Andy blinked. "Didn’t you hear me say yes last night?" He sat up and shook the cobwebs loose. "Yes, Dani. I want to be your husband," he reiterated, and her heart sang joyously. "I’ve been living here as your boyfriend for a half-year," he continued, "so you should know me well enough to know what you’re getting into."
"If I don’t like it, I can always—change it," she giggled. Dani grabbed his aura in jest, and he immediately went into trance, slowly uttering, "Yes… Mistress." Her insides fluttered and Danielle realized that she had just made a mistake: being aroused was the last thing she had had on her mind. But ohhhh, that hypnotized tone of voice…
They got up much later than first intended. Andy had silenced Danielle’s apologies for zapping him with long, wet kisses. After they finally got out of bed, she regretfully thought about their marriage putting an end to times like these. Dani was really going to miss hypnotizing him, but there was no way that she could have children and keep the power, too. Another, stronger worry assailed her on the heels of that thought. What am I going to tell Gina? "What’s the matter?" His soft question caught her in the middle of trying to figure out how to break the news to Gina.
She sighed, "Is it that obvious?" He nodded. Danielle began a melancholy sigh, but it turned into a soft purr as Andy surrounded her with his aura. "God, I’m gonna miss that," she whimpered after she had adjusted to the sensation. "But what am I going to tell Gina?"
"Tell her—" Andy gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "—That we’re in love. She’ll understand," he replied. Danielle wished that she were as confident about the coven leader’s reaction.
Gina Mansfield stoically took the knife of the young initiate’s happy news. Yes, this was the logical conclusion of Danielle and Andrew’s meeting, one that Gina herself had engineered. And yes, his aura would always seek the young woman first. Once Danielle had opened herself to it, there was no doubt about how it would all end. But it was just too soon. I want him also. A part of her suggested that she just sever Danielle’s link with the power and take Andrew; Gina ignored it. "Miss Gray, I am very happy for you both," the coven leader warmly said, showing no hint of her emotional pain or internal debate. "When are you going to marry?" Uncertainty flashed across Danielle’s face. The coven leader wondered what that meant.
"To be honest, your ladyship," Danielle began, "I’d like the engagement to last a while. It’s not that I have any doubts, ’cause I don’t." The young woman took a breath. "But—I kinda like being in the coven an’ having the power. And I feel like kind of a rat since you’ve just made me sergeant-at-arms. But he—we—want kids. I just don’t want them like, right away." This was something else she had started to fret about on the way to this meeting. She hung her head in shame; she had admitted everything, hoping that the coven leader would just kick her out of the coven and keep her from having to make a decision.
Gina asked, "Have you discussed this with Andrew?" Danielle shook her head. "I think it best that you do. As for being sergeant-at-arms, the position is yours until you and he decide that you want children. Marriage does not affect the power or your ability to use it," the coven leader said. "Although," she added with a hint of resignation, "given the way he feels about the power…" Her voice trailed off.
"Oh, he doesn’t mind my having it over him—any more," Danielle returned. "I mean, it’s kinda nice for him, ‘cause I can know what he’s—feeling at any given moment, an’ he doesn’t hafta find words to explain it. And I love being able to sense his aura." She left out the part about how turned on she got when he was zapped.
Gina smiled, despite the very real sense of the impending loss of Andrew. Danielle had learned much more about the power than the coven leader would have ever dreamt. She was no longer a young dilettante who wielded the power indiscriminately. Danielle had become a very strong coven member, who used the power as an enhancement to life instead of a crutch. "Miss Gray, I am so, so, happy for you and Andrew," Gina said. "I will of course," the coven leader continued, "take care of your wedding and reception costs." The two women embraced warmly, and Dani left the library with a bounce in her step. Now that Gina was alone, the euphoria that the announcement had brought faded quickly, replaced by the realization that Andrew was to be lost to her forever. She quickly went to her master suite, locked the doors, and cried in her private sanctuary.
"Ummmm… Andy… Are you awake?" The tentative question broke the post-orgasmic silence. He hummed affirmatively. "What would you say if I said that I didn’t—" Danielle’s hesitation became a very loud silence in the darkness. Andy had known that something wasn’t right from his fiancée’s earlier behavior, so he had been patiently waiting for her to bring it up whenever she got ready. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed her slinking seductively around the house with a cigarette holder all night and her just-concluded selfless devotions to his pleasure. "Ummm… I don’t wanna have kids right away an’ Gina asked me to stay in the coven?" So that was it.
Andy remained quiet while he carefully phrased his answer in his head. He really didn’t want Dani to go on a self-inflicted guilt trip. "That’s fine by me. Kids would only—" He rolled over and lightly stroked her muff before finishing, "interrupt us for the moment." He smiled devilishly and moved to put his head where his hand was. She stopped him.
"What about the coven part? I mean, I know how you feel about the power and all an’ I wouldn’t blame you if you said no, an’ I’ll just tell Gina that—"
He knew that she was not going to let this subject drop with a simple answer. Andy said, "I… must… obey… my… mistress," in his best simulation of a hypnotized manner. Sensing Dani’s momentary distraction, he dove for her partially spread legs and lapped at her for a few seconds. He stopped to look deeply into her eyes and quietly whispered, "I adore my beautiful mistress," which drew an excited moan from Danielle. She no longer used the power on him except as an arousal aid; he figured that both of them would miss the extra zing it put into their sex life. If the price was no children for a few years, so be it.
Sophie Gardner waited nervously in the Grand Hall of Castlereagh. She was excited, yet more than a little scared. Was she about to sell her soul to the Devil? She hadn’t believed in stuff like that until recently, but the things she’d seen Gina do… and Sophie herself had been learning how to do the same under Gina’s tutelage. She had rationalized the things she had done in training by telling herself that she wouldn’t do anything with the mysterious "power" outside of her "classes." And she hadn’t. Something about it made her… nervous.
Her head jerked upward at the sound of footsteps echoing in the quiet hall, but she was relieved to find that it was just one of the ubiquitous servants. "Her ladyship apologizes, but she is going to be delayed," he announced as he descended the wonderful, spotless terrazzo of the main staircase. "Would you like to wait in the sun room and have something to eat or drink?" Sophie nodded, thinking, "Great. Now I have even more time to think about it." The young woman followed the man through the sitting room and opulent formal dining room, admiring the tasteful (yet expensive) decorations in each. This really was a royal castle, just as she had imagined it in the little-girl fantasies she had begun having since she had been meeting with Gina.
She asked the servant for some iced peppermint tea. He promptly glided from the sun room. Sophie sat, arranging herself so that she could look through the sliding glass doors to the garden. She could only imagine how beautiful it would be in another month. Even now, there were signs that the winter was coming to a close. She sighed. If Gina Mansfield was the Devil, she sure knew how to make a girl an offer.
Sophie consistently marveled at how good Gina looked. Not in the physically gorgeous sense, although the older woman was certainly attractive. It was more her always-perfectly fit, color-coordinated attire, her noble bearing, and that she was always impeccably made up. The cigarette holder she used made her look elegant, not cheap like the whores that had them on the Seventh Street Stroll. Gina was obviously very much at ease behind the big wooden desk in the stately library, with its fresh fire crackling in the fireplace. Sophie felt very out of place here, so much so that she was startled by Gina’s voice; is that elegant, regal woman talking to me? "Sophie, I feel comfortable that you have learned enough to join our sisterhood. I would like to formally offer you admittance to our group today."
This was the big moment. Her soul in exchange for the ability to free herself from the pattern of her life for the past several years. "Ummmm… is this permanent?" Sophie squeaked. She was scared. "And… when do I have to pay? Will I die sooner so you can get my soul?"
Gina was so surprised by the question that she couldn’t stop the peals of genuinely amused laughter. Unfortunately, Sophie was not as amused, and she sank further into her chair, near panic in her wide eyes. The coven leader swallowed her mirth. "First, and foremost, dear, I am not the devil, nor am I an agent. I am supernatural—you may think of me as a Druid instrument of revenge, I suppose." She studied the frightened young woman. "Second, you may leave our group at any time, for any reason, without repercussion. I would like to see you remain with us for at least six months, because I have spent so much time and effort in your training. But I want to stress that the six months is not a requirement."
That gave Sophie some hope. "So… I don’t have to give up my soul when I die?" She really did want to be the fairy-tale princess, just not at an impossibly high price.
"No," Gina replied, "but you will have to give up your place on the metaphysical plane while you are with us. Which will have other ramifications." The light of interest in Sophie’s eyes was still there as if Gina hadn’t said anything, and the coven leader smiled to herself. "You will not be able to bear children while you are a member. Is that going to be a problem?" The young woman energetically shook her head. "You will also need to take life essence from men, since you will have none of your own. This can be deadly for the man involved."
"Do I always have to kill when I do that? I mean, can I take life essence without killing somebody?" Concern creased Sophie’s round face.
"Yes, you can feed without killing—but it will be necessary for you to kill someone as a part of your initiation," Gina explained. "It also needs to be someone who deserves it for what he has done to you in the past. I will not accept someone chosen at random," she sternly finished.
Now there was no way Sophie would refuse the offer—she knew exactly who that man would be. It would also shut the door on a very painful, very shameful part of her past for good. She could deal with the present, but she always worried that someone would discover the truth about her past. With Lance out of the way, only Morris (who had his own reasons to keep his knowledge of her past hidden) would know where she had come from.
The coven leader had been watching the young woman very carefully; she could see that a big selling point for Sophie was the idea of vengeance on one particular man. She hoped that it wasn’t Morris; he may have been a philandering, extortionist bastard, but he was also a damned good lawyer. "Miss Gardner, I would like your initiation, should you accept my offer, to be this Friday. You will need to bring the man you are going to feed on to the castle by midnight Thursday," she said. Gina paused a moment to consider how she could find out if Morris was Sophie’s intended victim. She chose the direct way. "You aren’t planning to execute Morris, are you?"
"Oh, no!!!" Sophie exclaimed with genuine surprise. "No… I could never hurt him," she softly said. Even if I am his private whore… "W-why do you ask?"
Gina hid her relief at that, and addressed Sophie’s question. "Because I know about you and he, Miss Gardner." The young woman peeped. "More to the point, I know the why and the how." Sophie turned completely white. "You seem to have forgotten that I can read men’s minds. Morris may be a poker-faced lawyer—he is actually quite fond of you, by the way—but he is still a man. If I so desire, I can know everything he knows—he can keep nothing secret from me." The coven leader took a deliberate sip from her drink and firmly stated, "I made this offer to you because of your past, Sophie. Not in spite of it."
"You mean—you’ve known about Morris and me the whole time I’ve been coming here?" Sophie asked, her voice small and strained. She was close to tears. Gina had just said she knew the how and the why, which meant that… "Then you know… about Lance," she whispered. Sophie’s regrettable, sordid past continued to haunt her.
"Only that he—gave—" Gina’s face showed a great deal of distaste at the word, "—you to Morris in exchange for legal services." The room was silent for a while. "May I remind you that the offer is still yours to accept or reject, dear," the coven leader prodded, then waited a moment for it to sink in. Gina continued, "I assume that Lance will be your initiation victim, then." Her voice became sympathetic and soothing. "Why don’t you tell me the whole story?"
Sophie began to describe her past in a small, humiliated voice. She told Gina how Lance had found her when she was a homeless, penniless sixteen-year-old runaway. He had seemed like a knight in shining armor, one who gave her clothes, food, money, a place to stay, and love… or so she had thought. She explained how grown-up she had felt when he had patiently taught her about sex in his bed; Lance knew so much more about it than the boys in her rural home town. Sophie had started drinking and smoking back then, to accommodate her new "adult" image. It was wonderful; Lance never made her do anything she didn’t want to.
What Sophie hadn’t realized at the time was that she had been running up a gigantic tab… and the bill inevitably came due. She left Lance in righteous anger with nothing more than the clothes on her back, but returned to his door a couple of weeks later, begging for food, shelter… and a sense of belonging. She had even managed to convince herself that it wasn’t so bad, really, after the first man. Lance gave her champagne to celebrate the occasion, which had made her feel a little better about it. And that was also the first time she used cocaine, which made her feel a lot better about it. Pretty soon, the white powder was Sophie’s world. If she wasn’t turning tricks—no coke. She got very good at turning tricks, playing on her illegally youthful looks. She was Lance’s number one girl… for six months. Then she became his number two… but the need for coke didn’t diminish along with her status. She needed it more than ever after that first year of being a prostitute, and Lance was always happy to provide her with enough to keep her going, as long as she kept pulling in the money.
The end came when Lance sold a narc a lot of coke: he was in big trouble and stuck in jail for a week while he tried to come up with bail money. Sophie was way strung out by then—and was at Lance’s house looking for coke ten minutes after Morris Cotter had finally gotten the pimp released. She snorted enough to become a zombie that day. The next thing she knew, she was in the rehab wing at a private hospital. Sophie never saw Lance again after that, but Morris visited her three times a week; he was picking up this tab. When she got her first weekend pass, he was there. He took her to the airport in a limo and they went to Miami. That was when Sophie found out what the cost of her hospital stay was. "He loves anal sex, your ladyship, and his wife won’t do it for him," the young woman sniffled. "I didn’t have any choice—bailing would have put me in deep shit with the law, and I still didn’t have anywhere to go." She closed her eyes. "Morris gave me a place of my own to stay, and he gave me a job. I’ve worked my way up to being a legal secretary there. All I have to do now is to stay clean—and let him fuck me in the ass." Sophie opened her big brown eyes and swabbed away the tears before resuming, "That’s why I can’t hurt him, or even hate him. He dried me out, and now I’m legit. Three assfucks a week is not that high a price to pay to get my life back."
"Part of your life, Miss Gardner," Gina calmly corrected. "Now I am offering you the rest of it. Will you take it?"
The Seventh Street Stroll. It had been home to Sophie for three long years. Not much had changed over the past four, either. Same girls—different clothing, faces and bodies maybe, but the look in their eyes and the come-ons were the same. Especially the eyes, which were haunted by the look of long-dead dreams. Had she really been like that? She shivered; a howitzer cold front had torn through the region earlier, leaving the night air so crisp that it seemed brittle enough to shatter. But it wasn’t cold or windy enough for the rent-a-cops to let any of the girls stay in the bus station. That was why it was business as usual on the "Stroll": pimps didn’t get cold.
Sophie didn’t want to waste much time—there were too many ghosts from her past around here. The other whores were also beginning to check her out: she represented unwanted competition for the few johns out on a night like this. She headed for the bus station, one of Lance’s favorite places to find fresh meat for his mill. The thought made her angry enough to forget about the cold, and she virtually stormed into the station with a grim look of determination on her face. A rent-a-cop was on her immediately. "Uh-uh, sweetheart, not here, not tonight," the paunchy man said. Sophie panicked, reverting to the scared runaway girl from Indiana for a moment. "Move it, darlin’. Don’t make me put you in the back of the ‘whore wagon’," the security man urged, then squeezed her ass.
The presumptuous action infuriated Sophie, and made her recall who she was, and why she was there. She turned, giving the man a cold glare while remembering every second of every training session spent with Gina. She leveled her newly acquired ability at him. In a quiet voice born of rage, Sophie icily commanded, "I am a passenger waiting for a bus. You have just abused me, and you will bring me a complaint form. After I have signed it, you will resign and tell your supervisor why." Without another word, he turned around, then walked across the station into an office. Fifteen minutes later, the man was on his way home, jobless, wondering what had possessed him to assault a ticketed passenger. Sophie had proved to herself that the power really did work in real life like Gina had been telling her. She felt no satisfaction, only relief. Now it was time to settle down to wait for her real prey. None of the other security people came near her.
Lance strolled into the station an hour later, looking around casually. When he saw Sophie, he froze. She gave him her best happy smile and pursed her lips. He was at her side in seconds, giving her a quiet, subdued hello. "Long time, Lance," she throatily said. Dropping her voice, she whispered, "I—ummm—need a favor. But I don’t wanna talk about it—here."
Sophie Gardner… well, I’ll be god-damned. "Then the usual routine, babe. You do remember it, don’cha?" Lance grinned. Getting the brief nod he fully expected, he tilted his head towards an exit, turned and sauntered out a different door, leaving the station for the parking lot. Sophie would follow after a few minutes; she had always been one of his best. He smiled to himself. She probably needed a couple of lines; he could give her that—and get some pussy in exchange. Just like the old days.
Ten minutes after Lance had exited, Sophie calmly, casually left through the door that he had indicated. A single, deliberate flash of headlights told her which car he was in. She climbed into the Porsche, arranging herself comfortably into the leather seat before speaking. "I need something, and you were the first guy I thought of." It wasn’t a lie.
"I know what you need, baby," Lance interrupted with a leer. "It’s been a long time, but I figured the lawyer with the tiny dick would get boring sooner or later." He pulled the car out of the parking lot. "I got the blow you’re lookin’ for at the crib. Lance is gonna take care of you, Sophie. Just like I used to," he said while negotiating his car onto the highway.
"I don’t think so. Turn at the next exit," Sophie commanded, pouring her heart and soul into the order. She held her breath; this was it. The car swung as directed; only then did she dare to look at Lance. He was obviously shocked by his body’s obedience of her directive. It only lasted a few seconds before he turned to look at her. His disbelief swiftly transformed into the violent rage that had intimidated her so many times before. But she was different now. Stronger. Sophie quickly protected herself by commanding, "Keep both hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. And be quiet." She waited a nervous, scared moment to see if he could disobey. Nothing happened. "Stay on the highway until I tell you what exit to get off at." She exhaled with relief. The car was now quiet—uncomfortably so for Sophie. She drew on the power again. "Tell me that you will do whatever I command, Lance."
It took a few moments, but the words came slowly and haltingly; it was obvious that he was fighting her control all the way. "I—will—do—whatever—you—command." His attempt at resistance was quite ineffectual. Sophie turned on the car radio to her favorite station and lit a cigarette. The leather of the passenger seat seemed to be much more comfortable now. She allowed herself a self-satisfied smile; this power thing was going to work out fine.
It was time to make another initiate. Sophie had delivered her former pimp to the castle, where he was to spend the last twenty-four hours of his life. Gina was looking forward to watching him die. He had done horrible, violent things to women he’d ensnared in his enterprise. Some of it was just to keep an edge of intimidation over them, to control them. All that was going to end tomorrow night. The coven leader wondered if Sophie knew of any more pimps like Lance: such men would make perfect additions to the dungeon. She locked her bedroom door and left a message that she was not to be disturbed. Gina smiled, remembering how masturbation used to be her only option for this purpose. However, during the Roaring Twenties, she had discovered that it was a good excuse to bewitch some unsuspecting man into being her lover for the evening. In fact, it was easier to have a spellbound slave do the stimulating and the collecting, just because she could let herself go while keeping their mind on the task until she lost control. But tonight, she was going to fantasize about Andrew and masturbate to gain the first ingredient for the sorcerous brew. Her choice had nothing to do with a deficit of attractive men in the castle: Gina had happily sampled many of the castle’s current servants. She had enchanted most of them with her feminine wiles, but a few had been manipulated with the power just for the added spice. However, the thought of Andrew making love to her warmed her insides more than any power-claimed thrall could.
After she had finished, Gina sighed languorously. Inside the magic vial used to create new initiates, a tiny amount of her gathered secretions glowed a faint blue in the dark. There was a very large wet spot on her sheets, and a warm, post-orgasmic lassitude throughout her entire body. She moaned, an unhappy one, for she had to get up to finish making the magic potion within the hour. The coven leader sat up in her bed, fighting off her body’s protest at the movement, and corked the tube. As good as it the fantasy had been, it was a shadow of what really being with Andrew was like. Since he wasn’t there to cuddle up with, she could get out of the bed—but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. She put on a robe, some slippers, and quickly left her suite, heading for the library via the main stairs. Gina didn’t have time to worry about running into any of the servants; she could easily deal with any improper thoughts about her state of near-undress and obvious afterglow with a suitable punishment at a later time. She abruptly paused at the staircase; James was coming up, his thoughts clearly indicating that he was about to retire for the night. At the sight of the powerfully built, handsome head butler, her pussy gave a light throb. The hunger had always been easier to handle than the itch. She arched her back slightly to push her breasts forward. "James," she said, casually pulling one side of her robe back to partially expose herself, "would you meet me in my suite in forty-five minutes?"
"Yes, your ladyship," he replied, unable to keep the pleasant surprise out of his voice. Gina read the sudden energy in his aura and lustful excitement in his thoughts. I love this body, she thought, before scurrying downstairs to complete her task.
Gina watched Sophie walk into the library the next afternoon full of excitement and eagerness. The novice was an hour early in arriving for her initiation preparations; the coven leader knew that she had made a good choice in the former prostitute. After tea and some social small talk, Gina opened the secret door in the keystone on the mantelpiece over the fireplace. She closed the compartment after removing the sealed vial of now-cloudy liquid, then returned to her seat at the desk. Gina held the corked tube up so that Sophie could see it clearly and said, "This, Miss Gardner, is the magic elixir of the coven. This is the point of no return, for once you drink this, you will go through the initiation." She paused for a long moment. "Do you still want to join our sisterhood, and drink the contents of the vial?"
Sophie hungrily regarded the vial that was apparently the key to so many of her dreams and desires. Despite the magic involved, this was her chance to have a normal life. Lance was somewhere in the castle waiting for her to kill him, a testament to the reality of the power. "Yes, your ladyship. I want to join, and I will do whatever you ask me to and whatever I have to," she answered, trying not to sound too eager. She looked purposefully at the coven leader. "I want this, Gina. The magic power, the castle—everything. You’ve offered it to me, and I want to grab the opportunity before it gets away. I am tired of being afraid of my past," she affirmed.
At that, Gina handed her the vial. Sophie wasted no time in opening it and downing the contents. She made a face; there was something familiar about the taste. "It tastes kinda like… like…" No. That couldn’t be what it was… "Ummm…" The young woman shook her head; she felt strange, a little warm, then a little cold. Suddenly she noticed that she had lost her train of thought. Sophie concentrated on remembering whatever it was she had forgotten mere seconds ago… but an overwhelming thirst seized her. She felt like she had swallowed a box of cotton balls. Stand up… get water… Sophie looked at the three spinning Ginas at the front of her vision. "Water," she croaked, going slack in her seat, unable to make any part of her body work anymore. She heard Gina’s voice from far, far away, then blackness engulfed her.
Gina checked the novice. She found no trace of respiration, nor any heartbeat. Two large men entered the library in response to the coven leader’s summons. Carefully picking up the pale, completely still Sophie, they carried her down the service stairs to the basement and into the coven room. They placed her on the stone slab where Gina had been created, which now served as the coven’s altar. Gina dismissed the servants, locked the doors, and began to remove Sophie’s clothes. The preparations were nearly complete.
Sophie Gardner’s naked, lifeless body lay on the altar in the candlelit coven room. Gina was at one end, by Sophie’s head, while Danielle stood at the novice’s feet. The other ten initiates formed a circle around the stone block and the three women. The coven members were clothed in their floor-length black robes, faces nearly invisible inside the hoods. "Sisters, you view the novice, Sophie Gardner, who wishes to become one of us," Gina solemnly began. "I have decided to grant her request. As always, I need all of you to extend the bond of our sisterhood to her. Reach out to her and bring her into our circle. Care for her as she will care for you. We are the sisters of justice. We are the chosen of the coven." The room got quiet as each of the women focused on her command of the power. The eldritch energy became tangible, steadily growing in size, overwhelming the space in the room. A sharp, ice-cold wind rose inside the sealed underground chamber, extinguishing the candles and plunging the room into darkness. The wind abruptly vanished, leaving an eerie, pitch-black silence.
The coven leader’s voice seemed to come from everywhere, amplified into a supernatural echo by the arcane resonance that filled the room. "Sophie Gardner. Sister, come forth and join our circle!" The candle in Gina’s hand spontaneously re-ignited. Simultaneously, the imposing presence in the coven chamber disappeared. "With great power comes an even greater responsibility. Accept ye both?" A soft, but confident, "yes," came from the newest initiate, who was still lying on the altar. "Then you must now prepare to handle your first responsibility," the coven leader gravely announced. "Sergeant-at-arms, bring the man that our sister has selected as her first kill."
Danielle gracefully passed through the circle of initiates and noiselessly left the coven room. She locked the door before she went down the hall to Lance’s holding cell. "Come with me and be quiet," she said in a near-whisper, effortlessly shaping his aura into the collar and leash that had become her personal trademark. The pimp walked behind her, his thoughts and will possessions of the hooded woman he followed. Dani unlocked the door to the coven room and led Lance inside. "Sister Sophie, he is now your responsibility," she announced. She let go of his aura. The other coven members moved away from the altar to give him a clear path to his death.
"Lance, come to me." He began to slowly walk forward at the sound of an alluring female voice that was vaguely familiar, passing by a bunch of people in black robes. All the pimp really wanted to do was to turn and get the fuck out of this weird scene, but his body didn’t seem to do anything he told it to. None of the people in the room spoke. Lance had also completely, mysteriously lost his voice. He arrived at some kind of stone table and looked down; it was Sophie. She was obviously dead: her body was corpse-pale, and her chest was not moving at all. He regretted seeing her like that; she had been a great little whore for him. Her eyes snapped open, literally scaring the piss out of him. "Kiss me, Lance. Just like you kiss all the girls you exploit," her honey-sweet voice beckoned. Far in the back of his mind, he knew that Sophie’s voice didn’t really sound like that and that she had just said something nasty about him, but Lance couldn’t stop himself from leaning over the altar to give her the requested kiss. The pimp saw her mouth open, then felt her grab his face.
It all happened so fast; Lance’s mouth was opening for a kiss, then a really strange flavor seemed to just jump right in Sophie’s mouth. It triggered a massive hunger pang that made her head spin. Sophie felt weak and grabbed Lance’s face, which began to age before her eyes but she was so hungry that she didn’t care and sped up the actions of drinking that seemed to make her feel better… then the strange taste was gone. And so was her former pimp. Sophie sat up on—a piece of stone? Naked? But she felt rather warm, if still a little hungry. "Welcome to the coven, Sophie Gardner. Here is your ring," Gina said, extending a gold band, "and here is your robe." The young woman slipped both items on and the coven leader placed the hood over Sophie’s head. "Now go through that door and down those steps. It is time to share with your new family."
Sophie followed the directions, only to find herself in what appeared to be a dungeon. She wondered how she was supposed to open any of the doors, because Gina hadn’t given her any keys. She was surprised to find that some of the cells were unlocked. Moreover, some of them were occupied, which she thought was very strange. What was the point of having a dungeon if you weren’t keeping the prisoners locked up? However, she quickly found two men and commanded them (Ick! They’re naked!) to follow her back up the steps. As Danielle closed the door behind her, Sophie realized that she was still hungry. She turned to the first man and drew on his life essence for a bit (it tasted horrid), then did the same with the second (equally foul tasting) after realizing that she was still a little hungry. "Sisters, now we shall all feed on this bitter fruit. When there is no more bitter fruit, then justice will have been done," the coven leader declared.
"The power is justice. We will share our sister’s meal and complete her justice," the eleven other initiates chanted before lining up to feed, one-by-one, on each of the two men. Twenty minutes later, two piles of dust were all that remained of the men. Sophie lit a candle of her own from Gina’s. She then swore her allegiance to the coven, her subscription to its tenets, and her adherence to its rules.
"Sisters of the coven, let us go forth and be the arm of justice," Gina said in closing. Danielle opened the double doors and the coven, again thirteen women strong, emerged from its innermost sanctum.
Sophie had been sequestered in the library for the past hour while Gina discussed the rules and regulations of the coven with her. "Ummm… can I ask you a coupla questions? About… well…"
"The ceremony?" the coven leader finished for her. The young woman nodded. "Let’s see… question one is what was in the vial, correct?" she asked with a wry smile. They always wanted to know that. "I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, dear. It’s—magic," she apologetically grinned. "And what else?"
"Well—" Sophie yawned. "Why am I so sleepy?" she griped.
"Because you are digesting the life essence you took earlier this evening. It is basically the same thing that happens when one has eaten a large meal, only much more pronounced. How sleepy you get after feeding depends on how much, and the type of life essence you take. Also, the more you use the power, the more you will need to feed. The power will not let you fast—it will take over your thoughts and actions in order to satisfy its need. It will leave you quite unaware of what you did while you are in this ‘feeding frenzy’." Sophie’s eyes widened, which told Gina that the new initiate would heed her warning.
"This brings me to what will most likely be another of your questions: the dungeon beneath the coven room. That is where we keep our emergency rations, so to speak," the coven leader said. She ignored Sophie’s shocked gasp; every new initiate reacted like that to the revelation. "Since innocent bystanders would be at risk during times of need, we keep several men here for that purpose. Simply put, if you need to feed, please come here and take someone from the castle dungeon."
"But—where do they come from? And if it’s a dungeon, why were some of the men there walking around free? Aren’t you afraid they’ll escape? And… I mean… is this… legal?" She looked expectantly at Gina, obviously uneasy with the idea of keeping people as food.
"They—won’t be missed," the coven leader began. "First, they are all criminals that the law could not find, or whose victims were denied justice by the legal system. We, on the other hand, have no problem with either. Remember, I know that they are guilty from their own memories. The men you saw wandering around were psychopathic and posed an extreme danger to the general public. They have been—reprogrammed—so that they can do no harm to anyone." Gina read the expression of disapproval on the young woman’s face. "Yes, I did it using the power, Miss Gardner," she immediately confirmed without a hint of remorse. "Otherwise, they would be a danger even to the servants who bring them food. Or would you rather they be loose in public raping eight-year-olds?"
Sophie paled at that, hoarsely whispering, "I see what you mean by justice." She cleared her throat and sipped the last of her champagne, thinking. This wasn’t going to be all fairy-tale and royal castle. However, Sophie realized that Gina and the coven had been making small positive differences in society for years. She was proud to be a part of it. She began to recap some of the rules. "So there are no public executions or obvious displays of the power." Gina nodded curtly. "Also, I can’t use the power to make myself rich all of a sudden, and I can’t use it to make somebody fall in love with—" Sophie yawned, sleepily blinking her eyes. "Ummm… your ladyship… I’m getting really tired and sleepy. Can we finish—" Another, longer yawn. "Can we finish this tomorrow?"
"Of course, dear," Gina replied. She pressed a button on her phone as she watched Sophie go to sleep. Champagne intensified the effects of feeding. A servant holding a small travel bag appeared outside the library doors fifteen seconds later. The coven leader gently roused Sophie and said, "Michael will show you to your chambers; night garments and essential toiletries are in the bag. Good night, Sophie." The newest initiate mumbled a sleepy, but sincere thank you and bade Gina good night. The coven leader picked up her own half-full champagne flute while musing aloud, "Now, if only Danielle will let Andrew get involved in her training…" The coven leader finished her champagne on the way to her suite—thinking of Andrew had made her horny again. She sighed—the hunger had always been easier to handle than the itch. But tonight, there would be no worries about collecting her juices—tonight was hers to enjoy.
Danielle returned home from Sophie’s initiation feeling lethargic from the ritual feeding, as usual. The coven leader had pulled her aside after the ceremony and requested if she could continue to use Andy as a training aid for the coven. Dani had been surprised to find that the request raised mixed emotions in her. On the one hand, she and Andy were engaged. On the other, Gina was the person responsible for their happiness together. The coven leader had passed up many chances to have Andy for her own, all in the name of Danielle’s growth as a person. It would be a shame to hog him so that other women wouldn’t have that chance for growth—nahhh. Danielle Gray, let’s face it: you feel guilty about taking Andy away from Gina. "But it’s not like he could leave me for her," she said aloud to her otherwise-empty car.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it needed to be out in the open. She and Andy could easily come to a comfortable compromise, but he wouldn’t unless she brought it up. When she got home, she didn’t even wait for Andy’s welcoming kiss. "Andy, do you love Gina?" Before he could respond, she warned, "Be honest, or I’ll zap you and find out that way." He nodded his affirmative to her question, embarrassed, but unrepentant. "Okay. She told me that she wants to keep using you as a training aid. I really think she just wants to have you around," she explained. "While I am jealous, I really have no reason to object. We’re already so far out of normal social bounds that nothing really shocks me any more." She looked at her stunned fiancé. "Besides, she loves you as much as I do." Dani shook her head to interrupt the objection she knew he was preparing. "Just remember that this means it’s an open relationship for now. That means me too. Got that?" He nodded again, unable to speak, shock on his face and in his aura. "Good." She stretched and yawned. "Yes, I am tired from the initiation, sweetheart. Can we just go to sleep tonight?" The caress of his aura made any vocal response unnecessary.
Gina studied Andrew as he sat holding Danielle’s hand. His aura floated protectively around the initiate. The black flecks swirled slowly, except near the point of contact with her: there they danced energetically. "I can’t say that I’m unhappy about the decision you’ve made." She directed her gaze at him. "I am especially happy for one of the reasons, flattered even. But are you sure about this?" The coven leader unconsciously held her breath.
"Yes, your ladyship," Dani formally answered, and cast a confirming glance at Andy who nodded quickly. "You don’t know how much Andy cares for you. You may be able to read his mind, but I have read his soul," she asserted, then added with amusement, "You can breathe again, Gina." The coven leader smiled, but her eyes were flashing at him. "Do you want me to leave you two alone?" The young initiate trembled slightly as her soul mate gave her a hug with his aura just as Gina said no. She considered everything that was going on—the coven leader would do what her sense of duty dictated, which was the opposite of what she desperately wanted, while Andy would accept any decision that Dani made without reservation. She got up and said, "I’ll see you tomorrow after work, Andy." Danielle could see a small tremor of excitement go through Gina’s body at the words; it made her feel—good. "I love you both," she explained softly to the air outside the library doors as she closed them behind her.
"Susan, she’s really—special, isn’t she?" Danielle asked the eldest initiate over coffee. She had decided that she didn’t want to go straight home after leaving Andy at the castle. A phone call to Susan brought her a quick invitation: so here she was in Susan’s kitchen, talking with her best friend. "I mean, I don’t—want her physically—but at the same time, I want her to be happy."
Susan replied, "Well, darling, if you ever get the chance, don’t pass it up," with a sly grin. The older woman’s eyes lost focus for a moment while she replayed some glorious memories of very intimate times spent with the coven leader. "To answer your question, yes, Gina is quite special. Seven hundred years of experiences and an unflagging sense of obligation have produced the woman we know as Gina Mansfield. Her ladyship is mother and best friend and a favorite teacher rolled into one person." Susan sipped her coffee. "And you have become one of her favorite people. Danielle, you have matured a lot in the past year. Gina would do anything for you now."
"I never really understood before," Danielle resumed, "how magical all this is, but I can sense and see things I never did before. If it hadn’t been for Gina and the coven, I’d still be trapped in my unhappy marriage to Larry. And she basically forced Andy on me. If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably still be running around fucking every cute guy I saw." She paused to reflect on that for a moment. "Her ladyship wouldn’t have let me do that much longer, would she?"
Susan smiled. "No, she wouldn’t have. Somehow, she would have found a way to disabuse you of that notion without separating you from the coven. Even though we can have as many men as we want, there are rewards for selecting one special person." She looked at Lewis. "Plus, you were hardly discreet about it," she grinned. The kitchen was quiet for a while. "So, how do you feel knowing that your fiancé is in love with Gina?"
Dani shifted in her chair. "At the risk of sounding like I don’t care about Andy, I am really happy for her. He’s going to be with me, but the time that she spends with him is going to have to last her God-knows-how-many lifetimes until the next guy like him comes along. He’s as special as she is, so in some sense, I feel like I’m—intruding." She decided to rummage through her purse and look for her cigarettes to give herself a chance to collect her thoughts. Susan remained silent. Danielle sighed heavily. "Still, I couldn’t let him go completely, even if I don’t feel—jealous."
"You know that Andrew wouldn’t be able to stay away for long, dear. And I think that your perception of yourself as the third in a love triangle combined with the security of knowing that he won’t ever leave you is what keeps you from being jealous," Susan replied. She grasped Danielle’s hand. "You don’t feel bad about Andy and Gina, and you’re wondering why," the older woman observed. Her friend nodded vigorously in agreement. "It’s because you have matured enough to accept that there are some things that are too big for you to affect. Even when you have nearly unlimited resources. Sometimes things go well when just left alone." Susan looked into Danielle’s eyes. "Something good will happen for your—sacrifice—" she began, then suddenly stopped. "It’s not a sacrifice for you, is it?"
"No, Susan, no… it’s not," Danielle answered confidently. "It just feels too—right. It’s what I feel I should do. It’s the right thing to do. I dunno why, but I know that it is." She finished her coffee. "Thanks, Susan. I needed to talk this out." They hugged each other. "I’ll see you at the coven meeting Friday night."
A few days later, Danielle was in the sun room at the castle, working on preliminary plans for the wedding. Gina had invited her and Andy to the castle on this late-winter Saturday afternoon, but had been vague about the reason. The two of them were now in the library behind closed doors. Dani didn’t mind, since it gave her a chance to get started on planning the wedding. Sophie, the newest initiate, walked into the room, interrupting Dani’s task. She looked up and smiled pleasantly. "Hi, Sophie. What’s up? What brings you by here today?"
"Hi, Dani." Sophie Gardner swallowed hard, while trying to figure out how to tell the coven’s sergeant-at-arms the reason she was at the castle. She fidgeted. The coven leader had told her after yesterday’s meeting that it was time for her to "become intimately acquainted with Andrew." Although the initial request had shocked Sophie, she had heard Gina out. Sophie’s life had made a dramatic turn for the better since Gina recruited her for the coven. Morris Cotter was no longer a problem: Sophie had used the power to stop him from using her as his personal concubine. It had also kept him from making good on his implied threat to blackball Sophie from the industry if she stopped bending over for him. She had been surprised at how quickly she had been able to find a higher-paying job at another firm, which increased her confidence in herself. Morris had always said that she was an average legal secretary, but a great ass fuck. She had always believed that nobody else would hire her, and if Morris had gotten mad and fired her, she would have had to go back to hooking. So far, everything that Gina had told her to do had worked out. But this… "Ummmm… ummm… her ladyship said that I should get…" Sophie hesitated, then quickly exhaled, "With Andy." She just stood there, feeling awkward, waiting for Dani’s inevitable explosion.
So that’s why she called us over… Danielle smiled and motioned for Sophie to sit. "Are you asking for my permission?" she lightly asked, getting a nervous, energetic nod in response. Dani looked at Sophie while running through what she knew about the young woman. Being the sergeant-at-arms gave her access to the background dossiers that the coven leader had for each initiate. Sophie had run away from home at sixteen and turned to prostitution and drugs on the streets until her pimp gave her to Morris Cotter as payment for legal services. Much to his credit, the lawyer had promptly dried her out and given her a real job at his law firm. She had lost a great deal of her street hardness in the three years she had worked there. However, a non-negotiable condition for her continued employment had been that she also serve as Morris’ private whore. By now, sex was just a commodity to Sophie, something she could trade for the necessities of life. Well, Andy’s aura would certainly change that. "Sure," she said, "go ahead." As Sophie’s jaw hit the floor, Danielle resumed, "Her ladyship never does anything without good reason, and she has my full cooperation in such matters."
Sophie slowly regained her composure; Dani was right: the coven leader was not one to waste anybody’s time. The young woman was still worried about one more thing. She nervously took out a brown cigarette. "What if ummm… Andy doesn’t… well… you know."
Danielle watched Sophie take a deep drag. She smiled to herself as Sophie tilted her head upwards to exhale. "Don’t worry, Sophie. He’s gonna love you. Now go on," she urged with a shooing motion and a bright smile. She almost managed to suppress a giggle as the newest initiate left, completely unaware of what she was about to experience. Danielle went back to work, happily humming the wedding march.
Andy and Sophie came through the door of the sun room a couple of hours later. It was clear that she hadn’t recovered yet. He poured her into a chair and gave his fiancée a kiss. A soft, moaning, "Ohhhhh… Shi-i-i-it," came from the newest initiate after another minute.
"Well, Sophie? Did you learn anything new?" Danielle impishly grinned.
"That was innn-cred-ible," Sophie happily sighed. "I don’t know how you can stand it day in and day out. He’s much better than any drug I’ve ever taken… and I’ve tried most of them." She made an effort to clear her head by shaking it. "His aura is soooo…"
"Uh-huh," Dani interrupted, beaming at her fiancé. "And I understand that it is too special for me to hog. It feels a little different to me, but I’ve grown kinda—familiar with it," she grinned.
Sophie sat up in the chair, indicating that her brain had started to function a little better. "Ohhh and when he came… I was in heaven." She looked at Andy with obvious desire, then at Dani. "Ummmm…"
Anticipating the question, Danielle said, "I make no promises, Sophie. It is his body, after all. There’s only a few rules: first, you can’t use the power to get him. Two, if he says no, then the answer is no. Three, it really pisses him off if you keep bothering him about it." After a pause, she added, "My advice is, don’t think of him as a sex toy. Talk to him and get to know him." She grinned wickedly. "There’s a secret, too. If you find out what it is, he’ll make you very happy." She shifted her attention to Andy, whose face was turning bright red. "Are we ready to leave?" He nodded, still blushing, but smiling, and they said goodbye to Sophie. They left the castle arm-in-arm, talking animatedly. From the library window, the coven leader unobtrusively observed the merry couple’s departure, feeling an odd mix of pride, love, self-satisfaction, and loss.