Into the Fire
Forty Six
Author’s note: This chapter presumes that you are familiar with Kelvin’s Choice’s story, Tamers and uses characters and situations from it with his permission. If you have not read it, you are very naughty and need to remedy the situation immediately. It is well worth the time.
The guard looked him up and down. “You don’t have an ID?”
Iain smiled amusedly. “The one that says I’m involved with the BLSF is inside with my uniforms and other equipment. I should be on your access list, though. It should be under Admiral Wolf. That’s spelled W-O-L-F, without any funny E or extra F or anything else.”
Eve gave him a look. “Sir, please stop teasing the sentry.”
Iain’s smile spread as he read the guard’s nametag. “Sorry about that, Corporal Barrett. It’s been one of those days already.” He rubbed his eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry I don’t have my credentials yet, but Minister Chambers set this up and then went on vacation before it could be sent to me. If you need to, go ahead and take a DNA sample to compare to the one I have on file. Or you could sign me in as a visitor and assign me an escort so I can go get my official ‘I work for the government so you can trust me’ badge.”
The corporal held out his hand. “I’ll need your pokedex.” Iain handed it over without comment and he scanned it with his handheld. They were standing outside the primary ministry building and the guard’s Growlie and Sabretoothed Tigress watched Iain alertly as the guard’s scanner processed Iain’s information.
Finally the guard looked up again. “Ok, you are on my authorized visitor list. Give me a minute and I’ll get you an escort so you can pick up your stuff.”
“Thank you very much, corporal.” Iain moved out of the way and leaned against a pillar as Eve watched their surroundings. “What about you and the others?”
“Sir, once you’re dressed as an admiral, you can take your harem to get outfitted. Unless Minister Chambers set us up with ranks in the BLSF, we’ll all still be civilians and considered your orderlies.” She made an odd noise. “That’s not entirely true since it is very likely that Dominique has some kind of rank from her job, although I’ll have to admit that I have no idea what that rank could be.”
An older Officerjenny came outside and spoke briefly with the sentry. She glanced at Iain and laughed for a second before finishing her conversation with Corporal Barrett. Then she turned and came over to Iain and Eve. “Mr. Wolf, I’m Sergeant Katrina Whittaker. Please come with me so I can get you signed in and then we can go see if you have anything waiting for you in property.” She didn’t sound particularly confident that there would be anything there for him. “You do realize that what you’re claiming is highly irregular, don’t you?”
Iain nodded soberly. “Indeed I do, sergeant. This entire situation is highly irregular, but Minister Chambers was insistent that I had stuff waiting here for me.”
Whittaker held the door for them. She was smiling gently at him, like she might for someone who was, as his parents would have put it, touched in the head. “And just how is the minister today, Mr. Wolf?”
He flashed a wicked grin. “She’s fine, sergeant.”
That got him a look of surprise from her. “I’m glad to hear that, sir.”
The sergeant led them to a security checkpoint where another Officerjenny inside a blast proof kiosk took their picture and printed out badges for Iain and Eve. Whittaker made sure they’d put the badges on properly before leading them to the elevators. Iain had been upstairs to some of the offices before, but this time the Officerjenny pushed a button for subbasement level three.
“Why is property in the basement?”
Whittaker eyed him for a second before apparently deciding that his question wasn’t him having a go at her. “Property is located next to the interview rooms where we question people as well as a small detention center for prisoners. They get searched before going in and all their stuff gets stored in property.”
“That’s logical enough.”
The attendant at property was a domesticate-born Japanese Bobtail Catgirl who looked so human that with a hat she could have passed for one. Even her boredom filled brown eyes had round irises. She bobbed her head in a bow as she scanned the badges before focusing on the Officerjenny. “Sergeant, are you dropping off or picking up?”
Whittaker shrugged. “Heidi, Tradesman Wolf here thinks that he may have something here for him.”
The Catgirl’s ears flicked back for a second. “He thinks he might have left something here? That’s new.” She held out her hand. “I see you have your pokedex. May I have it, sir?” Iain handed it over and she plugged it into her computer. “No, sir, you don’t have any property here.” She unplugged the unit and handed it back with an empty smile. “Sorry about that, sir, but you were mistaken.”
Sergeant Whittaker smirked out of the sight of his vision, but not of his perception.
“Try looking under Admiral Wolf, please.” Iain slipped the pokedex into its holder as Eve spoke.
Heidi shrugged and typed for a moment. Her ears flicked and her eyes widened slightly before she looked up. “That’s odd.”
Whittaker watched as the attendant pulled something from a drawer. “What is it, Heidi?”
“I’ve got some special instructions, sergeant.” She held out a DNA scanner. “Sir, please place your hand on this and don’t pull it away until I say so. It will sample the oils from your hand in seventeen places to verify who you may be. If you move, the sergeant here will arrest you immediately.” Whittaker stiffened and moved to stand behind Iain.
He ignored the Officerjenny and placed his hand on the DNA reader. Thirty seconds elapsed before Heidi’s computer beeped. “Thank you, sir.” The Catgirl put the reader away and went back to her computer. Her entire attitude came alert as she smiled warmly at Iain. “Admiral, if you’ll wait just a moment I’ll get your things. They’re in secure storage, so Sergeant Whittaker will have to man my post while I’m getting them.”
Whittaker goggled at the Catgirl for a second. “He’s really an admiral?”
Heidi nodded. “That’s right, sergeant, he is Admiral Kerrik Wolf. Now if you’ll come around and join me, I’ll turn the station over to you while I retrieve his possessions, as per policy.” She gave the Officerjenny a suddenly perky smile. “Can’t violate the rules, you know.”
“Yeah, sure,” the Officerjenny muttered as a door in the wall clicked open. She went through it and took the Catgirl’s place while Heidi disappeared through a heavy looking door behind where she’d been standing. Whittaker glanced at him and began typing.
Iain kept his voice deliberately nonchalant as he whispered to Eve. “It looks like Monica was telling the truth. I almost wish she’d been lying. I don’t know anything about being an admiral and I certainly don’t know anything about being a skimmer puke.”
“You’ll be fine,” Eve patted him on the arm. “What’s a skimmer puke?”
“There are two types of vessels that ply the seas, submarines and targets. Targets are the home of skimmer pukes.”
“I think you’ll need to explain that in detail later.”
“I will.”
Heidi returned and put a duffle bag and what looked like a safety deposit box on the counter. She pulled an electronic slate pad from beside the computer and put it next to the box. “Sir, you’ll need to sign this and thumbprint where it indicates before I can release your equipment to you. I’ve verified the inventory as complete and with unbroken seals, but if you have any questions you can talk to someone in supply.” She continued as Iain read the pad. “All of your uniforms, boots and other accoutrements were sized according to your measurements and there’s a voucher so you can take them to any accredited firm for fitting.” She watched as Iain signed with the attached stylus and pressed his thumb against a glowing spot on the display. Then she spun the box around and flipped it open. “Sir, here is your BLSF ID card. It functions as your ID and as your security pass. Never relinquish it except when presented with a lawful order by a superior officer or member of the Ministry of Defense. You are authorized to use any reasonable force to retain your ID, sir.”
The ID card was a thin plaque composed of some kind of resin that Iain couldn’t immediately identify. It held the picture of him that was included in his tradesman’s entry. He looked it over and realized that the Catgirl was waiting for a response from him. “I won’t give it up without a fight, honest.”
She smiled as he tucked it into a pocket. “Yes sir.” Then she pulled a data chip from the box. “Here are all of the forms you’ll need to fill out for your harem, admiral, so they can be given their preliminary uniform issue as your orderlies.” She handed it to him. “I understand that you have one pokegirl who is active duty in the BLSF, but since she works for Department Six she doesn’t have any official rank and will still be considered a civilian for the purposes of uniform issue. You might want to consider acquiring a pokegirl with military training, especially considering the irregularities in your service to the league.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Heidi, and thanks.” He picked up the duffle and weighed it thoughtfully in his hand. “This is a pokepack, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, sir. The wand is concealed inside the bag so it looks normal. It’s also got a tracking device that you’ll need change the key to your pokedex so you can easily retrieve it if it is stolen.”
“Thanks,” Iain noted with his perception as Sergeant Whittaker slipped through the door and rejoined him and Eve, “I’ll take care of that today. I’d like to thank you for all of your help, Heidi. I know that normally you don’t have to explain to flag officers things that your average recruit probably already knows.”
The Catgirl beamed at him. “You are very welcome, admiral.”
He turned to Whittaker. “Sergeant, do I still need to be escorted around?”
“Yes, sir, you do.” She straightened. “I received a message while I was at the desk, sir. The Minister of Defense wants you to come to his office at your convenience.”
Iain smothered a grimace. At your convenience was officer speak for right the fuck now when a superior said it to a junior. “That’s interesting. I wasn’t aware that Minister Chambers had returned.”
The Officerjenny’s cheeks turned scarlet. “I’m speaking of Minister Mulroney, sir.”
“So the Deputy Minister of Intelligence is standing in as the Minister of Defense? That kind of puts proof to the lie that Minister Chambers is on vacation, doesn’t it?”
Whittaker gritted her teeth. “Sir, I do not know what you are talking about.”
“That’s interesting. Apparently there’s a rule that you can lie to me, although you obviously don’t like doing so.” He watched as the sergeant’s flush deepened. “However, any minister outranks an admiral so please take me to his office.”
Whittaker relaxed as her color began to return to normal. “Yes sir. Come this way.”
Iain glanced at Eve and slung the duffel over his shoulder. She gave him a slightly curious look and he reached out over the bond they shared. That’ll leave you free to fight if Mulroney tries to kill us. Her curiosity faded and was replaced with grim determination.
Did you know this might happen?
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole plan, but while being with me does give you decent protection from idle psychic scans if they push hard enough your mind can still be read. That’s why I had you stay away while I briefed everyone else. I knew it was a possibility that Mulroney would want to talk to me about either Harris or Cherry. That’s why I’ve mentioned Cherry a couple of times today, in order to pique his curiosity. I knew that little Miss Fussbudget here would find a way to let her superiors know I may be in contact with Monica.
His wife nodded.
Whittaker led them back to the elevator and this time they rode up to the floor where Chambers’ offices were located. The same Iron Maiden or one that looked identical to her watched them from her desk as they headed down the hallway. The Officerjenny stopped in front of the G-Poindexter’s desk. “I’m Sergeant Whittaker and, as ordered, I’ve brought Admiral Wolf to see Minister Mulroney.”
The pokegirl behind the desk nodded. “Thank you, sergeant. That will be all.”
Whittaker started to leave when Iain touched her on the arm. “Thank you very much, sergeant. I appreciate all of your help.”
Surprise flicked across her face and vanished. “You’re welcome, sir. Have a nice day.” Then she was gone.
The G-Point smiled at him. “Sir, the minister is in a meeting. Please have a seat and he’ll be with you shortly.”
Eve settled down next to him on the loveseat he’d chosen and leaned over to whisper. “Do you think he’s redecorated yet?”
Iain chuckled. “Now, now, my love, play nice. I’m sure the acting Minister of Defense hasn’t been that presumptuous.” He draped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. We may have a small problem. I want to talk to Mulroney, but my history suggests I’m not willing to wait hours while he fritters away my life to amuse himself. I think we’ll give him twenty minutes like I did with Cherry the first time we met and then see what happens when I decide to leave. No, I’ll give him an hour.
And when you’re ordered to wait for him to receive you?
Why then I toss the ID and the duffel at him and see what he does when I tell him to shove them up his ass.
Eve frowned delicately. It’s unlikely he’d be the one to order you to wait. That means you’d have to wait for him to let you into his office before you could do that.
He smiled. I know. At that point the wait would be completely worth it.
Eve burst out laughing, winning her a suspicious look from the G-Point. She shoved away from Iain and gave him a mock glare. “Stop tickling me!”
Good save. Iain snickered as the G-Point rolled her eyes and returned to her typing. “And if I say no, what are you going to do about it?”
Eve growled in exasperation, got up and moved to move to a chair across the coffee table from him. “Why,” she said in an innocently sweet voice as she deliberately planted her pretty rump in the chair, “there’s nothing I can do about it, sir.” She dimpled when he glared at her. “Would you like to play some cards or dominoes?”
He shook his head. “I’ve already learned that there’s no such thing as a friendly game with you. I’ll pass.” He pulled out his pokedex and began typing.
Eve watched him for a moment. “Are you writing?”
“Yeah. It helps to relax me.” He looked up. “You didn’t just realize this, did you?” Her eyes narrowed and he grinned. “You did, didn’t you?”
She ignored his question. “Just out of curiosity, sir, are you writing more pokegirl stories?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m writing notes for the Tirsuli Confederacy and, by extension, Pokegirl One. It lets me keep my hand in without focusing on anything specific.” I’ve also set the alarm to go off in an hour.
“Ah, ok, sir.”
Iain had been focused on his writing and so when his pokedex began sounding its alarm, he jumped and almost dropped it. Only quick fumbling kept it from skittering away from him and he quickly turned the alarm off. Eve raised an eyebrow and he nodded as he tucked the pokedex back into his belt. He rose and headed for the desk. “Excuse me, but could I get a piece of paper and a pen from you, please?” She looked up from what she was doing and handed him a notepad and a pen. “Thank you. By the way, what is your name?”
The G-Point’s smile was slightly annoyed. “Dora.” Clearly she wanted him to go away so she could get back to work.
“Thank you, Dora.” Iain wrote something on the pad and handed it and the pen to her. “Here is my com code and email address. Whenever Duncan gets free, tell him to call me and we’ll arrange a time to meet.”
Dora stared at him as she automatically took the pad. Her eyes flicked down to it and back up to him. Her eyes slowly widened as what he intended sank in. “You can’t leave.”
“I think my legs are perfectly operative, so that statement is demonstrably false.” Eve handed him the duffel and he slung it over his shoulder. “Watch as I prove it.”
Dora shot to her feet as he headed for the hallway. “Sir, the minister wants to meet with you today!”
Iain just looked over his shoulder. “He knows I’m here. If he’s even perused my file he knows I am not a patient man and therefore this delay is just him jerking my chain to see if I’ll jump. I am many things, but I am not a fucking flunky and I am not going to sit on my butt waiting for him to get a couple of free minutes for whatever it is he wants.”
Dora called after them a couple of times and then fell silent as they headed down the hall. Eve moved in front of him when she realized that the Iron Maiden had left her desk and was facing them in the middle of the hallway. Iain put a hand on the Megami-sama’s shoulder before she could say anything. “Good afternoon, miss,” he said pleasantly. “Is there something I can do for you?”
She didn’t return his smile. “You can return to the Minister’s office, sir.”
“Do you have arrest powers in the Blue League?” She blinked at his question, giving him the answer. “Then if you touch me, it’s an assault on an officer in the BLSF and I’ll see you up on charges.”
“Sir, you’re putting me in a difficult situation. I have my orders.”
“Did they come from Duncan or from Dora?”
“Sir, that’s not important,” she began.
Iain cut her off. “You’re right. It’s not important. What’s important is the question of whether or not Monica would give you an order like this. Duncan is only the acting minister and when Monica gets back she may not be pleased.”
The Iron Maiden looked resigned. “I know that sir. When Minister Chambers returns she will discipline me if she sees fit to do so. However, she is not here and I have orders now and I have to follow them. Those orders are to see that you return to the minister’s office.”
“That’s impossible since I haven’t been in the minister’s office yet. I’ve been in his bloody waiting area and I can’t return to someplace I haven’t been.”
“Sir, please.”
Eve glanced over her shoulder at him. “I’ll have to kill her if it comes to a fight, but it’s your call.”
“Great, I get to decide if she lives or dies today.” He shook his head. “I guess we go with what we discussed earlier, which means,” he smiled suddenly. “The wait is now worth it.” He refocused on the Iron Maiden, who was scowling now at being ignored. “You win. We’ll go back to Duncan’s office.”
For the next half hour, Iain amused himself by torturing Dora. Ok, so it wasn’t really torture by any definition of the word, but it was what he’d called it back on his home world. Iain had the ability to stare at people and slowly drive them crazy with nervousness. He wasn’t sure it if was a real ability or just some psychological quirk he was taking advantage of, but it worked and other people couldn’t seem to do it. He didn’t use this ability often, usually saving it for people who’d ticked him off but weren’t worth going to jail over.
So he’d settled back in the chair he’d originally been in without bothering to acknowledge Dora’s existence and commenced staring at her. After a couple of minutes she glanced up and met his flat, unemotional gaze. Her eyes narrowed and she looked down again. This continued, with her looking at him more and more often until she wasn’t getting any work done while trying to pretend he wasn’t there and distracting her. Finally she gave up and met his gaze. “Sir, is there something I can do?”
“No.” She started to go back to her typing. “Anything I want done to you I’ll do myself.”
That frightened her, as evidenced in the inrush of air as she gasped and her eyes widened. Apparently his reputation was reaching higher levels.
Eve touched his knee. “Kerrik, please stop this. She probably would have gotten into trouble if you’d left without trying to stop you and she was just trying to protect herself from any repercussions.”
He didn’t stop staring at Dora. “Why should I care about her? If people think they can get me to do things just by threatening the pokegirls carrying out their instructions around me, I might as well carve out my spine and give it to them along with my balls because I’ll be dancing to their tunes forever.”
Eve shifted around so she blocked his view of Dora. Iain, please stop.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “You’re prettier to look at anyways.”
A few minutes later the double doors to the office opened and a Demoness wearing a tight green dress looked out at them. “Admiral Wolf, the Minister is ready to see you.” Her eyes lit up when she saw Eve. “Oh, look what we have here.”
Eve smiled at her. “I see a lost lamb.”
The Demoness blinked. “What’s a lamb?”
“It’s a sign.”
The infernal scowled. “Of what?”
Eve’s smile turned innocent. “It’s a sign that you should improve your education before trying verbal sparring with me.”
“Huh?”
“Exactly.” She tugged Iain past the Demoness and into the room.
Monica’s office was unchanged, except for the tall man sitting behind her desk. He gestured at the chair without looking up from his computer monitor. “Sit. I’ll be with you in a second.”
“I’ve been sitting for nearly two hours. I think I’ll stand.”
Eve winced at his tone.
Mulroney looked up. “I’ve been busy, Wolf.”
“Then you should have let me leave and rescheduled this meeting instead of detaining me. My time is valuable too.”
“I needed to see you today.”
“Well, here I am. Speak fast.”
Mulroney’s eyes narrowed. “Has anyone told you that you have a bad attitude?”
“Yup. Look, I need to be somewhere and my other two pokegirls are probably getting antsy right now.”
“That’s right; according to your records you’ve also got a Dark Elf and an Ingénue.” Mulroney waved to dismiss the comment. “I’ve been told that you may have been in contact with Minister Chambers. Is this true?”
Iain eyed him for a moment before nodding slightly. “Before I answer that question, understand that your response will determine whether I kill you or not. With that in mind, do you want me to answer that question or ignore it?”
Behind him, the Demoness began to shift her position closer. Eve summoned her armor and moved between her and Iain.
Mulroney’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t threaten me.”
Iain drew his pistol. “If it turns out you’re allied with Sanctuary, it won’t be a threat.”
Mulroney blinked in surprise. “What does this have to do with them?”
“Monica was ambushed at her home by a hit team and badly wounded. She managed to flee and contacted me because she knows I am the one person in Blue who would never be allied with Sanctuary. There had already been an attempt on Lindsey Harris and I was guarding her as a favor to Monica.”
“Have your Megami-sama truth check me, Wolf. I have no contact with Sanctuary. None. I am not working with them.”
Iain glanced at Eve and she nodded. “He’s telling the truth.”
Iain visibly relaxed and started to put his pistol away, but stopped. “What about the Demoness?”
The Demoness scowled as Mulroney laughed. “Marie? She’s loyal to me. However,” he said, holding up a hand. “Go ahead and question her with your truth-seer so you’ll know for yourself.”
Iain looked at Eve. “Take care of it.”
“Yes sir.” Eve went to stand next to the Demoness and they began speaking in low tones, Marie warily eyeing the glowing armor Eve hadn’t dismissed yet.
“Where is she?”
Mulroney’s question pulled Iain back to the man behind Monica’s desk. “I’m not at liberty to say. Monica gave me explicit instructions not to reveal where she is since what you don’t know can’t be stolen from your mind.”
“Then take me to her.”
“No. It’s not safe.”
“Damn it, Wolf, I need to see her! We can protect her.”
“You’ll need to assign people to her detail and the more you use, the greater the chance one of them will be a puppet of Sanctuary. You know as well as I do that there’s no way the purge managed to catch all of them.” He frowned as if an idea had suddenly occurred to him. “Wait a minute. You’ve got some isolation in Department Six. You even do in-house scans. That means you’ve got psychics that we can vet and then they can start checking people so we can build a cadre that we can trust.”
Mulroney nodded. “That sounds good, but I still need to see Minister Chambers.”
Eve interrupted the conversation. “Marie is clean.”
The Demoness snorted. “No, I’m not. I have an appropriately filthy mind.”
Mulroney ignored her comment. “Get Lana in here so his Megami-sama can verify she’s loyal. Once that’s done she can check her sisters.” He refocused on Iain as Marie hurriedly left the room. “Admiral Wolf, this is a direct order. You know I am loyal and I order you to take me to Minister Chambers.”
Iain gave him a mulish look before reluctantly nodding. “As acting Minister of Defense, you are in my chain of command. Once Eve is finished with Lana we can go outside and teleport there. She can only carry one at a time, so you’ll have to put Marie up unless you two are delta bonded.”
“We’re not and she’ll go in her ball for the trip.” The door opened and Marie came in with an unhappy looking Alaka-Wham. “Lana, this Megami-sama will be asking you some questions. Answer them truthfully because your life hangs in the balance.”
“Her name is Eve.” Iain managed to keep most of the irritation he felt from his voice.
“What?”
“The Megami-sama’s name is Eve.”
Mulroney shrugged. “Ok, her name is Eve. Lana, when Eve is done with you, Marie will have orders for you.” He pushed his chair away from his desk. “I’ll be in my washroom changing clothes for our trip, Wolf. Do not disappear on me.”
“I won’t.” Iain watched him grab a backpack and go through a door. Then he leaned against the wall and watched Eve interrogate the disgruntled Alaka-Wham.
When Mulroney returned Iain had to suppress a smile. The Minister of Intelligence was wearing a set of heavily pressed BLSF fatigues and the sight of battledress combined with razor sharp creases made him want to laugh. In fact the word that came to mind for the sight was REMF, which stood for Rear Echelon Mother Fucker. He wondered if the BLSF used the acronym FOB for Forward Operating Base. If they did, then Mulroney looked like a fobbit. It was a combination of FOB and hobbit. Hobbits never left the Shire and fobbits never left the base to go into danger.
Eve suddenly started giggling and Iain forced the thought from his mind as Lana the Alaka-Wham asked if there was anything wrong with the Megami-sama.
“Eve, are you done yet?”
She looked up at Iain’s question. “I am. Lana isn’t part of any Sanctuary conspiracy.”
“Then let’s go outside. Minister Mulroney has orders for us.” He slung the duffel over his shoulder once more. “Minister, I know Maria still needs to give Lana her instructions, so we’ll be waiting for you in the park across the street.”
“All right, Wolf.” Mulroney watched them head down the hall towards the elevator.
Once there, Iain stopped and looked at the Iron Maiden. “Are you going to try to stop me again?”
She had the grace to flush slightly. “I was just following orders, sir.”
The fact that she had been was the only reason she was still alive. “I know, and I don’t blame you for it. However I am leaving and I was just checking.” He pressed the call button for the elevator as the Iron Maiden turned even redder.
Eve waited until they were in the elevator before she took his hand and squeezed it gently. “Are you backsliding?”
“I stopped bothering Dora and I didn’t help you pitch the Iron Maiden down the elevator shaft, did I?”
“No, you didn’t. Can you fill me in more?”
“You just do what you’re told and everything should be fine. I wish I could brief you more, but that Alaka-Wham tried to read your mind, didn’t she?”
His wife nodded. “She tried for yours, too.” A savage smile appeared and vanished instantly. “Gave her a nosebleed, you did.” Iain shrugged just as the elevator chimed and the door opened.
The park was a memorial for some battle that took place during the formation of the Blue League and Iain ignored the plaque to perch on the low wall demarking the park from the rest of the area while Eve stood guard nearby. Where he sat gave him a great view of the building they’d come from a few minutes ago and would let him see when Mulroney appeared.
As if the thought were a summons, the Deputy Minister came out of the building, followed closely by Marie. For an instant, Iain studied the Demoness. Then he dismissed her to focus on Mulroney. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect the threat that Marie represented, but he knew that if she became a problem Eve would turn her into carrion in seconds.
All he had to do was stay the hell out of the way.
He was intent on Mulroney because the human was his target and the person he’d be trying to kill if things went south unexpectedly. Cherry wanted him alive if possible. Iain intended to take him prisoner if the chance came up, but he wouldn’t put his family at risk if killing Duncan would eliminate that risk. To his eyes, Mulroney had stayed fit, which the BLSF would have expected. But he didn’t watch his surroundings like he should and so his threat awareness was low. Orange League master spy or not, he’d become what he pretended to be, a manager, and it showed.
Idly, Iain wondered how good Mulroney’s hand to hand skills might be. An instant later he dismissed the thought. Pandora had been working him until he couldn’t stand, but he’d only fight Mulroney in an even battle if he had absolutely no other choice. He thought of himself as an honorable man, but felt that honor should only be given to the honorable, and he didn’t feel that the Deputy Minister of Intelligence was an honorable man. Duncan Mulroney had given solemn oaths of loyalty to the Blue League. If he couldn’t carry out the obligations of those oaths, he should have never given them in the first place.
Mulroney stopped in front of Iain. “You look thoughtful, Wolf.”
He shrugged. “It’s an unfortunate hazard of being what I am.”
“And what is that?”
Iain pushed off the wall. “I’m Kerrik Wolf, remember? Sanctuary wants me because they believe I’m much more than human and slightly less than a god. The Blue League wants me because they believe I can spot a Sanctuary Goth at a kilometer and can help them finish cleaning house. Colin Llewellyn made me an admiral and Inspector General because he wants me to vet a new ship design to ensure Blue League naval superiority.” He yawned widely for a moment. “Everyone wants me for what I can be for them. Nobody wants me for my sparkling personality and rapier wit.”
Marie smirked. “Why does your harem want you?”
Iain gave her a bland look. “I’ve got an eighteen inch dick that never gets soft unless I want it to.”
The Demoness gave him a skeptical look and turned to Eve. “Is that true, Megami?” Eve turned bright red and nodded hesitantly. Marie’s mouth dropped. “Holy shit.”
Iain fought not to laugh at the Demoness’ expression. “Are you ready, minister?”
Mulroney pulled a pokeball from his belt and returned Marie. “I am.”
Get ready. “Eve will take you first and return for me so you don’t have to worry that we’ll leave and not come back.”
We’ve been and are still watching through yours and Eve’s eyes. We’re ready and are waiting. April’s touch relaxed some of the tension thrumming through him. Canaan even set up a psychic feed for Cherry and her pokegirls along with Sofia and Raquel.
Eve took Mulroney by the elbow. “Have you teleported before?”
He snorted. “Of course I have.”
“Then here we go.” The scene changed and they were standing in a field of winter grass nearly waist high. There were some trees a distance away and what looked like the burned out shell of a house was almost against the trees. Eve let him go. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Mulroney grabbed her arm. “Wait, where’s the Minister?”
A voice came from behind him. “I’m here to take you to her once everyone is here.” He whirled to see a trim brunette. “I’m April.”
Eve tugged her arm free and vanished. Mulroney looked at his hands with an unhappy expression and folded his arms to transfer that unhappiness at April. “I’ve read Kerrik’s file. You’re an Ingénue. You can’t do much. I need someone to protect me out here.”
“Release your pokegirls, sir. That’ll give you the protection you want.”
“Where is Wolf’s other pokegirl?” Mulroney released Marie.
The Demoness looked around and smiled slightly when she saw April. “Who is this tasty looking tidbit?”
“I’m April. Minister, Dominique is with Minister Chambers. Cammie and Donna were pretty beat up by the attack on them and then again by a feral Wolf Queen that jumped them after they escaped the Goth forces. Minister Chambers was also injured but is slowly recovering.” She motioned towards the house. “They’re in there.”
Mulroney released his Sparkanine and a squat looking Omegan. As soon as they finished materializing, Marie snapped out orders. “Lisa, you are protecting our master. Hayden, sweep the area for threats.”
“Yes, mistress,” came from two throats almost simultaneously and the Omegan trotted off as the Sparkanine took up station behind and to the right of Mulroney.
April shook her head. “The area is safe, you know.”
“Doesn’t matter what you think,” the Demoness snapped at her.
The three round burst from the shotgun punched through Marie’s hip, the heavy slugs completely smashing the bones. The Demoness went down, screaming in pain, as Pandora rose from the spider hole a few meters away that she’d been concealed in. The Fallen Angel slid the shotgun into the scabbard on her back and drew her sword as Marie began healing the injury. As bone mended, her moans died away.
Lisa spun and energy crackled between her and Pandora. The Fallen Angel grunted as the bolt hit her and then snarled angrily behind locked teeth as she toppled sideways, completely paralyzed by the thunder wave.
“Protect me,” Mulroney screamed as he threw himself flat. His Sparkanine blurred towards Pandora, but before she could reach the Fallen Angel a bolt of energy sent her tumbling. Lisa pushed to her knees and yelped in surprise as the grass twisted around her arms and legs to pull her flat again. Ripping noises filled the air as she began using her enhanced strength to pull one limb free at a time.
Keeping well below the tops of the plants, Ninhursag appeared out of the grass next to Pandora and touched the paralyzed Fallen Angel on the arm, canceling the paralysis. Then she faded back into the field as Pandora vaulted to her feet.
Meantime, Marie finished healing and jumped upright. An energy blade sprouted from her right fist and she stalked towards the Fallen Angel, glancing over her shoulder at April. “Protect my master with your life or I’ll eat your lungs.”
April pointed her hand at the Demoness and white glowing chains shot from it to wrap around Marie’s wrists, ankles, elbows and knees. They contracted almost instantly, slamming her limbs together and dropping her to the ground. She began screaming again, the sound of her voice almost covering a hissing sound caused by the celestial imbued chains melting into her skin. The smell of cooking meat began to fill the area around her.
The Duelist aimed her other hand at Mulroney and identical chains shot from it to bind him like a pig being trussed for slaughter. She activated her armor and moved closer to Mulroney while she waited for Pandora’s fight to end. The Fallen Angel had been quite specific about what she would do if April interfered without what she considered a good reason.
Iain’s beta had plans for her and Eve to work that attitude out of Pandora, but doing it without breaking her spirit would take time.
As Lisa pulled herself free from the grass and got to her feet, Pandora summoned her midnight black wings and spread them wide. They snapped forward, creating an almost solid pulse of wind that blasted the Sparkanine backwards and made her thunderbolt go nearly up, drawing a jagged white line into the sky. She got the next one off as she rolled and Pandora’s body jerked wildly for a second as she lost control of it in the electrical attack. Her sword spun away and was lost in the grass around her. As Lisa popped to her feet, the air around her darkened as she invoked her cocoon of darkness to begin healing. Energy crackled around her hands as she brought them together, summoned a black globe of darkness between them and then hurled the dark bomb at the Fallen Angel.
It flew less than two feet from Lisa when Pandora’s hurled dagger struck it squarely, detonating the attack. The blast shredded Lisa’s clothes as it threw her into the grass where she vanished.
Pandora’s wings vanished as she raced forward with her enhanced speed and through the smoldering crater the dark bomb had left. Lisa came out of the grass in a rush, charging to meet her attacker as she spread her jaws wide to tear the Fallen Angel’s throat out. Pandora used her enhanced reflexes to shift slightly to the left side at the last instant and hit the electric canine over the heart with a mega punch. Lisa folded around the hit and flew backwards with Pandora running to keep up so that when the Sparkanine arced close to the earth, Pandora was waiting for her and hit her again, this time smashing her to the ground to lie motionless.
The Sparkanine dissolved into red mist that raced in the direction of April, entering the pokeball she held and disappearing. Pandora trotted in her direction as the Duelist put the pokeball in her pocket along with the one holding the Demoness. “You took her down faster than I thought you would.”
April shrugged. “As we thought she might, she didn’t see me as a threat and turned her back on me.” She cocked her head. “Dominique has already engaged the Omegan in combat.” You and Ninhursag get over there and give her backup if she needs it. She summoned her Dark Magician Girl and Guardian Angel Joan to keep an eye on Mulroney.
The plan had included revealing the presence of Pandora, since she would be an unknown that the pokegirls guarding Mulroney would have seen as a serious threat while ignoring the supposedly harmless Ingénue. However, their plans included the fact that politics sometimes trumped what was necessary. Because of this, the decision had been made by Iain, Eve and April to keep the existence of the rest of the harem a secret from Mulroney and his pokegirls if at all possible. That left Dominique to take Hayden with help from Pandora only if she needed it. Dominique’s response to the idea that she would need help had been profane in the extreme, so Pandora would get involved only if Dominique looked like she was going to lose.
April met Pandora’s eyes. “You are not to wait for Dominique to get in trouble. I know what she said and I don’t care.”
“I hear you.” The Fallen Angel vanished.
***
Hayden moved forward on silent feet, her ears sampling the surroundings for threats as she traced a wide circle around where her alpha and sister were protecting Master Duncan. The only things she heard were some birds chirping in the late winter sunlight and the sounds of the grass as she moved through it.
She didn’t really expect any danger since a simple Ingénue had been waiting for them, but things were not always as safe as they looked. She would have sent Lisa with her enhanced speed instead of herself, but Marie was the alpha and made those decisions. She liked Lisa better, so Lisa go to stand around while Hayden was sent to wade through burrs of various types that would infest the fur of her tail and legs to the point that only scissors or a cleaning cycle would get them out.
Marie would probably use scissors, just to be a bitch about it. She was always looking for a reason to humiliate the Omegan.
Even though muted by distance, the sharp crack of a thunderbolt brought Hayden’s head around to stare in the direction of Master Duncan and her harem. For a second, her instinct to obey Marie’s orders warred with her instinct to return and make sure Master Duncan was safe and with her innate curiosity as an Eva evolution to see if there was anything interesting going on over there. Her fear of Marie won out in the end and she turned back to her patrol. She’d only gone a handful of meters when a glowing wall six meters wide and six meters high appeared in front of her. Her ears flicked curiously and then went flat as another wall joined it on either side, forming glowing barriers that extended behind her. She spun, only to see a fourth wall spring into existence, closing off the square around her and boxing her in.
A dark skinned pokegirl slipped out from some nearby trees. Hayden recognized her to be Dominique, the Dark Elf belonging to Kerrik Wolf. “You idiot! I belong to Minister Mulroney. Let me go this instant!”
Dominique shot into the air and hovered at the top of one of the walls. “I know who you are, Hayden.” She dropped a silver ball inside the box and gestured. A fifth wall appeared over the top of the other four, sealing the box. The ambient sounds around Hayden died away, leaving her listening to her breathing begin to speed up when the ball began spewing thick purple smoke.
Hayden reached out with her telekinesis and jerked the ball to her as she created an energy blade. The instant it was in range she chopped it in half and then into quarters. She hissed in fury when the pieces continued to pour out violet smoke. Her eyes watered and her nose stung as the poisonous fumes filled the air around her. She began coughing and hurled the fragments of the ball to the other side of the box. She activated her cocoon of darkness, but realized that it was only staving off the inevitable as it slowed down the accumulating damage from the poison, but didn’t heal it completely.
She summoned a dark bomb and hurled it at the far wall of the box. The blast, in the enclosed confines of the box, slammed her against the unyielding wall behind her. She slid to the ground and toppled sideways, unconscious before she could realize that the blast had left the force field wall completely unmarked.
Dominique ended the spell for the wall on the cube farthest away along with the poison spell that had used the silver children’s ball as a focus. Instantly the smoke began to dissipate, leaving the Omegan dying. The grass and any insects inside the square were dead and nothing would grow in that spot until summer.
“Is she dead?” Pandora appeared next to Dominique.
The Archmage shook her head. “Iain, I mean Kerrik wants her alive, at least for now. I don’t disobey his rulings for no reason and, besides, in this case he could always be right.” She dismissed the other walls and trotted over to the Omegan, where she knelt and removed the poison. “She’s stable now. I don’t suppose you’ve got her pokeball.”
Pandora shook her head. “You were going to carry her, remember?”
“I know, but she’s covered in snot and piss. I’d rather pokeball her. Could you go get it, please?”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to people saying please and thank you to me.” The Fallen Angel disappeared, reappearing seconds later. She held up a pokeball and returned Hayden to it. “It feels unnatural.”
Dominique dusted off her knees as she stood. “Right after the war, we were treated like everyone else. Only after the leagues decided we weren’t human did we start to get treated like animals and it became normal for kits born in the new system. Still, it was so long ago for me that Kerrik’s behavior was a pleasant shock to me, too. And his insistence that we try it with each other was new. There are other tamers that say please and thank you, but they still let their alphas set the behavior of the harem.” She smiled sardonically. “Of course, Eve always got to hear please and thanks. As a Seraph, you should have, too.”
“We’re the bastard stepchildren of the celestials. Tamers avoid most celestials because of the inherent responsibilities, but for Seraphs it’s even worse. After all, according to popular myth all we do is join a harem and get everyone murdered in our mindless pursuit of glory. And of course, we’re supposed to hate sex and so are usually halfway feral.”
“Seraphs don’t hate sex?”
“No, we don’t. It’s just not our first priority and we aren’t big into the degradation that most alphas and tamers like to put us through.” She tossed the pokeball to Dominique. “They’re always trying to embarrass us in public or get us involved in orgies to fix us and that tends to put Seraphs in a mood where sex is the last thing on their mind.”
“You still think of yourself as a Seraph, don’t you?”
Pandora grinned. “There are worse things to aspire to than to make life better for people who can’t.” The smile faded. “No, I don’t think of myself as what I was before, even if I refer to Seraphs as us. He’s happy with me now and that’s enough for me.”
Ninhursag appeared out of the woods, looked around and shouldered her bow. “Get back to April, you two. Eve’s bringing him back and he’s furious about what she did.”
Pandora vanished obediently as Dominique collected the pieces of rubber ball. She stuffed them in a pocket and turned to Ninhursag. “If you don’t mind, I’ll escort you back. We swept the area for ferals, but I don’t want you to be alone if you get jumped.”
“You just don’t want to be around Iain when he’s angry.”
“No, not just, although that did factor into my thinking. You haven’t seen him angry yet. I really hope he’s only ticked off.”
***
Eve appeared with Iain. He immediately let her hand go and stepped away from her. “You had no right to do that.” His eyes almost glowed with suppressed anger.
The Megami-sama shook her head. “I had every right.”
He snarled the words at her. “People I love were fighting and you deliberately kept me in the fucking Blue League until it was over! You had no right to force me to watch it from a distance.”
“We love you and we are going to keep you safe in spite of yourself whenever we can. Accept that, my love.”
“You had the ability to do so, but you did not have the right,” he insisted. “You will not do that again.”
“You can’t stop me.” She looked at him almost sadly. “As much as what I did infuriated you, you can’t make me take you anywhere. I’m sorry you’re upset at my decision, but I’d make it again.”
“Eve, what I just said was a statement of fact, not an order or a request. I’d rather travel with you or one of the others, but I will find another way to get around if I have to. If nothing else, I can use the Dragonesses until I can learn to teleport on my own.”
Eve’s eyes went wide. “Traveling with the Dragonesses is hazardous and you know it. It’s a minor miracle you haven’t been injured yet.”
“I’m willing to take my chances for reliable transport when I need it.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “April, status report.”
The Duelist didn’t hesitate. “All three of Mulroney’s pokegirls have been captured and returned to their pokeballs. Mulroney is over there. He’s bound, blindfolded and ready for transport.”
Iain stepped over to where Mulroney lay. The rune chains were gone and he’d been restrained with police zip cuffs on his wrists and ankles. The prisoner’s head came up. “Who’s there?”
“You really should have let me leave and rescheduled instead of making me wait on you. But, no, you had to be a politician about it.”
“Wolf? What is the meaning of this? Let me go right now!”
“No can do, Duncan.” Iain’s voice was soft. “Cherry really wants to talk to you and she’d prefer not to have to start this with an open battle between your harem and hers. So she asked me to detain you instead. Since she outranks you, is prettier than you are and smells a lot better than you do, I’m inclined to do what she’d like.”
“Why would a Cherry want to talk to me?”
Eve snickered and Iain tapped Mulroney on the forehead, making the man jerk. “Sorry, I meant Monica. Oh, I meant Minister Chambers to you.” He picked the man up by his arms and slung him at Eve. “Catch.”
She gasped and lunged to grab Mulroney before he hit the ground. “Kerrik!”
“Don’t you Kerrik me. Take him to the rendezvous.” He took April’s hand. “Let’s go.”
April gave Eve a worried look that deepened when she saw the set of her maharani’s jaw before teleporting away with Iain. They came out not too far from the house. He looked around. “This doesn’t look like Africa.”
“It’s not. Eve was just doing what any of us would have done.”
“And that makes it right how?”
“Right or wrong, she did it out of love, Iain. Don’t punish her for that.”
“That doesn’t forgive what she did. If one of you pulls that shit and someone dies while I’m trying to get to the battlefield, I’ll always wonder if my presence couldn’t have changed the outcome. I’ll blame myself for her loss. If you think about it, you know that’s what I’ll do.” His face set. “And it’ll be hard to ever forgive whoever kept me away.”
April looked into his eyes as she touched his mind through the delta bond. “I’ll talk to the others.”
“And eventually I’ll stop being angry with Eve. I’ll try to speed the process along, but that was way out of line. All she did was to manage to make me wonder about trust.” He rubbed his eyes. “April, I’m happy that everyone is growing into the freedom to make choices. I think every person should have that freedom. But the right for you, Eve, Dominique and everyone else to make choices for themselves does not give you the right to take my right to make choices away from me. It is my choice to help with the fighting in whatever little way I can. My choice. If you and the others aren’t willing to help me with transport, that’s your choice, but to say you will do something and then suddenly change what you are going to do in order to take that choice away from me is as wrong as if I take choice away from you.”
“I hadn’t thought about it that way, but you know that we are genetically preconditioned to protect you.”
“That’s not entirely true or the Limbecs couldn’t exist as they are. Some of that may be genetic, but some of your behavior is cultural and some of that is habit, just like I am conditioned though culture and habit to protect women I love.”
“I’ll talk to Eve.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ll talk to Eve. It’s my fight, after all, even if it’s just a very tiny fight in the ways pokegirls measure battle.” He didn’t seem to notice her flinch. “But in the meantime I am going to work on teleporting and I am going to spend more time traveling with the Dragonesses so I can get more comfortable with how they move around the universe.”
“Iain,” she said quietly.
When she didn’t continue he cocked an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“I was waiting to see if you’d tell me not to Iain you.”
“You didn’t have the tone that you were talking to an idiot, so I didn’t see any reason to interrupt.”
“I see. You don’t have to travel with the Dragonesses. I know you don’t like it and learning to teleport can be dangerous.”
His eyes were cool but not unfriendly. “Do you like being helpless?”
“You know I don’t.”
“Eve showed me today, rather pointedly, that I am helpless in this regard if she wants me to be. So it makes sense to me to take steps to reduce my helplessness.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Iain’s mouth set. “Now you’ve got that tone. I am not a child.”
“Sometimes you are so frustrating that I want to scream.”
“So do so.”
April blinked. “What?”
“If you repress anger or frustrations it can be bad for you.” He chuckled suddenly.
She looked at him suspiciously. “What’s so funny?”
“If you think learning to travel with Eirian or teleporting is dangerous, wait until I start flying lessons. I’m picturing everyone running underneath me with a big net.”
April let out a long suffering sigh. “You’re serious.”
“Indeed I am.”
“Shit.”
He took her hand. “I believe we were going to Africa. Eve’s probably waiting so she can dress me down in front of strangers and we don’t want to keep her waiting.”
“Please be gentle with her, Iain. You are our universe and when you die, so will we.”
He squeezed her fingers. “I can’t countenance you killing yourself, but it is your choice to make.”
The terrain changed and they appeared a kilometer from the camp. April released her Dark Magician Girl to fly overhead as they hiked, only to stop when Zareen raced up. She turned and presented her equine body to them so they could climb on and then she trotted for camp. She slowed as they approached it and looked over her shoulder at Iain. “Eve was wrong. Ninhursag agrees with me.”
He hugged her around her human torso. “Thanks, Zareen.”
“Next time we will come get you.”
He hugged her again. “That’s good to hear, but I think I need to learn more magic so I don’t have to rely on people to come get me. I don’t need a plan to fall apart because I’m stranded but don’t really need rescuing.”
The Nightmare stopped and twisted around to look at him with bright gold eyes. Then she nodded and started walking again. “Good.”
When they reached the camp Monica watched as Iain dismounted. “Where were you?”
“I had some family business to deal with. Where’s Duncan?”
“He’s with Donna. How did you get him out of the Ministry?”
“I said we knew that the attacks on you and Harris were from Sanctuary. That gave him an opening to prove he wasn’t an agent of Sanctuary and to insist he meet with you once we had vetted his loyalty. He even brought in Lana so we could prove she wasn’t a Sanctuary spy and then he sent her out to check on everyone else in Intelligence. If I didn’t know who he really was, it would have looked very real. Eve took him to a battlefield of our choosing where we defeated his pokegirls and took him prisoner.”
Cammie joined them. “Why didn’t you just take him captive before he could release his pokegirls?”
“There’s a technique with which a pokegirl can see outside her pokeball and another she can use to leave her ball without it being activated. I didn’t want to take the chance that his girls knew it and would use it to attack or flee, so they had to be beaten.” He smiled slightly at Chambers. “Ginevra knew it while you were at boot camp.”
Monica looked surprised. “That explains a lot. Can this technique be taught?”
“Yes it can. Several of my ladies know how to do it.”
“I’d like them to teach my harem.”
He nodded. “I don’t see a problem with it. April, please talk to Eve and see if someone would be willing to give lessons.”
The Duelist jumped and gave him a slightly guilty look that quickly vanished. “I will. Do I need to rotate the security assignments?”
Iain frowned. “I don’t see why that would be necessary.”
“I was just checking.” She looked up and watched as Eve landed nearby. “Then Eve will be returning to her duty as your bodyguard and I’ll be off to help Donna guard Mulroney until you’re ready to chat with him.”
Iain’s eyes narrowed slightly before he forced smile. “Well played.”
She flashed a smile back and headed for the Kung Ewe on the edge of camp as Eve took up station behind him. Monica looked at the departing Duelist and returned her attention to Iain. “Is there something I should know?”
“No.”
She looked into his eyes for a moment before nodding. “I want to eat lunch before I question Mulroney. Undine gets crabby if she doesn’t get regular meals and she likes it if I eat with her. It’s easy enough to do if it keeps her happy.”
“That makes sense. See you, Cherry.” He watched her go until Eve touched him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her. “What is it?”
“April has been yelling at me over the delta bond since you two returned.”
He growled softly. “I told her that I would fight this out with you myself and to keep her pretty butt out of it.”
Eve nodded. “That does sound more like you than having someone else do it. Should I apologize?”
“Do you feel that I deserve one?”
“Not really.”
“Then don’t. Will you be willing to teach me how to teleport?”
His wife grimaced. “I’m a horrible teacher, remember?”
“I never really bought that idea, Eve. Even if you can’t teach me, I’d like you to try. If I can’t learn from you how to do it, then we’ll get someone to assist you until I can.”
“You’ve been learning how to fight from Pandora and not from me.”
“What choice did I have? You quit teaching me.”
Eve’s mouth opened and then closed. She shook her head slowly and sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, just start teaching me again. I want to learn from you.” He smiled slightly. “After all, you’re a better fighter than Pandora.”
“What was I doing wrong, then?”
“I think you failed to understand how little a grasp I had of the basics, that’s all. It happens sometimes with people about things that they’re really good at. However, after a decade of training I think I’m to the point where I can really learn from you.”
“I keep forgetting about the time you were away. I shouldn’t.”
“Time is a slippery thing, Eve. If it makes you feel better, pretend I’m suddenly a prodigy available for you to pour your wisdom into.”
“Wisdom, huh? Are you still mad at me?”
“No. It’s hard to stay mad at you.”
“Then here’s my wisdom. Marry April, and soon. She’s more than earned the right to have your last name.”
“That’s a sudden change of topic.”
“You wanted my wisdom and that’s what I think would be wise.”
“Then I’ll follow it just as soon as I can.” He took her hand. “Now let’s get something to eat and see what Duncan will tell us.”
***
Monica Chambers settled down cross-legged in front of Mulroney and tugged off his blindfold. “So, how are you feeling, Duncan?”
Lindsey Harris sat next to her and glared at Mulroney as he blinked his eyes rapidly and looked around. “Monica, what the hell is going on? I don’t have anything to do with Sanctuary and Wolf can confirm it.”
“I’m not interested in Sanctuary right now, Duncan. I’m interested in why you tried to kill me and Lindsey.”
“That’s absurd!”
Chambers shook her head sadly. “I know you and several other people are agents of the Orange League, Duncan.” He turned white. “I know you ordered some of them to kill Lindsey because once upon a time she identified you as being from Orange and you were afraid all of the waves she was making about things after she retired. Then you sent people to kill me because of my investigation into what was going on with Harris.” She smiled softly. “You almost got me, too. I nearly died. Kerrik here saved my life and figured out what was going on.”
Mulroney turned and gave Iain an unfriendly look. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Iain shrugged. “Colonel Charles Peterson gave you up, Duncan, and, before he died, Captain Douglass McKenna corroborated what we found out from Peterson.”
Sudden anger glittered in Mulroney’s eyes. “You killed McKenna. Why?”
Iain snorted. “You don’t get to ask questions, Duncan. Count yourself fortunate I don’t believe in torture, but that limits my options unless you decide to talk to us. I do have another way to get what you know, but it wouldn’t be pleasant.”
“My mind can’t be read,” Mulroney’s voice was heavy with satisfaction. “And I’ve been trained to resist torture. Do your worst.”
Iain laughed and Mulroney, Harris and Chambers all looked surprised at the true merriment in it while Eve’s eyes were slightly worried as she watched him. He sobered quickly and met the prisoner’s gaze. “Duncan, you have no idea of what I am capable of, but I know firsthand that some tortures cannot be resisted. They can only be endured. Pray to whatever gods you hold sacred you never have the opportunity to find out what I mean by that. Right now you haven’t been hurt, only inconvenienced. That’s a lot different from the people you have had murdered in order to protect your mission. So, please just answer Cherry’s questions and let’s not have to explore what will happen if you refuse.”
Duncan stared into his eyes for several long seconds before swallowing and looking away. “Ask your questions, woman, and be damned to you.”
Monica started asking Mulroney questions. While she was getting started, Iain got up and wandered away, with Eve following. She touched his arm. “Are you all right?”
“No, I’m not, but I will be.”
“What happened?”
“I let him see what they did to me, which is what I could do to him.” His voice was suddenly weary. “Sometimes I wonder if I am a monster hiding inside the skin of a human.”
She put her hand on his arm. “I think that if you were a monster you wouldn’t bother to hide it from others.” Her fingers tightened until it almost hurt. “And I know that if you were a monster you couldn’t hide it from us even if you wanted to. It would turn us into monsters too and we are not.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “It’s good to know that I am not. I know I’m not a very good human.”
“You are human and I don’t think you can be bad at being who you are. You just compare yourself to what is socially acceptable and that is not the full range of what humans can be. I have seen many humans in my life and you are human.” She frowned and her grip relaxed. “But you are changing yourself and I worry that the changes may be more profound than you realize.”
“What happens when a pokegirl evolves?”
She shrugged. “I get your point, but I still worry about you.”
“I can see that you’re going to be hell on our kids.”
Eve looked around to make sure they were out of earshot of anyone not of the family. “Iain, I have twenty eight daughters. I think I understand about raising children.”
He blinked. “I have stepdaughters? Why haven’t I met them yet?”
“Some of them are over two centuries old. I don’t want to have to hurt them enough to run them off if they decide you need more celestials in your life.”
Iain’s mouth dropped. “Wouldn’t that be incest if I were sleeping with a mother and a daughter?”
“No, but it would be pretty creepy.”
“I’ll second that.” He shuddered. “I think my harem is more than full.”
“Speaking of harems and full, are you aware that February isn’t that far away?”
“Damn, it’s been a year.” He frowned. “Why am I thinking that February significant?” His mouth dropped. “Holy shit.”
“That’s right. February is Sadie Pokens and you’re a tamer now.”
“Oh, fuck.”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Living Harem
Eve - Megami-sama (maharani)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
April - Duelist
Ninhursag - Elfqueen
Zareen - Nightmare
Pandora - Fiendish Fallen Angel
Canaan - G-Splice (Amachamp Hunter/Alaka-Wham)
Sofia - Peekabu
Raquel - Rapitaur
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit