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Author's note
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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"Bull-fucking-shit," Patty said, stomping her foot.
"Pattycakes, this is going to be-"
"Don't you dare tell me it's going to be dangerous," she said, cutting her brother off.
Eric looked to Nick for backup. Much to Patty's satisfaction, he found none.
"We already went over this," Eric continued.
"That was when we were talking about dad," she said. "If there's to be a fight with Kurt and his bitch of a mother, I'm going to be there. No fucking way I'm sitting that one out."
Mike grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. The poor guy had probably never heard her curse so much. And the anger she was expressing towards her cousin wouldn't go unnoticed either. Anyone who vehemently insisted that they were over their ex, who still got mad whenever their name came up, was obviously lying. At least, that was how she'd always understood it to work among mortals. Maybe it was any different for their kind. Or maybe the fact that her cousin planned to kidnap and abuse and brainwash and castrate one of their children made some difference. She wasn't sure. But either way, she doubted that this was easy for him to hear.
Still, her brother and newfound lover said not a word. Just silently offered her his moral support. And for that, she wanted to kiss him.
Her other brother, the one with whom she shared not one but two parents, pressed a hand to the back of his head and heaved a great sigh. "I understand how you feel-"
She punched him right in the gut.
He might have stood more than a foot taller than her, and might have weighed more than two and a half times what she did, but she put a lot of oomph behind the blow, throwing all of her modest weight and most of her considerable energy behind it. Her tiny little fist connected with hard abs that suddenly felt very little like steel.
"You understand nothing," she said to Eric as he doubled over and gasped for air. "And I'm coming with you. That's final."
"Fine," he choked out.
She stared at him, searching for some indication that he was only humoring her. Finding none, she gave herself a satisfied nod.
Patty might not train as hard or as often as Eric, and even Nick had more experience than her putting their powers to use in a fight. Naturally, she couldn't begin to compare to Flori on any relevant dimension. None of the others were pregnant either. Even so, she felt she had something to add, and not just her fury. Though she'd never felt the need to throw it around, she had more raw power than most of her brothers and sisters. Back before they'd entered the Homelands, she and Veronica had practiced using their abilities for all sorts of stupid little things, and she'd always had to hold back, lest she embarrass her sister.
Granted, neither Kurt nor Zoey were weak. Especially the latter. But even so, Patty knew she'd be more useful than her brother was prepared to admit. He kept trying to make it sound like she'd do nothing but get in the way. That they didn't need any more firepower anyway. As if. He might have gone all badass lately, and everyone knew that Flori used to play in the big leagues, but neither Nick nor Mike, who insisted that if she was going then so was he, counted for all that much. And Zoey was hella powerful. If not stronger than Flori, certainly in the same league.
Making a poor attempt to hide his amusement, Nick said, "She
could
come in handy."
Patty gave him a grateful nod.
"I said okay, didn't I?" Eric said as he stood back up, one hand still pressed to his abdomen as if afraid his viscera would come spilling out otherwise.
"Knew you'd see reason," Patty said, going up on tiptoes to kiss Eric on the cheek.
"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled in response.
Mike put a hand on her shoulder, as if to say, "Enough gloating." She was tempted to give him a piece of her mind, but he didn't deserve it. By rights, he should have left with Troy and their mother. Right up until the very last moment, she'd been afraid that he might do just that. Hell, even Annie was abandoning them, and she'd counted them as family her entire life. She and Mike had only just met.
Of course, part of her had known he'd stay. That he was the man for her, as surely as Eric belonged with their mother or Nick with Veronica. That she'd finally found what she'd been looking for, foolishly, in her stupid cousin.
The gesture wasn't welcome, but it was certainly forgivable.
"Are we done then?" Flori asked, finally looking up from her fingernails, which were apparently
fascinating
. "In my day, these things didn't take all day."
Nick gave her a sly grin. "And you walked to school, uphill both ways?"
"Of course," Flori replied.
"Lead on, wise one," Eric told her, his blue eyes still warily regarding Patty, as if fearing that she might try to sneak in another sucker punch.
And, with that, they were off.
The Temple of the Sun was gone. In place of a squat, beautiful structure, there was now an imposing and hideous fortress. Where once there had been a grassy hill leading up to the temple, there was now row upon row of barbed wire fences and spiked pits.
"I'm guessing they're not interested in chatting calmly over tea," Nick said.
Eric shot him an impatient glare.
In spite of herself, Patty found herself grinning. Her nerves were shot and she was ready for war, but she envied her brother's ability to retain his sense of humor at a moment like this. That it was
Nick
cracking jokes while
Eric
chewed a mouthful of nails would once have struck her as incredibly ironic. But for some reason, now, it seemed perfectly fitting.
Beside her, Mike had rediscovered his inner dragon. He looked exactly as he had the day she'd first met him. Part of her that found it hard to think about anything other than how irresistibly sexy her dragon was. Lean and fierce and exotic, green and beautiful, he was a wonder to behold. But she forced herself not to see him not just as her lover, but as a fearsome beast. To realize that his scales and claws might be good for something other than helping otherwise innocent girls feel naughty in bed. That he might just use them to rip her cousin's throat out.
The thought made her feel cold. But not sad.
Perhaps it should have. Kurt had once been a decent guy. He'd just somehow got lost along the way. Corrupted by his grandfather's seductive promises of power and greatness, reinforced as they were by his dear mother. But she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him. Not now that she knew what he was willing to do to the child growing inside her.
With a thought, Patty prepared herself for battle as well. One moment, she was wearing a simple sundress, the next she looked very much like a Valkyrie. Or what she imagined the mythical warrior women to look like. Unnaturally light yet impossibly strong armor covered her lower legs, forearms, shoulders, and torso. A skirt of chain mail hung about her thighs, the touch of the cool metal feeling strangely soft and weightless against her skin, almost as if it were silk rather than steel. Her breast plate went up to her neck, unlike the absurdly provocative things women always wore on the covers of the fantasy novels Veronica loved so much. Its shaped molded to her figure, accommodating both her full breasts and her baby bulge. Her blonde hair hung down her back in a thick braid and she wore a winged helmet on her head. In one hand, she held a short, thick sword. In the the other, she carried a long, thin spear whose tip was covered in frost.
"Everyone ready?" Eric asked, looking over his shoulder. "Nick, aren't you gonna-"
Fireballs rained down from the sky like hail stones. Some were no bigger than ice pellets, while others rivaled volleyballs. Nick melted into the shadows and rose back up into the light a dozen yards back, out of range of the fiery assault. Eric rushed to Flori's side, as if to protect her, while she in fact sheltered him. With every flick of her wrist, another fireball fizzled away, leaving nothing but a wispy tendril of smoke to mark its passing. She couldn't possibly move fast enough to clear the skies, but none of the flaming missiles landed anywhere near her or Eric.
For his part, Mike wrapped his arms around Patty, crouching over her protectively, and absorbed the onslaught as though it were no more than a light rain. Indeed, from the sound of it, the fireballs didn't scorch his scaly hide so much as patter against it.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled, and a great fissure opened up. As it stretched apart, a stone tunnel rose up from its depths. Only then did Patty realize that it wasn't another attack, but Flori's way of offering them safe passage up to the temple.
The five of them rushed up through the dark passageway, led by Eric and Flori. Long as it had looked from the outside, as only befit the height of the hill they had to climb, it only took them a few seconds to emerge from the far end.
Unfortunately, once they stood at the foot of the fortress, they found that it was impregnable. There were no entrances or windows or openings of any kind. She hadn't expected it to be easy to get inside, but she had assumed that it would be possible.
Meanwhile, the fireballs continued to rain down on them. Flori had little enough trouble neutralizing them, but the effort of keeping four of them safe took all of her attention. Someone else would have to figure out what to do next.
"Allow me," Mike said.
