. 04

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Author's note

Part Four takes the story to a new setting. It is not necessary for you to have read Parts One, Two, and Three to enjoy Part Four, though it would probably help.

The Homelands will eventually consist of fifteen parts, broken up into three trilogies. The first three parts were set in Autumn. The next three will be set in Summer. Then there will be three each set in Spring and Winter. The final three will tie everything together.

As ever, if you have questions feel free to email me. Or leave a comment. Either way, I'll try to respond in a timely manner.

This is primarily an incest story, but it is also sci-fi/fantasy, and supernatural elements are not incidental to the plot. Additionally, many chapters will feature elements of other categories, particularly group sex and anal.

All sexual acts are consensual and involve parties who are at least eighteen years of age.

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Cast of Characters

Gabriela

: Wife of Jennifer. Mother of Eric and Patty. POV character.

Jennifer

: Wife of Gabriela. Mother of Nick, Veronica, and Annie.

Eric

: Gabriela's son. POV character.

Nick

: Jennifer's son. POV character.

Patty

: Gabriela's daughter. POV character.

Veronica

: Jennifer's daughter. POV character.

Annie

: Jennifer's daughter.

Wes

: Gabriela's brother. Father of Olivia and Kurt.

Zoey

: Wes' wife. Mother of Olivia and Kurt.

Olivia

: Wes' daughter. Cousin to Eric and Patty.

Kurt

: Wes' daughter. Cousin to Eric and Patty. POV character.

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Scene 1

Setting: Local coffee shop. The day after the events of Chapter 3.

POV: Nick

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"I mean, he's

got

to be our dad, right?"

"Does it sound like I'm disagreeing?" Nick asked.

Lest the words come across more harshly than he'd intended them, he reached across the short cafe table and took Veronica's hand in his.

She smiled at him. The primary impression he got from her Libido was still one of fear that was barely being kept in check, but for a brief instant, something like contentment came to the fore. Maybe even stronger than contentment.

That caused him to have a similar reaction.

In a matter of days, his whole world had changed. He wasn't sure exactly how or why. Or, more appropriately, he wasn't sure why it hadn't happened earlier. But he'd discovered feelings for Veronica that he'd thought he'd had for their mother. Looking back, that had felt like a childish crush. Or a Freudian obsession. Or both.

Not that Mom-Jay wasn't incredibly attractive. She most certainly was. But he'd never get from her what his sister had been quietly, patiently, looking to give him all along. Genuine affection. Companionship. Mutual desire, and not strictly in a physical sense. Something deeper and more meaningful.

He hadn't stopped having sex with his mother. Mom-Jay had noticed the changes in her two children, and she'd been deeply alarmed. Not because she was jealous or anything. But because it was anathema among their kind to form the kinds of bonds the two of them were quickly forming. She'd pulled the two of them aside and read them the riot act. At the same time, lurking beneath the anger and fear in his mother's Libido, he'd sensed excitement.

And perhaps even pride.

Mixed as the message was, it still seemed clear enough to Nick. Reading between the lines, he understood his mother to be saying that they should proceed carefully. That they were pushing up against one of our most sacred customs. But so long as they were discreet, and continued to take other lovers into their beds, they'd have her blessing.

So they'd done just that.

They still slept with other people from time to time. And they were as careful as their hearts allowed them to be not to give Annie any reason to think her older brother in sister were not only sleeping together, but seriously falling for each other. But when they could, they courted each other more vigorously than either had ever pursued anyone.

At the moment, they were on a coffee date. Holding hands and acting couplely in public made him nervous. Not everyone was as blind or willfully ignorant as Glenn, who he now suspected really didn't think Veronica was his sister. But the risk of confusing or even shocking people gave him thrills and chills that were more than a little addictive.

"I know you're not," his sister said with a sigh. "I'm just thinking out loud, I guess."

"That's fine. I like watching your mind work." He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "It's pretty fucking hot, actually."

Veronica blushed and averted her eyes.

"Anyway," she said, clearing her throat. "Let's recap. He's obviously from the Homelands. Glowing eyes. Appearing and disappearing. Indeterminate age. All points to the supernatural. And absent any other information, it only makes sense to assume that he's not just from any old place in the Homelands, but Summer specifically."

"Check and check," Nick said.

"If that was all we had to go on, that wouldn't tell us much. Especially since we don't know anything about who's who in Summer."

Strangely, when she said that, he caught a flicker of guilt in her Libido.

Veronica knew more about Summer than she was letting on. He didn't know how much more, or where she'd gotten her information, but she was definitely keeping a secret.

He wished he hadn't picked up on that. It made him feel dirty. Like he'd violated her privacy. If she was keeping something from him, she undoubtedly had her reasons. And she had every right to keep the fact that she was keeping secrets itself a secret.

Of course, he was more than a little curious.

But he pushed the thought away.

"But Mom-Gee's reaction was pretty telling."

"Agreed."

"So it's someone she knows. Which, of course, doesn't mean much, since, unlike us, she's spent time there."

"But she definitely looked like she felt betrayed," Nick added.

His sister might not have picked up on that. When he said that Mom-Gee had "looked" that way, he was speaking of her Libido.

"Right," she said. "Given that she's only got the one living family member left, and it definitely wasn't Uncle Wes, that really only leaves dear old dad."

Nick was tempted to ask how she knew that Mom-Gee didn't have any other family. But she sounded pretty confident in the claim. He didn't think she'd simply neglected to consider the possibility that there were other members of House Moody back in Summer.

House Moody.

It still sounded weird. Their whole lives, they'd thought Mom-Gee's and Uncle Wes' last name was Maxwell, and Mom-Jay's Harris. Making them Nick and Veronica Maxwell-Harris. Except they weren't. They were Nick and Veronica of House Hardt.

That too was a revelation of Veronica's that she hadn't bothered to explain. He'd judged from her Libido that she'd have found it impossible to refuse if he'd asked for one, but she was more than a little grateful that he hadn't. So he took her at her word on that, and any other time she evinced a mysterious knowledge of the world neither of them had ever visited.

"Seems pretty persuasive to me," he said.

"Not an airtight argument," she admitted.

"No, but given the information we have, it makes more sense than anything else."

"Exactly," she said, rubbing his leg with a bare foot.

That sent a bolt of electricity through him.

It wasn't fair how the lightest touch from her could get him so excited. But, sure enough, that little gesture was enough to make his shorts feel one size too small.

"You don't think he means us any harm, do you?"

Nick shrugged.

Mom-Gee's reaction certainly didn't suggest she was worried about custody battles.

"Why wait til we're grown up then?" Veronica asked.

"Good question."

"Meaning you don't have a good answer?"

Nick laid a finger against his nose.

Veronica giggled.

They started at each other in silence for a moment before suddenly remembering their lukewarm beverages.

After setting her paper cup back down, Veronica said, "He's just trying to scare us."

"To what end?"

Not that he doubted her conclusion. It seemed pretty clear that their father was doing precisely that. And if it wasn't his intention to do so, he must not have been a very clever man. There were only so many ways people tended to react to finding a face staring in at them through the window while they were having sex.

"Maybe he's afraid we might make a play for the throne?"

There was a throne? And they had a claim to it? Or was it not based on bloodlines?

How

did

she know these things, anyway?

"Is he the king then?"

"How should I know?" she said.

Nick had to force himself not to laugh at that one.

"My... source... is a little out of date," she said.

"Fair enough," Nick said.

"So what do we do?" Veronica asked.

"Ignore him. And stay away from the throne. Nothing else we

can

do, for now."

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Scene 2

Setting: Nearby motel. A few days after the events of Chapter 3.

POV: Gabriela

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It was almost 2pm. The boys would start arriving soon.

Gabriela took a long drag of her cigarette. She hadn't smoked in years. Jennifer thought it was disgusting. She tried to explain that they didn't exactly have to worry about lung cancer or anything like that, being immortal, but her wife's reaction was purely visceral. And, after the first month at any rate, she hadn't really missed it.

But she seemed to be nervous all the time, of late. Partly because of Eric, in fairness.

But mostly because of her dickhead ex.

"Hello, Gabby."

Speaking of the damn devil.

"Don't call me that," she said.

She'd always preferred Gabriela. But she'd grown fond of the nickname back when they were together. Someday, she hoped Eric might call her that. But it was not a name she wanted to hear again until then. Especially not from him.

He didn't so much as acknowledge her request. Just popped into view and reached out to take her cigarette from her and light one of his own with it before returning it to her.

The asshole had been standing there the whole time. Invisible.

Did he have nothing better to do than tail her and her family around all fucking day?

"You look," she started, eyeing him up and down, "like shit."

Hank snickered. "Been a rough couple of months."

He really did though. She wasn't just saying it to be rude. He'd never been quite as attractive as most of the men of their kind. But neither had he been unattractive. Just sort of average. For their kind. Which put him well beyond most mortal men. If it had been the way he carried himself that had attracted her to him more than anything, his actual appearance hadn't done too much to work against that.

Now, though, he looked old. Haggard. And his face for several new scars.

His eyes were as arresting as ever. And he positively exuded confidence. But neither of those things was having quite the same effect on her that they'd once had.

She wished she could say they weren't having

any

effect at all, but at least she'd broken free of the spell he'd cast over her.

"I hear harassing kids is hard work."

He smiled lazily as he blew out smoke rings. The last puff formed a dragon that crawled through the rings from his first few exhalations.

Fucking Hank and fucking dragons.

That reminded her. She looked to see that he was indeed still carrying the same cane. Granted, now he was closer to looking old enough to need it, but it still stood out.

As did that damn bowler hat.

"So's raising them. But that's another story."

She raised an eyebrow. "Got yourself yet another family, have you?"

"That came later," he said.

Wow. That stung more than it should have.

"Takes them a while to learn to keep their talons to themselves, huh?" she asked, dragging a finger along her cheek.

Hank touched the scar that she'd been staring at. "Something like that."

"Even longer to stop chewing on their tails."

He winced. "So. I gather you and the other one have gotten my message?"

The other one. Wouldn't Jennifer just love to hear him say that.

"What message is that, exactly?"

"Phil says `hi."'

"Right. Send His Majesty our regards."

One corner of Hank's mouth twisted up in a faint grin. For just a moment, his teeth were yellow and sharp. Then they were back to pearly white and flat.

"Seriously, Hank. You can't think we're going to make trouble? We didn't think we were strong enough to stand against House Bravo on our own before. The last thing we'd do is pick a fight with him now that you've pledged House Fisher to the throne."

The father of her children inhaled deeply, causing the cherry at the tip of his cigarette to go from red to orange to yellow. Then he blew out a few more smoke rings. No more dragons though. At long last, he said, "I know. But he doesn't want to hear it. He's paranoid."

Gabriela pursed her lips. Was he going for a one man good-cop, bad-cop routine?

Apparently so.

Hank rested a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Gabby, I just want to keep things on an even keel. I've already stood up to him more than I should."

She raised an eyebrow.

He looked away, and his hand left her shoulder.

If she wasn't mistaken, her skepticism actually hurt him.

Of course, she probably was mistaken. The man was a master manipulator. He even knew how to make his Libido exhibit emotions he wasn't feeling. He'd never admitted as much, but she was sure of it. For that reason, she refused to even read it anymore.

"C'mon, Hank. Am I supposed to think you're my friend?"

"No," he said. "But the world isn't black and white. I may not be someone you should count as an ally, but that doesn't mean you have to think of me as the enemy."

Damn. There he went talking sense again.

"If I went to you and

asked

, pleaded with you, to do everything that you could to avoid arousing the king's suspicion, what do you think Jennifer's reaction would be?" He paused a moment before adding, "She'd set out to become our next queen, wouldn't she?"

Gabriela snickered.

Not exactly, but close. And once upon a time, that might even have been the case. These days, though, the more likely case was that she'd start dreaming of seeing Nick on the throne, and herself as Shadow. Or maybe she'd even be okay with giving that honor to Veronica, if the last few days were any indication.

But Hank's point still stood.

What if Hank actually did want to them? He'd pretty much have to try to scare them.

Or, try to scare Jennifer, that is. And then come to her separately and play nice guy. Adopt an apologetic, even nostalgic, tone.

Fuck.

She shouldn't believe him. The bastard could sell sand to the Saudis. But she just couldn't see any other way of explaining his recent behavior.

"Believe me, or don't," he said, turning away from her to lean against the rail overlooking the motel parking lot. The cigarette was wedged between his fingers, emitting a wispy trail of smoke as it continued to smolder. "All I'll say is that your children might never have seen puberty, let alone initiation, if some other guy had been Shadow."

So that was his price for leaving them. Phil had made him Shadow.

"Is that where the scars came from?"

"Some of them," he said. "Of course, I could make them go away, if I wanted to. But I wear them as a reminder to His Majesty that fire cannot hurt a dragon."

"He tried to-"

Hank spun back around abruptly. His green eyes locked onto hers.

"I told you he's paranoid. What I didn't tell you is that he hasn't gone completely off the reservation yet. If you don't give him any reason to fear you, he can be talked out of indulging his more ruthless whims." His hand went to her shoulder again. He had such a firm grip that even when he was trying to be gentle, she could still feel his magnificent strength. "If you need to fear him, fear him. If you need to trust me when I say he's still relatively sane, then trust me. Whatever it takes. Just promise me that you'll watch your step when you return. And that you'll see to it that Jenny and her brood do the same."

Jenny.

She hadn't heard that name in a long time either.

She'd hated it even more than she'd hated Gabby.

"Why?"

"Because I'm trying to hold the damn court together," he said with a laugh.

That probably should have stung. But he hadn't even lied. He told her not to think of her as an ally. There was no concern for her or Jennifer or their children to be found here. For Hank, it was just politics. As it always had been.

Yes, he'd casually tossed around some old pet names. But what of it? Could she even assume that he'd given any thought to the effect that would have on her? For all he knew, his former wives still called each other Gabby and Jenny. As they had, for a time, after he'd taken to calling them by those names.

"And the last thing you need is a feud between any of the major houses?"

"We all know what the outcome would be," he said. "You didn't hear me say that I might not be entirely averse to seeing His Majesty's rule come to an end. But since that's not how it would end anyway, I'd just as soon avoid the bloodbath. And be spared the opportunity to find out whether he'd try again to order me to spill the blood of my own children."

What was there to say to that? Hank only cared about what was best for him. But, for now, looking out for himself meant looking out for them too.

"So. Do you promise?" he asked.

Gabriela stared into his emerald eyes. Remembered the night they'd conceived Eric. The lights were out, and the moon was behind the clouds. The only light in the room had been her husband's glowing eyes. And they'd flickered for just an instant as he passed a little piece of himself into her along with his semen.

She'd cried tears of joy that night. Had felt complete for the first time in her life.

It was Eric that had made her feel that way. She realized that now. But at the time, she'd thought that her politically motivated marriage had turned out to be something of a storybook romance after all.

That had been an illusion. But Hank

had

given her the greatest gift in her life. And now he was offering to help her keep it.

She nodded.

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Scene 3

Setting: Nearby motel. Shortly after Scene 2.

POV: Eric

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"I'm telling you, man, she's real."

"Uh huh," Eric said. "You realize I'm just coming along so I can laugh in your face when we're the only ones in that room."

"We won't be," Andy said.

"Or she turns out to be a tranny."

"No fucking way, man," his friend said.

Eric rolled his eyes.

They pulled into the motel parking lot. Kenny's car was already there.

The three of them hardly saw each other anymore, even when Eric came back from school. Not that he was all that far away even during the school year. Just on the other side of the city, really. Truth was, the reason he hardly ever saw the guys he used to play football with was that they hadn't changed a bit since high school. And this little escapade proved that.

Not that Eric was any less obsessively focused on getting laid. But he got better tail these days. Even when he wasn't fucking the goddesses of his family. Not since back when he and Andy and Kenny all wore the same jersey had Eric hooked up with a girl who had a kid waiting for her somewhere, being watched by a babysitter, while she was out getting drunk and picking up random guys. If the woman that had been sending Andy dirty text messages for the past couple of days was even real, Eric laid even odds that she was a crackwhore who'd popped out her first kid at the ripe old age of nineteen.