Sex Wizards - Mastery Ch. 10

I'm almost dozing by the time someone touches me. It's a ghost of a touch, feather light against my arm. I let out a loud sigh to let them know I feel them before their hands rest against my back. I've cast with them so often in the past few months that we've begun to understand each other's unspoken languages.

I can tell just by how she starts that it's Margeurite touching me. Allis goes straight for my bits, but Margeurite has a slower approach. Her touches are gentle, almost reverent. Strong fingers massage my back and shoulders, my arms and hands. Every finger is stretched before she poses me comfortably. She does the same to my legs and feet, and I give another long, appreciative sigh.

Only then does she start to explore. My legs are spread before she moves my arms so my hands are behind my neck. She angles my elbows out, and I groan at the gentle stretch. Her mouth teases over my chest, teeth nipping gently before she soothes the spot with a kiss.

Her hand cups my crotch as her mouth trails down my navel and hip. She kisses down my thigh before moving to my cock. Her tongue slides over my tip before she pulls me into her mouth, and I can't stop an appreciative groan. I've missed this.

The silver offers her no resistance as she coaxes me to attention. She takes her time, dragging her mouth over my cock, tongue doing things to my sensitive head that make me groan. I savor the slow worship.

She pulls away, and a second later, the silver is pulled from my mouth. It doesn't seem like enough time could have passed already, but I answer all the same. I'm good. I know I speak, but my ears can't hear it. A second later, the silver fills my mouth again, and the brief break is over.

Margeurite starts in hotter this time. She pulls my legs apart a little wider before spreading my cheeks. My ass is still a little sore from my week with Arlon, but her lotion slicked finger feels incredible as she massages me there, too. A second finger pushes into me, stretching and spreading me gently. When they're pulled out, I can't stop a little groan of disappointment.

After a weekend off, my body responds eagerly, more than ready. Something curved slides into me, settling against that spot. It starts to buzz, and I squeak in surprise, the jolt of sensation reminding me why I'm in here.

That's right, focus.

The damn thing isn't making it easy. The hands leave me, and I'm left with nothing but the buzzing thing angled just so inside of me. It hits in a good way, but it's not strong enough to do anything more than tease me. I struggle more out of habit than anything, trying to get it to press a little harder, a little deeper but the silver holds me helpless. Margeurite lets me stew like that until I'm groaning around the gag, tense and wanting.

Only then does she start again. She grabs the base of the toy and pulls it almost all the way out before she starts to fuck me with it, moving slow. It only aggravates my desire, wringing a tormented moan out of me. The buzzing finally stops, and I groan in relief. Even so, I can't stop a quiet whine when the thing is pulled out of me.

Something bigger replaces it, stretching my sore hole as it slides into me. Margeurite starts stroking my cock again even as she drags the phallus out before thrusting it deeper. I grunt and can't do anything but submit to it, feeling the delicious stretch as she thrusts in time with the tug of her hand.

The phantom voices start to speak to me. The barely there flitters of conversation. Right - focus. I try to pick through them, try to find the voice I'm looking for.

Virico hadn't said much to me, but his sneering voice sticks in my memory like a burr. Hope you're a good shot. He'd been so confident. So sure that I wouldn't risk shooting Olbric to get to him. He hadn't realized how good of a shot I was.

The silver is pulled from my mouth again, and I give the same affirmative. Final stretch then. The phallus starts to speed up, fucking me faster. I remember Olbric hanging from his wrists, Virico sneering up at him with that awful, burned face. I remember his hungry intent, the eagerness for what he was going to do. Olbric was helpless and unwilling and Virico liked it.

It makes me sick to think about. My thoughts jump around, sinking to a dark place as I imagine all that went on in that cave. I can almost see it in Allisande's eyes, hear it in Alix's voice. I groan for a different reason, straining against the silver as the voices seem to condense into one.

Hope you're a good shot. Virico's voice echoes, growing louder in the void. His last words repeat, drowning out the other voices that vie for my attention. I push the others away as I try to focus on his.

Hope you're a good shot.

You're a good shot.

Good shot.

Get shot.

Get SHOT.

His presence seems to cut through the void like an arrow. He slams into me, all fury and rage, and if the silver wasn't holding me, I'd be knocked flat. As it is, I'm stunned so badly I can't even shout. All the while, Margeurite continues, but for a sickening moment, I feel like it's him doing it to me. Panic freezes my breath in my chest, and that fear gives him a foothold.

You did this to me. His spirit snarls and tears at my own, vengeance searing like a brand against my mind. He's not a singular stream of thought. Instead he's like a river, threatening to pull me under. The anger and hatred layer over one another, so loud that I can't think, can't focus.

The hand on my cock tugs harder, and I shout into the gag even as what's left of Virico rips into me. I feel his presence like so many needles, piercing through flesh and bone into a deeper part of me. They grab like hooks, and tug. It feels like he's trying to drag me out of my own body, but I scramble for a grip, struggling not to lose myself in the barrage.

What I was going to do to your thot of an evoker is nothing compared to what I'll do to you.

Rage slices through me, and for a second, it burns hotter than my own fear. I latch onto that anger and remember how I'd used it in the cave. Let it steady my hand as I'd leveled my arrow. The cold calm of fury pierces through Virico, through the haze of the silver. I feel my head clear, my focus narrow in.

A chorus of no no no echoes through me, but I ignore it as I grab onto Virico's spirit and yank it from mine.

Where's Diran? The crack of my question echoes like thunder in the void. I feel Virico quake.

Fuck off fuck off fuck OFF.

But no matter how he struggles, I keep hold of him, constricting like a hand around his throat. He doesn't have any power here. He's just the echo of a dead man, and I sought him out. Where is he?

I feel Marguerite double down on her efforts, and even though my mind is the furthest thing from finishing, she seems intent to get me there. I have a hard time following the flurry of thought, as if Virico's not sure what to settle on. I see the cave, the trees of the Hobokins, the market of Straetham, but then there's somewhere I don't recognize - a large castle set on a hill of rock, safe behind a wall of stone. I smell brine and hear what sounds like the roar of water before it's gone, quick as it appeared.

I shout as Margeurite tips me over the edge. The sensation is overwhelming, and for the first time in the silver, not in a good way. It seems to last forever, even though I only want it to end. When it finally does, Virico has retreated back into the silence, but I know he's still there. The quiet is oppressive, the stillness hiding the threat of him. It's like I can feel him watching me, waiting to try and tear into me again.

I sob as the silver is pulled from my mouth. Please, please get me out, I beg though I can't even hear if I'm making words. I must because the silver sloughs off like water. My hearing rushes back to me, and I blink through tears before I stagger into Arlon's strong grip.

He swears, and his voice is so loud after the silence that I flinch. Even so, he's gentle as he scoops me up and pulls me into his lap. I bury my face against his shirt and can't stop another sob as it breaks past my lips. "You're alright," he murmurs gently. "You're safe."

I shake my head and try to wipe away the tears that just won't stop. I manage to choke out, "I'm not doing that again."

"Dom I -"

Arlon cuts Allis off with a sharp, "Don't."

A cool hand rests on my head, smoothing my hair back. I flinch before I realize it's Margeurite. She's gentle as she kneels next to Arlon and me, her very presence a calm comfort. A blanket is pulled over me, and finally, the panic starts to fade. I take a shuddering breath and sink against Arlon's chest, wiping my eyes with the heel of my hand.

"What happened?" Arlon asks gently.

"I found Virico. And he was furious." I shudder and say, "For a second, it felt like it was him outside of the silver."

"Oh gods, Dominai," Margeurite whispers, her eyes wide with horror. "I-I didn't realize."

I shake my head. "There was no way you could have." I swallow and rub my face. "I managed to ground myself. I fought back. I asked where Diran was and he... didn't seem to know. I saw the cave, and the Hobokins, a flash of Straetham, but then there was this castle on a rocky hill. I think it must have been on the coast. I heard water."

"Stormhold," Arlon mutters. "It's the heart of the Barclay's kingdom in Immenbach. Oh the southern coast of the Reach. If Diran is there, we can't get to him."

Somehow, that makes me feel worse. If I had been able to get useful information, maybe it would have been worth it. As it is, I went through all that for nothing. Tears sting at the corner of my eyes all over again. "Fuck."

Arlon tightens his grip. "Come on, let's go to the baths."

I nod mutely as Arlon helps me to my feet. As soon as I'm up, Margeurite pulls me into a fierce embrace. "I'm so sorry, Dom," she whispers. I swallow and hold her tight, cheek pressed against her curled horn.

"It's okay," I murmur. "It's not your fault."

Behind me, I hear Arlon speaking in a low voice to Allisande. "Never again," he says sternly.

"Arlon -"

"No, Allis," he says. "Information is not worth letting more of our own get hurt by them. You of all people should understand that."

I glance back just in time to see Allisande snap her mouth shut, lips drawn into a thin, bloodless line. Words seem to fail her. Instead, she turns sharply and walks from the room. Arlon swears in tzigaro, and Margeurite sighs before she kisses my cheek.

"I'll talk to her," Margeurite says, offering a wan smile to the grandmaster. "Thank you both for trying. We'll just have to find a different way."

Even though my shaking has subsided, Arlon insists on carrying me down to the baths. I let him, holding my clothes and collar in a bundle against my chest. It must be late because we don't run into anyone on the way. I'm glad for it. Arlon sets me down by the pool, and I set my clothes aside before I sink into the water, pulling my knees up to my chest.

I watch Arlon strip his shirt off and realize what it must mean. "What made you stop?" I ask quietly.

Arlon sets his pants aside before he sinks into the pool with me, pulling me close. I'm grateful for the comfortable weight of his arms and relax against him. "I don't know," he says at last. "In the second hour, the silver just started to feel... wrong. It was like I could feel him watching me. As strange as it sounds, it felt like that moment before an ambush. I stopped before the third hour." Arlon shakes his head and gives a wry grin. "Told you that you'd have better luck than I would."

The sound I make is too bitter to be called a laugh. "Lot of good it did us."

"Don't do that. Don't discount yourself," Arlon admonishes gently. "You proved Allisande's theory. You were brave enough to try it and follow through to the end. We may not have gotten the information we were hoping for, but this wasn't a failure - even if it cost more than I'm willing to let anyone pay again." He sighs and presses a kiss to my temple. "I'm so sorry you experienced that."

I shake my head and say, "I decided to do it. I knew the risks." I let out a sigh as Arlon tightens his grip on me. I sink into the safety of his arms and close my eyes. "He could be anywhere, but one of the places Virico thought he might be is in Straetham. Can we put a watch out for him?"

"The city guard has been told to keep an eye out since spring," Arlon says. "But Straetham is a large city, and who knows how hard they're looking? We can assign some of our own patrols, though we risk Thermilious claiming I'm infringing on the guard."

He sounds as frustrated as I feel. It's like our hands are tied at every turn we take. "How do you think he's creating a non-detection?" I ask after a moment. "It's got to be some sort of abjuration."

Arlon sighs, and I can tell it's a question he's been trying to puzzle out as well. "That's my thought," he says. "I have a couple of theories, though I don't like the process for either. One involves using the silver in conjunction with an abjuration bind, but Diran doesn't have the amount of magiline necessary for such a spell. The other is a mixture of abjuration and illusion. Drugging someone to incoherency before leaving them tied for an extended time."

I shudder, remembering Olbric hanging in shackles, his arms wrenched at an awful angle, though he was too drugged to realize it. "That sounds like the likely one," I mutter before a thought strikes me. I gasp and sit upright, making Arlon jump in surprise. "Isa."

"What?"

"Isa, the mercenary," I say. "We've only been focusing on Diran for divination, but what about her?"

Arlon blinks and leans back against the lip of the pool as he mulls that over. "Finding her will be the hard part, but the chances that she's under a non-detection are slimmer than Diran," he says. "Even if she's no longer working for him, it might be worth it to try. Every merc has a price, and the Crux can afford hers if it means finding Diran." He runs a hand through his hair and says, "You should be the one to tell Allisande and Margeurite that lead. I have a feeling Allis is back to not speaking to me."

I lean up to kiss his cheek and am rewarded with a quiet sigh. "She'll come around," I say. "With Diran still out there, I can't imagine how heavy it weighs on her."

Arlon sighs and rubs his eyes, looking tired. "I know," he says. "I'm not trying to be unsympathetic, but I can't have her risking you or anyone else for the sake of progress. We won't - we can't stoop to their level."

I lean against his chest, fingers tracing idle patterns over his skin. "We won't."