CHAPTER 1
Lesion watched in awe as The Seer drew out his vision after waking from the neurological cleansing Lesion had given him again.
“It’s like some kind of compound,” he muttered, grabbing several more sheets of paper from the hotel’s small notepad. He placed them together and expanded the drawing. “I saw a wall around it. Cementitious.”
“Opposition?” Bishop wondered.
“I know how we get in and I know where to get him out, but beyond that,” his blue eyes rose sharply on them. “I’m not sure.”
“We need to be sure. We need to find out,” Bishop said, pacing. “You think you can remember enough details that 8-Bit can get a location, maybe some intel?”
“It’s on Basin road. We took Rt. 3 to get to it. Maybe five miles from highway 90 then about another ten to Coon road. It’s back in the woods there.”
Bishop pulled his phone out. “We’ll see what he can find. If he can’t find anything, we’ll go have a quiet look first.”
Revelator nodded, straightening from the small table and dropping into the chair next to it.Lesion’s mind went again to Tully. He stepped outside, dialing the number on the phone he’d left her.
“Hello!”
Tully’s dramatic greeting caused a sudden eruption in his body’s chemicals.
“Tully, it’s me.”
“Yes,” she gasped, then laughed with exuberance like it was the most amazing miracle. “I’ve been waiting and I didn’t call you, just like you asked.”
She was being good for him. His cock twitched at the little sexual games she loved playing. Obedience and reward. Disobedience and punishment. “That’s good, and are you also inside?” It was his bigger worry with her, being so inquisitive.
“Yes sir. And the doors are locked.”
“You don’t need to call me sir, Tully.”
“I know,” she assured, her tone light. “You don’t like it? What do you want me to call you?”
“Lesion is fine.”
“I can call you Master.
He glanced around the mostly empty parking lot. “No, call me Lesion.”
“Okay,” she said, like he’d clipped her wings. “I also read a lot today.”
“What did you read?”
“Madam gave me a book about plants. I told her I wanted to be your apprentice and she said I should start there. And I’ve read twenty-three pages so far and there’s four hundred and forty three so that means I’ll finish the book in nineteen days! And then I’ll read it again, because Madam said I should read it at least twice. I plan to read it three times.” She sucked in a breath. “Tell me about what you’re doing? Do you miss me? You’ve only been gone for four hours and it feels like I haven’t seen you in a year! Is it like that for you?” Another gasp. “Gosh, I’m talking too much, I do that when I’m nervous. You make me nervous, but not in a bad way, a good way. Very good.” She added her adorable giggle, then, “Your turn. You talk. I’ll listen!”
Lesion’s tongue was backed up with all the words he’d almost spoken between her sentences. “I do miss you,” he remembered out of all the things. “And yes, it’s like that for me. Except feels like two years. What are you wearing?” he had to know.
“Um…”
Her hesitation got him instantly hard. “Tully…what are you wearing?”
“Your…robe. I hope that’s okay. It smells like you and I miss you,” she said softly.
Bon Dieu. “Do you know how to use the camera on the phone?”
“Yes! I took pictures with it. I love taking pictures!”
“Do you know how to send a picture to my phone?”
“I do! I’m very good with phones, I had to learn how when I was working at the Bijou Noir. You want me to send you a picture?”
“Yes.”
“Will you send me one?”
He hesitated, looking around. “Yes.” He’d never taken a single picture of himself in his life. He’d have to do that in the bathroom.
She gave an excited squeal and the phone hung up. He looked at it, wondering if the call dropped. He headed inside and excused himself to the bathroom, getting a ding on his phone. Locking the door, he saw a new message and opened it. He selected her name and the screen filled with rows of pictures. His cock thickened at seeing nudity in some and he quickly clicked it.
His pulse dropped straight to his cock and beat with a vengeance as he looked at each one. She clearly had experience with taking nude pictures and the idea added fury to his arousal. “Fuck,” he whispered, staring at her finger in her pussy, his mind remembering precisely every detail. Her changing smells and textures and the different sounds it and she made during different experiments. There was so much he still needed to test and learn with her and him, independently and together.
His phone rang and he answered it. “Tully.” His voice was low, not wanting other ears to hear.
“You liked them?” she whispered. “My phone has video if you want me to send you one.”
God. “Yes,” he said, dying for it the second she said it.
“Are you making me?” she asked, her voice lowering.
“Yes. I’m making you.”
“What are you going to make me do?”
Lesion paced in the small bathroom, his pulse raging. “Where are you?” he whispered.
“Where do you want me?”
“In my bed. Right now.”
“I’m there,” she said, breathless.
“I want you naked.”
“I’m naked,” she said, her words thicker.
“I want you to put your finger in your pussy just like you did in the picture.”
“How many fingers?”
“Fuck,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “One. Your middle one.” He opened his pants and pulled out his cock.
“My finger is in my pussy,” she said, breathing faster.
He moved his hand along his length. “Tell me what it feels like.”
“It’s wet,” she whispered.
“How wet is it?”
“My finger is slippery.”
“Dip it in your pussy as deep as you can… then wet your clit.”
“Lesion,” she whispered, her breaths coming faster. He moved his fist over the head of his dick, wetting the ridge. “My pussy is so hot, it’s… squeezing my finger.”
His cock jerked with the need to know that one missing detail. “Tully,” he said out of breath.
“I miss you so much,” she moaned. “I want your fingers in me, I want your mouth sucking me there.”
“Where? Where do you want my mouth, Tully?”
“On my pussy, right on my pussy.”
“And my tongue?”
“In my pussy, I want to fuck it. Lesion my clit is hot, it’s so hot.”
“You have my cock fucking hard. I’m rubbing it for you right now. I can see your fucking beautiful mouth on it.
“Lesion,” she gasped, her breaths panting. “You’re cussing, I love when you cuss to me like that.”
“Are you rubbing it baby?”
“Really fast!”
“I’m fucking rubbing my cock for you. You want to orgasm with me?”
“Oh!” she gasped.
“Make your sweet pussy come. Call my name, Tully.”
“Lesion! I’m coming!”
“Yes, fuck, that’s it.”
“I’m coming, oh! Oh Lesion!”
Lesion clenched his eyes and jackhammered his cock, seething and groaning through his orgasm while catching his seed in his fist.
He listened to her sweet cries dwindling in his ear. “I want to fucking kiss you,” he whispered, winded.
“You like kissing me?” she whispered back.
“So fucking much, Tully.”
“How much?” she asked, the question as sincere as anything.
“More than mapping.”
She sucked in her breath real slow. “Is that a lot?”
He grinned and nodded, catching his breath while turning the sink on. “Ask Madam how much that is.”
She giggled and he marveled that such a thing could tickle his gut and balls.
“But don’t tell her why you’re asking,” he added, remembering she had no filter when it came to that.
“I know that, silly,” she fussed with a throaty laugh that made her sound mature. “You think I’m going to tell her you love kissing me more than mapping?”
At hearing the threat in her voice he paused. “No, you won’t do that.”
“Why won’t I?” she wondered.
“Because you know that I’m a very private man.”
“It would be very naughty of me to disobey.”
“Tully,” he said, shaking his head. “It would be more than naughty. It would make me angry.”
She gave a sad moan. “No fun.”
“Keep your naughty games only between us. You understand?” he double checked.
She gave a sigh. “Okay. Guess what?” she whispered.
“What?” he wondered, liking her endless antics.
“I love you,” she confessed in an excited whisper.
Lesion stood mute as a myriad of chemicals flooded in, sending him on a data collecting frenzy.
“Well?” she said, a smile in her voice. “What do you say to that?” she said in that same whisper.
Good question. “I say love is a very heavy word.”
She sucked in a breath. “It is heavy!” she realized. “When I think of you everything pulls inside and gets heavy in parts of my body. Does a wife love a husband heavily?” she asked. “Because I love you the way a wife loves a husband.”
Her clarifications dumped another bucket of compounds into his bloodstream.
“Now, what do you say to that?”
He raised his brows, running out of oxygen in the small bathroom. “I say…you need a lot of time to know such a thing.”
“You do?” she asked, one hundred percent genuinely surprised.
“Yes, you do.”
“How much time?”
“I…I’m not sure.”
“Oh,” she said quieter. “Then…how do you know it takes a lot of time?”
“Because of how heavy the word is.”
“So…you love me… softly?”
“It’s only a word,” he said, not wanting her upset about it but not wanting to say something that might lead to hurting her.
“But words have meaning, you told me this,” she reminded him, kindly. “And I do mean those words. I want to marry you and have babies with you and live till I’m old old old, with you, right here in this house, in this swamp,” she informed matter-of-factly.
Lesion shook his head, realizing he had no explanation or answer for any of that. “I’m going to be honest with you Tully. I don’t know a thing about love so I can’t really teach you anything about it.”
This got him a rapturous gasp. “Well, I do!” she cried. “I can teach you!”
“You’ll…have to, yes,” he said, rubbing his forehead, ready to be done talking about it.
“And I know just how to do it!”
“Good,” he said. “It’s bedtime for you.”
“Don’t you want to know how I’m going to teach you?”
“You can tell me tomorrow.”
“It’s not long.”
He leaned his back against the door. “Alright, Tully, tell me.”
“I’m going to show you!” she said, sounding proud.
“Perfect,” he said. “There’s no better way to teach something complicated.”
“It’s not complicated,” she promised. “You’ll learn it in no time!”
Mercy. “I’m sure I will,” he said, ready to just say what she wanted to hear.
She yawned right in his ear. “I’m so tired,” she whispered. “I wish so much that you were here to hold me. Your body is so hot and hard, I love it when you wrap around me. I feel safe.”
“I’ll be back probably tomorrow night.” If the Seer’s visions were correct and he was sure they were. “Get in bed. Keep the phone near.”
“I can make the video,” she remembered, sounding half asleep. “You never told me what I have to do.”
“Not tonight. Sleep right now. Goodnight Tully.”
“Night Lesion,” she said, her inner mature woman coming through. “I love you heavy.”
Bon Dieu. He hung up and stared at the phone, needing a week to process what this woman-child did to him. He was either feeling like a sick pervert or a moronic bastard with her.
“There you are,” Eveque muttered after Lesion exited the bathroom.
Lesion paused in mild panic at the look Eveque gave him. “What?” he asked, going for clueless.
“Looks good on you,” he said.
Lesion stared at him, not daring to ask while Eveque lowered his chuckle. “I was just talking to Beth.” He raised his gaze, something flickering in his dark eyes.
“How is she?” Lesion asked, steering away from himself.
“Good. She’s going to your place tomorrow to meet Tully and take her some things. Get to know her. She’s practicing her Belle Eveque duties.”
They made their way to the small table in the hotel room. “She still joining The Twelve?”
Eveque stood at the window and peeked out the curtains. “Oh yeah,” he muttered.
“You don’t sound happy.” Lesion sat in one of the chairs, wondering where the Seer went off to.
“Not with the shit headed our way, no,” he said, heading to the other chair next to Lesion, like he was tired of saying it.
Lesion thought she’d make a great addition to the team with her skills but wouldn’t tell him that. “We’ll all look out for her.”
He stretched his legs out with hands clasped behind his head. “Sure. If she passes the Trials,” he muttered.
Well, that was interesting. “You…”
He shook his head, raising both hands. “Not gonna sabotage anything if that’s what you’re wondering.” His head still shook. “Nah, can”t do that.”
Lesion chuckled, fascinated with the changes in him since he met this northern woman. “What can you do?”
“Well, I’m not going around probing The Twelve for ideas, that’s for sure. If they happen to mention things in passing that might be construed as ideas, and I happen to hear them...” Light shrug. “No harm no foul.” He clasped his hands behind his head again, his look expectant on Lesion.
“My Eveque,” he chuckled, kicking his own legs out and crossing his ankles and arms. “I did hear in the late fall that some areas of the swamp are riddled with a certain nuisance.”
Bishop leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “I do know the swamp has plenty of those,” he muttered, highly interested.
“Well, as you probably have heard, the swamps near Ole-man-la-rue is run-over with Myocastor coypus. Nutria rats. Some big as full-grown cats. Don”t really matter what time of year you go around there, but they say it can be terrifying to behold at night when they feed.”
Eveque’s smile snuck onto his face . “You don”t fucking say.”
“Of course this is common knowledge to those who hunt the area.”
He shot forward with both arms spread. “My memory”s shot, Leezyon! Ma Belle Eveque takes up every square inch of spare space in my brain.” He slowly sat back. “I done forgot what you just told me.”
They both turned at the knock on the door. Lesion stood as Eveque hurried to it, peeking out the curtain before opening it.
The Seer barged in and went straight to pacing.
“How is she?” Eveque asked as he locked the door.
“I don’t know, I didn’t talk to her,” he said, barely casting a glance at Lesion as he walked the short length of the room then came to an abrupt stop. “I saw something.” He aimed sharp, tormented eyes on him. “And I don’t know… how to stop it.”
“What did you see?” Lesion asked.
He stared at him with furrowed brows, appearing devastated. “So many things… but the only thing I understand is that she fucking leaves,” he barely whispered, nailing his gaze on Eveque who stared back at him.
“When?”
He shook his head and got back to pacing. “I don’t know. But soon.”
Eveque’s gaze followed his march across the room. “Why does she?”
He raked both hands over his head as he went. “There’s blood,” he whispered. “A lot of fucking blood and she’s screaming, something’s wrong with her and there’s… a storm and…I can’t see,” he strained, like it was killing him. He stopped right before Eveque. “It’s there, it’s all there, happening right in front of me and I can’t see it!”
“Is she… dead?”
He shook his head but something told Lesion the reality might be worse than death. “Okay, let’s…think,” Eveque muttered. “We know she’s scared.”
His eyes closed as he fought for air. “Something’s coming and I can’t stop it.” He shook his head, staring at him. “I can’t stop it.”
Eveque placed a hand on his shoulder. “I sent for Nitro and Hurricane. We’ll get in and get out, then you tend to whatever the fuck this is. I’ll help you.”