Mob Sorcery 3 - Ch1

Vince wasn’t sure what most people did the morning after surviving an assassination attempt. Personally, he’d settled on sleeping in and then making waffles. Despite all the chaos yesterday, his lioness girlfriend, Nina, had found the time to restock the fridge after it had run perilously close to barren.

Sunlight streamed in through the apartment’s balcony windows and illuminated the mess remaining from last night. As much as he hated leaving the apartment in such a state, Nina hadn’t left him any choice after she’d dragged him into his bedroom after a few beers. Nicki had cleaned up the worst of it, but her standards of cleanliness differed from his.

Speaking of his roommates, they remained dead to the world. He let the waffle iron heat up and listened to the sizzle of his cheap coffee maker, but those were the only noises disturbing him. Nina had done little more than roll into the cavity he’d left on the bed when he rose, so he knew where she was.

And Nicki… His eyes drifted to the formerly spare bedroom of the three-bedroom apartment they rented. It acted as storage for a lot of Nina’s junk that she accumulated—namely her many stuffed animals and bags of clothes and shoes.

Vince had met Nicki a couple of weeks ago and the harpy had become his personal flier, shuttling across Aulfair for his enforcer gigs and helping him get away from nasty situations. Yesterday, she’d nearly lost a wing and her life when one of those situations engulfed her. When she showed up with a duffel bag full of her stuff last night, he wasn’t going to say no to an extra roommate and Nina felt the same way.

The click of the coffee maker pulled him from his thoughts, so he enjoyed some cheap caffeine while prepping the waffle batter. He wouldn’t pretend he made great waffles, but they had waffle mix and he could enrich it with some extras. And any waffle was a good waffle.

Minutes passed in relative silence, broken only by the sips he took of his coffee, the gentle beating of the whisk against the bowl, and eventually the crackle of the waffle iron as it began cooking golden goodness. The fridge contained fresh fruit for the first time this month, so Vince stole a banana along with the butter and syrup.

As he chopped up the banana, a soft thwump-thwump-thwump noise greeted his ears. He paused and it kept going.

Turning, he saw Nina standing in the doorway that led to the bedrooms and bathroom. She hadn’t bothered to dress properly, wearing little more than a pair of white panties as she leaned against the doorjamb and watched him.

His girlfriend was a towering lionfolk, one of many demihuman races that made up nearly half of Aulfair’s population. She had well over a foot on him and messy golden hair cascaded down her back to her ass. Her bare tits could eclipse his head—a fact he had enjoyed last night—and she had well-toned muscle where it counted.

Both Nina and Vince were enforcers, and their business was using magic to do the dirty work of the many conglomerates and criminal enterprises of Aulfair. Vince was a typical squishy sorcerer type, except he relied on a fuck-off powerful barrier to not get squished, whereas Nina favored doing the squishing with her powerful muscles and matching magical might.

“I’d ask if you’re enjoying the view, but I think I have the view,” Vince said drily, staring at Nina’s nearly naked body. “Was that your tail?”

The thumping noise turned out to be Nina’s lion tail rhythmically slapping against the wall. She blinked and gripped it in one hand, putting an end to the sound.

“I can appreciate my boyfriend making me breakfast,” Nina said, pouting.

“Sure, sure. I left some hot water if you wanted to clean up.” He waved a hand at the bathroom. “Not much, but hopefully enough.”

Nina bit her lip. “Figured to leave that for Nicki. Not sure what her preference is.”

Damn. He hadn’t thought that far.

“Five minutes of hot water morning and night isn’t going very far with three of us,” he said.

“Well, we can shower together.”

“We can…” He narrowed her eyes at her as the tip of her tail wiggled in her grip. “I banned shower sex for good reason, Nina.”

“Oh, come on. Once you get used to it you’ll be able to keep your balance!”

“I’m not wasting expensive healing infusions on broken bones because you leaned on me in the shower, Nina.” Those infusions cost a hundred or more a pop, and the really good ones cost a grand. And those were with a discount.

Plus, a gut feeling told him his foxy supplier might not appreciate the reason he’d need to buy more if he ever told her.

His phone buzzed, and when he looked over at it, Nina slipped into her bedroom to change. Not that she needed to. The timer he’d set for the waffle iron had gone off.

He silenced the timer and checked on the first waffle. With the number of times he’d made this recipe, it was golden and crispy, so he slid it free and popped in batter for a second. Aware that making two more waffles will result in the first going cold, he applied a gentle warming spell to the waffle and its plate.

Sure, he could use the oven, but he tried to avoid using kitchen appliances that large. Plus, the last time he tried keeping something warm in the oven it had utterly ruined it. Like just about anything that the landlord was technically responsible for in this apartment, the oven barely functioned and its thermostat was shot.

One waffle later, Nina reappeared in the main room of the apartment. She wore one of her button-up work shirts, although she left the top buttons undone, revealing her immense cleavage, a pair of sheer stockings, and a new pair of panties.

Before Vince could comment on her attire, a new door opened. Nicki’s head poked around through the gap and her dyed-black hair framed her face cutely as her taloned legs clawed at the carpet nervously. Her black wings closed around her body like a shield, although Vince saw that she wore little more than an oversized t-shirt of some rock band older than she was.

“I smell waffles…” Nicki said, her voice softer than almost any time Vince had heard it.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Was just lazing around on my phone. Uh, is there…” Nicki gulped and looked to the side.

“There’s one for you, yeah,” Vince said. “Well, there will be. The last one is still cooking.” He waved at the two sitting on plates with warming spells, while the waffle iron sizzled away at the last one.

Nina leaned against the back of the couch and her fingers drummed along the worn fabric. She said nothing even as she glanced between the two of them.

Shooting Vince a smile, Nicki opened the door a little more. Then she finally took in Nina’s appearance and squawked. “Do you ever dress properly?”

“I mean, I am Vince’s girlfriend and I live here,” Nina drawled. “I’m guessing from your clothes that you don’t usually walk around your home all dolled up.”

Nicki reddened and her hip wings fluttered. “Well, I didn’t, but…” She paused. “It’s the same here? Even with Vince?”

“If you live here then you can shake your tail feathers around all you like. We have a live-in cleaner to handle everything, so don’t pay him any mind.”

“Oi,” Vince muttered.

Nicki giggled, then leaned against the doorjamb. She bit her lip and picked at her t-shirt. “If those waffles are staying warm, can I clean up before we eat? Or at least, can you save mine?”

“Sure.” He pointed at the bathroom. “Shower’s in there, in case you forgot. I left you a few minutes of hot water, but you’ll still need to be quick.”

Silence. Nicki stared at him, doing little more than blink her amber eyes.

Eventually, she said in a flat tone, “Three minutes. I need to clean my wings in three minutes?”

Nina pursed her lips.

“We get about five in total before the hot water gives out for a few hours,” Vince said. “No clue why.”

“It’s a building issue,” Nina grumbled. “Water heating is handled by the whole complex.”

Nicki opened her mouth to argue, the closed it and sighed. Her eyes fluttered shut. “Right. Sorry. You mentioned last night. I’ll call my friend first thing. Shit. If I’d remembered I could have called him earlier. It’s… Fuck, after nine already. That’s practically halfway through the workday for him.”

Nina muttered something that Vince suspected was unkind about the hours tradespeople worked. Given Nicki’s friend had probably started work at some ungodly hour in the morning, he wasn’t going to say anything himself.

“If you need to clean your wings you can run a bath and I heat up the water for you,” Vince said. “I used to do it a lot for Nina, so it’s no trouble.”

Nicki bit her lip and looked him in the eyes across the room, as if searching for some sign he was bullshitting. She nodded after several seconds.

“Thanks. Maybe after we eat.” Her hip wings fluttered and she stepped back into her room. “Um, keep my waffle warm.”

She closed the door, leaving Nina and Vince to themselves. The smell of the waffle crisping drew his attention back to cooking, and he swiftly rescued the golden treat from burning.

As he cast the warming spell, Nina’s fist bumped against the small of his back. He jumped and hissed at her.

“Ooh, doing a cat impression?” Nina grinned. “Am I rubbing off on you?”

“Not like that.” He rolled his shoulders and started making coffees for them, while also topping his and Nina’s waffles.

She licked her lips as he dolloped butter on both waffles, which swiftly melted and covered them with gooey goodness. Banana slices and powdered sugar followed, but he let Nina decide how much syrup she wanted. Man had invented squeezy bottles for a reason, after all.

“Before I make a mess and get lost in the amazing breakfast my gorgeous, awesome boyfriend has made me”—Nina leaned in and nuzzled her head against his cheek—“I wanted to say you did great with Nicki. She’s a good girl, if skittish. Not used to being treated well. Kind of like you, when we first moved in together.”

He winced. “Was I ever that bad?”

“Half the reason you started cleaning the place up like some magical automaton maid was because you were convinced I would kick you out the first time you couldn’t make rent,” Nina drawled. “I don’t think Nicki’s friends are abusive d-bags, but I do think they’ve been dragging her down for years. Fia thinks the same way. Says Nicki sometimes reminds her of herself before she found the Lionettis.”

Ah. Vince remembered that part of the story. And, given some clues he’d gotten from others, suspected it was a dark rabbit hole for the wolfgirl. Nicki didn’t seem to have any problems with drugs, even if her old roommates did, but he’d learned to trust Fia’s judgment.

“Anyway, let’s eat.” Nina snatched up the bottle of fake syrup and gleefully covered her waffle with it before fleeing to the couch, coffee in her other hand.

She’d forgotten her knife and fork, so Vince brought them over with his own plate, which contained far less syrup. Nina practically teleported them out of his hands.

After a few ravenous mouthfuls and with the TV firmly off, Vince decided to broach the topic that had been bothering him since she wandered out here in a business shirt.

“I thought you quit,” he said. “Why the fancy shirt?”

Nina gulped down her current mouthful and tapped her cutlery against her plate. Some syrup had gotten on her bare thighs, but she’d managed to keep her shirt clean.

“Well, Mr. Never-Worked-A-Serious-Job, there’s this thing called your notice period and—” she began to say.

“Cut the bullshit, Nina,” he said. “You took yesterday off, we’re all over the news and social media after our tiff with the fox assassins, and you took a contract with Alessia. And I know enough about jobs to know that notice periods are a formality, not a requirement.”

She glowered at him, then skewered a sugar-encrusted banana slice and shoved it in his mouth. While he chewed on it, she took her turn to explain.

“I haven’t actually signed the contract with Alessia,” Nina corrected. “I always run my shit past my lawyer, so I’ll pay Krein a visit on my way to work.”

He swallowed. “So you are going to work.”

“Yes, and no.” She sighed. “I am quitting, and it’s not just about the notice period. The final paycheck will be nice, for one. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to fire me. My boss left me a message saying we need to have a chat about my future and shit, and we both know I intend on leaving, but he’d have blown up at me if he wanted me gone.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You just said it, Vince. We’re all over the news. Everybody knows we took down some crazed rogue enforcers that killed a police enforcer and tried to take out two more. My company is purely business-to-business, and the rich assholes who own businesses in Aulfair have strong opinions. And what do you think those opinions are?”

Vince frowned. He honestly had no clue.

Sensing that, Nina leaned over and picked up the remote. She flicked it on and put on the news. While he remained less than positive about the way Nina liked to devour news media, as he tended to ignore it himself, it did mean she knew more about the city’s politics than he did.

What came on was one of those opinionated news panels, where a couple of talking heads on the news channel brought on somebody from each side of a topic. Said topic being yesterday’s attack on Vince, although the all caps headline screaming at the bottom of the scream read “CRIMINAL ENFORCER MADNESS DOWNTOWN.”

More interestingly, the guests weren’t video-calling in as they always had when Nina watched in the past. Both were physically present in a lounge set and sitting opposite one another, staged as opponents.

Vince instantly knew the outcome of the panel however, just from the guests. On the left sat some serious sorcerer type in an elaborate dark suit, with a fancy wand on his hip. A relative nobody who likely had harsh things to say about enforcers, as he knew that the mage colleges took a dim view of independent enforcers.

Opposite the sorcerer sat possibly the most beautiful woman in the world. And Vince wasn’t exaggerating. One of Immanuel’s executives lounged in a gorgeous silk dress, revealing her abundant cleavage and perfect thighs. Her complexion and hourglass figure were the sort of thing models used photoshop to achieve on social media, but he knew it was all natural—or as natural as it could be given she was a succubus whose body had been reshaped with magic.

Bastet was one of Immanuel’s senior executives and, so far as Vince had heard, in charge of all of their personnel acquisition and disposal activities. Technically, this made her the head of HR of one of the largest companies in the US, but given she was a succubus who literally mindfucked people into joined her company or turned traitors into dried out husks, that understated her role.

“What the hell is one of the Immanuel’s top execs doing on the news arguing over random political bullshit?” Vince blurted out.

Nina shushed him. Clacking sounded on the tiles as Nicki trotted out from her bedroom, now fully dressed in her typical pink jacket and a pair of short shorts that left a thin strip of thighs revealed before her bony bird-like legs. She leaned against the back of the couch and listened in.

“—two innocents are dead and dozens injured in an unprovoked rampage by three registered enforcers,” the female news anchor said, as her male counterpart squirmed uncomfortably in Bastet’s presence. “The police have released no information about their affiliation, but mystic foxes only work with a very small number of organizations in this city. Given how high tensions are amid the ongoing NASTA conference, do you think Aulfair has been too lax on independent enforcers, Alain?”

She directed her question at the sorcerer drumming his fingers while glaring at Bastet, who ignored him in favor of running a finger along the golden heart band that held her dress together across her massive dark-skinned cleavage.

“Can we really be ‘too lax’ if we’ve never applied any rules or code of conduct to enforcers at all?” the sorcerer, Alain, said. “This was clearly a corporate feud take spiraled out of control. Police officers and members of the public died and were endangered, because two private companies wanted to handle their dispute violently. There’s no safe way to license or handle enforcers, outside of stringent controls and checks. This is proof of that.”

The news anchors nodded along.

Only for the male one to clear this throat and cross his legs. “The police enforcer union disagrees in this case. They’re usually one of the strongest proponents of enhanced enforcer licensing, but they’ve openly supported both independent enforcers who battled the criminals in this case.”

A news ticker at the bottom flashed by with a message that indicated the enforcers involved couldn’t be named for legal reasons. Vince was more than familiar with that, given he’d managed to avoid having his name plastered everywhere after the incident on main street earlier this year.

“The union are looking out for their own and—” Alain began to say.

“So now the police are wrong as well,” Bastet interrupted, her voice like a seductive purr that Vince swore curled inside his nerves.

Nina’s tail stood on end and Nicki’s feathers ruffled.

“Bitch is using magic,” Nina muttered. “The FCC is going to be fucking pissed.”

“Uh, they regulate this?” Nicki asked, eyes wide.

“Any use of magic over an electromagnetic frequency spectrum to influence minds or emotions is illegal. There will be federal agents flipping their shit as we speak.”

Bastet uncurled on her chair in the news studio, flicking her elegantly curled dark hair with purple interior highlights with one hand. “Three powerful magic-users attacked the police and general public in broad daylight, and the only reason the death tool wasn’t ten times higher were independent enforcers. You can put all the regulations and restrictions you like on magic, but it’s an innate ability. Magic isn’t a sword—you can’t gather it up and destroy it like in Edo-era Japan. Enforcer or not, people like those foxes will still exist, and somebody needs to stop their rampages.”

“That’s the role of the police—” Alain tried to argue.

“Who are thankful for the intervention of the independent enforcers who saved countless lives,” Bastet interrupted, a smirk briefly flickering across her face. She was smart to keep her smugness from leaking through too much. “Enforcers are the lifeblood of Aulfair. They keep the peace everywhere. Shopping malls, nightclubs, warehouses, and even on the streets. Private business works alongside the police to ensure security for all, and incident like this are rare because enforcers of all walks of life—corporate and independent—put them down on the spot.”

The TV flickered off, and Nina dropped the remote on the glass coffee table with a clink.

“Thank fuck,” Nicki murmured. “She was getting deep into my feathers.”

“That’s what I was talking about, Vince. If Immanuel are sending out their top execs to do the rounds with the media to talk about how great we are, there are some very strong opinions being hurled around,” Nina said. “I’m not getting fired.”

Nicki blinked, but remained silent.

“Right. Definitely didn’t expect Immanuel to be out batting like this.” Vince stroked his chin.

He preferred to steer clear of city politics, but the assassination attempt had stirred up a hornet’s nest. Without a doubt, Quintus would have an opinion, too.

“So I’ll be negotiating an exit with my boss and HR. They might still fire me, but I bet they won’t be ready for the firestorm that might come their way from their clients once news gets out.” Nina’s eyes narrowed. “And news will get out. Somebody made a fucking dongle joke and everybody knew who got fired and rehired. So I figure I can leave on my own terms, and maybe with some back paid overtime.”

Vince let out a whistle before taking a bite of his waffle. Nicki squawked in unhappiness and pointedly stared at her waffle, still warming itself on the kitchen bench.

Chuckling, he rose and began topping hers. As expected, Nina stole a few bites of his breakfast while she thought he wasn’t looking.

“You can decide how much syrup you want,” he told Nicki and handed her the syrup bottle.

Which she deposited back on the countertop. “Uh, I think it has enough sugar and fat for me. Butter and sugar, plus actual bananas? And waffles from batter? We usually got them from a packet and just drowned them in syrup. I thought Nina said you don’t cook.”

“He doesn’t,” Nina said. “Putting batter in a waffle iron isn’t cooking. He can barely make pancakes.”

“I can’t make pancakes,” Nicki mumbled.

Silence.

“Well, I can teach you,” the lioness said. “I taught Vince, and he can burn cereal.”

Any other time he’d tell his girlfriend where to go, but he held his tongue.

Nicki nodded and quietly bit into her waffle while Vince made her a coffee. The harpy’s eyes followed his motions, but she said nothing.

After several long seconds of silence, she eventually said her piece, “Um, so if I stay here…”

“Rent is split evenly,” Nina said, tone business-like but still light. “As are all other expenses for the apartment itself. Everything else like food is handled as we go, and given we’re all going to be paid by Alessia for at least the next several months it won’t be an issue.”

“I’m paid by Vince,” Nicki said defensively.

“And he’s paying you with money he gets from the Wolfmother, so don’t worry about it. Anyway, if we think you’re not buying enough food or other stuff, we’ll let you know. We’re friends, or you wouldn’t be staying here.”

Vince nodded as he leaned against the counter and handed Nicki her coffee. “Just do what’s comfortable. It took a while for Nina and I to settle into a routine.”

“You clean, she cooks?” Nicki offered. “Um, I don’t know what I can do there.”

“Worry about that once you find your feet,” he said. “I can help you clean out the room and—”

His phone buzzed and he paused. Because his mind suddenly caught up to all the crap he’d forgotten about from last night.

This buzz wasn’t from a timer, but a message. Fia was asking if he wanted a lift to Lionetti Tower to handle his contract with Alessia.

“Fuck.” He held a hand against his forehead.

Nina chuckled. “Forgot all the shit you left behind last night? I remember you grumbling about the billion things you needed to take care of today.”

He mentally ran through the list: contract with Alessia, Quintus wanted to talk, Kiyoko left a voicemail he hadn’t checked, he hadn’t talked to Ronin, and a visit to Ally’s store this afternoon. Who knew if he’d forgotten things.

“Yeah, I’ll be busy basically all day,” he groaned.

Nicki shrugged. “It’s fine. I can clean things up myself. Um, before that, how does laundry work? Is there a communal one, or…?”

“The door to ours is hidden in the bathroom,” he said.

“Vince does mine because he’s a busybody, but you can do your own,” Nina added.

“So long as you don’t let your hamper overflow until it’s spilling onto the floor,” he growled.

Both women winced, and Nicki waved her hands around when he looked at her.

“I’ll do my own,” Nicki said. Before mumbling, “At first.”

Well, at least Nina wouldn’t have work clothes to wash anymore. Although he had no clue how to wash her enforcer clothes. Or Nicki’s lycra. He’d have to learn.

The two women began chatting about cleaning up Nicki’s new room while Vince let Fia know he wanted the lift.

“I reckon I’ll finish up after lunch,” Nina said. “If you can arrange somewhere to move my shit to, then we can get it all done fast. I don’t have a car, but I can rent a van and drive it unlike this useless guy.”

He glared at her. “There’s storage in the complex’s basement. We have to pay, but—”

“Fuck no,” Nina said. “This is cartel territory and the storage cages have shittier security than a Victorian-era chastity cage trying to keep out a sorcerer. Some catgirl will totally steal my limited edition plushies.”

Nicki nodded. “I’ll go find a U-Haul unit this morning.”

Breakfast came to a natural end, and Vince defended the rest of his waffle from assaults from both sides. When Fia let him know she was close, he grabbed an energy drink and his parka and went to the door.

“I’ll probably be home late, so I’ll let you know if I won’t make dinner,” he said.

Nina waved him out the door as she surveyed the shoe rack. Presumably she was deciding which pair would look the best up her boss’s ass, at least in her mind. Nicki gave him a smile and a wave.

Nobody else had messaged him this morning, which he took as a good sign. He did still need to listen to Kiyoko’s voicemail. The Yakuza tengu couldn’t speak or write English herself, and relied on a magical mask to translate her speech in real-time. Although translation spells and apps existed, so he wanted to suggest those to her.

Before he could finish pulling up his voicemail, he arrived at the small side-street Fia planned to pick him up in and paused.

Because the very woman he’d been thinking of stood there, dressed in an elegant black two-piece ensemble that differed immensely from her typical suit. A small Yakuza pin gleamed from her breast and her perfectly trimmed shoulder-length black hair suggested a Japanese beauty beneath the red tengu mask she wore.

Kiyoko was waiting for him. Somehow, she’d known he’d come here.

- - - - -

Commentary: And we're finally back. Been a bit harder returning to writing after pushing myself so hard with the two Spellblades, but hopefully it's smooth-ish sailing for a bit.

The trick with Mob 3 is handling the aftermath of Book 2 while integrating the Christmas Special, and then leading into the actual Yakuza arc plot stuff. A fair bit of time will pass in this book as a result.

It's also a bit of a slow start, but it's also a way to reintroduce you to everything that's going on. If you last read the Christmas Special, it's important to remember this picks up directly after Book 2, and some (relatively minor) stuff mentioned in the Christmas Special hasn't happened yet.