Henry Gable contemplated the knife in his hand. The grip was comfortable and seemed designed to fit the larger hand of his Satyr form. The eight-inch blade was wickedly sharp and tapered to a deadly point. Greatest caution was required when using it to keep his fingers connected to his hand.
His eyes automatically went to his right ring finger.
Mab’s finger.
It looked and felt like his now, but he knew it once came from the hand of the mad queen. Not that she’d personally experienced the agony of its removal. That cruelty was inflicted upon their newborn daughter, whose mind was now trapped in the Fae’s body.
Henry’s mind spun as he once more tried to come to terms with the evil Queen Mab and Baba Yaga had done that night.
Envious of Henry’s link to a source of magic more potent than her own, Mab designed a master level spell to create a new body for herself, a body linked to the realm of Wild Magic as Henry was. The most heinous aspect of her spell was that it required a child born of her and Henry.
The powerful but vile spell tapped into Henry’s link to a Fae healing spell and the temporal energies trapped in his horns to support and expedite the process of having the child. Then it successfully transferred Mab’s mind into the newborn’s body and the child’s mind to hers. Mab had a new lease on life with access to powerful new magic while their daughter was destined to quickly die in Mab’s ancient body.
Henry somehow managed to tap into the temporal energies himself to keep his newborn daughter from dying of old age as Mab fled, and he returned the ancient body back to that of an infant. Still, it took Baba Yaga’s assistance to keep her alive.
Thoughts of the old witch sent a spike of pain through him. She’d had her own horrific plans for his daughter that night. Without concern for the pain she caused, she’d used her supernaturally sharp scissors to remove the right ring finger from his and the baby’s hands and swapped them, using her powerful magic to reshape and resize them for their new hosts.
His right ring finger with its dragon bone ring was now connected to the tiny hand of his infant daughter. The small piece of jewelry was bound to a curse so powerful, triggering it would result in the immediate eradication of all Human life on earth.
The idea that his innocent child was carrying the burden of an extinction-level weapon and the unknown agenda Baba had, which required the infant to bear it, tormented his sleep.
But there was nothing he could do about it because Baba Yaga took his daughter when she vanished that night. He hadn’t seen the crone or his baby since.
However, Henry knew the child was alive as he had a little magic of his own now, courtesy of a Fae healer he’d saved. While Henry wasn’t a wielder who could bend magic to his will, he was so saturated in Wild Magic, he had enough power to link minds with his daughter through the bond they shared of their traded fingers.
As often as he could, he’d reach out to her mind and express his love for her. Each time, he’d feel her sweet response. It wasn’t as good as holding her in his arms, but it was all he had.
“Henry! Did you cut yourself again?”
He was brought back to the present by the outcry and glanced at the beautiful Faun rushing over to see him where he stood behind the kitchen island. He glanced down at the surface before him. The sharp knife was resting on the cutting board next to the peppers he’d been slicing. He held his right ring finger in his left hand as he did when he reached his mind out to his daughter.
He shook his head and released his finger as he smiled at the lovely creature, now standing next to him. “No, I’m fine. Sorry, my mind was wandering again.”
Tish gave him a gentle frown. “Okay, you’re banished from the kitchen until your brain comes back to you. Too many sharp objects in here for it to be safe for people with distracted minds. Shoo!”
She gently pushed his larger body from behind the island, giving his buns a playful squeeze through his kilt as she did so. He managed to keep his lust in check as he enjoyed the feel of her strong hands on his ass.
Being a Satyr seemed to mean his body was always a blink away from carnal excitement. At least, it felt that way since his sexual maturity finally began to take effect. Before working at VRL, he’d been disguised as a Human using the magic in the dragon bone ring. He’d spent his waking hours in Human form, and this delayed the maturing of his true Satyr nature considerably. He was still learning how to control his lust and pheromone release, the latter only now becoming second nature.
Henry smiled back at Tish and let himself be moved from the food prep station. He began tidying up the living room instead. The decor was a strange mix of Japanese minimalism and Bohemian eclectic. The ample space contained his furniture and Tish’s, but there was plenty of seating for their guests.
They were having a house warming party tonight. They’d been in the condo for only two weeks, and he still felt a little off about their new digs. It was in the same building on the same floor as his first condo. He loved how much space it had, the layout, the view of the water, and of course, its location, but how they obtained the condo still felt… wrong.
Unit 909, at the other end of the floor from his old unit 901, became available after the gruesome murder of a young man in a nearby alley seven months earlier. The youth’s parents eventually decided they could no longer live in the building and returned to Europe.
VRL purchased the much larger condo as it was a better investment. They sold unit 901 to Sandy, who used the money from her unit’s sale, 404, to cover most of the cost. Henry assisted her with the remaining amount as he felt responsible for causing her to no longer be Human, a requirement for living on the building’s even-numbered floors.
Due to a momentary lapse of his self-control and circumstances beyond his control, Henry’s Human friends became magic conduits like him. Sandy was the first to change and ultimately became a Gorgon, a being with sentient hair, stronger than steel, and flirty as hell.
Sandy’s bestie, Dayshia, also lived on the ninth floor, sharing a two-bedroom condo with Michelle Beaumont, who often worked nights and had secretly craved company when she was home. Being an Arachnid, Michelle lucked out with Dayshia, who was not in the least put off that her roommate had the lower half of an enormous spider.
Dayshia became a truth seer when the Wild Magic altered her and her friends. She could see through glamors, the magic disguises that hid the Hidden Races from Human eyes, and the ever-present cameras of Human civilization. She was discovering her eyes could do a lot more as well.
Tish became a Faun, the female counterpart to Henry. She preferred the term Faun over Satyr, but truthfully, the names were interchangeable.
Also affected that night was their friend Roger, but he was in the wind, and no sign of him could be found. As the man was an anarchist at heart, they were especially nervous about him disclosing the Hidden Races’ existence. The Council currently had their hunter/killer teams out looking for him, but they had other more critical issues to deal with lately.
While Henry’s first condo had been a compact one-bedroom, this one was easily four times the size. It was an ‘L’ shaped space wrapped around the south-west corner of the building. The south view was lovely, while the west view was of the trees and apartments across the lane beyond the foliage. At least the westerly windows were large and let in a lot of light.
In the ‘L’ southern arm was a large open concept kitchen against the interior wall. It was state of the art, and Tish was thrilled. A long granite island with a large sink, built-in dishwasher, and wine cooler separated the kitchen from an expansive dining/living room with floor to ceiling windows running along the southern wall.
The ‘L’ west arm began with a decent sized balcony on the corner of the building, followed by a spare bedroom which would become a nursery, and then the master bedroom with a four-piece ensuite and walk-in closet. Henry thought the soaker tub and separate shower was excessive, but Tish loved the utility and decadence of having both.
An interior divider wall separated the hall to the bedrooms from the corridor leading to the front door. A three-piece guest bathroom was just inside the entrance, the door to their full-size stacked washer/dryer set was next, and a reasonably spacious hall closet was next to that. Storage was limited, but the condo had more space than either had experienced before.
Henry smiled as he watched Tish busying herself in the kitchen. She looked radiant, though aside from the glow, there was very little evidence of her pregnancy. She’d been concerned at first, but the Hidden Races doctor they’d found assured her that the baby was doing fine. She assured Tish that while they had no records of the term of a Faun pregnancy, she definitely shouldn’t expect it to match a Human’s.
Camila also assured them that long terms were typical for Hidden Races and may hint at Satyrs’ lifespan expectations, another current unknown.
Someone knocked on their door, and Henry shared a look with Tish then glanced at the clock. The party didn’t start for thirty minutes. They activated their glamors, casual party clothes, then Henry, in his Human disguise, walked down the hall to answer the door.
He looked through the peephole and saw Sandy in a pretty blue party dress, so he opened the door.
“Hi, Sandy–OOF!”
Henry felt his head and shoulders engulfed in silky softness with just a hint of strength. Sandy had her glamor active, so her real hair was invisible, and Henry could see the blush on the pretty woman’s face. He stepped back, and Sandy followed, so he was able to close the door.
“I’m so sorry. Kesini knew we were coming to see you today, and she’s been such a pest all day as she’s missed you,” Sandy said with a pout.
Henry gently gathered the hair in his hands and moved it from his face to hug it against his chest. Sandy dropped her glamor, so he was able to see the glowing golden locks in his arms. He blinked at Sandy.
“Missed me? We walk to the path station and ride the train together almost every day,” he said in confusion.
Sandy shifted in embarrassment, then her eyes locked on his. “No, she misses all the… intimate time we had when we were living together.” Her blush deepened, and he finally understood.
A smile slipped onto his lips. “So Kesini misses the intimate time, does she?” he said with a teasing tone as he stroked the squirming hair.