Myth Protector Boxset

by Jamie Hawke

  “I’m impressed.” Elisa stared at her in awe, then turned to Sekhmet. “And you’re sure the barrier will hold Isis and… him?”

  “I can answer regarding her, but he… let’s hope he’s not wakened.” Sekhmet turned to eye the scepter in Red’s hand. “You were saying, about the scepter? I’ll have it back… whatever the cost.”

  “The cost,” Red replied, “is that you two help us track down a newly-reborn Legend. King Arthur, to be exact. And Morganna—though she’s been absorbed by Riak.”

  “Mother of Shades,” Sekhmet said, sharing a look with the cat. “Yes, we can help you track these two, for the price named.”

  “How do we know she’ll stick to her word?” I asked.

  “She’s bound to it, for one,” Hekate said.

  At my questioning look, Elisa explained, “There are certain deals you can’t undo without paying a great price. In this case, she’d be impacted by the darkness. It would change her—and while some people can handle a bit of darkness, I have a feeling she’s had enough in her life.”

  The cat curled up around my leg, looking up at me and purring.

  “I know,” Sekhmet said to the cat, then turned to me. “They’re all correct. Being down here as long as I have, and close to… to what was once my lover but is now the farthest thing from love I can think of, has changed me. I have no interest in joining the fight again, but I will not abide in the shadows.”

  “You’ll help us track these two down, then be free to go,” Red said. “Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” Sekhmet said.

  Red stepped forward, shook the goddess’s hand, and handed over the scepter. Sekhmet sheathed her blades at her back, took the scepter, and held it close as if reunited with a long-lost lover.

  “It has a power?” I asked.

  “Because of it, I’m able to go with you.” Sekhmet lifted the scepter and, as she did so, a shimmer of light passed over her face, transforming her so that—while she still had lioness-like features—she had a woman’s face now, and a damn beautiful one at that. Her jade-green eyes stood out even more with the way they were framed by dark eyelashes. This, combined with her smooth skin with high cheekbones made her the epitome of Egyptian goddess.

  But she didn’t stop there. Turning to the hallway, she stretched out her arm with the scepter as if it was an extension of her arm, and a ray of light shot out, filling the hall until it was as if glowing stones paved the way.

  “If anyone makes it past our little army out there, courtesy of the witch, well…” Sekhmet grinned, indicating her handiwork. “They’ll have to find a way through this, and that would take some powerful magic indeed.” She paused for a moment, glancing over. “You don’t happen to have my sun disk, do you?”

  “Not yet,” Elisa said with a wink.

  At the ‘yet’ part of it, Sekhmet looked very intrigued.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Now,” Sekhmet replied, turning to me and holding out an arm for the cat to leap into. “We track down some evil reborn Legends.”

  The sparkle in her eyes told me that, as much as she’d been against fighting in this war, the thrill of the fight was alive within her.

  “And put on your shirt already,” she added with a laugh. “I’m sure your ladies would hate if I tore off the rest of your clothes and took you right here, but I’m damn close to doing so. Damn close.”

  She turned and started walking, leaving the rest of us to stand there awkwardly for a moment, processing that.

  “Oh, right,” I stammered as I tugged my shirt out of my pocket and dressed as I ran to catch up.

  36

  Our first goal was to get out of Egypt, but only when we had a destination. Our first step on that journey was to find a town with a railway station and that meant trudging across the desert at night, freezing if not for the warmth of the light Sekhmet cast upon us with her scepter. If she had the disc, she told us, we wouldn’t even notice the chill on the air.

  “Before, when you said going dark was like being in a dream,” Sharon started walking closer to me, eyes looking lost in thought, “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t think that’s right. Not for those of us who’ve been there longer, or those who don’t know the difference. Some were born into darkness and have never left it. Imagine, if you will, being born into a ‘dream’ and not knowing what reality is. For many, it’s like that—they don’t know what’s considered just, or right, and the idea of doing anything other than what you’ve been raised to do seems impossible.”

  “I get it,” Pucky said, walking up on the other side of Sharon and wrapping an arm around her, too. “My sister fell to the darkness. I’ve tasted it, and come back.”

  “Will…” I started. “I mean, do you think Riak’s able to?”

  “Come back?” Pucky stared out at the night, at the silhouette of Hekate where she walked slightly ahead of us. “I think she could, but don’t think she will. The problem is…” She glanced over to Hekate, and then Sharon. “It’s tough, once you’ve crossed certain lines.”

  Sharon cleared her throat, Hekate glancing back with a look of contempt.

  “What, you want a list of our transgressions?” the witch asked. “Because fuck that.”

  “Of course not,” Pucky replied. “I was simply—”

  “Simply judging us for the wrongs of our past,” Sharon said, but then held up a hand to Hekate. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve done what we’ve done, regardless of how we were externally influenced. And be honest, at times you embraced the darkness—you more than most, perhaps.”

  Hekate shrugged, looking smug in the thought, and then nodded. “I’m a murderous bitch, but now I’m your murderous bitch. Doing ‘horrible things’ in a war is only horrible when done by or for the other side, no?”

  “No,” I said, finally taking a stance. “Someone in war can torture, and it’s wrong. You can attack innocents, kill children to scare off your enemy. Wrong. Killing someone when taking them prisoner is an option? Wrong, ninety-nine percent of the time. But you’re right, you’re on our side now, and my thought on that is it’s awesome—but only if you’re going to do it the right way.”

  Hekate looked affronted, but Sharon was smiling, as if I’d just said the most brilliant thing ever. I worried about Chris going off with the witch, but figured Elisa knew what she was doing if she was pairing them up. Or hoped she did, anyway.

  We kept walking, changing the discussion to more about strategy, how we were going to use our various skills to attack when we found Morganna, and how Arthur might have more vampires at the ready to face us. I asked about garlic and stakes and all that, expecting them to laugh, but Elisa simply nodded and said, “They’re in stories because we put them there. We have to prepare you Normies somehow.”

  It was almost morning by the time we reached a small town with a train station, and by then I was more than ready to pass out. The village wasn’t more than a few dozen buildings, most looking like shacks and some with gates made straight out of the ground. A couple of people gave us weird looks but kept walking, and I remembered that Red’s cloak worked to keep us seen in the way we wanted to be seen, and Pucky’s horns weren’t visible to others. It was likely a safe assumption that they weren’t seeing Hekate as a witch or Sekhmet as their lion goddess or whatever she was either.

  Sekhmet explained that Bastet would need time to do her tracking ritual. Luckily we found someone who, on seeing who wanted it, agreed to rent out their house to us. They vacated and went to stay with a neighbor while we took possession. Once inside I took a few steps, appreciating the simplicity of the mud-brick design, then saw a bed, dropped onto it, and promptly passed out.

  It was still very early morning when I woke, the moon still in the sky though moving closer to the dunes in the distance, stars sparkling overhead like I’d never seen them in my life. A warm breeze ruffled my hair and I stood there for a moment, enjoying it, before walking on. Two more steps a
nd I had to pause to stretch my back. The pile of blankets and hard pillow weren’t exactly what I was used to, but at least we’d had a bed instead of the train car I’d expected when we reached here.

  I got up and went out to the courtyard where I knew Bastet had been working, but found her still at it, moving about as Sekhmet performed a sort of meditation, sitting still as could be, her face that of a lioness again and glowing slightly. Patterns had formed on the ground, indicating the level of magic this whole situation took to accomplish.

  Not wanting to interrupt, I made my way back toward the bed but noticed Pucky standing in the hall by the front step. As I approached, I saw that she was watching a form on the steps.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered, stepping up next to her.

  She looked startled to see me but then smiled, took my hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It’s Sharon. She’s been sitting out there for over an hour. I’m… worried.”

  I frowned, then moved up next to Sharon and sat, Pucky coming a moment later and sitting on the opposite side.

  For a moment, we all sat in silence until finally, without even a sign of having seen us, Sharon said, “I’ve just been staring at the stars—lights in the darkness, right? Like me, now… like us.”

  “Wouldn’t you say it’s more like the Legends are small patches of darkness in a world of light?” I asked.

  “Maybe….” She finally looked at me, pensively, then turned to Pucky and nodded before looking back out at the sky. “Depends where you put humanity on that scale, I suppose.”

  “That’s the difference between Myths and Legends,” Pucky explained, upon seeing my confusion. “Legends see humans as a parasite on this earth, or as a disease that needs to be eradicated.”

  “And you don’t?” Sharon countered.

  “We tend to think of them as more like self-destructive cute little bunnies.”

  “Excuse me?” I scoffed, not sure if she was joking.

  “You can’t deny that humanity is responsible for putting our planet on this trajectory toward ruin,” Pucky said. “Myths see it as our role to protect humanity from itself… and from the Legends.”

  Sharon sighed. “I’m trying to come around to that way of thinking… but it’ll take time. You’re hunted by agents so long… your worldview becomes jaded.”

  “You’re not alone there,” Pucky said.

  “Yeah?” Sharon turned to her, then me, a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. “Without you two, I don’t know what I’d do. Thank you.”

  She turned back to the stars, resting her forearms on her legs.

  Pucky leaned back, making eye contact with me, and gave me a nod. I shrugged, not sure what that was for. She motioned this time with a nod toward Sharon, still leaning forward between us. I frowned, not getting it, so this time Pucky puckered her lips, then started moving her tongue as if frenching someone.

  She wanted me to make a move on Sharon! I blinked, confused, but she took my hand and started rubbing it up and down Sharon’s back. A moan escaped Sharon, and when she looked up at me, it was clear her mind was in the same place as Pucky’s.

  Fuck it.

  I leaned in, gently caressing the side of her face with my hand, and ran my lips across hers. It was a brief kiss, a tender one to test her, to see if she was ready. When I pulled away, she came back in for more—definitely ready. Now her lips were pressed firmly to mine, her tongue tasting me and teasing, having fun with it.

  When she came up for a breath and smiled, she went rigid as Pucky’s hand found her chin, guiding her back around, and then Pucky leaned in and kissed her too.

  Sharon didn’t react at first. Her back straight, her hands frozen where they’d been on me. But then she started moving her head, one hand on my leg, the other accepting Pucky’s, the two moving their fingers along each other’s as if making love.

  I had to admit, it was hot.

  “This is an every time thing?” Red said, and we turned to see her standing there, cloak whipping about in the wind. “Her?”

  Sharon pulled away, then stood to leave.

  “Wait,” I said, and stood too. “You certainly didn’t have a problem last time.”

  “My… lust took over,” Red countered.

  “What is it you have against her? I mean, aside from your fairy tale history—”

  “Which isn’t really even history,” Pucky pointed out, leaning back and still breathing heavily. “Don’t forget, Sharon’s not the original.”

  Red frowned. “Of course.”

  “So…?” Pucky persisted, and Sharon was looking at Red now, curious.

  “I… I’m not sure,” Red admitted. “Maybe it’s just that—maybe it’s an association with the original. I don’t know—but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  Pucky stood, shrugged, and walked over to Sharon, taking her hand and placing it over her heart, just at the edge of the top of her breast, exposed by a low-cut shirt. “But you can give her a chance.”

  Red arched an eyebrow, then turned to me, waiting to see what I would do.

  “Me?” I asked, then glanced between her and Pucky. “We have our team. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that, and if you don’t feel comfortable here… Well, I think it’s worth having a conversation about.”

  “A conversation?” Red’s frown was replaced with worry. She took a step to leave, looked back at Sharon’s hand resting awkwardly at the top of Pucky’s breast, and said, “Well, if Sharon thinks she’s ready now, and we’re going to truly indoctrinate her, don’t you think we should… I don’t know, do it somewhere more formal?”

  “And invite Elisa,” Pucky said, wrapping her arms around Sharon’s waist and pulling her close. “Yeah?”

  Now Sharon was starting to look slightly overwhelmed, but she nodded. “If you all say so. I mean, I’d hate to impose.”

  I laughed, totally not having expected it to take this turn, but not fighting it. We got up and went inside, where we found Elisa waiting for us. It was interesting to see that Sharon turned to Red, already expecting it to be like last time. The latter blushed, then smiled, and stepped forward to start kissing her, the two running their hands over each other. This was a team, and I liked the way our teamwork and sharing was going. If all the talk of getting down hadn’t already gotten me hard, this would’ve.

  When Sharon started taking control, the first to slide a hand up Red’s skirt, it got even more interesting. But I wasn’t here just for a show, so I turned to see Pucky and Elisa both standing there, watching me with seductive grins, waiting.

  I wasn’t sure where to start, still thinking I might offend them if I went with one over the other, so I simply stepped forward. They stepped closer, pulling me between them, both kissing my neck, undressing me, caressing my chest, my ass, my cock.

  We were all naked then. Pucky’s lips found mine, her tongue teasing me, and then it was Elisa, and then they were kissing each other, hands still on me.

  “You like watching?” Elisa asked, pulling away from the kiss to nibble at my ear.

  At my noncommittal shrug, she guided a nervous-looking Pucky over to the bed, had her kneel, and then laid back with her head between Pucky’s legs so that she could eat her out, legs spread to show exactly what she had in mind.

  I took up position and teased the edge of Elisa’s pussy with my cock, Pucky breathing deep and running her hands along first her breasts, then down to Elisa’s as she watched me.

  Elisa’s tongue was flicking out, then lapping at Pucky, and the latter was having a hard time staying up, reaching for the wall and moaning. Not wasting any more time, I took my cock by the base and guided it in. Elisa was warm, moist, and when I saw that all three of the women were watching me while touching themselves and each other, it gave me another boost of arousal.

  Fucking Elisa this time had a whole new feel to it. When Pucky and I leaned forward to kiss while it was happening, her biting me as pleasure hit her, I was on fire. Literally, I noticed�
��blue flames burning from my tattoos.

  Pucky yelped, falling back off of Elisa’s face, and even I started, so that I slipped out. All three women were staring at me.

  But it didn’t hurt, and now that I’d stopped, so did the flames.

  “What the hell…?” Red said, stepping close. She pushed me onto the bed, considered me a moment, and then grabbed my cock, stroking it. I leaned back, breathing out a low moan, and heard her muttering something under her breath. When I looked, the flames were back and she had a hand held up, turning circles of green light in the air.

  My eyes must have betrayed my fright, because she let the green light go and smiled. “It’s perfectly safe, and…” Taking her free hand, she moved her fingers through the small blue flames, a tremor passing through her body. “As I expected. It’s not fire—more like the Eternal Flame, an old fire that holds many stories.”

  Elisa approached now, running her hands along me, enjoying it now too. “He’s connecting with the spirit realm, through… sex?”

  They all looked at Pucky, who had her hands wrapped around her midsection, still looking at me with worry. At their stares, though, she approached, hesitantly. Gently moving Red’s hand aside, Pucky pulled me on top of her, our flesh held together, and her eyes took on the blue of the flame, glowing the same way it did.

  “Enter me,” she said, and her voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere else. I did, and the flames engulfed the two of us with such ferocity that the others leaped back and Sharon cursed. All of that came second, though, because suddenly Pucky and I were rocking in and out of our world with each thrust, the flames flaring as our surroundings were replaced by vast oceans, waves taking us and crashing against our flesh—all of it warmth and pleasure. We were floating as the fire turned to water, then we were in the sky, the winds caressing us as we made love, and I grasped her by the back of the head, pulling her into a passionate kiss that I never wanted to end.

  When she came, she reached out to her left and right, and suddenly Elisa and Red were there, a moment later Sharon appearing, too, and while they all looked scared and overwhelmed, they soon joined in. If I’d been high on ecstasy and acid in the middle of a whorehouse, I imagine it would’ve been similar to this experience, except this was real and it didn’t have that out-of-body, hallucination effect drugs caused (so I hear). This was real, and I was going from one to the other, pulling them close, feeling myself inside them as if we were one, and then experiencing their orgasms along with them.