by K. F. Breene
“Don’t bring a sword to a gunfight.”
Stefan’s hand massaged up the inside of my leg as my hand picked up speed along his shaft. “Oh, we have guns. We just can’t maintain magic with the bullets. Shoot one of Trek’s magic creations through the heart, and you get a loud noise and no results.”
“I’d always wondered. Huh. But you could shoot each other.”
“Yes, we could. And have. But then the cops get called, and that whole sermon about keeping under the humans’ radar…”
“I get it, I get it. All right.”
His fingers brushed against my sex. “You can be taught.” He laughed, his lips pressing against mine.
I spread my legs as his fingers dipped into me, his thumb applying pressure to the sensitive top, making slippery circles. I breathed deeply, my body warming from his ministrations. I’d never felt like I did with Stefan. Even before I’d met him, his body had called to me, begging me to cross whatever distance separated us and wrap myself around him. Though we hadn’t uttered the “L-word” to each other yet, we felt it. Both of us did. We felt it like normal people didn’t. A deep-rooted connection attached us, not only relaying our emotions through a link between us, but merging our souls into one, then delivering each half to a body.
I climbed onto his large body, eager to feel that rush. The tip of his manhood rubbed along my folds, getting them nice and slick. I leaned up, positioned him, then slowly sat down, accepting him deeply into me. My sex stretched over him, feeling that glorious fullness, pushing all the breath from my lungs.
His palms reached up to me, cupping my breasts, rubbing a thumb along each nipple. I rocked over him, building that wonderful friction, my body winding tight, soaking in the sensations. Tighter and tighter I strove, bobbing on top of him, my head falling back as the tremors gathered and lit me on fire. My body started to sweat, his as well, as his hips thrust up to my downward motion.
“Oh, Sasha,” Stefan breathed, eyes closed in determination.
My core vibrated, pulsed, constricted…then blasted apart. A glorified scream filled the room as I exploded in pleasure. I lay my body on top of his, my head resting in the groove of his neck and shoulder as I came down.
“What will happen to us, Stefan?” I asked softly, enjoying the feeling of his fingers trailing along my back.
“We will stay together no matter what comes.”
“But what about your mate? You need one, and from what Charles says, she has to have lineage and birthing ability and all sorts of crap that I don’t have.”
“You might have.”
“I’m a human. By default I’m not mate material. Just ask that ginger in my class that hates me.”
Stefan tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “We’ll stay together. I’ll bring the matter before the Regional and see what he says.”
“I can’t share you any more than you can share me, Stefan, regardless of your duty.”
He kissed my shoulder. “I know, love. I know that. We’ll figure it out.”
Another half hour had me showered and in combat boots and yoga clothes, striding toward the living room where my bodyguard, Charles, the youngest member of the Watch Command, waited. As usual, the giant muscled guy, dressed in leather from head to foot, sat on the leather couch, knitting some hideously colored monstrosity.
“What are you making this time?” I inquired, snatching an apple out of the fruit bowl resting on the coffee table.
“Well, since you never wear the scarf I made you, I am making a blanket this time.”
“Is it for a little girl?”
Charles stopped in his work and surveyed the thee-by-four square foot of fabric. “No, why? What’s wrong with it?”
“Charles, it’s fluorescent green and pink! Who do you know, who isn’t a three-year-old girl, who wants a blanket made with these two colors?”
Charles’s bushy eyebrows rumpled on his striking face. “You couldn’t have mentioned this before I started?”
“Eyes and logic, Charles, they’re a lethal combination.”
Charles dropped his masterpiece-in-making into his knitting bin beside the couch. He followed me out, headed toward magic class.
“Charles, how am I not considered evil?”
“You’re a female. Of course you are considered evil.”
“Yeah, hilarious. But seriously, if I can wield the black magic level, and Trek does white, doesn’t that make me evil?”
“Nah. Magic isn’t evil or good. It just is. The wielder is the asshole. And the colors are just that. Colors. We’ve identified their output in power, but the actual color doesn’t mean anything.”
“And why is black so rare?”
Charles shrugged. “The higher power levels become more rare as they progress. White is super rare. And then black is beyond, I think, so rarer still. It probably wouldn’t be as much if humans would admit that magic exists somewhere besides crystal balls and Tarot cards. Instead, they dump their magic into technology and create some truly fantastic things. I’m all for the way things turned out. If humans could procreate like rabbits and wield all sorts of magic, we’d be in serious trouble.”
“I thought you were working on your ability to summarize.”
“Nope. You just continue to hope.”
“I do, yes.”
We walked into an empty elements class.
“No class today, which you would know if you bothered to read the bulletin.” A harried teacher, Andrew, turned to us. “Oh. Well, you two will probably be needed with the Boss. Doesn’t anyone read the bulletins?”
“Don’t blame Charles,” I said with a dour face. “He can’t read at all.”
“Oh, you’re on fire today. What the hell did I ever do to you?” Charles asked with his hands on his hips as Andrew rolled his eyes and turned away.
“Burnt down my damn apartment, Charles, or don’t you remember past yesterday?”
“Get over it. You got a sweet set-up. I did you a favor. And, you nag.”
“What does that have to do with the price of apples?”
Charles cocked his head as we shuffled out. “Apples? Who said anything about apples? Did the Boss accidentally take too much blood, or something? You’re starting to lose it.”
“So, now what?” I asked, happy-go-lucky now that I had a furlough.
“Sure, change the subject. Why have a straightforward, intelligent conversation when we can jump all over the place.”
I laughed. “Let me dumb myself down so we can have that conversation.”
“I’m not the one that flunks every test she takes.”
I nodded, my chest so tight I felt like I might crack a rib. “Touché. Got me there.”
Charles smirked, his smile falling back into a grim line of lips a second later. “You’re not that clever, you know. I can tell you are nervous as hell. You always turn into a real strange bitch when you’re freaking out.”
“A real strange bitch.” Ice formed in my stomach. “What if it’s me? What if I’m the problem, and not the teachers? What if my magic is defunct for some reason?”
Charles shrugged, settling with me on a cold stone bench just outside the mansion. “We’ll figure it out. The Boss will tear down the world to keep you safe. And I’m his right-hand man, so between the two of us, we’ll make this all work out.”
I leaned against his huge body for support. He’d become my best friend. I couldn’t imagine getting through all that I had without him, requests for sex and all. “What now?”
“We wait to be called, I guess. And don’t get too close. I don’t want the Boss tearing my arm off.”
I scoffed out a laugh, and stayed where I was.
*****
“They’re waiting for you in the purple lounge, Boss.”
Stefan nodded to Jameson and imperceptibly took a deep breath. It was always disconcerting when meeting a superior, but this visit would decide his fate. He loved a human. More than that, he was one with a human. They shared somethin
g indescribable. A love so deep it had turned into something else entirely. Giving her up would be like giving up food. Or sleep. He needed her to survive.
Which was not something he could go around telling his higher-up. His kind didn’t mate with humans. They might beget their offspring by that means, since humans could blink and get pregnant, but his species didn’t settle down to a life with humans. Not traditionally speaking.
Stefan snorted at himself. He was picking up Sasha’s penchant for being cockamamie.
Still, it had to be acknowledged that even though he might break custom and mate a human, he couldn’t expect his people to accept her as their leader. He couldn’t proclaim her lineage and the right of her station. All she had was her magic, and his devotion.
Devotion. Now that was a word that could get you beat up.
Steeling himself, his face the customary stern mask he wore in public, he entered the purple lounge with a confident step.
Two men waited patiently, elegantly lounging in the large, overstuffed armchairs as if they owned the mansion and the people in it. Stefan’s eyes burned into Dominicous, the Regional, with the intensity of an alpha whose territory has been encroached upon. It took one full, vicious beat to rip his gaze away and to the floor, uncomfortably acknowledging his place as lesser.
He didn't remember that ever galling as much.
“You are just barely on the safe side of a challenge,” Dominicous stated in elevated speech, albeit colored with humor, which originated from somewhere in Europe a great many decades ago. Stefan’s people didn’t live forever, but they did live a long damn time.
“But still on the safe side, Regional.”
“Quite. Please, sit amongst us. We have much to discuss.”
Stefan settled into a chair, his chest turned toward the Regional with the respect due his station, Stefan's eyes able to meet his superiors now that he’d acknowledged the other male’s status. Hard brown eyes of brutality in a weather beaten face stared back. You didn’t get to be the Boss without being able to hold your own against an entire clan. You didn’t become Regional without that same trait, only against a helluva lot more people.
Dominicous extended a scarred hand toward the other man sitting in the room. “This is Toa. He is my linked mage and excels in intricate magical working and application. He is the strongest white outside of the Council.”
He pronounced it like “toe.” Sasha would get a kick out of that if she was privileged enough to meet him.
Long, straight hair so blond it might’ve been white framed Toa, while cold blue eyes stared out of a pristine face. With such smooth skin and beautifully elegant features, this male appeared feminine. Those eyes, though, sent a chill to the core of Stefan. Death lived in those eyes.
Stefan’s hackles rose, another challenge slipping into his gaze before he had to, once again, drag his eyes downward.
“Again, just barely on the safe side of a challenge. It seems you are outgrowing your post,” Dominicous remarked lightly.
“No, Regional. Haven’t seen a superior in some time.”
“I see. On to business, or would you rather a few minutes to discuss pleasantries?”
“Business would do me fine.”
“Splendid.” The Regional bowed his head, his gaze focused on his scuffed fingernails before he went on. “First order of business. We have had a startling request from this clan. A female with the black power level. Is this correct?”
“Correct. A human.”
“Yes.”
If that bothered either of them, Stefan would never know. Blondie hadn’t moved more than his eyes since Stefan had come into the room.
“And you have marked her, is that correct?” Dominicous continued.
Stefan tried to emulate Blondie but it felt like fire ants danced up his back. “It is.”
“We will come back to that.” Dominicous draped one long leg over the other, a gesture Stefan recognized as Dominicous’ version of comfort. “You know, I assume, that the black power level is so rare it is nearly a myth. It requires a different type of training since the magic reacts differently than what we deem “normal.” Sometimes the black level is a disguise for a lower level white. A strange mix of power and use, you see. We’ve had a few proclamations of the black level this year alone. All were false.”
The fire ants started to bite down.
“Toa has come all this way, however, to make sure,” Dominicous continued. “We like to be thorough where this is concerned. Finding a black power level would…tip certain battles in our favor. Even if those battles are not officially acknowledged.”
Blondie’s stare was starting to get irritating.
“So, we shall test her momentarily. There is another subject that needs discussion. Our Council has entered into an agreement with the North American Mata—or, to the layman, Shape Changers.” Dominicous paused for effect.
Stefan wanted to tell him to get on with it. He knew what the hell they called themselves, and didn’t care. They were a nuisance, under the impression that because they actually changed into animals, rather than just embodying some of the customary territorial and aggressive traits of animal hunters, like Stefan’s species, that their claims to territory should be upheld. They had a magic of sorts, sure—certainly more defined than that of traditional humans—but they couldn’t hold a candle to Stefan’s clan in the fighting realm. They had tried. And gotten a smack down. Nobody fucked with Stefan’s clan, even a white mage. Period.
“We believe the upheaval of those wanting to proclaim themselves to humans—I believe one of their faction reside in this city—the Eastern Territory.” At Stefan’s nod, Dominicous continued, “They are seeking to unite with other non-human entities. There are a few that could pose a real threat if amassed in numbers. The Mata are one.”
Stefan didn’t like where this was going. And gods be damned, he was about ready to bash Blondie’s head against the table to stop that flat-eyed stare.
“We have made an agreement, as I said, with the Alpha of the Mata. All those in his influence will unite. It is shaky ground, as I am sure you know. Our kind and theirs don’t get along well. And haven’t for centuries upon centuries. But we need them, and they will eventually need us when the scientists figure out what the rare strand of cancer that creates the ability to change shape really is. And really does.”
“And how does this relate to me directly?” Stefan asked with a calm he didn’t feel.
“I think you know.”
Stefan couldn’t help a flex. “We have a standing truce with them, for now. They don’t come in my territories, I don’t intrude on theirs.”
“That is not enough. You must unite forces. You must be able to fight together. Nolan, the male leading the upheaval against our kind staying in the shadows, has a rare talent for speech. He bends people to his will, promising power, world domination, and other such nonsense. Mages are particularly keen for power, craving it more than most, and flock to his side. We have greater numbers, but he is gathering greater power.”
“We fight completely different than the Mata. We command, and follow commands, differently.”
“We don’t anymore, actually. As you will find out, because you will bridge that gap. It is necessary.”
Might as well learn to fly while I’m at it.
Stefan barely acceded, causing Dominicous to tilt his head a fraction. It was a thin and dangerous line Stefan walked, but he wasn’t having an easy time bowing to another male. Especially since Stefan could take him. It’d be one hell of a fight, but in a dead heat, Stefan could crush him and rip his mantle out from under him.
All in due time. He had to ensure Sasha’s safety before he took any steps.
“We will discuss the details tomorrow. Now, let us see to this claim of black power. Bring her in.”
Stefan rose easily, relaxing his body as he moved. If Sasha didn’t wield black, she could still wield a form of white, which meant she was still mage material. He knew for
a fact that her power level exceeded his. He’d felt it both in her blood, and when she used him for an offshoot to sucking all the power from the room. She could download magic like a giant computer could data.
Why the hell was he so worried?
Worried. Another word that would get him beat up.
“Bring her,” Stefan barked at Jameson as he poked his head out the door.
When he’d returned to his seat, Dominicous said, “Tell me about the mark. It is a clever business move that might bite you if I take her for my own.”
A surge of pure rage shot through Stefan. He stared at the Regional, not bothering to disguise the challenge. He would lose everything, including his life, before he allowed this male to take her like some piece of property. He had wanted to do this delicately, to try to explain matters, but under this sort of pressure, Stefan only knew one course of action. Kill!
“I see,” Dominicous said quietly. “Not business, then. Interesting. We will return to this challenge at a later date, should it prove necessary. Now, this is her—ˮ
The Regional cut off, his eyes widening in surprise. The unexpected hitch finally dislodged Blondie’s constant, flat stare, his attention swiveling toward the entrance.
Sasha stood there, awkwardly, inching closer as though afraid to confront a room full of vipers. She unclasped her hands long enough to give a strange little wave, her face turning bright red. “You called for me?”
Her beautiful eyes met Stefan’s and his heart swelled, love and heat filling the blood link they shared as they took comfort in each other’s closeness. The world fell away for a moment, one half of a soul meeting the other, before their surroundings again took solid form. It was a strange occurrence that seemed to happen each time they met after any sort of distance.
“Please, come in,” Dominicous said, rising.
