Home for Horny Monsters - Book 4

Changing of the Seasons

"Ugh. I thought maybe you were playing dumb with me, but I can see from inside your head that you have no idea what I'm even talking about." She turned to face him, her cape flaring dramatically behind her. "I mean the Great Game. What are you planning to do to win it?"

Mike stared at her for several moments, his thoughts suddenly bogged down. He could feel her now, probing his mind for answers, and the sensation wasn't pleasant at all.

"Gods. You really have no idea, do you?" The queen's expression became one of astonishment. "You've amassed so much power already, yet you don't even know the stakes for which you are playing."

"Nope." He shrugged, more than a little embarrassed. "The shadow mentioned a game once, and I sometimes have visions where I see a chessboard with pieces I can move, but I really haven't thought about it much past that. Actually, my dream training was an attempt to help me connect with the house, maybe ask it what it wants from me."

"You want to know what the house wants from you?" She blinked in disbelief. "Shouldn't that be the other way around? Don't you want anything from the house?"

"Well, maybe a little peace and quiet. I don't really think of it as my house, rather it belongs to everybody who lives there." He turned to look at the silhouette of the house in the darkness. "I guess maybe if we're being very honest with each other, it's already given me what I want. Somewhere to belong and a family that loves me."

"I can't believe it," she muttered. "You are aware that the house holds massive amounts of magical power within its walls, yes?"

"Oh, god yeah. It's been brought up by pretty much everyone that tries to break in. I'll admit, I've been tempted to go digging around for magic items to protect everyone, but I keep getting caught up in almost being murdered and rescuing my friends from imprisonment. No disrespect, just stating a fact is all. Frankly, if people would leave us alone, I would be more than happy to just kind of let things be and enjoy my time with everyone."

"Hmm." The queen put her chin in her hand as if contemplating something difficult. "Would you like to know about the game?"

Mike wondered where she was going with this but wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Yes, I absolutely would. That would save me so much time I would rather be spending with the others."

"You mean sexually." Her tone was matter-of-fact.

"No, not always. Heck, not even with everybody. I'm the Caretaker, so I try to spend time with them each day so they don't get lonely, and that sometimes means connecting on a more physical level. You can choose to see sex whatever way you want, but others, especially the women in my house, tend to see it as no different than a couple of friends just hanging out naked and giving each other orgasms. It doesn't have to be a big deal if everyone is having fun, but you shouldn't assume that I'm just in it for some monster booty."

"You can see why I may have made assumptions."

Mike nodded. "Sure, but for me, it's just so important to make sure that everybody feels important in their own way, especially the ones who don't get along with the others. Frankly, I'm a bit worried about Jenny, but that's mostly because she's...well, a bit standoffish. Oh, and Yuki. Her heart is broken in so many places, I have no idea the best way to help her. I wouldn't mind helping Kisa get her memories back, but that would require her to actually be around more often."

"Is that the black cat I keep seeing around the house? I only catch her from the corner of my eyes, and then she's gone."

"Wow, I haven't even seen her here yet." Mike looked at the house again and wondered why Kisa's soul hadn't shown up with the others. Then again, it wouldn't have been here for very long. "So, yeah, I assume so. I didn't know they were all living in here until we started our duel, I have no idea how any of this works. Well, I knew Naia was here, she was going to be my secret weapon."