The Generator: The Succubae Seduction (76 page)

That’s an understatement
, I think, about her making me uncomfortable. I’m getting better at handling her lewdness, though.

“He’s getting better at dealing with my powerful sexual wiles, though. I may have to up my game with him,” Jennifer added as though reading my mind.

The women laugh, even Becky, and I smile inwardly. What am I going to do with the large-chested woman? She’s quite literally more than a handful.

“What are you going to do about your pregnancy?” Brooke asks. Do I sense a bit of wistfulness in her tone? “Have you even talked to him about it?”

“Master made it clear that it’s my choice,” Sheila responds, and I perk my ears up. “I never really saw my life with kids before, and with all the craziness going on right now, I really don’t know what to think. Is it even a good idea to bring kids into this world right now?”

“I know Lyden will love them no matter what,” Becky says confidently.

“But what if they turn out to be real monsters?” Brooke interjects. “That’s the problem with having mixed race parenting. As long as it’s human with human, or mermaid with mermaid, there isn’t a chance of something freakish coming out, but when a Generator and human, or mermaid, or whatever else. . . .”

“Stop it!” Becky shouts, startling even me. “Can’t you see what you’re doing to Sheila?” I sense that my slave is crying, and wonder what’s going through her mind at the moment.

“I’m sorry,” Brooke states as she walks over to Sheila. “I wasn’t thinking. To be honest, I wish I was in your place. I’m a bit jealous, actually.” The redhead bends over and hugs my ex-boss. It’s quiet for a moment.

“None of this addresses what’s going on with Ondine, or what we’re going to do about
him
,” Becky states, and somehow I know she’s referring to Emmet. The man appears to be awake now, sitting on the opposite side of the room from the balcony where Blue is still sunning herself.

“Lyden won’t let him be harmed,” Jennifer says quietly.

“Perhaps we should just take care of him while Lyden’s getting cleaned up,” Brooke adds in with anger. “After the way they tortured me, I see no reason to let him live. We could toss him off the balcony and claim it was an accident. Maybe he woke up terrified, and ran in the wrong direction.”

It hurts to hear the redhead speak like this. I know they hurt her, and many of them paid for that in our escape, but Emmet isn’t the one to take that out on. Surprisingly, I’m not the only one to feel that way.

“No, Lyden would know the truth, and as much as I hate him and his kind, Lyden was right when he said that
he
wasn’t to blame.” Becky’s voice is soft yet firm as she speaks; surprising me as I’d expected her to be the most vehement in killing the Paladonic Healer. “The one responsible for killing Lisa is dead, thanks to Lyden. From what I’ve been able to gather, this man is a healer, not a killer.”
“Just because a shark doesn’t bite and eat you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clear out any that come into your grotto,” Brooke says, and I realize it’s about time I went out there.

Opening the door, everyone looks my way. Becky smiles tremulously, while Brooke looks embarrassed. Jennifer just gives me a once over, then winks suggestively.

Walking over to Brooke, I surprise her by pulling her into a hug. She tries to pull away, but with my current strength after being with Gaia, she doesn’t stand a chance and finally gives up.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to her. “I know they hurt you, and I haven’t really been much support since they did that to you. There is no excuse for me not treating you better, and I’m truly sorry.”

Brooke’s arms tighten around me, and I can feel my shirt growing wet with her tears. “Areth is right,” she mumbles against my neck, “you
are
a dolt. You had a lot of other things to worry about and deal with.”

“Yes, many other things to worry about,” a new voice chimes in, and I immediately recognize Gaia’s earthy tones. “Things like the destruction of everything we know, and how on my Earth you’re going to stop a being made of pure light that can control almost anyone it wants.”

Brooke uses my distraction to pull away, straightening her clothing as though she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.

“Gaia!” Areth yells excitedly, zooming over to the Pillar of Earth and fluttering around the dark-skinned woman’s head. When had the fairy entered the room?

“Ah, to be as carefree as the fairies,” Gaia says wistfully, before turning back to face Brooke. “Young mermaid, things may well get worse before the end. I have no doubt, however, that you’re strong enough to handle it.”

“Thank you,” the mermaid says, bowing to the Pillar of Earth and blushing deeply enough to match her red hair at the powerful compliment.

Doors open and close as Thomas, Ondine, and Jewkes come out to the main room as though there had been some kind of signal.

“I’m glad you’re out here,” Thomas states officiously to Gaia. “Would you be so kind as to get me a glass of water? I’m a bit parched.”

Everyone stares at the older man as if he’d lost his mind. It takes me a moment to realize that Mother Earth must have appeared to him as a servant as well.

“That’s the Pillar of Earth!” Ondine hisses in shock.

Thomas turns to glare at Ondine, before his eyes grow wide and he looks around at everyone else. Realizing his mistake, he turns and begins apologizing.

The entire scene bothers me, though. Has he been mistreating the mermaid and that’s why she’s so sad? I’m going to have to watch them.

Gaia laughs easily, before stating, “Relax, Thomas. You had no way of knowing who I was when I visited you. The Generator and the officer both figured it out, though.” The way she says that last part is like a rebuke to the older man, and I see him grow sullen under the Pillar’s mirth.

“Everyone’s here as you asked,” Areth says, oblivious to the tension in the room.

“Yes, all except the religious one,” Gaia replies, her gaze roving across all of us. “She must step up into Marchosias’s role as the leader of her church. She has great power with her faith, but I don’t think you’ll need it for your next mission.”

“Next mission?” I ask, stepping forward. I don’t like the sound of this.

“There are a great many things we need to discuss,” Mother Earth replies evenly. “The least of which is what you’ll do for me, in order to garner my aid.”

“But if you don’t help us,” Becky argues, “then you’ll die as well. Aldol wants to destroy the Pillars in order to destroy both worlds.”

Gaia pierces the short brunette with her dark gaze for a moment before replying. “Says the one that came the closest to killing our prophesied savior, the Generator.”

Becky’s cheeks burn with embarrassment, and I feel my anger begin to rise.

“That wasn’t her fault!” I nearly shout. “Aldol was controlling her.”

“I didn’t say I blame her,” Gaia says evenly, though it had sounded exactly like that. “I’m just making it clear that everything isn’t black and white. You require my aid, but I have a task for you. Completing it will help us both and hinder the Outsider.”

“What do you want us to do?” Brooke asks, stepping up beside me.

“You?” she responds, arching one dark eyebrow. “I expect nothing from you for the moment. You can’t go where I’m sending him. I asked you to all come here so that I could protect you, while Lyden and my agent go to save the Pillar of Air. ”

Shocked silence echoes around the room for a moment, before Brooke gasps, “But TanaVesta killed Fujin!”

Gaia purses her lips for a moment before responding. “You are correct, but also don’t understand the nature of the Pillars. Fujin is dead, but his power remains.” Her voice comes out as though she is trying to educate little children, which I guess compared to her, we are. “You call the six of us that created this world, the six pillars, but that is only a small part of it. For obvious reasons that I won’t go into, we let you believe this. The truth is, our powers are more than just what we are. We wear the pillars as a mantle, much as you wear a shirt. In other words, my power as the Pillar of Earth is not because of
what
I am, but because I wear something that grants me the strength to keep this world whole.”
Becky whistles softly, understanding the import of Gaia’s words a moment before I do. If it were common knowledge that the power could be stolen, and that anyone could become a Pillar simply by obtaining one of the mantles, then chaos and wars would be fought to get them.

“So, you want Lyden to recover the mantle of air for you? You want the extra power,” Becky states suspiciously, and I’m glad she’s thinking straight. I’m still trying to grasp the import of Gaia trusting us with this information.
“I don’t want it for myself,” the Pillar of Earth states softly. “I have another in mind for the power of Air. Someone who is with us now, but unknown and invisible to you at the moment.” For some reason her eyes rest on me for a second, and I shiver. She can’t be talking about Shemhazau, can she?

No, everyone here knows about me. She is referring to someone else,
he tells me.
Someone you haven’t yet met.

I look around the room and notice I’m not the only one. Is she referring to whoever her agent is in this? She’d mentioned sending me with someone, and I don’t see anyone else here.

Then something else she’d said sinks in. Everyone else will remain behind, under her ‘protection.’ I wish I would have known some of this before our little entendre in my room a bit ago.

“What kind of
protection
are you offering my friends while I’m doing this for you?” I ask the dark-skinned woman.

She sighs heavily before answering. “I see you have the wrong idea. I know that the Knights and Daughters are both after you, and that even in our world, there is danger to them. I truly mean them no harm, and they’re not my prisoners. I simply don’t want you to be worrying over them, while recovering the Mantle of Air.” She must see the incredulity on my face. “To show I mean no harm, I’ll make you an extra deal. Recover the Mantle of Air, help bestow it on a new Pillar, and I will ensure Sheila’s children are not born monsters.”

My slave’s hand hovers over her stomach for a moment, her eyes wide as she looks up at Gaia. “You can do that?” The amount of hope or desperation I hear in her voice lets me know just how worried she was over the prospect, but my ears had picked up something else.

“Child
ren
?” I demand, emphasizing the last part.

“Twins,” she answers my question first, then turns back to Sheila. “And yes. I am Mother Earth, after all and have some little say in these things. But I warn you, I can only control to a small degree what they are when they’re born, not what you raise them to be.”

Tears spring to Sheila’s eyes, and there is no mistaking how much this means to her. I guess I know what her answer is concerning the children she’s carrying. My children.

Children. . . .

Shaking my head, I can’t believe I’m really going to be a father, and that it’ll start out as twins. Something inside me twinges at the thought, but Gaia’s knowing eyes bore into me and I realize she already knows what I’m about to say.

“Who is this agent?” I ask, both of us already knowing that I’m going on this dangerous mission.

“Lyden, you can’t!” Brooke states, turning me to stare into her green eyes. “It’ll be too dangerous. Why can’t she send an army in to get it? Have her send in a bunch of her golems, but don’t go alone into
her
realm!” By ‘her’, I know she’s referring to TanaVesta. “I’m sorry, Sheila, but you don’t know how dangerous the Pillar of Fire is.”

“Because this requires precision that an army of golems can’t perform,” a mellifluous voice states. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking forward to working with a human-lover either, but Gaia says I can’t do it alone.” Turning, I see a thin woman standing next to Gaia, long chestnut brown hair pulled back into a ponytail drapes over one shoulder. Her clothing looks to be made out of supple tan leather showing her midriff, and there is a longbow slung across her back along with a full quiver. The most striking part about her, however, besides her unearthly beauty, is her long pointed ears.

“I thought all the elves died centuries ago,” Ondine states, and then closes her mouth when Thomas looks at her. I’m definitely going to have a talk with her later to find out what’s going on.

“I am the last,” the woman states, her voice is somehow both sad and at the same time, full of conviction.

“How are you going to be able to help Lyden?” Becky asks. I detect a strange note in her query, and turn to see that she appears to be slightly taken with the elf. Remembering how she’d acted the first time she’d directly met Brooke, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

“I know where the Pillar of Fire is keeping what we seek,” she answers evenly. “I will guide
him
there, and then he can do whatever he needs to, to get it.” The way she refers to me, makes me think she already dislikes me greatly. When her eyes land on me, I have to revise that statement. She doesn’t dislike me, she loathes me. I can almost feel the hatred pouring from her.

She’d called me a human-lover. Sometimes I forget that I’m not human, despite all of my abilities. It’s hard to ignore decades of growing up believing something.

“I don’t like this,” Brooke and Becky say at almost the same instant.

“I know,” I tell them, then look past her to look at Sheila. If I hadn’t already decided to do it, the look of hope my former boss gives me, would have decided me. “We don’t have much choice, and if we can create a new Pillar of Air and stabilize this world, then I have to try.”

Blue raises her head, growling softly. I turn to face her, wondering what she must think of this whole thing.

“I agree,” Gaia says thoughtfully, before turning back to face us. “That’ll make an excellent disguise.” She laughs softly before clarifying, “Your dragon has agreed to escort you there, provided you—let me see, how did she put it?—return to your more attractive form.”

I immediately see the benefit in this. As a dragon, I’ll fit right in, in TanaVesta’s demesne. Then I look at the elf and have to ask, “What about her? She’ll stand out.”