Amber- Shadow Witch

by D. R. Rosier

  I sent, “Hi Lia.”

  Concern and what felt suspiciously like love washed over me, “Is everything okay?”

  I sent a mental grin, “Yes, it will be anyway. I just missed you.”

  I felt one in return, “I miss you too. I’m having a nice lunch with your mother, she just showed up, introduced herself, and started teaching me. She also tells funny stories.”

  Most daughters would probably feel embarrassed by that, but I just felt relief. I worried about being too busy to teach her when her powers were maturing. Plus, my mom was a great teacher.

  She sent, “So things are going good, also, I think I’m ready to meet Terry.”

  “Are you sure? There’s no rush.”

  She replied, “Yes, I was just worried I’d be all jealous and ruin things.”

  I had the oddest thought then, it seemed Lia didn’t have a mind accent, just her spoken speech. Wonder how that worked.

  I sent a smile, “I’ll bring it up to him next time I see him, though I’m planning to see you first when this is done. I can’t even call him right now, phone is at home while I’m incognito”

  She replied in concern, “What’s going on exactly?”

  I sighed, “I screwed up, ask my mom to explain the first rule, suffice it to say I broke it into pieces, and I’m doing damage control. Cat is keeping an eye on our wayward dragon. I’ll tell you the whole story some other time.”

  She sighed, “I think I miss you more now. This way of speaking is so… intimate. Is it crazy that hearing you in my mind is making me… wet.”

  I giggled, “No, I am too, although that’s only because we are intimate. For instance talking to a friend just feels like talking to a friend.”

  She sent silent agreement.

  I let her go feeling cheered and then and finished up my lunch. I walked out and got on a bus, took a seat halfway toward the back. The bus smelled a bit musty but it was bearable. I got out the general’s hair and once again went rifling through someone else’s memories.

  As far as I could tell the trail ended here. He had tried to get his colleagues to sign onto his line of thought, but it had failed. That was the reason he went through his younger brother to get resources on it. He had plans to compile a complete a picture as possible, and then take it to the president. Luckily, the ones he talked to seemed to think that witches were under their control, they had assets.

  The thing was, they were right, I was an agent of the government, and the witches would stop any witch that went rogue.

  They figured if a witch went crazy and tried to do damage, that our witches would be the stick that took care of the issue. I realized that wouldn’t be a common conception though, and knew we needed to stay in the shadows. The truth was people at that level weren’t as prone to panic or overreaction. Even Lenard wasn’t quite shouting from the rooftops, merely gathering Intel to convince others of what he thought as an obvious danger.

  I went through his life carefully, looking for some leverage. There had to be something I could use to make him back off. His career in the military was impeccable, and by all accounts he was a good honest soldier who believed in honor and duty. I was sure he could pull his brother up short and in turn Smith and Jones.

  The question was how to make that happen.

  I drilled deep into his personal life. Nothing. Even his divorce was clean, they’d simply grown apart with him being stationed so long overseas back then. His wife had fallen in love with someone else and they’d gotten a divorce. The man never even missed one child support payment. He was a damn boy scout. He’d had a few other lovers over the years, but nothing untoward.

  I found to my disgust, that I actually admired him.

  I embraced my magic for a long time on the bus, just meditating on it and trying to come up with a solution. I eventually came up with a crazy idea I was pretty sure Cat would never sanction. Regardless, I packaged up all the memories, my conclusions, and a plan of action. I’d know soon enough if she’d agree to it.

  I got off the bus in a lower middleclass neighborhood and found an apartment building. I went in and pulled my license and paid in cash. This alias was off the government’s radar, I thought it would be useful to keep it, and the low rent on this apartment wasn’t an issue at all. I spent the next couple of hours buying a wardrobe and the cosmetics I’d need.

  I’d have to see about furniture too, but for now I just bought a few cheap pieces at a used furniture store to make the place look lived in. I jumped in the shower, changing back into myself while I washed off the makeup thoroughly. With a touch of power I left the water behind when I took a portal straight to my closet.

  I pulled on jean shorts and a t-shirt and let out a breath. It felt so good to be me again. I also had the thought maybe I shouldn’t object to loudly anymore to being seen as too young. It would only help me be seen as relatively harmless, wouldn’t it?

  After all, pretty young ladies in their late teens were hardly a threat to national security. Not to say I wouldn’t dress professionally, I just wouldn’t fight it if they saw me in something else once in a while.

  I put on the news. Predictably it was all about the dragon, he still showed no signs of stopping, although he seemed a little more erratic as he crisscrossed the globe.

  Cat hadn’t gotten back to me right away on the general or suggested I take back the enchantment, so I decided I’d earned a little downtime. It was late Sunday afternoon and I pursed my lips in thought. I picked up the phone and called Terry.

  Chapter 16

  “Calling ahead this time?” he said with a smile in his voice.

  I snorted, “Emergency sex services are implied in the contract. But if it’s too much trouble…” I trailed off in a teasing voice.

  “No no, no trouble at all. It’s the least I could do for the woman in my life,” he backpedalled.

  I felt a touch of nerves, but after Lia mentioned it I thought…

  “How would you feel about dinner tonight?”

  He replied, “That sounds good to me.”

  I added nervously, “How would you feel about meeting Lia tonight?”

  There was silence on the line for a while.

  Terry replied, “Are you sure?”

  “I am. I don’t know if you two will hit it off or not, but I think it would be healthier if you were at least friends, if not more. It makes things more balanced, an equal relationship where everyone shares everyone as opposed to two separate ones.”

  Ugh, we’d been over that before, but I was nervous so it came spilling out.

  Terry agreed, “Okay, but don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen, that won’t change the way I feel about you.”

  I melted a bit on the inside.

  “Okay, where do you want to meet us?”

  I know I was assuming Lia was free tonight, but it was her idea to meet Terry so I thought she’d go for it.

  “How about that Indian place,” he replied, “Can’t remember the name but we ate there a few weeks ago for lunch.”

  I nodded, like he could see it? The clock showed six, it was seven in D.C.

  “That sounds good, at eight?”

  He replied, “With bells on.”

  I snickered, “No one says that anymore.”

  He said faux proudly, “I do. I’m sure it’s going to make a comeback. See you then.”

  We said our goodbyes and hung up.

  I bit my lip and contacted Lia, she felt both excited and nervous through the link, but agreed right away and promised to be ready in forty five minutes. Then I grinned, wondering what my listeners made of all that.

  Succubae never have to shave, really don’t need makeup, and perfume would just interfere with the natural scent and pheromones that no scientist could improve on. I could also put my hair up in about ten seconds with magic. So ten minutes later I was in a light blue dress that hugged my curves and then flared out at my hips and the flowing fabric reached down to my lower thighs.

  I
slipped on a pair of matching high heels and got out some pearl earrings and a necklace. Needless to say I had about a half hour to kill. I got out a detect wand from my spy toolbox and got rid of all the bugs it picked up. Luckily it got all the cameras, I knew there were a few more bugs. In the kitchen, living room, and bedroom, but the wand didn’t detect them so I left them where they were.

  Maybe not being perfect would make them relax.

  The time rolled around so I took a portal to Lia’s apartment. She smiled when she saw me and pulled me into a long kiss. That was a hello I could really get behind. She looked stunning in a green cocktail dress a beautiful pair of high heeled sandals. Her hair was up on one side and she was just simply gorgeous.

  Succubae didn’t have a corner market on beauty after all. In fact, I looked a lot like my mother and grandmother. My grandmother was a pure witch.

  “You look amazing love,” she said softly.

  I smiled in thanks, “You’re stunning Lia.”

  I stole another kiss before we left. My stomach was a bit tight and I had second thoughts. Maybe it will be awkward with me there? Should they have their own date? It was a short walk from where we took a portal and I saw Terry standing there by the doors. For some reason seeing him there looking sexy and dressed up, but nervous, calmed me.

  When we reached him I pulled him into a short but demonstrative kiss. Holding back from acting normally would be what made it awkward. I hoped so anyway. When I broke it I introduced them. They were a bit stiff, but I could see they thought the other was attractive at least, which didn’t surprise me. Only time would tell if they meshed in other ways.

  We went in then and were seated immediately. It wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t packed on a Sunday night either.

  Terry’s lips twitched and he said, “So Amber tells me that you saved her life and then stole her heart.”

  Lia smiled, “I suppose I did at that, but she tells me you wooed her inta bed with your smooth and evident masculine charms.”

  Terry seemed to relax a little, “It was hard fought, she resisted me at first, but I won her in the end despite us working together.”

  Lia grinned, “Well, she is a bit slow from time to time. Some rules are made to be broken after all.”

  Huh. I hadn’t anticipated the gang up on Amber angle. I felt rather… bemused by it.

  Terry opened his mouth no doubt to say something witty when the waitress came and rescued me. We gave our orders and talked lightly until she delivered our drinks. Okay, I was only saved for a few short moments.

  Lia said, “To be fair, right after I saved her she saved me right back from a group of hooligans.”

  Terry sat forward with a look of interest, “Oh? She hadn’t told me this story.”

  Lia waved a hand, “Ach, she don’ never toot her own horn, but you probably know that already.”

  What followed then was a masterful retelling that hardly resembled the truth of the teen lack wits that tried to have a bonfire in a forest. I actually blushed when she mentioned swooning and rewarding the heroine with her just reward. Not for the sex reference, simply because it was so far over the top.

  Luckily after that they seemed to stop poking fun at me, and started to get to know each other and ask questions. When I thought about it, it had been brilliant to use me to break the ice instead of to be jealous or argue over.

  I got the idea that things had gone really well, but they weren’t quite up to the idea of becoming a three way relationship and jumping in bed on the night they met. Although I could tell part of them wanted to, I was a succubus after all, it was easy to pick up the stirrings of lust and attraction between them. It’s what I did.

  Of course, that brought up a problem. We’d all been on the date, and there was only one of me to take home. To my shock they bartered good naturedly like I was a slab of meat at the market, and Lia won by virtue of the fact that Terry was the last one I’d had sex with. If it hadn’t been done in bantering good humor I’d have felt bad about it, as it was I could hardly hold in my giggles and keep up my mock glares.

  He put his arms around me and kissed me goodbye with a twinkle in his eyes. Then he surprised me again when he stepped into Lia, gave her a light hug and kissed her cheek.

  Terry said, “Lia, I’d love to do this again, can I call you? Maybe we can do something alone, see how we feel without our sexy referee.”

  Lia replied lightly, “I’d like that Terry, give me a call.”

  I felt a twinge of excitement, I’d had that thought earlier. Maybe they needed to get to the point of being in bed and enjoying each other without me there before we become a group thing. Still, I thought tonight was a success, they got to slowly sink into things with me there as a buffer. Plus, I was quite happy with the thought of getting Lia home and peeling that beautiful green dress off of her delectable body.

  We went back to her apartment then. We loved each other with our bodies, and then took turns pleasing each other with a strap on and some other toys. The idea was scary, and it felt too early for such intense feelings, but with two empaths there was no point in denying it. I found myself in love with her, and knew that she returned those feelings. We didn’t say it; there was no reason to, and there was no way to hide it. I fell asleep cuddled with her, extremely sated and deliriously happy.

  When I woke up in the early morning I had new memories. I took a moment to go over them. Dawn had completed upgrading the protections for about thirty towns, she’d been doing ten a day or so. She seemed like she was doing better, putting up protections on the other world seemed to be easing her conscience.

  I got up and put on a robe before wandering into the kitchen. Lia was making breakfast and it smelled heavenly. I poured myself a cup of coffee and caressed her wordlessly as I passed. I’d never had another witch as a lover before, but we almost had a whole conversation just passing feelings back and forth. It was a level of intimacy I’d never had before and I never wanted to lose it.

  Sure, with my succubus powers there was a deep level of intimacy, but it had a… sexual base to it. This thing we shared was pure sappy and sugary emotion, I was sure if anyone else saw us they’d be disgusted.

  “Morning love. I’m back on duty in a few hours. You have work today?”

  I think I did, I still hadn’t heard from Cat. Either she was handling the general herself, or she was waiting for something before giving me a green light. Maybe the final dragon? The clock showed seven so I had about an hour to get ready, which was more than enough time.

  I sighed, not really wanting to leave, “Yes, I need to be there in an hour.”

  She winked, “Plenty of time to eat then.”

  Good thing Succubae don’t gain weight, Lia loved to feed me.

  I just enjoyed the company, before I knew it, I had to get going. I stopped off at home long enough to shower and throw on some clothes. I chose a sunny brilliant yellow skirt and a darker red blouse with sandals. I smirked at my reflection, realizing I was dressing my bright mood. I was about to leave when Cat contacted me.

  She just said she approved of my plan, just as long as I went to plan B if it all went to hell. I didn’t really like plan B, which was basically mesmerizing him, but I’d do what I had to. Hopefully plan A would suffice, although it was probably naïve of me to believe it had a chance.

  As for the dragon, she told me that she thought he’d be forced to rest either early morning tomorrow or as late as tomorrow afternoon. I wasn’t sure how she came up with that time frame, but trusted she wouldn’t say it unless she had a good reason to believe it was true.

  I opened that portal to Langley and stepped through.

  “Nice skirt, I need sunglasses.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Bite me Dennis.”

  His voice was oily and suggestive, “Anytime, just name the place on that body Am.”

  I glanced around and he was leering at my ass. Unbelievable.

  He winked, and then his voice because almost normal… almost, “B
y the way, word is out. Someone saw your little date last night with Terry and some hot redhead. Fair warning. Still, I’d be happy to lend my services to make the next one more even.”

  I threw up a little in my mouth at the thought. He really was as bad as it sounds. Empath. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t fired long ago for harassment, except his record in the field was almost as good as mine.

  “Don’t hold your breath,” I said as I walked away.

  I felt like I needed another shower, I did release a spell that cleansed my mouth though.

  Great, today should be fun. Although now that it was out, I realized I didn’t really care who knew. I was just worried the bosses would move one of us to another section chief.

  Not much happened regarding that, it was just another day. Maybe the fact Susan was out of the office helped things along that way. I just wasn’t going to worry about it, now that we were together I supposed not seeing him all day wouldn’t be horrible.

  I made plans to go over Terry’s that night, I couldn’t tell him exactly when because I had a date with the General. I actually went home and changed into jean shorts and red clingy shirt. I was hoping this would keep him from being too alarmed at first. I opened a small portal to his bathroom and sent in a spell. There didn’t appear to be any type of electronic monitoring in his house, so I opened it the rest of the way and stepped through.

  I went down to his living room and sat in one of the chairs. Then I felt foolish, like I’d watched to many spy dramas and went into the kitchen instead, and sat at the table. I’d known what he looked like of course, but when he finally came in I felt an impressive authoritarian presence that just didn’t come through from his brother’s memories.

  “Hello General, may I call you Lenard, or is it Lenny?”

  He started for a moment and then went for an intimidating look, “What are you doing in my house young lady.”

  I smiled, “Lenny then? Is that alright? I think we both know why I’m here.”

  He frowned, “Very well Miss Price. Or I guess I’ll just call you Amber since we’re apparently on a first name basis. How did you…”