A Witch Among Warlocks: The Complete Series Box Set Read online

  “My wand is Excalibur and your wand is a wooden practice sword.”

  “My wand is a violin and your wand is that big drum people pull out in a musical jam that everyone thinks they know how to play when they actually don’t,” he said.

  Damnit. I totally knew the drum he was talking about. My dad had that drum in the corner of the den. “My wand is Big Bird and your wand is Elmo,” I snapped.

  “I was just making sure you had it all under control.”

  “Well, I do. But…” I shrugged. “It’s just tedious and I’m supposed to do it alone.”

  “You’re almost done.” He came over to the tree and leaned against it to finish his drink. “Do you have a phrase or poem you’ve been infusing it with?”

  “Well…I couldn’t think of much of anything, actually. So my dad told me that my mom used to wear a ring engraved with a line from Beowulf. ‘Fares Wyrd as she must’. It’s like, ‘fate does what it does’. I don’t know what it meant to her. I guess I’m trying to figure that out by saying it…”

  “I think it sounds like a way of accepting things that happen to you, good or bad,” Harris said.

  “Going with the flow, old English style? What was yours? Did you have one?”

  “‘When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.’”

  “Ew. Did you ever think as a child anyway?”

  “It doesn’t mean putting away fun,” he said. “But, it’s true, my parents used to quote it to me like that.”

  “Your parents quoted Shakespeare to you?”

  “The Bible. The whole passage is about understanding and love beyond self,” he said. “My parents aren’t very religious like their ancestors. They just picked out the bossy parts.” He pitched his can into a far-off recycling bin. “Look at you squirm. Mundanes don’t sit around talking about Beowulf and the Bible in school?”

  “I mean…not like that. I don’t think about these things.”

  “When you practice magic, if you want to be good, you have to find that thing,” he said. “There are a thousand places to find it: religions, books, trees. But you have to find it somewhere, or your magic won’t have grounding. For your mother, it was ‘fares Wyrd as she must’.”

  “It ‘fared’ her right into joining up with a demon.”

  “So maybe it’s a clue as to why?”

  “Harris—have you been thinking about how I can help my mom?” I asked with a sly grin.

  “I don’t know. And anyway, I have my own work to do tonight, so…have fun with that.” Harris’ ears and cheeks were both a little red. As usual, his fair skin couldn’t hide his feelings, which I enjoyed.

  “Bible study? Or just your usual studies in being a royal without a kingdom?”

  He gave me a faint look of disdain. “Goodnight.”

  I was a little disappointed as he walked away, like he wanted to actually study instead of trade insults. That’s no fun.

  I had to pack it in for the night, anyway. It was getting dark.

  “Alec, do you mind if I play my game?” I asked, walking back up into our room. “It’s the weekend so you have time to recover from the tech sickness, and I’ve been working so hard. I’ll stop after one quest. I swear.”

  Alec was working on a painting of a tree. “I wondered if you’d given up on that.”

  “No. I miss it a lot, actually. I just want to decompress tonight.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll go hang out with Monty if the computers are too much.”

  “You’re an angel,” I said, blowing him a kiss.

  I called up Firian and we immediately dove into our laptops. Fortune’s Favor had added a new quest called the Quest of the Dragon’s Gate with some new vaguely Asian-themed fantasy warriors.

  “Ooh, we could make new ninja characters,” I said.

  “We don’t have time for that. But what’s this thing with the old man?”

  I switched to typing so we didn’t bother Alec. elemental swords! cool!!

  Should we try the volcano and get the fire sword?

  i want to try the snow forest

  You always go for the snow boards first

  we don’t get enough snow in Georgia!!!! oh, it says we have to buy clothes for it or we’ll get Exposure.

  We went to the town shop to upgrade our outfits. I wanted to dress Larius in a sexy black outfit with fur trim that offered extra stealth stats. I moaned and typed, i’m frickin TEN GOLD SHORT to get shadowfur!!!

  “How much do you need?” Firian asked aloud as he purchased his elven warrior a pink cape with a big fur collar that still left her body half-naked but technically provided protection from the snow. “Ten gold? We could just kill some of those bandits and see if we can get more.”

  Alec had wandered over to watch. I looked up at him, and he quickly said, “Just curious what you’re always talking about.”

  “We could really use a ninja…,” I said.

  “I wasn’t…”

  “We’re only going to play one quick quest,” I said. “But it says, ‘The new Quest of the Dragon’s Gate theme can be played by any class of character, but the ninja, samurai and miko characters gain extra powers that will unlock bonuses.’”

  “It’s just a game,” Alec said. “I’m working on a painting.” He still didn’t budge. His eyes followed my character as he ran around the village.

  “Then why are you watching me?”

  “You know what? What the hell.” He lifted a pile of books off his laptop.

  “Really!? You’re going to play?”

  “Yeah. The last thing I need is some computer draining my magic, but…it looks fun.”

  “It is fun,” I said. “You won’t regret it. We can control ourselves.”

  “I just read an article in ‘Cast’ magazine titled, ‘Tech Peer Pressure: How to Deal’,” Alec said. “Some of the things it said your friends will say include ‘It’s harmless fun’, ‘Everyone does it’ and ‘You can just turn it off if it’s too much’.”

  “Oh, so we’re the bad kids,” I said.

  “You are.”

  “We’re computer pushers. First it’s Fortune’s Favor and before you know it—”

  “Minecraft. Fortnite. Words With Friends,” Firian said. “Soon you’re just prowling the streets looking for the next hit. Hey, man. Hey, you got any pixels, man? I’ll take Animal Crossing. Tetris. Whatever you got.”

  “I’ll trade you my body for a rare Pokemon,” I moaned.

  Alec was ignoring us by now as he turned on his computer. “Just show me how to do it.”

  We got the game downloading and I got Alec to the screen for choosing a character. He immediately went for a busty female ninja wearing a bikini and stockings.

  “Not you too,” I said.

  “You made yourself a hot guy,” he said.

  “He’s appropriately dressed.”

  “Does he have to be?” Alec asked in a low voice as he leaned so close to me we were almost touching. I shivered back because I didn’t want to get jolted.

  Pretty soon we were off and running. Alec had no idea what he was doing and needed to level up. At first he kept walking off cliffs and dying. So we spent some time on tutorial and I fully expected Alec to say that too much time had passed and we needed to stop, but since he didn’t, I wasn’t going to be the one to remind him.

  A lot of time passed.

  Like…a lot.

  You’ve impressed me with your training, Yumi, Firian said to Alec. I think you can handle the snow forest if Larius watches over you. You need his protection and strength.

  But I thought you and Larius were…involved.

  Where I come from, we elves live a long time. Relationships are long and monogamous. But when I left my people behind, I said goodbye to that life. I might be willing to share Larius with you so that our bond might be stronger.

  I snorted. we don’t have to work all this out in the game.

/>   Firia pulled her sword on Larius. What do you mean? Do you think our affections are a game?

  Alec’s avatar sent affection points to Larius in a big stream of pink hearts. i’m so happy. larius, how i yearn to caress your eyepatch.

  I started laughing. Be serious, I typed. Yumi, I have never let anyone touch my eyepatch. I lost that eye in a battle against the forces of darkness.

  all the more reason…

  Before we fight the snow demons, I think we should find ourselves an inn. Firia jumped up and down.

  Do you think, of all the wenches I have taken my pleasure with, I would give myself to a mere ninja and a haughty elven warrior? I typed back, trying to stay in character. Larius in my mind, had been hurt badly in the past so he was hard to get. He was cold and brooding.

  You’re a virgin, aren’t you, Larry? Firia jumped up and down again, elf boobs a’bouncin’. I gave Firian the finger.

  i know nothing of men, said our ninja friend. i grew up in an all female ninja colony. please show me…

  “An all female ninja colony?”

  “I don’t know.” Alec shrugged. “That could be a thing.”

  Did I tell you I’m a high elf in the streets and a dark elf between the sheets? Firia said.

  Basically the whole time we were trying to solve the quest for the snow sword, ‘Firia’ and ‘Yumi’ were shamelessly flirting with ‘Larius’ and it got increasingly ridiculous but we were having so much fun. I didn’t have flat out goofy fun that often anymore.

  When we acquired the sword it was three in the morning.

  On Sunday night.

  Somehow we had spent the entire weekend playing the game.

  i must confess something, Yumi said. i made a vow of chastity in the ninja colony and i can’t actually touch your alabaster muscles, larius, but i think you and firia should succumb to your desires. He looked at me over the screen and shut the computer. “Char…seriously. Firian—you too. This weekend was…good. I can’t do something like that again, but for once I wasn’t trying to live up to anything. I just saw you having a good time.”

  I realized, coming out of my own game binge haze, that Alec looked like he had influenza. He was pale and had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still a big, strong guy. As he took off his glasses, rubbed his face with the edge of his shirt, groaned, and finished off his cup of coffee, I was absurdly turned on. He’d actually made himself sick just so he could blow a weekend having fun with me.

  “Alec…can I do something to help you?”

  “I’m not kidding,” he said. “Even if I can’t touch you, I still feed off your desire. So if you and Firian wanted to—” He cut himself. “Scratch that. I know you want to.”

  “Oh, you mean…here? Right now?”

  “I know it’s late,” Alec said.

  “It sounds like I have a job to do…” Firian walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

  “Oh…” I couldn’t help it. I melted into them with a sigh. As much fun as I’d had, the real-life touch seemed to rejuvenate me too.

  Especially when Firian slipped his hand down my pajama pants. “I’ll try to make it quick so you can get some sleep,” he whispered in my ear.

  “And I’m happy to help however I can,” Alec said, tearing off his t-shirt. “Please make it good.”

  Oh holy smokes. I could not handle this much stimulation. Alec’s intense reddish eyes looking at me hungrily, the tattoos on his arms, the veins and corded muscles. And while I was looking at him Firian started taking my clothes off. I could feel his hands brushing and teasing me, slowly building in urgency.

  I whimpered. I couldn’t believe how fast I went from being totally absorbed in the computer world to being so turned on I was biting my knuckles to keep from running my hands up and down Alec’s bare chest. Firian was putting on a condom.

  “Can you fuck her so I can see her?” Alec said, in this voice that was tender and almost trembling with desire, but also verged close to a command.

  Alec always seemed like a different person when he let his incubus side out, and that was not a bad thing.

  “I live to serve,” Firian said. “Spread your legs for me, Char. If you make an incubus play computer games, you have to pay him back.”

  “I just wish the incubus could collect the payment himself,” I said.

  “I’m going to collect,” he said, stroking his own cock while he drank me in with his eyes.

  These guys were intense enough on their own, but two at once and I was dead. Even if Alec and I couldn’t actually touch, I still felt like in some ways we had the most sexual relationship of all. Just the looks and the teases and the dreams and now this…

  Firian pulled me back onto his lap on the bed, adjusting my position until he could slip inside me. He did it like he belonged there.

  And he was right. I didn’t care what people thought about familiars—Firian’s touch, Firian inside me…it felt so right.

  “Montague is going to feel left out,” I breathed.

  “Well, next time,” Alec said. “I just—need this right now. Fuck her good and hard.”

  Firian took the challenge. From the edge of the bed, he rocked in and out of me while I dug my toes into the cold floor of the old room, my legs spread around his, and Alec’s eyes roaming over my legs, my pussy, my breasts, and my face. Firian kissed my neck and then nudged my face sideways so our mouths could meet. As I kissed him, he slipped both his hands between my legs and stroked my clit and brushed his fingers over my nether lips as he worked his pelvis, his length flexing inside me.

  “That’s very good,” Alec said. “I like to see her.”

  “Feeling’s mutual,” I murmured, watching him run his hand faster up and down his thick length, and those were the last coherent words I managed before Firian sent me to the stars.

  Chapter Twenty

  Alec

  My alarm buzzed after what felt like two minutes of sleep.

  “Shit…” I turned it off, feeling like I was made of lead. Plus, of course, my dick was hard again.

  What little sleep I’d gotten had been filled with more dreams of Charlotte.

  She stirred in the other bed. Firian was curled up at her feet in fox form. “Coffee…,” she murmured. “Firian…can you give me magical coffee?”

  “It won’t actually wake you up,” he said.

  “Yeah it will. It’s called osmosis.”

  “Placebo,” Firian said. “It’s called placebo.” He walked up to her and licked her face. She started giggling.

  “You’re tickling me! Okay, okay.” She threw off the covers, all rumpled hair and tank top. Panties. No pajama pants, but ankle socks. Panties and ankle socks and the way her shirt clung to her breasts and the soft curves of her stomach and hips. She wasn’t self-conscious around me anymore. She flung herself out of bed to pee, leaving rumpled covers and the scent of her behind.

  This was not doing anything for my arousal.

  I picked up my newly made wand and traced it carefully along the tattoos on my arms. A focus spell, written on my skin, to help me fight off my demon side. It had been a couple of years since I screwed up this badly. A whole weekend of weakening myself with tech and then the rush of Charlotte’s desire flooding me. Rejuvenating me.

  It wouldn’t be enough, though. I needed more to restore my powers. My skin was on fire with the need to satisfy my incubus side.

  I took a cold shower, grabbed a quick breakfast, and let Montague walk Charlotte to our next class while I buzzed ahead.

  We had necromancy first. I could tell as soon as Professor McGuinness saw me that I visibly looked like shit. He gave me that little disappointed smile I was subjected to in high school if I went out with Monty and Harris too much. They didn’t suffer as many ill effects from electronics as I did because they weren’t half-demons who fed on sex and weren’t getting fed.

  Still, I’m not going to feel sorry for myself. Best weekend of my li
fe.

  “Good morning. Miss Byrne, it looks like you’re almost done with the wand.”

  “Yes,” Charlotte said, biting her lip and looking unconsciously guilty. She hadn’t touched the wand since Friday evening.

  I was struggling to focus. I just wanted to watch her every move. My incubus side didn’t give a crap about class. I was getting hard just watching her mouth.

  “Well, I usually wait until everyone has their wands until I begin this portion of the year, but we are close enough. This year, we are going to connect with the spirit world.”

  “Finally,” someone said.

  “Do you know why we don’t like to do this until you have wands?”

  “Wands are grounding,” said Henry Wells, who was a rich warlock from the Wells family of Savannah. He had an accent worthy of Scarlett O’Hara, and whenever he answered a question he sounded like he had better things to do.

  “Precisely. And also, wands can store your magic like a battery, although as I’m sure Professor Jablonsky told you, this doesn’t happen automatically. You have to care for your wand and charge it with power. Look at the person to your left. Then look at the person to your right.” No one did this, and Professor McGuinness was just being sarcastic anyway, as he said, “Both of those people will not take the proper time to charge their wands.”

  “I will,” Irving said.

  “I hope so, Mr. Llewellyn. But I’ve been doing this a long time. As I said, summoning the dead will take a lot out of you. You will have to connect to the spirit world, which is not the same as the Ethereal world. It is a world somewhat distant, and not easy to reach.”

  “Who do we get to summon?” Charlotte asked, with a faint tinge of hope in her voice.

  “That’s what I’m going to talk about today: the first rule of necromancy and why it is so rare to become a white necromancer. We all yearn to defy death. Of course, when someone we love dies, our impulse is to bring them back, if we are able to. But even communication runs a terrible risk. If you could just talk to dead loved ones like your magic is a telephone line, the circle of life would be disrupted. Your loved ones might cling to this world longer than they should. They could become ghosts. You, meanwhile, could become more tangled in the past than the present. So you can’t summon anyone you actually knew.”