Hi, all! Annabelle Hawthorne back yet again with "Monster girls do Hawaii, also, some mercenaries!"
New reader? Welcome! Pull up a chair, but maybe don't sit on that couch over there, it has...stuff on it. To catch you up on the story, a man inherited a magical house, there was a whole lot of fucking and fighting, he nutted, she nutted, they nutted, you nutted, now they're in Hawaii. I'm essentially seeing what I can get away with before whoever is in charge of the fantasy novel guild comes to my house and asks me to stop. I don't plan on stopping, but I will see if I can make their representative cry while asking.
Returning reader? Welcome back! Things have been going pretty good for me, have been getting plenty of sleep and drinking lots of water. I got some really nice emails from a couple of you this week, they were definitely a bright spot during a few rather boring days. The leaves are finally turning where I live, which means my office won't be so damned hot!
I hope the season has treated you all very well. If not, I certainly hope to lift your spirits a bit. Thanks to all my readers on here for continuing to support my writing, whether it be by leaving stars, comments, or even naming their child after a character (but I won't say which one 😜). You've all done plenty to lift me to where I am today, and I'll keep working hard to avoid letting you down.
I apparently forgot to update my bio on release dates, but make sure to check their to figure out when the next chapter is planned. We're hitting holiday season very soon, which means I will likely run into some minor delays as I spend time with family, travel, and attempt to eat an entire week's worth of food in a single day. I know you probably think I mean Thanksgiving, but I'm actually referring to the all you can eat shrimp deal at Red Lobster. Now if I could just convince them to let me order ten plates all at once...
A huge, final thank you to my beta readers, who helped me meet the deadline on this particular tale. For anyone curious, I average roughly 150-200 necessary changes per chapter (typos, plot holes, etc). Literotica's own TJ Skywind is one of these all-stars. I'm always so very grateful to those early readers, because they always come through
In a Clutch
The mood amongst the SoS ranged wildly from somber to simmering rage. Cyrus watched as several of the men spent hours going over their weaponry, breaking down weapons and then reassembling them, just for something to do with their nervous energy.
Laurel's team was among the first to be sent on patrol after the doll incident. The mage had hesitated only briefly when Darius gave the command, and it became clear early on that arguing would be counter-productive. Rumors amongst the Order were already circulating that the Director had been pissed when their search had yielded nothing and the SoS had immediately doubled their price. With that much money on the line, it was clear that results were expected, and soon.
Darius had made several phone calls during this period, but Cyrus didn't know to whom. The man had spoken in at least three different languages, one of which he didn't recognize. He had asked Eulalie discretely if she was listening to those calls, but the Rat Queen was not. Apparently even magical rats had their limitations.
After morning came and they weren't attacked, a small squad of men took their injured comrade for medical treatment. Cyrus asked how they would explain the injury to the ER doctors, at which point some of the men had chuckled. Apparently, if they said their buddy slipped and landed on it while naked, the ER would just assume it was a weird sex thing and ask no further questions. The old mage didn't bother inquiring how this was somehow common knowledge.
With the anxious energy building up, Cyrus decided to take a walk off of the property. The SoS wasn't paying any attention to him that he was aware of, which was for the best. Though a few members of the Order deferred to him, he had been completely supplanted by Laurel and the Director.
Away from the Radley estate, he made it a couple of blocks when Eulalie's voice chirped in his ear.
"You out?" she asked, her tone playful.
"No," he muttered quietly. "Wouldn't mind a nap, though."
"There's a park up ahead on your left. You could probably find somewhere to lay down if you wanted. It's rarely busy during the week."
He cast his eyes up, but didn't see whatever Eulalie was watching him with. The park was nearly empty, so he found himself a bench tucked away in a garden and stretched out, his hands behind his head.
With so much agitating just under the surface, he doubted he would find sleep. At least, that's what he thought, but when he blinked, the sun had shifted across the sky and was nearing the horizon. Yawning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had slept for most of the day.
"I was wondering when you would wake up." The voice made him do a double-take, and he realized he was sitting next to Dana. He hadn't seen the zombie recently, but she looked to be in far better shape than usual. She was in yoga pants that left little to the imagination and a tank top that said
My Girlfriend is Hotter than Yours.
"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked, scratching his beard.
"Not long," she replied nonchalantly.
"About twenty minutes," said Eulalie in his ear.
"Huh. Is everything okay?" he asked.
Dana slouched back, casting her sullen gaze forward across the park. "No," she muttered. "Ever since your new buddies tried to break in, I've been asked to get more directly involved. That's not good news for them."
"What do you mean?"
She lifted an eyebrow. "To start with, I'm annoyed that I got pulled away from my project. But the real issue is you have a house full of women who are planning to absolutely tear everyone apart. Jenny has things under control for now, but the fact that the SoS hasn't packed up means that they're gonna double down."
"Fuck." Cyrus sighed. "You're right, though. I just don't know how they're going to do it."
"More like tripled down." Cyrus' earpiece filled with the sound of clacking keys. "More money is being transferred as we speak," said Eulalie.
"They asked for double," Cyrus replied.
"That's not what I'm seeing. Roughly five times the original amount has been sent out to a couple of different locations. Based on some flight data I've been monitoring, I think the SoS is bringing in more people."
"But why? It doesn't make sense. The plan didn't work."
"You're right, it didn't. That means a new plan." Dana took something out of her pocket and handed it to Cyrus. "You're going to want to wear this."
"What is it?" He opened his hand to reveal a silver band with symbols engraved on the inside.
"Something Zel and Yuki whipped up. If things get messy, that will help us know right where you are."
"So you can save my butt?" he asked.
"More like avoid it. If a fight is about to start, we don't want to accidentally trample you in the process." Dana stood up and shoved earbuds into her ears. "Or drop a thousand pounds of ice on your head.
"You've gotten stronger," he said, noticing that something was very different about the zombie. It was how she moved that tipped him off. When he had first fought with her, it had been raw strength and stamina. Now, her movements were smooth and fluid, those of a practiced killer.
"Perhaps." She contemplated him for a moment. "You're a good man, Cyrus."
"Excuse me?" He blinked up at her.
"There was a time when you could have taken the easy way out. You could have told those people everything you knew in exchange for getting as far away from here as possible. But you didn't. Honestly, you deserve better." Dana pulled out her phone and touched the screen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go for a little jog. Not all of us can sit on our asses using drones."
"You could be in here with me piloting them!" shouted Eulalie in the earpiece, causing Cyrus to wince. "Shit, I'm sorry, only she was supposed to hear that."
Dana grinned, then jogged away. Cyrus watched her go, then smiled to himself as he rose from the bench. His joints actually creaked on the way up. That's what he got for pulling an all-nighter and then sleeping on a bench.
There would be plenty of time to rest once all this bullshit was over. He limped toward the entrance of the park and was grateful when the pain in his hip subsided by the time he made it to the sidewalk.
The SoS were planning something that would require more people. Shoving more mercenaries into the house wasn't going to be enough to change anything. What else could they even do?
He thought back to Dana's comment about being a good man. Hearing those words spooked him more than a little, because they reminded him of something that the Oracle had said when last they spoke. He had told the Oracle that he believed Mike Radley to be a good man, and was certainly better than either of them had deserved.
Thinking back to that meeting, he couldn't help but wonder if there was a clue in the Oracle's twisted words that would lead him to a potential answer to his current situation, but soon gave up. He hadn't thought much about their conversation since then, and it wasn't like he could ask. The Oracle had been moved last year after somebody broke into a top secret facility and nearly abducted the thing.
No, not "thing". Person was probably the wrong word for what the Oracle was, but it was the best word that Cyrus had. If there had been one regret about his time with the Order, it was how he had deliberately distanced himself from the mythical beings he had sworn to protect. In truth, the Order was all about maintaining the balance between the world of magic and humans, but that line had become so blurry recently that he could no longer see it. When he had left the Order, there had been good people there who still maintained that balance.
But he knew better now. Somehow, that balance had been tipped, and Cyrus wasn't even certain it was in anybody's favor except the Order itself. The organization he had devoted his entire life to had become the very thing he would despise the most. Those men on the front lawn of Mike's house were a testament to how far the Order had fallen, and he now faced a powerful machine that he doubted he could actually stop.
