Winter Spire: Sorceress of Lust

by Anya Merchant

“Shane,” he said. “This is about her safety, and nothing else. I need to know where she is.”

  Shane shrugged and smiled slightly.

  “She… was headed down to the basement,” he said. “Now tell me what’s going on, you lunatic.”

  “Go get Stella!” shouted Felix. “She’s up in her apartment!”

  Felix squeezed Shane’s shoulder and stepped back. He moved across the room in a trot, making his way to the stairs and throwing the door open. He took the stairs two at a time, his mind running wild with images of what he was going to find when he reached her.

  There were more sublevels to the North Spire than Felix had realized. He passed by a door that led to an underground storage area, another that led to a gymnasium, and a third that had a giant indoor pool area inside of it.

  Finally, he reached the bottom floor, where he knew she would be. Felix pushed through it into a large space filled with massive generators. Most of them were running, and the hum sounded like the engines of multiple vehicles. He took a few steps forward, slowly scanning his eyes across the floor.

  “Felix?” Dani’s voice came from behind him, loud and clear. “I thought you’d left already?”

  He turned around and looked at her. Her eyes weren’t glowing blue, and she was frowning at him. She looked confused, and totally normal.

  “Dani,” said Felix. “What are you doing down here?”

  “What?” She shook her head. “I… Felix, the mayor sent me. I came to check on the generators, make sure the repairs were holding up.”

  She started walking toward him slowly, her hands stretched out to the side.

  “Are you here to stay?” she asked. “At least for now?”

  “Dani, stay back!” he said. “I know what you’re really-“

  “Felix…” Dani stepped within his reach and took his hand into hers. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  She brought his hand up to her cheek and smiled. Felix pulled back, shaking his head.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Dani. “Come on Felix, I wasn’t exactly being coy. You must have known.”

  Dani reached down to the bottom hem of her shirt and slowly pulled it over her head, letting her medium sized boobs jiggle inside her bra as they came into view.

  “We’re all alone down here,” she said, softly. “Let’s celebrate the Winter Festival.”

  Dani pressed herself against him, kissing his neck and pawing at his crotch. The intensity of the moment was almost too much for Felix to resist. He thought about taking her, pushing her against the wall in the corner, where the generators would block the view of anyone approaching, where he could have his way with her nubile, teenage body.

  He flinched back. Dani’s eyes were glowing a deep, silvery blue. She flew at him, transformed into something that wasn’t Dani. Her fingers closed around his neck, ice cold and with the strength of a vice grip.

  “Dani…” The word creaked out of Felix’s throat. He could feel her fingernails digging into her flesh, and the oncoming embrace of unconsciousness.

  Something slammed into Dani with the force of truck. She flew off him and tumbled across the ground, skidding to a stop on all fours as though she were a wild cat. Stella stood over Felix, holding her staff like a baseball bat, face full of conflicted emotion.

  “Felix,” she said. “Get upstairs. “

  “What?” He coughed, and turned to face off against Dani. “But Dani? We have to help her!”

  “I’m the only one who can help her,” said Stella. “The Ice Dancer is still outside. I need you to watch over the lobby, and get the people upstairs if it shows up on the doorstep.”

  “Stella…” Felix shook his head. “I can’t just leave you here…”

  “I’ll use my magic on you again if you don’t,” she said, smiling. “I get the feeling you might like that too much, though.”

  Felix smiled forcefully and nodded his head.

  “Okay,” he said. “Be careful.”

  He left the generator room, glancing back before entering the stairwell. Stella was preparing a spell. Dani’s eyes still glowed silvery blue, and her body moved awkwardly, as though two personas were attempting to control it at once.

  Felix turned away from them and hurried back upstairs.

  CHAPTER 29

  The ice storm had grown stronger in the minutes he’d been away, buffeting the outside windows with the full ferocity of the winter’s essence. Mayor Senhaji was standing on the stage, looking a little nervous and tapping on the microphone.

  “Don’t worry, the windows are weather treated,” he said, diffusing some of the attention. “But, uh, given some of the concerns that have been expressed to me over the strength of the storm, we are going to postpone the rest of the festivities until-”

  One of the windows next to the door shattered, and hailstones the size of ping pong balls streamed in through the opening at an unbelievable rate. Some of the children began crying, and the mayor tapped on his microphone in an attempt to quiet the crowd.

  “We’re going to head upstairs for now!” He waved toward the stairwell as another window exploded. Powerful winds ripped through the room, flipping over chairs and tossing papers and confetti into the air.

  Felix moved opposite the surge of people, toward the tower’s front entrance. He knew the Ice Dancer was coming. This was the chance she’d been waiting for. With Stella distracted, she could march in through the front door with no consequence.

  Dani’s gloves were still on the chair where Felix had left them. He picked them up and pulled them on. Another window exploded into shards of glass nearby, and one of the children screamed. Felix opened the front door, the wind slamming it into his shoulder as soon as he’d turned the handle. He covered his face and charged into the heart of winter.

  The Ice Dancer was standing less than a hundred feet from the tower. She was moving toward the tower, and slowed to a stop when she saw Felix charging forward. Between the hailstones and the wind, Felix was already overpowered. It took all the effort he had to keep moving forward and keep his eyes locked onto her.

  The Ice Dancer waited until he was within a dozen feet and then waved one of her hands over her head. The snow around them pulled together, rising together into a circular, domed shell over their heads, and sealing them both in.

  The wind and hail was, blessedly, kept at bay by the Ice Dancer’s trap. Felix took a few recuperative breaths and then balled his hands into fists, Dani’s pink gloves making the gesture seem a little foolish.

  “Why…” said Felix. “Why are you doing this?”

  The Ice Dancer waved a hand. Snow slammed into Felix’s back, sliding him forward until he was pressing against her. The ice coating her face shattered, revealing pale skin and blue lips. She kissed him, and it didn’t feel cold.

  Felix struggled, trying to twist her down to the ground, as though if he could pin her, he could magically get her to give up the siege. The Ice Dancer responded to his movements as though they were part of the seduction, sliding her thigh up along his leg, undulating against him.

  He was hard, and he hated himself for it. The people of the North Spire would be turned into ice thralls, all because he couldn’t keep himself from getting aroused in a fight against the Ice Dancer. She kissed him more deeply, and Felix wanted even more. He wanted her lips against his cock, like they’d been before. He wanted to be inside her.

  “No!” He pulled back and threw a hasty punch, slamming his fist into the Ice Dancer’s face. The attack left a concave imprint, as though he’d punched a snow sculpture. She looked at him, her face one of surprise and betrayal.

  Felix didn’t waste any time, following his first attack up with a kick. The Ice Dancer caught it and flipped him onto his back. He landed hard, but continued struggling, even as she mounted him. The snow didn’t feel cold, and he knew now that it was a bad sign, a sign that he probably wouldn’t be escaping.

  She kissed him again, ice cracking off her breasts as she pushed them against
Felix. She felt so nice, and he found himself wondering if he could go along with it, maybe for just a minute or two.

  “No…” he muttered. “I won’t!”

  From somewhere deep inside Felix came an animalistic growl, which rose in his throat into it was an all out roar. He wasn’t going to give up. His fighting spirit was more than it once had been, burning hot against her stiffening cold.

  The snow dome shattered into pieces. A large white wolf landed on the ground next to Felix, slamming itself into the Ice Dancer and knocking it off of him. Felix scrambled to his feet. There were four white wolves, the same ones he’d seen before, in the crystal caves and then again outside the tower.

  “What… the hell?”

  He watched as they circled around the Ice Dancer. He saw the creature’s face, and it looked scared, an emotion he couldn’t have imagined on its face before. The white wolves watched it, but they also watched Felix, and it took him a second to realize that they were waiting for his reaction. Felix jabbed a finger aggressively at the Ice Dancer.

  “She doesn’t belong here,” he said, through gritted teeth. “She’s hurting the people that live here!”

  One of the white wolves charged, knocking the Ice Dancer’s feet out from under her. The ice armor quickly spread across her skin, and a long, spear shaped icicle appeared in her hand. She rose to her knees and stabbed at one of them with it, missing by a hairsbreadth as the wolf dodged.

  Another wolf attacked, biting at the Ice Dancer’s neck and scoring a hit that would have been fatal to a human. They continued on like that, dodging when the Ice Dancer attacked, sneaking in their tackles and bites, wearing the creature down.

  “Leave this place!” shouted Felix. “We won’t let you in! You don’t belong here!”

  The wolves attacked all at once, slamming into the Ice Dancer and shattering her as though she’d never been anything more than a statue of ice. Shards of various shapes and sizes fell to the snow, half of a hand here, an intact breast there. The snowstorm weakened substantially, to the point where the hail stopped, and only lazy white flakes filled the air.

  The wolves turned to Felix, moving to surround him. He watched them carefully, making no move to back down or run.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I don’t understand how you knew to help me, but thank you.”

  One of the wolves started to glow. Felix flinched back, only managing to contain his reaction with a force of will. The wolf shifted within the glow, its body shifting, and changing form.

  It was over after just a few seconds. In its place stood a woman he’d never seen before, dressed only in basic underwear and apparently unaffected by the cold. Her eyes were deep violet, as was her hair, which ran almost down to her waist.

  It was impossible for Felix to guess at her age, but he knew that she was older than him. Her skin was flawless and taut. Her breasts were large and well formed, and her butt curved outward voluptuously.

  “Who are you?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “I am Nalya, the white wolf.” She grinned at him, revealing perfect teeth, with exaggerated canines. “My daughters and I have chosen you, Felix Honlan, to be a part of our family.”

  She stepped forward, bare feet crunching in the snow, and licked her lips. Her body language was open and suggestive. She didn’t stop walking until she was within inches of him, close enough for him to feel the warmth of her body and heat of the situation.

  “Take me,” she whispered. “Take us. We are yours.”

  A gout of flame lanced out into the air overhead. Felix turned to see Stella, followed by an exhausted looking Dani, holding her staff in his direction.

  “Get. The fuck. Away from him.” Stella’s voice was sharp and clear, and her eyes had a fierce power to them.

  Nalya smiled. She took another step forward, her body pressing against Felix.

  “I can show you things,” she whispered, lips brushing along her neck. “And do things for you. Things that you would not believe.”

  “What the hell?” he said, shaking his head. “Why?”

  “You’re hard,” whispered Nalya, letting her hand cup his erection. “Does it matter why, right now?”

  Felix gritted his teeth and pushed her back, getting himself clear of her effective range. Nalya didn’t stop him, and the other wolves made no move to surround them as they had before.

  “I’ll be watching,” said Nalya. “And waiting for you. Take as much time as you need, Felix Honlan. Your denmother will wait.”

  She burst into a bright white glow, assuming the form of a wolf to join with the others as they trotted off into the distance. Felix ran his hands through his hair and collapsed down onto the snow, feeling his exhaustion finally catch up with him.

  CHAPTER 30

  “Felix… I am so sorry.”

  Dani frowned, her blue eyes normal again and full of regret. Felix shifted on the couch next to her, shrugging his shoulders and smiling the best that he could.

  “It’s not your fault, Danica,” he said. “The Ice Dancer had control over you. It’s not like you had any other choice.”

  She looked to be almost on the verge of tears. Felix realized that he’d say just about anything to get her to smile, to recognize that what’d happened that night had been the victory they’d needed.

  “The Ice Dancer…” Danica shook her head. “She has a process for… turning someone into a thrall.”

  “I’m sorry.” He grimaced and squeezed her shoulder.

  “I enjoyed it,” she whispered. “It felt so… good. It opened up parts of me that I didn’t even know were there. My first thought when I saw you and the wolves fighting her was that, that, I would miss the way she…”

  “Hey, it’s okay…”

  “Does that make me a bad person?”

  Felix shook his head.

  “No,” he said. “I felt the same way when I met her in the crystal caves. There is magic in sex, Dani. And the Ice Dancer knows how to harness it.”

  “Me and my mom,” whispered Dani. “We tap into the same power with our magic, but it’s never as strong. At least not for me. There’s so much I need to learn.”

  She looked at Felix. She really looked at him, and all he could think about were her deep blue eyes, soft lips, and the way her breasts gently heaved against the fabric of her t-shirt with each breath. She was 18, she was only 18. And Felix was leaning in closer to her, his cock snapping to life like a soldier coming to attention.

  The door slammed open. Stella had left the two of them in the apartment to check in with Mayor Senhaji about the situation and what needed to be done next. And now she was back, her eyes locked onto Felix and her daughter, analyzing the way they were sitting on the couch.

  “Felix, I need to speak with you,” said Stella. “Danica, you should be getting some sleep.”

  “Mom, I-”

  “Now.” Stella’s voice was absolute.

  Dani rose to her feet and walked off, her fingers grazing along Felix’s shoulders as she passed by. Stella was frowning, but it was impossible to tell if it was meant for her daughter or over something else. She waited until the door to Dani’s room shut before walking over and taking her daughter’s place on the couch.

  “Are you going to explain to me what happened out there?” asked Felix. “None of this makes any sense to me. It’s like the wild wild, magical fucking west.”

  Stella smiled a little at that.

  “Nalya and her followers are lycanthropes,” she said. “Werewolves, to be more specific. Their pack has roamed this area for, well, a long time. Longer than I’ve been in the area.”

  “Okay, that makes a sort of sense,” said Felix. “But what about the thing she said to me?”

  Stella took a deep breath and let it out. She looked tired, but there was a hint of something else in her expression, something vulnerable and faintly possessive.

  “I don’t know why they helped you, Felix,” said Stella. “When I first came to the North Spire, it was, in
part, to investigate a series of murders that’d been taking place.”

  “And Nalya was the one behind them?”

  Stella shrugged slightly and made an intermediate hand gesture.

  “Her lover, Yarko, was the alpha of their pack back then,” she said. “He was… an old friend of mine. But he was also a savage monster, once he became wolfbound. He killed people, raped women when he was in human form. Nalya and her sisters went along with it, though how willing they were, I honestly can’t say.”

  “And you stopped him?”

  “I defeated him.” Stella smiled grimly. “I used my magic on him, lust magic I’d been storing up for months. I made him beg for my touch, and then instead of giving it to him, I blasted him off a cliff.”

  Felix didn’t say anything. He could hear the emotion in Stella’s voice, open and raw, and wished that he knew the right words.

  “Nalya never forgave me for it,” she said. “The murders stopped. She and her wolfbound sisters were still in the area, but unorganized, and no longer a threat. I expected them to come after, to find a way eventually to take revenge.”

  Her eyes locked onto Felix and she frowned.

  “She said that they’d chosen me,” said Felix. “To be their new alpha.”

  “I know,” said Stella. “Nalya must think that we’re… well, that by seducing you, she can get to me. Which is ridiculous.”

  “Stella, I don’t understand,” said Felix. “Why is this bad? They helped us, helped everyone in the tower. Maybe-“

  “No.” Stella’s voice was hard and resolute. “If you went with them, Felix, and became a wolfbound, you would turn into what Yarko was. And I would have to kill you.”

  She looked away from him. A tense moment passed by. Felix wasn’t sure what, if anything, he could say to that.

  “They’ll try to tempt you into it,” said Stella. “I’m not sure how yet, but they’ll find a way. They might act like they’re your friend, or that they’re all of our friends. Felix… they’re monsters.”

  “I here you,” he said. “I’ll be careful.”