Wallace

I flipped open the book and pushed it across the table, "Nah," I said with a shake of my head, "Still no message."

Amity frowned and tapped her chin, "Still, I'd expect it soon," she replied, "I haven't seen the third radio signature in a day or two now, and the one that remains has become stronger and clearer."

"You think both teams have grouped up and are heading back?" I guessed.

Amity and I sat up on the roof patio, and I turned to look north, though the low wall obstructed much of my view.

"It appears so," she replied.

I grimaced, "We're still not done"

"We could work at this for a year, and I don't think you'd call it done," Amity said with a smile, "Yes, the crenelations could do with some polish, and I know you haven't finished strengthening all the windows, but we've done plenty considering how little time we've had."

"That's fair, not that I really want to fight them here anyway. Have you got an estimate of their current distance?"

"I'm not sure, but judging from how clear the signal is, I'd guess they're camped out on the crater rim."

I nodded in understanding, "Probably prepping for the trip back, so we might see them as soon as tomorrow evening."

"We'd have the advantage," Amity pointed out, "It's Dark Morn' tomorrow, and The Father will be in the sky all night."

"And the following night," I considered, "Simon knows about the two of us, but not Cassius or Regina. Do you think he'd have them wait a couple of days?"

"And try to attack without The Father in the sky?" Amity frowned, "I don't think so. We'll have the advantage at night regardless of how dark it is."

"Less of an advantage though, without The Father."

"Maybe, but you've seen how Val is in the dark, they'd be hopeless," Amity insisted, "Or they'd end up announcing their presence with torches or the like."

"Alright, well, have you and Regina tried out the spells Val and I shared?"

Amity grinned, "You know, she told us something of the development process for those spells of yours."

"I bet she did," I sighed.

"Well, one does what one must to hold Val's interest."

"Just make sure you're ready with at least one of the spells. I want to hit them before they reach the hotel. If Simon's going to give the attack order the moment he has my response, and I think he will, then I want to strike with similar haste."

"Before you give the response?"

"No, I was thinking more while they're still receiving Simon's order. It comes encoded, and however short it is, they'll need to decrypt it."

"So while they're busy making sure the order they just received really is an attack order-"

"We show up, take out as many as we can, and take off before they can muster a response."

"Do you intend to carry them off? If we keep to Simon's terms, presumably, their allies could undo whatever our spells have done. Your trick with the liquid metal, for example. It would certainly be a bother, but another caster would only need to find the material, and they could undo it."

"That is a problem," I agreed, "If they're all grouped together, we'll have to try to grab one or two and run like hell, but I'm hoping they'll be spread out to surround us."

"In which case, we might be able to take out a group or two while they're off on their own," Amity finished, "But why only the three of us, what of Cassius?"

"I want at least one person with our eyes to stay back and act as a lookout. Even with the new tattoo, Cassius is still the least prepared for this sort of raid. Hell, it's not like I'm some sort of great military leader either, but he's not eight feet tall, so he's the one who stays behind. I'm going to talk to Val and make sure I've got my self-replicating spell sorted out, but I need you to put something together to hold anyone we capture."

"That's not going to be easy. We have no idea what mana types Simon has discovered, and though none of us have tried casting spells with concrete, it wouldn't be a great surprise to learn it contains Earth mana."

"Yeah, I've thought of that. Val's gonna handle the specific response while I'm out in the woods with you two, but we'll sort out some sort of individual surrender terms," I paused and frowned, "We'll need to make sure the girls know about those terms before we strike. Otherwise, this could be a whole mess."

"That should simplify my task, at least. Perhaps I can work out something in the convention space. It's near to one of the kitchens, and it will be easier to keep an eye on them."

I picked up the book and stood, "Works for me," I told her, "Let me know if you need anything."

She nodded and rose to head for the stairs that would take her back to the elevator while I returned to the penthouse to find Val.

I'd barely made it to the bottom of the stairs before Val leapt at me, her hair billowing behind her like a banner.

I dodged to the side and caught her around the waist. She howled in protest, and hardly for the first time, I was startled by her strength. You'd think I would have internalized it by now, but something about her tiny frame made me forget that she was nearly as strong as myself.

"I thought we were done sparring?" I laughed.

"You have to be ready for surprise attacks," she giggled, "Your foes could strike at any time!"

Val squirmed around in my grip until she got her legs around my waist and then pushed off my chest to break my hold. I managed to keep one hand on her, but I stumbled as she pulled me off balance.

She put a hand on my thigh, and I felt an electric shock that caused the muscle to spasm.

I began to fall, and Val swung around as I went down. I slowed my descent with one outstretched arm but still went down pretty hard. I ended up on my back with Val on top, and she had a wicked grin on her face as she balled her fists in my shirt.

"That was new," I remarked idly.

"I was reminded of a spell popular at The Blushing Maiden, though this is the first time I thought to use it for combat."

I rolled my eyes and lifted an arm to push her off, but it held fast against the floor.

I frowned and twisted my head. I'd landed on a section of floor beside the kitchen, where it was still tiled. Tiles that had moved to engulf both of my forearms.

"Huh."

Val shook her head seriously, "Don't act so surprised, I warned you, and now here we are."

I clenched my fists as hard as I could, and the tile began to crack, "And where is that exactly?"

Val froze, staring at the tile for a moment before leaping into action.

She scrambled off my chest and dove towards the closet, the bottom of which held some miscellaneous scavenge. I heard the sound of metal on metal, but I ignored it, looking towards the tile as I tried to lever my arms against the ground. Cracks ran down the tile, and tiny ceramic flecks began to break off as the tile started to come apart.

I grunted as Val landed back on my chest. In each hand, she held a fistful of metal scrap and leaned across me to press each hand against the tile covering my arms. The metal liquified and flowed into the tile, filling the cracks and sealing the tile back together.

Val smirked and ran a hand back through her hair to push the stray strands out of the way, "Yield," she demanded in a silky voice.

"Val..." I warned.

Val slapped both of her hands down on my chest in exasperation, "Come on," she pleaded, "This isn't another tie. I won this time. Say it, I won."

I shrugged, "Okay," I sighed, "I won."

Valentine growled as she thumped her fist against my chest a couple of times, "Say it, say you give up."

"Simon's toys are going to be here in a day or two," I said gently, "We need to try my anti-pheromone spell. Maybe after that, we can fool around some more."

"Fine," Val huffed, "But no maybes!" she declared, "I'll let you test the spell, and then I exact my vengeance for the mistreatment I've suffered at your hands."

I quirked a brow, "Really, it's the mistreatment you have a problem with?"

"Yes," she grinned, "You've been giving me the wrong sorts of mistreatment."

I shook my head in exasperation, "Are you going to let me up? The sooner we test this, the sooner you get what you want."

Val pressed her lips together in a thin smile, "No."

Val slid down a little until her chest was pressed against mine and paused with her lips barely brushing my own, "If you want to try your spell, then go ahead."

Valentine closed her eyes as she pressed her lips against mine, and I could just detect the smell of pheromones lightly wafting from her skin.

It was hardly a situation conducive to clear focus, and for a moment, I forgot what I was supposed to be doing. But it's not as if I wanted it to stop, god Val could kiss.

I'm eight feet tall, weigh half a ton, and can bench press compact cars. Not someone whose actions typically get described with words like "swoon", but god damn, I'd been with Val for how long? And she could still take me off my feet with a kiss.

It took far longer than it should have, and Val showed no signs of stopping, but I put my thoughts in order and tried the enchantment.

I needed Weaken and Body mana, both of which would come from Val herself. Body would be supplied in the usual way, drawing lightly on her strength, while Weaken would come from mercury accumulated by a fish-heavy diet. The enchantment would neutralize the active ingredients in the pheromones, and close proximity would cause the enchantment to spread to other fey or sprites nearby. Not that it would do anything to the sprites. For now, it was enough that they could spread the enchantment to their fey captors, and in the long run, I could expand the enchantment to include pheromone immunity for the sprites.

My lips tingled as the magic began to work, and Val drew away with a gasp.

"Was that it?" she asked a little dreamily, "Did it work?"

"I don't know. Do you feel any different?"

She chuckled and leaned back down to wrap her arms around my neck, "You tell me."

The release of pheromones was as strong as it ever was, or at the very least, the smell was as strong as ever. I recognized they were arousal pheromones by the scent, but they didn't leave me quite as excited as they should have.

"No," I realized, "Seems like it's mostly working."

Val put her hands on my shoulders and lifted herself back up, "Mostly working?" she demanded, "If this is some ploy to escape your rightful torment-"

"The smell hasn't gone," I pointed out.

"Not quite done neutering me?"

"God, if only. No, I just need to tweak the enchantment. I'm already using Weaken Body. I just need to suppress the smell as well."

Valentine narrowed her eyes, "Does it amuse you? Pretending to be so collected while you're restrained with a nearly naked woman atop you?" her voice dropped to a much lower register, "Oh, I'm Wallace, the big stone-faced giant. I like to pretend not to be bothered when my beautiful companion wants very much to make love to me."

I cracked a guilty smile, "Okay yeah, you're right."

In truth, I was only acting about half the time. The other half of the time, my thoughts really were elsewhere, puzzling out some bit of engineering or magic. But situations like this, I mean, come on, Val was right. It drove her crazy, and I found that hilarious.

"Kiss me again. I'll be quick."

Val leaned down, and her hair fell forward to shroud my face, "Mmmm, I certainly hope not."

I allowed myself a minute to savour the kiss before even attempting the next enchantment, not that Val was about to deprive me of herself any time soon.

I'd designed the enchantment to be modular, as always. The first module had handled the active ingredients, and this one would neutralize the scent. For sprites who'd lived their whole lives with the pheromones to tweak their behaviour, it was possible that the lingering pavlovian response would be sufficient to maintain their obedience. It might not be as intense without the physical effects, but psychological conditioning alone can still be surprisingly strong.

Best not to take chances, and a moment later, my lips tingled again, and Valentine drew back.

She paused, and then after a moment, asked, "Do you smell anger pheromones?" and I shook my head in response, "Neither do I. Now, are you quite done? Might I begin your torment in earnest?"

I gave her an exaggerated sigh, "I guess. Not that I know why you're asking my permission," I added with a wry smile, "I thought I was supposed to be at your mercy."

"I'm new to being on top," she admitted, "I only hope you're prepared for me to learn, and quickly."