Warlock's Son

by D. R. Rosier

  I nodded, “I get it, which means I need to worry about an heir too, sooner rather than later. Just in case I get killed. Possibly before we go after Joseph, but let’s finish that conversation.”

  Lilith nodded, but I noticed she looked a little upset at that concept, my death. That… made me feel better, until I thought about Katia again.

  I was such a dick.

  Lilith waved that away, “You’re a warlock Andrew, it comes with the title. The sex, your little harem, and the pacts. It’s necessary, but I might be biased as a succubus. It’s no one’s fault if she can’t tolerate it, and mine for putting you in that position in the first place. Stop beating yourself up.”

  Guilt was a bitch, and didn’t answer to logic, but I’d try. Still… it was at least partially my fault, for falling for it.

  “So, is our only option to try and take him unaware?”

  Lilith said, “Do the packs still allow substitution?”

  Julia frowned in thought, “Yes, but I’m not part of my pride anymore, and that would be a death sentence for Gina.”

  “Wait,” I held up a hand, “I didn’t follow that at all. You skipped a bunch of steps with knowledge I don’t have.”

  Julia said, “In the past, it was possible for several shifters to plot to take power from the alpha even if they were weaker. They’d challenge the alpha, and in that fight an alpha can’t pull power from the pack, to make things even, all challenges in our society are personal power only. So often the alpha would win as they were usually most powerful, but would be damaged as well, and take several hours, or if hurt badly enough, up to a day to heal. During that time, a second challenger could challenge the alpha, who would fight at a disadvantage while wounded. It was a cheap underhanded way to do it.

  “In case that is tried now, there is a provision that an alpha can substitute another to fight in their stead. It isn’t done very often, and it’s never been invoked on behalf of the challenger, only a hurt and vulnerable alpha. I think Lilith was suggesting Gina could challenge, and substitute me in the fight. But even if I won, and Gina became head alpha, she’s too young and would be challenged and killed quickly.”

  I frowned in thought, and came up with an easy way around that part of things, “Can she step down, right after the fight I mean?”

  Julia froze, and then snickered, “She could, then the next head alpha would be chosen at an alpha conference, if two or more wanted it they would fight for it. But that still leaves the problem that I’m yours, I am no longer a part of my pride. They will always be my sisters, and I love them all, but I have no official standing any longer.”

  She sounded faintly regretful about that, and I realized why no warlock had ever chosen a shifter before, or tried to make them a vampire. No shifter would voluntarily leave their pack, not if there was another way. She didn’t seem unhappy though, just a bit wistful about it.

  We were working the problem backwards from the end we wanted, and this time I didn’t have any suggestions on how to get around the issue. It sucked too, because it seemed like the last obstacle.

  Lilith had an idea though.

  “How about an alliance? If we allied ourselves with the pride, and only the pride, could she choose you as a substitute champion?”

  Julia bit her lip in thought. She was so damned sexy. My cock stirred a little, but I was also fairly sated, so I just enjoyed the view, and the obvious intelligence behind her dark amber eyes. My Julia was the whole package.

  “I’ve never heard of it being done before, but I don’t think there are any rules against it.”

  I nodded, “Do you think it might be easier if we just ambushed him?”

  Julia shook her head, “It’s easier to do yes, but it could backfire badly if he senses it coming and starts pulling power from all the packs. Even if we could abort, it would also be an assassination attempt, which would turn a lot of the shifters against us. We’d lose the moral high ground. A challenge is the best way, it’s the best chance at an even fight, there is honor in it, and they would not seek revenge for his death that way.”

  Damn, I still had a lot to learn. Good thing I had two advisors, that they were both gorgeous and my lovers was a hell of a bonus. That thought made me feel guilty again, it would be a lot easier to shake off the guilt, if I wasn’t enjoying it all so damned much. Yes, I could blame my increased libido and needs on my pact with a succubus, but that seemed like a cop out.

  “Okay, so when’s the best time to drop in on Gina, with a proposed alliance.”

  Julia said, “Morning, after most shifters have gone to work. Even the ones who stay behind to guard the little ones don’t usually look for sex at all until the afternoon.”

  “Any other suggestions?”

  Julia said, “Unrelated, security concern. I think whenever we leave, or return here, I should teleport us. Right now, no one knows where this place is, which is an advantage we should keep. No need to make it easy on them, and let them follow us here.”

  “What made you think of that?”

  She replied, “The last one, five years ago, the community still doesn’t know where his lair was. It made it very hard for them to set up an ambush. He was killed by Joseph by the way.”

  Oh. Yeah, I was happy she’d warned me I could still get my ass kicked, on the other hand I was feeling a lot less secure. I wouldn’t be ignoring her advice, or Lilith’s, any time soon. I also knew I should be working out a way to start an heir tonight, before our plan tomorrow, but I didn’t want to. Guilt would be a stupid reason to damn my soul and miss out on the cushy afterlife, but it was what it was. I’d do it soon, just… not tonight. I needed some sort of closure with Katia before I went out to fuck and impregnate a stranger.

  I wasn’t sure I’d be in all that much danger tomorrow though, if the challenge worked out, I wouldn’t even be fighting, just contributing by creating an alliance. Who knows, her old alpha might not even go for the idea, which meant we’d be back to square one in our planning. I’d also be taking demons with me, just in case. I had enough free thought threads in my partitions to add telekinesis and levitation to my constantly on repertoire as well.

  Strangely, I wouldn’t even have to control telekinesis or levitation, just pass the thought of what I wanted done to the partition in my partitioned mind that held the spell, and let it worry about actually doing it.

  Partition, detect magic, telekinesis, levitation, channel magic through Lilith, and the seven protections. That plus eight demons would still leave my primary mind empty, except for the partition spell. So, I’d have plenty of mind power left for casting offensive spells, counter spells, balefire, or command. Which… should be enough with Lilith and Julia watching my back to get me through any unseen trouble, shouldn’t it? I felt a little better with a plan anyway. The eight demons should be able to prevent and block shifters from getting in that devastating physical hit on me, at least long enough for me to take them down with magic.

  “Dinner?”

  Lilith sighed, “Julia’s going to go pick up pizza, since she ate our steaks.”

  Julia blushed, “Sorry about that.”

  Lilith winked, “Just teasing, we should also load up on steak, unless you want to hunt when you feel the need?”

  Julia bit her lip, “Hunt. That would appease both my inner animals at the same time. I need to go change, then I’ll run and grab dinner.”

  She left in swirling shadows, I assumed to our shared bedroom.

  Lilith laughed, “She’ll get used to that, she didn’t mean to do it, she was just thinking she needed to get to the bedroom…” she trailed off in amusement.

  I shook my head, my life was crazy. Pizza though, that sounded like an excellent plan…

  Chapter Eighteen

  I felt like a creep, staring at her like I was.

  After dinner, and spending some time to get to know Julia and Lilith better, we headed for bed. Maybe I could have gotten a couple of hours more study time, but my brain was fried, I
could do more tomorrow. Plus, I wanted to get to know my protector and fallen angel a little better.

  I’d stopped though, before we reached the bedroom, an impulse I couldn’t deny, and I’d stuck my head inside the second bedroom door. Katia was beautiful in a way that strangled my heart, and she was curled up on her side in a ball under the blanket. She didn’t usually sleep like that, and I knew she’d probably cried herself to sleep. I yearned to walk across the room, slip into the bed, and hold her tight. I needed to, I loved her with my whole heart, and wanted to comfort her.

  But I’d given up that right by my actions. I couldn’t comfort her, I was the cause of her pain.

  The door closed silently as I retreated a step, and I released the handle carefully before turning for the master bedroom. I stripped down and slid into the bed, Julia and Lilith joined me, and cuddled up against my sides. They both felt warm, their naked flesh against mine, and I wrapped my arms around them both, and they snuggled in closer. Neither of them made a move, no doubt able to tell I wasn’t in the mood for more sex today.

  I cared about both of them already, I truly did, they were both in their own ways, amazing ladies. They were loyal to me in this life, and they were mine, just as surely as they had a claim on me. They were generously insatiable and wild lovers, and obviously and deeply concerned about my safety. They’d keep me alive, and the sex was incredible. But right now, that’s all it was, just those two things.

  It was easy to care for them even given just that, but I didn’t love them. Not yet. I hoped I would, casual sex, friends with benefits times two, wasn’t my style. But would or wouldn’t, I didn’t yet. My heart was in the other room, with Katia. I did love her, more than I’d ever realized before that fake breakup, and despite the warm beautiful women in my arms, I felt alone that night as I searched for sleep and tried to turn my mind off. Eventually, I did, sleep that is.

  I moaned softly as my eyes popped open, I felt rested and wide awake. I looked over and saw the time was only one in the morning. One AM, what the fuck was I doing up at one in the morning. I’d only slept three hours.

  Lilith stirred, and whispered in my ear, “Part of the package, you only need three hours of sleep a night now. It took a day or so to kick in.”

  I frowned, well that would give me more time to study, make love to my ladies, and everything else in life.

  Lilith said, “Good idea, go study. I’ll snuggle up with Julia and get some more sleep.”

  I frowned, “You need it?”

  She shook her head against my shoulder, and kissed my neck, “No, not really, but she does. In a few days she won’t, but the change took a large toll on her body. Soon we’ll all join you on the three-hour schedule, unless of course, Katia chooses to stay.”

  I nodded, the idea of loving Lilith was a bit tempting, but I didn’t want to wake up Julia if she needed the sleep. I carefully slipped my arm out from under her, and slid out of the bottom of the bed, careful not to disturb the sexy cat shifter. I showered first, and then I got dressed and headed for the study via the kitchen and some morning coffee.

  I’d been thinking about the alliance with the cat shifters, if I were to do it, it would have to be for real. It couldn’t just be some trick to allow Julia to fight the head alpha on some technicality, but a true alliance. Yes, I was doing it primarily because of the pact with Julia, but that didn’t mean the cat shifter pride and I shouldn’t benefit from it. I didn’t know if that would include a friendship, it really didn’t have to, but I considered what I could bring to the table in an alliance, and what I would want from them.

  I was sure they were all gorgeous, and highly available, but sex wouldn’t come into the picture if I had a say in the matter. Julia and Lilith were more than enough, and I wanted something deeper with them, not to become even more of a male slut and hit every woman willing to spread her legs for me.

  Maybe that was part of the fabled Moore morality that Lilith talked about, but it was how I felt. I wasn’t good at staying detached from those I slept with, it was inevitable that I’d develop stronger feelings over time.

  Point was, I wasn’t signing a treaty that included free pussy. They were so much more than that, just like Julia was. Fighters, intelligent strong women who had so much to offer. But… I already had a guardian and advisor in Julia, so what would I ask of them? They had a lot to offer, but was any of it anything I needed?

  As for what I could offer them, I grinned. I was hardly a ward expert, but I thought I had enough of a handle on them to create something new, and rather unique. According to the information I read on mind affecting spells, they were cheap magic wise, and I could probably just drop by once a week to recharge their wards.

  I could also create it quickly, using the same tricks with earth magic to make summoning circles, I should be able to carve a ward into their home’s foundation very quickly. I spent a few hours designing it, only stopping occasionally to refill my coffee, and to check on everyone to see they were still asleep. The hard part of course, would be memorizing it perfectly, so there’d be no mistakes in it when I passed the design through an earth carving spell.

  I’d offer them other wards too of course, normal ones. It wouldn’t be a fortress like this place, I just wasn’t that good yet, but it would be better than nothing. What else could I offer them except magic? Mutual defense of course, but how often would that come up?

  Either way, I was satisfied I had something of true value to offer, and hoped they’d have something too, maybe I should talk to Julia about it, she’d know better than I.

  I was ready for tomorrow, pretty much. Later today? I’d wait until the last half hour or so to partition, summon demons, and do my spells though, it was stupid to do it for no reason when safe at home. Then again, I’d have to start stretching myself soon, and trying to hold six thoughts at once. Then I could hold thirty-six thoughts instead of just twenty-five with partition active.

  Still, later. It would be easy enough without partition active to stretch myself, I could just try to juggle the six protective spells in my primary mind, but it would eat a lot of time, and wouldn’t be easy. It also wouldn’t be possible to study if I was using all my concentration for that. I felt that twenty-five was good enough, for now, it was much more important to have a relaxed mind to study and learn new spells and techniques.

  My head turned toward the door, and I froze as I watched Katia walk in. My chest constricted and my heart skipped a beat and then sped up. I felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest.

  I searched for words, and didn’t find any. What could I possibly say?

  “Andrew, so you’ve moved up in the world,” she said in a light voice that was rather strained as she sat on the chair facing me across my desk.

  “Katia. I’m sorry.”

  She held up a hand, “Don’t… just don’t apologize. Lilith explained she kind of tricked you, and cornered you into this. You… don’t have a choice but to keep on with it. So… those two?”

  I nodded, “I have a pact with both of them, mutually beneficial. Lilith is my patron, and where I get the access to my power. Julia is kind of a protector, and my advisor.”

  She looked away, “And your fucking them both.”

  I squirmed a bit, “Yes. Lilith is a succubus, and it’s part of the pact. Julia is a cat shifter, and they… well they need sex to maintain their emotional equilibrium. That sounds… crazy right, but it’s true enough. They’re both loyal to me, and it’s more than that.”

  She closed her eyes and blew out a breath, “More than fucking you mean?”

  I nodded reluctantly, “I don’t love them, not like I love you, but yes, more than fucking, and I imagine…” I trailed off.

  Katia nodded, “You were always faithful, and not into just casual sex, so that doesn’t surprise me. So those two are your lovers, plus heirs? Lilith explained that too, how does that work?”

  “It’s part of what Lilith gets out of the deal. A chance to have a foothold
on this world, and gain more power from the next generation. It’s also part of Julia’s responsibility to make sure the offer is made to my heirs.”

  She tilted her head, “What if she dies protecting you, and then you die?”

  I frowned, “That would be a very bad thing. But nothing is perfect, and I’ve mitigated the risks as much as possible I think.”

  She shook her head, “You should look into some kind of will through human lawyers. One that will reveal your heirs in case you both die, then the lawyers can… I don’t know, pass on a book? I don’t know, but you should look into making a second backup, if you can. So how does that even work, what do you offer a woman to sell her womb and raise a kid for you? Have you done it yet?”

  Katia had sounded genuinely concerned, underneath the annoyance in her voice.

  “Not yet no, I wanted to figure us out before doing that.”

  She looked at me intently, “So, what about the other question.”

  I looked away from her, “I wouldn’t want to find anyone greedy, I wouldn’t trust my child and heir to a woman that would sell her womb for riches, or fame. For that kind of thing I’d stick to soul deals. No, according to the book the best way is to find… a woman in need. Like my mother, and her cancer. I know that seems like taking advantage of someone’s bad situation, and it is, but without my intercession they’d be screwed, and I’m not the one that put them in the situation.”

  The argument was valid, but it still made me uncomfortable. It still felt a little wrong to do it, to take advantage of a desperate situation, but part of the spell was designed to find a woman who truly wanted a child, not just one stuck in an impossible situation, either facing death or some other major problem that was ruining their lives and dreams.

  Still, my father had done it to my mother, and I’d had a good childhood, and my mother was happy, successful, and had a longer lifespan. It wasn’t all bad, and I didn’t resent my father for it, so maybe my sons wouldn’t resent me either. In short, I was conflicted about the process.