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2024-10-29 19:42:56All her life she’d wanted something of her own, something good she’d created that no one else could ever take away. Her logical mind began to nag at her that Keilor and her marriage was that something good, a creation worth saving, but her emotional self refused that logic, bringing the image to her again and again of Keilor’s face when he’d asked if the symbiont could be removed. He doesn’t want you, that other self whispered.
Rejection. Humiliation. Old foes with heavy chains bound her. Days went by as she let them torture her, wallowing in emotional filth until she couldn’t remember what it was like to feel clean and bright and full of hope. Nausea began to plague her, and she didn’t want to eat. The exercise she forced on herself in her attempts to forget Keilor wore on her, and she took to sleepi
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The Charmer 66
He sighed. “We’ll put it down to pregnancy. Breeding woman are known to do all manor of odd things.” She scowled at him, and he smiled, glad to see a return of her spirit.He stood up and carried her to the bed, laying her on top of the quilt and arranging the light blanket folded at the bottom over her. “Rest for a little while. I’ll be back to join you very soon, but first I have to speak to Jayems.” He kissed her. “I won’t be long.”***“I won’t allow harm to come to them.”
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Jasmine scowled and pushed him back. “Are you saying women aren’t taught trades?” she asked, indignant.Sighing, he propped his head on his arm and answered, “Women may learn whatever they choose and are encouraged to do so. It is only that many marry and begin families of their own, and it’s difficult to care for children and work at a trade, too.”“Hmm.” She pursed her lips in thought, and Keilor leaned over to take advantage of her momentary quiet, but she beat him to the punch. “If the baby’s a boy, I suppose you’ll want to stick a sword in his hand and throw him up on a stag as soon as he can walk, huh?”Slightly exaspe
The Charmer 68
By the time they’d watched a weaver working on a tapestry, seen a glassblower create a rose and green swirled goblet, and witnessed a potter at her wheel, Keilor was looking rather peaked, though he never said a word. Taking pity on him, Jasmine suggested, “Why don’t we take a break? I’m starving.”Visibly relieved, Keilor took her hand and led her through the crowd. He chose a restaurant with wide windows and a pleasant odor of sweetness and steaming seafood. Mouth watering, she surveyed the buffet. Mounds of snowy shellfish, swimming with vegetables, orange crustaceans arranged on leaves of kale, and seafood salads in bright red and white radicchio bowls tempted her as breakfast hadn’t. Avoiding the tentacled dish and what looked suspiciously like jellyfish, Jasmine loaded a plate with moist baked fish sm
The Charmer 69
Keilor sat in the chair next to his wife’s bed with his hands steepled against his chin, his eyes closed. They burned from staring at the slow rise and fall of Jasmine’s chest.There wasn’t anything the Haunt medics could do. The symbiont flowed like water through the fingers and instruments that tried to remove it from Jasmine’s arms, and Jasmine thrashed in delirious panic whenever it had been attempted. Finally Keilor had ordered them to stop trying.Rihlia was not much better. Although Jasmine had managed to save her baby, possibly at the risk of her own, she had been badly beaten, and even the natural resilience and speedy healing of her Haunt body could only do so much against loosened teeth, cracked bones and bleeding organs. Jayems stood
The Charmer 70
Jackson did not hesitate, but his answering nod was noticeably curt. In light of that, Jasmine kept her hands to herself, but her circling inspection was no less thorough.“Nice,” she pronounced with approval and then, “How fast does it go?” with a gleam in her eye.“Don’t even think it,” Keilor growled, taking her by the shoulders and steering her away from temptation. “This is Jackson,” he said, planting her firmly in front of the man she had pushed and ignored in favor of his symbiont. “His symbiont saved your life.”Rattled at her lack of memory, Jasmine frowned and unthinkingly asked, “Why?” Keilor’s fingers
The Charmer 71
“My clan will not ally themselves with a parasite-laden pack of humans!” Tor Maphin, one of the assembled Haunt lords, shouted, rising from his seat.Tilus, who was seated next to him, pulled him firmly back down, but his words were no more encouraging. “There has been peace between us for the past fifty years because of our segregation. The Haunt are strong enough to hold our own lands. If you are not, return to Earth.”The Ronin beside Jackson, Armatris, growled. Jackson quelled him with a look.Keilor, who, like Jayems, had said very little until now, said mildly, “Even Haunt band together against a common enemy, or to trade, Tilus.”
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What fun!Jasmine shouted with delight as the cycle took the curve of the practice field with dizzying speed. “This thing rocks!” she yelled, relishing the wind tugging at her ponytail. “Rihlia would kill to ride this baby,” she gloated.“Can’t,” Leo shouted back over her shoulder. “It won’t take Haunt.” She slowed to a more sedate pace, conserving the symbiont cycle’s living strength, allowing it to ‘breathe’. Unfortunately, the slower pace brought the glowering male faces of their small audience into focus. Leo dared only two more passes before she slowed the creature down to park directly in front of Keilor.Knowing
The Charmer 73
By the time he’d removed his pants and dragged them over her quivering thighs, she was in a sweat, and fighting not to twist on the fur, knowing its silky caress on her naked skin would be her undoing.He tossed the pants. Dropping to his knees, he crawled over her, straddling her body, but touching very little of it. Then he parted her thighs with one knee and slowly slid down the length of her.She clenched her teeth at the sensual assault, but a long, tortured hiss escaped anyway. “Patience is not always a virtue,” she rasped, and lunged up, trying to capture his lips. The restraints stopped her a hair’s breadth from his mouth.Cool dark hair caressed her as he teased
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The Charmer 87
Keilor entered the rooms he shared with Jasmine, careful to do so silently. If she were sleeping he didn’t want to wake her. She didn’t need to see him as he cleansed away the blood of battle. It would only upset her.He eased the door quietly shut and paused a moment, listening. Her respiration remained steady and deep, unmistakably that of deep slumber. Satisfaction brought a smile to his face. It pleased him greatly that she would trust him so well.She’d left a light on for him. It was a sweet gesture, and wholly human, for no Haunt would ever stumble in the shadows. Still, the thoughtfulness warmed him. He had a very good wife.It was just as he was finishing his bath that
The Charmer 86
Wounded, she answered, “I said I would, didn’t I?”“Yes.” He kissed her lightly. He lingered, teasing her lips. “You did,” he murmured, distracted.She pulled away, a bit breathless, and demanded, “What about Yesande?”“We will take care of Yesande when she comes,” he reassured her, meaning his warriors and himself, but avoiding an argument by letting her think she would be included. When she still looked troubled, he led her to the couch, sitting down and arranging her on his lap. “I assure you I won’t be taken unawares twice. You’ll be as safe as the Master of the Hunt and a citadel full of soldiers can make yo
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Jasmine winced. Close friendships had their drawbacks.“You don’t take those kind of risks with a baby, Jas, ever.”“I wasn’t thinking of it like that; not then. It was only yesterday that I finally realized that I wasn’t just pregnant, I was carrying a baby.”Rihlia stared at her. “I just know I’m going to be fascinated by this explanation.”Jasmine leaned forward. “The day before last I had a condition. Yesterday it finally dawned on me that my condition was a baby.”Rihlia b
The Charmer 84
Not a bit reassured, Jasmine peered at the huge creature that watched her with smirking and far too-intelligent amusement. “Uh, what happened to Raziel and Isfael, and the rest of the bodyguard?” she croaked through a dry throat. “They were doing a pretty good job, I thought.”His eyes cooled. “Terza has offered to take their place. They will no longer be needed.”Terza yawned, exposing a mouthful of fangs, and licked her chops. She closed her jaws shut with a snap and a small snarl. Her intelligent eyes mocked her new charge’s fear.Jasmine swallowed. They understood each other.
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Jasmine’s eyes got big at that pronouncement. “In that case...”“Done!” Leo answered, and indeed they were swooping back to the roof of the citadel and a pale bunch of men and Haunt.Keilor was one of them.For long seconds he said nothing, simply looked her over, seeking injuries. Finding none, he took her arm in a firm grasp, saying nothing as he ushered her to the lift. His trembling hand said it all.Jasmine cringed and dragged her heels. Opening her mouth seemed like a supremely foolish thing to do at that moment.
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A slight smile tugged at Jasmine’s mouth. “Who are you calling kid, old lady? Surely you’re not ready for the old folk’s home just yet.”Rihlia frowned with mock severity. “I will be if you don’t stop scaring the crap out of me.”“Aw, you’re just feeling feeble from lying around in bed all the time. Why don’t you get up and take a walk with me? It’ll do you good.”Rihlia’s smile faded to seriousness, and she let go of Jasmine’s hand. “I can’t. I’m paralyzed from the waist down.”“What!” Jasmine sta
The Charmer 81
It must have been a doozy of a talk, because when Jasmine next saw Leo, she was not happy. In fact, she was quietly simmering. She tried to discuss it with Keilor, but he had concerns of his own.“Whether she goes or stays matters little at this point,” he said, leveling a stare at his wife across the dining table in their new suite of rooms. “What I want to know is when are you going to start visiting Rihlia again? It’s been weeks, and still you two don’t speak unless thrown together.”All appetite abruptly fled. Jasmine twiddled her spoon as if fascinated with the play of light. “She hasn’t been feeling well.”“All the more reason to
The Charmer 80
The one walk through the marketplace was Leo’s last. Her presence had been scented and witnessed, and now all they had to do was wait.“Seventeen days there, seventeen days back,” Jasmine said, shaking her head. “Unless Yesande has taken up residence in the neighborhood, or unless she’s got someone closer to home keeping an eye on things, you’re going to have to purge the charmer thing, Leo.”Jasmine picked up one of the long sticks that speared the marinated meats and vegetables on the tray nearest her. She moved from the table to the bonfire Keilor had built in the fire pit. The fire was the only light in the darkened and deceptively unprotected garden. Fireflies dance
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“Enough! Jasmine, stop making trouble; Mathin, behave,” Jayems ordered. “You don’t have to worry about any of us making use of the information, Jackson. Yesande is the only one who would desire an army of lust crazed fools.”Mathin glowered at him and slid his gaze back to Leo.Unnerved, her eyes flickered away and settled with determination on her brother. “Do you have a better way to end this, brother? Who will it be next time, your wife, our little sister?”“Uh, Leo,” Jasmine interrupted. “Just so you know, you’re letting yourself in for a pack of trouble with this charmer thing. I do hope you can turn it off as easily as you t
