By Zapper

Synopsis: Jack Carter, a member of the Guild’s elite Special Operations Division known as the Hounds of Heaven has been assigned an undercover mission to find and destroy a possible Clutch of Sorcerers. The only catch is that he’s got to do it in the body of a woman! Can he and his team stop the new Clutch of Sorcerer’s or will the Guild be faced with another disaster?

Author note 1: I wrote this short story for a dear friend. M ~ you know who you are. I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I’ve come to value our friendship.

Author note 2: A special thanks to my Beta reader, Eric and my proofreader, Mr. 20” Biceps. As always I appreciate your comments and help.

~ Zapper

If you haven’t read any of the other stories in my ‘Consultant Universe,’ then I encourage you to take a look at them. While not necessary for you to follow, understand, and enjoy this story, they do provide the context that will increase your understanding of this universe.

Zapper’s stories can be found here in part and more fully on Fictionmania

https://www.fictionmania.tv/searchdisplay/authordisplay.html?startat=1&word=4552

Magic has always existed and is now openly acknowledged. 10% of the population is magically sensitive and 5% can actually be taught to cast spells. 1% of the population has the ability to earn a Magic-User 3^rd Class license. This means that in a country of 300 million there are potentially 3 million professional practitioners. However, it takes hard work and training to develop that raw talent. There are currently about 1 million licensed practitioners in the United States of America. Of that amount, about a hundred thousand are rated as Magic-User 2^nd Class, with ten thousand certified 1^st Class Magic-Users, and approximately three hundred Master Magic-Users.

The Guild of Magic-Users is ancient, and from its earliest days has been dedicated to the principle of peaceful coexistence with the mundane population. It exists officially or unofficially in every country and it upholds the laws of the host nation. The Guild works hard to identify magical talent, and to train and educate the magical population. Despite the Guild’s best efforts to eliminate them there are several ancient private schools of magic. The most infamous of these are the schools of the Assassins, Thieves, Sorcerers, Necromancers, Psi-Mages, and Demonologists. Each of these institutions specializes in unique types of magic that are considered unethical, immoral, or illegal.

There are also schools that teach types of magic considered ‘inferior’ to the curriculum offered by the Guild of Magic-Users. They are tolerated because they focus on teaching those of ‘lesser’ talent and because they keep the ‘lesser’ talents pacified. As long as they pay a fee, the Guild is willing to license them. These schools include institutions dedicated to; Alchemy, Artifice, Witchcraft, Shape-Shifting, and the Physical Adepts. The lesser talents are growing in power, wealth, and numbers. As they’ve become more influential, they’ve become resentful of the second class status the Guild has assigned them.

The power of magic is rising. The Human Realm has grown and this once back water of the multiverse is becoming a nexus. For those with the knowledge and power this is a momentous event. Agents are committed, claims are staked, scores are settled, and forces are on the move for the Power that controls this realm will come to dominate an entire sector of the multiverse.

The fate of the Human Realm is in the hands of humanity, for now. How humanity reacts will chart the course of civilization for the next millennia. An Age has come to an end, a new Age has arrived, and as of yet ALMOST no one has noticed.

I walked down the dimly lit hall wondering how I get myself into these messes. About half the overhead lights were burned out and the poor lighting combined with the smell of sour wine and vomit created an atmosphere that screamed ‘slum’ and made a small spot between my shoulder-blades itch. The click clack of my heels echoed ahead of me, normally this much noise would have left me cringing. In my line of work it pays to be quiet, particularly, when stalking a dangerous criminal.

I licked my lips and tasted the cherry lipstick, an unnecessary reminder that I was undercover. I wanted to snort, this kind of undercover I could do without. The sudden explosive sound of a dish hitting the thin wall of the apartment I was passing caused me to jump and the large fleshy orbs on my chest swung around wildly. As I heard a man and woman screaming at each other I stumbled a little to my left on the 5 inch platform shoes making me clumsy.

“Damn it! Billie, I’m gonna kill ya for this one!” I muttered in my new sweet southern accent. A tiny voice whispered to me from the earring hanging from my right ear.

*Jack, zip it, you’ve got to stay in character. Your name is Bree.*

The soft feminine sound of my partner’s voice wasn’t particularly comforting. She was the one who was supposed to be here, in this leather skirt and trampy tube top. I knew better than to argue and pushed myself upright and continued toward Bree’s apartment. Two more doors and then I stood before apartment 9A except that one of the pegs holding the nine had come loose and it looked like a slightly off center 6A. I pulled the cheap fake leather handbag from my shoulder and fished around inside looking for a key. The Guild had had to move quickly when this opportunity presented itself and they hadn’t had time to craft a custom handbag with the usual wards to help us.

There! Just under the half empty pack of Marlboros and between the roll of condoms and a couple of tampons I found it. The keys jangled loudly and I wanted to wince, my head still hurt from a combination of the after effects of using the artifact and all the booze Bree had consumed, before we’d picked her up. It took me two tries to get the key into the hole and then the cheap lock clicked. I pushed open the water-stained door and had to lean into it as the water damage had warped it so it scraped unevenly over the cheap linoleum covered floor.

I stumbled in and then leaned my back against the door using my weight and my legs to push it closed and let out a sigh. As I did I felt my braless breasts move around abraiding my sensitive nipples against the fabric of my tube-top. A part of me wanted to scream and throw something; instead I pushed away from the door and locked it using the deadbolt before moving into the threadbare apartment. The iron clad discipline of the Hounds of Heaven wouldn’t allow me to break down. Even though my male mind was constantly under assault from this overly feminine body.

I glanced around the apartment cataloging it as I did. It was pretty much what I’d expected, except that Bree was a bit of a neat freak. I moved over to the run down sofa and settled onto it allowing my legs to fall apart as I tried to collect my wits. I needed to prioritize my next steps. I didn’t really have that much time. Today’s events had happened so rapidly that I had a hard time disassociating myself from them and achieving a dispassionate state.

My partner Billie and I were Hounds of Heaven, the Guilds elite special operations forces. I thought back to years earlier when I’d been recruited out of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Guild had been looking for a specific psychological profile in the young student Magic-Users. Even though I only had the power of a 3^rd Class they’d asked me to try out. The selection process had easily been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. My class had started out with fifty candidates and five of us had graduated.

It was during selection that I learned for the Hounds of Heaven, it wasn’t about power; it was about the mind and the spirit. Yet, this was only the beginning of my training. What I hadn’t known at the time was that the rules that applied to the rest of the Guild didn’t apply to the Hounds. The first course I’d been sent through had been based on my psychological profile and it had been in depth training on mind magic. A year later I’d met Billie, my petite blonde knockout of a partner, also trained by the Guild as a Psi-mage (this type of magic was border line illegal and looked on by most as unethical). Our job mostly involved intelligence collection and we were very good at it, but Psi-mages could do other things if needed.

Six months ago Colonel May reassigned Billie and me to a new team. I still don’t know where they got the ‘Artifact,’ the IS (Intelligence Section) of the H2C (Hounds of Heaven Corps) are a notoriously closed mouth group. They had acquired an artifact of Power; an artifact that the Guild would consider illegal to use. The artifact allowed us to transfer the souls between two people. This changed the game when it came to undercover work. We, our team, had been granted permission to use it in black operations related to the highest security threats the Guild faced.

I’d never used the artifact before today although I’ve seen Billie use it. When Captain Miller snapped the iron collar around my neck I’d wondered if it wasn’t an evil thing. Before today I’d thought the concepts of good and evil were quaint. But the nausea and sense of something being “wrong” that accompanied the touch of that metal to my skin left me shaking. For a minute I wondered if I was going to be ill. I shuddered at the memory and then they’d brought Bree in.

I knew who I was going to be swapping into before they’d tied her to the chair next to me and I silently cursed Billie. Billie had been trained in the use of the artifact and in adjusting quickly to a new body. I was her backup; her partner; the big strong guy who came in guns blazing and pulled her cute little ass out of the fire. Irony is an interesting thing. Of all the women Billie had swapped into for a mission, Bree could have been her twin sister. This would have been her easiest swap. Instead it was my first.

We’d gotten the call that we might have a target of opportunity. An unlicensed Tantric-Adept Bree Luga was the mistress of Grigori Antipov. Grigori was supplying illegal weapons and magical artifacts to a new Clutch of Sorcerers who’d set up here in Columbia, South Carolina. My team had been assigned the job of terminating the clutch before they gained too much power. By any means necessary. It was a weapons red and free engagement, and lethal force had been authorized.

CPT Miller had then taken the second collar, connected to my own by a disturbing black chain, and snapped it around Bree’s neck. A wave of intense pain washed over me and for a moment my world lost focus. I existed within the pain. The pain swept through me, burning me, making me desperate for it to end. Then I sensed something ahead of me; something cool. I rushed toward it and the feeling of relief was almost as intense as the pain that had preceded it.

I blinked. I could tell from where I was sitting that I’d moved or been moved. I knew enough to look to my left and I saw ME; slowly starting to stir. Then CPT Miller leaned down and jabbed a needle into my large arm and pushed something into my masculine body. I watched as my head relaxed and fell forward. CPT Miller looked over at me, “Special Agent Irons are you alright?”

“Yeah, Cap’n, I’m fine.”

“Authenticate. Nine zero.”

“Plus one zero.” I responded since my code number was one hundred.

The sound of my voice startled me. The pitch and tenor were one aspect but the southern accent caught me by surprise. I worked hard to hide my accent over the years.

“Alright, we’ve got to get moving. We need to get you back to Bree’s apartment.”

“Has Billie checked in?”

“Yeah, just a few minutes ago. She’s still at the TOC (tactical operations center) Colonel May is just getting done with her.”

I wanted to snarl. Billie had been summoned to the TOC to brief Colonel May, our Team Leader, on our current situation. That had pulled her off the FOB (Forward Operating Base) just before Intel had informed us that we had a target of opportunity; the Tantric-Adept Bree.

The Hounds who were part of my normal team rushed forward to help untie me and after I stood up I needed a couple of seconds to catch my balance. The proportions of this body were completely alien to me. I knew that the artifact would swap our souls and that I’d be limited to the magical power of the person whose body I was wearing. However, psi-mages were perfect candidates for this type of mission. Psionic-magic didn’t require a lot of power and we could access the memories locked in the physical brain of the person whose body we possessed and not go mad. This was why Billie had been trained in the use of the artifact.

Billie had been a perfect candidate for this mission except that when the opportunity to grab Bree presented itself Billie was at the TOC. We had to act and leadership had given me my partner’s job.

I watched as Eric and Steve carried my unconscious body from the room. “What are you going to do with her while I’m on mission?”

CPT Miller looked down at me and grinned. ‘Why does he look so, damn big?’ I thought. Normally I’m several inches taller than the Captain.

“We’ll take her to a holding cell at the TOC. We can’t keep her drugged for the next couple of days but we’ll make sure she can’t use your magic. Don’t worry Jack we’ll keep your body safe for you. Just focus on getting the job done. The sooner we bust these sorcerers the sooner we can all get out of here.”

I shook my head to get rid of the memories and focused on the conversations I’d had with Billie about what to do once in a new body. It was now time to test what she’d taught me. Still sitting on the sofa I closed my eyes finding the meditative state I was familiar with and then reached for the magic. I was quickly disappointed by how little I could draw. My strength in magic had been at the 3^rd Class level; the lowest level acceptable to the Guild. Yet it was more than twice what Bree could draw. She was, just as the Intel report had said, a lesser talent who’d trained as Courtesan-Adapt. Tantric-magic was her forte and even though it wasn’t illegal it was frowned upon. Then I felt her Manipura Chakra her inner well of energy. I almost lost control. It was full! But not just full, it was a vast reserve of energy.

‘How the hell does some prostitute get so much power?’ I wondered dropping out of my trance.

For the first time since I saw the other Hounds drag the drunk and struggling Bree into the warehouse I felt something other than contempt for the blonde. Her tight fitting clothes had been designed to create a specific impression, but what I was sensing didn’t fit the image. What did I know about Bree; besides the fact that Billie was supposed to take her place?

“What do you really know about her?” I asked the empty room not expecting an answer. The report had said that she was 22 years old and to my 35 year old point of view she was a child. I reached up and massaged my head feeling the waves of soft blonde hair that fell to the middle of my back. I drew upon the magic around me, “Yes,” I whispered. She did have a magical gift; very modest, much less than the minimum amount needed to be a Magic-User, but enough for one of the lesser schools. I dropped my hand to look at my well-manicured fingers. Long delicate with fine bones they were the fingers of an Adept-Courtesan; a magical hooker; a high end magical escort. The Guild’s official files didn’t talk much about this school as they were considered ‘lesser’ as long as they paid the Guild’s licensing fee without complaint the Guild ignored them.

“Well, at least I’ve got something to work with.” I said, and then heard Billie’s voice whisper into my ear.

*Stop complaining, Jack, and get to work!*

I wanted to growl at Billie, but her tone of voice reminded me of me on the occasions when I’d been her over-watch while on mission. Instead, I stood up and moved to the flat screen on a small wooden stand by the opposite wall. From Bree’s purse I pulled out one of the three things the Guild had given me before sending me out. It was a small idol cut into the shape of Geisha. I placed the idol on the TV stand and said, “Invoco!”

A wave of magic washed over the room. Wards materialized and for the first time since assuming this mission I felt a little more confident. I moved away from the TV and thought I’d better do a little exploring. The tiny kitchen didn’t have a lot but I managed to grab a diet coke from the almost empty fridge before moving down the hall that led to the bathroom and main bedroom. The bedroom was minimalistic I ran my hand over the second-hand dresser feeling the chipped and worn wood under my sensitive fingers. I sat my coke on the dresser and turned around in a full circle before sitting on the bed. I sank much farther into it than I’d thought I would.

“Bree must like a very soft bed!”

*I’ll bet!*

Billie’s voice speaking to me from the stud in my left ear reminded me that she was listening.

“Billie, you can take 30 if you want. I’m going to begin meditating.”

*Gottcha, just remember to shield your true self from the memories.* her voice had a hint of worry. *Otherwise you might wake up in the middle of the night dressed in drag and not understand why!* This time there was a bit of mocking humor in her tone.

“Just leave me alone so I can concentrate, please.”

*Alright, good luck.*

With that I sighed and folded my legs under me in a lotus position. The tight leather skirt rode up my thighs and I could feel cool air hitting my silk covered sex. I ignored the sensations and focused on meditating. Billie was right, I needed to be careful. I needed access to Bree’s memories but I had to keep them separate from my own. I started by walling off my mind to protect it from anything that I got from Bree or any other kind of magical compulsion or glamor. Then I created a place within my mind for Bree’s memories.

Once this was done I was ready to move on to the next step. This part would take longer but it was required if I was going to be able to access Bree’s memories, skills, and mannerisms. As much as I hated the idea of being this girl I had a mission to accomplish, and I needed to get acclimated to my new operating environment.

The world faded away and suddenly I felt a flash of memory . . . ‘Easter, and I’m wearing a white frilly-dress I twirl around giggling as the dress flares to my slim hips’ . . . the memory faded only to be replaced by another . . . ‘A pretty woman, telling me that I couldn’t play with the boys. I needed to start acting like a lady even though playing soccer was more fun than helping mom in the kitchen’ . . . the memory faded and another took its place . . . ‘An angry woman, my mother again only older, her face had several wrinkles and a streak or two of grey in her blonde hair. She was screaming at me, waving her finger under my nose. “You failed?! How could you? You knew the only way I’d ever get out of this shit-hole, your father left us in was by your getting into the Guild!” I felt tears running down my cheeks the sting of the Guild’s rejection only a fraction of the pain I was feeling’ . . . That memory faded and another took its place . . . ‘I was with a boy in his car, he was reaching under my shirt, I told him to stop and he suddenly pushed me over! “No, stop! I don’t want to!”’ . . . My heart was now racing as the memory faded . . . ‘I was standing in a group with four other girls facing the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen and she was even shorter than me! Not even five feet tall, but she moved with astonishing grace. “If you work hard and learn what I can teach, you will have wealth and power. But you must always hide what you really are,” then she gestured and a man was brought in. It took me a second to figure out that he was a vampire and then my breath caught and my heart started racing. He’d been chained with enchanted bonds and he tried to snarl something but the enchantments prevented us from hearing him.

The woman pointed a finger and said, “Animas Unum Ure!”

A bar of white hot fire shot from her finger and struck the Vampire in the chest. In an instant he was engulfed in flames. The creature didn’t even have time to scream before the fire winked out leaving a pile of ashes. The old woman looked at us and smiled sweetly over the stench of roasted meat.

“I failed to pass the test to get into the Guild. Just as you five failed, yet there are other paths to power.”

I felt my pulse quicken, this woman had power; real power, power that would take me away from my mom; power that I could use over men. I knew what I’d have to do to get that power and hated the thought, but the sight of the charred vamp remains filled me with determination.’

This time when the memory faded I prevented another from taking its place. I sat there on the bed feeling stunned. The display of power from the old woman, ‘Madam Joselyn,’ I thought, as the information flowed into me. I didn’t have Bree’s whole life story, instead I’d get flashes and if I focused I could now pull the associated memories.

“What the fuck is going on?”

My new feminine voice sounded harsh as I tried to understand what I’d just learned. This situation wasn’t adding up. Madam Joselyn shouldn’t have that kind of power. That spell had easily been at the Magic-User level. I was also shocked at Bree’s longing for power. ‘God, I hate it when I’m on a mission and things start to not make sense.’ I thought.

*Jack, are you okay?*

“Just give me a sec.”

I tried to make sense of what I’d just learned. ‘One, Bree can’t draw much power but she’s holding more power in her Chakra-well than I can. Two, she obviously went to an unlicensed school instead of the Courtesan Adept School her record indicated and three, why does she live in such a dive?’

I tried to focus on that question, with this much power and her obvious skills as a high class escort, why would she choose to live here? But for some reason I got nothing then an image of a tall dark man floated into my brain. It was Grigori Antipov. But in Bree’s memory there was something more to him than just being a small time thug; something that made him special.

Now why was his image in my head when I was trying to figure out why someone with Bree’s power was here in this apartment? My pulse quickened and I felt my face flush. Then I noticed a strange new ache coming from my groin and my nipples were pushing out against the thin fabric of my top. ‘Holy shit!’ I thought, she’s really attracted to him. Then I realized that he was the one who paid the rent and that he wanted her here.

“Okay, Billie, we’ve got a problem. I think we need to reconsider our approach. This girl is more than just a paid escort.”

*Really?*

“Yeah, and make sure Captain Miller has someone good guarding my body. Bree’s had more training in spell crafting than we knew.” I had a sudden fear that I’d finish this mission only to discover that Bree had disappeared in my body.

I felt a little nervous as I walked into the bar; the saw-dust on the floor unnecessarily muffling the sound of my heels because the blaring music would have drowned out the click-clacking anyway. Bree wasn’t a tall woman and even with the five inch platform heels she stood no taller than five six or five seven. At this height I couldn’t see over anyone and had to try to weave through the press of bodies.

I made it, but not without getting my ass grabbed twice and my boobs pinched once, through the crowd to the bar. More than once I wanted to turn around and dive magic hardened fingers into the throat of an offending mundane jack-ass. I could sense Bree’s approval of the notion. But I suppressed it, I needed to meet Grigori and the text I’d gotten had said to meet him here.

“What can I get for the pretty lady?”

I looked at the bartender noticing that he was a lot bigger than me, but so were most people.

“A screwdriver.”

“Sure,” then he gave me a suspicious look. “Can I see some ID?”

‘Really,’ I thought, ‘I’m getting carded in a dive like this?’

I passed him my ID with a smile trying to play it down. Bree was only twenty two and when she was in regular clothes could have passed for sixteen or seventeen. But I wasn’t in regular clothes. The red dress I’d found in her closet looked a lot nicer than the usual clothes she wore. Grigori’s text had said to look ‘high class’ which didn’t make any sense once I’d discovered the location.

“Here you go.” The bartender slid my ID and my drink to me and then paused, a look of concern fliting over his weathered features. “Why are you here?”

“Excuse me?”

He shook his mane of iron streaked dark hair and gave me a penetrating look. “Dressed the way you are? You’ve got half a dozen ex-cons in the place and I can tell you, you’re not going to make it out of here in one piece unless you’ve got a boyfriend or a pimp handy.”

His warning made me swallow. Not because I was worried for my safety. I could handle myself, ‘besides,’ I thought, idly playing with the silver chain on my writs, ‘I’m wearing the second item that the Guild gave me for this mission.’ No I was being cautious because I didn’t want to blow my cover.

“My pimp will be here in a minute.”

At this the bartender grunted and moved away. I let out a sigh.

*How are you doing?*

I lifted my drink to my lips and grimaced slightly. The bartender had done me a favor and made it a double. The taste of cheap vodka was strong enough to make my want to gag as it hit my more delicate palate. Still holding the drink near my lips I whispered, “I’m fine. What’s the ETA on Grigori?”

*Not yet . . . wait, check that. Tally-ho, he just parked.*

I nodded and took a deep breath, ‘Okay, show time.’ I thought and briefly remembered the case file I’d read on Grigori. He was a small time thug; however his Uncle had been a skilled Physical Adept. Grigori had trained under him and was moderately skilled. His parents had been modestly talented Artificers and when they passed away he’d inherited a decent amount of money and a small collection of enchanted brick-n-brack. Grigori had used his resources to insinuate himself into the mundane organized criminal elements. He provided cheap magical items that a mundane could use and muscle nearly impossible for an un-augmented mundane to match. In the ten years he’d been running with the local mob he hadn’t been important enough for the Guild to take an interest in him and had left him alone. Because of that he’d made contacts all over the city.

He was now using those contacts to help this new Clutch of Sorcerers. Working for Sorcerers put him squarely on not just the Guild’s Radar, but ours. I reached up and touched the stud in my right ear, “How’s the visual?”

*Good-to-go.*

Before I could respond to Billie I saw a large man gliding through the crowed. This was the first time I’d laid eyes on Grigori and I felt the Bree personality stir within me and my body started to respond. I clamped down on those reactions, ‘stupid girl body,’ I thought. He was taller than I’d been before I became Bree and had the fluid grace of the Physical Adepts. Suddenly I felt the need to rub my thighs together in response to a new empty feeling in my groin. ‘Why is my body responding so strongly to his,’ I wondered and focused on getting control of my new body’s reaction.

Just then I felt my free hand, caught in a much larger mitt, and then Grigori was lifting it to his lips. The touch of skin on skin sent a tingle through me and I had to look up at him through my blonde tresses and for a second I didn’t know what to say.

“Ah, Bree, I approve. That dress was always my favorite.”

“I know.”

I realized as I said it that I did know this was his favorite. The bleed over of Bree’s personality into my unconscious mind suddenly alarmed me. I was abruptly desperate for a few minutes to meditate so I could check my mental shields. Grigori tugged on my arm and I found myself pulled off the stool. “Let’s go girl, the car is waiting.”

“Go where?”

“You’ll see.”

Now I focused on bringing up as much of Bree as I could even though I knew it was a risk with the evident bleed-over. I stomped my foot and leaned back against his tugging.

“I’ve not finished my drink, and I’m not your property, I’m your partner.”

Grigori glanced around, trying to see if anyone had heard and then he glared down at me. “Don’t pull that shit on me right now. Tonight is important and I can’t risk you fucking things up. Just do what you’re told.”

I drained half my screwdriver and it was only my discipline that allowed me to hide the wince this body wanted to make at the harsh taste. “Why are we here? Why am I dressed up? Where are we going?”

I could feel the Bree personality in those questions and by the annoyed look on Grigori’s face I saw that I was completely in character. Then the annoyance was replaced by what I could only guess was lust. He slid an arm around my thin waist and pulled me close. I felt my breasts pillow into his chest as he looked hungrily down at me.

“Isn’t it enough for me to say I’m fucking tired of the game you’re playing? That I’m god damn, tired of seeing you dress like a tramp? That I just wish, to fuck, you’d move in with me?”

“No.”

Grigori threw his head back and laughed. With his free hand he wiped tears that had started to leak from his eyes. “Ah, I’ve never been able to get anything past you, Bree. It’s what I love about you.” Then he scowled slightly, “I can’t tell you everything that’s going on; its business. We’re going to go have a private dinner with someone important. I need to make a good impression and you’re going to help. I met you here because it cut forty minutes off the drive.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard.”

I lifted my glass and drained the rest of the drink in one long swallow.

*Jack, the team is mobile, you’re cleared to continue.*

I allowed Grigori to guide me out of the bar and from the corner of my eye I saw a couple of the guys the bartender must have been talking about. It was much easier getting to the door than it had been for me to get to the bar. I guess I’d never appreciated the advantages of being a guy when it comes to moving through a crowd.

The night air was brisk since it was still early spring and I was glad to be out of the bar. I felt my shoulders relax as my tension eased. While I’d been in there I’d been nothing more than a piece of ass and a potential victim.

“Hey, you, fucker, where the fuck do you think you’re going with her?”

For an instant I was too stunned to move and it took a second for my confused mind to realize we were the people being addressed, or more accurately Grigori was. Grigori spun around and stepped between me and the three guys who I’d seen watching us and who’d obviously followed us out of the bar.

“Friend, I don’t think you want to talk to me like that.”

I couldn’t see Grigori’s face but the trio stopped their advance for a second.

“Shit, the fuck’s got some magic.” The shortest guy said.

The tall guy in the middle cracked his knuckles, “Yeah, but he ain’t no fucking Magic-User. Besides the glowing eye thing is a fucking simple spell, I used it for Halloween once.”

Suddenly Grigori blurred forward almost faster than the eye could follow. He hit the big guy in the gut, folding him in half. Before either of the other two could react he spun to the right smashing a spinning back-fist into the jaw of the taller of the two wingmen. I could hear the sound of the guy’s jaw breaking all the way from where I was.

Then Grigori stopped and I could tell he was releasing the spell that had just given him enhanced speed and probably hardened his skin. I’d never have done that at this point in a fight and it made me wonder if he could only maintain physical adepts’ abilities for a few seconds at a time.

“Pick up your buddies and get out of here before I lose my temper.”

The words were spoken quietly and were all the more terrifying for that utter calmness.

“Sure, sure, Fuck! Just take it easy, fuck.”

Grigori walked over to me and put his arm around me guiding me to the black Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. I almost froze when I saw it. For a moment I nearly pushed the Bree personality aside and asked Grigori if I could drive. But he was guiding me to the passenger side and I forced my lust for his car down. By the time he opened the door for me I remembered to turn and keep my knees pressed together as I eased into the car. The black leather seat was almost slippery against the silk of my dress as I folded my legs into the vehicle.

*Did I forget to tell you he arrived in a Hellcat?*

I could hear the laughter in Billie’s voice. “I’ll get you for that, bitch.” I fired back as Grigori walked around to the driver’s door.

*Hehehehehe*

I felt my whole body vibrate when Grigori started the car. As he dropped it into gear and started backing up the barely restrained sensation of 707 horses left me feeling flushed. I could feel the rumble of the restrained power through the flat contact of my groin and the leather seat. The sensation was so powerfully erotic I let out a little gasp of surprise. Grigori didn’t drive particularly aggressively; he didn’t need to with that much power under the hood. And he’d been worried about how long it was going to take?

Before I knew it we were on I-77 headed north toward Charlotte. Then Grigori grinned over at me. “I don’t think you’ve ever seen me use this.”

I looked and saw that he was touching a teardrop shaped crystal hanging from the rearview mirror by a silver chain. He glanced at me and I realized that he had a crooked roguish grin that Bree thought was entirely too cute.

“Auctoro!”

I felt the magic wash over me but I didn’t recognize the spell. But I thought I’d felt something similar before. I used my talent and blinked shifting my eyesight into Magi-sight also known as the Third-Eye.

Suddenly the Hellcat surged forward and I was pressed into my seat by the force of the acceleration. I glanced over at Grigori and saw that he was focusing on the highway and weaving in and out of traffic.

“How fast are we going?”

“One sixty.”

“That’ll be one hell of a ticket.”

“Naw, don’t worry about it.”

I glanced back at the crystal and with the third-eye the magic in it glowed brightly. It took me a few seconds to puzzle out the spell and then I couldn’t help smiling.

“That crystal, it’s a spell of unnoticed?”

Grigori glanced at me and then back out at the road. “Yeah, shit, Bree, you figured that out quick. You’re getting better every day.”

‘Better at what?’ I wondered.

*Jack, find out where he’s taking you. We can’t keep up with you without drawing attention.*

“So where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise, just sit back and enjoy the ride!”

In less time than I would have thought we were slowing down for exit 48 onto State Hwy-200 and Great Falls. As we did Grigori reached up and touched the crystal silently ending the spell. I could tell from that simple act that he’d used it quite often and that it still held more than half a charge.

“So we’re going to Great Falls?”

“No, Devon has a place on the Cedar Creek Reservoir. We’re going to meet him there.”

*Jack, Devon MacQuaid is one of the suspected Sorcerers. We’re checking to see what property he owns in the area. For now you’re on your own.*

‘Well only somewhat on my own,’ I thought knowing that Billie was getting audio through the left stud and visuals through the right; although I remembered from our previous mission that the magic didn’t work like a mic and a camera. It was more like when Billie was using them she’d be standing next to me or floating over me, an invisible presence. She had the ability to shift her point of view around a bit as long as she stayed within a few feet of me. When I’d been riding over watch on Billie I’d thought of myself as her guardian angel, the only problem was that she wouldn’t be able to interfere physically.

It was another thirty minutes to the house and we had to turn onto secondary roads but the drive was all paved. The house was set back into the woods and didn’t get a good view until we turned onto the winding drive that led up to the large log home. Every light in the place must have been on because the entire front was illuminated in a pretty display of wood and glass.

‘Damn, it’s more like a mansion than anything else.’ I thought as we pulled to a stop. As Grigori climbed out his phone rang and he paused before shutting the door to pull it out of his pocket. I quickly opened my door and stood up trying not to be obvious as I eavesdropped.

“No, no, that’s perfectly understandable.” . . . . . . “Fine, I’m sure that it won’t be a problem.” . . . . “Great then we’ll see you in the morning.”

When Grigori looked over at me he flashed that smile the Bree loved and walked around to hug me. I sort of sank back into the Bree persona and allowed myself to return the hug, very conscious of the way my boobs were pressing into his abs.

“Bad news and good news, babe; Devon’s been detained up in Charlotte. But he’s already talked to the staff and they’re expecting us. We’ll get a lovely dinner and spend the night. He’ll be in sometime late tonight or early tomorrow, he wasn’t sure. But we’ll have breakfast with him.”

I wanted to grind my teeth in frustration. The last thing I wanted to do was have a romantic dinner with this clown and then go to bed with him. I had to remind myself that I was undercover and I just needed to let my Bree persona control things. However, I was really worried about that, it was getting easier and easier to let her be in charge; if more bleed over was happening the longer this went on the harder it would be to separate my true self from the parts of Bree that slipped in.

“As great as this sounds I didn’t bring anything for overnight.”

“Devon’s thought of everything, he said all we have to do is talk to the staff. Apparently they have a selection of clothes on hand, for situations where guests unexpectedly spend the night.”

Grigori slid his arm around my waist; it was as much a gesture of possession as one of affection. Oddly it made me feel good to have this man take control of me and guide me up the steps. We were met at the top of the steps by a man with streaks of grey in his dark hair and a full mustache that reminded me of a walrus.

“Good evening Mr. Antipov, Ms. Luga, Master MacQuaid sends his regrets. I’m informed that you will dine and then spend the night with us?”

“Yes, we will thank you.” Grigori said it in a firm tone that left no doubt the matter was decided.

“Sir,” I said, a little surprised that I had to fight with my Bree persona to speak up. “If you’d be so kind, what’s your name?”

“Oh, where are my manners. Ms. Luga, I’m Bernard. I run the staff while Mr. MacQuaid is away.”

“Okay, Bernard, we weren’t planning to spend the night and I don’t have any of my things.”

At this Grigori gave me a brief glare. I could feel my Bree side squirm and I know that being so bold must be a little out of character, but I really didn’t want to spend the night.

“Understandable, Miss. However, Mr. MacQuaid believes in preparing for any contingency. We have several closets with men’s and women’s clothes of different sizes. I’ll have a few things sent to your room, I’m sure that you’ll find a few to your satisfaction.”

“See, Bree, now would you relax?”

With that Grigori laced his fingers between mine and I allowed myself to be towed along behind the two men. The house was huge and when I glanced up looking for the ceiling in the main entry I saw that it went up at least three stories up. The fire place of unmatched stone dominated the far wall and was just as tall. The effect made me feel even smaller in my little Bree body.

Bernard led us through the house onto the back deck. From here we had a view down to the water and the dock that stretched out onto it from Devon’s property. Grigori must have sensed that I wasn’t happy because he was going out of his way to play the gentleman. He pulled out my chair and I smoothed out my dress before I sat down.

*Ooohhh, that looks romantic. I think I’m a little jealous I’m missing this mission.*

The sound of Billie’s humor filled voice in my ear made me want to lash out. I wanted to shout at her and tell her how much I wished it was her sitting in this chair instead of me. Grigori sat down and a young guy showed up at his elbow. He was carrying a wine bottle with both hands like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“Sir, might I recommend the 1998, Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon? Master MacQuaid is particularly fond of this when enjoying lamb.”

“Yes, that would be fine.”

*Okay, now I really am jealous!*

I’m not a wine guy, so I was sure that whatever it was that made it special would be lost on me. When the young man handed me my glass Grigori lifted his in a toast: “To a beautiful night and a beautiful woman.”

I felt my face flash crimson, “To a beautiful night.”

I took a sip and the bold flavor of the wine filled my mouth. I do like red wine and this had to be the best I’d ever had. For the next few minutes we made light conversation and then the staff started serving. After a few minutes I realized this was easily one of the finest meals I’d ever had. The garlic-crusted roast rack of lamb with oven roasted potatoes was absolutely delicious. I quickly discovered why the wine went so well with the lamb as the flavors balanced and contrasted perfectly within my mouth. By the end of the meal I was feeling a little light headed from the alcohol and then it hit me. My body mass was significantly less than normal and alcohol tended to affect women more strongly.

*Jack, we’re on station.*

That simple announcement filled me with a sense of relief; it meant that Billie and the Hounds from our unit were here and deploying around the estate.

*Whatever you do, Jack, don’t blow your cover!*

By now most of the staff had left and just as I was finishing up my crème brûlée, Bernard appeared at Grigori’s elbow.

“Pardon, sir, madam, might I show you to your room? Most of the staff has left and I’ll be heading out soon, myself.”

Grigori stood up and came around to take my hand. I stood up and felt a head rush as the alcohol hit me. He gallantly took my elbow keeping me steady.

“Yes, thank you.”

By the time we made it to the stairs my head had cleared enough for me to walk on my own but Grigori’s hand was a comfort and I could almost feel my Bree personality purr.

“Here is your suite. It should have anything you need for the night. Breakfast will be served at nine am.”

“Thank you, Bernard,” I said, “you’ve been a wonderful host.”

“Ah, Madam, but I am not your host. That honor belongs to Master MacQuaid, I am simply his substitute.”

Then Grigori pulled me into the room. Before the door had shut he’d wrapped his powerful arms around me and fastened his lips to mine. I was so caught by surprise I sort of let go and the Bree side of me rushed in. I felt my pulse race and I lifted my right foot from the ground in an unconscious reaction to being so thoroughly kissed.

*Yum, looks like big strong Jack is about to get laid.*

The comment shocked me enough to cause me to take control back from Bree.

“Just one second, baby,” I whispered in a throaty voice. “I need to use the little girl’s room.”

“Sure, but don’t take too long, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted you so bad!”

I rushed through the suite and spotted a door that led to a large bathroom. I went in closing the door behind me and sank onto the toilet resting my face in my hands.

*Jack, hey, what’s going on?* the mocking amusement from before was gone.

“I think I screwed up with my mental shields. Bree’s been bleeding over for hours. Fuck!”

*Ah, I was wondering why you weren’t using any of the classic female tactics to slow him down.*

“I’m afraid that if I try to use my Bree knowledge she’ll get so tangled with me that I’ll be totally fucked.”

*Look, don’t panic. Meditate and patch the shields. You’ve done it in training and its much faster than building them from scratch.*

“Do you think I’ve got enough time?’

*It doesn’t matter, take the time.*

Billie’s reassuring voice brought me back to myself and I focused. I didn’t have the time to draw power from around me, with Bree’s small talent it would take forever to build up enough power. Instead, I pulled from her Charka-well. Power filled me and I made quick work of the patches. In my mind’s eye I was looking at a dam with several holes and water was leaking through. I went to each hole and added a concrete patch. In a few seconds the dam had been restored. I looked around at the water I was standing in. The water was a symbolic representation of the parts of Bree that had spilled into me. I envisioned a powerful gas driven pump with a hose in the water on this side of the dam and another up over the dike into the water beyond. The water was quickly drained and returned to where it belonged.

Feeling better for the first time, since I’d met Grigori, I released my power and came out of my trance. Then since I was here I figured I might as well pee. Once done I stood up and looked at my reflection in the mirror. The reflection was that of a young woman, a woman who under normal conditions I’d have asked out; particularly now, since she wasn’t in tramp mode. Then it hit me.

“Fuck. There is no way I’m going to get out of having sex, is there?”

*Yup, there is no way you’re not having sex. Now, man up and go take his cock like a good girl.*

This time the laughter in Billie’s voice was palpable. Now that the identity crisis was over she was fully enjoying the chance to watch me play the little strumpet. I could tell that watching me have sex as a woman was giving her a thrill. This made me wonder if she’d stayed at the TOC longer than necessary just to force me into this situation. She’d joked about it in the past, but I never thought she’d do it.

His arms were around my waist and I shivered as I leaned back into him. My body was already responding to the masculine scent Grigori gave off and the ache between my legs made my knees quiver. I’d come out of the bathroom and as Grigori moved toward me I’d spun around as if to shield my sensitive front from him. It was a hopeless gesture and he’d wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. My hair was up giving him access to my neck and Grigori’s lips found a spot just below my ear.

“Ohhhh”

The moan was involuntary; my body felt like a bolt of lightning had run through my nervous system with that one delicate, brush of lips to skin. I clutched both of Grigori’s hands holding them with mine pressing them into my tummy in a gesture intended to slow him down. I knew it was useless but I had to try something. Then he moved down, using his mouth in a series of small kisses that traveled from just below my earlobe to the place where my neck and shoulder meet. For some reason I released one of his hands and wrapped my now free hand around his neck drawing him into me as he continued to kiss.

“That feels nice.”

The voice was female and for a second I wondered who she was and then I realized it was me. ‘Oh, god, can I do this?’ I wondered.

Grigori didn’t give me time for my internal debate as he ran his now free hand up my silk covered side to cup my right breast. If I thought I’d been horny before, I was an idiot. His soft caress of my breast sent a shiver of pleasure directly from my chest to my groin and the ache I’d felt before became a NEED. The emptiness between my legs demanded attention, demanded something, something hard, and something that would fill and stretch me.

*Jack, you have to let go. Embrace Bree’s personality. It can’t hurt you now. You’re shielded.*

Billie’s words were like a life line, but letting go of my sense of self went against everything in my nature. I’d never done one of these deep cover ops before, sure I knew the theory, and I had the training. But real life was so much different, more intense. In my distraction I’d loosened my grip on Grigori’s left hand and he slid it down between my legs.

“Oh, God!”

The sensation of my new sex being touched, rubbed, through the twin silk layers of dress and panties was something I’ll never forget. I could feel myself getting moist. My lower lips felt like they were swelling up and I was now very aware of a nub of skin right above my new opening. In desperation I dove under, my mental blanket and pushed Bree to the surface.

I was now a passenger within my own body, riding the currents of passion. I spun around reaching down to cup Grigori’s cock while pulling him down for another kiss. This time it was a full open mouthed tongue dueling affair.

“Oh, God, Bree, I’ve got to have you!”

“Take off your clothes and lay down.” The words came out of my mouth but I didn’t have any control over them.

Grigori stumbled back, clumsily for a physical adept, and in his haste tried to pull his pants off before removing his shoes. He fell backward in a tangled mess onto the bed thrashing around in a juvenile attempt to get rid of his garments.

I waited unmoving until he was naked, looking up at me, panting.

“Aren’t you going to get undressed?”

“Sshhhh, my love.”

I slowly reached up with my left hand and slid my right shoulder strap off. Then using my left arm to hold my dress up I then switched hands and slid off the left strap. In a smooth, sexy, movement I allowed the silk dress to cascade down to my feet.

*Ooohhh, that was nice. I’m getting turned on watching you.*

I heard Billie’s voice but it didn’t really register I was now just a passenger, Bree had total control. I stepped out of the dress and hooked my French cut panties with my fingers and twisted to my left as I bent my knees so that I could slide them over my hips. Then gravity did its thing and they fluttered to the floor. I stepped over them and caught my reflection in a mirror standing on the other side of the bed. The blonde woman in a garter, black stockings, heels, and matching bra was one of the sexiest creatures I’d ever seen. ‘I’m a natural blond,’ I thought as I saw a small landing strip of blond hair just above my vagina. Then I saw a faint glow around the irises of my eyes. Bree was doing something, calling upon some tantric power I didn’t understand and when she shifted her gaze the look of worship on Grigori’s face gave me a thrill of power.

I walked, one hip at a time, to the bed. I could feel body parts shifting left and right in response to my sexy strut. My male mind was still trying to deny the sensations of the luscious female flesh I wore even as Bree climbed onto the bed straddling Grigori while avoiding his cock. It was now huge, a rampant affirmation of Grigori’s masculine nature. I leaned forward blowing on his rigid member before working my way up to his navel. Now it was my turn to plant light playful kisses on his rippling abs and rock hard chest.

“God Bree, what are you doing to me?”

“I’m going to take you Grigori. I’m going to make you mine. I’m going to ruin you for all other women.”

I could feel the unrestrained glee pouring from Bree and she reached into our Chakra-Well. Power flooded me and I tried to take control back but Bree swatted me aside like an insect.

*Jack what are you doing? Don’t blow your cover. Just have sex with him and go to sleep.*

I felt a flash of annoyance from Bree but then she leaned in and kissed Grigori. I felt our lips touch and power rushed into me. Then my small hand grabbed his rock hard prick and I slowly rubbed it against the moist folds between my legs. Sparks of pleasure filled me as I stroked my clitoris with Grigori’s cock.

I leaned back holding myself up with my legs and positioned that wonderful cock between the folds of my inner self and looked down on Grigori. His face was lost in carnal ecstasy but then for one second it cleared.

“You promised never to use your power on me.”

“I lied.”

As I said it, I lowered myself onto his shaft and felt the uniquely feminine sensation of taking a cock fully into my vagina in one long smooth movement. My body was more than ready and the feeling of being stretched and filled was so intense I leaned my head back and moaned. Then the nub of my clitoris brushed the base of his cock. I was filled with pleasure; it radiated from my core and sent shocks directly to my breasts. I could feel Grigori’s massive tool inside me, his shaft rubbing delightfully against the walls of my canal. Then I started rocking my hips so that my clitoris made a steady up and down movement and then I started squeezing him with a set of inner muscles I hadn’t known existed.

Grigori clenched the sheets to either side his eyes wild and lost in passion. I felt a sense of delight and power. This huge, powerful stallion of a man was all mine! Then a power rushed out of me, down through the connection of pussy to penis and Grigori’s eyes flashed open. Blue light blazed up, a color I knew from Bree that was identical to her eyes.

“Dico Enim Vobis!”

The words burst from my lips and I felt the magic swirl around and then like a tidal wave power flowed into me; up from Grigori through our connection into my womb, the very center of my being; the source of life; the source of my magic. Now I howled in a toe curling orgasm and I felt Grigori spurt his seed deep within. It felt like a fire inside me and my muscles clenched and unclenched as every part of me felt alive. The moment seemed to go on and on, Grigori cumming and me devouring his energy until at last some part of Bree pulled up from orgasmic bliss.

“Consummatum Est.”

The words were spoken softer and with less power but I felt the spell respond. Grigori fell back his eyes rolling up in his head as he passed out. Slowly I pulled myself up off his shrinking manhood and felt a little popping sensation as the helmet of his penis left me. I felt a sense of loss and for a second mourned the missing connection. Then I rolled onto my side and snuggled up to the now snoring Grigori. I lay my head on his chest listening to the deep steady beat of his heart.

For a second I wondered why his spunk wasn’t leaking out but then I felt something. A thread, a connection that linked us to each other and although I felt the new energy in my Chakra-Well, I knew that this was the result of the spell. Grigori was now mine to command. A wave of exhaustion washed over me and I felt my Bree-self sort of drop back into the dark place I’d built for her within my mind. I instantly shut the door on her and was almost surprised when I was able to lift my head.

I sat up; even though I was tired I now had control. A quick spell powered by Bree’s Well and my fatigue was gone. I stood up and realized I was sore! I now realized I was leaking and I moved away from the bed and kicked my heels off as I headed for the bathroom. I knew I needed to wipe up and I felt very nauseous.

*Jack, are you back with us?*

“Yes.”

*WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!*

“I . . . I don’t really know.”

*That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.* Billie spoke softly and I didn’t think she wanted me to hear that comment so I ignored it. By now I stepped into the bathroom and the bright white light made me blink several times. I took a wad of tissue and started cleaning up.

*Jack, just tell me what happened.*

I tossed the tissue into the trash can and thought for a moment. “I let the Bree part of my mind have control, and it was like I’d unleashed a force of nature.” I paused to lean forward and look into the mirror. The woman was beautiful with her tussled hair and flushed cheeks. “Have we ever tried this with a Tantric-Adept?”

There was a long pause. *No.*

I turned away from the mirror and sat down on the toilet and focused on peeing.

“I think that there must be a mental aspect to their magic. Its reacting abnormally to what I try.” I paused, thinking for a minute, “I think that Bree’s soul is the source of her discipline. Without it Bree would just be a creature of pure passion. When I locked myself away I removed the discipline I provided and the Tantric-Adept Bree side was free to do whatever she wanted.”

*Why didn’t you just take control back?*

I shook my head, “I couldn’t, she overwhelmed me with so many sensations I couldn’t focus.”

*I guess I can’t blame you. You’re first time as a girl must have been . . . overwhelming.*

“You’ve got no idea.”

*I might have some idea, I am a woman after all.* Then before I could respond she continued, *Alright, so what did you do to Grigori?*

I thought about that for a moment and just as I opened my mouth to speak there was an explosion. I could feel the wards on the house crumble.

“What the fuck is that?”

*Stand by!*

“I’ll be damned if I’m going to just stand here.” I muttered and moved back into the bedroom. The clothes that Bernard had left were neatly piled on the dresser and they included a pair of jeans and casual sweater. His eye for sizes was impressive as I slide into the jeans and pulled the sweater over my head. I didn’t have time for shoes so I focused on the bracelet on my wrist.

“Autem!”

The metal slithered around my wrist and down my hand shaping itself into a Wakizashi. The sixteen inch blade had a perfect balance and felt light in my hand. Whatever was coming I was now armed.

*Jack, stay where you are and kill the lights. Two Hounds have been killed and the wards are down. We’re moving forward onto your location. This is a hit from the League of Assassins. I don’t know what Devon did but stay where you are. We’ll come to you.*

I quickly complied with Billie’s direction and then moved to the side of the room. I put my back to the wall and made sure I had a clear field of attack in any direction. Then I used the power in Bree’s Well and cast the best veil spell I knew.

Silence descended. Time seemed to drag. ‘Where are the Hounds?’ I thought and then wondered who’d been hit and how the killer had done it. I knew the League was a group that no one should take lightly but we’d dealt with them before.

Then I sensed something. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever sensed before. A presence was moving toward me; two beings. Then I was suddenly sure they were male! Knowledge came to me. I was sensing them through my Tantric-perceptions. I hadn’t known such a thing existed. They paused by the door and I felt one turn as if looking back the way they’d come. The other’s attention was focused on our door.

Then in the distance I felt more males. Two and I knew that even though I didn’t sense them, Billie and Lori must be there too. For some reason I could only sense male energy I could even identify who it belonged to. That meant that Tom and Eric were the dead hounds. I felt rage start to boil within me. Then the door burst open and a cloud of darkness flowed in.

“LUMENARI!”

A powerful light exploded into the air over Grigori dissipating the darkness in an instant and I was moving. The assassin didn’t hesitate, with a fluid grace he spun to the side blocking my lunge with the silver Sai. I spun away and drew on Bree’s Well and increased my speed, reflexes, and perception. For the first time tonight I was in my element.

The assassin lunged forward and I ducked to the side driving a knee into his gut. He grunted and lashed out with an elbow. It just missed.

“Ambustio!”

Fire burst from the palm of my hand racing over the two feet that separated us and I saw it splash against some kind of shadow shield and then the shield failed as the assassin couldn’t match the power I poured into the spell.

“Arggghhhhhhh!”

The shrill scream and stench of burning meat was strong as he stumbled back away from me. Some instinct caused me to turn and I blocked the Katana that was arching down toward me. Now I was on my heels as this guy attacked. He was faster, stronger, and had the reach advantage in both weapon and arm. I was fighting a purely defensive battle and barely holding my own. Luckily the room was too small for him to take full advantage of the size difference. I needed to try to shift the fight.

“Frigus!”

I launched a bolt of blue-white energy at him but he blocked it with his sword. Cold burst into a cloud around him for a second obscuring him from my sight. It was a very intense cold but the spell contained it to within five feet of where it struck. Then the mist faded and the frozen form of the assassin stood facing me. I stepped forward and planted a magically enhanced stomp kick into his chest.

“That’s for Tom and Eric!”

The force of my kick shattered the Assassin into chunks of rapidly defrosting meat. For a second I just stared down. I was a Hound of Heaven, but even in my normal body, I’d not have had the strength to overpower two Assassin Adepts with pure magical muscle. I reflexively checked my Chakra-Well and discovered I’d not even used a tenth of the stored energy.

“Who the fuck are you and what have you done with Bree?”

Grigori was sitting up blinking. At that moment Billie rushed into the room followed closely by Steve. I knew that Paul and Lauri had taken up positions outside the room.

“Fuck!” I said, into the silence.

I stood to one side of the room, my arms crossed beneath my breasts, fuming. Tonight’s events had been an absolute disaster. The fact that two Hounds from our seven person team were dead was the biggest part of the disaster, but my cover was obviously blown. Grigori had seen me take down that last assassin with a spell that Bree hadn’t known. I might have used Bree’s stored power but she’d never had battle magic like that.

Grigori was bound to a chair in the great room with the fire place. Lori stood by the door while Billie questioned Grigori. That left Steve and Paul to maintain external security.

I returned my attention to Grigori; he’d been willing to cooperate once he found out who we were. I could feel the connection between us and I wondered what I could do with it. I felt Bree stir inside my mind and I closed the door on that line of reasoning. I knew that the Guild had a squad of cleaners in route. It would be their job to put the wards back and fix any physical damage to the estate. The guild was working to delay Devon without alerting him to the fact that we were watching him.

That would give us a few hours. Then Billie’s phone rang. She moved away from Grigori to the next room and I followed her. As I did I couldn’t help thinking that at this moment we could have been sisters, Bree and Billie really looked very much alike. Once the door was shut Billie sat down at the table in the formal dining room and put her phone on speaker.

Colonel May’s voice sounded powerful even coming from the tiny phone.

“Report.”

Billie launched into a concise account of what had happened. She had glossed over my bedroom antics clearly not really understanding what had gone on.

“Jack, what is your assessment of this Tantric-Adept?”

I cleared my throat and stepped closer to the phone so I would be more easily heard.

“I don’t really understand the magic she uses. It seems like it combines spirit and mind magic in a gender specific way. Because of the mental aspects I’m having a tough time assimilating her memories properly. She’s also had training with spells that she shouldn’t be able to caste. I think we’re dealing with the product of some unlicensed school of Tantric magic.”

“Alright, well this is too good an opportunity to pass up. If we can catch the clutch before they establish their power we can take them down quickly with minimal loss of life. That is the priority. I will not risk another St. Louis!”

“What about the League?”

“The hit was from what IC can tell me, directed at Devon. He’s clearly made enemies. We’ll have the house cleaned before Devon gets back. This mission must continue.”

“Sir, there’s a problem.” I said feeling like shit because I’d blown my cover. “Grigori knows I’m not Bree.”

“I don’t see that as a problem. We still have the Artifact. I think it’s time for a new Grigori.”

For a second I couldn’t think but then I nodded, “Okay, I’d rather be a guy again anyway.”

“Don’t be stupid Jack. The artifact can only be used once a day on the same person. You haven’t been Bree for a full twenty four hours yet. Its time Billie went back undercover. It’s what she best at after all.”

For a moment I was stunned then I glanced over at Billie who seemed un-phased by the announcement.

“Roger that, sir. “Billie remarked.

“But . . . .” I let my voice trail off. I’d worked with Billie for about a year and we’d been using the artifact for the last six months. She’d never been swapped into a guy before. With that Billie ended the call and then quickly dialed Paul.

“Paul, it’s me. Bring up the truck; we’re going to need the artifact.”

We returned to the main room and Billie didn’t waste any time finding a chair and sitting down across from Grigori. Then she pulled out a pill and dry swallowed it. I moved next to her and used a set of handcuffs to lock her arms to the chair.

“What are you doing?” Grigori asked. He seemed more curious than alarmed. Well, if he knew what was about to happen that would have changed. Just then Paul walked in and sat a black duffel back on the floor next to Billie. He pulled out the collars with the evil looking chain.

“What the fuck is that thing?” Now Grigori was sounding a little desperate. He glanced at me, “Bree, or whoever you are, don’t let them hurt me.”

I moved over to Grigori and ran my hand through his hair feeling our connection. “Ssshhh,” I cooed and I felt him relax. “This thing won’t hurt you. In fact, it might even help make you a better person.” Then I couldn’t help adding, “You’ll understand women far better, at any rate.”

Paul had already snapped one collar around Billie’s pale thin neck. Now he moved from my petite blonde partner to stand next to Grigori and then snapped it around his thick neck. As many times as I’ve seen the artifact used it never gets old and now after having used it myself I had a new appreciation for what Billie went through when she used it. I could feel magic moving around us as both Billie and Grigori went rigid. Then light poured from each of them and raced down the links of chain. The light from Grigori was red and that from Billie bright yellow. The light seemed to flow around and by each other along the chain and then up into the opposite body. I remembered what that had felt like; an intense tunnel of pain followed by relief.

Suddenly Grigori gasped and blinked. He looked over at me and said, “God that hurts!”

I leaned forward, “I authenticate you, seventy five.”

Billie’s code number was ninety and he scowled at me. “Plus fifteen, you know it’s me, Jack.”

“I just had to make sure.”

I unsnapped the collar and handed it to Paul and then went to work releasing Billie’s cuffs. Just then there was a gasp and I glanced back at Billie’s body.

“What the fuck is going on? Why am I looking at myself?”

Billie stood up now towering over me and stretched. “Hhmmmm . . . I like this body! He’s much stronger in magic than I thought!”

I wanted to shout that it wasn’t fair. Billie got to be the man and had a decent gift!? If I hadn’t known better I’d have said that she manipulated the situation to arrange this.

“Why do I feel so dizzy?”

I looked over at Grigori who was now blinking owlishly. “Whatever you took its working quickly.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to have to deal with a hysterical woman.”

“Thisss c-can’t . . . b-be real . . .” Grigori’s voice was breaking up and his words were getting blurry. “I . . . can’t b-b-be there . . . causssse I’m . . . here.” Then his head fell forward and then jerked back up. “I have boobs?” He blinked several times in a row.

I reached for my connection to him and discovered that I couldn’t sense Grigori. But I felt the connection and I glanced over at Billie. Yes, there it was, still attached. I drew on it a little and felt Billie’s excitement. She was actually excited to be a guy?

“I . . . I’m sleeeepppy I-I’m gonna take a . . . nap.”

I glanced back over at Grigori as her head flopped forward.

‘Great,’ I thought, ‘now all we have to do is restore the house. Wait for the sorcerer. Catch him and the rest of the clutch. Avoid any additional Assassins. And swap back as quickly as possible. No problem’

“Hey, Bree, I think we need to get to bed. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

I glanced over at Billie and saw him give me a lascivious look. Great, she’s a guy for five minutes and already wants to get into my pants.

“We may be going to bed together, but you’re going to keep your hands to yourself if you know what’s good for you. Grigori!”

Billie giggled, “But you looked like you were having so much fun earlier.”

“Don’t even think about it!” I snapped and stomped my way to the stairs.

I looked into the mirror and frowned at the image. My makeup wasn’t quite right and I knew it needed to be perfect this morning.

“Will you hurry up?!”

I glanced over at the tall, dark, handsome, figure of Grigori as Billie buckled his belt.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have to put on your ‘face.’” I said making air quotes.

“It’s not that hard. Bree’s been doing it most of her life, just relax and let her skill guide you.”

I wanted to snap that the last time I’d let Bree’s ‘skill’ guide me I’d found myself riding Grigori’s cock. Instead I removed my makeup and focused on letting Bree out of her ‘box.’ This time it was like my hands had a mind of their own as they quickly and skillfully applied the minimal amount of makeup needed. Tasteful to the point where you had to look closely to see that I was wearing anything yet every flaw (such as they were) was covered.

I stood up feeling Bree retreat and looked at myself turning sideways. The light blue sundress with the flower print was perfect. It showed off a bit of cleavage and some leg, advertising the best aspects of my figure without saying ‘slut’ and was quite comfortable. I picked up the sandals with a respectable two inch heel and slid into them.

“Ready?”

“Hey, beauty like this is worth waiting for.” I did a little twirl and heard Billie chuckle.

“Well, either your channeling Bree now, or there’s a part to you I never knew existed.”

“Oh, shut up.”

It was just before nine as we headed down the great stairs to the main room and I saw that Bernard was already waiting for us.

“Good morning Mister Antipov, Miss. Luga, did you sleep well?”

“Yes, Bernard, I’d say that I haven’t . . . slept so well in years. Thank you.”

I wanted to hit Billie in the arm for the little emphasis he put on ‘slept’ and the implication that we’d done more than just sleep. In fact Billie had tried to see if I was interested in a little exploring last night after we were back in bed. I’d shut that down by telling him I’d already scratched that itch and put my back to him.

“I’m glad for that, since I must bring you bad news. It seems that Master MacQuaid has been delayed again. He sends his regrets and asks for your patience. He will get in touch with you as soon as the current situation has resolved itself.”

“Oh, in that case, should we change back into our other clothes?”

“Of course not! Those outfits are Mr. Macquaid’s gift to you along with an apology. We are also happy to bring you breakfast before you leave.”

At this point we both wanted to get back to our TOC and report in and find out if the IC had come up with any ideas for what was going on. Still turning down breakfast would have looked suspicious. We ate as quickly as etiquette would allow and then headed out to the Hellcat.

“Dibs on driving.” I said, heading for the driver’s side.

“I don’t think so. It’s my car and it would look weird if I let you drive it.”

I felt a pout form on my lips and I looked up at Grigori through my eyelashes. Then guided by some instinct I tugged on the connection between us, “Why would it look weird for you to let your girlfriend drive your car?”

I watched as Grigori’s mouth opened and closed and I could feel Billie struggling with his desire to drive the Hellcat and a new compulsion to make me happy. I stepped close so that my breasts were almost touching his abs and looked up at him.

“Please?”

“How can I say no to that gorgeous face?”

Before he could change his mind I darted a hand into his pants pocket giving his cock a light brush as I pulled out the keys.

“Thanks!”

I spun around and clicked the button that unlocked the Hellcat. As I did I wondered what exactly I’d done to change his mind. I’d been able to sense Billie’s desire to drive the car and his desire to tease me by not letting me drive it. But his resolve had vanished as I’d used my feminine charms on him. He’d tried to resist them but the male body had responded just as I’d wanted it to and he’d given in. This new kind of power excited me and I wondered how far I could push it. Then I started the car and once again felt all of that horse power as it growled to life.

I glanced over at Billie, “You’d better figure out how Grigori used that charm.” I nodded toward the crystal hanging from the mirror.

“Why?”

“Because otherwise we’re going to have a hell of a ticket. Hehehehe. . .”

With that I put my foot down and felt the Hellcat take off.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Billie cursed and lurched for the hand grip on the door. He didn’t waste any words instead he closed his eyes and then reached out to touch the crystal and muttered the activation spell under his breath. “You could have given me more of a warning.”

“Yeah, well, I think you stayed at the TOC longer than you had to and forced me to become Bree!”

I don’t know why I blurted it out, but I was convinced of it and when I glanced over at Grigori I could see Billie smirking.

“You bitch!”

“No, you’re the bitch; I’m a doooog; if you want to stick with that analogy. Hehehehe . . .” Then turning more serious, “You’ve been procrastinating about going undercover for six months. I was tired of taking all the assignments. Besides, you look cute in a skirt.”

For a second I was too stunned to respond and then my attention was pulled back to the road. We were just getting to the highway and I wanted to see what this thing could do.

“There hasn’t been an assignment to swap into a guy until today! Why do you think I’ve been avoiding it?!”

“Pfftt . . . guy, girl, jobs a job and you’ve been shirking. Besides, a big strong guy like you can learn a lot from being such a cute little thing.” He gave me another leer.

For a moment I thought about reaching into my Chakra-well and showing Billie exactly what kind of a “cute” little thing I was, but I reigned in my temper. And focused on what I was doing. For the next few minutes we drove in silence and then Billie broke it.

“I’ve been sorting through Grigori’s memories. He’s got a couple of errands to run and then a jujitsu class to go to tonight. Mostly delivery boy crap, nothing the Guild will care about.”

I nodded and didn’t take my eyes off the road. “Bree needs to get changed and then head over to Evelynn’s she’s supposed to be working this afternoon as an escort. I’m guessing my client is a Hound?”

“It was supposed to be Eric. He won’t be making it, I’ll find out who Captain Miller wants to substitute.

“Okay, when Devon calls, are you going to come get me?”

“I don’t know. It’ll depend on the situation. Now that we’ve got both Bree and Grigori we should be able to catch these guys.” Then Billie shook his head, “If Devon wasn’t such a prestigious figure in the local community we could just take him in. But we need proof, plus we’re still not sure who the other members of the clutch are; when we move we need to get them all.”

“I’m not a rookie, Billie, I know the drill.”

I abruptly braked and cut across three lanes to make an exit slowing down hard the whole time.

“Fuck, a little warning, please!”

“Hey, a car like this needs to be driven.”

At this Billie muttered something under his breath about not wanting to die in a fiery car crash. It only took a few more minutes to get to my building and as I looked up at it I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Why was Bree living there? I was sure that she wasn’t living there just because Grigori was paying the bills. I regretfully shut off the engine and handed Billie the keys.

“I guess all good things come to an end.”

“I’m just glad we survived!”

“Alright, who do you have on over-watch now?

“The Captain is still getting it sorted out. For now you’ll have Lori and I’ll have Steve.”

I nodded, standard procedure was going to have the Captain scrambling to get us two replacement hounds. This was compounded by the fact that we were in the middle of a live operation.

“Alright I’ll check in as soon as I’m back upstairs,” then I allowed my voice to turn serious. “Grigori, good hunting.”

He nodded, “Good hunting, Bree.”

I climbed out of the car and waited for Grigori to walk around and then he grabbed me and before I knew what he was doing he kissed me. I felt my pulse quicken and I felt my foot come up off the ground. Then he let me go. For a second I was out of breath.

With a smirk he said, “I’ll see you tonight. Wear something sexy and I’ll take you to a nice place for dinner.”

I stumbled back a half step before I caught myself and then I glared at him, “You didn’t have to do that! There’s no one around.”

“Got to keep up the right habits, babe!” Grigori opened the driver’s door and slid in, “Besides, that was fun.” Then he slammed the door shut and started the engine. I stepped back and couldn’t help reaching up to touch my still tingling lips. I watched as he pulled out, smoking the tires before merging into the light mid-morning traffic.

“I’ve got half a mind to show him!” Before I let that thought fully develop I headed up to my building. As I climbed up the steps to my floor I once again had that odd feeling that this was wrong. The rancid smell of spilled wine and vomit wasn’t as strong today and the building felt almost quiet.

I pushed open my warped door and after locking it set up the ward. Then I moved to the bathroom. I needed a shower and then I changed my mind, Bree had a tub, a long soak before showing up for work sounded just right. I moved into the bathroom and started running water into the tub and then on a whim added some bubble bath I saw sitting to one side.

I stood up and went to the mirror and took another look at the little hot blonde. There was something nagging at the back of my mind. There were just too many things about Bree that didn’t add up. Slowly I stripped and I knew that I didn’t do it with the grace or sexiness I’d used last night. When I saw my naked body I had to pause as the sight sent a thrill coursing through me. Turning from side to side I realized that I didn’t want to be this sexy little thing, I wanted to fuck her. I closed my eyes and spent a few seconds compartmentalizing those feelings. When I opened them again I took another second to examine this body. Bree was in extremely good shape. I tightened up my abs and noticed that I could see a defined six pack. I turned from one side to the other looking closely at my legs, arms, and shoulders ignoring the obvious assets that had taken all of my attention before.

“There’s no way she maintains this conditioning by doing a little yoga a couple of times a week.”

The tub was filing slowly so I started a systematic search of the bathroom and then the bedroom. I had to return to the tub and turn off the water before I was done but I was at last rewarded when I found a loose floor board. When I tried to pry it up my fingers started to tingle. There was a ward here, one set to discourage anyone from pulling up the board.

I sat back on my heels and thought for a second. In theory, I should be able to access all of Bree’s memories. I ought to be able to figure out the Key that would release the ward. I focused on Bree’s memories it was like there was some kind of invisible barrier preventing me from accessing this specific memory. For a minute I considered forcing my way in, and then I remembered my psi-mage training. Forcing your way into someone’s mind normally had significant negative consequences. I could always do that as a last resort, but it would be better to figure out a way to get to that memory without breaking part of Bree’s mind.

I returned to the bathroom and slid into the tub. The hot water felt wonderful and for the first time since landing in this body I was grateful not to have my cock and balls. Water this hot on my sensitive male parts would have left me standing to one side of the tub for another twenty minutes until the water had cooled down enough for me to get in. The heat was so relaxing that I leaned back and closed my eyes and felt the tension drain away.

As I relaxed I felt my mind just sort of drift. At first I thought about Billie’s duplicity setting me up to become a Tantric-Adept. For the time we’d been together we’d never had to swap her into someone with these skills. I knew her well enough to know that this was something she was finding very funny. She had also been right. I’d been avoiding going undercover. My excuse had been that all of our assignments so far had been to use females to get the information we needed. Now as I lay there I realized that there was more to it. I hadn’t wanted to give up my body. I had a fear, perhaps irrational, that if I gave up my body I’d never get it back.

I’d put a lot of work in on that body and it was in great physical shape. But that wasn’t everything. The other part was that I was afraid I’d lose my magical gifts. Being a Magic-User and a Hound of Heaven was more than a job. Those things defined who I was. If I were stuck in this body I’d lose my status as a Magic-User and I wouldn’t be able to be a Hound any more. Now that I was thinking about it I realized that if I planned to keep working as a Hound of Heaven I’d have to get over this and learn to BE the person the Guild needed me to be, in any situation.

I let out a sigh and for a moment and wished I had brought a glass of wine with me to the bathroom. ‘No, don’t be stupid, you’ve still got to work tonight.’ I thought. I settled deeper into the tub and let my mind drift. What was Bree’s story I wondered. Here she was, a gorgeous girl, living in this dive and clearly able to do better. I had no doubt that she slept with most of her clients and that she used her Tantric-magic to draw power from them. She was very careful. She never did it with a Magic-User; someone with the skill and training to resist what she tried and the power to arrest her. That explained the class of clients. People with minor magical talents were the obvious choice. This didn’t explain why I was having so much trouble with her mental blocks. It was obvious to me that part of what she did was psi-magic, part was also spirit-magic, and based on the fact that I still had a connection to Billie now that she was in Grigori’s body told me there were physical-magic elements as well. That made this very sophisticated magic. Most spells fell into one of those three categories and sometimes drew upon one of the other elements. Only the most sophisticated spells used all three elements.

I suddenly had a burst of inspiration and focused on the memory of opening that warded floor board. I felt the blocks but this time I looked for threads of spirit and physical energy and instantly found them. The knot of spell energy was tied to this body with physical magic locking the very cells of my brain that held the knowledge. The part tied to spirit magic had been severed when the artifact had put me in this body but the cut threads still needed to be dealt with. In fact I suspected it might have been those threads that had caused my initial leakage.

I moved into the full lotus position the hot bath water sloshing around me and closed my eyes. I was very skilled with psi-magic, but I was also a fully trained Magic-User. I could use all three elements and I could build my own spells from scratch if needed. I put this knowledge to work and used the well of power Bree had built to fuel the spell. When I finally released it I felt my whole body tingle and then the closed doors of my mind burst open.

“It worked!”

I’d taken my earrings out before getting in the tub and deactivated them. I wasn’t comfortable enough with Lori to have her watch me bathe. Besides I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it would be Lori on the other end. I was sort of glad for the privacy.

I thought about the ward and instantly I knew the key. Suddenly excited I climbed out of the bathtub and hurriedly dried off. I was barely aware of my female parts as I quickly returned to the bedroom. I’d wrapped a towel around myself tucking it just below my arms and I rushed to the loose board.

I knelt next to it and channeled a bit of power into the symbol I drew in the air. For a second it glowed and then faded. This time when I pried up the board there was no resistance or tingling. Under the floor board was a single red crystal. It was completely round about the size of a golf ball. I picked it up and channeled a trickle of power into it and said, “Invoco!”

As soon as I activated it the crystal flared and there was a click behind me. I turned around to look at the blank wall opposite the bathroom by the bed. A door had been cleverly concealed with magic and craftsmanship. Now that it was open I could see the outline of the door but I figured with it closed even without magic it would have been hard to spot.

I stood up and when I faced the door I felt gooseflesh shiver down my back. I looked down at the towel I was wearing and realized I need something better suited for exploring. I quickly climbed into some of Bree’s underwear, jeans, and a comfortable T. Then I moved to the door.

The door concealed a set of stairs and I followed them up. Bree’s apartment was on the top floor of the building so what I quickly discovered was what would normally have been a large storage area that ran the whole length of the building. Except that it wasn’t a storage area. The pentagram set into the floor, the books, and a long table covered in various magical equipment told me this was actually a ‘sanctum.’

“Why does a Tantric-Adept need a sanctum?” I wondered, and then saw the body.

“Shit!”

I opened my third-eye and moved cautiously into the room. I scanned it for traps and then slowly approached the body. It was stretched out in the center of the pentagram and when I got close I realized it was in some kind of stasis field. I was tempted to run my fingers over the edge of the spell but I refrained. I looked down at the man lying on his back and it took me a second to figure out he wasn’t dead and being preserved. There was a pink flush to his bearded face and I didn’t see any wound or indication of injury.

“He’s alive. But why is Bree keeping a guy in a thousand dollar suit in stasis in her sanctum? Hell, why does she need a sanctum? How does she even know this spell?”

I shrugged my shoulders and then went back down stairs and tried to sort through my new memories. There was something odd about my blocked memories. Even though I’d unlocked them and they shouldn’t have been blocked, period. They also felt . . . . choppy . . . and unnatural. Like they’d either been tampered with or implanted?

“I wonder if more was done to her head than I originally thought.”

Back in the bedroom I picked up my earrings and slid them into the holes in my ears. “Lori, can you hear me?”

There was only silence. ‘That’s a little odd,’ I thought. Normally anyone undercover had someone on over watch, 24/7. Well maybe the Captain is still setting up the new rotation. I went over to Bree’s cell phone but there were no messages or missed calls. That was actually normal. Calling an undercover agent’s cell would only have been done in the event of an emergency. Cell phones were just too easily compromised. I felt a little relieved; at least there wasn’t an emergency. I slid it into my back pocket.

What should I do? This was the kind of thing that needed to be reported. I was a Hound of Heaven not a magical researcher. I needed to get a team over here to look through that room. Unfortunately I couldn’t call it in until whoever was on over-watch checked in.

I pulled my cell out and checked the time. As far as I could tell Bree didn’t own a watch. I still had a couple of hours until my ‘date’. If everything had been handled properly my date would be with another Hound and if worse came to worse I could pass on my information to him. Except that I had a feeling I was missing something and that I couldn’t afford to wait. Then I realized I had another option and sent a quick text.

Me: Grigori – I miss you. When you get this message, call me. I really just need to hear your voice.

I figured texting my ‘boyfriend’ would be pretty normal and once Billie called I could explain what was going on. With nothing better to do at the moment I went back up to the sanctum and started looking around.

“Well, this explains why Bree likes this apartment. She gets to use the whole attic as her sanctum.”

As I looked around I noticed that most of the items could have been found in a Magic-Users sanctum. The spell books alone were worth quite a bit and the subject matter ranged to almost every specialty. Could Bree really cast any of these spells? Then I noticed a set of books bound in black leather. When I opened the first one I almost dropped it.

“Sorcery?! What the fuck is a Tantric Adept doing with a sorcerer’s grimoire?”

Just then my cell buzzed and I saw I had an incoming call from Grigori.

“Hey, lover, can you talk?”

“For a couple of minutes. I just dropped off a package and now I’ve got to go met with Tony. I saw your text, what’s up?”

“I need you to come by my place. I think I’m sick. I’m canceling my client and I need you to take me to the acute care clinic.”

That last part was code. Not an emergency but I had something important enough to risk going into the TOC.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll be by in a few minutes.”

I hung up the phone and tested my earrings, again. Still no answer from over-watch. Next I called Evelynn’s Escort Service. The girl that answered the phone had an annoyingly bright phone voice. I got a flash of memory, light brown hair cut page-boy style, lithe little body, and really perky tits.

“Dani? This is Bree. I . . .”

“Oh, Bree, I’m so glad you called. I was supposed get in touch with you but then we got busy. Your client for today cancelled. Do you want me to try to find you another job?”

“Uh . . . no, I was just calling in to say I’m not feeling too good so I’m taking tonight off.”

“Oh, well I hope you’re feeling better. Hey, I gotta go, the other line is ringing. Bye!”

I hit the end button and didn’t know what to think. Why would they cancel? Well the answer was obvious. Eric was supposed to be my client. They’d had to cancel that appointment because Eric was dead. But why hadn’t they booked a new appointment? I looked around the sanctum as if the answer was lying here somewhere. Why did Bree have these things? I moved over to the guy in the stasis field and took a picture of his face and then sent it in a text to Billie.

Me: Do you recognize this guy?

It took a few minutes for Billie to respond and when he did it was my phone ringing again.

“Jack, where did you get that picture? Do you know who that is?”

“From the sanctum above Bree’s apartment, and no. That’s why I sent you the picture.”

“Damn it Jack, you should recognize him. He’s one of the Guild’s ten most wanted! That’s the Sorcerer Jarlath Blackstone!”

For a second time seemed to stand still. I’d heard what he said but my mind felt like it was wrapped in cotton.

“Did you hear me? Jack, say something.”

“Uh . . .”

“Jack, don’t do anything that might disrupt the stasis field. I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

“Okay, I’ve got my wards up so you’ll have to text me when you’re here.”

“Fine, don’t do anything stupid.”

I heard the line disconnect and I slowly lowered my phone. The guy sleeping under the spell looked so . . . normal; dark hair with a little grey and a well-trimmed beard. He didn’t look like the infamous Master Sorcerer who’d helped Silas attack the St. Louis Guild Hall.

“Why are you here?” I heard the words slip out and I knew that was the real question. “Or are you here?” My mind was now spinning, “What if that’s your body and your soul is somewhere else?” Then things started to click, “Son-of-a-bitch!”

I grabbed my phone and dialed the TOC emergency number. The line went straight to a voice mail service. “Shit!” I hit end and then I dialed the FOB number; again right to the service. “Oh, fuck.”

I turned and raced down the stairs. When I got to the bedroom I grabbed the crystal and re-sealed the door and stuffed the crystal into my pocket. By the time I got my shoes on and my purse together with the things I thought I’d need my phone started to vibrate. I raced to the living room brought down the wards and threw the door open. Billie was standing there and when he saw me he blurted out, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“We need to get to the TOC, now!”

Rather than ask a bunch of questions Billie followed me down to the car. I didn’t try to drive, we didn’t have time for an argument. Billie slid into the front seat activated the crystal and punched it. As soon as we were rolling he asked, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t think it was Bree in this body when we did the swap. I think it was Jarlath. I think we were set up at Devon’s house. I think those assassins were supposed to kill me and Grigori. I don’t know what the end game is, but we’ve got to get to the TOC before the sorcerers take it down.”

For a second there was silence as Billie focused on his driving. “Why attack the TOC? Even if they take it down they won’t infiltrate the Hounds. At most they might get a dozen agents but that will only make this personal. We’ll simply hunt them down.”

Just then the building we’d been using as a TOC came into view. It was a single story building, sort of a mini-strip mall, in that it held four small stores. There was a sandwich store and a beauty salon at one end and we’d taken over the other two stores using the cover of a real-estate office when in reality it was something very different. From the end of the building we were using black smoke billowed. As Billie pulled into the parking lot I could hear the distant wailing of an emergency vehicle.

Before the car had come to a stop I was out and moving forward. I could see that the fire was pretty intense so I activated the best shield spell I knew powering it from Bree’s Chakra-Well.

“Bree, wait, you can’t go in there!”

Even in an emergency Billie was staying in character. At this point I didn’t care if I made anyone suspicious. I needed to know what had happened. I was through the door ducking low to find clearer air. My spell was protecting me from the heat but not the smoke. The buildings sprinkler system was working but the water wasn’t really slowing the spread of the fire.

“Steve!”

I saw the first body, sprawled to the left of the door. My eyes were tearing up and I didn’t know if it was the smoke or what I was feeling. Steve’s entire chest was caved in, as though someone had hit him in the chest with a large hammer. I could see broken ribs poking through the shirt and a lot of blood. I moved through the outer room involuntarily identifying one body after another. CPT Miller’s head had been severed and was lying next to his body. Then I saw the door that had been reinforced with steel and wards it was crumpled and twisted lying to one side. It had been blown open from the inside.

I moved around the wreckage, now almost crawling as I tried to find breathable air. The smoke was so thick I could hardly see. I pulled my t-shirt up and used the bottom of it to cover my nose and mouth. Through the door I saw the operations center. It looked like a tornado had raced through it. Bodies lay like twisted parodies of what a human should look like; furniture had been tossed about and smashed to kindling. I made myself look at each body. I’d found the rest of my team plus the tech staff that ran the TOC.

‘Why are they here instead of at the FOB’ I wondered moving to check one pulse after another. Then I spotted Lori, laying across the threshold to one of our two makeshift holding cells. When I reached her side and checked her pulse I felt my first surge of relief. It was faint but still there. I used more of Bree’s power to augment my strength and then I scooped Lori up and moved as quickly out of the TOC as I could. Just as I got to the front room there was a loud crashing sound and the ceiling collapsed right in front of the door.

Now the smoke was so thick I couldn’t see anything. My shield was still protecting me from the heat and falling debris, but it was draining my Well at an alarming rate! With a growl of rage I used most of Bree’s remaining power and blasted the wall to the left of the door with telekinesis. Bricks and drywall blew out and in rushed fresh, cool, clean air. The fire around me instantly blazed up in response and I felt my shield falter but it remained up, protecting Lori and me from the heat. I rushed through my make-shift doorway and stumbled out onto the parking lot to the side of the building. I managed to keep my feet moving and put several yards between me and the building before looking back. Thick black smoke was pouring from the hole I’d made and I could see flames now shooting through a hole in the roof.

Suddenly Billie was next to me. “Bree, are you okay?”

“Yeah . . .” I had to stop as a coughing fit hit me. My eyes were streaming tears and it felt like I had a fountain of snot coming from my nose. I sat Lori down and stepped back.

When I could see more clearly I watched as Billie administered first aid to Lori. After a second he looked up at me, “Did anyone else survive?”

“No.”

Just then a fire truck pulled into the parking lot. Lori started coughing and her eyes fluttered open before she rolled onto her side and retched. When she was done Billie draped her arm over his broad shoulder and then lifted her. I could tell he didn’t have to augment his strength to do it and I felt a flash of jealousy. Then we were moving toward Grigori’s car. No one stopped us and this surprised me until I realized that Billie was using a veil that was stretched thin to cover all of us. Because he was in the body of a physical adept he was relying on a ring he’d brought as part of his gear. I was suddenly very glad he’d thought to use it. He deposited Lori in the back seat of the Hellcat and we eased out of the parking lot. Once we were a block away he looked over at me.

“What happened in there?”

I shook my head and then realized he wasn’t looking at me. “It was a mess. There was some kind of fight. It looked like everyone had been killed before the fire started. Lori was the only one alive. All the records, computers, and monitors were destroyed. Steve and Paul are dead as is Captain Miller and the techs that were running the TOC.”

After a few minutes Billie pulled into an empty parking lot. We both turned around to look at Lori, she was breathing evenly but I could tell that she was hurt.

“We should go into the local Guild Hall and report.” I said.

“How will we do that?”

I glanced over at Billie, “I don’t understand. We’ll walk in and use an office and call all of this in.”

Billie shook his head, “You’re not thinking clearly. We are in deep cover. We have nothing that identifies us as Hounds. Neither of us has the power of a Magic-User. If we go to a Guild Hall they won’t believe us.”

“They will if we call Colonel May.”

“Sure, what’s his number?”

I paused feeling confused. “I don’t know.”

“What’s the number of the Ops Desk at the Camp?”

The Camp was our nickname for the training center and HQ of the Hounds of Heaven.

I opened my mouth to answer his question only to snap it closed. “I don’t understand. Why can’t I remember?”

Billie sighed, “I forget you’ve not been undercover before. One of the spells used on you before you were transferred into that body was a spell to block specific pieces of information. If your cover was blown you wouldn’t be able to give some things away even under torture.”

“So how do we prove our identity?”

“Normally that isn’t a problem. Most undercover teams use one or two of the really advance shape-shift spells or even one of those new masks the Guild has developed. If the spell isn’t renewed you’d just shift back or you can take the mask off. I our case we’ve always had a team working with us who could vouch for us. If things got really desperate there were the records at the TOC. The mission logs, daily SITREPs, and admin records would have been enough to prove who we are.”

“Except that we didn’t use a shape-shift spell or a mask, our team is dead, and the logs have been destroyed.”

For a moment I just sat there trying to think through the enormity of it. “Doesn’t this mean Bree and Grigori can impersonate us?”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, normally, no. The artifact doesn’t give the person access to the host body’s memories. That’s why we were chosen for these missions. Our Psi-magic training allowed us to access them. Even if the two people walking around in our bodies aren’t Bree and Grigori, even if they’re sorcerers, they’d still need psi-magic skills to access our memories. So, no, I don’t think they can impersonate us. Although, I’m starting to think we’ve been had from the very start of this op.”

I shook my head, “I don’t know. Bree put some very sophisticated blocks on her memories and it seems like some of her power is psi-magic based. I wouldn’t assume she can’t figure out how to get to some of my memories.”

“I thought you said that Jarlath Blackstone was in your body?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know. I mean at the time it seemed like it fit. But sorcerers don’t study mind magic and there is nothing in the record about Blackstone that indicates he’s trained as a Psi-Magi.”

“So where’s Blackstone?”

I just shook my head. Nothing made sense. For a few minutes we just sat there trying to think through the implications. If Bree could access my memories then she’d be able to pull off a very convincing impersonation of me. Shoot, we might even find ourselves being hunted by the Guild. The idea left me feeling stunned. Just then there was a moan from the back seat.

“Not all of our team was killed!” I said, and turned around. Lori had rolled onto her back and was now settling back into a fitful sleep.

“Okay, we need to get to someplace safe and do what we can for Lori. Once she’s recovered we can ask her what happened and she can report in to higher headquarters.”

Billie nodded, “I think I know the perfect place.” He pulled out into traffic driving slowly and carefully.

Then a thought hit me, “Do you think they took the artifact?”

Billie glanced at me and shrugged, “You were the one inside. What do you think?”

I slumped back into my seat. “I didn’t see it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

I looked over the dingy room and shook my head. “I thought Bree lived in a dive. This place makes her apartment look great.”

From his cot on the other side of the room Billie lifted his head to look at me. “Beggars can’t be choosers. Besides a storeroom behind Big Tony’s liquor store is the last place anyone is going to look for us. And it was big enough to pull the car into.”

In a way it made sense. The Hellcat was too distinctive a car to just park and not expect it to get noticed. This room with its garage door had been perfect. Billie had even managed to dig up three cots. But it still smelled like exhaust and I was pretty sure it had mice. Not that I was some delicate flower, but I could tell Bree hated them.

“I feel like we need to be doing something.”

Billie grunted, “We are, we’re watching Lori. I used our medical crystal on her and now she’s sleeping. When she wakes up we’ll find out what happened and then go to the Guild.”

I’d been lying on my back but now I sat up. “That’s one plan, but we know that there are two people out there in our bodies. They’re running around doing God knows what and we’re just sitting here.”

Billie grunted and sat up swinging his legs over the side of the cot so he could face me. “Fine, what would you like to do?”

“Let’s go back to Bree’s apartment and look at the sanctum. We might be able to find a clue.”

“Yeah, or we could be walking into an ambush. Let me ask you this, how much of Bree’s power remains in her Chakra-Well?”

I frowned and concentrated for a second, “About a third of what she had.”

“So you’re down to one third power and when you run out of stored power what can you draw?”

I grunted, “About enough to light a couple of candles or boil a cup of tea.”

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to go looking for a fight?”

“What about you? You said Grigori could draw more power than you’d expected.”

“Yeah, he’s just under the range needed for a third class. But this body has been trained as a Physical Adept. I’ve been trying to break down the barriers but so far I can’t cast a single damn spell. I can use the magic that is the same as the physical adept’s magic. I can become stronger, faster, harden my skin and improve my senses. But assuming we have one sorcerer and one tantric-Adept now in our bodies. They have the power of a 2^nd Class Magic-User and a 3^rd Class Magic-User. Plus their sorcerer’s powers and you think we can take them?”

At this I felt defeated. Billie was right. There was no way we could take those two in our present situation. “So we’re going to sit around and do nothing?”

“No.” Billie stood up, “We’re waiting for Lori to wake up. But we could also work on recharging you.”

I glanced up at Billie and my pulse quickened. There was no mistake. Bree was very strongly attracted to Grigori’s body. I felt my face flush and my nipples started to get hard. A part of me instantly rebelled at the idea. I was a man! Billie was really a woman! Us having sex just seemed wrong on so many levels. Besides that we were partners, colleagues, friends and everything in me said that sleeping with a friend was a bad idea. Never mind the fact that we’d be doing it from the wrong side of the gender fence.

Billie moved over to me and as he approached he looked huge, for some reason this seemed comforting instead of intimidating. He sat down next to me and we were close enough for me to feel heat coming off his body.

“Uhm, this probably isn’t a good idea.”

Billie reached out to stroke my thigh and I put my hand on his to stop him. “We’ve been partners for over a year. If we had sex it would ruin things between us.”

“Why?” As Billie said it he reached over to cup my chin, tilting my head up to look into his eyes. “Why would it ruin things? We’re not in our normal bodies. I’ve never been a man before and would like to know what it feels like for a man. You’ve done it as a woman, with this body, and you need to recharge. This makes perfect sense operationally and personally.”

His large brown eyes looked into mine and for a moment I couldn’t think of a good reason to say no. As if sensing my uncertainty he leaned in and brushed my lips with his. They were warm and soft and I felt a warmth start in my belly. I opened my mouth and it was all the invitation that Billie needed to dart his tongue inside. My senses seemed to explode; all of a sudden I was very aware of him! I could feel my tantric power swelling and then Billie cupped my breast. The sensations traveled from my nipple to my clitoris to my stomach and suddenly every cell in my body felt alive. I opened my mouth further and I felt energy flow into me. Grigori’s body was practically bursting with masculine power. In that instant I knew why Bree was so attracted to him. His Physical Adept training brought his body into perfect balance with his magic. Tapping into him was like mainlining coke and the great thing was he’d recover in a matter of minutes.

As his energy flowed into me I felt him reach down to stroke my pussy and I felt myself get moist and the ache to be filled became a demand. My body wanted his and my tantric power wanted more of him and it wanted it now.

“Enough foreplay, fuck me!”

The voice was mine but I knew that it was Bree’s personality coming to the fore as her tantric power was now fully active. Billie didn’t waste any time. He unzipped his pants and pulled out his already rock hard cock. I wiggled out of my jeans and underwear and then he was plunging into me; the feeling of being taken so roughly shot pleasure from by clit through my belly to my nipples.

“Ahhhh . . .”

“God, Jack, you’re so tight!”

I wanted to tell him to call me Bree but then I got a flash of memory. ‘I was sitting on a hotel bed looking at a man’s back’ . . . Billie pulled almost all the way out and then plunged back in . . . ‘there were fresh scratch marks on his back, I felt a sense of satisfaction at having marked him’ . . . Billie pulled back and now moved down to take my left nipple into his mouth before pushing back into me . . . ‘the man was talking, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then Bree responded, “And what’s in all of this for me?”’ . . . Now when Billie pulled back he used his thumb to stroke my clit before driving his cock back in I could feel his balls slap my ass cheeks he was so deep . . . ‘“Power. More than you can imagine . . . and never again having to submit yourself to a man for pleasure!”’ . . . Billie was picking up the pace. He’d moved both hands so they were under my ass, holding me steady as he rammed his cock violently into me. For a moment I felt like I was riding lightning. Power flowed into me and I couldn’t help screaming as my orgasm approached . . . ‘“Once I’m in his body we can start the operation. Then we’ll find you a suitable body, your choice!” Bree nodded, “Agreed, but I want to be a man.” At this the guy stood up and turned around. Jarlath Blackstone looked down and grinned. Black motes floated around in his eyes as he laughed. “Perfect. Now call your boyfriend over, we have work to do.”’ . . . Ahhhhhhh the orgasm crashed through me and I felt power flow into my Chakra-Well. For a moment all I could do was lay there. My mind and body overwhelmed my sensations, magic, and knowledge. The after effect of the orgasm left my body humming but my mind was trying to piece together what I’d just learned. I felt Billie’s dick start to get soft and he rolled off of me with a little popping sensation.

Billie climbed to his feet his flaccid cock glistening with our juices. “Damn, that was fantastic. I think I could really get the hang of this.” He then started pulling on his boxers and jeans. I wanted to tell him what had just happened. The vision I’d had but I was having trouble making my voice work. I could feel his seed leaking out of me and down my ass cheeks. Billie glanced at me and grinned, “I’d say you enjoyed it too by the freshly fucked look on your face! Hehehe.”

I felt a flash of anger at the jib, and pushed myself up onto my elbows. “I just saw one of Bree’s hidden memories.”

The statement stopped Billie cold. He gave me an intent look, “And?”

“And we need to get over to Bree’s sanctum, NOW. We can’t wait for Lori to wake up.”

“Uh, if you two would stop shouting my head would appreciate it.”

For a second we both froze. Lori hadn’t moved but it was her voice. I quickly climbed off the cot and grabbed a tissue from my purse. I did my best to wipe myself before climbing back into my clothes. In the meantime Billie moved over next to Lori.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit by a freight train and then stuck in a smoker and left to roast.”

Now dressed I moved over to Lori’s other side, wincing at the scent of fresh sex. “Do you remember what happened?”

At this Lori opened her eyes and looked up at Billie and me. For a second she seemed confused and then memories returned. “Jack? Billie?”

We both nodded and I reached down to take her hand squeezing it reassuringly. “Yeah, we’re here. Do you remember what happened?”

At this she closed her eyes and her cheeks suddenly flushed. “God, I’m such a fool!”

“Lori, if you know what happened at the TOC you need to tell us. All of our lives may depend on it.” The concern in Billie’s voice caught Lori’s attention. She nodded and then looked at me.

“It was you . . . or rather, Bree in your body.” At my confused look she sighed and continued, “I went into the holding cell to bring him some food. We were shorthanded with everyone focusing on setting up to run a double undercover Op. So I went in by myself.” Lori glanced at me and shook her head. “I know you don’t know this, but I’ve always thought you were cute. I put the food down in front of you, I mean Bree, and he caught my eye. Did you know your eyes are blue with flecks of green?” I shook my head and she continued. “Anyway I was looking into your eyes when you, I mean Bree, held up his hands. He asked if I would un-cuff them so he could eat. It seemed like a reasonable request. Once his hands were free he reached out and touched my face.”

At this Lori looked down and away, “I’ve never felt anything like it. I was suddenly so horny. All I could think of was how much I’ve wanted you. How much I’ve always wanted you . . . and now was my chance . . . I . . .”

“Okay, we understand, Bree used his tantric magic on you. Did you have sex?”

Lori nodded, “Only once we were done I couldn’t move. I didn’t have the energy. Then you . . . he . . . laughed. He thanked me for the energy and then took my blasting wand.” Lori looked over at Billie, “He also took my set of keys and ducked out of the cell. I think he released your body. Once he left the cell things get a little fuzzy. I remember hearing them attack; I think they got everyone by surprise. Oh, God, I’m a fool! How many?”

The look of horror and the pleading for it not to be bad almost broke my heart. I opened my mouth to speak but Billie beat me to it.

“They’re all dead. The TOC is destroyed. The records are gone as is the artifact.”

“We don’t know about the artifact.” I said.

Billie glared at me, “Don’t be stupid. Of course they took it.”

Lori pushed herself up, I could tell she was still weak but recovering. “What should we do?”

“You need to call the Camp and arrange for an immediate extraction. Colonel May wasn’t at the TOC so ask for him. We’ll need to establish our identities and then we’ll hunt these bastards down and make them pay; even if it takes years!”

“Why wait years?” I said, “I know where they are, or at least where they will be.”

At this both Lori and Billie turned to look at me. I felt a grin stretch across my face. “I told you, I just accessed the memories that Bree didn’t want me to have.”

I hate stakeouts. I always have. Over the years I’ve trained myself to endure them but I still hate them. Particularly now, sitting here next to Billie, I could feel the connection between us and with the tiniest tug I could have made him so horny he wouldn’t be able to see straight. I check my Chakra-Well, two-thirds full. A quickie would top me off. Then I dismissed the notion. With my luck our targets would show up just as I got Billie’s cock right where I wanted it. Being interrupted during sex wasn’t something I wanted to experience tonight.

I touched the bracelet and then the ring I wore. The ring was the third item I’d gotten from the Hound’s armory before taking this mission. It would likely prove useful tonight.

“You’re sure they’ll be here?”

“Yes, I’m sure!”

Just then I felt more than saw movement. A powerful masculine energy was moving under a veil. I grabbed Billie’s arm and pointed. “There they are, under a veil.”

There was a slight distortion of light moving through the parking lot toward the apartment building’s main entrance. We both switched to the Third-Eye almost at the same time. Now the distortion was much easier to see. Billie grabbed the radio mic.

“All Hounds, this is Birddog, tally-ho. Bandit is approaching Corona. All Hounds are cleared to engage.”

The words sent a chill through me. I didn’t want a full out engagement. I wanted to subdue and question. That and to force them to return my body. I flew out of the car using my Chakra-Well to fuel my speed and strength spells. Apparently a Tantric-Adept was as versatile in magic as a Magic-User. I felt Bree’s distinctly feminine magical energy flow through me, “Autem!”

The bracelet on my wrist responded transforming into a Wakizashi and dropping easily into my hand. There was a screeching sound and from overhead and a pair of Hounds in full battle-rattle dropped from the sky landing with an earth shaking force between the pair and the entrance to the apartment. As this was happening I heard the squeal of tires and knew that a cruiser was pulling into the parking lot to seal off the exit.

With my enhanced strength and speed I practically flew over the ground crossing the street in a blink and racing toward the pair. As I approached the veil fell apart and Jarlath in Billie’s petite body raised the wand in her hand.

“Rigéscunt!”

A cone of cold energy blasted from the wand striking the first Hound in the chest. The wards on her armor flared and she stepped through the spell, the frozen grass breaking under her feet.

“Is that the best you’ve got?”

Bree in my body stepped forward and laughed before pointing a finger at the Hound.

“Dolor!”

I could feel the blast of Psi-Magic from where I stood and knew that the Hound didn’t have anything to counter it.

“Ahhhhhh . . .”

She dropped the M-4 she’d been holding and grabbed her head with both hands dropping to her armored knees.

“Exonero!”

I shouted drinking deeply from my stored power. The spell lashed out and I could feel it smash into Bree’s spell cutting it apart with brutal efficiency. He spun around to look at me and when he saw me a look of surprise crossed his face quickly followed by glee.

“So, you’ve come to play? I was hoping that you’d stay away. I didn’t want to ever see that body again, but now, I must admit, I was one sexy bitch!”

As he spoke I could feel him sending a wave of tantric power at me. I was more than ready for it and my own tantric power rose up. For a second colored light sparkled between us and then Bree staggered back.

“You’ve learned a thing or two! Well, no matter, I’m stronger than you and am more than able to bring down a tiny thing like you!”

Bree lashed out with a glowing magic missile attack. I used the power from my Well to fuel the shield that stopped the attack. But at the rate I was being drained I knew I didn’t have much time, even using my pathetic gift to draw power into my Well, I’d be out in no time. I focused on defending and closing the distance. The battle narrowed down to just Bree and me. I deflected a fire ball next and then slipped under a telekinetic strike using a front shoulder roll. By the time I was ten feet away my Chakra-Well was almost empty and Bree sensed it.

“Ha, I’ve been hitting you with what I could channel! I still have the energy in my Well!”

“Immobilibus!”

I felt the power of the spell wash over me. Suddenly it was very hard to move my arms and legs. I was now five feet away. Almost close enough to use the Wakizashi!

“Why are you laughing? You’ve lost!” As Bree spoke he moved closer and I activated my ring. The third item I’d taken when I accepted this assignment. Power flowed into me, burning like the sun. The ring wasn’t all that sophisticated. It was an energy storing ring.

“Discutio!”

Energy lashed out and Bree’s shields flared and then broke under the power of the strike. I shook off the effects of his spell and took a step forward bringing my Wakizashi up to high guard.

“Surrender!”

Bree’s face had gone pale and I saw him hesitate and then just as he started to lower his wand a small red dot appeared on his forehead. An instant later I heard the crack of the high power rifle. Then as if in slow motion I saw the back of his head explode away as the bullet exited. For a second time froze. I couldn’t move. My mind refused to accept what had just happened. Then in slow motion I turned to look at the cruiser that had blocked off any retreat. Lying over the hood was Lori behind the M4 that was set up over the hood on a tri-pod with a scope. She lifted her head and gave me a fierce grin before sighting in her next target. Only there was no need. Jarlath was on the ground, the pair of Hounds he’d been fighting having gotten the best of him.

I fell to my knees next to my now dead body. I didn’t know what to do it all just seemed so surreal. Then I felt a strong set of hands on my shoulders and I looked up into Billie’s face.

“Jack, take it easy. It’ll all be okay.”

I looked down at the documents on the table. There significance wasn’t lost on me. My whole life on paper, or rather a fake life, invented to give me a place on the teams and in modern society. Jacklyn Carter or Jackie for short was a five foot one female. Trained as a 3^rd Class Magic-User, even though I lacked the power, well sortta lacked the power. I touched the driver’s license and thought that it had to be the best photo I’d ever taken for a license. The bright white smile actually showed off my dimples.

“How are you doing?”

Billie slid into the chair across from me her long blonde hair styled to show off her cheek bones. ‘Funny,’ I thought, ‘I never noticed it before. Hell, we could almost be twins!’

“I’m doing . . . okay.”

Even my voice sounded depressed and Billie reached over to squeeze my hand. It was such a simple feminine gesture intended to offer support and comfort. It made me want to lash out. I suppressed the feeling and nodded, “Thanks.” Then to change the subject, “So what did the judge say?”

Billie let go of my hand. “The Guild Judge gave Jarlath the maximum sentence. Although, we’re no longer putting prisoners in pocket dimensions, instead he’s going to the new maximum security Guild prison on Alcatraz.”

I nodded feeling a little better at the news.

“Look, Jack, Lori feels horrible about what happened. She thought you were about to be killed, or she wouldn’t have taken the shot.”

“About to be killed? The only reason her damn bullet hit Bree was because I’d just destroyed his shields!”

After a second Billie shrugged, “Yeah, well, that may be true. But your body is gone. You should try to move on.”

“Fuck, Billie, I’m trying.” Then I let out a sigh. “How’s Grigori doing in the Metal-Witch’s body?”

At this Billie laughed. “Not good. None of his magic works. He has to relearn magic and he lost twenty years. So he’s pretty much out of the organized crime business.”

I nodded, thinking that Colonel May had made the right call there. After we’d retrieved the artifact from the car that Jarlath and Bree had been using Billie swapped with Jarlath and got her body back. But after that COL May had vetoed any more swaps. Jarlath in a Physical Adept’s body was a bad combination for him since his power was based on spirit magic and Grigori’s body was trained in physical magic. Jarlath was still dangerous since he could draw power from the souls bound to him; but much less powerful than if he’d gotten his metal-witch body back.

I had to smile a little at the memory of waking up the body that had belonged to Jarlath in the stasis field. Grigori had freaked out when he’d discovered who he now was. He’d complained bitterly about being stuck in an ‘old guy’s’ body and the loss of his Physical Adept power made him useless to the Mob. He’d have to go legit now, at least until he learned to use his new abilities.

The only thing that would have made it better was if he’d ended up in this body. Unfortunately, COL May wanted me right where I was. Since my body was dead, they wanted me to research this new ‘Tantric’ magic. The Guild had always written it off as morally questionable. But now after showing what I could do with a full Chakra-Well and the fact that my Well appeared not to have an upper limit . . . they wanted to know more. COL May wanted to know more about it and his Guild superiors had agreed with him.

“So when will we be assigned a new team?”

“Officially we’ve got thirty days of R&R. Then we’re to report in, back at the Camp. Colonel May indicated that he’s got something new for us.”

I nodded and started collecting my documents and packing them into my purse.

“So, what are you going to do for the next thirty days?”

I glanced over at Billie, “I was thinking Hawaii. Want to come? Girls only vacation.”

“Hehehe, sure why not!”

Author note: If you enjoyed this story, please take a moment to leave a review.