Blood Servant Pt. 03

Katrina said a little coldly, "I understood the first time. Are you done?"

Jiang shrugged and relaxed his body language, "Just making things clear, to avoid any misunderstandings in the future."

Katrina nodded sharply, "Any questions from the witnesses?"

Bella shook her head, "It is a little concerning, but at the same time better you and Greg face the initial dangers and define the rules. I suspect when they hunted down all the lines in the past that they were successful. But just like then, the appearance of a body mage here and now was a natural evolution and part of the evolution of the mage race."

Katrina tilted her head.

Bella smiled, "Point being, I'd be shocked if a body mage wasn't born into the rest of the clans, in the next century or so. We won't have to face the same challenges."

Cheeky bitch. But she wasn't wrong. I was establishing all the rules and expectations of the new mage affinity class, and what actions would cause a body mage to be hunted. If the only rule was not taking over another clan, I was fine with that.

Jiang looked rather alarmed by that concept, but he kept his opinion to himself.

Reginald waved, "Bella is right, I had the same thought myself in the middle of this briefing and negotiation. His power is a little concerning, but it makes sense to merely watch for abuses, as the two of you blaze a new trail in supernatural kind. Eventually, all the mage clans will have their own, and thanks to your vision and struggles, it won't be a big deal anymore. I have no wish to face what befell the Kotch clan."

I think what they were saying, is I worried them, but there was more benefit than danger in me setting the precedents. If they all went after me, then they'd be fucked when it was their turn, and one of their children was born with my power. It was a little selfish, but if it meant we wouldn't have to fight them at all then I was all for it.

Enzo nodded, "It is a balance of power issue as well, but not so dire a one to be truly alarming. A mixed clan of vampire and body mages would have few weaknesses. I think we will all be watching you, but none of us save Jiang perhaps, will go to war without true reason. His power's potential for evil is no worse than the rest of ours, after all, and his bonding power isn't all that much different than mine."

He paused for a second, then said, "The rules of war, you all trust that the vampire clans won't suborn the will of a mage outside of combat leading to death, but there's nothing but my word and principles that is stopping me from doing so. Given surprise and opportunity, I could control a mage clan by proxy. I see little difference, and quite honestly the ancient mages sound like narrow minded assholes."

I suppressed a chuckle.

Katrina nodded regally, "Thank you again for all your time. I'll work up a ceasefire document and sign it to be returned with your representative. If you agree it matches what we discussed, you'll sign a copy and return it to me."

Jiang said, "That is acceptable. It does please me we were able to come to terms, and it is my hope your servant is as trustworthy as you deem him to be."

He hung up and his square disappeared. The other three hung up as well.

It didn't take long to type up the document, and get it printed out twice. It was maybe an hour later when the three witnesses watched her sign both copies, and then give them to the Song representative. He'd take it home, and after Jiang signed both one would be mailed back.

It was still early, only ten or so, so we got changed into club wear and headed up to the club for the rest of the night.

Seventeen days passed in blissful peace. No attacks, no real problems, just day to day routine that was comforting, as I took care of my mistresses and also drowned in their love. They were my world, and I loved my duties, even took pride in using my magic to keep our quarters spotless. My favorite moments were the deep intimacy of bathing and babying them one at a time, and the sex was even more fantastic than in the beginning. The ever deepening and growing love we shared made it sharper, sweeter, and more poignant, even as our lust grew stronger fed from that love. I was often and happily pounding them into satiation before we explored the deeper emotions and made love together.

They were my mistresses, my mates, my loves, and the mothers of my future children. My time with Cassidy was also intense, but the hour or so of intimacy and alone time every night was more than enough to maintain and grow our relationship. If I could change one thing, it would be to take her off the day shift so she could be with the rest of us all the time, but I knew she would hate it as much as she would love it. It was her purpose and job to protect the clan during the daylight hours, and I'd never take that from her.

Loving mate and mother alone, wasn't a balanced life.

Blood servant or not, it was a rich life and more than enough. Taking care of them, helping to rear future body affinity sorcerers that would be a part of the clan and my children. It wasn't a typical male role, but it was one I was happy with and took joy in.

We were at the club that night, seventeen days later, and Katrina was in a strange mood. Not as cuddle prone as usual, and she sat a little stiffly. Her regal shields were up to full strength, I suppose you could say.

"So... what happened while I was seeing to my shifter mate?'

I assumed something had happened in the hour the ladies were at the club without me, while I got breakfast and took care of Cassidy.

Alexa looked at Katrina then back to me, "Well. We got a strange offer, or Katrina did when checking her messages, before we left for the club."

"Strange offer?"

Regina said, "From Bella Silvestri."

I frowned, then prompted "Katrina?" It seemed I'd have to drag it out of them.

Katrina sighed, "She offered me three million dollars... As a stud fee."

When Regina looked nervous at that, instead of making a sexual joke or wicked innuendo, I knew it was a problem.

"Stud fee?" I asked nervously.

Katrina looked at me, her eyes conflicted, "Yes, one million each, for you to knock up three very willing young volunteers from her clan. To... stack the deck so to speak, by adding your bloodline to theirs. Even if none of the kids display the body affinity, it'll still add that possibility to the bloodline, rather than waiting for evolution to catch up and add the eleventh affinity naturally to her own bloodline."

"So, what's the problem? Just say no?"

She sighed, "The mate and mistress in me wants to do exactly that. But as leader of the clan it isn't quite that clear cut. Three million dollars would pay most of our expenses for two years, more than long enough for Regina's escort service to take off. We're already making good money there, after just a few weeks.

"Besides that, there's also the political angle, we'd be putting the Silvestri clan in the same boat we're in, and it would bind us as allies. Bella is a hard woman, but she'd make a very good ally to have. Conversely, she'd be a bad enemy to have, and turning her down would have consequences."

Yeah, the woman was as hot as she was terrifying, not unlike my own mistress that way, if I was being honest. Katrina was a wonderful woman, but I never forgot she was also a dangerous predator who would stamp out threats violently and joyfully when it was called for.

"Does she know I'd bond them?"

Alexa answered, "Yes, but they'll be out of your reach, and they'll verify you've given them no orders to follow once they're returned."

I nodded, uncomfortable with the whole idea, it'd feel like cheating.

Regina said, "But the idea of studding you out disgusts us all on a personal level, and it makes us want to destroy things. We love each other, and share you in that shared love, but fucking and impregnating a stranger is an entirely different thing. The added angle of doing it for cash makes us feel guilty too.

"Worse, we'd be angry at you for saying yes even when it was us ordering you to do it, that you were willing to fuck three young Italian women to knock them up. Hypocritical, but there you have it."

Alexa sighed, "It would hurt us. Harm and poison our relationship. I think we'd heal from it, in time, and maybe even be stronger for it, but the whole idea disgusts me. You're our mate and not just our blood servant. You're not a stallion to be rented out."

I grunted, "But that's personal, and you all have a commitment and responsibility toward the clan as its leadership."

Katrina sighed, "That's exactly the problem. Personally, the answer is hell no, as leader and by politics and our financial situation we'd be beyond foolish not to say yes."

"Is it that bad?"

Katrina replied, "Yes and no. We'll be draining the bank accounts for a while, until the escort business fully takes off to replace the lost income of Andrei's criminal enterprises. That said, it should even out and make us even more money in the long term, long before we run out of cash. But even then, the less we have to run in the red the better for the clan. The real bad part is that a no would insult Bella, I'd rather have her as an ally."

I nodded thoughtfully, "What if I didn't have to fuck them? I could just... knock them up with magic, kind of like artificial insemination the humans do. Sure, the kids would still be a big deal, giving away a part of me, but at the same time I'd be remaining loyal to our bed. Even if it was you selling me, it'd feel like cheating."

Katrina gaped, "You can do that?"

I shrugged, "Sure? I'd have to form a bond with them to do it, just let them drink a few drops of my blood in juice or something. Then I could send my magic into them, force their bodies to drop an egg, then I'll magic some of my sperm directly into their wombs and make sure the egg was fertilized. Then they could be our guest for ten days while we waited to make sure the zygote bonds and nothing goes wrong."

Still kind of fucked up, but I could do it, for three million dollars. Most sperm donors didn't get nearly that much.

Warm and supple flesh was suddenly in my arms, and Katrina's sweet lips were kissing me wildly and warmly as she ground down against me. She'd straddled me right in the VIP section of the club. It also didn't help my peace of mind, that she was in a sexy as hell little black dress which drove me crazy.

Then she was sitting next to me again, a little breathless as she leaned against me and pulled the skirt of her dress back down. No doubt it had ridden up to her waist with her legs parted around me.

Regina chuckled, "You might regret that offer, when you see how hot the three young Italian girls are. I imagine they might've even taken you on all at once," she teased.

I snorted, and I knew I'd fixed it with my idea if Regina was back to making inappropriate jokes. Of course, Katrina's sudden relaxed presence and the way she'd kissed me also told me the problem was solved.

Sure, shallowly tempting maybe, but no more so than being surrounded by thirty more hot Russian woman. Most of the clan were Russian ladies turned at the flowering of their beauty between eighteen and twenty, Katrina oddly enough was only one of a few that weren't Russian at all, but that had only been visiting Russia when they caught Andrei's eyes. Point being, they were nice to look at, but there was no real temptation not to be faithful to my four mates.

Alexa smiled, "Thanks, Greg. That would be perfect."

Katrina winked at Regina, "I think it's them that will be disappointed, if they know about his cock-size anyway."

Regina giggled.

Alexa asked, "Dance?" the tension of earlier completely gone, as they dragged me out of the booth. They were also all three of them, a little more wicked and attentive to me on the dance floor than usual. It was obvious my solution and reluctance to fuck the mages had done more than settle their nerves, it had turned them on as well. The best of both worlds, they got my faithfulness, and they got Bella as an ally instead of an enemy.

Not to mention fixing our balanced budget issue for two years.

It was maybe an hour later that we returned to our table that the next news came from Calina. I didn't listen to it, knowing if it was important Katrina would tell us after Calina whispered it into her ear. When the fourth in command left, Katrina let out a deep breath.

"Kaori is dead, sacrificed herself to preserve her clan. She turned herself over for execution at the last minute, and Clan Miyashita is now down to nine mages. The new leader is Mariko, Kaori's daughter, rightful heir, and she has been second in command the last six years. She's very young, just twenty-four, but shouldn't be underestimated. From every report I've ever read Mariko is at least as hard as Kaori ever was. I'll send an invitation for negotiation tomorrow after our early afternoon wakeup fun, it's a little late tonight."

Alexa sighed, "Do you think she'll give us a little slack, like Jiang did?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, but the same argument won't work on her. I think a big reason Jiang proposed a ceasefire was because those mage ancestors that set that prejudice against body mages so strongly in their culture, also believed vampires were abominations. Would've killed him too. Even with that strong emotional argument added to the logical ones given, he still wasn't able to bring himself to call for peaceful agreements, and only a cessation of war given Gregory doesn't start taking over clans."

Alexa nodded, "I agree, I just hoped you saw it differently. As a mage clan and a mage, herself, she'll see that as a non-argument. Or at least, it won't hit her emotionally."

Regina interjected, "So we need a new emotional argument."

Katrina sighed, "Back off or die is about all I've got, but I'll give it more thought. We'll still use the overwhelming factual arguments, and the point that vampires are thought of as people now too, but I honestly don't think that will be enough. Prejudice steeped in custom is almost impossible to overcome with logic, and as difficult to counter as blind religious zeal. At the same time the danger is minimal, but ever present. All it takes is one mage assassin to hit us while our guards are down. If she does come at us, it won't be with allies this time, and it won't be straightforward."

That was true enough, she didn't have enough mages to hit us with straightforward force, not without her whole clan dying in the process. Even if they'd manage to take down some of Katrina's people, they'd ultimately fail and no one was dumb enough to accept those odds going into battle. The only ally Miyashita had was now in a ceasefire and would rebuff any demands, and none of the other clans were interested in hunting me just because of how and what I'd been born.

Which left stealth, trickery, and assassination.

I was shielding us all from magic at the moment, as had become my habit whenever we left the mansion. It would also stop a bullet only, as far as physical damage, to safeguard us from snipers. Anything else physical would have to be dealt with via our skills.

Even when at the mansion, I brought up a detection field around the property. Not so much a ward, but a spell. It was just sunrise to one pm when we were sleeping that we were truly vulnerable, and we trusted in the alarm systems and the shifters to keep us safe or wake us at a threat.

I'd love to build a permanent ward, but wards were directly connected to a mage's magic, so they lasted even during sleep. One mage, even one as powerful as a leader, couldn't support a ward on their own. Not even a simple detection and warning ward, much less a ward that blocked magic and barred strange vampires from breaching it physically.

Maybe in a couple of decades. When my children were adults, we could build one together.

Alexa said, "So... threats? Something to fear more than our Greg's existence."

Katrina nodded reluctantly, "That's the only emotional argument I can think of, as I said, to bolster up and make them consider the logical ones. Make them fear us more than they fear Gregory's existence. I was thinking to take the same approach that Becenti did with them, and Jiang did with us."

I said, "They're not welcome in our land, and if any of their people are found we'll take out their leader and reset?"

Katrina nodded, "But like Jiang, only one more restrained response. If Mariko sends an assassin, we take her out. If their successor sends an assassin, that's three leaders in a row, and we break their clan."

I noted worriedly, "I see a major flaw in that plan, love."

Katrina frowned.

I expanded, "Song and Miyashita share New York, New Jersey, and part of Pennsylvania. If we trespass on Song land, we'll be at war with Song again. Mariko is quite safe, and we're stuck on the defensive, unless we want to reopen hostilities with Song too."

Alexa cursed vociferously enough to make a sailor blush.

Katrina sighed, "How did I miss that? Shit. Damn me if Jiang didn't see that right off. That he could maintain his ceasefire while shielding Miyashita the whole fucking time. And I thought I was so clever by getting him to cave, but the wily bastard outmaneuvered me instead."

Regina said, "So, we capture their assassin, fake our deaths, and send him back compelled to murder Mariko and then suicide."

Katrina gaped for a minute, then laughed, "Okay, we can do that without violating the terms of the ceasefire."

Regina winked, "Then we jump out, and yell, surprise!"

I snorted. Regina had some really good ideas at times, and they only seemed surprising because she acted like a bimbo at times. Something I saw through, but still affected me at times.

Katrina sighed, "It also won't be a constant danger, as they have to start making babies, not war. Once we whittle their clan down to seven, they'll really need to take stock. That will secure us for a few generations of peace while they pump out babies. A lot can happen in that time, and maybe Silvestri will get involved at that point, since they'll most likely have at least one body affinity mage at that time."

It wasn't perfect, but neither were humans or the world. A temporary peace based on attrition for three generations wasn't shabby and we'd deal with it again if we had to. By that time, we'd have seven full adult body mages in our mixed clan, so would be a lot stronger as well. Especially after we headed back west so the council could teach me the deeper magical secrets lost when my family home and library, as well as my line, was destroyed.

The trick of course was catching that assassin before he caught us, and him or her taking out the matriarch of the clan and themselves before our ruse was discovered. Really, I couldn't imagine them pressing it further at that point, with only seven mages left.

Hell, they may even break up and go back to Japan, seek out mage clans there to take them in. Nah, we weren't that lucky, they'd bide their time, plan a campaign, and try to take us down in two or three generations again.

Regardless, and as I said, sixty years of peace was nothing to sneeze at. Challenges and violence in our world were a given, and we'd be blessed if we got that long to build our new unique clan and grow in power.

"Strange question. I need thirty lab rats, and a room in the mansion turned into a lab for three years. Maybe six."

Katrina blinked.

Regina asked, "Why?"

I said, "Experiments. I have some ideas I want to explore and verify. I'll also need medical grade liquid nitrogen freezing, like they use to flash freeze zygotes and sperm so they're still viable when warmed back up."

Katrina asked, "You don't want to tell us?"

I tilted my head, "Don't want to get your hopes up, more like. Modern medicine gives me a few avenues and ideas to explore that I'm sure my ancestors didn't or wouldn't have thought of."