¡°Maybe the Wild Magic falling from the sky is interfering?¡± Cam suggested.


    ¡°We¡¯re heading back to VRL. Can you meet us there?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll bring Lorelei,¡± Cam said briskly.


    ¡°Be careful out there,¡± Sigrid said and hung up. She frowned as a suspicion pricked at the back of her mind. Why had Cam drawn her blinds? Her condo had protective ss.


    -=-


    Cam called for her car to be ready, then turned to the lovely brte in her bed. ¡°We need to get going. We¡¯ll pick up my daughter Marisa on the way.¡±


    Lorelei¡¯s head was still gently spinning as she came down from the heights of passion. The exotic creature in bed with her knew things about sex she¡¯d never imagined. Cam¡¯s ck and red skin gleamed in the dim light and picked up the glow of the green light falling past the window.


    She certainly hadn¡¯t expected to have sex with Cam when she epted her offer to stay in her guest room. Tonight, they¡¯d both needed the distraction as they waited for news on Roy¡¯s battle with his rival, as Lorelei understood it. She¡¯d been more concerned about Henry. Cam let her listen in on the call, so she now knew Henry was on his way back! She thought this was good news, but Cam appeared worried about his unconscious state.


    She slipped out of bed and steadied herself against it for a moment as her body tingled madly. Being with Cam had been intense and wonderful, but now all her body wanted was sleep. There was no time for that, so she pushed herself off the bed and hustled to the guest room.


    Her host had been right when she said the light was good in her condo. Lorelei had her easel and paint supplies with her and had been inspired by the new location. She had a new painting almostplete and knew how lovely it would look above Cam¡¯s mantle.


    After a quick refreshing in the ensuite bathroom, she put on fresh panties and a bra, then her deep blue long-sleeved yoga top and tights, and finally a loose ck knit sweater over top. It went down to mid-thigh, so it was almost a dress.


    She met Cam by the front door and pulled on her sneakers to follow the woman out. The tall raven-haired beauty looked amazingly fresh and energized in a ck dress with arge red orchid print and matching red heels. There was plenty of cleavage on disy, and they shared a smile.


    They went down to the garage of her building and got into arge SUV. Lorelei noted the driver didn¡¯t even look over his shoulder to look at them. He drove them up onto the street and headed downtown. They stared out the windows at the swirling green light. They saw people walking around in it without concern while others were panicking. Cam¡¯s cell immediately rang, and she gave it a worried look as she answered.


    ¡°Hello, Nuru-¡± Cam began.


    ¡°Cam! Something terrible has happened!¡± the head of the Subi Association cried over the phone.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡±


    ¡°Our mors! They¡¯re gone! We were outside in the park across the road from our hotel, enjoying nature, when the green light fell from the sky. My attendants and I were caught in what looked like a waterfall, and suddenly we were exposed. Our mors dissolved, and we cannot reactivate them. They¡¯re gone! The scent of the light matched yours, so I am calling you. You must help us!¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Of course! Where are you now?¡± Cam asked, a feeling of dread in her stomach. This was what they feared might happen.


    ¡°We stole a tarp covering a sidewalk vendor¡¯s cart and snuck back into our hotel in the chaos. We¡¯re in our room, but we¡¯re trapped here. There are no cloaks in this hotel!¡± the woman gasped.


    ¡°Give me a second,¡± Cam said to Nuru, then addressed the man behind the wheel. ¡°Driver, how many cloaks do we have in the truck?¡±


    ¡°There are six under the rear bench seats,¡± he said in a t, emotionless voice. Lorelei frowned as she felt a little put off by his attitude.


    ¡°Give me the name of the hotel and your room number. I¡¯ming to collect you. I have cloaks and will bring you to VRL. We¡¯re setting up an emergency base of operations there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Cam! It¡¯s the Ritz Carleton, Central Park, Room 1705.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on our way,¡± Cam said and hung up. ¡°Driver, take us to the Ritz Carleton, Central Park.¡± The man nodded and turned the truck.


    She dialed another number. ¡°Marisa? We¡¯re going to be a littlete. I need to pick up Nuru and her attendants. They¡¯ve experienced a problem with their mors. See you soon.¡±


    Cam gave Lorelei a bleak look. ¡°This looks really bad.¡±


    Lorelei took her hand and gave it a squeeze.


    The SUV pulled up in front of the hotel and parked in the drop off zone. The driver jumped out of the car into a green current of light. He closed his door, took two steps, then froze and fell over with a thud. Someone on the opposite sidewalk screamed and ran. Cam looked out the window at the y statue of her driver.


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    ¡°Oh my god! What happened to him?¡± Lorelei gasped, trying to see past Cam. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the man-shaped blob of reddish y that was beginning to sag.


    ¡°He was a Golem. An artificial man, made of y, disguised by a mor, and powered by Fae magic. The Wild Magic in the light is undoing the spells the Fae made.¡± She looked to Lorelei. ¡°I have to get Nuru. Wait here.¡±


    Cam reached under the bench seat and pulled out three stic-wrapped bundles. Then she slipped from the truck and rushed into the hotel¡¯s front doors.


    Lorelei watched the people panicking and running here and there. Her nerves were bing frayed. She shrieked when someone opened the driver¡¯s door and jumped behind the wheel. She quickly sang to the would-be carjacker. He jumped out and ran into traffic. She watched in horror as the man cartwheeled over a speeding taxi.


    When the man staggered back to his feet and hobbled the rest of the way across the street to disappear into the darkness, she breathed a sigh of relief.


    The panic outside increased.


    An older woman rushed past on the sidewalk, chased by a group of angry men. They caught her a short distance ahead. Punches were thrown, and the woman went down.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Lorelei shouted as she jumped from the car. She felt the flow of the light swirling around her. It felt like the uncontrolled current of a raging river, and she clung to the SUV¡¯s door to keep from being swept away.


    One of the men yelled back at her. ¡°You shut the fuck up! She¡¯s a fucking monster!¡±


    Seeing the desperate look in the fallen woman¡¯s eyes, Lorelei sang to them to be calm. The sound was unexpectedly amplified by the swirling green light and carried across the street, into the park, and off into the distance. Everyone in earshot paused and looked for the source of the beautiful music. The group closest to her were staring at her with gentle smiles on their faces.


    Shaken by the strength of the sound, Lorelei sang once more, a gentle song of returning home. People began to walk away, so she let the tune fade.


    The woman struggled to her feet. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Lorelei called out to her. The bruised and bloodied woman blinked,ing out of her trance to look at the younger woman clinging to the car door.


    Lorelei finally got a good look at her. Definitely not human. Ancient. Pale skin with an olive green tint and pointed ears¡­ long pointed ears. She thought of the cloaks in the car and how the woman could probably use one. ¡°I have a cloak.¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes lit up, literally, but it was a faint glow that quickly faded as she moved closer to Lorelei.


    ¡°What are you, girl?¡± she asked with a gravelly voice.


    ¡°Rude,¡± Lorelei admonished.


    The woman snorted. ¡°No more than putting someone into a trance with a song. I¡¯m Investigator Kashellion of the Fae High Court.¡± She looked down at herself with a sad frown. ¡°But it seems my magic is gone.¡±


    Making a snap decision, Lorelei gestured for the woman to get in the front passenger seat of the SUV. Then she moved to get back inside herself. The green light suddenly wrapped around her, and she almost lost her grip on the door.


    ¡°Lorelei!¡±


    She froze as she heard a familiar voice. ¡°Henry?¡± She looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°The song. Calm and soothing. More! Stronger!¡± The voice wasing from the light!


    She looked to the old woman watching her in the rear-view mirror as she rested back against the seat. ¡°Can you hear him?¡± Lorelei asked and received a shake of the head.


    ¡°Please!¡±


    Lorelei heard his plea and began to sing a song to make listeners calm, rxed, and soothed. She increased her volume and let it flow from her to the greenseasurrounding her. She felt Henry¡¯s focus on her, and a little hope slipped into her song as well. His joy and affection seeped into her, and she almost let go of the door to join him in the light. A wave of it bumped her gently, ending her song, and she was inside the truck. She pulled the door closed and reached under the seat to give the investigator a cloak.


    The light around the truck began softly reying Lorelei¡¯s song. It spread out in all directions, and she could see it was having an effect as the panic was subsiding. She smiled as she realized Henry must be responsible for this. It was so beyond anything she¡¯d experienced she knew she should be frightened, but she just remembered the feeling of Henry¡¯s presence. He¡¯d seemed so happy, almost giddy with joy.


    The old woman moaned slightly when her bruisesined about her struggling to get the bulky garment on while seated. Finally, she pulled the hood up over her head, hiding her ears, and settled back with a sigh. She rolled her head to the side to peer over the seat at Lorelei. ¡°Thank you for the cloak. I ask you again. What are you?¡±


    Lorelei held her eye for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m a Naiad.¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes held confusion and doubt. ¡°There-thereareno Naiads.¡±


    ¡°Baba Yaga saved one.¡±

 261

    Investigator Keshellion froze, her mouth open to ask another question but the answer she¡¯d just received suggested silence would be prudent. She faced forward to rest once more.


    Lorelei watched the doors and saw peopleing outside to investigate the music. Their nervous expressions quickly changed to wonder and smiles.


    She suddenly had an epiphany. This was something only she could do, with Henry¡¯s assistance, of course. It was what she was best suited for. She smiled. ¡°I amneeded.¡±


    The Fae heard the softly spoken words and nced back at Lorelei. Then she looked out the window to see the calm expressions on the faces of people walking by in the green light. She understood Lorelei¡¯s words and nodded to herself.


    Exiting the hotel, Cam guided three tall beings in hooded cloaks. Halfway to the car, Cam¡¯s group slowed to a stop and reached for their hoods to throw them back. Cam spotted this and dragged them forward to push them into the rear bench seat one at a time. She nced at the cloaked being in the front passenger seat, then over to Lorelei.


    She didn¡¯t wait for an exnation. She rushed around the SUV and climbed in behind the wheel. She looked over at the stranger, and the old woman looked back. ¡°I¡¯m Cam Vimor. Your mor failed?¡±


    ¡°Investigator Keshellion of the Fae High Court. Yes, all of my magic is failing, or rather, it¡¯s being suppressed by the magic in the green light. I can feel it returning now but so slowly. I was attacked by a mob of angry Humans, but the girl saved me.¡± She looked at Cam. ¡°Your mor seems to work.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll get to exnations soon. Right now, I need to pick up my daughter, then we¡¯ll go to a ce we can talk freely,¡± Cam stated firmly and got them moving once more.


    It was easier driving now as people weren¡¯t running out into the street anymore. Anyone outside was hearing the music.


    Lorelei gazed out the side window and thought about Henry. He was out in that green river of light somewhere.


    She hoped he was safe.


    -=-


    Tish was sitting in her sister Ellen¡¯s home. Everyone had gathered yet again for another party. There was one exception. Steph¡¯s husband David imed he was partied out and stayed home. When she arrived, the look on Steph¡¯s face spoke of a recent argument, so Tish did her best to lighten her sister¡¯s mood.


    The party was quickly upstaged when the skies fell, and everyone scrambled inside from Ellen¡¯s back deck. They just manage to get inside before it hit. Now they were all crowded into the family room watching the news. When they initially heard the light wasn¡¯t hurting anyone, the kids were super excited and wanted to go out into the backyard to y in it. When the dad¡¯s made to go too, the mothers shrieked their outrage at the idea.


    So, here they sat watching the TV.


    The light show was happening worldwide, and slowly, a few stories surfaced of people being changed by the light, but the news channels were quick to state that these stories hadn¡¯t been corroborated.


    Tish grew quiet as she realized these stories could be about real Hidden Races people losing their mors if the light was Wild Magic. She had to know, so she quietly left the family room and slipped into the garage. Hearing no one following her, she stepped out the rear door and into a swirl of green light. She opened her senses to it and felt the Wild Magic tugging her to follow the flow. She smiled as she felt her energy levels rising.


    ¡°Tish.¡±


    She turned to look back at the garage, but no one was there.


    Then she felt him in the flow of energy. ¡°Henry?¡± she gasped quietly.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Where are you?¡± she asked, beginning to worry. Was he traveling out of body? Something was wrong.


    ¡°Everywhere! Oh! Lorelei¡¯s singing!¡± he sighed, then his presence faded.


    ¡°Henry!¡± she called.


    ¡°Tish! What are you doing? Get inside!¡± Steph called out from inside the garage.


    She wanted to stay in the backyard with Henry, but he was gone, and she¡¯d likely have better luck finding out what was happening by calling Marisa on her cell.


    When the light began to sing, Steph stepped outside and walked to join her sister in the backyard. She swirled her fingers through it and grinned at her younger sister.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    They suddenly heard banging on the ss sliding doors from the family room. Ellen, Kristen, and Jackie were gesturing vigorously behind the ss. The doors opened, and the men and the kids spilled out onto the deck. Thedies were thest toe out, and they did so cautiously. The kids rushed down the deck¡¯s stairs to run around the yard squealing excitedly.


    ¡°This music¡­ it¡¯s beautiful, but I don¡¯t understand,¡± Ellen said as she came up to give Tish a hug as the music soothed her nerves. Soon everyone was part of the group hug, even the excited kids. Tish¡¯s heart felt like it might burst with Joy. She loved her family so much.


    ¡°David is an idiot for missing out on this!¡± Steph snapped, and the others chuckled. Tish hugged her sister until the woman finally smiled again.


    Family was everything. Tish had to find a way to keep hers!


    -=-


    Dayshia stood on the patio in her sister¡¯s back yard and ran her fingers through the green light swirling around in the small fenced-in yard. She felt the tingle of the Wild Magic and knew something major was going on. She pulled out her cell and dialed Sandy¡¯s number. On the sixth ring, she finally answered.


    ¡°Dayshia! Where are you?¡± Sandy¡¯s voice eximed.


    ¡°I¡¯m in Chicago! Are you still in Nowhere, Iowa?¡± she returned.


    ¡°No, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore, so I¡¯m on my way home. I finally made it to Laguardia, but there are no taxis. What a hellish trip it¡¯s been to get here. Do you see this green light?¡± Sandy asked.


    Dayshia snorted. ¡°It¡¯s everywhere. I¡¯m standing in it.¡±


    ¡°Same here. It¡¯s Wild Magic,¡± Sandy said quietly.


    ¡°Mmmhmm. This is the stuff that changed us. It may change others.¡± Dayshia said quietly, as well.


    ¡°Maybe it should. I don¡¯t know about you, but I hate hiding,¡± Sandy grumbled.


    Dayshia nodded to herself. ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m not sure the world is ready. People are panicking.¡± She heard a car squeal into the driveway on the other side of the house. ¡°My sister and her husband just got back with their kids. I¡¯d better go. Be careful out there!¡±


    ¡°Dayshia! Dayshia!¡± Beth¡¯s voice rang through the house as they burst through the front door. The back door was open with only the screen door in ce, so Dayshia heard her clearly.


    ¡°I¡¯m out back!¡± she called out.


    ¡°What are you doing? Come inside!¡± Beth shrieked as she ran to the back door.


    Dayshia thought about what Sandy said about hiding, and she agreed. However, she couldn¡¯t decide for others about changing, though she wished she didn¡¯t have to hide what she¡¯d be. She looked back and saw the worried expression on Beth¡¯s face and sighed. ¡°Okay¡­ fine.¡±


    Then the music started. It was lovely, and Dayshia realized it wasing from the light! She was surrounded by it!


    When Beth touched her shoulder with Chris by her side, she started and looked to see their contented smiles. Dayshia was suspicious of their sudden change in attitude and realized it had to be the music. Was it designed to lure people outside into the Wild Magic?


    Giggles drew her attention, and she saw Beth¡¯s kids ying in the yard. It was far toote to stop them now.


    She wondered if her Dad was seeing this and, if he was, what he¡¯d make of it. The chaos of his thoughts might connect to these strange events, or he might just be frightened. That was a sad thought.


    ¡°What are you thinking about that¡¯s making you sad?¡± Beth asked gently.


    ¡°Dad,¡± Dayshia admitted.


    Beth gave her a hug. Chris and the kids joined in, and Dayshia felt so much better.


    She hoped everything was going to be okay, but with Wild Magic, you never knew what you were going to get.


    It was happening!


    Roger felt excitement buzzing along his nerves as he walked amongst the panicking sheep. He couldn¡¯t see what he was walking through, but the sensation made him recall once being at the beach in Florida and feeling the current in the ocean pulling at him. This was gentler, but it still tugged more than simply air.


    Most thrilling was the fact that the sheep could finally see the monsters as he did. A group of them chased a small creature past him, screaming curses at it. Roger would have given chase and eaten the thing, but he was well fed and enjoyed the delicious satisfaction of knowing the truth had finally been exposed.


    Of course, these were the little people. He knew there was vile corruption at the highest levels. There had to be agents in high ces of government and society to hide in in sight like this. He decided his next mission would be to expose them as well. He salivated as he thought of how delicious their organs would be.


    Before he could begin his next phase, he needed to settle the score with Dayshia. She was still a danger to him. He was going to take that bitch down, once and for all. So, he waited in the shadows in the lot next to her building.


    He jumped slightly when a voice began singing all around him. He clicked and looked around, but he was alone. Weird. The song was sweet but distracting.


    When a taxi pulled up, Roger readied himself to surge forward. A figure stepped out of the cab with a suitcase.


    It wasn¡¯t Dayshia. It was Sandy.


    His heart twisted as he recalled how she¡¯d been like a little sister to him. She¡¯d arrived in New York so innocent, unaware of all the dark secrets society kept hidden. She was like a new daisy, transnted into the poisonous soil of the city. He¡¯d done his best to protect her and make her aware of the evils around her. Of the group he hung out with at the hospital, she was the only one he thought was worthy of saving. The others had all been drawn in by the seductions of society.


    ¡°Sandy,¡± he called out suddenly as the taxi pulled away. He hadn¡¯t meant to, but something inside him needed to. He discovered he¡¯d moved from the shadows to stand on the drive before the front doors.

 262

    She stopped and turned to face him. ¡°Roger?¡±


    He clicked and saw she wasn¡¯t approaching. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    She was just standing there, silent, and he wasn¡¯t sure what he wanted to say.


    ¡°Is it true? Are you the one killing all those people?¡± she asked softly.


    His anger red. She was so simple-minded sometimes. ¡°They aren¡¯t people! They¡¯re monsters, not humans! Tonight is the first time people are actually seeing them for what they are!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she gasped.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen them chasing the monsters, screaming at them, so they truly see them. I¡¯ve been the only one who has since that night in the hospital. Since Henry changed me.¡± He spat the name as he knew who¡¯d caused all this mess.


    Sandy shook her head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t Henry. It was me. Kesini knew I cared for you, so when you arrived, she helped you change as well.¡± Sandy exined quietly.


    Roger was confused. ¡°Who¡¯s Kesini?¡±


    Sandy paused, then lifted her hand where the bulk of Kesini rested. ¡°You can see how I¡¯m holding my hair, yes?¡±


    Roger¡¯s steady clicking showed therge mass bncing on Sandy¡¯s palm. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Sandy nodded to herself. ¡°She¡¯s Kesini. She has a mind of her own, and she thought I¡¯d want you to share the experience. Except, it¡¯s random what you be with this magic. When you disappeared that night, we were frightened for you. We could have helped.¡±


    Roger snorted. ¡°Helped? In what way?¡±


    Sandy leaned towards him. ¡°Helped you understand what¡¯s happened to you. Helped youe to terms with our ce in this new world,¡± she said urgently.


    ¡°Are you kidding me? You, the backwater bumpkin, teachingmehow the world works? You¡¯repletely ignorant of who¡¯s in control of society, who makes the rules and keeps them,¡± Roger scoffed.


    Sandy was silent as she looked into Roger¡¯s red eyes. ¡°I just returned from visiting my parents in that backwater. Being away helped me see my home with a fresh perspective. My parents and their friends didn¡¯t want to see anything change. They werefortable and safe in their little bubble. My return showed them things had changed, and that made them uneasy.Imade them uneasy. The TV news for them was a horror show, and they much preferred to talk about local news, which was always the same and simpler to digest-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying! Heads stuck up their asses, unaware of the truth!¡± Rogers blurted angrily.


    Sandy looked at him sadly. ¡°They aren¡¯t the only ones trapped in a bubble. Without listening to people, experiencing how they live, and truly seeing them as individuals¡­ without that perspective, it¡¯s far too easy to put them all underfortable littlebels, like bumpkins. Or monsters.¡±


    Roger leaned back as he clicked quietly.


    ¡°You¡¯ve changed,¡± he finally said.


    Sandy snorted. ¡°You think?¡± She smiled sadly. ¡°I think I¡¯ve grown up a lot in the past year. Visiting home was eye-opening.¡± She suddenly frowned and looked away sharply, making him curious what had happened to the woman who was once a small-town girl.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make them any less monsters,¡± he said firmly.


    ¡°Roger, have you looked in a mirror recently? These days, you¡¯re not exactly the poster child for Humanity,¡± she asserted.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I have a special purpose. I see the truth-¡±


    ¡°You see theshape! You see sound, don¡¯t you! You bounce sound off people and see their shape in the reflections. But that¡¯s only the surface! That¡¯s notwhothey are, whoweare! Can¡¯t you see yourck of perspective has you trapped inside a bubble just as much as my parents are?¡±


    Roger hissed at her as his rage built. ¡°How dare you put me in the same categories as your simpleton parents!¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t simpletons! They¡¯re just people who¡¯ve chosen to limit their perspective. Like you,¡± Sandy insisted firmly.


    Roger¡¯s teeth began to grow as he quickly lost control over his temper. He couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d once thought she was worth saving. She was just as poisoned as Tish and Dayshia.


    No matter. She wasn¡¯t deadly like Dayshia. She was simple little Sandy but in monster form.


    Pathetic and soon to be his dinner.


    -=-


    When Roger first called out to her, Sandy heard the voice of the man who once looked out for her like an older brother. She wanted to connect with that man and convince him he needed to stop.


    Now, she saw that his concern may have just been his ego attempting to assert some control over his perception of her. He¡¯d needed her to behave in a way he imagined she should. He didn¡¯t see her then, and he certainly didn¡¯t see her now.


    As she spoke with Roger, she exined to Kesini how Roger saw using echolocation, how dangerous he was, and how they might survive. Her years in the ER had worn smooth any nervous reactions she had to hostile assants. She could step back from those emotions at the moment and deal with themter.


    When Roger moved to attack, Kesini suddenly ballooned out with each individual hair presenting the least amount of surface for sound to bounce back to his eyes. When all strands moved apart and pointed towards Roger¡¯s mouth, his clicks had no surface to reflect from. Kesini simply disappeared from Roger¡¯s perception.


    He was already tworge strides closer to Sandy, and she¡¯d taken two steps forward as well. He slowed his forward momentum but could see Sandy perfectly fine and knew her heart rate was rapidly elerating. She was frightened, and Roger¡¯s excitement spiked.


    When Kesini drove dozens of steel-like strands of hair through Roger¡¯s red eyes, he yanked back. Kesini was prepared for this and curled the tips to cause twice the damage on the way out. Roger lost most of the surface of his eyes in the first seconds.


    Screaming, Roger wildly shed his long razor ws where Sandy hadst been. He picked up the vibrations of her cry of pain on the intact corner of his left eye, so he pounced in the direction of the sound. A coil of hair wrapped around his throat, and he shed again before it could squeeze. His ws made contact with Kesini and tore through her, severing her grip.


    Sandy cried out again, and he surged forward, crashing into a concrete pir of the building. Clever girl, he thought. Bouncing her scream away from her body.


    Kesini pounded him against the pir, and ribs broke, but he ignored the pain and spun again, ws syed, catching the edge of Kesini¡¯s retreating coil and ripping away more strands.


    ¡°I¡¯ll eat you and heal. Nothing you¡¯ve done is permanent. You lose,¡± Roger hissed around his jagged teeth.


    ¡°Fuck you.¡±N?velDrama.Org content.


    Roger grinned and jumped at Sandy¡¯s voice, smacking into the ss door Kesini yanked open before him. The shatterproof ss rang like a bell. He fell to his knees, dazed.


    Sandy used Kesini¡¯s strength to grab Roger¡¯s arm and swing him against the building¡¯s brick fa?ade.


    He rebounded and threw a few shes. Kesini lifted Sandy¡¯s suitcase like a shield, but Roger¡¯s ws tore through it, scattering her stuff across the sidewalk.


    Sandy stifled her angry cry as she leapt back. She stepped on a bottle of conditioner and tripped, falling with a thud. Kesini pushed off the ground to send her back onto her feet, but Roger swept forward with another sh that cut arge bundle from Kesini.


    Again, Sandy stifled her cries, but now it was from pain. She felt Kesini¡¯s life being whittled away as she grew weaker with every sh. Each cut was a raw wound, shattering Sandy¡¯s concentration. Kesini picked up the trip hazards, including the bottle of shampoo. Sandy grabbed therge bottle and yanked the top off. Roger swung his head in her direction and caught arge ssh of the thick liquid directly across his face and injured eyes.


    He roared and shed in all directions as he tried to clear the remains of his vision. She hit him with another ssh in the eyes. Hissing, he swung so wildly he slipped on the slippery stuff and fell onto his stomach.


    Kesini mmed a maintenance cover, edge first on the back of Roger¡¯s neck. It was the only weapon avable to the weary, injured being, but the heavy iron disk cracked the concrete beneath as it separated Roger¡¯s head from his body. Both spasmed violently, then slowly went still as the head rolled to stop by Sandy¡¯s feet. His mouth worked in shock, then life slowly faded until he went still. His teeth shrank as his body shrank back into its Human shape. Sandy kicked Roger¡¯s head back to his body then copsed onto her ass on the curb, utterly spent. Only now, when the fight was over, did she allow herself to notice the cuts Roger gave her. Thanks to Kesini, none were too deep, but they hurt like nothing she¡¯d ever experienced before. She gathered Kesini in her arms and began to cry. Sitting so close to the ground, she was immersed in the green light, but she didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Sandy? What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡±


    She cried out in relief as Henry called to her. She looked up to see him but she was alone. ¡°Henry?¡± she called timidly.


    ¡°I¡¯m here. What¡¯s wrong with Kesini?¡±


    Sandy pushed herself to her feet, lifting her head above the green light, but she was still alone. She looked down at the light. Henry couldn¡¯t be in there, could he? She sat once more. ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here. What¡¯s wrong with Kesini? I can barely feel her,¡± he said softly.


    She realized he was traveling outside his body again. ¡°Roger attacked us. He¡¯s dead, but Kesini was badly hurt.¡±


    Suddenly, Henry was inside her mind, and she could feel his. He was¡­ drunk? His happiness was off the rails, everything was beautiful, and he loved everything! Sandy fought to contain her own giggles as his joy was contagious. He lifted her arm towards Roger¡¯s body, which dropped through a hole that suddenly appeared under it. The evidence gone, the hole snapped shut.


    Next, she felt Henry drawing power from the light around her, filling her cells from her toes upwards. Each scrape and gash tingled madly as they were reached, and as the power rose past them, she saw her injuries sealing and healing. They itched like mad, but she managed to keep herself from scratching. The intensity of the green light around her was dimming as Henry drew upon the Wild Magic.

 263

    When the energy reached her scalp, she felt Kesini suddenly wake. She felt the being sighing contentedly as the Wild Magic fed along each strand, healing and growing them where necessary. Soon, Kesini was back to full length and strength. She thrashed around, searching for Henry, desperate to hug him, but he wasn¡¯t there. Sandy calmed her as best she could by pulling her close.


    ¡°Henry, you need to go back to your body,¡± Sandy said to Henry, but she could feel him slipping away. ¡°Henry!¡±


    Weary from the ordeal, Sandy looked around her and saw the ruins of her suitcase and its contents. She began picking up her items and dumping them into the case¡¯s intact side as best she could. Kesini put the manhole cover back and scooped up the rest of her scattered clothes.


    She made her way into the building with a sigh, spotting the building manager, Johann Bruger, watching her with wide eyes. The lobby was otherwise empty. He stepped closer, his hands clenched together almost as if in prayer.


    ¡°You have my eternal gratitude and utmost admiration for dispatching a creature my grandparents spoke of in frightened whispers. I never thought I would ever bear witness to their evil as the night hunters were thought to be extinct. I don¡¯t understand how you did it, but thank you!¡± The diminutive man bowed to her, and she wearily nodded to him before making her way to the elevators.


    Btedly, she realized her mor had been in ce during the entire fight, so it would have appeared like she had telekic powers. She¡¯d also failed to use her shield, but she didn¡¯t know if it even worked against physical attacks. She shook her head weakly as she pressed nine and headed upstairs.


    Once inside her unit, locked safely behind her door, she dropped her suitcase on the floor and crawled into bed to have a good long cry, releasing the fear and tension now, when it was safe to do so.


    Kesini wrapped herself around Sandy to give her whatfort she could.


    Minkah drove the rental car into the underground parking lot of the Manhattan investment house. She looked in the rearview mirror to see if the green light would follow them down the ramp, but it didn¡¯t, so it wasn¡¯tpletely mirroring water¡¯s behavior. She didn¡¯t understand this new magic at all!


    The Vampires didn¡¯t seem to be affected, Henry seemed to be able to control it though she¡¯d been informed he was a conduit, not a wielder, and the Silver People keeping pace with their car seemed to enjoy it. When she¡¯d been immersed in the light back at the containment facility, she¡¯d barely managed to switch back to her Human form to dispatch the shooters. Her abilities were suppressed by the Wild Magic. That made her very nervous.


    Meixiu pointed to the visitor spot she¡¯d been instructed to use. Minkah stepped from the car and immediately prepared for an attack as she saw fourrge men rushing towards them. They slowed when they saw the four silver escorts standing by the vehicle.


    Meixiu moved in front of her, gesturing to remain calm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. They work for Roy. They¡¯re here to help with Henry.¡± The smaller woman opened the rear door, where Eleanor gently slid out, pulling Henry after her. The security officers took over carrying Henry back towards the elevator lobby, and they followed.


    ¡°Here are your keys,¡± Minkah said, tossing them back to Raymond.


    ¡°Do you think the rental ce will be open in the morning?¡± he asked with a strange wistfulness.


    She watched him, and the thought of what the morning would bring stuck in her head. She could only shrug.


    They walked past the elevators and entered the stairwell, taking them down two more levels where one of the agents touched a wall pad, and the door opened automatically. They guided Henry¡¯s body inside where the tall blonde she¡¯d seen in the museum with Henry stood waiting with an anxious look on her face.


    ¡°This way,¡± she said as she led them through a hall and opened double doors into anotherrge chamber with arge round boardroom table circled by chairs. Beyond that was a medical gurney with an IV prepared.


    Eleanor went immediately to inspect the IV and nodded to herself. Once Henry wasid on the gurney, the doctor went to work. The four security officers left to head back upstairs.


    Minkah quickly scanned the upants in the room. It was quite a gathering, and she noticed four wearing cloaks. mor issues?


    The far doors closed, and she felt a slight change in pressure.


    ¡°Okay, we have privacy,¡± a tall and lovely brte stated.


    One of the cloaked figures pointed a long boney finger at the Silver People. ¡°Who vouches for them?¡±


    The big redhead man was listening to his earpiece. ¡°Hang on, we have another guest.¡± He nodded to his man by the door, and they opened once more.


    Minkah watched Rand von Deussel enter the room. He got three steps inside and froze when he saw the Silver People. His face went into a scowl. ¡°What the hell? What are they doing here?¡± His eyes locked on Minkah with more than a little anger in them.


    ¡°They¡¯ve been quite helpful,¡± Minkah replied.


    Rand¡¯s eyes went to Henry on the gurney. ¡°What about him? He¡¯s the source of all this misery outside!¡±


    ¡°Your containment center waspromised, and all the inmates are either dead or have escaped. Henry¡¯s not the source. Mab is. We heard her! Besides, Henry remains in my custody,¡± she exined.


    Rand snorted with a sneer. ¡°So, you believe that story too. You think he¡¯s in your custody? Is that what he told you?¡±


    The doors were sealed again with the privacy field in ce.


    Minkah red at the dwarf.


    What was his problem?


    -=-


    Rand knew they¡¯d have one chance to catch them all by surprise and put an end to the source of the chaos. He quickly categorized the threats in the room.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Roy Duncan was an Alpha Were, but he looked tired. His beast-like natural state would make him vulnerable to their initial attack.


    The assassin was also a beast, so she was equally susceptible, as were the Subi for slightly different reasons.


    The old Fae was already bruised and bloody. She had no mor, so her magic must have been suppressed by the Wild Magic outside. She was a minimal threat and would likely be taken out by the initial attack as well.


    The Silver People and a few others were unknowns, so they¡¯d have to be careful and strike their target with deadly uracy.


    It was showtime.


    -=-


    Marisa and Siobhan were standing on the far side of Henry¡¯s gurney, watching him slowly breathing. Meixiu was whispering into his ear, but he wasn¡¯t returning. Siobhan had been visiting Marisa when the skies fell, so she tagged along when Cam picked Marisa up.


    The brte smiled at Lorelei as the tall woman approached. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Siobhan, and this is Marisa.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Lorelei. Is he okay?¡± the pale beauty timidly asked as she gestured to Henry.


    ¡°His mind is traveling outside his body, and Meixiu is trying to get him back,¡± Marisa exined as she frowned in concern. ¡°He usually responds to herpulsion.¡±


    Lorelei¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Compulsion?¡±


    Marisa smiled slightly. ¡°She¡¯s a Vampire. It¡¯s one of their skills.¡±


    Siobhan was watching the Dwarf who¡¯d just arrived, and something was wrong. There was a suppression of magic surrounding him. It was a shield or some other kind of defense that caused the flow of magic to avoid him.


    She reached out to grip Marisa¡¯s arm just as his eyes found hers.


    Marisa¡¯s eyes flicked to Siobhan¡¯s, which were widening with rm. She quickly nced towards the new arrival and opened her sight. Death radiated from the dwarf. Reacting, she leapt forward, pulling Siobhan up against the gurney as she engaged her shield.


    Startled, Lorelei took a step back from them.


    Then all hell broke loose.


    -=-


    Rand¡¯s cor popped open, and Lise-Anne flew out of concealment, pping her tiny hands together tounch her attack spell. Immediately, the air in the room was filled with fungal spores.


    As expected, Roy and Minkah reacted first, choking on the air as it infiltrated their sensitive sinuses. The Fae investigator gasped as she dropped to the floor. The cloaked Subi behind her soon followed.


    Lise-Anne quicklyunched her second spell. While the fairy folk were eternally underestimated due to their diminutive size, a senior member like Hoek had centuries of experience building her skills to ess and control magic. She was master level, so her next spell sent a tight beam of intensely hot sma directly at the unconscious Satyr and the females crowding around him. Everyone in its vicinity instinctively flinched away to avoid the energy ripping through the air.


    The beam struck a domed shield over the group and rang it like a huge bell as it deflected up to cut through the ceiling. This triggered the sprinklers, whose spray began to clear the spores from the air.


    Rand dropped his mor and pulled his dual war axes from their harness with a mighty battle cry. Heunched himself across the room at the Satyr¡¯s defenders. The deadly honed edges of his weapons hungered to bite into the flesh of his enemies. He rarely carried the enchanted axes as he couldn¡¯t draw them without feeding them, but their magic cut through almost everything.


    An explosion of white light pped him back towards the door. Lise-Anne was knocked from the air as well and mmed against the wall. She fell to the floor, unconscious. The remaining airborne fungal spores were reduced to fine ash from the Wild Magic in the intense light. Those that fell from the fungus choking them felt the light pass through them, helping to clear their sinuses.


    Sigrid stood between the attackers and Henry, her battle armor gleaming with her righteous fury. She looked to the four stunned Silver People. ¡°Defend Henry. The Dwarf is mine.¡±

 264

    Sam reached a hand out to Jeannie, who grabbed Brenda¡¯s free hand as she held Jake¡¯s. Time appeared to slow as their perceptions sped up.


    ¡°It¡¯s like we just got sucked into the middle of a war! What the fuck do we do?¡± Jake asked.


    Sam snorted. ¡°Depends on who do you believe? The people defending the guy who turns into a goat-man or Snow White¡¯s eighth dwarf, Ragey. The little guy brought his ownser-firing Fairy! I felt the heat of that beam as it shot past my head.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Satyr, not a goat man, and thatser would have burnt a hole right through him had it hit,¡± Jake corrected.


    ¡°Do you think he could be responsible for that mess outside?¡± Brenda asked.


    They were quiet for a moment as they recalled the events in the forest clearing.


    ¡°That screaming voice we heard. The one the Satyr guy calledMad Mab. She was pretty pissed at him for interfering with hervengeance. I think she sounded like the big bad in this situation,¡± Sam suggested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like her,¡± Jeannie offered and Brenda nodded seriously.


    ¡°I think that means we side with the Satyr and do as the shinydy asks,¡± Jake reasoned.


    Sam nced at the yers in this battle. The spell the fairy cast first knocked a lot of people out ofmission right from the start. He saw someing around, coughing and sneezing to clear their lungs and noses, but most were still down for the count. The doctor and her husband weren¡¯t the fighting kind, and he had his arms protectively wrapped around her.


    The big redhead had pushed himself to his feet and changed into a huge, vicious-looking werewolf in a blink. Sam saw another blink to his right and saw the lovely brte woman was on her feet as well. She now had shiny ck and red skin and looked like something out of a fetish film. Very sexy¡­ except for the razor-sharp ws she now had and the totally pissed off expression on her face.


    ¡°Form a wall between the bad guys and the Satyr! Stay linked!¡± Sam said, and they moved as one.


    Through their link, they shared their fear of theser bolts. None knew if their shiny skins would reflect it or not, so they agreed to leave that up to the force field the Satyr seemed to be under.


    Sam now wished he¡¯d brought along the soldiers.


    -=-


    Colonel Crane was in the middle of a storm of organized chaos. He was standing in a control room with dozens of soldiers gathering intel from stations around the world. Reports wereing in of sightings of non-human invaders. Not huge groups of them, just singles or groups smaller than half a dozen. It was the fact that it was so widespread that was confusing. None of the sightings reported violence. Well, none, after the swirling green light began ying music, at least. There had been some bloodshed and panic initially, but that seemed to have settled down. People were remarkably calm about this turn of events.


    ¡°Are we under attack?¡± General Baines shouted angrily.


    Crane shook his head as he frowned at the General¡¯s agitation. He was tempted to ask them to y the green light music in the control room.


    He nced over at Hugh, who was leaning against the wall, watching them with his crooked smile. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he swore he felt the man¡¯s amusement. Sighing, he looked to the General. ¡°No. This bears none of the signs of being a military action. Have the scientists had any sess in getting any readings on the green light?¡±


    Stephen Dawes shook his head. ¡°The only information we are getting out of them is that the light behaves like a liquid. They¡¯re fascinated,¡± he growled in frustration.


    ¡°What are your thoughts on this?¡± Hugh asked calmly from the side of the room.


    Crane couldn¡¯t shake the impression the man knew more than he let on and was just watching them struggle to grasp the truth on their own. He had nothing to prove his gut feelings, so he tried to push them back.


    ¡°The appearance of the light coincides with the sightings of these non-human beings. Knowing what we do about the Silver People, the fact that they are actually humans changed by the materials found in the pseudo-clouds, which do seem toe from another ce, I think we may be looking at another form of transformation. These may be humans changed by the green light.¡± He looked to Dawes in frustration. ¡°We need a new way to measure something we can¡¯t see.¡±


    Dawes¡¯s expression froze for a moment.


    ¡°Penny for your thoughts?¡± Hugh offered, and the Director jolted slightly as he returned from his thoughts.


    Stephen shook his head gently like he was trying to shake free a blocked memory. ¡°It was just something I heard someone say about seeing what can¡¯t be seen.He saidsometimes you have to look at what¡¯s missing to find what¡¯s hidden in in sight.¡±


    ¡°Who was this?¡± Hugh asked.


    ¡°Henry Gable. The tech genius we tried to recruit because he discovered processors capable of performing Quantum Tunneling.¡±


    Hugh¡¯s eyes lit up, and he nced at Crane, who was watching him.


    The Colonel recalled talking about this young man. ¡°Right, he went missing in that pseudo-cloud attack on the capital. You found himter, as I recall.¡± Dawes nodded. ¡°He discovered Quantum Tunneling in processors? What does that mean?¡±


    Stephen shook his head. ¡°All I know is that it made a room full of professional eggheadspletely lose their shit.¡± His expression turned serious. ¡°I¡¯m being told it represents apletely new era inputational power. A major leap forward, and none of my geniuses have the slightest clue how it works, but they all agree that it does.¡±


    Crane¡¯s cell rang, and he saw it was the Sergeant. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°Definitely FUBAR, Colonel. May I assume the green light is at your location as well?¡±


    ¡°You may. It¡¯s global,¡± Gordon replied.


    ¡°Ah, okay. Just so you know, the light contains the same energy as the strike zone on the mall, just not as intense. We¡¯re picking up a charge from it, which has been helpful due to what we found here.


    Our midwestern agents led us to a secret underground facility in Hainesburg, New Jersey. That¡¯s about an hour due west of Manhattan. When we arrived, we encountered a battle in progress, and that¡¯s when it got weird. I¡¯ll give you a more detailed reportter, but I can tell you the two groups ofbatants were not human. We had to resort to deadly force with the two giants as they wouldn¡¯t surrender.¡±


    ¡°Giants?¡± Gordon interrupted.


    ¡°Yes, sir. Eight feet tall, tusks from their lower jaw, and built like tanks. One pped Yablonski hundreds of yards away. It actually managed to knock him unconscious, but he seems fine now. The otherbatants are¡­ well, I think they¡¯re werewolves.¡± When the Colonel remained quiet, she continued. ¡°It seemed like they were ready to continue fighting, but they all just stopped. I overheard one saying their boss was dead. That really took the fight out of them. We don¡¯t have any means to restrain them as they¡¯re stronger than our zip ties, so we have a dozen of them sitting on the ground with guards posted around them.


    We did a preliminary inspection of the facility. It looks like a farmhouse on the surface, but below ground is some kind of prison or medical center, but the kind where the patients are locked in their rooms. We found three dead bodies inside three of the rooms, two from close range gunshots to the head and one with no visible signs of trauma though the room was destroyed like a bomb went off.¡±


    ¡°Where are the midwestern agents now?¡± the Colonel asked.


    ¡°During the battle, before the green light fell, we could hear some intense screams of rage a short distance away, which shook the ground, but we were too busy fighting to be able to investigate. Afterward, Sam stopped by to ask us to meet them in Time Square when we were done.¡±


    ¡°One second, Sergeant,¡± Gordon said to Mick. He spotted and gged down the tech who¡¯d been getting him reports on the movements of the Silver People. ¡°I need tracking for the original midwestern Silver People between Hainesburg, New Jersey, and Time Square in Manhattan. Use satellite and traffic cam footage.¡± The soldier nodded and rushed to his terminal.


    Gordon went back to his call. ¡°Any sign of who might be running this secret prison?¡±


    ¡°We found no documents at all. It looks like a paperless operation. Therearputers, though, so maybe there¡¯s a server room. We need an inspection team up here,¡± she exined.


    ¡°Sir! I found them!¡±


    Gordon looked over in surprise at the tech. ¡°Hang on again, Sergeant.¡± He walked over to join the tech as the General, Dawes, and Hugh joined him to peer over the tech¡¯s shoulder.


    The man looked back at the Colonel and received a nod to begin. ¡°The traffic cams caught the four Silver People running with traffic-¡±


    ¡°Keeping pace with the traffic?¡± Gordon interrupted. The tech nodded as he looked back in question, so Gordon exined. ¡°They can outrun any vehicle on the road and often run faster than the eye registers. If they¡¯re going that slow, they may be following someone. Look for vehicles that remain in their vicinity.¡±


    The tech looked back to the screen and rolled the footage he¡¯d gged forward and backward to see if there was amon vehicle in all the scenes. He paused the screen showing a dark sedan. ¡°Yes, sir. This one.¡±


    ¡°Get the te and run it. Where are they going?¡± the General asked.


    ¡°The car turns up this road, and the traffic cam on the next street up doesn¡¯t show iting out. They stopped somewhere on that street. Lots of financialpanies in this neighborhood,¡± the tech noted.


    The men sitting at the terminal pulled up the listings, and Dawes sucked in a breath. Eyes turned in his direction.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    He looked a little embarrassed, but he forced his expression to clear. ¡°It could be a coincidence, but VRL is on that street.¡± At the nk looks, he continued. ¡°Thepany Henry Gable works for.¡±

 265

    More looks were exchanged, then Gordon shook his head. ¡°Too many hints to be purely coincidental. We need to have a little talk with him.¡± He lifted the cell to his ear as he peered at VRL¡¯s address, reading it aloud. ¡°Sergeant, I need you to take the team to that address and collect a man by the name of Henry Gable.¡± He looked to Dawes. ¡°Do you have a picture of him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you one,¡± Dawes said as he pulled his own cell out.


    ¡°Sir, what about the prisoners?¡± Mick asked.


    Gordon knew if he mentioned them to the General, his answer would be to terminate them. Something told him that wasn¡¯t the route to take here. He was going with his gut.


    ¡°Their leader is dead? Ask them what they¡¯re going to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Mick replied, and he heard the relief in her voice.


    There was a muffled conversation, then the Sergeant was back on the line. ¡°They received amand from their new leader to go home and wait for an assessment.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s their new leader, and where can we find him?¡± Gordon asked.


    Another brief conversation, then the Sergeant was back on the call. ¡°Roy Duncan. He¡¯s also at VRL.¡±


    Gordon looked to Dawes with a grim expression. ¡°Sergeant, you have your orders. Top priority, don¡¯t spare the horses. Get to VRL and take these two people into custody.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± She hung up.


    ¡°Are you going to fill us in on the details?¡± Baines growled.


    Gordon nodded. ¡°I think I may have to amend my previous theory. The Sergeant and her team followed the midwestern agent to a small town in rural New Jersey where they encountered a battle underway between two giants and a group of werewolves. I believe some of these beings may already be in ce, somehow disguised as humans. Maybe the green light is breaking their disguises, which is why we¡¯re suddenly receiving reports of them appearing all over the world.¡±


    ¡°Giants and werewolves? Really?¡± the Generalined.


    ¡°But Silver People are more reasonable?¡± the Colonel retorted and got a scowl from the General. ¡°Listen, thebelsgiantsandwerewolvesare just ceholders until we get more information. I don¡¯t like this any more than you do, but these are how the facts seem to be lining up. We need to speak to these two people from VRL.¡±


    ¡°What about the monsters?¡± Baines demanded.


    ¡°The non-humans?¡± Crane said to correct him and received a scowl. ¡°The giants are dead. We¡¯ve identified and are about to capture the leader of the werewolves. The rest aren¡¯t important right now.¡±


    ¡°You let them go?¡± Baines yelled in outrage.


    ¡°General, the Colonel¡¯s right. His team has more critical targets to acquire and no time to waste,¡± Hugh suggested.


    Dawes looked uneasy but nodded as well.


    ¡°Perhaps we should join them in New York?¡± Hugh continued.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gordon said firmly, and eyes turned his way. ¡°It feels like something is escting, and signs are pointing to VRL as at least one of the focal points.¡± He held the General¡¯s eye. ¡°My Sergeant just informed me that the green light covering everything outside contains the same energy as the strike zone but not as strong. Ites from the same source as the pseudo-clouds. We don¡¯t seem to be able to measure it with our instruments, but it can be felt.¡±


    Gordon saw the others were absorbing that information. ¡°We¡¯re missing a significant detail. As the man said, sometimes you have to look at what¡¯s missing to find what¡¯s hidden in in sight.¡±


    He looked into the eyes of the other men. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet the missing piece.¡±


    ***********


    Being inside a ringing bell is not a pleasant experience, but it beats being incinerated by a beam of white-hot sma.


    Marisa pulled Meixiu and Siobhan to her sides, and they nced up at her in dazed confusion. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to brace me! I¡¯m going into Henry¡¯s mind to find him!¡± she eximed. She felt them wrap their arms around her and take a grip on the gurney. She was now pinned to its side. She looked down at Henry¡¯s sleeping form and ced her hands on his forehead and chest. Clearing her thoughts, she let her mind sink into his.


    She was swept away on the raging current of the Wild Magic circling the. The sensation of falling was terrifying, but she focused on the feeling of Henry¡¯s presence. She needed to reach him.


    ¡°Henry!¡± she cried out.


    She felt him all around her but spread so thin. His attention swung towards her, cially slow.


    Agony shot through her, and she heard shrillughter. It was Mab, enjoying the pain she was inflicting upon Henry, and subsequently, Marisa.


    As quickly as the pain appeared, Henry eased it with soothing waves of cool. She felt his focus returning, and his presence began to solidify.


    ¡°What are you doing? Henry asked her, his voice stronger anding from the space before her.


    As they were still joined mind to mind, Marisa felt him splitting his attention between her and attacking Mab. There was another part of his mind he was keeping hidden. How was he doing this?


    She pulled her attention back to answer him. ¡°Your body is back at VRL in the boardroom, but we¡¯re being attacked by the Hidden Races Council members!¡± Marisa eximed.


    A bloodcurdling scream of agony and rage cut through the space around Marisa. Suddenly, Henry was standing before her in all his Satyr glory. He grinned at her yfully. ¡°Mab found my prickly pear cactusnd mine traps. That should distract her for a while. Come with me!¡±


    He took her hand, and she suddenly realized he¡¯d given her a physical state as well. She nced down at herself and realized she was in her true shape. She could feel his strong hand in hers, and her next awareness was of standing on a rocky cliff overlooking the rough moonlit ocean.


    ¡°What? Where?¡±


    ¡°Irnd. Specifically, the northwest corner of the ind overlooking a rocky crag called Carrickhesk.¡± He pointed out into the darkness. ¡°Can you see what¡¯s bnced atop the rock?¡± he asked.


    She peered into the murk. ¡°No! It¡¯s too dark.¡±


    Henry smiled and handed her some binocrs he seemed to pull out of thin air. ¡°Abracadabra! Try these.¡±


    She hesitantly looked through them, and there was Mab¡¯s castle, precariously bnced upon the rock. She gasped as she recognized it from the night Nate was kidnapped. She lowered the binocrs from her eyes. ¡°Nate¡¯s in there.¡±


    Henry looked at her in surprise. ¡°No! He¡¯s on Eden. Didn¡¯t DJ tell you guys?¡±


    Marisa shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know who that is.¡±


    Henry¡¯s grin changed to a look of disappointment then worry. Finally, he pushed that aside. ¡°Nate¡¯s on Eden. He was pretty messed up emotionally when I freed him from Mab¡¯s castle-¡± Some movement on the horizon distracted him. ¡°Ah! We¡¯ve gotpany at ten o¡¯clock.¡±


    Marisa lifted her binocrs and saw a tiny dot on the horizon. ¡°Who is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise!¡± Henry giggled.


    Marisa looked at him closely. His eyes seemed ssy. ¡°Henry? Are you drunk?¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡± Heughed, then paused and smiled in confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I don¡¯t recall drinking anything.¡± He nced in the direction of the castle. ¡°Hang on a second. I gotta lift a skirt.¡± He bounced his eyebrows at her, then took a wide stance as he faced the castle. He bent his knees and reached his arms out like he was bear hugging a tree. Then he grunted as if he was trying to uproot that tree.


    Marisa watched as his muscles bunched and swelled. He groaned from the effort, then his legs began to straighten out as he lifted¡­ something extremely heavy and invisible. He bent backward just a little then held the position.


    ¡°What are you lifting, Henry?¡± Marisa asked quietly.


    ¡°Shield,¡± he grunted. His muscled were trembling from the effort.


    Marisa lifted the binocrs once more and looked towards the castle. How such a huge structure could bnce on such a small piece of rock was beyond her understanding. The shield over it was still invisible, but if she imagined a dome over the castle and Henry lifting it, based on his movements, there might be a ten to fifteen-foot gap at its base on the far side now. At thest second, she caught the sh of several missile¡¯s rockets driving them forward, through the invisible gap to strike the rock with devastating effect. A second barrage of missiles shot in under the protection though one was a little high and exploded against the shield. A jet shot by overhead as a third and final set of slower-moving missiles struck the small rocky ind with an enormous concussive st. Marisa threw up her hands to protect her face as the st, and the rocky shrapnel reached them, but it flew through her without impact. She¡¯d forgotten she wasn¡¯t actually there.


    With a gasp, Henry fell back on his ass, panting from the effort. Marisa was stunned by how real everything felt but was grateful that hadn¡¯t included being hit by the debris. She wondered if Henry needed the structure of physicality and tranted his mental effort into its physical requirements. Her eyes nced to the retreating jet.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Marisa said.


    ¡°The shield is gone,¡± Henry sighed as he pushed himself back to his feet.


    Immediately the hillside came alive with Hidden Races Council soldiers, all wrapped in ck cloaks. None could see Henry or Marisa. The soldiers ran to the cliff¡¯s edge and began their preparations for invading. Henry guided Marisa to the side to avoid being walked through.


    ¡°Are you going to the castle?¡± she asked.


    He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not there. I felt it move when the supports sheared off in thest explosion.¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Marisa looked through the binocrs then back at him. ¡°I can still see it!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just the false one we were in when Mab was visiting Manhattan,¡± he exined. ¡°It¡¯s a trap. Once you¡¯re inside, it¡¯ll disappear into nothingness. The physical one isn¡¯t here anymore.¡±


    Marisa shuddered as he looked through the binocrs at the smoldering rubble of the small ind. ¡°So, she escaped?¡±

 266

    He turned to Marisa. ¡°No, she¡¯s back on top of that office tower in Manhattan. The Castle was moving when it jumped out. I wonder what effect that had on its arrival there. Shall we go see?¡± he said with a grin.


    She noticed his eyes were still ssy, so something was affecting him here like alcohol. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s get back to our real bodies!¡±


    He nced up. ¡°She made quite a mess. It took me so long to fix all the rips and tears she¡¯d made.¡± He froze then looked back at her with wide eyes. ¡°That¡¯s why the healing spell is so saturated! She must have flooded the spell with Wild Magic,¡± he gasped.


    She recalled her former urgency, so Marisa took his hand. ¡°Henry, take me back to my body. I¡¯ve never left it before. Certainly not for this long. Will I be able to get back?¡±


    Fright appeared in his eyes.


    The sensation of being tossed along on a raging current returned with a vengeance, but this time she felt Henry guiding them, timing their leap from torrent to stream.


    She no longer had a body, nor did Henry, but she could feel his mind surrounding hers and picked up his worry for her. She wanted to assure him, but all she could do was concentrate on who she was as she began to feel a lethargy creeping over her.


    Henry¡¯s lips were on hers, and he blew air into her lungs. His hands were on her chest, and he was about to startpressions when she gasped a breath.


    He touched her face and pressed his forehead against hers, and she felt his tears drop onto her face.


    ¡°You¡¯vee back to me. Please promise me you won¡¯t ever try that again,¡± Henry whispered.


    ¡°The baby?¡± she gasped softly, fearful of what her reckless act might have caused.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine. Perfect,¡± he said, resting his hand over her belly.


    Marisa¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°She?¡±


    ¡°Can you two stop making googly eyes at each other and help?¡± Siobhan growled.


    Meixiu swooped down to give Henry a hug, and he returned it as he suddenly became aware of the battle raging around them. The buzz he¡¯d felt while immersed in the Wild Magic was gone, and reality was sinking its teeth into him once more.


    The air was foul, and everything was soaking wet. Almost every surface showed scorch marks. The boardroom table and chairs were destroyed, and ck ichor was sshed everywhere.


    Huddled behind the energy shield Marisa was somehow continuing to maintain, he saw an ashen Lorelei kneeling next to a prone Cam, who had a nasty gash on her side. Her mor wasn¡¯t active as she was stronger in her Subus form. Four people in cloaks were behind them with Meixiu¡¯s two Vampire friends.


    Minkah was unconscious and had a terrible scorch mark on her left shoulder.


    A bolt of sma was fired across the room, and the Silver People standing between them and the battle leaned away from the heat. It struck the energy shield, and Marisa cried out as her energy was finally exhausted. She passed out, and their protection was gone.


    Henry felt the dome of energy flicker and fade and realized everyone protected by it was now at risk.


    Rand shouted another battle cry, rolled past Roy, giving him another gash on the leg as he passed. The dwarf immediately hopped to his feet and charged directly at Henry. Leaping into the air, he swung his axes at the silver guardians. They moved faster than the eye could track to grab his wrists, but he was stronger than they expected, and the des continued their arcs towards their necks. Either they let go to jump away, or the axe des would connect.


    Henry¡¯s big Satyr fist shot forward to connect with Rand¡¯s face, smashing the dwarf backward, blood spraying outwards from his crushed nose.


    The axes fell from his nerveless grip as Rand fell to the ground, unconscious and bloody from the Satyr¡¯s punch. The Silver People moved in a blur to safely snatch the falling weapons out of the air.


    Henry looked to where Sigrid was battling two demons. A third was dead, bisected, and copsed against the wall.


    Who the fuck unleashed demons?!?


    He could feel energies collecting across the room for another deadly sma bolt. He couldn¡¯t let Lise-Anne finish that. As he charged across the room, he suddenly realized he wouldn¡¯t get there in time. He reached inside to see if he had any spells left after his battle with Mab and found onend mine spell. He didn¡¯t even let himself think as he flung a disk of Wild Magic infused light at the floor beneath the hovering fairy.


    When the trap triggered against the floor, it flung its payload of prickly pear cactus upwards. Lise-Anne screamed as the needles pierced her skin and tangled her wings. Her st was nudged off course and shot past Henry to punch a hole through one of the demons.


    The odds now against its survival, the final demon made an attempt to run, but Sigrid thrust her spear through its head from behind.


    Sigrid kicked the body loose from her weapon, then spun it to flick it clean. She approached Henry, who was inspecting his handy work. Lise-Anne couldn¡¯t move without a needle pulling out or poking in. He hadn¡¯t realized how effective the nature-based weapon would be on the fairy.N?velDrama.Org content.


    ¡°A cactus? What kind of sicko are you?¡± Sigrid asked with a grin. Her eyes sparkled with joy at seeing him, but she was covered in the blood of her enemies, so she refrained from hugging him.


    Lise-Anne was trying to say something, but it might have been a spell, so Sigrid lifted her spear and mmed the butt end against the fairy¡¯s forehead, hard. Confirming the Minister of Security was out, she looked to Henry¡¯s surprised expression. ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled. They¡¯re tougher than you think.¡±


    With Lise-Anne out ofmission, they turned to see Roy kneeling on Rand¡¯s back as he bound the dwarf¡¯s arms behind his back with Mary¡¯s help.


    ¡°Who unleashed the demons?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°This asshole had three in a quantum paradox trap. He sprung them on me when he discovered his weapons couldn¡¯t get through my shield, and I hit harder than he did. Keeping enved demons as pets is a crime punishable by death, so I wouldn¡¯t feel bad about lopping the bastard¡¯s head off,¡± Sigrid snarled.


    Henry shook his head, then caught Cam¡¯s pained expression and rushed over to see her. The doctor, Eleanor, was giving him a worried look as she knelt next to her.


    ¡°We need to perform surgery now. The edge of this cut looks chewed!¡± she eximed.


    Sigrid joined them but stayed back from the injured as she was still coated in demon blood. It was the only stuff that stuck to the Valkyrie¡¯s armor and body. ¡°The dwarf was using enchanted weapons. Sharper, stronger, and the nasty things cause much deadlier wounds,¡± she spat.


    Henry looked to the two Silver People holding the axes. He tried to recall their names. ¡°Sam? Jake?¡± They moved closer. ¡°Can I ask you two to drop those weapons over there, a few feet away from the wall?¡±


    ¡°Uh, sure,¡± Jake said.


    When they moved back, Henry opened a small tear, and the axes dropped through. Heat poured up through the hole as theva was only a few feet down. A terrible shrieking wail began, and words came through that none could decipher. This cut off abruptly when the tear snapped shut.


    ¡°NUH!¡± Rand jolted awake, hearing the cries. He thrashed around, looking around him, but he was securely bound. ¡°Where¡­ mmph-my axes!¡± he bellowed at Henry through his swollen face.


    Henry held his eyes. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have used them on my friends.¡±


    ¡°They were mmph¡­ meant for you! Where are they?¡± the man roared.


    Henry was bing annoyed as he needed to help Cam. He red at the dwarf. ¡°They¡¯re melting down into their base elements in ava flow.¡±


    Rand screamed and thrashed with insane fury, but he couldn¡¯t free himself. Everyone froze and watched his manic struggle. Panting as he settled down, he stared at Henry with death in his eyes. ¡°You-you¡¯ve damned the souls of my ancestors, who sacrificed their lives to be bound to Zult and Zort for vengeance and victory! I, Rand von Deussel, vow to end your miserable life and the lives of every single person you love-¡±


    Rand disappeared through another tear. His screams had just begun when it snapped shut. Henry was shaking as he stared in shock at the spot.


    Eleanor spoke gently. ¡°Henry? That¡¯s done. We need to help the injured. Can we do that now?¡± This seemed to draw his attention back to the room. He nced at the woman and nodded. He kept his eyes averted as he was afraid to see the fear and disgust he was sure he¡¯d see in his friend¡¯s eyes.


    He sucked in a surprised breath as Sigrid kissed his cheek. Siobhan and Meixiu pulled him into hugs, and he had tears in his eyes as his body began shaking again. Roy pulled him into a firm hug, and Henry clung to him.


    ¡°It¡¯s no time fer cryin¡¯. We can do thatter, aye? Now, we have work to do,¡± Roy said quietly, and Henry nodded, getting control again.


    ¡°We¡­ we need to be outside so I can draw on the healing magic,¡± Henry muttered. He pulled the gurney over to Cam.


    ¡°Use the back patio,¡± Sigrid suggested. ¡°It¡¯s rtively private, yet open to the sky.¡±


    ¡°Uh, we have a patio?¡± Henry asked quietly, wiping his eyes dry.


    Sigrid looked at him in surprise. ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever eaten your lunch out there?¡±


    Henry awkwardly shook his head. ¡°I usually eat at my desk or skip lunch.¡±


    ¡°No more! You take your lunch hour and make sure you eat- outside of your office,¡± the Head of HR insisted.


    Henry looked at her seriously. ¡°That assumes life as we know it will continue after tonight.¡±


    They were all quiet as they contemted that idea.


    As they carefully lifted Cam onto the gurney, one of the cloaked women, a Fae, moved forward. ¡°What do you intend to do? Are you a wielder?¡±


    Henry looked at the ancient Fae¡¯s face and saw the burning curiosity in her eyes. The thing Xiong¡¯s doctor friend added to his brain meant he was, but he still couldn¡¯t really feel the magic. Would he call himself a wielder? He had some limited ability to make magic do things, but he was a long way from being an expert. ¡°I¡¯m a beginner at best. Considering I¡¯m better at feeding power to others, maybe conduit is still a better term. We need to get upstairs to operate.¡±


    He looked at Minkah and saw she was still unconscious. ¡°Raymond, can you carry Minkah upstairs as well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here with Marisa,¡± Siobhan said, and he nodded.


    Henry knelt down next to Lorelei, who didn¡¯t look so good. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What can I do?¡±


    Her lovely eyes locked on his. ¡°Hudson.¡± Her voice was raw and hoarse.


    His eyebrows went up. ¡°The river? You need to get to the river?¡±


    She nodded desperately.

 267

    His energy reserves were pretty low, but he had to try. He was actually finding it easier to open the rifts between the two dimensions but keeping them open was where the effort remained. He concentrated on a clear section of the floor next to them, and it opened to show them red grasses. Keeping the first tear open, he opened a second just below the first, which opened just inches above the Hudson River. The strain of holding both open at the same time was terrible. ¡°This is the Hudson just offshore from where I live,¡± he said through clenched teeth.


    Before he could say anything else, Lorelei leaned forward and dropped through the opening to fall into the river. Water sshed back onto the floor where she¡¯d been only a moment before. Henry blinked in surprise at the dark waters, but she was gone. He let the tears close and stood to help move the gurney. He looked down at Cam, confused about Lorelei¡¯s departure.


    ¡°She¡¯s a Naiad. The river will take care of her. She¡¯s safe,¡± the woman told him as her lips trembled from her pain. He lifted her hand to press it against his chest. He closed his eyes and willed the Wild Magic from the source inside him to feed her. He heard her suck in a breath and sigh. When he opened his eyes, she was resting, but she didn¡¯t look as weary. Eleanor watched him with wide eyes, but he just ignored that until he saw the four cloaked women also watching him with interest. He turned from them to help get the gurney moving.


    They wheeled the mobile bed around the fairy trapped in her cactus trap.


    ¡°We¡¯ll send someone to extract you soon,¡± Henry mumbled as they passed.


    Roy was listening to his earpiece and frowned. He looked to the others. ¡°We have two groups of guests on the main floor. An attack squad from Hidden Races Council tried to storm the building, but my team put them down with gas. While they were putting restraints on them, a squad of Silver People in army uniforms entered lightning fast and took control. My guys locked in the security office have the building locked down. No elevator or stairwells ess, so we¡¯re safe here.¡±


    ¡°That also means we¡¯re stuck here. We can¡¯t wait down here! Cam and Minkah need help, now,¡± Henry insisted.


    ¡°If we go up, the secrets out-¡± Roy began.


    ¡°Oh, I think the secret¡¯s out already, without our assistance. Besides, if we don¡¯t stop Mab, she¡¯s going to extinguish all life,¡± Henry insisted.


    ¡°What?¡± Jake gasped.


    Henry looked to the four Silver People. ¡°Mab¡¯s the mad, homicidal ex-queen of the Fae. She¡¯s vowed to murder her people for betraying her, then she¡¯ll kill us and everyone else. She¡¯s also one of the most powerful witches on the.¡±


    ¡°She was the one screaming at you back in the forest?¡± Jake asked, and Henry nodded. ¡°She¡¯s that dangerous, and you pissed her off?¡±


    ¡°She was going to kill everyone with the green light. I locked her out of the healing spell by adding my firewall code,¡± Henry exined with a slight grin, which quickly faded as he looked to Roy. ¡°She has plenty of other ways to kill, though. We have to go up.¡±


    The big redhead sighed and finally nodded to him grimly, then looked to Sam. ¡°Can you exin to them we need to heal our friends before they do whatever they¡¯re here to do?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes, we can try.¡±


    Sigrid pointed towards the gym entrance to indicate she was going to wash up.


    Roy and Mary guided the gurney into the first elevator, and Sam got inst to be the first off.


    When they left, Henry called another elevator and stepped inside with Meixiu, who clung to his arm, Eleanor, and Raymond, still carrying Minkah. The four cloaked females pushed on, then the three remaining Silver People.


    The doors closed, but it didn¡¯t move. Henry eased closer to the door as he was the only one who could activate it. He pressed the lobby button, and the elevator moved.


    When the doors opened, they faced thergest silver being they¡¯d seen yet. He wore a tattered dress uniform.


    ¡°Can you give us a little space, GI Joe?¡± Jake asked belligerently.


    The big silver man stepped back, but he held Jake¡¯s eye until the others began leaving the elevator. ¡°Which one of you is Henry Gable?¡± he asked a little stiffly, ncing between Raymond and Henry.


    Another Silver Soldier approached and pointed to Henry. ¡°It¡¯s him ording to the image we received.¡±


    ¡°You need toe with me,¡± therge soldier said, moving closer.


    ¡°I need to help my friends first, then I¡¯m all yours,¡± Henry said, pointing to the nearby gurney and to Minkah.


    ¡°No, you¡¯reing with me now!¡± he barked. His agitation seemed elevated unnaturally.


    The soldier who¡¯d identified Henry watched her fellow soldier with concern and spoke gently. ¡°We don¡¯t need to go anywhere, Gunny. We just need to hold the fort until the others arrive.¡±


    ¡°Sergeant, there is something unnatural going on, and the General said this guy¡¯s central to it. He¡¯s not getting away this time.¡±


    ¡°Unnatural? Says the big Silver Soldier,¡± Henry said in frustration.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say to the agitated soldier as Henry suddenly found himself mmed face-first against a marble tile wall with his arm bent up behind his back.


    ¡°Gunny!¡± the sergeant cried.


    Meixiu leapt at Henry¡¯s attacker, who pped her from the air midleap. She fell to the floor in a crumpled ball.


    Henry stared at her in shock, and his mind said enough. The silver man pinning him to the wall was strong, but he could be strong too. He dropped his mor.


    He heard the big man make a noise of surprise as Henry¡¯s now much thicker arm ripped from his grip. His big hand gripped the soldier¡¯s face and gave him a mighty shove, making him stumble back. Before the man could regain his bnce, Henry opened a tear behind him and snapped it shut after Gunny passed its threshold. Henry engaged his mor once more and quickly knelt down next to Meixiu to check on her.


    Sigrid came up with the next elevator and saw everyone frozen in ce and staring at Henry. She nced over at Roy, but he was just pinching the bridge of his nose wearily. She saw Meixiu sitting up tenderly. Henry looked to Sigrid with an anxious expression.


    ¡°I think she may have a concussion,¡± he asserted.


    ¡°How did that happen?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Gunny?¡± the soldier cautiously asked Henry.


    ¡°The asshole? He¡¯s cooling his heels on Eden,¡± Henry said with a scowl.


    The sergeant looked at Sigrid in question, who shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s like an alternate dimension Earth, where the ss People are now living.¡±


    ¡°Sigrid!¡± Roy snapped.


    ¡°What! You heard Henry, we need their help against Mab, or none of us are going to survive,¡± the tall blonde insisted. That sent a ripple of unease through the soldiers within earshot.


    Eleanor knelt in front of Meixiu and examined her. She looked to Henry. ¡°Yes, I think you¡¯re right. She may have a concussion. She¡¯ll be okay, though. We really need to address the axe wound.¡±


    ¡°Axe wound?¡± the soldier asked weakly.


    Sam approached. ¡°Sergeant, I can fill you in faster,¡± he said, holding out his hand. She eagerly gripped it. Secondster, she let go and stared at the gathered people, her mouth working, but no sound came. Finally, she got control. ¡°What do you need?¡± she asked Henry.


    He rxed and smiled. ¡°We need to be outside, on the back patio, which is sheltered but open to the sky.¡±


    ¡°Yablonski! Green! Dane! Inspect this patio and secure it from the street,¡± the Sergeant called out. Three soldiers rushed past, each giving Henry a wide berth.


    ¡°I¡¯m Mick,¡± the Sergeant said to Henry, who nodded to her as he helped Meixiu to her feet. ¡°Can we get Gunny back?¡±


    ¡°He seemed like he was freaking out. Maybe he¡¯s not coping with all the changes. Are you sure you want him back immediately?¡± Henry said, offering his wrist to Meixiu.


    She looked around nervously, so Henry gently pulled her back to his chest and hid her from the others. He felt a brief prick, then a cool numbing of his wrist.


    When he turned back to the Sergeant, the soldier was staring at Meixiu with her mouth open again. The youthful-looking Vampire blushed in embarrassment.


    ¡°She needed a feeding to help with her recovery,¡± Henry exined gently. Meixiu moved to stand with Sigrid.


    ¡°We-we need the marine back now, please. The General will be expecting to see him when he gets here,¡± the Sergeant insisted. ¡°It¡¯ll be bad if he isn¡¯t.¡±


    Henry sighed. ¡°It¡¯s draining to keep a tear open. I¡¯ve opened too many already tonight. I¡¯ll try, but if he isn¡¯t close to where I dropped him, I¡¯m not keeping it open as I need my strength for the operations.¡±


    She nodded, and Henry gestured for her to stand back. He concentrated and opened the tear again. The big Silver Marine leapt through the opening the moment it wasrge enough to take him. Something ck was right behind him, and Henry cut its head off when he released the tear. Everyone shouted in surprise and jumped back, but the head of the ck ribbon beast wasn¡¯t moving.


    ¡°What the FUCK!¡± the marine bellowed.


    ¡°Settle down, Gunny. Why don¡¯t you go wait on the curb for the General to arrive,¡± the Sergeant suggested.


    The marine stared back at Henry, who just scowled at him. He looked down at the severed head, and a tremor went through him. He turned and walked away stiffly.

 268

    The Sergeant gestured for one of her people to follow him.


    Roy pushed the gurney to Henry, who took over. Eleanor followed him with Raymond right behind. Two soldiers led them out, and two more, including the Sergeant, followed. The rest of Henry¡¯s friends stayed inside under guard.


    When they were outside, Henry saw the first three soldiers sent outside were blocking the alley¡¯s ess to the patio, walled in on the other three sides, the green light pooling on the deck. Raymond immediately ced Minkah on a pic table. She moaned in pain quietly, and he stretched the strain from his tired muscles.


    There was amotion at the back door, and they looked back to see the old woman in the cloak trying to join them. One of the soldiers was blocking her.


    ¡°I need to see what he¡¯s doing!¡± she snapped.


    The Sergeant looked at Henry, and he shrugged. ¡°She¡¯s Fae. I¡¯ve found most of them behave like her. I have no issues with her watching.¡±


    Mick gestured to her team to let the old woman through. Struggling to maintain her dignity in the cloak, the Fae joined them on the patio. Her old eyes glittered with curiosity.


    The Sergeant stepped closer to Cam and took a picture of the wound. She nced at Henry¡¯s surprised look. ¡°It¡¯ll help exin why we left the building,¡± she said as she stepped back.


    Henry moved to Cam¡¯s side and lowered his face down to hers, and kissed her tenderly. He pulled back and saw her calming with the wave of energy he¡¯d just fed to her. ¡°Before we begin, I¡¯m going to give you arge dose of energy. This will help you ride out the operation. Hopefully, it will let you sleep through it. Eleanor is an amazing surgeon!¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Cam¡¯s eyes twinkled with joy as he lifted her hand to his chest once more.


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer to be fed the usual way,¡± Cam teased as she bit her lip sexily.


    Henry¡¯s face warmed up. ¡°Yes, well, not in politepany, and besides, you¡¯re injured. Hush now!¡± Once more, he willed the Wild Magic from his body to hers.


    ¡°Ahhh! Yessss¡­¡± she gasped, and her eyes rolled back. He pulled her hand away and rested it next to her. When he looked to Raymond and Eleanor, they were doing their best to hide their knowing smiles. He did his best to ignore that.


    He addressed the surgeon. ¡°We do it the same way we worked on your husband. I¡¯ll feed you the magic, and you use your will to form it into the tools you need.¡±


    Eleanor smiled at him nervously, but he could tell she was excited to be operating this way again. He dropped his mor and reached for his daughter, but she wasn¡¯t there. Panic wed at him, but he fought his first instinct. It could just be Baba hiding her. He forced himself to ept that as any other answer threatened to send him screaming into the night. He took some deep breaths and felt himself be centered once more.


    He still needed the healing spell, but he didn¡¯t need to pull it to himself as he was literally surrounded by it. Instead, he reached into it and connected himself directly to the flow swirling around him. He grunted as he braced himself against the pull and dug his hooves in to keep himself in ce. The current was too erratic, so he tried to think of a way to harness the river¡¯s power. Immediately, his mindtched onto the idea of a hydropower nt. It was close to what he needed, but this wasn¡¯t the same as writing software code. He needed to think of how he was going to design the model in his head. If he could maintain theplete design in his head, he could follow the same process of encapsting the concept into a packaged spell. It¡¯d worked with the coding idea.


    Henry prepared a workbench in his mind. A clean open workspace. He pulled up his memories of the story he¡¯d read as a child of Nik Te designing the hydroelectric power nt in Niagara Falls. Theponents appeared, and he integrated them into the model he was building in his mind. He felt a thrill rush through him as it felt like he was connecting with the genius of the man who designed a way to tap into the majestic force of nature to power the homes of a nation.


    Once he had his design, he had to test it. He let most of the current pass by untouched, but his intake gate, which regted how much of the healing spell entered, directed the channel to the turbines. In his mind, they began to glow with the healing spell as they spun up to speed. His prototype worked! Binding this design into a package, he saved it as a prepared spell and let it run.


    He lifted his hands, which began to glow a bright green from the excess power he was picking up. He dialed his intake back until there was just the soft glow as he was used to seeing.


    ¡°I-I think I have it. Sorry, I couldn¡¯t use the previous method for pulling the healing spell to me, so I built a new one. Let me know if it feels different this time. Ready?¡± he asked Eleanor, and she nodded. He lowered his hands to her shoulders, and she suddenly gasped, so he lifted them off. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    She shook her head firmly. ¡°Nothing. Nothing¡¯s wrong. The energy just feels¡­ sharper. More focused, like moving from a shlight to aser pointer,¡± she said breathily.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Raymond asked in concern.


    She smiled. ¡°Yes! It¡¯s wonderful! So much power and potential! Let¡¯s try again!¡±


    Henry lowered his hands to her shoulders once more, and Eleanor got to work.


    Her eyes were so much sharper with this new energy pouring into her. She peered closer until she was focusing at a microscopic level, seeing the smallest cellr tears. Distractedly, she formed a stylus with an equally tiny dot of the healing light at its tip. Her skilled hands, steadied by the magic¡¯s strength, guided the tool quickly along torn tissues inside the sh in the Subus¡¯ side, mending the tissues in the deep wound. She repaired the organs first then moved on to the connective and support structures. Finally, Eleanor worked her way out of the repaired gash until she was sealing thetex-like skin.


    Once she¡¯d finished, Eleanor closed her eyes and rxed as she released her grip on the healing stylus, which faded away.


    When Henry lifted his hands, Eleanor wobbled, and Raymond steadied her.


    ¡°That was incredible!¡± Mick gushed as she leaned in to take a picture of the area after the operation. She looked to the surgeon. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this kind of surgery before!¡± She looked around in confusion. ¡°Where are your tools?¡±


    Eleanor was tingling madly as the Wild Magic had soaked into her cells during the operation, and now, she was drunk with it. She blinked at the Sergeant, not really hearing her words over the buzzing in her head. She looked over at Mishka. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ Henry. I can¡¯t¡­ operate on sma burns. Damage¡­ too great¡­ too deep. It¡¯s dead flesh.¡± She reached out and grabbed one of Henry¡¯s glowing hands to console him. Her body went rigid in Raymond¡¯s arm as her eyes rolled back. Raymond tugged her back, breaking her grip on Henry¡¯s hand.


    The public defender stared at his wife in shock as the overload of magic warped her body, stretching her limbs. Her hair also grew in length as the color bled out until it was shockingly white.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± he cried.


    Henry watched her wearily. ¡°She¡¯ll be okay, but she¡¯s going to look different. She¡¯s received too much of the energy. It alters the body. It¡¯s what happened to Meixiu. I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t realize she¡¯d absorb it too.¡±


    Henry was suddenly staring into the bright eyes of the old Fae. He shut down his spell for channeling the power, and his hands stopped glowing. He disconnected himself from the Wild Magic¡¯s current and swayed as his exhaustion caught up to him.


    It suddenly came to him just how much he was breaking his original promise to himself to avoid using magic. It was so seductively easy to use these new tools, especially when they were supported by his existing coding skills and knowledge. Thisst use was another leap away from his old self and a greater example of his eptance of his new state. He sighed wearily as he faced the Fae.


    ¡°You really are a conduit! Can you charge wielders?¡± she asked with a slight desperation in her voice.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°The magic is notpatible. I understand it¡¯s toxic to old realm wielders.¡±


    The old Fae pouted. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen magic used in his way. Who taught you how to control it?¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°Sorry I¡¯ve never had any lessons. It¡¯s kind of a learn as you go experience. So far, I¡¯ve managed to not kill myself, so that¡¯s a bonus.¡±


    He moved around the old woman to check on Minkah. Her eyes were slightly open but very ssy. ¡°Hey. I¡¯m so sorry you got hurt.¡± He looked at her burnt shoulder, and his mind went to his experience with burns. A shudder went through his body as he tried to push those thoughts away. Looking closer at the burnt flesh, he realized he might be able to fix this, but he wasn¡¯t sure how safe it would be to run his healing program on someone else. He barely survived himself.


    ¡°Minkah? Can you hear me? Blink if you can understand me.¡± She blinked slowly once and held his eyes. ¡°I have a spell for healing burns, but I¡¯ve only ever used it on myself. It¡¯s horribly painful, but it works.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean you used a spell on yourself? That isn¡¯t possible!¡± the Fae barked.


    Henry just red at her then looked back to Minkah.


    ¡°Do it.¡±


    He almost missed her words but saw the intensity in her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous-¡±


    ¡°Do it!¡± she hissed.


    Henry nodded and looked at the Sergeant and Raymond. ¡°I¡¯ll need your help in holding her still while the spell reces all the dead tissues.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± the Fae snapped once more, but Henry just ignored her.


    Mick stepped closer and took a picture of the scorched flesh of Minkah¡¯s shoulder and upper arm. She moved down to stretch across the woman¡¯s legs at Henry¡¯s direction.


    Raymond moved Eleanor¡¯s body to a second pic table and gave her a troubled look before joining Henry.


    ¡°I ran this spell on myself when I was badly burned by a lightning strike-¡± He twitched at the memory but pushed on. ¡°It sheds all the burned cells then reces them with new cells-¡±


    ¡°Not possible-¡±


    ¡°Would you shut the fuck up?¡± Henry shouted at the old woman. ¡°Not helpful! Either be quiet and watch or go back inside!¡±

 269

    The woman¡¯s mouth was opening and closing in shock at being addressed so rudely, but she shut up and watched.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Henry looked back to his helpers. ¡°No glossing over the fact that the process really hurts. I passed out, but I¡¯d set up the spell to continue autonomously until it was done-¡± He looked sharply at the Fae who¡¯d made a choking sound.


    Looking into Raymond¡¯s eyes. ¡°I need you to keep hold of her arms and upper torso. I¡¯m going to stand at the top of the table to power the spell.¡± He saw he had theirplete attention. ¡°Ready?¡± They grimly nodded as Raymond took his position.


    Henry examined the spell he¡¯d made for the burn. He made a copy in his mind as he¡¯d have to change how it was powered since he didn¡¯t have the same linkage. He also ensured the instructions were generic enough to use on anyone with burns. When he had his new program linked up to his power nt spell, he connected himself to the Wild Magic stream once more, feeling it pull at him. Standing above Minkah, he looked down into her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m going to start now. Do your best to ride it out.¡± She nodded slightly, so he ced his right hand on her upper chest to send the spell and the energy into her. His left hand rested gently on her left cheek to calm her and feed her power to survive.


    Heunched the spell.


    Henry opened the intake on the power nt spell and felt the energy surge through him into Minkah¡¯s body. Raymond and Mick gasped as they were picking up the overflow.


    Minkah shrieked as her shoulder began to dissolve. They watched in horror as the burned areas melted off her body. She roared with a mix of terror and rage as she thrashed under the tight grip holding her to the tabletop. The dead and damaged cells were gone, and the open wound was sealed in a coating of green light.


    The new cells were rapidly growing and filling in the wound. Minkah¡¯s cries were strangled by the pain tearing through her. Her thrashing became more violent, and Mick called out for Yablonski to help her. The wide-eyed soldier rushed up to the opposite side of the table to grab one of Minkah¡¯s legs while the Sergeant held the other down.N?velDrama.Org content.


    ¡°It¡¯s going well, Minkah. Almost done,¡± Henry said gently as he poured energy into her body.


    He was suddenly looking down at humanoid but very feline features. Under the stress of the pain, her human form shifted to that of a Bastet, and he was surprised at her elegant but alien beauty. The overall difference between her Human form and this true form wasn¡¯t enormous except for being covered in short ck fur,rger eyes and feline pointed ears, a small T shaped nose, and her jaws containing some nasty looking fangs.


    Slitted pupils red up at him, mad with pain. She roared, then lifted her head to sink those fangs into his right forearm.


    ¡°GGGNNNN!¡± Henry grunted through clenched teeth, but he couldn¡¯t lift his hands from her body, or the spell would lose power, and Minkah would bleed out.


    She was biting down so hard, and he was bleeding badly, but looking at her shoulder, he saw it really was almost done.


    Minkah¡¯s jaws suddenly rxed as she¡¯d swallowed the blood. Her eyes closed as her head dropped back to the table.


    Henry was still bleeding. He looked to Raymond. ¡°You can seal the puncture wounds?¡±


    He blinked at Henry in shock, then nodded.


    First, Henry confirmed the spell had gone dormant, then he lifted his right hand and presented the punctured forearm to the Vampire. He quickly numbed the area with his tongue then licked the wounds until they closed.


    Henry watched Raymond slump over Minkah¡¯s body then slide off. The Sergeant caught him on the way down.


    Minkah wasn¡¯t returning to her Human form. Henry wasn¡¯t sure how shapeshifters maintained their Human appearance. He began to worry that the Wild Magic he poured into her to heal her had messed up her ability to change. He looked desperately to the old Fae, who frowned at him.


    ¡°Shapeshifters don¡¯t use mors. Just wait,¡± she snapped.


    Minkah suddenly switched to Human faster than he could blink, and he saw she looked the same. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.


    His patient healed, Henry stepped back from the table, but the world kept moving. He was running on empty and had nothing left to keep his legs under him. As he toppled forward, he saw the frightened and desperate look on Yablonski¡¯s face as the man tried unsessfully to catch him.


    The Silver Soldier wasn¡¯t any more sessful at cushioning his fall.


    -=-


    Mick looked at the fallen people and realized this hadn¡¯t gone as well as she¡¯d hoped it would. She looked to the old woman in the cloak, but she just had a sour expression on her face as she spun and walked back into the building.


    ¡°Help! Mick!¡± Yablonski called out from the other side of the table. She walked around and saw Yablonski was stuck under Henry, who looked human once more, wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. How the fuck does he do that? She had so many questions! She wondered if she would get answers to them. With Colonel Crane, there was a good chance she would.


    She felt Henry¡¯s strong pulse then worked with Yablonski to lift the big man enough to get her soldier free. They gently rested Henry back onto the patio deck. They stood together and looked at the two resting and fully healed patients on the tables and the unconscious people who¡¯d healed them. Only Henry looked unchanged by what had just urred here.


    The Sergeant moved closer to the woman Henry had just healed. She took a picture of the perfect, smooth skin where raw, cracked, and blistered skin had been before. Obviously, it was impossible, but she saw it happen. Her burnt skin was still on the ground under the table. She took a picture of that, too.


    She looked to the tall man who¡¯d helped hold her down, and he¡¯d changed as much as his wife had. While he¡¯d only added two inches to his height, his hair was long and white as well. His face had changed shape, too, though he could easily be taken as his brother or cousin as there was a strong resemnce to his original features. She looked to the surgeon, and her face was slightly longer with cheekbones to kill for. Damn.


    Mick sighed. ¡°Keep an eye on our sleeping beauties out here while I go in to get more assistance for carrying them back inside.¡± Yablonski nodded as she left.


    Inside she found the group had moved to the seating area of the lobby. General Baines was storming into the chamber with murder in his eyes and the marine at his heels.


    ¡°Where is he?¡± the General barked.


    ¡°Who, General?¡± Mick said as she saluted the man. She rxed a little as she saw Colonel Crane entering the lobby with the others.


    ¡°The man with the ability to open doorways to other worlds! The biggest security risk this world faces,¡± the man snapped.


    ¡°He¡¯s not your biggest risk at the moment.¡±


    Mick turned to see therge red-bearded man standing a few feet behind her. Next to him was a blonde beauty who hadn¡¯t been part of the group she¡¯d met at the elevator¡¯s earlier.


    ¡°Would that be you, then?¡± Baines snarled.


    The redhead snorted. ¡°Not by a long shot. Your biggest opponent justnded her castle atop a twenty-story office tower in lower Manhattan.¡±


    The General paused as the words made no sense to him. ¡°What? Landed her castle? It flies?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡­ teleports from one spot to another, but this time it was beginning to tip and fall at its point of departure. It brought that angr momentum to its destination. No idea how much damage its arrival caused to the office tower. I understand a British Air Force jet just unleashed a series of missiles against the tiny offshore ind in Irnd-¡±


    ¡°Carrickhesk,¡± added the lovely blonde joining him.


    The big man nodded to her then looked to the General. ¡°This destroyed the foundations, so she had to quickly move her home to its alternate location, here in Manhattan. You can confirm these activities in both locations. Just don¡¯t get too close to the castle here. She¡¯s insane and deadly.¡±


    Crane caught up to the General and gave him an annoyed look before looking to Mick. She gave him a nod to indicate all was good, and she saw him rx a little.


    ¡°I¡¯m Colonel Crane, and this is General Baines of the US Army. There¡¯ve been some unusual developments tonight, and they all seem connected to VRL.¡±


    Mick saw his eyes veer from the big man to someone approaching from the elevator lobby. The bold click of heels against polished granite made Mick turn to look as well, and her eyes widened to see an absolutely gorgeous woman in a tailored business suit approaching them. There was something about her eyes that drew your attention, but it was her lips shing a brilliant smile that captured it. It clicked in her mind. This was the cktex skinned woman who¡¯d had the axe wound!


    ¡°Wee to VRL, gentlemen. I¡¯m Cam Vimor, the CEO. Maybe we could take this conversation to my office where it¡¯s morefortable?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s such a good idea,¡± Crane managed to say, and Mick¡¯s respect for the man skyrocketed.


    ¡°Colonel, I can vouch for Ms. Vimor¡¯s character and integrity, and so can Mr. Dawes here,¡± Hugh said as he entered the lobby with the Director of Homnd Security. Dawes looked to the CEO, and his eyes widened as did his smile. Mick turned back to look at Cam and approached her with a suspicious look.


    ¡°I bear no ill intent. I¡¯m wearing my Human appearance forfort alone. Their attraction is just part of my nature,¡± Cam said to her quietly. ¡°The Colonel is particrly impressive, though, isn¡¯t he.¡±

 270

    Feeling somewhat reassured, Mick nodded to the woman with a slight smile.


    Cam turned to the others waiting by the seating area. ¡°Sigrid, would you collect Henry and carry him up to my office?¡± The tall blonde nodded as the CEO looked to Mick. ¡°Could some of your people bring the others as well? They¡¯re likely to sleep awhile longer.¡±


    Roy joined them. ¡°Full disclosure time?¡± Cam nodded as the young blonde woman left Roy¡¯s side to join her.


    Cam pulled the blonde into an embrace, pressing her lips to the blonde¡¯s temple. ¡°This is Marisa, my daughter,¡± she said in introduction. Then she looked into Marisa¡¯s eyes. ¡°Henry saved me, but his energy is so much stronger now that it gave me a bit of a buzz!¡±


    ¡°Did you drain himpletely?¡± Marisa asked.


    ¡°Apparently, I didn¡¯t, as he was able to heal the burns on the other woman and charged the two Vampires beyond their limit before he wore himself out and copsed.¡± At Marisa¡¯s worried look, Cam touched her arm. ¡°I checked on him before I came inside. He¡¯s just sleeping peacefully.¡± The young woman sighed gently and nodded.


    Cam moved closer and turned her daughter to face the men who¡¯d just arrived. ¡°What do you see, Marisa?¡±


    The younger woman looked ufortable, but she nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. When they opened, Mick saw they were glowing gently. The young woman looked towards the men. She sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes once more. She opened them to look at Cam. ¡°The General is radiating fear, and his paths contain a lot of pain and violence. Mr. Dawes is surrounded by bleak, cold, and grim paths. It¡¯s impossible to read-¡± she nced at Cam then continued, ¡°the tall man, but the Colonel¡¯s paths are the most hopeful.¡±


    ¡°Are you reading their futures?¡± Mick asked cautiously.


    Marisa smiled and shook her head. ¡°No, I just see potentials. Many, many potentials, so the best I can do is give my impression of the people I read. I have no training, so it¡¯s by no means perfect.¡± She paused as she looked at Mick, eyes glowing, then smiled widely as her eyes panned to take in the other Silver People.


    ¡°What? What did you see?¡± Mick asked nervously.


    ¡°Nothing! I can¡¯t read you or any of the Silver People at all! It¡¯s wonderful! Such a load off my mind,¡± Marisa sighed.


    Mick was disappointed then gave herself a shake. Not knowing is always a healthier attitude.


    ¡°The General is frightened of change, and he¡¯s about to get pushed into a world full of it,¡± Cam sighed.


    >>>>>>>


    ¡°So this¡­ Mab is a master level witch, a person with the ability to manipte magic, a form of energy we cannot currently detect, to manifest changes in the physical world. She¡¯s also a psychotic killer who now has ess to a very powerful energy source,¡± Crane rified. ¡°And she just crashnded her castle into an office tower in Manhattan.¡±


    Cam nodded in satisfaction as she rested back against the cushions of the sofa in her office. Chairs had been set up in a circle facing the couch. Cots had been ced against the windows behind her desk so the unconscious could recover in peace with the exception of Henry, who was resting on the sofa with his head on Cam¡¯sp and his feet up on Sigrid¡¯s.


    After the introductions had been made, everyone else took seats, Cam, Henry, and Sigrid facing General Baines, Colonel Crane, Stephen Dawes, and Huehuecoyotl or Hugh, as he¡¯d introduced himself.


    Roy, Mary, and Sam, representing his four, were next to Sigrid while Nuru sat next to Cam with her attendants behind her. Investigator Kashellion was scowling next to the Subi leader with Marisa on her other side.


    Meixiu and Siobhan were sitting with their sleeping guests, keeping an eye on them.


    For once, Cam¡¯s office was not feeling very spacious, but with the boardroom a burned-out wreck, they couldn¡¯t use therger room.


    The Human¡¯s facing the sofa had an equal number of Silver and Human soldiers lining the office walls, though only the Human ones carried weapons.


    Cam ignored the show of force and continued. ¡°Last September, Mab hosted a party in her castle atop the same office tower. That was the night she kidnapped all those celebrities. You may recall the news story regarding that. Her magic door made those abductions possible.¡±


    The General scowled. ¡°She can ess any ce she wants, bypassing all security measures? She could open a door into the Oval Office and take out our President with no way to stop her?¡±


    Cam looked him in the eye as she shook her head gently. ¡°That would be a rather overdramatic and meaningless gesture. Going after the leaders of countries is counterproductive. No, it¡¯s highly unlikely she would do that as it¡¯s too small. Her goal is extinction.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Herst weapon was biological. It would have used the green light you see outside as the vector for worldwide distribution. She wants to wipe out the Fae as she believes they betrayed her. Then she¡¯ll kill off the rest of us. She especially wants Humanity dead as your actions are befouling the world we live in. This is actually her second attempt to eradicate the Human poption that we¡¯re aware of.¡±


    The General was bing agitated in his frustration. ¡°If we were to ept your word about how much of a threat Mab is, why couldn¡¯t we just fire some missiles at her castle and take her out once and for all!¡±


    Cam gestured to her daughter, who nodded and picked up the story. ¡°Mab¡¯s castle was originally resting atop a small stone ind in the North Antic just off Irnd¡¯s shore. It was surrounded by a dome of energy that could easily deflect any ss of missiles you could bring to bear against it. A jet fired missiles that managed to strike the ind because the energy field was lifted. This made a sea-level gaprge enough for the weapons to reach the castle¡¯s support. Mab won¡¯t fall for the same trick twice. The next energy field won¡¯t be a dome. It¡¯ll be a ball, entirely surrounding the castle.¡±


    ¡°I call bullshit! Energy fields, my ass!¡± Baines snapped as he rose to his feet, his frustration boiling over.


    Marisa stared at him and sighed. She was still exhausted from the battle in the boardroom, but she had some energy left. ¡°I¡¯m not a wielder, but I do have ess to a personal field. I¡¯m pretty worn out now, so it¡¯s not very strong, but I can give a demonstration if you¡¯d like. You¡¯ll just have to imagine a field, thousands if not millions of times stronger.¡±


    He gave a stiff nod, and she stood to step back to give herself some open space. She enabled the shield and felt it surround her. It was definitely not up to blocking anything major. A tennis ball would be a threat. ¡°Okay.¡±


    General Baines walked towards the young woman and bounced back. He stared at her in surprise as he reached out a hand to discover what had pushed back. When he touched the field, he pulled his hand back as it prickled with electricity. His eyes widened, and he moved behind her to reach for her while she couldn¡¯t see him. He encountered the field again. He looked angrily at the others watching him. ¡°You all have this protection?¡±


    ¡°No, but I wish we did,¡± Roy said. ¡°Please understand, even if we did, we couldn¡¯t use it in the presence of a Human as it would give us away.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the point is, energy fields exist, and Mab¡¯s powerpares to mine like the sun to a candle,¡± Marisa said as she retook her seat.


    With a dissatisfied expression, Baines moved back to his chair as well. There was a knock on the door, and one of the soldiers stationed there let in another of the General¡¯s men. He walked over to hand a sheet of paper to the officer, then left quickly. Baines¡¯ face showed his growing agitation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave us all in the dark, General. Feel free to share the bad news,¡± Hugh suggested.


    Throwing a re at the man, Baines finally nodded. ¡°I have a report of building debris at ground level at the address you gave us for the office tower. Our man confirms the presence of a five-story stone structure atop the building.¡± He cast a baleful gaze towards Cam, then continued. ¡°Also, the British Royal Air Force is reporting the theft of one of their jet fighters by a US airman who took it out for a joyride while it was loaded with a fullplement of missiles. He shot said missiles at a small ind off the north-western coast of Irnd,pletely destroying said ind. Then he returned the jet to the base where he was arrested. The pilot in question was Major Thomas, who¡¯d been in custody just hours earlier in a Canadian holding cell awaiting extradition to the States for stealing a US jet and flying it to the other country.¡± He fixed his eyes on Cam again. ¡°Are you going to tell me this Mab used her magic door to spring the pilot to shoot the ind her castle was using as its foundation?¡±


    Cam shook her head. ¡°No. She yed no part in that. That had to be Henry. He must have collected the pilot from his prison cell and somehow convinced him to fire on the ind. We¡¯ll have to ask him when he wakes.¡±


    ¡°You said he was incarcerated in the facility in New Jersey!¡± the General snapped.


    ¡°General, please,¡± Crane said to calm the man. ¡°We¡¯re trying to get a clear picture of the events, and they¡¯re telling us what they know. Let¡¯s try to remain calm.¡± He looked to Cam and nodded for her to continue.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Thank you. Henry was trapped in the containment center, but they drugged him unconscious. When he¡¯s in this state, we¡¯ve discovered he has out of body experiences. Not only does his mind leave his body, but he can interact with the world in ways we¡¯ve never imagined. Recently, he became able to tap into the energy much the way Mab can, but he¡¯s used it to prevent her actions, such as when he blocked her from adding her weaponized biological payload to the green light that fell from the sky. He freed one of the other inmates from the containment facility. We¡¯ll have to ask him if hemunicated with the pilot and enlisted his aid in disabling Mab¡¯s fortress.¡±


    ¡°Wake him, ask him now!¡± Baines insisted.


    Roy scowled at the man. ¡°Henry¡¯s our best defense against the witch now that he¡¯s developed the ability to block her magic. He needs his rest. We need him fresh for what¡¯s toe. What we need to do now is create a n! Mabunched the first attack, but Henry managed to stop her in time. He kept her off bnce with the attack on her castle, and she¡¯s currently in a vulnerable state, but that won¡¯tst for long. We have to be ready to move and move quickly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to be rushed into a war just on your say so! We have no idea who this Mab is or if she really is as much of a threat as you make her out to be. All I¡¯ve heard are a lot of fantastic stories and exaggerations, but I¡¯ve seen no proof.¡±


    Cam shared a look with Sigrid and Roy, who ran his hands over his scalp in frustration.

 271

    The CEO looked to Colonel Crane and saw a sympathetic expression but knew he couldn¡¯t overrule his superior officer. She sighed. ¡°Fair enough. It¡¯s true. All we can do is share our experiences. This is the fallout of remaining hidden from you. We¡¯replete strangers, and you have no reason to trust us. So, we can¡¯t rely on you to assist us in this mission.¡±


    ¡°What mission? There is no mission. You¡¯re all remaining in our custody until we can make some sense out of this,¡± the General insisted.


    Roy snorted. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for you to try to grasp something so far outside your realm of experience. You¡¯ve no frame of reference. We¡¯re facing the extinction of Humanity and Non-Human life. Mab¡¯s already taking steps to achieve that goal. We were fortunate Henry was able to stop her when he did.¡± He could see the General¡¯s expression close up. ¡°Your inability toprehend the danger ces everyone at risk. We didn¡¯t and don¡¯t need your assistance, but now you¡¯re actively interfering with efforts to save the bloody world!¡± he snarled.


    Sigrid reached out and seized Roy¡¯s hand as she could see his agitation was leading to an attack.


    The death of Humanity wasn¡¯t going to begin here.


    -=-


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Eleanor quietly asked as she sat up. She froze as her voice sounded different to her, smoother and a little deeper. She looked at her hands and was startled to see how much paler her skin looked. Her fingers were longer too!


    Meixiu knelt down next to the cot she was sitting on and touched her knee. ¡°You went through a transformation from overfeeding on Wild Magic. The same happened to me and to Raymond.¡±


    ¡°Raymond!¡± she gasped and spun to see a white-haired version of her husband resting on the next cot. ¡°Oh my god! He¡¯s¡­¡± she sighed. It felt odd to be so attracted to a man that looked like her husband but sexier. A pang of strange guilt shed through her then her rational mind scolded her. This was her husband, and thinking he was sexy was okay!


    She reached out to touch his hand. His eyes fluttered open, then turned to her. He smiled when he saw the wonder in her eyes. ¡°Hello, beautiful,¡± he said.


    Eleanor smiled at how much sexier his voice was as well. ¡°You¡¯re one to talk- Oh!¡± She suddenly realized they would need to change identities once more as there was no way to exin this change.


    Raymond nodded as his mind was following the same path. He nced over to the gathering. ¡°Are we missing something?¡±


    Meixiu shot an angry look over to the Humans. ¡°The General is being a jerk!¡±


    Mick chuckled as she arrived to overhear Meixiu¡¯s assessment. She looked to the two tinum blondes. ¡°How are you two feeling?¡±


    They smiled back at her. ¡°Amazing!¡± Eleanor gushed.


    Raymond nodded at her assessment. ¡°Yes, I feel lighter yet more powerful. I¡¯m not sure what that means yet, but I¡¯m notining.¡±


    Eleanor saw Cam was up and showing no signs of distress after her operation. She turned her head to look at Minkah. Her shirt and jacket¡¯s shoulder were scorched and melted away, but her skin underneath no longer resembled that. It was smooth and unblemished. She turned her head to look at Raymond. ¡°He healed her?¡± she asked incredulously.


    Her husband nodded. ¡°And she bit him savagely while he did, but he didn¡¯t stop. When she passed out, he just asked me to heal the punctures. Then I woke up like this.¡±


    They all looked over at Henry sleeping peacefully on Cam¡¯sp. They could see she was running her fingers through his hair.


    Meixiu sat on the end of Eleanor¡¯s cot and looked into the surgeon¡¯s eyes. ¡°I do not believe in fate, but powerful witches are ying us all like we are chess pieces. I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Eleanor nodded, and Raymond¡¯s expression was grim. ¡°We can only do the best we can,¡± he added.


    ¡°If we hadn¡¯t met, and you hadn¡¯t joined me to find Henry, and you hadn¡¯t been shot, and Eleanor hadn¡¯t asked Henry for help operating on you, he wouldn¡¯t have linked to the Global Healing Spell in time to stop Mab from killing off the Fae. The chain of actions leading to this moment frightens me, but I cannot determine who benefits from this. My mind tells me Baba is powerful enough and clever enough to think this through, but she has no love for anyone, so she wouldn¡¯t have made an effort to save the Fae.¡±


    ¡°Who is Baba?¡± Mick asked.


    Raymond answered. ¡°Baba Yaga. She¡¯s possibly the most powerful witch in history. She¡¯s a master tactician who ys the long game.¡± He looked to Eleanor wistfully. ¡°We¡¯ve never met her nor had any involvement in her schemes to date.¡±


    Meixiu nodded. ¡°She¡¯s deeply involved with events around Henry as she raised him from a child. Recently, though, she¡¯s been avoiding him.¡±


    The Sergeant frowned. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the General be told about Baba Yaga?¡±


    Meixiu shook her head. ¡°His nerve is already failing him when dealing with one witch. Telling him about another wouldn¡¯t help him.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like he¡¯s falling back on the familiar when confronted with the unknown,¡± Raymond agreed. ¡°Protocols and process, neither of which we can afford.¡±


    ¡°AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!¡±


    They jumped as Minkah came out of her slumber with a scream. Everyone turned to look at her as she struggled to her feet, looking around wildly at the unfamiliar room.


    Eleanor stood to face her and spoke softly to the panting woman. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re healed. Henry healed you. You¡¯re all better now. Take some deep breaths.¡±


    Minkah shuddered from the memory of the pain, then focused on the doctor, and confusion showed in her eyes. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I suppose I do look different! I¡¯m Eleanor King, and this is my husband, Raymond. We were there when Henry was rescued. We¡¯ve been changed by the Wild Magic, as were you,¡± she said calmly.


    Minkah shook her head as she didn¡¯t feel different. She looked down at herself, and besides feeling so good, she couldn¡¯t see the difference.


    ¡°Your eyes are both blue now; a deep and stunning blue!¡± Eleanor sighed with a smile.


    Minkah sucked in a shocked gasp. The gic w was gone?


    Across the room, Roy stood quickly as he listened to something. Minkah instinctively listened as well and picked up a deep rumble from below, likely street level. Something heavy was approaching.


    ¡°We¡¯re about toe under attack. General, it looks like your people will get firsthand experience fighting Mab¡¯s troops. A toon of Ogres are running up the street and will soon be at the building¡¯s front door,¡± Roy insisted, then looked to Cam. ¡°Sleep time is over for the boy. Wake him.¡± She nodded.


    Minkah felt a rush as the thought ofbat sent a thrill through her. She was a trained assassin and took great pride in her work. She hadn¡¯t had an opportunity to do that work recently. Ogres were a challenge due to their toughness, tenacity, and sheer brute strength.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help.¡±


    Roy looked over at her and nodded.


    She was going to war.


    -=-


    Gordon Crane almost sighed with relief as Roy mentioned they were under attack. He wasn¡¯t sure what he was going to do to break through the General¡¯s mental paralysis. Now he had something concrete to get them moving in the direction they should be.


    ¡°Ogres, what do they look like?¡± he asked Roy.


    ¡°Big, tough as hell, and ugly with tusks in their lower jaw-¡±


    ¡°Giants,¡± Mick said, and eyes turned her way. ¡°We fought two of them at the New Jersey containment center. Seemingly impervious to bullets. Really hard to put down. With both the werewolves and us attacking them, we barely managed to take them out.¡±


    ¡°Ogres. The two at the prison were Ogres,¡± Henry said as he groggily sat up. He was ncing at Cam and Sigrid with an embarrassed smile when he realized he¡¯d been sleeping on them.


    ¡°How many in a toon?¡± Crane asked.


    ¡°Roughly twenty,¡± Roy said. ¡°Did you fes bring anything bigger than those pop guns?¡± he asked, looking over at the Human soldiers.


    ¡°What¡¯s required?¡± Baines asked. Now he was back in familiar territory.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Fifty caliber or better,¡± Roy replied. ¡°Grenadeunchers would be useful. Ogres don¡¯t stop until you or they are dead.¡± He looked towards the security camera in the ceiling. ¡°Protocol Z9.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Baines snapped.


    ¡°I have a contingency n in ce for repelling such an invading force. I just ordered a squad of my men to collect the high caliber weapons from the armory and to engage the enemy before they reach the building,¡± Roy exined. ¡°Please tell your people to not shoot the Weres carrying the oversized weaponsing up from the basement.¡± The General scowled but sent one of his men out to notify the others.


    Henry stood and walked over to hug Roy. The big redhead looked embarrassed. ¡°Henry, this isn¡¯t the time- OH!¡± He stopped talking when he felt the energy flowing into him. Henry pulled back with a red face as he moved to Sigrid, who was standing and grinning with her arms thrown wide. She hugged him and giggled as Henry sent Wild Magic pouring into her as well.

 272

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t drain you?¡± she asked as she pulled back from the hug.


    ¡°Uh, no. This energy is just passing through me. It doesn¡¯te from me. I do use a little of mine to direct the stream from the breach inside me to you,¡± he exined quietly.


    ¡°It¡¯s good, but I prefer the more traditional method, too,¡± Sigrid said equally quiet, and Henry¡¯s face warmed up again.


    ¡°Are we done with the warm and fuzzy shit?¡± General Baines barked then listened to another of his soldiers who¡¯d just entered to give a report. He turned to face Roy, and his expression was sour. ¡°They¡¯re almost here.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go kill some enemies, General,¡± Roy said.


    Sigrid and Minkah joined Roy, and Mary moved to go with them. The General made to protest, but Roy spoke before he could. ¡°Mary can hold her own against an Ogre.¡±


    The General¡¯s eyebrows rose as she smiled at him confidently. He snorted and gestured for Crane to join them, then he looked to Dawes and Hugh. ¡°These soldiers will remain with you.¡±


    ¡°My people areing with us as they have direct experience fighting these Ogres,¡± Crane said, and Baines looked like he wanted to argue, but he just nodded.


    Gordon allowed himself to rx a little as they followed the big redhead and his group out of the office and down the hall to the elevator lobby. All of the doors opened, and they split up to ride down to the main floor. After they stepped out, they moved to the atrium.


    The Colonel got his first glimpse of a Werewolf as three entered the lobby from a stairwell door. Therge beasts were carrying rifles, with modified trigger guards for their bigger hands. They nodded to their leader and rushed out the front door as the Human soldiers just watched.


    Mick joined him. ¡°None of the Werewolves in New Jersey were carrying weapons like these. They weren¡¯t very disciplined, either.¡±


    Roy overheard thestment as he strode by. He paused to address them. ¡°They were led by a miserable piece of shit who knew nothing about team building and who didn¡¯t care if they lived or died. None of them were given any training. Are they dead?¡±


    ¡°No. We sent them home,¡± Mick replied.


    Roy smiled and nodded at them. ¡°Good. Thank you.¡± He looked towards the boom of the big guns firing. ¡°Time to earn my keep.¡± He trotted to the front door, and once outside, he dropped his mor. In his ce was a huge, vicious-looking beast,rger than the other Weres. Mary was right next to him. He picked her up in his big paw and moved out of view to the right while Sigrid and Minkah turned left to nk the enemy.


    Mick led the team out the door and sent half after the two women as she led the rest towards the oing attackers.


    The four mid-western Silver People walked up to the Colonel with smiles on their faces. He nodded to them.


    ¡°We¡¯re not fighters, so we¡¯re gonna head home instead. Your team knows where that is and can reach us when the dust settles.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I should be thanking you for changing my squad into Silver People, but I can¡¯t deny they¡¯re happy and enjoying their new state. So, I will thank you for how you supported them through the process.¡±


    Jake leaned forward. ¡°Something I need to mention. That strike zone in the Washington Mall. It was supercharged by the lightning strike, and nts were growing like crazy in it.¡±


    ¡°Right, Mick mentioned that,¡± Gordon said thoughtfully.


    ¡°Yeah, well, the same kind of lightning strikes the fields back home a lot, and where it does, the crops grow really tall and healthy afterward,¡± Jake continued, and Crane nodded. ¡°Those nts seem to hold the Wild Magic charge, and we pick up energy running through it. Maybe, just maybe, people are getting charged up too when they eat food made from those crops.¡±


    The Colonel was caught by the concept and wondered if other food nts, like rice grown worldwide, were simrly affected. Without a means to detect the energy in these crops, there was no way to know if it was present in the final products made from it. He would have to send some people to grocery stores to collect samples for testing and have his soldiers be the energy detectors. Lost in the potentialplexities of these new thoughts, he barely registered and responded to Sam and the others smiling, waving, and zipping away.


    Corporal Dne appeared at Crane¡¯s elbow. ¡°What now, sir?¡±


    He jolted from his thoughts and snorted. ¡°As we¡¯re the only humans left in the squad, our job is to stay out of their way and stay alive.¡±


    ¡°I like that n, sir.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    -=-


    Nate was flying over the fields of red prairie grasses as he tried to shake the residue of histest nightmare. The sun hadn¡¯te up yet, but he had no problems seeing as the moon was casting its reflected pale orange light over thend below.


    While he loved the tranquility of this world and the gentle nature of its new inhabitants and thanked Henry in his mind every day for sending him here, he wasn¡¯t sleeping well at all. What that bitch-


    He closed his eyes and beat his wings hard to rise higher in the sky. The effort soon had him panting, so he spread his wings and allowed himself to glide as he enjoyed the view.


    While he¡¯d been warned to avoid the flying-ribbons-with-teeth, he¡¯d discovered they all fled from him when they heard himing. Perhaps there was another predator that sounded like he did? The ss People hadn¡¯t reported seeing anything dangerous other than the ribbons.


    He could see theva fields¡¯ glow and the asional silver sh as the Silver People ran here and there in the distance. They never seemed to sleep, and recently, he was envious of that.


    He banked left and flew closer to theva fields. The rising thermals would get him extra altitude with less effort.


    Nate was really getting the hang of flying, and Eden was perfect for it as he didn¡¯t need to worry about being seen by a human or a camera. He loved the freedom of soaring through the skies!


    Additionally, his wings were quickly bing stronger as the world seemed to keep him topped up with energy.


    As he got closer to theva¡¯s glow, he began to hear something-a whispering voice with unintelligible words. Its volume was so low, he almost dismissed it as wind noise or sounds from the flow. The closer he got to theva field, the more insistent the whispering became. He began to feel anxious and increased his speed.


    He caught sight of something burning on the edge of theva flow, maybe three feet from the flowing molten rock. It likely ignited just from being so close to the radiant heat.


    Nate set down a good twenty feet back and folded his wings to protect them from the heat. He was finally able to see what was burning, and his stomach turned. It was a body. Broken and burned badly. It¡¯s left arm was outstretched, pointing away from theva.


    He slowly walked closer, testing the ground as he went, but it was just dried up dirt. Grass wouldn¡¯t grow this close to the flow, but the soil looked dark and rich. If theva ever stopped and cooled, thisnd would immediately burst with nt life.


    He stopped to examine the body from a tolerable distance away, and his eye caught sight of something in the hand pointing towards him that he¡¯d never expected to see again.


    Mab¡¯s dagger.


    The one she¡¯d used on him.


    When the shock faded, he discovered he was trembling and a few feet farther away. He nced around, but Mab was nowhere to be seen. He looked again at the hand clinging to the weapon. Even in death, the corpse was refusing to release the cursed weapon.


    How had it gotten here?


    He thought of how Henry had dropped him into the world. What if¡­ what if the body was someone else Henry dropped here, but this time from a great height?


    His eyes were drawn once more to the dagger. Mab had told him of her rise to power and how this de had assisted her efforts. Then she made him feel its bite, and he experienced it drinking¡­ him. He realized the weapon probably still had his essence stored in it as Mab said it only released the energy to the wielder once the victim was dead.


    Nate rushed forward and knelt down next to the burning body, doing his best to keep it between him and theva to reduce his exposure to the radiant heat. Still, it was almost unbearable. He grabbed the hand at the wrist, but it still wouldn¡¯t let go of the dagger. Finally, he yanked hard, and the wrist separated from the forearm with a wet pop. He scrambled away from theva, clinging to his gory prize. When he reached the cool red grasses, he dropped himself down onto his back and stared up at the stars as he caught his breath. Shudders ran down his spine as he could feel the grisly object in his grip. He sat up and stared at it in disgust. Why did he do that?


    He bent the fingers back one at a time until he could extract the weapon from the grip. He dropped the hand and wrapped his own fingers around the handle.


    He sucked in a sharp breath as he felt his energy and confidence soak back into his body. What he¡¯d lost to Mab¡¯s cruel games, he now had back! He felt more like himself than he had in months!


    Looking down, he knelt to pick up the hand. This was going into the molten river along with the rest of the body. Henry had to have dropped it here, and Nate owed him for his freedom and now for getting the dagger to him. He smiled as he recalled a meme covering this situation.


    A good friend helps dispose of the body. A best friend doesn¡¯t ask why there is a body.


    When he returned to assess the task, he soon realized it wouldn¡¯t be easy as he couldn¡¯t get very close. How he¡¯d managed it the first time was a mystery. Finally, he flew to the nearest grove of trees and returned with a long straight branch he cut for himself. Then he got as close as he could on his belly and used the branch to push the body over the edge into theva. He threw the hand and the long branch into the molten river as well when he was done.


    As he flew back to the ss People¡¯s vige, he knew what he had to do next. He was going back to New York, and he would help Henry, in any way he could, to defeat Mab.


    He needed a little payback for what she¡¯d done to him, as well. He took a deep breath as he was able to think of his revenge without immediately falling apart.


    He nced to the horizon and saw the beginnings of dawn. The sun would be up soon. He¡¯d speak with Xiong about opening a tear for him to go home. He smiled as that idea made him feel so much better.


    What he wanted most at this moment was to get back to Marisa. He knew everything would be better once he was in her arms again.

 273

    Stephen Dawes was ring at Henry. ¡°So, is the firewall you created all smoke and mirrors, too?¡± he asked sharply as he sat forward on his chair in Cam¡¯s office.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°No! That¡¯s genuine science and technology at work. I¡¯m proud of that.¡±


    ¡°Henry¡¯s ability to get the most out of hardware is almost supernatural, and he can detect faultyponents far quicker and more urately than anyone I¡¯ve met, but that¡¯s the extent of his magic withputers,¡± Marisa stated categorically.


    Henry smiled at her.


    ¡°Enough!¡± Nuru pushed the cowl back on her cloak and watched the two men look her way. She ignored the smirk on Huehuecoyotl¡¯s face and the repressed lust on the Human¡¯s. She looked to Cam. ¡°You have preserved your mor even though you were exposed to the Wild Magic. How will we get our mors back?¡±


    Cam smiled and nodded. ¡°I was exposed to smaller doses. The¡­ light-fall is saturated with Wild Magic.¡± She looked at Keshellion. ¡°You have the knowledge of how to imnt mors.¡±


    ¡°But my abilities are being suppressed by the cursed Wild Magic!¡± the old Fae snapped.


    ¡°Cam, there¡¯s a chance mors aren¡¯t going to be sufficient after tonight,¡± Henry suggested, and expressions became grim.


    ¡°On that happy note, the pregnantdy needs to use the little girl¡¯s room,¡± Marisa said as she made her way to the door. The soldier positioned there looked to Dawes for permission and got it. When he opened the office door, he froze in shock. Instead of seeing the small outer office, he faced a vast dark chamber. A young woman stood there with a wicked grin on her face, lit by candlelight.


    She flicked her wrist, and the soldier flew backward to crash into his three squadmates, taking them all down. She made a second gesture, and Marisa squeaked as she was lifted off her feet and pulled through the doorway.


    Henry was already on his feet, charging the door when Mab began tough. He arrived just as it mmed shut. He frantically yanked it open, but the other side just showed the reception area once more.


    He didn¡¯t stop to exin or ask permission. He simply opened a tear and jumped through into the red grasses of Eden as it snapped shut behind him. Beautiful morning sunshine lit the hillside he stood on and gleamed off the sides of the ss People collected a short distance further uphill. He saw Xiong and the others turning to face him as he dropped his mor. Connecting his mind to theirs through the magic, he sent them a quick sh of what was happening before he opened another tear and leapt through.


    Henry¡¯s hoovesnded in the white gravel on the office tower¡¯s roof deck as he looked up at Mab¡¯s castle. It was tilting at least ten degrees and under it were the crushed remains of the antenna arrays that originally resided on the rooftop. Unlike the mirror castle from her party, her real one couldn¡¯t share the space. One side of the stone building had smashed through the roof¡¯s structure, and the iron beams were piercing the wall of the castle. He moved closer and saw the damaged area was ckened, and the stain was slowly spreading outwards like a bruise, discoloring the stone.


    He walked around to the front doors. They were double wide with huge ornate stained ss nkers. Each window was a priceless work of art. The entrance was shut, but he knew the doors would open to his touch. Mab wanted him toe inside. That didn¡¯t mean he was going to make it easy for her.


    As he walked up to the door, he lifted one big hoof and mmed it against the stained ss. While there was a protection spell on the window, it was no match for an enraged Satyr¡¯s fury and will. It exploded into a rainbow of small shards of ss. A few more kicks were all it took to make the rest fall away. He carefully stepped through the opening and looked around.


    ¡°You MONSTER!!!¡± Mab¡¯s voice shrieked from all around. ¡°That panel was created by a master artist millennia ago!¡±


    ¡°You are the very definition of a monster,¡± Henry growled as he pulled a spear-tipped halberd from the grip of a set of medieval armor in the entranceway and used the metal-capped butt of the shaft to smash out the second panel of stained ss. He then proceeded to sh every painting on his way down the hallway towards the stairs. Mab¡¯s screams of incoherent rage were music to his ears. He knew he had to keep her concentrated on him. It might make her forget Marisa.


    He had no idea what he was going to do when he actually reached her. He was aplete novice when it came to magic while she was the reigning heavyweight champion.


    The foolishness of his headlong rush after Mab was bing abundantly clear to him, but no matter what happened to him tonight, he was going to end her.


    -=-


    Nate looked at Xiong in confusion as he rested his human hand on the shoulder of the ss Being. He could barely pick up Xiong¡¯s thoughts but what he saw was that Henry had appeared moments ago, gave them a message, then jumped back to Earth. It was the message that Nate was having trouble deciphering.


    ¡°Can you slow it down?¡± he asked.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    The memory suddenly reyed, but this time he clearly saw Marisa being pulled through the doorway, he clearly heard Mab¡¯s sickughter, and he caught the sh of the castle atop the office tower in Manhattan.


    Nate yanked his hand back and fell on his ass as he stumbled away from Xiong in fright. Mab¡¯sughter echoed in his ears.


    ¡°She-she has Marisa! I¡¯ve got to-¡± he began, then his tongue locked up. He was too terrified toplete the sentence. He knew what he had to do, but his mind was shying away from the idea.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± he snapped at himself. He¡¯d been so sure of himself this morning after he found the dagger. Then just seeing a memory of Mab sent his nerve racing away. He knew Henry wasn¡¯t hesitating. How could he do less! It was Marisa at risk, for fuck¡¯s sake!


    He pushed himself to his feet and dusted off the clothes he¡¯d made for his mor. The dagger was safely tucked into an inner pocket of his jacket. He reached inside and gripped the handle. His resolve firmed up once more. He could do this!


    ¡°I need to get back to Manhattan. Can you open the way for me?¡± he asked as he ced his hand on Xiong¡¯s shoulder once more.


    He saw an image of Henry approaching an office tower. Likely a memory they had from Henry. Maybe it was the building Henry was running to!


    ¡°Yes, there!¡± he eximed.


    He picked up from Xiong that he¡¯d have to jump through as opening a gate was draining. He nodded and stepped back as Xiong and another of his group stood a short distance apart and faced one another. A tear snapped open, and the moment the opening wasrge enough, Nate leapt through into a green ground fog. He immediately picked up the tingle of Wild Magic swirling around him. Gentle music wasing from it.


    Hands grabbed his arms to pin him in ce, and he gaped in surprise at the two Silver People in tattered US military uniforms.


    ¡°Nate?¡±


    He turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw Roy and Mary approaching, thetter covered in blood and gore while Roy¡¯s mor was clean. ¡°What-what happened?¡± he asked as the Silver Soldiers released his arms, allowing him to turn and face the group. His eyes widened further to see more of the soldiers.


    ¡°Mab sent a squad of Ogres at us. Tough bastards!¡± Roy growled.


    ¡°Not so tough,¡± Mary scoffed and got a grin from Roy.


    Roy turned to Nate. ¡°Weren¡¯t you on Eden?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Henry sent me to Eden. Listen, he just shot through on his way to attack Mab at her castle,¡± Nate said anxiously. He was still shaky about it.


    ¡°What?!?¡± Roy roared. He reached for his cell but saw Cam and the others rushing out of VRL¡¯s front door.


    ¡°Mab opened her magic door in my office. She has Marisa, and Henry went after her!¡± Cam cried out.


    ¡°That bloody fool!¡± Roy snapped.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± Sigrid asked anxiously as she and Minkah rushed up to join them. Again, Sigrid was spotless, but Minkah had a few blood streaks on her, though she had no visible injuries, so the blood wasn¡¯t likely hers.


    ¡°Mab grabbed Marisa, and Henry went after her on his own!¡± Meixiu eximed. ¡°We must help him!¡±


    A ck SUV pulled up to the entrance, and the back window rolled down. Mahati looked out at the gathered people nervously. ¡°Cam? Can I speak with you?¡±


    Cam rushed over to the car. ¡°Mahati! What are you doing here? You can¡¯t be out in this!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s a little toote for that. I went down to our building¡¯s lobby to check for mail, and I saw Lorelei standing outside the building. I opened the door for her, and she let me know what was happening. We called for a car. I had to walk through the light to get to the car. I-I¡¯ve lost my mor. Where¡¯s Henry?¡± she asked, looking around nervously.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone after Mab. She took Marisa,¡± Cam said with a shaky voice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get them!¡± Mahati insisted.


    ¡°No one is going anywhere!¡± a Human military officer barked as he approached the car. ¡°This night has gone from strange to freak show! I mean, what the fuck were those things we just killed?¡± He pointed down the street. Then he spun to point that finger at Mary. ¡°No one can survive getting beaten so brutally, and they certainly don¡¯t get back up and tear their way through their opponents barehanded! What the fuck are you?¡±

 274

    ¡°Just a New York City beat cop, who now works for VRL!¡± Mary said with a wide grin, still riding a high from the energy she¡¯d absorbed. She realized she was perfectly adapted to fighting the huge brutes.


    Roy approached the General. ¡°We¡¯ve already been through this, General. We don¡¯t have time. You don¡¯t have time. The Ogres were a feint, a ploy to distract us while she went after her target. The only one who can potentially keep her from killing everyone! We need to help Henry stop Mab. Now.¡±


    ¡°No, no one leaves-¡±


    ¡°General Baines, may I have a word?¡± Hugh said as he strolled up to the man who looked at him in annoyance. They took a few steps to the side, where they spoke quietly. The General looked at the taller man in surprise and received a nod.


    ¡°Colonel Crane. I¡¯m putting you in charge of this operation. I¡¯m needed back in Washington. I¡¯ll be bringing my squad with me. Gunny is staying with you.¡±


    ¡°Understood, General,¡± Crane answered in surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go back with you, General,¡± the Director of Homnd Security quickly added and got a nod from the distracted man.


    With a final worried nce at Hugh, the General rushed off and began issuing orders. Dawes followed. Gunny went back into VRL and returned with the remaining Human troops from the lobby. Troop carriers arrived, as did the General¡¯s car. The marine rejoined Crane¡¯s squad.


    Soon, Colonel Crane was the senior officer on site. He looked to Roy. ¡°Where is this office tower with the castle on top?¡±


    Roy smiled in relief at him and looked to Hugh. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The tall man nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve yed my part. It¡¯s time for me to leave, as well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one of them, aren¡¯t you,¡± Crane blurted, his eyes fixed on Hugh¡¯s face.


    Huehuecoyotyl¡¯s face burst into an amused smile as he rxed his disguise, just a little, to show a hint of his true self. He nodded in satisfaction when the Colonel didn¡¯t stumble back in fear. ¡°I was right about you.¡± He faded and disappeared.


    Gordon looked over to Roy. ¡°Do you ever get used to that?¡±


    Roy snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when it happens. Let¡¯s go do our part!¡± Eight more ck SUVs showed up at the curb, and Roy¡¯s team began climbing inside.


    Cam turned to Siobhan. ¡°Please take Nuru, her attendants, and Investigator Keshellion to the second-floor lounge.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute! I¡¯m not going to stand on the sidelines while the world¡¯s ending!¡± Nuru eximed.


    ¡°The same goes for me!¡± Siobhan insisted.


    Cam threw her hands in the air and jumped into Mahati¡¯s SUV. Everyone ran for one of the trucks and piled in.


    Roy was in the lead vehicle and got them going. There was very little traffic on the main avenue, and the cars that were there quickly pulled over to let their speeding procession pass by, especially with the Silver Soldiers running alongside.


    It took a few minutes to arrive at the road leading to the old office building, nestled between the taller, modern towers. The problem was, the road was blocked by a row of police cruisers with their lights shing.


    Roy got out and held up his hand to indicate the others should remain in the vehicles. He walked over to one of the officers who watched him approach with suspicion as his eyes took in the silver escorts who were watching.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation, Officer?¡± Roy asked firmly.


    The cop focused on Roy once more. ¡°Road¡¯s closed. Something big down there, roasting people alive!¡±


    Roy frowned as he looked towards the shadows between the buildings. The streetlights were all out, and something appeared to be blocking the light from the next avenue. Colonel Crane joined him.


    ¡°We need a little reconnaissance. A quick in, get some pictures, and out,¡± Roy said to the Colonel, who nodded as he gestured for one of his soldiers. He spoke to the man who smiled and raced away, leaping over the police car to disappear down the street like a silver streak. There was a distant sh of the camera, taking a sh shot, then the soldier returned to stop in front of Crane.


    ¡°It¡¯s big! Terrifying!¡± the soldier said with wide eyes. He held up the cell and brought up the picture. They peered at the screen, but all it showed was ckness with sparkles here and there. Roy¡¯s expression showed his annoyance. He touched his mic. ¡°Please have Siobhan join us.¡±


    Momentster, the lovely brte rushed up to look at Roy curiously.


    ¡°They¡¯re saying somethingrge and dangerous is down the road but take a look at the photo, then look down the road and tell me what you see,¡± Roy asked, emphasizing thest word.


    She caught his request, so she looked at the picture and opened her magic sight as she looked into the darkness.


    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s not big at all! It¡¯s very small but so many!¡± she eximed softly.


    Roy nodded grimly. ¡°Thank you, Siobhan. Please wait in the vehicle.¡±


    She looked to him, and he was glowing softly from the Wild Magic radiating from inside, so she pulled back on her sight until it was a minimal translucent ovey. She nodded and headed back to her SUV.


    Roy leaned closer to the Colonel. ¡°It¡¯s Sprites. Nasty little buggers. They project illusions and mess with your mind and emotions. They¡¯ve been known to kill with fear.¡±


    ¡°Shit. How do we fight that?¡± Gordon growled.


    Roy looked over at the Silver Soldiers, and a slow smile came to his lips. ¡°I know just the thing.¡±


    -=-


    Mick held hands with six volunteers as they jogged down the road towards the super creepy shadows.


    ¡°So, there really is no big fire breathing monster down here?¡± Yablonski asked nervously.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There are many little fuckers projecting the experience of seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling a big monster. They¡¯re floating in a swarm in the air in front of the target. They have no offensive capabilities outside of projecting illusions: really good illusions but fake experiences. We need to disable this threat so the others can reach the building,¡± Mick exined.


    Their perceptions were racing ahead, so when the growl came out of the shadows, it was low and drawn out, robbing it of some of its power. Baleful glowing eyes slowly opened two stories up, and a huge maw began to open. An orange glow showed behindrge pointy teeth, smoke curling out from the jaws.


    Mick felt Yablonski¡¯s nerve begin to slip as she felt the fingers of fear slowly sinking into her own mind. She began tough, obnoxiously loud and silly.


    The other soldiers looked at her, and she smiled at them. ¡°We¡¯re gonna fuck them up so good!¡±


    Yablonski chuckled, then realized that felt good. He barked augh in relief, and this triggered the others. Soon they were allughing boldly, and the fear was pushed back.


    Mick saw they were in front of the target¡¯s entrance. Stonework, ss shards, and other debris from the broken rooftop littered the street around the building.


    ¡°Showtime, my bastards!¡± she called out.


    Yablonski grinned as they formed a wide circle facing inwards and began to windmill their arms faster and faster, hands cupped to push the air down into the center of their group. Quickly, their arms became a loud humming blur, and little glowing lights began to get sucked down in the massive vortex they were creating in the street. More and more of the lights were dragged out of the sky to smash against the pavement or st against the spinning arms. It didn¡¯t take long to dissipate the false shadows clinging to the air in the dark street, and then there were no more sparkling lights. Mick was the first to stop, and the other quickly followed suit.


    They looked at the carnage on the ground before them. The sprites looked like insects and badly mangled ones at that.


    ¡°Fuck! Anyone got a shovel or a power washer?¡± Yablonski asked.


    ¡°Go tell the Colonel, it¡¯s all clear,¡± Mick told him, and he nodded before he raced away.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Mick looked up at the building and sighed as she hated running up stairwells. Somewhere up there was the Satyr. She hoped he wasn¡¯t facing anything bigger than the sprites.


    ********


    Henry slowly walked down the hallway on the fourth floor of Mab¡¯s castle, just one staircase away from Mab¡¯s private chamber. He¡¯d searched for her on each floor, but he knew eventually he¡¯d have to face her in the room where her greatest crime took ce. He¡¯d discovered an Ogre waiting for him with a mace in its big fist on the second floor.


    Taking on one of these big warriors in hand-to-handbat wasn¡¯t on Henry¡¯s to-do list, but he was given no choice when the creature bellowed its war cry and charged him. He barely snapped up his spear in time to drive its point into the chest of the onrushing attacker. The butt of the shaft hit the wall behind Henry, driving the spear point deep into the Ogre¡¯s heart. He watched the life quickly leave the being¡¯s eyes as it dropped to its knees and keeled over.


    He¡¯d been unable to free the spear, so he¡¯d picked up the mace.


    The third floor had two Ogres patrolling, which he tried to avoid, but he made a noise while hiding. They came charging back, and he was forced to swing the deadly weapon just as the first charged into the room. Henry¡¯s Satyr strength,bined with the heavy spiked weight, crushed the Ogre¡¯s head in a spray of blood and gore. As Henry watched the body fall in horror, the second Ogre rushed into the room and swung his own weapon. If the creature¡¯s aim hadn¡¯t been fouled by his slipping on the bloody floor, Henry¡¯s head would have been crushed as well. Instead, the club nced off his forehead, hard enough to rock him back and break through his paralysis. He sloppily swung the mace again and caught the fallen Ogre¡¯s temple as it struggled to stand. It fell and went still. Dead.

 275

    His mace was covered in blood and brain matter, so he dropped it and picked up the club to continue up to the fourth floor.


    As he topped the stairs, the building shuddered and tilted another degree. Henry¡¯s feet actually left the ground for a moment, then he was bracing himself against the stone wall. He heard the stone building¡¯s dying moans. He snatched his hand back as he stared at the stone closer. Thin veins of ck rot were creeping upward. He recalled the ckening of the rock where the office tower¡¯s iron skeleton had pierced it. Was the castle dying?


    He reached out and ced his hand against the stone once more. He opened his perceptions and heard more than one voice crying out in pain and taking itsst gasp. He pulled his hand away. What had Mab done to bind these people to the building? Mab was mad and surrounded herself with madness, so why was he surprised that the very stones of her castle shared in that?


    He shook his head and knew he had to get out of here as quickly as he could, but not without Marisa.


    So, here he was, just one level to go, plodding heavily down the beautifully paneled hall keeping his eyes on the staircase at the end.


    He couldn¡¯t hear his footsteps.


    Something about that triggered a memory of his first visit.


    The bedroom he¡¯d been assigned. The room with the sound deadening floors. Silence to not disturb neighboring guests. Silence to hide Mab¡¯s approaching footsteps.


    He suddenly swung the heavy club in an arc around himself and felt its impact against at least three bodies. They squealed in pain as their invisibility dropped. Hairless, wrinkled skin the color of ashes, furless goat legs, upwards pointed ears, small dark eyes, and wide mouths of sharp teeth. Goblins!


    As the illusion of invisibility dropped, he found himself surrounded by the smaller creatures. His memory of their vicious cruelty shed through his mind, and he swung the club again and again. Some managed to nick him with their des, but his club always answered by breaking their bones and crushing their skulls. He lost his grip on the club, and the remaining Goblins cheered until he waded into their midst with his fists and hooves, his rage building. The final three tried to flee, but Henry took them down against the base of thest staircase, crushing them under his hooves.


    Mab unleashed another scream of rage from the floor above when he¡¯d extinguished the life of herst Goblin thug. He nced up in exhaustion, but she didn¡¯t appear on thending. He looked back down the hallway, and there had to be at least two dozen of the grey bastards. All dead. He looked at his hands and saw the green blood on them. His body was streaked with it as well.


    While he¡¯d avoided any dys, he needed to recharge himself. He reached inside to the tear to the realm of Wild Magic and found Mab there desperately trying to seal it. He tried to seize her mind, but she fled with a shriek at being discovered. He was stunned that he¡¯d almost missed her infiltration. It had to have happened while he was distracted by fighting the Goblins. As he pondered how it might have turned out, he tapped into the energy streaming through the opening. It proved to be exceptionally difficult to direct the energy towards his own needs, but he did feel a little better.


    He turned back to the stairs and began to climb. He smiled grimly. If this was a video game, he¡¯d have reached the big boss level. Unfortunately, he had no experience with video games either. Whether that proved to be a benefit or led to his doom, he was about to discover.


    -=-


    Looking through the front doors of the old office tower, they could see the feet of the night security man sticking out from behind his desk. He wasn¡¯t likely to be sleeping, so he was probably dead, a victim of the Sprites. The doors were thick and secure with ornate brass ted scrollwork over the tough ss.


    Colonel Crane contemted what it might take to cut the door and realized they probably didn¡¯t have the time. He looked to Roy. ¡°Explosives?¡±


    The big redhead shook his head and gestured to a pretty, young Asian woman in a white gown. Roy addressed her. ¡°Meixiu, can you get the keys from the man behind the desk and unlock this door?


    She nodded and suddenly turned to smoke, slipping through a gap in the door to reform into her original shape inside the lobby. Gordon stared at her as she rushed over to the security desk. ¡°What is she again?¡±


    ¡°Vampire,¡± Roy said absentmindedly as he watched Meixiu dip behind the desk and rush back with a ring of keys. It took some trial and error, but she found the key for the lock on the front door. They went inside, and Eleanor moved forward to check on the security guard, but it was toote for the older man.


    ¡°Sergeant, do a quick inspection of the top floor and let us know if there¡¯s a way to the roof. Be careful,¡± Crane said, holding the woman¡¯s eyes. She smiled and nodded before pointing to five of her team and heading into the stairwell.


    ¡°Can we use the elevators?¡± Nuru asked, stepping forward.


    Roy shook his head. ¡°The elevator room would have been crushed by the castle.


    A few minutester, Mick returned on her own and reported to the Colonel. ¡°It¡¯s a mess up there, sir. The castle has copsed part of the building¡¯s structure. The tower also seems to have damaged the castle. Stonework has fallen into the floor below. There are gaps in the castle wall. There was¡­ a being made of stone. I think she might have fallen out of the broken room into the floor below. She was crying and standing before the broken windows.¡±


    A massive boom rocked the building, and windows shattered at street level.


    The stairwell burst open, and Specialist Green stopped in the doorway, taking in everyoneying on the floor.


    ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Roy barked as he pushed himself back to his feet. ¡°Is the castle copsing?¡±


    ¡°The rockdy jumped!¡± Green called out. ¡°I tried getting downstairs in time to warn everyone, but¡­¡± He gave an embarrassed shrug.


    Those closest to the door rushed outside. The sidewalk was even more littered with debris, thrown there from the impact crater a few yards east of the building¡¯s front door. Roy and Sigrid rushed to the edge while Nate and Siobhan stopped further back as others joined them.


    A figure stirred and began to climb from the pit. It was shaped like a woman, but that was their only clue.


    ¡°Are ya all right?¡± Roy asked cautiously.


    The stone woman nced up at him, and they could see tears in her eyes. She watched them timidly.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t expect to survive,¡± Sigrid guessed, and the woman looked to her, then shook her head sadly. Sigrid held out her hand. ¡°You¡¯re amongst friends. This is Roy, and I¡¯m Sigrid. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Ver-Veronica.¡±


    Her voice was rough and quiet, but Nate froze as he recognized it immediately. ¡°Ronnie?¡± he gasped almost silently through a tight throat. His feet began to move him backward through the gathered people. Siobhan watched him leave with a puzzled expression.


    He knew the woman getting to her feet before Sigrid, but back then, they¡¯d both just been human, or at least she¡¯d been, and he thought he was.


    Veronica Henderson. Nate grew up across the street from the cute brte. They were friends from a young age and sought each other out when hormones were busy turning them into adults. His parents had ensured he kept things innocent as her parents were religious fundamentalists, and things would get very bad for the girl if they weren¡¯t careful. Then came the day when Ronnie was fed up with her parents¡¯ restrictions and no longer wanted to y it safe. She¡¯d tugged down his zipper and got more than a little yful. He¡¯d never experienced anything so wonderful and wasn¡¯t prepared for his orgasm.


    The Wild Magic she¡¯d ingested had an immediate and frightening effect on her physiology. He¡¯d thought it was an allergy at the time, but he never got to ask as her parents took her and moved away.


    Nate dropped his mor and leapt into the sky, beating his ck wings to gain elevation, to get distance between himself and his sin. The woman whose life he¡¯d fucked up so badly she¡¯d just tried to kill herself.


    Sigrid watched Nate flying up and spotted a shadow circling the rooftop. ¡°Shit! Demons.¡± She looked to Roy. ¡°I have to go after Nate.¡± Roy nodded, so Sigrid stepped back then leapt upwards, her wings and armor shing into view, lighting up the street like daylight, as she chased Nate¡¯s inky ckness into the dark sky.


    The stone woman was watching the flying people with undisguised shock and awe. Then she realized she was the focus of a lot of attention.


    Cam moved up beside Roy and read the stone woman¡¯s bodynguage. She was shrinking from all the eyes aimed her way. This gave her an idea. ¡°I¡¯m Cam. We need to rescue our friend at the top of this building, but we can take you to a ce the locals call Eden once that¡¯s done. It¡¯s a world without Humans. It¡¯s very peaceful, I understand.¡±


    Veronica¡¯s eyes looked into Cam¡¯s. ¡°Who-who lives there?¡±


    Cam smiled. ¡°Currently, only some ss People and some Silver People,¡± she gestured back towards the soldiers behind her. ¡°But civilian Silver People,¡± she corrected with a gentle smile.N?velDrama.Org content.


    The stone woman nodded. ¡°That would be good.¡±


    ¡°Good. You can get into any of our trucks and make yourselffortable. We¡¯ll be back,¡± the CEO suggested as she pointed a short distance up the street where their rides waited. She got a nod from the woman, so she turned to touch Roy¡¯s arm. They faced the others to gesture for everyone to go back into the building.


    They had rescuing to do.


    -=-


    Sigrid was cursing under her breath as she raced closer to Nate, who was tiring in his efforts to reach the roof. She¡¯d definitely caught sight of at least two demons flying around the castle. Nate didn¡¯t seem to be aware of them.


    ¡°Wait!¡± she finally called out, and he lurched to the side as he turned his head to look back at her.


    The demon diving at him missed and shot by, mming into Sigrid¡¯s shield with a sickening crack. It continued on its way to the ground, broken and spiraling to its doom.

 276

    Sigrid saw Nate was aware of his surroundings once more, so she flew past, directing her course towards the spot she¡¯dst seen the demons patrolling the sky.


    Their attack came from both sides but did not catch her unaware as they¡¯d nned. She deflected the spear thrust from her left with her shield and knocked the one from her right with her own spear as she sliced the demon¡¯s throat with its tip. It squealed and fled as Sigrid switched weapons to her sword to cut through her left opponent¡¯s second spear thrust.


    It shrieked its rage as it switched to a sword as well. Sigrid was impressed with the savagery of its swordy, which barely managed to keep her de at bay. A ck streak shot past her back, and she bashed the sword-bearing demon back with her shield as she spun to face the second opponent, but the demon Nate had struck on his way by no longer had a head. She saw it tumbling to the ground as its body followed. She immediately reengaged with her other opponent and sliced through its arm, and gutted it on the return stroke. She listened to its death rattle as she scanned the sky for her next target. She could no longer see Nate, but she saw the Silver Soldiers begin to move onto the office tower¡¯s roof. She flew over tond next to them and put her weapons and wings away.


    Mick approached her. ¡°You¡¯re an Angel?¡± she asked with a trembling voice.


    Sigrid smiled. ¡°Thank you, but no. I¡¯m a Valkyrie.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the same thing to me,¡± Yablonski said with awe.


    One of the Silver Soldiers raced away to check for an entrance. He returned immediately. ¡°There¡¯s a big set of doors around the corner, but it looks like someone busted through the nkers instead.


    Sigrid smiled. ¡°The doors are likely boobytrapped. Smart, Henry.¡±


    She turned to the gap in the roof and helped the soldiers lift the others up onto the roof. She nced out into the darkness around the building, but Nate was nowhere to be seen. She owed him for taking out that demon sneaking up on her. She hoped he was all right.


    -=-


    Nate was on his knees on the next building¡¯s roof, dry heaving over the gravel surface. Nausea, cramps, and dread filled him, but nothing wasing out.


    When he¡¯d spotted the demon gliding up to Sigrid¡¯s back as she battled another, he knew he had to act. He was above them, so he beat his wings hard to go into a dive and snapped them in tight at thest second as he drew Mab¡¯s dagger. He shed at the demon¡¯s neck and was surprised to see he¡¯d cut the head cleanly from its body.


    Opening his wings again, he took the strain to swing back up into the air andnd on the neighboring roof, a good twenty stories higher than the office tower hosting Mab¡¯s castle.


    The moment his feet touched the surface, the cursed de released the life force it had ripped from the demon into Nate.


    He was immediately overwhelmed by a barrage of sickening sensations assailing his sense of taste, smell, and touch. It felt like he¡¯d been kicked into a city¡¯s human waste treatment tank with a few dozen bloated corpses thrown in to spice it up. He dropped forward onto his hands and knees and heaved but gained no relief.


    When he finally got control once more, he looked at the dagger resting on the stones like it was a viper about to strike. He didn¡¯t want to pick it up again, but he knew he had to save Henry from Mab.


    Thoughts of the evil Queen caused a surge of rage to sh through his mind. He needed to kill that bitch! He nced down and saw the dagger was in his hand once more. He vowed not to put it down until it had sucked the life from her body. He didn¡¯t even pause to wonder at his rapid change of heart regarding the dagger or the intensity of his need for vengeance.


    He leapt off the roof, a new eagerness coursing through him and a feeling of power he hadn¡¯t experienced before. It felt good, which was a relief after feeling so awful.


    Nate looked forward to the joy he¡¯d feel once Mab was dead.


    -=-


    Roy was staring at a dead body, the first casualty in their assault of Mab¡¯s castle. It had a devastating effect on the upbeat attitudes of the Silver Soldiers as it was one of theirs.


    Once they were all inside the building, Specialist Green had run forward to do a quick check on the ground floor level and hadn¡¯t returned. The castle wasn¡¯t thatrge, so he should have returned instantly. Roy and the Colonel managed to keep the other soldiers from rushing ahead to find him.


    They moved as a group and took in the damage they assumed Henry had inflicted upon Mab¡¯s art collection. This would have driven the Fae Queen into an absolute rage.


    When they came around the corner to face the stairs leading up to the second floor, they saw Green was down. Crane snapped at his people to stop as several made to run forward. They could see the specialist was frozen mid-run, but his head and the top of his shoulders had been sheared off his body. Something had cut through the soldier cleanly. Green¡¯s frozen expression of shock looked back at them, lifeless.


    ¡°Mary, move forward, slowly,¡± Roy said.


    She nodded to him and stepped lightly as she moved closer to the body. She was ten feet from it when she stopped and stepped back. ¡°Something here.¡± She touched her neck and saw blood on her fingers. That surprised and frightened her. Eleanor moved next to her and examined her skin, but it had already resealed. The surgeon pulled a tissue from her pocket and held it out before her until she saw a thin red line of Mary¡¯s blood appear on the tissue. She draped it over the ultra-thin wire strung up across the hall and stepped back. They couldn¡¯t see the wire, but it held up the tissue.


    Roy looked to Mick. ¡°He hit the wire at speed, and it went right through him. If it can cut through Mary¡¯s skin, it must be exceptionally strong and thin.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    Mahati moved up to the wire and gestured with all four of her hands before it. The thread began to vibrate like a plucked guitar string. ¡°It¡¯s metallic and under high stress. It can bepromised with intense heat.¡± Her hands moved once more, and a vertical bar of white-hot light moved up the hallway. The tissue ignited, and the wire broke with a sharp ping, shredding the paper as it snapped back to its anchor points on the sides of the hallway, the wood panels splintering under the impact.


    ¡°How are you able to use your magic after you lost your mor to the Wild Magic!¡± Investigator Keshellionined.


    Mahati turned to give the old Fae a haughty look. ¡°I¡¯m a N¨¡ga. We are magic.¡±


    She moved forward andunched her wire burning spell once again as they reached the stairs. Every second step had a wire at ankle height.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to strangle Mab with these wires,¡± Roy growled. Crane nodded as he bent to touch Specialist Green¡¯s head gently.


    Each member of his squad paid their respects as the group proceeded up the stairs.


    ¡°STOP!¡±


    Mahati froze and looked back at Siobhan, who was staring wide-eyed at something up the hallway.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Roy asked.


    Siobhan shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it means, but there¡¯s no magic in this hallway at all. It¡¯s a big dead zone. Magic is avoiding this space.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a sinkhole. Any being supported by magic will be incapacitated in this area. There will be focal points to draw the energy away,¡± Keshellion offered.


    ¡°What do the focal points look like?¡± Crane asked.


    ¡°Miniature ss orbs,¡± the Investigator exined.


    Gordon nodded and stepped forward until a hand caught his sleeve. He looked back at Corporal Dne. ¡°Sir, I believe this is something I should be doing, not you.¡±


    The Colonel looked at his driver and saw the serious look in his eye. He finally nodded.


    The soldier moved forward into the hallway and spotted what looked like a marble stuck to the wood paneling. He used his knife to pry it loose, and the orb turned ck. He nced back and saw the pretty brte smiling at him. She was so beautiful, and her Irish ent gave him butterflies in his stomach. He fantasized briefly about asking her out once all this craziness was over.


    The fact that she could see magic told him she wasn¡¯t human. It made him wonder if her appearance was an illusion hiding something terrifying. This made him look to the others.


    Dne saw the urgency on their faces, so he stopped wondering about the beauty and sped up his efforts, moving down one side of the hall and working his way back up the other side. Siobhan called out encouragements as she tracked how the dead zone was filling in with magic as he worked.


    A deep boom shook through the castle, the sound seeming toe from above, and the chandeliers down the hall exploded, casting everyone into darkness.


    ¡°The dead zone is gone, but we now havepany!¡± Siobhan cried as she saw the outline of beings rushing down the hall towards them. The Corporal was invisible to her.


    ¡°Dne! Run toward my voice!¡± the Colonel called out.


    Mick and Yablonski caught the running man before he could m into their boss. ¡°We¡¯ve got you,¡± Mick said quietly. ¡°Colonel, we¡¯ve got this. We can see.¡±


    The Silver Soldiers shot forward and quickly dealt with the troop of Goblins. With the loss of Green, they didn¡¯t hold back their need for vengeance. The marine was particrly savage, and thest of the grey-skinned creatures died within the first ten seconds of battle. It took another ten for the soldiers to stop. The Marine took another five before Mick told him enough.


    To clear a path, they kicked the bodies against the walls then shook off the gore. Luckily, nothing stuck to their new skin. Their clothes were another story. Aside from the Sergeant, they removed their soiled uniforms and left them over the bodies.


    Mick had to keep her uniform as it had pockets. She rushed back to the Colonel. ¡°Hostiles dealt with, sir.¡±


    ¡°I could bring out my armor,¡± Sigrid suggested.


    ¡°No, too bright,¡± Roy asserted.


    Mahati created a ball of white light hovering above her, which lit up the area around them. She led them forward with Siobhan at her side, watching for strange patterns in the ambient magic.


    ¡°I-I think the castle is beginning to die,¡± she said hesitantly.


    ¡°It¡¯s due to the iron piercing its foundations. It¡¯s broken the bindings between the castle and its magic,¡± Keshellion remarked from the rear.


    Nuru looked up at the ceiling. ¡°Are we in danger of the castle copsing on us?¡±

 277

    The old Fae scowled at her. ¡°It wasn¡¯t magic that built this castle, and it isn¡¯t magic that holds it together. There wereyers uponyers of magic bound to its walls and foundation, but their function is to support the spells cast within them.¡±


    ¡°Stone castles are not meant to be tilted,¡± Gordon Crane insisted.


    The Fae tilted her head to him. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s unfortunately true.¡±


    Sigrid made an impatient sound. ¡°Then let¡¯s get Henry and Marisa and get the hell out!¡±


    ¡°Is no one else going to ask about that boom?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in conjecture. Let¡¯s get upstairs and find out!¡± Roy growled as he moved up beside Mahati and encouraged her to move faster.


    Rounding the corner, they could see the stairs up and the dead body of an Ogre with a spear through its chest.


    As she passed the corpse, Minkah cast an evaluating nce at the cement of the spear. ¡°A skilled attack.¡±


    Roy snorted. ¡°This is Henry we¡¯re talking about. He¡¯s not a fighter. That was luck.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think he has it in him to be a killer?¡± Minkah asked curiously and watched as Roy shared ufortable nces with Cam and Sigrid. ¡°What? What did I miss?¡±


    Roy looked back at the assassin. ¡°Henry can kill. Henry has killed. It¡¯s just¡­ the boy isn¡¯t mentally wired to understand its necessity in particr circumstances. He has a difficult time with it.¡±


    Mahati checked the stairs again but found no more wires. They rushed up to the third floor and were relieved the lights were working on this level. Mahati released the light orb. After confirming there were no booby traps, they hustled down the hall.


    In one of the chambers off the hallway, they spotted two more ogres, this time with their skulls crushed.


    ¡°Luck, you say?¡± Minkah said with a smirk.


    On the fourth, they stepped over the bodies of the Goblins Henry killed as they rushed forward.


    ¡°I take it back,¡± Roy said. ¡°He¡¯s managing quite well.¡±


    Another massive boom shook the castle, and it was definitely much louder on this floor, so it had to being from Mab¡¯s chamber upstairs. The stairs at the end of the hall suddenly copsed, and massive stone bs fell from the ceiling further up the corridor. Through therge gap, they spotted Henry surrounded by a bright green aura. More stones began to fall from the ceiling, and Henry turned his head to lock eyes with Roy.


    The floor suddenly dropped under everyone¡¯s feet as the castle copsed further into the office tower. They were thrown from their feet and fell a short distance tond softly in tall red grasses.


    Roy scrambled to his feet but above him was only orange sky. He looked around and saw others from the rescue party poking their heads up from the grasses in surprise. The look of awe on Raymond and Eleanor¡¯s faces indicated their delight. They were certainly being exposed to new and exciting experiences.


    ¡°Did¡­ did Henry just dump us in Eden?¡± Cam asked incredulously.


    Sigrid stood and screamed her frustration. Everyone shielded their eyes from the sh of white light.


    ¡°Hey! Put it away!¡± Roy snapped, equally frustrated.


    ¡°How are we supposed to rescue him if he keeps protecting us!¡± she yelled. She struggled to calm herself as she hid her armor and weapons once more.


    ¡°Did everyone make it?¡± Gordon asked as he quickly scanned the group with his eyes, looking for his squad first.


    A quick headcount showed some were missing. Mick, Yablonski, Gunnery Sergeant Endale, Dne, Lorelei, Investigator Keshellion, and Nuru¡¯s two attendants had all been at the back of their party and may have been out of Henry¡¯s sightline. Nuru was present and had been standing just before her people.


    ¡°How do we get back?¡± the Subi leader asked nervously.


    Sigrid pointed up the field towards the sparkling people watching them from the edge of the forest. ¡°The ss People can open tears too.¡±


    Several Silver People ran down the hill to stop in front of them. Specialist Feinberg, one of the Colonel¡¯s squad, reached forward to grasp the offered hand. After a moment, they released, and the new Silver People ran back up the hill.


    ¡°What did he say, David?¡± Gordon asked.


    ¡°I shared images as he didn¡¯t speak English. He¡¯s going to speak to the ss People to let them know we¡¯reing and need immediate passage back home,¡± the specialist exined.


    ¡°Excellent! Thank you, David.¡± Crane looked to the others. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Henry was still alive and managed to save them from the copsing building. Cam prayed Marisa was safe too.


    As she followed the others through the tall grasses towards the ss People¡¯s gathering spot, she failed to notice the sleeping beauty in the grasses a few yards away.


    -=-


    Mick, Yablonski, and Endale stood on the staircase, holding Dne, Keshellion, and Lorelei respectively. Their charges had some bruising from being grabbed and yanked back, but they¡¯d been spared the fate of the two Subi who¡¯d been crushed under a falling stone b.


    ¡°Are the others dead?¡± Yablonski cried.


    ¡°No, I saw them falling through those tears the Satyr creates,¡± the Investigator gasped quietly as her ribs ached.


    ¡°What the fuck do we do now?¡± Yablonski whispered as he looked at the base of the stairs, which were impassible, the top of the stairs, which were also blocked, and upwards where the rippling glow of lights could be seen through the gap of a missing stone b.N?velDrama.Org content.


    Lorelei patted Endale¡¯s big hand to catch his attention and to get him to release his grip. ¡°Can you lift me up so I can see what we¡¯re facing up there?¡± she asked quietly.


    The marine nodded and cupped his hands for her to step in. Then he easily lifted her until she could peek over the stone¡¯s edge into the chamber above. She stifled a gasp as she was looking into the floor above.


    Just a few feet beyond the stone she was peering over, the floor dropped away. The fourth level had copsed into the third and had taken it down to the second. Up and ahead, she could see an intact span of the fifth floor being held up by a few damaged columns and sections of the outer walls.


    On that span of the fifth floor, Lorelei could see Henry kneeling, his head dropped forward in exhaustion, the green aura around him fed by a thread of lighting down from the aurora borealis in the sky above. The green light was back in the sky?!?


    Behind Henry, standing before a partially broken picture window, a young and pretty woman panted from some severe effort. She still had enough energy to sneer at Henry with an expression of glee.


    ¡°This is why you are weak! This is why you lose, again and again! You waste your energy on those unworthy of it. They are meaningless!¡± the young beauty crowed.


    ¡°No, Mab. They¡¯re my friends, and they mean everything!¡± Henry growled, but his voice was strained.


    ¡°You can¡¯t protect them. They¡¯re all going to die! Whether you¡¯re there or not, I will see them all die. This world, my world, needs a fresh start with new life. None who exist today are worthy of living in my new world!¡± Mab eximed.


    Looking around her, Lorelei saw there was room to stand and enough shadows to be hidden from the goings-on above.


    She looked down at the marine. ¡°Higher, we need everyone out of that hole.¡±


    He lifted her higher until she was able to kneel on the edge and reach down. ¡°Next.¡±


    She helped Keshellion out of the hole and Dne, who took over once he was out.


    Soon they were all on an intact section of the fourth floor.


    ¡°How can we help him?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°You can¡¯t. Do not try.¡±


    Lorelei squeaked in fright as a crone stepped out of the shadows behind them. Her eyes immediately went to the child in the old woman¡¯s arms. She saw blue eyes, full of joy. She immediately wanted to hold the baby, and she¡¯d never felt that way before for a child.


    Then the old woman¡¯s voice pulled up Lorelei¡¯s memories, and she locked eyes with the witch. ¡°You!¡±


    ¡°Another disappointment,¡± Baba snapped.


    Lorelei rocked back from the verbal p, and her voice stuck in her throat. She wanted to sing a song of this miserable creature¡¯s death, but her anger blocked her. Her face flushed, and her mouth worked, but she realized how powerful the woman was when she made a gesture, and all three Silver Soldiers fell back into the hole above the stairwell.


    Her mouth snapped shut in a well-timed surge of self-preservation.


    Baba stepped to the edge of the pit over the remains of the fourth and third floors and hopped over to a stone sticking out of the wall. She leapt from stone to stone, making her way around the perimeter until she was able tond on the remains of the fifth floor.


    The sergeant rejoined Lorelei on the tform and immediately pulled out her cell to record the events above them. Lorelei noticed Mab no longer appeared confident, though she looked down her nose at the old woman.


    She hoped Baba was here for more than intimidation tactics.


    -=-


    Henry was aching from the beating he¡¯d taken so far and tired from the drain caused by using magic.


    He¡¯d made it to Mab¡¯s floor and kicked the doors down. This had the bonus effect of stunning the two Ogres hiding behind them. He¡¯d picked up a dropped mace and stomped the skull of its owner. The other managed tond a few ncing blows with his weapon until Henry leapt forward, breaking the Ogre¡¯s ankle with a sharp kick. They grappled on the ground, the Ogre getting in a few more punches until Henry got behind him with an arm wrapped around its neck.

 278

    He¡¯d squeezed until he heard its death rattle.


    Staggering up onto his hooves, he¡¯d barely managed to avoid the fireball Mab shot at him. He saw she was still having trouble forcing the Wild Magic to obey. He¡¯d stalked forward until he collided with a force field she¡¯d thrown up between them. Henry had pounded on the field and felt it weakening with each blow. It was exhausting, but it was working.


    When the field fell, it did so with an enormous boom and a backst, which tossed Henry back as well. He¡¯d forced himself up and rushed her again only to strike a second field.


    His fists were a bloody mess, so he¡¯d pulled on the healing spell and felt its sluggish refusal to budge, so he¡¯d pulled harder and harder until it suddenly came loose and rushed from the surface to fly up into the sky once more. Henry could see out the window behind Mab and saw the swirling green light rise and thin out to its usual invisible state in the upper atmosphere.


    Calling it to heal his injuries was far easier now, and working with magic was bing second nature. Once his fists were better, he¡¯d wrapped them in the green light and began pounding on the next shield as Mab snarled at him from behind it.


    Henry saw Marisa was bound to an overlyplicated death trap Mab had devised to terrify Henry into submission. The unconscious blonde was strapped to a table with deadly des positioned above and to her sides, ready to begin dicing her into cubes as vials of nasty caustic liquids prepared to dissolve her remains. As he brutally pounded his fists against Mab¡¯s shield, his mind was busy creating a body profile shield for Marisa as well as a variant of his exploded view spell for the Rube Goldberg death machine.


    When the second field fell, he saw they¡¯d done some serious damage as the castle tilted further and began to copse.


    With Mab temporarily distracted, heunched his spells as he opened a tear on the surface of the table below the blonde. The trap sprung, but the pieces flew everywhere but at Marisa. As she slid down into a soft grassynding, the shield protected her from the stray droplets of the caustic liquids.


    Mab wasn¡¯t so lucky and shrieked as a spray of acid sshed against her leg. Henry was knicked by one of the des spinning past his shoulder.


    When the floor behind him began to go, he¡¯d spotted Roy one level down. In a panic, he¡¯d opened multiple tears and dropped everyone he could see into Eden.


    When thest tear snapped shut, he¡¯d copsed in exhaustion. He¡¯d been lucky Mab was upied, keeping arge portion of her floor mostly intact.


    He pulled on the energy from the rift within himself and felt his strength slowly returning.


    When Baba arrived, his eyes locked onto his daughter. Nothing else existed in the world for him at that moment. Their eyes met, and he felt an immediate connection. Her eyes twinkled happily as he smiled at her.


    ¡°You¡¯vee to interfere, again?¡± Mab hissed.


    Baba knelt on a plush area rug and gentlyid the babe down, touching her cheek affectionately. Then she quickly stood and backed away from the child as she made some hand gestures. Henry¡¯s head rocked back as he felt a snapping sensation in his horns.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m not here to interfere,¡± Baba said softly as she watched Henry sadly.


    He watched her with a puzzled expression. This gave way to dread as Baba stepped back into a shadow and disappeared. He looked to Mab and saw the insane glee re in her green eyes once more.


    Henry moved first and got his body between Mab and his daughter. Her hastily flung fireball scorched his left side, but he protected the baby.


    The pain was excruciating, and Henry immediately triggered his spell for repairing the damage. He barely managed to stay on his hooves as the burnt flesh fell away, and new growth began.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    Mab watched his agony with a feverish intensity. His torturous pain seemed to sexually excite her as he clearly saw the impression of her nipples against her clothes. He felt ill from how her face twisted into the most revolting expressions. He hated that she was using the face his daughter should have had. He stumbled forward and grabbed her shoulders. Her fingers wed at the fresh skin on his side, and he lurched forward as sheughed.


    The sound cut short as his forehead bumped against hers painfully. He pulled back and saw Mab was struggling to remain conscious. His skull was far denser than hers due to his horns. He jolted back when he noticed the silver thread connecting his horns to the top of Mab¡¯s head. He looked back and saw a second thread reached out and touched the top of the baby¡¯s head. He felt the three-way connection activate as a shock, and Mab¡¯s eyes flew wide as the thread began to elerate.


    Suddenly, the window behind Mab exploded inwards as Nate pulled his wings in andnded on his feet to run closer.


    ¡°HOLD HER, HENRY! HOLD HER!¡± he screamed, his voice high and tight with tension as he fought his own terror. Nate crashed into Mab¡¯s back, and she screamed. Henry looked down and saw the tip of Mab¡¯s cursed dagger sticking out her chest.


    Mab¡¯s eyes locked on his, then he saw them change from mad green to an innocent blue, filled with pain and confusion.


    ¡°NO! NO! NATE, STOP!¡± Henry screamed, but Nate wrapped his wings around them to keep the dagger in Mab¡¯s back. The look on his face was a mix of terror and righteous joy.


    Henry watched in horror as the light faded in the innocent blue eyes and her body shrank and quickly became an infant once again. The silver threads snapped as the process was over.


    Nate lurched back and dropped the dagger as the innocent life flooded into him. ¡°What? What? N-n-n-no!¡± he gasped and shook his head as the gravity of what he¡¯d just done sank into his mind.


    Henry sank to his knees, holding the tiny body tenderly against his chest. His mind couldn¡¯t contain his grief, and he just made quiet, keening noises.


    Mab, now back in her old body, chuckled and reached out her hand. The dagger leapt from the floor to her, the grip pping against her palm.


    ¡°My darling Nate! You¡¯ve returned my beloved de to me! Thank you!¡± she purred with a wide grin.


    He turned toward her, his expression twisting between terror and rage. He turned and leapt out the broken window.


    ¡°Henry, Henry, Henry. Dry your tears. This was always destined to happen. The child had only one purpose, and even that failed. The truth is, ultimately, everyone ends up disappointing you, even your beloved Baba.¡± She ran her fingers down her body, and she was suddenly wearing a very provocative skin tight dress. ¡°It feels so good to be in a body that¡¯s linked to the magicthat obeys!¡±


    Henry was lost. His daughter was dead. She¡¯d died in his hands. His heart felt like it might shrivel up and die.


    He opened up a small rift on the floor before him, and Xiong looked up at him in surprise. Henry gently lowered the little body down into the hands of the ss being and spoke to him through the magic they shared. ¡°She was my daughter, and I failed her. Pleasey her to rest¡­ somece beautiful.¡±


    The sadness returning from Xiong almost shattered Henry¡¯s control. The elder epted the small bundle and nodded. Henry closed the tear.


    He stood slowly to face Mab. The only thing left for him to do was kill this evil creature. Nothing else mattered.


    Mab¡¯s expression of delighted surprise wasn¡¯t what he expected to see, but she quickly clued him in.


    ¡°Oh, Baba, you shouldn¡¯t have! This istoodelicious!¡± she burst into manic giggles as Henry stared at her.


    She looked up at him with tears of joy in her eyes. ¡°My sweet Henry, or should I say¡­ Stanley.¡±


    She held up her right hand, and Henry finally understood the scope of Baba¡¯s final betrayal.


    The ring.


    Mab was wearing the cursed ring.


    ¡°Time to say goodbye to your retched Humanity!¡± she giggled in delight.


    He watched her wide smile as she spun the ring one way around.


    Henry couldn¡¯t cross the space between them in time to stop her.


    Time!


    He had no idea how to activate the temporal energy stored in his horns, but he focused all of his will on them with one simplemand,stop.


    Mab¡¯s evil grin was filled with her madness as she spun the ring back, slowly, then slower still until she just froze.


    Henry tried to surge forward, but he wasn¡¯t able to move though his mind was still active.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to mess with time magic?¡± Baba growled as she walked into view from behind him.


    ¡°You need to stop her!¡± Henry eximed and realized he was standing outside of his body. This felt familiar, as he¡¯d been outside of his body so often. He immediately moved to Mab¡¯s side and tried to pull her fingers away from the ring, but it was like pushing a mountain. He turned to look back at Mab. ¡°Help me!¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I can do what you cannot?¡± she asked scornfully. ¡°What makes you think I¡¯d want to if I could?¡±


    He frowned at her. ¡°You can do things no one else can. You reached back in time and pulled me forward like you did the others!¡±


    Baba shook her head. ¡°I did nothing of the sort. You can¡¯t go back in time. That¡¯s proven to be impossible, even for me. Youcango forward, though. I pushed you and the others forward to my present self, who knew when and where to collect you from the time stream. That your horns would collect the temporal energy was a surprise to me.¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°Right, the temporal energy in my horns. I¡¯ve seen it age and de-age someone. Isn¡¯t that going forward and backward in time?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid! Those are only local area effect spells modifying the state of an object or person within the field. It follows the stored memory in cells to revert to previous states and predictive algorithms to project their future states. Only temporal energy can power that spell,¡± Baba snapped. She looked to Mab. ¡°She used it to good effect at her party.¡±


    He sighed as this wasn¡¯t what he wanted to talk about now. ¡°What¡¯s stopping me from preventing her from spinning the ring?¡±

 279

    ¡°You are. You¡¯ve moved yourself into a state where you perceive this one moment in time. Changing the state of an object or a person is not possible without involving time. Truthfully, you can¡¯t stop time as that¡¯s impossible too.¡±This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°So, if I unfreeze my perception of time, shepletes her action, and I die. Stanley Garin will sh into and out of being,¡± he said softly.


    ¡°Yes, along with Humankind,¡± she concluded.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing my best to keep from asking the question you won¡¯t answer,¡± Henry said with a frown and sighed. ¡°What do you have against Humans?¡±


    Baba held his eyes. ¡°Nothing at all. I used to be one long ago. Now, they¡¯re just part of a bargain I need to be free from,¡± she said wearily.


    At Henry¡¯s exasperated look, she sighed. ¡°Henry, how old do you think I am?¡±


    He frowned. ¡°You know I can¡¯t urately guess stuff like that.¡±


    She nodded with the smallest smile. ¡°Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m one of the originals.¡± She looked to Henry to see if he would protest the vague answer, but he just watched her.


    ¡°I once had a son. He got sick. He was dying. I¡­ made an arrangement. He would survive, and I would live and remember. I watched him grow up, get old, and die. I was cast out when I outlived so many. I learned many things and grew in power. Gaining so many years means losing much as well. Important things, so I made a n.¡± She nodded in satisfaction.


    Henry watched her carefully and saw the weariness in her eyes. This was the most open she¡¯d ever been with him, ever. He suspected this was only because she saw her release from her unnaturally extended life once he released his hold on the moment.


    As if reading his mind, she frowned at him. ¡°Your moment is almost up. Time is moving forward regardless of your wishes,¡± Baba scolded him gently.


    He watched her. ¡°Thank you, Baba.¡±


    She looked at him in surprise.


    ¡°Thank you for taking care of me, to the best of your abilities,¡± he said gently.


    She snorted softly as she gave him a troubled look.


    ¡°No, I understand now I was just a part of your exit strategy¡­ but my life had more good moments than bad, and ultimately, I found love. That¡¯s a treasure for me,¡± he exined.


    Baba stared at him, and her lip twitched. She nodded, and that looked like a twitch as well. ¡°You¡¯re too soft-hearted. That¡¯s why you refused to willingly spin the ring when you were given the opportunity to end this.¡±


    He smiled at her. ¡°Perhaps, but I stand by that decision. There are too many beautiful and loving people in the world. People who would do anything to protect their loved ones. That¡¯s the most profound demonstration of love.¡±


    Baba¡¯s tick was back. ¡°I said I wouldn¡¯t interfere¡­¡±


    He felt it. The moment passed, and the ring¡¯s turning sequence wasplete. Henry released his hold on his perception of time, and as his observation of it slowed to real-time, he felt the beginnings of the dragon bone mor activating. Reality twisted, but this time he felt himself tearing apart. He¡¯d never felt this kind of pain before during a transition. He was being peeled apart! He felt a thinning of his being, a hollowing out of his core, and a sensation much like being dragged across a cheese grater.


    The torture wasn¡¯t just physical. He wasn¡¯t ready to go. Images of Sandy, Tish, and Dayshia shed through his mind, and he wanted to hold them once more. Cam, Sigrid, Marisa appeared in hisst thoughts. Roy, his surrogate dad. Meixiu, Mahati, and Siobhan. His child with Tish who would never meet her father as he¡¯d missed out on his own.


    It wasn¡¯t fair.


    A shock shot from his scalp to his toes, leaving him lightheaded.


    Time froze once more, but this time he saw it was Baba doing it, pulling him into the bubble of her moment.


    She was also streaming energy into him, and his head began to feel like a balloon being overfilled until there was a sh, a pop, and he was back. Imnted images flickered past the back of his eyes quicker than he couldprehend them, but they seemed intensely important. His muscles twitched like they were reacting to the images.


    Then everything went still.


    Henry was facing Mab but behind her, in the shadows, stood Baba.


    Standing next to her was someone he never expected to see again.


    Stanley.


    A shock went through Henry¡¯s body as he locked eyes with his former self. Their minds instantly linked, and they realized what Baba had done. Henry had no memories before returning from Irnd, and Stanley had no memories of what happened after. Stanley waspletely Human, while Henry was one hundred percent Satyr. She¡¯d split them so Henry could live on.


    Henry knew they had less than a moment, so he plunged his mind into Stanley¡¯s memories, imprinting a copy in his mind, as he shared everything he was in return.


    Stanley suddenly pushed him from his mind as he smiled weakly. ¡°Goodbye-¡±


    He was gone.


    Henry looked to Baba and saw her old eyes closing with a look of absolute peace, something he¡¯d never seen in them before.


    Then she was gone too.


    The frozen moment ended, and reality mmed into Henry, making him stumble.


    Mab¡¯s smile was ripped away as she looked at Henry with incredulous outrage. ¡°No¡­ NO! You were supposed to disappear! All of Humanity was supposed to DIE!¡±


    Reeling from the sensation of losing a significant and important part of himself, Henry struggled to focus on Mab. She was ring at her finger as she spun the ring again and again. Except, it no longer functioned, the curse had been triggered, and there was no provision for his existence afterward.


    Henry rocked with the horror of what that meant.


    Humanity was gone?


    -=-


    Gunnery Sergeant Chris Endale stood on the small section of intact flooring, watching the confusing shit happening on the floor a level above and ahead of them. His mind wasn¡¯t tracking what was happening at all. This was impossible shit. People couldn¡¯t just appear and disappear in shadows. People couldn¡¯t grow from baby to adult in seconds, either. It was making his skin crawl.


    The freak who pushed him into the other world was crying over the dead body of a child and lowered it through the floor. His nerves frayed from witnessing yet another impossible act. He grit his teeth in a feral snarl.


    The hot redhead woman on the upper level was saying some nonsense about saying goodbye to humanity as she did something with her hands.


    Dne was standing between Endale and Yablonski, behind the three women, so when the only fully human member of their group vanished, only the two silver men witnessed his empty uniform fall quietly to the floor. They stared, stunned by the finality and cruelty of this impossible act, and it was just too much for Chris.


    He lifted his eyes to look into the shocked and enraged expression of the other Silver Soldier. They shared a look, and Endale made hand gestures indicating the outer walls. Yablonski nodded stiffly, and they prepared their attack.


    -=-


    Henry caught sight of a silver streak running along the wall¡¯s intact remains behind Mab. It leapt across a gap tond on the floor close to her. It was the marine, and he was in a rage. He surged forward, and for the briefest second, Mab faded slightly as she spun with the dagger. The marine was grabbing at her as he raced by, but his hands passed through her instead. Her de shed through the man¡¯s wide neck. He stumbled wildly, and his momentum carried him into the path of a second Silver Soldier rushing around from the other side. They collided, and both went out the window at speed.


    Henry looked to where they must havee from and saw a third Silver Soldier turning to kneel before an empty army uniform. The image etched indelibly in his mind as proof the curse had worked.


    His eyes went to Lorelei, who was watching him with a wide-eyed, terrified expression. Then he saw the old Fae who was on her hands and knees mumbling and watching Mab with murder in her eyes. Her hands were glowing slightly.


    Henry knew he wasn¡¯t done. Mab nned to kill everyone. He had to stop that.


    He moved toward her, and Mab pointed the dagger at him. His eyes focused on the weapon that drank his daughter¡¯s life. He surged forward.


    Mab tried to run forward too but realized her feet were stuck to the floor. She shed a nce at the Investigator who was using thest of her strength and magic to cast a binding spell. She¡¯d deal with the traitorter.


    She focused back on Henry, who was almost in range, yet made no effort to protect himself. Stupid and sloppy! He wasn¡¯t a fighter. Once he was too close to avoid it, she thrust the deadly de at his heart.


    Its edge never touched his skin. Henry opened a small tear directly before the point of Mab¡¯s de and her hand followed the cursed weapon as it plunged into molten rock. He immediately released the tear, severing the hand from her now burning wrist.


    She screamed until his big hands grabbed her shoulders once more in a bruising grip. Her eyes flew wide as he yanked her forward to ram his forehead against hers, with all his strength this time.


    Old bone shattered under the intense impact and Mab¡¯s body stiffened then wentpletelyx as he threw her to the floor at his hooves. Curling his lip in disgust, he stepped back before he dropped her body into anotherva flow on Eden. He strained to hold the rift open long enough to watch the molten rock consume her corpse in the roaring mes.


    Once the tear snapped closed, the building shifted again, thest of the magic that kept it together quickly draining away without Mab to maintain it. Henry flung out a hand to open a tear next to Lorelei and the soldier, red grasses showing below. The soldier had the presence of mind to tackle the tall brte as she leapt through the tear before the floor copsed, taking the dying Fae Investigator down into the darkness.

 280

    Henry was done. Mab was dead. He hadn¡¯t been able to stop her from killing off Humanity. That weighed tremendously on his soul, but he¡¯d saved the rest. He stumbled back, and he watched the enormous stone bs fall from the ceiling above. The cascade had begun from the center of the building but was rapidly getting closer as he staggered back.


    Maybe¡­ maybe being buried under the stones of a magic castle was the proper conclusion for the man who¡¯d failed to save Humanity.


    The impact of the stone which swung down from above, struck his horns and pitched him out the open window behind him. Dazed, he felt the sharp pain of hitting the roof¡¯s edge, then the gentle caress of the wind as he fell. His consciousness mercifully slipped away, well before he reached his final destination of the street below.


    Epilogue


    The horrors of the Skyfall Event would never be forgotten by the survivors.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    What surprised most in the days that followed was how little panic and chaos resulted from it. Not that there weren¡¯t some localized outbursts of fear and violence. But even these were short-lived, and calm returned quickly as if the people had no stomach for it after so much loss.


    This reserved behavior made it possible for life to move forward and a semnce of normality to return to the lives of those left behind.


    But not everything remained as it was before.


    When an estimated three billion human beings suddenly and simultaneously disappear, leaving behind their clothes, watches, and jewelry, answers are needed.


    The evangelicals immediately eximed it was the Rapture, the worthy being taken to heaven, while those that remained were unworthy.


    On the opposite side of the crazy coin were the UFO enthusiasts/Alien abduction conspiracy theorists who imed the missing were now enved on far offs.


    The rationalists were left not knowing what to believe, and that somehow seemed worse.


    Regardless of what was believed, three billion people were gone, and that number was a rough estimate as a new census would be required for an urate count.


    To add a spritz of lemon juice to that wound, some people were no longer¡­ people. Initially, the number was small, but as the days passed, people sumbed in increasing numbers to a strange ailment. They would spontaneously lose consciousness and transform before the eyes of onlookers. These transformed people¡¯s new shape and size were often shocking and could have led to panic amongst the popce but somehow didn¡¯t. Sociology pundits theorized it was potentially because people knew they could be next, and behaving positively instead gave peoplefort and hope.


    Generally, treatment for the recently transformed was surprisingly considerate and gentle. They were taken to the nearest hospital to check their health. There, they would be met by a government-appointed counselor who often matched their new shape. These trained officials eased new beings through the change. In very rare cases, the transformed sumb to a fatal ailment at the hospital, but officials took care of these red-eyed souls.


    With a global presence and representation in every country, it was the most ambitious and well managed public health program ever orchestrated.


    The world¡¯s governments were demanding answers on what exactly happened, but they hadn¡¯t made much progress on it in the months that followed. The investigation focused on the odd and seemingly disconnected events that transpired in the months, weeks, days, and hours leading to the Skyfall. Every phenomenon outside the norm was recorded and cross-referenced to find the patterns.


    Disgraced US Air Force officer, Major Thomas, was enjoying another moment of celebrity while remaining in custody in London, Ennd, as once again, he awaited extradition to the US. Somehow, a statement from him was leaked to the press. In it, he imed to have been freed from his Canadian holding cell for the specific mission of destroying the small Irish ind to flush out the mastermind of a n to kill humanity.


    Two facts lent his story some strange credibility. A copsed Irish castle¡¯s remains rested upon the roof of a Manhattan office tower and on the street below. Its foundation stones bore scorch marks from a rocket attack. Officials were remaining silent about this.


    Then came the Tennison Clip.


    While the clip was definitely from the cell of US Army Sergeant Michelle Tennison, she wasn¡¯t the source of the leak. That was discovered to be a nosy junior tech in the Army¡¯s Intelligence Division, who should never have even seen the video but caught wind of the clip being circted at the highest levels. He managed to obtain a copy from a secure mail server before it was delivered. When he saw the time-stamp incorporated into the file and heard the red-haired woman¡¯s words, he got a little excited and made a copy for himself. While he didn¡¯t understand the significance of the actions taking ce in the video, the dialog and timing lined up exactly to the moment people disappeared, and the big brass were all over this video. He realized he was looking at something equal to or exceeding the significance of the Zapruder film.


    He posted it anonymously to his favorite clip aggregator website. Within twenty-four hours, the video was on the front page of every significant social media site, while the junior tech was sitting in a cell in a military prison as his apartment and life were being turned inside out.


    Most contentious were thest five seconds of the video, which showed a tear in space appearing next to a woman whose face did not appear in the video. The camera tumbled through the rift in space into tall red grasses, and thest frame shows the morning sunlight touching the tips of red mountains in the far distance.


    Never has a brief clip of video been more analyzed, scrutinized, and dissected frame by frame in high definition, aside from the Zapruder footage. Experts from every nation demanded ess to the source file.


    They were also calling for the identity of this being named Henry.


    But no one came forward.


    -=-


    Roy adjusted the cor of his dress shirt one more time, and Mary gently pped his elbow.


    ¡°Stop that,¡± she said quietly as her eyes panned over the grim expressions on the faces of the politicians sitting up on the raised dais. She¡¯d been before a police review board before, but she¡¯d never faced a special congressional investigatorymittee in the Capitol building in Washington, D. C.


    The floor space between the congress representatives and them was filled with cameras from every media outlet and majorwork. Mary felt a little odd being under the microscope, so to speak.


    She looked to Roy¡¯s other side and smiled at Mahati, who looked calm and prepared like she attended these every day. She had her mor back though she¡¯d told no one how she managed to do it aside from saying N¨¡ga are magic.


    ¡°I have more important things to do today than this!¡± Roy grumbled. Mary snorted as she knew he was eager to get back to his new duties as Interim Minister of Security for the Hidden Races Council. Chancellor Mugawee announced to Roy that the Assembly authorized him to offer the position to Roy upon hearing of Lise-Anne¡¯s demise and how painlessly how Roy had handled the redistribution of the Louisiana territories in just ten days.


    When the previous Minister of Security woke in VRL¡¯s destroyed boardroom, she¡¯d attempted to burn her way free from the cactus thorn trap but perished in mes instead. She¡¯d destroyed the room¡¯s fire detectors during her initial attack, so they failed to extinguish the fire until it began to spread, tripping rms in the outer hall.


    One of Roy¡¯s first acts was reinstating Michelle Beaumont to her former position with all penalties reversed with the incident expunged from her work history. He¡¯d need Michelle¡¯s vast knowledge of their archives for the work he intended to do.


    He also canceled all outstanding hit contracts. Lorelei could breathe easier once she heard that news.


    News of Roger Jensen¡¯s demise at the hands of Sandy and Kesini was received with shock and concern, and they received many hugs from the group for the ordeal they went through. Roy contacted the Chancellor to assure him that the threat had been dealt with. They decided to let the mystery die with the three billion other souls.


    Sigrid was spearheading the Global Transformation Support Program through the Hidden Races Council, and it¡¯d rolled out with very few hups. Very few people refused aid and support given in a time of crisis from people who spoke with authority andpassion and asked for nothing in return. The program was easing the transition of so many new members to each race. While the Council remained invisible to the general popce, select individuals interfaced with them through Sigrid, which was working well.


    Cam was back to running VRL, with Marisa filling in as Interim CIO from home as she took care of her baby girl.


    A gavel banged on the podium, drawing Mary¡¯s attention to themittee chairman as he called the meeting to order. In the center seat, Congressman Marvin Cressman was a gaunt older man with a shock of white hair and wore a dark blue suit, a crisp white shirt, and blood-red tie. He introduced himself as chair and had each of the congressional representatives introduce themselves. Then he began.

 281

    ¡°This selectmittee was formed to investigate what is now being called the Aurora Skyfall event, which took ce six months ago on June 10th, and the subsequent crisis which transpired in Manhattan, New York in the early hours of June 11thto determine their part, if any, in the massive loss of lives experienced all over the world. Themittee members sitting here with me were all given ess to the Tennison Clip. This video recording was taken by US Army Sergeant Michelle Tennison on June 11th. After multiple viewing and an in-depth review, we are left with more questions than answers. We were informed that the video contained proof of who was responsible for those deaths, but the video looks like the work of one of Hollywood¡¯s big special effects houses. Aside from the pretty redhead¡¯s outburst about killing Humanity and the timestamp on the video, we didn¡¯t see anything that clearly connects the film¡¯s events to the sudden loss of what might be billions of lives.¡±


    There was a sudden emotional outburst from the gallery as this was likely one of the first public acknowledgments of the scope of the loss.


    Cressman banged the gavel to quiet the room as Roy nced back, seeing the fear and rage in the eyes of people looking for someone to me for the deaths.


    When the room settled, the chairman focused on Roy. ¡°Please state your name and upation for the record.¡±


    ¡°Roy Duncan. Head of Security for VRL Investments in Manhattan, New York.¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, we heard testimony from US Army Brigadier General Gordon Crane that you worked closely with VRL Investments CIO Henry Gable, the same Henry Gable who wrote firewall application software that our government¡¯srgest security departments have now deployed.¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°May we assume you¡¯ve seen the Tennison Clip?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°We have also heard testimony that the being calledHenryin the Tennison Clip is, somehow, the same Henry Gable. Is this the case?¡±


    Roy sighed. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°The final moments of the video show the beginning of the copse of the rooftop castle. Thest remaining persons alive in the castle were Henry Gable, the unknown woman, and Sergeant Tennison.¡±


    Roy cleared his tight throat. ¡°To my knowledge, that was the case.¡±


    Cressman stared at Roy with a pensive expression.


    ¡°Did Henry Gable die inside that building?¡±


    ¡°No, he did not.¡±


    ¡°So, where is-¡±


    Roy cleared his throat again to open it, and the mic squealed slightly. ¡°Sorry. During the event, when the castle began to fall apart, most of the group I was with was dumped from the castle¡¯s fourth floor into Eden, a in an alternate dimension. It took a little time to arrange it, but the ss People there prepared to open a rift to bring us back. Sergeant Tennison joined us on Eden and had them open the rift further up the street from the building where our vehicles were due to the copse of the castle and debris falling from the building. When we stepped back onto Earth, we found Henry on the roadway. The body of his friend Nathan Walker was nearby. A witness on the scene indicated Nathan caught Henry as he fell from the roof and attempted to carry him to the ground, but he was too heavy. He managed to slow them until his wings broke, at which time he spun them to break Henry¡¯snding. They struck the ground hard.¡± Roy took some deep breaths then continued. ¡°Both sustained critical injuries from the fall, and neither showed life signs when we arrived. The witness, a transformed woman who¡¯d been waiting for us to open a way to Eden, carried Henry¡¯s body through the open rift which the ss People then closed.¡±


    Themittee members shared grim looks. ¡°We had hoped to speak to him dir-¡± The man squinted as orange light suddenly shone on his face.


    Roy stood as he turned to face the tear opening at the beginning of the aisle in the gallery. Two ss People slowly walked through and stepped to the sides. Next came two identical, red-skinned, ck-eyed Subi-with wings! The clothes they wore were little more than bikini tops and short shorts. The only feral Subi twins Roy was aware of were the ones Baba Yaga took from Mab, and these looked¡­ different, aside from the inclusion of wings.


    Arge shape was following them through, silhouetted against the light of sunset.


    Stepping through the rift was a sight Roy¡¯s brain couldn¡¯tprehend.


    Henry, in his Satyr form.


    Roy leapt forward to pull him into a hug, feeling the reality and solidity of this apparition. It wasn¡¯t just wishful thinking. He held Henry out at arm¡¯s length to stare him in the eye. ¡°Henry? You died! How¡­¡±


    Henry¡¯s smile was brittle. ¡°Yes¡­¡± Something slipped past the back of his eyes, something dark he was trying to forget, then his relieved smile returned as he clung to Roy. ¡°But¡­ I didn¡¯t cross over. I came back. I won¡¯t abandon my family.¡± His body shuddered, and tears welled up in his eyes but didn¡¯t fall. ¡°I was pretty busted up, so I had to repair my body. It took¡­ so long.¡± He shook his head as his eyes lost focus for a moment, then looked at Roy again. ¡°As to how?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s one of thest tricks Baba Yaga taught me. One star. Would not rmend.¡± He tried to crack a smile.


    Henry looked back and waved to them, and the ss People stepped back through the tear before it snapped shut.


    Mary gave him a firm hug, and Mahati was right behind her. When she released him, Henry pointed to the chairs. ¡°Is anyone sitting in that chair? Did I mention there are no chairs on Eden?¡±


    Roy put his hand on Henry¡¯s shoulder and realized his body was trembling. He helped him over to a chair and frowned in worry as he picked up that Henry was limping. Considering how shattered his legs had been, the limp was the least he¡¯d expected. Mary and Mahati added an additional chair behind the table.


    Henry turned to Roy. ¡°How long have I been out?¡± he asked hesitantly.


    ¡°Six months,¡± Roy said.


    ¡°Tish and Marisa?¡± he asked.


    Roy smiled. ¡°Baby girls. All are healthy, and they¡¯ll be happier now that you¡¯re back! Youareback, right?¡±


    Henry snorted quietly, infinitely relieved to hear the news. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m back.¡± Mary and Mahati were grinning happily at him in return.


    Only then, Roy, Mary, and Mahati realized the congressmen and women were missing, and secret service agents were in their ces, covering them with drawn weapons. Roy noticed the two Subi sitting on the floor in front of the table before Henry. He¡¯d ask about themter as they seemed remarkably calm at the moment. The press, brave enough to remain in ce before their table, were busy getting footage never before seen anywhere.


    Roy raised his voice and called out so he¡¯d be heard by the congresspeople hiding in the next room. ¡°You wanted to ask Henry Gable questions, and he¡¯se back from the dead to do it. The least you could do is ask them and not waste his time!¡±


    Congressman Crestline was the first to push his way back onto the raised dais and gape down at the group.


    ¡°Henry Gable,¡± Roy said with a big smile as he gestured to the big Satyr in the chair.


    Crestline nodded and called out for the agents to put their weapons away and gestured for them to get the other congresspeople to return.


    It took at least ten minutes to find and convince them there was no danger, but soon enough, they were all in their seats staring at therge horned man and the lovely red-skinneddies sitting at his¡­ hooves.


    Then they were ready to ask their questions.


    -=-


    Once Tish and Marisa got their babies settled for their afternoon nap in the crib at Tish¡¯s ce, they joined the others in the living room. The big TV was tuned to the special report on the congressionalmittee meeting as they all wanted to see their friends. They could see Roy fidgeting with his shirt cor and Mary pping his elbow. Cam and Sigrid chuckled at the frustrated look on Roy¡¯s face.


    Sandy was cuddled in next to Dayshia. The two of them were doing their best to raise the spirits of the other. Sandy¡¯s parents, and most of their friends, had disappeared while they slept. She hadn¡¯t gone home to settle affairs, though she knew she would have to soon. She also missed Henry terribly.


    Dayshia was sad because she¡¯d missed her chance to tell Henry how she felt, and now she was worried she¡¯d never find love. In the interim, she¡¯d decided to take a break from dating for a while.


    Meixiu was in deep discussion with Michelle and Eleanor as Raymond spoke softly with Lorelei and Siobhan. Lorelei¡¯s group had been working on new daily music dispatches since the night of the crisis. Raymond had the heart of a poet and worked closely with Lorelei to work out a series of messages to ease the popce¡¯s hearts and minds. They were having a subtle but profound effect on the survivors.


    Siobhan¡¯s part was uploading thepleted music to multiple content aggregator websites and managing their trending. The demand for the recordings had be so high, they hit the front page of these sites within minutes of upload. The big Media outlets were always just a step behind these newer media distribution channels, but their reach was much broader.


    Tish smiled at the gathering, then sat on the couch next to her besties. Her ce had be a kind of unofficial hang out for everyone. VRL was paying the mortgage payments, and Cam assured her that would continue for as long as Tish and her baby lived there. Cam waspletely infatuated with Henry¡¯s and her child.


    She nced at the TV and saw Roy had begun speaking. The room went quiet as he described finding Henry after the castle copsed. It was a hard memory for all of them, and tears welled up.


    When the orange light suddenly bathed the face of Congressman Crestline, Sigrid and Meixiu both blurted a blunt exmation of sound as their memories took them back to an evening behind Meixiu¡¯s inherited mansion.


    The ss People stepped through, and the group held their breath.


    The arrival of the feral twins pulled a gasp from Cam as she knew Baba Yaga had stolen them away. What were they doing on Eden? Then she saw differences hinting that they¡¯d evolved, one of them being major. ¡°WINGS!¡± she cried.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    Then everyone was screaming and crying, except Eleanor and Raymond, who watched the reactions with shock.


    They watched Roy hugging Henry¡¯s impossible image and saw how shaky the younger being was as Roy guided him to a chair.

 282

    ¡°Henry! Oh my god! It¡¯s Henry!¡± Cam cried.


    Sigrid shushed everyone fiercely so they could hear.


    -=-


    Themittee meetingsted four hours, and by the end, Henry was almost ready to slip back into aa. With the promise to return on Monday, giving Henry the weekend to recover, they adjourned. Roy and Mary supported Henry as they made their way up the aisle of the gallery to the doors at the back of therge chamber. Mahati walked behind the two Subi who were watching Henry anxiously.


    ¡°Roy, do you remember Mab¡¯s magic door?¡± Henry asked.N?velDrama.Org content.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Roy said cautiously.


    ¡°Would you mind if I used one to get us home?¡±


    Roy looked at him sharply. ¡°How do you propose to do that? That¡¯s old realm magic.¡±


    Henry smiled weakly. ¡°Remember, I still have Mab¡¯s finger. The bone is linked to the old realm. It¡¯s like¡­ it¡¯s like I¡¯m carrying a reliquary. I can feel it. And I have¡­ Baba¡¯s knowledge of magic. I can open a door. Please, I just want to go home.¡±


    Roy traded a look with Mary and Mahati. ¡°Sure,d. If that¡¯s what you need.¡±


    They reached the back of therge chamber and faced the doors. Henry asked them to release him. He stood swaying on his hooves but reached out a hand to touch the door with his right ring finger as his lips moved silently.


    When he pulled his hand back, he knocked on the door. Within seconds, it opened to show the hallway of his condo and the shocked and tear-streaked faces of the ones he loved. Tish pulled him into her arms, and he was gently guided back through the hall as the rest of his group followed.


    Mahati wasst to cross the threshold and looked back to see the cameras were still focused on them. She smiled and waved before closing the door. She felt the magic dissipate, so she opened the door once more to see their condo building¡¯s hallway. The Capitol Hill meeting room was no longer there. She closed and locked the door with a smile.


    Thedies guided him towards the bedroom as they could see he was out on his feet, but he insisted on seeing the babies. Tish and Marisa guided him up to the crib¡¯s side, and he looked down at the two sleeping angels.


    ¡°They¡¯re so beautiful! I missed their births. I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Henry said quietly with tears on his cheeks.


    Marisa gently stroked his arm. ¡°You wereing back to us. It¡¯s forgiven.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re so beautiful!¡± he sighed.


    Thedies smiled, then guided him back out into the hall where the others waited. He hugged and kissed his way through the gauntlet of friends, surprising Mahati and Lorelei with a kiss that caused them both to blush.


    Finally, the twin Subi took his arms and pulled him into the bedroom to ease him down on the bed. They curled up against his sides while keeping a watchful eye on the people staring back at them. Henry was out.


    Tish smiled back at the hallway of people. ¡°They seem very protective of him.¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s move back and let the boy sleep. He¡¯s performed enough miracles today. We have the weekend to catch up with him.¡±


    Tish shut the door, and the group moved back to the living room.


    Cam sighed. ¡°Speaking of over-protective females, have any of you been osted by Minkah Meskh recently? She¡¯s been hanging around VRL, asking about Henry. She had that meltdown that night,¡± Many nodded as they recalled her panic and rage when the stone woman carried Henry through the rift, and it closed behind her. ¡°She¡¯s been insisting he was alive ever since. I don¡¯t know what senses or abilities Bastets have, but now we know she was right. We¡¯re going to have to let her know he¡¯s back.¡±


    Roy snorted. ¡°If she¡¯s anywhere near a TV, it¡¯s highly likely she already knows.¡±


    Eleanor addressed the group. ¡°How is it possible for him to be alive? I examined him that night. He had no life signs, and his injuries were too severe to sustain life!¡±


    Roy shook his head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t his first time, dying, I mean. When he was severely burned by the lightning strike in Washington, he told us he died but returned and healed his body. I can¡¯t imagine what level of will power it would take to deny death itself.¡±


    They were quiet for a time as they considered that.


    Meixiu suddenly stood. ¡°I believe Henry will be very hungry when he wakes. We should purchase the ingredients for a few meals.¡±


    Smiles appeared on the faces of the friends, and Sigrid nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a party out of it!¡± Tish said as she hugged Sandy and Dayshia, who were both beaming with brilliant smiles. Kesini wrapped herself around all three and hugged them.


    ¡°Does anyone else feel like they¡¯vealreadyeaten a full meal and gotten a good night¡¯s sleep?¡± Raymond asked, curious. Eleanor nodded with a wide-eyed smile.


    Siobhan grinned. Her sight had picked up the fact that Henry was leaking Wild Magic energy like never before. ¡°It¡¯s Henry. The flow of energy passing through him is incredible!¡±


    ¡°You know what that means, don¡¯t you? He¡¯s going to trigger transformations like gasoline thrown on a bonfire,¡± Roy suggested.


    Sigrid nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s likely. You might want to warn the Congressional Committee.¡±


    ¡°Ach, screw those stuffy bastards. I was thinking about our people at VRL!¡± Roy growled.


    Cam smiled and nodded. ¡°Maybe Henry will need to work from home for a bit.¡±


    Siobhan was looking back towards the hallway. ¡°I think Henry¡¯s going to need to work outside the city for a while. The energy is leaking into the living room now.¡± Much more slowly, it was soaking through the concrete floors and walls.


    ¡°He can work from my mansion!¡± Meixiu eximed, thinking of her home on the border of Connecticut, which she hadn¡¯t parted with yet.


    That raised a few smiles as the idea had merit since it was very secluded. With Henry¡¯s Magic Door trick, he could work from there and go anywhere instantly.


    Sigrid looked to Meixiu. ¡°Why don¡¯t you and I head up to the mansion tonight? On the way, we¡¯ll pick up groceries to stock the fridges for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, then freshen up the ce. Tomorrow, Henry can open a door from here to the mansion so everyone can join us through that.¡±

 283

    Meixiu saw the happy looks on the faces of the others, so she nodded to Sigrid. Then she looked at the others. ¡°Everyone should bring an overnight kit with a change of clothes and sleepwear if you¡¯d like to stay overnight tomorrow. There are plenty of bedrooms in the house.¡±


    A party weekend n in ce, everyone stood, and hugs were shared. There was a new feeling of hope and excitement, and it was such a relief.


    Those who had to leave the building went first, with Siobhan and Meixiu being first as they had the most to do. The others promised to return to Tish¡¯s ce by 9 AM the following morning to have breakfast together at the mansion.


    Lorelei recalled Henry owed her a date. She was going to remind him of that promise this weekend.


    She left with Siobhan so they could produce the next song, which was going to contain an extra dash of hope and joy because of Henry¡¯s return. Raymond and Eleanor left to share an elevator with them.N?velDrama.Org content.


    Marisa collected her daughter, and Cam picked up the bag with all her baby stuff. She turned to the new mother before they left. ¡°Can you imagine the peace of mind of knowing it doesn¡¯t matter if you left something behind because you can just open a door and be where you left it?¡± she giggled, triggering the others. They waved and were out the door.


    Sandy was almost vibrating with joy. ¡°I doubt I¡¯m going to be able to sleep tonight! I¡¯m too excited about Henry being back!¡±


    Dayshia was nodding quickly as she shared a grin with Sandy and Michelle.


    They hugged Tish and left with promises to return in the morning.


    Tish ced her hand on Mahati¡¯s arm to make her pause before heading home.


    ¡°Has there been any word about Kali?¡± she asked gently.


    Mahati shook her head. ¡°She¡¯s been known to disappear from time to time, but this is the longest she¡¯s ever been away without contacting me.¡±


    Tish gave her a hug and walked her to the door.


    Then she was alone in the condo. A thrilled smile appeared on her face, and she danced in ce for a second because Henry was back. She quietly made her way to the bedroom door and slowly opened it.


    ¡°Croo?¡±


    She saw two faces lift from the pillows to look towards the door curiously. Henry was snoring softly, and she smiled at how muchfort she got from that sound.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Sleep,¡± she said softly. After a moment, the heads settled down once more, so she closed the door.


    Tish would sleep on the sofa tonight. She¡¯d speak with Henry tomorrow to work out the sleeping arrangements for their new guests.


    -=-


    In the early hours of the morning, Henry woke in his bed between the Subi twins¡¯ soft and warm bodies. In the past couple of weeks, when he¡¯d healed sufficiently to hover at the edge of consciousness, he¡¯d been aware of this sensation. They took as muchfort from it as they gave.


    Abandoned by Baba Yaga on Eden, they¡¯d wandered until they¡¯d picked up his scent and tracked it back to the ss People vige and found him healing.


    When he stirred they immediately woke and looked to him. He touched their cheeks, and they leaned into the touch.


    ¡°Sleep,¡± he whispered, and they both faded back into a restful state. It was the same spell Baba used on him for his entire childhood, now at his disposal.


    He eased himself from the bed and switched to his human mor with PJ bottoms for decency as he watched the twins sleep. Carefully walking to the door, he slipped out silently and walked down the hall slowly. His left leg wasn¡¯t one hundred percent yet, so small spikes of pain went up his leg into his hip as he put weight on it.


    ncing forward, he saw snow on the balcony. That was jarring as it reminded him how long he¡¯d been away.


    He padded into the baby¡¯s room and over to the crib, where he watched his daughter sleep. A tear slipped down his cheek, but this one came from joy. She truly was perfect. He vowed to do anything and everything in his power to protect her. He knew he couldn¡¯t control everything, but what he could, he would.


    He felt someone watching him and smiled as he knew it was Tish.


    ¡°Sorry, did I wake you?¡± he whispered.


    She crossed the room, switching to her Human mor as well. When she stood before him, she reached out tentatively to touch his chest. The breath she¡¯d been holding came out in a gasp, then she was in his arms, kissing him desperately. He gently but firmly held her face as he slowed their kisses until they were sweet and tender. Her arms wrapped around him, pressing her body tightly to his.


    When the kiss broke, he held her trembling body close as the tears came. He said nothing but kept her in his embrace until her breathing returned to normal.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t contact you and let you know I was alive. I fully woke and was sufficiently healed just a day or so ago. My time sense is still messed up,¡± he said quietly next to her ear.


    ¡°You-you were dead,¡± she choked out.


    ¡°My body was smashed up pretty bad and didn¡¯t want to function, but I¡­ refused to leave it. I had toe back. For her. For you. For Sandy, Dayshia, and the others.¡± He looked to the crib. ¡°But mostly for her.¡±


    She pulled back to look into his eyes with only the nightlight to see by. ¡°I keep thinking this is impossible as I¡¯ve seen so many victims of idents at the hospital. When they¡¯re as bad as you looked that night, they don¡¯te back.¡±


    He frowned and looked away. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not something I want to ever do again. This time¡­ wasn¡¯t like the first. Coming back was¡­ so much harder. I don¡¯t think I could endure it again. I can¡¯t describe it as my mind won¡¯t focus on it.¡±


    They held each other as they watched their daughter sleep.


    ¡°Why did Baba do this? Theplexity of the trap tells me it was her,¡± Tish reasoned.


    He nodded with a small smile, pleased she¡¯d figured it out. ¡°She wanted to die. To stop remembering everything. If Humanity died, she¡¯d be free.¡±


    ¡°Did it work?¡± Tish asked.


    Henry shrugged. She¡¯d put so much knowledge of magic in his head, he wondered if she¡¯d been collecting it while looking for a way to escape from her bargain. Many spells were beneficial and simple, like healing spells and the magic door. Others, he refused to look upon as they reeked of evil. Some were so alien in nature, he feared he might go insane if he examined them more closely. In his gut, he knew that thesest ones were somehow linked to the ancient beings Baba had made a deal with to save her son. She¡¯d had no fear of keeping these in her head, but now Henry was carrying that burden.


    He hadn¡¯t seen Baba since that night and in his mind, he could still see the expression ofplete peace on her face as she disappeared with Stanley.


    However, there was no smoking gun to confirm her n worked.


    Henry¡¯s stomach chose that moment to grumble.


    Tish pped her hand over her mouth to snuff out herugh. He pouted as he looked at her. ¡°Hey, I haven¡¯t eaten in months!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go make you some sandwiches,¡± Tish said as she spun and pranced away. Even in her Human form, she moved with the grace of a faun.


    Henry moved slowly to the doorway as he soaked in the warm and weing ambiance of the baby¡¯s room. He wondered if he¡¯d had a room this sweet when he was a baby with his parents. Likely not.


    He stopped in the door and closed his eyes as he reviewed Stanley¡¯s memories of growing up in Baba¡¯s cottage. He felt a twinge of sentimentality and pushed it away with a snort. She hadn¡¯t raised him to be a mopey dreamer.


    ¡°Good night, Baba,¡± he whispered automatically to the darkened room.


    He paused as he didn¡¯t know where that came from. He turned and walked away.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± the room whispered back.

 284

    If you could have one wishe true for Christmas, what would it be?


    This wasn¡¯t a question Henry Gable would have spent any time thinking about during the years he spent growing up in Baba Yaga¡¯s cottage in the swamp. They didn¡¯t waste any time on such frivolous, nonsensical things like wishes and Christmas. That¡¯s what she¡¯d taught him, at least.


    He was aware of wishing and the December holiday as he heard the other kids talk about both at school. However, at an early age, he learned Baba¡¯s strict position on such trivialities.


    That didn¡¯t mean he hadn¡¯t thought about them at the time. He just had no one to talk to about such things as he grew up, so he put them aside.


    When he spent his first Christmas in his new condo with Sandy living with him, she¡¯d put up a few decorations, but her work schedule was so busy, and he was learning how to live with someone, so they let the seasonal celebration slip by without much attention.


    He¡¯d attended a few Christmas Parties with friends and even a VRL office Christmas party, but they were just excuses to get together with his new friends. That was what he liked best.


    Cam had caught him off guard with the wish question as he was leaving the office on Friday. She¡¯d given him a seriously hot kiss that threatened to ignite the tips of his ears and put permanent steel into his erection. Then she pulled back to smile at him and hit him with the query.


    That was a dramatic way of making him reconsider the significance of wishes and Christmas. He had to admit, Cam was exceptionally persuasive at that.


    He¡¯d only just returned from his six-month convalescence on Eden a week ago. It had taken him half a year to heal from the damage his body suffered from falling twenty stories to the road surface below.


    He¡¯d learned from Roy that his injuries would have been much worse had it not been for Nate¡¯s heroic efforts to save him. He¡¯d managed to slow their descent for a time, but when the strain proved too great for his wings, and they failed, Nate sacrificed his life to protect Henry¡¯s head from striking the ground.


    Henry grieved his friend¡¯s loss and understood that some of the man¡¯s effort was likely driven by his guilt over his role in Henry¡¯s daughter¡¯s death. He knew Nate wasn¡¯t at fault for that, but he never got a chance to tell him.


    It was one more reason he was d he¡¯d killed Mab and destroyed her cursed dagger, too.


    He took some deep breaths as his chest was beginning to hurt again.


    Pulling his mind back from that darkness, he forced himself to think of something happy! He recalled the previous weekend with a smile. He¡¯d never received so many hugs and kisses in his life! It was certainly going down as one of his best weekends ever!


    He¡¯d limatized the twin Subi to his friends and taught them to be protective of his group as well. They seemed particrly fond of Cam, much to her surprise. She¡¯d then surprised the rest of them when she named the twins Aadya and Maliha and imed them as children of House Vimor.


    Sigrid obviously knew the significance of that as she gasped at her friend. Cam imed this act should protect them from being terminated as she¡¯d taken responsibility for them.N?velDrama.Org content.


    While they¡¯d bonded to him and preferred to remain by his side at all times, there were times when that wasn¡¯t possible. He discovered he was able to leave them in his condo with minimal supervision. Mab must have trained them to befortable with only each other forpany for extended periods. He found they adored nature shows, David Attenborough¡¯s voice almost put them into a trance, so he set them up with a nature channel, and they were content until he returned. He needed to speak with Cam about them.


    Spending the weekend at Meixiu¡¯s mansion in a winter wondend of snow and evergreens made everyone extra festive. It was decided that everyone was invited back to celebrate the Christmas break at the estate. With Henry¡¯s ability to create Magic Doors between any two locations, travel logistics were no longer a factor.


    He¡¯d tried to reach out to Yuko to find out how she was doing, but her cell number was no longer in service, nor was Jun¡¯s. He went to their apartment but discovered they¡¯d moved out with no forwarding address. Cam attempted to connect with Yuko¡¯s mother but let Henry know the woman refused to return her call. He wondered if he¡¯d be persona non-grata once more.


    They were such a vtile family!


    Siobhan informed him that his inner rift to the Wild Magic dimension was allowing a greater volume of energy through than before. The new levels presented a danger to post-Skyfall Event Humans.


    While they still looked Human, their bodies were actually in a vtile state. Their transformation into one of the Hidden Races would be triggered once they absorbed a sufficient amount of Wild Magic. How much was enough? There was no way to tell, as they couldn¡¯t measure how much had already been absorbed. When it would happen and what they would be continued to be a mystery.


    Normally, Wild Magic trickled in from ingested food and from the ambient energy in the environment. Hotspots like lightning strike zones from the Pseudo-Clouds gave off heightened levels.


    Henry¡¯s inner rift was like one of these strike zones, except it moved with him. The night of his return, as he slept in his bed for the first time in over six months, the Wild Magic flowing from him saturated his condo, seeping through the walls and floors. His neighbors downstairs on the eighth floor in units 809, 808, and 807 all transformed while they slept due to this overflow from him. They were taken to the hospital in the morning and were found to be healthy.


    The couple living in unit 807 became Incubus and Subus. As their rtionship had already been on shaky ground, this new state wasn¡¯t likely to resolve their differences, once the initial thrill of the sex wore off, at least. Cam assured Henry they would find their own way, and he wasn¡¯t responsible for their lives.


    Another surprise, the seven upants of 809 (a couple with twin girls) and 808 (a couple with a single son) had all woken to find they¡¯d be a variant of the Fae race not seen in millennia. Much like the High Elves of fantasy lore, they were tall and slim, with elegant features and long pointy ears. This group transformation¡¯s consistency was far enough outside the normal curve that it generated more interest than wasfortable for Henry. That day, he resolved to stay at Meixiu¡¯s mansion.


    Marisa began training him to mentally reach inside himself to control the volume of Wild Magic flowing from his inner rift. As she was an expert in managing the senses, she worked with him to devise a means to control the aperture. She found he needed a science-based analogy to allow his will to envision the controls. As the rift manifested itself as a vertical tear in the center of his being, they settled on the concept of a zipper to keep it simple. Henry constructed a spell in his mind to build and integrate the mechanical closure device along the edges of the rift. He would close it with his will to manage the flow.


    Wild Magic wasn¡¯t keen on being controlled, so it quickly eroded the first dozen or so attempts until Henry thought to incorporate the Wild Magic into the device¡¯s construction itself. This slowed the erosion, but he realized he¡¯d have to set up a maintenance schedule to rece this inner zipper periodically to ensure he could control the flow. He couldn¡¯t entirely block it, but Siobhan assured him that his most constricted setting was only twice the level of normal background levels¡­ for now. Marisa, Siobhan, and he would have to keep an eye on it.


    It took the weekend of practice tofortably say he could limit the output. They discussed it as a group and determined that, for safety¡¯s sake, remaining at the mansion, even working from it, was a good idea until he¡¯d perfected his method for controlling the flow.


    On the following Monday, he opened a door to VRL¡¯s new boardroom to join Roy, Mahati, and Mary on their trip back to Washington, DC. The drive to the airport was dyed. There wereplications with the flight tickets and airport security issues. When they finally arrived at their destination, Henry insisted they¡¯d be using a Magic Door to return home and for all future visits. He got no arguments from his travelingpanions.


    The congresspeople were surprised to see Henry in his Human disguise.


    It took three days of testimony before the congresspeople finally agreed they had enough information to work with. They indicated that they might call him back for additional questions. He said he could make himself avable, but to keep in mind that he was a working stiff with responsibilities to hispany and now a bunch of US Security Agencies. That earned him some chuckles.


    He¡¯d sessfully constrained the rift and had social outings without issues, so he decided to move back to his condo. He promised that if he felt he was having problems, he would return to the mansion.


    He went to work on Thursday, ready to get back to some normality, and wasn¡¯t disappointed. There were dozens of requests for reports from multiple departments at VRL, and he gleefully worked on them all afternoon and the next day as well. As he prepared to leave the office Friday night, he was excited about getting back to work on Monday.


    Then Cam hit him with the question. It was only ten days to Christmas, and she left him thinking about wishes with a boner hard enough to drive nails into hickory.


    Wicked woman!

 285

    Tish smiled from herfy spot on the couch where she was nursing their daughter, Celeste, as she heard Henry return from work through the closet door.


    ¡°Honey! I¡¯m home!¡± he called out like some old-timey si husband.


    The twins leapt up from their spot before the TV to charge out of the living room and into the hall. Tish pped a hand over her mouth to stifle herugh as she heard Henry¡¯s grunt of surprise as two sexy Subi jumped him in their highly excited state.


    The nature channel was showing a special on the mating habits ofrge wild cats. Henry was in for a surprise.


    He briefly appeared at the end of the hall, being tugged by the two females towards the bedroom. He cast her a look of bewilderment then he was gone.


    Tish returned her attention to her child, who was almost finished with her dinner. She knew Henry would bete getting home this week as he¡¯d been away so long.


    Twenty minutester, Henry walked into the living room in only his jammie bottoms. He smelled fresh from the shower, and she sighed happily as he cuddled in next to her. He kissed her with minty fresh breath, and she gave him a suspicious look. ¡°Did you eat dinner?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yup, I finished the second half of the sub sandwich Marisa picked up for me at lunch.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ and that was enough?¡± she pushed.


    He smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll have a big breakfast.¡± He fixed his eye on her. ¡°Now, what the hell were Aadya and Maliha watching before I got home?¡±


    ¡°Lions mating.¡±


    He gaped at her. ¡°You can¡¯t let Subi watch sexy movies!¡±


    She shrugged with a grin. ¡°I didn¡¯t find it sexy.¡±


    He snorted in annoyance.


    Tish decided to change the topic. ¡°Listen, did Mahati speak to you about Kali?¡±


    Henry shook his head slightly with a grin. ¡°No, and now that you mention it, where is that troublemaker?¡± Tish couldn¡¯t suppress the wince, and Henry¡¯s smile dropped away. ¡°What? What happened? Where is she?¡±


    Tish put her hand on Henry¡¯s and squeezed it gently. ¡°We don¡¯t know. She went missing the night of the Skyfall.¡±


    Henry was immediately on his feet. ¡°Why didn¡¯t she tell me?¡± He thought back to all the time they¡¯d spent together in Washington this past week when she might have told him but didn¡¯t. ¡°I need to speak with Mahati.¡±


    Tish released his hand. ¡°She said Kali had been preupied for a bit, and she often disappeared for periods of time. Not typically this long.¡±


    Henry switched to his t-shirt and jeans mor and pointed towards the front door.


    Tish nodded. ¡°Be really careful!¡±


    He kissed her tenderly and smiled before leaving the condo to walk down to Mahati¡¯s door. He knew she was a bit of a night owl, so she¡¯d be awake. He knocked.


    Momentster, she pulled the door open, and her smile slipped as she saw the look of concern on his face. ¡°Henry. What-¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me Kali was missing?¡± he asked as he reached forward to take her hand in his.


    She saw his concern for her inly on his face as the warmth of his hand gave her butterflies in her tummy. She pulled him inside so she could close the door.


    She led him to the sofa in her living room, and they sat.


    ¡°You had enough on your te, and I have Roy looking into it for me,¡± thewyer said gently.


    Henry gave her a stern look. ¡°When my friends are in need, I don¡¯tcarehow much is on my te. I need to help!¡±


    Mahati¡¯s eyes were locked on his, and once more, he was mesmerized by how lovely they were. He needed to change directions.


    ¡°Baba left my head full of her magic. Multiple lifetimes worth of it. Some I can¡¯t and won¡¯t look at as it would corrupt my mind beyond redemption. But some is very useful. There are tracking, and location spells avable to me.¡±


    Mahati looked at him in surprise, and a little hope appeared in her eyes.


    Henry found a location spell in Baba¡¯s memories that seemed promising. ¡°I need something personal of Kali¡¯s. The more connected she was to it, the better.¡± As Mahati rushed off to Kali¡¯s bedroom to find the item, he examined the spell closer and felt its intent and purpose. Baba¡¯s most recent use was also hinted at; an image of a diary belonging to a married politician¡¯s young lover shed in his mind. He suddenly felt a little squeamish having that knowledge as it seemed she wasn¡¯t above ckmail and extortion to make people do what she wanted.


    When Mahati returned from the bedroom, he lifted his hands, and she dropped something into them. It didn¡¯t feel like a book. It was cold and metallic. He looked down into his palms and saw it was a gold chain. He frowned as his memories tickled his brain.


    ¡°She wore this every day. It was her favorite adornment,¡± Mahati said as her lips trembled.


    One end had a piercing for an ear or nostril, but the other end¡¯s piercing was more ornate, and he suddenly realized Kali wore this through her nipple. ¡°Oh! Yes, this will work.¡±


    He held Mahati¡¯s eyes. ¡°The spell first identifies if Kali is-¡± He stopped as Baba¡¯s callous nature was tainting the magic. ¡°Sorry. It seems I¡¯ll have to be more careful in how I speak when using Baba¡¯s spells.¡±


    Mahati¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Her mannerisms are bound to the magic?¡±


    Henry nodded as his face warmed up while his mind scanned over his knowledge of her spells. ¡°I hadn¡¯t noticed before, but some of her¡­ frequently used spells have her imprint on them.¡±


    Mahati frowned in concern. ¡°If using the magic puts you in any danger, maybe it¡¯s not a good idea.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Vignce is the price of freedom. I can¡¯t turn my back on something that might help a friend. I just need to be cautious of her influence.¡± He rolled his neck to loosen the muscles. ¡°As I was about to say, the initial level of the spell forms a link between the object and the owner but only if the owner is¡­ capable. I won¡¯t do this unless you want to know.¡±


    She bit her lip and nodded. Henry could tell she was frightened, but she pushed through it. He smiled at her and nodded. He moved back from her on the couch a little and concentrated on the chain in his hands. He opened his mind to the sensationsing from the jewelry and linked himself to the old magic in the bones of his right ring finger. This spell only worked with the old magic.


    He suddenly felt the tug of the piercing on his nipple and the tingles that sent through her body. Their perceptions were blending! These¡­ were Kali¡¯s sensations, not his, but he felt them. She gasped, and he felt the air inhislungs, the excruciating pain in her body, the cold steel of the handcuffs and the fire in his wrists, and finally, her sudden awareness of his mind in hers. He felt her desperate hope surge.


    ¡°I¡¯ming,¡± he whispered to her. He knew where she was.


    Henry released the spell and opened his eyes. Mahati was watching him with a mix of hope and dread on her face.


    ¡°She¡¯s alive,¡± he said, and Mahati burst into relieved tears.


    ¡°Give me a minute,¡± he said stiffly as he stood and walked into Kali¡¯s bedroom, stopping in the door to look back at Mahati. ¡°Don¡¯te in here until I say it¡¯s safe.¡± He saw her confusion at first, then she nodded. He closed the door.


    Kali was in danger. She was being tortured, and she desperately wanted to go home, but she was in restraints. He reached for another spell from Baba¡¯s memory. It was like the Magic Door, but it moved the caster. He looked at Kali¡¯s closet door and memorized it and its location. Then he dropped his mor.


    Wrapping his left hand around his right ring finger, he recalled how he used this gesture tomunicate with his daughter. A stab of pain went through his chest at the memory of Baba¡¯s betrayal and his loss. It would take time to fully heal.


    He took some deep breaths, then cleared his mind and called up the translocation spell. His finger ached from the demand he was making on the magic within it, but he pushed through. He pulled up Kali¡¯s location andunched the spell. His stomach twisted then a sharp pain struck across his shoulders as he heard a high-pitched scream.


    He was standing in a dimly lit concrete block room. It was damp and cold and stank of shit, piss, sweat, blood, and fear. His shoulders were on fire from the sharp blow he¡¯d taken, but he hadn¡¯t been the intended recipient of the bullwhip strike, so he¡¯d been inside its reach, diminishing the power. Before him, Kali was chained to the wall with two pairs of handcuffs linking her arms to rings bolted to the concrete walls. Her arms were spread wide, and she was struggling to support herself on the coiled muscle of her tail.


    Her mor was gone.


    In a nce, he took in countless scars on her body, and the bruising on her upper body, teeth marks on her breasts. He felt the whiping at his back again, so he spun and grabbed the braided leather out of the air and yanked.


    The man who¡¯d held the other end stumbled forward and fell onto his stomach. He wasrge and thick-bodied, but he was currently covered in ck studded leather from head to foot. Not an inch of skin was exposed. The leather hood, jacket, pants, and boots were crisscrossed with straps and buckles. Henry found they made excellent grips as he lifted the man by the straps on his back and mmed him down against the concrete floor repeatedly until he heard whimpers.

 286

    Henry tugged the zipper up the back of the man¡¯s head and yanked off the mask.


    ¡°NOOO!!!¡± the man screamed in terror, so Henry bounced him hard against the floor then flipped him over.


    Henry frowned as he recognized him from somewhere. Then it popped into his head. He was one of the morning anchors from a majorwork channel. Chet, no, Chuck Darnell, the big, jolly goof who did the light-hearted, feel-good stories for the show. Seeing him here was so far out of context. His nose was broken from the impact against the floor.


    ¡°Keys,¡± Henry demanded, and the man¡¯s eyes widened in panic.


    ¡°I-I-I don¡¯t have them! I don¡¯t run the ce! I¡¯m just a client!¡± the man babbled in fear.


    Henry wanted to hurt this man, but he didn¡¯t want to waste time. If he¡¯d had a permanent sharpie marker, he¡¯d write his crimes on his face-


    A memory rose in Henry¡¯s mind, a spell of Baba¡¯s. Almost before he was aware of what he was doing, he was writing with a fingertip across the man¡¯s forehead as he spoke words he couldn¡¯t hear. The man¡¯s eyes widened, and tears of shame formed as he struggled to take a breath.


    Henry stood and looked down at him in disgust. ¡°Leave.¡±


    The heavy man¡¯s crimes were written on his face, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to hide them from his family, friends, or coworkers. There was no ink or even scratches on the pale skin of his forehead, but thepulsion to confess his sins had been deeply imprinted in the man¡¯s mind.


    Frantic to escape, he rolled over onto his hands and knees, scrambled towards the door, and then got to his feet and ran. The moment he was out the door, Henry moved to Kali¡¯s restraints and used his strength to break the links between the cuffs. He¡¯d need a key to remove them from her wrists, but he could get her home for now. He eased her down, and she whimpered.


    He heard the sound of running, so he sprinted across the room and touched the door as he cast the Magic Door spell. Secondster, the outer hall sounds became muffled. He cautiously opened the door and saw Kali¡¯s room.


    Smiling to himself, he walked back to Kali and carefully lifted her in his arms. He carried her across the room and into her bedroom. He gently set her down on her bed.


    ¡°Mahati. Can youe in, please?¡±


    The older sister immediately entered and cried in dismay when she saw her sister. She rushed next to the bed and touched her sister¡¯s face gently.


    ¡°Do you have the number for General Crane?¡± he asked her.


    Mahati looked at him in confusion. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°General Crane. I need to speak to him.¡±


    ¡°Now?¡± she asserted.


    ¡°Yes, unless you¡¯re fine with the monsters who did this to Kali getting away,¡± he said firmly.


    She pursed her lips and rushed out of the room to return with her cell. She dialed and handed it to him.


    Henry walked over to the window as he listened to the phone ring. On the fourth, he heard someone answer. ¡°Ms. Chandra? What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Hi, General Crane. This is Henry Gable. I¡¯m at Mahati¡¯s ce, and I asked her to call you for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is everything all right, Mr. Gable?¡± he said, sounding a little ufortable.


    ¡°I need some assistance from the squad of Silver Soldiers you have watching me,¡± Henry said frankly.


    Crane was quiet for a second, then cleared his throat. ¡°Why do you think I assigned my squad to such a duty?¡±


    ¡°Because I spent several days telling US congresspeople a bunch of stuff that made most of them very nervous about the security of their way of life. Of course, they asked to have a squad of soldiers to keep track of me. From the few demonstrations I made of my new means of travel, they wouldn¡¯t have asked regr soldiers. Besides, I can feel their energy close by.¡± Henry looked back at Mahati.


    She turned her head to look at him incredulously, and he shook his head as he shrugged.


    Crane exhaled in a gust. ¡°Dammit! How are we supposed to do our jobs if we don¡¯t haveplete intel!¡± the General cursed.


    Henry smiled. ¡°So, can I get their help?¡±


    Crane sighed. ¡°What are you asking for?¡±


    Henry turned to look out the window again and spoke softly. ¡°A friend of mine was kidnapped, likely around the time of the Skyfall. She¡¯s been held prisoner in some kind of torture club.¡±


    ¡°You need help extracting her?¡± Gordon asked.


    ¡°No. I got her out, but there could be others, and there may be a client list for this club and information on the operators. I need help freeing the rest and collecting the information so we can shut these monsters down permanently.¡±


    ¡°Where is the club? I can have the team raid it and call in the local authorities to collect the operators and customers,¡± the General suggested.


    ¡°I just caught Chuck Darnell of the very popr breakfast show, New York Morning Express, whipping my friend with a bullwhip while dressed in some leather fetish wear. We aren¡¯t going in the club¡¯s front door as the cockroaches would just escape out the back ways. I have a door already opened in the dungeon. They¡¯re aware of my presence but probably think I¡¯m trapped in the room. They¡¯ll have a team of security goons trying to bust in to get me as we speak. We break in from the inside, secure the staff and customers, rescue the tortured, then depending on who we find and what data I can retrieve, we either blow the lid on the operation or bury these bastards in an unmarked grave. That decision is yours, but we gotta do it fast.¡±


    ¡°Shit. Okay, I can have the team to your location in two minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Henry hung up. He looked to Mahati. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯ll need to use Kali¡¯s closet door to enter the club, but once we¡¯re in, I¡¯ll release the door, and we¡¯ll leave another way.¡±


    He knelt down next to the bed, and Kali¡¯s eyes tracked him. ¡°I¡¯lle back to heal you once we catch the bad guys, okay?¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she whispered, her voice cracking.


    He nodded and walked to the condo¡¯s front door so she couldn¡¯t see his rage building. Opening the door, he saw several Silver Soldiers exit the stairwell into the hallway and look in his direction. He waved, and they zipped up to the doorway.


    Henry recognized the one in the lead, Sergeant Michelle Tennison. She smiled at him, and he returned it. He noted that she and the other soldiers were all wearing vests make from tough ck nylon straps. Affixed to these straps were insignia and some pockets for carrying essentials.


    ¡°Good to see you again, Sergeant,¡± Henry addressed her with a smile.


    ¡°We thought this would be a covert surveince assignment, then the General told us our cover was blown because you sensed our energy,¡± she replied.


    Henry grinned. ¡°Yeah, please apologize to the General for me. That was aplete bluff. I can¡¯t sense your energy at all, but I knew you guys had to have been assigned to watch me for suspicious activity.¡±


    The soldier next to Michelle burst into brayingughter. ¡°Oh man, the General is gonna be pissed when he hears he fell for that!¡±


    ¡°Shut it, Yablonski!¡± Michelle sighed wearily. She looked to Henry. ¡°I understand time is of the essence?¡±This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Henry nodded and gestured for them to follow him. He went inside and turned to see there were ten soldiers. He faced them in Mahati¡¯s living room. ¡°We¡¯ll go through the bedroom and into the closet door, which leads to a dungeon room in the club. I¡¯ll release the magic, and the security goons will probably bust through the door. We tie them up, then tie up any customers in the act of torturing another being.¡±


    ¡°What if it¡¯s just two people getting their freak on?¡± Yablonski asked.


    Henry blinked in surprise at the soldier as Michelle scowled at him.


    ¡°Every time you say shit like that, it makes me wonder why Endale sacrificed himself to save you,¡± the Sergeant growled.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s likely the person being tortured will not look Human. It may be one of those clubs. Stop the customers from hurting them. We also need to capture the people running the ce and stop them from essing theputers. There¡¯s data we need to get from them. Any questions?¡± He saw there were none. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    He guided them through the bedroom and through the closet door. He immediately closed the door behind himself, stood to the side looking at the prepared Silver Soldiers, and touched the door to release it. The two men mming their shoulders against the wooden door crashed through to fall onto the floor and were zip-tied together in a sh. Michelle and Yablonski tied up the two waiting in the hall.


    Henry watched the silver streaks zip away in pursuit of the baddies in the rest of the building as he went from room to room, checking on the ones chained to the wall. For the three customers he found zip-tied, he spelled their sins on their foreheads as they stared up at him in fear and shame.


    He was breaking the cuffs for a female Fae in thest room when she muttered something to him.


    ¡°Demn¡­¡±


    Henry leaned closer. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Club¡­ owner¡­ demon.¡±


    Henry cursed under his breath. ¡°Thank you for the warning.¡±


    He rushed back to the door and closed it. Then he pictured Sigrid¡¯s bedroom door in his mind and touched the dungeon door as heunched the spell. He thumped on it so she¡¯d know it wasn¡¯t Meixiu.


    Light poured out around the door as it slowly opened. She was in her armor. ¡°Henry?¡± she called out.


    ¡°Sorry for suddenly showing up unannounced, but we have a Demon issue,¡± he said as he opened the door the rest of the way, holding up an arm across his eyes.


    ¡°Where is this?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s some kind of torture club. I found Kali here, and I arranged to have General Crane¡¯s Silver Soldiers assist with its shutdown,¡± he exined.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t equipped to take on a Demon!¡± Sigrid eximed.

 287

    ¡°Hence mying to you!¡± Henry pulled her into the room then closed the door, releasing the spell. When he opened it again, the club¡¯s hallway was back, and they could hear muted shouting and crashing sounds. Sigrid was out the door and racing away before Henry could say anything. He turned around and saw the old Fae was smiling. Then he noticed she was no longer breathing. Henry touched her head then followed Sigrid up the stairs toward the sound of battle. There were dead bodies in a few rooms, and some were zip-tied, which told Henry the Demon was trying to cover his tracks, snuffing out witnesses. Henry stepped into arge open chamber where Sigrid was fighting with a man in an expensive suit. The Silver Soldiers were trying to help, but it was just hindering Sigrid.


    ¡°Sergeant, pull your people back! Sigrid needs room!¡± Henry yelled, and the soldiers were suddenly resting back against the wall on either side of him. They looked tired, which he could help with. ¡°Join hands,¡± he yelled over the crash of weapons from the battle.


    Henry could tell this Demon was highly skilled in battle as Sigrid¡¯s grin was almost outshining her armor.


    Seeing the soldiers were all linked, he reached out and grabbed the hands next to him as he looked inward to open his rift. He directed the torrent out through his hands and heard the gasps of the Silver People as he quick-charged them. He reduced the flow and released his grip. Yablonski made a noise of disappointment and received a scowl from the Sergeant before she turned to Henry.


    ¡°Thanks for the juice. It¡¯s so much better when it¡¯s filtered,¡± she said with a grin, and he returned it but kept his eyes on Sigrid. She was loving this.


    Henry needed to find aputer. ¡°Did you find the main office?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s at the end of the hall on the right,¡± Michelle called out over the din.


    He saw the Demon nce his way in frustration after hearing the Sergeant. So, there was something to find in that office.


    He looked to the Sergeant. ¡°Leave him to Sigrid, but don¡¯t let him leave this room.¡± She nodded.


    Henry hustled down the hall and found the office with the Private sign on it. He examined the doorknob and saw a nasty little spell on it. Muttering a cleansing spell from Baba¡¯s memory, the poisonous barbs fell from the knob and shriveled up on the floor. Safe once more, Henry opened the door and walked into the office. The office was beautifully decorated with a sophisticated style, making the EMP wires circling the doorway stand out like a sore thumb. They¡¯d wipe anyputers carried through the threshold. He tore them from the wall then walked over to the desk where he found the Demon¡¯s ledgers and aptop left on and not locked. Sloppy. Henry confirmed the machine contained the data for the ledger spreadsheets and the contact list. He also saw there were at least three other clubs.


    He¡¯d forgotten his cell, so Henry opened a small tear to Eden, then another below it to show the surface of his bureau at home. He collected his cell and let the tears close. He dialed Roy.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°Hi, Roy. I found Kali and got her back to Mahati. She was held prisoner in a sex and torture club. Sigrid is currently battling the Demon running the ce, and I have hisputer with all his records. It looks like there are a few more clubs like this scattered around the world. The ledger only seems to go back five or so months.¡±


    ¡°Can you get that to me?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Yes, where are you?¡± Henry responded.


    ¡°In my office at work.¡±


    ¡°Is your door closed?¡±


    Roy hesitated. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay, hang on.¡±


    Henry walked to the office¡¯s bathroom door, opened a new Magic Door to Roy¡¯s office, and knocked.


    ¡°Is that you?¡± Roy asked over the phone.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Henry said and watched Roy¡¯s face as he opened the door. They hung up. Henry walked back to the desk and reset theptop¡¯s password to Duncan123! and ensured Roy saw this. Then he shut it down and handed it to the big redhead. He grabbed its AC adapter for Roy as well. The big man put them on his desk then returned to the office to begin going through the desk drawers and cabs.


    Sigrid appeared in the doorway, breathing hard but smiling. She seemedpletely oblivious to the fact that she was only wearing a sweet little satin nightie, which, thankfully, had been spared being stained with demon blood. Her skin gleamed with sweat, and her deep breathing did things for Henry¡¯s libido. She looked damn sexy, and he had to fight his body¡¯s reaction to her.


    ¡°Damn! That was an epic battle! It was a senior level demon! I rarely get to fight them.¡± She walked into the office, followed by the soldiers who were watching her with awe.


    ¡°Any survivors on the main floor?¡± Henry asked.


    Michelle broke out of her stunned state to look at Henry. ¡°Unfortunately, no. The Demon killed his workers and the customers. He was too tough for us to stop. He was heading downstairs to you when she exploded out of the stairwell and knocked him back into the main hall.¡±


    ¡°There are three tied up customers in the basement who are desperate to confess, and six victims who need urgent care.¡± He looked to Roy. ¡°Can you give General Crane a call and let him know about the other clubs and arrange raids on their locations.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re also run by Demons, you need Valkyries on your strike teams. I can make some calls.¡±


    Henry nodded and pointed down. ¡°Would you like to get dressed first?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Yablonski groaned, and Michelle pped the back of his head.


    Sigrid smiled sexily, watching Henry as she ran her hands over the smooth fabric. ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡±


    He licked his lips nervously. ¡°Ooo, I like it a little too much for currentpany.¡±


    Her smile was deeply satisfied. ¡°Then I suppose my job here is done. I can do the rest from home. If you could open a door for me, Henry?¡±


    ¡°Certainly.¡± He closed the bathroom door and released the spell tounch it once more for Sigrid¡¯s bedroom. He opened the door to see her girly bed. Yablonski sighed.


    Sigrid looked to Roy. ¡°Call me once you¡¯ve connected with the Brigadier-General.¡± He nodded, and she went inside, looking back as she bit her lip and waved sexily at Henry. Sheughed delightedly at his hungry expression then closed the door. He released the spell.


    Henry looked to Roy, who was pulling up the map on his cell for his current location. ¡°Do you want me to set the door back to your office?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh! No, I¡¯ll have a clean-up team, and my squade here. I¡¯ll catch a ride back with them. We¡¯ll get the others to a hospital,¡± he replied.


    ¡°So, I can leave the rest to you and Sigrid? I need to help Kali,¡± Henry said to Roy.


    ¡°Yes, and thanks,¡± Roy said absentmindedly.


    Henry nodded and left the office with the soldiers following him.


    When he got back to the main hallway leading to the front door, he stopped and looked back at them. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m just going back to my ce. I don¡¯t know where you guys were watching me from, but you can head back there if you like.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sitting in the back of a van. It¡¯s so dull!¡± Yablonski grumbled.


    Henry stared at him in dismay while the Sergeant contemted murdering the Corporal. She nced at Henry in embarrassment as he turned his attention to her.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± She nodded. ¡°That sucks! When do you get to hang out with your family- Oh! That was insensitive of me. Did any of you lose anyone during the Skyfall Event?¡±


    They nced at each other, and all shook their heads.


    Michelle cleared her throat. ¡°We, uh, assisted our families earlier to ease their transition.¡±


    Henry grinned. ¡°You made them into Silver People, too!¡±


    They shifted from foot to foot uneasily, and he held up his hands. ¡°It¡¯s cool! I won¡¯t say anything. I¡¯m just d you were able to protect them.¡± He sighed. ¡°Still, it sucks you¡¯re stuck in that van. I mean, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re being asked to watch for. How often do you get to recharge?¡±


    ¡°We return weekly to the strike zone on the Mall in Washington, DC,¡± Michelle admitted.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t mind giving you guys a boost from time to time. Should you feel the need, please just let me know.¡± That got smiles from them.


    ¡°Your energy is so much better than the strike zone,¡± Yablonski sighed.


    Henry walked to the front door, unlocked it, and linked it to a side door on his condo building. ¡°This will take you back to the street outside my ce.¡± He pushed the door open, and they filed through, and Michelle stopped at the entrance.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t youing?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I have to go back to Mahati¡¯s. I¡¯ll open a door to her ce. Thanks for your help tonight.¡±


    Michelle stepped through with a smile, and Henry closed the door.


    Henry¡¯s head was ringing as he found himself on the floor. A dark shape was swinging something at his head again, so he tilted his head to take the hit against his horns. That hurt much less, and he was able to focus on his assant.


    The man was a smaller version of the club owner, right down to the impable suit and expensive leather shoes. With the strength and speed, it was obviously a demon, too.


    ¡°You fucked up master¡¯s operation. I had to kill our ythings. I¡¯ll kill the one you stole-AAAAIIIEEE!¡±


    Henry¡¯s sharp kick against its shin had the desired effect as bones snapped and poked out. Then Henry tugged it down to the floor and rolled to pin it under him. He began beating on it with his fists, harder and harder as it screamed. He bared his teeth as he mmed his fists against its face until it began to distort and tten out.


    The demon was no longer futilely trying to block Henry¡¯s strikes. Henry picked up the sound of Roy¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Henry!¡±


    He blinked as he turned his head to look at the shocked expression on the man¡¯s face.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°It¡¯s dead,d. You can stop now.¡±


    Henry was sucking in deep, shuddering gasps of breath. He nodded as he looked down at the paste he¡¯d made of the demon. ¡°It¡­ it killed the¡­ people downstairs.¡± He frowned as he tried to think how the monster could have moved through the building while avoiding being seen. How did it sneak up on him in the empty hallway? It suddenly came to him. ¡°Secret passages,¡± he muttered. His eyes went to the ceiling. He imagined a security setup in the attic with cameras and secret passages to each level.

 288

    He looked down at the dead demon. Thest one? He saidmaster.


    Henry leapt to his feet and grabbed Roy to his chest as heunched another spell around them. He poured his energy into the magic and clung to the man as the world exploded into chaos. The noise was intense, and he felt movement. When he opened his eyes again, his face was buried in Roy¡¯s fur. He pulled back to nce around and saw they were outside with bits of burning building around them.


    ¡°I think ya can cancel the hamster ball spell,¡± Roy said with a smile in his voice.


    Henry dropped the shield spell as they activated their mors. They looked back at the devastation.


    ¡°That was quick thinking, son.¡±


    Henry nced at Roy and saw a proud smile on his face. A warmth spread through him as he nodded to the bigger man.


    ¡°Do demons typically run operations like this and work together?¡± Henry asked.


    Roy frowned and shook his head. ¡°No, this is a first and a dangerous precedent.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the demon Sigrid fought was the master the demon I killed was talking about.¡±


    Roy looked sharply to Henry. ¡°It said it had a Master?¡±


    Henry just nodded.


    A group of ck SUVs arrived, and Henry recognized Roy¡¯s packmates pouring out. They had looks of horror on their faces until they spotted Roy waving to them. Their relief was clear as they came racing over to them.


    ¡°We saw the fireball rising into the sky,¡± one called out.


    ¡°Aye, but thed got us out without trouble,¡± Roy said, and grateful eyes turned Henry¡¯s way.


    He looked up at Roy. ¡°I want to go home and get cleaned up. I promised I¡¯d help heal Kali.¡±


    Roy pointed back at the burning wreckage of the copsed mansion they¡¯d been in. ¡°No operational doors to use. Can we give you a lift?¡± Henry looked around in the firelit murk of the night. They were in a rundown neighborhood. No lights were showing on any of the buildings, and most weremercial properties. The mansion they¡¯d been in seemed out of ce but was probably the only house when the area was zoned formercial use.


    Henry smiled as he spotted something. The mansion¡¯s front doors had blown off in the explosion and were likely protected by Henry¡¯shamster ball. They were still in their frame. He grinned at Roy. ¡°Can you ask your men to stand that up?¡±


    Roy chuckled and gestured for his group to help.


    Once the doors were upright, Henry tested one, and it swung easily. ¡°These are great doors!¡± he said with a smile.


    He closed it and touched one as he linked it to his hall closet door. ¡°See you guys on Monday. Good night, Roy.¡±


    ¡°Night,d.¡±


    He opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind him as he released the spell.


    ¡°Henry?¡± Tish called out nervously.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just me-STOP!¡± he barked at the twins charging excitedly at him. ¡°I¡¯m covered in demon blood, so I need a shower.¡± They pouted, but he shooed them away. Tish approached and looked at him cautiously. ¡°Demon blood? I don¡¯t see-eep!¡± she squeaked as he dropped his mor, and the ck blood covered his hands with streaks going up his arms, across his chest, and on his chin.


    ¡°You fought a demon?¡± she asked. ¡°Where were you that you fought a demon?¡±


    He walked into the guest bathroom and got the shower going. ¡°Can you undo my kilt? Take my cell phone out and put it on the counter.¡± She nodded and helped him out of his kilt.


    ¡°I went to Mahati¡¯s and used a spell to find Kali. She was a prisoner at a sex dungeon that specialized in torturing Hidden Races. It was run by demons.¡± He stepped into the shower and worked on washing the blood from his hands first. ¡°I got Kali out first-Oh! Chuck Darnell, that news anchor on the morning show you watch, was dressed up in studded leather, mask and all, using a bullwhip on Kali. What a fucking creep! He won¡¯t ever do that again!¡±


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Tish gasped.


    He saw the shock on her face, and he shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t hurt him¡­ much. A broken nose,¡± He recalled hearing a crack as he mmed him against the floor. ¡°Maybe a rib or two. What I did do was use one of Baba¡¯spulsions on him to ensure he¡¯d confess the evil he¡¯d done. Should be interesting days ahead for him. I think he managed to escape the club.¡± He wondered if the demon got to him first.


    ¡°After I dropped Kali off at Mahati¡¯s, I arranged for the Silver Soldiers to assist with raiding the club. Did you know General Crane has them sitting in a van somece nearby? The congresspeople ordered it, I think. Anyway, during the raid, we discovered the club was run by a demon, so I called Sigrid to deal with it. I brought Roy in to collect the club¡¯s data and work with General Crane to go after the other three clubs. After Sigrid and the soldiers left, I was jumped by another demon who¡¯d been hiding in the walls. I killed that one¡­ I punched it to death.¡± He shook his head and rolled the tension from his shoulders. ¡°Someone triggered an explosion, but I had Roy inside my shield, and we were thrown from the building.¡± He looked to Tish, who was watching him wide-eyed. ¡°Roy called the shield a hamster ball,¡± he said with a snort of amusement. ¡°His fur does feel really soft like a hamster.¡±


    ¡°Are you clean yet?¡± she asked.


    He blinked at her then looked down at himself. He was clean. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tish dropped her mor and stepped into the shower to push him against the wall as her lips found his. Her tongue thrust into his mouth, and she moaned as his handsnded on her back and ass. She ground her body against his, and he quickly reacted until his cock was trapped ufortably between them.


    ¡°Henry, take me!¡± Tish begged, and he lifted her against his chest with his hands on her ass. ¡°Oh FUCK!¡± she cried.


    He pressed her against the wall as he lined himself up against her opening and pushed forward to drive his hard cock into her. She felt so good! Again and again, he pulled out to m forward, deeper each time. The connection of male to female Satyr was a kind of magic in itself. Neither of them could withstand the intensity of the pleasure, and the rightness of the fit, for long. Their bodies reacted without thought or reason. This was the purest form of physical unity, and it quickly reached a pinnacle and overwhelmed their senses.


    As they remained under the hot spray, their bodies passed through cascades of bliss.


    Finally, he kissed her tenderly, and she rubbed her face against his. ¡°Fuck, you get me so hot!¡±


    He smiled as he nibbled her ear.


    ¡°Ahh! Fuck!¡± she gasped and pushed back, which made him pull his softening erection from her. Her legs wobbled, and he braced her against his body as she trembled.


    Tish got her legs under her and shook her finger at him for the ear nibbles. She rinsed quickly and stepped out to dry herself off. Henry spent a little more time under the hot spray and heard Tish leaving the bathroom.


    His mind took him back to the sex club. The demon was going to kill him, but he hadn¡¯t shied back in fear as he once would have. Instead, he¡¯d felt his rage pushing him todo something. He had magic at his disposal, but he was nowhere near the level where he¡¯d turn to it for some offensive attack. The shield was excellent for defense, so he was d he had it.


    He was a Satyr, and he remembered Sigrid telling him he was strong. When a Valkyrie tells you that,it means something! He remembered the demon struggling to block his punches. It was damn strong, but he¡¯d just kept pounding until he¡¯d broken past its defenses, then he just kept punching.


    Again, inflicting that level of violence on someone would have sent his mind spinning once.


    But bad shit happened to him-so much of it. He¡¯d taken too much, and it was time for him to start fighting back.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    The voice was soft and tentative. He smiled as it was a soothing balm on his rattled nerves. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I-I-I just wanted to express my deepest appreciation to you for rescuing Kali.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyes opened as he suddenly realized the voice didn¡¯t belong to Tish. He turned and saw Mahati standing in the middle of his washroom. She was staring at his naked Satyr body and focusing on one part in particr. He would have reacted, but she was also naked and in her natural form. She looked¡­ exquisite! He felt himself staring, so he looked away.


    ¡°Am I hideous? Do you find my true form repulsive?¡±


    The intive tone in her voice surprised him, and he turned to face her in shock. ¡°Oh my god! No!¡± he gasped, then managed to turn his face slightly as he realized he was staring again. ¡°I remember you said something on the first day we met. At the time, it seemed a little like bragging, but now, I-I think I understand one of the reasonswhythe N¨¡ga are revered as gods.¡±


    He nced at her expression to see if she was offended, but she had a shy but stunningly white smile on her face as she allowed her eyes to roam down his body. All he could do was watch her as he was trapped by her smile.


    ¡°Kali is sleeping. I have healed her open wounds, but she is badly scarred,¡± Mahati said.N?velDrama.Org content.


    Henry nodded, ¡°I can help with that. If I can get Eleanor King¡¯s help, it will be even better.¡±


    Mahati nodded distractedly. ¡°Have I mentioned that Wild Magic isn¡¯t toxic to me?¡± she said, her cheeks bing a delightful shade of deep red.


    She was so intensely lovely he was having trouble focusing on what she was saying. Then it clicked. ¡°What? How?¡±


    She shed another smile as she inched closer. ¡°It sounds like a boast when I say N¨¡ga are magic, but thereisa significant difference in how we channel magic through our bodies. It¡¯s what makes our offensive capabilities so much stronger.¡± She slipped a little closer again.

 289

    ¡°I lost my mor in the Skyfall Event. The Wild Magic burned out the Fae mor. I created a new channel within me where I could absorb and store as much Wild Magic as I could. It¡¯s isted from the old realm magic within me, so I avoid the toxic reaction. I built my own mor and bound it to the Wild Magic instead of the old realm magic.¡±


    ¡°You had less trouble learning how to use Wild Magic than Mab did,¡± Henry acknowledged.


    She smiled again, and he struggled to keep from being dazzled. ¡°I learned how to use the Wild Magic by putting myself in your shoes. How would Henry, a gentle and inexperienced conduit, get magic to work. I knew youcouldwork with magic, and that was my answer. You workedwithit. You didn¡¯tmand it.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°That concept proved impossible for Mab to grasp. Thankfully.¡±


    She was at the threshold of the shower now. ¡°Since it¡¯s safe, would you, I mean, c-could we?¡± she asked in a timid voice again, but he knew what she was asking. He nodded. ¡°Y-your mor? Your Satyr size isn¡¯tpatible.¡± She was having trouble speaking as her embarrassment surged.


    ¡°Do you have your ideal front and center in your mind?¡± he asked, and her face reddened beautifully.


    She closed her eyes for a moment to take a deep breath, then opened them and nodded with a cute smile on her lips.


    He activated his mor for her, minus his clothes. She immediately looked down.


    ¡°Oh!¡± She nced back up. ¡°I¡¯ve never¡­ yours was the first I¡¯d ever seen.¡±


    He gave her a curious smile. ¡°Was? You¡¯re not talking about now, so when did you see it before?¡±


    She squirmed a little as she looked away, then her eyes dropped to examine his erection once more. ¡°The night of your house warming party. After you were healed, Tish and I carried you back to your bedroom. You were naked but not hard like now. It looks much different! Is that¡­ is that because of me?¡±


    Henry nodded with a little smile. ¡°Should Ie out of the shower?¡±


    She smiled and shook her head as she joined him under the spray. She gently turned him to face away, and he tilted his head forward to soak his head. Four hands immediately began to massage shampoo into his long hair. That was a little unusual, but the sensation was entirely pleasant. He sighed as the massage moved to his back, his arms, and his ass. He felt Mahati¡¯s amazing breasts pressing against his back and her arms wrapped around to rub the suds over his chest. Her lower arms slid down over his hard stomach muscles, then lower still.


    Henry could feel Mahati¡¯s excited breath panting against his back as she moved her hands to his cock.


    ¡°oh my goodness!¡± she sighed quietly as her fingers traced the shape of the head then slipped down the shaft. Her touch was gentle, so he wasn¡¯t too concerned when she gathered his balls in her fingers and hefted their weight.


    Henry tilted his head forward under the spray, rinsing away the shampoo and letting it run from his body as well. Mahati¡¯s hands, all of them, went back to assist him with his shower, though her touch remained sensual.


    He turned slowly, and she¡¯d raised herself up on her coils to match his eye level. He drank in her finely sculpted features, her expressive eyes, and her sensual mouth he ached to kiss. He could still see some hesitation in her eyes. He could ept that, as a virgin, she was shy and wasn¡¯t sure about what to do, but he picked up it might be based on personal insecurities. Her mother was quite overwhelming, he understood.


    The room was just a little steamy now, and she was no longer keeping her arms in close to save body heat, so he assumed she wasfortable with that.


    ¡°Are you aware of how incredibly beautiful you are?¡± he asked her as he guided a few strands of her glossy ck hair back behind her small ears.


    She shed another smile then gave him a serious look. ¡°There is beauty, and there is attraction. The first is subjective, and the second is tied into so many conditions. I-I believe I have been gifted with a certain level of beauty, measured by the symmetry of my features, the even tone of myplexion, and the fitness of my body, but I¡¯m N¨¡ga, and many do not find that aspect of me beautiful. We spend so much of our time with our true selves hidden away. At the same time, we¡¯re immersed in a Human culture which sets such incredibly unrealistic ideals for beauty, I find myself doubting myself andpensating for my differences.¡±


    Henry leaned forward and stroked his lips across hers and her breath caught in her chest as she pressed back. He enjoyed the plump softness of her lips and nibbled on them with his as her hands gripped his body to pull him closer. Her breasts squeezed tight against his chest muscles, and she made a sweet sound into their kiss.


    His arms went between hers, and his hands caressed her back, one sliding down until it reached the beginnings of her scales. He didn¡¯t pull his fingers away but stroked them instead.


    She sighed into his kiss then pulled back slightly to look into his eyes.


    ¡°You are not repulsed by this.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a question, so he just smiled as he shook his head. ¡°Recall that I was also disguised as a Human for most of my life and had no idea I was anything but Human. I wasn¡¯t physically impressive in any way and had no self-confidence. The boys I met in school often bullied me, so none of the girls made any indication they were attracted to me or even mildly interested. It wasn¡¯t until I began working at VRL that I met people who weren¡¯t so tied up with following Human norms for attraction. They looked deeper than the surface. That felt so good!¡±


    He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. She watched him dreamily when he pulled back. ¡°I can honestly say I don¡¯t have any preconceived biases for body shape, and I¡¯m most attracted to people who are beautiful on the inside first. Yourpassion and strength of character, your sense of justice, and your bravery in pursuing it gets my fires going more than anything! Your physical beauty, all of it, is where the divine makes its presence known.¡±


    Mahati pulled him from the shower, shutting off the tap with her tail, and pushed him against the wall as she kissed him deeply. Her tongue was a little wild due to her inexperience, but he quickly guided her efforts with his own, and she trembled in his arms as the kisses slowed down but got exponentially hotter. Her lower set of hands were between their bodies, stroking his cock and pressing it against something. He wasn¡¯t sure how her anatomy worked, so he couldn¡¯t assist yet.


    That something parted, and he was suddenly sliding deep into hot, wet, and soft.


    ¡°Oh my goodness!¡± she gasped against his cheek as she broke their kiss.


    ¡°Mahati! That feels wonderful!¡± he sighed as her muscles rippled along his length. He began to draw himself out to start stroking, but she pressed him against the wall, pinning him in ce. The internal rippling began to speed up. While her lower half held his still, she ced all four hands on the wall next to him and pushed her torso back from his, arching her body to put more pressure on him. Her body massaged Henry¡¯s cock faster and faster. Her eyes were closed in concentration, and a tiny wrinkle appeared between her brows as she licked her lips, a sh of pink across darker skin.


    While he couldn¡¯t move his lower half, he now had an excellent view of Mahati¡¯s gorgeous breasts. He took them in his palms and gently squeezed them, making her gasp and pulse quicker. She had small but very sensitive nipples, and his caressing them was doing the most extraordinary things to her connection to him.


    He knew nothing about N¨¡ga physiology, so he wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d be using these to nurse her child or if they were just for his enjoyment. For all he knew, N¨¡gaid eggs, and their breasts were ornamental. If that was the case, she¡¯d been blessed with perfect decorations!


    Mahati¡¯s breathing was bing rough as their dual efforts were overwhelming her. Henry was racing up on his release as well, and being held still was driving him crazy.


    ¡°Henry! Something is¡­ happening!¡±


    ¡°Me too!¡± he gasped, then lost the ability to speak as his orgasm ripped through his mind. He leaned his head back as stream after stream of cum jetted deep into Mahati¡¯s body. He cautiously opened his eyes, but she seemed no worse for it, so he released a massive sigh.


    Mahati¡¯s expression showed an intense bliss, and she suddenly leaned forward to cling to him once more, and he wrapped his arms around her as well. The internal pulsing slowed and becamenguorous. She tucked her face into his neck and trembled as waves of small aftershocks rushed through her.


    ¡°That was¡­ glorious,¡± she sighed.


    Henry grinned. ¡°It was pretty amazing for me too. Not what I¡¯m used to but wonderful just the same.¡±


    She pulled back to look at him curiously. ¡°What about it was different?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°Usually, I get to move a lot more, thrusting in and out and stuff.¡±


    Her eyes widened in confusion. ¡°Why would you want to take it out after you got it in? That seems counter-productive!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, which sent pulses through both of them, bringing gasps and squirming from oversensitivity. She pulled his softening cock from her body.


    ¡°Oh! That is a veryrge amount of Wild Magic you gave me!¡± she sighed.


    He looked at her nervously. ¡°Are you okay? Are you sure it¡¯s safe?¡±


    She shed a white smile at him and nodded. ¡°Yes. I just feel like I might be able to power Manhattan for a night.¡±


    Henry smiled as they began to dry themselves off. He leaned in and took another kiss from her soft mouth. ¡°Mmm¡­ goddess lips.¡±


    She gave him a yful little p on the arm, but her eyes were twinkling.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to head home to keep an eye on Kali tonight. If you¡¯d like toe over tomorrow to help her, that would be wee.¡± He nodded then she looked at him seriously. ¡°I trust you can refrain from public disys of affection in the workce?¡±


    He blinked at her in surprise. ¡°Have you ever seen me do that with others there?¡±


    She opened her mouth then realized the things she¡¯d witnessed were all instigated by the women. ¡°No¡­ no, I haven¡¯t.¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.

 290

    ¡°Your secret is safe with me,¡± he said equally serious, and she looked at him in surprise.


    ¡°Secret?¡±


    ¡°That you have goddess lips.¡± He slipped forward and nibbled her bottom lip with his. She squeaked and gently pushed him back.


    ¡°You are incorrigible!¡± she moaned, then engaged her mor. With a smile she couldn¡¯t hide slipping onto her lips, she let herself out of the bathroom and closed the door. He dropped his mor as it was the only way to dry off properly.


    He heard the door behind him open, and he nced back.


    ¡°Croo?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    The twins weren¡¯t taking stop for an answer this time.


    >>>>>


    Dayshia was pacing in her living room, and Michelle Beaumont was reading her book in her favorite chair in the corner. She looked up to see the dark beauty staring at her phone.


    ¡°Are you expecting the phone to call him for you?¡± she asked gently.


    Dayshia nced at her roommate in frustration. Michelle sighed.


    ¡°Call him! You¡¯re wearing a groove in the rug.¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡± Dayshia gasped and pressed Henry¡¯s contact entry on her cell.


    It rang three times, and she was about to hang up when he answered. ¡°Hi, Dayshia!¡±


    ¡°Henry! Hi! How are you?¡±


    There was the slightest pause. ¡°I¡¯m good! You?¡±


    ¡°Great! Couldn¡¯t be better! How was your day?¡±


    She could hear the smile in his voice. ¡°It was a really good day. I went to Mahati¡¯s, and the Kings came over so Eleanor and I could heal Kali¡¯s injuries. She looks a lot better. We couldn¡¯t remove the oldest scarring as that would have been more traumatic than leaving them. When we were done, she felt so much better. She¡¯ll have to see a counselor for the emotional toll her imprisonment took, but Mahati is excellent support for her.¡±


    Dayshia was shocked. ¡°What? Kali was abused in prison? We heard she was missing, but no one said she was in prison!¡±


    ¡°No, no! She was captured during the Skyfall Event when her mor failed. She was chained up in the basement of a torture club with other Hidden Races who¡¯d also lost their mors. The club was run by a demon. I used a spell to find her, then I freed her and brought her home.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god! That¡¯s awful!¡± Dayshia said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Henry agreed. ¡°But she¡¯ll get better with help from her friends and family.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of family,¡± Dayshia winced at her clumsy redirection, and Michelle covered her mouth to quiet her giggles. Dayshia waved her hand to silence her amused roommate. ¡°I was invited to dinner tonight at my sister¡¯s. She asked me to bring you along. Are you avable? I know it¡¯s really short notice, and as she¡¯s in Chicago, we¡¯d need to use that Magic Door thing you used from the Capitol building¡­ you know what, just saying it out loud, I can tell it¡¯s a bad idea-¡±


    ¡°Dayshia! It¡¯s fine. I¡¯d like to meet them!¡± he eximed, interrupting her.


    She blinked. ¡°Really? It¡¯s okay?¡±


    ¡°Of course, what time?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Could we be there at eight?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pick you up at your ce at two minutes to,¡± Henry replied.


    Dayshia giggled sweetly.


    ¡°Was that a giggle? So adorable!¡± Henry said with a grin in his voice.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Dayshia squeaked and hung up. She stared in shock at Michelle. ¡°Oh my god! I just hung up on him! I gotta call him back and apologize!¡±


    ¡°I seriously don¡¯t believe Henry will be upset,¡± Michelle chuckled. ¡°If it makes you feel better, you can apologize when he gets here.¡±


    Dayshia nodded as she bit her lip. ¡°What am I going to wear?¡± she shrieked and rushed off to her room as Michelle watched with a grin.


    -=-


    Henry was standing outside Michelle and Dayshia¡¯s unit just before eight. He was wearing a body-hugging ck turtleneck sweater under a grey dinner jacket and cks with ck leather shoes. Tish picked the outfit from an ad she saw online. She¡¯d clued him in on the importance of making a good impression on thisdate.


    He had to admit that he hadn¡¯t picked up on the event¡¯s significance and originally had a more casual outfit picked out. Tish straightened that out immediately.


    The door pulled open, and Dayshia stood before him in a boldly striped gold and ck silk dress. Her hair was once more a huge mane of dense curls calling out for his hands to go exploring.


    ¡°Dayshia, you look del-amazing!¡± he gushed.


    ¡°What were you going to say there?¡± she asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.


    His face warmed up. ¡°Delicious. I was going to say delicious.¡±


    She burst into giggles, and her eyes told him she was very pleased. Those lovely eyes swept down his body as well. ¡°You look pretty damn delicious yourself,¡± she grinned.


    They stood there smiling at each other until Henry realized it was almost eight. ¡°Should we go?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right!¡± she blurted. ¡°How do we do this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been there, so we¡¯re going to have to rely on your memory of their front door. I¡¯m pretty sure this will work. Step out into the hall with me.¡± He noticed Michelle in the room waving at him. ¡°Hi, Michelle! Have a good night!¡±


    ¡°You as well!¡± Michelle called back.


    Dayshia waved to her roommate and stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her.


    ¡°Picture the front door and concentrate on it as hard as you can. This is super important. I don¡¯t know what would happen if the Magic Door spell activated with no destination so let¡¯s not try that.¡± Dayshia gave him a nervous stare. ¡°When you have the door fixed in your mind, touch the door. I¡¯ll activate the spell and touch the back of your hand on the door. Then we¡¯ll knock. If Michelle opens the door, it didn¡¯t work and well have to go with method two, Google Street View.¡±


    Dayshia giggled nervously. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, Henry saw her reach out to the door, so he activated the spell but left the destination empty. He touched the back of Dayshia¡¯s hand and felt the spell engage. He lifted his hand, and Dayshia did too as she opened her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s still my condo door!¡± she said.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Yes, the door on this side doesn¡¯t change.¡± He gestured for her to knock, so she did.


    Secondster, the door pulled open, and a taller, slimmer, and slightly older version of Dayshia was standing before them, staring back at them in shock. He noted her hair was brushed and tied back and became arge orb of hair just behind her head. There was a man behind the woman who was also struck speechless. Henry nced at Dayshia and smiled as he watched her squirming. No one was saying anything.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Henry. Dayshia¡¯s boyfriend.¡± It was how Tish told him to introduce himself. He held out a hand, and Beth suddenly snapped out of her paralysis.


    ¡°Oh my! Hello! I¡¯m Beth, and this is my husband, Chris.¡± She shook his hand and moved to the side, and the man reached forward to sp his hand in a too-firm grip.


    ¡°Ooo! Strong hands you have there.¡±


    ¡°S-sorry!¡± Chris said and released Henry¡¯s hand. ¡°Is-is that a hallway in New York?¡±


    ¡°New Jersey, actually,¡± Henry corrected gently.


    ¡°Where is our street? My storm door!¡± Chris eximed.


    Henry smiled. ¡°They¡¯re still there. Just as Dayshia¡¯s condo is still behind the door for us.¡±


    Three faces poked around their parent¡¯s bodies and stared at the hallway in wonder.


    ¡°This is my son, Danny, my daughter, Emily, and my youngest boy, Tommy,¡± Beth said.


    ¡°Hi! Would you like to step from Boston to Jersey City?¡± Henry offered to the kids, and suddenly five people were stepping through the doorway. Henry and Dayshia had to move back to give them room. They looked around, but they were just standing in the building¡¯s interior hallway, not too spectacr. They looked back at their home inside the door.


    ¡°That is too strange,¡± Chris muttered.


    ¡°Shall we go back to Boston?¡± Dayshia asked.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Ah! Yes!¡± Beth said and shepherded her children and husband back through the door. Dayshia followed them with Henry at the back. He closed the door and released the spell. When he opened it again, they saw their front porch and the walkway leading to the street through the storm door¡¯s ss.


    ¡°Magic!¡± Danny shouted. Tommy echoed his older brother.


    Henry smiled and nodded. He closed the door again. He adjusted his mor to switch his leather shoes to soft leather slippers, but the change was so subtle no one noticed.


    Beth rushed back to the kitchen. ¡°Dinner¡¯s ready. Chris, please show them to the dining room.¡±


    Henry looked around at the cozy home the Nelsons lived in and felt a warmth in his chest. There were pictures of family on the walls and Christmas decorations everywhere he looked. They really went all out for the holiday!


    They took seats around the table, which had a few festive Christmas designs like the table cloth and napkin rings. Likely made by the kids but sweet as hell! Henry found himself seated next to Dayshia, facing the three kids across the table. They were staring at him excitedly.


    ¡°Elbows off the table,¡± Chris said, and Danny sat back in his chair after ncing at his father. Tommy leaned back too.


    Emily¡¯s eyes were almost shining with happiness as she looked between Dayshia and Henry. ¡°Are you really Auntie Dayshia¡¯s boyfriend?¡± she asked sweetly.


    Chris frowned at the impertinent question, but Henry nodded vigorously, which made the young girl burst into giggles. Henry nced at Dayshia, who was looking pretty happy with the answer too.


    Beth returned with arge serving dish she ced on trivets on the center of the table. When she lifted the cover, Henry saw a bow tie pasta dish with spinach and some kind of tomato and meat sauce. His nose picked up the scent of spice too.


    ¡°You made your spicy sausage and spinach dish?¡± Dayshia asked her sister in surprise, ncing at Henry cautiously.


    He returned the look. How spicy was it?

 291

    ¡°What did I miss?¡± the mother asked, looking at her daughter¡¯s gleeful expression.


    ¡°Your daughter was asking about their rtionship status,¡± Chris said, steepling his fingers before him.


    ¡°Elbows,¡± Beth said quietly to her husband, who leaned back from the table and nced at the smirk on his oldest son¡¯s face.


    Beth looked to Henry. ¡°I¡¯m told you¡¯re the CIO for an investment house in Manhattan. You seem young for such a role.¡±


    Henry grinned. ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot. I¡¯m younger than most CIOs, perhaps the youngest, but they¡¯ve invested in me, and so far, they¡¯re happy with the results.


    ¡°What¡¯s a CIO?¡± Danny asked.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Chief Information Officer. I¡¯m in charge of theputer systems at my office, from the hardware to the software that runs on them.¡±


    Danny seemed disappointed. ¡°I thought you were a magician or a wizard!¡±


    Henry chuckled and shook his head. ¡°Magic is a recent addition to my skill set and not my favorite.¡±


    Danny was shocked to hear that. ¡°How could magic not be your favorite?¡± he eximed.


    ¡°Danny, indoor voice,¡± Chris said to calm his son.


    Henry held the young man¡¯s eyes. ¡°My experiences so far with using magic haven¡¯t been very happy. Lots of danger and people I care about getting hurt. Not pleasant memories.¡± The boy frowned, and Henry shrugged. ¡°The Magic Door spell has been really useful.¡±


    Beth spooned portions of the pasta onto the tes as Chris went back to the kitchen to bring out a wine bottle. The kids were given grape juice.


    ¡°Could I have grape juice as well?¡± Henry asked. The kids brightened up to see an adult who liked it too.


    ¡°No wine for you?¡± Chris asked.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°I have a very low tolerance to alcohol. I need to avoid it.¡±


    ¡°Not the worst lifestyle choice,¡± Beth said with a little smile for her sister. ¡°Not one Dayshia¡¯s previous boyfriends shared.¡±


    ¡°Beth,¡± Dayshia growled, but Beth just shed her eyes at her sister.


    Henry nodded with a smile of his own.


    ¡°Do you go to church, Henry?¡± Beth asked.


    ¡°Beth!¡± Dayshia eximed.


    Henry shook his head but kept his smile as he looked into Beth¡¯s eyes. She really did share Dayshia¡¯s lovely features. ¡°I was raised by an adoptive grandmother who had no time for church or anything she considered frivolous.¡± Henry held up his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t share her attitude, but I also had no exposure to religion during those critical early years. Somehow, I think I developed a good grounding in right and wrong fundamentals, good and evil. I¡¯ve certainly been exposed to examples of both recently, and my moralpass hasn¡¯t led me wrong.¡±


    She held his eyes for a bit as she put the lid back onto the pasta and took her seat. She reached out a hand to Danny and Henry. He didn¡¯t hesitate to take it. Everyone held hands as Chris said grace.


    Beth smiled at Henry after they let go. ¡°You have strong hands for a keyboard jockey.¡±


    Henry snorted softly and caught Chris¡¯ look of interest. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been all the non-CIO activities that have put so much strain on my body recently. I think it¡¯s also a default state for Satyrs. We¡¯re strong, as my Valkyrie friend tells me.¡±


    ¡°You are a Satyr!¡± Danny eximed. ¡°That was you on the TV in Washington?¡±


    Henry nodded.


    ¡°Howe you don¡¯t look like that now?¡± Danny pressed, and Chris looked both annoyed with his son yet interested in hearing the answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m wearing a disguise made of magic. It¡¯s called a mor. It lets me appear Human so people will feelfortable around me.¡±


    He scooped up some of the pasta and put it into his mouth. As he chewed, he smiled. It was really good. Then the spices kicked in, and his eyes watered a little.


    ¡°Hoo! This is really good, but it¡¯s got a kick!¡± Henry gasped.


    The kidsughed, and Beth smiled. Henry noticed Chris wasn¡¯t smiling. He seemed to have something on his mind. Henry wiped his eyes and looked to the man, encouraging him to ask the question on his mind.


    ¡°People are changing into new forms as they absorb this energy from another dimension. Will everyone get one of these mors?¡± Chris asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s more likely to happen is that people with mors will just stop using them as everyone will be in their new forms. They won¡¯t have to hide any longer. The world is bing a much more interesting ce. I know I¡¯m looking forward to that day,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°But what if we don¡¯t want to change our bodies to something else? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re being given a choice!¡± Chris argued. Beth looked at her husband in concern.


    Henry could see Chris was bing agitated. The thought crossed Henry¡¯s mind that Chris may have some form of body shape fixation. The man was obviously very fit and probably spent time maintaining that. He was proud of his physique. It would be particrly upsetting for him to know he was going to spontaneously change into something different.


    ¡°I see you¡¯re particrly concerned about this. I get it,¡± Henry said with a nod. ¡°The process of getting a mor is not simple as the people who did it aren¡¯t able to work with the new dimension¡¯s energy.¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    ¡°So, I have to be happy with whatever random chance throws my way?¡± Chris snapped.


    ¡°What about Tish?¡± Dayshia blurted, and Henry looked to her in surprise with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about Tish?¡± Beth asked as Chris watched Dayshia too.


    ¡°Maybe we should finish this delicious meal before we¡­ discuss that?¡± Henry suggested.


    Dayshia nodded in embarrassment.


    They ate their dinner, and the conversation was awkward. Even the kids picked up on it.


    Finally, Henry pushed back. ¡°That was really good! Thank you! I think we¡¯d better address the elephant in the room, or in this case, the Satyr.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s retire to the living room where we can getfortable,¡± Beth suggested.


    Her husband led the way, and Henry paused in the doorway. The room was decked out for Christmas,plete with a lit and decorated tree. The room¡¯s warmth was so inviting. He sighed and smiled. ¡°Now, this was what I missed growing up! It¡¯s beautiful!¡±


    Chris smiled and gestured to the love seat. Soon Dayshia and Henry were sitting across from the Nelson family, who crowded onto their couch.


    Dayshia ced her hand on Henry¡¯s. ¡°I need to say something first.¡± He nodded. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned anything about Tish before making a confession of my own.¡± She swallowed and took a breath. ¡°Over a year ago, I was exposed to arge amount of Wild Magic, and I¡­ transformed.¡±


    Beth squeaked in surprise, but Dayshia raised her hand to calm her. ¡°I changed, but Henry arranged to get me a mor. What that cost him is something I regret to this day, but that¡¯s a story for another day. I changed, though my alteration wasn¡¯t too dramatic. I¡¯m going to drop my mor so you can see what I now look like.¡± She smiled at the kids. ¡°It isn¡¯t the slightest bit scary.¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s eyes were suddenlyrger, glowing in subtle shades of blue, gold, and green, and framed with long featheryshes.


    ¡°OH!¡± Beth and Chris yelped. The kid¡¯s reactions were far more dramatic.


    ¡°Auntie Dayshia! Your eyes are beautiful!¡± Emily gasped.


    ¡°They light up!¡± Danny eximed.


    ¡°Pretty!¡± Tommy squealed and pped.


    ¡°They let me see in all kinds of different ways, across multiple frequencies. I can use them even when my mor is active, so when I¡¯m examining patients, I can see into their bodies to see the injuries or growths so I can operate more precisely and urately,¡± Dayshia admitted.


    ¡°You have x-ray vision? That is so cool!¡± Danny said enthusiastically.


    She nodded but raised a hand. ¡°Except it isn¡¯t x-rays. I tested it with an x-ray sensitive te at the hospital¡¯s radiology department, and it didn¡¯t register at all.¡±


    ¡°This change was random?¡± Beth asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And nothing else changed,¡± the older sister asked.


    ¡°No visible changes. I didn¡¯t lose any weight or grow wings. I definitely feel better than I did before, so that¡¯s a bonus,¡± Dayshia said smiling at her sister.


    Beth stood and approached as Dayshia stood and met her halfway. The older sister took her younger sister¡¯s face in her hands and looked at her new eyes closely. ¡°They truly are breathtakingly lovely. If I were to change, I wouldn¡¯t mind bing this.¡± She turned to face Chris. ¡°Would you still love me if I had eyes like Dayshia¡¯s?¡±


    Chris looked scandalized. ¡°Beth! Don¡¯t say crazy things! You know I¡¯ll love you regardless of what you be!¡±


    ¡°I feel the same about you, but you seem to be having a harder time with epting the change,¡± Beth acknowledged.


    Chris frowned then controlled his expression as he nced at the kids. ¡°I-I just don¡¯t like surrendering control over something I thought was mine.¡±


    Dayshia looked to Henry, and he shifted ufortably as what she was asking was not guaranteed. He wouldn¡¯t deny her, though. He finally nodded.


    ¡°Please, let¡¯s sit again as I have more to say,¡± Dayshia said to her sister. Once everyone wasfortable, she continued.


    ¡°The same night I was exposed to the Wild Magic, Tish was too. The difference was, Tish became a Faun-that¡¯s just another name for Satyr. She was holding Henry¡¯s hand to her stomach while she changed. We think she became a Faun because of this contact,¡± Dayshia suggested.


    Henry shifted ufortably. ¡°That cause and effect connection hasn¡¯t been proven. It might have just been random chance that she became a Faun. No controlled testing has been done.¡±


    Beth looked to her little sister. ¡°How can you test it if we don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll reach the threshold of energy that triggers the change?¡±


    It was Dayshia¡¯s turn to fidget.


    ¡°I¡¯m a source of Wild Magic. I can provide a stream of energy that would trigger the change.¡±


    Eyes turned to Henry, and Chris stood up, pulling his family with him. His expression told them he was not happy.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a danger to anyone. I can control the flow,¡± Henry assured them.


    ¡°Chris, you said it yourself. You¡¯re not happy losing control over the change. We might be able to give you some control. You could choose the race you¡¯d be,¡± Dayshia insisted.


    He red back at them then Beth pulled away. ¡°I know I want the option to choose. I like the idea of bing like Dayshia. It isn¡¯t a major change, and her eyes are so lovely!¡±

 292

    ¡°What options doIhave? What about the kids?¡± Chris argued.


    ¡°I¡¯d like eyes like Auntie Dayshia too!¡± Emily said.


    ¡°What about mors? You didn¡¯t say it was impossible,¡± Chris pushed.


    Henry nodded. ¡°I¡¯d have to speak with some people I know to see if there are any avable options.¡± He scanned Baba¡¯s spells to see if there were any mor spells she had that might work. He pulled his mind away from a few that felt tainted with evil and was left with a few that might work. Again, he¡¯d need Mahati¡¯s knowledge of linking a mor to someone.


    ¡°Can you turn into a Satyr?¡± Danny asked.


    ¡°Are you wearing your kilt?¡± Dayshia asked.


    Henry gave her an annoyed look. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Beth looked at Dayshia with a curious expression.


    ¡°He¡¯s forgotten on asion and gave everyone a show. A big show,¡± Dayshia teased.


    Henry stared at Dayshia until she dipped her eyes in apology. He next looked to Danny and nodded. He stood and faced the group, then dropped his mor.


    ¡°You normally go around bare-chested in the winter?¡± Beth asked with a smile.


    He returned her smile. ¡°I don¡¯t actually feel the cold too much, but I¡¯m also rarely in my true state outside.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have feet,¡± Chris said, looking down at Henry¡¯s hooves.


    Henry nodded. ¡°True, but hooves are tougher and extremely stable.¡±


    Chris moved closer and looked into Henry¡¯s eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t have goat eyes, but you do have floppy ears.¡±


    ¡°Also true,¡± Henry simply stated. ¡°I also have three fingers and a thumb on each hand, but they¡¯re much stronger than Human hands. I use my Human mor to enable my hands to use a keyboard.¡±


    Chris looked troubled. ¡°How do I reconcile your existence with my beliefs?¡±


    Henry blinked at the man in confusion. ¡°Why should my existence have any impact on that?I¡¯venever imed I nullify your beliefs. That would be terribly arrogant and ignorant of me. I certainly don¡¯t haveanyanswers when ites to religion,¡± Henry assured him. He looked closer at Chris and saw he was struggling. ¡°Look. Take some time to think about it. There¡¯s no immediate need for you to decide. It¡¯s obviously a deeply personal issue. You should feelfortable about making it.¡±


    ¡°While I empathize with my husband, I don¡¯t have any desire to leave my next state to random chance. I¡¯m a rip the band-aid off kind of person,¡± Beth insisted.


    ¡°There are other races you might choose. That said, I don¡¯t have aplete list, and with the purposefulck of information on this, I can¡¯t give you any real advice on the races. My circle of friends doesn¡¯t contain thatrge of a selection,¡± Henry exined, and Beth raised her palms to stop him.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Henry. I don¡¯t need to see a catalog. I¡¯m also happy to remain looking as I do, but if there¡¯s an option which just incorporates a small cosmetic adjustment and a lovely one at that, it suits my needs.¡± She hugged her daughter and smiled at Dayshia. ¡°If doing this proves it works, then it protects my children from random chance as well,¡± She nced at Chris¡¯ look of concern. ¡°¡­ should we decide to give them this option.¡± Her husband nodded.


    Beth looked to Henry. ¡°So, how do we do this?¡±


    Dayshia turned to Henry. ¡°Do you recall exactly how Tish was holding your hand on her stomach?¡± He nodded. She looked to her sister. ¡°Maybe you should lie down on the couch.¡±


    Beth stretched out on the sofa as Chris stood back, holding the kids as they watched. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt, does it?¡± she asked her baby sister.


    Dayshia smiled. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t heard anyone report pain from the change. It certainly didn¡¯t hurt for me.¡± Beth nodded, reassured.


    Henry stepped closer. ¡°Dayshia, ce your palm on Beth¡¯s stomach, skin to skin. Beth, you rest your hand on top of Dayshia¡¯s, your thumb and first finger gently wrapped around her wrist. That¡¯s good. Now keep it there until her change isplete.¡± Dayshia nodded seriously. He looked into Beth¡¯s eyes. ¡°This part is different. Tish ingested the Wild Magic, and we are going to deliver it externally.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I ingest it?¡± Beth asked.


    ¡°Uh, no. That¡¯s not an option,¡± Henry said, and Dayshia snorted but quickly controlled her expression. ¡°It¡¯s the same energy, just a different delivery method, but I had to mention it. Still want to proceed?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Beth indicated.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll give the energy to Dayshia, and she¡¯ll direct it down through her hand into you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do what now? I¡¯ve never directed Wild Magic!¡± Dayshia said, looking up at Henry.


    ¡°When you feel it entering your body, guide it down your arm and through your hand into your sister. Invite it to follow with your will,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Oh! I can do that!¡± she responded.


    ¡°All set?¡± he asked and got nods.


    Henry ced his hands on Dayshia¡¯s back and opened his rift slightly.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Dayshia gasped.


    ¡°What?¡± Beth asked nervously.


    ¡°The energy feels good,¡± Dayshia grinned self-consciously, and Beth frowned at her. Dayshia concentrated and directed the pooling energy down her arm and out through her hand.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Beth gasped.


    ¡°What? What happened?¡± Chris asked nervously.


    Beth¡¯s body was tingling madly, and in ces only her husband was supposed to assist with. ¡°It feels really good!¡±


    Henry kept the energy flow rate low as they were just aiming for a controlled umtion, and it seemed to be going well.


    Beth bit her lip and looked over at her husband. ¡°I love you,¡± she mouthed as the tingles spread throughout her body. Then her eyes rolled back as she whited out when her transformation began.


    They watched very closely, holding their breath as nothing was happening. The energy continued to seep into Beth¡¯s body.


    Henry shut the rift when he saw her change begin. He didn¡¯t want to overload her.


    Beth¡¯s eyes began to grow, and hershes extended and became feathery. ¡°It¡¯s working!¡± Dayshia squeaked.


    ¡°Keep your hand in ce,¡± Henry insisted, and Dayshia returned to concentrating on her sister.


    They watched Beth¡¯s eyes grow and slowly take their new shape. Hershes were long and beautifully feathered like Dayshia¡¯s. When Beth rxed, Henry lifted his hands from Dayshia. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    Dayshia lifted her hand from her sister¡¯s stomach and straightened out her shirt. She looked at Chris. ¡°She¡¯ll need a few hours of sleep as the transformation takes a lot out of you.¡±


    ¡°Can I get my pretty eyes now?¡± Emily asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to wait until your mother, and I can speak about it tomorrow,¡± Chris said to Emily then he turned to Dayshia. ¡°Are you avable to visit again?¡±


    Dayshia looked to Henry, who nodded. He raised a finger to get their attention.


    ¡°This is incredibly important. Keep what you saw here tonight to yourselves. Don¡¯t tenyhat the change can be controlled. It¡¯s not possible for me to do this individually for over four billion people. If word got out that we¡¯ve figured out how to choose the race, that would be cruel, as it would lead to a great deal of pain and heartache for a veryrge number of people. And there¡¯s been far too much of both recently for people to endure more,¡± Henry said seriously. He saw serious expressions and nods.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to look into a way to get mors for people. I¡¯m going to work with those who know much more about magic than I do, so we can hopefullye up with a solution for everyone if at all possible,¡± Henry said, and Chris nodded.


    Dayshia hugged Henry. ¡°I think we should call it a night.¡± She looked at Chris. ¡°Have Beth call me in the morning so I can fill her in on how her vision works.¡±


    He nodded and kissed his sister inw¡¯s cheek. The kids got hugs from their aunt and gave Henry handshakes.


    Henry made his way to the front door and touched it to link it to the closet door at his ce as it was bing his go-to door for returning home.


    He looked back at Chris. ¡°You have a lovely home and a wonderful family. Thank you for dinner, and I hope to see you again soon.¡±


    The man shook his hand and nodded.


    Henry opened the door and ushered Dayshia through. She looked around, orienting herself as Henry closed the door and released the spell. ¡°I¡¯m home withpany,¡± he called out.


    The twins came charging around the corner with smiles on their faces, sliding to a stop just before Dayshia.


    ¡°You met Aadya and Maliha earlier, yes?¡± he asked Dayshia.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Yes, hello!¡± Dayshia said to them with a smile.


    Aadya leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against Dayshia¡¯s affectionately. ¡°Day Shaw.¡±


    Before the woman could react, it was Maliha¡¯s turn to rub her face against her other cheek. ¡°Daysh.¡±


    ¡°Day-She-Ah,¡± Henry corrected gently. The twins looked to him and rolled the sounds around in their mouths.


    ¡°Dayshia,¡± Aadya said, and Maliha repeated it.


    ¡°Excellent!¡± Henry praised them, and they grinned happily at him. Dayshia saw their pronounced fangs and her eyebrows went up.


    ¡°Cam is very pleased with their improving vocabry. We have a meeting this week with Nuru Onwudiwe to officially register them as Members of the Vimor family.


    ¡°Nurrrrrrrrrrrru!¡± Aadya crooned, rolling the ¡®r¡¯ happily until it sounded like purring. Her sister picked it up and chased her back to the living room.


    ¡°Just thirty more minutes of TV, then it¡¯s sleepy time,¡± Henry called out. A crooning came back around the corner. He looked to Dayshia. ¡°They fall back on the noises when they don¡¯t have the words.¡±


    Tish stepped around the corner with Celeste in her arms. The girl was looking very sleepy, so she¡¯d likely just fed. Henry reached out his arms and gathered the baby against his chest. He sniffed her head, and she cuddled in, asleep in seconds.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair! I feed her, and she takes so long to fall asleep for me. Henry picks her up, and she¡¯s out,¡± Tish moaned.


    He lifted his nose to look down it at her. ¡°It¡¯s my superior cuddliness.¡±


    Tish snorted dismissively with a grin. Henry carried the baby to her room and got her settled before joining the twodies in the hall again, where they had their heads together, speaking in low tones.


    ¡°Anything I can hear too?¡± he asked.

 293

    Dayshia looked up with shock on her face. Tish seemed a little more embarrassed. He crooked his finger and led them into the living room where they sat on a couch, Henry facing the two women. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°You know our discovery tonight?¡± Dayshia asked.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Henry said cautiously.


    Dayshia continued. ¡°It seems Tish already knew it worked. Go ahead. Tell him.¡±


    Tish looked at Henry and saw he was waiting. ¡°On the night of the Skyfall event, I was in my sister¡¯s backyard soaking in the green light with my entire family minus one brother-inw. We were hugging, the entire bunch of us all at once. I was feeling very vulnerable emotionally. As I held them, I wished for some way to keep them and stay connected to my family. I didn¡¯t want to have to hide our child from them and stay away. I needed them. I wanted them so badly.¡±


    Henry was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and he didn¡¯t have to wait long.


    ¡°They transformed.¡±


    Henry blinked. ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°All thirty-four of them. They¡¯re all Fauns.¡±


    Henry was stunned. That would be impossible to exin. Then his brain choked on something. The Skyfall Event didn¡¯t trigger any transformations on the first night that he was aware of. ¡°Hang on a second.¡± He pulled out his cell and dialed a number.


    ¡°Hi, Henry!¡±


    ¡°Hi, could I ask you to look at something for me?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Uh, sure. Are you going to send me a picture?¡±


    ¡°No. It has to be in person. I need you to use your special sight. Is your bedroom door closed?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± There was a click in the background. ¡°Okay. All set.¡±


    Henry stood and guided Tish to the hall and stood her in front of the closet door. Then he touched the door, linking it to the bedroom door. He hustled back to the living room, tugging a confused Dayshia with him, and they moved as far away as they could. The twins watched them with interest.


    ¡°Okay. Open the door,¡± he said.


    He listened carefully as Siobhan opened her door and faced Tish alone.


    ¡°Hi, Tish. What-Oh my god! How did I miss this!¡± the Selkie gasped.


    ¡°She has a rift, doesn¡¯t she,¡± Henry asked. Dayshia gasped.


    ¡°Yes! Not arge one, but it¡¯s definitely there,¡± Siobhan sighed.


    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± Tish eximed nervously.


    ¡°One more experiment. Dayshia, go back to stand next to Tish.¡± With a curious look at Henry, Dayshia rushed back to the hall to stand next to her friend. ¡°Well?¡± he asked Siobhan.


    ¡°It¡¯s closed!¡± she responded.


    Henry walked back to join them and saw Tish¡¯s confused expression. ¡°This is why Siobhan couldn¡¯t see the rift inside you. It only opens when other sources of Wild Magic are absent. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°But I was standing in a backyard filled with Wild Magic!¡± she asserted.


    ¡°Yes, but you pulled on the Wild Magic within you with the strength of your will. The rift answered. You saturated your family with Wild Magic due to the group hug. Your need and will shaped a spell to guide their transformation. That exins why you didn¡¯t actually need to physically touch all of them directly. You performed magic.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Siobhan gasped.


    ¡°Her entire family, all thirty-four of them, became Satyr¡¯s during Skyfall,¡± Henry exined. He paused. ¡°How are they not all over the news?¡±


    Tish was reeling with the evidence that she actuallywasresponsible. She admitted to herself she¡¯d suspected though she couldn¡¯t be sure, but Henry just confirmed it. The concept that she¡¯d performed magic was both thrilling and terrifying! She pushed that from her mind as he¡¯d asked a question.


    ¡°They¡­ they called in sick, worked from home, took a temporary leave of absence from their jobs, and some made excuses for weeks before going back. The kids are all being homeschooled. With the loss of so many people, their jobs have been extra forgiving, and the schools wee parents keeping the kids at home to reduce the students in the sses. They haven¡¯t all experienced smooth sailing when they went back to work as Fauns but with Lorelei¡¯s music easing the way, they haven¡¯t experienced any violence or fear. None of their coworkers are aware of their family¡¯s state, and they¡¯ve been keeping the secret. They also work all around the Phdelphia area and don¡¯t live in the same neighborhoods. They haven¡¯t gotten together since that night.¡±


    Henry saw the sad expression on Tish¡¯s face. ¡°So, the very thing you dreaded hase true. You¡¯ve been forced apart.¡±


    She nodded with tearsing to her eyes. Henry opened his arms, and she rushed into them. He rubbed her back as the tears flowed.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± he asked gently.


    She sniffed. ¡°You¡¯ve been overwhelmed with demands since you returned. Not being able to see my family didn¡¯t seem as important.¡±


    ¡°Well, it is, and we¡¯re going to do something about it!¡± he said firmly.


    She blinked at him.


    ¡°They¡¯re all invited to the Christmas Party at Meixiu¡¯s mansion. I¡¯ll have to ask Meixiu first, of course, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be on board for the extra guests at the party. I¡¯ll set up doors from their ces to the mansion, so we don¡¯t have to worry about the extra sleeping requirements.¡±


    Tish¡¯s eyes lit up excitedly, then she was clinging to him again with more tears in her eyes. Henry looked to Dayshia. ¡°Your family is invited as well!¡±


    Dayshia joined Tish for a group hug. Henry peeked through the closet door and saw Siobhan was grinning happily. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re invited, too.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss it for the world!¡± the gorgeous brte said.


    ¡°Thank you for assisting us with this,¡± Henry said sincerely.


    ¡°My pleasure. Lunch on Monday?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sounds good. Good night,¡± Henry said, and they hung up their phones. Tish released Henry and rushed through the door to give Siobhan a hug. When Tish rejoined Henry, Siobhan was all smiles as he closed the door, dropping the link.


    Henry caught Dayshia trying to hide a yawn, so he pulled her into a hug. ¡°I think it¡¯s time I walked you home.¡±


    ¡°All that way? Such a gentleman,¡± she teased.


    ¡°I know. Try to keep the fact under your hat. I don¡¯t want everyone expecting such over the top gestures,¡± he nodded thoughtfully.


    Dayshia untangled herself from Henry and gave Tish a hug goodnight. They left the condo, and he hooked his arm through hers as he leisurely walked her down the hall to her door. He smiled as he faced her. ¡°As Emily rified, I¡¯m your boyfriend, yes?¡±


    She chuckled as her eyes twinkled happily. ¡°Yes. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to take it slow as I¡¯ve messed up previous rtionships in a wide variety of ways.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay with that as long as I¡¯m not forbidden the pleasure of your kiss,¡± he teased.


    ¡°Oh, kisses are mandatory. That¡¯s non-negotiable,¡± she said seriously.


    He smiled and leaned forward and captured her mouth with his. She made a little involuntary sound of hunger as he caressed her lips with his and tasted her mouth.


    By the end of the kiss, she was clinging to him, almost grinding against him as his hands slid down her back. Destination: Heavenly Ass.


    She suddenly pushed back, but her hands seemed to be fighting her intent as they clung to him.


    ¡°Okay! Okay, okay. That¡¯s good for tonight. We should stop before I forget my rule about taking it slow,¡± Dayshia gasped as her body trembled.


    ¡°Do-do you think your sister will ask us to return tomorrow?¡± he asked as he caught his breath.


    Her eyes were watching his mouth, then flicked up to his eyes. ¡°Yes.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Of course, she¡¯ll go to church first, showing them her new eyes, just to see what the congregation makes of that. She always was one to push the faith of hermunity.¡±


    ¡°Chris must love that,¡± he said.


    Dayshia smiled at his observation. ¡°So, you picked up that dynamic from dinner? Good for you. Yes, they have their disagreements, but they are solid.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re a wonderful family,¡± Henry agreed.


    ¡°Okay, you¡¯d better head home as I¡¯m in danger of jumping your bones right here in the hallway,¡± Dayshia said.


    Henry took two steps back and blew her a kiss. Chuckling, Dayshia¡¯s smile suddenly dipped as she realized she¡¯d forgotten something. ¡°I don¡¯t have my keys.¡±


    The door opened, and a blushing Michelle smiled timidly at them.


    ¡°Listening in?¡± Dayshia squeaked.


    ¡°Someone thumped against the door, so I looked through the peephole and saw you two. It was very hot!¡± Michelle exined as her face grew redder.


    Dayshia cast a look back at Henry and licked her lips as her memories were very fresh. ¡°Good night, Henry.¡±


    ¡°Good night, Dayshia. Until tomorrow. Oh! I¡¯ll be on Eden for a few hours in the morning as the twins need to exercise their wings. I¡¯ll be back by noon at thetest.¡±


    She smiled at him, then squeezed by Michelle to head to her bedroom.


    Michelle remained in the doorway, looking at Henry. He smiled at her in question.


    ¡°Could-could I get a good night kiss?¡± she asked quietly.


    ¡°Oh! Yes-¡±


    Michelle¡¯s lips were on Henry¡¯s in a sh as she rushed out into the hall to press herself against him. She gripped his wrists and pulled his hands to press against her breasts, so he gave them a gentle squeeze. She moaned loudly, and her kiss became more aggressive.


    ¡°Michelle, it wasmydate night, you know,¡± Dayshia¡¯s voice said, cutting through their haze of lust. ¡°Just ask him for your own date.¡±


    The woman pulled back and saw the heat in Henry¡¯s eyes as he focused on her mouth. When his hands squeezed her breasts once more, she gasped as lightning raced through her body. She pushed off and rushed back inside.


    ¡°Good night, Henry,¡± Dayshia said with a grin as she could see he was still dazed.


    ¡°Night,¡± he managed. Then he was alone in the hall. He took some deep breaths to settle himself and pulled out his cell. He sent a quick note to Meixiu asking if it would be possible to include Tish¡¯s extended family and Dayshia¡¯s family at the Christmas Party at her mansion. She immediately sent him a SQUEE emoji and a message stating she would love to include them.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

 294

    They spent the next fifteen minutes trading messages back and forth about the logistics of incorporating the Magic Doors. She was loving the idea of having so many children at the mansion. They talked about decking out the estate with lights.


    ¡°Are you going to spend the rest of the night in the hallway?¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    Henry looked up from his cell to see Tish grinning at him from their door. The twins slipped by her and ran down the hall to pull him back to the condo. He managed to send Meixiu a final text saying they¡¯d talk tomorrow, then he surrendered himself to the threedies¡¯ intimate demands.


    In the privacy of his bedroom, of course.


    >>>>>


    Henrypiled the new report into the application and promoted it to the production server. He sent out a notice to the team who requested it, letting them know they would have it avable to them the next time they reloaded the application.


    Leaning back in his chair, he breathed a sigh of satisfaction. This was the heaven he craved.


    Who hated Mondays? That was just crazy talk!


    Yesterday, he¡¯d taken Dayshia back to Boston to see her sister. The woman had been glowing with happiness. She¡¯d had a sessful debut with her congregation and gave Henry a big hug. Chris was still on the fence about the change, so they left it at that. He said he¡¯d put more thought into it and give them an answer at the party.


    Today, Henry had aplished so much! Seven new reports. Patches for the workstations were scheduled to load tonight after hours. His testing proved there was nothing nefarious included, so they were safe to go.


    He¡¯d had lunch in his office with Siobhan and Marisa, who joined them through a Magic Door from her ce where she was still on maternity leave. Marisa loved being able to hang out with her friends without bringing all the baby¡¯s needs from home. Henry enjoyed cuddling the baby.


    In the afternoon, he¡¯d fielded a request from the National Security Agency and got a good start on the n for the addition they¡¯d asked for. Cam was pleased with the extra billing this would generate because it was new functionality. She nned to contact the other agencies to see if they¡¯d be equally interested in the feature.


    She celebrated by giving Henry a blow job that threatened to straighten his hair. It was satisfying for both of them. Maybe just a little more for her, as she was out immediately afterward.


    Leaving your boss¡¯s office with her blissfully sleeping off her carnal meal still made him feel awkward, but Felix just gave him a knowing smile and shuffled her afternoon appointments topensate.


    Sigrid stopped by his office at the end of the day. ¡°Hi, Henry!¡±


    ¡°Hi, Sigrid!¡± he said, looking to his doorway where the lovely blonde was smiling at him.


    ¡°I hear from Meixiu we¡¯re going to have a mega, four-day Christmas celebration!¡± she said with a wide smile.


    He answered her with a nod. ¡°Tish¡¯s family can¡¯t get together without people noticing they¡¯re all Faun¡¯s. Certainly not random. We¡¯ll need to deal with that sometime soon. They can¡¯t keep hiding. I¡¯ll need ess to the mansion to set up rows of doors to each of their homes. I was thinking of asking Meixiu if we could just install walls of doors along the two sides of the vestibule outside the cave in the basement. Do you think she¡¯d be okay with that?¡±


    Sigrid chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯d refuse you anything.¡±


    Henry¡¯s smile dropped away. ¡°I don¡¯t want her to feel obligated for anything!¡± he asserted.


    ¡°Silly man. It¡¯s not a sense of obligation that makes her feel that way.¡± Sigrid shook her head.


    ¡°Ah, sorry. I¡¯ll ask her then,¡± he said, and Sigrid nodded.


    ¡°I came by to let you know we¡¯re going to holiday hours on Thursday. We shut down at noon, and we¡¯re closed on Friday until the following Wednesday. The on-call staff can handle all client calls though the online systems carry most of that load.¡±


    ¡°I only get three and a half days this week?¡± Henry grumbled.


    Sigrid rolled her eyes as she came into his office to lean over his desk, resting her elbows on the surface as she cradled her chin on her hands, smiling cheekily at him. ¡°Whatever will you do with your free time?¡±


    Henry was trapped by the sight of Sigrid¡¯s delectable cleavage. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, and she squeaked gently as she hadn¡¯t expected him to respond to her teasing this boldly.


    When his fingers slid along her jawline, tingles raced down her neck, spine, and fireworks buckled her knees. This rocked her back and broke their kiss.


    ¡°Oh my god, Henry,¡± she sighed quietly as she touched her lips, struggling to stand up straight.


    He stood and walked around the desk, his eyes locked on hers as she watched him approach. Her stomach was filled with butterflies, and she felt rooted to the spot, his gaze trapping her in ce. When he reached her, he was kissing her again, and she struggled to remember to breathe as his hands touched her body, each time setting off little bursts of bliss. She stepped back, but he followed. They synchronized their steps, their bodies brushing between each step, sending fire to intimate ces. Her eyes closed with the slow sensual dance they were doing.


    She felt a breeze stirring her hair as she realized her braid was undone and her long blonde locks were free. Her body felt that breeze caressing her skin. As she realized she was naked, Henry eased her down onto a bed of soft red grasses, stretching his naked body next to hers, his mouth finding hers once more.


    He explored the softness of her lips, teased her tongue, and drew it into his mouth to gently suck it, stirring her fires. His hands stroked her skin, and she cried out. Then he was above her and slipping inside. Her cries grew louder, and she clung to him tighter as their movements followed the demands of their bodies. Henry was moaning with pleasure as he kissed along her jaw and nibbled her earlobe.


    She was suddenly there, at the edge of ascending into another realm. The orange skies above shed to white, her body bing incandescent as bliss carried her into the heavens. Her body felt the warmth of Henry¡¯s embrace as his heat filled her.


    It had never been like this for her before. She didn¡¯t understand, but she didn¡¯t want to look too closely, fearing it might destroy the magic.


    She basked in the brilliant glow of the purest white light she¡¯d ever experienced.


    It felt like¡­ Henry¡¯s love for her and that meant everything.


    -=-


    Henry rested his back against the tree, inhaling its mild cinnamon scent as Sigrid sighed in her sleep. He was in his Satyr form, and she was asleep resting back against him, wrapped in his big arms.


    He couldn¡¯t get over how intense their lovemaking had been. He knew she¡¯d been teasing him in his office, then she¡¯d shed her incredibly blue eyes at him, and he felt himself falling into her gaze. His body moved on its own, and he knew he had to have her. What made him open the tear to Eden, he didn¡¯t know, but it was the perfect setting for them.


    He kissed the top of her head, and she sighed in her sleep, snuggling in closer. His hands restedfortably on the tight muscles of her tummy, and he smiled as he could feel them twitch and bunch. Even in her sleep, she was working out. He struggled to contain his chuckles to not wake her.


    Not that there seemed to be any chance of that happening soon. Sigrid was well and truly out. When he¡¯d returned from his bliss, Henry discovered Sigrid was sleeping soundly. He¡¯d moved her clothes up a gentle slope to this tree then changed into his Satyr form to carry her here. She hadn¡¯t woken through the process.


    He dozed with her resting on him, and gradually he resurfaced and saw Xiong at the bottom of the slope, a distance away. He reached out to the ss being through the Wild Magic.


    ¡°Hello, Henry. My apologies for invading your privacy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like we made much effort to hide,¡± he responded.


    ¡°We just wanted you to know, we believe this is the most beautiful way to honor your child,¡± Xiong said, and Henry felt the love of Eden¡¯smunity through their link. Henry saw Xiong¡¯s memory of facing this valley from the base of the same tree. He saw the child in Xiong¡¯s hands be pure energy and seep into the ground¡­ where he chose to rest with Sigrid in his arms.


    Henry expressed his love for Xiong and the others in themunity back through his link and felt their joy as Xiong turned and made his way back towards the vige.


    He was left with his thoughts and the beauty in his arms.


    Wednesday morning found Henry, in his mor, sitting in the restored boardroom at VRL between Frank and Rosalind, both of whom couldn¡¯t stop looking at him. It was his first board meeting since returning.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe, all this time, I was sitting next to a goat-man!¡± Frank eximed.


    Rosalind gave her fellow executive a scandalized look. ¡°Frank! For Heaven¡¯s sake! He¡¯s not a goat man! He¡¯s a¡­ a¡­¡±


    ¡°Satyr,¡± Henry offered.


    ¡°Yes! A Satyr!¡± Rosalind finished. She gave him a curious look. ¡°Is that why you¡¯re so good withputers?¡±


    Henry chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I just had a very strict upbringing where studying was my only outlet. I just¡­ get tech. I really enjoy it!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± Frank asked.


    ¡°What?¡± Henry blinked.


    ¡°Being a Satyr. What¡¯s it like?¡± he asked excitedly.


    Henry smiled. ¡°What¡¯s it like being Italian?¡±


    ¡°Aye! He¡¯s a wiseguy, too!¡± Frankughed, and Rosalind giggled.


    The other execs filed in and smiled at Henry as they did.


    Henry noted a stranger in the group sitting in Myron Glickman¡¯s chair. The head of the Auditing Department had a recement? The man caught his curious look and stood to walk around the table. Henry stood as well and epted the man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Hi, Larry Woolcroft. I was Myron¡¯s second inmand and got promoted to take over the department while you were away. He was one of the missing after Skyfall.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Henry jolted slightly. The news that one of their execs had been a victim that night caught him off guard.


    ¡°Sorry Henry, I should have forewarned you, but for us, it happened six months ago,¡± Cam said as she arrived with Roy and Mahati.


    He raised his hands. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m the one who¡¯s out of touch. I¡¯ll catch up.¡±

 295

    They took their seats, and Henry looked to Sigrid¡¯s empty chair and sent a concerned look to Cam. After they¡¯d returned from Eden Monday night, he¡¯d given her a kiss goodnight, and he thought all was good. Tuesday, she didn¡¯te to work, and Cam didn¡¯t hear from her. Henry called Meixiu, who reported that she¡¯d heard Sigrid leave the house sometime in the early hours of Tuesday morning.


    Now there was no sign of her at the meeting.


    Cam called the meeting to order. ¡°I¡¯ll begin with an update on Sigrid. She sent me a text to say she needed a few days off to visit her mother, who lives in a small mountaintop vige in Italy. I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯ll see her until after the Christmas break.¡±


    Henry leaned back and felt a little better. He hoped Sigrid¡¯s mom was okay. Winter could be a terrible time for the elderly, and she lived in the mountains? Extra chilly!


    The minutes were read, and when Cam spoke of the little bit extra everyone, from the execs right down to the cleaning staff, would be getting this year in their paycheque because of the new software deals VRL signed. There was much rejoicing. Henry¡¯s return meant future windfalls, so smiles were on all faces.


    Then they moved to regr business matters, and Henry got to practice staying awake.


    -=-


    After lunch, Henry was called to Cam¡¯s office. He knew it must almost be time for the twin¡¯s assessment. Felix gestured for him to enter, so he gave the man a smile, knocked on the door before pushing it open, and closed the door behind himself. He turned to face Cam and found himself facing her and three women in cloaks, their hoods pushed back.


    Subi were a bit of a weakness for Henry, and while Cam was in her mor, the other three were not. Henry felt his libido sit up and take notice. Thedies smiled as they caught the automatic signs of his attraction.


    ¡°You¡¯re right on time, Henry,¡± Cam said with a smile she obviously hoped would give him confidence. ¡°Henry, this is Nuru Onwudiwe, leader of the Subi Association.¡± Henry bowed to her, and her smile widened in satisfaction. ¡°And her two attendants, Bisa and Leal.¡± Henry tipped his head to them, and they returned the gesture. ¡°Nuru, this is Henry Gable, our CIO and the source of the Wild Magic I was not previously at liberty to speak of.¡±


    Nuru stepped forward to approach Henry. ¡°I have been looking forward to meeting you since I first detected a new form of Magic powering Cam.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I had to remain a secret,¡± Henry said with a smile.


    ¡°Would you mind if I scented you?¡± the Subi leader asked.


    ¡°Uh, sure,¡± he said as he nced at Cam, who was biting her lip to keep fromughing at his expression.


    The Subus leaned in and inhaled. Henry decided he¡¯d give her a little treat and opened his rift slightly as she moved in close.


    ¡°Oh my god,¡± she gasped and stumbled forward to lean against his body, gripping his biceps as he braced her arms to keep her on her feet. Her cheek rested on his shoulder, and she inhaled deeper. He let the energy gently drift from himself into her, but not too much as she¡¯d likely lose consciousness, and he needed her to assess the twins.


    She pushed herself to her feet and shed a bright smile at him. ¡°Thank you for the energy. It¡¯s quite delicious. She licked her lips, and he felt that, intimately. Her smile widened. ¡°I would very much like to sample a pure source of this, but today is not that day. We are here for another purpose, a rather unorthodox andplex issue for us. A very private one as well. That Mab interfered with the Subi internal policy is unforgivable, but the crime wasmitted long ago, and justice has been served. You have our thanks for that.¡±


    Henry nodded and nced nervously at Cam.


    ¡°Now we must address the fact of the twins-¡±


    ¡°I have proimed in front of witnesses from multiple races that I im them for House Vimor, and I have named them Aadiya and Maliha,¡± Cam stated.


    Nuru¡¯s eyes shed as she looked at Cam. ¡°That was presumptive of you and premature as I had not made an assessment.¡±


    Cam nodded but held her ground. Nuru¡¯s nostrils red in frustration. ¡°Where are they?¡±


    ¡°They are at my condo,¡± Henry said, and Nuru¡¯s eyes shed in anger.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring them here-¡±


    Henry held up a hand. ¡°Give me a minute.¡± He watched her for a second, and she seemed to get control of her temper. He nodded and walked over to Cam¡¯s washroom door, which she¡¯d purposefully left open. He closed it and used the Magic Door spell to link it to his closet. He opened the door and heard Nuru make a sound of surprise.


    ¡°Aadiya? Maliha?¡± he called out. He waited a moment as he heard them scrambling to join him. He smiled as they rushed around the corner. When they arrived, he hugged them and kissed their temples, which got them purring. He pulled back and cupped their cheeks with his palms, looking into their dark eyes as they gazed at him in adoration. ¡°Best behavior. I want you to meet someone very important.¡±


    He turned and guided them into Cam¡¯s office. They clung to his arms as they followed him in. Their wings opened slightly as they had space for it.


    Nuru gasped as she took in the red-orange skin,ck of hair, and ck orbs eyes. The wings shocked her. ¡°Feral twins,¡± she gasped quietly. Her body trembled in disgust. This abomination-


    ¡°No!¡±


    Nuru twitched at the sharpness in Henry¡¯s tone, and she looked to him.


    ¡°Whatever the Subi policy was for such beings, its purpose was for maintaining secrecy, when the Hidden Races were just that, hidden. We¡¯re no longer hidden, and we have a chance at survival because of some very smart andpassionate actions. I understand you have centuries of mental programming to contend with, but we¡¯re asking you to rise above it and grasp new solutions that this new era is granting us.¡± He saw Nuru was struggling, so he continued. ¡°The world has changed overnight, and soon everyone will be transformed into one of the Hidden Races. There is room for all.¡±


    Nuru¡¯s mouth was working, but she made no noise. Finally, she found her voice. ¡°Wings! They have wings! Where will they fly?¡± she asserted.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Eden.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± the Subi leader asked.


    ¡°The dimension where my magices from. There are no people there aside from ss People and Silver People.¡± Henry gestured to the open space before Cam¡¯s sofa, where a tear opened to the other dimension, and the leader was looking into a new world.


    ¡°Oh my god!¡± she sighed as she took a step closer, her eyes taking in every difference.


    ¡°You said you dreamed of being an explorer, but it¡¯s all been discovered here. Eden is a new unknown world,¡± Cam said.


    Nuru whipped her head around to re at Cam. ¡°That sounds like a bribe.¡±


    ¡°By no means. There is no connection between the status of the twins and Eden,¡± Cam assured her.


    Nuru nodded, then looked back out through the tear and watched it close.


    ¡°It takes a lot of energy to keep the tear open,¡± Henry exined.


    The Subi leader looked to Henry. ¡°How are you able to open Magic Doors and rips in space to other dimensions. It¡¯s my understanding that Satyr¡¯s were conduits, not wielders.¡±


    ¡°Please understand, I¡¯m not saying this to be a dick or to make myself sound like some kind of boogieman. Baba Yaga made me what I am, but I turned out nothing like her, much to her dismay. My natural inclinations proved stronger than her nurturing.


    I¡¯m a new breed of wielder. Baba connected me to that world of Wild Magic, which is far more powerful than the old realm, which I also have ess to. This is more magic than anyone¡¯s ever seen, and I have all of Baba¡¯s spells, all of them. There¡¯s shit in my head I don¡¯t dare look at for fear of losing my sanity. But I¡¯ve also learned to do things Baba had no idea could be done. That said, I have no interest in using magic, aside from the helpful stuff like the Magic Door.¡±


    He paused for a second to ensure he had theirplete attention. He could see the three Subi were already reeling from his confession. It was time to drive the point home.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°If I¡¯m forced to do so, I will use whatever means I have at my disposal to protect my friends and family. The twins may have been imed as part of House Vimor, but make no mistake, they¡¯re part of my family, too.¡±


    He held Nuru¡¯s eyes, and she saw the strength of his conviction. She saw she had no real choice.


    ¡°I see. Well then. I hereby endorse the membership of Aadiya and Maliha as members of House Vimor,¡± she said. Her attendant Bisa quickly seconded the endorsement, and it was done.


    ¡°Thank you, Nuru,¡± Henry said and bowed deeply to her. The twins nced at her then matched his gesture.


    He turned to the twins and whispered into their ears, bringing huge smiles to their faces, then he gestured for them to go back to the condo.


    ¡°Goodbye, Cam!¡± Aadiya and Maliha called out and waved to her as Nuru stared at them in shock. Cam waved to thedies, and they rushed back through the washroom door. Henry closed it and released the link.


    ¡°They speak?¡± Nuru asked quietly.


    Henry smiled at her. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re socializing well. Still much to learn, but with my friends¡¯ love and guidance, they are progressing well. Will they ever reach full adult capabilities? Time will tell. They are sweet-tempered, loving, mischievous, and¡­ they have unquenchable enthusiasm and hunger for¡­ many things. Living with a Satyr may be their best option.¡±


    Nuru found herself smiling. Her earlier decision no longer felt so forced. Her interest was piqued regarding this interesting male before her.

 296

    ¡°I look forward to getting to know you better myself,¡± Nuru said as the tip of her tongue slipped out to touch her lips.


    Henry felt that in his pants.


    Nuru chuckled and nodded to Cam before leaving with her attendants.


    When Henry turned back to sigh in relief at Cam, he saw she was already around her desk as she prowled towards him. His eyebrows rose. ¡°Cam?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been so proud of you and so incredibly turned on,¡± she purred.


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    That was all Henry had time to say before she dragged him down on her couch.


    It was celebration time again.


    -=-


    When Henry stepped off the elevator carrying bags of groceries Tish sent him out for after he got home from work, he heard his name being called. He turned his head and saw Sandy bouncing down the hall towards him.


    ¡°Hi beautiful!¡± he said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss her. It was sweet but brief as she pulled away quickly.


    ¡°Ahh! You¡¯re cold!¡± sheined.


    He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s snowing out there, and Tish the Wicked sent me out into it on this terrible quest.¡±


    ¡°Tish the Wicked?¡± said a voice in false outrage.


    Henry looked to Sandy and pretended to cower. ¡°The beatings! The beatings I¡¯ll get!¡±


    Sandy burst into giggles as she dropped her mor, and Kesini took the bags from Henry¡¯s fingers. They followed him down the hall to join Tish at her door.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll give you a beating. Fiftyshes with a wet noodle!¡± Tish said with a grin.


    ¡°See how mean she is to me!¡± Henry whimpered to Sandy.


    The petite blonde rolled her eyes and followed Tish into the kitchen, Kesini setting the bags down on the ind.


    Henry put his winter jacket away, real clothes, and joined thedies in the kitchen but kept his hands behind himself. He spotted ck eyes watching him over the back of the sofa closest to the TV. He grinned to himself as he knew what reward they were waiting for. He tossed the coconuts he¡¯d picked up at the grocer¡¯s over the couch, and they snatched them out of the air with cries of happiness.


    ¡°Hey! No eating those in the living room!¡± Tish called out, and the twins scrambled to take seats at the kitchen ind. Tish slid a sheet of paper towel to each of them as she shot a look of annoyance at Henry.


    The twins leaned their heads closer to the coconuts as they shook them gently, listening to the water slosh around inside.


    ¡°Do they need something to crack them open?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°No, they¡¯ve figured that out,¡± Tish sighed, but Sandy could see the small smile on her lips. ¡°Henry¡¯s been bringing home different fruits for them to try. They see them on the nature shows, and they¡¯ve been learning how to ask for them. They enjoy coconuts most. Now, that¡¯s all they ask for. The first few times were a bit of a disaster.¡±


    ¡°Messssss,¡± Aadya sighed with a nod as she concentrated on the coconut.


    ¡°So messy,¡± Maliha corrected her sister.


    Aadya held her coconut against the granite countertop and extended a dagger-sharp w on her right index finger. She poked it into the coconut like it was an apple.


    ¡°Damn! That¡¯s sharp!¡± Sandy eximed.


    Aadya smiled at Sandy happily, fangs on disy as her sister poked a hole in her coconut.


    Tish handed them straws, which they epted with a smile.


    ¡°What do you say?¡± Henry prompted them.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± they said in unison.


    ¡°Good,¡± Henry said, earning him smiles from both as they turned to their treats. They looked back to the TV and then Tish.


    ¡°Come back to crack those open over the paper towels,¡± she said, and they nodded before rushing back to their show.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Henry said to Sandy.


    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Can¡¯t ady just want to hang out with her friends?¡±


    Henry pulled her into a warm hug. ¡°Of course, you can!¡±


    They enjoyed the closeness. He smiled down at her as he released her.


    ¡°I need your help,¡± Sandy said with a grin.


    He snorted and nodded. ¡°Anything.¡±


    ¡°I need to go back to my parent¡¯s home to collect some personal items. The realtor will be preparing the home for sale, but I want to take some things with sentimental value first.¡±


    ¡°Certainly. We can go now if you like,¡± he said and looked to Tish.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep your dinner warm,¡± she said.


    ¡°Thanks!¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°Of course. You¡¯ll have to open the door as I¡¯ve never been there,¡± he said and guided Sandy back to the front hall to stand before the hall closet. ¡°Picture the door to your parent¡¯s ce in your mind. When you have it fixed in your mind, touch the door and keep your hand on it.¡±


    Sandy closed her eyes and nodded her head.


    ¡°Reach forward and touch the door, keeping the image in your mind,¡± Henry said softly.


    Once her hand touched the door, Henry touched her hand and activated the spell.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± he said, and Sandy opened her eyes and turned the knob, opening the closet door into the front hall. She sucked in a breath as she saw the little table in the hall was destroyed. Vandals? In this town? She surged forward as Henry closed the door behind them, releasing the spell.


    He turned, and his eyes widened in surprise. The house was not in good shape. Someone had done some damage here. Only then did he recognize the red and blue lights shing behind him. He turned and nced out the window on the front door to see three cruisers parked there.


    He stepped outside, climbed down the steps, and through the snow holding his hand in front of his face to shield himself from the spotlight they were shining back at him.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked.


    Hands grabbed him, and he was pulled behind the police cruisers.


    ¡°Who are you, and how did you get into the house?¡± a young cop yelled at his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m a friend of the daughter of the couple who lived here. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Did you see the monster inside the house?¡± the cop snapped.


    Henry¡¯s eyes turned to the house. ¡°Monster?¡±


    ¡°Clifford Hicks. Used to be a cop. Turned into an eight-foot-tall monster with tusks this morning after breakfast at the county jail. He busted out and killed two officers as he did it. Smashed through a cinderblock wall, and we chased him all the way here.¡±


    ¡°Why here?¡±


    ¡°He ims the girl who lived here was the one who raped him. Except, we got videos from his home. He raped multiple women over the years, but we got him. Except now he¡¯s unstoppable. Bullets do nuthin¡¯ at all!¡±


    There was a loud roar, and the front picture window on the house exploded outwards.


    Henry ran forward and saw the huge monster, lit by the red and blue lights in the snow, pounding his fists on the shield surrounding Sandy. She was scowling so she wasn¡¯t hurt. Henry dropped his mor and activated his own protection as he charged at the ogre, only to be pped back across the yard to crash into the cruiser. ¡°Fuck!¡±


    The ogre only had eyes for Sandy as he went back to pounding against her shield.


    Henry couldn¡¯t open a tear and drop him from a height or intova as he was standing over Sandy. ¡°I need to get help!¡± he called out.


    ¡°Do it fast!¡± she called back.


    Henry called Roy on his cell. The man picked up on the third ring.


    ¡°Yes, Henry, what is it?¡± He sounded gruff, and he was breathing hard.


    ¡°We need your help. I¡¯m at Sandy¡¯s parent¡¯s ce, and she¡¯s being attacked by an ogre.¡±


    ¡°Did he say, ogre?¡± Henry heard Mary say excitedly in the background.


    ¡°Aye,¡± he replied to her, then grunted. ¡°Okay, Henry. Mary will help you. Open a door.¡± Roy grumbled.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been to your ce!¡±


    ¡°HENRY! HURRY!¡± Sandy called out.


    Henry dropped his shield, closed his eyes, and grabbed his right ring finger, holding Roy¡¯s image in his mind. He jumped.


    ¡°WHAT THE FUCK! Henry!¡± Roy yelled as Henry popped into¡­ He nced around and recognized Mary¡¯s bedroom. The scent of sex was quite strong, and Roy was struggling to hide with a sheet.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± he called as he ran for the closet door. He tried to link it to Sandy¡¯s parents¡¯ ce¡¯s front door, but he must have left it open. ¡°Shit!¡± He racked his memory and recalled a small broom closet under the staircase. It would have to do. He linked the doors. He saw Mary was yanking on her pants, so he grabbed her and leapt through the door to tumble onto the hallway floor.


    ¡°Out the window!¡± Henry called as Mary scrambled to her feet. ¡°He¡¯s a rapist.¡±


    Mary smiled back at Henry and ran to the window to dive through it.


    Henry pushed himself to his hooves and recalled at thest second to drop the door spell. Then he charged outside.


    Mary was getting a pounding on the frontwn in the deep snow. The ogre was mming both fists on her repeatedly, but Mary¡¯sughter just got louder and louder.


    Henry slid in next to Sandy, who was panting weakly. He slipped into her shield and activated his own. Then he poured energy into Sandy¡¯s body, and she sighed in relief.


    ¡°He almost got through,¡± she said quietly.


    ¡°But you held him off until I got reinforcements. Damn impressive.¡± He stood with Sandy in his arms and backed away from the beast.


    The ogre¡¯s attention was drawn away from Mary, who took the opportunity to stand and cock a fist.


    ¡°For Sandy,¡± Mary said before she punched through the ogre¡¯s groin. He squealed in pain, dropping to his knees.


    Henry winced.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    The gathered policemen winced.


    The old man standing on the opposite sidewalk winced. His dog winced.


    ¡°Who is this?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°The young cop said he used to be an officer too, but he was arrested for raping multiple-OOF!¡±

 297

    Pushing Henry away, Sandy was buzzing with energy as she marched right up to the moaning ogre and poured all of her energy into mming her fist, augmented with Kesini¡¯s power, directly against its sternum, shattering it and its connected ribs, driving them into his lungs.


    Mary grinned at Sandy as the ogre copsed onto his face, unable to breathe.


    Henry engaged his mor and walked over to Sandy. ¡°Did you know him?¡±N?velDrama.Org content.


    She looked at Henry, and he could see the pain in her eyes. ¡°He-he tried to rape me when Ist visited my parents.¡±


    ¡°But you stopped him?¡±


    Sandy nodded.


    ¡°Did you know him?¡± Henry asked. Sandy shook her head. ¡°How could he have known you lived here?¡± Henry asked.


    She shook her head again, and he could see she was very disturbed. She also lookedpletely exhausted. He realized she must have used a tremendous amount of energy to fuel that punch. Henry hugged her and flooded her with energy from the rift once more. She smiled gratefully as he pulled back.


    Henry walked back to the cruisers, watching at the three officers looking back at him. He returned to the talkative cop.


    ¡°How did he know she lived here. Sandy doesn¡¯t know him. He did try to rape her, but she escaped-¡±


    ¡°We saw the video. We saw what he did and what she did back to him!¡± the cop eximed.


    ¡°This was while he was in jail? So, which one of you told him who she was and where she lived?¡± Henry asked loudly. It was a wild guess, but Henry gave it a shot.


    The officer blinked, but he began to turn to face the officer next to the third cruiser. That man suddenly drew his weapon and fired, but Henry had his shield in ce. The first bullet wasn¡¯t for him but passed through the right bicep of the young cop. Henry leapt forward and got himself between them, so the second bullet didn¡¯t reach the target.


    The cop by the middle car was caught off guard and lost a chunk of his ear to a third shot before he dove for cover.


    Mary slid over the car¡¯s hood and took a round to the chest before she ttened the shooter. She had him on his belly in the slush, disarmed, and cuffed in seconds.


    Henry saw Sandy was looking back at him. The ogre looked dead. Just as well.


    Turning back, he saw the young man was leaning against his car, hissing in pain as he held his shoulder


    ¡°Do you want to call for assistance?¡±


    ¡°This is all of us! Only our captain isn¡¯t here,¡± he snapped in his pain.


    ¡°Call him. Let him know what happened. I¡¯m going to see if your partner needs healing,¡± Henry said as he moved to the man. It was a nasty wound. The bullet cut a track across the side of his head. Henry held his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to heal you. This might trigger your transformation. If you want me to do it, squeeze my hand twice.¡± He got two solid squeezes. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Most of Baba¡¯s healing spells did nothing for the patient¡¯s pain. Instead, he used magic to reroute the man¡¯s pain signals to the pleasure center of his brain. Henry wasn¡¯t a master surgeon like Eleanor or even a surgeon-in-training like Dayshia, but he could use his own reconstruction spells to have the body put itself back together. This injury was just surface level, so he wasn¡¯t too worried about him being able to cope with it.


    Henryunched his rebuilding spell on the man and watched it fill in the groove with new skin and cartge. The cop¡¯s eyes rolled back in bliss as Henry watched him closely.


    The young cop squatted down to watch with wide eyes.


    ¡°Holy shit, Larry! Your ear is rebuilding itself!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk to the patient while he¡¯s healing,¡± Henry scolded as he didn¡¯t want the man to move. He could tell the man was almost healed and was about to change.


    The moment Henry felt it was done, he reversed the rerouting, and the man slumped. Henry pulled his hands back and looked to the young officer. ¡°He¡¯s going to go through his transformation.


    The healed officer seemed to shrink a little, and his features sharpened slightly. The tip of his newly healed ear stretched up and back as his hair grew in length until it reached his shoulders. When it was over, they were looking at a new Fae. A very handsome one at that.


    ¡°What is he?¡± the cop asked.


    Henry smiled. ¡°He¡¯s a Fae. He¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    A sedan pulled up behind thest patrol car, and a heavy-set man stepped out. He was in civilian clothes, but his mannerisms told Henry this man was the captain.


    ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± he bellowed. ¡°Why is Steve cuffed on his belly in the snow? What the hell is that god awful thing lying on thewn? Is it dead?¡± He nced down at his unconscious officer leaning against the cruiser. ¡°What the fuck happened to Larry?¡±


    Then he looked to Henry. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Henry Gable. A good friend of Sandy Marlow.¡± He gestured for Sandy to approach. ¡°Her parents owned the home behind us. We came back today so she could collect some personal items before the realtor puts the home up for sale.¡± He cocked his head as he looked curiously at the man. ¡°How do you not know who that was on the frontwn? Where were you when he was killing his way out of the county lockup?¡±


    ¡°What? Glen! Why didn¡¯t you call me?¡± the captain bellowed again.


    The young man stammered but finally managed to speak. ¡°S-S-Steve said he called you and said you wanted us to handle it ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Who is that?¡± the big man said, pointing to the ogre.


    ¡°Clifford Hicks. Steve¡¯s cousin. He transformed this morning after breakfast. Killed two cops on his way out of the prison and came directly here.¡±


    ¡°Sandy, did you tell anyone you¡¯d be here today?¡± Henry asked, curious about the impossible coincidence.


    ¡°Just my realtor, Patrick Morton,¡± she said.


    ¡°Steve¡¯s brother,¡± Glen offered.


    ¡°I think you need to get a new realtor,¡± Henry suggested. She nodded with a frown.


    ¡°But why is Steve trussed up like that?¡± the captain asked.


    Glen pulled his hand away from his arm. ¡°He shot Larry and me, but this fe healed Larry.¡±


    ¡°Why the fuck would he shoot you?¡± the leader asked.


    Henry frowned. ¡°Glen was about to identify Steve was the one who told Clifford that Sandy wasing to town. I guess he didn¡¯t like his odds of getting away with being part of the conspiracy?¡±


    Glen nodded, then winced at the pain in his arm.


    The captain frowned and looked at Henry. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you heal Glen?¡±


    ¡°If I had and he passed out and transformed, who would be left to answer your questions, aside from the man who shot at us to cover up his involvement with this entire mess.¡±


    The captain finally noticed Mary. ¡°And who are you-is that a bullet hole?¡±


    She sighed as she looked down at her shirt. ¡°Yeah, point-nk gunshots make a hell of a mess of my clothes. Your man Steve shot me when I went to disarm him after he shot your other men. I¡¯m Mary Carsten, a friend, and co-worker of Mr. Gable. I was brought in to assist with the pacification of the ogre. Your men discovered their weapons had no effect on it. Nothing less than a fifty-millimeter will.¡±


    The captain sighed as it seemed he wasn¡¯t getting back to his dinner any time soon.


    ¡°We need to take all of this back to the station to get it all written down. Glen needs his arm looked after. Larry needs to sleep this off, and Steve is going into a cell. We¡¯ll also have to bring in Steve¡¯s brother. I don¡¯t know what the fuck to do with that!¡± he said, pointing to the ogre corpse.


    Henry looked to Mary, who shrugged. He looked back at the chief. ¡°I suppose you don¡¯t need it as evidence, and you¡¯ll just incur the cost of transporting it and burying it?¡±


    The chief scowled at him. ¡°Yeah.¡± Grumpy for being reminded of his limited budget.


    ¡°You want me to dispose of it?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°What? You¡¯ll bury it?¡± the big man asked.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s more of a cremation process.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to charge for this?¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°Free of charge. It costs me nothing.¡±


    The leader frowned and walked over to take some pictures. He returned. ¡°Fine. It¡¯s all yours. One less headache for me tonight. I suppose you have another friending to dispose of the bod-¡±


    Therge tear opened under the heavy corpse, which dropped through to fall intova. The sudden burst of intense heat melted all the nearby snow. The rip closed, and the body was gone.


    ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± the captain muttered, wide-eyed.


    ¡°Problem solved. Listen, I have to help Sandy collect the items she needs, and I¡¯ll need to board up that broken window beforeing to the station. That¡¯s okay, right?¡± Henry held the man¡¯s eye until the captain looked away.


    ¡°Yes, sure¡­ Tonight?¡± the man said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Henry assured him as he saw an ambnce arrive. Henry walked over to Sandy with Mary, and they walked back to the house. The police captain would have to figure out the logistics of getting four vehicles back to his station with one unconscious, one injured, and one homicidal officer.


    This was no longer Henry¡¯s issue. He looked at the sad expression on Sandy¡¯s face. This was.


    He pulled her into his arms, and she shook as the pressure released. He didn¡¯t let go until she indicated she was ready to go back inside.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t I colder, standing out here in the snow?¡± she asked him quietly.


    ¡°We¡¯re just not affected by the cold as much-no idea why,¡± Henry sighed.


    As Sandy filled a small box with personal items from her parents, Henry dug around in the basement and in the garage with Mary looking for something to board up the broken window. They struck gold in the garage workshop. Mary was handy with tools, so she measured the opening and screwed some plywood sheets together to cover the window frame.


    They collected Sandy and piled into her parent¡¯s station wagon, Mary being the only one who knew how to drive, to visit the police station.


    Three grueling hourster, they left the station and went back to the house. Henry and Sandy hugged Mary and Henry sent her back to her bedroom, and Roy. Henry sent Tish a text letting her know he¡¯d be staying with Sandy tonight.


    They left the house and stepped into Sandy¡¯s living room.


    Henry left a message with Cam to let her know he¡¯d be taking a half-day off. As the office was closing at noon, that was no hardship. Sandy had no shifts until the following week as she¡¯d booked the time off.


    ¡°Could we just snuggle tonight?¡± she asked.


    Henry smiled at her. ¡°No wild monkey sex?¡±


    She snorted and pped his arm. ¡°No! I want snuggles!¡±

 298

    He kissed her forehead, and they climbed under the covers.


    Sleep found them quickly as they rested their heads upon the pillows. Thest thing Henry recalled was Sandy¡¯s sigh of contentment.


    >>>>


    Minkah Kamh Nassor Meskh walked out of the desert, east of Cairo, where she¡¯d spent the previous two weeks evaluating her life and recentering her mind.


    Since the¡­ death of Henry Gable, she¡¯d lost her moorings. She likened herself to a rudderless fela, sailing down the Nile, caught in the current and pulled by fickle winds. That terrible night felt like a waking nightmare. She¡¯d known,knownhe was alive beyond all reasonable expectation, though she couldn¡¯t exin to them how she knew.


    She couldn¡¯t exin it to herself.


    The others wept for his loss and allowed the rock woman to take him to the other world. She¡¯d fled into the darkness that night, as if she hadn¡¯t, she might have killed them in her impotent rage.


    She didn¡¯t even understand why she was reacting so strongly. That confusion had torn at her mind. She¡¯d struggled to understand. Minkah had no rtionship with Henry, yet there was an attraction and something like gravity that pulled her to him.


    Months went by with her roaming Manhattan and New Jersey. She kept a hidden eye on Henry¡¯s friends and watched them struggle toe to terms with his loss and the loss of their other friends. She wanted to scream at them not to give up on Henry, but she¡¯de to understand, it was her that needed to let go.


    Finally, she went home. In thefort of her apartment in Cairo, she tried to put her life back on track, but there was still something in the back of her mind that wouldn¡¯t be quiet. She determined that she needed the silence of the desert to put a final end to the noise in her brain.


    She¡¯d packed her gear into her backpack and walked to the edge of the city, then just kept going, straight out into the empty sands. Most would not survive what she did, but she was a Bastet. Once considered a God in Egypt, this was her natural habitat and offered her only silence, peace, and thefort of both. This, she needed more than anything else.


    She¡¯s spent two weeks alone with her thoughts and the sound of wind on sand. She felt cleansed as she walked back into the city and made her way back to her apartment.


    The city was learning how to adapt to the new beings living amongst them. She heard the music ying from the stores and mildly felt its calming influence. This, she knew, was in everyone¡¯s best interests. Sooner orter, everyone would transform into their new race, and if they could adapt to this new state, not be frightened of it, there could be peace amongst all.


    Minkah passed a newsstand, and something caught her eye. She stumbled to a stop and stared. It was just a magazine, but the image on the cover had her pinned in ce. It was a US Congressional Hearing. Someone was sitting at the witness table. She nced at the magazine¡¯s banner and saw it was a popr mainstream news publication, not some disreputable rag filled with lies. It was also a current month printing. She moved closer, her eyes caught by the image which resonated with that nagging little voice in her head that she¡¯d finally thought she¡¯d silenced.


    ¡°HE¡¯S ALIVE!¡± she roared. The shopkeeper screamed and ran as she¡¯d dropped her mor with her outburst.


    Her ws had torn through the magazine, and she carried no money to pay for it anyway. She dropped it and quickly switched back to her Human disguise before rushing away.


    Henry was alive, and that gravitational pull was back as well.


    She needed to go back.


    What she¡¯d do when she saw him, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure.


    -=-


    It was nice sleeping in and waking up to cuddles with Sandy.


    It seemed wild monkey sex was more of a morning thing for her, and she did her best to wear him out, but a Satyr¡¯s endurance was more than her match. Kesini was the one to let Sandy know they weren¡¯t going to win that one, and they had a good chuckle when the glowing hair hugged Sandy into submission.N?velDrama.Org content.


    They spent the next hour just lounging in bed, enjoying the afterglow and thefort of being together without talking.


    Sandy broke the silence when her stomach grumbled, and Henry¡¯s quickly answered. Laughing, they dragged their asses out of bed, and Henry hopped in the shower as Sandy changed the sheets. She rushed to join him, and he washed Kesini, much to their delight.


    ¡°Man, you must go through so much shampoo!¡± Henry sighed as he worked the suds through the golden locks. ¡°It must take you extra time in the morning to do this as well!¡±


    Sandy giggled as Kesini¡¯s tingles raced down her spine.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let her fool you. She only needs a small amount of shampoo, and she washes herself in less time than I need to wash myself. She just enjoys you spoiling her,¡± Sandy said with a grin.


    She ducked her head under the spray, and he ran his fingers through Kesini to wash all the shampoo away.


    Henry grinned at the look of bliss on Sandy¡¯s face. ¡°So, Kesini is the one who enjoys being spoiled?¡±


    Sandy pushed her lower lip out in a pout, and he quickly dipped down and sucked on that plump lip.


    ¡°MMM! Fuck, that was a tease!¡± Sandy gasped as lightning shot through her body, but she ached a little as well and knew another round would not be a good idea. Seeing the sparkle in Henry¡¯s eye, she raised her hands in surrender.


    They got out of the shower and dried off. Henry used his white t-shirt and jeans mor and padded into the kitchen to make them some breakfast as Sandy left the bedroom dressed in her own jeans and a lovely sweater. She sat at the breakfast bar, watching him with a smile. Kesini draped herself over Sandy¡¯s shoulders,pletely sated and gleaming with energy.


    ¡°Looking forward to the Christmas Party?¡± Henry asked over his shoulder.


    ¡°Yes! Dayshia told me about it! It¡¯s going to be so much fun! I¡¯m so looking forward to meeting Tish¡¯s family! Dayshia and I are going out to do some shopping to get new party dresses.¡±


    Henry sent a smile to her over his shoulder. He loved that Dayshia and Sandy were besties. His mind shed to the brief moments he spent with Nate, and the sudden ache of his loss kept him facing away from Sandy until he got control once more. He didn¡¯t want to worry her.


    Soon, he poured the scrambled eggs and bacon onto their tes and buttered the toast. These went on the breakfast bar.


    ¡°Milk?¡± he asked, recalling the breakfasts he made for her when they lived together.


    ¡°Yes, please.¡±


    He poured two sses then sat next to her.


    They ate in silence for a bit then Sandy looked at him. Motion caught her eye, and she noticed Kesini was weaving herself through his long brown locks, and she smiled.


    ¡°What are your ns today?¡± she asked.


    He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m taking Aadiya and Maliha to Eden to exercise their wings. I¡¯ll catch up with Xiong and the rest. Tonight, I¡¯m going out with Lorelei.¡±


    There was a sharp knock on the door, and Sandy raised her eyebrows before going to answer it. Henry moved to the end of the hall to watch. She peeked through the peephole then pulled the door open. Sergeant Tennison was standing there.


    ¡°Good morning, Ms. Marlow. I need to speak with Mr. Gable,¡± she said formally.


    Sandy gestured for her to enter. ¡°Please call me Sandy.¡±


    The Silver Soldier nodded with a smile then looked to Henry.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the formality, Sergeant? And how did you know I was here?¡±


    Her smile dimmed. ¡°I¡¯m here on official business, and I asked Ms. Evans first,¡± she gestured to the other end of the hallway.


    ¡°Do you mind if we finish up our breakfast while we talk?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°No, sorry for the interruption,¡± Michelle said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the official business?¡± he asked, then began eating again. Sandy sat and finished up her meal as she listened.


    ¡°Did you leave the statest night?¡± Michelle asked.


    Henry swallowed thest of his food and drank the milk to wash it down as the Sergeant waited. He wiped his mouth. ¡°Yes, I went to Sandy¡¯s parent¡¯s ce.¡±


    ¡°There was some kind of altercation with a man who transformed into an ogre and attacked Ms. Marlow?¡±


    ¡°You seem to have all the details right so far,¡± Henry said. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°We were in a van across from your apartment, and you weren¡¯t even in the state! The Intelligencemunity reported on your activitiesst night to the Congressional Committee you got called before, and the General and I had to meet with them. He was verbally spanked for not being able to keep track of one asset. He sent me back to the team, but he¡¯s still there.¡±


    Henry leaned against the counter as he thought about the yahoos in Washington. ¡°What is the purpose of the watch I¡¯m under.¡±


    Michelle looked at him. ¡°The purpose?¡±


    ¡°Are you there to protect me from foreign interference. Are you there to control my whereabouts? Or are you there to end my life should I prove to be a threat to the congresspeople¡¯s way of life? I think I deserve to know why I have people watching me.¡±


    ¡°If they wanted a group of assassins, they couldn¡¯t have made a poorer choice. There is no way we would follow through on such an order!¡± Michelle eximed. ¡°We were there, and we saw the efforts you made to save everyone. We¡¯re loyal and dependable soldiers, but there are orders we won¡¯t follow blindly.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°Thank you. That doesn¡¯t mean that isn¡¯t their expectation of you.¡±


    Michelle nodded to indicate that could be true. ¡°Our orders are to be an observation team. We are to intervene in situations where you¡¯re at risk. We can¡¯t do that if we aren¡¯t near you.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for this protection or interference. I travel through Magic Doors from ce to ce. I take Aadiya and Maliha to Eden for their exercise. You couldn¡¯t possibly keep up, and it would be a futile effort. I think I¡¯ve proven I can take care of myself,¡± he growled. ¡°I like you guys, but I¡¯m not going to invite you along everywhere I go like chrome chaperones.¡±


    Henry contemted the silent soldier for a bit. ¡°I sympathize with the General, but he was given an order he has no means to fulfill. I¡¯m quite willing to tell the congresspeople this.¡± He thought about that. ¡°You say he¡¯s still there?¡± She nodded. ¡°Call the rest of the squad upstairs. We¡¯re going visiting.¡±

 299

    While she did that, Henry tidied up the kitchen and did the dishes. Sandy answered the door, and soon they had a squad of Silver Soldiers standing in Sandy¡¯s living room.


    ¡°Which room is the General meeting the congresspeople in? The same one I was in?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s a private room. No press or public,¡± the Sergeant said.


    ¡°You were there. Do you remember the entrance door?¡± he asked, and she nodded. ¡°Come stand before this door and picture the meeting room door in your mind. Focus on it, then touch the door before you like you¡¯re touching the one in Washington.¡±


    She did as he asked, and he touched the back of her hand,unching the spell. He felt it take. ¡°Okay, you go in but leave space next to the General for me.¡±


    He stepped aside as the Sergeant opened the door and gasped in surprise. The meeting room was before her. She entered, and her squad followed her in. They stood in rows behind the General, and she heard the door close. The General was staring back at her in confusion.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your team, but where¡¯s the Ass-AAAAAAAHHH!¡± Congressman Marvin Cressman finished with a scream when Henry suddenly appeared standing next to General Crane.


    ¡°Did you just call me an ass?¡± Henry frowned at the frightened Congressman, who shook his head vigorously.


    ¡°Mr. Gable, what are you doing here?¡± Crane asked in annoyance.


    ¡°I¡¯m making a point,¡± he looked up at the people on the raised dais. ¡°You¡¯ve asked the General to do something that isn¡¯t reasonably possible. The Silver Soldiers are amazingly fast and are fiercely loyal to him, but they cannot move instantly from one ce to another as I can. I don¡¯t use it for nefarious purposes, just for day-to-day travel convenience. I¡¯m not giving up my personal freedom just so you can feel a little morefortable with the illusion of increased control over the world. Life isn¡¯t about control. It¡¯s about being good to one another, making people smile, and showing appreciation to those who deserve it. Take an example from General Crane. He¡¯s about as good a man as I know.¡± He nced at the man and saw his face was a little red. Henry shrugged and smiled.


    He turned to face the dais. ¡°I have to go take the twins for flying exercises on Eden. Somece else the Silver Soldiers can¡¯t follow me. Drop the escort assignment and give these great people something actually helpful and purposeful to do!¡±


    ¡°ALAKAZAM ZIMZALABIM!¡± Henry shouted mboyantly at the top of this lungs and disappeared.


    -=-


    Brigadier-General Gordon Crane pinched the bridge of his nose as he slumped just a little in his chair.


    Yablonski¡¯s brayingughter quickly cut off with a ng.


    ¡°Come on! That was ssic,¡± the Corporal hissed quietly but loud enough to be heard in the otherwise silent room.


    ¡°General Crane. Is Mr. Henry Gable of sound mind?¡± Cressman asked timidly.


    ¡°Yes, he is. Considering what I understand he¡¯s endured in his short life, that¡¯s all the more impressive. He¡¯s just¡­ young.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡± Cressman asserted.


    Gordon looked at the man in confusion. ¡°About his being young?¡±


    ¡°No! About what he said!¡± the Congressman snapped.


    Crane sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to assign these great people something purposeful to do. We¡¯re done chasing Mr. Gable. He¡¯s right. That¡¯s just a fool¡¯s errand.¡±


    Crane stood and nodded to the gaping congresspeople and turned to leave. He saw all of his people standing at attention, saluting him. He smiled and returned their salute.


    They reallyweregreat people!


    Lorelei checked herself in the mirror one more time. She was feeling stupidly nervous about her date with Henry. They were going with the ssic dinner and a movie, but it felt like the first time for her. The only experiences she had with dating came after she¡¯d discovered her powers. While she hadn¡¯t used them on her lover Emily until the end of their rtionship, she felt like a novice all over again.


    She knew Henry was easygoing and not aggressive, so she knew there was no need to feel this way, but she so wanted to make a good impression.


    It was time, so she locked up and took the elevator down to the lobby. She crossed to the doors and saw Henry was outside. He seemed to be talking to himself, so she pushed through the doors toe into his field of view.


    ¡°AH! Hi Lorelei!¡±


    ¡°Good evening, Henry,¡± she said with a smile as he seemed a little nervous too.


    ¡°You look very lovely tonight!¡± he said.


    She smiled as she admired his dark blue dinner jacket and ck cks. They would match quite well as she was wearing the same colors as they were her favorites, and they calmed her. She was wearing a ck winter coat over her outfit.


    He guided her across the sidewalk as he looked up at the tower. ¡°It¡¯s a spectacr building!¡± He looked to the side and smiled. ¡°You have an outdoor pool, too! Oh, with a diving board!¡±


    She grinned at his enthusiasm. She hadn¡¯t used the pool as it reminded her of a certain man who missed it by six feet.


    Henry¡¯s eyes went back up. ¡°Which floor are you on?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in the penthouse,¡± she answered.


    ¡°Ooo! Like me,¡± he teased.


    ¡°Yes, the difference between the fortieth and the ninth floors is negligible,¡± she agreed, and he chuckled.


    ¡°So, your view is good too?¡± he asked with a smile.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°South-westerly, so I can see the Hudson. That makes me happy. I overlook the pool, too,¡± she admitted with a sigh.


    He barked augh at her look of false dismay. ¡°I somehow doubt the noise from the pool is much of an issue for you,¡± Henry said, opening the back door of the SUV Cam told him he could use,plete with a driver.


    She slid along the bench, and Henry got in as well. He gave out the address of the restaurant.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never eaten there. Is it any good?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I hope so. I picked it because of its proximity to the theatre. The website pictures made it look nice,¡± Henry admitted.


    ¡°We¡¯ll roll the dice then,¡± she sighed.


    He looked at her seriously. ¡°You want to go to a casino instead of the movie?¡±


    She blinked at him. ¡°What? No! I meant-¡± She caught the twinkle in his eye and gave him the evil eye. ¡°You¡¯re a wicked man, Mr. Gable.¡±


    Heughed, and she smiled.


    When they arrived, he assisted her out, and Henry gave the driver instructions to pick them up at the same spot in three hours.


    As the SUV pulled away, Lorelei gave herself a little shake as the artificial men gave her chills. Henry caught this and nodded. ¡°It takes a while to get used to them. On my first day at VRL, I was introduced to arge group of them, and they made me want to crawl out of my skin. Now, I just see them as tools. There is no thought or emotion there. There is no one there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still new to me. I saw one melt during Skyfall. He hopped out of the car to open the door. Got two steps into the green mist and fell over. Momentster, it was melting,¡± she recalled.


    ¡°That must have been frightening,¡± he said with sympathy.


    She nodded then looked at him. ¡°Not as frightening as some of the things you went through that night.¡±


    He just nodded and didn¡¯t offer anything else, so she let that go. She realized he might not want to talk about it and kicked herself internally.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. There are just nicer things to focus on,¡± he said as he watched the expressions flitting by on her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry-¡±


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s water under the bridge. Something I believe you know something about,¡± he said with a smile.


    She caught his y on words and nodded with a big smile.


    ¡°How about that Hudson!¡± he eximed, and she giggled. ¡°Seriously, can you talk with rivers?¡± he asked quietly.


    She looked around and saw they were alone. ¡°Not verbally, but I do connect with them mentally. The Hudson is overwhelming. So powerful and bold. It gives me energy and heals me, too.¡±


    They entered the restaurant, and Henry gave his name for their reservations. They were led to a table for two overlooking the street. They had privacy, but sharing a nce, they decided to bookmark their previous discussion point.


    The waiter dropped off some menus, and they were alone again.


    Henry reached across the table and caught Lorelei¡¯s hand. ¡°What you¡¯ve been doing is so incredibly important and is saving so many lives. I just want to personally thank you. You¡¯re my hero.¡±


    Lorelei was frozen. She made a few attempts to speak, then sipped at her water and made another try. ¡°It isn¡¯t just me. Raymond¡¯s words are beautiful and guide the music. Siobhan is key for distributing them as well.¡±


    Henry smiled and nodded. ¡°Their contributions are highly valued, but without you, the message wouldn¡¯t be epted in the hearts of the people.¡±


    She smiled shyly and nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    They ordered from the lite menu as both had butterflies in their stomachs, and besides, they nned on getting popcorn at the movie.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little weird seeing movies after Skyfall as some were shot just before, and now those actors are gone,¡± Lorelei remarked.


    ¡°Has it be a drinking game?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked in surprise.


    ¡°I read somewhere that it was a sign that people havee to terms with a tragedy when they incorporate it into a drinking game,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be true!¡± Lorelei gasped in shock.


    Henry shrugged. ¡°People sometimes need to do outrageous things to prove to themselves that they survived and can move on.¡±


    Seeking to change the topic, Henry told Lorelei about the Silver Soldiers, their mission to watch him, and his visit to the congresspeople to tell them to back off, politely, of course.

 300

    ¡°Yeah, with how you get around, keeping track of your position would be impossible,¡± Lorelei said in agreement.


    ¡°Hmmm, you make me sound like a slut,¡± he said with a grin.


    Lorelei¡¯s face warmed up, and she was spared answering immediately as their food arrived. When the waiter left them alone once more, she leaned forward and locked eyes with Henry. ¡°You know very well that¡¯s not what I meant!¡±


    He grinned as he shook his head. ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s still kinda true. It seems to be the nature of Satyr¡¯s to wear their hearts on their sleeves and fall in love quickly and often. Then there¡¯s all the physical stuff.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s better than locking your heart away to protect it, never experiencing the joy out of fear of rejection. And there is nothing wrong with all the physical stuff,¡± Lorelei insisted.


    Henry smiled and chuckled. ¡°I never said the physical stuff was bad.¡±


    She shook her finger at his teasing, and they made small talk as they quickly finished their small meals.


    Henry paid the bill, and they left the restaurant to walk two doors over to the theatre.


    ¡°What are we seeing?¡± she asked.


    He nced up at the disy with all the movie titles and times. ¡°I thought maybe you¡¯d like to see that newedy?¡±


    ¡°Ooo, I heard there are some sexy scenes in that one,¡± she grinned.


    ¡°Oh, if you¡¯re offended, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a sher film we could see,¡± Henry suggested.


    ¡°No! Sexyedies are good!¡± she insisted.


    Henry chuckled and went to buy the tickets.


    They picked up their overpriced popcorn and drinks, and Henry picked up some super sours hard candy. Then they found decent seats in the theatre, which was still rtively empty.


    The preshow was ying, which they mostly ignored as they watched a couple enter the theatre, both having separate conversations on their cell phones. The man was arguing with someone angrily, and not quietly. He was seriously pissed. The young woman was barely out of her teens, and every second word seemed to belike.


    Henry and Lorelei shared a weary look as the couple sat a few rows down from them and continued to snap and ther into their cells, respectively.


    Lorelei sighed. ¡°I try not to do this in public anymore since Roy pointed out how surveince cameras can pick up the effects of my songs. However, I also want to enjoy the movie.¡±


    She nced around to see who else was in the theatre. There were only seven other people, three couples and a small woman seated in the back row. She caught the telltale glow of embers from that woman, so she might have been smoking-another inconsiderate behavior in the theatre.


    ¡°Okay, it looks like the coast is clear,¡± she said in the dimly lit room. Henry nced around as well and frowned at the back row.


    Lorelei sang quietly, gradually increasing the volume. The tune carried the message of public courtesy, and when the cell phone abusers didn¡¯t respond to the call for empathy, she changed the message to specifically order them from the theatre. They got up and nced around angrily, unaware of the direct source of the rejection, and made their way to the exit flipping the bird to the audience in general. She threw in a request for no smoking and let the song fade. She nced at Henry shyly, and he lifted her hand and kissed the back. She felt a little thrill from that and smiled at him as she squeezed his hand in return.


    She nced back and saw no sign of the glow she¡¯d seen earlier. She settled down in her chair and caught the tail end of Henry¡¯s nce back. He had a slightly disturbed look on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.


    He shook his head gently. ¡°It just seems a little sad to attend a rom and sit alone in the back row.¡±


    ¡°Sitting in the back row would normally attract the least attention,¡± Lorelei suggested. She leaned closer to whisper to him. ¡°Besides, I think she was smoking earlier.¡±


    ¡°Really? Who does that?¡± he whispered back in fake shock.


    ¡°I know, right?¡± she said equally aghast, then giggled.


    The movie began, and they put other thoughts from their mind.


    During the first sex scene, her handnded on his leg, and after a moment, he squirmed. She nced at him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked quietly.


    ¡°My pants are shrinking,¡± he whispered.


    She snorted and covered her mouth to contain her giggles. Her eyes shed happily at him, and she gave his strong thigh a squeeze. She squirmed a little, too.


    They enjoyed the movie, but by the end, they were too distracted to say they gave the film the attention needed to assess it properly. As it had worked them up, both were willing to watch it again, together.


    As they left the theatre, Henry held Lorelei¡¯s hand, and she felt that warmth through her body. They walked back to the spot the driver would be picking them up in fifteen minutes. There was just a light dusting of snow, and they weren¡¯t feeling the chill in the air. The theatre crowd quickly dispersed until it was just them and the rare passer-by.


    ¡°That was a lovely date, Henry.¡±


    He smiled and nodded. ¡°I had a great time too.¡±


    Henry suddenly pulled her off her feet and swung her up into his arms.


    She squeaked and noticed the edges of a ck box begin to close around them. Then, they were falling.


    Henry absorbed the impact with his legs as she saw they were on Eden once more.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Someone was trying to catch us in a Paradox Trap,¡± he said as he peeked through a tiny tear. He grinned. ¡°There you are.¡± He looked at Lorelei. ¡°It would be safer if you waited here while I confronted our assant.¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m going with you!¡± she insisted.


    He nodded as he set her on her feet. Suddenly, he was much bigger in his Satyr form. ¡°Please stay close but stay behind me.¡±


    She nodded as he peeked through once more, then close it and opened a newrger one, and jumped through. She leapt right behind him and heard the tear snap shut.


    Then Henry backhanded the cloaked being who was facing away, and they dropped to the sidewalk. Something tumbled out of their grip. Henry bent down and picked it up. He showed it to Lorelei, and her eyes had a difficult time focusing on its moving surface.


    ¡°This is the little box you and I would have found ourselves in with no way to get out,¡± Henry exined. He tucked it into his jacket pocket.


    ¡°Is she an assassin? Is this the Hidden Races Council again?¡± Lorelei asserted.


    Henry chuckled. ¡°No, they don¡¯t do that anymore since Roy¡¯s in charge of security.¡± He flipped the cloaked one over with a hoof, and the cowl fell back. tinum blonde long hair, white eyebrows, button nose pinked with cold, longshes, high cheekbones, rosy from the cold, and a cut on her chin fromnding on the sidewalk.


    The cowl hid the dimensions of her body. Henry knelt and sniffed her mouth. He stood and stared down at her in shock. He gestured behind himself to Lorelei. ¡°Move back, quickly. She¡¯s a dragon.¡±


    Lorelei skipped back fourrge strides, and reality twisted violently around the woman. Henry was right in the middle of that distorting space.


    ¡°HA!¡± the twenty-foot-tall white dragon bellowed as it suddenly emerged intact.


    ¡°OOOOOF,¡± it grunted as Henry¡¯s big fist mmed into its lower stomach.


    The wind left the dragon as it crumbled to the sidewalk, curling around its injured tummy. Henry seized the whiskers on the left side of its huge muzzle and pulled.


    ¡°OW! OW! Stop, you stupid git!¡± the beast shrieked with a full-on British ent. Lorelei was no expert on regional ents, so she didn¡¯t know which part the Dragon was from, but Jolly Ol¡¯ Ennd was certain.


    ¡°That¡¯s no way to speak to someone in control of such a sensitive appendage,¡± Henry insisted as he squeezed.


    ¡°AAAHH! Okay, I¡¯m sorry! Just stop!¡± it shrieked again.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    He eased his grip but didn¡¯t let go. A glow began in the back of the beast¡¯s throat.


    Henry sighed, pulled something from his pocket, unwrapped it with one hand, and tossed the small yellow ball into the big maw. As quickly as it began, the glow snuffed out.


    ¡°CHCHCHCHCHCHCHCTTTT!¡± the dragon choked as it tried to clear its mouth.


    ¡°WHA IS DAH!¡± it cried as its tongue thrashed, trying to clear the invader.


    ¡°Switch back, or you¡¯re getting more!¡± Henry threatened with a handful of super sours.


    The dragon shuddered, and reality twisted once more. When it snapped back into ce, Henry was behind the small blonde woman, holding her arm up behind her back. She had a dagger in her grip, but he squeezed her wrist, and the knife fell. She spat out the lemon candy as she gagged.


    ¡°How? How are you able to survive the mor change?¡± she asked incredulously.


    Henry spun her and held her upper arms in his big hands. ¡°I was disguised by a dragon mor for the first two decades of my life. My body is familiar with bending toe out the other side intact. I don¡¯t fight it.¡±


    ¡°Who gave you the Dragon¡¯s mor?¡± she snapped.


    He moved his mouth to her ear. ¡°Baba Yaga bonded it to my infant finger. Walter Zhao took exception to that. He¡¯s dead. Baba took the Dragon mor back. You have no quarrel with me.¡± He looked her in the eye. ¡°Now, why were you trying to capture us in a Paradox Trap?¡±


    She blinked in fear, hearing of his link to the infamous witch. ¡°Collection. My collection. It¡¯s gone! I was burned out of my home, and everything I collected is gone. I had to flee my home and country! Eight hundred years, I¡¯ve lived in that home, and now I¡¯m homeless.¡±


    Henry felt the softness of her plush jacket and snorted. ¡°You¡¯re not poor.¡±


    ¡°No, I have my bank ounts, my money, but I have no treasures!¡± She gestured to Lorelei with her chin. ¡°She is unique and priceless. A perfect start to a new hoard!¡±


    ¡°Wrong answer. People are exempt from hoarding,¡± Henry growled. ¡°Inanimate objects only!¡±


    Her mouth opened as she gazed up at him in shock.


    ¡°Non-negotiable. Break that rule, and losing your collection will be the least of your concerns.¡±


    ¡°Who-who are you?¡± she asked,pletely intimidated.

 301

    ¡°The name¡¯s Henry Gable, and I¡¯m the new sheriff in these parts, these parts being the world. Behave, and I might even assist you with digging your collection out from the cave under your house.¡±


    ¡°AHH! How did you know about the cave?¡± she cried.


    ¡°Walter had a cave under his. His collection now belongs to a friend of mine. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    Pale blue eyes examined him. ¡°Alice Shaw.¡± The blonde woman licked her lips nervously. ¡°You-you can really help me retrieve my collection from under the wreckage?¡±


    ¡°Did you have a vestibule with a door leading into your cave?¡± She nodded, wide-eyed.


    Henry fished a business card from his wallet and handed it to her. ¡°Come see me at this address at the start of the new year. I¡¯ll take you to the cave, and you can begin transferring the contents to a new location. But only if you promise to release any people you¡¯re hoarding.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.


    The SUV pulled up to the curb, and Henry pulled his hand back. ¡°Be good.¡±


    Lorelei was almost purple with suppressedughter as she pulled Henry into the back seat of the vehicle. She had to make two attempts to say her address before the driver pulled away from the curb and got them moving.


    Then she let it out. She howled, and Henry just watched her with a grin on his face.


    ¡°The name¡¯s Gable, and I¡¯m the- the- new sheriff!¡± She exploded intoughter again.


    When she finally starteding down from herughter high, she smiled at him. ¡°What on Earth made you start giving lines from a weird Western?¡±


    Henry shrugged. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. Her crisp British ent just suddenly made me feel like some kinda yokel, and the western ent popped up. Besides, it seemed very appropriate for the moment. I picked it up from one of the movies Sandy likes to watch.¡±


    ¡°You are priceless!¡± Lorelei sighed with a wide grin as she took his hand in hers.


    They rode the rest of the way infortable silence.


    When the SUV stopped before her building, she turned to Henry and leaned forward. He met her halfway, and the kiss was sweet but short. He looked at her in question.


    ¡°I had a wonderful time tonight, and I really want to invite you upstairs, but I don¡¯t want to rush things,¡± she bit her lip nervously.


    He reached up and gently freed her lip from the bite. ¡°I had a great time, too! Not rushing things is fine with me. I look forward to our next date. Maybe we could go see a western.¡±


    Sheughed and nodded as he eased himself out of the car and helped her out as well. ¡°You¡¯reing with us to the Christmas Party at the mansion, yes?¡± She nodded. ¡°If I can see a closet door in your apartment, I can link it to a door in the mansion so you can walk directly from your ce to the mansion.¡±


    She blinked at him. ¡°That sounds suspiciously like an excuse toe upstairs,¡± she said with a raised brow.


    ¡°I agree it does, but it¡¯s not. I need to see a door before I can link them, and traveling by Magic Door is so much easier.¡± He watched her and raised a brow. ¡°You trust me, or you don¡¯t. Remember, I¡¯m the sheriff!¡±


    She grinned. ¡°Okay.¡±


    He put his head back into the car. ¡°You can go back to VRL. Thanks!¡± He closed the door, and it drove away.


    When he turned back to Lorelei, she had her hands on her hips, and she was staring at him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll use a door to get back to my condo. This saves me the long drive. Didn¡¯t we just talk about trust?¡± he asked with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded in embarrassment. She led him inside as he rubbernecked the lobby and the adjoining pool area. ¡°This is a lovely building!¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    They got in the elevator, and she pressed the button for the Penthouse.


    With an impressed smile, Henry leaned back against the elevator wall. Lorelei bit her lip again as she considered the lovely man smiling back at her. She¡¯d been serious about wanting to take it slow. She wanted to be sure she was ready to get involved with a man already in so many other rtionships. Her body definitely wanted him to stay, but her heart said it was too soon.


    The elevator made a bing sound as the doors opened, and she stepped out with Henry following. She got her key out, but her hand was shaking too much to make it fit. Henry put his hand under hers and steadied it. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. Henry waited for her to invite him in.


    When she did, he stepped inside and closed the door. He gestured to the closet door. ¡°This one will do fine. What day will you be joining us?¡±


    ¡°What- what day does the party begin?¡± she stammered.


    ¡°The mansion opens up for breakfast on Saturday morning, December twenty-third, and then closes again on December twenty-sixth as we go back to work the next day. Tomorrow, Roy, Mary, and I are going up to set up the doors in the cave vestibule for all of the guests who wish to maintain a direct link to the mansion over the four days,¡± he exined. Would you like me to set one up for you? I can link it to this door. I can also set it to only work for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like that. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say good night then. Thanks again for an amazing date! It was fun!¡± he said with a smile.


    She stepped close and pressed her lips to his. This time the kiss was slow and sensual.


    He pulled back, and she made a small sound of protest.


    ¡°That was really nice. Good night, Lorelei.¡±


    She smiled as she knew he was being strong for her. Not trusting herself, she nodded.


    He touched the closet door and stepped into a hallway, closing the door behind him.


    Lorelei opened the closet to see her coats and boots. She shook her head with a smile.


    She¡¯d been seconds away from dragging him to her bedroom, but she knew it was too soon.


    Luckily, he knew it too.


    She was really looking forward to their next date.


    >>>>>>>


    Friday was home renovation day as they¡¯d be doing a lot of carpentry and painting at Meixiu¡¯s mansion, with her approval.


    Roy and Mary had the most experience with this. They got the squad to provide some needed manpower to purchase and pick up sixteen identical doors, the most they could fit in the vestibule, from three separate hardware stores and bring them all to VRL where Henry and Roy carried them into the mansion through a Magic Door he made in the parking garage.


    As a surprise, Roy also collected the double doors they¡¯d busted off the torture club. They were in excellent shape, considering they¡¯d been blown off in an explosion. It seems the frame hadn¡¯t been properly installed in the building¡¯s structure. Henry thought he might strip the old stain and rece the hardware with antique brass handles. He hadn¡¯t yet decided what he would use them for, so they were stored in the cave.


    Roy also had the artificial men at VRL dig out box after box of lights and decorations for use inside and out. These were brought to the mansion and put in the front sitting room.


    Mary, with Roy¡¯s assistance, framed new walls, each with openings for eight doors. The two rows of doors faced each other across the vestibule outside the cave. Once the framework was up, they began installing the doors. As they finished each, Meixiu stepped in to paint them.


    As sixteen doors lined the two walls, she decided to paint the first andst doors on each side with stylized depictions of the four seasons and the remaining twelve with the Chinese Zodiac animals.


    These distinct paint jobs would make the doors easy to identify for the families using them to pass through to their homes.


    They had to work out the logistics of who would get doors as they only had the sixteen, and there were more people than that.


    Meixiu would use a door in the second-floor master bedroom. She didn¡¯t need one of the sixteen. Henry was hoping Sigrid would return, but she¡¯d likely use the same door as Meixiu as the source was a closet in Sigrid¡¯s home.


    Tish¡¯s six siblings lived in separate homes, as well as one of her sister¡¯s oldest daughters. That meant seven of the doors were reserved for them.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    Dayshia¡¯s sister needed a door as she was in Boston.


    Cam, Marisa, Roy, now living with Mary, Siobhan, Lorelei, and the Kings, all lived in separate homes, which counted for another six.


    As Sandy, Dayshia, Michelle, Mahati, and Kali all lived on the same floor as Henry, Tish gave them copies of their door key, and they would use the Magic Door in their ce.


    That meant fifteen of the sixteen were ounted for. This left one as a spare.


    Henry linked the Fall door to a closet at Mary¡¯s ce. He teased Roy about moving from his bachelor pad and settling down. He got growled at for that.


    Meixiu insisted that the first door on the left, the Spring doorway, should be for Henry, so he set up that Magic Door to their front hall closet and Tish joined them at the mansion with the baby in a chest-mounted child carrier. Henry linked more doors and greeted Lorelei, Siobhan, Cam, and Marisa with her baby in a baby sling, as they were part of the decorating team. Mahati and Kali, using a new mor likely created by her sister, joined him and went upstairs to assist. This group went after the boxes in the sitting room to work on the design.


    Eleanor King was still working for the same hospital, exining her changed look with the simple phrase,Skyfall Event. She had emergency surgery, so she and Raymond said they would join them in the morning. Meixiu would have to activate the door as she¡¯d been to their ce once.


    Before Tish could help with decorating, her family would require connections to their homes. She called each of her siblings and her niece and let them know the mansion¡¯s Magic Doors would be linked to the doors in their homes tomorrow morning. They used video calls to ensure Tish knew which ones to use. The kids were super excited about getting to see each other and walking through a Magic Door to do it.

 302

    Dayshia called Beth to choose the door to link to. They¡¯d set up the link with Henry in the morning.


    Sigrid was still a no show, and Roy mentioned that he¡¯d been unable to reach Minkah. She¡¯d dropped off the face of the earth.


    They ordered take-out, delivered to Henry¡¯s, Mary¡¯s, and Lorelei¡¯s ces. When it arrived, they carried all the different food upstairs to the dining room to enjoy a meal together.


    After dinner, everyone went outside to admire the Christmas lights Michelle and Meixiu had strung up on the fa?ade of the three-story mansion. The herd of lit-up reindeer scattered across the snowywn was a lovely touch, too.


    Meixiu dragged Henry around to the back yard to the gazebo. Icicle lights were strung up around the edge of the roof. The little LED lights simted dripping, and the effect dazzled the eye. Henry sat and said he¡¯d like to stay there for a while.


    The others went inside as Meixiu cuddled up against Henry¡¯s side, enjoying hispanionship, his warmth, and the slow trickle of energy he gave off.


    Henry recalled sitting in this very spot, not that long ago, actually. He¡¯d needed advice and called upon his new friend, Nate. His buddy had been there for him, hade all the way from the city to the mansion to spend a few days with him. And how did Henry reward him? By dragging him into the nightmare of Mab¡¯s fucking evil plot. Getting him tortured by that monster until Henry finally could get him out.


    He had no idea that Nate would find the cursed dagger on Eden. He had no idea how damaged his friend had be at the hands of Mab. He¡¯d seen how driven Nate was to kill her with the weapon, but maybe some of that was the weapon¡¯s influence. He¡¯d felt its malevolent intent during the brief interval he¡¯d held it. Nate had it for longer than he had.


    Mab tricked Nate into killing Henry¡¯s daughter. That horror rested entirely on Mab¡¯s shoulders. Henry had been in no condition to speak with Nate when it happened, but he wished he had. Toote for that now.


    Nate¡¯s sacrifice shook Henry. Yes, a good part of it might have been driven by his guilt over the baby¡¯s death, but Nate chose to save another life, Henry¡¯s specifically, instead of just punishing himself through suicide. He made a heroic effort, and even when he was injured and knew he couldn¡¯t stop their descent, he made one final effort and managed to limit the damage Henry suffered enough to allow him to cling to life.


    He wished he¡¯d had more time to get to know Nate¡¯s other friends and his parents so he could learn more about him.


    While Henry was wing his way back to life on Eden, Marisa found Nate¡¯s parents were amongst those taken by the ring¡¯s curse. She had no information about his friends.


    Marisa named her and Nate¡¯s daughter Natalia in honor of her father. Henry vowed that Natalia would know how much he admired the man he called his friend.


    ¡°Henry? What is making you sad? I thought you would like the lights,¡± Meixiu said.


    He wiped his eyes and smiled at her. ¡°I love the lights! They¡¯re so beautiful.¡±


    She tilted her head to look him in the eyes, and he shrugged. ¡°This ce just reminded me of Nate. I miss him. I wish he could be here.¡±


    ¡°You are alive because of him. You are here and remember him. So, he is here.¡±


    Henry looked at Meixiu in surprise as his emotions welled up. He nodded with a lump in his throat. ¡°Thank you, Meixiu. You¡¯re right.¡±


    He took her face between his hands and kissed her tenderly.


    After, she cuddled in against his chest again. ¡°I like being right.¡±


    He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.


    ¡°We should go in. Tomorrow¡¯s gonna be a busy day!¡± he sighed after a moment.


    She looked up at him with a hopeful look. ¡°Just two more minutes of being right!¡±


    He smiled and gave her the two, then three more for being so damn sweet!


    >>>>>


    What could Christmas possibly mean to someone who¡¯d never celebrated it? Someone who grew up under the control of a caretaker who denied their charge anything that smacked of fantasy, imagination, or the fantastic. Someone raised with the rule that if it wasn¡¯t grounded in hard science, it was a waste of time.


    Henry explored the cave under the mansion, heamp in ce, inspecting it carefully to ensure there were no dangers the arriving kids might discover. He didn¡¯t want anyone falling into any pitfalls or bear traps Walter Zhao may have hidden away in this massive cave system.


    Doing this was actually just an excuse for him to burn off the excitement buzzing along his nerves. He wasn¡¯t sure why he felt this way. He was so restless! He¡¯d celebrated Christmasst year with his friends, and while that had been fun, he hadn¡¯t woken up at four AM, unable to return to sleep, all abuzz with¡­ with¡­ he had no idea! Christmas morning wasn¡¯t for two more days!


    He¡¯d slipped out of bed, and Aadiya and Maliha tagged along with him as they¡¯d picked up his excitement. Tish snored softly. Likely still spent from the previous evening¡¯s ytime.


    When they first talked about the party, Meixiu confirmed for him that she¡¯d gone through the cave with a fine-toothb checking for traps, and there was nothing dangerous here anymore. Just in case, Henry was in his Satyr form.


    Aadiya ran into view from a side corridor, her headlight beam swinging side to side as she searched for him. She crooned to him excitedly and rushed back the way she¡¯de. He turned to follow her as Maliha rushed up to join them. Ahead, they saw Aadiya wiggling through a gap between some boards and disappear. Henry¡¯s brows rose. Walter boarded off the hall? He peered inside and saw debris scattered on the floor before a wall extensively veined with crystals.


    He grabbed a board and pulled it loose, leaning it against the corridor wall. He moved to the next and next until he saw the rough framing bolted into the rock itself. He pulled out two vertical framing two-by-fours and stepped through the gap. Maliha was right there with him as he poked a hoof through the busted-up wood scattered all over the floor at the far end of the corridor. The veins he saw earlier crisscrossed the rock face. He ran a finger over the vein of crystal and followed it down to the floor. He stopped and brushed away the dust and fragments of shattered wood. There was a channel carved in the floor at the base of the wall. In it was the basete for the destroyed wooden doors.


    Maliha squeaked and picked up a doorknob from the debris on the floor. After a little more poking, she lifted a second one. Double doors?


    What was Walter up to here?


    He looked to the twins. ¡°I need a broom and a pry bar.¡±


    ¡°Broom!¡± Aadiya said and dashed off.


    Maliha looked upset that she didn¡¯t get to pick the broom. Henry smiled at her. ¡°The pry bar is the metal stick in the vestibule with the bent end like this,¡± he said and curled his first two fingers over in demonstration.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    ¡°Pi bar,¡± Maliha said less certainly and rushed away.


    Henry smiled to himself and went back to tidying up the floor before the wall. There were enough lumber bits to make a double set of doors, but they couldn¡¯t have been very thick. He looked back at the wall and ran his fingers over the surface. The veins felt smooth, and he picked up the tiniest tingle in his right ring finger as it touched the crystal. There was a residue of magic in the rock?


    Something itched in the back of his head, and he let Baba¡¯s spell memories scroll by as he pressed the ring finger against the crystal. The scrolling of the memories mmed to a halt as he threw himself back from the wall, his mind filled with the sound of an explosion. He crashed through two more of the vertical studs to tumble to the floor beyond. His heamp bounced free and stopped a few more feet away. He was lying on his back, panting in fright. The spell used on that wall wasn¡¯t a simple one, and the most critical step was feeding magic into the crystals. The feed had to be smooth, even, and without interruption. Any change in the flow and it could go critical and release the energy in a burst. Walter had gotten it wrong. Kaboom!


    Henry looked up and squinted as the twin¡¯s headlights were shining in his face. He sat up and saw two red-orange faces looking at him in concern. ¡°Sorry, I just picked up the mental residue of the previous explosion. Walter was trying to build a gateway to the old realm of magic.¡± He pushed himself to his hooves and dusted himself off.


    ¡°Croo?¡±


    ¡°He did it wrong, and the door exploded.¡± At their curious look, he mimed an explosion. ¡°BOOOM!¡±


    They moved closer to him, and he hugged them for their concern. Maliha handed him his heamp, which went on, then he epted the pry bar. He nodded at her. ¡°Pry bar. Thank you!¡± She smiled at his praise.


    He made short work of the rest of the frame for the wall. Then he moved to the channel on the floor and got the basete out. Trading the bar for the broom from Aadiya, he swept all of the debris in the hall into a neat pile. He spent extra time ensuring the channel on the floor waspletely clean.


    He looked to the twins again. ¡°Can you get me a garbage bag and the dustpan?¡±


    ¡°Dustpan!¡± Maliha yelped, first this time.


    Aadiya opened her mouth and huffed in annoyance before looking at Henry. ¡°Garbage bag?¡±


    ¡°Roy left some in the vestibule. ck stic bags for garbage and sweepings.¡±


    ¡°AHH!¡± Aadiya cried and rushed away.


    Henry was pleased with their increasingprehension. He separated his sweepings from the lumber they¡¯d have to carry out while he waited for them to return.


    He heard the patter of feet running, and they barreled around the corner with big grins on their faces. Maliha handed him the dustpan as Aadiya showed him the garbage bag in her grip. ¡°Excellent! Thank you! Please hold the bag open.¡±


    They made quick work of the mess on the floor. Aadiya closed the bag as Maliha picked up the tools. Henry picked up the lumber, and they made their way back to the vestibule. The bag went into the big garbage can, and Henry stacked the old lumber next to it. Roy was going to get all this stuff taken away by the artificial men.


    It was still very early, so he wandered back into the cave, thedies at his side.

 303

    That debris had been pretty old, so Walter must have made his attempt to open the portal to the old magic realm a long time ago after discovering the link to his magic was weakening but well before he got Mab¡¯s reliquary from Stanley.


    Henry found himself standing in front of the double door set Roy got for him. He was examining it carefully, looking for damage, but he saw none.


    ¡°Can you two help me carry this?¡± he asked as he moved to one side. Roy had carried the other side before, but the twins managed it. They took frequent rests but eventually carried it down the short hall to the crystal veined wall.


    Henry looked at the basete on the new set of doors and realized it was wider than the stone floor¡¯s channel.


    ¡°Shit,¡± he sighed.


    ¡°Shit,¡± Aadiya repeated.


    Henry frowned. ¡°No-¡±


    ¡°Shit,¡± Mahali copied her sister.


    They smiled at him, and he didn¡¯t have the heart to scold them. He¡¯d used the word first, after all.


    He moved the door frame right back against the wall and had thedies brace it there. The channel on the floor was covered by the basete. When the twins stepped away from it, the door stayed where it was. Still, he thought it should be braced if there might be kids in here.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go bring back some of those two-by-fours to brace the door. Can you wait here and make sure the door doesn¡¯t tip and fall? I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He gestured for them to push the door back if it tipped, and they nodded.


    He walked back to the vestibule and grabbed some of the boards, some nails, and a hammer. He was no handyman but thought he could probably handle this. As he was walking back, Aadiya and Mahali almost bowled into him as they ran around a corner on their way to him. They were wide-eyed with fright.


    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked as they clung to his arms. Aadiya was pulling him to see what happened, while Mahali wanted nothing to do with that. She hissed at her sister.


    He pulled them both into a hug. ¡°Calm down. It¡¯s okay.¡± He could feel their hearts pounding, so he had to see what happened. He assumed he was going to see the doors lying on the floor as it likely tipped forward.


    ¡°I need to see,¡± he said calmly and kissed their temples. That seemed to do it, and they let him lead them back. As he rounded the hall corner, he looked at the floor, but the doors hadn¡¯t fallen. He slowed as he got closer as something was significantly different.


    The door set was no longer sitting on the stone floor but in it. The basete was seated in a new, wider channel in the stone floor, with no step up. The outer frame was still resting back against the wall, and when he reached out and tugged on it, there was no movement. The base te seemed to be firmly in the grip of the floor. He looked closer, but he could see nothing to indicate how it was affixed to the ground. Weird!


    He took a grip on one of the handles and turned it. The door opened smoothly to show the veined stone of the wall behind it. Once more, he dragged his right ring finger across the crystals, but there was no longer a tingle. The magic was depleted.


    ¡°Huh,¡± he said and stepped back to consider the situation. His mind went back to Baba¡¯s spell. He thought it was doable, but it probably wasn¡¯t a good idea just before a bunch of kids stumbled upon it.


    There didn¡¯t appear to be any danger of the doors falling, so he gathered up the wood and the tools, and they walked back to the vestibule with thedies. They left the headlights in a basket by the door to the cave. He¡¯d talk to Roy once he got here.


    He climbed the stairs to the main floor as he contemted Baba¡¯s spell for the doorway. It was tainted with evil as the process for powering the crystals in the wall, which maintained the spell, was the consumption of life energy from multiple sacrifices. That wouldn¡¯t do.


    First, he needed to confirm that the crystals could store Wild Energy. If they could, he¡¯d determine a way to rece the need for the sacrifices with feeding power from the rift inside him through his hydroelectric powernt program to even out the fluctuations.


    Henry found himself at a standstill on the steps with Aadiya and Maliha looking at him in concern. He chuckled and touched their cheeks. ¡°Sorry, I got caught up in my head thinking about stuff.¡± They smiled in relief as they pulled him the rest of the way up. He made his way to the front sitting area and made himselffortable on a sofa. The twins immediately curled up on the cushions on either side of him with their heads on his chest as he rested his arms along the back of the sofa. He heard them purr contentedly and smiled.


    As his eyes watched the slowly brightening skies out the big windows, he let his mind return to working on a program to safely automate charging the crystals in the wall.


    They were going to power a doorway to Eden.


    -=-


    As people showed up at the mansion, activity picked up, and noises from the kitchen drew Henry¡¯s attention. He eased himself from the couch, but the twins woke as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Go back to sleep,¡± he suggested.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    They stood as well and tilted their faces up to him, so he gave them kisses. Then they moved to a loveseat before the window that was getting rays of sunlight. They curled up together and wrapped a wing around each other as they snoozed.


    Henry walked back to the huge kitchen where an explosion of organized chaos was unfolding. Breakfast preparations were underway. He slipped into that swirling energy to give his friends kisses and hugs. He topped up everyone¡¯s energy and got smiles.


    Roy and Mary appeared in the doorway to greet everyone. Thetter looked fresh as a daisy, but Roy looked a little tired, so Henry pulled him into a hug and sent him a surge of energy.


    ¡°Woah! It¡¯s okay,d! I¡¯m just a little tired from, well, never mind.¡± He smiled awkwardly at Henry as he recalled Henry¡¯s surprise appearance in Mary¡¯s bedroom. ¡°I guess I can skip coffee this morning.¡±


    ¡°Can I show you something the twins and I discovered in the cave this morning?¡± Henry asked.


    Roy looked at him with interest. ¡°Something good?¡±


    ¡°It could be,¡± Henry confirmed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be long! We¡¯re going to need to open the rest of the Magic Doors soon!¡± Tish called out from her spot next to Meixiu at the stove.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be in the cave. Just call out when you need us, and we¡¯lle back,¡± Henry replied.


    She nodded, and Henry led Roy downstairs. They met Cam in the vestibule as she stepped through the Winter door. Momentster, Marisa stepped out of the next door with Natalia back in her carrier.


    Henry stepped forward and gave thedies a kiss, charging them up and kissed the baby too.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time to open the other doors,¡± Cam reminded him.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Roy and I are just looking at something, but we¡¯ll be back soon,¡± he said.


    He paused then went to the spare door. He touched it and linked it to a broom closet in the main hall. He opened the door and pushed it all the way back. Now they had a way to bypass the climb up the long staircase from the vestibule.


    ¡°Thank you, Henry,¡± Marisa said in relief.


    He smiled at her and Cam, then joined Roy.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put this stuff into the parking garage at VRL,¡± Roy suggested, pointing to the garbage, lumber, and tools. Henry linked an unused door to the door they¡¯d used the previous day. Then he and Roy moved the stuff through until the vestibule was clean once more. Roy gged down one of the artificial men and gave him instructions on putting the tools away and disposing of the rest.


    Once back in the mansion, Henry released the link on the door and grabbed some heamps before heading into the cave with Roy.


    As they walked down the slope, Roy looked at him. ¡°How did Walter light this ce?¡±


    Henry snorted. ¡°He had torches which he spat fireballs at.¡±


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ show off,¡± Roy grumbled.


    Henryughed. ¡°Yeah, he was. I was thinking of suggesting LED lighting to Meixiu.¡±


    They arrived at the short hall.


    ¡°This is where you¡¯re storing the doors?¡±


    ¡°Actually, Aadiya found this hallway boarded up. We removed that and found a set of double doors exploded into bits, scattered all over the floor in front of that wall. The bottom frame was set into a channel in the rock floor. We cleaned up all the debris and took it out to the vestibule. We brought the new door back here, but it was wider than the channel in the floor. I went back to get some boards to brace the doors against the wall, but the channel had widened to ept the doors when I got back. There was a trickle of old realm magic stored in the crystal veining of the wall, and now it¡¯s empty.¡±


    Roy frowned in concern. ¡°Dormant magic can be a dangerous thing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I checked the rest of the cave, and it¡¯s good. This area was boarded off and now contains no magic,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°What was Walter trying to do here?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°I checked Baba¡¯s spells and recognized this one as a Dimensional Gate. Walter was trying to open a gate to the realm of the old magic. He got the powering of the crystals wrong, and the doors exploded when the energy was released from the wall in a burst.¡± Henry looked to the wall of the corridor. The stains on the rock now took on a sinister meaning. He walked back and reached up to touch the holes where the restraining bolts were screwed in. ¡°He was powering the crystals with the lives of sacrifices.¡±


    ¡°Shit! Those are bloodstains?¡± Roy eximed.


    Henry nodded and walked back to the wall and touched one of the veins with his index finger. Then he fed a little Wild Magic into it. He waited and then provided a little more. It took, and he nodded. It would work.

 304

    ¡°What are you up to?¡± Roy asked cautiously.


    ¡°I believe I can safely power the wall and activate the Dimensional Gate spell to open a door to Eden,¡± Henry exined.


    Roy scowled. ¡°What makes you think you can do better than Walter?¡±


    ¡°I can rece the requirement for the sacrifice. It just needs a steady and even flow of magic, which I imagine would be ridiculously tricky using sacrifices. I¡¯m uniquely able to provide a steady flow of energy with my rift and my powernt spell. The spell for the Dimensional Gate is tricky, but it isn¡¯t dangerous in itself. Opening tears is easy but keeping them open is draining as they immediately try to heal themselves. With this gate spell, the load is carried by the crystals in the wall.¡±


    ¡°Where did those crystalse from? I didn¡¯t see these veins of crystal anywhere else in the cave,¡± Roy said, looking around.


    Henry shrugged. ¡°I know, this wall seems to be unique, and I¡¯m no geologist, so I have no idea what kind of mineral it is.¡±


    ¡°Henry! It¡¯s time!¡± Tish¡¯s voice echoed through the cave.


    ¡°On our way!¡± Henry yelled back.


    Roy looked at Henry as they walked back to the hallway of doors. ¡°What would the purpose be for this Dimensional Gate?¡± he asked.


    Henry thought about that. ¡°I¡¯d like an easier way to bring Aadiya and Maliha to Eden for their flying exercise. I¡¯d like to invite Tish and her family to visit as well. To know exactly how convenient it will be, I still need to power the crystals and activate the spell to see how long the door will hold the gate open. The spell was created before knowledge of the Wild Magic dimension, so this is all new.¡±


    ¡°Put a bookmark in that for now. We have new guests arriving,¡± Roy suggested, and Henry nodded as they left the cave. Roy closed the doors behind himself as Henry joined Tish before the first door. She was in her Faun state.


    ¡°We¡¯re linking seven doors, starting with one for my eldest sister, Kristen,¡± she said.


    ¡°Picture the door in her home we are linking to,¡± Henry said. ¡°Then touch the door with that image in your mind.¡±


    Tish closed her eyes then reached out to touch the door. Henry touched her hand and activated the spell. Tish opened her eyes and looked at Henry and saw him smiling at her.


    ¡°Go ahead and knock,¡± he said as he stood back.


    Tish grinned and rapped her knuckles against the wood.


    The door immediately opened, and Henry felt a thrill rush through his chest as he saw the excited Faun faces of Kristen, her husband Lyle, and five of her six kids, La, George, Patrick, Craig, and Lorraine, ages sixteen to twelve. The parents stepped through tentatively, but the kids quickly pushed them further as they rushed inside.


    ¡°This is awesome!¡± George gushed.


    Then they were all looking at Henry.


    ¡°My, aren¡¯t you¡­¡± Kristen quickly nced at Lyle¡¯s slimmer physique, then back to Henry, rge!¡±


    ¡°Why are your horns so muchrger than daddy¡¯s?¡± La, the sixteen-year-old, asked.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°Mine arerger than normal.¡± That produced a burst of giggles, so he tried to rephrase it. ¡°Your dad¡¯s are normal! Mine are too big!¡± The giggling just got louder. He tried again, but Tish reached up and pressed her fingers across his lips.


    Tish smiled at her niece. ¡°Henry¡¯s horns grew this way from being pushed from the ancient past to the present when he was just a baby. You won¡¯t find horns like these on any other Fauns.¡±


    ¡°Satyr.¡± At their nk looks, he rified. ¡°I¡¯m a Satyr. It¡¯s another name for Faun.¡± They looked at each other. ¡°I prefer Satyr.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s open Gene¡¯s door,¡± Tish suggested. Gene was Kristen¡¯s oldest daughter at eighteen-years-old.


    They repeated the spell activation, and Tish knocked.


    When the door was opened by a young male Faun, he took one look at the gathered family and made a squeak noise, fainting through the door onto the floor. A petite and pretty dark-brown female Faun holding a baby was standing behind him with an embarrassed expression on her face.


    Henry leaned forward and lifted the unconscious man into the vestibule, and his wife walked through the door. The young mother was so cute, and the adorable baby in her arms was a newborn. She smiled at Henry.


    ¡°You¡¯re holding my husband Sam, I¡¯m Gene, and this is our daughter Bean,¡± she said.


    ¡°I love the name Bean! How did youe up with that?¡± Henry grinned.


    Gene shrugged. ¡°She was just a tiny bean in my tummy when I became this. We weren¡¯t sure if she transformed too.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s beautiful!¡± Henry sighed.


    ¡°Okay! More doors to do!¡± Tish said, then looked to the family already through. ¡°Memorize your door, so you know which one to go through to get home!¡±


    Henry handed Sam off to Lyle, who rolled his eyes at his son-inw¡¯s state.


    Tish and Henry made their way down the row, linking each to another door somewhere in Phdelphia. The parents and kids were all wide-eyed and excited to pass through a door and find themselves in thepany of their other family members in the cer of a mansion in New York State.


    Soon they were at thest door. Tish pulled Henry aside. ¡°This will be my sister Steph¡¯s ce. She is really nervous about meeting you. She may talk¡­ excessively.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± he said with a smile. They linked the door, and Tish knocked.


    Steph pushed the door open, tripped, and stumbled through right into Henry¡¯s arms. She face-nted against his broad chest then looked up in surprise. Henry grinned down at her.


    ¡°Hello! You must be Steph! You¡¯re just as lovely and bold as Tish said you¡¯d be,¡± he teased. Steph¡¯s face lit up with a brilliant smile.


    Tish had filled Henry in on Steph¡¯s tragic discovery after the Skyfall Event.


    Steph¡¯s husband David hadn¡¯t attended the party that night. He wasn¡¯t there in the backyard soaking in the Wild Magic and the love of his family. He wasn¡¯t part of the biggest group hug the family had ever done, and he missed being saturated with the Wild Magic pouring through Tish¡¯s rift. He didn¡¯t transform into a Faun like the rest of the family.


    He¡¯d missed all of these wondrous things because he spent his evening in bed with his neighbor¡¯s wife, Gloria. When her husband Rick got home from his sanitation engineer night shift at four in the morning, he found David¡¯s clothes piled on the chair in their bedroom, but his socks were on the bed with the sexy lingerie Gloria swore she only ever wore for him. There was a condom on the bed, too.


    Steph received a ranting, angry call from Rick on her cell phone the next morning. He¡¯d said some nasty things, and that¡¯s how Steph discovered her husband¡¯s infidelity and how it ended with the tragic twist.


    Their three kids no longer had a father. He hadn¡¯t been a very attentive one to begin with, but now he was gone.


    Tish said Steph had taken a terrible hit to her self-confidence as Gloria was not particrly pretty or fit, but she¡¯d taken David from her.


    Henry was a little dazzled by her smile, and she seemed to notice as it just got brighter. Her hands slid across his broad chest tond on his biceps.


    ¡°Tish didn¡¯t mention you were so¡­ strong!¡± Steph said a little breathily.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a gradual increase of yumminess,¡± Tish chuckled, and Steph¡¯sugh was identical, deep and hinting at a slightly wicked naughtiness.


    Steph pressed her body against Henry¡¯s, and he had the beginnings of an automatic and immediate reaction. Her eyes widened, and her pink tongue darted out to lick her lips. This triggered a second throb, which she definitely felt. He cast a quick desperate look at Tish, and she picked up the hint as she swooped in to scoop Steph away from Henry as he stealthily turned his body away from the gathering of Tish¡¯s family.


    ¡°Steph and kids, make note of the symbol on your door. That¡¯s how you get back home tonight.¡± She faced the rest of the family, who were still milling around in the vestibule. ¡°Come on, people, let¡¯s clear this area and move to the dining room for breakfast. Kids take the stairs. Adults take the open door to the left.¡±


    The kids charged up the long, winding stairs with excited screams as the grateful adults just stepped through the doorway to find themselves in the main hallway, where they were greeted by Meixiu weing them to her mansion. With all the kids charging through the home, the expensive breakables had all been moved to safety, and Henry added protective shields on the paintings to prevent idents.


    Henry took slow breaths to calm himself and opened his eyes to see Dayshia watching him with a hungry look in her eye. She¡¯d also seen his reaction to Steph¡¯s touch.


    ¡°Are you ready to help me open a door to Beth¡¯s?¡± she asked as she bit her lip.


    ¡°Dayshia, please!¡± he gasped quietly as he began to react to her.


    She smiled with satisfaction and closed her eyes as she pulled up the image of Beth¡¯s front hall closet door. She felt Henry¡¯s hand on hers, then his mouth was next to her ear. ¡°It¡¯s all yours.¡± Tingles shot straight down her neck to her nipples, which stiffened immediately.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°Henry! My niece and nephews are on the other side of this door!¡± she squealed quietly.


    He just gave her a raised eyebrow as she was equally guilty. She looked away but not before he saw her smile, acknowledging his point was made.


    Taking a deep breath, Dayshia knocked on the door.


    It immediately opened, and Beth gave her sister a raised eyebrow as well. ¡°You¡¯rete.¡±


    Dayshia pointed to the group still moving through the door at the end of the hall. ¡°Tish has thirty-four rtives on their way upstairs. Introductionster. Memorize the symbol on the door as it is assigned to your ce.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Henry!¡± Beth said with a smile, and he admired her glowing eyes. Her smile grew a little at his appreciation and did again when he dipped forward to kiss her cheek.


    ¡°Hi, Beth! Chris,¡± Henry said and shook Chris¡¯ hand. He shook the kids¡¯ hands too.


    ¡°We can follow them to the dining room for breakfast,¡± Dayshia instructed.


    Chris was watching Henry, so he returned the gaze. ¡°Do you work out?¡± the man asked.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°Not in any traditional way. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯ve developed these. It might just be a Satyr thing.¡±


    Chris nodded as he followed his wife and sister-inw through the door.

 305

    Henry followed and looked back, but he was thest one. He faced forward and saw Meixiu was finished greeting Dayshia¡¯s family. ¡°I think the final guests are the Kings. When will they arrive?¡± he asked when she was alone.


    ¡°They said after lunch,¡± she said with a smile.


    ¡°Do you think they might enjoy a feeding?¡± Henry asked, and Meixiu burst into giggles.


    ¡°Henry, even having someone offer is a delight. Vampires are forced into a life of sneaking their meals just to survive. I remember my first meal from you, and while I do not regret doing it as it granted me my freedom, I am sorry it frightened you so badly. I did not have time to ease you into it.¡±


    ¡°All was forgiven the same night,¡± Henry insisted, and Meixiu smiled sweetly.


    Henry frowned. ¡°It¡¯s too bad Sigrid isn¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she wants to be here too. Let¡¯s get you some breakfast,¡± Meixiu said, gently pushing Henry towards the dining room.


    He grinned and shook his head when he saw twenty-six adults and three newborns squeezed around the twenty-seat main table. ¡°Where are the kids?¡± Henry asked Meixiu.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°We had to set up a second table in the front sitting room as there are twenty-three kids,¡± Meixiu said.


    Henry looked at her. ¡°Any adults with them?¡±


    Meixiu shook her head, so Henry spun and marched to the front room to peer in the doorway. No chaos. No explosions. No tears. There was sound, but it was excited chattering,ughter, and the crooning of the twins. He stepped into the room and saw Aadiya and Maliha enjoying their favorite snack, coconuts, while the kids split their attention between watching them in fascination, talking, and eating breakfast.


    There were spilled drinks, but paper towels had been used to clean up. The teens and the twins knew how to do that. Some of the older male kids struggled not to ogle Aadiya and Maliha, wearing their usual outfits of a simple cropped t-shirt and short shorts.


    Dayshia¡¯s niece Emily rushed over to him with wide eyes, so he knelt down, so she didn¡¯t have to crane her neck. She gestured for him to get closer so she could whisper.


    ¡°Mr. Gable! Are the reddies, demons?¡± she asked quietly.


    He smiled and shook his head. ¡°No, they¡¯re Subi like Cam and Marisa but a special kind. They are very sweet-natured and special to me.¡±


    The little girl smiled in relief and nodded to him. She rushed back to her seat at the table and shared her knowledge with the girls sitting next to her.


    Danny and Tommy Nelson were sitting amongst the Satyrs, and Henry could tell by their expressions that they would ask their parents if they could be Satyrs, too. Henry worried about Chris¡¯ resistance and his shape bias.


    He moved to the twins, who looked up at him in question, chewing noisily on the coconut, their fangs catching the light. None of the kids seemed put off by the disy, but many of them were equally noisy chewers.


    He dipped down and kissed their temples, and they purred at him.


    His stomach growled at the smell of the food, so Meixiu took his hand, and they headed for the kitchen. She made him a te of scrambled eggs and bacon with toast, and he carried it into the dining room. Some of the moms had left the table to check on their kids, so Henry was invited to take the spot between Brian Evans and Chris Nelson. Brian was the oldest of Tish¡¯s brothers and had obviously been muscr before his transformation. Lyle was across the table and was far more svelte.


    Chris was grilling them on how it felt to be Satyrs.


    ¡°I feel better than I have in years,¡± Brian sighed. ¡°I used to ache so badly after my upper body day, and the doctor told me I¡¯d have to stop because of the Arthritis in my shoulders. Since the transformation, it¡¯s gone. My joints don¡¯t ache anymore. Not at all. My muscles hurt when I strain them, but even that goes away faster. I¡¯m also lifting fifty to sixty percent more than I could before, and these crazy legs are ridiculously strong!¡±


    Lyle rolled his eyes at his brother-inw then turned to Chris. ¡°I¡¯m not a gym rat like Brian, but I do long-distance running. My fitness is now off the charts. I could easily best the current world record. I think all previous records for physical pursuits will be surpassed. With all the different shapes people are transforming into, we¡¯ll be learning their new physical capabilities. There was a report on the news yesterday about someone transforming into a Centaur. Half man, half horse.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want that!¡± Chris blurted, and heads turned to look at him.


    ¡°Probably, that fellow didn¡¯t wish for it either,¡± Lyle responded sadly.


    Henry finished up his breakfast. As he wiped his mouth with a napkin, he felt eyes on him. He looked up and saw it was Chris, who was frowning at him.


    Henry sighed. ¡°Chris, the only Humans who didn¡¯t change, are gone. You survived, but you¡¯re in a pre-change state. I can¡¯t prevent it. It¡¯s going to happen. Unlike the vast majority of people left on this, you¡¯re aware of a means to choose.¡±


    ¡°What about Mary?¡± Chris said, gesturing to her. ¡°Is she in the pre-change state? She looks human.¡±


    Beth was frowning at her husband¡¯s belligerence, but Henry knew it was just his fear talking.


    Henry looked to Mary, who sighed and turned to Chris.


    ¡°Did you enjoy your breakfast this morning?¡± she asked the frowning man.


    He blinked at her. ¡°Y-yes, it was very good.¡±


    ¡°Are you a crispy or chewy bacon lover?¡± Mary asked.


    ¡°Uh, crispy,¡± he answered.


    ¡°Mmmm, yeah! I remember that. So good,¡± she sighed.


    Chris was hearing what she was saying. ¡°Do you not eat bacon anymore?¡±


    She held his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t eat anything anymore, and I¡¯m stuck with this physique.¡±


    Chris looked confused. ¡°How are you able to live without eating?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I eat, just not food. Roy?¡± she said, ncing at him as she stood.


    Roy¡¯s face pinked up. He still didn¡¯t like doing this in public. He stood as well, reached back, and struck Mary¡¯s back with a brutal p. Many people around the table jumped to their feet and cried out in anger. Mary held up her hands and people quieted down.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I eat. I¡¯m a kic sink. I absorb kic energy and convert it to energy.¡± She turned to Roy, who was ring at the people who¡¯d yelled at him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Roy, for making you do that in front of people.¡±


    He nodded gruffly and sat.


    Mary looked to Chris. ¡°I really miss eating food, but my body rejects it now. I can drink water, and that¡¯s it. I kind of wish I¡¯d be a Satyr, but it wasn¡¯t meant to be. When I was exposed to Wild Magic, I was in full contact with Henry, but his influence didn¡¯t work in that circumstance. His hands were cuffed behind his back, as I recall.¡±


    ¡°Wooo!¡± Steph called out excitedly, and the groupughed as Henry stared at Mary incredulously in the hope she would shut up.


    Mary dipped her eyes in apology to Henry then looked to Chris. ¡°The point is, if looking Human is the only consideration you¡¯re focusing on, you need to think about the downsides before you decide on being a kic sink like me. My job in security makes this state very useful. What do you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an electrical engineer,¡± Chris said.


    Mary¡¯s smile dropped away, and she shook her head. ¡°This isn¡¯t for you.¡±


    Chris looked at her in disappointment, and Henry stepped in. ¡°I still haven¡¯t had a chance to speak to the experts regarding the possibility of creating a mor powered by Wild Magic.¡± He thought for a moment. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not the creating of the mor as much as the binding process that¡¯s the difficulty. You can ask Dayshia how that went for her. I don¡¯t know if there is another way to do it.¡±


    The conversation turned to other topics, and Henry enjoyed watching the families interacting. The Nelson¡¯s seemed to fit in with Tish¡¯s multiple household family effortlessly. There was muchughter, and asionally one or two kids would venture into the dining room as they explored the mansion. Henry didn¡¯t contribute much to the dialogue, but he loved being immersed in it.


    After what seemed like hours, Danny and Tommy ran into the dining room straight for their parents. Henry knew what they were going to say before they grabbed their parents¡¯ hands, begging to be Fauns. Emily arrived secondster and leaned against her mom.


    ¡°I still want to have eyes like you and Auntie Dayshia,¡± she said sweetly. Beth squeezed her daughter and kissed her head.


    Some of the older kids showed up in the doorway. ¡°It¡¯s snowing hard outside, and there¡¯s a lot on the ground already. Can we go outside and y in it?¡± La asked.


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kristen called out, and the kids stopped to look back at her. The mother turned to Henry. ¡°Just how safe are the kids running around outside together as Fauns? We can¡¯t let them do it at home.¡±


    Henry looked at the worried woman. ¡°Safe from what?¡±


    The mother clutched her hands together nervously. ¡°We don¡¯t know any of the people living in this area, and we don¡¯t know if they¡¯re gun fanatics or spies willing to sell pictures of Fauns ying in the snow to some media outlet.¡±


    Henry looked at Tish, who was watching her sister with a sad expression. They were seeing the fears lying just under the surface. He scanned Baba¡¯s spell inventory and found something he could use to ease her concerns. Likely not what Baba would have used it for but, he wasn¡¯t his Baba.


    Henry stood and walked over to Kristen and gave her a hug. He smiled down at her as he stepped back. ¡°Give me a second.¡±


    He walked out of the dining room and into the front sitting room. He recalled the ss had a spell on it that prevented people outside from seeing people inside. He ced his hand on the ss and closed his eyes as he made a copy of the spell in his mind. He chuckled at the clever method used to disguise the upants inside the ss. He could use this. He left the sitting room and went out onto the front step, then down into the snow. He pulled up the shield spell from Baba¡¯s inventory and copied it. He then merged the ss spell into the copy of the energy shield. After some fine-tuning, it was ready to deploy.

 306

    He looked back at the front door and saw a crowd standing there.


    ¡°Uh, everyone who doesn¡¯t want to get soaked with Wild Magic should go inside as I¡¯m about tounch a spell with a lot of it. Better yet, step back through your door downstairs. We¡¯ll knock when it¡¯s over.¡± Michelle immediately rushed inside though she wasn¡¯t really at risk. She was followed by Siobhan, who likely wanted to avoid the brightness for her magic vision. Chris and his kids, who were at risk, were shepherded along by Beth. ¡°Dayshia, can you let us know when they are all through?¡± Henry asked. With a nod, Dayshia followed them in.


    Cam joined Henry on the gravel drive. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± she asked eagerly. Meixiu joined them.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna put up a domed shield over the property. It won¡¯t let anyone past it, and it¡¯s ballistic proof, too. It also has the spell from the front windows to hide everyone inside it,¡± he said. He looked to Meixiu. ¡°How big should I make it?¡±


    ¡°To the road ahead. To the stream to our left. To the wire fence to our right. As far behind as you want,¡± she said, and Henry nodded.


    ¡°How do you know how to do this?¡± Cam asked.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    He shook his head. ¡°I just have Baba¡¯s spells, and I can feel when it will work. It¡¯s like working withputer hardware¡­ and programmingbined. Thenguage of the spells¡­ they appear as code to me, and I can parse code in my head like no one else,¡± he said with a grin.


    He saw Dayshia return and nod. ¡°Okay, everyone back inside.¡±


    With reluctant pouts, Cam and Meixiu joined the others in the mansion.


    Henry closed his eyes and prepared the spell/code in his mind. He would load it with magic to keep it in ce for a few days. He could always recharge itter.


    When he was ready, he looked to the control on his rift. He would open it all the way as he wanted the dome to be super strong, and it needed to be inted fast, or it would just copse.


    He held his hands out and looked inwards, and eased the zipper down. It took a lot of strength to control the gradual opening as the energy wanted out! Once it was wide open, Henry brought the spell forward and invited the Wild Magic to join with it. The dome exploded outwards from him in all directions, climbing up and over the mansion in a sh to expand outwards. He felt it reach the road and stop, the fence and stream and stop. It traveled a mile back through the woods behind the mansion before he made it end there.


    He opened his eyes and realized it was no longer snowing. He looked up and caught the wisps blowing around on the energy shield. He closed his eyes again and willed it to allow all forms of weather through, and down came the snow once more. Feeling the dome¡¯s shape, he realized it was more like one of those oblong winter tennis court tents. He fed more of his energy into it, and it suddenly began to glow like the sun. He quickly pulled back on the power until the dome was invisible once more.


    His head was spinning as he now contained too much energy. He needed to dump it, so he walked all the way to the end of the driveway and stepped through the energy field. The road was empty, and no one was in sight, so he aimed his hands down the winding road and released the excess energy in a st of radiant heat. When he felt his energy levels dropping to normal, he stopped the heat st and saw the road and surrounding area were free of snow and steamed gently. He made his way back to the house.


    Standing before the home, he knew he had to close the rift, or he¡¯d be putting the Nelson family at risk. He closed his eyes, looked within, and struggled to close the zipper. It took so much effort, but finally, it closed, and he dropped to his knees, panting. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Marisa smiling down at him.


    ¡°You did amazingly well. Siobhan tells me the flow is still getting stronger. You might not be able to use that zipper control much longer.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°I only barely managed to close it this time. I need something much stronger. A hydraulic door to a vault, maybe. I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°Is it safe toe out?¡± Kristen called out.


    Henry nodded as he pushed himself to his hooves. Marisa waved for everyone toe out. ¡°I¡¯m going back inside,¡± she said as Henry squeezed her hand in thanks and turned to face Kristen, Tish, and the others. ¡°The dome over the property lets the weather in and wildlife, but no drones, people, or bullets. Hell, meteors wouldn¡¯t get through.¡± He sighed as he rolled his neck to get the stiffness out. ¡°It also hides anyone on the inside from being visible from the outside.¡± He smiled at the excited kids. ¡°y to your heart¡¯s content.¡±


    ¡°Where are the boundaries?¡± Brian asked.


    Henry pointed away from the house. ¡°To the road, about five hundred yards that way.¡± He pointed left. ¡°To the stream that marks the edge of the property, four hundred yards.¡± He pointed right. ¡°To the fence between the properties, about three hundred yards that way. And a mile into the forest behind the house.¡± He turned himself in the direction of the front door. ¡°Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going back for a second breakfast as I¡¯ve built up an appetite.¡±


    On his way to the door, he smiled at the happy sound of the kids running around in the snow. Danny, Emily, and Tommy rushed out of the house to join the others, all bundled up in their snow pants and jackets and gloves. The Satyr kids were in kilts and light jackets. It was quite the difference.


    Henry went inside and shook off the snow. Meixiu was immediately by his side with a fluffy towel. He dried himself off and gave her a kiss for thanks. She skipped away happily.


    He pointed himself in the direction of the kitchen in his quest for food.


    >>>>>>>>


    Minkah had endured the long voyage from Cairo to New York, and her nerves were feeling a little brittle. She still wasn¡¯t sure of her intent when she finally found Henry. Her feelings were all mixed up in her head.


    On the one hand, he¡¯d broken his word to her. He¡¯d promised to stay by her side while he was in her custody. He¡¯d fled to Mab¡¯s castle to rescue the Subus. She was irrationally pissed he¡¯d ignored her orders, again!


    But he¡¯d fought Mab and defeated her. The cost of that battle had been too high, but hepleted it. She couldn¡¯t have been more impressed at his ability toplete the mission in light of that. It was exactly the level of resolve she strived to achieve herself. He¡¯d proven he could be equal to her in that. This made her feel¡­ things. Things she hadn¡¯t felt before.


    Then he¡¯dmitted the ultimate sin. He¡¯d gotten himself killed before she could address her feelings for him. The part of her mind that clung to his being alive beyond what had clearly been his death felt like a snide little burr inside her brain. Punishing her for doubting, for giving up.


    Exiting from the path station, she rushed her steps down the walkway towards his building. Someone was entering the outer door, so she opened up her effort to an all-out run and managed to catch the inner door before it closed and locked. She rushed inside and took the elevator with the unsettled tenant. She stared at the small man who was gaping back at her.


    ¡°What is it, little man?¡± she snapped.


    He just pointed to his face and to the mirrored panel on the elevator wall. She looked at her reflection and saw she wasn¡¯t wearing her mor. She was Bastet in all her glory. This was another sign of her unraveling.


    The door opened on the seventh floor, and the man rushed out.


    She tried to calm herself and reengage the mor, but the elevator dinged when it reached the ninth floor, and she was pushing her way out the door and running down the hall. She thumped her fist on his door and heard a squeak on the other side. The peephole darkened for a second, and there was another exmation of surprise.


    The door suddenly pulled open, and Michelle Beaumont was staring at her in shock.


    ¡°Ms. Meskh! You were right! Henry wasn¡¯t dead! Well, he was, but he exined to us that he hadn¡¯t left his body.¡±


    Minkah was trembling, quakes rushing through her body. She could smell him. ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s at Meixiu¡¯s mansion in upper New York-¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Minkah cried.


    The woman watched her carefully. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Minkah took a long slow breath, and that seemed to center her enough to answer. ¡°Sorry, yes. Where-where is this mansion?¡±


    Michelle nodded as she assessed the Bastet. ¡°In a moment, we¡¯ll be able to step through a Magic Door and be there. You¡¯ll see him momentarily.¡±


    Minkah sighed in relief and nodded as another tremor went through her body, but she kept that hidden.


    ¡°Henry is putting a shield over the mansion to protect the kids ying in the snow?¡± Michelle exined.


    It sounded like gibberish to Minkah¡¯s scattered thoughts, but she picked up protect the kids, which resonated with her seeing Henry with the baby in the video. ¡°What kids?¡±


    ¡°Tish¡¯s sibling¡¯s families. So many children and all of them are Fauns,¡± Michelle smiled happily, and this eased the anxiety in Minkah a little.


    The knock on the closet door sent another spike through her, and she must have made a noise as Michelle¡¯s eyes flicked to her before she opened the closet door.


    The one named Dayshia was talking as the door opened. ¡°Sorry Michelle, I forgot to knock on your door after I got my sister and her super excited kids back and upstairs. Henry¡¯s done-OH! Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Henry¡¯s done?¡± Minkah blurted.


    ¡°This is Minkah,¡± Michelle said to her roommate.


    ¡°Oh! Minkah! Yes, Henry¡¯s done making the shield. Wee back!¡±


    The Bastet leapt through the door, slipping past Dayshia, and took a scent. She raced up the stairs.


    She was hunting Satyr.

 307

    Henry patted his tummy as he smiled at Meixiu. ¡°Thank you for topping me up.¡±


    ¡°My pleasure, sir,¡± she said with a smile.


    They were rxing in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter, listening to the sound of Tish¡¯s family members talking andughing in the dining room. They¡¯d been apart for too long, and this get together was just what they needed.


    The sound filled Henry with warmth, and he smiled in contentment. Siobhan suddenly appeared in the dining room doorway to the kitchen. He looked at her, and she was saying something to him, but he couldn¡¯t hear it over a roaring sound in his ears. She was pointing to the back door. Roy walked into the kitchen from the main hall doorway. Meixiu began to push Henry towards the back door, and he looked at her in confusion. There was amotion in the hallway, and Roy moved to the side, stepping into the kitchen.


    Henry could now see down the hall, and Minkah was standing there facing him. She was in her Bastet form, and her tail was swishing back and forth with a fierce agitation. He could see her eyes were locked on him, but her muscles seemed to be frozen.


    ¡°Boy! Run!¡±


    Roy¡¯s voice cut through the fog in his head, and he spun and charged out the back door like he was running for his life.


    -=-


    Minkah saw her prey, and he was frozen by her predator¡¯s stare. When he suddenly turned and ran out of the house, it caught her by surprise, and her muscles took an extra second to unlock. As she rushed forward, she ran into a torrent of Wild Magic Henry¡¯s body had spontaneously released moments earlier.


    In an attempt to catch her, a strand of webbing shot across the hallway from a door to her left, but she twisted at thest second to slide under it. As she corrected her bnce, she came face to face with a dark-skinned male stumbling out of the dining room. His eyes rolled back as he fell. She was badly positioned, so they collided into a pile with him on top. She had her hands on his dense chest muscles to push him from her, but she froze as he began to change. His skin suddenly sprouted thick ck fur, and she was looking at a male version of herself.


    The back door mmed, and she remembered her hunt. She pushed the Bastet from her and scrambled to get back on Henry¡¯s trail.


    He wouldn¡¯t get away again.


    -=-


    Roy watched Minkah leap out the back door, then he moved to kneel next to Chris. After all his fretting about changing, the man got an interesting transformation with the added bonus of having a built-in Human disguise. The man must have a horseshoe up his ass to beat these odds.


    He waited and watched the prone man as others moved from the dining room to peer into the kitchen door at them.


    Beth pushed through the doorway and shrieked in surprise. ¡°Is that Chris?¡±


    Roy held up a finger, and Chris suddenly switched to his Human shape. Luckily, he still looked like Chris, if not quite as top-heavy in his muscture. Bastet¡¯s tended toward slimmer builds, but they were strong and flexible, which Minkah proved when she dodged under Michelle¡¯s attempt to catch her with a strand of webbing.


    Michelle and Dayshia arrived at the kitchen from the hall entrance and looked down at Chris, resting after his change.


    ¡°Sorry. I tried to stop Minkah but missed,¡± the Arachnid apologized.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. This is perfect for someone who wants to keep looking Human,¡± Roy said with a nod to Michelle. He looked to Beth. ¡°And the family gets a pet cat too!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Beth gasped in dismay.


    Mary smacked Roy¡¯s shoulder for teasing poor Beth. ¡°Don¡¯t be mean!¡± she scolded.


    Beth looked for an exnation, and Michelle touched her arm. ¡°Bastet¡¯s are shape shifters with three forms. Their native Bastet shape of a full-sized furred Humanoid with feline attributes. They also have a Human disguise and a small cat state.¡±


    Marisa walked into the hall from checking on Natalia and froze. ¡°What happened? Why is there so much Wild Magic-HENRY!¡±


    Roy held up his hand. ¡°His control on the rift failed, and he spaced out for a second. That was enough time to flood the kitchen and beyond. Chris walked into it, then into Minkah, who was hunting Henry.¡±


    ¡°Hunting Henry?¡± Brian eximed as he pushed into the kitchen. ¡°We need to get out there and help him!¡±


    Roy shook his head. ¡°She wasn¡¯t hunting to kill him,¡± Roy said to ease their concerns.


    Beth frowned. ¡°If she isn¡¯t hunting him to kill him, what does she want?¡±


    Dayshia sighed at her sister¡¯s naivety. ¡°Really?¡±


    Beth red at her sister then the glow in her eyes brightened. ¡°OH!¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    The front door closed with a thump. ¡°Daddy!¡± a young girl shouted in fear.


    Beth immediately ran toward the voice and saw her daughter trying to run toward her prone father. The girl began to wobble on her feet as she stepped into the Wild Magic. The mother frantically pulled at the jacket¡¯s zipper, which stuck momentarily then came loose. She stripped her daughter¡¯s winter coat off and pushed a hand under her shirt on her stomach, then grabbed one of the girl¡¯s hands and ced it on top of her hand. She just got positioned as Emily¡¯s eyes rolled back. She frantically watched her daughter¡¯s face and released the breath she¡¯d held as the girl¡¯s eyes andshes began to grow like hers. She turned to look back at Dayshia. ¡°We need to get Danny and Tommy and have Fauns assist their transformations. With the magic loose in the house, I don¡¯t want to risk them changing randomly.¡±


    Brian and Lyle stepped forward. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    Dayshia looked at them. ¡°It was a close call for Emily because of her winter coat. You need to have your hand on the bare skin of their tummy and one of their hands on top like they were holding it in ce.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to get them inside without their jackets?¡± Brian asked. ¡°Do we go outside and get them prepped before bringing them in.¡±


    ¡°I have a better idea,¡± Dayshia said. ¡°Lorelei?¡± she called out.


    The woman in question joined them from the dining room and looked to Dayshia, who nodded. ¡°Could you sing a tune to bring just Danny and Tommy to the door, unzip their jackets and expose their bellies as theye inside?¡±


    ¡°That would feel a little weird,¡± Lorelei said.


    ¡°As their mother, I fully support your efforts to help with this,¡± Beth said.


    The tall lovely brte saw the mother¡¯s determined look. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just call them? It feels odd.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want a stampede of kids, and we don¡¯t want the door opening too much to let the magic out until the kids have received enough to trigger their change,¡± Dayshia exined.


    Frowning, Lorelei slipped outside quickly, closing the door behind her. Pushing aside her distaste for manipting kids, she thought for a second and then began to sing. It took just seconds for the song to locate and separate the two pre-change Human children from the Satyrs and send them back to the front door.


    She soon saw them running awkwardly in their snow pants. They were panting as they arrived.


    ¡°Is it time?¡± Danny asked excitedly.


    She knew they wanted this. She knew there were practical reasons for using her skills, but she still didn¡¯t like it.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said and gestured to their tummies. Both lifted their shirts to disy their bare stomachs. ¡°In you go.¡±


    Lorelei remained on the porch for a moment as she wasn¡¯t keen on being part of what still felt like manipting children to her.


    She pushed it from her mind by thinking about Henry instead. She hoped he was going to be okay. She wasn¡¯t sure what it meant that he¡¯d lost control of the rift.


    -=-


    Henry was charging through the woods, his hooves finding purchase in the snow and plowing through the deeper snowdrifts. As he ran on what felt like autopilot, he tried toprehend why he felt so dazed. He looked inwards and saw his rift was wide open, the zipper construct a destroyed mess. He released the code, and the spell dissolved until he could see the rift¡¯s edges. They showed no sign of damage, thankfully. There was just too much pressure from the other side. He was going to have to devise another way.


    He picked up a sound: heavy panting and the thump of feet on the ground.


    Somethingnded on his shoulders and knocked him off his hooves as he went headfirst into another snowdrift.


    He tumbled, and the weight on his shoulders sprung away. When his forward momentum finally came to a halt, he was on his back in the deep snow. Henry wiped the snow from his face and stared up at the falling kes. A dark shape pounced on him again and roared in his face. The sound was filled with rage, pain, and fear. He blinked up and recognized Minkah¡¯s Bastet face.


    ¡°Minkah-¡±


    ¡°You left my side!¡± she roared and beat on his chest with her fists until he grabbed her wrists.


    ¡°You promised you would remain in my custody!¡± she screamed with a sob at the end.


    Henry looked up into herrge, beautiful eyes and saw tears.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Minkah. My friends were in danger. I had to act. And Mab needed to die,¡± he said gently.


    She searched his eyes for something, and he released her wrist to reach up and touch her cheek. She was suddenly in her human disguise, without clothes! He blinked at her then engaged his mor as well, also naked. Damn, it was cold!


    Then her mouth was on his, her need desperate and eager. She began grinding her pelvis against his, and that felt damn good! He converted some of the Wild Magic coursing through his body into heat and let it chase away the chill until he was radiating the heat. Minkah gasped and pulled back to stared down at him in surprise. Then she went back to thrusting her tongue boldly into his mouth, trying to taste him. Her hands traveled over his body, stroking, scratching, squeezing, and pulling. He took this as permission to touch her as well, and she liked this very much.


    His cock was quickly responding to the pressure she was applying to it. Lengthening and hardening as she ground her wet lips along its underside.


    One quick twist of her hips at the top of the next stroke and Henry¡¯s cock was plunging deep into Minkah¡¯s molten depths. She sat up to put more pressure on his thrust and hissed at the sky.

 308

    ¡°Ahhh, Minkah! So good!¡± he cried out as her hips began to rock as she bounced on his cock. His hands found her ass, and he squeezed the firm muscle there.


    This ignited Minkah¡¯s afterburners as her motions sped up, her breathing in desperate gasps. She was getting closer. Henry was still getting there, but she was quickly tripping over the top.


    He pulled her down over his body and kissed her hard as he rolled her onto her back. She screamed from abination of the freezing snow on the bare skin of her back and the pressure on her clit, whichunched a powerful orgasm.


    Henry pushed her legs back and began driving his cock into her fast and hard, pping their bodies together brutally. She looked up at him, ssy-eyed as her peak started a new journey upwards to a new level. She wed at his chest as she lost the capacity to think, her body going through a second cascade of sparks.


    The pain of the scratches pushed Henry¡¯s release back, so he spun her onto her knees, grasped her hips, and drove into her from behind, spanking her ass with his pelvis as his cock sheathed itself in her to new depths.


    She moaned, and he found himself struggling to hold on to a Bastet in his grip. He needed the extra strength, so once he mmed in deep, he dropped his mor and tugged his kilt off.


    Minkah yowled as she suddenly had a Satyr¡¯s cock filling her almost beyond capacity. He fucked her hard and fast, and she never stopped yowling at the top of her lungs. He finally reached his release, firing hot cum into her, and felt her body quaking against him. He began to pull out, but she pushed back to keep him inside.


    He wrapped his arms around Minkah and lifted her ck-furred body back against his chest as he nuzzled her cheek over her shoulder. She was panting and trembling in his grip, but she clung to his arms with her remaining strength.


    They remained that way for a while, Henry¡¯s inner furnace keeping them both warm as he knelt in the snow holding her against his body.


    ¡°You-you¡¯ve ruined me for other men,¡± she whispered.


    He nced at her sideways. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure nothing tore.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. You know I¡¯m not talking about that,¡± she snapped, but with no heat.


    He kissed her jawline below her ear and felt her body squeezing his cock in pulses as she sucked in another gasp.


    ¡°Stop it!¡± she insisted breathily once she could.


    She was quiet for a bit as he slowly softened within her. She seemed to be enjoying the sensation as he picked up a quiet purring.


    Finally, he pulled free, and she sighed.


    ¡°I could have killed you,¡± she said hesitantly.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you didn¡¯t. I¡¯m not sure I have it in me to return a third time,¡± he sighed.


    She turned in his grip to face him as she looked into his eyes. ¡°So¡­ you did die, as they said.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°My body failed, but I wouldn¡¯t leave it. I had toe back. I understand you somehow knew I was still there.¡±


    She nodded as a shudder went through her. He kissed her, and she tried half-heartedly to stop him but finally gave in and enjoyed the sensual kiss. He pulled back to hold her eyes with his.


    ¡°I had to heal my body, but all I could do at first was use the Wild Magic to preserve my cells to keep them from degrading. It took six months to repair my body on Eden before I could wake up.¡±


    ¡°I saw you on the cover of a magazine. You went to Washington to speak to those fools before you went to your women?¡± she scoffed.


    He shook his head. ¡°They aren¡¯t my women. They¡¯re my friends.¡± He held her eye until she looked away, giving in.


    Henry smiled as they shared the same opinion of the congresspeople who were so tied up in their own self-interests. ¡°Xiong, my friend on Eden, showed me where my friends were on Earth. I wanted to go home, but I saw Roy needed my help first.¡±


    She looked deep into his eyes. ¡°Do you always put their needs before your own?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯d do the same for you,¡± he immediately responded.


    ¡°Oh!¡± She pressed her ws to his throat. ¡°Am I one of your friends now?¡±


    Henry raised an eyebrow as he looked at her frankly. ¡°You are what you wish to be, but you¡¯re in my heart now.¡±


    ¡°Just because we fucked?¡± she snarled and pressed the sharp edges against his skin.


    He took a grip on her wrists and pulled her hands away from his neck. She didn¡¯t resist.


    ¡°No, because you showed me a vulnerable side no one else gets to see. That was for me and me alone. I will treasure it, as I do you.¡±


    She was human once more and kissing him fiercely. She finished by nipping his lower lip, looking at him in challenge. He just smiled, a tiny bead of blood rising on the skin. She sighed, dipped forward, and licked the blood away, leaving healing enzymes behind.


    ¡°I won¡¯t stay. I¡¯m notfortable in groups. I prefer my ownpany,¡± she exined, and he just nodded.


    She looked at him cautiously, but he didn¡¯t argue. She nodded in satisfaction. ¡°I will return when I need to.¡±


    He nodded, and she rxed some more.


    They stood and shook the snow off. Minkah switched back to her Bastet form as Henry put his kilt back on. Then they headed back at a slower run. Henry shut off his energy to heat process as they were no longer sitting in the snow.


    ¡°I prefer the heat of a desert. I don¡¯t care for snow,¡± Minkah said in distaste. Henry chuckled.


    When they reached the edge of the forest, Henry stopped, and Minkah looked back at him in question. ¡°My inner rift is wide open. I can¡¯t go back into the house until I deal with it. I need to work on another method to close it. Could you let them know I¡¯m here? Tish will get you back to New York. Thank you foring to see me, Minkah. And for not killing me.¡±


    She snorted in amusement despite herself, and her eyes shed at him for affecting her so.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°I will return in the new year,¡± she said, trying to make it sound like a threat, but he just nodded with the smallest of smiles on his lips. She spun and ran to the back door, letting herself in as she switched to her Human shape, dressed in her leathers this time.


    Henry felt the remembered warmth of her touch for a moment, then let the Wild Magic generate heat for him once again.


    He had thinking to do.


    -=-


    Roy was still in the kitchen with Mary as Minkah barged in, huffing. He looked up at her in question.


    ¡°Everything all right?¡± he asked.


    She blinked. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You found Henry? He¡¯s still in one piece?¡± Roy said casually.


    Minkah frowned. ¡°Yes.¡±


    A lovely brte stepped into the room and turned to the windows. ¡°He¡¯s sitting on a stump at the edge of the forest.¡± Minkah was shocked to see the woman had her eyes closed.


    ¡°Thanks, Siobhan,¡± Roy said with a smile, then turned his attention back to the assassin. ¡°You¡¯ve been away for a long time. Before you left, were you made aware of the new chain ofmand?¡± Roy asked.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Chancellor Mugawee appointed me the Interim Minister of Security. I¡¯m your new boss,¡± he exined.


    Minkah¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask you one question. Your answer to this question will define if we can continue working together.¡±


    Minkah was trembling again. Her lifestyle and livelihood were hanging in the bnce. She nodded.


    Roy nodded as well. ¡°The night Henry died, you showed a heightened emotional state and refused to ept the answer that Henry was dead. We have since learned that you were correct that night. My question is, have you fully andpletely resolved any and all issues you had that night, based on your behavior when you arrived here today?¡±


    She rolled the question over in her mind, looking for the traps but saw none. Had she resolved her issues from that night? Yes, she no longer wanted to kill any of Henry¡¯s friends. Had she resolved the issue that drove her here to Henry¡¯s side today? Her face flushed with heat. She nodded to Roy, and he raised an eyebrow as he wanted a verbal response. ¡°Yes¡­ sir.¡±


    ¡°Roy is fine. Okay, we¡¯re good. I want you to know I won¡¯t use your principal skills of assassination as freely as the previous Minister did. I will likely rely more heavily on your abilities for tracking and investigating.¡±


    She nodded as that was fine with her. She didn¡¯t need to kill.


    ¡°Do you have any questions?¡± Roy asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°Henry said Tish would get me back to New York.¡±


    Roy nodded.


    ¡°I can do that,¡± Siobhan said and gestured for Minkah to follow. They walked away into the hallway, far more sedately than the assassin¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to speak with Henry,¡± Roy said, and Mary nodded, making her way back to the dining room.


    Roy found Henry where Siobhan said he¡¯d be.


    ¡°How are you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m better, but I¡¯m still leaking Wild Magic like crazy. I need to work out a new way to control the rift. I¡¯ll need Marisa¡¯s and Siobhan¡¯s help.¡± He looked at Roy nervously. ¡°I was pretty dazed when my control broke, and the first wave of energy burst out. How big of a mess did I make inside?¡±


    Roy shrugged. ¡°Oh, it wasn¡¯t too bad, and it even resolved the issue with Chris¡¯ inability to make up his mind.¡±


    Henry¡¯s expression was bleak as he looked at Roy. ¡°Oh my god! What did he be?¡±


    Roy raised his hands to calm Henry. ¡°He passed out and crashed into Minkah. She got tangled up with him, and he became a Bastet.¡±


    Henry froze as that information bounced around in his head. It was a fortunate transformation. ¡°A Human disguise!¡± He eximed. ¡°How did he look?¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°Well, he looked like himself, just not as ripped. Bastet¡¯s aren¡¯t as heavily muscled. He¡¯ll have to deal with that.¡±


    Henry nodded. That could still be an issue for the man, but he¡¯d just have to deal.


    He looked to Henry and winced. ¡°Is the ambient level of Wild Magic still elevated?¡±

 309

    ¡°Beth¡¯s daughter came back early, but Beth got to her just before she transformed, so she¡¯s like her mother. Beth wanted her sons to be Satyr¡¯s, so she had two of Tish¡¯s rtives assist with that. We carried them through their door to their home, and Beth is watching over them. They¡¯ll be back tomorrow. Siobhan had us open the front and back doors for a short time, and the energy is back down to normal levels.¡±


    Roy patted Henry¡¯s shoulder and looked him in the eye. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to stay at the mansion until you can guarantee this won¡¯t happen again. It caught youpletely by surprise this time.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°Yeah, I think I overdid it when I made the shield over the property. I had it wide open, and I was pushing the energy into the spell. I had a hard time closing it afterward. Then it burst open without warning when I was in the kitchen. I just suddenly felt dizzy.¡±


    Roy shrugged and gave him a smile.


    Henry smiled fondly. ¡°Can I give you an early Christmas present?¡±


    Roy looked at him cautiously. ¡°What is it?¡±


    Henry shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just a prototype at this point, but I need your feedback on it. I got the idea when I was building the spell for the property dome from Baba¡¯s original spell. Mine is heavily modified.¡±


    Roy¡¯s eyebrows went up, and he nodded.


    Henry grinned and touched Roy¡¯s right temple as he bound the spell to the bone just under Roy¡¯s skin. ¡°Okay. The first time youunch it, it has to configure itself to your shape. If you switch shapes, it reconfigures. That takes up to three seconds, so be aware of that. Otherwise, it¡¯s instant. Touch the spot and will the spell to activate.¡±


    Roy touched his right temple and waited. Three secondster, he nced up and to the left. ¡°I see a tiny green bar in the upper left quadrant of my vision. What is that?¡±


    Henry grinned. ¡°That¡¯s the energy charge. Stand there and hold still.¡±


    He walked ten feet away and scooped up some snow. He packed it tight between his hands. ¡°Okay, let it hit you.¡± Roy nodded.


    Henry wound up and let loose a blistering throw¡­ three feet over Roy¡¯s head.


    ¡°Hang on! I¡¯ve got this.¡± Henry scooped more snow and made another hard snowball. He eyed Roy and let it fly. It hit the ground three feet before his target.


    Roy looked at Henry, whose face was bright red.


    A snowball whizzed past Henry¡¯s head and beaned Roy right in the face. A second and third shot by to hit Roy¡¯s shoulder and chest.


    Henry took the fourth one on the back of his head.


    He turned to look at Kristen¡¯s four kids, all grinning at him.


    ¡°Mom is calling everyone in for lunch,¡± La said.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Roy called out, and the kids ran back around the house.


    Roy walked up to Henry and brushed the snow from his hair. ¡°The shield worked perfectly. Nothing got through. How much force will it take before failing?¡±


    He shrugged, still embarrassed. ¡°Fully charged? It¡¯ll withstand a surface to air missile, but just one.¡± He looked at Roy. ¡°I¡¯ve never thrown a snowball before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,d,¡± Roy said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve never created a body-contouring personal force field able to withstand missiles!¡±


    ¡°Missile. Singr,¡± Henry corrected but smiled in thanks. ¡°Keep an eye on the power level indicator. Green is good, one hundred down to seventy percent. Yellow is caution, sixty-nine to forty percent. Red is bad, thirty-nine to ten. It shes below ten, and you can¡¯t rely on it from that point. Of course, those numbers are rough approximations.¡±


    ¡°You know my next question,¡± Roy said.


    Henry smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll finish fine-tuning it, and your teams will all get one in the New Year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my boy!¡± Roy said and hugged him.


    ¡°Merry Christmas, Roy. Mary shouldn¡¯t use one unless facing magic or electric attacks. Also, my skeletal anchoring method feels inferiorpared to how the Fae bind their spells as it requires the spot to be physically pressed to activate it. That¡¯s a work in progress. I¡¯m also working on an idea for a Wild Magic charging station, aside from using me. Now, go get some lunch while I work out a way to close this bloody rift.¡±


    With a final look to see if Henry really was okay, Roy left to go inside.


    Henry walked over to the gazebo and took his favorite seat. He let out a sigh of contentment. Working with magic was bing easier as he continued tobine it with his software coding methodology. Dealing with this rift issue was thwarting him as it was behaving more like a physical skill he needed to learn¡­ like throwing snowballs.


    ¡°Howe you can¡¯t throw?¡±


    Henry lifted right off his chair when he jolted in surprise. A burst of giggles made him turn around to see La grinning back at him. He frowned, embarrassed all over again.


    ¡°I never learned how to. I didn¡¯t y games or participate in sports when I was your age,¡± he said stiffly.


    ¡°Oh,e on. You¡¯re not that much older than me,¡± the sixteen-year-old insisted with a skeptical look.


    ¡°My surrogate grandmother insisted I exercise my brain, not my muscles,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Yet you ended up so big?¡± La¡¯s skepticism looked like it might spill over into cynicism, so Henry sighed. ¡°I only recently got this body. I grew up as a short, less than impressive physical example of Humanity. I also only recently discovered I wasn¡¯t a Human at all, but a Satyr disguised as a Human. While I was Human, I was smart but not physically coordinated or athletic at all. You know how the smart, small kids in school are treated? Add in a strict guardian that refused to permit any after school activities. That was me.¡±


    La¡¯s expression had gone from mocking to sympathetic, and that gave Henry hope for her.


    ¡°That sucks! So, now you¡¯re all beefy but still uncoordinated?¡± she asked, and his hope slipped a little. ¡°I could teach you how to throw?¡± she suggested, and he felt better again. He nodded, and she grinned happily.


    She gestured for him to follow her, and they walked closer to the trees. ¡°We¡¯ll practice throwing snowballs at the trees,¡± she exined, and he nodded again.


    They each scooped up some snow and made a snowball. ¡°Watch how I move my arm.¡±


    La wound up like a baseball pitcher and flung the ball, nailing the center of the tree trunk with a crisp THOCK!


    Henry nodded with an impressed expression, and she glowed with the praise. ¡°You y in a baseball league?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I do, and we won the regional championship this year!¡± she gushed.


    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Henry cheered.


    Henry learned the intricacies of throwing over the next forty minutes. When they finished, Henry hit the tree trunk once every three throws, which he took as an improvement.


    ¡°Henry! Pleasee inside,¡± Cam called out from the back door, and he nodded to her.


    ¡°Thanks for the throwing lessons,¡± he said to La.


    She grinned up at him. ¡°You¡¯re getting better. I mean, you¡¯re still no threat in a snowball fight, but practice will get you there.¡±


    He chuckled and nodded to her as they walked to the back door.


    They dried their hooves, and La rushed away with a wave and a smile.


    Cam smiled at Henry, who looked to see who was around. He could hear voices andughter from the dining room and younger voices from the front of the house. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about losing control of the rift. Are Chris and the kids okay?¡±


    She reached out to touch his chest, and her eyes widened in surprise. ¡°I thought your skin would be cold from being outside this long!¡±


    He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m converting some of the rift¡¯s Wild Magic to heat.¡±


    She shook her head with wonder. ¡°I still can¡¯t get over how you¡¯re learning so much about magic so quickly!¡±


    He shrugged and shook his head as he also found it surprising but was trying not to worry about it. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s partially because of how I was raised by Baba. The discipline she drilled into me. It may also be partially due to the vast storehouse of magic spells Baba loaded into my head. Bits of her personality and her most recent impressions of using them seems to be included with the spells. I think it may be helping with myprehension.¡± He didn¡¯t mention his other suspicion.


    She pulled him into her arms. ¡°Chris and the kids are fine. They¡¯ll be back tomorrow, and you can talk to them then. Trust me, the kids are going to be thrilled. Chris should be happy too.¡± She smiled and pressed her forehead against his. ¡°It feels so good to be basking in your energy.¡±


    ¡°Sure, unless you¡¯re one of the pre-transformed. Where are Marisa and Siobhan? I was hoping to get their help on shutting the rift again.¡±


    ¡°Marisa took Natalia home-¡± At Henry¡¯s look of concern, she patted his chest. ¡°The baby was fussing with all the noise of the kids and adults. Potentially, she might be showing signs of having some of her mother¡¯s abilities. That¡¯s surprisingly early, so Marisa will take her to see the doctor tomorrow to run some tests. They should return tomorrow night. They¡¯re both fine, and Siobhan went with her.¡±


    She cupped his cheek, and he tookfort from that.


    ¡°Cam, has hee in-Oh! Sorry!¡± Steph squeaked as she spotted them in the embrace.


    The Subus turned to face the Faun as she turned Henry too and looped her arm through his. ¡°He certainly has, and he¡¯s brought his delicious energy with him. Can¡¯t you feel it?¡±


    Steph was biting her lip as her eyes roamed over his chest. ¡°Uh, yes. Is all thating from you, Henry?¡± she asked.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    He nodded. ¡°Yeah, the rift broke the controls I added to it, so it¡¯s flooding out.¡±


    She stepped closer. ¡°It feels¡­ refreshing!¡±


    Cam purred. ¡°It¡¯s my second favorite way to receive Henry¡¯s energy. Mmmm, make that my third.¡±


    Steph nced at Cam in confusion and saw the woman licking her lips. Comprehension suddenly shed across her face, and her eyes immediately dropped to the front of Henry¡¯s kilt.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s absolutely saturated with-¡±


    ¡°Cam!¡± Henry growled, and she burst into delighted giggles.


    ¡°Sorry, Henry, but you¡¯re just so delicious I can¡¯t stop bragging about you!¡± she purred happily.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s called an overshare!¡± he asserted.


    Tish joined them with Celeste in her arms, and Henry immediately reached for her with a smile then pulled back as his expression switched to worry.

 310

    ¡°Am I safe around her like this?¡± he asked.


    Tish looked to Cam. ¡°I¡¯m no expert when ites to this. Any ideas?¡±


    ¡°I believe it¡¯s perfectly safe, but we could ask Mahati. Get a wielder¡¯s opinion. Is she still with your family in the dining room?¡± Cam said with a shrug.


    Tish nodded. ¡°She and Kali have dropped their mors, as has Michelle, and they have everyone captivated. It turned out my sister-inw, Julie, has a touch of Arachnophobia. It¡¯s not extreme, thankfully. Nothing worse than Sandy¡¯s. Jackie¡¯s husband Nick isn¡¯t toofortable with snakes, but again, it¡¯s manageable. None of the kids are having any issues, so that¡¯s a relief. Speaking of Sandy, Kesini is a huge hit with the kids.¡±


    ¡°Where is Lorelei?¡± Henry asked.


    Tish looked at him. ¡°Uh, I think I saw her in the front sitting room.¡±


    Henry gently disengaged from Cam and walked to the front room. He spotted his friend sitting on the middle of the couch with Aadiya and Maliha curled up on either side of her, resting their heads on her legs but facing her. Henry picked up immediately that Lorelei wasn¡¯t happy. The twins were very sensitive to mood, and they were holding her hands and watching her. Henry immediately knelt before Lorelei, and the twins sat up beside her, leaning gently against her shoulders.


    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked.


    She tried to shrug it off, but her lip suddenly trembled. Henry stood, reached down, and pulled her from the couch to hold her against his chest. ¡°Talk to me, please.¡±


    She hesitated for a moment, then he felt her rx. ¡°I-I tried to ignore it, but it¡¯s eating at me,¡± she said quietly against his chest.


    Aadiya and Maliha moved to the loveseat, and Henry sat facing Lorelei on the couch with her hands in his. She was looking at his big three fingers and thumb as she ran her much slimmer digits against them. ¡°It was when you lost control, and the energy was in the house. They wanted the two boys toe inside to change, but they only wanted them, and they needed to be prepared. They asked me to sing them into the house.¡±


    ¡°What? Who did?¡± Henry asked firmly.


    She shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter-¡±


    ¡°It does. Who?¡± Henry insisted, and Lorelei looked into his eyes.


    ¡°Dayshia.¡±


    Henry looked to the twins. ¡°Please bring Dayshia here.¡± They leapt from the loveseat to race away.


    ¡°No, please,¡± Lorelei began, but Henry held her gaze. ¡°It¡¯s important.¡±


    They heard a squeak and some squawking, but soon the twins returned with Dayshia between them. She didn¡¯t look happy, but she froze when she saw the tears on Lorelei¡¯s cheeks. Her eyes immediately went to Henry and saw his grim expression. Her unhappiness became dread.


    ¡°We can¡¯t ask Lorelei to use her abilities to manipte children,¡± he stated calmly.


    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t-¡± she began.


    Henry pushed. ¡°Did you ask Lorelei to sing to bring your two nephews to the house and prepare them for the transformation?¡±


    ¡°I-I-yes, but how is that different from the music she is creating-¡±


    ¡°Dayshia! It¡¯spletely different! One is a message of peace and love sent out into the world to calm and heal everyone and save lives. The other targeted two children to perform specific actions. It was direct maniption of these two kids. Not bad maniption as the actions were in their best interests and I assume had parental approval, but you have to understand how it might feel to Lorelei.¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s bottom lip was trembling, and her eyes were getting ssy. Henry needed to get out in front of that. ¡°We know you didn¡¯t do it maliciously. It likely felt like the simplest solution, but it wasn¡¯t something we should ever ask her to do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Dayshia said in a little girl¡¯s voice. Her eyes showed she was almost reaching a state of panic.


    Henry stood and held out a hand to Lorelei. She took it and stood to face Dayshia. She nodded to the woman. ¡°Thank you.¡± Henry leaned in and kissed Lorelei¡¯s temple. Then he immediately pulled Dayshia to his chest to hug her as well. Dayshia was surprised and burst into tears of relief.


    He held them both until Lorelei pushed back gently to face Dayshia with a curious expression.


    Dayshia nced to Henry, then back to Lorelei. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry I asked you to use your abilities without considering how it would make you feel.¡± Lorelei nodded, so Dayshia looked back at Henry. ¡°You don¡¯t hate me?¡± The little girl¡¯s voice was back.


    He smiled and kissed her forehead tenderly. ¡°Of course not!¡±


    ¡°I thought-I thought I¡¯d ruined another rtionship,¡± she stammered.


    Henry shook his head. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t do it intentionally or maliciously. This is allpletely new to us, so we need to be vignt about being aware of each other¡¯s feelings.¡±


    Aadiya and Mahali wanted to be part of the hug, so they joined in and rubbed their faces against Dayshia¡¯s and Lorelei¡¯s.


    Henry chuckled and smiled at thedies. ¡°They¡¯re very affectionate.¡±


    Lorelei smiled at Henry. ¡°I think I¡¯ll go home now and get some sleep. It¡¯s been an emotional day, and I¡¯m feeling a little worn out. I¡¯m not used to being around so many people.¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s eyes were getting ssy again, so Lorelei reached out and took her hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Apology epted.¡±


    ¡°Let me walk you home,¡± Henry offered, and Dayshia snorted involuntarily, drawing Lorelei¡¯s curious eyes.


    ¡°Sorry. The walk home bes a different level of gesture when a Magic Door or a neighboring condo are involved,¡± Dayshia exined with a small smile.


    Lorelei paused to think about that and chuckled. ¡°I suppose it does!¡±


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s the gentlemanly thing to do, and I¡¯m nothing if not a gentleman,¡± Henry insisted with a smile.


    Lorelei stepped back from the hug to bow slightly to him. ¡°I will graciously take you up on your offer then.¡±


    The twins went back to the loveseat to cuddle together and nap as the hug was breaking up.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Henry dipped down and gave Dayshia a sweet kiss, and she smiled up at him as she turned to head back to the dining room.


    ¡°We could take a long route via the stairs or just walk through the door,¡± he offered.


    ¡°The long route,¡± she immediately said.


    That drew a smile from Henry, so he nodded and offered an elbow to her. She slipped her arm through, and they went to the stairs leading down into the earth.


    Lorelei was surprised by how long the stairs went. ¡°Where is the vestibule inparison to the house?¡±


    ¡°The caves are pretty deep underground. I haven¡¯t measured it,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Caves?¡±


    ¡°Would you like a quick look?¡± Henry offered, and she nodded quickly, a little excitement returning to her eyes.


    ¡°The previous owner of the mansion was a dragon-¡±


    ¡°Like the one we met outside the theatre!¡± Lorelei eximed.


    ¡°Walter was much, much older. He was an evil bastard,¡± Henry growled slightly.


    Lorelei looked over at Henry. ¡°You obviously didn¡¯t care for him.¡±


    Henry smiled weakly and nodded. ¡°He was the one who actually created the curse that wiped out Humanity-with Mab¡¯s help.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Lorelei gasped.


    They finally reached the chamber with the doors, and she looked back at the stairs. ¡°We¡¯re quite a distance underground! The way the stairs turn is deceptive.¡±


    Henry nodded and guided her to the double doors leading into the cave system.


    ¡°Can wee too?¡±


    Henry turned to see a group of kids standing behind him. La was their designated leader, being the oldest. He looked back at the basket of heamps and saw they only had eight of them. He turned around, and even more kids had arrived.


    ¡°Not enough lights for the kids,¡± Lorelei realized.


    Henry scanned Baba¡¯s spells for something that produced light. He skipped the ones that powered themselves from the user¡¯s life force and the one that exploded the target into light energy.


    He found a Will-o¡¯-the-Wisp spell. He reviewed the magic and saw they were designed to lead the unwary to their doom. He made a copy and stripped out all the malevolent code. He reced this with instructions to be apanion light. Instead of leading their target, they¡¯d remain at fingertip¡¯s reach directly above the head of their target. He added color controls so they could be adjusted but still give enough light to see.


    ¡°Okay, I have a better way,¡± Henry said with a grin. He faced Lorelei and touched the crown of her head as he fed energy into the spell.


    The kids excitedly cheered as a ball of slow-burning wispy fire suddenly popped into being above Lorelei¡¯s head. Henry ran his finger through it to show it wasn¡¯t dangerous and gave off no heat.


    ¡°Me! Me! Me!¡± the kids called out, and Lorelei pped in delight as she looked up to see her own fireball. She reached up to poke it and giggled.


    ¡°It¡¯s so pretty!¡± she said.


    ¡°Think of a color as you touch it,¡± Henry suggested.


    She did, and the mes turned a pale blue.


    That ramped the kid¡¯s excitement levels to max. ¡°Me!¡±


    He chuckled and saw more of the kids were arriving, and a few parents joined to see what the noise was all about. He gave one to La, and she immediately poked it to turn it pale red.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± she said, and he nodded to her.


    ¡°I may not be able to throw a snowball very well, but I can make fireballs like no one else,¡± he told her, and she giggled happily.

 311

    Henry made his way through the group of kids, touching their heads to link the spells. Due to the cautious looks from two mothers, he demonstrated the fire only gave off light and couldn¡¯t burn.


    Henry called out to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°The spells have enough energy tost for three hours, then they dissolve. Enjoy them until then.¡±


    La walked by, and her mes were multi-colored. Henryughed and gave her a thumbs up for figuring out the trick.


    The other kids rushed up to her to ask how she did it, and she made them beg her before she demonstrated. Soon the ripples of color were running through many of the lights.


    Henry opened the door as he looked back to the group. ¡°There is one section of the cave I need to lock down, but the rest is safe for poking around.¡±


    He made his ownpanion me and headed inside. He and Lorelei stayed together and went directly to the short corridor with the double doors at its end. He immediately added an energy shield spell to keep everyone out of the hall. Then he took Lorelei¡¯s hand and eased them through the shield. Pausing when they were inside, he touched the energy shield¡¯s inner surface and momentarily closed his eyes, adding soundproofing to the spell. Then he opened them and saw Lorelei was already standing before the set of doors.


    ¡°Where do these go?¡± she asked him.


    He walked up to them and opened them to show the stone wall with veins of crystals behind them.


    ¡°Right now, they go nowhere, but once I¡¯ve filled these crystals with Wild Magic, I¡¯m going to activate a spell that will open a Dimensional Gate to Eden.¡±


    She stared at him. ¡°A doorway to an alternate world. That¡¯s something a lot of people would be keen to get their hands on. Having an entire world to exploit would drive reasonable people mad with greed.¡±


    ¡°Hence my asking people not to talk about this outside the mansion.¡± Henry spotted Raymond King standing behind the energy shield, his hands up to feel the edges of the field. He had no heamp with him as Vampires had no trouble seeing in the dark. He was speaking, but they couldn¡¯t hear him. Henry closed the doors, then took Lorelei¡¯s hand and led her back through the shield as Eleanor and Meixiu arrived.


    The surgeon looked down at the floor then at the wall inside the short hall. ¡°Are those bloodstains?¡± she asked.


    Henry nodded, and Lorelei looked back in surprise.


    ¡°Walter tried to activate a spell in this area a long time ago and powered it with sacrifices. The magic failed catastrophically. I sealed the corridor as I need to power-wash the wall and floor. The kids aren¡¯t allowed in. He paused and turned to face the energy field and closed his eyes once more. The shield¡¯s surface picked up the texture of stone. The corridor seemed to disappear.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    ¡°Wow! You¡¯re getting good with this stuff!¡± Raymond said.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Learning as I go.¡±


    Meixiu pointed to the ball of me giving off light above Henry¡¯s head. ¡°You learned this too?¡± He nodded with a smile.


    ¡°We just arrived and wanted to say hello,¡± Raymond said, ncing at the fake stone wall once more.


    Henry recalled he was supposed to set a door for them. ¡°The door!¡±


    Eleanor smiled and waved a hand. ¡°We went to your ce and called Tish when no one answered the door. She let us in through your door.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s set up your Magic Door now. Lorelei was heading home as she¡¯s a little tired,¡± he said, and they nodded. The group began walking back. They saw kids running everywhere, colorful orbs of me bobbling along above them. Meixiu gasped. ¡°Henry! It¡¯s like Christmas lightsing to life!¡±


    He chuckled and nodded as he watched them y.


    ¡°We should set up a huge dining room down here for everyone and light the ce with those amazing fire orbs!¡± Meixiu suggested.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay with that,¡± Henry said as he imagined how lovely that would look. It would certainly make the cave look better than Walter¡¯s greasy torches had.


    They reached the doors, and Meixiu pointed to the King¡¯s assigned door. Henry looked to Eleanor. ¡°Picture in your mind the door at your ce you want this to open on, then press your hand to the door.¡±


    She looked at him in surprise. ¡°Oh! Okay.¡±


    Henry touched the back of her hand on the door and linked it. ¡°Raymond, touch the door as well.¡± When he did, Henry pulled his hand back. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s keyed to only open for you two. Give it a try.¡±


    Eleanor pulled it open and made a little noise of delight. She looked back at Raymond with a wide smile. ¡°This is so much easier!¡±


    Henry smiled and waved as he switched to his Human mor with a white t-shirt and jeans. Then he walked Lorelei to her door. ¡°Thank you foring today.¡±


    ¡°Can youe in for a minute?¡± Lorelei asked timidly.


    He smiled and nodded.


    She opened her door and stepped through with Henry at her heels. Once they were inside with the door closed, she pressed herself to his chest and kissed him deeply.


    Henry was surprised but went with it as she felt so warm and soft in his arms. She moaned slightly as his hands settled on her back.


    Finally, she pulled back from the kiss then rested her forehead against his as she caught her breath.


    ¡°Thank you for standing up for me about the use of my magic,¡± she said quietly. ¡°And for understanding.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about what it might feel like to have your powers, and I know what it feels like to be lonely. I¡¯m so d you found us. No one should feel like that-MMmmmph!¡±


    Lorelei¡¯s second kiss was far more aggressive and went on longer. When she did pull back, Henry was more than a little dazed.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m really d you found me!¡± he gasped, and she burst into happy giggles.


    ¡°Do you think we could arrange for another date night? Maybe this week?¡± he asked, and she nodded happily. ¡°Uh, tomorrow¡¯s Christmas Eve, and I¡¯m not clear on the protocols. Do I say Merry Christmas Eve Eve?¡±


    She chuckled and shook her head. ¡°No. Merry Christmas is fine or just good night.¡±


    ¡°See you tomorrow?¡± he asked with a smile, and she nodded. ¡°Good night!¡±


    Henry stepped back into the vestibule and dropped his mor.


    ¡°HE-Henry!¡±


    He jumped a little at the shriek and looked to see Steph staring at him, a little wild-eyed, with her hand over the eyes of a struggling La. He gave her a confused look, and she jerked her head down, so he looked down as well and spotted his kilt rising from his excitement. He forced it down ufortably and threw her an apologetic look, then rushed through the door and made for the stairs to the upper floors.


    He stopped on the third floor at the end of the hall, entering an open bedroom door. He closed it behind him for a little peace and quiet. He looked around at the smaller room, and an odd thought popped into his head. Was this the room Nate and Marisa conceived Natalia in?


    He took in the antique furnishings, and it felt masculine, warm, andfortable. The decor was understated yet drew the eyes to the tasteful touches. There was no ensuite bathroom, but it did have a space for a nice desk before the window. He could picture himself working there.


    The washroom he¡¯d use was out in the hall, and he recalled a chimney ran between this room and the hall washroom with the remaining rooms beyond that. It gave this room extra soundproofing and privacy.


    He was still standing just inside the door, but he knew if there was a bedroom in the home he¡¯dy im to, it would be this one. It certainly wasn¡¯t thergest or grandest, but it felt like¡­ him. If he had to live at the mansion until he could guarantee a means to control the rift, he would stay here. He¡¯d ask Meixiu about it at dinner.


    The window faced south-west over the front-drive. The third-floor height faced the upper branches of the trees across the front yard, which would be a lovely view in the spring, summer, and fall.


    He switched to his default mor but left his feet bare so he could feel the hand-knotted antique rug under them. He sat on the edge of the bed and nodded to himself. The antiquity of the furnishings did not include the mattress, which was afortable pillow top. Meixiu wanted her guests to befortable, so she must have upgraded all the beds.


    He looked at the pillows, and they seemed sofortable. Recalling how early he¡¯d been up this morning, he decided he could take a little nap. He pushed himself up the bed to rest his head back against the pillows, and he was out.


    -=-


    When Henry¡¯s eyes blinked open, the room was dark. The sun had set long ago. He¡¯d missed dinner. They must have decided he needed the sleep more. They were obviously right.


    Then he noticed he wasn¡¯t alone in the bed.


    Soft heat was pressed up against his left side. It wasn¡¯t the twins as there was only one, and they did everything together.


    There was so little light in the room, no glow from a digital clock, no indicator LED lights on power switches. No electronics at all. He triggered his Will-¡®O-the-Wisp but gradually fed power into it to slowly brighten the bed.


    He heard a slight gasp and turned his eyes to see the white mes reflecting back in Kali¡¯s eyes. Her lovely straight ck hair was pooling on the bed. She¡¯d also dropped her mor, so her snake lower half was pressed up against his body, the tip curled under his feet and partially up his other side.


    ¡°Kali?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t send me away! Please,¡± she begged.


    Henry was immediately on alert. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    She hesitated and pressed her face to his arm. Then she pulled back to look up at him again. ¡°You¡¯re going to be disgusted with me and throw me out.¡±


    She began to leave the bed, but he grabbed her arm and wrapped his leg over her, which was more of a symbolic gesture as her snake body was very strong. But she stopped and looked into his eyes.


    ¡°You will allow me the courtesy of deciding for myself what I will or won¡¯t do,¡± he said firmly.


    She immediately dipped her eyes and nodded to him.


    ¡°Speak to me,¡± he insisted.


    She squirmed slightly until he inteced his fingers with hers. This seemed to calm her, and she began.


    ¡°The night¡­ of the housewarming party, you were injured, and we got to see you naked with your mor active. I knew the properties of your mor, but I wasn¡¯t prepared.¡±


    Henry waited for her to continue. He knew how his mor worked, but he couldn¡¯t see what they saw and only got an impression of what they felt based on their reactions, so he just had to enjoy his own experience.


    Finally, she found her voice again. ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I¡¯ve only had sex a few times, and I wasn¡¯t really happy with those experiences. They always felt empty and unfulfilling.¡± Her eyes locked on his and her mouth opened a few times silently. She swallowed. ¡°With you, I saw my deepest desire, and it frightened me.¡±

 312

    Kali shook her head like she was trying to banish some painful memories, and she might have been. ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep. I lost interest in anything but discovering the truth. I went to the sex club Yuko took us to, and I asked a few discreet questions. Or so I thought. I was sent to visit the club you rescued me from. I was almost there when the light fell, and I lost my mor. They grabbed me and locked me away for torturing.¡±


    She sighed and shuddered, her eyes flicking up to his face, looking for rejection. ¡°When you rescued me, all I could think of was you holding me against the wall and fucking me¡­ as I was chained there, helpless. So, I¡¯d know for sure.¡±


    Henry was picking up clues, and he was a little concerned her tastes were something he might not be able to do.


    ¡°Did Mahati tell you about me?¡± she suddenly asked.


    He held her eyes. ¡°About what?¡±


    Kali swallowed painfully. ¡°My failure to be useful with magic. My failure to be useful to my mother.¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°She said nothing about your magic. She said you were free of your mother¡¯s control. I can¡¯t respect the parenting skills of any parent who behaves as yours does to you. A child¡¯s value cannot be defined by their parent¡¯s expectations. That¡¯s bad parenting.¡±


    ¡°I-I have minimal control over magic,¡± Kali confessed guiltily. ¡°I don¡¯t use it because people get hurt when I do.¡±


    Henry contemted Kali for a moment. He had a suspicion, but he had to be sure. Kali needed to learn something about herself too.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to send you away. I believe you have a lot of value. I also believe you are very beautiful.¡± Her eyes dropped, so he took a grip on the hair on the back of her head and tilted it back. Her eyes flew wide, and her mouth dropped open in a gasp. ¡°Don¡¯t hide your eyes from me. They¡¯re beautiful, and I want to see them.¡±


    He admired her fine features, especially her mouth. ¡°I want to kiss you,¡± he said and did. He took his kiss from her aggressively, and she trembled and whimpered faintly.


    While she was distracted, he dropped his clothes from his mor.


    Henry pulled back from the kiss to look at her hungrily. ¡°Touch me. Put your hands on my cock,¡± hemanded. This was where he needed to watch her carefully.


    Her breath gushed out as she stared at him nervously. Then she moved her lower hands down to tentatively brush against his growing erection.


    Her eyes threatened to roll back, but she brought her hands back into contact, but her touch was so delicate. He tightened his grip on her hair, and her eyes snapped to his.


    ¡°I said, put your hands on my cock. Take a grip!¡± he insisted.


    Her hands immediately went to his cock, but they were shaking badly.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to fuck you now,¡± he growled, and she whimpered as her fingers gripped tighter. Her eyes were threatening to roll back again.


    ¡°Yesss¡­¡± she breathed almost silently as her body trembled.


    He was going to need her help as Mahati did for them.


    ¡°Guide my cock inside you, Kali,¡± he whispered in her ear as he moved his body over hers and heard her breath catch in her throat.


    She tugged at his cock erratically until the head was pressing into her body. Her hands immediately pulled away andnded on his hips to pull him closer. Hot and so wet, her inner tremors were almost sharp in their intensity.


    It took much longer to sheath himselfpletely in Kali. She alternated between gasps, clipped cries, and hisses the entire time he drove himself deeper. She was almost catatonic by the time he pressed his body tight against hers.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°You feel so fucking good, Kali!¡± he sighed, and she whimpered.


    She was also holding her inner muscles absolutely still though he picked up their trembling.


    ¡°Get to it, Kali. Squeeze my cock,¡± he said, his lips brushing her ear.


    That broke her control, and he grunted slightly at the sudden increase in pressure. Her body had been denied its natural movements and was making up for it now. The internal pulsing was rapid and a little erratic, but her jaw was hanging open with a strangled scream. He frowned as he couldn¡¯t be sure or not if she was enduring pain or enjoying pleasure at the moment. It could have been both. Her body jolted with every inner squeeze.


    All of these quick motions were pushing him closer to his release. Remembering what Mahati said, he took Kali¡¯s face between his hands and forced her to look at him. ¡°Can youpartmentalize the Wild Magic, or should I pull out?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t pull out!¡± she screamed.


    ¡°What did I ask you?¡± he said as he pulled back just a little.


    ¡°AHHH! It¡¯s safe! Mahati showed me!¡± she gasped desperately.


    He pressed in deep again, and her internal pulsing went into overdrive.


    It was too much for Henry, and he fired his cum deep inside.


    Kali moaned and clung to him with all four arms as her body shook.


    He kissed her, and she whimpered happily.


    Henry waited for Kali to calm. When the pressure eased, he began to shrink. Eventually, he was able to pull free.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.


    Kali¡¯s eyes opened slowly. ¡°Yessss¡­ it¡¯s never been that good.¡± She suddenly looked at him self-consciously and bit her lip.


    ¡°You need to be dominated,¡± he suggested, and her eyes began to get ssy.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± she moaned.


    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s no need to get upset. There¡¯s nothing wrong. It¡¯s just something you need. It doesn¡¯t upset me,¡± he said gently.


    She clung to him again and pressed her face to his chest. He seized her hair and pulled her head back to kiss her hard. She melted in his hands.


    They rested for a while, and he let the light from the fire orb dim a little.


    ¡°When you said you no longer do magic, you¡¯re talking about the old realm magic, yes?¡± he asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°That magic is not suited to your temperament. Ask Mahati to teach you how to use Wild Magic. You might have better sess with it.¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t teach me magic-¡±


    ¡°She will. If she denies you, let me know, and I¡¯ll speak to her.¡±


    Kali tucked herself in against him. ¡°No one has ever believed in me before.¡±


    ¡°Mahati believes in you. She saw you as a free soul, able to express yourself and explore the world when she could not. She was in a desperate state when I returned from Eden. She knew you disappeared from time to time, but you¡¯d been gone for longer than before, and she was extremely worried.¡±


    ¡°You rescued me.¡±


    ¡°With her help,¡± Henry insisted. He saw Kali¡¯s eyes glisten in the dim light of the room as she looked up at him.


    He kissed her tenderly, and she sighed.


    ¡°Get some sleep, and we¡¯ll talk in the morning,¡± he said.


    She squeaked. ¡°Can I use the washroom first?¡±


    Henry worried she was giving over control to himpletely.


    ¡°Of course! I expect you to take care of your needs first,¡± he insisted.


    Kali slipped off the bed and moaned as she held still.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes¡­ just an ache.¡± She moved slowly with a quiet hiss.


    He watched her leave, moving slowly and almost gingerly, and decided he was going to have a long talk with her in the morning about adjusting her concept of what he looked like down there if he was causing her this much difort.


    Long minutester, he was about to get up to check on her when she returned.


    ¡°Henry?¡±


    ¡°Are youing back to bed?¡± he asked, and she closed the door behind her and moved much quicker to the bed than she¡¯d moved earlier.


    She slipped under the covers and pressed herself to his side.


    Before he snuffed out the light, he saw she was looking up at him. He kissed her again and felt her tremble.


    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I feel more right than I¡¯ve felt in a long time,¡± she whispered as if speaking it aloud would break the spell.


    ¡°From how you were moving, I was concerned I¡¯d caused you some injury,¡± he said in concern.


    ¡°No! No, I¡¯m fine. No permanent injury, just an ache, and it¡¯s delicious!¡± she sighed as she rubbed herself against him.


    He let the light fade and closed his eyes. ¡°Good night.¡±


    She said something, but it was mumbled, and he paused as it sounded like something.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you. Repeat that,¡± he said.


    She hesitated. ¡°Good night¡­ master.¡± Her voice quavered. She was experimenting with the term and discovering its impact on her for the first time.


    He also felt a zing go through him. The stakes had just been raised. Henry couldn¡¯t deal with it now, and he certainly couldn¡¯t find it in himself to call her ve.


    ¡°Good night¡­ my Kali.¡±


    She trembled as she clung to him.


    Henry looked towards the window as he contemted what this new rtionship might entail and how it would function amongst the others he was involved in. Kali seemed to have dropped off immediately into a deep sleep, but his mind spun until he was finally dragged under.

 313

    The morning of Christmas Eve, Henry awoke to Aadiya and Mahali crawling up the bed over the sheets. Kali was still against his side but had slipped under the covers to keep her head warm. Mahali noticed the extra body under the nkets and got a wicked smile on her face as she ran her hands up and down the sheets as Aadiya stole her good morning kiss from Henry.


    Kali pushed the nket down to see who was giving her the delicious rub down and found Mahali¡¯s lips pressed against hers. She squeaked in surprise.


    ¡°Who sent you two up here to wake us up?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Cam!¡± they said in unison with big grins.


    ¡°Figures. Okay, we¡¯re up. Let her know we¡¯ll be down shortly,¡± he sighed.


    Mahali crawled over to kiss him as Aadiya slipped under her body to steal a kiss from Kali, who squeaked again.


    Then they were prancing over to the door. They waved as they left.


    He looked at Kali, whose eyes wererge as she watched thedies leave. She nced at Henry guiltily.


    ¡°What¡¯s that look for?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never kissed a female before,¡± she said quietly.


    ¡°I highly rmend it as they are soft and delicious!¡± he said as he captured her mouth with his and teased her lips before kissing her hungrily.


    ¡°Oh! God, I love your kisses!¡± Kali purred once he pulled back.


    He smiled and threw the nket back. They had to get up and take their showers to get the day started.


    As if reading his mind, Kali slipped out her side of the bed and smiled at him timidly. ¡°May I join you in your shower this morning?¡± she asked.


    He saw the hope in her eyes, so he nodded. He set his mor to a pair of shorts, and they quickly made the bed. He walked out into the hall and heard sounds of happy voices below. That put a smile on his face.


    He stepped into the hall washroom, and Kali followed. The shower stall wasrge enough to amodate them both if Kali used her mor. She washed his hair as he washed hers. She kept losing track of what she was doing as his powerful hands massaged her scalp.


    Finally, they rinsed the shampoo and soap off, and Henry rubbed a thick towel over Kali¡¯s body as she got a little ssy-eyed. With a mischievous smile, Henry quickly knelt and pressed his lips to Kali¡¯s mound. She cried out and clung to his head as his tongue went to work.


    It took less than a minute to bring the highly excited woman to her peak and over it.


    She leaned back against the counter as she panted.


    ¡°Kali?¡±


    ¡°Yes, master,¡± she sighed.


    ¡°You will only call me that in private,¡± he said, seriously.


    Her eyes opened, and she nodded quickly.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with others knowing about us being together, but they don¡¯t need to know what kind of a rtionship we¡¯re in. That should be private.¡±


    ¡°Mahati?¡± she asked, timidly.


    ¡°She can know, but only if she agrees to keep it to herself,¡± he asserted, and she nodded. He took her chin in his hand and looked into her lovely dark eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not ashamed of this, but the details are for us. Understood?¡±


    She smiled happily, so he kissed her again. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving.¡±


    -=-


    Everyone had returned for breakfast, but the Faun families brought the fixings this morning and were busy in the kitchen. Thediesplimented Meixiu on the kitchen, its flow, and how much workspace there was.


    Today, Henry managed to get a seat at the table and found himself facing Chris.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I triggered your transformation yesterday,¡± Henry said.


    Chris shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m told I actually hit the jackpot as Bastets include a human disguise.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°I know very little about Bastets, but I do know they¡¯re shapeshifters with three forms, Bastet, Human, and Cat. They¡¯re really fast runners, and they¡¯re strong. Not Satyr strong but better than Human strength.¡±


    He looked to Cam. ¡°Speaking of strong, any word from Sigrid?¡±


    The woman shook her head sadly.


    ¡°How is Natalia?¡± he asked.


    Cam smiled proudly. ¡°She¡¯s perfect. It was her senses amplified by abilities inherited from her mother. Marisa helped her pull them back, so she¡¯s happy now. They will make an appearance this afternoon.¡±


    Henry enjoyed his meal as he soaked in the sounds of the happy families. Tish was in heaven, and she smiled at him from a few seats away.


    When he finished his meal, he collected his dishes and gave up his seat to Gene, carrying Bean. He marveled at how small the baby was. Her name was so appropriate.


    He met Meixiu in the kitchen and gave her a sweet kiss.


    ¡°Roy let me know yesterday that I should remain here until I can guarantee I can control my rift. Is that okay with you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Of course! What room will you use?¡± she asked, and Henry wondered at the little smile on her face.


    ¡°I-I kind of like the one at the end of the hall on the third floor,¡± he answered. Meixiu smile became a pout. ¡°What? Is that room not avable? It¡¯s okay-¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. The room is avable. I lost a bet with Sigrid because we had a bet on which room you would choose. I said you¡¯d choose the master on the second floor, and she said you¡¯d pick the one you did.¡± She moved back to the counter to check on the warming trays for the breakfast foods they¡¯d prepared.


    He grinned. ¡°I like the second-floor master, but it¡¯s a bit grand for me. I don¡¯t need that much space. Remember, I grew up with a small room in the attic of my Baba¡¯s cottage in a swamp.¡±


    Meixiu turned to face him directly as she changed the subject. ¡°I¡¯ll need your help setting up a dining room in the main chamber of the cave for our Christmas Day dinner. Can you install those fireball lights hanging from the ceiling?¡±


    He thought about that and frowned. He tethered the ones for the kids from the top of the kids¡¯ heads like balloons. Tethering them from the top was another magnitude ofplexity.


    Michelle arrived and rushed over to Henry for a kiss. As her soft lips pressed against his, he had a sudden epiphany. She pulled back and smiled happily at him. She plucked a strip of bacon from the tray and nibbled at it.


    Henry exined what popped into his head. ¡°We need to string up lights in the main chamber of the cave. The lights will berge Will-¡®O-the-Wisp fireballs, but I need something to anchor them to.¡±


    ¡°Webbing?¡± Michelle suggested.


    He nodded. ¡°Yes! If there were strands from side to side, then I could tether the light orbs to that,¡± Henry suggested.


    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s go!¡± Michelle said.


    ¡°Finish your breakfast, no hurry,¡± Henry insisted.


    She popped thest of the bacon into her mouth and wiped her fingers on a napkin. ¡°Done!¡± she grinned.


    Henry snorted, and Meixiu grinned as the three set off to design some beautiful lighting for their dining room.


    -=-


    Brigadier-General Gordon Crane was beginning to feel the diforting realization that he might have been over-promoted.


    Sitting in on endless defense meetings was mind-numbing. He wanted to be out there doing things!


    He¡¯d managed to keepmand of his people, but that was only because no one else feltfortablemanding them.


    Something caught his attention, and he focused on General Brixton, who was saying something in his usual full-auto machine gun cadence and volume.


    ¡°¡­ anomalous activity noted near the New York-Connecticut border by severalmercial flights. They reported an enormous burst of blinding light in a forested area about two hours drive north of New York City. They imed it looked like a brief sh of an atomic bomb, but there was no mushroom cloud, EMP burst, or shockwave. Satellite coverage of the area at the time confirms the visible light but shows no increase in radiation. Briefly, after the sh, there was a significant burst of infrared.¡± The man¡¯s cold eyes swung to lock onto Crane. ¡°Anything you¡¯d like to add to that report, Brigadier-General Pain?¡±


    Crane sighed. ¡°It¡¯s Crane. Could we at least pretend we aren¡¯t in Kindergarten?¡±


    Brixton raised a hand in apology though his smile never made it to his eyes.


    ¡°My team has no presence in that area in the past few days,¡± he remarked, indicating none of his Silver Soldiers were responsible for the infrared burst. He tapped out a quick text with the location coordinates and sent it off to the sergeant. ¡°I¡¯ll have my team take a look.¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Did you just send coordinates in in text?!?¡± Brixton barked.


    ¡°No, I use an encryption app to ensure mymunications are secure,¡± Crane replied, maintaining his calm, with effort. His cell pinged, and he saw her response indicating the team was on its way. ¡°They¡¯re on it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great! Brigadier-General Inte and his team of freaks are on the case.¡± Brixton snapped.


    ¡°Soldiers, Brixton, not freaks,¡± Crane said, ring at the thick-necked buzz cut throwback. He leaned forward in his chair to hold the man¡¯s eye. ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less what you think of me, but I¡¯ll be damned if I¡¯ll stand by while you disrespect these excellent men and women.¡±


    ¡°THAT¡¯S JUST IT! They AREN¡¯T men and women. They are silver abominations!¡± Brixton yelled.


    ¡°Have you been living with your head up your ass for thest year? The very fact that you¡¯re still here means you¡¯ve been changed by the energy bleeding in from the other dimension sufficiently to protect you from the genocide! Someday, sooner orter, you are going to reach a threshold, and you¡¯re going to be one of these other beings.¡±


    ¡°That bullshit story of yours doesn¡¯t be any more convincing with another retelling. I¡¯m as human now as I was the day I was born, and that¡¯s how I¡¯ll stay!¡± Brixton growled.


    Crane just shook his head as he saw a few others nodding in agreement. He wished he could be there when they changed just so he could see the look of surprise and disappointment in their eyes.


    ¡°Over three billion people suddenly disappeared. This happened after multiple incursions into our world by these pseudo-clouds, theva creatures, and even creatures who prefer to swim in the water inside a nuclear reactor. Why do you think the three billion were removed, and you got to stay? And please don¡¯t bring up the Rapture as a veryrge percentage of the people taken weren¡¯t Evangelistic Christians. My driver, Corporal Tom Dne, was Agnostic, and he was taken,¡± Crane insisted.


    Expressions just closed up, so he just shook his head again. ¡°Are there any more points to discuss?¡±


    Brixton shook his head stiffly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know what my team discovers,¡± Gordon said as he pushed himself to his feet and walked from the room.


    If there had been any way to make it happen, Crane would have willingly switched Dne with any of the Generals in that room.


    Even himself.


    -=-


    Yablonski loved running. Working for the Brigadier-General, he got to run to many amazing ces and help people. That felt good.


    Today, he and the others were racing north from New York City to the sleepy little towns along the twone highway. The weather conditions were terrible, with a huge snowstorm crawling up the coast and dumping its payload all over them.


    Not that they had any issues with traction. They quickly discovered their feet found purchase on almost any surface, including snowy and icy roads.

 314

    They were running all out. It was an extravagant use of their energy, but the Sergeant said they would drop by Henry Gable¡¯s ce to take him up on his offer of a recharge when they were on the way back to Washington.


    Mick signaled there was a turning up, and they¡¯d be stopping. They got really good at paying attention to her signals as they were moving so quickly, it was too easy to get separated by considerable distances otherwise. They reached the turn, and everyone stepped off the small highway to gather next to the Sergeant who was checking her cell for the location.


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s a few miles up this road, tucked away in the woods. It¡¯s just residential properties up here. The uber-wealthy families keep their country homes here. I doubt many of them will be inhabited this time of year.¡±


    She gestured to the road, and they saw there weren¡¯t any car tracks in the snow.


    Then they were on the move again but slower now that they were close. The road wound through the forest and rolling hills, and they enjoyed the winter scenery. Most of the homes had forbidding looking gates on the driveway.


    They came around a corner, and this section had far less snow on it. They stopped to look at the shape of the area of reduced snow coverage. They jogged forward as they panned their eyes over the roadway. ¡°It¡¯s very even, like a wide straight line. Right down the road,¡± Mick suggested.


    ¡°Could this be the area of the heat burst?¡± Feinberg asked.


    Mick looked back in the direction they¡¯de, and there was a distinct tubr shape of the melt pattern, now covered by snow but still visible. ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±


    Yablonski pointed ahead to the opening of a driveway. ¡°It starts from there!¡± This time the driveway led into a treedne, and there was no nasty gate to stop them. He rushed forward and just began to hear the Sergeant protest when he turned into the driveway and bounced off, flying back across the road into the bushes on the opposite side.


    Head spinning from the shock he¡¯d taken, he looked up at the concerned face of his Sergeant. ¡°What-what hit me?¡±


    Feinberg leaned into his field of view. ¡°It¡¯s what you hit.¡±


    ¡°I hit? The driveway was emp-¡± He looked again and saw the rest of the squad pressing their hands against empty air. ¡°A force field?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it,¡± Mick said and turned to face Corporal Dane. ¡°Dane, map its boundaries.¡±


    The Corporal nodded and reached out his left hand to hover next to the field as he ran further up the road. They saw him turn left and hop over a fence at the road and pick up speed as he ran parallel to the fence leading away.


    Mick lifted her cell and called the General.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yablonski heard the man answer.


    ¡°We¡¯re at the coordinates, and we¡¯ve encountered a residential property that may be under some kind of force field.¡±


    ¡°Tell me Yablonski ran straight into it,¡± the General said, and Mick chuckled.


    ¡°Yes, sir. It packed quite a kick.¡±


    Yablonski stood and frowned at the Sergeant¡¯s smiling face.


    ¡°We¡¯re investigating,¡± Mick said.


    ¡°Be careful. If anything dangerouses up, just throw Yablonski at it first,¡± Crane instructed, and Mickughed.


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± She disconnected, and the cell went back into her harness pocket.


    Yablonski snorted. Working for the Brigadier-General was a regr riot.


    -=-


    La and Felicia, Amanda, and Belinda stood at the driveway¡¯s end, staring at the Silver People acting oddly. This was the first encounter for all of them, so they weren¡¯t sure what to make of it or what to do.


    Felicia, Brian¡¯s oldest daughter, was also sixteen, but La had the foresight to befriend the leader of the Faun¡¯s as Henry had been named by the kids. This gave her more clout in the eyes of the others, so Felicia looked to her cousin. ¡°What should we do?¡±


    La was on the spot as Amanda and Belinda looked at her and waited. She could think of only one thing. ¡°We need to tell Henry immediately! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    She turned and sprinted back to the house with the others right behind. When they came dashing out of the treedne into the circr drive before the house, the other kids stopped to look. La and Felicia immediately went inside, but Amanda and Belinda paused on the steps as the rest of the kids ran up to get the news.


    The fourteen-and-thirteen-year-old girls liked being the center of attention and quickly spilled the news to their attentive audience. Then began the rush to look at these Silver People, Danny and Tommy Nelson in the lead. Amanda chased after them, calling out for them to stop.


    Belinda remained on the front step, fretting about what to do.


    Inside, La and Felicia quickly learned from their parents that Henry was in the cave, so they raced through the Magic Door and into the main cavern. There they came to aplete stop as they looked up in wonder. The cave ceiling was crisscrossed with silver web threads, and hovering above these were the fire orbs, but each was easily twice the size of a basketball and throwing a sparkling white light everywhere.


    Clinging to the cave wall was Michelle Beaumont in her Spider form. She was affixing a thread of webbing from one cross cavern thread to another.


    Meixiu crawled down the opposite wall, her sharp ws finding purchase in the rock surface.


    La looked to Henry, who was standing in the center of the chamber with his eyes closed.


    ¡°That¡¯s almost got it, Michelle! I think we need a final link between cross-strand four and five. Then they¡¯ll all be interconnected.¡± He opened his eyes and saw Michelle was looking to the entrance. He followed her gaze and saw the two young women. He moved to join them as Michelle climbed to reach strand four.


    La smiled up at Henry and saw Felicia getting a little awestruck. Then, she hadn¡¯t witnessed how poorly he threw a snowball.


    ¡°What can I do for youdies?¡± he asked.


    ¡°SILVER PEOPLE!¡± Felicia blurted.


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows went up as La frowned. She quickly moved to control the situation. ¡°We were at the end of the drive and saw a group of Silver People touching the outside of the barrier you made for us.¡±


    ¡°Were they wearing anything?¡± he asked.


    ¡°STRAPS!¡± Felicia blurted again, embarrassing La.


    ¡°Vests made of ck straps with little American gs-¡± She stopped when she saw Henry¡¯s expression rx.


    ¡°Friends, I believe. I¡¯ll go talk with them,¡± he said. Then he looked into their eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t spill the beans on the decor here to anyone as we want it to be a surprise tomorrow.¡±


    La and Felicia grinned widely as they loved being part of the secret. They nodded.


    Michelle, in her Human mor, and Meixiu joined them. Henry looked up and reached out to the lowest orb. He sent it instructions, and each globe strobed and sent out a cascade of sparkles in sequence all the way up to the cavern ceiling three stories up.


    ¡°Ooo!¡± La and Felicia gasped.


    ¡°Our secret,¡± Henry said again, and they nodded in excitement.


    ¡°After the Christmas dinner, I¡¯ll add one more light closer to the floor so everyone can have a go at making the lights do something pretty,¡± he exined.


    La couldn¡¯t wait, and her mind was already thinking up patterns for the light show.


    Henry dimmed the light orbs as they walked back to the vestibule.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s go talk to the Silver Soldiers.¡±


    -=-


    Danny and Tommy were running all out to stay ahead of the others. They loved being Fauns, and running was so much fun! Not being bundled into bulky snowsuits was especially cool.


    They came around thest corner, and there they were. The Silver People were standing on the roadway just beyond the end of the driveway. Danny saw how close they were getting, so he skidded to a stop, but Tommy didn¡¯t see his brother stop until toote. He tried to stop but tumbled instead and slid on his back through the force field into the legs of one of the Silver People who fell, barely missing squishing Tommy.


    Danny stood on the inside and fretted about what to do. When he saw a Silver Person take a grip on his brother¡¯s shoulders to lift him to his hooves, Danny surged forward through the field.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you touch my brother!¡± Danny yelled.


    The one lifting Tommy looked at him, and Danny saw it had a female shape and features.


    ¡°We meant no harm. He looked a little dazed from knocking Yablonski off his feet,¡± she said and gently guided Tommy into the arms of his brother.


    Danny quickly pulled Tommy after himself and ran back to the driveway, only to bounce off the shield and fall on his ass. He stared at the empty driveway in shock. Tommy was beginning to look scared. He needed to be brave for his little brother. He stood and pulled Tommy behind him as he faced the Silver People and pulled his shoulders back.


    The female Silver Person sat down on the road and crossed her legs with a smile, resting her wrists on her knees. The others quickly matched her until Danny and Tommy were the only ones on their feet.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sergeant Michelle Tennison of the US Army. This is my squad,¡± she said. ¡°That was quite surprising, youing out of thin air like that. We couldn¡¯t see youing at all.¡±


    Danny was feeling a little more confident now and nodded. ¡°Mr. Gable said it would keep us hidden.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    The woman looked surprised again. ¡°Henry Gable? He¡¯s here?¡±


    Danny nodded cautiously.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give him a call, let him know he should let you back inside,¡± the Sergeant said.


    ¡°No need, I¡¯m here.¡±


    Danny turned around and saw the big Satyr smiling down at him. Then he saw arge arch spanning the driveway entrance, and he could see the other kids watching them.


    The cavalry had arrived. He looked at Tommy and saw the smile on his face too.


    Now, if he could only think of a way to keep his parents from hearing about this.

 315

    Henry stepped forward and shook Mick¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Oh, man! That feels good!¡± she sighed as she felt the waves of energy pouring from him.


    Henry paused then frowned. ¡°You seem a little drained.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t had an opportunity to recharge recently. We were going to stop by your ce on our way back to New York to take you up on your offer.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°We can do it now if you¡¯d like.¡±


    The Sergeant nodded and took his hand as she took Feinberg¡¯s until they¡¯d formed a chain with Yablonski taking Henry¡¯s other hand.


    Henry directed the entirety of the flow down his arm into the Sergeant. The energy raced around the loop, back to Henry¡¯s other hand. The excess just flowed from him.


    When he felt all of the Soldiers were running at max, he pulled his hands back and heard them all sigh happily.


    ¡°Damn, that¡¯s the good stuff!¡± Yablonski eximed.


    That got chuckles from the others who were riding a high too.


    ¡°Thank you for the energy!¡± Mick said to Henry.


    He nodded to her. ¡°Not a problem. As you can probably tell, I have no shortage.¡±


    She nodded thoughtfully to him. ¡°Yes, you seem to have an increased flow of it.¡±


    He nodded and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons I¡¯m up here in the boonies.¡±


    ¡°Can we meet your silver friends?¡± La called out from inside.


    ¡°Ah! Uh, yes, hang on,¡± Henry started and called back. He looked to the Sergeant. ¡°What you are about to see is currently a secret to protect the families involved.¡±


    ¡°You mean the fact that they¡¯re all Satyrs? That¡¯s beating the odds quite soundly,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Have you found a way to choose the race for new transformations?¡±


    ¡°Not with any scientific uracy, but yes, it seems to work.¡±


    Mick gave Henry an evaluating look. ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡±


    ¡°Come on in, and we¡¯ll discuss it,¡± he said.


    The Silver Soldiers made their way inside the dome, and Henry closed the arch once more. La was all grins as she faced the new arrivals. The kids were fascinated by the shiny soldiers, and the feeling was mutual.


    ¡°Danny and Tommy here, and Emily,¡± he gestured to the two boys and the girl with the glowing eyes. ¡°were all transformed here recently. All the others were transformed during Skyfall when they were exposed to an energy source like mine while being in contact with a Faun. Magic was involved to arge extent.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°The trick is twofold. There needs to be a strong source of Wild Magic, the energy that powers you guys, to saturate the pre-change Humans, so their transformations can be controlled. I only know of two such sources at this time, and you¡¯re looking at one of them. There also needs to be intentional physical hands-on contact from someone who has already changed to be the temte. Again, this wasn¡¯t discovered or confirmed scientifically.¡±


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s helpful to know,¡± Mick stated.


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s understood that there are no guarantees on the sess rate. There may be some other factors we aren¡¯t aware of,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°How many Satyrs were created during that one instance on Skyfall?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Thirty-four,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Yablonski eximed.


    ¡°Yes, and if the press got wind of it, they would be under a microscope, and their lives would bepletely disrupted, instead of just partially disrupted. They haven¡¯t been able to get together since that night, and this ce is a sanctuary for them to rx and be a family once more.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I get it. I do have to ask you about an event that happened yesterday. Severalmercial flights reported seeing an enormous sh of light in this area. They thought it might be thermonuclear. Naturally, the brass got involved.¡±


    Henry winced. ¡°Yeah, sorry. That was me, but it was nothing so frightening. I fed too much energy into the shield I put up around the property, and it went incandescent for a second or two.


    ¡°Ah, okay. I¡¯ll let the General know,¡± Mick said.


    ¡°How¡¯s Brigadier-General Crane doing with his promotion?¡± Henry said with a smile.


    Mick chuckled. ¡°I get the impression he¡¯d much rather be out here with us, but he¡¯s been able to use his influence to keep us in the field and out of the clutches of the bad people.¡±


    Henry nodded as that was what he¡¯d expected to hear. ¡°Come on back to the house, and you can meet the rest of the family.¡±


    The whole group was walking back to the mansion in a snowfall that seemed to be getting heavier. The sky was so dark the photocell controlling the Christmas lights made theme on. As they left thene, they saw the house was all lit up.¡±


    ¡°You own this ce?¡± Yablonski asked.


    Henry snorted. ¡°No. It belongs to a friend of mine. I¡¯ll be staying here for a while until I can control the energy flow.¡±


    Something roared by overhead quickly, followed by a second. All heads looked up.


    ¡°F-18s?¡± Yablonski asked.


    ¡°Those were F-35A fighters,¡± Feinberg corrected him. ¡°I didn¡¯t see how they were configured, though.¡±


    Mick was on her cell speaking quietly to someone.


    ¡°How strong is that dome?¡± Yablonski asked nervously.


    ¡°Strong enough to keep out anything those jets can drop on it,¡± Henry said, then looked to the surrounding forest. ¡°Would they have incendiary bombs?¡± The soldier nodded, so Henry closed his eyes and adjusted the properties of the dome spell.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want them setting fire to the neighboring forests,¡± Henry exined but received confused expressions.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Feinberg asked.


    ¡°I-¡± Henry began, but the scream of the jets drowned him out as they pulled up sharply after firing their missiles at the property below. The falling snow lit up with a bright ssh of brilliant colors as the dome rang with a deep tone in response to the missiles striking it.


    ¡°OOooo!¡± the kids all cheered and danced around.


    ¡°What the-where¡¯s the big boom?¡± Yablonski asked. Henry just shook his head with a smile.


    ¡°Are those what I think they are?¡± Mick said, staring up at the sky where four intact missiles seemed to be hovering.


    Henry flicked his fingers as if brushing the weapons away and the outer surface of the dome rippled, carrying the missiles to the edge where they rolled down to fall into the snow. He looked to the Sergeant. ¡°The field absorbs all kic energy and fries their electronics, but they¡¯re still dangerous and filled with explosive stuff. Can I ask you to get someone to dispose of them?¡±


    She nodded in shock.


    ¡°I think those guys will likely try again. Can you ask the General to make them stop?¡±


    Mick got her brain working once more. ¡°I asked him about the jets, and he said he¡¯d contact the Air Force about it. I¡¯ll let him know we¡¯re being fired upon.¡± She dialed once more.


    The parents of the kids starteding out. ¡°What¡¯s this I hear about firework-¡± Brian froze when he saw the Silver Soldiers.


    ¡°Hey. These are friends of mine. They came up from Washington to look into a report about a sh of light I made yesterday with the dome. Today we seem to be under attack by two jets. The Sergeant is looking into it now.¡±


    ¡°Their shooting at us?!?¡± Kristen cried, and several other mothers scrambled to collect their kids.


    Brian moved closer to Henry. ¡°Uh, shouldn¡¯t we get to cover?¡± he asked.


    Henry looked to him. ¡°We are under cover.¡± He gestured up at the invisible dome.


    Tish patted his arm. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go back to our homes while this gets settled. Henry will knock on the doors when it¡¯s over, and it¡¯s safe to return.¡± He nodded, and the parents got their children moving. The young ones weren¡¯t too happy about leaving as they were enjoying the light show.


    Roy and Mary approached. ¡°Who¡¯s attacking us?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I think they¡¯re US Airforce jets, but who would order an airstrike on a residence in New York State? I have no idea. General Crane is looking into it.¡±


    ¡°So, the force field is holding?¡± Roy asked.


    Henry was listening for the jets return pass. ¡°Huh? Oh yeah, I have it neutralizing any missiles fired at it, so they don¡¯t explode and cause any damage to the forest around us.¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°So, what¡¯s your n?¡±


    Henry looked at him and paused. ¡°n? Uh, they have a limited amount of ammo, so¡­ they¡¯ll eventually run out and go away. Or General Crane will reach the right person to get them to recall the pilots.¡±


    Roy tapped his chin with a finger as he thought about that. ¡°But they might just go back to the base and reload with stronger weapons. Is there something you might do to discourage them from doing so?¡±


    Henry thought about that for a bit as the Silver Soldiers watched him nervously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to harm the pilots. I also don¡¯t want the nes to crash as that will make a mess of the forest and might start a fire,¡± he said.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    ¡°A warning to send them back to base?¡± Roy offered.


    Henry thought about that, and a wicked idea came to his mind. Baba¡¯s dirty bag of tricks was always ready to provide ways to punish. With a few adjustments, he could make a less lethal version that would suit his purposes nicely. He rapidly spun the program he¡¯d require and readied it as he moved to an open space on the drive and prepared tworge fireball spells that floated next to him.


    Mick got closer. ¡°You¡¯re going to shoot sma at them? How is that not harmful or dangerous?¡±


    Henry kept his eyes on the sky as he waited for the jets to return. ¡°Touch it.¡±


    Mick tentatively reached out and put her hand close to one. She frowned as there was no heat. She passed her hand through the edge and nothing. She boldly pushed her hand into the middle, and still nothing.


    ¡°There¡¯s no fire here!¡± she eximed.


    Henry was ready this time as the jets passed by overhead. He jabbed his index finger on each hand to pretend to touch the tail of each fighter but set an anchor on each with his will. The fireballs immediately shot from the ground to get within ten feet of each ne like heat-seeking missiles with attitude. The jets peeled off in opposite directions trying to elude the rockets on their tails.


    The second phase of Henry¡¯s attack kicked in. Through their magic tethers, the spell overrode their radios with a message for them to return to base. They were told their safety would be guaranteed if they returned andnded safely.

 316

    Henry exined this to Roy, and he had a goodugh. The Silver Soldiers were still concerned.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°So, they aren¡¯t in any danger?¡± Mick asked to confirm.


    ¡°Not from those balloons tied to their tails. As soon as theynd, the tether dissolves, and they float away,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Sneaky bastard!¡± Yablonski said with a grin.


    Henry shrugged. ¡°They drew first blood. You have to admit, they¡¯re getting off lightly. Please, don¡¯t forget to remove those missiles.¡±


    The Sergeant nodded.


    They waited for a few minutes, listening carefully until Henry looked at Roy, who was smiling and nodding.


    ¡°It sounds like it might have worked,¡± he said, then gave Henry an evaluating look. ¡°The spell you used was one of Baba¡¯s?¡± Henry nodded. ¡°What did it originally do?¡±


    Henry nced at the Silver Soldiers then back to Roy. ¡°Nothing pleasant.¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll assume terror, madness, and death were somehow involved.¡± Henry nodded stiffly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry she put that in your head, but I¡¯m grateful you¡¯re able to adapt it for better purposes,¡± Roy saidpassionately.


    ¡°Thanks, Roy,¡± Henry said with a nod to the big man.


    Mick noticed there were no cars parked anywhere in sight. ¡°How are all these people getting to the mansion?¡±


    Henry looked at her. ¡°Magic Doors. I set them up from their homes to here. The safest way to travel in bad weather,¡± Henry said with a grin at the end.


    His cell phone rang, so Henry nced at the screen. ¡°It¡¯s the General.¡± He pressed answer. ¡°Hello, General Crane. I have Roy, Mary, and your team with me. Can I put you on speaker?¡±


    Crane sighed. ¡°Yes.¡± Henry tapped the phone and held it out for everyone to hear. The Soldiers gathered closer.


    ¡°Did you find out who sent the air force after me?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Whoever it was covered their tracks very well. It shouldn¡¯t be this difficult to trace themands, but the orders seem to be missing. I have my suspicions, but that¡¯s all they are. I did hear the jets returned to base safely, and the missiles chasing them floated away?¡±


    The soldiers allughed, but Henry picked up relief in the sound. ¡°Yeah, the decoy balloons were pretty convincing, I guess,¡± Henry admitted.


    There was a pause. ¡°They could have been deadlier though, couldn¡¯t they,¡± Crane asked.


    Henry didn¡¯t know how to respond without sounding like a dick, so the Sergeant spoke up.


    ¡°This is Sergeant Tennison. Our understanding is the payload could easily have been lethal, but that option was not considered, even though the jets fired four missiles at the mansion with deadly intent. This brings me to the question of where we deliver the missiles.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You have the missiles? They didn¡¯t explode?¡± Crane asked in surprise.


    ¡°Again, it¡¯s our understanding that the missiles have had their electronics neutralized, but they still contain the explosives,¡± Mick exined. ¡°Mr. Gable wants them removed. Where do we take them?¡±


    More silence from the General. ¡°You do realize they need to be transported in special containers with a convoy of military trucks, and the entire East Coast is in the middle of blizzard conditions.¡±


    Henry frowned. ¡°General, these explosives were dropped on my friend¡¯s property and remain dangerous. We have children here! The weapons are not staying here.¡± He nced at the soldiers. ¡°Your people have been through many airbases. They can point me to a doorway I can open for them to hand-deliver these weapons, but you have to okay that and pick one where the weapons will be properly dealt with.¡±


    ¡°You n to walk explosives onto a military base?¡± Crane eximed.


    ¡°No, sir. I expect US Army personnel to deliver partially neutralized US military ordinance to a secure location where they can be properly and safely disposed of. But they have to go today. I¡¯m being very reasonable, considering what someone in my government just attempted to do to my friends and me. I have the high ground here.¡±


    No one in hearing range of Henry¡¯sst statement missed the strength in his voice.


    ¡°I understand. Please give me some time to make the arrangements,¡± Crane said wearily.


    ¡°Thank you, General. Today, please. As I said, we have children on the property,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll call you back. Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Bye.¡±


    Henry hung up and looked to Mick. ¡°Can I ask you and your team to guard the missiles, so we can let the families return and the kids y outside?¡±


    ¡°Sure, and listen, we¡¯re sorry someone on our side did this,¡± she said.


    Henry just nodded. ¡°I know you guys wouldn¡¯t be involved in anything like this.¡± He shook his head. ¡°It boggles my mind how reactionary some people be when faced with change. My whole life, I¡¯ve been dealing with bullies, and yet, now when I¡¯ve changed and now have the strength and skills to defend myself and my friends, I¡¯m not out there stepping on anyone¡¯s neck. I find the whole idea repulsive!¡±


    The soldiers nodded as they understood, having undergone a realignment of their priorities when they were transformed into Silver People.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to protect the missiles on both sides of the force field. How do we get out and in?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°Getting out, just walk through. Getting in, have someone on the inside reach out and pull you through. You won¡¯t be able to see them,¡± Henry exined, and the Sergeant nodded as she signaled her team to head out to the site of the missiles.


    Henry walked back to the mansion with Roy.


    ¡°How many do you think wille back?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°All of them. Haven¡¯t you seen how much they need each other? They¡¯re not at risk here. It¡¯s one of the safest spots on earth at the moment.¡± Roy snorted but looked up and nodded to himself.


    Henry paused before going inside, and Roy waited. ¡°Considering how they act around each other, I don¡¯t understand how Tish managed to be apart from them for so long. I know that¡¯s never happening again. She needs to be with them as much as they need each other.¡±


    ¡°With ess to the Magic Doors, they no longer need to be,¡± Roy said.


    Henry nodded. ¡°But these all lead to Meixiu¡¯s ce, which she¡¯s been so generous to offer. I don¡¯t want to abuse her hospitality.¡±


    He opened the door and came face to face with Sigrid¡­ but not Sigrid. She wasn¡¯t smiling, and he picked up subtle lines around her eyes and mouth,ugh lines. Her eyes were a paler blue than Sigrid¡¯s, and her body was just a little thicker. It was the twin tails hanging down from the back of her head that really jarred with his image of his beautiful friend. The woman before him was also lovely, but it suddenly came to him that this could be Sigrid¡¯s older sister.


    ¡°Hilda?¡± Roy blurted in surprise from the step.


    ¡°Roy,¡± the woman acknowledged, then Henry¡¯s chin was a hotspot of agony, and he was flying out over the driveway tond in the snow.


    Momentster, Hildanded after leaping from the steps and drove her left fist at Henry¡¯s face. He twitched and managed to take the punch against his horns. She hissed in pain as her knuckles cracked loudly. She grabbed his other horn in her uninjured fist and threw him into the air. He had time to see the Silver Soldiers rushing to his aid and the enraged woman spinning in a circle with her glowing white spear extended. Most of the soldiers had the presence of mind to leap back, but one caught the shaft against his side and went sailing.


    Henry was done with being beat on, so he engaged his shield and dumped more energy into it as he fell back to the ground.


    He hit hard, but the impact was absorbed by the field. He rolled to his hooves to find himself struggling to avoid a flurry of strikes from the butt of Hilda¡¯s spear. Severalnded against his body, and he saw the power levels on the shield dropping quickly. She wasn¡¯t pulling any of these strikes-


    She suddenly spun and struck him on the side of the neck with the spear¡¯s shaft causing Henry to do aplete cartwheel. He somehow managed to stay on his hooves. If he hadn¡¯t been wearing the force field, he would have been badly injured if not crippled. The shield¡¯s gauge was shing red.


    His rage broke loose.


    The next strike pped into his big hand as he gripped and yanked the spear from her hands. His left fist mmed into her right temple, knocking her off her feet. She rolled and lurched back to her feet, but he was right there delivering a mighty hit against her ribs with a right. Something cracked. She deflected the punch from his left and tried to strike his throat with a punch, but he dipped his head and caught it against his chin painfully for both of them.


    Hilda grinned as sheunched a flurry of body strikes that were no longer blocked by a shield. A rib broke on Henry¡¯s left side, and he leapt back, struggling to get a breath. She pressed her attack, and he got a lucky punch through to m against her sternum. She fell back and rolled to her feet to charge forward but abruptly stopped as her eyes widened. Henry sucked in a needed breath and looked to his hands, which dripped ck mes. He hadn¡¯t even been aware of invoking Baba¡¯s spell but knew it was a particrly nasty one. Repulsed, he released the magic and shook the mes from his hands.


    The moment the ck mes extinguished, Hilda surged forward, and Henry was on the defensive again. He took hit after hit but pushed the pain back as he looked for an opening. He knew shit about fighting, but even he could see how skilled the woman was as she beat the snot out of him.


    He had no skill, but he was strong, and he knew pain intimately.


    Her next right met his right fist, and bones broke. She cried out, the first time since the fight began. She hit him ncingly on the cheek with a left as she nursed her right hand. When she went to repeat the punch, his left fist smashed into hers, and he pulled another cry from her.


    Henry grabbed her shoulders with his broken hands and yanked her forward. At thest second, he saw the fear in her eyes and recalled Mab¡¯s terror as he crushed her skull.


    He pulled his strength from the head butt and stopped at dazing her. He threw her down and put a heavy hoof on her chest to keep her down.


    When her eyes refocused on him, he held up the bent and broken fingers on his right hand. She went still as Henry poured his healing spell into his hand. The fingers cracked and realigned before popping wetly back into ce. He flexed the fist once more then peered into her eyes to see if she got the message. She didn¡¯t hear his internal screams at how much that had hurt or how much he wanted to lie down right now.


    She huffed with a pained frown, then nodded. ¡°I yield,¡± she said through gritted teeth as if speaking the words was far more painful than her injuries.


    Henry stepped back cautiously and watched her slowly lurch to her feet. She locked her gaze on him.


    ¡°How do youe to possess the soul ripping magic?¡± she said in a stiff voice.


    Henry knew she was talking about the ck mes. His mind shied away from the details of that spell in his head.

 317

    ¡°Baba Yaga stuffed her knowledge of spells into my head before she disappeared on Skyfall. I wasn¡¯t aware I¡¯d called this particr one,¡± he admitted.


    She nodded. ¡°You know how to heal too, but I¡¯ve never seen anyone heal themselves.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not like anyone else.¡±


    Hilda burst intoughter, which quickly became a wince and a moan as pain from her broken rib red. ¡°You are a master of understatement,¡± she sighed as she stretched her back muscles. She gave him another evaluating look. ¡°I¡¯ve never met a Satyr, so I¡¯ve never had the opportunity to fight one. You fight like shit, but you still bested me. That¡­ hurts my pride more than anything. Which makes my next question all the more difficult to ask. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d consider using that healing magic on my injuries.¡±


    He gaped at her. ¡°Considering you attacked me the moment we met, you¡¯ll understand my hesitance to assist you.¡±


    ¡°I had to be sure. It¡¯s the way of Valkyries,¡± she said simply as if that answered everything. She nodded to something behind him, but he refused to look away from her. She chuckled softly. ¡°Our fight is over. I yielded. I¡¯ve never had to do that before. Consider it the greatest of honors.¡±


    Henry nodded as he considered this loon of a Valkyrie before him. He decided it might be safe to look away and turned his head to see Sigrid approaching with Roy. The man¡¯s expression looked a lot like shock, then Henry¡¯s eyes were drinking in the beauty of the blonde woman sliding into his arms. Her lips tasted his, and he surrendered to her need, and the kiss deepened. She felt so good in his arms, but something was different. She was leaning forward. Then he felt it-a pressure against his belly.


    He pulled back from the kiss and nced down. His eyes were momentarily trapped in her cleavage, which seemed more pronounced. Then he was puzzling over the dome of her stomach. Her severely distended stomach. She was pregnant? He saw her loving eyes, and it clicked.


    Henry¡¯s eyebrows threatened to crawl up into his scalp. It was his! How?


    Sigrid touched his broken left hand tenderly. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about your injuries, but I wasn¡¯t able to dissuade mother from testing you. I knew you¡¯d win. I¡¯m so grateful you didn¡¯t kill her.¡±


    ¡°Mother? Not¡­ sister?¡± he gasped and looked back at the other woman in surprise. His image of a wizened old frail woman was shattered. Then he realized how stupid that preconceived notion was for a Valkyrie.


    He caught a delighted twinkle in the mother¡¯s eye, so he willed the healing magic into his left hand and gritted his teeth as the bones reset and ligaments reattached. He flexed it painfully once it was healed.


    Then he ced his healed hands on Sigrid¡¯s hips to move her a short distance out so he could see her properly.


    ¡°You¡¯re so far along! I don¡¯t understand,¡± he eximed, containing his painful grunts.


    She smiled sweetly at him. ¡°It was the night you made love to me in Eden. Valkyries are warriors. We cannot afford extended pregnancies. It happens very rapidly. I wasn¡¯t aware my body had chosen you until I woke the next morning. I immediately left to visit my mother. She wanted us toe back so she could meet you before the birth.¡±


    He ced his hands on her belly and felt the life inside. ¡°When are you due?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡±


    Henry¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked to Roy.


    ¡°Congrattions?¡± the redhead said with a grin.


    Henry turned back to Sigrid and lifted her hands to his lips, and kissed them both tenderly. Then he looked at her with a puzzled expression once more. ¡°What¡­ what did you mean your body chose me?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°When a Valkyrie finds a worthy mate, her body prepares for creating a child. I wasn¡¯t aware of it. It¡¯s a natural process. Typically, the male no longer ys a role in raising the child as the daughter is raised to be a Valkyrie and only Valkyries can do his.¡±


    ¡°That has not changed!¡± Hilda said firmly.


    Henry frowned at her but saw the woman was ready to go a few more rounds to get her way. He sighed. They could argue about thister. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside so I can heal us properly.¡±


    He caught the relief in Hilda¡¯s eyes. He waved to the Silver Soldiers, who went back to their posts. Yablonski was nursing his injured side.


    Once he entered the door, a distraught Meixiu rushed to Henry¡¯s side and clung to him. ¡°Sigrid asked me not to interfere,¡± the woman moaned.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Meixiu. It all worked out in the end,¡± Henry sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start knocking on doors to let people return,¡± Roy said and left.


    Henry looked at Hilda. ¡°You¡¯re going to want to lie down while you heal. Do you have a bedroom assigned?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll sleep next to Sigrid. I must defend her during her pregnancy,¡± Hilda insisted.


    Henry looked to Sigrid. ¡°We¡¯ll be in the second-floor master,¡± she said.


    He climbed the stairs with Sigrid, Hilda, and Meixiu leading the way. They entered the room, and Henry gestured for the mother to recline on the bed.


    ¡°Maybe you should join me so I can properly show you my appreciation for the healing afterward,¡± Hilda said with a hungry grin.


    ¡°Sigrid, tell your mom to behave,¡± Henry said as he reviewed his healing spells.


    ¡°She¡¯s a Valkyrie. You can¡¯t tell them anything,¡± Sigrid said with a happy smile.


    ¡°Incorrigible, the two of you!¡± Henry muttered as he concentrated on the spell he chose. He ignored their delighted giggling as best he could.


    Bone setting spells tended to be very painful with a fair amount of residual ache. He countered this with a spell to reroute the pain signals to pleasure instead. Heunched that one inside Hilda and watched her eyes widen immediately. She looked to him in question. ¡°Painkiller,¡± he said.


    Then heunched the spell to heal her body from her toes to her scalp. He linked the magic to the excess energy he was kicking out.


    Hilda cooed as a few improperly healed breaks in her toes refractured, then realigned as the wave moved on. Her eyes snapped open. ¡°What-what have you done?¡±


    ¡°The spell can be pretty painful. I temporarily rerouted your pain signals to your pleasure center.¡±


    Hilda¡¯s eyes rolled back as the scar tissue in her knees tore away to be reced by new growth.


    Henry frowned and upped the flow of energy into her body topensate for the amount of damage being repaired. He looked to Sigrid. ¡°I think her body has taken a lot of abuse.¡±


    Sigrid snorted. ¡°She¡¯s a Valkyrie!¡±


    Henry nced at her. ¡°That¡¯s your answer for everything.¡± She just grinned happily.


    He was concerned about losing the woman if her body repairs exceeded her capacity to withstand the sensations. He¡¯d endured the incredible pain, but the intense pleasure was equally dangerous.


    He let a little of the pain through, and Hilda gasped as her eyes flew open to look at him. He moved closer to her ear and whispered to her. ¡°I reced most of my body this way, and I didn¡¯t have the option of pleasure. I survived. Will you do less?¡±


    Hilda¡¯s eyes red with a mix of emotions as they held his. Then she grinned. ¡°Bring it on.¡±


    Henry watched the spell progress through her body. The worst spots were her broken ribs, he¡¯d fractured more than one, and her damaged hands. While she was immersed in bliss, he allowed a little pain through to bring her back from the clouds. Each time she¡¯d look for him and grin to let him know she was still there.


    Finally, the spell reached her scalp, and he was surprised to see the grey in her hair begin to gleam with gold once more.


    ¡°Shit, Henry! This rejuvenation magic would make you a fortune!¡± Sigrid said in shock.


    He just shook his head. ¡°No. It takes the strength of a Valkyrie to survive it.¡±


    He dipped his mouth down to Hilda¡¯s ear once more. ¡°Now you look even less like a grandmother, sorry.¡±


    She chuckled softly then she slipped into sleep.


    Henry removed the rerouting of her pain, and he was done. He turned to Sigrid, and she was kissing him once more. He went with it as it was bliss, and he had no other choice. Then the growing pain in his ribs finally made him pull back, and she looked at him curiously.


    ¡°Sorry, my ribs¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯m so sorry, Henry!¡± she gasped.


    ¡°I need to go heal myself now and catch a few winks,¡± he sighed as she stepped back. ¡°Don¡¯t let me miss dinner tonight, okay?¡±


    She smiled and nodded to him. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, gesturing to her mother.


    He smiled and shook his head. ¡°Yeah, it would have been nice to get a heads up in advance that I¡¯d be in a life and death battle with a Valkyrie.¡± Sigrid looked apologetic at least.


    ¡°We need to talk,¡± he said gently as he touched Sigrid¡¯s tummy, and she nodded with a smile on her lips.


    He touched his chin tenderly. Hilda had probably cracked his jaw. That was gonna hurt. He sighed.


    He left the bedroom and climbed to the third floor, and found Meixiu walking behind him. He looked at her in question.

 318

    ¡°I am worried. I want to keep watch,¡± she said.


    He shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea. It¡¯s not a pretty process to watch.¡±


    Meixiu was confused. ¡°Sigrid¡¯s mother endured it, and she didn¡¯t seem to suffer too much.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°I was managing her pain and pleasure levels throughout the process. I can¡¯t do that for myself. I have to go full pain.¡±


    Meixiu gasped, and her eyes became ssy with tears. ¡°Why must you suffer so?¡±


    He reached out a hand and gently cupped her cheek. She leaned into it, and a tear rolled down to cool his skin.


    ¡°Some lives have more pain in them than others. It¡¯s okay, though. Mine is also filled with love, and that was such an unexpected gift. It makes it far easier to survive these¡­ other brief moments.¡± She nodded. ¡°Promise me you¡¯ll go back downstairs ande back to get me for dinner. No listening at the door.¡±


    He saw her expression change, so he knew that¡¯s what she¡¯d intended to do. She finally nodded, so he leaned down and kissed her tenderly.


    He smiled as he stepped into his room. ¡°See you soon.¡± He closed the door and didn¡¯t bother listening to hear her leave as she moved silently. He¡¯d just have to trust that she did.


    Lying down on the bed, he prepared the healing spell for himself but didn¡¯t bother with the rerouting of his pain. He was just going to have to get through it.


    Sighing, heunched the spell and gritted his teeth. He¡¯d survive this.


    He wouldn¡¯t allow himself to do less.


    -=-


    General Crane sat back and contemted the call he¡¯d just had from themanding officer at the base where the jets hadunched from. It had taken him a couple of hours of calling and questioning to find the right person to speak to. The man wasn¡¯t keen on having his people used for missions he couldn¡¯t verify had been sanctioned at the appropriate levels. The documentation suddenly disappeared after the nes had beenunched.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Thest name Crane confirmed on the orders was Major-General Hollis, who acted like a minion for Brixton. He¡¯d dly throw himself on a grenade for his superior, protecting him from any shit this order might generate. Gordon was going to have to be careful about how he proceeded with this information.


    He just had one more call to make today to get those damaged missiles off the property. He¡¯d packed his briefcase, and after dealing with thatst item, he¡¯d call it a day. It was Christmas Eve, after all.


    His cell rang, and he saw it was Mick. Just the person he needed to speak with.


    ¡°Yes, Sergeant?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Gable was just attacked by someone from inside the home. A woman, but definitely not human. Inhuman strength. She started off with a spear, but he got that away from her, so they fought bare-knuckled. She was far more skilled than Henry was.¡±


    ¡°Is he alive?¡± Crane asked.


    ¡°Yes! He won the fight by breaking his own fists against hers then knocked her down with his horns. For a second, I swore he was going to kill her like he did Mab, but he pulled it and just knocked her down. He put a hoof on her, healed one of his hands in front of her, and that was that. She was done fighting.¡±


    ¡°Did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I got most of the fight recorded. It was so brutal! It would be a huge hit on that Ultimate Fighter cable show!¡±


    Mick chuckled, and Crane could hear the excitement in her voice. It must have been quite the show. ¡°Did you attempt to intervene?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. In the beginning, when she was wielding her spear. Only Yablonski got hit by it. He¡¯s aching, but I don¡¯t think the damage is permanent.¡±


    Crane sighed. The boy had to learn a little restraint.


    ¡°Did you make any progress on finding a base for us to deliver the missiles to?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°Yes. I was about to call you. Colonel Miller of Bentford Air Base has agreed to receive the weapons back. We¡¯ve been through that base a few times. You¡¯re familiar?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°The Colonel did us a solid, so let¡¯s be good to him as well. Store them well away from the other buildings and runways,¡± Gordon said.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Gordon considered the fantastic events in that secluded neighborhood and how they revolved around one young man, or Satyr, to be more urate. He¡¯d begun to experiment with his new abilities. ¡°This force field Mr. Gable put up over the property. What do you believe it is capable of?¡±


    ¡°The missiles fired at it wereing in at Mach two, maybe Mach three, yet theypletely stopped, and the field just rippled and shed pretty colors. And from outside, itpletely hides anyone standing inside.¡±


    Crane took a deep breath. ¡°I swear, everything that young man does, opens up a Pandora¡¯s box of issues!¡± The Sergeant chuckled as she obviously agreed. He pushed on as he had less fun things to ask of the squad leader.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need you close by for the next few days. I have a name for who ordered the mission to fire upon a civilian residence. When I take that upstairs, it¡¯s going to make me some very dangerous enemies. Not that we¡¯re friends now.¡±


    ¡°I can send half the team back to you now,¡± Mick said in concern.


    It was a sign of his recognition of the danger that made him think that might be a good idea. ¡°Yes, that might be prudent. Not Yablonski, though, please.¡±


    Mick snorted. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Crane hung up and tucked the cell away. He didn¡¯t want to act paranoid, but there was a legitimate concern. A military assault had beenunched against a target on domestic soil. There were clear signs that this was not a sanctioned mission¡­ and he knew who ordered it.


    He left his office and noticed the building was mostly empty. Not surprising for Christmas Eve during a major snowstorm. He sighed. Leaving the building, he dashed across to the garage and took the stairs to the second story to make his way to his rental car. As he reached for the handle, the lights went out in the garage, throwing him into pitch darkness. He turned his head to the left, expecting to see the street lights through the structure¡¯s open design, but there was nothing-just darkness, silence, and cold.


    Then the lights came back, and he was standing in the shadows of the bushes next to an office tower across the street from the parking garage. His rental car was the source of a huge fireball rolling up the side of the structure, and rms were ring. He looked down at himself, and there wasn¡¯t a scorch mark, smudge, or tear on his uniform. How did he get here? What was that darkness? Was that a ckout? He¡¯d never had one before, but he recalled being able to think throughout the experience, so it wasn¡¯t likely that.


    First things first. He pulled his cell and dialed the Sergeant.


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡±


    ¡°K2.¡± He hung up.


    It was code to let her know he was going to ground.


    What would Yablonski say?


    Shit was getting real.


    -=-


    Mick stared at her cell, and dread filled her. She signaled to the others she was stepping away and rushed to the front door of the mansion. She knocked, and a momentter, the pretty Chinese girl answered it.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I need to speak to Henry immediately.¡±


    ¡°He is sleeping after healing himself. Can it wait? I will be getting him toe down for supper in half an hour,¡± Meixiu suggested.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it can¡¯t wait. Crane¡¯s life is in danger!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Come with me!¡± Meixiu leapt for the stairs and made it to the third floor with the Sergeant right behind her. She rushed down the hall and gently knocked on Henry¡¯s door before opening it.


    Henry was blinking his bleary eyes at them. When he saw Mick behind Meixiu, he sat up suddenly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I just got a call from the General. He¡¯s in danger. We need to get back to Washington. He also gave us the location for the missiles to be returned.¡±


    Henry looked at her sharply. ¡°Should you go to him immediately?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°The code he gave me indicated he was going into hiding, so he isn¡¯t in imminent danger. We can take care of the missiles first as that will only take a minute.¡±


    Henry heaved himself out of bed then realized his kilt was on the chair. He quickly picked it up and strapped it on before turning back to the Sergeant. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Meixiu was all smiles as she led them back downstairs. Henry went outside with the Sergeant after he gave Meixiu a kiss.


    He turned to the Sergeant. ¡°We¡¯ll use the door on the garden shed. Do you have a door at the destination in mind?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah. There is a small shack at the northwest corner of the airbase. Might be a guard station,¡± she said.


    When they got to the spot where the missiles were resting in the snow on the other side of the shield, Henry created an arch in the dome, and the team lifted the four defunct weapons and carried them inside. Henry closed the opening and led them over to the small outbuilding. He asked the Sergeant to assist him with the door, and she opened it to see a snow-swept field with a runway in the distance.


    The team quickly marched the weapons through and left them lined up in the snow side by side. Then they rushed back in, and Henry dropped the door spell.


    ¡°We have to go,¡± Mick said urgently.


    Henry hooked a thumb at the door. ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±


    Mick froze. Shit! She could be back in Washington now! ¡°Washington, DC. The Mall would be perfect.¡±


    ¡°Can you think of a destination door?¡± Henry asked.


    She nodded and touched the shed door again. He initiated the spell, and she pulled the handle. There was the Mall with the enclosure build up around the Strike Zone.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Mick said as she gestured for the team to enter.


    ¡°Listen, if you or the General need assistance with anything, please call me,¡± Henry offered.


    Mick smiled and nodded to him. ¡°Merry Christmas!¡± she chuckled, and Henry grinned back.

 319

    Once she was through, Mick had them run over to the General¡¯s office. Firetrucks and police cars were lined up before the parking structure, and scorch marks showed where a car had exploded.


    ¡°Shit¡¯s getting real!¡± Yablonski eximed.


    Mick faced her squad and ensured she had their full attention. ¡°The cloud cover will hide the infrared, so we¡¯re going top speed to meet the General. Follow me.¡±


    She saw wide smiles as they rarely got to run that fast.


    Mick shot away, and each of them joined the line until they vanished from visible sight.


    Secondster, they were grouped behind a motel on the edge of town under an awning.


    ¡°I saw the General in a cab three miles west of the hotel,¡± Feinberg noted. Several heads nodded as they¡¯d seen the same.


    They waited in the shelter from the blowing snow until the taxi appeared, slowed, and pulled into the parking lot. The moment it pulled away, Mick rushed around the corner and approached the General. ¡°K2,¡± she called out.


    He turned and looked at her in surprise. He hustled over to the side of the building, and she guided him back to the rest of the squad.


    ¡°How did you get back so-Ah! Magic Door. Never mind,¡± he said in relief.


    ¡°How did you know they¡¯d boobytrapped your car?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I was almost inside when everything went dark, and the next thing I knew, I was across the street hiding in some bushes while my rental car burned,¡± he said, and the soldiers all shared spooked nces.


    ¡°Henry said if you need anything, just ask,¡± Mick exined.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing up there?¡± Gordon asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s celebrating Christmas with the families of his friends. He¡¯s also isting himself from pre-transformed people because his body is currently throwing off huge waves of energy.¡±


    The General locked eyes with Mick. ¡°He¡¯s a source of the energy that transforms people, and he¡¯s sheddingrge quantities?¡± The Sergeant nodded. He smiled. An idea was forming in his mind.


    Gordon Crane wasn¡¯t going to wait for these bastards to try again. He was going into the lion¡¯s den to take the fight to them.


    -=-


    General Brixton stared at the chess pieces on the board before him as his mind worked on apletely separate challenge.


    His n to eliminate the threat in the woods on the Connecticut border while taking out Crane¡¯s freaks had done neither. What should have been a simple fait apli was now a race to eliminate the evidence trail.


    He knew he had sympathetic ears in congress who would have quickly jumped to support his efforts to bring sanity back to their lives. All this talk about strange new sources of energy, followed by the report of the sh of super-intense light from what had always been a quiet region of the state, signaled activity from one or more of these mutations that were popping up all over the world. Eliminating what was obviously a threat would prove the human way of life would continue, and humanity would be the dominant species on the.


    While he wasn¡¯t keen on using terrorist tactics, the car bomb had been effective in tying off the loose end of that idiot, Brigadier-General Inte. Perhaps with the head of that freak team cut off, he¡¯d be able to get the Silver People repurposed. Maybe even for medical experimentation.


    His cell rang, and he frowned at it. It was too soon for Hollis to contact him. He looked at the screen and froze.


    Crane was alive? He¡¯d have to y ignorant.


    He quicklyposed himself and answered the call.


    ¡°Crane, don¡¯t you know it¡¯s Christmas Eve? Why are you calling me?¡± he growled in full bluster mode.


    The man¡¯s voice came through the earpiece in gasps, like he¡¯d been running. ¡°Yes-sorry¡­ but,¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°¡­ someone just tried to kill me with a car bomb. My team was at the coordinates when US Air Force jets fired upon the civilian residence! I began investigating immediately and may have uncovered a conspiracy! My efforts must have caught their attention as they booby-trapped my rental. I¡¯ll have more evidence soon! We need to get the other members of ourmittee to join us back at the Pentagon. I¡¯ll be getting a call in forty minutes. Themanding officer of the airbase where jets flew from says he¡¯s digging up all the correspondence from theirputer systems on the attack. He¡¯ll send it to me then. Can you get the others?¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Brixton nodded to himself as this could work. Even if Crane was trying to y him, he had more resources to reach out to for closing off the loose ends. The Colonel at the airbase was one he could easily deal with.


    ¡°Again, it¡¯s Christmas Eve, so some of them aren¡¯t avable. I will get who I can. We¡¯ll be there in thirty.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. Listen, I¡¯ve been in this location too long. I have to keep moving. I¡¯ll see you in thirty.¡± Crane hung up.


    Brixton would be there in fifteen minutes to prepare their conference room. He¡¯d ensure the recording system was deactivated, and he had a few trusted men in security ready to deal with surprises if Crane nned anything.


    He called Hollis and Densbridge and told them to be in the room in twenty minutes.


    Then he made a quick call to Bentford Air Base to have his man deal with a certain nosy Colonel.


    Back to the situation at hand, if Crane came with evidence, he wouldn¡¯t be leaving with it. There were better than even odds he wouldn¡¯t be leaving at all.


    -=-


    General Crane walked briskly to the Pentagon¡¯s front doors and pulled one open, pausing a second before entering. He walked up to the Security and made a fuss about looking for his ess card. Then he signed in and headed down the cold empty hallway to the elevator bank. The building was never vacant, but there was definitely a reduced presence tonight.


    He pressed the down button, and an elevator door opened. He stepped inside and held the door as he listened, but the hall remained silent and empty.


    Nodding, he pressed the button for the subfloor their meeting room was located and leaned back against the rail to go over the n once more. He¡¯d grilled the Sergeant, Feinberg, Dane, and yne on their roles, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it wasn¡¯t all going to go to hell once he stepped into that room and faced Brixton. He was pretty sure his acting on the call was a disaster, but he knew the man wouldn¡¯t refuse the bait and miss the opportunity to take care of what he¡¯d failed to do earlier.


    When he stepped off the elevator, he turned left and noticed two junior officers at the far end of the hall nce up at him then quickly look away. Well, that wasn¡¯t obvious at all.


    He strode down the hall purposefully, and midway he turned to the door to the chamber and took another deep breath as he rubbed his temple. He pushed open the door and stood just inside, looking at the two men he¡¯d expected to see and one he hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°This is it? Three?¡± he said with a scowl.


    ¡°It¡¯s fucking Christmas Eve! You¡¯re lucky you got us.¡± Brixton snapped back. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re almostte yourself.¡±


    Crane pulled his cell phone out and moved to join the other Generals by the desk. The phone rang so he answered it and put it on speaker. He touched his lips to get the others to remain quiet as he set the cell on the table surface.


    ¡°General Crane here.¡±


    ¡°General, this is Colonel Miller.¡±


    In the corner of his eye, Gordon caught Brixton clenching his jaw.


    ¡°Yes, Colonel. Were you sessful in retrieving the records?¡± Gordon asked.


    ¡°I was. I can ship you the records immediately,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Excellent news! Please do! In the interim, can you give me the authorizing name on the order to send the jet fighters on the live-fire mission in New York State?¡±


    ¡°Major-General Hollis,¡± Miller stated clearly.


    Crane looked to Hollis, whose face was red with suppressed anger.


    ¡°One second, Colonel,¡± Gordon said and ced the cell on mute.


    He locked eyes with the Major-General. ¡°What do you have to say about that?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you is what I say,¡± the angry man responded.


    ¡°Hold that thought,¡± Crane said as he disabled the mute. ¡°Colonel, was there anything else you need to report?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you were right. Someone did attempt to silence me tonight. He was quite surprised to be captured by the two Silver Soldiers you loaned me. They proved to be equally sessful atpelling a confession out of him. He said he was ordered to do it by General Brixton just moments after you spoke to the General.¡±


    ¡°One second, Colonel,¡± Gordon said again, but only pretended to put the phone on mute this time.


    Now it was Brixton¡¯s turn to face Crane¡¯s piercing stare. ¡°Any words, General?¡±


    Instead of speaking, Brixton pulled a monstrous handgun and fired it point-nk at Crane¡¯s chest.


    The man flew back andnded in a crumpled heap.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± Densbridge yelled as he looked back at the corpse cooling on the meeting room floor. ¡°Was that entirely necessary?¡± he barked.


    ¡°Of course, it was necessary, Rick! The asshole restored the digital data trail I was informed was permanently removed. They got Hollis for ordering the attack-¡±


    ¡°That was your order!¡± Hollis barked at Brixton in his shock.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a pussy, Hollis! You know it was required, and you participated, as did Rick.¡± He looked back at Densbridge. ¡°I don¡¯t know how they got the confession out of my guy at the base. Probably tortured by one of those silver freaks. Now they have me for ordering a hit. Why is tonight falling into the shitter?¡±


    Hollis suddenly slumped and fell to the floor.


    ¡°Gawdammit!¡± Brixton cursed and watched Densbridge kneel to check on the man, then jump to his feet with a shout of fear.


    ¡°What the fuck!¡± Rick said, pointing at the prone man who seemed to be shrinking.


    Brixton watched in shock and yelped when Densbridge toppled over as well.


    ¡°What? What¡¯s going on? This is bullshiiii¡­¡± His gun dropped from his grip as he staggered forward, dropped to his knees, and flopped forward onto his face.


    The room went silent.


    -=-


    Henry was kneeling next to Crane and checked his pulse. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as his heartbeat was strong and steady.


    He felt another of his personal force fields brush against his, and suddenly he could see the Sergeant as their fields merged into one two-person bubble. She touched his arm, and he felt her guilt and fear. He pushed his reassurance that the General was alive and would survive.

 320

    What frightened Henry was that the force field spell he gave Crane hadn¡¯t worked. Worse, he couldn¡¯t find any sign of it on the man. The magic didn¡¯t stick!


    He¡¯d been shot at close range from a huge handgun. Even with the bulletproof vest the man wore under his uniform, such a big weapon would likely have punched through it at that distance. Yet, there was no blood. He was breathing, but Henry had to believe he was badly bruised if he didn¡¯t have broken ribs.


    Then he noticed some ck shards of a stone-like substance on the floor next to Crane¡¯s chest. Henry touched one and yanked his fingers back. The stone gave off a terrible vibration through the Wild Magic. He had a momentary sh to the darkness he¡¯d fought his way out of during those months on Eden.


    Henry looked closer at the exposed surface of the destroyed vest the man wore under his clothes. There seemed to be ayer of this ck stone inside the vest. He needed to get a sample. He reached for another shard, but it suddenly disintegrated into a faint ck mist. Henry blew on it to keep it from the unconscious man¡¯s face. Thest thing the General needed was to breathe in the evil stuff.


    When Crane called him up with the n, Henry was more than a little shocked. The General asked him if he could create personal force fields and add the invisibilityponent to them. He wanted to sneak some of his squad into the Pentagon for protection when he confronted General Brixton and an unknown number of co-conspirators. He was bringing one tech to ensure the recording equipment was running in the room as Brixton would likely disable it. He¡¯d bring one team member to handle any participants in the hallway and two more to be in the room with him. All of them had to be invisible as they couldn¡¯t show on the recording.


    Henry already had the personal shield spell he¡¯d given Roy and adding the light bending technique was simple.


    It was thest request that made Henry the most ufortable. The General wanted Henry to jump into the meeting room as he¡¯d appeared in the Capitol Hill hearing chamber. He wanted Henry to dose the co-conspirators with energy to crush what he saw as a growing denial movement. They needed to ept their change. Henry would also have to be invisible.


    He warned the General that he could change as well, but the man just nodded and said he was ready. Looking at the unconscious man now, Henry couldn¡¯t tell if he had, but it seemed unlikely.


    Henry stood and ensured he never stepped between the room¡¯s two cameras and the bodies lying on the floor. While the invisibility worked perfectly on t surface fields, there were many curved surfaces on a personal force field, which caused a slight ripple effect.


    The first man to fall was now a Brownie. The second man definitely had a Fae¡¯s features, but thest one to fall had transformed the most. He was half his original height but had thick limbs, much like Rand Von Deussel. No beard like the Dwarf had, though.


    Henry heard the sound of running feet, so he knew he had to leave. The room was going to be saturated with Wild Magic for a while.


    With a final puzzled look at Crane, Henry took a grip on his right ring finger and jumped back to the mansion. He dropped the force field, and Meixiu squeaked in surprise as she stood by the double doors in the hidden hallway in the cave. He pulled her into his arms.


    ¡°Thank you for waiting here for me and giving me someone to return to,¡± he said with a smile.


    She tilted her face up to him, and he kissed her tenderly. After, she rubbed her face against his chest. ¡°I spent so many years in this house in misery and fear. I never believed I would ever feel this joy in my heart while I was within these walls. Now I see the home was never the source of those terrible feelings. It¡¯s just a ce, and now I¡¯m filling it with my own memories and treasured moments. It has be a ce of love, friendship, and now family! I love that Trish¡¯s family feels sofortable here. I want to do something for them to show my appreciation.


    ¡°Your eptance of them in your home proves your generosity!¡± Henry asserted.


    He kissed her once more until she patted his chest so she could catch her breath. She held him tightly as she tingled deliciously.


    ¡°I have an idea about showing them our appreciation of being included in their family if you¡¯d like to help me,¡± he suggested softly.


    She nodded to him excitedly.


    >>>>>>>


    Steph had fidgeted all through dinner, casting nces at Henry while everyone enjoyed the Christmas Eve meal of Brian¡¯s special chili and fluffy white basmati rice. It was an Evan¡¯s family Christmas tradition.


    When Henry left the table to take a US Army Brigadier-General¡¯s call, Steph felt a little thrill shoot through her. He was so much more interesting than her cold-fish husband David had ever been. He was doing something with his Magic Doors and the Silver Soldiers, and she saw them arrive and leave. Then he¡¯d whispered something to Meixiu, and they¡¯d gone down to the cave.


    Everyone was expected to stay out of that room until Christmas dinner tomorrow, so she couldn¡¯t follow him down, though she really wanted to.


    She¡¯d caught Tish watching her with a knowing smile throughout the meal, but she did her best to pretend she wasn¡¯t obsessing over the big, strong, sexy as hell man-Satyr, he preferred the term, Satyr.


    When dinner finally broke up, the adults were directed to the formal living room as a very pregnant and very fit looking blonde woman named Sigrid wished to make an announcement. Tish hooked her elbow through Steph¡¯s and led her to a loveseat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce myself again in case anyone missed it the first time. My name is Sigrid Gunderan, and this is my mother, Hilda Gunderan.¡±


    There were sounds of surprise as Hilda didn¡¯t look much older than her daughter. This made Hilda very happy.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m very pregnant.¡± That produced chuckles. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ll be giving birth tomorrow.¡± That produced exmations of surprise and shock.


    ¡°How can you be sure?¡± Tish¡¯s sister Ellen asked.


    Sigrid smiled. ¡°I¡¯m a Valkyrie. We have very short pregnancies, and they¡¯re neverte or early.¡±


    There were several snorts and nervous giggles.


    ¡°How short is short?¡± Tish¡¯s other sister Jackie asked.


    ¡°One week,¡± Sigrid said, and the noise level rocketed as the gathered were a noisy bunch.


    Tish grinned happily as Steph had been one of the loudest voices in the group. Steph blushed in embarrassment from her outburst but saw Sigrid was just smiling at her.


    ¡°Fauns are twelve months,¡± Tish volunteered, and dismayed eyes turned her way. ¡°I didn¡¯t begin to show until nine months.¡±


    Kristen was shaking her head in wonder. ¡°One week from fetus to newborn? That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    ¡°Does that rate of development continue after birth?¡± Brian asked.


    ¡°Yes, for a time. A Valkyrie child must be able to run within four months and fly by six. At twelve months, they¡¯re able to fight using non-ded weapons.


    ¡°Fight?¡± Ellen shrieked.


    Hilda chuckled. ¡°Of course. We¡¯re warriors.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t Henry be part of this conversation? He¡¯s the Dad, isn¡¯t he?¡± Tish asked Sigrid.


    Her family exploded into noisy bewilderment. Cam, Marisa, and Siobhan grinned at the excitable family while the Kings watched in fascination.


    Lorelei watched Tish closely as she¡¯d just admitted the father of her child was also the father of Sigrid¡¯s. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was said as an usation or not.


    Sigrid blinked at the uproar then looked to Tish. ¡°I¡¯ll fill him in tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You mean he is? What about Tish¡¯s child?¡± Brianined.


    Tish raised her hands to stem another explosion of sound from her family. She smiled at them, and this calmed them somewhat.


    ¡°You know me. I¡¯ve always been a free spirit, a non-conformist. I love Henry, and he loves me. He loves our baby, Celeste, and will be her father. However, we¡¯re not exclusive. You could say we¡¯re a level above friends with benefits. Really, really, really good benefits!¡±


    Sigrid smiled and nodded, which started a chain reaction as Cam and Marisa nodded vigorously while giggling. A few of the otherdies began to nod in agreement, as well.


    Mahati was one of them, but her face was flushed with embarrassment. She stared at Kali when she saw her sister had joined in. ¡°We¡¯ll talkter,¡± Kali mouthed to her.


    Aadiya and Mahali pranced into the room, looking at the happy faces.


    Dotty, Brian¡¯s wife, looked to thetest arrivals and a light went on in her eyes. ¡°Henry¡¯s with these two as well isn¡¯t he!¡±


    Tish nced at her brother and then to his wife, as this sounded like her soapbox being dragged out. The woman would go on crusades if something offended her.


    ¡°If I may?¡± Cam said to get everyone¡¯s attention. She gestured for the twins to join her, and they quickly rushed to her and sat on either side of the Subus. Marisa had to slide down the couch to give Mahali space. ¡°Aadiya and Mahali are a special case. They are what¡¯s called Feral Subi. Until recently, it was a terrible but necessary practice for feral newborns to be euthanized as they could not be hidden from Humanity.


    Mab stole these rarer than rare twins from their birth mother, and they¡¯ve been in her captivity for most of their lives. Mab treated them like pets. They were little more than instinct-driven creatures when she introduced them to Henry. What she hadn¡¯t expected was that they would bond with him. It¡¯s an instinctual process, and it cannot be broken. They must be with him at regr intervals, or they lose their will to live and die.


    Baba Yaga took them from Henry the night they bonded, so she must have put them into some form of stasis. Then she released them on Eden, probably just before she went to Mab. The twins hunted and found him. When west saw them, they didn¡¯t have wings, and they had longer horns and fangs. They returned with these changes, so we assume they were evolved by exposure to Henry¡¯s Wild Magic at some point.¡±


    She stroked their cheeks affectionately, and they cuddled in against her. ¡°I have to say, they are far calmer and more affectionate than I expected. Their vocabry is growing as well.¡±


    Dotty looked to Tish ufortably. ¡°But are you okay with your man just showing up with two¡­ sexualized beings and expecting them to live with you?¡±


    Tishughed. ¡°Weren¡¯t you listening, Dotty? He isn¡¯t my man. He¡¯s my very good friend, my sex partner, the father to our child, and he loves me as I love him. He¡¯s a Satyr! He loves many of my friends. And when he showed up with the sexy twins, he¡¯d just returned from the dead after six months! I was ecstatic to have him back at all! Do I mind them living with us? Not at all! Henry isn¡¯t in my bed every night, but they are. Let me tell you, they¡¯re insatiable and highly skilled in the arts of sex.¡±

 321

    The room exploded once more withughter, cries of shock, and annoyed exmation of distaste at hearing about a sibling¡¯s sex life. Tishughed and fended off Steph¡¯s yful ps. She looked at the twins and blew them kisses, which made them grin happily and blow kisses back.


    The conversation was forcibly redirected back to Sigrid¡¯s impending birth.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be having the birthing ceremony here at the mansion. Mother will be my midwife. Eleanor King has volunteered to be her second should there be medicalplications. Dayshia said she will be Eleanor¡¯s support,¡± Sigrid exined.


    Henry stepped into the doorway with a sleepy look in his eye. He smiled at the assembled adults. Meixiu was at his elbow, and her excited grin drew everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°What?¡± Sigrid asked her.


    Meixiu shook her head with a mischievous grin. ¡°You must wait until tomorrow for Henry¡¯s surprise!¡±


    Now everyone was looking at Henry, and he chuckled at their eager expressions. ¡°I just stopped by the other sitting room to get the kid¡¯s impressions of what Christmas feels like for them. One of the things they mentioned was the feeling of anticipation. I never celebrated Christmas as a kid, so I didn¡¯t get to experience that. Tomorrow after dinner, I have a special gift for all of you. Now you get to enjoy what the kids say is one of the best parts of Christmas, and I get to anticipate the fun of giving it to you!¡±


    Henry held up his hands to shield him from their pleas and just shook his head. ¡°Meixiu has been sworn to secrecy as well. You¡¯ll just have to wait.¡±


    He walked over to see Sigrid and took her hands in his. ¡°Sorry. I missed your announcement with all that running around with General Crane. Are you feeling okay?¡±


    She squeezed his hands. ¡°Yes. I feel as big as a bus!¡± She gave her head a shake as he began to protest. ¡°We can talk in the morning. You look like you used too much energy tonight. You should get some sleep.¡± He nodded wearily.


    ¡°Did he get that issue resolved?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I think so. Crane was hurt in the process. Most likely just some nasty bruising, but he could have some busted ribs.¡± He frowned and looked over at Siobhan. ¡°Could I ask you to take a quick look at the General tomorrow? He was exposed to a great deal of Wild Magic, but it doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s being affected by it.¡±


    ¡°Wild Magic affects everybody!¡± Cam said in surprise.


    Henry nodded to her and shrugged as he didn¡¯t have an answer to that.


    ¡°No problem, Henry,¡± Siobhan replied.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± He looked at the rest of the people in the room. ¡°Merry Christmas! See you tomorrow.¡± Everyone smiled and wished him a Merry Christmas as well.


    As Henry left the room, the twins following close behind, Steph felt another surge of tingles as her eyes drank in his powerful arms and back. She nced at Tish and saw she was watching her. The younger sister leaned in to rest her forehead against Steph¡¯s.


    ¡°If you want to be with him, just ask him. Not tonight though, he looks exhausted.¡±


    Steph gasped softly and bit her lip. She looked into her baby sister¡¯s eyes and saw love and eptance there. With tears of happiness welling up in hers, she threw her arms around her sister and hugged her.


    She loved her family!


    Henry woke feeling refreshed and content. He felt the soft bodies of the twins cuddled in next to him. He kissed them gently, and their eyes opened as they smiled.


    ¡°Good morning, Mahali, Aadiya,¡± he whispered. ¡°You don¡¯t need to get up.¡±


    Their eyes closed again, and they reached for each other as he slipped out of bed. They were asleep once more in seconds.


    Henry grabbed a fresh Kilt and made his way to the washroom, where he quickly showered in his Human mor. He dried, dropped his mor, and dressed in the kilt before heading downstairs.


    He stopped on the second floor and listened at the master bedroom door, but it seemed Sigrid was still asleep. He didn¡¯t want to wake her, but he also wanted to talk to her about their child. He rocked slightly on his hooves as the concept of being a father again so soon shook his foundations.


    He continued downstairs and raided the fridge for a quick breakfast. He went out into the back yard and took his favorite seat in the gazebo. He engaged his Wild Magic-to-heat spell and felt toasty warm almost immediately, not that he¡¯d been affected by the cold too badly, to begin with. He enjoyed the peace and quiet of dawn for a while before pulling out his cell and checking for messages.


    There was a text from the Sergeant asking him to call as soon as possible.


    Feeling a little guilty for enjoying his rxed morning routine, he dialed the soldier¡¯s number.


    ¡°Henry! What the hell went wrongst night?¡± she immediately hissed quietly into her cell.


    ¡°Is General Crane okay?¡± Henry asked. He heard the sound of wind rushing by the cell¡¯s microphone, so the Sergeant was moving somewhere she could speak freely.


    ¡°Yes, no thanks to your force field!¡± she barked in a normal voice.


    Henry frowned. ¡°The spell wasn¡¯t there when I arrived in the conference room.¡±


    There was a moment of silence. ¡°What? What¡¯s that mean?¡±


    ¡°Everyone in that conference room absorbed a high amount of Wild Magic, but the only one who wasn¡¯t affected was General Crane. Something is off.¡±


    ¡°I almost blew the missionst night when the General was shot. How did he survive that point-nk gunshot if the force field wasn¡¯t active?


    ¡°He had the bulletproof vest under his clothes-¡± Henry began


    ¡°The vest should have failed against that hand cannon that close!¡± Mick asserted heatedly.


    ¡°When I looked, the vest seemed to be filled with some kind of stone, but that turned into a mist shortly after I saw it. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. Any ideas?¡±


    She was quiet for a moment. ¡°We don¡¯t have bulletproof vests filled with stone,¡± she responded. ¡°Can you heal his injuries?¡±


    Henry sighed. ¡°Not if he¡¯s immune to Wild Magic. I¡¯d like to have a friend of mine take a look at him. She¡¯ll try to determine why. Where is he now?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s at the hospital being guarded by members of the squad,¡± the Sergeant exined.


    ¡°Can one of the soldiers who¡¯s been in the hospital roome to my condo in New Jersey so I can get them to open the door to the hospital room for my friend to take a look at him? I don¡¯t dare visit the hospital myself as I¡¯m still gushing Wild Magic everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll send Yablonski,¡± Mick said.


    ¡°Thanks! Did you get the evidence you needed?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Yes, the room¡¯s recorders caught everything, and we got a copy too. They took Brixton, Hollis, and Densbridge into custodyst night. Colonel Miller is delighted to offer evidence against them as well.¡±


    ¡°So, I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about more missile attacks any time soon?¡± he asked, and sheughed.


    ¡°Keep that dome up, and you won¡¯t ever have to worry,¡± she suggested with a chuckle.


    He smiled. ¡°Noted. I¡¯ll adjust the permission to allow you and your team entry, but you¡¯ll need to slow to a walk to pass through it as there might be people inside.¡±


    ¡°Noted. Thanks! Yablonski will be at your apartment in roughly an hour,¡± Mick advised.


    ¡°Thanks! I¡¯ll top him up when he gets here,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Lucky man!¡± Mick moaned.


    Henry thought about that. ¡°I¡¯ll try to send him back with a packed lunch for the rest of you.¡±


    There was silence. ¡°Really? You can do that?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t know until I try,¡± Henry replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting pretty handy with this magic stuff!¡± the Sergeant said, impressed.


    He sighed. ¡°Yeah, it seems to being to me easier and easier. It¡¯s starting to feel like second nature, but that may be because of the stuff Baba crammed into my brain. I¡¯d still rather just work on tech.¡±


    ¡°Talk to you soon,¡± Mick said.


    ¡°Bye.¡±


    Henry sent Siobhan a text asking her to call him when she had a moment, then leaned back against the bench to enjoy the sight of the falling snow. They¡¯d had quite a bit of itst night, and it didn¡¯t seem to be slowing. The kids were going to love this!


    ¡°You needed to speak to me, Henry?¡±


    He turned in his seat and saw someone standing in the back doorway. The falling snow was obscuring the view, but he recognized Siobhan¡¯s voice. She¡¯d know where he was based on the glow he was casting off.


    ¡°Hang on, I¡¯ll be right there,¡± he called out.


    As he walked back to the house, he looked up at the snowfall. It felt heavier than the day before. Crazy!


    He shook off the snow and went in the back door. As he towel-dried, he saw many people preparing breakfast but none of Tish¡¯s family nor Dayshia¡¯s. Henry guessed they were celebrating their Christmas morning traditions at home.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Tish had Celeste in her arms, and Marisa held Natalia as they sat at a small table to the side with Sigrid and Hilda.


    ¡°Merry Christmas, everyone!¡± he called out from the doorway, and they returned the greeting.

 322

    Siobahn was waiting nearby with her eyes closed, so Henry gave her a friendly kiss and a hug.


    ¡°Mmm! I wasn¡¯t expecting you to be so warm after being outside,¡± she said in surprise.


    ¡°Ah, I forgot to turn off the heating spell,¡± he said and did so.


    Cam rushed over to get a kiss and hug, which was naturally outrageously sexy, and he had to struggle not to react. ¡°Find meter when everything settles down,¡± she whispered in his ear, her tongue teasing his earlobe as she pulled back.


    Shocks and tingles raced through his body as she pranced back to the counter. Henry took some deep breaths as Siobahn patted his arm.


    ¡°What did you need to ask me?¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s about General Crane. I have one of his Silver Soldiersing to help me open a connection to his hospital room. I need you to look at his aura to see if there is something off.¡±


    Siobhan¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Right! You said he¡¯s not affected by Wild Magic. He¡¯d be the only one to be that way,¡± she said quietly.This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    He nodded. ¡°He¡¯s also the only Human who was in a separate dimension when Mab tripped the curse. I believe he¡¯s the only fully Human man on Earth. I need you to take a look at the General but be careful, okay? Just a surface look.¡±


    ¡°When do you need this done?¡± she asked.


    ¡°One of the Silver Soldiers will being to the condo. I¡¯ll bring him here so he can open a door into the General¡¯s hospital room,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be here,¡± she said, patting his arm, then returned to the counter to help.


    Henry joined thedies sitting at the table. He kissed the heads of the two babies, then kissed their mothers, Marisa doing an excellent job of mimicking her mother¡¯s earlier efforts. She gave him a hot smile as he pulled back from her lips.


    He stumbled over to stand before Sigrid. ¡°Good morning! How are you feeling?¡±


    She pouted, and his eyes locked on her bottom lip. ¡°I feel as big as an aircraft carrier!¡±


    Henry snorted at the imagery. ¡°Nonsense! You look amazing!¡± He couldn¡¯t resist any longer, so he swept in and caressed her mouth with his and paid extra attention to that plump lower lip.


    ¡°OHMmmm!¡± she moaned and clung to his arms. He pulled back, and her blue eyes locked on his mouth hungrily.


    Hilda made a noise to draw his attention. He faced her. ¡°Good morning, Hilda.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to leave me feeling left out?¡± she asked with a sly smile.


    He froze, then he nced between the others at the table. ¡°I don¡¯t know the protocols here. How-how does one kiss the mother of one¡¯s girlfriend? And no, it¡¯s not the same as Marisa and Cam.¡±


    Tish just shook her head as she grinned, and Sigrid snorted in amusement. Marisa offered advice. ¡°Follow her lead.¡± That made Hilda¡¯s grin wider, and her eyes shed with what looked like a challenge.


    He moved to her side, and she turned to face him, still smiling. He bent to gently touch his lips to hers and felt her fingers slide into his hair on the back of his head. She took a tight grip then began to kiss him deeper. This was another dominance contest for her. He could tell he was going to have challenges with this one.


    He slid his fingertips along her jawline, and her bold tongue thrusts paused as he sent a torrent of tingles rushing down her neck. She tried to take the initiative again, but he was cupping her face in his big hands, lightning was racing through her nerves, and his mouth began to caress hers, nibbling at her lips, the tip of his tongue stroking across them, gently sucking on them and her tongue.


    Her eyes closed as his fingers massaged the back of her neck. She struggled to catch her breath and gasped into his kiss.


    When he pulled back, she swayed on her chair and grabbed the table to steady herself.


    ¡°Good morning, Hilda,¡± he repeated, looking into her eyes.


    ¡°G-good morning¡­ Henry,¡± she breathed.


    Sigrid could no longer suppress herughter, and the cheerful sound lit up the kitchen. The others who¡¯d been watching silently also joined in.


    Hilda suddenly realized she had an audience and looked around in surprise.


    Sigrid patted her hand on the table. ¡°Mother, never try to out kiss a Satyr.¡±


    She looked back at Henry. ¡°No¡­ I suppose not,¡± she said softly, which caused more giggles.


    Mahati and Kali arrived, and Henry kissed them on his way out. Both looked quite pleased.


    He spotted Dayshia and Sandy stepping out of the door to the vestibule. Henry was immediately engulfed in Kesini¡¯s embrace. He chuckled and smiled at Sandy when he noticed she and Dayshia were carryingrge shopping bags.


    ¡°Whatcha got there?¡± Henry asked curiously.


    ¡°Toys for the tables,¡± Dayshia said with a grin, and Henry just shook his head curiously.


    Sandy pulled one of the items from the bag. It was a set of miniature building blocks that could be used to build a variety of shapes. ¡°We have a variety of different toys, and we¡¯ll put one in front of each ce setting on the table, so everyone has something to y with,¡± Sandy exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool! These will be a big hit!¡± he grinned.


    ¡°Does that earn us a hint as to what your surprise is?¡± Dayshia asked slyly. Sandy cheered.


    ¡°Nope! Nice try, though,¡± Henry chuckled as he pulled the blonde into his arms.


    She was swooning when they parted, and Kesini had to carry her shopping bag.


    Dayshia got a hot kiss as well and pushed at him rather frantically as she caught herself grinding against him and was getting too excited.


    They rushed away toward the kitchen, grinning back at him as they kept each other steady.


    Henry stepped through the door into the cavern vestibule and saw one of the doors opening. He smiled at Lorelei, who he¡¯d caught mid-yawn.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m more of a night person,¡± she said as she blushed in embarrassment.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been up since dawn,¡± Henry said with a smile.


    ¡°Ugh! You¡¯re one of those!¡± she teased.


    Heughed. ¡°No sleep shaming!¡±


    She held up her hands and nodded her agreement.


    He held out his hands to her and gathered her against him once she ced her hands in his. He kissed her sweetly, and she sighed ever so faintly. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Good morning to you. I might be willing to be more of a morning person if I can get more of that,¡± she said sweetly.


    ¡°If I told you they¡¯re avable at all hours-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d never wake early again,¡± she immediately answered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go changin¡¯,¡± he sang, and she burst into giggles. ¡°Hey!¡± he eximed with a pout.


    He pretended to stomp away to his door.


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡± she asked.


    He smiled back at her. ¡°Just for a bit. I¡¯m meeting one of the Silver Soldiers in a few minutes, and I¡¯ll be back.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take long,¡± she said as she walked past and tapped his lips with a finger. She giggled at his surprised look as she headed for the kitchen.


    He went through the door and went to his front door, but the hall was empty. He went into his bedroom and rummaged for something he could use to store energy in that wouldn¡¯t immediately leak it all out.


    He found some dumbbells Tish used to use before her muscles outgrew them in the bottom of the closet. The heads were encased in rubber with a chromed handle between them. Henry picked up the thirty-pound weight set and gripped the handles, directing the energy from his rift down his arms, forcing it into the handle and the connected heads. It took a lot of effort to feed the power into the solid metal. Once he¡¯d filled all of the avable space in both heads for each weight, he released the handles. He couldn¡¯t see the energy, but when he gripped the handles again, he noted they wouldn¡¯t ept any more, so it seemed to be holding.


    There was a knock at the door, so he carried the weights to the small table in the hall and confirmed it was the soldier before opening the door.


    ¡°Wee, Mr. Yablonski!¡± He weed him in and locked up.


    ¡°Hey! The Sergeant mentioned you¡¯d top me up?¡± the soldier said immediately.


    Henry smiled and gestured to the dumbbells. ¡°Grip the handles.¡±


    The soldier nced at them. ¡°Thirty pounds? That¡¯s nothing!¡±


    Henry nodded to them with a smile, so the soldier took a grip on both.


    ¡°OH SHIT! YEAH!¡± the soldier eximed with arge smile as he felt his energy levels surging upwards until he had to let go.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty smart!¡± Yablonski said as he smiled at Henry.


    He needed to know how much the soldier had taken, so Henry took a grip and forced more energy inside the heavy metal. It didn¡¯t take much, so these two weights would probably be enough to charge the entire squad at least once-hopefully.


    Henry had spent more time in his condo than he feltfortable with, so he grabbed a small reusable fabric shopping bag from his kitchen and put the weights inside. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    He stepped through the closet door into the mansion and went up to the entrance to the kitchen.


    ¡°Siobhan?¡± Henry called out, and the woman turned to look at him. She nodded and joined him in the hall. ¡°This is Mr. Yablonski,¡± he said, gesturing to the silver man. ¡°This is Siobhan.¡±


    They nodded and smiled at each other.

 323

    Henry tapped on a door to a two-piece bathroom in the hall, heard nothing, and no one was inside when he opened it. ¡°Good. Mr. Yablonski, picture in your mind the hospital door that leads to General Crane¡¯s room.


    The man nodded. ¡°Keep thinking of that door as you touch this one.¡± Henry touched the back of his hand andunched the spell. ¡°Okay.¡± He handed the shopping back to the soldier. ¡°Give these to the Sergeant when you see her. I¡¯m going to go outside, then you knock on the door.¡± He gave Siobhan a look, and she nodded.


    With a final nod, Henry walked to the front of the house and stepped outside.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    Three minutester, Siobhan came running out and threw herself against Henry¡¯s chest. She was trembling and crying. ¡°What? What happened? Are you okay?¡±


    She squeezed herself tighter against Henry. He waited, but it took five minutes for her to calm enough to be able to speak. He put his heat spell on again, and his warmth finally drew her out. ¡°It¡¯s awful, Henry!¡±


    He saw the Sergeant standing in the front doorway. ¡°Henry, can you turn off the Magic Door so I can leave the General¡¯s room?¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said and guided Siobhan back inside. He had her take a seat in the formal living room as he brought the Sergeant back to the door to the hospital room.


    Mick stopped him just outside the door to the hospital room. ¡°I know you need to get back to Siobhan, but I wanted to thank you for the energy dumbbells. They¡¯re brilliant!¡± Her expression showed she was uneasy about something. ¡°I-I need to ask another favor, but I¡¯ll let you get back to her. Call me when you find out what she saw. She really freaked us out,¡± Mick said, and he nodded. She stepped inside, and he closed the door and released the spell.


    He rushed back to Siobhan and sat next to her, pulling her to his chest once more.


    ¡°Start from the beginning,¡± he said gently.


    She nodded, and a tremor went through her muscles. ¡°I-I did as you said, just a surface look. The Sergeant and Yablonski were in the room too. She wasn¡¯t glowing as brightly as Yablonski. Some of your excess had poured through the doorway, but when it flowed near the bed and the General, he seemed to fade into a shadow that pushed the Wild Magic away.¡± She sucked in a deep breath. He could see she was calming herself, so he remained quiet until she was ready.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to. I was just so startled by the darkness moving I looked closer, and then I was inside.¡± Her eyes opened, and she turned her face from him, but she left them open. ¡°It was dark, cold, ancient, vast, alien, and it felt like there was more than one. Our minds didn¡¯t touch, but I got all that just from the briefest nce. They-it was so vast, I was insignificant to it. I-I think I might have screamed. I shut down my sight and ran from the room.¡±


    Henry sighed as he knew what that darkness was. He was putting pieces together, but it formed an unhappy picture.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I exposed you to that, Siobhan.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°You warned me. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± She paused. ¡°You know what it is.¡±


    He wondered if he should tell her, but she was better off not knowing all the details. ¡°I have some hints from Baba¡¯s knowledge. You¡¯re fine, though. You never linked to it, just got pulled by the gravity into its influence briefly. That proximity leads to heightened paranoia. You can let it go as it was just an external stimulus. It isn¡¯t permanent or meaningful, and it fades quickly.¡±


    Henry could see Siobhan rxing as he spoke. He lifted her to her feet. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell anyone about Crane until I work out what we can do. Okay?¡± She nodded. ¡°Thanks! Let¡¯s go to the kitchen and see how the others are doing.¡±


    She nodded with a little smile, and they marched down the hall and into a room filled with talking andughter. Henry watched thest shreds of the clinging dread wash away under the sound of friendly voices.


    When he was sure she was settled, he slipped back into the hallway and made his way out the front door once again. He pulled out his cell and called the Sergeant.


    ¡°Henry! Did she tell you what she saw?¡± the woman asked nervously.


    He thought her anxiety levels seemed higher than normal, which would also be a sign of this shadow¡¯s influence on her.


    ¡°There is good news. The General is not in any imminent danger. Can you tell me if anything odd happened to himtely? Aside fromst night, any dangerous situations he somehow avoided?¡±


    ¡°The car bombing! Someone nted a bomb in his rental car. As he was about to get in, he said everything went ck, then he was across the street!¡± Mick eximed.


    Henry sighed as this confirmed his suspicions. There were ramifications and conclusions for this line of thought, but he still needed time to prepare himself for that, so he set it aside.


    ¡°Yeah, like that. Listen, as I said, the General isn¡¯t in any imminent danger, but you and the team will be if you stay in close physical proximity to him. You need to be around positive influences to counteract the thing that¡¯s protecting him. Laughter, family, rxing, these will restore bnce. You can still have short intervals in the General¡¯s presence, but when possible, use your cell instead of a face-to-face.¡±


    ¡°You say no imminent danger, but there is a danger, isn¡¯t there,¡± Mick said.


    Henry knew he had to be straight with her. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s an over-time umtive danger. He¡¯s fine for now. I¡¯m working on it.¡±


    He heard her sigh in relief.


    ¡°You said something about a favor?¡± he reminded her.


    ¡°Now I feel doubly guilty,¡± she moaned.


    ¡°Out with it! I¡¯ll tell you if it¡¯s outrageous.¡±


    She chuckled a little. ¡°Uh, you mentioned family a moment ago, and being around them would be good. You know the Squad¡¯s family are all Silver People now, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you mentioned that to me,¡± Henry said with a smile.


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re all out doing rescue missions on the highways due to the storm. They¡¯re pulling cars out of the ditches, ensuring the people are safe, warm, and have food and water while they wait for emergency vehicles, anything they can do to help,¡± Mick exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful!¡± Henry said.


    ¡°The problem is, the storm has been going on for so long, they¡¯re bing exhausted.¡±


    ¡°You need me to recharge them?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Could you?¡± the Sergeant asked timidly.


    ¡°Where are they now?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°They¡¯ve been following the storm, so most of them aren¡¯t far from you. Not far in terms of how fast one of us can run, that is,¡± Mick exined.


    ¡°Okay. Listen, tell them the address of the mansion and how to get here. Tell them to walk through the energy field and be careful of the kids like I described to you. I¡¯ll initially charge them myself, but I¡¯m going to set up a charging station in the woods behind the mansion. Future top-ups can be done there.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Henry!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just d to be able to assist them in their rescue efforts. They¡¯re doing good deeds. That should be rewarded!¡± Henry said with a smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re one of the good ones too, Henry,¡± Mick said fondly.


    ¡°Thanks! You too. Talk to youter.¡±


    Henry knew what he needed for the charging station. He¡¯d picked up the mainponentst night with Meixiu¡¯s assistance, but he needed a base. He walked over to the garden shed and went inside. There were supplies for a garden that Walter never constructed in the back corner. One item caught his eye. It was one of those reflective orbs people put in their gardens to reflect the beauty around them.


    He dug it out and saw it was a chrome metal orb bolted to a concrete stand. He carried it out of the shed and left it at the edge of the woods behind the mansion. Then he made his way back to the front door and went inside. He listened, but the voices sounded like they were in the dining room, so he slipped into the vestibule then into the cavern. He quickly made his way to the hidden corridor and slipped inside. He picked up thergest of the crystals he¡¯d collected and made his way back to listen at the hallway door.


    He was still clear, so he quietly stepped to the front door and outside. He decided to take the long way around to eliminate any chance of someone inside seeing him carrying part of today¡¯s surprise. When he was in the woods behind the home, he took some deep breaths and turned his perceptions inside to listen to the Wild Magic. He was listening for a deep hum that would indicate the crystal he was carrying was resonating with the crystals in the hidden corridor in the cave deep under his feet. He moved in an expanding spiral until he heard the hum, deep and strong. He set it down then went back for the chrome orb and concrete stand.


    It was a tricky maneuver, but he used two tears, one to Eden and one inside the chrome orb¡¯s interior, and transferred therge crystal inside. It barely fit, but he released the tears, and the sphere contained the crystal.


    ¡°Henry!¡±


    He looked towards the house as that was Roy¡¯s voice calling out for him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right there!¡± he yelled back.


    He wondered how Roy found him then recalled that Siobhan could probably find him by his glow.


    He¡¯d have to do this quick. The crystal was inside, but it wasn¡¯t connected yet. He put his hands on the chrome orb and dumped some Wild Magic into the metal. It took a fraction of a second for this charge to create a path to the crystal inside. This caused a pulse in the crystal, which jumped down through the solid rock to link to the power generator he¡¯d set up in the cave. A conduit was made, and Wild Magic pulsed on the surface of the Chrome orb. The charging station was working!


    He added a binding spell to anchor the concrete base to the ground. He¡¯d have toe out in the Spring to pour a real concrete pad to bolt the stand to.


    With the task done, he jogged through the snow to the back of the house, where Roy was giving him an annoyed look.


    ¡°What?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Didja perhaps fail to mention to anyone that we¡¯d be getting a whole lot of Silver visitors?¡± he growled.


    ¡°Oh! Damn! Sorry, I thought I¡¯d have time before they got here. They¡¯re family members of the Silver Soldiers. They¡¯re doing highway rescue work due to the storm, and they needed a recharge,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Ah, okay. Well, your guests are all out front.¡±


    ¡°Could you ask them toe around into the backyard?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Roy grumbled and went back inside.


    Henry walked back to the woods¡¯ edge and turned to see the first of the Silver People jog around the building. He waved to them, and they adjusted their path to reach him.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Henry,¡± he said to the first one who seemed to be their leader.


    ¡°Hi, Ron Tennison. Papa of Sergeant Michelle Tennison. This is my lovely wife, Dixie,¡± the man said, gesturing to a shorter female.


    It was hard to gauge age on silver faces, but Ron¡¯s voice hadmand authority in it. He was likely a military man himself, once. Henry saw the rest of the group had caught up.

 324

    ¡°Your daughter told me about the awesome work you guys are doing. I¡¯m so impressed and d to help. I just finished constructing a charging station for you guys. Just follow the tracks in the snow until you see the reflective ball. That¡¯s it. Just touch it and release when you are topped up.¡±


    Henry walked back with Ron, who nced once at Henry then reached out a hand to touch the orb.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± he eximed, then put his other hand on it and smiled at Henry. He lifted his hands no more than ten secondster.


    He grinned at the others. ¡°That beats chasing storms!¡±


    Dixie was next and only needed seven seconds before she pulled her hands back.


    Henry moved aside with Ron and Dixie as each member of the group took their turn.


    ¡°Why do you feel like fresh lightning?¡± Dixie asked.


    Henry smiled as he recalled the same words from-He froze as he saw four familiar faces in the group.


    ¡°Sam and Jeannie! Jake and Brenda!¡±


    The Lagrange and Miller couples waved at him, and once they¡¯d recharged, they joined Henry for a group hug. Jeannie was all giggles as she recalled the first time they did this with him. She gestured for Ron and Dixie to join, and suddenly there were seventy-seven Silver People all hugging one Satyr in the center. He let his Wild Magic flow through everyone, and they all grinned.


    ¡°Okay, people, we got rescuin¡¯ to do. We can¡¯t be wasting time hugging all day!¡± Ron called out and got a few boos but more chuckles.


    As the group pulled back, Dixie caught Henry¡¯s eye, and he could see she was still waiting for an answer.


    ¡°I have a rift to the alternate dimension inside me. The Wild Magic Energy flows out of it. It¡¯s the same energy you get from the charging station,¡± he exined.


    ¡°It feels smoother from you,¡± Sam said with a grin.


    ¡°It¡¯s the filtration!¡± Jake offered.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a filter?¡± Henry asked with a grin, and Brenda yfully pped her husband¡¯s arm for suggesting he was.


    Ron moved a little closer. ¡°Would it be okay for us toe back to use the charging station from time to time?¡±


    ¡°Come back as often as you need. As long as you enter the property line at a walking pace and watch for ying children,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°What happens if we run across the line?¡± one of the others called out.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get knocked back violently by the force field,¡± Henry warned. ¡°Also, from outside, you can¡¯t see anyone inside. Running in risks colliding with someone.¡±


    He had their attention. ¡°You can run on the way out, though. It¡¯s inbound traffic that the field protects against.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll all follow those rules,¡± Ron said loudly, and the group nodded.


    ¡°Thank you for the energy,¡± Ron said to Henry.


    ¡°You are most wee. I¡¯m just d I can support your efforts,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Sorry to eat and run,¡± Dixie said with a smile. Henry just nodded.


    He looked to the four Midwesterners. ¡°How did you get caught up in this group of the Silver Soldier families?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Who do you think helped the soldiers transform their families?¡± Sam said with a wave, and the four raced away after their new friends.


    Henry was walking back to the house when he came across a group of kids from Tish¡¯s family. La smiled as she saw him.


    ¡°What are you doing out here?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I just built a charging station for the Silver People. It¡¯s the reflective orb in the woods back there. Please let everyone know to leave it alone, okay?¡± he instructed.


    La nodded as she epted her mission to inform the others. Then they rushed off to take a look at the charging station. Henry rolled his eyes as he headed back to the house. Of course, they¡¯d want to see it for themselves before they told others not to mess with it. There wasn¡¯t really much they could do to damage it, but caution was prudent. He could always add another shield around it to only allow Silver People to get to it, but he hoped that wasn¡¯t needed.


    If the kids were here, it meant the adults were too, so he should help finish up the new dining room preparations. He also needed to speak with Sigrid,


    He realizedst night that some might feel ufortable with being in a cave, so he nned to add some windows that would show a live view of what was happening outside the real front living room and rear kitchen windows. He¡¯d found a spell in Baba¡¯s collection, originally designed to disguise deadly pitfall traps with illusions. He thought of a way to source the illusion with the light from the selected window panes.


    He went in the back door where Meixiu met him with a fluffy towel. He grinned at her as she dried off his legs and hooves. ¡°How go the preparations downstairs?¡± he said quietly.


    She smiled. ¡°Very well! We ced Sandy¡¯s and Dayshia¡¯s items on the tables and added evergreen boughs and ribbons! It looks so beautiful!¡±


    He gave her a kiss then called out as he saw Mary.


    She stopped and wandered back to see what he needed.


    ¡°You are my go-to carpentry person. Especially for framing!¡± Henry began with a grin, and Mary raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°I need two frames built which mirror this wall of windows.¡± He pointed to the windows on the kitchen wall that faced the gazebo and back yard. ¡°And the wall of windows in the front sitting room. I¡¯m going to mount them on two walls of the cave and project what can be seen from these windows in the new frames.¡±


    Mary nodded, impressed with his idea. ¡°Seems simple enough, but I¡¯d need tools, screws, and lumber. Do you have these?¡±


    ¡°No, but Roy does back at VRL,¡± Henry suggested.


    Roy was entering the kitchen, looking for Mary. ¡°I heard my name.¡±


    Mary smiled. ¡°We have a project. A quick one!¡± she added to defeat Roy¡¯s pout.


    Henry walked with them to the vestibule and linked the spare door to a door in VRL¡¯s basement.


    ¡°We have it from here, Henry. When the frames are ready, I¡¯ll find you. Sigrid was looking for you,¡± Mary said.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Oh! Thanks!¡± he said and headed back upstairs.


    There was a fair amount of noiseing from the dining room, which seemed to be the adults¡¯ default gathering spot. Most of the kids were outside though a few were in the front sitting room ying games.


    Sigrid was seated at one end of the table with her ever-present guardian, Hilda. The mother saw him at the doorway and stood to approach him. Henry immediately felt himself tense up. Hilda caught this and frowned sadly.


    She gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen where they¡¯d be alone.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for leaving you with the impression that I¡¯m always on the attack. You have my word that you have nothing to fear from me. You¡¯ve proven your mettle in battle and yourpassion when you healed me. I have to thank you as I haven¡¯t felt this good since I was Sigrid¡¯s age!¡±


    Henry rxed a little and nodded to her.


    She continued. ¡°I¡¯ve spent a few decades in my mountaintop vi in Italy. Thatst battle against the Archdemon who¡¯d reced the vige magistrate almost finished me. I was left with knees that would fail me under pressure and hands with diminished strength. I had no choice but to retire.¡± She took a deep breath as she seemed to be struggling with something.


    ¡°Those three decades were a self-imposed exile. I shut myself away from everyone, even my own daughter. She¡¯d visit from time to time, but they were painful reminders of what I was no longer capable of being. When Sigrid came to me this time, she was pregnant, and once more, my world was shaken. There hasn¡¯t been a Valkyrie birth since Sigrid came into this world. We don¡¯t choose our partners lightly. I had to know if you were worthy or had used magic to somehow trick her into carrying your child. How you defeated me left me with questions. Honestly, you really aren¡¯t very skilled in battle. It was embarrassing to admit you¡¯d won, but when you healed me, how you guided and goaded me to survive, I knew you understood. You¡¯ve endured greater battles than the one with me, even with your feeble fighting skills.¡±


    She seemed to notice Henry¡¯s scowl as she quickly finished. ¡°Valkyries define our worth on our ability to fight the forces of evil.¡± She sped Henry¡¯s big hand in an arm wrestler¡¯s sp between them as she looked into his eyes. ¡°You have my eternal gratitude for restoring me to my former strength so I cane out of retirement and stand side-by-side with my daughter once more.¡±


    He nodded to her and raised an eyebrow to let her know he was aware of her grip¡¯s increasing pressure. She didn¡¯t stop until he ramped up his own grasp. She pulled her hand back with a joyful bark ofughter.


    ¡°You are a suitable mate for my daughter! Tonight¡¯s birth ceremony will be glorious! The Valkyries I¡¯ve summoned will be in for an amazing surprise!¡±


    Henry blinked at the woman. ¡°You¡¯ve summoned Valkyries to join us here? Tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yes! They must witness the birth!¡± Hilda said joyfully.


    ¡°Is Sigrid aware of this?¡± Henry asked.


    Hilda made a dismissive gesture. ¡°It is the way of Valkyries!¡±


    ¡°How many are you expecting to show?¡± he asked.


    She tilted her head to look at him, puzzled by his continued protest. ¡°Between fifteen and twenty.¡±


    ¡°An extra twenty people are going to descend on the mansion without any preparation for them? You have been under a rock for thest three decades if you don¡¯t grasp the logistical difficulties that just added to our Christmas Party!¡± Henry snapped.


    He turned and went into the dining room, where he saw all eyes looking his way. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± he asked, and Sigrid shook her head. ¡°Fifteen to twenty Valkyries will be arriving tonight to witness a Valkyrie birthing ceremony.¡± Sigrid¡¯s eyes flew wide in surprise then she looked to her mother.

 325

    Henry suddenly pictured in his mind a Valkyrie swooping down from the sky only to strike the force field like a beetle in a bug zapper. ¡°Shit!¡± He ran for the front door and grabbed Hilda¡¯s hand on the way by, dragging her after him. They reached the drive, and Henry looked up. The snow was still falling steadily. He looked into the bewildered eyes of the woman. ¡°Are they going to fly here or drive here?¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Because the entire property is under a force field that will keep them out. If they strike it from above, it might hurt them,¡± he rified at her disbelieving scowl.


    ¡°Some will fly, and some will arrive in cars-¡±


    ¡°The road in isn¡¯t plowed.¡± Henry sighed. ¡°Pleasee with me so we can adjust the force field to allow Valkyries through.¡±


    They walked to the end of the driveway, and Henry had Hilda step through and turn around. He saw her startled expression when she couldn¡¯t see him. He reached a hand outside and guided her back through slowly as he had the force field record the particrs about Valkyries.


    ¡°Can you do it again but with your wings and armor?¡± he asked, and she turned around and stepped outside. He reached out and brought her back in. Once she was in, the spell was ready, and he let the change go through. The fly-ins and the walk-ins would be safe now. Then he stepped through the field himself to see the road conditions outside, and she followed.


    He looked at the windingne through the trees and thought it looked truly lovely, but the snow would be too deep even for some four-wheel-drive trucks. It was at least two miles to the twone highway thisne connected to. He looked left and saw the road ended in arge circr area for cars to turn around. That would make a good parking lot. Maybe it was time to call in a favor of his own.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back,¡± he sighed.


    As they walked back to the mansion, he felt her watching him. Finally, he stopped and looked at her. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand you. I made a mistake, yet you are the one taking on the burden of fixing it,¡± she said quietly.


    He frowned. ¡°The force field is my construct. It¡¯s meant to protect, but it can also harm. I would feel terrible if someone good were to hurt themselves on it.¡±


    She nodded as she thought about that. ¡°I see, but it wouldn¡¯t be your fault.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d still feel bad if I had the means to prevent it and didn¡¯t try,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Okay, but the road, you have no control over the weather, and I didn¡¯t consider the logistics before inviting them. This isn¡¯t your responsibility.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming a Valkyrie Birthing Ceremony is significantly important since births are so infrequent.¡± He looked into her eyes, and she nodded. ¡°Then it¡¯s important for Sigrid, and I¡¯ll make any and all efforts to ensure she¡¯s happy.¡± He paused as he thought about it.


    ¡°It¡¯s the way of Satyrs.¡±


    Once he got inside, he called the Sergeant, who was more than happy to loan him eight members of her team to shovel out the turning circle and the two miles of a countryne to reach the highway. The Sergeant said they¡¯d bring their own snow pushers, so Henry opened a door between the garden shed and the bathroom door in the General¡¯s room for them. He told Mick where the charging station was, and she told him they¡¯d call when they finished.


    Henry joined the others in the dining room and saw Sigrid was having an intense conversation with her mother, so he let them be. He looked around the room and noticed some missing people. He poked his head into the kitchen and spotted Meixiu working with Steph and Jackie. Meixiu smiled at him. ¡°We¡¯re preparing more food for the additional arrivals. Kristen, Dotty, and Ellen went back to their homes to prepare some dishes as well. We have many kitchens avable to us.¡±


    He spoke with La and Felicia and asked them if they could quickly make some signs that said park here and a couple with parking and an arrow. They nodded and rushed away. Ten minutester, they were back, and La had the bright idea to bring a staple gun. She was carrying their supplies in her backpack, so they went out to the turning circle and saw it was already clear of snow. In the distance, they could see plumes of snow from the Silver Soldiers working quickly.


    They put up the signs and stood back to admire their work. Some of them had little stars and heart stickers on them. Felicia made those she informed him.


    ¡°This looks great! Thanks!¡± Henry said.


    ¡°What happens if a car turns into the driveway?¡± Felicia asked.


    Henry thought about that. ¡°It¡¯ll hit the force field¡­ and fry the electronics.¡±


    ¡°We need to block ess and put warning signs up!¡± La said enthusiastically.


    ¡°One of those yellow and ck striped sticks!¡± Felicia offered.


    Henry moved to the edge of the field, closed his eyes, and pictured in his mind the warning Felicia was describing. He reached out and touched the energy field, walking across the width of the driveway. When he opened his eyes, he looked back and saw a wobbly yellow and ck line.


    ¡°That is so cool!¡± La gushed!


    He shrugged, then touched it again to envision it to be straight and six inches tall. The new shape snapped into ce, and the girls pped.


    ¡°Can we do that?¡± Felicia asked.


    ¡°If I help, yes,¡± he said.


    ¡°I want to draw an arrow!¡± La gushed.


    Henry put a hand on her shoulder, and she immediately dragged her finger along the field, but nothing happened. She looked back at him.


    He smiled. ¡°You have to use your will to envision the shape and invite the magic to y.¡± La¡¯s smile grew wider, and she nodded.


    The next time she tried, the wooden shaft of an arrow appeared on the surface of the field. Henry was impressed with how realistic it appeared. Then she added a silver triangr arrowhead and a brilliant white feather fletching at the other end.


    When she pulled her finger back, Henry released her shoulder and stared at the oversized, three-dimensional arrow floating above the left end of his bar, pointing to the parking area. ¡°That¡¯s brilliant!¡± Henry gushed. He looked at his poor t warning bar in disappointment. Art was apparently not his forte.


    ¡°My turn!¡± Felicia said excitedly. She moved to the right side of Henry¡¯s bar and lifted her fingers in preparation. He put his hand on her shoulder and reminded her of what she needed to do. He wasn¡¯t finished speaking when she was already using all the fingers on both hands to draw a brilliant red heart.


    Once again, it was three-dimensional, and it even seemed to pulse slightly.


    When Felicia stepped back, Henry released her shoulder, and she squealed as the girls hugged each other and bounced in ce, staring at their art.


    Again, Henry¡¯s eyes were drawn to his feeble attempt, which paled inparison.


    ¡°Okay, my ego has been bruised enough. Let¡¯s go back,¡± he sighed.


    That caused them tough hysterically, but they grabbed his arms and pulled him towards the house. They walked through their art, but it snapped back into ce once they were through.


    ¡°You drew a very nice yellow and ck bar. I¡¯m sure it will prevent people from wrecking their cars,¡± La said.


    ¡°2D is very retro,¡± Felicia added, and the girls burst into giggles again.


    Henry couldn¡¯t prevent the smile from appearing on his face from the happy sound.


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± he said to them as they went in the front door. They shed brilliant smiles at him as they rushed away to the sitting room to tell the others what they¡¯d done.


    He knew he was setting himself up for a day of art with the kids¡­ but that didn¡¯t seem like a bad thing.


    The door knocker thumped, so Henry turned around and answered it. He pulled the door open and saw arge woman standing before him. A second Valkyrie was putting her wings away as she set down just behind and to the side of the first.


    The two women stared at him in surprise and took a step back.


    ¡°What are you, and how do I get one to answer my door,¡± the closest one said as she ran her eyes up and down his body. She was tall and powerfully built, perhaps a little over-developed in her upper body as her arms were forced outward by her massive biceps. Her jet-ck hair was long but worn in ringlets and cascaded over her wide shoulders. Her skin was very dark, she was pretty and had a wide mouth showing many very white teeth, and her eyes shed hungrily at him.Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    The Valkyrie behind her was just a little shorter than her friend, and her muscture was closer to Sigrid¡¯s and looked more bnced. She also wore her hair loose, but it was strawberry blonde leaning towards red. Her expression was serious, and Henry got the immediate impression she rarely smiled. She just gave off the vibe of a serious person. Her lovely eyes were also roaming his physique, but she was calcting strengths and weaknesses. He was being evaluated.


    ¡°I¡¯m Henry Gable. I¡¯m a Satyr. You¡¯vee for the Birthing Ceremony?¡±


    The musclebound one¡¯s smile just got wider, if that was possible. ¡°Mmmm! I wonder if those stories of a Satyr¡¯s prowess in bed are true.¡± She reached for the bottom of his kilt, and Henry stepped back.


    ¡°My dance card is full,¡± he said in annoyance.


    ¡°Revna, this one is half beast. Do you not care what youy with?¡± the serious girl said, her eyes locked on Henry¡¯s, gauging his reactions, always evaluating. Her ent was thick, but Henry had no idea where it was from.


    ¡°What a racist thing to say! Keep that up, and I¡¯m probably not going to like you,¡± Henry said with a frown.


    ¡°Is that Revna? Slut of the southern beaches? And Kari, Inhabitant of Revna¡¯s bunghole?¡±


    Henry turned and saw Hilda striding towards the front door with a wide grin on her face. He stepped aside to give her unimpeded ess to the two visitors. He watched their expressions to see how they¡¯d react to Hilda¡¯s new look. They certainly responded to her words, their bodynguage clearly indicating they were primed for World War Three.


    Then they saw her, really saw her. They saw not a woman beaten by the ravages of her battles and hidden away for three decades, but a fully blooded Valkyrie ready to sink her teeth into the throat of anyone defying her anything she fucking wanted to do.

 326

    ¡°Gods! Hilda¡­ you¡¯re back?¡± Revna asked softly.


    Hilda bellowed a warrior¡¯s victory cry and leapt from the doorstep, her arms outstretched to grab the two women, carrying them down into the snow of the drive.


    Three more Valkyrie swooped down from the sky tond a few feet back from the three wrestling in the snow. Hilda popped back up to her feet and moved to grip the forearms of the three women smiling at her in delight.


    ¡°Ingrid! Runa! Sylvi! So good to see you again!¡± Hilda eximed.


    Revna pushed herself to her feet, brushing the snow from herself as she continued to stare at Hilda in shock. Herpanion, Kari, scowled at Revna from the ground and got to her feet on her own.


    Sigrid appeared in the doorway, and all eyes went to her.


    ¡°Sweet miracles, it¡¯s true!¡± Runa gasped, and Sigrid¡¯s face burst into a dazzling smile. She stepped out to lean against Henry. Eyes snapped to him, and smiles disappeared asprehension dawned.


    ¡°That¡¯s the father?!?¡± Kari snarled.


    Sigrid looked to Henry. ¡°Can you switch to your mor?¡±


    He nodded, and he was suddenly Human in jeans and a leather winter coat.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a mor!¡± Revna cried.


    Sigrid¡¯s smile didn¡¯t waver, and Hilda watched her daughter proudly.


    ¡°You know a Valkyrie can only be pregnant if her body chooses a suitable Human male. Henry¡¯s mor is powered by Wild Magic and has properties unlike any other. It matches the desires and needs of his partner. Henry was able to give a Kitsune a child. He was able to give me one as well.¡±


    ¡°This Wild Magic, just how strong is it?¡± Revna asked doubtfully.


    Sigrid looked at her. ¡°I cannot don my armor for obvious reasons, but I can give you a little demonstration.¡±


    She looked at Henry and gripped his hand. ¡°Charge me up,¡± she whispered.


    He nodded and fed power into her body until she let go with a sigh. Henry stepped away and turned his face as he closed his eyes tight.


    Sigrid¡¯s wings snapped out to full extension, and everyone staggered back, Revna falling to her ass once more as the frontwn momentarily became full sun midday instead of the dull gray stormy afternoon. She pulled her wings in, and the dim light returned.


    Revna stood again, patting the snow from her ass and blinking the spots from her eyes. She looked to Hilda, who was staring at her daughter in awe. ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± Revna asked.


    ¡°No, she hadn¡¯t mentioned she was powered by this new magic yet.¡±


    ¡°A mor cannot read and respond to desires and needs!¡± Kari insisted.


    Sigrid looked to Henry, who was looking back at her pleadingly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Henry. They need to see it working.¡±


    His shoulders dropped. ¡°I¡¯m gonna put up another privacy field, so everyone hold still,¡± he growled.


    The Valkyries looked at each other as Henry created a dome over the immediate group. Now they were invisible from outside it. Taking a deep breath, he dropped the clothes from his mor.


    ¡°Ooo! Very nice, Henry!¡± Hilda purred.


    Everyone got a good look, so he dropped his mor, canceled the privacy field, and shot an annoyed nce at Sigrid.


    Kari gave Sigrid a frustrated look. ¡°All this proves is that he has a good penis.¡±


    ¡°Hold your hands up to show the length you saw,¡± Sigrid instructed as she demonstrated what she saw. The gathered Valkyrie held their hands up and stared at each other¡¯s measurements. Some were close, but some were definitely not. Everyone looked at Revna as her hands were a good twelve inches apart. She stared in surprise at the others.


    ¡°Now use your hand to indicate its girth,¡± Sigrid said.


    Theypared again, and no one had the same measurement. They all looked at Revna, who was using two hands.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t kink-shame me!¡± she barked and eyed Henry hungrily.


    ¡°Also note that Kitsune are wielders of the old realm magic. Wild Magic is toxic to them. Henry¡¯s body is saturated with Wild Magic, but he was able to make love to the Kitsune, help her conceive, and his essence contained no Wild Magic, so she was protected. This was what she needed, so this is what the mor did for her. I¡¯m linked to the Wild Magic realm, so Henry¡¯s energy just powers me up. What I needed for creating a child, he provided. He gave me this.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s not Human,¡± Kari insisted.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s not. He¡¯s a Satyr and a beautiful person.¡±


    ¡°What if the child isn¡¯t a Valkyrie?¡± Sylvi asked.


    Sigrid giggled, and the others shifted ufortably. ¡°If she wasn¡¯t a Valkyrie, she wouldn¡¯t have been in such a hurry to be born.¡±


    She shook her head gently at the doubting expressions. ¡°You only need to wait a few more hours to see for yourselves. You¡¯ve already waited forty-five years since thest birth. I think you can be patient a little while longer.¡±


    She went back into the house, and Henry stood to the side of the door as the women followed her inside. Revna wasst and paused before him. This close, Henry realized just how massive she was. Then he jolted as her fingers were under his kilt, wrapping around his cock.


    ¡°Mmmm, you don¡¯t disappoint, do you,¡± she purred.


    He knocked her hand away and looked her in the eye. ¡°No, I don¡¯t, but for you, I¡¯ll make an exception.¡±


    She blinked thenughed as she joined the others. Hilda looked back and saw the suppressed rage on Henry¡¯s face. She frowned at Revna.


    Henry pulled the front door closed and remained outside to cool off.


    He saw the Silver Soldiers race by, dragging their big snow scoops behind them. He walked around the house and saw the shovels leaning against the shed. He realized the soldiers were recharging, so he waited. They soon came rushing back, all smiles.


    Specialist Feinberg stopped before him. ¡°This was a lot more fun than guarding a hospital room, and that charging station is amazing! I wish we had one of these in Washington.¡±


    ¡°Has the Strike Zone started to fade?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°No, the power there is still sharp as ss shards,¡± Dane replied.


    Henry frowned. That was odd. Maybe he¡¯d be allowed to look into that. He smiled at the group. ¡°Thank you for your efforts today on such short notice.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    ¡°Like I said, it was fun! Our pleasure,¡± Feinberg said with a nod. They opened the shed door and stepped through carrying their snow movers, and Dane closed the door behind them. Henry released the spell.


    On his way back to the home, he spotted the twinkling of headlights in the distance, moving along thene. He moved faster and was at the front door when a trio of Valkyrie marched up the drive to face him. Uniformlyrge and strong, striding boldly into the unknown. The two at the back might have been twins. Blonde and blue-eyed with their long hair bound back with ribboned braids. The one in front wore her curly red hair loose. She had gorgeous but intense green eyes and three deep scars crossing her face. Henry could see the left corner of her mouth drooped slightly, which was probably a cut nerve. His hands began to itch with his need to heal that. His mind shed back to a memory of Ikehorn and feeling his need to heal Tish. He smiled at the memory.


    ¡°Are you going to stare at us like a simpleton, or are you going to let us in?¡± the redhead snapped.


    Henry jolted out of his trip down memoryne. ¡°Apologies,¡± he said hastily and opened the door. Hilda¡¯s voice boomed out inughter from the formal living room. Henry looked to the lead Valkyrie once more. ¡°To the left.¡± She nodded stiffly as she began to enter.


    He couldn¡¯t stop himself. ¡°Speak to Hilda about her healing.¡±


    Green eyes locked on his and the fierceness in her gaze pushed at him to avert his gaze, but he didn¡¯t. He saw a little confusion slip into her eyes, then she was past him. Next, he was facing the blonde twins, and their fierceness was only a shadow less than their redheaded friend. They leaned closer and closer until he could feel their breath on his face.


    ¡°Who are you to defy Talia?¡± the first whispered.


    Henry sighed. He¡¯d hoped by the time he¡¯d grown up, he¡¯d no longer have to deal with bullies, but these Valkyries were reminding him of all those episodes in the hallways of the schools he¡¯d attended. Unlike then, he was no longer defenseless.


    He engaged his personal force field, and the powerful charge instantly stunned the two who were standing much too close. He dropped the spell as he took their arms and marched them staggering into the living room. He pushed them into a loveseat just inside the entrance. He looked up and saw a room of silent Valkyrie staring at him in shock. ¡°These two need a lesson on respecting personal space,¡± he growled and left the room.


    Hilda¡¯s delightedughter followed him down the hall to the kitchen.

 327

    His mind was still stuck in the dark times of his childhood, and Cam saw the pain beneath. She stepped forward and pulled him into her arms. He wrapped his around her and breathed in her warm and spicy scent, feeling his calm returning. He closed his eyes and let theforting sounds of cooking and the aromas of the delicious food fill his awareness. He heard Lorelei¡¯s joyfulughter from the dining room, and Siobhan¡¯s and Michelle¡¯sugh join hers. Tish¡¯s family was busy trading stories, and the sounds of their happiness helped unwind his tension. Roy¡¯s big hand rested on his back, and Kesini wove her locks around Henry¡¯s fingers. He gave them a squeeze and raised his hand to his lips to kiss the hair. He heard Sandy¡¯s sigh nearby. Cam leaned back to look into his opening eyes as Roy moved into view.


    ¡°Could I ask you to greet the rest of the iing Valkyrie?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Roy said. ¡°Mary finished the window frames, and they¡¯re up on the walls.¡±


    Henry returned his gaze to the adoring eyes of the woman in his arms. He felt something move in his chest and felt a little embarrassed by the surge of emotion. He covered it up by dipping down and kissing her. She squeaked in surprise but enjoyed his enthusiasm.


    When he pulled back, he didn¡¯t feel any less emotional, so he released Cam, who watched his expression.


    ¡°If no one minds, I¡¯m going to take a little me time to check on the spells I need to set up for the windows in the cave.¡± The people in the kitchen just nodded.


    He took one step toward the hall, turned, and kissed Sandy until she gently pushed against his chest. He quickly walked away, hearing Cam¡¯s deep purr of amusement as she helped a wobbly Sandy make it to a chair.


    The noiseing from the living room was unsettling, so he rushed through the hall door into the vestibule then into the cave, closing the double doors behind him. The doors blocked all sound from above, so he had silence atst. Henry slowly walked down the gentle slope to the cave¡¯s main hall, feeling his emotional equilibrium returning.


    He saw the framing hung on the wall to the left and approached it. The illusion spell slipped into his mind with ease. He realized his ability to ess Baba¡¯s magic was no longer a matter of hunting and picking through lists. Now he just had to think of what he wanted, and the appropriate spell slipped into his control. If his suspicions were correct, he understood why his abilities with magic were improving so rapidly.


    He couldn¡¯t focus on that right now, but soon.


    Seemingly out of the blue, his mind took him to Sigrid¡¯sment about his impregnating a Kitsune. Once again, he wondered how Yuko was and if she was having any issues with their child. He wanted to know, but he wasn¡¯t sure if he should just use his magic to appear at her location to speak with her. Maybe he could ask Kali to find out for him.


    Putting these thoughts aside, again, he approached the construction Mary and Roy had done for him. He linked each opening to a corresponding window pane in the kitchen. As the framing was the same size as the windows they were connected to, the illusion filled the space with a duplicate of the source window. He made his way down the row of windows until they were all showing the back yard. He caught sight of Ron and Dixie Tennison walking back from the charging station. They were talking with La and Felicia, who walked along with them.


    When he turned to face the chamber, he saw multiple round tables had been set up under their lighting. Each table was decorated festively. They likely borrowed all these tables and chairs from VRL.


    Henry walked across the cavern to the other frame. He applied the illusion spell to link these to the windows on the front of the house. Two more Valkyries were walking up the drive, and a thirdnded on the driveway and turned to wave at the others. They did the forearm embrace and grinned at each other. It was nice to see these peopleing together after a long period, and their being able to fly openly must have felt good as well.


    Henry turned from the windows and walked deeper into the cave until he reached the hidden corridor. He hadn¡¯t expected to have all these extra guests, so he hadn¡¯t gathered enough crystals to give one to everyone. He¡¯d put them away for now until the Valkyrie had left.


    He picked up the two heavy gym bags, carried them back to the vestibule, through his door, and left them in his condo¡¯s closet. Then he went back to the mansion. Several people were entering the corridor from their homes, and they were all carrying tters of food.


    ¡°Ah! Just the man we need!¡± Dayshia called out from the door to the main floor hallway. He turned to follow her to the dining room, where he saw all the chairs had been pulled back from the table, which was now bare.


    Dayshia stepped up to Henry and smiled at him. ¡°We have so much food we need to get this table down into the cave to hold the tters. Can you open a Magic Door?¡±


    Henry looked at the table and the fully open French Doors between the dining room and kitchen. ¡°I¡¯ve never made a Magic Door using French Doors. More importantly, will the table fit through the doorway?¡±


    ¡°If we roll it onto its side first and carry it that way, it will,¡± Mary said.


    Dayshia and Mary closed the doors, and he pictured the doors leading into the cave. The ss panes shed to ck, and for just a second, Henry thought he saw something in that darkness looking back. Then the panes were all showing the stone corridor leading to the cave. He would have put that brief impression down as paranoia, but it matched the pattern he was tracking. No one else seemed to have noticed it, which was another sign he was on the right track with his suspicions.


    Again, he pushed it aside to deal withter.


    The table was enormously heavy as it was overengineered, so Henry told everyone to leave it where it was while he got help. He marched to the living room and was almost there when he heard Cam¡¯s strong voice.


    ¡°¡­ before you even think of disrespecting him, ask yourself if you have what it takes to endure what he has. Do you have even half of his willpower and strength of character?¡± She was quiet for a moment, and the room matched her. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±


    Henry resumed walking, and all eyes went to him as he entered the room. Cam turned to look at him, and he swore he could see the hair on the back of her neck standing up in her rage. Her cheeks were pink, and she was breathing through her red nostrils in an attempt to control her breathing. He leaned towards her and tenderly kissed her cheek. Her eyes shed to his, and a smile slipped onto her lips. He wasn¡¯t sure what she told them, but they were quiet now.


    ¡°I need seven volunteers to carry a dining room table a few dozen feet. Weaklings need not apply.¡± Amused snorts were forced from several of thedies. He raised his hand to stop Sigrid from standing. ¡°Pregnantdies need not apply either.¡± She grinned at him.


    Cam left the room, and Henry followed her. He knew he¡¯d get more volunteers than he needed. Valkyrie pride demanded nothing less.


    When he arrived in the dining room, he had a dozen Valkyries lined up behind him. He immediately stepped up to the head of the table closest to the French Doors, which were now wide open. He took a grip on the tabletop and the end leg.


    Mary stood at the top of the table and waited until everyone had a grip. ¡°Okay, eyes on me. On three, lift. One, Two, Three!¡±


    The warriors grunted with the effort but got it a foot off the floor. Mary marched them through the door and down the ramp. When they finally got it into the chamber, several of the Valkyries were distracted by the fire orb lighting and lost their grip. Then a few more as the dropping table slipped through their fingers. Then only Revna at one end and Henry at the top were keeping it from crashing into the floor.


    Henry turned his head to look back. ¡°Half of you get to the other side of the table and lift the bottom so we can tip it back onto its feet!¡± Six of the Valkyries hustled to get around the table.


    ¡°Hurry, damn you!¡± Revna cursed as her muscles shook.


    Once there were hands on both sides, they tipped it up and got it on its feet. It was much easier to work with then. They positioned it where Mary pointed and stepped back with a sigh.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Henry said to the Valkyries, and they nodded though some looked a little embarrassed at having lost their grip.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Meixiu approached Henry. ¡°Can you change the Magic Door to face the kitchen instead of the dining room so we can bring the food in?¡±


    He walked to the door and altered the spell to do what she asked and got a kiss on the cheek from her for it.


    The remaining Valkyries, including Hilda and Sigrid, walked down the corridor. A few more had arrived, bringing the total to eighteen. They joined the others and stared up at the lights.


    ¡°What manner of me is this?¡± Talia asked, her intense green eyes locking on Henry¡¯s.


    Henry approached her and handed her a smaller ball of rose-red fire. She looked confused at first but epted the ball in her palm. He saw her grit her teeth, expecting to be burned but still taking it. He nodded to her as she gasped softly in relief as she realized it had no heat. Henry passed a finger through it to show it was safe.


    ¡°It¡¯s from a Will-O¡¯-the-Wisp spell but with the malignant purpose reced with instructions to remain tethered,¡± he exined.


    ¡°It¡¯s lovely,¡± she whispered, eyes mesmerized by the slow ebb of the me.


    He smiled and nodded to her.


    The tters of food wereing down the corridor to be ced on the long table. The kids started arriving and began a search for seats. There were no formal seating arrangements.


    Henry saw the Valkyries were watching the children, and most of the expressions were positive.


    Soon the parents wereing down the ramp, bringing thest of the food for the table.


    Mary whistled shrilly for attention and got it from everyone. She then gestured to Meixiu, who faced the group.


    ¡°Firstly, I would like to thank you all for joining us for the very first ever Christmas dinner celebration in my home. I¡¯ve lived in this mansion for more than a century, and there has never been more joy andughter within its walls than this weekend. Never has it seen children running and ying in its halls and yard, filling the home and property with their happiness. The transformation of my home to a ce where families are wee has filled my heart with a happiness I don¡¯t have words to describe. Thank you for sharing your joy with us.¡±


    There was a burst of apuse and whistling for her, and she bowed graciously to the group. She held up her hands and people quieted once more.


    ¡°I also want to thank everyone who helped prepare this feast on the table behind me. It all smells very good!¡± She pped, and more cheering erupted.


    ¡°We should also thank Henry for the extraordinary efforts he made to transform what was once a dark and gloomy cave for a cold and evil dragon into a warm, open, and dazzling banquet hall! These windows are amazing! OH! I can see another Valkyrie guest arriving!¡± she said, pointing to the window across the room. Roy headed for the front door to greet thete arrival. Meixiu turned and looked at the back window, then faced the group again. She pointed to that window as well. ¡°The Silver People, who give their time and effort unselfishly to help and protect others, are wee here as well! Henry provided them with a charging station they seem to enjoy very much.¡± More cheering as Roy returned with thest Valkyrie to join, bringing the total to neen.

 328

    ¡°My final thanks go to my best friend Sigrid, who took me in when I first escaped from the monster¡¯s captivity, gave me a home and a purpose, and asked for nothing in return. I am so happy to share my home with you for this most special event. The birth of a new generation of Valkyrie!¡±


    Huge, thunderous apuse from the Valkyries erupted, and the rest joined in.


    When sanity returned, Mary whistled again, and Meixiu instructed people to get their tes and fill them at the tables.


    Cam slipped up next to Henry and guided him to a table, and put a te in his hands as she took the next one. Then she gently moved him with the gathering crowd to the line forming at the table.


    ¡°I want to make sure you eat. You missed lunch today, didn¡¯t you,¡± she asked.


    He realized he had and nodded in surprise. ¡°You take too much onto those broad shoulders of yours. Your new abilities with magic seem to be consuming you. I¡¯m very impressed that you¡¯ve be so adept so quickly, but it is a little worrying as well.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°It¡¯s almost like there¡¯s some form ofpulsion to be proficient with magic in a short time,¡± he said quietly, and Cam¡¯s eyes locked on his as her smile slipped away. He nodded and touched a finger across his lips. ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡±


    They moved a little closer to the table, and he noticed Cam was leaning against him a little more firmly. He hugged her, kissed her temple, and whispered into her hair. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯ll be okay. Soon.¡±


    She looked up at him with worry. ¡°Soon?¡±


    He just nodded with a smile. ¡°We¡¯ll talk with Roy after the birthing ceremony.¡± He frowned. ¡°Uh, where is that supposed to take ce anyway?¡±


    Cam shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure. Outside apparently. Hilda said Valkyrie births are always outside.¡±


    Henry nodded, then noticed Cam had unconsciously wrapped her finger in his hair as she rested her left hand on his shoulder. He chuckled and gently tugged his hair by tilting his head.


    She released his hair, and her face went a little red. She gently punched his arm.


    It was finally their turn at the table, and Henry¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the variety of food avable.


    ¡°This is incredible!¡± he gushed and saw happy faces smiling back at him. So many people had contributed to the meal. Henry would have toe back for seconds and thirds to get to try most of the dishes.


    Sigrid was passing by on her way to her table, and her te was piled high. ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m eating for two!¡± she pouted at Cam¡¯s grin.


    They finished loading their tes and went back towards their table. Henry stopped a few times along the way to talk to his friends and confirm all was good. Finally, Cam got him seated next to Sigrid, who¡¯d already made it halfway through her meal. Cam sat on his other side.


    Sigrid reached over and plucked a chicken wing from Henry¡¯s te. ¡°These are really good!¡± she said after she took a big bite of it.


    ¡°Hey! I only had one of those!¡± Henryined.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a cry baby,¡± she teased.


    He stuck his tongue out at her, and she giggled.


    Henry set his attention to his te as he discovered he was really hungry.


    Cam rested her left hand on Henry¡¯s leg under the table, but he noticed she was just doing it forfort. He realized it might have been premature to let her know. He was sorry he worried her.


    He managed to finish his te just as Sigrid finished her meal. They got up for seconds, but Cam just waved her hand to indicate she wasn¡¯t ready. Sigrid cleared her te into the waste bin and rejoined the line, which was shorter this time. Henry stepped behind her once his te was empty.


    He spotted Aadiya and Mahali sitting with La and Felicia. The twins were watching the two girls very closely and mirroring their gestures and mannerisms. Henry worried this might not be the best situation. Laughter from a nearby table drew his attention away.


    ¡°Do you think your Valkyrie friends are having a good time?¡± he asked as he realized the warriors had joined the tables with Tish¡¯s family instead of clustering all together.


    ¡°We¡¯re a gregarious bunch. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be even more delighted if there was wine, beer, or hard liquor avable, but I let them know we¡¯re alcohol-free this weekend,¡± Sigrid said.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Cam told me the birthing ceremony will be outside.¡±


    Sigrid nodded as she plucked a few more chicken wings from a tray. Henry stole one from her te, making her squeak and attempt to get it back, but he sessfully blocked her hand. She reced the missing wing with another from the tray and stuck her tongue out at him.


    ¡°So¡­ the gazebo or on the front driveway?¡± he continued.


    She huffed then looked around in embarrassment. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Apparently, I¡¯ll just know and go there. It could be in the woods. It¡¯s instinctive.¡±


    He looked at her in surprise. ¡°Huh! That¡¯s fascinating!¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± she pouted.


    He smiled. ¡°What? The big bad Valkyrie doesn¡¯t like being pushed around by her own biology?¡±


    She turned and leaned her forehead against his as she looked into his eyes. ¡°Exactly!¡±


    He kissed her and got a hand under her te before it slipped from her fingers.


    She blinked as she returned from the kiss. She bit her lip gently as she collected herself. She nced down and took a grip on her te once more.


    Then she stole the chicken wing back from Henry¡¯s te.


    ¡°Wha-I saved you from dropping your te, and you steal from me?¡± he gasped quietly in mock outrage.


    She looked down her nose at Henry with a little smile on her lips. ¡°A dropping almost caused by you and your naughty lips.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯ll show you naughty lips!¡± he growled yfully.


    Roy stepped between them to reach for a dinner roll. ¡°Less dinner theatre and more dining,¡± he grumbled.


    Henry and Sigrid nced at the tables and saw most eyes were turned their way. Instantly their faces flushed with embarrassment.


    Henry grabbed another wing from the tter and another portion ofsagna as Sigrid headed back to the table.


    As he left the buffet table, he saw Kristie looking at his te and smiling. He raised a brow in question.


    ¡°You like thesagna?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I love thesagna! Did you make it?¡± he asked, and she nodded. ¡°It¡¯s delicious! Best I¡¯ve had,¡± he gushed, and she chuckled happily as she nodded to him, epting hispliments.


    ¡°And the wings?¡± a voice said from behind him. He turned to see Steph looking up at him with a hopeful expression.


    ¡°They are incredibly good! Quite possibly addictive and definitely the root cause of the uing battle between the Valkyries over thest one,¡± he teased.


    ¡°Oh!¡± she eximed, then burst into giggles.


    Two nearby warriors heard Henry¡¯s statement about the wings running out and immediately leapt to their feet to rush the table to get more.


    Henry leaned closer to Steph to whisper. ¡°See!¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    She smiled up at him and trembled. Her voice failed her, so she just nodded. He smiled and continued back to his table. He lifted his fork to fend off Sigrid¡¯s encroachment and missed seeing Cam lift a wing from his te.


    He looked down, then his head whipped around to stare at Cam in shock as she nibbled the wing. Sigrid burst intoughter as her mother watched her happiness with a loving smile.


    Cam smiled victoriously with the spicy-sweet barbeque sauce on her lips.


    Henry dipped his face to hers and cleaned the sauce away with the tip of his tongue. Cam felt that zing from her lips to her intimate areas and gasped.


    ¡°Damn good wings,¡± Henry said with a pleased smile as he turned back to his te. He had to fuel his big body, after all.


    Dinner was filled withughter, excellent food, great conversation, and anticipation for Henry¡¯s big surprise. Felicia was first to wander by Henry and drop a subtle hint that she could keep a secret if he wanted to tell her. He just chuckled.


    Henry spotted Raymond and Eleanor King arriving and Meixiu jumping up to greet them. He wiped his mouth and joined them by the entrance.


    ¡°Merry Christmas, Henry!¡± the Kings said in unison, and he shook Raymond¡¯s hand and dipped forward to kiss Eleanor¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°Could I speak with you three upstairs for a second?¡± he asked, and they all nodded with a curious look.


    He led the way up to the formal living room where they could be alone and turned to face them with a smile.


    ¡°We¡¯re busy stuffing our faces with a magnificent meal Meixiu and others prepared for us, and she doesn¡¯t get to partake in it. I thought it only fair to offer you a meal as well,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°It never stops feeling both strange and charming to be offered a meal,¡± Eleanor said with a bashful smile. ¡°Thank you so much for your generosity,¡± she said as Henry raised his left wrist to her.


    She took a drink and healed the spot. ¡°Ooo! I think I¡¯d better sit for a moment. I have a bit of a head rush.¡±


    Raymond helped her sit, then epted Henry¡¯s left wrist as well. He took his meal and trembled after he licked the spot to close the bite. He thanked Henry then carefully sat next to his wife. She leaned against his shoulder.


    ¡°Best. Christmas. Ever,¡± she sighed. Raymond chuckled.


    Meixiu approached Henry, and he wrapped her in his right arm, pulling her back to his chest as he lifted his wrist to her mouth. She kissed the soft skin there first. ¡°Thank you, Henry.¡± She drank.


    After, Henry sat the sleepy woman in the chair across from the couple and kissed her tenderly. He turned to the Kings. ¡°When you feel up to it, please join us. The kids are doing light show presentations after the meal.¡± They nodded, so he headed back to the cavern and rejoined his table.


    Near the end of the meal, he added a medium-sized me orb by the cavern wall waist-high, and Michelle added a strand of silk from it to the nearby lowest strand that supported therge fireballs. He turned to the tables.

 329

    ¡°Hello! Can I have your attention, please!¡± he called out loudly to be heard above the Valkyrie¡¯sughter. Heads turned in his direction. ¡°Just a heads up, we¡¯re going to let the kids do some light shows with the overhead orbs. I¡¯ll add a light to each table to ensure you can see each other and see your desserts.¡± He noticed the food trays were being reced on the table with new trays of cookies, cakes, and pies.


    Henry walked from table to table, touching the edge and tethering a softball-sized orb of white me that floated to the center and hovered two feet above the surface. He greeted the people at each table, and the Valkyries were always surprised by his little magic trick. The Kings were impressed as well.


    He spotted Talia, and she still had her red orb resting on her shoulder. It cast its light against her red hair, making it glow. She smiled at him with a nod.


    He had to pause by the dessert table to end a squabble and inform Aadiya and Mahali that Dotty¡¯s coconut squares were for everyone. Dotty was deeply ttered and let them take three each. They thanked her and rushed away with their treats.


    Once all the tables had a glowing centerpiece, Henry gave the signal, and La touched the wall-mounted orb with her eyes closed. Starting at the lowest one and working their way up, therge ming ball popped into a shower of sparks, which fell amongst the diners. The audience was suitably impressed, and all of the lights came back to full brightness once the show was done. The gathering apuded for La, and she bowed with a broad smile.


    Felicia was next and stuck to what she knew. Each of therge globes became a big red heart from bottom to top, with each pulse sending a shower of smaller red hearts floating down to the tables. More apuse for the girl, and she skipped away happily.


    Each of the kids did their best, and Henry was very proud of Tommy¡¯s effort, which had all of the orbs berge blue water drops at once with rain falling on the tables below. There was a round of apuse for all of the kids once they¡¯d all had their turn, and suddenly Sigrid appeared at Henry¡¯s elbow with a frantic look on her face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°Nothing. I-I know where I need to be!¡±


    He waited, but she just looked at him. Hilda walked up to her with a concerned expression. ¡°Sigrid, you have to say it out loud.¡±


    ¡°EDEN!¡± she shouted as her body trembled. Henry¡¯s eyes widened at her intensity.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Eden?¡± Hilda asked.


    ¡°Now!¡± Sigrid said, and Eleanor rushed over to join them with Dayshia at her heels.


    Henry faced the crowd, who were now all on their feet. ¡°This wasn¡¯t exactly how I was going to do this, but my surprise for everyone is a trip to another dimension¡­ if you want to join us.¡± At Sigrid¡¯s tightened grip, he turned and walked deeper into the cave.


    ¡°Aadiya! Mahali!¡± Henry called out, and momentster, they dropped down in front of him, having flown over the others.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Eden. I need you two on sky patrol.¡± Henry instructed, and they hopped up and down excitedly with wide grins.


    ¡°Henry! Where are we going?¡± Sigrid asked desperately. ¡°Can¡¯t you just open a tear?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Not for this many people! Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re here.¡±


    Henry reached forward and touched the rock wall before them, and it disappeared. A short corridor appeared before them with a set of heavy wooden doors at the end. He released Sigrid¡¯s hand and added light orbs to the walls. He turned back to the crowd in the hall. ¡°What you are about to see is quite possibly the most sensitive secret on the. Keep it to yourself. Don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± At Sigrid¡¯s frantic look, he turned, closed his eyes, grasped the handles, andunched the spell. The crystals in the wall behind the doors red to life and glowed iridescently. He pulled the doors open, and behind them was a field of tall red grass.


    Sigrid cried out in relief and surged forward, but not before Aadiya and Mahali shot through the door and leapt into the sky, hunting for ribbon creatures.


    Henry looked over his shoulder at the doors, which appeared to be embedded in a t rock face that rose another ten feet before bing a wooded hill. He anchored two me orbs to the rock on either side of the doors then felt his hand gripped by Sigrid.


    She immediately began marching then toward the small rise in the distance where they¡¯d conceived their child.


    Hilda, Eleanor, and Dayshia were directly behind them. The Valkyries wereing out of their state of stunned awe and were beginning to hustle to catch up a short distance back. Further back, Roy and Mary were guiding the families inside.


    Sigrid tugged his hand, and he saw she was tiring, so he scooped her into his arms and began to run.


    They crossed the field as Henry¡¯s powerful legs pounded the ground between big strides. He carried her to the spot they¡¯d enjoyed each other in the grasses.


    ¡°A little further,¡± Sigrid said with her eyes closed.


    He slowed, but he knew where they were going. He stopped before the tree as Sigrid opened her eyes with a relieved smile. ¡°Yes. Here.¡±


    Henry¡¯s heart was in his throat, so he couldn¡¯t tell her the significance of this spot for him. Once he got control again, he realized he needed to keep it to himself. This spot was special to Sigrid for her own reasons and should remain so.


    Hildanded and knelt next to Sigrid. ¡°How are you doing, sweetpea?¡±


    Henry looked at Sigrid in delight. ¡°Sweetpea? I love it!¡±


    She pouted, but he could see the smile in her eyes. She looked to her mother. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±


    Eleanor finally caught up, but Dayshia was still a way out.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go get Dayshia,¡± Henry said to Sigrid, who nodded.


    He ran down the slope and charged across the field of red grasses. Dayshia stopped moving when she saw him returning so she could catch her breath. He reached her and immediately scooped her into his arms, and headed back at a run.


    ¡°Is everything all right?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just time, so Sigrid says,¡± Henry answered.


    They looked up as the Valkyries flew by overhead. Looking to the skies to their left, Henry saw Aadiya and Mahali ripping a medium-sized ribbon creature to shreds. They only needed to do that once to make all ribbons in a ten-mile radius make themselves scarce. The twins would be returning shortly.


    Henry set Dayshia down on her feet then moved to Sigrid. ¡°What can I do?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Nothing! This is a Valkyrie rite!¡± Hilda scolded, and he frowned at her.


    Sigrid smiled up at him. ¡°Stay close.¡± He nodded to her and moved to stand by Eleanor and Dayshia. The Valkyries had allnded fairly close and were either watching Sigrid with intense concentration or were casting their eyes around this strange new world with its red vegetation and orange sky.


    Hilda was kneeling between Sigrid¡¯s bent knees as she watched the baby¡¯s birth progress, speaking soft instructions to Sigrid, who was doing her best.


    Henry looked back across the field and saw a group containing Cam, Tish, and many of her siblings and their spouses making their way closer. A second group, mostly the kids, remained close to the doorway. The kids seemed to be having fun running around in the red grasses.


    Sigrid lifted her hand in his direction, and he immediately knelt next to her and took her hand. He felt how low her energy levels were getting. This was taking too much out of her. He gently pushed the Wild Magic into her body. It was much harder for him to do it here as the rift wasn¡¯t under pressure. He realized he could implement a stronger control on his rift if he did it here. That was a thought forter. For now, Sigrid needed energy, so he gave her as much as he could.


    ¡°That¡¯s better, sweetpea! Keep pushing! The head is crowning!¡±


    Sigrid¡¯s wings suddenly extended, and their brilliance, powered by Henry at the moment, exploded across the field.


    Henry squinted as he could see Hilda doing something, then he heard a p and a baby¡¯s howl of shock and outrage. Hilda turned and held the baby up for all of the gathered Valkyrie to see.


    ¡°Born this day on a world none of her kin has ever seen, behold the wonder of Ylva Gunderan! Vow your shield to defend and your spear to avenge!¡±


    An enormous battle cry rolled over the hillside. The gathered Valkyrie were suddenly in the battle armor, banging sword, hammer, or spear against their shields as they raised their voices to the heavens, unfamiliar as they were.


    Henry watched this in shock, then looked to Sigrid, who looked exhausted. ¡°Put your wings away, Sigrid,¡± he said as he gently touched her tummy. He froze and looked down as he felt something pushing back.


    ¡°Uh, Hilda?¡± he asked, but she was walking down the slope to show off her new granddaughter when he looked.


    He looked to Eleanor. ¡°Help?¡±


    She and Dayshia rushed to his side. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± the surgeon said.


    ¡°I think she has another baby!¡± Henry said and looked to Dayshia. ¡°What do you see?¡±Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    The woman¡¯s eyes shed softly. ¡°Yes! Another baby! Uh, it¡¯s breech.¡±


    Sigrid moaned. ¡°Henry, I cannot¡­¡±


    He was getting worried as she was seriously weakening. ¡°It¡¯s okay, sweetpea-Ow!¡± He held his ear as it stung from Sigrid¡¯s p.


    ¡°Only mother calls me that¡­¡± she sighed and winced.


    He kissed her hand as his mind raced. Baba had no useful spells as they all ended up with someone dying. He needed to get the baby turned head down then out of Sigrid, but no one would be strong enough to reach inside a Valkyrie-


    He looked to Eleanor. ¡°Get Sandy here, now!¡±


    The surgeon turned and raced down the hill as fast as her Vampire abilities allowed her to move. Henry saw her meet the blonde then they were both running back at high speed, Eleanor towing and Kesini keeping Sandy on her feet.


    By now, their actions finally caught Hilda¡¯s attention, and she was returning with the baby in her arms and a concerned look on her face.

 330

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± she gasped.


    ¡°Sigrid has a second baby,¡± Henry said as he gestured Sandy closer.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Valkyries have one child! The birthing ceremony-¡±


    ¡°Is done! You have the daughter. Now move back and let us work!¡± Henry said and red at her. She stepped back in surprise.


    Henry immediately ignored her. ¡°Sandy. I need you to have Kesini reach in and turn the baby, head down.¡± He had an idea. ¡°Dayshia, do you remember when we used to share an image amongst all of us?¡±


    Dayshia¡¯s expression soured. ¡°Yes, confusing days.¡±


    ¡°I want you to look inside Sigrid and share what you see with Sandy, through me. Sandy can guide Kesini,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°How can I see too? I can help!¡± Eleanor insisted.


    ¡°Just close your eyes and put your hand on my shoulder,¡± he said.


    Henry opened his connection to the Wild Magic and held out a hand to Dayshia. She reluctantly gripped it and turned her eyes to Sigrid once more.


    The image began a little hazy as Dayshia was resisting, but he squeezed her fingers reassuringly, and the picture came through sharply. He found Eleanor¡¯s link to him and sent her the image. She cried out in surprise then he was feeding the image to Sandy and Kesini.


    ¡°Make sure Kesini curls her tips before insertion,¡± Eleanor suggested, and Kesini curled her tips and slid inside. More and more of Kesini slid inside until she reached the baby and slid up its back.


    Henry watched as Eleanor guided Sandy and Kesini in turning the baby. He spared a quick peek at Sigrid. ¡°Are you able to push?¡±


    Sigrid barely shook her head, and her eyes were mere slits.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to do it for you,¡± he said gently. He pictured in his mind Kesini enveloping the baby and pulling it out. More of Kesini went up inside Sigrid and carefully wrapped around the baby. When they tried to pull, Sigrid¡¯s muscles wouldn¡¯t rx.


    Henry put his hand under Sigrid¡¯s ass and sent energy into her body, feeling her muscles warm and rx.


    ¡°Now Kesini. Push her walls open to get the baby by,¡± he directed.


    Sigrid cried out as she experienced the worst muscle cramp possible, then she passed out as Kesini guided the baby out.


    Henry looked up at a dumbfounded Hilda. ¡°Give the baby to Cam and help us with the umbilical cord,¡± he snapped as Dayshia and Eleanor moved back.


    Kesini unbundled the baby as Hilda knelt down. Henry caught a glimpse of the joy on Cam¡¯s face then he was gripping Hilda¡¯s arm to keep her kneeling next to him as she struggled to get up.


    ¡°Yes, I see it too. It¡¯s called a penis, and baby boys have them. He needs your help, grandma.¡±


    She looked at him, and he could tell she was upset that her perfect little dream wasn¡¯t going to n. He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Does a Valkyrie go to pieces each time life getsplicated? If so, buckle up, buttercup, my life is asplicated as they get, and if you¡¯re around me, you¡¯re joining the party, like it or not.¡±


    She trembled, then got to the task of tying off the umbilical cord. She didn¡¯t have a second mp and looked to him. He looked over her head at the other Valkyries. ¡°Anyone carrying a spare mp for the umbilical?¡±


    Talia stepped forward quickly and handed him one. He looked at her in surprise. ¡°A Valkyrie is prepared,¡± she said as her face pinked up. She looked away as Hilda added the mp.


    Henry picked up his son before Hilda could p him. He cuddled him and rubbed his back. He coughed and began to cry, loudly. Henry grinned at everyone, then tears of happiness rolled down his cheeks as he looked at the perfect little face. He was pink and perfect, with a patch of jet-ck hair, ten little fingers, and most importantly, ten little toes, no hooves.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry looked to Sigrid and saw she was smiling at him. He thought she actually looked a little better as her energy levels increased. She suddenly grunted painfully, and the centa dropped onto the ground. Eleanor moved forward and examined it with Dayshia. They both pronounced it looked healthy and were pleased Sigrid passed it sessfully.


    Henry sniffed his boy, then yelped painfully as the baby got a grip on his ear and squeezed.


    ¡°OW! OW! FuckFuckFuck!¡± Henry cursed as he tugged his ear free from the infant¡¯s grip.


    He held the baby cradled in his arm and looked down at him in surprise as the baby looked up at him, no longer crying.


    ¡°What kind of newborn is that strong?¡± he gasped.


    Hilda blinked at the child then shared a look with Talia, who was suppressing a smile of her own.


    ¡°I suppose I should name him,¡± Hilda said.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    They looked down at Sigrid. ¡°His¡­ name is Stanley.¡±


    Henry sucked in a breath as his chest suddenly tightened.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the name a Valkyrie should have-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Stanley! Let me hold my babies,¡± Sigrid said, holding her hands out.


    Henry immediatelyid baby Stanley in his mother¡¯s arm, and she cooed to him. His eyes followed her face.


    Henry epted his daughter from Cam with a huge smile. The baby girl had the whitest blonde hair, and her eyes were blue, but he¡¯d heard they were always blue before they change. He couldn¡¯t help but recall another blue-eyed baby girl,id to rest on this very spot. He vowed to ensure this child would get to have the life the other had been denied.


    He dipped his face close to smell her.


    ¡°OW! ShitShitShit! OW!¡± Henry hissed as he tugged his bruised ear from Ylva¡¯s tiny fist. He set her down on Sigrid, who grinned at him before nuzzling her daughter.


    ¡°Do we really need to call her Ylva?¡± he asked.


    Sigrid looked up at him in surprise. ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong with Ylva? It¡¯s a solid Valkyrie name,¡± she insisted.


    ¡°Yeah, but you never see it on a souvenir mug or baseball cap,¡± he suggested, and she snorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s not my priority,¡± she responded.


    He looked her in the eye. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how much it means to me that you named our son, Stanley.¡±


    ¡°He looks like a Stanley,¡± she said happily.


    ¡°When he gets all muscr, we¡¯re gonna have to start calling him Stan,¡± Henry sighed, and Sigrid giggled. She sighed and leaned back against the tree, taking in the scenery.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why but this ce makes me feel so calm and at peace with¡­ everything,¡± she said quietly.


    Henry looked at her seriously. ¡°You gave me a scare for a moment. You were weakening, and I was doing everything I could, but it wasn¡¯t working.¡±


    She looked at him oddly. ¡°What are you talking about? You¡¯ve given me all this energy!¡±


    He frowned. ¡°At the beginning, yes. But I was a little too busy to do that after Ylva was born.¡±


    Cam pushed Henry aside with a frown of her own for his ignoring the children before him. She smiled at Sigrid. ¡°Your babies are so beautiful, and I love that you¡¯ve named him Stanley!¡±


    Sigrid beamed a wonderful smile at her friend. ¡°It just felt right!¡±


    Henry turned to Sandy, Dayshia, and Eleanor. ¡°I want to thank you for stepping up anding to our aid under less-than-ideal conditions.¡±


    The threedies looked around at the natural setting around them and burst intoughter.


    Sandy recovered first. ¡°Henry, we work in some of the busiest hospitals in New York City. This is idyllic byparison.¡± Kesini moved a little stiffly. ¡°A shower would be wee, though.¡±


    Eleanor¡¯s face was glowing in her excitement. ¡°That was one of the most fascinating experiences I¡¯ve had in¡­ let¡¯s just say it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never worked in obstetrics, but it felt so good to help bring a new life into the world!¡± Dayshia gushed. She also seemed to be riding a high.


    Henry noticed Xiong standing a short distance away with Revna, Ingrid, Sylvi, and Runa standing around him, poking him with their fingers and peering inside his ssy depths.


    ¡°Excuse me for a minute?¡± he asked the three healthcaredies, but they were already lost in an intense conversation. He hustled over to Xiong¡¯s side.


    Revna looked back at Henry. ¡°What¡¯s this strange creature that inhabits this world?¡±


    Henry smiled as he opened a link to Xiong through the magic and sent a hello. He looked to the Valkyrie. ¡°This is Xiong. He was the first Human to be changed into a ss Person by the Pseudo-Clouds back on Earth. He lived in a small vige in a mountainous region of China.¡±


    Revna¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°This was Human?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but he¡¯s so much more now. The ss People are beings of deeppassion and intellectual brilliance. They¡¯re learning about themselves and the world around them at exponential rates. They¡¯re a beautiful people.¡± He smiled at his friend. ¡°He¡¯s also the de facto leader of the vige though it embarrasses him to be called that,¡± Henry said with a grin.


    He connected with Xiong and asked about a ce to get cleaned up. Xiong excitedly showed him a recent discovery not too far from the vige. It was a hot spring and arge one.


    Henry thanked Xiong and felt the vige¡¯s love pouring through. He sent his love for them in return.


    ¡°The ss People here were all Humans at one time, but they like it here more,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°How?¡± Revna asked. ¡°Did they all walk through your little door?¡± Her tone was more than a little condescending. He couldn¡¯t let that slide.


    Henry smiled as he walked right up to her and opened a tear at her back, leading to the mansion¡¯s snowy frontwn. ¡°Who needs a door?¡± He shoved her through tond in the snow. The othersughed as she sputtered in the fluffy stuff. ¡°See you shortly,¡± he said with a grin and shut the tear.

 331

    This made the remaining Valkyries burst intoughter and p him solidly on his back.


    ¡°Was that too far?¡± he asked, and Silvi snorted.


    ¡°It¡¯s the only thing she understands. Trust me, she¡¯ll like you even more now.¡± She paused. ¡°Not that that¡¯s necessarily a good thing.¡±


    Rena and Ingridughed even harder as the three walked back to the others.


    ¡°Your abilities with magic have grown exceptionally,¡± Xiong said, and he nodded. ¡°Could that be due-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± he said in interruption, and Xiong nodded then changed the subject.


    ¡°We¡¯re so pleased you gave your daughter another chance at life, then returned to have your children here,¡± Xiong sighed to him happily.


    Henry looked sharply at Xiong.


    ¡°Did you not feel her? We did! She was so happy!¡± the ss Being sighed.


    Henry¡¯s eyes were filling with tears again, and Xiong looked to his friend. ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve upset you?¡±


    Struggling to regain hisposure, Henry shook his head and put his hand on Xiong¡¯s shoulder. ¡°No, I-I don¡¯t understand how any of this works, but to know she¡¯s happy is enough. Please don¡¯t share this with Sigrid or the others.¡±


    Xiong bowed, and Henry felt the vige¡¯s agreement too. He sent them all a hug.


    Henry wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled. ¡°I have somedies I need to take to the hot springs.¡±


    He said his goodbyes and joined Sigrid and her entourage.


    Sandy looked pitifully at him. ¡°I really need to take a shower.¡±


    ¡°How would you like to rx in a hot spring instead?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± the people within earshot all shouted in unison. There were many Valkyries in that range, so the noise was quite loud. Henry¡¯s eyebrows rose. He called up the image of the hot spring and realized they wererge enough for everyone, and he could add a privacy field down the middle to separate the men and thedies since there were kids present.


    ¡°Uh, we¡¯ll be naked in front-¡± Dayshia began.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll ensure there are privacy fields between the sexes,¡± Henry assured her.


    Cam smiled. ¡°The field can allow thedies to see the men,¡± she suggested.


    ¡°No. Behave,¡± Henry said, and she pouted sweetly. He felt that look cause a surge under his kilt. ¡°Behave!¡± he insisted, and she giggled.


    Meixiu rushed up to him. ¡°We have many new towels still in their packaging in a storage room off theundry room. I can get them!¡±


    ¡°Let me get you some help,¡± Henry said as he looked to the grasnds. He saw Aadiya and Mahali being chased by the kids. He concentrated on them, and they looked in his direction. He gestured for them toe back, and they pointed to the hillside, and the kids all raced toward the adults, with the twins following to ensure none were left behind. They scooped up two of the youngest, Jolene and Marian, both six, and leapt into the sky to fly past the leaders and arrive first. They left the cheering girls with their moms and joined Henry.


    ¡°No fair! Flying!¡± Felicia called out, but La justughed, so Felicia had to drop herint.


    Henry kissed Aadiya and Mahali, much to their delight. He held their hands to get them to focus their attention. ¡°Your flying is much improved! You¡¯re obviously stronger too, if you can carry the kids. How are your wings feeling now?¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± Aadiya eximed. ¡°Strong!¡± Mahali added.


    He nodded. ¡°Excellent! I have another request for you. Can you assist Meixiu with collecting some towels from the mansion and bring them to the hot springs?¡±


    They nodded enthusiastically.


    ¡°Where is the hot spring?¡± Meixiu asked.


    ¡°When you pass through the doors, turn left and walk over the ridge. As you cross the field, the vige will be on your left. Keep an eye open for the tethered lights the kids are going to get!¡± He raised his voice, so the kids heard thatst part, and they all squealed happily. He grinned at them as they came running to his side. He tapped each on the top of their head, and a pretty colored light appeared above them, then they moved for the next kid.


    As Henry worked, he looked to Meixiu and continued his instructions. ¡°If it takes you longer and we¡¯ve left the field, I¡¯ll leave fire orbs as a trail. Just follow them. Oh! If you see Revna, let her know where we are,¡± Henry said, and Meixiu nodded before rushing away with the twins flying behind her.


    He turned to the rest of the group. He scanned them and noted some significant absences. ¡°Where¡¯s Roy, Mary, and Lorelei?¡±


    Cam touched his arm. ¡°Lorelei was unable to leave Earth. Her bond to the is too strong.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Henry eximed, feeling terrible for not being aware of this.


    ¡°She said she had a lovely time, and you could make this up to her on your date this week,¡± Cam continued with a cheeky smile. ¡°Roy and Mary decided to man the fort until we return.¡±Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    He nodded, still feeling a little unsettled for having missed her, then looked to the others. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to walk this way to the hot springs.¡± He pointed over the small wooded hillside. He pointed at Sigrid and the babies. ¡°You, I¡¯m carrying.¡±


    She smiled at him as he knelt and got his arms under her and lifted her against his chest. Then he pushed with his legs and stood with her and their babies safely in his arms.


    Tish¡¯s oldest brother approached and walked alongside him. ¡°Hi, Henry!¡±


    ¡°Hey, Brian. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°This ce is amazing and all¡­¡±


    Henry looked closer at the man. ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s aplete unknown to us. Are there any dangerous creatures we should be concerned about? Any poisonous bugs or snakes? Anything we need our kids to be careful of?¡±


    Henry shook his head. ¡°No bugs or reptiles anywhere near us. The only dangerous creature we¡¯ve encountered is a toothy ribbon that flies. When we got here, I sent the twins, Aadiya and Mahali, hunting. They killed one, making every other one for at least ten miles around avoid the area. Should we see another one, I¡¯m sure one of our brave warrior goddesses will wee the opportunity to hunt it. Sigrid quite enjoyed it.¡±


    Henry saw he¡¯d attracted the attention of nearby Valkyrie with the word hunt. There were many smiles at his reference to them as goddesses.


    Talia moved closer with a gleam in her intense green eyes. ¡°I would wee the opportunity to test my mettle against a beast from this world.¡±


    Sigrid smiled with a bloodthirsty gleam in her eye. ¡°The ribbons are fast and maneuverable with sharp teeth that will rend any exposed flesh, but they can be defeated. Once that happens, all others in the area head for safer pastures for a time.¡±


    Talia grinned a Sigrid. ¡°When do you think one might venture back?¡±


    Sigrid pondered that and nced up at Henry. ¡°You say the twins killed one just as we got here?¡± Henry nodded. ¡°There might be one sniffing around on the edges of the area a few miles out.¡±


    Talia leapt upwards and snapped her wings open the climb into the sky. Her wings glowed like Sigrid¡¯s had the first time he saw her saving him from a demon in the alley near VRL. They were bright but nowhere near as blinding as Sigrids were now.


    ¡°What if she gets lost?¡± Henry muttered, and Sigridughed then stopped to consider the possibility.


    He sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll tether arge fire orb above the hot spring so they can see it from the sky.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my Henry. Always thinking of others,¡± Sigrid said with a sweet smile.


    They crossed the vast field next to the vige, and a few Silver People came by to wee them. They were from Kuwait, so there was a bit of anguage barrier, but Henry could speak with them through the Wild Magic via imagery, and they seemed thrilled to meet him. They didn¡¯t exactly swarm him, and they didn¡¯t interfere with his carrying Sigrid and the children. They finally rushed back to the vige as Henry¡¯s group headed up the next slope.


    Henry began to drop tethered light orbs so Meixiu would be able to follow them. He put them eight to ten feet apart as they walked.


    As they crested the hill and passed through the grove of trees, Henry felt the humidity rising and heard the hiss of a cascade of water falling from a rocky crag into a pool. The forest continued to climb up a steeper slope to the left, toward the river¡¯s source. They turned right instead and followed the slope down towards a t expanse, which appeared to be a series of tiered pools. Henry wasn¡¯t sure where the hot water was sourced as the mist from the waterfall felt quite chilly.


    When they got closer, they saw a streaming from the pool fed by the waterfall met a steaming stream gushing up from between some rock. That stream was almost boiling hot.


    Scalding met freezing and mixed. The result was tiered pools downstream, and by the third andrgest pool, the water was a perfect soaking temperature.


    He set Sigrid and the babies down a short distance from the water and asked everyone to stay back from the water for a minute.


    He created a huge red and blue me orb with a two-hundred-foot tether and let it rise up into the sky.


    Then Henry walked to the edge of therge pool of dreamy water and envisioned how he would put up a temporary privacy wall dividing the water into his and hers sides. For now, he didn¡¯t need anything fancy. He created a clear force field dome over therge pool extending ten feet beyond the shoreline on both sides. Then, he bisected the energy dome with a wall that went right down to the water¡¯s bottom but didn¡¯t restrict the water¡¯s flow. The bisecting division was translucent, so the light passing through it was heavily blurred. He extended that blurring to the parts of the dome that extended past the edge of the water. This would be the changing area. Hisst adjustment was to adjust all non-blurred parts of the structure to only allow visibility outwards. It would also protect against the ribbon beasts.


    Stepping out of the spa building, he added a rule to the spell that restricted ess on the left side to the males and the other side to females. He adjusted the dome to allow babies of either sex inside either side.


    He drew a vertical dividing line where the dome was bisected, then scribbled MEN on the left side of the line and WOMEN on the right side.


    Henry turned to face the group. ¡°The dome will ensure privacy. Towels are on the way.¡±


    He heard thumping footfalls and saw Revna trotting down the hill towards them with a grin on her face. That was a good sign, he thought.

 332

    ¡°What? No unisex hot spring? Henry, I¡¯m disappointed!¡±


    ¡°See! I told you,¡± he said with a smirk and followed the men through the blurred wall.


    He missed the look of confusion on her face, then the sh when she remembered he¡¯d promised to make an exception for her.


    -=-


    The hot springs had been a huge hit, and Eleanor ensured they didn¡¯t stay in the water too long.


    Talia arrived ten minutes into their soak, and from the soundsing from thedy¡¯s side, the other Valkyries were seriously envious of whatever trophy she¡¯d taken from the beast she¡¯d in.


    Once everyone had dried off with the towels Meixiu and the twins had delivered, they packed them back into thergeundry sacks, and the Valkyries carried them as the group walked back to the doors to the mansion¡¯s cave.


    Sigrid insisted she was well enough for a casual stroll but promised to take him up on his offer to carry her if she encountered any pain or cramping.


    Henry got to carry Stanley, who was asleep in his arms. He couldn¡¯t get over how small he was. Truthfully, he was slightly smaller than his sister Ylva who was currently sleeping in Hilda¡¯s arms.


    When he¡¯d asked Sigrid if she needed help with the twins, she assured him that Hilda was all the help she needed. Her mother would be moving into a spare bedroom in her brownstone until the children passed into their independent stage.


    He wondered how this would impact their date nights.


    Talia sauntered up beside him and smiled at the baby in his arms. ¡°A male Valkyrie. I never thought I¡¯d live to see the day.¡±


    Henry nodded as he had no words for that.


    Then it came to him as he looked at his son. ¡°These are special days.¡±


    Talia smiled thoughtfully and nodded.


    ¡°I hear your hunt went well,¡± Henry said.


    Her smile widened. ¡°Yes, it was glorious! Forty feet from teeth to tail, ck as midnight, and fast as a lightning strike. There were moments when I thought I might have chosen a foe too great for my skill. It was in one of those moments I found something more in me and took its head with a single sh.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    He could see she was reliving the moment when she faced her mortality and survived, so he remained quiet.


    She came back to the moment and blushed slightly.


    ¡°You took a trophy?¡± he asked.


    ¡®Yes! One of itsrger fangs!¡± She carefully extracted a white dagger-shaped tooth from a pouch she had strapped to her hip. The tooth had to be at least nine inches long.


    Henry whistled in appreciation. ¡°That¡¯s the biggest one I¡¯ve seen yet! It looks deadly sharp!¡±


    ¡°It is! It will make an excellent weapon!¡± Talia eximed excitedly.


    He smiled at her enthusiasm.


    Her smile was reced with a look of serious contemtion. ¡°I spoke with Hilda regarding your ability to heal. No Valkyrie is ashamed of their scars. They tell the story of my battles. They are me.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t remove the scars. For that, you¡¯d be better off with someone as skilled as Eleanor, anyway. Like you said, you want to keep them. I would only repair the underlying structure, the damaged muscle, and nerves. To give you back their function and sensation.¡±


    Talia unconsciously touched her drooping lip.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you. There¡¯s no deadline on the offer. If you ever decide you want it done, just let me know. Hilda told you about the pain management?¡±


    ¡°Valkyries are no stranger to pain. That said, Hilda said there were moments when she was almost lost, but you brought her back.¡±


    Henry frowned. Hilda hadn¡¯t said that to him, and he couldn¡¯t recall having any foresight when he applied the pain. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know about that. I do know it can overwhelm those unable to endure it. Hilda survived.¡±


    ¡°Then I can do no less. I will take you up on your offer, but I won¡¯t be avable to do it for a while,¡± she said. He nodded, and she moved off to speak to Sylvi.


    Henry saw they were approaching the doors and was d he¡¯d added the light orbs as the daylight was waning. He saw Roy and Mary by the doors weing the families back and keeping them moving through. Sigrid met Henry at the door and plucked Stanley from his arms. He kissed her, and she smiled wearily.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get some sleep. We can talk in the morning?¡± she asked sweetly.


    ¡°Of course, we can,¡± he said with a smile. Hilda, carrying Ylva, collected her daughter, and they went into the cave.


    Cam waited with Henry, Roy, and Mary until all of the guests were through and Roy confirmed that none of their guests remained on Eden. Henry gestured for them to go first then he pushed the doors closed. He put the dimensional gate spell back into its dormant state, and the crystals dimmed once more. He checked their power levels. The door had been open for almost three hours, and he was still at seventy-six percent. In the power generator¡¯s dormant mode, it would trickle charging the crystals up to ny-nine percent.


    When he turned around, he saw Cam and Roy were waiting for him with their arms crossed across their chests. Mary was looking between them and Henry with interest.


    He took a deep breath, raised a finger, and whispered a few words.


    The corridor¡¯s end was suddenly closed with what looked like a solid wall of rock once more. The light globes dimmed, and there was a slight sensation of pressure on their ears. He nodded to Roy.


    ¡°We have privacy now?¡± Roy asked, and Henry nodded again. ¡°What¡¯s this Cam tells me about you being under apulsion to use magic?¡±


    He shook his head slowly. ¡°I thinkpulsion is the wrong word. It feels like I¡¯m still being used in a battle of wills between Baba and the beings who gave her powers. Neither side has overtly tried tomunicate with me. I don¡¯t think they can do that.¡±


    He frowned and shook his head. ¡°No, I have to amend that statement. When I was fighting Hilda, she provoked me badly, and in a moment of inattention, I called up a spell in my defense from the dark spells. I immediately disabled it but not before feeling its strong link to dark entities.¡±


    Cam made a sound of concern, but Henry made a gesture to assure her. ¡°I never connected mentally to the spell. It wasunched for me.¡±


    Roy and Cam froze and looked at him. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± Roy said.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Without my willful approval, no spell can be essed andunched within me. Yet one was.¡±


    Now his friends looked really worried. Even Mary, who had no background in Magic, was looking at Henry like a time bomb. He continued. ¡°I¡¯ve taken the precaution of adding a kill switch. If one of the really bad spells isunched without my will being involved, I die.¡±


    ¡°WHAT? What the hell were you thinking? That¡¯spletely daft!¡± Roy roared.


    Henry calmly looked the big redhead in the eye. ¡°You don¡¯t know what these spells do. You don¡¯t understand the scale of the entities backing them, providing the corrupt, unnatural energies to unleash their evil payload. I WON¡¯T BE USED FOR THAT!¡± Henry roared back.


    Roy was taken aback at the strength in Henry¡¯s conviction. He tried a different tack. ¡°Whounched the spell?¡±


    It was Cam who answered. ¡°Baba.¡±


    Henry gave Cam an approving look for her clever mind. ¡°Hilda wasn¡¯t pulling any punches. She would have killed me if she could have. The risk was real. She forced Baba to show her hand. She alwayscked faith in me, but then, she¡¯d lost faith in everyone.¡±


    ¡°Is¡­ is she inside you?¡± Roy asked.


    Henry winced and shook his head a little as Roy watched him cautiously.


    ¡°Not as a full-blown consciousness. That exists¡­ elsewhere, but she can reach me, as proven by herunching that spell. You know Baba stuffed my head full of knowledge before she disappeared.¡± They nodded. ¡°To be included with those taken by the curse, Baba needed to shed her powers, so she forced it on me. All of it. Some of those spells contained the sensations of their being used and the perceptions she experienced when they were. Bits of Baba were included and are stored in my brain.¡±


    ¡°Not a fate I¡¯d wish for you,¡± Roy said softly.


    Henry snorted. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like I had the power to say no.¡± They nodded in silent agreement.

 333

    ¡°Not as a full-blown consciousness. That exists¡­ elsewhere, but she can reach me, as proven by herunching that spell. You know Baba stuffed my head full of knowledge before she disappeared.¡± They nodded. ¡°To be included with those taken by the curse, Baba needed to shed her powers, so she forced it on me. All of it. Some of those spells contained the sensations of their being used and the perceptions she experienced when they were. Bits of Baba were included and are stored in my brain.¡±


    ¡°Not a fate I¡¯d wish for you,¡± Roy said softly.


    Henry snorted. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like I had the power to say no.¡± They nodded in silent agreement.


    ¡°When she was Human, in her desperation to save her dying son, she made an arrangement with dark entities and was given powers. The price was to live and remember. That became too much for her, and she struggled to find a way to break her deal. The only loophole she found was the end of the beings she¡¯d been tasked to watch and remember, but she couldn¡¯t be the one to do it. We know how that went.¡±


    ¡°Aye, she killed all of the Humans,¡± Roy spat.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°No. Not all.¡±


    Cam and Roy looked at him then their eyes widened. ¡°General Crane!¡± they said in unison.


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Crane has been exposed to all kinds of Wild Magic! It changes everyone!¡± Mary argued.


    ¡°Crane was on Eden when the curse wasunched. But even before that, I believe the ones who made a deal with Baba were bing aware of her efforts. They hedged their bets. They ensured Crane was kept free of the Wild Magic. They may have made sure he was with the group I sent to Eden. Someone nted a bomb in his car recently, and he was miraculously moved from its location before it exploded. Then he was shot at point-nk range from a handgun that should have punched straight through his bulletproof vest and him, but somehow the liner of the vest was reced with a rock-like substance I watched turn to vapor. I had Siobhan use her sight on the General, and she confirmed he¡¯s surrounded by a dark aura that blocks him from being touched by Wild Magic. She imed she felt a presence. It was dark, cold, ancient, vast, alien, and she felt more than one mind. She didn¡¯t connect to it, so she¡¯s safe.¡±


    Seeing he still had them following along, he continued. ¡°The two sides are still fighting, but their influence to directly manipte the environment is extremely limited.


    As Baba nned, the curse stripped her of her physical being. Yet, the deal denied her the final rest she was after because one true Human still exists. I don¡¯t know what it costs these dark entities to allow her to get free of the deal, but it seems they¡¯re unwilling.


    Now, as an untethered spirit, Baba¡¯s ability to influence anything in this world is limited to one individual, me, but she can only do it through her magic inside me, as it¡¯s bound to parts of her. I added the self destruct so she¡¯d lose her only ess if she makes any further attempts. She can¡¯t afford that. I¡¯ve been waiting for her to make her presence known in my dreams, but she may still be too weak.


    Instead, Baba has been at her subtle best, suggesting in the back of my mind how I can make things better with the use of magic, making it easier to ess her vast library of spells, and recently I have be much more proficient in its use. I believe she¡¯s still looking for a way to use me against the dark entities.¡±


    ¡°The caveat of using the magic is I¡¯m bing more visible to those entities. In recent days, I¡¯ve felt them on the boundaries. I know they¡¯re very much aware their grip on Earth is tenuous as they only ever had an influence on it through the use of the spells soaked in their vile intent, the ones I refuse to use. They need a recement for Baba. I think they want me.¡±


    Cam made another sound of fright, and he held her hand between his to calm her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve tried to purge the dark spells, but they¡¯re the ones most tightly linked to Baba, and she¡¯s blocking me. Again, she doesn¡¯t have enough faith in me.¡±


    Cam couldn¡¯t stop herself from pulling Henry into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her and heard her say something against his chest, but she shook her head when he asked her to say it again. He nced at Roy, but the man just looked troubled. Mary shook her head.


    ¡°What are you going to do,d?¡± Roy asked softly.


    Henry smiled weakly. ¡°I think I need to help Baba achieve her wish. She needs to be released from the deal. Once she is, I may be able to purge the dark spells that will break me from the entities or reduce their awareness of me. I¡¯ve made no deals with them, and I won¡¯t.¡± His mind took him to the days he struggled to drag himself out of the darkness to return to his body. He¡¯d felt their attention on him then, heard their whispered promises. He¡¯d had some dark moments, days and weeks really, but he remembered Baba¡¯s words, and he¡¯d proven to himself that he wasn¡¯t a quitter. The confidence he¡¯d returned with was his reward.


    ¡°Does Crane need to die for this?¡± Roy asked cautiously.


    Henry¡¯s eyes snapped to Roy, then he eased his expression and unclenched his jaws. ¡°Sorry. No. The General said he was ready to transform, so I need to somehow get past that dark energy shield around him to get the Wild Magic into him. Once he¡¯s affected by the magic, he¡¯s no longer Human, and the deal ends. Baba is released, and I purge the dark energy spells.¡±


    ¡°Aye, it¡¯s that simple,¡± Roy said skeptically.


    ¡°Yup! Bing. Bang. Boom,¡± Henry replied with a grin.


    ¡°When.¡±


    Henry looked down at his chest. The word came from Cam.


    He nced at Roy. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s two AM. Boxing Day,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Today, then. I need to make some prep-¡±


    Cam pulled him towards the wall blocking the end of the hall. ¡°Open this,¡± she insisted.


    ¡°It¡¯s open,¡± he said, so she pulled him through the field. He nced back and saw Roy and Mary following at a slower pace speaking softly to each other.


    Henry was towed through the caverns, past therge chamber where Meixiu, the Kings, and a few others were tidying up. He wanted to stop and help, but Cam wasn¡¯t slowing down and marched him right up the ramp, to the stairs, and up to his room. She tugged his kilt off and pushed him back onto the bed before dropping her mor and climbing on top of him.


    Gone was the sex kitten, the teasing harlot. Cam was desperate for his touch, his kiss, his closeness.


    She writhed over hisrger body, pressing as much of her skin to his as she could. She felt so damn good, and her kiss was so demanding, he quickly reacted and was soon almost painfully erect. She moaned when she felt the heat from his cock begin to press against her.


    She didn¡¯t have time for gentleness. She reached between them, positioned him at her entrance, and drove herself down upon him.


    ¡°FFFUUUUUCCKKK!!!!¡± she cried out.


    All Henry could manage was a grunt as the bliss hit him so hard and fast.


    Then she was kissing him again as she bounced on him, trying to get all of him inside. She was incredibly hot and wet, but he was just so big. Finally, she made a frustrated sound and tugged on him to indicate she wanted him on top. He pulled her down then flipped them on the bed. With this extra pressure, Henry drove himself fully inside her body in two more strokes. He was resting on her, his cock filling herpletely. She moaned, trembled, and shook, then her heels hooked behind is ass cheeks and tugged.


    Henry got the hint, so he began to long stroke her, and her gasps and cries grew louder. She pulled his face down to hers, and her kisses became soft and tender as he pounded her against the bed. He saw her expression softening, and tears appeared in her eyes.


    He began to slow his thrusts.


    ¡°No¡­ please¡­ keep going,¡± she sighed, so he did.


    The tears concerned him, though. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    She shook her head and gasped as her bliss was making it hard to think. ¡°Do¡­ do you remember¡­ I asked¡­ if you could have¡­ one wishe true for Christmas¡­ what would it be?¡±


    He was surprised by the question as it seemed so out of context, but her eyes were holding his so intensely, he feltpelled to look deep inside for his most intimate desire.


    He found he did have something he wished for, more than anything. Something he¡¯d been denied for most of his life until he¡¯d begin to believe he wasn¡¯t worthy of it.


    Voice tight with emotion, he made his confession.


    ¡°Love.¡±


    Her smile bloomed across her face. ¡°I love you, Henry!¡±


    He blinked at her, struggling to keep going as her heels pulled at him. ¡°You-you said Subi couldn¡¯t-¡±


    She pulled his mouth to hers, and the kiss was electric. Their bodies reacted immediately, grinding together as their releases exploded in their minds. Henry was lost in her kiss, the raw emotions he felt there, her need for him, her surrender to him, and her love for him.


    Long minutes passed as they clung to each other. Finally, Henry pulled back to see her smiling eyes and bliss flushed face. He was sure he looked equally ecstatic.


    ¡°You love me?¡± he asked quietly.


    She nodded. ¡°Yes. I didn¡¯t recognize it. I¡¯ve never felt this way about anyone in my life. It¡¯s¡­ a bit frightening, truthfully. I feel so exposed. I¡¯m so terrified of what you are facing, and there¡¯s nothing I can do-¡±


    He touched her lips gently to stop her words. ¡°You cannot imagine how much strength your love gives me. What you¡¯ve done for me is immeasurable!¡±


    She pulled his face down to hers, and the kiss was tender but sent tingles through their bodies.


    Once the kiss ended, Henry moved to lie beside her, and Cam smiled blissfully at him. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how much better sex is with love! It¡¯s a whole new level of bliss!¡±


    Henry nodded as it had exceeded his expectations too. He yawned widely. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said as his face heated up.


    She cupped his cheek. ¡°Go to sleep, my love.¡±


    He held her eyes as his heart filled with joy at her words. ¡°I love you, Cam.¡±


    He saw his love in her eyes as his slowly closed.


    It was the perfect Christmas gift and the best way to end the day.

 334

    Quolliss was eternal¡­ as long as its Masters willed it to be. It lived for its Masters, remaining still, hidden, and protected, listening for their voices.


    Those moments were the rarest treats. Almost silent but filled with significance and madness, Quolliss would absorb these messages delivered to its subconscious in the long dark nights.


    Sometimes they came with energy. Enough to fulfill the wishes of the Masters with a little left over to sustain Quolliss itself.


    The Masters had a n. They hadn¡¯t shared all of it with Quolliss, but it knew it was perfect and promised nothing less than the bliss of bringing the Masters to this realm.


    Nothing would be allowed to interfere with the n. Patience in this time-aware realm was a key requirement for its sess.


    Quolliss was patient, as time is nothing.


    It couldn¡¯t be seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    However, its passage could be observed and obsessed over.


    The Masters lived in a realm with no concept of time, and to Quolliss, to live there would have been bliss.


    The inhabitants of this realm fought against time. They wailed and beat their chests in futile defiance of its uncaring passage.


    Quolliss despised them as much as one could a mote of dust or ke of dead skin.


    Time had much less meaning for Quolliss than it did for the ephemeral ones, but it, too, was aware of its passing. A great deal of it had slipped by during their extensive existence, far more than most of the residents of this world would ever experience.


    There had been one the Masters gifted with eternity, but she betrayed them, and Quollis could no longer sense her.


    Thinking of her resurfaced the jealousy and rage that tormented Quolliss¡¯ mind when it discovered that she¡¯d been first. The witch, whom the Masters gifted with so much power only to see her refuse to do their bidding, was the Masters¡¯ first choice.


    Quolliss was a failsafe, a contingency, a n B. The Masters created it to fulfill their desires. It would not fail them or refuse anything they asked. However, it once more thought of how much energy the Masters gifted to the ungrateful witch and how little it had received inparison. It screamed a tortured sound into the darkness.


    Its greed red as it knew that this excessive share of the Masters¡¯ energy still existed. It was now contained within a new being who was proving more difficult to track than the witch!


    The new being had a terrifying ability to make the energy disappear from Quolliss¡¯ perception. Most often for short intervals, but it recently vanished for so long that Quolliss¡¯ already fractured mind splintered further.


    The Masters whispered to Quolliss as it slept in this tortured state until their patience was rewarded as Quolliss once more detected the energy, and a semnce of stability returned.


    In thetest message from the Masters, theyid out the next phase of the n.


    Quolliss was awed by the intricate dance this would lead its unwitting participants to perform. The Masters¡¯ will would not be denied.


    Soon, Quolliss would bask in their presence.


    -=-


    When Henry awoke, he saw the storm had finally passed, and the light through his window indicated he¡¯d likely missed breakfast. The room needed a clock.


    He noticed Cam had already gotten up to start her day. He couldn¡¯t me her for that.


    He stretched and yawned loudly and heard nervous giggles from outside the door. Then came a gentle knocking.


    ¡°Come in!¡± he called out, looking down at himself to ensure the covers hid his morning wood.


    The door opened, and a head peeked around it. It was Steph.


    ¡°Good morning, sleepyhead,¡± she teased.


    He looked for his kilt as it had his cell in the pouch, but Cam had likely picked it up and ced it on the chair across the room. ¡°What time is it?¡± he asked.


    She moved to sit on the side of the bed and smiled at him. ¡°It¡¯s almost eleven. Everyone is downstairs. We had breakfast in the cavern because the dining room table was still there. The Valkyries were trying to work out a way to carry it up without getting you to open the Magic door to the dining room, but the consensus was that it couldn¡¯t be done. The cave was very bright with those enormous windows and the lights above. It felt strange to be so far underground yet feel like it was ground level.¡± She was speaking a little rapidly.


    He smiled as he watched her fidget and y with the nkets.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m pretty?¡± she suddenly blurted, and he heard the damage her idiot husband had done.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re very beautiful!¡±


    She smiled in relief, but her expression broke again. ¡°But I talk too much, right?¡±


    He tilted his head at her as he looked at her curiously. ¡°No. I like hearing your voice. It¡¯s so full of life and joy. Listening to you and Tishugh and talk makes me very happy.¡±


    She bit her lip as her eyes traveled over his chest. ¡°So long¡­¡± she sighed wistfully to herself.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± he asked carefully.


    Her face suddenly went crimson as she realized she¡¯d said that out loud. ¡°I-I-I¡¯m sorry! It¡¯s n-nothing!¡±


    He sat up, the nkets dropping to expose the hard muscles of his stomach as he took her hand in his. Steph was frozen. The nkets were so close to revealing what she wanted to see more than anything.


    ¡°Speak to me, Steph.¡±


    Her jaw moved, but she had no words.


    Henry lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. She made an odd sound, then climbed onto the bed, yanking the nkets down in the process.


    ¡°Oh my god!¡± she gasped as she exposed his semi-erect cock. Then Henry slid his hands into her hair and pulled her onto hisp to kiss her deeply. He moved his hands down and undid her kilt, tossing it aside. She moaned into the kiss and grabbed his head as she chased his tongue with hers while dragging her wetness across the underside of his now very hard cock. She was trembling, then frantically trying to get him inside her. He assisted a little then he gasped as she began to ept him.


    ¡°I¡­ I have to¡­ warn you. We won¡¯tst¡­ long, as it feels too good!¡± He struggled to speak as she dropped over his cock, gasping, cooing, and moaning as they fit together so well.


    He was proven correct as once they were fully connected, Steph cried out and clung to him as her first release in a long time rocked through her. This triggered Henry, and she gasped as she felt his heat filling her deep inside. Then the Wild Magic surged through her body, filling her with another kind of warmth and tingling.


    They clung together, catching their breath, and finally pulled back to grin at each other.


    ¡°It is¡­ an absolute truth¡­ beyond any question¡­ that David¡­ was a blind idiot¡­ for not realizing¡­ how fucking lucky he was!¡± Henry panted.


    Steph¡¯s eyes welled up, and she kissed Henry fiercely. He returned the kiss, and soon they were panting once more.


    ¡°Again?¡± she asked and bit her lip.


    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± he agreed enthusiastically, and she burst into joyful giggles.


    She had catching up to do.


    -=-


    Lunchtime arrived as Henry, fresh from a shower, rejoined the world in a new kilt, hunting a little sustenance to fill his empty stomach.


    Tish met him in the kitchen with arge te of leftovers from dinner. He gave her a grateful kiss and sat with her at the small table in the kitchen.


    She watched him immediately devour half the contents of the te and smiled at him when he sat back to take a breath.


    ¡°She wore you out that much?¡± she said with a grin.


    Henry just looked at Tish with a raised eyebrow, and she raised her hands in surrender. He sighed and rxed in his chair as his eyes looked towards the back windows at the brilliant blue skies outside.


    ¡°I can¡¯t understand why anyone would do what David did to her. She¡¯s so much like you¡­ but with giggles,¡± Henry said as he shook his head.


    Tish grinned as she nodded and took his hand in hers to kiss his palm. He raised his eyebrows at her, then pulled her hand to his lips until she began to squirm and tugged her hand free. ¡°Wicked boy,¡± she whispered to him with a smile, then headed for the stairs to check on her sister.

 335

    Henry smiled to himself, finished the meal before him, then tidied up. He went looking for Sigrid and spotted her in the formal living room with her mother and roughly a dozen Valkyries who stuck around after the party. He sent her a quick questioning look and saw her shake her head, indicating it wasn¡¯t a good time, so he nodded and slipped away before Hilda could scowl at him.


    He¡¯d noticed that Talia wasn¡¯t present, nor were her twin enforcers Tove and Tore. The brutish Revna and her rude sidekick Kari were also missing. Off on Valkyrie business, no doubt.


    The kids were split into two groups, the ones inside ying in the front sitting room and the ones outside ying in the snow.


    He was headed for the back door when he met Meixiu returning from the basement. ¡°Henry! Good morning!¡± she said, tilting her face up to him for a kiss.


    He caressed her lips with his, then grinned at her. ¡°It¡¯s no longer morning. Sorry for missing breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Did you get some food?¡± Meixiu asked, gesturing to the kitchen.


    ¡°Yes, Tish made me a te. It was delicious!¡± he said, and she nodded.


    ¡°Could you open a Magic Door between the cave and the dining room so the Valkyries can move the table back to where it belongs?¡± She drew him into the dining room to face the French Doors again.


    He looked at the ss panes and hesitated. Being aware that these vast alien minds were turning their attention toward him made him less than eager to see them. ¡°Uh, are the doors to the cave open or closed at the moment?¡± he asked, thinking to dy the process just a little.


    ¡°Oh! I will close them!¡± Meixiu eximed and rushed away. She returned in seconds, and he suppressed the sigh as he¡¯d forgotten how quick she was.


    He touched the door and linked it to the ones in the cave. Once more, the ss panes shed ck, and for less than a moment, hardly enough time for it to register, something looked back. Then the ss showed Sandy and Dayshia walking towards them, and Henry jumped from the tension.


    The twodies in the corridor squeaked in fright, and Henry pulled the doors open. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±


    Dayshia put her hands on her hips. ¡°You should be! Scaring us half to death like that! I¡¯m of a mind not to kiss you!¡±


    Sandy snorted. ¡°Right.¡± She skipped forward and pressed her lips to Henry¡¯s before Dayshia could respond.


    The dark beauty approached Henry and threw Sandy a scowl. ¡°You could y along with my teasing once in a while.¡±


    ¡°And miss out on a kiss from Henry? Dream on,¡± Sandy scoffed.


    Dayshia raised an eyebrow at Henry. He smiled at her, and she rolled her eyes, gesturing for him to bring his face down to hers. They kissed tenderly, and he felt her melt a little. When he pulled back, her eyes fluttered open, a gesture that looked far more dramatic due to her long, featheredshes.


    ¡°Okay, that was worth it,¡± she sighed.


    Sandy chuckled as she hooked an arm through her bestie¡¯s and pulled her away, the two now heading for the door to the vestibule.


    Meixiu kissed his cheek in thanks and skipped away to let the Valkyrie know they were up.


    The first thing he needed to do was add a control mechanism to the rift inside him.


    He¡¯d discovered the previous night that the flow of magic from it was almost negligible on Eden, the source of the magic. He should have better luck adding a control mechanism to the rift while there, with no internal pressure.


    Henry entered the cavern and walked to the hidden passage for the doors to Eden. He removed the forcefield and activated the portal before stepping through to the other world.


    The weather was perfect, and he found a nice rock to sit on by the entrance as he prepared to work.


    As he¡¯d mentioned to Marisa, he was thinking of a closing mechanism like a hydraulic door to a vault. He closed his eyes and envisioned how it might be constructed. After a few minutes of reviewing the design, he discarded it as it was tooplex and bulky.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    Another idea came to his mind. A camera lens aperture! Two rings, one stationary and one that spins, with inteced des sandwiched between them. The wide end of the des would be fixed to the stationary ring and pivot there, controlled by pins in the des that ran along channels in the moving ring. This turning ring would open and close the des as the pins followed the channels. The aperture wouldn¡¯t closepletely, as some pressure should be allowed to flow. He estimated it would be roughly ten percent of the maximum pressure. Opening the aperture fully would release all the pressure and allow the energy to flow freely.


    He fussed with the design, making prototypes to test how many des he needed to give more granr control. Testing took ce by stepping through the doors into the hall in the cave.


    Too few des opened the aperture too quickly and gave him less control. Too many des made them too weak to hold back the pressure, and they broke. Everything was made from Wild Magic, but even this energy seemed to have engineering limitations. He settled on eight des and finalized his design, recording it in his memory. He built a new one and affixed it inside himself over the rift. He was ready for a production test. He stood up from the rock again to go back through the doors.


    A slight air pressure change was his only warning before the Ribbon creature mmed into him, pinning him to the rock face next to the open doors.


    Henry was only winded and dazed as the monster didn¡¯t have a tremendous amount of mass, but when he saw the creature¡¯s jaws snap open to take a bite out of him, without thinking, he did the craziest thing.


    He stepped into its mouth and grabbed its tworgest fangs in his hands.


    Now, he was preventing the beast from biting down, but its jaws were its most powerful muscles. It took everything Henry had to hang on as it twisted and thrashed, trying to shake him free.


    Before he was bashed against the cliffside again, Henry pushed upwards with his arms and down with his legs in a sudden effort. The bottom jaw broke with a series of rapid, sharp cracks.


    The creature renewed its efforts to free itself from Henry¡¯s grip, but now its lower jaw was dangling free. He was able to step back out of its mouth and pull its head down, shoving its upper jaw into the soft ground. He threw his weight onto its head and released his death grip on the fangs.


    ¡°FUCK!¡±


    Henry hissed in agony as his hands were badly cut by the sharp edges of its teeth. He struggled to remain on top of the beast¡¯s head while the rest of its body mmed into the ground, the cliff face, and against Henry to pry itself free.


    Henry put his bloody fists together and mmed them down on top of the monster¡¯s head with all his Satyr strength as he roared. It took three mighty blows to crack its skull, and the fourth drove the bones into its brain.


    The shock sent it into death spasms, and Henry was thrown clear, but he rolled to his hooves and faced it as its shaking pulled its teeth from the ground. He prepared himself to attack it, but its tremors quickly diminished, and it stopped moving.


    Henry leaned back against the door jamb and caught his breath. He twitched as someone stepped through and stopped. It was Hilda. She was staring at the dead monster and nced skyward.


    He walked over to the massive head resting on its side now.


    ¡°There won¡¯t be another one in the neighborhood for at least two hours. Killing a big one sends a message to the others to piss off for a bit.¡± He took a closer look at the corpse. ¡°This is definitely one of the biggest I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    ¡°Were you hunting?¡± Hilda asked him incredulously.


    ¡°What? No! I was¡­ working on something, and I got distracted. I forgot to ask the twins to clear the area first. It caught me by surprise.¡± He frowned as he realized it might have just bitten his head off if it had any real intelligence. He¡¯d been extremely lucky. He looked at his shed hands andunched his healing spell on them. He swayed slightly as the pain was intense but took a deep breath when they were whole once more.


    She scowled at him, but her expression was troubled.


    ¡°What? Why are you so angry with me?¡± he barked in frustration.


    Hilda moved into his personal space, and he had to stop himself from triggering his shield to knock her back.


    ¡°You are my daughter¡¯s mate, you gave her a beautiful and strong daughter, but you are a terrible fighter! I just watched you step into its mouth! Never do that! You carry no weapons, but you¡¯d probably hurt yourself with them if you did! I expected to see you die, but then you killed it¡­ with your bare hands!¡±


    ¡°You saw me in trouble and didn¡¯t try to help me?¡± Henry yelled angrily.


    She looked at him like he¡¯d lost his mind. ¡°Valkyries don¡¯t steal battles from other Valkyries or their mates! It¡¯s the way of Valkyries!¡± she yelled back.


    ¡°God dammit, I¡¯m getting sick of hearing that same excuse!¡± he shouted in her face.


    She was red-faced and breathing hard, but so was he. He tried to pull his mind back from the urge to beat some sense into her as he knew she would wee the rematch.


    ¡°You were angry with mest night. What was that about?¡± he snapped as his adrenaline surged.


    ¡°You had no gift for the child-children!¡± she corrected as she saw him preparing to explode over her repeatedly denying his son.


    He stared at her in confusion, then sighed. ¡°A Valkyrie thing, no doubt,¡± he muttered. ¡°Nobody tells me anything!¡± heined as he turned to the dead ribbon creature. He grabbed thergest fang and yanked it from the skull with a loud, wet pop. Then he rolled the beast over and repeated the actions with the other fang. He handed them to Hilda on his bloody palms as she stared at the deep cuts on his fingers. The teeth were deadly sharp.


    ¡°For my children, to be made into weapons they may use to defend themselves against whatever they face in the future. Is this a worthy gift?¡± he asked.


    Hilda nodded as she watched him heal his hands once more. She caught the tightening of his eye muscles as he rode out the pain. She carefully lifted the heavy des by their roots. ¡°I-I will have a master artisan make them suitable weapons from these. These have tremendous value¡­ in my culture.¡±


    He nodded stiffly then a thought came to him. ¡°What did youe down here to say?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, now,¡± she responded as her eyes admired the deadly des she carried.


    Henry turned back to the corpse. ¡°I¡¯d better dispose of this. I don¡¯t want others toe to feed on it so close to the door.¡±


    He made Hilda step back away from it, then opened a tear above ava field, and it rolled through to fall into the magma. He closed the tear, catching the tail end of Hilda¡¯s frown.

 336

    ¡°Shit! What now?¡± he groaned.


    ¡°Magic is not the way of Valkyries.¡±


    He pointed to his face. ¡°Not a Valkyrie, but I don¡¯t like magic either.¡± When she looked at him doubtfully, he smiled. ¡°I¡¯d much rather just work onputers and programming.¡±


    Her frown was back. ¡°So, you¡¯re a technology nerd. This exins much.¡±


    Henry¡¯s smile fell. He pointed to the doorway, so Hilda left Eden to return to the mansion. He followed and closed the doors, restoring the spell to its dormant mode.


    Turning back to the hall, he saw Hilda was no longer there. He sighed in relief. He wasn¡¯t sure if they were ever going to get along.


    He looked inward at his new rift control and spun the ring, slowly closing the aperture. When he was done, a trickle of energy flowed out, probably more than the typical background levels, but the control felt stable.


    He climbed back up the stairs and paused at the top as he heard the Valkyries in the living room talking excitedly. He didn¡¯t feel up to seeing what was charging them up. No doubt it was Hilda showing off again. Ooo! Look at the nasty weapon I¡¯m going to make for my granddaughter-oh yeah, and my grandson.


    Henry had some thinking to do, so he headed outside to sit in his favorite spot in the gazebo.


    He spent the first few minutes just soaking in the sunlight. He hadn¡¯t seen blue skies in a little while.


    The bright sunlight shed off the surfaces of some Silver Peopleing in for a recharge. He wondered what activities kept them in the neighborhood now that the storm had passed.


    Henry closed his eyes and listened to the distant sound of childrenughing and ying. There was something rxing about that. It was so easy to remain here and let the warmth of the sun and the joyful voices protect him from thinking about what he needed to do.


    He knew he was procrastinating. It just felt so good to pretend for a moment that he was just another member of the blissfully unaware popce, just moving through life one day at a time, ignorant of the malignant forces from an iprehensible and sanity-tearing dimension trying to get their ws on their world. Their entry point had been Baba and her spells. The same spells she¡¯d shed in her attempt to free herself of the deal she¡¯d made with those ancient beings.


    The spells that now resided in his brain.


    Though Baba had released them from her mind and no longer had a body, she was somehow still resisting his efforts to shed them as well. He thought about that. It seemed likely that the resistance might being from the dark being¡¯s influence on her.


    He had another epiphany, and this one stung with a bitterness that brought tears to his eyes once more.


    Baba¡¯s splitting of Henry from Stanley might not have been a change of heart after all. It was likely the only way those alien monsters could keep the dark magics bound to someone still part of this world.


    It also shed new light on his months of agony climbing out of that dark pit. Hazy memories sharpened, and he recalled their promises of relief if he¡¯d just surrender to their will. Never said with words, just impressions. They needed him alive to keep their link to Earth and its people. He¡¯d rejected them but lived because he wanted it for himself. They didn¡¯t get their new ve then, but their vile magic was still in his mind, and Baba was working against him, and her own desires, by preventing him from shedding them.


    And the ageless alien minds were patient.


    His eyes snapped open as he gasped for air. He hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d stopped breathing.


    ¡°Henry? Are you okay?¡±


    He turned his head and saw Lorelei climbing the steps of the gazebo, a look of concern on her lovely face.


    He sucked in another breath as his emotions rocked his foundations once more.


    Then Lorelei¡¯s arms were around him, and he gave in to his grief.


    His heart refused to give up hope that Baba would recognize and return his love. Each time he was pped with the reality of her maniptions and the alien minds¡¯ influence on her, that hope dimmed a little more.


    He took slow, deep breaths to get his stability back. Lorelei¡¯s grip on him was helping a great deal. It was like a grounding, a founda-


    His eyes snapped open once more.


    Henry looked into Lorelei¡¯s eyes as he struggled with what he wanted to ask her.


    ¡°What is it?¡± she asked, then her expression changed to fear. ¡°Henry, breathe!¡± she eximed.


    He sucked in a deep breath and felt the pressure easing. He realized it wasing from the dark magic in his mind.


    They were aware of his train of thought and didn¡¯t approve. This just told him he was on the right track.


    He gently eased himself from Lorelei¡¯s grip and pushed himself to his hooves. He had to purge the alien-touched spells from his memory. He tried to eliminate just one, but Baba was there, blocking him, clinging to the magic and his mind.


    ¡°GGGGGRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!¡± Henry roared in rage and frustration until he dropped to his hands and knees. His muscles shook with tension.


    He heard shouts and felt the soothing touch of Lorelei¡¯s hand on his back and another in his hair. Slowly he opened his eyes and saw Valkyrie surrounding the gazebo, all armed to the teeth and aimed outwards to defend him.


    He sat back and rubbed his face with his hands to remove some of the emotional fog. He pushed himself to his hooves, then turned to Lorelei. Henry took her hands in his and kissed her palms.


    ¡°Thank you for helping me regain control.¡±


    Her concerned look strengthened. ¡°Who were you fighting against?¡±


    He shook his head and snorted. ¡°Beings way above my weight ss.¡±


    Henry left the gazebo and faced the gathering warriors as the danger seemed to have passed. He held out a hand for Lorelei.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening, Henry?¡± Sigrid asked.


    ¡°I need to fill everyone in on¡­ a situation we face.¡± Seeing some kids in the mix, he added, ¡°Just the adults, please.¡±


    ¡°The tables and chairs are still in the main cavern,¡± Roy suggested, and Henry nodded.


    La, Felicia, and a few other kidsined, but the parents put their hooves down, and that was that.


    Everyone filed back inside and made their way into the dining room, where the table was now back in ce. Henry was very grateful for that. ¡°I¡¯m no longer going to make Magic Doors when there¡¯s this much ss,¡± he muttered to Roy, who looked at him in question, then nodded.


    Once thest adult passed through the doors into the corridor, Henry stepped through and closed the doors behind himself, releasing the spell. Then he locked the double doors from the inside to keep the curious kids out. He saw the handles wiggle and smiled.


    Henry walked down into therge cavern and faced the group. It seemed the Valkyries wanted to meet this new threat on their feet. His friends had taken seats facing where they had the buffet table the night before, so he stood there to be visible to all.


    He cast his eyes over the gathering. ¡°Okay, getting right to it. Baba Yaga physically died the night of Skyfall, but her essence didn¡¯t move on. It was her n to perish with the rest of Humanity, but she needed to cut loose her magic for that to happen. Instead of casting it away, and maybe that was impossible, she imnted it all inside my mind. Some of this magic is strongly tainted by the dark energies lent to her by the beings who bound her to a deal for her powers. These beings are ancient, inconceivably alien, and intensely malignant. They¡¯re from a dimension far beyond ours or Eden¡¯s.


    ¡°Have you faced them?¡± one of the Valkyrie¡¯s shouted.


    Henry held her eyes to speak to her directly, but his voice carried to all ears.


    ¡°Facing these entities directly would strip you of your sanity. There¡¯s no way for a rational mind to grasp their scope, physical nature, or powers. Because of the vast separation between our dimensions, they cannot directly interact with ours. Only their energy can make the journey, and thankfully, only in small amounts.¡±


    He took a deep breath. ¡°The energy that has made that journey is currently quarantined inside my head.¡± There was some shuffling of feet and uneasy murmurs as the gathered people came to terms with that.


    ¡°The problem is, I cannot deal with these spells in any meaningful way until Baba releases her control over them. She put them in my head but also left parts of herself bound to them. She has no faith in anyone but herself, probably a by-product of working so long with the dark entities. If I canplete the conditions of her deal, her spirit will be free to go where it needs to go. She¡¯ll have no need to continue blocking me from dealing with the magic. Then I can defang the monster.¡±


    ¡°Henry, energy can¡¯t be destroyed, so how will you deal with it?¡± Roy asked.


    Henry sighed. ¡°I¡¯d love to send it back to where it came from, but the danger¡¯s too great.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t open a gate from here to there!¡± Hilda bellowed, and other Valkyrie voices chimed in.


    Henry held his hands up for calm. ¡°Listen, I couldn¡¯t even if I wanted to, and I definitely don¡¯t! I was speaking of bleeding the energy back into the void where the entities live, much like how the Wild Magic bleeds into Earth¡¯s dimension. The risk would be to my mind, which would be open to the entities¡¯ dimension. So, I¡¯m not doing it.¡±


    Hilda still seemed angry. ¡°So, Master Wizard, how will you deal with the spells?¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Henry looked at his girlfriend¡¯s mother and wondered where the hostility wasing from now. He sighed again as it seemed like another unsolvable dilemma.


    ¡°All I can do is drain the energy from the spells so they can be unwoven into their harmless baseponents. I¡¯ll have to contain the collected energy inside something when I¡¯m done, then lock it away.¡±


    Roy¡¯s expression showed his concern. ¡°You¡¯re talking about creating a reliquary of considerable power. Are you sure this isn¡¯t exactly what these beings are after?¡±


    ¡°No, Roy, I can¡¯t be sure of anything involving their intent! That¡¯s my point! Their minds don¡¯t track at all like ours do, so I can only do my best to find a solution that keeps the most people alive,¡± Henry snapped. He took a deep breath and continued with more control. ¡°My alternative is to leave the spells as they are, pushed down in the back of my mind where the corrupt energy slowly and surely warps my values and personality until I be a ve of the entities like Baba. They¡¯re willing to wait. They¡¯re extremely patient.¡±


    ¡°If you create this artifact, the Demons will hunt for it. It will resonate with them. I¡¯ve always said their powers don¡¯te from this realm,¡± Hilda said.


    ¡°The Demons are already working together,¡± Roy said, and the gathered Valkyrie made angry noises of disbelief. Roy looked to Sigrid, who nodded.

 337

    She moved to stand next to him. ¡°Roy speaks the truth! When Henry returned from Eden, he hunted for our missing friend Kali and found she was being held captive in a sex and torture club which was part of a globalwork of clubs, all run by Demons. We discovered three levels of Demons within the one club alone. When they were defeated, the Senior Demon fled and destroyed the club with explosives.¡±


    That forced the warriors into silence as they contemted a more intelligent and organized foe. Demons were already difficult to kill. If they got organized and began using smart strategies, the Valkyries could be in trouble.


    ¡°We need to be powered by the Wild Magic, like Sigrid,¡± Hilda insisted.


    Daughter looked at mother in surprise, so Hilda exined. ¡°You¡¯re faster and stronger, and your endurance is greater because you contain much more potent energy.¡±


    The other Valkyries liked the sound of that and made approving noises. One turned to Sigrid. ¡°How did you be linked to the realm of Wild Magic?¡±


    She opened her mouth as her eyes went to Henry, but he was already shaking his head. ¡°We¡¯ll¡­ have to find an alternate way.¡±


    Hilda smiled as she guessed how Sigrid had done it and her eyes locked on Henry. He looked back at her, wondering if she was more than a little bit unbnced. A short while ago, she¡¯d been shooting daggers at him with her eyes. Now she was ready to eat him up with a spoon?


    Henry pushed that from his mind. He knew what needed to be done and who he had to speak with directly. He wouldn¡¯t put them on the spot, so he¡¯d wrap this up and pull them aside to ask for their help.


    ¡°The next step involves dealing with Baba to make her release the magic, so the Valkyrie are off the hook. After that, nothing should need immediate attention, but I¡¯ll ask Roy for options for containing and hiding the energy. If Roy believes the Demons will be a threat, he can contact the Valkyries.¡± He cast his eyes over the group and saw troubled expressions, but he had no words to relieve that yet.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I wanted to say. Thanks for your attention.¡±


    He left the front of the room and walked to Lorelei, who was sitting with Siobhan. ¡°Could I speak with you two in private?¡± he asked softly.


    Their eyes widened in surprise, but they nodded and followed him up the ramp into the vestibule. He headed for the door to his condo, and their looks of concern became stronger. Once they were in the unit, he led them to the living room, sat them side by side on a couch, and sat across from them.


    ¡°You¡¯re not gushing Wild Magic!¡± Siobhan said in surprise


    Henry smiled. ¡°Yes. I¡¯vee up with a new control mechanism. It seems to be working¡­ right?¡±


    Siobhan smiled and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s stilling through but at much lower levels than before.¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± Henry took a deep breath. ¡°Now, the part I couldn¡¯t say in front of the warriors as their solution might be violent. I want to do this without harming a hair on anyone¡¯s head, so I need smarts, not brawn,¡± he began.


    ¡°You need our help dealing with Baba Yaga? That¡¯s going to take brawn of the magic variety, and we¡¯re not in her ss!¡± Siobhan asserted.


    ¡°No, I need your help with General Crane. I need to separate him from the dark aura,¡± Henry exined.


    Lorelei blinked at him in surprise. ¡°And you expect me to do that? Will ite off if I sing to him?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no. But you have a strong friend that I believe might be able to pull it from him. I think you call him Hudson?¡± he said hopefully.


    ¡°Oh! Oh, you need me tomunicate with the river and enlist its help?¡± she asked cautiously.


    ¡°These beings are invaders, destroyers, and corrupters. They are targeting Earth. A good man is being used by them and needs to be freed. We must do whatever we can to block any w hold they can get here. I¡¯m hoping the river will want to help,¡± he exined. ¡°Earth has magic that these beings cannotprehend or defend against. You¡¯re our secret weapon!¡±


    Lorelei snorted but smiled at him. ¡°I don¡¯t speak to the river. It¡¯s more a sharing of impressions and visualized concepts. If they¡¯re tooplex or difficult to share, it won¡¯t understand,¡± Lorelei suggested. ¡°I have no idea if it will perceive this aura you need it to pull from the General. If it doesn¡¯t understand, it might kill him.¡±


    Henry nodded grimly but looked at his other guest.


    ¡°What do I do?¡± Siobhan asked in surprise.


    ¡°I can¡¯t see the aura. I need you to share what you see with Lorelei and me,¡± he exined.


    Lorelei looked at Siobhan. ¡°If I can see this other magic in terms of flow or how it impacts the flow, I might be able to share this with the Hudson to help it perceive the threat.¡±


    ¡°If we can remove the aura or even expose some skin I can touch, I can alter Crane with Wild Magic, and he won¡¯t be a Human any longer. Thatpletes Baba¡¯s deal with them, and she¡¯ll be released. The dark magic will no longer have a purpose for the General and might fade away. Then I can begin to deal directly with the dark magic spells,¡± Henry said with hope in his voice.


    ¡°When do you want to do this?¡± Lorelei asked.


    ¡°As soon as possible. Now, if you¡¯re avable,¡± Henry suggested.


    ¡°Oh! Now?¡± Lorelei nced at Siobhan, who was looking equally surprised. She looked at Henry¡¯s hopeful expression and nodded. ¡°I suppose there isn¡¯t any reason to put it off.¡±


    ¡°Is the General on board with this?¡± Siobhan asked.


    Henry¡¯s expression became concerned. ¡°He¡¯s in a hospital and injured, so that addsplications. I¡¯ll call the Sergeant to enlist her help.¡±


    The twodies nodded, so he pulled out his cell and dialed. It rang twice.


    ¡°Henry! What¡¯s up?¡± Mick said as she answered.


    ¡°Hi. Are you with the General? How is he?¡±


    ¡°Most of the squad is at the Mall, trickle feeding from proximity to the strike zone. David and I are in the hall outside the General¡¯s room. He woke up this morning. He seems fine though he¡¯s pretty bruised,¡± she exined.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to speak to him as soon as possible. Is he able to get out of bed?¡± Henry asked.


    Mick snorted. ¡°Yeah, he can walk as far as the bathroom. He bangs a metal cup on the rail of his bed to get us toe into the room to help him. He was asking why we won¡¯t stay in the room. He wanted to talk to you about that. I¡¯d also like answers about this non-imminent danger you mentioned.¡±


    ¡°If I open a door to my condo, can you bring the General here?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Hang on.¡±


    Henry heard a muffled conversation then Mick was back on the line. ¡°Yes. The bathroom door again?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please,¡± Henry responded as he got up and walked back to his hallway. He linked his guest bathroom door to the General¡¯s bathroom door and knocked. Mick opened the door and grinned as she saw him. David Feinberg came into view, assisting Gordon Crane, who was wearing a dressing gown over his hospital gown. ¡°Pleasee in,¡± Henry said, standing aside.


    The two Silver Soldiers came through the door with the General between them. Henry released the door once they were in. They walked slowly into the living room and took seats on the sofa across from Lorelei and Siobhan.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    Henry made the introductions and sat next to Siobhan.


    ¡°What¡¯s this non-imminent danger I¡¯m in?¡± Crane asserted immediately.


    Henry smiled at the man¡¯s no-nonsense approach. He went through the story with them, exining Baba¡¯s contract with the entities from another dimension, their corrupt energies, their hold over Baba and now General Crane. He exined that Siobhan had used her sight to see the aura of the dark energies surrounding him. The General frowned in concern.


    ¡°Can Ms. Whn-¡±


    ¡°Siobhan,¡± the woman insisted.


    Gordon smiled at her with a nod. ¡°Can Siobhan show me what she sees?¡±


    Henry smiled at the General¡¯s increasing ease with epting the possibilities of magic.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a good idea for her to do this as her mind is sensitive to the presence of the entities, and I don¡¯t want them to get their ws into her mind,¡± Henry exined. ¡°Mick and David can try, though. We need to see if Siobhan can share with Lorelei and me.¡±


    The soldiers immediately stood and walked behind Henry, cing a hand on his shoulders. He smiled as he shared the rift¡¯s energy with them. They sighed contentedly.


    ¡°Enough with the charging, and pay attention!¡± Gordon growled. They immediately snapped their eyes to theirmander.


    Henry didn¡¯t miss this new tension between them and assumed this was likely due to the influence of the corrupting energy.


    Siobhan put her hand on Henry¡¯s arm, and he closed his eyes to ept the connection she was making. He could see the General and the yellow-white energy flowing around him in the condo. Henry knew this energy came from him, but none of this flow touched Crane as it was repelled by a dark field around him. For the first time, Henry could see corrupt energies. It slowly flowed over Crane¡¯s entire body like a thin film of ck oil.


    He felt the presence of the two Silver Soldiers as well.


    ¡°This is dizzying!¡± Mick said.


    ¡°Close your own eyes and see with Siobhan¡¯s alone,¡± Henry instructed.

 338

    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s better-SHIT! What¡¯s that?¡± Mick eximed.


    ¡°What are you seeing, Sergeant?¡± Gordon asked.


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s like you¡¯re covered in ck goo¡­ or mist. It seems to change its nature as well as its density constantly. Freaky!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably what that rock-like material in the vest was. Itpressed some of itself into a solid to protect him and showed up in our perceptions. When it did its job, it faded back into its invisible state,¡± Henry muttered. ¡°Lorelei?¡±


    ¡°Nothing happens when I try to connect to Siobhan through you. ¡°I¡¯m going to try a direct connection with Siobhan,¡± she replied. ¡°Oh! It works!¡± She sighed and was silent for a moment. ¡°The golden light is beautiful! The ck mist around the General is not! It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.¡±


    Henry breathed a sigh of relief. Now that she could see it, she might be able to share her impression of it with the river. ¡°Get a good look at it.¡±


    Henry noted his vision was dimming considerably when Lorelei was connected. The brightness and color were diminishing as if Lorelei was using up all of Siobhan¡¯s bandwidth.


    Mick noted it as well. ¡°I¡¯m having trouble seeing. It¡¯s getting dimmer.¡±


    ¡°Lorelei is hogging the feed!¡± Henry teased.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Lorelei eximed.


    ¡°The yellow-white waves areing from Henry, and yes, your connection is much stronger than his,¡± Siobhan said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s our affinity of being creatures of the water,¡± Lorelei said, then felt Siobhan¡¯s embarrassment. She pulled her hand back from the woman and looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for oversharing!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Henry forgets what I¡¯d rather keep to myself all the time,¡± Siobhan said stiffly.


    He froze. ¡°Oh my god! You¡¯re right! I¡¯m so sorry, Siobhan!¡±


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t like you so much, I¡¯d be really angry!¡± she huffed.


    ¡°Justifiably so. I¡¯m such an idiot!¡± he said with a remorseful expression.


    Siobhan sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. ¡°So, it works? You can both see what you need to see?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Henry said with a nod. Lorelei did as well.


    Henry looked to the General. ¡°The next challenge is that we¡¯re not strong enough to pull the aura from you. We¡¯ll need help from something much stronger than us.¡±


    The man¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Some thing?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The dark aura is corrupt energy from vast beings inhabiting an alien realm. We need the strength of an elemental force to counteract that strength. We don¡¯t necessarily need to pull itpletely free from you. If we can expose some of your skin, I can transfer Wild Magic into you to trigger your transformation. This ends the deal Baba made and eliminates the purpose of the spell on you. That should negate it,¡± Henry exined.


    The General held up his hands. ¡°Hang on a second. Let me get this clear in my head. I¡¯mpletely encased in evil, corrupt energy whiches from enormous evil entities from another dimension. They¡¯re so strong we need to assistance of an elemental force here on earth to pry the energy away from me so you can trigger my change into some random race of mythical being.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°If I can maintain the connection long enough, I can ensure you be a Satyr. It¡¯s too difficult to involve anyone else.¡±Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    Crane held Henry¡¯s eye as he thought about that.


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s better than bing¡­ what was it? Oh yeah, a centaur. It¡¯s still an if, though, isn¡¯t it? You might not be able to maintain contact.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, sir,¡± Henry said honestly.


    Crane frowned. ¡°And what happens if we just leave everything as it is?¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°The corrupt energy around you will warp your personality and not in good ways. You¡¯ll eventually be its ve, willing to do whatever it wants because that¡¯s what you¡¯ll want, too. Those near you will be simrly afflicted but to a lesser extent. Another impact is that Baba won¡¯t pass on. She¡¯ll continue to defy my efforts to eliminate the dark magic spells she contained in my head. These will warp my personality until I pull them from quarantine and begin to use them. They¡¯re powered by the same corrupt energies, and the potential damage they can inflict would be devastating. The spells bind the energy to them, so the energy is contained for now.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem like much of an option,¡± Gordon sighed.


    ¡°No, sir.¡±


    ¡°Okay, who is this elemental force?¡± Crane asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s more of a what than a who. We¡¯re going to ask the Hudson River.¡±


    Henry thought the General¡¯s expression was priceless and wished he¡¯d thought to have his cell¡¯s camera ready.


    Click!


    Henry turned to see Mick putting her cell away. She had a grin on her face.


    ¡°The Hudson. That river out there? You¡¯re going to ask a river to pull an invisible evil force field from me?¡±


    Henry looked to Lorelei as she might be the best one to exin. She looked at him, widened her eyes, and then rolled them at him. She cleared her throat.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Naiad. I¡¯m connected to and canmunicate with rivers. They don¡¯t have minds per se, but they do have a life force and consciousness. They respond to me, and if I share my intent with them clearly enough, I can get them to help me,¡± Lorelei exined.


    Crane digested that, then asked the next obvious question. ¡°Will we need to be in the Hudson for the river to assist?¡± Lorelei nodded. ¡°Shit. You know it¡¯s January, right?¡± the General grumbled.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very cold. You won¡¯t be able to stay in there for long,¡± Lorelei agreed.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Crane scowled and looked at Henry. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you open a door to some tropical ind, and we could soak in the water there?¡±


    Henry shook his head with a regretful smile.


    ¡°I canmunicate with rivers, but I¡¯ve never received a response from an ocean,¡± Lorelei confessed.


    The General sighed and looked at the gathered people for a moment. ¡°Fuck it. Let¡¯s give it a try, but no more than ten minutes.¡±


    Lorelei nodded to him. ¡°I¡¯ll go in first and see if the river will do it. If it agrees, I¡¯ll ask you, Siobhan, and Henry to join me.¡±


    They stood, and Henry pulled a warm winter coat from the closet for the General. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t have any boots.¡± He switched to his default mor of a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. ¡°Wait, give me a second!¡±


    Henry went to his bureau in the bedroom and returned with a pair of boxer shorts, a fleece sweatsuit, and thick socks. ¡°This is better than the hospital gown.¡±


    Crane took the items gratefully and quickly got changed in the washroom.


    The group took the elevator to the lobby and marched outside. The cold wind off the river immediately brought a scowl of difort to Crane¡¯s face, but Feinberg scooped him up into his arms then they walked to the edge of the water. Lorelei continued on into the water and was soon out of sight.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t even flinch!¡± Gordon said in surprise.


    Henry smiled as he nodded. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t be a very sessful Naiad if cold water affected her.¡±


    The General paused to consider that. He finally nodded, then shivered.


    ¡°Henry, the aura is beginning to change,¡± Siobhan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably attempting to protect him from the cold,¡± Henry suggested.


    A few minutester, Lorelei came into view, standing on the water¡¯s surface. The water under her feet seemed to be solid as it carried her to the shore. Henry grinned at her, impressed, and she smiled back at him shyly. She faced the General.


    ¡°The river is willing to help. I¡¯ll take you out to the middle where it¡¯s strongest.¡± She looked at Henry and Siobhan. ¡°It couldn¡¯t understand the need to bring you two as well, so you¡¯ll have to get out there on your own.¡±


    Siobhan looked at Henry. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem for me, but how good a swimmer are you?¡±


    ¡°I-I assumed we¡¯d be able to do it here, near the shore. I don¡¯t know how to swim,¡± Henry admitted.


    ¡°Okay, everyone back to the condo. I¡¯m going to go get assistance from the Coast Guard,¡± the Sergeant said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you in the river by the point,¡± Lorelei said and moved back out into the water and sank below its surface.


    The General watched her slip under the waves. ¡°I suppose she wouldn¡¯t be very sessful if she couldn¡¯t breathe underwater too.¡± Henry grinned at him.


    They hustled back to the building, and Mick raced away the second they were inside. Henry brought them back up to the condo, and Feinberg indicated he¡¯d be contacted by cell when they were ready.


    Henry began preparing hot beverages for the General and Siobhan as he turned off his internal heater spell again. They took seats on thefy sofas to rest and prepare themselves.


    ¡°Henry, how did this evil aura get attached to me?¡± Gordon asked.


    Eyes turned to the man in the kitchen, who was frowning. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. When the green light fell from the sky, how did you manage to avoid being exposed to the Wild Magic?¡±


    The General frowned. ¡°Dne and I did our best to keep it from touching our skin. Remember, we were the only humans left on the team. Someone had to represent humanity.¡±


    Henry carried their mugs to them as he recalled seeing Mick kneeling next to Dne¡¯s empty uniform in Mab¡¯s castle as it copsed. ¡°It worked for Dne, so it must have worked for you as well. He remained on Earth, and you fell through to Eden. I¡¯m sorry I missed him when I opened the portals.¡±


    The General just waved off the apology. ¡°The ce was falling apart, and you were in the middle of a battle. That you were able to save any of us was a miracle. You¡¯re not to me for his disappearance.¡± He frowned. ¡°There¡¯s still the mystery of how these entities got to me.¡±


    Henry knew the other-dimensional horrors couldn¡¯t interact with anyone else on Earth other than him as he was carrying the tainted magic¡­ he froze.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Crane asked when he saw the shock on Henry¡¯s face.


    Looking into the General¡¯s eyes, Henry spoke. ¡°The night you found me dead on the street, did youe into contact with my body?¡±


    Crane frowned as his mind went back to the terrible event. ¡°Uh, yes. Almost everyone who returned from Eden touched you. They¡­ we were in shock.¡±


    ¡°But you were the only Human on the, and the green light was back in the sky, so there was no Wild Magic toe into contact with. The tainted magic in my body might have detected your unique state and allowed some of that evil to transfer to you to be a shield, blocking Wild Magic, to keep you Human and maintain the contract with Baba.¡±

 339

    The General was quiet and sipped at his drink as he rolled that idea around in his head. While he had no idea how magic worked, Henry¡¯s theory seemed¡­ viable.


    Feinberg¡¯s cell rang, and he spoke with the Sergeant before handing off the cell to the General. He spoke quietly to someone and finally hung up. He looked to the others as he handed the cell back to the Specialist. ¡°We¡¯re to meet them at Paulus Hook Pier in fifteen minutes.¡±


    Back downstairs they went, and the Corporal picked the General up in his arms again and ran towards the pier. Henry dropped his mor, picked up Siobhan, and ran after them. When they got to the waterfront walkway, they looked out over the water and spotted Lorelei¡¯s head above the water. Henry set Siobhan down and waved his arms to get Lorelei¡¯s attention. She moved towards them, so he pointed to the pier, and she began moving there instead. Henry picked up Siobhan once more and ran to the dock. He set her down and switched back to his mor. They met the General and the Specialist just as a forty-five-foot Coast Guard response boat pulled into the pier and tied up. Mick joined them on the dock just as the crew weed the General on board.


    Henry looked to the Sergeant. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go with them?¡±


    She gave him an ufortable look. ¡°I¡¯m not too keen on going on or into the water. Silver People don¡¯t float, and the river bottom is too soft to run on. We¡¯ll stay on drynd, thank you very much.¡±


    It was Henry¡¯s turn, so he followed Siobhan onto the boat. He was handed a lifejacket which he immediately put on and moved back from the crewman to put some distance between them as a precaution.


    ¡°What are we doing, General?¡± said the sharp-eyed young man.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    Crane looked ufortable, then pointed to Lorelei, who was watching them from the water.


    ¡°Lieutenant Jeffreys, she needs us to move to the middle of the river. She¡¯ll meet us there,¡± he said. He waved to Lorelei, and she nodded before dipping under the surface again. ¡°Once we¡¯re in the center of the river, I¡¯ll be going into the water with these two and the woman already there. You¡¯ll need to maintain your position so you can extract us after no more than ten minutes. For now, you should remain in the cabin to maintain your physical distance from his man. If you haven¡¯t transformed yet, that is.¡±


    The Lieutenant looked at Henry and quickly backed away.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Henry said to the General.


    ¡°I feel foolish trying to describe any of this to the unaware,¡± Crane sighed.


    Henry nodded as the boat pulled back from the pier where the two Silver Soldiers waited.


    It didn¡¯t take long to reach the middle, and Lorelei rose out of the water like she had a personal elevator. He saw she wasn¡¯t even wet! She had fascinating powers!


    ¡°The river is ready. It will only pull on the aura, but I have to be the one to see it. It will take its instructions from my sight. Siobhan, I¡¯ll need to see what you see, so I can guide the river.¡±


    Siobhan slipped out of her life jacket and transformed into her seal shape before tumbling over the side of the boat into the water.


    One of the Coast Guard personnel rushed from the cabin to stare at the seal bobbing in the waters. ¡°A SELKIE! That¡¯s a possible transformation?¡± she cried excitedly.


    General Crane looked at the name on their uniform. ¡°Ensign Bailey? Please return to the cabin. We¡¯ll discuss this after, okay? Ten minutes in the water, then we¡¯ll be done.¡±


    ¡°Right, sorry, General.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite understandable. Thanks!¡± he said gently, and she went back inside.


    Henry moved closer to Crane. ¡°As I need bare skin to transfer the Wild Magic to you, could I ask that you remove your top before you go into the water?¡± he asked apologetically.


    ¡°Shit, why not. I¡¯ll keep these dry for when I get out.¡± He shucked off the life jacket, the winter coat, and the tracksuit until he was just in the boxers and the thick socks. After a moment, he tugged the socks off too. These items were stuffed into a locker to keep them dry.


    He stepped to the side of the boat and epted Lorelei¡¯s hand as he stepped onto the water tform she was now standing on. It moved them about twenty feet away from the vessel, then began to lower them into the water.


    Henry saw Siobhan waiting for him. He would have preferred switching to his Satyr form, but the life jacket wouldn¡¯t fit. Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the side of the boat and plunged into the frigid water. He resurfaced, and the seal bobbed in the water next to him. He gave her a thumbs up. She swam behind him and began pushing him away from the boat toward Lorelei and the General.


    When they were three feet away, Siobhan stopped pushing and swam between Henry and Lorelei. They both reached out a hand and pressed them against her slick fur. Instantly, Siobhan was sharing her perception of the aura.


    It had settled into a uniform density around Crane, clinging tight. Henry saw no opportunity to reach the man with the Wild Magic. As he discovered how little control he had in maintaining his position next to the General, he began to have doubts this n would work.


    ¡°Is the river not able to get a grip on the aura?¡± he called out to Lorelei as he saw nothing happening.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost ready to start pulling!¡± she called back.


    Henry began pooling Wild Magic into his hands so he could lunge forward and p a hand against the man¡¯s chest or back if it became exposed. He¡¯d push the energy into the man as quickly as he could.


    Crane suddenly bobbed upwards, almost leaving the water, except the river followed him up to keep him immersed. They sshed back down, pushing Henry further from the man.


    ¡°The aura is fighting back!¡± Lorelei called to them. ¡°The Hudson has a grip, so I don¡¯t need to see it anymore.¡± She moved away from Siobhan and frowned as she listened, then she looked at Henry nervously. ¡°Second attempt.¡±


    Once more, Henry was knocked back by the upwelling as the General was lifted to the surface, but the river pulled him back down as he was still in the grip of the water.


    Henry came back to the surface, sputtering and coughing. He wiped at his face and looked around until he spotted Crane.


    ¡°General! Are you okay?¡± Henry called out.


    The man gasped and looked for Henry, spotting him over his shoulder. ¡°I feel like the rope¡­ in a game of¡­ tug o¡¯ war!¡±


    Henry realized with the way the river was fighting with the dark energy shield, Henry was getting pushed away from Crane. He needed to be right next to the man, and he needed to be touching Siobhan so he could see the dark magic field.


    ¡°Try number three!¡± Lorelei yelled as Siobhan began pushing Henry closer.


    The Hudson heaved under Henry, and the General yelled in pain as the elemental made an all-out effort to rip the aura from the man. The dark energies whipped the water¡¯s surface explosively as it lost its grip on its host in a few locations.


    Siobhan grabbed Henry¡¯s ankle and pulled him away from the frothing water, saving him from being beaten senseless. She ducked under the waves, as did Lorelei.


    Then he saw it. The General¡¯s back, between his shoulder des, was free of the dark shield. Something huge was surfacing below him, but he put everything from his mind except that small strip of bare skin.


    Time slowed as he opened a small tear to Eden directly before him and a second tear directly above Crane¡¯s back. He pped his hand through the two to strike cold, wet skin. As his fingers touched the target, he released the stored charge of Wild Magic in a massive pulse and hoped he didn¡¯t kill the man with the volume of magic he¡¯d dosed him with.


    The instant passed, and Henry realized Siobhan was no longer gripping his leg; he was upside down and rushing toward the river¡¯s surface. He just had time to yank his hand back, release the two tears, and throw a shield around himself before hitting the water¡¯s surface.


    There was a deafening boom as the dark magic spell failed with a concussive st and its shockwave shot out in all directions from the epicenter of the General¡¯s unconscious body. Only Henry was above the surface when the st wave sent him skipping across the river like a thrown stone until he mmed into the side of the Coast Guard response boat.


    Everything went ck.


    -=-


    ¡°Boy.¡±


    Henry¡¯s mind floated in the darkness. Was someone speaking?


    ¡°Boy.¡±


    He recognized the voice but not the tone. It was the sound of defeat. ¡°Baba? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°They cheated.¡±


    He knew who she was talking about. ¡°Yes¡­ but it¡¯s okay, Baba. I took care of it.¡±


    He felt her attention focus on him fully. ¡°What did you say?¡± He heard surprise in her voice.


    Henry wanted her to acknowledge what he¡¯d done for her, but he realized it wasn¡¯t important. She wasn¡¯t his parent. She didn¡¯t save him from the genocide of his people because of anything so frivolous aspassion¡­ or love.


    ¡°Thest condition on your deal has beenpleted. Now, there are no more true humans.¡±


    Baba¡¯s voice continued to hold disbelief and shock. ¡°You did this?¡±


    The urge to scream at her rocked him, but he struggled to remain calm. It didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Yes, Baba. I dosed thest Human with Wild Magic. It broke the Dark Entities¡¯ magic surrounding him, keeping him Human. It¡¯s done. The bargain is over. You¡¯re free.¡±


    Silence surrounded him in the darkness, and he wondered if that was it. Was she gone?


    ¡°You did this for me?¡± Baba¡¯s voice asked, trembling.

 340

    He wanted tough in her face. To punish her with the same indifference she¡¯d disyed for his well-being. He wanted to crush that tiny ember of humanity that was finally surfacing in her after all these years.


    But he couldn¡¯t.


    It would be a lie, and he wouldn¡¯t lie to his Baba.


    No matter how much she¡¯d hurt him, a tiny part of him refused to stop loving her and never gave up hope she might one day feel the same for him.


    But it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Yes, Baba. I did it for you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± her voice was so quiet now.


    He resisted the urge to shout at her once more and felt a weight settling on his heart.


    ¡°Because I love you, Baba,¡± he confessed.


    Silence.


    It was too much to expect a response for that, so he moved on before the pain became too much.


    He thought about his new ease with magic. ¡°I guess I should thank you for your efforts to help me learn so quickly about how to use magic. It¡¯s getting easier and easier. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not me.¡±


    Henry frowned. What did she mean by that? Was she just being mean?


    There was something in the tone of her voice he hadn¡¯t heard before. Surprise and¡­ hope?


    He was confused as he hadn¡¯t heard that from her before.


    So¡­ she was just being mean, right?


    A weight pounded against his chest, and lips pressed against his mouth as they blew hair into his lungs.


    Henry¡¯s eyes flew open, and he was looking up at a stranger¡¯s face. Was he wearing a uniform? Coast Guard!


    ¡°Move back!¡± Henry squeaked and pushed weakly at him. The man lurched away, and Henry sat up.


    He was sitting on the boat¡¯s rear deck, and a terrible noise came over the water. He turned his head and saw something iling in the water, roaring in panic. Siobhanunched herself out of the water and faced Henry.


    ¡°The General! He¡¯d changed, but I can¡¯t tell what he is! Something¡¯s wrong! He¡¯s fighting the river!¡± she cried.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Lorelei?¡± Henry asked as he tried to determine what the General had be, but the water sshed too much to make out any detail.


    ¡°She¡¯d under the surface, trying to calm the river. The explosion seems to have confused it,¡± Siobhan said, looking back as well.


    ¡°The dark magic¡¯s gone. We need to get the General back on the boat. Can you get me closer?¡± Henry asked.


    She looked at him like he was mad. ¡°You get anywhere near that, and you¡¯ll be broken into pieces.¡±


    Henry switched into his Satyr form. He looked back to the shocked Coast Guard officers. ¡°Can I get a bunch of life jackets?


    Momentster, Henry leapt off the back of the boat. He had three jackets buckled haphazardly together and wrapped around his chest. It was barely enough to keep his head above the surface. Siobhan pulled him closer to the exploding water but outside the range of the iling limbs. Henry still couldn¡¯t make out what the General had be. He looked at Siobhan. ¡°Can you ask Siobhan to get the Hudson to lift the General up so I can see what he is?¡±


    Siobhan nodded and ducked under the waves.


    Henry bobbed up and down in the tormented waters as he did his best to keep facing the panicked being in the waves.


    Suddenly they were lifted above the surface as the Hudson bulged upwards. Enormous wings unfurled, and a sinuous neck lifted the Dragon¡¯s head from the water.


    Deep blue iridescent scales caught the sunlight and red red at their edges.Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    Henry caught his breath at how beautiful he was. He looked¡­ regal! Far more impressive than Walter Zhao had been. Then he snapped back to focus on the wild eyes of the Dragon.


    ¡°General! KNOCK IT OFF!¡± he bellowed, and the massive head swung to face him.


    Henry found himself grabbed and pulled from the waters in a powerful grip, the hooked ws poking his back painfully.


    ¡°Switch back to your Human form!¡± Henry called out.


    A huge, te-sized eye peered at him. Henry could still see fear there. ¡°HHHHoooow!¡±


    They were slowly dropping back toward the surface, so Henry had to act quickly. ¡°Remember what you looked like as a human. Hold that in your mind. Then push with your mind. Use your will to change to-¡±


    They hit the surface as the Hudson released them. This time however, Henry was still in the Dragon¡¯s grip, so he was forced down deep under the surface. It wasn¡¯t letting go, either. He saw Siobhan and Lorelei rushing closer, but he waved them back. Henry ced his hands on the big paw and forced more Wild Magic into the huge beast.


    He willed calm into therge Dragon as he struggled to hold his breath in the tight squeeze. He finally felt it respond, and it went still and loosened its grip. Henry maintained contact and pictured the General in his boxers standing on the boat. He felt a brush of indignation then reality suddenly folded around them.


    Henry popped up to the surface, gasping and coughing. Siobhan was immediately next to him. Lorelei rose from the water with the general next to her. They found themselves resting on a firm surface that moved toward the Coast Guard vessel. Henry switched back to his human form before they reached the boat. The two Coast Guard officers reached down, pulled the General from the water, and wrapped a nket around him as they moved him into the cabin.


    Henry was helped aboard by Lorelei and Siobhan, both of whom were dry once more. Thetter brought the General his borrowed clothes as Henry leaned back against the side of the boat, which was rushing back to the pier.


    Normally, Henry wouldn¡¯t feel the cold, but he was soaking wet from the frigid water in January. That strained his usual resistance to the freezing temperature. He activated his heating spell and felt it slowly push back the chill.


    Lorelei knelt before him. ¡°May I assume it worked?¡±


    Henry grinned and nodded wearily. ¡°Yes, the spell broke. Thank you so much for your assistance, and thank the Hudson for me too.¡±


    She smiled at him. ¡°The river doesn¡¯t really have a consciousness, but I¡¯ll ept the thanks in its stead.¡±


    He reached out to take her hand. ¡°No, I sincerely mean this. Without you, there would have been no way to save the General and me. We have a chance now to eliminate the presence of the dark ones from Earth. Maybe permanently. That¡¯s what you did.¡±


    Lorelei¡¯s eyes were bing ssy, and she couldn¡¯t stop smiling. She leaned forward, and their lips met. He kissed her tenderly until the boat thumped against the dock. They pulled back and shared a smile.


    Henry pushed himself to his feet and turned to see two anxious silver faces. Mick and Feinberg were standing on the pier looking for the General. They looked at him.


    ¡°It worked. He¡¯s free of the evil aura,¡± Henry said and snorted at how stupid he felt saying that. He, Siobhan, and Lorelei were assisted off the boat by the two Silver Soldiers then Mick looked into Henry¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Did-did we see a Dragon?¡± Mick asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Crane grumbled as the Coast Guard led him to the boat¡¯s edge. He was dressed once more in the sweatsuit. He handed the nket back to Lieutenant Jeffreys. ¡°Thank you for your assistance. You might want to keep what you witnessed to yourselves. The world is undergoing tremendous changes, and many aren¡¯t too keen on getting reminders of how bizarre it¡¯s bing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the Lieutenant said but looked confused. ¡°What-what exactly were we involved with out there?¡± The sailor pointed to one of the reinforced windows on their boat, severely cracked from the shockwave.


    Henry turned to face the Lieutenant. ¡°Nothing short of protecting the Earth from forces hostile to it and all life upon it. Thank you for helping us sessfullyplete this part of the mission.¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes went wide, then wider still as the General saluted the boat crew. All of them snapped to attention and returned the General¡¯s salute. Ensign Bailey pushed forward. ¡°Sir, the Selkie?¡±


    When General Crane looked ufortably toward Siobhan, she turned to face the eager young woman.


    ¡°You want to be a Selkie?¡± she asked the ensign.


    ¡°More than anything! I¡¯ve heard tales about them from my granny my whole life!¡± she gushed.


    Siobhan looked at Henry beseechingly.


    ¡°Perhaps when there¡¯s less attention on us?¡± Henry suggested gesturing to the crowd gathering at the end of the pier. Several more Silver Soldiers had arrived to block ess to the dock. The Sergeant must have called for them.


    ¡°Give me your cell,¡± Siobhan told the Ensign. The young woman immediately pulled it from a pocket and unlocked it for her. Siobhan quickly punched in her number. ¡°It¡¯s in your contacts under Siobhan. Call me tonight. We¡¯ll talk.¡±


    ¡°We have to go, General. Too many people are arriving,¡± the Sergeant warned.


    ¡°Back to Henry¡¯s but not directly,¡± Crane suggested.


    ¡°I need an unlocked door-with no ss!¡± Henry said.


    Feinberg nodded and raced away. Momentster, he was back. ¡°There¡¯s a door on a nearby building that is open. It¡¯s metal with no window.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s go,¡± Henry said, and they waved to the Coast Guard once more before heading toward the crowd.


    Henry reached into his head for a spell to make people look the other way and immediately discarded ny-five percent of them as they led to the death of the observers. As they walked closer, he found one that wasn¡¯t so dire. He flexed a little magic muscle to make the spell include his group and the Silver Soldiers. Then heunched it.


    An invisible wave pulsed outward around him.


    ¡°What was that?¡± the General asked.


    ¡°Just a go-away spell. To help clear the crowd. It was the least harmful spell Baba had,¡± Henry answered.

 341

    The outer boundary of the wave reached the crowd on the sidewalk, and they suddenly turned and began to push at the people behind them, then they turned as well. Pretty soon, the observers were scattering in all directions. The soldiers guarding the entrance to the pier watched them go, then turned to face the General as their party approached.


    ¡°Lead on, Feinberg,¡± Crane said, and the other soldiers formed a guard around their group.


    ¡°Feeling better, General?¡± Yablonski asked.


    Gordon gave the man a weary look. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Soon they were standing before the utility door of a nearbymercial building. Henry canceled the go-away spell because they no longer had anyone following them.


    The door before them opened, and a man wearing a coverall with the building¡¯s logo exited and froze as he faced the Silver Soldiers.


    ¡°We need to borrow the door for a moment,¡± General Crane said.


    The man frowned and shook his head. ¡°No unauthorized personnel allowed inside.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t be entering the building,¡± Crane assured him, and the maintenance man gave him an odd look. Two nearby soldiers gently pulled the man aside. Henry stepped forward and closed the door. Then he reopened it, and inside was no longer the generator room.


    ¡°What the fuck! Where¡¯s the generator?¡± the building worker cried.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s still there.¡± He stepped inside, and Lorelei and Siobhan followed, with the General and the soldiers at her heels. The Sergeant wasst through and smiled at the maintenance man as she closed the door. When the worker yanked it open again, he looked into the generator room again, and all was humming along as he¡¯d left it.


    While he was seriously impressed, he had work to do.


    Henry guided the others into his living room once more. They took seats, and the soldiers sighed happily as they trickle-fed from being close to Henry.


    Gordon leaned forward on the sofa to look at Henry. ¡°What the hell did I be?¡±


    Henry leaned back a little from the sharp words. ¡°Sorry for how much energy I pushed into you, but I only had a window of seconds to do it. What you became was random chance, but I think you lucked out. Dragons are rare and very powerful! I¡¯ve never created a wielder before, but Dragons can use magic, so you¡¯ll be able to do it too. You detected the spell I used to dispel the crowd.¡± He looked to Siobhan. ¡°Did you have a chance to see anything in the General post-change that should be addressed?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°No, the evil aura is gone, and he just has this enormous Dragon-sized aura now. Lots of power there.¡±


    ¡°What should I know about being a Dragon? Aside from how to switch back and forth,¡± Gordon asked with a calmer voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have no clue. The secrets of each race are only known to the races themselves.¡± Henry looked to Lorelei as he recalled something. He looked back to Crane. ¡°That said, there¡¯s a Dragon who Lorelei and I met. She¡¯sing to see me at my office. Her name is Alice Shaw, and she¡¯s originally from Ennd. I¡¯ll ask her to speak with you. From what I understand, there aren¡¯t many Dragons. They¡¯re also collectors. Meaning they collect things. You may feel apulsion to do so. One wanted to collect me! He was dissuaded.¡± The General frowned.


    ¡°Switching between Human and Dragon will be second nature, but you should practice somece safe. Make sure you have enough space around you for your Dragon form.¡± Henry recalled just how big the man was in Dragon form. ¡°Something else I should mention is the method you use for transforming is controlled by a ring of bone inside you. Its magic is different than a mor. Your Human form isn¡¯t an illusion. While you¡¯re Human, you physically be one, with all their vulnerabilities. That¡¯s because Dragon magic warps reality. It twists and bends reality around you. You never want to do this with someone standing close to you as this warping will kill them or at least badly injure them. I¡¯ve had to use this to kill, and it¡¯s horrifying.¡±


    Gordon gave him a grim nod.


    ¡°If the General is fully human in this state, can you give him one of your force field spells to keep him safe?¡± Mick asked Henry.


    ¡°That would probably be a good idea,¡± Henry agreed, then he recalled how these magic add-ons didn¡¯t remain after changing. ¡°Actually, anything I add will be lost the next time you switch as you get a whole new Human body each time you engage the Dragon mor spell. I¡¯ll add one to you now, but you should try to see if you can study it to make your own.¡±


    Another caveat rose in his mind. ¡°Alice Shaw is linked to the old realm of magic. She may be able to teach you spells, but they may not work with Wild Magic. Old realm magic works bymanding the energy to follow the instructions of the spell. The Wild Magic is stronger and needs to be invited to participate. Sometimes the spells just don¡¯t trante between the two types of magic. If Alice isn¡¯t keen on training, you may need to learn how to create spells on your own by converting the spells to work.¡±


    Gordon looked ufortable with that idea, so Henry exined.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t taught. Baba just jammed all her spells into my mind. I also have ess to old realm magic, so I can use the spells that only work with that magic. I also taught myself how to interact with the Wild Magic, how to use my will to define what I expected to happen and invite the magic to participate. I use my background in programming to make sense of the spells in my mind and get them to work for me in that way.¡±


    The General nodded and leaned forward as Henry reached out to him and bound his personal force field spell to the bone at his temple. ¡°Just touch there and will the shield to be active. You can will it off in the same way.¡± He demonstrated by activating his own and felt Crane enable his. He nodded with a smile.


    Henry looked closer at the General as he was no longer showing any sign of his previous injury. ¡°You seem to bepletely healed from your injuries.¡±


    Gordon¡¯s face showed his surprise, as he hadn¡¯t been aware of it. Now, he realized he felt fine. In fact, he felt better than he ever had. ¡°I¡­ feel really good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to assume that¡¯s likely due to the magic you now contain,¡± Henry suggested. ¡°You can ask Alice about this too.¡±


    Gordon frowned as he suddenly felt like he was returning to school.


    Henry recalled something else. ¡°Oh, one thing I did hear. Dragons are extremely long-lived, avoiding mishaps. Alice is over eight hundred years old. Walter Zhao may have been thousands of years old.¡± He saw Crane¡¯s shocked expression and suddenly felt bad. ¡°Sorry for dropping that on you. Do you want to return to the hospital so they can discharge you?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yes. I suppose that makes sense,¡± the General said with a subdued tone.N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Henry stood and reset the closet door to the bathroom door in the General¡¯s hospital room and opened the door. He faced a man in a dark suit.


    The first three shots left the man¡¯s gun in a blink of an eye. If Henry hadn¡¯t left his shield up, he¡¯d have been killed. Instead, the ttened bullets just dropped to the floor. Henry knew he was facing a Demon as no Human could draw a weapon and fire it that quickly. Henry dropped his Human mor and stepped into the hospital room as the Demon hissed at him.


    Henry felt the Silver Soldiers at his back as he surged forward. He saw the Demon swing his arm outward to shoot through the Oxygen line in the wall. Before it could squeeze the trigger, Henry threw a shield around the Demon. The gun fired, but once more, the bullets ttened and fell, this time inside the field.


    The Demon looked around and reached out a finger to feel the invisible wall around it. Yablonski dashed around Henry and bounced off the Demon¡¯s force field to crash into a chair.


    The Demon grinned at Henry. ¡°We¡¯re at an impasse, it seems. Not the oue I¡¯d nned, but I¡¯m still alive, so I¡¯m pleased.¡±


    ¡°You came here for the General?¡± Henry asked.


    ¡°Where is he? We will have him,¡± the Demon said confidently.


    Henry looked into the eyes of the Demon and immediately saw it was just a shell controlled from afar. ¡°If you were looking to collect the Dark Energy from the General, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re toote. The spell broke, and the energy is gone, converted into a bloody loud bang. The General¡¯s clean.¡±


    The Demon screamed in explosive rage and threw itself against the inside of the force field, but Henry kept it firmly locked in ce. Instead, it slipped on the curved inner surface and tumbled to the bottom, where it thrashed ineffectively.


    General Crane entered the room to stand beside Henry. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°I believe it¡¯s a low-level Demon, but it¡¯s being controlled like a puppet by a higher-level Demon who¡¯s watching from behind its eyes,¡± Henry suggested, and the Demon stopped the thrashing. Cold eyes examined the General; disappointment shed across its features, then it froze. ¡°You are Henry Gable?¡±


    Henry nodded.


    After a second, the presence behind the eyes faded, and the drone took over. ¡°You have no hope of stopping us from bringing the Masters into this world,¡± it spat.


    ¡°Thanks for confirming your mission. That rifies what we¡¯ll need to do to fuck up your ns. What a chump,¡± Henry snorted as he looked at Gordon.


    This enraged the Demon, and it attacked the inner surface of the force field with frenzied rage.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to get anything more from it,¡± Henry said.


    Gordon frowned but nodded. ¡°What do we do with it?¡±


    Henry lifted a big hand and closed his fist slowly. The force field bubble began to shrink around the thrashing Demon. It renewed its efforts to escape, but the copsing elerated, and the sound of crushed bones and screams rose in pitch. The bubble snapped down to a concentrated point, norger than a pearl, a ck one.


    ¡°Can you get me that metal cup?¡± Henry asked as he concentrated on thepressed Demon. He held out his hand, and Mick gave him the cup. Henry ced it under the pearl and let the force field fill the cup. He handed the cup to Mick. ¡°Please make sure this gets incinerated,¡± he said. She grunted in surprise at the weight, then rushed out the door into the hospital hallway holding the cup of evil before her.


    ¡°Why not drop it intova? I heard you do that, don¡¯t you?¡± Yablonski asked.

 342

    face the bathroom door, wobbled slightly, and saw Lorelei watching him with wide, concerned eyes.


    He looked to the General. ¡°Thank you so much for your help with this, General. You have my number.¡±


    Crane nodded.


    Henry walked back through the bathroom door to his hallway. Thest few Silver Soldiers went through to the hospital. Then it was only Siobhan, Lorelei, and Henry. He closed the closet door and reset it back to Meixiu¡¯s mansion. He opened the door again and stepped through.


    With that, Henry depleted thest of his reserves and copsed, unconscious before he hit the floor.


    Cam stood in front of therge living room firece in Meixiu¡¯s mansion. The vampire was sitting on arge cushion nearby, looking into the mes with a content smile.


    Just to her left sat Roy and Mary on a loveseat.


    Standing next to them was Sigrid holding her son, Stanley, while Hilda was next to her, cradling Ylva in her arms. The other Valkyrie had left to return to their duties elsewhere. They¡¯d all promised to join the fight should the Demonse out of hiding and attack directly.


    On a sofa was the bestie group of Sandy, Kesini coiled up in herp, Dayshia, and Tish, who was holding Celeste in her arms. Tish¡¯s and Dayshia¡¯s families had all gone home for the night.


    Marisa was rxing on a lounge chair with Natalia stretched out over her body, asleep.


    Mahati and Kali rested back on their tails by therge picture windows, which showed it was snowing lightly once more.


    Lorelei sat perched on the edge of her chair as she fretted while Siobhan was in a chair next to her holding her hand. They¡¯d been thest ones with Henry before he passed out from exhaustion. Eleanor King made this diagnosis after Roy had carried the unconscious man upstairs to put him to bed. Once she¡¯d finished her examination, the doctor and her husband went home.


    ¡°Henry is taking on too much too quickly,¡± Cam said and saw nods from most of those gathered in the room. Hilda was the exception. She just frowned and nced at the others.


    ¡°You disagree?¡± Marisa asked her bluntly.


    ¡°How is he going to get stronger if he¡¯s coddled? His challenge has been clearlyid out before him. He must defeat the extra-dimensional monsters of unfathomable power. I will be the first to admit he¡¯s a useless warrior¡­ yet he wins. How? By pushing himself beyond anything a normal person could endure. I witnessed him step into the mouth of a huge Ribbon Beast and grab its razor teeth in his hands, badly shing them. He broke its jaw and crushed its skull with his bare hands, then healed himself. It was the sloppiest fighting I¡¯ve ever witnessed, yet he won.¡± She looked at the incredulous expressions on the faces of the others. ¡°He will find a way, even if it brings him absolute agony and a glorious death.¡±


    ¡°You watched Henry fight a Ribbon creature, and you didn¡¯t help him?¡± Cam raged.


    Hilda frowned as she saw everyone scowling at her. She looked at her daughter. ¡°Why can¡¯t people understand this is the way of the Valkyrie?¡±


    Sigrid was pissed at her mother as well, but mostly because of her unbendable notion that the world must follow her values and beliefs. ¡°Because they aren¡¯t Valkyrie?¡± she replied, then looked at Cam.


    ¡°Henry mentioned these beings were patient. He said the tainted magic in him would eventually affect him. Has anyone asked him why he¡¯s in such a hurry? Couldn¡¯t he take the time to pace himself through the effort to maximize his strength?¡±


    Lorelei spoke up. ¡°After he addressed everyone downstairs, he spoke with Siobhan and me and indicated he had to help the General. I think he felt guilty or somehow responsible for getting the man involved. He also seemed driven to get Baba to let go of the spells. He didn¡¯t tell us why there was an urgency, but he achieved the first task. The General is no longer Human. Henry made him a Dragon.¡±


    Cam blinked in surprise and looked at Roy. ¡°A Dragon! The strongest type of wielder!¡± Her eyes widened further as another fact arose. ¡°A Dragon linked to the Wild Magic!¡±


    Roy nodded. ¡°Thank goodness the man¡¯s as level-headed as theye. This also means there are no more Humans. The evil fucker¡¯s deal with Baba is done. Henry should be able to begin disabling those spells.¡±


    Siobhan spoke up. ¡°About that. Henry encountered another Demon. We were in the next room, but we could hear very clearly. This one was in the General¡¯s empty hospital room. It tried to kill Henry and capture the General for the tainted energy, but Henry captured it instead. He told the General it was being controlled remotely by a Master Demon. He told the Demon the General was clean, and it went into a rage. It said Henry couldn¡¯t stop them from bringing their Masters to the world, then Henry killed it. I don¡¯t know how the Master Demon knew about the energy surrounding the General. It might know the remaining energy is in Henry. I don¡¯t know where it¡¯s getting its information.¡±


    ¡°Henry had a very busy day. Let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t convince him to take the rest of the week off,¡± Cam said, and heads nodded, except Hilda¡¯s, but they ignored her.


    Sigrid nced at her mother before she spoke. ¡°We¡¯ve spoken with the Valkyries, and if we are to be effective against a better organized and supported Demons, we will have to act on mother¡¯s suggestion. All the Valkyrie will have to be upgraded to being linked to the Wild Magic.¡±


    Roy snorted. ¡°Are you suggesting Henry beds all of them? I don¡¯t think thed¡¯s too keen on that idea, considering how some Valkyries have treated him.¡± He fixed a stern look at Hilda, who turned her face away.


    Sigrid nodded to him. ¡°I thought maybe Henry could put his new abilities with magic to work on finding an alternate method.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll ask him when he wakes up,¡± Cam said. She looked at the gathered people and saw some unhappy expressions. ¡°The next thing I¡¯d like to do is ask everyone how they¡¯re coping? We¡¯ve been so focused on Henry as he¡¯s been at the center of some world-shaking events that we forget to think about ourselves. The world has changed and is still changing in tremendous ways. The Hidden Races are no longer hidden, and Sigrid¡¯s work with the Council¡¯s Global Transformation Support Program is capable of handling the fluctuating rate of post-Human changes.¡±


    There was apuse for Sigrid from the group then Cam continued.


    ¡°Also, a huge thanks to the efforts of Lorelei, Raymond, and Siobhan, as we no longer have to worry about being hunted.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Cam started the apuse, and everyone else quickly joined in. Lorelei and Siobhan smiled bashfully and nodded to the others.


    Once the apuse died down, Siobhan stood to face the room. ¡°Lorelei and Raymond created a series of new files, which the distribution page I set up will release over the next month. We felt it prudent to ensure a surplus in case we find ourselves too busy to prepare new ones for a time.¡± Heads nodded.


    ¡°Do you believe this effort will need to continue indefinitely?¡± Roy asked.


    Lorelei shared a look with Siobhan and shook her head. Siobhan answered for them. ¡°We don¡¯t know. We¡¯re hoping once the majority of people have changed to their final state, it won¡¯t be necessary any longer, but it¡¯s not a burden to do as it¡¯s fun. Who else can im to have this many singles in the number one spot week after week, globally?¡±


    Chuckles erupted across the group, and Cam could see people rxing. This was good. She looked to Mahati, whose expression wasn¡¯t as cheery as the others. ¡°Something concerning you, Mahati?¡±


    The woman nced at Cam in surprise. ¡°No. It¡¯s nothing.¡± When she saw Cam was still focused on her, she sighed and shook her head. ¡°I must visit my mother. This societal upheaval may have destabilized certain interests the family is dependent upon.¡±


    ¡°Do you need a security detail with you for protection?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°What? Oh! No, thank you, Roy. There¡¯s no need to be concerned for my safety. Mother wouldn¡¯t dare try something so foolish now,¡± Mahati said with a smile. Kali didn¡¯t look so convinced, but she held her tongue.


    ¡°We¡¯re going back to business as usual this week. Meixiu has graciously offered to keep the magic doors in ce for anyone who wishes to keep ess to the mansion open. All are wee.¡±


    Meixiu smiled and epted the thanks from the others.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need ess to the closet we¡¯re currently using to get here,¡± Lorelei said. ¡°Can we turn it off and on as needed?¡±


    Cam smiled but shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think magic doors work like that.¡±


    Siobhan had an idea. ¡°What if we bought a door and frame and mounted it to an empty wall in our home, like Henry¡¯s doors to Eden in the cave? Then Henry could use that door. We could paint the door and frame like a piece of art for our home. Henry said he could make the doors only work for us. It would make the mansion more secure if all the doors were set that way.¡±


    This generated more smiles and nods from the friends.


    ¡°I know my family will love this idea, and the kids will especially love decorating them,¡± Tish gushed.


    ¡°One important consideration. The doors can¡¯t have any windows in them. Henry said he won¡¯t make magic doors with them,¡± Roy said firmly.


    Cam looked at him curiously. ¡°Did he say why?¡±


    Roy shook his head. ¡°He didn¡¯t, but I got the impression that something frightened him about doing it.¡±


    Sandy perked up. ¡°We all got a fright earlier today when he reset the door to bring the table back upstairs. He jumped and scared us when the ss switched.¡±


    Roy frowned. ¡°D¡¯ya think he might be seeing the big evil?¡±


    Siobhan shook her head. ¡°It couldn¡¯t be. I caught the briefest impression, and it terrified me so badly that I couldn¡¯t speak or stop crying for several minutes. He said looking directly at them would drive you mad. Maybe it¡¯s just a hint of them? You¡¯d have to ask him.¡±


    ¡°Whatever he¡¯s seeing, the new doors can have no windows or ss of any kind in or on them,¡± Roy insisted. He looked at the others and saw they were all nodding. He held Tish¡¯s eye. ¡°Please make sure your family knows.¡± She agreed.

 343

    ¡°Okay, we have our project for the week. If everyone is avable, I¡¯d like us to get together thising weekend,¡± Cam suggested, and once more, everyone nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Henry¡¯s going to have to work from the mansion until he fixes the rift inside him,¡± Roy stated.


    ¡°He did,¡± Siobhan said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s only leaking a little more than normal background levels currently.¡±


    ¡°When did he get a chance to do that?¡± Roy asked.


    Siobhan shook her head. ¡°He told us this morning, and I saw it working.¡±


    Cam smirked. ¡°As I said earlier, Henry had a busy day.¡±


    Roy fixed an eye on Cam. ¡°Like you said, he has to take it slower for a bit.¡± He thought about that. ¡°It¡¯s a short work week. Only three days. Let¡¯s ask Henry to hold all magic-rted issues until the weekend.¡±


    Sigrid smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be delighted to concentrate on hisputer-rted tasks instead.¡±


    Roy nodded, and Cam brought their meeting to an end.


    ¡°Have a great week, everyone!¡±


    Hugs were exchanged as people made their way down to the doors back to their homes.


    Cam sat on a footstool next to the chaise lounge where her daughter and granddaughter were still rxing. Soon they were the only ones in the room.


    Marisa looked at her mother with a curious expression.


    ¡°What?¡± Cam asked when she noticed.


    ¡°There¡¯s something different about you,¡± the gorgeous blonde said pensively as she tried to determine what it was.


    Cam gave her daughter an innocent smile. ¡°Really? I don¡¯t know what it could be.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a calmness about you. You seem¡­ content? Happy? A mix of the two and something else,¡± Marisa puzzled.


    ¡°Is it wrong to feel happy? Content?¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°You were obviously with Henry. Last night?¡±


    The brte beauty nodded but maintained her innocent expression.


    Marisa gave her mother a confused and exasperated look. ¡°What is it?¡±


    Cam shrugged with a euphoric smile. ¡°It¡¯s love.¡±


    Marisa¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Love?¡± she whispered. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not supposed to be possible for us. Are you sure?¡±


    Cam nodded. ¡°I spent a lot of time trying to understand these unfamiliar feelings and sensations. I¡¯ve never felt this way about any of the mates I¡¯ve taken in the past. There¡¯s always been a distinct boundary between them and me, with very little shared over a wall I¡¯m always conscious of. My sense of self is defined by this individuality. With Henry, that separation is gone and in its ce is a duality. I¡¯m me, but I¡¯m also us.¡±


    Marisa¡¯s eyes widened as she was very familiar with her own emotional boundaries. Nate¡¯s death made her very aware that she¡¯d kept him on the other side of the line, regardless of how often he professed his love like his Human parents had done for each other. She¡¯d never lied to him. He knew that Subi emotions didn¡¯t work like Human emotions, but he always held onto his hope.


    Now her mother was telling her it was possible. This shook her foundations.


    Cam continued, oblivious to her daughter¡¯s shock. ¡°The strength of this emotional bond takes my breath away, and the feeling of connection and vulnerability is both thrilling and frightening.¡±


    She finally noticed the stricken expression on Marisa¡¯s face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Nate said he loved me. He believed in love, and I didn¡¯t think it could happen. Now you tell me it not only can, but it happened for you! Does that mean I could have loved him in return if I tried harder?¡±From N?velDrama.Org.


    Cam took Marisa¡¯s hands in hers and looked into her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it works that way. These feelings I have for Henry weren¡¯t something I tried to create. They just grew over time. You didn¡¯t have that much time with Nate. His behavior was based on his desire to emte his Human parents. We can¡¯t even be sure if his emotions were love or just a longing to be in love. You shouldn¡¯t feel bad about something that didn¡¯t have time to grow, and you couldn¡¯t have known if it even would.¡±


    Marisa nodded shakily as that made sense to her. She knew she was a little sensitive about the seemingly one-sided love affair Nate had with her. She knew her feelings for Henry were stronger than how she¡¯d felt about Nate. From what her mother said, that might have been due to how long they¡¯d known each other. Maybe it would lead to her experiencing what Cam had. Time would tell. Her skin tingled at the idea that she might one day experience love.


    Another thought urred to her. She recalled the stories her mother told her about past mates she¡¯d lost, and Marisa had always dreaded this experience for herself. She¡¯d always held back a little bit of herself because of that fear. What if¡­ what if all she needed was to not hold back?


    Cam scooped up Natalia and nuzzled her while Marisa stood. They walked together in silence back to the vestibule, where the magic doors would take them to their separate homes.


    ¡°Are you going to be okay?¡± Cam asked her daughter, sensing her internal conflict.


    Marisa nodded as she took her daughter back into her arms. She kissed her mother¡¯s cheek. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. You just caught me by surprise with that confession.¡±


    Cam gave her a sympathetic look. ¡°If you need anything or want to talk, please call me.¡±


    ¡°I will. Goodnight!¡± Marisa said and stepped through her door.


    The lovely brte stood before her door and contemted going upstairs to see Henry. She smiled and shook her head.


    He needed his sleep, and tomorrow was soon enough to see him.


    She¡¯d have him in her dreams tonight.


    Just not literally.


    Henry sighed happily as he sat at his keyboard in his office, reviewing the status reports from each of his servers. All the hardware was functioning as expected, and there were no maintenance issues to deal with this week. The patch schedule was up to date. The most recent fixes he¡¯d added to the dashboard application were well received by the staff.


    On the security side, his firewalls had reported an uptick in intrusion attempts, but there¡¯d been no pration, and the methods being used were all known methods, so there was nothing for him to adjust.


    His tracking software managed to identify thirty percent of the hackers, tracing them back to their home addresses. These weren¡¯t real threats, just amateurs fucking around. No need to worry about them as they never made it past the top levels of the firewall.


    Two attempts hade from online ounts Henry identified as notorious hackers from the dark web. He gged them in case they needed to have their wings clipped. Henry wasn¡¯t above using his new magic to assist with locating these perpetrators. Dropping some of Roy¡¯s security operatives on the hacker¡¯s doorstepte at night might set them straight.


    Reading through the tech support mailbox, he discovered a few more pleas from the NSA scientists. They were asking him to reconsider their request to set up an array of quantum tunneling servers for them to track personal data for weeding out terrorists, malcontents, and people who objected to the unrestricted use of personal data.


    He¡¯d already had Mahati deal with theirst entreaty, so he once more redirected these messages to her for esction.


    His own quantum tunneling array was humming happily in the server room racks, collecting user behavior data minus all personal identification data so they could identify more helpful financial package features. Cam was looking forward to seeing the results of theseputations. He told her it would take a couple more months to get truly useful statistics.


    His phone chirped, and he picked it up, promptly disconnecting the call when he hit the wrong button. He frowned at the phone.


    His phone chirped again, and this time he pressed the shing button. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°You hit the wrong button again.¡± It was Marisa, and she didn¡¯t sound happy.


    Henry winced. ¡°Sorry. I thought I had to open a line first.¡±


    He heard her sighing. ¡°When I¡¯m back in the office, I¡¯ll give you another lesson on the phone.¡±


    ¡°Come on. It doesn¡¯t happen that often,¡± he said in his defense.


    ¡°Ms. Vimor wants you to join her in her office.¡± The call ended with a click, and Henry winced again.


    He sighed and locked his PC before walking down the hall to Cam¡¯s office. Felix directed him to enter, and he went inside, closing the door behind himself. He looked toward Cam and saw she had two guests sitting before her desk.


    As he approached, they stood and turned to face him. It was a Japanese man and woman, and Henry immediately noticed the disparity between the two.


    The man must have been in his sixties, but he was maybe five-nine and solidly built with a vitality in his gaze that hinted at his sharp intelligence. He was dressed in a perfectly tailored three-piece suit. His cufflinks shed with some precious stones, as did the rings on his hands which gave the impression of great wealth.


    His skin was very pale, but his hands gave away his age, as did his steely grey hair.


    His femalepanion was petite, much shorter at five foot even. She was dressed in a smart, crisp business suit with a skirt instead of cks.


    The anomalous element in her outfit was the sheer bright red stockings she wore over her slim, shapely legs.


    Her heart-shaped face was partially hidden behind her long silky ck hair, the ends bing red as well, matching her lips and growing nails.


    A sharp word from the older man made her dip her eyes from Henry¡¯s, and her hair was ck once more. Her lips and nails were a faint pink, and her fingers no longer had ws.

 344

    Henry raised an eyebrow at the man whose face showed difort at hispanion¡¯s loss of control. The man forced his expression back to a smile and dipped his head slightly to Henry. ¡°Apologies for my servant¡¯s poor manners.¡±


    Henry tipped his head in eptance, but his curiosity demanded he ask.


    ¡°Do we have privacy?¡± Henry said, and Cam nodded. He looked back to the woman. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve provoked such a response before. I¡¯d be interested to know what happened.¡±


    The woman nced nervously at the older man, who nodded stiffly.


    ¡°You are a Bastet, or you¡¯ve been marked by one!¡± she said.


    Henry blinked in surprise. ¡°I¡¯m not one. What do you mean marked?¡±


    She looked at him more closely and inhaled gently. ¡°Her scent is upon you!¡± she snarled, then quickly controlled herself and went silent as she saw the older man¡¯s annoyance.


    Henry looked to Cam, whose sense of smell was so much keener than his. ¡°Can you smell this mark?¡± he asked.


    She smiled. ¡°No, I detected nothing.¡±


    ¡°Only those of our kind are able to,¡± the petite female said.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me know,¡± Henry said to her, and she blinked in surprise at him but remained silent.


    Henry turned to the man. ¡°Obviously, this wasn¡¯t what you called for me to discuss. Thank you for your indulgence.¡± Henry dipped his head toward the man again, putting a smile back on the senior¡¯s face.


    ¡°You are not what I expected,¡± the man confessed. ¡°I am Katsu Sasaki, Leader of the Japanese Spirits Combine of North America. Today, I am here on behalf of certain interests in the financialmunity.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sasaki¡¯s specialty is banking like Walter Zhao¡¯s interests wasw,¡± Cam said. This was a heads-up for Henry, who nodded to the woman as his eyes returned to Katsu.


    So, the older man was a Dragon. Henry nced at the petite woman and thought of Meixiu. Mr. Sasaki called her servant, but he might have meant ve.


    He nodded to the man. ¡°I¡¯m Henry Gable. CIO for VRL.¡±


    ¡°It hase to our attention that you have created a firewall technology that defeats all currently known cyberattack methods. The financial institutions I represent are interested in obtaining this level of protection,¡± Sasaki said.


    Henry nodded and nced at Cam before looking back into the man¡¯s eyes. ¡°Ms. Vimor negotiates the contracts for this.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we would also be interested in obtaining your exclusive services,¡± the man said with a smile. ¡°As you can imagine, the financial rewards for working for my interests would be substantial.¡± The man¡¯s expression could not have been more smug.


    Now Henry understood the tiny smile on Cam¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Thank you, but no. I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    Katsu¡¯s confidence wasn¡¯t shaken in the slightest. ¡°Perhaps you haven¡¯t grasped the significance of the sry I¡¯m suggesting.¡±


    Henry smiled. ¡°Perhaps you haven¡¯t grasped the scale of my disinterest in your offer. I¡¯m not financially motivated.¡±


    This caused Sasaki to lose a little of his bravado. He frowned. ¡°Everyone is financially motivated when the numbers are asrge as I¡¯m suggesting-¡±


    ¡°Five hundred trillion dors a year?¡± Henry asked with exaggerated surprise.


    ¡°What? No! Don¡¯t be absurd!¡± the man snapped.


    Henry¡¯s expression quickly faded back to boredom. ¡°Meh. Anything less is too little to move me from my family here at VRL.¡±


    The senior executive stared at Henry in shock and frustration.


    ¡°If you are interested in licensing the firewall technology, that option is still open,¡± Cam suggested.


    ¡°We require control over the infrastructure of our security systems. This includes the personnel who administer it for us. They are paid very well to ensure their loyalty. We normally develop our applications in-house to ensure there is no external exposure that might lead to a breach,¡± the man exined stiffly.


    Henry nodded. ¡°Our other firewall subscribers also offered me excessive financial incentives if I¡¯de work for them, but I turned them down too. Their systems are safe and secure, and even I couldn¡¯t breach them had I any interest in doing so. There are no back doors in my code. Perhaps the concept of controlling the brain trust who writes your applications isn¡¯t as necessary as you think,¡± he offered.


    ¡°That¡¯s not eptable,¡± Mr. Sasaki insisted. He looked back at Cam. ¡°As VRL is a privatepany, would you consider selling it to us?¡±


    She smiled and shook her head. ¡°We¡¯re not entertaining offers for acquisition. VRL¡¯s investment services are offered to our clients as an alternative to those offered by the banks. Being acquired by the same financial institutions these clients are avoiding would breach their trust in us. That¡¯s something we cannot do.¡±


    Henry noticed the petite woman was bing agitated once more. He turned his face to her. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked as he touched his temple.


    ¡°You are being disrespectful! You should not refuse his offer!¡± the woman growled.


    Henry nced at Mr. Sasaki to see if he¡¯d scold his servant for speaking out of line, but it seemed the man wanted to see if bullying worked.


    Sighing, Henry turned to face her. ¡°What is your name?¡±


    The question caught the woman off guard, and her eyes flicked to her master and back to Henry.


    ¡°Roku.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Roku. That¡¯s a nice name, by the way-¡± Henry began.


    ¡°It means six,¡± she responded bluntly.


    ¡°Ah, well, it has a nice sound,¡± Henry said as he looked into her eyes. He didn¡¯t know what she was, but if she was the Dragon¡¯s security detail, she had to be dangerous. He¡¯d y this cautiously.


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be rude, but when I gave your boss my final answer, his ignoring it was rude to me,¡± Henry exined.


    ¡°Refusing his offer would be bad for you,¡± Roku promised.


    Henry frowned and nced at the evaluative expression on Sasaki¡¯s face. He¡¯d seen a simr expression on Walter¡¯s face, like he was watching the oue of two beetles battling. Time to remind the Dragon that beetles can sting too.


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to threaten me, I¡¯ll have to ask you both to leave,¡± Henry said firmly with a scowl.


    Almost faster than he could track, Roku leapt at him. She hit his personal shield and bounced off. Henry caught the stunned woman inside a new forcefield, leaving her suspended midair.


    As he did this, he stepped close to Mr. Sasaki, ced his hand over the man¡¯s rings, and gripped tight, looking deep into his startled eyes. He could feel the potential of the old magic stored in the gemstones.


    One of Baba¡¯s spells slid front and center in his mind, and he saw it would drain the energy from the gems. Before he activated it, he realized one of these might be supporting the Dragon¡¯s health. He didn¡¯t want to kill the arrogant, rude man.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this down a notch before you get hurt. Trust me, nothing you¡¯ve got stored away in these gems is getting through my protection, and the bacsh won¡¯t be pretty. Also, I know how to ride out a Dragon mor change, so that would be unwise as well,¡± Henry said calmly.


    The man was frozen with indecision. His eyes looked to his stunned bodyguard floating in an invisible bubble back to Henry¡¯s calm and very close presence. Then he looked to Cam, who just smiled at him.


    Finally, he looked back at Henry. ¡°What are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Baba Yaga¡¯s adopted son, and she taught me everything she knew. I¡¯ve just learned to use her magic¡­ my way.¡± He frowned. ¡°By the way, are any of these rings rted to keeping you physically healthy?¡±


    Sasaki nodded nervously.


    Henry smiled. ¡°Then it¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯t use the spell to drain their energy.¡±


    The man nodded again.


    Henry released his hand and stood back to look at him. ¡°This didn¡¯t need to be a confrontation. I said no. The proper response would have been to ept Cam¡¯s original offer to license the software. It¡¯s still open.¡±


    A loud enraged yowl and hiss erupted behind them. Roku had switched to her natural feline form and was trying to w her way free from the forcefield. Herrge eyes were wild with fury, and her fur was standing on end as she ineffectively wed at the impervious energy shield.


    ¡°A Nekomata?¡± Cam eximed in surprise.


    Mr. Sasaki frowned in disappointment. ¡°Yes, and now it¡¯s ruined.¡±


    Henry looked at Cam. ¡°What¡¯s a Nekomata?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re Japanese spirits with cat-like forms, but they can transform into Human shapes. They¡¯re notoriously difficult to deal with as they¡¯re sociopaths by nature. How you managed to have one serve you is beyond me.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    The senior exec waved a hand as the matter was meaningless to him, and he wasn¡¯t about to discuss it.


    ¡°I must leave, but now I no longer have any personal protection,¡± he grumbled ufortably.


    ¡°Take Roku,¡± Henry suggested, but the man just scowled at him.


    ¡°I just finished telling you she is ruined. Her rage will continue until she is exhausted and passes out. When she awakes, her rage will fire anew. Controlling it was not something easily taught. She is dead to me. Do with her as you will.¡±

 345

    He walked to the office door and stormed through it. Henry looked at Cam in shock as Roku continued to yowl and thrash.


    ¡°If you let her out of that bubble, she will attempt to kill us. She¡¯s lost to her rage,¡± Cam said to him.


    Henry looked into the Nekomata¡¯s eyes; all he could see was the rabid beast she¡¯d be. Behind those eyes, there was no sign of a civilized being, just rage. He looked back at Cam. ¡°Shit! I don¡¯t want her death on my hands!¡±


    Cam nodded. ¡°Another slight aimed at you from the Japanese Spirit Combine. Their first one was sending Yuko after you.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Henry blinked at Cam. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Roy investigated how you ended up with Yuko when Sigrid arranged for a service to take care of your household needs when you first moved into your old condo. The Combine canceled the order and had Yuko take their ce.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Tricky buggers,¡± Henry grumbled, then nced at the panting beast hovering in the air. He pondered the being. ¡°Do Nekomatas have any redeeming values?¡± he asked quietly.


    Cam gave him a sad look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say, I¡¯ve never heard of a Nekomata with any capacity for empathy. You should know they aren¡¯t natural creations. Someone or something really nasty created them a very long time ago and made them despise everyone. The standing order for the Hidden Races Council is to terminate them when they¡¯re encountered. They have a terrible reputation for killing Humans, too.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    Cam nodded. ¡°I could ask Roy toe upstairs to take care of it-¡±


    ¡°Her,¡± Henry said softly. He shook his head and nced at Cam. ¡°No, I¡¯ll do it. It¡¯s just another reason for me not to like the maniptive leaders of the Japanese Spirit Combine.¡±


    He scanned his memories for a spell that caused a painless death and found¡­ nothing. Baba¡¯s spells really sucked.


    Then one slipped to the front of his mind, and he paused. It had a terrible payload, but¡­ it might be better than killing her.


    He nced at Cam. Could he¡­ should he exin what he was about to do to Roku?


    No, this had to be his decision alone. He¡¯d bear the responsibility for this.


    He examined the spell and made some adjustments, saving his modified copy in his mind. Then he looked deep into his captive¡¯s eyes, and she suddenly stiffened. Heunched the spell and felt it leap from his eyes to hers. She made a choking sound, reverted to her human shape, then slumped inside the force field he contained her in.


    Henry moved forward and held out his arms to collect the unconscious Nekomata as he canceled the force field.


    ¡°She¡¯s not dead?¡± Cam asked cautiously as she saw the female breathing.


    He watched the innocent expression on Roku¡¯s face as she rested in his arms. ¡°No,¡± he said quietly. ¡°There was¡­ another option. One of Baba¡¯s spells. Itpletely erases a person¡¯s personality-¡± Cam gasped, and Henry hurried to finish. ¡°I didn¡¯t use the spell as-is. I made my own version. It removed her rage and greatly reduced her hate.¡±


    He was afraid to look into Cam¡¯s eyes. Would she be disgusted by what could be seen as hical meddling with another person¡¯s mind? It made him ufortable to think about what he¡¯d just done, but if it meant he didn¡¯t have to kill her, maybe it was okay.


    When he finally got the nerve to look at Cam, he only sawpassion, and his breath caught in his throat as his love for her surged.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what that means for her personality. Any other changes?¡± the Subus asked softly.


    ¡°No. Everything else about Roku is exactly as it was. If this doesn¡¯t work, I won¡¯t make any further adjustments. I¡¯m not a psychologist. This is her second andst chance,¡± Henry admitted.


    ¡°Until she wakes, I¡¯ll ask Roy to put her somece safe where she cannot hurt anyone or herself,¡± Cam suggested, and Henry nodded. She moved to her desk and spoke quietly into her phone.


    Roy was at her door in seconds, and they stared at him curiously as he eyed the sleeping female cautiously. ¡°I saw the old gentleman leaving without his bodyguard, so I came up immediately,¡± he admitted. He pointed to her. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sasaki let his bodyguard loose on Henry when he couldn¡¯t convince him toe work for him. Roku is a Nekomata.¡±


    Roy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Why¡¯s she not dead?¡± he growled.


    Henry sighed. ¡°The old Dragon left her behind because I ruined her. She¡¯d gone full rage. He said she wouldn¡¯t return from that state. Cam exined Nekomatas aren¡¯t salvageable, but I¡­ made an adjustment. Her rage is gone, and most of her hate.¡±


    Roy stared at Henry incredulously. ¡°Ya canna be mucking aboot in ah mind!¡± he gasped.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want any more blood on my hands! Instead, I made a lighter version of one of Baba¡¯s spells. Maybe this will help her! She¡¯s free of her master and shouldn¡¯t be able to be feral any longer. With the reduction of hate, maybe she¡¯ll be able to learn how to function in society,¡± Henry insisted.


    ¡°And what if she can¡¯t? What then,¡± Roy returned.


    Henry sighed as he looked at Roku. ¡°I know it might not work, but I wanted to give her a chance. This is all I can do. If it doesn¡¯t work and she¡¯s still a threat to people, I¡¯ll do what needs to be done.¡±


    Roy huffed, but he nodded.


    ¡°Can you put our guest somece safe until she wakes? We¡¯ll do an assessment then,¡± Cam asked.


    ¡°When is she going to wake?¡± Roy asked as he collected the female from Henry¡¯s arms.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ve never used this kind of magic before,¡± Henry admitted.


    Roy huffed again, gave Cam a pointed look, then left the office carrying Roku.


    Henry looked at Cam. ¡°Are we going to have more issues with Mr. Sasaki?¡±


    ¡°He arrived believing he was the apex predator in the building and expected to leave with exactly what he wanted. Instead, he left with his tail between his legs, minus his bodyguard. Dragons don¡¯t like being humbled, but you handled him well. Polite but firm. It was very sexy.¡± She finished with a grin, and Henry felt the power of that below his belt.


    Her phone chirped, and she gave it an annoyed nce. She pressed the button. ¡°Yes?¡±


    Felix¡¯s voice came through. ¡°There¡¯s an Alice Shaw in the lobby asking to meet with Henry.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yes! I invited her toe speak with me. Can you have her escorted to my office?¡± Henry answered.


    ¡°Will do,¡± Felix said and hung up. Cam gave him a curious look.


    ¡°Thisdy is a Dragon who tried to capture Lorelei and me. Her treasure hoard was lost when she had to flee from London after her home was torched. I gave her a little p for the bad decision, then told her I might be able to help her get her treasure back. I also want her to speak with General Crane about being a Dragon.¡± He grinned at Cam, then left her office to hustle down the hall to his before his guest arrived.


    He waited in the outer office until Alice was led inside by one of the Security Team. ¡°Thanks, Ramone! I¡¯ll escort her out.¡± Henry said to Roy¡¯s man, who nodded and left them alone.


    ¡°Wee to VRL,¡± Henry said.


    ¡°Thank you. Are you still willing to help me collect my treasures?¡± Alice asked eagerly.


    ¡°If the vestibule to the cave is intact, yes. My question is, do you have a new ce prepared to bring the items?¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± she said with a grin.


    Henry fixed his gaze on her. ¡°How many of your treasures are people? You recall what I said about that.¡±


    ¡°None! I¡¯ve never taken a living creature as a treasure! The night we met, I was gutted about my lost hoard. Spotting a being like your friend was such a shock I acted without thinking. I¡¯m so sorry,¡± shemented.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. So, what are we going to find?¡± Henry asked with interest as he moved toward his office door. When Alice didn¡¯t respond, he looked back. She was watching him suspiciously.


    He smiled. ¡°I have no intention of taking your treasure. I¡¯m not interested in wealth. I¡¯m¡­ content with my life. Well¡­ it could use a little less drama, but I have so many friends now, I feel rich beyond my wildest dreams!¡±


    Alice blinked at him in surprise. ¡°Oh! You collect friends!¡±


    He grinned back at her. ¡°Huh. That¡¯s a nice way of thinking about it. Except, I don¡¯t keep them locked away in a cave. They¡¯re free toe and go as they please, but they¡¯re always there when I need them.¡±


    Alice smiled at Henry. ¡°That is the best kind of fortune.¡± He nodded.


    They stood before his door, and Alice gave him a puzzled look as he wasn¡¯t opening it. He looked her in the eye. ¡°We¡¯re going to open a magic door between this one and the one in your vestibule. If it¡¯s closed but intact, I should be able to link them. I need you to picture in your mind the door leading into your cave as if you were standing before it. Close your eyes and hold the image of that door in your mind as you reach out and touch this one. I¡¯ll feed the required magic through your arm to create the link.¡±


    Henry recalled opening the General¡¯s hospital room door and the surprise within. He activated his shield spell first. Her eyes went to him. ¡°Just a little precaution,¡± he said.


    Alice closed her eyes, and Henry prepared the spell as he touched her arm. She reached out and ced her fingertips against the surface. He sent the magic through, then frowned as he felt a vibration through the surface.


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± he said quietly.


    Alice looked at him nervously. ¡°It didn¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°No, it did, but it feels like the door is shaking.¡± Henry opened the door, and they immediately put their hands over their ears from the noise. Someone was using a jackhammer on the rock above the vestibule behind the door. Henry adjusted his forcefield to filter out the sound vibrations and sighed in relief. Then he added a forcefield around Alice. She gave him a thankful smile, then anxiously looked at the ceiling above.


    ¡°They burned my house down, and now they¡¯re after my treasure?¡± she scowled.


    ¡°How much time will you need to move it to the new location?¡± Henry asked in concern.


    She led him down a sloping hall, which Henry recognized from Walter¡¯s cave under Meixiu¡¯s mansion.


    As they reached the main chamber, Alice made a gesture, and fairy lights lit up a vast cavern. She made a little cry of joy and rushed forward to inspect her items. There was a huge pile of loose gold against the far wall. Coins, bars, artifacts, and misceneous items made of gold. It was a mess. Against the wall to their left were sculptures, and to the right were stacked t crates. He looked at Alice curiously and pointed to the boxes.


    ¡°Paintings. The ones I didn¡¯t have hanging on my home¡¯s walls. I lost some masterpieces in the fire. I saved some, but then I had to escape as the home above me was firebombed,¡± shemented.


    Henry looked around and saw a small tunnel leading off the chamber to the left. He pointed to it.


    Alice nodded. ¡°My escape route. It takes you to the sewer system. Not a pleasant trip, but it worked.¡±

 346

    Henry examined the amount of stuff in the cave. ¡°Shit. This will take more time than you¡¯ll have to move it, and I have no idea how you n to do it,¡± Henry moaned. He looked back toward the tunnel to the door. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to stop them.¡±


    ¡°These are likely the same Humans who drove me out of my home! We can¡¯t kill them, can we?¡± Alice asked.


    Henry frowned at her. ¡°Of course, we can¡¯t! Besides, they¡¯re not fully Human any¡­ more.¡± Henry¡¯s frown slowly became a smile, then a wicked grin. Alice couldn¡¯t stop a smile of her own from appearing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave me in suspense with you looking so mysteriously delighted!¡± she insisted.


    ¡°I have the perfect way to drive off the bigots and give them a taste of their own medicine,¡± Henry said and chuckled. He looked toward the tunnel leading to the sewer and frowned. ¡°I¡¯d rather not take a trip through the stinky tunnel. Can you think of another unlocked door nearby that¡¯s rarely used? Up to a block away would be fine. Preferably without ss in it,¡± he added.


    ¡°My neighbor has a garden shed with a wooden door which he doesn¡¯t lock,¡± she said pensively.


    ¡°That would be perfect! Let¡¯s go reset my door, so I can get rid of these nuisances,¡± Henry said, heading up the tunnel once more, Alice at his heels. They stepped through into Henry¡¯s outer office, he released the magic door, released the force fields, and he turned to his guest. ¡°I need the address for your house.¡±


    She blinked at him. ¡°We were just there!¡±


    He smiled. ¡°Yes, I know, but I must arrange for many ambnces to rush to that neighborhood very soon.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t going to hurt anyone!¡±


    He held up his hands. ¡°I¡¯m not! Trust me. This will ensure people stay away for enough time for you to transfer your treasures.¡±


    She wrote it down on a pad on Marisa¡¯s desk then Henry called Sigrid.


    ¡°Hello?¡± she answered.


    ¡°Hi! It¡¯s Henry. I¡¯m going to need you to send a bunch of ambnces to the following addresses as there¡¯s going to be an outbreak of transformations in that location.¡± He read off the address.Content held by N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Henry, what are you doing?¡± Sigrid gasped.


    ¡°Protecting someone¡¯s property after she was firebombed out of her home. Gotta go. They¡¯re using jackhammers to dig through the rubble into her cave.¡± He hung up and turned to Alice, whose eyes were wide with surprise.


    ¡°Now, think about that garden shed and touch the door,¡± Henry said as he ced his hand on Alice¡¯s forearm. She closed her eyes and reached out to the door. He felt the spell engage, and the link was made. He opened the door and saw some gardening equipment. They stepped inside, closed the door, and Henry dropped the connection. He eased the shed door open a crack and noticed it was dark outside. He could hear the noise from the jackhammer. He looked back at Alice. ¡°It¡¯s night there! Why isn¡¯t someoneining about the noise?¡±


    Alice frowned sadly. ¡°Most of my neighbors were run off by the same people who came after me.¡±


    Henry frowned, then gestured for her to get closer. ¡°Where are we, and are there any motion-activated lights we should avoid?¡±


    Alice looked through the crack in the door and toward the dark home to the right. Finally, she looked straight ahead at the hedges between her property and her neighbor¡¯s. She eased the door closed again. ¡°My home was on the other side of the hedges. I never saw any lights in my neighbor¡¯s backyard, but I didn¡¯t pay too much attention to that.¡±


    Henry nodded. ¡°Let me go first.¡± He eased himself through the door and peered into the darkness of the empty yard. There were no lights at all showing from the house. Alice stepped out, and Henry relinked the shed door to his office door leading into his waiting room.


    That done, he quickly crossed the yard and breathed a sigh of relief when it remained dark. Alice joined him next to the hedges, which were badly damaged from the fire. They eased themselves through but stayed just inside the foliage when they reached the other side.


    Ahead, he saw the scorched remains of arge home. Lights surrounded a depression which was likely a basement. In the middle of this was a man operating a jackhammer, chipping away at the cement and stone.


    Around this man was a group of others, also in workman¡¯s coveralls, hardhats, and work boots. There had to be at least ten in total.


    ¡°Do you recognize anyone?¡± Henry whispered.


    Alice looked closer, and her jaw clenched, ¡°Yes. Those three to the side were with the crowd throwing the firebombs before I ran downstairs. I think they may have been leading the mob.¡±


    Henry examined the depression they were all in and realized they were just where he needed them to be.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to get a little crazy, so stay quiet. If it looks like someone spotted us, get back to the garden shed and go through,¡± Henry said. She nodded.


    Henry positioned himself against the hedges, then reached inside and slowly turned the aperture over his internal rift until it was fully open. He wished he had Siobhan¡¯s ability to see the magic. He could feel the flow, but seeing it would be really helpful at the moment. It felt like the energy was gushing when the aperture was fully open. He imagined it pouring into the basement to flood over and around the men. Now, to get them to expose their skin to the energy.


    He looked to the avable spells for something that would make them feel hot and disrobe.


    One popped forward, and he frowned as its payload was the sensation of being bitten by bullet ants, not overheating. He examined the spell and felt no tinge of the evil energy, but it was nasty. Still, it would get the job done. He concentrated and focused the magic on the area over the burnt-out home.


    The moment it struck, the men began crying out and screaming, tearing at their coveralls.


    The fellow on the jackhammer pushed it aside and tore his clothes off.


    Henry closed the aperture over his rift when the first man underwent the transformation. If there were any Humans amongst the iing rescue workers, he didn¡¯t want to put them at risk if he could help it.


    The others began dropping unconscious as the Wild Magic soaked into their skin. One transformed dramatically before their eyes into a centaur. This caused the rest who hadn¡¯t sumbed yet to scream in terror. Suddenly their priority was fleeing, but only a couple made it past the home¡¯s foundation before they copsed and underwent their own transformation.


    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Alice gasped.


    One man wasn¡¯t affected by the Wild Magic. He wasn¡¯t tearing his coverall off, either. At Alice¡¯s exmation, his head turned to re in their direction, and he ran toward the hedge. His eyes began to glow red.


    ¡°Get to the shed, now!¡± Henry said urgently and felt Alice spin and race away. He stepped back until he was out in the open grass of the neighbor¡¯s backyard just as the Demon burst through the hedge.


    Henry dropped his mor and activated his shield. The Demon hesitated for just a second before leaping at him, ws aiming for his neck. Alice hadn¡¯t made it to safety yet, so Henry just stood his ground and mmed his fist into the Demon¡¯s cheek as they met. The razor-sharp ws found no purchase against his shielded body, but his punch didn¡¯t take the Demon out as he¡¯d expected. This one was far stronger than the one he¡¯d met in the torture club.


    When it mmed its sped fists against Henry¡¯s face, it actually managed to knock him down! He wasn¡¯t hurt, but the surprise made him hesitate, and it leapt on him, pinning him to the ground. It was enormously strong!


    He looked into the glowing eyes and saw intelligence there. This one wasn¡¯t a puppet.


    ¡°A Satyr interfering with my work. Can¡¯t have that, now can I.¡±


    Its voice,plete with a thick, coarse British ent, made Henry snort in amusement. This brought a scowl to the creature¡¯s face. ¡°Do I FECK¡¯N AMUSE YA?¡± it screamed.


    The Demon began pounding its fists against Henry¡¯s face. While his shield protected him from direct damage from the impacts, he discovered he was getting one hell of a shaking, which was scrambling his brain.


    He managed a few solid hits of his own against the ribs of his opponent and felt the bones snap, but it didn¡¯t stop hitting him.


    Henry was in trouble, and from the Demon¡¯s delighted smile, it knew it.


    A brilliant white streak shot over his head, taking the demon with it.


    Henry struggled to concentrate, but his brain was still dazed from being so badly jostled. He blinked in the direction of the hissing and fighting sounds and shielded his eyes from the intense glow from Sigrid¡¯s wings.


    When his eyes could finally focus, he managed to catch Sigrid¡¯s coup de grace. She shot forward in a microburst of intense speed, mming her shield into the Demon, causing it to stagger back, stunned. Sigrid spun lightning fast, her sword following an arc that passed through its neck.


    For the first two seconds, the Demon was unaware that it was already dead. It tried to respond to her attack, but its body was copsing. Shock appeared on its face as it suddenly realized its fate.


    Henry felt a pull internally as evil magic surged before him, tugging at the spells in his head. He dropped a forcefield between the Demon and Sigrid just as the corpse exploded violently, releasing the magic as a massive shockwave. The fire-scorched hedges were sted back across the site of the torched home.


    Sigrid looked back at Henry in surprise. ¡°What was that? I¡¯ve never seen one explode before!¡±


    Henry sagged back to the ground to rest on his elbows. ¡°This one was pumped up with dark energy. The same energy that backs the bad spells in my head.¡±


    Sigrid put her wings away, and Henry blinked in the sudden darkness. Alice was immediately by his side.


    ¡°What was he?¡± she asked breathlessly.


    ¡°A Demon,¡± Sigrid answered as she pulled Henry to his hooves and looked him over. ¡°But not like any I¡¯ve met so far.¡± She sighed as she looked into Henry¡¯s eyes. ¡°We have to talk about upgrading the other Valkyries soon.¡±


    He balked as he knew what she was talking about. ¡°You seemed to handle this one well enough.¡±


    ¡°It was favoring its ribs, which decreased its speed and strength. I could tell it was stronger than the ones I¡¯ve fought before. The explosion was a surprise as well and would have hurt. You put a shield up, didn¡¯t you.¡± Henry nodded as she held his eyes until he looked away.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to try just exposing a Valkyrie to high levels of Wild Magic before we try the more¡­ intimate method,¡± Henry said, but he knew she didn¡¯t believe that was a viable n.

 347

    He looked over the site as they heard sirens approaching. He saw one of the transformed men begin to move. Shit. ¡°Sigrid?¡± he said, pointing to the waking one.


    He was directly responsible for creating this one, and it was a harsh reminder that he shouldn¡¯t be fucking around like this. Earlier, he¡¯d avoided killing Roku as he didn¡¯t want her blood on his hands, but this? This was on him.


    He paused as he realized he should have remembered the potential for forcing the change. Was this evidence of the evil magic changing him, or had he just been a dumb ass for forgetting? This random chance shit was a menace. He¡¯d have to be more vignt.


    Sigrid nodded as she watched the man who began exhibiting signs of being a dTesh, a red-eyed night hunter. ¡°Get back to the office. I¡¯ll join you in a second.¡±


    Henry put an arm around Alice and hustled her across the yard and through the door back into his outer office.


    He¡¯d have to work on his shield spell to ensure it absorbed all kic energy to prevent what he¡¯d just gone through. Fuck, that demon had been strong!


    The moment Sigrid stepped through, Henry moved closer and released the link between the doors.


    ¡°The team will collect the newly transformed, and more ambnces are on the way. The area is still charged with energy, so I dragged the unconscious beings clear and texted a warning to the iing rescue workers to limit their time at the site,¡± Sigrid exined.


    ¡°Thank you, Sigrid. I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t think my actions through. I-I can¡¯t be sure why I didn¡¯t,¡± Henry confessed, and the beautiful Valkyrie watched him with concern. He shrugged self-consciously and continued. ¡°This is Alice Shaw. The burned home belonged to her. I need to get Alice back to the cavern under the home so she can transfer her treasure to her new location.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Sigrid said as she suddenly realized what this was all about. ¡°Those people were attempting to dig their way into your hoard.¡±


    ¡°And the Demon was probably controlling them. Alice identified him as one of the people controlling the mob who firebombed her home. He told me I was interfering with his work,¡± Henry added.


    Sigrid called Roy and asked him to join them. She looked back at Henry. ¡°Before you head off to help Alice, we need to bring Roy up to speed on this new development with the Demons.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this? New Demon behavior?¡± Roy said as he overheard Sigrid¡¯sment.


    Henry introduced Alice to Roy, then exined what he¡¯d just done and what happened after he did it.


    Roy was watching him with the same concerned look Sigrid gave him. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re all right?¡±


    ¡°I think so. It was likely just a brain fart,¡± Henry said, but his voice wasn¡¯t filled with confidence even in his ears.


    ¡°So, the Demons are looking for funds to pay for their activities. We shut down their sex and torture clubs worldwide, so now they are going after Dragon hoards. That¡¯s a bold move,¡± Roy said and looked at Alice.


    She shook her head. ¡°As much as it pains me to say it, I am the easiest target out of the remaining Dragons. White Dragons are the leastbative of our kind.¡±


    Roy tilted his head in acknowledgment of herment. ¡°Still, thank you for letting me know.¡±


    ¡°Is your new location secure?¡± Henry asked.


    Alice nodded. ¡°Completely.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to move all that stuff?¡± Henry asked her.


    She gave him an ufortable nce. ¡°I do have some magic at my disposal. I¡¯ll manage it as quickly as I can.¡±


    Henry nodded to her, then looked at Roy. ¡°Could we have VRL¡¯s artificial men assist her? I¡¯ve seen how effective a group of them can be in finishing arge task quickly.¡±


    Roy frowned. ¡°We lost a lot of them after Skyfall. The Fae haven¡¯t seen fit to make an appointment with us to replenish them.¡±


    Henry blinked at Roy. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware of that. Do we still have the raw materials from the ones that failed?¡± Roy gave him a cautious nod. ¡°Maybe I could reanimate some with one of Baba¡¯s spells?¡± Henry offered.


    ¡°D¡¯ya think she¡¯d have something that wasn¡¯t nasty?¡± Roy snorted.


    Henry looked into Baba¡¯s spells and found one that made Golems.


    Ah.


    These Golems were killing machines. He gave Roy a nod. ¡°Baba¡¯s Golems are grim and deadly monsters, all right.¡± Roy returned the nod as he¡¯d expected no less.


    ¡°However, if I reced their behavior rules with those from an existing artificial man, we¡¯d have a very strong worker. It wouldn¡¯t pass for Human like the artificial men, but it would be much stronger. Likeparing a passenger car to a construction bulldozer.¡±


    ¡°And how do you intend to do that?¡± Roy asked.


    ¡°Can I take a look at one of ours? Maybe I can make some workers capable of quicklypleting the transfer for Alice,¡± Henry suggested.


    Alice was growing concerned. ¡°What do you want in return for this?¡± she asked, point nk.


    Henry smiled at her. ¡°Very little. I have a friend I¡¯d like you to speak with. He recently underwent the transformation process himself, but he became a Dragon.¡±


    Alice froze for a moment then her eyes lit up. ¡°Really? A new Dragon? There hasn¡¯t been a new one in centuries! I was one of thest!¡±


    ¡°Yes, but there¡¯s one major difference. He¡¯s not linked to the old realm of magic. He draws power from a new realm of Wild Magic, which is much stronger. He was a Human with no knowledge of magic, and now he¡¯s a wielder with great power but no spells of his own other than a strong shield spell which I taught him. Would you meet with him to give him some background on what it means to be a Dragon? I don¡¯t know how else to help him with this.¡±


    Alice looked a little ufortable. ¡°It isn¡¯t something we would speak about to anyone other than a Dragon, and even then, we don¡¯t seek out each other¡¯spany. However, I would be very interested in speaking with the first new Dragon.¡± She eyed Henry with a shrewd expression. ¡°I would also like to learn how to use this Wild Magic very much.¡±


    Henry gave her a sad look. ¡°From what I¡¯ve been told, Wild Magic is toxic to wielders of the old realm magic, the exception being the Naga. I don¡¯t know if Dragons are also an exception, as I know very little about them. I¡¯m just learning as I go too.¡±


    One of VRL¡¯s artificial men appeared in the doorway, and Roy gestured for it to approach. Henry turned to it and suppressed a shudder as he gave it a close look. For him, this was an uncanny valley reaction to something that looked so Human but waspletely alien inside, just magic driving its actions without any Human presence.


    Henry closed his eyes and looked to Baba¡¯s spells to see if there was anything that resembled a spell reader. One surfaced, and he determined Baba used it for removing curses. Of course, she probably used it for adding them, too.


    He ced his hands on either side of its head and looked at the spell required. His eyes opened when he detected minimal old realm magic there. He gave Roy an embarrassed look. ¡°The head is empty, which I suppose makes sense.¡±


    He moved his hands down to its torso. Closing his eyes again, in its core, he found a series of light spheres nested within each other, each containing instructions for the spell that animated the simcrum. He copied the code in its entirety and stepped back from the artificial man as he opened his eyes. ¡°Got it.¡±


    ¡°You think you can make more?¡± Sigrid asked.


    He looked at her. ¡°Not ones that look like this one. That spell wasn¡¯t in Baba¡¯s repository. It¡¯s a Fae specialty, I guess. But I have the animation spell, which I can use within the Golem spell¡­ with modifications. Can we go see the failed artificial men?¡±


    ¡°While you y with y, I have to get back to work,¡± Sigrid said to Henry and slipped up to kiss him.


    He smiled when she pulled back as tingles danced along his nerves. ¡°Thank you foring to my rescue again.¡±


    She snorted, nodded to Alice, and patted Roy¡¯s arm as she left to return to her office.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Roy said, leading Henry and Alice back to the elevators. They took one to the lowest basement level and walked to the end of a long corridor to a locked door. Roy brought them inside, and the lights came on to show arge, mostly empty room. Stacked against one corner were the remains of the failed artificial men. The sagging y seemed to give them expressions of sorrow and pain, and Henry visibly shuddered.


    ¡°Fuck, Roy! These are gruesome!¡± he gasped.


    Roy nced at him and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just y.¡±


    Henry took another look, but he was still disturbed. ¡°I¡¯m just not used to them having an expression.¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡± Alice asked as she stared at Henry. Roy looked away to hide his smirk, but Henry spotted it and scowled at him.


    ¡°Why are you asking?¡± he huffed at Alice.


    ¡°No disrespect meant! It¡¯s just¡­ you have all this power at your fingertips, and I¡¯ve seen you do things only master-level wielders can do, yet you get squeamish about some bits of y. That seems to indicate a¡­ youthful level of maturity,¡± Alice said as gently as she could.


    Roy¡¯s shoulders were shaking from his suppressedughter.


    ¡°I¡¯m old enough,¡± Henry grumbled and moved closer to the inanimate y. As he looked at the mass before him, he reviewed the spell for the Golems and saw he had roughly enough raw material to make five of therger simcrum.Content held by N?velDrama.Org.

 348

    He made a copy of Baba¡¯s killer Golem spell and stripped it down to its base elements. Some would have to remain as it controlled the movements of therge creatures. The purpose and intent behind them could be removed, so it was. These would not be monsters. They would not kill. They would be helpers like the artificial men.


    The spell needed upgrading to be driven by the Wild Magic, so he made new code to support that and feed the energy through the existing pathways.


    Next, he reviewed the Fae¡¯s spell for managing the artificial men. All theyers for controlling the physical movements were discarded and reced with the Golem code. The Fae¡¯s animation code was truly elegant. How it brought life to the inanimate y was brilliant, and there was no reason to change that. The Golem instantiation ritual was brutal and required blood, pain, and sacrifice. That had to go.


    Henry thought about that for a moment. It was no surprise to him that the Golems were creatures of violence when the main ingredient for the magic that forced them into existence was the urrence of horrific death. He examined the spell further and saw it was keyed to find those responsible for causing the death and acting out vengeance upon them.


    That was all reced by the Fae activation code. The Wild Magic would supply the energy required to power therger Golems.


    He merged all these instructionsyers into a new architecture and made his final revisions. Running a simtion, he saw no broken logic streams and instantiated a virtual Golem in his mind. He smiled and added a few tweaks to make them more flexible for the tasks they might be requested to do. He also adjusted their faces to smooth out the distinctively grim expressions Golems had. He didn¡¯t give them smiles, but they¡¯d be less menacing. As he was working on the cosmetics to reduce the scare factor, he also finished the tweaks to their forms.


    These final changes looked good as well.


    Henry hit a bit of a snag when he looked at the start-up instructions the Golems would be expecting once they were created. Integral to the Golem spell was the concept of a Master, a single being to who the new creations would be loyal and take their instructions. Obviously, the danger of having one of these turn against them was the reason the Master concept was woven into everyyer of the spell. He couldn¡¯t remove or change it without recreating the spell from scratch.


    The Fae¡¯s artificial men had a much less rigid structure since they couldn¡¯t do harm from the start. While the Golems would be given the Fae¡¯s behavior rules, their underlying nature was based on absolute control.


    Henry turned to look at Roy. ¡°Should I make you the Master for the Golems?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± he eximed in surprise. ¡°No! I don¡¯t want the monstrous things following me around!¡±


    Henry gestured to Roy for calm. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. Someone has to be the Master. That¡¯s just how the spell works. I can¡¯t change that at the moment. Besides, it¡¯s just temporary. We can recycle the y when we¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making them. You can be their bloody Master!¡± Roy insisted.


    Henry frowned, but he didn¡¯t want to waste more time on this. These were prototypes anyway, so he supposed he could be the Master for these. As he¡¯d said, he¡¯d retire them once this work was done. He reviewed the new spell again and rpiled the code with thetest changes, including his identity as Master.


    He opened the aperture over his rift to pass the Wild Magic over the mass of y, thenunched the spell.


    The partially melted artificial men saggedpletely and merged into onerge blob of y. This spread out and up, forming a wall of y eight feet tall, one foot deep, and twenty feet wide.


    Gaps began forming in the y wall as the mass tightened into five distinct shapes. The Golems absorbed the y between them evenly until there was no longer any excess material. Their eyes were primitive bars of glowing yellow light powered by the Wild Magic Henry was pumping into them. He closed the aperture, and the Golem absorbed thest excess energy pooling in the room.


    They were eight-foot-tall naked males, minus genitalia, with blemish-free, reddish-brown,pletely hairless skin. They looked a little like the Oscar statues from the Academy Awards in Hollywood.


    ¡°They certainly don¡¯t look like our artificial men,¡± Roy said cautiously. ¡°They don¡¯t look like any Golem I¡¯ve ever heard about either.¡±


    Henry smiled. ¡°They¡¯re a friendlier version too.¡± He faced his creations which were focusing their glowing eyes on him. The expressions he¡¯d designed gave them the appearance of calm confidence too. Their unbreakable focus on him was a little unnerving, but he pushed ahead.


    ¡°Wee. I have a task that requires your assistance. Alice Shaw,¡± he gestured to the lovely white-haired woman next to him, ¡°is a friend of mine who needs help moving the contents of her cavern to a new location. You will move her items from where they are now to where she wants them. She will let you know where to put the items you collect from the cavern for her. Is this understood?¡± he asked.


    They all nodded.From N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°You will note that you have the ability to reshape your hands and feet to any configuration that you require toplete the task with greater efficiency while protecting the integrity of the items you move. Is that understood?¡± he asked again, and they looked at their hands, which they passed through various shapes before reverting them to their regr state. Heads nodded.


    Henry looked at Alice. ¡°This should allow them to carry more each trip between the two locations.¡±


    The woman just stared at Henry in shock. When she found her voice, she spoke. ¡°Here you go again, showing off master-level spell crafting! I can¡¯t get a handle on you!¡±


    Roy snorted. ¡°Aye, thed keeps us on our toes as well.¡± Henry sent him an annoyed expression, so Roy continued. ¡°I think you¡¯d better get to it. If the site draws too much attention because of your little stunt, the cavern below it may be discovered sooner than you¡¯d like.¡±


    Alice looked very nervous, so Henry nodded. ¡°Can we use this door for a moment? Just to get us to the cavern.¡± He pointed to the door to the room.


    Roy nodded. ¡°Let me leave first. I have things to do today as well.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Roy!¡± Henry agreed as Roy nodded to Alice and stepped through the door. Henry gestured for Alice to touch the door. ¡°Think of the vestibule door.¡±


    Henry activated the spell, and they opened the door to the tunnel leading into the cave. This time there was silence. He looked back at the Golems. ¡°Come with us.¡±


    Henry tossed some Will-o¡¯-the-Wisp lights at the tunnel ceiling, and they had light. He caught Alice¡¯s expression of shock. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯ve been defanged as well. These are just pretty and useful. They¡¯ll fade to nothing in about a day.¡±


    She just shook her head in wonder.


    Henry released the door spell. ¡°Now, I need you to link this door to the destination.¡±


    Alice looked ufortable. Obviously, she wanted to keep her stash¡¯s new location a secret. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone or go there without your explicit permission. There¡¯s just no other way to help you get your stuff there.¡±


    She took a deep breath and nodded. She reached out, and he touched her arm to send the spell to the door. When she opened it again, all he could see was darkness. She made a gesture, and fairy lights suddenly glowed to life, illuminating the interior of a vast, steel-walled chamber. There were no windows, just tall, reinforced metal walls. A bank vault? An enormous one if that was the case.


    Henry smiled at Alice. ¡°That looks like it will suffice, space-wise. My job here is done, and I have to get back to work too. I¡¯ll let you and the boys get to it.¡±


    Her tense expression dissolved into relief. ¡°What do I do with them when they are done?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes.¡± He faced the gang of Golems, who waited patiently. ¡°When you¡¯vepleted the task of moving her items into the new chamber, return to this cavern, Alice will call me, and I¡¯ll retrieve you. Do you understand?¡± They nodded.


    Henry touched the open door and fed instructions into the spell. Then he looked at Alice. ¡°After they¡¯re done and back in the cavern, close the door and knock on it firmly three times.¡± He pantomimed the motion. ¡°This will disable the link between the doors. Then call me to let me know. I¡¯ll give you the number of my friend then.¡±


    Alice¡¯s smile was wide and happy then she looked at him curiously. ¡°How will you get home if the only door is linked between chambers.¡± She gasped as she thought of the sewers. ¡°You aren¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m not going through the stinky tunnel,¡± he eximed. ¡°I have other means of traveling.¡± He gave her a cheeky smile, bouncing his eyebrows, and pulled up his translocation spell. He targeted Sandy, who was off work today. He thought he¡¯d impress her by just popping in to say hello. Then he¡¯d use her door to return to work. He triggered the spell.


    He disappeared from the cave tunnel, causing a gust of wind from the vacuum left behind, and missed Alice¡¯s squeak of surprise.


    He shed into ce in a¡­ small room? Towels blew off the rack.


    ¡°HENRY!¡± Sandy yelled at him from her sudsy bathtub, bubbles scattering in the burst of disced air.


    ¡°Oops!¡±


    Kesini was delighted by Henry¡¯s sudden arrival and quickly pulled him into the tub with them.


    Clothes and all.


    So much for impressing Sandy.

 349

    Marisa surged up from her pillow with a startled gasp. For a few seconds, her room flickered with multiple ovepping potentials, but all were very simr, so there was nothing in them to cause her to gasp for breath as she was.


    She closed her eyes and ran through her breathing exercises which calmed her and allowed her to force her abilities back into their dormant state, a subtle, mostly translucent background ovey, which was where she preferred to keep them.


    Marisa frowned as this was the first time her seer sight activated while sleeping. She tried to recall what she¡¯d been dreaming before she jolted awake, but the memories were like mist and disappeared as quickly as she looked for them. All she was left with was an odd sensation of¡­ tion? Almost a tingle of anticipation¡­ but for what?


    She nced at the clock and saw she had hours before her rm would wake her. With a sigh, she rxed back against her pillow.


    Her mother¡¯s words popped uninvited into her head. ¡°It¡¯s love.¡±Content held by N?velDrama.Org.


    Such a simple sentence to have such a profound effect on her life.


    She remembered her time with Nate. She was very fond of him and missed him terribly. She wished he could have met Natalia. What he¡¯d gone through at the hands of Mab must have been intensely traumatizing for him to behave as he did. Still, his final act showed the true strength of his character as he sacrificed himself for Henry. She would share her stories with Natalia when she was old enough to understand.


    Marisa discovered something inside herself since her mother uttered those words.


    She wanted love.


    The idea of losing it still terrified her, and remembering her mother¡¯s mncholy after her father passed was always in the back of her mind. But she wasing to realize it was like she was living without seeing the true colors of life. This filtering would continue until she could get past her fear andpletely open herself to the possibility of love.


    Her mind immediately went to Henry as she had a strong emotional bond with him, but¡­ she¡¯d witnessed the potentials surrounding his life, and Baba Yaga had given her advance notice.


    ¡°Be kind to my boy¡­ Life won¡¯t be.¡±


    Baba¡¯s words continued to echo in her head and haunt her.


    Marisa witnessed its cruelty and did her utmost to never look at his potentials again. The briefest glimpses she¡¯d had in recent days were difficult to ignore.


    So, while her heart pulled her in one direction, her fear pushed in the other.


    She pulled the covers over her head. She wasn¡¯t going to resolve this dilemma now but getting back to sleep seemed an equally difficult task.


    Her mind returned to the tion as that was something positive to upy her mind.


    If only she could remember.


    -=-


    Majestic, towering clouds floated across the pale blue sky, their tops an almost blinding white while their bottoms were dark grey with the threat of imminent rain. Unlike the mysterious living clouds, which caused so much mischief they earned time on news channels, these were just normal clouds that moved where the winds directed them. Today they were crossing above Scond¡¯s Shend Inds in a steady and awe-inspiring progression.


    For three of the four beings settled into plush leather chairs before therge picture window overlooking the bay, this grand parade might as well have been invisible. They were all lost in their thoughts, recalling the days when they were important, forces to be reckoned with, and best of all, respected.


    In the first chair sat Fenris Hoek, cousin to Lise-Anne Hoek, the former Hidden Races Security Minister who died performing her duties on Skyfall. That¡¯s all he¡¯d been told by her former superiors.


    As Fenris was a Pixie and he¡¯d lost his mor with so many others, he was presently cross-legged on the chair in his five-foot form. The tallest he could manage without a mor. His youthful appearance hid the fact of his advanced age, but that was the way of Pixies.


    He hadn¡¯t cared much for his cousin as she¡¯d stolen the position of Security Minister from him. He¡¯d had grand ambitions to use that position to ensure Pixies were first and foremost amongst the wielders, not the Fae. Lise-Anne proved to be more vicious and cunning than him and put him out ofmission during the elections. He hated her for that, but she was family, and vengeance for her death would be his.


    Then he would take the position of Security Minister from Roy Duncan, who wasn¡¯t even a wielder!


    Next to Fenris was Gren von Deussel, the older brother of Rand von Deussel, Investigator for the Hidden Races Council. He shared the same red coloring of hair and beard as his little brother, but his had begun to turn grey, and his body was more heavily muscled since he was a weaponsmith by trade.


    Gren knew Rand died in battle on Skyfall, as he knew Rand had been using Zult and Zort, twin battle axes containing the souls of their ancestors. When the weapons were destroyed, had there been any other living von Deussel males, they would have felt the terrible ripping sensation followed by a great emptiness as Gren had. The blood bond, or curse of the von Deussels, had been broken. There was no way Rand would have allowed that, so he must be dead, though there was no body to perform the passage rituals on.


    No one from the Hidden Races Council would give any details about Rand¡¯s final mission or who fought and murdered his little brother. The only other member who might know, Lise-Anne Hoek, was also dead.


    The loss of these precious weapons was too much for Gren to bear. They should have been his to carry into battle, but he lost his left thumb in a stupid bar wager in his youth, preventing him from epting the honor when their father died and joined the other souls in the des. That bitter failure ran deep as he still recalled the disappointment in his father¡¯s eyes.


    In the third chair was the host for this meeting, Harnd LoKennishen, a long-standing member of Queen Mab¡¯s court and an advisor of sorts. He¡¯d been a young and eager court attendant when Mab took control of the Fae, and he¡¯d supported her over the millennia. Tall, fair-haired, and slim, he¡¯d mastered the art of blending into the background while keeping his eyes and ears open for bits of gossip and information that found their way to Mab through him. Harnd was an unofficial intelligence service for Mab, and as such, he found himselfpletely isted from the Faemunity when Mab was ousted. Memories of his informant activities went back generations and meant none of the other Fae families wanted anything to do with him now.


    Harnd was surprised at how lonely this new istion made him. While Mab was in charge, no one could refuse his participation in any function he chose to include himself in. He was a very social person and enjoyed his lofty position in Mab¡¯s court, even though it was unofficial. He never took advantage of his Queen¡¯s favor, understanding all too well her fickle whims. While attractive, he did his best not to present himself as a suitor and remained on the edges of her perception.


    Now he had nothing, and that was Henry Gable¡¯s fault. He¡¯d seen the video of Henry killing Mab, and while he understood Mab¡¯s chaotic nature had finally reached the point where even he wasn¡¯t safe, he resented the Satyr as a symbol of change.


    Nothing was the same since Skyfall. The Hidden Races were no longer hidden, but instead of being hunted down by the Humans, a strange eptance had settled over the world, caused by magic songs that eased the mind and opened one¡¯s heart. Personally, they made him shudder in revulsion!


    Then he discovered these Humans were transforming into the Hidden Races! This disturbed Harnd most of all!


    Humans who became Fae were an abomination, but worse, he¡¯d been informed that they had ess to magic stronger than true Fae! Not that they understood magic or had any knowledge of how to use it. It still sickened him.


    He hated this feeling of being insignificant and powerless. Something needed to be done.


    Harnd looked to the upant of the fourth and final chair. This man said he had answers to theirmon troubles and promised they could achieve their dreams with his assistance.


    The man wore a finely tailored midnight ck suit with an equally dark dress shirt and slim silk tie. This emphasized his muscr build. He wore his ck hair shaved on the sides and swept back over the top. Pale blue eyes watched them with a slight smile on his thin lips. He wasn¡¯t particrly handsome, but his sharp features and the intensity of his eyes gave the impression of raw power barely contained.


    ¡°Thank you for inviting me to speak with you,¡± he began. His voice was deep and trembled with hidden power. This made his audience of three sit a little straighter in their chairs and focus more closely on him. ¡°You may call me M. The world is changing rapidly, and if you don¡¯t stake your im on this new future, you will be swept aside and forgotten.¡±


    The three frowned as they didn¡¯t enjoy being reminded of their powerless states.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault that circumstances brought you to your current positions, but you must act if you are to salvage anything,¡± the pale man continued.


    ¡°And exactly what role will you y in assisting us to achieve our im on this new future?¡± Gren asked stiffly.


    M smiled at them, and they felt the impact as his eyes locked onto theirs and then moved on.


    ¡°Focus. Most will waste what little energy they have on the wrong target. They¡¯ll il ineffectively at nothing. You must strike hard and fast, but more importantly, urately. Do you take out the highly inefficient Hidden Races Council for their failure to take the required steps to maintain the integrity of your way of life? Waste!¡± he barked thest word sharply, and the three males jumped slightly as they¡¯d been about to agree.


    ¡°The Hidden Race Council is a dying vestige of the old world. Just let it die and focus on the source of the change!¡± M looked into the Fae¡¯s eyes, and the answer shed into his mind.


    ¡°Henry Gable!¡± Harnd gasped, and M gave him a little nod in approval.


    ¡°Who?¡± Gren grunted with a scowl.


    M focused his attention on the Dwarf and the Pixie. ¡°At the critical moment of social transition, there is a collision of forces: the established order and the new direction. At the leading edge of this collision, you will find individuals whose actions y thergest role in the oue. If the ones guiding the existing power structure are strong and sufficiently decisive, they will prevail, and the upstart will be crushed by their will. However, if the challengers guiding the effort to change have sufficient force and momentum, they will drive over the resistance and prevail. We are currently in the transitional period after the collision, and the new direction has prevailed. Now is the only opportunity you¡¯ll have to strike against the individuals who are establishing their ce as leaders for this new age.¡±

 350

    Fenris frowned. ¡°And Henry Gable is that person?¡±


    M nodded slowly. ¡°You¡¯re aware he was the one who killed Queen Mab?¡±


    Fenris snorted. ¡°We¡¯ve watched the Tennison Clip.¡± Gren scowled at Fenris for speaking for him, as he had no idea what that was. The Pixie caught that and looked back at the Dwarf in surprise. ¡°How-how could you not have seen it! It was on every form of media for weeks!¡± he eximed.


    ¡°Maybe I had better things to do than sit on my ass before the idiot tube!¡± Gren snapped.


    M held his hands up for calm. ¡°The answer is yes. Henry Gable was the focal point for the effort to overthrow the original order. He was a tool for Baba Yaga and performed his function surprisingly well, catching his challengers tfooted. I suggest to you that his sess wasrgely due to luck and the rigid thinking patterns of his adversaries. I can also say Baba Yaga is no longer in the picture.¡±


    All three beings looked at him in surprise. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Harnd asked.


    M smiled wickedly. ¡°The witch is dead.¡±


    ¡°What proof do you have of that?¡± Harnd asked.


    M spread his hands. ¡°I can give you no physical proof as she disappeared with three billion other Humans on that fateful night.¡±


    Gren scowled. ¡°That¡¯s no proof at all! Baba was no Human!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s demonstrating rigid thought patterns. Baba was Human. She just made a deal to gain her powers. That deal ended on Skyfall,¡± M said calmly and held Gren¡¯s gaze. The Dwarf huffed ufortably and looked away.


    ¡°How do you know these things?¡± Fenris asked carefully.


    M turned his attention to the Pixie. ¡°It¡¯s simple, really. I¡¯m linked to the same deal. I could sense her presence through our shared bond. Now, she¡¯s gone.¡±


    Harnd perked up. ¡°You¡¯re as powerful as Baba?¡± he asked excitedly, longing to be associated with someone of power.


    The pale man gave Harnd a wistful smile. ¡°s, no. Baba was given the lion¡¯s share while my allowance was¡­ leaner. Still sufficient to know she¡¯s no longer bound as I am.¡±


    Gren was back to eying M with a critical eye. ¡°If you shared this bond with Baba, why aren¡¯t you dealing with this Henry Gable fellow yourself?¡±


    M smiled at Gren, but the Dwarf didn¡¯t look away this time. ¡°I¡¯ve carefully engaged with the Satyr several times to gauge his strengths and weaknesses, learning what I can of his capabilities. He is a formidable opponent. Fortunately, he¡¯s also young and foolish. He has weaknesses that can be exploited.¡±


    ¡°And you haven¡¯t done so yet because¡­.¡± Fenris asked.


    Cold eyes swung over to the Pixie. ¡°The appropriate strategy tobat his defenses and exploit his greatest weakness requires a multi-discipline, multiple-front attack. This is the purpose of our meeting today. To see if you have the will to be the leaders of the new era, to live up to the legacy stolen from you by Henry Gable.¡±


    Gren twitched as that struck too close to home. He leaned back slightly. ¡°Are you saying Gable is responsible for the death of my brother, Rand?¡±


    ¡°And my cousin Lise-Anne?¡± Fenris added.


    M held their focus for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m saying they perished in battle during Skyfall, the very night Baba and Henry Gable acted out their victory over Mab and destroyed thergest secret ever kept. A secret the Hidden Races Council fought so hard to protect for so very long. If Gable didn¡¯t perform the actions Baba strategized for him, I don¡¯t know who else could have.¡±


    ¡°So, we kill Henry Gable,¡± Gren growled.


    M focused all his attention on the Dwarf. ¡°You don¡¯t destroy the fulcrum which change pivots upon. You take control of it and make it work for you. Make it create a future you have control over. Then take from it everything it stole from you but keep it alive to suffer its failure.¡±


    ¡°He took my kin!¡± Gren raged.


    ¡°And mine!¡± Fenris joined in.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s fortunate for you that he has so many around him he considers kin. You will get to make him feel your pain twice over. It¡¯s my understanding there is nothing more painful than losing a child. If you truly want him to feel this pain, that is,¡± M said smoothly.


    The Dwarf and Pixie eyed M, but they were thinking about that. The idea of harming a child didn¡¯t sit too well, but if it would create the most pain for their target¡­ that appealed to them both.


    Harnd cleared his throat. ¡°What must we do to assist in taking control of the fulcrum?¡± he asked and was rewarded with a smile from M.


    ¡°Information is vital to our n of attack. We must gather intel on the forces which surround our target. Identify who to capture to cause him the most distress to shatter his ability to think strategically. While I¡¯ve focused mostly on Henry Gable, we need a measure of the strength of his defenses. Do nothing yourselves but hire others through intermediaries and set them on a collision course with the groups Henry Gable keeps around himself, then gauge the results. Coordinate your attacks at random intervals to confuse, and we will meet back here in three weeks to formte the final battle n to take control.¡±


    ¡°What will you contribute to this effort in the three weeks?¡± Gren asked belligerently.


    ¡°My forces will bear the full brunt of the final attack, so we¡¯ll increase our strength and numbers in the interim. Many of us are traveling from the far corners of the globe to participate. This is an all-in endeavor for us. Henry Gable will be removed from his position as the focal point for guiding our society. That is what we are contributing. Those working with us will join in setting the new direction,¡± M said with conviction. ¡°What it¡¯s be now is an abomination to the natural order.¡±


    Harnd felt these words resonate with his personal beliefs and couldn¡¯t contain his revulsion. ¡°Humans bing Fae! Disgusting!¡± he exploded. Casting an embarrassed look at the others. ¡°And Dwarves and Pixies, as well!¡± he added.


    ¡°Exactly. These inferior beings have no right to take the ce of the true Hidden Races,¡± M nodded thoughtfully.


    Gren and Fenris frowned. ¡°What do you mean, take the ce?¡± the Pixie asked.


    M looked at him as if surprised. ¡°You understand they outnumber the original Hidden Races by an order of magnitude. Even if the Humans randomly switch into one of the wide variety of avable races, they will overwhelm the existing races by their sheer numbers. The original Hidden Races will either be extinct or be second-ss variants. They may not be hunting you down, but they are making you redundant.¡±


    Now Gren and Fenris were scowling as they hadn¡¯t connected those dots.


    M stood to leave. ¡°Thoughts for you to consider as you n your strikes upon Gable¡¯s support base. Until we meet again.¡±Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    He bowed slightly to the three and left.


    When they felt the privacy spell reactivate once the front door closed, they shared an uneasy look.


    Gren sighed as he was morefortable with speaking bluntly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say it. We¡¯re actually contemting working with a Demon?¡± he asked.


    Harnd was quick to defend their new friend. ¡°M didn¡¯t indicate he was a Demon, he didn¡¯t have the scent of one, and he was far more articte than any I¡¯ve ever heard of.¡±


    Fenris gave the Fae a weary look. ¡°He was a Demon. I know he hid the spoor and spoke well, but it was more what he was saying that intrigued me. He spoke the truth. That was a rare thing to hear from the lips of a Demon.¡±


    Gren nodded, his estimation of Fenris growing. ¡°Agreed. The Hidden Races Council is dead and should be allowed to fade away. They¡¯ve shown absolutely no desire to support us with the simplest question. Who killed our kin? I agree with the Demon that there is a high probability it was this Henry Gable if he was working with Baba Yaga-¡±


    ¡°Do you believe she¡¯s dead?¡± Fenris asked nervously.


    Harnd nodded. ¡°M seemed very confident of this.¡±


    Gren shared a look with Fenris, then nodded as well. ¡°That felt like truth to me.¡± Then his scowl reappeared. ¡°The Council could shed light on this but won¡¯t!¡±


    Harnd didn¡¯t want the meeting to spiral down into profitless arguments. ¡°We need to n our attacks.¡±


    Fenris looked to the Fae. ¡°That¡¯s your vote toward working with Demons.¡±


    Harnd frowned at the Pixie. ¡°Yes!¡±


    Fenris looked to Gren, who nodded. ¡°As long as our goals follow parallel tracks. The moment he shows any sign of betraying us, he¡¯s dead,¡± the Dwarf growled.


    The Pixie nodded with a thoughtful expression. ¡°We¡¯ll have to remain vignt.¡±


    Harnd heard they were all in, so he moved forward with nning. ¡°Henry Gable works for VRL Investment house in Manhattan. He lives in New Jersey. Two targets for testing his support base. I rmend we set up discreet surveince in both locations. Look for people who interact with Henry, and we meet again in a week to set a n of attack.


    ¡°Does it have to be in this dismal ce?¡± Fenris asked. ¡°There¡¯s a hotel in Manhattan I have a permanent reservation for. We could meet there.¡±


    ¡°That would be preferable,¡± Gren said.


    ¡°Fine, but we meet with M here in three weeks,¡± Harnd insisted.


    The others nodded begrudgingly as they knew the Demon was expecting them here anyway.


    Fenris shared the hotel name, address, and room number, and they set a date for their first meeting.


    Harnd focused on the Pixie. ¡°There is likely to be greater security at the investment house, so I suggest this is a location where your stealth capabilities would be more suitable.


    Fenris scowled at Harnd¡¯s automatic assumption he was in charge but had to agree with him in this instance. ¡°Fine.¡±


    The Fae eyed Gren critically as the Dwarf wasn¡¯t behind a mor. ¡°Does your mor disguise how much you look like your brother?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a bloody mor! I lost it on Skyfall, like Fenris, I assume. Can you make us new mors or use your contacts to get us some?¡± Gren snapped.


    Harnd leaned back from the verbal outburst, then he frowned. ¡°That field of magic was not my forte, and none of my contacts has ess to anyone who used to make mors.¡±


    ¡°Used to?¡± Fenris asked as he picked up the subtle difference.


    The Fae looked away in distaste as he didn¡¯t like discussing internal matters with outsiders. Still, he had to work with them now. ¡°Yes. There¡¯s been a moratorium on doing mors as they are more difficult to do since Skyfall, and we lost some of our most experienced artisans. It was determined that the new state of the world makes them¡­ redundant.¡±


    Gren wanted to return to Harnd¡¯s first point. ¡°Why does it bloody matter that I look like Rand?¡±


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!