by Aaron Crash
Liam nodded. “She is progressing quickly. I want her to try her Homo Draconis form soon.”
Mr. Mathews ignored them as he gobbled down food. He wiped his greasy mouth with a decrepit hand. “Have to hurry to get through it. Have to hurry to get dessert. No peach cobbler. The apple fine is pie.”
“I think you meant the apple pie is fine.” Steven couldn’t help but think of this ancient man as Mr. Mathews. Any of Mathaal’s power seemed gone forever. He now seemed like a retired librarian with one foot in the grave.
“Darn, I really wanted to try the peach cobbler,” Tessa said. “It sounds epic. And a good apple pie is hard to do. Lots of competition and American drama. The cliché of the apple pie.”
Mathew let out a squeal of protest. “You don’t know! Uchiko is a genius with desserts. You’ll regret you said that, young lady.”
Tessa blinked and kinda smiled. “I love it when grandpas call me young lady. Is that weird? It makes me feel like I’m little again.”
Steven had finished eating, not tasting the food. He leafed through the third volume, but the secret pages gave him nothing. Even the topaz pen had failed. What were they going to do?
Not waiting for dessert, he pushed himself back from the table and went out to walk down to the river alone, dressed in the keikogi.
He found a good place to sit, on a flat rock on the bank, to watch the sparkling water flow down through rich black dirt and over time-smoothed stones. The pines swayed above him, and their trunks creaked and popped.
Clouds gathered in the western sky, preparing the daily afternoon rainstorms. He thought of how dark the sky had been the day before, during the battle down I-90. They’d won, again, but the enemy they faced? Rahaab? They’d barely escaped his Trinity of Wives. Steven didn’t think they could handle an attack from all his forces.
But Rahaab wouldn’t be coming for him. He was waiting in Cassius Pine’s Yellowstone Aerie, waiting for Steven to attack.
While Steven spent time retrieving the third volume, the Alpheros had gathered his troops and perfected his defenses. He held every advantage.
A chill wind blew down from the sky. Raindrops flecked his face. He hardly felt any of it.
A stick snapped near him and he whirled. Sabina stood there. Her eyes glowed green.
“What do you see?” Steven asked.
“Do you really want to know?” She came forward, ducking a branch and stepping over a large stone. Her magic really did give her sight.
“I do,” Steven answered.
She came to him and took his hand. “I see our daughter, with her hair so dark, and her dimples so cute on her chubby cheeks. She will be our little queen. Her name is Regina, but we’ll call her Reggie. She’ll be a daddy’s girl from the very start. She will love me, of course, but she will only fall asleep in your arms.”
Steven wasn’t prepared for that. He was only twenty years old. He’d figured he’d do the father thing much later in life, like when he was thirty.
“Do you know what that means?” Sabina asked.
Steven shrugged. He wasn’t sure.
“It means we will survive, Steven. I don’t know about the others, but you and I will live. I can’t see when we’ll meet our little Regina, but someday...someday.” Sabina nodded. “And yet, maybe my vision won’t come true. I did confuse the night with a dark stormy day.”
Steven was blown away. The idea was daunting, and she was right, the little girl might not be theirs. However, a new hope filled him. “Sabina, I don’t know about all this, but I think we should take it as a sign. But how—”
Sabina interrupted him to kiss him. Her lips were thick and soft, and her tongue explored his mouth. He felt the heat between them. But this was about love as much as it was about lust.
Animus filled his chest, and he grew stiff against his soft, loose pants.
“You want to know if you can be a father,” she whispered and kissed down his cheek to suck on his earlobe before licking his neck.
It made him melt. Sabina knew her way around a man’s body. That was for sure.
“You can father children, but the Dragonsouls are made of mystical energy as well as flesh. For the child to grow inside me, there are rituals and spells. I’m not ready yet to be a mother, not until after I become a Dragonskin, and I want to wait until we’re safe. Then, I will want to bear you children, Steven. As many as you want.”
She caressed him through the pants and gave him a soft squeeze. Then she was kissing him again. Her tongue played with his and then she drew back. “I want you to make love to me. Then I want to cast spells this world has rarely seen. I don’t just fight for myself and not just for you, my Prime. Now I fight for Regina Drokharis, so that she might know life.”
She stood back and pulled him from his seat on the rock. Sabina spoke again. “We’ve used the Magica Incanto spells to imbue objects with magical energy. But we can do the reverse. We can dispel Rahaab’s magic from this place, from the old man, and from his servants.”
Steven was new to the Magica Incanto magic, but he had studied it extensively in his father’s grimoire. He realized with enough focus, and enough Animus, they might be able to do it.
His head was spinning. It was all a lot to take in. But if Sabina, their most powerful Magician, thought she could break the spell keeping Mathaal and Uchiko trapped on the ranch with no memories, he was going to do everything he could to help her.
“Come with me,” Sabina said. “It’s time for me to join your Escort.”
“Are you sure you want this?” He knew his own feelings. He’d come to love her quiet strength and her damaged soul healed into iron.
“My heart has been battered, and I’ve been tossed around, blinded, and thrown away. And yet I can’t walk away from you, Steven Drokharis. I know I’m not thinking clearly, but I don’t want to.” The cuts on her arm from Gideon Scaramanga were gone. She was whole again.
She gave him another toe-curling kiss. “Take me to the barn. Tessa and Aria have made it ready.”
He led her through the pine trees over the dark ground. Thunder rumbled overhead, and a wind swept down, bringing more rain, pattering around them. The barn door was already open, and he guided Sabina inside.
Tessa and Aria had worked hard. A big ornate brass bed sat on rough floorboards covered in straw. The fresh smell of the rain mingled with the dusty sweet odor of the hay. A rich coverlet covered the mattress. On low tables, candles glowed. Several of the windows were broken, so rain pattered inside, but the bed was in the middle of the room, safe from the elements.
Both Tessa and Aria wore black silk robes. Steven knew they were naked underneath. Sabina walked to the bed and turned. “Is it okay if they get me ready for you, mi amor?”
“Like what you did with Tessa? Sabina, that might kill me at this point.”
“Death by erection?” Tessa laughed quietly. “Don’t worry, we’ll be quick. We promise.” She kissed Sabina long and slow while Aria bent down and unzipped Sabina’s jeans. The Indian woman wiggled them down over her hips. She helped take off Sabina’s shoes as well and her socks. Her jeans hit the floor.
Steven watched in wonder. Aria took her own turn kissing Sabina while Tessa walked around. She eased the shirt over the Latina woman’s head. The barista unclasped the bra but held it to Sabina’s chest. “Are you ready, Steven?”
“I am.” He’d never been more ready. He couldn’t catch his breath. His stomach churned with lust. He loved the game, the ache of desire, the sweet seduction that Sabina enjoyed.
The Latina woman sighed, leaning back against Tessa, lifting her arms. Tessa kept her bra on her though, straps dangling. Aria, on her knees, kissed the panties covering Sabina’s mound. The Indian woman waited for the right time to strip the lacy white panties off the thick woman’s body.
Steven asked, “You love this game, don’t you, Sabina?”
Sabina’s breath caught, revealing her lust. Her eyes were closed. “Si.” It came out a whisper. Her ch
eeks were flushed. Her lips, after kissing Steven, Tessa, and Aria, were bright red. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead under her black, black hair.
“Why?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Knowing you are looking at me, seeing my naked body, it makes me crazy. You struggle against yourself because you want to fuck me. I love it. I love you watching. I love you seeing me like this, turned on, wet, ready for you.”
Tessa licked the side of Sabina’s neck and whispered something in her hair.
“Si, mi amor.”
The barista lowered the bra to expose her big nipples and shapely breasts. At the same time, Aria drew down Sabina’s panties and then kissed her plump thighs up to the hair clipped to a stubble between her legs.
Tessa toyed with her breasts while Aria gave Sabina pleasure with her mouth. It was quick, and Sabina came, eyes flashing green from the Animus. “I need more, Steven. I need more Animus. Hurry, now. Hurry and take me. Take me and kiss me and love me.”
Steven shrugged out of his clothes and stormed over. Tessa whipped the coverlet off while Aria pulled down the sheets, then they drew back as he picked up Sabina and laid her on the bed. And then he was between the Latina woman’s legs and inside her.
She let out a cry and pulled him to her. She’d gotten him so turned on, he felt like an animal as he reached around and grabbed her ass. He held her down as he thrust into her, over and over and over, but Sabina gripped his hip and slowed him down, bringing him to the brink of climax over and over until she finally allowed him to tumble over the edge. Animus glowed around them, in their eyes, across their skin, as the energy filled the room.
Steven never softened. Tessa and Aria dropped their silk robes to climb onto the bed. They took turns kissing Sabina until she asked to suck on their nipples, first Tessa’s, and then Aria’s, and that sight was so erotic that Steven’s libido found new life.
Then it was hours of lovemaking as the rain danced across the roof. Sabina was in the middle of it all, loving on Tessa as the barista straddled her face. When Tessa erupted, she sank down, and Aria got her turn. As Sabina licked Aria, Steven continued to slide in and out of the Latina woman, kissing a shoulder, a breast, an upturned face, the pale arm of Tessa, or the taut dark skin of Aria’s back.
Finally, he shuddered again. The third time? The fourth? He’d lost count.
Abruptly, Sabina squirmed out from underneath him. “Magica Divinatio!” Her eyes glowed like jade starbursts. She left the bed. Naked, she ran from the barn and out into the rain.
“This is it!” Tessa cried. “Sabina is going to try and undo the spells!” She grabbed a silk robe. Aria and Steven didn’t bother.
Sabina stood with her arms over her head. Rain trickled down her luscious body, and she looked like a storm goddess controlling the heavens. Her shriek carried over the wind. “Magica Incanto!”
Tessa ran and pulled Sabina’s hand down to hold it. “Magica Incanto!” The rain soaked her robe to show the lines of her body.
Steven laughed at himself. Even after all the sex, he couldn’t get enough of his Escort. He ran and clutched Sabina’s other hand.
A green energy illuminated the house, and then a crackling silver shell took over, until Tessa’s pink magic pushed it away. That silver energy, that was Rahaab’s work.
“Magica Incanto!” Steven thundered. He was full of Animus, the lives of his Escort were on the line, and Mouse was out there, alone.
Enough was enough. They had to make a play for Rahaab, and the only way they could do that was to shatter the magic keeping Mathaal and Uchiko trapped without memory and without power.
A whorl of black spell work struck the house, wiping away the silver, until all that remained was a black light, edged with Sabina’s green and Tessa’s pink magic. A final explosion shattered every window. The silver was gone. Steven’s cloud of black energy exploded outward, making the trees sway and tearing boards off the barn.
Sabina sank down to her knees. Tessa also fell. Steven stood with Aria, in her True Form, her tail swirled around them. He felt powerful, unstoppable.
The rain sizzled off Aria’s hot scales, and steam rose from her.
The back door opened. Out crept Mr. Mathews with Uchiko holding him steady. The Japanese woman turned, and once again, half of her face was reptilian. Half of her hair was gone. Scales covered the rest of her scalp. She led the old man to the edge of the deck.
Other servants tripped out, changing before Steven’s eyes, ripping through their gis as wings tore out backs and human faces scaled over, becoming serpentine. Wet, tattered clothes hung from their bodies, which rippled with muscles under dragon skin. But these were not true Dragonskins because they had failed the rituals. One had a clawed hand, but his other hand was human and pale. Another had a human head atop a pile of dragon muscles. Some only had one wing. Others had the legs of a Dragonskin but that was it. They were a mishmash of human and dragon. Like Uchiko, their flesh was trapped between two worlds.
Steven wondered what Sabina would look like if she failed the rituals. Was it worth it? Should he try and talk her out of it?
Mathaal straightened. He gazed upon Aria in her dragon form. And then his eyes fell on Steven. The old man smiled. The cataracts were gone, and his purple eyes were clear again. He blinked away the rain streaming down his wrinkled face. “Steven Drokharis, I felt your magic. That was quite the spell, my friend. Quite the spell. Your father would be proud.”
But it wasn’t just Steven. It was all their magic combined.
Liam walked out of the ranch and stood on the porch, staying out of the rain. He gave Steven an approving nod.
Tessa found her feet. Steven had to help Sabina to stand. She fell against him, weeping softly. “You are my heart, Steven. You are my heart. Forever.”
He gripped her. Tessa hugged them both. Aria let out a victorious roar that shook the ground around them.
Steven knew Rahaab heard Aria’s thunder. And if that bastard was smart, he’d be afraid.
Chapter Twenty-Six
NOTHING SADDER THAN sitting in a bar drinking a fucking Coke while everyone around you got lit. Mouse had returned to Big Timber after getting a new hurricane tattoo on her left forearm in Billings. She’d grabbed some of the magic ink from Liam, and now she was hidden—from Steven, from Rahaab, from everyone.
The Timber Bar and Grill was a Montana bar all right, but it was also a family place. The boozers on the right, the families on the left, eating chicken tenders and burgers and doing it with smiles. Even the babies.
It was all fine and normal for a Thursday afternoon during a rainstorm. Inside, it was dry and warm and cozy. Inside the restaurant, sure, but not inside Mouse. That was a fucking zoo of shitty thoughts, bad memories, and longing for better days. The Coke wasn’t helping.
Five women walked into the bar, looking not quite right. Something was off, certainly. They were pretty, but dressed in rough clothes, most likely from the local Dollar Store. Or they’d rummaged through a thrift store to unearth some grandma’s casual wear.
She figured she’d finish her dumb Coke and go back to her dumb room in the River Valley Inn to sleep a little more before she did the dumb thing she knew was a mistake. Oh well. She sat at the Timber Bar unarmed; the Slayer Blade was back in the room, under the bed.
Alone. She felt so alone. Being with Steven and his Escort was like being with the best of families, even better than her birth one. Tessa was so sweet to her, and Aria had warmed up, though that battle bitch was a hard one. Which made the smiles she gave Mouse extra special. Then there was Sabina, who could joke about being blind. Liam was like a wise old uncle.
And Steven.
Mouse felt the tears come, and she’d never been thirstier for Jägermeister. A couple shots would smack her liver into shape, burn away the tears, and take care of her fear and doubt.
Steven was kind, he was caring, he was strong, and he loved her as deeply as she loved him. It was like when they were together, there was nothi
ng they couldn’t do.
The five women got a table. One of them, a tall woman with auburn hair, dressed in a Montana tourist sweatshirt, kept giving her glances. They were a mixture of skin color and hair color and body shapes. A potpourri of bitches. Ugh, Mouse knew what was coming.
She reached into her jeans and took out a wad of cash. She liked the long sleeves of the top she’d gotten. It felt a pirate-y. She also liked the wedges on her feet. Comfortable and stylish. She’d stolen a few of the gold coins and pawned them in Billings. She’d bought some clothes, so she’d at least look good when she carried out her suicide mission.
No one was going to stop her from carrying out her plan. She’d done it before. Get close to a man, earn his trust, get him off a few times so his mind was cloudy with lust, and then do what needed to be done. In this case, Mouse was going to take the Slayer Blade and shove it up Rahaab’s ass until she found the fucker’s heart. Then Steven and his Primacy would be safe.
And if Rahaab’s Escort killed her afterwards? The sacrifice would be worth it. Her life had been a mistake from day one. Might as well end it by saving everyone she loved.
Mouse slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the bar and tried to walk out before any of the women came over to chat about the stupid affairs of the Dragonsoul world.
The auburn-haired woman moved to the door and blocked it. The four other women got up and flanked her. They hadn’t ordered anything. They weren’t at the Timber Bar and Grill for the chicken tenders or the hooch. Was this going to be a fight? That didn’t feel right. They’d have hit her hard right away if that had been the case.
“Melissa,” the woman in the doorway said. “We’d like to talk to you.”
Mouse thought about going True Form and burning her down and taking the bar along with her. No, Hooper, Montana, had survived the week. She’d let Big Timber live a little longer as well.
“Wow, you know my first name,” Mouse spat. “We should be best, best, best friends!”