Stronger Together chapter 140 (Patreon)

I admit to being more than a little relaxed the next morning. Barb  had come back and crawled into bed with Raven, Cinder and I, and the  pile of beautiful girls on top of me made me smile. I pulled each one  close and kissed the top of their head slipping out of bed to pad down  the hall to the bathroom. Washing my face I stared at myself in the  mirror, noting how different I looked from the person I had been when  I'd gotten here. My features wore more refined and symmetrical, and  several rounds of very small alterations had stacked up.

I  didn't look human anymore. My eyes were a the shimmering blue or a  sapphire in the sun, my hair was midnight black. I could probably have  passed for one of the Raith siblings or a faerie at this point. I didn't  miss it, miss the old me, or even mourn what I'd lost. But I was sad  that I wasn't sad. I felt like I should be worried to see my humanity  slipping away and I wasn't, and that in turn actually did make me worry  that I was farther gone than I had ever noticed. I shook off my maudlin  thoughts in favor of washing my face and heading out to the back yard.

Because  of how fast I could absorb the medicinal bath now with all the godsteel  in me I did my klurkor workouts in the mornings now. An hour in the tub  when I was done healed me right up and didn't disrupt my day. I was  intimately familiar with the motions at this point and had even made  slow and steady progress intuitively correcting the alterations to the  martial art over the last year to eliminate the alterations the  kryptonians had made. After a run through of the forms and my usual soak  I was good as new.

I toweled off and headed back to my  room to check on the girls. Raven and Cinder were curled up with each  other but Barb was awake when I got back. She smiled as i came in,  holding a finger to her lips and climbed out of bed to pull me into the  hallway. Once the door was closed she pouted and punched me lightly in  the shoulder "I can't believe you guys had sex with Cinder when I wasn't  around. I wanted to be there the first time." Her tone was teasing so I  knew she wasn't actually hurt by it since we had already spoken about  it before.

I actually did feel a bit bad though because  she had been with Andi. She saw my guilty look and reached up to stroke  my cheek "Hey, I'm kidding. You know I don't begrudge you any happiness.  You had your own reasons to need some release, don't think I forgot  Kirby was your friend and you had to see him like that. I'm not actually  mad." She reached up to pull me in for a hug then pulled back slowly to  glance into my eyes "So today you guys are heading down to Henry's  right? Raven texted me about the meeting when you guys were on the way  back. You need any back up?"

It was nice to know she  worried about us even with our powers. Barb wasn't the strongest member  of the team in terms of brute force but her ability to get out of jams  was probably better than either of ours. Still we had our own ways of  dealing with things if it came to it. I shook my head and leaned forward  to kiss the top of hers "No. Andi needs you, spend the day with her  we'll be fine. We can fill you in when we get back ok?" I saw a flash of  worry go through her gorgeous blue eyes but it was swallowed up quickly  by her usual surety.

To make  Barb feel better and because we wanted to spend time with her anyway we  decided to take Cinder with us. Her reaction to waking after our  exhausting night was nearly as grumpy as Barb's but when she found out  we were leaving she dragged herself out of bed to go shower. I was  curious how she was feeling but I didn't wan t to spook her by asking so  I just looked at Raven. My girlfriend laughed and shook her head "I  won't tell you what she's feeling any more than I would anyone else."  She shit me a wink "Demon client privilege." She was much more open  about j0king in regards to her heritage after so long with us,

I  sulked, I did not pout because contrary to what the girls may have said  in the past I've never pouted., She giggled at me and gave me a peck on  the cheek before going to join Cinder in the shower, leaving me alone  to get dressed. I'd returned with my towel slung around my waist so of  course i grabbed a pair of my favorite silk boxers and then some beat up  sweats and a ratty t-shirt. Henry's people got uncomfortable around us  when we stood out too much, with their access to water their clothes and  bodies were always clean but usually not super high end, so beat around  clothes worked perfectly as well as being comfortable.

Finally  I threw on a hoodie because I felt naked without an extra layer on me  and I was ready to go. We'd long since gotten out own car, but I  couldn't drive. My godsteel weave was incredible at increasing my  reflexes but unfortunately it worked too well. Being able to move  instantly meant I was constantly reacting to things too early, turning  before I should or jerking to the side when I saw a car in the mirror  that was further away than needed. The only way to avoid it was to wait a  second or two when reacting to stimuli so I was as slow as everyone  else, which did not work. So I was forbidden to drive the armored caddy  we owned, fake license or not.

Raven  on other hand was an excellent driver, being able to read emotions made  her much less likely to be a victim of road rage. We clambered into the  car heading for the abandoned house Harry had taken us to that lead to  Safehold. Cinder, who had never been with us to Henry's place, seemed  excited. Her face was set into a mask of contentment, though you'd have  to know her very well to see it. Her voice was relaxed as she leaned  against my side to ask "So we're going to meet this Henry you all talk  about so often. Anything I should know?" We hadn't precented her from  meeting Henry on purpose but we'd only visited a few times and she had  always been busy.

I  just shrugged one should "Not really. Henry isn't the type to dwell on  formalities. Just be yourself and I'm sure he'll adore you. I know I  do." The slight flush on her face spoke to how different Cinder had  become. Over the last year out bond had gotten deeper both magical and  social, as had her connection with the girls and with Sam and even  River. Cinder had a life in a way she never had before and I could feel  through our connection the happiness that radiated out of her. Last  night had been a kind of block, a last vestige of doubt preventing her  from embracing this new life and with that gone she was...she was happy.

The  drive to Safehold was nice and relaxing. Cinder was warm against me,  even warmer than i had expected, it was like hugging a space heater with  really big tits. Sharing that sentiment got me an eye roll but soon  enough we were out of the car and heading into the tunnel towards St.  Jude's. The dirt passage was still as stable as ever, but when we walked  into the church itself there was an immediate difference. The throngs  of people that were here before were gone, with only Henry left, sitting  behind the altar in a big comfy overstuffed chair reading a book.

He  saw us as we came in and smiled, standing to greet us "Cameron, Raven,  so good to see you! It's been weeks since you came by." He spread his  arms wide to encompass the empty room "And we finished temporary  housing! Ebenezar and Joseph have been consulting with me on design  through sending. They know so much about magic in such different ways,  its truly been eye opening to collaborate with them." He waved us  further in to sit on one of the pews, now empty of blankets and pillows.  "Please sit down, and introduce me to your lovely friend, any friend of  yours is welcome here after all you've done for us."

I  nelgected to point out that he was the one who was selfless enough to  take in all the rescuees from the vampire nest because Henry didn't see  it that way. He saw the lost and forgotten of this city as his own  people and by finding so many and returning them we'd become heroes to  him. The man really was a living saint. I couldn't help but smile as I  sat down, Safehold always felt inviting to me, it was such a connected  community and even being in the church made me feel warm. I gestured the  girls to sit down next to me "It's great to see you too Henry, this is  Cinder." I reached out to take her hand and gave it a reassuring  squeeze.

She  smiled softly at me and greeted Henry politely but after that I was  unfortunately forced to continue talking. We didn't have the time for  pleasantries as much as I might prefer it. "Sad to say we aren't here on  a social call this time Henry, we might have another monster in town  preying on the transient population." His face fell and his shoulders  slumped as he dropped bonelessly back into his chair. I felt for him,  especially since this was the third time we'd had to track down a  monster that fed on the homeless. The cave elves had been abducting them  to breed with because cave elves have pretty low reproductive rates. I  stood up, walking over to give him a comforting pat on the shoulder.  "Sorry man, you know we wouldn't bring it to you unless it was a  legitimate problem."

He  shook his head "Not at all. I was just thinking how sad it is that the  world is so cold I can't even be happy to see old friends without  worrying they carry some dire news." His sigh was deep and weary and I  actually looked at him with worry but he forced a smile and set his  shoulders, flipping his mood like a light switch "No matter, I know if  you came it's for the best interests of my friends and I am grateful.  You can always visit another time, but if there is danger afoot I'm glad  to know of it as early as possible. Now, what can I help you all with?"

I  winced, this would not be an easy conversation. "A friend of ours was  killed, we have reason to believe the thing that killed him will begin  praying on the homeless population if he hasn't already. We're told he  takes people that wouldn't be missed and he keeps them for a while.  He...eats them. In his human form. Alive." I gritted my teeth seeing the  anger and horror in Henry's eyes. 

The old man was kind and decent, he didn't deserve to have to figure out if people he knew and cared for  were being kept in a cage as a snack for a psychopathic werewolf. "If  you know anything let us know, but don't approach him alone. He's  dangerous as hell." I paused, deciding to just come out with it, Henry  was old enough to know of the monster and he might have information that  could help. "Have you ever heard of The Beast of Gevaudan?"