— У меня правильнописание хромает. Оно хорошее, но почему-то хромает...(с) Винни-Пух.
читать дальшеChapter 36- Senses Ensnared by nicola71
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As always, thank you to my readers! I am so glad you are enjoying the story! A very long chapter for you...thank you for all of your support!
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“Shouldn’t you be passed out in bed wrapped around a vampsicle?”
Jason leaned against the door to the kitchen, peeling a banana he must have had in his room, sporting a devilish grin.
“Jason, shush! I’m working!”
It was a little after 9AM and Penelope also wondered why she wasn’t still abed, but here she was, wide awake, energized, and determined to get some things done before her vampires rose for the day. She knew that as long as Asher was dead to the world she wouldn’t feel his overwhelming urges, so she was making use of the time. Jason couldn’t really disturb her, but she liked to tease him. Anyway, she had some idea where the conversation was going to go next.
“I heard that Caleb was needed as a donor for a particular vampire last night. And Travis. And that new tiger, what’s his name, who’s roaming around here now. An acrobat I think.”
Jason came in and gently moved Penelope’s hair to one side to see the fading scar of recent fang marks, “And you too, apparently! Damn, girl!”
Penelope blushed and looked earnestly down at what she was working on, but she couldn’t stop the huge grin that took over her face. Her mind instantly filled with images from the previous night. She and London eventually moved their party to her rooms after he had exhausted her as a blood supply. At one point she begged him to bleed her again, but he had enough sense to know that would defeat the purpose.
In what could only be described as London completely throwing caution to the wind, or totally losing his mind, he threw on his pants, without even fastening them, wrapped her in one of the silk throws and carried her down, back into the belly of the circus. He even called out to Graham who was working the door, and obviously stunned by what he saw, to call for Caleb to meet him at Penny’s room. Ever prepared, London had arranged Caleb and Travis ahead of time, but even they were not enough. Desperate, London practically abducted the nameless tiger from the break room near Center Ring. Thankfully whoever it was had fed vamps before and was totally cool with having the rest of the night off as consolation.
Their final exertion found them tangled in a knot of silk sheets on the floor of the bathroom. Penny never thought she would seriously be waving one of her lovers away, but her body was mostly human, and it was telling her “enough”. London’s last act was drawing a warm bath and using some of the healing and soothing flowers and oils Penny had in her room to soften the water as they bathed away the sweat and fluids that seemed to be everywhere. She fell asleep against him in the water, and she figured he must have dried her off and made the bed up fresh, because when she woke up this morning they were snuggled neatly between clean sheets.
Penelope carefully dressed in the most loose and comfortable cotton yoga pants and long-sleeved t-shirt she had, made her way to the deserted kitchen and concocted a special version of her usual brew of soothing mint tea. She was definitely feeling her body this morning, but also felt herself healing maybe a little faster than she should. This particular tea used a simple incantation to ward off pain and speed healing.
Thank goodness Helene taught me a few things that were actually useful!, she thought.
“Is there something I can do for you, Jason?” Penelope’s voice was tinged with faux annoyance.
He came around to sit next to her at the table and when he finally got a good view of her, he burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.
“What?!”
“Are you sitting on a pillow?” Jason managed to choke his question out without spattering banana all over her.
Penelope sighed hard.
“Jason, isn’t there somewhere you should be? Does no one else get up early in this place?”
When he finally calmed down he smiled sincerely, “I’m sorry, Penny, really I am. But try to see it from my point of view! A few months ago I was fully prepared to buy you a selection of vibrators to take the edge off, and now here you sit, smarting from too much sex. I’m so proud of you!”
He reached an arm over her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
“Ow! Jason, I am working with sharp objects here!”
Penelope was indeed using a very sharp thin dagger to scribe symbols into what Jason assumed was copper.
“I see that. What exactly are you doing?”
“Scribing the charms, you know, the practically useless ones I almost killed myself to learn how to make,” she was still not quite over her stupidity during that little escapade.
“Useless?”
“First of all, they should be carved in silver, but hardly anyone around here can touch silver, so that’s not an option. However, I guess it’s really the symbols that offer the protection, so that part is not so bad. What is bad is that the protection has just about used up all it’s power in this realm.” She continued, her voice full of regret, “Regardless, I’ve made one for all of the guards that surround Anita and Jean-Claude, and all the pommes and tri members, but they really won’t have the same punch they may have had even a few decades ago, and without silver to repel her power... well the best I can hope for is some prior warning in case she tries to invade any of us.” She sighed loudly with frustration, “To add insult to injury I can’t even test that theory because I certainly don’t want the Dark Mother to show up again.”
Jason could sense her feelings of defeat. All that she endured and put Asher through was essentially for nothing.
“Yes, it was all for nothing,” she said softly.
“What?” Jason cocked an eyebrow at her.
“I was agreeing with you, although I wish you hadn’t said it out loud.”
“I didn’t say it out loud.”
They looked at each other with questioning eyes.
“Oh.” Penelope, said blankly and shook her head as if clearing the cobwebs.
“I didn’t think you could read thoughts in that way.” Jason wasn’t frightened, but he was confused.
“I can’t.”
“Oh. Boy.”
Penelope tried to appear unfazed, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Just a fluke, I’m sure.”
Jason was not so sure. He’d been present for enough weird shit the last few years to never brush something off as simply a “fluke.”
“Penny, did you and London release a lot of magic last night?” Jason had felt something, but it was warm and almost undetectable, as if someone was shielding him from feeling it. But he remembered the subtle thrumming of magic. If it wasn’t big, he often disregarded it as Jean-Claude feeding the ardeur at the club, or Anita feeding from Micah or Nathaniel or someone. All normal and virtually nightly occurrences.
Penelope paused, hesitant to bring it up, but yes, a great deal of magic was expended between them. London feared it, but she had reassured him that it was as natural as any other part of their relationship. Once he quieted his fear, he let go a little, and their magic joined together in an intricate dance, like it did the first night they were together. It made her shiver to remember how it felt when he started to let go. There was something vaguely familiar in the sensations, but at the time she wasn’t thinking about it and in retrospect she couldn’t place it. What she did know was that if London ever really opened to her fully it would most likely be mind-blowing. But even with that implication she was resigned to not pushing him. Pushing people had never gotten her anywhere good. She also didn’t think it possible to gain power through London, since they didn’t have the same metaphysical connection that she and Asher had. But she had been wrong about a great many things lately, so she really didn’t know.
“There was some magic, yes.”
“Can you tell what I’m thinking about right now?” Jason asked with a curious look.
Penelope concentrated, but didn’t invade his mind as she knew she could. Always before when she entered someone’s head, she had to focus and have a purpose or a direction. She could never casually read thoughts or emotions. Even then, it was always her own thoughts she planted in another’s mind. It had to be deliberate. This was both a comfort and a curse for her because at least she knew that she couldn’t mess with someone by accident. Of course that also meant that every time she had done this it had been on purpose.
She didn’t want this conversation to continue.
Without looking up from her work she said, “You are thinking about my naked body covered in chocolate pudding. Either that or making a turkey sandwich from leftovers in the fridge. It’s really unclear at the moment.”
“Now look who’s the comedian.”
Penelope carefully put the dagger and copper piece she was working on down on the table.
“So, why are you up so early, Jason? Are you okay?” It was time to redirect.
“Actually, I followed my nose here, and I don’t know why.”
Penelope smiled. She’d hoped for this reaction. It meant she had not lost the one piece of her magic that she loved the most but had not had the occasion to use much in the last several hundred years.
She got up and went to the stove, where a small pot was cooling with several thick towels over the top.
“You could scent this, all the way from your room?” She lifted the towels, and watched as Jason’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he let the banana peel fall to the floor.
“God! YES! What is it?”
“You tell me what it is.”
Jason breathed in deeply.
“Pine needles, and dark rich dirt...freshly fallen autumn leaves, and...and...” he breathed in once again, “this is gonna to sound crazy, but crisp cold air, like the forest on a December night.”
Penelope’s smile was tinged with just a hint of arrogance. She had not lost her touch after all.
“It’s just missing one thing, Jason,” she said.
“What? I think it smells like heaven!”
“You. It needs some of you, because it’s for you.”
“For me?”
“Jason, there is no one here who has been more of a friend to me when I needed one than you. I wanted to give you something that reflected that. I wanted to make you something distinctly for you.”
Jason was absolutely tickled, “You made a cologne for me?” Penelope had told Jason the stories of her childhood, of making perfumes with her grandmother and Lucien, as well as teasing him with her own special scent that she knew he loved, like all of the men in her life.
“Well, after a little piece of you, and some magic, no one else in the world will have it, that’s for certain.”
Everyone had their own particular scent, and that scent was often enhanced by whatever magic that being possessed, as well as the relationship to the one smelling them. When she was a girl, Helene and Lucien had made perfumes and colognes for vampires, who naturally had a somewhat reptilian scent to their bodies. For them, having a personalized scent, one that was tinged with magic, was highly prized, and subsequently very, very expensive. Penelope surmised that this perfume business, among other things, kept her and Julianna in nice clothes and expensive tutors, not to mention purchased the vast array of books and exotic oils that were regularly delivered to her grandmother’s cottage. She smiled a little thinking back on it. When you’re a child you never wonder where the food or horses or servants come from, as long as your day to day life is undisturbed.
Lucien had been an alchemist in life, so the move to perfumer was quite natural for him. Helene had abundant knowledge of flowers, exotic oils, and herbs, as well as the magical ability required to infuse them with whatever the purchaser wished. Aphrodisiacs, of course, were popular among vampires not of Belle’s line but even Belle herself enjoyed perfumes that were powerful and sensual. Scents that would be remembered, particularly by the humans she seduced. It was said that King Louis XIV slept with a scented handkerchief from Belle under his pillow until the day he died.
There were of course, more sinister uses for the perfumes, but not ones that Penelope wanted to admit to at the moment. Lucien and Helene had kept her insulated from that part of their work but by the time she was sent away Penelope had put the pieces together sufficiently enough to understand that the weaker beings on the planet could be completely ensnared by their sense of smell. Ensnared and sometimes destroyed. There was a fine line between court Perfumer, and court Poisoner.With the right combination of magic even a vampire or lycanthrope could be led to their destruction, and not only physically. Poison did not always affect only the well being of the body. The mind was sometimes more delicate, and much easier to ensnare.
“What do you need from me?” Jason was anxious, and thrilled that there would now be an Eau de Jason.
Penelope smiled mischievously. “Well...I admit that I already added a lock of your hair that I pinched from your room a few weeks ago.”
“Pervy, but go on!” He smiled, totally amused that she had been sneaking around his bedroom.
“A drop of blood would make it very powerful.”
“Powerful how?”
“Let’s just say that anyone who is lucky enough to smell this on you, won’t soon forget you.”
Jason’s eyes widened, “Hold on, I don’t need legions of love slaves!” As appealing as the thought was, Jason was too much reminded of what Anita’s ardeur had done to people. He wanted no part of that.
“NO! No, no! Nothing like that, I swear!” Penelope explained, “Jason, you make people smile, you put them at ease and you make them feel good about themselves. These are the traits I love most about you, and so that’s what people will remember. They’ll feel good. Warm. At ease. The effects never last that long because the magic isn’t that strong, but it’s good magic. It will simply enhance the natural power you already have.”
Jason thought about that for a moment. Making people feel good was never a bad thing, even if it was only temporary.
“I’m still not quite sure about what kind of magic you practice, Penny. You seem to have a patchwork of powers, which I know you think are useless, but some of them sure are cool.”
“That makes two of us, Jason,” Penny felt she owed him some sort of explanation, even though she wasn’t all that sure about things anymore. Magic had always been something else for her, something that flowed through her and embodied her, but that was never nurtured. She knew she had talent, and Master Socrates had employed a witch long ago to help her control the magic she possessed, but she never truly learned all that her grandmother could have taught her. Mostly it was guess work on her part, but that’s not something she really wanted everyone to know. As long as it was in control and her mind was clear and focused, her former master didn’t really care too much about fostering her gifts, although he certainly reaped the benefits of her mind control abilities. Where they came from she really didn’t know, only that that particular power seemed to manifest itself after she became his servant. It was most likely an inherited gift, enhanced by the natural magic that was hers. Either way, it didn’t recede with Socrates. After Asher, she never expected it to grow stronger, but now it seemed as though it was.
“My grandmother was a sorceress, of a sort, I guess. She never really taught me too much, although when I first arrived here I thought it was best not to advertise that. You could say that what magic I know was learned by accident. My main gift is the manipulation of thoughts and memories, although I’m not a psychic, if that makes sense. I can’t predict anything, but not to put too fine a point on it, if you told me you hated broccoli I could make you not only eat your way through a truckload of it, but I could make you believe you enjoyed every second of it and always have.”
She stopped herself from saying too much else. Or from adding that she could also bring back his revulsion for broccoli at anytime, thus making eating it the most abhorrent memory he might ever have. That she gave up that much information to him told her that she trusted him more than she thought, but she hoped that he wouldn’t read into it. To her relief, he didn’t, or at least he didn’t let on if he did.
Jason thought about what she said for a moment then he held out his finger.
“Okay. Prick me!”
Penelope smiled, took her dagger and pulled Jason’s hand over the pot. She closed her eyes and muttered a few soft phrases in a language Jason didn’t understand. Then he felt his own power rise to the surface, in a curious but non threatening way. His wolf nosed along the surface of his skin, playfully, and it reached out to Penelope as she drew magic from him.
“You tickle!” she said, as she felt his soft fur as it rubbed against her aura. Besides her small exchange of power with Castor and Pollux this was the first time she had been so metaphysically close with a lycanthrope. The sensations were very new, and very nice.
The magic was small but beautiful, and wolf and practitioner melded together as easily in the metaphysical realm as they did in the physical world. Jason was very good at keeping his wolf where he wanted him, and was being careful not to scare Penelope, knowing that she had very little experience with lycanthropes. Now he knew that his fears were unfounded. His wolf liked her as much as he did, and his wolf especially liked what was magically cooking in that pot.
A soft wind blew up around them, and then it was done. When he looked into the pot, the liquid had changed into a beautiful pale green color, and the scent was even more heavenly than before.
“Done!” Penelope let go of his hand.
“Wow, very cool, Penny. Very cool.”
“You can help me bottle it up, if you like. I made some labels on the computer for them.”
The scene on the label she had made was a snowy forest with the full moon in the background shining down on a silhouetted wolf, gazing up.
Jason’s face changed, “Ah...the master is awake. Can I come back and help you? Wait a minute...he’s coming here, wants to see you.”
“Okay, well, while we wait, grab that funnel and strainer, and let’s bottle this up. I’ll be interested to see what Jean-Claude thinks!”
Penelope and Julianna had spent a considerable amount of time trying to concoct special colognes for Asher and Jean-Claude when they lived together, but they never could find the proper combination for either vampire. Something was always missing, and so they gave up, opting instead for rather generic, although beautiful scents for their lovers. It was something that the sisters had planned to work on, but never had the chance.
Jean-Claude appeared at the doorway faster than either of them expected. He had on his usual black and sable robe, black silk pajama bottoms and bare feet. The robe was untied though, exposing his finely muscled and perfectly pale chest. It was as if he had bounded out of bed and not taken the time to put himself together before leaving his room. Something silently noted by both pomme and practitioner.
“What is that divine, scent? I almost expected to find Richard here.”
Penelope smiled again, “So you thought ‘wolf’ when you smelled it?”
“I thought ‘Jason’, at first, but it was so powerful that I wondered how many others from the pack may be gathered at this early hour.”
“So, you like it?”
“I am drawn to it, as I am drawn to my wolves. To my pomme. It is a very comforting scent for me.”
“Good,” Penelope said, “ I guess that means I haven’t lost my talent for it.”
“Certainly not, I would say. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here. I felt you both using magic as I awoke. In fact, I’m not certain that I was not actually awoken by that magic. It called to me. It reminded me of the night I first found that I could call wolves.”
An unexpected side effect, Penelope thought. I wonder if this is related to my little mind reading?
“Penny made me my own personal cologne. I hope it’s okay that I start using this rather than that French stuff you gave me?”
“But of course, mon lupe! I must admit, I like this much, much better anyway. But, if you could excuse us for a moment, and wait for me back in my rooms, I would like to speak with Penelope, alone.”
Jason shrugged, “Of course. Penny, I can come down and get the bottles later, if that’s okay?”
“Absolutely! I was going to whip up some soap for you as well, if you like?”
“Awesome! Did you write down the recipe? I mean, I’ll probably want more eventually.”
“I never forget a scent once it is made. They are committed to memory, so no worries,” she smiled.
After Jason was gone, Jean-Claude gracefully sat down and let Penny go about her work at the stove.
“I want you to know that my people who work for the media have made sure that today’s papers refute completely all that was reported about you and Asher and London.”
Penelope breathed in relief, “That’s good. Have you told Asher?”
“Not as yet, but I will when he checks in. I thought you would be relieved.”
“I am, thank you.”
Jean-Claude reached across the table.
“You’ve been making charms?” He carefully fingered one of the small copper squares that could easily be worn as a pendant, or attached to key chains.
“For all the good it will do.” Penny kept pouring Jason’s cologne into small clear bottles, and affixing the labels, without looking at the vampire at the table.
“Your efforts will not be forgotten, ma cherie, you risked a great deal and you did buy us some time.” It was a half lie on his part, one he knew she could detect, but just because she could didn’t mean he couldn’t be a gentleman.
“I read Jason’s thoughts this morning.”
She stated it, matter-of-factly, without looking up, as if Jean-Claude already knew.
“I see.”
“Is that all you see?” She turned to him, looking him directly in the eyes, which uncharacteristically forced him to look away.
“What is it you are insinuating, Penelope?”
“That sort of power spike can only happen around here in one of two ways for me, and the first way is across town, shielding himself so completely I can’t feel the slightest twinge.”
“And the other way?”
“Your power.”
“I feed the ardeur when I can. This is nothing unknown to you.”
“True, but from what I’ve heard nowadays everyone gains power when you and Anita feed together, when it spreads outside of your bedroom or when you feed on someone powerful. When you feed from a distance the power spikes are minimal and only you benefit, especially since the women you feed off of at the club are merely human.”
“Someone has been doing her research.”
“You’re surprised?” Penelope folded her arms.
“Continue. I’m interested in your theory.”
“You fed last night, but not at the club.”
“Oui.”
“You fed on London and me.”
“Oui.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“First tell me how you knew.”
The trust she had for him allowed him to get away with asking a question before answering one. Jean-Claude had carved a soft spot out of her heart a long time ago, and she decided not to fight something that would always be a part of her, like it or not.
“I didn’t know until this morning, with Jason. My powers had a growth spurt after Asher and I allowed our magic to run freely throughout each other. I gained the power to create more vivid living memories, and to create dream worlds, which you have also gained the power to enter as our master. I’m sure there are many more things that I could do, that I won’t do. That you have yet to inquire about them is why I am indulging you now instead of being really pissed off that you invaded a very private moment.”
“For that, I apologize. I am not the voyeur...”
“...that Asher is. Yes, I know.”
“I only meant to taste you both.”
“If it’s of interest to you, neither of us noticed, although I can’t speak for when London wakes up. He may have seen a growth in power, however slight.”
“He has not been feeding Anita for many months, so I’m sure you are correct, that he will indeed notice something.” Jean-Claude’s face was blank. He was trying very hard not to sound accusatory.
“I have never forbidden him from feeding the ardeur. I know very well that it’s his gift, and the way his power can grow.”
“But you have not encouraged him either.”
Penelope’s mouth dropped slightly, “are you accusing me of stunting his growth? Of keeping him from gaining power?”
“Non, just saying that he no longer seems to want to pursue his path. His addiction appears to be completely cured because of your love, therefore he sees no reason to pursue the source of his own power.”
Penelope knew this was true. London’s addiction was gone, but his fear of addiction still lingered. The apprehension of magic in general was still gnawing at him everytime they were together, but especially after she had used the sexual energy from him and Asher to reach out to Helene.
That had been a mistake in more ways than one, she thought silently.
But she also knew that London’s potential was great, and that without using his gift that potential may never be realized. The last thing she wanted was to hold him back.
“I have no desire to stop his growth, Jean-Claude.”
For his part, Jean-Claude thought it wise not to tell her that Asher had suggested the feeding. It might put her off of his next suggestion.
“Then help me... help him.” His voice purred with persuasion, even though he knew she could resist most of his powers.
“How?”
“Tonight, let me feed from you both. Let me have a proper feeding, like we used to do. Let me give London what he needs.”
Penelope remembered what that was like. The feeling of being enveloped in warm soft sable, of Jean-Claude’s power weaving it’s way throughout body and mind. Of letting go of everything and denying him nothing. She had been protected from addiction by her ties to her master at the time, but even with that protection it was difficult to not lose herself completely. When London told her of not caring if he died the true death when Belle fed from him, Penelope understood at least part of what he meant.
“You want to be with us both.”
Jean-Claude stilled himself and said softly, “I do not have to fully participate, but I would like to touch London when I feed.”
It was not the whole truth, not by half, but it wasn’t a lie either.
“Would Asher approve?” Penny asked, but she thought she already knew the answer.
Asher was an old vampire, like London, who still retained many of the old traditions and ways of the European courts and so what belonged to them belonged to their master. It was not something that Jean-Claude strictly adhered to, but it was the old way. If the Master of the City wanted to take her to his bed, he could. He would ask Asher because he loved him, and Asher would never deny him anything. But Jean-Claude didn’t run his kiss in that manner. That he was asking their permission at all displayed just how modern he had become.
Besides these facts, Penny had seen glimpses of Asher’s fantasies. Fantasies that included her and Jean-Claude, the two people he loved most in the world. They were fantasies that, although she would love to make real for him, had one too many obstacles in its path. The main obstacle being a short-tempered brunette who carried way too many firearms.
“You know better than I.” Jean-Claude said, flatly.
It was an enigmatic reply, one that made certain he did not give away the fact that Asher had indeed given his blessing already, more or less. Just because he had not specified the actual distance during the distance feed was a negotiable variable to Jean-Claude.
“In that case, ask London. I know that Asher would deny you nothing, but London’s body belongs to him and him alone.”
Jean-Claude was surprised but his face certainly didn’t show it. It also didn’t show the nearly obscene glee that filled his body. Had he fed already this morning he was most certain he would have felt his cock twitch with anticipation. Feeding from London would be wonderful enough, if memory served him correctly, but being close once again to Penelope, was a delectable fringe benefit.
Penelope brought up the inevitable complication, “Will Anita be alright with this?”
“We are not having sex. I am not having sex with London.”
“But I thought you and she had an arrangement.”
Jean-Claude couldn’t help but smile. Yes, an arrangement. One that consisted of him enduring a never ending stream of lovers for Anita, while he made due with touching only those men she invited into their bed. The recent addition of Asher as his lover once again was a delight, but it certainly didn’t make up the difference. He loved Anita more than he had ever loved any woman, but that didn’t mean he liked her all of the time. As far as he was concerned, tonight would be an indulgence that he deserved. She was angry at him anyway, and had made it perfectly clear that she would not be coming to his bed again any time soon. At least not until she cooled off. She had shut him out completely, and he had warned Asher that she may show up at Narcissus in Chains. She gave her word that she would not interfere, even though she was mad as hell that they had made a plan for Narcissus without her. In Jean-Claude’s opinion it was time for Anita to learn that sometimes he simply knew better than she did how to handle a situation.
Perhaps it was this anger at her that prompted him to suggest what he was suggesting. Either way, he didn’t care. He wanted this.
“What we will do tonight will not violate that arrangement. She has already seen me kiss you, and she knows of our past. I will adhere to my end of it nonetheless. Just touching, nothing more.”
Penelope sighed, “Okay.” It was a simple reply that had the same affect on him as a nuclear blast.
“I’ll speak to London when he wakes. Shall I take those to Jason?”
“Please,” Penelope handed him several bottles.
“It really is a most intoxicating scent you have created for him. I won’t be surprised if you don’t get some requests for similar elixirs.”
“I never quite could get yours right.”
“Time, ma belle etudiant, there is time for that.”
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As always, thank you to my readers! I am so glad you are enjoying the story! A very long chapter for you...thank you for all of your support!
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“Shouldn’t you be passed out in bed wrapped around a vampsicle?”
Jason leaned against the door to the kitchen, peeling a banana he must have had in his room, sporting a devilish grin.
“Jason, shush! I’m working!”
It was a little after 9AM and Penelope also wondered why she wasn’t still abed, but here she was, wide awake, energized, and determined to get some things done before her vampires rose for the day. She knew that as long as Asher was dead to the world she wouldn’t feel his overwhelming urges, so she was making use of the time. Jason couldn’t really disturb her, but she liked to tease him. Anyway, she had some idea where the conversation was going to go next.
“I heard that Caleb was needed as a donor for a particular vampire last night. And Travis. And that new tiger, what’s his name, who’s roaming around here now. An acrobat I think.”
Jason came in and gently moved Penelope’s hair to one side to see the fading scar of recent fang marks, “And you too, apparently! Damn, girl!”
Penelope blushed and looked earnestly down at what she was working on, but she couldn’t stop the huge grin that took over her face. Her mind instantly filled with images from the previous night. She and London eventually moved their party to her rooms after he had exhausted her as a blood supply. At one point she begged him to bleed her again, but he had enough sense to know that would defeat the purpose.
In what could only be described as London completely throwing caution to the wind, or totally losing his mind, he threw on his pants, without even fastening them, wrapped her in one of the silk throws and carried her down, back into the belly of the circus. He even called out to Graham who was working the door, and obviously stunned by what he saw, to call for Caleb to meet him at Penny’s room. Ever prepared, London had arranged Caleb and Travis ahead of time, but even they were not enough. Desperate, London practically abducted the nameless tiger from the break room near Center Ring. Thankfully whoever it was had fed vamps before and was totally cool with having the rest of the night off as consolation.
Their final exertion found them tangled in a knot of silk sheets on the floor of the bathroom. Penny never thought she would seriously be waving one of her lovers away, but her body was mostly human, and it was telling her “enough”. London’s last act was drawing a warm bath and using some of the healing and soothing flowers and oils Penny had in her room to soften the water as they bathed away the sweat and fluids that seemed to be everywhere. She fell asleep against him in the water, and she figured he must have dried her off and made the bed up fresh, because when she woke up this morning they were snuggled neatly between clean sheets.
Penelope carefully dressed in the most loose and comfortable cotton yoga pants and long-sleeved t-shirt she had, made her way to the deserted kitchen and concocted a special version of her usual brew of soothing mint tea. She was definitely feeling her body this morning, but also felt herself healing maybe a little faster than she should. This particular tea used a simple incantation to ward off pain and speed healing.
Thank goodness Helene taught me a few things that were actually useful!, she thought.
“Is there something I can do for you, Jason?” Penelope’s voice was tinged with faux annoyance.
He came around to sit next to her at the table and when he finally got a good view of her, he burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.
“What?!”
“Are you sitting on a pillow?” Jason managed to choke his question out without spattering banana all over her.
Penelope sighed hard.
“Jason, isn’t there somewhere you should be? Does no one else get up early in this place?”
When he finally calmed down he smiled sincerely, “I’m sorry, Penny, really I am. But try to see it from my point of view! A few months ago I was fully prepared to buy you a selection of vibrators to take the edge off, and now here you sit, smarting from too much sex. I’m so proud of you!”
He reached an arm over her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
“Ow! Jason, I am working with sharp objects here!”
Penelope was indeed using a very sharp thin dagger to scribe symbols into what Jason assumed was copper.
“I see that. What exactly are you doing?”
“Scribing the charms, you know, the practically useless ones I almost killed myself to learn how to make,” she was still not quite over her stupidity during that little escapade.
“Useless?”
“First of all, they should be carved in silver, but hardly anyone around here can touch silver, so that’s not an option. However, I guess it’s really the symbols that offer the protection, so that part is not so bad. What is bad is that the protection has just about used up all it’s power in this realm.” She continued, her voice full of regret, “Regardless, I’ve made one for all of the guards that surround Anita and Jean-Claude, and all the pommes and tri members, but they really won’t have the same punch they may have had even a few decades ago, and without silver to repel her power... well the best I can hope for is some prior warning in case she tries to invade any of us.” She sighed loudly with frustration, “To add insult to injury I can’t even test that theory because I certainly don’t want the Dark Mother to show up again.”
Jason could sense her feelings of defeat. All that she endured and put Asher through was essentially for nothing.
“Yes, it was all for nothing,” she said softly.
“What?” Jason cocked an eyebrow at her.
“I was agreeing with you, although I wish you hadn’t said it out loud.”
“I didn’t say it out loud.”
They looked at each other with questioning eyes.
“Oh.” Penelope, said blankly and shook her head as if clearing the cobwebs.
“I didn’t think you could read thoughts in that way.” Jason wasn’t frightened, but he was confused.
“I can’t.”
“Oh. Boy.”
Penelope tried to appear unfazed, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Just a fluke, I’m sure.”
Jason was not so sure. He’d been present for enough weird shit the last few years to never brush something off as simply a “fluke.”
“Penny, did you and London release a lot of magic last night?” Jason had felt something, but it was warm and almost undetectable, as if someone was shielding him from feeling it. But he remembered the subtle thrumming of magic. If it wasn’t big, he often disregarded it as Jean-Claude feeding the ardeur at the club, or Anita feeding from Micah or Nathaniel or someone. All normal and virtually nightly occurrences.
Penelope paused, hesitant to bring it up, but yes, a great deal of magic was expended between them. London feared it, but she had reassured him that it was as natural as any other part of their relationship. Once he quieted his fear, he let go a little, and their magic joined together in an intricate dance, like it did the first night they were together. It made her shiver to remember how it felt when he started to let go. There was something vaguely familiar in the sensations, but at the time she wasn’t thinking about it and in retrospect she couldn’t place it. What she did know was that if London ever really opened to her fully it would most likely be mind-blowing. But even with that implication she was resigned to not pushing him. Pushing people had never gotten her anywhere good. She also didn’t think it possible to gain power through London, since they didn’t have the same metaphysical connection that she and Asher had. But she had been wrong about a great many things lately, so she really didn’t know.
“There was some magic, yes.”
“Can you tell what I’m thinking about right now?” Jason asked with a curious look.
Penelope concentrated, but didn’t invade his mind as she knew she could. Always before when she entered someone’s head, she had to focus and have a purpose or a direction. She could never casually read thoughts or emotions. Even then, it was always her own thoughts she planted in another’s mind. It had to be deliberate. This was both a comfort and a curse for her because at least she knew that she couldn’t mess with someone by accident. Of course that also meant that every time she had done this it had been on purpose.
She didn’t want this conversation to continue.
Without looking up from her work she said, “You are thinking about my naked body covered in chocolate pudding. Either that or making a turkey sandwich from leftovers in the fridge. It’s really unclear at the moment.”
“Now look who’s the comedian.”
Penelope carefully put the dagger and copper piece she was working on down on the table.
“So, why are you up so early, Jason? Are you okay?” It was time to redirect.
“Actually, I followed my nose here, and I don’t know why.”
Penelope smiled. She’d hoped for this reaction. It meant she had not lost the one piece of her magic that she loved the most but had not had the occasion to use much in the last several hundred years.
She got up and went to the stove, where a small pot was cooling with several thick towels over the top.
“You could scent this, all the way from your room?” She lifted the towels, and watched as Jason’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he let the banana peel fall to the floor.
“God! YES! What is it?”
“You tell me what it is.”
Jason breathed in deeply.
“Pine needles, and dark rich dirt...freshly fallen autumn leaves, and...and...” he breathed in once again, “this is gonna to sound crazy, but crisp cold air, like the forest on a December night.”
Penelope’s smile was tinged with just a hint of arrogance. She had not lost her touch after all.
“It’s just missing one thing, Jason,” she said.
“What? I think it smells like heaven!”
“You. It needs some of you, because it’s for you.”
“For me?”
“Jason, there is no one here who has been more of a friend to me when I needed one than you. I wanted to give you something that reflected that. I wanted to make you something distinctly for you.”
Jason was absolutely tickled, “You made a cologne for me?” Penelope had told Jason the stories of her childhood, of making perfumes with her grandmother and Lucien, as well as teasing him with her own special scent that she knew he loved, like all of the men in her life.
“Well, after a little piece of you, and some magic, no one else in the world will have it, that’s for certain.”
Everyone had their own particular scent, and that scent was often enhanced by whatever magic that being possessed, as well as the relationship to the one smelling them. When she was a girl, Helene and Lucien had made perfumes and colognes for vampires, who naturally had a somewhat reptilian scent to their bodies. For them, having a personalized scent, one that was tinged with magic, was highly prized, and subsequently very, very expensive. Penelope surmised that this perfume business, among other things, kept her and Julianna in nice clothes and expensive tutors, not to mention purchased the vast array of books and exotic oils that were regularly delivered to her grandmother’s cottage. She smiled a little thinking back on it. When you’re a child you never wonder where the food or horses or servants come from, as long as your day to day life is undisturbed.
Lucien had been an alchemist in life, so the move to perfumer was quite natural for him. Helene had abundant knowledge of flowers, exotic oils, and herbs, as well as the magical ability required to infuse them with whatever the purchaser wished. Aphrodisiacs, of course, were popular among vampires not of Belle’s line but even Belle herself enjoyed perfumes that were powerful and sensual. Scents that would be remembered, particularly by the humans she seduced. It was said that King Louis XIV slept with a scented handkerchief from Belle under his pillow until the day he died.
There were of course, more sinister uses for the perfumes, but not ones that Penelope wanted to admit to at the moment. Lucien and Helene had kept her insulated from that part of their work but by the time she was sent away Penelope had put the pieces together sufficiently enough to understand that the weaker beings on the planet could be completely ensnared by their sense of smell. Ensnared and sometimes destroyed. There was a fine line between court Perfumer, and court Poisoner.With the right combination of magic even a vampire or lycanthrope could be led to their destruction, and not only physically. Poison did not always affect only the well being of the body. The mind was sometimes more delicate, and much easier to ensnare.
“What do you need from me?” Jason was anxious, and thrilled that there would now be an Eau de Jason.
Penelope smiled mischievously. “Well...I admit that I already added a lock of your hair that I pinched from your room a few weeks ago.”
“Pervy, but go on!” He smiled, totally amused that she had been sneaking around his bedroom.
“A drop of blood would make it very powerful.”
“Powerful how?”
“Let’s just say that anyone who is lucky enough to smell this on you, won’t soon forget you.”
Jason’s eyes widened, “Hold on, I don’t need legions of love slaves!” As appealing as the thought was, Jason was too much reminded of what Anita’s ardeur had done to people. He wanted no part of that.
“NO! No, no! Nothing like that, I swear!” Penelope explained, “Jason, you make people smile, you put them at ease and you make them feel good about themselves. These are the traits I love most about you, and so that’s what people will remember. They’ll feel good. Warm. At ease. The effects never last that long because the magic isn’t that strong, but it’s good magic. It will simply enhance the natural power you already have.”
Jason thought about that for a moment. Making people feel good was never a bad thing, even if it was only temporary.
“I’m still not quite sure about what kind of magic you practice, Penny. You seem to have a patchwork of powers, which I know you think are useless, but some of them sure are cool.”
“That makes two of us, Jason,” Penny felt she owed him some sort of explanation, even though she wasn’t all that sure about things anymore. Magic had always been something else for her, something that flowed through her and embodied her, but that was never nurtured. She knew she had talent, and Master Socrates had employed a witch long ago to help her control the magic she possessed, but she never truly learned all that her grandmother could have taught her. Mostly it was guess work on her part, but that’s not something she really wanted everyone to know. As long as it was in control and her mind was clear and focused, her former master didn’t really care too much about fostering her gifts, although he certainly reaped the benefits of her mind control abilities. Where they came from she really didn’t know, only that that particular power seemed to manifest itself after she became his servant. It was most likely an inherited gift, enhanced by the natural magic that was hers. Either way, it didn’t recede with Socrates. After Asher, she never expected it to grow stronger, but now it seemed as though it was.
“My grandmother was a sorceress, of a sort, I guess. She never really taught me too much, although when I first arrived here I thought it was best not to advertise that. You could say that what magic I know was learned by accident. My main gift is the manipulation of thoughts and memories, although I’m not a psychic, if that makes sense. I can’t predict anything, but not to put too fine a point on it, if you told me you hated broccoli I could make you not only eat your way through a truckload of it, but I could make you believe you enjoyed every second of it and always have.”
She stopped herself from saying too much else. Or from adding that she could also bring back his revulsion for broccoli at anytime, thus making eating it the most abhorrent memory he might ever have. That she gave up that much information to him told her that she trusted him more than she thought, but she hoped that he wouldn’t read into it. To her relief, he didn’t, or at least he didn’t let on if he did.
Jason thought about what she said for a moment then he held out his finger.
“Okay. Prick me!”
Penelope smiled, took her dagger and pulled Jason’s hand over the pot. She closed her eyes and muttered a few soft phrases in a language Jason didn’t understand. Then he felt his own power rise to the surface, in a curious but non threatening way. His wolf nosed along the surface of his skin, playfully, and it reached out to Penelope as she drew magic from him.
“You tickle!” she said, as she felt his soft fur as it rubbed against her aura. Besides her small exchange of power with Castor and Pollux this was the first time she had been so metaphysically close with a lycanthrope. The sensations were very new, and very nice.
The magic was small but beautiful, and wolf and practitioner melded together as easily in the metaphysical realm as they did in the physical world. Jason was very good at keeping his wolf where he wanted him, and was being careful not to scare Penelope, knowing that she had very little experience with lycanthropes. Now he knew that his fears were unfounded. His wolf liked her as much as he did, and his wolf especially liked what was magically cooking in that pot.
A soft wind blew up around them, and then it was done. When he looked into the pot, the liquid had changed into a beautiful pale green color, and the scent was even more heavenly than before.
“Done!” Penelope let go of his hand.
“Wow, very cool, Penny. Very cool.”
“You can help me bottle it up, if you like. I made some labels on the computer for them.”
The scene on the label she had made was a snowy forest with the full moon in the background shining down on a silhouetted wolf, gazing up.
Jason’s face changed, “Ah...the master is awake. Can I come back and help you? Wait a minute...he’s coming here, wants to see you.”
“Okay, well, while we wait, grab that funnel and strainer, and let’s bottle this up. I’ll be interested to see what Jean-Claude thinks!”
Penelope and Julianna had spent a considerable amount of time trying to concoct special colognes for Asher and Jean-Claude when they lived together, but they never could find the proper combination for either vampire. Something was always missing, and so they gave up, opting instead for rather generic, although beautiful scents for their lovers. It was something that the sisters had planned to work on, but never had the chance.
Jean-Claude appeared at the doorway faster than either of them expected. He had on his usual black and sable robe, black silk pajama bottoms and bare feet. The robe was untied though, exposing his finely muscled and perfectly pale chest. It was as if he had bounded out of bed and not taken the time to put himself together before leaving his room. Something silently noted by both pomme and practitioner.
“What is that divine, scent? I almost expected to find Richard here.”
Penelope smiled again, “So you thought ‘wolf’ when you smelled it?”
“I thought ‘Jason’, at first, but it was so powerful that I wondered how many others from the pack may be gathered at this early hour.”
“So, you like it?”
“I am drawn to it, as I am drawn to my wolves. To my pomme. It is a very comforting scent for me.”
“Good,” Penelope said, “ I guess that means I haven’t lost my talent for it.”
“Certainly not, I would say. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here. I felt you both using magic as I awoke. In fact, I’m not certain that I was not actually awoken by that magic. It called to me. It reminded me of the night I first found that I could call wolves.”
An unexpected side effect, Penelope thought. I wonder if this is related to my little mind reading?
“Penny made me my own personal cologne. I hope it’s okay that I start using this rather than that French stuff you gave me?”
“But of course, mon lupe! I must admit, I like this much, much better anyway. But, if you could excuse us for a moment, and wait for me back in my rooms, I would like to speak with Penelope, alone.”
Jason shrugged, “Of course. Penny, I can come down and get the bottles later, if that’s okay?”
“Absolutely! I was going to whip up some soap for you as well, if you like?”
“Awesome! Did you write down the recipe? I mean, I’ll probably want more eventually.”
“I never forget a scent once it is made. They are committed to memory, so no worries,” she smiled.
After Jason was gone, Jean-Claude gracefully sat down and let Penny go about her work at the stove.
“I want you to know that my people who work for the media have made sure that today’s papers refute completely all that was reported about you and Asher and London.”
Penelope breathed in relief, “That’s good. Have you told Asher?”
“Not as yet, but I will when he checks in. I thought you would be relieved.”
“I am, thank you.”
Jean-Claude reached across the table.
“You’ve been making charms?” He carefully fingered one of the small copper squares that could easily be worn as a pendant, or attached to key chains.
“For all the good it will do.” Penny kept pouring Jason’s cologne into small clear bottles, and affixing the labels, without looking at the vampire at the table.
“Your efforts will not be forgotten, ma cherie, you risked a great deal and you did buy us some time.” It was a half lie on his part, one he knew she could detect, but just because she could didn’t mean he couldn’t be a gentleman.
“I read Jason’s thoughts this morning.”
She stated it, matter-of-factly, without looking up, as if Jean-Claude already knew.
“I see.”
“Is that all you see?” She turned to him, looking him directly in the eyes, which uncharacteristically forced him to look away.
“What is it you are insinuating, Penelope?”
“That sort of power spike can only happen around here in one of two ways for me, and the first way is across town, shielding himself so completely I can’t feel the slightest twinge.”
“And the other way?”
“Your power.”
“I feed the ardeur when I can. This is nothing unknown to you.”
“True, but from what I’ve heard nowadays everyone gains power when you and Anita feed together, when it spreads outside of your bedroom or when you feed on someone powerful. When you feed from a distance the power spikes are minimal and only you benefit, especially since the women you feed off of at the club are merely human.”
“Someone has been doing her research.”
“You’re surprised?” Penelope folded her arms.
“Continue. I’m interested in your theory.”
“You fed last night, but not at the club.”
“Oui.”
“You fed on London and me.”
“Oui.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“First tell me how you knew.”
The trust she had for him allowed him to get away with asking a question before answering one. Jean-Claude had carved a soft spot out of her heart a long time ago, and she decided not to fight something that would always be a part of her, like it or not.
“I didn’t know until this morning, with Jason. My powers had a growth spurt after Asher and I allowed our magic to run freely throughout each other. I gained the power to create more vivid living memories, and to create dream worlds, which you have also gained the power to enter as our master. I’m sure there are many more things that I could do, that I won’t do. That you have yet to inquire about them is why I am indulging you now instead of being really pissed off that you invaded a very private moment.”
“For that, I apologize. I am not the voyeur...”
“...that Asher is. Yes, I know.”
“I only meant to taste you both.”
“If it’s of interest to you, neither of us noticed, although I can’t speak for when London wakes up. He may have seen a growth in power, however slight.”
“He has not been feeding Anita for many months, so I’m sure you are correct, that he will indeed notice something.” Jean-Claude’s face was blank. He was trying very hard not to sound accusatory.
“I have never forbidden him from feeding the ardeur. I know very well that it’s his gift, and the way his power can grow.”
“But you have not encouraged him either.”
Penelope’s mouth dropped slightly, “are you accusing me of stunting his growth? Of keeping him from gaining power?”
“Non, just saying that he no longer seems to want to pursue his path. His addiction appears to be completely cured because of your love, therefore he sees no reason to pursue the source of his own power.”
Penelope knew this was true. London’s addiction was gone, but his fear of addiction still lingered. The apprehension of magic in general was still gnawing at him everytime they were together, but especially after she had used the sexual energy from him and Asher to reach out to Helene.
That had been a mistake in more ways than one, she thought silently.
But she also knew that London’s potential was great, and that without using his gift that potential may never be realized. The last thing she wanted was to hold him back.
“I have no desire to stop his growth, Jean-Claude.”
For his part, Jean-Claude thought it wise not to tell her that Asher had suggested the feeding. It might put her off of his next suggestion.
“Then help me... help him.” His voice purred with persuasion, even though he knew she could resist most of his powers.
“How?”
“Tonight, let me feed from you both. Let me have a proper feeding, like we used to do. Let me give London what he needs.”
Penelope remembered what that was like. The feeling of being enveloped in warm soft sable, of Jean-Claude’s power weaving it’s way throughout body and mind. Of letting go of everything and denying him nothing. She had been protected from addiction by her ties to her master at the time, but even with that protection it was difficult to not lose herself completely. When London told her of not caring if he died the true death when Belle fed from him, Penelope understood at least part of what he meant.
“You want to be with us both.”
Jean-Claude stilled himself and said softly, “I do not have to fully participate, but I would like to touch London when I feed.”
It was not the whole truth, not by half, but it wasn’t a lie either.
“Would Asher approve?” Penny asked, but she thought she already knew the answer.
Asher was an old vampire, like London, who still retained many of the old traditions and ways of the European courts and so what belonged to them belonged to their master. It was not something that Jean-Claude strictly adhered to, but it was the old way. If the Master of the City wanted to take her to his bed, he could. He would ask Asher because he loved him, and Asher would never deny him anything. But Jean-Claude didn’t run his kiss in that manner. That he was asking their permission at all displayed just how modern he had become.
Besides these facts, Penny had seen glimpses of Asher’s fantasies. Fantasies that included her and Jean-Claude, the two people he loved most in the world. They were fantasies that, although she would love to make real for him, had one too many obstacles in its path. The main obstacle being a short-tempered brunette who carried way too many firearms.
“You know better than I.” Jean-Claude said, flatly.
It was an enigmatic reply, one that made certain he did not give away the fact that Asher had indeed given his blessing already, more or less. Just because he had not specified the actual distance during the distance feed was a negotiable variable to Jean-Claude.
“In that case, ask London. I know that Asher would deny you nothing, but London’s body belongs to him and him alone.”
Jean-Claude was surprised but his face certainly didn’t show it. It also didn’t show the nearly obscene glee that filled his body. Had he fed already this morning he was most certain he would have felt his cock twitch with anticipation. Feeding from London would be wonderful enough, if memory served him correctly, but being close once again to Penelope, was a delectable fringe benefit.
Penelope brought up the inevitable complication, “Will Anita be alright with this?”
“We are not having sex. I am not having sex with London.”
“But I thought you and she had an arrangement.”
Jean-Claude couldn’t help but smile. Yes, an arrangement. One that consisted of him enduring a never ending stream of lovers for Anita, while he made due with touching only those men she invited into their bed. The recent addition of Asher as his lover once again was a delight, but it certainly didn’t make up the difference. He loved Anita more than he had ever loved any woman, but that didn’t mean he liked her all of the time. As far as he was concerned, tonight would be an indulgence that he deserved. She was angry at him anyway, and had made it perfectly clear that she would not be coming to his bed again any time soon. At least not until she cooled off. She had shut him out completely, and he had warned Asher that she may show up at Narcissus in Chains. She gave her word that she would not interfere, even though she was mad as hell that they had made a plan for Narcissus without her. In Jean-Claude’s opinion it was time for Anita to learn that sometimes he simply knew better than she did how to handle a situation.
Perhaps it was this anger at her that prompted him to suggest what he was suggesting. Either way, he didn’t care. He wanted this.
“What we will do tonight will not violate that arrangement. She has already seen me kiss you, and she knows of our past. I will adhere to my end of it nonetheless. Just touching, nothing more.”
Penelope sighed, “Okay.” It was a simple reply that had the same affect on him as a nuclear blast.
“I’ll speak to London when he wakes. Shall I take those to Jason?”
“Please,” Penelope handed him several bottles.
“It really is a most intoxicating scent you have created for him. I won’t be surprised if you don’t get some requests for similar elixirs.”
“I never quite could get yours right.”
“Time, ma belle etudiant, there is time for that.”