Steven Granger

"Exactly," Starr answered.

"Where are you guys from?"

"Los Angeles. The most magic city on the planet."

"Never been there," I admitted.

"Have you ever been to Japan?" Pete prodded.

"Never west of the Mississippi, never out of the states. Why?"

"What about your parents? World War Two, Vietnam?"

"Not that I know of," I answered. "Why?"

"We like to think of ourselves as the first generation of wizards reborn because we haven't found anyone in their sixties, just their fifties. Our power was given to us."

"Okay, weird. So you're trying to figure out what 'gave' us this power?" I asked.

"Well, we know how we got ours. But we can't figure out how you got yours," Pete pointed to me.

"It's fairly recent that I've been able to do anything," I admitted. "You might say that Lisa woke me up."

"So someone was holding you back?" Starr asked.

"Bitchwife," Pete offered. "Just like Jaci!"

"Who's Jaci?"

"Fiance is back," Starr whispered.

Lisa latched onto my arm and I turned for a kiss. I was expecting a polite peck, but got a smooch instead. "Am I forgiven?" I asked.

"I'm the one that needs forgiven," Lisa sighed. "Starr, Pete, I'm sorry. Steven reminded me that I told him we were beyond prejudices, and he called me out for being a hypocrite."

"And what did Graham say?" I asked

"Uncle pulled me and Sonia into a time slip and let us both have it," Lisa smirked.

"What's that?" I asked. "A time slip?"

"Precisely the point he made," Lisa interrupted. "You don't know magic, our magic terms. Steven, you need to be taught, but since you are a wizard, I can only offer half the teaching. Plus, Uncle says there are some things that wizards can do better than wicca."

"Sounds fair. I just have to figure out what I'm going to do about Taylor. I mean it was going to be rough getting the house, but now I have to fight her for a gold mine? Sheesh."

"What?" Pete asked.

Graham chose that moment to return. "Let's get you two lovely couples situated on the patio and a nice cone of silence put up before you continue this conversation."

"That would be a great idea, Graham," Pete agreed.

We found a table and a moment later a pair of women brought us four plates. One lit the candle at the center, telling us to extinguish it when we were done with our conversation.

"Neat, I want one," Starr said. "Cone of silence spell with a physical manifestation."

"They're at the gift shop," Lisa panned.

The food on the plates looked like it had been randomly picked from a buffet. Lisa and I started divvying up our food so we had roughly the same amount of everything. When we looked up, Starr and Pete were chuckling behind their hands. "What?"

"You two did that with such precision, we could swear that we were watching one person with four hands," Pete explained. "You two were moving with forks and spoons for ninety seconds and didn't touch them once!"

"Let's trade," I indicated their plates.

"We'll make it a two-fer," Lisa followed.

Even conscious of our actions, Lisa and I managed to do the same thing. When I went to snag an additional item off her plate, Lisa was already moving to block me.

"How many times have you two made love?" Starr asked.

"Personal much?" Lisa asked.

"Eighteen," I said.

"Twenty," Lisa countered.

"You said the first two times only counted as sex because we were trying to figure out how well the pieces fit. Right?"

"Eighteen," Lisa agreed.

"Lisa, it's highly probable that when you two get married, you will become a wizard yourself," Starr explained.

"Or even before," Pete added. "Lisa, you have what, five centuries and maybe another half?"

"Personal much?" I asked.

"Five-sixty and some change," Lisa admitted. "And, yes, there have been one or two instances of the brainwave synchronization you are referring to. We call it 'imprinting.'"

"Exactly what it says in the books," Pete said.

"Meaning?" I asked.

"Steven, when you were joking about cutting my head off? I said that I would die shortly after you?"

"Because you had never met a soul so evenly matched to yours?" I asked. Lisa nodded. "That's amazing."

"So don't die," Lisa warned.

"Would it be possible for you guys to come to the library and write your story down?" Starr asked. "There needs to be more happiness there for the younger generations."

"The LA Library?" Lisa scoffed. "I can't get in there, you have to have a sponsor."

"We know some people," Starr said.

"Yeah, we can get you and your clan a sponsorship. I don't know why it is so walled-off anyway, everyone needs to learn, if just to protect themselves," Pete added.

I waved my hand so everyone focused their attention on me. "Food?"

"Food," Lisa agreed.

We handed off our plates to the two women who had brought them to us. I hadn't realized that they had been standing four meters away the whole time.

"Lisa, why are they scared of us?" I asked.

"We exude power," Lisa said. "More focused here, at the house of the Mayor."

"They shouldn't fear us," I said.

"We mean them no ill will," Pete added. "What the hell? I just finished you, Steven!"

"Okay, before this gets really creepy, what's a time slip?" I asked.

"Think of it as a small room that sits outside linear time as we know it," Lisa answered. "With me so far?"

"Yes."

"Uncle pulled us into one of those rooms and explained to me and Sonia that we were not to guide you, Steven, we were to follow you. It made sense, because you were drawn..."

"To us. The people who can teach you what you need, really need, to move to the next level," Pete finished for Lisa. "Steven, you're doing that."

"Sorry."

"Don't be," Starr smiled. "That's your power, what gives you a purpose in our realm."

"I don't know what you mean," I sighed.

"We will teach you," Pete said.

"And you too, Lisa," Starr promised.

"It's nice," Lisa admitted.

"But it feels like something is holding me down," I complained.

"Not a something, a someone," Pete offered. "And it has to do with your wife."

"Call her Taylor," I growled. "Lisa is my wife."

"Tell us about the divorce," Pete said.

I gave it to them from the beginning, filling in the blanks as I knew they had occurred. Most of the knowledge had only come recently, I explained, because I just didn't know until Lisa had picked up Landry's name from Taylor's head.

Lisa swore that Taylor had been broadcasting, and she hadn't forced a reading. I didn't know why she was so scared until I felt it: Starr and Pete were not only wizards, but supernatural enforcers.

"That explains the swords," I said.

"We are actually bodyguards," Starr corrected. "We just enforce an edict every once in a while. We don't kill unless it is absolutely necessary, and then our charter only lies to enforce judgements on mortals. There are far worse creatures to police the supernaturals. Lisa?"

"Revengers," Lisa whispered, furtively glancing at the candle burning on the table. "I didn't force the reading of Taylor."

"We know," Pete assured her. "No need to be afraid, Lisa."

"What does this have to do with Taylor?" I demanded.

"Your...wife is trying to cheat you out of gold," Starr answered. "Wait, how do you know it is gold?"

"The name of the company Taylor sold the mineral rights to is called 'Aurumcias, LTD.' I don't think they mine bauxite," I scoffed.

"Otherwise they would be called 'Alumcia, LTD,'" Lisa added with a smile.

"You two are soooo cute," Starr cooed.

Pete made some phone calls on his cell, making sure to speak clearly enough that I understood him.

"Needless to say, there has to be a reckoning," Starr said. "Aurumcias, LTD is a company chartered by Jaci Stone on behalf of Doctor Michaelea Winters of Aurumas in Long Beach, California. Both Jaci and Michaela are displeased to hear about this."

"Can you put 'displeased' into context?" I asked.

"Lisa?" Starr asked.

"I'm staying out of this one. I asked Steven to marry me with no knowledge of gold."

"Would you have asked me anyway?" I pushed.

"You know what? Yes. Because being eaten alive would pale to the feelings that would have welled up inside me had you not accepted."

"Serious, and I can sense that." A tear ran down Starr's face.

"Done," Pete said. "One of Jaci's Revengers is going to get involved."

"That's very scary," Lisa bit her lip.

"Please explain what is happening," I pleaded.

"Revengers are the beings your worst nightmare beings are afraid of," Lisa began. "I've seen their work; but we, as magicians, know that they only leave bodies behind as a warning."

"How?" I asked.

"Revengers get their power from the blood and bodies of the evil." Pete held up his hand. "The blood of the innocent is actually poison to them, and can hobble them for years."

"I have to ask, how do they tell the difference between good guys and bad guys? Auras?"

"Winner of the stuffed bear," Pete pointed to me. "You've picked up another magic term."

"Lima was afraid of 'The Gold Rules' regarding my imminent marriage to Lisa," I said. "Does that have something to do with what's going on?"

"Don't worry about that," Pete waved his hand. "Congratulations, you two."

"So no Revengers coming after Lisa?" I needed clarification.

"No, like I said, they only eat bad people," Pete chuckled.

"How can you be so... dismissive of Revengers?" Lisa demanded.

"Because we had a couple of bad guys try to steal over four hundred kilograms of gold from us," Starr answered. "Needless to say that those bad guys would have suffered punishment worse than death had we not disabled them first. The Revenger known as Joshua was waiting 'in the wings' as normals might say; to intervene had we not prevailed."

"We brought swords to a gunfight," Pete chuckled. "It was fun."

"And what happens to Taylor?" I asked.

"Jaci and Michaela have already confirmed your signature was falsified," Starr replied. "The rights deed has been revoked as tainted. Michaela has ordered the removal of her personnel and equipment and will do no further business with her."

"You're fast," I pressed.

"Gold is an instrument of trade as well a catalyst for magic. Stealing of gold is a greater crime to magicians than it is to mortals. Dangerous to all."

"So, something's going to eat Taylor?" I asked. "If she comes up missing..."

"No, the Laws of Man will deal with her," Pete said. "Quite well, I might add."

"Quite well," Starr echoed.

***

When we finally got done gossiping about my pending divorce, Starr and Pete said their good-byes, stood up, and vanished with the sound of a rubber band snapping against skin. "I wonder where they went?" I mused.

"Probably their house, they have one here in town."

I stood up and offered her my hand, "Let's go to yours."

"Steven, I don't live alone. Sonia and four of my other sisters share that house. It's rare that all of us are in Laurel at the same time, and we are all single, well, not me now, but it's a good arrangement."

"Well, there's an inn here, right?"

"I want to go back to your place. You can fold, let's take the journey together."

"Sounds like a plan."

She stood up, her phone appearing in her hand. "I need to call the girls first."

"Let's surprise them."

"I need to make sure that they're... dressed. Plus, I've been told that you can't safely fold into a space already occupied."

"Dressed? Nah, tell them to stay undressed."

"Don't get greedy," Lisa wagged a finger at me. "Plenty of time for shenanigans later." She was grinning while she made her call. That told me she was happy with my order.

It was amazing, actually ending up in my apartment like we did. We had traveled over three hundred kilometers in a single step!

Uma and Lima were snuggled up on either end of the couch, each with their own quilt. "Hey guys," Uma said. "We got beer."

"Thanks," I said. I gave myself a second to ogle them on my sofa before I tore my eyes away and went into the kitchen. I had a very strong suspicion that they were naked under those quilts, and was both aroused and scared of that thought.

Lisa beat me to the fridge, pulling out two bottles and popping the lids off with her thumbs. "What do you think?" She whispered.

"When I said that, I was joking. I'd be scared to actually try a foursome, I don't want to disappoint anyone."

"Steven, you won't. We all have our first times, and we'll work up to it. Nobody was born knowing the whole book."

I took a long swig of my beer. "We have gotten really good together, haven't we?"

"Yes, we have. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Go to Lumber-Mart, get some surveyor's sticks and go back to my land in Laurel. I'd like to have a frame of reference for the move."

"You'll also need to go into your work, give them your notice. What's that?"

"Huh?"

"Candace needs to talk to you," Lisa pulled her earpiece out and handed it to me.

"Hello?"

"Hey sweetie," Candace chirped. "I've got a husband already, so don't worry about that."

"Good," I sighed.

She chuckled. "Look, Walter Holt put in a pink-slip notice with your name on it to Southstar Provisional Spinning's HR department at COB Friday. So, you'll get a call Monday early to not show up for work."

"Wow."

"Don't sweat it. If you want to know the actual truth, our company already had you flagged for transfer pending acceptance. You're single and young." There was a snort and a giggle, "And you would have met Lisa anyway in two months."

"Because our paths would have crossed as she would be bringing me parts and I would be fixing things. How would you know that I would have accepted the transfer?"

"Because we would have offered you an acceptance bonus big enough to make you piss yourself, a really nice house that you would be able to rent to own, and also would have had Uma's sister Rama to show you around town. She would have asked you out for a beer, and gave you sad, pouty lip if you turned her down," Candace answered.

A pair of hands snaked around my body, I felt breath on my neck. Lisa was in front of me so one of the other women was starting a seduction, and I liked that. When those hands reached my crotch, they would feel my approval.

"I would have fallen for that. How could you know me that well?"

"You didn't think we would buy a plant out of the blue? We did due diligence, including planting spies. They chatted you up, got to know you, put in a report."

"You profiled the whole plant. Oh, neat."

The hands had moved down my body and reached my belt. My belt was undone, then my button. My zipper was slowly pulled down and my pants dropped to the floor. One of the hands gripped my cock and I almost lost it. Lisa's eyes were on fire, she was getting off on the scene.

"Don't out our spies, please," Candace said. "We are still looking for other businesses to acquire."

"I won't."

"You and Lisa show up at your plant around sixteen hours Monday for a meeting. Depending on the timing, me and Frank Houseman should show up at the guard shack the same time as you and Lisa."

"That sounds like a plan, Candace, or should I call you 'boss?'"

"Call me Candace. You're my sister's other half now, and you don't know how happy that makes me. Toodles."

***

The next morning Uma and I made a trip to the local Lumber-Mart to pick up the surveyor's sticks I needed. Lisa suggested the four of us go to my lot and start marking out my land.

Uma and I were getting ready to check out when Taylor happened to cross our path. She gave us snark about the differences between mine and Uma's apparent age, and told Uma that she would be footing the bill for my ED pills if she wanted to stay with me, because I wouldn't be able to afford them for too much longer.

I was glad that I already knew why Taylor was being such a bitch, and glad that Lisa had my back.

While Lisa had pooh-poohed her first trip through a linear fold, she was ecstatic to 'land' on my lawn. That's basically what we did, because once we were out the other side of the fold, we went down to the ground. It wasn't far, maybe two centimeters, but it was noticeable.

Uma and Lima took off through the yard in a fit of giggles, their mood belying their three-hundred year old ages. "That was interesting," Lisa admitted. "Maybe I just didn't believe it because I'm a teleporting snob."

"That has to be amazing though, right? Take a step here, end up on the...Santa Monica Pier?"

"We can do that, wicca, that is. We pass through a portal onto a plane of existence calles Halavana, and choose our destination from there."

"That sounds neat," I shrugged.

Lisa reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a dozen of what looked like tokens. "It takes at least one of these to open portals, and they run maybe nine hundred dollars each, depending on gold prices."

"Good thing your future husband may get a title to a gold mine. You could mint tokens for the entire town." Lisa frowned and shook her head. "No?"

"You could only give the coins to me, Sonia, and bound companions like Uma and Lima."

"Bound? That sounds fishy."

"Accepted and loved by both husband and wife. You just can't have one-nighters and call someone 'companion.' It has to be mutual, real, and long-term."

"I thought you meant..."

"The only whips used in my clan for over a thousand years have been used in love-play. I might even get into that, being your Naughty Girl."

"Sonia mentioned role playing. I don't know, Lisa."

"All I ask is that you don't dismiss it out of hand. There is fun to be had, and we're not on a clock."

"I agree," I nodded. "What is with them?" I indicated Uma and Lima.

"Steven, the energy on this plot of land, every single square centimeter of your five hectares of land, is extremely magical to me and to Uma and Lima. The fact that you own the land, purchased with money freely given to you by someone you love, that energy can be felt!"

I knelt down on one knee and put my palm on the ground. "I can feel it," I admitted.

Lisa had knelt on the ground beside me and had done the same thing. "Give me your other hand so you can feel it like I do."

Touching her actually made me feel a tad woozy. Yes, the energy was there, and it was powerful. I felt her release my hand and then hands to help me stand back up. "Is it going to be safe to put my house here?"

"Of course," Lisa chuckled. "You're just feeling it more strongly now because you haven't felt it before. But don't be surprised if any woman who shares your bed, myself included, wants to come and camp out under the stars once in a while."

"You want to know something, Lisa?"

"Go."

"Get a double sleeping bag, because the first night is yours," I announced.

"Not fair," Uma said. She and Lima were suddenly standing in front of me and Lisa. "Not fair," Lima echoed. Then they ran off in bursts of giggles. It was only then I noticed that they had taken their shoes off.

"Let's get this place measured out before I start frolicking and giggling," I warned.

"Please don't," Lisa sighed.

"It looks big," Uma admitted after we had an outline staked out in the grass. When I saw what had initially staked out, I had to adjust my orientation.

I had constructed my house along the lines that you could see both sunrises and sunsets from the front porch. With the current orientation of the house, you could see sunrises on the left and sunsets on the right. The times in between were either protected by the roof above in the summer or the trees in front of the house in the winter. With the higher elevation and lack of southern tree growth, the winter sun would cut like a laser across the entire front porch for most of the day. I eventually had to settle for the sun hitting the ass-end of the house at an angle and having to get another set of porch furniture.

Lisa called me a sun-snob, and she was right. She also admitted that she wanted to share as many sunsets and sunrises with me as possible.