My nap was not long lived.

I awoke to the sound of sharp knocking at the front door of the apartment, three bangs in quick succession which were loud enough to echo through the apartment.

It took me a few moments to drag myself into full consciousness and gently disentangle myself from the still sleeping Stacy.

I took the time to pull on the first shirt and pair of pants I could find in the dark, then opened the door to the living room. I was greeted by Zarina, her brow furrowed with a look of mild concern, as she explained without preamble, “There’s- Well, one of the two vampires Cindy caught is back. She’s out front, alongside a vampire who is old enough that it’s probably Duke Cherto himself. In person. There’s a few ghouls out in the parking lot too, but they’re around a corner from here. Probably attendants, if I had to guess, they’re far enough away to be all but useless in a real fight.”

My sleep-addled brain struggled to process the news. “Wait, the… vampire mafia Duke of St. Louis is currently waiting outside my apartment door? Just, like… hanging out after knocking?”

Zarina nodded once and responded with a simple and immediate, “Yes.”

Several emotions tried to flash through my head, but got jumbled up in a mess that I couldn’t quite process. I studied the wizard’s face and asked, “What are the chances this is some kind of elaborate assassination attempt?”

Zarina let her eyes drift upwards while she considered, then waved a hand dismissively. “They aren’t zero, but they aren’t high either. I would advise that you have Cindy be the one to open the door, just in case, and we shouldn’t immediately invite them inside—mostly to see if they force the issue—but if that’s actually Cherto, there’s basically no real chance this is an attack. He’s far too old to be so reckless that he’d just try to throw down after knocking on your door.”

“Alright then.” I glanced about the living room and noted Aubrette standing by the kitchen table, Cindy near the front door, and Rose and Sara just past the door into the other apartment. Everyone looked tense, except for Cindy, who seemed to be working to keep a grin off of her deep purple lips. “Let’s talk to some vampires.”

* * *

Before opening the door, we shuffled around the room quickly.

Zarina and Sara went to the door to the ritual room, and the former pulled out and unstrung a small leather pouch. The latter held a small bottle in her hand.

Rose dipped into the second apartment and quickly returned to the door with an oversized rifle held in both arms. It was the one Tzila had dropped off when she brought us the body of the would-be ghoul assassin, Marco Esposito. The Puca didn’t have it raised and I had no idea if she knew how to use it, but the expression on her face was uncharacteristically calm.

Aubrette stood stiffly in the kitchen, just around the corner and out of line of sight of the front door. The redhead held no weapons, but I knew she could re-conjure the boar spear she had used to great effect with a moment’s notice. In contrast to Rose, her face betrayed far more nerves than the former noble normally revealed. Since vampires were ancestral enemies of her people who thought that her blood was the most delicious food around, I couldn’t exactly blame her.

Cindy stood by the front door. Her hands were held at her sides, fingers spread wide, but the way she occasionally flexed them out or balled them into fists told me she was ready, even eager, for a confrontation.

I positioned myself in the middle of the room. I planted my feet firmly, did my best to school my expression, and—before giving the signal—checked my talent.

I had looked twice so far, and this time gave the same result—a tiny hint of deep red on one end, a wide swath of light teal in the middle, and a tiny hint of deep green on the other: very low chance of danger, very good chance of a pretty good outcome, a tiny chance of a great one.

When I considered waiting for a few minutes more, the sliver of red remained more or less the same, but the sliver of green vanished.

From what I could see, this was not intended to be a violent meeting, but there was a tiny chance, so I’d instructed everyone to prepare anyway, just in case.

I gave Cindy a single nod.

The Sin Demon reached out and unlatched the door, then pulled it open.

Two people stood just beyond in the early evening dark.

One of them, I recognized almost immediately. The last time I saw her was when she ran out of my apartment, naked except for a pair of cheap thigh-high stockings, though she’d appeared in at least one slightly disconcerting dream since then.

Today, Valentina Cherto was wearing an elegant blood red dress that hugged her milk-white curves tightly and featured a deeply plunging neckline. Wavy black hair cascaded in layers down one shoulder, and her face was made up as though she had a modeling gig after this. Her deep brown eyes pointed down towards the floor, though as the door opened they flitted quickly about the room to take it in. I thought I noticed her attention lingering a little when she marked Cindy just inside the door, but her eyes dropped once more a heartbeat later.

The other person outside the door was a man, on the shorter side of average. His skin had no more color than Valentina’s creamy complexion, but the vampire Duke of St. Louis’s flesh held a dull waxy shine that conjured up images of dead fish—or perhaps deep cave creatures that had never known sunshine. His features fell short of handsome, but managed both distinctive and distinguished. His strong jawline was relaxed, his thick eyebrows were just slightly raised, and he had an aquiline nose that would have made him stand out even if he didn’t look like he walked off the floor of Madame Tussauds.

The deep gray pinstripe suit he wore probably cost more than the sum total of every possession I had ever owned—with the possible exception of the book currently hidden in a room only accessible by Sidhe magic.

Duke Cherto’s eyes fixed on my face instantly, without so much as glancing about the room at anyone else, and an involuntary shiver ran up my spine. He’d known exactly where I was, and the lack of concern in his expression told me that he already knew where everyone else in the room was too.

For several seconds, we studied each other wordlessly.

“Mister Jack Puttman, it is good to finally put a face to your name.”

My head jerked involuntarily in surprise when my unexpected visitor broke the silence—though not because of the words themselves. If being an undead crime boss didn’t work out for him, Cherto could make an absolute killing as an audiobook narrator—his Italian accent was just heavy enough to flavor his words, and his voice was deep and smooth. I was about as heterosexual as anyone I’d ever met, and even I felt a little twinge of something in response.

I managed to pull myself together and respond, “And you are Duke Cherto.”

The vampire dipped his chin very slightly in assent, though his eyes remained locked on mine. I continued by asking, in as even a tone as I could muster, “What brings you to my apartment this evening?”

As I spoke, I walked a few steps forward until I was no more than a few paces outside of the duo’s reach. Cindy moved away from the door to join me, and I noticed Cherto’s hands lift slightly then lower. My gift wavered for just a moment, the sliver of red all but quivering in response to the Sin Demon’s movements.

I realized that other than speaking and that one tiny gesture, the vampire hadn’t moved an inch since the door was opened—even his chest was immobile, without the typical rise and fall of regular breathing. Only when he inhaled to speak did his lungs fill with air.

“Mister Puttman, are you familiar with the Carthaginian Accords of 1338?”

My brow furrowed at the question, and Cherto must have seen the answer in my expression because he didn’t wait for me to verbalize it. “I won’t bore you with more historical details than necessary, but there is a particular clause that is relevant to the answer to your question. It deals with the exchange and ransom of prisoners. The Accords were written with vampires and other more-than-human individuals in mind. The section in question details the process to be followed when a captive is taken and returned, and it is followed by a rather exhaustive list of species and clan lineages, including modifiers for both personal accomplishments and age.”

The Duke raised his arm slowly and smoothly, and gestured to the concrete at his side. When I let my eyes follow to where he indicated, I saw a small wooden crate half-concealed by the side of the door that had escaped my notice as I focused on the vampires outside. When Valentina began to move towards it, Cindy responded in turn. The Sin Demon took a swift half-step forward, which led Cherto to take a hasty step back. He didn’t stumble, and his movements were superhumanly smooth, but in that split second of reaction I caught just enough of a flicker in his expression, and in my head something clicked.

Duke Cherto was afraid. Of Cindy, in particular.

The little blonde stopped moving almost instantly, as soon as it became obvious this wasn’t an attack, and dropped back into a casual ready position. When she did, Valentina completed her action by leaning down and, with some effort, lifted the crate off the cement of the walkway. She cradled it close against her chest and turned to present it to her patron. Without looking over to the proffered crate, Cherto reached one hand up, slowly enough to not provoke the nearby demon. Bone white fingers touched the unpainted wood Valentina held for him, then flexed slowly and without apparent effort. I heard the wood crack at his touch as he peeled the lid back with slow deliberation and revealed the box’s contents to my waiting eyes.

Gold gleamed in the light spilling from my apartment and my eyes grew wide.

Inside the crate were several neatly arranged bars of unstamped gold metal. They were stacked vertically, and while I couldn’t get an exact count, there had to have been at least half a dozen.

Cherto waited patiently to give me a moment to take in the sight, then continued. “Your companion-“ His eyes flitted to Cindy for a moment before returning to my face, “-captured my granddaughter and one of my associates. You, her Master, then permitted them to leave unharmed, though it was clearly well within your power to destroy them. I have consulted the appropriate table in the Accords and accounted for both Valentina’s lineage and age. This box contains the sum prescribed for her safe return.”

My mouth felt suddenly dry.

I didn’t exactly keep track of the market value of gold, but I actually had checked recently. I’d needed to purchase some as a reagent for one of the rituals in the book some months back, and the vial of tiny gold flakes had cost less than twenty dollars. I’d been shocked at how cheap it was—until I looked up the actual weight of the gold and realized it contained less than a percent of an ounce.

Given what I learned was the going rate for gold, I couldn't even estimate the worth of the contents of that crate.

I cracked my lips and tried to speak, but what came out was little more than a croak. I fought back a surge of Greed at the almost unimaginable sum as the Sin threatened to overwhelm my composure and convince me to snatch at the box like a spoiled child.

Instead, I swallowed quickly to work a little moisture back into my mouth before I managed to ask, “Are the Accords still in effect?”

Duke Cherto’s lips curled up in a slight smile that utterly failed to touch any other part of his face. “In practical terms, no.” His words were smooth and delivered without hesitation. “While they were never legally rescinded, few of the nations or governments they mention still exist. I am, however, one of the original signatories, so while there are few who would act to enforce the penalties laid out for violators, I felt it was appropriate to follow their guidelines.” He paused only for a moment to make a small gesture at the box. “The ransom is yours, Mister Puttman. I hope you will accept it as a peace offering.”

The last phrase caught my attention more than the gold itself.

I raised an eyebrow. Not being a complete fool, I also motioned for Cindy to take the ransom in question. I didn’t intend to turn this into a fight, and that was a lot of gold.

When the Sin Demon stepped forward, I watched the reactions of the vampires rather than the little blond herself. Thanks to that, I was able to catch the slight flex in Cherto’s shoulders when she neared, as well as when he then forced himself to relax. Valentina swallowed when the Sin Demon stepped into her personal space, which gave me a brief but fascinating insight into the retained reflexes of creatures that were once human.

The demon was noticeably shorter than either of the vampires, neither of whom were particularly tall themselves, but when she stepped into Valentina’s personal space, for some reason the iconic scene from Alien 3 where the Xenomorph put its face up against Ripley’s popped into my head.

Cindy reached up one slender hand, slid it palm up under the box like a waiter balancing a tray, and lifted it easily. She propped it up over her shoulder, turned her back on the ancient vampire and his scion, and sauntered back to my side without so much as a hint of concern in her expression or her movements. She showed no sign of strain at the weight, even though Valentina had struggled to lift it, but I couldn’t help but notice that her footsteps suddenly thudded heavily against the carpet.

Just how much did that little crate weigh?

Once Cindy was by my side once more, I turned back towards our visitors and asked quietly, “What changed your mind on the topic of peace, if I may ask? You were all for eliminating me quite recently.” While I tried to keep my tone level, I felt a tiny trace of Wrath enter my voice.

I hadn’t realized just how mad I was until I caught just a hint of white around the edge of my vision.

Cherto remained unperturbed, and his expression betrayed no hint of offense at either my question or my tone. “I have lived a very, very long time, Mister Puttman. In my centuries, I have learned the value of choosing my enemies. When an enemy is weak and tests your strength, I have found it better to slap them down hard, lest the others watching from the wings grow bold.”

He moved slowly, taking obvious care to avoid provoking Cindy as he raised his left hand palm up. He repeated the gesture with his right hand as he continued, “I have also learned that when an enemy is too costly to fight it is better to stop throwing resources at them. I cannot afford the time and energy required to hold grudges.”

Glancing down at his empty hands, the vampire Duke finished, “I intend to live forever, Mister Puttman. You are, as far as I am aware, mortal. You will perish in time. My attempts to hasten that have already cost me more than they should, and I have no intention to continue my feud. Unless you seek it out, you will find no further conflict from me.” He offered a cool smile, then lowered his hands to his side once more as he awaited a response.

I turned. It was actually a struggle to tear my eyes away from the predators outside my door, but I forced myself to scan the room so I could take in the expressions of the women with me who had waited in silence as we spoke.

Rose shrugged when I caught her golden eyes.

Sara’s jaw was tense and her eyes were wide, but her expression was resolute.

Zarina stared cooly at the vampire as though debating whether to reduce them to ash on the spot. When she saw me looking at her, she met my gaze only briefly and offered neither confirmation nor condemnation of the offer.

When my gaze landed on her, Aubrette stepped forth, and I inhaled in shock. From what Aubrette had previously told me of the ancient conflict between vampires and Sidhe, I half expected Cherto to lunge for her. I caught Cindy in the corner of my eye as she shifted her posture subtly, and I realized she had adjusted her grip on the crate to be ready to throw it if required.

The Sidhe woman swept around the corner from the kitchen with smooth steps and a gentle smile upon her lips. Despite whatever apprehension she had shown earlier, she displayed nothing but poise and grace as she stepped lightly around me until I was flanked by demon and fae. “If I may, my Lord, would you permit me to negotiate the terms of this truce? I believe I may be qualified to do so.”

Several tense moments passed in silence as I considered her request, but it was Duke Cherto’s smooth voice that broke the silence. “I would be amenable to negotiating a more formal arrangement if it is your desire, Mister Puttman. Such a pact can help ease tensions and establish lines of communication that result in greater understanding and easier coexistence. As I mentioned, this would not be my first time negotiating such an accord.”

I turned my head to Aubrette and met her gaze. As I stared into her bright blue eyes and studied the way her full lips curled up I suddenly realized that there was a hint of devious mirth in her expression. I narrowed my gaze for a moment as I considered that, before some of the Sidhe’s tales of royal maneuverings popped into my head and I realized what she was offering.

I nearly mirrored her smile by reflex, and my mouth quivered slightly as I fought to school my reaction instead. “Yes, Duke Cherto, I think I would like that.”

I turned back towards the vampire and gestured at my vassal with my left hand. “I name Aubrette as my agent in this, and will permit her to negotiate a truce on my behalf.”

The ancient vampire merely nodded placidly at the statement. Then his eyes dipped down to my chest and his arm raised slowly to point at me. “Before we begin, though, please, permit me to inquire—I am unfamiliar with the symbol you wear, and the phrase which accompanies it does not lend any necessary context. I will admit to a degree of curiosity. Are you able to explain your apparel?”

I glanced down.

I was wearing a shirt Rose had bought for me a few months back.

It was black, and featured a pair of stylized red wings across the chest.

Above them, in a blocky font, were the words ‘I’ve earned mine.’

I stared down at my chest for several moments.

I looked up at the ancient predator just outside of my apartment.

“It’s, uhh-” I thought frantically. This was not a conversational turn I had prepared for, and after an extremely eventful twenty-four hour period, my mind was frazzled. Cherto had thus far been entirely calm and reasonable, but the idea of explaining the actual meaning of the words and symbol on the shirt was so far outside of my comfort zone that I had no idea where to even begin.

Cindy saved me. The slender demon stepped to my side, which caused the vampire duke to stiffen as he fought his instinct to withdraw. “It was a gift. One given to my master after he proved himself to be an admirable and worthy lover.” Then she smiled at Cherto with all of the warmth of a shark.

The ancient vampire’s head canted to the side ever so slightly as he regarded the demon, before he gave a fraction of a nod. “I hope then that it is a portent of an admirable and worthy alliance.”

I felt a wave of relief when the Duke seemed to accept the explanation without further enquiry. At his side, I caught a flicker of a smile that Valentina failed to completely suppress, but when I looked into her soulful brown eyes she managed to bury it beneath a facade of innocence.

* * *

The negotiations took hours.

As a gesture of good faith, we invited Cherto and Valentina into my apartment for the duration.

They, in turn, dismissed the squad of Vitae-enhanced humans from their position in an unmarked black van around the corner.

Aubrette and Cherto sat on opposite sides of my kitchen table from one another while Valentina filled page after page with elegant script as she took notes with a fountain pen on Cherto’s left.

Sara had volunteered to help take notes and sat beside Aubrette, her fingers moving rapidly as they danced across the keyboard of my laptop.

I remained nearby, but within the first twenty minutes I realized I was so far out of my depth that I would be an actual detriment to the negotiations if I tried to contribute.

Rather than cost Aubrette any social capital by revealing that fact, I left her to it and hoped Cherto would see that as a show of faith in my retainer rather than an insult. I made a quiet excuse and stepped into my bedroom to check on Stacy.

The influencer was still passed out in my bed when I entered the room, but she stirred when the light from the living room hit her. I closed the door behind me quickly, then walked over and seated myself on the bed beside her so I could reach out to touch her shoulder gently.

With the door shut, the only light in the room was what filtered in through the high window. I could just barely make out the outline of Stacy’s features, and as my eyes adjusted, she spoke up first. “Sounds like you have visitors over.”

I nodded. Then I realized she might not be able to see that well enough for it to be helpful and actually spoke up. “I do. Important ones. They, uhh, dropped by rather unexpectedly. I, um… look, sorry for hitting and quitting, so to speak. I didn’t mean to just leave you in here alone.”

I couldn’t really see Stacy’s expression, but I could hear a smile in her voice as she said airily.

“I’ll forgive you. That wasn’t the first time a lover ran out when he was done with me, I’m sure it won’t be the last. You at least came back and gave me a decent excuse. You get some points back for that.”

Her tone grew more serious as she added, “Hey. I meant what I said earlier, by the way. About- you know, helping her. I didn’t expect this to go the way it did, but- you did a good thing.”

I smiled. “I did really try to tell you that I was actually serious. I was trying very hard to not conceal anything from you. Granted, I’m also entirely aware of how ridiculous it probably sounded. It took me—let’s just say a while to work up the courage to ask.”

Stacy giggled and rolled languidly onto her back. Even in the darkness, her curves displayed mouthwatering pools of shadow and light. She let out a little squeak as she stretched, then relaxed. “I could tell. You were very up front and very endearingly earnest—it’s why I said yes. Well, that, and even if it was a pickup line you were at least being creative about it.”

I couldn’t help the slightly cocky smile that touched my lips as a thought occurred to me, and I let my tone turn a little teasing as I responded, “Well, I do recall a certain pillow princess admitting earlier that she’d been wondering what all of the fuss was about, so maybe I didn’t need to be nervous about inviting her to join my ‘free-love polyamory sex cult.’ You didn’t need as much convincing as I thought.”

She turned her head to face away from me and let out a playful whine. “Shut uuup.”

I watched her feet kick a few times idly, so I figured that she probably wasn’t actually too upset. I reached a hand out and found hers. Her fingers slid into mine and I squeezed softly as she added in a quieter tone, “Look, I’m going to need you to shut up about that. It’s hard finding a decent guy to date, and my dad gets ridiculous about boyfriends. I- look, I figured you had a bunch of women around you already, you couldn’t be that bad, and if I had to hit it and bounce it’s not like you’d just pine away and get all obsessed.”

“So, you just figured this was your chance to sample my dick for free? Hmm? Pretty callous, Miss Galanis. Abusing my attempt to help a captive spirit just to get laid.”

She kept her head facing away from me, but didn’t move to pull her hand out from mine. “Shut up. I said, it’s hard-“

“Not right now, but if you’re that addicted, I can see what I can work up for you.”

She turned her head to glare at me in the darkness. I could barely see her eyes, so it wasn’t terribly effective, and that she followed it up by giggling eliminated any of my fears that I’d gone too far.

“I may have been motivated by some… curiosity about how good you are in bed, when we were on the phone, but now that I got to experience what I did, I’m glad it happened, and I’m glad you chose to call me. That was a good thing you did, and-“ She finally released my hand, but this time it was so she could roll over on the bed to get closer to me. Her fingers groped in the darkness until she found my nearest leg and squeezed. “-and I didn’t mind being used that way.”

For a few seconds, I let the serious tone linger in the air. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness well enough for me to make out Stacy’s face, and the expression I saw was complex—whatever she had experienced with Ayoka’s possession and exorcism, it had clearly left its mark behind. She didn’t look unhappy, though, so I took a chance.

I leaned in over the bed and let my lips brush against hers.

She kissed me back.

It was soft, sweet, and lingered only for a moment, but it also did a far more effective job of conveying my feelings than any words I might have chosen.

When my mouth left hers, her lips remained parted and her eyes were wide. She always carried herself with such certainty that it was easy to forget that the influencer was younger than I was by several years. In that moment, she looked oddly vulnerable, and I almost went for another kiss. Before I could lean in, though, she muttered quietly, “Plus, now I see what all the fuss was about.”

Her tone sounded so wistful that it actually took me a moment to realize what she was talking about, and I had to fight to hold back a laugh. “Oh, so my dick game really was that good?”

She flopped onto her back again, and my newly adjusted eyes were treated to the sight of her surgically enhanced chest shaking as she giggled. “I’d give the actual dick game a- let’s call it a seven, maybe an eight. I know you were trying to do a job, but that was some basic bitch shit, Jack. Yes, you used my pussy like you owned it—which I’m pretty sure she told you that you did—but given some of the kinky shit I assumed was going on here, that seemed kinda tame.”

That- was not the response I expected. She didn’t sound unhappy, though, and the wistful tones returned as she added, “Probably my last chance to be that much of a pillow princess though. I don’t mind when a guy takes charge, but I don’t normally let someone else take over my body and do the work of getting me laid.”

She followed that up by lifting her head to look at me in the dark and asking with genuine curiosity, “You don’t have a way to let someone do that again, right? That was a one time thing?”

The laugh escaped me this time, and I scooted a little closer towards Stacy. “As far as I’m aware, that was a one time thing. I could ask Zarina if she knows any spells that might replicate the effect, but Ayoka was- that was the exception, not the rule.”

That thought brought a brief lull to the conversation, and when Stacy spoke again a few moments later, her tone was somber and gentle. “Thank you again, Jack. When- I felt when her curse, her bargain, whatever was lifted. I felt her relief. She had been trapped for so long.” She squeezed my hand once more, “On her behalf, thank you.”

I squeezed back gently. “Thank you for your part in it. It literally couldn’t have happened without you.”

A part of me wanted to feel awkward at the exchange—I was thanking Stacy for lending her body to a ghost so I could fuck her into an exorcism—but something about the influencer’s languid mood was infectious. For all that she’d been a passenger in her own body, she seemed relaxed and happy now, and that made me far more comfortable with my own part in the experience.

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, then scooted forward until she could seat herself beside me. Her bare leg pressed up against my thigh and she leaned over to nudge me with one shoulder as she added, “Maybe I’ll let you give it another try, sometime. You know, without the ghost. To compare.”

I laughed and nudged her back. “If you’re already hooked on my dick you can just say. You know I can’t turn down a damsel in need.”

“Shut up. And help me find my clothes?”

I did.

Well, first I turned on the lights and I took a little time to admire the way her sculpted form moved as she poked around gathering her outfit, but then I tried my best to actually help rather than gawking.

Escorting Stacy through the living room proved less harrowing than I had expected. Cherto barely gave her a second glance, and while Valentina’s scrutiny was slightly more intense, neither of them said anything as I led the blonde to the door.

I walked her out to her car and we paused there for a moment.

I stared into her bright hazel eyes for a few seconds then leaned down on instinct. My arms wrapped around her slender torso and I pulled her in against me as I lowered my head. She leaned into my embrace and raised her lips to meet mine in a slow, gentle kiss. Her lips were warm and soft, and I had to resist the urge to linger.

When I broke contact a few seconds later, Stacy let out a quiet sigh. Her eyes opened and she looked up at me for a moment in silence, then gently disengaged from my embrace. It was my turn to get to watch her as she looked me up and down, and I saw her swallow hard.

I felt pretty good about that. She worked with some pretty famous names from time to time, and I didn’t expect to provoke that kind of reaction from her. Her words were ever so slightly too fast as she spoke up, “Hey, uhh- don’t be a stranger, Jack. I still need to sit down with Aubrette and do the actual leg work of setting up her social media, and schedule photoshoots and stuff. Call me when you’re ready for step two of that?”

She winced slightly. Her hips rocked from side to side as she stretched, and there was a hint of flirtation in her tone as she added, “But, uhh, give a girl a few days to recover, yeah? I have a trip coming up, I'll reach out when I get back.”

I leaned down and gave her another quick kiss. She closed her eyes and raised her lips to receive it. I stepped back and nodded. “We’ll figure it out.”

The Instagram star got into her car—a brand new Lexus rather than one of Phil’s antiques—and I stayed in the parking lot until she drove away.

Once she was out of my sight, I took a moment to gather myself. I had a lot of complicated feelings about Stacy right then, and I didn’t have time to face them, so I pushed them aside for examination later, took a deep breath, and stared up into the cloudless sky.

* * *

The negotiations finally wrapped up about thirty minutes before dawn.

By then, I was struggling to stay awake and alert. Sara was dragging and typing more slowly, and while Valentina’s script was as elegant as ever, even she was showing signs of fatigue.

Neither Aubrette nor Cherto let their facade drop while the other was in the room.

The agreement they had drafted was about seven printed pages long, and their having been able to put it together in a single night was only thanks to a combination of Cherto’s expertise from past negotiations and Aubrette’s experiences as a member of a royal court.

The ‘Saint Louis Accords’—as Sara had titled them—boiled down to about six total sections, with both sides agreeing to give up some considerations to the other.

The first, simplest, and most important section was a pact of mutual non-aggression—neither Cherto’s forces, nor mine, were permitted to seek out the other’s to do them harm. There were provisions for both self defense and accidents, but it was otherwise pretty straightforward.

The second prohibited me, or any of my house, from practicing necromancy. Apparently this was something that vampires included as a standard item in all of their agreements. When I asked her about it later, Zarina informed me that because vampires were technically dead, necromancy worked on them as it would an inanimate corpse. Necromancers were able to puppet vampires like superpowered zombies, so anyone who practiced necromancy was kill-on-sight for all vampire clans, everywhere.

The third section forbade me interfering directly with Cherto’s holdings and businesses. Most of it was comprised of an appendix detailing which specific holdings and businesses were off-limits, but the spirit of the law was that I was going to stay out of organized crime and limit my dealings in the financial sector. There were a few clauses which allowed him to add businesses to his holdings, as long as he kept me informed, and spelled out what constituted interference.

The fourth, in turn, prohibited Cherto from interfering with any of my associates or business ventures. My list was considerably shorter than his at the moment, but I also had the option to continue to expand it as time went on. I’d hoped to use this as a way to limit vampire predation within the area, but that wasn’t in the scope of what he would agree to. Negotiating was one thing, but telling the vampires they weren’t allowed to eat was a step too far.

The second to last section was actually the one that held the most interest for me. Cherto had a small business in trafficking magical items and artifacts, and as part of our truce, I would receive an invite to any future auctions he held.

It didn’t guarantee I’d actually wind up with anything—I’d need to outbid the other attendees for that— but it got me a seat at the table. That, in turn, offered me something that might be extremely important to my long term success: an avenue into the greater supernatural community.

I wasn’t sure how far down that path I wanted to walk, but having the option to meet people could go a long way if I chose.

The last section dealt mostly with the agreement itself. It spelled out the penalties, wergilds, and ransoms owed for breaking any of the clauses, as well as options for expanding or renegotiating the terms if needed.

After the last line was signed, Cherto offered me his hand to shake. When I took it, I very nearly recoiled at the feel of his room temperature skin.

He offered me a thin lipped smile, then turned and walked to the door without another word.

Valentina, who had been playing silent scribe for much of the proceedings, stood and followed him. She paused before departing, though, and directed a glance over her shoulder into the room. She had given away very little throughout the meeting, but I could almost swear that there was a hint of longing on her face as her deep brown eyes sought out Cindy.

Then she turned and was gone, and the door clicked shut quietly behind her.

About half of the people in the room slumped in relief.

I turned somewhat unsteadily to address everyone, “OK, there’s a whole lot to unpack and discuss here, but that will have to wait for after sleep. I’m going to pass out. Cindy, I think I had some appointments today—please call and cancel them. I’m going to bed.”

About five minutes later, I was nestled between Sara and Rose beneath the covers of my bed.

A few minutes after that, just as the sun began to rise, I was fast asleep.

* * *

I woke to the sound of soft moans.

My eyes blinked open, and was greeted by a thin stream of light that filtered in through the high window.

I turned my head and found Rose’s unmistakable figure still beside me, though she had rolled onto her back. Her hands rhythmically grasped and squeezed at her massive breasts, and the sight of her tugging hard at her nipples, then releasing them was hypnotic. When a gasp escaped her lips, though, I was finally able to pull my eyes away to look down at the woman with her head between the Puca’s thighs.

Her face was concealed quite well, so I pulled myself into a sitting position. The motion brushed me up against Rose, but neither she, nor the figure I was finally able to identify as Sara, stopped what they were doing.

For a minute that stretched into two, I watched as my landlady-turned-lover did what appeared to be an incredible job of tonguing my Puca mount’s cunt. She drew out one moan of pleasure after another, and the combination of sights and sounds had me at full mast in short order.

I rolled forward onto my knees and walked around behind Sara on them. Her tightly toned ass was already raised up high so, without preamble, I raised up myself behind her and positioned the head of my cock against her already dripping pussy.

That finally got a reaction from her. As I pushed my hips forward to slide the length of my shaft into her tightly squeezing tunnel, she gasped between Rose’s thighs, “Fuck, Jack! God, I will never get used to how big your cock is.” My hands wrapped around her hips and I gripped them firmly as I started to pump my hips back and forth. I kept my pace slow, in no particular rush, and let myself just revel in the feel of her slick muscles as they clenched and squeezed down around my girth.

After a few moments, Rose let out a quiet whine of protest at the lack of attention she was suddenly receiving, which prompted Sara to grumble playfully, “Give me a sec, love, someone who shall not be named decided to split me in half.”

The tone of her voice finally cut through my sleep—and lust—addled brain to bring a pertinent fact to mind—Sara was due for a refresher of the spell which rewarded her obedience to my whims. It wasn’t technically necessary at this point, since the reason she and I had agreed to keep refreshing it was to protect against possession by Ayoka, but we had originally set up a schedule to ensure that the effect remained in place.

I was supposed to have done that some time this morning. And I hadn’t. So instead, just now, I had quite brazenly helped myself to the pussy of a fully free-willed woman without so much as a by-your-leave.

When I started to pull my hips back, Sara moved with me. Her ass ground into my hips as she kept herself impaled on my length and hissed, “Oh no you don’t, Mister Jack. You stick that thing in there, you finish what you started. Just give my poor little kitty a sec to, you know, stretch. Then I can get back to tasting your Puca bitch’s cunt.”

She remained where she was for a few more seconds, then slid along my dick to return her head to its welcome place between Rose’s thighs. When she did, I wrapped my hands firmly around the well of Sara’s hips, and held her in place as I resumed fucking her with a steady pace.

The only sounds for the next several minutes were moans, the occasional wet slurp, and the sound of flesh sliding against flesh. As I took my time and enjoyed myself, I realized that this was the first time in a while that I’d had sex with a human woman that was possessed of the ability to say no.

I actually found that I enjoyed that quite a bit. As much as I did very much enjoy having a harem of gorgeous women who were down for more or less any whim I could imagine, there was something special about willing choice.

A few minutes later, the muffled cries of pleasure from between Rose’s pale thighs corresponded to rhythmic squeezing around my cock as Sara came. A moment or two after that, the Puca she was pleasuring added her voice to the mix, “Oh, fuck, right there, fucking yes, Sara, fuck please keep going… Fuck… fuck… FUCK! Yes!!” The escalating pleading and release of the busty beauty was enough to push me over the edge, and I ground my hips against Sara’s ass as I filled her cunt with my seed.

Light streamed into the room a few moments later as the door opened, and I turned my head to see Zarina standing in the doorway. Her voice was cheery as she announced, “I thought I heard your handiwork, Master!”

I squeezed Sara’s hips once, then slowly began to withdraw from her channel’s warm embrace. As I did, she flopped over onto her side to catch her breath, while Rose began pulling herself up to plant her face where my dick had been moments before in search of the seed I’d deposited there.

“Ready for a shower, Master? I’d love to wash you while I catch you up.”

I let out a laugh at Zarina’s enthusiasm. I was feeling more energized after sex than I had been upon waking, and that combined nicely with the chipper mood the wizard was exuding. “Good news, then? Sure, lead the way.” I leaned down, collected a quick warm kiss from Sara, gave Rose a gentle slap on her backside, then allowed Zarina to lead me across the apartment to the bathroom. I eschewed clothing for the journey on the basis that if there was anyone present in the apartment who would complain about seeing me naked, someone would’ve mentioned it.

Zarina stripped down as we waited for the water to warm, then squeezed into a shower that was definitely not proportioned with dual-occupancy in mind. She began to soap and lather me up with a possibly gratuitous amount of skin contact, and the slippery feel of her pressing against me as she worked to ensure I got clean was Sinfully delightful. Despite the decadently sexual overtones of the act, though, the wizard was both thorough and able to deliver on her goals, and by the end I was both clean and well informed.

The first thing I learned was that I was now, by my own standards, moderately wealthy. Despite its small size, the box of gold bars—which I hadn’t yet handled—actually outweighed Cindy. By a comfortable margin.

Zarina had woken up earlier than I had, then spent some time on the phone with my accountant, Trudy. The two had conspired together on the best way to proceed, and had arrived at a recommendation that I follow one of two paths.

The first was that I could, in theory, just leave. I had enough money to pull up all of my roots, move almost anywhere in the country, and retire. Even if I took the easy route and declared the gold as a gift to the IRS—which would mean paying heavy taxes on the proceeds when I sold it—I had enough to buy a small to medium sized house and still live off savings and interest for the rest of a normal human lifespan.

It would be a few steps short of luxury, but the idea of retiring to a house with five or six beautiful women to while away a few decades in a haze of Lust had some appeal.

I would need to take some steps to conceal my identity to avoid pursuit from Janssens, but if I was clever I wouldn’t leave much of a trail. If I went that route, though, I probably couldn’t work again. The witch had some way to detect the magic used in the rituals from the book, which was how she tracked me down in the first place.

Alternatively, I could invest most of the money in property.

The original plan to rob Cherto had sprung from the need to buy a house that wouldn’t have random people walking around it, so Zarina had somewhere to construct a real set of wards and magical defenses.

Once I sold my newly acquired gold, I would be in a position to do that, and then some.

When we had first concocted our wild scheme—one which we were going to have to abandon, since it was strictly forbidden by our agreement with the Duke—we had been plotting to defend ourselves from a single vampire clan. If we’d managed to withdraw a few hundred thousand dollars from Cherto’s account, we could’ve bought a standalone house somewhere and let Zarina fortify it.

The sudden influx of gold represented a substantially larger amount of wealth. It was enough to allow me to instead purchase a large property and let Zarina fortify it heavily.

Taking that option would require me to spend most of the ransom payment, but would allow me to establish myself as a real player in the supernatural scene. Not a big player, at least at first, but one which could stand shoulder to shoulder with the other patrons of Cherto’s auctions without being wildly out of place.

The property taxes alone on a location like Zarina had in mind would be higher than the rent I was paying on my current apartments, so I wouldn’t exactly be living ‘rent free’, but I could—and would have to—keep working to afford it. Probably.

Zarina knelt in front of me in the shower and lovingly worked her hands up and down my shaft. She’d saved that for last, and was now doing a very thorough job of ensuring it was sufficiently soapy and clean while she asked, “So—thoughts, Master? Run, or stay and fortify?”

I groaned as I leaned against the back of the shower as my self-enthralled wizard masturbated me well past the point strictly required for sanitation. Despite the distraction, I was able to answer almost instantly.

To my mind, as soon as she had explained her view of my options, there was only one real way forward. “We stay and fight. Running from Janssens now is just kicking the can down the road. We have a general idea of where she is, and if we move fast enough, we can go on the offensive before she realizes we intend to attack. It’s not the honorable play, but after what she did to Ayoka, I don’t think honor really comes into it. If we run, she’ll probably find me later, and next time she won’t open with an offer to buy.”

A beaming smile lit up Zarina’s face. “Good! I was hoping you would say that, Master.” Her hands squeezed firmly to give my cock a couple more good pumps before she released it and stood up. She kept herself closer to me than was required for cleanliness, but the feel of her slippery, well-built body sliding against mine as she brought herself up to chest height in front of me wasn’t something I was going to complain about. “In that case, we should assemble everyone and do some planning for battle.”

Sara pulled me aside into one of the bedrooms as Zarina started to assemble the troops. Her expression was serious, and while she wasn’t smiling, she seemed to be more thoughtful than unhappy.

“Hey, Jack—” My landlady started to speak, then almost immediately stopped. I waited, not wanting to rush her, and after a minute she tried again. “Look, with everything crazy that’s been going on, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you.”

I blinked. I’d been half expecting her to—break up wasn’t quite the right word, but it wasn’t as though Sara was permanently tied to me the way Cindy and Rose were. Sure, she didn’t seem to mind the sex, but I would have understood if she’d wanted to step away from all of the supernatural insanity that seemed to surround me now.

“I—you’re welcome?”

My tone must have reflected how uncertain I was, because it drew a quiet laugh from the athletic woman. She reached out a hand to push my chest lightly, and I responded by lifting both of mine to capture it. Her skin was warm against my fingers, and she looked up at me with a slightly distant smile.

“I mean it. You’re a good man, Jack, and I wanted to take a few minutes now to make sure that you heard it from me while I wasn’t under your spell. You’re going to go ride off to do battle with an army of supernatural women at your side, and I just—I don’t know what’s going to happen from here, but I wanted to make sure that you know that I’m glad I’ve gotten to take part as much as I have.”

Sara’s words were delivered without real fanfare, but I felt a weight lift off of me as I heard them.

“I—thank you. I try—” The words I wanted to say failed to coalesce, but Sara was as patient with me as I had been with her. “I try to be a good person. I’ve been given a lot of power, and I don’t want to turn fifty and look back and realize that I was an abusive shithead with it. Or worse, to not ever look back and realize it at all.”

The smile that Sara flashed was brighter and more confident than before, and she raised her other hand to wrap it around the outside of mine. “I know. It shows. And you don’t have to worry—I’ll tell you if I see any shithead tendencies coming out. Though, on that topic—”

“Shithead tendencies?”

Sara let out a short laugh and shook her head. “No, actually. Coming out. I think that thanks to you I’ve realized that I’m gay. Or at least—I don’t know exactly where I’d be on the Kinsey scale, but after hanging around your harem, I’m pretty sure I could go without dick for the rest of my life.”

I did my best to control my facial expression, but clearly failed miserably because it drew another laugh from her. “Don’t look like I just shot your dog, Jack, it’s not like you don’t have access plenty of other pussy. And besides, I said I could go without dick, I didn’t say I intended to. I don’t know if it’s the lingering effect of your magic or your Glamour or your Lust or whatever, but I have no intention of giving up your cock. I just—you know, if you asked me who was hotter between you and Aubrette—”

“Aubrette. No question.”

“I mean, duh, but that’s not the point. The point is—I don’t think I would have realized that without you. So—thank you. Now go and fight your crazy racist Dutch witch, and bring back all of my girls intact. Yeah?”

It was my turn to smile. I squeezed Sara’s hand gently, then leaned down so I could raise it to my lips and brush my lips across her knuckles. “As my lady commands.”

We had maybe three days, max, before Janssens was guaranteed to know that something was up. Even that guess was actually pretty optimistic, since Ayoka had been snooping around my apartment even after we had agreed to talk meant the witch was probably already making preparations to move against us. Given the things Amari had told his granddaughter about how Janssens operated, it seemed unlikely she would actually honor any truce to the letter.

She hadn’t moved on us directly yet, though, so while we had a little time to prepare, we had to balance it against the need to move against the witch first.

Zarina’s wards hadn’t picked up any further incorporeal intrusions, and while it apparently was possible to use the Arcane to scry on distant locations, as far as the wizard was aware, that wasn’t something witches could do directly. Their power relied on the creatures they could bargain and barter into their service, and it was unlikely any of those had slipped by the alarms that were still in place.

Taking full advantage of that disparity, now that we were getting ready to move, Zarina took a couple hours to set up a proper scrying ritual. She couldn’t see what Janssens was doing directly, but she was able to trace Tzila’s path back to the same Trail of Tears state park we had visited some time back.

That information didn’t really come as a surprise, but it helped confirm a couple of assumptions we had made.

The first was that Janssens was not likely traveling with the full forces she potentially had access to. If she had an entire army of supernatural creatures that she had bound through Bargains, she wouldn’t have remained at arm’s length from the book—she would’ve just swept in and taken it.

The second was that the impundulu and Tzila were probably the heaviest hitters she had in terms of magical muscle to bring to bear. It was possible she still had some lesser forces in reserve, but if she did they were more likely to be on the level of cursed dogs—which were apparently only slightly more dangerous than normal dogs.

In theory, that meant a straight fight should go our way. Tzila would be incredibly difficult for anyone to actually kill, but either Zarina or Cindy should be able to fight her to a standstill. Impundulu were wildly dangerous in the open thanks to their ability to summon and control storms, but since we knew we were picking a fight with one, we could take steps to mitigate that.

I hadn’t yet had time to convert any of the gold Cherto gave me into US currency, but knowing that it was available I felt comfortable dipping heavily into my bank account for whatever supplies we needed.

We decided to leave Sara at the apartment when going out to actually confront Janssens, to no objections from her. She had signed on for fun sexy times and stress relief, not to confront ancient witches in a state park in winter, and while she was starting to study under Zarina it would be a while before she could hold her own in a battle with creatures out of fairy tale and legend.

Plus it was still pretty cold out. We’d had a warm stretch in the second week of April, but then it had dipped down to the forties again and Sara was quite happy to opt out of a near-freezing camping trip.

Everyone else piled into Zarina’s SUV at dawn the day after Cherto left.

We started with a trip to a local store to kit ourselves out in protective clothing. I have no idea what the salesman who helped ring us up thought was going on when four gorgeous women—none of whom even slightly resembled skilled blue-collar electrical workers—bought a few thousand dollars of arc flash outfits, but he made a healthy commission off the purchase so he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Then we took a similar trip to a sporting and camping goods store, and got a few more odd looks for the eclectic range of purchases we made.

We could have tried to leverage Aubrette’s ability to conjure the equipment instead of mostly emptying out my savings, but had decided against it for two reasons. The less important of the two was that it left her talent available to use flexibly to conjure weapons and help in a fight, or to navigate traps and terrain. Her Sidhe gift was potent, but it did have limits, so if she was trying to concentrate on maintaining protective gear on all of us it would probably occupy all of the Glamour she could muster at a time.

The more important reason was that it was possible she would be injured or killed. If she was, everything she conjured would vanish in an instant, which might set off a cascade of disasters.

It was a sobering thought.

I knew that an actual confrontation with Janssens was all but inevitable, but the only real life-or-death fight I’d ever been in was when the handful of vampires had ambushed us outside of my apartment. Things had escalated so quickly that I hadn’t had time to consider my own mortality, let alone that of my companions.

The idea of deliberately seeking out a fight with a force of beings who absolutely held the power to kill settled into my stomach like a heavy weight.

The only thing which allowed me to push on now was the boiling Wrath that seethed in the back of my head. Any time I thought of what Janssens might- no, would do, if she got her hands on the book, it fed the ball of Sin roiling at the edge of my awareness. After listening to Ayoka’s tale, not only was I ready to put the witch down, I was also all too aware of what she could do if she got her hands on Cindy.

The thought of the harm Janssens could accomplish with an amoral Sin Demon under her thumb was horrifying. There was no way I could let that happen, so backing down just wasn’t an option.

We spent the rest of the day back at my apartment, talking through scenarios, what-ifs, and general plans. I knew that no plan we laid out would survive first contact with Janssens and her forces, but going in with a general idea and some contingencies would mean less time wasted in a crisis and might mean the difference between life and death.

The following morning, we loaded ourselves into Zarina’s SUV once more and hit the highway headed south towards the Trail of Tears state park.

* * *

Ayoka is late.

Again.

At this point I have to assume she has been captured by whatever defenses the Puttman boy has managed to put together.

Knowing that only makes me want the book more.

It is less than a year now, since Mycah Porter had contacted me and told me the book I sought was in his grasp, even less than that still since Puttman somehow took it from him.

If an idiot child like Puttman can assemble a force of slaves who are able to capture a specter, who pose a credible threat to a Jinn, in less than a year, I can only imagine how much more I can do—will do—when I have it.

Perhaps I will finally deal with that cancer, Amari.

A sigh escapes me at the thought. As I stand at the mouth of the cave, I look out over the lightly wooded valley spread out before me. Tzila sits behind me, next to the fire. Her hands work with practiced ease on the ivory tusk she holds, as the details of the scrimshaw she practiced gradually become visible.

She hates doing it. Hates being forced to put her hand to the task at my will.

I think it makes the pieces she crafts even better.

Msizi is still gone, but that is not a surprise. The impundulu left the night before to find another woman to drag to his bed. Maybe even a willing one. He will return before the sun crests the horizon, another notch in his belt and another seed sown in the plague of impundulu he wishes to spread.

It is intriguing to see the new and interesting vistas that this land provides. I have spent long years in Africa, perhaps it is time to broaden my horizons. It would be costly, but I could secure transportation for those creatures I wish not leave behind. An investment—something to pay up front, which would offer rewards later.

For now, it will be enough to obtain the book. The Puttman boy has been given long enough. When Msizi returns, we will move, and I will take that which should have been mine all along.