“Yes, I do.” My gaze shifted from David’s shadow to the group in between the fires. I could see three women, including Naomi, as well as Ben, and another man, who looked to be arguing with Naomi. Every once in a while he gestured toward Ben. “Do you know who they are?” I leaned into David so I could whisper my question in his ear.
He did likewise. “We know their names. The two women are from Austria and Switzerland. One is related to Naomi, although we aren’t sure how; the man is Micah, a biologist from England. The last one we’re expecting is Isaak, a Dane. He’s the leader of the set. We believe he’s been holding Luis somewhere around here, but we haven’t been able to locate him.”
“Are you planning on rescuing your guy from them?”
“Of course. But after we see as much of the tyro as we can—even after almost a decade of trying to find out the truth, we have no idea
why
they are killing random members of the therion community.”
I squatted down on my heels, making myself comfortable for what I feared would be a long wait. And I was right. I spent most of the time watching Ben, not because I distrusted him, but for the simple fact that my eyes were drawn to him. He sat on a cooler, somewhat separated from the others, most of whom lolled around on the blankets talking, laughing, and guzzling beer. Naomi, I was annoyed to see, had evidently forgiven Ben for the shower episode, and spent most of her time hovering around him, touching his shoulders or his arm or head. Twice she leaned down to kiss him, which just made me grind my teeth.
A spike of jealousy ran hot through me when she tugged him onto his feet, then plastered herself against him, both hands on his hair as she slapped her lips on his. Ben’s arms went around her in a loose embrace, which sent me to my feet, my hands fisted, and fire in my eye.
“Steady,” David said, one prohibitive hand on my arm. “I know it’s difficult, Fran, but she’s just kissing him, that’s all.”
“That’s more than enough,” I growled, somewhat surprised to find that I was holding the Vikingahärta. I narrowed my eyes on Naomi as she giggled up at Ben, wiggling herself against him. The Vikingahärta had a good deal of power . . . perhaps I could use that to deal with Naomi. Change her into something fitting, like a slug. Or a cesspool. Or a patch of mildew.
Instantly, I was ashamed of myself. One of the precepts my mother held strongly to, and one that I had absorbed from her teaching, was the threefold law that said whatever I did to others would be returned trebled to me. Although the desire to use the Vikingahärta to bring disaster to Naomi burned in me almost as hot as the anger at seeing her touch him and kiss him and all but jump his bones in front of everyone, despite that, I clung to the belief that to purposely do harm to others was wrong.
Satisfying as all get-out, but wrong.
It was almost an hour before we heard the distant sounds of a car. By that time, Naomi’s group had donned long flowing robes, under which the women squirmed to remove their clothing. The men did likewise, but with much less gyrating.
“Why are they being so modest?” I asked David, standing for a few minutes to get the circulation going again in my legs. “I thought an orgy meant everyone stripped off all their clothes, not wore neck-to-ankle robes.”
“I have a feeling those robes won’t be in much evidence once the tyro commences,” he answered drily.
I made a sour face, looking at the berobed Ben. I couldn’t tell if he had taken off all of his clothes under the robe or left his pants on, and I was irked with myself that it mattered so much. I might have finally decided that I was in love with him, but that didn’t mean I had to be all gaga over him, did it?
Naomi cooed something at him and brushed her hand against his groin.
The Vikingahärta grew hot in my hand as I imagined what she would look like as an octopus with a form of leprous sucker rot, but my lovely fantasy of her tentacles dropping off was interrupted by the arrival of two men, one of whom bore a halogen flashlight.
Naomi’s group greeted them with happy cries, and it wasn’t long before the two men were also clad in long robes.
“Is that your guy?” I asked David. We had shifted position slightly, moving a quarter way down the ring of trees so that we were downwind.
A thin shaft of light pierced the tree next to us, making it possible for me to see David’s face. We both knelt behind a stump, in order to lessen the chances anyone would see a human shape lurking in the shadows. He lifted his chin as if smelling the air. “Yes, that’s Luis.”
“You can smell him?”
“Of course. All the members of my pride have a distinct scent.”
I would have asked him what they smelled like, but at that moment, the new arrival, presumably Isaak, stood in the center of the group and raised his arms to the sky, calling down a general invocation. At the last word of it, he turned to where Naomi was smooshed up against Ben.
I leaned forward a bit, keeping low against the stump, intent on hearing what it was he said.
“We have a full agenda for tonight, so we will get started immediately. Tonight we welcome a new member to the set. Benedikt Czerny, step forward and receive the blessing of the tyro.”
Ben moved into the center of the circle, and just like that, everyone tossed off their robes to reveal a whole lot of flesh in varying colors, covering forms that ranged from skinny to plentiful.
“Moon and stars above,” I said, blinking a couple of times.
“You will welcome our new brother to the set, Naomi.”
Naomi, stark naked, took Ben’s hand and led him over to a central blanket. All the others stood around, evidently going to watch them go at it.
I was on my feet again, the Vikingahärta almost burning my hand, my heart beating so loud I thought Ben would hear it.
David held both my arms, whispering, “Wait and watch, Fran. Please. For Luis.”
I ground off yet another layer of tooth enamel, looking away as Naomi pulled Ben’s robe off. I couldn’t stand not knowing the worst, however, so I looked back and found her gesturing to the jeans he still wore, laughing as she said, “Isn’t that sweet! He’s shy! Don’t worry, my darling. By the end of the tyro, you won’t have anything to be shy about.”
Without further ado, she unzipped his pants and pulled them down.
“Revenge is bad, revenge is bad,” I murmured to myself as Ben reluctantly lifted each foot so she could pull his pants completely off.
She reached for his penis, but Ben caught her by her arms and spun her around, whispering something in her ear. She laughed again, a shrill sound that made the hairs on my arms stand on end, and called out in a loud, clear voice, “Poor Ben hasn’t eaten since yesterday. He doesn’t think he can perform until he does so. Is there any objection to me feeding him first?”
“Make it fast,” the man named Micah called out, fondling the boobs of one of the two other women.
“By all means, don’t let my hunger keep you from celebrating the glory of the set,” Ben said, moving with Naomi to the far end of the area. She twined an arm around him, offering her neck, but he took her hand instead, his head bent over her wrist.
“Clever Benedikt,” David said softly. “He bought himself some time.”
“He can’t feed all night,” I said, watching him and Naomi with many dark thoughts that would have shocked my mother. “Sooner or later he’s going to have to stop, and then they’ll want him to join in the orgy.”
David was silent for a moment. “I can only imagine what you think of me for asking this of you, but I assure you that what Benedikt does tonight, he does for the welfare of my pride. He will not enjoy himself in the least.”
“Do you have a wife? Girlfriend?” I asked him, noting that he was right—the others were on the blankets, rolling around in one big mass of writhing arms and legs. I avoided looking at just what it was they were doing, keeping my attention on Ben.
“No. Why?”
“Because if that was your girlfriend out there about to have sex with someone who wasn’t you, I think you’d have a different perspective on the whole thing.”
He said nothing, but shifted uncomfortably.
“They don’t seem to be holding your buddy prisoner,” I added, my eyes drawn to him when he arched up from where one of the women was bent over him, and howled in wordless ecstasy. “In fact, he seems to be having a pretty good time.”
“So I’ve noticed,” he answered, a hard, flinty edge to his voice.
“I see I’ve arrived a little early.”
Both David and I ducked as two men strode within twenty yards of us, stopping at the edge of the ring of lights. I gaped in openmouthed surprise, then mentally chided myself for doing so yet again. I never used to be the sort of person who stood like an idiot with her mouth hanging open. It must have been Ben’s influence on me. He made me fall in love with him, thereby causing me to become a mouth breather.
Or something like that. I stared in disbelief at the dark-haired man who had appeared when I tried to summon Loki. “What is he doing here?”
David shot me a quick questioning glance, and whispered, “You know them?”
“I know the one. Well, kind of. I summoned him by mistake, but I don’t know who he is.”
“We have had a late start, but you are welcome to join in the celebration of the set,” Naomi said, stroking her hand through Ben’s hair. He was still bent over her wrist, although now I could see he was kissing his way up her arm. A stall tactic, no doubt, I snarled to myself. “Come, my darling. We must initiate you properly.”
She led Ben toward the mass of bodies. He stopped just at the edge of them, looking over at the two men who stood watching the scene. The man I’d summoned had a sneer on his lips. The other man, thin and anemiclooking, shot little darting glances around, as if he was looking for a way to escape. “I don’t perform in front of strangers,” Ben said. “Who are those people?”
“Just a friend of mine and his pet necromancer,” Naomi cooed, sliding her hand down to his crotch. He tried to sidestep her, but she had hold of him so he couldn’t. “Let us partake of the blessing of the set, lover.”
Ben, his brows lowered, glared at the strangers. “I said I don’t perform in front of strangers. Make them leave.”
“They can’t, darling. They are needed for what’s to follow your initiation,” she purred, pulling him down onto the blanket.
I clutched the trunk of the tree so hard my fingernails broke through my gloves. With a snarl, I ripped them off, holding the Vikingahärta tight, sick to my stomach with indecision and anger. I wanted to help David, but not this way. There had to be another way.
“What is to follow? I thought my initiation into the set was the highlight of the tyro. Now you tell me it’s not?” Ben’s voice was filled with arrogance and hauteur, and for a moment I smiled at it. The arrogance, yes, that was him, but he was never haughty, and I knew he disliked being the center of attention as much as I did.
“No, lover, of course your ceremony is to be the highlight,” Naomi said, trying to pull him back when he moved out of her reach. Beyond them, the others were fully engaged in their orgy, little cries and groans filling the night air. “We had an unexpected opportunity to further our experiments for de Marco, that’s all. Just as soon as we’re done with your ceremony, we’ll get on with the experiment, and then he will leave and it will be just us again.”
De Marco? The name rang in my head like a bell. What had he to do with this?
“I do not like how I have been shoved aside for another,” Ben said, getting to his feet, and to my intense relief, snatching up his jeans and pulling them on. “I will not have it. I am a Dark One, not some mortal you can appease with a little sex and then set aside.”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed on him. “Benedikt, you are important to us. But you cannot be one of us unless you complete the ceremony.”
He glared at the man I had summoned, and insight hit me with a flash. Was that de Marco? The man who’d had a baby with my mother?
“I will not be treated in this manner!” Ben snapped. “Obviously, you have some reservations about my involvement, or you would not delegate me to such a lowly status. Until such time as you realize my true value, I will find something else to occupy my time.”
Ben’s performance drove speculation about the mysterious de Marco from my mind. I wanted to cheer him, and kiss him, and lick every square inch of his delicious body. And then I would make him fall in love with me, so we could live together happily, and he would be safe from the wiles of smut-mistresses like Naomi.
“I think, perhaps, it is you who have reservations,” Naomi said slowly, getting to her feet. She had her back to me as she faced Ben, so I couldn’t see her face, but her body language made it clear she was no longer in sex kitten mode. “It is that damned Beloved of yours, isn’t it? She’s leading you around by your cock. I knew I should have taken care of her when I had the chance.”
Ben gave her one of his haughtiest looks. “No woman leads me, Naomi.
No
woman.”
“Such a shame.” She ran her hand down his bare chest. He stepped back. “You had such potential, too. Isaak?”
I had been ignoring the orgy in order to concentrate on Ben, but when I glanced back, I was surprised to notice that everyone appeared to be finished with their lechery. They lolled around in attitudes of limp exhaustion, their bodies draped over each other with apparent abandon. At Naomi’s call, Isaak pushed Luis’s legs off his stomach and got up.
“I believe in addition to our scheduled event, we have an extraordinary opportunity at hand.” She smiled at Isaak before gesturing at Ben. “Our friend here seems to prefer his Beloved to us. De Marco, have you ever tried a Dark One?”
“Uh-oh,” I whispered, my stomach tightening. “I think things have gone wrong. Not that they were right to begin with.”
“Yes,” David said slowly, his gaze moving from person to person. “I suspect you’re correct. Are you armed?”