Slowly, my mind came back down to settle in my body. Liam's head hung resting next to my head on the pillow. He still held his massive form up above me to keep from crushing me. He was breathing hard. I ran my hand over his cheek. He was hot and sweating. Was that normal? He'd always been cold to the touch, but now he almost seemed a human temperature. I pressed a kiss onto his other cheek.He tiled his head to look at me. "Thank you for using your power. I thought I was going to hurt you."I smirked. "I didn't. And you didn't hurt me."He leaned on one elbow as his other hand came up to the bite on my neck. "I did." His hands came away bloody.I shook my head. "You didn't."He rolled to the side. My body tightened in pleasure as he moved out of me. I could see him squeeze his eyes shut with the same satisfaction. He settled in next to me."What do orc girls do now?"His hands traced my skin across my stomach."Orc females would punch me in the face to show dominance and then w
I walked down the stairs, passed the garage all the way down to the bar. It was mostly empty. A few of the bartenders worked at unpacking supplies and wiping down glasses. Cherry stood behind one counter, wiping it down. She waved me over when she saw me."Good morning," she said."Good morning." I slipped into a bar stool as I watched her work. "Is there anything I can do to help?"She shook her head. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay?""Yes, thank you.""How's Liam?"I hesitated. Did she know? Did it matter?"I bet he was pretty upset you didn't let him leave.""Oh, yes. He was very upset.""He has a hard time sitting still. I bet he complained about standing guard." She waved a rag at me. "But it's good for him. He needs to learn a little patience.""Right.""How did you like the place? While everyone was running around looking for you, I wanted to feel useful. I did some unpacking for you. I wanted you to feel at home. I hope that was okay.""It's great. Thank yo
The noise from the bar seeped in through the closed door. I rubbed at my eyes. I looked at the clock. I had been sitting here almost all day trying to figure this stuff out, but I think I finally had some success. I located an inventory that was separated out by drink and calculated by the bottle. I saw where the current inventory was updated each week. From there, I extrapolated a list and made the order online. I tapped the enter button, and everything was done.I sat back in the chair. I was tired but finally felt like I accomplished something. It had been a long time since I had been challenged like that. Maybe the last time was when Kira was working through the book trying to figure out runes. I never did find that book again. I needed to get my hands on some more books like that. The internet was not a great source. Maybe there was still a stock in Utah if that home still existed.The thought of even going outside made my stomach do a flip flop. What if Mr. Kline was out there?
I had to stop this. They weren't doing this of their own choice. I'm sure many of them would be incredibly embarrassed when they realized what they were doing. I stood on the chair of the throne and looked out over the crowd. Some couples had joined each other and were in a full orgy.I concentrated on the purple haze. I had seen the way Mr. Kline's magic worked. He sent out tendrils of magic from his body. Maybe I could project like that, too. I could go around and touch each one of them, sapping Karma's magic out of them, but there were a lot of people here. But first, I needed to start with the room.I opened up my magic. I couldn't see my own aura, but I could feel it. I imagined it like a vacuum. I pulled the purple haze in towards me and trying to suck it in my body. Slowly it moved. The magic felt strange. Powerful. This was the magic of a Force of Nature. It was way more than a goddess, like Juno. It had a sweet and bitter taste to it. It felt potent, like eating cheesecake.
Cherry patted my back. She slipped something into my hand as I stared down at the toilet. There wasn't anything in my stomach to come up, just this morning's oatmeal. I squeezed the thing in my hand. It felt like a rock. My other hand braced against the stall wall to keep my shaking knees from collapsing. I brought the foreign object into view. It was a large clear crystal. I looked over to Cherry."Matei used to take in what he called bad energy every once in a while. He'd have a similar reaction. He never went anywhere without one of these."I nodded. Lanie had used one of these before. I dumped Karma's thick energy into it. As it left me, I started to feel better, lighter. When it was all done, the crystal glowed bright purple."Do you see that?" I asked."See what?""How it glows?"She shook her head. "It looks the same to me."I frowned. That was strange. She could see things outside the Veil, but she couldn't see energy. Just one more thing I would have to figure out in th
A table cleared as the man was deposited on it. People gathered around.Liam pushed through the crowd to the table. "Granite, what happened?""The Grange is pushing back," said one of the orcs that just came in.I slid off the chair and limped forward. Brothers parted for me as I walked through them towards the injured man."On 54th, they were attacking a flower shop under our protection. We took them on, but they had something new. It was so cold and dark. Like a huge cloud. It took Trio.""What do you mean, took him?" Liam asked."It just swallowed him up. He was on the floor, not moving. Five of our men fled. I couldn't move. I was frozen on the spot. The cloud disappeared with him in it. Then people were firing, and I don't know. It was like time skipped forward, and we were under fire." Granite grabbed his head and shook it. "I just don't know."I reached the table. A man lay stretched out. His breath was shallow. Blood streaked down from his mouth. His torso was a bloody m
When I woke up, Liam was gone. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, leaving only a glow of light coming in from the windows. My entire body ached. My limbs felt heavy as I moved them across the huge bed and stumbled to the bathroom.The cold water didn't help when I splashed it on my face. A hot shower didn't help. I felt drained. I felt empty. My ankle was purple and bruised. Every step felt like it would slip sideways again with jolts of pain stabbing up my leg. I hopped around on my good leg after I couldn't stand it anymore. I tried to send energy down to heal it, but I had nothing left. I felt like I could barely function.I used the wall and the handrails to hop down the stairs. Anton was sleeping on the black leather couch with the huge television on. Everything about him irritated me. I realized he was my half-brother, but I couldn't get over how much of a leech he was. What did he even do all day?I stumbled forward, catching my balance on the edge of the couch. Anton sno
A brother sat down next to me. I casually looked over at him as I devoured a chicken wing. He was a giant. His jawbone was large, just like the rest of him. He was taller than Liam by at least six inches, but he was thinner. The muscle on him looked wiry. He was still attractive in his own way, but he didn't have the same charisma Liam did.I laughed to myself. It wasn't like orcs had charisma, but there was something about Liam that was amicable, downright kind for an orc. The others I had interacted with seemed harsh and blunt, but I couldn't blame them."Beloved, if you don't mind." He held out his hand to me."What's your name?""Troy.""Nice to meet you, Troy." I set my fingers on his hand and pulled some energy. He relaxed back in the chair. I continued with my meal. I finished another three chicken wings before I realized I was still pulling. His moans drew my attention. I think I pulled a little too much because he was practically humping the chair. I withdrew my hand qu