Home for Horny Monsters - Book 8
Copyright© 2024 by Annabelle Hawthorne
Chapter 20: A Caretaker and Conqueror Be
Action/Adventure Sex Story: Chapter 20: A Caretaker and Conqueror Be - When the health of a beloved member of the house is threatened, Mike Radley must make difficult choices and embark on a journey that may change him for the worse. Also, there will be butt stuff.
Caution: This Action/Adventure Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Mult Consensual Romantic BiSexual Heterosexual Fiction Fairy Tale Horror Humor Paranormal Ghost Magic Vampires Harem Polygamy/Polyamory Anal Sex Cream Pie Exhibitionism Masturbation Oral Sex Sex Toys Size Violence
Death held open the door as Mike limped into the house with Beth’s aid. He thanked her as she helped him into the loveseat, all of them silent to avoid waking the children who had pushed the coffee table out of the way and were snuggled up on the floor of the living room, fast asleep. Grace was curled into a ball in Callisto’s arms, the centaur’s cheeks stained from his tears. Zel looked up from her silent vigil, a question hanging in the air between them.
“This way,” Beth whispered, gesturing toward the office. “Give him a minute while we talk.”
“The others are around,” Zel said as she walked past Mike, her hooves clicking on the floor. She touched his face and he leaned into it, letting out a soft sigh. “They figured you might need a moment alone once you got back. The last few days have been ... difficult.”
Mike nodded, then sat quietly with his children watching them sleep. He sent a mental message to Charlotte, letting the others know that he planned on having things ready in the morning, his time, when she could bring over everyone from Avalon. His initial plan was to take them to the island where Leilani and her people could give them a once over and help document everyone. Ordinarily, he would ask Zel if she and the Moon Tribe could do it, but now wasn’t the time to ask for something like that. Once they knew how many people there were, they could figure out the best way to distribute and care for them long-term. He certainly wasn’t about to cram a hundred strangers into his home all at once.
The vampyr’s pleasure radiated back through their connection, then went calm again as she went back to caring for her people.
Death moved to the other side of the room and started prepping a cup of tea. The Grim Reaper looked up at Mike and pointed to an extra cup.
“Please,” Mike said. Between the injuries he had sustained and what had happened with the Queen, a new level of exhaustion had overtaken him. He waited while Death made him a drink, and tried not to look at the office when he heard a quiet sob from Zel. Beth had likely shared the news about the missing centaurs. Today’s victory would forever ring hollow due to those who had been lost.
Death came over and sat on the arm of the loveseat, then handed Mike one of the cups. The sweet scent of chamomile filled his sinuses as he held the cup in his hands.
“I was scared for them,” Death said, his gaze on the children. “It was a special kind of helplessness, really. I was forced to confront the possibility that something bad might happen and I would be helpless to prevent it, or even to take revenge.” The Grim Reaper shook his head as Mike patted him on the knee. “Are you familiar with this feeling?”
“Yeah. I was scared for everyone.” Mike leaned back in his seat and looked at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and let the smell of his tea wash over him, feeling the warmth in his fingers. It was good to be home.
“Is this what love feels like?” asked Death.
Mike sat forward and looked at his friend. “I need you to be more specific.”
“I’ve heard mortals say that they would die for someone they loved.” The Grim Reaper contemplated the children on the floor, his eyes now burning a dim white. “Though I myself cannot die, I wondered more than once what price I could pay to release Gracelynn Radley from her accusations.” Death flattened a bony palm against his sternum. “I have never had a heart, and yet I felt a pain in here at the thought of such tragedy. Is love supposed to hurt?”
“It can and often does. Love can take many shapes, even if you don’t understand it. But you shouldn’t be surprised, Death. Everyday that you’re here, you are surrounded by it in all its different forms. It’s not just our love for others that you see. It’s for you as well. You are my friend, and I love you.” Mike smiled at the Reaper. “My children love and adore you. Some of the others probably feel similarly, but that is for them to say, not me. If you think you feel the same, then you should tell them as well.”
“You love me?” Death scratched at his chin. “Is it okay for friends to love each other?”
“It is,” Mike replied. “Loving someone is being afraid that you will never see them again, or being hurt when they’re hurting. You can love anyone you want to as long as you’re respectful about it.”
“I see.” Death moved to kneel by the children. He gently brushed a lock of hair away from Callisto’s eyes, then patted Grace on the head. “Then I love your children, Mike Radley. I love you as well, and Tinker, and Kisa, and—”
Mike chuckled. “Stick to just the people in this room,” he said. “Save the rest for when you have a moment with them. Never forget to tell people you love them while they’re here. You should know better than anyone that life can be fleeting, and it’s better to share our feelings so there are no regrets.”
The Grim Reaper nodded, then stood and sipped his tea. He watched the children sleep as Mike slowly drank half of his tea, and then stood to go to the office. Now that he’d had a moment, there was someone else who needed him.
Beth was busy hugging Zel, who quickly moved to Mike upon his arrival. He held her close and rubbed the small of her back, but didn’t dare suggest that everything would be okay. It simply wouldn’t. When he looked at Beth, the woman nodded sadly. She had told her everything.
He let Zel grieve for a few minutes, then squeezed her tight. “What do you need from me?” he asked. “What can I do?”
“Nothing,” she whispered. “This is just so hard.”
“It’ll always be hard,” he said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to stop it.”
Zel shook her head and stepped back from him. “You can’t be everywhere, Mike,” she said. “And you can’t carry the weight of every disaster that befalls us. You have too many people counting on you, it would simply be too much.”
“I have plenty of people to help me,” he said, looking pointedly at Beth. “Amazing people, really. Together we will all help your tribe rebuild. I already have some ideas on how we can start.”
Zel laughed, which came out as a snort due to all the tears. “I’m sure you do,” she said, then pulled a handkerchief from her vest to dab at her eyes. Mike gently took the cloth from her and performed the deed himself, then stood on his tiptoes and tilted her head down to lay a kiss on each eyelid.
“We can’t ever make it better,” he said. “But we will make it right.”
“I know.” The two of them held hands for a moment, then Zel let out a sigh.
“It’s getting late,” she said. “I need sleep. I haven’t slept for days.” Zel looked at him with such sadness in her eyes that he felt like it would break him. “Can Callisto stay here with you?”
“Of course,” he said, unsure why this made her so sad. “And I’ll be here first thing in the morning when he wakes up.”
“Good,” she replied, clearly hesitant to leave. Zel stepped forward and kissed him hard, touching his cheek before thanking Beth and stepping out. Mike watched her go with concern, then turned his attention to Beth.
“Counselor,” he said.
“Caretaker.” She stuck a hand in her pocket and pulled out the silver coin to flip it in the air. The light of the room sparkled off of the silver coin as it spun, then was caught in her palm, tail side up. “You don’t pay me enough.”
“I don’t.” Mike smiled and held out his hand. “You’re overdue for a raise.”
Beth gave him a knowing look, her eyes glancing briefly at his crotch. “I certainly hope so,” she said. “And I’d collect my bonus package now, but I believe you have somebody to share some good news with.” She waved her hand toward the bookshelf where a familiar red book lay on its side, a golden triangle on its spine. “It looks like the Library is officially off of lockdown. You should go see her.”
Mike nodded and moved toward the bookshelf, ready to shift the book toward the edge where a similar triangle waited.
“Do you think being the King of the Fae will come with any perks?” Beth asked.
Mike paused, his hand hovering over the book. “Honestly? If it means things will calm the fuck down, then I hope so.”
He heard her laugh disappear as he pushed the book into place, and he was instantly transported to the Library. He turned around and walked toward the information desk, smiling at the sight of Tink and Kisa arguing with each other. The two of them were busy playing a videogame on an old CRT TV, both of them huddled over their controllers and mashing buttons like crazy. Neither of them saw him walk up, but Kisa’s ears folded back in his direction, her focus solely on the television screen.
Mike examined the mound of trash and food wrappers that were stacked all along the counter. It seemed like the rats had given up cleaning after the goblin, and he couldn’t blame them. Stacks of books nearby had been used to build structures, and he counted no less than six empty cheesewheel wrappers. For some reason, a top hat sat on the corner of the desk all by itself.
“Are you eating for two or are you just a pig?” he asked.
Tink spun in place and leapt in his direction, failing to make the jump by at least three feet. She huffed and puffed, both hands on her stomach as he knelt down and swept her up in his arms.
“Husband home!” she cried. “Now can take care of Tink!”
“Yeah. We’re gonna take care of Tink,” he said, then pulled back and put a hand on her stomach. “And the booger.”
Her eyes went wide at the implications of his words. “Really?” she asked, her voice barely a squeak.
“Really.” He kissed her, then stood and smiled at Kisa. “But seriously, guys, this place is a mess.”
Kisa let out a sigh. “Yeah. I was waiting for her to go to sleep so I could help clean the place up. We learned that if she sits in her own mess, she won’t make more of a mess. It’s like there’s a limit to the chaos she surrounds herself with.”
“Not chaos limit,” Tink said. “Waddle limit.” To emphasize her point, she picked up a wrapper and threw it. The trash landed well within the limits of the pile around the desk. “No walk, unless have to pee.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t just pee in a trash can,” Mike noted.
Kisa scowled. “She did. That’s why we don’t have one anymore.”
Tink cackled quietly to herself and Mike laughed. His brilliant, smart, disgusting goblin of a wife was going to make it, and so would their child. He hugged both Tink and Kisa tight against his chest, lifting them into the air. Tink bit his shoulder and let out a growl of happiness.
After he set them down, he looked at the top hat. “So what’s this about?” he asked, then picked it up to try it on.
“Nooooo!” Kisa cried as the air filled with an absolutely mind-wrecking stench. Mike coughed and gagged, waving the hat to disperse the smell, all while Tink cackled madly. The goblin made a sudden face and grabbed at her crotch, then speed waddled toward the nearest bathroom.
It was good to be home.
When Sofia stepped onto the marble tile of the Library’s lobby through a portal in Avalon, she took a moment to allow her gaze to wander up those impossible columns, towering hundreds of feet into the air to support an awe-inspiring roof. Floating platforms covered in rats and books zipped through the air, the Library itself more like a beehive of literature than the solemn, silent tomb it had once been.
For the first time in hundreds of years, it didn’t feel like home. She smiled sadly at the idea that she had already said goodbye to this place in her heart, yet she would be forced to remain until a suitable replacement could be found. It was a marriage where the love had faded, but a sense of duty remained.
A pretty young woman with dark skin sat at the main lobby desk. She was busy having a rat huddle and discussing some sort of organizational strategy involving book distribution. Curious, Sofia moved closer.
“We can actually plan for changes in book distribution based on current fads,” she said. “For example, there’s an entire sub-genre of hockey player romance novels that is blowing up the market right now. This is niche enough that we can predict a massive shift in placement on the sports romance column, so we should have eyes in the stacks identifying ... identifying...” Her eyes had slid past the rats to stare at Sofia. “Oh. Hi.”
“Hello.” Sofia put a hand on her hip. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
“I ... think they get the gist.” The woman shooed away the rats and stuck her hand out. “You must be Sofia. I’m Aurora.”
“Hello, Aurora. Why are you here?”
“Long story,” she replied. “If you’re looking for Eulalie, she’s ... out.”
“Out?” Sofia’s eyebrow raised. “She’s just ... out?”
“Yeah.” Aurora knelt down and picked something up from behind the counter. “Helping someone, it’s a whole mess. Anyway, here.” The woman set the Head Librarian’s staff on the counter. “This is yours.”
“It is.” Sofia twisted a finger and the staff slid off the counter and hopped toward her until it rested comfortably in her hand. “Where is Tink? I half expected to see her here tearing up the place.”
“Mike came for her last night. Said something about a cure for something, but I didn’t ask, because I’m not family. She and Kisa drug him off shortly after, and that was hours ago. This is the quietest it’s been since I’ve come here and I don’t dare disturb it by looking for any of them. I don’t ask questions, I enjoy working here.”
“You do?” Sofia almost laughed. “I was unaware we were hiring.”
Aurora gave the cyclops a stern look. “I saw the shape this place was in,” she said. “You should have been looking for people a long time ago. The rats have to work far too hard for things that are easy for a person.”
A rat walking by the desk and wearing a child’s bib as a cape lifted its nose in disdain and huffed at her.
“Gee, I’m sorry that I offended you,” Aurora said sarcastically. “By the way, how fast can you put books away on the top shelf again?”
The rat chittered and made an extremely rude hand sign at Aurora. The woman picked up a paperweight and threw it at the rat, who took off.
“That’s ... uh ... don’t do that,” said Sofia.
“Oh, it’s fine. That’s a game we play.” The moment she said this, Aurora tilted her head to one side as a marble shot past where her face had been. She snapped her fingers and the paperweight shot back into the palm of her hand. A sigil had been carved into the bottom of it, which glowed briefly before she set it down.
“A ... game.” Sofia chuckled and leaned on the desk. “Well, since we’re hiring, I have a few people I’d like you to meet.” She turned away from Aurora to reveal the small train of humans who had walked in behind her, their eyes wide as they stared up at the Library. Where Sofia had experienced dull familiarity, this group was having their minds blown.
“Did you steal them from a renaissance festival?” asked Aurora.
“You are a snarky one,” Sofia muttered. “Avalon, actually. Generations of family kept as vampyr food. These ones sounded interested in what I do, so I brought them here with me instead of taking them to the volcano.”
“Volcano?”
Sofia waved dismissively. “Another long story, maybe I’ll tell you after it’s done. Anyways, while I was trapped in the world’s shittiest buffet, I had the same thoughts you did about hiring people. So let’s get started.” She cleared her throat to get the others’ attention.
The villagers ran up to the desk. The two men bowed awkwardly, while the woman tried to curtsy and tripped a little.
“Aurora, I’d like you to meet Paige, Reed, and Booker.”
Aurora narrowed her eyes. “You’re pulling my leg.”
Sofia dropped her voice. “I honestly wish I was,” she whispered, then raised her voice for the others. “Anyway, these three are interested in working here. I would love it if you could arrange living spaces and assign them some simple tasks with the idea that they will take on more responsibility eventually.”
“So ... you don’t mind that I’ve sort of taken over?” Aurora smirked so hard that Sofia debated throwing the paperweight at her.
“Hardly.” Sofia smiled instead, thinking about the benefits of honey versus vinegar. “It’s about time I started delegating tasks. I intend to step back from my primary duties with the hopes of a successor stepping up to take my place. Maybe that person could be you, someday.”
“Hell, no.” Aurora shook her head. “I like being in charge, but not responsible. I’m middle-management material.”
Sofia frowned. “You don’t want to run the magical Library of Thoth?”
“Nope. But I am happy to onboard new employees.” Aurora smiled at the villagers who had come with the cyclops. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll get you settled into your quarters.”
Paige, Reed, and Booker muttered quietly to each other as Aurora stepped around the counter. Sofia held her staff out to briefly block Aurora.
“Assume they know nothing beyond what an 18th century peasant would,” she explained.
“Understood,” said Aurora with a wink. “I’ll teach them about hot showers, first. They’ll love it.”
Sofia watched the humans leave and chuckled quietly to herself. She moved behind the desk and sat in the same chair Aurora had, then looked back at the portal to Avalon.
The rats running the portal network were already chewing in reverse, the stones sealing up as Avalon became dimly visible behind a shrinking hole. Sofia couldn’t help but smile as Avalon shrank down to a pinprick and then popped like a bubble.
She pulled a pad of paper out of the desk and set it down. Seeing a rat nearby, she waved it over.
“Can you see that my room is clean?” she asked. “Also, if there are any wine bottles stashed away, please remove those as well.”
The rat gave her a small salute and left. Sofia looked at the paper and picked up a magical quill. Along the top of the paper, she wrote Goals and then made a small bullet every few lines. She spent a couple of minutes really thinking about what she wanted, then smiled to herself as she wrote her thoughts down down.
· Find and train a replacement
· Give more tasks to employees, human or otherwise
· Spend a full day once a week outside the Library
· Get to know Grace and Callisto better
She stared at the last bullet point she had made, unsure what should go there to round things out. After another minute of inner debate, she grinned to herself and finished her list.
· Settle all debts
That last one was going to have to wait. With Mike so busy with Tink and something about the Fae Court that she heard through Charlotte, the cyclops knew things would be hectic for a bit. Sighing, she leaned back in her seat and stared at the ceiling high above and wondered. A trio of rats brought her some lunch about ten minutes later, which is also when Aurora returned.
“It took some convincing, but they’re all getting clean,” she said with a grin. “I’ve got the rats out looking for some clothes that will fit them.”
“Excellent.” The cyclops studied the plate of food that the Library had sent her way. It wasn’t lost on her that most of the meal was composed of sausage. With Mike being absent today and this evening while he took care of everything else, she was going to have to get creative. “What are you up to right now?”
“Now? Onboarding. Once those three are done in the shower, they’re gonna need to be walked through ... well, everything.” Aurora sat on the desk and stole some food from Sofia’s plate.
“If you’ve got time to sit, you’ve got time to work.” Sofia smirked and wrote a few things on a piece of paper and slid it to Aurora. “Would you be a dear and procure these for me?”
Aurora took the paper, her eyes going big as she read the list and promptly started choking. Sofia smacked the girl on the back so hard that she coughed up a sausage and slid off the table sideways.
“Is this ... a joke?” Aurora wheezed, her cheeks bright red.
“It is not,” Sofia replied with dignity. “It is not a Librarian’s place to judge what their patrons need.”
“Right, but most libraries don’t check out...” Aurora laughed and shook her head. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said, then folded the paper up. “Beth probably knows where the best ones are. But if you want something by tonight, I need to go and procure these now.”
“I think I can handle this for a while longer,” Sofia said, patting the desk. Aurora gave a mock salute and headed down the hallway, summoning the rats by making a squeaking sound that almost sounded like she was speaking their language. The rat with the bib showed up last and hucked a marble at Aurora, who ducked it.
Sofia picked up her staff, the token of her station, and studied it. The wood was smooth to the touch, and the crystal at the top had gone foggy, the magic aware that it was about to be summoned.
“I need books on ... doing butt things,” she said. A little light reading would go perfectly with her plans for the evening. “For beginners.”
A platform immediately landed, summoned by her staff. She hopped on and watched the lobby shrink as she was carried into the air. Not all adventures had to be big to be meaningful. Pulling out the piece of paper in her pocket, she pulled a pencil off of the book rack next to her and added one more thing at the bottom.
· Live a little
Smiling, Sofia put the paper back in her pocket and tapped her staff on the platform, ordering it to go faster. She had new employees to teach, and didn’t want them wandering off. The Library could be a dangerous place, after all.
But for the first time in a long while, it felt just a little like home.
Callisto stood by his mom’s side, wanting desperately to clutch her hand, but trying to remain stoic in front of the tribe. It was late afternoon the day after his father’s return, and he had reluctantly returned to the greenhouse to be here for this moment. Not a single member looked his way as the group waited near the center of the village for the return of their members.
Six. That was the number his mother had been told to expect. Six lives out of the 43 that had been stolen away by the Fae.
People shifted nervously as they waited. The Caretaker himself had been chosen for this task, as they trusted him. He wasn’t just bringing back the missing centaurs, but also the memories of them that had been taken as well.
Seeing Adhara across from him, Callisto raised his hand and waved. She caught his movement, then pointedly looked away. Not a single member of his tribe was on speaking terms with him, and he wondered if they ever would be again.
A cry of alarm went up from the tribe as a golden archway appeared in the middle of the village. Centaurs nervously shifted as one of their own stepped through, an older woman with a vacant expression on her face. She was followed next by a young man who immediately ran to a pair of centaurs near the edge of the clearing.
“Mom! Dad! I’m home!”
Both of the older centaurs recoiled in fear. Puzzled, the centaur grabbed at them, clearly desperate for a sign of recognition. The next to come through was a girl younger than Callisto, who picked at her braids as she stared at the others. She was followed by a pair of adults holding hands who immediately waved at family members that didn’t recognize them either.
Mike was next, his arm around the back of a very old centaur male as he guided him forward. The elder hobbled slowly, his body bent with age. The golden archway vanished back into the ground as if it were made of water, then vanished.
The centaurs muttered quietly as the Caretaker looked at all of them, then took a step away from the old man and held aloft a soap bubble made of light.
Upon crushing it with his hand, everybody gasped. Memories came flooding back to the Moon Tribe, which immediately triggered a wail of mourning from those who realized their loved ones weren’t among the returned. The young man was busy being hugged by parents who now recognized him, while the woman stared off into space as if dazed, despite others calling to her. The adults holding hands were welcomed home by their respective families, and tears of joy were shed in this instance.
Callisto winced, names and memories flooding through him. It was a sensation akin to remembering a word that had been on the tip of your tongue all day, only he felt it throughout his entire body.
The little girl looked lost when nobody came forward to claim her. She just picked at her braid nervously until Mike knelt by her side and said something in her ear. The little girl nodded, then took Mike’s hand as he walked over to Zel.
“Her parents aren’t here,” Mike whispered, keeping his voice low. “She said they used to be on the other side with her.”
“Used to?”
Mike nodded. “I think they were servants, and she was born there. The Fae rounded up all the centaurs they had. It doesn’t seem like they remembered who they took or not, or maybe didn’t care. This one was born in the Fae realm and will need someone to look after her, as her parents have already passed.”
Zel spoke through clenched teeth as her people grieved. “There are plenty of broken families here. I’m sure somebody will find a place in their hearts for her. Perhaps the families of her parents?”
Mike nodded, then handed Zel a bottle filled with light. “I certainly hope so. By the way, this technically belongs to the tribe. A single drop is equal to a year.” He looked down at Callisto and sighed. “I’m sorry, Cal. I don’t think any of your friends made it back.”
Zel held the bottle up to look at it, then quickly stored it away in a protective case around her flanks.
Callisto nodded. “You are correct,” he said, trying to stay strong. Once upon a time, he had done so because he knew he would be chief someday, and needed to lead by example. Now, he felt like he didn’t deserve to grieve. Though the Fae alone were responsible, he had been the catalyst for tragedy, one that the tribe would not soon forget.
Throughout the crowd, Aunt Yuki, Ratu, Beth, and Cecilia could be seen helping centaurs, offering comfort where they could. Mike was speaking now with the family of the woman who stared off into space. Callisto felt rude doing so, but decided to take a look at the woman’s soul.
It was a tangled mess, and made him think of a piece of fabric that had sat out in the sun for too long and faded. Whatever had happened in the Fae realm hadn’t scarred her physically, but it had somehow diminished who she was.
Studying the crowd, Callisto considered speaking to the young man who had returned. Based on bits he overheard, that centaur had only been in the Fae realm for about six months.
Callisto felt eyes on him, causing the hair on his neck and tail to stand up. In a place where nobody would look at you, it was easy to see that the elderly centaur was studying him from afar. None had come to claim him, and with his memories returned, Callisto didn’t remember anyone from the tribe who had been this old. Taking it upon himself to offer aid, he approached the old man.
“Sir, is there a member of your family we can contact for you?” he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “You may be unaware, but time passes differently in the Fae Realm than it does here.”
The old man stared at him, but there was no malice in those eyes. Instead, there was a dim recognition. When he spoke, his voice sounded like dry reeds of grass that brushed together.
“I do not poop on my own hooves,” he said sadly.
“Wh ... what?” It took a moment for the words to sink in.
The old man said nothing as he turned his attention back to a pair of centaurs weeping away from the others. They were clutching a child’s blanket between them. Nima sighed and moved toward them, ready to break his parent’s hearts anew.
The dam inside of Callisto broke. He became dimly aware of his parents calling for him as he ran out of the village, his eyes full of the grief he had been afraid to shed.
Mike sat out in the gazebo, his eyes on a group of centaurs and a pair of villagers who were currently cleaning out a bunch of dead branches from the edges of the maze. Spring was in the air, and green shoots of grass could be seen sprouting all along the property. For over a week now, Amymone’s sleepy muttering could be heard from the base of her tree, and she was likely to properly wake any day now.
One of the villagers laughed, and a centaur gave them a playful swat with a broom. Mike smiled to himself at the interaction. When the villagers had first come here from Avalon, he had known that he would find a safe place for them to live and thrive. What he hadn’t quite expected was how quickly Zel had taken nearly all of them in to come and live with the Moon Tribe full-time.
The tribe, still reeling from the loss of their own people, had been extremely sympathetic to the villagers’ plight. Not only was there plenty of room for the villagers, but this allowed them to ease into a society with similar technological advancements.