Claire gasped, filling her lungs greedily as though she had just surfaced from a perilously long dive. Blinking rapidly, her dark eyes regained their former light and life. From within her, heat spread out and returned to her extremities, her cold body surging back to life as healthy color returned to her chocolate skin.
“Wha-… Where…?” she mumbled groggily, her mind slowly waking up after its deep sleep. She held her head in one hand as she readjusted to consciousness. James watched with relief and smiled. He’d done it; he’d succeeded. But he didn’t want to freak Claire out after she’d just survived one tiring ordeal, nor did he want to have to explain the situation. So, reaching out again with his magic, he touched the girl’s mind and, with much greater ease, flipped a switch and put her to sleep.
Turning his attention to Sam, who still sat motionless next to the slumbering woman, James prepared for round two. More confident with one success already under his belt, he slowly but surely began the task of purging his magic from the other man’s soul. As the last vestiges of sexual energy vanished from Sam’s mind, he too came to his senses. Groaning tiredly, he shook his head and dispelled the heavy haze that had taken hold of him. Body and mind back under his control, Sam turned to James with a confused expression, but before he could speak, the other man knocked him out with a snap of his fingers.
James exhaled slowly, attempting to calm himself and even out his ragged breathing. He wiped sweat from his brow and leaned back. “That was exhausting,” he muttered. Still catching his breath, he decided to share his victory with Lilith.
“Mistress,” he thought, “you’ll be happy to know that our husk problem is taken care of.”
After a brief period, during which the only sound was the even breathing of the former husks, Lilith’s response broke the silence and echoed through James’ mind.
“James!” she exclaimed. “That’s wonderful! You’re truly amazing; I can’t wait to hear how you did it! Are you okay? Oh, I wish I was there; I could kiss you!”
The incubus smiled as his mistress’ praise lifted his spirits even higher and brought warmth to his heart. “I’ll hold you to that later,” he thought back to her. “I’m fine; I’ll tell you all about it tonight, okay?”
“Okay,” Lilith answered. “I love you, James.”
“I love you too.”
With a smile, James broke off the psychic connection and returned his focus to the pair of naked people asleep on his bed. He realized that it may have been premature to pat himself on the back and proclaim the husk problem “taken care of.” James still needed to get Sam and Claire back where they belonged and deal with the fact that they’d been missing for two days.
“First things first…” he said to himself. Returning to the ex-husks minds for what he hoped would be the last time, James carefully and methodically removed any and all memories of the last two days. He replaced them with vague, artificial memories of being very sick and bedridden. While he was in their heads, he searched for a little information. After retrieving their addresses from their memory banks, James released his mental grip on the two. Then he went about dressing the pair in old clothes of his before dragging them, still sleeping, to his car. He had to borrow Lindsay’s keys in order to move her car, but he didn’t think the sleeping brunette would mind. Once the husks were crammed into the James’ car, he took off.
Getting into their homes was surprisingly easy thanks to a little magical lock-picking. James was grateful that both Claire and Sam lived alone; he didn’t think he could explain the situation to a roommate or significant other, and he’d had enough meddling with people’s memories for one day. First one, and then the other, he put the one-time husks to bed, completing the illusion of their sudden and mysterious illness. Confident that they’d be all right and that their temporary absence from work and school wouldn’t be traced back to him, James returned to his car.
Checking the clock, he remembered he was supposed to be meeting Ashley right then. After firing off a quick text to let her know he was running late, James headed for the hotel.
He found his sister in the hotel restaurant, a fancy little bistro that made James feel underdressed. Ash, however, definitely looked the part. Wearing stylish heels and a short black dress, she left little to the imagination, and there were more than a few men checking out the sexy redhead. She stood up from the table when James arrived and met him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
He joined her at the table, and the food and wine soon began to flow. They chatted casually, going over the day. James decided the leave out the orgy; that story might be better suited to somewhere more private. The pair of attractive siblings were already drawing attention from other diners just by virtue of their looks.
“So,” James whispered, ready to get down to business, “What did you learn at the museum?”
Ash leaned forward and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. “The statue arrived today. It’ll stay in storage for a while before it’s moved to the exhibit, which opens next Monday.”
“Shit…” said James. “That’s so soon.”
Ashley nodded and continued. “The security over there is serious, and there’s no way I could sneak you in or sneak the idol out. I think we should wait until it’s set up in the exhibit before we make a move. It’ll be easier to get to then.”
James shook his head. “Not an option. We can’t give Ishtar time to return to the Temple; we have to strike while she’s unaware. The sooner the better.”
“Okay…” Ashley began tentatively, speaking as she lightly swirled her wine glass. “But what do we do then? The storage area is under constant surveillance, and guards patrol the museum after dark. I have access during the day, but so do a dozen other people. Even if I could get you and the statue in the same room, do we actually have any clue how to destroy it?”
James, admittedly, had not given much thought to the matter. He knew that destroying the idol couldn’t be easy, but he just assumed he’d figure something out. “No…” he answered honestly. “I’ll talk to Lilith about that; she might know something. In the meantime, you try and find – or create – a lapse in security we can take advantage of.” Ash nodded and drained the rest of her wine. James grabbed the bottle and refilled their glasses.
Shifting the conversation back to light banter and casual flirtation, the two siblings ate and drank in comfort until it was late. It was apparent to James that, despite living in France, Ashley was a bit of lightweight when it came to wine. Enjoying his own pleasant buzz, James supported his sister and walked her carefully out of the restaurant and through the hotel. She leaned on him, her slender hands holding on tightly to his strong arm.
Giggling girlishly and slurring her words, she let James pull her into the elevator. As soon as the doors glided shut and the two were alone in the lift, a predatory look came over Ashley’s face. She stepped in close to her brother and pushed him against the wall. Her hard nipples pressed against his muscled abdomen through her dress. Her hand found a rapidly-growing bulge in James’ pants and gave it a light squeeze.