by K. F. Breene
“Hmph.” She looked around, eyeing Rickie, who was standing guard in a terrified sort of way. “So this is real, then. All this. What we’ve been doing. Why are you only now making contact?”
“That’d be Sasha. Our human. We don’t usually mess around with your kind. You’re prone to pushing red buttons that kill a lot of people.”
Her bushy eyebrows lowered over her eyes. “Your human? What is that supposed to mean? And just who do you think—”
She cut off as Jonas entered the room. All the nasty cuts and scrapes from his forays were hidden discreetly beneath a black turtleneck and equally black slacks.
“Look, ladies,” Charles said. “Why don’t you go and—”
“Come with us,” Jonas interrupted. His patient and relaxed gaze turned to Charles. “Lead the ladies up to the Purple Room. I’ll grab the mages and meet you there.”
“In the middle of the day? Sasha was drinking at dawn. She’s not going to be much good.”
A shadow passed over Jonas’ eyes, giving Charles a momentary thrill.
“I think you should let the mages make that decision,” Jonas said in a low voice.
Charles didn’t bother stifling the groan. “Okay, ladies, let’s go. We’re off to see the wizard. Although, she’s not going to be so wonderful at this time of day.”
As they passed through the adjacent room, aiming for the hallway so they could go up a level to the large and formal Purple Room, he heard gasps behind him. All four women had stopped midway through a lounge and were staring at a youngish male sitting on a couch naked, stroking his dick.
“Young man!” Birdie hollered. “Just what do you think you’re doing with that thing? And why are you sitting in a communal area without a stitch? You march right up to your room this instant and put something on! And leave that thing alone—you’ll go blind!”
The male’s mouth dropped open. His bewildered gaze hit Charles, unsure what was happening and if he should follow this strange human’s command.
“What are you doing up so late?” Charles asked, a grin working up his face.
“Cramming for a test. Just taking a break.” His hand slowly left his erection.
“Oh my god…” Delilah breathed, her wide eyes glued to his naked body. Her face went deep crimson as her hand drifted up to cover her mouth.
“Stop gawking, women!” Birdie demanded. Her accusing glare hit Charles. “What is going on here? What have you led us into?”
“Nice body, though,” one of the twins noticed quietly.
“Alright, come on.” Charles motioned them on. “You can talk to Sasha about our culture. Just be thankful you came when no one was around. We like to keep our downtime physical.”
“This was a bad idea,” Birdie muttered, slowing them down so she could peer into all the rooms she passed and squinting into crevices just in case other naked men lurked.
They filed into the Purple Room not much later, shortly thereafter joined by a fuzzy-faced Sasha. Her bleary gaze took in the women as she sank into a couch in the middle of the room. “Hi. Sorry for my appearance—we kind of operate in the nighttime here. Everyone is mostly asleep in the day.”
“Do you know what I saw on the way—“ Birdie cut off as Toa’s perfectly quaffed blond head entered the room. The male looked like he’d had a full night’s sleep, a hairdresser, and a facial.
How did he do it?
Jonas walked in behind them, peeling away to the side and standing by the far wall.
“Hello,” Toa said, touching each of them with his gaze. “I hear you practice the art of Wicca. How extraordinary. I hope you don’t mind me assessing you, since you were gracious enough to show up today.”
The twins smiled, letting him direct them to take a seat. Delilah turned red again and followed suit.
“Fantastic,” Toa said as he sat gracefully next to Sasha. “Now, I wondered if you might call the…” Toa raised his eyebrows in silent question.
“Corners,” Birdie helped, preferring to stay standing. Probably wanted to scout out the shadows in the room to make sure there were no naked men hiding.
“Yes, of course. Please,” Toa gestured her toward a seat, “at your leisure.”
“He kind of looks like a vampire,” one of the twins muttered to the other, her smile taking up her whole face. “Like one of the cast members in Twilight.”
“He’s definitely hotter than Edward,” the other answered, giggling.
“Ladies,” Birdie admonished, finally settling directly onto the carpet in the middle of the room. “Join the circle and let’s call the corners.”
“Can I sit with you?” Sasha asked shyly.
“Of course, dear, come over. And your friend, too, if he likes.”
“I can observe from here,” Toa answered with a respectful nod. “Please, just go about your normal routine.”
The women settled in their circle, heads bowed and eyes closed. Except Sasha, who was looking around at the others, probably trying to feel what they were doing. After a few sighs, and some deep breathing, suddenly Sasha’s tired and haggard face bloomed with a smile. She closed her eyes in contentment.
“Unity, yes,” Toa noted, leaning forward in his seat.
Charles could feel the fan of Sasha, urging his magic higher. Urging him to fill his body and pull in just a little bit more. He let it, and then sat forward with Toa.
Electricity filled the air, calling to his magic, swirling around him. He connected with it, feeling a floral essence, as if rose petals fell softly across his body.
“That’s so neat,” Delilah said, her eyes opening and going right to him. “Is that you? Can you do this, too? It seems male.”
“You have linked with me, actually,” Toa said calmly. “It is not male. Magic is not relegated to sex. It is two poles, coming together. Think of it like a magnet. I had always wondered how it would feel. So natural—easier than with two like powers—but a delicate balance. If I pull just a bit…”
Delilah leaned forward, the wonder on her face clouding.
“Interesting,” Toa reflected. “Once linked, you can pull the focus of the magic. If you are not strong enough, or not knowledgeable enough, you will remain a pawn. I could use your magic, pulling through you. If I wasn’t worried about your welfare, I could drain your energy easily. It is similar to a like-magic link, but with more trust. Less control. It is easier to maintain, but as such, easier to exploit.”
Delilah leaned away, as if released, confusion and fear crossing her face.
Toa glanced at Sasha. “But your magic isn’t exactly like theirs, Sasha. For you, a blood link is still better.”
“Barking up the wrong tree, Toa. We’ve talked about that,” Sasha said, face screwed up in concentration.
“Without a blood link, you can only rely on Stefan,” Toa countered. “And let’s not forget, links can be forced, blood or otherwise. You are exposed. All of you are exposed. We should pair everyone off, protect as much as we can here before we meet more of my kind. Not all are as gentle as this clan—they are not always as fair to humans.”
Sasha snorted. “Goodie. And I do rely on Stefan. With my whole being. So stop asking.”
“Who’ve I got?” Charles asked in wonder, wanting to reach forward and touch someone. He latched onto the link and pulled it toward him. Birdie leaned in, right before her face darkened and her eyebrows lowered. Before he knew what had happened, he was on his feet, the essence of flowers now a petal claw, grabbing his chest and yanking him. His energy sapped, his magic started to drain and close off.
Charles yanked back, magical tug-of-war, making Birdie grunt.
“She’s an orange,” Sasha said softly. “And bold. She’s probably not afraid to club you, magically or otherwise.”
Suddenly, the link was infused with a shot of magic. All four elements blasted into his body, slamming him back in his chair. His hands flew up, trying to shield him from something he couldn’t see. Birdie gasped, her face alight with joy and ter
ror.
As fast as it began, it stopped. Sasha slumped. “Same thing that happens with you, Toa,” she said sadly. “My magic tries to fry everyone. Even my own kind.”
Toa tapped his chin, his gaze losing focus. “You have all the elements, the polar opposite as me, but you are not controlling the flow. You fight the flow within you, not control it. You work with it in your own way, but you don’t take ownership of it.”
“Well, then, she needs a teacher, doesn’t she?” Birdie stated. Her hands found her hips again, even though she was sitting. “If that’s you, then you better figure it out. I’ve never seen such potential in my life.”
“This is all really real?” one of the twins asked, staring at Jonas. “You feel like…”
“A crisp autumn day,” the other twin helped, also looking at Jonas. “So beautiful and mild.”
“You got the twins?” Charles whined. He always wanted to try twins. His kind didn’t produce any that he knew of, and humans weren’t much fun when they were all dopey-eyed.
“We need to learn to choose our linked partner, as well,” Toa continued, still analyzing. “This is too loose. What we have done is without proper guidance.”
“Nature doesn’t conform to rules,” Delilah noted. “And Jen’s right—I can’t believe this is happening! We’d always known we could call the corners—that they were real—but…this…”
“Yes, exciting,” Toa waved her away. “I need to think about what I have learned here today. There are so many more issues than I originally thought. I do not want this exposure at the council.”
His eyes glued to Sasha. “We haven’t much time. Not at all. If only that mate of yours was in any way sane.”
“You’re one to talk,” Sasha huffed.
“Yes, well.” Toa stood, his glance at the ladies brief. “Thank you, everyone. This has been helpful. I will let Sasha fill you in on our kind. You have gifts, one and all. In fact, Sasha, define the magical levels for me, please. I find I cannot sense their power unless I merge with them.”
She pointed at Birdie. “Orange. Raw power. But doesn’t seem to have much finesse. Stefan wouldn’t take her for the Watch. You know, if she could fight.”
Delilah got a point. “Not much power, but really, really deft with it. She rode my coattails in the park and undid the last portion of that spell. So, that’s handy. If you work out the linking thing, she’ll be useful, I think.”
Delilah preened. Charles wondered briefly if there was a wildcat under that mousy exterior.
“And the twins are topping at about red. But they work in tandem. They kind of always exist together. Somehow. Well, they all do. It’s what I love. It’s like holding hands.”
Toa nodded, his suspicion confirmed probably. “Well, then. I’ll leave you to your explanations. With such a large, dangling carrot, I cannot imagine they will turn down an opportunity to learn.”
“A large, dangling carrot, Toa? Really?” Sasha commented dryly.
“Do I need to stay for the explanations?” Charles asked quickly.
“Yes. You’re first watch.” Jonas glanced at Sasha. “Call me if you run into problems, human.”
Charles couldn’t help the sigh. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned further back in his chair. It would be a long afternoon.
“Jonas, be a lamb and grab my knitting, will you?” Charles said to the retreating figure, half mockingly.
“Stop being a bitch and get a man’s hobby!” Jonas growled.
Yeah. That was about the response he expected.
Chapter 14
“God, that Birdie can be demanding.” I rubbed my eyes as I let myself into Stefan’s and my living area. It had been a long, long day.
Birdie made me explain everything at least twice, in denial about all she was seeing. Even after I proved my magic again, and after Charles agreed with my explanations about his kind, she just had more questions. For a woman who thought computers were a passing fad, it made sense—change needed to be a gradual thing. But it was still more than a little frustrating.
“The other three were easy about it, for daft humans.” Jonas loitered in the doorway, glancing around the empty area. “Where’s the Boss?”
“You know, I can actually fend for myself once in a while. I don’t always need a detail on me.”
Jonas snorted, sauntering over to the couch and sitting down. Apparently that was him not believing me.
“What’s the story with your mongrel friends?” Jonas threw a huge arm over the back of the couch as he got comfortable. “Haven’t seen them around lately.”
“You saw Ann yesterday.”
“She doesn’t count. What about that supposed head dick? What’s he up to?”
Tim, he meant. God forbid he call Tim alpha, or even by his name—that would mean Tim had some clout.
I rolled my eyes and fell into the couch kitty-corner to Jonas. “He’s had another shifter go missing. Ann said he was buckling down and checking the area. He doesn’t want to involve me unless he has to.”
“Doesn’t want the Boss knowing about his movements, huh?”
“If he wanted to keep secrets from Stefan, he wouldn’t tell me what was going on, genius. So no. But we all saw how you bunch of derelicts worked together—or didn’t work together. Tim doesn’t want to fight you if he wanders across a demon.”
“You didn’t see nothin’. Too busy making eyes at a demon.”
“Ugh—your sense of humor is the pits. Ann filled me in.”
Jonas scratched his nose and rested his hand on his bumpy stomach, more relaxed in this moment that I had seen him before. “I heard the demon situation yesterday went off easily. No mongrels present.”
“Low-powered demon. When we need to use magic, we’ll want the help of the shifters. Unless you idiots learn to trust them, and get out of the damn way, we’ll always be crippled.”
“That frosty-headed creep tell you about being able to talk to demons, yet?” Jonas asked, swinging his head my way conversationally.
It took a moment for those words to wind their way into my brain. It took another second to make sense of them. I went with the standard response in these situations. “Huh?”
“That’s a no, then. Overheard them talking about it—him and the Regional. When someone calls a demon, apparently they have the language of the demon. They use that language, and their personal power, or some damn thing, to control it. If the demon’s too strong, it can overtake the guy that summoned it. Kills him, usually. Probably why that cat ran the other day.”
“As far as I know, and bear with me, because today was fairly hazy, but as far as I know, I haven’t summoned a demon.”
“No, but you can understand them. That means you got their language. That apparently means you can control them. Just have to assert your dominance.”
“I see.” I really didn’t. “And I do this how?”
“Hell if I know. It all sounds absurd to me. Why would you want to mess around with them things? Kill it as fast as possible, that’s my motto.”
“Fascinating. Well thanks ever so much for bringing it up.”
We passed a second in silence, a clock ticking somewhere in the distance, before he said, “Frosty is mystified by you, you know. You’re throwing all sorts of weird shit at him and he can’t come up with answers fast enough.”
“Yeah. Weird shit seems to be my bag.”
Jonas snorted. “Feeling sorry for yourself is just stupid. You landed the head honcho of this joint—something all the females have been after—got another head honcho as a new dad, got a real smart mage as your tutor, no matter how creepy… I’d say you got it made. Crying is just for sissies.”
“So… don’t look for pity handouts from you, then. Noted.”
“All you gotta do is let your balls fly and lead this bitch. You got everything you need. Once you do that, everyone else will come around. Nothing to it.”
I took out an imaginary pen and scribbled on the imaginary paper in m
y palm. “Let…my…balls…fly…and…lead…this…bitch. Uh huh, got it. Sound advice, as always. Maybe a little too detailed, though.”
Jonas snorted again and let his head fall back against the couch. “I’m not looking forward to that dang council meeting. It’ll be nonstop fights. I hate when males try to throw their weight around.”
“Not the females?”
He glanced at me sideways. “I like that, but in a different setting.”
“Ah, right. So you’re going, then?”
“Yeah. Gotta watch you. You’ll get picked on, and Charles will definitely get picked on, young as he is, and I’ll have to bust some heads.”
“Sounds like your paradise.”
He pointed his face toward the ceiling. “I will have to stop before I kill them.”
“Ah. Yes, that sounds terrible.” I couldn’t stop from laughing. I liked this easy-does-it Jonas. His language skills were the pits, but he was actually kind of fun in a dry, everyone-is-an-idiot kind of way.
The door opened at the same time as my phone rang. I shot a smile toward Stefan and got a thick pulse of pleasure from the link—it was probably the same thing I was shooting at him. My eyes drifted toward the face of the phone where “Tim – alpha” was displayed in large white letters.
Wonderful timing, as ever.
“How’d it go with the witches?” Stefan asked as he slung a leather jacket across the nearest chair.
For a wonder, Jonas didn’t bother getting up. It was testimony to how tired he was.
I gave Stefan a pointer finger to have him hold that thought as I answered the phone. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Sasha? Tim. We got one.”
A thrill went through my body. I sat up quickly, clutching the cold plastic to my ear. Stefan was beside me instantly.
“Got a demon? You’ve found another demon?” I clarified in anxious tones.
Jonas sat up next, a wave of violence washing over his body—you could tell by the quick flexing of his muscles.