That night, I assemble my new gang, my Birds of Praise. "All right, ladies,” I said, “if I'm going to run this town I'm going to need cash, and I'm going to need somewhere to run it from that isn't, you know, an apartment with my name on the lease.” Weak, sad little Jenny Miller is a liability, but she’s one I’m stuck with for now. Maybe Stephanie can help me with it.

I’ve learned her story in between fucking all day. Stephanie Green, as in Green Construction, builders of the half of the city that the Brixes didn’t. And, unsurprisingly for big-city construction, in deep with the mob—the name “Wrench” came from what she through into her dad’s plans to use arson to drive people out of poor, black neighborhoods so they could be cheaply bought up and used to build luxury highrises. The feds ended up with enough evidence to actually put away a rich guy for once, and little rich girl went on to be a general white hat hacker before joining Nightshade’s team and hooking up with the Jay.

“So,” I continue, “our first job is to get some money. I've got a place in mind—Carler Bros. Jewelers, high-end place that makes their own stuff. That means they have to have materials on hand—which means unworked precious metals and gems stored in a safe somewhere, untraceable and easy to fence." I look around at the three of them. "But they're also sure to have security, which is why I need you three. Stephanie, your job is to get us building plans and shut down any electronic security, cameras, etc. Put those hacking skills to use! Jasper, your job is lockpicking, safe-cracking, and taking care of any mechanical security measures and alarms. Delia, you're our wild card—if the cops or security do notice what we're up to, you keep them busy. And if all else fails, I'll step in. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect, Mistress!" says Stephanie, her bright and cheery voice contrasting with her disheveled, thoroughly fucked appearance.

"All right." I change into the villain outfit I've been planning a long time: purple body stocking with gold trim, matching half-cape and domino mask, black thigh boots with two-inch heels. It's impractical, but memorable--and that's the important thing. Nobody will recognize mousy little Jenny Miller from pictures of it. I let my hair fall loose, but spray it down thoroughly with Question Everything Color Magic, and in seconds it turns a vibrant dark red. Meanwhile, my girls don masks of their own. "It's time for Psyqueen and the Birds of Praise to take the stage!"

We drive over around 2 am. As we approach, I turn to Stephanie, who’s sharing the backseat with me and tapping away at a tablet. "How's it going, got the alarms and cameras shut down?"

"Everything looks in order, yes,” she replies, engrossed in her work. “There's patrols in the area, but nothing unexpected. Tread lightly, Mistress!"

"Keep your tablet on you and come with," I say. "Just in case we need you to smother something we tripped, or if we need a Shade-trained fighter on our side." We pull up and get out of the car, and I turn to Jasper. "OK, babe, you're up, can you get us into the shop?"

"Sure, I'll get to work," she replies. She sets to the task with vigor, and soon, the Jewelers is a sitting duck, its door unlocked and cameras and alarms offline.

I grin. "All right, everyone inside. Jasper, find their safe and get it open—we want anything untraceable. Cash, gemstones, precious metals, as much as we can carry." I turn to Delia. "Shall we do a bit of shopping?" I'm looking for something specific—a gold tiara with diamonds, amethysts, and/or emeralds, something that'll fit well with my villain outfit. I have Plans for it.

"Gladly," she cackles, waltzing round the store, delighted to be back on the job.

"Anybody noticing us?" I ask Stephanie as I look around for my desired prize, or anything else interesting.

"I'm getting some chatter from local law enforcement,” she replies. “Stay vigilant!"

I nod. "Let's try to move quick, girls! Delia, I may need you to create a distraction, be ready."

"OK!"

I find a tiara that matches what I'm looking for, gold and set with purple amethysts and a red ruby in the center, exactly as gaudy as I’m hoping for, and stick it immediately on my head. Once Harper has the safe open we all grab what we can carry—high-price gemstones are our top priority since they're the most money per weight, then large bills—risky but too valuable to leave behind—then jewelry.

That’s when the woman with the gun kicks open the door. "Freeze!” she shouts, pointing the gun directly at me. “Put the gemstones and money down, now."

I drop everything, raise my hands, and look her up and down. She’s in plainclothes, a badge pinned to her white blouse. Her brunette hair is pinned back out of her classically beautiful face, and her simple blouse and tan slacks do nothing to hide her curvaceous figure. "Hello, officer," I purr, putting on a smoky, silky voice quite unlike my usual. "Can we help you with something?"

She holds her gun steady. "Yes. You can start by putting that tiara back where you found it."

"Mm, I'm sorry officer, but I'm afraid I need it." I begin pushing calm and relaxation into her mind. "I can't explain but it's very important."

She takes a step back, her gun wavering just a little.

"It's really fine," I say, my voice soft enough that she has to strain to listen, while I continue to fill her with relaxation, calm, and just a touch of trust. "This isn't that important." I make a tiny gesture with my head to my other girls to start to spread out to the sides a little.

The others do as they're told. I can feel their anticipation of the cop joining them, but I can’t feel anything from her. But I can see her shake her head like she’s trying to throw off the shifting sensations.

"It's all perfectly all right," I continue, still increasing her relaxation and layering in that trust. "Later on you'll understand why I had to do this and you had to let me, but for now you don't need that explanation. You know it's coming, and that's enough."

Her resolve continues to weaken. "I....I...." She reaches to the walkie-talkie at her hip with her left hand, slowly, like she’s moving through treacle, which I’m sure her thoughts are. But her right hand keeps the gun trained on me. She’s a decade older than my girls, and her brain is a little harder to push feelings into, like it’s more set in its patterns. I can feel the greater strain, like I’m pushing up a steeper hill.

"You certainly don't need to worry anyone else about this." I take a slow, small step toward her, smiling beatifically and continuing to relax her and raise her trust. "You're more than capable of handling this on your own." I suppress her fear, anxiety, worry, trying to keep that sense of trouble small and easy to squash.

Her grip around the gun tightens, my words boosting her confidence—but my influence is beginning to stick, and she starts to lower the gun. "You're right...." she breathes.

So, I can only sense someone’s feelings once they start falling under my control? I guess I’m making some kind of link? "Why don't you have a seat, officer?" I ask. "Take a load off, relax... there's nothing to worry about here..." I continue to push still more relaxation.

She stumbles backwards, into a chair handily placed there by Delia, and the gun falls to the floor. "Do you need backup, Detective?" her radio crackles.

I turn to Delia. "Distraction time, babe. Keep them busy, don't get caught. Once you're sure you're not being followed, meet back at the usual place."

She grins at me in reply, then heads back toward the loading dock to slip out that way

Back to the cop, I continue pushing relaxation and calm. "You don't need to do anything now. Just sit there and let the world go by, so peaceful, so comfortable..." I check her for ID, and she placidly lets me search her.

Once I've got her name—Detective Hayley Welles—I put her ID back. Then I lock her gun in the safe. "Rest up, Detective," I say. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again real soon." I push a healthy dose of attraction and desire, then pull my other two girls aside. "Once the distraction starts, we split. Steph, take the rooftops, Jasper, you're driving me. We'll go in different directions, meet at my place once we're all sure we're not being followed."

Hayley fixes me a look of pure lust, coupled with a drunken smile, and her head lolls as she stops struggling and waits in the chair.

I give Delia enough time to get the cops' attention away from us, and then Harper and I head for the car as planned. I leave the detective behind for now—if she disappears from a crime scene there will be questions, and I've got her name and badge number now, so I can snare her at my leisure in a way that leaves her reputation secure and doesn't spark a police response. Plus, we all had masks on, so I'm not worried about being described.

Outside, I hear the bangs, cries, and muffled shouts of the distraction—no one injured, no one killed, just nicely thrown off the scent. Delia knows to cause chaos, not murder, to confuse and frustrate the cops, not motivate them to hunt us down harder. She has a gift for both, but the former is what we need right now. Meanwhile, Stephanie is already off, quick as a fox, climbing a fire escape like a monkey to the rooftops.

Jasper and I drive off at an angle to where we're actually headed, and I keep an eye for anyone following us. After 20 minutes or so with no sign of them, I have her change course and go to my place to meet the others.

Soon, we're pulling up in the car outside of my place. Steph's waiting on the doorstep, tapping the watch on her wrist and smiling. "Slowpokes!"

"Silly girl," I reply. "Let's head in." In the elevator up I pull her to me for a hard, deep kiss. "I like the occasional silliness," I explain.

She grins, kissing me back. "Me too..."

Jasper pushes up against the both of us, grinding in lust.

I give her a kiss as well. "You did very well tonight, my good girls. Once Delia joins us, I'll give you your next tasks, and then we can celebrate properly."

It's another 20 minutes before she show up, slightly out of breath, but happy that my plan worked. "Mistress!” she cries on seeing me. “You got home safe!"

"You did too!" I reply, relieved. I pull her to me for a kiss of her own.

"Now then, next steps,” I say after breaking the kiss. “Let's pile our loot and see what we've got. Jasper, you're probably the most experienced here at fencing stuff, you keep a running estimate of worth." I put all of what I grabbed into the pile except my tiara. I have separate plans for that.

The girls empty their pockets and bags, and Jasper counts. Soon we have a pile of almost $500,000 worth of cash, gem, and jewelry.

"Fantastic!” I exclaim. “Our first heist is a huge success! Cum for me, slaves!" I overwhelm all three of them with orgasmic pleasure, and hold it there for a few seconds... and then just a few seconds more. All three double over in overwhelming pleasure without relief, shaking and gasping. Grinning, I release all three of them to go fully over the edge.

They buck and writhe, yelping and humming in pleasure. Delia plasters herself over my body, desperate for me to feel how devoted she is now. I hold her to me, stroking and teasing. "Such devoted slaves I have. My Birds of Praise. Now, for next steps. Delia, I'd like you to handle fencing all of this over the next few days. I want you to help her, Jasper, but there's also something I want you to work with Stephanie on as well so Delia will take point on the selling, got it?"

"Anything, Mistress..." Jasper enthuses.

"As for you, Stephanie..." I hand her the tiara. "You and Jasper have a great deal of electronics expertise between you. I want you to rig this thing up with concealed electrodes in the base to read my brainwaves, like a low-grade EEG, to detect when I'm using my powers. When they do, I want it to activate hidden LEDs so it looks like the gems are lighting up in a random pattern. Doable?"

She takes the tiara, turning it over in her hand, examining it carefully, lost in thought. "Hmmmm... yeah, I think so. Might take a bit of work, but we should be able to hook something together..."

"Wonderful. But all of that can wait until tomorrow. Until then..." I gesture toward my bed. "I think a celebration is in order."

The girls grin, and half-drag me there behind them.