CHAPTER 9

The water beneath them turned to steam, floating into the sky above as Mike let out a yell and blew his load into the nymph. His magic washed over her, and her entire body turned transparent for a moment, revealing that his magic pulsed through her and ricocheted off the surface of her body, filling her with light. She let out a scream of her own and clamped her legs tightly against his waist, and the fountain gushed water nearly thirty feet in the air, creating an artificial rainstorm that soaked both of them.

Panting, Mike was unable to pull his cock free before the magic ricocheted back into him, and he filled her up again. He could see both of his loads floating through her body now, sparkling with magical light. Her skin and clothes became opaque once more, and they both fell to the floor of the empty fountain, gasping for breath.

"You... never cease to amaze me, lover." Naia rolled off of him and laid on one side. "Every time we're together, it's magic."

"I know how you feel." Mike sat up and kissed her, placing his hand on the back of her head. He twisted his fingers in her hair, marveling at how the strands turned to water and parted before he could get them too tangled.

They kissed this way for several minutes before Mike heard a gasp and a grunt, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the roof. Breaking his kiss with Naia, he scanned the garden, his eyes eventually settling on the stony form on the roof watching them.

"You okay up there, Abella?" He squinted into the sky, unable to make out the expression on her face. Only her head was visible where she sat, and he could really only see her silhouette.

"Um.. yeah, I'm fine. Just, uh..." Abella sank out of view before she finished her sentence, and Mike suppressed a laugh. Clearly the gargoyle had been watching them, and he had a pretty good guess what she had been up to.

"You've got more work to do," Naia told him as she stood up. Water refilled the fountain, and she helped him to the edge, waving her hand a few times to dry him off with her magic. He put his clothes back on and blew her another kiss before going in the house. He caught sight of his reflection in the window on his way in the back door, and thought his hair looked much better now.

Even with the stupid grin he was wearing.

--

The afternoon was spent ordering more supplies for the house. Inheriting the house had come with an extremely hefty sum of cash, the kind that generated enough interest in a year to comfortably live off of. However, he still had to watch his spending, because so much of that cash was earmarked for multiple repairs on the house, as well as food, various supplies, and the occasional gift for one of his housemates. Even now, Yuki was likely in her room using the easel he had bought her to work on her tarot cards. It was a fascinating process where she painted the card nearly life size and then shrank it down it fit in her pocket.

After a meeting with Reggie to discuss rat affairs, the smell of pot roast lured him to the dinner table. Everyone from breakfast was there, but Ratu herself had also made a rare appearance, wearing a beautiful red gown with a green dragon moving across it. Her dark skin was punctuated with snake scales, and the naga raised a glass of wine when Mike entered.

"Are we celebrating?" he asked.

"Only a bit. I had a recent breakthrough in some of my research, and thought I deserved a treat." She winked at him, then drained her glass before letting Reggie refill it for her. The rat sat between the naga and Beth, and he adjusted his Mr. Potato Head glasses when Sofia set a plate of food in front of him.

"No Asterion tonight?" He was surprised that the minotaur hadn't come with Ratu.

"He's in a foul mood." Ratu smirked.

"I'm afraid some of my subjects set off a rather complex series of traps this morning." Reggie's whiskers trembled when he spoke. "He has spent all day trying to reset a small section of the Labyrinth."

"Yes, I'm afraid he would be bad company, even for you." Ratu smirked at Beth. The lawyer blushed and concentrated on her own meal when it arrived.

While everybody was eating, Dana made another appearance at the table, holding a coffee mug in her hand.

"I thought you already ate this morning." Mike looked at the young woman with concern. "Everything okay?"

In response, Dana held up her other hand. He winced when he saw the deep gashes in her palm. The wounds didn't bleed, but it still freaked him out to see her hand so mangled.

"Tried something new with one of the rotor assemblies. It went poorly, and now my hand keeps catching on everything." Dana sat close to Tink and downed half of the contents of her mug. Like an obscene magic trick, she held out her palm so the others could watch the edges of her torn flesh light up like fiber optic cables and slowly knit themselves back together. "Good as new, I guess."

Tink just shook her head. "Dead girl wait for Tink next time," she said, then focused on her own meal.

After dinner, Mike quietly excused himself and grabbed a beer from the fridge after sneaking away from the table. As much as he enjoyed the company of others, he needed some quiet moments to reflect, and he moved through the noisy dining hall without a word and headed out to the front yard.

Despite the general hubbub inside, his recent days had gotten lazy, and Mike wasn't sure how he felt about it. After spending his first few weeks in the house dodging danger and meeting new people, it was nerve wracking just standing around waiting for the next thing to happen. There was at least one powerful warlock still out there with a grudge against him, and he couldn't forget about the look that Elizabeth had given him when last they spoke. Having a pair of powerful enemies out in the world made it difficult for him to let his guard down, and he knew they would come for him eventually.

And when they did, he hoped he would be ready.