Crazy Seduction(erotica)

She’d initially been exposed to the new magic by a man who wouldn’t be attending the party tonight, Nate Walker. There’d been no sign of Henry’s latest friend since Queen Mab took control of his mind and used him to escape. The suspicion was that Mab still had the Incubus with her in her castle in Ireland, but the impregnable fortress was locked tight. That was something else that troubled Henry’s dreams.

The ladies reached his door, and each gave him a sensual kiss before going inside. While he’d expected it from the Succubi, he was a little surprised by the passion in Siobhan’s kiss as Henry hadn’t been intimate with her… directly, though he’d helped her complete her upgrade with Marisa’s assistance. He blinked at the cheeky smile she gave him over her shoulder as she dropped her shoes, slipped on the guest slippers, and joined the others in the living room.

He locked up and moved to the entrance of the open space. He panned his eyes over his friends, and aside from Meixiu, all were present and accounted for. They were all making themselves comfortable on the couches and chairs. He joined Tish and took drink orders to ensure everyone had a glass in their hand ranging from cool spring water to fruit juice to twelve-year-old scotch for Roy and Mary. The veggie trays were being enjoyed as well.

The knock on the door caught him by surprise as he was pretty sure he hadn’t invited anyone else. With a glance at Tish, he went to the door and looked through the peephole. He blinked in surprise and pulled the door open. Two ladies stood there in their complimentary colored party dresses, looking so sweet and innocent. If it hadn’t been for Yuko’s penchant for trying to kill him with her Kitsune magic, he’d have let down his guard. Instead, he looked at them cautiously.

“Yuko. Jun. You both look very lovely today…”

“Are you going to invite us in?” Yuko asked, her voice trembling just a little. Jun hooked her little finger around her sister’s and settled her older sibling’s nerves.

Jun tilted her head at Henry. “Kali invited us to your party. She did not inform you.”

“Ah… no, she did not. But… she would not,” Henry sighed gently, and Jun’s eyes twinkled with amusement. They were both aware of the dark beauty’s enjoyment of generating chaos.

Henry nodded to himself. He could rise to this challenge. He faced Yuko, whose eyes looked troubled. “I welcome you two to join the party, but I ask that you refrain from activities of an explosive nature.”

Jun burst into giggles at Henry’s careful choice of words, and even Yuko cracked a smile, looking up at him sweetly from under her bangs. Her eyes twinkled a little as well.

“Agreed,” the older sister said quietly.

“Then please come in,” he said, standing aside.

They stepped inside and waited for Henry to close the door and lead them to the living room. He caught Kali’s eyes immediately, seeing her anticipation, and raised an eyebrow. The young woman grinned as her sister looked at her in disapproval. When Yuko and Jun came around the corner, conversation lulled as all eyes looked in their direction.

“Some of you know or know of Yuko Imamura and her sister Jun. They live on the seventh floor. Please make them feel welcome,” Henry said. Eyes went to him next, and he nodded to his friends.

Tish gestured for them to come further into the room and offered them a drink. They both indicated white wine, so she busied herself with getting that while Henry found them chairs to sit in. When he had his last two guests situated, Meixiu appeared in the doorway with a shy look on her face. She hustled over to squeeze herself between Sigrid and Marisa on one of three sofa’s Tish and Henry filled their new place with. He got her a glass of spring water, which she accepted with a grateful smile.

Henry and Tish moved to stand by the kitchen island, facing their friends, and raised a toast.

Henry cleared his throat, and all eyes went to him. Once, that much attention would have crippled him with stage fright, but these were his friends, something else that was relatively new for him. He felt wealthy beyond measure for having so many and being comfortable with them. He missed Nate, but he pulled his mind from those thoughts.

“Thank you all for joining us in our new home. If it weren’t for the incredible generosity of Camila and her company, VRL, and the efforts of Sigrid to make the deal, we would not have had the opportunity of living here.” There was a polite round of applause for the two ladies. “I’d also like to take a moment to reflect on the humbling and often frightening nature of fate that made this unit available. I hope the terror responsible for these murders is quickly caught and brought to justice for the sake of the victims and their families.”

Everyone followed Henry’s lead and raised their glass to join the toast.Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

Once done, Roy spoke up. “We offered to join the Council’s efforts to hunt down the killer, but they refused,” he said as Mary nodded. “Instead, they’re insisting on a curfew for all Hidden Races members who don’t need to be outside at night.”

Michelle nodded. “The Council has confirmed that five of the six victims have been members of the Hidden Races. They believe the first Human was likely a mistake since all others have been non-Humans, and there are so many more Humans out there. Five to one seems like a pattern.” Henry was pleased to see how comfortable Michelle was becoming amongst their group. Not that long ago, she was almost crippled with shyness when asked to speak before people.

Mary looked at her. “So, the human murdered at the first crime scene was just collateral damage?”

Michelle nodded again. “The trauma to the Human’s body was much less severe.”

Roy wasn’t finished. “I don’t understand the Hidden Races Council’s thinking on this. New York is just too big to cover everywhere this monster hunts, even with the number of agents they have at their disposal. They should incorporate our teams. The packs that live around the city are all willing to participate.”

“The Council likely has enough trouble keeping their teams invisible to the Human police patrols,” Camila offered.

“I think you’ve hit the nail on the head when you said monster hunts. Based on what I’ve heard from my contact within the Coroner’s office, I believe the killer is feeding off his victims,” Sigrid added.

Several people squirmed uncomfortably hearing this.

Michelle spoke again. “Some of us work nights, but I take cabs and keep to the well-lit main roads. This seems to be a good way to avoid danger. So far, all of the victims were attacked outside, at night, in darker neighborhoods.”

Mary frowned as her former police detective skills were intrigued by the case. “There doesn’t seem to be a pattern for their preferred location. The first murders were here in Jersey City. The second scene was in Brooklyn, then Manhattan, Queens, and finally Yonkers.”

“That’s a lot of territory to cover. How are they getting around? Do they have a car?” Roy then looked at Michelle. “Taking a taxi may not be as safe as you think.”

“Roy!” Camila scolded.

“What? They may be driving a taxi. That would explain how they’re in so many locations,” he explained. “No one pays attention to another cab on the road.”

Mary shook her head. “That theory only works if the victims were traveling to someplace distant. The first Hidden Races victim was a block from his home and walked there with a friend, who was also killed. Were the other victims far from their usual routes?”

Michelle paused as she recalled the reports she’d read. “No… all of the victims were close to their homes or businesses or directly between them.”

Mary looked at Roy. “So, the killer may be using a cab to get themselves around the city, but they aren’t using the vehicle to lure their victims to these dark spots to commit the crimes.”

“The Hidden Races aren’t easy targets. We fight back! Wielders will use their abilities against attackers!” Yuko suddenly blurted.

Roy responded. “We don’t know anything about the killer except they may be able to see through glamors to identify non-Human targets. Five to one is a pattern. They cause vicious damage to their victims, and as Sigrid mentioned, they seem to consume parts of their victims. I suspect they’re Hidden Races themselves and have claws and teeth like a Werewolf. I can’t speculate on their motive.”

“No one can see through glamors! That’s impossible,” Yuko insisted.

Dayshia began to chuckle. “Nothing is impossible, girlie.” She dropped her glamor, and her gorgeous, oversized eyes flared with brilliant blue, green, and gold light from within. “Oh! What lovely and colorful tails!”

Yuko’s eyes widened. “What are you?” she gasped.

Dayshia smiled gently at her as she switched back to her Human glamor. “We don’t know. Even Baba Yaga didn’t know.”

“Ahhh! Di’ ye hafta mention her name?” Roy snapped in annoyance as he glanced around, looking for shadows.

“Roy, you know she’s not likely to show her face around Henry any time soon,” Sigrid complained.

The big redhead glanced over at Henry and seemed to calm himself. “Right, tha’s true. Sorry, lad.”

Henry shrugged. He was aware that Baba wasn’t going to visit him as she’d stolen his daughter from him. She hadn’t completely driven a stake into his heart to kill his love for her, but their relationship was… severely strained, to put it mildly.

“If we can put a bookmark in the discussion about the serial killer, has anyone heard anything about a certain mad Queen?” Marisa asked the group but seemed to be directing her attention to Michelle, who was privy to the Council and seemed willing to share. Henry knew she missed Nate. He missed Nate too! They both suspected Mab still had him.