“The night isn’t over, but dinner is,” Karen reminded him as she led Fluff from the room.
He paused, reminded that they would be walking in his memory tonight. “Of course. Shall we, dear heart?”
“As ya wish, Asthore,” Stacia said as she let him lead her out of the room.
Chapter Seven
The ride back to the house was quiet, as they all knew that when they got home they would be seeing one of Alburet’s memories. When they stopped at the house and he had helped them all out, Alburet turned to the driver, who held up a hand. “I’ve been paid already, sir, with a generous tip as well.”
“Thank you for the comfortable drive to and from. Have a good night.”
“You as well, sir,” the driver grinned with a tip of his hat before he drove off.
He entered the house, his stomach tight as he felt his anxiety rise. As he closed the door behind him, Stacia was waiting for him. The other two were absent. “Maybe we should put off doing my memory-” Alburet began before Stacia cut him off with a shake of her head.
“Trust me. Remember ya issue just the other day? We be doin’ this with the rest of our family to help. This will nay be pleasant. Ya will cry, but we will all be here to help ya. Trust in me, ya know the only thing I want be for ya to always be with me,” Stacia told him as she took his hand, leading Alburet towards the bedroom.
He could feel her trying to calm him as he was led towards the bedroom. She ushered him in to find Karen and Fluff naked, waiting for him on a bed that was almost twice as big as he remembered. “Where did the really big bed come from?” he asked as his eyes traced appreciatively over the duo who sat on it.
“It was delivered when we were eatin’,” Stacia told him. “Ma’ arranged it as a gift for our extended family.”
Karen and Fluffball returned his gaze, their faces showing their love and the worry they felt. He looked away. “Remember, we signed the NDA so we can help you, Al,” Karen told him. “We held Fluff and helped her through her moments. You all comforted me when I broke down over my issues. Now we will be here for you.”
Stacia began to strip off his clothing. She kept trying to calm his fear as she finally got him down to his skin. Karen reached out and gently pulled him onto the bed. She eased him down onto his back, making sure she had his attention as she pushed down on his chest, pinning him to the bed while half straddling him.
“I’m just afraid. What if this makes everything worse?” Alburet’s voice was shaky.
“Trust me, master, please,” Stacia added as she joined him on the bed. “I will nay do anythin’ tha’ will harm ya.”
Fluff leaned over next to Karen, kissing his ear. “We will be here for you.”
Stacia began to sing as Fluff kissed his ear. Alburet felt the song pulling him down to slumber, his fear spiking again as sleep claimed him. Stacia continued to sing a moment longer before she met the gazes of the other two women. “Be ya ready? This will make him come to terms with a deep pain.”
“It won’t harm him, will it?” Fluff asked with a tinge of uncertainty.
Stacia’s lips thinned a little. “It be me hope tha’ he can process it and tha’ will help him move on. I nay be a God, I can nay be certain how it will affect him. He needs this, though, iffin he is goin’ to look at the other more painful memories.”
Karen shifted so Fluff could curl up next to Alburet. “He seems to relax more when you’re purring, Fluff. I’ll be on the other side of you holding you and touching him.”
“Ya both need to touch me as well, to come into the memory,” Stacia reminded them as she curled up on Alburet’s other side. Once everyone was settled, she began to sing again.
The trio appeared next to a ghostly Alburet, who looked puzzled at the scene around them. “Prison?”
“Aye, me love,” Stacia murmured as she came over to hold him. “We will begin now.”
The scene shifted to life. Seamus was sprawled on his bunk reading an erotic romance about a lewd Shadowmancer, written by Eden Redd. Shaking his head as he turned the page, he heard his name called. “What’s up, Sarge?” Seamus asked Jasperson.
“Your attorney is here for you,” Jasperson told him. “You know the drill.”
Seamus was escorted along the lines to the attorney visitation room. When he was brought inside he was met by a solemn-looking Moorehead. Seamus felt a twinge of anxiety as he took a seat. “Moore, I thought we finished all the paperwork on Dad’s passing last week.”
“We did,” Moore agreed. “Your father’s passing isn’t why I am here.”
“Can’t be the appeals you keep filing, those should still be tied up,” Seamus added.
“That is also correct,” Moore agreed again, his face becoming even more somber. “Seamus, what I have to tell you is going to be difficult.”
An icy stab of fear went through Seamus’s gut, “What is it?”
“I stopped by to see your mother the other day, to hand over the signed and finalized paperwork regarding your father’s will,” Moore paused, looking away from Seamus. “She didn’t answer when I knocked. I was concerned so I tried the door, to find it unlocked. I called out to her, but the house was silent.”
Heart clenching, Seamus listened with a growing sense of discomfort and fear. “Just tell me, is she okay?”
“I found her in bed, Seamus. She had passed sometime during the night. I called for EMTs but it was no use. They declared her dead when they arrived on the scene.”
Seamus’s vision wavered as tears began to fall from his eyes. “No…”
Alburet dropped to his knees, similarly disbelieving as he watched. “No. Gods, no.”
The three women surrounded Alburet, holding him as tears began to flow as the scene continued.
“Your mother had a will on file with me as well, which is why I am here.” Moore pulled papers from his briefcase. “I know it’s hard for you to accept. You have my condolences. To lose both parents inside of a month, it’s a tragedy.”
Seamus began to sob, shaking his head violently. “No! I won’t accept this! I need to talk to her, I have to apologize to her!”
The guards came rushing into the room at his raised voice. “Everything okay here?”
“Get out!” Seamus raged, getting to his feet and turning to the guards. “Leave me alone. I won’t accept it.”
Moore put the papers away, “I just told him of his mother’s passing.”
Sergeant Jasperson came into the room. “Seamus, you need to calm down. We can take you to talk with the chaplain. Maybe that will help.”
Seamus, with tears streaming down his cheeks, bared his teeth at the guards. “No. I refuse to accept this. I’m talking with my attorney, get out.”
“You’re not acting rationally, Seamus,” Jasperson said as his hand dropped to his taser. “Sit down, calm down, and this doesn’t have to get worse.”
“Mom,” Alburet sobbed as he was held by the three women. “We never got to talk. I was never able to apologize for what I did. For disappointing you, and hurting you and dad.”
They did their best to comfort him as the emotions racked him. Stacia could barely make a dent in them, doing her best to try and help.
Seamus took a step forward, towards the guards. “I said…”
Jasperson pulled and triggered his taser, the two prongs catching Seamus in the chest. The electric device locked up Seamus's muscles, dropping him to the ground. “Cuff him,” Jasperson told the other two guards, who rushed forward to comply. “Moore, we are cutting short this meeting.”
Moore closed his briefcase, “I understand. I had hoped he might be able to handle it better than this. With all the loss he’s dealt with, though, it isn’t any wonder really that he acts like he does.”
The scene greyed out as the trio stayed kneeling around Alburet. “Both of his parents be gone,” Stacia told them. “His Da’ passed two weeks before. Moore brought him a letter from his Da’ tha’ hurt him. This only fractured his already broken
mind more. He has never accepted his Ma’s death.”
“He has no parents, like me,” Fluff softly added as she wiped tears away from his eyes. “Alburet, Seamus, I’m sorry.”
Karen tightened her hold on him from behind, pulling him firmly into her chest. “They both passed close together, like mine did. I know how hard that is to deal with. His was worse. He never got to say goodbye to them.”
“They’re both gone,” Alburet choked. “I have no family left for me outside, except David and Kaylee.”
“We are your family now, as well,” Karen firmly insisted. “I don’t just love your avatar.”
“I agree with Karen,” Fluff stated as she kissed his cheek. “We are your family, Seamus, no matter where we are.”
“Aye, as it should be,” Stacia added. “Ya have three people who love ya very much right here. Ya nay be alone anymore, ya can confront ya memories. We will be here with ya.”
Alburet tried to push past his grief, but the wound was too fresh. The scab that had grown over it had been ripped away and he was now dealing with the loss he had hidden from himself.
“I just wanted to tell her…” He trailed off as he clenched his jaw.
The trio of women continued to hold him for another few moments. Stacia was making headway on his emotional turmoil, slowly but steadily. “Master, it be tough to know ya parents be gone. Ya wives be here for ya. Let us help ya. Each of us loves ya, and wants only to comfort ya.”
The other two agreed, doing what they could to show how much they cared. Alburet could feel their love for him. It was like being in the light of three suns, each trying to warm his icy core.
As he slowly started to calm, he felt his mind start to grow fuzzy. “You won’t leave me?” he asked, his words slurring.
“Never,” Fluff stated.
“Just try to get rid of me,” Karen added.
“Me soul and ya soul be intertwined. Ya can nay get rid of me anymore than ya could ya own self,” Stacia told him.
“Thank you,” he barely whispered as he vanished from their arms.
They exchanged glances before they reappeared on the bed. Each of them reached out to touch Alburet. His face was a wet mess. Each of them was quiet, lost in their own thoughts for a time.
“We be needin’ to keep him home and shower him in our love tomorrow,” Stacia told them after a while. “Unless he makes a pass at us though, it be best to nay start anythin’ with him.”
“I will restrain myself,” Karen told her. “I think it might be best to just cuddle puddle him.”
“I will stay here with him as much as I can,” Fluff added. “I will purr for him and try to let him know how happy I am to be here with him.”
“Good, we all be on the same page,” Stacia nodded and turned over to snuff out the lights. “I hope he will nay be mad at me when he wakes.”
Chapter Eight
Alburet woke slowly, a contented purr gentle in his right ear. Fluff lay curled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. Her lips were creased in a happy smile. The image struck him deeply, he wanted to see her smile like that more. A murmur of someone waking came from his other side. Glancing over he found Karen, her eyes just fluttering open. Her lips were turned up at the corners as if her dream had been wonderful.
“Morning,” he said softly as Karen’s eyes focused on him.
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she applied just a touch more pressure to her arm and leg that were draped over his body.
He closed his eyes as the memory of last night washed over him again. The loss of his mother and his denial of it for well over a year struck him again. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding. “Both of my parents are gone, and I dishonored my mother’s memory by not even remembering her passing.” The words were full of pain and self-loathing.
Fluff stirred on his other side, her arm which was also over his chest tightening. As she started to wake, Karen spoke into the moment of silence. “I’m sorry, Al. I truly am. I know how the loss of parents hurts. Not to your extent, as I got to say my goodbyes, but I am sorry for what you feel right now. Just remember that we’re here for you.”
“Al?” Fluff said his name questioningly to get his attention. When he turned wet eyes to her, he found her love and concern written on her features. “You had years of happiness with them. They loved you, as you loved them. It is sad that they are gone, sadder that you didn’t recall that until last night. But neither of them would feel anything other than love for you. I never had those moments. I only hope that we can have happiness together.” She leaned her head in to kiss him softly.
He basked in the warmth of her kiss, and even more in the love he could feel from her, even as tears continued to trickle from his eyes. The ability to sense others’ emotions from the Succubus part of the Infernal blood was helping him. He could feel the same love from Karen on the other side of him, which was confirmed when she tilted his head back to her after the kiss with Fluff, so she could kiss him. There was no demanding passion, just loving acceptance.
His sadness abated some as he lay there. He got the tears to stop falling after a moment. “Thank you, both of you.”
“Master,” Stacia said from the doorway, carrying a laden tray. “I made breakfast for us all.” Her voice betrayed the uncertainty that she felt.
As he looked at her, feeling her emotional turmoil, he felt a brief spark of anger at her. He ruthlessly stamped that out as he watched her. “Why didn’t you warn me?”
Coming to the bed slowly, Stacia dropped her gaze from his. “Ya would nay have believed me before. Ya had made ya memories certain tha’ she lived. It would be like me tryin’ to tell ya the sun was black.”
He considered her explanation as she came to a stop next to the side of the bed Karen was on. “I don’t know. I was certain of it before last night,” Alburet sighed as he freed his arms from the women and rubbed at his face. “How much of what I remember is a lie? That’s what I worry about now.”
“The majority of ya memories be fine, except for a few other thin’s tha’ ya could nay handle to recall yet. Outside of where those touch other memories, ya memory be whole. Those moments and the spots they touch be different. We will work through them, with all of us here for ya to help.”
Alburet sat up, taking a deep breath, trying to quell the anxiety that he might be more broken than he had ever considered. “Can we take breaks between? Maybe give Fluff some of her earliest memories with her mother?”
“Aye,” Stacia said as she handed the tray to Karen, who sat up to take it. Climbing onto the bed, she settled herself onto Alburet’s lap. “Anythin’ ya need. Ya be the single most important bein’ in this or any world to me.”
“I would like those memories, I think,” Fluff added. “I want to see her again and know more of her.”
“I think I’m good,” Karen added. “Maybe just brush up on some of my happier memories, so I can recall them better.”
“Aye, we can do all of tha’,” Stacia agreed. “Today we be stayin’ home until the banquet. After tha’ we will be showin’ Fluff how each of us views her. She still feels like she nay be as pretty as she really is.”
“But this isn’t the real me?” Fluff murmured as food was passed around.
“We be seein’ how Karen really sees ya, she did see ya in tha’ building of glass. Otherwise we be seein’ how each of us feels for ya. I can be sharin’ the emotions behind a memory as much as anythin’ else. It be easy to share how we be feelin’. Master and me be seein’ ya emotions all the time, due to the Succubus blood. It just be ya and Karen tha’ have doubts about how we be feelin’ for ya.”
Karen frowned, “That is so cheap. You being able to instantly know what we feel.”
“I have to want to feel it,” Alburet told her, “unless it’s a really strong emotion. I know that you and Fluff love me. I’ve felt it for a while now, but it’s been easier to feel since the joining at the temple.”
“Is it okay?” Fluff asked as
she nibbled at some bacon.
“More than okay,” Alburet told her. “It is what helped me last night and this morning. It’s hard to withdraw into self-pity when three people who love you are right there and you can feel their love.”
Fluff shivered slightly, her eyes closed. “I wish I could do that. I would never be taken advantage of again. It would be so freeing, to truly know what people felt about me.”
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” Karen said. Her emotions were a jumble of jealousy, uncertainty, and yearning. “I mean, that would completely negate being able to lie to yourself about how another person feels about you…” She paused as she heard the words coming out of her mouth. “Fuck, that would be kind of nice actually. I could have been saved from so many bad decisions if I had known ahead of time.”
Fractured Spirit (Alpha World Book 5) Page 7
