"So, how does this work?" she asked. "Do you just push it through your hands?"

  "No, I have to kiss you," he said and blushed.

  "Kiss me?" she replied, looking a little surprised.

  "I'm an incubus when I'm like this, sis. Almost all the powers you're going to get have a sexual component. There might be ways that are less…intimate, but I don't know them yet. I've only been doing this for month, you know."

  "It's going to feel strange."

  "Yeah, I know, but then again, that's probably a good thing."

  She grinned, and he pulled her close and kissed her, immediately pushing a fair bit of power into her. It was an interesting experience, he had to admit. If she wasn't his sister, he suspected he would have felt a lot different about it, but because she was, it, thankfully, wasn't sexual at all—which had been his greatest fear.

  But what made it most interesting was, he felt it when she suddenly hit the tipping point and expressed her succubus aspect.

  "Cool!" Celeste said. "Me next!"

  Taking a moment to catch his breath, he kissed Celeste next, and the same thing happened all over again. Then Noje, Harmony, and last of all, Cinnamon. When he'd finished, he sat down and checked his power levels. He'd used up everything he'd gained today, and then some.

  "Now, go outside and practice hovering. Don't go up more than ten feet, because it's gonna hurt when you fall. Do that fifty times, then try going up a bit higher than that. I need you all able to fly by midnight."

  'Why's that?"

  "Because I took over the slave auction house today, and right now everyone thinks I'm holding it all by myself. But if, come the morning, they suddenly see a whole bunch of succubi there, that'll cut down on anybody trying anything stupid."

  "That sounds easy enough."

  "Oh, and a djevel lord used to own it, and I suspect he's going to want to take it back. So I hope you brought weapons?"

  "Like Alska would have let us come if we hadn't helped her lug her personal armory along," Cinnamon said with a snort.

  "Come on! Let's practice! I want to try flying!" Noje said, and opening the door, she immediately got hung up by her wings as she tried to go outside.

  He did his best not to laugh, though the others weren't as restrained. But it took each of them more than one try to get outside.

  "How do you manage them?" Alska asked as he followed her outside.

  "It gets easier, don't worry."

  "That's because you're humongous when you shift into your hybrid form," Cinnamon pointed out. "You're used to changing sizes."

  "And I'm used to have a tail, as well. But I'm not used to having six limbs," he said, opening his wings and spreading them. "You'll get used to it. For now, I just want you to learn how to land. Once you have that down, we'll do a few laps around the house, take a bit of a nap, then an hour before sunrise, we'll go fly in.

  "Oh! And before I forget, you all know Mom Peg's spell to hide from cameras, right?"

  They all nodded.

  "Put it in your framework and keep it running; it drives them crazy. Also, don't let anyone see you shift. So far, no one seems to have connected my dark elf to my incubus."

  "Does that mean we should wear glasses, like Superman?" Harmony asked with a grin.

  "Yeah, I know, I always wondered how that stuff worked in the comics, too. But apparently"—he shrugged—"it does. Now, practice!" he told them and with his wings still out, he did a low hover as well, so they could see how it was done. Of course, his wingspan was considerably larger than theirs, as he was a lot bigger and heavier, but that meant he could beat his wings slower so they could get a good idea of how it was done.

  Thankfully his sisters were all in peak condition; they'd been trained to fight, and fight well, and except for Cinnamon, were all experienced fighters. So they didn't tire quickly as they all had a lot of stamina. Also, as they were all a lot more agile than he was, they learned fast.

  Once they had it down, he took each of them, one at a time, for a couple of circuits around the house, so they'd get more of a feeling for flying. Then he took them all up together, so they'd get a better idea of what flying in a group would be like.

  Then he had them stretch out a bit and take a short nap, because after the sun came up, tomorrow promised to be another busy day for all of them.

  "So," Alska asked, coming over to sit by him as the others slept, "what are your plans, Mike?"

  He shook his head. "I'm not quite sure yet. I'm still figuring out what I'm up against."

  "What you're up against?"

  "The place was built by an evil, mad scientist for reasons I know aren't what he's telling everybody. Honestly, though? I kinda like him. Yeah, he's ruthless and thinks he's a god, but hell, we all grew up with that, right?"

  Alska snorted a chuckle. "You got that right."

  "Then we have the djevels, who pretty much run all the surrounding territory outside the walls, and last but certainly not least, the town itself, the part that's not in the small fenced in area that contains the labs, is just chock full of all sorts of surprises. Magical gang members, creatures, demons, myths, legends, even humans."

  "And you want to take it all over, right?" she asked, grinning.

  "I think the other lions would disown me if I didn't!" he said with a short laugh.

  "What's the real reason?"

  He sighed. "Because I want it." He shook his head. "I think it started out as me wanting to prove something to everybody. Then it became me wanting to prove something to myself. Now? Now it's because it's just something I have to do. Dr. Ruxton needs to have some limits imposed upon him. The town needs a bit more order, and I desperately need to find out not only how women are being smuggled in here, but what the djevels are using them for."

  "You don't think they're just eating them?"

  "If it was just food, they wouldn't be selling only women to them, now, would they?"

  Alska nodded. "Astute. I don't know if I would have caught that. Does Dad know?"

  "I told Renee in the lion realm most of it. I'm sure he'll get just as suspicious as I am. But that's one of the reasons I started with auction house—it's central to the trade in slaves. I figure once I have it firmly under control, I can expand out to take over the rest of the city."

  "What about that djevel lord?"

  He shrugged. "I think we could take him if we had to, but I may ask Dad for a little help in encouraging him to stay at home. Then we only have to deal with his underlings, and after a few good meals, I'm sure he'll give up," he said with a smirk.

  "Oh, one other thing," he said, and then told her about his run in with House Uunregarten.

  "And there's more of them in town, right?"

  He nodded. "I need to ask Biggs—he's the goblin I guess is in charge of Sawyer's intel network there—where to find them. Probably going to need to have a discussion with them."

  "You know all the moms—not just ours—as well as Dad were pretty worried when you left, right?"

  Mihalis sighed. "Yeah, I kinda gathered that. But…"

  She put a finger on his lips, stopping him.

  "No one blames you for it, or is even mad at you for it. You lost someone you loved, then that Rose bitch, who'd been stringing you along all that time, came along and rubbed salt in your wounds. You've always been the restrained one, Mike, so I guess the moms and Dad weren't surprised that when you lost it, you really went off on her. That's why they gave you the time and space to work it out.

  "So do what you feel you have to do, but don't think you need to prove anything to the rest of us."

  "Oh? Why not?"

  "Because only a Valens, and a grandson of the First, could get so pissed that he not only tore off some bitch lioness' head, but then drop-kicked it a hundred yards!" Alska said with a big-ass grin.

  "You're not exactly giving me a warm and fuzzy here, sis."

  "Oh, please! We've all heard the stories about Dad, and we've all seen SJ have some of his own little 'episodes'. Hell, I think all of us have inherited some of Dad's temper, but lions are supposed to get the worst of it, and everyone was starting to wonder about you, and then suddenly, boom! Everyone learned that my little brother Mihalis isn't being polite and putting up with your bullshit because he's afraid of getting in trouble, it's because he knows if he loses his temper, there's gonna be carnage.

  "Did you know that no one believed the stories about how you went through those mindre and that ridder?"

  "What? But everyone saw me!"

  "Yeah, and everyone thought the team was exaggerating because you're always so reserved and respectful. Then after you tore off Rose's head, they suddenly got it. You act from a position of power, not a position of weakness. You show restraint because you know, deep down, that you, my brother, really are a badass."

  He looked at her, and he couldn't remember when he'd seen her so happy.

  "If you weren't my brother, I'd marry your ass," she said, and then giggled. "When you finally do come back to civilization, the girls aren't going to be chasing you because you're the only black lion out there. They're going to be after you because you're a big, tough, mean lion."

  Shaking his head, he leaned back against the wall, smiling to himself. He almost wanted to laugh.

  "Truth is, you know how Mom always told us to hold it in, let your anger build, and channel it to make you strong?"

  Alska nodded.

  "Up until that moment, in the fight with those djevels in the missile base, I'd always wondered about that. But that was when I realized letting go and embracing my anger let me do the kinds of things I'd never thought I'd be able to. Which I guess is why I always practiced so hard and trained so much. I never thought I'd be able to do the kinds of things Dad could."

  "And now you're learning you can."

  "Yeah, and I'm learning that I don't enjoy it, not one bit."

  "So, tell me about these girlfriends of yours?" she said, changing the subject, and he spent the next hour doing just that.

  He woke the others up a couple hours before sunrise, and they had a good breakfast, cleaned up, repacked their gear so they could carry it while flying, then they took off and headed for Bartertown.

  When the sun came up that morning, more than one person noticed the small flock of succubi that suddenly appeared out of the east, made a circle over the city high in the air, then dove down, circled the auction house a couple of times, and landed on the helipad on top of it. The few who'd had time to use their binoculars also noticed they were very well armed and armored, and not just with swords, though they all carried the same one.

  They'd heard the rumors of what one incubus could do, and they knew it had just taken over the auction house, slaying the powerful demons that ran it single-handedly.

  And now it had been joined by six more.

  An Old Family Friend

  Sawyer smiled as he read Biggs' report. Sean had already passed on Mihalis' appreciation for the help Biggs had given him—not that Biggs had mentioned that in his own report. Biggs wasn't the type to brag, after all. But he was clearly impressed that Mihalis had managed to keep such a low profile, while working his way into the good graces of not just that crazy doctor who'd set the place up, but the fae woman who ran what was probably the only legitimate business in town, and possibly the best defended one.

  Then, when the moment was right, he moved in, took over the main economic hub of the town, and made it sound like he was doing everyone a favor by doing so.

  And they bought it!

  Sawyer laughed at that. Obviously Mihalis had been paying attention to the things he'd been teaching the kid as he grew up. Sawyer had had his own doubts over the years; Mihalis was often quiet and never seemed to push as hard as some of his brothers, or even his sisters. Cali had once told him that Mihalis would one day surprise him, and as always, she hadn't misled. Mihalis had obviously taken the first lesson of power very much to heart: Don't squander it. You only spent power when it would do the most good.

  Which of course led to the second rule of power: The less you used it, the more startling it was to those around you when you did, and the stronger the impact. Especially if your power was great.

  Suddenly everyone was wondering if Mihalis might actually grow up to be more powerful than his father, and several already believed him to be more powerful than SJ, his older brother.

  Sawyer laughed again. Mihalis reminded him very much of Sean, his father, who had also started off slowly and showed what Sawyer at times had thought was far too much restraint. But the kid had played his hand well, and look where he was today!

  And now his son Mihalis was all but following in his footsteps. Sawyer didn't doubt for a moment that Mihalis' real goal was to control Bartertown; he was a lion, after all. And his statement to Biggs about there being money to be made was true, very true. Bartertown was the blackest of black markets, there were no rules there at all, and where there were no rules, there was information. The kinds of information most agencies struggled for years to tap into, and Mihalis had now set Sawyer up with a direct pipeline, and Sawyer didn't doubt for a moment that Mihalis knew it, too. After all, he'd staked Biggs half of the venture, and he knew every goblin in the DEZ worked for him directly.

  Oh, this had so much promise! He even knew where to look first: Dr. Ruxton. Nobody goes into a place like the DEZ 'for the good of mankind'—well, no one other than a lion, perhaps. It was time to take another look at the doctor and see if he could find out what he was really doing there.

  End of Mihalis, Book 1

  (Please Remember to Leave a Review!)

  Afterword

  Welcome to the beginning of a new series, Valens' Heritage. This series is going to be done a little bit differently, because, well, Sean's got a lot of kids. A lot of kids! (I'll put up a family tree of sorts after this afterword so you can see). So the goal right now is to tell the story of three of Sean's children: Mihalis, Sean, Jr. (SJ), and Troy. There'll be several books for each of them, and their stories will run more or less concurrently. So the next book will most likely be about SJ, then Troy, then back to Mihalis. Because much of what they're doing is interactive, but not all.

  It's definitely going to be interesting on my end of things, so I hope it's enjoyable on your side! As for books dedicated to any of the others, that'll depend on where and how all this goes. (Please Note: I took very ill and was unable to work for several weeks after the completion of this novel, so the follow on book may be delayed a few weeks. -J)

  Now! As always, if you enjoyed the story, please review! At the very least, rate it, but I would greatly appreciate a review. Four and five stars are positive reviews, three and fewer are negative reviews—yes, three stars on Amazon is a critical or negative review. Now if you didn't like the book, a negative or critical review is only fair. But if you did like it, four or five would be greatly appreciated.

  Anyway, let the shilling commence!

  As you know, I also write under the name John Van Stry, and have a few things going on there as well. The main difference is, those titles tend towards FTB, and some of them have Harem aspects; they're not all Harem. If you haven't looked at it, you might appreciate my Portals of Infinity series. It's currently at 10 books.

  Some Recommendations:

  Some other people I enjoy reading in this genre, and you might, as well:

  William D. Arand (aka Randi Darren) – Please check him out; he's good. I've been a big fan of William's since I discovered his work. It was kind of a funny moment for me when I found out he was a fan of my stuff, as well. I'm honestly beginning to suspect that he can't write a bad story, because every book he writes is just so much better than the one before. I just finished Swing Shift, and it was great. You should really buy his books.

  Blaise Corvin – The Delvers books are really a lot of fun and very much worth it. When I first came across his Delvers LLC books, I almost felt kind of jealous, because I was like 'why didn't I think of that?' I do think if you like my stuff, you'll like his as well, so check it out! And definitely give the Nora Hazard book a try (Mitigating Risk is the first one), I'm reading it now and really enjoying it.

  Michael-Scott Earle – Yes! Michael-Scott IS back, he's just not on Amazon anymore. If you want to find him and read his works again, please go here: https://www.michaelscottearle.com/books-1

  One of these days I'm going to bribe him to finish Lion Quest. Please check him out, and if you can, support him. He's another great author.

  Hondo Jinx – I'm a big fan of Power Mage. Lots of action, lots of fun. I love that his main character is a former Bull Rider. Those guys are crazy!

  Daniel Schinhofen – another great author you should consider checking out as well.

  They're all good people and great writers.

  If you're into 'Harem' type fiction, you may also want to check out this group on Facebook to see who else is writing it that you might like: https://www.facebook.com/groups/haremlit/

  Again, thank you for your support and for buying my books.

  My Amazon Author's webpage:

  https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Stryvant/e/B06ZY7L62L/

  Occasional announcements at:

  https://stryvant.blogspot.com/

  Jan Stryvant website at:

  http://www.vanstry.net/stryvant/

  (The stuff written under my real name — check it out, you might like it too!)

  John Van Stry website at:

  http://www.vanstry.net/

  Email:

  stryvant@gmail.com

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  http://vanstry.net/stryvant/maillist.html

  Links are also on my webpages! This way you're guaranteed to get announcements whenever I publish something! Otherwise I leave it alone, not newsletters, and I try not to be spammy.