Death was the preferred means for violent offenders. Money, in large quantities, settled most other cases. With humans, protected by law and without the financial means to bail themselves out, corporal punishment was usually the solution.
The case in my hands was one of those. A man settled for one hundred thousand lashes as compensation for killing a member of a powerful House. Two-hundred and seventy four lashes fell on his back daily for a year. They healed him every morning before the commencement of his daily penance. The man survived physically, but he’d been mute ever since.
The Hummer came to a stop in front of a large log home. The trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. Peaches grumbled that it was about time that we got somewhere respectable. I threw the stack of papers on the floor and stepped out gingerly, stretching my legs out, I felt the blood rushing back into my stiff limbs.
“Where are we?” I asked as I peered around.
“Outside of Manchac. It’ll be me and you during the day and at night, since I have other things to do, Malachi and Caleb will be with you.”
“I thought Caleb was staying in the city,” I said, stifling a yawn back.
“Did you really believe Sasha would leave Malachi alone with you?”
“As if Caleb can tell me what to do,” I said surveying the log home. It was large and red with white shutters. A white picket fence blocked in the home.
“It’s not what you think. It’s prudent to have more than just him with you,” Sig said in his no nonsense teacher tone.
“Sure it is,” I said rolling my eyes upward.
“Such infantile behavior must be curbed.” Sig unloaded our bags from the rear of the vehicle.
“I don’t think you’re going to make my Christmas list, Sig.”
He smiled ruefully as we walked to the door.
“Your room’s set up.”
Was it ever. It looked like a room built for an expensive hunting lodge. The kind of lodge where the wives stay contently in bed while the men go out and prove who’s in charge. Dark green flannel sheets graced a full size bed whose frame was made out of hewn pine. There was an adjoining bathroom and a mini bar set up in case I wanted to drown my sorrows alone. I closed the door after Sig dropped my bags inside and disappeared. I unpacked my clothes slowly, placing them neatly in the empty dresser. It would be a long 4 days.
Chapter Twenty: Stipulations
The next two days were brutal. Sig took my petition for self-defense classes seriously. He had me up and outside by dawn. He’d set up a mini training camp, torture contraptions in my opinion, in the backyard. His idea of fast tracking my education was knocking me around severely until I became unconscious. He would then heal me up, it was a specialty of his, and we would do it all over again.
The only time he spoke was to tell me I wasn’t trying hard enough or to berate my choice of speech. Sig didn’t allow cursing in his presence. If I slipped, intentionally or not, the punishment was severe. He stabbed my stomach, blood gushing through my fingers as I fought the pain, when motherfucker erupted from mouth.
Sig enjoyed telling me how inadequate I was. I wasn’t up to snuff with toddlers he had tutored. I wasn’t up to going to Court if I still acted more human than not. I was a disgrace to all the DeDe witches before me. He was a great motivational speaker.
Malachi came to stay the first night at about six in the evening. Sig was finishing patching me up as he dryly noted I wasn’t going to die quite as fast now. It might take two maybe three minutes as opposed to the thirty seconds he first envisioned. Malachi sat back, laughing heartily while I finished mending. The broken clavicle, concussion, stab wound in the ribs, and third degree burn Sig had given me over the course of the day took some time to repair.
The second night Sig left me as soon as I was able to stand on my own two feet. I was proud of my accomplishments in such a short time. The pain wasn’t as bad as the first night, but I still hurt like hell.
“Young one, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Malachi, Caleb,” he said, nodding his head in their direction. He slipped his sunglasses on and vanished.
I was grimacing, uncomfortable in any position. It’d been a painful day. I wanted a drink, food, and a man. We had plenty of the first two; the man was different. I concentrated on keeping my lust-filled thoughts concealed. It didn’t work.
I heard the faint trace of a smile. “It’s obvious I’m not meeting your needs, duckie. Do you want me to call Sasha?”
“Don’t you dare, Malachi,” I said.
He stretched his arms over his head and conjured a Kamikaze for me. We had the chessboard ready, and he moved a pawn forward.
“Here’s the contract from your elf,” he said.
It was easy to talk to Malachi. It was as if I’d known him all my life. He didn’t sneer, make fun of me, or otherwise flair my temper unexpectedly. I grinned, scanning the first few lines. I couldn’t make much of the complex terms. I moved a piece on the board.
“He doesn’t need this anymore,” I said handing it back to him.
“He wants to keep it on file indefinitely. Make the right moves and you’ll get everything you’ve ever dreamed about,” he said.
He tucked the papers away into his jacket and settled back into the cushions of the couch.
“I can add my own terms right?” I asked.
Malachi laughed. “You may, luv, but once you do, I’m not responsible for the consequences.”
I snorted. “Give ‘em back to me,” I said, snatching a pen of the table. I scribbled hastily on the margins and handed the papers once more to the fairy, who was looking quizzically at the chessboard. He moved a piece slowly before retrieving the papers from my hands.
“Ah … your request is surprising,” he said quietly. He lifted his eyes up, silver threads swirling.
“All I’m asking for is a heads up. I hate not knowing what’s going on,” I said moving my knight.
“You do realize he trusts you don’t you?” he said.
“Then why doesn’t he tell me more?” I asked.
Malachi sighed deeply. “Sasha gains Region Two this year; Lilith died under questionable circumstances, and he’s resurrecting the allodial title for you. It’s about deniability,” he said.
I stared at the board in front of us. It was about deniability. I couldn’t lie about stuff if I didn’t know about it in the first place. I should’ve realized that months ago.
I moved the rook forward, scanning the board. The elf was a smart guy. I should trust my instinct and go with the flow for now.
“Thanks for clearing that up. I guess I didn’t think it through,” I said.
“Sasha truly likes you,” he said with a chuckle.
“You really think so?” I asked curiously.
“I’m his shadow; he can’t lie to me,” he said as he fell for my trap by taking the rook.
“Is this a roundabout way of telling me he’ll agree to my condition?” I asked.
“Duckie, he agreed before you penned anything down. You’ve no idea how scary it is to have an elf like you,” he said.
“It’s a bad thing?” I asked.
“You don’t deal with elves often do you?” Caleb asked from where he sat.
Malachi grabbed my hand before I flung my drink across the room.
“Sasha said we needed to work on your temper,” Malachi said, letting go of my arm.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Beth, a word of advice. Elves, Sasha in particular, take words literally. I know I’ve said it before, but since you’ve entered into a negotiation stage, you must be extremely careful how you word things when dealing with him,” he said.
“Great, now you tell me. Do me a favor and don’t tell him about the new stipulation just yet,” I said.
“That’s not possible,” he said as he lifted his steely green and violet gaze to meet mine. “He requested to know any change immediately.”
“Give me a week at least.” He didn’t respond in anyway. I si
ghed. “Checkmate,” I said. He sat back stunned, staring at the chessboard between us. I gulped the rest of the drink down.
“Come to my room, I need a massage,” I said.
Malachi stood up, still staring at the chessboard on the table. I loved feeling Malachi’s hands on my body. He was really good at making me forget. Walking into the bedroom, I skipped into the bathroom to refresh.
“Sig must’ve been in a hurry ‘cause I’m sore in all the wrong places,” I said, stripping my clothes and jumping into the shower.
“He believes a little pain helps ones memory,” he said.
I showered quickly and toweled off as Malachi watched. I reached out mentally out of habit but didn’t get so much as a ding on my radar today.
I fell on the bed with my eyes closed. Malachi straddled my backside, his hands cool as he began touching my achy muscles. I hissed slightly as he worked on a tight muscle on my lower back. I tried to relax as Sig had taught me, emptying my mind of everything but the feel of the hands on my skin. His hands weren’t warm or cold. They were the ideal temperature, becoming an extension of my own body. I purred gently as he stroked and kneaded my muscles. He was so perfect, so right.
“Why are you single?” I asked.
I wondered about his elf heritage. Faeries made many lasting relationships. Elves, on the other hand, didn’t. Sasha was an exception. He had many exceptions. Usually with perfectly good reasons why there was an anomaly with the normal order of things.
“Life is less complicated,” he said.
“Amen,” I whispered.
Life was decidedly better when one didn’t care about someone else. I shouldn’t be thinking about Sasha anymore. He made my life unnecessarily difficult.
“You like complications.”
“You’re being rude,” I said.
His hands stopped, and he leaned over, whispering in my ear. “You can get everything you want with a plan.”
I opened my eye slightly and stared into his green orb. “I’ll consult you along the way,” I said with a smile.
“Witches are impossible.”
He continued massaging. My muscles prodded and probed into relaxing under his hands. I fought the urge to sleep. It was nice, heavenly, to be touched softly. I felt him move to leave after some time.
“Stay,” I said coming to my elbows. His eyes closed as I talked. “Please, Malachi. You know I sleep better with you. I won’t bite unless you ask, I promise,” I said tucking myself in under the covers.
He opened his eyes and smiled. “You’re dangerous,” he said.
“Get over here, half-breed. I’m tired.”
He slid under the covers with his clothes on. I snuggled closer, resting my head on his chest.
“Play long enough with fire, Beth, and you’ll get burned,” he said encircling his arms around me.
“Yeah, but I’ll heal without a scar.”
Chapter Twenty-One: Red Haze
I inhaled deeply; the sweet scent of a fresh spring rain tickled my nose. My tongue lapped out, skimming the salty, smooth surface underneath my chin. I snuggled closer, my hands roving, searching, for some primal substance to partake.
“It’s in your soul.”
I blinked my bleary eyes to Sig smoking a cigarette in my bedroom. My right hand was firmly over Malachi’s rigid cock, my thigh riding his leg. I rubbed my eyes vigorously as I noted the look of utter contempt upon Sig’s face. Great.
“Sigmund, have you no manners?” Malachi asked sitting up on the bed.
I let go of him, reaching for the sheets at the foot of the bed. I glanced at Malachi’s hard body. He had only one scar. It was identical to the long, jagged scar on Sasha’s chest. I placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to glare at Sig.
“You’re not my father,” I said.
Sig inhaled on his cancer stick, smoke billowing around his pale, freckled face. “And for that I can only thank Providence,” Sig said as he flicked his ashes out the window.
“I’m not ready to get up.” I punched the pillow under me several times and slammed my head back on Malachi’s chest. Let him make what he wanted to out of that.
Sig nodded, and a smile crept on his face.
“Ladies are up when they are needed. You’ll be happy to know Malachi is to stay.”
He tossed his butt out the window and walked out.
“You’re not leaving?” I asked.
I hugged him tightly as he settled down next to me. He lifted me partly onto his naked body, running his hands down my back.
“I guess not,” he said huskily.
Last night was the best night of sleep I’d had in weeks. I didn’t dream. I never woke up in the middle of the night. My back wasn’t aching from the soft mattress. I loved sleeping with the half-breed.
“Do you want to stay in bed?” I asked, bending down to take his nipple into my mouth. I hitched myself over his cock and slid down slowly until he impaled me. I had to be very careful with the half-breed. Unlike Sasha, Malachi liked it nice and gentle. This was a good thing since he was abnormally big in the man department.
Malachi rolled his hips slowly, his hands on my hips as he lifted me up and down. He had his eyes closed, but his shields were down. Our psyches joined, and I moaned as I felt his need to find satisfaction grow. He slowed our tempo and leaned up to peck my cheek.
“We best keep Sigmund happy, luv. We’ll finish tonight. Let me go and see why my schedule has changed,” he said lifting me off him and getting up from the bed. He popped out without dressing. I rose as well but took my time changing into sweats and a t-shirt.
If Sig’s smile were any indication, today would not be a good day for me, and I wasn’t in a hurry to start. By the time I made it downstairs Malachi, Caleb, and Sig were sitting around the kitchen table waiting for me. Breakfast was a quiet affair with Sig reading the latest addition of Esquire, Caleb trying on new sunglasses so he could watch today’s activity from the back porch, and Malachi watching me chew my food industriously as I avoided everyone’s eyes.
Malachi and Caleb positioned themselves under the awning in the backyard. My being pummeled by a demon was the spectator sport for the day. I wasn't even allowed the luxury of stretching out before starting. Sig began by sweeping my legs from under me while my back was turned. I sprang back up, berating myself for turning my back on him, in time for him to slap me once across the face with his open hand. It was on.
“No passion,” Sig said. He landed a blow neatly on my jaw, sending me sprawling on the damp ground.
I rolled and rose stiffly, staring at him again. I inhaled softly concentrating on my surroundings, willing my mind to become blank as Sig had instructed over the course of the last two days.
“What do my boys see in you?” he asked.
He rabbit punched me on my left side. The pain made me double over but I regained my balance quickly and squared up before he could attack again. Red dots began to float in my vision.
“Leave them out of it,” I said back, angrily. His boys. He liked to call Sasha and Malachi his boys because they were former pupils. All star students. The crème of the crème of Realm society.
“Wait till we get to Court. Ladies with better pedigrees than you throw themselves at them. They know how to play the game.” His lips twitched up in a nasty grin.
“Shut up,” I hissed as the red dots in my vision became bigger. He didn’t shut up. If anything, I just fueled his determination to piss me off.
“You…you don’t even act properly for a DeDe witch. If I hadn't tasted your blood after the many beatings I gave you, I’d deny your claim.” He popped behind me, and kicked me in the middle of my back. I fell forward, my jaw clicking audibly in the morning silence.
“You dress like a peasant, speak like a whore, and have the education of an animal. I propose we draw a new bill that wouldn’t allow poorly reared heirs to claim anything.”
I was back on my feet facing Sig. He laughed and slapped me across the face twice. My b
lood boiled from the sting of his words.
“I’m warning you, Sig,” I said. The red dots started connecting, obscuring Sig’s angelic face. Every word he spoke was louder, enunciated with feeling.
“Sasha told me he actually enjoyed your crude excuse for lovemaking. I’m curious, have you ever felt his carnal energies? DeDe’s were renowned to have the best psychic abilities. After they fucked their prey, they could tune in to every thought.”
He kicked out towards my left knee. I dodged his leg and stopped breathing all together. My vision was completely red; I could smell the sulfur coming of my skin. I could smell the blood in the air.
“Stop it!” I screamed.
A tingling sensation started climbing my spine. It numbed my skin as it raced up into my head, encircling my red vision. It raced down my arms and into my suddenly hot, sweaty palms. Sig stood up, smiling.
“I’ve been on the hunt with my boys in previous years. It takes hours for Sasha to finish. Imagine feeling his emotions as he slides in and out of another woman’s thighs, the tension building in his stomach, the need to explode into someone else…”
The blast that shot out of my hands was unexpected. I didn't make a sound my rage was so great. My vision was unadulterated red as I stalked towards Sig where he lay a good ten yards away. I felt hands on my arms and blasted a wave of intense energy over my body. They quickly fell away. The red energy raced through my veins making movement easy. I was beyond listening to anyone or anything. My target goal was that no—good demon.
I was going to kill Sig if I could get to him. I lifted my hand and another bolt of lightning erupted from it. Sig shifted before it hit him; I spun around ready for him. He was quicker. He grabbed my waist and hauled me to the ground. I fell back and rolled, coming on all fours as I raised my right hand in Sig’s direction. A bolt of lightning shot out, hitting him on the shoulder instead of his head. Damn it, I almost had him.
Sig’s blue eyes were red, his expression triumphant as I concentrated on the next attack.
A Lady of the Realm (House of DeDe) Page 15