The Minotaur's Kiss

by Erin St. Charles

  Helen Castellano's face appeared on the screen. She spoke without preamble. "Good, I have both of you? Where are you?" If she was at all surprised to see them together, she hid it well.

  Mac watched Diana's sidelong glance at his naked chest. She blushed to the tips of her ears, her lips parted as she chewed on the lower one.

  He cleared his throat. "We're at Ms. Miller's house, preparing for the concubine's fertility rite. Has it been scheduled?"

  "Yes. I'm sending a drone your way with the details. It should be there shortly."

  "Thank--" Diana started, but her screen abruptly closed as Helen finished the call. Leaving Mac and Diana to stare at the empty space for several moments. Diana headed for the kitchen, mumbling something about finishing the cookies before the drone arrived.

  Diana turned to domestic chores when she was stressed.

  "Is that really something you have to do right now?"

  Diana had been bent over at the waist, searching for something in one of the cabinets, and straightened to her full height with a start, holding a baking sheet in each hand. She looked at Mac as if he were mad. "Might as well."

  He didn't have a good answer for that. "Helen is sending over her drone--" he started, but she interrupted him.

  "Which is why I need to finish Leona's cookies now before we run out of time." Her hands moved quickly, dropping precisely measured blobs of cookie dough on the sheets.

  "You call your mother by her first name?"

  She shrugged, chuckling. "I don't think she minds."

  "Are you nervous about the fertility rite?" She froze--for just a moment--in the motion of placing the cookie sheets in the oven. She wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

  "A bit. What made you think I was nervous?" She didn't sound defensive, just curious.

  "You do things around the house when you're stressed."

  She leaned against the kitchen counter, a pensive expression on her face. "I'm not as excited about this assignment as I was before we actually started working on it. I can't stop thinking of Julie. And Amanda. And all the other missing women that we didn't even know about."

  He crossed the distance between them, and pulled her into his arms, stroking her back. "Everything you do is important. You take care of vulnerable women who can't protect themselves, just like your dad."

  Chapter 32

  Thursday, September 28, 2079. Night.

  Jaslene had not been expecting her fertility rite to be scheduled so quickly, as evidenced by the fact she was not at the Pantheon concubine compound when Mac and Diana arrived to collect her. They traced Jaslene's Omni signal to the party room of a tavern a stone's throw away.

  She had been a couple of sheets to the wind when they found her, surrounded by a gaggle of well-groomed courtesans, and in the throes of a hen party. They were doing shots of tequila and cackling drunkenly over a variety of sex toys, Jaslene wearing a bra that resembled a pair of ice cream mounds with cherries on top.

  Mascara streaked Jaslene's cheeks, and she was going down on a pink dildo the size of her own forearm, to the raunchy howls of her companions. Her bee-stung lips stretched over the tool, showing off her considerable oral skills, but her eyes went wide in surprise at the sight of her unamused social worker with her glowering bodyguard in tow.

  Mac could only wonder why sex was such a big part of the fertility rite since it was a well-known open secret that the gods did not procreate through sexual means, but rather, with good old-fashioned in vitro fertilization. The selective vetting process the candidates were subjected to, the years of sexual instruction, the elaborate fertility rites, were all nothing more than window dressing.

  Mac watched Diana take Jaslene by the elbow and hustle her out of the back room, steering her to a brightly lit convenience store across the street. Party over, the other concubines made themselves scarce, leaving Mac to cool his heels on the sidewalk. He used the time to check in with his team, verifying who was on duty for the fertility rite...and brooding over what he would do with Diana when the night was over. Their assignment would end when they dropped Jaslene at the Pantheon building for the contract signing. And then what?

  He had to figure it out because this part of their work relationship would be over soon. He would tell her about the baby then when they could talk about their future without this work hanging over them.

  The women reappeared thirty minutes later, Diana's eyes narrowed to slits and Jaslene appearing chastened. Diana caught what must have been his brooding expression, and she shook her head at Jaslene. Her pregnancy hormones must have evened out.

  Back at the compound, Diana subjected the concubine to a lukewarm shower, dressed her, and primped her for the evening. The three of them crowded into the cab of Mac's truck and set off for a fashionably late arrival at the festivities.

  The rite was held at an unassuming warehouse on the outskirts of the Downtown area. Upon arrival, they were greeted by a silver valet bot hovering at the driver's side. Mac stepped up to the front door of the warehouse and knocked. After a few moments, the door swung open with a rush of air and a tall, muscular man with ebony skin stood in the doorway. The light inside held a warm glow that bathed the dark giant in a yellow light. The man waved Mac forward, and Mac turned to the two women behind him, Diana and Jaslene, to indicate they were there together.

  "Jaslene Duncan party," said Mac. The man at the door looked the two women up and down. Jaslene had been dressed in what appeared to be three sequined handkerchiefs: two making up the front and back of a very short skirt, open at the sides and held together with metal rings. The top featured a deep cowl neck held together with ties in the back and laces in the front, exposing her sternum. A large rhinestone glittered from her pierced navel. She wore matching stiletto sandals with laces that crisscrossed up her calves and tied under her knees. The entire ensemble was a deep blood red. She was even more beautiful than he remembered her. Her porcelain skin was exceptionally toned and smooth, no doubt the result of the extensive beauty treatments concubines were subjected to as part of their preparations.

  Diana wore body-hugging black leggings and a snug black t-shirt, the uniform of social workers and security at fertility rites, designed to help them fade into the background. She had pulled her dark red hair back into a soft, but neat, bun. The severity of her uniform only heightened her beauty.

  "Hang on," the man grumbled, slamming the door in their faces. After a few moments, the door opened abruptly, and he gestured them in. He scanned each of them with a manual Omni to confirm their identities.

  "Go ahead," the man at the door said, nodding at the long staircase.

  Upstairs, cafe tables were scattered around a large room. Large windows, panes blacked with paint, covered three walls from floor to ceiling. A bar ran along the length of the long wall which was mostly empty, except for the handmaidens fetching drinks for their concubine mistresses. There was a stage at the far end of the room, dark and shrouded with black velvet drapes. Concubine candidates sat at the cafe tables in the middle of the floor, while the elite occupied booths along one long wall. Every woman in the room--established concubines, wait staff, candidates like Jaslene, and handmaidens--was scantily clad. Limber bodies glided around the room, garments glittering in the dim lighting. Long expanses of smooth, gleaming skin of every hue were on display.

  Many of the established concubines were visibly pregnant, their exposed bellies distended in various stages of gestation, their swollen breasts uncovered and on display. Handmaidens wore little more than loincloths and pasties as they stood ready to serve in front of their mistresses' draped booths.

  They were greeted by a brunette hostess wearing tasseled pasties and a matching mini skirt that was just long enough to cover the bottom of her ass cheeks. She led Mac, Diana, and Jaslene to a pink upholstered booth with sequined curtains and a "Reserved" card set on the table. Mac thanked the hostess and waited for the two women to be seated. Diana kept her spine s
traight and a couple of inches away from the back of the booth. But Jaslene sank into the tufted upholstery, closed her eyes with pleasure and seemed to settle into a cloud of contentment.

  Mac slid in next to Diana, let an arm rest along the back of the booth, and looked around the room. He spotted Bubba, as well as a younger wolf who had recently transferred to their agency from Detroit. Phelan. Phelan....something. Blake Shepherd, a young Minotaur who had been with Mac's agency for a few years, stood sentry at the door behind the stage. Two other shifters flanked both sides of the door Mac, Diana and Jaslene had come through. Everything seemed to be in order.

  He looked at Diana, who looked calm as ever and taking in the scene. It wasn't much different from what he'd seen going out on inspections with her. This would all be over soon, and they could get on with the business of planning a life together. And, planning for the baby.

  The hostess soon returned with their drinks.

  "Three club sodas!" she announced, giving Mac an appreciative, friendly look.

  Which Mac returned with one of his glowering, unfriendly looks. The hostess paled visibly under the dim lighting and backed away from the table. He turned to see Diana giving him a curious look. Jaslene seemed to be taking in the room eagerly.

  Now that the guest of honor had arrived, Mac hoped the ceremony would soon begin. Making the rounds with Diana for the past few weeks, he had had enough of brothels, blow job stands, titty bars, sex clubs and the like. This fertility rite--the parody of the intimacy and love he shared with Diana--was an annoyance. A hurdle to be cleared to give Diana the career mobility she wanted so badly. Months ago, he would not have cared one way or another about providing security at an event such as this one. Now, he couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. His shoulders sagged as he sighed.

  Diana seemed to sense his mood shift and turned to look at him. She offered a warm smile, her dark eyes now black in the intimate lighting. She touched his arm and spoke into his ear. "What are you brooding about now?"

  He shrugged and smiled at her, feeling himself get a semi from her touch. He had to resist the urge to pull her close and tuck her under his arm. They were working, after all.

  A spotlight appeared on the black curtains, which parted to reveal a pale-skinned strawberry blonde. She was bare-ass naked except for a studded dog collar with chains that connected to nipple piercings, and disappeared between her legs, presumably to attach to her clitoris. She smiled, descended the stairs, and with the spotlight following her, made her way towards the booth where Mac, Jaslene, and Diana were.

  "She's the priestess," Diana whispered in his ear. Her lips brushed his earlobe, and his body reacted immediately, his dick surging from semi to rock hard at an alarming speed. In a roomful of half-naked women, the only woman he wanted was Diana.

  Jaslene must have been prepared for this since she stood up and held a hand out for the priestess, who led the concubine through the crowd to the stage. The two women walked slowly so that the crowd could get a good look at Jaslene, who Mac had to admit looked pretty good. The spotlight followed them as they climbed up on the stage.

  Then the curtains parted to reveal a huge, round bed covered with bright white sheets. In the middle of the bed, a handsome man, nude and well-endowed, reclined on one elbow. He had been shaved all over, then spray-tanned a sea-blue color from head to toe. The priestess helped Jaslene up on the bed, where the concubine knelt with the greenish-blue man, their heads bowed. The priestess then turned to the crowd, bowed her head and raised her hands to the heavens. With the exception of the security detail, everyone in the room rose to their feet, turned in the direction of the stage, bowed their heads, and raised their hands.

  The priestess began to recite a prayer in some ancient language Mac did not understand. He glanced around the room and noticed Diana had her head bowed in respect but was not praying.

  The prayer was done in less than a minute. Then the priestess placed her hands on Jaslene and the blue man--Mac could only assume the man was one of the sacred prostitutes standing in for Jaslene's benefactor. "May Aphrodite bless this union," said the priestess, backing away from the bed with her head bowed.

  The bed began to rotate. The air buzzed with the wings of dragonfly camera drones, which swarmed around the bed, preparing to capture the coupling from all possible angles. Holographic screens appeared around the ceiling as if they were about to capture a sporting event. Mac had heard about fertility rites but had never attended one. He felt as if he'd already seen enough.

  As the rite proceeded, patrons in the other booths became affected by the goings-on. Someone in the booth next to theirs had pushed back the drapes and two pregnant women, one dark skinned with bountiful breasts, and the other a leggy redhead, pregnant enough to pop, were going at it. The black woman leaned against the back of the upholstered booth, releasing deep, guttural moans, legs splayed wide apart as the other woman buried her face between them, licking eagerly.

  And so it went with the other attendees.

  She cleared her throat and blinked her eyes, then looked up at him. Her eyes were blacker than ever.

  "I need the ladies' room."

  Mac watched as she slid away from him and exited the booth. He watched her head toward the back of the club. He couldn't let her go alone.

  Chapter 33

  Diana found a row of powder rooms separated from the rest of the club by a temporary partition. Each stall had a biometric lock that only worked for attendees. There was no one waiting in line...and why would there be, with all that was going on in the next room?

  Concubines were a special caste of sex workers. The females of the gods' species were too old to come into season any more. The concubine system had allowed the gods to procreate over many millennia and gave rise to the widespread legalization of sex work. Still, Diana struggled to understand how concubines were any different from the clients she worked with every day.

  Although her duties only called for seeing the concubine to the rite, then taking her to Pantheon at the evening's conclusion, Diana knew Mac would be staying for the evening, and wanted to attend the rite with him. She told herself she wanted to be there to see the assignment through. Judging by how eagerly Jaslene had taken to the festivities, Diana was sure the other woman wasn't being coerced. Diana's father would have encouraged her to stay for the entire rite, but her father's standards had been impossibly high when he had been alive.

  When the evening ended, so would the work relationship with Mac. They would lay their cards on the table. They would work through all their lingering issues. And then they would be together.

  She chose the last stall, let herself in, and freshened up. When she was finished, Mac was waiting for her in the corridor, leaning against the wall.

  She shrugged and gave him a rueful smile.

  "Welcome to the glamorous world of concubine handovers."

  She leaned against the wall with him.

  "It's kind of like watching a movie with your mother, and there's a love scene..." he said.

  She let out a bark of laughter. "I am so ready to go home."

  He put out a hand and drew her close to him. She leaned into him, placing her hands on his chest.

  "After we drop Jaslene off, we won't be co-workers anymore," he said.

  "The thought had occurred to me," she said, then planted a lingering kiss on his lips. "I'm guessing it'll be over soon. I mean, how long can they go at it like that?"

  "You'd know better than I would."

  She snorted. "They make concubine handovers seem like such a prestigious assignment. But...I don't know..."

  "What did you think it would be like?"

  "I'm a social worker. I guess I thought Jaslene would need to be taken care of."

  The career she had trained for, pursued with single-minded determination, and cried over when it didn't go her way, wasn't what she thought it would be. This was supposed to be the pinnacle of her career, everything was going well at the fertility rite, and
all she could feel was...bored. Let down. She realized now that the feeling had started well before the meeting at Pantheon.

  She realized that between the meeting at Pantheon and the summons to the fertility rite, she hadn't thought of the concubine handover at all. So many other things had distracted her since she'd received the assignment. Mac. Julie Wheeler's disappearance. Her sister, her nieces, and her mother. Hell, even her renovations seemed more compelling than yet another sex venue, another class of prostitutes, and another set of pimps.

  More than anything, she wanted the evening to be over. She was ready to move onto the next phase of her relationship with Mac. For the first time in her life, work didn't give her affirmation. Instead, work felt like an obligation.

  The light in the dim corridor hit Mac's eyes at just the right angle, and she caught a glimpse of his white eyeshine. She leaned in for another lingering kiss, and she felt the earth move. She broke the kiss and frowned with confusion when the sensation seemed to continue.

  "Mac?"

  Mac's eyes went dark and his brows furrowed, looking as confused as she. There was another sensation like the vibration of rolling thunder accompanied by the sharp scent of sulfur igniting wood, an overpowering scent like someone had just lit the world's biggest match.

  Chapter 34

  With the second explosion, Mac recognized the sound for what it was: a sonic bomb. The walls vibrated with a succession of shock waves. Diana's eyes blinked rapidly, then he watched her shake her head in confusion. The sonic explosions continued in relentless waves that would be felt, not heard by most humans.

  It could make some humans ill, and Diana appeared to be affected. He himself could barely detect the sound, but the security for this event were mostly lupines and coys, both of which had excellent hearing and would be able to locate the offending device.