Warlock's Mage

by D. R. Rosier

  She hugged and kissed both Lilith and Katia, and then let the shadows take her. She knew going too far inside the mage headquarters would be a mistake. Their strongest wards would be in the council room, but she was sure the whole place had wards. Luckily, there was a security mage posted at the entrance of the building.

  She opened the door, and called him over.

  He asked, “Who are you?”

  She smiled, “Julia Rodriquez, please give this to the council,” she held out the thumb drive, “Compliments of Andrew Moore.”

  He reached out and took it, “The warlock?”

  She grinned, “That would be the one, yes,” and then she walked away, around the corner where no humans were in sight, and teleported back to the study…

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Samantha felt light in my arms as I carried her toward her room. I wasn’t sure why she’d fainted, except to guess that one of her spells had gone wrong and had unexpectedly killed. She’d… accidentally taken down a whole room of mages, including five as powerful as she was, and had killed one. It was kind of intimidating, and very hot, all at the same time.

  I was worried about her though, and how she’d handle it. She’d known we’d have tried to kill the council members if they attacked, but she hadn’t expected to be the one to do it, at least in Carlos’s case. I was sure she believed the bastard deserved it, but that had nothing to do with how it felt to kill another. Deserving or not, the act of killing in self-defense had changed me, and I was sure it would do the same to her.

  She sighed as I put her on the bed, and I sat her up in my arms to take her blazer off, I also loosened the top button of her blouse, and removed her two-inch heels after lying her back down. Any more, and I’d have to get Lilith’s assistance for it. I’d been attracted to the mage since I’d met her, and had spoken to her, but all that was far away in my mind right then, I was just concerned in that moment.

  I caressed the hair out of her face, and watched her for a moment. I really was worried about her, and wanted to be here for her, when she woke up, but I wasn’t sure how long that would be. I’d also decided that sitting on her bed and watching her sleep was creepy, so I got up to head for the door, my detect magic would tell me when she stirred and woke by her magical aura’s movement.

  I was halfway there when I heard, “Don’t go.”

  I turned around in surprise, “You’re awake?”

  She blushed, and nodded, “For a couple of minutes, when you took my blazer and shoes off. Sorry, my mind is spinning. I’ve never killed anyone before.

  I nodded, “I know how that feels, although, I haven’t really done so directly since the first time.”

  I really hadn’t, I’d helped Julia take down Joseph, and I’d coldly ordered Carmine’s death via Celeste the succubus. Otherwise, I’d just knocked a lot of people out with wards. Still, close enough, I’d planned and worked actively toward their deaths, I held no illusions that my hands were clean, no matter how much those assholes had deserved death. Of course, that was all moot, I had killed when I’d rescued Julia from her four tormentors in the alley last week.

  She asked, “Will you come back and sit here for a while. I felt better with you near. I know Carlos deserved to die, I just never imagined I’d be the one to do it, even by accident.”

  I walked back over, and sat on the bed next to her. She took my hand and squeezed it.

  She said, “I feel cold, will you stay with me a while? I don’t want to be alone.”

  She sounded so vulnerable I just nodded. She moved about under the covers, and then pulled her pants out from under them, and tossed them to a chair.

  She bit her lip, “Still cold.”

  I stood up and flipped my shoes off my feet, and then got back into bed and slid under the sheets.

  She moved over and snuggled into me, and shivered before she sighed contentedly. She was obviously wanting more from me than a little warmth. I wasn’t so sure that was the best idea, she was still in shock, and extremely vulnerable.

  She said, “I’ve been fighting my attraction to you since the day we met, and I’ve felt your eyes on me…” she trailed off as I gave her a soft gentle kiss. She sighed into my mouth and kissed me back.

  When I broke the kiss, I twisted her body, and turned to my side as I pulled her back against me. We were in the spooning position, and I could feel her tight sexy ass against my admittedly mostly hard cock, the fact I knew she was in just panties down there didn’t help calm my libido. She wiggled a bit which made me groan as my hand softly rubbed her abdomen through her blouse.

  I said, “I’m going to hold you tonight Samantha. I want you more than you know. You’re an incredibly intelligent, wise, sexy, and compassionate woman, but now’s not the time.”

  She stiffened, and I kept caressing her abdomen, and I nuzzled the back of her neck.

  I said, “I don’t want to take advantage of you in this moment. If you still want me in the morning, I’ll love you all day long. I want you to come to me for me, not to escape something horrible.”

  She shivered against me at those words, and sighed as she pushed and wiggled until our bodies were as close together as they could possibly be. She was so warm in my arms, and tempting, very tempting. Her sexy willowy body felt really good against me, and I wanted to hear her sweet sexy voice cry out my name in ecstasy. But I also didn’t want her to regret it in the morning, when we joined our bodies for the first time, I wanted it to be the start of something, not the end of it. I didn’t want to just add a notch to my belt, I wanted her in my bed, permanently. She was a gorgeous and wonderful woman, and seemed to be as attracted to me as I was to her, and I didn’t want to fuck it up.

  “Thank you, Andrew,” she whispered sleepily.

  I kissed her hair, and then caressed her abdomen until she fell asleep.

  I stayed with her for a while, and think I actually caught a half hour of sleep myself, but when I sensed she was deeply asleep, and wouldn’t be up until morning, I slid out of the bed and joined my mates in our bed. I was more than happy to fulfill my manly duties with the three women that were already mine, they’d gotten a head start on me, and were more than ready for me. It was kind of hot, and meant skipping foreplay, since they were already well past that stage and demanding my cock before I was even undressed.

  I believed that I loved all three of them at that point in my life. My sweet stubborn Katia, who kept me on my toes and would keep my feet on the ground. The incredibly beautiful and exotically sexy Julia, whose loyalty, strength, and steadfastness humbled me, and of course Lilith, who guided us all with subtle nudges, great food, and was incredibly patient and caring for a supposed demoness.

  I knew there was more to Lilith, but my heart didn’t seem to care about that little detail. I hadn’t told Lilith and Julia that I was falling for them yet, and in one of our foursomes it didn’t feel like the right time to do so. That kind of sentiment needed the intimacy of one on one time, at least for the first time I said it. Of course, in Lilith’s case that was probably a moot point, she knew exactly how I felt about her, and probably understood my feelings for her even better than I did. That didn’t get me out of telling her though, she was still a woman, and I bet she wanted to hear it out loud.

  There was of course, also all the amazing mind-blowing sex as well, but that was the least important part in matters of the heart. Physical intimacy was important of course, but that part of our relationship was easy, and there were no doubts there.

  I wasn’t sure what would happen with Samantha, but I knew she was a morally sure and strong woman, and that gave me hope. If I was just an evil warlock, she wouldn’t want me.

  I was a little worried about the idea of having four women though, that was a lot of women to keep up with, not just sexually, though that part of keeping them satisfied was covered by my insane libido, but out of bed as well. Relationships took work to maintain and grow. However, I wasn’t so worried about it that I wouldn’t give it
a shot. Eventually, I would have all that spare time when I was only working two days a year, if I could ever get the supernatural community to stop trying to kill us. Sure, I’d still be doing other stuff, maintaining wards, but I’d have a lot of extra time for studying and keeping my women happy. I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my time.

  I was also sure, that despite my ridiculously high libido with my connection to Lilith, that the decision to go for it came from my heart, not my cock. I’d also have to be a blind man, to not have noticed Lilith, Julia, and Katia all wanted the mage in our bed, and in our lives as well. Who was I to disappoint them? Okay, that was a little tongue in cheek, but it was still a point, we all seemed to want it to happen, even Samantha.

  I was a very tired and sated man, when we all fell asleep together later that night…

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It had been an unusually late night between the attack and staying with Samantha before I retired to bed. It was close to four in the morning when Lilith, Julia, and I got up and headed to the study. I knew Samantha would be here in a few hours to guide my training, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get a few extra hours in anymore either.

  Although, I supposed I was reaching the point things weren’t quite so desperate, and I could slow down on the studying to a normal day’s work, and pursue other things in the late hours of night. I was barely competent in my opinion, but I was no longer nearly as ignorant. Though what that would be I didn’t have a clue. Figure out a hobby I could share with Julia and Lilith maybe. I wasn’t sure. For now though, I’d continue with the studying.

  “What do you think the mages will do?”

  Lilith said, “It depends on the six remaining councilors. They should back off, and rebuild the council and talk about what to do next, but they might panic and do something stupid.”

  “Like an all out assault on our building?”

  Lilith shrugged.

  Julia said, “That would be hard, wouldn’t it?”

  I frowned, “The elevators are limited to one that has access to the top floor, but with levitation spells they could land on the roof. Access the stairwell there, or use earth magic to open a damned hole in the ceiling if they bring enough people to get through the wards. There are ways, if they don’t hold back, they just have to be willing to pay the price in blood and magic.”

  I pulled Julia into my lap, and she smiled and nuzzled my neck.

  She said softly, “If they break through the wards, I can just take us out of here.”

  I didn’t like that idea, they’d probably destroy our home out of spite, and my magic library would be taken. Still, I supposed it was better than dying.

  She added, “Or, I could go get my sisters.”

  I shrugged, “Depends on how many there are, I’m not willing to throw away their lives.”

  She kissed me softly with a passion that took my breath away.

  “I know,” she said softly and nipped my lip.

  She slid off my lap and winked as she moved over to the couch, and cuddled with Lilith.

  I guessed it was time for me to study. I barely even noticed the spells anymore, they were just there, like my eyesight or hearing, they weren’t distracting either. Well, unless I saw or heard something distracting of course. Point was, it was just normal now. I wondered how long it would take me to expand to six partitions, probably a long while.

  I pulled down a book on infernal magic, figuring that Samantha really couldn’t help me with that branch of magic anyway. Perhaps the discipline and exactness part of it, but that would transfer over from her teaching me about elemental wards and spells.

  The infernal was all about summoning, divination, soul pacts both for a person’s soul, and just using it as a binding promise in other matters. It was about binding and controlling demons, which fit in nicely with the summoning. I’d learned the minimum to find humans to make the deals I’d be making as a warlock, and to summon demons, but there was a lot more to learn.

  It was about a half an hour later, when the wards shuddered and trembled. I muttered the spell to connect, and felt where the attack was coming from. I felt angry and fed magic into the defensive ward before it could be snuffed out.

  The mages hadn’t taken the elevator, they hadn’t even used levitation and taken the shaft, or landed on the roof. No, they were levitating right outside my living room window wall. All the rooms including this study had full wall one way windows. There were about thirty mages hovering in mid-air, six of them were far stronger than the rest, and I wondered if the council itself was coming for me.

  I could only assume they were circled, one of the powerful mages was casting the spells digging into my wards and trying to dispel them, I could only imagine that the incredible power of those spells was only possible because of a circle.

  “Living room window,” I managed to get out, which had Lilith coming toward me, and Julia running out of the room. I also felt Samantha get out of bed and race toward the living room.

  I tried to counter the spells, and cause feedback, but the head of the circle wasn’t an amateur, and the dispelling spell was coming in like a wrecker ball, and only active for a split second each time. I kept feeding the ward magic, and as I was falling behind I started to transfer magic as well, from the wards on the sides of the buildings to the spot we were being attacked.

  I also set off some attack wards. Balefire, sleep spells, blades of air and ice, and elemental fire all attacked their position, and were deflected. I was sure I’d break through, eventually, but there were thirty of them powering both their offensive attacks, and defensive protections.

  Then I felt one of them get tossed away at great speed.

  I felt Samantha in the living room, but as far as I could tell she wasn’t doing anything at all. Which meant she was probably using her secret magic that she wouldn’t talk about. I hoped it did something soon, the strain of holding the wards together was intense.

  Another cannonball of magic came in, and the wards in that spot flickered and died.

  “Fuck!” I said fervently, and then heard a crash of glass.

  I got up and headed that way, there were other wards still powered and close enough, and I sent fire, air, and water attacks at them again, along with sleep spells as I ran down the hallway. They were moving with wind spells toward the large hole in the glass. I sent the wind spells back at them to try and slow them down, and I could now feel Samantha’s magic explode, as she created a tornado in the midst of their circle, that was just as quickly snuffed.

  We were outnumbered, and should probably run, and then I saw Julia appear in mid-air, and kick one of the mages in the face, which sent him flying away. Julia dropped like a stone, but suddenly appeared back in the living room. Well, that explained the first mage I’d felt fly away like that.

  I sent a large stream of balefire out the hole in the window within their midst, I was burning through my magic faster than I could channel it from Lilith, my pool would be empty soon, not to mention I was feeding my protection spell against air magic as they came even closer. Fucking mages. I knew it was four thirty in the morning, but this was insane and risking exposure.

  One of the stronger mages out there just fell, then seconds later another. It looked like they’d fallen asleep to me, but their protection spells were still ridiculously strong.

  “What the fuck!” one of the mages said in shocked outrage.

  Samantha’s face was grim when she turned to me, then a third fell from the sky, and seconds later a fourth.

  The wind died at that point, and the lead mage started to drop to the ground, but at a slower and controlled rate, as he called for retreat.

  Samantha muttered a spell, must have been an earth spell, because the glass all over the living room flew back and reformed into a solid pane, like it’d never been broken.

  I was curious to ask her what she did, but I knew that would be bad manners. The magic a mage or a warlock develops, is a private thing that’s o
nly shared if they choose to. Instead I just moved forward and gave her a hug, which she returned gratefully. I guess… she’d killed five now. If I’d ever had doubts about her loyalty, they’d be gone now.

  “You okay?”

  Samantha nodded, “Tired. I don’t think they’ll be back, the mage council of nine, is now two. They’re also short a couple of investigators thanks to Julia. I don’t know if they’ll ever give up though.”

  How did I manage to surround myself with such strong women? I sure as hell wouldn’t be alive without them.

  I sighed, “Hopefully, the price tag just got too high for them, and they’ll see reason. Or if not reason, fear.”

  Samantha smirked, “We can hope. Get those wards back up, just in case, I’m going back to bed.”

  I mock saluted, and did exactly that. It wasn’t hard, the wards were still carved into the building, I just had to jump start them with power, which took a few minutes. I also charged them for the rest of the morning, pouring magic into them to get them back up to their previous strength.

  It wasn’t until I smelled breakfast cooking, and saw Katia was awake, that I felt satisfied with it…

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Samantha felt guilty, that she didn’t feel guilty. She felt guilty over the accidental killing of Carlos, but not at the four councilors who’d attacked them so brazenly last night in an all out assault. One that probably would have succeeded if it weren’t for her efforts.

  She’d had two of the stealth sleep spells in her partitioned mind, and after briefly wrestling with her conscious had cast them both immediately on two of the council members, then she’d double casted another two, which went out forty seconds later. The fight got a little close there toward the end, but her stealth spells had finally piggybacked the flowing magic of the circle to dive through their shields unaffected, and put them to sleep. Much like she had done that time to Edith.

  Except, when Edith collapsed it had been to the floor. Those four had fallen from levitating several hundred feet up. She was surprisingly okay with that. She didn’t think of herself as a killer, but she was a guardian of sorts, a protector. Self-defense wasn’t murder. Mage society had lost their way, and she was protecting one of the best men she’d ever met. That he was a warlock was beside the point. He was a good man, loyal, kind, strong, and supportive.