Satyr Play 04 Pt. 01

What frightened Henry was that the force field spell he gave Crane hadn't worked. Worse, he couldn't find any sign of it on the man. The magic didn't stick!

He'd been shot at close range from a huge handgun. Even with the bulletproof vest the man wore under his uniform, such a big weapon would likely have punched through it at that distance. Yet, there was no blood. He was breathing, but Henry had to believe he was badly bruised if he didn't have broken ribs.

Then he noticed some black shards of a stone-like substance on the floor next to Crane's chest. Henry touched one and yanked his fingers back. The stone gave off a terrible vibration through the Wild Magic. He had a momentary flash to the darkness he'd fought his way out of during those months on Eden.

Henry looked closer at the exposed surface of the destroyed vest the man wore under his clothes. There seemed to be a layer of this black stone inside the vest. He needed to get a sample. He reached for another shard, but it suddenly disintegrated into a faint black mist. Henry blew on it to keep it from the unconscious man's face. The last thing the General needed was to breathe in the evil stuff.

When Crane called him up with the plan, Henry was more than a little shocked. The General asked him if he could create personal force fields and add the invisibility component to them. He wanted to sneak some of his squad into the Pentagon for protection when he confronted General Brixton and an unknown number of co-conspirators. He was bringing one tech to ensure the recording equipment was running in the room as Brixton would likely disable it. He'd bring one team member to handle any participants in the hallway and two more to be in the room with him. All of them had to be invisible as they couldn't show on the recording.

Henry already had the personal shield spell he'd given Roy and adding the light bending technique was simple.

It was the last request that made Henry the most uncomfortable. The General wanted Henry to jump into the meeting room as he'd appeared in the Capitol Hill hearing chamber. He wanted Henry to dose the co-conspirators with energy to crush what he saw as a growing denial movement. They needed to accept their change. Henry would also have to be invisible.

He warned the General that he could change as well, but the man just nodded and said he was ready. Looking at the unconscious man now, Henry couldn't tell if he had, but it seemed unlikely.

Henry stood and ensured he never stepped between the room's two cameras and the bodies lying on the floor. While the invisibility worked perfectly on flat surface fields, there were many curved surfaces on a personal force field, which caused a slight ripple effect.

The first man to fall was now a Brownie. The second man definitely had a Fae's features, but the last one to fall had transformed the most. He was half his original height but had thick limbs, much like Rand Von Deussel. No beard like the Dwarf had, though.

Henry heard the sound of running feet, so he knew he had to leave. The room was going to be saturated with Wild Magic for a while.

With a final puzzled look at Crane, Henry took a grip on his right ring finger and jumped back to the mansion. He dropped the force field, and Meixiu squeaked in surprise as she stood by the double doors in the hidden hallway in the cave. He pulled her into his arms.

"Thank you for waiting here for me and giving me someone to return to," he said with a smile.

She tilted her face up to him, and he kissed her tenderly. After, she rubbed her face against his chest. "I spent so many years in this house in misery and fear. I never believed I would ever feel this joy in my heart while I was within these walls. Now I see the home was never the source of those terrible feelings. It's just a place, and now I'm filling it with my own memories and treasured moments. It has become a place of love, friendship, and now family! I love that Trish's family feels so comfortable here. I want to do something for them to show my appreciation.

"Your acceptance of them in your home proves your generosity!" Henry asserted.

He kissed her once more until she patted his chest so she could catch her breath. She held him tightly as she tingled deliciously.

"I have an idea about showing them our appreciation of being included in their family if you'd like to help me," he suggested softly.

She nodded to him excitedly.

Henry turned to the double doors set into the stone. It was time.

Chapter 12

Steph had fidgeted all through dinner, casting glances at Henry while everyone enjoyed the Christmas Eve meal of Brian's special chili and fluffy white basmati rice. It was an Evan's family Christmas tradition.

When Henry left the table to take a US Army Brigadier-General's call, Steph felt a little thrill shoot through her. He was so much more interesting than her cold-fish husband David had ever been. He was doing something with his Magic Doors and the Silver Soldiers, and she saw them arrive and leave. Then he'd whispered something to Meixiu, and they'd gone down to the cave.

Everyone was expected to stay out of that room until Christmas dinner tomorrow, so she couldn't follow him down, though she really wanted to.

She'd caught Tish watching her with a knowing smile throughout the meal, but she did her best to pretend she wasn't obsessing over the big, strong, sexy as hell man—Satyr, he preferred the term, Satyr.

When dinner finally broke up, the adults were directed to the formal living room as a very pregnant and very fit looking blonde woman named Sigrid wished to make an announcement. Tish hooked her elbow through Steph's and led her to a loveseat.

"I'll introduce myself again in case anyone missed it the first time. My name is Sigrid Gunderan, and this is my mother, Hilda Gunderan."

There were sounds of surprise as Hilda didn't look much older than her daughter. This made Hilda very happy.

"As you can see, I'm very pregnant." That produced chuckles. "In fact, I'll be giving birth tomorrow." That produced exclamations of surprise and shock.

"How can you be sure?" Tish's sister Ellen asked.

Sigrid smiled. "I'm a Valkyrie. We have very short pregnancies, and they're never late or early."

There were several snorts and nervous giggles.

"How short is short?" Tish's other sister Jackie asked.

"One week," Sigrid said, and the noise level rocketed as the gathered were a noisy bunch.

Tish grinned happily as Steph had been one of the loudest voices in the group. Steph blushed in embarrassment from her outburst but saw Sigrid was just smiling at her.

"Fauns are twelve months," Tish volunteered, and dismayed eyes turned her way. "I didn't begin to show until nine months."

Kristen was shaking her head in wonder. "One week from fetus to newborn? That's amazing!"

"Does that rate of development continue after birth?" Brian asked.

"Yes, for a time. A Valkyrie child must be able to run within four months and fly by six. At twelve months, they're able to fight using non-bladed weapons.

"Fight?" Ellen shrieked.

Hilda chuckled. "Of course. We're warriors."

"Shouldn't Henry be part of this conversation? He's the Dad, isn't he?" Tish asked Sigrid.

Her family exploded into noisy bewilderment. Camila, Marisa, and Siobhan grinned at the excitable family while the Kings watched in fascination.

Lorelei watched Tish closely as she'd just admitted the father of her child was also the father of Sigrid's. She wasn't sure if it was said as an accusation or not.

Sigrid blinked at the uproar then looked to Tish. "I'll fill him in tomorrow."

"You mean he is? What about Tish's child?" Brian complained.

Tish raised her hands to stem another explosion of sound from her family. She smiled at them, and this calmed them somewhat.

"You know me. I've always been a free spirit, a non-conformist. I love Henry, and he loves me. He loves our baby, Celeste, and will be her father. However, we're not exclusive. You could say we're a level above friends with benefits. Really, really, really good benefits!"

Sigrid smiled and nodded, which started a chain reaction as Camila and Marisa nodded vigorously while giggling. A few of the other ladies began to nod in agreement, as well.

Mahati was one of them, but her face was flushed with embarrassment. She stared at Kali when she saw her sister had joined in. "We'll talk later," Kali mouthed to her.

Aadiya and Mahali pranced into the room, looking at the happy faces.

Dotty, Brian's wife, looked to the latest arrivals and a light went on in her eyes. "Henry's with these two as well isn't he!"

Tish glanced at her brother and then to his wife, as this sounded like her soapbox being dragged out. The woman would go on crusades if something offended her.

"If I may?" Camila said to get everyone's attention. She gestured for the twins to join her, and they quickly rushed to her and sat on either side of the Succubus. Marisa had to slide down the couch to give Mahali space. "Aadiya and Mahali are a special case. They are what's called Feral Succubi. Until recently, it was a terrible but necessary practice for feral newborns to be euthanized as they could not be hidden from Humanity.

Mab stole these rarer than rare twins from their birth mother, and they've been in her captivity for most of their lives. Mab treated them like pets. They were little more than instinct-driven creatures when she introduced them to Henry. What she hadn't expected was that they would bond with him. It's an instinctual process, and it cannot be broken. They must be with him at regular intervals, or they lose their will to live and die.

Baba Yaga took them from Henry the night they bonded, so she must have put them into some form of stasis. Then she released them on Eden, probably just before she went to Mab. The twins hunted and found him. When we last saw them, they didn't have wings, and they had longer horns and fangs. They returned with these changes, so we assume they were evolved by exposure to Henry's Wild Magic at some point."

She stroked their cheeks affectionately, and they cuddled in against her. "I have to say, they are far calmer and more affectionate than I expected. Their vocabulary is growing as well."

Dotty looked to Tish uncomfortably. "But are you okay with your man just showing up with two... sexualized beings and expecting them to live with you?"

Tish laughed. "Weren't you listening, Dotty? He isn't my man. He's my very good friend, my sex partner, the father to our child, and he loves me as I love him. He's a Satyr! He loves many of my friends. And when he showed up with the sexy twins, he'd just returned from the dead after six months! I was ecstatic to have him back at all! Do I mind them living with us? Not at all! Henry isn't in my bed every night, but they are. Let me tell you, they're insatiable and highly skilled in the arts of sex."

The room exploded once more with laughter, cries of shock, and annoyed exclamation of distaste at hearing about a sibling's sex life. Tish laughed and fended off Steph's playful slaps. She looked at the twins and blew them kisses, which made them grin happily and blow kisses back.

The conversation was forcibly redirected back to Sigrid's impending birth.

"I'll be having the birthing ceremony here at the mansion. Mother will be my midwife. Eleanor King has volunteered to be her second should there be medical complications. Dayshia said she will be Eleanor's support," Sigrid explained.

Henry stepped into the doorway with a sleepy look in his eye. He smiled at the assembled adults. Meixiu was at his elbow, and her excited grin drew everyone's attention.

"What?" Sigrid asked her.

Meixiu shook her head with a mischievous grin. "You must wait until tomorrow for Henry's surprise!"

Now everyone was looking at Henry, and he chuckled at their eager expressions. "I just stopped by the other sitting room to get the kid's impressions of what Christmas feels like for them. One of the things they mentioned was the feeling of anticipation. I never celebrated Christmas as a kid, so I didn't get to experience that. Tomorrow after dinner, I have a special gift for all of you. Now you get to enjoy what the kids say is one of the best parts of Christmas, and I get to anticipate the fun of giving it to you!"

Henry held up his hands to shield him from their pleas and just shook his head. "Meixiu has been sworn to secrecy as well. You'll just have to wait."

He walked over to see Sigrid and took her hands in his. "Sorry. I missed your announcement with all that running around with General Crane. Are you feeling okay?"

She squeezed his hands. "Yes. I feel as big as a bus!" She gave her head a shake as he began to protest. "We can talk in the morning. You look like you used too much energy tonight. You should get some sleep." He nodded wearily.

"Did he get that issue resolved?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Crane was hurt in the process. Most likely just some nasty bruising, but he could have some busted ribs." He frowned and looked over at Siobhan. "Could I ask you to take a quick look at the General tomorrow? He was exposed to a great deal of Wild Magic, but it doesn't look like he's being affected by it."

"Wild Magic affects everybody!" Camila said in surprise.

Henry nodded to her and shrugged as he didn't have an answer to that.

"No problem, Henry," Siobhan replied.

"Thanks!" He looked at the rest of the people in the room. "Merry Christmas! See you tomorrow." Everyone smiled and wished him a Merry Christmas as well.

As Henry left the room, the twins following close behind, Steph felt another surge of tingles as her eyes drank in his powerful arms and back. She glanced at Tish and saw she was watching her. The younger sister leaned in to rest her forehead against Steph's.

"If you want to be with him, just ask him. Not tonight though, he looks exhausted."

Steph gasped softly and bit her lip. She looked into her baby sister's eyes and saw love and acceptance there. With tears of happiness welling up in hers, she threw her arms around her sister and hugged her.

She loved her family!

Chapter 13

Henry woke feeling refreshed and content. He felt the soft bodies of the twins cuddled in next to him. He kissed them gently, and their eyes opened as they smiled.

"Good morning, Mahali, Aadiya," he whispered. "You don't need to get up."

Their eyes closed again, and they reached for each other as he slipped out of bed. They were asleep once more in seconds.

Henry grabbed a fresh Kilt and made his way to the washroom, where he quickly showered in his Human glamor. He dried, dropped his glamor, and dressed in the kilt before heading downstairs.

He stopped on the second floor and listened at the master bedroom door, but it seemed Sigrid was still asleep. He didn't want to wake her, but he also wanted to talk to her about their child. He rocked slightly on his hooves as the concept of being a father again so soon shook his foundations.

He continued downstairs and raided the fridge for a quick breakfast. He went out into the back yard and took his favorite seat in the gazebo. He engaged his Wild Magic-to-heat spell and felt toasty warm almost immediately, not that he'd been affected by the cold too badly, to begin with. He enjoyed the peace and quiet of dawn for a while before pulling out his cell and checking for messages.

There was a text from the Sergeant asking him to call as soon as possible.

Feeling a little guilty for enjoying his relaxed morning routine, he dialed the soldier's number.

"Henry! What the hell went wrong last night?" she immediately hissed quietly into her cell.

"Is General Crane okay?" Henry asked. He heard the sound of wind rushing by the cell's microphone, so the Sergeant was moving somewhere she could speak freely.

"Yes, no thanks to your force field!" she barked in a normal voice.

Henry frowned. "The spell wasn't there when I arrived in the conference room."

There was a moment of silence. "What? What's that mean?"

"Everyone in that conference room absorbed a high amount of Wild Magic, but the only one who wasn't affected was General Crane. Something is off."

"I almost blew the mission last night when the General was shot. How did he survive that point-blank gunshot if the force field wasn't active?

"He had the bulletproof vest under his clothes—" Henry began

"The vest should have failed against that hand cannon that close!" Mick asserted heatedly.

"When I looked, the vest seemed to be filled with some kind of stone, but that turned into a mist shortly after I saw it. I've never seen anything like it. Any ideas?"

She was quiet for a moment. "We don't have bulletproof vests filled with stone," she responded. "Can you heal his injuries?"

Henry sighed. "Not if he's immune to Wild Magic. I'd like to have a friend of mine take a look at him. She'll try to determine why. Where is he now?"

"He's at the hospital being guarded by members of the squad," the Sergeant explained.

"Can one of the soldiers who's been in the hospital room come to my condo in New Jersey so I can get them to open the door to the hospital room for my friend to take a look at him? I don't dare visit the hospital myself as I'm still gushing Wild Magic everywhere."

"Sure, I'll send Yablonski," Mick said.

"Thanks! Did you get the evidence you needed?" Henry asked.

"Yes, the room's recorders caught everything, and we got a copy too. They took Brixton, Hollis, and Densbridge into custody last night. Colonel Miller is delighted to offer evidence against them as well."

"So, I shouldn't have to worry about more missile attacks any time soon?" he asked, and she laughed.

"Keep that dome up, and you won't ever have to worry," she suggested with a chuckle.

He smiled. "Noted. I'll adjust the permission to allow you and your team entry, but you'll need to slow to a walk to pass through it as there might be people inside."

"Noted. Thanks! Yablonski will be at your apartment in roughly an hour," Mick advised.

"Thanks! I'll top him up when he gets here," Henry said.

"Lucky man!" Mick moaned.

Henry thought about that. "I'll try to send him back with a packed lunch for the rest of you."

There was silence. "Really? You can do that?"

"I won't know until I try," Henry replied.

"You're getting pretty handy with this magic stuff!" the Sergeant said, impressed.

He sighed. "Yeah, it seems to be coming to me easier and easier. It's starting to feel like second nature, but that may be because of the stuff Baba crammed into my brain. I'd still rather just work on tech."

"Talk to you soon," Mick said.

"Bye."

Henry sent Siobhan a text asking her to call him when she had a moment, then leaned back against the bench to enjoy the sight of the falling snow. They'd had quite a bit of it last night, and it didn't seem to be slowing. The kids were going to love this!

"You needed to speak to me, Henry?"

He turned in his seat and saw someone standing in the back doorway. The falling snow was obscuring the view, but he recognized Siobhan's voice. She'd know where he was based on the glow he was casting off.

"Hang on, I'll be right there," he called out.

As he walked back to the house, he looked up at the snowfall. It felt heavier than the day before. Crazy!

He shook off the snow and went in the back door. As he towel-dried, he saw many people preparing breakfast but none of Tish's family nor Dayshia's. Henry guessed they were celebrating their Christmas morning traditions at home.

Tish had Celeste in her arms, and Marisa held Natalia as they sat at a small table to the side with Sigrid and Hilda.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" he called out from the doorway, and they returned the greeting.