Karl and Sabine continued to be helpful, as was Celeste who started to spend a lot of time with Terrance though I was pretty sure they weren’t dating yet, just circling each other. Joseph spent a lot of time with Linda and Carlos, he seemed to have a lot of contempt for our enemies and everyone else, fitting in with Linda. I was hoping both of them got past that once they got mental discipline and grew up a little.
Celeste seemed to be the leader of the pack for mental discipline, and although she had a way to go she was head and shoulders above the others in control. I suspected that had a lot to do with her martial arts training that none of the others had, mental discipline was mental discipline, it was just a matter of adopting to the new exercises.
We had received several offers of interviews, but so far I hadn’t responded to any of them.
It was a warm and sunny afternoon, with a cool breeze, much like every afternoon in my mound. Sure, the trees, grass, bushes, and other flora as well as my herb garden and the small farm needed rain to survive, but Muriel made that happen at night when we were all asleep. It was convenient.
I’d paired them up for practical practice like always, as they arrived for the lesson. Celeste with Sabina, Karl with Terrance, and Carlos was on his own for the moment so I was working with him. It wasn’t exactly fighting, they were just shielding and trying to hold it steady, assisting their partner in recognizing losses of control and acting as minimal distractions. They weren’t ready for more than that.
After a few more minutes passed I frowned as Joseph and Linda hadn’t arrived yet. Sure, they both had an attitude, but they liked practice time and learning to wield their magic.
“Muriel? Where are they?”
Muriel popped in, “They’re not here. One second,” she got a faraway look on her face, “They’re in New Haven.”
I frowned, “You didn’t notice them leaving?”
She was the mound, in a lot of ways, how did she miss them opening a gateway and leaving? Also, that was where Joseph had come from, so he must’ve been doing the magic and… doing what?
Muriel scowled, “I don’t peek in on houses, or bedrooms. In hindsight, I should’ve seen this coming, they asked me about it several days ago.”
Right, privacy concerns.
“Sorry, you’re right of course,” I didn’t want her watching me in the shower either.
Carlos frowned, “They didn’t mention it to me. I thought they were… never mind.”
Celeste snorted, “Because you’d have tried to talk them out of it, rightly so.”
I just nodded in agreement, but my mind was spinning on how to react to this. I’d brought them here to keep them safe, and I was worried about them running around out there even under the enchantments, but in truth I was more worried about what they might be getting up to.
They weren’t supposed to go anywhere without supervision, because half-demons were dangerous. All supernaturals were, new shifters had to be watched too, and I knew the young Nephilim were kept away from humans until they gained control.
On the other side of things, it wasn’t nearly so clear cut. I was their trainer, and my mound was their harbor of safety, but I wasn’t their parent. If I gave them an ultimatum, would they leave for good? But they’d broken the rules I’d set, I also needed to enforce those or all of them would be walking over me. It also felt ungrateful of them, but that was human nature.
Our lives weren’t easy, and their power meant less freedom, that was just life and life wasn’t fair. I wasn’t their mother, but I was their trainer, and they were living in my house so to speak. But I decided not to run them down, I’d just pounce when they got back.
“Can you monitor their enchantments, without monitoring them or what they’re doing?”
Celeste nodded, “Easily, all the hiding enchantments are connected to the mound directly.”
“Then start doing that, please. Let me know when they get back, in the meantime let’s get back to practice.”
The others were obviously upset by their running off as I was, and it showed in their control for the next few minutes until their thoughts settled down.
Chapter Ten
The office in my mansion had a nice oak desk, and several chairs. It wasn’t a room I used all that often, but I had my tablet and investment files in it, and I was using it now.
Linda and Joseph looked at me across that desk rather mulishly, as if I was the unreasonable one. It was something I hated, I didn’t want to be there either, but while my new life and chosen life mission was amazingly rewarding I’d also have to suck it up and take care of the bad stuff as well.
“You both broke the rules. What was so important that you felt you had to risk your own lives, the lives of innocent humans if a council supernatural caught you, and my good will.”
Joseph said, “You invaded our privacy.”
I snorted derisively, “You are part of the most powerful mortal race on the planet, and you can’t control your magic. You have no right to privacy, did you think you were human? Maybe you can complain to the DHS, and they’ll start doing inspections? Make sure I don’t hurt your feelings?”
They both flushed with embarrassed anger, and I took a deep breath to calm myself.
I shook my head, “Muriel checked if you were here, not what you were doing, and because you were late for training. She isn’t watching you in your rooms, as she said, but going forward she will know when you leave the moment you leave. Now, answer my question.”
Linda replied, “Nothing, we just needed to get out. This place is stifling. Nothing happened.”
“Right, so you risked lives and exposure because you’re bored.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed that or not, that they’d just been screwing around in the city. I also decided I didn’t care as long as they weren’t murdering people, the important thing was they’d broken my rules.
They both looked away from my eyes.
I sighed, “Look, you are dangerous. We all are, that means we need to learn control. That’s the rule, no leaving the mound without supervision, no going in the storage building, and avoid the herb garden. Three rules, that’s it, have I tried to control you otherwise? I give you a safe place, enchantments to keep you safe, and I’m training you in magic to be safe to others. If not obeying those three simple rules is too much for you, then you can’t stay. Either of you. I’m not your parent, but I am your teacher, and you’re living in my house and you will live under my rules. I don’t ask for much. Perhaps I’m being too generous. Life isn’t fair, and right now you’re safe, and under my protection. I’d prefer you stay there, but if you’re so spoiled you want to throw your lives away then so be it.”
“Spoiled?” Joseph asked in an outraged tone, “You have no idea what my life is like.”
I shook my head, “I have no idea what your life was like before. Right now, you’re fed, warm, have your own house, and are safe from the Nephilim and councils. You’re being taught to control your magic, when the whole world would rather see you dead. Yet, you sit there angrily like I’m out of line, and your entitled to do whatever the hell you’d like. What would you call it? Oh, waaah, the bitch won’t let me go out to play. Grow up.
“I do care if you live or die, and I care about everyone in this place, but I also care about my goals to become if not accepted, at least not hunted anymore. That’s why I do this, why I chose to render my aid and stop the slaughter. If I have to cut you loose to preserve the future I see, and to preserve the lives of the other five in my care, I will do it.”
Linda snorted, “You don’t care about us.”
“Why? Because I’m not wiping your ass right now? Tough love, Linda. This is a wakeup call. We’re sharks in this world, but the other side has thousands of sharks. We number eight. Eight! We need the humans you both hold in contempt to reach our goals. I’m hoping you both can grow up, and gain some self-control, but it is what it is. I can’t and won’t ignore the rule breaking. I’ll hate doing it, I m
ay even shed a fucking tear, but if you break my rules again you will be gone. Is that clear enough?”
I felt like such a bitch, but at the same time I was really pissed. They were both so angry at the world and so self-involved and selfish they couldn’t see the blessings I was offering them. A part of me even felt doubt that I should let them go. What if they went on a killing spree, or did something really stupid. Would that be my fault? I’d promised they could leave if they wanted to, but was that really the right thing? Probably not, but then I didn’t want to become a leader of my race, or to try to control people.
My plans for that were later, a governing council of sorts including others. I couldn’t do it now, because I was the only damned adult of my kind, and barely at that being just twenty-one myself. Right now, I was just running a halfway house of sorts, and a school. If they wanted to run away, then that was fine. No, they weren’t fully adult, but they were close enough in my eyes.
Better to just kick them out if they choose to go, the Nephilim would take care of it if they got out of hand. Cold, but true. That conclusion also made me doubt my decisions, but there it was. Life wasn’t fair or perfect, and I couldn’t make them do anything, I could only offer the path and training to get there.
Plus, I wouldn’t punish them for what they might do, that’s what the self-righteous bastard Nephilim do.
“I asked,” I said in a cold voice, “is that clear enough?”
They both nodded and mumbled a yes. It was also the first time I saw fear in their eyes, maybe that would wake them up, but what did I know? What I did know was they weren’t just troubled teens, they were weapons of mass destruction on two feet, so they didn’t get to have a sullen rebellious phase like human teens did. In the supernatural world, they’d find death if they couldn’t find discipline. Much like I would have, if I’d let my anger control me, and hadn’t just kept my head down and stayed hidden.
Reality trumps justice, and life isn’t fair, that was just the way of the supernatural world.
“I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but this is important. You aren’t human, even if you were raised human. The rules are different, life is different for us. Rail all you want against perceived injustice in your head, but temper and control your actions to our reality, including your magic. That’s a survival skill in the supernatural world, and the truth is simply that we can’t win justice or even win our way off our current death sentence without the humans. The other races don’t have fair lives either, the Nephilim rule with an iron fist.
“But… life can also be good and rewarding, and if you play it smart you’ll do more than survive. Even if my plan never works, and we have to continue hiding, you can live a full life.”
They both scowled at that, but they didn’t object. That was fine, they didn’t have to like it, they just had to accept it. I don’t think they understood I was trying to keep them alive, teens tended to think they were immortal. Of course, there’d been a lot of death in my life, so I hadn’t ever held that illusion.
“You can go, I’ll see you tomorrow morning at martial arts training.”
Joseph asked, “That’s it, no punishment?” in a smirking voice.
Oh, hell no.
“My fault actually, don’t presume to think I won’t follow through on my promise. I gave you all the rules, but I never actually stated the penalty for breaking them before. I have no interest in being your parent, of taking your cellphone, or sending you to bed without dinner. That’s for human children. This is life and death. I can’t punish you when you didn’t know the risks of breaking the rules. I was foolish enough to think you’d follow my rules out of respect, for what I’m offering you, and out of fear of our shared enemy. Clearly, I credited you both with a maturity and insight you lack.
“Well, now you know, so this time you skate past punishment outside of the loss of trust between us which is no small thing in itself, save learning the consequences of doing it again and enduring my bitchy lecture. It was also my mistake to think you’d have figured that out on your own. It’s time to take your head out of your self-involved ass, and to pay attention to the world around you. Don’t you dare speak to me in such an insufferably arrogant tone again, am I clear?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“Go.”
They both fled my office, and I let out a deep sigh. I didn’t speak until they’d left the front door, which I could sense with my magic.
“Was I too hard on them?” I asked the air.
Muriel popped in, “I can’t offer you any advice. I raised humans. It seems harsh, but the supernatural world is a lot more dangerous than the human one. At least, here in America it is.”
I laughed, “Good point. I just worry I didn’t get through to them. The other five seem to get it, that this is all life and death and there’s no time for immature games or selfish decisions.”
They also knew the cost of breaking the rules, I’d let them know at the end of class, just in case. I didn’t expect the others to start rebelling, but they needed to know what would happen if they did, and when others did. If I had to kick someone out, it’d be hard on morale, but it would’ve been much more devastating if I hadn’t told them the consequences beforehand.
Muriel said, “You can only do what you can, I just hope you don’t have to follow through on your threat.”
“Is this whole thing doomed?”
Muriel laughed, “You’ve come a long way in the last five years, since the night we first met. They can do it too, if they learn a modicum of caution. I think you’re doing the best you can. You can’t save them all, but you haven’t lost them yet either.”
The front door opened, and Muriel smirked and waved before disappearing. A moment later William came in and rounded the desk. I really wasn’t in the mood for playtime, but I didn’t object when he started to massage my neck and shoulders, it felt way too good.
“You’re tense. I can beat them up in the morning, just give the word.”
I giggled, and I let out a sigh as I let my head fall forward. My muscles were turning to jelly under his firm fingertips and his touch.
“That feels good.”
He kissed the top of my head, and massaged lower on my shoulders, his fingertips just above my breasts. I had been in a bad mood when he came in, and I was still worried, but as usual his magic hands made my body respond to him in ways that bypassed my mind. Warmth flooded my center as he kissed the side of my neck, and I felt his breath against my ear.
He said, “Everyone else is pissed at them, not at you. Let me take care of you, and pamper you tonight. It’s been a rough day.”
I smirked, and leaned my head back for a kiss. I let out a little sigh, as his hands went even lower and started to teasingly massage my breasts, and then a sharp gasp was pulled from me as he teasingly pinched my nipples and sent a potent bolt of pleasure down my spine.
“Your generosity is suspect,” I accused in a breathy voice, as my hand reached up and cupped his head from behind.
He grinned a little roguishly, “Who me?” he asked in a faux innocent tone as his hands went lower, gripped the bottom of my shirt, and pulled up.
I laughed and like a hussy lifted my arms eagerly as he stripped it off, and I tilted my head and let out a moan as his lips started to tease the side of my neck as he popped off my bra. Damn, I’d not been in the mood when he walked in, but the man owned my body, and my body felt out of control in that moment. No, just out of my control, my body belonged to him, and I just let it all go as the pleasure of his touch, kiss, and attention overwhelmed me.
Objecting was the last thing on my mind, when he pulled me out of the chair and bent me forcefully over the desk. His hands reached around for the button on my jeans, but he was having a hard time getting them undone as I pushed back, ground, and swiveled my hips teasingly against his bulge.
I felt like a wanton slut for him, but it was also exactly what I needed to shed the stress of my afternoon. That was more
about me, than about him, save that he was worthy of the trust I showed in surrendering all control and my body to him. My life needed an outlet where I could let it all go, let someone else be in charge, and the sex was always mind-blowingly incredible when I did.
“Behave,” he demanded.
He spanked me hard, to still me, but it just made me gasp and grind him harder. He eventually pinned me down by the small of my back with one hand, and he finally managed to get my button and zipper undone with the other.
I bit my lip to stop the giggles as he practically ripped them off me and shoved them down my legs. That didn’t stop the deep shameless moan of pleasure and wanting though, as he cupped my mound from behind and teased a finger between my folds lengthwise.
He accused, “You’re soaked for me,” with so much lust in his voice it sent a thrill through me.
“All for you, William. My body is yours,” I said in a sultry and shameless voice.
I hissed in pleasure, as I felt his wide and bulbous mushroom head teased up and down my labia, the delicious silken sparks of pleasure that went through me as he gathered my silken liquid to ease his way, foreshadowed the deeper pleasures to come before he speared into me from behind.
I loved the long seductions, as he teased and played with me, but I also loved it when he just took what he wanted. My body felt electrified, my skin oversensitive to his every touch as my heart started to race and tingles of pleasure radiated through my body and clouded my mind with lust. I had almost no leverage, but I eagerly pushed back in perfect opposition as he rocked his way inside my nubile body.
A wild and untamed euphoria built in me, as I focused on his pleasure, and in making my body a vessel for his pleasure. It was freeing, to let go of all the stress, and just exist in that carnal moment we shared. The pleasure and need to pleasure him created a level of wanton devotion and needy abandon in me that I could get lost in. It was primal lust, wanton need, but it was also unselfish, giving, and my heart warmed with affection for him, even as the lustful wild pleasure washed me away.
Demon Underground: Kyra Bell Book Three Page 10
