Ink, Sex, Magic Pt. 04

"Sylas is more devious than you know."

"So are you."

"If you would just let me-"

"Shut the hell up, Kiernan, and let the adults work," Sylas told him dismissively.

My father clenched his jaw and his fists, advancing once more, but Devasha Rae intervened.

"Kiernan- drop it, we're in the middle of this spell."

I trembled, afraid that he was already in a berserker fugue, but Kiernan actually listened to Devasha and unclenched his hands. I sighed in relief, pressing my head to Sylas' shoulder, my hand over his steady heart, while he patted me on the head. It was over- at least I thought. But when I turned around, he was livid on a whole other level.

"If you fucked my daughter, I swear to gods-"

"Kiernan!" It was non-confrontational Haku that had to rein him in now. "Seriously- drop it."

"I am her father."

"Yes- you are. Not her owner," Sylas said accusingly.

"And you're her mother's spurned lover. Oh, and godfather. Yes- I know about your last-ditch effort to bind yourself to Tess somehow. Don't think there are any secrets she can keep from me. Or that you can keep from me." Kiernan addressed me with this last statement, a flash of malice in his eyes that I'd never seen directed at me before.

I didn't feel guilty, though. I was beholden to him- he'd won me unfairly so it didn't count. "You're the only one here keeping secrets," I told him tersely, and walked away.

***

We finished mixing the inks for the tattoos I'd drafted and moved on to other preparations. I would be getting two new pieces. A series of delicate glyphs on my hands would focus and concentrate my Light attacks- the elemental forces descendants of the Tuatha De could conjure. The other one we would both have inked, and could be used as an emergency beacon of sorts: If one of us ever needed the other, we could cut across the meridian of our own tattoo, and, using a particular cantillation, it's twin would transform into a map showing the other where find us. Apparently there were ways to use it to send other messages, but he saved those lessons for later.

Sylas also said that with a few enhancements, we could bind a demon to the same tattoo I'd used when I invoked the trap around Dub. Once he added the appropriate spell work and we completed the ceremony, I could activate it with an incantation. The tattoo would then become a portal for the demon to come through and fight my enemy. After the fight was won, the demon could be recalled to the trap, if it was still alive.

"It will hurt a great deal when the portal opens and the demon passes through."

"But it will fight for me?"

"It will die for you if need be."

I didn't hesitate to let Sylas tattoo me- his hand was as steady as I'd imagined, making sticker-perfect reproductions- but I did balk when he asked me to tattoo him.

"Not only am I way too nervous, but you'd be my first living canvas. I'm sure Devasha or Haku could do it."

"So am I. But I still want you to do it. And I'd be honored to be your first client."

Maybe it was his calming energy, or that I was slipping into the sacred and professional role I'd witnessed artists take on so often, but I completed the tattoo in one, smooth pass. I felt so confident, in fact, that I accepted Kiernan's invitation to join him in his studio for a conversation.

"Are you sure you want to be alone with him?" Sylas asked skeptically.

"No, but I know you'll be close if I need you. Whatever else he's been, he's my father, and I'd like to give him one more chance to tell me the truth."

"For your sake, I hope he does."

***

The sexual tension between us filled his studio when we were alone together, and I had to force myself to keep my distance.

"You know he's only with you to get back at me," Kiernan began, folding his arms across his chest.

"And you know as well as I do that Sylas isn't that petty, or cruel. He told me what you did- made a deal with Carman behind Mom's back that served me up to her sons on a silver platter."

"I don't deny that's what the result was, but that's not the whole truth."

"It never is with you, is it?"

"At least give me a chance to tell you my side of the story."

So I crossed my arms and listened.

"When your mother and I were young and in love, we did extraordinary magic together. But it was never enough. We played fast and loose to become more powerful, stronger, wealthier, younger looking, to have anything and everything we wanted. But for all our glory, we weren't invincible: Your mother was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, and neither magic nor medicine could seem to stop it from spreading. We thought we were being punished for our hubris. So I did the unthinkable- I found a way to summon Carman, the Sorceress, behind your mother's back.

"Carman agreed to cure Tess if Dub, Dian and Dother could perform a ritual with our first born daughter the night she became a woman. Well, in her losing fight against cancer, she'd gotten a hysterectomy, so I didn't think we'd ever have any children, naturally at least.

"I sealed the pact, Tess was healed, and in ten months, you were born.

"Of course I had to tell your mother the ugly truth behind our beautiful miracle, and we had to keep you- there was never a question. And even though we vowed we would find a way to get out of the contract and keep them from ever getting close to you, we soon found that dealing with Carman makes all of your good luck go bad. When you a turned a year old, I went hunting solo, with the exception of the times Jack, Devasha, and Sylas pitched in. But I was always a step behind her.

"When you were six, I took Tess' place at the shop and she took over the search- that's why she was always working late or out of town. Every time she got closer to a solution, we took a hit. The house caught on fire, our car was stolen, our fortune slipped through our fingers- we lost almost everything but the shop. And then we lost you.

"We didn't expect it to be so soon and we weren't prepared for what the ritual turned out to be. We hated ourselves, and soon each other. The only reason we survived was because our luck rebounded once the bargain was fulfilled. Your mother found a rich man she thought could give you a better life and I came into an inheritance, gave the shop to Thorne and traveled the world, piecing myself back together and trying to track down the brothers to get revenge. See, we were able to kill Carman, but the brothers we could only banish, and her Factotum disappeared in the wind.

"It was through my searching that I heard the brothers were back once more, and were hunting for you with the aid of demons, magic users and lesser fey. I opened UnderGround here so I could assemble the best crew and the most effective arsenal to destroy those motherfuckers- and I hoped you would want to be a part of that, a chance to pay them back for what they did to you. But I didn't know how to tell you all of that."

"Well, you just did."

He sighed. "Let me try that again- I was afraid it would shake you too much- that it would scare you into running away again, or hating me forever. Probably both. And I should have given you the opportunity to come to that conclusion yourself."

"Well thank you for telling me the truth. I hope."

"Lili, I promi-"

" I have something else to ask you about," I interrupted, not caring for another promise he couldn't keep. "Sylas told me there are rituals that involve incest"

"Yes," he said defensively, as if he knew where I was going.

"Is that why we ended up fucking- you needed to complete some spell-work?"

My father grabbed my arm and pulled me close, tilted my head up until I looked him in the eyes.

"What happened between us is because I love you- we love each other- and love is always a powerful force. For every moment of pleasure, there is a lifetime of pain. But the payoff is one of the purest forms of magic. You feel it?" He laid his palm over my heart to say here, down my sternum, over my navel, pulling up my skirt enough to get his hand underneath and cradle my pussy: Here.

"Yes." I melted into his touch, surrendering to his kiss, one hand over his heart, the other one running up the back of his neck into his luxurious hair. I knew I was falling right into his trap, but I didn't think one kiss would hurt.

Before I could end it there, though, Kiernan's fingers slipped inside my panties, finding my slick, bare nerves and then I was off the floor and against the wall, my skirts rucked up powerless to his caress. I shrieked in his mouth, from pleasure and the realization that this was exactly what I didn't want to happen. I pushed hard against his chest, but he only lifted away his mouth.

"Whatever happened between you two, I know he can't love you the way I love you. Can't make you feel the way I make you feel..." He resumed kissing me as his fingers thrust inside me, stretching me, filling me until I felt the cold metal of his rings.

I whimpered, loving the way he found that sweet-spot inside of my cunt; and hating the way I couldn't stop myself from responding. "Please, Kiernan," I broke away to gasp.

My father tugged on my earlobe with his teeth, fucking me with his hand just the way I liked it. "You. Are. Mine." He spoke between kisses, hooking and circling and stroking. "Cum for me, Li, cum for Daddy..."

"I can't- please-" I tried to beg him to stop, but I couldn't and then I was cumming, tears streaming down my face, because I'd never hated my father as much as I loved him until that moment.

Kiernan's hand lingered, holding my pulsating sex in his palm."Mmm...Lili, I want to take you home to bed so much."

"Please let me go," I whispered, sobbing.

"Are you okay, baby?"

I turned away from him, my breath shallow and fast. "Let me go!" My words came out in a ragged wail.

"What's wrong? I thought-"

"Kiernan! What the fuck are you doing?" Devasha Rae's shrill shout drowned out whatever misguided thing my father had thought this time. He turned his head to see her barging in looking murderous.

Haku and Sylas came in on her heels and flanked her, prepared to fight. We must have made quite the scene- me in hysterics and a very compromising position, and my father holding me fast with his hand up my skirt. I was beyond humiliated, for the both of us.

"Put her down," Sylas growled, tails bristled, fangs out.

Kiernan turned back to see my tear-stained face, still unable to look in his direction. Without a word, he extracted his hand and let me slide down to my feet, then adjusted his rock hard cock before turning around.

At once, both Sylas and Devasha Rae advanced, the first I thought to maul Kiernan, the other to get me the hell out of there. Instead, Sylas scooped me up with infinite tenderness and Devasha punched my father into the back wall, her tattoos ablaze as they buffed her already formidable strength. I was carried out before I could see what she did next, though I did hear a good deal more crashing.

"Can I do anything to help?" Haku had followed us, looking shaken.

"Yeah. Keep me away from him," Sylas called back.

***

He asked me no questions and waited for me to tell him what happened when I was ready, which was several hours into listening to him talk or not talk while he held me in bed. In between crying jags, I told him what Kiernan had said to me, what I had asked him and how he'd made me cum against my will. And soon after I finished, I found myself laughing at a joke that must have been five hundred years old.

"Can we go somewhere?" I asked shortly after the esoterically hokey punch line.

"Right now? Are my jokes that bad?"

"Not right now- and yes, they are terrible- but tomorrow maybe?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere. Anywhere far from Seattle. From my father. From everything. Can you take me away?"

"You want to go to California?" Sylas asked after he considered, and I knew what he meant.

"Yes, please." With an aching in my heart.

"Then we'll go."

***

When I woke up, I didn't remember falling asleep, but I did remember asking Sylas to run away with me. He was already awake, but had stayed by my side, reading a copy of The Book of the Five Rings.

"Did you really mean what you said? You can take me away from here?" I asked after our good mornings.

"Yes. I can, and most likely will, do anything you ask me to do."

"Can you go down on me?" I half-way teased.

"Can I?"

"Sorry- you were being serious and I shouldn't have-"

"Waited to ask? Neither should I," he murmured, already making his descent.

Sylas' beguiling oral skills and his eagerness to demonstrate them were life affirming, but he didn't seem at all concerned with my enjoyment- he ate me out for his own appetite for my pussy. And that was a bigger turn on than I'd bargained for. He was so hard when he'd finished his feast that my mouth watered.

"Do you want me to suck your cock?"

"Mmm...yes, but I'd rather make love to you. Can I do that?"

"Can you?"

Sylas moved back over me, his erection insistently rearing up against my mound. "You tell me."

And he waited the split second it took me to say yes.

After we had a delightfully slow screw, and a very dirty shower in which Sylas took my narrow fox hole, and then we got down to the real nitty-gritty.

We decided to go to Japan, where he still supposed he had relatives, though they would hardly believe any claim in his present form. He booked our plane tickets for that day and once we'd confirmed that Kiernan wasn't there, headed to UnderGround Ink. When we told Devasha and Haku our plans, they promised not to tell my father unless he absolutely needed to know, and that they would join us the instant we needed them, no matter where we were.

I gave them each a long hug after I'd packed all of my supplies and sketchbooks. Devasha and I both cried, saying we'd been apart for too long and together for too little, but when this was all over with we'd laugh together over drinks. The embrace I shared with Haku was emotional, but I felt more peaceful afterwards, like I knew we'd see each other again in happier circumstances.

Then, for the sake of time, he dropped me off at my old apartment for the few things I had left there I still wanted while he got my essentials from Kiernan- which he assured me wouldn't be a problem. Sylas would pack his own things and pick me up again to go to the airport, posting our keys to my mother along with a letter he'd written.

"I'll be back in a few hours- call me if you won't be here."

"Don't worry- I won't go to California without you. I promise," I avowed before we kissed each other good-bye.

Being back in my old apartment, cold and stale in its disuse, reminded me of an archaeological site, where I found relics of my past, seemingly removed from the context of time, evidencing who I'd been in ages gone by. I started a load of laundry in the building's laundromat and began searching for what I wanted to salvage. A photo-album, the baby blanket my mother had knitted for me while she was pregnant, documents like my diplomas and passport, my favorite copies of Lewis Carroll books and a framed picture of Jen and me in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I flipped my laundry, then took to sacking the rest of my things. Most of the bags were filled with books and knick-knacks that Devasha said she'd take care of, and whatever was left I took to the incinerator. I debated several times whether or not to call Jen, but I decided to wait until I was out of the country because it would be the hardest to say good bye to her. She had truly loved me and never kept anything from me and I wished I could have been a better friend to her than I was; especially because she probably thought I had been.

After the apartment was mostly clean, I went to retrieved my dry clothes. I folded them and hefted the basket onto my hip on my way out the door, but it swung open and knocked me off balance, sending my things flying. "Fuck!" I swore loudly, watching my neatly folded clothes settling on the ground.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have just- Alice?"

I looked up and saw Brad or Chad or whatever his name was from school, holding a basket overflowing with what I assumed was his collection of bajas and corduroys, smelling pleasantly baked as ever.

"Hey Cha-Brahhh..."

"Brannon."

"Brannon, of course. I'm so sorry..." I glanced down, mortified to see my bras and panties at my feet, and started hastily stuffing my clothing back into my basket.

"That's straight. Again, though, I'm really sorry for running into you and everything. So you live here?" Brannon asked when I stood back up again. He'd started throwing his load in a washer, so I went ahead and started refolding my laundry.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I just moved in actually. How long have you lived here?"

"A few years. I'm just moving out, actually."

"Aw, bummer. I mean, that we never got to chill while we were neighbors."

"Right?"

"Hey, you're not leaving now, are you?"

I checked my cell phone and saw Sylas hadn't left any messages and it had only been a couple of hours, so I still had some time to spare. "No. Why?"

"You wanna hit a send off bowl while my clothes are in the wash? I just got some premium grade nug."

"I, um..." My initial tendency would have been to make a cutting excuse not to, but something made me reconsider. Maybe it was the good fortune I'd had in accepting Sylas' kindness, or knowing that I could defend myself against Elijah Wood's cousin, or maybe I was just hoping to get high before the flight, but I decided why the hell not.

"Yeah, that sounds cool. Thanks, Brannon. I need to drop my basket off first though. What floor or you on?"

"Eighth."

"Bet. My place's on the way up."

He waited politely in the hallway while I set my basket inside by my small pile of things to take with me, and then we went a few more floors up to 8H. I probably would have guessed Brannon lived there by the funk of patchouli and herb wafting around the door. The smell only intensified when he opened it and let me in. The layout was like mine- a small kitchen and living room, separated by a combination island/bar, and a small hallway with doors leading to the bathroom, bedroom and a windowless study roughly in the center.

The main living area hadn't been furnished beyond the sofa, coffee table and bar stools that came standard with the apartment. A flat screen, computer, gaming consoles and other electronic components were either on boxes or strewn across the floor. Other than a few posters (a shirtless Jim Morrison in his crucifix pose; Eddie Vedder commanding the stage in all his grunge glory; a conga-line of skeletons, terrapin turtles, and Iko bears dancing into the sunset) it was fairly nondescript.

So pretty much what I'd expected.

"If you're thirsty, I got some beer," he offered.

"Maybe just some water, please."

"Sure, there're-" A Bob Marley classic started playing in his pocket briefly interrupted his train of thought. "They're water bottles in the fridge. Lemme take this call real quick and get my stash box."

Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be all right...

"Okay. Thanks."

I heard Brannon take the call and open his study door, but after he shut it there was nothing. After I helped myself to a bottle of water, I peeked in his kitchen cabinets out of curiosity, finding nothing but a couple of plates, bowls and mugs, a pot and pan, and assortment of chips, cereals and ramen noodles. Not a chef... The small pantry was stocked with jars of herbs and roots- most could be used in teas, but a few were medicinal or aromatic. New Age spiritualist?

Before I could open one filled with dried leaves that I couldn't identify, Brannon breezed back in with a round tin and a clear glass water-pipe composed of elegant tubes and chambers that looked more like scientific equipment than a bong.