"Mister Graves," he said cheerfully, "so good to see you again."
I rose and placed the book carefully back on its table before we exchanged grips. He motioned for me to resume my seat.
"So, what brings you by?" he asked, "I'm afraid I'm still somewhat at an end, having only just returned home today."
"Apologies for bothering you so soon," I said, keeping my expression neutral, "But I felt that we should have a little chat before you resume your activities."
"Oh? And what would this 'chat' be regarding?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, utterly relaxed, confident in his surroundings.
"Your intentions towards me and mine."
"Oh, I expect that you'll all be quite dead or dying within the next month," he said cheerfully.
My careful expression froze. That had degenerated a lot faster than I'd thought it would.
"Really?" I said, my voice now low and ugly, if he noticed, he didn't show it.
"Oh yes. After I'm done with you here, I'm going to track down that whore Tethys and I'm going to skin her alive. Very slowly, in fact. I'll find all those school friends of yours and do worse to them. The SCA bastards will be next, I'll take their jobs and then their families, that'll be fun. Your parents, certainly something must be arranged for them. I have a whole feast of delights waiting for everyone you love, Graves."
"You wouldn't dare," I hissed back, "You don't have the pull to get away with that!"
"Really?" he said, standing up with an awful grin on his face, "I haven't been idle in the Farm all this time. I've been planning, carefully and thoroughly, for this day. I was expecting to have to find you, but I'm glad it happened like this. Maybe I'll make Jocelyn finish you off. She has been very disappointing of late; time I fixed that, I think."
He called his powers, created a Telepathic probe of awesome power, and slammed it into my mind.
Well... he tried, anyway.
You see, I hadn't been idle these years, either. I'd been preparing for this day, as well. And that hour I'd spent in my garden was the result.
The Spells were subtle, as they had to be for Faust; a trap of rather delicious cunning, though I say so myself, one designed into the very cracks of my mental landscape, hidden where Faust couldn't spot them. And he didn't, not until he was far too late to do anything about it. There were three elements; the first was a sort of mental bear trap that locked his probe in place. The second part froze it in a kind of Magical stasis while the third component, the actual attack spell, darted up his own probe and into his brain.
Technically, the attack was known as a Neural Shredder, and it was a very ugly weapon. They were to mental architecture what a wood-chipper is to pudding.
My trap ripped right into the parts of his mind containing his Magical knowledge and control, and tore them all to pieces. Hundreds of years of knowledge and experience vanished in an instant. He gurgled briefly, blood flowing from his nose, and then he slid gently to the ground.
He just knelt there for a long moment before he started making this low, keening, mewling sound, like a wounded animal. No doubt he was reaching for things that simply weren't there anymore, his mind so scrambled by the sudden loss that it couldn't cope, not yet.
It took him a while to recover something resembling coherent thought, and I didn't waste that time, carefully crafting another Spell that I dropped into his head as he was starting to come out of his fugue. He was weeping by that point, tears streaming down his face and soaking his shirt along with the blood. I might have felt a little guilty if it weren't for the threats he'd just made. Instead, I was just vindictively satisfied. Besides, I'd only set the trap, he'd walked into it while trying to do something similar to me, let's not forget.
"What did you do to me?!" he shrieked, a most unmanly sound. At least he could talk again, I'd been a little worried about that. Shredders could do incidental damage on their way to their targets. I'd tried to be selective, but minds were convoluted, tricky things, and mistakes were possible.
"Well, not to be pedantic, but if you hadn't tried to attack me, nothing would have happened at all, so really you did it to yourself," I said smugly, crossing my legs; I hadn't even bothered to leave my seat thought all of that. I called my Shadows and yanked him back into his chair, none too gently, either, making him moan.
He sat there, glaring at me, his eyes wide with fear and loathing.
"So, Faust, as you've no doubt surmised, I've taken your Magical knowledge, you'll have to start all over again, not that it matters, because I've also installed a pair of mental blocks."
He fumed, his face going red and enraged, but he realised the precarious nature of his position and stayed quiet.
"The first will cause you quite a whopping amount of pain if you use your Magic. I invite you to confirm that at your leisure, if you can figure out a way to use it. The second is called an Asimov. It ensures that you will not be able to harm a sentient creature, or allow harm to come to one."
"How dare yo-"
"Quiet," I said icily. He looked like he was about to keep talking anyway, but something he saw in my eyes shut him up.
"I intend for this to be the end of things between us. After so many years abusing your powers on man and woman alike, I'd imagine this fate to be something of a personal hell for you, and that's enough for me."
I leaned forward, letting my eyes bore into his.
"However, I must caution you, that if you should find some oblique way to harm me and mine, then I shall come back. What happened today was the result of an hour's planning. Imagine what I could do with two, or a day," I said calmly.
He let out an incomprehensible sound of defeated anguish. Two more guards came in, presumably summoned by the noise, and both had Spelleaters this time. I dropped them both without even looking, something which terrified Faust even further. Powerless and defeated, he dropped to the ground again and cowered, shaking in fear and loss, rocking back and forth.
Served him right. The man had abused his powers and hundreds of people for centuries. This was a small piece of comeuppance, and less than he deserved.
"Oh, and if anything should happen to Jocelyn while she's under your care, the same applies, do I make myself clear?"
He shook his head.
"I'll need a verbal response," I said evenly.
"I understand," he whispered, his arms wrapped around his body, his expression horrible and exhausted.
He looked suicidal. That was funny because he came under the heading of 'sentient being', and he'd find ending his own life just as impossible as ending someone else's, I'd made sure of that.
"Good," I said before slapping his shoulder, "cheer up, old sport. It could have been worse. You're still rich, and no doubt you still have some political power. I'd use both of those things wisely if I were you, we wouldn't want me to have to come and speak to you again, would we? No? No."
He started crying again.
I walked away, happy as a clam.
Later I would worry that what I'd done had hardly been the work of a good person. I'd tortured a man, ripped his mind apart, and imposed my will over his, denying him even the release of a swift death.
But what really worried me, what made me concerned for just who I was starting to become, was the fact that I didn't even slightly regret it.
Chapter 8
I popped out of a Shadow in my downstairs loo and whistled a happy tune as I walked into the front hall, where I found Tethys chatting with Cassandra.
"Well?" Tethys asked, looking me over, "What happened?"
I reached into my breast pocket and pulled out a silver coloured Dictaphone.
"For you," I said, handing it to her, "pour some wine, find a comfy spot and enjoy."
She licked her lips, "What is it?" she asked in a whisper.
"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."
"I'm using your room," she said and darted into the kitchen, emerging a few minutes later with a dark bottle, a box of chocolates and Kandi, w
ho gave me a wave as Tethys jogged along with the little redhead over her shoulder.
I smiled and turned to Cassandra, who looked... 'miffed' isn't a strong enough word.
"What did you do?" she asked with her arms crossed.
"A little bit of personal catharsis that will keep me chuckling for years to come," I said with a grin. We made our way to the library, where I told her what I'd done.
"So... breaking and entering, Magical and Telepathic assault, and on nobility, no less, have I missed anything?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"It was really, really fun?" I replied.
"God damn it, Matty! I told you not to start a war!"
"Did you hear the whole 'kill everyone I love' part of my story?"
She subsided, muttering, but seemed to relax. And then she grinned.
"Well, I suppose that it's not so bad. What did you give Tethys?"
"I've taken to recording important conversations lately," I said, with a smile.
"Where is he?!" I heard Tethys shout to someone. I heard a muttered reply and the door burst open.
She'd gone full Succubus, except that she wasn't showing her wings; her skin was ivory-white, her forearms and calves black with bone-hard flesh, her horns and tail in evidence. She was stripped to her bright red underwear, and that was in disarray. She was sweaty and breathing hard, growling low in her throat, her normally violet eyes were black and locked on mine.
"You magnificent man... Cassie, you don't want to see this," Tethys rasped, which provided Cassandra with barely a second's warning before the Succubus was on me and had tossed me onto the biggest sofa in the room. She hopped on, straddling my hips.
I wasn't really sure what to expect. She was hot to the touch and trembling, her canines were longer and sharp. She grabbed my hands and shoved them over my head before her head came down and she fastened her lips to mine.
"Bloody hell, I really don't need to see that!" Cassandra said, darting for the door and shutting it behind her.
The kiss lengthened and deepened, Tethys' whole body pressed up against mine. She let go of my hands and let her own wander over my head and chest. Mine went for her back and hair.
She sat back a little, her eyes looking deep into mine. She smiled and kissed me again, gentler this time. Her eyes shifted back to lovely violet and I saw tears in them as she cupped my face.
"You keep impressing me, Love," she whispered.
"I do my best."
We just laid there like that for a long moment, looking at each other. And in that moment, something... shifted. A gentle thing, really, just a little poke, where lust started to turn into something deeper, something far better. We'd loved one another for a long time, but it was separate to things like this, something more akin to a familial bond. But in that moment, something else started to happen between us.
Naturally, Tethys being Tethys, she panicked.
It only occurred to me much later, but the simple problem was that Tethys had a few... problems with intimacy. In fact, if you opened a dictionary, and looked up 'Abandonment and Intimacy Issues', you'd see a little picture of Tethys right next to the text. She had fallen in love exactly once in her long life. A Sorceress, naturally (Tethys did rather have a type), and she'd died, leaving my friend so hurt that she'd spent the next two hundred years trying to hump the pain away.
Naturally, when she felt herself start to go that way again, she tensed up and bolted for the door like a chicken with a firecracker attached to its tail-feathers, leaving me in rather a confused, randy heap.
When I went after her, I found her door locked and a stern, "Go away," as the only reply to my knock.
I didn't know what else to do, so I did as I was asked. I didn't go back to University, though. There was no way in hell I was leaving before this was sorted, education be damned.
I woke up early the next morning when Tethys dropped into bed next to me. I was tired, not having slept very well, but I woke up quickly once I realised who it was. She wore her silk pyjamas, and her hair was in a loose tail. It was a good look for her, relaxed and genuine.
"Morning," I said, not wanting to scare her off again.
"Morning," she muttered, shuffling in a little closer to me, tucking herself in under my arm.
"Want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Since when have I ever been pushy?"
She chuckled and wrapped an arm around my chest.
"Sorry," she said, "I... I'm sorry."
"Good grief, what for?"
"For... for just running off like that. It was rude, you must be thinking that I hate you or something."
"Yes, because yesterday was the day my brain fell out. Give me a little credit, Tethys."
She looked up at me again and smiled sweetly.
"It just hit me so hard, is all. I hadn't looked at anyone like that since... since my Lucy died. It felt... wonderful, and then I felt confused and so guilty because I was thinking about her when I was with you, and I was with you when I was supposed to be with her..."
"You're very complicated, aren't you?"
She snorted and nuzzled herself in under my chin.
"I can't do it Matty. I can't go through that again, I'm sorry."
I kissed the top of her head very gently.
"Why are you still apologising? Do you really think I'd hold anything like this against you? I love you, dummy; do you think I'd ever want you to do anything that hurt you this much?"
A tear trickled from her eye and she cuffed it away.
"I love you too."
"Well, that's more than enough for me, Tethys. I've never said otherwise."
She sobbed and squeezed me so tightly I started to worry about my bones.
"Air! Air!" I gasped, which made her laugh.
She leaned up and kissed my lips, taking her time about it, too.
"Alright, now you're just sending mixed messages," I complained, once my brain started working again.
"Like you said, I'm complicated."
She settled her head back down on my chest.
"Just because I'm not ready now, doesn't mean I won't be."
"I know."
"We're still going to end up together. Remember that I had a fifty year plan, you moved things up on me!"
"Oh, this is my fault? And wasn't it a seventy-year plan?"
"See? Moved things up!"
"That makes even less sense than usual."
"Not if you think about it."
"I am thinking about it, and you're still insane."
"I'm a woman; you're not supposed to understand me completely."
"Playing the W-card, eh? That's hardly fair."
She kissed me again.
"How's that?"
"Wonderful, but still very confusing!"
She laughed, which made me happy. I was glad that she was herself again. She wasn't telling me anything that I hadn't figured out while staring at my bedroom ceiling, but it did make me a bit sad. There were few people in the world I got on with as well as Tethys. We were compatible in a very deep way. We never argued, we never even exchanged a harsh word. This had been the closest thing we'd ever had to a fight, and it wasn't even that close!
We loved each other; that much I knew. But as long as Tethys was afraid of losing me, or being hurt, we would never be anything other than best friends. I wasn't going to complain; she was precious to me, and I didn't want to risk that any more than she did. And, if there was one thing I knew, it was that romantic relationships tended to end badly.
Perhaps I was just as damaged as she was, in my own way.
"Besides, you couldn't have handled what I'd have done to you," she said, settling down again.
"Of that, I have no doubt."
"Are you going to be completely reasonable about this? Where's the manly chest-thumping? The complaints about an insult to your manhood? The demands for sexual compensation?"
"What sorts of men have you b
een sleeping with?"
"Come on, give me something to work with! At least pretend to be devastated that I deprived you of heaven!"
Ah, there it is...
I swear, all the women are just out to see if they can make my brain come oozing out of my skull.
"There's nothing I can say that won't make this worse, so I'm shutting up."
"Oh, go on, be a sport!"
"No."
"I'll sic Kandi on you," she threatened.
"Oh, the horror," I said dryly.
"Oh! So it's like that is it? You won't speak to me, but you'll welcome my younger assistant? You are such a cliché!"
"You are quite insane; I just want that on the record."
"But you love me anyway."
"Not 'anyway', I love your brand of crazy just how it is, thank you."
"Good answer," she said, kissing me again.
She settled back down, cuddling in, making herself comfortable.
"So we're okay?" she said softly.
"Always."
She nodded and I started to doze off. I always slept better with her in the bed, always drifted off faster.
So peaceful was I that when I eventually awoke again, I discovered that I had less than ten minutes to get to class, which amused Tethys no end when I tried to explain my situation. By the time I'd persuaded her to disentangle herself (which had resulted in quite a bit more groping on her part than one might have expected), I had less than five minutes to go, which resulted in a less than professional look for a brand new class...
Said class was Advanced Telepathy, which I'd really been looking forward to... before I'd met Professor Hadleigh, now I didn't know what to expect. There were four other students; again, ones I recognised from the orientation. As in Flesh Crafting, they were sitting as far away from me as possible. It was actually starting to get a little depressing.
Heart's Darkness Page 12
