by Adam Thielen
“The gang?” asked Cho.
“Ya. My peps. Outcasts. Good guys, just a little awkward.”
“Unlike you,” said Tsenka. She frowned. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be so rude.”
“I did save your luscious lady hump, afferall,” gloated Cretu.
“My what?” Tsenka puzzled. “Yes, you saved me. Was pretty slick actually.”
“You saw?” Daria asked excitedly. “I wasn’t sure if you were conscious.”
“I saw. That reminds me,” started Cho. “How’d you give me that message or hack that bike?”
Daria grinned. “Just a little magic trick I picked up.”
“Using a neural interface?”
“Not ’xac’,” she answered. “Like actual magic.”
Cho sat up. “Never heard of hacking magic.”
“I might be the only one.”
“Uh huh, sure,” said Cho.
Daria held up her hand, bending her digits at the knuckle in sequence. “You should see what else these fingers can do.”
Tsenka thought about Ajay Pisha. She decided to put Cretu on the spot. “Maybe you should show me.”
“Mehbe I should.”
Both were quiet for a moment. Tsenka looked at Daria. She enjoyed her bright face and odd personality. Being in her presence was relaxing. There was a story underneath the weirdness, and Cho wanted to know it.
Daria exhaled slowly, forcing the air out of her lungs in an attempt to suffocate the butterflies. Wait, those are in the stomach, she thought. Still worth a shot. After contemplating a plan of attack, Cretu dismounted her chair to kneel beside Tsenka. The vampire’s eyes tracked her, wondering what she would try.
The slayer lifted her hand, placing her fingertips on Cho’s cheek. Tsenka’s mouth opened slightly at the subtle vibration she felt on her face. The feeling crawled down her neck and chest, relaxing her muscles. She slowly lay back, keeping her eyes on Cretu, whose fingers glided over Cho’s lips and down to her chin. They then moved under her jaw then passed over her throat.
“That is so weird,” said Tsenka. “What is it?”
Cretu’s fingers came to a stop where Cho’s bodysuit began. “Does this thing come off?” she whispered.
“You’re serious,” said Cho.
“Don’t be scared,” Daria teased. “I’ma take good care of you.”
Tsenka forced a laugh. “Alright.” She unsealed the front of her combat armor using her neural implant. A line formed down her chest as the top pulled apart slightly.
As Cretu’s hand continued its journey across her body, Tsenka felt a nervousness grow inside her. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. The sensation had aroused her, and so her instinct was to grope, but she felt as if she was meant to resist the slayer’s conquest, and she decided to keep her hands down at her sides.
When Daria’s fingers passed the belly button, Tsenka giggled. The sensation had a tickling effect there, as if amplifying any normal reaction to a caress. As they moved lower still, Cho resisted the urge to stop her. She considered it a game of chicken. Who would call it off first? Cho had too much pride to admit defeat, even as Daria’s hand slid inside of the suit where the opening ended.
She’s actually going to do it, realized Cho.
But it was too late to stop her now. Daria placed her middle finger on Tsenka’s clit, then closed her eyes, and Cho’s body tensed. She clenched her teeth and halted her breathing for several seconds as she came. Daria opened her eyes and grinned at Cho’s look of shock. She began to slowly massage with her finger.
“Jesus,” said Cho. “I think you made your point.” She moved both her hands around Daria’s active arm, but did not pull it away.
“But I’m just gettin’ started,” responded Daria, closing her eyes again to concentrate.
Tsenka’s back arched and a moan escaped her lips. She pushed off with her heels, lifting her butt from the floor. This time Daria continued stroking Tsenka’s clitoris in a tight circle. Cho’s butt hit the floor and she sat up, then lay back, lifting her hips again.
As her body calmed, Tsenka sat up and groped Daria’s breast with one hand and grabbed the back of her neck with the other, pulling her down and engulfing Cretu’s mouth in hers.
“Your turn now,” said Tsenka. “Strip.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Cretu. “I was just—”
“Come on.”
Daria obeyed, pulling off her shirt, then unbuckling her belt and pushing her pants and panties to the floor. Cho lifted her butt and slipped out of her suit, kicking it the rest of the way off. Daria sat next to Cho, each of them admiring the other’s body.
Tsenka kissed her, then guided her flat and took the time to grope her small pert tits before moving her lips down Cretu’s stomach.
“Ey, I just used my fingers,” the slayer remarked.
“I’m going to use everything,” said Cho. She teased Daria’s clit and then plunged her tongue inside. Daria moaned, then grabbed Cho’s head. As the vampire licked, she felt her fangs start to extend. She resisted the urge to bite and worked her way back up, sliding her body against Cretu’s chest.
Daria looked at her with some disappointment, and Tsenka rolled her to her side and nestled behind her. She then wrapped her arm around Cretu’s waist and slid an arm under her neck. Cho rolled onto her back, pulling Daria on top of her. With her left hand, Tsenka gently rubbed her clit while wrapping her right hand around Cretu’s throat.
“Harder,” Daria urged, and Tsenka squeezed the slayer’s neck, eliciting a stifled moan. She started to rub faster while gently pressing her fangs against Cretu’s shoulder. Blood slowly oozed into Cho’s mouth. Daria’s labored moaning became loud, and as her essence transferred to Tsenka, the vampire reacted with renewed vigor, squeezing Daria’s throat tightly while her fingers became a blur, rapidly slipping in and out of her slick opening.
Cretu grabbed at Tsenka’s choking hand as tremors overtook her body. She jerked her hips forward and back as she cried out in untamed pleasure. Cho became aware that Daria was trying to pry her fingers from her neck and released her grasp.
Daria gasped and coughed and gasped again. Tsenka slid her hand back to Daria’s breasts and resumed slowly pushing her fingers inside while Daria continued to shake. After a few minutes, she placed her hand on Cho’s, signaling that she’d had enough, and turned over to face her. They kissed while Tsenka caressed her back.
“You always so rough?” asked Cretu.
“Not always.”
“The world stopped for a moment,” Daria claimed. “And life made sense.” She rested her head next to Tsenka’s face and exhaled.
“I should get up,” said Cho.
“No,” said Cretu. “Let me lay on you, just for a little bit.”
Tsenka sighed and closed her eyes, then drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Taq watched Tsenka change out of yet another set of bloody clothing. After the failed Cepheid meeting and chase across town, he decided they needed to have a talk.
“Definitely sounds like a body mage, a warlock,” he said. “The trick with them is to tire them out so they are forced to release their spells. Then they’ll drop like anyone else.”
“I know how they work,” said Cho. “It’s harder than you make it sound. I’m lucky I got out of there.”
“That girl saved you... she’s the one who attacked you, isn’t she?”
“The same one Desre said she needs,” said Cho. “She called Somer a goddess.”
“So she’s not all there,” reasoned Taq.
“I don’t know.”
“Listen, Tsenka, I have been lying to you.” Taq moved to the bed and sat. Cho followed him with her eyes.
“Really? Hmm, you’ve hidden it well.”
“When you get old enough,” began Taq. “sometimes the truth is confusing enough that lies are just as plausible.”
“So you are confused now?”
“That would be preferable, but no,” he a
nswered. “I remember Anne, clearly.”
“You son of a bitch,” reacted Tsenka. “I knew it. That first day you saw her, I was sure you recognized her.”
“Only when she spoke,” he said. “But I didn’t want her to know.”
Tsenka tried to concoct scenarios that would make sense of his deception but came up empty. “Why?”
“To a mage in a university, the outside world is only an illusion,” he explained. “It was instilled in us every day that the corporations, entrepreneurs, and even organized criminals would try to use us. Whether it was to spy on the inner workings of the school or to blackmail us once we had transferred out, there was always an angle the opportunists would work.”
“That must be horrible,” said Cho. “To believe while caged that gaining your freedom would simply result in your exploitation.”
“It is awful, yes,” said Taq. “And it was too often true. So when Anne, or Annie as she went by then, sought me out, I suspected she had ulterior motives. But I let it go on because I had no proof. That she was truly interested in me as a person was an easy lie to tell, and I needed it. But each week she was a little different. I remember she showed up with a black eye once. Gave me some sort of lame excuse. She told me she left her parents. She created a device that changed the way I cast spells while she used it to collect data on my brain, and I was only too happy to let her have it.”
“So you think she was just using you?” asked Cho.
Taq sighed. “I don’t know. But forty years later, she’s not the Annie I knew anyhow. I didn’t want her to feel like—no, I didn’t want her to know she had a way to leverage me, to manipulate my emotions.”
“You don’t trust her.”
“No,” said Taq. “Our meeting was too convenient. I don’t know what side she’s on, but it probably isn’t ours, and she may even know where Desre is.”
“Should I have a talk with her?” Cho pulled out her combat suit and moved into the bathroom, leaving the door open.
“It’s too risky for just the possibility of getting information. That would be the last play we could make without being hounded and causing an international incident.”
“So we play along for a while,” proposed Tsenka.
Jones gazed at her for a moment, forgetting where he was going. “Uh, right. That’s fine, but I need some time alone with her.”
“Oh?” said Cho suggestively.
“You are dangerous,” he said. “Which may be why Cepheid wants you out of the equation. Perhaps if you were gone, they’d show their hand.”
“I’m not leaving, I can’t.”
“Not leaving,” he said. “Maybe distancing. There are several sites to check, so if you get the chance… take a hike and let me try to get into her head.”
“Take a hike… nice.”
“Piss off?”
“You aren’t a psion, Taq. Besides, you need my protection.”
Jones’s expression went stern. “How long do you want to spin your wheels playing it safe? I’ve given you my tracking ID. The GPS transmitter is a little old, but it should work.”
Tsenka didn’t reply at first. She stared in the vanity mirror and teased at her hair, throwing a clump over her synthetic eye, then pushing it back. “I don’t know. If an opportunity arises, we’ll decide then.”
* * *
Cho awoke to the internal chime of an incoming call from Jones. Unsure how much time had passed, Tsenka’s eyes darted about, then to Daria, who was herself slowly waking. Tsenka smiled and answered the call.
“Hoi, Taq,” she said as quietly as she could without whispering. She knew she could use her synthesized voice through her implant and stay silent, but found the experience of hearing a voice echo her thoughts much too creepy. Daria groaned and started to lift herself off the preoccupied vampire, then moved her head lower and kissed Tsenka’s nipple. Cho moved her hand to cover it and Daria bit her finger before giving up and standing. She staggered to the bathroom and shut the door.
“Hi, Tsenka, are you safe?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” said Cho. “I’ve locked myself in the copter to get some… rest.”
“Worried about the hotel?”
“Ya,” she said, sitting up and folding her legs. “I think it’s clear someone is after me. Are you okay? Did she take the bait?”
“No,” he replied. “At least not yet.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think,” said Taq, standing in the hall of the motel as Anne washed up in the shower. “She gave me a drug that allowed me to project much further than I have in years.”
“You’re letting her drug you now?”
“Of course,” he answered. “Either it was bad and you’d find out, or good and it would work. And it worked. I have no real answers yet, but I think I’m getting closer.”
“I’m still here, and I haven’t been neutralized,” said Cho. “Maybe that’s the problem. What if I said I needed to leave, far away?”
“How far?”
“Very, but I can’t give more details.”
“You can still track me, right?” asked Taq, looking up and down the hall.
“Yes, Taq,” she said. “But I will stay if you want. Or we can just get out of here.”
“Without Desre?”
Cho’s bottom lip pushed up toward her nose as she took a deep breath. “Without Desre. I never thought this would turn so dangerous.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “But if we can trust her, then I’ll be safe. If we can’t, then you know where to get answers.”
“Well, the thing is, I don’t know when I’ll be back. So I leave it up to you.”
Jones considered his options. “Go,” he decided. “I’ll be fine. Just check on me once in a while. And if you have to come for me, do it on your own terms.”
“Okay, Taq. Good luck and be well.”
“You too,” he replied before disconnecting.
Tsenka stared at the hexagon cushions on the floor, a few of which needed a wipe-down. She stood and picked up her combat suit, slowly turning it inside out.
A few minutes later, Daria emerged from the bathroom.
“So,” she started. “You seein’ anybody?”
Tsenka gave an abridged chuckle. “I don’t see people.”
“Just other vamps then?”
“Not even those,” said Cho with a head shake. “What about you?”
“Nah,” she replied, slipping her pants on. “Not really into guys, and the ladies ain’t really into me.”
“I find that hard to believe,” said Cho, unsure if it was a comforting lie or optimism.
“Sere. Plus, anyone who hangs long enough gets scared off. And sometimes I’m not nice to them.”
“You are a little different,” said Cho.
“Ya.”
“But I like it.”
“Then I guess you’re my girl now,” Daria decreed.
“Well, let’s not get—”
“Too late,” she interjected. “Don’t get cold feet. I’m not clingy or nothin’.”
“That’s reassuring,” said Tsenka. “But it looks like I’m leaving the UTI, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“You have my ID, babe,” replied Daria, seemingly unconcerned.
“Babe?”
“Muh beh-beh.”
Cho sighed and went into the shower with her suit to wash it out. As the water ran, she called out, “So what is the secret of your fingers?”
“I told you already.”
“You don’t have any idea how it works?” challenged Tsenka.
Daria threw on her shirt. “That would ruin the mystery… but it’s electricity. I’ve tested it on a voltmeter. Definitely some electricity. I think I’m some sort of odd mage, but don’t tell the UTI.”
“You were never trained?”
“Nep. I picked up a few lessons…” Her voice trailed off.
“Huh, how’s that?” asked Cho.
“Oh bay,
that’s a sorry tale,” she answered. “Maybe some other time.”
Tsenka threw her suit into a small dryer built into the wall. She stood and stared at Daria for a moment. “Sometimes we nocturnals can feel or even experience the memories of others we drink from,” she explained. “I felt pain and fear in your blood. You want to tell me about it?”
“How ’bout I tell you how I became a super-deadly vampire huntress?” she proposed.
“But you aren’t—okay, let’s hear it,” said Cho.
“Well, as a little girl in a place called Constanta, which was not a fun place to be, I was a normie kid with normie smarts. When I was nineteen, a group of vamps and mages from up north came in and tried to turn it into a colony. But they were killed. A lot of people were, like my da. Then the university decided to expand, and I saw a chance to move out of a dead-end job.”
Daria frowned, then grabbed a bottle of water from a cooling rack and carefully sat on the floor of the craft. “Hooray, right? So I wanted to be a warden, ’cause they are like, the badasses of the university. But before you can become one, you have to pass some tests. One of them is a test of your aura, to make sure you’re mundane.”
Tsenka sat in a small chair anchored to the floor and put her hand to her mouth.
“My visit with the eggheads went something like, ‘well that’s strange... no matter, probably just a glitch’,” said Cretu, imitating a man’s voice. “And I’m like, what? And they are like, don’t worry about it. So they give me my first polonium implant along my right arm. You don’t get the full body without some promotions, and suddenly, my brain starts having… issues. I start falling down when walking. I black out, I forget words, I forget people, I get angry, I get sad. I sleep standing up and then stay awake all night. I hear voices, but not like nice voices. Like really rude voices.”
“What did they say?” asked Cho.
“Muthafucka,” answered Cretu. “I mean it wasn’t all they said, but like, ‘say what again muthafucka,’ or ‘yippee ki-yay, muthafucka.’ Then there’s ‘muthafucka, please,’ which seems sort of polite, but not the way I heard it. There were other things too. Like you know those period pieces with the old-timey airwave receiver things. They turn the knob and it just goes from one thing to the next.”