Shadow

by Jan Stryvant

  Circe gave a little laugh, “This is why I always tolerate you, Carl. Your manners are impeccable. Yes, Shadow is being punished, going to the Police without my permission was a very bad thing to do.”

  “But you have to admit, it was pretty damn funny, Circe,” Carl said grinning. “Not only did he save the girl, but old man Hennessy, Gregory, and half a dozen others got arrested for kidnapping and murder! The entire security team let them waltz right in through the toughest security in the state because they’re all good guys and ex-cops. I hear that both Harbinger and the Bag Man thought it was a rather well done affair and Scorecard asked me to personally invite you both to his party tonight.”

  Circe nodded, “Oh I agree it was well done. Otherwise I’d be sporting a nice new leopard coat. Still he has to be punished.”

  “How is she, Carl?” Shadow asked softly, “I wanted to apologize to her for getting her in trouble like that.”

  “Haven’t seen her yet, but word is she’s okay.”

  “Carl, why don’t you ask her to meet us at tonight’s party, then Shadow can offer her a nice public apology.” Circe said smirking.

  “Sure thing, Circe, I’ll go take care of that immediately. Good day, Circe, Shadow,” he nodded and left just as their drinks were delivered.

  “Just how much public humiliation am I in for?” Shadow sighed and lapped at his drink.

  “Lots,” Circe said, “I want everyone to see that I’m still in charge of you. Besides, after all you’ve gone through to save her; I thought you’d want to see her with your own eyes.”

  “Not calling her my ‘little fuck toy’ anymore?” Shadow asked bemused.

  “If she’s as hot as you make her sound, I was thinking of taking her home tonight and making her one of my little fuck toys!” Circe giggled back.

  Shadow cocked his head and thought about that, “You know, you would like her, we do have the same taste in women.”

  “I’m also going to make you give her the money you got for that job.”

  Shadow was glad he was drinking out of a bowl, or he would have choked on his drink. “What?!” he gasped.

  “It’s only a hundred grand, now, smile and look good for our visitors.”

  Shadow looked up and sure enough another patron was stopping by, The Dart this time.

  Over the next several hours everyone came by the booth and said hello. They all paid their respects to Circe, something which Shadow had never seen them do before. It was obvious after a while that while they all enjoyed what the results had been, they also were happy to see him being punished for once and seeing that he did indeed answer to Circe.

  “They’ll all taking way too much pleasure in my discomfort,” he grumbled softly to Circe in the way of the cat much later on.

  “Yes, delightful isn’t it?” she laughed. “Now, let’s go find that party.”

  The party was nice; Scorecard talked mainly with Circe and made a point of not talking to Shadow.

  “I’m glad to see you’ve taken this seriously, Circe,” He said to her. “I like the boy, I really do. He’s respectful and follows the code. He has honor. However while I enjoyed today’s outcome like everyone else, I have to question his judgment.”

  Circe nodded, “He came to me and confessed all after he had done it. To be honest I’m certain he thought I would kill him for it, though he raised no paw against me and waited on my punishment.”

  “So why didn’t you kill him?” Scorecard look surprised, Shadow suspected then that they thought she hadn’t killed him because she lacked the power.

  “Because he felt it was a matter of honor. She had no part in the job, I had stopped him from trying to rescue her himself, so he used guile and trickery to get the Police to do it for him. I hadn’t realized I had left him that option when I ordered him not to save her. He told me himself that he wouldn’t let a friend take the rap for his job.”

  “I see,” Scorecard nodded. “That does change things. So he frees her and puts his own neck on the block, shafting Hennessy and that bunch in the process. Even odds.” Scorecard shook his head and laughed then. “Luck is with the boy, for it did end rather well.”

  They talked some more and Shadow only gave it half of his attention, for the most part he laid across a couple of chairs drowsing slightly, his tail curled possessively around Circe’s waist. That did not go unnoticed he was sure. When Stephanie came into the room he woke up and jumped to the floor causing Circe to look at him.

  “What is it?”

  “Stephanie just showed up.”

  “Oh, go get her and bring her back here.”

  Shadow nodded and quickly threaded his way through the crowd. One wise guy grabbed his leash and tried to hold on, but quickly found himself being dragged across the floor and into a couple of tables as Shadow dug his claws in and pulled, until he let go. That got a lot of laughs and no one tried to touch his leash again.

  “Stephanie,” Shadow said and rubbed up against her legs giving her a start until she heard him say her name. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  “Shadow, is that you?” She said shocked. She’d never seen his full cat before.

  “Yes, it’s me. Grab my leash, Circe wants to say hello, I’ll lead you over there.”

  “Why are you like that?” she asked still surprised.

  “Punishment for going to the police to get you freed.” He said and started to lead her through the crowd, which parted for him this time.

  “You’re the one who went to the cops?”

  “It was the only way I thought I’d get you out alive.”

  “Well I’m sure glad you did, Shadow! I think I’d be dead now.”

  They came up to Circe’s table at this point. Scorecard was still there interestingly enough.

  “Circe, this is Stephanie. Stephanie this is Circe, my Boss.”

  “Stephanie, it is a pleasure,” Circe said rather pleasantly and extended a hand, which Stephanie took and then curtsied. Shadow could tell she was intimidated by Circe.

  “Oh please, relax! Pull up a chair and join us. You’re among friends here. Besides I believe Shadow has something he’d like to say to you, don’t you, Shadow?”

  Shadow stood tall, if he was going to do this, then he was going to do it like a man. “Quiet a moment!” He growled rather loudly and everyone nearby shut up and looked at him, those who were close already following the events playing out at the table.

  “Stephanie, I want to personally apologize for what happened to you, it was entirely my fault. It was my actions that put you in jeopardy, please accept my most humble apology.”

  “Very good, Shadow,” Circe said smiling. “And don’t you have something for her?” And she held up an envelope.

  Shadow tried not to wince, “I want you to have this,” he said and Circe handed her the envelope.

  “What is it?”

  “The proceeds from the job I did that caused all of this.”

  Shadow heard a lot of gasps from the crowd on that one.

  “Which if anyone tries to take from you I will hunt them down and kill them and eat their corpse,” Shadow said making Circe laugh rather loudly and she reached over to rub his neck.

  “I couldn’t take this,” she said looking a little nervous, “It wasn’t really your fault; I’m not even your girlfriend!”

  “Well they thought so; I should have made it crystal clear to everyone that Circe is the one who owns my heart. Everyone else is just leasing it.”

  Shadow heard a few chuckles at that and some of the gals went ‘awwww’, Circe reached over and rubbed him again, though it was more of a caress this time. The crowd started back up again at this point, alcohol and drugs leading to short attention spans after all.

  “Keep it, Stephanie,” Circe said smiling and taking one of her hands and holding it. “What you went through was traumatic, this will help.”

  Stephanie blushed and put the envelope in her purse, though she did not reclaim her hand from Circe’s.


  “Stay with us, please, be our Guest.” Circe said smiling and moved to sit next to Stephanie. Scorecard stood at this moment and winked at Shadow, then made his good-byes and left.

  Shadow jumped up to the table this time and laid down there. Someone brought him a drink in a bowl, some sort of rum drink with lots of cream. He drank a little, but mostly he just half drowsed. He took part in the conversation a little at first, Circe encouraged him to talk some, but eventually she zero’d in on Steph and in time was hitting on her pretty heavily. Steph was a bit drunk by this point, but was expressing an interest herself.

  “Ask her home already,” Shadow growled in the way of the cat to Circe, “She’s ready and I can smell her arousal.”

  “That must be a handy ability,” Circe growled back.

  “What is it?” Stephanie asked.

  “Oh, Shadow is getting bored and suggests we all go back to my place. Shall we?”

  “Well, umm ...” Stephanie said, blushing a little.

  “Come on, Steph, you wont regret it,” Shadow said softly.

  She blushed even more and Circe almost frowned, but then Stephanie agreed and Circe was all smiles as they headed home.

  Of course Circe dragged Stephanie right off to bed, and quickly had her naked beside her. Shadow laid across the foot of the bed and watched out of curiosity. Woman on woman sex really didn’t do much for him, oh the scents of their arousal got him aroused, but it wasn’t really his thing. Circe he had to admit was rather good at it however. She had Stephanie moaning in very short order and got her off several times. What was even more interesting is Stephanie then returned all of those favors, with equal vigor and Circe came several times as well.

  This went on for some time until during one break Stephanie finally noticed him laying on the end of the rather large bed.

  “What about Shadow?” Stephanie asked Circe.

  “What about him?”

  “When does he get some?”

  “When I’m done with you, sweetie.”

  “Are you going to do him like that?”

  “Of course, he’s not allowed to change back for a month, besides; he’s more fun like this.”

  “Wow. Can I watch?”

  Circe laughed, “Sure. You never had him like this?”

  Stephanie shook her head no.

  “Well then, after he does me, I’ll let him do you. Shadow hon, come up here and show me who owns your heart!” Circe giggled.

  Shadow stood up and stretched. His hardon was evident now, and he lashed his tail and smiled. This was going to be fun.

  The first time with Circe was hard and animalistic. Stephanie went from shock to extremely turned on as she watched the two of them, and was more than willing to be next.

  They spent the rest of the night trading him back and forth, as he showed his flexibility and staying power. When dawn finally came Stephanie was dead asleep, pretty much screwed unconscious and even Circe was having a hard time staying awake. Shadow himself was too exhausted to stand any more and just laid on his side panting.

  “You were right, I do like her,” Circe purred. “She looks good in my bed. I’m gonna keep her.”

  Shadow gave a little laugh, “See, this is why I don’t bring my lovers around, 'cause you’d probably steal every last one of them.” He grabbed Circe and pulled her between his paws and she pulled Stephanie over to be close as well and they quickly fell asleep.

  The next month passed rather quickly, as usual Shadow had trouble keeping track of the days in his cat form, and he did stay in it as Circe had ordered him. People got used to seeing him on a leash with Circe on the other end. They also got used to seeing Circe with Stephanie, who sure enough ended up on Circe's staff within a few weeks. Circe could be very persuasive and Shadow had no idea that Stephanie was that kinky.

  Once he was able to start going around in his preferred form again Shadow caught back up on his old business, and his girlfriends. The collar was a bit of an annoyance, though it made Circe rather happy. He decided that even after his punishment was up, he’d put it on whenever they went out together. Looking back at things she could have been much harder on him. Also the depths of her feelings for him were pretty clear now as well. He was more than just a big furry fuck toy, or her right hand man. He was also her main squeeze, the most valued person or animal in her life. Interestingly she held the same spot with him, which considering they fought almost as often as they made love, was rather scary.

  # # # # #

  “Heya sexy.”

  Shadow had answered his apartment door and was surprised to see Fiona there; she'd joined Tomas' team a few months after that nasty incident in Bell's, taking his advice. Most people believed that she hated him and wanted him dead for raping her. That story was a necessary fiction for both of their benefits, the truth was he’d set her up with Tomas’ team and she owed him her life. They had spent one very pleasant night after that when she decided to ‘reward’ him for the choice he had made, the consequences of which were still unfolding.

  “Back for round two?” He said smiling.

  “Maybe when you’ve done something worth such a fantastic reward?” she teased.

  Shadow sighed, “Damn, you’re hot you know. I was hoping for another go around.”

  She laughed, “Maybe next time.”

  “What brings you here?”

  “Well someone asked me if I’d deliver this to you,” she held out an envelope. “They had a suspicion I knew where you lived, seeing as you ‘raped my ass’ here,” she giggled.

  He took the envelope. “I see. Sure I can’t invite you inside? They say rape is always better the second time around.”

  “Sorry, but I actually have a boyfriend now and I’m not the straying kind.”

  Shadow gave a rather theatrical sigh, he really wasn’t that surprised, but he still enjoyed teasing her whenever the opportunity arose. “Okay. Bye!”

  “Bye!” she did lean over and give him a peck on the muzzle and left, pulling the hood of her hoodie up to hide her face.

  Shadow closed the door and opened the envelope. Tomas wanted to meet with him; there was a place listed, and a series of flags that could be set in several different places so they could signal each other to where and when. There was also an emergency signal that could be set for important meetings. Tomas was worried about too many cell phone calls exposing Shadow, and Shadow appreciated that concern. He knew that cell phone records weren’t that hard to get.

  When Wednesday came Shadow was sitting in the back of a teashop in the business district. It was after the lunch rush, mostly it was university students inside now and no one was paying much attention to anyone else. It was nice and dark as well, with the booths well separated.

  “Ah, I see you’ve made it.” Tomas said slipping into the booth.

  “Easy enough to get here,” Shadow shrugged.

  “No, I meant that you’re not a coat.” Tomas grinned.

  Shadow shrugged. “Everyone thinks I tricked you into helping me out. They don’t quite understand that the good guys don’t cut the rich and famous slack when they kidnap and murder.”

  “Well the courts might,” Tomas confessed, “But we don’t. So people were okay with it?”

  “Yes and no. Circe had to punish me, which was mostly public humiliation and why I’m wearing a collar these days. I was supposed to spend a month in my full cat form, actually ended up to be more like a month and a half.”

  “Really? Why so long?”

  “Cause as a cat I have a terrible sense of time, and Circe wasn’t about to tell me when my time was up. She enjoys me more as a cat.”

  “Oh? More tractable?”

  “No, rougher sex.” Shadow smirked.

  “I should have known,” Tomas sighed. “I kept your name out of my official report as the anonymous source, I hope you appreciate that.”

  “It’s all over the underground that I did it. Isn’t it all over uptown as well?” Shadow asked surprised.

&nbs
p; “There are rumors, but that’s all. So you pulled off the Renae job?”

  Shadow nodded. “Pay sucked, but Hennessy was screwing those people out of what was theirs because he could. He didn’t need the money.”

  “So you didn’t do it for the money, interesting.”

  “Oh, I did it for the money; however I didn’t get to keep any of it.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  “Remember I said I got punished? That was another part of it.”

  “Ah.”

  “How’s the cop?”

  “He’s doing fine. He was a bit confused, he thought he heard someone shoot one of his captors, but the lack of food and sleep will make your mind play tricks.”

  “What about Tony?”

  “He’s enjoying protective custody as we speak. Thanks for the tip off.”

  “And Hennessy and his minions?”

  “Well Victor and the rest are up on kidnapping, murder, and attempted murder. Hennessy is trying to distance himself from everything. The feds however are taking an interest, seems they found some things that indicates he was cheating on his taxes.”

  “So they’re going to Al Capone him?”

  Tomas laughed, “Probably. I think he may get hit with accessory after the fact on the kidnapping charge. He’s claiming that he was never told what they were doing, and Victor is falling on his sword for him.”

  “Any idea how they found me out?”

  “They were able to identify who made the fake set and leaned on them. That led them to the insurance company recovery specialist, and that led them to some guy in the underground. They weren’t able to get their hands on him, but they tracked him to you eventually, then nabbed that girl you were seeing. They thought she was your girlfriend and apparently she was able to give them enough info to confirm their suspicions.”

  “I should have been able to get her out of there myself.” Shadow growled.

  “I saw the defenses they had in place, you wouldn’t have stood a chance,” Tomas told him.

  “I could have and I should have. I have the ability, just not the experience.” He growled softly. “That is going to change; I need to be able to protect the people around me without relying on others.”