Crazy Seduction(erotica)

He lifted his eyes from the floor to her and shook his head. He had a stricken expression. “No. No, I’m not. I’ve just ruined their lives! They would have been better off if they’d never met me.”

“Henry! Don’t say that!” Marisa exclaimed.

“It’s true! Look what I did! They’re no longer human! I did that! Me and this damn magic inside me! And what fucking good is having the ability to cause spontaneous orgies?!? Maybe it’s a damn good thing the humans killed off the Satyr population if all we can do is make people fuck!” His breathing was coming in gulps. “Wild Magic is just a curse on top! Twisting and warping people into random shapes!” A sob tore through him. “You know, I was so caught up in my troubles that I didn’t even realize how much of a monster I’ve become until I stopped to watch Tish sleeping. I turned her into a Satyr! I was admiring how lovely she looked, and that’s when it sank in! I only saw what I wanted! Why the hell couldn’t I see that?!?”

Sigrid grabbed his shoulders to look him right in the eye, and he flinched at the compassion he saw there. “Because you’re not a monster, Henry. None of what’s happened is your fault-”

He pulled away. “No, I can’t blame anyone but myself. I knew I wasn’t human and I knew my life was complicated and had dangers they’d never comprehend. I was warned that I shouldn’t make friends with humans, but I ignored all of that because I wanted them. My selfishness led to this.”

“Henry, it’s not wrong to want to have friends! You just weren’t prepared to be what you are! That’s Baba Yaga’s fault! You’re not a monster! You’re a good man caught in a bad situation. You’re still learning about what it means to be a Satyr!” Marisa insisted.

Henry slumped back against the cushions. “It doesn’t matter… they’ll never forgive me, and I don’t blame them. They shouldn’t forgive me. I’ve ruined everything.”

Marisa knelt before him and placed her hands on his knees as she looked up into his eyes. “You haven’t ruined anything. You’ve changed them. As you were changed, when you discovered you were a Satyr. Do you remember how lost you were; how reluctant you were to accept the change? But you had us to guide you. We bless the day you came into our lives! You’ve enriched them. You’ve changed us too. Will you run away from the responsibility of helping your friends through this transition? Or will you be there for them as we were for you?” She could see he was struggling with his self-loathing. “We know you’re a good person. We know you’ll help them any way you can. It’s your nature to be kind, loving and supportive. It’s who you are.”

He looked down at his hands in his lap, and a tremor went through him.

Sigrid stood behind Marisa. “We should all try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

Henry lifted his eyes to look at them. “You go on up. I’m going to stay down here a while,” he said quietly.

“You should come upstairs with us-” Marisa began.

“No, please. I just- I just need to be alone for a bit. I’ll be fine.” He gave them a weak smile, but no one believed it.

Short of carrying him upstairs they couldn’t force him, so the three women nodded and left the room, looking back at him sadly.

He sat alone on the couch and listened to them climb the stairs. He let his exhausted mind go back to a point in the evening when he was lying on the floor, dazed after healing Tish. Ikehorn’s words came back to haunt him.

“How will you protect your friends now in their changed state? How will you disguise them?”

Henry wasn’t stupid. He knew what Ikehorn was after and he desperately wished he had an alternative. He could think of none. He had to right the wrong he’d done to his friends. He couldn’t change them back, but he could get them glamors to disguise their new states. Which meant making a deal with the devil herself. The very monster who’d plotted to harm his friends. The injustice of turning to Mab for a solution burned within him. But his shame at what he’d done was stronger so he had no choice.

He sat quietly for a while just looking out the window into the darkness beyond. When he felt he’d waited long enough, he stood and walked to the door. He opened it and saw Ikehorn standing on the gravel drive a short distance from the door, as Henry suspected he would be. The Fae looked at Henry cautiously.

Henry gestured for him to enter then walked back to the sitting room and took a seat. Moments later Ikehorn appeared in the doorway and glanced nervously towards the stairs, but they were alone.

Gesturing to the chair before him, Henry fixed his eyes on the Fae. “I hate what you did. I hate what Mab ordered you to do. I hate what I’m now forced to do.” Ikehorn now looked worried, and Henry stared at him. “What?”

“Queen Mab indicated to me that it was important that you repay the debt willingly,” he said quietly, glancing to the doorway.

Henry stared at the Fae with a scowl.

“Is your friend healed?” Ikehorn asked suddenly, and Henry heard genuine concern in his voice. That threw him a little.

“Yes, her legs aren’t limp anymore. I can feel their tone is back. She hasn’t woken yet, so I don’t know if her recovery is complete. There is also the matter that I turned her into A FUCKING SATYR!” Henry spat. Ikehorn watched him.

“How?”

Henry looked at him. He saw only honest curiosity and concern. A great weariness swept through him. “I don’t know. Something to do with the Wild Magic I’m linked to. It’s powerful, and humans can be affected by it. Randomly. I don’t know why Sandy got sentient hair or why Dayshia’s eyes changed or why Tish became like me-”

“I saw your hand on her stomach. Were you touching her throughout her change? Perhaps it used you as a template,” Ikehorn suggested.

Henry blinked in surprise at him as he hadn’t considered that. Suddenly the stupid idea of bringing back the Satyr race popped into his head. He closed his eyes tight and violently shook his head to rid himself of the ludicrous concept. Hadn’t he just claimed how it was a good idea they were killed off? “Whatever. That’s how it happens.”

“So you are a wielder. You will the Wild Magic into their bodies,” Ikehorn pushed.

Henry scowled at the man. “No! I don’t control it! They have to ingest… something from me,” he finished with burning cheeks. He looked away in embarrassment.

Ikehorn leaned back in surprise. “Oh? OH!”

“What does Mab want?” Henry said to change the subject.

Ikehorn shook his head. “You will need to ask her. She just wanted you to ask for something only we can supply. Healing or glamors for your friends, both are significant requests which will require equally significant compensation.”

“Your inability to appreciate the value of doing a good deed for its own sake is what diminishes your race in the eyes of others.”

Ikehorn leaned back stiffly. “We are not unique in our insistence on fair balance-”

“No… don’t speak to me about fairness. You have no concept,” he snarled then sucked in a few deep breaths as he settled his mind. “Tell Mab I’ll be coming to see her to ask a favor.”

The Fae relaxed for the first time all day and actually smiled gratefully. He stood and handed Henry a card. “This has my number and the address of the building where the Queen is staying. It will also get you into the underground parking lot’s lowest level where you’ll find the roof service elevator. I’ll let her know you’re coming. Please, make it soon.” He paused as a conflicted look of discomfort crossed his face. “I’m terribly sorry your friend was hurt, and for the role I played in that. I- I serve the Queen,” he finished awkwardly.

Henry waved his hand to gesture for the Fae to leave and dropped his head into his other hand.

Completely unsettled by his need to apologize and the discomfort he felt at the Satyr’s distress, Ikehorn walked to the doorway where he came face to face with the Asian girl. He nodded to her then left the house.

Meixiu locked the door behind him and looked in on Henry. He was curled up on the couch, and she thought she heard him crying softly. Not knowing what to do she backed away and slipped upstairs to her room.

She’d speak to Sigrid about this in the morning.

Chapter 38

Sandy woke feeling better than she’d ever felt in her entire life. Her body was tingling with energy. She stretched and felt the blankets pulled down, so she opened her eyes to see who the impertinent culprit was. Maybe she wasn’t finished sleeping! Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw her hair pulling the blankets back over her. She quickly reached up and slid her fingers into her hair. Tingles rippled down through her body from her scalp, and she cooed involuntarily. Eyes snapping open again, she sat up suddenly and reached out to gather her hair back from the blankets. It came willingly to pool in her lap. That’s when she noticed its length and the strength she felt in it. This was far more hair than she’d had… last night? Her time sense failed her.

She looked around and didn’t recognize anything. The bedroom was filled with beautiful antiques. The window was open, and fresh air swept into the room. There was an open door to the left, and she could see a hallway. A faint mustiness lingered in the air like she was in an old, rarely visited museum. She began to worry but calmed when her hair rose up to stroke her cheek. She felt its affection, and she couldn’t feel any fear for this strange new phenomenon as her hair’s intent came through their link clearly. Sandy knew her hair was a ‘she’ but she had no idea how it came to be. An image of a horned Satyr flashed in her mind, and Sandy squeaked in surprise.

Movement in the doorway caught her attention, and she looked to see Marisa smiling in at her.

“Marisa! Thank god! Someone familiar! I woke up, and everything is different!” Sandy gasped.

Marisa’s smile wobbled a little as she approached the bed. “May I sit?”

Sandy’s hair straightened out the sheets on the edge of the bed as they both watched.

Sandy’s eyes went to Marisa and saw she wasn’t shocked or frightened or displaying any sign that she found this the least bit odd. “You know what’s happened to my hair,” she said quietly.

Marisa nodded. “The world’s a lot more complicated and wonderful than you previously knew. There’s an entire underlayer that was hidden from you and for a very good reason. I’ll get to that reason shortly. Stanley called it energy and, it is that, but we call it magic.”

“Magic’s real?!?” Sandy gasped excitedly.

Marisa held up her hands for calm. “As I said, some complications and dangers must be understood. Everything you know about magic probably came from the fiction you’ve read or watched on TV. Most of that is wrong. You’re going to have to learn about it from scratch.” Sandy nodded eagerly.

“Some people are linked to this magic, and it affects them in different ways. People who can tap into the magic and bend it to their will, to affect the world around them are called wielders. People who have the magic in them and are changed in strange and wonderful ways, sometimes gaining new abilities, are conduits. The people who are immune to the magic are Humans. They may not be immune to what wielders do, or to the abilities of conduits but the magic itself passes through them unfelt.” She looked to Sandy and saw she was following her so far. Marisa took a deep breath as the next part could get tricky. She picked up the scent of the Wild Magic saturating Sandy. Much, much stronger now. “You were Human. Now, you’re a conduit.”Belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.