by Maribel Fox
“Hey Ian!” Is calls brightly. “Where’s your friend?”
I’m pretty sure I didn’t know they knew each other outside of our talk at the picnic table the other day. Ian trudges over to the bar and slumps onto one of the seats.
“She’s being weird,” he says, leaning forward with his cheek on his hand, despair heavy on his shoulders.
“Weird how?” I ask.
“Hey kiddo, what’s shakin’?” Judy asks, coming by and giving Ian a little hug.
Guess he’s somewhat of a regular around here. With a friend? Who is a girl? Probably doesn’t want to take her to The Shamrock where there would be more questions and so many watchful eyes.
“Can I have a chocolate milk?” he asks, pouting pitifully.
Judy’s eyes soften, and she hurries behind the counter like there’s a fire under her. “That kind of day, huh baby?” she asks, mixing up his drink for him.
“His friend’s being weird,” Is explains.
Judy frowns. “That cute little girlfriend of yours?”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Ian protests. “She’s just a girl… Who’s my friend.”
Of course that’s the same excuse that’s been around since the beginning of time, so the three of us adults all look at each other knowingly, smirking.
“How is she being weird?” I ask again. I don’t know his friend, but I know Ian’s normal threshold for ‘weird,’ so it’s fairly alarming that someone has exceeded it.
His nose scrunches up, his brows knitting together.
“She says she’s friends with a ghost,” he says, almost sounding angry about it.
“Okay?” Is says, briefly looking up from the griddle.
“Well… Ghosts… They’re not real, right?” he asks, suddenly doubting what I’m sure he was completely certain of ten seconds ago.
I’m amused, but it’s Is that snorts laughter. Even Judy’s trying to hold in a smile.
“Kid, with all the weird shi— stuff you’ve seen around, ghosts are where you draw the line on what’s possible?” he asks, still chuckling softly.
Ian looks up at me, his eyes huge and plaintive. “Are ghosts real, Ku? You know everything, right?”
A prideful smile grows on my lips, but only for a moment before the bittersweetness of his statement sinks in.
“I’m afraid I don’t, Ian. I don’t know the answer to that. But knowing everything I know, having seen everything I’ve seen and learned about all the things I’ve learned about, I’m not sure I would be ready to discount anything before investigating it for myself.”
He thinks about it for a long time, sucking down his chocolate milk.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he finally says. “Thanks.”
Is grins and flips his spatula with a ridiculous flourish. “You in the mood for some pancakes? I’ve been working on something new that I think is gonna blow your socks of.”
“It’s not a magic trick, is it? You know Rue does actual magic?” Ian asks, lip curling slightly, probably remembering Iseul’s ‘lame’ card tricks. I know it hurt Iseul’s feelings that no one is impressed by his tricks here — he doesn’t use his actual magic to pull them off, he’s quite proud of having put in the practice to be so good at sleight of hand — but he’s determined to find something to win them over.
“It’s not a magic trick, it’s pancakes,” Is says testily.
“How’s that gonna impress me?” Ian asks, skeptical as ever.
Is huffs. “You want pancakes or not?”
Ian shrugs. “Not rea—”
“Ian, if you don’t let him make pancakes, it might break him,” I whisper conspiratorially, leaning over and shielding my mouth behind my hand conspicuously.
Ian snorts and nods.
“Okay, yeah. I want pancakes,” he says, grinning at me instead of Iseul. Is rolls his eyes, shooting a look at me, but I maintain my innocence, casually eating my french-style fried potatoes.
Is works busily, doing his best to block us from watching him even though the place is designed specifically for the opposite of that. It’s only a few minutes later when he’s turning around with a plate in hand and a big smile on his face.
“Ta-da!”
He drops the plate in front of Ian, and the pancake is not the normal disc shape, but rather some odd shape with dark outlines, and perhaps a hint of color. He’s clearly made these pancakes special, but thankfully, Ian is as confused as I am.
“Oh cool!” he says, trying to let Is down easy, I’ll bet. “It’s a… um… A happy seal?”
Is’s smile slips off his face instantly and his shoulders slump.
“It’s a duck. Like… the diner?”
“Oooooh,” Ian says, nodding sagely. “Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than a laughing seal.”
“Guess my pancake drawing skills still need work,” Is mutters, back to the griddle to fill more orders.
This place seems pretty steadily busy, even though it’s never really crowded. Hopefully they’re doing enough business to stay afloat. I’ve read some of the statistics on restaurants and how they typically fare in their first years — I was concerned for Is’s job security, though I’d never tell him such a thing — and… it’s not good.
Hopefully if I, and others, continue to patronize the diner, it can stay in business — and employing Iseul — for years to come.
The perfect arrangement for settling down in a lair.
He just doesn’t realize it yet.
“I think those mountains across the bay there might have the right formations for making a lair,” I say, staring across the water, the peaks of the mountains just barely dusted with snow.
Is makes a face. “You’re not planning on her just living in a mountain, are you?”
“Not without some modification, no—”
“Dude, she’s a lady, not just a dragon. She needs—”
She needs a palace, says a smoky voice in our heads. I freeze, but Is startles, fox-demon claws erupting from his fingertips with the shock of it.
Ocho? Is asks, sounding spooked, but also possibly hopeful?
I saw the way Is looked at him yesterday.
I would not be at all surprised if something happens there once they have the chance.
Sí, you aren’t seriously thinking of putting Lili in a cave are you idiota? he asks, clearly directing the question at me. I take issue with being referred to in that way.
Not a cave, a lair, with a den, a hoard, hot springs…
What about a house? Ocho chimes in. You don’t know the life she’s from in Hell. Find her a nice ass house if you want her to stay.
Good idea, Is says, like he hasn’t been against the idea the entire time. Of course if Ocho is suggesting it…
I’m not jealous. Just… annoyed.
“Okay, so I guess I’m looking for a house,” I say with a sigh, getting a weird look from Ian who wasn’t privy to the whole mental conversation.
I don’t know how I feel about the other dragons being able to butt in whenever they feel like it. Though it is another point in favor of my theory of Lili ending up with a harem.
Iseul doesn’t seem to mind too much, though. Even though the conversation with Ocho was brief and short-lived, he’s smirking to himself as he flips burgers, his demon claws nowhere in sight.
23
Dima
Last night, after the others upset Lili, I waited. I followed her to bed — as a wolf — and curled up next to her to keep her company as she slept.
I don’t know what made me do it. I didn’t feel she should be alone.
I didn’t think she’d want me.
It seemed a fair compromise.
When I wake, she is awake, casually stroking my fur, her fingers disappearing deep within it, the feeling of her touching me — even like this — enough to send me into bliss.
“Do you think we could talk?” she asks cautiously, hand stilled in my fur.
What could she want to talk about?
/> I cannot resist her though. She wants to talk, we will talk.
I shift back, pushing through the change uncomfortably quickly for her, quickly reaching for a pillow to cover my nudity.
She’s quiet for a long time, her face difficult to read.
“I want to thank you… For helping me,” she says, licking her lips as she looks at me. “You didn’t have to… I know you came to save Ocho and didn’t want to bother with me…”
I say nothing, hands balled to fists. She thinks I do not want her?
She has to be crazy.
“You do not need to thank me,” I finally say, the overwhelming closeness of her making my head spin, my wolf growling with need for her.
She has her dragons, though.
What does she need a wolf for?
She doesn’t.
“I do,” she says firmly. “Who knows if I ever would have gotten out of that place if you hadn’t busted me out. I could’ve died in there.”
I grunt, not willing to think of that possibility. It has been only days — or so I think, time in Hell is bizarre with no day or night cycle — and the thought of something happening to this woman is unacceptable. Like it or not, she’s become a part of my pack.
At least temporarily. Until she has no use for me anymore, nothing forcing her to stay close to me.
Lili sighs, frowning down at her lap.
“What was your life like before Ocho?” she asks.
I snort.
“Shit. It has always been shit.”
Her frown deepens, head tilting to the side.
“You’re talking to an orphan succubus who was never accepted by her peers, and never good enough to be considered on their level, even when they were incompetent.”
“Da. Life shits on us both.”
She snorts, mouth curling into a sly smile.
“So tell me about it a little,” she purrs, leaning her head on my chest, her fingers sliding down my torso, drawing lazy waves down my body, making every muscle clench and tighten in anticipation, with thinly-held control.
“You’re from Russia, obviously.”
“Da. I was born to farmers, serfs on the Lord’s land. When I was a boy, laws changed. No more serfs, but we pay the Lord three times normal rent to work the land we always had. Then our chickens started dying. Wolves. We were already starving, and I went out to kill wolf. Kill all wolves if I have to.”
Her fingers stop, only teasing the hairs on my chest instead of moving.
“That’s when you were turned?” she asks.
Smart girl.
“Da. After, all I cared about was blood. I joined the army, fought in stupid wars for Imperialist Tsar before Revolution came. That was too bloody, even for me, and the witches took their chance.”
“Witches?” Lili asks, confused.
“In Russia, witches control all magic — by killing off anyone else that might want some. Wolves, tigers, who knows who else. We wolves hid in packs in the forests, keep to ourselves. Kill any witches that appear — except one, mudak.”
“Ocho?” she asks, even more confused.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Nyet. I am mudak in this time. There was a girl, half-wolf, half-witch. I knew and others didn’t, but I let her stay. Protect the pack. That’s what I thought. She was one of us, I thought.”
Lili hisses a curse. “She’s the one that cursed you? After you protected her?”
It’s like she sees the next part of the story before I tell it. Of course Ocho probably already told her his part.
“Da. She wanted to run off with him, he wasn’t serious about her. I told her to stay with pack, in safety. She argued, and Ocho realized he made a mistake, took back his offer to run away with him. She… did not like that. Cursed us both, and in an instant, the mudak dragon killed her.”
Lili groans, burying her head in my chest. “Are you serious? Everyone knows the best person to remove a curse is the one that put it there in the first place… Killing her…”
“Mudak,” I say. “He is a moron.”
She snorts again. “I guess there’s no arguing in this case. So you’ve been stuck with him ever since, trying to find a cure?”
“Mm,” I nod, trying to remind myself not to enjoy this too much. Her curled around me, touching me, her warmth pressed against me.
“You’re nicer than you want people to think,” she says, smirking up at me. I arch a brow.
“You think so?”
“Da,” she says, smirk growing, her hand slipping lower, down under the pillow I’m clutching to my lap to hide the painful erection that’s been present since I shifted. “I think there’s a lot more than meets the eye,” she says, licking her lips.
“Not sure the prison guards would agree,” I say, voice tight as I feel her hot breath close to my skin, close enough to stir my chest hairs as she slips further down on the bed.
“If I recall, they won’t be saying much of anything,” she says, eyes gleaming from my hip level. I don’t know what is happening, I don’t know why she is moving down my body with that hungry look in her eyes.
She’s hungry, mudak.
That’s all it is.
I’m a fool for not realizing it sooner.
“You’re very… talented,” she adds, fingers under the pillow finding my hard cock, making me hiss at the shock of it. Then she shoves the pillow off my lap, and there’s no hiding how turned on I am, how much I want her. She licks her lips again, looking down at my swollen cock, her delicate fingers wrapped around its girth, squeezing just enough to make my balls ache.
Then she leans forward, and swipes the tip of her tongue over my slit. She wraps her lips around the head of my cock, and I forget the feeling of anything else. I drop my head back against the headboard, eyes closed, and groan as she takes more and more of my throbbing cock into her sweet mouth.
Everything she does is right. The way she moves her tongue, how she hollows her cheeks to suck, the hungry, eager moans vibrating through her throat, all the way to my balls. She strokes me while she sucks, faster and faster, until my fingers are digging into the mattress.
I’m afraid if I say something or move, that she’ll stop, that she’ll realize she’s got two perfectly good dragons waiting for her downstairs and she doesn’t need this from me. So I’m silent, I’m clenching my teeth, fingers digging into the sheets, eyes shut tight as I hope to fight off the end just a little longer.
My hips buck on their own, every pull from her lips suctioning the cum right out of me, my whole body thrumming. I open my eyes to look down at her, and catch her, looking back up at me, eyes redder than the Soviet flag, burning with intensity, with a silent command for me to give her what she wants.
“Ohuet,” I growl out, erupting in an instant, almost with no warning. Her lips are still on me, still moving slowly, still sending tremors through me, making me quiver and shake unlike any woman has before.
Finally, Lili pulls back with a satisfied smile, her face flushed, eyes still a little wild.
I don’t know what to say or what to do. I’m sure she wants more, but would rather something more… appropriate. I know how dragons feel about non-dragons. I’ve spent half a century listening to Ocho brag about their superiority.
After a moment of feeling awkward, waiting with held breath for her to tell me to get out, I take the initiative and pull myself out of bed.
“I’ll send Ocho to top you off,” I say, hoping she doesn’t hear how bitter I am to say it.
There’s no place for a wolf amongst dragons. I need to stop fooling myself.
24
Ocho
I knock on her door before going in.
Dima was acting weird when he told me to come up here. Not sure what happened between them, but something is up with my pal. That much I can tell without opening our mental link.
“Come in,” Lili says, sounding distraught.
The fuck did he do to her?
“Everything okay, querida?” I ask, stepping
into her massive bedroom. It’s only one room of this house, and still, it’s probably the nicest room I’ve ever been in. It’s like something out of Versailles, I swear. And she looks right at home in it. A queen in a palace.
“Yeah,” she answers quickly, erasing any hint of something being wrong from her face.
“You sure?” I ask, teasing lightly.
She rolls her eyes, face hard.
“You don’t really need to be here, you know. I didn’t tell him to send you up.”
“Oh…” I frown, even more confused about Dima’s motives then.
“Well, you up for trying that trick again?” I ask. “Couldn’t hurt to practice and get good at it, right?”
She looks at me skeptically for a long moment, then after a long sigh, she shrugs. “Sure.” She holds out her hand, and I join her on the bed, both of us laying back, closing our eyes, hands clasped.
“I don’t know how to actually do it on purpose,” she says after a moment.
“Just breathe deep, relax…”
She snorts. “Relaxing isn’t something I’m exactly known for…”
“Shh, just breathe,” I whisper, thumb stroking her hand where we’re joined.
I feel the shift in the air before I open my eyes, and when I do, I grin.
“You did it!”
She’s smiling back. “Guess I did.”
“Hello again,” comes another voice.
Iseul.
He’s here too, but he’s the only one.
He comes over immediately, happy to greet us. “Um… hi,” he says, hesitating in front of Lili.
We all look at each other, and I think the same thing is on all of our minds — we want her, she wants us, we want each other… the hell is stopping us?
“How far do you think we can go in this place?” I ask her, knowing she’s thinking about it already.
“I… I don’t know,” she mutters, looking over Iseul like he’s behind a wall of glass.
