by Wyatt Kane
There was a change coming to the city of New Lincoln, and perhaps to the world. He could see it starting, and didn’t much like it.
Yet he tried to put on a brave face, if only to keep the mood light and enjoyable. “I guess I’ll have to keep inventing new and better things,” he said flippantly.
It was enough to inject some levity back into the room. Tempest, Lilith, and Dinah all smiled at him. But Lilith tilted her head. “What about the devices you collected? Will they still work?”
Ty nodded. “I think so. I’ll just need to figure out how to restart them. Why?”
The deerkin gave him a grin. “I was thinking we might have to increase our own numbers. We can contact the others from the Architect’s original group if we need to, but they have their own cities to look after. But maybe if we refer to the Architect’s files, we might find a few with the potential we need.”
Lilith leaned against the deerkin’s shoulder so their faces were inches apart. “Am I—are we all,” she amended, including Ty and Tempest, “not enough for you?”
It seemed to take Dinah off guard. She looked at Lilith with surprise, then burst out laughing. “That isn’t what I meant,” she said. “But you’re right, of course. Anyone else we bring in is likely to have the same sort of appeal to the rest of us as you.” The deerkin grinned. “But I’d be up for the challenge,” she said.
Her answer was too much for Lilith, who started to say something, blushed deeply, and remained silent.
Ty saw that Tempest had watched the interaction just as closely as him, and still didn’t look at all put out. Instead, she had to cover a grin with another sip from her drink.
The conversation drifted from there, and Ty found himself enjoying the evening immensely. He knew he should have tried to spend some more time in the workshop while his head was still buzzing even a little, but this was important as well. So he stayed in the den, enjoying the company of the women he loved, and drank his own wine.
Finally, not too much shy of midnight, the evening began to draw to a close. But there was one more surprise in store for Ty, and Tempest as well.
Dinah stretched, covered her mouth to stifle a yawn, and announced to the room. “Well, we’re heading to bed,” she said. “Lilith, is there something you’d like to say?”
The demon woman blushed a deeper red than usual. But she drew a deep breath and stepped up to the challenge.
“If anyone else would like to join us … I haven’t ever done anything like that before … but I’m game.” She shot Ty a look, bit her lip in a display of uncertainty, and glanced at Tempest as well.
Ty felt his mouth curve into an uncontrollable grin, and wondered if that was what she and Dinah had been whispering about. He looked at Tempest and saw an expression that mixed surprise and pleasure.
“Are you sure?” the blonde superhero said.
“Yes.” Lilith said. If anything, her blush deepened. “Dinah has been telling me what it can be like. I just … just want to experience it for myself.”
It was all she needed to say. “Well, then,” Tempest said. “What are we waiting for?”
45: The Master’s Message
In Dinah’s comfortable room, the deerkin started the ball rolling by lighting a number of candles and turning the stereo on low. Then, with a broad grin on her face, she stripped off her own clothing before helping Lilith from hers as she stood shyly next to the four-poster bed.
The demon woman continued to blush, her eyes darting back and forth, and Ty couldn’t help but stare at the magnificence on display. Lilith’s modified skin varied in shade from light pink to almost purple, depending the light, and was free of even the slightest blemish. She was more voluptuous than either Dinah or Tempest, and the hair on her head wasn’t all that was pink.
Ty’s first instinct was to move in close to her, but Tempest had other ideas. Somehow, the blonde was also naked, and she wrapped herself around Ty in a sensual embrace that left no doubt about her intentions.
“Give her some space,” she whispered in Ty’s ear, then nibbled his lobe for good measure. “She might need a little time.”
Ty understood. He turned his attention to Tempest instead, kissing her with passion, and marveled that he could ever be so lucky.
In moments, Ty was naked as well, and he and Tempest climbed onto the bed. They spent the next little while just with each other, neither of them in any real hurry, but instead enjoying the sensual familiarity they had together.
It wasn’t long before Lilith and Dinah joined them. Ty couldn’t help but watch as the deerkin pushed Lilith onto her back and ran her tongue expertly over the demon woman’s body, lingering at her perfect nipples and teasing them erect. Lilith’s face retained her blush, but her expression was one of pure bliss.
After a moment, Dinah shot Tempest and Ty a grin. “She tastes amazing! Want to try?”
Lilith squirmed at the suggestion. But she didn’t object, and Ty and Tempest accepted Dinah’s invitation. In moments, Lilith’s squirming turned into writhing in pleasure, and her breathing became more urgent.
After that, Ty became lost in a sea of bodies and sensuality. All by themselves, Dinah and Tempest were more than amazing, but somehow Lilith added a new dimension to their lovemaking. At first, she simply accepted their combined attention, but it wasn’t long before she started to play a more active role.
She seemed every bit as interested in learning about them as they were about her. And she proved surprisingly naughty. Ty first realized Lilith was using her tail when Dinah gave a startled look that turned into a grin, and then Ty felt something grip his erection in an unfamiliar way.
At one point, both Lilith and Tempest took to the air, embracing each other over the bed, with Lilith’s tail curling around them both, seeking entry.
“That’s not something you see every day,” said Dinah, who had gone well beyond foreplay with Ty but had paused in her efforts for a moment to watch.
Ty had to laugh, and then did his best to draw Dinah’s attention back to himself in the time-honored way.
How long their lovemaking lasted, Ty couldn’t say. But it was an extended session that left all of them deeply satisfied. There had been no selfishness or jealousy, each of them sharing equally in each other, and when they were done, they lay so entangled it was difficult to know which body part belonged to who.
Ty felt a deep sense of belonging and comfort that was indistinguishable from love, and knew that the women each felt much the same.
“That was incredible,” Lilith murmured into the post-coital calm. “Thank you for letting me join you.”
“You’re welcome,” Tempest and Dinah said almost together, and that was enough to make them all laugh.
“Is it always like this?” the demon woman wanted to know.
“We’ve only just started,” Dinah responded. “It’ll take a while for us to know what ‘always’ is.”
Ty knew the deerkin was teasing, but wanted to give Lilith the answer she sought. “Always,” he said. “So far, at least. But who knows? Maybe it’ll get even better.”
<<<>>>
A few hours later, Ty was lost in a dream that should have been filled with pleasure and enjoyment, but decidedly wasn’t. He was back at the clinic where he’d received the AZT-407 drug, talking to Melita, the receptionist. It was a carbon-copy of what really happened, except that it wasn’t Melita at all.
It was Bain.
Ty didn’t know why the huge man was in his dream at all, especially as their last encounter had cost him much of an arm. Yet there he was, as large as life, and grinning as if he knew something Ty didn’t.
Ty didn’t like it. In his dream, he started to get angry, and might have done something about it. But before it got to that stage, he was jerked awake by an electronic alert.
He wasn’t the only one. Tempest, Lilith, and Dinah were also awake, albeit groggy and unfocused.
“It’s me,” Dinah said, her words slurred from lack of sleep as she
fumbled for a tablet computer on the bedside cabinet. But her next words were sharp and clear. “It’s the Master. He’s left another message.”
Any thought Ty might have had of going back to sleep fled in a rush of adrenalin. His blood ran cold. A message from the Master so soon after their last battle couldn’t be good.
“Your communication room?” he said, and the others agreed.
They didn’t bother with their clothes, instead grabbing sheets and gowns to avoid getting cold, and in minutes the four of them stood looking at the wraparound screens in Dinah’s other room.
“Let’s see what he has to say this time,” Dinah said, her tone grim. Nobody disagreed, but the atmosphere was far from the blissful enjoyment it had been before they went to sleep.
Ty was noticeably anxious about what the message might say, but as he became more awake, he realized there was more than that going on as well. He still felt a slight buzz from the drug, but beyond that was a feeling of nausea. Perhaps it was some sort of hangover effect, he thought, and did his best to ignore it.
The deerkin brought up the same algorithm she’d used before to open the message. “Here goes,” she said, and once more the screens became flooded with images.
At first, it wasn’t clear what they were seeing. It looked like a cryo-chamber of some sort, and as Ty stared, he realized there was someone within it.
But he only figured out who it was when Tempest made an uncharacteristic strangling noise.
“Tempest?” said Dinah. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s him,” the blonde woman said.
“What? Who? What is it?”
“It’s my father,” Tempest replied.
Ty didn’t know how to react. The Architect. Tempest’s father. Lost and presumed dead for years, the device they’d taken from Bain had once belonged to him. How was it possible that the Master could show them this image?
Before he could ask any of his questions, the Master’s grating, metallic voice filled the room.
“Again and again you fools seek to thwart me!” he began, but that’s as far as he got before Dinah did something to pause the playback.
She wrapped an arm around Tempest. “Are you okay?” she asked, but the blonde superhero just drew a deep breath and stood straighter.
“I’m fine,” she said between clenched teeth. “Let’s hear it.”
Dinah nodded and let the playback resume. But she stayed by Tempest’s side.
“Again and again you refuse to see that my way is the only one that will work! This city is a cancer, and I am the cure! Yet you align yourselves against me as if you have the right!”
It was apparent to Ty that the Master had worked himself into a fury before sending his message. The villain couldn’t keep it together, degenerating into nothing but growls of pure rage for some seconds before regaining his power of speech.
“For too long I have played this game by rules other than my own. I have stayed my hand when I should have struck hard instead! Well, no longer! From this moment, I will operate from my own playbook! No more long view! No more protection for those whom the Architect wants to save! His strategies have proved unsuccessful, so I reject them and the limitations they require!”
This time, he didn’t so much degenerate into a series of noises, but instead let out a loud exclamation of fury.
“Gah!” he exclaimed. “I have kept the Architect alive for one purpose only, and he has failed even at that!” he shouted. Then, as if continuing the same thought, “You people, you who call yourselves superheroes, you can have him. Your time is done either way.”
The harsh, grating voice fell suddenly silent. Ty thought the message was finished, but there was one more image at the end, so quick Ty almost missed it.
“What was that?” Lilith asked, and Dinah rewound and froze it in place.
It was the Architect once more, no longer in his cryo-chamber. Instead, he was out on a street, half in a puddle, and Ty couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. The man’s eyes were closed and there was a horrible wound in his skull, but the wound looked old rather than fresh, partially healed around the edges.
Tempest couldn’t maintain her aspect of strength. She brought her hand up in a gesture that reminded Ty of Lilith and let out a sob.
Then she turned to Dinah. “Find him!” she commanded, and that was enough. In less than a heartbeat, the screens became flooded with images, and the deerkin started to mutter.
“Street width, building height reflected in the puddles, is that a neon sign? What does it say? Maybe cameras, bringing them up now, so many to scan…” and on. The main image of the Architect’s prone form shrank but still retained a prominent place as a reference, but the rest of Dinah’s screens showed image after image at blinding speed.
Ty knew that Dinah’s talent for information was remarkable, but even he had never seen her work like this. Yet he recognized it. She was in a trance, intensely focused, like he was when he was working, and there was nothing he or anyone could do to help her.
Tempest stood transfixed, watching the screens. “Find him,” she repeated, more quietly. And Ty knew that if anyone could, it would be Dinah.
As for Lilith, the demon woman understood that this was beyond her. But, like Ty, she recognized the urgency, and he could see the desire to help written large on her face. Yet, just like Ty, there was nothing she could do but stand back and watch.
Ty ached for Tempest. He wanted to comfort her, but knew there was no real comfort to be had without finding her father. He bit his lip to stay silent and willed Dinah to do her best.
And in less than a minute, she did it.
“Found him!” she said, and that was all Tempest needed.
“Where?”
Dinah waved at the screen, expanding an aerial view of a small part of New Lincoln. “Here. You know it?”
Tempest thought about it. “Yes. It’s a long way from here,” she said, her tone carrying enough doubt that Ty knew what she was thinking. Tempest was fast, but by the look of the Architect, time was critical.
“I know it,” said Lilith. Tempest looked at her. “I can take you there,” the demon woman added.
There was no need for discussion. It didn’t matter how fast Tempest could fly, Lilith was faster.
“Go,” said Dinah. “Bring him back here, to the med bay.”
Tempest nodded, and Lilith moved to join her. The blonde was wearing one of Dinah’s robes, a flimsy item that hid next to nothing, and Lilith was wrapped in a sheet. Yet they didn’t hesitate. They were gone in an instant, leaving behind no more than a popping noise and the distinct scent of ozone.
Dinah and Ty were alone in the communications room, the implications of what the Master had said hanging heavily between them.
“So, the Master had the Architect all along,” Ty said.
“Looks like it.”
“And he was holding back because the Architect is Tempest’s father.”
“Yes.”
“And now he isn’t holding back any more. He’s declared war on those who oppose him. Us.”
This time, the deerkin just nodded.
Ty had never had anyone declare war on him before. He decided he didn’t much like it. Yet, there wasn’t anything he could do about it, not just then, so he pushed it out of his mind.
“Come on, or they’ll beat us down there,” he said. He was already wondering if his healing nanites might be in for their first major test.
But before he’d taken more than a single step, Dinah reached out and stopped him. “Ty,” she said.
She was looking at his arm, and when Ty followed her gaze, he could see why. His device was no longer attached to his wrist. Not exactly, anyway. Instead, it seemed to be somehow within his wrist and on it at the same time. Like a tree can sometimes engulf a fencepost by growing around it.
“What the hell?” he said. At the same time, he thought he understood. The nausea wasn’t some sort of drug hangover at all. It was an indication t
hat things were still changing.
As fast as thought, he brought up his stats, and saw at once that the secondary skill that had begun to appear when he’d taken the AZT-407 had now fully materialized.
Secondary Unique Skill: Cyber Assimilation
Here ends book 3 in the Enhancer series.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed the third in my Enhancer series. If you did, remember that reviews are the life blood of an author, second only to caffeine, alcohol, and money. So please pop back to where you got this book and let others know what you thought. And remember, please don’t include any spoilers. :-)
I understand that Amazon is making it harder for people to leave a review, so if you can’t, I understand, but if you can, a short sentence or two is as useful as a full-on, in-depth analysis.
Other than that, book 4 is already in process, and I hope to have it out much quicker than book 3.
As usual, if you have any questions or just want to say, “Hi!” drop me a line at:
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Until next time,
Wyatt.
