Shadowborn's Terror: Book IV of 'The Magician's Brother' Series

by HDA Roberts

  They said hello, and I hugged each of them. Cassandra was just the same as always, but Tethys... well she didn't want to let me go.

  "This may have been a mistake," the Succubus said as she pushed me to the nearest sofa; she bit my ear and kissed my neck, "Matty, you're going to have to stop me. God, I'm sorry."

  She didn't sound too sorry. She moved and straddled my hips, her hands going for my shirt. I called my Shadows and wrapped her up in them as gently as I could. I deposited her on the sofa next to me.

  She groaned, her eyes on me.

  "Matty, it's fine, you can let me go again, really I'm okay," she said, but I could feel her straining at the wrap.

  "I'm just going to pop next door," I said, "You should be fine in a minute."

  "No, Matty, don't go, please," she whispered huskily, biting her lip.

  "I'm not going. I'm right next door. Where you can't smell me."

  She growled in frustration, but I managed to get out and move into the adjacent room with Cassandra and Demise in tow.

  I opened my mind and reached for Tethys'.

  How are you feeling? I sent.

  Better now I can't see you. My God, Matty, what did she do to you?

  I told her everything in more detail, including the entire story of Gabrielle and Rose.

  Oh, you idiot! No wonder the Vampires went for you! I'm actually quite amazed that you came out of that in one piece!

  Yeah, me too, actually.

  The fact that Crystal was actually fond of you would have helped. I know it sounds hokey, but friendship and other positive emotions do provide a certain defence when dealing with Hell-related problems like this. Not enough to stop her, but enough to keep her human part in something resembling control.

  That surprised me... a lot. I would not have thought the world worked like that. It left me feeling a little hopeful, actually.

  Is she going to be okay?

  I don't know her, but Demise is probably right. And you've demonstrated a willingness to be there for her when it matters, so I don't think this will negatively affect your relationship. Just be careful not to turn your back on her for a while, you are at least ten times more delicious to her now, that's what the bond does; she'll nip at you every chance she gets.

  Terrific. And how am I going to explain this to Cathy?

  Tell her you swapped bodily fluids with a sexy escort, that should do it.

  Not funny, Tethys.

  Then why am I laughing?

  I could hear her guffawing through the walls.

  That is not a ladylike sound, you know!

  Don't care.

  She carried on for a while before coming back to the conversation. I loved Tethys, but she could be a bit of a monster at times. Laughing at other people's discomfort was one of her favourite things (not that I'm one to talk).

  Anything else I should know about the bond?

  Not really. It just makes all those fun things girls and boys like to do to each other even more fun, it'll let her find you if you're in the general area; she'll be better equipped to get past your mental defences, that sort of thing.

  Mental defences? that worried me.

  I wouldn't worry, you're still an Archon, Matty.

  An Archon who let himself get bit and knocked out by a tiny little vampire, I reminded her.

  She started laughing again.

  What was Demise doing during this, by the way? I would think she'd have been quite able to stop any of this happening.

  She told me they knocked her out with some sort of Telepathic attack.

  Then how was she conscious for this 'embarrassing event' she mentioned?

  My forehead furrowed at that.

  No idea.

  I'll ask. I smell dirt! She obviously doesn't want you to know, so we'll have to make arrangements if we've any hope of discovering anything juicy...

  Tethys... are you drooling?

  What? No!

  I chuckled.

  That part was complicated.

  Demise always had to keep me in sight, as you know. So I sat at one end of the house at the far end of a long corridor, while Tethys and Demise sat across from one another at the other end, with Demise able to see me.

  Cassandra sat with me.

  "I want this drug crap over with," Cassandra said, "I'm not sure how much more of this stress I can take."

  I snorted.

  "How do you think I feel? I'm not cut out for derring-do," I replied.

  She chuckled and leant her head against my shoulder.

  "Is it odd that I'm not affected by this Succubus thing?" she asked.

  "For me it's infinitely reassuring," I said, taking her hand, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're exactly the sort of big sister I always wished I'd had. Someone I could look up to. That's how I think of you."

  She smiled, "You really are such a girl," she said, squeezing my fingers, "much like my little sister was."

  I grinned widely and she nudged my ribs with her elbow.

  "You know I was the only Magician in my family?" she said.

  I nodded.

  "Well, you remind me a lot of my sister Karen. After we got away from Benjamin, she became an apothecary, wanted to help people. Even after everything she'd been through, the training and the loss, she was still so sweet. She lived a long, happy life and died fat and happy surrounded by her children and grandchildren, as sweet as the day I first took her in my arms as a baby. You have a lot of her inherent decency, Mathew. I like the way you remind me of her."

  We smiled at each other and watched as Tethys and Demise talked. The look on Tethys' face wasn't pleasant. She looked immeasurably pissed off.

  "That doesn't look good," I said.

  "No, it doesn't," Cassandra said.

  "Maybe you should go make sure nobody's about to lose a body part?" I suggested.

  "That might be best," she said, hopping up and moving towards the reception room.

  I waited where I was. Three women, all of them dangerous, two of whom I loved like family, not a great idea to get in the middle of that.

  "WHAT?!" Cassandra bellowed.

  Oh dear. I stood up.

  "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Cassandra shouted in my direction.

  I sat back down. What brought that on?

  It took a while, but Cassandra and Demise came back with Tethys. The Succubus looked calmer, but still miffed. Cassie looked like she was about to blast something.

  "Is everything alright?" I asked.

  "Fine," Cassandra said through gritted teeth, glaring at Demise, "we had a nice little... chat. Demise has explained herself. You will not ask her what happened. You will not make any further enquiries, do you understand?"

  "You're making me very nervous," I said.

  "Don't. Ask. Questions," Cassandra said very firmly.

  "But..."

  "Mathew, have I ever lied to you?" Cassandra asked.

  "No," that was a certainty, Cassandra didn't lie, as a rule.

  "Then you'll believe me when I tell you that you mustn't prod at this, understand me? It's important. Maybe we'll be able to discuss it one day, but not now, understand?"

  I nodded.

  "Then no more questions," Cassandra said, "or I will beat you like a throw rug."

  "Okay."

  "Come on, let's eat something, then we'll get you out of the bloody way before some other critter takes a fancy to you," Cassandra said, dragging me to my feet and in the direction of the breakfast room, "Honestly, as if the Succubus wasn't bad enough, and that werewolf girl you took a fancy to, now there's a bloody vampire!"

  We ate, Cassandra, Demise and I, and then Demise and I went back to my home.

  I spent time with the Pixies and the Nymphs, none of whom were affected by the musk, thank God. Demise kept staring and she started sleeping next to my bed, and by the time the third day rolled around, she'd moved her sleeping bag onto the damned thing. A slight invasion of personal space, but at that point, I barely noticed.

/>   I told Cathy everything I remembered; I was completely honest. She wasn't mad at me, she trusted me. But she was upset at the idea that things may have fed off me. The fact that they were female things barely registered. The whole blood-bond thing made her... furious is too mild a word. I heard things hitting walls over the phone.

  Chapter 23

  I went back to Windward in a mood. Thankfully, that blasted musk had worn off, at least. I met Cathy in her room and she threw herself at me and refused to let me go, not that I complained. Demise sat unobtrusively in the corner, watching as always.

  "I missed you," I said as we sat on her bed, her head on my shoulder and her legs over my lap.

  "I missed you too, Matty," she said softly, her hands tangled in my shirt.

  "Are you alright?" I asked.

  "I'm worried, so worried. It seems that every time I see you something else has happened to you. I can't bear it, Matty, I can't," she said with a sob that was like a knife in my heart.

  "I'm sorry, Cath. I love you. I'd never do anything to hurt you, not if I can avoid it, I swear."

  "I know that," she said, squeezing me again, "But, Mathew, I'm not strong enough for this."

  "Yes you are. And you won't have to worry any more, alright? You will not hear about any more of this. I'll stay safe."

  She looked me in the eye and those lovely soulful eyes of hers seemed to bore into me. She nodded once, slowly, and leant back against me. I held her and closed my eyes. Having her close made everything better, like she was my tether and letting go would mean I would float away into this world of Vampires and Demons and looking over my shoulder for the next knife coming at my back.

  Could I disappear with her one day? Could I just leave? I choked back a sob when I realised that it didn't really matter how far I ran, or what dimension I decided to hide in, those 'Liaisons' would always be able to find me. And then I'd have to deal with whatever they wanted or there'd be some sort of apocalypse...

  I wanted to scream, to thrash and burn something to the ground. But then Cathy held my hand, and it wasn't so bad anymore.

  Crystal called after a couple of days (once the musk had completely worn off), thoroughly apologetic for biting me without permission. I told her it was alright. Though as soon as I dealt with that last bloody factory, I wasn't ever going near Gardenia ever, ever again. Or even Stonebridge at this rate, cities just caused me trouble.

  Days passed slowly, routine re-established itself. It allowed my mind to shift into more comfortable areas, and forget about... everything. The fact that Demise was still there like a spectre at the feast didn't help. She was sleeping in my bed with me these days. I didn't really like it, but I was too tired of fighting to make an issue of it.

  As days turned into weeks, Demise... started getting peculiar. She started being... nice. She had always been courteous enough, if a little distant, but now she was friendly. Or as close as she knew how to be, I suppose. She talked to me, told me about her life, which was mostly learning to fight and then beating the snot out of people.

  She was a soldier, and I couldn't really relate to her on that level, but she was also a student with a love of Magic, and that was something I could very much relate to. So I talked to her about that, which may have been a mistake, because it turned out that she had a lot to say, and once she started, she wouldn't stop.

  I didn't think that her sisters encouraged intellectual pursuits. Cathy and Bill tried to follow the talk, but it was rather technical, and it was all the time. Questions and comments, not always about Magic, either...

  Just as an example, a few days into this, Cathy and I were happily occupied in our favourite bush, and things were progressing in a very interesting direction. She was all teeth that day, her breathing loud and arousing as she nibbled my ear and I kissed her neck.

  And suddenly, there was Demise, looming through the hole in the bush above us.

  "You do this a lot," she said, startling both of us, which made Cathy bite down hard enough to draw blood.

  "Dee, for heaven's sake!" I said, clutching at my neck.

  Cathy looked aghast, but she was also trying to conceal a laugh while looking at the damage she'd caused.

  "I've been with men. They don't do this with as much enthusiasm as you do," she said.

  "I don't know how to answer that."

  Cathy sniggered and pulled out a hanky to press to the tooth marks that were oozing.

  "What makes what you do better than what they do?" she asked.

  Cathy actually laughed that time.

  "I... I... I...," I stuttered, Cathy continued laughing at me, "What makes you think I'm doing it better?"

  Why the hell I asked is beyond me.

  Cathy was on the verge of hysterics at this point, still in my lap, by the way.

  "The sounds she makes," Demise replied, "I don't normally make sounds like that."

  Cathy was shaking with laughter, and the effect was rather... stimulating, bearing in mind how she was sitting.

  "Well..." I said, trying to come up with some response, just to get her out of my sight line as much as anything else, I was in the middle of something, damn it, "It's... it's all about being comfortable with your p-partner, I guess... help me Cathy."

  "Nope," my girlfriend said, nosing into the uninjured side of my neck.

  "But why do this?" Demise continued, "You won't have sex while I'm your Watcher, so why bother?"

  "This has to be the most uncomfortable conversation I've ever had in my life," I muttered.

  "Why?" Demise asked.

  "I do not discuss the intimate details of my life," I said.

  "But you're willing to conduct them in front of me?"

  Cathy was crying with laughter now.

  "Would you let us conduct them in private?" I asked.

  "Of course not," she said.

  "Well, then this is sort of a..."

  "Middle ground?" Cathy offered with a chuckle.

  "Close enough," I said.

  "And you enjoy it? Without completion?" Demise asked.

  "Very much," Cathy said, kissing my cheek, "You must have... you know? Kissed a boy, cuddled?"

  "I've been with a few men, but like you two? Only once," Demise said, a strange look coming over her face, "and then it was part of a larger... experience. The only time it was... good. So, I want to know what makes things like that different."

  "It's about who you're with," Cathy said, looking at me, "About trusting who you're with. What did you feel with the one you liked?"

  Why the hell were we going into this? This was girl talk, damn it. I didn't know what I was doing, there! And I didn't need to hear it, particularly when there's an agitated Cathy on my lap! For heaven's sake, this woman was older than the two of us put together times six!

  "Like... like I was where I was supposed to be," Demise eventually answered, "I felt like he wanted to be there, and that he loved what he saw."

  "What happened?" Cathy asked quietly.

  "He woke up," Demise answered softly, and then she disappeared, though I knew she'd still be where she could see me.

  "Oh, that's so sad!" Cathy said, leaning against my shoulder.

  Mood completely killed, thank you, Dee.

  And that wasn't the last time she did that, oh no.

  It seemed like every time Cathy and I adjourned to a bush, or a bedroom, behind a shed or just to steal a kiss, Demise was there with a question, or a comment, or simply standing way too close and killing the mood again and again and again...

  I begged her, begged her, mind you, to give us some space. She replied by periodically checking if she was far away enough. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was preventing greater intimacy, now she was trying to break the smaller stuff too.

  I knew she didn't mean to. It was just her way. But damn it, I was getting frustrated, and Cathy just seemed to find the whole thing utterly hilarious.

  It was the third Monday after half term ended and I was in a state and a half when
Magic Class came around. Direct spiritual draining by Succubus aside, it had been a very long time, and I was just about ready to start chewing the concrete.

  Hopkins had started teaching basic self defence, which gave me time to nap, seeing as how my life was more or less one long advanced-class in same. Cathy was sitting to my left, Bill my right and Demise was sitting behind me. Belle was in front of me with the other Magicians in the school, occupying the first three rows.

  I knew them all to one degree or another, a nice enough group. Lilly, Wilbur and Shelly were the new people. Wilbur was a friend, I helped him with his spell problems from time to time.

  "Alright, which poor fool wants to volunteer for a practical demonstration?" Hopkins said.

  I cast a glamour and became invisible.

  Demise rapped me on the head and my glamour dissolved.

  "Ow!" I said, rubbing my crown and turning around, "What the hell?"

  "Mister Graves, excellent," Hopkins said.

  "Oh, please no," I said.

  Hopkins tapped the duelling ring with her foot. I slumped but stood. She liked to use me as a practice dummy from time to time. She had everybody line up and blast my shields. I received a round of applause and some catcalls on my way. Hopkins tossed me a gauntlet. They worked with the Duelling ring to produce protective shields around the participants.

  Naturally, I dropped it and there was jeering as I picked it up and strapped it on before stepping into the circle.

  "Nothing flashy," Hopkins said to me.

  "I'm not a well man, you know," I protested.

  "And whose fault is that?" she replied.

  "I need a nap just from walking down the stairs," I complained.

  "Just put up a shield, you weed."

  "You know, in other parts of the world, them'd be considered fightin' words."

  "Oh really? After the spanking you got last time?" she said with an evil grin.

  "As I recall, it was a draw," I replied snarkily.

  "Did she say spanking?" Lilly asked Belle, which caused a giggling fit among the girls.

  Hopkins growled and turned away, "McFadden, get up here and do something useful!"

  Lilly squeaked and darted to her feet, nearly falling over in her haste to get into the circle.

  "Hi Matty," she said as she slid her own gauntlet on and stood opposite me.