Moonstone Shifter (Demon Lord Book 8)

by Morgan Blayde

  Seems like a lot of work to get something we could just steal.

  Colt’s took a deep breath and sighed. It’s better this way. I know it’s hard for you to understand because you’re not of the anime generation. You don’t believe in the power of love and friendship. You can trample the world, but not make it better.

  I’m a demon lord. It’s the world’s job to make itself better.

  Hah! And you call me a child.

  I stuck my astral tongue out at him, but sadly, he wasn’t looking. You think she’ll get cold and come out to the fire tonight. I smiled. Have you considered that a were-kitty will simply grow fur? And once she thinks you’re asleep, won’t she just crawl out of there and hightail it to parts unknown?

  The lack of an answer told me I was right. His optimism had caused him not to think things through. For all his demigod power, he remained a naïve nine-year old boy.

  Good thing you have a disappointing father to help you understand about life.

  Building a nest of twigs, with larger branches nearby, sitting on a sun-bleached bit of log he’d found somewhere, he failed to respond.

  Probably not yet convinced.

  I sighed with lungs I didn’t really have. Giving up on the power of love and friendship is always a major hurdle in growing up. Not that I’d had much love or friendship growing up. I decided not to push the issue. Colt could stay a kid as long as he wanted, because he was my kid, and I would protect him with every last blackened bit of my withered, godless soul, because even monsters love—whether they admit it or not.

  Colt stiffened, one hand poised over the twigs, and turned to look at me. There was pain on his face, a hint of tears in his eyes. You’re not a monster.

  Take a poll sometime. There are a lot of people who’d disagree with you.

  A look of fierceness tightened his face. Well, what if you are? Sometimes, it takes a monster to keep down all the rest.

  I considered what he’d said. Once I’ve conquered the universe, and my time is past, you can put that on whatever monument is built in my honor.

  “I will!” He turned back to his sticks. A few thin jags of red-copper lightning zipped off his fingertips and fire fed on the wood. He glanced quickly at the little girl back in her nest. I thought she might have made a startled sound at his finger lightning. Maybe Colt had just become a god in her eyes. I doubted the Eyes of Bastet would show her anything different.

  He smiled at her, still not trying any words. Maybe he thought they’d just get in the way. It was actually possible the little girl might not know much English. There was no way to know how long she’d been in the new world, or where she came from before that.

  Okay, I said. I’m going back to the others, and to my body. If she takes off on you, wake us up before you go after her. We’ll want to follow.

  He nodded. “This might take a few days.”

  Fortunately, we had them. Colt could return us to the future a second after we left. The time spent in the past wouldn’t have passed for those we’d left behind.

  I felt a weird, tearing pain that I shouldn’t have been able to feel as a ghost. My astral form flickered, dimming slightly.

  WTF!

  Something had just gone really wrong with me. I followed the magic tether toward the dragon I’d left behind and found the magic line broken, the new end flapping and frayed.

  Oh, crap!

  I continued on to where I’d left my human form. The mixing bowl of ice water had been kicked over, soaking the parched earth. There was a campfire nearby, showing Winter had been busy. I saw my body rolling on the ground, grappling with both Angie and Winter. The dragon wings I’d grown were hampering whoever had taken me over. They had yet to figure out how to work them.

  Angie had given up on wolf form at some point and was now beautifully naked, an expression of blood-rage on her face. There was a look of madness on my own face that I didn’t remember leaving there. Angie and I seemed to be doing our best to kill each other.

  I wondered who’d stolen my body while I was out of it. In astral form, I could see the energy crackling around my body: an unhealthy and unstable acid green. That was the only clue I had. The aura was similar to that of a naga snake-shifter, but not exactly a match. I’d been hi-jacked by a poisoned soul, and wasn’t sure what I could do about it.

  My body kicked out.

  Winter went flying a considerable distance, which told me whoever had my body was learning exactly how much dragon strength he had.

  Hitting hard, Winter slid, his head struck a rock. He looked stunned, going still. Even in human form, werewolves are hard to kill. But it might be a minute or two before he pulled himself together.

  I was just glad the body-stealer didn’t know how to use my dragon and shadow magics. Physical power was all he seemed to have. That and my lusty appreciation for a naked woman. He had Angie pinned under him, face down, her arms crossed behind her back. He had a knee in the small of her back. He settled lower, adding more weight to pin her arms behind her.

  My left arm curled around Angie’s neck, pulling her head back. Her face was a mask of bestial fury, on the way to become a wolf’s face with sharp teeth. My lips nuzzled her exposed ear. My human teeth bit down, hard, marking her, drawing blood and a snarl from her.

  Whoever was in my body laughed. He said, “I take your skin. Wear it. You no stop me. Take white woman first!” His free hand released her throat and slid under her, squeezing her tit with bruising fingers.

  I floated over to him, hauled back, and threw a punch as if I still had physical form. My ghost-fist shone with golden light dimmed and dulled by flame-shaped shadows. Ignited by both of my magics, my ghost-fist vanished into the side of my fleshly head. My body didn’t move the smallest bit as my fist came out the other side. But I’d jarred loose the ghost riding me. I pushed myself back inside my body, completely dislodging the thief.

  I saw the poison-green, astral form of the Mohave skin-walker who’d worn the Gila monster skin. He howled in silent rage, clawing at me, but my body was now closed to him, my soul back in place, and in control. His paling hands went into my flesh and out again, doing no harm. The spirit faded out completely, but I still sensed his presence fouling the air.

  In my body, I just couldn’t see him anymore. “Hurry on to hell,” I told him. “We don’t have time for you.”

  Winter and Angie both tackled me, slamming me to the ground.

  “Easy,” I said. “I’m back. The ghost is out of my body.”

  Angie pulled back, releasing me. “I say we stomp on him a few times, just to be sure.” She winced, inspecting her reddened tit.

  “Sorry about all that. It was the medicine man we killed. His spirit took over while I was elsewhere.”

  Reluctantly, Winter got off me. There was still an amber light in his eyes, a lust for blood.

  A trickle of red streaked the side of his face. I said, “You should have Angie look at that.”

  My comment got her wrathful stare off me, bringing out a lover’s concern that softened her face quite a bit, driving back her inner wolf.

  Instead of enjoying it, he waved off her attention. “I’m fine.”

  Idiot.

  I picked myself up and while I was at it, I let the dragon wings slough off as I became fully human. I also made a mental note to never, ever use the bi-location spell ever again.

  Unless absolutely necessary.

  I stared at them. “Hey, I seem to have worked up an appetite. What are the odds one of you guys could go chase down a rabbit or two?”

  Angie’s face was back to angry. “I’ll do it. I really feel like killing something now.” She stomped off and began the slow process that would eventually turn her into a four-footed hunter. Winter stripped off his clothes, following her example.

  His naked ass held no interest, so I averted my eyes, heading off to hunt up more wood for our fire. Desert nights get cold.

  NINETEEN

  “Go away; I’m disturbed enough
as it is.”

  —Caine Deathwalker

  My inner dragon already had one of my eyelids slit open so he could keep watch as I slept. He saw the blue light first as it filled our camp, bringing me fully awake, causing me to open the other eye. The fire had warmed my back while the desert night chilled my front. From somewhere behind me, I heard Angie and Winter stirring as well. They’d been nice and toasty, having stayed in wolf form after bringing home fresh caught rabbits for dinner.

  Winter might overreact, assuming this to be a magical attack.

  “It’s all right.” I rolled face down and pushed myself to my feet, standing. “It’s just Izumi portaling in.”

  A dark tunnel appeared inside the disc of light. Izumi stepped out of it. The disc dwindled behind her and vanished. She stumbled a step. Moving at dragon speed, I caught and held her. Her grip on me was tight.

  Her eyes sought mine. “Strange, that took more out of me than I expected. And my scrying spell only had a weak lock on you. I wasn’t sure I’d even find you.”

  “That, my love, is because you portalled though both time and space, and you don’t have Colt’s strength for it. Come sit by the fire and rest a bit.” I guided her over to the blanket and pillow Colt had provided.

  “Time? So, when are we?”

  I’d been wondering about time myself. From the placement of the stars in the clear night sky, I knew it was early morning. I could have used another three hours of sleep. I yawned. “Late 1800’s.”

  “And what are you still doing, hanging out in the Wild West? Are you sure you’re not avoiding me?” Her eyes narrowed as she stared into my face. “Are you thinking that my kid won’t measure up to Selena’s? Or maybe the thought of me, fat as a heifer, disgusts you?”

  Actually, that last was quite true, but I had enough sense of self-preservation to lie. “Why, that’s not true at all! We’re on an important mission.” I held both her hands as she eased herself down to my bedding. “You can ask Angie.”

  “She’s one of those two wolves there, slinking off into the darkness?”

  I looked, my dragon eyes seeing them clearly as they loped off into the wilderness. The traitors were abandoning me to my fate.

  Izumi gave me a frosty smile, making the desert even colder. “Smart girl. She knows I’m going to want some alone time with you.”

  Looming over her, I looked out in the desert, away from where the wolves had gone. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

  “I’m going to get something up, I promise you!”

  I looked down, startled, feeling her hands on my crotch. She unzipped me. “I always get what I want. I’m a queen of Fairy. No one tells me no.”

  “You should wait until we’re not under attack.”

  She paused, one hand inside my pants, cold fingers wrapped around my joystick. “Who’s attacking?”

  Besides you?

  “After Angie and Winter took off to frolic in the desert, I’d heard movement outside of camp. “There are a couple of renegade Indians working their way closer. They probably plan to gut me with a knife, then to take turns plundering your charms. They probably figure you’d make a fetching squaw.”

  Indians are superstitious. They’re afraid of dying at night, and of their ghosts not finding the way to the happy hunting ground. But Izumi was a rare beauty. I could see why they’d take a chance.

  “But I arrived by magic. Who would be stupid enough to mess with me?”

  “You’re forgetting the male warrior’s ego. They come in fast, kill me, get their dicks buried in you, and you’ll be too grateful for cock to cause problems. The small head is always sure it can handle everything.”

  I understood because I was the same way.

  She had my small head out of my pants along with my stiffening length. In the back of my mind, I heard my cock speaking: Resistance is futile. Me and the boys need this.

  That confused me. The boys?

  A high-pitched voice answered: Ball One!

  And I’m Ball Two!

  In unison, they said: Together, we’re the Testosterone Brothers.

  WTF! It’s bad enough I have an inner dragon in my thoughts all the time and a talking cock, now I’ve got Yin and Yang popping off? Give me a break, would ya?

  Hey, my cock protested, you ever figure that we’re kinda stuck with you, too? Don’t be hating.

  Two Indians burst into camp, running straight for us. They were from the war party we’d fought the day before. The rest of the Indians had been smart enough to keep running. Unless they were messing with Colt.

  My inner dragon said: That I’d like to see.

  Izumi glared at the interruption. An icy blue light seeped from her pores. The ground the Indians ran on iced over. A hard frost made white men out of them. They slipped a little, fought on into the bitter cold, and died on their feet, encased in ice. Once the ice melted, gravity would pull them to the ground for critters to feed on. The turkey vultures would be grateful.

  My cock sang the Circle of Life.

  My inner dragon yelled at him: Shut up. You’re off key.

  My cock sighed. It’s so hard being me.

  I was about to tell them all to shut the fuck up when I got distracted; Izumi slid my cock down her throat, her fingers curling around my balls. The tip of my cock hit the back of her throat. Her throat muscles swallowed and I made the downward turn, getting deep-throated. While usually a good thing, this time I hadn’t prepared. Her ice magic made her a walking freezer. I needed to take precautions so my cock wouldn’t get freezer burned.

  Hurriedly, I formed a patch of shadow on my chest and mentally shaped the pattern for my Dragon Fire spell. A little golden dragon magic energized the spell with a tingle. The advantage doing things this way was I no longer paid a price in pain for the magic I needed, but the cost remained for my last two inked tatts. I kept the fire magic turned way down to get a good internal heat without actually bursting into flame.

  My heat and Izumi’s cold balanced out so I felt only as cold as was reasonable in the early desert morning, while her skin felt cool, damp with condensation, no longer a threat to my cock. At first, it was weird getting a blowjob while two Indian-sicles watched with dead, frosted eyes. By the fourth stroke, I just said fuck it, closed my eyes, and enjoyed. I grew even larger in her mouth, until she was forced to back off.

  My dragon DNA couldn’t have given my Villager additional height. Oh, no, that would have made life a little easier. I was small for a dragon so I was small for a human, but in compensation, I had an endowment that truly deserved the nickname Monster. Roused, he demanded: More! More! More!

  I was glad that voice echoed only in my own head. It would have freaked Izumi out otherwise.

  My cock asked: What’s the hold up?

  Izumi had pulled back, leaving me wet and jutting, while she hurriedly stripped off the evening dress she’d come in. I took the opportunity to shed my own clothing, and kneel on the blanket, facing her.

  Her fey glamour had dropped. She no longer looked like a Japanese snow woman, a disguise she’ developed in the years hiding from her mom, having run off from Fairy. The two were reconciled now, but the Asian persona had become part of Izumi, a favorite role to play. But now her hair had gone from black to white. Her black eyes were blue ice, and no longer had the extra eye folds, losing her Asian look. Her spectacular tits remained unchanged as did the rest of her figure; a point of honesty she’d always clung to.

  She lay back on the blanket, painted orange by the firelight, a smile of invitation on her blue lips. The smile died. “This is not very comfortable. I don’t think you got all the rocks moved out from under the blanket. Something’s poking me, and not in a good way.”

  I shrugged. “It’s the desert. With my recent changes to dragon, my skin’s toughened up. I hadn’t actually noticed much discomfort.” I crawled between her legs and rested my right hand on her left hip. My Monster scrapped over the lips of her vagina as I leaned in, left hand flat to the blanket.
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br />   “A man of steel? You’re turning into Superman?”

  “I’ve always been Superman. My endurance is legendary. And he only wishes he was hung like me.” My right hand slid from her hip, along her side, up to the lovely swell of her left breast. A fingertip rounded her nipple, teasing its pebbly hardness.

  “Uh, no, not working. The ground’s too hard.”

  “Fine, I have no problem with being underneath.” I scooped her at the waist, lifting. Her hands locked together behind my neck. I rocked backwards, pulling her against me. Her mound rubbed my cock as she straddled my thighs. Her tits were in my face, soft, ripe, succulent. I suckled, nipping with teeth, licking, then moved my head to give the other breast equal attention.

  Izumi gasped in pleasure. She moaned. “Oh, yes!”

  My cock said: In. I’m supposed to go in.

  In! Ball One echoed.

  In! Ball Two said.

  I said: Yeah, I know. I was just glad my dragon half didn’t feel the need to offer pointers.

  Izumi’s forearms rested on my shoulders, her knees took her weight as she rose, readjusting her slit for my entrance. I helped out by gripping her delightful ass in both hands, squeezing with appreciation.

  “Damn!” she said. “Have you gotten bigger?”

  My cock said: Well, duh!

  “Something about a naked woman has that effect on me.” I let my tongue chase beads of condensation on her tits. One of her hands went down between us, gripping my cock, adjusting the angle. I felt the damp lips of her chilled vagina parting around my cock. I pushed.

  She gasped, not in a happy way. “Wait, wait. It hurts.”

  I lowered her onto her back, hefting her ass into the air. I parted her labia and gave her a searching stare—as my sanity crumbled. As I expected, she had a urethra, but the vagina itself was a shallow bowl. There was no passageway to a uterus. It looked like she didn’t even have reproductive organs. I’d plumbed the depths of Izumi many times. Either something beyond strange had happened to her, or this wasn’t Izumi.