Chapter 88 Doing Jade a Favor

Chapter 88 Doing Jade a Favor

I walked outside in the cold air and dialed the number on the card.  A young female voice answered, “This is the office of William De Roy.  How can I direct your call?”

“This is Lord Apollyon.  Is Lord De Roy available?” I asked clearly.

She immediately responded, “One moment, I will connect you directly.”

“Lord Apollyon, thank you for calling.  What can I assist you with?  The Magus Arcanum has fast-tracked your containers.  You should see them in a week.  We finished loading them this morning,” he responded smoothly.

“I actually was calling about the vampyre council in Romania,” I said seriously.

Lord De Roy was quiet, probably from the shock that I knew.  “Yes, what do you wish to know?” He asked cautiously.

“I am concerned my assistance to you may cause me trouble,” I said, trying to relay irritation with my tone.

“No.  The meeting is to divide up Van Holthe’s global territories.  His territory covered the Pacific islands and New Zealand,” William De Roy replied.

“So he has more assets I need to be aware of?”  I asked.

“No, it is the area he governed.  All the vamps in the territory were under his law,” He sighed.  “All of his assets are shared properties of the council.  He didn’t technically own them.  We are meeting to decide who will manage them going forward.”

Ah, corporate vamp world.  I didn’t care about getting more funds; I was just letting De Roy know I was not a pushover.  “I just want to make sure no one is going to seek me out for revenge and interrupt me again.”

“I see!  No Lord Van Holthe’s progeny have been accounted for, and his sire is no longer on this planet.  He was not well-liked either.  Several council members would actually thank you for ending him,” he said congenially.  I speculated the vamps were thanking De Roy instead, but that was fine.

William De Roy added, “I have sent all the stolen artwork back to the owners through proper channels.  That still leaves you with an impressive collection.  Are you sure you don’t want to sell them?  Giving them to a museum…is such a waste.”

“That is fine.  You can sell them.  If there is any blowback from the assistance I gave you, I want to know immediately,” I said seriously.  I almost added a threat but held my tongue.

“Of course, Lord Apollyon.  I will send you periodic updates.  As I said, I don’t see any issues arising from your timely aid to me.  Once again, I thank you, and if you need my assistance in the future, you can call on me,” he finished and sounded sincere, but I doubted it was genuine.

I ended the call and returned inside, “Everything seems fine.  They are just divvying up the dead vamp’s territory.”

“When can we see the cabin?”  Abigail asked.  Artica shrank a bit when I gave her a cold gaze.

“Sorry, Caleb, I didn’t know it was a secret.  They asked if I was going to be living here.  I said I was moving into the new house,” Artica said guiltily.

“It’s fine.  I would have told everyone eventually,” I said with a smile I was not feeling.  The luxury cabin was supposed to be my man cave.  Well, telling a secret and not telling someone it was a secret meant it was no longer a secret.

Artica said quietly, “Jade wants to meet with you,” knowing she had made a mistake.

“I will go meet her now.  You can stay here and get acquainted with everyone Artica,” I said, turning to leave.  Artica looked stunned that I was leaving without her.

She caught up to me, “Caleb, I am your bodyguard.  I should go with you.”

“Yes, which means you are also to guard my personal information.  I think you know better, but you consider your familiarity with me and my friendship with everyone in the house as a reason to talk.  Maybe you were trying to impress them with our relationship, but you voiced information I didn’t want public at this time.  I told you Apollyon and Caleb are two different people.”  I turned and left Artica at the door.

I needed to assert my authority, and even though it was indirect, it made me feel better.  Artica was a trained bodyguard, and although she called herself loyal, Andromeda had advised me that only by using a demonic servant binding could I be sure I wouldn’t be betrayed.  It was probably just a lesson in healthy paranoia.

I wasn’t sure where these thoughts were coming from.  I felt I needed more control, not just with my partners but as a fighter.  After destroying the vamps in Amsterdam, my confidence—no, my ego was growing.  I finally understood why Andromeda said her servants didn’t last long.  I was feeling invincible like no one could oppose me.  I was experiencing demonic hubris.

I pulled into the hotel where Jade had chosen to live until her new house was renovated.  She had sent me pictures of it and tried to entice me to come and live with her, but I declined.  Hopefully, Artica had not revealed my cabin to her as well.  I knocked on the door of her suite, and Frost opened the door.  She made no effort to hide her frown.  She did move aside and let me in.

The large living room had a floor-to-ceiling window looking down onto a barren winter garden.  Jade was on a couch with a large-screen laptop, which she handed to Anya, seated to her left.  I hadn’t seen the figure skater since she had used me to relieve her sexual heat.  Anya’s face was blank as Jade came and hugged me, but her eyes showed a longing for me.  Jade said as she wrapped her arms around me, “Caleb!  How are you?  No Artica?”

When the hug ended, I stood back, “No, she is working on something for me.”  I looked at Frost, who was still frowning.  She really didn’t like me and wasn’t hiding it.  “I came by to finalize the contract transfer,” I said with a smirk and saw Frost’s eyes go up in alarm.  Her muscled body tensed.

Jade looked over at Frost, “I am not quite ready for that.”  Frost visibly relaxed.  “Caleb, Anya has been a godsend.  She is just what I needed.  Will we see you at school tomorrow?”  I had to process that statement twice.  Jade was still planning to attend high school.  And Anya was joining her.

“Yeah, I have hockey practice in the morning but will be in classes.  Frost is working on getting forged papers to join me,” I replied.  Jade’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“I suppose she could pass as a teenager,” Jade conceded and eyed Frost, who looked closer to thirty.  “Why don’t you leave us for a while,” she indicated to Anya and Frost, who left the suite.  Anya gave me another look of longing when Jade’s back was turned.  I might have to revisit her for some life essence.  When the door shut, Jade turned to me and attacked my lips with hers.  I returned the kiss.

It was a good five minutes before she disengaged, “I needed that,” Jade said.  “Anya is doing ok, but I am having trouble getting a trainer for her.  She is more a mage than an adept, so I can not train her.  Frost has been difficult since I told her I transferred Artica’s contract to you.  Even with Artica talking to her, she has not come around to allow you to enhance her.”  She sat on the couch and motioned for me to join her.  I sat, and she took the computer, “I was just looking for Artica’s replacement.  What do you think of him,” she handed me the computer.

On the screen was a young, dark-skinned man.  I looked over the bio, pantherkin, 5’11”, 190 lbs, core 0.68.  There was also an array of test results.  I said, “He looks impressive.  I would say pull the trigger if he is clear of your mother’s influence.”

Jade took the computer back.  I read her face, and I think she wanted me to be jealous, but I wasn’t.  Jade said with exasperation, “Agatha has been calling me every day.  Telling me how proud she is of me and asking when she can visit.  She just wants to come and help me run my kingdom.  I am certain Zaire has no links to my mother.  He is a decent mage and extremely young, just 20.  Purchasing his contract is going to be difficult as I will have to outbid others on it, and taking him before his 25th birthday means I have to finish his training.  But I thought he could train Anya as well.”

“How much do you need to secure him?” I asked.  I had given her a half million dollars already.

“Probably two million, maybe three,” she dropped immediately.  “Mages are rare for catkin; he is strong but not a quick learner.  If I asked, my father would probably give me the money as a loan, but my mother will want favors in return.  I could also wait as my territory should generate….” she paused to look at a spreadsheet, “about 4 million a year after expenses.  But getting settled this first year will probably consume my entire surplus.”

I nodded and realized I should be getting an influx of funds from the estate sale.  I probably had a few million dollars of gold being shipped to me right now.  I could probably check.  I opened the invoice and found the mass of the gold being shipped was 1,017.34 kg.  There was a list with each coin and bar listed.  De Roy was meticulous in his inventory.  Of course, that didn’t account for the purity of the gold.  I coughed loudly after I put in the numbers based on current gold prices and was shocked.  Then I did it again to confirm.  No wonder De Roy was meticulous.  $66 million dollars if it was pure gold.  I was filthy rich!  That didn’t even include the added value of the coins that might be precious to a collector.

“If you want to borrow funds from me, just let me know how much.  I have some money coming in, and if it doesn’t come in time, I can always give you gold to exchange,” I said, sounding like a rich sugar daddy.

Jade was surprised but nodded.  “Caleb, you came here offering me help when I asked you here for a favor.”  I waited, and she continued, “My mother is nosy, beyond nosy.  I expect she will arrive whether I want her to or not.  I don’t know if you can, but could you throw her agents off?”

I had a confused look, “What did you have in mind?”

“Mandy.  She talks to Agatha frequently, trying to gain her favor.  She was only close to me when I stayed with them to get closer to my mother, who pulls many strings in the catkin world.  I would call my mother a schemer, and when she tried to marry me off when my core was discovered to be raised, that was the last straw.”  Jade moved close, “I want to use you, Caleb, but I promise to reward you well and treat you as an ally.”  Her hand landed on my thigh and ran to my groin.

I laughed internally as she was showing herself to be a schemer, just like her mother.  I let her hand wander and let myself become hard beneath my pants.  I leaned into her and attacked her neck.  Since I was here, I was going to get some life essence for this favor she wanted of me.  She immediately went into a loud purr as I softly bit into her neck.  I remembered this was what Anya liked to do to me, so I assumed it was a catkin thing.

It wasn’t long before we were naked on the sofa, and I whispered, “I want you in your true form.”  Jade’s eyes looked at me as she transformed.  Her soft fur was now silky on my body.  “You are amazing,” I said while heavily petting her and kissing her lips.  One hand went to position my shaft at her heated, slick, and welcoming entrance, and I added a vortex before entering her.

Whereas Anya liked rough sex, Jade was more sensual and conventional.  I kissed her while her body vibrated from her purring with my slow, repeated thrusts.  I gave her the tier two saliva with the kissing, bringing her to orgasm, and I felt her walls clench on my shaft, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around me so I couldn’t pull out.  I was holding back a release and just enjoying the heat of her soft groin on my own.  When she relaxed, I continued the rhythm of my hips and let her long tongue invade my mouth.  Her rough tongue was different, and her fangs made exploring her mouth feel exotic.

After thirty minutes, the short soft fur around her slit was wet from repeated orgasms, and even though I was doing all the work, her body was showing fatigue from me processing life essence through her core.  Jade was happy to let me do the physical work as she purred beneath.  I decided to end this tryst with the gift of strength.  I increased my tempo and felt my balls squeeze in readiness, and I plunged deep into her and released.  I had forgotten to let her build to her fifth orgasm as I had gotten lost a little in my own need for pleasure.

After three twitches of my shaft inside her, I returned to my rhythm until she came again, and then I stopped and pulled her to me on my side.  She had a low purr as we snuggled.  Both our phones vibrated with messages, but we ignored them.  Finally, after an hour, Jade stirred and dressed, and I followed her example.

Jade said, “That favor.  I was hoping you could indulge Mandy but not enhance her.  Maybe make sure to end her interest in you.”

I already knew Mandy was looking to try me for Agatha, pimping her body for favor with Jade’s mother.  I already knew Mandy was manipulative and used her fellow cheerleaders like barter.  I didn’t have a favorable opinion of Mandy and didn’t mind doing this.  I asked, “So you want to whore me out?  What about Frost?”

Jade was back in her human form, “Frost will come around.”  She ignored my quip about being her man whore.  “So you will take care of Mandy?”

“Yes,” I said, getting a cruel idea in my head that got me aroused.  I shook the suggestion away and calmed my dark side down, somewhat worried.  One thing I wanted was to keep my humanity.  I picked up my phone, and as if the fates had been listening, James had sent me a text asking me to come over.  I held up my phone to Jade, “I will take care of it right now, actually.”

As I was leaving, I saw a text from Amelia asking what I wanted for dinner, as she had already purchased dessert.  I texted her back Italian and drove over to James’ house.  I checked my harvest and was slightly disappointed with a gain of 62 life essence, bringing my total to 105.  I was going to bank my life essence to 200.

When I got to James’ house, he was there alone, and I was slightly confused.  We talked at the kitchen table about the hockey season.  The new coach was a bit of a hardass, but he was good.  We talked about the remaining team, how we would run just three lines the rest of the year, and how to keep the team morale up.  James was not optimistic about making the playoffs after we had forfeited two games.

James said he would go pick up some pizza, and we could talk some more.  Mandy suddenly came into the kitchen dressed in a halter top nightie and silk boxers, “Oh, I didn’t know you were here, Caleb,” she said, trying to sound innocent.  Let me get you two some drinks.”

She put the drinks on the table, and James left to get the pizza, not asking if he wanted me to come with him.  My opinion of James fell as he was in on this.  Mandy tried to make idle chatter asking how Abigail was doing and if I had fun in Amsterdam.  I played nice and picked up the glass of Sprite.  The flash in her eyes told me something was up.  I sniffed the drink and nearly fell down, laughing but holding my composure as I drank it.

I immediately identified what she had added to the drink.  She had put in tabs of the saliva I had sold to the Magus Arcanum.  Definitely more than a few.  I was date raped with my own drug that didn’t work on me.  Mandy sat tall in her seat, showing her breasts and nipples straining in her small top.  She was giving me a target for my expected arousal.  I guessed Agatha—or whoever had purchased the tabs had not done their research.

I feigned feeling weird, “Wow, the room feels off.  Where is the nearest bathroom?  I think I might be sick.”  I gave myself a hard and easily visible erection in my pants.  When I stood, Mandy’s eyes went wide, and she had a grin on her face.

“Yes, Caleb.  You look a little pale.  Why don’t you come lay down until James returns with dinner,” her predatory visage made what I was about to do more palatable.

I pretended to be unstable while walking with my straining cock.  I asked Mandy for help walking and wrapped my arm around her, and fondled her breasts.  She just leaned into me and spoke, “Let’s go upstairs.  The beds up there are more comfortable.”

I pretended to have trouble ascending the stairs and let my hand slip down from her breasts into her silk boxers.  She was already wet.  I tried to give her one last chance, “I am sorry.  I don’t know why I did that.  I think it is best if you just leave me alone, Mandy.  I don’t think I can control myself.”  I left her and turned into a plain bedroom that was obviously a guest room.  “Leave me in here.”

Mandy followed me inside, shutting the door behind her.  “I can take care of myself, Caleb.  Let me make you feel better.”  She hooked her thumbs around the waistband and dropped her boxers.  Then followed it by removing her top.  She was extremely attractive if you ignored her personality.  Well, she asked for what was going to come next.  I pretended to be in a drunken fugue state as I removed my own clothes, my engorged cock pointing directly at a wide-eyed Mandy.