by P. S. Power
Patty looked at him, a smile coming over her face. Her Shadow self seemed... intrigued with him. A small wave of pleasure came at him. Not lust, or even sexual pleasure exactly, but rather, approval.
“Would you like to wash up before we begin then, Zack? There's mouth rinse, and fresh toothbrushes in the bathroom cabinet. Feel free to use what you like. We'll begin in a few minutes.”
Sarah seemed genuinely outraged that he'd have his regular lessons, after the trials of the day. Val just laughed at the other succubus, in a sweet way though.
“He came here for a reason. Even though he must be near exhaustion. I don't think we should get in his way. Not right now at least. Plus, being able to perform when tired is part of the discipline. You know that as well as anyone.”
When he got back into the room from the small bathroom that joined it, only Patricia remained. She laid out several anatomical models, made of a spongy type of plastic or something, silicone she told him when he asked.
On the table sat a model of a woman's head, a pair of breasts and one of a vagina. All of them eerily realistic. Rather than seeming sexy in any way, it looked a bit like a woman had been dismembered and laid out on Patty's desk. He had to shut down this reaction hard, before his mind ran away with it. After that it took a few seconds to make sure he could function without major problems, then nodded slightly to the older Succubus.
“Now, let's go over the key parts of basic oral activity...” the Succubus intoned, a bit dramatically.
An hour later, his jaw and tongue a little sore, mouth tasting funny, from the silicone, she pulled out his shopping list. As it stood, with small stars next to almost every item on the list, pointing to the two things that didn't have stars she said.
“Those are harder. Merri's gift you have to do, of course. Claire's, well, I have a lead on something in Paris, but you'll have to go there and get it yourself. The rest is being wrapped and labeled and will be at your home two days before Christmas. Luckily the shop you need to go to is in the Nexus itself and the proprietor speaks passable English. If you go right now, you should be able to finish and be back home before anyone notices. Just hand this note over and take plenty of gold with you. Go, now.”
Shooing him out of her office with a smile, she watched him walk out, shaking her head slightly. Zack took great pains not to listen to what her Shadow said.
He went to Candles and More and asked for some gold. Lisa seemed happier today than he'd seen her in a long time. She didn't ask what the funds were for, which helped a lot, because he didn't know where Claire had gotten to, and he didn't want to explain himself out loud.
The trip to Paris went quickly enough. The shop he wanted turned out to be an easy walk down a small outdoor pavilion from where he'd come in. The man smiled at him when he walked through the door, glanced at the paper in his hand, and smiled even larger when he read the note.
“Ah, from Patricia! A lovely woman in all ways. Do you know her personally? If you do, count yourself lucky, if you don't, make the effort. You won't regret it later. Now, to this book, for a friend of yours this paper says? Good! I have a copy I can let go for just, shall we say fifty ounces of gold?”
The man might be an old friend of Patricia's but his Shadow told him that he positioned himself for haggling, not reminiscing. The book itself might go for twenty gold to someone else. Its real value though would be about seven gold, according to the older looking man's inner estimation.
“It's only worth seven to you though... You might be able to sell it to someone else for about twenty, but you'd be robbing them. Which I don't doubt you know. Still, you're a friend of my friend, so I want to see you do well in this. How about thirty?”
The man gulped slightly. Since Zack had pulled all of that from what his Shadow said, the amounts seemed to indicate he dealt with an expert, a rich one at that. Since the offer of thirty gave him more than he could expect otherwise, he took it and wrapped the purchase carefully. Given everything, the older looking man felt he'd done well here, Zack saw.
“Come again please!” He called as Zack left.
When he got home he found Claire waiting for him in bed, under the covers. Dressed like a snow adventurer or mountaineer for some reason.
“Come here.” She said, kissing him warmly when he got there.
The warmth startled him for a moment. Then she explained.
“A hot bath, with water about a hundred and forty degrees for two hours, then bundling up tightly until just before being... unwrapped. I should stay pleasantly life like for hours. So help me get these clothes off now...”
It took a few minutes, even though they hurried, because she had five layers on. When he got to her underwear he stopped, not knowing what she wanted or expected. She pulled his clothes off completely though.
His Vampire seemed suddenly apprehensive.
“I... I think we should talk first, if that's all right?”
He nodded at her to continue with a smile.
“My kind, all of us, don't feel pleasure or pain, or heat, or cold for that matter. We have a sense of pressure that's highly accurate, but doesn't register as pain, or, as I mentioned pleasure. What I'm saying is that no matter what you do, I won't be able to feel pleasure from it, but you also won't hurt me, so if you feel kinky, let me know. No need then for you to worry about me having a good time. I'll enjoy spending time with you though, so it's not totally empty for me.” She seemed worried about his response.
“So, why do this then? We're already close. Sex is fun, but...” He left this hanging, though his shoulders twitched, trying to shrug, he suppressed the movement, remembering that he wanted to break that habit.
“Well, first, I do like you, and making you feel good is going to be fun, don't for a second think it won't be. Second, I want you to like me as much as you like everyone else, honestly, I want you to like me more. If other people make your life easier and provide pleasure, eventually my standing with you would fade, unless I match them. I've seen it happen to others countless times, even to myself once or twice. So... here we are. Now, if you will excuse me...” She dropped under the covers, her whole body disappearing.
In a few seconds he realized what she intended, feeling her warmth on the center of his body, her head started to move, slowly at first, then faster.
After a few minutes he realized what it meant that Vampires didn't have to breathe.
A few minutes later he didn't think of anything.
Chapter thirty-two
The people at Lesser Shia were very understanding about his not reporting in the day before. In fact, Zack found them to be extremely friendly about the whole thing. They had full reports from the affected area for him and even asked him to aid them in shipping more relief supplies. He ended up spending most of his Lesser Shia work day doing that.
On his way back, he sat in the line for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet, the restful washing of the slow, dark waves of nothing as they broke over his mind. Even in this void, where almost nothing existed, there were eddies and flows. He realized that these flows were warps in the fabric of space itself.
He could 'see' far off in the distance, using vision that had nothing to do with eyes, since here he didn't have those. Just a mental idea of a form, and small pill shaped movements. They created ripples in space, but didn't see or sense anything outside of themselves as far as he could tell. Hundreds of them moved at any given moment. He used to count them. He also used to hunt them, breaking them away from the scheme of reality, if only for a moment or two, while his friend had ripped them apart in a way Zack couldn't understand.
The Big Shadow had taught him how to hide from the Demons, knowing, it seemed now, that someday he'd return to the world outside and above the void. As to killing them, he'd always said that Zack already knew what he needed to about that.
This he'd always took to mean that he didn't need to kill Demons himself, that he could leave the job to others. Since the memory of his father, and the o
thers that had hurt him, had been locked away at the time, this seemed sensible enough. Why learn to kill dangerous prey if you didn't need to go after them? Better to simply avoid them all together, right?
They'd hunted and destroyed them together though. Not all of them, in fact most they let pass without notice. Demons traveled the void, but they didn't experience it fully and didn't bother those that existed there at all. Only a few drew the attention of the Big Shadow for some reason Zack had never understood. Those they dealt with quickly and permanently though.
Noticing that his energy had stopped circulating, since he didn't breathe here, he'd forgotten to make it happen like he had in the other world, he decided to give it a try.
Drawing the void through his 'head' or his concept of it, he passed it through the idea of his body, out the bottom, and back around smoothly. He felt sick suddenly, almost like the one time he'd been on a roller coaster, before his grandparents had put him away.
He stopped instantly, aware of the danger of doing this, now that it had happened.
Not wanting to go home yet, he tried some other energy techniques. The breaking technique, the one used to hit a person at a distance, put out a sense of motion, and withdrew cleanly, slicing the void so well it seemed almost like nothing had happened. The tumo exercise Wu-Li had taught him to keep himself warm didn't seem to do much at all. He knew what hiding from Demons would do here, after all this is where he learned it, so he moved past that one.
When he got to empty force, he had to try and build a circulation in the void outside himself. This time a solid effect appeared instantly, space itself twisting and bubbling, writhing without pattern, while at the same time following the pattern he'd built for it to follow.
Interesting!
This made him wonder what would happen if he hit one of the passing Demons with that technique.
They'd cease to be, Little Shadow, that's what would happen. Now, if you'd smooth the void you've disrupted?
Big Shadow!
He quickly smoothed the space in front of him, not certain how he did it at first, but then realized it was identical to the way he'd trapped Demons on their hunts, long ago. Putting his own being over it and calming the movement of space itself, reordering it. By smoothing their passage enough, the ripples they caused, he made it so they couldn't move. It made a kind of sense to him. By taking away the disruptions, they couldn't push themselves through reality, so they just hung in place, like a toy car lifted off of a table top, the wheels could spin, but it didn't go anywhere.
They talked for a long time, Big Shadow asking all about what Zack had been up to, pleased at his success in making friends in the other world. Zack mentioned the situation with his dead father's body and the Demon that had possessed it.
I know. You can kill the body, though to destroy the Demon within you need to find a time when that Demon is in the void, traveling. Then you must act quickly... The Demons don't yet know that being in this place is dangerous for them when you are here. They'll learn. You must lure your prey and strike instantly. Don't hesitate! You may kill them at any time they're here, but it's simple enough for one such to hide, by not going into a breach at all. Keep that in mind.
Zack asked him if there would be more he needed to know. A larger technique or skill. The Big Shadow filled with mirth and explained how much he knew already. Then they hunted a demon, one that had upset the balance of the worlds by their misdeeds and could not be educated or saved through normal means.
He made the kill himself, Big Shadow watching him closely, pride coming off of it in a steady flow.
You're ready. It won't be simple to lure a Demon though. They're masters of guile and deceit by nature and hold few rules. Be clever. It's the natural strength of your kind, cleverness and creativity. Use that.
He spent a long time there with his oldest friend, sometimes they would talk, others they would just sit and be, without even thinking.
Eventually he felt something odd and recognized it after a long time of introspection. He missed his friends in the other world. Zack missed them all, especially Claire and Libby. He... should go back and see them, go back to his other life.
Go then, little friend! I'll be here when you return. We'll meet again. Your friends wait for you. Good luck on your hunt. I may not help you in this. You won't need me for it, your skills are enough and more than enough, and I'll not disrupt your world by my passing into it for this. You must be careful. They can kill you there. Life though, is not about safety, but rather helping those we can.
Then to make it easier to leave, his friend vanished, though Zack knew he did it by going still. Becoming unseen in the void where only movement and passage would draw attention.
The Nexus point room came into focus suddenly, as it always did when he moved from point to point in this world.
Lisa stood waiting for him.
“You're a little later than usual, everything go all right?” Her Shadow self worried about possible attacks against him, and also worried about finding love. It was a deep need with her, to be loved and know that she was loved in return, he reflected, detached as he hadn't been since he returned from the void the first time, over ten years ago.
His arms went around her, gently but firmly, she stiffened for a moment then relaxed and hugged him back. He just held her for a while, until her Shadow said that her worry had begun to overwhelm her comfort in the gesture.
“I'm fine. I had to do something in the void, it doesn't seem long to you, I'm...” he looked at the clock, “Thirty-seven minutes later than normal here. To me it seems like a couple of months, or years, something like that.” Smiling he hugged her again. “You are loved, you know.” He whispered to her softly, lips almost to her ear.
Her eyes widened, though she kept holding on to him for a long while.
Finally, when she felt ready, he let go of her and told her that he wanted to talk to Claire before going to his other appointments. Walking to the front of the store, he saw her waiting for him, her inner beast hungry and agitated over him being late. It had worried her.
Hurrying over he drew her up quickly into a hug and kissed her. Before she could express her anger he took her by the hand and looked toward the back, catching her attention. She stilled suddenly on both levels and nodded, walking to the back with him quickly enough that he had to jog slightly to keep up.
Once through the line, they stood in the same meadow he had talked to her about his plans the first time.
“Trolleinkein lands again, different node, same meadow as before though, that other node is about fifty yards that way. Sorry I was late, please don't be mad. I learned to kill Demons today.” He grinned at her shocked look. “More to the point, I killed one by myself. It took some time and we got to visiting for a while, a few months or years or something, it's so hard to tell there. Months I think, though.”
She hugged him hard, suppressing her desire to drink his blood, letting him go quickly so she wouldn't be too tempted to take a bite. He watched her beast struggle, but win this battle.
“Oh, good! I mean, I'm happy that you can do it. It makes the rest of your plan actually doable... I'm a little sad too, because I've been looking forward to going to Nevada with you, even if you weren't going to be there for most of it. It's hard to get time with you alone.” Her fingers, cool in the warm morning sun intertwined with his.
“Plus, on a practical side, showing up with you would be impressive. You've become rather famous and while people know we're together, most in the upper ranks seem to think it's really just a business deal that carries little weight. Not the ones that know what you did for Vaun, but he didn't exactly go advertising that to everyone. I think he felt a little embarrassed about being bailed out like that, to be truthful.”
Zack considered for a moment, knowing he should get Claire to some food quickly.
“No, we should keep to that plan. I don't want to give any hint that anything's changed yet. So, barring emergencies we should g
o. You'll just have to spend more time with me is all. Maybe I'll check out some shows or whatever you were going to tell everyone I was up to?”
Now her smile grew and her eyes held a glint and she looked at him having turned a little sideways to him. Her Beast cackled and told him what she had planned to say.
“I was going to tell everyone that you were off at various houses of ill repute. Gambling would be useless for you with all the wealth you have now. I hadn't even thought of shows. I suppose you could use those to break up your trips to the whore houses.” She managed to sound like she really meant it, not even a tiny laugh came out.
“Claire, whore houses are exactly the opposite of where I'd go. Shows... museums maybe? I mean I could go a long time without entering one of those places again. Though I hear the ones in Nevada are actually well regulated and the girls aren't forced into it or anything. Still, I just can't see it as a fun trip.” It was unpleasant thinking about it. Not traumatic though, which was an improvement.
Hugging him again, this time a little more hungry, her beast forcing her to lick his neck before letting him go. He knew she hadn't done it to be playful.
Grabbing her hand he pulled her through the line, back into her shop.
“Sorry for keeping you, love. Go now. I'll see you later?”
She said she would, then disappeared out the back, moving with a speed that he couldn't track at all, except by the sound of the door closing in the far back.
Keane stopped him before he walked out.
“Oh, she missed a spot, here...” The Vampire came around the counter and licked his neck quickly as well, causing him to pull back and touch the spot where they had both ran their tongues.
“That happens sometimes, if you're in a hurry. The marks don't look deep, so she must not have bitten deeply, drew blood though.”
