by D. R. Rosier
She didn’t like it, but Emily wasn’t wrong about that last. And if the bitches died, then there’d be no more carrot. Fear alone wouldn’t hold the men in place and in her army. Not for long.
“I’ll find you an escort.”
Emily stood and closed her eyes. Her skin and clothes started to shine a bright white, then dimmed slightly.
“My goddess armors me, but an escort would be appreciated.”
She nodded, a priestess or not, the scared sixteen-year-old girl was still there. She sent out her shadows to summon Carlos, and to ensure word had been passed to all the men who weren’t present in the room, to keep Emily protected. She also assigned the three attendants to see to her room and needs afterwards.
Once all that was taken care of, she finally got to strip off her clothes, and she joined her two most dedicated followers in bed. Both Betty and Nancy worshipped her body for hours, and she enjoyed pleasing theirs as well. She came hard and often to their ministrations, but she wondered if she’d ever be able to bear another man in bed, because a perverse and twisted part of her really missed a hard cock giving her a good fucking.
Katie fumed. She had no idea what the hell had gotten into John. She’d forgotten what an ass he’d been on their first mission together, at least until they’d figured it out. She’d thought he was done with the stupid jealousy and doubts when his opinion differed with hers. Obviously, that was only because there were no missions the last five years.
“Could you explain what the hell that was back there please?”
They’d teleported from Sean’s to about a mile away from the elven city, it was at least a mile and a half walk to the center of the city.
He sighed, “You’re too trusting. Look, I trust your lead a hundred percent when it comes to the balance, shit that glows, and your feelings about what to do and what’s going wrong. But he’s not a part of the quest, his mate and high priestess is. I don’t trust him, and you may have made a man that was already the most dangerous on this continent ten times more dangerous with your advice. That scares the shit out of me.”
She frowned, “Did you notice the village? His people are flourishing. He has normal human leaders running his communities with a few exceptions, and he doesn’t interfere at all except to enforce the laws and protect them. He also is probably the most dangerous man on the continent, and the ruler of the largest stretch of land under one man’s control. Which makes it stupid to make him our enemy, and to treat him like the shit under your shoe.”
He frowned, “There are good things in evidence, I’ll admit, but no one builds a coastal kingdom in a few years without being ambitious and ruthless. Also, you did notice he has two mates, right? Not to mention those personal guards of his. He just happens to pick out incredibly young and beautiful twins to guard him out of thousands? The guy’s a pervert, and no better than the raiders he put down, just more powerful. Have you considered that he might have the priestess that we need to depend on to save the balance under some kind of subtle influence?”
Katie felt like a box of TNT about to go off.
Bria interjected, “You’re making assumptions with very little information. There could be lots of reasons we don’t know about for picking Lin and Kim as his guards. Also, multiple mates are very much accepted in both elven and dragon society, and before we left here for the other dimension it was accepted and expected in human society as well. My future mate will have two other females in his aerie, and I’m looking forward to it.
“Between banding together for more protection and building a more secure family, to several other factors. You also might want to check yourself, for jealousy and fear. Are you sure you’re not so hot about this because you fear you won’t be able to protect Katie from him?”
John glared at Bria, but Katie thought Bria was being very wise in that moment. Bria was also thinking more clearly than she was in the moment, she hadn’t seen John’s fear and jealousy, just his bullheaded anger.
“She’s not wrong. You jumped to some pretty bad conclusions with almost no proof, and a lot of circumstantial proof right in your face that he’s not an evil man. He doesn’t even tax his people. He just protects them from the inside and out. Maybe he is a pervert, but I’ll eat my shoes if the three of them don’t love each other, I could see it in their body language.”
He growled, “I held my peace at the table, and I gave you my opinion in private. I’ll also be keeping an eye on him, that’s it. All I’m asking is for you to reserve judgement a little longer, you seemed to be far too certain of him as well. You accused me of making snap judgements, well you had just as long with him.”
Katie frowned, “Alright, but please lose the attitude. I won’t be glared and growled at. I don’t do that to you. I’ll remain openminded, but you’re forgetting my staff.”
He shook his head, “Explain that?”
Katie said, “If Mara was meant to come with us alone, I wouldn’t have needed to take along a gift for his other mate. It implies she was almost meant to be coming as well. Sure, we only need Mara’s power to fix the balance, but that doesn’t mean the others won’t be useful along the way. Also, if you were him, would you let two mates cross the damned country with strangers? Of course he’s coming.”
John grunted, “Fine, that is a point. I still don’t trust him, but I’ll try to pull back on the jaundiced eye if you reserve judgement as well.”
She sighed, “You said that already, and I agreed to keep my eyes open, let’s end the conversation here before we go in another circle.”
He scowled, “Sounds good.”
She shook her head, and not for the first time she wondered if shit like this was the reason that Merlin was a loner, and his protector was always the same sex and merely a comrade. She loved John, but he got crazy and overprotective when she disagreed with him on a danger, instead of just being vigilant and calm. It was a weakness, and a liability for the team, even if he was right, which she didn’t think he was, he should state his reasons calmly then accept her decision.
She didn’t want to be a bitch, but she was the mantel, the balance was her responsibility. His only job was stabbing shit that wanted to kill her. That meant she was in charge, ultimately, and she wondered if that was also a sore point and why he got so angry. Did he think she was stupid and naïve? She didn’t need that added stress. She needed a guardian that trusted her lead.
She prayed he got over it, and then pushed the anger out of her head.
All this fighting and anger was a dangerous distraction for her as well, since she hadn’t been paying attention to her magical sense for the last ten minutes. That was a good way to walk into an ambush and get dead.
The gates were arches built between two massive trees. It was powered by the concentrated magic of the forest itself, for anyone that had magic able to activate the enchantments. The three of them didn’t have any trouble going through to the other side. She was well known in both the elven and dragon communities, and them being escorted by a silver dragon would put even the most suspicious elf or dragon at ease.
She was disappointed to find out her two friends weren’t present in the city when they got to the east coast. They must’ve been travelling in the area, or hunting or something. She felt stupid, she should’ve called them first with the communication spell, and promised she’d do just that and visit for a while, right after this was finished.
The three of them rode south hard for about ten miles, before she dismounted, and used the medallion to go fetch the needed priestess and her protection retinue. It only took a minute to get done, and the eight of them were together again somewhere in southern Vermont on I-ninety-five.
She said, “What I feel is very similar to last time when I first started out. I’m guessing five hundred miles to where we need to be, give or take fifty. So that’s nine to eleven days to somewhere in Georgia. Plus, whatever delays we hit. We also have no idea what we’re going to get into. I don’t mean just our destination. One of
the elves told me North Carolina is run by a governor, so we can expect some kind of martial law with soldiers.
“Past that, in South Carolina and Georgia itself, I have no idea what kind of shape it’s in or who’s running things, and stuff like that. We’ll do our best not to kill anyone, but if it comes down to battle because they force it, don’t hesitate to take them down.”
Sean said, “Sounds like a plan.”
The trees slowly grew more normal sized as they reached the Vermont and North Carolina border. The magical forest had been much larger than she expected. The elves just lived in the center of it. Mara felt a little pensive, and she had her doubts about this heroine gig. She didn’t doubt her goddess, or herself, but she couldn’t imagine being able to affect the balance and right it. She wasn’t a violent woman at all, she was a protector and healer.
Which was another thing she was concerned with. Both her mates were wounded, and she wasn’t sure how to fix it. Not a physical wound, but a wound to their hearts and souls. Something all her magical power couldn’t affect, except perhaps in a shallow way that would be manipulation and not healing at all.
She wasn’t sure what Cassie’s trauma was in the past, but when she’d asked her about kids one day Cassie had shut down hard with a blanket denial as her voice changed. She wasn’t ready for kids either, but she knew she wanted them. It was just… too soon. She’d just joined their love and bed, but Cassie had been deliriously in love with Sean for five long years.
Sean’s issue was with the twins. She’d spent a lot of time chatting with Kim and Lin, and no matter how those two started their second life, they were nothing like Sean at all. Except maybe their need to take out the trash, as he put it all the time. Point was, it was painfully obvious the two were deeply in love with Sean and Cassie, and the two flirts had even started to become more playful with her. She was just as sure Sean cared for them deeply as well, and they were both stunningly attractive so that wasn’t the issue. Yet, he’d never embraced them into their love and bed as he had for Mara.
She knew Cassie had been working on the idea with him, but she wondered if she’d be able to help somehow as well. The three of them were suffering being apart. She certainly wouldn’t mind the two twins joining their bed and hearts, she wanted them all to be happy. She was a healer at heart.
Of course, those things were very sensitive, and privacy was kind of hard to come by on the road. Not just the three strangers they were travelling with, but each other as well. So, she prayed about it.
Chapter Nine
The hills had eyes. That’s what it felt like anyway to Sean, as he practiced his magic. He felt like they were being watched ever since they’d crossed the border. If there were people watching, they were farther than a hundred yards away, or even further given Cassie’s and Katie’s reach with their magical senses.
He’d learned a bit more about his magic on the ride. Every other sorcerer had to cast spells and work with the magic. He couldn’t even feel his magic. All he could feel was the life force that magic touched, as if his magic was an extension of himself in some way.
Cassie had already let him know that, and he supposed he’d already proved that idea a long time ago when enchanting those swords with runes of life draining. Regardless, he’d been practicing with small animals as they rode down the vast highway. He was glad he’d started that way, because so far every time he’d tried to create a life link between him and the animal, it’d screeched in pain. Hell, he even felt a little guilty about that, if he’d done it to one of his mates, he’d have been far more upset.
He’d kept trying to reach out, and kind of join their life energy to his without taking it. In a lot of ways that’s how it worked with the zombies, but all their life force was one, his. Obviously, if he could join with others to speak and heal at a distance, it’d happen in a completely different way. Then he’d tried to kind of harpoon his lifeforce into theirs, that if anything had been even worse for the poor animal and he’d abandoned his attempts.
He was letting what he’d learned percolate in the back of his mind, and he’d try again another time. There must’ve been some trick to it that his mind just wasn’t hitting on. Instead, he’d started to work on the scanning side of his magic, which was relatively hands off and didn’t harm anything.
As usual, just by touching the animal’s life force he could glean their life. Shelter, food, mate, sun warm, fire bad, things like that flowed into his mind. It took a few moments for him to hit on it, a desire to know more mixed with a shift in intent. It all just kind of opened up for him. He could tell if they were hungry, if they hurt anywhere, if they were diseased or healthy, or if they’d met their own potential as a creature.
Another shift in intent clarified that last, as he picked up stunted growth from lean seasons, and he suspected the changing part that Katie had mentioned was directly tied to the scanning part. Whatever he could feel that way, he could change within the parameters of a life form’s potential. Or as Katie had put it, their physical and mental makeup per their DNA. He could probably bring someone to their full potential, or even hobble them within those parameters.
He suspected he still had a lot to learn in those two areas, as well as figuring out how to make a permanent life force connection, but the healing part was really easy at least. The killing part had been easy as well, as there was one less field mouse in North Carolina. Despite that, he wasn’t sure if he’d be using that new way or not. He hated the powerful rush and addiction, but just one life could power enough zombies to keep two villages safe for a whole year. It seemed like a waste to let that life go.
He’d have to think about it more. His zombies certainly killed the lion’s share of criminals now, maybe letting a little of it go to waste when he was part of the fight would be better in balance, so he didn’t have to go through that temptation every time he had to put down an asshole. Still, that kind of decision seemed based more in cowardice to his way of thinking, than any good. He was strong enough to resist the temptation mentally and emotionally, and a little mental discomfort for an hour or two was worth it to keep his zombies better fueled. That meant protecting people for longer, after all.
Sure, he had about four decades worth of life force in his thousand plus zombies right now, forty years was a long time, but lately there’d been less and less trash to take out. So, it wasn’t a small consideration.
John rode up next to him, and the man had a smile on his face which he immediately distrusted.
John asked, “So, how’d you wind up with Kim and Lin as guards?”
He frowned in confusion at the conversation starter, but whatever.
“It was actually their choice, to be honest. It started out when I was clearing the west coast of raiders and rape gangs, and small abusive led communes. There were a few misunderstandings back then in the beginning. Turns out even good men can turn into assholes when you approach a commune with an army at your back.”
John snorted, “I’m not sure I get what you mean.”
He nodded, and chuckled, “Have you seen them? They’re gorgeous, and they also look relatively harmless. They were how I discovered if a community was less than upstanding. Good men won’t get their back up if those two walk into town alone, if anything they’d be instantly protective of them, and the bad ones would quickly stand out. Back then, most of my zombies were mostly just extensions of myself, and not very lively, though they could be set to complicated tasks. For them to blend in they needed to be more than that, so I made them more.”
John frowned, and sounded shocked, “So you made them bait?”
He nodded, “Something like that, but I think they’d disagree and say they were traps. Anyway, once we were done with the main push up the coast and there was less and less trash to put out, they requested to be Cassie’s and my personal guards. It probably seems a little weird to you, but they’re more like family than anything else nowadays, and they still go on missions if something that fits comes
up.”
John looked even more disturbed than ever as he rode away without a word. What the fuck ever. He had no need to justify himself, and it wouldn’t be the first time he was misunderstood. The dark intentions that John seemed to be assigning to his choices said a lot more about John than it said about him. He wondered what John would say if he found out he still had groups of scouts out there, led by sexy young woman, in the hopes of finding more trash. Of course, those others hadn’t attached themselves quite so firmly to him like the twins had.
He looked over at Mara who just shrugged helplessly at him. Cassie was about twenty feet back with Kim and Lin. Katie and Bria were on point about fifty feet up, and John was just joining that group again.
Katie said loudly enough to be heard by all their groups, “We’re surrounded. I’ve felt like we were being watched, and they’re closing a net around us now. No magic, but they have rifles and swords.”
“Guns?” he asked in surprise.
Katie nodded, “Air rifles. The magic doesn’t affect something as simple as compressed air. Their governor or military must’ve figured out a way to make or recharge compressed air cartridges. Air rifles aren’t a joke. They can fire a twenty-two-caliber pellet at over a thousand feet per second, hunters used them regularly. Anyway, I’m guessing they’re the welcoming committee to make sure we aren’t scouting their territory. I’ve run into this before, people really don’t travel anymore, it’s too dangerous. So, they assume anyone doing it is probably up to no good.”
“You expected something like this?”
She grimaced, and then replied, “I thought it a possibility, sorry. I suppose I should’ve mentioned it? I was hoping they just protected their communities, and not the borders, at least by the roads. Unfortunately, they have no idea what I am, or what the balance is, though the elves have tried to educate them on multiple occasions being neighbors. They’re always forcefully evicted before they can speak to someone with a working brain.”
