Epilogue
(For Southwash7, who wouldn't quit bugging me about this story. Thanks for doing that, and this is all your fault.)
Illyana Rasputin sat, cross-legged, floating in midair above a pentagram. Before her a cloud of haze slowly dispersed. A moment ago, it had been a window into her private sanctuary.
She smiled to herself. Dani had extracted several promises from Illyana before Dani took Sam and Rahne to "Haven." Promises to not interfere, promises to keep them safe, promises to allow them to leave whenever they wished.
But she hadn't extracted a promise to not watch. Maybe Dani hadn't thought of it, or thought Illyana wouldn't be tempted to peek, but... hello! Evil Darkchilde here, raised by demons! A little voyeurism was far from the most evil thing Illyana had done. Hell, it didn't even make her top ten for the last week. Besides, it was her private sanctuary; who was anyone to deny her knowing what happened there?
She was rather surprised by some of what she'd seen. She'd known Dani's plan from the outset, of course, and thought that Rahne would put up more resistance to being seduced. Rahne's complete surrender was unexpected.
On the other hand, considering the complete freedom from consequences, she'd thought Dani would be even wilder. She'd gone out of her way before to show herself as completely uninhibited, but she'd shown a level of restraint that surprised Illyana. On the other hand, maybe she'd been concerned about the reactions of her lovers.
Oh, well. Illyana had been extremely reluctant to share her private sanctum with others – she'd only let slip that it even existed by accident – but the scenes that had played out before her had been totally worth it. And, thanks to her magic, she could watch it again and again, whenever she wished.
But something still nagged at her. The three had had that adventure of total freedom, total lack of responsibility, total lack of accountability, and now had total deniability. They could lie to themselves and say it was just a very vivid dream, that it hadn't been real. There was not a single bit of evidence that it hadn't been just a highly erotic dream. Even if they talked about it among themselves later (and she doubted they would), they could chalk it up to a shared dream abetted by the psionic aspects of Dani's powers. It wasn't real. It never happened. And it never would again.
Illyana smirked. That couldn't be allowed to stand. The imp in her demanded that she sow just the tiniest seed of doubt in the silent conspiracy. Of the three conspirators, one would have the most need to pretend it never happened. And that would be the weakest link, the one most vulnerable to having that deniability challenged.
She held out a hand and started conjuring. A lump of coal appeared, floating above her hand. She concentrated, and bits started flying off, leaving behind a crude, dusty arrowhead. With a flip of her hand, Illyana banished the arrowhead to Rahne's nightstand.