Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 2

by Black, Jaid

  They pulled out all the stops as they fucked her mindless.

  Hanging on through the storm, through the pinnacle of an orgasm more powerful than she’d ever experienced before, she felt Daniel’s teeth pierce her shoulder and then Nate’s, their claiming complete.

  There was no pain. Only pleasure. It roared through her seemingly with no beginning and no end. Strong. Overwhelming. Yet somehow peaceful.

  * * * * *

  Livvy opened her eyes yet knew those eyes were no longer human. Everything was amplified, shadows dissolving into a fine mist before blowing away to leave the world clear and bright despite the darkness of the night. Looking down at herself, filled with wonder, she noted the buff color of her coat as she lay panting on the big bed.

  Near her, lolling in perfect splendor, were her mates, both black jags. The power of them overwhelmed her.

  You’re beautiful, Olivia. Nathan scooted closer to nuzzle against her throat.

  I feel so strange…but wonderful. Wow.

  Daniel laughed. A feeble word for such an undertaking, but yeah. And I second Nate’s sentiments. You are perfect. Perfect for us.

  Eager to try things out, Olivia leaped from the bed to pad around the room. She sniffed at the floor, eyed her two males then finally made her way to the open doors of the bedroom. How thoughtful. Can we? Please?

  Male laughter echoed in her mind. Within seconds they joined her and together the trio headed out the doors and into the night. The second-floor balcony featured wide steps so Olivia ran down them and soon the three were loping across the yard and out into the woods beyond.

  A Texas moon hung high in the sky as they explored this new world. Olivia playfully chased a rabbit from its hiding place and eyed a lazy raccoon before she turned to see them watching her. So patient. So loving.

  Loving?

  Oh yes.

  She need only open her mind to confirm it.

  * * * * *

  Hours flew by. Enjoying her surroundings in jag form was exhilarating, so thrilling that it was tough for Livvy to contain her excitement. She wanted to explore this fascinating world forever, but fearing the rigors of tonight’s activities were taking their toll, she raced back to her mates, who’d been endlessly patient. Now Nate and Daniel gently nudged her back toward the house.

  When she stood by the bed once more, Livvy cocked her head. What now? How do I turn back? This has been amazing but I’m ready to be the old me again.

  Easy, sweetheart. Just think of yourself as human and bam, poof, you’re done. Nathan moved close to her and before she could blink, he’d shifted into his gorgeous male body.

  Bam and poof?

  Daniel laughed. That’s about it. Then he, too, shifted into his human body and watched her with a small smile. “You can do it.”

  Livvy blinked at them both then conjured a vision of the old Olivia, the one who’d been reborn tonight—and suddenly she was in human form and flat on her back on the rumpled bed.

  Those naughty men had put her right where they wanted her.

  Daniel and Nate pinned her with their bodies, both grinning like idiots, and joy filled her. Soon she was laughing along with them. Hugging them both, she squealed as pleasure took her over the edge of sanity. “We did it! Oh my gods! I love you guys!”

  In unison, her mates drew back to look at her. “I thought maybe that was a little bit of love I felt from you when we were out there tonight,” Daniel said quietly. “It’s true, isn’t it? You love us?”

  Olivia looked at these men who’d saved her, cared for her and loved her through the greatest trauma of her life. Her eyes welled with tears. Reaching up, she cupped a hand on each ruggedly beautiful face and smiled. “No, Daniel. It wasn’t a ‘little bit of love’. What a measly description of how you’ve filled me up, touched my heart and made me complete. Both of you. I love you with my whole heart.”

  Nathan’s smile was heartbreakingly tender as he turned his face into her palm and pressed a kiss there. “And we love you, Olivia. For now and for always.”

  Epilogue

  A short time earlier

  A lone hawk perched on a gnarled branch of a live oak, watching the activities below with a mixture of satisfaction and jealousy.

  Yes. Jealousy. He wasn’t proud of it.

  He’d long ago given up on finding his lady hawk, but as he watched the male jags introduce their brand-new mate to the magic of her beast, he felt a twinge of hope.

  Crazy thing…hope. A sane creature wouldn’t delude himself this way.

  Still, the hawk was compassionate enough to be happy for the threesome. Down below, the males watched indulgently as their mate scampered across the forest floor, scaring raccoons and rabbits from their hiding places until finally she seemed to tire of the game.

  When the three of them reentered the house, the hawk blinked. A brisk wind ruffled his golden feathers and he cocked his head, unconsciously listening as he had a million times before.

  Was she out there? Somewhere? Only the gods knew.

  Defeated, lonely, the hawk shook off bittersweet emotions and, with a wild cry, spread his wings, taking flight over the broad Texas sky.

  Asterion

  Katalina Leon

  Author Note

  The familiar Greek myth of the Minotaur shares its ancestry with a far older tradition that stretches back to cave art from Crete’s Neolithic period. Once upon a time, in the earliest years of the Bronze Age, mighty Minoa, the greatest trading power in the Aegean, worshipped a divine star being who allegedly came to Earth to live among them.

  “Asterion” literally means “star”, and is strongly associated with Bronze Age Minoan kings, who, in order to rule, were said to take the form of the Cretan bull of the sun.

  The exact beliefs of Bronze Age Minoans can only be guessed, but archeologists have discovered bronze coins stamped with Asterion’s image. The coins often depict a kneeling bull-king along with a star-shaped flower and possibly the constellation Taurus. It is speculated the coins are attempting to show Asterion’s divine place on both Earth and amongst the stars.

  Old stories are like coins—they always have two sides. Asterion is my side of the coin. It’s a highly speculative and purely fictional tale of a young woman’s encounter with one of the original Asterion…

  Chapter One

  The Middle Bronze Age

  Somewhere in the Aegean, between the Greek shoreline and the island of Crete

  The deep Aegean, which had been a brilliant blue early in the morning, was now a dark, glassy mirror. A heavy layer of fog obscured the sun. The morning’s brisk wind had stilled and the square sail on the tiny fishing skiff hung slack from the mast.

  Larisa huddled at the front of the small craft, glaring hatefully at her captor as he laboriously rowed the skiff into the dense fog. It was just she and Catullus, alone on the sea.

  Wily old Catullus was the village’s newly self-elected chief. He was stout, soft-limbed and the journey was taking an obvious toll on his stamina. But Larisa couldn’t help him row even if she were so inclined. He’d bound her wrists tightly and tethered her to the boat to prevent her from leaping overboard and drowning herself.

  Catullus sweated profusely as he rowed, and she wondered how long he could endure the exhausting task. He closed his eyes and groaned in heaving agony as the paddles seemed to cling to the surface of the water.

  Larisa took advantage of his distraction and leaned slightly to dangle her bound wrists in the soothing water. Her long brown ringlets fell around her face like a veil. As she leaned farther, her slight movement caused the boat to dip.

  Catullus’ eyes flew open in alarm. “What are you doing?” He leaned forward and yanked Larisa upright. “No tricks. I have my eyes on you. I’ll not be cheated of my tribute to King Minos.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Do you really believe that showing up uninvited on the palace steps—with an unsolicited sacrifice to the Minotaur—is going to make you a great favorite with King Minos? I t
hink it makes you look desperate.”

  Disdain spread across Catullus’ face. “There is a higher purpose to my plan, which I don’t expect you to understand. I can be of service to King Minos. I’m tired of living in a dusty little village, separated from the powerful world I should be part of.”

  “What would King Minos want with your services? You think only of yourself. You’re a traitor to your own village.”

  “Warfare has reduced our village to women, children and frail old men.” Catullus huffed in disgust. “We can’t survive another surprise attack from the Aetolians. Given how brutally our neighbors have treated us of late, I’m strongly inclined to seek the favor and protection of King Minos. I’m certain he’ll welcome the added wealth from our realm—which I can now provide, thanks to the rich orchards and fields you forfeit.

  “My generous gift of land and a feminine sacrifice for the Minotaur will no doubt earn me an honored residence within the Palace of Knossos. I’m looking forward to my new life, and I’m sure King Minos will be more appreciative of my refined qualities than those of the doddering fools in our village.”

  “What refined qualities? You truly think mighty King Minos is in need of another scheming opportunist to slobber at his feet? If he is, he’ll be delighted to meet you.”

  “How dare you! I am your elder and chief.” Catullus’ face flushed with rage. “You speak too freely and say too much—both are poor qualities in a woman.”

  “You stole my land! It’s not yours to give. And don’t think I’m unaware you cheated at lots. I know I was deliberately given the shortest straw.” Larisa looked away before a tear streaked down her cheek. She’d already been tricked, robbed and sentenced to death. The last thing she wanted to do was give Catullus the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

  The dense fog hovering above the surface of the sea was now so oppressive, the daytime sky appeared dusk. “You don’t even know where we’re going, do you? You’re just rowing into the fog. How do you even know the tiny island we glimpsed on the horizon this morning was King Minos’ island? My father said Minoa was a two-day journey from our shore and that there were countless islands in the Aegean.”

  “Don’t speak of your father!” Catullus snapped.

  “Why? Could it be you dread to hear the truth? That my father, Chief of Kreios, was a braver man and better leader to our tribe than you’ll ever be?” Larisa stealthily slid her foot across the floorboards of the boat, hoping to catch her toe on an amphora of water and steal a sip before Catullus snatched it away, as he’d done all day. She licked her parched lips in frustration as she tried several times to reach the clay jar but failed.

  Catullus protectively slid the amphora beyond Larisa’s reach. “What little water we have is for me. I’m doing all the hard work.”

  “Wouldn’t it have been easier to pay those fishermen we met this morning to row us to the correct island, instead of stealing their boat?”

  “Why pay when I can do it myself?” Perspiration trickled down Catullus’ round face. “Besides, I couldn’t allow you to tell your sad story to the fishermen and attempt to recruit their help. As you can see, I’ve thought of everything. It’s true that I am unaccustomed to the sea, but it is the slight price I pay for being a warrior of the mountains.”

  “You’re no warrior!” Larisa scoffed. “Your own son foolishly blurted out that you turned and fled from battle, while the real warriors of our tribe stayed to fight and lost their lives. Ares said you hid inside a hollow log while the battle raged past. It was your cowardice that saved your life during the last devastating conflict, not your swordsmanship. The sole reason anyone in our village would consider you chief is because you’re the last mature man left alive. It’s certainly not your valor that recommends you. My father and my betrothed, Alecto, died with honor. You have none.”

  “Shut your mouth!” Catullus stopped rowing just long enough to focus a look of utter loathing on Larisa. “It didn’t have to be this way. I want you to know, it was your vicious tongue that condemned you to the labyrinth. If not for your steady stream of poisonous words, I might not have been forced to dispose of you. Had you respected my new station in life, instead of railed against it, we might have peacefully lived together.”

  Larisa scowled. “I’d rather die than share your bed.”

  “Your death is coming soon enough. You can be certain of that.” Catullus dipped the oars back into the water and rowed. His black gaze became beady. “Before I hand you over to the Minotaur, maybe I’ll help myself to what Alecto never had the chance to claim on his wedding night.”

  “Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of a virgin sacrifice?”

  “Would a grunting, bull-headed beast even know the difference as it rips its jagged teeth into your flesh?” Catullus paused for effect. “I think not.”

  “A grunting beast? Are you referring to yourself?”

  The boat scraped against a partially submerged rock as it drifted into a narrow inlet. A gravel beach and steep cliffs came into view as the lapping surf ran the boat aground with a jolt. Larisa realized the ocean current, if not Catullus’ lackluster rowing, had carried them to an island.

  She looked upward as the fog lifted—and saw a dazzling palace, with ornately painted columns and frescoed walls that shimmered in vibrant shades of earthy red, golden ochre, turquoise and green. The entire palace was ablaze with colors and patterns unlike anything she’d ever seen. The elegant palace crowned the cliffs in majestic silence.

  “It’s so beautiful.” She stared in awe, noticing there was not a living thing in sight. “And so lonely.”

  “Where is everyone?” Catullus grumbled. “Do they not have an official to greet visiting dignitaries from the mainland?”

  “You’re not a dignitary,” Larisa sniffed. “Perhaps they don’t welcome uninvited guests, and at this very moment have a row of hidden archers poised on those cliffs with their razor-tipped arrows aimed at your heart.”

  Catullus gasped in horror and dropped to the floor of the boat to cower.

  Larisa laughed at his antics as Catullus curled into a ball. “I’m sorry there’s no hollow log on this beach for you to hide inside.”

  “You weren’t there,” Catullus snarled. “You have no idea. The Aetolians are bloodthirsty brutes.”

  “Yet my father, Alecto and other brave men stood their ground and fought back. That’s the only reason Kreios didn’t fall to the Aetolians. Ares told me he watched the men charge the enemy with swords slashing before he ran off to search for you.”

  The eerie lowing of a bull echoed against the cliffs.

  The tiny hairs on the back of Larisa’s neck bristled, and she looked up.

  A towering figure with the head of a bull appeared at the top of the cliff. Dressed in a flowing black robe, the horned figure seemed to look down at them.

  Catullus glanced upward with bulging eyes. “Is that the Minotaur?” His bottom lip quivered in terror as he scooted toward the back of the boat. “Is it possible the Minoans allow such a vicious creature to roam freely?”

  The figure lifted a wing-like sleeve high into the air and appeared to beckon them toward a staircase carved into the side of the cliff.

  “It’s not the Minotaur, you fool.” Larisa thrust her wrists forward to be untied. “It’s some sort of priest wearing a mask. He wants us to climb the stairs.”

  Catullus froze. “Perhaps this was a mistake. Maybe we should leave…” His hands reached for the oars and rowed backward, but the paddles merely scraped beach pebbles and the boat didn’t budge.

  The priest addressed them in a booming voice. “Is that young woman a bride for the labyrinth?”

  “Yes.” Catullus’ head bobbed nervously. He turned toward Larisa and mumbled, “Bride? A sacrificial ritual isn’t a wedding. What an odd way to phrase something so brutal. These Minoans are very strange people…I’m not sure I want to meet them.”

  The priest pulled a golden dagger from its sheath and pointed the blade toward
Catullus. “Bring her into the palace. The Master shall judge you both.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Catullus immediately unknotted the rope that tethered Larisa to the boat, his face filled with fear. “By all that’s dark in Hades, I don’t want to go up there! This place is so foreboding. I have a sickening feeling in the pit of my gut—this island is doomed. I want to leave.”

  “This was your idea. You brought me here to die. What did you expect?”

  Catullus spoke through tensed lips. “I was hoping for something less somber and intimidating, more along the lines of a festive royal court.”

  Larisa rolled her eyes. “I’m not a bit surprised. This is exactly what I was expecting.”

  “Don’t delay.” The priest’s deep voice rang over the cliffs. “The Master knows you’re here. Asterion waits.” He turned and walked away.

  Catullus trembled as he stepped out of the shallow boat and offered Larisa his hand.

  Larisa lifted her bound wrists expectantly. “Untie my wrists too.”

  Catullus stared at the leather thong around Larisa’s wrists and shook his head. “I don’t dare. If you run away again, the way you did in the village, I’m certain these people will kill me.”

  “What you’ve done to me is wrong. I’m proud I gave you a hard chase. It’s not my fault you can’t run uphill.” She ignored Catullus offered hand, which hung unclaimed in the air, and rose from the boat unassisted. “I’m thirsty. May I have water?”

  Catullus frowned. “Why bother? Your life will be over soon.” He unstopped the clay amphora, held it to his lips and tipped his head back to swallow the last of the water.

  A bull’s bellowing roar shook the earth from within and made the tiniest pebbles on the beach leap and shiver.

  Catullus dropped the empty jar to the ground. “What was that? It sounded like it came from inside the island!”

  “That sounds like doom to me.” Larisa’s lips curled with a slight smile. “The great difference between you and me is, I’m not afraid to die. When I cross the river Styx, I’ll see my mother, father and Alecto again. Who will you meet in Hades—other wretched souls? I’m certain you can expect to be seated beside the most miserable men in Hades’ cowards’ corner.”