Simple Things Page 2

  Sean sighed. "Okay, okay. I apologize. No need to bite my head off. But I thought, me being a lion, it would be kind of obvious. Are you always this touchy?"

  "I've been trapped here for over a thousand years," she grumbled.

  "Ouch," Sean said and looked embarrassed, "I guess that would make anyone touchy."

  "Why did you come here? To my home?"

  "Because I had no place else to go? I saw you in a vision, and after I got here, I could tell where you were. So I came here. I had hoped," Sean gave her an accusing look, " you might help me understand what this place is like and help me get back home."

  "And why would I do that?"

  "Damn, you really don't like lions, do you?" Sean said shaking his head. " I thought, oh, I don't know, maybe you'd like to go home too?"

  "Maybe I like it here," she said with a pout.

  "Damn, you're worse than Peg when she's having a snit," Sean grumbled.

  "Peg?"

  "One of my wives. One of my pregnant wives, who I very much want to get back to so I can be there when our daughter is born."

  "I thought you said you'd never met a lioness before?"

  "She's a fox," Sean said, and then smiled, "both literally and figuratively."

  "So who's your father? I don't remember you."

  "Uh uh," Sean said, wagging a finger at her. "Your turn. I want to know what the hell you're doing here."

  Estrella sighed and looked away.

  "I thought if I could learn more about the enemy, it would help us fight them."

  "So you decided to come and live here?" Sean said, surprised. "Wow, that's ballsy."

  Estrella growled and looked back at him. "I got stuck, okay? I was only going to come through for a week or so while the main gateway was open. But I got attacked, the magic item I'd been using to sneak around got broken, and I couldn't sneak back out!"

  Sean held up his hands. "Sorry if I touched a raw nerve there. Well, I'd think that'd motivate you more to help me so you can get the hell out of here."

  "There is no getting out of here!" she growled. "You need permission to even go near an open gateway, they all open on property that's been claimed for thousands of years, and they're all heavily guarded. I thought if I got lucky I might sneak through, but so many of them hate me now." She shook her head. "I'm stuck here."

  "That's loser talk," Sean said with a snort. "So why do they hate you?"

  "Because I've fought and killed some of their toughest leaders. They're afraid of me because they can't beat me, and some of the ones I've beaten never came back. Rule here is by brute strength. Might makes right."

  "Oh, I thought it was because you're a lioness."

  Estrella snorted and then gave him a nasty smile. "Lions have manes; that's why they call me the 'Brown One'. They don't know what I am. But you, oh, all the leaders know what lions look like! You're not gonna stand any chance at all. That's why I don't want you here." She frowned at him then. "Once they find out there's a lion on my lands, they'll all come running."

  "How long do you think we've got?"

  "What do you mean we?" she grumbled.

  "If you think I'm not taking you with me when I go back, you're crazy," Sean said and growled back at her for a change.

  "You can't go back; they guard the gates too well, especially the main one once it's opened. I've tried. More than once! It just can not be done!"

  Sean looked down at her lying on the bed and smiled.

  "But you have something now you didn't have before."

  "What, a lion?" she said snarkily and waved a hand at him.

  "No, you have help. Now, why don't you get up and show me around the house before your people start thinking I really did kill you?"

  Estrella sat up like a shot then. "What did you tell them?"

  "I told them you weren't dead, this was just how we said hello." Sean cocked his head to the side and grinned. "I also let them know, if they told anyone about this or set foot off the grounds, I'd kill them first before I killed whoever showed up, and I didn't want to be disturbed."

  "Oh, great. Now they probably think we're mating in here or something."

  "Well," Sean said with a purr and a wink, "I'd hate to make liars out of all of them."

  "Don't go getting your hopes up!" Estrella grumbled as she stood up. "Let's go see what the damage is."

  "Sure, just one thing before we go outside?"

  "What?" Estrella sighed heavily looking at him.

  "How come I'm not tired or hungry?"

  "Shock, mostly. But this place is different enough, you'll find you don't need to sleep that much. A few hours is usually all it takes."

  "And the hunger?"

  Estrella sighed and looked away a moment. "How many denizens have you killed?"

  "You mean the demons?"

  Estrella nodded. "Yes, them."

  Sean shrugged. "I killed a raseri djevel on the way here, and four bonde."

  "That's why you're not hungry. There's no 'food' here as we think of it back home. You have to eat spiritual energy. You can ‘grow’ things to eat, but it's far easier, and more enjoyable, to eat the energy of another by killing them and taking theirs."

  "Oh." Sean thought a moment. "Does it matter how you kill them?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, what if I set off an explosion that killed someone, or shot them, or used a spell, would it still count?"

  "It would go to everyone around you who survived, I guess."

  "So it only goes directly to you if you kill them?"

  "You get power by damaging them; each time you hit them, you drain them until they're dead." She shook her head. "Of course, if you or I kill them, we get much more power because they can't reincarnate. They don't come back."

  Sean nodded and thought about it. He wasn't sure if he should tell her about the explosion, because he didn't know whether he'd just killed a bunch of her allies or not.

  "Give me a moment to get out of my armor," she said, moving over to what was obviously a rack to hang it on.

  "Need any help?" Sean teased.

  "No! You can keep your hands to yourself," she grumbled, then turned to look at him. "We'll have to find you something else to wear, but keep your armor on for now. Is that fey made?"

  Sean nodded. "My mom was half faerie, so my uncle taught the dwarves how to make it."

  "Your mother wasn't a lioness?" Estrella said, looking a little surprised. "I guess that's why you've never met another lioness."

  Sean watched as Estrella quickly shucked her armor, replacing it with a loincloth, leggings, and a tabard. She was nicely built, he had to admit, though he didn't try to be too obviously looking at her, since she'd look up glaring at him whenever he did look.

  "Follow me," she said and left the room.

  Stepping outside, Estrella nodded to Første, who was standing outside her room with a guard.

  "Summon the others to my chair. We must talk."

  Første nodded. "As you wish, Brune En," he said and ran off.

  Sean followed her down the hallway, having a hard time keeping his eyes off of her butt. He was already a huge fan of women's butts, thanks to Roxy, and he'd learned to appreciate the tail that came out of hers as well. With the tuft on the end of Estrella's, it was equally enticing.

  "Are you watching my ass?" Estrella complained after she glanced back over her shoulder at him.

  "I have a pulse, you know," Sean said teasingly.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Of course I'm watching your ass! Damn, I think yours might give Roxy's a run for her money."

  "Roxy?"

  "First wife," Sean said with a grin.

  Estrella sighed and shook her head, but she couldn't help but smile a little. Not that she'd let him see it, of course. It had been a while since any male had chased after her. Fifteen hundred or so years, to be exact.

  If only he wasn't so damn annoying.

  He did look good in armor though…Estrell
a shook her head; she didn't have time for those kinds of thoughts, or the luxury for the actions that went along with them. This lion had brought some very big problems with his presence here, and she needed to figure out how she was going to deal with them.

  "So where are the gates opening?" she asked, changing the subject.

  "North and South America."

  "Where? I've never heard of such a place," she asked, looking back at him.

  "What? They're the continents to the east of Europe…oh, wait, those were only 'discovered' about five hundred years ago."

  "I know about them," Estrella told him. "They just hadn't been named by the humans."

  "Well, they have been now, and a lot of people live there. Mostly in North America, which is where I'm from. A small city called Reno. I don't know where the one in South America opened; it's not really my concern. The others are dealing with that."

  "How many are with you?"

  "I don't recall offhand, I've got all the lycans in the area organized and more coming in every day from the rest of the country. Course they have to be trained first."

  "I mean lions; who else is there?"

  "Helping me?"

  Estrella nodded.

  "Nobody. It's just me."

  "What?" She stopped and looked at him.

  "I said it's just me."

  " How can that be?"

  Sean shrugged. "Yeah, it's annoying, but apparently they can't spare anyone to help me. I think they don't have as many lycans down in South America as I do up in the north."

  A group of gnashers started to come down the hallway.

  "We'll speak of this later," Estrella told him, then led him into what he guessed was her throne room, or assembly hall, or whatever the hell you called it.

  He noticed the large chair made out of skulls, with a fairly big one at the top.

  "You sit on that thing?" he whispered.

  "It reminds them of who they're dealing with," she growled at him. "And unless you want your skull added to it, I suggest you behave."

  Sean snorted. "My days of behaving ended a year ago."

  "Just..." she sighed, "shut up, please?"

  Sean smiled. "Well, only because you asked nicely."

  Estrella tried not to roll her eyes and went over to sit on her throne. Sean moved over to stand on her right side as her 'people' filled the room. She wasn't sure what to do just yet, but she'd figure something out soon. He was here, and she'd have to deal with it. He'd made it clear he wasn't going away, and when he did leave, he expected her to go with him.

  On the one hand she was annoyed that he thought he could just order her to leave what she'd built here and follow him into what was probably both of their deaths.

  On the other hand, his immediate decision not to abandon her or leave her behind gave her a feeling she hadn't felt in a very long time. In some ways he reminded her of her father, who never abandoned one of his own, no matter how annoying or duplicitous they might be—and some lions and lionesses could be incredibly self-centered.

  At least until her father caught up with them.

  "Everyone, this is Sean," she told them as they stood there and looked at her. "He's very good at killing things, so I would advise you not to anger him. Replacing you is difficult, after all," she growled.

  "May I ask why he is here?" Anden asked.

  "With the departure of Lord Ansigt and his host, I am considering taking one of the hellige points, before he returns or any of the others can secure them. I have summoned him here to consult and help with the attempt."

  "Then why were you fighting?" Første asked.

  "To prove his worth, of course. If I had won, he'd be dead, having failed the test," Estrella said with a nasty smile. "Now return to your tasks, and no one is allowed to leave my lands. No one is allowed to talk to any outsiders without my approval. If others discover I am attempting to take one of the helliges, they will move to stop us.

  "Something I'm sure none of you would appreciate."

  She watched as they all gave nods of assent, and smiled. She knew many of them wanted to quest forth into the hunting grounds, to feed on the beings that lived there. Personally she found the concept both disgusting and immoral, but she would need her fighters behind her if she was going to make this work.

  One thing at a time, she thought to herself, One thing at a time.

  Bravado

  "So now what?" Adam asked.

  "We go meet your girlfriend," Roxy said with a smile.

  "Is she cute at least?" Adam sighed. "And before you say anything, yes, I'm shallow. I think I've already admitted to that."

  "More than once," Daelyn said with a snort as they left the room and walked over to the main house.

  "Oh, don't worry," Roxy said, still smiling. "I've picked the perfect woman for you. Trust me, you're gonna love her."

  "Now I'm worried," Adam said as they came into the living room.

  He blinked; there was a woman there, and wow, Roxy hadn't lied. She was hot, alright. She was tall, about six foot, and had a body like a brick shithouse. He could smell her from here; she was a tiger, Sumatran if he recalled right.

  "Roxy!" Ryla growled. "What's the meaning of this? Why am I here? I have a business to run!"

  Adam didn't even notice the painfully wide smile on Roxy's face, or the ones on Daelyn, Cali, or the rest of Sean's wives who were waiting in the room.

  "Adam, this your new girlfriend Ryla."

  "Girlfriend? What the hell, Roxy! I'm not just some..." Ryla shut up suddenly, as there was a very large and very handsome werelion standing before her.

  "Slut?" Adam said with a grin, then grabbed her and kissed her. Oh, he knew the type, her clothing and the attitude confirmed it.

  "I'm not a slut!" Ryla protested.

  "Yeah, and neither am I," Adam said with a soft laugh as he pulled her closer and kissed her again, hard.

  Ryla shifted into her hybrid form, and damn it all if the lion didn't start to purr. Loudly. Then his hands started doing things.

  "Damn it," she panted when he let her come up for air.

  Adam looked over at Roxy and smiled. "Thanks, Rox. I owe you one. She's perfect."

  "Perfect! Perfect for what?" Ryla growled.

  "Simple. I need a 'girlfriend', or everyone will think I'm banging Sean's wives. But why would I do that when I have you?" he purred.

  Ryla worked her mouth, but nothing came out. She had this big stud of a lion all over her, in ways that Sean jerk had never been, and while she knew she should be pissed at Roxy for setting her up, he was big. And handsome. And dragging her out of the room despite her protests.

  "Where are we going?" she weakly demanded; she hadn't been this overwhelmed since that time Boris' cousin had come through town.

  "To get better acquainted, of course," Adam rumbled happily.

  "And just where are we doing that?"

  "In my bed, where else?"

  "Wait? What? Aren't we going to talk first?"

  "We're talking now, aren't we?"

  Ryla bit her lip, took another look at him, and decided maybe it was time to shut up and go with the flow.

  Roxy and the others snickered as Adam dragged Ryla off.

  "Well, you're right about one thing," they heard her say as he opened the door to his room.

  "Oh? What's that?" Adam replied.

  "You're definitely not going to want them after you've had me!"

  Any further replies were cut off by the door closing.

  "If ever there was a match made in heaven," Daelyn said with a laugh.

  "She has most certainly taken to him, has she not?" Cali agreed with a giggle.

  "Well, now that Adam's out of our hair," Roxy said, still smiling, "we've got some work to do."

  "Iron bullets," Daelyn said.

  "Exactly," Roxy said, nodding. "And let's see if we can find anything made out of steel, or with enough steel in it to matter, while we're waiting on those."

  "So we need to stop
by Sawyer's, as well."

  "Exactly. You and Jo go. The next gate window opens tonight, so I need to stay here and make sure everything's ready."

  They all heard a very loud moan.

  "I think we may need to get that room soundproofed!" Peg snickered as they left to take care of their various chores for the day. As Peg was fast approaching her due date, her schedule, at least, was a light one.

  Jack caught up with Roxy after she'd gotten back to her office.

  "So how'd it go?"

  "Good and bad," Jack told her. "They've got a ton of AP they can send us that works with standard 5.56 rifles, except for one thing."

  "Which is?"

  "Armor piercing ammunition is banned for civilian use by federal law."

  "Well, shit," Roxy swore.

  "General Baker told me the president is preparing to declare a state of emergency, and he'll see if he can use that as an excuse to give it to us. Something about 'calling up the militia'—he kind of lost me there."

  "So when can we get the ammo?"

  Jack smiled. "They're shipping it out to the Guard base next door, should be there within the week. I was figuring, if worse comes to worse, we could just go over there and steal it."

  "I like the way you think, Jack."

  "Thanks," Jack said with a grin, "but," he frowned, "there's one piece of news I don't know whether you'll like or not."

  "What's that?"

  "They're sending us air support."

  "What's wrong with that?"

  "I'm not sure the pilots are lycans."

  "As long as they don't get close, I don't see the problem," Roxy said.

  "I'm worried about us taking casualties from friendly fire," Jack confessed. "It gets pretty messy down there, and they haven't sent us any kind of forward air controller."

  "What's that?"

  "Basically the guy who tells 'em when and where it's safe to drop bombs, and where it isn't."

  "Can't we have one of our people do it?"

  "It's not as easy as it sounds, but the call's gone out for lycans in the military; apparently they're going to send us infantry, armor, and maybe even some artillery."

  "Okay, now I'm starting to get worried. Come on, we need to find Maitland and Chad and let them know what's coming."