by Aaron Crash
“I like him already,” Tessa joked. Then put her hand over her mouth. “Don’t mind me.”
“Wait,” Pru said. “The wanderer took the weapons, but you certainly got them back again. You put them in secret armories, right? That’s how your king knows they are gone now.”
Quinnestri’s eyes fluttered open. “You are correct. I did not realize this. Did the wanderer return them? I do not know. I am still considering what this all means.” She shook her head sadly. “Again, I made such a mistake leaving. If I were still queen, my mind wouldn’t be as fragmented. I have made another mistake, and I am so sorry for it.”
Tessa was the first one up to hold Quinn’s hand. Skylar joined them.
Steven pulled himself up and walked over. He hugged Quinnestri. “We’ll figure this out, and now we have some good solid information on who we might be facing.”
“What?” Chazzie erupted. “We ain’t got dick. We have a bunch of stories.”
“Oh, for the love of biscuits.” Mouse started out joking but ended up in an angry rant. “I am so fucking sick of these fucking stories coming to fucking life and fucking with us! So, we might have this hidden enemy of Arthur, who is also known as Attur Dro, who was a descendant of Icharaam. Or we could have a rogue Alpheros, and wouldn’t that suck? Or it could be some kind of elven King Tut, farting dust and throwing magic items at us. The Night Lance. The Day Glaive. The tampon of destiny. Fuck! And do I really want to bring a baby into this insanity?”
Prudence joined Chastity in applauding the third Wayne sister.
It took a bit, but then Mouse realized the Texas machine-gun twins were applauding her outburst.
Her face brightened. “Third Wayne?”
Chazzie shook her head. “Nope.”
“Never,” Pru added.
Mouse had a middle finger for both of them.
“You’re getting warmer, blondie,” Chazzie said. “Keep being salty, and we just might be forced to adopt you.”
Bud sat there nodding. “I kind of have to agree with Mouse on this one. Scary stories of elven mummies aren’t going to help us.”
Quinn pushed Steven away. She walked up to Bud, gave him a long look, and then lowered her face into his. “I am three thousand, three hundred, and thirty-six years old! I will not have a worm like you disrespect me or my people in any way! Boy, I am a legend, so you will shut your mouth!”
Bud finally had to close his eyes against Quinn’s intense stare. “Steven, will you call off your mad elf? She’s kinda scaring me.”
Steven hurried over and eased Quinnestri back. He wasn’t surprised when she stormed off. Skylar went after her.
He and Tessa sat down.
The entire room was quiet for a long time. Chazzie and Pru looked at each other before they threw a glance at Steven.
“Go on,” he said.
“Mouse is awesome!” Chazzie started out.
“She certainly is!”
That made Mouse grin.
Chazzie didn’t stop. “So Quinnestri sure has her panties in a twist, but if we gossip about her, Steven will get pissed.”
“So let’s talk about what we know for sure, which isn’t much. I keep going back to Steven’s vision of his deadbeat foster daddy, which certainly is some bullshit.”
“Yeah, but we ain’t got much else to go on, and you know, Hwedo coming back, it’s like another version of the Night Lance. It might be meant to throw us off.”
“You certainly aren’t wrong, sister. No one knew shit about them doors in Africa. And yet, that was a total game. And our wanderer grabbed Quinnestri, which is also probably tied to this whole thing.”
“So if you want to understand a game, you talk to a gambler.”
“You certainly do, skill and luck, luck and skill. So, we need to find Joe Whipp, which shouldn’t be too hard, right? He’s some monkey throwing cards.”
“And if Sabina and the rest of our prophets can’t find him, who do we know that loves cards, bad people, and getting money from folks?” Chazzie asked.
Prudence nodded and answered with a single word. “Daddy.”
Chazzie sighed and made a face like she’d just eaten a shit pizza. “Daddy.”
Steven wasn’t sure seeing Bob Wayne again would be good for Chazzie and Pru. They talked about their father like he’d been a cult leader, and they’d narrowly escaped the purple Kool-Aid.
And yet, Steven could feel they were on the right path.
Did he want to see Joe Whipp again?
No, no, he didn’t. But his mom had forgiven the rambling gambler and maybe Steven could too.
Chapter Sixteen
QUINNESTRI WAS ON HER way across the compound after her unfortunate display in the western dining room. She didn’t like those meetings, and she didn’t know why. She should be honored to be there. And they were important because they kept Steven’s Escort running smoothly.
Maybe that was the reason it was difficult. Was she really part of the Escort? No, she felt like a fourth widow, though she’d never had a husband. She’d never had children. She would’ve remembered holding a little baby in her arms.
Like Reggie. Seeing Reggie had made Quinnestri remember grateful couples who had presented their babies to her, their queen, as she had helped make the children possible. Yes, the couples had love for each other, but they needed lust, and that came from the queen.
The power had been intoxicating. And now? What was she?
That was a very good question.
Something moved out of the shadows. Quinnestri accessed her Bellicosia skills, a mixture of the four schools of sorcery: Flesh, Soul, Spark, and Tide. Her purple armor glowed around her white tunic as her axes appeared in her hands. Her speed also increased, not unlike SerpentGrace.
The dark elf, Nefrinasia, emerged from the shadows and into the light from the main house. The central tower rose to block out the stars above. They were at the front of the house, between the main gate and the house, where the human vehicles sat.
The poor Ohkreela girl was mute, but they could still talk.
Nefri touched her head, and her smirk never left her face.
“No,” Quinnestri said. “I do not think I want to talk to you. What would we have to say to one another? I know you blame me for your many troubles, since it was Vandrus Dree and I who came up with the lottery system, the same lottery system that created you.”
Nefri shrugged. Again, she tapped her head.
“You smirked and sneered and laughed at me when I was here before, during the humans’ solstice festival. And now you are smirking at me. I do not want to know what you think.” Quinn thought she might be making a mistake, and yet, she couldn’t bear to hear how Nefri hated her.
Heridan rode her BlackBlood tentacles across the driveway. “There you are, Quinnestri. Are you finally giving Nefri the time of day?”
The elf queen felt guilty. “No, I was needing to be alone. I am not feeling well.” She kept her armor up and her weapons lit, just in case these Morta creatures turned violent.
Heridan stepped down from her wave of Morta. She was a striking woman, with inky hair and pale skin. Her eyes were black but still human. The dark energy wasn’t controlling her for the moment. She was in a light summer dress, which accentuated her hips and showed off her long legs.
Nefri wore human short pants made of denim, cutoffs they were called, and a white top that covered her dark blue breasts.
These Morta creatures did have a certain forbidden appeal to them.
Nefri smiled as Heridan’s eyes went black. She was casting some kind of spell that let her talk with Nefri. Quinn thought it might be called Connexra.
“Nefri says that you should give her a chance. You don’t need to be so arrogant, since we all know how fucked up you are at the moment.” Heridan smiled to reveal fangs the color of smoked glass. “You don’t think too much of us, do you, Quinnie?”
Quinn sometimes liked being called Quinnie, and sometimes it grated on her. Her moods we
re all over the place. At that moment, the nickname sounded wrong coming from this demon thing.
“I do not think of you at all,” Quinn said. “I have been trying to help Steven unravel this latest mystery. What have you been doing?”
She didn’t mean to be combative. However, she felt bullied by these two women.
Heridan smiled as Morta from her hair slid down her face. “Nefri wanted me to pass along a dirty joke. She said we’ve been doing each other. With much enthusiasm. But, to be serious, we’ve been talking with the new girl, Hwedo Sata. We think you two might get along well.”
Quinn thought the idea was preposterous. “What could I say to her? Nothing. I am here, seeing solace and peace, and I will not be drawn into your games. You are playing a game with me, are you not?”
Nefri did that very insulting thing the humans called rolling their eyes. No Lyra would ever be so flippant. This dark elf creature must have picked up any number of terrible manners from her centuries with the humans.
Heridan laughed meanly. “Pin the tail on the bitch? Yeah, probably, Nefri. We aren’t messing with you, Quinnestri, though would it matter if we were? Either way, you’d still treat us like shit because you have Animus and we have Morta, and you think you’re so much better than we are.”
“I have given you both very little thought,” Quinn said again. “But I will avoid you from now on. I suggest you do the same. I do not have the power I once did, but I will not be trifled with!” She summoned water, as much as she could muster, out of the air using Tide sorcery. The water shoved Nefri back against the house. As for Heridan, she was sent careening into one of the trucks.
Nefri drew her hands through her hair, laughing.
Heridan, though, brought forward a fist made of BlackBlood. The Morta struck Quinn and the energy dissipated. The knuckles were blunt—no one was trying to kill anyone—but Quinnestri felt her temper flare.
Quinn flung out a hand, used Soul energy, and knocked both women down in a gust of magic wind. Done with them, she stalked to the entrance of the main house.
She was angry, confused, and a little aroused. What would it be like to have sex with those Morta women? Would she feel the blast of Animus from them like she did with the others? She wasn’t sure. The mystery had her curious and turned on.
From behind her, Quinn heard Nefri and Heridan laughing. Though the pair had lost the skirmish, they still had each other. Quinn felt so alone for a second, and then she remembered the Three Widows.
And she had another woman who would be her friend if the elf queen let her.
Quinn shut the door to the main house behind her.
Tessa came out of the kitchen, carrying a covered cup—a travel mug was what these humans called such a thing.
The barista woman walked over to Quinnestri. “I’m sorry you’re having a rough time, Quinnie. I really am. I made you another mocha. This one is decaf, so it shouldn’t affect your sleep.”
The elf queen tried to rise above her mixture of emotions, and she didn’t want to be cruel to this human, and yet, her first instinct was to lash out.
She didn’t. She took the mocha from the girl and sipped it. The flavor and the comfort of the hot sweetness brought tears to her eyes. “Even when I treat you poorly, Tessa, you still are friendly to me. Why?”
Watching Tessa turn shy was very disarming. “Gosh, Quinn, you’re a real elf queen. I grew up reading about elves, watching them in movies, and here you are. Of course I’m going to be nice to you. I’ve had a crush on you since day one.”
Quinn found herself smiling. “You did. I found it rather annoying, back when we first spent time together. I was so angry at being woken. And I didn’t believe we would win. And now? Now I know your power and your... love.” The tears filled her eyes. “Can I talk with you, Tessa? Can I really talk to you?”
“You can. Where would you like to talk?” the girl asked.
The elf queen considered all the places, and there were many. She decided on a place that would be cozy for the two of them. “The outdoor living room, on the east side, on the way to the Widow House. Let us go there, in front of the fire. It is a warm night, and yet, I long for flames.”
“Let me grab my coffee,” Tessa said.
The two left the house and walked the path through the windbreaks to the outdoor living area. The pool was empty, and there was no sign of Nefri or Heridan. Quinn was glad for that.
Soon, they had a fire going, and they faced each other on a couch. Tessa wore a dark blue skirt with a red-and-blue top that scooped down to show the tops of her breasts as well her tattoos—a hurricane circle and a bird of prey reaching out with its talons.
This thick woman, with her many tattoos, had been so much fun to play with. Tessa was friendly, exciting, and very open-minded. She loved sex as much as she loved people. And she could understand a wide variety of perversions. That was rare—to have that much love and tolerance for other people’s kinks.
On top of it all, Tessa wielded a tremendous amount of power, and yet, she never bragged or acted conceited. Yes, this Tessa Ann Ross was special.
“I have been jealous of you,” Quinn said. “You are coming into your power, and I am losing mine. You are young, brave, and strong. I am old, fearful, and I grow weak. We are so different.”
“We are,” Tessa said. “But we both like sex, so we have that going for us.”
“Tessa, please forgive me for how I treated you and the others. And Bud, I need to apologize to him. I was awful at the meeting tonight.” Quinn had thought that coming to the Infinity Ranch had been the right decision, and now, she wasn’t sure.
“If you apologized to Bud, he would love it,” Tessa said. “Tomorrow morning, at breakfast, in front of everyone? Yeah, that would make him happy.”
“I will do that,” Quinn said. It would mean swallowing her pride, but she knew it was the right decision. “And do you accept my apology?”
“I do.” Tessa took Quinn’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s funny, but you know, not all of the craziness is Reggie, though she does make us crazy. No, it’s that we beat the bad guys, the big bad, and we were free, but I’m not sure we wanted to be free, you know? It’s why this new threat feels so... right. Well, right and wrong. It’s a pain, but it’s not like the Zothoric. I don’t know. I’m probably not making any sense.”
“It is difficult for a warrior to put away her sword,” Quinn said.
“Like it’s difficult for a queen to take off her crown?” Tessa offered.
The elf queen tried to close her eyes before the tears fell. She wasn’t fast enough, and they leaked down her face.
Tessa leaned forward and kissed them away. She then kissed Quinnestri softly on the lips before pulling back.
Every part of Quinn was on fire and fluttering. “Tessa, I miss my old power. And I am afraid. What if I lose my passion for sex? Or conversely, what if that is all I do, every day? I sometimes feel both happening. I spent days with the Three Widows, and we did so much, and then we had our time with Steven on Xanadu, and I find myself lusting after everyone here, including those mean Morta girls.”
“Yeah, don’t blame you there, though they have been keeping to themselves.” Tessa shook her head. “I’ve been going through the same thing. My libido seems dead on some nights, after being with the baby all day, and then I’m horny as fuck and I have to masturbate five times just to get to sleep.”
“Five times?” Quinn quirked an eyebrow.
“Well, that might be hyperbole.” The barista thought. “No, it’s not. Once I get going, I can ride the waves pretty easily.” Tessa tilted her head. “If you were human, I’d think you were wondering if you had a sex addiction.”
“Addicted to sex like Mouse was addicted to alcohol?” Quinn asked.
“Like that,” Tessa affirmed.
Quinn could see the worry there, and yet, it was an alien idea. Being queen, she’d had a world’s desires in her, and yet, she’d still managed to focus on other things an
d fulfill her many, many duties as a monarch. Now? What if all she did was lie around having sex with the beautiful women in Steven’s Escort as well as the Dragonlord himself? She voiced her concern.
Tessa laughed. “If you aren’t missing meals, you probably aren’t a sex addict. You’re not missing meals, are you?”
Quinn could remember that easily. “Yes, many meals, and so I have a problem?”
Tessa giggled. “Okay, I’ve missed meals too. Guilty here.” She sobered. “Quinn, I don’t think we have to worry about being sex addicts. I don’t think sex could destroy our lives now with who we are and where we are. You and I process life sexually. Things are changing, we’re stressed. That’s going to either turn us way up or turn us way down or both.”
“What if I do nothing but have sex for the next fifty years?” she asked.
“You’ve come to the right place for that.” Tessa laughed. “Here’s the thing, if you’re not hurting anyone else, and if you get your work done, then I don’t think you have a problem. We have a lot to do here, changing the world is only part of it. Our adventures aren’t over. I’m curious about this Collidium. And I was going to research that story of yours. I bet the Mont-Saint-Michel Aerie has a book on elven myth stories, or at least the Alpherian take on them. Your cultures were close at one point, right?”
Quinnestri dropped her eyes to Tessa’s thick thigh. She touched the skin, and this woman was so soft. That touch relaxed her, and her mind opened, and she fell into memories of studying the history of Aqualyra and the very dawn of time on that world.
“Yes,” the elf queen said. “Until fifty thousand years ago, and that’s when the Zothoric fed upon the Alpheros, on their homeworld. It was a symbiotic relationship. Elves have a great deal of Animus, and we could give that to the Alpheros, to pour life into them. And then, because we were afraid, we distanced ourselves from them. I inherited that fear.” Admitting that to herself felt good. Yes, she’d gown up in a culture terrorized by the idea of the Great Devouring finding them as it had found their dragon friends.
Quinn found a smile in herself. “Let us journey to this library.”