Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Ikehorn contacted their teammate guarding the back door. “Heathlane.”

“Yes?”

“We have two unknown men infiltrating the house from the front and one waiting in their vehicle. Any activity in the back?”

“All quiet.”

Ikehorn moved to the back door of the van as Deslin checked his gun and spare clips. “I prefer using magic,” the Fae grumbled, and Ikehorn scowled at him as he touched his mic.

“Heathlane, watch the back door. Don’t let them get by you.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Right.”

Ikehorn looked to Deslin who nodded his readiness. The mission leader picked up a small puck-like disk. “I’m going to put a stunner on their truck. That should take care of the driver but if not, be ready.”

Activating his glamor, he chose the plumber disguise to match their van. Deslin did the same then they exited the back door.

The driver of the waiting SUV saw two older gentlemen walking up the sidewalk carrying tool boxes. He watched them for a bit, but they seemed harmless.

As they reached the side of the SUV, Ikehorn activated the stunner’s magnet and tossed it against the driver’s door. The waiting driver had his hand on the window’s edge and took the shock through his body as the SUV stalled. He slumped forward. Ikehorn trotted up the stairs to the front door as Deslin kept an eye on the unconscious brute behind the wheel. Then he joined Ikehorn at the top. They peeked in the door’s window, but the coast appeared clear.

They shared a look then slipped inside, dropping their glamors. There was no need to hide their identities inside.

-=-

“Shit! Roy’s not going to join us. He’s sending some of his people instead. He’s dealing with a potential sleeper agent in his team who knows about Henry,” Sigrid said as she read the text.

Camila frowned, but she understood that Roy needed to deal with that issue first. She wished she’d had time to recharge from Henry. But he was healing so…

Her frown deepened as she realized just how much she’d come to rely on his energy. Never before in her life had one source of food taken on this much significance! Sigrid had questioned her before about her appetite for Henry. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was addicted to his energy. She’d have to hit a nightclub to ensure Human sources still worked for her. That was a worrying thought.

“It’ll be ok. I didn’t use too much energy last night,” Sigrid said, misinterpreting her friend’s expression.

Camila forced the frown from her face and smiled at Sigrid.

They rode on in silence until they arrived at the small apartment building.

Sigrid came out of her daze with a guilty smile. “So, what’s the plan? How do we explain chasing Nate over here?”

Camila smiled. “The truth, or a piece of it. One of the two people reported having been after Nate is on the loose and we heard he was upset when he left the office. We’ll offer them both a safe place to be until they find Chantelle.”

Sigrid’s eyebrows went up. “Where is this safe place?”

Camila shrugged. “With us to begin. That’s what I was hoping Roy would be able to offer.”

“Do we wait for the security team?” Sigrid asked.

Camila shook her head. “No. Let’s go.”

As they walked towards the front door, Sigrid scanned the rooftops and alleys for signs of attack.

Camila knew her friend was vigilant, so she concentrated on what she was going to say to convince the Human to leave her home without raising any questions.

She hoped she was in a reasonable mood.

-=-

“Where the hell were you?!?” Jo yelled at Nate.

He stood helplessly in front of his friend, worried about her current state of mind. She wasn’t acting like herself at all, and he was terrified she’d been harmed. Physically, she showed no signs of injury, aside from slightly puffy eyes from crying. No bruises or abrasions on her petite, curvy body. It was the absence of her usual sunny disposition that was worrisome. He understood she’d been frightened, but his assurances and apologies seemed to be falling on deaf ears. Again, not like her.

Everything he’d heard about this council made him suspect they’d hurt his friend mentally. There was also the possibility that the one who ‘collected her’ hurt her. He was trying to get Jo to tell him what happened to her the previous night but all she wanted was information on him.

“I told you. I met this girl at a club, and she said she had a lead on a job so I went to speak with them but then I heard about Oletha so I-”

“You couldn’t call?” she blurted angrily.

He blinked at her interruption. “I- I told you, I lost my cell. I was trying to make a good impress-”

There was a firm knock on the door, and Nate caught Jo’s twitch and the slightly haunted look in her eyes. He went to the door. “Who is it?”

“Camila Villamor and Sigrid Gunderan.”

Nate opened the door to stare in surprise at the two women standing in the hall. Sigrid was scanning both ends of the hall with her eyes. The hair on the back of his neck stood up to see her on guard in a place he thought of as a haven.

“What- what are you doing here?” he asked.

“May we come in?” Camila asked.

He nodded then stepped back turning to look at Jo who was staring wide-eyed at the two beautiful women entering her apartment. She immediately wiped at her eyes and tried to neaten her hair.

Nate locked the door and made the introductions. “Jo, these are the women who have a lead on the job for me, Camila Villamor and Sigrid Gunderan.” She nodded with a jerky movement.

“Why are they here?” Jo asked nervously, her eyes flickering back to Nate.

Sigrid gave the petite woman a gentle smile and spoke before Camila could. “Our apologies for intruding. Nate made a great impression with us during the interview. When we heard about his troubles with this artist Oletha, we wanted to help. It’s our understanding Oletha’s partner is still at large-”

“CHANTELLE!” Jo blurted loudly, and her eyes rolled back as she began to fall.

Camila blurred across the distance to catch her and gently eased her down on the couch. She scented the woman’s breath. “Someone drugged her, more than one substance.” She gently touched her temples and closed her eyes. A frown crossed her lips. “Someone also pushed a suppression compulsion on her mind. Not too gently.”

Nate snarled, but his anger swung to dread. “Did they damage her?”

Camila smiled and shook her head. “No, I can fix this. The drugs will have to work their way through her system. They will completely flush in a day or two.” She closed her eyes again and began to ease the compulsion from the woman’s mind.

“This Chantelle terrified her in some way,” Sigrid said.

“She’s still alive?” Nate asked.

Sigrid held his eyes and spoke quietly. “There is a good chance of that. A good deal of Henry’s blood was on her mouth. You understand how Siobhan changed when you and she were together? Chantelle may have experienced a larger change. Or she might have drowned, but we have reason to believe that didn’t happen.

Nate looked anxiously back to Jo. “So, why are you two here?”

“We’d like to move the two of you to a more secure location,” she answered.

Nate’s eyes widened. “Which is?”

“With us, until we can get an answer from Roy, who’s dealing with some fallout from last night,” Sigrid concluded.

“I’m going to bring her back to the surface. It was safer for me to remove the blockage and dull the intensity of the memories so they’ll feel hazy and like a bad dream. I don’t want to do more until I hear from her what she recalls from before being drugged. I can blank the memories if her mind can’t find a rationalization to help her accept them but I’d rather not, as a gap often causes obsessive reactions,” Camila explained.

Nate looked at her with surprise. “Am I going to be able to do that?”

Camila smirked. “Incubi talents are more… coercive.” She stood and gestured for Nate to take her spot. “She’ll need the familiar when she wakes.”

He sat on the couch with Jo’s head on his lap while Camila rejoined Sigrid. “Stroke her hair. That will bring her back to awareness,” she said.

He ran his fingers through her hair, and she began to stir. Nate smiled as one slowly appeared on his friend’s lips.

“Mmmm… Bev?”

Nate’s smile faded as he heard her sigh the name. Bev. The woman Jo should have married and grown old with. Instead, Jo pushed her aside to follow Nate’s pattern of one night stands.

It was like a sudden slap in the face. It was clear to him now. He may not have warped Jo’s personality with a physical relationship, but he could no longer deny the truth of how he’d poisoned his best friend’s attitude towards relationships because he needed her. For purely selfish reasons. He’d watched her throw away the one thing he now knew he would never have. He wondered if it was too late.

“Nate? What- what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Jo asked as she looked up at him.

He just shook his head and wiped his eyes as he couldn’t begin to express his remorse for what he’d done to her. He would make it up to her somehow.

Jo sat up and jolted when she saw the two women standing before them. Then the memories slipped back to the surface. “What happened? Did I faint?”

“It’s ok. It happens. You’ve been through a shock? Can you recall what happened to you last night?” Camila asked, prompting her to think back.

Jo frowned. “I got home last night. Someone was waiting on the stairs. Chantelle! The hot model from the art gallery last year! I- she-” A deeper frown appeared. “She grabbed my arm. It hurt! Then she-” Her hand went to the side of her neck. “She stuck a needle in me!” She looked around her apartment. “I- woke up on the couch. The TV was on, and the news was showing the story of that artist and how she was dead on a yacht.”

Sigrid stepped forward and knelt before Jo and held her eyes with compassion showing in hers. “As Chantelle hasn’t shown up on the police’s radar yet, we’d like to put you up in a safer place. You should pack clothes for a few days in a suitcase. Your toiletry items too,” Sigrid suggested as she glanced at the late afternoon rays of sunlight coming in the windows. They needed to get moving. She also wanted to get back to Henry.

Jo looked at Nate, and he nodded to her. She carefully got to her feet and made her way into her bedroom to pack.

Nate stood to do the same in his bedroom but paused when Camila touched his hand.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

“We’ll talk later,” he said and moved to the bedroom.