Ishtar Anomaly

by Natalie Gibson

  Israel pulled his hand from Nanae's and held his maker's face between both his hands. He planted a hard quick kiss on the god-king's lips. With their noses touching, Izzy said, “I guess you'll both be moving in, then won't you?” He stood and stretched his long lithe body, his cock already rising again at the thought of them all living together. He looked down at their lovely Camilla curled on her side. “Lay back, Nanae. Roll her over on her back.”

  Nanae obeyed. It was what he wanted too after all. He needed to be with both his beauties just as much as Israel needed to be with them. He almost imperceptively rolled her breasts in his hand as Israel slid onto the bed under her feet. With her knees resting on his shoulders, his face at the junction between her legs, he could smell their sex all mixed together. He knew it would taste even better than it smelled and he wondered how that was even possible.

  Before Izzy could test his hypothesis, Nanae stopped him with a warning, “We can try this but I will hurt you if you loose control.”

  “Good. I'm counting on it. Don't worry so much, Nanae. You're a healer. She's a healer. I said we could make this work last night and even with all that happened, I still believe it.” Her body, still slick and swollen, called out to him like the scent of coffee and sizzling bacon in the morning. This was right. Izzy dipped his head to her folds and tasted, as a Lilitu, his first woman. “Let's wake her up and give her the good news.”

  Chapter 7

  Camilla looked around her sparse quarters for the last time. It had only taken her boys one trip to carry all her belongings to Izzy's place. It was their home now, all of their's. Camilla didn't want to risk them seeing what she hid under her bed but she was never alone. First Nanae couldn't leave her side for fear she might loose the baby and today Israel was just as glued to them.

  “Did we get everything, Sunshine?”

  She'd had her coffee this morning but she was still hesitant to speak. Izzy apparently couldn't drink or eat anymore after his encounter with Nanae's beast, but he'd still made her morning drink for her. He'd vowed to make it every morning for the rest of her life. This should be one of the best days of her life, but something about the change nagged at her. She held up one finger to indicate there was one more thing and pointed to the bed.

  “We can't all fit in that bed anymore, my beauty.”

  Israel was already on his hands and knees reaching underneath. He pulled out the dusty box. “This is the last? What is it?” He started to open the lid but she put her foot on it to keep it closed. “Oh. Is this the box? I've always wanted to see inside one of these.” He grabbed her ankle and kissed his way up to the inside of her knee. She jerked her leg back and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  Nanae spoke from the doorway, “What is the box?”.

  Izzy gestured for him to come in and close the door. “Every girl has a box under her bed filled with all her kinky bedroom stuff, crazy sex shit you and I can't even imagine. I was with this girl in her apartment and she had to open hers up to get a condom and I got a peak. There were wires, remotes, feathers, hand cuffs, bottles, and this one thing...I don't have any idea what that monstrosity was.”

  Next to Nanae on the bed, Camilla covered her face with her hands. Nanae pulled her into the shelter of his shoulder. “Don't you know yet that you don't have to be embarrassed about that kind of stuff with us?”

  Camilla's voice was muffled behind her hands. “It isn't sex stuff.”

  Izzy had the box open and pulled out the top item. “Baby clothes?” He held up the tiny sailor suit and pink sun dress both with matching hats. He giggled. “That's nothing to be ashamed of. You're pregnant.” He started pulling out the clothes layer by layer separated by thin paper. With 11 layers with about a dozen outfits each, there were about 125 total. The clothes at the bottom were at least twenty years old. There was a note at the bottom and Israel pulled it out. The paper was discolored with age but the marker it was written in was bright red. The writing was sharp, pointed and painful to read. He read it out loud.

  “Camilla, These clothes are for you to keep. Forever. I bought them for my murdered children. May they constantly remind you of all the babies you've killed. Mom.” Israel sat back on his heels, stunned.

  Camilla shrugged, completely used to the idea of herself as a baby killer. “She brought that box into my room with only a few outfits in it when I was 8 years old. I thought they were for me to dress my dolls in. I was so excited. I found the note at the bottom a few hours later after I had put every one on a different doll around my room. They were all staring at me with their dead eyes while I read it. Once a month, after she knew she wasn't pregnant again, she'd take me to the store and make me pick a new one out to add to the box. She never said anything about it. When I was old enough to refuse to go with her, she still grew the collection. Every month I'd come home to find the box on my bed with a new outfit on top of it. I hid the box a few times but she always found it. It always showed up on my bed like clockwork.”

  “That's fucked up. You're mom is one sick bitch.” Israel came to sit on the other side of Camilla. He patted her knee.

  “She was cruel but she was right. I am a baby murderer.”

  “No, you're not.”

  “She wanted them and I kept them from being born. It's the same as if I'd kicked her in the stomach once a month.”

  “It's not the same, at all. Those weren't babies. They weren't alive. At a month or two old, they weren't even apple sized. Most of them didn't even have heartbeats.”

  “Ours is only two months old. Are you saying it isn't a real baby, isn't alive?! It most certainly is. I love it and want it and that makes it alive.”

  “Okay, it's alive. We love it too and we would kill anyone who tried to take it from us, but that's just it. You didn't try to kill those babies. It isn't like kicking her in the stomach. You didn't have control over your power. They were accidents. I can't believe your dad let her do this to you. It's torture, you know, psychological torture.”

  “He didn't know. No one did. I've never told anyone before.”

  Nanae picked her up and set her in his lap. Israel scooted over to fill her seat and held her legs. “I am glad you told us. It is good to get it out of your head. Now we can destroy this together.”

  “No, I need them. The only thing that kept me from killing myself was the hope that someday I would see these on babies of my own.”

  “That is a fine idea, but I am going to destroy this hate right here.” Israel held up the letter. He put it between his palms and moved them back and forth like starting a fire with a stick in boy scouts. His hands moved so fast that the paper was a blur until the friction built up enough heat. The letter went up in flames and Izzy let it go as it burned. The ever shrinking slip floated on an unseen air current as it smoldered and vanished.

  Camilla had nothing left to loose. Her dirty laundry was all out for everyone to see, what's one more pair of underwear. “Can we have lots of babies?”, she asked softly.

  “We'll do our best, Sunshine, won't we Nanae?”

  Nanae stood bringing Camilla with him. Israel grabbed the box. “We certainly will, my beauties.”

  ***

  The first week went by quickly. Their schedule was a little odd, but it met all of their needs. Camilla, the only one that needed sleep every day, slept when the sun was high while Israel and Nanae basked in the sun of the newly built sun room right off their bedroom. Israel had built it himself during the night hours when Camilla and Nanae were with the Capacitors. Now that Israel was finished with it, he'd started on the baby's room. They all sat down to breakfast and dinner together, though breakfast was at 7 pm, dinner at 7 am., and only Camilla ate. They were happy together.

  It was noon but Nanae and Israel were still in bed with Camilla sound asleep between them. She had to sleep propped up, so horrible was her heartburn, and the boys were turned so that her feet were between their faces. They could talk that way, see each other and still keep Camilla company. They each ha
d a hand on her belly.

  “What is up with this baby? Either that's a monster three month old fetus or there's like 5 kids in there. We need to take her in for some testing, I think.”

  “The baby, singular, is just fine. She's more like eight months pregnant than three. Being down in the storage room with all that magical energy just makes him grow faster than normal.”

  “Him? We're having a boy?” Israel leaned forward and kissed Nanae. “I put the stem on the apple, as my Granddaddy would say. I wonder what our next one will be.” Nanae's face went sober. “By ours, I mean the three of ours. You're every bit as responsible for our children being conceived as I am. The kids never have to know the details. They'll grow up here and won't know that having two daddies and one mommy is anything weird.”

  “I need to tell you something that I should have told you a while ago but I couldn't. I was scared. I am not sure that, as Lilitu, your genetics will be passed on to anymore children. You and I will be fathers to any Camilla brings into the world but another man may have to provide the spark of life.”

  “I'm not sure I can share her with anyone but you.” Israel freely admitted.

  “I would not enjoy it either but it would be selfish to deny Camilla more children.” Nanae chastised him gently.

  “I know. Our relationship is just so new. I'll get over my jealously before it becomes an issue. So Lilitu never have children?”

  “You may be different than the others. I am not saying it is impossible. I am only saying that you should prepare for the possibility that it might not be your seed.”

  Izzy nodded. If Nanae could deal with it so graciously, then Israel was determined that he could too. They must put their family before any pride. When Nanae could see that Israel shared his mindset he continued, “In the past Lilitu have been able to father children.”

  “You lost me. I thought I was the first male.”

  “You are the first to start as a human male. All Lilitu have the ability to take on different forms.”

  “I can be a woman?” Israel forgot to regulate his volume for a moment. Camilla stirred. He cringed and dropped his voice. “I've been being so careful not to shift that I haven't really even thought about the ability at all.” If female Lilitu could take on male form and impregnate human women, he could, what? Take female form and get knocked up? “I'm not sure I could do that to Camilla. It's not the same as you and me. She needs to be the one to bring these babies into the world. She needs to be their birth mother as well as their momma. If I was the pregnant one, I'm not sure she could use that baby to undo the worthless feelings her mother gave her. You know, I'd like to wring that crazy bitch's wrinkled neck.”

  “As would I.” Nanae growled.

  “Don't tell Camilla, but I'm glad she kept those babies from being born. She did them a service. They didn't deserve to be raised by a woman like that. How could any moral person torture a child, especially one as beautiful as Camilla must have been.”

  “Inability to reproduce can poison the mind if you allow it. I am glad you understand why it is important to give our Camilla as many children as is possible, as many as she wants. You can never carry a child in your belly, no matter what shape you take one. You are still you. Lilitu cannot carry children, perhaps because of their constant shifting. But to father a child only takes a few minutes, not the months it takes to become a mother.”

  “I love you but sometimes you don't make any sense. Just tell me how we can give Camilla the children she wants.”

  Nanae's smiles were more and more frequent these days. “Either she can go to another man or you can. You can go as a woman, take the seed from a man of our choosing, store it, bring it back and, as yourself, impregnate our wife with it.”

  Israel laughed. “You are so much kinkier than I gave you credit for.”

  ***

  The circle was up and it was perfect. Maeve had called a surveyor and architect to the compound to plan it out. The Guardians had barely given them enough space to breathe much less work. Maeve had not been surprised when the two men had laid out the marks in record time. They had told her that if she built a fence just inside the flags they had placed, she would have a perfectly circular enclosure. They didn't ask her why she needed it. She doubted they remembered that they had worked here, much less what they had actually done for the Daughters.

  It went against their nature for the Guardians to let strangers in so soon after an attack, but they wanted more protection for their possible Sinnis'. They would take that in any form it came in. They had all but taken over Tank's security detail. He remained there in title only really. After allowing the invaders to overtake them and enter the grounds, Tank wasn't trusted. Maeve still trusted him and she made sure Tank knew that. She didn't mention to the Guardians that it wasn't only Tank and his human guards who had been subdued by the military men. Their egos were bruised and they feared for their possible Sinnis pool. Now was not the time to point out their weaknesses. They were already painfully aware of the few there were.

  The Guardians were intrigued when Maeve and Nathalia had told them about Christy's rare ability. Christy was a little overwhelmed. The Guardians had flooded in and they were curious about Christy. She did not seem to have a maternal bloodline that traced back to any of theirs. Her ability seemed to have developed on it's own. Parallel evolution or something like that. Maybe hers was the way that nature would supply Sinnis to those Nephilim and Akhkharu who had been unable to protect their mother's line.

  Christy was still a teen but her body was mature. She had been with men and not all of them the most gentle. The thought that a Guardian might be hungry or desperate enough to be tempted by her body to take her before Christy was ready to decide what she wanted, scared Nathalia and Maeve. The two had declared Christy off limits. That worked for Nephilim but they both knew that nothing would stop an Akhkharu if he decided he wanted Christy. She, as much as anyone else who lived here, needed to have the shield in place.

  The Guardians had volunteered to build the wall. They had gathered to sing and ask for Ki's aid in making the base for the new Daughter's shield. Once finished with their fellowship and communion they found their services no longer required. Ki herself had raised the stones from her depth and allowed them to poke through her surface. The smooth stones were megalithic and perfectly fitted. Knee high, they went around the whole compound. They curved at just the right pitch. They also looked like they had been there forever.

  Christy stood in the courtyard, her blond hair loose and flowing in the gentle wind. Her eyes sparkled with excitement but her hands shook from nerves. Everyone was there to watch her. She looked beautiful and, Maeve thought, a little older than she had before the attack.

  Christy raised her hands and the group got quiet. Since she was the first of her kind, there was no agreed upon traditions or ceremonies. Christy had decided that was the sign that she was ready. The children were close to her since that's how they were when she discovered her ability and the women and Guardians were around being careful not to slip into their normal ceremony formation. Forming a circle of bodies could set Christy's sphere incorrectly and they didn't want to risk wasting the energy.

  Christy dropped her hands and opened her fingers wide. In the loudest voice she could muster she called out, “Key-ya-way, will not allow you to hurt her children.” She tried not to think about the gasps she heard as she reached down, grabbed hold of the biggest power lines around and threw up her hands. The sphere was huge and took more power than Christy was prepared for to close the circle. Where the smaller ones had kind of just popped into existence, this one hummed. Like when a really large bell was struck, it reverberated through Christy's body. She vibrated with it.

  A kind of tension was building up inside Christy that she'd never felt before. She wanted to let go of the power, stop it from doing whatever it was doing, but she couldn't. A ripple of tingle passed through her extremities and the feeling pooled in her stomach. Then it moved farthe
r down. She opened her mouth but she couldn't breathe. Then...fireworks. Wave after wave of power and pleasure washed over her. The world disappeared and Christy fell. When the earth reappeared, it was a woman. She was holding Christy, caressing her, thanking her.

  When she could get her body to obey her mind, Christy opened her eyes to find herself laying in the grass with Maeve and Nathalia on either side of her. She could see past their heads that the strands of power had woven a textile of protection just like she'd envisioned. The sun was setting and the orange sunlight reflected off of the golden globe. “It's beautiful.”

  “Yes, it is. Can you make it a little less obvious? Invisible is preferable.” Maeve looked down at her with compassion. Their little witch had just done something amazing but they really needed her to hide it. Quickly. The world wasn't ready for full disclosure. “Yeah, sorry.” As soon as she had decided to make it disappear, it did.

  Maeve helped her stand. Nathalia had been careful not to touch her, or anyone other than Eiran really, and Christy's magic hadn't changed that.

  “What happened?” When she stood she couldn't help but notice that her nipples were painfully sensitive, the fabric of her lace bra was torturous. Also there was a wetness in her panties and where her thighs rubbed each other was downright slick. Slippery.

  We should have told you what the power lines were made of when you told us it felt good in your body when you used them. We didn't know it would effect you that way when you used it. It doesn't any of us when we pull from it. Nathalia spoke in her and Maeve's mind only.

  “No, but we only use it after it's been filtered through the capacitors. She's feeling it raw. All those women, all that love, I should have known. I want you to know that there's nothing wrong with what happened, with what you felt.”