by Hazel Hunter
Hailey closed her eyes. She didn’t feel any different. She didn’t feel linked to the Shadow Walk Prison, and she certainly didn’t feel as if a demon was going to come out of her.
“So we just wait and see?”
“So much of life ends up telling us to wait and see, yes. It is not easy, but you can bear it. You have borne so much.”
Her eyes still closed, Hailey smiled a little when she felt Liona’s fingers trail down her face from brow to chin. The other woman’s touch was light and sweet, making her think of the flutter of dove’s wings against her skin.
“It is not so much,” Hailey murmured softly. “I’m only tired.”
Liona shifted so that she was a little closer to Hailey, so close that Hailey could feel Liona’s sweet breath against her chin.
“Are you tired, dear one? Would you like to sleep for a little while?”
Hailey started to say yes, but something about Liona’s tone, sincere but with an undercurrent of teasing to it, made her pause.
“I’d like to shower, I think,” she said slowly.
“Of course, your long journey…”
“I might like it if you joined me.”
Liona’s laugh was soft and husky. When she spoke next, her lips brushed against Hailey’s.
“What a good idea. I shouldn’t want you to slip and fall because you are so tired after all.”
Hailey was unused to the freedom that she, Kieran and Piers had given each other to explore where they would. Some tiny part of her wondered if she was doing right. Then Liona was leading her to the bathroom where she ran the water and turned to Hailey with an expectant look.
“Come here, let’s get you out of that.”
Hailey mutely allowed Liona to strip her of her clothing and then guide her into the gentle spray. She watched in appreciation as Liona stripped herself. Liona’s body was a great deal like hers, both slender and small breasted. When Liona stepped into the spray with her, Hailey couldn’t help but embrace her, pulling her close for a kiss.
Liona kissed her for a moment before pulling away with a smile.
“I believe you’re in here to get clean.”
She picked up the washcloth, soaping it before running it all over Hailey’s body. Under the warm spray, Hailey leaned against the tile wall, closing her eyes as Liona cleaned her all over. Whenever she tried to return the favor, Liona smacked her hand.
“Let me look after you, dear one,” Liona murmured. “I’ll get my turn in a bit.”
Hailey wondered if she should be worried about it, but it simply felt too good. Liona’s slow and gentle motions and the heat of the water made her fall into a sleepy languorous haze, something that struck her has amazingly luxurious after the days she had had.
Liona was so gentle that she almost didn’t notice the other woman’s clever hands stroking between her legs. Those slippery fingers were working between her folds and touching the tip of her clit before her eyes flew open.
“That feels good,” she murmured, almost shy.
“Good, that’s what it’s supposed to feel like. Here, lean this way.”
Liona positioned Hailey so that she was braced, both hands flat against the tiled wall. Liona’s bare foot nudged Hailey’s feet apart so that she had access to Hailey’s most tender parts. For a brief moment, she simply pressed herself against Hailey’s slick back, pressing her breasts and her hips firmly against Hailey’s body. For a long moment, she rubbed herself against Hailey, purring with pleasure.
“Let’s see how you feel like this.”
Her hand slid against the curve of Hailey’s buttocks, seeking low and between her legs. Hailey whimpered when Liona inserted two fingers inside her damp opening, prising her open with nothing more than pressure.
“Tight,” Hailey murmured in surprise.
“Yes, and lovely as well. Tell me if it hurts.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Well, if it doesn’t, ride my fingers until you climax.”
Hailey didn’t think that she could climax without having her clit touched. She never had before. However there was something persistent about the way that Liona was touching her, something so perfect about the shape of Liona’s fingers inside her. Obediently, she pressed herself down on Liona’s hand, riding it just as Liona had told her to.
She could feel the pressure building up in her, powerful and remorseless. She thought for a moment it was an orgasm, but it rose and fell like the tide. Every time she thought she was getting close, it pulled back again, making her moan in frustration.
“It’s right there, it’s yours, take it,” murmured Liona, breathless behind her.
When the pressure rose again, Hailey clamped down hard on Liona’s hand, working her own muscles until they whimpered. The orgasm that swept over her was so powerful she screamed, pounding her hands against the tile. It was as if every muscle in her body had tightened and then released all at once. She couldn’t bear it, so she let it go.
Behind her she could hear Liona laugh. In her head, it was only white noise, only the echoes of a pleasure so intense she could have cried. She was distantly aware of Liona pulling her hand away, of the water that continued to stream down around them.
Liona helped her out of the shower, drying her off in a caring way that made Hailey feel like she wanted to cry.
“Liona…do you like me?” The words were garbled, but they were painfully honest.
“Of course I do, dear one,” said Liona firmly. “Come here, lie down. You can rest for a little while, poor thing, you deserve it.”
“And then your turn?”
Liona’s laugh was clear and lovely.
“Then my turn, dear one.”
CHAPTER TWO
WHEN HAILEY HAD woken, Liona had been gone. As she’d dressed, she couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Even so, her exhaustion had finally won, and it had felt good to simply sleep. She returned to her room only to find an envelope slid under the door. Inside was a note.
Hailey–
The Castle provided you with these rooms, and of course they will always be yours alone. However, I want you to understand that you should consider my room yours as well, and if you wish to join me there tonight, I will always be pleased to see you. Kieran has received the same invitation. I love you so much, and I want to see you more than anything.
–Piers
If Hailey wondered how they were going to handle being three instead of two, she hadn’t counted on Piers’s attention to detail. With a smile, Hailey entered her room to pick up a toothbrush and a change of clothing. Trust Piers to think about logistics before they had to be an issue.
It was a little later than she thought it would be when she got to Piers’s quarters. The clock was just chiming ten when she knocked on the door and received permission to enter. The scene that met her was a little startling to say the least.
Piers’s quarters were a little stark, but they did not lack for comfort. Piers was seated on a couch that looked buttery soft to the touch. He had stripped out of the tactical gear that he had been wearing for the last few days, and changed into a paper-thin t-shirt and jeans that looked as if they might have been as old as Hailey.
He looked comfortable and casual, and if his expression was anything to go by, the man sleeping at his feet was no more unusual than the clothes he wore or the glass of wine on the table beside him.
Hailey looked down at Kieran, who seemed dead to the world. At some point, he had stripped down to a pair of sweatpants. He was an enormous length of man stretched on the floor in front of Piers. When he slept like this, he looked younger than she was used to him looking. Instead of being the war machine, he was simply someone who had finally found a place to rest.
Carefully, Hailey stepped over Kieran, coming to settle against Piers’s side. He made a space for her next to him. For a long moment, they simply sat together. He gave her a sip of his wine, she pressed a gentle kiss to his hand.
“I don’t want t
his to end,” Hailey said, her voice soft and a little sad.
Piers grimaced. She could tell that he knew exactly what she was talking about. There was a great deal of trouble ahead of them. The Templars were on the move. The Castle had to be ready to defend itself, and Kieran would likely be whipped away in short order, called up by the Magus Corps to lend his formidable powers to their offensive strategies.
“All things end,” Piers said finally. “What we won’t always have is this moment.”
He leaned over to kiss her, something strangely formal and almost chaste.
“Tonight, I was with Liona…”
Piers grinned easily.
“I suspected as much when I saw her pull you away. I’m glad you had time with her. There was enough that I had to deal with, and when I finished up, there was Kieran, still trying to arrange troop maneuvers while he was half a world away.”
“You stopped him?”
“He was tired enough that he was on the verge of making what I thought might be some very unwise decisions. After a little while, he was even grateful for it.”
“This is a very strange thing we are doing,” Hailey mused. “This isn’t exactly the fairytale romance that every little girl dreams of.”
“I care less about whether it was every little girl’s dream than I care about whether it was yours,” Piers pointed out. “Was it?”
Hailey shook her head slowly.
“I never had dreams like this. When I was young, it was just a hustle to stay on top of things, to stay fed, to stay safe. Then I awakened. I learned about the Wiccan world, and just when I thought that things were going to be all right, I realized that I was even more of an outcast than I had been before.”
All Wiccans had a power that they could wield, but Hailey’s was stranger. She could pull energy from other Wiccans and use it to work whatever magic she wished. It frightened many Wiccans, leading them to call her a vampire. Piers and Kieran were among the very few who had never been frightened of her and what she could do. Instead, they had embraced her, given willingly to her. The result had been a bloom of strength that even now she didn’t understand.
“And now?” Piers asked lowly.
“Now, all I know is that I am better loved than I have ever been in my life. It doesn’t matter what I wanted before because this is what I want now. I want both of you, and it terrifies me that something might change that.”
“All things change.”
Hailey glanced down to see Kieran sit up and stretch out. Despite his rest, he still looked tired. When he leaned up to kiss her on the lips, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Everything will change from moment to moment, Hailey,” Kieran said. “Everything. The fact that we have each other right now, in this moment, is amazing.”
“We’ll deal with the future when it arrives,” Piers said firmly. “We will not falter, we will not fall. We will meet what comes next, and we will be together after it.”
Hailey sighed softly, resting her forehead against Kieran’s shoulder while holding Piers’s hand tight in her own.
“I never looked for this kind of love and pleasure in my life,” she said softly. “I never thought about the life I could share with one person, let alone two.”
She squeaked with surprise when Kieran lifted her up in his arms, carrying her to the bedroom. Piers drained his glass of wine and followed behind.
Piers’s bed was enormous. When Kieran lay her down on it, she sighed with pleasure. He came to rest on one side of her while Piers came to rest on the other. For a long moment, they simply lay together, holding hands and breathing softly in the dim light.
Hailey was on the verge of falling asleep, but she could feel a little tickle in her hands where she touched her lovers. It felt like what happened when she pulled power from them to fuel her own strength, but this was something a little different. There was no taking or giving. Instead there was something open and loving. Their energies were mingling, she realized sleepily. On one hand was the vast and tumultuous sea that was the core of Kieran’s power. On her other hand was a feeling of light and warmth, the core of Piers’s.
She could feel their different energies, one in each hand as she drifted in the dimness. She wanted to rest. It was a deep and soul-healing pleasure to be joined with them in this way. She could feel the tickle of their energies flow through her. It surprised her not at all when they met each other and mingled.
Liona had told her something before the three of them had left for the Alps. She had said that in certain circumstances, there was no taking of power. Instead, it could mingle and become more than what it was.
Hailey was exhausted. On one side, she could tell that Kieran was already asleep. On the other was Piers. He was resting and drifting off. She could sense it as much through the power that flowed through him as she could through the way his breath evened and soothed. They were so close to drifting off. She herself was on the border between sleep and wakefulness.
It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to let those energies mix, to feel how they came together in a place that seemed to be located just beneath her heart. All she knew was that she was a little warmer than she was before, a little safer than she had been.
When she drifted off to sleep, finally, she did not think about battles that could not be won; she did not even think of her eyes, tempestuous and unreliable. Instead, she rested cradled between the two people she loved best in the world, and she was happy.
CHAPTER THREE
THE TIME AFTER that was strange. Although she still had her own chambers, for the most part she slept in Piers’s large bed with him and Kieran. It seemed Kieran had given up his guest quarters entirely, content to turn Piers’s living space into a control room for speaking with other members of the Magus Corps.
One day, Hailey came in to see him poring over a map and speaking in what sounded like Spanish over his phone. She waited quietly until he was done. Then she came to wrap her arms around him.
“Things are getting serious,” she observed, but he shook his head.
“Things are getting strange,” he said instead. “Templars have withdrawn from almost every place we thought they were hiding. It seems as if they’ve disappeared from view.”
“That’s not a good thing?”
His smile was sharp and wintry.
“If there is a snake in my garden, I prefer to know where it is and where it makes its nest. No, when they pull back like this, it is usually for some kind of enormous push. Our job is to try to find where that push might be taking place and to meet them as best we can.”
Hailey glanced at the maps he had spread out on the table.
“You are afraid,” she said softly. “You are afraid that it will be Costain all over again.”
Kieran flinched at her words, but he couldn’t deny them. Costain, the Wiccan settlement destroyed by Templars long ago, was the ghost that would follow him for the rest of his life. Sometimes, the ghost was larger, and sometimes it was smaller, but some scars never went away.
“I need to keep it from being another Costain,” he said grimly.
“And in doing so, you’ve turned Piers’s chamber into a war room.”
“I’d worry more about that if the man himself were ever here to see.”
Piers still came home to sleep, but he often crawled into the large bed long after dark. Most mornings, he was up long before dawn, and Hailey and Kieran were lucky if they saw him between morning and night. The Castle had its own preparations to make if there was going to be a war with the Templars.
“In many ways, the Castle’s a child,” Piers said one night. “It’s never really been tested in battle against something like the Templars before.” He laughed a little. “Is it strange that I am afraid that it will all end up in ashes no matter what?”
“It won’t,” Hailey said, squeezing his hand in hers. “It won’t.”
He had smiled at her, but she had no idea what kind of reassurance he
took from her.
For her own part, Hailey was learning more about her abilities. There was a time not all that long ago when she needed someone to pull energy from there right before she was able to use her power at all. Now, under her own study and under Liona’s careful tutelage, she could pull energy from someone and hold it, keeping it in reserve until she could use it later.
In the morning, she would pull her power from Kieran or Piers or, on the rare and very special occasion when all three lay abed together, from both of them. She would go and practice with Liona in the training field, seeing how far the power could take her and what the limits of her own skill might be.
Most modern Wiccans she knew were limited to one skill, whether it was flight, like Piers, or mastery over an element, like Kieran. She found that there was no such limiting factor on her, and she noted that Liona was very much the same.
“It stands to reason,” Liona said with a shrug. “Power is power after all.”
Hailey wasn’t sure how sanguine she should feel about being able to change the way that Wiccans had looked at their skills for centuries. Liona had no problem breaking rules, but Hailey had always wanted her borders to be clear and decisive.
Her training with Liona came to a halt in a few days, however, because Lucius arrived at the Castle. For a man out of time, Hailey had to admit that he looked good. Dressed fashionably in black, Hailey initially mistook him for a Magus Corps officer. He was not a terribly tall man, but he was muscular, and with his curly black hair cut into a modern style, he wouldn’t have looked out of place on a photo shoot.
“Well you clean up nicely,” she said.
Lucius smiled and started to answer her, but then there was a streak of white that shot towards him. Liona threw herself into his arms, kissing him with a ferocity that spoke of a wait of more than a hundred years.
