CHAPTER 215

While he had been putting back the house, Suly, Lily, and Death had escorted Nesferisfet to the nearest Hell gate. Mike had wondered if he should ask her how to undo the sleeping curse, but strongly suspected that any help she provided would have ulterior motives. She had almost ended the world in a mad bid for power, and he fully expected to be double-crossed. Lily told him later that, at the end, she had begged for mercy as they pushed her between the one-way blades meant to ensnare souls.

Death had responded by using the butt of his scythe to shove her the rest of the way in. The demons on the other side, smelling a powerful soul, had dragged her away screaming.

Fortunately, once he returned the house to its proper location, Ratu had been able to undo the curse. His unique bond with Tink and Cecilia had allowed him to pull them out through the Dreamscape with Lily's help. Without such a connection, several of the slumbering rats died of dehydration in the process. Reggie had taken the loss hard, but understood that Ratu had tried her hardest to save them.

Of Eulalie and Sofia, he had seen very little. The Arachne was already gone upon his return to the house. A decent population of rats had decided that Eulalie was their new leader during his absence, and she had convinced them to chew a portal to her home in Oregon. He had been surprised to discover that Sofia had gone with her. He hadn't wanted to pry into Eulalie's affairs out of respect for her sister, but had to admit he was curious.

He had wondered if she would stay there now that Velvet was gone, but she had come back to the house for a couple of days before announcing that she and Sofia had an important project to work on. For the last couple of weeks, she and Sofia had been holed up in the Library, and he had no idea why. The couple of times Eulalie had stopped by to visit him, she had stayed long enough to rewrap his arm while saying very little. His primary worry was that she blamed him or the others for Velvet's death, but Sofia reassured him that Eulalie had hyper-focused on some new task that would be revealed in time.

To say Zel had been upset about his injury was an understatement. She had yelled at him until she was red in the face, all while having Ratu reset some of his bones. The spell he had cast on the forest had created a spiral fracture in his radius and ulna, and his attempt to lift War's sword free had only made it worse. A series of long metal pins now held everything in place until his bones could fuse. Sometimes, when he was lying in bed, he thought he could actually feel his break mending.

The front door swung open, breaking his reverie. Mike heard soft footsteps approaching and smiled.

"Morning, Kisa." He could sense her by proximity now, their connection stronger than ever. He bent his legs, making room on the bench. "Plenty of room for my favorite familiar."

Kisa snorted, then sat on the bench. After shifting around, she pushed his legs apart so that she could lie her head down on his stomach.

"I see how it is," the catgirl grumbled. "Turn my back for one second and find you in the arms of another woman."

"You certainly didn't mind sharing me last night," he replied with a smile. When he had crawled into bed, Lily and Kisa had been waiting for him. The two of them had grinned in amusement at each other the whole time they were blowing him, as if partners to a secret. He didn't bother asking, he had been too distracted by the semi-rough texture of Kisa's tongue on the head of his cock while Lily had forked her own tongue to squeeze the base of his shaft. When he came in Kisa's mouth, Lily had pinned him down while the two of them kept sucking until he blew his load in her mouth again.

"Your head still feeling okay?" he asked Kisa as he ran his fingers along the base of her ears.

"Mm-hmm," she replied with a purr. She had suffered a pretty bad concussion during the fight with the horsemen. It had affected her balance, and Tink had been mothering her all month. "Wasn't last night proof enough?"

He smiled, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks.

The three of them cuddled this way for nearly an hour when the front door opened again. It was Death, and he was holding a small tray with a pot of tea and biscuits.

"It is nearly time, Mike Radley." Death stared down at them for several moments as if waiting for a reply. "For our appointment."

Mike groaned. He was comfortable, and fairly certain that Kisa had fallen asleep with her legs wrapped around one of his. It took him a minute to untangle himself, then he walked out into the garden with Death at his back.

The hedge maze was even larger than before. Luckily, it was no more than belly height, but Kisa and Tink could officially get lost in it. Fae creatures could be spotted moving through the underbrush, and there was a particularly grumpy gnome at one end who decorated his home with bottle caps that the fairies brought him from neighboring yards. The Jabberwock, happy to have its bigger yard back, guarded the opening closest to the front entrance. Anyone not paying attention would think it was some sort of concrete/topiary hybrid.