Myka's Tail Ch. 05

"And what are you doing here Jess?"

"Oh, I am the materials person here," she replied. "I have been learning a lot about what Ali and the others do, and both of us realized that I was really good at finding out and figuring out what materials were the best to use with certain spells and rituals. I can't work magic, but I know what you have to bring to the table to get it to work."

"I never saw that coming," I replied, and when I reached out to touch the golden cord that connected Jess and Ali, I was bombarded with a feeling of love that was second only to the one Kelli and I shared.

"Are you here to try and speed things up," Ali asked me, and I almost chuckled to see hope burning in her eyes.

"Sadly, I am not. I have to feed Kita here, and then I have a bunch of samples to take and a lot of data to get recorded and organized. And then I should probably spend some time preparing for class on Monday. Do we have any idea about when we might be actually doing whatever it is we are planning?"

"Nothing solid yet, but both Millicent and Gina are leaning towards Halloween. It is the next major convergence, and there will be a full moon that night as well. It would be quite a while before the power to create this locus would be that high again."

"That's not a lot of time to get this set up," I mused, and Ali's nod told me she agreed with my concern. "Just over six weeks. Are we going to have all the things that will be needed to set this up?"

"We should have no problems getting the stones we need," Jess added. "After studying how the energy flow would happen between the stone network and any witches who were accessing it, I realized that granite would probably be the best to work with."

"Why granite," I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"Well, it is strong and quite easily obtainable in whatever shapes and sizes that will be required. Also, after talking to Ali, I realized that the quartz crystal matrix that makes up part of granite stones is a perfect medium for easing the flow of magic energy from one place to another. Kind of like using copper wire to transport electricity. The crystalline structure is perfect for allowing magic to flow."

"And the shape and size are less important that the spells that will be worked into the stone to tie it to the nexus of ley lines in the clearing," Ali added. "So, the circle has been busy talking to quarries to obtain the stones that will be needed, and we should see the first ones arrive in a week or so. Millicent has been around long enough that she apparently has a lot of money that she is not using, so she has made all of the purchases."

"Well, then I will keep my Halloween calendar open," I grinned. "Anyway, good to see you both, and let the others know I said hi when they finally come up for air."

The rest of the day, and really, the rest of the weekend was very busy for all of us. I had to redo some rounds of pH sampling because of a contamination issue with the equipment I had been using, and that someone had forgotten to clean completely. That meant that I had to cull a lot of data that had come from the original collection series. Kelli and the others also had their hands full going back and forth from the clearing to the house, setting up different possible stone patterns, and arguing about how what dad was calling the command and control system spells were going to be implemented.

By the middle of the next week, quarries were starting to deliver the granite stones that Jess had told me about, and Kelli had set up a large transport circle with Ali's help so that the stones could be easily moved from the front of the house to the clearing. They were very careful about it too, making sure to set up a series of glamours that hid what the circles actually were, and so that any random passerby would not see large rocks just disappearing from in front of the house.

Once the stones started arriving, Kelli and the others in charge of getting the pattern and the spell network set up gained an increased sense of urgency, and when the next weekend came around we were ready to start digging holes and setting stones. Each of the witches then took turns transporting the large stones to the clearing, one by one, and Gina was able to shift them close to their final positions using her earth magic.

During that week, however, I did a lot of thinking about what Kass had asked me to do for Paul and her. I was a little hesitant to strip in front of Paul's friends and band mates, but there was also a feeling of arousal when I thought about what none of them would know about. I was inclined to say yes, even with my few concerns, as long as Kelli was ok with it, but something about the entire situation bothered me in a way that I couldn't put my finger on. It had me out of sorts, and while Kelli could feel my turmoil, I was surprised dad could see something was up as well.

"You've got a weight heavier than these rocks on your mind, little girl," he commented while we were widening the hole for one of the smaller stones. "Is it something you can talk about?"

"I don't know, dad," I replied truthfully, stopping for a moment to let him catch his breath, and so we could talk. "Two friends of ours are engaged and will probably have their wedding soon."

"I can only assume you mean Paul and Kass."

"You know, you are really perceptive for being a guy, and my dad," I teased, and he chuckled at my remark.

"Little girl, Steve and I, and your mothers, have been raising you for over twenty three years, and we will probably still be raising you both until we die. That's one part of being a parent. Another part is that over the years you get really good at reading your kids. You and Kelli have been pretty excited about something other than our little project here since last Friday, and that is usually the evening you spend with them. I can add twos you know."

"Well, I am sorry that I doubted your powers of deduction, o' great and wise father of mine," I laughed again. "But seriously, yeah. They are engaged and Kass asked me for a favor and it's been on my mind."

"Can you tell me about it, or is it something between the two of you?"

"It's pretty personal, and I haven't even told Kelli yet," I said, and his eyebrow raised with a look of concern. "She knows that I am thinking about things, and I am going to talk about it tonight, but for some reason I am bothered more than a little bit by the whole situation."

"Ok, so without giving me any details, are you bothered by Kass' request or the entire situation," dad asked, speaking lower so that the conversation would not be heard by any of the others with us.

"What do you mean, the entire situation? She only asked me for the one favor."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. I thought I taught you to be smarter than that. You take a few more minutes to grind the gears over my question, and once we are done with this hole you can give me your answer."

Dad gave me a kiss on the forehead before he got back to work on our hole, and it took me another minute or two before my mind caught up enough to get back to helping him. I really had no idea what he could have been talking about and for the next few minutes my shoveling was more than a little bit agitated. Eventually I was able to calm down using a breathing trick that Sensei had taught his students, and at that moment I truly began to think.

The only situation that made sense to be talking about in that context was Paul and Kass' engagement, but dad's question made it seem like I might have a problem with that. I didn't have a problem with it at all, and in fact I was overjoyed that they had finally taken that step after dating for so long. It had to be my hesitation to agree to what Kass wanted me to do for them, and nothing else.

But a nagging little voice in the back of my head was almost taunting me, and causing me to second guess my feelings. The more I shoveled and thought about things, the louder that voice became, until the answer to dad's question hit me like a bolt of lightning. When I came to that full realization, I dropped my shovel and looked up at my dad in surprise, and the only thing I saw in his eyes was a complete understanding of what I had just figured out.

"You're struggling with some not so nice feelings, aren't you little girl," he asked, still keeping things between us. "You just realized that you are jealous of your friends because they are engaged to be married, and you aren't."

I stood there with my mouth hanging open in disbelief at dad's powers of observation. The thoughts and emotions I had been feeling about the engagement were just now coming into focus, and he had been aware of them from watching me the day after it had happened. As my realizations continued to solidify I noticed that I had been tugging on the silver collar around my neck that was one of the physical symbols of the bond that Kelli and I shared.

"You see," dad continued as he pointed out my unconscious action. "You have it in your head that you and Kelli had your moment, your bonding, or whatever it was, and that's it. And while I know you two are happy to have that connection, the circumstances in which it happened were less than ideal."

I could only nod in agreement with his assessment. Scotland had been a nightmare, and the only thing that made that night even worth bringing up again was the moment that Millicent performed the ritual that permanently bound me to Kelli, and her to me. Now dad had me wondering if I wanted more than that, and the wheels started turning in my head again.

"Hey Steve," dad called out and caught his friend's attention. "Remind me to get you your money when we get back to the house."

I was a little confused at why dad had just said that, and that confusion only increased when Kelli's dad just laughed and nodded his head before going back to help her with positioning the stone she was working with.

"What the hell is going on dad," I asked, starting to get frustrated.

"Nothing you need to worry about, little girl," he replied, and then wrapped me up in his arms like he did when he knew I needed his strength and support. "Just something Steve and I had talked about a while back. You, however, need to listen to me now, ok?"

I gave my dad a muffled ok and another nod since my head was still buried in his chest from his hug, and then I looked up to hear what he was going to say.

"I don't think that this is just about your feelings about Paul and Kass, though it is a major part of it because it is what's currently on your mind. A couple of weeks ago you were attacked. Not directly, but you were attacked all the same. You have also been burning the candle at both ends to keep up with running the preserve, and still do well in school, and I think that amounts to a ton of stress with all that you are responsible for pushing down on your shoulders. Am I wrong?"

"No. You're right, like you usually are," I told him, and I was feeling the sting of the tears I hadn't realized I needed to let go of mixed in with the relief that now I knew what I was actually feeling. "What can I do about it though?"

"Talk to Kelli about how you are feeling," he counseled, and I saw him wave Kelli away when she had felt the well of emotion that I was now feeling. "And I don't mean let her feel it with you. I think you two sometimes rely on the bond that you have way too much. Until you can use it to talk to each other in your heads, you can only feel the other's emotions, not the reasons behind them. And the reasons why we are feeling what we feel are just as important. So tonight, talk, and do that from now on."

Dad pulled me tighter into his arms as I nodded to him, a silent agreement to do what he had instructed. Then we got back to digging holes and placing stones. It was a magical marvel that we had accomplished so much, so fast, because some of the stones that Millicent had purchased at Jess' suggestion were close to two metric tons in weight. Even the smaller marker stones that made up part of the circle were quite heavy, and there were a lot of those to place. We had a lot of work left to do, and only a few weeks left in which to do it.

The mindless work of shoveling dirt allowed me to think a little further and deeper on what my dad had pointed out to me, and as I did I became more aware of how I truly felt, and less bothered by it all the same. I loved Kelli, and I was more than happy that we were bond mates and all that that entailed. I was also a bit jealous of Kass, and that she would have something with Paul that I would not, and I started to feel ok with that too. And I knew that I would have to have a long talk with Kelli about all of this tonight, before the weekend finished up and we were both too busy yet again.

After only a few hours we had two of the large channeling stones placed and six of the smaller marker stones where they were supposed to be. After going into the ground, the larger stones still stood over six feet high, and once placed Kelli and Gina had marked them with several glyphs, runes, and magic circles which they would activate when the ritual to form the locus was performed. The smaller stones only stood waist high, and had fewer markings, but from what I had gathered from overhearing the discussions about the geometry, they were just as important as the larger ones. I was glad that it was not me that had been asked to figure this all out.

"Ok, we have everything that was delivered placed and marked," Kelli called out once we had finished. "Millicent said we should have another delivery coming soon, and we can all get together and do it again."

"I think she wants to be here the next time we have stones to place," Gina replied as she was packing up her tools and what looked like some sort of magical implements. "Do you think we should have one more discussion the night before, just to make sure we are ready?"

"You know, that probably isn't a bad idea," Ali agreed. "Millicent can be a real task master when you haven't fully prepared for something you've committed to do."

"And you know this from experience," Kelli's dad asked in jest, and both Gina and Mary laughed in response.

"Yes, I know this from experience," Ali replied, throwing the laughing women a grumpy look.

"You mean many experiences," Gina prodded, and caused more laughter from everyone, and even Ali couldn't help but smile.

"Then I guess we will see everyone next Friday evening," Kelli said.

"And let me know if anyone wants to get here early," her dad added. "I can plan on throwing some dinner on the grill if that's alright."

We all thought that that was a fantastic idea, and since some had already been to a family cookout with us, the thought of another was welcome indeed. With the plans set the members of the circle transported away, and left just Kelli, me, and our dads in the clearing. They asked if we were going to come home for dinner, or would go back to the apartment, and Kelli let them know that she wanted to have some alone time with me since we hadn't had much in the last couple of weeks. Once that was decided, both of them came and gave us a last hug before setting off for the house.

"So what's the matter sweetie," Kelli asked me once our dads had moved far enough away. "You've been out of sorts all week, and I could feel it really peak while you were talking with your dad. Does this have to do with what Kass talked to you about?"

"It does a little bit, but it isn't the root of what has been bothering me. There are a lot of things that have affected me recently, and I haven't talked to you about any of them. I thought it was just my burden, and I wouldn't have known how to bring them up to you anyway."

"But all you had to do was..." Kelli began before I raised my hand to interrupt her.

I took her hand and led her over to sit against one of the large stones we had placed, and then I laid myself down so that I could place my head in her lap. Once I was there I took a deep shuddering breath and let the tears that I was feeling free, and I opened not only my emotions to Kelli through our bond, but I began to talk about everything that had been piling up on me lately.

I talked about the stress of my job here in the preserve, and with school, and how I felt inadequate to face the challenges they both brought to my life. I talked about how I was still terribly afraid of what Mathias and the Betrayer were going to do, and I gave voice to the worries I had of not being prepared for what would come because of it.

"And to top it off," I continued, as I transitioned from what had been bothering me for a while to more current issues. "At dinner last week, Kass asked if I would be the one to strip for Paul at his bachelor party dance."

"She wants you to what," Kelli gasped, sounding like she needed confirmation of what I had just said. "To strip for Paul? I can assume that at least some of his friends, and certainly their band mates will be there."

"Oh, that's not even the most important part. She wants me to pull out his cock and fuck him there on stage during the dance. At an angle that will only look like I am lap dancing to everyone else, but she wants me to ride him out while she watches behind the curtain until I finish him off. Then, as if that was not enough, she wants me to come back stage afterward and let her clean up the mess he'll make. And I don't think she wants to use a wash cloth."

I had get my reply to Kelli's questions out as fast as possible, not waiting for her to get a word in edge wise, and all she could do was stare at me for a few moments before she began to giggle. I was surprised at that response, but her continued amusement soon had me laughing along with her. Once out in the open and between the two of us, it suddenly seemed extraordinarily funny, and neither of us could help ourselves.

Eventually she got herself under control, and I was able to take a few deep breaths, which calmed me down considerably. Once we were settled, she caressed my cheek as she held me captive in the deep emerald pools of her eyes.

"So, what are you planning to tell Kass," she asked, and the twinkle in those eyes betrayed the mirth she so obviously felt.

"To be honest," I sighed in exasperation. "I am really thinking about doing it, as long as it is ok with you, and as long as I only dance for Paul. If any of the other guys there want other dances and more personal attention, then they will have to have other girls there for them."

"I certainly agree with you about only dancing for Paul, and letting the other guys fend for themselves. And I think that the whole idea that Kass suggested is kind of hot."

"It really is, isn't it," I answered, giggling again in amusement.

"Oh yeah! But I still get the sense that there is something else," she replied, drawing another sigh from my lips.

"There is more," I continued. "But not what you'd expect it to be, love."

"Then just tell me sweetie. You know you can tell me absolutely anything."

"When dad talked to me today, he mentioned some of what happened in Scotland, and how he thinks it has affected me, and he was right. We were bound together that night, and that moment was one of the greatest in my life even with all that had happened. Dad mentioned that I might be feeling a little jealous of Kass because she is going to have a wedding, she will have people there she cares about, and she will have a connection with Paul that neither of us will have. And I am. God help me, but I can't help but feel some small amount of jealousy towards Kass and Paul, but they're our friends and I feel guilty because I do."

Kelli said nothing, but pulled me up so that she could wrap her arms around me in my moment of weakness, offering nothing but the gentle comfort I so desperately needed in that moment.