by Erin R Flynn
“There’s more, I know there is, but that’s the big stuff I keep for reference,” she told him. “I have to go over the last year’s purchases for the smaller stuff like new bits and sandpaper, but yeah, that’s the bulk of it.”
“I’ll need the figures on the wood you had in there as well,” he muttered, eyeing over the list. “You’ve been a loyal client for years, and the arson investigator got us a preliminary report from the police so I really don’t think there will be any problems. Unfortunately, I can’t add any product or art that was commissioned as you’ll redo it, so those hours are lost and I’m sorry for that.”
“I figured,” she sighed. “I did have samples and extras I offer to collectors later.”
“That I can add if you get me a list and the value they’ve been sold at, or something comparable. Any receipts you get from replacing I’ll need, and I’ll try to make sure we’ll give checks as we go so you’re not waiting for one lump sum.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t give yourself the extra paperwork and hassle. I can take one lump payment at the end. I appreciate it, but I’m not as broke as Larson made me sound.”
He cleared his throat. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to imply—”
“I know and you didn’t,” she forgave, patting his arm. “I know the mayor and everyone else was spreading rumors I owe the bank and I owe taxes and I’m underwater and have been for a while. If that was true, they would have already weaseled some way to own my land.”
“None of it’s true?” he asked, giving her a shocked look.
“Nope,” she chirped, popping the P loudly. “I own my land outright; there’s never been a loan on the property, from even my folks. My taxes are fully paid and a lot. And my accountant assures me I’m ready for retirement anytime I want.”
He muttered something under his breath about people being monsters, shaking his head in disgust. “It would be much easier for us to issue one check at the end if you’re sure.”
“I am. I’ll send everything to you as I get it so I don’t hold you up, but really, it’s fine and I’m in no rush.” She huffed. “Well, I’m in a rush to rebuild, but that’s not your end.”
“No, but you can go ahead and start cleaning up. I have everything I need.” He looked her over and then glanced at us. “Well, they can clean up. Don’t hurt yourself any more, Briony.”
“Yes, yes, the delicate rose will behave,” she teased him, amusing him to no end.
After that guy, some others arrived and dropped off food and checked on her. It was almost like after someone died in a movie, where people were just coming to bring food and get the gossip but also worry over her. It was crazy, and I shared several looks with Theo.
We were taught witches were a blight on the planet and nature, feeding off of life and people like parasites.
Briony was the exact opposite of that. All these people showing up because she mattered and was a good person just busted through that lie. She was important to all of them because she gave so much and was good to them.
Had anything our families told us been the truth?
After people left she went to her office for a few moments while we took care of putting all the food away. She came back with two file folders and set them on the counter.
“This is the familiar contract I use. It’s filled in for a month starting today. Read it over and flag anywhere you have questions or need clarification. I make it clear to people that they keep to business hours, so everyone will be gone by five and I’d really like to get started rebuilding what I have to, as others are waiting on me and it will keep me awake at night if someone needs a totem to protect themselves.”
“That is a lot of pages,” Theo muttered as he opened the folder.
She shrugged. “I’ve learned to add specifics as I’ve gone; there’s always loopholes or perceptions people can twist. A lot of it is redundant and defining terms. There’s half a page just explaining ‘of sound mind,’ as it kept getting twisted. I have some calls to make, but I’ll check on you.”
“Lunch?” I asked, glad when she nodded and let us fix her a huge plate of a few of the casserole options and some amazing-smelling pasta salad.
After she grabbed a soda, she headed back to her office. I shared a look with Theo, thinking this whole situation odd, and sitting down after I fixed myself a plate.
I almost dropped my fork several times as I read the first few pages of the contract. We clearly didn’t remotely understand the relationship of a familiar and a witch, as most of the contract protected her. There was a whole list of practices that were unacceptable to her that I wouldn’t have thought needed spelling out like that.
Apparently, she’d found a need to.
Damn.
“I don’t know if I’m glad she’s so clear on everything, or freaked out there was a need to list different types of weapons, knives, and sharp objects that cannot be used on her. What the hell has gone on with her other familiars?”
“Apparently not much good, if she refuses to even consider taking a permanent one,” I muttered. “Mom always made them sound like besotted fools who sold their soul for their witch and would give anything for them.”
“Spoken like a woman who’s never been in real love, as that’s sort of how that works too,” she said as she walked into the kitchen. “And no, we don’t get their souls, but we do share our immortality, so there’s that.”
She loaded up her plate and left again, like we were talking about the weather instead of another huge bomb she just dropped like nothing.
Okay then.
My eyes started to cross about ten pages in and I was thrilled when the doorbell rang. Theo took my folder and hid them as I went to see who it was.
“Hello,” I greeted as I opened the door, gazing over the timid-looking woman.
“Hi, I’m Linnie. Is Briony around? She asked if I could come clean the guesthouse.”
I moved out of the way and gestured for her to come in, closing the door and locking it behind her. The woman reminded me of a mouse—not in looks really, as she was attractive, but in her mannerisms and even the feeling around her.
“Briony, are you okay?” she about squeaked as Briony came into view. “Is it true Larson had you abducted and beat up? What can I do? How can I help?”
“I’m fine,” Briony chuckled, reaching out and half-hugging the woman. “These guys helped me out, and are going to stay a month or so with me in case the police need them. If you could take care of the guesthouse for me, that would be amazing. I’m sorry to ask you for more.”
“I can always use the money, you know that,” she argued.
“Um, we can just use the rooms we did,” Theo cut in. “I mean, do we need to waste electricity and whatever for heating that too? I didn’t realize you called her in but my room was great, really, you don’t have to go to that trouble.”
I opened my mouth to agree but then I felt bad Linnie was already there and we were causing problems.
Briony nodded. “Well, how about you do a clean anyways in case I annoy them since it’s been a month or so. Any other deep cleaning you want to add or you could get out of the way?”
Her eyes lit up. “If they could help me move furniture, I could get all of that I don’t normally. It would be nice to get under everything really well for a deeper fall clean.”
“We don’t mind,” I assured her. “A few hours of that is fine.”
“Oh yeah, I’m out of here always by five so Briony can have some peace,” she assured me. “We always tease her that she must turn into a vampire at night if she wants everyone gone, but I think it’s smart; she is careful not to let work be her life.”
“I break it all the time but I try,” Briony chuckled. “Thanks for helping her. They’ve got some temporary employment contracts to look over, so don’t mind them.”
The three of us nodded and she left us to our tasks. Linnie got everything she needed while we finished lunch.
Then we followed her
to the first room she wanted done, and it was basically just moving all the furniture away from walls or to a different part of the room so she could clean there. We sat down and kept reading until she was ready for us again.
It was oddly peaceful and relaxing as we read the crazy of the contracts.
And then I read the last page.
“Are you seeing this?” Theo asked, turning his contract to me and tapping what I’d just read. “Am I seeing this right?”
“Mine says the same,” I whispered, shooting a look at Linnie to remind him we weren’t alone.
“Is Briony paying you something ridiculous?” she said, smiling as she kept cleaning. “Yeah, she does that. I make more cleaning for her than I would taking three other jobs. You do a good job, and she will pay you for it and appreciate you, that’s for sure. I couldn’t have my dad in the nursing home he’s in if it wasn’t for Briony. She’s even paying me to go clean Maggie’s house next week. She’s unreal.”
“Yeah, unreal,” I muttered, blinking at the amount. Fifty thousand dollars for a month.
Fifty. Thousand. Dollars. For. A. Month.
Un-fucking-real. To use us for power and to be possessed? And we got sex, because most of everything was terms of acceptable sex and sex acts.
Um, I was pretty sure a lot of people would pay more than that for one night with her, and instead she was offering us more than most people made in a year to help her.
Oh, and it included room and board in her super swank mansion.
Un-fucking-real.
And it was cash. We could run from our families for a while with that kind of money.
The first stop we wanted to make after getting out of the Army was the bank to get out as much money as we could. But our families had been at the airport waiting for us, which scared the crap out of us since we hadn’t told them of our flights. They were so connected, they knew we were getting out before we did.
Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been the ones to put through the paperwork, because five years wasn’t the normal stint and we’d gone in at seventeen with parental consent.
Well, they forced us, but we also wanted to get the fuck away from them, so we went. It was still force because we might have picked a different path, but whatever. Still terrifying.
And we were worried about getting our money from the bank. What if they had a tap on that? What if they’d taken it? What if they were tracking us with our rental?
We’d rented it with my card but I hoped they couldn’t like, hack the GPS. We’d ditched the phones we’d had and gotten one prepaid cell, but yeah, it was a lot of crazy.
“Think we could talk her into two months?” Theo muttered, shaking his head as he closed the folder.
“Right?” I chuckled. Wow, to have that kind of money would be… Something I couldn’t even imagine. Actually, I couldn’t imagine being as old as she was or any of it.
We finished helping Linnie and she was done before five, gratefully accepting the check Briony had prepared for her. We got dinner ready and sat down, the tension and excitement building between us.
“Any questions?” she finally asked.
“Does it seriously say fifty grand?” Theo blurted.
“Yes, it does,” she chuckled. “You’ll earn it, I promise. Being possessed isn’t easy, and I’d like to use you for some of the more benign spirits I know too, even during the day when I’m busy.”
“For example?” I checked.
She thought about that a moment. “There’s nothing in the limbo they’re at. Yes, evil wants to come back for death and blood, but others just want to feel something again. Fine, it’s normally naughty, but there are all sorts of spirits and not all of them are adults. I have one I summon, and all she wants is ice cream and cake. She gets to remember what they taste like and enjoy them again.”
“I’d do that.” I shrugged. Yeah, sure, feed me cake and ice cream.
She waited until Theo nodded. “Good. You’ll have a say on every deal, and I cannot stress enough, don’t agree to anything you’re even remotely uncomfortable with. It will annoy the spirit if you change your mind later. You can hit your limit and don’t let them hurt you, but only agree if you’re really okay with it.”
“Can we use one of your vehicles and drop off our rental in Salt Lake?” Theo asked her.
She glanced between us. “You’re worried your families will track you from it?”
“Yes,” I answered. “We just got out of the military. Like we landed a week ago in LAX and they were waiting for us.”
“And you don’t want them to trace you to even as close as Rock Springs; smart. I’ll add something to the SUV that confuses the employees so they send it somewhere else right away.”
“Thanks,” I sighed, relief filling me.
She shrugged. “The contract comes with my protection. This is business, nothing else. Don’t read anything into it or expect anything to transfer past that.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I nodded, assuming it meant to keep our distance since she wouldn’t ask us to stay forever. Yeah, I could understand that. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but there were worse places to spend some time while figuring that out.
After we ate she led us downstairs with the contracts. She opened that room she’d warned us to stay out of and let us in. My mouth fell open as I took in what I could only describe as part BDSM dungeon and part workroom that screamed magic and witches with the different symbols and circles all over.
“No matter what ever happens, do not open those doors before checking with me,” she warned us. “Everything in here is warded to contain the magic and spirits. It’s never happened, but if one got out of my circle, it would have nowhere to go.”
She waited until we agreed and led us to a table. She signed the contract, and using a needle, added a drop of blood. Magic flared in the room and then she nodded for me to go ahead. I took a deep breath and then did the same, my nerves making me chuckle when it was done and nothing bad happened.
“Hard to just ignore years of teaching, even if it’s crazy,” she surmised, sounding amused as she did the same with Theo.
Yeah, she wasn’t wrong there. She waved me to join her in a circle, kneeling as we faced each other. She told me to take off my shirt and explained that the contract and spell with it would allow me to have the same power of a bonded familiar.
I had no clue what that meant, but I nodded.
She made a small cut on her palm, not even flinching as she did, and then placed it over my heart and then a different symbol. Briony jerked like she’d gotten a shock as she muttered under her breath.
“I thought you weren’t ever going to take another familiar, even a temporary one?” a voice said inside my head, making me flinch.
“Yeah, well, some asshole wants my land and burned down my shop and more. I don’t want to use the power I have built and in reserves for protection when I found two guys who want to fuck me,” she answered.
“You’re injured. You actually came to me injured,” the voice said, sounding elated. “What fun we will have!”
“You know the rules. It’s also his first time, so that’s part of the deal. What do you offer?”
“What will he allow me?”
“Slap and tickle, nothing more. You know my lines.”
“Fine, yes; you injured and his first time is more than worth going as far as I want. I offer four totems.”
She snorted. “Four? I could get that for his first time alone and heal myself first.”
“Six, and I’ll heal you completely when I’m done. Any more than that and I risk myself.”
“Offer seven, and I’ll let you give four and a healing today, and three after you recover,” she replied after a moment.
The spirit agreed and Briony leaned in, kissing me as she moved her hand back to my chest. I felt a cold punch to the gut that didn’t hurt, but took the breath out of me.
I reached out with a smirk, tore open her sh
irt, buttons flying everywhere. “I have missed touching you with male hands instead of your own.”
“I know,” she chuckled, letting the shirt slide off her shoulders. She continued undressing and I just stared in awe.
I got to my feet, and that was when I realized I wasn’t in the driver’s seat. I hadn’t said that to her but the spirt had. Oh fuck, that was weird. Her body had melted my mind but now I was caught up.
Once she was naked, I undid my belt and fly, pulling out my hard cock. “Suck it like the slut you are.”
“Watch it,” she warned, giving a dangerous look up to me. “Play is fine, but you disrespect me again and you won’t like the outcome.”
“I apologize. Play my slut, Briony.”
She nodded and wrapped her lips around my dick. I moaned as I moved my hands to her head. She blew me while my hips thrust, taking it up to a level I would never have dreamed of. She gagged several times, but didn’t look in distress or like it was unexpected.
I came with a grunt, loving how good it felt but kind of sad that my only good blow job was when I wasn’t in control of my body.
“Oh, this one is lots of fun,” I chuckled. “He’s a ball of need and doubt and tortures himself in ways I couldn’t even get close to.” I smiled down at her. “And does he want to fuck you. He wants you desperately. You were generous with the deal now that I know he’s never touched you.”
“I’m a generous woman, so behave and don’t completely scar him so I can still use him.”
I reached down and picked her up, carrying her to the other side of the room. She’d already taken the sling off, and shock filled me when I yanked her injured arm up so she cried in pain.
I locked both her wrists up in restraints bolted to the wall before lifting her under her ass. I slammed into her harder than I should have and she screamed again.
“Jesus, Levi, stop hurting her,” Theo snapped, moving next to us.
“Levi isn’t here right now,” I chuckled. “Well, he’s here, but he’s not in control. He’s allowing it.”
“Because he didn’t know you would do it,” Theo bitched.
“This was the deal, child. She came to me injured, knowing I would enjoy her pain. I’m a sadist and she knew that. Now shut up and let me fuck her while pretending she’s a dirty pain slut.”