Island of the Gods

by C. M. Kane

  ‘I can’t believe you didn’t know what Valaria was going to do,’ Soola said as she finally got over the startling developments and fixated on Tae’s naivety. She started giggling again, ‘I mean your mum’s a pleasure giver too, or she was. Doesn’t she ever talk to you about that stuff?’

  Tae’s face reddened yet again. ‘Well, she does, but I usually just zone out.’ Jase is the one who would know every word and trick mum had ever learnt. He had hung off of her every word. She now wished that she had paid a little more attention, at least she wouldn’t have been so embarrassed. ‘I’d better go. I’ll see you at the Gathering tomorrow afternoon.’

  At the reminder Soola stopped sniggering. ‘We’ll be there, don’t worry. Try to get some rest, everything’s going to be fine,’ She hugged Tae fiercely, Margarete who had come over, hugged her as well.

  For a moment Tae let herself be wrapped in the love and support they offered so freely. Finally she pulled away and gave them a watery smile. She then left to return home and get her clothes ready for her morning with Brohan. Tomorrow! One way or the other, the dye would be cast, after that there would be no turning back.

  CHAPTER 9

  Brohan arrived at the Pleasure house exactly one minute early, he was positively thrumming with excitement, he’d barely been able to contain himself all evening. After leaving Margarete’s house he’d returned home and paced, eaten dinner, and then paced some more. Finally he decided to shower, and then go over the Island maps again in an effort to focus his mind. He was on edge, his nervous anticipation palpable. By the time he had to leave he’d been reduced to the breathing techniques his own master had taught him when he was a youth.

  His small two-seat darter slid almost silently to the curb, the soft electrical whine of its motor barely noticeable. He felt the excitement and expectancy for the coming night surging up again, he hadn’t felt like this since his last major battle. For the first time, in what felt like an eternity, he felt like a man again, like the warrior he was born to be. He had a mission, people were relying on him, and by all the gods it felt good.

  He looked over at the old building as a slim figure detached itself from a shadowed doorway and moved to the car. Valaria opened the car door and got in, her tiny black mini-skirt riding even further up her legs. Brohan turned his eyes back to the road quickly, a dull red flush crept up his neck at the sight of Valaria’s bare legs and the tiny white panties he’d glimpsed. He berated himself severely, what the hell was wrong with him? He was acting like some kind of callow youth, not a man of seventy years.

  Valaria looked over at him, grinning. ‘Like what you see huh? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, it’s just between you and me … I promise.’ She gave him a saucy wink and shut the door quietly.

  Brohan ignored her and set off immediately. He shifted a little in his seat to try to hide the growing evidence of his thoughts, and could feel himself blushing even more at being found out. Gods be damned but she’s a fine looking woman! Obviously she doesn’t age as quickly as humans. She still has the look of a woman in her early thirties. He thought as he stole yet another look at her. Her hair, which she had left down, was a dark chocolate brown, it hung loosely over her shoulders in large glossy waves. She had a straight patrician nose and full lips, lips that were covered in the brightest red lipstick he had ever seen. Her green eyes reminded him of Tae’s at bit, when Tae was preparing to fight someone she’d have that same similar intensity. All in all she was one hell of a package.

  ‘You’re staring again,’ Valaria mentioned casually, ‘and although I do appreciate an attractive man reminding me of how utterly gorgeous I am, I don’t think running up onto the footpath before we even leave town would be a good start to our little adventure, do you?’

  Brohan quickly looked back to the road. Sure enough he had been drifting over to the left hand footpath while he had been eyeing her. He swore softly and corrected his steering, clamping his misbehaving eyes firmly back on the road ahead. He shifted uncomfortably stupid damn eyes, stupid damn body … wait, attractive man?

  With no traffic on the road they were making excellent time but he stuck to the speed limit anyway, there was no point in getting careless now. Valaria sat quietly humming to herself, seemingly lost in her own thoughts while he tried to think about anything other than the intoxicating woman beside him. Finally she turned to him.

  ‘Okay old man, you’re obviously highly attracted to me, and who could blame you? So why have you never visited me in a professional way?’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Do you find my profession offensive? Originally I had thought maybe you preferred men, but judging by your body’s rather enthusiastic reaction to me, I know that could only be partially true at the most. So what’s the problem?’

  Brohan glanced at her genuinely surprised. ‘Why would think I’d I find your profession offensive? You provide a much needed and much revered service. Do you find the fact that I’ve killed hundreds of beings over my lifetime offensive? It’s simply my profession, it doesn’t define who I am as a man. The reason why I have never visited your establishment,’ he said carefully, ‘is that I travel to Thortown or see to my own needs. I don’t like other people knowing what I do or when I do it. Call it a hangover from my days as a warrior but I like to think I was known for doing the unexpected in battle. I find the thought of people knowing my every move disturbing. It’s the one thing I have always loathed about living in a small town.’

  Valaria stared at him silently for a while. ‘Yes. I can see that in you. You’re still unbowed, you hold yourself with pride,’ it’s one of the things I find attractive about you. I myself rarely work’ she said, surprising him. ‘There’s a little more business than you would think in a town this small, but Margarete takes care of most of them now. I usually only take those who like to be bitten.’ She sighed heavily. ‘Unfortunately I need blood about once a month or I start to get cravings, so they serve a purpose. Besides I have a little money of my own and I like to travel every now and then, and as Margarete has a child and needs the extra income, it works out nicely.’

  Brohan was saved from having to reply by their arrival at the chemical plant. It was quite unusual for a factory in looks, it stood a little over two stories tall and was made up of light grey cement blocks. Shuttered windows and a full verandah running the length of the front, complete with Corinthian columns. The loading docks, according to a neatly painted sign they passed, were located at the back of the complex, where the freshly gravelled road wound to the right in a graceful curve. From what Tae had told them, the administration, the canteen, and any other non-manual work areas, were located on the upper floor, which had its own separate entrance around the back. The factory proper was located on the ground floor and could be accessed through a door located at the right side of the building next to a large car park. The lowest level, the basement, which had long narrow windows situated just above the ground, could be accessed from either an interior elevator that ran the full height of the building or from an entrance on the opposite side of the complex. Brohan turned off the lights of the car as it glided to a stop in a treed area of the smaller car park, the one that served the basement level research techs.

  ‘Hide over by that tree’ said Valaria as she opened the car door. She hesitated a moment then looked back. ‘And no peeking okay?’ Valaria had never felt uncomfortable in her profession, but for some reason that she didn’t want to examine too closely, she didn’t want Brohan to see what she was about to do.

  Brohan nodded and got out, walking behind the tree he retreated into the shadows.

  Valaria walked confidently to the factory door and pressed the entrance buzzer. Within ten seconds a small vid-ball zoomed around the corner toward her. She waved merrily at it and gave it a lascivious wink. Each guard was connected to their own three roaming vid-balls, if anything was detected the balls would relay the information directly to their owners. Cliff prowled the front of the factory, the smaller car park where she was, as well
as the basement. A man named Norman Rothman patrolled the back, the floor level, and the larger car park. She didn’t know who patrolled the top floor and roof area.

  ‘Hi there! Is that you Cliff sweetie? Seems I missed you last night so I thought I’d just pop out to see if you’re okay’ She licked her fangs lightly with her tongue then stood there smiling at the small ball while she waited. The door opened within a minute and a tall well-built man of around forty with a large bald spot on the crown of his head appeared. It looked as though he must have run as he was sweating lightly and he was carrying his peaked cap.

  ‘Valaria? You shouldn’t be here! I could get into trouble.’ He glanced around quickly, before staring straight at her fangs, which she was still subtly showing.

  Valaria pouted. ‘I came all the way out here to give you a little treat free of charge, because I value you so much, and you want to send me away?’

  Cliff swallowed noisily. ‘Free? And you came all the way here?’

  Valaria could almost hear Cliffs brain going into overdrive at the “free of charge statement.” She knew he was now trying to justify to himself what she knew he was about to do.

  ‘We could go over to my car, if you turn off your vid-balls, then no-one’s ever going to know are they?’ she said innocently. Cliff licked his lips again, and continued staring at her fangs as if mesmerised. ‘I’m so hungry Cliff, I could just eat you right up right here,’ she purred.

  It was enough of an incentive. Cliff put his cap back on pulled up his sleeve and pressed three buttons on a metal bracelet around his wrist. ‘I missed you too,’ he said softly, running his now free hands slowly down her face. ‘We’ll have to be careful though, okay?’

  ‘Poor baby.’ Valaria soothed, stroking his chest slowly. ‘I’m gonna take real good care of you.’ She walked quickly over to Brohan’s small car, Cliff hot on her heels, practically panting.

  ‘I can’t wait Valaria. Bite me now, just a little.’

  ‘Of course honey.’ She turned around and pushed him gently against the car, before leaning forward and starting to kiss his neck lightly. ‘Just tell me when to stop, alright baby?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he mumbled.

  Valaria angled his neck to the side slightly before opening her mouth and sinking her fangs into his jugular. Her teeth started to release their pleasure chemicals immediately and Cliff sighed, all while busily undoing his pants and pushing them down, for the event he thought was to come.

  When he started to pull away from her she consciously willed more of the pleasure chemical her fangs produced into him. It was something Vampires had learnt to do over time as a tool against some of their more unwilling prey. She had to be careful though, too much of the chemical would kill him. She felt him shudder, before he once more cupped her head against his neck. Soon he was sliding down the side of the car into an unconscious heap. She withdrew her fangs and called softly to Brohan as she nipped her own finger then rubbed some of her blood over the two fang marks so they healed seamlessly.

  ‘That was quick’ Brohan said. ‘You didn’t need to …?’

  ‘No, and you wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t peeked now would you?’

  He grinned at her and they quickly undressed the unconscious man. Surprisingly, he became very disconcerted, almost self-conscious, when Valaria continued to stare at him with an avid interest while he undressed, then re-dressed in Cliff’s clothes, all whilst a small smile played on her red lips. ‘Not bad old man, not bad at all.’ She murmured huskily.

  Pushing his hair up under the peaked cap the hapless Cliff had worn Brohan grabbed the unconscious mans key card and practically bolted for the factory entrance. He hoped Valaria might think he was simply in a hurry to get this over with, and that she hadn’t noticed his bodies reaction to her words, yet again. He heard her soft laugh follow him. Nope, she’d seen. Damn it!

  It took him only two minutes to find the room he wanted, and another three to find the Ithacian White. Everything was labelled neatly and in alphabetical order from left to right as he entered. It was a thief’s paradise. Three cheers for an anally neat bureaucracy. He laughed softly.

  An old friend of his had been told by his son about the discovery, its nickname of Beastie, and the jokes of it being the wolven form of baby powder. The young man had also told his father how disappointed they all were that the gods would not allow its further development, and of how all blame seemed to be levelled at the wolven.

  The wolven in the meantime had been so outraged that it had been taken from their home world in the first place that they had built a large, heavily armed complex over the only site where it was known to be located. As Ithaca, their home world, was a fresh water planet with no salty oceans, they now had no concerns about any accidents, or it being ‘mistakenly taken’ by others, as the Terrans had implied had happened to them.

  What he was holding in his hands was the only sample that he knew of on Earth. He opened the small container and poured its contents into a wide plastic tube he carried. He then took out another container, this one containing baby powder that he had brought along, and refilled the now empty container. It didn’t look exactly the same, but more importantly, the container was still full. This way if someone looked at it in passing while checking stock they might not take any notice of it, especially if they had never seen it before. As long as the gods didn’t want any weapons made from it, then theoretically the theft could go unnoticed for months, even years. He slid the container back to its resting place and hurried back to the car park. Once again he quickly undressed, and with Valaria’s help, re-dressed the unconscious Cliff. They made sure to leave his pants undone before placing him in a sitting position against the darter. Once they had finished adjusting everything to Valaria’s satisfaction he walked back behind the tree and waited. It took another ten minutes for Cliff to come around.

  Valaria had settled herself on his lap with her head resting on his chest. She popped up her head as if she had just finished and licked her lips lustily while adjusting her skirt. ‘Oh my god that was amazing Cliff! Cliff, sweetie, are you okay? I didn’t take too much did I?’

  Cliff looked down dazedly. ‘What happened? Did I pass out?’

  Valaria, to her credit, put on an amazing performance. She clutched her hands to her mouth and tears sprang to her eyes as she gasped. ‘I took too much didn’t I? Oh Cliff honey, I’m so sorry! It’s just you were so into it, and you never told me to stop. That’s it! Never again, I just can’t trust myself around you.’ She caught her breath shakily.

  Cliff gathered himself, and looked around groggily. ‘No. No baby, it’s fine.’ He could feel the pleasure chemicals still coursing strongly through his body, yet strangely he didn’t feel quite satisfied. Perhaps because he had needed her so badly he reasoned. His wife, the frigid cow, had been denying him for two solid weeks, and after all, he had been desperate. He pushed away from the darter and patted Valaria’s hair gently. ‘I’m fine’ he said, as Valaria stood then helped him to his feet where he finished adjusting his clothing, ‘I’m just a little woozy. Hey, I gotta feed my favourite woman what she needs, right?’

  Valaria sighed and gave him a swift kiss. ‘Have I ever told you how amazing you are? It’s no wonder I can’t resist you.’

  Cliff smiled and puffed out his chest at the flattery. ‘I better get back, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks,’ he said confidently, ‘and we’ll pick up where we stopped, okay? I gotta keep showing you what a real man’s made of.’ He turned and walked away on wobbly legs to the entrance of the basement, with no idea whatsoever of what had just happened, but letting his own mind come up with a fantasy of its own creation. By the time he had reached his post he was sure he had just had the most mind-blowing experience of his life. He could hardly wait for his break to tell his friends.

  ‘Bloody tosser,’ Brohan growled as he came out from behind the tree. They jumped into his darter and headed back toward Jaxburg.

  Valaria glanced over at th
e now scowling man. ‘You know something? We make a pretty good team, even if I do say so myself. That was surprisingly easy and … fun. I liked it.’

  ‘What’s not to like?’ Brohan said cheering immediately at her words. ‘Just add one devastatingly beautiful Vampire siren, and a fearless kick-ass warrior together with a just cause, what could have stopped us?’ They laughed and relaxed back to enjoy the trip home.

  They arrived back at the pleasure house a little after four thirty, both secretly elated at how everything had worked out so well. Brohan didn’t want to question the sudden onset of rage he’d felt as Cliff had made his date with Valaria, nor the surprisingly strong impulse to gut the man there and then, adrenalin, excitement of the moment, that’s all it was. He told himself.

  As the car stopped Valaria unclipped her safety harness and quickly leant over to him. She ran her hand lightly down his face resting the other on his chest. ‘Don’t be a stranger to me old man. If I have to come over to that training ground of yours and sit myself down stark naked on your verandah, I will!’ She kissed him lightly on the mouth and jumped out of the car.

  Brohan stared after her as she walked away. Knowing he was watching her Valaria swished her hips provocatively as she moved to the front door and went inside.

  ‘I just bet you would,’ he said softly and smiled. ‘And what I wouldn’t give to see you do it.’ He watched for a few more seconds, and then headed home to place the Ithacian White in a small safe hidden in the floor of his lounge room. It was originally placed there for one of those – just in case - moments he once thought he’d never have again. It took him a few minutes to realise he was grinning like an idiot.