Druid Dreams

by M F Adele

  “Lead the way, Kitten,” I held out my arm for her to walk in front of us. Novak winked at me as he matched my stride. He was acting weirder than normal. I wondered what he had been up to as we followed Sloane inside.

  She traipsed through the darkened house without missing a beat. When we got closer to the basement door, she started stripping off what little clothes she was wearing. Her shirt came first, and we were looking at nothing but her bare back and her legs covered only in a skirt. She tossed the tiny top over her head. Before it hit Novak in the face, he yanked it out of the air and threw it behind us along with his own shirt. Her skirt flew towards us next. I grabbed it as it made contact with my chest, dropping it to the ground and removing my shirt as I tried not to stumble at the view. Her body was thin and lean. Her muscles bunched delicately as we continued our trek. She was incredibly built with long legs, a slim waist, and a tight round ass. I wanted to groan at the sight before me.

  When we made it to the pool, Sloane danced around to the far end. She gave us a saucy look over her shoulder before leaping into the water in a graceful arch. Her back and leg muscles coiled with the movement. Her feet flexed like a gymnast as she dove with her arms straight over her head. She swam under the water to a glass wall that separated the interior pool from the outside. Novak and I watched in fascination, then side-eyed each other. I don’t want to swim. I want to watch her refined motions until the sun comes up and we’re forced to leave.

  We both finished removing our clothes in record time and jumped in after her. Once I was on the other side of the glass, I tracked her movement under the water. She’s a predator on land and in the water. Her naked body was pulling me to her like a magnet. I felt myself becoming the prey.

  As I watched her body flow through the water like clouds in the sky, I knew I’d die a happy demon if she was what death had in store for me. I’d be her prey any day of the week. She’s my devil, my vice. I had no doubts that I’d move Hell and Heaven for her if that's what she desired.

  Sloane

  Sunday Early Morning

  I spied the encroaching dawn and wished that we could spend the entire morning in the pool. Things were just getting interesting. I was sandwiched between a naked demon and a naked vampire when Franklin walked in and cleared his throat. Right. Time to go. Uhg. As Franklin closed the door behind him, we begrudgingly dragged ourselves out of the warm water. I walked to the tall cabinets on the far wall to grab some towels. We made our way upstairs as the others were walking down, and Briggs stopped to take in the state of our towel clad bodies.

  “What were you guys doing?” He questioned us with a pointed look.

  “Swimming.” Stone’s face was a mask of innocence, while Novak and I wore the complete opposite.

  “Something like that,” Novak coughed out.

  “Yeah, whatever you say.” Briggs stalked down the stairs and called over his shoulder, “We’re leaving in fifteen so get dressed.”

  I snagged Stone and Novak’s hands and hustled up the stairs with them fumbling behind me. I dropped their hands when we reached the top of the third floor stairs and continued up the next flight two at a time while yelling down, “Show him his room please.”

  I rushed into my bathroom for a five minute shower and sped through getting dressed as I danced around in my closet. Combat clothes are my absolute favorite. I found my enchanted fishnets that reflected knives and bullets, snatching them up my smooth legs. Jack gave them to me for Christmas last year, and we had a blast testing them out. This is the best gear a bitch could ask for. I added a black pleated skirt over them, because I needed freedom to kick ass, and topped it with a tight black t-shirt that said psycho. It doesn’t make much sense now, but it will later today. I know how I get, so it’ll serve as a warning. Maybe.

  I stood on my tippy toes to reach for my combat boots on the top shelf in my closet, but I still couldn’t brush the edge of the box. I snapped my fingers and the shoebox dropped into my outstretched hands. These boots are glorious. They were made by a demon friend of mine in a small city called Stars in the Underworld. The leather is scaled, but I had no idea what kind of animal they were made out of. I also don’t want to know. They had compacted two inch rubber soles. Thick silver covered the heels and tips of the toes with inch-long spikes across the tops that were embedded into steel-toe plates inside them. Let’s be honest with each other. It’s not rubber, silver, or steel. They’re materials from the Underworld, but that’s the closest resemblance to the earthy stuff.

  I was officially ready and getting excited about the upcoming fight. Slaughter? Nah, we’ll call it a fight for now. I really wanted to try the whole teleporting, disappearing and reappearing somewhere else, magic before we left. I’d never done it before but I was damn well gonna figure it out. I stared at myself in the mirror and tried to motivate the hungry bitch looking back at me. “You can do this, Lo. You’re hungry, you’re full of energy, and you have no limits to what you can achieve.” I closed my eyes and kept right on talking. “Just imagine yourself breaking down into particles and rushing through the Void, then coming out of the Void as those same particles and forming into a whole you again, except in the kitchen.”

  Breathe in. Breathe out.

  Calm your mind.

  Envision your destination.

  I felt my body start to dissolve, and I focused hard on the kitchen. The stainless steel appliances. The black marble countertops. The coffee maker as it dripped scolding black life. My favorite mug beside it. The basket full of fruit on the counter by the sink. I anticipated the familiar feeling that I knew so well, and as soon as I passed into the Void I reveled in the bitter cold that washed over my body. The warmth returned to my limbs quickly. I twitched my fingers and peeled my eyes open. I MADE IT!! Fuck yes! Six sets of shocked eyes stared back at me, and I gave them a confident grin.

  “You guys saw that, right?” I nonchalantly gloated as I skipped around the kitchen island to the coffee maker. Taking my “this is the blood of my enemies” mug from the countertop, I filled it with coffee and sugar.

  Franklin was the first to somewhat recover. He completely bypassed what just happened and set my hot pink duffel bag on the counter without a word. The clatter of weapons was like music to my ears. I knew from the sound that he’d included a few new instruments in the bag. The noise of the weapons hitting the counter broke everyone else out of their ill-repressed stupor. Four voices spoke up at once.

  “Well, that’s some trick right there.” Palmer.

  “You just misted.” Vaughn.

  “That’s a fae thing, right?” Briggs.

  “Your bag is pink?” Novak.

  Stone turned to Novak. “That’s what you want to know? She just appeared as a silhouette of water in the middle of the kitchen and you’re wondering about her pink bag?” His tone was incredulous.

  I flashed an impish look at them before addressing the elephant in the room. “Yes, my weapons bag is pink. No one has ever stopped me about my suspicious looking pink gym bag before. Imagine an officer pulling me over and seeing my bag in the passenger seat.” I deepened my voice to imitate a man. “Uhm, ma’am, that pink bag definitely looks like it’s holding enough weapons to take down a commercial aircraft. Can I take a look inside?” Returning my voice back to my normal rasping tone I continued. “Ha. Yeah, that’s never happened before.”

  “I have so many questions about that statement,” Novak’s delighted laugh rang out through the silent kitchen. “They can wait for the car ride though. I do have an important one that just can’t wait.” He held up his index finger indicating his one question.

  “And what’s that?”

  “Do you have a ouija board on your kitchen wall that says “Drink Coffee & Hail Satan” or am I imagining that?” He blinked a few times and turned his head in the direction of said decor.

  “Oh, that was a house warming gift from Papi. He thinks that stuff is funny and it aggravates his father. You see, Satan was Lucy’s second in c
ommand before he tried to overthrow him a few millennium ago. It did not end well for Satan,” I informed them with my brows raised, fighting with every ounce of self control I possessed in order to keep a straight face at their confusion.

  “Who is Lucy?” Vaughn’s intrigued tone had me twisting my head to him and giving up my fight.

  “Lucy is what I call my grandfather. I couldn’t say Lucifer or Lilith when I was little so Papi told me to call them Lucy and Lil. You know we can talk about this in the van, right? We should really get on the road.”

  Franklin finally spoke as I started heading for the garage door. “Everything else you should need is already in the van. We’ll take two vehicles to two different locations. I’ll drop three of you off a block from the van and you’ll pick the other three up.”

  “Perfect. Thanks, Franklin,” I sang back to him when I made it to the door. A thought nailed me right in the face as I placed my hand on the handle. “Palmer, can you show me that spell real fast?”

  “Yeah.” More confusion rolled across his handsome face as he reached for his phone. He opened the photos app and turned his phone to me. Oh, that’ll be simple.

  “Thank you,” I exclaimed cheerfully, already mentally reaching out for my hellhounds. They may be helpful today. I was already preparing the spell as they appeared in the garage doorway. I’ll turn them into puppies. They were still big when I got them, but only a fraction of their size now. I scooped them up and set them in the backseat between Palmer and me. Franklin took the driver's seat and Vaughn climbed in the passenger side. Then we were off.

  Next destination, please.

  The van was roomy and super white outside the tinted windows. Vaughn drove, and Briggs sat up front with him. Stone and I sat in the middle with Novak and Palmer behind us in the third row. The first two hours progressed in comforting quietness while everyone rested up for our miles-long hike through the wooded terrain.

  All was well, until the hellhound puppies woke up and began climbing around the van. Atlas was barking and yipping at Novak, who snatched him into the back to play. Cronus ended up with Briggs in the front since I was ignoring him. Stone and I struggled to contain Helios. He’d do the most damage. It’s called priorities, okay? Do we want the inside of the van to catch fire? No. Then this is the one I choose.

  “Sloane, would ya tell me why the hounds are taggin’ along again?” Palmer irritatedly questioned as Atlas tried to lick the side of his face.

  “We might need them,” I admitted as the wiggling puppy wedged his way out from under me.

  “Doubtful,” Vaughn muttered. Helios growled at him before lunging across the consol into his lap and huffing little grey smoke clouds at him. “Fine, but make them smaller.” He conceded.

  “Okay,” I snapped my fingers and three flies landed on his face. “There you go.”

  “Smaller, not annoyingly annoying.” Vaughn argued.

  “Fiiiiine,” I dragged out in a sarcastic tone as kittens landed in his lap. I almost changed them into Boston terriers. I was so close, but the kittens had claws. Next time, definitely.

  “Are you serious?” Vaughn raised his voice at me and everyone broke out in laughter at his expense. The kittens clawed up his chest and hung from his arms, turning the large Fae into a playground.

  “You change them then, Oh Great and Mighty Mage. Oh wait, you’re not a mage so you can’t.” It was hard to be condescending whilst giggling.

  “Fuck. Just keep them back there. I’m trying to drive,” he growled out.

  “They’re cats. They do what they want.” Novak cackled harder.

  “Turn them into turtles so they’ll just fucking sit there.” Vaughn’s voice was laced with exasperation at the situation currently crawling all over him.

  “Have you ever been bitten by a turtle?” Briggs inquired, but I was already making the magic happen with snapping turtles in mind.

  “FUCK! That hurts!” Vaughn shouted. We were all gasping for breath as we laughed hysterically.

  I tried to compromise but I was having too much fun with my new trick. “Okay, okay. Just hand them to me.” When he started to grab one of them I changed them to butterflies. Another bout of laughter settled over us as they landed in his hair.

  “Now you look like a fae,” Stone teased.

  Vaughn spit out, “Yeah, a fucking summer fae.”

  “They look so pretty in yer hair though.” A mock girly voice came from Palmer.

  “I’m going to pull over-“ Vaughn started

  “And what? Spank me for being a brat.” I waggled my brows at him.

  “Give you over to Palmer and Stone.” He threatened seriously.

  “Is that supposed to scare me out of my bad behavior? We can do that right here without stopping the van.” I wiggled in my seat and twisted to wink at Palmer and Stone. Palmer smirked back at me. Stone rolled his eyes at my antics but couldn’t hide the small lift of his lips.

  Vaughn pulled over at the next gas station, and I got a little anxious about whether or not I was actually gonna get spanked in the parking lot. It didn’t happen. I’ll admit, I’m pouting pretty hard about the missed opportunity. “Ye can put yer lip away, Love. I’ll spank ya when we get back home.” Palmer’s low whispered promise had me groaning out my displeasure in waiting. He leaned over the back of my seat and skimmed his hand up the side of my neck. His lips brushed the edge of my ear as he added “patience, Love,” so softly that I felt the words more than I heard them. They did nothing to help my patience though. Don’t tease me with a good time and then leave me hanging.

  Briggs, Vaughn, and Stone all rotated their seats and Vaughn ended up beside me in the back. The new seating arrangement reminded me of what York told me. I need the Fae to open my mind, but how? “Vaughn, can I ask you a question?” I faced him fully, waiting for his reply.

  “Yes,” he responded as he gave me his undivided attention.

  I wavered for a moment. “Can you erase memories?”

  “Yes, but it’s not something I’ve done often or like doing,” he admitted. “It can be painful depending on what you’re locking away and how badly the person's mind wants to hold on to it.” That was informative.

  Okay, question two. “What about making someone remember memories that have already been locked away?” This was what I really needed to know.

  “Well, that’s different.” He paused and looked down at his hands to find the right words. “It depends on who locked them, how long ago, and how bad the person wants to remember. Why are you asking?” His quizzical look showed me that he wasn’t sure where I was going with the conversation. Stone's silent nod from the front seat gave me enough reassurance to plunge right in.

  “York told me to ask you to unlock my memories. I don’t know who locked them exactly, but it was roughly 5 years ago. I need to remember them. I think York’s location is hidden in them.”

  “Okay,” he agreed while watching me. “I can try. It won’t feel pleasant. Novak will have to help me get into your mind. I need you to open up to us and drop your barriers.”

  “I don’t have barriers.” Surprise. My mind is just a vault. I wanted to add that but didn’t.

  “Novak can’t read your mind.” Vaughn furrowed his brows at his own statement.

  “And I can’t read any of yours either, except Palmer on occasion.” I informed him. It’s been bothering me since I met him.

  “That’s because I’m an excellent teacher and Palmer is a shit student when it has to do with anything requiring focus,” Novak chimed in.

  “Fuck off,” Palmer told Novak. “I’ve no issues focusin’ on…” he stopped to think through his next words. “Stuff I like ta focus on.”

  “Alright.” Vaughn interrupted what would have been a thorough argument on what “stuff” specifically Palmer was talking about. “This is what we’re going to do. Novak is going to open your mind. It might hurt. Then, he’s going to pull me in so I can find the locked memories. That IS going to hurt. Just, try not
to scream in your head, because that will make it harder for us to get them unlocked. Okay?” He grimaced at his request. I knew he didn’t want to hurt me, but there was no way around it. The pain will be temporary. I’m no stranger to it.

  “Okay,” I agreed with a steady voice. “Do it.” I relaxed my brain to the best of my ability, getting rid of all the random thoughts that plagued me. Novak leaned up and gently placed his index and middle fingers on my temples. His presence brushed the edges of my consciousness. Letting him in was surprisingly easy. His mind stroked against mine, and it felt like a physical touch. It ignited the smoldering fire that was burning in my core. Images from last night flooded my mind and filtered into Novak's.

  “Trouble,” he warned me.

  “I can’t help it,” I whined.

  “Is that what you want Vaughn to see when I pull him in?”

  “Pull him in and I’ll try to keep it PG rated.” My honeyed voice said otherwise. I hope Vaughn enjoys the show.

  “He will.” Novak’s rough voice inside my head spoke volumes to me. He was loving the replay from my perspective too.

  “Ready?” Vaughn sounded nervous, but seconds later I felt his cool, calm presence alongside Novak’s bright energy.

  Everything after that was a bundle of mental pain that attacked my consciousness. I had to battle with my own will power so that I didn’t shut them out. I’d trained against mental attacks before, and that was exactly what this felt like. I just had to endure it until I got what I needed. The moment those memories were unlocked everything went black.

  Briggs

  Sunday Midday

  I had never been so worried in my life when I peeked in the rear view mirror. Sloane slumped forward as her eyes went totally white. Vaughn caught her without hesitation and placed her head on his thighs. Novak squeezed his body over the back of their seat and slid her legs into his lap, casting a mortified glance at Vaughn. The Fae remained calm.