Fortune and Fortitude Pt. 02

Ria has very kissable lips. Jared opened his eyes in surprise at the strange thought. Inadvertently, his eyes strayed to the lips in question. It was true. Her lips were parted in a sensual pout, and he felt the sudden urge to lean over and take them with his own.

He shook his head. Wow. He wasn't really expecting that. He closed his eyes again. With a bit of hesitation, he refocused his mind.

Within a second, another thought broke through. Touch her.

No. He took another deep breath. What is wrong with me?

Nothing. His thoughts broke through again. You are a dragon.

That excuses nothing, he replied to himself.

What if she wants you to?

He ignored that thought. Go away, he thought sternly.

The urges ceased, but the thoughts continued. He did his best to ignore them, but he allowed them to stay. After all, he needed to know.

Many of the thoughts surprised him. They were extremely sexual in nature, and they had little to no bearing on what they targeted. Annika's hug from last night. Quinn bringing in breakfast. That one drop of sweat now residing somewhere in Ria's cleavage. Miss Senguine bending over slightly in her tank top. On and on they went, but Jared firmly refused to let himself dwell on any of it.

Well, at least I know I'm straight. He chuckled aloud at the thought.

"Having fun?"

He opened his eyes to see Ria looking at him. "Uh, yeah. Sure." A quick shift told him that he had an erection. He cursed himself internally.

Luckily, she didn't seem to notice. He quickly changed the subject. "So..." he started, straining his brain. "You and Miss Senguine seem.... Chummy."

She smiled sadly. "Yeah. I guess we are."

"Isn't that unusual for demons?" He thought he recalled Miss Senguine saying something along those lines.

Ria nodded.

"Why is that, by the way?"

Ria hesitated. "It's pretty simple, actually. Whoever betrays the other first has an advantage. Mutual trust inevitably leads to betrayal. Better to stay on your own or fully control the other person."

Jared frowned. "That doesn't sound like a very nice life."

Ria shrugged. "I would guess it isn't. Most of us tend to just indulge themselves in pleasure and glut ourselves on our Appetites."

Jared nodded. "But not you. Why?"

She fidgeted with her ponytail. "She's the only one I have. We're of the same bloodline -- my mother was her second cousin or something. When my mother left me, Miss Senguine took me in as a protégé. I owe her everything."

"Wait, what bloodline are you? What kind of demon are you, anyway?"

She shifted her gaze away. "I'd rather not discuss it. I think it's sufficient to say that we are kin."

"Okay, that kind of explains your plan, I guess." He scowled. "Except for one thing. Why would you need my help?"

Ria bit her lip. "It's kind of complicated." She hesitated for a moment before sighing. "The truth is... I don't think Jessica has the will to live anymore."

Jared's eyes widened. "What?"

"She doesn't eat anymore. Physically, yes, but not... You know. Magically." She held up her fingers in air quotes. "She doesn't think I notice -- or more likely, she doesn't care. I want to convince her to keep on living. If she doesn't eat..." She closed her eyes. "She'll probably perish within a year, if not sooner."

Jared winced. "I'm sorry, Ria."

She bit back her emotions and opened her eyes. "It's alright. I'm just hoping I can convince her to stick around for a while." She looked down. "I don't think my chances are very high. She's a... picky eater."

"And you think I could somehow convince her?"

Ria held up her hands. "I don't really have a better idea. Frankly, you're kind of my last hope for this. She hasn't been so alive since..." She cut off. "For a while. Finding you really woke her up from her stupor. I think that's a good sign."

Jared buried his face into his hands. "What about the other proteges? Can't they help you?"

Ria pursed her lips. "Maybe in the short term. But once the apocalypse hits, well... I don't know much about their plans, but from what I've gathered, they both involve some major activity. Miss Senguine and I aren't very powerful, and she's planning on staying far, far away from anything political."

Jared frowned. "Apparently you know something I don't."

Ria laughed and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "I'm sure you know plenty about them that I don't know. But I don't think we can really work together."

She glanced at the window. "It's almost sunset. I should probably take you to Annika now." She rose and stretched her legs.

Jared stretched his back as he followed her from the room. "So how did I do? Is my 'mental strength' decent?"

She shrugged noncommittally. "I'll let Jessica fill you in. I think it'll be fun to let you be surprised."

Jared sighed. Suddenly, she sobered up. "Jared..." She reached out to touch his arm. "If you can help Miss Senguine, even if you don't make any deals with me..." She looked down. "I'd be very grateful. Very grateful."

Don't look at her lips. "I promise, I'll try to help." He hesitated. "But it sounds like it's going to take some work."

"Undoubtedly."

"I'm just not sure I can commit to do everything I can." He sighed. "I've got a lot going on right now, and I'm trying not to get overwhelmed."

She nodded. "I understand. If you change your mind..." She drew close. He froze as she sidled up to him, painful inches from making contact. "I promise, you won't regret it."

She pulled away and smiled like nothing happened. "We'd better get going. Annika is not a patient woman." She turned and walked down the stairs.

Jared groaned. He was going to need therapy after this.

After reaching the bottom, Ria led him through the back of the house and down another small flight of stairs. They soon approached a large, concrete room.

It was mostly bare, only punching bags and training dummies filling one half of the room. The other had a very out-of-place Olympic sized swimming pool. On the left side stood Annika, who was reclining on a sparring dummy.

She was dressed similarly to Ria, with the only major difference being the black booty shorts she wore in place of yoga pants.

Annika folded her arms as they came closer. "Took you long enough," she said dryly. "Did you get distracted?" She completely ignored Jared's presence.

Ria rolled her eyes. "I'm not here to argue, sister. I only came to drop off Mr. Bertreck here." She leaned over to whisper to him. "Be careful of her."

She didn't have to tell him twice. He nodded as Ria retreated for the door. "We'll talk some other time!" she called back.

When she was gone, Jared turned to face Annika. "'Sister'?"

Annika scoffed. "It's a running joke of hers. She always had a soft spot for her little 'family'." She pushed off the dummy to face him squarely. "It's a wonder she's not already dead."

Jared clenched his jaw as she stepped forward. "Have you thought about my little... proposition?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

He held up a hand to keep her from coming closer. "I have. I think I need a bit more information before I can decide."

She cocked out a hip and put her hand on it. "Excuse me? I'm not about to go telling strangers about my-" She stopped and scowled. "They made you deals too, didn't they?"

He didn't deny it. She sighed. "Let me guess. Ria told you everything, right?"

"Pretty much."

"And unless I tell you stuff, you're not going to make a deal with me?"

"Nope."

Annika stared at him for a long moment. "You're a pain in the butt, you know that?"

Jared shrugged. "Not the first time I've been told that."

Suddenly she grinned. "A bit of backbone. I like that in a man."

"What am I here for, exactly? Miss Senguine made it sound like she had something in mind." He glanced around the room.

"Harbor a guess." Annika held out her fingers. "You just had your mental strength tested, so now we're going to test your..." She feigned concentration and squinted dumbly.

He didn't take the bait. "I figured it would be something like that." He squared his shoulders. "Where do we begin?"

She stretched her arms and began walking around him slowly. "Have you ever hit a girl?"

"No."

She grinned maliciously. "Well, you're about to."

Before he could reply, she rushed at him with inhuman speed. A quick smack to the face landed by the time he flinched. He backed up quickly.

She was back to a few feet away, pacing around him in a fighting stance. "Go on. Put em up."

He raised his hands as she came in again. Heavens, she was fast. He tried to block, but she moved too quickly. She was a straight up blur. Almost... inhumanly fast.

He, apparently, was not. She kept raining blows on him, sharp and brutal. Individually they weren't particularly devastating, but they added up rapidly. He did his best to block them, but he wasn't very successful.

He swung wildly, but he couldn't land a hit. She sped up, giving him no time to breathe or react. He backed up, shielding himself against the onslaught, but to no avail. Soon, he felt his back touch the wall.

His frustration was growing. "Time out!" he shouted, but she paid no heed. "I said, stop!"

He reached out to grab her, but she spun away laughing.

A sharp pain panged him as she slapped his groin. The frustration ignited into unbridled fury. "I SAID STOP!"

With sudden clarity, he lunged forward and caught her arms. He spun around in a single motion, slamming the small girl into the wall. His breath came long and hard as he pressed her into the wall, his fingers gripping her tightly.

The rage slowly faded. Her eyes were wide with fear. Genuine, unabashed fear. Suddenly ashamed, he lowered her to the ground and muttered an apology.

She panted for breath and dropped to her knees. "I knew it," she gasped. "You are strong." She peered up to him, smiling. "What are you, exactly? Do you even know?"

He offered her a hand. "I'm not sure I should be telling you anything." She took it and stood. "It might come back to bite me later."

She shook her head. "If that was any indication, I'd rather not be on your bad side. Forgive me," she added. "I needed to know."

He waved his hand dismissively. "I get it." He sighed. "Miss Senguine said I was a Fair-go-naut or something."

Annika's eyes widened in excitement. "A Ferronaught?" she whispered.

Jared nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

She slumped back to the floor numbly. "Awesome. That's..." She shook her head. "I knew you were powerful, but dang."

Jared ignored the statement. "So what are you?"

She winced. "I'd really rather not say. No offense, but I'd rather keep that information until we have a deal of some kind."

He sank to the ground beside her and leaned against the wall, wiping some sweat from his brow. "Speaking of which, Ria mentioned something about your plan for the apocalypse. She said it was 'political' or something."

Annika hesitated. "Listen, secrecy is all I've got going for me. If I tell you anything, I need to know you aren't going to tell anyone."

"I promise." He crossed his heart. "I can keep a secret."

She scowled. "You're going to have to do better than that. Demons lie all the time."

"Not this demon." He looked her in the eyes. "I don't lie, Annika. You can trust me."

She held his gaze. She opened her mouth, but quickly looked away. "I can't. It's too risky."

"Annika." She looked at him again. "Please."

After a tense moment, her resistance melted. "Fine," she muttered, looking down. "It's not like I have any other options."

"You know about magic, right?" Jared nodded. "And how it works?"

"Yes."

"Alright. My bloodline is a bit... complicated." She wiggled her toes absently. "We're omnivores, in the truest sense of the word. Which is convenient, sort of, but it comes at a cost."

Jared nodded soberly. "Which is?"

She paused for a long moment, weighing her options. Finally, she spoke. "Anything I eat hardly gives me any nutrition at all." She bowed her head. "No matter how hard I try, I can't eat enough."

She bit her cheek. "You see me now? This is an illusion." She closed her eyes. "This is how I really look."

Jared gasped as she deflated. She had been small before, lithe and short. As the illusion faded, her thinness became emaciation.

Below her sports bra, he could see her ribs. Her chest flattened out completely, her flesh hugging sickeningly onto her bones in her arms and legs.

Her face was the worst. He sucked in a breath. He had seen images of starving children that looked healthier than what he was looking at.

She looked away as the illusion returned. Jared stared on.

She sighed. "I need to get food -- a lot of it. Since I'm so weak on my own, I need to find someone to help me out. Of course," she added, "I'm not expecting charity. I can contribute plenty to my Master."

Jared held up a hand. "Hold on. Doesn't the illusion require energy? Are you starving yourself?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Appearing like I do normally would be a disaster. How am I supposed to attract males to feed on like that? Not to mention, if people found out how easy of prey I am right now, I'd be dead meat."

Jared pinched his nose. "And yet you told me."

She shrugged. "Yep. Now you know. I'm almost completely helpless."

"You sure didn't seem helpless a few minutes ago."

She scoffed. "That's different. If I didn't test you somehow, Jessica was going to know something was up. Speed is the most efficient method."

This was just getting more and more complicated. "Couldn't she help you?"

Annika snorted. "Seriously? The healthier I get, the more I'm going to need to sustain myself. They can't help me. Heck, from what I hear, Kiara wants to be nice to humans. My needs aren't exactly human friendly."

"As for Jessica and Ria, they are planning on the pacifist road. My lifestyle is the high road or bust." She straightened. "I'm not going to live through the apocalypse just squeaking by. I want to feel good, and this is the perfect opportunity."

She glanced at him. "Provided, of course, I can get someone to help me."

Jared sighed. "No offense, Annika, but you can see why I might be hesitant." He thought about what Quinn said. "You don't exactly seem trustworthy, and your only cause is yourself. How can I know you wouldn't betray me the second you get some power?"

Annika winced. "That's not really how I work...." She hesitated. "Look, I'm desperate. Apart from illusions and basic enhancements, I can't really do anything for myself."

"Meaning...?"

"How about I just show you?"

Jared frowned. "And use more of your energy? I don't think that's such a good-"

She leaned up and kissed him. He tensed up as his brain shut down. It only lasted a few seconds before she pulled away. He hardly registered the warm feeling flooding his chest, dismissing it as nerves.

"What was that for?!" he roared as he pulled back.

She sighed. "Go punch a dummy." She winced as she leaned back against the wall. "Seriously."

He stopped. The warm feeling in his chest hadn't left. He stood and approached a training dummy. He looked back for confirmation, and she nodded weakly. He wound up and fired a punch.

With a loud bang, his fist passed straight through the dummy with little resistance. He gaped at his arm sticking out of the thick plastic and looked back at her.

She smirked. "Get it? All I can really do is boost people." She looked down. "Makes it hard to get anywhere myself, you know?"

With a grunt, he tugged his arm out of the dummy. Any doubts about the whole demon situation went right out the window as the warm sensation trickled away. The hole was legitimate. He gave another small punch to verify the durability. It held solid.

Slowly, he returned to sit by her. "I... I don't know what to say."

She grinned. "How about 'yes'? With my help, you can fly down the high road and not look back. You've got talent, but you sure don't know how to use your power. You and me," she said, resting her head on his shoulder, "We could rule the world."

He sighed. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

She scowled and looked up at him. "I'm kind of on a time crunch. If you're not going to be my sugar daddy, I need to start looking elsewhere." Her gaze fell. "Then again, I'm not really in any position to rush you."

He took a deep breath. He felt sorry for her. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure she wasn't lying. Maybe she was playing on his soft "human" instincts to get him on her side. She definitely struck him as the type to do something like that.

But what if she wasn't lying? Could he really let her alone? She seemed pretty convinced that he could help her. On the other hand, if she was lying, it would be a huge waste to not devote more effort to trying to convince Miss Senguine to stay alive.

A lightbulb went off in his head. "Do you know what kind of demons Ria and Miss Senguine are? Ria didn't seem to want to tell me."

Annika let out a short laugh. "She's so squeamish." She eyed him. "Does this earn me points? Giving you free information?"

"It means you're useful and honest, so let's go with yes."

She shrugged. "Works for me. They're enqora. I guess you'd think of them as..." She thought hard for a moment. "Succubus's? Succubi?"

He gaped. "Wait, what?"

"Close enough. They eat male essence almost exclusively. They have some mind and emotional control, but it only really works on female humans and demons." She eyed him curiously. "What's up with you?"

She's a... picky eater. Jared closed his eyes. "Nothing. I was just wondering."

Annika glanced at her watch and groaned. "It's way past time for you to go meet Kiara. We should probably get going."

She stumbled to her feet, and he steadied her. Slowly, they walked out the door.

She was back to her chipper old self, but Jared couldn't decide if it was an act or not. She walked energized, in total contrast to her previous exhaustion. He was getting a headache over this whole thing.

She led him outside, past the orchard. They walked in complete silence. Up ahead, a figure was working tirelessly in the moonlight.

"Well, good luck with Kiara. I'm heading off. Too tired to deal with this right now." Annika yawned. "Think about it, okay? I'm telling you, we've got a real opportunity here."

He chuckled. "Alright, I'll think about it. I'll let you know soon."

She suddenly became serious. "Tomorrow. You let me know tomorrow."

Jared winced. "That soon?"

She nodded gravely. "On Saturday, I have a meeting with a potential... partner. I need to know if I should cancel or not." She folded her arms. "If I don't know by then..."

"I get it." He took a deep breath. "Tomorrow, then. I'll have my answer."

"Good." She turned on her heel and walked away, down towards the front gate.

He turned back to where Kiara was working. After a deep breath, he walked up to her.

She was heaving rocks from the ground into a large wheelbarrow. She was dressed much more sensibly, in jeans, cowboy boots, and a white T-shirt. She was sweating and breathing heavily when he came up to her.

She glanced over to him and gestured at the rocks with her head. He took the signal and started heaving rocks.

It was a nice break from thinking. He had always enjoyed physical labor. It was nice to feel like he was accomplishing something. They quickly filled the wheelbarrow, and he helped her push it over to the barn. They dumped it out on a large rock-pile that was forming and went back.

Soon they fell into a rhythm. He was lifting at nearly double the pace she was, until she finally settled for rolling rocks towards him so he didn't have to move to get more. It had been a long time since he had had a back-breaking job, and he relished the moment.