Black Friday

by Jan Stryvant

  Sean stopped and turned to look at Jolene, "By who?"

  "Some hitman from Chicago. But he was hired by one of the groups around here."

  Sean growled at that. "What about all the other stuff that happened to us?"

  "They set that up too. They wanted to be sure that you were never in any position to continue his work."

  "And just what was his work?"

  Jolene shrugged, "Sawyer didn't know, it was a big secret, but apparently it had something to do with lycans. You see, Sean, lycans are kind of on the low end of the things in the supernatural world. They get a lot of raw deals and are treated pretty poorly by most magic users. Your father was trying to change that."

  "And for that they killed him?"

  Jolene sighed, "You know how I get power from you?"

  Sean smiled at her remembering the other night, "I was sort of hoping to power you up some more tonight," he smiled.

  "Yeah, well there are other ways that magic users can get power from lycans, and those aren't as nice or enjoyable. There are places where lycans live in complete thrall to wizards and mages. Your father was about to upset a very large apple cart. The criminal gangs that abuse lycans didn't want that, hell, a lot of the very prissy and stuck-up folks in the magical councils and communities here in this country don't want to see lycans in any situation where they can't take advantage of them at will."

  Sean sighed, "And they think my dad left me whatever this thing is, and I'm gonna use it?"

  "They all believe that something is going to happen when you turn twenty-one, which will either leave you with the results of your father's work, or that you're going to suddenly be able to finish it."

  "Heh, like that's going to happen! They took everything from us remember."

  "The other night you regained something they took from you, Sean. What's to say you won't regain something else on your birthday? These people employ seers, people whose sole duty is to watch out for major events that will affect their fortunes."

  "And they say I'm going to do this thing?" Sean said and thought about what she'd just said. His father had planned ahead; he was starting to see that now with the watch. Maybe his dad had employed a seer as well?

  "Several of them have said this, yes," Jolene sighed, "and a lot of folks out there believe them. And they're acting on it."

  "How many?"

  "All of them."

  Sean choked on his pizza, "How many is all?"

  Jolene shrugged, "Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? I have no idea. There are about a dozen legitimate councils out there, legitimate in that they don't hide from the other councils or societies. They're fairly big and have a lot of power. There are many more illegitimate councils that engage in dark or even evil practices, but no one knows really how many, because they tend to be small, often made up of only a handful.

  "And then there are the gangs."

  "Gangs?"

  "As in all things human, you have organized crime gangs. The gangs tend to be made up of a mixture of magic users, normal humans who are wise to things or who have some minor gift, lycans, goblins, vampires, monsters, whatever."

  Sean sighed and hung his head for a moment, until his stomach reminded him he was hungry and he went back to eating.

  'Gee, thanks dad,' was about all he could think of at that moment. It looked like he had every magic user in the world after his scalp, and he was what? A twenty-year-old kid who'd never been outside of Reno and who had few friends and even fewer allies.

  'You have me,' his lion reminded him, and Sean had to smile at that. He also had Roxy, and Jolene was definitely helping out. Then there was Roxy's dad. That would no doubt be worth quite a bit in the long run as well.

  Roxy rejoined them at that point, "Well, I don't think they'll be a total write off, but they're definitely going to have some stains, bile is pretty nasty stuff."

  "How do you get bile on your clothes?" Jolene said looking at the two of them.

  "Don't ask," Sean and Roxy said at the same time, causing her to come over and hug him from behind as he started in on the second pizza.

  "Did you tell him about the Council of Vestibulum yet?" Roxy asked Jolene.

  "No, I thought I'd leave that to you."

  "Oh," Sean interrupted, "today's attackers apparently came from the 'Council of Gradatim' whatever the hell that is."

  Jolene sighed, "Oh great, the progressives have gotten involved."

  "Progressives?" Sean asked.

  "They like to call themselves that, they're not really, they lifted it from some old political group to sound less offensive than they really are. They believe that everyone should give their all to support their vision of the future."

  "And what vision is that?"

  "One where they rule like kings while the rest of us devote our lives to letting them maintain that lifestyle. All in the name of 'progress' of course."

  "Of course," Roxy agreed. "Have you dealt with them before?"

  "More than once. Usually they're all talk and not much else. But when they get whipped up over something, well, ethics and morality go right out the window, not that they really have any. They can be pretty cruel. No doubt they see this as a chance to weaponize their lycans."

  "Weaponize?" Sean asked, looking from Jolene to Roxy.

  Roxy nodded, "You have to understand, Love, that there are lycans under the control of many of the councils. Some because they agree with the leaders, some because of the power they get from it, and many because they have no choice. The council leaders who want this 'thing', well they may be thinking that if only they have it, and the others don't, then it will give their lycans an advantage over the others, which will allow them to rule over the other councils."

  "Let me guess," Sean said, "lycans are the foot soldiers and cannon fodder, who do all the fighting, while the mages all sit at home, safe and secure?"

  "That is the way of it," Roxy nodded.

  "Then why am I, I mean we running into mages out there, instead of lycans?"

  "Because if you really do hold the key to lycan freedom, the last thing they want is for any lycan to have control over it. The mages undoubtedly feel that the temptation for a lycan to go rogue is too great to risk."

  "Yeah, and who would blame them? So what's the story on the Vestibulum?"

  "They are the largest of the councils, and the most powerful. They have smaller sub-councils in many cities, even here in Reno. They're very conservative, in that they don't like change. They always seek to maintain the status quo."

  "Well at least they weren't shooting at me," Sean shrugged and picked up another slice of pizza.

  "Yet," Jolene said.

  Roxy nodded, "What Jolene said. They will usually try to seek solutions that don't require violence, but only because they see violence as being too disruptive, it can stir up too much change for them. But they won't hesitate to kill to further their own ends either. While they're slower to come to that decision, once they've made it, they tend to be all in."

  Sean stopped and sat back for a moment, looking down at the second empty pizza box, he'd all but inhaled that one as well. At least now he didn't feel like he was going to pass out at any moment.

  Turning to face the girls he smiled, "As I see it I have three major concerns right now."

  "And those are?" Roxy asked.

  "One," Sean pointed at Roxy, "two," he pointed at Jolene, "and three, staying alive so I can enjoy one and two!"

  "Did you come up with that all by yourself?" Roxy asked grinning.

  "Right now, it's about all I can think of," Sean said standing up and stretching as the towel that had been wrapped around his waist fell to the floor. "But I'm sure I'll have other ideas before the night is through," he said leering at the two of them.

  "You know," Jolene said smiling as she started to undo her top, "I kind of like this idea. Roxy?"

  "Oh I think I'm gonna be liking it too!"

  "Then maybe you'll like this even better?" Sean smiled
and shifted reaching out to his lion they melded once more as he shifted into his hybrid form.

  Jolene gasped and just stared at him.

  The look in Roxy's eyes as she quickly stood up shed her pants and then shifted into her hybrid form was one of pure lust.

  "When did this happen, Sean?" Roxy purred as she got up, and pulling off her blouse she started to run her hands over his strong, short furred chest. "I really like the mane," Roxy laughed, and grabbing it she pulled his head down so they could kiss.

  Sean rumbled happily, "When dealing with those bastards in the ambulance."

  It took him a minute to figure out just how to kiss her, if people thought noses were bad, having a muzzle now made it a lot more difficult, you had to tip your head to the side a lot more.

  On a more positive note, Sean realized as he finally achieved lip lock, or perhaps it was now muzzle lock, with Roxy, was that muzzles opened just a bit differently than mouths did and he had a much longer tongue now as well. The tongue duel they engaged in as he wrapped his thicker and stronger furry arms around her, pulling Roxy tightly against him, was amazing.

  Jolene watched in amazement. She'd seen Roxy's hybrid form before of course, more than once and rather closely, to be honest. Roxy stood six foot, as a cheetah-were hybrid, but Sean had to be over seven feet tall! Jolene was having trouble gauging it, because of the way his lion's mane fluffed out around his head, and the way the two of them, Roxy and Sean were now going at it.

  Jolene watched as Roxy literally climbed up his body, as Sean cupped Roxy's ass with one strong hand, while the other twined in her blond hair, tipping her head back, as he started to lick and nibble at her neck.

  Sean just rumbled happily as Roxy grabbed at his shoulders and effortlessly lifted herself off the ground, wrapping her strong sexy legs around his hips. Moving his attentions down to nibble at her neck had a definite effect on her, causing her hips to start grinding against his pelvis, and of course, his erection, which was trapped between the two of them.

  Spreading his legs a little wider for balance, he raised her up with the hand he had cupped under her butt; she seemed to weight almost nothing now. Roxy cooperated by loosening her legs a moment, and reaching down she steered him into her heat. Roxy was more than ready for him, and as he lowered her, she wrapped her leg tightly around him once more, as they made love, standing there in the center of his room.

  Jolene watched in increasing arousal of her own as Roxy and Sean engaged in loving each other, standing there, both of their tails lashing in excitement. It was one of the most erotic things she'd ever seen in her life, the large lion, planted almost like a tree before her, his body thick with heavy muscles, and the sexy svelte cheetah wrapped around him, moving up and down, grinding her body back down against his.

  Just one very large and very sexy, statue.

  Up until this moment, Jolene hadn't realized just how much Roxy felt for Sean. Oh, she knew that Roxy liked him, enjoyed his company as well as having him in her bed, and Sean of course was obviously and blatantly completely besotted with Roxy. But the way they held one another, the words of love that were being gasped, well it might have only been a few days, but Jolene suddenly realized Roxy hadn't been joking when she'd told Jolene that Sean was hers now, and that Roxy was his.

  Which, Jolene realized with a sudden and even larger shock that those hints of her, Jolene, ending up as Sean's as well, hadn't been jokes. She'd heard that lycans could form pair bonds, actually mating, very quickly, and now she had seen it with her own eyes. She knew for certain that Sean wanted her as he wanted Roxy, and now she suddenly realized just what he wanted her for.

  And all Jolene could do was sit and watch the two of them, her own lust rising, unsure if she should run, or stay and submit to what just might now be inevitable.

  There was no doubt that Sean was a handsome man, as well as a handsome lycan. Jolene already had strong feelings for Roxy, with all the sex they'd had, it was hard not to. Jolene was sure that Sean would definitely not be willing to share her with other males, but then again, with the amount of power she got from Sean, and from Roxy, did she really need anyone else in her life anymore? Her master had told her, the night he had let her go after her training was complete, that while physical love was a powerful thing for a tantric sex practitioner, should she ever find a deep spiritual love with another, it would shadow all that had come before.

  When Roxy and Sean finally shivered and shook, calling out their love for one another, they both stood there a moment, just panting and catching their breath.

  Setting Roxy down carefully on the bed as she unwrapped herself from him, Sean looked over at Jolene, who was sitting there, wide-eyed, naked, and panting heavily, as if she'd just had an orgasm herself.

  "Your turn," Sean purred.

  Jolene nodded slowly, "Oh, yes, definitely," she panted, "but shift back first, you're so big you'll crush me!"

  "I'll be gentle, never fear," Sean said, shifting back and carefully climbing up onto the bed with the two of them.

  Tuesday Night

  The three of them, Sean, Roxy, and Jolene were sitting around on Sean's bed as they finished off the last of the pizza.

  Sean felt oddly at ease, for perhaps the first time since everything in his life had been turned upside down on Friday. Had it really only been four days ago? There were people after him, apparently a lot of people he'd realized, while lying in bed with Roxy and Jolene, after making love to both of his women.

  Even that realization, that they were both his, didn't bother him. Perhaps this was a sign of what it meant to be, to be integrated with his new aspect? His lion? Or was it just the side effect of having spent a couple of wonderful hours making love and having sex with two absolutely beautiful women?

  Jolene had just finished relating to him everything that had happened at Sawyer's earlier that day, her comments about Marx's reactions, while made more as a joke about Sawyer's ability to get himself in trouble at times, made Sean realize that he did have allies in what was coming.

  He also realized he needed to delete his facebook page, as well as all of the rest of his social media accounts. There might be a time for that stuff later, but that time wasn't now.

  "So, now what?" Roxy asked, rubbing her leg against his foot.

  "Well," Sean sighed, "I think I'm going to be dropping out of college."

  "Really?" Roxy exclaimed, "But I thought you had said no?"

  Sean shook his head, "After today, I can't set foot on campus anymore. One of my profs offered to help me do my core courses by internet, and I may take him up on that, if I can. But until this is done, I'm finished there."

  "I'm sorry, Love," Roxy said, leaning forward and putting her hand on his knee.

  "I'm sorry too, Sean," Jolene said, and rubbed his other knee.

  "Well, to be honest," Sean said smiling as he patted both of their hands. It was kind of hard to feel sorry for one's self while sitting cross-legged on a bed with two beautiful naked women. "I need to start studying the books my father left me. If this fight is going to involve magic, then I need to start learning about it. That just isn't going to leave me with a lot of time for college."

  "Dad did say that alchemists make a lot of money," Roxy smiled, trying encouraging him.

  "Especially as there's only one in town these days," Jolene agreed.

  Sean nodded, "Well even if it wasn't, until we can figure out some way to solve this whole thing, I can't go to school. It's not just that I'm a target there, how long until other people get hurt? We saw what happened at the mall. If these people get desperate...."

  "And they will," Jolene interrupted with a heavy sigh.

  "I'd be endangering a lot of innocent people."

  "But just how do we end it?" Roxy asked. "It's not going to end when you turn twenty-one, Sean. It's not going to end until they either own you, or stop you."

  "Oh, I can think of one way to stop them," Sean smiled.

  "And that would be?"


  "Jolene already told us that Sawyer would be more than happy to sell whatever we come up with, we just give it to him and let him do just that."

  "I'm not so sure that Sawyer would survive that," Jolene pointed out.

  "Okay, we put it up on the internet, share it with the world. You've already told us that most of the people in the magical communities don't use it."

  "You may have a point there," Jolene nodded.

  "But what if it's not complete?" Roxy asked, "then what?"

  Sean shrugged, "We publish all of his notes? All of his work? Once I'm no longer the only person that has it, going after me becomes pointless."

  "Or we just tell them that your father didn't leave you anything," Jolene said, "after your birthday passes. When is it anyways?

  "The twenty-third."

  "The twenty-third? That's next week!"

  "Yup," Sean nodded, "Friday. But no matter what I say, they're not going to believe any of it without proof. And the only way I can prove it is by succeeding. Until I do, they'll either think I'm still working on it, or I succeeded and I'm sitting on it until the perfect time to strike."

  "So, we're stuck between a rock and a hard place then?" Roxy asked.

  Sean smiled, "Maybe, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather be stuck there with than you two."

  "But that still brings us back to what do we do next?" Jolene asked.

  "I like the fact that you keep saying 'we'," Sean smiled and leaning all the way forward, he put his hands to either side of hers and gave her a kiss as she blushed, before sitting back down.

  "I think what we need to do, is find someplace safer to live," Sean looked at both of them. "Spring break starts Saturday and the school will turn into a ghost town. Even with Jolene's spell protecting this place; we'll still stand out like a sore thumb.

  "And if they just send some folks around looking for us, they'll find you pretty easily," Roxy agreed, nodding.

  "So the question is, where do we go?" Sean looked at both of them as they stopped and considered it.

  "Leave town?" Roxy suggested.