Chapter 10

Ms. Kulick and I cleaned each other up one more time, and though I felt like I could go another round, she didn’t. I was okay with that. In fact, I felt sated. I had never felt that way before, as if I had been dying of thirst and sex quenched me. It was a weird feeling. Yet, I recalled what Rho said about the Manor being the home to my family of Magi for almost two-hundred years. I had cast a number of spells on my apartment. Several of those spells had to do with sex, such as self-cleaning sheets so my lady of the evening and I wouldn’t end up sleeping in drying pools of body fluids. Would it really surprise me to learn a number of spells in the Manor were there to help entice the men and women in the Manor into sex? Not really. Besides, the defenses required magical energy to keep them going, and if no one had sex in the manor, then there would be no energy for those spells to run on.

Ms. Kulick dried off quickly, dressed quickly, gave me a thorough and deep kiss, and then ran out of the bathroom.

I stood there, holding my towel, and trying to think straight. Why would she run off like that? What was the hurry? We were two consenting adults, and if what Rho said was true, then this sort of thing wasn’t unheard of. No, it was expected. Then I looked around the bathroom for something to wear. Oh! That’s right. She took my only set of clothes to wash them. The whole point of cleaning my clothes and taking the shower was to rid myself of the smell of smoke.

Well, at least we accomplished that much.

I found a robe in one of the cabinets, and put it on. It was soft, fluffy, and a bit too short on me. I didn’t mind. I cinched it in place and walked to the master bedroom. I considered snooping around but decided against it.

I thought about the problems with the manor. I had to find a way to make it back here on a regular basis. The Manor was more than big enough for all of my Fonti and me to enjoy, but I couldn’t move out here, and neither could they. We needed a way to get here without having to fly every weekend. Sure, I had money now, but why couldn’t I use Magic? I decided to ask the only expert I knew. I called Rho.

Rho materialized nearby, wearing a dress that parroted a thin, well-worn t-shirt. In fact, I was sure the manufacturer used tube material. The neckline looked like it was crudely cut and the shoulders were tied together front-to-back over each shoulder. The right one slipped off her shoulder the instant she came into existence. She pulled it back into place with no sign of irritation, even though only her magnificent breast would have held the material up enough to keep from exposing her hard nipple, which dented the material along with its mate. She looked up at me with the utmost patience and said, “Yes?”

“Rho, how bad off is the Manor?” I asked and realized that I wasn’t exactly clear. “What I mean is how much longer will the manor’s defenses continue to work without additional energy?”

She took a few steps through the room and looked up and around in the process. “A few more months at best. In fact, the energy you supplied earlier helped very much.”

I shook my head. “I can’t come back here every couple of months just to have a quickie or two. And though I have money now, I can’t see flying back and forth with some of my girls often enough to keep the defenses going.”

“Moving here for you and your girls is out of the question,” she said and I nodded. “You need to construct a doorway from here to your apartment.”

“That would be difficult at the moment, seeing as how my apartment is a pile of ash.”

She nodded. “Quite true. Maybe, for the time being, you could fly back and forth until you have a new residence in Texas again. At that time, you could establish a transferal mirror between your new abode and the Manor. It would work the same way as the mirrors here in the Manor work. The only difference is that you would be the only one who could enable the transferal. The Manor’s defenses wouldn’t allow another Magus that level of access.”

I shrugged. “Getting the mirror set up is my only concern at the moment, and you’re right, I’ll have to wait until I have someplace to live first.”

“Very good,” she said. “Is there anything else?”

I shook my head. “Not at the moment, thank you.”

She nodded and vanished.

Ms. Kulick walked in a moment later. She had my clothes neatly folded in her arms. Instead of simply setting them on my bed so I might dress myself, she helped me get dressed.

I often enjoyed watching my girls get dressed just as much as when they got undressed. However, to be honest, I didn’t watch them get undressed very often. Usually, we were too far gone in need to watch each other undress. I didn’t have a bond with Ms. Kulick, which meant I didn’t have to be careful around her. I didn’t feel that need to touch her, or feel her touch me, and I missed it. It had only been a few hours, and already I missed having my girls with me.

Once I was dressed, I followed her back down to the front entrance. Ms. Schuler waited in front of the house for us – or for me, since Ms. Kulick wouldn’t be leaving until morning. Ms. Schuler opened the car door for me and closed it once I was inside. I felt silly, having someone else drive me around like this, but I wasn’t going to deprive the young woman of a clearly well-paying job.

After we left the manor, I gave Ms. Schuler the physical address to my home in Newton Grove. I was certain she had some form of GPS system that would give her directions.

I had three hours to kill. I tried to watch television, but nothing held my interest. I was too preoccupied with everything I had learned and the number of things I needed to know. In an effort to keep things in perspective, however, I focused on what to tell mom, and how I would proceed with finding dad. I was glad it was already getting dark. It would be pointless to go out tonight in an effort to look for him. More than that though, I needed to know where everyone had already looked. It would have to wait until morning, but I needed to talk to Sheriff Tom Humphreys.

I didn’t know the Sheriff, not really. Faith told me about him, but beyond that, we had never talked to one another. I only knew his name from the occasional election signs, and then I saw one. The billboard flashed by as we traveled the highway. We were getting closer, and I grew nervous. No, scratch that. I was scared. I didn’t want to go back to Newton Grove, but Hayden made it seem so damned important that I find that locket.