The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The Becoming

Part 8

LEGALESE:

Don’t read this if you are underage, if it is illegal in your area, if it is offensive to you… Blah blah blah you get the idea.

All characters are fictitious. All events are made up. Any similarities in this work to real events or people are the figment of your imagination.

Permission to distribute this work is automatically given provided that it is redistributed in its unaltered entirety and that no fee is charged.

Comments are always appreciated, except for the “evil perverted scum-bag” ones. Those you can just cram.

BEWARE! You have been warned that this story contains sex between consenting and non-consenting people! If you read it anyways and are offended, sorry, but you have been warned!

SHORT DESCRIPTION:

A young man, desperate for a way out of his problems tries the Ultimate Solution. When he wakes up in the hospital, he has unlocked the hidden powers of his mind and discovers that there is another world beneath the sugar coated frosting of what he thought was the real world.

(mc, mf, ff, nc)

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Holy crap! I somehow managed to write, read/proof, redo parts and double proof this chapter in a day. I don’t know what got into me here, but here is part 8 as well.

I’ll apologize in advance to those who read this story and other’s like it for the explicit scenes, but in this chapter and probably the next chapter as well I want to devote more to the story to try and move it along before I end up writing a saga to rival Mitchner’s collected works. I hope you all enjoy and thanks for the feedback!

* * *

“Are you sure about this Jameson? He is very young for this kind of responsibility,” an elderly man said in the confines of a plush den.

“John Paul, he is far from the youngest ever to be invited to sit on the council,” came the reply.

“We realize this,” a third elderly man spoke up with a Russian accent. “But the last time someone as young as he was invited to join, the Americas had not yet been discovered by western civilization.”

“I also realize this Sergei, but would you rather have this boy on the inside where he can be monitored or on the outside?”

“No one is questioning your rationalization Jameson,” the second man said again in his light middle European accent. “As the chancellor of our training facility, the position of ‘2’ is very highly regarded. Not to mention that your council has been very much appreciated in the past – which is part of how you came to that position. We are merely concerned about the intemperance of youth.”

“How very diplomatic of you John Paul,” ‘2’ said with unfeigned sarcasm.

“Both of you just relax,” Sergei said shushing them. “You both have excellent points to make regarding this young man. And both of your councils have been greatly appreciated in the past – which is part of how BOTH of you came to hold your positions as ‘2’ and ‘3’. But now we must weigh the merits of the boy’s abilities to determine if he has a place on this council. John Paul, since you obviously dissent, why don’t you tell us why?”

“Very well Sergei,” ‘3’ said. “I am concerned about his youth and inexperience. Hundreds of years ago, a boy was forced to grow up much sooner than he is today. He would often take a wife and have sired children before his eighteenth birthday. The responsibilities of a man would be forced upon a youth sooner, to accommodate the needs of an untamed world with shorter life spans.

“In recent times however, that has not been the case since elders live much longer now than even 100 years ago. The youth of today are rash and impatient. They have no tolerance for the weaving of the grand tapestry that is the world today and often act, if not maliciously, then at least without knowledge and thought beforehand. Youth today, they do not see the forest, only the trees. They only see the here and now, and that is all they wish to experience.

“Our work requires those that can see the plan for the outcome, not just the next step along that road. I worry that this boy – powerful and intelligent though he may be – will divert our attentions from the necessary actions and sacrifices that it will be required to accomplish our long standing goals. In short, I worry that this boy will be just that: a boy.

“I also fear however, that this boy’s lineage will influence his actions in achieving his own goals as well as any aspirations he may develop within the council chamber. Let us not forget the memorable figures within that heritage, both good and bad. Should he discover the entire truth of that heritage, he may do far more harm within our ranks than he could ever hope to achieve from the outside. Were he on the outside and decided to move against us, the body whole can survive the loss of an appendage or a limb, managing to adapt and even overcome the handicap often times stronger than before. But were he on the inside and decided to work against us, it is very much harder for the body to repel an attack from within and even harder to replace organs that may be damaged,” John Paul, AKA ‘3’ finished calmly but filled with passion.

After many decades working together, the three men had learned how to react to and deal with each other effectively. Both Jameson and Sergei sat patiently, sipping at their Scotch, waiting for ‘3’ to finish. Had they had any questions to clarify a point that was made, that would have been the only time they would have interrupted.

“He brings up a very good point Jameson,” Sergei said after a few moments thought. “What do you have to say?”

“Yes, Sergei, John Paul does have a good point. But I would expect nothing less from the Director of Information,” ‘2’ said taking the floor and leaning back in his own plush leather chair. “I will not try to dissuade either of you from the view that modern youth are intemperate, for they most assuredly are. But we know this boy’s history and his lineage. There is no denying that given his past, he could either be a very valuable ally – or a fearsome adversary. I for one would rather have the former.

“If that were not enough, we have an opening on the council that does need to be filled. An opening that I feel he would be the best suited to fill and has gone far too long unfilled. Over the past 5 years that we have had him under observation, we have learned a great deal about him. He has strength of character that the hardships of his life have not been able to dampen. He has shown remarkable restraint in his dealings with others, often times coming to their rescue or aid at times of crisis, even when it would not have been in his interest to do so.”

“If you talk of restraint, how do you explain his murder of a fellow student from his high school then?” Sergei asked.

“You are of course referring to Aaron Brown. Yes, there is no denying that he did take a life. The boy in question however was pestering the young man for a good many years, often inflicting bodily harm upon him. Even should you wish to not take my word for it, the police and the school each conducted their own investigations into the matter and found – as I did – that he was defending himself. He handled the matter in a way that society does not encourage, but that action’s effectiveness can not be denied. He reacted with force enough to stop the attack and prevent any future encounters from occurring. He in fact acted very much like the military commanders of his lineage to subdue the enemy for good. It is merely an unfortunate coincidence that a life was ended because of it as well.

“His studies at The Centre were scheduled on par with his abilities, but his instructors found him to be surpassing them in nearly every regard. He entered the facility as a borderline P-12, and left as a fairly solid P-17. That level of ability is practically unheard of in these times, even among the older members of our order. He has shown remarkable intelligence in every problem he was faced with during his studies. And while it is true that there were others at The Centre before, during and after his tenure there with higher intelligence, none have shown the combination of intelligence, power and thought that he has.

“And were that not enough, let us not forget about our silent adversary. John Paul, in his roll as ‘3’, has given us plenty of information regarding their intelligence and quite the understanding of their capabilities and resolve even if we do not as yet understand the full source of their funding or attitude. We need only to look at the events surrounding his rapid departure from his home and the subsequent disappearance of his Caretaker – whom he called ‘Mother’ – and his first thrall, Miranda.

“Miranda has since reappeared, but with a complete mind-wipe of the events or the prospective council member. Her only recollections of him and his mother are that they were neighbors whom she barely knew and moved out many years ago. The force our mysterious foe used to try and capture him is ample evidence of their resolve in this matter, even disregarding the information that they would prefer to capture and use him but will kill him if necessary. To my opinion, I would think this would be why we should bring him into the fold.

“And finally, let us not all forget what I said earlier. Would we rather have this boy on the inside, where we can control and use him? Or would we rather have him on the outside, where he can deal our goals serious harm should he choose to without the same abilities to keep track of him?” ‘2’ asked finishing his discourse.

All three men sat in silence for a long time before anyone spoke. The Kluges standing in the corner of the room silently refilled their drinks while the men considered the topic before them.

When finally Sergei spoke, the other men were ready to listen and move on. “You both bring up excellent points for why we should invite him in or keep him out, points that can not be ignored. There was a time where my position as ‘1’ would have allowed me to make a binding decision for all of us and the council as well. There are times when I look back upon those days many centuries in the past with wistful abandon. But then there are times where we are presented a dilemma such as the one we face now where I am grateful that those days are long past.

“Our abilities grant us long life and consequently the chance for great wisdom, but sometimes I fear that even our 3 lifetimes each of wisdom is not enough and pray that our decisions are the correct ones,” he said trailing back into thought for a moment.

“Can I trust that I have heard each opinion and we are all prepared to render a decision?” he asked, getting nods from the other two men in the room. “Good. Then if there are no objections, I suggest we make our votes and prepare ourselves to abide by the outcome. Agreed?” again he got nods.

Each man reached to the note pads in front of them, each writing a single word on the paper before tearing it off and handing it to the Kluge who came to collect them from each man. Organizing the notes on her tray, she presented them to ‘1’ for his review.

“I am a little shocked. Not by the decision, but by how each of us voted to proceed. On a matter of this level, it is rare enough for two of us to agree. Having all three of us vote in the same however, is quite possibly a miracle.

“The outcome is a unanimous vote of ‘Yes’. Young Mr. Caulfield will be admitted to the council as a representative from the Pacific Northwest. He will be immediately be assigned the duties as ‘Prince’ for the territories of Oregon, Washington and Idaho,” Sergei said standing while his assistant wrote out the results for the official record.

“I do have one further stipulation however,” ‘1’ continued and getting the other’s attention. “I can not help but feel compelled significantly by John Paul’s stated opinion, even though he voted ‘yes’ in the end along with myself and Jameson. His points on the intemperance of youth and his lineage are too much to completely ignore, even if we have been swayed by your views Jameson.

“My stipulation is this: He is your responsibility Jameson. Take him under your wing and guide him in our ways. It is your job to ensure that his loyalty remains where it needs to be. Should he stray too far from the course that we set for him, you are the one who will need to bring him back… or remove the problem. Do you understand?” ‘1’ asked with less malice in his voice than the others would have expected.

“Yes ‘1’. I understand completely, and I will do as you ask,” ‘2’ said without fear or anger, for he understood fully the dangers they could be placing their organization in.

With the matter settled, each man returned to their offices to prepare for the forth coming council meeting. While most of the work of the organization was done within the walls of a study similar to the one they were just in or other similar ones through out the world, their offices and the hallways were where the work of the day to day was conducted.

Sergei and John Paul – ‘1’ and ‘3’ respectively as none of the organizations members knew the three’s true names and few of the rank and file knew their faces (save for the graduates only knowing the face of ‘2’ from his greeting and graduation addresses) – went on about their work while ‘2’ found Billy sitting in the courtyard outside waiting for the meeting to start.

The council had been convened in the Savannah, Georgia this year. It was the first time in a decade that the council met inside the United States, and the first time since the Civil War that they met anywhere in the South.

As it was a late fall day, the weather was more than enjoyable as the temperate climate had shifted away from its summer humidity but still lacked the slight chill that would soon descend as winter approached. The jasmine and magnolias were still blooming and filling the air of the golf course resort where they were staying. The birds called to each other from the trees, mimicking the feel of a by gone era that only the hospitality of the South could reproduce.

“Enjoying the weather?” ‘2’ said as he approached Billy.

Out of long ingrained habit, and a sense of formal politeness the Deep South seemed to bring out in everyone, Billy stood to greet his visitor. “Absolutely!” he beamed. “Back home its getting pretty murky and grey most of the time.”

“Sit, sit,” the old man said patting the bench next to him as he lowered himself. “And just which home would you be referring to Mr. Caulfield?”

Billy actually had to think about that one for a moment before he could respond. “Whichever one you choose, it still would hold true I guess. But for the most part, I’m talking about my new one.”

“I had hoped you would be settling in pretty well by now,” he said with a friendly smile holding his hand up to ward off the mid-morning sun. “Will you please sit? Or do I need to pull you down?”

“Yes sir,” Billy said laughing nervously.

“That’s better,” ‘2’ said as he finally sat. “You seem a bit nervous my boy. Why is that?”

“Can I speak openly with you?”

“If you tried to hide anything I would have you flogged young man,” the old man replied. “Relax Mr. Caulfield. I’m only joking; of course you can speak freely. Now, what is bothering you?”

“Why am I here?” Billy blurted. “And I don’t mean philosophically. I mean why am I here In Savannah?”

“Your wondering for what nefarious purpose have you been summoned to this beautiful resort hotel, been given a room and all your meals during this most beautiful time of year?”

“Something like that,” Billy chuckled still with a nervous edge to his voice.

“Well, believe it or not. We really do have an ulterior motive for bringing you here. Would you like to know what it is?” ‘2’ asked getting a nod. “I thought so. Well simply it’s this: we want you to join our council.”

“What council?”

“Don’t be obtuse boy,” ‘2’ said with a touch of scorn. “I know which group you trained with at The Centre. Your group was special among the rest in that you were actually told some of our organization. I know you were told about the council and about the Triumvirate that leads the council. You and your group all agreed to join our organization while you were there, but you all thought it would be as members of the rank-and-file.

“You my boy, you have shown special talent and ability. For that, we want to invite you to join the council itself,” he finished with a smile.

“Holy…”

“Go ahead and say it, it is quite an honor after all.”

“Holy shit! So I’m going to be what? One of those regional directors or something?”

“Not really,” ‘2’ said looking out towards the ocean. “Your placard is being set right now actually, at the center of a table. You, my boy, are going to be what is known as a ‘Prince’ among the council.”

“A Prince? What the heck is that?” he asked, confusion growing upon astonishment.

“The ‘regional directors’ as you call them, are called Regents officially. They each run a geographical area, based predominantly on population. But there are other factors as well such as size of the area, type of population, density, etcetera etcetera. They are in turn led by a person that we call a ‘Prince’.”

“Where did that title come from?” Billy asked getting into the conversation.

“Thousands of years ago, kings would give out parcels of land to rule to their sons: the Princes. When we were undergoing our first major organization into the body we know today, the name was adopted and has since stuck. I understand that the title has become popular within the literature of the vampire community to describe a similar position, but that is where the similarity ends. We digress however from the matter at hand.

“The Regents work for the Princes… For you. You are being given the territory for the Pacific Northwest that covers Oregon, Washington and Idaho. You will in turn have I believe 12 or 13 Regents that work for you. I’m not really sure of the exact number; it has been a very long time since I’ve involved myself in the day to day affairs of the council.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Billy said, his eyes taking on a far away look as the magnitude of the situation started to sink in. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it even!”

“And that my boy is why I think you would be perfect for the job,” ‘2’ said with a grandfatherly look to him, even in his expensive 3 piece suit. “The Triumvirate has voted, and we all agree that the position should be yours. The only thing left, is for you to either say yes or no.”

“Wow…,” he said thinking fast. “I guess the answer is ‘Yes’ then. Holy crap! I don’t even know where I should start!”

No sooner than the words had left his mouth, then a familiar face walked through the door. “I thought you would say that, so I took some liberties on your behalf. And right on time, here he comes now.”

Jordan, the thinker and evaluator of his group from The Centre walked around the corner of the bench just as ‘2’ was introducing him.

“I trust you two have already met?” ‘2’ said to the boys.

“Yes sir,” Jordan replied, evidently as confused as Billy was at first.

“Jordan! I didn’t… Um, yes sir. We know each other,” Billy said remembering himself.

“That is quite alright Mr. Caulfield. I know this is a bit of a surprise for both of you.”

“You can say that again,” Jordan said glancing back and forth between Billy and ‘2’.

“While you two were at The Centre together, your instructors noticed that you boys seemed to if not form a friendship with each other, then at least a healthy mutual respect. Given both of your abilities and talents, I felt Mr. Shear would be the perfect candidate for your assistant.”

“My what?” – “His what?” they said in unison.

“Assistant gentlemen,” he said addressing them simultaneously. “Mr. Shear, Mr. Caulfield here has been offered – and accepted – a position on the council as the Prince of the Pacific Northwest territory. In order to carry out the duties and tasks expected of him, he will need an assistant. Are you up to the challenge?”

Jordan’s face drained of all color, and given that he was quite pale to begin with, he now looked positively ashen. “I know you’re good at organization and figuring shit out Jordan. I would love to have you working with me,” Billy said with a big smile. “So are you up to it? Want to work for the guy who runs the Pacific Northwest?”

“I’ll do it,” Jordan said after a moment to let it sink in. “But you got to do something for me first.”

“Name it,” Billy said taking his hand, the stupid grin still plastered to his face.

“I want a dog. And I DON’T want you to EVER call me your secretary!”

All three laughed heartily. “I think that can be arranged Mr. Shear,” ‘2’ said. “Now, let me tell some things you will need to know about the council.

“First, the council meets twice per year and never in the same place in any given century. With that in mind, I suggest you boys get a passport as soon as possible if you don’t already have one. I know you could get by without one, but sometimes just following the rules is easier than side stepping them all of the time.

“Second, the Triumvirate appoints members to be Princes – usually from the Regents but not always. It is the Princes who pick the members of the Triumvirate should one of us die or decide to retire. The Princes also choose who will be the Regents that work for them. The Triumvirate has these positions: ‘1’ runs the affairs of the council and coordinates with the other members of the Triumvirate. If there is a disagreement among the council members, it is he who settles it. His decisions are binding. Historically, the Triumvirate acted as advisors to ‘1’, but that has changed over the centuries to where we are all equal members. ‘2’ – that’s me – runs the various training facilities around the world and runs the operations to scout for and recruit emerging talents. ‘3’ is also known as the Director of Information. It is his job to gather the information we need to bring our plans to fruition and ensure not only our safety but at times our survival as well.

“Third, each member of the council typically has their own agenda. This is not uncommon and is very often expected. It is important to note however, that if that council member’s agenda runs contrary to ours as a whole, they will be dealt with and often dealt with severely.

“And finally, each territory has one voice and one vote in the council. Typically there are few votes called for from the council as it is the job of the Triumvirate to make decisions and such. But when a vote is called for, it is only the Prince’s voice that will be heard. In the event of your absence from a council meeting Mr. Caulfield, it is your duty to appoint one of your Regents to speak for you or forfeit your vote.

“Mr. Shear, officially you will have no voice at all within the council as you are neither a Prince nor are you a Regent. However, your voice is perhaps one of the loudest of all. As the Prince’s Assistant, it is you to whom he will most often rely to provide him with information and opinions he may need. This is not to under value the Regents that work for you Mr. Caulfield; it is simply the way it usually is. If at anytime either of you feel that you can not work together, I strongly suggest you part ways or risk infighting within your territory.

“Do either of you have any questions? No? Good, then let us proceed to the meeting hall and get the council meeting started,” ‘2’ finished with a broad smile before clasping them on their shoulders. “And gentlemen, let me be the first to welcome you to the Illuminare!”

* * *

The council meeting was as boring as it was informative to the boys. The Princes who spoke during the meeting were long winded to say the least, often times taking more than an hour to say something that could have been said better in just a few minutes. Most of his fellow ‘Princes’ also happened to be far older than either of them, most easily being into their 60s or so. Only a couple seemed to be closer to their age, the closest in age to them still being at least 15 years their senior.

The meeting wasn’t nearly as informative however as the meetings in the hallways during the breaks or over meals were. It became evident very quickly who was in who’s camp and who was who’s enemy. The factionisation was equally evident among the Regents who worked for Billy (turned out to be 16 of them) as it was among the Princes.

Neither Billy nor Jordan was quite ready yet to jump into the political quagmire of allies and enemies just yet, so they did their best to muddle through as best they could without picking up any enemies.

On Sunday, the last morning of the council meeting before everyone flew home that afternoon, a Kluge messenger from ‘2’ (evident by the purple collar with the triangle shaped pendant and ornate symbol) approached him.

“Master ‘2’ wishes you to accept this,” the Kluge said handing Billy two boxes, both oblong in shape but one thicker than the other while he handed Jordan a small satchel. “The watch is for your Assistant m’Lord,” he continued, “it will identify him as working in your employ. The other box contains the proofs for your symbol.”

“Very well,” Billy said taking the offered boxes and dismissing the servant.

The watch was elegant in its simplicity. A broad faced men’s style watch with a polished silver expanding band. The watch face was gold, etched with what he assumed was his ‘symbol’. Jordan put the watch on with a shrug figuring ‘what can it hurt?’.

The symbol proofs matched the watch face, round with a raised edge on both sides. The center showed an eagle in a strike-dive – the claws out and extended downward while its wings were swept up and back. In the eagle’s talons was the Greek symbol Omega, all on a field of raised dots which seemed to represent stars. On the obverse, an open eye set in an equilateral triangle with a star at each corner.

The satchel that Jordan had been handed contained about 30 black choker style collars with the symbol pendant attached to the front by a simple metal hoop, with one more on an elegant gold chain.

“Suppose that one is for Nicole?” Jordan asked, remembering Billy telling him about her.

“Don’t know, but that’s who is going to get it,” he said trading knowing smiles with Jordan.

Returning to their rooms (connected by an adjoining door), they collected their luggage and headed off for the airport. Jordan had been given a ticket matching Billy’s for the return flight. Sitting next to each other, they talked about their observations at the meeting and speculated about what was to come. Even though he hadn’t been given any specific tasks, they both knew that it wouldn’t be too long before one was expected from them.

* * *

Arriving back home, they tried to resume some semblance of a normal life. Billy returned to school, artfully dodging the few questions that were asked about his trip. Nicole was thrilled by the presentation of the pendant and necklace, happy with the gift even after Billy explained what the pendant meant.

Maureen on the other hand… To say that she was less than thrilled with the collar that was now wrapped around her neck was an understatement to say the least.

Working with the Regent for this city, Billy was able to set Jordan up with an apartment about a block down the street from him.

Jordan jumped into his roll as Billy’s Assistant full throttle. He worked closely with the Regents to understand their cities or areas and help them wherever he could. He brought Billy the big problems to handle, and kept him up to date on everything else that happened. He was soon a common guest for dinner in Billy’s condo, usually dining there at least 4 nights a week. He would often accompany Billy and his friends Tom Hastings, Steve Mott, and Ed and Mark Cavanaugh on their bi-weekly nights out. Fortunately, the guys seemed to like him, or at least tolerate him, but Jordan clicked almost immediately with the sullen and recalcitrant Ed.

The immediate friendship between Ed and Jordan was not lost on the others either. Since the quiet one of the group now had someone with whom he seemed to fully connect, the others seemed to have even a better time on their nights out since they weren’t worrying if Ed was going to be a buzz-kill or not.

With life settling into a routine, everything seemed to be going quite well for all concerned.

It wasn’t until nearly the end of the school year that anything happened.

* * *

It had been a day pretty much like any other day this year had been. Billy woke up, had amazing 3-way sex with Nicole and Maureen before getting into the shower. Thankfully being Thursday it meant his first class wasn’t until 10am so he had plenty of time.

He went to class, learned a few things, met with Jordan between classes then had lunch with Mark and Steve a little before 1pm. Finishing his third and last class for the day, he stopped by the library to check out a couple of books and was heading for home when he heard the sirens.

Sirens themselves may not have been all that common in this city, particularly during the early afternoon, but neither were they unheard of. It was just one more thing to happen and barely worth note. That is, until he rounded the corner for home to find an ambulance and several police cars parked in front of his building.

The police tried to keep him out at first, but once he ‘convinced’ them that he lived there they let him pass without further hassle. He was only mildly worried about what was happening in the building until he stepped off the elevator and found that the center of activity was his apartment.

Fearing the worst, he was about to charge inside and raise holy hell when Jordan stepped out of the apartment and stopped him. The young man had ‘convinced’ the detectives and the police that he was Billy’s personal assistant and that he needed to know everything that was going on.

“Jordan! What the fuck…!”

“Relax Billy, Nicole is alright. She’s still at work,” he said holding him back.

“So if then what’s the… Oh shit! Maureen!” he said as realization sunk in. “What happened? Is she alright?!”

“No, Billy. Maureen is dead,” Jordan said quietly.

“What?” Billy asked in shock and pushed past him. “Maureen!” he yelled entering the condo. “Maureen! Where are you!”

“Whoa there young man,” a burly man said wrapping his arm around his chest and stopping him cold. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Billy’s eyes glazed pure hate at the man who had grabbed him. “Get your hands off me asshole,” he growled, inadvertently reaching out to the man’s mind and twisting at it.

Visions of pain and horrors to horrible to imagine raced through the detective’s head. If he could have comprehended where it was coming from, he may have recognized it as pure unadulterated hate.

“Billy!” Jordan yelled, shaking his friend and snapping him back to reality. “Let go of him Billy. This is the detective, he’s here to help.”

“We don’t need his fucking help Jordan, you know that,” Billy growled down at him.

“Yes Billy, we DO,” Jordan said with that certain look people use to try and convey a greater meaning. In this case, the meaning was ‘think about it. This is already too big too fast to quash easily’.

The look was not lost on him either, and he started to calm down. “So when is somebody going to tell me what happened here?” Billy finally managed to ask when rationality returned.

It took the detective several moments to clear the horrors from his mind’s eye before he was able to respond. With little coaxing, he started to talk about the whole case as they knew it so far even though it the investigation was just getting started. “As near as we can figure it, Ms. Lafayette was coming out of the shower when the intruders broke in,” he finally said.

“Intruders? You’re sure there was more than one?” Jordan asked.

“Absolutely,” the detective said collecting his wits. “The marks on the carpet seem to indicate more than one pair of shoes. The door wasn’t broken, so they must’ve picked the lock.”

“How did they get into the building?” Billy asked, thinking of the secured access front door.

“We aren’t too sure just yet, but we suspect they probably got in through the garage. Most likely, they waited for someone to leave then got in before the door could close again. At any rate, the intruders came in while she was getting out of the shower. They evidently surprised her and she tried to run back to her room. They caught her about the middle of the living room and struggled for a bit. It looks like she threw them off, unfortunately loosing her robe during the struggle as that is exactly where we found it,” he said indicating the robe lying atop the smashed coffee table in the destroyed living room.

“From there, she appears to have made it to her room and locked herself in,” the detective continued reading off his notes and continuing the tour. “She should have tried to go for the front door, even naked, so we figure there was someone or someones blocking her way. After locking the door, we have the record from a 911 call getting copied right now where the dispatcher says that she could hear pounding going on in the back ground. I think the pounding was them trying to break down her door since that one has been smashed in.”

Leading the boys into her room, they found Maureen’s body laying half off the side of the bed with a spare sheet covering her. “We aren’t sure if they tried to rape her or not, forensics and the M.E. will have to make that determination when they get here. It does look like they tried to grab her though, and when she resisted it seems they killed her.”

“Any ideas on who it was?” Jordan asked since Billy was too deeply into shock to form words at the moment.

“Not yet, we were hoping that you might be able to shed some light on that. Any ideas?”

“Unfortunately, they moved here only in time for the start of the school year,” Jordan said. “She worked as a tutor, his girlfriend works part time at a clothing store a few blocks away and he goes to school full time. I can’t think of anyone who might want to do this to her,” he only semi-lied.

“Ok,” the detective said writing quickly. “I won’t ask him yet, but if you guys think of anything… Here’s my card, give me a call.”

“Will do,” Jordan said taking the card. “Is there anything else?”

“Well I am going to have to ask you two to wait outside until forensics comes through, but I do have one other question,” he said crossing to the body and pulling the sheet off Maureen’s face, dropping it before exposing her breasts. “She has a collar on, but it looks like they pulled off something from this hoop here. We found a bent piece of metal resting between her breasts that it must have been connected with, but it obviously isn’t here anymore. What was it that was attached here?”

“It was…”

“It was nothing,” Billy suddenly said interrupting Jordan. “There was nothing attached to her collar. In fact, she wasn’t wearing a collar was she?”

“N...No,” the detective stammered. “No collar.”

Reaching down to her body, Billy lightly stroked her soft dirty blonde hair before reaching behind her neck to unbuckle the collar and pocket it. Jordan wasn’t going to speak up to stop him, but it was quite obvious that he was confused about what had just happened.

“I’m sorry, but I do have to ask you two to leave now until after we finish in here,” the detective finally said as his mind cleared. “We’ll let you know when we’re done.”

“Fine,” Billy said taking Jordan in tow. “We’ll be up on the roof.”

Neither said a word as they got into the elevator and went upstairs. The silence continued until they were both standing at the railing, looking down upon the city below.

“Why did you do that to his mind about the collar?” Jordan finally asked.

“Think about it Jordan, who could possibly have done it?”

“You heard the detective Billy, they don’t have a clue yet who did it.”

“But we do Jordan, we do. Come on, who would go through the trouble of breaking into my place to try and kidnap Maureen and Nicole, but instead end up killing her because they ‘got spooked’?”

“Billy, isn’t it possible that you’re being overly paranoid here?” Jordan asked.

“Maybe, maybe not. Let’s say I am being overly paranoid for a moment. If someone was going to pick an apartment in this building, wouldn’t they case it first to know what kind of security it had? And if they had done that, they would know that Nicole is usually home all day on Thursdays. The only reason she’s working now is she was called in because someone is sick. Now explain why the only thing missing from the apartment was the pendant from around Maureen’s neck? All of the expensive stuff was still there, including my laptop which was right on the counter next to the door.”

Jordan had to think about it for a minute before answering. “But if Maureen did as the detective thinks, then they probably didn’t have time to grab anything. They had to get out in a hurry.”

Billy turned his head to look sidelong at Jordan while he spoke. “Jordan, I love you to death, but we both know that you’re smarter than this. The pendant didn’t even LOOK valuable. It was silver sure, but anyone could tell you from a glance that it was all glitz and no glam. The only reason someone would have to take it is because of me. No, whoever did this knew what they were getting into and what to go after. They were just incompetent and let a Kluge get the drop on them.”

“Yeah,” he finally said sighing deeply. “You’re probably right. So who do you think it was? Could it have been someone from the Illuminare?”

“I doubt it. They wouldn’t need to take my symbol from one of my thralls. Hell, every council member was given a booklet with every symbol next to the name and territory of every Prince and their Regents’ symbols and their locations, remember?”

“Yeah I do. So that just leaves…”

“Yep, them. That ‘agency’ or whatever it’s called that we heard about at the council meeting.”

“So if it is a professional group like the agency, is it really wise to be hanging out on the roof like this?”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he said looking down at the street below. “There is so much activity in and around this building right now, only someone monumentally stupid would try anything right now. Besides, you know that thing about lightning…”

“Ok, so what do we do about it?” Jordan asked, finally coming over to Billy’s point of view.

“Let the cops muck around and think they’re doing something. We both know they won’t find anything, but it will make them feel important.”

“The city Regent already knows of the situation. I talked to him not long before you showed up. I already asked him to get his people looking around for information. He’s also going to open some sources inside the police and city government and plug them for information and control.”

“Good going Jordan,” Billy said thinking quickly. “Get on the phone to the other Regents as well; we need them to start poking around their own areas as well. Tell them to brief in their rank-and-file as much as they can, but we still need to keep this from the general population of the Illuminare for now. We need every bit of information they have about these guys as soon as they can get it down here.”

“Consider it done,” Jordan said pulling out his cell phone. “Are you willing to cast any markers out for information or help?”

“To the council? No, not just yet. I don’t want favors hanging out there just yet when I’m in no position to repay anything.”

“Agreed,” he said running through his numbers list.

“What was your take on ‘3’ from the meeting?”

“I think he’s right where he wants to be. I talked to several of his staffers, and he seems to be happy. He considers himself at the top of his game and is starting to think about retirement.”

“Good, apolitical. I was thinking the same thing,” Billy said thinking. “I don’t think we want to call him just yet, but if we gut stuck for info we may want to consider pumping his office for information…

“Damn! Jordan, call Artie first!”

“Artie? What for? He couldn’t help us in this could he?”

“He’s not quite 15 yet, so maybe not physically help us with anything, but I don’t know anyone better with computers do you? He was showing me some stuff at The Centre that was making my eyes pop, and I thought I was a geek! He even wrote out several virus codes in a matter of minutes while I watched.”

“So you’re thinking that if there is any information out there in cyberspace…”

“He’ll either find it or it won’t exist.”

“You got. Give me sometime to make the calls.”

“No problem,” Billy said reaching for his own phone.

3 hours later, Nicole had come home from work and joined the boys on the roof while they waited for the police to finish in the condo. By the time she joined them on the roof they had already accepted the reality of the situation and set their plans in motion. That situation being of course that Maureen was dead and somebody appeared to be after Billy.

Nicole on the other hand, was a wreck. It took Billy quite a while to calm her down, and by the time the detective came to let them know that they could go back to the condo, her tears were little more than dried streaks on her cheeks.

* * *

“Where is that fuck-up Phelps?” The director asked quietly, menace filling his voice.

“His location is currently unknown Director,” Agent Samuelson said sitting down across the desk from him. “The safe house was cleared out when we got there. As the car is missing, but we’ll find that quickly enough.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Its agency property sir, it would be too easy for us to track it. He’ll ditch it soon enough and get another. I expect we’ll find the car abandoned in anywhere from a few hours to a day or 2 at the most,” Samuelson said coldly. “It’ll either turn up somewhere in or near the city, or dropped in a lake.”

“Very good Samuelson. I always knew you had potential,” he said in a rare moment of his highest praise. “As a matter of fact, the car has already been found, abandoned in a shopping mall parking lot just like you thought. So what now?”

“I’ve already taken the liberty of appointing a Retirement Officer to him,” she said discussing a human being’s imminent demise as casually as she would talk about the weather.

“Very good, but I was asking about the boy. What are you going to do about him?”

“Nothing,” she said bluntly.

“Nothing?! Don’t try my patience Samuelson!” the director growled, verging on his customary anger.

“He has been spooked Director. The bungled attempt at him has resulted in the death of one of his thralls. He is undoubtedly tightening his security right now, and likely looking for information as well.”

“Information to do what exactly?”

“I can not be sure Director, but if I were him I would be seeking information on our agency and perhaps how to retaliate as well.”

“Terrific. Make sure Phelps gets a very handsome retirement for this will you?”

“Yes sir,” she said reaching into her coat pocket. “We do know however that he won’t be going too far from where he is now.”

“Oh really?” he asked sardonically. “And just how do we know that?”

“Because of this,” she said dropping a silver coin onto his desk which he promptly picked up.

“Why does this look familiar?”

“We’ve seen it before Director. In the case of that talent that we took down 3 years ago.”

“Yes, now I remember. But no one was ever able to put any sort of significance to it.”

“Without cracking their organization, I doubt anyone ever will sir. All we know for sure is that these pendants and symbols have some sort of territorial significance to their organization. Over the past 50 years, we have only managed to take a handful of their agents down. We have taken a good many of their slaves however, and almost all have had a symbol of some sort,” Samuelson reported leaning back.

“So what makes you think its some sort of territorial symbology when none of our experts have been able to come to that conclusion?” the director asked studying the pendant.

“I would suggest you have them review the case files of their agents that we have taken Director,” she said with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, happy she had come up with something the ‘experts’ hadn’t. “I reviewed the cases and discovered some patterns. In each of the cases of the slaves, most of their symbols matched or were derivations of symbols taken from the talents we had cornered. Or at least affiliated talents that we have identified.”

“And the ones that didn’t match or weren’t some sort of derivation?” he asked genuinely intrigued.

“Those seem to have been slaves of masters we have not yet identified.”

The director sat thinking for several minutes before speaking again. “Very good Samuelson,” he finally said. “I am impressed. I think your study holds serious merit to it, and I shall have our experts review the relevant cases to corroborate it.”

“Thank you sir,” she said smoothly.

“Just don’t let it go to your head young lady. Arrogance has cost the life of more than one agent here, and some of them a good deal better at field work than you.”

“I understand sir,” she said standing up to go. “I will do my best.”

“See that you do Agent Samuelson,” he said leaning back with a smile on his face for the first time in the 3 years she had known him. “I am officially putting you in charge of this Caulfield case. In light of your predecessor’s blatant fuck-up, I’m prepared to give you a wide birth in discretion for how you proceed, but I still expect results.”

“Understood Director.”

“I will also expect regular reports on this case, got that? Dismissed,” he said with a wave of his hand and returning to the hunt-and-peck he used to operate his computer.

Samuelson took her leave, heading back to her apartment to unpack and shower while already plotting her next actions.

* * *

Billy knew he didn’t give the boy enough credit, but Jordan was a natural expert at information and political wrangling. Of the 16 Regents that reported to him, he only trusted 2 of them. The others were all plotters, schemers and yes-men.

Out of the quagmire of territorial politics, Jordan had managed to pump each of them for information regarding the agency (somehow no one was able to think of it in terms of capitol letters) without giving out too many details on why he wanted it, what it was for or the extent of the intrusion into Billy’s personal life. All they knew was that one of his thralls had been killed.

In just a few days time, Jordan had crafted as thorough an understanding of their motives and operations as almost anyone within the Illuminare had. Of course their information may have been more thorough if they had asked for some of it from the offices of ‘3’, but Billy wanted to hold his cards close to his chest for the time being.

“I just don’t trust him Billy,” Jordan said on the charter flight home from their second council meeting, this one in New South Wales Australia. “He’s up to something, I can feel it.”

“But you don’t have any idea what it is do you?” he asked returning with their drinks and glancing at the smiling sleeping form of Nicole curled up on the Gulfstream V’s couch. “And neither do your informants.”

“No, my SOURCES haven’t been able to come up with anything concrete yet,” Jordan said taking the offered bottle of beer while Billy continued trying to learn to drink Scotch.

Billy knew that it bugged Jordan a little bit to call them informants rather than his preferred title of sources, but it was one of the many games they played with each other. “So if you don’t have anything solid, what do you expect me to do?”

“Nothing I guess,” Jordan said dejectedly. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it! I still think he’s up to something.”

“No you don’t have to like it,” Billy said after nearly choking on a sip of his Scotch. “But if it makes you feel any better, I don’t trust him any farther than I can throw him either. There is something about him that just makes my skin crawl.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Jordan snickered, happy to be able to turn the tables on him even if it was just briefly.

“I don’t doubt that he is up to something, but I can’t just go willy-nilly and replace the Regent for my home town now can I?”

“Why not? You are the Prince after all,” Jordan said dead pan.

“Jordan, you know the politics involved. If I…”

Jordan cut him off before he could finish. “I know. I was just messing with you. He’s too respected by your other Regents to simply remove without reason. Of course it didn’t help that you gave him even more political capitol by moving there in the first place, but you couldn’t have foreseen that you would be made Prince and he was a douche-bag when you picked that school.”

“Thank you,” Billy said laughing. “When am I going to learn that you are even smarter at this than I realize?”

“About the time that he beats it into your skull with a sledge hammer,” Nicole said from the couch. “Would you too mind keeping it down a little? Some of us still need sleep and I want to get some rest before we land in Honolulu.”

“No problem babe,” Billy said reaching over the arm of the couch to stroke her hair. “Sorry about that.”

“You…,” Jordan started to ask after a few moments in a much more subdued voice.

“Don’t go there Jordan. We’ve talked about that before,” Billy cut him off dead-pan.

“Ok, so what about the question of what do you do about Grover?”

Neither boy could help but laugh. He was short, fat and bald as a pate drum. And if that plus the acne scars weren’t enough of a blight upon a man that was, if not intelligent, then at least very politically astute, the Regent for Billy’s home city had been branded with such a ridiculous name as Grover. Hearing his given name always made the think of fuzzy blue puppet with a shepherd’s crook for a nose.

“We’ll have to find a way to keep tabs on him somehow. Get the capitol we’ll need to remove him without unmanageable backlash and replace him with someone we can trust.”

“Ok, and how do we do that?”

“Beats the shit out of me!” Billy laughed. “Tell you what, there is nothing we can do about it right now so let’s just sit back, relax and try to enjoy the flight.”

“Alright, but I’m going to keep on scheming,” Jordan said with a fake pout.

“Scheme away Buck-o,” Billy said laughing and getting up. “Are you getting hungry? We’ve got about 2 and a half hours before we land in Honolulu, so why don’t you put in a movie and I’ll grab some stuff from the kitchen to mow on.”

“I think they call it a ‘galley’ on an airplane,” Jordan said getting a movie from the plane’s collection.

“Let me know when it really matters will ya?” Billy called over his shoulder and disappeared around the bulkhead.

* * *

They landed in Honolulu in late morning and about 20 hours before the plane took off from Australia thanks to the International Date Line. Nicole was a bundle of energy, practically dragging him at light speed into downtown Honolulu as soon as they cleared customs.

For a talent, money wasn’t ever an issue, but the Illuminare took great care in explaining the need for cover protection to avoid drawing needless attention to themselves. As a result, Billy as well as his Regents had set up elaborate legitimate business fronts to cover their activities and provide them with ample cash reserves to take are of their needs. Cash reserves Nicole anxiously wanted to tap in the shopping areas.

They wandered the length of Waikiki beach, stopping at nearly every store they passed. Asking one of the store clerks for directions, the three headed quite a ways up Kapahulu Avenue to a sushi restaurant that had been recommended. Deciding that it was too far to walk back to Waikiki Beach, and they needed to get back to the airport anyways, they hailed a taxi for a ride.

Arriving back at the plane, they found that the ground crew had already gotten and stored the many things that Nicole had bought (and the one box each for Billy and Jordan) on their shopping trip.

The plane took off on time, landing in San Francisco early for their refueling stop before taking the last leg home.

By the time the 24 hours of travel ended with them Jordan accompanying Nicole and Billy to their apartment, Nicole was utterly exhausted while Billy and Jordan didn’t think they were going to be too far behind.

All three were yawning openly as they entered the condo, laughing about the number of packages still in the back of Nicole’s SUV in the garage. Technically it was Billy’s – that’s what it said on the title at any rate – but since he had only driven it a half dozen times in the past 10 months they owned it (including the trips to and from the airport) whereas she drove it almost daily, it was effectively hers.

Before Jordan could close the door behind them, Billy nearly tripped over several pieces of luggage not far from the door. “What the hell is this?” he asked regaining his balance and glaring at the offending obstacles.

“Were you expecting company?” Jordan asked, silently readying his mind for the worst.

“Billy?” a feminine voice called from the living room. “Is that you?”

“Emily?!” Billy asked in surprise, charging into the other room. “Damn girl! What the hell are you doing here?!”

“It’s so good to see you again,” she said wrapping her arms around him in a hug. The incredibly hot Latina that was Emily Rodriguez, another member of Billy’s training group from The Centre, dropped her head to his chest as they hugged while her ample cleavage pressed against his stomach.

“Hey Emily,” Jordan said rounding the corner. “What brings you into town?”

“Oh, hi Jordan,” she said pulling back from Billy. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”

“Well, if you had asked me 8 months ago if I expected to see me here, I would’ve said no too. But that’s about how long I’ve been working with Billy here,” he said as they exchanged a light hug. “It’s not a problem is it?”

“No, not at all,” she said with a smile. “Just a surprise. I take it you are Nicole?” she asked the statuesque redhead behind them.

“I am,” Billy’s Amazon said defensively. “And you are…?”

“Sorry, I’m Emily Rodriguez,” she said extending her hand and staring into Nicole’s sharp emerald green eyes. “I’m an old friend of Billy and Jordan’s. You are even more beautiful than I imagined.”

“Thank you,” Nicole blushed, uncharacteristically at a loss for words. “I think I better get our things put up and take a shower before I pass out,” she said before kissing Billy deeply and retreating to the master bedroom.

“She’s a Kluge too?” Emily asked when she had left the room.

“Yep,” Billy said returning his attention to Emily. “Very smart and knows quite a bit about us, including where I was last summer. You don’t need to be careful around her.”

“If you’re sure,” Emily said skeptically. “So what do you guys mean by working together anyways?”

“It’s a long story,” he said dodging the subject. “What brings you here? How long have you been here?”

“I got here about 3 or 4 hours ago and used my powers to pop the door open. You don’t mind do you?”

“Actually I DO!” he said, but couldn’t keep a straight face. “Of course I don’t mind. Mi casa su casa. But what brings you here?”

“I got tired of staying at The Centre,” she said visibly relaxing. “I remembered your offer, so here I came. Is it still good?”

“You bet Emily,” Billy said with a smile. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

“Thank you,” she said hugging both of them again.

“Don’t worry about it,” Billy said clapping her back gently then turning to Jordan. “Remember our little problem we were talking about on the plane?”

“Yeah…,” Jordan answered hesitantly.

“Both of us are way too visible to keep an eye on Grover, but what about Emily?”

Jordan looked at Emily, eyes beaming when he turned back to Billy. “She would be perfect!”

“Wait a minute guys. What are you two getting me involved in here?”

“I have to go talk to Nicole,” Billy said taking a step back. “Jordan, why don’t you spend the night here? Help Emily get settled in the other bedroom and explain the situation. Emily, after you hear what he has to say, feel free to say no but please think about it.”

“Ok,” she said with a trace of skepticism. “So is Nicole the jealous type or something?”

“Yeah, but I tell her about all the women I’m with or have been. Hell, we share them sometimes, but I haven’t told her anything about you so she’s probably a little ticked at me right now,” Billy grinned.

“Why don’t you just make her accept it?” Emily asked seriously.

“Their relationship isn’t like that,” Jordan chimed in as Billy pulled away. “She isn’t bound to him like most servants are. It’s more like man and wife, and I think he loves her more than he’s willing to admit. But he would probably kick my ass if he knew I was saying this much. He doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Oh,” was all Emily said as Jordan led her into the other room to get settled and explain the situation.

“Nicole?” Billy called closing the bedroom door behind him.

“I’m mad at you,” she called from the master bathroom.

“How come?” he asked dropping his clothes in the corner and sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers.

“How come? How come?!” she ranted, emerging from the bathroom to stand in the doorway. “I can’t believe you have to ask. Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

Even angry as she was, she was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. And the fact that she was wearing the plain blue cotton nightgown wasn’t lost on him either. “Wow, you must be mad at me.”

“Gee, what makes you think that?” she ranted, cocking a hip out to the side and putting her fist on it. Her eyes glared beneath the towel wrapped around her long silky hair.

“Cause you’re wearing the nightgown you put on when you’re upset and you don’t want to screw,” he replied with a lopsided grin.

She couldn’t help but snort briefly with a laugh. “Stop it, I’m mad at you so don’t make me laugh,” she said retreating to into the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed.

“Your mad cause I didn’t tell you about Emily?” he called as he moved to rest against the headboard. “There’s nothing to tell. She’s just a friend.”

“Sure, just like Lelani was ‘just a friend’, right?”

“That’s different hun and you know it. I told you about Lelani because I did fuck her. I didn’t say anything about Emily because we didn’t do anything!”

“You honestly expect me to believe that given 8 weeks alone with a woman as hot as she is, you didn’t fuck her? Didn’t even try?” she continued, emerging from the bedroom to stand next to the bed, the towel covering her wet hair had been left in the bathroom.

“Not even once,” he said reaching out to take her hand.

“Bullshit. Knock it off,” she said halfheartedly trying to pull her hand away. “You fucked her and now you’re caught.”

“Baby,” he said pulling her grudgingly closer. “I swear we didn’t do anything. If we did, I would have told you like I always do, right?”

“I guess,” she mumbled. “But I’m still made at you for not telling me about her.”

“Aw darlin’,” he cooed, pulling her down on top of himself. “There is nothing to be mad about.”

“Stop it Billy. I’m not in the mood,” she said barely trying to resist his kisses.

“Not in the mood?” he asked flipping her over. “Not in the mood for what?”

“For sex,” she whispered. “Not tonight.”

“Are you sure?” he asked kissing her deeply while his hand traced up the inside of her toned thighs.

“Yesss,” she whispered.

“You can’t be serious,” he said, nuzzling her neck and licking her earlobe, his nostrils inhaling deeply the spicy sweet aroma of her shampoo from her damp hair while his roving hand caressed her hips and stomach beneath the nightgown. “Are you sure?”

“Mmm… Yesss,” Nicole moaned behind tightly closed eyes.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re all that serious to me,” he said holding her wrists above her head with one hand while his lips kissed around the delicate curves above her breasts.

“Damn you Billy,” she moaned beneath him, arching her body up towards his. “Before I met you, the thought of ever being submissive to anyone used to piss me off. Now, when you do it, I gets me so…”

“Wet?”

“Wet,” she agreed with a moan as his lips locked around an erect cotton covered nipple. “Stop teasing me and fuck me already.”

“First, I want to do something else,” he whispered with a glint in his eye.

She leaned up off the bed, letting him pull her nightgown off over her head then raised her hips so he could take the granny panties off her slender waist. He slid on top of her, pressing his groin against her glistening mound eliciting a groan of approval while he suckled on her breasts.

Nicole’s tits swayed with her breathing while he cupped and massaged them, gently rolling the hot smooth flesh in his palms. He slid down her trim torso, kissing and licking as his body slid further down hers between her out stretched legs. He came to rest on the bed beneath her, his face directly above her wet pussy. He had always appreciated the female body as a thing of beauty and truly a work of art, and now as he stared at her neatly trimmed flame red bush above her swollen lips, he was reminded again of just how beautiful she was.

The fingers of Billy’s left hand ever so delicately parted her outer lips while his right index finger slid slowly into her sopping cunt. She moaned with pleasure as his finger slid into her pussy, groaning and heaving her body when his tongue made contact with her engorged clit. Her fingers slid through his dirty blonde hair, pressing his face to her pussy while she moaned and called for more. His tongue probed at her delicate flower, savoring her spicy sweet smell while his nostrils drank in the light musk. He could feel her pussy gripping his finger, drawing it into her while his tongue lapped at her gash and her hands held his face to her crotch.

She purred with delight, her head tossing back and forth as her back arched with waves of pleasure. When his tongue and fingers proved to be too much, driving her over the brink of orgasm, her thighs clamped tight around his head while she stifled a scream behind clenched lips.

As Nicole settled down for her climax, he slowly caressed her body as he slid back up to her face. She could feel his exposed cock pressing against her soaking wet lips, evidently having dropped his boxer shorts as he orally serviced her cunt. Without a word, she reached between them and wrapped her long cool fingers around Billy’s rigid shaft. The contact of her cool fingers made his cock throb in her hand as she gently guided him inside of her.

Billy groaned deep in his throat as his cock penetrated the tender lips of her pussy, easing into her slick confines. Nicole’s tight pussy gripped his manhood, drawing him deeper with her flexing muscles while they shared a passionate kiss. Their hands roamed freely over each other’s bodies while he slowly pushed in and out of her. his cock drew nearly completely out of her hungry pussy until only his swollen head was left inside before pushing forward again in one long slow stroke.

Her pussy was so tight, just as it always was when they made love that he wished they never had to stop. He relished every supple curve of her body and every soft ripple inside of her as they slowly worked to please each other that night. Her E-cup breasts stood proud and firm from her chest, beckoning him to take her swollen nipples into his mouth and suck on them while he rolled them with his tongue.

He brought her to another orgasm beneath him before he felt his desire growing within his loins begging for release. His cock swelled and pulsed deep within her willing cunt, practically begging him to cum for her. Her finger nails traced along his back in an exciting mixture of pleasure and pain as he drove deeply into her steaming pussy one last time. Buried within her body balls deep, he grunted with the effort of trying to hold it back before giving up to the sweet release.

Billy could feel the burning pleasure well up from deep within his cock as his turgid member swelled and erupted deep into her fiery cunt. Her back arched and her nails dug into his back while she stifled another screaming orgasm by biting at her lip.

They lay in a sweaty, post orgasmic heap for quite sometime before he rolled over onto his side.

“Feel better now?” he asked with a coy smile as he nuzzled against the damp hair on the crown of her head again.

“No. I like being mad at you!” she replied with a wicked grin of her own before they curled up and fell deeply asleep in each other’s arms.

* * *

“Is that what I think it is?” Emily asked as she was heading for the bathroom before going to bed while Jordan headed for the couch.

He stopped to listen for a second, hearing the muted ‘thump-thump-thump’ of Billy and Nicole’s headboard tapping the wall. “Yep, their making up,” he said turning to face her with a sly grin before heading for the couch again.

“They do that often?” she asked.

“At least a couple of times in the past 8 months I’ve known them,” he shrugged. “I think sometimes they fight just for the make-up sex afterwards.”

“Lucky,” she whispered softly, toying with a lock of her long wavy dark brown hair.

“Which one?” Jordan asked with a wink.

Emily blushed fiercely, embarrassed that Jordan had overheard her comment.

“Thought so,” he said when she didn’t answer. “Good night.”

“Good night Jordan,” she said beating a hasty retreat for the bathroom.

* * *

The next morning Billy woke early as usual and delicately extracted himself from Nicole’s embrace. Pulling on a pair of old sweatpants, he headed for the kitchen to get something to eat.

Emily and Jordan were both there already, seated at the kitchen’s breakfast bar over the sink. Emily had obviously already been through the shower as her hair was still damp and gotten dressed in a very tight form fitting outfit of a spaghetti strapped yellow tank top which seemed to highlight her light olive skin and a pair of cut-off jean shorts. Billy couldn’t help but feel his cock twitch at the sight of her fabulous body. Her outfit after all left very little to the imagination.

Jordan had settled for a pair of loose fitting shorts and a t-shirt from his bags from the trip.

“I hope you don’t mind we helped ourselves to breakfast,” Emily said around a mouthful of cereal.

“I told you not to worry about it Emily,” Jordan said before Billy could answer.

“What he said,” was his response hooking a thumb over his shoulder as he went digging into the fridge. He emerged a moment later with a bottle of orange juice and stood over the kitchen sink to talk to them while they ate. “You guys have a good night?”

“Yes, thank you Billy,” Emily said.

“Glad to hear it. So what’s on the agenda today?” Billy finally asked after a long pull on the bottle.

“First, I need to get back to my place to unpack, shower and feed my cat,” Jordan replied. “Then I was going to give Artie a call and see if he’s got anything yet…”

“I said yes,” Emily blurted around a half swallowed mouthful of food cutting Jordan off.

“And Emily said yes,” Jordan said with a half smile tossing his hand towards her like a presenter on a game show.

“Right on,” Billy said with a warm smile. “Welcome aboard. Any ideas on how to proceed yet?”

“Actually, I was trying to dissuade her from thinking of that just yet,” Jordan said before Emily could answer.

“Why is that?” Billy asked.

“Because she just got here and doesn’t have her bearings on either the city or the environment yet,” he said. “I figured it would be best if she takes a few days to get used to the new place, get familiar with things and basically relax before stepping off.”

“You see, that’s why I love having this guy around!” Billy said between pulls on the bottle of juice. “He has a good point; you need to settle in first before we stress you out too badly.”

“Good morning everyone,” Nicole said brightly entering the kitchen. She had draped a green silk robe around her but her flame-red hair was all messed up, going here and there seemingly at random. And despite it all, she still looked amazing. “Good morning handsome,” she said with a coy smile, leaning through the kitchen door to kiss Billy on the lips.

“Good morning yourself gorgeous,” he returned with his own smile. As their lips parted, he felt the bottle of orange juice being pulled from his hand. “Hey! That’s my breakfast!” he called after her.

“Not anymore!” she laughed as she skipped down the hallway and out of reach.

“So Emily, since you have the day off, what are you going to do?” Billy asked letting Nicole get away.

“I don’t know,” she said disappearing into thought. “I had thought about wandering downtown, maybe do some shopping.”

“Well hey, I have some people I need to meet with this morning but why don’t I ask Nicole to take you around? She can show you where all the good shopping malls and stores are. She can also give you the grand tour of the city and such, then we can meet up this afternoon for a late lunch around say 1:30 or so?”

“Um, ok,” she said hesitantly.

Billy wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw her blush slightly when he mentioned meeting for lunch. “Everything ok?” Billy asked.

“Yeah!” she said suddenly smiling. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Just checking,” he said letting it drop. “Jordan, are the notes I need in my briefcase?”

“Yeah, I put them in there on the plane. So unless you took them out when I wasn’t looking, they should still be there.”

“Wait a minute. You have a meeting on a Sunday? That’s not right,” Emily said.

“Such is the nature of my job,” Billy replied with a shrug.

“Whatever you say My Prince,” she said sarcastically.

“Oh don’t you dare start with that ‘My Prince’ crap,” he said with mock anger turning to leave the kitchen. “I already get enough of that from these two!”

“As you wish m’Lord,” she said trying not to laugh.

“Argh! I’m getting out of here before I need hip waders!” Billy called as he headed down the hallway to the sounds of laughter.

* * *

“Do you know where he is Klaus?”

“Sir, I have known since he left their facility,” the old German responded.

“Excellent. The council has convened twice since he returned home, do we know of his position within their organization yet?”

“Sadly, we do not. My network of informants has been unable to provide that information to me.”

“Then it is probably about time that you made contact with him again, don’t you think?”

“Naturlich,” Klaus responded with a curt bow from the shoulders. “I have already made travel arrangements. There is something else you should now however. It seems that the Illuminare is not the only organization interested in young master Caulfield.”

“Are they back in the picture again?” the voice with the British accent asked semi-rhetorically.

“It would appear so sir. They have already made a move against him. A move it seems they bungled rather severely. There was a loss of life.”

“You had better enlighten me Klaus, moving our timeline farther forward could jeopardize everything…”

To Be Continued…