Outside of Trayrock, Present Time“I’m not sure that I like rabbit,” Aislen admitted as she sucked down the second one that she’d caught. “The blood is watery. It’s like the dieter’s version of blood. And,” she paused to pick fur from between her teeth. “The fur gets stuck between your teeth.”“There are worse animals,” Talen said with the certainty of experience as he tidied their kill pile.“Like what?” Heath asked - as much to keep the conversation going as out of curiosity.“Bear,” Talen said without hesitation. “The taste is not so bad, but the smell…” He pulled a face. “If you catch them after hibernation, they’re slow, skinny, and rank, but even on a good day, there is something about the odor and getting your face right into it…”Aislen made a gagging noise.“Precisely,” Talen agreed. He too was trying to keep Aislen engaged, Heath thought as their eyes caught. Although she had pulled herself together admirably, she was far from her usual self. Hopefully though, even the diete
Outside of Trayrock, Present TimeAislen knew it was a dream and not an ordinary one. This was one of THOSE dreams, which meant she needed to pay attention.She was not in the aether, and unlike many of the dreams before it, this dream wasn’t full of chaos, smoke, and bodies, that much was clear. She hoped it was another nice dream of the future, like the time she’d caught a glimpse of how the future might be with her mates. She needed another dream like that, she thought, and maybe that was why this one was so peaceful.She was lying in fragrant grass with the sun warm on her face, so bright against her eyelids that even with them closed she saw halos of light. She could hear people’s voices, the activities of every day, but there was a difference… A missing white noise. It wasn’t the only difference. There was also a difference in the air. It was more fragrant in the way of a garden in spring, with all the flowers in bloom and the earth rich and ripe.She opened her eyes and squinte
Outside of Trayrock, Present Time“Did you get some sleep?” Samuel asked Ember in concern as she joined him in the sky. She looked pale and weary.“A little,” she said watching the road below as the human news crews crawled out of the undergrowth they had taken shelter in and began to hobble up the road behind the dozens of other Trayrock refugees. “More than they did,” she added.“It was a cold night to be out with so little,” he agreed. He felt bad for the parents with children amongst them. The children were used to heated homes, TV, and food readily available. The sudden frightening deprivation of everything came as a shock to them, and the uncomfortable sleepless night added to the children’s distress, making it hard for the parents to get their families moving along the road. Many fearful glances were cast over their shoulders towards Trayrock as if fearing that the Mer would come after them.“There is a Mer encampment closer to Havermouth,” Ember cautioned him. “They have vehic
Outside of Trayrock, Present Time“What do you think about what my dad said last night?” Rhett asked Cameron as they hunched over the tap and did a hasty upper body wash, mostly, in Rhett’s case, to wake himself up. The night had not been the most comfortable one he’d spent. Although he hadn’t been cold – which Phillip had been from his restlessness and teeth chattering through the night which Rhett might have enjoyed more if it hadn’t kept him awake and if Phillip hadn’t been strangely reconciliatory in Trayrock – the ground had been unforgivingly hard, and although Rhett was comfortable sleeping with four other people, the lack of privacy had kept him on edge and unable to sleep.If they made it to Havermouth during the day, he hoped for a more comfortable and private sleep in the night coming.“About the Mer?” Cameron didn’t try to act coy. “And our chances?”“Yeah,” Rhett pulled his top back on although his skin was still wet, and the material stuck to him. “And bunkering down.”“
Havermouth, Present TimeSigrid had debated whether to leave Mercy where she lay. If Leighton discovered her missing, there would be trouble. However, she also did not want to risk him moving Mercy to a new location and losing her. She couldn’t have her Triquetra monitor the mortuary constantly – it risked them being discovered, but it also prevented them from being useful elsewhere and there was a lot that needed doing.In the end, she selected a sleeper that had a similar build and coloring to Mercy and switched their clothing, placing the sleeper where Mercy had lain. She hoped that if Leighton came by to check, he would not look closely.She put Mercy in the backseat of a car and drove her to the tidy little house that Tabitha Marie called home. The reporter leaned against the doorframe as she watched Sigrid cross the pretty garden to her.“Doing house calls now?” She arched an eyebrow.Incense wafted out of the doorway along with the murmur of voices.“I need to hide something he
Havermouth, Present TimeAs Sigrid reached the street, she heard screaming. She broke into a run and arrived at the edge of the bridge, where the dragon had landed, at the same time as a half dozen werewolf soldiers. Civilians, caught by surprise and with the very natural reaction of panicked fear by a dragon landing in their midst, cowered back against the shopfronts.“Stand down!” Sigrid yelled as she came to a stop between the soldiers and the furred dragon. She held out her hands, palm forwards. “Stand down, soldiers. This an ally.”“It’s a fucking giant winged wolf,” one of them yelled back. “What the actual fuck?”“It’s Jules Edison,” she told them firmly. “A hybrid.”She felt the current of air moving and the familiar pull of her mates and was not surprised when they ran down the street, a blur too fast for the humans to see, coming to a standstill before her.“Please don’t point your guns at our pregnant mate,” Greg’s polite request was belied by the tightness in his tone and
Just Outside of Havermouth, Present TimeIn hindsight, it was a relief not to have to carry anyone Aislen thought as they took another break, and she braced her hand in the small of her back trying to counter-balance her stomach. Supernatural hybrid or not, running whilst pregnant was no joke and she was struggling to keep up with her mates.The reporters, despite not physically exerting themselves at all in the process, were exhausted from the way they collapsed onto the ground. “It’s like jetlag,” Aislen heard Addison say to Jacinta. “With a side of wind-burn.”“Great for volumizing the hair though,” Jacinta joked as she tried to tame hers back into place.Rhett lit a cigarette crumpling the packet in his hand. “Want to share?” He offered it to Cameron.“No, you have it,” Cameron declined, knowing that Rhett didn’t really want to share, but was still trying to get on Cameron’s good side. Cameron wasn’t in the mood for cigarette’s anyway, his eyes on the sky searching for his father.
Havermouth, Present TimeFor a moment, Aislen’s eyes missed the changes to the main street. She had become used to seeing the town in a state of damage and disrepair. With the Van Helsing invasion, buildings damaged by the storm had never completely been restored to their original states, and windows were still boarded up, and rooves roughly patched – practical rather than aesthetically pleasing repairs. The battle against the Van Helsings had added bullet holes to walls, scorch patches, burnt-out buildings, and stains on the tarmac that were most likely blood, but everyone pretended not to notice.Before they had left for Rideten, the town had been busy, with the civilians taking advantage of being freed to go out after being restricted to their houses for so long, and all pitching in to try to get the town back on its feet. In the aftermath of the disaster, there had been a community spirit which had lead to volunteerism, charity, and sharing of resources. It had felt hopeful, if al
“Mine,” Rhett caught Aislen by the shoulders and turned her, pulling her body flush with his so that he could seal his mouth over hers and steal away Heath’s cum from her tongue. “Hmm,” he said as he eased back and used the tip of his little finger to wipe the corner of her mouth. “Delicious.”“This is going to take some finessing,” Talen said as Rhett stepped away so that Talen could take his place. The big, blonde man very gently stroked Aislen’s hair back out of her face before his hand strayed to the Concordian collar around her neck. He straightened it. “It has been a while since we have done this.”“Done what, Daddy?” She asked him and then gasped as Rhett picked her up and deposited her on the bed, straddling Heath’s hips and facing him. Suddenly the way that he was tied made a lot of sense, the space between his legs made room for someone to kneel between them, and the sex pillow beneath his hips would position Aislen at the right height for a man behind and one in front. “Oh
Aislen’s eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the Playroom with supernatural quickness and she smothered her laughter as she saw what Talen had been up to. The bed had been looped with Christmas fairy lights, tinsel, and red bows that held candy canes in place. As they neared, Talen activated the fairly lights so that the room, and its many sordid toys, flashed and flickered in shades of red and green - as did the two men already on the bed.Cameron wore a body harness similar to her own. It was on full display as he knelt on the end of the bed, his arms tied to the bedframe above his head, and a candy cane tied with ribbon as a gag. Talen, as a nod to the season, had used a red ribbon to tie a bow around Cameron’s cock. Tinsel had been draped around his neck like a feather boa.Heath was stretched out on the bed behind him, his arms spread and bound to the headboard, and his knees bent, heels to arse, and restrained there with ribbon that circled his ankles and looped around his wais
As Heath steered the car back out of Havermouth, Aislen watched the town pass by her window. It was both familiar and foreign, with the influence of the Mer seen in the repairs to the old buildings and the ever-increasing amount of greenery spilling over the walls from roof-top gardens.The way people dressed and interacted on the streets had changed too, with more and more people adopting the toga-like styles of the Mer clothing. Aislen caught a glimpse of Anne Mason talking with a group of tall intrigued looking Mers, and she wore multiple strings of the Mer’s bead and shell necklaces and bracelets as she smiled and gestured animatedly at the street around them.“I wonder what Anne is up to,” she remarked to Heath. “She looks like she’s leading a tour of the town. That’s probably what it is,” she answered herself. “She’d be good at that role.”“Do you miss it?” Heath asked her.“The telepathy?” She knew what he meant. “Yes and no. This is sort of cool,” she used her telekinesis to l
Cameron had baby-napped Gera for a day on the farm with her grandparents Harry and Jules, and so Heath and Aislen were travelling light to Havermouth.“Feels weird,” Heath said what Aislen was thinking. “Not hearing her in the back seat, and not having to lug around the baby bag in case she poops or pukes. I think we should have another.”“What?” Aislen’s jaw dropped. That last comment had come out of nowhere.“Another baby,” he smirked enjoying her reaction. “Gera’s six months old now, and I think we’re ready to add to our family.”“I’m not precisely preventing it,” she pointed out. “I’m not on any contraception, and I’m constantly leaking enough second-hand cum that I could probably repopulate the entire planet with a turkey baster.”“I know,” his smirk became a grin. “I’m just saying, if you were pregnant, it would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?”“Hang on now,” she narrowed her eyes at him. There was something to his teasing. “What are you getting at precisely?”“I’m just saying, yo
Aislen woke to Gera crying. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dark within Cameron’s room. It was night, but she couldn’t tell how far into it from the moonlight that drifted in through the part in Cameron’s curtains. Cameron was well out, snoring into the pillow, and she eased out from under his arm carefully so as not to wake him.Cameron had been working crazy hours, pretty much seven days a week, since the war trying to bring the two farms back to where they were before the storm, and to incorporate all the changes required for farming to be done by Mer environmental standards, which dictated everything from the way the sheep and cattle were treated for parasites through to run off from fields into the river.She stole the robe that hung of the back of his door as she tiptoed out of the room, easing the door closed behind her. Gera’s outrage had softened to gentle complaint which she traced to the kitchen. Heath, in a pair of striped PJ pants, was heating a bottle of blood, w
Rhett and Gera had attracted a horde of admirers in Rhett’s tattoo parlor and Aislen and Heath stood on the sidewalk watching him show off their daughter to his customers through the window, until someone pointed them out to them, and Rhett looked up, still grinning, his eyes bright with joy, and his cheeks heated as he realized he’d been busted.“Just look at him,” Heath scoffed his tone warm with amusement. “Bet he’s lying about doing the night duty all by himself again.”“He does get up a fair bit,” Aislen smiled up at him.“Yeah, but he complains about it like it’s the end of the world, and he doesn’t tell them that,” Heath nodded with his head towards the group saying goodbye to the baby. “I do most of the nights.”“And Cameron the early mornings,” Aislen reminded him.“He’s usually getting up then anyway,” Heath pointed out. “He’s half-rooster, up at dawn to wake us all up.”Aislen smothered her giggles.“What are you laughing at?” Rhett asked as he joined them. “Good timing, by
It was a very unusual Christmas Tree, but that was hardly surprising as it was a very different Havermouth. The new Havermouth Council was made up equally of all members of the community, and the tree represented the unification of these communities. Therefore, the tree had been carefully transplanted into the park, and was draped with bioluminescent strings of seaweed, crowned with a full moon, and hung with antique hand-carved toys and delicate ornaments made of gold and silver wire and what Aislen believed to be real gems, donated from the safes and other treasure vaults of the several hundred vampires that now called Havermouth home.In the old Havermouth, these gem-crusted ornaments would have disappeared within a day, however in the new Havermouth theft was not a problem. The police force included vampires and werewolves, and it had only taken a couple of demonstrations of their tracking abilities for thieves to learn to mend their ways.Aislen clapped along with the crowd as Ty
Havermouth, Present TimeThe journey to the river house was slow. Thanks to Sigrid’s roadblocks and the damage from the Mer. They also encountered many groups of people just standing on the road, talking in confusion. No one could quite understand what had happened, and no one was entirely confident that it was the end.Gera, true to form, had woken wanting to be fed, and so Aislen held the baby in her arms and watched out through the windows as they passed along the river road towards the bridge. “We’re a long way from done,” she said softly.“Yes,” Talen agreed. “But still, I feel as if we are far closer to peace, and I find myself optimistic and excited about the future before us.”“Me too,” Cameron agreed. “But that’s also how it feels when Aislen does her thing in your brain, so it could be that too.”“We haven’t really talked about that,” Heath added. “About what happened, Aislen?”“It’s hard to explain,” she said looking down at Gera and tracing the curve of the baby’s cheek wit
Havermouth, Present TimeDown the hallway enough for the stink of the torture room and the crunch and slurp of Mercy’s meal to be less nauseating, they formed a huddle, with Sigrid, Greg, Niarthen and Lyric in the centre, discussing what they had seen, and what the Mer would do next.Aislen leaned her cheek against Heath’s shoulder, exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to shower for a really long time, put on something that wasn’t coarse and itchy, and sleep. Heath put his arm around her absently, his attention on the discussion. She wanted to tell him that the world needed to take care of itself for a while, she had done her best for it, and it was time for her to sleep.“I can’t believe that she ate him,” Dan was seriously grossed out, Aislen could tell, although he kept his voice to a whisper.“I know,” Tom replied from the corner of his mouth, his eyes on Sigrid and Greg as they spoke with Niarthen. “Did you see the look on his face? He was just as surprised as we were.”“Will