But how many societies give a damn about people who don’t follow their
expected script in life?
“I think I see what you’re getting at,” I sighed. “But this isn’t exactly a
normal situation. There are probably hundreds of young women in this town
who’ve had their lives shattered.”
“Yeah, but you can only take in a few of them and they all know it,” she
pointed out. “Seriously, Daniel, those girls are both worried sick that you’re
going to replace them with someone better. The only way they’re ever going to
feel secure is if you give them something to hold onto. Not that it’s a big deal
to me either way, but keeping them worried doesn’t seem like your style.”
I sighed. “I suppose I see your point. It just doesn’t come naturally to me.
Back home anyone who did that would be a total sleazebag.”
Avilla stepped out of the shower, and laid her hand on my chest. “Do you
trust me?”
Somehow I managed to look at her face, and not the water droplets
clinging to her breasts. “Um, yeah.”
“Then trust me to arrange things. I’m already picking our staff, so you
needn’t violate your taboos by asking them uncomfortable questions. Just do
what comes naturally if one of them offers something you desire, and I’ll make
sure things work out. Fair enough?”
“Sure. I guess.”
Her smile took my breath away. “Good. Why don’t you get cleaned up
and join us?”
I did. Half the reason I’d built the bath was because I was already getting
sick of being filthy all the time, and the tub was easily big enough for three.
When I was done I settled into the warm water with a sigh.
109
“This is great,” Cerise said dreamily.
“I could stay in here all night,” Avilla agreed. She paused, and bit her lip.
I raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”
“No,” she replied hesitantly. “At least, I hope not. Well, normally I’d be
subtle about this, and let things develop at their own pace. But your customs
are so different from ours that I’m afraid we’ll have some terrible
misunderstanding if we aren’t blunt, and I don’t want to risk it. I am very
aware that you have no obligations to me.”
I frowned. “I’m not going to abandon you to the monsters, Avilla. I like
you, and you’re important to Cerise, and besides all that I don’t want to lose
anyone if I have a choice. You know, you don’t have to buy my protection.”
Cerise frowned at me, but Avilla just nodded. “I understand. May I be
equally to the point?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
She shifted across the tub, and settled carefully onto my lap with her
knees beside my hips. Her eyes met mine from a few inches away.
“Daniel, I appreciate very much how careful you’ve been not to get
between Cerise and I. But we both want a man in our lives, and you don’t seem
nearly as interested as I’d hoped. Is there some reason you don’t find us
appealing?”
“What? No! Are you kidding me? Avilla, you’re both beautiful. You’re
like some kind of domestic porn goddess, and Cerise has the badass babe thing
down cold.”
“Then what is it?”
I sighed. “It’s complicated. Partly I was worried about the same thing you
were, misunderstandings caused by the culture gap, and I didn’t want to do
anything that might hurt one of you. But mostly I’m just not looking for a
relationship. I’d just found out my wife was cheating on me a few days before
Hecate’s call, and I suppose I’m not quite over it.”
“You have a wife?” Cerise asked, startled. “But I didn’t sense any… oh,
right. Had a wife, I guess. Wow, she must have been an idiot.”
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Avilla chewed her bottom lip consideringly. It was so adorable it was all
I could do not to kiss her.
“Well, that makes this difficult. I’m sorry, Daniel, and I don’t mean to
press you. But I think we’d best be clear about things. Cerise, are we agreed?”
Cerise moved to sit next to me, and nodded. “Yeah. I’m no good at this,
and I really don’t want things to get screwed up. We need to go all-in.”
“This sounds ominous,” I commented.
Avilla shook her head. “Maybe. But if you have doubts about our
trustworthiness it may help. You know Cerise and I are coven-sisters, right?
Well, we can’t form a proper coven with just the two of us. The high rituals all
call for at least three members, if not five. Even our personal magics are
terribly imbalanced right now. Cerise needs an anchor who can resist her
succubus charms, or she’ll never be able to fully master the power she’s
claimed. My domestic magic needs a mate to serve as a focus, and there’s
enough of a fertility aspect to it that it won’t work properly with another
woman.”
“Not unless I use that incubus transformation,” Cerise observed.
Avilla blushed brightly. “If you do that without an anchor you’ll lose
yourself, kitten. I’d lose dominance sooner or later, and you’d eat me, and then
we’d both be lost. Beside, why spend all that effort on desperate mystic
perversions when we’ve been lucky enough to find a man who can do the job?”
“So, you want me to join your coven?” I said slowly.
Avilla shook her head. “No, Daniel. We want you to lead our coven.”
“You always know what to do,” Cerise pointed out. “You can kick ass
like a god, too. We need you.”
“Our aspects compliment yours,” Avilla went on. “I’m nurture and
support, Cerise is infiltration and assassination. We can be strong together. If
you fear betrayal, we can make fidelity a part of our coven-bond. That, and
mutual trust and affection.”
“This sounds like a permanent commitment,” I observed.
Avilla nodded hesitantly. “Yes. Eventually. The best coven-bonds can’t
be undone. We don’t expect you to make a decision right now, Daniel. But
111
please consider it.”
“We’ll make it worth your while,” Cerise added slyly, sliding over to
press her breasts into my side. Her hand began to wander down my belly, but
Avilla took it and put it on my shoulder.
“Down, kitten. You’ll get your attention soon.” She smiled indulgently.
I chuckled. “She does do a good sex kitten act, doesn’t she?”
“Oh, it’s no act,” Avilla corrected. “Silly kitten thought a succubus would
be an easy target for her first power theft ritual, and she’s been insatiable ever
since. Keeping her occupied is a terrible distraction, especially since I’m so
easy to seduce. I can’t count the number of times I’ve lost a whole day because
she didn’t want to get out of bed. Maybe that’s something else you could help
us with?”
“Yeah. You two are unbelievably tempting, you know that?”
They both giggled happily.
I shook my head. “This is a lot to take in. Cerise, is that what you were up
to earlier? Checking to see if I could counter your mind control powers?”
“Partly,” she admitted. “But I really do like to play like that. What do you
have against enchantment, anyway? It’s not like I was going to do anything you
wouldn’t like.”
I frowned. “You’re asking for an awful lot of trust from someone you’ve
only known a few days. For that matter, the same goes for this coven bond