Crazy Seduction(erotica)

The Thai food was delicious and filling, but the conversation quenched the curiosity in their new friend.

Even Henry, who’d heard this a few times, found it fascinating when Camila, Roy, and Sigrid work together to paint a chronologically accurate picture of the Hidden Races’ history and how they remained separate from Humanity for so long. He glanced at Mary and saw she was equally enthralled.

As the trio reached a point where Lorelei entered the picture, they glanced towards Henry’s grin. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could record this for all new initiates!” he said.

Camila raised a perfect eyebrow to look at him. “You know that’s not-”

He raised his hands. “I know, I know, but man! If I’d been told all this at the beginning as you did for Lorelei, it would have made so much more sense to me.”

The CEO gave Henry a sympathetic smile. “Sorry, we must be getting better at it since we had you, Nate, and now Lorelei to explain it to.”

Henry nodded. “I wonder how many more surprises Baba will be springing on us.”

Lorelei watched Henry’s melancholy expression and Roy’s uncomfortable grimace hearing the witch’s name. She turned her attention to the big security man. “You seem far more uneasy about her than Henry does. I admit I don’t believe I’ve met her, but as you’ve described her, she doesn’t seem that frightening.”

Roy scowled. “Aye, she looks like a wrinkly ol’ grannie, but this disguises how powerful she truly is. While she might have once come from humble beginnings, her mind is no longer that of a Human. It’s alien, cold, and cunning.” He gestured to Camila, Sigrid, and Henry before looking back at Lorelei. “Henry is the only one she’s treated with any kindness. We’re all less than bugs to her.”

Lorelei looked to Camila, whose face was frozen as she recalled her exposure to Baba’s power on their flight back from Japan. The CEO sensed Lorelei’s gaze and gave herself a little shake.

“It’s true. She’s a creature who lives in the shadows and speaks directly into your mind from that darkness.” She shuddered.

Lorelei’s face froze as she recalled the night she discovered her powers, the cold voice speaking to her from the dark waters, and how even the river pulled back from it.

Roy was watching her and leaned forward intently. “You have met her!”

Lorelei shook her head. “No. Not directly. But I recall a night when a voice spoke to me from the darkness of a deep river. It was an ancient voice. It told me to wake and to sing.

Roy surged to his feet and paced to the far side of the office.

Lorelei twitched as he rose and watched him cautiously. Henry’s hand landed on hers gently, and she felt herself relax.

“Roy finds her difficult to deal with. His mind can usually determine possible outcomes but not for her. No one can guess her intentions. She’s playing a game, and we’re all pieces in it, but we have no idea what the endgame is.”

“Exactly, Henry! That’s precisely why she scares the piss out of me!” Roy gasped in relief.

Lorelei looked to Henry. “You were the first of her time rescues?”

He shrugged. “I actually have no idea. It might have been you-” He stopped when he saw Roy, Camila, and Sigrid all shaking their heads doubtfully. “What?”

Camila looked uncomfortable. “We can’t be sure of anything the witch does. However, we all agree that you had to be her Plan A, so to speak. She was in direct contact with you as you grew up. The others must be contingencies if Plan A wasn’t successful. Mab saw to that, or was part of Baba’s plan all along.”

“Nathan Walker was- is an Incubus?” Lorelei said, correcting herself when she saw their unease.

Camila nodded. “Yes, though he doesn’t have a very strong link to his magic. You’re a Naiad, and from what I understand, a powerful one.” She stopped and looked to Sigrid. “Would you mind if we tested to see which realm of magic you are linked to? Henry and Nathan are linked to the realm of Wild Magic. I’m assuming you are as well.”

“How? What kind of test?” she asked, looking at the woman nervously.

Camila smiled. “Nothing invasive. It’s actually easier with wielders as you project your powers. Magic has a scent, and those who are sensitive can detect it. If you use your magic, I should be able to detect which realm the magic is from.”

Hesitantly, Lorelei sang a little tune to make everyone feel calm.

Camila leaned closer and inhaled deeply. Her face showed confusion. “It’s not the new realm… and it’s not the old one either!” She looked to Sigrid and Roy with wide eyes. “I’d swear it’s from here! It just smells like… here. Nature!”

Roy frowned. “Magic isn’t native to this plane.”

“Lorelei is the only Naiad I’ve ever met. Baba might have done something to her Magic as she did with Henry and Nathan, but… I’d swear she’s just linked to this plane. Linked to Nature itself!”

“Maybe that’s how all Naiads were?” Roy guessed.

“So, why didn’t Baba link Lorelei to the new realm as she did the others?” Sigrid asked, puzzled.

“Baba’s least favorite question. Why,” Henry sighed.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Roy thumped back into his chair. “Aye, you won’t get anywhere pondering that one with her,” he growled in frustration. Mary patted his hand with sympathy.

Lorelei frowned. “I don’t like the idea of being a pawn in a game I don’t know the rules for.” She looked to Henry. “How do I know how to react? How did you deal with it?”

Henry smiled sadly, recalling Baba’s almost eager anticipation when she told him of his ability to extinguish all of Humanity. “Baba raised me as a Human. Albeit a small one who had to deal with the cruelty of the other kids and bullying. It wasn’t an easy childhood, and the affection I was shown was limited. When I discovered what I really was, she told me how the humans murdered my parents and killed off the Satyrs. I suppose she was expecting me to harbor resentment from how I was treated and want to see their extinction… but I don’t. She raised me to be a Human and acted towards me as a Human grandmother would. Because of that, I developed a strong affection for her. Maybe that’s why I’m protective of them. When we reached the focal point of Baba’s plan, there was a moment when I could have ended my life and taken all of Humanity with me. But, because of these people,” he gestured to the ones sitting in the room. “I had a reason to live, and I wanted to protect Humanity.”

He dropped his head forward to look at his hands in his lap. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life because now, I finally have friends!”

Henry looked up and over at Lorelei. “I’d like to include you.”

She smiled and nodded. “I’d like to have friends, too.”

Roy cleared his throat. “As your friends, we’ll do our best to protect you. You’re a special case as you come from an ancient race of Naiads, and the Hidden Races Council is guilty of their genocide. It was a very dark time in their history. It took decades for them to create a treaty between all but two of the Hidden Races. Those two, Naiads and Djinn, flatly refused to hide from Humans. I don’t have any information on how they did it, but it only took a week for the Council troops to eradicate every member of those races and all evidence of them. Your existence might be problematic for the Council, so keeping a low profile is critical.”

Roy glanced at the others before fixing his gaze back on Lorelei. “Which brings me to the topic of your art. Your paintings are magic. I mean, they demonstrate actual, working magic. If that comes to the attention of the Council, they will increase their efforts to hunt you down to stop you.”

“Do you expect me to go into hiding?” Lorelei asked in concern.

“No, but I’m concerned about that agent from the museum. The fact that she didn’t act against you might mean she wasn’t certain you were her target or that she was there for an entirely different mission.”

“See Sigrid! I told you there was a spy at the museum! There always is.” Henry enthusiastically exclaimed to the blonde. She just smiled and rolled her eyes.

Roy got back on point. “I’d like to assign some of my guys to keep watch over you. I captured some video of the agent. I’ll have my guys watch it and keep an eye out to see if she attempts to approach you again.”

“Do they need to be in my condo?” Lorelei asked.

“No, not unless that would make you feel safer,” Roy suggested, and she shook her head. “I’ll give you the contact number, and they’ll join you at the door of your building to travel with you. It’ll be three teams of two, which will rotate every eight hours. Speaking of the team, could I ask you to reverse the memory block on my two observers now?”

“Sure,” she said with a nod.

Roy smiled and went to Camila’s desk to call the two men upstairs.

A short time later, Pete and Kirk arrived. They immediately locked eyes on the stranger in the room. Roy smiled at Lorelei, who gazed at the two men and sang a brief phrase. The two men looked at Roy in question.

“Do you recall the anomaly in the lobby you brought to my attention,” he asked.

“Yes… shit! I also recall not remembering it!” Pete said in concern. Roy looked to Lorelei in question.

“I simply lifted the block on the memories, but I didn’t remove any memories of their dealing with it,” she explained, and Roy nodded. He looked to his men.

“I’m going to assign you as the second shift for a plainclothes surveillance team for our new friend Lorelei Reichenbach. There’s an agent who may be targeting her. I’ll send you a video I captured of her. Memorize her appearance and movements. Contact Digby and Danno as they’ll be the first team. Walter and Leo will be the third team. Get everyone familiar with the agent as well. We are observing and protecting only.”

The two men nodded to their boss, then to Lorelei before heading off to get things moving.

Roy addressed Lorelei. “You normally travel by subway?” She nodded. “Okay. We won’t change your patterns, but you’ll have the two agents with you at all times.”

She nodded, then looked nervously at the others. “You’ve seen what I can do and know what I am. I now know this isn’t something we’re supposed to do, but I feel very exposed here.”

Camila nodded. “I’m a Succubus. I’m dropping my glamor.”