California Imperium

by Aaron Crash

  Steven laughed and left them.

  Javier Jones and Abner Savedra both stood in swim trunks, arms across their chests, Pacífico beers in their fists.

  Steven hadn’t brought one along. Funny, he still couldn’t have a legal drink, at least in the U.S. His twenty-first birthday was still weeks away. He thought of Skylar, and how she had compared him to Alexander the Great. The Greek king had come to power at the age of twenty. And he went on to conquer the known world. Steven planned on doing the same.

  Both Javier and Savedra waited for him to speak. “So, Javier, I still haven’t met your wives. They were at the Thousand Step Beach fight, right?”

  He shook his head. “No, ese, they don’t come out much.” He laughed. “They are certainly not like your Heavenly Seven.”

  Steven raised a finger. “That’s not their official name yet. We’re still working on it.”

  “Is it okay to call them the Five Widows?” Savedra asked.

  Steven was still getting used to the network of scars splitting the hair on the man’s scalp, carving through his thickening beard, and crisscrossing his chest. “Yes, the Five Widows. And your men are the Willbreakers?”

  Savedra grinned. “Only three of the Willbreakers made it through the fight alive. You might want to call your wives the Devil’s Seven. They fight like hell.”

  “They do,” Steven agreed. “So no wives for you, Abner?”

  The Dragonlord smiled wistfully. “Got my heart broken. Boyd, my Magician, keeps harping that I need to find love again. It’s been a hundred thirty years. Still trying to get over it.”

  Steven thought of Liam Strider. The Yellow Ronin had lost his Escort fifty years prior. He’d stayed in Australia to keep the Three Queens safe and to help Finkfuss with the logistics of the legal battles. Bud’s law firm had the other two Australian Primes on the run. Those Dragonlords were undoubtedly pissed off, but they were so embroiled in the bullshit, they barely had time to sleep.

  And once they heard that Steven owned most of the United States? He wondered what that might do to their opinion of him. And there was this mysterious Paanga Komang to consider. Would such a powerful Dragonlord come to Steven like Morty Flint? It was possible.

  Javier interrupted his thoughts. “Steven, I want to give you my Primacies. I will serve as your vassal. If you want a few wives, that would be fine, but I know that is not your way.”

  “How many wives do you have?” Steven asked.

  Javier turned sheepish. “I’ve forgotten, ese. Over a hundred, I think. I gave up trying to count them. How many do you have, my Prime?”

  Those words, from Javier, meant something. Steven was his Prime now. Steven motioned to the line of women on the beach in their lounge chairs. “Twelve.” He then stopped himself. “Wait, no, there’s Matilda Janszoon in Queensland. Adelaide and Isla are still thinking about it.”

  Javier and Savedra laughed lightly. “So thirteen?”

  “Thirteenish,” Steven admitted. But then he’d just gotten more Primacies, which meant more women and more vassals for his growing army. Also, he’d forgotten to include Uchiko, who had left to return to the Onari Guard. Her goodbye kiss had sent his heart racing. She was so different now, so open. He knew her history, and he also knew her future: he would restore her and her friends.

  Then Steven remembered Imogene Summers, who had asked to be a part of his Escort, so that meant it was fifteen at this stage. Others were requesting access to him. However, he’d told them all to wait. Instead of becoming wives, they were going to recruit new Dragonskins, once he, Liam Strider, Tessa, and Sabina cracked the true nature of the rituals.

  Steven corrected himself. “Fifteenish. Definitely fifteenish.” He smiled.

  “Any children?” Javier asked.

  “No.” But then Steven remembered Cooper, Emma, and Aubrey. “Wait. No. Three.”

  More laughter from the Dragonlords.

  “And Sabina spoke of Regina. Is she pregnant?” Savedra asked.

  Steven let out a breath, then a chuckle. “I’m done answering questions. We’ve been moving fast. I have a lot of people. But I want to know what you want, Abner.”

  Savedra raised his chin. “You can have the SoCal Primacy. You can have my men, my vassals, my contacts, and even my brothels, not that you need them.”

  Steven thought of his holdings. He owned half of Australia. And he owned every single Primacy west of the Mississippi except for the Deseret Primacy in Utah. However, Eve Downfyre was talking to the mysterious Clete Sariah. With Javier joining him officially, he now had territories in Mexico as well.

  The scarred Dragonlord continued. “Back in the cave, I told you what I wanted. I want a war. Can you give me one?”

  Javier drained his beer, then smirked. “Abner, you haven’t been paying attention. This is Steven Drokharis. He was born for conquest.”

  “Not conquest. Revolution.” Steven locked eyes with Abner Savedra. “We aren’t there yet, but soon, very soon, we will fight the war to free all Dragonsouls everywhere. Once I have the entire United States, once we find the Holy Grail, then we will make our move. And we won’t fight them here, no, we’ll open a portal to another world. That’s where we’ll make our stand.” He thought of the three locked doors on top of his father’s St. Vrain Aerie in Colorado. He knew, at some point, his path would lead there.

  Steven continued. “In the meantime, every warrior we kill on this blue-green gem means one less soldier we have against the only enemy that really matters.”

  None of them needed to name their true foe. The word was meaning less and less to Steven. He’d started to think of them how the Alpheros saw them.

  The shadows of teeth and talon.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  THE OFFERS FOR TREATIES and meetings poured into the offices of Novak, Boaz, & Jessup. Steven had even gotten Super Bowl tickets from Alonzo Mac Sterling of the Miami-Dixie Primacy. He’d taken his core Escort, his mom, and Tessa’s family to the big game in Atlanta. He’d invited Skylar and the other Widows, but Abby Free made a face. “Why would we want to watch American football? It’s so boring!” The Five Widows were all hope-to-die soccer fans.

  The Wayne twins had rolled their eyes at the “wrong kind of football.” It was physically impossible for the Texans not to love the gridiron, the pigskin, and the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

  Sterling’s suite at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was fully stocked with wings, chips, onion dip, queso, and enough food for both football teams. Tessa’s brother, Jared, was beside himself with excitement. He vibrated in his wheelchair and ate nearly Steven Drokharis amounts of food.

  Florence Whipp kept glancing at her son, smiling, and he knew all the money and power and luxury was lost on her. She would’ve been happy watching the Super Bowl with him in their little house in Thornton. At one point, she came over and asked him, “There is a woman who is visiting me. Her name is hard to say. Eunice? You-Cheek-Ee? You-Cheerios?”

  Steve patted her hand. “Uchiko. Does she wear a mask?”

  “Yes, she has a skin condition. She taught me how to play a game called Igo. It’s very complicated, but so very much fun!”

  Steven got a lump in his throat. The ninja had come out of her shell.

  Then his attention returned to the buffalo wings and another Patriots Super Bowl.

  The game itself was tense, low-scoring, and in the end, painful.

  The Kraft family supposedly owned the New England Patriots. However, the Dragonlord of the New England Primacy was Chosen Ben Tozier, and he definitely had something to do with both the company and the team.

  Abner Savedra was not happy his L.A. Rams lost. He called Steven to apologize. It made him laugh.

  The Tuesday after the game, Steven and his core Escort were back at the Infinity Ranch, and he was still trying to get over his food hangover. Too much nacho cheese did terrible, terrible things to your digestive system. He woke up early but was in no condition to go for a run. He padded through the big rooms and t
hen stopped at the big table in the dining room.

  He picked up a card from Morty Flint, an understated congratulations that Bud had forwarded to him because the Infinity Ranch had no address.

  Thinking of Bud made Steven smile. Denise and Fimi certainly were keeping him busy. Bud had emailed Steven, asking if he ever experienced any chafing. Steven hadn’t. Male Dragonsoul anatomy was tough, thank goodness.

  Steven flipped open the card and read the note from Morty.

  Dear Steven,

  Seven new Primacies in mere days. Congratulations. I do hope you look west in Australia before looking east in America. We should meet again to discuss your next steps.

  Yours truly,

  Morty Flint

  He threw the card onto the table. Morty Flint seemed okay, but Steven wasn’t so sure he trusted the friendly Dragonlord.

  A better bet was the reclusive Clete Sariah of the Deseret Primacy. His wife, Eve Downfyre, had asked for a meeting in Salt Lake City. Eve wanted to see Sabina again, and she was curious about this Magician, Tessa Ross. Steven wasn’t so sure he wanted to send anyone to meet with the Dragonlord or his wife, but he was considering it.

  Steven let out a sigh. It was too early to think about Dragonlords, their games, their fears, their desires. He plodded up the steps to his study on the first floor of the central tower.

  He smelled coffee. Then he caught a hint of Tessa’s new cherry scent. She sat at the desk, the third volume of the Drokharis Grimoire on his desk. The green-shaded lamp was on, spilling a soft light onto the spell book.

  He knew at once something was going on. “Tessa, what is it?”

  “I had a dream,” she whispered. “The sketch on the encrypted page has changed. It’s a picture of a lake now, with an inscription under it. I think it’s where you went during our Galadriel vision.”

  Steven pulled up a chair. Samael’s Lash was back up on the wall, and underneath it, the Angel Knife, the blade they’d pulled out of Nikki Angel’s reanimated corpse during the fight with Rahaab. Below that hung the white bow and one of the bone arrows that Bruno Illick had used.

  At this stage, no one wanted to handle what Sabina called the Hellstring. There was some dark magic on it, without a doubt.

  Steven leaned forward. The sketch of the lake was beautiful. Underneath it, in dragon script, were the words the Elf Queen had spoken. The Cross of Rock to the west, the Cold Ocean to the east. In the land of the songbird, capped in black.

  That was where they’d go next, the first step on their quest for the Holy Grail.

  Tessa sighed. “There’s something else, though. Something about me, Steven.” She let out another long, hurting breath.

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” Steven prodded.

  Merlin’s daughter narrowed her eyes. “It’s very important. It could change the very nature of our lives forever.”

  Cold fear drained into Steven’s belly. “Is it about Spider Finger?”

  Tessa shook her head. “No, we have nothing on him. He helped Carlo Bart with his magic, he did the Inception thing to Javier Jones, and he seems to be involved, yet Bedivere and Bruno weren’t working for him. Savedra confirmed it, and so did the twins. Spider Finger remains a mystery. But Steven, I don’t know if you’re strong enough to help me with my problem.”

  “I can,” Steven insisted. “You know I can.”

  She licked her lips. “Okay. I’ll trust you. I can... I can change the color of my magic. What color do I want? With AnimusChain, I can alter my very essence, I think. I like the cherry smell. I’m kinda leaning into it. Did you know Starbucks has a new cherry mocha? That shit can change your life. For real.”

  Steven’s mouth opened. Then he closed it. “You little... I can’t believe... you can’t do that to me!” He got up, went to her, and pulled her off the chair. They toppled over, and she wound up straddling him. She kissed him with coffee breath. Totally worth it.

  Steven thought a little morning love would be a great way to start the day. Then things changed.

  Sabina rushed up the steps. “I too had a dream, Tessa. I want to make sure I’m not loco en la cabeza.”

  The Wayne twins were behind her. They made such a clatter that Zoey came bounding up the steps as a golden-blonde wolf with Aria behind her. She had the Animus Daggers, lightning blades crackling.

  Mouse came last. Grumbling. She pulled the Slayer Blade behind her like Christopher Robin dragging his Pooh bear. “For the love of biscuits, the next Escort I join will not have someone who can see into the future. This shit does nothing but ruin my sleep and freak me out.”

  Sabina didn’t stop. She started whipping through pages, her eyes glowing. Tessa went to see what Sabina was looking for, while Steven stood. Pru stepped away from her sister to melt into Steven’s arms.

  She nuzzled her head against his chest. “Did Chazzie and I do okay?” she asked.

  He squeezed her. “You did better than okay.”

  “I went full Mouse in that master’s chamber,” Pru whispered. “And I’d do it again.”

  Mouse hissed. “Oh, great, so is that a thing now? I did the grand sacrifice play once, and now I’m gonna get shit for it forever.”

  “Twice,” Aria murmured. “At the Lookout Mountain Aerie, when the Terror Trio attacked us, you were willing to die there so we could escape.”

  Mouse closed her eyes. “Please help me, Lord Jesus, so I don’t slap a bitch. I’m going back to bed. Let me know if I have to stab something. Or if the Patriots are going to be in the Super Bowl. If so? I’m taking next year off.”

  She left, trailing the Slayer Blade.

  Steven noticed the emerald on the hilt. He’d seen a sword like that before. But where? He wasn’t sure. He’d been having a lot of visions lately, and the Divination magic could be hard to follow.

  Chazzie went to Tessa and Sabina. “Hey, Prudence, betcha Sabina’s dream is about the Dragonknights.”

  Pru left Steven’s arms, and then it was Zoey’s turn. Bam, suddenly he had the naked bear girl against his chest. Best. Morning. Ever.

  “Oh please, Chazzie,” Pru said. “I’ll take that bet, but you have to give me odds. I have a feeling our lives are gonna be nothing but Dragonknights for a while.”

  “Ten to one?”

  Pru crinkled her nose. “Sure. You say it’s Dragonknight related. I say it’s something else. We do have a lot of mysteries going on. Who are the Americos Brothers, and what’s up with their chambers? And what exactly is the Holy Grail? And I’d like to point out Chazzie, Sabina, and I solved The Mystery of the Bad Mojo Americos Chamber. Boom. However, you guys totally failed with The Mystery of the Dragonknights and Merlin’s Daughter.”

  “We did,” Aria agreed. “That is why I will be hiring the services of Byomkesh Bakshi.”

  “India’s greatest detective,” Tessa explained with a chuckle. Then to Sabina, “What are you looking for?”

  The Latina Magician didn’t respond.

  The Texas machine-gun twins went and did their thing.

  “We don’t know who Spider Finger is or how he plays into this.”

  “And we don’t know what happened to Arthur and Merlin and the rest of those knighty-knights. If Bedivere survived all that time, hell, we could even meet Lancelot.”

  “I won’t sleep with him. For one, he’s French. For two, I love Steven too much.”

  “Amen to that, sister. But I wanna know who the Dragon Slayer was, is, or will be. Could it be the Shadow Archer?”

  “Oh, girl, I’ve been talking to Cactus Bill about her. Seems like she had a hard-on for Bruno, and now that Sir Brunor is worm food, she might be pissed off enough at Steven to shoot her black arrows at him.”

  “Like to see her try. I got a line on another M61 Vulcan. And have you heard of the Black Rifle Coffee Company? They did this thing with a Prius you won’t believe.”

  Sabina spoke up abruptly. “Found it.”

  Steven went to stand behind Sabina. He saw what had changed in the spell book
.

  There was a new ability under the Path of the Mirror-Souled Dragon.

  Steven read through the list. HeartStrike, AnimusChain, FleshForge, Enchantrix. And then, a fifth ability.

  Sabina’s eyes faded. But her finger was still on the word.

  StellarFlight.

  The Texas twins weren’t sure who had won their bet.

  As for Tessa, she whispered, “Hey, Steven, race you to the moon.”

  Steven smiled as visions of space travel fired his imagination. “You are on, Tessa. And if I were you, I’d keep your magic pink. You are such a girlie girl after all.”

  Her slaps were followed by hugs, then kisses, and then more.

  Their love, their magic, and their adventures were only just beginning.

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  Looking for more Harem Gamelit? Well, then check out the first book in Nick Harrow’s exciting new Dungeon Bringer series, Dungeon Bringer 1. Or keep reading to take a sneak peek.