Chapter Sixty-Eight: Jacked

Well, I didn’t get murdered in my sleep, so that was good. I’d thought about going after Vivian/Jack, but I hadn’t been back at my tent for long when a rather wary Reese came by to let us know that Vivian would be by in the morning to explain things. That was good enough for me, so I finished what I’d started with my girls and called it a night.

It was getting warmer already, so I wasn’t surprised when I woke and only had one girl wrapped around me. Rhallani was already awake, pouring over the Jailer’s Blade with her magic detecting spectacles for the third day in a row with an expression that told me she’d still made no progress on understanding how the scabbard worked. Serena was nestled with just enough space between us to stay cool, but as always she had her cold little feet tucked under my legs. Her extremities were perpetually cold at night, something she took great delight in alleviating at my expense.

This particular morning, it was Tiana that was wrapped tightly around me. Her legs were tangled with mine, her head on my chest, and one arm tucked beneath her while the other rested on my chest. She was still asleep, but judging by the soft smile on her face she was having a good dream. I decided not to wake her.

Unfortunately, that meant I was trapped beneath my beautiful mage and forced to stop and stew in my thoughts for a bit. I’d been putting it off since I’d glanced at the available skills but, with the possibility of a confrontation with Vivian on the horizon, I could hold out no longer.

My instincts were adamant that Vivian wasn’t a threat despite her deception and clear power, but I’d been burned too many times and lost too much to take the risk. Even if I dreaded making a decision on which skill I’d be selecting for my second class. The Rathum had been a significant chunk of experience, but it had been split by nearly all of the fighters in our group.

Shadowborn was now level twenty-one, which meant attribute points. Putting them both in Primal was a no-brainer, since that put me at thirty. That meant I now had an extra set of armor I could give to someone. Noelle was my first thought, but I’d wait to discuss with the others. With her health and her own armored skill, she’d surely decline in favor of giving the armor to someone else.

Soul Smith had grown three more levels, making it level six. Two skills and one attribute increase. Once again, just to postpone as long as I could possibly manage, I went for the attributes first. Primal made the most sense seeing as my shadows were a more than integral part of my fighting style, but I couldn’t discount finding an enemy or getting into a situation where my shadows were at a disadvantage. Right now, they were the crutch that had allowed me to make it this far.

Strength wasn’t something I was too worried about. Either I was in bright light and had a crazy bonus to it or I was in the dark and [Dark Sense] would more than give me the edge I needed to stay alive. Plus, even if I met an opponent who was resistant to my shadows, I could always wrap my limbs in darkness to give myself an artificial increase in my physical stats. I had enough health to not be too worried, and my Fortitude was at least above average. I still sometimes forgot about the fat seventy points in my Resilience stat, so that wasn’t even on the table.

I needed to be able to adapt on the fly. Versatility had always been my greatest weapon, and my Dexterity was only a little above average. Unless I was getting a boost from [Horde Slayer], fifteen just wasn’t going to cut it. I sank the other two into Dexterity with the knowledge that Soul Smith would level pretty fast for a bit, so I had the points to spare. That left my stats looking like this:

With that done, it was finally time to move onto skills. Already I had a selection that I was rather excited by. [Empower] was the first one to catch my eye. I could expend [Soul Essence] to give my Linked allies a boost in their main stat, which sounded very promising. [Soul Transfer] was a skill that had me interested in where my class was headed eventually, but it wasn’t a skill that seemed very useful to me at current. I could transfer Soul Essence through my Links—implying that, as Rhallani suspected, everyone had a pool of Soul Essence, I was just one of the few able to see or manipulate it—but it was affected by the Link level.

Sucking the soul out of my Links wasn’t something that appealed to me, and as of yet those I’m Linked to don’t have any way of using the resource. It was interesting, but ultimately unhelpful for now. [Tandem Fighting] was another that had piqued my interest. If more than one individual in my Array of Links focused on a single enemy, their attacks would be more effective.

Thanks to some interesting capitalization, I also learned that the system referred to the web of links as a whole as my Link Array, and its members it referred to as Linked. Good to know for future skills. There were also a few attribute increases available, but this early in the class I was leaning towards a skill that was more useful. That left the skill that had made me dismiss my System the moment I’d read it. [Sever]

Using Soul Essence, I could sever or destroy a magical connection. It didn’t exactly take a leap in logic to assume my Links were included, and while a part of me was relieved that I could give one of my Linked a way to cut ties with me if the need ever arose, more than one of my girls had seemed rather appreciative of the permanence of our bond. I wasn’t sure how they’d react if I told them I’d taken a skill that could remove those Links at will.

I hadn’t even realized I was dragging my fingertips along Tiana’s back until she shifted, sighing softly through her nose, Her hand traveled up my chest to caress my face with a featherlight touch and her soft, sleepy smile widened. “I can hear you thinking,” she mumbled into my chest.

Rhallani glanced over at us, smiling at the sight of Tiana tangled with me, then went back to her sword. I put a little more pressure behind the fingers I was running up and down Tiana’s spine and she made a sound of appreciation. I used my other hand to collect her auburn locks that had spread over her back in her sleep and tucked them over her shoulder so I had better access to her soft, tanned skin. She pressed a kiss to my chest, leaving her eyes closed and putting her hand back over my heart.

“You alright?” I asked softly. “The last week or so you’ve been rather—”

With how her naked body was pressed into mine, I could feel her tense. “Clingy?” she asked, barely hidden worry in her voice.

I lifted her chin and pressed my lips to hers. “I was going to say affectionate. I’m definitely not upset by it.” I held her gaze until her body started to relax into mine again then released her. She laid her head back down, once again smiling. “I have a bad habit of expecting the worst from any change in behavior. It’s a flaw of mine.”

She started tracing designs obvious only to her along my chest. “We really jumped into this whole thing with both feet,” she said finally. “I’m not complaining, but I’ve been…waiting. For things to go wrong.”

My hand went on another journey down her back, this time going lower until my fingertips just brushed the top of her perfect ass. “Waiting for what to go wrong?”

“You know…” She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Us. Every good thing in my life has always gone to shit, and you’re very quickly becoming the best thing that’s ever happened to me. For a while, I was afraid that if I let myself get too attached, it would kill me when the universe inevitably took away what we’re building.”

“But…?” I prompted.

She flashed a smile at me. “But every day I get to wake up next to you makes me feel more and more like this might be something that lasts. Every time you fuck me so hard my legs get all wobbly, I feel more and more willing to take the risk.” She played with the hairs on my chest, still smiling wide. “And now we’re Linked. For a long time I gave up on finding someone capable of loving me after everything I’d had to do to survive, but you…”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her body up so that we were face to face. “I can promise you none of that matters to me. You’re mine now, and you never have to go through any of that again. Not as long as I’m alive.”

She shivered, and I felt her nipples tighten where they were pressed into my chest. She leaned her forehead against mine with her eyes closed. “I’ve done a lot, and I’ve let a lot be done to me, but you’re only one of three men I’ve ever let have me fully. I just wanted you to know that.”

I pressed my lips to hers, and her tongue invaded my mouth immediately. I sunk my hands into her hair, letting it run through my fingers while I dragged my nails down her back not quite hard enough to leave marks. She gasped her appreciation against my mouth and I pulled away. “Duly noted, but if you’re willing to overlook the scars of my past, then I’ll never judge you on yours.”

“Not overlook,” she corrected. “Accept. Your past, as much as I wish I could undo it, is a part of you. I won’t just pretend it doesn’t exist. You deserve so much more than that.”

A lump of emotion caught in my throat. “And here I thought I was supposed to be the one comforting you.”She kissed me again. “We can take turns. It’s how a relationship should be. Give and take in equal amounts.”

She shifted so her head was on my shoulder and she was effectively wrapped around me again. It was an almost painfully comfortable position to be in, and I never wanted to move. “Now, are you going to tell me what you were thinking so hard about a minute ago or do you need me to keep distracting you?”

Oddly enough, our conversation had helped me make my mind up. [Sever] was one of my options, and it always would be. There would be plenty of levels in the future, so there was no need to stress about taking it now. Feeling good about the decision, I took [Empower] and [Tandem Fighting].

“Just allocating levels,” I whispered in her ear, aware that saying those words too loudly would result in Rhallani lunging for her journal.

She hummed her understanding and we laid there for a good while. Eventually the canvas was bright enough from the rising sun that I knew we had to get going soon, but I was loathe to move. Tiana, it seemed, felt the same.

But the morning had plans for us, it seemed. My head jerked up when someone scratched at the entrance. “If you’d put some pants on,” Vivian/Jack called, “I’d like to talk.”

Gone was the bubbly, higher pitch. In its place was a lower, sharper tone that made me grin. “Just a minute,” I called.

I shared one last kiss with Tiana before releasing her. I went to wake Serena, but she was already sitting up and stretching. She smiled at me, then leaned over to whisper, “I’m glad you and Tiana finally got to talk. I think all that’s been bothering her a lot more than she’s willing to admit.”

I nodded in agreement. “You’re right about that, but those kinds of scars take a lot of time to heal. Trust me.”We had barely managed to get ourselves somewhat decent before Vivian/Jack shouldered her way through the entrance. She still wore her standard long sleeved tunic, and she had a new pair of gloves covering her hands. Her normally wavy hair was tied in a high tail and she wore no makeup, not bothering to hide the deep bags under her eyes.

“Felt I should clear the air before we got moving,” she said, crossing her arms.

I took a moment to marvel at the change. Vivian had been an energetic, bubbly, and often demure woman. She moved with a kind of carefully controlled submissiveness designed to allure and attract. That Vivian was long gone now.

Now Jack stood before us. At least, that’s what Reese had called her. She stood tall with her chin raised as if in challenge and her arms crossed. Her feet just wide enough and slightly staggered to give her a strong base in case she needed to move without appearing aggressive. She made no move to disguise the way her eyes flicked between us and our weapons scattered around the tent with a calculating gaze.

“Sure,” I said, waving for her to go ahead.

She huffed. “Jacqueline Pryce is my real name, but I just go by Jack. Call me Jacqueline or Jackie if you really feel like getting punched in the dick. I’d offer to shake your hand, but as you witnessed last night that might not be the best of ideas.”

I nodded. “Seems like a tough skill to keep control of. Am I right in assuming your entire body does that?”Her eyes narrowed. “More or less. It’s an incredibly powerful skill, but the trade off is that holding a form that doesn’t set everything I touch on fire can be…difficult.”

“Anything we can do to help?” Serena asked.

“I’m handling it,” Jack said flatly.

“Clearly,” I said under my breath, earning a glare from Jack. Her ire amused me greatly though, so I couldn’t find it in me to regret it.

Rhallani moved to stand just behind me, peeking around my arm. “Isn’t it illegal to impersonate nobility?”

“Nah,” Jack said with a wave of her hand. “Viv gave me permission. Saved her from some assholes looking for some ransom money, so she owed me. We look similar enough to get by as long as I’m not dealing with anyone who knows her directly.”

“And are we supposed to continue this ruse?” Tiana asked coolly, her brow arched.

“Fuck no.” Jack shuddered. “If I have to spend another day acting like an airhead, I’m going to lose my shit. Besides, this dickwaffle is the only one I really cared about deceiving anyways,” she said, gesturing at me.

Dickwaffle? I resisted the urge to laugh, but not very well. She turned her amber eyes on me, then shook her head. “I can’t believe I missed it. I knew I fucked up a couple of times, which is supremely unlike me, but your behavior never changed. Should have guessed it was because you’d been suspecting me from the start. Asshole.”

The grin fought its way out despite my best efforts. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not overly sympathetic.”

She snorted, but the corners of her lips twitched upwards. “Eat shit. I thought that fuckface Al was gonna out me from how much of a paranoid prick he was being. I’d say I should apologize, but honestly? Fuck Al. Dude needs to get laid something fierce.” This time a smirk did tug at her lips. “Too bad some magic cocked stud is hoarding all the straight women.”

Tiana wrapped her arms around my waist from behind, resting her chin on my shoulder. “Not all of them,” she said pointedly.

I was pretty sure I didn’t imagine the slight darkening of Jack’s cheeks, but whether that was from anger or something else remained to be seen. “As tempting as that is after hearing all the pretty sounds you five make at night, probably not a great idea if you want your boyfriend to retain a working dick. My heart rate increases and I can melt metal, not really conducive to physical relationships.”

Rhallani gasped as if that was the worst fate she could imagine. “Oh you poor thing.”

Jack just rolled her eyes. “My sexual frustrations are not the point of this conversation.”

“Then what is the point?” Tiana asked. “Unless you’re here to tell us why you were spying on Ren.”Jack perked up a little, and I just knew it was because she was rising to the challenge in Tiana’s voice. “You gonna tell me why two gods wanted to have a chat with your boy toy?”

My girls froze, but I just laughed. From the sparkle in Jack’s eyes, that was the right answer. “That depends, I guess,” I told her. “How much have you puzzled out?”

She didn’t answer right away, but when I raised a brow she just grinned and rolled her shoulders. “Zaren Nocht, heir to the Nocht fortune that’s sat untouched since the Zaren Nocht vanished into thin air thirty years ago. Looks similar enough to be his kid, except for the fact that his scars, personality, class, and fighting style are all identical to the admittedly shit records I could dig up on the shadow of the Seven. Clueless about anything recent, aggressively against modern day treatment of demi-humans, and traumatized as shit. You’ve managed to stumble into at least four situations that should have required troops from the capital, which means you’re either really lucky, really unlucky, or you’ve got someone divine leading you by the nose.”

She cocked one hip, her grin widening. “You swing around a crazy powerful cursed weapon that fits all the legends of the original Zaren Nocht. You’ve got the paranoia and hyper awareness of a veteran despite being even younger than me. The exact same age as when the original Zaren first disappeared, coincidentally. All in all, either you’ve got some good ass contacts and are really committing to the role, or I’ve been spending my nights listening to a living legend rail some of the hottest girls I’ve seen in a while.”

“You think we’re hot?” Rhallani asked before I could so much as respond.

Jack barked out a laugh. “Yeah, bunny. When you spend seven years able to look not touch, you tend to notice things like that.”

“Bunny?” Rhallani asked, her nose scrunching.

Jack’s grin only widened. “You sure fuck like one.”

Rhallani’s eyes bulged, and I felt Tiana use my neck to smother her laugh. Even Serena had to hide her smile behind her hand. Rhallani was outraged for about three seconds before she lost the fight with her face and smiled. “Fair enough. Guess we should thank you for making sure this one didn’t end up as Rathum kibble,” she said, patting my chest.

That made Jack’s gaze slide away. “Don’t mention it,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “My cover wasn’t worth anyone getting eaten. I figured I’d have to step in way earlier with how much shit you get up to, but you handled everything up to that point spectacularly.”

“Ah, speaking of,” I summoned the small bit of metal from my storage, “this belong to you?”

Her eyes went wide. “Where in the fuck did you find that!?” she demanded, her body going rigid.One of my hunches was right, then. Tiana and I had run into her that morning because she’d gone out looking for the piece. I tossed it to her, and she caught it easily. “Alice found it near where you took a shot at the Rathum. I was trying to figure out what—”

The words died in my throat as she ripped her tunic off, revealing a dark red bra with runes stitched into the lace. Suddenly I was very understanding of why she kept so much of her body hidden. One look at what she’d been keeping out of sight under her clothes and I’d have found myself heavily doubting her noble story.

Serena had an athletic build. Her muscles were well defined, but her build was still fairly slim outside of her powerful thighs. Jack was…well, jacked. I could see every muscle in her body outlined clearly against her flawless skin. From a six pack that could grate cheese to arms that looked like they could give Safina a run for her money in an arm wrestling contest.

As if they had a mind of their own, my eyes trailed up her body. They took in her abs, the piercing in her belly button, her muscular abs, then slammed to a stop. Not only were her tunics enchanted, but it seemed they were padded as well. They even hid the surprisingly generous chest that strained against the bra she wore.

The bra that was currently tumbling to the ground, erasing every coherent thought I had left as those breasts came into view. Just like that, the theory I thought had certainly been too ridiculous to hold merit was proven true. Her right nipple was completely naked, but her left was pierced by an identical bit to the one I’d just tossed her. The thought that I’d been carrying her nipple piercing around for the last few days combined with her baring her chest to all of us without a care in the world was sending far too much blood southward to hold any kind of intelligent conversation.

Things didn’t get any better when she grabbed the naked nipple and tugged, pinching it with a wince until it hardened enough for her to push the piercing into the nub. Gold and crimson flames rose where she forced it into the skin and a groan slipped past her clenched teeth. As soon as it was in place, a wave rippled across her flesh, changing the skin from fire then back again in the blink of an eye. Her eyes rolled back and she shuddered, then let out a relieved sigh.

“Thank fuck…” she breathed. “You have no idea how much of a pain it is trying to keep my shit on lock for that long. Fucking godsdamned etherwyrms ate my backup set.”

“Am I dreaming?” Rhallani asked, a little drool coming out of her mouth, “because that’s the only explanation I can come up with to explain what just happened.”

Jack just rubbed the nipple, which was smoking slightly, making no move to grab her discarded clothes. “Sorry, got caught up in the moment there. When your main class ability is turning into fire, you learn to get used to nudity. I had to do a lot of jobs before I could afford fireproof underwear.”

I finally managed to break eye contact with Jack’s tits to glance at Rhallani, who I realized was still wearing those spectacles. I recognized the glint in her eyes, and despite the situation it wasn’t because of Jack’s bare state.

Well, not entirely at least.

“I have questions,” Rhallani said.

Jack nodded, bending down to pick up her tunic. “Sure, sure. You want to know how it works?” Rhallani nodded, and Jack threw on the tunic without the bra. She hung the undergarment over her shoulder. “The piercings are all part of a set,” she gestured to both tits and the belly button piercing. “They all form parts of a rune array designed to suppress the nature of my skill so I can actually control it. They’re even geared to draw on my mana while I’m asleep to keep me from burning anything down while I’m out. If a single node on the array gets destroyed or goes missing, the whole thing fails.”

Rhallani gasped slightly, then I saw her eyes glaze over. She’d realized something. Something important enough to go into her focused state. Stepping so that I was flush to her side, I slid my hand into the back of her skirt and pushed one finger against the plug I knew was there. I started pushing the end of the plug in circles to give her skill a boost and a soft moan slipped past barely parted lips.

“But if they’re all nodes,” Rhallani said breathlessly, “then where is the…oh.”

Jack blushed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Amulets fall off, bracelets run the risk of getting damaged, and my extremities always blaze first if I lose control anyways. I went through a couple of different possibilities, but this one was the only one that worked with the way I fight.”

I wasn’t quite sure what I was missing until Rhallani grabbed a fistful of my shirt without looking away. “Zaren, if you love me, you’ll get me a magic butt plug too.”

I blanched, looking at Tiana. She scoffed. “Don’t look at me, the strap was a gift. I couldn’t afford things like that before.”

Jack was grinning again, but Rhallani cleared her throat. “Jack? Thanks for coming to clear the air, but after all that I really need Zaren to fuck the shit out of me and if we wait much longer we won’t have time before the caravan gets moving.”

Jack choked as Rhallani knocked the smile right from her face. “Uh, right. Yeah, no, that’s fair. Guess I have a pretty nice body, huh?” Her cockiness had slipped a little though, and she suddenly seemed uncertain. “Guess I should go tell Reese and Zoey they’re off firewatch for now. You guys…uh…have a good fuck?” She coughed as if trying to clear her airway. “Yeah, I’m gonna go now.” Her movements much more at ease than they had been previously, Jack spun and ducked out of the tent.

The second the flap closed behind her, Rhallani was moving. I braced myself for an impact that never came when she dove, not for me, but for the Jailer’s Blade sitting in the corner of the tent. She hefted it with a grunt, barely able to lift it with both arms, and pushed it into Serena’s arms.

“Zaren!” she demanded, her eyes still a little glazed. “Flip the latch!”

I knew better than to argue when her voice took that tone, and I had the Essence to spare after spending several nights with my girls. “Alright, Serena hold her steady.”

“No, not like that!” Rhallani barked. She reached out and turned the blade so that the flat was facing her, then pulled out a journal. “Okay, now,” she commanded.

Grinning at my feisty little scholar, I put my hands around the hilt and flipped the latch with my thumb. Immediately I felt the connection open, but it was different than it had been before. Rather than feeling like someone was scooping my lungs out of my chest, there was a much smoother sensation of my soul feeding into the blade. Like I was pushing as much as it was pulling, and because of that I had more control over the flow.

The entity in the blade—Ash, I could only assume—woke more slowly than the power the blade contained. They greeted me warmly with a sense of curiosity, clearly confused by the lack of enemies in our vicinity. Like I had with Serena when our Link had deepened, I tried to push my own emotions through the Link between me and Ash. Sure enough, I felt a thrum in the bond between me and the blade, confirming for a fact that Ash was indeed the entity inside.

I sent a curiosity of my own. A desire to understand the blade as well as the entity trapped inside. What I got in return was a wave of happiness and pleasure that made my still-hard cock throb. Ash was apparently very happy that I’d made the distinction between the two, and just as happy that I was holding up my end of the bargain. Trying to understand Ash instead of locking the Jailer’s Blade away in my storage until I needed its power.

Crimson tendrils of smoke snaked up my arm, but it felt more like a caress than it did the latching on of a powerful being intent on sucking my very Essence from my body in an extremely unfun manner. Emotionally, it felt like Ash was running their fingertips along my arm, which was a very weird sensation. Not an unpleasant one, though.

“It’s a fucking node!” Rhallani exclaimed, adjusting her spectacles. “As soon as you shifted the latch, it broke the array and nullified the web. It’s a crazy intricate array, too. There are dozens of nodes embedded within the scabbard. It must be two pieces. An inner array that’s designed to contain the blade and its magic and an outer array to make the blade indestructible, but…” she trailed off, and with some alarm I saw blood dripping from her nose.

Ash mirrored the panic that raced through my veins, and suddenly those crimson tendrils had latched onto my arm with a force that made me wince. They yanked me forward, slamming the blade back into the scabbard fully, and I felt their need for me to close the latch.

As soon as I did, Rhallani swayed on her feet. Tiana lunged before she could fall and gently guided her down, but Rhallani wasn’t worried. Blood still ran from her nose and over the wide smile she wore. “That’s another level to me,” she said happily. “Turns out studying runes that don’t exist is a great way to earn experience.”

I held her face between my hands and forced her to look at me. Her focused state was gone, and other than the blood that had finally stopped she seemed fine. “Rhallani, what was that?”

She waved a hand. “Cursed blade, remember? You were the one who told me it would be dangerous, but I’m being careful.”

“This has happened before?” I demanded.

“Zaren, I’m fine,” she promised. “I’ve got a skill that protects me from anything permanent, which means I’m literally the only one who can do this unless we can find someone else who happens to have been gifted to you by a goddess.” She pulled a cloth from her pocket and started wiping the blood away.

“What do you mean, the runes don’t exist?” Tiana asked.

Rhallani grimaced at the amount of blood, but it seemed to be more of an inconvenience to her than anything else. “It’s why I’ve made so little progress. Runes are all based on the same language, which is theorized to be the natural language of magic. Since we’re assuming this blade was forged in an altogether different plane, my guess is that the magic there has a different dialect, if that makes sense. I’m trying to puzzle out runes made in a completely different language that doesn’t resemble anything I’ve ever seen, and my brain isn’t very happy about it.”

She tried to smile reassuringly, but the blood in her teeth really hurt her efforts. “The magic that runs through all of us thanks to the System seems to be somewhat incompatible to this magic from the other plane, but I think I’m slowly building up resistance. It’s why your sword is so harmful to anyone that touches it. On a base level, we simply aren’t compatible with it.”

“So why can Zaren wield it, then?” Serena asked.

Rhallani could only shrug. “I wish I knew. I know he theorized it had something to do with the state of his soul—and I do think that is a factor—but my gut is telling me there’s something else we’re missing, and I can’t even begin to guess what that might be until I know more about the blade.”

I let out a breath. “Every instinct I have wants me to make sure you never look to closely at the blade again,” Rhallani shot me a glare, her mouth already opening to protest, “but, as you’ve pointed out, I can’t expect you to watch me risk my life and keep you from doing the same. Just promise me you’ll be careful?”

She scoffed. “I can hardly unravel the secrets of the universe if I’m brain-dead, can I? Trust me, Zaren, my life is better now than I ever hoped it could be. I’ve got no plans to throw that away.” She washed the blood from her mouth with her canteen. “Now, lose the pants. I wasn’t kidding when I told Jack I needed you to fuck me, and for some reason massive breakthroughs in my research have started making me insatiably horny.” She grinned at me towards the end of her sentence to show me she wasn’t upset by that in the slightest.

I rolled my eyes. “And how exactly is that different from how you normally are?” I asked, undoing my belt. Rhallani leaned back and spread her legs, reminding me that she wore nothing under her skirt. “Normally I want you. Right now I need you.” She licked her lips, her eyes glittering. “Get to fucking, mister, and I might let you have a turn with the others.”

Well, when she puts it that way…

# # #

Other than Jack, who walked with her shoulders relaxed and a glow in her eyes, the day progressed much the same. I had a quick chat with Korey and Pierce to bring them up to date on her situation as I understood it. They were both a little concerned she’d so effectively deceived most of the caravan, but in the end decided that if I wasn’t worried then they weren’t either.

Clouds started to roll in, but no rain fell. The capital loomed ever closer, and we were starting to see signs of civilization again. We passed homesteads and small collections of buildings, but this close to our destination we all agreed to push through without losing half a day to the only inn we passed. By the time we came to a stop, Korey was positive we’d be sleeping in real beds in two days. Three if the weather turned sour.

Camp was set up and our impromptu training began. We hadn’t gone long before we were interrupted, and the cause for the interruption once again had my brain short circuiting. Jack stormed into our little ring we’d set up, and her attire was…

Well, it felt like it matched her personality better than the full body covering Vivian wore.

Her hair was back in its high tail, and her neck and shoulders were completely bare. Her top left little to the imagination. It was little more than a strip of cloth that started below her collarbones and ended a bit below her breasts. It looked like it would hold her chest in place and little else. Her pants were a set of tight shorts that didn’t go far down the thigh and hugged her ass just as tightly as her top did her tits, which meant I got to see that her lower half matched her upper half in its level of fitness. Thighs that looked like they could crush my skull and an ass I could bounce a copper off of. She arrived in a set of unlaced boots that cut off just below her knee, but she kicked those off as soon as she saw me.

“You!” she barked, her finger leveling at my chest. “We’ve got business, you and I.”

I somehow managed to keep my eyes above her neck after my initial surprised appraisal of her outfit. “Oh?” I asked, acting far more unbothered than I felt.

“Yeah,” She rolled her neck. “I want to see what you’re made of, one on one.”

Anticipation rushed through me. “Haven’t seen enough of me yet?”

Her cheeks darkened slightly, but her grin widened. “I’ve seen you dancing around with your girlfriend the past few weeks. She’s fucking excellent for a novice, but I want to see if you can handle me.”

I wanted to know the answer just as much as she did, if not more, but I couldn’t resist poking the smoking bear. “I’m not sure, I think I still might be recovering from the shock that sweet Lady Vivian ended up being such a brute,” I teased.

A soft gasp came from somewhere, but Jack’s eyes lit up. “A brute, huh? Cute. What do you say we make it interesting? A favor to the winner?”

Now that was interesting. “I win and you tell me all about why you’re really here?”

“Sure, if that’s what you want to waste it on,” she said, her feral grin never wavering. “But it won’t come to that.”

I looked to Serena and the others who were watching our interaction with rapt attention. I jerked my head, and they vacated the area. “Terms of the challenge?”

Her grin widened, making me think of a predator baring its fangs. “All out. I know we can both take a beating, and your girlfriend can glue us back together.” She cracked her neck. “I can take whatever you can dish out, big boy.”

I chuckled. “Weapons? Not sure if I’ve got anything you won’t melt.”

“Anri,” she said, turning to where the Erinyes was watching. “May I borrow a sword?”

Anri blinked. “Um, my blades aren’t typically—” She cut off when Jack let one of her hands turn to flame. “Oh. What kind of blade?”

Jack turned to me, brow raised. I summoned a hand-and-a-half blade since it was my favorite. “Just match that one.”

Anri did, and watching her weapon form was a sight to see. Molten lava shot from her palm, twisting into the shape of a rod before condensing, turning into black obsidian shards glued together by molten flame in the exact shape of the sword in my hands. She flipped it and held it out to Jack hilt first, and the fiery redhead took it with an appreciative nod.

She gave it a few test swings. “Lana, if you’d be so kind, make sure I don’t set anyone important on fire,” she said, not taking her eyes off me. I heard a squeak from somewhere to my left, but the blood was already starting to pump in my veins. My fingertips tingled, and I didn’t bother to fight the sense of excitement that was bubbling up in me.

I stuck my blade tip-first into the dirt and pulled off my coat, then my shirt. Jack watched my every move, twirling her blade in anticipation. I heard more than a few gasps as many of the people in camp took in my scarred torso for the first time, but they barely even registered. I was finally getting a glimpse at the real Jack, and the part of me that was more beast than man was very excited by that.

It was just as excited when her eyes flicked down to my chest and she wet her lips. I just shrugged. “I’m running out of shirts, and I’m still wearing more clothes than you,” I pointed out.

She started bouncing on the balls of her feet, which had her generous chest straining against her top. “Extremities go up first when I fight. I have to wear clothes that won’t burn off, and these are the best option.” She shifted so her body was perpendicular to me, her blade behind her and her knees bent slightly.

“Fair enough.” I touched my wrist and conjured a tendril, wrapping it around my blade both to dull it and to protect it against the heat of Anri’s sword.

From the angle she stood, I could see every strand of muscle in her back shifting as tension rolled through her body. “Call it, big guy.”

“Serena?” I said, not bothering with a stance.

A second later, I heard my priestess’s voice say, “lay on!”

She’d barely finished the two short words before Jack and I were crashing against one another. I didn’t start slow or test her defenses carefully. I went at her as hard as I could right out the gate, and she must have done the same.

Jack was right when she called what Serena and I did “dancing.” Moves and counter moves. Fancy footwork. Serena’s biggest strength was her quickness, which meant technique was her best friend. Knowing when to avoid damage and when to push her advantage. Keeping her opponent at the right range for her spear to be used with maximum efficiency. Serena fought like water, fluid and graceful, able to shape to whatever situation that was in front of her.

Appropriately, Jack fought like a wildfire. Her style was raw aggression, every move was either a kill move or setting up for one. Those muscles weren’t for show, either. She was strong. I’d only blocked a few strikes from her before my shoulders started to really feel it, so I had to shift to trying to deflect or redirect her blows rather than stopping them altogether.

Her stance was ever shifting, too. She moved like the flickerings of a flame, in my face one moment and gone the next. Always pressing me, never giving me any time to try and rally. I gave as good as I got though and pushed right back, much to her delight.

She laughed when my blade caught her rib, flames trailing from the cut, and responded by locking our blades in a bind and punching me in the face with her off hand. I shot her a bloody grin and it was on again. I’d sweep her leg and she’d kick my knee out. She’d flick my blade up to slam me with the pommel and I’d throw a knee into her side. She fought dirty, and so did I. It was less of a spar and more of a brawl, and I fucking loved it.

I managed to knock her blade from her hand and she responded by grappling me and throwing me to the ground. We wrestled for purchase, both of us managing to sneak in a few hits in the process, then we were springing away. Whether it was her or I that caused the separation I couldn’t say, but it only lasted a moment. We came back together blade-first and did our damndest to kill one another.

After she’d landed a few blows I was forced to summon more tendrils to shield my skin from the heat of her blade. Another laugh bubbled out of her and she came at me with renewed fury, her grin never wavering. She twirled the blade one handed and her off hand shifted back to flame. She flicked her wrist and birds of flame leapt from the limb. I summoned tendrils of my own to knock them out of the sky, but not before she’d closed the distance and slammed the flat of her blade across my shoulder blades.

I responded by stepping into her, using a tendril to hook her foot and slamming my shoulder into her chest. She went down, but her flaming hand shot out. Fire blasted me in the chest, knocking me away and giving her a chance to roll to her feet. I shot a blunted [Umbral Barrage] and she grunted as the needle-shaped projectiles peppered her, but she responded with another wave of firebirds.

For minutes or hours we went back and forth, using blades and skills in tandem to try and gain the upper hand, but she was easily one of the best fighters I’d ever met. She hadn’t been kidding about her tolerance for pain, either. Nothing I did ever got more than a surprised grunt or gasp from her, and every blow I landed just made the fire in her amber eyes glow brighter.

The end came swiftly. She came at me low before leaping and coming at me with an overhead blow. I caught the heavy strike on my blade, but let my wrist roll so that the downward cut slid along my blade and away from my body. Her expression flickered as momentum carried her within striking range and I lashed out, cutting into her sword-arm.

She hissed and lost control of the arm. It shifted to fire and the blade went spinning from her not-quite-corporeal fingers. I flipped the blade, intending to press it to her chest and force a submission. Too late, I saw the triumph in her eyes.

She surged forward as her torso shifted to flame. Her top burned away and my blade passed right through her chest. With a flourish, a whip of flame shot out of her sword-hand and snatched Anri’s blade out of midair, yanking it back to her hand.

Jack’s torso reformed—now bare—and she crashed into me. Her leg hooked behind mine and we both went down with her on top. Her off hand went for my neck while she flipped Anri’s sword blade-down and thrust it somewhere behind her. My shadows rushed to my throat as her flaming fingers wrapped around it and I felt the heat of Anri’s blade through my pants, meaning its tip was likely between my legs, just blow my junk.

We both panted while she straddled me, her chest heaving and her once-again exposed breasts doing things to me. Her cheeks were flushed red, and her grin was as wide as it had been so far. It only widened more when she felt the evidence of what her chest, position sitting on my lap, and the spar preceding it was doing to me. She rolled her hips once, grinding her core along my length, and her flush deepened.

“Sorry, but this was one fight I wasn’t losing,” she said breathlessly.

“I can see that,” I panted back. “I yield, you win.”

I felt the heat of the blade disappear, but she didn’t take her hand from around my neck. Nor did she make any move to dismount me. “I haven’t fought that hard in a long fucking time,” she said. Then her gaze slid from mine to the flaming hand wrapped around my throat. She shifted it down, running it along my chest. I felt the pressure of my shadows following her touch, keeping the flames that should have been burning me from being anything more than a heat so intense it was just shy of painful.

“Oh fuck yes. I was right. Your shadows…” she glanced to where my sword was. Despite having passed through where her flames were likely the hottest, it was unharmed. “They’re immune to my flames.”

Then a flicker of uncertainty flashed through her battle high and she stood abruptly. Her hands shifted from flame to flesh so quickly even she was surprised, and she reached out to help me up. She hurriedly let go of my hand, but I felt the need to tap her chest just above her breasts and gift her a tendril. After a mental command, it wrapped around her chest a few times giving her about as much coverage as her poor, immolated top had.

She looked down in surprise. A wave of flame passed through her chest and under the shadows, but they were relatively unbothered. She grabbed one in each hand and squeezed. “Fuck that’s cool. It always sucks having to flash the girls at everyone all the damn time when I fight.” This time her expression was less of a feral grin and more of a genuinely thankful smile. “Thanks.”

After weeks of Vivian being a constant source of deception, the rawness in her gaze had me looking away and over the wide eyes and gaping mouths of everyone in the caravan who were still watching. “So,” I prompted, “your favor?”

Another flash and Jack was back. Her smile morphed into a cocky grin. “First things first, put your shirt back on, stud.”

I couldn’t help but return the smile as I did as she asked, then she jerked her head back towards our tents. I saw Serena and Tiana both follow at a distance, an amused expression on both their faces. I arched a brow and Tiana shot me a challenging look.

“Tell your girlfriends to take a breath,” Jack said with a chuckle. “I need your skills, not you.” She glanced back at me over her shoulder. “How much control do you have over those shadows?”

“Depends,” I told her. “If I’m touching it, complete control. If they’re attached to one of the shadow armors I can create I can do the same. It takes focus though, so usually I give them a command to follow until they run out of mana.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Can you command them to follow other people’s command?”

I opened my mouth and paused. “Actually, I’ve got no idea.”

That pulled her to a stop. “Seriously? I figured Rhallani would have jumped on that already.” She turned and pushed her chest out towards me with a grin. “Give it a shot.”

And I thought my harem was bad. Jack was pushing buttons I didn’t know I had. I touched two fingers towards the base of the tendril and gave it a silent command to follow Jack’s orders, mental or otherwise. “Done.”

She looked down at the tendril with a frown. A frown that turned into a delighted grin as the tendril unwrapped—once again freeing her damn tits—then split. Each side of the tendril wrapped around a different breast, spiraling inwards until it was wrapped around her hard, pierced nipples. “Fucking wicked.”

Jack seemed determined to put on a show, so I didn’t bother even trying to look away as they squeezed and twisted against her breasts. “You might be better at fine control than me,” I admitted.

She waved a hand. “Don’t feel bad, I’ve spent the last six years learning how to handle my own flames, and your shadows aren’t too different. How many of them can you have active?”

“As many as my mana allows.”

“Oh really?” Jack licked her lips. “That’s my favor then. As many as you can conjure, all set to follow my orders for the night.”

I raised a brow. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not, but I’ve had to live next to you and your horny girlfriends for the last two weeks, so I’ll tell you anyways.” Her torso shifted back into fire and the shadows sunk into them, drawing a happy gasp out of her. “I was seventeen when this class turned my body into something nobody could touch, and fireproof dildos aren’t exactly something you can just pick up off a shelf, and all my funds have had to go towards the array that keeps me from turning into a natural disaster. I’ve had nothing but my hands to get me off for seven years and I. Am. Horny.”

She stepped close enough that our chests were nearly touching. “So your shadows are going to give me every godsdamned orgasm I can wring out of them between now and sunrise, even if Zoey has to toss me over her shoulder and carry me tomorrow.” She grinned, leaning close enough that all I could smell was woodsmoke and honey. “And if they do a really good job, maybe I’ll be in a good enough mood to answer all your questions tomorrow.”

Gods have mercy, Rhallani was going to have a field day when I got back to my tent. “I’ll be sure to tell them to do a good job. You’ll have to tell me where you want me to place them.”

“How long do they last?”

“Until they run out of mana, which can take all day if they aren’t attacking or blocking. I haven’t exactly put them through such…rigorous tests yet though.”

She flashed her teeth at me. “I’m happy to be your test subject, then.” After that she walked me through where she wanted them. Her hips, the base of her spine, her shoulders, her sides, a few on the outsides of her thighs, and even one on the inside of her thigh. I was pretty sure the last one was just to put me through having to place it, though.

I gave each of them the same command as the first one and she had them all coil around her for now. By the time I was finished, I could see the barely concealed excitement in her eyes. “Great. Thanks. Good fucking fight, can’t wait for the next one at all, but if it’s all the same to you I need to go channel my inner Rhallani for a while.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but she was already gone. I shook my head. This day had been one sucker punch after another, and as much as my head was spinning I honestly couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.

For Jack, hopefully it would bring no small amount of orgasms.