Chapter 10

It was getting dark, and the colours of the twilit horizon were a glorious wash of dark purple and blue across the dusky skyline. A soft breeze twirled leaves in the air. While all the houses we were going to check out were outside the city proper, all of them were in the rich boroughs to the southwest, allowing direct and quick access by means of the highway, so the drive would be short given the distances involved.

Criss & Cross were still hyped about the clothes, and I tuned out their chatter. I was getting too much time to think, and my mood was quite dark. I was going to cancel the firing range. There was no way I was going to expose us to a free weapons area that might contain demons, who might be able to notice us without us knowing about it. Delegation — I was going to let the girls handle the building of the shrines, they could spend a few hours on Friday looking for a builder, and make a final decision next week.

I needed more wizards, and quickly. Not many, but enough to create a small tactical team that would work well together. We'll need some practice in sneaking around and hand signals. I was going to need some specialized commo, operational and possibly some night vision gear. There just wasn't enough time for everything. The only quick and easy recruit I could think of was Mellanie from martial arts, assuming she had the talent, and I wasn't too enthused about the prospect. She was dangerously aggressive, which might well put all of us in mortal danger, and she's taller than I am. Silly perhaps, but none of us are truly rational where preferences are concerned. With people, rational means explaining why we did what we did, and making it seem logical in retrospect.

I was pretty sure that no demons were attending jiujitsu practice, and I'd need to have wizard sight active tomorrow, which nonetheless represented a definite danger. It would give class a certain edge, and I'd better activate it after I part from the girls — without wizard sight, the minor spells they can use in a fight were of limited utility. You needed to see just where to cut or call fire, and ordinary vision was quite inadequate when considering the task of seeing inside a body.

I also needed to do some investigating of my own. My thoughts were running in so many directions, I'd missed the obvious. Six demons, in a specific place, meant something. While computers and Sigint were no replacement for Humint, nobody overlooked them, not these days. The building complex in which Matt and my father had their own offices held a number of companies. It was almost certain that at least one of them was either run by or dealt with demons. Also, I needed to get my hands on the full architectural and infrastructure plans for that particular complex, and scout it properly. If it was a center of demonic influence, they probably had hidden egresses and chambers. That's what I would have done, in their place.

I slowed down when we reached the grounds of the house we were to see. Quite extensive and not at all run down, they seemed suitable, though it was difficult to see just how green things were in the dark. With a sigh, I stalled for a moment, activated the sight spell, and looked over the life and power lines that ran through everything. After a moments focus on the view, I tried to memorize everything, wondering whether my impression, that the place wasn't too healthy, was accurate. Another thing I'd neglected to accomplish was the study of the requirements for our would-be hideout, mostly because I hadn't understood what little the book had shown me on the subject. Magical architecture and geomancy were fiendishly complicated areas of study, and I wasn't really up to learning even the bare basics in a few days. There were concepts there that were well beyond my present limited comprehension. That explanation from the book always pissed me off, and made me all the more determined to transcend those limits. Which was probably exactly what the sneaky thing wanted. I kept feeling that it was playing me like a violin.

Stopping by the driveway, we saw a BMW already there, and the realtor was leaning on it, smoking. When I lifted my hands from the wheel, I noticed that they were shaking. Delayed reaction. I'd killed and nearly died again, today. Reading about after action shakes was one thing, and always left me skeptical. Weakness, right? Wrong. Experiencing was very much different. I took a big breath, steadied myself in the seat, and hit the dashboard with my fist. A bit of pain helped.

I stepped outside smoothly, and opened the door for the girls, bowing them out.

"Chris, it's your play. I'll just look around. Make him think you're two rich lesbians, I'm the chauffeur cum bodyguard. Have fun."

The look on Kristen's face was hilarious, but Christine shut her up with a light kiss on her mouth. "Come on lover," she grinned at me and fondled her friend's butt, "Let's look at this tumbled heap of brick and cement."

It was certainly a big house, or rather, more of a mansion. Very spacious, if sparsely furnished, with a large basement, a tennis court and a pool. I walked behind the realtor, a spiffy 'hunk' in his late twenties, not really listening to his salesman's spiel, trying to concentrate on the currents of power that ran through the mundane walls, floors, pipes and lines of electrical and phone connections. The book would have to make the final decision as to suitability in matters arcane, grading the houses, and we'd have to make a choice based on that and our own impressions.

Christine's act was flawless, and Kristen's reluctance made it all the more delicious, which was damnably distracting. She had the poor realtor almost drooling, and he had to walk slowly and attempt to cover his 'problem'. Chris' hands were running all over her friend, light touches, caresses and the occasional squeeze, but the crowning touches were the kisses and way she rubbed herself, most especially her chest, on her friend. Her words were just as titillating, though I tried very hard not to listen, as she seemed to add a description of just what she could do with Kris in each and every room. Very explicit descriptions too, and she was obviously having the time of her life, laughing loudly and freely.

Our distinguished guide actually pulled a kerchief and wiped dripping sweat away from his face and forehead, and after almost an hour I took pity on him, and 'reminded' the girls of our next 'appointment'.

Once we were out of sight, Kristen leaped on Chris, truly cross, and started pummeling her. "Ouch! Bitch, are you feeling butch tonight?" Chris taunted, and I came to a sudden halt, causing the tangle of girls to fall from the seat.

I turned back to look at them, "No catfights while I'm driving and can't watch, girls," I smile as Kris hissed at me. "Seriously, you will not even think about hitting Christine, understood, Kristen? We have more than enough trouble without domestic violence. If you have a problem, talk about it. Think about what you want to say, and we'll talk when we get home."

Kris sulked in her corner of the backseat, hugging herself and shooting fulminating looks at Chris, but she slowly calmed down and seemed to ruminate, hopefully thinking on what she wanted to say. Chris made a point of not looking at her, taking out a small mirror and playing at fixing herself up, making a production out of looking and sounding self satisfied. Which did not help with Kris' temper, not at all. And here I thought redheads were supposed to be the tempestuous ones. Just goes to show that you can't always trust book learning.

The drive back was very quiet, and when we left the garage, the tension was almost palpable. Defusing it was simple enough — I simply opened the goodies bag. The girls were delighted with the tiny digital cameras and the smartphones I produced for them, and started tinkering immediately, reading the instruction booklets and fiddling with all the buttons, while I went to shave the beard and remove the disguise.

"Why don't you call your parents using your new phones, and give them an edited version of today. Better flood them with information, at first, until they grow used to things."

They were quite enthusiastic in their descriptions, and spoke to their parents for a surprisingly long time. More than enough time for me to prepare a serious dinner.

I heated up some hot and sour soup, left over from the Chinese takeout, added pork in black bean sauce with white rice, sweet potatoes in chili sauce, and a couple of milder things for Chris, brought out breads, cheeses and cold cuts, set the table and served.

Kristen was audibly appreciative, and had no trouble with the hot stuff, and we spent more time practicing spells. "It needs to become instinctive, automatic, you need to learn to react before you think. It's the only way you're going to survive. The cutting spell, aim for the neck or chest and put more power behind it. The firestarting spell can be used to incinerate flesh, as well. Once you learn to see beyond, you'll be able to use the spells much more effectively, but for the nonce, do what you can. We won't be going after demons or teaching the local elemental courts prudence, not until we're ready."

With the vision spell, it was easy to see exactly what they were doing, but describing the slight variations that one could use to shift the energies just so was simply impossible. Subtlety without sight required more genius than any of us had.

Chris sighed explosively, and the fork she'd animated fell with a clank. "Do you think I've lost weight?" she asked, obviously concerned.

I looked at her carefully, tilting my head, and shrugged.

"I think you have, at least some," Kristen volunteered.

"Possibly," I added, "and we need to watch that. We can't afford to run our bodies down, we need a lot of fuel. Later, Chris, you'll be able to do incredible thing with your body. Not mere disguise, but actually change your features, moving the bones around. You'll regulate your body functions and enjoy a level of physical vitality we can't even imagine at present. You'll be able to be any girl or woman you want to be."

Most of the rest of the meal, they talked of what changes they wanted to make, and which movie stars or models they'd impersonate. I let them fantasize away, mostly disagreeing with the changes they wanted to introduce.

"Really, you're both lovely. To become perfectly beautiful, the changes you'll need to make are very minor. For you, Chris, perhaps a slight widening of the face, a bit... no, it's difficult to say. We'll need to experiment. Turn the hair into liquid fire, perhaps, bluish-red, blood-scarlet, add a bit of blue to your eyes. Your body is already close to perfect, and a serious exercise regime and martial arts will tighten you up in no time. You're deliciously soft and bountiful," I smiled as Chris blushed and looked away, and Kristen very deliberately took a drink.

"As for you, Kristen," she had an 'oh, oh, ' expression on her face, and my smile widened, "It's even more difficult. I think you need to let your hair down, the ponytail is a bit too business-like. You're stuck in the 'cute' stage, and we'll need to mature you a bit, make you look older to finish the changes time would have made on its own, but directing them to accentuate things, possibly sharpen your cheekbones. You'd look like a predatory sex-vixen," Chris giggled at the expression, and Kris almost choked on what she was trying to swallow.

"For the body, Kris," I LOOKED at her, pausing to take a bite, making them wait, "I'd need a much closer acquaintance to make any sort of judgment. Doesn't that strike you as reasonable, Chris?" who just nodded shyly, before returning her attention to the food. Kris was almost certainly blushing, but on her darker skin it wasn't readily noticeable.

"Now," I set the utensils down, "plans for the next couple of days. You need to practice more, and on Saturday you might be ready to try breaking the first circle of life and attempting the wizard sight spell. Don't be upset if it doesn't work the first few times, I'm certain you'll manage it next week. It's a deucedly demanding spell. We won't go to the shooting range on Friday, as I'm not comfortable with the possibility of concealed demons. We'd be much too vulnerable. As you might recall, we're buying a house to set up for the first enhancement ceremony, which will be a major landmark for all of us. For the ritual, we'll need shrines to all six elements, with certain materials inside them, and I just have too much on my hands. I want you two to handle the construction of the shrines and the acquisition of the requisite materials. I've already copied what is needed from the book, I'll show you where the papers are. Try to see what you can find, and tell me what you have on Sunday. You'll be getting your new laptops tomorrow, so you won't be dependant on the computer stations here. You know how to search for things?"

They nodded, Kristen a bit more hesitantly.

"Seriously, if you have any questions, ask. It's imperative that the matter be handled perfectly — we can't afford any error in the shrines' construction, and any delay might just prove to be fatal."

"Fatal?" Chris asked, eyes narrowing.

"Demons, elementals, wizards, gods, silly," Kristen answered, "we're in deep doo-doo, no matter how much money we can spend. It won't do us any good six feet under. What do we do tomorrow morning?"

"Another house, we have three more in all."

"I am NOT," Kristen declared, back straight, "getting pawed up tomorrow, you lezzie slut!"

"Riiight," Chris mocked, "you were humping my fingers like a rabid bitch, when I had them on your ass! It got you soooo hot!"

Kris flinched, "Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Girls, please!" Sometimes it was not so very difficult to remember that I was dealing with fifteen year olds. "Tomorrow, Kristen, you can play with Christine for the edification and delight of our realtor. But no pinching. Good enough?" I figured that payback was what she really wanted, and Chris would probably enjoy it.

"Right!" Kris said, "You got it, boss!" she actually saluted.

"Hey, now..." Chris woke up.

"Now, don't tell me YOU won't enjoy it?" I quirked a brow.

"Welllll..." her skin turned a delicate rose, and she mumbled something into her food.

"Anyway, once we're done with the food, you'll get some pepper spray practice, and please don't go anywhere without a canister. It might not work on demons, but it should be enough for most creeps."

"Target practice!" Kris whooped, "But what about real guns?"

"I can probably arrange to use the range the police uses, but I'd feel better about setting up a range in our new refuge. If the house we pick doesn't have one, it'll be your job to have one built, and it'll also be your responsibility, policing it and such. What do you think?"

Kris pursed her lips and actually thought about it for a moment, leaving me stunned, and very, very happy. She might not be as bright as Chris, but she'll certainly do. Steady and thoughtful can be more valuable than brilliant and erratic. Not that Chris had proven in any wise erratic.

"Well, I don't know anything about it. Permits, laws, all that stuff," she looked at me.

"I can direct you to people who can help with that, Kris, and you can find what you need all by yourself, easily. Information is easy to come by, and popular thought to the contrary, people are generally helpful. Especially," I smiled at her, "when a pretty girl is involved, and they stand to make some money."

"And the rest of tomorrow?" Chris asked, "Other than more spell practice, there's the jiujitsu thingie. Do we need to prepare something special for it?"

"No, not really, aside from some loose comfortable long sleeved clothing with no buttons and such like, which is what you'll need to have on. Before that, we'll stop at my lawyer."

"Lawyer?" they asked in unison.

"Yes, I need to prepare a will. Ordinarily, everything I have would pass on to my parents, and thereafter to my dearly beloved sister. If I croak, I'd rather have you getting a major chunk of things. I'll show you a computer file you'll need to open, if anything happens to me. I'll also introduce you to my lawyer, she's a very nice woman, as you'll probably need her help for a variety of things. From shrine building contracts to gun range construction, for example. She'll also handle much of the house purchase, and I need to tell her about that."

From inquisitive expressions, the looks on their faces had turned to horror, and it was obvious that they wanted to say something, and were casting about for the appropriate words. None surfaced, and they went back to the food, eyes lowered.

I'm not a solipsist, per se, but 'the world ends when I die' wasn't too far from what I'd always felt like. Facing up to possible immortality and very close clashes with imminent mortality had made me think about unpleasant possibilities, and if the girls, by some miracle, managed to outlive me, well, it was the least I could do.

"Ahem," Chris hesitated, "Just what do you need a lawyer for, really?"

"Well, in all honesty, I haven't, not that much. Mostly questions where it was easier to pay a bit than to do all the research myself, and still not be certain that I wasn't missing something. My grandfather, Alex's father, was corporate shark, and she's his protégé. That's how we met, and she's been very helpful when I needed to construct shell corporations and deal with taxes. With money and problems, it's always good to have lawyers on retainer."

"So, you've never been arrested?" Kris asked.

"Hardly. Christine only knows my father, but mom's a judge. Remember my mentioning the police range? Ten years ago, she was still prosecuting criminals, and I spent a lot of time with her, at work. I still touch base every now and then with a few police officers. Good people, really. I even helped them with a few cases of computer fraud, under the table."

"Right!" Chris smirked, "You'd know all about that dirty, filthy business."

"Ayup," I affected an accent.

The practice with the pepper sprays went well, though the atmosphere was somewhat subdued. Criss & Cross snuck looks at me when they thought I was looking elsewhere and wouldn't notice.

It didn't take them very long at all to gain satisfactory proficiency, and we were still too worn out from the recent practice session to try more spells.

"Time for some physical activity. A few hours a week of martial arts is nowhere near enough to keep in shape, and you're going to need muscles and endurance. Swimming will buff you up without those awful weight-type muscles."

"What about running?" Kris asked.

"Running is very unhealthy, it's a constant shock to bones and sinew, and Christine would find it exceedingly uncomfortable. She's too well endowed, though I'll admit the sight of her bouncing about is quite fetching," I ducked a hurled pillow, and shook a warning finger at Chris.

"Definitely swimming," Chris crossed her arms beneath her breasts, frowning, "and some water does sound good."

"Can you swim?" I asked as we walked to the pool, recalling our last time in the pool. They'd not displayed real skill at moving about.

"Well, breast stroke for me," Chris replied.

"I'm more of the flail about, dog paddle," Kris admitted sheepishly.

"Well, come on, I'll teach you. Chris, just swim steadily. Finish at least thirty laps, try doing ten each using just the arms and just the legs. I'll show Kris how to do more than just float."

I led them to the pool, and pulled on a pair of Speedos — we kept a stack of bathing suits by the pool. I turned around, and gasped. The lighting cast shadows across their bodies, but it was obvious that they were nude. As I looked, Chris entered the waters, and Kris walked over to me, and with my magical vision still active, I could see that her temperature was rising. Whereas Chris kept a thatch of pubic hair, Kris was baby smooth, and I couldn't help but stare.

"Right," I tried to keep my voice steady, "Stand right there, and I'll show you how to move your arms, for the breast stroke."

I demonstrated and she followed suit, and then I stepped behind her, taking her hands and guiding her through the requisite movements. The feel of her skin was exquisite, like liquid silk, and she was so firm. Without conscious guidance, my hands found their way to her breasts, my erection pressing against her bare behind.

Kristen trembled in my arms, breathing loudly, seemingly paralyzed. Her nipples had pebbled, and I fondled them with meticulous attention, biting down and chewing on her neck and ears. She half fell back against me, and I braced myself to support her weight, moving one hand down.

She was dripping, and moaned loudly as I cupped her bare mound, rubbing her pussy. For a full ten minutes, a real test of endurance for me, I played with her sex and breasts, pinching, fingering and fondling. Her back arched with a sharp shriek, thighs clamping down on my hand, body turning limp. I held on to her, and only just managed to hold myself back from dropping her to all fours, and mounting right on.

Sex standing up, even something like this, is really draining. I sighed softly, picked her up, and entered the waters. Kris gasped as the cold touched her, and turned around, still cradled in my arms. I stared into her brown eyes, still smoking with passion, and kissed her on the forehead, nose, then lips. She hugged me tightly, and pressed her lips to mine, hard, before subsiding. The relative coldness of the water helped me calm down.

Chris swam closer, "So we get to test all the torture devices on her, right?" she looked at us intently.

"They should be delivered tomorrow," I replied without answering.