Satyr Play 02 Pt. 01

"Not that you tried," Camila said with a grin, surprising another snort from Sigrid.

"Regardless, Mr. Gable was collected from the subway car by a police officer and was placed in her cruiser. The officer took a concentrated dose of the pheromones within the vehicle. Instead of taking him to the police station she took him to her home and proceeded to have sex with him. The following morning her ex-husband entered her home, found them in bed, and shot himself in the head before Mr. Gable's eyes." She looked into Sigrid's shocked eyes. "He's exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress."

"Damn! That's why the boy has looked so exhausted lately!" Roy muttered then looked to Sigrid. "I was going to ask you to speak to him."

"Henry witnessed a suicide and didn't speak to anyone about it?" Camila gasped.

"Where is he now? At home?" Sigrid asked.

Mahati nodded. "I told him to take today off to rest as he slept poorly in the precinct's jail cell. You should make arrangements for him to get counseling when he gets in tomorrow."

Sigrid raised an eyebrow as she watched the younger woman. Mahati realized she was telling the Head of HR how to do her job. "Apologies." Sigrid nodded. The lawyer glanced at her watch then back to Camila. "I must meet with Mr. De Hann."

The CEO nodded and unlocked the door.

With a final nod to the group Mahati left, and Roy closed the door behind her. He looked to Camila who activated the privacy rune. "Along with getting Henry help for the trauma of witnessing that man offing himself, he needs someone to train him to control his pheromones. He can't be causing orgies amongst the Humans! The Council will immediately stuff him into a dark pit."

"Sigrid, outside of that one time at your place, can you recall any other time when he lost control?" Camila asked.

The tall blond thought on that and shook her head. "No. It must be a recent issue. If it's a Satyr's bodily function, who can give him advice on it? This is like a more advanced class of Sex Ed, only with no guidebook."

Roy and Camila both looked to her hopefully and she sighed.

Camila then called Marisa and asked her to return with Siobhan.

Moments later, the two young women entered the office and closed the door.

"Henry won't be in today. He's taking a day off to recuperate from his ordeal at the police station," Camila told them.

Marisa's face wore a worried expression, but she nodded to her mother.

Camila activated their privacy once more and immediately addressed Siobhan. "When can we meet Nate?"

"Do ya not listen to a word I say?" Roy blurted in frustration.

Camila fixed her eyes on his. "Of course I listen, but sometimes I don't agree with you. Finding out about this young Incubus might help Henry. Besides, it sounds like he may need our help with the Marquise. I've heard of her. She's trouble, and she's not going to give up."

"Nate said he hadn't read anything about her visiting New York since the last time several months ago. And she visited multiple times since he escaped her the first time. Maybe she realized how large New York is and how futile it was to search for him."

Camila shook her head. "The Marquise is a hunter. She's patient. She's probably planning her next attempt."

Roy looked at Siobhan as he listened to Camila talk about the other Succubus. Hunting he understood. "You say she's from England?" The new brunette nodded to him. "If she's going to try to avoid her fans she can't take commercial flights. Too public and her travel plans are public knowledge. Besides, she intends to bring him home I assume. That cannot happen on a commercial flight." Sigrid shared a quick smile with Camila as the Security Chief's mind worked out the scenarios.

"She might hire a private jet, but she'd still have to get through the terminal and security. Plenty of opportunities to get noticed. She might fly from a smaller regional airport if the plane was capable of long distances. Difficult but not impossible. Getting Nate back to England by this method may prove difficult unless they take some extreme measures to avoid detection. Considering the passenger they're Shanghai-" Roy went silent as his thoughts raced ahead.

The women stared at him. Marisa went to speak to Camila, but she raised a finger.

"Ship. She'd come by ship. Cargo or freighter, more than likely. Slip in and out of port with no one the wiser. You said it's been months since the last attempt?" Roy asked Siobhan, and she nodded.

Roy continued. "She'd need time to find a ship. One with a crew that would look the other way regarding her cargo. One week to a month to cross from England depending on the ship. They wouldn't want to stay in port here longer than it took to load cargo for the return so she'd hire a team here to get a location on her prey. She'd arrive and collect him." Roy looked into Camila's eyes. "She's had time. She might already be here."

Siobhan was looking seriously spooked.

"Where is Nate now?" Marisa asked.

"He said he was only going to get cleaned up at his apartment, and he'd come to VRL to meet you and Camila at 10:30 AM at the latest. He was very eager to meet you."

"It's close to that time now. We'll keep an eye out for him." Camila said. "Now, what are we going to do with your rather dramatic change?" she said looking at Siobhan.

"I- I could keep wearing sweaters to cover it," the brunette suggested.

"What about cutting it?" Roy suggested, and four women glared at him. "What?"

"It's her pelt!" Sigrid exclaimed.

"Maybe I could get the Fae to give me a glamor?" Siobhan said as she looked to Camila.

Marisa stepped closer and lifted her hands but looked into Siobhan's eyes for permission. The woman nodded to her. Marisa slid her fingers into the hair and closed her eyes as her senses flared. "The magic feels identical to Henry's. Nowhere near as strong though. The Fae would have to do the same kind of glamor as they gave Henry."

"Which means asking Queen Mab for a favor. That's not something to be done lightly," Camila said with a worried expression.

Marisa lifted the hair, so the bottom reached Siobhan's shoulder blades, how long her hair had been the night before. She smiled. "Siobhan, this is Wild Magic. It's very strong and can react in odd ways. Do you recall how I made my dress bulge outwards at the club? I willed it to change and it did. With your will, tell your hair to shorten to this length."

"I'm not a wielder!" Siobhan exclaimed in shock.

"Neither am I but the Wild Magic has supercharged my talent, and I can do that little trick. Your pelt is your talent, and now it's linked to a very strong source. Give it a try. Be firm and decisive. You're the boss!" the blond said with a smile as she released the silky hair.

Siobhan smiled nervously and closed her eyes. She frowned with concentration, and they watched as the wavy locks slowly shortened until the tips just reached her shoulder blades.

"She's wielding!" Roy blurted. Sigrid and Camila were watching with wide eyes as well.

Marisa tilted her head. "In a limited fashion and only because the magic behind it is so much stronger. We can't affect anything beyond our bodies, and even then, the changes are small."

Siobhan reached up to feel her shortened hair and gave Marisa a nervous look.

"Tell it to go back to full length," Marisa said gently.

Siobhan nodded and closed her eyes. She sighed as the hair slid down her back to her ass once more.

She squealed happily and leapt to wrap her arms around her friend as Marisa chuckled. When she'd collected herself, she shrank her hair back to its shorter length and nodded with a relieved smile to Camila.

"When Nate gets here, is he going to come to you first?" the CEO asked Siobhan who nodded. "Ok, I'll make sure I keep my morning open." The lock clicked open.

That was an obvious dismissal, so Marisa and Siobhan headed out to their desks.

Roy still didn't look happy, but he nodded to Camila and left.

Sigrid stuck around looking unsettled.

"Henry will be ok. He's got a good support base," the CEO said to her friend.

"But he didn't talk to us. That's what's got me worried. I'm going to speak with Marisa. I'm going to see if he's said anything to her," Sigrid said sadly.

Camila nodded and the blonde left to walk down the hall to Henry's office. Marisa was sitting behind her desk. "Hi, can we have a little talk in my office?" Sigrid asked.

Marisa immediately stood and followed Sigrid.

Once they were comfortable with the door closed and their privacy assured, Sigrid sighed and looked into Marisa's concerned eyes. First thing, she brought the young woman up to speed on Henry's involvement with the gas attack, his subsequent witnessing of the suicide, and how that was affecting him. Marisa was struggling not to cry.

"I take it he didn't mention any of this to you?" Sigrid asked gently.

Marisa was only able to shake her head.

"I got the impression that you two were close. Any idea why Henry might not have felt he could talk to us about this?" Sigrid said cautiously.

Marisa's tears finally escaped as she began to cry.

Sigrid's instincts made her want to move to Marisa's side, but she remained in her chair and pushed a box of tissues across the desk. These seemed like tears of guilt, and Sigrid needed to know why.

Marisa took some tissues and held them to her eyes. She struggled to stop, but her guilt kept pounding her. She took some deep breaths and finally managed to force them back. She looked at Sigrid who was waiting patiently. "I- I've k-kept Henry at- at arm's length recently. He- m-might have r-read that wrong."

"Why would you do that?" Sigrid blurted in surprise.

Marisa strangled the tissues between her hands. "I was worried that I might be- the feedings- I don't want to hurt Henry!"

"Have you been hurting Henry?" Sigrid asked with a controlled voice, and Marisa heard the tone.

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so, but his energy is too good. I'm worried I'll become addicted. Like I think Mom is becoming."

"Has Henry indicated he's noticing a loss of energy?" Sigrid said then recalled Roy's comment about how tired Henry was. She fought to keep the scowl from her face. If the girl was overfeeding from Henry, she was going to do something about it.

"I haven't been with Henry since he got back."

"Oh!" Sigrid exclaimed in surprise.

"His energy is extremely potent. I can go much longer between feedings. I went to the club last night to see if I could find a suitable Human to ensure I could still feed on their energy. Then I got the text and had to leave."

Sigrid wanted to get the conversation back to Henry's resistance to speak with them. Marisa had been the closest of them. So she was the first to answer. "He didn't speak to you about dreams he was having?"

Marisa looked at her curiously. "He told me earlier that he's still having nightmares of his time with Queen Mab."

"He's more resilient than he knows. Most go mad when they spend extended periods of alone time with Mab," Sigrid grumbled. "Nothing about the suicide?"

Marisa's face fell. "As I said, recently we haven't been as close as we were before."

Sigrid sighed. "Do me a favor? Speak with him. Let him know what's going on with you. Tell him your fears and let him figure it out for himself."

Marisa nodded and looked down at her hands in shame.

"Hey, this isn't all on you! He didn't come to me to talk about it either, and I thought he knew he could talk to me about anything. I'm going to ask him about that tomorrow when he gets in," Sigrid told her to ease the young woman's self-recrimination.

That got a small smile from Marisa.

"Thank you, Sigrid."

The tall blonde just nodded and smiled in return. With a nod, Marisa stood and left the office.

Sigrid turned her mind to the task of finding professional help for Henry. It hurt that he hadn't come to her about it, but she put that aside. They'd have their talk later.

She called Henry's number but hung up before it rang. She scolded herself. He needed his rest.

She sighed as her mind kept returning to him. Truth be told she was a little addicted herself, but it was his charm that had her hooked.

Giving herself a shake, she turned her mind back to the task at hand.

She had work to do. Work that would help Henry heal.

Chapter 17

Nate slowly surfaced from a dark pit. His head felt like it might shatter with the least movement, so he held still and breathed in and out in slow deep breaths.

"When will he wake up?" rasped an irritated voice. Nate heard a lot of stress in the female's voice.

"I've never personally experienced a shock stick to the base of my skull so I can't say for sure. We can try that out on our return journey if you like."

That voice Nate recognized. He'd hoped he'd never hear it again. Oletha! He fought to control his breathing.

"I'd rather fly home! I despise traveling by ship!" snapped the other woman.

Nate suddenly realized the odd swaying movements he'd thought was a symptom of his being shocked had an external cause. That was a relief!

Oletha snorted dismissively. "That would be rather awkward for you considering they have no record of you entering the country."

The other female growled and for a second Nate swore some breed of big cat was in the room with them. Maybe a tiger or a leopard.

"I can't believe I let you convince me to join you! Three weeks on this bloody ship and when we finally get here you don't even let me join the hunt!"

"Don't pout, Chantelle. I explained that. The team I hired found our Mr. Walker here weeks ago. The hunt was over before we arrived. However, I do have a little treat for you. You get to collect the blond."

From the purr in Oletha's voice, Nate suddenly felt uneasy about the fate of this blond.

"She's coming with us?" Chantelle asked with a strained voice. Nate's unease flared into worry.

"Yes, and she'll be in your care, so I expect you to be on your best behavior."

"Of course," Chantelle said in an offhand way. A promise with no intent. Worry became dread. He heard a sigh.

"Still, I can't believe all this effort just for a fuck!" Chantelle said, the pout back in her tone.

Oletha chuckled. "While he is an amazing fuck, that's not why I collected him. I have big plans for him, but that's a tale for the return trip. I may even give you a demonstration if you behave. For now, though, you have to get moving if you're going to collect your traveling companion. I've texted you the address. Straight there and back, please. We have a schedule to keep. The ship sails tonight! Off you go."

Nate heard the door close. He wasn't sure if he was alone, so he continued to breathe in and out slowly, willing himself to relax.

He was almost undone when fingers pressed down on his cock through his pants, but he kept the hitch in his breathing minimal, and she missed it as she gently rubbed his dormant cock.

"Oh, the future I have planned for our people, Nathan. We're going to do big things," she sighed quietly.

Her hand lifted, and moments later he heard the door close again. He waited to the count of thirty before slowly opening his eyes and this time he was alone. He glanced around, but he saw no obvious cameras. What he did see was a very beautiful bedroom. He also noticed he was chained once more but this time spread-eagled to a bed. The cuffs on his wrists and ankles were very strong, but the bed itself seemed weaker. He might be able to free himself if he destroyed what looked like a very expensive piece of furniture. His freedom was worth more than the bed but it was going to make a lot of noise when- if, it broke.

He slowly pulled his legs and arms in to take up the slack on the chains and discovered there wasn't much.

"It's not going to break."

Nate jumped at the sound of Oletha's voice then tugged sharply. The bed frame bent, but as Oletha said, it didn't break. What Nate has assumed was deeply polished wood was enameled and lacquered metal instead. Both were shiny, but metal wouldn't shatter.

"LET ME GO!" Nate yelled in frustration, looking for her. She didn't appear to be in the room, so that answered his question about the hidden camera. He spotted the ceiling mounted speaker.

"Let you go? Don't be silly! I just caught you. This time I'm keeping you. Settle back and relax," she purred.

"I'd rather die than be you're slave!" Nate yelled, surprising himself with the brutal honesty in that statement.

The speaker was silent for a bit. He went back to tugging on his restraints.

"Would you live to protect Jo Hart?"

Nate froze. What did Oletha know about his best friend? The blonde! They were going to kidnap her too! He had to escape to protect her! He pulled harder on the chains, and the bed creaked.

Oletha pushed through the door, and his eyes went to her. She was as lovely as she'd appeared when he'd met her at the art gallery the previous October. Tall and svelte, pale skin and long straight jet black hair. Black lipstick and eyeshadow. Large, pale grey eyes that looked deep into your soul. He tore his eyes away from hers when he felt her slipping into his mind. He yanked on the chains and metal squealed. He risked another glance at her and saw her frustration as she thrust the stun rod against his neck.

The world lit up once more. Then nothing.

-=-

Henry was having that weird dream again. The one where he was floating over the earth watching the little tears in the globe as it turned below him. With a giddy smile, he reached out to gently touch them as they passed by, seeing them flare with color and widen temporarily. He suddenly wondered if he should be doing that, so he pulled back to just watched the lovely colors. Crazy rainbows! He grinned at his ability to interact with these dreams.

A strange trill sound dragged him to the surface of his mind and into awareness. He found himself looking up at the living room ceiling. He was on his couch, but he couldn't recall how he got there. Rolling his head to the side, he saw a bottle of painkillers on the table and a half-finished bottle of water. The room swam a little, and he blinked stupidly at his cell phone which was ringing. He reached for it, but it stopped just before he got his fingers on it. He picked it up anyway and went back to staring at the ceiling.

When the room stopped moving, he looked at the phone. The screen was shattered, but he could barely make out the name of the last caller. Sandy. Shit! He was supposed to have dinner with her! He sat up and held his head. He was still only wearing the shorts he slept in, so he needed to get dressed.

A thumping headache he'd woken up with was gone, but in its place, he had quite the buzz. He looked over at the painkillers and wondered how many he'd taken. He must have walked to the bathroom for the pills, the kitchen for the bottle of water, and made it as far as the couch where he took them.

He tried calling Sandy back, but the screen was unresponsive. He couldn't have answered if he'd tried.

There was a knock on his door.

"Henry?"

That was Sandy. He pushed himself to his feet and staggered down the hall. He opened the door, and big blue eyes looked at him then panned down his body before snapping back up to his face.

"You didn't answer your phone," she squeaked.

"Sorry. It's broken and I- I had a headache. Bad one. I think... I took too many pills," he said.

She moved into the doorway and gently pulled him into his kitchen and turned on the light. She tipped his face down and checked his eyes. She pressed fingers to his neck and felt the strong, healthy heartbeat. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"My headache is gone. I feel totally loopy though," he sighed.

"How many pills did you take?"