Her Incubus Master (The Children of Lilith) (18 page)

"You look pensive," said Andras, looking up at her
from the loft's main living area.

It was the fateful day—October 31, the day that Andras and
the other Children of Lilith referred to as "Samhain" rather than
Halloween. And Katie was getting ready—or trying to—for her commitment
ceremony.

"I don't know what to wear," she confessed,
leaning over the bedroom railing. "Jeans? Or I dress up? Should I put on
my nice lingerie?"

"
Definitely
wear your nice lingerie. As for the
rest--wear something dressy for the ceremony. All of the local Children of
Lilith, plus a Washington State contingent, will be there." Andras advised.
"And there will be absolutely
no
Halloween costumes at the
gathering," he added, in a teasing tone.  

"Okay, no clown wigs or angel wings. Got it," she
replied, rolling her eyes at him. She couldn't help teasing him a little.
"Are you sure you don't me to dress up as a sexy nurse, though?"

He snorted and turned back to his laptop.

Katie turned to the closet she shared with Andras, and began
examining her "meeting with clients" work clothes. Those would
probably be appropriate for anything short of a cocktail party.

Katy still had mixed feelings about tonight's ceremony.

On the one hand, she was still totally in love with Andras
and wanted to be with him forever--literally.

She had finally taken the plunge, free-cycled her
grandmother's ugly hand-me-down furniture, and moved into Andras' loft at the
end of the summer. Despite her initial worries, she had settled in nicely, and
she couldn’t imagine living apart from him now.

The huge living room had plenty of space for her to set up a
workstation with dual monitors for her graphics art work, and she no longer had
to drive or take the bus into the office—it was now within easy walking
distance. Her battered Toyota stayed parked in the loft's underground garage most
of the time, though it was nice to have a second car for when Andras was gone
on business trips, or if they had a schedule conflict after work. 

On the other hand, she hadn't quite reconciled herself to
the thought that being with Andras forever meant she needed to submit to a
gang-bang with a bunch of strangers. But it looked like it was going to be
necessary.

Despite giving it his enthusiastic best—she smiled at the
sensual memories—he had not succeeded in infecting her with whatever it was
that would make her immortal.

So, she had agreed to undergo the Sharing Rite at tonight's
ceremony.

Now that the day had finally arrived, the thought of it was terrifying
and exciting at the same time.

As she pulled an elegant silk blouse out of the closet,
Katie told herself that she was going to be a good sport and give it her best
shot tonight.

She
wanted
to live forever, especially if it meant
sparing Andras the grief and pain he had experienced when Yoshiko failed to become
immortal.

* * *

Katie swallowed nervously as Andras turned off the main
road, and began driving up a narrow dirt road. The late afternoon sun slanted
through the tall trees that lined the road, and Andras' car trailed a long dust
cloud.

The ceremony was being held at the secluded home of one of
the Children of Lilith, located in a wealthy neighborhood nestled in the wooded
hills about a half-hour south of the city.

This is it. But am I ready?

Sensing her jitters, Andras reached over and put a large,
warm hand on her knee. He stopped the car. "Do you want to go home? We can
always try this again next year."

She looked at him, and saw nothing but concern in his
beautiful green eyes. No annoyance, no frustration.

Katie let out a breath. "No. Don't let me chicken out
now." She put her hand over his. "I want this. I want to be with you.
I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

He turned his hand palm up, and laced his fingers through
hers. "I'll be with you every step of the way. And if you're in any
distress, use your safe word. Please."

She nodded. "Okay. And thank you." She leaned over
and kissed him. "I love you."

That made him smile, as it always did. "I love you,
too."

He put the car back in gear and continued driving.

* * *

The house was impressive, a huge, sprawling brick building
with gables and mullioned windows that looked like it had been transported from
some duke's estate in England. It was surrounded by a vast lawn, punctuated
with flowerbeds and several ornamental fountains.

Holding hands, Katie and Andras walked to the front door,
where Amanda opened the door.

She was still dating Drake Whitelaw, albeit in a stormy
on-again, off-again way, and she was looking much better these days. She gave
both of them enthusiastic hugs and kissed their cheeks, and said, "Come on
through to the back yard. They decided to hold the exchange of vows out there
because the weather's been so nice."

It all sounded so normal that the sick tension in Katie's
stomach began to ease.

They followed Amanda through a huge foyer done in dark wood,
with a cranberry-colored carpet and a table holding the biggest flower
arrangement that Katie had ever seen.

Then past more wood-paneled rooms crowded with expensive
antique furniture, and finally, out through a set of French doors to a garden
that descended a hill in a series of shallow terraces overflowing with roses
and colorful flowers.

A crowd of people stood on the top terrace, which boasted a
large, fancy wooden gazebo. As they drew closer, Katie saw two couples standing
inside the gazebo. One consisted of a young, nervous-looking black man, wearing
white, accompanied by a male Child of Lilith wearing a too-gorgeous-to-be-true
glamour with a mane of dreadlocks.

Andras came to a sudden halt, staring at the other couple.
The woman was a beautiful redhead in her twenties, and her companion was a strikingly-handsome
man with tousled, dark brown hair and piercing dark blue eyes.

The woman looked really familiar, somehow, and Katie
frowned, trying to remember where she had seen her before.

Both of them smiled with genuine pleasure as they spotted
Andras and Katie.

"Andras, sweetheart!" called the woman, coming
forward. "You look so surprised—you didn't think we'd miss such an
important occasion, did you?"

Katie turned to look at her lover. Did he actually look
nervous?

"Hello, Mother," he said.

And then Katie remembered where she had seen these people
before: in the old painting hanging over their bed in the loft.

Andras gave her a wry look. "Sorry about the
ambush," he whispered, before saying in his normal voice, "Mother,
Father, this is my pledged
philtata
, Katie Gunnarson. Katie, these are
my parents, Psyche and Aphrodisios
Vélos
."

"Call me Amor," said Andras' father, who looked no
older than his son. "And I'm very pleased to meet you at last."

"Don't tell me
you're
the one officiating at the
ceremony?" Andras asked.

Before his father could answer, Andras glared at his sister.
"You
knew
, didn't you?" Amanda smirked, and he let out a noisy
sigh. "Hell, you probably arranged the whole thing."

Despite his bluster, Katie sensed that he wasn't really
angry or upset.

"Possibly," said Amanda, pushing a lock of red
hair—the same shade as Psyche's—behind her ear. "Because I can't believe
you didn't invite them. In fact, I can't believe you've never even introduced
Katie to them, and she's about to become your
philtata
. Really, Andras.
What were you thinking?"

He smiled pleasantly at his sister. "I was thinking
that Katie is the best thing to happen to me in a long time, and I didn't want
to send her running and screaming before she was well and truly bonded to me."

"I
probably
wouldn't have screamed," Katie
said, thoughtfully. "Can't comment on the running part, though." She
stuck out her hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs.
Vélos."

She held her breath.
Andras'
parents...wow.
What must they be thinking, meeting her for the first time
on what was effectively her wedding day?

Katie needn't have worried.
Psyche bypassed the handshake and gave her a warm hug, instead. "Please,
call me Psyche. Welcome to our family, dear girl. We're so happy to meet
you."

Amor hugged her as well, and
Katie felt the phantom brush of wings against her arms as she returned the
embrace.

"Well, now that you're both here, I suppose we can get
started," Amor said.

"Wait," said Amanda, with a mischievous
expression. "She hasn't met Korinna yet."

"Korinna is here, too? With
him?
" Andras
growled.

Katie looked inquiringly at him, but no explanations were
forthcoming.

"Of course," Amanda said, cheerfully. "He's
her
philtatos
, after all.
I
like him just fine."

Andras sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Family," he said philosophically. "There are always going to be
one or two obnoxious in-laws."

"That's funny," someone said, acidly, behind them.
"Mark says the same thing about
you
, little brother."

Katie turned to look at the new arrival. Despite being on
the short side, she looked intimidating and kind of disapproving. She was really
pretty, though, with Amor's thick, tousled chocolate-brown hair and dark blue
eyes.

Right. I'm marrying into a family of supermodels,
Katie thought, wilting a little under the newcomer's long, assessing look.

Holding her arm was a stocky, powerfully-built man with
scarred hands and forearms, and graying blond hair in a buzz cut.

Katie's first impression of him was that he looked like a
Marine. There was just
something
about the way he held himself.

"Hi," he said, smiling, his gray eyes crinkling at
the corners. His handshake was warm and firm. "I’m Mark. Mark
Aquila," he said in a raspy voice.

Katie noticed an old white scar tracing a ragged line across
his throat, and wondered if his voicebox had been injured in whatever had
happened to him.

"And
this
," Mark said, turning to his
companion with a courtly half-bow, "is my lady Korinna, elder sister of
that loser you're about to hitch yourself to."

Katie thought she heard Andras growl, very quietly. But then
Korinna was hugging her with stiff formality.

"I'm so happy to meet you at last," she said, coolly.
"We were all so worried about Andras for a while."

"
I
wasn't," Mark said, still smiling
pleasantly.

"Marcus Aquila Julianus," Korinna said, with a
reproving tap on his cheek. "Behave." She leaned over and kissed
Andras on the cheek. "We wish you every joy, of course."

"Thank you, sister," Andras said, his tone formal
but sincere. "I do appreciate you coming all this way—"

"Nonsense," said Korinna. "You hide your
philtata
away as if you're ashamed of her. What did you
think
would happen? We've
all been dying of curiosity about this mystery woman." She gave Katie
another penetrating look that swept her from head-to-toe, as if looking for
flaws.

Katie gritted her teeth under the scrutiny. "Don't
worry about your little brother," she said, sweetly. "I have all my
fingers, toes, and teeth. I have a car and a good job and no debt beyond a
student loan. No police record, either."

Mark burst out laughing. "I like her," he told
Andras.

"She's better than I deserve," Andras replied.

"Got that right," Mark agreed, cheerfully.

Korinna looked dismayed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to
insult you. Truly," she said to Katie, sounding sincere. "It's
just—I'm so glad that Andras has found someone again—and I was curious."
She looked so repentant that Katie decided that Andras' older sister wasn't a
bitch, after all, just socially awkward.

* * *

The ceremony was held in the gazebo.

Amor and Psyche stood side by side, with Andras and Katie
and the two others facing them. Psyche held a large silver tray with two wine
glasses, a pitcher, and a ripe pomegranate.

She smiled warmly at Katie before shifting her smile to the
young black man who was the other
philtatos
-candidate.

"We are gathered here today," said Amor, pitching
his voice to carry to the crowd of guests gathered around the gazebo, "to
witness the vows taken by Katie and Andras, Philip and Delion. Katie and
Philip, do you come here of your own free will?"

"I do," Katie said in unison with the man standing
next to her.

"Katie and Philip, do you understand what it means to
become one of the
philtatoi
, the beloved companions of the Children of
Lilith?"

"I do."

"Then drink," said Psyche. "This is the
sacred ambrosia of the Children of Lilith. It will open your soul to the Divine
Ancestress Lilith, and allow Amor to work the spell that will bind you."

Amor lifted the pitcher and poured a thick dark-gold liquid
into each of the wine glasses, filling them.

Andras released Katie's hand, and stepped forward to take
one of the glasses, followed by Delion.

She took the glass Andras handed her, and sniffed at it. The
stuff smelled like honey, with an astringent herbal note. But she did not sip,
not yet.

Andras had told her to wait until the third request to drink.

Standing next to her, Philip raised his glass, but did not
taste it.

"Drink," Amor said, quietly. "It will open
your spirit to your partner, and allow them to divine your deepest needs, your
deepest desires."