by Aaron Crash
Jack stood, stretched, then checked this stat sheet for a second.
<<< SEPTUA SANCTUS >>>
Level: 3
Current Kairos: 256/300
Current Corpus: 288/300
Current Nefesh: 273/300
Current Ijjinaya: 201/300
Current Psyche: 297/300
Current Morpheum: 300/300
Current Decaysia: 219/300
Special abilities:
Potential Auxiliary Storage: 0/100 Septua Omnia Storage (Aeterna): 0/100 Unique Temporary Storage: 18,921,600 minutes
Aeterna Kalpa Olam Hosted Synchronization
Septua Conversion and Transfer
<<< SEPTUA SANCTUS >>>
He’d leveled, which didn’t surprise him. That must’ve been what allowed him to stop time in hell. Also, his Decaysia levels were still really high, but compared to his new maximum value of 300 points, it wasn’t so bad. It was curious that his Ijjinaya levels were low, or maybe not, since he’d gone an entire day without sex.
Then he saw a new value under the special abilities setting. He had a new way to store energy, and that was through the Eternity Cannon, it seemed. The revolver was hanging in its holster, attached to his belt, from the headboard of his bed. He touched the wooden grip.
So he had another 100 points, but it seemed he could store other energies than Kairos. Yes, the word “omnia” meant all in Latin. That meant he could probably transfer any of the other seven energies into the gun’s storage.
As for those nearly nineteen million minutes? He knew what those were—those were Evelyn Mundi’s minutes. He’d have to swing by her house and give her back the minutes of her life.
He changed clothes, putting on fresh jeans and getting a new shirt. Something nice because Annie was out there. Actually, it wouldn’t matter what he looked like. She’d forget this day like everything else.
The front door slammed.
Jack hurried out, hoping that he hadn’t missed seeing the bank teller.
No, Annie sat on his couch, wrapped in a blanket, looking tired. Her hair was frizzy, but she’d showered. Even sitting there, without makeup, her hair back, she was beautiful.
Her eyes brightened when she saw him. “Good morning, sleepyhead. Bailey and Gabby promised you’d wake up soon. We were so worried.”
“No need to worry. Just glad we got you out of hell.” He paused, suddenly embarrassed by his little apartment. It wasn’t much decorated at all. And it wasn’t nice, not by any stretch of the imagination. He lived off one of the business streets in Plum Creek, traffic noise could be loud, and it just wasn’t that big of a place.
“How long was I out?” He asked.
“All night and most of the morning.”
Jack glanced around. “Where did Bailey and Gabby go?”
“Out to get a big breakfast,” Annie said softly. “I suggested we do DoorDash, but Bailey likes getting out of the house.”
There was an awkward beat of quiet. Then she looked him in the eyes. “Hey, thanks for saving me. I know it was all three of you, but in the end, it was you.”
He didn’t know what to say. He sat, and he felt the weight of the past days. He didn’t want to ask about Kerrata, or what she’d been through.
It was like she could see that on his face. “It was mostly nothing,” she said quickly. “From what Bailey and Gabby said, I guess Kerrata pulled me out of the timestream and spent most of seven days drinking my Kairos. I guess that’s time energy? I don’t know. It was because of you, though. Kerrata said that. Me, Evelyn Mundi, even Hugo—it’s our connection to you that makes us important. You’re a Time Knight, and you’ll be important in the Time War. Not that you aren’t already because you are. I guess.” She sighed. “I don’t know how you can fight a time war that hasn’t happened yet but has already happened. Maybe you started it by saving me. Or maybe you finished it. Who knows? It’s not like Bailey and Gabby will talk about it.”
That made Jack chuckle. “Yeah, they don’t say much about that stuff. You do know what they are, right?”
“You’re a Time Knight, Bailey is a demon, Gabby is an angel. Yeah. We covered that.” Annie cast her eyes down.
“I’m sorry you got pulled into this...because of me.” Jack could feel the truth of it. He’d become important, or maybe he’d always been important. If time was fractured by some kind of war, then maybe that explained why a lot of this felt like destiny, even the death of his brothers.
“Back when you worked security...did you know?” Annie asked.
Jack shook his head. “I didn’t know anything until those guys came to rob the branch...the night you were kidnapped.”
Annie drew a trembling hand over her hair. “That makes two of us. I called my dad, my roommate, to let them know I’m okay. They’re so relieved. I said I’d explain everything eventually. I just don’t know what I’m going to say. What do you say?”
“When you report in at the bank and with the police, you’ll have to say something because they’ll have to close out the investigation. It’s a problem.” Jack frowned. “But Annie, we have another option. Bailey could remove your memories. You could walk back into the bank, before noon today, and you could go on with your life like none of this happened. You’ll be as clueless as everyone else.”
Annie covered her eyes. “Would I not remember a thing? I’d want to know that you rescued me. Forgetting Bailey hitting on me constantly? I could probably let that go and be okay.” Her smile showed that she wasn’t that upset.
“I think it’s all or nothing. What do you say?” Jack waited for her response. Not that he was surprised that the succubus would hit on Annie. She was beautiful, and Bailey did say something about Annie not being as innocent as she seemed.
“And what is the situation with those two girls? I think you three might be what? A throuple?” Her hands were back in her lap now.
Jack shrugged. In some ways, knowing that Annie’s memory would probably be erased let him be perfectly honest. “When they’re around me, instead of being mystical creatures, they have the Corpus to take a more human form than they’re used to. Though I would imagine they both showed you that they aren’t human. As for what we are together? I don’t know. The three of us have sex together, if that’s the question.”
Annie blushed. “That was the question. Yep. That was what I was wondering. Is it just you and one of them at a time, or all three of you together?”
“All three of us together. From what I can tell, Gabby is bi, and Bailey will do anything sexual. She does things with her tail that would make you blush.”
Annie motioned to her face. “Already blushing. So, it wouldn’t be exclusive between us. You’d want them and not me, right? Before, we were going to go on a date, just the two of us. Before you became the Time Knight.”
Jack didn’t know how to respond to that question, so he tried to give himself a little time to think. “The Time Knight or a Time Knight? I suppose the difference is important.”
Annie’s laughter made him so happy. A part of him would always wonder what might’ve happened with Annie if this impossible life hadn’t taken him over. However, he wasn’t about to leave what he had with Bailey and Gabby.
Annie must’ve seen the expression on his face. “You didn’t answer my question. Before you became a temporal badass, you were going to ask me out, once I was ready. Is that right?”
“That’s right.” He inhaled. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to figure out what was right and wrong, and then making sure I did the right thing. That’s why I liked the law, and that’s why there should be laws. People do better with black and white rules. My life now is so gray, Annie. I don’t know what it would look like if we dated, but I can’t give up Bailey and Gabby. Not with what we’ve been through. Not with who I am now, and who they are.”
Annie nodded. “I get that. I have friends that are polyamorous. They can do the multiple relationship thing. For me, though, I have a bad history. You know, the w
hole fiancé sleeping with my best friend drama. I can’t do what Bailey and Gabby can do.”
“I get that.” Jack hid his disappointment.
“But, Jack Masterson, we have a little situation here.” Annie rose to her feet and dropped the blanket. She was wearing a sweater that hugged her body. It must’ve belonged to Bailey because it was scarlet and sparkly, with a plunging neckline that allowed Jack to see Annie’s bra. Better yet, the bottom of the sweater hugged her thick hips. She straddled him unexpectedly and stared into his eyes. “I find myself able to kiss you without any consequences. I think it would be for the best if my memory is wiped. For a number of reasons. If that’s the case, I won’t remember this. I won’t remember you saving me. So I want to thank you properly. Since I won’t remember, this feels like a freebie. And I think we have enough time to have some fun before the other girls come home.”
For a second, her smell became his world. He’d spent so long looking at her, catching whiffs of her fragrance, but this Annie, right on top of him, real and heavy and smelling so good was better than the fantasies he’d had of her. First he smelled her, felt her, and then he was tasting her, her lips, her mouth, her tongue.
Her breath hitched as their kiss deepened.
Her breasts were pushed up against him, and she wasn’t as breasty as Bailey, but she was a little squishier than Gabby. Either way, it felt good holding her, and his hands fell to her hips, which he couldn’t help but squeeze. And then he was grabbing her ass in both hands, and it was far bigger than either the demon’s or the angel’s.
He didn’t know how far they were going to go, but he was getting so hard. He subtly rubbed himself on her, and she rubbed herself on him back.
Bailey said that Annie wasn’t your typical innocent bank teller, and that seemed to be the case.
Annie got off him. She pulled off the sweater to show her bra and panties. “Fuck it, Jack. It’s all going to be gone anyway. I want you. I’m on the pill, so we don’t have to worry about me getting pregnant. And Bailey made it very clear that she, you, and Gabby are disease free. So do you want to have sex?”
Jack hadn’t foreseen this. He sat, blinking.
His surprise made her doubt herself. “Or maybe we shouldn’t. You’ll be the one who might get hurt. You’ll remember. I won’t.”
Jack stripped off his shirt. “I’ll be fine. I have to say, I’ve been so curious about you. And I know about what happened with your fiancé...”
“Ancient fucking history.” Annie bent and pulled her white cotton panties down to the floor. As she straightened, he saw the auburn hair between her legs, a nice little bush that hid such treasures. She then reached back and unclipped her bra, which was blue and simple with rather small cups.
Her nipples were round and so wonderful on her little breasts. He loved that she didn’t have a perfect body but that she was so horny she was losing control of herself. That was obvious as she got on her knees to help him off with his jeans.
Naked, he was sitting on the chair, his cock out. She licked her hand and grabbed it, stroking it, a dizzy smile on her face.
Jack was surprised. Had she really just licked her hand to jack him off? So the little bank teller wasn’t as innocent as she seemed.
She stroked him as she stared at his cock. “You’re so big and hard. I wondered if you had a nice penis. Guess I was right. I don’t suppose you’d mind if I did this.” Then she bent and licked the head before taking him into her mouth, sucking on him while she jerked him off.
She was good. Funny—you’d think Bailey would be great at giving head, and she was, but having this woman he knew sucking on him with such passion was better in some ways. He’d had a thing for Annie for a long time. It was thrilling that it was obvious she loved giving head. He figured he might not smell too good, not after their fight, but Annie didn’t seem to mind at all.
Annie rose. “I can’t wait. I have to get you in me.” She straddled him again, and he slipped up into her. He was a little bummed that he hadn’t gone down on her—she’d been curious about his cock, and he was definitely curious about her pussy.
She kissed him as she rode him, up and down. Then she offered him one of her tits to suck on. That was hot as well. He suckled on a nipple while he squeezed her ass. At the same time, he thrust up into her, harder, harder, harder. She made these adorably horny noses every time his body met hers. She was tight and wet and wonderful, and he let himself go, fucking her until he was coming in her.
She kissed him as he came—her hot mouth on his, which made his orgasm better, hotter, and more intense. As he came, her fingers went to her clit. With his cum leaking out of her used hole, she rubbed herself, still kissing him, still gasping into his mouth. He got a hand on her tit, pulling on a nipple, and then she was coming around him. Every spasm made her shudder and gasp into his mouth. He loved how warm her breath was, how alive and throbbing her body was, and, yes, he could feel the Ijjinaya emanating from her in waves.
Current Ijjinaya: 282/300
That was new. But he liked knowing that he’d have to have more sex to get his tank filled.
Annie shivered a final time. “Oh, that was intense. I hope it was okay...what I did at the end.” She then stared into his eyes like she didn’t really care what he said.
“It was fucking hot. Annie Blackburn, masturbating on me. Dreams do come true.”
They both laughed, and he kissed her again. He was getting hard again, but she broke the kiss and glanced at the door. “They’ll be back any minute. I don’t want them catching us.”
“Bailey will know, and she won’t be quiet about it. Your soul is made up of Ijjinaya, and sex brings it out. It’s what she eats.”
“Because she’s a sex demon.”
“Succubus, technically, but she prefers the term sex demon.”
Annie gave him another long, sensual kiss. “I’m going to go get cleaned up. This was a freebie for me, yes, but it really is a thank you. I won’t remember how much of a hero you are. I feel bad about that.”
“It’s fine,” he said. But holding her, smelling her, looking into her eyes, he felt a dire sadness weighing on his heart. It was like his insides had turned into cold iron. “Who knows? We might date again, in time.”
“In time,” she said, gazing at him. “There’s a pun there, somewhere.”
“There is,” he whispered.
She must’ve seen the hurt in his eyes. She left quickly to jump in the shower. Jack went into the kitchen to clean himself off with a paper towel.
The door opened not five minutes later, and Gabby and Bailey came in with huevos rancheros and a variety of Mexican food, but also a bottle of champagne, a jug of orange juice, and more cigarettes for the demon.
Gabby smiled at him. “That Annie really likes you. And I can smell that you like her too.” That was a surprise, the angel noticing the sex.
Bailey was already making herself a mimosa. “I felt both their orgasms when we were in liquor store. That Annie is wonderful.”
“But she has to forget,” Jack said firmly. “She has to forget all about Kerrata, me, the whole deal. That way, we can take her to the bank, and she won’t have to lie or anything. Actually, we can take her home. Her father is beyond worried about her.”
He swallowed. This was harder than he thought. “If she forgets about the different timestreams, the different monsters, she can live a normal life. If she isn’t connected to me, she won’t be in danger.”
Gabby came to him and leaned in. She put her cheek against his before whispering into his ear. “You’re giving her a precious gift. To be simple and human. You are wonderful, Jack Masterson. I can feel the love you have for her.”
Jack held the angel, but they drifted apart when Annie came out of the bathroom in the outfit that they’d found her in. It was pretty ripped up.
Bailey drank half of her mimosa down. “Since the uptight bitch isn’t going to fuck us all, well, I say we get this shit over with.”
“What do you mean?” Annie asked uncertainly, hair wet.
The demon snapped her fingers. Annie’s eyelids fluttered. She was unconscious and going to fall and split her head open.
Jack brushed his thumb over the soldier tattoo. Switch to the left. She froze in mid-fall. He went over to hold the unconscious woman.
Gabby frowned. “Bailey, was that necessary?”
The demon pretended to shrug, as if she didn’t care. “Drive her to the bank. Drive her home. I don’t give a fuck. I’m going to eat without you. You two keep forgetting I’m selfish and evil as fuck.” Bailey was fighting back tears with every word. Annie’s rejection had hurt her far more than she’d ever let on.
Gabby held the unconscious Annie while Jack retrieved the Eternity Cannon. The angel helped Jack get the unconscious girl in his car. He kept time turned off since he didn’t want his neighbors to see him lugging a comatose girl around.
He restarted time as he drove Annie home to the house she shared with her father and a roommate. He’d gotten the address when he’d first investigated her disappearance. Then it was a simple matter of stopping time again when he was a couple of blocks from her home.
He carried her over his shoulder, down the street, and into a little ranch built in the late 1960s. He set Annie in an easy chair in the living room, and then closed the door behind him. She would wake up, and life would just be life for her. It was better this way.
And yet, once he was outside, he turned to see her through the front window. His heart felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. He’d loved her. She’d been right. The sex they’d just had hurt him because it was the end of things, not the beginning.
Then he thought of Gabby’s goodness, and Bailey’s fire, and the good he could do for people. He had a new idea for a business.
When he was back in his car, he brushed his thumb over the toy soldier and time flowed on.
Jack drove off, but he did stop at Evelyn Mundi’s house. He had a little gift to give her. Actually, he had 18,921,600 gifts for Hugo’s mom.
