“There we go. Enjoy your lessons, bitch. One of these days you’re going to learn your place,” Blue Impulse murmured, vanishing in a flicker of light. Only the dirt in the ditch showed the short time he’d been present.
Unless a spellcaster was practically on top of the spikes and searching for magic, it was virtually impossible to detect them while they were buried around Warden’s home. If their magic tried to directly penetrate the wards built into the house, they’d be detected, but the only other way for someone to find them would be to dig them up. Unfortunately for Warden, Ebon Dragon had built his spells with precision, and in a way she’d never anticipated. Rather than trying to penetrate the wards, the formation manifested outside the house, and a tiny fragment of magic imbued into the spikes called out to the curse embedded in the heroine.
Warden was huddled under her thick comforter as she slept deeply and easily. Unlike the first night she’d been home, her dreams were calm and pleasant. The first hints of magic touching her made her stir, and with a sleepy grumble she rolled over, pulling the comforter tighter around herself.
Buried in Warden’s magic, the curse began to react to the formation around the house. The change in conditions caused it to slowly reshape into the form of a new spell that had been hidden inside the curse, something which Morgan hadn’t even seen hints of. Ever so slowly, a series of glittering points appeared on Warden’s forehead in golden light, then slowly formed into a shimmering star. As the circle bounded the star, the formation outside and the star began to pulse with power in time with one another.
Without her command, the heroine’s magic reached out to connect to the formation outside, taking the instructions it was giving. The curse slowly warped under the instructions, no longer simply sitting passively. It began to influence the heroine, to change her with her own power and magic. It wasn’t a fast process, but it was steady, and by using her own magic, it bypassed all the defenses that Warden might have been able to muster, had she even been aware of what was happening.
Although she was unaware of the magic, a soft whimper of confusion escaped the slumbering woman, her dreams darkening and almost waking her. As she neared consciousness, the symbol on her forehead faded as the curse concealed itself again. With the stimulus of the magic weakened, Warden slowly settled back into her sleep, and as she did the spell strengthened in turn. The more gradual process helped her grow accustomed to the magic and less likely to wake this time. In truth, the changes it was making were minor, simply preparing her for a later ritual, even as it began whispering soft, sinister suggestions into her unconscious mind. None of the changes could be done in a single night, but that didn’t matter.
The curse didn’t care about how long it would take.
Friday, November 15th, 2030
Unknown Location
Far from San Francisco, a man sat in a dark room, sitting back and staring at an ancient, elaborately crafted chessboard. The pieces depicted the middle of a game, and it was going badly for white. While black had lost only a few pawns, white had lost half its pieces, including its queen and both rooks.
Suddenly the board shivered, and ever so slowly a white pawn moved forward under its own power. The pawn was only a single move from the other end of the board, and several black pieces were in position to intercept the pawn. Whether they would or not was another question entirely.
The man smiled at the board, murmuring under his breath. “Hmm… and now things get interesting.”
Chapter 10
Wednesday, November 20th, 2030
Irkshire Art Gallery, Oakland
Gina looked around the gallery glumly, unable to hide her disappointment at how few people had visited so far. There were only four people in the building aside from her, and none of them seemed to have any intention of buying a piece, which she found frustrating. It was especially unpleasant after spending a full week unable to be Warden. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d had a choice, but being forced into it chafed on her badly. Worse, the rest of the team hadn’t been able to track down any of her attackers or to find a way of breaking the curse yet.
To keep her mind off things, she’d thrown herself into painting much more heavily, but it was only a distraction, Gina knew. Even if she wasn’t happy with the situation, Gina had realized a few days before that she’d gotten sucked into her work as a heroine a bit too deeply for the last few months. It’d been especially obvious when she looked at the pitiful back stock of paintings at the house. Rebuilding that stock would take some time, and she’d only had time and inspiration for two paintings before coming to the gallery, leaving most of her work as older pieces.
It certainly hadn’t helped her productivity that she’d been feeling a little off-kilter for a few days, making it difficult to focus on painting. Still, Gina sat back to wait, keeping a hopeful eye on her current guests. She would be quite happy if she was wrong and one of them purchased a painting or two.
Leaving the fourth art gallery of the night, Lilith couldn’t suppress her frown. She’d been looking up different room layouts since her visitors had left, and once the furniture was in place all that was left were wall hangings. On a whim, she’d chosen to go to some of the local art galleries. So far it had been an exercise in annoyance and frustration, though. Most of the artwork was nothing she was interested in, while the only piece she’d actually liked had already been sold. The man tending to the gallery had been most apologetic, but it hadn’t helped. At this point Lilith was wondering if she should just give up and go home.
Another aspect of her temptation was the modest crowd that was following her. Some of them were subtler than others, but over a dozen people were hard to miss. At the first gallery she’d made the mistake of politely speaking to some of the other patrons while looking at the artwork, which had drawn them after her like flies to honey. Lilith had corrected the mistake during her visits to other galleries, with middling success as a whole. Nothing she’d done so far had kept them from following her.
She was on the verge of heading home when she spotted another gallery, the sign proclaiming it the Irkshire Art Gallery. It was mostly deserted, which she knew might not be a good sign, but it was always possible that Lilith’s tastes weren’t something that was popular. Besides, the building felt somehow cozier to her, so she walked up the steps and entered. A woman was sitting at the front desk, and she looked up in surprise. For just an instant, Lilith saw her eyes widen in recognition, while Lilith’s mind kicked into overdrive.
The woman stood, revealing that she was a few inches shorter than Lilith, at about five foot eight. She had pretty blue eyes and a stunning face, with her lips curving in a hesitant smile, and her blonde hair hanging in a bob just above her shoulders. Her white empire dress fell nearly to the ground and tastefully showed off her figure, while she wore a gold necklace and earrings that had thread-like chains dangling. Her nametag proclaimed her to be ‘Gina Fairmont, Artist’, but Lilith knew that couldn’t be all she was.
Another person might not have recognized Gina as being Warden, even after having sat in the same room as the heroine for about half an hour. Lilith admitted to herself that half the reason she could recognize the woman was that strange mental connection she felt to the heroine, but she also had a perfect memory and Gina’s face was quite distinctive. While intriguing on its own, the surprising thing was that they’d run into one another less than a week after their previous encounter.
At least this time she’d had time to check with Circe about what had or hadn’t been done to her mind. The AI had explained that while Lilith had been patterned off of Amber’s mind, and was heavily biased toward preferring women because of that, the villain had never bothered implanting attractions, and as such any attraction Lilith felt should be entirely her own.
Lilith almost surprised herself by smiling warmly at Gina and speaking, her tone friendly. “Hello.”
As the door opened, Gina looked up and her heart promptly skipped a beat at who was stand
ing there. She recognized Lilith, since Morgan had told her that the woman had helped her after Gina was attacked by Blue Impulse. Morgan had brought the woman’s full profile, including both a picture and a description of her power, but none of that had prepared her for meeting Lilith in person. Lilith’s presence was like a bonfire brought into a dark room, drawing every eye unerringly. Her brilliant emerald eyes were incredible, and Gina almost felt like she could drown in them. Gina’s breath caught in her throat as Lilith smiled and greeted her, the woman’s voice like nothing she’d imagined, firm but soft at the same time and almost warm itself. How could any voice sound like Lilith’s did? Gina couldn’t help but suspect it was another aspect of Lilith’s powers.
“H-hello, ma’am, welcome to the Irkshire Gallery. May I ask your name?” Gina replied, internally cursing her slight stutter. Tearing her gaze away from Lilith’s eyes, she looked the other woman over in surprise. Lilith looked almost nothing like most of the others in the gallery. She wore simple blue jeans and a green blouse that matched her eyes, along with a thin black jacket, a small purse, and black boots. Taking a moment to breathe in deeply, Gina regained some of her sense of balance as she continued. “Also, is there anything in particular you’d like to see?”
“Thank you, Gina. My name is Lilith Carpenter,” Lilith replied in a soft purr, smiling as a dozen men and two women slowly filed into the gallery in her wake. Gina could tell that the crowd was following her guest, who ignored them as she continued speaking. “I’m not certain that I could describe what it is that I’m looking for. Art that feels right to me, I suppose. I recently moved into a condo, and it’s rather bare at the moment, so I thought I’d get some paintings. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find anything available that I like. Perhaps you could show me around your gallery? It is your artwork, is it not?”
“Certainly! I mean, I’d be happy to show you around, Ms. Carpenter. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Gina replied without thinking, and only barely managed to keep herself from flushing heavily in embarrassment. Taking a moment to control herself, she explained, “I must admit I’ve been in something of a slump of late, so most of my artwork is a bit on the older side. I’m working on updating my collection, though.”
“In that case, why don’t we have a look? And please, call me Lilith. I almost didn’t realize you were speaking to me when you called me Ms. Carpenter,” Lilith replied, looking amused. With a gentle touch against Gina’s elbow, the woman guided her away from the group following her. Gina almost missed the glance of distaste and annoyance that Lilith gave the men and women.
“As you wish, Ms. Lilith. Now, I must say that most of my artwork tends to depict various superheroes, though I also do some landscapes and fantasy art,” Gina explained, leading the way to one of her most recent pieces, a painting of Sky Defender against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and the ocean behind him. As one of her most realistic paintings so far, she was rather proud of it. “This is one of the best examples, I think. Most of my fantasy art is digital, though.”
“I see. Now, I may be misinterpreting what you meant by saying that most of your artwork here is older, but is this one new?” Lilith asked, gesturing at the sign below the picture. Behind her, the others were starting to spread out, though most of them were hovering within sight of Gina and Lilith, one couple in particular. “It appears this has a date of this year, so I’m unsure what to think.”
“You’re correct, actually. I finished two pieces in the past week, and this was one of them,” Gina confirmed, nodding at the next painting. “The other one is right there, and it’s one of my personal favorites. Getting it right was difficult.”
Lilith stepped in front of the large painting, and her eyebrows rose in obvious surprise. It was a rendition of a slender woman flying high in the sky, with mountains and towering white clouds in the background. The woman’s long blond hair was whipping in the wind behind her, while she smiled out at them. She wore a form-fitting outfit in silver with a pattern of blue lightning across it, while the armored chest and waist sections were trimmed in red. The woman’s blue eyes were piercing, and the picture was breathtaking. While Gina had only met the heroine depicted once, Destiny had left a profound impression on her.
“Oh my… Destiny?” Lilith gasped and smiled broadly, a sight which left Gina slightly dazed as she exclaimed. “This is an amazing painting, Gina!”
“Yes, it’s supposed to be Destiny. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing her once, and the experience has stayed with me for years,” Gina replied with a blush, both embarrassment and pride surging through her. For some reason, she found that Lilith’s words almost seemed like they had more weight to them, which was faintly worrisome in some ways, but she continued. “But while I consider it quite good, I hardly think it’s amazing.”
“I disagree with you. It looks like it’s unsold, correct? In that case I’d like to purchase it, Gina. This is far too lovely of a picture to let languish,” Lilith replied firmly, sending a spark of shock and warmth through Gina. “Is that acceptable?”
“I… of course it’s alright, I just…” Gina hesitated, surprised. She thought she’d priced the painting on the high side, so Lilith’s instant offer startled her. She finished a moment later. “Are you certain?”
“Of course I am. It’s a beautiful painting,” Lilith murmured, shaking her head and continuing as she reached out to touch Gina’s shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. “I’d rather not let anyone else get their hands on it. Later on, I’d regret it deeply. However, before finalizing anything, may we continue? I’d like to see if there are any others that catch my attention.”
“Well, if you’re certain. Thank you, Ms. Lilith,” Gina replied, blushing as she reached up to rub her shoulder. “If you’ll follow me, please?”
The two progressed through the gallery slowly, looking at each painting in turn. While Gina didn’t have an enormous number of paintings, there were a good number in the gallery. Some were cityscapes, while others were of heroes or heroines. The older pieces weren’t quite as good, as she’d refined her skills over the years. In the end, Lilith decided to purchase a large number of paintings. A cityscape of Paragon City, formerly known as Salt Lake City until just after its near-obliteration following the Advent, a piece depicting Archon, portraits of the twin heroines Dawn and Dusk, and of the green-skinned Botania were among them. Except for the cityscape, all of the paintings were of rather beautiful heroines, and Gina blushed at the realization.
They returned to the front to wrap up the transaction, and the amount stunned Gina. While she made a decent amount with her artwork, it had always paled compared to what she made as a heroine. This still wasn’t enough to tempt her to change careers fully, but it was the single largest transaction she’d received for her artwork. As they finished, Lilith looked at Gina and smiled.
“I must ask, do you have gallery showings often, Gina? It was a pleasure to find pieces I like, after all,” Lilith asked, her smile faintly teasing. “I visited four other galleries tonight, and the only painting I liked had been sold. It was… frustrating, I must say. If you have more, I’d love to visit and see if you have any other pieces that catch my eye.”
“This is a fairly rare occurrence, I’m afraid. I haven’t had the time to devote purely to art for a while, so my portfolio languished for some time. Still, my schedule has opened up recently, so I’ll likely be painting more than normal. Perhaps…” Gina hesitated, not sure if the idea she had was a good one, but after a moment she pulled out her business card. “Here, if you’re interested in commissions, I’m willing to entertain the possibility. I’ll add that they’ll likely be more expensive than ones I come up with myself, but I’m willing to listen. As for your current purchases, you can pick them up after the gallery closes in two days.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Gina,” Lilith replied with another smile, laughing softly. Taking the card, the woman slipped it into her purse as strange tingles flooded through Gina, adding, “I
’ll think about the commission idea, hmm? I’ll see you on Saturday, I promise. Good night, Gina.”
“G-good night, Ms. Lilith,” Gina replied, blinking and staring as the stunning woman left, feeling like she was in a daze.
As a man approached her for help, Gina shook off her bedazzlement to greet him with a smile. Lilith’s presence had helped the gallery fill up, and even with her gone there were far more patrons than before. Several more paintings sold, and Gina carefully dodged any questions about Lilith. Even so, Gina couldn’t keep her mind from drifting back to Lilith, and her mesmerizing emerald eyes. In fact, it worried Gina a little.
She’d barely met Lilith, and she’d made an impression that was somehow even deeper than the one that Destiny had made. It made little sense, and Gina shook herself, unable to dislodge the sense of confusion and the faint ache of disappointment that Lilith had left. As she went about her business, Lilith’s laughter and smile hovered in the back of her mind. Despite her concerns, Gina found herself hoping that Lilith would call her.
Chapter 11
Wednesday, November 20th, 2030
Lilith’s Condo, San Francisco
Settling down on the couch, Lilith closed her eyes and let herself finally relax, sighing softly. It was a relief to be home, without the crowds and clamor that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. Most of the time, going out was noisy and exhausting, prone to giving her headaches. Even so, she smiled as she remembered Gina, and the confused look on the woman’s face.
“Meeting Gina would’ve made the entire trip worth the time, even if I hadn’t gotten any art in the process. I think she liked me, too…” Lilith murmured, then paused, giggling softly as she shook her head. “I never thought I’d meet her again so soon. I thought she’d vanish from my life completely after Morgan took her… it just goes to show, you never know what life has in store for you, doesn’t it, Circe?”
Born a Queen (Lilith's Shadow Book 1) Page 10
