Its face had Stanley's features but they were just a little longer. Still youthful in appearance but definitely no longer slim and slight. He now had a broad, muscular chest and powerful arms with three thick fingers and a thumb on each big hand. His clothing could not contain his new configuration and lay on him in torn shreds. Most dramatic of his changes was his lower half from his waist down. Densely furred and powerful, his legs had become those of some kind of goat right down to his large cloven hooved feet.
"What- what is he?" Paloma gasped.
"I think he's a Satyr but his horns are bigger than I was expecting. I've never seen one before. They- they're supposed to be extinct!" Sigrid said quietly. "He, or I think more likely someone else, went to a great deal of effort to keep him disguised. I've never seen that kind of glamor before. It wasn't overlaying his true self with a false image. It was actually altering reality around him so he could... be... a Human. That's magic at a level I've never seen. Magic that alters reality... that's Master Level."
She thought back to her interactions with him and she could see no guile in his behavior at all. "I'm not sure if Stanley was aware of this. He may not know what he really is." She spotted the silk ties that once bound him to the bed. They were loose on the surface of the mattress. "Paloma, you need to secure him to the bed, tight this time, he looks much stronger than he did before."
The girl nodded and rushed forward to secure his arms and legs to the bed. She was a little too good at this activity for Sigrid's comfort. Once she saw he was tightly bound Sigrid walked out to get her coat, Paloma following.
She pulled it on as she looked into the wide eyes of the young woman. "Listen, I'm going to go get your mother and bring her here. If he wakes keep him calm and secured until we get back." Pausing, she walked back into the bedroom. She pulled out her cell and took a quick picture as convincing Camila would be so much easier with it.
"Lock up behind me and don't let anyone else in!" Sigrid said as Paloma followed her to the door.
With a final stern look in the young woman's eyes she was off.
Paloma closed and locked the door. She touched the rune next to it to set the ward. If something Magic tried to enter they were in for a nasty surprise. She rushed back to the bedroom and stopped at the foot of the bed.
Shivers ran up and down her spine. A Satyr! She'd known Stanley was special the moment she saw him! It was her gift to sense potential. While her mother had a touch of it and at times used it in her business dealings, Paloma hid how strong her gift truly was from everyone, even her mother. It was one of the skills of being a Seer and she didn't want to become a tool for her mother's business dealings.
When Stanley had first entered her waiting room she'd seen an aura of wild energies around him like she'd never seen before. He was completely unaware of it. She'd picked up pretty quickly that on the surface Stanley was what he appeared to be. A young man, awkward around women, more comfortable around technology, but at his core a decent person. She smiled as she recalled how he'd calmed at her touch.
There was one more thing about Stanley that she found almost irresistible. He was a virgin! Combined with this genuine innocence it had taken all her willpower to resist the urge to tear off his clothes and feast on his essence. Of course, her mother would have demoted her to working in the cafeteria with the hags if she'd failed the most basic lesson her kind was taught the moment they reached sexual maturity.
With their risk of being exposed increasing every year due to the Human's ever more clever surveillance technology, the Hidden Races had to remain vigilant and take every precaution.
She wanted so much to relax and allow her own glamor to dissipate but she knew Stanley was going to have a hard-enough time accepting his own change. One thing at a time.
Paloma stood watching him sleep and admired his new body. He still had a sweet innocent look on his face but his torso and arms were giving her not so innocent ideas. The buttons that hadn't torn free in the alley had all popped due to his expanding proportions and the seams were torn so she reached over and spread the two sides apart to get a good look at his bare chest. For all the hair, well... fur really, on his lower half, his torso was remarkably free of hair. Even his thick arms were bare of hair. His face was baby smooth under her fingertips.
The long hair on his head was also silky smooth and so wonderfully luxurious as she ran her fingers through it. Tingles ran up and down her body and she moaned. Biting her lip she forced herself to take a few steps back from the bed.
Her breath was coming in gulps and her body ached for release. Danger signals! What was taking Sigrid so long to bring her mother?
Sigrid was trying to get past Felix to Camila but her assistant insisted his boss could not be disturbed while she was on this call to Japan. So here she sat stewing in the waiting room.
"How long do these calls normally take?" she finally sighed with exasperation.
Felix shrugged and looked over at her. "It varies."
"And there is no way you can get a message to her?" Sigrid pushed.
"I was given strictest instructions not to disturb her in any way. The Japanese official she is speaking to is very sensitive to the slightest sign of disrespect. Her cell phone is off and her office line is muted. Her entire attention is on this man." Felix explained.
Sigrid growled and sunk into the sofa a little deeper. She hoped Paloma wasn't having any trouble with Stanley.
"WHAT- WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!?!" Stanley bellowed as he looked down at his body in shock.
"Stanley, please just relax! Everything is ok." Paloma said in a calming tone and rested her palm on his chest. She could feel his heart beating strongly and rapidly under his dense muscles. More tingles shot through her body and she bit her lip.
"OK?!? IT'S NOT OK! MY BODY ISN'T MY BODY ANYMORE! AND I'M STILL TIED DOWN!" he yelled as he pulled at his bindings.
"They're for your safety! Please calm down! Take some deep breaths!" she pleaded as she placed both of her hands on the thick slabs of his chest muscles. Her self-control was beginning to crack.
Stanley tried to do as she said but he was sure he'd lost his mind. He looked to the right and saw his right arm, thick with muscle and his hand- THREE FINGERS?!? He pulled once more at the silk ties but they were too well knotted to slip free. He lifted his head which felt strangely heavy. He saw Paloma's lovely hands resting on his chest. It didn't look like his chest but he could feel her hands on him, could feel her kneading the muscles. Looking further down just increased his distress. What happened to his legs? Why were they covered in fur?
"Oh my god! I've mutated? Did that guy in the alley inject me with some weird experimental drug?" he moaned.
"Stanley, you didn't mutate! This is just your real shape, you were wearing a disguise, a glamor over your true self before. It wore off or was damaged in the explosion in the alley," she tried to explain.
His eyes snapped to hers. "You were there? Did you see what happened? Why were you there?"
"I- I followed you from work. I saw something in your potentials, your possible futures, that concerned me so I followed you. I saw them abduct you. I called for help then I watched them try to possess you with the demon." Paloma was running her hands over his torso, enjoying the feeling of the hard muscles of his stomach.
"Demon..." Stanley gasped as her touch was confusing his mind and making him feel... really good.
"Yes, a demon. I heard the man say he wanted to use you as a spy inside my mother's company. Perhaps Mother knows who he is." She gently pinched his nipples and Stanley gasped once more and writhed on the bed.
"What- what are you doing? Paloma!" he asked trying to get her attention. She looked up at him and he saw her licking her lips.
"Oh Stanley, I'm sorry to spring this on you but the world is filled with creatures like you and me. Magical, wonderful beings who stay hidden from Humans for our and their safety."
"I'm human!" he asserted.
Paloma slid her hands out along his strong arms and sighed as she brought her face down closer to his. "No Stanley. Your disguise was Human but your true self is this. I've never seen a glamor so complete that even the wearer is unaware of what they are." Her body was burning with need and he was so delicious! Her control was gone. She brushed her lips across his and pulled back teasingly.
Stanley thought he heard an odd emphasis when Paloma said 'human'. It didn't quite sound the way he said it.
"Wait! Wait! You said- you said creatures like you and me but you're obviously human!" he asserted.
"But I'm not! You're only seeing my disguise. I was going to take it slow but you've got me too excited," she cooed.
Dropping your glamor was something that was never done in public or any place that wasn't considered to be secure. But here in her bedroom... in her own private sanctuary, here she could relax her guard and allow her glamor to dissipate. She looked down at Stanley's true form. Since he was no longer hidden she could allow herself to be who, and what, she was.