San Francisco Covens: Crucible

by Manuel Tiger

  “W-Will you have me back?” I whispered.

  “I have never let you go, Henry.”

  I reached up and pulled him down to me, our lips meeting and becoming a searing kiss that flowed through me in rolling waves that replaced the coldness of hate with the warm rebirth of love that had never died between us.

  Chapter Eight

  We found some high end hotel that night, but it could have been a No Tell Motel for all I cared. I simply wanted to be back in Daman’s arms again, to feel as he had made me feel, as only he could make me feel again.

  The moment we stepped through the door of the room we were on each other, tearing away clothing, kicking off boots in stumbling steps that led us toward the bed and falling together on it.

  He kissed me till I was breathless and then began to trail his warm lips over my chin, along my neck and chest, paying attention to my nipples that he took between his lips and suckled on before releasing and continuing his journey down my body. When he took my cock into the wet, warm haven of his mouth I cried out and arched my back off the bed, my fingers burying themselves into his silken locks as his lips glided up and down before departing and venturing his skillful tongue between my legs.

  By the time he had prepared me I was a burning all over for him, needing him and he did not hesitate in letting me wait for it was clear by the look in his eyes that feasted upon me he was ready for this reunion as well.

  With a single thrust he was buried fully inside of me, drawing out of me a lustful moan as my arms and legs wrapped around him, holding onto him as he delved himself over and over into me, our moans rising in volume as each said the other’s name in between those loud moans, grunts and gasps. To anyone that might have heard us they may have thought an exorcism was occurring, or some orgy.

  I didn’t care. I had been without him for too long.

  We came together, and waited very little time to pass before we were at it again, needing each other as we had then, now again in the present.

  An hour later found us lying in an embrace, my head at rest on his shoulder, his arms secured around me.

  “Still tight as when we first met,” he said running his fingers through my hair. “I wasn’t too rough was I?” he asked craning his head toward me.

  “I was wondering if I was,” I said looking up at him. “I got pretty dominate there on the third time.”

  He grinned and rolled, placing me beneath him as he settled between my legs. “You think I cared?” he asked kissing me on the lips. “Dominate you is quite arousing,” he said brushing his nose against mine. “But you have always been arousing for me.”

  I ran my hands down his back and sighed contentedly. “I missed you,” I whispered looking into his eyes.

  “There’s not even a word made yet to describe how much I missed you,” he said kissing me softly. “Even if you were giving me attitude when we met at the museum.”

  “We were in a life or death situation,” I reminded him. “Plus? I didn’t know the truth till tonight for why you did what you did. I was angry at you and glad to see you at the same time even if I hid it.”

  “You didn’t hide how much you hated me,” he said. “But you had a right to hate me. I regret my words that night ten years ago,” he said. “But I had to sell it, to make you believe that…,” he trailed off shaking his head. “I should have killed him and been done with it.”

  “And we would have been on the run if you had,” I said brushing damp locks of hair off his forehead. “That wouldn’t have been a life as you said.”

  He nodded and brought a hand up to trace my lips with a finger. “I was never in any way, shape or form married or even engaged to Bryan,” he said. “He kept pressing for such to occur, once I nearly agreed but then I found him sleeping with one of his acolytes. He never brought it up but began to wear a ring on that finger to replace the one he wore that allowed him to walk in daylight. It was charmed like the other had been,” he said tracing his finger along my collarbone. “I complained the first time and it led to a headache inducing fight. After that I said nothing and let him spin whatever he wanted.”

  “I didn’t want to believe his words that day when he visited me in the office, when he told me that,” I said. “Yet the old me rose up and accepted that I was never meant to have happiness.”

  “Well, I can promise you now from this day onward? You will have happiness, you will know you are worthy of being loved and most importantly,” he said pushing into me slowly, so skillful he was that I had not felt his hands slip under my ass and lift me up. The action drew a gasp out of me and a tightening of my arms and legs around him. “You are mine and only mine.”

  “All I ever wanted,” I whispered as we stopped speaking and gave into kisses, into the union of our bodies as one.

  II

  We woke an hour before sunrise and showered together, Daman reminding me that we had to meet back up with Carmen and her group instead of lingering in the shower as we both wanted to do.

  As we looked through our clothes there wasn’t much left of our shirts to consider them shirts in any meaning of that word. So we put on our leather jackets, zipped them up and headed out into the pre-dawn hours of the city and found a clothing store that was open.

  Coincidentally, it sold uniforms for nurses, police, and other civil service jobs. Since we were going into what amounted to a siege, I selected a pair of tan cargo military style pants, a light gray shirt and a simple dark gray hooded light jacket. I completed the outfit with a pair of black combat boots and that of a medium sized hiker’s backpack which I figured would come in handy when we retrieved the stone, plus, it pulled the outfit together.

  I waited outside for Daman who emerged a few minutes later and we both did a slow double take of the other. Despite having dressed in different dressing rooms and one being ahead of the other we had managed to yet again dress alike.

  “We should really stop dressing alike,” I said with a grin as he walked up to me and placed a baseball cap similar to his on top of my head. “Someone might think that we’re one of those couples that sickeningly dress alike to be cute.”

  “And?” he said adjusting my cap and cupping my face between his hands. “At least it’s nothing garish and stuck in the early aughts of gay club nightlife attire. Don’t get me wrong for I have a few metallic shirts hanging up in my closet. But I know that they are to remain there unseen forever.”

  I rolled my eyes and he kissed me softly.

  “Come on,” he said taking my hand and leading me in the familiar direction I had come last night. “Carmen should be rousing the troops and getting ready to leave.”

  “This is really happening then isn’t it?” I said as he looked at me. “X many hours from now we’re going to be attacking some powerful witch that decimated a museum and wants to bring some dark evil force into the world.”

  He squeezed my hand gently. “We’ll succeed.”

  “Have you done anything like this before?”

  “I’ve had a few adventures in the last couple years,” he said. “Some weird type Indiana Jones shit at times and just some really, really crazy shit where outcomes weren’t so favorable. But I’m still here in one piece. So yeah, I think we’ll do fine.”

  I squeezed his hand back. “I just want to get Heather and Scott back safe and sound,” I said. “And I hate how weak I was last night in wanting to end myself when I’m here to save them.”

  “Hey, none of that now,” he said stopping and turning to face me. “Everything just came to a head last night, reached its breaking point. You reached a breaking point,” he said resting his hand on my chest. “But we’re not there anymore. We’re here.”

  “I’m just glad I have you back,” I said as he smiled.

  “You do compliment me nicely,” he said smugly.

  I smirked, turned my head and playfully bit the inside of his palm. He made a face and pulled me closer.

  “Careful Mister Sullivan,” he said looking into my eyes.
“That is considered an invite to find the nearest hotel and have my wicked ways with you.”

  “Maybe after all this is over? We can take a vacation somewhere so you can.”

  “I would like that,” he said kissing me on the nose. “Speaking of biting though,” he looked around and we stepped into the doorway of a store that had yet to open. “You need to feed.”

  “Here and now?”

  “There’s hardly anyone around, and even if there was? I never held back in displaying my love for you back then and not about to do so now.”

  “We did shock a few blue hairs back then,” I said as he grinned. “But this uh, is biting and sucking in public.”

  “You make it sound so naughty,” he said tugging the collar of his jacket and shirt back. “I like it.” He grinned then drew his finger down the side of his neck opening a line of skin. Blood bloomed up from it and before I knew it he was pressing on the back of my head, directing me to the area.

  I fastened my mouth firmly, drawing, pulling his blood into my mouth as he wrapped his arms around me softly moaning, our bodies melding together. His blood was rich and hot, so different from those I took blood from. It seemed sweeter, intoxicating, rushing through my body in a heated humming wave.

  When I felt like I had taken enough I pulled back, feeling heady and excited. One look at him told me he was clearly aroused.

  “Y-Yes,” he whispered latching onto my shirt, pulling me back to him. “We are so taking a vacation to some far off place where no one can bother us. I have missed you drinking from me,” he said kissing me softly. “Feel better?”

  “Like I could leap a train and fly over a bullet,” I said. “Or something like that.”

  “Good,” he said as we stepped back onto the sidewalk and continued walking. “I should mention that before I came looking for you last night? Sophia told me that they found out why the spirits are in retreat.”

  “Why are they?” I asked looking around us, but there was only the living I could see.

  “It seems whatever is going on has scared them enough to have them remain on the other side of The Veil, to stay in the realm of spirits.”

  “That can’t translate to anything good at all.”

  “No, which is why we have to make sure we stop Aadya once and for all.”

  I couldn’t agree more.

  We arrived back at that abandoned building and retook the passageway. We emerged behind the structure and walked around it to see a line of nondescript vehicles lined down the avenue between the structures. People were making last minute checks on items or storing bags into the back of the trucks or into the car trunks.

  “There you two are,” Sophia said coming over to us. She was dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans and boots. On her head she wore a cap turned at a slight angle. “Was just about to send someone to find you two and – ” she paused and looked us both over, studying us for a few quiet seconds. “I’m picking up a strong vibe of love and arousal from the two of you,” she said with a grin. “Nice to know that you two made up over whatever you were fighting about.”

  “Me too,” Daman said bringing my hand up and kissing my fingers. “Which vehicle are we to be in?”

  “The lead vehicle with Carmen and me,” she said turning around. We followed after her as I looked around for Eve and the other witches. “The witches that came with you will be in the vehicle following us.”

  “Are they in a better mood?” I asked.

  “Still silent and standoffish. The lead one mostly stayed on her cell phone all night. And when I brought them breakfast? They just grunted in reply,” Sophia said shrugging. “Figure that’s just them twenty-four-seven though.”

  “Keep a close eye on them when we arrive to the island,” Daman said. “Something about them sets me wrong.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Sophia said. “I tried talking to them as we started to load up? But none were very verbal and short with me when they did speak.”

  “Doesn’t make sense,” I said. “The witch council of San Francisco has made strides in trying to unite all the supernatural communities of San Francisco together, to keep the peace and end old feuds. Then they send a group that seems to be the complete opposite of all that.”

  “Maybe they didn’t get the memo?” Daman said with a shrug. “Either way, I think no matter what the course of action is that Carmen has decided on? They may have their own course of action that they will be following that could unbalance things.”

  “Noted,” Sophia said. “I will ask a few others to keep a close eye on them as well.”

  “Is everyone ready?”

  We all looked up to see Carmen standing in the bed of the lead truck calling for attention from everyone. She was dressed similar to how she was yesterday only this time she was wearing a denim jacket and a baseball cap with a pair of sunglasses perched on the brim.

  “Today we are going into war with La Bruja! She has led one attack after another upon us in recent weeks, decimating our brothers and sisters! Even wiping out those that dwell in the depths of the forests and jungles that wanted to be left alone! You survivors that arrived here to our base have told us enough horrific stories, have spoken of the cruelty that her forces have brought down on innocents! Why? Only La Bruja’s cold heart knows why she does this! But it ends today!

  “In her bloody crucible she has brought us together to create one of our own! That is the unification of all the races she has attacked coming together to see her end!

  “We have lost enough loved ones! Have seen enough of our loved ones taken prisoner by her! Let us show her what her actions have done! That she has created a fire that will burn her kingdom to ashes!”

  She went quiet then lifted a fist into the air.

  “Los Guerreros Del Bosque! Los Guerreros Del Bosque!” she shouted, punching the air with her fist each time she said the name of the group. “Los Guerreros Del Bosque!”

  The rallying cry was picked up by the others, filling the vastness of the cavern and echoing through the ancient complex. They may have been a small group, but their voices carried power in it, a strength I could feel.

  “Have no other groups joined since yesterday?” Daman whispered to Sophia. “Surely the elders even at this hour would wish to allow their own to join this cause.”

  “No, they remain quiet and in hiding,” she replied.

  “No other groups at all?” I asked.

  “The supernatural populace around Mazatlán and within the borders of her so called kingdom live in fear of rising up against her,” she replied. “After what happened in these last few weeks? They have good reason to fear her, but still,” she sighed. “We do wish the ones that remain unled by someone she placed in control would join us, yet we have even faced resistance there as well.”

  “How so?” Daman asked.

  “It is not like we have not tried to recruit others to the cause. Carmen and her brother have been working to increase the number of rebels after the last round of attacks. But now most just want to be left alone or have no part in going against La Bruja or just submit to her and hope for the best.”

  “That’s no way to live,” I said.

  “No, it isn’t, yet it is what it is for now,” she said. “Until La Bruja is effectively taken down? Then we won’t have anyone joining other than those that have family that have been killed by her forces or taken by them.”

  I sighed and looked around. “Wasn’t there a group of witches that were coming with us besides the grumpy ones that we brought?”

  Sophia threw a quick glance around. When she spoke it was in a low whisper. “We have sent them ahead late last night. They should be in position by the time we arrive.”

  “Was there a reason for doing such?” Daman inquired.

  “We fear there may be spies among our group of soldiers.”

  This was starting to put a downer on my mood and make me less hopeful of the outcome of this assault. But I said nothing as Daman opened the back door of
the truck and I climbed in as he followed after.

  Once we were all settled in Carmen climbed in with Sophia taking the passenger seat and we began to roll out.

  “Wait!” I said as she started to drive toward what looked like a solid rock face in front of us. “How are we getting out of here?”

  “Just watch,” Carmen said with a grin. She stepped on the gas and we shot toward the rock wall. I quickly threw up my hands expecting the impact at any moment, but we simply passed through the wall. It was a mirage, an illusion.

  “How?” I said lowering my arms as Daman chuckled beside me.

  “Magic,” Sophia said. “Not of our making, but left behind by the priests.”

  I nodded as we traveled through a tunnel that looked as if several army tanks could be driven through it side by side. The walls were smooth from centuries of weathering, nearly having a polished look to them. Here and there I spotted stone panels depicting scenes from Aztec mythology.

  Before I knew it we were out of the tunnel and taking a dirt road down a steep incline before the ground leveled out and we joined up with a highway.

  Around us was an unending stretch of desert with scrub bushes and stunted trees, yet here and there in the distance I could see what looked like lush fertile farm fields that seemed out of place. It was like they were just randomly dropped down into the middle of the desert.

  “We shall be taking a back road you could say,” Sophia said. “Then we will start following an old coastal road that will take us directly to Carmen’s brother Luis.”

  I nodded and sat back, watching the scenery fly by, hoping that this mission was a success.

  III

  It was nearing evening by the time we arrived at a rather ramshackle coastal village. There were a few homes and stores, but not much else to make it stand out. Sophia had told me that the village was founded in the late nineteen thirties and had gone unchecked by Aadya and her forces.

  I could see why. Surface appearance alone the village was not much to look at and that no doubt worked in its favor.