“Just be here for us. I need my friend. More than I’ve ever needed one before. I’m surprised you aren’t mad at me for hidin’ Ethan’s heritage… and Panther’s.” She said sadly as she fed spare dry logs into the woodstove while on her knees since she was too tall now. Everything seemed so much smaller now. It also made her wonder by how much.
“I’m upset alright, but I understand a little.” He said honestly and cut a sideways look. “A Balam is bad enough on this world let alone a real Ifrit. I hadn’t seen one in more than a thousand years. Especially since there is only one other, the Fire King. I’m still scared shitless, but I’m close enough to the situation to see who the bigots in all this are. As for your parents… well I never wanted to tell you the truth. It was stupid now that I look back.
“I should have warned you as a little girl.
“Few truly know that Enforcers from the moment they hatch are trained to hate. An all consuming hate. Nothing more they can feel. The only love they have is for their soul mate. They hold no other form of love. Even for family. They are effectively brainwashed to follow orders. They aren’t at all like Spirit Guides who have genuine emotions and can grow in a nurturing environment. Enforcers are warped to properly hide their never ending hate except in combat. They smile, cry and laugh, but it is all a well rehearsed act honed over the centuries that they can fool anyone into believing they care about anything when in fact they just want to kill and destroy. It’s why Val attacked right after kicking you away and went for a kill shot without pausing to blink. And how she could try killing her own flesh and blood for merely falling in love with someone who is a charismatic and a genuine good guy. The same goes for all Enforcers. They are living weapons who look like sexy angels, nothing more can they ever be.”
“What?” Kanade’s complexion paled as this news was dropped. “Is it true?”
“Their hate was originally a weapon created to face the wrath of a common raging Ifrit.” Panther reinforced Dress’s own words. “You were saved by their rigid doctrine and is why I can trust you. Your own weakness was a blessing before you hatched. I’m not saying Order is evil. That is a lie. It’s done more good than bad.” He admitted as the smell of wood smoke filled the air. “But it too has its darkness. Just as Chaos is wild and is responsible for most evil, there is goodness in it as well. I’m just thankful you were weak enough to not be trained not to hate, Mistress. It’s your boundless love that makes everyone so at ease. You have a calming energy that is a rare gift.”
“Here! Here!” Dress cheered. “You know, for a Balam, you ain’t half bad.”
“I’m taken already.” Panther bantered dryly as he noticed the hungry look Dressor gave him while batting long eyelashes.
“But you can’t stop me from admiring the view.”
“Voyeur.”
“Furball.”
Kanade gave a first real laugh since the horrible evening as Dress got under Panther’s skin though she knew the two of them were doing it for her sake to take her mind off the thoughts of family she thought she knew about. In her new mind she heard him think “They fooled me too, Angel. I’m just sorry you lost them because of me.”
“We shouldn’t keep pityin’ ourselves.” One of the trillions of thoughts said with deep sadness, but also resolution. “You can’t hate what you were born with. Just as I can’t change the womb my egg slid from. Now that I look back too, I can see Dress’s words ring true. Why Mother sent me to live in the Nineteenth House and came only to visit once a year till I turned eighteen and moved to Spirit World to ferry spirits. She and Daddy were too busy to really want me. They made the choice to nearly take you away from me for good. My choice will stand. I’ll take you becoming a hideous, wart covered hog than ever want to see them from a mile away. This isn’t my grief talkin’. This is the truth. Even if I wasn’t completely smitten to my very core for you, I’d still break away from my family and run away with you had we only met out on the street. I’m still an emotional wreck, but for some reason I feel free.”
“It’s Dress. Damn, that guy is good. He explained a reason for your parents’ behavior. Looks like both of us lost all of our blood family members.”
“Now we just need to see if our friends won’t turn on us too.”
“Hold on! You want to tell them about me?” She caught him in complete surprise.
“Not tell. Show.”
“You can’t be serious.” He said aloud and she turned around to feel her stomach feel as if it was being beaten by excited butterflies.
Standing just inside the doorway after slipping inside Kanade couldn’t tear her eyes from him. The ocean had cleaned him and he stood soaking wet on the hardwood floor. Black leather shorts being the only item of clothing he wore. His skin was a healthy shade of milky while his furry chest and legs all seemed like a waterfall of lava. Her bite marks stood out proud and true and it yet again gave a feeling of satisfaction. His arms and underarms had lost all its hair and she was thankful he still didn’t have any back hair. The ivory crown acted like a hair tie as the long crimson locks had been pulled back to brush loosely over the wide, muscular shoulders. Where the horns erupted from the temples acted like a natural hairclip to keep it from falling forward. His square and strong jaw kept just enough of a thick red beard to be long enough it was soft, but not so long so as to seem grimy. Short, full and trim. A straight nose hadn’t changed, nor had the angle of his cheekbones. And those penetrating ruby eyes might have terrified anyone else and send them screaming for cover, but it had the opposite effect. It aroused her. And then she noticed his scent. Musky hickory and man rolled into a faultless shell of perfection. But then she looked at his still armed hands to find he carried an unexpected treat he hadn’t shared in his recent fishing expedition. Hanging by the tail in each hand were two sets of Bluefin Tuna that were fully mature and plump. Each one over eight feet long. A normal man wouldn’t be able to hold up one at these sizes yet he carried four. Then she noticed gouges in the backs of the silvery scales.
Handsome man who brought home food. She was momentarily happy.
Judging by how both Panther’s and Ethan’s noses twitched she couldn’t hide a blush. They smelled her arousal, but only one with clouding ruby eyes had a reaction and his own pheromones picked up to respond to hers. She had wild, untamed ideas and couldn’t hide the hundreds of thousands popping up, mostly wrapping her legs around him, but she noticed company in her peripheral vision and it is all that stopped her. She cleared her throat and moved her dress so she could stand.
“Here’s the catch of the day.” He said in his much deeper voice that made goose bumps rise all over her body.
“Perfect.” She said, swallowing as she approached.
“I prefer mine raw.” Panther clarified as she took one and hefted it easily from her man and looked it over. “Mistress Kanade, I found this outside.” He held out a golden chain with an amulet. She had dropped it when her parents ripped her from the ground to initiate the attack only hours old.
“Oh, thank you so very much, Panther.” She let the dead fish swing by its tail so her other hand could take the protective creation. She then had it in her palm, snapped her fingers to make the chain wrap itself around her wrist several times and became a charmed bracelet. “If only I had did that from the start I wouldn’t have lost it and I could have trapped my parents.”
“Don’t let hindsight blind you.” Panther said as he took a fish as large as himself from Ethan’s grasp. “The past can never be changed. Time and End will not allow anyone to change the past. Ethan is fully mature and well. Rest your mind. No being can harm either of you anymore, least on this world. Armid won’t dare come, though you’d sense him long before and Fate is incapable of getting his hands dirty. Now would you prefer I eat outside or…”
“No, you will eat with us. It’s too wet outside and I’ll not let someone so kind and loyal do it.” Kanade said with irritation. “You’ve more than earned the right to be my friend.”
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br /> “Let me be perfectly clear. I’m your servant, your guard Mistress Kanade. If my king welcomes you and Ethan to his palace, it will show favoritism. I will not allow favoritism among the servants. It is weakness that will invite attacks. When in company as we are now,” Vibrant blue eyes looked to Dressor meaningfully. “You will treat me as a subject. Your minion. In Demon World it will invite dissident and wars. You must show an air of indifference, the opposite of Ethan as his consort. Strength rules Demon World, not structure. Friendships can get you killed. Though I’m flattered, we cannot be friends as you know it.”
“Don’t be an asshole, Panther. You’re eating inside. If Kanade says you are a friend, then you are. End of discussion. You do not need to belittle her. Now let’s have a meal together.” Ethan said and moved to the sturdy prepping table to drop the large tuna.
Kanade was at his side, grabbing the equivalent of a sword to use a filet knife. “Dress, can you ship a basket of lemons, salt, two tubs of garlic butter, parsley and a mason jar amount of fresh picked cayenne pepper?”
“On it, Girl!” Dress said as Panther extended one claw about a foot long and began gutting the fish.
“Darlin, can you dry the sticks Panther kindly gathered?” She glanced as the wet sticks began to make noises like someone far away screaming as he steamed out all the moisture. He moved away from the table and she smiled while rolling up her sleeves past the elbow. This was her domain and she went about preparing the three huge fish by hanging them up on a large meat-hook dangling from the ceiling. Her stomach rumbled almost as loud as his as she went about cutting out a hole around the anus and separated the head. With a gentle jerk for her the head and gills popped off and pulled out most of the guts. Blood gushed into a large bucket below it. She wanted to keep some the organs and whatnot for the nutrients their bodies craved so she cut out the liver and nutritious bits to keep off to the side as gravity pulled out most of the blood. While it drained she hooked up the second and got started. The first finished soon enough so she took it down and put up the last. Most would be grossed out, but blood didn’t bother her. She could sense the fish souls still out at sea and would be there for awhile before a Spirit Guide could come and pick them up and deliver to Spirit World.
Behind her Ethan approached Dress and watched as the cabinets that show his face split down the middle to open. Inside one might think to see clothes on a hangar or an empty wooden wall in the back. In reality was a darkness no light could pierce. Then from it spit out a wooden crate of fresh lemons by the citrusy smell. Then came a tub of homemade garlic butter made by Cook herself and a cloth wrapped package of peppers. The price was automatically charged and pulled from their account. “Thanks.” He told Dress and brought the supplies over, set them on the table and watched his woman at work.
The shimmering of her wings danced over her red dress and apron as she worked to physically do something with her hands to take the mind off suffocating issues. He sat beside Panther who took out the guts from his own meal and threw them outside before deciding to sit and wait so they could all eat together on the floor. He though was still unsettled about the hooves and felt them. They were hard, but smooth as glass on top, almost like someone polished fine leather shoes. Underneath though were rough ridges.
Panther noticed the uncertain look and decided to say “You’ll not lose footing so easily. If you know anything about the hooves of a goat they can climb a mountain better than any other animal on this world. Whether on land or in the air, Ifrit are the ultimate beings ever to evolve in Demon World.”
“Hadn’t thought of it that way… I guess function outweighs preference. But I still miss my toes. When I landed I missed the moist sand coming up between them.”
“Many can only dream of feet like yours, Darlin’.” Kanade said as she basted a thick slab of fish. “You won’t slip and bust your ass half as much as the rest of us.”
“True, but which of the two of you told me Ifrit were beautiful? I can’t see it.”
“I did.” Panther admitted. “Females like large and strong males. Next to Titans, you are as big and strong as they come. And out of all Demons, your physical strength has no equal.”
“He’s right.” Kanade showed a crooked smile for a moment from the stove as she cooked up a recipe. “I’m a female and find you beyond attractive. Hooves, those claws tippin’ your wings and that spade tail included. Question, can you fold the edges of that tail?” Ethan brought the appendage in question up and around to find it could fold like a stingray’s edges. In the privacy if his thought he heard her say to herself Thank goodness I can still ask him to use it when we have sex. I love that evil little orgasm extender. It’s like he’s got two dicks that are all mine… “Yes, I know you heard that. After we eat I’m so takin’ you for a test spin. I wonder if your tongue got any rougher. Hope so.”
He’d need to test it on her for an honest opinion.
“Get up here and ready to help me bake, Darlin’.” She said. “These will take too long to cook the normal way since it is way too big and I’ll not wait all night.”
The sparks naturally swirling around his crown of ivory brightened as he held a hand over one huge tuna already scaled as she grabbed an injector and stabbed the sauce into the meat. With complete control of flames he baked a whole tuna both inside and out within five minutes without burning it. Kanade worked on a second and he got started while keeping the first warm. The third was just as quick before the three fishes were brought over to the floor on the side of the room.
Hunger took over for both Ethan and Kanade after what their bodies had changed into and they merely lifted the ends of the fish and chomped down as if they were sub sandwiches. Panther tried not gawking at their loss of manners. Tried and succeeded. Dress had no such thoughts as his gold lined jaw hung to nearly the foot of the closet doorframe. After they both somehow managed to stuff two huge tuna into their stomachs they came back to their senses and shared the third, this time savoring the flavors infused throughout the meal. Bones and all were gone. Immediately after they all had their fill Ethan cleaned off all the scales, very carefully since he could walk through the wall and have no difficulty.
New strength was difficult to control.
Mild spiciness mixed well with the tart tang of lemons to compliment the baked fish. It was delicious and Ethan couldn’t hold back groans of pleasure that had Kanade’s eyes sparkle. Panther kindly brought out the kegs of beer and it was more like a beer can now. It washed down the tuna quite well. He leaned back with a grunt, arms back on the floor for a brace. “Wow, that was tasty.”
“How the hell did you two put away three whole tuna! Even with the size of your bodies it shouldn’t be possible for a stomach to stretch.” Dress stumbled from being shell-shocked.
“Doesn’t matter. All that does is I’m full.” Kanade said as she wiped her lips with a dishtowel for a napkin.
“Rapid growth and regeneration takes a lot of nutrition. Morgane told me.” The Ifrit closed his eyes. And cleaned his teeth with a tongue. “I know it’s true because I had my chest, wing and legs blown to hell before growing horns and height… But my joints aren’t aching anymore.”
“Mine too.” Kanade said as she sipped from her aluminum keg.
“You are done changing.” Panther said as he popped another raw square of fish he made out of his meal, like sushi. “You feel no pain because it’s over.”
“About time.” He sighed for a different reason and not for a full stomach. Kanade was in total agreement. “I’ll go clean up the kitchen.” He decided and got to his hooves before wiping down the bloody prep table and taking out the buckets with fish heads. He had to duck several times before leaving and gliding down to the beach to wash everything out. Many little fish and crabs at the smell of blood came to scavenge.
Upon his return a few minutes later he was puzzled to find Panther carrying Dress outside. “What’s up, Guys?”
“Woman of the house kicked us out.” Dress rol
led his eyes. “She told me to leave, but after earlier… I’m not planning to leave this soul container. I’m keeping an eye on your sweet asses. Had I know beforehand I would have been available and called for reinforcements.” Panther gently sat down the mahogany dresser and cabinet combination. “Thank you. I can’t hop down that far without breaking this vessel. Back to what I was saying, I never sleep. From now on I’ll watch the sea and skies. I’ll try not to listen if you want privacy, but no leaving. I damn near lost two great friends today. The only compromise I’ve leave you two lovebirds is to stay outside with Furball. If another assassin comes, I’ll give Panther an extra set of eyes.”
“Mistress Kanade awaits you inside.” Panther relayed. “I shall keep a vigil.”
“You need sleep too.”
“Not for many days actually. You though need it more than I from the strain put upon you.”
“Can’t argue with that logic.” Ethan rolled stiff shoulders and sighed when his neck cracked loudly. Then his eyes narrowed. “Oh… okay.” Panther and Dress looked at one another questioningly as neither said anything for such a response. “Sorry guys, I was just thinking with Kanade when I felt her using power and wondered what she was doing. She’s expanding our place like our clothes and armor. She didn’t like how I’ve got to duck just to walk inside my own front door.”
“Makes sense.” Dress admitted and began hopping away several feet every bound. Panther went another route, he sprung soundlessly straight onto the roof and lounged like a sprawled cat gazing at the stars.
Ducking only slightly this time he came inside and went to a dead stop. Kanade stood by the wall panel where most of the protective runes that shield the property are stored, hand on one round hip. His defensive enchantments are on the opposite side of the room. But what stood out most were two things. “Kanade, your eyes… and you’re using a fist like me to cast.”
“What’s wrong with my eyes?” She asked quickly while turning and stopping.
03 Atavism of the Ifrit Page 4
