NOVEL NEXT Chapter 109 Coming to Terms with Paige
Chapter 109 Coming to Terms with Paige
I waited for Paige in the driveway, and she drove her jeep up the hill to the cabin house. Paige got out and waved to me as she grabbed a small duffel bag. She asked, “Is this Bedelia’s house? It is really nice.”
I guess her assumption was within the realm of probability. She probably thought Bedelia had lots of money. She knew Bedelia was also the most knowledgeable among us about the supernatural. That was until Paige was introduced to Lezerath, who had much more experience. “No.” I paused, considering what to say, “A benefactor owns this place. Apollyon Silverhorn.”
Paige looked at me quizzically, “You have a sponsor? When do I get to meet Apollyon Siverhorn?”
Of course, Paige would want to know. She was already doing a web search on her phone. I tried to transition the conversation away from revealing my alter ego. “It is a blind sponsorship. I want to introduce you to someone from another world. She has been teaching us how to establish defenses against mental attacks.” Her eyes showed eagerness.
As we walked, she asked, “Is Bedelia here? I have a lot of questions for her. I didn’t want to harass her over the phone,” Paige said more seriously.
“Yeah, she is inside. Follow me.” I said, a little disappointed that Paige apparently came home for a three-day weekend to talk with Bedelia about magic. At least she had not asked me to enhance her strength as I had for her teammate Maya. I asked as we walked, “How is Maya? Is she mad at me?”
Paige studied me for a second, “No. She asks about you, but she almost seems afraid or maybe unworthy of your attention. Like she can not live up to your expectations of her.”
That was definitely girl talk, or Paige was reading the situation completely wrong. I had no idea what any of that meant. I decided to call Maya soon to figure out where we stood. We entered the basement, and Lezerath was working with Eilina and Bedelia in a meditative circle. Carrie and Kiri were going over some sketches. “Everyone else is upstairs making a salad to go with the food Iris ordered for dinner,” I said. Paige was studying the room, and soon everyone was greeting her. “Paige, this is Lezerath, an alien mind mage.”
Lezerarh raised her eyebrow at my description, “Young woman, I am actually a Psion and Master Mind Mage.” She shook Paige’s hand and continued, “Your brother is a remarkable talent and will one day be my equal if he works hard.”
“Caleb, work hard? Are there video games involved?” Paige joked and laughed, but no one joined her. I did not really play video games anymore. I had played a lot before becoming an Incubus but was currently playing in a real-world fantasy game.
The mood settled. “Caleb is just responsible for the fate of everyone on this planet,” Lezerath said, an unconcerned grin on her face. Seeing Paige’s nervousness, Lezerath patted her arm, “Oh, I was trying to reciprocate your attempt at humorous discord. I apologize, as my interactions with humans are limited. The longer-lived races tend to be on the more serious side.”
Paige was not in her element as she lacked familiarity with Lezerath. She paused and said, “I am sorry. You are my first alien.”
I interrupted, “Second, actually. Vida is from Mercanious, remember.”
Paige just smiled, ignoring her mistake, “You said dinner was upstairs? I will go help.” Vida also followed her up, and Lezerarh moved to talk with me.
“Your sister is conflicted, Caleb. I didn’t read her thoughts, just her strong emotions. You need to be honest with her, or you might lose her. She does love you, but it is laced with some...I would say jealously...no envy is the word for the world you are currently part of, and she is not.” Lezerath was telling me I should bring Paige in completely or risk losing her. At least, that was how I interpreted it.
I was too worried that Paige might reject me if I let her know I was a demon. I walked upstairs and into the kitchen. Paige was laughing and enjoying Abigail’s company. She did appear happy. Soon, everyone was upstairs, grabbing plates and opening cartons from Chinese food delivery. I was surprised it was Chinese since Abigail usually took a strong hand in making healthy food choices for everyone. I took a large carton of fried rice and a fork and went to sit down. Bedelia had a salad and orange chicken and sat next to me. Paige came in and handed me a salad, “Abigail said you need to eat your veggies.” She smiled and sat across from us.
As we ate, Paige suddenly stopped eating and stared. She finally said, “You two had sex!”
Bedelia flushed, and I said calmly, “How can you tell?”
Paige smirked, “Body language—Bedelia is practically rubbing into you, Caleb, it is like she owns you. Also, a girl’s intuition. You two have that vibe.” I noticed Iris in the archway munching on an egg roll. Iris seemed a little jealous. I felt bad for her. She was at the bottom in terms of power. Well, just Carrie and Mary were below her, but soon Mary would pass her. I had a session with Mary and Bedelia on Sunday.
“I won’t deny it,” I said. “It is not a big deal.” I tried to ignore the implications that I was establishing a harem. “So Paige, how is rowing going?”
Her face turned serious, “It is going well. I made the varsity eight, seven-seat.” Paige gathered herself, put her plate down, and addressed me, “I want the same thing you gave Maya. That is part of the reason why I came home,” Paige admitted.
I shifted uneasily. I had thought about this for a long time, and everyone in the room was watching me intently. I didn’t particularly appreciate that Lezerath was here. I had to choose my words carefully. “I decided I would give you what you want, Paige, but you need to decide. I have access to potions that can increase your strength, endurance, or memory permanently. But you can only use one.”
Lezerath’s eyebrows went up. Bedelia shifted in her seat and looked at me. I looked at Bedelia and her wide eyes. She had figured it out. I was guessing she might suspect something; as Abigail said, her memory significantly improved. Bedelia must have also realized her memory had improved and tied it to us having sex. Paige seemed to consider as others sat around us eating, waiting for her decision.
Bedelia inserted into her thought process, “The memory enhancement is strong, Paige. If you want to eventually learn some magic, I would suggest that.”
Vida sat on the armrest of the couch next to me and asked, “Can I get some enhancements as well?” I should have done this in private. I bemoaned my honesty among everyone.
“It takes a lot out of me to create the elixir,” I stated. I mussed to myself that was true in a way. Continuing, “Maybe in the future, Vida. Remind me again when you have been good after a while.”
Vida considered for just a second and nodded. Paige had put her plate down, “Damn, why did you have to make this decision so difficult. I wanted to help my team win this year.”
I was surprised by Paige’s willingness to take a shortcut. Paige was not the queen of properness by a long shot. But she would always work extremely hard to achieve her goals. She studied late into the night and worked out for long hours over the summer to prepare herself for rowing. I had to ask, “This does not feel like cheating to you?”
“No, I am just evening the playing field,” She said firmly. “Maya has told me other teams have demis on them, and you should know, Caleb. You play ice hockey and dominate your opponents through magic,” she said accusingly.
“That kind of hurt Paige. I hold back when I play. And I do not use any magic, just my increased physical prowess,” I defended myself. “Let me know your decision. I have things to do. Mom and Dad are expecting you at the house as well,” I held up my phone.
I left the room with my cartoon of fried rice, leaving the salad behind, untouched. I was slightly mad at myself. It was not like Paige was calling me out, it was more like I was feeling guilty at bringing Paige into my world. It was much more dangerous than she realized. The master bedroom was right off the kitchen, so walking to it lacked the gravitas I was hoping for. A wrapped gift sat on the burrow. That was the invisibility cloak replica from the Harry Potter movies.
I was holding it for her birthday on July 4th. Paige always had the large parties for her birthday celebrations, and I thought to upstage everyone else with the gift then. I sat on the bed staring at that gift. It was not going to protect her from a tier 2 vampyre. It would not protect her mind from an aboleth. I either needed to be with Paige 24-7 or give her the tools as best I could to defend herself. I would not lose Paige to the greater supernatural world. I needed to enlarge her core.
I do not know how long I turned the thoughts in my mind, but Paige eventually knocked and came in. She was cheery, “So this is your house, Caleb? I got the tour, and it is amazing!” She sat next to me.
“I am not your brother,” I said suddenly. Paige got tense. “I am your brother, but I am no longer human. I am not a mage but actually a magic-infused humanoid.” We sat in silence.
Finally, Paige broke the heavy air, “I know, my brother. And you are him and will always be him.” More silence followed. Then she asked, “So, what type of demi are you?”
“A demon. I was converted at the Halloween party at your school. I am not very good at it, but I am learning,” I said, making eye contact with Paige. “Making the enhancement potions is one of my abilities.”
Paige nodded slowly, “An incubus?”
My blood chilled. Of course, Paige had a ton of clues to figure it out. She was too smart for her own good. I gave a short nod.
I was surprised how well she was taking this, “Wow. That was my first guess after Maya was so cagey about it. And Ashley—she still can not stop teasing me about how good of a fuck you were. I spent days researching possibilities, Caleb,” her cheerful tone broke the ice.
“I got you a birthday gift,” I pointed at the wrapped present. She got up and took the gift back to sit next to me. I said snidely, “That is for your birthday.”
“You can just get me something else,” she started opening it. “Besides, it looks like you can afford to get me something nice.” She opened it and looked confused as she handled the silky multi-colored material, “Is this a cloak?”
“Paige, you don’t recognize it? I guess you do not like it. I will take it back,” I sounded disappointed. I took it from her, and she released it reluctantly. I swept the cloak around myself and channeled my aether into it.
“No fucking way! An invisibility cloak! From the movies! I want it!” She dove at me to reclaim it. But I put the hood up and moved away. The invisibility was not great; she quickly cornered and grappled me. She forced the cloak off and tried it on.
“Why doesn’t it work?” She tried.
“You need to channel aether into it,” I advised. “When you get enough control of your aether, you should be able to use it. It was why I wanted to wait to give it to you on your birthday.”
“I still love it!” She said, spinning. When she settled, she said, “I will tell you my decision tomorrow.” She slowly wrapped up the cloak. “Do you need to…do we need to…?” She was calm as she studied me. She was too calm for what I thought she might be thinking.
My mind spun at what lengths Paige would go to in order to be enhanced. I shook my head, “No. It is just an elixir,” I stated.
Paige tucked the cloak under her arm and left. I was left to think. I had an early morning bus ride to the game. I needed to prepare for Paige. I left the house to think about how to administer Paige’s enhancement. My thought was to mix it in with something else to hide what it actually was. I had thought of trying to blend it in with a milkshake.
I got five milkshakes at Sonic and went to experiment. I parked in a secluded spot and watched the aether of the elixir dissipate at around twelve minutes. Next, I added an elixir to a milkshake and mixed it in. I watched it under my abyssal sight to see how long the elixir remained coherent. It lasted less than two minutes. I used half as much milkshake for my next experiment and watched again. The aether density was held for six minutes. I tried a quarter of the full milkshake, just under nine minutes before the elixir lost its vitality. That was my final experiment, as the other milkshakes had melted.
Well, it would make the idea of giving it to Paige easier. I dumped the milkshakes on the ground and tossed the containers. I drove home and went to my room on the third floor. Paige was in her room, and she knocked and entered.
“I thought about it, and I think I want the memory enhancer. Winning races would be great and help my teammates, but I want the chance at magic more,” she admitted, sitting in the swivel chair.
“I think you made a good choice, Paige. Do you want to talk about—about what I am?” I asked hesitantly.
“I think no. Not yet. Don’t get me wrong, I am curious.” She inhaled slowly, “You always see me as calm and confident, brother. But the truth is my mind is always processing, setting goals, pushing, calculating, never at rest. I accept you as my brother as you are, but I still need time before seeing it with my own eyes. Just seeing Vida in her natural form,” she huffed. “That took me a week to process.”
I nodded slowly, “Ok, I understand. When you are ready, let me know. For now, I can give you the elixir tomorrow. It has a very short shelf life, though. After I infuse it, you will need to drink it quickly.” Paige put on her big, disarming smile, and I flashed to the water golem in my mind space. I was seriously screwed up mentally for doing that. At least the water elemental couldn’t talk.
Paige left, and Saturday went as expected. I was up at four and got the bus at the rink. The team had lots of energy, and we were up 6-0 after two periods and just skated out the third, not running up the score. Paige and my parents were in the stands, as well as Iris, Abigail, and Vida. They were the only three who had made the three-hour car ride to watch. I got a little nervous when Paige introduced them to our parents. They had not met Abidgail or Vida yet, but it seemed to go okay as they all sat together for the game. I had two goals and two assists, so it was a good game for me, especially since I never went superhuman.
I ended up driving home with Iris, Abigail, and Vida. Paige went with our parents. We went out to lunch at a chain Italian restaurant. It was not very good—at least when compared to Vincents. I was surprised by how well-behaved Vida was during the car ride and meal. Her body language and speech were very controlled. I accepted it and figured I would eventually have to capitulate and give her an enhancement as well. At least I know knew I could do so easily without engaging with her sexually.
Iris dropped off Abigail and Vida at the cabin and brought me to the rink to get my car. “Caleb, you said all I have to do is ask when I want to have sex? I want it now?” I was about to get out of her truck and paused.
“Sure, do you want to go to the cabin or your house?” I asked. I had planned to get a milkshake and prepare Paige’s enhancement.
“My house,” she whispered. “Kiri and Eilina are out, so it would be just the two of us.” I nodded, and when we got there, Iris seemed almost giddy to get me alone. We had sex in the kitchen, guest bedroom, her bedroom, the master bathroom, and then again in her bedroom. When she was finally satiated, we were on her bed under the sheets.
Iris asked, “When are we going to look for my parents?”
I sighed, “I am waiting to hear back from Andromeda. She went to the planet Mercanious on her layer. I told you that. If she doesn’t get anything, we will try the city of Kealon as planned at the beginning of the summer. Why don’t you come with me to Australia during the March school vacation? You can search Rincewind’s library with me.”
She rolled onto her side, her firm breasts showing, “Who else is going?” The way she asked it was telling. She wanted to know if this was going to be a private vacation with just me and her. I had planned to take everyone who wanted to come. Bedelia would be extremely upset if she didn’t get to see Rincewind’s library. Artica would want to come to fulfill her bodyguard duties. I wanted Abigail to come because she was fun, and truthfully, the sex with her seemed slightly more enthusiastic than with the others.
I said, “Anyone who wants to come can, but how about me and you share a hotel room? You can book all the rooms for everyone. I will send you where the archives are located, and you can get a hotel that is close.” Iris was slightly disappointed but slowly smiled.
“Okay, I will set everything up for the trip. Can I rent a private jet?” She asked while rubbing my inner thigh. I knew she was upset about not going to the Bermuda trip.
“Fine, but make sure not to go crazy. My funds are not limitless until the estate in Amsterdam sells,” I said, and she beamed happily, and her hand moved to stroke me—maybe she was not completely satiated.
I left her house an hour later after a shower, just as Kiri and Eilina were returning from shopping. I stopped at Sonic on the way home and got two milkshakes. I went to my room as soon as I got home and noticed Paige was home. My parents were out, and Paige came to my room. “One minute, Paige,” I said, and I went into the bathroom, and made the cocktail using half a chocolate milkshake. I mixed it well, went to the bedroom, and handed it to her.
“This looks like a milkshake, bro.” She sniffed it, and I winced. “Smells like chocolate, my favorite. Is this a joke?” I shook my head no. She shrugged and swallowed the cold, sweet, milky concoction. “Ah, brain freeze,” she held her head.
“No, not a brain freeze. Go get some food and lay down, Paige. It should take effect, and you will notice a difference,” I said, realizing I had crossed another line.
Paige slept in, and I went to the cabin house early to work with Lezerath. The morning passed quickly, and Paige never came over. She texted me she was heading back to school and that it was working. She said she would see me when I came to one of her races. She thanked me with a heart emoji and ‘love you brother.’ I felt kind of sick because I knew my relationship with my sister had just been fundamentally changed forever.
I was supposed to have a session with Bedelia and Mary together, but Mary never came over. Her parents took the family on a surprise trip after church in the morning. She called Bedelia and apologized. Bedelia got me to herself, and to her disappointment, I returned to our past methodology of raising her core.
I was up early for a quick incubus flight on Monday morning before hockey practice. Hockey practice was fun as we were going to the playoffs evening if we lost our last two games. Monday morning at school, I got four novels for my next class, an in-depth study of 20th century American literature.
Hazel was present, and we chatted about her weekend. Hazel was slowly getting better with algebra. She was also smiling more and starting to get handsy. I had no aspirations of having any sexual relations with her, but it was fun flirting with her like I was an actual teenager. She started a habit of taking off her sneakers and playing footsie with me. The problem was everyone in the library everyone could see her doing it as we were sitting in the open.
Tuesday night, Artica and I spent the evening packing for the excursion to the transit. We were not taking any camping gear since we were going to a city. Jade said I should take weapons, so I took the Defender Aether Pistol and my electro-shock tetsubo. Gold was good in the transit, so we also packed some gold coins from the horde. Maybe I could find something worth purchasing if the beastkin city was a trade hub.
Wednesday, I left my house in darkness and parked at the cabin. I called out sick from school using my dad’s voice. If they checked, then I would have to explain to my parents, but I felt confident the school wouldn’t. We took the Ford Raptor to the nearby airport and were soon on a small luxury jet. Jade and Frost boarded shortly after. Artica joked, “You need to get one of these. This is traveling in style.”
We sat in four pivoting seats and faced each other to chat as we took to the air.
Jade added, “I wouldn’t mind borrowing it if you get one of these.”
The flight attendant, a middle-aged woman, who was a white wolfkin under her disguise, “This Gulfstream runs about 24 million new, and its upkeep is around a million per year.” She sat in an open seat, “I am Serina. My father is the alpha who owns this plane and is loaning it for the mission.” She crossed her legs and smiled.
“So you are not the flight attendant? I was going to ask for a glass of water,” I tried to be funny.
Serina smiled and tossed me a water bottle from a hidden fridge at her feet. “How is that for service?” I opened the bottle and drank. She continued, “I am your liaison during the flight. I also wanted to meet the great mage who was going to open the portal. So tell me about yourself, Mr. Apollyon.”