Love

Chapter 12

"What's your plan, Castle?" Kate couldn't help but have hope that his plan would save her. It was just what was it going to cost her?

Rick thought he might as well get this part over with first. "There's a catch."

"Of course there is." Kate knew it was too easy. "Tell me." She was sorely tempted to place her hands over her ears.

"I can come to this plane because you summon me. I can reach other planes on my own." Rick began.

Kate suddenly understood the problem. "I can't come back because I can't do what you do." She saw him nod.

"There may be a magical way but I don't know anything about it." Or where to find it or what it would cost.

"I can never come back." Never see her friends again or her dad. GOD, what was she going to tell her dad? "So what's going to save me?" He'd said it was dangerous.

"There's a scroll you need to read. Well, two actually, or maybe three. They can only be found in a temple on a different Plane. A dangerous Plane…for me at least." He was a demon and if he was spotted or captured, his life was over.

That had Kate trying to think. Doctor Gallagher had shown her that there were a large number of Planes and the one they were on was just one of them. With this Astral Plane being another one. So why was it dangerous for him? Then she recalled what the doctor had said. "It's an upper Plane."

Rick nodded again. "Very dangerous, but it's where we need to go to get the scrolls for you to read. I also don't know what they'll cost." He could only hope that he had enough gold from all of his women.

"Your gold coins." Kate remembered him talking about them. "How many do you have? And don't tell me how you got them, I don't want to know…I think." Did she want to know how many women he had given to his master? Maybe she would ask him later, but first things first. "If I do this, no more other women, Castle." Kate pointed her finger at him. "I mean it! I'm not sharing you with anyone else. …GOT IT!?" She poked him in the chest.

Actually Rick didn't want another woman. If Kate came with him she was all he really wanted. "Got it."

"Swear to me. Swear to me on… What does a demon swear on?" What was important to a demon? "Swear to me or I'll leave you." She had no idea how she was going to do that, but if it got him to swear…

Rick stopped breathing. She couldn't leave him, not ever. "I swear, Kate, I swear to you there'll be no more woman. There's only you. So you'll come?" Was she going to agree?

"Are there pictures of this ship?" What was she going to be living on or in? He shook his head. "It's eighty feet long." It sounded big enough. "A scout ship?"

That had Rick taking a deep breath since this might scare her away. "The Astral Plane isn't always that safe a place. It's a Plane that creatures pass through to reach other Planes and a few races call it home.

"One is the Githyanki; they're a race that relish combat. They're always at war with two other races that inhabit the Astral Plane and call it home. I found this ship that used to be a Githyanki heavy scout. They got into a battle and lost. I've spent months repairing it. I just need to get the last of the sails up and get more food since there will be two of us." Rick hadn't ever considered there being someone else. Now he couldn't think of Kate not being with him.

"So it's a war ship, with weapons and everything?" Kate watched Castle nod yet again. "What else?" There had to be more.

He tried to explain. "The Astral Plane is basically one big empty nothing. Almost no land to speak of. Literally no water, no night and day. It's different and most everyone you come across will be dangerous. The amount of space is limitless. There is no end."

"Sounds like fun," she commented dryly. Actually Kate wasn't sure it wasn't. It was just that if he saved her she would stay and finish falling in love with him.

"Just one trip for me, but you can come and go so long as I summon you. …You use gold, huh?" Kate began to develop a plan. "How much can you take with you? I'm assuming you can take me so can you take an equal amount, just not me?"

"Yes, you and maybe just a bit more. What are you thinking?" He wanted to take her and take her now.

"I don't need money so I can convert my money into gold and you can take it. I can go shopping for lots and lots of food and you can take all that with you. Also lots and lots of water. All of my clothes. What else?" Kate needed to create a list.

"Only thrice daily," Rick warned. He couldn't come and go as he pleased.

Kate heard him and tried to think. "Help me pack." She got up and went into her bedroom to get all of her suitcases so she could fill them with clothes and shoes. But she quickly ran out of suitcases and had more clothes and all of her shoes; Rick was already gone on his second trip. "I'm going to need boxes." There was still so much to do.

"This better be a good idea." Kate was changing her entire life. It was just that if it worked, she would be alive. "I said I always wanted someone I could just jump into life with and love." It didn't stop her from being scared, though.

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Kate had a number of full boxes all around her inside her bedroom. She was also naked and sitting on the edge of her bed. Castle only had one more trip today so he needed to stay and make love to her. "Richard Castle, I need you." Kate smiled when he appeared right in front of her. She smiled even wider when he showed up holding two of her now empty suitcases. He was also naked and had an erection.

She wasted no time in reaching out to start stroking his massive cock followed by licking it and then taking it down her throat.

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It was the next morning. Castle was gone and Kate was leaving her apartment. She was showered and dressed and ready for the next step. Today was grocery shopping and looking for containers to put water into. She had forgotten to ask him if it had hot water or was she going to be taking cold showers. Problem was she didn't know how to fix that.

"Richard Castle, I need you." Kate was standing in her living room and watched Castle show up as usual. Naked with a huge erection. She picked up a box and gave it to him. "Food." That was followed by another box. "More food." Then she gave him another so that she couldn't even see his face any longer. "More food. Next will be containers filled with water."

"The ship has a freezer." Rick had no idea just what was in all these boxes.

"REALLY?" That changed everything for her. "Back to the grocery store I go." She was thinking frozen everything. Beef, chicken, turkey, ham, veggies, everything. "See you later, Castle." She watched him and all those boxes vanish.

Kate still had a lot of questions, like how he really did that, but it could wait.

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"Richard Castle, I need you." Kate saw him arrive carrying another pair of her empty suitcases. She smiled at his thoughtfulness. He was nothing like the demon she'd feared. He also was naked and had an erection.

"Frozen food." Kate put a box in his hands. "More frozen food." Still another box. "The last of the frozen food." She put the last box on top of the others. "Water's next, see you later, Castle." She watched him vanish with his load.

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Kate dropped the last container on the floor, dragged her ass over to her sofa, and crashed onto it. She was so blinking tired it wasn't funny. She'd been lugging boxes filled with food around for the last two days and now her living room was filled with empty plastic five gallon containers and she still had to fill all of them with water.

"Please tell me you have a place to pour all of this into, Castle," she muttered. It had better exist and be really big. Then he could bring them back for her to fill them all over again. Just so long as she didn't need to carry more of them up here.

Except now she was hungry from all that work. Thankfully her cell phone was still on her and her favorite Chinese takeout was on her call list. "Ammunition! I need lots of ammunition." She had handed in her service weapon but she still had her backup weapon.

"GOD!" So much left to do and they still had to get those magical scrolls to cure her. "This had better work."

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"Richard Castle, I need you." Kate was really getting used to doing this. He showed up naked and with an erection and she pointed to the suitcases that he'd brought back empty earlier. "Take those next." She watched him pick up all four and vanish. "That takes care of all my tampons and pads and makeup." She was actually running out of clothes to wear now. Her closet was almost empty and so were the drawers in her dresser. Her bathroom was equally almost empty.

She'd already made sure the ship's kitchen had things to cook with so all they needed was the food. She had made a mental note to ask him how they cooked anything. She was betting they didn't have electricity. It also had her wondering how they were going to clean their clothes.

Life was going to be different, that was for sure. Right now Kate was putting her latest load of ammunition for her lone weapon on her kitchen table. She now had thousands of rounds. Getting another weapon was turning out to be more of a pain, though. She was doing it legally unlike all of the gangs that got theirs by other means.

Kate heard a knock on her door. She had talked to her dad just yesterday. Just to say hi and find out how he was doing. Castle didn't knock so it wasn't him. It had her looking through the door's peephole. "Lanie." She sighed and turned to look at her apartment. The water was all gone as was all of the food. So long as she didn't go into her bedroom nothing looked out of place. Except for the large amount of ammunition on her table….

She opened the door. "Hi, Lanie." Kate watched her charge right past her into her living room.

"Don't you Hi me, girlfriend. I had to find out from Javi that you resigned. So what's going on? …And are you expecting an army?" Lanie had easily spotted the box after box of ammunition.

Kate closed the door and locked it. "Lanie, I can explain."

"You're damn right you will. So start talking and make it fast before I hurt you." Kate had left her out of it. She thought she was Kate's best friend and her best friend was in the dark and that was not acceptable.

"Well I–"

Lanie interrupted her. "Stop blabbering and start explaining." She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

"I'm trying to explain if you would just–" Lanie wasn't hearing anything useful.

"Kate, please." Lanie was done waiting especially now that she was here.

Kate blurted it out just to get her to shut up. "I have terminal cancer."

"That's nice but why… You have what?" Lanie felt her heart fall to the floor.

"Cancer. It started out as breast cancer in both breasts. Then it metastasized to other areas." Kate still felt bad and had great hope that Castle could actually help her.

"Can't they do something?" Lanie was ready to collapse. Her best friend was in deep trouble.

"Radiation treatments and chemotherapy. The success rate is almost nil. It's a lot of cancer, it really is, Lanie." Kate had been shown all of the X-ray results and shown all of the sites.

Lanie sat down before she fell down. "Cancer." Lanie looked up at her and Kate saw tears and it brought on new tears of her own. "So you resigned." That was what got Lanie here, not because her best friend had told her.

Kate sat down next to her. "It's terminal so I decided to visit other countries while I still could. Before it hurt too much. Before it was too late."

Lanie was shocked into silence. "When are you starting this trip?" She was thinking of getting her out to a bar and having the boys join them. They were all friends, close friends.

"In a few days. I've already made some arrangements. Paris is first, even if it will be a little cold."

"Paris would be nice. But what about when it gets bad? You'll be alone." Lanie eyed her friend. "You're not coming home, are you?" Kate wouldn't look at her. "Oh, Kate…"

"It's better this way, Lanie. Don't you see? I don't want anyone to have to watch me die." Kate burst into tears as Lanie enveloped her in a hug.

"What about your dad? It'll break his heart not to be with you. And it'll be so hard for him to have to deal with what's left." A lone tear rolled down Lanie's cheek.

"I know. The only thing that'll be left is my apartment," Kate paused for a moment then continued, "and that's why I'm giving it to you. It's paid for – I bought it with what I inherited when my mom was killed. I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather have it. I set it up that way in my will. You may have to pay some inheritance tax but that would be it. It's yours, Lanie. Please say you'll take it."

Lanie stared at her, open-mouthed in surprise. After hearing about Kate's death sentence she'd hoped for a small memento to remember her best friend by, but this? This was so much more than she thought she deserved. When she finally found her voice she said, "I'd be honored, Kate. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. But are you sure? Really sure?"

Kate smiled through her own tears. "Yes, Lanie, I'm sure. I'll give you the keys as soon as I get everything packed up." She gave her a fierce hug. "Love you, Lanie, so much. Thank you for being my friend."

"I can't say it was always easy but I love you, too, Kate." Lanie's breath hitched. "Can I talk you into meeting me and the guys for drinks before you leave?"

Kate nodded. "Certainly. Just let me know where and when. But make it soon, Lanie. I need to leave soon." She was quiet for a moment then asked, "What about 3XK?" She was still interested in the case. He needed to be caught.

"He killed the third one yesterday. We found her this morning. What no one knows for sure is if he'll stop at three." Lanie hated it. He killed for the thrill of it. Those women didn't have to die and certainly not like that.

"You and the guys may not have time." Kate knew that if she was still on the job she wouldn't leave the precinct until she'd caught him.

"We'll find the time. Are you sure there's nothing that can be done?" She didn't want to lose her best friend.

Kate shook her head. "Time's up." Lanie hugged her and the tears started anew. Kate couldn't stop herself from joining her. If Castle's plan didn't work, she was dead.

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Lanie had left with a promise that she wouldn't leave until they'd had a chance to have a drink before she left. Provided that the triple killer let them.

Kate was down in the dumps again thanks to her conversation with Lanie. "Richard Castle, I need you." She didn't need him for sex. What she needed him for was moral support. She needed to be told that everything was going to be okay. She saw him show up, naked and with a monstrous erection. She stepped into him and sniffled back her tears.

Rick wrapped his arms around her. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I had to tell my best friend that I was going to die from cancer. Then I lied to her about what I was going to do. She thinks I'm going to go on a tour of countries." The entire encounter had been difficult.

"You'll be fine. You have to be." He couldn't afford to lose her. "How much is left?" This was his first trip of the day.

Kate kept hold of him and talked into his chest. "Water, probably all three trips. Do you have somewhere to empty the containers?"

"Yes, it's about a quarter full at the moment." Rick looked around. "This won't fill it. Though I'm not sure that we will need it. There's a device that I don't understand. It might fill the tank without all this." He wasn't sure since he had been transporting all this stuff. Along with continuing to fix things.

Kate chuckled. She'd gone to all the trouble to get these containers and fill them and now he was telling her she didn't have to. "Let me guess, more magic."

"You'll get used to it. Maybe if you start to really believe you'll be able to cast your own magic spells." Rick thought it might be possible. She would truly have to believe, though.

"Soap, shampoo, cleaning supplies. How do we clean our clothes?" Kate was thinking another trip to the grocery store might be in order.

"We have all that. It's Githyanki but it'll work, and magic for the clothes," Rick answered.

"I should have known." Kate chuckled again. Then her face took on a serious mien. "Will this work, Castle?" She really didn't want to die.

"The magic will work. We just have to be able to get it. It'll be dangerous for me and you'll need to get it on your own. I can't help you." It was their major obstacle.

"So what's next?" Rick asked again.

Kate took a deep breath and let go of him. "IF we don't need the water, then those boxes over there." She nodded in their direction. "They contain a number of speed loaders and over 6,200 rounds of ammunition for my back up pistol, it's just a 38 but it should work."

"There are weapons on the ship you can use. They were Githyanki." He didn't understand her weapon.

"I think I'll keep my 38, but thanks." She might add one of his if she liked it or felt the need for it.

"Ammunition, it is." Rick moved to pick up a load of boxes. "I'll look the device over and let you know." He vanished with all of her ammunition.

Those boxes weighed had to weigh close to two hundred pounds in her estimation. He had simply picked them all up and vanished. "I still need to ask him how he does that." She looked at all of the containers that were filled with water and groaned. All that work for nothing.

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"Richard Castle, I need you." Kate saw him show up looking like he always did. Naked and with an erection.

Kate picked up a box and gave it to him. "Food." She picked up a second. "More food." Then a third. "Frozen food. You're sure we can cook all this?" She saw him open his mouth to answer her. "Don't tell me, magic."

He grinned and simply vanished. She looked around. All the water was still here and he was down his last trip for the day. "What else do we need? What can you use on a ship?" Kate thought about it for a while then ran out of her apartment. She needed a sporting goods store.

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"Richard Castle, I need you." This time Kate was sitting on her bed, naked. She smiled seductively when he showed up naked and with an erection. She reached out to stroke his cock followed by licking it from base to tip before taking it down her throat.

Hours later she was resting on Castle and running a finger over his chest. She had a question that had been bugging her for days. "Castle… How can your cock fit inside me? It's far too big to fit without injuring me badly." If not actually killing her. The tip of his cock should be hitting the bottom of her heart.

"Magic," he replied. That had her chuckling. She should have known but it wasn't really an answer. "It magically fits the woman's vagina, mouth, or throat automatically. It fills her completely no matter how large or how small she is. To make sure she enjoys it and wants more," he explained.

She glanced at him. "The addiction… Will it ever fade or go away?" Was she going to be addicted to his cock for the rest of her life? If she had a life.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Most of the women are ready for my master after just a few visits. You're different. The first."

It made Kate feel special but her mind went to how many women he'd condemned to their deaths. She didn't want to know, but she did. "How many? How many women have you given to your master?" Kate cringed at what she feared would be a large number.

"Too many, far too many." He'd never thought like this before. Not until recently and certainly not until after he had met Kate.

"Who were some of the most recent?" Did she know any of them?

Rick thought about it. "Sara, Chloe, Jordan, Gina, Meredith."

"Are there still woman calling for you?" She didn't want to be jealous. He was hers now, but it was hard.

"All the time, however, my master has other Incubi that can serve him."

Kate didn't like that answer. It meant there would be more women that would fall for a demon and be condemned to death. But she didn't see any way to keep it from happening. Even if somehow they killed his master, his replacement would simply do the same. They would need to kill all of his other Incubi. Though he might just find new ones.

"There are boxes in the living room you can take when you leave in the morning. One is more food, one's camping material that might come in handy, and the other's a case that contains all the gold coins I could afford. After that I think we're done." She couldn't think of anything else they might need, with the possible exception of still more food.

Actually she'd left a few thousand in her account just in case. They might find a way for her to come back here. If Castle's plan worked.