“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
Synopsis:
It’s been four years since John and Meka swapped bodies, battled wicked witches and Necromancers, and became lifelong friends. After returning to their original bodies the two moved on with their lives. John, choosing to ignore his Seer gift has become a Guardian-Warlock of the St. Louis Great Coven. He met Elaine, the daughter of the Witch and Warlock who trained him, fell in love and got married. Meka moved to London to work for Gwendolyn ó Beaglaoich as a reseracher of the Eldrich. Over the years Meka has made a name for herself as one of the most skilled Witches developing new spells and discovering new unique applications of magic.
After the events in Cancun, Mexico, the shadow war between the Society of the Gifted and the Syndicate of the Eldritch become full open warfare. While the Society is still trying to hide the fact that magic exists from the mundane population the Syndicate has no such constraint.
John and Meka are soon swept up in events far beyond their control. The Society trying to lead the idiosyncratic communities of magic and defeat the Syndicate is playing catch up – and losing. When John and Meka learn what the Syndicate plans, it becomes a race against time to save the very world from an unthinkable horror.
Magic, war, love, sex, possession, body-theft, and gender swapping all complicate the situation in this final book about John and Meka.
“No Greater Love” (John 15:13)
By Zapper
Synopsis:
It’s been four years since John and Meka swapped bodies, battled wicked witches and Necromancers, and became lifelong friends. After returning to their original bodies the two moved on with their lives. John, choosing to ignore his Seer gift has become a Guardian-Warlock of the St. Louis Great Coven. He met Elaine, the daughter of the Witch and Warlock who trained him, fell in love and got married. Meka moved to London to work for Gwendolyn ó Beaglaoich as a reseracher of the Eldrich. Over the years Meka has made a name for herself as one of the most skilled Witches developing new spells and discovering new unique applications of magic.
After the events in Cancun, Mexico, the shadow war between the Society of the Gifted and the Syndicate of the Eldritch become full open warfare. While the Society is still trying to hide the fact that magic exists from the mundane population the Syndicate has no such constraint.
John and Meka are soon swept up in events far beyond their control. The Society trying to lead the idiosyncratic communities of magic and defeat the Syndicate is playing catch up – and losing. When John and Meka learn what the Syndicate plans, it becomes a race against time to save the very world from an unthinkable horror.
Magic, war, love, sex, possession, body-theft, and gender swapping all complicate the situation in this final book about John and Meka.
Author Note:
1: My dear friend Brittany Cosco, aka – Mekalicious, Mekalicious Soulstorm, and Meka passed away in February 2016. She was in her early 30s and died from complications arising from a surgery she’d had earlier in 2015. Brittany was a brilliant woman with a rapier-like wit, a dry sarcastic sense of humor, and was generous to a fault. She loved to write and edit and knew far more about this art than I ever will. Her light was snuffed out too early and I miss her deeply. I wrote this story, and submit it for your enjoyment, as a tribute to Brittany.
2: Brittany loved possession and body-swapping stories. She was a huge fan of erotica, action, and suspense. I’ve tried to capture these elements in this story.
3: Not all the tags selected apply to each chapter. They apply to the story as a whole. This story has 13 chapters and is complete. I plan to post a chapter per day.
4: Lastly, I wanted to give BobH, Eric, and Doc VS a shout out for their friendship and beta reading. A VERY special thank you to Mr. 20” Biceps. He encouraged me, discussed ideas with me, and stayed after me to make sure this story was written. His Beta and Proof reading are always invaluable but his friendship has been worth more than all the rest.
*************************************** Chapter 1 *Meka* ***************************************
The early morning sunlight streaming through the trees lit up the world in a riot of color and natural beauty. Fall in Hyde Park is gorgeous, but Meka wasn’t enjoying the splendor as she jogged along the lakeshore trail. Instead, she focused on the music, Evanescence, blasting from her earbuds, as a distraction from her racing heart, the cramp in her side, her raw throat, and her annoyance with John. ‘Stupid, man, why did I have to promise him to run every day until our annual cookout?’ she thought. Then she pushed the thought away. John was just trying to get her to be a healthier, he’d always been a bit OCD about working out. Still, she hated to admit, he was probably right. She’d put on fifteen pounds in the three years she’d been living in the United Kingdom.
The trail moved into a slight incline and Meka lowered her head focusing on running, ‘Not much farther,’ she thought. Even though her body ached Meka put on a burst of speed sprinting the last hundred meters. Once the park entrance was less than a dozen meters away she slowed to a stop and bent-over gasping for breath. Meka could feel the sweat running down her back and even though she’d pushed herself she felt good. ‘Maybe, John has a point with all this working-out he obsesses about. Not that I’ll tell him.’
Abruptly, Meka felt a shiver run through her and the crystal, hidden behind her eyepatch, tingled. “W-What?” she gasped looking around. Slowly, trying not to be obvious, Meka scanned the area. She knew better than to overreact to the touch of a questing. With her right eye, her normal eye, she looked at the people who inevitably hung out around the park entrance. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary she shifted her focus to her left eye, and lifted the eyepatch. Behind her eyepatch was her most prized possession. The Cavanaugh Crystal, her focus object, was almost a one of a kind and it gave her an unusual kind of sight. All witches and warlocks used a bonded crystal as a focus object but the few surviving crystals made by the High Sorceress Shirley Cavanaugh were particularly prized. Mistress Cavanaugh had been a virtuoso at crafting crystal focus objects. Meka smirked remembering Victor’s reaction to her current use of her focus object.
“Meka, that crystal is special! You can’t use it like that!” He’d sputtered, going a little red around the ears, when he’d learned she was using it, not only as her focus, but as an artificial eye. The world shifted as she concentrated on using her witch-sight and then peered through her crystal. Colors seemed to intensify and the world simply felt more, “real.” As if a dull film and been lifted and she could see things as they truly were. As Meka scanned each person she took note of the unique glow that surrounded them. Everyone has an aura, unique and identifiable, by studying an aura there were many things that Meka could learn about a person. Now, however, she was interested in checking for anything odd or supernatural. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary Meka allowed the patch to fall back into place and dismissed her witch-sight.
Still remembering the indignant reaction by Victor, to her use of her crystal, brought a quirking smile to the corners of Meka’s sensual lips. It was a terrible habit, yet she just couldn’t resist pushing his buttons, he was just so formal, so . . . stuffy! As if the thought of the elderly Warlock was enough to summon him Meka felt a buzzing in the back of her mind and the ghostly image of Victor swam into view. With a sigh Meka moved to one side of the path and with a minor effort of “Will” pulled magic through her crystal. “Accipite,” she whispered, using the Latin word she knew Victor preferred, allowing Victor’s spell to take effect. In essence, she’d just answered his call.
The ghostly image seemed to fill in, become more solid, more . . . real. Although, Meka knew she was the only one who could see or hear Victor it still felt like she was talking to an imaginary friend.
“Meka, apprentice, it’s been too long since we spoke. How are you?”
“I’m fine,” Meka replied softly, so no one else would overhear her and think she was a crazy woman talking to herself. “You know I’m not your apprentice, right? I mean, Gwendolyn practically dragged me to London to train me, and that was four years ago.”
“Ah, yes, my apologies, old habits die hard. In my day, an apprentice only had one master, no matter who he or she went to study with later in life. The Master-Apprentice bond is a lifelong bond.” As if sensing Meka’s annoyance Victor hurried on, “Meka, I just wanted you to know that I’m proud of you.”
“Gee, thanks. Now, why are you contacting me with magic? You could have used a cell phone for this conversation. What’s going on?”
“Are you aware of the attack on Cancun?”
“You mean the singularly stupid thing the Syndicate did, that declared war on the Society? The action that almost blew our cover with the mundane population and caused no less than three Great Covens plus, I have no idea how many, Sorcerers and Wizards to create the fake hurricane as a ruse. As well as having to alter, lord only knows, how many people’s memories . . . Yeah, that kind of thing is hard to miss.” Meka couldn’t help the bit of sarcasm that snuck into her voice. “Look, I’m in public, can this wait until I get home?”
There was a pause and then a sigh, “I would like to say yes, but when I use a phone to call you, you let that idiotic voice mail pickup. Then you never return my calls. With you, sendings seem more reliable. We need to talk for a few minutes.”
“Okay, fine, but I’m gonna stretch while you talk.” Then Meka moved into a lunge with her left leg in front and bent and her right leg locked out, stretching her right Achilles.
“As you know the attack was a Declaration of War.”
“Wait one second. I don’t get that. The Syndicate is at war with the Society. Fine, but we’re witches. We’re organized into Circles and Covens. I’m not a member of any, Society,” as she said this Meka stood up, made air quotes, and switched legs.
Looking exasperated Victor shook his head. “Didn’t you ever get around to reading those history books on Witchcraft, the Rise of the Covens, and Basic Coven Government? Those books are the foundational civics guidance for how Covens function in the modern world!”
Meka moved to sit on the ground with her heels together and pressed down on her knees. “Fine. Whatever. I was, and still am, more interested in learning the principles of magic and creating new spells.” Then when Victor didn’t say anything she shrugged her shoulders, “Can you please just get to the point? People are starting to stare, and I need to get home and then get to the lab. We just took delivery of several new artifacts and Gwendolyn wants me to do the initial assessment.”
“As you wish,” Victor responded. “You are still a member of the Louisville Great Coven. We are allied with the American Society of the Gifted. Our Society has alliances with the Societies in Europe, Central, and South America. The Attack on Cancun is, by treaty, an attack on our Society therefore we are obligated to fight.”
Meka shook her head and stood up. “We’ve been over this. I reject the idea that I must participate in this war nonsense. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
“Meka!”
The urgency in Victor’s voice caused her to pause. “You can reject it all you want. It doesn’t matter. You are KNOWN. Your reputation has spread through the Eldritch community these last few years, and that means you’ll be seen by the enemy as a high value target. I understand you do not wish to fight, but at least protect yourself!”
Meka nodded, still more than a little annoyed and touched her eyepatch. “Yeah, I hear ya, Vic. I remember the last time someone came after me. War or no war, trust me, I’ll take care of myself.” With that she broke the connection. Then Meka looked around. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying her any attention.
The trip to her flat was uneventful, even if Victor’s message had left her feeling nervous and jumpy. For a while she thought a sexy Asian girl with kinda of a femme fatale look had been following her, but when she ducked into the train station to use the tube the girl disappeared. ‘God, now Victor’s got me jump at shadows,’ Meka thought.
Back home Meka hurried through her normal routine getting cleaned up. She tossed her clothes in the general direction of the laundry basket. Once naked she went into the bathroom to get the shower turned on and heating up. The old buildings in the city looked fantastic but ancient pipes and tiny water heaters were annoying. While waiting Meka made a quick side trip to the kitchen for a beer. She took a sip and looked at the tiny brunette in the full length mirror attached to the back of the bathroom door.
“The running is paying off.” she mused, turning from side to side so she could look at her now tight waist, toned legs, and firm ass. “I guess I’m going to have to thank John, after all.” Then she wrinkled her nose at her extra pale complexion. “Living in England has done nothing to improve my color. I could be a vamp with this complexion.” Setting the beer on the edge of the sink Meka stepped onto the scale. “Eight point nine two stone.” She paused mentally doing the conversion, “That’s about one hundred twenty-five pounds. Five more pounds and I’ll be back to my pre-UK weight.” Then stepping off the scale Meka took another sip of beer before peering into the mirror. She used both hands to cup and lift her breasts giving them critical once over.
Annoyingly, she’d gone up at least a cup size over the last two years. Now most of her bras were either painfully tight or simply unwearable. “I thought that when I lost that weight some of it would be up here!” she groused. “What’s the point of having bigger boobs when there’s no one to play with them?” Then noticing the steam coming from the shower she quickly adjusted the temperature grabbed her beer and shower cap and got in. For the next ten minutes Meka let the hot water massage sore muscles while the alcohol worked its magic, relaxing her.
***
The cool air hit Meka like a wall as she stepped into the lobby of the New World Research Institute. As cover names go, for Coven owned enterprises, this one wasn’t too bad. “Hi, George.” Meka tried to project a cheerfulness she didn’t really feel. George, the elderly looking security guard glanced up from the bank of monitors that surrounded his desk, “Hi, Ms. Petrucci, got stuck with another Saturday shift, I see.”
“No rest for the wicked.”
“Ha! In that case what’s a sweet lady like yourself doing here on a Saturday?”
“Just whipping up a little magic.” Meka replied, giving the retired Royal Marine a flirtatous wink and a mocking smile.
“Oh? Is that what goes on these days at institutes dedicated to the pursuit of science?” There was a beep as George pushed the button that opened the glass door Meka was facing.
“You know it.” Meka replied thinking about how exasperated Victor would be at her telling George she was there do to magic. George was a mundane security guard in his mid-fifties and telling him the truth, a truth he’d never believe, struck Meka’s sense of humor. Pulling out her ID card Meka turned to her right to face a digital pad mounted on the wall. Meka held her ID card up to the pad and after a moment there was a beep. The pad turned from red to green and the image on the touch sensative screen was a photo of Meka from a year earlier. From when she’d transferred from the publishing house to the research institute. Next to the digital photo, on the screen appeard a one inch by one inch box. Meka pressed her index finger against the pad within the box and this time when it beeped she saw the screen change to give her a key-pad. Meka typed in her six didgit PIN and there was another beep as the glass door to her left slid open.
Moving quickly down the hall past the staff cafeteria, empty and dark since it was a Saturday, to the bank of elevators Meka pushed the down button. Tapping her foot impatiently she waited, staring at her reflection in the stainless steel and glass doors. Even though it was a Saturday and her preference was to dress down, there was a certain expectation for how one should look at work. Gwendolyn had drilled this into her when she’d first come to work in the UK. Since she didn’t expect to run into anyone from management Meka had oppted for a pair of khaki capris, a light weight white sleevless top and sandals with just a bit of heel. Over this last year she’d grown her dark redish-brown hair out so that it was now just past her shoulders. The look said, “casual” but not jeans and t-shirt casual.
Just then the elevator doors slid open. Meka stepped inside and hit the button that read LL3 for lower level 3. ‘Why is it that the Coven thinks all of the most interesting magic needs to be explored underground?’ Meka thought and then answered her own question. ‘Because sixty feet of earth will contain any mistakes and prevent the public from knowing what happened.’ The ride down to the magical research floor took only a few seconds and when the elevator came to a smooth stop the doors slid open. Meka excited the elevator and saw that the Developmental Science and Research Division (DS&RD) was bustling with activity. The research institute had six divisions, five of which were dedicated to mundane scientific research projects. They typically didn’t work weekends. The exception to this rule was DS&RD. The division covertly dedicated to working out the laws of magic. Conducting magical experiments on the weekends when no one else was in the building was one of their Standard Operating Procedures.
“Hey, Meka.” A middle-aged balding Warlock from Wisconsin said, with a wave, as he rushed past.
“Hi, Simon.”
Meka turned toward her lab and felt a little irritated, she didn’t have a project to test today. There was no reason she couldn’t be doing this on Monday. “No reason except Gwendolyn asked me to evaluate these artifacts as soon as possible.” Reaching her office Meka held her ID card next to the key pad and when it beeped she typed in her PIN. The door clicked and she pushed it open flipping on the lights and then moving to the key pad next the door. She quickly typed a security access PIN that de-armed the room. “No reason, except you’ve become a victim of your own success.” Then she sighed, “If I’m lucky this will only take an hour or two.”
The room was one of the larger laboratories in the institute. Meka now had a full-time staff supporting her that consisted of an administrative assistant and three research witches. Documenting new spells, cataloging magical principles, filling out time cards, processing request forms for additional resources, spell components, and artifacts or tools needed for an experiment was a full-time job for a young witch. The idea of needing a secretary to help with the administrative burden of having her own lab had made Meka laugh when she’d first been told that one was going to be assigned. Now, she had no idea how she’d manage the Lab without Grant. In addition to Grant, Meka’s three research assistants were invaluable. Adam was the senior assistant having been with her for almost two years and then there was Barbra and Holton.
Meka moved through the Lab noting that the pentagram cut into the concrete floor needed cleaning. ‘Barbra must have used it last,’ she thought, annoyed at Barbra’s tendency to be untidy. The lab was designed to provide a large open space in the middle with desks and work benches along the walls. Grant’s desk was closest to the door and Meka noted that it was obsessively clean and well organized. In fact, Barbra’s messiness had caused Grant to complain to Meka more than once. Moving through the main area she headed to her office which was the only part of the lab that had been walled off from the main area. Having her own office gave her some privacy for meetings, telephone conferences, conducting research projects, and for the more difficult spell casting.
Entering her office Meka flicked her hand toward the light switch and said, “On,” with a minor effort of will, causing it to flip-up. Bright light filled the comfy office and Meka let out a sigh. This was her space, her sanctum, the one place on earth where she could explore and test the limits of magic without having to conform to other people’s expectations.
She tossed her purse onto the sofa along one wall as she moved to her desk and smirked when she spotted Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Jack standing guard by her keyboard. The, “My Little Pony” toys had been with her for years and they gave her office a certain feel of, “home” that no simple photo ever would. Then she spotted the package left on a workbench to one side.
“No reason not to be comfortable while I work.” Meka said, kicking off her sandals and enjoying the feeling of the deep soft rug under her toes before she moved toward the package. “Gwendolyn, what have you got for me?”
The package was a cardboard box wrapped in innocuous brown paper and tied up with a simple string. Meka quickly opened it and then looked down at the contents. Slowly, she reached up and tossed her eye patch to one side and brought up her witch-sight. The three objects within the box glowed with magical power.
Each object had been individually wrapped and even through the wrappings Meka could sense the magic. Meka moved over to her desk and pulled out a pair of gloves specifically enchanted to insulate her from unintended effects of an artifact. With great care she reached into the box and pulled out the largest object. When she unwrapped it Meka saw that she was holding a hoop of metal slightly too large to be a bracelet. All around the outside of the hoop glyphs had been etched into the metal.
“Hmmmm, what kind of metal is this?”
Meka sat it to one side. Whatever it was the power of the hoop was currently dormant. Next she carefully lifted out an object that turned out to be a crystal the size of a golf ball. “Mhmmmm, spirit and mind magic in almost equal parts. I wonder if a Witch and a Psi-Lord worked together on it,” she noted as she unwrapped the crystal. Looking at it she could feel its power tugging at the edges of her mental shields, with a shudder she set the crystal aside. A feeling of malevolence washed over her and Meka pushed more power into her shields.
“Whatever you are, you’re dangerous.”
Meka shook her head, she could feel beads of sweat forming, and had to resist the urge to wipe her hands on her pants to remove the ill-feels the crystal had given her. She was tempted to start an examination of the dark crystal but instead returned to the box.
The last object was a crystal, about the size of a baseball and it glowed with an icy green color when she picked it up. Meka almost dropped it in surprise. Even though she was wearing gloves she could sense that it was predominately a Wizard’s work. She placed it on the workbench not too far from the smaller crystal. “Gwen, what the hell have you given me?” After considering the three objects she returned to the box and spotted a letter lying in the bottom. Meka picked it up and recognized Gwendolyn’s hand writing.
Meka, The items in the box arrived from America two days ago. The hoop is an artifact the Great Coven in Seattle was researching. They think that it’s a gate of some type, but the Seattle Coven lacked the expertize to unlock it. The crystal is from Mexico before the Syndicate’s attack. Do what you can this weekend. I’d like to discuss the objects with you on Monday. Respectfully, Gwen
Meka read the letter twice, frowning at the puzzle. It wasn’t that it was odd to be asked to look at an artifact, but the note had indicated a single crystal. It wasn’t often that Gwen misspoke or forgot a part of a task. Meka shrugged dismissing the use of the singular as an oversight. During the past year Meka knew she’d proven she was one of the best magical researchers around. It was a bit strange that a Great Coven, like the Seattle Coven, lacked the resources to solve this mystery. Then there were the crystals. Gwen had said they were from Mexico and had been part of the set of crystals the Society had recovered from the Syndicate. Most thought that the Syndicate’s attack had burned down the Society buildings, destroying the facility. This was true, with what looked like a few exceptions.
Deciding to ignore the crystals for the moment, Meka focused on the hoop. There were several things that were odd about it. The first was its weight. It looked like a thin ring of copper with some glyph’s etched into the surface. But holding it, Meka guessed that it must weigh at least ten pounds. Then there was the metal. Initially, she’d guessed copper, but now she wasn’t sure. Meka carried the hoop over to an uncluttered part of her workbench. There were several tests she wanted to run but she started by taking pictures of each glyph with the digital camera she kept for this purpose. Then she moved to her desk and loaded the images to her computer.
“What kind of runes are these?” She mused. “Babylonian? Assyrian? Egyptian?”
Focusing on the task at hand Meka failed to notice the first crystal spin around as if orienting on her. From within the depths of the crystal an eye came into focus and the eye locked onto Meka as she worked on deciphering the runes.
***
“Are you sure this will work?”
“Just lay back and hold the crystal.”
“We don’t even know if anyone’s going to work on it today.” The tiny, Asian looking woman replied, before settling onto the bed. Then she extended her hand for the large dark, ominous looking crystal.
“Our agent planted the crystal in with others scheduled to be examined.” The youth, with her, in the shabby hotel room said. He couldn’t have been older than twenty or twenty-one yet he had an air of mature authority about him. This was in complete contrast to the unruly mope of multicolored hair, the nose, lip, and tongue piercings and the post apocalypse studded black leather clothes he wore. Instead, of extending the crystal he held in a fingerless gloved hand he offered the woman an evil looking ceremonial dagger. “You know what to do?”
“Yeah, this body might not have any magical gifts, but I’ve worked for Mr. Drake long enough. You need blood, right?” The youth nodded. She took the knife and sliced a palm open with only a slight grimace at the pain. “Who will I become this time?” she asked holding out her wounded hand while dropping the knife to one side.
“I thought you didn’t care, as long as your new body is magically active?” With that the youth placed the orb firmly into the woman’s bleeding palm.
“I don’t. Although, even though I’ve become accustomed to being female, given a choice I’d prefer a male form.” Then the crystal flared and her body went rigid. The youth watched with an eager look on his face as an eye appeared within the crystal. The eye seemed to look around spinning in a full circle before orienting on something.
“Well, old friend, sorry to disappoint you, but you’ll soon be wearing another woman’s body.” Then with a smirk he settled down to watch.
***
After two hours Meka leaned back and rubbed her temples trying to ease the headache that had crept up on her while she’d been focused on her research. “Damn migraine. It’s been months since I had one, and I get one today?” Then looking at the hoop she couldn’t help feeling satisfied, “A gate. I think,” then with a sense of excitement, she picked up the hoop and walked to the open area in the center of her office. Setting the hoop on the floor she stepped back and took several deep centering breaths. Doing her best to block out the pain in her mind she dropped her mental shields and drew upon her power.
The crystal in her eye-socket flared as she pulled magic in through her focus item, and then she concentrated on the hoop. “Croître!” The word echoed strangely around the chamber as Meka forced her “Will” and the magic she’d collected allowing the word to trigger the spell. The glyphs on the hoop lit up with a white fire and it respond by growing. In seconds, it doubled in size and then doubled again, by the time the light died from the glyphs Meka was looking at a circle twelve feet in diameter.
“Step one, complete. Now, to see if I can open the Way to a Shadow World.” Meka said feeling excited and ignored the pounding in her temple. Behind her the smaller crystal, and the eye trapped within, remained focused, watching her every movement.
***
Abruptly, the petite Asian woman in black leather, shuddered and her eyes flew, sightlessly, open. “I-I see a woman. She’s in some kind of office or maybe a lab.” Then the woman on the bed hissed, “This is that Meka girl you had me following around?! She’s the one with the unusual gift for magical research.” The tiny woman on the bed seemed to shudder, “Damn you. I DON’T want to be a woman, again!”
“Sorry, Max, these are Drake’s orders. Be Meka, or die.” With that he picked up the wicked looking knife from where Max had dropped it and plunged it into her heart. The ruby crystal on the dagger’s pommel filled the room with red light. The body on the bed convulsed as the enchanted dagger did its job, converting the life energy within the woman to the manna needed to power the spell.
“Fuck you. I’m not going to die!” Max gasped and then blood leaked from the side of her mouth. A fine dark mist floated up from her mouth, ears, and nose to form a slight cloud and then the cloud was sucked into the pulsing crystal held now in her lifeless hand.
“Any time you want, Max, baby.” The youth laughed reaching down to grab the cock between his legs. “I’ve only owned this thing for a few months and I’d love to see what it feels like to use it on a woman.” Then giggling the former woman, Ilse Hirsch, watched as the crystal glowed brighter and brighter. At last the light forced him to look away and cover his eyes. After a minute the light faded and when he looked back the body of Elvira Chen was nothing more than a pile of dust.
***
Meka nearly bursting with power gave one last look at the glyph she wanted to use, oblivious to the shadowy mist that flew up and out of the crystal behind her. The mist coalesced into the shape of a large man. The man paused as if trying to collect his bearings and then he oriented on Meka as she drew upon her power.
There were twelve glyphs etched into the ring and if Meka was right each glyph opened a Way to a Shadow World. The glyph she’d picked opened a path to a place called “Summer” and she was sure it was the land of the Summer Fae. Just as she opened her mouth to speak the Word a cold presence slammed into her causing her to stumble. Looking back over her shoulder she saw what looked like a man made entirely of darkness. One of the man’s hands was wrapped tightly around her neck and she reached up to grab his arm only to have her hand pass through it. Then he leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers in a hideous parody of a kiss.
Cold energy flooded into her and Meka wanted to cough but was caught and then she felt him, in her mind. ‘Hello, pretty, you feel strong.’ The words were enough to shake her out of her shock and using the power she’d just collected Meka threw her Will at the being.
‘NO!’
The shout echoed in her mind and what felt like liquid fire burned along her veins pushing the darkness back. ‘W-What?! This is impossible.’ The being’s surprise gave Meka a brief opening and she surged forward.
‘Get OUT!’
Again, energy flared within her body and Meka’s vision cleared enough for her to see the dark mist pouring out of her begin to shift once more into a roughly human shape.
‘I will NOT BE DENIED!’
The voice roared through the vault of Meka’s mind and she tried to bring up her mental shields but something was preventing her. In desperation, she took a breath and the mist poured back into her, filling her lungs. Meka sank to her knees trying to draw power up through her crystal but there was a presence in her mind. An awareness, that somehow managed to block her connection to her focus item. ‘You will not get me with the same attack twice, bitch!’
‘Maybe not, asshole, but I’m still going to stop you!’ Then Meka threw her entire will at the creature. ‘I will d-destroy you.’
For an eternity, it felt like Meka was wrestling with a Boa Constrictor. There didn’t seem to be a beginning or an end to this entity and the more she fought the tighter and tighter it squeezed. Then like a bubble popping the pressure was gone. At first Meka just gasped, happy that the pain had also disappeared.
Then she felt her body move even though she’d not direct it to move. She sat up and watched as her hands came up, brushing hair back from her face, and she felt her body shudder and start to laugh. “Damn, bitch, or maybe I should say, Meka. You put up one hell of a fight!”
‘No, no, no!’ Meka shouted throwing her “will” uselessly against the unseen barrier that held her mind, a prisoner within her own body. Slowly, her body stood up and Meka felt her hands move to her chest, the exploration was quick and thorough.
“Mmmm, I’m bigger now than I was as Elvira. Although, I’m still a useless woman . . . I wonder.”
To Meka’s surprise she felt the person in control of her body pull on the power of her crystal and the clean, pure, energy of life and chaos flooded into her. Acting quickly Meka managed to draw a bit, just a tiny fraction, a dribble, of power into her prison. She watched as her hand extended palm up, “Lumen.” Meka felt the energy within her body flow out forming a tight ball the size of a softball then it went incandescent filling the room with a bright red-white light.
“HA! It worked. I’m a witch!”
Meka watched with growing horror as her body dismissed the Witch-Light with a flick of her wrist. Meka felt her body spin around and after looking around the room she sensed frustration from the being controlling her. “Not a single mirror in this office? What kind of woman doesn’t have a mirror in her office?”
‘The kind that’s worried about it being used as a window to scry me, or as a vector through which to attack me.’ Meka thought angrily.
“Well, let me think there must be a restroom around here.”
Meka heard the comment and felt confused then, abruptly, she felt a kind of tingling along her imprisoned mind.
“Ah, yes, outside and down the hall to the left.”
With a growing feeling of horror, she realized that whoever it was who’d taken control of her body could access her memories. Feeling desperate she watched as her body secured the lab and headed to the lady’s room. It was almost a relief to see that no one else was in the room. The person in control of her body moved to the mirror and she watched as her body checked itself out. Slender fingers brushed feather light over her face and then moved lower.
“Not bad, nose is a little long, mouth a touch too large, but still quite pretty.” her voice mused and Meka couldn’t resist a sarcastic, ‘I’m glad you approve.’ not that the invader could hear her. The exploring hands moved lower, shoulders, arms, breasts waist and hips the inventory was almost cursory. Then when they reached her crotch Meka started to feel her body respond.
“Oohhhh . . . I’ve got a much more sensitive pussy. . . a more sexually active body.” her voice noted in a husky tone. Then her small hands started stroking her crotch and Meka felt the soft ache begin to build.
‘No, no, no, no! Stop this!’ she shouted silently and again threw her will at the unseen walls of her prison.
“This is going to be fun.” Her body noted in a sultry tone. Then as if making a decision her body moved to one of the stalls quickly dropping Meka’s capris and panties. The cold air hitting her soft nether region only seemed to entice her captor. Using one hand she softly rubbed Meka’s recently shaved pussy and gasped as it responded, lips opening like the petals of a precious flower. The soft ache had become a moist fire and Meka couldn’t help moaning from within her prison as one carnal sensation washed through her body after another. Slender, delicate, fingers pushed inside, feeling, questing, exploring while a second hand pinched and caressed Meka’s soft breasts. She gasped and couldn’t tell if it was the person controlling her body or if it was her.
Meka felt shaken to her core as her body walked back to her lab. There had to be something she could do, she refused to accept the fact that she was completely powerless, a prisoner within her own mind. Her determination to find a solution grew as she watched her captor open the lab without missing a beat. Once in her office she felt her body walk to her desk and sit down. Her hand reached out and picked up the phone and dialed a number.
It rang once and then a man answered, “Maxwell Jackson?”
“Yeah, Ilse, I’m in . . . in more ways than one.”
“Excellent and you have the items?”
Meka felt shocked, ‘I’m being possessed by a man?!’ They way her captor had referred to her vagina, as being more sensitive, she’d assumed it was another woman in control. Her anger and humiliation at the way he’d just used her body blossomed and Meka vowed she’d end him if was the last thing she ever did.
Meka felt her eyes move around the room, noting the crystals and the Gate, “Of course. Everything is in place.” Then she felt that same tingling sensation and knew Max was accessing her memories, “As usual Mr. Drake picked the perfect target. This Meka Petrucci is close to the Grand Witch, Gwendolyn ó Beaglaoich, it should be a simple matter to get in and end her.”
Meka shivered form within her prision and for a few seconds stopped listening. This was the danger Victor had tried to warn her about, an attack by the Syndicate, because she’d become a well known witch. Except that it was more than that. This attack was actually directed at Gwen and Meka was just the tool. Meka wanted to scream, to shout, to do anything to force some kind of a reaction but Max was in complete control and oblivious to her existence.
“Excellent. I’ll see you soon.”
The man’s voice brought Meka back to the conversation that she’d missed and she watched as Max hung up the phone. Max looked at her computer and again there was a tingling sensation, and Max typed in her password. He seemed intent on looking through Meka’s schedule and her current projects. Meka felt one brief tingling sensation after another as the man controling her body grew more accustomed with searching her memories.
‘If this keeps up, he’ll be able to fool anyone into thinking he’s really me. He’ll be able to take over my life.’ The thought was horrifying, ‘I’ve got to do something, but what can I do without a body?’ Then she felt the small thread of power she’d captured. ‘I wonder if . . .’ unable to move her eyes Meka knew from memory where her My Little Ponies stood on the desk. ‘Dash, Pinkie, Apple Jack I enchanted you in case of an emergency . . . I think this constitutes an emergency. Don’t fail me now.’ Meka concentraited with her whole being on the spell and filled her mind with the image of Rainbow Dash. ‘Transmettre!’ she thought pushing out with all the magic she’d captured.
*John, help me!*
The burst of energy was so tiny Meka didn’t know if it would work and her eyes were locked on the screen of her computer. Outside Meka’s field of view Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened and glowed a light blue. Even though Meka couldn’t see the pony she felt the power she’d stored in the toy respond, and then felt the spell activate.
“What?”
Abruptly, Meka’s head turned, her hair whipping around as Max scanned the room for the source of the magic he’d just felt. When Max’s eyes dropped to the desk, Meka felt a spark of excitement, there were only two toy ponies standing watch. “Must have been my imagination. I’m getting jumpy.” Meka heard her own voice say. A surge of delight rushed through her, he hadn’t noticed that Rainbow Dash was missing. ‘I hope this works.’ Meka thought and then focused on trying to access her crystal. ‘I might not be able to move, but I can cast. Even if it’s weak, at the right moment, it might be enough.’ The idea that Max wouldn’t know what hit him until it was too late filled her with hope!
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
*************************************** Chapter 2 *John* ***************************************
Shadows filled the parking lot outside Celebrations Bar & Grill with an almost liquid quality. The flashing lights from the club mixed with the steady light of the street lamps and mercury lights in the parking lot giving the night and odd arrangement of textures. The sounds of music and laughter danced out into the darkness in short bursts, as the doors to the bar opened and closed. John leaned back relaxing into the leather comfort of the driver’s seat of the van the St. Louis Great Coven had provided. As a Guardian Warlock John and his team preferred to use larger vehicles like the van or an SUV.
“He’s not going to show.”
The bored sounding voice belonged to Ben, “Don’t-call-me-Benjamin” Lavin, John’s new trainee and partner. John didn’t turn his head to look at the youth, choosing to keep his eyes out, scanning the area around the bar.
“Maybe he’ll show, maybe he won’t. That’s the thing about criminals, they’re not exactly reliable.”
John lifted the Styrofoam cup and blew on the hot coffee before taking a sip. The scent of the bitter black liquid reminded John of other times, drinking coffee in the field with other teammates. He’d been younger then, fresh out of high school, and ready to take on any challenge. That was before he’d learned what death looked like, up close, in the real world.
“Leave it.” John said, as Ben reached forward to turn the radio on. “We don’t need the distraction.”
“Awe, come on dude, this shit is boring.”
John reached over and rolled the window down just enough to let a bit of the hot humid air. “All stakeouts are boring, until they aren’t. And I’m not a, “Dude.” I’m your trainer. If you don’t settle down I’ll send you home and you can explain to Sarah how you couldn’t sit still for a simple stakeout.”
John turned his head to look at the skinny kid sitting shotgun. Ben reminded John of a puppy who hadn’t reached his full growth, all ears and paws. For a second Ben glared at John and then looked down, sort of, deflating.
“Fine, I get it. No need to talk to the regional commander. This is just part of the job.” Then added under his breath, “But you don’t have to be a dick about it.”
Rather than acknowledge that he’d heard the comment John looked out scanning the night around them. He touched the Cavanaugh crystal mounted on the end of what looked like a cane. John drew power up through the crystal and then expanded his senses. The front of the club seemed to telescope forward and John could pick out each person standing in line waiting to go in, with perfect clarity. None of them were the target. The sounds of music, cars, and the buzz of conversation from the people standing in line seemed normal. The air drifting into the van through the window smelled like tar from the blacktop parking lot with more than a hint of combustion engine.
“If you’re bored you can practice drawing in your magic. Hold as much as possible and then release it. Your Manna-Well is like any other muscle. You need to exercise it.”
“You sound just like one of my tutors from the Coven. I thought being a Guardian was supposed to be exciting.”
“Kid, you want excitement? Join the Army.” John snapped and then glared, “Think about that girl. The one we visited in the psych ward . . . do you think it helps her, that you’re bored? This rogue is using his power on unsuspecting, mundane, women. He’s draining their life energy and raping them and they’re completely defenseless. That girl is twenty-two but she looks like she’s thirty-five and she’s now completely terrified of the dark and cringes away from any human contact. Now. Shut-the-fuck-up and focus!”
Ben looked back for a second stunned at John’s intensity and then gave a quick nod and looked out the window. A part of John knew he was overreacting and it wasn’t his trainee he was angry with. He couldn’t get the image of the girl out of his mind. She’d been in a padded cell, hair like a wild bird’s nest, cringing away as he tried to talk to her, obviously terrified. That one human being could do this to another infuriated John. What made it worse, was that more and more rogue witches and warlocks seemed to be popping up and they were shorthanded.
The St. Louis Great Coven had honored its alliance with the Society. That meant that they were at war with the Syndicate. Sure, it was a shadow war, one intended to remain hidden from the normal human population, but it drew resources. Most of the St. Louis Guardians had left, since they were the Great Coven’s most capable fighters.
Abruptly, the skin on the back of John’s neck prickled and he looked out scanning the darkness. The air felt different than it had a moment ago. The dark magic announced the presence of the rogue warlock with an un-subtle chill.
“You want excitement? Well, Ben, its show time.”
“What?”
John ignored Ben’s startled question and slid out of the van, pausing to grab the backpack behind his seat and, carrying his cane, he scanned the darkness. “Where are you?” he muttered moving through the parking lot trying to appear unremarkable as he headed toward the line of people waiting to get into the bar.
“John. John, wait up.” Ben scurried after John causing him to cringe. “What do you mean, he’s here?”
“Yeah, can’t you feel the magic?” John paused to look at Ben and took a deep breath, under the lights in the parking lot he looked like he was sixteen instead of twenty-two. “It feels like the night just got several degrees colder, the air tastes stale, sort of . . . lifeless. And I can smell a hint of sulfur. Those are all signs of death magic, magic that steals life, but we don’t know what this guy looks like. Remember your training.”
Ben nodded his eyes as big as saucers. “What’s the plan?”
“Follow me and do what I tell you.”
John turned around to face the club as a spike of magic blasted his ethereal senses. In that instant, a vision took him. Lost for a moment to the world around him, John got the image of a shadowy figure carrying a young girl, her arm draped over his shoulder, as he pushed his way through the crowd toward an emergency exit.
When the image faded, John looked over at Ben, “He just took a girl. He’s around back in the alley.” John grabbed Ben’s arm, “Go up the block and come at it from the other end. We can’t let him escape. Move!” With that John took off running for the alley.
At five foot ten and one sixty John wasn’t the biggest guy around, in fact, Ben at six one towered over him, but John was a fitness fanatic. As he sprinted for the alley behind “Celebrations” he quickly outdistanced his taller companion. John reached for his focus item mounted on the cane and the crystal responded. “Celaverimus.”
John used his Will to shape the magic and the Latin Word to release the spell. The veil sprang up and John seemed to vanish. Using magic openly like this was frowned upon, but John knew that anyone who’d been looking wouldn’t believe what they’d seen. They’d come up with a hundred reasons for a man charging through a parking lot, at night, to have disappeared. As he got to the alley John slowed down. The scent of sulphur was stronger.
“Where are you hiding?”
The shadows were darker here and there was a sense of despair that filled the alley. Misery, pain, sorrow, and regret . . . the emotions hit John like a physical blow before he could strengthen his mental shields. The force of the psychic impact staggered him and he had to reach out and steady himself against the side of the building.
‘Fuck! This is no newbie warlock, not with power like this.’ He thought and pulled more magic into his body until his manna-well was full.
“Integumentum”
John poured energy into his physical, spiritual, and mental shields. Then he reached into the backpack and drew his Beretta 92A and dropped the pack, with a heavy thump to the ground.
“Okay, fucker, you’re not getting away this time.”
The alley behind the bar couldn’t have been more than a block long, yet as John moved forward he couldn’t see the far end. Everything slowly turned into an inky darkness alive with twisted things. Things that John couldn’t see but felt sure were there. They were watching waiting for a chance to wrest him from the mortal world and drag him into one of the lower Realms. For a moment, he thought about pulling out his phone and calling Ben, ordering him not to enter the alley. Except that he couldn’t bring himself to set down either his enchanted cane-battle rod, with his Cavanaugh crystal, or the more mundane 9mm.
The girl’s terrified shriek echoed oddly down the alley as if from a great distance instead of just a dozen feet away. Knowing he was out of time John pushed forward and held up his cane.
“LUMEN!”
The soft blue glow from within the crystal flared into a brilliant blue-white light that burned back the darkness. In the blink of an eye the alley came into view. In its stark relief, John saw a man naked from the waist down kneeling between a girl’s pale thighs. Knowing he should take his time, John ignored his training and fired, with a single hand, unsupported at the warlock. The bark of the Beretta seemed muffled and John saw his round hit the brick wall above and to the right of the Warlock. Between the sudden light and the explosion of brick above his head the Warlock’s spell was broken and he spun around standing up as he moved.
Time seemed to slow down and John felt his mind cataloging every detail even though he knew he was rushing forward as quickly as he could. The warlock’s face was pale, gaunt, as if he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in months. Long stringy dark hair fell forward partly obstructing a face with a long pointed nose and a weak chin. Then his hands were up as if to push John back and fire blossomed from his palms. The twin jets of nearly white hot flame shot at John and in desperation he dropped to his knees skidding to a stop and crossed his wrists in front of him mentally angling his shields up.
The thing about magic is that it’s a form of energy and follows a set of rules that can be learned and used. In this case the Warlock had summoned fire, a very hot fire. The thermal energy once unleashed had to go somewhere. The flame hit John’s shield and he grimaced under the strain, ‘How strong is this guy?’ he wondered. Then the blast was deflected up into the night sky. In a moment it was over and John stumbled to his feet blinking to clear his vision.
“You can’t stop me. I’m stronger than any Coven trained Warlock. I’ve killed more Guardians than I can count, little man.” The voice was confident and held an unnatural malice. “The Syndicate says, hello.”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
From his kneeling position John laid his right hand over his left forearm, still holding his cane in his left hand, and used one knee as a brace while sitting on the ground. This created the support he needed for accuracy. The bullets smashed into a magical shield that flared with a red concentric circle where each round struck. John could tell that the Warlock had either wanted to trade barbs and hadn’t been ready for John’s mundane assault, or he hadn’t considered the energy required to stop a 9mm bullet weighing 117 gr traveling at 1,250 ft/sec. The assault drove the Warlock back away from the girl who had curled up into a tiny ball to one side.
“NOW!”
The Warlock screamed and before John realized what was going on energy flashed at him from his left. The force bolt slammed into his shield lifting him into the air and driving him into the far alley wall.
“What the hell?”
The force bolts came in so fast he didn’t have time to think instead John poured more energy into his shields and tried to move back down the alley except that the new attacker had anticipated his move and was already in position to block his exit. For the first time, he got a look at the new threat and to his surprise he discovered he was facing a Witch. Then another bolt of fire hit John’s shields from behind and he knew the original Warlock had returned to the fight. Caught between a rogue Witch and Warlock he knew he was outgunned. Then he felt his shield begin to break, it would be over in the next few seconds.
‘Ben, where the hell are you?’ John’s gun clicked empty.
For a second he thought about reloading and continuing the fight but this approach wasn’t working. Dropping the gun John reached into a cargo pocket on his khaki pants and pulled out what looked like an ordinary key fob. He pressed the button and shouted, “VENTUS!” and used the last of his magic to draw a stiff breeze down the mouth of the alley toward him.
Back up just inside the mouth of the ally a dozen or so feet behind the witch who’d ambushed John a device with a green LED turned red. Then it exploded. The explosion itself wasn’t much more than a flash-bang commonly used to breach a door during a police raid. The difference here was the enchanted blue powder that filled one end of a metal tube attached to the explosive charge. In an instant, a cloud of enchanted blue smoke boiled up from the backpack and then driven by the wind John had summoned raced down the alley. With a grimace John lifted the small phial from his other cargo pocket and downed the magical antidote.
“What the fuck?”
The witch managed to say before being enveloped in the enchanted cloud and then she crashed to the ground unconscious. Turning to face his original opponent John swept his cane up and pulled more power through his crystal and released an energy bolt. Again, the warlock’s shield saved him and he started backing away, rage suffusing his features.
“Just wait, Guardian, this isn’t over. Soon all of St. Louis will be in flames!”
John folded his arms and grinned as the blue gas surrounded him, “I doubt that.”
For a moment, the enraged Warlock looked confused at John’s confidence and then Ben unleashed a force-blast from behind the Warlock that blew his shield apart. He tried to turn toward Ben but the rookie Guardian was ready and hit him with a second blast that knocked him onto his back and into the blue cloud.
Silence filled the night and Ben looked at the smoke-filled alley knowing better than to walk into it without taking the antidote. Then a figure moved from within the cloud and John stepped out carrying the unconscious and now dressed girl. He moved to Ben and laid her in his arms.
“Take her to the van and call this in. We’re going to need help. We’ve got two Syndicate agents. A witch and a warlock, fully-battle trained, and an innocent girl who’s seen way too much and will be suffering from PTSD.”
“Yes, sir!” Ben accepted the girl into his arms. “What are you going to do?
“Restrain those two, get rid of the gas, and try to keep anyone who saw the lightshow away until help arrives. Now get going,” then as Ben turned away he added, “And don’t forget to veil!”
***
Light from the sun glared directly into John’s eyes forcing him to squint and adjust his Dodge Challenger’s sun visor. It was already after seven and the sunrise was almost blinding. John turned onto the street that led to his house, a four-bedroom ranch where his wife, Elaine, and their two children slept. He’d called Elaine earlier to let her know that he was okay but he’d be working late after a major bust.
Thinking about the arrest caused John to feel a surge of satisfaction. Protecting innocent folk from the monsters of the supernatural world was the reason he was a Guardian. Then he sighed. The Coven had sent a second van but instead of Guardians it had been driven by a pair of Coven healers.
“Ben, get those two to an ensorcelled cell.”
“Yes, sir. Do you want me to come back down after I get them locked up?”
The tone of respect was new. John scowled, “No, start working on the report. Just have someone send a car to pick me up.” Then he looked over at the healers, “I’ll need one of you to help me with the cleanup.”
The Warlock, Graham, looked at his partner, “I’ll stay. Your gift for healing is better than mine. Plus, I don’t think the first thing she’ll want to see when she wakes up is a strange man next to her bed.”
The dumpy looking, middle-aged witch nodded, “Sure. Besides, you know how much I hate doing clean up. I’ll see you at home, dear.” With that she kissed him on the cheek and hurried to the van with the sleeping girl.
“Ready to play Special Agent?” John asked, and when Graham nodded they pulled out FBI credentials and went to work. After using police tape to cordon off the alley Graham went started trying to find anyone who’d seen “anything.” Graham explained to each person that this was just a preliminary interview, nothing to worry about. There were more than half a dozen people who came forward offering to help. The interviews were simply an excuse for Graham to use a subtle spell to blur their memories and help them to forget anything unusual.
Meanwhile, John worked to dispel the gas, pick up his spent brass, and account for, and dig out, each round he’d fired. Then he removed all traces of spell fire and magical residue. The work was time consuming and tiring, but necessary. By the time he was done Graham had finished his last interview. The Coven had sent a young witch, John assumed she was some sort of intern, to pick them up. He piled into the back of the sedan along with Graham and for the first time started to relax.
By the time John made it to the Guardian’s floor of the St. Louis Great Coven Sarah Mag Aoidh was waiting. The Chief of the St. Louis Great Coven Guardians was a tiny woman with long blonde hair tied into a pony tail and the fiercest icy blue eyes John had ever seen. To make matters worse she was sitting in his chair, behind his desk, waiting for him.
“I take it you talked with Ben about our prisoners?”
For a long second Sarah allowed silence to stretch, “Yes, I spoke with Ben. I’ve also had time to talk with the rogues you brought in . . . sleeping gas? Really? You realize if that had hit the crowd fifty feet from that alley we would have had a real problem.”
“I do. And we do.”
Sarah bristled, “Whatever possessed you to take so much risk? You should have waited until Guardian Lavin was in position and then moved in simultaneously.” Then added, “What do you mean we do?”
John turned, slammed the office door closed, and then glared at the Chief of the St. Louise Guardians. “I mean that if we had a proper team of Guardians on the street tonight I wouldn’t have had to use the gas.” Then he leaned in placing both hands on the desk, “If we had more Guardians rogues wouldn’t be popping up all over St. Louis, and don’t give me any of that political correctness crap about the alliance. You know as well as I do that “Guardian” Lavin is just a wet behind the ears rookie! He needs non-stop training and wouldn’t be on the street, if two thirds of our Guardians weren’t, god knows where, doing god knows what!” Then John slapped the desk with his hand, “Ben needs training . . . training I don’t have time to give while I’m trying to save an innocent mundane girl’s life!” John’s voice hadn’t risen in volume but had gained intensity. Little sparks of energy started to flicker and dance over the surface of the crystal on his battle cane.
There was a long moment of silence and then John added in a more controlled tone, “Which, in the balance is far more important to me than accidently gassing a couple of dozen by standers and giving them a magically induced nap! If I’d waited another two minutes that “rogue,” who-really-isn’t a rogue warlock, would have completed the rite. We were just in the nick of time as it was.” The seconds stretched and he matched Sarah’s unflinching gaze. Then John added, “Ma’am,” and looked away. At this Sarah let out a long breath and waved at one of the chairs in John’s office. “Sit. Tell me everything.”
With that John recounted the events of the night, careful to include that Ben had done his job perfectly, preventing the Warlock’s escape. When he got to the part where they claimed to be members of the Syndicate Sarah snorted. “We’ve had several rogues make that claim now. Every time we investigate there is never a credible link. Still, we’ll turn these two over to the Society and let them deal with it.” With that Sarah stood up, “Get that report finished and then go home. You’ve been on duty for what? Forty hours straight.”
Now sitting in his driveway John realized there was something he felt like he was missing. Even though there wasn’t any evidence that these rogues were connected to the Syndicate he had a sense of foreboding. “Well, I won’t solve anything out here.”
John opened the door and winced slightly at the humidity, “Seven thirty and it feels like I’m walking through water!” As he walked toward his front door John could feel the signs of the neighborhood waking up around him. Neighbors collecting newspapers, sprinklers running, and a woman with her dog jogged by on the sidewalk. ‘Just a normal morning in suburban America,’ he thought and pushed his key into the lock on the front door. John whispered the key to the house wards and turned the key hearing a click. ‘Well, almost normal suburbia.’
Stepping into his house John felt the normal ambiances of home. Toys were scattered around the floor, evidence that three-year-old Brittany and two-year-old John Jr. had been playing in the living room before bed. As John moved around the sofa and into the kitchen he heard water running and spotted a brunette in a light green bathrobe. The woman had just filled a coffee pot and now poured it into a drip coffee maker. She moved with the unconscious feminine grace of an experienced dancer. Every gesture was graceful and carried an economy of motion that captivated John. Once the coffee was started Elaine opened the refrigerator and pulled out eggs, ham, and shredded potatoes and went to work making breakfast.
John leaned against the wall enjoying the sight. Elaine had enchanted him from the moment he met her, while learning to control his magic. His mentors had been a husband and wife team, Paul and Sandy, in their sixties. They’d reminded him of a set of kindly Grandparents more than the powerful wielders of magic that they were. As it turned out this impression had been quite wrong but John hadn’t learned that until later.
Then he met their daughter, Elaine. She was five years younger than John and working as a pharmacist during the day and as a witch-healer, with an affinity for earth magic, at night. John’s own affinity was with air magic and the Coven had been excited to find out they had a “Seer” to train. Later, John learned that this was one of Witchcrafts rarest gifts. There were never very many Seers and almost no male Seers. This had made him a bit of a celebrity and then there was the event in Louisville where he and Meka had pretty much fought off a horde of Zombies and ended the existence of a Nazi Necromancer. All of this had elevated him in Elaine’s eyes to, “interesting.”
“You’re home!”
The comment brought him back to the present and John grinned at Elaine. “Yeah, long night, but we got’em. We got’em before they could hurt anyone else.”
“Oh, John.” Elaine wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head on his shoulder. At five ten John was only two inches taller than Elaine and he could feel every inch of her curvaceous body through the terry cloth robe. For now, he held her enjoying the unconditional love and comfort of another human being. Then Elaine looked up and wrinkled her slightly up turned nose, “You smell like gunpowder. Go take a shower and then get to bed. You must be exhausted. I’ve got to get the kids to daycare in an hour and I’m working until 4 pm. Can I assume you’re off? It is Saturday, you know.”
“Yeah, I finished my reports before I came home. I’m free and clear until Sunday.”
“Okay, then shoo. Get cleaned up.”
John moved away from his wife and then hurried down the hall to the master bedroom. He paused at Brittany and then little John’s doors to peak in on his kids. The sight of such innocents, sleeping without a care in the world, brought a lump to his throat. That there were people out there willing to rape and even worse, steal the very essence of life from someone else, in a drive for more power made him sick. ‘This is why I do what I do . . . so that no child has to face what I see.’
Once in the master bedroom John hung his gun from a hook in the walk-in closet and leaned his cane in one corner. With a word, he activated the spell that warded the cane and prevented anyone else from touching it. Then he got the shower in the master bath running and tossed his clothes in the general direction of the clothes hamper. When he looked in to the mirror above the sink for a moment he thought he saw Meka’s image staring back. John blinked, all he could do was stare in shock. The last time he’d seen Meka’s delicate features staring back at him from a mirror he’d been wearing her body. That experience, the body-swap, and the awakening of his magical talent had changed his life, just as getting to know Meka had enriched it.
Steam clouded the mirror and John wiped it back and this time spotted his normal rugged face, the face he’d known for all of his thirty-eight years. The brown hair was still cut short and there was a two-day growth of whiskers now sprinkled with silver, but the laughter still showed up around the blue-gray eyes.
John closed his eyes and tried to focus his Seer’s talent but knew it was probably useless. Most of the time he couldn’t control it and trying to use it by force just gave him a headache. When it did work he just got random visions and sometimes when he slept he’d dream about the future, the present, or even the past. He’d been in contact with a Seer who lived in Seattle but hadn’t had the time to go up and study with her. From the brief conversations with he’d had, John learned that the talent could be trained and controlled to a point. However, even the most talented Seers still couldn’t completely control the gift. It didn’t help that Seers were closed mouthed about the training and the extent of control they’d achieved. The exception to this was a Seer that others spoke of in awed whispers.
Cassandra, the most powerful Seer alive today lived someplace in Alaska. It was said that she had a very refined control of her talent. But she was a recluse who discouraged visitors and hadn’t taken an apprentice in decades.
“I’m sure she’s fine. Meka can take care of herself.” Even as he said it John felt a small degree of doubt. “If there was an issue she’d call or do a sending. And if she couldn’t Victor would know and contact me.”
The warm water felt wonderful along his sore muscles and as John started to lather up the door to the shower slid open. “What?” he started to say only to feel a heat run through him at the sight of his naked wife’s sexy body.
“I think I’ll join you. Breakfast is done and the kids are still sleeping.”
“I make it a policy never to refuse a beautiful lady, particularly, when I’m married to her!”
“I should think not. Now turn around so I can scrub your back.”
John complied and felt Elaine’s soft hands roam over his back stopping to trace one scar after another. She didn’t say anything, but the IED had left its mark on his body. Then he felt her hands snake around his waist, her soft breasts pressed into his back, and her hands drifted down to his cock.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not my back.”
“Mhmm . . . but it’s just so yummy.”
John felt his body respond to his wife’s knowing touch and he moaned as his cock sprang to attention. “Oh, babe, you’ve got a way with words.”
When he turned around John lifted Elaine’s chin and brushed his lips to hers, however Elaine was having none of that. She grabbed either side of his face and pressed her lips in, turning the kiss into a full open mouthed tongue dancing affair.
When Elaine pulled back the lust shone from her eyes, “I want you so bad.”
This was all the encouragement John needed as he lowered his mouth to her breasts. “Your wish is my command.”
***
John bolted upright, feeling a cold clammy sweat drench his body while his heart raced. For several seconds, he didn’t know where he was, the dream had been so vivid. He’d been in London, he was sure of that, and there had been a secure research facility he didn’t recognize. John could tell from the way that his heart was racing and the sense of foreboding that whatever was happening in London it couldn’t be good. He tossed back the covers and stood up stretching trying to dismiss the dream from his mind. If there was something happening in London it didn’t concern him.
John dropped to the floor and did several push-ups followed by a set of sit-ups and then a few seconds of light stretching. The physical activity served the dual purpose of waking him up and working out some of the aches, from yesterday’s fight. Now fully awake John headed to the kitchen and as he left the bedroom glanced at the clock by the bed, 4 pm. “Holy shit, I slept eight hours straight. I must’ve been tired!” Then with a laugh he added, “Or Elaine wore me out.”
Feeling more relaxed than he had since he’d started the hunt for the warlock, responsible for the serial rapes, he headed to the kitchen. On the way, he picked up the remote for the TV and clicked it on. The flat screen in the living room came to life and the sounds of a cable news network filled the room.
The refrigerator was stocked with plenty of left overs but nothing seemed worth microwaving so John grabbed some deli sliced smoked turkey and made a quick sandwich. Then after pouring a tall glass of milk he headed back into the living room to flip through the channels. “Five hundred channels and day time television still sucks.” He muttered flicking aimlessly through the satellite TV’s menu.
Abruptly, John paused, eyes glued to the TV as he spotted a breaking news story scrolled across the bottom of the screen. John just caught part of it and saw that it was some terrorist attack in London. Feeling a sense of dread, he switched to CNN International just in time to catch the footage. There was a news crew, with a pretty blonde reporter, standing in front of an office building with flames shooting out the windows. It was dark there and John saw that firetrucks were still arriving, and for a moment John wondered how a news crew managed to beat the fire department. Then he got a good look at the building and all John could do was stare, his lunch forgotten. He was looking at the same research facility he’d seen in his dream, only this time it was on fire.
“Oh, shit.” John said, and increased the volume on the remote.
“At this point it is too early to know how the fire started here at NWRI, yet witnesses seemed to have heard some kind of explosion. The sense I’m getting from officials here, on the ground, is that they can’t rule out terrorism.”
John stood up the feeling of foreboding he’d had earlier returning with a vengeance. “What the fuck is going on?” He hurried to where he’d left his phone and was surprised when he didn’t have any calls or messages. Using WhatsApp he tried to call Meka, the only person he knew in London, and after six rings hung up. John shook his head, “Time to go old school.”
With that he went to his bedroom and grabbed his cane with the Cavanaugh crystal. Then he headed to the basement. The reason he and Elaine had picked this house, besides the four bedrooms, was that it was a ranch style house with a full basement that ran the length of the house. Descending the stairs John noticed that the temperature was cooler and less humid. The first part of the basement was a combination laundry room-home gym. The gym included free weights, a universal machine, a tread mill, and a heavy bag along with tatami Mats. John ignored all of this and headed to the back half of the basement, this part had been walled off from the rest.
The door was keyed to John and Elaine’s auras a normal safety precaution since there were a pair of inquisitive toddlers in the house. The wards tingled as John punched in the code and spoke the key. When he shouldered open the door and flipped on the lights he paused to look around. The room was large for a personal sanctum. The middle of the room had been left open for a summoning circle that John had cut into the floor. Around the sides John and Elaine had arranged a set of work benches and bookshelves. The wall opposite the entrance held a pair of comfortable leather recliners with a reading lamp between them.
John headed to one of the work benches and picked up a small crystal Meka had given him last year at the annual cook out. The crystal wasn’t anything special to look at. It wasn’t a focus item and hadn’t been prepared by a Sorcerer. It was just an uneven lump of un-worked rock, or half of an uneven lump. The other half was in London in Meka’s apartment. She’d used the crystal to test one of the laws of magic. It was a principle that John had never understood, something about an item divided was never really separate, or some other nonsense. What John knew was that it took very little energy to use this crystal to project a sending to its other half in London. Then Meka, if she was anywhere in the city, would hear it and respond.
The other way to do a sending was just to use his knowledge of Meka’s aura and try to build a connection. That way took a lot of energy and John wasn’t all that good at it. Settling into one of the recliners John checked his watch. 4:30 pm which meant it was 9:30 pm in London. Unless Meka was out on a date, it was a Saturday, then he should be able to talk to her. John laid his cane across his lap holding it loosely with his right hand while focusing on the crystal in his left. Drawing energy through his focus item took only a minor effort and then he concentrated on the crystal.
“Meka, this is John. What’s going on? I saw the news, were you near that building, the one that blew up?”
Deep within the crystal in John’s left hand a purple light blossomed. It wasn’t particularly bright but John knew the crystal in London held a matching glow and his message was being transmitted to Meka. For several seconds John waited, she could be in public and just needed a chance to break away. Then after a few minutes he tried again.
“Meka, can you hear me? I’m worried! I’ve been having dreams about you.” Then knowing how Meka’s mind worked added, “Not “those” kind of dreams. I had a vision about a building that caught on fire and it was connected to you, somehow. Then I just saw the news from London, there was a terrorist attack? Talk to me girl. What’s going on?”
Again, John felt the surge of energy and knew his message had been transmitted to London. This time he felt the crystal in his hand vibrate slightly and there was something, like Meka had tried to respond but hadn’t been able to put any energy into the message.
“Meka, what’s going on? Are you alright? MEKA!”
This time John doubled the energy in the sending doing everything he could to strengthen the bond between the crystals. He could feel the crystal in London and then his vision seemed to go blurry and when it cleared up it was like he was standing in the middle of an apartment. ‘Am I in Meka’s apartment?’ John thought, ‘or flat, rather?’ he added correcting himself. John looked around, he’d never been to Meka’s flat, but he’d Skyped with her and this room looked familiar. It was her living room. The furniture looked like she’d bought most of the pieces second-hand, which was typical Meka, but they were all in good shape and the sofa looked comfy. Then he spotted the bookshelf with Meka’s trade mark encyclopedias, ‘Yep, this is definitely her flat.’ When he turned around he saw there was a small kitchen behind him and an eating area with an expandable table. To his left he saw a hallway and to the right a door. Since the door had a spy hole John assumed it was the entry to the flat.
He turned and moved down the hardwood floor noticing that his dream-self wasn’t actually walking. Down the hallway he found a door on the right and poking his head through it discovered a small bathroom. ‘Cool, nothing like floating through walls!’ John thought, amused. The bathroom wasn’t all that interesting except that John noticed the little feminine touches here and there that screamed Meka. A little further down the hall he saw he’d come to a set of doors one on the left and right. Since the door on the right shared space with the bathroom John assumed it was the second bedroom of the two-bedroom flat.
He pushed into the larger of the two bedrooms and froze. Meka was there, and she wasn’t alone. The squirming figures on the bed half-hidden under the sheets were all John needed to see, to understand why Meka hadn’t responded to his sending. Then he spotted a spiky mop of multicolored hair as the man on top tossed the sheets aside. Sweat glistened on his back and ass as he moved rhythmically . . . thrusting forward and down. Meka had her legs wrapped around his waist and a look of carnal bliss on her face that told John that she wasn’t in trouble; just the opposite.
Slipping out of the room John knew that his face, in astral form, couldn’t actually turn red, but he was sure if it could it’d be glowing! With a minor effort of will he ended the vision and suddenly he was back in his body, in his sanctum.
“Well, whatever’s going on, at least Meka’s okay.” Then he shook his head and laughed. “I’m sure she’ll get back to me later today . . . or maybe tomorrow.”
John stood up and stretched, “I think I need to go for a run.” Feeling better that his concerns about his friend were unfounded John returned the crystal to the shelf where he’d found it and froze. Standing there, where nothing had been a few minutes ago, was an all blue, “My Little Pony” with a rainbow colored mane and tail. John placed the crystal on the shelf and picked up the tiny toy horse. As soon as he did Rainbow Dash’s eyes flew open and sparkled blue, “John, help me!”
Shock raced through John and the toy fell from numb fingers.
“Meka?”
There was no doubt in his mind that it had been Meka’s voice. The anguish and need came through as if she was standing right there next to him. “What the hell? I just saw you. You looked like you were fine.” John picked up Rainbow Dash again and once more the words sounded clearly in his mind, “John, help me!”
For a moment John just stood there trying to reconcile the message delivered in a way that only Meka could. A way that left no doubt it came from her, and that she needed his help. Yet, he’d just seen her and she looked fine. Abruptly, John made up his mind. “I need to get to London.”
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 3 *Meka* ***************************************
The steady breathing and the relaxation told Meka that her body must be asleep. She felt cognitively and emotionally exhausted, but she couldn’t let her mind drift off. This was easily the worst day of her life. She tried not to think about what had happened but found that it was impossible not to replay the day’s events.
After losing her body to some Syndicate assassin she’d left the NWRI and met the guy’s partner in a local pub for “lunch.” To her horror she’d watched as Max, using her body, handed over the crystal and the hoop to a young man, with the mature looking eyes.
“Do you have the items?”
Max dropped a small bag on the table, “Here you go, Ilse.”
The guy glared at Max, “Don’t call me that, my name is Eli, Eli Ó Flannagáin and I’m an American now.”
Meka could feel the slight twitch at the corners of her mouth as Max tried not to smirk. “I guess you need to start calling me Meka Petrucci then.” At this Meka wanted to scream and she’d battered the invisible walls of her prison, to no avail.
“Of course, Meka, that body is younger than your last one.” Then the man gave Max a slow lascivious stare running his gaze over Meka’s every curve. “I must say, I approve.”
Meka felt the amuzement fade from Max, “I’m scheduled to see Gwendolyn tomorrow. There is a staff meeting that I have to attend. Not a good option for what we need done, though. A week from tomorrow there is a social event that might provide a better opportunity.”
The lust faded from the Eli’s eyes and he shook his head, brightly colored hair moving around like an artificial rainbow. “That won’t work. We need to move quicker.” Then using a foot he pushed a backpack toward Max. “You know what to do with that. If you’re careful and use it correctly it should take down the facility. The Society has much invested in that building, destroying it will distract them from our true purpose.”
Max grunted, the sound felt odd, strangly, masculine to Meka’s ears. “It shouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t have to go through any bomb detection devices.”
“Excellent. I will take care of these and report the status of the mission. Now give me the key to your flat.” Without asking why Max dug into her purse and pulled out Meka’s keys and handed them over. “I’ll meet you there tonight.” Then for the first time Eli grinned, “How do you feel about pizza?”
Meka felt the slight buzzing in her mind and then a smirk stretched across her face. “I do belive that I love pizza.”
The next couple of hours were even worse. Meka was totally helpless as she watched Max use her clearance and memories to plant the devices around the building, above and below ground. Meka had no idea what she was looking at, but she knew this was going to be bad. Then Max returned to her office and sent an email to Gwen with some of the basics about the hoop and more information about the crystal than Meka had uncovered. Max was obviously familiar with the items. Then Max closed everything, locked the office, and headed out. As she passed George she wavied at him.
“Good to see you leaving at a decent time Ms. Petrucci.”
“Yeah, working weekeneds can be tough. Are you off soon, George?” Max had asked sweetly batting her eyelashes at him. The blatant flirting was a perfect imitation of Meka’s teasing and George laughed in response. The light from the monitors reflected from his tightly cut hair as he gave her a laugh.
“I’ve got another hour. Then its home to Nora and the grandkids. We’ve got them for the next two weeks while my daughter and son-in-law are on holiday in France.”
“That’s too bad.” At George’s puzzeled look Max hurried on, “That you’re stuck here for another hour.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad. Have a good night Miss.”
Coming up out of the tube at her stop Meka heard the sound of sirens and saw an emergency vehicle flash by. ‘No,’ was all she could think as she realized that the bombs that Max had planted must have already gone off. George, and many of her friends and collegues were still in the facility.
Eli had been waiting in Meka’s flat and this intrusion felt like yet another violation of her privacy. Eli had her flat screen on and had tuned it to the local London news. Scenes from the NWRI building filled the screen and Meka felt her heart break when she recognized an elderly woman holding the hand of a man being loaded, by a team of paramedics, into an ambulance. In a rage she flew at the walls of her prison, with no noticable effect.
These two stangers were in her home, laughing and planning their next move, and she was entirely helpless. Max’s obvious enjoyment of the pizza, which Meka had to admit tasted delicious, made her want to scream, or cry. The Chianti that Eli brought over paired perfectly with the pizza and soon Meka could feel the effects of the alochol in her system, as the Syndiate agents celebrated. When Eli made a comment about getting naked Meka had been surprised that Max quickly agreed.
Meka did her best to shut out the sensations she was feeling as Eli started kissing her neck. He obviously knew what he was doing as his hands roamed over her body finding each erogenous zone and playing her like a Maestro. Meka tried to build a shield between everything thing she was feeling as Max reached out to stroke Eli’s penis but she couldn’t separate herself from her body and her body was on fire with need.
Before long they were in the bedroom clothes flung about carelessly and then Meka was on her back with Eli on top. By now she realized that she couldn’t fight what was happening and her body ached with need.
“Meka, this is John. What’s going on? I saw the news, were you near that building, the one that blew up?”
The sending burst into Meka’s mind like a bucket of cold water. It pulled her up out of the whirlpool of carnal sensations. “John, I hear you! A Syndicate Warlock has taken over my body. You have to help me.”
“Meka, can you hear me? I’m worried! I’ve been having dreams about you . . . Not “those” kind of dreams. I had a vision about a building that caught on fire and it was connected to you, somehow. Then I just saw the news from London, there was a terrorist attack? Talk to me girl. What’s going on?”
At first Meka wanted to laugh at John’s typical bumbling response. Then she wanted to scream and tear her hair out. Again, she tried to form words and “send” them to John but she had no power. In desperation, she reached out to her focus item, her half of the Cavanaugh crystal and PULLED on it desperately trying to draw power through it.
The trickle of mana filled her with sudden delight. It wasn’t much, but maybe enough. Putting all of her will behind it she focused on John, “Help me John. A Syndicate agent has taken control of my body!”
“Meka, what’s going on? Are you alright? MEKA!”
The alarm in John’s voice was gratifying. Meka didn’t know if her message had made it through, and based on John’s response she doubted it, but she knew John was now worried about her. Then she felt Eli’s cock enter her pussy. The act drove out her connection to the crystal and she had trouble focusing as he found her g-spot. There was no way a man, this young, knew how to use his mouth on her breasts like that . . . sucking hard on her nipple while using his tongue to circle her areola while in his mouth. With one hand rubbing her clit and his impressive man meat slowly pumping into her made it impossible for her think. Her body was responding as Max threw himself into it. Meka lost all ability to reason as an all-consuming carnal blaze built and it was all she could do just to hang on.
Now exhausted from sex, and trying everything she could think of to send John a message Meka floated in the darkness. From the sounds of deep breathing both Eli and Max were asleep. This didn’t surprise her based on the marathon session of erotic aerobics they’d engaged in earlier. Evidently the chance to have sex in a new body had been such a unique experience they’d pushed themselves to the limit of their physical endurance.
Even with her body asleep Meka could feel every inch, suddenly she was curious. Focusing on her body and feeling everything she tried to open her eyes. When they flickered open she lost control and dropped back into the void and her eyes fell closed. ‘I-I can control my body when he’s asleep.’ The realization was so shocking that for a time she just floated in the void.
Knowing it was possible to gain control of her body Meka stretched and pushed herself out of the void. This time when her eyes opened Meka just lay there enjoying the feeling of being in control. There was an arm draped over her naked chest and a hand resting lovingly on her breast. Moving slowly, careful not to wake up Eli, Meka peeled the hand and arm away and slid out of the bed. She felt unsteady and had to reach out for the wall. Her whole body felt off, sluggish, and then she winced realizing that she was sore! ‘This is what happens when you go for more than a year without having sex.’ She thought. Then had to resist the urge to throw up when she thought about what had just happened. ‘Keep it together girl.’
Meka slowly made her way through her flat, more on memory than sight, and pushed open the door to the spare bedroom that also happened to double as her at-home sanctum. To an uneducated eye this appeared to be a normal bedroom. Dresser with a large mirror over it, full sized bed, night stand, and a recliner with a reading lamp completed the picture of normalcy. From under the bed Meka pulled out her casting kit; chalk, string, candles, and her personal grimoire, the grimoire that had started her journey into witchcraft. Meka ran her tiny fingers over the heavy leather bound book enjoying the feel of the old-world leather and the scent of the parchment. Slowly, an idea formed and she turned to the back of the grimoire. The pages were blank, but that was okay, it was a minor ward that caused the words to become visible. At last, satisfied she put the book in the center of the room and returned to her magical kit.
Using the string and chalk she quickly drew a circle. Meka didn’t need the spell book for what she had planned next, that would come later. Once the circle was done Meka focused on her crystal. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t touching it, or even in the same room as the crystal. Most witches believed there was a range limit to the connection but Meka had always doubted that theory. Why should a magical bond recognize distance? She suspected it was a limitation set up within the minds of the individual witch or warlock.
Settling, naked, within the circle Meka rested her fingers on her grimoire for a moment and then focused on her crystal drawing in power, filling her manna-well. The sun was just beginning to stream in through the window and Meka guessed it was around 6 am which meant it was midnight in St. Louis. “Knowing John, he’s sound asleep right now. Either that or he and Elaine are having a little marital fun.” Hearing her own voice once more under her direction gave Meka thrill.
She thought about trying to find a spell that would expel the Syndicate assassin’s spirit from her body, but then she thought about the warlock-er-witch in the other room. Any heavy-duty spell casting would wake him up. Then she’d be fighting a spirit who controlled her body plus an outsider. This made her wonder what would happen once Max woke up. With a sigh, she shook her head, “Time to be subtle. Okay, girl, let’s see if this will work.” Focusing on her spell Meka said, “Venez à moi, Pinkie Pie.” The burst of energy wasn’t much but Meka knew she didn’t need much.
A moment later a pink dot of light coalesced in front of her and then the toy horse she’d enchanted stood facing her within the circle. Meka slowly reached out to run her fingers over its’ tiny mane. “I’m glad you survived the explosion, Pinkie. Now, I’ve got a job for you, girl. Then carefully assembling her thoughts Meka lifted the toy to her lips and started whispering to it. Once done she set the toy down, on the grimoire and pulled in her Will and unleashed a sudden burst of power, “Transmettre!”
Energy flowed out of Meka and a bubble of pink power surrounded Pinkie Pie and the grimoire and then in a sparkle of pink lights both the book and the toy disappeared. “Go, girl, go!”
Then Meka let out a sigh. “I’ve done what I can.” Then the urge to evict the creep in her body was more than she could resist. Drawing in manna she filled her Well and focused inward, “Sortez!” Power seemed to burn through her running down her veins and bursting over every nerve ending. The pain was so quick and fierce that Meka threw her head back but was unable to scream.
“What?” The words burst out of her mouth and she felt the Syndicate Assassin come awake. “Are you still here? Bitch, I thought I killed you.”
“Not yet.” Meka replied and was delighted when she could use her own mouth to form the words. “This is my body! Now get OUT!” As she spoke she felt Max reach out for her crystal, “No, you don’t!” Meka said moving to block him. Then she felt his Will. This assassin was strong, his mind and will honed in a way Meka had never felt. Even so, she was determined and ready, ‘I won the first round, he won the second, I WILL win the third round.’ she thought, and re-doubled her efforts to block Max from accessing her crystal while trying to pull power from it.
The door to the bedroom burst open, and Eli, naked, looking ridiculous with his rainbow hair pointing in every direction and his flaccid cock bouncing around, rushed in. His eyes blazed with orange energy and he raised a crystal in his left hand. “apage!” power ripped through Meka like the wind of a hurricane and in an instant, she lost all control. She felt a spinning sensation and then all she knew was darkness.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 4 *John* ***************************************
The drive from St. Louis to Louisville along I-64 is boring. Southern Illinois is flat farm land with nothing much to see. Crossing into Indiana the terrain changed; trees and rolling hills dominate the landscape with a family farm nestled in here and there. Once John passed into Kentucky the rolling hills changed to sharper hills and his ears popped as the elevation started to climb. Normally, the drive took just under four hours but John decided to use an “Un-notice” spell on his Challenger SRT 392. His crystal flared briefly after he merged onto the highway and John felt the spell go into effect. The beauty of this spell, unlike a veil, was that other drivers would know he was there, they’d just think that there was nothing out of the ordinary about the American muscle car he was driving. Or the fact that he was racing along the highway at 120 mph.
In two and a half hours John was pulling off the highway and heading up to Victor’s estate. The wrought iron gate opened as if of its own volition as John approached and he felt the slight tingle of Victor’s wards. When he crossed onto the grounds John couldn’t help smiling. A weight seemed to lift, the day felt brighter, the well maintained grounds appeared greener, and there was a feeling of well-being that filled John. This was a side effect of the spell that Meka had cast four years ago.
The spell had been intended to destroy more than two dozen zombies a Necromancer had raised. The zombies had smashed their way into the house and Victor, Gwen, John, and Meka had all been fighting for their lives. In an act of desperation Meka had tried a spell that she intended to burn the un-life out of the zombies. In the process, she’d consecrated the estate turning it into holy ground. Victor hadn’t been particularly thrilled with this fact. There were plenty of benefits, but the down side was that some kinds of magic could no longer be performed on Victor’s family estate.
Victor was a Warlock from one of the “old families” and was the leader of the Louisville Great Coven. This fact was obvious when John parked his car by the broad stone steps that led up to a landing and then up again to the main entrance doors. The whole estate, from the manicured grounds, to the unmatched stone used to build the mansion, screamed wealth, power, and prestige.
John couldn’t help grinning as he thought of Meka coming here to take lessons from Victor. After the Necromancer, had been dealt with Victor had claimed Meka as his apprentice, something that John discovered was his right as Grand Warlock of the Louisville Great Coven. This was intended as an honor, but John was sure that Meka hadn’t viewed it that way. The thought of Meka coming here several times a week to be tutored caused John’s grin to widen. This sort of place would rub her the wrong way and Meka had a razor-sharp wit. Those lessons must have been a real pain in the ass for the somewhat pompous old school warlock.
“John, to what do I owe this honor?”
The voice startled him and John looked around in time to spot a thin man, whose hair had gone snow white, coming from around the side of the house. Victor was a few inches taller than John and probably twenty pounds lighter and he moved with the posture and balance of an experienced fencer. None of this surprised John, the work shirt, jeans, and boots however were completely out of character.
“Sir, am I interrupting?”
Victor came to a stop a few feet away and extended a hand, “Nonsense. It’s always a pleasure to get a visit from you, my boy. Besides, Sarah has told me all sorts of good things about you, and the work you’ve done as a Guardian. In fact, I’ve wanted to talk to you for some time.”
John reached out and shook Victor’s hand feeling the slight tingle that he’d come to associate with another “awakened.” The handshake was surprisingly firm and even though his hair had gone white John could still feel an air of vitality around the man.
“Come, come, I’ll have coffee brought around back. We can talk on the back patio and you can tell me what you think of my rose garden.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing?” John asked waving at Victor’s clothes.
“Yes, it’s one of my hobbies actually. Tending a garden is surprisingly therapeutic.” Victor remarked leading John around the house. “It allows me to focus on a task and escape the day-to-day pressure of the war.”
As soon as Victor mentioned the war between the Society and the Syndicate John knew why he wanted to talk to him. Victor was the regional commander for the American Midwest. It was a huge area of responsibility but as far as John could tell there hadn’t been any Syndicate attacks in the Midwest. In fact, from what he’d observed the Great Covens had given Victor several dozen teams and those teams had just vanished. John suspected they’d been sent to Europe or Central America to help since most the Syndicate attacks seemed to have been focused in those areas.
John refused to take the bait, and ask about the war, instead he asked Victor about his garden. To John’s surprise a grin lit Victor’s face and he launched into a soliloquy about the types of roses, their color, characteristics, and what he’d had to do to get them to flourish without resorting to magic. By the time Victor led John through a break in the hedges onto a flagstone patio he’d learned more about roses than he ever wanted to know.
There were several outdoor tables situated around the patio and John noticed that the waist high hedges that guarded the flanks opened in such a way as to display the bright green lawn and allowed a view of a sizable flower garden.
“Sir, will you be taking coffee here then?”
John glanced over to see a man holding a tray with a coffee pot, cups, plates and what looked like a mountain of pastries.
“Yes, Jackson, thank you.” With that the butler moved to one of the tables protected from the sun by the long shadow cast by the mansion behind them, yet with a good view of Victor’s garden. Victor gestured toward the table, “Please, have a seat.”
Victor picked up the coffee pot and poured John a cup, “There’s cream and sugar, if you need it.”
“No thanks, I like my coffee black.”
Victor nodded and added two healthy scoops of sugar and then cream to his, “Ah, now I must say, fortune smiled on me today, my boy. I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while. I understand you served in the Army?”
John nodded, “Yeah, I joined up right out of high school, along with a couple of buddies.”
Victor leaned forward his eyes showing a keen interest. “I thought so. You realize that military service is pretty rare for the gifted?” At this he paused to see if John would comment. When John remained quiet, Victor continued, “I think that it was the fact that you were awakened to magic so late in life. You see most new witches and warlocks are trained by either their parents or close relatives. Joining the military would mean hiding our gifts, more than we already do, and most of us don’t have the fortitude for that.”
“Uhm, I guess I never really thought about it.”
Victor nodded, “This is one of the reasons you’ve done so well as a Guardian. The discipline needed, the dedication, attention to detail, and the ability to stay calm under pressure these are all things the Army would have trained into you.”
John took a sip of coffee, not really knowing what to say, but he could guess where the conversation was going.
“What did you do in the Army?”
For a minute John wanted to say that he’d been a cook, just to see what Victor would do. Then he dismissed the notion, “I was an 11B.” At Victor’s blank look John added, “Infantry.”
Victor’s eyes lit up. “Excellent, John, we could really use a man with your experience. The War hasn’t gone well for us so far. We’ve been working hard to keep it down, but the Syndicate has been preparing for this for quite some time. We’ve suffered the loss of people and artifacts. We’ve been spending most of our time trying to cover up any news of what’s been going on, but if this keeps up the mundane population will figure it out.”
John shook his head, “No.”
Victor looked startled and leaned back, “What?”
“You heard me. The answer is no. I’ve been to war. I’ve lost friends in battle and brought them home. Besides, if you send all the Coven’s Guardians away how will you protect the mundane population from rogues? Or other witches for that matter? No, I’m far more useful to the Coven in my current capacity.”
“I don’t suppose there’s anything I can do to change your mind?” When John shook his head, Victor sighed, “Sarah said, this would be your answer, but I had to try. I’d make you a Team Leader, you’d be an officer.”
John snorted, “That’s your idea of a recruiting pitch?”
“At least consider this; there will be a Society secret war council soon. In two weeks to be precise, in Boston. I’d like you to be the head of security at that meeting. We have a new strategy for defeating the Syndicate and all the leaders of the Great Covens, the Wizard Circles, the Sorcerer Enclaves and the Society Grand Chiefs will be there. Our hope is to have a unified strategy out of the conference to defeat the Syndicate.”
At this John felt torn. Helping Victor and the Coven was important and it wasn’t like he was being asked to go into battle. With a sigh, he nodded, “I’ll think about it, okay?”
Victor grinned and then lifted his coffee cup too hide the smile. When he set it down he had a serious look on his face. “What brings you to Louisville? I don’t think I’ve seen you here since Meka left.”
“Actually, that’s why I’m here. I’ve been having dreams,” then seeing Victor’s alarmed look added, “nothing life threatening. I just see her and then get a vague sense that she’s in trouble.”
“I sent her a warning two days ago.” Victor said. “We’ve gotten some information that the Syndicate might be targeting her. Nothing specific, but I warned her.”
“Fuck, I wish you would have told me.” Seeing Victor wince at his use of profanity almost made John laugh. “Meka sent this to me.” With that he pulled out Dash and set the My Little Pony toy on the table.
“And what, exactly, is it?” Victor said.
“Touch it.”
Reluctantly Victor reached out and touched the toy with his finger. When nothing happened, he gave John a quizzical look, “What am I supposed to see?”
Without answering John reached out and touched Rainbow Dash, the toy’s eyes started to glow and they both heard Meka’s voice, “John, help me!”
Victor’s face went pale and his eyes locked onto John’s, “She wouldn’t have sent that message if she wasn’t in trouble.”
“I agree.”
“Have you tried contacting her?”
“Of course, both with my phone and by a sending. I get nothing. However, I had a vision of her yesterday, in her flat in London with a guy. I thought everything was fine and that she was just busy, but then I got Rainbow Dash.”
“I see, and why are you here?”
“Because, Victor, I know you have a Gate. I need to get to London and it’s an 11-hour flight.”
“The fact that I’ve got a Gate that connects my estate to Gwendolyn’s is a secret. Did Meka tell you?”
“Of course. Now we’re wasting time. I’ve got a bag in my car and I’ve already talked to Sarah, so I’m off next week.” Just then John felt a jarring sensation and a wail filled the air. “What the hell?” he jumped to his feet.
Victor was also standing and shook his head, “The wards! They’ve been breached, we’re under attack!”
***
The spirit floated alone in the darkness. For a long time, drifting, content to BE . . . to exist . . . the darkness was warm as it wrapped the spirit in its comfortable embrace. A lassitude enfolded her very being making it hard to think, yet there was a need. With the recognition of “need” came a sense of identity. She was unique, different from the darkness around her, and she had a purpose. This sense of being, separate from the entropy that held her, drove her, she had a name . . . then it came to her, “I AM MEKA, MEKA PETRUCCI! The darkness receded and then Meka perceived a light. The light had always existed but when she had been one with the darkness she hadn’t been able to sense it.
Slowly, Meka moved toward the light. As it grew she heard sounds, and then caught the scent of lavender, ‘My shampoo?’ she wondered. At this thought, all her senses seemed to return in a rush and she realized that she was sitting in the back of a taxi. Even though she couldn’t turn her head she could tell she was still in London. London after nightfall based on the street lights.
“Ma’am, it’ll take us twenty minutes to get there. This address is outside of the city.”
Meka felt her face move and then heard the words, “It’s fine. I’m in a hurry, my dear friend Gwendolyn said it was urgent.”
The events of the last few days returned to Meka and if she’d been in control of her body she would have started shaking. She had no idea how long she’d been out, and wondered that she was still alive. The spiritual attack had been skillfully done. The strike had severed her connection to her former body and sent her into the void. In fact, Meka wasn’t sure what had saved her. Then Max’s words sank in, they were going to Gwendolyn’s house. This was what Max and the Syndicate had been waiting for.
Meka reached out for her connection to her half of the Cavanaugh crystal. This time, if she could have, she would have gasped in delight. The crystal was still embedded in her body’s eye socket but the blocks that had prevented her access had been burned away by Eli’s spell. Then in a flash of intuition it hit her and she realized the truth. The reason she hadn’t moved on was due to her connection to the crystal not the connection to her body. Feeling around with her magical senses Meka confirmed the truth. Her spirit was now IN the crystal. The crystal had such a close intimate connection to her body, being used as a magical eye as well as a focus item, that it allowed her to access her body’s senses.
Drawing power through the crystal was now simple, but then she paused, ‘How do I release my spell? Casting is a three-step process.’ Due to the low amount of ambient of magic in the world during this century witches were forced to use focus items to pull in enough magic to cast a spell. Drawing in the magic was only the first step in a casting. The next step was to form the spell in your mind. Meka knew she could accomplish both of these steps, even now. It was the third and final step that confounded her. To trigger the spell, she needed to speak a Word out loud.
Temporarily thwarted, Meka focused on paying attention to what Max was doing. If she got the chance to foil his plan she intended to take it.
***
For a moment John stared in disbelief, ‘Who could possibly be stupid enough to attack Victor on his estate, in broad daylight?’ Then a cloud rolled over the sun changing the mid-day to a gloomy twilight, and John shivered.
“What the hell?” he said noticing that he could see his breath.
Victor lifted a hand, “Mihi!” abruptly a cane with a crystal set into the handle flew up from the garden and smacked into Victor’s hand. Looking at John, Victor gestured toward his car, “If you have weapons, ready yourself.” Then he reached under the collar of his work shirt and drew out a second crystal.
For a moment John stared aghast, ‘Two focus items?’ Then he realized Victor was the scion of an, “old family.” Even though a witch or warlock could only bond one focus item at a time they could transfer the bond between one another. There were evil spells to force this transference and then there was an, “old family” tradition. On a parent’s deathbed, they sometimes transferred their focus item to a child or grandchild. By this time the child would already have a focus item so this meant two crystals. Having additional focus items made the witch or warlock stronger and gave them more versatility.
John reached to the small of his back and drew his Beretta 92A, and then held out his left hand, even though his crystal was in his car a hundred yards or so away, John drew on his power, “Vocat te!” Light seemed to coalesce around his hand and in seconds his own Battle-Rod in the form of a cane with his crystal at one end, appeared.
“Impressive.” Victor noted. “You’ll have to show me how you teleported your focus item to you when this is over.”
“Meka should explain the principles behind it. This is one of her spells, but I can teach you what she showed me.”
A cold, silvery-sounding, war horn blasted over the grounds and John and Victor raced around the side of the house only to skid to a stop. The image confronting them seemed too impossible to be real. The hedge row that hid the brick fence and marked the parameter of the property appeared flash frozen. Every leaf, vine, and stem was covered in a coating of perfect white ice. Then it exploded toward them and the warm moist air, of an autumn afternoon in Louisville, turned to fog and rolled forward.
John cocked the Beretta and flipped the safety off. “Will your servants help?”
“No. They’re all mundane. They know about magic but none have the gift. I sent everyone I had with power forward to help with the war.”
John shook his head, “Thus leaving you wide open?”
At this Victor glared at John, “I’m not defenseless, this is MY place of power.”
From the mist, shadowy forms started to emerge. At first they were nothing more than blurry outlines but as they moved forward John saw one lift something to his lips and another horn call blasted out. The sound hit him like a physical wave, it was high pitched and cold.
In an instant John was transported to an icy plane. A vast land of ice and snow and then over the plane, in his mind’s eye, creatures raced; a horde of misshapen beings, beings whose bodies had been blended in a grotesque crossing of humanoid, animal, and insect. Then up out of the snow rose line after line of warriors. These warriors glittered in black and silver armor. The armor was studded with jewels of green, blue, and icy white. The warriors had skin almost as pale as the snow and long white hair flowed from under their high helmets. Then John noticed that nearly a third of this army were female, their form fitting breast plates removing any doubt. As the two armies closed John saw arrows, lightning quick, flash from the Elven host into their ancient foe. The arrows took a toll and then it was spear, sword, and ax as the sides closed.
John lurched a step forward gasping as the vision left him. When he looked up he saw that even though the vision had felt like it had taken several long minutes almost no time had elapsed. Victor had moved a step closer to the threat and held his Battle-Rod in one hand while clenching the other around his pendant with its crystal.
At last John got his first clear look at the figures emerging from the fog. He felt his jaw drop open. There were five of them and they were wearing the same kind of armor as the pale warriors from his vision. In the middle, a tall woman without a helmet, took the lead. Her long sword glittered with an icy hue. On her left arm was a black buckler with green glyph of some kind itched into its surface. To the woman’s left and right male warriors moved taking up position as they formed a line. The two males closest to her carried axes and shields while the two further out carried bows.
John could guess the tactic. The two warriors on the ends would hit them with crossfire while the three in the middle rushed forward. Five on two didn’t seem like good odds, time to even them a little. John used his left forearm to brace his right and started shooting. There was a spark as the woman’s armor deflected the first round and a look of surprise on her face. Then the three in the middle rushed forward shields up to protect their heads.
As the two bowmen drew Victor shouted, “I’ve got the archers.” As he said this John could feel Victor raise a shield. John fired another round at the charging warriors and saw it spark and bounce away uselessly.
“I wish I had a .50.”
Then knowing that wishes like that were useless he dropped to one knee and set his battle-rod down. Using a kneeling supported position he slowly took aim. One of the things John had worked on, inspired by Meka’s magical innovations, was trying to use his magic to help his mundane fighting abilities. The energy produced by a modern fire arm is tough to match. Even with magic. The problem was that so many rounds never found their mark. If he could guide a round, accurately, to its target, then he really didn’t need magic to do the damage.
“Verum visio!” John commanded, releasing the spell. Suddenly, his sight telescoped in so that he could see every piece of armor; every tie, every plate, and every gap between armor and skin. Starting with the warrior to the right of the formation John focused on the exposed skin by the knee right between where the poleyn that protected the knee met the cuisse that protected the thigh. “Verum Gratis!” As the second spell took effect he squeezed the trigger feeling the magic.
Abruptly, the Elf on the right cried out and stumbled and then fell to the ground clutching his ruined leg. John didn’t give himself a break, focusing on the guy to the left of the charging formation, “Verum Gratis” and again he squeezed the trigger watching the second elf fall clutching a ruined leg. Realizing that he was out of time John picked up the battle-rod and leapt to his feet pointing at the leader, “Percute Flamma!” This time the drain on his magic was much greater than before. The resulting blast of fire was tight about the size of his wrist and white hot, and worth the energy expended.
The Shield-maiden caught the flame strike on her buckler and then thrust her sword toward John shouting, “Helcë Pilin!” From the tip of her sword a five-foot spear of ice blasted into existence and shot toward John. With almost no time to react he ducked to the right and felt the ice spear slide through his shield spell. There was a flash of fire along his cheek and John rolled to his feet. Without touching the wound John knew the spear had missed his face by the smallest of margins. Calling on his affinity with Air and John shouted, “Ascendo!”
Air whipped around John for a moment obscuring his vision and then he felt himself rising. He glided into the air until he was more than twenty feet over the battlefield. The female Elven Knight had lifted her shield to block the tornado of wind, obviously thinking it was an attack, and was now looking around for John. Her eyes latched onto Victor who was battling the remaining Archer.
To John’s horror Victor had an arrow sticking out of his leg and he saw Victor’s shield barely deflect another glowing projectile. John knew this had to end quickly, because there was no way Victor could last much longer.
Before she could attack John shouted “Verum Gratis!” and squeezed off another round. This time he’d focused on the place where her Pauldron and Breastplate met. John couldn’t see the bullet strike but the Shield-maiden spun around her sword flying to land several feet away. Looking down John could see the two men whose knees he’d ruined were trying to stand but couldn’t put any weight on their shattered legs. One of the two moved toward the female leader who was obviously in pain from her shoulder wound, while the other moved to the bowman who was already down.
Then John heard a shout of triumph and saw Victor hit the remaining bowman with what looked like lightning. The sound of thunder followed as the elf was blown off his feet. John guided his column of wind to the ground landing in a storm of swirling air and debris.
“Who are they?” John asked.
“I suspect they’re Elves of the Winter Court but we need to be sure.”
“Why did they come here? Why attack you?”
At this Victor shrugged and grimaced in pain. “I don’t know, but I’m glad you were here today. Did you enchant your pistol? I’ve never seen such accurate shooting.”
By this time the wounded Knight had dragged the second, and obviously dead, archer over to where the five of them now lay. Then the Knight who’d gone to their leader lifted a horn he’d taken from her.
“What do you think . . .” was all John could get out before the horn blast sounded. Only this time it was different. Still cold, brazen, but somehow . . . chagrined? As if the warriors were embarrassed to sound the retreat, ‘Not that it would do them any good,’ John thought.
Another wave of cold air sprang out and the same half frozen mist swirled up from the meeting of cold dry air the hot humid air of Louisville. Annoyed John shouted, “Ventulus!” This time he felt a sense of fatigue, he’d cast several spells with very little by way of food or preparation and his body was paying for it.
A stiff breeze swept down dissipating the fog and both John and Victor stared. Where five Elven Warriors had lain, there was now nothing except a circular patch of frozen grass.
“Fuck!” John hissed.
Then he felt Victor put a hand on his shoulder. “You fought well. I need to repair my wards and do something about the hole in my fence. But first, can you find Jackson? I think I need medical attention.” With that Victor fainted.
“Shit!” John didn’t know much about healing magic but the amount of blood coming from Victor’s leg was impressive. The arrow that transfixed his leg looked like it had gone completely though. John reached down and formed a circle with his index finger and thumb around the shaft of the arrow just above the entry wound on Victor’s thigh. Then he drew on his power, feeling even more fatigued and said, “Deasceo.”
There was a flash of energy as the spell cut the arrow. The end with the fletching fell away and very carefully John gripped the arrow just below the head where it stuck out from the back of Victor’s leg and drew it through. Once out John breathed a sigh of relief glad that Victor had been out for that. Then he pulled off his shirt and ripped it into three long strips. By the time he’d wrapped Victor’s leg as tightly as he could Jackson had arrived.
“Sir, I’ve called for a healer. Do you know any healing spells?”
“Yeah, but let’s get him into the house. I’m not very good but I think I can keep him from bleeding out before a real healer arrives.”
***
The hot water massaged John’s shoulders and it felt good enough to almost distract him from the sting along his left cheek. If he’d been any slower that spear of ice would have given him an eye to match Meka’s. This thought chilled him. ‘Why isn’t she answering? Why did she send me a message asking for help?’ Again, he felt a sense of urgency and knew that it would be a while before he could talk with Victor about Meka or use the gate.
Once they’d returned to the house Jackson had carried Victor to the master bedroom. John left and raced through the mansion to his car and retrieved his assault pack and the medical kit he kept in it. As a Guardian John had some battlefield first aid training and within the kit were two crystals enchanted by St. Louis Great Coven healers. Freezing a single spell into a crystal was a technique that while difficult, was effective. John quickly picked the most powerful spell of the two and held it to the wound in Victor’s leg. Then with a small effort of will said, “Invoca.”
The crystal glowed with a soft yellow radiance that filled the room with a sense of wellbeing. For a moment John was reminded of the smell of freshly baked apple pie, the feeling of the first day of summer vacation as a child, and the excitement of Christmas morning all sort of bundled into a feeling of life, love, and well-being. Then he looked down at Victor’s leg.
The effects of the spell were obvious. Even though Victor had been unconscious his breathing had been labored and he was extremely pale. Now he relaxed. He was breathing easier and some color had returned to his cheeks.
“Should we remove the bandage?”
John shook his head, “No. You’ve got Coven trained healers on the way, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then it would be best to leave it. They can take it off and work on the wound. I’m not sure how much that crystal did, but I think he’s out of immediate danger.”
***
John climbed out of the shower and started drying off. He’d stayed with Victor until a frumpy looking little-old-lady witch had arrived. She bustled into Victor’s room and started shooing everyone out. John took this as his cue to leave and once out of the room he grabbed Jackson by the elbow.
“Is there somewhere I can get cleaned up?”
Jackson looked at the bandage John had slapped on his face and nodded, “The estate has several guest bedrooms. Let me take you to one.”
John wiped the fog from the mirror and looked at his face. He slowly peeled the bandage back and saw the cut was still bleeding steadily. “Fuck, Elaine is going to be pissed if I have to have stitches.” Then he thought about the healer he’d left with Victor. “I wonder if she’d do something about this?” The he shook his head, it seemed like a waste of magic, to heal something so minor. With a sigh, he pressed a washcloth to his cheek and went to his assault pack. He pulled out out his first aid kit and from within the kit found a tube of superglue. Knowing it would sting he pressed the glue into the cut and then pressed the torn flesh closed. For a moment, he caught his breath, his cheek felt like it was on fire as the chemicals in the glue bonded and sealed the cut closed.
Carefully he took a damp washcloth and dabbed at the cut, the last thing he wanted was for the material of the cloth to get caught in the still sealing glue. Once done, John returned to the guest bedroom he’d been given and pulled out a clean set of clothes. When he did, he spotted a small, pink, toy horse sitting on the bed next to his pack.
Time seemed to slow down, ‘Meka?’ he thought and reached out to touch the My Little Pony. The second he did he felt a spark jump from his fingers to the toy and then he heard her voice, she was whispering but the words were clear.
“John, I’m in trouble. A Syndicate assassin has taken control of my body. I don’t understand how and I can’t fight him when he’s awake. I need you to trust me, I don’t have much time. Take my grimoire and use the last spell in the back. It should restore what was severed. In other words, our two crystals will become one. Since you’re gonna cast it you’ll have the crystal. That should deprive this asshole of my magical power and still allow me access. We’ll see if he can control my body without magic!” There was a slight pause, “Okay, time to go. Oh, the ritual will work better if you can find a place that resonates with both of us.”
When Meka’s voice faded, John shook his head, “But I don’t have your book.” Then he felt Pinkie Pie vibrate in his hand and he looked down. There on the bed where the toy had been a minute earlier a large leather bound book now rested. Slowly John reached out and picked up the book. Meka had shown him her grimoire a couple of times but she’d always been very protective, almost secretive, of it. To be holding her book seemed . . . wrong. Like an invasion of her personal space.
John picked it up and slowly opened it. The book was almost twelve inches tall and nine wide and had to be at least four inches thick. The damn thing weighed around five pounds, John guessed, maybe more. Unable to resist his curiosity John slowly paged through the book looking over the spells.
Some were things he’d learned during his training as a guardian others were things for everyday problems; preventing the collection of dust, removing stains from fabric, boiling water, generating light and more. Then there were spells for self-defense spells to swap voices, to see through another’s eyes, to exchange memories, and the one that Meka had used to swap bodies with him.
John ran his fingers over the spell, in his mind’s eye his fingers were tiny, dainty little things, with short, often-chewed nails and then he shook away the memory. Now wasn’t the time for getting nostalgic, Meka needed him to join their crystals together, to deprive the impostor of her magic. John flipped to the back of the book and noticed that the last quarter held empty pages and he got the impression that the witch or warlock who possessed the book was expected to add to it. For a moment, he considered some of the newer Guardian spells he’d learned and had to laugh. He wasn’t a magical researcher like Meka.
Out of curiosity he turned to the back section and noticed that Meka had added several new pages of spells. These where spells she’d developed on her own. He wanted to read them but instead moved to the last entry. “To restore what was severed,” John read the spell and shook his head. Meka had obviously designed this spell for the sole purpose of restoring their crystals. She’d also written it in a hurry which made him think she was winging it. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Then a thought hit him and he picked up his phone to make a call.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 5 *Meka & John* ***************************************
Maxwell Jackson moved with an easy feminine stride as she made her way up from the tube at Waterloo station and headed to Surbiton. It was about an hour down to Oxshott where Gwendolyn lived. She was already late and Max blamed Ilse for it. After he’d cast the spell that had blasted the spirit of Meka into the afterlife, he’d been horny. For some reason Max, hadn’t been able to say no.
They’d ended up spending the next few hours in bed and Max learned that the new Eli might only be twenty-two or twenty-three, but the experienced mind of Ilse knew every trick when it came to bringing a woman pleasure. Max still wasn’t sure if Ilse hadn’t used magic, because he seemed to get hard only seconds after ejaculating. When Max had settled into her seat on the train she’d winced, ‘damn, I’m sore!’
The memory of what she’d done, what Ilse had got her to do, the way he’d played with her body until she was begging, desperate to be filled . . . left Max feeling humiliated . . . and eager to return to the flat tonight. Ilse, no, Eli had promised to show her even more of what her body was capable of.
Thinking of what they’d done, and how she’d felt left Max so distracted that the twenty minutes down to Oxshott flew by. Leaving the train station, she waived down a taxi and gave the driver Gwendolyn’s address and told him to hurry. By now Max realized that if she just relaxed and let her body move she had no trouble looking just like Meka. She turned slightly to sink into the back seat of the cab keeping her legs together within the tight black leather skirt. Then she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window of the cab and felt a surge of pride. The white blouse exposed her arms and showed just a hint of cleavage and went perfectly with the skirt and high heeled boots. The bracelets and necklace were flawless accessories and added a feminine touch that Max was sure the original Meka had rarely bothered with. This should put Gwendolyn off guard. The only thing that Max didn’t like about her appearance was the eyepatch. But she’d already seen the advantages of having her crystal close, so she wasn’t about to get rid of it.
Max glanced at her phone to check the time and saw that it was going to be 11:30 by the time she arrived. Gwendolyn had called a meeting of the leadership of the London Great Coven for midnight. She’d asked Meka to meet with her privately before the leadership meeting. Gwendolyn had wanted to know from Meka’s perspective what had happened. Since Meka had been working the day that the NWRI had been attacked and destroyed by the Syndicate.
For Max this was too good an opportunity to pass-up. A chance to have Gwendolyn alone was the perfect opening to end her. Gwendolyn’s death would be a major blow to the Society. The taxi pulled to a stop before a gate and Meka paid him, wincing slightly at the scent of garlic, liver, and onions on his breath, and climbed out. For a moment Max looked at the gate and the kiosk next to it. She searched Meka’s memories and smirked. The kiosk was a test, only a mundane person would use it. Max drew manna through Meka’s focus item and for a second gloried in the feeling of power that filled her then she spoke the key Gwendolyn had given her.
Max felt the magic surge and then the wards parted and the gate swung open. At ease, knowing that her disguise was impenetrable, Max walked up the paved driveway to the front entrance to the mansion. When she moved up the steps, the sounds of her heeled boots echoed into the darkness, she smiled and lifted her hand to press the doorbell. Before her finger reached the bell, the left door, of the double doors, opened and an older gentleman, in a classic butler’s uniform looked down at her. For a second Max felt nervous, then his name came to her, “Hi, Philip, I believe Gwendolyn is expecting me.”
“Indeed.” For a moment, the man didn’t move. “Please follow me, Mistress Petrucci.” With that he stepped back and then did an about face expecting her to follow. Meka stepped over the threshold and felt a shiver. This was an old house. A house that had been in Gwendolyn’s family for generations. As such it had built up a presence. The crossing of a threshold in the old world carried significance, and still did in the magical community. The longer the family had stayed in one place the stronger the pressence. Still she’d been invited in and the house awcknowledged it. If she hadn’t been invited she’d have had to force her way in. This could be done, but it might have taken a while and it would alarm her hostesss.
Philip moved confidently through the house and Max hurried to keep up. The hard wood floors were polished until they reflected the lights from the lamps set at intervals high in the wall. Max got the feeling that Meka had been here several times but unless she focused on those memories they remained distant and hazy. Philip opened a door and bowed.
Max stepped through and saw that she was now on a back deck that over looked a garden. There were several gas lamps set on tall poles around the area and Max spotted her target. The light reflected off Gwendolyn’s blonde hair and the light blue dress seemed like something that would have been common two hundered years ago. Hearing Max’s approach the woman stood up and turned around and Max’s breath caught. She was the most beautiful woman Max had ever seen. For a moment she wondered what it would feel like to be transferred into Gwendolyn’s body. The idea almost made Max stagger and she missed Gwendolyn’s comment.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am, I was thinking about the attack when I walked up. What did you say?”
“I just said, how glad I am to see you, dear. I’m happy you weren’t hurt in that dispicable attack. We lost over a hundred people, over half of them were mundane. Its such a tragedy. I can’t understand the minds of the people who think this sort of thing is okay.”
“Yes, they must be monsters.” Max said, while her mind spun. The idea of taking over this beautiful creature consumed her. Mr. Drake would love the idea, Max felt, and at Gwendolyn’s suggestion Max settled into a chair across from the Grand Witch of the London Great Coven, giddy at the idea of taking her body, power, and influence and bringing them under the Syndicates control.
***
Once again John was driving and using his un-notice spell. Per Meka’s note the spell would work best if it was cast in a place that was significant to both of them. The house he’d lived in when they’d swapped bodies had been sold and Meka had left her apartment. The idea of asking someone, a total stranger, to leave their house or apartment for an hour or two seemed silly. That left the farm. The house north of St. Louis where they’d been held captive. The house where they’d met in person for the first time. The place where they’d become friends.
John had left St. Louis at 6:00 am for Louisville, now at 2 pm he was over half way back to St. Louis. There was a part of him that was frustrated. Victor had a gate, but he didn’t know how to use it and the healer, Jennifer, had put Victor into a healing sleep. He’d wake up in the morning and be fine, but John somehow knew he didn’t have that kind of time. Not if he planned to help Meka. John pulled off the highway and slowed down since he was now on a secondary road. It would take longer to get to the farm, even with his spell and car, due to the two-lane roads. Pushing down the sense of urgency John focused on driving.
It was almost 4:00 pm by the time John made it to the abandoned farm. Driving up the dirt driveway John got his first look at the farm. It had been years, yet it felt like only yesterday, that he and Meka had been trapped in the basement. They’d escaped but it had been close. As much as he remembered the similarities, he now saw there were more differences. At the time, he and Meka had been captured the grass had been well maintained, the white fence was in good repair, the barns were freshly painted and there was an overall feeling of the place being lived in and maintained. Now everything looked rundown, neglected, and ignored. For some reason this made John feel a little sad.
“At least I won’t have to worry about someone coming by and getting in my way.”
With that he climbed out of the Challenger and opened the trunk. The oversized duffel bag was one he’d prepared before leaving for Victor’s house. John hadn’t known what to pack, but wanted to be ready for anything. Slamming the trunk closed he started to walk to the house when he heard a car coming up the driveway. John turned and looked back in time to spot a Ford F150 pulling to a stop.
“Hey, John,” Ben said climbing down from the cab. “I brought my kit for ritual magic, just like you told me too. Where the hell are we?”
John couldn’t help grinning and feeling slightly irritated all at the same time. His partner’s youthful enthusiasm was part of his personality and after the other night John knew he could trust Ben in a crisis. Besides, Ben had been trained in ritual magic, an area of his training where John was weak.
“We’re here, partner, because I need to do a ritual to help a friend who’s in trouble. The reason for this location is because this is where I met her for the first time.”
Ben nodded and reached into the bed of the truck and pulled out a Coven issued duffel bag. “When will your friend get here?”
John turned and headed around the side of the old farm house. There was an external access point to the basement, or more accurately storm-cellar. “She won’t, she’s in London.”
Ben’s long strides brought him up next to John, “London? Did you hear about the Syndicate attack? They burned the London Great Coven’s research facility. There was something like a hundred deaths.”
For a moment John thought about how Meka must be feeling. If the Syndicate agent had used her body to carry out the attack she’d probably be feeling very guilty, and pissed. They reached the double doors that led down into the cellar and John saw they’d been secured with a chain through the handles and a lock.
“Reserare.” John gestured, using a minor effort of will and drawing a bit of magic through his crystal. There was a click and the lock popped open.
“Uhm, John, who owns this place?”
“Actually, I do. The State, foreclosed on it due to back taxes. I bought it last summer at an auction.” John pulled the chain out and tossed it to one side and then opened the doors. Extending his cane, he said, “Lux.” The crystal set into the handle instantly started glowing with its normal blue-white light.
A moment later a soft green-white from Ben’s crystal joined John’s as they headed down. The sounds of John’s boots on the wooden stairs felt muted in the musty darkness.
“Are there lights?”
“Yeah, but the power is turned off. I’ve been planning to get up here and start restoring this place. I just haven’t had the time.”
“Well, we’ve been sort of busy.”
They were standing in a narrow hall that ran the length of the farm. On either side were two sets of doors. The basement had been divided into four roughly equal sized rooms by the previous owner.
“John, don’t take this the wrong way, but this place is creepy. I’m feeling a lot of negative energy. Are you sure you want to be here?”
“I’m sure. I wanted to get Meka out here to help me do a ritual cleansing. Maybe we can do it during her next visit.”
“Meka, Meka Petrucci? The Witch who destroyed an army of Necromancer led zombies, single-handedly? The one whose been doing all the ground breaking research in London? You know her?”
At this John looked over at his partner, the surprise was clear on his face. “You could say that. And she had some help destroying the zombies. She’s the friend who needs me to cast this spell. For that I need you to help me with the ritual part.”
John opned the door to the room where he and Meka had once been held captive. “This is where we’ll do the rite.”
Been looked over the cell. “Okay, the first thing we need to do is remove the beds and clean the room.”
John looked over at his partner, “Why?”
“Dude, there is so much negative energy in this place. The act of cleaning is symbolic, it’ll sort of mini-cleanse the site. It’ll also set the tone for the spell. You’re not trying to hurt anyone are you?”
“No.”
“Then we need all the postitive energy we can generate. Do you have this ritual written down somewhere?”
John, leaned his cane into one corner of the room and pulled the grimoire out of his duffel bag. “This is Meka’s spell book, so don’t get any ideas. She’s very protective of it. The spell is the very last one in the book.”
Ben took the book, his crystal hung from a chain around his neck and the glow provided plenty of light for reading. “This looks like one of those family heirlooms. Does Ms. Petrucci come from a line of witches?”
“We never talked about it.” John said, not wanting to get too much into Meka’s business. Then he started pulling out the extra crystals he’d brought. “Come on, help me set up some light.” With a touch and a minor effort of will John caused the first crystal to start glowing. The spell lasted about an hour and John was sure they’d have to renew the light a couple of times before this was done, but this was the best option they had. “After that you can help me clean.”
Ben grimiced, obviously reluctant to put the book down. “Okay, but when we’re done, I want to hear about Meka. And I’d like to look at this book.”
“Ben, sorry. The book isn’t mine. It’s her’s. If she gives you permission then, sure, if not . . . well, its her call.”
It was almost 6 pm by the time the basement had been cleaned and scrubbed with fresh soapy water. The beds had been removed from John’s former cell and crystals set into each corner. John’s guess proved accurate. It had taken a couple of renewals of the light spell before they were ready. Now as he settled into the middle of the room and the center of the complex great circle Meka had sketched out he felt ready.
After they’d cleaned the room Ben had pulled out chalk and candles and then looked over at John. “You need to go get cleaned up and put on a set of ceremonial robes, if you have them. You did bring ceremonial robes for this, right?” The doubt in Ben’s voice was palpable.
“Yeah, I’m not totally ignorant.”
John had headed up to the main floor and to the bathroom with the old-fashioned claw footed tub. “It’s a good thing Victor had everything I needed,” and for a second John felt a little guilty about borrowing the robes, candles, and chalk without asking. Because there wasn’t any electric John had to use magic to draw water up from the well and then had to clean the tub and refill it before he got in. The steam curling into the air was the result of another spell and for a moment John enjoyed the feeling of hot water soaking into his muscles.
“There isn’t much more to this rite, at least you don’t need me to do a chant or channel energy to you.” Ben said looking up from Meka’s book as John returned to the basement. “Shouldn’t we wait until sunset? Sunset is symbolically powerful in magic you know.”
Feeling irritated John nodded, “Yeah, the death of the day and the beginning of the night. I know. I just have a feeling that we shouldn’t wait. Besides it’s after 11 pm in London, so its full night there.”
Abruptly John shivered. In that moment, he knew that he needed to start, lives hung in the balance. John placed his half of the Cavanaugh crystal, now detached from his battle-rod, on the floor in front of him.
“Why does she want you to rejoin what was separated? What is it that you’re rejoining?”
“When we met, we used a spell that caused this crystal to divide. It’s a Cavanaugh crystal and very special. Meka’s half of the crystal has fallen into the hands of a Syndicate witch, whose been using it against us. This spell should rejoin them and deprive the witch of most of her magic.”
Slowly, John drew power in through his crystal and then with a slight effort of will said, “Ignis.” The candles they’d placed at each of the cardinal points burst into flame and Ben stepped back, knowing John had begun the rite.
John felt the Great Circle respond, they’d placed the glyphs at each spot around the circle just as Meka had designed. Energy poured into John and then he felt it sort of flow out, again, like an ocean tide. The magic moved through the night and formed a connection to its other half.
“Redde quod dividitur.”
John felt more energy flow into him and the crystals in the room flared up. For a split second he was aware of everything in the room; the motes of dust still settling in the corners, the intake of a breath from Ben, as he watched wide eyed, and the feeling of the white cotton robes on his naked flesh.
“Fac omnia quae separavit.”
More energy flowed into and out of and John, he’d never felt so alive. Every nerve tingled with power. He could hear his own heart beat and taste every scent, on the once stale air of the basement.
“Erunt duo in unum.”
John’s eyes blazed with blue white power, and he lost sight of the room. Instead he saw a stunningly beautiful lady sitting across from him. He recognized Gwendolyn, but there was a pure white halo of power around her, and she seemed oblivious to his presence. Then she lifted a hand, blocking a force bolt. She seemed to stumble back from her chair as another bolt of colored light smashed into her shield.
“Masculum et feminam.”
The blue-white light blazed out of John’s body causing Ben to lift a hand to protect his eyes from the light. Then the light shifted alternating from blue-white to white-purple and it grew brighter with each strobing osculation. John sensed Meka. Her presence surrounded him. He felt her surprise and then . . . delight. It was like getting a hug, even though neither of them had a body.
“Haec . . . conjunctio . . . fit!”
The last phrase stuck in John’s throat. His whole body was on fire, the magic that burned along his veins made it hard to think. As he finished the spell the pain became too much and he threw his head back in a silent scream. At the same time his crystal burned with a new intensity and for a moment John sensed that there were two crystals occupying the same physical space. Then with a crack of thunder there was only one crystal.
John fell forward, catching himself with his hands just in time. Shoulder length reddish-brown hair fell in a curtain around his face and he gasped for several seconds trying to catch his breath. His dazed mind slowly started to sense the world around him. He could hear someone calling his name, but it was distant and unimportant.
His body felt odd, off, and yet . . . sort of . . . familiar. John reached up with one delicate hand and brushed his hair out of his eyes and froze. The hand at the end of his arm wasn’t his, but he recognized it. “Meka?” he whispered in a stunned alto.
‘John?’
John almost jumped when he heard her and glanced around. “Where are you?”
‘I’m right here, with you, in your head.’
“John, dude, I’m right here. A-Are . . . are you okay? You, you turned into a girl.” Ben’s stunned statement caused John to look up.
“W-What? Shit, okay, yeah . . .uhm, give me a minute.” ‘Meka, what happened?’ John thought.
‘I . . . er . . . my spirit was trapped in my crystal last night after I sent you that message. When you rejoined our crystals, I think the Law of Similarity caused our bodies to fuse.’ John could tell she was thinking. ‘Let’s try something. Can you give me control? Just think about stepping back or scooting over so someone else can drive.’
‘Uhm, okay.’ John thought and focused on passing control to Meka. There was a feeling of pressure in John’s mind and then like a bubble popping he felt like he was moving up and out of the way. He could feel everything though, and then a tingling raced through his body. It felt like he was made of clay and the clay was very quickly being re-shaped. The sensation wasn’t painful, just incredibly strange.
“Oh, shit.” John heard his voice say, but he hadn’t tried to speak. The he felt his own hands move to his chest confirming that his rock-hard pecs had returned. “John, I do believe we’ve got a problem.” Meka said, in his deep voice.
“I’ll say, you do. Now in addition to being a woman, for a few minutes, you’re talking to yourself.”
Meka looked up at Ben, ‘Who is this?’
‘My partner and a new Guardian trainee, Ben Lavin.’
“Ben, I think I’m going to need a few minutes to figure this out.” Then to John, ‘We’re at the farm?’
‘Yeah, it seemed like the best place.’
‘Okay, is there a bathroom?’
‘Sure up on the main floor. I can take us.’
‘No, not just yet. I think if I give you control our body will shift again.’ Meka thought. Then she scooped up the crystal and stood up. “I’m just going to use the bathroom. I’ll be back in a few minutes.
***
Max looked over at Gwendolyn and took a sip of tea. It was almost a quarter to midnight and before long the leaders of the London Great Coven would be arriving, Max knew he needed to be gone before then. Max sipped his tea, and re-crossed his legs. It was time, he needed to attack, but something held him back.
“Tell me, what is your true name?”
At first Gwendolyn’s question splashed, surreal, over his mind and he giggled and looked at Gwen. “Excuse me?”
Gwendolyn put her cup down and gave Max an apprising look. “I know you’re not Meka Petrucci. You have her DNA, her aura, her crystal, and even your magic feels like Meka’s, but you are not Meka.”
“Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Max replied, trying to sound offended.
“You see, I got a call from a friend in America. A warlock, and a Seer, and he told me something I thought was impossible. Then I did a little research. Would you care to explain these?” With that Gwendolyn dropped several pictures on the table. As Max looked at them she realized that they showed her entering the NWRI with a large duffel and then leaving 30 minutes later without the bag. “They were recovered from the security surveillance tapes.” Gwen leaned in, “What did you bring into the lab? Why did you leave it?
Max grinned, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then as Gwen drew in a breath Max lashed out. The attack was quick and deadly. Even though Gwen was ready for it, expecting it even, it threw her out of her chair and sent her tumbling back away from Max. Max stood up and drew the pistol she’d strapped to her inner thigh above the hem of her skirt.
Max started shooting while moving forward with the cool efficiency of a trained killer. Gwen’s magical shield flared a light green as each bullet struck and to Max’s shock she climbed to her feet.
“My turn,” Then she gestured and said, “Tar chugam!”
Max noticed the crystal suspended from the chain around her neck, blazed a bright green and then the gun was ripped from her hand by a force Max couldn’t see. It flew through the air and smacked into Gwen’s hand.
“Pulso!” Max shouted trying to summon more magic from the crystal she’d inherited from Meka.
Gwen flipped up a hand and the energy seemed to go out of the spell. “Pathetic. If I hadn’t already known that you weren’t Meka I’d know now. Those are simple spells nothing close to what Meka could do.”
Max grinned as new ideas immediately floated to the front of her mind, “Well, let’s try . . . Aghhhhhhhhhh!” Pain lanced through Max, radiating from the crystal seated in her left eye socket. For an instant, she thought of nothing except the pain. Then she gasped it was gone! The pain had simply vanished but at the same time her eye socket felt empty and even worse her connection, the mystical bond that Meka had forged with the crystal, was gone.
“W-What did you do?” Max asked looking up and for the first time realized she’d fallen to her knees. Gwendolyn had been joined by a fierce looking man and a petite woman who held what looked like a staff with a crystal set in one end.
“Me? I did nothing. I expect that John just stripped you of Meka’s crystal. He did say something about a spell he planned to try.” Then Gwendolyn smiled, and it wasn’t pleasant or pretty. “You killed dozens of people yesterday, employees and friends of mine. So, let’s start again. Tell me your NAME!”
The power of the spell hit Max like a tidal wave and to her horror she heard the words spill out, “I’m Maxwell Jackson, Syndicate Assassin, and now a Witch thanks to my master, Jason Drake.”
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 6 *Meka & John* ***************************************
John felt Meka close the door and then move to stand in front of the mirror just over the sink. The feeling of walking, moving, opening and closing doors, but having no control over his physical body was one of the strangest experiences he’d ever had. Once in the bathroom John was suddenly irrationally glad, as his OCD had kicked in, that the ritual had forced him to take the time to clean the room. He felt his hands move up to touch his face, the three days’ growth of whiskers felt like sandpaper under his hands.
“Oh, wow, I forgot how this feels.” Meka noted, and then reached down between her legs. ‘I can assure you everything is where it’s supposed to be.’ John commented, dryly, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Hey, cut me some slack. I’ve only been a guy once before and having this thing between my legs is hard to get used too. I mean your schlong gets in the way every time I try to take a step.”
‘You get used to it. Don’t you think we should focus?’
“Sure, focus on what?” As she said this Meka slid her hands around feeling her new ass. John tried to ignore his own groping hands.
‘For starters, what happened to you?’
Meka paused and then shook her head in disgust. “I think I was the target of a Syndicate attack.”
‘Well, duh. Can you elaborate?’
Meka let out a deep sigh, “Victor tried to warn me. He did a sending while I was out running Saturday morning. Sadly, I didn’t take his concern all that seriously. I had to go into work to examine a few artifacts. While I was researching an artifact that I think is a portal to other Realms of existence I was attacked.” As she spoke Meka stripped off the robe John had been wearing and tossed it to one side. Then she moved to the mirror and started flexing. “Damn John, do you ever stop working out?”
‘I need to be in shape to do my job.’ John replied feeling embarrassed. “HA! Are you blushing?” ‘How can I blush? You’ve got control of my body.’
“True, and I think it’s our body, for now. I can sort of feel this embarrassing heat in my mind. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” Meka ran her hands over her washboard abs down to the flaccid tube-steak between her legs. “Ohhhh . . . now this I remember. Come to Momma.”
‘Come to momma? Seriously? Can we get back on topic? You were attacked?’
“Yeah, I think it was one of the crystals. Not the one that held the Aelf, there was another crystal. It had an evil feel to it, so I was saving it for last.” Meka stopped playing with her now semi-hard cock and thought for a moment. “Yeah, I bet that was the attack vector, the research institute was too well warded for it to have been anything else.” Her hand returned to stroking her new appendage. “Anyway, the spirit of some Syndicate agent took control of my body. Although, he couldn’t hear me or feel my presence, unlike right now. I think he thought my spirit had been pushed into the afterlife.”
‘Stop that!’
Meka paused, “Stop what?”
‘Stop masturbating, damn it. It’s distracting.’
“Oh, sorry,” Meka giggle. “I forgot how it felt to own one and then when I started playing with it, it got all hard and stuff. Plus, it feels really nice, like having an enormous clit.” Meka looked down at the now fully erect cock between her legs. “Don’t you think we should finish? I mean, it sort-of-aches . . . is this what, “blue balls” feel like?”
‘Aches? And no. I mean, yes, this is what blue balls feel like, but if you ignore it, it’ll get soft again.’
“Party-pooper. Anyway, the agent, I think his name was Max, gave the artifacts to his Syndicate handler. Then we went back and . . .” At this Meka stopped touching her cock and settled onto the edge of the bathtub and put her face in her hands, “Oh, God. John, I-I . . . she-he blew up the research institute and killed, I don’t know, a lot of people.”
John could feel the shame and horror of the event running through her, ‘Meka, it wasn’t you. You weren’t in control.’ John thought trying to wrap his mental arms around Meka.
“It was my body John, and he-she could access my memories, skills, even my magic. I-I was so helpless.”
John could feel the tears running down his face as Meka spoke and he tried to focus his thoughts on how much he cared for her, and what a good person she was, pushing all the positive energy he could toward her. ‘If it helps, Gwen knows. I called her after your last message. She was going to set a trap. We should try to get in touch with her to see if she captured Max.’
At this Meka seemed to perk up, she reached a hand toward where she’d left the crystal sitting on the pile of robes. John felt her draw in magic and the crystal responded with a light purple glow. Then John felt Meka reach out and form a connection to a person she knew in London.
“Gwen, its’ me, Meka. John tells me you might have caught the Syndicate Agent who stole my body?”
There was a long pause and then a golden light flared within the crystal as a connection was established.
“Meka? This isn’t a good time. The short answer is, yes. Where are you now? How is it you can talk to me?”
“The short answer is that I’m in America sharing a body with John. The spell I had John use pulled my spirit into his body when it restored our crystal.” Meka replied throwing Gwen’s words back at her.
“Good, then you’re safe. We’re questioning the Syndicate agent now. I’ll be in touch soon.”
With that the connection ended. ‘You see? They don’t blame you. I bet Gwen can figure out a way to restore you as well. Now, please pass me control. It’s really weird to be a passenger in my own body.’
“You’re telling me? I’ve been stuck this way for days.”
John felt a sort of movement within his mind and focused on pushing forward. Again, there was the sensation like the bursting of a bubble and he tried to flex his fingers. As he did a tingle of energy raced through him and he felt the odd sensation of flesh moving around, re-shaping. Breasts blossomed from his chest and he lost several inches of height as his hips pushed out. His short light brown hair, worn in a standard high and tight, darkened and grew. In a few seconds his hair fell past his shoulders and became a darker brown with a few hints of red. Then a tingling sensation raced through his groin and he looked down between his new, soft, mounds-of-flesh in time to see his cock pull up into his body along with his scrotum.
When it was over and John let out a soft sigh. “Fuck, I turned into you again.”
‘Hey, it’s not so bad. As I recall you seemed to like being me a few years ago.’
“That was different, we were on vacation. Remember?” John stood up and considered his reflection in the mirror, and felt shock run through Meka.
‘OH MY GOD! John, you-I-we have both eyes!’
At this John blinked and ran his new delicate fingers over his soft face and nodded, “I wonder why?” John could almost hear the buzz of Meka thinking. ‘I suspect that when the Cavanaugh crystal was made whole again it sort-of-considered us one being as well and it restored us to what we were, physically, when we divided the crystal. Why it decided that you were the female version of us and I’m the male . . .’
Resigned, John nodded, “I guess we’re stuck, for now. Although, something’s been bothering me. Did you say an Aes Sidhe of the Winter Court was trapped in one of those crystals?”
‘Yes . . . uhm, you do realize I can feel you playing with my boobs?’
John let out a startled gasp and he dropped his hands and felt his face heat up. “Oh, well, they feel nice and I was just . . . you know . . . checking them out.”
At this he heard Meka giggle, ‘Fair is fair. It does feel nice.’
John couldn’t help grinning ruefully, “Victor’s estate was attacked by a small group of Aes Sidhe of the Winter Court. Could it be connected?”
‘It’s too much of a coincidence not to be.’
“Shit, if they’ve got some Sidhe noble trapped and are blackmailing the elves into supporting the Syndicate . . . this could be bad.” John shook his head feeling the new distraction of hair swishing around. “It makes no sense. The Sidhe have a very hard time entering our Realm. They’d never be able to enter with enough numbers to be a threat.”
At this he could feel Meka disagree, ‘There are a few artifacts that can bring them over and in numbers, like that Gate I found. I think if the Syndicate uses that, they won’t be limited to just a small group. It’s only big enough for one at a time, but the gate can stay open almost indefinitely unlike a way. They could, over time, bring through hundreds, maybe thousands.’
“This changes everything.” John said. “We’ve got to get to Victor. If those artifacts are in the UK then we need to recover them before this gets out of hand.”
There was a knock at the door. “John, are you okay? I’ve put away all the stuff from the ritual and cleaned everything.”
‘Shit, its Ben.’ John directed his thought toward Meka.
‘No need to shout. Yeah, okay?’
‘I’m not sure we want to tell him what’s going on. The fewer people who know the better, for now.’
‘Okay, then you’d better give me control, unless you think you can disguise your voice.’ Feeling John’s reluctance, she added, ‘Besides, unless you’ve got a set of women’s clothes, we need to change into our male incarnation so we can get dressed.’
‘Our male incarnation?’ John thought reluctantly giving up control, as he pulled back he felt Meka surge forward. This time the change happened faster, almost as if their body was getting used to this form of magical shapeshifting.
‘Of course, what else should we call the male and female versions of us?’ Meka wondered as she took control. “God, I love how strong I feel.”
“John, are you alright?” Ben’s voice sounded concerned.
“Yeah, sorry, give me a sec.” Meka announced, her deep voice booming out. Then she looked around and spotted the pile of clothes John had been wearing. She quickly climbed into them, only adjusting her new appendage once or twice. Dressed, she spotted the battle rod and the obvious place intended to hold the crystal. ‘What is that?’
‘A Battle-Rod.’
‘Hehehe . . . it’s so phallic. Boys and your toys . . . soooo predictable.’
‘It allows me to channel more energy and is attuned to combat magic.’ John thought defensively. ‘Most Guardians, even the female Guardians use a Battle-Rod.’
‘I’ll just bet they do!’ Meka mentally giggled. Placing the crystal in the socket there was a slight surge of power and an audible click as the crystal joined with the rod. Then Meka went to the door and threw it open.
“I need to get back to Louisville. There’s a Warlock there I need to talk to.”
Ben nodded, “Victor Montrose? The regional Commander? Shouldn’t we report in to Sarah first?”
‘Meka, Sarah, is my commander here. She runs the St. Louis Guardians.’
‘We don’t have time to go down to St. Louis and then back up to Louisville and explain to everyone what’s going on. I have a feeling that time is of the essence. We must recover the gate and the crystal. Besides, my body is in London and I mean to take it back!’ “Ben, I know this isn’t standard. But we’ve got an emergency. I succeeded in restore my crystal and I managed to create a connection to Meka. I’ve got to get to Victor since he’s got a gate to London. Tell Sarah I’m taking a leave of absence.”
Ben nodded, “Are you sure you don’t need me? I’m your partner and an extra set of eyes watching your back might be important.”
Meka nodded, “After you report in, if Sarah will let you go, then meet me at Victor’s estate. But I won’t wait for you, so if you’re coming with us-er-me, then you’ll have to hurry.”
***
“Oooh, I like your car, it’s so manly. I’d ask if you’re compensating, but I happen to know you’re not. Hehehe!” Chuckling, she slid behind the wheel.
‘Hey, can I help it if I love something with a little power under the hood? Can you give me control? I don’t think you’ve ever driven a car like this.’
“Sure, I could, but what would you wear? These clothes wouldn’t fit right and besides, my body is so much smaller than yours’ you’d have to change the seat and mirrors. Just relax, I’ve got this.” Meka started the engine and grinned at the deep growl the Challenger’s massive V8 produced. “I’ve gotten used to using public transportation. I forgot how much fun it can be to drive.”
John wanted to grab onto something as Meka sent dirt flying. The car fishtailed slightly before she had it moving out of the driveway and onto the dirt road. ‘Be careful!’ John thought at Meka in a mental screech. At this Meka let out a deep manly chuckle. “Don’t be such a girl.”
***
A non-descript van pulled out of the private, gated, estate and turned toward London. The driver maneuvered the vehicle slowly and cautiously not wanting to do anything to draw attention. “Hell, you can drive a little faster. At this rate, it’ll be two in the morning before we reach Sheffield.”
“Better late than never. I’m not taking any chances with . . . her.” Barney replied, pushing his thick glasses up before glancing sideways at his diminutive partner.
“Bah!” The petite brunette said and glanced back at Max. “She’s out cold. I mean I don’t know what Gwendolyn did to get her to talk, but I bet she won’t be causing trouble anytime soon.” Then Eira added, “Besides, she’s such a tiny thing, I could take her. A big guy like you, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Barney shook his head, “I’m not worried about her, and I’m worried about the Syndicate.”
“As well you should.”
The soft spoken words seemed to come out of the darkness around them and it took both Society soldiers a moment to comprehend that it was their prisoner who’d said them. Then Eira glared at her, “You shut up! We want no talking, from scum like you! Killing your own kind!”
“Yeah, you were a big shot, but it was all a lie! Well, the prison we’re taking you to was built to hold Syndicate witches, sorcerers, and even wizards.” Barney paused and then added, “They have ways to make sure that even turn-coats can’t escape.”
Dim light reflected from the metal collar, handcuffs, and foot shackles as the van passed under a street light. Each link of the silver and steel chain held a tiny glyph etched into it reinforcing the physical strength of the chains and preventing the prisoner drawing magic into her manna-well. Instead of responding she closed her eyes and appeared to be either meditating or to have fallen asleep.
“Nothing to say? Good.” Barney muttered devoting his attention to the traffic. At this time of night, the traffic on M-25 wasn’t too bad. The drive around the west side of London became a quiet one as the guards no longer felt like talking. Barney didn’t let his guard down until they took the ramp that led from M-25 to M1 north. With London behind them Barney glanced into the rearview mirror and saw the prisoner hadn’t moved. Then he reached down to turn the radio on. Music flooded the vehicle and Eira looked up from where she’d been playing with a small crystal set into the handle of a foot-and-a-half long Kopis, “What are you doing?”
“What? I’m just breaking up the boredom with a little music.”
“Well, I can’t hear anything with that stuff blaring.”
“What’s there to hear? Noth’n but a quiet van.”
At this the small woman nodded but looked uneasy as she settled back into her seat. The night seemed to close in on them and traffic died away the farther they got from London. For a while Barney seemed content to hum along to the music, much to Eira’s annoyance. Then feeling the need to talk he turned to her, “Tell, me, Eira, where are you from? Not the UK, that’s obvious.”
The little woman glanced over at him and for a moment Barney thought she wouldn’t answer. “Macedonia originally, but I grew up in Greece and America.” Then all at once she cocked her head. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Leaning forward Eira turned the radio off. “Hear that.”
Off in the distance behind the van Barney thought he heard a noise. “What is it?”
“Sshhhh.” Eira said going quiet, eyes closed, as she focused. The sound was faint at first, like the wailing of the wind, high and shrill. Like a storm as it races through a high mountain pass in the depths of winter. Then Eira blinked, “Oh, shit.”
“What?” Barney glanced at his partner. She pointed and when he looked back to the road in front of them a white wall of fog had rolled over the highway. Barney slammed on the breaks trying to slow down. He hit the fog bank and instantly ice started to form on the window. “Bloody hell?!” Then Barney felt the van begin to slide and released the breaks and counter steered. For a moment it seemed like they were about to skid off the road but then the van turned. With a feeling of relief Barney managed to bring the van to a stop. “Damn, that was close.”
“N-No.” Eira murmured.
“What?”
Appearing out of the fog four warriors on horseback rushed the van. Their armor glowed blue, green, and a slivery white and it felt like a switch had been thrown as the thunder of their hooves drowned out all other sounds inside the van. The first set of riders lowered their lances aiming for the Society guards through the windshield of the van. At the last second Eira managed to draw her Kopis and throwing the door open diving out.
The wards on the van flared in response to the runes burning with a silvery white flame on the shafts of the lances. It made no difference. Each spear penetrated the wards and burst through the windshield with over a ton of force behind them. The first lance blew through Barney’s personal wards smashing into his chest and pinning him to the van before the Knight let go to race down the driver’s side. The second Knight unable to retarget the fleeing Eira threw his lance and swerved trying to draw his sword before flashing by.
The next two Knights, one a female in form fitting plate armor, drew their sabers and raced past the van looking for targets. The Knight who moved down the passenger’s side saw Eira come to her feet and swung his blade. However, the tiny woman was ready. A bright red light flared from the crystal in the hilt of her Kopis and the blade glowed bright red. When the swords met the Kopis sliced through the Winter Knight’s blade as though it were nothing but smoke.
The horseman thundered past and Eira spun around pointing her blade at his back, “Ignis!” Instantly, white hot fire burst from the tip of her blade and lanced toward the back of the knight. The fire was as thick as Eira’s wrist and the white mist that had closed in around them leapt back from the heat of the flame. Then it hit the back of the knight and his shrill inhuman scream range out, ragged and raw, filled with pain. Both he and the warhorse he was riding blazed up creating a pyre that rose almost twenty feet into the night sky. It threw back the icy mist giving Eira her first clear look at the area around the van.
“Take that, ya Fae bastards!”
Then from around the back of the van the female knight wheeled her horse. In an athletic move, she threw her saber. Eira watched as if in slow motion as it tumbled toward her. She lifted her Kopis forming the word ‘Praesidium!’ in her mind. Before the she could release her power the sword fell toward her head and then everything went dark.
Esistiel Talvathar leapt down from her horse, the pain from the wounds she’d taken the day before ached, but she showed nothing. The healing magic of the winter court had made her whole; what was a little pain? Moving forward she enjoyed the sound of the flash frozen grass as it crunched under her boots. Then putting one foot on the chest of the dead witch she pulled her saber from where it had split Eira’s skull. There was a clatter of hooves and Esistiel looked up.
“Nikerym, i' defenders naa ba?”
The words echoed weirdly in the mist and Esistiel nodded, “Ron naa. Panta i' carriage, Spear-Cora.”
The knight nodded and moved his horse around behind the van, with the ease of long use. Then he tossed a rope weighted with a bronze hook at the back window. The heavy hook smashed through and then, when pulled taunt, ripped into the soft metal door. The knight set his spurs to his all black war horse and the door came free of the van with a shriek of tortured metal.
Esistiel jumped into the back and looked down at Max. “Free yourself human.” Then she tossed Eira’s Kopis to Max. Max looked at it for an instant before picking it up. To bond a new focus would take time, but she knew she should be able to use the crystal. Slowly Max picked up the short sword and felt for its power. Using Meka’s knowledge she placed the edge of the blade against the grommet holding her to the van. “Ignis.” She whispered and suddenly the metal glowed with heat. Sawing through the grommet took only a moment and then Max pulled the chain free. In a few minutes Max climbed out of the van, free of the chains and looked at the Winter Court Aelf. “Might I know the name of my rescuers?”
“I am Nikerym Esistiel Talvathar.” she responded, “in your tongue, Knight Captain Esistiel Talvathar of the Winter Court. Come, we have many leagues to travel before the dawn.”
***
The first rays of predawn light filled the dirt parking lot behind the boarded up and closed 7-Eleven. A freezing mist boiled up from the trees in defiance of the hot humid air of early fall in Massachusetts. Through the trees the dark images of three riders appeared and then solidified. Each of the Elvin riders carried shields and spears and wore heavy plate armor. Behind the only female of the group, clung a tiny brunette human woman. Her teeth chattered at the cold and she used one hand to hold onto Esistiel’s waist while clutching a naked Kopis in her other hand. When they stopped, Max spotted the BMW sedan and a young man leaning against the hood. A feeling of relief washed through Max and she slid from the back of the horse.
“Ilse-er-sorry, I mean Eli it’s good to see you.”
Eli stood up and glared for a moment at Max, and then looked at the Winter Aelves. “Hail, Knight-Captain Talvathar, it looks like your mission, this time, was a success.”
“Do not taunt your betters pup. I bite!” With that Esistiel grinned showing fanged teeth.
Max risked a quick glance around and saw that in addition to the three knights that had rescued her four more had joined the band. They came in from the left and right, effectively cutting off all means of retreat. Slowly, Max moved toward Eli, as she did she ran her thumb over the crystal in the Kopis pulling as much magic through it as she could. Since she hadn’t had time to bond it as her new focus, this task was harder than it should have been.
Eli tossed a stone toward Esistiel. The underhanded throw carried the stone about ten feet before it dropped to the ground. Abruptly, light burst from it forming a window that hung in the air. Max heard Esistiel gasp. “Tarien!” then she looked at Max and Eli, her eyes glowed silvery white, “Where is the Princess?”
Max managed to glance into the window before moving around to Eli’s side. His one look told him it was the Aelf he’d seen trapped in the crystal. She was chained to the snow-covered ground in a clearing. The cold didn’t seem to bother her, but the chains had left red, raw, burn marks on her wrists and ankles. For a moment Max wanted to rub her own recently shackled wrists in a sympathetic response.
“We have done your bidding human, release her majesty!”
At this Eli laughed, “That wasn’t the deal Captain. The Princess will be returned at the conclusion of the campaign. Lord Drake is almost ready to open the Great Gate in the West. Is your army ready?”
For a moment Captain Talvathar’s eyes glowed malevolent red but then she nodded. “Aye, human, even now the red arrow has been sent and the first Clans have come.”
Just then the window hanging magically in the air disappeared drawing everyone’s eyes to stone glowing softly on the gravel. “You can have the stone. With it your Queen may check on her daughter, and thusly see that she is unharmed.”
Captain Talvathar dismounted and moved silently to retrieve the crystal. Then after she returned to her horse she looked back at the Syndicate Agents. “It has been many years since my kind roamed this realm. Perhaps we shall meet again.”
Eli shrugged, “It seems likely. Since your use has been given to my master until the completion of the coming war.”
“What will your humans, who have no power, do once the veil of secrecy is lifted and our armies carve out new nations?”
“They will learn the true order of the Universe. Those with power rule, those without serve. Is this not the first law?”
“lle naa eithel Edan.” Talvathar said. “You are correct. Yet, I wonder if you truly understand.” With that she spun her horse around and along with her warriors disappeared into the trees.
Max turned and glared at Eli, “What was all that about? Gates? Nations? Aren’t we already at War with the Society?”
“HA! Sometimes Max I forget that you’ve only recently come into power. As close as you are to Lord Drake, on a personal level, you have never been in his inner counsel.”
A surge of rage rushed through Max, yet not a flicker of her emotions showed on her face. “What are you saying?”
As if explaining something obvious to a simpleton Eli replied. “I’m saying there is a reason Drake put you in that body. Not just to strike a blow to the Society from the inside. You have Meka Petrucci’s knowledge, skills, and her power! She was one of the most formidable Witches in the Society. Drake elevated you from a simple mundane assassin to the ranks of the gifted. This is how he shows his favor.”
“So what is the bigger plan?”
“Get in, we have a long way to travel tonight and you need to spend most of it bonding your new focus.” With that Eli climbed into the waiting car.
Max ran a finger over the crystal feeling its power. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as the one she’d lost, but it was powerful and it had been forged in a strange way into the Kopis. ‘Perhaps this is a better fit for me anyway.’ She thought before moving to the passenger side.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13) By Zapper *************************************** Chapter 7 *Meka & John* ***************************************
With a start John came awake for a moment he felt a surge of surprise to find that he was driving, it was dark, and he had no control over his body. With that he remembered what had happened a few hours ago.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
‘Fine, did I fall asleep while you were driving? What time is it?’
“Almost 11 pm. Yeah, I could sort of feel you getting bored and then it was like you were getting quieter and quieter then you were gone. When that happened, I got a little worried so I tried talking to you. I felt you stir and then I heard you snoring, only . . .”
‘Only, what?’
“Well, the way I hear you in my mind, it changed. You sounded like a girl making little sleepy moans not like a guy snoring.” ‘WHAT?’ “Yeah, and now, your voice in my mind, you sound just like how I always thought I sounded.”
‘Fuck, this can’t be good.’ John thought, then added, ‘what do you think it means?’
“I don’t know. This is something new. If I had to guess, I’d say we’re sort of “adjusting” on a spiritual level to the magic the crystal used to join us.”
‘The sooner we get this fixed the better. I love you like a sister, but I don’t want to be you!’
“Agreed.”
‘Where are we?’
“About twenty minutes from Victor’s place. Oh, Elaine called while you were out. She wanted to know if you were still in the country.”
‘Did you tell her about us, about our situation?’
“No. I didn’t think you’d want me too. I told her that I’d located Meka, and that she was in trouble, and that I was trying to rescue her, which in a way is true. I mean, I am in trouble someone else is running around in my body. To rescue me we need to put me back into my body.”
Meka could feel John nod, ‘I don’t like lying to Elaine, but she’d freak out if she found out about this. I mean she sort of flipped out when I told her we’d swapped bodies for a week. And that was well after the fact. I think in a way she’s jealous of how close we are.’
“John, hon, I can honestly say that I’ve never been closer to another man, or woman, in my life.”
‘Hahahaha! I bet you say that to all the people you share a body with.’
***
Meka climbed out of the Challenger and stretched feeling her back pop several times. “Damn, do you always get so stiff if you sit still?”
‘Yeah, just remember, I offered to drive.’
“Listening to your sleepy little girl moans was just too cute, there was no way I was going to wake you up to drive.”
‘Fuck you.’
“Hehehe . . . watch that mouth, you’re a lady now.”
‘Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.’
Meka, still laughing, pulled John’s cane from behind the driver’s seat and moved toward the main doors. At her approach the porch lights came on flooding the area with bright white light. Just as she reached out to knock, Victor opened the door.
“Answering your own door?”
Victor scowled. It was a first-rate scowl and Meka guessed he’d spent years working to get it just right. It had the proper amount of irritation, disappointment, and a bit of resignation all mixed into one disapproving expression. Then the scowl vanished. “John, I’m glad you’re back. You know, after the attack, I sent all my mundane servants on a paid leave of absence. Were you able to reach Meka with the ritual?”
“Uhm, yeah, I’ll say. Do you mind if we go inside to discuss this? I could really use a beer.”
“Sure, come on in.” Victor led them through the house and to a room that could only be classified as a bar. The floor was a dark hardwood and the white walls with the colonial style beams and the brass, wood, and leather bar with expensive stools shouted old world. “Have a seat, I’ll grab us a couple of German hefeweizen’s.”
“Have you talked to Gwendolyn today?” Meka asked settling onto a stool and then wincing as she accidently squashed her new masculine appendage. After adjusting her new man-meat, she laid the cane with the Cavanaugh crystal on the bar, within easy reach.
“Not today, well, not since I talked to her about the attack.” Victor set a bottle in front of Meka and lifted his, “Your health.”
“Health.” Meka said and took a drink. ‘Oh my god. I think I’m in love! This is fantastic!’
‘Victor might be a little put off if you kissed him in your current form.’ John noted, laughter in his mental voice. ‘I do love the Hefeweizen.’
‘You mean you’ve had it before? He was supposed to be my mentor and he never offered me a beer. Sexist pig!’
“You said you contacted Meka? How is she?”
“She’s fine and not fine.” At Victor’s confused expression she continued. “The ritual worked the Cavanaugh crystal is restored, at this Meka nodded toward the crystal in the pommel of the cane, but there was an unintended side effect.”
Victor slowly lifted one eyebrow, “Oh?”
“It’ll be easier to show you. John, you’re up.”
With that John felt Meka pull back and, feeling resigned, he moved forward to take control. At once he felt the shifting sensation of flesh moving around. John lifted the beer and took a long pull before glancing at Victor. “Hia, Vic.”
“Meka?”
“Nope, sorry to say, I’m John. You were just talking to Meka.”
“What?” Victor looked confused.
“So this is what happened. The rite restored the crystal and we think it considered Meka and me two halves of one being like the crystal was, so it fused us. Only it made me the female half and Meka the male half.”
For the first time since John had known Victor he looked completely stunned. Then he lifted his pint of beer and drained it in one long drink. “I’ll be damned.”
“Yeah, probably. Putting aside the state of your soul, we’ve got two problems. First, we need to get to England. Gwendolyn knew that the person wearing Meka’s body wasn’t Meka. She’d planned to set a trap. I assume she’s now got Meka’s body safely tucked away. Second, once we get to the UK we’ll need to figure out a spell that will pull this “Max” person’s spirit out of Meka’s body and put Meka back where she belongs.”
Victor shook his head and retrieved another set of beers. “Getting to the UK isn’t a problem. I’ve got a gate that will bring you out in Gwendolyn’s estate. The second issue, restoring Meka to her body, that’s different. This is all new, experimental, magic you’re talking about. I don’t even know where to begin.”
‘I do. But I’ll need access to his research library.’
“Meka says she’s got an idea. But she needs to use your library.”
“That’s fine. In the meantime, I’ll get in touch with Gwendolyn and confirm she’s got this person, did you say, Max? As in Maxwell Jackson, The Syndicate assassin?”
‘I don’t know. He never used his last name. I do know that he was originally a man. He could access my memories but I couldn’t access his. Talk about unfair!’
“Meka says that she doesn’t know. He never used his last name, but he was originally male.”
“It’s too early to call the UK right now. Let’s give it another hour and then we’ll contact Gwendolyn.”
John nodded and then looked down at his ill-fitting clothes. “Uhm, I’m practically swimming in these. I need to either give Meka control or . . . you wouldn’t happen to have any of Meka’s things?”
“Sadly, no. She didn’t visit much and when she did she took everything with her. I suppose when you get to London you can visit her flat and pack a bag.”
‘Alright, you ready to drive again?’
‘Always.’
The change was quick, less than two seconds, and Meka took a moment to adjust her clothes, getting everything properly aligned. “I think the shift is getting faster.”
“That was incredible.” Victor said staring at Meka. “I was using the Sight when you shifted and it’s like one person was here and now there’s another. To my sight, you’re John, in every way, including your aura.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that. To be honest it has me a little worried.”
“More than a trained, hardened, killer running around in your body?”
At this Meka glared at Victor, “Don’t be an ass. Of course I hate it. The thought of what he’s done makes me crazy so I’m not thinking about it.”
Victor nodded and let out a sigh. “Sorry, it’s just, I tried to warn you and you didn’t want to listen.” Then before Meka could say anything he continued. “The war with the Syndicate is going badly. The Society wasn’t designed for this sort of thing. The Syndicate is always one step ahead of us. Like they know what we’re going to do before we do it. Plus, it’s as if the Syndicate no longer cares if the world discovers that magic exists. The attack on Cancun was blatant and open. We had to work for weeks, suppressing memories and building false ones to cover everything up.”
“Well, that sucks. You know I’m not a soldier, right?”
“That’s just it, John-er-Meka, none of us are soldiers. Now it looks like the Syndicate has found a way to open gates to the realms of shadow. There have been attacks by beings that are not human. Just this morning my estate was attacked by a troop of Aelf!”
Meka nodded, missing the way her hair moved when she moved her head, “John told me. I think one of the artifacts I was examining was a gate. I don’t know if it was attuned to the Aelf realm, but I’m sure it would open a gate to several different shadow realms.”
Victor leaned forward, “Don’t you see? We need you! Both you and John! We need John’s training, both in terms of modern military warfare and magical combat. We need your unconventional way of looking at magic. Most witches are trained from very young and while that training makes us powerful it limits how we perceive magic. We assume rules to be set in stone and then you, Meka, go and prove us wrong.”
Abruptly the lights went out.
“What the fuck?” Meka said jumping to her feet and grabbing the cane with the Cavanaugh crystal from the bar. Just as Meka’s crystal flared with a light purple radiance the crystal on the end of Victor’s cane lit up yellow-white.
“Quiet,” he hissed. The sound was faint at first and Meka wasn’t sure what to make of it. A high pitched clicking, but not from one source, it sounded like dozens if not hundreds. Moving to the set of windows along one side of the bar Victor looked out into the night. “Douse your witch-light.”
Meka released her spell just as Victor did and the room was plunged into darkness. Then Victor reached out and opened the curtains that had covered the windows.
‘Oh, shit!’ John gasped. The horde of creatures moving over the lawn in-mass couldn’t have been more than three feet high. Yet the chitinous exoskeletons, the multifaceted eyes, mandibles, pincers, and wings proved these creatures were from one of the farthest shadow realms. Then the winged insectoids took to the air with a buzz.
‘Meka, give me control, right now!’ John ordered and after a moment’s hesitation he felt her pull back. John surged forward and blinked down as his too large shirt slipped off one shoulder. “Victor, we can’t fight that!”
Victor seemed to come awake and he looked at John. “Meka?”
“No, remember, I’m John.” John snapped, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “We can’t fight that! We’ve got to run.”
“But my house; I’ve got artifacts, books, tools that are irreplaceable!”
John stepped forward and stumbled over his too long pant legs, ‘Gandalf never had over sized clothes!’
‘Gandalf didn’t change from a crusty old man to a hottie.’
‘HA! Ego much?’
John pulled his belt to the tightest hole and noticed it still felt loose, “Look, the only thing irreplaceable is life.” John moved forward and stumbled, before kicking off his shoes. “They’ve got flyers up there. We won’t escape by fighting our way to my Challenger.” He looked up at Victor, “Focus Vic! We have to escape. Can we use your gate to London?”
Victor nodded, “Yes.” Then he seemed to come to a decision, “We should hurry. My wards at the edge of the property were good, not my best, but good. They got through them in seconds, my house wards are better, but I doubt they’ll hold for very long.”
“Lead the way.”
At this Victor gave John an odd look and then he shook his head, “That’s right, Meka’s used my gate several times to travel to England but John hasn’t. I keep looking at you and even though I know you’re John, you look just like Meka.”
‘Meka, which way do I go?’
‘Through the door, turn left and go back down the stairs to the main floor.’
Without waiting for Victor John spun around and ran, barefoot, into the hallway following Meka’s directions. As he ran John caused the crystal in the handle of his cane to flare up with his customary blue-white light. Racing down the stairs John felt his chest bouncing around painfully and tried to use one hand to support the soft flesh. “Damn it. Now I see why women need sports bras!” ‘HA! Welcome to womanhood.’ Meka giggled without the slightest bit of sympathy.
By the time John reached the main floor he looked around and realized that Victor wasn’t with him. “Fuck! Where the hell did Vic go?”
‘My guess? The library. He’s got a few grimoires that are ancient and invaluable. I bet he’s trying to save them.’
“Son-of-a-bitch! Which way?”
Heart racing as he jogged up the stairs John wished that Meka had worked out more. ‘You weren’t complaining when you were checking me out in the mirror!’
“That’s before I tried running up two flights of stairs!”
Racing as fast as he could down the hallway John burst into the library in time to see Victor stuffing a stack of books into a large satchel. “What the fuck are you doing? We’ve got to get out of here!”
“I just need to save these. Who knows what those things will do once they’re in the house.”
“I’ll tell you what they’ll do, they’ll kill us! Now come on.” John said, grabbing Victor by the elbow. As he did he realized he was several inches shorter and at least a hundred pounds lighter than Victor. In his normal body, he’d have manhandled Victor to the gate. Now there was no way he could physically dominate him.
Victor pulled his arm away, “I just need to grab a couple more books.”
BANG
The sound of the entrance door being smashed open echoed through the house. “Okay, you’re done.” John said, and grabbed Victor’s hand in an Ikkyo grip, then spinning around and stepping behind Victor, John used his hips, legs, and abs to twist Victor’s arm into a classic Ikkyo-Come-Along.
“What, ouch, stop it.” Victor gasped trying to struggle. John just tightened the lock and started walking toward the door. Victor wincing in pain tried to resist but he had no leverage. “Fine, fine . . . I’ll go, but let me grab the bag.”
‘Okay, this is cool. You’ll have to show me some of this Aikido stuff once we’re back in our proper bodies.’ Meka said.
“If I let you go you’ll come right-the-fuck-now?”
“Yes, on my honor.”
John released Victor and he stumbled forward before glaring at John. Then rubbing his wrist and flexing his shoulder he said, “What was that?”
BANG
“COME ON!” John shouted, snatching up the bag, with the books with his free hand and slung it over one shoulder. “We don’t have time for this.” John raced past Victor and this time Victor followed John out into the hallway. By the time they got to the stairs leading to the main floor John saw that the giant insect creatures had broken through.
The first two monsters through the broken door looked like a cross between a human and a Praying Mantis. The human head, with multifaceted eyes, sat on a human looking torso that slowly transitioned from skin to chitin until from the waist down it was all insect. It had a set of human looking arms and a second set of the classically folded Praying-mantis appendages. The monster swiveled its mostly human head to orient on them. Then it let out a chirping noise and jumped. The open entryway had a vaulted ceiling and sweeping stairs that formed a graceful arc and provided access to the upper two floors of the mansion. It had to be at least twenty-five feet from the main floor to the second story. The mantis creature made the jump look easy.
Just as its legs touched down in front of them Victor unleashed a blast of force from the crystal in his cane. The mantis was blown off the landing and smashed into the far wall before falling onto its fellows below.
John grabbed Victor by the elbow and dragged him back a few steps. Then letting go he lifted his battle rod and pointed. “Clypeum!” The air across the hall shimmered for a moment and a semi-transparent energy shield materialized. A second later the next Insectoid landed in front of the shield and spotting them launched itself forward. It hit the shield and a concentric ring of force rippled over the surface as the creature was thrown back.
“That’ll hold for a couple of minutes.” John said looking at Victor. “Is there a back way down to the gate?”
“Yes,” Victor responded and held out his hand. “Give me the bag.” With a shrug John slid the bag off his shoulder and handed it over, glad not to have to carry the bulky thing. He knew it would just get in the way if he had to fight. “This way.”
Trailing behind Victor John couldn’t help looking over his shoulder as now a half dozen Insectoids threw themselves at the barrier. The stairwell that Victor led them to turned out to be hidden by a panel halfway down the hallway.
“This is a servant access. It helps them to move around the mansion without being in the way.” Victor said using his crystal to light the stairs. John followed him and made sure to shut the door before descending.
The stairwell led them down to the kitchen. Victor raced through the kitchen and out into another hallway and John breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was empty. Slowing down, Victor moved to another set of doors that opened to a set of stairs that descended below the estate. As soon as they stepped through the doors Victor turned around, closed them, and touched them with the crystal in his cane and murmured a word.
John felt the power of Victors spell and for a moment the doors shimmered with magic. “That should hold for a few minutes.” Victor noted; satisfaction in his voice.
Panting John nodded and leaned back against the wall. “I’m getting a little tired of running.”
“Yes, quite. Follow me.” Moving at a more measured pace Victor descended the stairs.
‘Don’t say it!’
‘Say what?’ John thought innocently back at Meka.
‘That I need to exercise more. I’ll have you know I’ve been running every day for the last six months!’
John pushed himself away from the wall, wiped the sweat from his eyes with the back of his free hand and followed Victor. ‘Well, I have your body from four years ago and you should have worked-out more, then.’
John caught up to Victor at the bottom of the stairs. Victor turned and started down another hallway, “This way.” At the third door Victor stopped and took out a key. John noticed the door was made of solid oak with heavy metal hinges and the door post had been reinforced with metal. The lock made an audible, heavy sounding, click and then Victor turned the handle.
The room beyond the door was unimpressive. It was a simple twelve foot by twelve-foot cell, with a high ceiling. In the middle of the room on a slightly raised platform stood an arch. Suddenly, John had a mental image of the Gateway Arch down in St. Louis, and shook his head to clear the vision.
Victor spoke a word of power and pointed his cane at the arch and symbols. John saw the arch flare to life with a yellow-white glow. Then the air shimmered within the arch distorting and making it impossible to see anything on the other side.
“This will take us to Gwendolyn’s estate. There is an arch just like this one in her traveling room.” Victor looked at John and nodded, “I know you’ve never used a gate before, so you should go first. It will close a few seconds after I step through.”
John nodded and moved forward and then after a slight hesitation stepped through. The energy within the arch felt like cool water moving over his skin. John wanted to shiver and then he stumbled into darkness. John could feel cold stone under his bare feet and he lifted his cane, “Lux.”
Blue-white light filled the room and John stepped off the stone pedestal. Unlike the room in Victor’s house this one was round. It had four arches set at the cardinal points and in the center of the room a tight circular staircase led up to a closed door. Just then Victor stepped through and moved to stand next to John.
“It’s six am here in London, so most of the house will be asleep. I think I know the way to the kitchen. The staff should recognize me. How do you feel about breakfast?”
“I’m starved.” John replied, and felt his body start to react. The tension and adrenaline all sort of crashed home at once and he began to trembling. To cover this, he coughed and gestured to the stairs, “Lead the way!”
Victor hurried up the stairs and to John’s relief the handle to the trap door turned and Victor swung it up and open. The room above the traveling room was also circular. It had been painted in pastels and gold. There were low Roman benches under windows on two sides. Straight ahead John saw a double set of glass doors with light white lace curtains and through the glass he could see a well-maintained lawn.
“Uhm, John.”
At this John turned around and saw Victor standing in front of second set of doors that he guessed led into the house. “Yes?”
“Perhaps you should change.”
“Change? What . . . oh, why?”
“You’ve seen the news these last few days, right? They are looking for a woman, a terrorist, who looks like Meka. At the moment, you look just like Meka, we don’t want any misunderstandings.”
“This is Gwendolyn’s house. I’ve talked to her and she knows what’s going on. That the person who did those things wasn’t Meka.”
“I know, but did she tell her staff? Besides, you look ridiculous wearing John’s clothes.” Victor pointed out.
‘He’s right.’ Meka added, ‘Time to give me control.’
“Fine.” John reached down and loosened his belt and then thought about stepping back, giving up control. As soon as he did he felt Meka surge forward. There was a shifting sensation and then it was over.
“Ah, feels good to be back in the driver’s seat.” Meka commented adjusting her cock.
“Ahem, right. I’m still having a hard time getting used to seeing you do that. Let’s go to the kitchen.” Victor said, trying not to stare.
“I know the way.”
***
If the servants were startled at the sight of unannounced Americans stepping into the kitchen, they hid it well. By the time Meka and Victor had been led to the breakfast room and were through the second round of eggs, toast, and bacon the door opened and Gwendolyn glided into the room.
The blonde mistress of the house slid into a seat between Meka and Victor with her back to the bank of windows. The morning sunlight flowed into the room illuminating Gwendolyn in its golden radiance. John felt stunned at her beauty and he sensed Meka laughing silently at him. ‘Men, you are so caught up in appearance. Although, she’s using every trick in the book to bewitch you and Victor without any actual magic.’
“Victor, John, what brings you to my house so early?”
Pushing back his plate Victor nodded toward John-Meka and said, “We have a unique situation.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“I’m not actually John. I’m Meka, although John is here inside me. We’re currently sharing the same body.” With that Meka launched into her story and when she was done Gwendolyn was tapping her perfect pink lips thoughtfully with one well-manicured finger.
“I’d like to see the transformation and then hear John’s story.”
‘Okay, John, your turn.’ Meka thought pulling back. John surged forward and the now familiar shifting sensation rippled through their shared body.
John adjusted his oversized clothes and looked over at Gwendolyn. “Morning, yes, I’m now John. Er . . . well, actually, it’s probably more accurate to say that “we’re” John and Meka. See, when we’re in our Meka body I’m in control and when we’re in our John body Meka’s running things.”
“Amazing.” Gwendolyn stood up. Slowly, she walked around John and shook her head. “Did you use the witch-sight on them?” she asked, glancing at Victor.
“Of course. I’ve not done extensive tests, but from what I can see the person in front of us is Meka Petrucci. When they are John everything I’ve tried tells me it’s the real Jonathon Bedford I’m talking too.”
“When I examined the fake Meka’s aura after we captured her I could see differences. I know Meka and am familiar with her and her aura and it would take a person with that level of skill and familiarity to figure out that Maxwell Jackson wasn’t the true Meka Petrucci. Now, however, as I look at you . . . I can’t find those differences. In fact the only way I can tell you’re not the true Meka is that you have two good eyes, no scars, and you look younger.”
John nodded. “We think that when the Cavanaugh crystal was restored it restored us physically to the point in time where we split it. Meka also thinks the spell considered the crystal two different beings just as we were. Because of the bond between us and the crystal as the magic joined the crystal into one being, it did the same to us.”
“Interesting. Yes, I can see the law of similarity at work. This will take some study to figure out.”
‘John, ask her if she still has my body and that fucking thief, Max, still in custody.’
“Gwendolyn, Meka would like to know if you’re still holding Max?”
At this Gwendolyn frowned. “No. I don’t have a place to hold someone like that. This is a house after all not a prison. I questioned her and then sent her to the prison we’ve set up for Syndicate agents in Sheffield.” Then Gwendolyn looked down at her soft delicate hands, “Unfortunately, the van transporting her was attacked. From what we can tell it was Aelf Knights from the Winter Court. I do not understand what has happened but it appears the Winter Fae have allied with the Syndicate.”
“I’m sorry.” John leaned forward and placed one of Meka’s hands on Gwendolyn’s to comfort her. “Was anyone hurt?”
Gwendolyn looked up and a tear formed on her perfect eyelashes, “Yes. Two Society Guards were killed.” Then she pulled her hand away and used a napkin from the table to daub her eyes. After a moment, she cleared her throat, “I assume you’re here to find Max?”
“Yes.” ‘YES!’ John and Meka said at the same time.
“But that’s not all.” Victor added. “My estate was attacked, again. This makes it twice in less than twenty-four hours. And this time it wasn’t Winter Knights. My defenses were swarmed by a horde of Insectoid creatures from some dark shadow realm.”
Gwendolyn went pale. “What?!”
Victor waved his hand and the crystal in his cane glowed and light flowed up from the crystal creating a three-dimensional image of the estate. It showed Victor and Meka looking out into the night and across the grounds a horde of creatures burst into view. The image froze and then zoomed in and Gwendolyn gasped.
“T-Those are from a shadow where human and insects were blended with dark magic. I’ve read about it. When magic in our realm was at its peak. Human witches traveled the multiverse. If I’m right the witches that made it to the insect realm discovered highly intelligent creatures. Insects, larger and more intelligent than any that are native to our realm.”
“These explorers learned to communicate with the giant insects and even brought a few ambassadors back here. Intelligent as they were the insects had no magic in this realm. They began kidnapping humans and taking them back to their realm. By some vile magic they bread with them creating the Insectoid race. A union of human and insect, able to use magic in both realms.”
“When these new beings entered our world, we fought a short violent war with them. Once we drove them back into their realm we sealed the gates to that shadow world. I would dearly love to know how they found their way here.”
“The Syndicate.” Victor’s eyes flashed with power. “It has to be. They’ve turned to open war.”
“I’ll call the elders. We were already planning to meet in Boston to discuss the war. This event changes things. I fear it might be time to use the last contingency plan.”
“The last contingency plan?” John’s high-pitched voice sounded frightened. “You’re not talking nucs or something, are you?”
It took a moment for Victor and Gwendolyn to look over at him and for an instant they seemed surprised to see John. Then Victor nodded and Gwendolyn flashed a quick smile.
“No, nothing as ominous as all that. It’s the plan that the Society made years ago in the event we must go public. You see we’ve established connections to every industrialized nation. Now, provided the elders agree, we’ll use those connections to introduce the world to magic.” Gwendolyn stood up, “Victor, if you are not too fatigued from your fight, I could use your help.”
“Certainly.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Gwendolyn looked down at John, “Philip, will show you to a room. From everything you’ve told me I doubt you’ve slept in a day. You must be exhausted, besides, don’t take this poorly, dear, but you’re dirty and you really need to bathe.”
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 8 *Meka & John* ***************************************
John fought his way toward consciousness. The dreams he’d had, had been filled with color, light, and non-stop battle with creatures out of his worst nightmares. The most disturbing thing had been that in every dream he’d been wearing Meka’s body! He lifted a hand to brush back the hair on his face and froze, ‘Why do I have hair on my face?’
The room was dark and he was cocooned in a soft warm bed. John had to fight the urge to wiggle deeper into the bed and just go back to sleep. Instead, he pushed back the covers and sat up. The sensation of a soft weight shifting on his chest brought the recent events back and he reached up to cup his soft naked boobs. Then knowing what he’d feel, he reached between his legs. The ill-fitting men’s briefs did nothing to hide the fact that his almost hairless crotch lacked his normal equipment. “Oh, shit. I didn’t dream that Meka and I had been fused together, it really did happen.”
“Meka?” Hearing nothing, he reached out with his mind. Inside his head he heard what sounded like a man snoring. “Okay, now that’s weird.” Then he shook his head feeling his long hair tossing from side to side. “I refuse to believe that I snore!”
John lifted a hand and felt the connection to his crystal, “Lux.” Blue-white light filled the room. Spotting a light switch John moved to the door and turned it on releasing his spell. Then he felt the urge pee. The bedroom had an attached bathroom and, gratefully, he moved into it.
He stopped when he saw Meka looking back at him from the mirror. “I never thought I’d see your face in a mirror again.” John looked down at his chest. His tits were just as he remembered them. Pale skin and bright pink nipples the size of silver dollars, Meka’s breasts were just over a double handful of soft flesh. Trying his best to ignore them John pulled his briefs down over the flare of his hips and kicked them to one side. Then he turned and settled onto the toilet. It took a bit to remember which muscles to squeeze and what to relax but the relief of peeing felt as good as a girl, as it did as a man. Remembering to blot John stood up and flushed the toilet and then looked at the shower. ‘Meka?’ Once again heard a faint snoring in his mind.
When Phillip had shown them to this room John had felt an almost crushing weight of exhaustion. He’d wasted no time stripping down to his briefs and diving under the covers. Now, when he looked into the mirror he could see sweat streaks through the dirt on Meka’s face. He ran a hand through the tangled mess of his hair and sighed. “Getting this straightened out is gonna suck.”
John went to the shower and started it and, once it warmed-up, he stepped in. He let out a hiss as the full impact of hot water on his sensitive chest startled him. “I forgot how sensitive these things are.” Then spotting body-wash and a loofa John got to work cleaning up. He tried to stay focused on the task of getting clean, as the water sluiced off his flesh. Yet the more he fought to ignore the feminine sensations assaulting his brain the more his body seemed to respond.
Rubbing his soft breasts turned into sensual caressing, and then a hand drifted down between his legs. Meka’s tiny landing strip led to a set of lips, swollen with need. John’s exploring fingers sent tiny jolts of pleasure racing through his body. The lips seemed to open slightly exposing Meka’s engorged clit. John continued stroking and rubbing, now using tiny circles with his fingers to stimulate his clit. It felt like someone had gotten ahold of his cock and began caressing it. On instinct he pushed a finger inside while continuing to rub. The deep ache, the need to be filled, was more than he could take and he leaned forward to rest a hand on the shower wall while pushing two fingers deep into Meka’s pie.
“Ohhhhh . . .” he heard the sound of a woman moaning in pleasure and it took John a moment to figure out that the woman was him.
‘Oh, fuck, don’t stop.’
“Meka?”
‘Who else is sharing your body? Now keep going, damn it!’
Feeling a little guilty, at getting caught masturbating in her body, John started to pull his fingers out. ‘Don’t you dare leave us like this!’ Meka thought at him and suddenly his body felt like it was on fire with carnal need. Gasping John drove his fingers back into his pussy curling them at just the right angle to find the bundle of nerves up and behind his clit. “Ohhhh . . . goooooooddddddd” he gasped. His body felt like it was on auto pilot. Stroke, curl, stroke, rub . . . he alternated between rubbing his clit, driving his fingers into an empty ache and curling them up to stroke his g-spot.
The most powerful orgasm John could remember washed over his body and his weakened knees gave out and he slid to the floor of the shower. “Oh, damn. Meka if it feels that good to rub one out, how do you leave the house?”
‘Idiot. It never feels THAT good. I-I didn’t want you to stop, so I focused on what my body feels like at the height of pleasure, and it was like . . . I’ve never felt anything that good.’
After several deep breaths John climbed shakily to his feet. He ran his fingers through the tangled mass of hair. “Uhm, whatever happens in the future, we’re never telling Elaine about this.”
‘Agreed!’
“Okay show me how to get the tangles out?”
‘Sure, you’ve already used shampoo so next is conditioner.’ “Hey, how do you know that? When did you wake up?”
‘Just after you tried to burn our breasts off with scalding hot water.’ “Why didn’t you say something?”
‘It seemed like you were having fun and I didn’t want to ruin it for you. I would have pretended to still be asleep except you were going to stop just as it was getting good.’
Once done with the conditioner John discovered it was much easier to run his fingers through Meka’s hair. Getting out of the shower John wrapped a towel around his waist and went to the mirror looking for a brush.
‘Uhm, John, normally girls wrap the towel around their chests and under their arms.’
“Oh, yeah, right.” He adjusted the towel and then finding a brush went to the bedroom to work on his hair. As he settled onto the bed there was a knock on the door. John opened it a crack and saw a woman he didn’t recognize.
“Yes?” he asked. ‘Her name is Tracy.’ Meka supplied. “Tracy, can I help you?”
“Hi, Meka, I don’t know why, but Mistress Gwendolyn asked me to give these to you. She said you’d understand.” With that the maid offered a pile of what were obviously men’s clothes.
“Sure, thanks.” John opened the door the rest of the way and accepted the clothes.
Once alone he looked down at the pile. “Why do you think she gave us men’s clothes instead of a woman’s?”
‘Probably because Meka is wanted for blowing up a building. She wants us in “John” mode while we’re here . . .’
“But I’m John. When we’re male we’re Meka.” ‘Come on John, time to get dressed and find out what’s happened since we crashed.’
“Fine.” John went to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, “I think I want to watch this time.” Then he thought, ‘Okay, we’re all yours.’ and pulled back releasing control. At once he felt Meka move forward.
He watched as his skin seemed to ripple, shoulders growing wider, long hair pulling up and getting lighter while hair sprouted from his arms, legs, and chest. Then his face seemed to shift his cute elfin chin turned square and a day’s worth of stubble sprouted from his no longer soft cheeks. His boobs stretch as his chest and shoulders continued to expand turning into a set of well-formed pecs and his nipples got smaller and smaller until they were dimes instead of silver dollars. As this was happening he grew six inches and felt a heavy weight drop down between his legs. The familiar sensation of his cock and balls swinging freely between his thighs signaled the end of the changes.
“Damn, all of that in like two seconds.” Meka noted running her large masculine hands over her washboard abs and down to the sausage between her legs. “Welcome back boys. I’m sure we’ll have fun a little later.”
‘What?’
“Hey, don’t go all prudish on me. After what you did in the shower, you owe me. I’ll just take it as a rain check.”
With growing familiarity Meka climbed into the clothes Gwendolyn had picked out. Grey dress slacks, leather belt, a light blue dress shirt, leather dress shoes and a matching suit jacket. When Meka saw the tie she just shook her head and folded it up and tucked it into a pocket. “Well, what do you think?”
Meka stood in front of the mirror and John had to admit that the clothes gave him a look of sophistication he normally didn’t go for. ‘I think Gwendolyn has expensive tastes.’ “True, she does know fashion.”
Twenty minutes later they found Gwendolyn and Victor in the garden taking a late lunch on the open air patio. Meka’s stomach rumbled as she walked up to the pair.
“Hi, I don’t suppose a girl could get some lunch?”
“You don’t look like a girl, at the moment, Meka. Please sit down.” Gwendolyn said, with a laugh.
Meka joined in with a chuckle. “How did the magical conference calls go?”
Victor grunted and bit into an apple slice. “Not well. Most didn’t want to believe that the Syndicate would go this far. I had to show them the attack on my estate and then remind them of Cancun.”
“It’s one thing to do a large area attack on the Society, even to bring Fae to our Realm. It is an entirely different matter to bring Insectoids to this Realm. We sent a local witch to Victor’s estate only to find they’ve established a nest. Our scout almost died.” Gwendolyn added.
“The local authorities in Louisville will come out to the estate at some point and they’ll be slaughtered. There is no going back from this one.”
“How will you let the mundanes know?” Meka asked, looking at Victor.
“As we speak members of the Society within every industrial government are revealing themselves to the mundane leaders. Once ready, hopefully within the next few days’, public announcements will be made. Then we’ll move openly on the nest in Louisville.” Gwendolyn answered.
“Any idea where Max is in my body?”
“No.” Then with an intent look Gwen added, “There is something we need you to do. In Alaska, there is a witch, a powerful Seer, who has been invaluable fighting the Syndicate.” ‘Cassandra!?’ John gasped. Not hearing John’s mental exclamation Gwen continued, “Cassandra has helped us foil Jason Drake and his mother Tia Drake’s plots for years. Recently we’ve lost all communication with her. We need you to go there and find out why.”
‘Who’s Cassandra?’ Meka asked John silently.
‘Only the most powerful living Seer. She’s very reclusive and rumor has it cursed, although, no one knows what that means. She also doesn’t appear to like men. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard, she’s had a couple of apprentices all female and her lands are warded against men.’
Meka shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that something might have happened to this woman, but I have to find Max and get my body back.”
“Meka!” Victor said, sharply, “This is bigger than your personal wants or needs. She is one of the greatest Seers of our time and only another Seer may enter her lands uninvited.”
“Not just Seers, Victor, female Seers.” Gwendolyn interrupted. “Her curse prevents her from wanting any contact with most of humanity. To set foot on her land you must be both a Seer and a woman. That combination is so rare that very few of the gifted visit her uninvited.”
“Well, I’m not a Seer either.” Meka retorted hotly.
“No, but John is.” Gwendolyn replied with a wide smile, “And currently he is the female.” Meka’s shoulders slumped. “I understand. I just . . . I feel like Max’s out there, in my body doing horrible things and everyone thinks it’s me!”
“Meka, we’ll do everything we can to find Max and capture him.” Victor assured, in an earnest tone.
“And I’ll look into a way restore you.” Then looking thoughtful, “It might mean dividing the crystal again.”
***
Ben opened the door as the bell rang a second time. “Yes, can I help you?” The tiny brunette with red highlights looked up at him. “Are you Benjamin Lavin?”
“Who are you? Do you realize it’s two in the morning? I’ve got to be to work in a few hours.” As Ben tried to clear the fog of sleep from his mind he realized this woman looked familiar and that she was a witch.
With one hand the witch reached in to touch Ben’s wrist. “You are Benjamin Lavin, John Bedford’s partner, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” then Ben realized why she looked familiar, “you’re John’s friend, Meka. What brings you here, at this time of night?”
“Do you think I’m pretty?”
The comment caught Ben by surprise and suddenly he couldn’t look away. The woman’s eye seemed like bottomless pools of blue and then blood rushed to his cock and he gasped at the raging hard on between his legs. “I’ve just started studying Tantric magic and I really need your help Ben. Do you think you could help me?”
Ben felt a swelling of pride that matched the growth of his cock. Meka Petrucci, the woman who’d destroyed a horde of zombies, killed a Nazi Necromancer, and discovered a hundred new ways to use magic wanted him to help her! Ben opened the door wide dropping the house wards, “Sure, anything for a friend of John’s. What do you need?”
“For starters? Your cock in my hot little pussy.” Max purred stepping into the house. “Then the keys to the St. Louis Great Coven’s vault. There is an artifact there that Lord Drake desires.”
Ben stumbled back his eyes glassing over, “Y-You want to have sex?”
“Oh, yes . . . for starters.” Max moaned closing the door and feeling the wards reset. “I’m going to ride your cock and milk every drop of cum from your body. Then I’ll rip the memories I need from your mind, drain your life force, and leave your empty husk here on the floor.” Max whispered, “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Fuck, yes.” Ben fumbled out of his pajamas. With his more than eager cock in hand he looked up as Max slowly, sexily, slipped out of the leather jacket, jeans, and t-shirt she’d been wearing.
With a tiny hand Max reached out to stroke Ben’s man-meat. “Such a pretty little pecker, I’m going to enjoy this.”
***
It took two different gates before Meka and John stepped out of the traveling room at the Anchorage Alaska Great Coven Hall. From Gwendolyn’s traveling room, they’d gone to the Great Coven Traveling room in New York. This Traveling room held no fewer than forty-nine gates. From there Anchorage had been a step away.
Before they’d left London, Gwendolyn had insisted on packing a backpack Meka could carry on her broad shoulders. It held sets of clothes for both John and Meka so they wouldn’t be forced to wear ill-fitting clothes if, and when, they transformed. She’d also, at John’s request, furnished them with weapons.
John had been surprised when Gwendolyn had produced a SIG Sauer P229 the .40 felt comfortable to John as Meka held it using his large hands. “I’m not really a very good shot.” Meka noted.
‘If we need to use it we can shift.’
“These will come in handy.” Meka lifted one of the three crystals Gwendolyn had given them. Each was a special purpose crystal. They couldn’t be used as a focus item and had a single spell locked inside. The beauty of these was that it took almost no magic to activate, provided the person holding the crystal knew the key.
The first crystal held a powerful veil. Gwendolyn explained that it was much better than anything Meka had ever produced. The second held a body shield. When they activated it, the shield would protect them from all magical and physical threats until it ran out of power. The duration, of course, would be determined by the power of the attacks it was blocking. The last crystal held a potent healing spell. It was battlefield magic designed to bring a person back form the edge of death to full health in under a minute. The three crystals were expensive to make and time consuming to enchant. Both Meka and John knew the value of the gifts.
Moving out of the traveling room Meka spotted what must have amounted to a reception area. Directly across from the door was a desk with a woman bent over writing something that Meka couldn’t see. The very shapely bottom of the receptionist was prominently displayed and Meka felt a rush of blood to the tube-steak between her legs. It was 5 pm in the UK but only just 8 am here. By the look of things, the receptionist had just arrived and was still setting up for the day.
Meka cleared her throat with a deep masculine cough and the woman jumped and gave up a little screech as she spun around. “Oh, I didn’t know anyone was scheduled to come in this early.”
“This was an emergency.” Meka eyed the pretty brunette lasciviously. “I’ve been sent on Great Coven business. I’m a Guardian, my name is John Bedford.” Meka felt strange using John’s name.
“Okay, hi, my name’s”
“Sandy, yes I can see that.” Meka interrupted stepping into Sandy’s personal space and reaching out she tapped the name tag attached to Sandy’s blouse.
Sandy flushed and took a half step back, “Oh, uhm, okay.”
‘Stop staring at her tits.’ John chided. ‘Most women think that’s creepy. Besides, we’re here on business. We need to rent a plane to take us up to Cassandra’s.
With a start Meka realized she’d been looking at Sandy’s boobs and felt her face flush. ‘Stupid, man body.’ She thought at John before turning to Sandy. “I’m sorry. I think I’m a little jet lagged. Hehehe . . . Sotta speak. I didn’t mean to seem creepy.”
“Oh, you’re fine.” Sandy, now clutching her necklace, replied. At the end was a crystal the size of a golf ball and Meka was sure it was her focus item. “Do you need a rental car?”
“Actually a lift to the airport. I need to rent a boat plane to take me up to Lake Klutina.”
“This time of year that shouldn’t be a problem. Are you going fishing . . . wait you said Great Coven business? The only thing up there is the Seer.” Then Sandy shook her head, you do know she doesn’t like visitors, or men?”
“Look, Sandy, the less you know the better. Can you either get me a taxi or do I need to rent a car?”
“No, for the airport, we’ve got a shuttle service. Go on through those doors and then down the stairs to your right. There’s a lobby and the guy working the desk, Greg, he’ll make sure you get to the airport.”
***
It took longer than Meka wanted but at last they were soaring over the Alaskan wilderness headed east. The man at the controls looked old enough to be her grandfather but he seemed to know what he was doing as the tiny plane flew between a pair of mountain peaks.
“There’s a pier at the southern end of the lake and a set of cabins. I assume you’ve rented one and that’s where you want to be dropped off?” The crackle of his voice in her headset was difficult to understand and it took Meka a moment to figure his question out.
Pressing the mic button, she spoke into the boom mic on the head set. “No, take me to the north end. If you can run up onto the bank, great! If you can’t I’ll wade ashore.”
The pilot gave her an odd look. Like he was used to crazy rich people getting dropped off in the wild, but this guy didn’t look rich or crazy. “What’re you going to do up there? Are you meeting someone? Do you need me to come back and get you in a few days?”
“Yes, and I don’t know yet. It’ll depend on the lady I’m meeting.” Meka gave the guy a conspiratorial wink.
“Ah, okay, will good luck with that, buddy.”
The approach to the lake left Meka’s stomach in knots. Everything had been smooth sailing and then the pilot pushed the nose over and suddenly they were bouncing around.
“The wind off these mountains can be a bit turbulent.” He commented dryly. As the fir trees got bigger Meka spotted the clear blue water and then the air seemed to smooth out. The little plane skimmed over the surface of the glass like water finally settling smoothly into it.
“How about we beach it over there?” Jack, the pilot, pointed at what looked like a soft sandy section of beach. “This water might not look it, but it’s extremely cold I’d hate to make even a tough guy like you wade through it.”
Meka blinked for a second before she realized he was talking about her. ‘Hehehe, that’s the first time I’ve ever been referred to as a “tough guy.”’ she thought to John.
‘Well, don’t get used to it. I plan to be back in my body soon.’
‘Oh, pooh, don’t be such a party pooper. I could act all swishy and feminine. Would that be better?’
‘Don’t you dare!’
Just then there was a jolt as the plan’s skis hit the shore. “Alright here you go. This is as far as I can take you.”
Meka climbed out of the cabin and slung her backpack over one shoulder. The battle-rod was strapped to one side within easy reach. The water here was only a couple of inches deep, yet she hurried ashore, since her water-resistant leather hiking boots would only stay dry for a few seconds. Once there she turned to wave at the pilot as he selected beta on the prop-pitch causing the aircraft to back away from the shore.
Then in a display of bush-pilot skill he spun the little plane around and accelerated smoothly over the lake taking off in a few minutes. Once airborne he did a quick wing-wag to say goodbye before turning toward Anchorage.
‘Gwendolyn said we need to hike north from here. We should hit the southern edge of Cassandra’s warded domain in a mile or two.’
‘Then we probably need to change.’ John thought.
Meka released control and John pushed forward. The transformation by now was painless and it almost felt like a relief to not just be in control, but to be female. John pushed that thought down. He’d only been sharing a body with Meka for two days and already he was getting comfortable.
John dropped the backpack to the gravely beach and pulled out the clothes that would fit Meka’s body. Hiking boots, thick socks, panties, sports bra, jeans, and a soft flannel shirt. Feeling embarrassed to be changing outside, even if it was the wilderness and there wasn’t another person for miles, John got dressed in a hurry.
“I might be getting more comfortable in your body, but the way your underwear fits too damn snugly . . . I’ll never get used to it.” He said trying to pick at the thong riding up between his ass cheeks. “Why did Gwen pick out a thong?”
‘Why didn’t you look at what Gwendolyn packed? Hehehe, and I should hope not, or I’ll be getting calls from Elaine wanting to know why you’re trying on her panties, after we fix this.’
“You’re not helping!”
With that John stuffed the male clothes into the backpack, pulled out the P229, and made sure it was loaded with a round in the chamber and slid it into the holster he’d already attached to the belt.
‘Why are you going all cowboy-er-cowgirl? You don’t think the Syndicate is going to attack us out here do you?’
“No, I’m more worried about Bears.”
‘John, you are NOT going to shoot some poor bear. We’ve got magic. I can teach you a spell that will cause any animal within a hundred yards to fall asleep.’
John swung the backpack up over his shoulders. Once on his back he adjusted the straps to make sure it was tight and comfortable. “Fine. Teach away. I’m still keeping the gun.” Then he reached back to make sure he could draw the battle-rod before turning to face north. “Well, here we go!”
Stepping into the heavily shaded pine forest John felt like he’d just stepped back in time. While by the lake he’d heard the buzz of insects, the soft call of the frogs, the chitter of squirrels and the distant cry of a lonely eagle. Now within the shade of the forest everything became quiet. As if the weight of the ages were carried by the bowed limbs of the fir trees. The bed of pine needles underfoot made each step a soft silent dance into the ancient past.
John took a deep breath and the scent of the pine forest was overwhelmingly strong. There was a part of him that wanted to turn around and go back to the life filled lake to bask in the cold waters and enjoy the sounds of life. Another part, deeper, more primal wanted to dash into the deep forest strip away his clothes, the badges of civilization, and run naked through the trees. The urge to summon her power and bond with Mother Nature, to commune with her, and embrace all her ancient feminine glory, was surprisingly strong.
Then he heard Meka giggling in the back of his mind, ‘Seriously? Commune with Mother Nature? Did you drop acid when I wasn’t paying attention?’
John shook his head, feeling his hair whip around and his face flushed. It was like Meka had just dumped a bucket of ice water over his head and the fuzzy strange thoughts vanished. “I-I’m not sure what I was just thinking.” He took a deep breath feeling the way his breasts pushed against the stretchy material of the sports bra. “If I start spacing out again, shout at me, please. This forest is enchanted!”
After a few minutes of hiking John felt a soft buzzing ahead of him. “It feels like we’re about to hit the wards.”
‘I can feel them. Be careful.’
“Gwendolyn said they just cause anyone not meeting Cassandra’s criteria to get confused, turned around, and end up back at the lake. We’ll be fine, worst case.” John said, trying to sound confident, yet knowing that Meka shared his thoughts and must be picking up on his apprehension. John pushed forward and the ground started to rise making the hiking more difficult.
Then John crossed some invisible line and his whole body started to tingle. With each step the tingling got worse. It felt like a thousand tiny sparks were moving over his skin. With his next step they intensified around his breasts and pussy causing John to gasp and stumble. Another step. Then another. All at once the sparks faded.
“Fuck, that was weird.” John muttered and realized that his nipples were pushing out, hard, against his bra and that he could feel a slick moistness between his lower lips. “I-I think I’m turned on.”
‘Yeah, this is what it feels like, for a girl, when she’s sexually excited.’ Meka thought, sarcastically.
‘Shut up.’
John started walking again knowing that he had to be getting close. Once again, he felt like he crossed a line. Abruptly, his sixth sense seemed to expand, blowing up and filling his mind with information. He knew before he put his foot down, that there were several ants under the pine needles and he’d crush most of them. He adjusted his stride. Moving around a tree he knew that in the branches a nest of birds with 2 two chicks waited for their parents. A mosquito dove for his neck and John twitched his head so that a lock of hair brushed it aside.
In the back of his mind he could hear a voice. A man’s voice, calling . . . he ignored it. Continuing through the forest took all of his attention, if he was to avoid hurting anything, or being hurt. John was never sure how long he walked. It felt like hours, but Meka swore it was no more than thirty minutes.
Abruptly, he stumbled into a clearing and saw a large cabin with two out buildings sitting on the bank of a small stream. As if stepping from a dream into wakefulness John stood still, blinking, and his sense of the world around him returned to normal and he found himself breathing hard, like he’d just ran a six-minute mile.
‘JOHN . . . JONATHAN BEDFORD! CAN YOU HEAR ME!!!’
Meka’s mental shout snapped John back to the present. “Hey, there’s no reason to shout.”
‘No reason to shout? I’ve been trying to get you to wake up, to respond, or whatever, for half an hour! What the hell happened to you?’
“I’m not sure. It was like, I could see and feel everything around me. Like all of life, nature, had opened. Like my Seer talent was in overdrive. I knew before I lifted my foot where to put it to avoid taking a life. I knew how to walk through the forest, so that I didn’t become confused and end up back at the lake, it all seemed too, obvious.”
‘Well, you were walking like a drunken person.’
“I think it was the second test, to see if I had the gift of ‘sight.’” John could feel Meka roll her mental eyes and sigh. He glanced around and spotted the cabin. “Do you think?” ‘Of course! Who else would be out here in the middle of nowhere protected by those ridiculous wards?’
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 9 *Meka & John* ***************************************
The air above the Montrose estate in Louisville whirred with activity as Hornet Insectoids buzzed around the property. They were difficult to see as the air around them seemed to blur and distort, like a novice witch attempting her first veil. On the grounds below squads of Mantis-like Insectoids patrolled the perimeter, just inside were new sets of eerily glowing green wards.
Closer to Victor’s house other Insectoids were hard at work building up a layered dome of a paper-like material to go over the house. To one side a group of four beings watched the industry of the growing colony. Each was uniquely different from the others, looking more insect than human and all four were female. Abruptly, the female that looked like a giant hornet lifted her head looking to the sky. Then her body blurred and shifted.
She straightened up and chitin turned to soft human looking skin. Insect like legs retracted into a now more human looking body. In a few seconds a naked, human, woman, four and a half feet tall, with long yellow and black hair stood facing a giant spider, ant, and mantis. Taking their cue from the hornet queen each female shifted into their human form.
“What news from your daughters?” The spider-insectoid, with long black hair, asked. Her voice had a strange quality, one that was distinctly non-human.
“The humans of this world approach. They come in transports, self-propelled metal carriages. I’ve ordered my daughters back, closer to the colony.” The hornet queen’s voice carried a buzzing quality and her human eyes looked multifaceted for a moment before returning to the human normal. “They would like to try their stings on those transports, but as discussed, there is much we must learn from the humans.”
The mantis-insectoid looked over at the ant-insectoid, her light green hair moving around her head. “Perhaps a few of my kind and yours would be best. If we wish to take them alive?”
The ant queen shook her head. “Most of my daughters are working on the underground part of the colony and helping the hornets build the outer nest layer. We are not best suited for this work.”
The spider-insectoid smirked, “My kind will catch the humans.”
“Excellent, any word from our allies?” The mantis asked, looking at the spider queen.
“They are employing agents to steal the key to the great gate. Once that is done the swarm shall enter this realm.” And then looking toward the entrance to the estate she said, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see to the capture of our first humans. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and find a few males.” With that the insectoid shifted to full spider form and hurried forward in a series of enormous leaps. On her third jump she vanished from sight behind a flawless veil.
***
The Knight-Lieutenant moved to stand next to Knight-Captain Esistiel Talvathar, and with a quick salute he made his report. “The troop is in position. We are standing by for the signal to begin the assault.”
Talvathar nodded, “The barrier between the Realms grows thin. I believe that with the Horn alone I can now open a way back to Winter. Lord Drake promised this would be so and he has kept his word.”
“And yet, I do not trust this human.” Lieutenant Daugir Talvaul growled. “He holds Princess Laicistiel Aeradiir and has ransomed our allegiance to the Queen.”
“Peace, cousin. Our time will come, just see to it that you’re ready to act when the time is right.” Abruptly, a red-star cluster burst into the night and both Winter Aelves grinned. “That’s it, the signal. Mount up!” Esistiel commanded. Putting her words to action Esistiel leapt into her saddle and lifted the silver horn from where it hung. Putting it to her mouth she blew a powerful blast and the temperature around them seemed to drop.
A deeply chilled ground fog sprang up and rolled from between the trees. At a walk Esistiel led her warriors forward moving out from between the trees to look across the paved road at a tall building, shimmering slightly, behind a set of wards that Esistiel was sure most humans couldn’t see.
“CHARGE!”
***
The new office building nestled behind a line of trees on the corner of Clayton Ave and Faulkner Dr. sat at the edge of the Highland Golf and Tennis center and was the home of the St. Louis Great Coven. The purchase of the property on the edge the Golf course and so close to Forrest Park had been something of a scandal in the St. Louis business community. But when you’re a secret organization with access to magic and tremendous wealth getting your way is something you’re used too.
Max looked at the building from the parking lot of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium. Using a set of binoculars, she studied the building. It was just after midnight and the most Coven employees had left several hours ago, except for security. Max sat back on the Harley Iron 883 and waited. She knew it was almost time. Waiting was something that Max didn’t enjoy, but had become accustomed to many years ago when she’d been male and had learned the assassin’s craft.
Thinking back to the night before Max ran her soft tongue over her darkly painted lips. The pale makeup with dark lipstick and black mascara felt more like a form of urban camouflage than some feminine device to attract male attention. Not that Max needed much help attracting male attention with her petite feminine body squeezed into tight leather pants, leather and steel bustier, and a black studded leather jacket and heavy biker boots. The look screamed sexy femme fatale and when Max had checked herself out in the mirror before leaving Ben’s place she’d been pleased. Even the eye patch added to the roguish look.
The thought of the young guardian warlock, a lifeless husk with a large stupid grin on his face sent a thrill through Max. Everything about his corpse had gone soft and cold as she’d drained his life, everything except the enormous cock Max had been riding. Even after he’d died his dick had remained hard. Eli had explained this was one of the telltale signs that Tantric magic had been used to steal a life.
Eli had taken a great deal of time, over the last two days, teaching Max the basics of the black form of Tantric magic. Ben had been the first man Max had used her new skills on. Even now she could feel the buzzing of Ben’s life energy humming just below her womb in her manna-well. She could also feel the tiny knot of knowledge she’d ripped from Ben as he’d been in the throes of ecstasy.
Max pulled up that knowledge and feeling satisfied reached into the saddle bag attached to the motorcycle and drew out a signal flare. The time for stealth was over. Soon all of humanity would know that magic existed and that humans weren’t alone in the universe. The flare rocketed up 200’ and then burst into a red-star cluster but Max didn’t bother to look. She tossed aside the launcher started the bike and smoked the back tire as she raced toward the Great Coven headquarters.
Entering the Coven parking lot Max touched the hilt of the Kopis she’d strapped to the outside of her right boot. The crystal in it glowed and for a brief second Max felt again the disappointment at her failed attempt to bond Ben’s crystal. Eli had explained that normally a Witch or Warlock could only bond to one crystal. There were a few exceptions to this rule. The most common was that the parents of a witch might will their crystal’s bond to their child on their death bed.
There were also dark spells that would allow a bond to be forcibly transferred but most of those were outlawed. Not that Eli cared about that, but the spells to transfer a bond by force were complex and, according to Eli, beyond Max’s current skills. Max gritted her teeth, at this thought. After Ben’s death Max had spent over an hour trying to figure out how to take Ben’s crystal and had finally given up.
‘I may not have his crystal, but I have what I need tonight.’ Max thought as she brought her bike to a skidding stop in front of the Great Coven building. Max lifted a gloved hand and traced a symbol in the air and pulling magic through the crystal attached to the Kopis spoke the Key that dropped the wards protecting the building.
Almost at once the front doors flew open and a pair of armed security guards rushed out. Both men appeared to be overweight and neither looked ready to fight. Instead, they looked more curious about the slim, leather clad, biker-girl who’d parked on the sidewalk in front of the Great Coven.
“Miss, you can’t park that here. The building is closed, if this is coven business you need to come back tomorrow at 9 am.” The first guard said. Then the second added, “And who gave you the Ward-Key? That’s need-to-know information only.” With that the second guard dropped a hand to the holstered sidearm on his right hip.
Max turned slightly giving both guards an enhanced view of the shape of her bust, while shielding her left hand from the guards’ sight. With her right hand, she covered the crystal that was glowing a malevolent ruby and smiled at the guards.
“No one gave it to me. I used tantric magic to rip it from Special Agent Ben Lavin’s brain.”
For a moment both guards seemed too stunned to know what to do, and that’s when Max moved. Her right hand came up and she spoke the power word for fire. Twin jets of flame shot from the palm of her hand toward the guards.
Each had a personal shield which flared blocking the attack but both staggered back stunned by the speed and brutality of the assault. Max swung her left leg over the bike and drew her semi-auto from the holster on her left hip as she moved. Now using two hands she started shooting. Max focused on the second guard first, since he appeared to be the smarter of the two. Her first couple of shots was deflected by the man’s shield and he fumbled to draw his weapon.
By the time it cleared the holster Max’s third round smashed through his shield breaking it. Her fourth and fifth rounds took him in the head and chest sending him tumbling over backwards.
Max staggered back as the first guard had finally pulled his crystal up out of his cargo pocket and had unleashed a Force strike on Max. Max’s body shield had absorbed the blow, a strike that would have sent a four-thousand-pound car tumbling. Angry now, Max drew and threw her Kopis in a smooth underhand motion with her right hand, while holding the pistol in her left. The blade tumbled twice before its edge bit into the guard’s shield slicing through it and cutting deeply into his shoulder.
“Aaghhh . . .” The guard dropped his crystal and spun around under the force of the blow.
“Return.” Max said, and the short sword ripped itself free of the guard and flew back to Max’s hand. Max took her time moving forward while the guard writhed on the ground almost delirious with pain. Max put one platform-boot on the guard’s chest and emptied the rest of the mag into him.
The thunder of hooves caused Max to look up. Winter Aelves were arriving from all directions. With the wards down the Fae would make quick work of the doors. From what Max had learned there were probably a half dozen guards in the building, not including the two Max had just killed. It was the Fae’s job to hunt and kill them. Max hurried forward, her job was to break open the inner vault and find the Key to the Great Gate. Lord Drake and his mother Tia had made it perfectly clear to Max. She’d either succeed tonight with this task or she’d be dead. With her new body, powers, and the skills she was learning, Max had no intention of dying.
***
Walking up to the cabin felt surreal. John kept looking for signs of life. Smoke from the chimney, laundry on the clothes line, or the sound of laughter . . . anything that might indicate someone was living here. The quiet felt eerily wrong. John stepped up onto the porch and pounded his tiny fist against the wood. The sound echoed from within and after trying a second-time John checked the latch.
The door opened easily and he stepped into the cabin. The room beyond the door served as some kind of sitting room. Looking around John could tell it was a much-used space with a hard wood floor, log walls, and a great unmatched stone fireplace. Stepping into the room John ran his dainty fingers over the back of a rocking chair with a half-completed quilt draped over one arm. The chair faced the fireplace giving John the impression that whoever owned this place liked to sit in front of the fire and work on the quilt. To one side was a small two-person love seat that looked comfortable enough to curl up on and take a nap.
Drawn to the fireplace John made sure not to track dirt on the handmade rug stretched out before it. Dropping to one knee, John peered into the fireplace taking a closer look. “There was a fire here, but it burnt itself out and no one cleaned up the ashes.” He shifted around partly burnt logs with one of the long iron fireplace pokers. “Like someone set it, started it, and then left.”
‘I didn’t know you knew so much about fires?’
“I was a boy scout, and then an infantry soldier for eight years. I’ve seen a campfire or two.” John leaned in closer looking at the back of the fireplace, “It looks like this opens up to heat this room and a room behind it.”
Standing up John returned the tool to the stand next to the fireplace and spotted a doorway to the right. The doorway led to a short hallway and then the room behind the fireplace. The room turned out to be the kitchen and along the opposite wall John spotted a staircase. The kitchen was rustic and right out of Southern Living. Moving over the hardwood floor around the backside of the unmatched stone fireplace, John checked out the iron pot-belly stove-oven. It was cold with nothing in it. The oak counter top and a deep sink with an iron hand pump, looked like something from the eighteen hundreds, and unable to resist John tried the pump. It took a couple of tries but soon cool clean water came pouring out. To the left stood a pair of handcrafted cabinets and opening one John discovered that it was filled with canned fruit and vegetables.
“Why do I feel like the Seer is still living in the 1950s?”
‘Because there isn’t any sign of electricity?’
Then John saw the one thing that seemed out of place. The modern looking refrigerator. The odd thing about it was the ruins painted on the front and the crystal set into the door. When he opened it a crystal inside lit up and John saw that it was full of normal looking items, milk, soda, vegetables, eggs, fruit, yogurt, leftovers in modern-looking Tupperware . . . and John noticed the inside was cold. “She used magic to keep this cold?”
‘Looks like. I’ve never seen those spells, but it looks like she charged the crystals and they keep the inside cold. She probably has to recharge them once a month.’
John nodded, “Very clever.” He turned around and moved to the heavy oak table that took up most of the middle of the kitchen. He picked up an all metal cup and examined it. The dried remains of what smelled like coffee covered the bottom of the cup in a dark crust. Setting it down John picked up a fork noting the remains of something that vaguely looked like eggs still clung to it. Then he ran a small feminine finger through the thick layer of dust on the table and returned the spoon.
“It’s like someone was eating, got interrupted, and then never returned.”
‘I don’t think anyone’s been here for a while.’
Turning around John moved to the stairs, “Let’s have a look upstairs.” The search turned up a pair of bedrooms, both neatly made, but nothing interesting. It was obvious that no one had been here in weeks and that the woman who lived here had left, suddenly. Returning to the kitchen John saw that it had a back door and once through spotted the two out-buildings behind the cabin.
“I think that must be a chicken coup.” John pointed at the long low building. Then he looked at the second building. “Looks like a small barn, maybe a tool barn?”
‘Why would Cassandra need a tool barn? I don’t see any fields. Just a poorly tended vegetable garden.’
John started walking toward the mystery building. “One way to find out.” As they approached John felt a shifting tingle run over his skin.
‘What was that? Another ward?’
“It felt kinda like when I shake hands with another gifted. Only I don’t see anyone.”
‘Just be careful.’
John pulled the backpack off his back and sat it down drawing out the battle rod with his crystal attached to one end. Then after a moment pulled out the semi-auto and tucked it into his waist band. “Just want to make sure that I’m ready for anything.” He muttered. Then John grabbed the barn door and gave the handle a pull. After a slight resistance, the heavy door groaned and opened, as if reluctant to reveal the contents of the barn. The afternoon sunlight streamed in through the open door and when he stepped in he saw his new feminine shadow dance in front of him. He paused to look around, the shadows within the barn held a deeper darkness and he blinked several times unable to see anything beyond a few feet.
‘Come-on, let’s make some light.’
“I’m on it.” John replied lifting the the rod, “Lux!”
Instantly, John’s signature blue-white light blazed up from the crystal pushing the shadows back and John jumped in surprise. “Cassandra?”
For a moment, no one moved then John heard Meka sigh within his mind. ‘Take a closer look. I think she’s been petrified.’
John stepped into the barn and examined the stone statue. The figure of a woman wearing a loose-fitting robe and sandals remained utterly still. John reached out and touched the robe, “The magic may have turned her body to stone, but it didn’t touch what she was wearing.” Slowly, John walked around the statue noting that she was slightly taller than he was, at the moment, and that it was difficult to figure out how old she was with her marble skin.
‘John, STOP!’ At the mental shout John froze. ‘Look down.’
For the first-time John noticed that the concrete floor of the barn had been modified. Lifting his battle rod John caused the light to brighten. “Wow, this barn, the whole thing, it was her sanctum.” Under the blue-white light John saw a chamber that had been designed for magic. From the shelves filled with books, magical tools, and artifacts, to the workbenches with beakers, phials, and pots. At the far end of the barn John saw an area set up with deep rugs, a fireplace, and a pair of comfortable chairs, obviously used for reading. The barn screamed sanctum.
‘Look at the floor.’
John did and realized he was standing in a pentagram cut into the concrete and right next to his foot he saw an all-black stone the size of a golf ball. “What is it?”
‘Don’t touch it!’ Meka’s warning stopped John as he’d already started to bend over.
“Why?”
‘Because, unless I’m wrong, I think that stone was the attack vector. Whatever it is, does, or did . . . I think it was responsible for what happened to Cassandra.’
John took several steps backward until he was out of the circle and considered the scene. The woman was standing facing it, her back slightly bent, one hand still extended toward it, as though she were in the act of straightening up when the spell hit her.
“I think you’re right.”
‘Try using Witch-sight.’
Feeling a little irritated at Meka’s natural tendency to take charge John closed his eyes and reached inside. Every “awakened” witch or warlock has the ability, inherent within them, to view the world as it exists in magic. There were plenty of theories about Witch-sight. Some argued that it was the “True” sight. Others that it was nothing more than an ability to view magic as it existed in its true form. Using Witch-sight to view a crime scene involving magic was a standard practice taught to the Guardians.
Finding the knot of energy just behind and between his eyes John pushed the energy forward until he could feel his eyes tingle and then he opened them. As soon as he did he gasped. The room was awash with color. Objects glowed with magical energy but even more stunning was the current of energy under John’s feet. It made him want to hot-step to the chair at the other end of the room and climb up. The ley-line that ran under the barn was one of the strongest he’d ever seen!
“Oh, wow, no wonder she likes this place.”
‘Yeah, with that much magic available, I doubt I’d need a focus to cast most spells.’ Then John felt Meka’s attention shift, ‘John there’s something odd about that line.’ John could feel Meka thinking. ‘Why didn’t we feel it when we got here? Now that we know it’s there, we can feel it. It’s almost like Cassandra somehow warded it so visitors wouldn’t notice.’
“Maybe she liked her privacy?” John looked down to investigate the stone at Cassandra’s feet.
‘Likes her privacy? John this is magic I’ve never heard of, and very powerful. Cassandra is more than just a Seer. She’s a powerful witch. That’s Elder level magic!’
There was a very faint purple-red sort of glow to the stone and John cautiously moved forward. “I think the energy that powered the spell was stored in that thing and is mostly used up.”
‘You’re probably right. Still, don’t touch it. Just get close enough for me to look at it.’
John stopped just short of the stone and then squatted down looking intently at it. The glow seemed to shift and instead of just seeing the glow it looked like it was covered in threads of multi-colored light that wove over the surface of the stone and through it. The threads created a matrix of woven light. “Wow, what just happened?”
‘I just cast a spell that lets me see the patterns of magic. Why? What do you see?’
“I don’t know any spells to assist in magical research, but suddenly what I was looking at changed.”
‘That’s interesting. I figured out while we were in the woods that I could pull magic into me from our crystal and that I could still cast minor-spells. Now with that ley-line I don’t even have to use the crystal. I had no idea that the spell would affect us both.’
“What do you think it means?”
‘That we’re joined more deeply than I’d thought at first. Other than that, I’ve got no idea. Now, be quiet I need to focus.’
John could feel Meka studying the stone and tried to be still, but he had no idea what he was looking at and quickly got bored. After several minutes, he couldn’t take it anymore, “What are you thinking?”
‘That it’s time for me to take control of our body. I need to fully investigate this and doing it as a passenger isn’t working.’
“What about the warning that Cassandra only accepts female guests?”
‘I think we’re through the wards and that if we can rescue her she won’t mind. Now give me control.’
“Fine. But we’re changing clothes first.” With that John went out and grabbed the backpack from where he’d left it. Seeing that no one was around he stripped out of his clothes. The feeling of cool air on his sensitive skin caused his flesh to prickle up and he shivered.
‘Come on, I can get dressed. Give me control.’
John straightened up and relaxed moving mentally back allowing Meka to surge forward. His whole body shivered and shifted and then Meka stretched. Gone was the sensation of breasts moving on his chest, instead John felt his back pop and the heavy swing of his flaccid cock between his legs.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the way your schlong feels when it’s just hanging there like that.”
‘Well, if things go according to plan we’ll have you back in your body soon.’
“One can hope.” Meka reached into the backpack and started pulling out men’s clothes. “You know, I was due to start next week.”
‘Start what?’
“HA! Start, as in, my time of the month, the curse, my visitor, my period, you dork. I was just wondering if you’d end up having it for me.”
‘What?! Look I’m NOT having your period. We need to finish up here, get back to Louisville and report in to Victor on what we’ve found.’
“Hehehehe . . . settle down. You sound like a little girl. It’s just a little blood, you get used to it.”
‘God, I hope not!’
Meka finished dressing and stuffed John’s feminine clothes into the backpack before returning to the barn. “Hhmmmm,” Lifting a hand Meka said, “Lumière.” This time a crystal set in the ceiling flared to life bathing the whole barn in Meka’s signature purple-white light.
“That’s better.” Then added, “Hey, look over there!” Against the far wall Meka spotted a pair of arches on elevated pedestals.
‘They look like traveling gates.’
“Mhmm, that explains how she was able to live here without any means of travel.”
‘I don’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me if we find a generator and a short-wave radio. That way she could call and arrange for someone to fly out from Anchorage and help her from time to time.’
“Maybe.”
Meka sounded skeptical. Then she turned to the statue of Cassandra and the mystery of the stone at her feet. Meka moved closer and started casting spells and once again John felt his vision shift to a different type of sight that let him see the threads and patterns of magic. Only this time Meka kept on casting. John couldn’t tell exactly what she was doing but several times his vision seemed to tilt and shift, the image of the stone zoomed in and then spun around as Meka examined it from all sides. He felt his nose tingle and realized that each color of magic, within the thread matrix, had an odor. Meka was now using her nose to examine the puzzle as well as her eyes.
‘What are you doing?’
“Working . . . now, shush.”
After a while John got bored, he couldn’t tell what Meka was up to and asking her questions while she was trying to concentrate just annoyed her. Instead, John focused on trying to use his connection to the crystal to draw in magic. To his surprise, magic flowed freely into him. Not as strongly as when he was in control of their body but enough to allow him to cast a spell or two. Except that most of the magic he knew was for combat or for tracking down a rogue witch, warlock, sorcerer, or wizard.
Then he felt something buzzing in the back of his mind. When he focused on it he realized it was the ley line. Opening himself to it he felt magic rush into his body only the magic had an interesting flavor, like strawberries and cream. Then his vision expanded and the world in front of him faded away.
***
Everything was dark. A silvery light blossomed and John saw what must be a door had opened and a full moon poured its light into the room. A shadowy figure walked in, partly blocking the light, “Loinnir,” a woman’s voice rang out with a musical quality and an Irish accent.
Over head the crystal came alive with an emerald-sliver glow. The overhead light dispelling the shadows and John saw that this woman must be Cassandra. Her long hair cascaded in a waterfall of auburn locks over her flowing green robe, the exact same robe the statue wore. John couldn’t tell how old she was since she had an ageless beauty. She could have been thirty or a hundred for all he could tell. When she entered the barn the door closed behind her shutting out the moon light.
She moved to the middle of the barn and reached into a pocket of her robe and pulled out a stone. The stone glowed with a soft green light and she sat it on the floor. “Now, what has my son sent me.” Pulling out a small knife she brought it to her finger and stopped. Her posture changed and she peered around. At last her eyes seemed to settle on John.
‘Who are you, lass?’
John almost jumped when he realized that Cassandra could see him, and then felt startled yet again when he realized she saw him as Meka. ‘I’m a friend. I was sent by Gwendolyn, whatever you do, don’t activate that stone!’
For several seconds Cassandra looked at John, waiting. Then she shook her head, ‘It’s obvious you’re an untrained Seer. Don’t worry, girl, in time you’ll learn to project your thoughts. You may stay and watch, but after tonight I want you to find me. I live in Alaska, if you go to Anchorage and ask for Cassandra Ó Flannagáin, there will be people at the Coven who will help you find me. I would like to know who you are. I might even agree to train you. In this age, we have so few Seers.’
Then Cassandra used the knife to prick a finger. A drop of blood welled up and she sat the knife on the work bench before moving into the circle and bending over she pressed her finger into the stone. At once the stone seemed to pulse shifting from green to an angry red color. As Cassandra straightened up the stone pulsed a second time and sent out a burst of malevolent energy. For a moment John was blinded and then he saw Cassandra, just as they’d found her, turned to stone.
“Hehehehehe!” The sound of laughter caused John to look around and he spotted a young man standing to one side, just out of the circle. Laughing he strutted forward stopping directly in front of Cassandra.
“It worked! Just as Lord Drake thought!” Then he spat into Cassandra’s petrified face, “Didn’t see this coming, did you, bitch? Tia said, that Seers have a blind spot when it comes blood kin. I told you back in 39’ that I’d end you. I never dreamed it would take me this long. Hehehehehe. Too bad we didn’t have a chance to talk, I’d have loved to explain that your precious son, Eli, died begging to be spared, in the body of an overweight, middle-aged, woman.” For a moment, he continued to look at Cassandra and then he reached up to touch her face rubbing the spittle into her eyes. “You killed Deidrick and I killed your son. Most would say that the score is settled, I disagree. If you can hear me, in there, know this, when the war is over I’ll be back. I’ll free you, from your prison and see to a proper punishment.”
Then he turned around and moved to the chairs at the far end of the chamber. Sitting on a stand between the two chairs was a mirror, “Ah, the Mirror of Far-Seeing. It looks just like Mistress Tia said it would. Tia might not be in your class, Cassandra, as a Seer,” The warlock said, looking back over his shoulder at Cassandra, “But this little artifact should help.”
‘Stop!’ John shouted and flew at the warlock only to pass harmlessly through him. ‘Fuck!’ he raged.
The thief moved to the gates and examined both before nodding. “St. Louis and London; Berlin would have been better, but London will do.” Touching a crystal hanging from a chain around his neck he spoke a word of power and the symbol above the gate to the right flared with red energy. Then the woman wearing Eli’s body looked over at Cassandra, “Until later, ‘mother.’” Then he stepped through the gate and vanished.
For several seconds John just stared at the gate and then the crystal overhead died and the vision faded.
***
Once again John found himself in the barn only he was now a passenger in his body. While he’d been out Meka had moved to stand on the opposite side of the statue of Cassandra and the weird magic sight was gone.
‘Hey, you’ll never believe what just happened.’
“You took a nap? I tried talking to you but you were out.”
‘I was? How long was I gone?’
“I’m not sure. I mean I was focused on my examination of the crystal and the spell. I wanted to ask your opinion about what might have been used as the trigger, but you were gone.”
John felt puzzled, ‘Wow, it only felt like a few minutes to me.’
“Sleep can be that way. I’ve figured out that the stone contained a spell that was designed to turn any living mammal within its field, once activated, to stone. However, it was a trap, because the spell was disguised to look like a magic-jar spell.” At John’s silence Meka continued, “You know, a spell designed to fold space so that it could hold several objects in it that were larger than the space that the object occupies in our universe.”
‘Yeah, that makes no sense.’
John could feel Meka roll her eyes. “It lets me take a bowling ball and by folding space, put it in my coin purse.”
“Oh, okay. How does that create a trap?”
“I think Cassandra thought she’d gotten a gift from someone she trusted and was trying to open it and instead got hit with the petrify spell.” Then Meka shook her head, “Now, if I only knew the Key to activating the spell I could start to figure out how to unravel it and restore her.”
‘It was blood.’
“What? Blood? How can you be sure?”
‘I wasn’t asleep, I had a vision. I saw Cassandra activate the spell that turned her to stone. She used a small knife to cut her finger and the blood to activated the stone.’
“Hmmmm . . . a blood lock? That means it was sealed by a blood relative and only another could unlock it.”
‘Do you think you can reverse it?’
“Maybe.” Meka moved over to where the chair was and sat down. “First let’s talk to Gwendolyn.”
‘Before you call her, there’s another thing. You weren’t wrong about the magic jar spell. When she activated the stone, it set off two spells one after the other. The first turned Cassandra to stone. The second released a guy who’d been hidden within the stone. He called her, mom, and he took a mirror that had been sitting over there, called the Mirror of Far-Seeing or something like that . . . He used one of Cassandra’s gates to travel to London and escape.’
“Damn!” Meka said before lifting his cane, “Gwendolyn!” the crystal glowed with Meka’s signature soft purple-white light.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 10 *Meka & John* ***************************************
John stood in the cold stream and shivered. Normally cold didn’t bother him much, but Meka didn’t have as much mass so dealing with the cold water had him shaking.
‘I told you this was a bad idea!’
John took a step pulling the ropes along behind him while making sure to sink a weight with every other step, until he’d crossed the stream. Climbing up to the far bank he was shaking so hard it was difficult to drag the ropes up and around a tree. The whole thing was heavier than he expected, but at last the net that hung suspended between the ropes was in place. John tied the bottom rope to the base of the tree and then the top rope just a bit higher.
Looking back John could see the gill-net was already settling into place with the top rope at its lowest point just above the surface of the stream. The second rope, weighted down every few feet with sandbags John had painstakingly tied in place had settled to the bottom of the stream.
“Y-You a-a-a-greed y-you w-were tired of eating canned food. T-this n-n-net will catch several fish.” John’s teeth were chattering so hard it was difficult to talk. He’d stripped completely naked before wading into the ice-cold water. Looking down he gasped, “I-I d-didn’t know nipples could get that hard.”
‘It’s the cold dummy. You know we still have to go back across?’
“Y-yes.” John turned around and then sprinted into the stream. When the icy water hit him he gasped, but kept on moving. Just as he got to the far side his foot slipped and he went down. The cold water felt like a hammer and he had to fight the urge to gasp. Struggling to the surface John inhaled, sucking in warm air, and then hurried to the shore, using his numb fingers he clawed at the grassy bank. Just as he was pulling himself out of the water his foot slipped and for a moment he teetered on the edge, and then he caught his balance and threw himself onto the bank gasping and shaking.
‘That sucked.’
“Y-y-you d-d-didn’t have t-t-t-to do it-t-t-t.”
‘True, but I feel everything you feel, remember?’
“O-oh, well, w-when w-we’re e-e-eating f-fresh fish tonight you’ll feel b-better.”
Meka had been working on reversing the spell on Cassandra for ten days now and this frustrated John on several levels. The first was that to do the job properly Meka had to be in control of their body. He wasn’t the most patient person and riding along watching someone else control your body was mostly, boring. The second issue was that, just as Meka had predicted, he started bleeding from her pussy two days after they called Gwen. Even with Meka in control the damn period just picked up where it left off whenever John took control. Meka had thought this was intensely funny and had explained that John’s body needed to get rid of the egg and would bleed until it was done. Thankfully, it had only lasted for four days, yet, it was easily one of the most disgusting things John had experienced.
The third thing was that John didn’t like taking orders from the Society. He was a St. Louis Guardian. After examining Cassandra they’d called Gwendolyn to report what they’d discovered. Gwendolyn had promptly ordered Meka to come up with a spell to free Cassandra. John had wanted to argue. To explain that once they’d found Max and restored Meka she could come up here and free Cassandra. Instead, Meka had just shushed him.
Once they were done talking to Gwendolyn, Meka had explained that up until the point when Max had stolen her body she would have agreed with him. She didn’t want to have anything to do with the war between the Society and the Syndicate. Now, however, with what was going on, with the Syndicate trying to bring magic out publicly and to dominate the world they had no choice. The mundane population would be enslaved to their magical overlords if the Syndicate had its way. John couldn’t argue with her logic, the threat from the Syndicate was just too real to be ignored.
There was also the fact that he missed Elaine and his kids. Even with Meka doing a magical sending every other day and talking to them, it still hurt. John couldn’t speak to them directly and while Meka had been great at relaying his words, it still felt like he was cut off from the best part of his life. Then John had been hit by the news that his partner Ben had been found dead and that the St. Louis Great Coven building had been raided by the Syndicate. He couldn’t help thinking that if he’d been home he might have been able to do something.
Lastly, there was the gender-swapping thing. John had enjoyed his body-swap with Meka four years ago. But he didn’t want to be a woman. Every day they spent together John felt more and more comfortable, when Meka gave him control, in his female body . . . well, other than the damn period. He could also tell that Meka was getting used to being male. She now dealt with his normal morning wood with a quick, happy, efficiency. More disturbing was the fact that while he still loved Elaine the thought of her no longer aroused him. This left him wondering that if by the time they were restored to their rightful bodies, would he be so far gone that he wouldn’t be attracted to women?
The only thing that John was reluctantly willing to admit was that he hadn’t spent this much time with Meka in years. She’d talked to him about her life in London. The projects she’d been working on and the men and women she’d dated. John had been a little surprised when Meka admitted that she was bisexual, but then realized it made sense.
John had told Meka about his life in St. Louis and his training as a Guardian. What Elaine had been up to and their hopes for the coming year. It all seemed so boring, to John, when compared to Meka’s life. Yet she’d been interested to learn what he’d been up too.
They’d also talked about magic and the principles that Meka had learned and explored. John learned more over the last ten days about magic than he had in the last four years working to catch rogue magic-users. It was during one of those late-night discussions that John realized that he had been missing Meka and even though their current situation was odd, uncomfortable, and had them trapped together. There was no one he’d rather have been trapped like this with.
Sitting up John grabbed the towel he’d brought from the cabin and started drying off. ‘You know, there are over a hundred chickens in the chicken coup.’
“Y-Yeah, it’s a good thing Cassandra had set up the feed on a gravity dispenser and had a fenced in chicken run behind the coup.”
‘Even so, they were half starved when we got here. You did a great job getting them fed and healthy. I’m sure Cassandra wouldn’t mind if we roasted one.’
“Maybe, but we don’t own them. Killing and eating a chicken is different than heating up some canned soup.” John said going back to the argument they’d had earlier about getting fresh protein. Slowly, the shaking stopped and John started to climb back into his clothes.
‘Why don’t you give me control? Then I’ll put on my clothes and get back to work. I’m really close to being ready.’
John eased back and felt Meka surge forward. The now familiar sensation of magic rippling over his body as it shifted was normal. John wanted to sigh as he watched his breasts vanish, while growing nine inches, and then the odd sensation of his cock and balls falling out of his body to hang freely between his legs. Meka reached down to stroke her man-muscle and John felt her grin, “Damn that feels good.”
‘I thought you had work.’
“Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game!” Then, laughing, she added, “I do.” Meka reached for the backpack John had brought down to the stream. “I’m really close. I just need to figure out how to get past the blood component of the spell.” Meka climbed into the clothes that now fit her masculine body and stuffed John’s clothes into backpack before hurrying to the barn. John could tell she was already lost in thought about rules of similarity, resonance, conservation of magic, and blood.
John had known that Meka had progressed in her understanding of magic to the point where she was at the cutting edge of magical research. But knowing it and watching her build brand new spells, test them, and implement them was completely different. She had gone far beyond him and at times like this John sort of zoned out.
When this happened John’s Second-Sight seemed to kick in. There was something about the ley line here. It fed the energy that John used to See and the energy seemed to make his gift more active. Every night he’d dreamed of events in the outside world only to discover the next day they were real. The vision he’d gotten of the Hive in Louisville was scary. He’d woke up the next day and insisted they contact Victor. Victor confirmed that his estate had been occupied by the insectoid beings and that they’d begun constructing a hive.
A few mundane law enforcement officers had been captured but since that time the Great Coven had woven wards around the place that caused the mundane population to shy away. They’d tried to communicate with the Hive, but had little success. Each delegation that went in failed to return. It was only a matter of time until the word got out, unless they took extreme measures. John hadn’t wanted to know what, ‘extreme’ measures meant.
Several hours later Meka leaned back from where she’d been hunched over using a piece of chalk to draw designs and symbols on the concrete floor. “I think I’ve got it worked out. Are you ready to give this a try at moonrise?”
‘Sure, but why moonrise?’
“I’m trying to re-create as many of the original elements of the spell as possible. If I can take advantage of the law of resonance, then we might trick the spell into doing what we want.”
‘Okay, it’s a few hours until dark. Let’s check the net and see if we’ve got dinner.’
An hour later John was sliding the cast iron pan with a pan seared filleted salmon, fresh onions, garlic, carrots, butter, and potatoes from the garden, into the wood-heated oven. He’d already cooked the potatoes and was now just re-heating them with the vegetables and fish.
‘Wow that smells fantastic. Where did you learn how to cook?’
“Just because I’m a guy, you think I can’t cook?”
‘Well, you don’t look like a guy, at the moment, Betty Crocker.’ Meka thought laughing. ‘Besides, I’m a girl and I don’t cook.’
“When I left the Army and went to college I took a cooking class. I figured it was a good way to meet girls. Sadly, I didn’t find my soul mate. I did discover I like to cook.”
‘Well, we make a good team. You like to cook, and I like to eat.’
“Just like a man.” John said using an exasperated extra girlie voice. This sent both of them into gales of laughter.
After dinner John gave Meka control and they went out to the barn. The sun had just set and moonrise wasn’t for an hour. “Just enough time to get set up.” Meka noted looking at the sky before going into the barn. The spell to break the transformation was much longer and would rely on several elements, their Cavanaugh crystal, and the ley line under the property.
Sensing the time was right Meka started the spell. John watched in awe as she wove layer after layer of magic over the statue of Cassandra. Each built and reinforced the power of the previous layer. Finally, after an hour of casting Meka lifted the Cavanaugh Crystal, freed earlier from the battle rod, and shouted.
“Tu es libre”
Magic rushed from them in a wave of energy. Everything seemed to go hazy to John and if he’d been in control he’d have gasped. Then it felt like all the spells and power sort of snapped and Meka dropped to her knees. John felt the spike of energy that burned through their mind and both John and Meka groaned.
For several seconds, they both concentrated on breathing in and out. The world around them swam Meka had an intense feeling of vertigo. John wasn’t sure, but he thought they must have passed out. Then Meka slowly looked up at the still petrified Cassandra. “Well, this sucks.”
***
The Rolls-Royce Ghost glided into the parking lot behind the abandoned warehouse. The car couldn’t have been more out of place in the run-down shipyard area of East St. Louis. It moved silently as it came to a halt a few feet from where Max and Eli stood waiting. The back-passenger door opened and a tall handsome man in his early fifties, with dark red hair that had a touch of silver at the temples, climbed out.
“Mr. Drake.”
Eli took a knee bowing his head and a moment later Max dropped into a deep curtsy holding it while looking down.
“Rise, my friends.” At this both Eli and Max looked up and then straightened. “I’m pleased with both of you. Your work here, in the new world, has been superb.” Then he looked at Eli, “The Society is off chasing at phantoms without help from their Seer. Well done, Frau Ilse Hirsch you have come far and achieved your revenge in a spectacular way that has aided the cause.” Seeing Eli grimace Drake laughed, “I suppose you’re going by Eli Ó Flannagáin, now?” Then he reached out to grip Ilse’s new masculine shoulder, “You always were one to try to keep up appearances.”
Looking over at Max Jason Drake grinned, “Hello, Max, or is it Meka Petrucci, now?”
At this Max shook her head, “My cover’s blown. The Society knows I’m not the real Meka. I’m using her ID for the mundane world, but I prefer to go by Max.”
“As you wish, my dear.” Drake slowly, lasciviously, ran his eyes over Max’s leather clad body. “I do approve of the new look. Have you taken it out for a test drive?”
“Ha! Master. Max here has spent as much time with a dick in her little pussy as she can.” Eli chuckled, “You should give her a try.”
Max glared at Eli, “Hey, you were the one teaching me tantic magic. Can I help it if it requires me to have sex?”
“Mhmm,” Drake murmured steping closer and cuping Max’s delicate chin in his large hand. “My best assassin,” then he pressed his lips to Max’s mouth. For a moment Max went ridged then her body seemed to relax as Drake’s raw masculine sexual power washed through her. Max lifted her hands to twine them behind Jason’s head and she pressed her body tightly to his.
After a second Drake broke the kiss and stepped away grinning. “Oh, yes, this was the perfect body for you. I love the eye-patch, it gives you a very roguish look!” Jason looked around and his face became serious. “As much as I’d like to take you right here and now, on the hood of my car. We have more serious business to discuss.”
“Yes, master,” Max whispered, her cheeks flush and eyes slightly glassy.
“Our allies from the shadow realms are ready. The viel between realms has been eroded and now that we have the key to the Great Gate we are ready to put the final steps of the plan into motion. You will take the key and deliver it to the Queens in Lousiville. Once they open the Great Gate they’ll bring a swarm through and begin to create new nests. The socity has managed to ward the current nest but an invasion of this size will be all but unstopable.” Jason laughed triumphantly, “The fact that the Society fools have been hiding the current infestation will work to our advantage. When the swarm arrives the mundane population will be stunned and our agents in the media will make sure the Society is blamed for hiding the threat.” At this both Max and Eli nodded.
“Then the politicians we own will come out and accuse the Society of duplicity! The icing on the cake will be when our warriors, aided by the Winter Fae, smash the Insectoid nests. Of course we’ll have to wait for the mortals to lose the first battle or two. Once we’ve destroyed the Insectoid threat we’ll claim our rightful position as the guardians and leaders of humanity. By that time they’ll be begging us to protect them and trade their freedom for our guarente of saftey.”
At this Max’s lone eye burned with power, “Brilliant my lord.” Then she turned to Eli, “Is this the greater plan that you alluded too?”
Eli nodded, “Not many within the Syndicate understand that the war with the Society is a ruse. Our seemingly careless and open attacks that risk exposure to the mundane population, are actually designed to keep the Society busy. They rush in to stop us and we run away. Then they spend days or weeks cleaning up the mess. Once humanity embraces us the Syndicate of the Eldritch as their protectors, guardians, and Lords our first action will be to demand the wrong minded Society fools disband and join our organization.” The gleem of fanatisim shone from Ilse Hirsch’s youthful masculine face. “The rise of the true master race and the Fourth Reich is all but inevitable!”
“Yes. Now remember timing is everything.” Looking at his agents Jason continued, “You have the key?”
“Yes, my lord.” Max replied.
“Excellent, it is time to deliver it to the Insectoid Queens. They’re expecting you and know that this will allow them to open the great gate. The swarm is already gathered on the other side.”
“Won’t an infestation like that be difficult to stop?” Max asked more curious than alarmed. “I mean it could result in most of North America being overrun, at least temporarily, until we can push the Insectoids back.”
“That’s the idea. The only way to unite the world under our rule is to create a threat that endangers everyone.” Then after a pause Jason Drake grinned, “What are you waiting for? You have your orders. Time to go to work.”
***
“I’m not sure that I can do this.” Meka sat at Cassandra’s kitchen table staring down into the bowl of cereal she’d made for breakfast. John had offered to cook but Meka hadn’t felt like eating much and was trying to figure out what she’d done wrong the night before. “I mean, if I were in London, and had access to some of the more advanced tools I might be able to break that damn blood lock.”
‘Is that the main problem?’
“Yeah, it is. There’s a reason blood-locks were so popular once. They’re easy to set up and only a blood relation can open the lock. In this case, it was used as a trigger and it’s woven into the entire spell.” Meka brought her powerful masculine hand down on the table causing the bowl to jump and clatter with the force of her blow. “If only I had some of her blood or if we knew of a close relative.”
‘Are you sure there isn’t someone?’
“Yes, I checked that with Gwendolyn two days ago while you were sleeping or daydreaming or whatever it is you do when you disappear.”
‘Mhmm, does the blood have to be fresh?’
“It’s better if it is, but no. Why?”
‘Well, when I had the vision of the attack on Cassandra, I watched her use a knife to cut her finger. She sat the knife on her work bench. I think it’s probably still there.’
“WHAT! Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
‘Because you didn’t explain that you need some dried blood.’
Almost before John had finished the thought Meka was up and moving. The run to the sanctum only took a minute in John’s body and then Meka was pushing back the door. With a gesture and a word the crystal overhead came alive with Meka’s customary purple-white light.
“Where is the knife?”
The workbench stretched almost half the length of the barn. ‘To your left.’ Meka moved forward and then spotting a small knife rushed forward. “Is this it?”
‘Yes.’
“Fucking-a! You see, here on the blade? Blood! We’ll scrape the dried blood into a beaker and re-hydrate it with a potion that I’ve seen Gwendolyn use. John, I could kiss you, if we weren’t sharing a body!”
***
By the time the sun was setting Meka had everything in place. The original spells from the day before had been re-cast. This time Meka had been quicker and used the rest of the day to prepare the tiny phial that now held what looked like no more than a few drops of fresh blood.
‘Are you sure this will work?’ John asked for the hundredth time.
“I’m as sure as I can be.”
‘If this doesn’t work, we’re going to admit defeat and go hunt down Max, right?’ I can’t explain it, but I’ve got a feeling that if we don’t do something about him soon, something really bad will happen.’
“Define, really bad”
‘I can’t, damn it, call it a hunch, or the Sight, or women’s intuition. I just know.’
“Well, I like women’s intuition? Hehehehe.”
‘Oh, you’re funny.’ John thought sourly, while mentally shaking his head, although he could see the humor.
Meka looked over her shoulder. “The moon is just about to rise, it’s time to give this a try.”
‘Alright, good luck!’
“Thanks.” Meka using witch-sight checked the spells she’d woven around the sanctum and on the statue of Cassandra. Then she carefully went to the work bench and using a glove, picked up the ruby crystal. Slowly, careful not to step on any of the runes she’d drawn on the floor Meka was soon standing in front of Cassandra.
“Where, exactly was this thing when she activated it?”
‘Just in front of your left foot, and slightly to the right.’
Meka carefully sat the crystal down and then pulled out the phial and unscrewed the top. She allowed a single drop to fall onto the crystal and said, “Tu es libre!” Again, John felt Meka draw heavily on the power of their crystal and magic blasted out. Instead of bouncing back the magic seemed to flow down a half-dozen channels racing along the runes in the floor until the light from the ground was brighter than the light from the crystal overhead. Abruptly, the energy raced back in heading to the crystal at their feet.
The crystal glowed with red light and rose into the air spinning around slowly at first. Then it picked up speed turning faster and faster and the light changed going from red to a light purple. Then it pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
On the third pulse a ring of purple-white magic blew out. The magic hit Meka and John and their whole body started tingling. Then it was done and Meka fell to her knees just as the crystal dropped to the floor shattering into a thousand pieces. Distracted, by her own ragged breathing, it felt like they’d just sprinted ten miles, even in John’s body it took Meka a moment to look over at the place were Cassandra had stood.
‘IT WORKED!’
Cassandra had collapsed onto her side and as Meka pushed herself to her feet she saw the slow rise and fall of Cassandra’s breast.
“It worked.”
Moving stiffly Meka went to Cassandra’s side and scooped her up. “I think she’ll be out for a few hours. This kind of magic is a pretty bad shock to the system.” Feeling tired and sore Meka carried Cassandra to the cabin.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
***************************************
Chapter 11
*Meka & John*
***************************************
The sun was streaming in through Cassandra’s bedroom window falling over the Witch’s soft face. Meka stared at her from a shadow covered chair in the corner of the bedroom. “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
After carrying Cassandra back to the cabin Meka had tucked her into bed and then found a chair and a spot to watch-over the Seer. John had wanted to report their success but Meka had disagreed. She’d wanted to wait until Cassandra woke up. When Meka settled into her chair she’d slowly gone quiet, staring at the gorgeous face of the unconscious woman. “I wonder what it would be like to kiss those lips. I bet they’re really soft.”
‘Okay, girl, you need a cold shower.’
“Why? Do you think I smell bad? I wouldn’t want her to wake up and find me all smelly and gross!” The alarm in Meka’s rough masculine voice might have made John laugh if he hadn’t become worried about her.
‘Yeah, I do. Only there isn’t a shower here, just that big tub in the washroom downstairs.’
“Okay, I should hurry.”
With that Meka got up and raced down the stairs. As they got further from Cassandra John could feel the effect, whatever it was, wearing off. As Meka moved through the kitchen toward the washroom she started stripping. John had to fight not to say anything and then they were in the bathroom looking at the big brass tub with claw feet. At one end of the tub was a hand pump and the now naked Meka wasted no time bringing up water. Once the tub was full she stepped in and shivered. “Oh, this is cold.”
John could feel the cold water starting to work on Meka’s dazed mind. ‘I know a spell to heat water. Why don’t you give me control?’
“Okay.”
With that John felt Meka pull back and he surged forward. There was the familiar ripple and all at once John gasped. He looked down seeing the now familiar boobs. Whatever it was that had been affecting them was gone. Looking at the cold-water John stretched out a hand and drew power from his crystal. Back in the kitchen the Cavanaugh Crystal hidden in the pocket of John’s pants flared.
With a quick word John brought the water to a heat just below what he could stand and then stepped into the tub and settled down into it. “Ahhhhh . . . that feels great.”
‘John, uhm, what just happened?’
“I’m not sure. It was like you were in some kind of a dazed state. You were mumbling about how beautiful Cassandra is . . .”
‘Well, she is really pretty.’ Meka noted defensively. ‘I think your male hormones were just getting the best of me!’
“Whatever.” John sighed and slid lower into the tub allowing the hot water to relax muscles he hadn’t realized were sore.
‘Don’t you think we should go back upstairs? What if Cassandra wakes up?’
“I think that we need a break from watching her. We were up all day and all night last night and most of the night before that. I’m going to relax and then I’m going to get dressed make some breakfast and take a nap . . . in the sitting room.”
***
“You look comfortable.”
The woman’s voice brought John up from the deep sleep, a sleep filled with colors, sounds, and smells he couldn’t identify. “W-What?” He struggled to sit up and could feel the weight of his breasts shift as he pushed himself up from where he’d been curled up on the two-person love seat.
“I’m Cassandra and you’re in my home. Although if memory serves, you were here, in spirit, the other night.”
John blinked up at the woman in the flower print sundress as his mind slowly added things up. “Cassandra?”
‘Damn it, John, wake up!’
“Yes, and might I know your name? I think, I owe you a great deal since you released me from my prison.”
John stood up and tried to straighten the T-shirt and jeans he was wearing suddenly very self-conscious about the way he must look. With his hair matted and eyes puffy from sleep, and wearing a set of slept in clothes, John felt embarrassed.
“Yes and no. I mean . . . let me start at the beginning.”
“Hehehe . . . yes, please do, beginnings are usually the best place to start.” With that Cassandra moved to the chair by the fire place and turned it to face John. “Let’s start with names. I’m Cassandra Ó Flannagáin once of Erin’s Isle. I’m considered a Grand-Witch by training and a Seer by gift.”
John got the feeling this was a very formal introduction, and he wanted to be honest, yet hesitated. “This might sound odd, but even my identity is sort of complicated.” At this Cassandra raised an eyebrow. John sighed, “The person you see before you is Meka Petrucci. However, I am not Meka. I was born, Jonathon Bedford, Meka and I are sharing this body.”
At this Cassandra’s mouth dropped open in surprise, “You’re not a woman?”
“I’m wearing or rather I’m in control of Meka’s body and she is a woman. The quick explaination is that Meka is a dear friend. She was ambushed by a Syndicate assassin who took possession of her body. I tried to resuce her by using an experimental spell and ended up sharing my body with her.”
“Then how is it you now have her body?”
“The spell did more than bring her spirit into me, it also transformed my physical body so that I look like Meka while I’m in control.”
“I see.”
“Have you heard of this sort of thing before?”
“No, but there are many spells I’ve never heard of, plus you said you were using experimental magic? That is one of the most dangerious fields, the witches and warlocks who develop and design new magic are both brave and a little foolish.”
‘Hey, we take all kinds of precautions!’ Meka protested silently.
“Meka says that they take precautions.” John said, while agreeing with Cassandra.
“You can talk to her?”
“Yes, we’re sharing the same body. I’m currently in control, but she sees and feels everything I do.”
“Alright. How is it you came to rescue me?”
“After freeing Meka, we contacted Grand Witch, Gwendolyn ó Beaglaoich and the Warlock Victor Montrose. The war with the Syndicate has taken a new turn. In addtion to the open attacks, the Syndicate has begun bringing creatures from the shadow realms here as allies. They were concerend because they hadn’t heard from you in several months and sent us to investigate.”
“Months? Impossible. Just last night I activated a gift from my son Eli. Although, it wasn’t a gift, it was a trap. I’m not sure excatly what it was supposed to do.”
“Casssandra, it turned you to stone. You’ve been in a petrified state for almost nine months!”
“W-What? T-that’s impossible.”
John could see that his words had shaken the witch. “Why? As you said the gift was a trap.”
“John, you are a young Seer. You’ve not learned how to control and use your gift. I am the greatest Seer alive today.” The words were spoken in a calm confidnt tone. There wasn’t a hint of ego. “I’ve not been ambushed, without seeing it coming, in more than sixty years.”
“Well it happened. In fact I had a vision of it.”
At this Cassandra seemed to focus once again on John. “That’s right, the night I activated the crystal I saw you observing. Tell, what happened!”
“I can do better than that. One of the things they teach the Guardians is a spell that allows us to projection of a memory.” Then John paused, “This is going to be very hard for you to see. The person who attacked you, he said, he killed your son.”
“What!?” Cassandra looked shocked and then she shook her head, “No, if my son were to die, I’d know it. We have a blood connection, I can feel him, right now. He’s alive.”
“I don’t understand these blood connections, but I’m pretty sure the person living in your son’s body isn’t your son. As I said, I can show you, but it’s going to hurt.”
‘John, maybe you shouldn’t.’
“Show me.”
Even though Cassandra spoke normally John could feel an intensity behind her words. With that John fished around in his pocket for the Cavanaugh crystal. Pulling it out he spoke the spell and it lit up with his signature blue-white light. Then John focused on the memory. A three-dimensional image was projected from the crystal filling the space above and between John and Cassandra. The image showed Cassandra reaching down to touch the crystal in her sanctum with a bloody finger.
From there the scene played out, and when the youth spat in Cassandra’s face John saw a tear leak from her eye. When the young man mentioned the name Deidrick, Cassandra moaned, tears now flowing freely. John dismissed the spell when the fake Eli stepped through the gate.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” John moved forward and wrapped his arms around the now sobbing Cassandra. At first she just sat there and then slowly she leaned forward returning the hug and burying her face in John’s shoulder. Heavy sobs wracked Cassandra’s body and all John could do was to hold her.
“I-I know who killed Eli. I know who now wears his body. The Grand Witch, Necromancer, and fiend . . . Ilse Hirsch.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because during the War, I was with a team of Allies that caught her and her lover Deidrick. We killed Deidrick during the fight but captured Ilse. Later on, she managed to escape. She, rightfully, blamed me, since it was my talent that led us to them and foiled their plan to open a hidden-way from Berlin to Scotland. They would have used the Way to send an army into the UK behind our lines. We stopped the rite. Ilse vowed vengeance.”
After several minutes Cassandra gently pushed John away. “Even worse! As long as she is in Eli’s body, I won’t be able to SEE her.” Then Cassandra stood up, “I need to go for a walk. The cool air always makes me feel better.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, dear, you’re sweet, but I need to be by myself.”
John watched as the Seer collected herself stood up and went out the front door. “I’m worried about her.”
‘Yeah, that’s got to be really hard.’
John could feel the sympathy in Meka’s deep masculine mental voice. The rumble of her mental voice made John feel good, comforted. “Yeah, I think I’ll go make some breakfast. We’ve got eggs and there was a can of corn-beef hash in the pantry.”
John hadn’t realized how much he’d become caught up in Cassandra’s emotions until, as he moved to the kitchen, he realized that his cheeks were wet. Drying them John got to work. The act of putting together a meal immediately started to make him feel better.
‘You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s totally normal for two girls to share a cry.’
“Yeah, but I’m not a girl.”
‘You are right now.’ Then sensing that John was uncomfortable Meka changed the subject. ‘That image of Eli. I know him.’
“What?! How?”
‘Remember when Max first stole my body? I was a passenger in my own skin. Max met Eli back in my flat in London. Eli’s changed his look since your vision of him. He got a Mohawk and has it dyed it at least five different colors, but I’m sure. It was Eli that Max was working with, I should know because I saw him up close, as they fucked like bunnies! It was also Eli who stopped me from evicting Max, that last time. He hit me with a spirit-blast that severed my connection to my body. Luckily, I was channeling magic from our crystal and my soul went into it. I think that’s why we’re stuck like this.’
“Wow, he sounds really evil.” John noted. He’d already lit the wood stove and was now cracking eggs.
‘I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I might have a solution to our problem.’
“Which one?” John added a bit of water to the bowl of eggs and started whisking them with a fork. The smell of the hash heating up on the stove filled the little kitchen with a delicious aroma.
‘The one that has us stuck sharing a body. Silly.’
“Okay, hit me with it.” John added a second pan to the stove and dropped a scoop of butter onto it. Then using a spatula flipped the hash.
‘The Cavanaugh crystal is a very special artifact. I didn’t know this when we used it to body-swap. I split the crystal and it sort of became two separate crystals. Each almost as powerful as it had been when whole. I came up with a spell to restore it when I was doing some research on the properties of similarity.’
“Yeah, I sort of already know all of that, remember?” The butter now melted John added the eggs to the cast iron skillet.
‘Right. I think that when the crystal was restored the principle of similarity caused it to think we were two halves of one person and it joined us.’
John mixed the eggs with a spoon scrambling them and checking to make sure they didn’t stick. “Yeah, you said something like that before.”
‘I think the solution is pretty simple. We cast the same spell I used the first time to split the crystal. When it divides, it should also separate us.’
“Won’t that just cause you to go back to your body with Max in control?”
‘I don’t think so. The connection to my old body was destroyed. I think the crystal will divide us and sort of create two bodies from this one. The same way it’ll divide itself and create two whole crystals from one.’
John got a plate out and dumped the heated hash onto it, “How sure are you? I mean is it possible that without a body you’ll be sent into the afterlife?”
‘I think it’s pretty unlikely. The worst case might be my soul goes back into the crystal.’
John finished the eggs and put them on a separate plate. “Okay. When do you want to try it?”
Before Meka could answer the back door opened and Cassandra came in. Her cheeks were flush and she looked better. “I SAW that you’d just finished making breakfast, and realized I was hungry, so I came back.”
“I’ll get some coffee going if you grab a couple of plates.”
Breakfast was a quiet affair. John didn’t know what to say and it was obvious that Cassandra was lost in thought. Once done eating John sat back and waited. After a moment Cassandra looked up, with a slight smile she raised an eyebrow, “What?”
“Now that you’re free, what do you plan to do? Are you going to contact Gwendolyn? A Seer of your skill is a huge asset to the Society. Or are you going to try to track down this Ilse person who took your son’s body?”
Cassandra sighed and glanced down before looking John in the eye. “I’ll use my gift to see what I can find out. Then I’ll contact Gwendolyn. And no, I won’t leave my place here and go looking for Ilse. As much as I want too.”
“Why not? You’re not afraid of him, are you?”
At this Cassandra gave John a fierce look. “No, I’m afraid of my curse.”
“Curse?”
Cassandra nodded. “Yes, I’m cursed. There is a reason I hide away up here, cut off from most people. I cannot leave my land safely because of it,” then she stood up and started clearing the plates, “it’s the reason my land is so heavily warded. I need the protection.”
John stood up and moved to help but Cassandra waived him away. “No, let me. You made breakfast after all.”
“Okay.”
With that John went back to the sitting room and spotted the backpack with his clothes still packed inside. “We should leave soon. Cassandra’s Gates will take us to London or St. Louis. The last location we had on Max was in London after he escaped from the Society. That’s probably the best place to start.”
‘Yeah, it’s also where my flat is and all of my magical tools. We can go there and see if we can’t split the crystal again. When do you want to go?’
“We might as well go now. We did what we were supposed to do here. Cassandra, will contact Gwendolyn and start helping. I’ve got a very strong feeling we need to find Max, wherever he is, and stop him.”
‘Alright, then I think it’s time to change. Meka’s still a wanted woman in London. It would be better if we were in, John, mode when we get there.’
“Yeah, I suppose.”
John pulled out the backpack and started stripping. Once naked he eased back and felt Meka surge forward. The shift from female to male happened in seconds. Then as Meka bent over to pick up John’s boxers she heard a gasp.
“Who are you? Y-You can’t be here!”
Turning around Meka felt her face heat up in embarrassment and used John’s boxers to hide her schlong. “Uhm, hi, I’m Meka. I guess we forgot to mention when we shift control we also transform into each other.”
Cassandra staggered back a step, her eyes locked on Meka, “No, you don’t understand. It’s the curse.”
“W-What . . .” Meka’s voice trailed off and her eyes widened as he looked at Cassandra, “You’re so beautiful.” Dropping the boxers Meka took one step and then another, her cock becoming harder with each step. “I want you.”
‘Meka!’ John shouted mentally. ‘Stop! What’s wrong with you?’
Cassandra’s eyes were glued to Meka’s rampant penis. “I-I want you too.”
Meka moved closer, cock now at full attention. “Take off your clothes and suck my dick.”
‘What the hell’s wrong with you?’ John pounded mental fists against Meka’s mind but it was like she wasn’t even there. Cassandra unzipped the back of her sundress and allowed it to waterfall to her feet. She stepped out of it before tossing her bra to one side and shimmering out of her panties. Her naked body was gloriously youthful and sexy. Then she moved forward dropping to her knees.
Meka moaned when Cassandra reached out with one tiny hand to grab Meka’s cock. Cassandra’s hand looked tiny as she stroked Meka’s sausage. “Oh, that’s right babe.”
Cassandra ran her tongue down Meka’s shaft and blew gently on the now wet foreskin. The sensation sent shivers of pleasure through Meka.
“Suck it babe!” At Meka’s command Cassandra took Meka’s cock into her mouth. The moist heat sent an intense sensation coursing through Meka. “Oh, god, I forgot what it feels like to have my cock sucked!”
Cassandra started moving her mouth up and down Meka’s shaft taking it deeper with each repetition while stroking the base with her hand. For Meka it was like her whole universe was now centered on her love-muscle. She couldn’t think of anything except blowing her seed deeply into Cassandra’s throat. Looking down it seemed like her man-meat was too big for the tiny woman to swallow yet somehow she was managing it.
“Take it all the way! I want to pump my heat into your tummy!” Meka groaned, grabbing the back of Cassandra’s head forcing her rod past Cassandra’s gage reflex. The feeling of being fully deep throated was almost enough to drive Meka over the top, then Cassandra started using her tongue on Meka’s shaft, while it was in her mouth.
“Ahhhhhhh . . .” Meka groaned deeply and then felt the uniquely masculine sensation of her balls clenching up. Then her body drove her seed down her shaft, in strong pulses of orgasmic pleasure. Meka’s seed hit the depths of Cassandra’s throat and raced in a hot tidal wave of cum into her belly. “OhhhhGoooodddddddammmm!”
As the last jets of cum left her cock Meka could feel it get a little soft. Yet somehow she knew she wasn’t done. “Okay, now that you’ve had a taste of me, I want a taste of you!” Meka slowly pulled her dick out of Cassandra’s mouth, a long silvery strand of cum and saliva connected the tip of her red-veined monster to Cassandra’s luscious lips.
“Yes, master,” Cassandra whispered laying back and spreading her legs to display her pretty little pie. Meka placed a large masculine hand on each creamy white thigh just below the knees and pushed them further apart. Then starting with the left leg, she slowly kissed her way toward Cassandra’s pussy.
“Ohhhh . . . yes.” Cassandra moaned lifting her hips as Meka reached her snatch. Meka blew lightly on the already moist lips before turning to Cassandra’s right thigh. “P-Please, don’t tease me.” Meka ignored the request moving slowly down Cassandra’s leg . . . her mouth setting a fire to Cassandra with every lick and kiss. This time when Meka reached her prize she blew on it and the glistening lips quivered as Cassandra started to writhe. “I need you so bad! Please, fuck me!”
Meka used her tongue to part Cassandra’s lips tasting her moist feminine essence. Meka ran her tongue up to the nub of, blood engorged, flesh at the top of Cassandra’s slit. The first touch of Meka’s tongue on her clit almost sent Cassandra over the edge. She reached down to grab the back of Meka’s masculine head pulling Meka’s face into her pie. “Oh, god, right there!”
Meka swirled her tongue in tight circles around Cassandra’s clit and then using one hand spread Cassandra’s pussy lips and drove a finger into her tight snatch. The dual stimulation of tongue and stroking fingers had Cassandra bucking her hips, moaning and writhing, with one final scream of carnal pleasure, Cassandra came . . . hard. A flood of pussy juices washed over Meka’s chin and she leaned back grinning.
“I-I-I . . . Oh, god that was fantastic.”
“We’re not done.” Meka growled. His rod was once again iron hard and Meka wasted no time. He moved up Cassandra’s body, kissing her belly, and then nibbling at Cassandra’s succulent boobs before mashing his lips to hers. Meka ravaged Cassandra’s mouth in a passionate tongue dancing kiss. When Cassandra opened her mouth, she could taste her own juices on Meka’s tongue. Abruptly, Cassandra’s eyes went wide. While they’d been kissing Meka had used one hand to guide his one-eyed monster to the gates of heaven. Then in a single savage thrust he pushed in!
“Oh, fuck, you’re tight!” Meka groaned pulling back a little and sliding both hands under Cassandra’s round firm ass. When he drove in again, using the power of his male body and the leverage provided by his hands, he fully impaled Cassandra with his cock!
“AAAAGGggghhhhhhhhh!” Cassandra’s eyes seemed to roll back in her head, but she lifted her hips giving better access to her body. Then she wrapped her legs around Meka’s tight waist. For a moment Meka remained still, her shaft buried balls deep in the luscious, tight, feminine body of Cassandra. Then an urge as old as time raced through Meka, the need to dominate, to own, to control, and take the helpless female beneath him, completely. To pump this creature full of his seed, to make her scream in pleasure and to put a baby in her womb!
Slowly at first, Meka started moving her hips. In time to the in-and-out action of his pistoning cock Meka lowered her mouth to Cassandra’s titts devouring a bright red nipple. Cassandra threw her head back, hair moving around in a wild display as she was caught up in the carnal sensations assaulting her body. As the pleasure built Cassandra lifted her hips to meet each thrust and reached up digging her nails into Meka’s broad athletic back.
The wave of erotic bliss built until Meka’s groans of masculine pleasure drowned out Cassandra’s high pitched screams. As her climax approached Cassandra started clinching Meka’s cock with her inner ring of muscles . . . milking his manhood, demanding his seed. Meka tried to hold back as he teetered on the edge of bliss and then he felt his balls once again clench up and this time when the wave of heat pulsed out of him, he cried out in a pure shout of primal, masculine, triumph!
Cassandra felt the first pulse of heat deep within her womb and her body responded radiating pleasure. It was like every inch of her skin had become an erogenous zone and every zone was aflame. The feeling of Meka’s sucking, licking, and massaging of her breasts while pumping her enormous cock into her tight little pussy had brought her to the edge and now, with his seed filling her, it was more than she could take. Cassandra’s body exploded in an orgasm that shattered her world and her sense of self and left her drifting in a sea of post-orgasmic bliss.
Meka collapsed onto Cassandra’s sweat slick body. His cock only semi-hard was still buried within her. For a moment Meka lay there and then some instinct caused him to roll over, and he felt the uniquely male sensation of a cock sliding with a pop out of his lover’s pussy.
Meka lay on his back and closed his eyes, spent. John still stunned by what had just happened felt Meka’s laser like focus slip as he was now only half awake. John surged forward and felt Meka’s mind slide back. As soon as this happened John and Meka’s body shifted becoming female.
John quickly stood up and moved back away from Cassandra. The Seer lay, sprawled on the floor; body naked and covered in sweat, cum dripping from her now well-used pussy. Moving quietly John snatched the backpack with his female clothes and darted from the room.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 12 *Meka & John* ***************************************
It was sometime later, John was never sure exactly how much time, when Cassandra stumbled into the kitchen. Dressed, disheveled, and looking freshly fucked. When she spotted John, she let out a sigh of relief and moved to the chair opposite him. After a moment, she settled gingerly onto it.
“Where’s John?”
“I’m right here. The person you met earlier was Meka, wearing my body.”
At this Cassandra shook her head, “Damn. Well, that’s a first. My curse has only worked on men in the past.”
‘Uhm, John, I think I need to apologize to her, can you give me control?’
‘Not a chance’ John thought at Meka. “Why didn’t you tell me about your curse?”
“Because, as I said, it doesn’t work on women.” And with a sigh Cassandra continued, “During the war my talent blossomed and I became one of the more powerful agents in the fight against the Necromancers and their Nazi allies.”
“Is that when you and Ilse became enemies?”
“Yes.” Cassandra said with a nod. “After the war we were hunting down the Necromancers that had fled and I realized I needed more control over my talent and I wanted to become more powerful. That led me to searching out ways to enhance my talent. In the end, using my gift as sporadic as it was in those days, I found a ruined temple of Apollo buried by an ancient earth quake in the Greek countryside. Using my magic and the help of a team of mundane archeologists we uncovered the temple. The night after we opened the main vault I used a spell to cause my companions to fall into a deep sleep. Once they were out, under the light of a full moon I descended into the temple and accessed the hidden chamber behind and under the statue of Apollo.” At this Cassandra paused lost in a memory from long ago.
John sat quietly waiting for her to continue and after a moment she seemed to shake herself. “The small chamber held many artifacts but there was only one that I was interested in. You see this was where the ancient Grand-Witch Pythia hid the stone tablet that contained her most potent spell. It was the spell that she used to harness her gift of Sight. Using this spell and her gift she became a very famous Oracle. I felt any price was worth the level of control and power promised by the tablet.”
Cassandra looked at John and shook her head. “I was a fool.”
“What happened?”
“The tablet held Pythia’s spell and it held a warning. There is always a price for power. There have been many rumors and legends about the Oracle of Delphi. I ignored the warning and used the spell. And it worked!” At this Casandra’s cheeks flushed and she looked down at her hands. “The first full moon after I used the spell I was traveling with a Warlock and a Wizard hunting a Necromancer hiding in South America. My vision took us to the right village and before we could catch him the moon rose. I felt its light on my skin like it was a fire. My whole body shifted and changed.”
Cassandra shook her head, “You see at the time I was an overweight middle aged witch with red hair and freckles. The magic transformed me into the person you see today.”
John laughed, “As far as curses go that doesn’t seem so bad.”
“You think not? Any man past puberty, regardless of age, who sees me, wants me. What’s even worse is that I can refuse no one! If a man demands sex I become his plaything until he tires of me.”
“Holly shit.”
‘Oh my god, that poor woman!’ Meka added.
“That’s why Pythia hid herself away in the temple. She protected herself by surrounding herself with Holy Virgins.”
“That’s why you live here. The isolation and the wards! You are specifically keeping men away.”
“Yes.”
“But what about your son?”
“That was a mistake. Twenty-two years ago, I went into Anchorage. I thought I’d figured out a set of personal wards that would prevent the curse from working. I was wrong. I lost count of the men I slept with at five. The result, once I escaped and returned here, was that I was pregnant.”
“That’s how you had Eli? But wasn’t he affected by the curse?”
Cassandra nodded, “But not until puberty. I was able to have him and raise him here and then at twelve I sent him to London, to my dear friend Gwendolyn.”
John reached out and took Cassandra’s hand, “That must have been hard.”
She nodded, “One of the worst days of my life. Yet, we could talk by magical sendings, as it turned out he was a gifted Warlock. He didn’t have the sight, but was strong in magic.”
“That explains why you can’t go after Ilse in his body.” Suddenly, John got an idea. “Can you use your gift to find Maxwell Jackson? He’s the Syndicate assassin who stole Meka’s body. We need to find him if we’re to restore her.”
At this Cassandra smiled, “I can try. After rescuing me, it’s the least I can do.”
“Oh, and Meka says she’s sorry about what happened earlier. We didn’t know.”
Cassandra waved a hand, “I enjoyed it. That’s part of the curse, while I’m in a man’s arms I love every second of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
“It took quite a bit of research, and Gwendolyn helped me learn the rest of it. You see, I won’t age a day until I give birth seven times.”
Surprised John blurted out, “How many children have you had?”
“One from that first night of wild magic in South America and one from my night in Anchorage.” Then she rubbed her belly, “And unless I’m wrong you can tell Meka from me. Congratulations, she’ll soon be a father.”
***
John stood in front of the Gate that led to St. Louis. “Where will this take us, exactly?”
“It’s keyed to the Traveling Room at the St Louis Grand Coven. At this hour, it should be empty.”
A thought occurred to John, “I’m not that familiar with Gates and Traveling. Why can’t someone from St. Louis use the gate to travel here?”
Cassandra grinned, “They could, if I unlocked my gate. Think of this as a magical door. The doors to the gates in St. Louis and London are public. So they’re unlocked. My gates are private. I keep them tightly locked. Gwendolyn has used the London gate to travel here several times but she has to ask me to unlock it for her first.”
“How was Ilse able to use it?”
At this Cassandra’s face fell, “I set it to always open for Eli. I’ve changed that now.” Then Cassandra put a hand on John’s shoulder, “You’ve the gift. There is quite a lot I can teach you, without taking short cuts. You won’t have my control, or power, but you also won’t be cursed. When this is over, if you are still female, come to me.”
John shook her head, “I’m just using Meka’s body. I’m a Grad-A-All-American male through and through.” John ignored Meka’s snicker and comment that John had the best boobs she’d ever seen on a male.
At this Cassandra’s face fell slightly, “I will miss you, then added, give my best to Meka.”
‘Are you ready?’ John thought.
‘Yeah, unless you want to give me control so I can say a proper goodbye to my baby-momma.’
‘Not happening. We need to get to St. Louis if we’re going to stop Max!’ John thought, then out loud, “Goodbye Cassandra. I’ll be in touch.” With that John stepped through the St. Louis gate. There was an intense tingle and a moment of vertigo and then John stumbled forward into darkness.
“Lux.”
John lifted his cane and the Cavanaugh crystal he’d reattached to it flared to life. The blue-white light filled the room and he saw what he figured was the traveling room at the St. Louis Great Coven.
‘I’m surprised that you’ve never been here before.’
“The fact that we can travel by gate isn’t commonly known.” John replied moving away from the arch he’d just come through. “Also, the Coven doesn’t advertise that this room exists. Until Cassandra said she had a gate to St. Louis I didn’t know about it.” After looking around John headed toward what looked like the only mundane exit from the room.
‘Uhm, John, don’t you think we should change? I think you, or rather, me, Meka, is still wanted. Plus, didn’t you say there was a raid here? If Max was involved any security still here might be a little jumpy if they saw Max’s twin running around.’
“Yeah, you’re right, and now that you’re away from Cassandra, I think I can trust you.” John sat the backpack down and pulled out the wrinkled and slightly dirty jeans and t-shirt before stripping. “We either need to hit a laundry-mat or buy some clean stuff.” Then he pushed back allowing Meka to surge forward.
“Well, I could just swing by your place and pick up some fresh stuff.”
‘What would you tell Elaine?’
“She works, right? All we have to do is stop by after she’s left.” As she spoke Meka started getting dressed.
‘Fine, but from what Casssandra said, we don’t have a lot of time.’ John still felt like he was in shock. The information from Cassandra seemed sureal. When he’d asked for her help Cassandra had agreed and taken John and Meka to her santum and settled into the comfortable chair.
“I’m going to miss not having my mirror. With it and my gift spying on the Syndicate was easy. It also gave me the option to show a guest my vision within its surface. Now you’ll have to relay on my words instead of seeing for yourself.”
“Does that mean you can’t help?” John asked settling onto the carpeted floor cross-legged at Cassandra’s feet.
“No, my talent should sufice.” With that she closed her eyes. After a time John wondered if she’d fallen asleep then he felt Cassandra draw upon the power of the ley-line under them. When the energy moved into her Cassandra’s eyes flew open. John gasped when he saw that Cassandra’s eyes had gone entirly white. She remained that way for almost a minute before she blinked, shuddered, and released the power.
When she looked at John she shuddered, “You need to go to St. Louis. The Syndicate plans to use the Key to open the Gateway Arch to the Shadow Realm of the Insectoids. They plan to allow a swarm to enter our world.”
John still, even now, several hours later, couldn’t believe that anyone could be so foolish, so hartlessly cold, that they would bring those monsters into the human realm. It all just seemed insane. For a moment he felt a stab of panic for his family but he crushed it. Now was the time for actions not emotions.
“I know.” Meka tossed the backpack over one shoulder grabbed the battle rod. As soon as she touched the rod the light shifted from blue-white too purple-white. Then Meka headed out the door. This was an area of the coven where John had never been but it didn’t take too much searching to find an exit sign. From there a set of stairs led up to the ground floor. As they moved through the building it was strangely empty and Meka spotted a clock that read 7 am. Continuing through the building it was impossible to ignore the signs of recent fighting; bullet holes, burn marks from witch-fire, and a few blood stains.
Approaching the entrance Meka spotted the first sign of life. A pair of security guards stood by boarded up glass doors. Both guards had crystal focus items hanging from chains around their necks marking them as Witches. More alarming were the guns that were drawn and pointed at the ground just in front of Meka.
“State your name and the reason for your visit to the Coven outside normal hours.”
“My name is Jonathon Bedford. I’m an Inspector-Guardian here in St. Louis. I was sent on a mission by the Great Coven and needed to return as fast as possible. I can show you my credentials.” As Meka spoke she lifted a hand and moved toward her pocket.
“Slowly. We’ve been hit hard by the Syndicate and I’m not taking any chances.” The guard to the left said. As he spoke the two guards separated moving several steps left and right. Then the guard on the right continued forward holstering his gun and holding out his hand for John’s identification.
***
Max looked around trying to spot her Insectoid contact. The sun was just rising and its light spilled over the horizon casting long shadows from the nearby trees over the field. This late in the year most of the corn had turned a golden brown and under the blooming light the field looked like it was topped with gold.
“Stop fidgeting.”
“I’m not,” Max said glancing over at Eli. “Where are they?”
“They don’t use watches, and sunset isn’t a precise moment. Would you rather wait in the car?”
“Are we late?”
The words had a buzzing quality and both Max and Eli spun around. Standing between them and the car was a pair of women. Each woman was naked one had long dark hair and exotic eyes while the other’s hair was colored with gold and black stipes. Both women held an alien beauty that caused Eli to catch his breath.
“No. You’re right on time.” Max said. Then she reached into the bag by her foot, and pulled out a large round stone. “This is the artifact we discussed.”
The brunette insectoid queen took a half step forward, “It will open the Great Gate?”
“Yes, all you have to do is take it to the gate. Channel your magic into the stone and spill a drop of blood on it. Once you do the Great Gate will respond and open a Way to your native Realm. To any location within that realm you choose.”
“Our magic is not like yours.” The brunette said. “We don’t channel magic into dead objects, as you do.”
Then the blonde spoke and based on the buzzing quality of her voice Max guessed she’d been the original speaker. “We will also need to be close to this Great Gate? My daughters have scouted the city you call St. Louis. I might be able to fly in under a veil but we will need time to activate the gate. Time to bring the swarm through. It would be best to arrive unnoticed.”
“That isn’t our problem.” Max said. “We were told to deliver the key to you.”
“No, my dear. The deal was that your Syndicate would help us open a Way for the Swarm. The key is critical, but we require additional help.” The brunette replied. “Or are you going to break our arrangement?”
At this Eli held up a hand. “Peace. Give me a moment.” Stepping to one side Eli pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Max couldn’t hear the conversation but she already knew what Jason was going to say. Eli nodded twice and then returned to the queens.
“My Lord Drake has ordered us to help you open the way. However, once it’s open it’s up to you to hold it open so that your kind might enter this world.”
“Agreed” The hornet queen buzzed. “Shall we go?”
Max shook her head. “Not just yet. Can you maintain those forms for extended periods?”
The spider queen nodded, “We are equally comfortable as human or insect. Our hybrid forms take work to maintain and are normally only used for battle.”
“Then we need to find you some clothes. When we get to the city, try to be silent around other humans. Your voices might give away the fact that you’re not human.”
***
Victor looked over at Gwendolyn as she strode into the command tent. The word tent didn’t really describe the command center. Carpeted, with several tables covered in maps and its own generator powering lights, flat screens, computers, and the communications systems needed to command and control the guardian witches and the Society soldiers currently deployed for several miles around Victor’s estate. Leaning back from where he’d been hunched over a table, looking at the latest update on the Insectoid nests activities, he gave Gwendolyn a tired smile and gestured at the petite blonde next to him who’d also been studying the map.
“Gwendolyn, I think you’ve met Sarah Mag Aoidh, chief of the St. Louis Guardians?”
“Yes, of course.” Gwen nodded. Before she could say anything, Victor continued in a rush, “You traveled all the way from London? Did you bring reinforcements?”
“I did. Fewer than I would have liked. We are spread thin. The Syndicate has started assaults on almost every continent. However, I understand your people are desperate for reinforcements, and it is critical to contain this incursion.” Then she looked down at the map, “We’ve become too reliant on the information Cassandra provided. Now that she’s been neutralized we are a step behind.”
*Did someone mention my name?*
At this all three Witches spun around to see the ghostly image of the stunningly beautiful auburn haired Witch-Seer.
“Cassandra!” Gwendolyn exclaimed taking a step forward. “You’re free!”
*Yes, your agents, John and Meka were successful. They are both very gifted.*
“They are.” Sarah agreed, then added, “Not to sound insensitive, do you have news? Our situation is increasingly desperate.”
*Yes. The worst is that the Syndicate put the soul of one of their agents, Ilse Hirsch into my son Eli’s body. They then killed Eli.*
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry.” Gwendolyn responded, a stunned look on her face.
*Besides the cost of that to me personally, I cannot SEE what Ilse is up to while she wears his skin. That is an advantage I’m sure the Syndicate will exploit. Additionally, when they trapped me in stone, Ilse stole the mirror of far-seeing. I have used it in the past to get around my inability to use my gift on blood relatives. Instead, it is in Tia Drake’s hands. I don’t doubt that she’s been using it for months to make sure every aspect of this plan has been fully delved.*
“Son-of-a . . .” Victor cursed and then caught himself. “That does explain how they’ve been able to run circles around us lately.”
The ghostly image of Cassandra nodded, *All hope is not lost.* Turning to look at Gwendolyn, *Take your soldiers and guardians, Gwen, and use this key.* with that she waved her hand over the table. There was a shimmer of light and a small crystal materialized and dropped to the table top with a faint thud. *The Syndicate has been holding Princess Laicistiel Aeradiir prisoner. Use the key to open a way and travel to the prison. Once you free Laicistiel the Winter Court will stop supporting the Syndicate and express their displeasure at being blackmailed. Violently.*
“I knew there had to be a reason the Fae were supporting the Syndicate!” Victor growled slapping his hand on the table.
“I’ll take care of it.” Gwendolyn said scooping up the crystal. Then she spun around and started shouting orders.
“Should we start our assault on the nest?” Victor asked looking at Cassandra’s ghostly image and then giving Sarah a fierce grin.
*No. It is difficult for me to see into the Nest. The magic used by the Insectoids is so different from ours that it obstructs my Sight. I can only say that I think they may have opened several smaller ways to their Realm. As you know the barrier between the Realms has grown thin over the last few months. I don’t think they’ve managed to bring through more than a few hundred, but I think your force would be destroyed if you attack.* She drifted over to the map and pointed to St. Louis. *Take your force and get to St. Louis, as fast as you can. The insectoids plan to open the Great Gate. John and Meka are attempting to stop them, but if they fail, everyone who can fight will be needed.*
Victor’s mouth fell open and then he looked at Sarah, “Do you have any Guardian’s left in the city?”
The petite woman shook her head, “No. Most of my guardians are in South America or here.”
Victor sighed, “Son-of-a-bitch! Alright, let’s get moving.” Victor turned to look for Cassandra but her image had already disappeared. “Damn it. Blackthorn! I need you!” When a middle-aged Guardian with closely cropped, hair stuck his head in the tent Victor continued. “Send out a message to all squads. Rally at point Alpha, from there we’re going to travel as fast as we can to St. Louis! The Gateway Arch is about to be opened to the Insectoid Realm!”
***
“I like the new place.”
Meka pulled the car she’d borrowed from the Coven into John’s driveway. It was just after 8 am and the morning traffic had been terrible. It had taken almost forty-five minutes to get from the Coven to John’s house. Although, they were in a hurry, they didn’t want to arrive until Elaine had left.
‘That’s right, you’ve not seen this house. We moved here last summer. The old place was just too small for the four of us.’ When Meka opened the door, John was greeted by the familiar clutter of a house filled with small children. Then it hit him, ‘Meka we can’t fail. If what Cassandra saw happens the city will be overrun by Insectoids. My family lives here. We can’t let it happen!’
“We won’t. But the timing couldn’t be worse for Sarah to have taken the St. Louis Guardians to Louisville. From what the guard at the Coven said, everyone with any battle magic or combat experience was asked to help contain the Insectoids. That’s why those guards at the Coven were pointing guns at us instead of crystals.”
‘I’ve got a few weapons here. Let’s get changed and get going. If we stop Max before she opens the gate, then the swarm won’t arrive.’
“John, I think it’s time to take a risk. Remember my theory? If we divide the Cavanaugh again, it might separate us.” Meka felt John’s reluctant agreement.
‘Do you think we’ve got enough time?’
“Yeah, I think we have to take the time. As for Max, I think that body is hers now, I’ve just been too stubborn to admit it.” Meka went into the bedroom and stripped. Then she removed the crystal from the battle rod and held it in both hands. “Are you ready to go back to being a guy?”
‘Damn straight. Let’s do this!’
Meka drew in as much power as she could hold and then started casting. The magic spilled out and John felt a tingling sensation run through their body. Then with a cry Meka made a twisting move with both hands and there was a crack like a shotgun had been fired in the bedroom. The energy running through their body turned to fire in their veins and both Meka and John cried out in pain. Then everything went dark.
Slowly, John fought for consciousness. ‘Meka?’ When she didn’t feel her presence, John forced her eyes open. “Meka?” For a moment, the familiar sounding voice didn’t register and it wasn’t until John sat up that she realized she still had a set of boobs on her chest. “Damn! It didn’t work!” John swung her feet over the edge of the bed and then paused. “How did I get on the bed?”
“Actually, I carried you to it. And the spell worked, just not the way we’d planned. I put you there after I woke up. You looked cute, but uncomfortable, lying on the floor.”
John turned to the door and saw Meka leaning against the door frame already dressed and smirking down at her. John felt a sudden urge to cover her naked parts and pulled the blanket off the bed.
“Seriously?” Meka laughed. “You know I’ve seen everything, I mean I grew the things you’re covering up.”
“Oh, shut up.” John snapped and then blushing giggled and shook her head. “It is sort of silly. I just feel like I need to . . . you know. What happened? Why am I still female?”
“It looks like the crystal still thought I was the male version of us and that you were the female so when it separated us you got the female body.”
“Then if we use the body-swap spell we used last time, we can fix this?”
“Yes, but John, we’re out of time. The magic drew the organic material for your body from this one. While it was a shock to both of of us, it was worse for you. I was out for about an hour, you’ve been out for three. It’s almost eleven thirty.”
“Son-of-a-bitch. Are we too late?”
“I don’t think so, but we don’t have time to do the body swap spell. If you remember we were both out for an hour or so after we cast it last time.”
“Alright,” then John spotted her Cavanaugh crystal laying on the stand next to the bed and picked it up. “I can feel my connection to it.”
Meka held up his crystal, “Yup. I’ve already made sure I can use this.” Then he looked at John, “As I remember, Elaine and I were about the same size. You should probably borrow some of her clothes and then we need to go.”
John hurried to Elaine’s dresser shaking his head, “My wife would be stunned to learn that I’m about to be wearing her panties.”
“Ha! At the moment, I think she’s my wife. Now get dressed.”
John quickly dug out the clothes Elaine normally wore to work out in the garden; jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt that said AC/DC across the front. Then after stepping into a pair of Elaine’s underwear John looked at a bra. “I think I’m going to have to wear the one I’ve been wearing. Elaine’s too big up top for this to work for me.”
“Are you complaining that my boobs aren’t big enough?”
“No.” John retorted defensively then glared at Meka. “Why don’t you go down stairs? I’ve got a gun safe in the basement. We both need more weapons than just magic.”
“Sure, what’s the combo?”
“35-24-63 Now scoot. I’ll be there as soon as I finish.”
By the time John was dressed Meka was done and they met in the living room. “I’m guessing the .380 is Elaine’s” Meka said handing the small gun in a cute pink holster to John “and the .40 is yours?” he said patting his hip where the Barrette 96A was holstered.
John had already returned her crystal to the cane she’d learned to use with the Guardians and sat it down to run the holster through the belt to her jeans. Once done they both hurried out to the car. They both made for the driver’s side but Meka, with his longer legs, reached it first.
“Do you know how to get to 100 Washington Ave?”
“I’ve never been there but we’ve got a GPS!” Meka said sliding behind the wheel, “hurry up and get in.”
John rushed around to the passenger’s side and barely had the door closed before Meka put it in gear. As they drove toward the Gateway Arch John tried to focus on Max and for once she felt her talent respond. John’s vision swam and suddenly it opened and she had the image of Eli and three women walking along a sidewalk. The Mississippi river was to their left and up ahead she could see the top of the Gateway Arch. After a second she recognized the tallest of the three women as Meka. She had her hair back in one long braid and was wearing all black leather despite the heat. Next to her walked two people John assumed were children at first but they were far too developed to be girls even if they were more than half a foot shorter than Meka. Then the brunette lifted her sunglasses and looked around and John noticed her eyes. The way they glittered in the sun light reminded John of multifaceted insect eyes.
“They’re at the park. Step on it!”
John shook herself trying to dispel the vision. Then she dug into her backpack and pulled out the crystal Gwendolyn had given them. With a word and a minor effort John activated the powerful veil spell stored inside. “If there was ever a time when we needed to speed, its now.” John felt the car accelerate as Meka started weaving aggressively in and out of traffic. John did her best to curb her impatience and couldn’t help thinking that if she’d been driving they’d be getting there faster.
“Just a couple more blocks, hang on!”
John looked and grimaced, “That’s Walnut St! We’re still on I-44. Meka we’ll never make it pull off onto the shoulder, NOW!”
Meka reacted quickly pulling over and John jumped out holding her battle rod the crystal glowing bright blue-white. “What are you doing?” Meka asked coming around the car. “Someone will see you.”
John glanced at him and said, “We don’t have time to be subtle. Follow me.” Then she jumped. The magic boosted her sending her up over the embankment that separated I-44 from Memorial Dr. For a moment John gloried in the feeling of flight and then realized she’d over shot and started flailing her arms for balance as she sailed into the trees just north of the Old Cathedral of the Basilica of Saint Louis.
As the branches of the nearest tree rushed up John brought up her body shield and tried to use Air to cushion the landing. Branches snapped around her then John hit the ground, hard, stumbling forward onto her chest. “Oww . . . damn it. That hurts!”
John pushed herself up just as Meka landed next to her. “That was fun.”
“Shut up! Give me a hand, we need to hurry.” She lifted an arm for assistance. Cutting through the trees they hit the Gateway Arch Trail and then the large open lawn under the Arch stretched out and John pointed. “There they are!”
Walking up the steps from the river side Meka spotted Eli’s multi-colored hair and then the three women as they got closer. “Come on!” Meka shouted sprinting forward using one hand to hold his crystal and the other to draw his semi-auto. John took off, hot on Meka’s heels, but he quickly pulled away with his longer legs, and John hated to admit it, but her current body, wasn’t used to running.
Then John saw Max set a bag down and pull out what looked like a stone the size of a softball. Meka didn’t hesitate, he lifted the hand holding his crystal and shouted a word of power. Purple-white light blasted out and knocked Max back, causing her to drop the stone. “Take that, you body stealing bitch!”
Max’s three companions froze at the unexpected assault and John could hear people shouting. She ignored them and ran closer, a stitch in her side and her throat on fire. Then the two women with Max and Eli changed. Their bodies seemed to burst free of their clothes and in seconds a creature that was a cross between a woman and a hornet with wings buzzing on her back took flight. On the ground a second hybrid, a woman-spider thing, climbed free of her clothes.
“Open the gate. My daughter’s and I will deal with these.” The hornet queen buzzed and suddenly in the air around her four giant hornets swam into view as they dropped their veils. Then they too transformed, turning into human-insect hybrids that John realized must be their battle form.
“Oh shit.” John gasped coming to a stop next to Meka. Then she saw Max stand up and move toward where she’d dropped the stone. “Meka, stop Max. I’ll deal with these.” John shouted.
“No Greater Love”
(John 15:13)
By Zapper
*************************************** Chapter 13 *Meka & John* ***************************************
Nodding Meka checked that his Cavanaugh, now set in a medallion around his neck, was in place and his semi-auto was ready. He pulled the crystal with the shield spell in it from his pocket. “Invoke!” Meka shouted, and felt the powerful shield spell flare up around him. Just as he returned the shield crystal to his pocket there was a flash of power. He felt an impact against the shield, but it was a minor distraction and he ignored it. Putting his head down, Meka charged. A part of his mind told him one of the flying Insectoids had blasted a yellow green energy-sting at him. Then the shield flared again, and again, as the other Insectoids started blasting with their stings. The shield was more than up to the challenge and Meka focused on running, on closing the distance between him and the man who’d stolen his body, his life, and murdered his friends.
Meka’s anger built as he ran and then Eli stepped in front of him holding a glowing crystal in one hand. Without thinking Meka poured all his rage and pain into his spell and lashed out, “Brûler!” Fire blasted from the open-palm of Meka’s hand in a tightly focused beam of energy that burned almost white hot.
The attack hit Eli’s shield and he staggered back under the power of the attack. Before he could respond Meka lashed out again, “Get out of my WAY! Poing De L'air!”
This time Meka made a throwing motion and hit him with a violent blast of kinetic energy. The power of the blow lifted Eli and threw him into the air. His body disappearing as he tumbled down the river stairs to the sidewalk and street below. Meka turned to Max and saw the spider-woman place a bloody hand onto the Key. The Key started glowing as Max channeled energy into it and Meka lifted his gun and started shooting. Rounds slamming into the air around them as Max’s body shield protected them.
“You shall not stop us!” The spider insectoid hissed and made a throwing motion with one of her legs. A stand of white energy leapt at Meka. He poured power into his personal body-shield creating another layer of defenses below the powerful outer shield, and felt it stop the attack. Then Meka tried to move forward and felt the magic hold him. “Bitch!” Meka shifted the focus of his gun to the spider and started shooting.
This time there wasn’t an energy shield to stop the rounds. Yet the queen’s chitin was far harder than it looked and the rounds bounced off uselessly. Then the queen jumped. The leap was impossibly long and she sailed toward Meka forelegs extended to attack. At the last second Meka shouted a desperate spell. “Clignotement!” The world snapped out of focus and back again. Nausea hit Meka and he doubled over his abs cramping up, as he vomited.
The teleportation spell was only good for very short hops and you had to see where you were going but Meka hated it because of how his body reacted to it. Yet it had worked perfectly. Meka was now freed from the magical web and was a dozen feet behind Max. When he looked up Meka saw to his horror the air under the Gateway Arch shift. It was like looking down through a pool of water. On the other side a mass of beings waited, beings out of nightmare. Then they were surging forward. Flying, hopping, leaping, slithering, and crawling they came through in a swarm of nearly unimaginable proportions.
***
John saw Meka race forward attacks from the airborne Insectoids sparking and flaring against his shield. “I need to ground you bitches.” John muttered. Lifting a hand and calling on her affinity with air John drew on her magic, filling her manna-well, and shouted, “Vertex!” John felt her magic pulse out and she staggered to a knee as the effort behind the spell hit her. Lifting her head John looked up casting her senses into the air, waiting for it to respond. Moving air, or at least the volume of air that John was attempting to move, was hard work. Most people don’t realize that air has both weight and mass. The energy required to move this much air was a tremendous strain, but John maintained her focus.
Meanwhile, the hornet insectoids continued lashing down at Meka with energy-stings. Then she felt the wind respond. Agonizingly slow, it started to build. Than as the momentum picked up John could feel the strain drop and the air started moving faster and faster. Overhead the sun disappeared behind a rolling wall of clouds. The clouds were dark and ugly and then they began to rotate. John’s ears popped as the pressure changed.
In the distance John, could hear shouting and knew that the mundane population watching the fight was terrified. They didn’t know what was going on, but monsters had appeared out of nowhere. The gun and spell fire was unmistakable and John knew she was breaking one of the Coven and Society’s most important rules. Not to let normal humans see magic. There was no help for it though, they had to stop the invasion.
Rain started to pelt down in big fat drops as the sky continued to darken and the wind picked up. The hornet insectoids were now struggling to stay aloft. They were spending more time fighting the wind than trying to attack. Abruptly, one of the warrior hornets lost control and sailed away into the sky. Seeing she couldn’t stay aloft the queen made a strange humming-buzz and dove for the ground followed by her remaining three warriors.
As they touched down John released her control over the weather spell and dropped to one knee driving one end of the battle rod into the ground. Then resting her shooting arm on the forearm of the hand holding the battle rod she formed a solid shooting position. Ignoring the queen, she focused on the closest warrior hornet. Bang, bang, bang! The rounds slammed into the insectoid causing it to collapse and curl up in pain.
In response, the queen and her other two warriors opened up with their green-fire-stings. John poured magical energy into her shield and kept firing. A second insectoid warrior went down and then the queen and the remaining warrior charged. John held her position firing at the remaining warrior until the last second and then dove to one side.
The queen, now a twisted parody of human and insect, screamed her rage slashed her claws through the space John had just occupied. This close to the insectoid John could see the blending of human and insect and swung his battle-rod shouting. “Aestus!”
The rod hit the queen and bounced back, a blue-white fire burst out along the queen’s body. The fire highlighted her in-human body and her semi-transparent wings burst into flame as she pitched herself to the ground screaming in agony.
Abruptly, John’s back exploded in pain and she was tossed forward. Turning the momentum into a front roll John came back to her feet in time to see the last hornet warrior blast another sting in her direction. With her shield weakened John knew she had to move and dove to one side. This time when she came up she pointed the battle rode at the hornet warrior and launched a series of bright energy disks. The warrior dove away trying to dodge the attack just as John had, but John kept firing. When the hornet rolled to his feet John connected with a series of strikes that almost cut the warrior in two.
Then John felt, more than heard, a deep thrum behind him and he looked over his shoulder. “Fuck!” she gasped in horror as the first Insectoid burst from within the Gateway Arch. Ignoring the wounded queen, who was now struggling to her feet, John turned to see Meka hit Max with a blast of magical energy from behind. Again, Max’s shield flared protecting her. She spun around and snarled at Meka, Max lifted a gun and emptied it at point blank range.
“No!” John shouted and threw all her strength into an energy strike at Max’s back. This time the blow staggered Max and caused her to drop the key and stumble to one knee her shield flickering out. Max glanced back at John and snarled something John couldn’t hear over the howling wind. To John’s relief she saw that Meka, holding his side, stand up. Obviously, his shield had saved him, even if he was wounded.
Then Meka gripping his Cavanaugh Crystal in one hand, his gun gone, he said something John couldn’t hear and pointed a bloody hand at Max. The power that blasted out turned Max’s head into a charred cinder. She fell onto her side twitching as fire raced over her body consuming her in a pyre that grew and grew, burning fast and bright. By the time John stumbled to within a few paces of Max the fire died. Max’s body had been reduced to an unrecognizable pile of ashes, ashes that the wind picked up and scattered. The Key pulsed and started to go dim. John was now close enough to reach for it and just as she bent over it flew from the ground into Eli’s outstretched hand.
“Nice try ladies!” Eli shouted over the storm. John moved to stand next to Meka and then without saying a word they raced forward. The insectoids were pouring through by the hundred and they knew the gate had to be closed at all costs. Both John and Meka lashed out with spell fire and John paused to slam a new mag home. Meka kept up the spell-fire having lost his gun earlier, when he’d clutched his wounded side, but the wound didn’t slow him as he tossed one magical strike after another at Eli, as quickly as he could.
John started shooting. Once again using her magic to guide the rounds with supernatural accuracy. Instead, of aiming for Eli she focused her shots on the key itself. The first shield taught to any new witch is a body shield. To extend that shield over others, or over additional objects, wasn’t all that hard. It did require additional power and focus. In the heat of battle John knew that most people revert to what they’ve practiced the most.
Eli’s shield blazed up protecting him from Meka’s relentless assault. Then one of John’s rounds hit home. The key sparked and cracked. Magic seemed to spill out of it and then John’s next two rounds hit home and her gun clicked empty. The rounds tore chunks out of the key and energy arched around it wildly. With a curse Eli threw it to one side and started laughing. “You may have destroyed the key and closed the gate, but you’re too late. The Syndicate will win, regardless!”
John looked over her shoulder and saw the energy flicker out of the arch. Even so thousands of insectoids, of more types than John’s brain could grasp, had already swarmed through. They were spreading out in all directions and several had snapped up human by standers.
“You might think you’ve won, but there will be no covering this up. Once humanity learns what’s out there they will be eager to welcome anyone who can protect them from the threat.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Meka said and ducked a diving attack by a mosquito-insectoid the size of a Terrier. “But you won’t live to enjoy it!” Then he blasted Eli with a flame strike. Instead of trying to block it Eli moved to one side.
“Oh, I think I’ll survive!” Suddenly a hybrid dragonfly Insectoid scooped Eli up. “I doubt you will though!” He shouted as the Dragonfly zoomed away having no difficulty flying even with the wind.
“Quick, Meka, back to back!” John yelled. The next few minutes became a blur. They managed to join their body shields together and drawing as much power as they could through the Cavanaugh Crystals, they fought. As they fought the sky grew darker and the rain got heavier, sleet now mixed in. Messing with the weather almost always had repercussions. Yet John didn’t regret using it to force the flyers down. Even now only the strongest insectoid flyers could remain airborne.
Time lost meaning. It could have been a minute or a day. Draw-power, cast, strengthen the shield . . . Draw-power, cast, strengthen the shield . . . Draw-power, cast, and strengthen the shield. John could never remember how long they fought or how many creatures she killed.
John blasted an energy strike into the soft underbelly of a large spider insectoid and then looked around. There were still a few monsters roaming the park, but most had fled or been killed. John dropped her shield and collapsed to a knee. A second later Meka took a knee next to her. Even though her side was drenched in blood there was a fire in her eye. “We survived!”
John nodded, “Yeah, and even if a few thousand insectoids got through it won’t be enough to take over the city. I’ll mark this up as a win, considering everything.” Then, seeing Meka’s wound, she added, “Here, I think it’s time to use this.” With that John handed Meka the third crystal Gwendolyn had given them. The crystal with the healing spell stored inside.
Meka reached for it, lost his balance, and slid onto his side. “Meka?!” John moved quickly over Meka and placed the crystal over the wound. “Invoke!” John shouted focusing the magic down into Meka’s wound. A soft white light spilled through John’s dainty fingers and poured down over the wound. For a moment, nothing happened and then the ragged wound started to close. It grew smaller and smaller, and then from within the wound something moved. Abruptly, the bullet that had been lodged in Meka’s hip popped out and fell away to one side. The wound finished closing and Meka’s body relaxed.
Meka sat up, “Wow, I feel . . . better.”
Then the light in the healing crystal died. “I think, it was a one use only, crystal.” John noted dropping the now dead and dark crystal to one side. It hit the pavement and broke into a thousand pieces.
“You shouldn’t have used it on me. I just needed to rest.” Meka complained climbing to his feet.
“Bullshit!” Johns retort was filled with mirth, “Just like a man, you don’t know when you’ve pushed yourself to far.”
“Ha!” Then Meka winced, “Don’t make me laugh. That spell might have healed me, but my hip is still sore.”
They made their way carefully through the field, defending themselves from any insectoids who came close. While trying to get back to the Cathedral, Meka grunted and pointed to a TV van and what looked like the dumbest reporters on the planet. They were filming everything and John had no idea how long they’d been there.
“Fuck, the Elders aren’t going to be happy about that.”
“Screw the Elders, we just stopped an invasion.”
“True,” then Meka stumbled.
“Come on, big guy. The crystal healed you, but it took the energy to do it from your body. Put your arm around me, let me help.”
John felt Meka’s heavy male arm drape over her shoulder and then her hand squeezed John’s right boob. “Hey, stop that you!” John elbowed Meka in his sore side.
“Ouch, hehehe, I was just checking to make sure the girls were still there.”
“Jerk.” John said, laughing. “Come on.”
Now that they were moving again, and the fight was over, John felt the adrenaline that she’d been running on leave. She was exhausted. The running, the use of magic, and the fight had been grueling. The need to save the city, and the fear for her family, had added an emotional dimension that had fueled her. Now, all she wanted to do was curl up and take a nap.
Even the sight of the TV crew filming didn’t seem important enough to get worked up about. Suddenly, she felt Meka stiffen, “John look out.” With that Meka pushed John behind him and for a moment he was lit-up by green-white light. Then he collapsed and John stepped around him to see the hornet queen, wings still burnt to nubs, face charged and blackened from John’s spell leering.
“I’vvvvvvve gotttttt you now!” The words were slurred with a drunken sounding buzzing.
John didn’t bother to look at Meka in her mind she could feel his crystal and lifted a hand. Meka’s Cavanaugh crystal pulled free of the medallion and flew into her outstretched hand and the crystal at the end of her battle rod flared as John screamed in rage, “Ferit Hasta!”
Blue-white power from the crystal at the end of the Battle-Rod combined with purple-white energy from the crystal in John’s hand. The energy formed a ball of power the size of a beach-ball in front of John and the leapt forward smashing into the wounded and half-crazed hornet queen hitting her squarely in the chest. She screamed a weird insectoid shriek and then her body came apart under the raw power of the magical attack.
For a long moment John looked down at the messy remains of the queen and then turned to Meka falling to her knees next to him. Meka was lying on his back, his chest a mess of burnt meat yet, somehow, his face had escaped most of the damage. Then John saw blood leaking from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
“Meka?” There was a part of John that knew what she was seeing, what the obvious truth must be, but her mind refused to accept it. It was too awful to be true. He couldn’t be dead. He was too important to her, too much a part of her life. “Meka,” John touched her shoulder and tried to shake it but the heat radiating from his body almost burned her and caused John to flinch back. John could feel tears running down her cheeks and then a sob pushed up from her chest. “Meka, oh god, no.”
The horror and the reality started to sink in and John reached out with her mind hoping against all odds that he was still there. That she could pull his mind, his soul, into her body and that he’d somehow survive. ‘MEKA?!’ she poured every bit of energy she could into the psionic quest. There was no response. Then John felt a hole inside of her. The tears were streaming freely down now and she gasped for air between sobs. There was a hole, a hole in the spot inside of her, where Meka had taken up room. That space was now and forever . . . empty.
Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder. John looked up and through her tears saw a reporter with her cameraman right behind her. “Miss, Miss who was he? Will you tell us your name? Can you tell us what happened?”
John almost responded with her real name and then caught himself. “I-I’m Meka, Meka P-Petrucci and I’m a Witch. What you just saw, was the St. Louis Great Coven end the threat of an invasion from a Shadow Realm. An invasion orcastrated by the Syndicate of the Eldritch. ” At the stunned look of surprise John pushed herself to her feet. “You also saw a hero give his life to save mine.”
“What was his name? Was he a witch? You’re saying magic is real?”
The questions came rapid fire and it took John a moment to process them. “Yes, magic is real. Witches and Warlocks are real. We are organized into Covens and work together in an organization called the Society of the Gifted to stop rogue magic users and an organization called the Syndicate. The Syndicate is responsible for opening that gate.” Then John glanced down at Meka, “His name was Jonathan Bedford. He was a warlock, and a Guardian of the St. Louis Great Coven. This city owes him a debt.”
For several long seconds the reporter just stared at John and then said into the mic. “Brenda, did you get all of that?”
*************************************** THE END ***************************************
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Epilogue
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John leaned back into the hot soapy water. The heat soaked into sore muscles and then she stretched out a long feminine hand to scoop up the wine glass. The dry bite of the red wine tasted delicious as she let it dance over her tongue. The combined effect of alcohol and hot water was more than just causing her to relax it felt soothing in a deeper way.
She could hardly believe that it had been a week since the events in St. Louis had announced to the world the existence of magic. So much had changed in that time, that she wasn’t sure it was all possible. Before she’d left the Gateway Arch Park police and emergency vehicles started showing up. The police had told him that she had to go with them. John hadn’t had any reason to disagree and had turned over her weapons and climbed into the cruiser that had taken her to the police station.
During the drive John saw that the streets were in chaos and it looked like the Governor had called up the National Guard. There were military vehicles everywhere and the signs of fighting between fleeing Insectoids and the government were both obvious and sad. At the station a very busy police chief had questioned John and she’d stuck to the story she’d given the reporter. At this point she no longer cared about the Coven, Society, or Syndicate. Meka was dead. John wasn’t sure she could feel worse if it had been Elaine’s corpse she’d been looking at. Then the thought of Elaine hit her, was she okay?
Using her one call she phoned the house land line and Elaine picked up on the first ring. Her voice was shaking and John could tell she’d been crying. “I-I just wanted to tell you what happened.” She whispered, but she’d interrupted her.
“I saw it on TV. Oh, Meka . . . h-he’s gone. John’s dead!”
John had wanted to disagree but couldn’t. She’d told the authorities she was Meka and in a way, it was true. It was the name that fit the body she wore. Yet, it wasn’t her. The idea of trying to explain a body-swap to the police or a reporter had just been too much. Now, at least for the moment, she had to live with that choice.
“I-I’ll be by as soon as I can. I’ll explain everything.”
“Oh god, Meka, he’s gone.” Elaine’s sobs rocked John and she, in that moment, almost told her the truth.
Just then one of the policemen tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up spotting the St. Louis Great Coven lawyer, a woman she’d worked with several times over the years. The woman was in her early fifties and wore a business suit with a skirt and heels, all black with a white blouse. Only it looked rumpled her her dark hair, streaked very lightly with a few silver strands, was uncharacteristically down. For the first time in the years she’d known Olivia she looked practically, dishhevled.
“Hi, Ms. Petrucci, I’m Olivia Orlando. I’m from the Coven and I’ve come to collect you. The elders would like to speak with you.”
John looked at the cop who nodded, “You’ve not been charged with anything. However, I’ve been told to get a cell phone number for you and to tell you that you can’t leave the country. We will want to talk to you again.”
On the trip to the Coven building it hit John. Olivia had been open about the existance of the Coven.
“Hey, you didn’t use one of your covers. You said you were from the Coven. Does that mean we’re now in the open?”
Olivia, sitting next to John in the back of the Coven car, gave her a long look. “As if there is much choice. You’re little interview with that reporter has hit the wires and is now being played on every network, globally.” Then with a shake of her head, “Yes, Mis Petrucci, we are now in the open.”
John slumped back into the seat, to numb to know what to feel. Then glancing out the window she noticed where they were. “Hey, if you take the next exit, we can swing by my-er-John’s place. I’d like to talk to his wife.”
Olivia shook her head, “No. Right now we’ve got to get you to Boston. The Society Leaders have gathered there. Once we’re done you can talk to John’s widow.”
The trip by Gate from St. Louis to Boston was disconcertingly quick. The room Olivia led John to was more like a boardroom for a fortune five hundred company than it was a conclave of the most powerful practioners of the Mystic Arts. John had been introduced to the Elders but hadn’t remembered any names. All the disciplines were represented. The sorcerers, wizards, psionics, and witches all had several representitivs. The only face John recognized was Gwendolyn sitting as the Elder for the Covens.
“Who the HELL do you think you are, going public like that with an announcement about magic!” The shouted accusation, from the wizard whose name John had heard and forgot, felt like a slap in the face.
“I think, I’m the mother fucker who closed a GREAT GATE! Stopped an INVASION from a shadow realm before things got totally out of hand and we lost NORTH AMERICA to a new magical species!” The rage in John’s response silenced the room. John felt a tingling sensation and when she glanced to her right the Ghostly image of Cassandra materialized.
*I’m sorry I’m late. I had to get your apprentice, Theodore, into position to stop the Syndicate’s next move.* At this Cassandra looked at the wizard, who’d accused John of single handedly exposing the magical community. *The Syndicate is going to try to kidnap the U.S. President’s wife. They’ve developed a body-swap spell that they’ve frozen in crystal. They plan to have their agent sleeping with the President, if Theodore doesn’t stop her. Sadly, my sight tells me, that Theodore will have to kill the agent to stop her.*
At this announcement the Elders all started talking. The specteral Cassandra leaned toward John. *How are you?*
“Terrible.”
*Oh, John, I’m so sorry.*
“Thanks. I’ll be okay. I just need to get home. Elaine thinks I’m dead.”
*I know, and in truth, Jonathon Bedford is dead. You will never wear that body again.*
“I know, but I need to tell Elaine the truth.”
“ORDER! Everyone please come to order!” The little sorcerer’s voice was much larger than her body and John immeditaly suspected that she’s used magic to augment it. When the room quieted she looked at John and Cassandra. “I take it by the way that you’re hoovering over this girl she’s one of yours?”
Casssandra shrugged, *She is a Seer and a Witch. However, she is untrained. I’ve offered to take her on as an apprentice, but she has yet to accpet.*
The sorcerer looked at John with a pair of piercing brown eyes. “Young woman. Your gift is very rare and of immence value. You do your community a disservice by neglecting your training.”
John felt her face heat up with anger and as she opened her mouth to retorte Gwendolyn cut in. “Brielle, peace. Meka, here, has just come into her talent. Until recently she has been my apprentice and is one of the best researchers I’ve got.” Then Gwendolyn looked at John, “Dear, please tell us what happened.”
John took a deep breath, “To start with, I’m not Meka Petrucci. My true name is Jonathan Bedford. This all started when Meka sent me a message from London.”
As John spoke the room grew quiet. They were all at least partly aware of what the Syndicate had been up too, but getting the story from John and then the details filled in by Cassandra and Gwendolyn left most of the Elders feeling stunned. In the end they decieded to continue with the plan to come out of hiding and publicly admit to the existance of magic.
John sank lower into the soapy water, “Like they had any choice he muttered.” For a moment she felt some satisfaction that they’d had to come out and tell the public what had been going on for a millenioum. With the thinning of the barrier between worlds, magic in this world was rising. John discovered she could cast spells, at least cantraps, without having to draw on manna from her crystal.
The Cavanaugh crystal was still a bit of a mystery to John. One she knew she needed to consider. After she’d left the conclave she’d realized that the crystal had reverted to a single globe. She hadn’t had to use any magic to restore it, which led her to believe that it had been closely bound to her and Meka’s souls. With Meka passing on the crystal, now bound to her, had reverted to a single orb.
The thought of Meka’s soul reminded John of the part of the Conclave she’d hated. The elders had all agreed, that with the filming of the events in St. Louis, and the heroism of Meka, caught on video, there was no way to tell the public that “John” was actually, “Meka.” The notion of body-swapping would terrify people, to think that not even your body was safe from a magical predator. On top of that, the public relations branch of the Society thought Meka’s heroism could be exploited to prove that the Society existed to benefit humanity unlike the Syndicate.
The order to keep silent included Elaine. John had wanted to rage against these orders but Cassandra had chimed in. She’d seen that if John returned and told Elaine what had happened that the secret would get out. The impact would worsen human-magical relations at a time when that couldn’t be afforded. Hearing this John had bit her tongue. As much as she wanted to tell Elaine the truth she knew humanity needed the Society to help fight off the dual threat of the Syndicate and the Insectoids.
When the conclave broke Cassandra looked at John and offered her another invitation to stay with her, at least for the next few weeks. Reluctantly, John had taken her offer. The idea of getting away from everyone and everything had a huge appeal. Then the Society PR guy grabbed John’s elbow.
“Miss. Please come with me. We need to talk about your schedule, training, and public appearances.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“You and John are heroes and national celebrities. Your heart felt interview with that local reporter in St. Louis has been picked up by all the news networks, including CNN International, and most global news networks. I’ve got over a hundred calls for interviews. We’ll need to go over your story and the message you need to promote.” The young man’s bubbly enthusiasm was enough to make John want to shudder.
“I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to be studying with Cassandra.”
“That won’t be a problem. We’ll set up gates, from her sanctuary, to the Boston and New York Great Coven’s traveling rooms. I’m thinking for the next two weeks you need at least two appearances per-day. After that we can take a breath and put a media campaign strategy together.”
John had looked at the spectral image of Cassandra, “Help?”
Laughing, Cassandra nodded and moved over to whisper in Gwendolyn’s ear. That had resulted in a quick trip to London and then to Alaska. John had barely kept her eyes open and Cassandra had met Gwendolyn and John in person and led John to the Cabin’s one spare bedroom. John took one look at the bed and collapsed on it. She’d slept for almost twenty hours.
Now, feeling her fingers wrinkle, John climbed out of the tub. As she did she caught the hint of wood smoke and thought Cassandra must be making dinner. John felt the rush of a memory, building a fire in that very oven, bantering with Meka, who was in passenger mode. John grinned, Meka had never liked building a fire or cooking and had left the day-to-day chores to John. As she dried off John realized that the time she’d spent here with Meka had been very special. Over the last four years they’d grown apart, then the enforced closeness of sharing a body, it made John realize just how much she’d grown to love Meka.
Tears leaked unnoticed from John’s eyes as she got dressed. The hole in her life felt just as raw, now a week later, as it had when she’d been holding Meka’s lifeless body. Nothing would ever fill that space, but maybe it would hurt less in the days to come. Now dressed in a light sundress and sandals John looked into the mirror. The reflection of the young woman was one she’d avoided the first couple of days. Not because she, hated being a woman, it was an inescapable reminder of her friend-sister and that she was gone. Now however, John smiled, her reflection still reminded her of Meka, but those were happy memories. ‘If I’ve got to wear a woman’s body, there’s no one else I’d rather be.’ John thought. Then turning and posing a bit in front of the mirror, “I need to change my hair. Meka kept it short, I think I’d like to try a longer style.” Done getting ready John slowly made her way to the kitchen.
“I see you didn’t turn into a prune.”
“Hehehe . . . you’re funny. I spent two hours working out, I needed a good soak.”
“If you say so.” Cassandra stirred the pot of stew on the stove top. “Why you do all of that is beyond me.”
“I like to exercise. I’ve got black belts in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Aikido. I need to train if I’m going to get this body in shape. Besides, healthy body, healthy mind, right?”
“I suppose. You did remember you’ll be traveling to London early tomorrow? You’ve got several media engagements.”
“Yeah, how goes the war? I assume they’ll want to ask about it.”
Cassandra nodded, “The swarm in Louisville broke out of our containment. They traveled south and met up with the insectoids from the St. Louis swarm and settled in the Dallas area. We’ve got no good intelligence on the state of the city or its citizens. The odd nature of the Insectoid magic prevents me from “seeing” what they are doing.”
John nodded biting his lip, “What else?”
Cassandra sighed, “Our best guess is that more than a million insectoids have now traveled to our Realm. They’re opening small gates. Bringing in a hundred or so kin and then closing the gate. They are open and closed too fast to detect or track.”
“Damn!” John muttered. Then let her anger go. “What about the Aelves? Are the Winter Fae still slaughtering Syndicate agents around the globe?”
“Yes, the Syndicate is on defense. Jason Drake and Tia Drake have had to defend their estate in Germany twice over the last three days from the Winter Fae. As long as they are focused on survival, we’ll have the advantage. In six months, the mundane population will accept the Society as the face of the Eldritch community. From that point the Syndicate will be little more than a footnote. We just need to survive the next six months.”
“Meaning, survive the Insectoid incursion?”
“Yes.”
Cassandra started scooping up bowls of stew and John went to work setting the table. For a time, they were both satisfied with the domestic duties of setting out a meal and eating.
“Will we have time for another lesson before I go?”
“We should.”
“Unless your morning sickness kicks in again?”
Cassandra glared at John, “Just wait! When you get pregnant, I’ll be there to remind you that you had no sympathy for me.”
John snorted, “I’m not going to get pregnant, ever.” Then she looked at Cassandra and grinned, “Besides, my last baby is growing in you, right now.”
Cassandra just shook her head, “You’re impossible.” Then she tapped her temple, “But I think you’re wrong. You will meet Mr. Right someday . . . wait and see.”
“Fine, can I have another helping of stew?”
Cassandra laughed and nodded. “Sure. And then I’ll quiz you on your talking points for tomorrow.”
***
The weird green light filled the underground chamber causing Eli to blink as he came awake. It took him several minutes to remember where he was and what had happened. The venom, in his system, left him barely able to think. It had taken hours for Eli to realize he’d been stripped naked and his crystal had been taken. Then they’d come for him. The Queens, there were so many now, as well as male leaders of other species. Spider, Hornet, Ant, Bee, Mantis, Mosqueto, Moth, Grasshopper, Scorpion, Fly, and Dragonfly they’d all had questions. When they’d not been satisfied with his answers they’d filled him with venom.
Ilse’s memories got fuzzy then. He remembered, more questions, more answers, and then they’d moved him. He had a vague feeling they’d moved him more than once. Then there had been the mating. Ilse had lost count of the number of females who’d been brought to him. The number of times he’d been held down and forcably taken by one Insectoid type after another. There had always been an audience, a group of warriors preventing the female riding his cock, from harming him . . . too much.
“Are you ready, darling?”
At the sound of this voice Ilse looked over and saw the green haired woman looking down at him. She looked tall for an Insectoid, at least six feet if Ilse were to guess. “N-No. Ready for what?”
“Your last courtship. Your seed is strong. Each of your gifts has resulted in hundreds of fertilized eggs. The Insectoids born of your loins will call this world home. They will be strong in your magic, and ours. In time, we will own this world and you, your line, will be one of the founding lines! Mantis is patient, but now is my time, and your last!”
Ilse’s heart leapt and he shook his head, “N-No. This can’t be happening.” As he spoke the Mantis female released her pheromones and Ilse’s male body responded. His cock grew hard and the grinning female settled onto it with a sigh of pleasure. Ilse fought to hold back, his arms and legs were shackled with a strange chitinous chain. Then unable to control himself he blew his seed into the mantis-woman and she changed.
Growing taller and assuming her hybrid mantis form the alien eyes glittered down at Ilse, and then she slashed down with a set of large forelegs. The cut removed Ilse’s head from his shoulders sending it skittering over the floor of the chamber. Ilse’s body continued pumping seed into the Mantis for several seconds. Then satisfied that she’d drained him the Mantis lowered her head, transforming to full insect before feeding on her dead lover.
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THE END
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Author Note: This concludes my tribute to Brittany. Please take a moment and leave a note.
Cheers
Zapper