Mob sorcery 5, p.76
Mob Sorcery 5, page 76
“It’s also dangerous to have and exactly what we were told not to do,” Fia said. “I’d delete this, but I bet you have it backed up.”
“Uh, sure. Backed up to my cloud, NAS, five other phones—”
Fia stared at Hamelin, then tapped the phone a few times. Hamelin screamed at the wolfgirl and leaped up in an attempt to get her phone back.
Nicki crept up to Vince. “You’re safe, right? In one piece and just tired?”
He nodded at her. “Exhausted, but whole. Everyone made it through. No bisections or trips to the hospital necessary.”
Well, they kind of had a hospital here, but he left that unsaid.
Nicki tackled him in a hug. Her harpy strength threatened to crush his lungs before she loosened her grip.
“Fuck, I was scared as hell for you,” she murmured into his chest. “Last time was different. I wasn’t there. This time… Don’t fucking die, Vince.”
He patted her back. “I don’t plan on it.”
Nina and Gaby pressed against their sides, as if sensing Nicki’s insecurity, and rubbed her back.
But just as he thought it was time to finally leave and let the night end, golden tails called out to him from a gold Aston Martin nearby. He didn’t see the occupant of the vehicle, but didn’t have to.
The girls followed his gaze, and Nina nodded at him.
“Go deal with her,” the lioness said. “We owe her a lot, given how hard she fought. We’ll be here and ready to head home once you’re done.”
Vince walked up to the Aston Martin and the tails vanished inside. A hand patted the passenger seat. He slipped in and the doors closed automatically. Magic thrummed around him and he felt wards activate.
“Sorry, but it’s hard to find a safe place to talk,” Anzu said. Her tails rubbed against him even as she leaned against the driver’s side door and smiled at him. “How does it feel to be a great warrior and defeat a villain like Mei?”
She still wore her bodysuit, including the hole through the chest. Blood caked on the edges of the suit and several other areas she’d been wounded in, yet Anzu looked dangerously erotic in the car’s bright inside lighting. Her luscious curves were on full display, with her underwear easily visible beneath the bodysuit up close, and the blood only accentuated her nature as a dangerous but alluring woman.
“Exhausted,” he said. “Part of me wants to feel like I made a difference, but I mostly feel tired. She can’t come back and mess with us, but I don’t feel anything has changed. Nobody she killed comes back.”
“Revenge is rarely, if ever, cathartic.” Anzu’s smile slipped. “I lost family to her schemes. Lost my homeland and everything I once valued and cherished. Watching you blow a hole through her head felt thrilling, yet empty. It’s a dangerous high to chase.”
“Who has that many people they can get revenge against?”
Her smile turned sharp and she winked, then produced something from behind her, as if from within her tails.
A small white cloth exactly like Momo’s. She unwrapped it to reveal Daji’s egg, then picked it up with her gloved hands.
Vince blinked. “You took it off your sister?”
“No. Momo doesn’t realize it, but I switched out the egg with a fake.” Anzu giggled. “I saw that you weren’t using the fake egg you took off Kaziern and illusioned it to look like the real one. It has your magic all over it, which should be enough to fool Momo until she gets into her atelier and tries to probe for a way to separate you from Daji.”
Cold seeped into Vince. “You knew Momo would take the egg.”
“Leaving the egg in your possession is dangerous and we haven’t come to complete agreement over you. In case she tried to force the issue, I produced a fake to fool her with.” Anzu met his gaze, then leaned forward until her face was only inches from his. “After tonight, I’m utterly convinced it’s a mistake to waste you.”
“Waste me?” Vince balled his fists reflexively.
“You aren’t some foolish human flailing about with Daji’s power who will burn out from it. Twice, you’ve bested Mei. The second time you helped us kill her. Daji won’t even possess you. You’re the exact sort of man I enjoy working with, and who is far too rare for my liking.” She stroked his cheek with her free hand, then her expression turned grim. “But it’s not this simple.”
Anzu leaned back and toyed with the egg in her hand. It rolled around in her palm. Daji still said nothing to him, and he wondered what was going on.
“I can tell she doesn’t like me,” Anzu said abruptly. “We’re trained to avoid touching the eggs directly, but it’s often a risk we have to take. Even when I tried reaching into the egg to scoop up some of her excess power, Daji actively repels me. The inhabitants are supposed to try to encourage those holding them. Surely I can be tempted?”
“I don’t think Daji wants your body,” Vince said slowly.
As if he’d triggered her trap, Anzu smirked at him. “But she does want somebody’s body. I had assumed it would be Mei’s, but she turned that bitch into ash. Then again, I can only imagine how difficult it would be to secure her body with us and the Miuras around, then possess her in secret. Daji’s known for changing the appearance of the women she possesses, but she’d still need time to claim an eight-tail purifier as strong as Mei.”
Shit. Vince had truly fucked up. “It’s complicated.”
“You say that too much.” Anzu gave him an upturned look. “My entire existence is complicated, including my everyday life. Forcing my involvement in this battle was complicated. Justifying how hard I fought, especially with a wound like this”—she pointed at the hole in her chest—“will be complicated. I can handle whatever reasoning you have to let the most famous and dangerous huli jing in history out of her egg.”
“I spoke with Wagner—”
Anzu’s eyebrows shot up. “In person? Did he handle the egg? Alessia Lionetti let him know about Daji?”
He scowled at her, and she smiled apologetically.
“Yes to all three,” he said. “He wanted to confirm Daji wasn’t a danger to… Well, I’m not sure it was just to Alessia. I think he was scared of Daji herself.”
“Lovely. You’re reassuring me already.”
He grimaced. “He went on. Wagner doesn’t think the current Daji is the… true Daji, I suppose. The seals are mostly intact, and he thinks the spirit I’m dealing with lacks the most dangerous elements of Daji.”
“That’s nonsense. Spirits change bodies all the time,” Anzu said. “My former clan had records on Kiyoko that predate its founding, and she’s stayed largely the same, save for the behaviors she gains from indulging her vessel. Evil spirits like Daji consume their vessels.”
“Yes, but how many times has Daji partially slipped out of her egg, only unsealed part of her power, or possessed someone in passing?” he asked. “The egg breaks when she escapes at all, but it doesn’t just trap her power in there, right? It traps parts of Daji.”
Anzu froze. Then loosed a deep breath. “This is Wagner’s theory, right?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck.” She cursed in Japanese and ran a hand through her golden locks. Then she stared at him with wide eyes. “That’s why you want to give Daji a body suddenly. She’s softer now. Still a bitch, given her opinion of me, but nothing compared to the evil she’s described as.”
Anzu winced and glared at the egg. Vince snorted.
“I take it she disapproved of being called a bitch,” he said.
“I got a mixed vibe,” Anzu admitted. “Almost like when my old mentors and seniors chided me. Exasperated and annoyed with me. I can tell she’s an old crone.” The fox smirked, and Vince knew she’d taunted Daji intentionally. “Without Mei, do you have a body in mind?”
He hesitated, and Anzu raised a hand.
“You need training in how to keep secrets,” she said. “That’s a yes, but you don’t trust me to say. I can likely guess who, but I’ll spare you the embarrassment.”
Surprisingly, Anzu held the egg out. Vince tentatively took it.
The moment he touched it, Daji’s voice rushed back into his head. “Be careful. She’s acting dangerously. Don’t trust her.”
While he would normally trust Daji, after recent events, he hesitated. Anzu hadn’t given him a reason to distrust her.
Daji sighed. “I’m not saying to blow a hole through her head, master. She’s scheming, and you’re her target.”
He nodded, which caused Anzu to raise an eyebrow. With Daji’s return, he sent feelings of thanks and positivity toward her. She cocooned his mind in her tails, and slipped into a partial slumber, with one ear open toward Anzu.
“So you did lose your connection with her,” Anzu said. “You acted strangely the second you touched the egg. Curious.” She shook her head. “No matter. I should discourage this, but that would run counter to my goals.”
“Which are?” he asked.
“So wary suddenly.” Her tails wiggled at him, and she held a curled finger to her lips while smiling. “Before tonight, I came to an agreement with Momo about our involvement with you. That meant I’d keep my mouth shut about what I truly wanted. Tonight, I’ve seen enough. I’ll deal with Momo later, but it’s time to tell you what I truly want.”
Vince gulped. “This is what you were going to say before Momo dragged you off in your penthouse, right?”
Anzu nodded slowly. She languorously stretched out one leg and placed it across his lap. He resisted the urge to do anything.
“We mentioned that our plan for Houou’s civil war is to appoint a puppet to control it, much like the Emperors during the Shogunate,” Anzu said. “The crucial element of that plan is there needs to be a shogun, as any organization needs a leader. A naïve person would assume a cross-clan council could take his place, but Houou would be unable to react fast enough to stop other conglomerates.”
“By shogun, you mean a shadow leader,” Vince clarified. “Wouldn’t that be you or Momo?”
Anzu licked her lips and glanced away. “Perhaps. But I don’t think it’s the best idea. You’ve dealt with a few foxes by now. Surely you’ve noticed how… erratic and unusual we can be. Houou consists of clans that once served as warriors and agents for an empire, and our politics was constrained within that sphere. Not to mention most of the politicians died without escaping Japan. This civil war is the result of that nonsense.”
Kiho’s comments about foxes losing themselves to their personal lives came to mind.
“A… fox I know said that a lot of Houou’s foxes are finding their new personal lives are more interesting than their life of duty,” he said.
“Kiho, I bet.” Anzu’s smile showed visible frustration. “Even with an extra tail, she still left me in her dust and explained the issue so succinctly. Yes. We’re losing our purpose. Those foxes vying for power tend to be the foxes who should have it the least. A guiding principle of the clans has always been that the elders with the most influence need to be experienced warriors, agents, or purifiers, which our tail numbers reinforce, but the American corporate system runs counter to that. Plus many of us are tired, and want to relax.”
“I think you want to relax,” he said. “You enjoy being an influencer.”
She shrugged. “To be honest, I can think of things I’d enjoy more.” She bit her lip and looked at his crotch. “But that’s not important… right now. Houou needs a shogun. An external shogun to give us direction and purpose, like we had under Knightsgate. One who doesn’t aspire to great power and to control us, but who understands battle, is willing to act, and is full of conviction.”
Part of Vince knew where this was going.
The other part of him thought he was insane to even think that. His ego needed limits.
So he sat there, dumbfounded and confused.
Anzu pouted at him. “This is the part where you say, ‘You mean me?’”
“… Anzu, until four months ago, I struggled to pay rent as a lowly enforcer doing shitty jobs for Immanuel,” he said. “You’re talking about taking over a fucking conglomerate.”
“You’ve proven you can handle it, and the fact you struggled only proves Quintus Hierum is excellent at keeping secrets.” She ran a finger along his jaw. “Tonight has proven you’re a warrior capable of carrying an aspiring conglomerate to greatness. I need a shogun. Think about it. Perhaps it won’t come to be, but I needed to be honest with you. Lay my cards on the table so you stop questioning my every move.”
Vince bit his lip, and Daji tittered.
“Normally I’d love for a bitch to hand herself and an empire over,” Daji said. “But this is dangerous. Part of me wants to tell you to claim it and add her and so many other foxes to your harem. The rest of me screams that this will end just like my time in China.”
Death, in other words.
“I don’t think trust is the problem anymore,” Vince said, and Anzu perked up. Her tails danced, rubbing noisily against the car interior. “You risked a lot tonight, even after saying you’d hold back—”
“I did hold back,” Anzu said drily. “Nearly regretted it when I got stabbed. Momo and I know more spells, but using them would cause trouble. We also tend toward the assassination side of things.”
“I noticed.”
She giggled.
“I don’t know if I want to run a whole conglomerate,” Vince said. “That’s so far beyond my dreams it’s still hard to deal with. But…”
Anzu waited patiently for him to continue.
“But I’m glad you at least told me,” he said. “When I’m less tired, I think we need to talk about it properly. With Momo in the same room.”
“Ideally with her tied up and ready for cock,” Daji added.
“I’ll try tying her up,” Anzu said.
Vince nearly cleaned his ears out, concerned he got his wires crossed.
“Get some sleep, Vince. I’ll make sure nobody troubles you tonight,” Anzu whispered.
She leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek, then slid over and brushed them across his own lips. Her tongue flicked out before she retreated, a slight blush on her cheeks.
“And thank you for protecting me with your dragon. It was sweet,” she said.
He tried to say something and actually lost his voice. After coughing, he managed to say, “I’ll see you… whenever you drop in to say hello.”
“Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after. I like to keep you guessing.”
Anzu’s mischievous golden eyes followed him as he got out of her car. Her tails waved him goodbye.
The girls waited by an SUV. Nina narrowed her eyes at him and she gave him a good sniff.
“I don’t think you fucked her,” she said. “But that dopey look tells me she kissed you. You’ve always found her hot, and now she wants to fuck you. So damn annoying.”
“She is hot,” he protested.
Nina shoved him inside the SUV, which was the special Diplomat model with the spatially enlarged interior. Fia and Gaby joined them, while Nicki flew alongside the convoy. Hamelin presumably found her own way back to her underground lair.
“Yeah, but this is like a celebrity trying to join in on the fun.” Nina prodded his chest. “It’s unfair competition.”
“I’m pretty sure you can still hold her down while Vince fucks her,” Fia said.
“Bullshit. She could crack Mei’s barrier with a single punch. I’d be the one getting held down and—” Nina said.
Vince tuned them out and leaned back in his recliner seat. At some point, Gaby poured him a drink. The trip back became a blur. He barely even remembered going into his own home. If there hadn’t been a bunch of Lionetti enforcers hanging around his home, he’d probably have forgotten.
“Home sweet home,” he said as he walked through the front door.
A strange sensation washed over him as he stumbled inside, with Nina, Nicki, Fia, and Gaby behind him. Pola squealed from the living room, and rushed out to greet them. Ally crept out as well and stole a hug. No sign of Alessia or Lucia, but he suspected they had messaged him.
The past month had been somewhere between a fever dream and hell. Tonight concluded it.
Mei was dead. Truly dead, without any way to return. Daji remained his, with Juliet’s body ripe for the taking once he dealt with Ceresviel. Houou stood on the brink of civil war, but Vince had allies and knew his position in it.
Problems remained for another day, despite tonight’s hard conclusion. His girls hugged him, cheered for him, and dragged him into his bedroom. Not for sex, but to cuddle.
“Is the bed big enough?” Fia mused.
“I’m more worried about how we all share Vince,” Gaby said.
“I don’t care,” Vince said. “Work something out.”
He collapsed on his bed and ignored the exasperated glare.
Staring back up at them, he stood his ground. Even if he was on his back. “When we talked about solidifying this arrangement, I made it clear that I still wanted a choice. My choice tonight is to sleep and let you girls work everything else out.”
Ally broke down in giggles, while the others sighed.
“That is a choice, yeah.” Fia rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Pola pressed her fingers together. “Um, I think others deserve the bed. You fought and—”
Nina shoved Pola onto the bed, causing her to bark. “Don’t be stupid. Especially as I bet Gaby runs away.”
“Maybe.” Gaby looked away, then shook her head. “No. After tonight… I’ll do it.”
Vince smiled as he watched them argue. Argue over him, of all things. There wasn’t much to complain about, despite how rough tonight had been.
More than anything else, he loved sleeping in a bed he called his own, in his own place. Tails and arms wrapped around him.
Tonight’s sleep would be buffeted by the feeling of a battle well-fought and the loved ones around him. The specter of Mei and even the constant threat of Houou vanished, leaving him more secure than ever.
Tomorrow… Well, Vince planned to celebrate. The future could wait a few more days. He’d enjoy this moment while it lasted.
