CHAPTER 150

Eulalie was rather proud of how far her relationship had come with the rats. They were much smarter than they had originally seemed, and a couple of them seemed to understand some sophisticated commands. She noticed that a self-appointed group of rats now followed her around while carrying spears.

She knelt down to drink some of the deer the centaurs had brought her. Hunger had gotten the best of her earlier that day, and she had sent out an emergency request for food before she snacked on a rat. The deer was trussed up nicely in a cocoon that she could easily move around, and neither Naia nor Amymone seemed to be bothered by it.

"How does it taste?" Amymone asked. "I'm curious."

"Imagine a smoothie made of butter and meat that has little chunks in it," Eulalie replied. "And when you drink it, you can feel warmth diffuse throughout your entire body."

Amymone nodded. "I figured you were a good person to ask since you can eat that and human food."

"We don't technically eat," Naia said. "Amymone absorbs nutrients from the sun and earth. She also likes it when I do this."

The nymph sprayed the dryad with water from her hands, which caused Amymone's dress to cling to her body, revealing her nipples. Amymone licked her lips and absorbed the liquid into her skin, which made her dress stop sticking to her. The gesture was blatantly sexual, but Eulalie ignored it.

"So we don't have a way to connect to the Underworld through this gate?" she asked.

"Mike might be able to." Naia stood up straight, the runes on her torso glowing through the fabric of her dress. "The geas is supposed to regulate everything that happens here. When I choose the new Caretaker, I am able to bring the true house into this world. Whoever took the house will be strong, but Mike's bond will be stronger. With his help, I might be able to reconnect the gate, and then we can try to find the house in the Underworld."

"That sounds like a pretty big assumption." Eulalie wiped some blood away from her mouth, then looked at the runes on Naia's body. Her human eyes found them difficult to look at and comprehend, but her spider eyes saw how they actually floated in and out of Naia's body on the surface of her skin. For some strange reason, she got the impression that the runes were multi-dimensional, and were doing their best to fit along the curves of Naia's body.

"It's more like magical instinct," Naia replied. The runes on her body shimmered as if in agreement, but it was only visible on the ultraviolet wavelength of light. "With my magic, I sometimes get hunches whether something will work or not."

"Are you referring to your own magic or the magic the house gave you?" Eulalie picked at her teeth with a fingernail. A piece of fur had gotten stuck there.

"What do you mean?" Naia asked.

Eulalie's eyes flicked to Amymone and back. If this was supposed to be a secret, it was Naia's fault for requesting clarification. "Oh, it's clear that you aren't an ordinary nymph. You exhibit traits and qualities that fall well outside the standard deviation for your mythos. My theory is that you started as a nymph but were changed in some way. That being said, your nymph magic is separate from your house magic unless there was some type of convergent evolution upon your ascension."

Naia blinked in shock. "You...figured that out pretty fast."

"I've been ass deep in books about magic all week. I'm a quick learner and I have a big ass."

"Clearly." Naia smiled. "Both types of magic work that way. House magic isn't really something I can control. It has a will of its own, but I can help direct its attention. When I say I think I can use Mike to restore the gate, it's almost like I can tell that the house agrees with me. It doesn't feel that way all the time, so I'm confident that we're at least on the right track. As for my own magic, I can usually just tell if it would work. It's instinctual."

Eulalie nodded. "I would know something about that. So, out of curiosity...would your magic work on me?"

Amymone nearly dropped her book. "Why wouldn't it?"

Naia tilted her head. "That depends. I can do all sorts of things with my magic, so I need you to be more specific."

"Could you turn me on?" Eulalie set down her deer. "Seduce me. Make me horny. Do you require more euphemisms?" Many hours of research had been spent on this topic, and she was happy to provide more.

Amymone laughed. "Naia could turn on a broken lightbulb."

Naia held up her hand for silence. "Is there a reason you want me to try?" she asked.

Eulalie opened her mouth and hesitated. At her core, she knew that sex wasn't written into her code. Her desire to mate was non-existent, and even her self explorations had been minimally enjoyable. It was like a yawning void inside that had only been put there by the realization that she was different.

In truth, she was almost afraid that Naia could do it.

"You answered my question with a question," she replied. "That makes me think that you can't."

Naia tilted her head. "That's not quite true. My magic doesn't seduce anyone. I can only amplify desires that were already there. If I were to use it on you, I know it wouldn't result in sex."

"Hmm." Eulalie pondered this for a moment. How could there be desire without sex? That sounded so self-defeating. "Would you be willing to enlighten me?"

"Just a touch." Naia's eyes sparkled.

Eulalie felt nothing at first. She looked at her own body, then over to Amymone. The dryad watched them with great interest.

When Eulalie looked back at Naia, her mouth was suddenly dry. The nymph stood before her with one hip cocked out, and Eulalie had a sudden desire to spin some web and use it to tie her legs together. Or perhaps bind her so that her chest was pushed out, or maybe…