by Wyatt Kane
Then the demoness appeared at his side again, wrapped her arms around him for a second time, and teleported him back up into the sky.
“Now will you listen to me?” she demanded.
Ty was breathing hard. His heart was hammering in his chest and he could hear the blood charging through the veins in his ears. His stomach had turned into one big knot, and his mouth had become dry. He had never been so intensely afraid in all of his life.
The demoness could have killed him. Instead, she had caught him and brought him back into the sky.
It was all Ty could do to nod. Then he found his voice. “Okay. I’m listening.” It wasn’t as if he had any choice. He no longer had his blaster and knew that against her, he was next to defenseless.
It was enough. The demoness took him through the moment of non-space one more time, and they were on the ground next to the dumpster. If it had been Tempest, she would have held him for long enough to ensure he’d regained his equilibrium. But this woman let him go at the first opportunity and stood back.
Ty almost collapsed onto his knees. He bent over and breathed deeply, trying to forget the moment of cold, the feeling of dislocation and the terror that he’d experienced mere moments before. Then he forced himself to stand upright.
The demoness was studying him, her flat and determined expression again at odds with her innocent, delicate features. Her eyes were no longer pits of green fire, but were instead were a normal, luminous green. Bright enough to be artificial, body mods like her wings, horn and tail.
As soon as he thought his voice wouldn’t shake, Ty started to speak. “Who are you? What do you want?” he asked.
“My name is Lilith, and I need your help.”
7: Unwilling Servant
There was a light over the back entrance of the Concubine Club, so Ty could see clearly even in the gloom of late evening. He took a moment to really look at Lilith. Not as an enemy combatant or ally of Bain, but just as a person. He tried to see past the modifications that gave her a demonic appearance as well as the power that made her a threat.
Instead, he took in her expression of determination mixed with anxiety, so at odds with the stamp of innocence on her face. He noted that her clothing was rumpled and smudged. Her skin, while modified, showed shadings that could have been bruises. And her pink-tinted hair around the demon horns was decidedly untidy, as if it hadn’t seen a brush in more than a week.
That she was beautiful was undeniable. More voluptuous than either Tempest or Dinah, she was the epitome of modified perfection. Only Dinah came close to her, and Lilith had wings!
Ty couldn’t help but be attracted to the demonic woman. It was the same reaction he’d had with both Tempest and Dinah. And that reality made him wonder.
Tempest had said that the attraction felt between those who wore one of the Architect’s devices varied. She’d also said that her response to Bain was akin to loathing. To her, he was repellent on a visceral level, a hideous monster so different from her that he couldn’t be considered the same species. Tempest had theorized that this might be due to the villain’s alignment.
Like Ty, Tempest and Dinah were both neutral good. They didn’t know what alignment Bain had, but Ty wouldn’t have been surprised to find he was evil.
If Lilith was also evil, wouldn’t Ty find her just as off-putting as Tempest found Bain?
It was a question for later. More immediate was Lilith’s apparent desperation and need.
“What do you mean?” Ty asked. Despite his assessment, he wasn’t ready to trust the demoness.
Even so, Ty saw a measure of relief steel across Lilith’s face. She took half a step toward him, but he backed away and raised a hand in defense.
“Stay back!” Ty said. He didn’t want to be teleported away again any time soon.
Lilith appeared disappointed, but nodded and did as Ty said.
“They have my father,” she said.
“They what?” Ty asked.
“Bain. The others. They have my father. If I don’t do what they say, they’ll hurt him.”
Ty stared at her. He wanted to believe her. It made perfect sense, and explained the apparent contradiction between her actions and his attraction to her.
“How do I know that you’re telling the truth?” he asked, still suspicious. “How do I know that you’re not here on Bain’s orders? How do I know that you’re not after my device even now?”
Lilith clenched her fists in obvious frustration. Yet she stayed where she was and didn’t make any threatening moves. “If I was, I could have just taken you back to them. You’d be under their control even now, and there would be nothing you could do about it,” she said. “They don’t know I am here.”
Ty realized she was right. She had teleported him three times already. At any moment, she could do it again. She could whisk him away to Bain’s lair in a heartbeat. For all he knew, she could even teleport him into the sun, if she had a desire to do so. He was completely at her mercy.
Yet her response gave rise to another question. “How did you know where to find me?”
She ignored him. “Look, I don’t have much time. The longer I’m gone, the more likely it is they will notice my absence. And that isn’t a risk I’m willing to take. I ask you again, will you help me?”
Ty didn’t know what to say. His first instinct was to give her what she needed, but he still had too many questions.
“You can teleport,” Ty said. “Why don’t you rescue your father yourself?”
Before he’d even finished his question, Lilith was shaking her head. “It’s not that easy. I don’t know where he is.”
“Then find him.”
“I can’t. They watch me too closely.”
Her answer confused Ty. “Then how come you are here?
At this, the demonic woman offered a ghost of a smile. “They think I’m with them. They don’t fully understand what I can do. Nor do I, really, but if they did, they would have sent me after you. But that isn’t their plan.”
As she said the last, Lilith looked away. It was almost as if she had something to hide.
Ty noticed. “What is their plan?”
Lilith didn’t look at him. She didn’t want to answer.
“Lilith,” Ty said, starting to feel anxious. “What is Bain’s plan?”
The demonic woman’s shoulders slumped. It was as if she feared he wouldn’t help her if she answered. “It isn’t Bain,” she began. “He’s injured, but he’s recovering quickly. It’s the Master. He still wants your devices. He sent me and all the mercenaries he could spare to get them. He figured you would be unprepared. Given your defeat of Bain, you wouldn’t be expecting another attack so soon.”
Ty gaped. He had a million questions, not the least of which was who this “Master” actually was. But there was one that dwarfed all others in importance.
“Where is this attack going to be?” he demanded.
Lilith didn’t want to answer. It was as if she was ashamed. “The Master called it your base of operations. The penthouse.”
It was as Ty feared. Tempest and Dinah were in danger, and he was wasting his time working. Ty gritted his teeth. He stood straight and tall. Even though the thought of teleportation filled him with dread, he didn’t hesitate at all.
“Take me there!” he said.
Even as he said it, he knew that Angie the Hutt wouldn’t take kindly to a second disappearance. At least when he’d left the night before, he’d given her a message. This time, there was no opportunity to do that. He would just disappear, leaving the grease trap uncleaned.
He would be in a world of trouble because of it. Yet before Lilith could respond, Ty had another thought. “Do you know where it is?”
She nodded. “They don’t know that I do. But I can get you there.”
“Then do it,” Ty said.
But Lilith had her own agenda. “You will help me?” She said.
Ty nodded. “I will do what I can.”
It
was enough. This time, when Lilith approached, Ty didn’t object. The demonic woman wrapped her arms around him in a way that Ty would have found delightful in any other circumstances. Then, before he could catch his breath, he was plunged into a moment of cold like no other.
8: Preparing For Battle
The cold lasted longer than before. Ty could see and feel nothing at all. There was only emptiness, and he thought he understood what it would be like to be dead. He knew that he would go mad if it lasted much longer. Yet even as he experienced the emptiness, the nothing, he thought maybe his earlier analogy was wrong.
The sound of Lilith vanishing shouldn’t be bamf! This was no Hell dimension that she traveled through as she teleported. Rather, it was more like between. The emptiness felt right. Even Lilith’s wings reminded him of those of a dragon.
In a moment of absurdity, Ty wondered if he should somehow add an apostrophe to his name.
He had barely started to grin at his own private joke when he and Lilith popped back into existence. Again, Ty experienced a wave of nausea. He felt as if he’d been twisted into a new dimension and then wrenched back out.
Nor did it seem an easy teleport for Lilith. The demoness, still holding Ty tightly, let out a gasp of pain. Yet she didn’t let him go and had the presence of mind to beat her wings. And Ty understood why. A glance quick glance around told him that once more, they were high in the sky.
This time, they had appeared above the mansion on top of the abandoned building.
Lilith appeared to be struggling. “Where do I land?” she grated between clenched teeth.
Ty was holding onto her as tightly as she was to him. His skin felt both frozen and charged at the same time. He had no intention of letting her go even to point her in the right direction, but he nodded toward the mansion. “There. That bridge outside the main door.”
Lilith let out a groan of effort, and before Ty could prepare himself, they blinked out of existence again. An instant later, they were on the bridge.
Ty’s knees buckled as he sought to regain his balance from the unnatural mode of travel. Nor was he the only one to struggle. Lilith had already let him go. Panting with effort, she backed away from him and reached for the bridge’s handrail to steady herself.
Despite the fact that he was still unsure of Lilith’s allegiance, Ty reached for her. “Are you okay?” he asked. If she had been Tempest or Dinah, he would have let her lean against him until she was back to full strength. But this wasn’t Tempest or Dinah. This was Lilith, a powerful woman who was wearing Dinah’s device, and who may or may not be in league with Bain.
Ty held himself back.
“I’m okay,” she replied. “I’ve never traveled such a distance before. Not even by myself. And your energy shield – it interferes somehow.” For the first time since he’d met her, Lilith’s words seemed unguarded. She was simply responding to his question.
Then, as if realizing she may be revealing too much, she frowned and clamped her mouth shut.
“I have to go,” she said. Her expression hardened. “Remember your promise.” She said it as if it was a threat, and then blinked out of existence, leaving behind the popping noise of a bursting cherry balloon and a faint whiff of ozone mixed with her own earthy scent.
From his place on the bridge outside Tempest’s penthouse mansion, it was a little lighter than it had been on the ground. Ty could still see a faint line of blue on the horizon through the New Lincoln cityscape. For a moment, he breathed deeply, simply enjoying the cool air, so different from the frozen nothing he had experienced with Lilith.
Then, his nausea fading and the urgency of Lilith’s message impelling him into action, he headed to the main door.
“Tempest!” he shouted. “Dinah! We are about to be attacked!”
<<<>>>
Tempest met him in the main entryway as soon as the door opened. The blonde superhero was dressed in her usual black, body-hugging costume, and looked as spectacular as ever. She was stunning, a literal bombshell, and even now, even after all they had been through together, the merest sight of her was enough to take Ty’s breath away.
If she hadn’t been a superhero, she could have been a movie star or a model, and it amazed Ty even now that she had chosen to be with him. He would have stood there, just staring at her, drinking in her beauty if his need wasn’t urgent.
“Ty! What’s the matter? How come you’re here?” Her expression was a mixture of puzzlement and concern.
But Ty didn’t want to explain it all twice. “Dinah!” he shouted into the mansion. “I’ll tell you in a moment.” He could understand the superhero’s confusion. She had dropped him off to work at the Concubine Club barely an hour earlier. He hadn’t expected to be able to return until the small hours, or even later if Angie remained true to her nature. For Ty to be back already must have been surprising for her. And for him to suddenly appear outside the mansion, more than four stories up, was beyond unexpected.
They didn’t have to wait very long. Dinah appeared within seconds. Like Tempest, she also wore skin-tight leather, but unlike the blonde superhero, Dinah had covered much of it with an apron. She was sucking on a small lollipop.
Like Tempest, and for that matter like Lilith as well, Dinah was astonishingly beautiful. Darker than Tempest and with an elfin cast to her features, Dinah looked like a forest creature even without the aid of her mods. As it was, the impression was reinforced a hundredfold. Dinah sported a full set of delicate antlers and her legs were those of a doe. She also had pale markings around her eyes, and while it was currently hidden, Ty knew that she had a furry tail she could wiggle.
Dinah was a deerkin, and the opposite of Tempest in nature. Where the blonde superhero tended to react with passion and flair, Dinah was more patient and gentle. Yet she too looked at Ty with an expression of confusion and worry.
She took the lollipop out of her mouth. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Just like with Tempest, Dinah’s simple presence was enough to make Ty gasp. If Tempest was spectacular to look at, then Dinah was amazing. It was as if each of them had been created by a benevolent God to redefine the standards of beauty.
If Ty had been asked to choose between them, he wouldn’t have known what to do.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to. Through an overwhelming, cosmic display of incredible luck, Ty Wilcox, the lowly janitor of the Concubine Club, a twenty-six-year-old man with few prospects in life and a boss who lived to grind him under her heel, was in a relationship with both of them at once.
Ty thought about everything that had happened. He wanted to tell them everything, but there just wasn’t time. So he skipped to the important part. “There’s another attack coming. Bain’s boss – the Master, he’s called – he still wants our devices, and he has men to burn. They aren’t taking the time to regroup. They’re on their way.”
Tempest and Dinah both spoke at once. “Attack? Where? When?” Tempest demanded, her eyes narrowing as if in response to a threat. Dinah was more thoughtful. “How do you know?” she asked. The way she said it wasn’t an accusation. She was just interested in his source of information.
“Here! Now!” Ty said. “I’ll fill you in later.”
The two spectacular women shared a glance that Ty couldn’t interpret. It was as if they were privy to some secret communication that they both understood on a cellular level. Tempest gave a short nod, and just like that, Dinah spun on her heels.
“I’ll find them,” she said cryptically, and waved the lollipop at them as she left them alone in the entryway.
“Are you armed?” Tempest asked.
Ty had all but forgotten that he’d left his modified blaster somewhere in the alley behind the Concubine Club. He knew it was far too late to think of retrieving it then, but he didn’t have to. He’d given one of his modified blasters to Dinah so she could protect herself, but the third one was waiting for him beside Tempest’s bed.
He’d left it there when he got ready for
work only because he was already hiding his mesh suit, energy converters, and another blaster beneath his shirt. Or Zach’s shirt, to be more precise. While the dead superhero’s clothing was loose enough that it still fit, Ty didn’t want to push his luck. There were already more than enough unnatural bulges beneath the fabric that would be hard to explain.
And besides, he figured that a single blaster should have been enough. He was just going to work, after all. It was simply ironic that he had been proved wrong.
“I will be in a moment,” he said, and took off at a run.
He found the blaster on the side table where he left it and tucked it into his belt. He also found Gremlin, his cat, curled into a dark ball of fur on the bed. She looked up at him as he turned to go and gave him a questioning, “Meow?”
Despite his urgency, Ty couldn’t help but grin. He had taken her with him when Bain and Tempest had crashed through the wall of the apartment Ty shared with Brad. The cat had really made herself at home in the mansion.
Ty reached out and scratched Gremlin’s head for a moment, and was pleasantly surprised when she leaned into his hand and started to purr.
“Sorry, Furball,” Ty said. “I have to go. Look after Dinah while I’m away, okay?”
As if in response, Gremlin stood and stretched, then settled herself back down. Then Ty was gone, hurrying through the mansion back to where he’d left Tempest.
“I’m ready. What’s the plan?”
In matters of heroism and danger, Ty deferred to Tempest automatically. She was by far the most experienced superhero on the team. And she was the strongest. Her power gave her enhanced strength and durability, she was fast and she could fly. She was as close to the archetype of a superhero as it was possible to get, and much of that was due to her ability to manipulate energy.
But the blonde superhero didn’t need to answer. An alert sounded on both of Ty’s and Tempest’s devices at once. Ty hadn’t yet moved Tempest’s device back to her wrist. It was currently wrapped around her ankle, which made it less practical when responding to calls. Instead of attempting an awkward, one-legged hop, Tempest simply waited for Ty to answer his.
