Spell, Crook and Handle Pt. 03

"I knew you would hate me," I said and began to move away from her.

"STOP," she said as her hand latched onto my wrist. "I think you underestimate me Louis."

"Huh," I said as she rolled on top of me.

"Do you think I'm weak? I understood your nature from the beginning. I may not have had all the details but that has no bearing on my feelings. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"You take me as I am with all the good and the bad."

"Exactly," she said as she rose up, aimed my cock and dropped down impaling herself. "Now be a dear and shut the fuck up while I take my pleasure from you!"

I lay back, close my eyes and let her ride me all she wanted. I knew she was angry and disappointed. If I could be an outlet then so be it. Her grunts as she drove her hips downward sounded angry at first. But after a little while she was simply moaning for sheer pleasures sake.

"You are filling me up," she whimpered. "So long and thick..."

"I just want to make you happy," I whispered.

"You do... you are the first good thing that has happened for so long."

I cupped her tits and began thrusting upward to meet her. I didn't feed from her. I was there to make her climax as long as her body held out. When her legs gave out I rolled her onto her back and took over. I hammered her nonstop until she begged me to stop. Her orgasms blurred together at the end but when I pulled out she was a panting sweat covered puddle of womanhood. She looked at me with renewed wonder. She mouthed the words 'oh my god' before she closed her eyes and slept.

"Finally... I was able to tell someone..."

It was ten in the morning when I showered and slipped out to get us fresh brewed coffee. When I returned Gabrielle was in the shower. I told her I had coffee. I slipped into the bathroom and watched her. I offered to wash her back but she spun around and nearly slipped covering her backside.

"Sore," I asked.

"A little," she whimpered. "Okay, a lot..."

"After coffee we are going out for breakfast and then off to see a man about some coins."

"Ooh, can I go with you to the bank? I want to see the coins, if you are okay with that."

"Sure you don't want me to wash your butt or back?"

"OUT... get the fuck out..."

I was crying I was laughing so damn hard. I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the fruit of the bean. Gabrielle came out wearing one of my t-shirts and a pair of see-through panties. I smiled and handed her the coffee. She sat on the edge of the bed and winced. I suggested wearing a skirt. Jeans might be a little too tight right now. She nodded and laid out her clothes as she sipped her coffee. The leather bodice with the slits all over it was interesting. Then she unrolled a leather pouch of sorts which held a couple dozen metal darts. She took the razor sharp throwing darts and slid them into the pockets on her bodice. I was impressed.

By the time she was done she was a veritable walking arsenal. We finished dressing and headed off to breakfast and then to the bank. She was so excited when we walked into the private viewing room of the bank. They brought me my box and I let Gabrielle open it. The twenty gold coins were in individual plastic cases. I picked out the three that I was going to sell and let Gabrielle pick out one. She had great taste and I told her all about it as we headed over to the coin shop. I loved the way her eyes lit up when she looked at her coin.

Francois was waiting for me eagerly as we walked into his shop. He was a third generation numismatic or coin collector. But he was more of a coin historian in my mind. He was a native of British Columbia and was in his mid-fifties with a full head of silvery white hair. He had steel gray eyes and the family nose. I knew this from the twenty odd photos all over the walls. Francois was very proud of his lineage. He always wore a dark suit with thin pin stripes and the most god awful ties you have ever seen. Today's obscenity for the eyes was a bright yellow affair with nautiluses all over it.

"Bon Jour Francois, I see your taste in ties is a bad as always," I said hugging him.

"Louie my friend, I see your taste in gorgeous women is as awe inspiring as always," he said and took Gabrielle's hand and kissed it.

"Flatterer," Gabrielle said and rewarded him with a wink.

"I have three little treasures for you," I said reaching into my pocket.

He produced a jeweler's eyepiece and examined the coins carefully. He muttered to himself the entire time and cried out when something spectacular caught his attention. It was at least a half an hour before he finished his examinations. He shook his head and looked at me.

"Before we conclude our business I must ask again," he said. "Where did you get these coins Louie?"

"What if I told you I found all of them in a single chamber," I said.

"I would say you were the luckiest Archaeologist on the planet. Did you? Did you actually find them in a single burial chamber?"

"No, it was a treasure chamber," I said.

"Have you researched any of these coins? They are from the four corners of the ancient world and different millennia."

"You were the one that asked," I told him and he nodded.

Francois produced the suitcase of cash. I didn't bother counting it. I trusted him and if he shorted me I would never trade another coin in his shop ever and he knew it. I suspected he sold them to high end collectors making ten times what he was paying me. But there were another five thousand coins scattered all over the planet, stored away for all those rainy days to come.

We left the shop and got our tickets for the train back to Vancouver. We had a few hours so we returned to the bed and breakfast and checked out. As we headed for the station I received an email regarding the weapons I asked for. They would be waiting at the Vancouver train station in a locker. I had to promise to be careful and return in one piece. I had no desire to perish on this mission. This was the first time I raced into danger instead of fleeing it. Okay, the barghest doesn't count that was self-serving in the end.

The train departed the station exactly on time, a nod to Canadian punctuality. Gabrielle and I sat with the other passengers and did a little people watching. I had split the cash up into smaller bags and given one to her. I told her we would be splitting up for a week and meeting back up again in Chicago. She was loath to leave me but understood the danger of traveling together for too long. I had set plans in motion for a nice beach front home in the Bahamas for a year or so and she liked the sound of that. That part of my plan was all true. I felt bad about leaving her out of the other part of my plan, the part where I sneak in and confront the Grand Inquisitor and most likely put a round between his eyes.

"You are awful quiet Louis," Gabrielle said watching a young girl play with her stuffed animal.

"I am going to miss you," I told her, which was true.

"Do you know how long I've been an Inquisitor, seven years," she said her voice calm and controlled. "I was practically raised by the church. I have been training in this line of work for fifteen years. I know you promised not to lie to me or hold things back, but uh... do you think I am a fucking idiot?"

"I don't want you getting hurt," I said eyes downcast.

"I know how they think; their strategy and I can help you. Why would you keep me out of this?"

"I've never shared as much as I have with you. I want you far away and safe when I... when this goes down."

"You are going to kill him aren't you," she asked and I nodded. "Do you have any idea what the Vatican will do when they hear about that? You will be on the run for the rest of your life or until they run you to ground and kill you. You can't kill him!"

"I am open to suggestions." I snapped.

"You need to expose him for the fraud he is." Gabrielle said and I stared at her and then smiled. "You need my help now shut up and buy me a drink."

So we sat there and rehashed the plan I had worked out so diligently. By the time we were both yawning we had taken a turd of a plan and polished it to a metallic sheen. Gabrielle's Inquisitor experience pushed the likelihood of success to the seventy percentile. Hell, we might actually walk out of there alive! We retired to the sleeping compartment and by noon have reached Vancouver.

The gentle rocking motion from the train's movement lulled me asleep in no time. I dreamt I was standing in front of the shipping container. I was looking into the darkened depths but unlike what had happened there was fog rolling out in a steady stream. Something moved against the darkness and was walking outward towards the light, towards me. The boxes were gone suddenly and I could make out wings, massive wings too large to fit in the tiny confines of the container. There were eyes blazing in the darkness and unlike feline eye shine these eyes produced their own illumination.

"Louis..." it called out to me. "I am coming Louis."

I sat up and the cry of alarm died premature in my throat. I looked over and Gabrielle was sleeping soundly. I smiled and cuddled close to her for the simple comfort of it. I closed my eyes and drifted back to a deep dreamless sleep. The smell of freshly brewed coffee caught my attention and I opened my eyes. There was Gabrielle holding a cup of coffee for me. She was smiling as I sat up and took the cup from her.

"Morning sleepy head," she said blushing.

"What," I asked.

"You were holding me tight when I woke up this morning. It felt really nice is all."

"I had a nightmare about the cargo container," I said and her face darkened. "There was this fog coming out of it and these eyes, glowing in the back and wings. It doesn't matter it was just a dream."

I drank my coffee and after that got dressed and we ate breakfast in the dining car. We sat across from one another and I happened to look out. Aw crap, it was snowing. It began as a few random flakes but the closer we got to Vancouver the heavier it became. It looked like we were going to dealing with a full blown snow storm. Gabrielle was about to get up when I laid my hand on hers.

"What is it, is there something wrong?"

"No, I want you to have this," I said passing her a small envelope. "Just in case, things go sideways."

"We are both going to walk away from this," she said as she opened the envelope. "You opened a bank account for me?"

"Yeah, if we are unable to prove his guilt, you are going to need some money to go underground with."

The 'him' I was referring to was the Grand Inquisitor. We had a good solid plan but nothing in life is guaranteed. I wanted her taken care of. She had somehow managed to worm her way into my heart. I glanced around the dining car and picked out three potential targets. They could be watching us but we would only know once we left the train or they acted. We paid for our meal and one out of the three followed us to one of the main cars.

I asked one of the staff how long until we reached Vancouver and we had at least another hour. The weather was worsening the closer we got to our destination. I didn't want to say it but Gabrielle's expression reflected my own fears. Whatever had been in the container was having an adverse effect on the weather. We passed through to our sleeping berth and packed our bags. We drew out winter jackets and as she dressed I kept a lookout.

"Are you ready," she asked and I shrugged. "I can help you if you want."

"This is so weird," I said as I stripped down to nothing. "Okay, here we go."

I shifted my form in a cute petite Japanese gal. Gabrielle shook her head and over the next ten minutes I tweaked the form until she was happy with it. I could only look down and smile at her suggestions. Gabrielle said that before she met me she had never kissed a girl, but she sure knew what she liked in her women now. The final form was stunning from any angle. I dressed and altered the clothing through a simple spell I had mastered long ago. It took a little time, as it usually did, to adjust to my new height and body mechanics. We picked up our luggage and headed for one of the main cars. We placed our luggage on one side and sat next to each other.

"I could go for girls after seeing you like this," Gabrielle said grinning.

"You say the most flattering things," I said placing my hand over hers. "Are we getting enough attention?"

"Pfft... are you kidding," she laughed. "Every heterosexual male is staring at you, lucky me."

"Well you were so damn specific," I said.

"MMMMMMM, yes I was and you should thank me," she purred. "Make me a promise."

"If I can," I told her recognizing that hungry look.

"If we both pull this off, you will let me play with this new form of yours."

"I have created a monster," I said and we both laughed. "I promise."

A half hour later the train pulled into the Vancouver station. We grabbed our bags and filed out with the other passengers. The temperature had dropped dramatically, the wind was gusting fiercely and the snow was falling heavily, sideways. We slipped the five men following us. Not due to any great stealth skills but because they were looking for me, the male version, that they believed was still on the train. We reached the lockers and removed the two suitcases without incident.

We took a cab to a small hotel and changed. The cases had one gauss rifle and two pistols. Beneath each cache of weapons was some sort of thin micro-weave body armor. The material was thin and flexible enough to wear beneath regular clothing quite easily. They reminded me more of body suits than armor. Gabrielle and I stripped down and slipped the armor on and put our clothing on top of it. I put on the shoulder holster on and sheathed the gauss pistols into each holster. Gabrielle put the rifle into a duffle bag along with all our gear that we felt was absolutely necessary.

Our transportation for this mission was an inexpensive jeep we bought for cash. It would get us there and back and anything beyond that was a bonus. The former military compound turned manor house was an hour drive from downtown Vancouver. While the jeep did have a decent heater the windshield wipers were crap. They moved but did little to remove the snow as it accumulated. Feng acted as our navigation system using satellite GPS. We were nearly there when she told us to take a turn and head up a private drive.

"I need to access the compound's security system. To do that I need to upload a copy of my core programming." Feng explained. "There it is... the satellite dish. The family uses it for entertainment I am going to use it for Yuri 5, a soviet era spy satellite."

We waited while Feng sent a copy of herself using the dish to an obsolete satellite. She hoped to be able to recover and repurpose the existing equipment onboard. Once her copy was in place we found a spot to park close to, but not in line of sight of, Thaddeus' manor house. If she could circumnavigate the security we would go the tech route. If not, then we would go old school, really old school. I would teleport us into the main building using Feng as a guide. Blind teleportation was not just dangerous; it almost always ended badly for the mage. The thought of appearing inside a wall or structure made me shiver.

"It's a no go," Feng said. "The satellite is not going to work for my purposes. I can give you a safe entry point though. After that you are on your own. I am sorry."

"We had to try," I said and informed Gabrielle of the situation.

"Let's do this."

We got out of the jeep and Gabrielle shouldered the duffle bag. I closed my eyes and let Feng show me exactly where we were going to enter. She gave me the most current blue prints but how accurate they were, was anyone's guess. I began the teleport spell and visualized the landing spot as clear as I could. I opened my arms and that was Gabrielle's signal to cling to me. Once I felt her body next to mine and closed my arms around her and told her to exhale. We blew out our breath and the stomach lurching sensation slammed into us.

I opened my eyes and found we had landed uninjured. I would mark that as a master stroke of spell work. I scratched blind teleport off my bucket list as well. We crouched and I shifted my vision to the infrared spectrum. Hopefully I could pick up the body heat of guards and other inhabitants. So far so good, but we had a long way to go. I took the lead and headed straight for the basement. If I were an evil mastermind I would keep the artifact there. The closer I got the easier it would be to fine tune our path.

We stopped to access our position and situation. I decided to risk a passive detection spell. Unlike an active spell that would send out a kind of mystical ping, this spell would act as a receiver of magical energy. It would alert me to not only the artifact but wards and other nasty surprises. I had to maintain it but it would be worth it. I held up my hand and moved it all around us and got a strong source of mana in a northeasterly direction, so much for the basement. We moved quietly towards our goal and entered the northern wing of the manor. We headed east and straight towards the artifact.

'Something is wrong,' I thought to myself. 'Where the hell is all the security?'

Gabrielle tapped me on the shoulder and we halted. She leaned close and whispered her own concern over the lack of guards or electronic surveillance. I nodded and frowned. I dropped the spell since our destination was clear now. I reached up and pulled the armored hood over my head and Gabrielle followed suit. She took out the gauss rifle and I pulled out one of my pistols. With a few deep breaths to push down my stress we entered the gallery. There were priceless treasures located everywhere. We would have to limit ourselves to kill shots only. It would break my heart if a random shot damaged a single piece of this collection. The gallery was broken down to two smaller outer wings and one larger central display area. At the very center of the display area was an object covered in a red velvet material. The silhouette hinted what might be beneath , a full length mirror.

We stopped and Gabrielle took up a firing position. I renewed the detection spell and was overwhelmed by the power coming off the covered object. The problem was that it was giving off so much mana it would mask any other lesser spells or enchantments. In other words, it was a trap. They were waiting for us and who was I to disappoint them. I switch the safety off of my weapon and another deep breath later I slipped into the open area. I peered into the astral and found the spells concealing them. It was time for the drama to play itself out.

I stood up, holstered my weapon and walked boldly in. I felt the binding kick in ten feet away from the relic. It was a magic circle that would let me walk in easy enough but I couldn't leave without outside assistance. I snatched the velvet material off the object and stepped back. I had been right, it was a mirror and it was ancient by the looks of it. I examined the wooden frame, specifically the esoteric carvings. The meanings were clear; beyond the dimension of the glass was a mystical prison for a powerful demon. I reached out a gloved hand and tapped the glass.

"Come out come out whatever you are," I said.

"It doesn't work like that," a male voice said from the shadows. "You walked in eagerly enough."

"It wasn't like you were going to pop out and holler boo," I replied. "So how long has this been in your family Inquisitor?"

"Generations and it is Grand Inquisitor," Rinaldo Giovanni said as he stepped out from the shadows.

"Whatever," I said and turned to face him. "About what I expected..."

"You are quite stunning," he said. "I was hoping to catch your Master."

"He is outside waiting for me," I lied and smiled. "He is quite safe."