Three Queens of Cerberus

Chapter 8

Three Queens of Cerberus

Chapter 8

Sena’s POV

I take the path back around, toward the manor. There is no way I’m going to the swamp lands by myself. I was watching for caiman, but only because I was waiting for Tie to come back. It also gave a good alibi for teasing him a little bit. He liked the dress, I could tell. He even gave me a second look.

I continue the long winding trip back up and around the grounds. I hear voices and giggling, just before that tigress Tie was kissing comes around the bend. She’s walking with a tiger, who appears nearly identical to her. An attractive male, tall and thin.

She steps in front of the male, giving me room to pass. I step into her path bumping her. “Excuse you.”, she hisses.

“I’m sorry.”, I feign apologies, just a clumsy girl.

The tigress narrows her eyes, but the tiger takes her forearm. “Hey, that’s alright. Just watch out for others next time.”, he tells me, urging the tigress to move to the other side of him. She complies, letting him stand between the two of us.

“Yes, of course. Sorry.”, I fake as much innocence as I can, and hurry further up the trail. That’s what she gets for kissing my mate!

Ulysses’s POV

“Who is that?”, Ray asks.

“Sena. She has a crush on Tie. I don’t think he’s interested in her though.”, I answer Ray, recalling meeting her briefly the first day I was here. She faintly carries Tie’s scent though. Just barely discernible beneath the other male.

“Oh…”, his teasing tone makes me roll my eyes, and him chuckle. “So… you got a little too close to her prize and made yourself a little pixie enemy, have you?”

“Tie doesn’t want her, he dismissed her in front of me. He told her he wanted to court me.”, I defend. I’m not the man stealer or anything. He isn’t hers, even if she does smell like him a little.

“I’m teasing, Sissy. Tie’s scent on her is in passing. The other male is her mating partner. She’s pretty good at the sweet little girl act though.”, Ray compliments, falling back in step beside me. “I’m sorry…”, he raises his voice mimicking her horribly; then chuckles, shaking his head.

I roll my eyes at him and bump him gently. He’s a little tired, so we shifted and grabbed clothes from the shifter cases. There are several out around the manor.

“So, are we out further, or along this trail?”, Ray asks, scanning the cabins along the way.

“No, we are river front. This trail comes back around toward the East corner, then wraps back downriver toward the entertainment wing of the manor. Those stairs from the courtyard… they lead down to the dock, and the trail to our cabin. This is the long way around, but we were already on this end of the manor.”, I explain.

Ray nods, “You’ve been running here much?’

“No, I walked it with Tie. I’d only been here for a day when Tie brought you home.”, I answer, realizing that ‘home’, though said accidentally, feels right. This is home. We’re home. I test the phrase in my mind.

Luka’s POV

“Don’t open it in here! You don’t even know what the hell that is, Luka!”, Bax scolds, slamming his hand on the top of the case to prevent me from lifting the lid.

“I won’t ever know if I don’t open it, Bax.”, I reply condescendingly.

“You want to know what’s in there? Let Tie open it. He’ll understand what he’s looking at.”, Bax suggests. The witch said it was enchantments that were causing trouble in her coven. A rival coven had scattered them throughout her community. We accepted payment to take the case off her hands.

“Very well.”, I open a link to include Bax, for his peace of mind, about the case. Tie immediately agrees to come take it.

Melody excitedly skips into the study, closing the door behind her. Bax, having relaxed back into sitting across from me, grins at his little mate’s happiness.

“She’s coming! Tie linked, said they’ve just finished lunch and are headed up here. I’m going to show Ray and Ulysses round, let them meet the other guards stationed on the wing.”, she waves her hand at me, hurrying me to get her keycards for them. I open the desk, pulling two Bax has already programmed to the doors. She quickly snatches them and kisses my forehead, before hurrying around Bax, giving him a more intimate kiss.

“Make them comfortable, Mel, but try to help them see their worth. They are not going to feel very fulfilled living as manor guards.”, I advise.

“Of course! I’d love to keep them, but I know this is just a transitional spot. They need calm for a bit. I’m most excited about spending time with her! Once you move her, I won’t have a chance to get to know her.”, Mel defends. She wouldn’t ever hold anyone back, I know that. I just don’t want her to get too set on having them there. “Now… if you would just go on like a two- or three-month round, find your mate wherever she’s hiding, and bring her back…”

“Mel…”, I sigh heavily. I want my mate, I do. The Goddess will not place her before me until we are both where we are meant to be. It’s a waste of time.

“I know… I know.”, she waves me off, opening the study door to leave. “Think it over, my prince.”, she shuts the door before I can respond. She only ever refers to me as her prince when she thinks I’m being stupid. That’s Mel code for, ‘Get your s**t together, you’re supposed to be better than this.’ Bax chuckles at me, continuing to scroll through his reports.

“Shut up!”, I mouth, returning to my own screen.

Tiberius’s POV

As much as I want to go up to the manor and collect Ulysses, I don’t. I force myself to stay in my own cabin, and busy myself cataloging a case of enchantments. Luka has collected this variety of oddities from an old witch in Nethar. Thus far, it’s just nuisance items. Earrings that whisper everything the wearer says back to them. Mirror that enhances insecurities, making them more prominent when you look into it. Stones that absorb energy, draining any that hold them. Light bulbs that flicker continuously. A toilet seat that makes farting noises and gagging sounds when touched. I chuckle, setting the ridiculous enchantment on the coffee table. I may go put that in the foundlings’ wing. The little ones would love it.

What’s next? A pearl necklace that feels quite odd... I can’t get a good read on it through the gloves. I pull the gloves off and set them on the table, rolling the necklace in my palm. “You’re not a gag item are you?”, I ask it, looking at it more carefully. It’s triggered by the clasp, something mechanical about it. I hook it and the pearls crack, creating sharp edges, and shrinking smaller almost immediately. Aconitum spills into my hands, and I drop the necklace; letting it clatter on the floor between my feet. I watch it shrink down to the size of a small woman’s bracelet, before it finally stops. Carefully, I pick it back up, releasing the clasp to watch the pearls close and it stretch back to its original size. Certainly not a gag gift.

I set it in the case for potentially hazardous enchantments. I conjure a cloth and wipe up the compound that spilled out in the floor, then stand to wash my hands.

More cautiously, now that I’ve found my first dangerous enchantment among these trinkets, I return to cataloging. I take a picture of the little killer, tagging it for what it truly is.

The next I recognize instantly, it’s a demon charm. Leave it out in the open, exposed to the moon, and it will call to demons of Enyo. They feed on the pleasure and pain of their victims. I place the large ruby broche on the table, snapping a picture and cataloging it. It, of course, will also be sealed in the other case.

I feel her before she enters, and I close both cases. “Tie?”, she calls out from the door as she opens it.

“Come in, beauty.”, I return, standing from the couch. She eyes the cases but doesn’t mention them. “We just got back. Ray is going to the bar with a reptilian named Zach. He wants to check out the area. Are you busy?”, she offers somewhat uncertainly.

“Not particularly. What do you have in mind?”, there’s absolutely no way I’m letting her go to a bar without me. The case will have to wait.

“Can I hang out with you? Or is that… private?”, she gestures toward the cases.

“No, come.”, I gesture for her to come sit with me. She smiles, crossing the room and sitting directly beside where I’d just been seated.

“So, what is this?”, she asks.

“These are enchantments. Don’t touch unless I tell you it’s safe, okay?”, I open the larger case first, exposing the varying objects to her.

She smirks widely, “And that?”, she gestures to the toilet seat.

“You may touch it.”, I watch her furrow her brows, then reach out and touch the seat. Immediately, the room is filled with the sounds of explosive gas, followed by gagging.

She chuckles and pulls away. “Why?”

“I’m not sure, babe. It’s just a bunch of random stuff some witches paid Luka to dispose of. Some of it is silly, or just annoying. This case here…”, I open the smaller one, “Is where the dangerous things go.”

She looks in at the broche and necklace. “Those are beautiful.”

“They are, don’t touch that one. The broche is fine for handling. It can’t stay out though.”, I allow her to reach in and pick up the broche. She smooths her thumb over the large ruby in the center, before fingering over each of the pearls and diamonds encrusted around it.

“What does it do?”, she asks, turning it over in her hand.

“It’s bait, beauty. Do you know what a demon of Enyo is?”

She nods, still studying the broche. “Yes, they’re bloodlust demons.”

“Yes, they feed on the pleasure and pain of their victims through their blood. This broche, if placed in the moonlight, calls them to it; like a lure.” I watch her place it back in the case.

“And that one?”, she gestures to the necklace.

“It becomes barbed when clasped, filling its victim with aconitum compound. Do not touch it.”, she nods, pulling back away from the case.

“What is aconitum compound?”, she asks, looking over at me as I take my seat beside her.

“It immobilizes lycan. Like wolfsbane on steroids. It can kill were-creatures, and there isn’t an antidote for it.”, I answer, pulling a medallion from the case. She watches intently, asking a million questions; but I’m happy to answer her. I enjoy listening to her thoughts on different things, and her curiosity. She is genuinely stunned by the darker enchantments, never quite grasping why a creature would want to harm another that way.

“Do you make these?”, she asks.

“I can and do if it suits. I did not make any of these.”, I answer, lifting another from the case.

“Can you… un-enchant something?”, I feel her watching me intently.

“Most things. It really depends on the power and skill of the item’s creator, beauty. If the creator is inferior to me, I can do whatever I please with it. If they were to be equal or superior, I’d have to be very cautious. Some things, like that broche, are sealed. It cannot be undone; it is made from the blood of an Enyo demon.”

“It’s cursed?”, she questions the blood statement.

“Not exactly. Enchantments are spells, placed on an object for a specific purpose, like luring demons. Curses are more complex. It could be an object or a creature cursed. It may or may not show any outward signs, or residual power. They’re much more difficult to spot.”, I try to answer her, but it’s an art best learned visually.

“So… how do you know that stuff isn’t cursed then?”, she asks, waving her hand over the case.

“I’ve already searched over the case, before sorting it. I found nothing that would indicate it was cursed. I’m searching each object as I remove it. That is why I said not to touch anything without my approval.”, I look over at her and she grins, blushing slightly.

“How was your tour, love?”, I ask, refocusing on the glass vase in my hand.

“It was good. I really like Melody. She’s so sweet and bubbly. I met Riley today also. Her son is so cute, he shared his puffs with me.”, she tells me, clearly infatuated with little Cody.

“Cody is a good kid.”, I comment. He’s three or four now… I try to remember how long Daphne and Kieran have been together… four?

“He is so smart, Tie. He read me the directions on his slime kit and knew how to read the measurements. She said he just turned four last month.”, she brags on little Cody. He is a very intelligent boy, but I’m not surprised. Riley is highly intelligent, and Law is disciplined. Their child would mirror those traits. “He doesn’t look reptilian… I didn’t want to ask, I didn’t want it to sound rude.”, I think that’s her way of asking me.

“He’s lycan wolf. Riley’s first fated was a Council Elite, a lycan wolf warrior. He was killed before Cody was born. Law found Riley afterward. They’ve been together since before Cody was born.”, I answer honestly. Riley would’ve, had she asked.

“Are they going to have another child?”, she accepts the vase when I offer it to her; reading the tag I placed on the tablet for it. It keeps flowers alive indefinitely but puts off an incredible odor.

“That’s Riley’s decision, beauty. I’m not Law’s chosen. Law wouldn’t discuss something like that with me, unless it were upsetting him. Whatever decision she’s made, Law is fine with.”, I lift a large plaque from the case.

“You call him brother.”, she points out.

“I do. Reptilian refer to any other male reptilian they are close to as brother. It is not specific to our chosen. Brinkley and Law are chosen. Luka, Bax, and I are chosen.”, I start to explain, when she suddenly reaches out and slaps the plaque out of my hands.

“DON’T!”, the only word that leaves her mouth. I look down at the plaque, now resting on the floor between my feet, an edge I was moving lifted slightly. I consider picking it back up but look over at her; waiting for her to tell me what upset her with it.

“That’s not a plaque, it’s a dybbuk box. You’ll free the creature it contains.”, she warns, gesturing to the lifted edge.

I lean down and pick it back up, pressing the edge back in. Impressed that she knows what it is, I explain, “Do you see these markings here?”, I tilt it toward her, letting her study the symbols.

“I don’t recognize them.”, she states, tracing over them. I feel his power stir in the box. He is awakened.

“It’s draconic, love. This is a dybbuk box. A dragonian child was killed, with his pregnant mother. This is the fallen, a part of him not witherin. The soul seeks his mate, and attacks any that it perceives as possibly responsible. It says, ‘Death comes with disregard. Bless the valve and return to peace.’ I need to open the valve and offer my blessing. Then, I will take him and seal him away, so that he is not disturbed.”, I open the valve again, speaking a blessing and encouraging him to return to sleep. She’s touched him too; she needs to offer the same assurance.

“You’ve touched him, beauty. Repeat exactly what I say.”, I tilt the valve toward her, turning enough that she can clearly see my mouth. Draconic is not easily spoken, especially if you’ve never heard it. She does well, only having to repeat a few words. It is enough to appease the dragon. He’s slowly begun settling. I close the valve and place him on the coffee table. I seal both cases, and stand. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”, she hops up quickly, narrowly missing me as she passes. “What are we eating?”

“Whatever you want, beauty.”, I answer, just happy she wants to eat.

“I can dig through your kitchen?”, she asks, following me around the island.

“You may.”, I grant her permission, she can go through whatever she wants. I lean against the island, watching her find what we’re eating. She settles on a pasta her mother used to make and begins accumulating ingredients she needs on the counter. Returning to telling me about her tour. I’m glad she seems to have made friends with both Riley and Mel, finding some common ground in hobbies. They’ll make an interesting trio, a hybrid tiger, a reptilian, and a lycan wolf. Neither Mel nor Riley have had it easy. She’ll find understanding if or when she chooses to confide in them.

“Sena followed us around the entertainment wing, lurking around corners like we couldn’t see her.”, Ulysses tells me as she hands me vegetables to chop.

“She’s odd sometimes. Probably, just curious, but too nervous to approach.”, I answer, beginning my work.

“Have you… mated with her?”, she asks, the jealousy only slightly masked in her question.

“I’ve never mated with, nor touched Sena in that way. Never kissed her, never implied interest. It’s just a crush, beauty. She’ll grow out of it eventually.”, I assure her. I know Sena is going to act even more strangely around Ulysses. She does that with any woman I give attention to. Helena, Belle’s sister mated to one of my team, has sort of adopted Sena, and tries to redirect her obsession with me.

“She’s infatuated with you. She thinks you’re hers.”, Ulysses insists, accepting the chopped vegetables back from me.

“I’m not hers, beauty. I do wish to be yours though.”, I make it as clear as I can. I don’t want Sena. I want Ulysses.

She grins, the blush returning to her face as she strains the pasta. “Why?”, she asks, after a long pause.

Women always do this. That’s a difficult question. Even if I list what I believe to be good answers, she’ll be upset because I missed whatever one she felt I shouldn’t have. “It’s something I feel when I look at you… when you look at me. You’re intelligent and beautiful. You have a feisty personality, but there’s a sweetness there that not everyone gets to see. Everything about you is intoxicating, your scent, the way you move, the way you taste.”, her blush grows red enough, I can feel the heat in her cheeks when I stroke her jaw. “I want you, Ulysses.”

I tilt her chin up to me, leaning down to claim her mouth. She opens for me immediately, and I take full advantage, deepening our kiss. I desperately want all of her, but the sound of her sauce bubbling on the stove draws her attention. “You’re going to make me burn it!”, she giggles, pushing at my chest. I step back, releasing her from where I’ve pinned her against the counter.

She stirs the sauce, removing it from the heat. “What time are you leaving?”

“In about an hour and a half. I’ll be back by morning.”, I take a seat at the bar, to help avoid the temptation of grabbing her again. She needs to eat.

It doesn’t take her long to finish cooking and serving our plates. She passes them to me, and I set her at the bar beside me.

We discuss her thoughts on the position she’s chosen, my thoughts on her true potential. She tells me about the foundlings she’s met, and the joy that echoes through the entertainment building and foundling wing. Guarding and protecting them feels restorative for her. I’m in full support of whatever makes her happy and helps her heal. She’s safe in the manor. I don’t have any issue with her wishing to stay within close proximity.

A few more stolen kisses, and light petting later, I reluctantly have to release her. She needs to get ready for bed, and I have a team to move. “I’ll see you in the morning, beauty.”, I stroke my thumb over her creamy cheek.

“Be safe, Tie.”, she turns into my palm, brushing her lips over it; then, takes the last few steps up to her cabin before grinning at me when she closes the door.

I sneer at having to leave her, but duty calls. Better than pacing my floors, wishing she didn’t need to sleep so often. I link my team, “Moving out.”