Cantrips: Volume #2: Minor Magics Crafted to Amuse and Entertain

by Joey W. Hill

  “G’day, Dev,” she said, letting him take her hand and bend over it. He didn’t brush his lips over her knuckles, but she felt the warmth of his breath across her skin, a pleasant sensation, along with the strength of his fingers, the gentle way he held her.

  As he straightened, he offered a deferential nod. “My lady. Delighted to be here. I guess you saw Mason and Jessica rocked up. Or felt them, rather.”

  She nodded. He squeezed her hand, a familiarity he wouldn’t normally take at a more formal affair. “This is a bonza thing here, tonight. A gift to all of us. Thank you, my lady.”

  “I’ve never seen you quite so polished, Dev. Not getting too fancy, are you?”

  He flashed his cheeky grin. “Danny just likes to dress me up a bit, make me smell less like sheep on occasion.”

  “Well she did a very good job.” Her gaze swept him. “You look very appetizing.”

  Regretting your decision already, not to go the usual route tonight, my lady? Jacob’s fingers whispered lower on the back of her dress, over the upper rise of her buttock, a blatantly possessive touch he knew he could push in this company. Not that she thought he’d rein himself in too much regardless.

  I enjoyed my night with you and Gideon enormously. I haven’t had that distinct pleasure with you and Devlin. I might have to give it some thought. Perhaps after Christmas, you, me, Dev and Danny will curl up in that very large bed together. There are endless ways for four to pleasure one another. She gave him an image of her and Danny twined in an embrace, Jacob behind her, Dev behind his lady, teasing female flesh with mouth and fingers, cocks thrusting into the women they loved as those women added to the pleasure with one another.

  Santa is definitely putting you on the naughty list. His reaction told her the idea had engaged his interest though, on several levels. She slid her hand back to tangle with his and then applied enough pressure, at the right angle, to have him stifling an oath at the wrench to his wrist.

  Only if you behave, Sir Vagabond.

  His sensuous chuckle in her mind was enough to slide a secret tingle up her spine, the same path his fingers had followed.

  She knew what Dev had been implying. It was a different environment tonight. For one thing, the children—Kane, Farida and yes, John—were a big part of the evening, because Christmas, like a trip to Disney, required their special energy to make it that much more magical.

  That last part was according to Jacob. Lyssa had of course never been to Disney, but if she capitulated to one of her servant’s entirely insane ideas, that would be rectified in January. He’d proposed they take a short flight down and go to the park during the nighttime hours. Given that it would get dark after five-thirty at that time of year, and Kane was able to go outside within an hour after dark now, they could go for several hours before the park closed. That was likely the maximum amount of time her senses—or Kane’s—could handle such close proximity to large groups of people. But Jacob said when she saw Kane staring in dazzled disbelief at the sight of Mickey fighting a dragon in an epic light show over the water, or viewing the fireworks over the castle, it would all be worth it. Jacob also wanted to get her on a couple roller coasters—something called Space Mountain—which meant she was intending to take Danny and Dev with them, so the two couples could switch off Kane when needed.

  Danny pressed a kiss to Lyssa’s cheek. Her blue eyes were dancing, and her next words picked up on Lyssa’s line of thinking. “I can’t tell you how…intrigued I am by our New Year’s trip with you. It was so difficult not to tell Lord Belizar our plans. I would have loved to see his eyes pop out of his head.”

  Jacob grinned at her. “If we put you in the right dress, think how many people will be asking how you felt when the prince put the glass slipper on your foot.”

  “Or kissed you awake,” Dev put in. “They’ll also be wondering where all the little bluebirds are that are supposed to be flittering around your head.”

  Danny smiled sweetly, showing her fangs. “I’m not sure tonight was such a good idea, Lyssa,” she remarked. “Servants do tend to forget their place when they’re encouraged to be too familiar with their Mistresses.”

  “Think of the pleasure you’ll have, reminding him of his place later,” Lyssa said. “Let me know if you need help with that.” Her jade gaze skimmed over Dev, no hint of a smile on her face, though her eyes glittered dangerously.

  Danny nodded, linking arms with her. “Count on it. But first, let me give you a quick peek at the shoes I bought Anwyn in LA. You can tell me if you think she’ll like them.”

  As they moved off to the tree and its stack of gifts, Dev glanced at Jacob. “You know they mean every word of that. Shows how wobbly we are, stirring them up, knowing there’ll be hell to pay later.”

  “No. The wobbly part is that we’ve started looking forward to whatever they devise.” Jacob chuckled. “Gideon used to call me brain-damaged. I told him now that he’s become a member of the club, he gets to be the lead poster child for us. He’d argue the point, but…”

  “Be a bit difficult, wouldn’t it?” Dev glanced at Jacob’s brother, currently using his height advantage to stretch up and take an ornament off the tree, so Anwyn could take a closer look at it. As she bent her head over the item, Daegan was behind her, studying the detail on the blown glass star. Gideon had his hand on Anwyn’s hip, and Daegan’s overlapped it, an entirely unconscious affection between the three of them. “If ever there was such a thing as a Christmas miracle, that one might be it,” the bushman added.

  “Yeah.” Jacob sobered, thinking of where Gideon had been, how close he’d come to not being part of Jacob’s future, or of any future at all. The hatred and violence had nearly eaten his brother’s soul. “Truer words.”

  Dev squeezed his shoulder. “I think every pairing in this room is a bloody miracle.” His gaze moved to Danny’s trim form, the golden waves of her hair falling over her pale shoulders, her china blue eyes that focused on him as she saw his attention. Her lips curved softly, then she turned her attention to Lyssa again. Jacob knew she might put Dev under the lash of a single tail later for teasing her, but she’d soothe every hurt with her lips, her hands. Female vampires had that particular propensity. They were like terrible, beautiful goddesses who gave pain and pleasure. The man who worshipped and cared for one came to crave both as symbols of their bond. It all worked out the same to a vampire’s servant. It might be crazy, but it was also happiness…and love.

  * * *

  Lyssa heard his thoughts, which returned her thoughts to the other reasons tonight would be different. Not just because of the children’s presence. Every vampire here had a different relationship with their servant, closer, more intimate, and in this company they could feel at ease showing it. Politicized sexual games wouldn’t dominate this evening’s entertainment. For one thing, Gideon and Jacob were brothers. Second, since in this environment there was no stigma attached to it, Mason had made it clear he had no desire to share Jessica with anyone. The two surprise guests she was expecting would make that a full circle, because they were definitely not yet in a position to understand that aspect of vampire society.

  As much as she enjoyed the carnal nature of her kind, she had to admit it was nice to have a night that was simply about this. It was going to be an evening of Christmas carols, opening gifts, maybe even a game of the Minister’s Cat. Nothing flustered vampires like quick thinking games outside their usual milieu. She was interested to see if she could stump Daegan. In short, tonight was a family gathering.

  You’re dedicated to a common theme tonight, my lady. I like it.

  She let Jacob into her mind so easily now, there were times she didn’t even make a conscious choice about it. Their minds were just…together.

  Danny had returned to Dev after their little tete-a-tete. Lyssa had assured Danny the shoes she’d picked out for Anwyn, a pair of black and white stilettos with six inches of ankle straps and intricate beadwork on every other strap, were erotic works of a
rt. The young female vampire, a Mistress who ran her own BDSM club, would love them. And if not, Lyssa would take them away from her in a heartbeat.

  Jacob came to her now with an amused twinkle in his eye. A potential cat fight. The night gets better and better.

  She rolled her eyes. Sure you won’t miss the possibility of getting to share Jessica with Dev and Gideon for our viewing pleasure?

  He snorted. I prefer this not to be my last Christmas. Plus, I have no desires for anything but you, my lady. You and your happiness.

  Jingle bells and toenails clattering down the hallway from the kitchen heralded Bran trotting into the main room with Fionn. They went right to Dev, recognizing the top dog person in the room. Dev obliged them both with a hearty tousling of ears and remarking on their Christmas finery. Then the bushman was straightening, turning with the rest of the room to greet Mason and Jessica, coming down from the upper guestrooms.

  Mason looked as devastating as always. Like Daegan, he tended to go with more formal wear choices for such events, so he wore dark slacks and a shirt tailored of silk and linen which lay soft and inviting against his powerful upper body. His copper-colored hair was queued back to emphasize the aristocratic planes of his face, the thick tail of it falling down between his shoulder blades. Jessica’s party outfit was a shining concoction of silver and white, the glitter sparkling over the form-fitting dress that matched her stockings and heels. Her hair was artfully arranged around her face, Amara’s doing no doubt. She and her husband, Enrique, Mason’s other two servants, had flown with him and Jessica as far as Atlanta, but would now be going on to the Bahamas, Mason’s Christmas gift to them both. Amara and Enrique still served him in a variety of ways, including some sensual diversions with Jessica, but there was now only one servant that filled him, body, heart and soul.

  Each time Lyssa saw Mason, the bond between him and his servant became even more obvious. It was good Mason was as intimidating as he was, because whereas Lyssa had flatly declared her love for Jacob before Council, she had a certain public reserve to her manner with Jacob. It helped the Council be more comfortable with the scenario. Mason’s feelings for Jessica emanated off of him without word or thought. Jessica glowed in the bonds of that love like an eternal flame, becoming brighter and more confident by day. Though that confidence had not required it, the bearing of his child had certainly underlined it.

  As the vampires in the room pressed forward, Lyssa could see the humor in Mason’s eyes. It was an acknowledgement that, as welcome as he and Jessica were in this company, the vampires were most interested in the newest arrival. A vampire child’s birth was such a rare occasion, it was as much a cause for celebration as Christmas itself.

  “Mama.” Kane was at her knee. He wanted a closer look at what Jessica was holding. Obliging him, Jacob picked up their son.

  Kane stared at the baby in Jessica’s arms. Farida stared back at him with calm amber eyes. When she reached out, waved a tiny fist at him, he touched it with a finger. She cooed in approval. “She’s not a toy,” Jacob mentioned helpfully to his son. “Very fragile, like your mother’s porcelain rose collection. What did I tell you about that?”

  “Look. Don’t pick up,” Kane remembered dutifully. “One finger touch.”

  “Exactly.” Jacob bit back a smile when Kane pushed a finger against the baby’s forehead. Farida tried her best to look at it, eyes crossing.

  Farida was a beautiful vampire child, her delicate features reflecting Jessica’s beauty. She had her human mother’s chestnut brown hair but a vampire’s stillness to her steady gaze. There were the usual cuts on her lips from scores by the tiny fangs. They learned to retract them as they grew older, but in the beginning they needed them to feed, so their biology kept them at a constant length.

  The baby was dressed in her Christmas finery, a miniature dress with a velvet red bodice, the skirt a fluffy white net over satin. The net had a mistletoe pattern embroidered across it. She wore red socks with white pompoms securely sewn to them.

  “She’s a little human kitten,” Danny marveled, touching the pink fist. “Yes, you are, you beautiful thing.”

  “Kitten,” Kane said, brow creasing. “Whiskers.” He touched his own ears, obviously trying to understand how Farida compared to the furred and pointy-eared cat who’d disappeared at the arrival of too many new people.

  “He’s talking,” Mason marveled. He touched Kane’s head, a quick, affectionate stroke that made the little boy smile, even though his gaze was still fastened on Farida in puzzled wonder.

  He’s trying to determine if she’s friend or foe. Typical vampire. Jacob winked at her, then responded to Mason. “He started, the way they do, out of the blue.”

  “She is utterly lovely, Mason,” Lyssa said softly. She put her hand over his, large enough that it rested partly on Farida’s small feet and Jessica’s arm. As she did, Jessica looked up into her Master’s face. The reassuring gaze Mason gave her told Lyssa all she needed to know. Though she’d seen it growing there ever since he’d taken Jessica as his servant, Lyssa knew she’d never seen the emotions so full blown in Mason’s expression as they were tonight. Happiness. Contentment.

  Dev was right. Tonight was a gift for all of them. There needed to be times and places they could celebrate things like this with other like-minded vampires. She would make it an annual tradition, even if she had to kill every bigoted, narrow-minded vampire to make it happen.

  Good strategy, my lady. I’m not sure you want to share that plan with Gideon, however. He might take it as your personal Christmas gift to him.

  “I heard a rumor that you have a special gift for us tonight.” Mason gave Lyssa a warm look. “As if sharing your home with us on Christmas wasn’t enough. So what is it?”

  “You were always impatient to unwrap your gifts early. You’ll just have to wait.”

  Jessica didn’t succeed in keeping her expression neutral at that, and Lyssa gave her a quizzical look. Mason closed a hand on his servant’s hair, about to give her a warning tug, but Lyssa slapped his hand away. The gesture almost startled a giggle out of the normally reserved Jessica. “You were about to say?” Lyssa said pleasantly.

  Jessica cleared her throat, her lips quivering against the smile. “I had to sing Falalalala nonstop in my head to keep him from trying to guess what I got him. You’re absolutely right, my lady. He’s as bad as a child.”

  “What did you get him?” Jacob asked.

  At Jessica’s flush, her glance at Kane, Lyssa quickly guessed it wasn’t suitable for sharing, but Mason showed her a glimpse into Jessica’s mind, courtesy of his and Lyssa’s blood link. Jessica had learned a new dance from Amara, something involving a pole, candlelight… A provocative image came through, of Jessica spilling candlewax on Mason’s bare chest, his muscular arms loosely tied above his head with a pair of scarves from her dance. Then the image was abruptly cut off. Mason shot his servant a mock severe look.

  “I was letting you share an edited version with her, habiba. Not the whole thing.”

  “It’s all right.” Lyssa sent Jessica a rare conspiratorial look that seemed to both terrify and bolster the young woman. “Later, you can tell me all of it. In detail.”

  Before Mason could threaten or object, she turned to all of them. “I have arranged a very special surprise for you tonight,” she said. “Something even little Farida might appreciate.” She bestowed her godchild with a warm look. She began to say more, but paused at the frisson along her nerves. Since she’d taken the blood of the vampire she was expecting, she had a few moments’ lead time on the other vampires in sensing his arrival, with the possible exception of Daegan. Glancing at him, she saw he’d just gone on alert, shifting his dark gaze to her in question.

  “It’s fine,” she reassured him. She nodded to Mason and Danny. “In a moment or two, you’re going to sense another vampire. He’s somewhat unusual, and new to our kind.”

  “He’s a made vampire?” Danny asked.

  “No. B
orn. But new to our world. He’s partly from another race and, as such, he has been staying…below ground, for most of the past year. In a few months, he’ll be coming to stay with me for a while, to learn more of our world. Your child is in no danger from him,” she added, giving Mason a mildly reproving look at the concern she felt radiating from him. If he’d been Bran, he’d have been bristling and showing his teeth. “You think I would invite anyone to my home who would pose a risk to your child or mine?”

  At her cool tone, his expression eased. Mason had never backed down from her, but he also trusted her. Except when he became over-testosteroned.

  “That’s not even a word,” he told her, since she’d let him hear the thought.

  “It is if it applies to the situation.” Since Ingram was secondmarked now, she’d telegraphed to him they had guests coming to the front door, so the bell never rang, but it didn’t matter. Bran and Fionn wheeled at the sound of new voices and bolted out of the room, barking as if they fully intended to eat whoever was entering the house. She heard Ingram issuing his usual dire threats to them, calming them down.

  Dante, do not decapitate my dogs. It would start the evening off badly, and I will take back your gifts.

  She sent the thought with a sharp push to it, to be sure it got through, and received a ripple of crimson heat in return. Reassuring enough, even though there was no form to it. He still wasn’t quite accepting of her ability to speak in his head.

  She wasn’t concerned about this going badly, and not just because she had firm control over her household. It was because of what she expected from the servant who accompanied Dante. She could feel her as they approached from the front foyer, but it was a unique experience to watch it affect the others in the room like a calming mist. Mason’s brow raised, his gaze sliding to her. “What…”