Crazy Seduction(erotica)

There was only one person who could have hidden them and her betrayal was overwhelming.

He put his face in his hands and the tears came. Deep, soul wrenching sobs tore through him.

“Stanley! What’s wrong?” Sigrid said putting her arm around him. He leaned against her and shook as his grief crashed through his defenses.

The woman looked at Camila who looked back, equally concerned.

It took some time but Stanley eventually got some control back but he felt hollowed out. He was limp in Sigrid’s arms.

“Stanley, what happened?” she asked gently.

“I can remember.”

“Remember? Remember what?”Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

“My parents. Leaharin must have cleared a memory blockage.” He frowned. “She- she hid the memories,” he forced out between his teeth, an irrational rage almost getting loose. He breathed slowly and it subsided.

Stanley’s eyes went to Mr. Duncan. His flame red hair and beard. So much like his father’s. A tremble went through his body. “My- my father- he looked like you.”

Mr. Duncan leaned back in surprise.

Stanley had another epiphany. “Mother… she looked… a little like Sandy.”

The tears threatened to return but he pushed them back. He couldn’t let himself get trapped in despair. “What do I do now? I don’t want you to be in any danger. Maybe I should just go speak with the Fae-”

“No!”

Everyone looked in surprise at Mr. Duncan who was on his feet. He looked distinctly embarrassed after his outburst and sat back down.

The doorbell rang and Mr. Duncan leapt to his feet again and began moving to the door.

“It’s probably Marisa. I called her,” Camila called out.

He returned with the pretty blonde who immediately ran to sink to her knees before Stanley.

“Oh my god, Stanley! Are you alright?” she gasped, holding his hands.

His emotions almost got away from him again but he brutally forced them down and nodded to her shakily.

Camila leaned forward to bring her daughter up to speed quickly. “The Fae have been watching you and saw your increase in energy after being with Stanley in his condo. They kidnapped him and the Fae’s Master Inquisitor mind probed him to learn his secrets. He reacted by switching when the Fae was too close. Stanley killed the Fae and was able to escape but not before speaking with Queen Mab. She’s now aware of his presence and attempted to ‘collect’ him again. She wants him.”

“I’m so sorry!” Marisa cried and pressed her face to his legs. She didn’t want to see the aura pulsing around Stanley now. There was so much darkness in it. So much potential for grief, pain, misfortune and even disaster. She was still nowhere near being skilled at interpreting the images she saw but she could ‘feel’ the tides turning against him or at least directing him down a path of great hardship. The witch’s words were coming back to haunt her.

Stanley shook his head. “It’s not your fault. We’re all caught up in this thing my Baba… she started.” He paused as that sunk in. This situation was entirely of her making. He could see now that he’d been manipulated from a very early age. She wasn’t unkind to him, not really, but she needed to explain what happened to his parents and what had changed for him. He looked into Marisa’s lovely eyes. “I don’t know what plan she had for me but it’s putting too many people I care about at risk. I need it to stop. I think I need to find her and ask her to explain what she’s done to me and what she’s expecting of me.”

“You can’t do that! She’s… not the forgiving type. You can’t make demands of her-” Sigrid gasped.

Stanley smiled and took the woman’s hand in his. “I grew up with her. Better than anyone, I know what I can and cannot do.”

He looked over at Mr. Duncan. “Could I get a lift out to her house? I’ll go in by myself this time.” The man nodded, having no desire to meet the witch again.

“Hang on! No one is going anywhere-” Sigrid exclaimed, becoming alarmed.

“It’s ok Sigrid. Please let me do this. I have to try,” Stanley said.

Sigrid looked at the others for backup and they all looked thoughtful. Finally she had to admit that if anyone could get answers from the witch it was Stanley. “I’m coming with you!”

“No. It’s better if you don’t. I’ll go in alone and if things go south Mr. Duncan-”

“Roy.”

Stanley blinked at the man then nodded with a grateful smile. “Roy can come back to tell you. This way no one feels compelled to do something heroic.”

“Besides you,” Sigrid muttered helplessly.

“No, I’m just going to ask some questions. Maybe she will answer. Maybe not. I hope she will,” he said sadly.

He turned his attention to Marisa. “In case… the three servers in my office are ready to be installed in the server room. You have their locations on the diagram I sent you. That will be the last of the upgrades. The system is safe and sound now. The equipment in the old server room can be scrubbed, disconnected, and disposed of. From this point on it’s just a daily task of maintenance.”

He stood and helped Marisa to her feet. She immediately pulled him into a hug. Next was Sigrid and she held him a little tighter than was comfortable but he knew where it was coming from so he didn’t complain. Camila hugged him as well. Trying to keep his emotions in check, he pulled his hood up to hide himself and followed Roy out of the condo and down the elevator to the truck.

As they pulled out on the street he looked over at the man and saw the grim expression. “When we get there, you can drop me off at the end of the street. That’s where the bus stop was and I’m used to walking from there.”

Roy glanced at him then frowned. “I feel like I’ve let you down somehow.”

“What?” Stanley said in surprise.

“I haven’t been the most supportive voice,” the big man continued.

“I think you’ve been the voice of reason in the group. You’re probably right. This is well above our ability to control or deal with. The smartest move is to distance yourselves from me.” He saw a look of guilt pass over Roy’s face as he heard his own words.

Stanley continued. “Listen I have no idea how magic works. If it’s not technology based I’m lost. But I can see the group’s reactions to the names of the people who control that power and I can see how worried you all are. I honestly believe you and the others are better off without being dragged into this.”

His words didn’t seem to cheer Roy up so they drove on in silence. Stanley was still tired so he leaned up against the door and rested.

As he slipped away he thought he felt Baba running her fingers through his hair as she used to when he was just a young boy to help him fall asleep. Now the memory was bitter sweet but he still faded quickly.

*********

Sigrid frowned at Camila and shook her head again. “I still don’t think it’s time to involve Walter.”

“Stanley and Roy are right. We are out of our league and if we have to start dealing directly with the Queen of the Fae we need a skilled negotiator. You know Walter could do that for us!” Camila insisted.

“And you know Walter doesn’t do anything for others. He has to have a stake in it or he can’t be bothered. This time there would be something for him. You remember how much of an obsessive collector he is of rare and unique items. How excited do you think he’d be about a Satyr?”

“Oh, come on! Even Walter wouldn’t stoop to keeping Stanley captive for his collection!” Camila gasped as she looked at Sigrid in shock.

“Don’t underestimate the power of his compulsion. You know what he is. It’s in his nature.” Sigrid warned.

Marisa just gave her mother a worried look.

Sigrid tried another approach. “If Stanley is successful with getting some answers from the witch then we reassess-”

“Seriously, do you really believe she’s going to tell him her plan for him?” Camila scoffed with a raised eyebrow.

Sigrid’s mouth opened in shock but nothing came out for a moment. “Why didn’t you back me earlier when I said he shouldn’t go?!?” Sigrid exclaimed as her voice returned.

“Because he needed to go as he’d be blaming himself later if he didn’t. I don’t think she’ll tell him anything and I think she’s been protecting him-” Sigrid made her own noise of disbelief and Camila held up her hand. “In her own way which is not overt. He is still alive. When he gets back we need to ask him about speaking to Walter.”

Sigrid sat back and looked Camila right in the eye. “If we take him to see Walter, I will be next to Stanley at all times and he is not to leave my sight.”

Camila saw her friend’s determined expression and nodded. “We will need to call Walter to see if he has time to see us.” Receiving a nod from the Valkyrie she picked up the phone and dialed VRL’s lawyer.

“What if he’s asleep?” Marisa asked.

“Walter doesn’t sleep.” Camila answered as she listened to the phone ring.

“Camila! How lovely of you to call- oh! This is early for you! Everything alright?”

“Good morning Walter. If everything was alright you know I wouldn’t be calling to ask for some of your very valuable time,” she responded. “I have Sigrid Gunderan and my niece Marisa with me. May I put you on speaker?”

“Certainly.”

Camila put the handset down and pressed the hands-free button.

“How is this?” she asked.

“It’s fine. I have ensured our connection is private so rest assured you may speak freely. Is this call in regards to the little crisis developing between a certain new employee of yours and the Fae community?”