As a reminder, you can find MORE of this on my SubStar (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted up past chapter 50 there... And if you guys haven't seen an update in at least a week, please let me know! I have a busy life, and I get distracted and forget things. This story (and PTaL) are supposed to be updated WEEKLY from now until they're both caught up with each other (like I was doing with FwB until this weekend).

And if you're just interested in discussing things with other readers, of course, you can go to my DISCORD here: h- t_ t_ p-s -: -/ -/ -discord . g-g / N9yDA8t6Cw (taking out hyphens, underscores, and spaces of course).

Finally, you can also read my ORIGINAL FICTION on Kindle. If you've got Kindle Unlimited, they're all free. Here's my author page, h-t_t_p-s -:- /-/ tinyurl _._ com /- 4ffb7wph with links to everything published. (Remove all Hyphens, Spaces, and Underscores, of course... 'cause Ffnet.)

FwB, ZPoW, or PTaL (I forget which I scheduled) should be tomorrow. The rest every other day until Christmas, and then a bonus of all three of the big ones. I hope you enjoy whatever holiday you do or don't celebrate this time of year!

FOR REAL FINALLY, a reminder: This chapter isn't it, but this story gets dark. There's actual non-con. There's animal-form BB on Raven (and a bit more). It's a commissioned piece, and I'm not changing it from what was paid for. If those don't interest you, you shouldn't be reading this.

Part 9

"Don't feel too bad," Alexei Stukov told Raven as he patted her thigh, far higher than she was comfortable with. The wine he had offered her was still swirling in his hand as the driver turned a corner, no doubt heading from the Gala toward either his actual home, or one of the many 'safe' houses where he and his organization stored their captives. He wouldn't dare take her to a 'training' center, would he? He had to know that would be the height of stupidity.

The lust of a demon raging in her or not, there was no way Raven would allow things to get that far. She was not some innocent child kidnapped and trained through both pain and pleasure to serve as a slave for one of the corrupt, wealthy elite. She was a superhero. A Teen Titan.
He had to know it wouldn't work.

"Honestly, it was a good attempt. Your team has gotten closer to uncovering the truth than anyone else. Even better than the Justice League! But you still don't know the half of it. We have sources everywhere. You think we didn't know about your plan- the JCPD's plan- from the start? We did. The information you have, the information you think you're after, isn't there to get, Raven. You've been played, just like everyone else."

"And now you have me in your limo, presumably drugged somehow," she replied, using her normal dry voice rather than the painfully giddy one she had adopted to lure him and other predators in. "Now what?"

"Now? Nothing. We go to my home, spend an evening talking if you'd like, and then you go home. Empty-handed."

Raven's eyes narrowed at Stukov's casual reply, and her violet eyes watched carefully as he gave a little shrug, then raised the same glass he'd offered her to his lips and took a sip. "That's it?"

"That's it. There's no information to be had. No safehouses. No missing children- at least, not at any of my properties, either directly or indirectly. If there are, then it's the action of an individual I haven't caught myself. No drugs, no kidnapping, no brainwashing, no conditioning, and no slavery. You're barking up the wrong tree."

"Are we?" Raven knew it was the wrong question to ask the moment she said it. Normally, a criminal would be happy to spill their secrets with just a little bit of prompting. But Stukov was no fool, and the normal psychological tricks would not necessarily work on him.

To prove that, he simply laughed, and replied, "You are."

That was it, no extra tells, no volunteering evidence to support the claim (which would and often did further incriminate instead), or anything of the sort. "Our sources-"

"Were given to you by a man who wants me out of the picture for his own reasons. Luthor is... well, he is a genius, I'll give him that, but his tactics tend to be rather brutal and heavy-handed. Siccing the JCPD and the Teen Titans on me would be just the sort of thing he'd do. There might even be some evidence, now that I think of it, something for you to find- planted evidence."

"Lex Luthor is not a pedophile, for all his other faults," Raven replied, doing her best to keep her voice carefully neutral even as Stukov continued to play with the hem of her skirt. "You seem to be just the sort. You think we don't have our own, independent sources of information?"

"I'm sure you do. A girl- my apologies, a young woman- like you certainly has access to information most people wouldn't even consider. The... esoteric sort, perhaps."

Raven's eyes narrowed again as his hand moved down her leg to cup her knee. "Is that a comment on my heritage, Mr. Stukov?"

"Far be it from me to be racist- or species-ist," Alexei laughed, and paused to sip at the wine again before he held the glass out once more. She stared at him instead, ignoring the liquid, so he shrugged and set it down once more. "No, it was not, you can rest assured of that. Half-demon or not- child of Trigon the Terrible, a name whispered in the darkest of corners with fear, I'll add- I don't care either way. You are not your father, that has been proven time and again by your actions. Aside from a few youthful mistakes like a little bit of a dalliance with the fabled Malchior, and- Oh, did I touch a nerve? Well, no matter. Honestly, my dear, you're still young enough I can understand how it would be sensitive, but you'll soon learn that the mistakes of the past are just that- in the past. Learn from them, and move on. That's what I'm offering you now.

"At any rate," he continued, "I made the comment more because of your publicly-known skill set. Magic, sorcery, and so on. I imagine a little bit of divination would be easy for you."
Raven said nothing. He was clearly probing, trying to turn the tables on her and get her to spill something, but she could not put her finger on what. The hand on her knee, a relatively innocent place compared to where it was, had started kneading gently. Possibly even unconsciously. Still, her body was reacting, and it was annoying, distracting.

"Yet you never stopped to check via your magical means if the information you were fed was accurate. If you had, you'd have known that I'm not the person you have been lead to believe. I mean, for all you know, I'm not even Alexei Stukov."

That statement made Raven's eyes widen slightly, and Stukov chuckled again, "I am, of course. Planting information only works if most of it is true, after all. Grains of lies hidden in truth are far easier to sell."

Raven sighed, and forced her body to relax. Not just in an effort to get her mind to work properly again, but to ignore his hand. Tensing up only seemed to make her body pay more attention to his not-entirely-innocent touches. "What's the goal, then? If you're telling the truth, what is Luthor after?"

"That's a good question," Stukov shrugged with one shoulder, "And one I don't have a good answer for. It could be as simple as taking out a rival. My companies would be far weaker without me at the helm, and being imprisoned or killed would certainly have that effect. There's a fair bit of overlap in what we do, since the scope of our interests is both so broad."

"But you don't think that's it," Raven prompted.

"No. No, I don't. There's got to be- or at least I think there is- something more to it," Stukov said. "Luthor's enemies are public, and many. The Superman, the Justice League in general, just to name a couple. There's... well, most of humanity, if you look at it from a certain point of view, too. I'm certainly a rival, but I don't even know if I would consider us enemies. Which is why I don't think that's the reason."

"Assuming he planted evidence in the first place," Raven reminded the billionaire.

"Yes, that's true," Stukov nodded, sipping at the wine again. "But as I said, there's no slavery or kidnapping going on with my corporation that I'm aware of. Even my workers, at least the higher ranking ones, are vetted pretty thoroughly." As he finished speaking, Stukov's hand relaxed on her knee, then slid up Raven's leg once more. Slowly, on the inside of her thigh.
Her body was on fire, and she opened her legs to invite his touch further without noticing it, and had to fight to contain a whimper when he stopped just shy of touching her core, the one place no one but her or Beast Boy had touched since she was in diapers. She swallowed. Focus, girl... you can do this. "Your hand is awfully high on my leg for a man who says he's not into children."

It would probably have been a more effective line if her voice hadn't been shaking.

Or her nipples hard, and very visible through the dress she was wearing.

"You may be a little young, but you are not a child," Stukov chuckled, "And I don't see you pushing me away. Besides, we both know there's a game to play. I'm only doing my best to win. Aren't you? Wouldn't you say she is, Robin?"

"Robin? Robin's not here," Raven protested. "Are you going insane?"

"Oh, I'm fully aware your friend Robin, Dick Grayson, is not in my limousine. But I am also aware he's listening all the same. He wouldn't have let you come to the gala without surveillance, after all. And it's a good thing, because who knows what kind of predatory person might take advantage of a young woman like you appear to be, who is clearly out of her depth but wants to experience all life has to offer anyway? It'd only be responsible to keep an eye- or an ear- out, wouldn't it?"

She scowled. Of course Robin, and likely the other Titans, were all listening in. He was probably fishing for where the listening device was, but without a very thorough check, they wouldn't find it. Cyborg's tech was just that good. The thing was as thin as a contact lens, and almost entirely a high-end microphone with only nano-level circuitry woven throughout to transmit. It was also subdermal, currently underneath her left arm just below the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," Stukov chuckled again, then withdrew his hand. He threw the rest of the wine back, then shifted positions to lean against the side of the limo and propped one leg up on the seat between them.

With some distance between their bodies, Raven felt immeasurably better, but there was still something about it, about the situation, that rubbed her the wrong way. Too many things didn't add up.

Luthor providing information on a rival was definitely something he'd do. Planting information too. But Luthor was also generally an east-coast problem, one that Superman, Batman, the the Justice League in general had to worry about far more often than the Titans did. At least, their team. Titans East occasionally had run-ins with him, but this was unusual in itself.

Stukov had years of incriminating, or at the very least unflattering, investigations and suspicion. If Luthor was planting evidence, he'd been doing it for a long time. No doubt, the man whose limousine she was riding in was very adept at hiding evidence, or he'd never have survived public scrutiny this long. And simply by saying the words when he knew he was on record- and clearly he did, judging by the tap he'd just called out- he could call into question any evidence the investigation did find.

The Jump City Police Department, and the Titans, were absolutely certain Stukov was their man. They would not have risked Raven doing this particular operation without more than a reasonable guess, they were sure. They just needed the actual proof to take to a jury. That's what she was after, anyway. An eyewitness report, a pile of incriminating records, an overheard phone call, something. Anything, really, as long as it proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Stukov was the one.

Unfortunately, Raven had nothing yet.

Even her empathic abilities were telling her nothing, Stukov was simply too well-guarded. As if he'd been trained to control his emotions, which wasn't that unusual for a man of his age and experience, and resources to boot. All he broadcast at the moment was a mid-level arousal and lust- which yes, did spike as he looked at her- and a constant state of amusement.

As if the whole world was a joke, and he was the only one who got the punchline.

Even Batman broadcast more varied emotions than Alexei Stukov did.

Maybe she should just call it off, and, as he'd suggested himself, use magic to divine the locations of the evidence they needed. She could probably just rip it out of his lying, stupid head. Torture him, if necessary, use him, use his body to pleasure herself, and invade the deepest recesses of the monstrous mind in there, and-

Raven shuddered. Shut up, Lust, and Wrath too! Both of you are stupid.

But it wasn't really her emotions talking. It was her demonic side, which was awakening more each day. It wanted to control, to dominate, to take.

Unfortunately, information gained that way would not be admissible. In fact, she would be committing a crime, and a grievous thing herself, in doing it that way. Even divining the location of evidence could be enough for a court to throw out any evidence gained that way.

Not to mention, using spells that performed that sort of action was a time-intensive process, and not something she could do easily inside a car that was slowly making its way out of the city and into the more upscale neighborhoods around it.

She was a little worried, given the drive, but she had faith the other Titans wouldn't be far. If she needed them, they'd be there.

It'd be a lot easier to think if her body wasn't aching for release, though.

"Wish I could've gotten that camera planted," Cyborg muttered. "I got the one in Rae's left eye mounted, but she's not looking anywhere useful. And he's not sayin' anything worthwhile."

"He's giving away a little," Robin murmured from the seat next to him, "Just not a lot. I can see why Luthor would want to take him out. A man as wealthy as he is has to be pretty smart, but he's hiding a lot behind that veneer of amusement."
Behind them, Starfire paced back and forth across the small van that the Titans occasionally used as a listening post on just this sort of operation. Nearby, three S.W.A.T. vans, and sixteen other unmarked police cars with full teams inside waited for the call, just in case it happened to be necessary. The plan was, of course, for Raven to infiltrate, get the information they needed, and exfiltrate without a problem.

That was out the window, though, from the moment Stukov revealed he knew who the violet-haired girl really was.

Now, things were even more complicated, and it had them all on edge.

Starfire had been the most relaxed of all of them until just a few moments ago, but she didn't seem to be able to stop her pacing anymore, and her light orange fingers fidgeted with each other, or in her deeper orange hair, constantly as she paced.

Cyborg and Robin were too busy watching the monitors, other equipment, and listening to the audio feed for anything else.

One of their team members was conspicuously unaccounted for, however.

Because Beast Boy specifically did not have a part in this operation. He was currently using his position as the public face of the Titans (at least, the one who most wanted to be the face, anyway) because he needed an alibi.

More accurately, a relatively advanced robot with a sophisticated low-level AI mimicked Beast Boy's speech and mannerisms while a hologram projector taken from Slade's own robots and modified to their purposes caused the machine to look just like him, too.

While Raven could, if necessary, be publicly noted as attending the gala under a disguise, Beast Boy attending a library fund-raiser across the city would be better for their image, anyway.

The next time Raven was touched, it was by Stukov taking her elbow to guide her out of the limousine and into the house while Chauncy, his driver, took the car around to the garage. She had to admit, it was an impressive estate, surrounded by vineyards and, further off, equally large residences. It was to be expected, many of the more wealthy people in and around Jump City were just the sort to have their own private artisan wines, and the climate was perfect for it. But aside from visiting Wayne Manor once or twice with Robin, she'd never seen such a palatial home.

Frankly, she didn't really want to. Even from the outside it just seemed... ostentatious. Gaudy, even.

She stepped inside with some reluctance, determined to see the mission through if it was possible. There was nothing stopping her from forming a portal and going home if it came down to it, so she didn't really think she was in danger. Not to mention that, even if they were forced to stop outside the estate, her friends would still be as close as possible. Given their abilities, Robin and Starfire could- and likely would- be there in under thirty seconds if she needed them. Cyborg would be right after, since he would have to use a jetpack or something similar to traverse the grounds at speed unless he wanted to blast his way in with the T-Car.

"One moment, my dear," Stukov said as they hit the center of the foyer. He turned to a tuxedo-wearing older woman, who filled it out quite nicely despite being, Raven guessed, in her seventies. "Elena, can you bring up something for Miss Roth to drink, and perhaps wear after she bathes, if she's a mind? And alert the staff of something for me. Until further notice, likely tomorrow morning, all entry or exit from the grounds will be forbidden. The Teen Titans will be investigating something for us, and our staff will comply fully. Anything they ask for is to be provided. As well, any of Miss Roth's associates who arrive are to be permitted entry to any area of the estate, including my own personal spaces. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Stukov," the woman replied in a clear Russian accent, "I'll alert them immediately."
"Good. Now, my dear, would you like to take me up on the offer of a bath, or would you prefer to simply talk for now? I'll assume your friends are on their way in any case."

There was a choice for the ages...

Bathe in an unknown man's house, a probable enemy man's house, knowing he might have surveillance in the room in question...
But maybe have a chance to use the (supposed) privacy to snoop a little?

She dithered uncharacteristically for a few seconds, then shook her head, "No, thank you. I'd rather not undress anywhere you're likely to have cameras up. I'm sure you understand."

If he was offended, Stukov didn't show it. In fact, he laughed again, then continued guiding her into the house and up the grand staircase at the end of the entrance hall. From there he turned left and down another wide hallway which was sumptuously appointed with thick, dark brown shag carpet, well-oiled walnut paneling, and six crystalline chandeliers as lighting. All in all, it seemed the whole building was intended to impress.

If Raven were a more materialistic sort, it might have done just that despite herself. As it was, she felt only a growing trepidation to mirror her unrelenting arousal.

"Then let us talk some more. Just talk, you and your friends can rest assured. In fact... Mr. Grayson, Mr. Logan, and Mr. Stone, why don't you and your lovely compatriot from Tamaran join us? I think there's... a lot we have to discuss. No charades, no frivolities, just truth and frankness."

For the first time that night, the small communications device in Raven's loaned handbag vibrated twice, paused, and then twice again.

"Excuse me," she murmured politely after she followed Stukov's guidance into the extravagant drawing room, "I need to take this."
"Of course," he replied with a benign smile, "I'll just step over here and prepare some drinks. I'm sure most of your friends, being underage, will decline but I feel it's only proper to offer. That should give you some privacy."

His assuredness and casual ease only made her hackles rise, not least of which because only one or two people in the city even knew the number of the burner phone in her pocket. She picked it up and opened it, then said, "Yes, Robin?"

She listened to him speak for a few seconds then sighed, "Yes, you may as well. I don't know what's going on, but he clearly knows something we don't, and I don't like it."

There was another pause, then she said, "Alright. Thanks."

Stukov was across the room, far enough to at least pretend to be out of earshot, with what looked like a snifter of brandy in his hand already after the brief conversation, and a serving tray behind him ready to go. "They're coming. Well, most of them. Beast Boy's at an event for one of the libraries in the city."

"Ah, the robot, yes. I'd nearly forgotten that was the cover," Stukov teased, then put his own drink on the tray before he carried it over to the table in the center of the sitting area. "Before your friends arrive, I think I'd like to show you something. Perhaps it'll help you relax, and at the very least, it can be a gesture of trust and goodwill from me to you and your team."

"I fail to see why I have any reason to trust you," Raven noted as he offered his hand for her elbow again. She would have felt far more comfortable in her skin-tight leotard than she did in the elegant dress, which was revealing in an entirely different way, but Stukov at least had a veneer of gentlemanly behavior, as he mostly kept his eyes up.

"I suppose you don't yet," Stukov admitted, then took her hand anyway, "but you will, I think. Come on, it should only take a couple of minutes for the rest of the Teen Titans to get here."

She let him lead her on, into a side room and then down a narrower, less well-appointed but still nice hallway. They passed several doors and then went down four flights of stairs, down another short corridor that was still just as nice despite being under the hill behind the mansion, and then into a lift.

"Don't worry, your friends are already coming," he reminded her as she hesitated, "I've no doubt they would tear this place apart if I did anything to you, and, frankly, if I was the type, kidnapping you would not be worth the expense of replacing my house. Besides, I'm rather fond of it. We're going down two flights, and I'm sure Mr. Logan's keen nose could follow you if your trackers lose contact."

Raven swallowed, the nodded, "Alright, fine. But no funny business."

"None at all," he assured her again, then stepped in himself after pulling his hand off of her arm. "I can promise you, there's no trap here. Just a show of trust before we have a conversation about... things."

The ride was brief and quiet, and for once, Alexei Stukov didn't say anything. It was the quietest period of time Raven could remember thus far since meeting him. When the doors of the lift opened, once more Alexei's hand touched her elbow, and he led the way out into the hall.

The mansion's decor was clearly gone.

Instead, the hallway they stood in resembled a bunker, though a very modern one. What looked like ceramic plating armored every wall, with security cameras and even a few lasers- both point-defense and sensor- were placed in several locations despite the hall being long and narrow with no deviations. Coming through with the defenses active would likely be a death trap unless, somehow, one was immune to the damage a laser could do.

"Why are we here?" she asked quietly. He didn't slow down. Instead, Stukov's face was uncharacteristically grim.

"I need you to see something, that's all. You suspect- your team and the JCPD suspect- I'm into human trafficking? Well, I can assure you I'm not and you won't find any real evidence that says I am. What I am doing is... different. And not illegal, even if that's because there are no laws about it at all."

"I don't understand," she said as they finally came to the end of the long hall. At the end was a door that looked more like a high-security, nearly villain-proof bank vault. It opened as Stukov approached, however, the facial recognition camera fast enough to check who he was from some way off.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

There was a woman, dressed in very little, who had bruises and lacerations covering her visible body chained to the wall in an X-formation at the wrists and ankles. No mere cuffs or shackles, the lines were thick, shimmering cable, with a medical IV coming from the ceiling and stuck in the woman's left elbow as well.
She had long, dark black hair that was almost purple, tanned yellow-orange skin, and...

She was a woman Raven recognized.

Blackfire, older sister of Starfire, and usurper of the Tamaranean throne. Kidnapper and slaver of her own sister.

"You see," Stukov smiled, "I'm working with you. Yes, I'm capturing people. I'm capturing and holding villains. I'm sure your Tamaranean princess friend will be most happy to see this."