by Logan Jacobs
“Yes, we were informed that you know a thing or two about the Blessed in Rengfri,” I replied.
“You were informed correctly.” Madame Nyra nodded. “Please, do come in.”
We followed the aged fairy through the corridors of the house, and I noticed a few more black fairies sat on grand, velvet-covered seats, or stood up against the dark purple walls with inviting looks on their faces. The intricate cobwebs on the windows continued through the house, and it appeared as though the building hadn’t been properly cleaned in many years. Instead, more and more decadent layers of furniture and cushions were added in every corner and corridor, and even the wax of the fairies’ candles was left dotting the old floorboards.
Madame Nyra led us into a room that had been divided by a curtain that ran the entire width of the room. The curtain was made of deep-green velvet like the seats in here, and in front of the curtain was a brown, oak table that had one chair behind it and another two in front.
“Take a seat, my dears,” Madame Nyra rasped, and she shot me a wink as she sat down gracefully on the singular seat behind the desk.
Ashe and I did as we were told, and my demon lover’s pink eyes trailed all over the run-down, but decadent, room while she left me to handle our business.
“Tell me about your trouble with the Blessed,” Madame Nyra began with one hand lost in her graying hair. “I’d imagine a pair of demons have plenty of issues with them.”
I ground my teeth as I realized we were once again dealing with a being who could identify us, and I didn’t feel comfortable telling her about the plans that we had, at least not until I knew more about Madame Nyra and the organization that she ran.
“As I’m sure you can guess, we’re not exactly friendly with the Church,” I carefully explained. “They have their gang of mutts after us, and we’d like to know where to find a particular group.”
“I see,” she mumbled, and her weathered lips offered a hint of a smile. “And this is so you can rid the Port of Rengfri of them? Doing your duty to your Dark King, and all of that.”
“There are four of the Blessed.” I shrugged and avoided the topic of the Dark King.
“What did the four look like?” she asked.
I thought back briefly to the fight and pictured the men in my mind, along with their leader.
“Dirty,” I snickered. “They were physically strong men, fought dirty, and it looked like they slum it like a pack of dogs. Their clothes were mostly brown leather and very worn.”
“Hmm…” Madame Nyra paused to take in my description. “They sound like a new band. I haven’t heard that description before.”
“Then, there really is more than one group?” Ashe spoke up from beside me. “Is that true in every city?”
“Oh, yes, dear.” Madame Nyra offered a tired nod. “There are always more being turned by the angels, to make the Church as powerful as possible. They are the counterpart to you war demons, and some can become quite powerful.”
“Do you know where this particular band might live?” I asked.
“Their whereabouts are always a secret that the angels keep well-hidden,” she replied. “However, my fairies adore gathering all manner of secrets in Rengfri. They spend quite a lot of time seducing the nobility of this wretched port. For the right price, I’m sure I could find someone here who could supply the information you’re after.”
I smirked at the cunning old fairy, and it was clear Madame Nyra had been doing this job for a while. She spoke as smooth as honey and clearly knew exactly how to make sure her group got what they needed in exchange for what others wanted, and I had to admire how gracefully she pulled it off.
“How much?” I sighed.
“My usual price is thirty, but for a demon as handsome as you, my dear, I’ll make it twenty-five.” Madame Nyra winked.
I grinned some more and counted out another twenty-five pieces from my pocket, and I handed it over without saying a word. It had been an expensive morning, and at the rate that our money was being spent, we’d burn through my entire troll stash within the month.
“I’ll be right back,” Madame Nyra purred in a husky tone, and she got up, slipped behind the green velvet curtain, and disappeared.
“Let’s hope she can give us what we’re after,” I whispered to Ashe.
“Yes, and let’s hope she does it without more of that winking,” she retorted playfully. “You’re quite popular among these black fairies, you know. I can smell the slick lust wafting off every one of them.”
“So can I,” I laughed softly.
I forced a more serious face when Madame Nyra returned, and this time, she was joined by two other black fairies in plum-colored corsets and black, tattered skirts. Everything about the sexy pair was identical, from the gray of their eyes, to the dark hair that was tied into neat braids to keep it out of the way of their wings. They looked like twins with the same warm brown skin, deep-red lips, and red-painted nails, and even their straight posture and pillowy cleavage were identical.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Madame Nyra said to me.
“Atticus,” I replied. “And this is Ashe.”
“My darlings,” she spoke to the fairy twins. “Atticus and Ashe, here, have found themselves in a bit of trouble with the Blessed. You’ll help them out of it, won’t you?”
“Of course, Madame Nyra,” the twins said in sync.
“Great!” she rasped and clapped her aging hands once. “Atticus, honey, tell them what it is you need from them.”
“We need to find the whereabouts of a particular band of the Blessed,” I repeated. “We fought a group of ten the other day, and four survived. They were dirty, rugged men with leather jackets, long hair, and it looked like they hadn’t had a wash in a long time.”
The fairy twins both looked instantly impressed to hear we’d killed six of the Blessed, and I was pleased to see both of them smile obligingly for me.
“We know the ones,” one of the twin fairies murmured. “They are not easy to find, but we have our sources.”
“Can you tell us any more than that?” I queried.
“The majority of the Blessed can be found tucked all over the southern quarters of the Port of Rengfri, near the dwelling of the Church,” she explained. “Beyond the church’s viaducts, you’ll find a hidden road.”
“Yes,” the other twin spoke up in the exact same voice. “If someone wanted to accidentally run into four dirty Blessed, then the viaducts would be the best place to do it. You wouldn’t see many other Church officials in that area.”
I had guessed the Blessed would have been found somewhere near the church, but I was grateful that the twins were able to tell us a more exact location. Like Madame Nyra had said, they weren’t easy to be found, and so it could have taken Ashe and I days to track them down.
“What about with this banquet going on?” I asked next. “Surely, the area is crawling with holy eyes.”
“The viaducts won’t be,” the first twin answered. “They’re mostly occupied by middle-class humans who don’t have reason to fear the Blessed. If you work to blend in, you will not be thought of. But the Blessed will attend the banquet.”
“Shit,” Ashe muttered. “How often do they tend to visit the dwelling of the Church?”
“Rarely,” the second twin answered. “The Blessed work and live as their powers demand, but they are required to show their faces for larger gatherings, like the banquet.”
“That’s good news, Atticus,” Ashe said as she looked at me. “Perhaps you were right, and they haven’t had time to make any reports about us.”
I nodded in agreement and turned back to the twins. “Would the viaducts be a good place to catch these assholes on their way to the banquet?”
Both twins smiled with devious delight, and Madame Nyra chuckled raspily behind me.
“Yes, the viaducts would be an excellent place to find what you seek,” the second twin purred.
“If you are there by s
un down, you would have plenty of time to prepare,” the other added.
“If you’re going in the direction of the banquet, though,” Madame Nyra added, “you’ll be better off playing the part entirely. There are many main roads on the way to the viaducts, and you’ll be likely to pass plenty of the nobility along the way.”
“What do you recommend?” I asked, and I made sure to give the aged fairy a charming grin.
She smirked as her gray eyes glinted. “I may have just the right thing for you.”
Madame Nyra slipped back through the green curtain, but the twin fairies stayed where they were. One of them winked in my direction and then shared a giggle with her sister, but I ignored them as much as I could. Ashe, on the other hand, snickered quietly to herself, and the twin on the right side of the pair sent her a sultry smile.
“You have lovely lips,” the twin informed my demon lover.
“I do,” Ashe chuckled. “Atticus certainly likes them.”
The two fairies giggled even more at this, and I sighed while the scent of playful arousal suddenly permeated the entire room.
Thankfully, Madame Nyra returned again before the three women could completely distract my focus, and the aged fairy’s arms were full of clothes that she tossed onto the oak table.
“I had these lying around,” she sighed. “They should be your sizes.”
Madame Nyra sent an appraising look up and down both mine and Ashe’s bodies, and my demon lover smiled with pride as she stood up to sort through the bundle of rich fabrics. There was a green satin dress that had intricate black details stitched throughout the corset, and a small velvet coin bag to match. There was also a white dress shirt with a ruffled collar, and a dark, ruby red, velvet jacket that looked broad enough to accommodate my shoulders.
Although our current clothes were nice enough, I knew we would need something far more glamorous if we were to sneak past the crowd of the banquet unnoticed. The coin bag would also allow Ashe to carry some coins for herself from now on, instead of digging around in my pockets all the time, but I wasn’t sure if that was a perk or not.
I nodded my approval while my demon lover displayed the clothing for me, but I did note that the outfits were far from the scrappy, seductive clothing the black fairies wore.
“Why do you have these?” I asked the aged fairy.
“The owners of the clothes no longer need them.” Madame Nyra shrugged and patted her gray hair down a bit.
“I’m intrigued,” Ashe chuckled while she admired the greet satin dress. “Only if you care to elaborate, of course.”
“Oh, they were murdered by a couple of my fairies,” Madame Nyra replied nonchalantly. “But don’t worry, dear, they weren’t in the clothes when they met their deaths.”
I couldn’t help grinning as I eyed the aged fairy across the desk, and the casual little shrug she offered made me smile even more.
I was liking these black fairies more and more.
“Well, thank you for the clothes, and the information about the Blessed,” I said as I stood from the chair.
“Hold on just one second, young man,” the aging fairy spoke up.
I sat back down again, and Madame Nyra opened up a drawer on her desk.
“I think we should do something with your hair, my darling,” Madame Nyra said as she held a pair of scissors in her hand. “You won’t get past the Church with hair like that. The richest of the nobility keep their hair short in Rengfri. Middle-class and below wear it long.”
My hair fell past my shoulders and was the complete opposite of the bald and horned heads we had in the Hellscape. The long, black strands had been bothering me over the last couple days, so I was quite happy for her to cut it for me, either way.
But from the look Ashe gave me, I guessed she was a fan of the longer hair.
“Human hair grows back,” I told her calmly.
“Thank the Dark King for that.” She rolled her gorgeous pink eyes and crossed her arms.
“Don’t worry, honey, I’ll make sure he’s just as handsome when I’m done with him,” Madame Nyra cooed.
“I’m prepared to tear your throat out if he isn’t,” Ashe said with a wicked smile.
The twin fairies and I were still laughing when Madame Nyra stood behind me and gathered all of my hair in her hand. I then heard the clean slice of metal as the blades of the scissors opened, and the fairy cut through the large amount of hair without an issue. Then she shook the hair in front of Ashe’s face with a teasing chuckle and dropped it to the floor without a care in the world.
“Now, I just need to tidy it up a bit,” she said.
Madame Nyra worked on my hair for the next few minutes, and every so often, she would move to stand in front of me and get a look from that angle. She kept ruffling it all up, too, which made me wonder if it was only getting messier up there, but I did notice a hefty amount of arousal drifting from the ladies in the room while she worked.
Even Ashe seemed to be pleased with the development by the time Madame Nyra gave me one last scruff and stepped back.
“Okay!” she called. “You’re all done, Handsome.”
I automatically ran my hand through my hair, and it was longer at the top and much shorter at the back and on the sides. It was strange not having any hair brush past my neck, but I liked the change, and I decided it was going to be much easier to work and fight in.
Then I caught Ashe nibbling on her lip a bit as she watched me ruffle the choppy black crop of hair.
“Not too bad, right?” I checked.
“Huh?” the demon woman blinked out of her daze. “Oh! It’s… I like it.”
“It’s sexy,” the two twins offered in unison.
“Yeah,” Ashe snickered. “It is sexy.”
“And it’s a rich man’s hair,” Madame Nyra assured her. “That and his charming smile will get you through a lot more doors in the Port of Rengfri. Even with the eyes.”
“Thank you,” I said earnestly and then stood from the seat. “How much do I owe you for all this?”
I gestured to my hair and the glamorous clothing on the desk, but the aged fairy waved me away.
“I like you, demon,” she rasped. “I can tell you’re made for something… interesting, so you just keep the black fairies in mind, alright? We’ll keep you in mind, as well.”
“I’ll certainly do that,” I agreed.
Then I reached out to shake her hand, and when she perched it lightly in mine instead of shaking, I stooped and placed a kiss there. Both her twins giggled at the sight, and Ashe offered the pair a smug grin on our way to the door.
We left the manor without saying another word and headed in the direction of the half-elf’s flat. I paused in the lane to look back for a moment, but as I’d expected, the black house was nowhere to be seen from out here.
Black fairies weren’t often creatures to mess with, and it was sometimes best to stay as far away from them as possible, but Madame Nyra had been of great assistance. She clearly ran some sort of dark organization with her fairies that was more than met the eye, but as long as she continued to give us the intel we needed, I’d happily pay her for more of the same in future.
We entered the flat and then laid out the clothing over the backs of the seats. I could tell from the gleam in Ashe’s bright pink eyes that she was very fond of the new dress she had received. It even came with a slim belt around the middle which would hold her weapons, and when I opened the coin bag, I noticed two more items. These ones were thin pieces of string, but they had a glimmer of gold sewn through the middle. They matched the handle of the velvet bag, and I was about to throw them away when Ashe noticed what I had found. She grabbed one string and peered at it intently.
“What are they?” I frowned.
“It’s string to tie my hair back,” she replied. “I’ve been needing some more of these. Unlike you, apparently.”
I chuckled as she rumpled my choppy hair, but then she gave me a quick kiss and smiled.
&nb
sp; “Rich man hair,” I snorted. “That’s a new one.”
“Rich demon hair soon enough,” Ashe purred adoringly. “Madame Nyra was right, you know. You are made for more in this city. And we’re going to take all of it.”
I grinned in wicked approval at the sinful glint in her eyes, and then I began to change into my new outfit as Ashe attempted to do something with her silver-blue hair. She ended up braiding it all together, and the braid started above her forehead and then ran all the way down the center of her head. The braid rested neatly over her left shoulder. She then stripped out of her current blue dress to get a better look at the hair in the mirror without any clothes on.
“There, much better.” She smirked at her reflection.
“I think you look stunning regardless of how your hair sits,” I told her.
Ashe fluttered her silver eyelashes at me, stroked her hands from her bare breasts to her silver hips, and then turned around to get changed into her green satin dress.
“You little tease.” I smirked.
“Perhaps, if you’re well-behaved, you can enjoy some of this later?” Ashe replied.
“Oh, really?” I scoffed jokingly. “Well, the same stands for you, too. If you keep your venomous claws tucked away until I say so, there might be a reward waiting for you when we return.”
“Hmm…” Ashe turned around to face me with eager lust gleaming in her eyes. “And does my reward have anything to do with your enormous cock throbbing inside my mouth?”
I sauntered over to the huntress, and I didn’t bother masking the obvious look of need on my face. Then I cupped her face gently with my hands, and Ashe whimpered with pleasure while I gazed into the eyes.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” I kissed her lips hungrily, but I pulled away and left her wanting more.
“And you call me a tease?” she whined.
I returned to where I had originally been standing and continued to change into my new shirt and jacket, and I heard Ashe grumble quietly as she slipped her dress over her incredible body, but I knew she wasn’t really angry. She was just sexually frustrated, and she loved it when I teased her.