“As soon as you move, I'm going to geld you,” I promised him calmly.
Narcissus laughed. “I'd better do something about that then.”
The floor dropped away and my clothes disappeared. I found myself strapped over one of the machines I'd seen in Narcissus' S&M room; standing on my feet but bent over a padded square with its center cut out. Two U-shaped bars supported the square; one which my legs were strapped to and one for my arms. My breasts and belly hung through the opening in the cushion and my chin draped over the edge.
“You may not have been excited by the whips and chains, but I was.” Narcissus strode into my line of vision wearing little more than a bunch of leather straps. “And once I show you how fun it is, you'll enjoy it too.”
“You're more fucked in the head than I thought if you believe I will ever enjoy any kind of sex with you!”
“Is it because I'm only one man?” Narcissus asked. “It is, isn't it?”
“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes.
“I can take care of that too,” he said confidently.
Suddenly, there were three Narcissuses standing before me. I gaped at them as they smiled at me. The man was so egotistical that he couldn't even make an illusion of another man to help him rape me.
“There! One for each hole,” Narcissus exclaimed proudly.
“You twisted bastard!” I hissed. “It has nothing to do with the number of men and everything to do with the fact that I simply don't want to fuck you! Quality over quantity, dickhead.”
“Really?” A long whip appeared in one of the Narcissuses' hands, and my heartbeat sped up.
Damn it all; I'd just gotten over my sexual hangups and there I was, right back at the beginning. Except Narcissus' whip was a lot different than Aphrodite's. When it finally landed across my ass, it barely tickled. Still, that wasn't the point, was it?
“You sick son of a bitch!” I snarled at him. “You're so fucking pathetic. You can't seduce me so you have to resort to rape. The beautiful Narcissus brought low by a woman.”
“Shut up,” he ground out and brought the whip down harder.
“You can't even fight me,” I went on. “You have to strap me to a freaky sex table because I was kicking your ass.”
“Shut up!” One of them grabbed my face and squeezed my cheeks until I couldn't speak. “Maybe I should put something in that sassy mouth of yours.”
I was just thinking that if he dared to stick his dick in my mouth, I would bite it off when he slid in a metal contraption instead; a cage that opened my mouth wide and covered my teeth. Leather straps went back around my head to hold it on tightly. I jerked violently as the Narcissus before me moved a flap of leather aside and extracted his cock. He grabbed my head and held it still while another Narcissus grabbed my ass.
“Hmm,” the one behind me mused. “This won't do for the third me.”
The table I was on turned, twisting shape until I was positioned with my side facing the floor. More straps appeared around my body to hold me tightly to the cushion. I glanced down and saw that the whole contraption simply floated in the air.
“There!” A Narcissus declared in triumph. “Now, I shall have your sex while the other me can take your ass. Just how you like it, dearest. Aren't you excited?”
I screamed out of my open mouth, my whole body shaking as I fought the straps.
“I had wanted you willing, Vervain,” the Narcissus in front of me said. “But if you don't start behaving, I will make you behave as I did with all the others. I will turn you into a fucking puppet, or even a puppet for fucking.” He laughed gaily.
He grabbed something out of thin air and showed me the lock of twinkling hair he'd taken from me. I went still as soon as I recognized it. I hadn't even considered what Narcissus could magically do with all those locks of hair he'd taken. I should have known better; a kelpie had once used my hair to enchant me. Gods didn't usually bother with tools for their magic, but a personal effect—a lock of hair or even a fingernail clipping—could be used to control that person. It was a universal magical truth. This really could end up being a repeat of my time in Duat.
“That's better.” Narcissus tossed the hair into the air and it disappeared. “Now, try to relax and enjoy yourself.”
The Narcissus before me began to maneuver his member into my mouth as the other two settled into place behind me. But then suddenly, the two Narcissuses between my legs weren't there anymore and the one before me jerked back in shock.
“How did you—” Before he even finished his question, something flared above me in a shimmering, multicolored gleam and Narcissus—the real Narcissus—dropped to the floor in two pieces; cleanly decapitated.
The table and the thing in my mouth crumpled away like old toast. I fell to my knees and gaped at the corpse gushing blood across the floor. I only had a second to look back over my shoulder before the entire territory started to fall apart.
Rainbow eyes met mine steadily.
Chapter Forty-Three
I sat in the fragrant grass of a serene meadow—in my own clothes—gaping at Qaus as my magic returned to me in shimmering waves. I took a deep, relieved breath as they all settled into place and my nine-pointed star glowed brightly in my chest. Around us stood the Fates, already glowing with the return of their magic. Qaus reached down—a kind expression on his face—and helped me to my feet.
“Are you all right, Vervain?” He asked.
“Am I...” I gaped at him and then declared, “Reading rainbows, Qaus! How did you do that? Narcissus said he wasn't going to let you return.”
Qaus laughed before he explained, “I left
