Power of the Lost Read online

  She glanced over at him, then added, "Kinda. Maybe we should go ahead and tell him. I don't want to keep secrets. We're family."

  "Terry has a strong mind, but it is not unbreakable," Prada said. "Shy knows how close he came once. I do not know that we should willingly take the risk that he will falter again."

  Shy's lips twisted as she stole another glance at Tee, then said, "I think we should tell him, but not now. We need to be safe."

  "We haven't been safe since we met him, not really," Laina pointed out, finally releasing Shy and leaning back on her hands. "If you wait for the 'right' time, he's going to find out at the worst possible time."

  "What. About. Asturial."

  Prada's voice made it clear she had lost all patience.

  "All this bonding is nice, and useful, but there is a larger issue here and neither of you is facing it. We have a dragon on hand that we need to deal with, quickly. Yuri cast her as a leader of this little expedition for better or worse. When whoever the jungle inhabitants send gets here, unless you are absolutely confident in the spell Asturial will be cooking up, she is going to be making decisions for all of us, Terry included."

  Shy said, "If I understand you correctly, you want us to coach Asturial on how to act around Tee? That's your plan?"

  "Only part of it," Prada said. "The other part is to help me convince him to bond her now. He won't accept a lifelong geas because of his stupid human moral sense, so instead I want to try and get him to accept a lesser arrangement. One year of absolute obedience should suffice for our purposes, and Asturial will consider that a trivial price to pay given her earlier offer."

  Laina's brow furrowed and she asked, "Why would you want to bother coaching Asturial if she's going to be a slave? Why would she want to be coached? Don't get me wrong, I want her to help protect Boss too, but ..."

  She trailed off, and Shy nodded. "She will do the bare minimum her vow requires."

  "The bare minimum is all we need from her," Prada said testily. "We simply ensure that the geas is properly phrased. Do remember that you're talking to a devil. Contracts are what I do."

  "I am not at all certain Tee will go for something like this, but if it could be managed I think it's worth a try," Shy said after a moment's thought.

  "I'm pretty sure he'll be hell to convince," Laina said dubiously. "If Astur agrees though, a limited time agreement shouldn't be a problem unless Boss just wants to be stubborn. Indenture is a pretty common way to learn a trade, and that's usually longer than a year anyway."

  "Was this all that you wanted to talk to us about, Prada?" Shy asked.

  "Isn't it enough?" Prada retorted. "But now that you mention it, there is one other thing I think I should bring up."

  "And that is?" Laina asked.

  "Mila."

  Shy smiled, then said, "She would make a good partner, and I know she's interested."

  Laina frowned, but shrugged and said, "Yeah, my nose isn't great but my ears are fine and I heard Yuri talking to her about him the other night. He said something about her interest being pretty obvious."

  "Oh?" Shy asked, intensely interested. Unlike Asturial, Mila Kolenko was someone she knew Tee was genuinely fond of.

  "He actually doesn't mind," Laina said, speaking slowly as she glanced from Prada to Shy. She seemed uncertain as to whether this was something she should be revealing or not.

  "But she does?" Shy asked.

  "S-she doesn't want to turn into a monster." Laina paused, then added, "I think she's got a point too. If I had known about what would happen to Shu before, I don't know if I'd have asked the Boss for his help."

  "The fact that you did not change is something of a mystery," Prada said in musing tones. "You had a very clear idea of what you wanted from him, did you not?"

  Laina nodded, and Prada asked, "Did you, Shy? Was what you wanted clear in your mind?"

  "I did not want something specific so much as I presumed I knew what I would receive," Shy said as she thought about it. "I simply assumed I would get an increase in my magical abilities since they have always been so poor, and that is what I got. Either way, it proves nothing."

  "I don't know about that," Prada said. "I got what I most wanted as well."

  "Which was?" Shy asked.

  Prada hesitated, then said, "It suffices to say that I got what I most wanted. None of us knew Shu. Who is to say she did not get what she most wanted?"

  "To become a monster?" Laina asked. "Who would want that?"

  Shy was nodding though, and said, "Maybe what she wanted was granted, but not in a way she could handle. What if all she wanted was to be strong, or fast? Her wish came true if that is what it was."

  "But we don't know that's what she wanted," Laina protested. "And what about Euryale? How did Terry's bond change her? Do either of you know?"

  Shy blinked, then looked down at Prada as she said, "That's a good question."

  "It is, and one I can't answer. I don't think Terry knows either. Neither of them ever said anything about it."

  Shy thought back, then said, "Ephe was not with us long, but she seemed to want to cover the world in her children. Had she lived, she might certainly have succeeded."

  She shrugged, and added, "All eldritch want templates for the sake of their children though. We did not know her long enough to find out if she had been given any other gifts."

  "As a theory, wish fulfillment seems to fit the circumstances better than anything else," Prada said. "Does anyone have any objections to Mila personally? I know Terry thinks fondly of her."

  "How come you've been making a point of calling him 'Husband' most of the time but right now you're only calling him Terry?" Laina asked suddenly. "It's been bothering me."

  "For your sake," Prada said. "I know that you wanted a vow from him, but that you were not able to secure it earlier. If there were others present I would call him by his title, but here? Amongst his bonds I thought it would only be polite not to be seen staking a claim."

  "That's unexpectedly thoughtful of you," Shy said.

  Laina was blushing, and she lowed before lifting her chin at the dryad as she said, "What about you? Don't you want a vow? Euryale has one, so does Prada."

  Shy thought for a moment before answering. In truth, she didn't need a vow from Tee because she knew his mind. She knew he loved her, knew that he would throw his life away for her. He would do the same for Laina, or even Euryale if he believed she was in genuine danger. But how to explain that to Laina in a way that didn't sound like condescension?

  Perhaps the best way, would be not to try.

  "After you have your vow, perhaps he will offer one to me as well," Shy said, her voice full of the genuine affection she felt for Laina. Of them all, Tee found Laina the easiest to understand.

  I am a tree, after all. Laina would never believe it, but she has so much more in common with him than I do.

  "I'll make sure of it," Laina said, her words ringing with finality. "Not that I think he'd object.

  "And I like Mila. This harem thing is ... weird, but as long as I have to put up with it anyway I don't mind her a bit."

  "She's quite skilled and seems good-natured enough," Shy said. "I have no objections to her inclusion."

  "Then we are agreed," Prada said, sounding rather smug. "I have an idea on how to encourage her to join us, but for it to work Terry must be fully recovered, and waiting for him to get his power back through sleep is not a viable option. He must be ready before Asturial's ritual. Are there any volunteers for doing things the hard way?"

  Shy smirked at the pun and lifted a hand. Laina's brows came together in momentary confusion, then shot up and her blush — which had faded a bit — returned full force, though her embarrassment didn't keep her from raising her hand.

  14

  The Ritual

  When Terry stepped down out of the wagon, what he wanted most in all the world was a shower.

  At least I'm not hungry, he thought bemusedly, shrugging into one of
the loose-fitting undyed shirts his women seemed to prefer for him. That or they'd been on sale.

  "Asturial should be ready soon," Shy said as she dropped to the ground next to him.

  He glanced at her and she smirked and licked her lips, which made him blush faintly. She laughed and touched his cheek as she said, "It's so cute when you do that. As much sex as you get, I keep waiting for you to get used to it."

  "At some point, maybe. I just didn't know you were that ... ah, good at that. I keep forgetting you've got way more experience than I do."

  Shy leaned over and kissed him lightly as she said, "I'm happy that my experience serves you well. How do you feel?"

  "Energized," he said. "It's weird. After getting laid I usually either want to go again or go to sleep, but aside from wanting a shower in the worst way I actually feel pretty good."

  "Reaffirming your bonds does a great deal to restore your power," Prada said, speaking as the knot of the sash at his waist. "I noticed it each time I fed from you, only to see the power I'd taken restored after coitus with one or another of your women. Now that I have been part of it, I can confirm it works. Having enjoyed the three of us all at once, you are all but at peak. It is a shame Cecaelia and Euryale are not here. It would be interesting to see just how much power your blood could hold."

  The thought didn't thrill Terry the way it did Prada as he remembered the soreness, and then the outright sickness once Cecaelia's power had really started flooding through his system.

  "I'm good, thanks," he said wryly. "In fact, now that you've reminded me, I'm all for giving some of this energy away again before it messes me up."

  "Laina is right here; you'll be fine," Shy said. "Let me go talk to Asturial. She may want to alter her spell a bit. It'll be done inside the tent, wait a few moments."

  Shy stepped away, leaving Terry to glance around at the inside of the tent that had been erected as an extension of the back of the wagon. It was pretty impressive actually. Given the wagon was about fifteen by eight feet and the tent extended that by another twenty feet in length and ten in width, everyone could fit comfortably inside. There was even a hole for smoke, though no fire had been built. The jungle was muggy and — at least inside the tent — the air was hot and still.

  I really, REALLY want that shower.

  'Ask nicely and I might do something about that for you, Husband.'

  Terry blinked, then asked aloud, "Prada, pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top, clean me up."

  Her voice inside his mind was somehow both amused and reproachful. 'You have neither whipped cream, nor any cherries. I am SO disappointed in you.'

  "You cleaned all the whipped cream off both Shy and Laina, I just watched you do it. I'll owe you the cherry, so please?"

  'Dirty man.'

  "Only until you clean me up, which you will do because otherwise I will offend literally everyone. Even Shy was wrinkling her nose. She tried to hide it but I noticed. Prada? Bathe me."

  'Since you insist.'

  Terry sucked in a breath as Prada soaked through his clothes and began to caress her way up his body in a band about six inches wide. She made it feel as though he were being kissed and licked. He gritted his teeth and made faces he was glad there was no one around to see, because the attention tickled mercilessly.

  She took his beard, trimmed his hair, and then dropped down first one arm and then the other before returning to his waist and heading south.

  "Hey now," he said as she got into dangerous territory. "Be nice."

  Prada didn't bother to reply, nor did she ease up. She flowed into every nook and cranny, then down his legs to finish the job as he sighed in quiet relief. Despite the fact that he'd just cum, he knew he could go again. What was worse, Prada knew it too.

  'Relax, Husband. Right now I've lost most of my size. I could still easily get you off, but it just wouldn't be the same. I'll settle for sharing your pleasures for the next little while.'

  "'Preciate it," he said.

  As she resumed her place on his waist her thoughts reached him again. "Although, now that the topic has come up, do you mind if I play with your girls on my own, given the chance?"

  The question brought him to a full mental stop, and it was an effort to say, "You mean like you did with me?"

  "I might be a bit more invasive. Given enough size I could be you."

  "Don't ever trick any of them," Terry said sharply. "They have to know it's you."

  "So I CAN play with them as long as they know what they're getting into?" Prada asked, still keeping her thoughts inside his mind despite the fact that he'd responded aloud in his surprise.

  "You're the first to even ask me, but since you did, sure. Just, no bargains, and no deceptions."

  "Bets?"

  THIS time she spoke aloud, and for reasons he didn't really understand that made him grin as he said, "Bets are fair game."

  "So good to me, Husband. And so clean. Feel better?"

  "Much, thank you."

  "You're welcome."

  Terry sat down on one of the stools scattered around the space. He'd been told to wait inside, and after the encounter with ... whoever had been out there, he wasn't about to waste all the effort Yuri and the others had gone through to keep him hidden.

  Instead, he felt it was time to try something new. He knew that Prada would give him access, and his mental exercises with her over the course of the week they'd spent pouring over Volai Hart's library had given him an idea how to begin. He closed his eyes and reached for that part of him that represented his ties with Prada, his bond. He focused his attention downward, and then outward.

  Just like that, it worked.

  A sort of moving impression formed inside his mind. He felt the horses stamping in irritation as their tails swatted flies. He felt Laina and Marcus at the edges of his perception: he was teaching her how to swing her ax, just as he had taught Terry. As he focused on them, he heard Marcus say, "Axes stay in motion. If you stop your ax, you are wasting energy. Follow through. Try again."

  Tremor-sense is amazing.

  The thought made him smile, but it also disrupted his mental image of what was going on around him and he refocused. Yuri was sharpening his sword with a whetstone as he looked out over the reflecting pool. His image got fuzzy in Terry's mind every time he lifted the stone off the sword, then sharpened again as the whetstone ground across the blade. Even his heartbeat showed up. Slow and steady.

  Asturial's heartbeat was easily the strongest though, bigger even than the horses, despite the fact she was only about six-one. Her presence in Terry's moving image was easily the most distinct. She had her hands on her hips and was listening as Shy said, "His energy is recovered. If he shares with her, Mila can bear a greater part of the ritual expenditure, and her gift can be extended all the way to the cliffside instead of just through the clearing."

  Asturial said, "I do not object, but we will need a blood circle for the two of them, and the sooner this is done the better. Go tell Mila; make sure she understands. I will be ready in another few moments, and then I will give each of you the relevant portions of the ritual."

  "I spoke to her first, she understands," Shy said, and Terry could hear her smile, even though he couldn't really hear her at all. Everything, the words, the way they stood, even portions of their expressions came to him through his contact with the ground.

  He sensed tiny creatures in the trees and under the ground in burrows out to a hundred feet.

  He looked for Mila and sensed her just before she brushed aside the tarp and stepped into the tent with him. He opened his eyes and his mental map of the area faded as he said, "Shy told you?"

  "Yes. We need to craft a circle. It will be easiest to use the spare wagon wheel and some of the canvas. Help me clear a space."

  Mila was all business, and five minutes later, Terry found himself with the unenviable task of slitting the meat of his palm and inscribing a bloody circle on the canvas using a wheel as a guide. Compa
red to the agony he'd experienced handling the death seed earlier though, the pain he felt now was trivial. He had a bottle of Laina's milk to hand, which he downed when he was finished.

  He allowed himself a moment of bemused wonderment as he watched the wound close. Despite all the weird, wild things he'd seen, magic remained amazing, and he took an almost childlike pleasure in watching something impossible happen, right before his eyes.

  Asturial and Shy entered the tent as he was moving the spare wheel out of the way. The dragon looked him up and down, sniffed, then asked, "Where did you get the chance to bathe? I expected it to reek in here, and it does ... but the smell is not what I expected. More sex, less filth."

  Terry frowned at that and shrugged as he said dryly, "You're welcome."

  "I did not thank you. I asked you when you got the chance to bathe."

  He rolled his eyes and looked at Shy as he asked, "Are you guys ready to do whatever it is you plan to do?"

  "Not quite," Shy said as she glanced back at the dragon. "She needs to give us our parts. Once that is done we three will stand at points, and you will stand with Mila inside your circle to channel for her."

  "Stand at points?" Terry asked.

  "It means we will be in a triangle," Mila said as Asturial reached out to Shy and set a heavy, clawed hand on the dryad's head as she murmured in a language Terry didn't recognize, but now knew must be a tongue from somewhere on earth.

  Whatever the dragon was doing took no more than twenty seconds or so, and she repeated the process with Mila, then asked both women, "The spell is clear in your minds?"

  Both women nodded, and the dragon moved Shy to the spot she wanted the dryad to stand in, then carefully positioned herself as she told Mila, "Get in the circle with him, and ensure he knows how to channel before we begin. Your part now requires a great deal more mana than I suspect you carry on your own, and there will be consequences if you fail."

  Before Terry could even begin to have doubts, Prada's voice sounded confidently in his mind. 'Relax, Husband. I am with you and I will help you ensure this process is smooth.'