The Generator: The Succubae Seduction (63 page)

“THIS IS NOT YOUR WORLD, FIEND,” a new voice booms out and I feel like my head is struck by a powerful bell. “BEGONE NOW, OR FACE THE MIGHTY HOST OF HEAVEN IN ALL ITS HOLY WRATH.”

Aldol’s voice rings out from many throats. “I will not be thwarted this time. I will destroy this world and every world! Your master’s enforced order in what should be pure chaos is wrong. You have no idea the amount of pain these creations cause.”

Despite his declaration, the multi-hued creature flees. What did it mean: these creations causing pain?

“RISE GENERATOR, AND BE WHOLE.”

The pain in my chest vanishes, and I carefully get to my feet. Looking around, I swear to you, I see an actual angel. White wings, halo, and all. A bright golden sword is in his hands, and he takes a moment to sheath it at his side.

The angel turns to AnnaBelle then, and places his hand on her head. “YOUR PLEAS FOR HELP WERE HEARD, LITTLE ONE. YOUR FAITH HAS BEEN REWARDED.”

“Thank you, dear Lord!” the older woman cries out, dropping to her knees, hands clasped before her and tears streaming from her eyes.

“I AM NOT THE LORD, BUT ONE OF HIS HUMBLE SERVANTS.” He turns back to me, and I see his gaze go to the blade at my hip. “I KNEW YOUR FATHER A VERY LONG TIME AGO, GENERATOR. HE MADE SOME POOR CHOICES, AND WAS PUNISHED FOR THEM. STILL, I AM SADDENED TO SEE HIM IN SUCH A STATE. KNOW THIS: THE FATE YOU AVOIDED BY USING THE TALISMAN, IS NOW HIS FATE as HE MUST CONSTANTLY ACT TO BALANCE OUT THE OPPOSING FORCES OF THE TWO BLADES. MASAMUNE AND MURAMASA ARE NO MORE. FROM THIS DAY FORTH, YOUR BLADE IS MURASAME. YOUR FATHER WILL GUIDE YOU AS HE IS ABLE, BUT HIS PATH BACK TO RIGHTEOUSNESS IS FOREVER BLOCKED.”

Tell Michael,
my father says as tears spring to my eyes,
that he still owes me for that bet between Adam and Eve
.

The angel laughs loudly, and I think my eardrums are about to burst at the powerful sound.

“I THOUGHT I PAID THAT TODAY, OLD FRIEND. FINE THEN.” The angel Michael approaches me, and holds out his hand palm up. In it is a tiny golden horn, affixed to a thin golden chain. “WHEN THE NEED IS DIRE, AND ALL HOPE SEEMS LOST, SOUND ON THIS, AND LIGHT WILL COME TO YOUR AID.”

“How am I—“ I try to ask, but he’s already gone.

Suddenly I’m hit from all sides by a tangle of arms, legs, and breasts. Overwhelmed by the day’s events, I close my eyes, and just enjoy the moment.

“Don’t you ever do that to us again,” Brooke glares at me when she pulls out of the tangle.

I see Angela look at me sadly and turn to walk away.

“Angela, wait!” I cry out as I see her wings form.

“Forget about me, Lyden,” she says, without turning around, her voice choked up. “I still love you, but I don’t know if I can ever forgive you.” She takes to the air and is soon out of sight, flying straight into TanaVesta’s realm.

I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself, I think after her, understanding how she feels. I’d killed the man she thought of as a father. He was
my
father.

“She’ll be back,” Areth says, landing on my shoulder. “No one can resist staying away from a dolt like you.”

Turning away, I face the rest of the group. My heart is torn in more pieces than I ever thought possible at the moment, but there is work to be done and I have responsibilities to meet.

Thomas, Jewkes—whose first name I find is Richard—and Jennifer are all fine and unharmed. Ondine still fusses over Thomas, and I can tell he’s hamming it up for more attention from her.

“Your wrist,” Sheila says, taking my right hand.

“Michael must have fully healed me,” I tell her dishonestly.

“That was the Angel Michael?” AnnaBelle cries out in shock, and I realize his name hadn’t been spoken out loud. The pious woman drops to her knees. I have no doubt whom she’s praying in thanks to this time.

We check ourselves over and find that no one is hurt. Brooke tells me that her scarred stomach had been healed after waking up in Douglas’s small home.

“Why were you able to resist that thing?” Becky asks Jewkes, and I perk up a bit wondering the same. “Are you colorblind, too?”

“What do you mean?” he asks, somewhat confused. “I’m not colorblind at all. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I think it’s his shades,” I say, entering the conversation. “You said they were Blublockers, right? Don’t those block out a certain wavelength of light?” He nods at my statement, and I feel a small measure of happiness enter me. “We need to get more of those,” I say. “They make you immune to Aldol’s control, just like my color-blindness does for me.”

“You mean that was the thing you’d told me about?” he asks incredulously. “Didn’t seem all that tough to me.”

“Except that its true power resides in its ability to control almost anyone it wants,” I tell him.

He rubs the back of his neck and gives Jennifer a rueful look. “I see what you mean.”

Jennifer looks apologetic, but we all know her actions weren’t her fault.

“We really shouldn’t stay here any longer than we need to,” Becky says. Of course I can’t argue with her logic. “Can we get back without Angela?”

That poses an issue I hadn’t thought about before. Angela was always the means of getting us in and out through the oak tree elevator.

“Only one way to find out,” Lisa says, and starts heading south.

“I am here for you if you need me, Master,” Sheila says after we’ve been moving for a bit, offering her services as a whipping post.

“Thank you, but I’m fine,” I dismiss her off-handedly. I’m not in the mood, but don’t want to hurt her feelings either.

“Are you going to be alright?” Becky asks me a few moments later.

“You can talk to us if you need to,” Lisa says before I have a chance to reply.

“Thank you, my beautiful girlfriends,” I try to tell them graciously, “but I have too much to do, for me to just lie down and wallow in self-pity.”

They give each other a look, which I ignore, and then walk away.

“Don’t even think about trying to comfort me,” I tell Areth as she rides on my shoulder. She gives a ‘humph’ before flying off to annoy Sheila. I can see Brooke giving me worried looks, but right now I just want to be left alone. I don’t need to be coddled, I just need to buckle down and take Aldol out. Once that creature is out of commission, then I can concentrate on my love life.

“So, remember how I told you I served in the Army?” Thomas asks when he approaches me. “It was tough. I never told you why I got out, though.” I look at him, wondering if this is another attempt to cheer me up after Angela’s leaving. “I had my own squad, and my commander ordered me to do something I knew was wrong. I refused, of course, but he talked some of my men into doing it.” He chuckles lightly, shaking his head. “That’s kind of how I see that light thing. He talks you into doing things you know you shouldn’t. I’m really sorry I tried to shoot you.”

“What happened to your commander?” I ask, ignoring his apology. I know it wasn’t his fault.

This time his laugh is genuine. “As far as I know he’s still in Fort Leavenworth, turning big rocks into little rocks, and being Bubba’s Bubbette every night.”

I smile at his analogy, and after a few seconds of silence, he walks away.

You know you’re going to need to face your feelings sooner or later, don’t you?

“Not you, too,” I whisper so no one else can hear. “I’ve had plenty of practice lately reigning in and controlling my emotions. I think I’ll survive.”

The walk to the Oak tree seems to take forever. I have to fight hard in order to keep my emotions in check at the sight of it. So many memories. . . .

Thankfully the bark splits for us, and a couple of trips later, we’re all safely back on Earth.

The sun is just coming up over the city buildings as we pull out of the garage.

“We’ve been gone for three weeks,” Lisa says, checking her phone.

“There goes my job,” Jennifer groans.

“I could put in a good word for you at the department,” Jewkes offers. I’m surprised at how readily the large breasted woman agrees.

“We might have a bigger problem,” Becky states. I can see she’s truly worried over something. She doesn’t give me any significant looks, so I know it’s not her concern over my well-being. “Aldol knows you’re still alive, Lyden. He also knows where we live.”

Silence sits heavily in the crowded car as we all take that in. Becky was the one most affected the last time Aldol attacked us at her place.

“I could get you police surveillance,” Jewkes states hesitantly, “but I don’t honestly think they’re equipped to deal with your sort of problems.”

“They’re not,” I state bluntly. The law enforcer grimaces. I realize I might have been a bit too blunt, but I don’t care enough right now to mollify him.

I believe I can help, here.
Shemhazau, or maybe I should start calling him Murasame now, informs me that he has many bank accounts on Earth, and that we can get plenty of money to find a better place.

“But what about all our stuff?” Lisa asks when I inform them of what my blade said.

“I forbid anyone to go back there,” I say firmly, and get more than just a few dirty looks at my imperious tone.

“I’ll send a car around, and see if anyone or anything is watching it,” Jewkes tells the two women. I glare at him, but he just shrugs his shoulders. “I understand you want to keep everyone safe, Lyden, but I’m not under your jurisdiction.” He turns back to Lisa, “Give me a key, and if it looks clear, I’ll have someone move all your valuables and anything you list, out.” The two women immediately get to work listing everything they can’t lose, and from the suffering look Jewkes gets at the growing list, I can see he’s starting to regret his decision.

“Would . . . would it be alright if I stayed with you?” Ondine nervously asks Thomas. The older veteran looks nervously at me, and I just nod his way. It’s his decision, and Ondine doesn’t belong to me.

“I would be honored,” he tells her. His cheeks burn bright red as the mermaid hugs him tightly.

As soon as she lets him go, I carefully pull him aside. “I’m not going to tell you how to live your life,” I begin, “but I wanted to make sure you understand what you’re getting into.”

“Wha’d’ya mean?” he asks me, glancing over my shoulder at his new roommate.

“She’s a mermaid, not human for one, and she’s completely infatuated with you,” I state matter-of-factly.

“I may be old, Lyden, but I’m not dumb. Though she could be young enough to be my daughter,” he tells me with a grin on his face. “It was easy to figure out she wasn’t human. Hell, you tend to attract very few human women,” he gives Areth, buzzing around the compartment of the Orange Bubble, a significant glance. “And I’m not blind, either. But tell me; where is a man my age going to find a hot young thing like that, willing to be with him in our world?”

“The internet,” I reply blandly, and then ruin it with a little laugh. Man, but it feels good to smile about something! “And she might not be as young as you think,” I add, remembering how old Brooke is.

“Do you think I could convince her to get some piercings?” he asks me conspiratorially. My laugh only grows as I walk away from him. He’d been the original reason Angela had shown up as a punk that fateful day at work.

We head to the the bank and I have to sign an entire novel’s worth of forms, before they inform me that the money will be available within forty-eight hours. Thankfully Shemhazau is able to communicate with me even when we’re not together as I’d left him in the car. Somehow I think the bank would have frowned on me bringing in a large katana-like weapon.

My father informs me that he was steadily growing weaker, the longer we were apart. I guess that explains why Muramasa kept coming back to me, even when I didn’t want him to.

While we were at the bank, I saw that I still have enough money, and then some, in my account to get us all a hotel room to tide us over. I decide to splurge and reward my friends with a five-star experience, but after paying for the rooms I head back to the Orange Bubble to be alone.

Everyone heads up to their penthouses—I’d rented two—except for me. Even Areth is willing to change into her tiny golden dog form, but I choose to stay with the one link I still have to Angela.

My wallowing is interrupted by a knock on my car’s door.

“What is it, Arethusa?” I demand, when I sense the fairy on the other side.

“I don’t think you should be alone, right now,” she says to me. If it had been anyone else, I would have turned them away, but this is so out of character for the little fairy, that I just decide to turn away and let her back in. She didn’t even complain about me using her entire name. I’m not feeling up to arguing with her right now.

Ignoring her and crawling into the oversized bed, I’m soon fast asleep.

My dreams are filled with visions of faceless monsters, coming for me and slowly taking out my friends, one by one.

“Lyden, wake up!”

Sitting bolt upright, sweat flings from my brow before running down into my eyes, making them sting.

“You were having a nightmare,” the fairy says soothingly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Wait a minute. . . .

My legs get tangled in the blankets as I attempt a hasty retreat from the bed, resulting in me landing face first on the floor of my car.

“Stay back!” I yell at whomever was just in bed with me. It couldn’t have been Areth, she’s not big enough to be the owner of the hand that had been on my shoulder.

“Lyden, relax! It was only a dream,” the golden pixie’s voice sounds above me as I free myself from the evil covers.

“Who are you?” I demand. Murasame’s hilt is suddenly in my grasp, and I hold the sheathed blade up, still trying to see in the dim light filtering through the curtains.

A golden glow slow brightens from my bed, and I see the fully formed body of Areth on her hands and knees, looking curiously at me. The glow is coming from her.

“Arethusa?” I ask, confused. “But how . . .?” I realize I’m still pointing my sheathed blade at her, and embarrassedly drop it.

“Gee, you sure don’t wake up easy, do you?” the normally tiny woman asks of me, trying to hide a smile behind her hand. “And stop calling me Arethusa. I hate that name,”