"A bit! Hell, I'm gonna spend the rest of the night abusing those wolves!" Noje said, pointing at the black wolf guards, who were making a beeline for his sisters with decided intent.

  For him, his head was still spinning with the rush of… not quite emotions of the djevels. Their lust for destruction, for domination, for power. They hated so much, were full of such jealousy, anger, and desire to conquer and devour all they could. Their anger colored his thoughts, but right now, their lust was coloring them more, and it was about to find an outlet the djevels didn't know or understand.

  " I'm going to need a lot of help getting this under control ," he sent to his beast, who he realized was also being affected.

  " Both of us are going to have to work at this, or I fear we may split ," his lion all but growled in his head, and the moment he said it, Mihalis felt it, too. This power appealed to each of them in different ways. It also affected them in different ways.

  " Ugh, I do not want to go through that again !"

  " Yeah, me neither! " His lion laughed.

  Turning his attention back to his wives, he tumbled them onto the bed, and for now, he'd concentrate on their needs and desires, and find some relief in their embrace.

  §

  "You know, that's the first time I can recall someone actually pushing power back into the power pool," Peym said as Mihalis joined them on the mountain.

  "So I guess it went well?" his father Sean asked.

  "I think it made some changes in me," Mihalis said, and then looked embarrassed as he added, "and as soon as the wives let me out of bed, I'll see what I can discover."

  "Changes? How?"

  "Well, their power works differently," Mihalis said and took a moment to explain the 'fire hose' versus 'pool' concept. "Then of course, there's the horns."

  "Horns?" Keairra asked, looking interested suddenly.

  "Yeah, in my incubus form, and in the hybrid incubus form I created, I now have a pair of horns in place of the small wings I used to have."

  "Can you make them go away?"

  "Umm, I don't know?"

  "Huh. See whether you can or not."

  "Do you know something about this?" Sean asked, looking over at Keairra.

  "The original 'cubi all had horns instead of those wings. We found it a little odd when Cali didn't get horns, same for anyone else. Yet now Mike's got 'em."

  "Think it has something to do with all the djevel power I'm getting?" Mihalis asked

  "More likely the way you're getting it. Cali killed a lot of them, but she never got them," Kalif said.

  "I wonder what else it changed," Sean grumbled.

  "I don't know," Mihalis said, shaking his head, "but when all that power flowed into me, it was… thrilling? Exciting? Upsetting? Agonizing? That feeling of rage, anger, lust, the desire to destroy and tear and attack! It was almost animalistic, and yes, it was definitely evil in ways I don't know if I'll ever understand, and I'm not sure that I want to.

  "On the one hand, all I want to do is have a week-long orgy with the wives, and on the other one, I just want to go out there and destroy every djevel that doesn't bow down and worship me, while I act like the most entitled shit you've ever seen."

  Mihalis looked up and around at all of them with a nasty look on his face. "It's intoxicating and poisonous. It's been giving me urges to do things that go against everything I am, as both a lion and my mother's son. Even with my ability to throttle it down to almost nothing, we need to do something to get it under control and deal with the effects it's having on us."

  "We?" Sean asked.

  "My lion and me. I'm still trying to sort it out, but it affects us differently; it pulls at the different parts of me in different ways."

  "You don't have to do this, Mihalis," the First said in a soft voice.

  Mihalis turned and looked him in the eye. "No, I don't; I understand that. But I also understand that it's better for our plans if I do. There's no end to their malice, their destructiveness, their lust to kill and destroy. I can feel it inside me now. I need to do this, I have to. What kind of lion would I be if I didn't do everything I could to help destroy them?"

  Mihalis jumped to his feet and padded back and forth on all fours.

  "They're evil, they all need to die , and dammit if I'm not going to do everything in my power to make that happen."

  "Mihalis, I don't want you damaged by this," the First said, standing up and stopping him from pacing. "I don't want any of my children or grandchildren damaged by this. Yes, we need to do it, but not like this," the First growled, "if the price is too high!"

  Mihalis looked at him and sighed. "I think I can get a handle on it; I'm just so full of anger and rage, now that I've sated the lust."

  "Would a nice fight help?" Keairra said, and suddenly she was standing there in her armor with a sword.

  Mihalis' eyes widened, and then suddenly he shifted to his hybrid form with his armor and a sword. "Yes!"

  "I get a turn with him next," Cali said as everyone else moved out of the way.

  "So, what's the verdict?" Sean asked after Mihalis had left a few hours later.

  "I think we cooled his anger," Cali said.

  "Yeah, he was full of rage when we first crossed swords," Keairra said.

  "I noticed that. I will be sure to have some words with him later; he was a little out of control when he started."

  "Dad?" Sean asked, looking over at the First.

  "He's right that we need him to do this, but we have to keep an eye on him. Azure and Rika need to come here every night to tell us how he's doing. Cinnamon, Noje, and Harmony need to know that if he starts acting differently, to tell us."

  "I'm worried," Sean admitted while shaking his head. "Mihalis isn't an innocent, but I often think he's the closest of any of us."

  "You know, you resembled that state when I got you, son," the First said with a chuckle.

  "I think I'd had a harder life by then than the one he's had, growing up."

  "Perhaps, but now it's his time to become an adult, to take on the role he was born to. Cali's trained him well, and so have you, my son. I believe he can handle it."

  "You do?"

  "Yes, I do. But I still think we need to keep an eye on him and be ready with a guiding hand if and when he should need it."

  "Thanks, Dad," Sean said with a sigh.

  "Well, he's my favorite, too!" the First said with a laugh.

  How It Is

  Mihalis yawned and grumbled to himself as he shuffled out of the bathroom and off to the kitchen. He hoped he hadn't damaged any of the girls, but if he had, it'd serve them right for not giving him a moment's rest until they'd all finally passed out.

  He paused for a moment, still a little groggy, while trying to remember: had he knocked Jade up? He seemed to recall a lot of begging at one point.

  Shaking his head, he shuffled into the kitchen, and collapsed into one of the chairs at the table, making sure he didn't hang up his wings on the back of it.

  "Food, woman!" he growled and stretched again. Looking down at himself, he realized he wasn't wearing any pants, and almost panicked until he felt his sword slung across his back. Clothing wasn't important. Swords were.

  Beri came over, dropped an extra-large platter of food on the table, and smiled at him. Frowning at her, he grabbed her and dragged her into his lap as she eeped in shock, her eyes wide.

  "Eat," he said, and nodded at the food.

  "What?"

  "I'm starving, woman! I can't eat until I'm sure you're not hungry!" he said again and all but growled.

  "But I'm not one of your wives!"

  "You're my woman," he said, giving her a look. "Maybe I need to put my child in you to reinforce the point?"

  Beri picked up his fork and immediately took a bite.

  Sighing, he smiled. He'd definitely need to breed her soon. Tamerin, too. Maybe tomorrow he'd take care of Azure and Rika, as well.

  " Somebody in rut ?" his lion suddenly teased.

  Mihalis all but froze. What the hell? What had gotten into him?

  "I didn't mean to scare you, Beri," he said and kissed her on the back of the head.

  "Oh, you didn't scare me, and I'm gonna hold you to that little threat, Master Michael!" she said and wiggled a little in his lap. If he wasn't starving, he'd be banging her on the table already.

  " I am in rut ," he grumbled to his lion. " Fucking djevels ."

  "Check on the girls and make sure they're okay." He sighed as she slipped out of his lap.

  "Afraid to do it yourself?" she teased.

  "I think I lost ten pounds," he grumbled, causing her to laugh at him.

  "Well, you were in there a while."

  Mihalis shook his head as he realized he could hear the auction going on, which meant it was…

  "It's Monday ?" he blurted out. He'd sworn Ennakoida on Saturday.

  "Oh, no, Master Michael! Monday was yesterday !" Beri laughed, and he felt his face turning hot as he blushed.

  " I did breed Jade, didn't I ?"

  " Kerrie, too! " His lion laughed at him, and suddenly it all came flooding back to him. He could tell his lion was incredibly proud, and quite taken by the idea of dragging Beri off tonight.

  Then again, so was he...

  "Oh, fuck! Today's Election Day!" he said, looking up at the clock. It was almost noon.

  "Is it?" Beri said. "Guess I should roust your wives and cook their breakfasts, as well."

  "Grab me some clothes while you're in there. I think I need to head into the council office and check in with Cinnamon in case I missed anything."

  He was just finishing up his breakfast when Beri returned with his pants, vest, and shoes, which he quickly donned.

  "I'd ask what you did to them, but I could hear it," she said with a wink, "and if you listen closely, you can hear them groaning as they get out of bed and drag themselves to the shower."

  "As it should be," Mihalis replied with a wink of his own. Grabbing a last refill of his coffee mug, he wandered out of their apartments and out into the auction.

  The volume dropped noticeably as he walked out into the room, and a fair number of eyes turned to look at him. Opening himself up a little, he could feel quite the mix of hostility, envy, jealousy, hate, and even some respect and admiration. Smiling widely, he hoisted his mug in a salute. Taking another sip, he continued his way across the floor, as most of them turned their attention back to the bidding.

  "Yer not that tough!" said a big looking… well, Mihalis wasn't exactly sure what it was. Definitely not human, some sort of devil, if the red skin was any indication. All he knew was, he didn't like this asshole coming in here to his home and challenging him in front of everyone !

  "Actually, yes, I am that tough," Mihalis growled angrily and threw the hot coffee in his face, hit him with a paralyze spell, then drawing his sword from behind his back, he came straight down in an overhead swing, putting all his strength into it, and cleaved the guy in two, hitting him in the middle of the head and not stopping until his sword had passed all the way through the body.

  He'd never done that before, and the way he stood there for a brief instant—one half with a surprised look, and the other with an angry one—before falling in two different directions was almost comical.

  "What's the first rule of the Auction House?" he called out.

  "Don't piss of the bloody incubus, obviously,'' some wag muttered.

  Mihalis cast a couple freeze spells in quick succession on the two halves so they wouldn't bleed all over the place and make any more of a mess than they already had.

  "Clean up, aisle two," he said, flicking the blood off his sword and resheathing it. "What a waste of a good cup of coffee," he grumbled unhappily and continued on his way. It was about then that he noticed how quiet it'd gotten; Krang and Tal were staring at him from the stage.

  "Show's over, back to work, folks," he said with a touch of Persuasion, and as he left the room, things picked back up. He noticed he was feeling a fair bit of fear now, as well, and he had to smile at that.

  As he went out the front door, the two råge there bowed as they always did, and he gave them a wave as he walked down the street.

  His street.

  All this was his now. Ruxton might have built it, and Ennakoida might have laid claim to it, but Ennakoida belonged to him , now, and everything Ennakoida owned, he owned. Thinking of Ruxton, he really hoped the drug trials were successful; he couldn't wait to see how Ruxton and the First got on with each other. If nothing else, he was sure it would be entertaining.

  It was getting cool out now that November was here. He tried to recall if they got snow out here at all? Probably not, with how dry it was.

  He was about halfway across the square the council house was on the other side of when he felt he was being followed. Turning around, he saw two young djinn girls there.

  "What do you want?" he asked, curious. He couldn't feel any anger or hostility from either of them, just… resignation.

  "You killed our master, milord."

  "Your master?"

  "The warrior-wizard Latom, who challenged you."

  "Oh. Was that what he was? A djinn?"

  "Yes, milord. He'd taken on a great number of aspects. He was a fierce warrior."

  "And dumb as a brick, no doubt, too. So your master is now dead. What does that mean for the two of you?" he asked, feeling a little angry. Even dead, the asshole's bullshit was still annoying him.

  "It means we must avenge him," the other one said with a sigh of remorse.

  "Why?" Mihalis frowned. "What was he to you?"

  "He was teaching us magic," the first one said.

  "So you're his… what? Students? Apprentices?"

  "We were his indentures."

  "Ah, okay. And why must you avenge him?"

  "Why wouldn't we?" the second one said.

  "Because you'll die when I kill you. That's why," Mihalis said with a hint of a growl.

  She gulped, and the other one paled.

  "It's in the terms he made us swear to," the first one said. "That we had to avenge him if he was killed."

  " If you kill them, we're going to have words , " his lion warned as Mihalis weighed doing just that. " They're defenseless ."

  " You got that right, and on both counts, " he replied with a mental sigh, his anger evaporating as he got a hold of himself.

  "Okay, so you need to exact satisfaction for his death, right?"

  They both nodded.

  "Did he make you swear that you had to kill to get it?"

  "What other sort of satisfaction is there?" the second one asked.

  "Monetary, injury, service, a great many things. Look," Mihalis said with a sigh, "you can't kill me—neither of you are powerful enough—so if you try to do that, you'll just die, and you won't have 'avenged' your former master. You'll have failed, and we all know failing a sworn oath can lead to… issues."

  "So what are you suggesting?"

  Mihalis shrugged. "Would a hundred thousand dollars, American, to split between the two of you be enough?"

  They looked at each other, and he could feel a combination of relief, but also fear.

  "Now what?"

  They looked at him, so he waggled his wings.

  "I can feel your emotions, and yes, if I really wanted to, I could probably read your minds—not that I'm going to."

  "Well, if we take the money, then what?" the first one said, looking around. "We don't have a place to stay yet, and, well…" She suddenly looked afraid. "I'm not sure what would happen to us."

  Mihalis sighed again. "Fine, I'll give you the money, and I'll find you a place to stay where you'll be safe while you figure out what you want to do."

  "Why aren't you just killing us?" the second one asked with a wary look.

  "Because up until your master threatened me, I'd never killed a djinn before, and I don't want to make a habit of it. Oh, and no tricks. We both know I don't have to do this, yet I am. So? We good?"

  The two girls looked at each other and nodded, then looked back at him. "We accept your terms."

  "Great. Think of what form you want the money in when I pick it up later. Now, follow me; I've got work to do."

  Turning, he walked towards the council house again, then he stopped, turned back, and looked at them as they stared at him from where they were standing.

  "Are you coming or not ?"

  That got them moving, and he went inside.

  "They're with me," he said, nodding to the guards, and went straight to Cinnamon's office.

  "Mike! So they finally let you come up for air, I see!" Cinnamon laughed, coming around her desk and hugging him.

  "Uh-huh, and I'm sure you had your way with Brost, plus a half-dozen wolves or so."

  "I wasn't standing as close to you as your wives were. So what's with the girls?"

  "I promised them fifty thousand each, and to set them up with a safe place to stay for the moment."

  "Why'd you do a thing like that?"

  "Because I didn't want to kill them?" He sighed. "Look, take it out of petty cash, and if we don't have it here, ask Biggs to send it over. Arsy's gone, right?"

  She nodded.

  "Then they can live upstairs until they figure out what they're going to do."

  "Yeah, but again, why?"

  "He killed our master, and we were sworn to avenge him," the second one said.

  "And fifty thousand is a lot better satisfaction than getting killed by the incubus who cleaved him in two."

  "You cleaved a man in two?" Cinnamon asked, looking at him.

  "Yeah, and wasted a perfectly good cup of coffee, too," Mihalis grumbled. "Is Schmerz still here?"

  "Nope, he cleared out as soon as he heard you'd become a djevel prince." She turned back towards the two djinn girls. "Girls, go outside, tell one of the guards you'll be staying here a while, and ask them to take you upstairs so you can pick out a room. Don't worry about the djevel up there; that's Hengity, and he works for my brother, here. Now, scoot!"

  "So Schmerz cleared out that quickly, then?" he asked as the two djinn girls left.

  "Well, you did set it up for him to go back home, and there may have been a hint or two dropped about loyalty and what happens to those that aren't."