Texas Showdown

by Aaron Crash

  The Latino Prime’s eyes went to Steven’s sword. “But it looks like you can handle yourself. Got Rahaab’s sword. And killed him.”

  “I did,” Steven said. “And Javier, once I start thinking about your Primacies, we’ll have another talk. Until then, I don’t consider us allies. But then, we’re not enemies, are we?”

  “Not enemies. Let’s just say that we are on friendly terms. Can you do me a favor, though?” Javier asked.

  Steven nodded.

  “If you do find anything in the Americos Chamber,” Javier said, “let me know about it, okay? I’ve been studying them for years now, visited most of them, including the Denver portal to India. I can’t figure them out. I don’t think they are portals, not all of them, and I don’t know who built them. Or if the three Homo Draconi statues are the Americos brothers or not. And before you ask, no, I don’t know anything about the Americos. I asked Rahaab, but he never answered. That puta thought he was better than all of us. Fuck him. I’m glad you aren’t like that. And I’m glad to see him gone.”

  “If I find out anything, I’ll let you know,” Steven said.

  “And about the Wayne twins.” Javier paused. “They’re bad, ese. Their papi was a Ronin, nobody interesting, or not very, but he trained his daughters to play the game. Next-level shit. Before them, Carlo Bart had this Morphling wife, went everywhere with her, true love. Then the Wayne twins arrive on the scene. That Morphling wife is gone five minutes later, and those girls are top dogs. Be careful. They don’t care about you or your father’s vision. All they care about is themselves.”

  “Thanks for the warning. But I have to get to them.”

  Javier nodded. “We’ll be talking.”

  “Yeah, I guess we will.”

  The Latino Prime walked off across the flat Texas plain, moving confidently, but without strutting. Had Steven met his first ally? It seemed so.

  Steven jogged to the rusted building and wrenched open the door. Hinges screeched open. Inside, blood soaked the greasy ground. The two redheaded women lay naked, pale, and curled together. Steven wasn’t sure which was which. One had deep gashes on her thigh. The other had a deep puncture in her gut as if she’d been impaled on something. They had come together to press dirty rags against each other’s wounds.

  Steven bent and touched both their legs. He’d heal the one who’d been impaled first. He cast the Magica Cura spell and watched as the flesh knit together and fresh color blushed the cheeks of the unconscious woman. Then he touched the twin with the shredded thigh. The muscles grew back as skin covered the wounds. Both had lost a lot of blood, however. And they weren’t waking up.

  Shadows appeared in the door behind him. He smelled cinnamon, that was Aria, and roasted almonds, that was Mouse.

  “Steven, are they okay?” Mouse asked.

  “They aren’t dead. And I healed the worst of their wounds.” He turned. “I’d like you to get back to Tessa, Zoey, and Sabina. Make sure they’re okay. Javier wasn’t here to trap us. And he was investigating the Americos Chamber as well.”

  “Americos Chamber?” Mouse wondered. Then she got it. “Okay. Did El Guapo tell you where it is?”

  “No, but we’ll find it,” Steven said.

  “There’s an old barn south of here,” Aria said. “You three might be more comfortable there. We’ll go check on the others.”

  That would make Steven feel a lot better.

  The two women left.

  After casting another round of healing magic on both, Steven ferried the twins to the barn. They got lucky. While the place was definitely dilapidated, it seemed clean enough. Dust drifted through the fading sunlight. A forgotten corral had collapsed into the weeds, and there was no sign of a house. Maybe someone just got tired of taking care of horses and let the property go to seed. Steven didn’t know, but they hadn’t packed up very well.

  Steven found some old horse blankets and shook them out. He then settled the twins down in a stall that opened to the west. He filled up a cast-off pail with water from a pump standing near a trough. Ripping a shirt apart, he created a washcloth. Using that, he wiped the blood and grime from the bodies of the two women until they were clean. Their freckled skin was so soft. And their bodies were perfect, womanly in all the right ways.

  One woke. Which one? And how was he ever going to tell the difference? She opened an eye. “Well, well, well. See? I knew you had a white hat. Look at you, coming in to save the day.”

  “You have Javier Jones to thank. He called me.”

  The woman smiled. She seemed not to care at all that she was naked. “Did he talk shit about us?”

  “He did,” Steven said.

  “He wasn’t wrong, Steven. We are connivers. But I for one want to use my powers for good, not evil.”

  “And which one are you?” Steven asked.

  “Chastity.” She smiled and closed her eyes. “You can call me Chazzie. I’d shake your hand, maybe give you a hug, but I don’t have the strength. I’m the pretty one. Prudence, there, is the evil genius. She don’t believe in what you’re trying to do. I didn’t at first either. Now? You came to us. Healed us. I think I might just have to love you.”

  Chastity sighed and left the waking world again. Prudence slept on.

  Twins. Steven blew out a breath. Both were gorgeous. And he had to assume both were evil geniuses. That was going to make trusting them nearly impossible.

  Steven sat back. He was exhausted from the flight in, hadn’t slept much the night before, and was low on Animus. He was regretting sending Aria and Mouse back to make sure the others were okay. No, it was the right thing to do. He could try a divination spell in a bit to check on them, though that hadn’t worked out so well.

  He would rest some, meditate, and gain energy that way, though it was a slow process.

  Or would the twins be up to helping him get more Animus?

  Before he’d started his adventures, the thought would have made him laugh at himself. He barely knew these beautiful women.

  Now? It seemed very logical and definitely in the realm of possibility.

  NINETEEN

  Steven flew into town, got some bottled water and food, and then flew back.

  He returned to chew on buffalo jerky and watch the light become a fragile pink. The air shimmered around him, still warm, but with the slightest bit of chill in the air. The sunset was going to be pretty and interesting, something new for him since no mountains would be there to change the light. Around him was silence; even the traffic couldn’t be heard. So this was rural Texas. It felt comfortable, but then he loved the West.

  The twins were sleeping, and he wanted to check on his Escort. He had his cell phone, he could call them, but he needed to continue to try to improve his Magica Divinatio spells. So far, it hadn’t worked out very well. That baffled him. After all, he’d had visions of his father when he’d first accessed his Animus. And he’d had a variety of dreams since then. This should be easy for him, and yet it wasn’t. And he didn’t dare try portal magic until he got the divination spells right. It was all a pathway to AnimusChain and the rest of the Alpherian abilities.

  He accessed the skill tree again and saw that his Animus was indeed low.

  He flicked it off and spoke the words, “Magica Divinatio!”

  For a second, he saw himself, in the stall, next to the two naked women sleeping. Black light leaked out of his eyes.

  Then Abby Free’s face filled his vision. Like the twins, she had freckles, but Abby’s were more pronounced and striking against her dark skin. Curly rust-colored hair topped her head. She was from the Caribbean, with parents from the Yucatan Primacy. Her eyes were such a light brown they appeared yellow.

  Of course, he flashed back to his night with her. Abby Free loved big groups of people having sex with her and around her. Tessa, Aria, Sabina, Skylar, and Pretty all had descended on Abby. Foursomes and moresomes, he thought, grinning. The top room of the tower had been too small. They’d had to use the great room on t
he ranch. For that night, Mouse slept in the widow houses along with Teegan Thornrose and Michaela Montes. This was the night before Zoey had joined them.

  As the fire blazed, Steven watched Sabina get Abby ready. The Latina Magician loved such erotic dramatics. And then Tessa and Aria had come, easing Abby down, cupping her breasts, kissing her neck. Skylar and Pretty helped Steven, kissing him, sucking on him, until Abby Free cried out. Then it was time.

  Steven remembered the heat of the fire on his back as he took Abby on the floor. Images flickered through his mind. Tessa between Pretty’s legs. Aria kissing Skylar. Sabina’s breasts dangling over Abby’s face.

  Waves of Animus filled them, and Abby screamed, turned on by her own feelings and those of the group. And while Steven recharged, Abby found herself in the middle of what she called a puppy pile, a big tangle of bodies all pleasuring one another.

  Steven soon was drawn back into the lust and love. When he came in Abby, she had her eyes open, watching him, and he smiled even as she smiled. Then Aria, on all fours, bent to kiss Abby. Skylar was behind the Indian woman, licking her. The orgasms continued into the dawn.

  Steven’s vision changed abruptly. Skylar Blacke’s face appeared. She was in Australia, it was day, and she was swimming in the ocean. The other widows were on the beach, sunning themselves, reading, and sipping cocktails. Those five were safe and having a good time. Liam Strider was in the house, cooking lunch. The Queensland Primacy was in good hands.

  And finally, Steven saw his core Escort, in Jeeves, rocketing down the highway. They were not worried. Sabina’s eyes glowed green in the back. Those eyes locked onto Steven. We’re safe, the thought came to him. And you will be, too.

  Then his consciousness was torn from the Escalade back to Odessa. He saw a bar called The Blowtorch. It would not be opening for the night. Yellow police tape marked off the parking lot between the ramshackle metal of the main building and the shack in the back. The ground was charred under the cast-off shells of dead trucks. Well, Pru had mentioned something about exploding trucks.

  The Blowtorch. Why was that name familiar?

  He thought back to the bar where he, Tessa, and Aria had run their con back when money was tight. It had been called the Torchlight. In Hooper, Montana, Mouse and Aria had flushed out some of Cassius Pine’s vassals in a bar called Torchy’s.

  Not yet time. Wait for the next torch. Then you will open one eye.

  The Blowtorch was the next torch. It was odd that they kept running into local watering holes that used some derivation of the word “torch” in their names. But then what in his life made sense? He had a magic sword he couldn’t fully use, he kept having flashbacks of sex, and two naked twins lay not five feet from him.

  Speaking of which, Chazzie opened her eyes and let out a moan. Though he’d healed them, they were going to have scars. Well, when they were naked, he could tell them apart.

  Pru let out a breath, also waking up to groan. “Ugh, I feel like Sunday morning. I’m gonna need a shot of something, preferably hard.”

  “I don’t have whiskey,” Steven said. “But I do have some water. And some trail mix. My friend said M&Ms were important, so I made sure I didn’t skimp on that.”

  He handed her a bottle of water. She twisted off the cap and drank the whole thing. She then ripped open the trail mix and ate half the bag. “Thanks, Steven. You saved us. We wouldn’t have made it.”

  Chazzie sipped her water slowly but wasn’t ready to eat anything just yet. “So, Pru, what do you think? Steven isn’t your normal Dragonsoul. I think we should come clean, tell him everything, and then do the big request.”

  Pru blinked. “Chazzie. We are not going to do the big request. Not yet.” She clenched her jaws to add, “And we can’t talk about this in front of him.” Clearly, Chazzie was going off script.

  “No, Pru, you’re the smart one. Let’s look at this from his point of view. We call Javier Jones, not him, but Javier. And then we ask Steven to come and save us in freakin’ Odessa, Texas, which has become quite the crossroads. He knew we were Carlo Bart’s wives, with the ring and everything, and yet he still showed up.” With every word, Chazzie grew stronger.

  “I did,” Steven agreed. “And talked with Javier for a long time. I think he wanted you to bleed out. He doesn’t trust you at all.”

  “Do you trust us?” Chazzie asked. Was that desperation in her eyes?

  Pru was clearly uncomfortable.

  “I want to trust you,” Steven said seriously.

  “Pru,” Chazzie said in a cracking voice. “Carlo Bart hired the Sounders without us. Even worse? What if Juice Juice contacts our Prime and asks him why his wives showed up? Carlo Bart is going to know we know. This is bad.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Pru agreed. “But it’s just as bad for Juice. Even if Carlo Bart thinks we might be working against him, he is going to be livid when he finds out the Morphlings tried to kill us.”

  “Unless Carlo Bart told them to,” Steven said.

  Both twins turned to stare at him. They sat on their blankets. The sunset painted their bodies in a soft light. They had large breasts on slender frames, the nipples big and pink flattening out into the creamy skin of their supple chests. Two pairs of tits on display. It was hard to keep his eyes on their brown eyes.

  Pru’s mouth fell open. She closed it, blushing, and then shook her head. “Well, Steven, you’re giving me a run for my money being the smart one. Damn, but you might be right.”

  “Damn,” Chazzie echoed. “He might be right. Which means we’re screwed if Steven doesn’t take us in.”

  “That’s the big request, isn’t it?” Steven asked. “You want to join my Escort.”

  “That was our endgame,” Chazzie said.

  “One possible endgame,” Pru clarified. “We had multiple scenarios running.”

  “So you wanna be honest with him?” Chazzie asked her sister.

  “Yes,” Pru said. And then had to smile. “Well, for the most part. Old habits are certainly going to die hard, I must admit. We’ve not been honest with our Prime, ever.”

  “Why is that?” Steven asked.

  Chazzie raised her eyebrows, quirked her mouth, and shook her head. “Carlo Bart is powerful but so, so, so dumb! The truth would only confuse him. And he likes our lies. Well, he did.”

  “He did, certainly.” Pru closed her eyes. “I’m still feeling so crappy. Feels like my Animus is all gone.”

  “I’m low too, sister.” Chazzie reached out and took Pru’s hand.

  “I’m low as well.” That was all Steven said.

  Chazzie gave him a smile. “We all know there’s something we can do to fix that.”

  “But we can’t go all the way, Steven,” Pru’s voice was low, her brow furrowed. “Otherwise, Carlo Bart would know where we are.”

  Steven had never been with anyone who was still part of another Prime’s Escort. Usually, when he met another Dragonlord’s wives, they were actively trying to murder him.

  “We can kiss and love on you a little,” Chazzie said. “If you want to.”

  Steven rose up on his knees and walked forward. The twins rose with him. Chazzie was on his right, Pru on his left. They smelled sweet, like bubble gum and perfume. Their scent filled his nose. He put his hands on their round asses.

  His mouth went dry. And his heart started to pound. Breathing was difficult.

  And he wasn’t the only one trying not to gasp.

  “Dang, Chaz, can you feel it?” Pru asked.

  “I can.” Chazzie leaned in and kissed him. Her breasts pillowed against his body. Pru pressed her own chest against him. Suddenly, he was kissing her as well. He had no idea how this was going to work or what the rules might be. He’d let them take the lead.

  For one, he needed the Animus, but he also wanted to start the process of drawing these two powerful, scheming women into his Escort. The rules of the game were changing, and he saw that strategy was going to be every bit as important as brute strength. These
two were master players. And maybe he shouldn’t have, but he trusted them.

  “Do you mind if I taste him first?” Chazzie asked her sister.

  “Be my guest, honey,” Pru said. And kissed him again. All three of them were gasping. Pru sucked on his tongue, licked his lips, and then licked all the way to his ear, which she nibbled on gently. “We can do you, Steven, but you can’t do us. Not yet.”

  Chazzie freed his length and took it into her warm, wet mouth. She moaned. Steven was too caught up in Pru’s kisses to moan.

  The reverberations from Chazzie’s mouth ran up his shaft and seemed to tingle every part of him.

  “We share. We do you, not each other. She goes first, but then I’ll get my turn,” Pru said in a throaty voice. “Feel free to let go when it feels good. You really are our future, Steven. It scares me. And it kind of turns me on.”

  Steven couldn’t respond. The things that Chazzie was doing with her mouth defied explanation. With Pru rubbing up against him, Steven lost control and came.

  He’d been with two women before… hell, after the orgy with Abby Free, he’d been with a bunch, but with the Wayne twins together, the amount of Animus filling him made him dizzy. He fell backward into the soft hay and blankets of their bed. Again, Chazzie wound up on his right, Pru on his left. They traced their hands up and down his body.

  “Yeah, we know,” Chazzie said with a sigh. “Twins. At the same time. Every man’s fantasy.” Her voice was wistful, and Steven knew there was a whole history behind it.

  “Now is not the time for that.” Pru bent and kissed his lips. “We have a lot of planning to do, Mr. Drokharis. We have a lot riding on the next few hours. And if we’re all breathing tomorrow night, I’ll be surprised.”

  Night had fallen. No sign of the moon yet, so the barn was black, and he couldn’t read their faces.

  Steven remembered Skylar talking about the wedding band on her finger, how it had tied her to her Prime. The Wayne twins had the rings, but they weren’t nearly as attached.

  Why was that? And should he be worried?