Incubus Inc.: Book 2
Author: Randi Darren
Date: 2020-02-06T16:00:00+00:00
Publisher: RandiWDarren

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Book listing

Chp.1

Chp.2

Chp.3

Chp.4

Chp.5

Chp.6

Chp.7

Chp.8

Chp.9

Chp.10

Chp.11

Chp.12

Chp.13

Chp.14

Chp.15

Chp.16

Chp.17

Chp.18

Chp.19

Chp.20

Chp.21

Chp.22

Chp.23

Chp.24

Chp.25

Chp.26

Chp.27

Chp.28

Chp.29

Chp.30

Chp.31

Chp.32

Chp.33

Chp.34

Chp.35

Chp.36

Epilogue

Authors Note

Incubus Inc. 2

By Randi Darren

Copyright © 2020 Randi Darren

Cover design © 2020 Randi Darren

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means - except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews - without written permission from its publisher.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright © 2020 Randi Darren

All rights reserved.

Dedicated:

To those who know me

Books by William D. Arand-

The Selfless Hero Trilogy:

Otherlife Dreams

Otherlife Nightmares

Otherlife Awakenings

Omnibus Edition(All Three)

Super Sales on Super Heroes Trilogy:

Super Sales on Super Heroes 1

Super Sales on Super Heroes 2

Super Sales on Super Heroes 3

Omnibus Edition(All Three)

Monster’s Mercy Trilogy:

Monster’s Mercy 1

Dungeon Deposed Trilogy:

Dungeon Deposed

Dungeon Deposed 2

Dungeon Deposed 3

Omnibus Edition(All Three)

Swing Shift Trilogy:

Swing Shift

Swing Shift 2

Swing Shift 3 (To be released 2020)

Books by Randi Darren-

Wild Wastes Trilogy:

Wild Wastes

Wild Wastes: Eastern Expansion

Wild Wastes: Southern Storm

Omnibus Edition(All Three)

Fostering Faust Trilogy:

Fostering Faust

Fostering Faust 2

Fostering Faust 3

Omnibus Edition(All Three)

Remnant Trilogy:

Remnant

Remnant 2

Remnant 3 (To be released 2020)

Incubus Inc. Trilogy:

Incubus Inc

Incubus Inc 3 (To be released 2020)

Books in the VeilVerse-

Cultivating Chaos: By William D. Arand

Cultivating Chaos 2 (To be release 2020)

Asgard Awakening: By Blaise Corvin

One - Daily Grind -

Sighing softly, Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis nodded his head when the young woman stopped talking.

“I definitely understand,” murmured the Torment of Lust. He’d heard everything she’d said a number of times now in these interviews.

Over and over, the same story.

Her parents had told her to get a degree, that it was what she needed to get through in life. That she could easily repay the debt once she got a well-paying job because of her degree.

And then none of that happened at all.

“You do?” asked Jennifer, who went by Jenny. She was his consultation today and hopefully, another client. All he had to do was sell her on his ability to solve her problem, and his low and reasonable rates.

Reaching up, the woman slid a strand of black hair behind her ear and smiled at him, her dark eyes practically glowing.

She wasn’t bad looking, though Sam wasn’t exactly starving for Essence anymore. He didn’t feel an overwhelming desire to get her into a contract, and then a bed, as fast as possible.

It didn’t hurt that he had Wren on hand right now, while he was out on contract duty. That and he’d turned her into little better than a bed pillow for the last five days whenever he wasn’t doing his job.

“I do,” Sam said waving a negligent hand to one side. “Honestly, it’s perhaps the hundredth time I’ve heard the exact same problem. You’ve been fed a bill of goods for a degree that doesn’t match with the current economics of your time. Promised something that can and will never occur given what’s happening with the world at large. A belief that’s fifty years out of date, and fits in about as well as a horse and buggy on a freeway.

“Additionally, you didn’t mention what your degree was actually in.”

“Ah… it’s in communications,” murmured the young woman. With the way she said it, she clearly knew that, in addition to her degree not being worth that much when everyone practically had one, her degree was also less useful than many others.

Sam smiled and nodded again, doing his best not to roll his eyes.

That particular degree seems to be a definite problem. If no one is hiring for it, why would colleges ever let someone major in it?

It’s truly become more of a business than ever before it seems. Though it seems far more similar to selling used cars than anything else. Never knowing what’s under the hood, other than what people tell you.

I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of predatory lending practices these poor kids are being slammed with.

At least it isn’t psychology or anthropology. Those seem much harder to work with.

Psychology needs more schooling, and there really isn’t much of a career in anthropology.

“Well, that isn’t really a problem. We can definitely solve that easily enough,” Sam said, shifting his weight around. Her sofa wasn’t comfortable in the least, but it was still a little better than the average he found himself sitting on.

“No?” Jenny asked, her hands clasping in front of her chest. “I mean, I know… I know this isn’t normal and I’ve talked to a few people you’ve helped and… and… well…”

Her voice failed her and faded off to nothing.

Sam smiled and realized this was where he had to clarify things.

“I’m an Incubus who makes deals with mortals,” Sam said. “Sometimes that includes sex, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it’s some of your life force, sometimes it’s something else if you have other things in trade I’d want.

“Each deal and trade is different because it’s a shifting market. I imagine in a year, my rates might go up.”

“That… makes sense,” Jenny murmured. “And… how much would it cost to get me out of debt?”

“Depends on how much you need. And how you want to go about solving it. There’s a few different ways of course.” Sam explained. “You also haven’t told me the amount of your debt yet.”

“Oh. Yeah. Yes. Uhm. Fifty thousand. I can’t seem to get a job that could use my degree, though. That or there’s a lot of other people with the same degree applying and I’m just… not making the cut in the interviews,” Jenny muttered.

Or they want experience on top of the degree, but won’t say that to you.

Your parents told you all your life that you were special, that you could change the world, and that you could do anything.

And at the same time, you’ve been given everything and anything almost instantly. Your parents viewing it as the way to give you the best start.

Here you are, a degree that doesn’t do anything, a debt that will likely ruin your life in your thirties, and those in control of the job market staying longer and longer in their fields.

I pity your entire generation and can only imagine how those who came before you, will shame you later.

Feeling a great deal of empathy for Jenny, Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“The going rate for that kind of money is about fifteen years of your life and a contract signing via sex,” Sam said. “That’d get you all the money up front and you’re in the clear. If you wanted to do the contract without sex, then it would be sixteen years.

“An alternative is that I take on your debt and pay it off on my own, though it’ll still be in your name, and I take one day of your life at a time, for a period of ten years. At the end of which, I’ll pay off your debt as it exists today in full, regardless of that remainder.”

Thinking on it, Sam didn’t think getting her a job would be a relevant offer here because, truth be told, even he didn’t think he could find her a job that’d help her long term.

Mostly because with a degree like communications, he imagined she didn’t know what she wanted to do with herself either.

“There is, of course, the possibility of working to get you a job, a promotion, or other similar things. Though, those options are far less immediate and take some time,” Sam said. “It’d cost triple the amount of time it took me to get you a job that would pay what you needed.

“As an example, if it took six months, you’d pay me eighteen months in time.”

“But there’s no guarantee on that,” Jenny said. “You could get me a job and then the company could close up a year after that.”

“That’s a distinct possibility,” Sam said, nodding his head. “I could guarantee you that I’d do my best to set you up long term, as having a negative experience as a customer wouldn’t do me any good. I do want positive reviews after all.

“But even with that, I couldn’t positively tell you that you’d have the same company to work for ten years later.”

“No… no, that makes sense. I just… my father told me he worked for the same company for thirty years and worked his way up,” Jenny said shaking her head.

“Yes, well, the world as it is today is very different than what it once was,” said Sam holding up his hands. “The world your parents grew up in is long since passed and won’t be coming back. I’ve heard a number of people tell me their parents paid for their own college with a ‘summer job’. That seems laughable in today’s world.”

“Oh. Oh, okay. Well, the deal you just offered, that’s… that’s the exact same deal I heard from… from a friend,” Jenny said. Apparently, she didn’t want to reveal who’d told her about him.

“Indeed. I do try to keep my rates rather standard. That way no one is really surprised when the price is announced. Makes everything as above board as I can make it,” Sam said. “As I did mention earlier though, there are other extenuating circumstances that we could get into. Do you have any skills, stocks, antiques, or anything else that might be of value that we could to offset the cost?”

“Not really. Nothing like that,” Jenny murmured, then she sighed and let her eyes drift to the ground. “Uhm… uh… I… heard you pay a premium on virginity? I do have that.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at that and sniffed lightly at the air and focused on her. He tried to catch any hint of Jenny and her desires that could be in the air.

In that single sniff, he knew she was indeed a virgin. Never having felt the pleasure of sex, Jenny was a delicacy that Sam now really wanted to throw onto a bed.

He’d had so few virgins as of late. Jenny would be the second.

“That’s quite true,” Sam said with a wide smile. “I’ll move the contract down to ten years and five years respectively if you add your virginity into the deal.”

“Really? That’s… that’s a lot. Okay,” Jenny said, her hands closing tightly together. “I… can do that. Let’s do the… five year deal and my virginity.”

“Wonderful,” Sam said. “Oh, and by the way, we’re offering a lovely incentive on visits. As well as a referral bonus.”

“Visits?” Jenny asked, looking at him. “Referral bonus?”

“Yes, referrals and visits. The gold plan is the most popular one. It’s very simple. With the gold plan, if you let me visit you once a month during the course of the contract for sex, Inc-Suc would refund you five percent of your spent life force at the conclusion of the deal. There are lower plans, but it’s not as much of a percentage - only one and two percent, respectively. And if someone mentions you as a referral, I’ll give you one percent of whatever they spend on their contract.”

“I… okay,” Jenny said, nodding her head. “I can do the gold plan, I guess. That’d help… uhm, cut costs.”

“If you’re willing to go that far, I’d suggest the platinum visit plan. I’d be visiting you once a week, but the refund would go up to ten percent instead,” Sam said. “When you do the math it’s maybe an extra thirty minutes a week for that additional five percent extra on whatever you spent. It adds up quick.”

“Okay. I suppose I’ll do the… the platinum visitor plan,” said Jenny, looking somewhat bemused.

And that makes eighteen on the gold visitor plan, five on the platinum plan, and eleven who aren’t. A total of thirty-four new clients in this week alone.

This really is so much easier than it ever was before. The way Abby has this all set up with Jes through the website, printing the summoning circle, and spreading the world through colleges, is… lovely.

It’s almost too easy.

Though I’m glad I told her no to the paper-punch card visitor coupon. That was almost too much commercialization.

***

Opening the door to the hotel room, Sam yawned and entered. It was almost exactly as he remembered leaving it.

Closing the door, he actually felt rather tired. He’d spent almost the entire day going from summoning to summoning. The only change being that several of them had been meetings scheduled by someone else, rather than using a spell to contact Sam directly.

The simple reality was people were more willing to call a phone number than tempt a spell that would summon a demon.

Contracting several times in one day wasn’t something he’d ever done before. Had never done before and could now feel the strain from it.

Stifling a second yawn, Sam wandered into the living room. Wren wasn’t here, which meant she was either out, which was extremely unlikely, or sleeping.

And sleeping is what Sam would put money on.

Moving to the bedroom, he found Wren right where he’d left her.

In the middle of the bed—naked, long limbed, covered in small bite marks, with wild and tangled long black hair, and sticky looking from both sweat and seed—was his Cambion.

If he wasn’t sleeping or working, he was bedding the rather tall and athletic Wren.

Endlessly. Orgasm after orgasm after orgasm.

Grinning, he considered waking her up to begin feasting on her, when he noticed something out of the ordinary. A small red light was flashing on the phone next to the bed.

Oh?

Wandering over, Sam peered at the light and the words displayed next to it.

Message Waiting.

Huh. I wonder who left me a message.

He couldn’t remember there being a phone anywhere else in the hotel room, which mean he had to take the call here, or go downstairs to the lobby.

Unfortunately for Wren, he wasn’t about to listen to the message anywhere but in his room. There was no telling who was listening and he’d undoubtedly be calling someone back.

We’ll just… be as quiet as we can. She’s normally a heavy sleeper anyway.

Sam picked up the phone, tapped the red flashing button, and listened as the dial tone beeped and then went silent.

“Hey, Sweetie!” Jes said sounding rather excited. “I just got a reply from the Amazon. You know, the one you left a message for in her head? She wants to meet up. That means you need to come home, put on your best suit and look delicious.

“Did I mention I’m absolutely starving for you, your seed, and your Essence? I can imagine the taste of you on my lips just mentioning it.

“I feel… ravenous. Though, not hungry enough to consider ever looking at another man. I’m a one-man type of girl, you’ll remember.

“Anyway, call to check in and see what’s going on. I know it’s only been two weeks since we got the first letter from her but we really shouldn’t leave her hanging long. For all we know, Jena could find her and kill her before we get a chance to talk to her.

“See you soon, my love.”

The line clicked as Jes hung up and then was followed by an automated prompt on how to delete the message or keep it.

Tapping the delete button, Sam set the phone back onto the receiver and considered what to do.

The “Amazon” was a rather pretty and tall Imp that Sam had bumped into while robbing one of Jena’s offices. He’d found an old photo of himself and Jena in a secret compartment in her safe.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he realized he wasn’t against meeting her. If anything, it would help solidify their plans on how to proceed.

Jes had been mostly spinning her wheels since the attack on the compound that freed Aster. The Succubus acted bright and bubbly, but Sam could clearly see that she was tormented by memories of her mortal life before becoming what she was now.

Tormented by what Jenaphila had taken from her, before Jes was tossed into a literal limbo and then given away as a prize.

I’ll call Irma.

Picking the phone back up, Sam dialed Irma’s number. Ringing three times, it then picked up.

“Irma Fidenis speaking,” Irma said on the other end of the line.

Grinning, Sam raised his eyebrows at that.

Fidenis was what was on all of Sam’s official documentation.

“Changed your name already?” Sam asked in a soft voice. He really was trying to not disturb Wren’s sleep.

“Sammy! Of course, I did,” Irma said on the other end of the line, the tight sounding tone of her initial greeting vanishing in an instant. It was replaced by a very warm and amused sounding voice. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t? Legally you’re my husband, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t take your legal name.”

Shaking his head, Sam decided it’d be best to change the subject. Otherwise, he would likely be tempted to tease her a bit and that wouldn’t do.

“Got a message from Jes,” Sam said.

“Oh! Yes. The Amazon contacted us again. She’d like to meet with you personally and no one else. Jes is ready to swap places with you to work contracts that don’t need a sex binding.

“Alexis is going to take on Jes’ contracts and bind in her name. Since all of Jes’ are stipulated without sex, that’s rather easy.”

Sam didn’t feel great about that. Having an Imp make contracts on your behalf was a quick way to have an Imp double-cross you.

“I know, I know. Don’t worry about that,” Irma soothed. She was apparently already ahead of his concerns. “Alexis is very, very, very bound to Jes. I’ve looked over the contract myself and even had Auntie take a look at it. Alexis is more or less a finger-puppet to Jes.”

I thought the same of Jenaphila before she imprisoned me, but… whatever.

Jes is a grown woman, she doesn’t need me lording over her like that.

“Now, how’s it going over there? You didn’t kill Wren, did you?” Irma asked.

Glancing to the Cambion in question—a half-demon half-human offspring that was specifically brought into the world to breed armies—he found she was awake.

Her reddish-brown eyes were fastened to him, watching silently.

“No, I didn’t kill her. Why would I ever do that? She’s my Cambion,” Sam said. Reaching out, he lightly trailed his fingers along Wren’s cheek toward her ear.

Turning her face into his hand, Wren nuzzled his palm. Her gaze was stuck on him, though a faint red mist began to color her exhalation. Her eyes were starting to slowly pick-up more color, gradually shifting to a yellow color with every second.

Sam had come to realize it wasn’t just bloodlust that triggered Wren’s genetically tailored racial needs anymore. A Cambion fought and fornicated with demons.

That’s all they were made for, and all they did.

The fact that Wren was almost always full of demon-seed had ramped up her instincts to an unheard of level and it was clearly reinforcing key aspects of her desires.

“I didn’t say you’d kill her on purpose, you’d kill her by just gnawing at her all day like a dog with a favorite chew toy. And it’s not like she’s ever going to say no to you,” Irma grumbled. “I mean, come on, be honest here. How many times have you slept with her?”

“I’m not sure anymore,” Sam said, cupping Wren’s face in his hand.

Smiling up at him, Wren rolled onto her back, away from his hand, and then spread her legs apart. Reaching down she laid her hands to her bare thighs and gave them a light pat.

She was dirty, bruised, bitten, sweat-marked, stained with seed and dripping from her nethers with it, and he wanted more of her.

Because he’d been the one to do all of that to her, and yet she still wanted him to do more.

Working on getting out of his clothes, he watched Wren as she waited for him.

“Thirty times?” Sam said aloud, really not sure. He’d lost track a long time ago. He was probably undershooting it by at least ten.

“Oh, my… thirty times in five days? Now I’m sure you’re trying to kill her,” Irma said.

Sam wasn’t going to correct her, but it’d been thirty times today alone. It’d been a long night.

“Well, pack it in, and pop a portal. I already told the Amazon we’d meet her tomorrow. Jes will take your place tomorrow morning. Your next scheduled meeting is then.

“Any summoning till then we can have Alexis or Jes step in for you.”

“Right, I’ll finish up here and head over,” Sam said, eyeing Wren as she continued to stroke her own thighs. Her breathing was getting deeper and her red-misted breath was actually rather pleasing to see.

It confirmed his wish to be desired.

“Great. Oh, and Reixhitz would like to speak with you when you get a chance. See you soon, my love. My Sammy,” Irma said.

“Got it. See you soon. I love you,” Sam said stepping out of his pants, and then hung up the phone.

“Come here,” Wren said in a breathy voice. “Take your filthy mutt and ruin what’s yours some more, you demonic bastard.”

Sam grinned at that and promptly got atop Wren, who welcomed him with open arms and long, very widespread legs.

Two - Hunger -

Walking through the portal into the receiving apartment, Sam could instantly feel a difference in the humidity.

“This does make it almost too easy, doesn’t it?” Wren asked from behind him.

“I mean, there’s a reason I’m called a planar lord,” Sam said with a laugh. “Planes, and movement through them, are simple. I just need two locations I can get to and from.

“It’s why you had to fly out there first and summon me.”

Wren grunted at that and trudged past him. She was dressed in her normal everyday clothes and looked healthy and untouched.

It’d only taken a speck of Essence that he’d generated with her to put her back to rights. Putting her back into public view looking like she had would have been a bad idea.

Dressed in a tank top, baggy pants, with a pistol at her hip and an SMG slung around her middle, she looked like she was ready for a firefight. On her back was a rucksack, which he knew contained a battle-rifle and an assortment of other things.

She might be my chew-toy, but she’s still a hitman and a Cambion. All she knows is fighting.

In a second Wren was gone, heading off to do whatever she was planning on doing.

Feeling uncomfortable, Sam couldn’t place his unease until he realized he’d had his wings in for the better part of two weeks.

“I’ll go for a quick flight later. That’ll stretch ’em out,” Sam said and left the portal room.

Looking down the hallway, he had to think about which floor he was on.

They owned the majority of the apartment building and had turned it into an office and barracks.

His entire feed harem lived here, along with everyone on the Inc-Suc team, and some extended personnel.

The one stipulation to being in the building was sleeping with Sam.

He knew a second rule had been leveraged by Jes and approved by Irma as well. That anyone in the building slept with Sam and only Sam.

Since he never got involved with someone who was in a relationship, he’d never even considered someone would go looking elsewhere once he got a hold of them.

Considering no one left the building even after that rule had been enacted, his self-pride remained in place.

The lights along one wall all turned on, then off, except one light. Then they began to turn on in sequence, creating a line of lights leading down the hallway.

“Cute, Aster,” Sam said, realizing she was clearly messing with the lights to lead him somewhere. “You still mad that I never came and saw you before I left?”

One of the nearby lights on the opposite wall grew to an intensity that he almost couldn’t look at and then popped. Going dark as the amount of power it received surged past its limit.

“Uh huh,” Sam said with a chortle. “You’re going to be disappointed then. I was supposed to come home yesterday, but ended up staying late. I had an emergency summon from a new client that was willing to pay a lot to have something happen.

“I’m literally heading to talk to Irma, and then I’ve got to get going to another meeting.”

Every single light in the hallway began to grow extremely bright, then abruptly cut off. Aster apparently mastered her temper before she blew an actual fuse.

All of the lights dimmed quite low, almost to a depressing state.

“Cheer up, it isn’t that I don’t want to have you, Aster, just really busy,” Sam explained. He felt rather flattered that Aster was that demanding of his attention.

More so, that she clearly felt sad that he couldn’t visit her.

The lights slowly returned to normal and did nothing out of the ordinary after that.

Nodding his head, Sam headed for the elevator and then avoided it, taking the stairs instead. Even though he knew it was safe, he just couldn’t bring himself to take an elevator.

As demonstrated by Aster’s history, one could be imprisoned and forced to do all sorts of things.

Planar beings weren’t immune to death.

Exiting the stairwell, Sam entered the hallway. He didn’t bother to knock when he reached Irma’s door. He just turned the knob and walked right in.

Because, at this point, it was his apartment, too. If he wasn’t feeding, he was sleeping next to Irma.

“Sammy?” called a voice from inside as the door opened.

“Of course,” he replied, shutting the door.

“Consultation went well? She sounded rather desperate,” Irma said. To Sam, it sounded like she was typing on a keyboard.

“Very. I picked up ten years, a platinum visitor pass, and a one percent deal on commissions for her,” Sam said. “Given she’s in such a huge sorority… I think I’m going to get real busy, real soon.”

“Ugh, I always hated those girls,” grumbled Irma. Then she appeared in the hallway and started skipping toward him. Her long red hair was without clips today in a wild, loose style that flew out behind her.

Irma looked ecstatic to see him, her smile lighting up her lovely blue eyes with their odd green tendrils. She was wearing nothing more than one of his t-shirts and a pair of panties, and he immediately contemplated tossing her right back into the bedroom for a quickie.

“But I do love the fact they’re selling themselves to my husband so cheaply,” Irma said with a laugh and reached for him, pressing her hands to the sides of his face. “Hello, Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis. I love you.”

Like a lightning bolt smashing through him from the top of his head to his toes, he felt her sincerity in that statement.

There was no longer a question about taking her to the bedroom, it was a guarantee.

Grabbing Irma around the waist, he started off for their bedroom.

“Sammy! No, you have to get going. You’re supposed to be there in five minutes and I take longer than that,” Irma said with a squeal, patting his shoulders. “When you get back, okay? I missed you, too.”

“She can wait, Irma Tiff Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis, you’re my wife and I need you,” Sam said, looking up at the lovely red-headed Imp.

“And you have me, and will have me repeatedly, for all time, but you need this. We need this,” Irma said, holding onto him. “Otherwise, Jes will actually be sad and… well… she’s always so pleasant. I don’t want to upset her.”

Stopping in his tracks, Sam thought about the Succubus who’d somehow turned his world upside down and caused almost all of this to happen.

Letting out a short huff, Sam understood in that moment exactly how Aster had felt earlier.

“You’re right. She hasn’t summoned me yet, though,” Sam said. “The Amazon that is.”

“She won’t be. Hillary is,” Irma said, smiling at him. “She went out ahead to make sure it was safe and clear. She’ll be bringing you in herself.”

“Oh, great,” Sam said, nodding his head. “Then all I—”

There was a single sharp knock on the door.

“Hey, it’s me,” called Aster through the front door. “I’d really like to go with Sam. Really, really want to go. I’m like, really fucking bored and there’s nothing to do. I’m beyond tired of binging TV-shows and I’m actually getting sick of the electrical current here. It’s not bad, it’s just… I’ve eaten so much of it, it almost has no flavor.

“Can I please go with him, Irma? He’s your boy-toy, so I kind of need your permission and stuff.”

“Do you care?” Irma asked Sam, catching his eyes with hers. “I don’t care personally. She’s been cooped up here recovering since we brought her back.”

She just wants to have sex and probably blow someone up.

Aster is and will always be a very capricious planer-being.

Sam shook his head, rather than say any of that though. He didn’t actually have a problem with Aster coming with.

“Sure, I’ll send him out in just a second. Can you wait there, Aster?” Irma called.

“Oh! He’s already in—okay, yeah. Sure! Cool. Thanks, Irma! Love you fucking bunches. You and your sweet tits,” Aster said. “Three way when you’re ready!”

Irma shook her head at that, looking rather amused.

“She’s so odd. She sounds like a vulgar little teenager more often than not,” Irma murmured.

“Aster always tried to fit in with the current era. Usually the younger generations of the era, but still,” Sam explained.

“Put me down then and get going. Hillary will pop the portal shortly,” Irma said, then kissed him.

A minute later, after forcing himself to not ravage Irma right there in the hallway, Sam left their apartment.

Aster was leaning up against the wall directly across from the door. She was wearing a tight shirt with an exposed midriff and a pair of jean shorts that were just barely long enough to cover her rear end. A small leather purse was held under one arm.

Her white hair had been cleaned, trimmed, and styled. Her shimmering pupil-less eyes which danced with a whirling electric blue static were far more stable right now than they had been when he first met her.

Additionally, she’d filled out incredibly well. Her figure was athletic, but the shape and bust she was sporting fit her perfectly. Her muscles were toned, and her skin slightly tanned and blemish free.

“Hello there, beautiful,” Sam said honestly.

“Heya,” Aster said giving him a wide grin. “Wanna go right here in the hall? I brought a few D-cells you can cram in me before we start. You get to pick where, since you’ll also pick where your D-cell goes.”

“Wow,” Sam said. He liked the way she’d said it, but giving her any sort of victory now would just make her worse later. “That was awful. I think Tiffany has hit on me better than that, and she’s a damn Were-Wolverine.”

“Really? Damn it. I thought it was kinda like… walking the line between kinky and fun? I mean, what other kind of lady can take a couple D-Cells, get plowed, and still give her man some good service, too?” Aster asked, still grinning at him. “Guess I’m just too far out of practice. I did the math by the way. Haven’t gotten laid in something like a thousand and five hundred years. You’re going to have to put out a lot more than four times a day for me to be satiated.”

That’s odd. She was a captive after I was thrown into my little prison.

Wasn’t she?

She vanished before me, though. Where’d she end up during that period I wonder?

Was it also a prison?

Sam was about to reply when he felt Hillary’s summoning.

Reaching out with his left hand, he directed the portal to appear, allowing the spell to connect to him.

In a few seconds, the portal yawned open and Hillary the Doppelganger stood on the other side in what looked like a hotel bedroom.

Her hair was a bright white that made Aster’s seem dull, her eyes a pale golden color that reflected light, and her skin was pale as porcelain.

Her high cheek bones and small mouth gave her face a slightly alien look. She was a bit heftier than Aster in the chest, though more narrow in the waist.

“Hey, Sam,” Hillary said, giving him a smile and a wave. Her eyes moved to Aster as the other woman walked up next to him. “Oh. Hey, Ass.”

“Hey, Hill,” Aster said, stepping straight through the portal. The two women quickly shared a hug.

Oh, they became friends. How nice.

That was quick.

Now if only Tiffany and Stacia could actually be friends.

Or hell, Decima be friends with anyone.

“You’re coming along?” Hillary asked.

“Yeah, I really wanna get laid and if I have to go out on a mission to do it, I’m gonna do it. You in for a three-way?” Aster asked.

“Oh, uh, no. No, thanks,” Hillary responded with an awkward laugh. “I’m uh… no, thanks though, Ass. I’ll watch though. You okay with that?”

“Sure, I am,” Aster said, hanging onto Hillary. “Mind taking a few pictures for me if you’re going to watch? I really want to get some pictures of Sam rampaging all over me. Seems like I’m going to be stuck with him for centuries, so I might as well start getting those moments captured now.”

“Uh… okay,” Hillary murmured, her cheeks coloring faintly. “Though, you’re kinda supposed to take pictures of places you’re going or things like that. Not fucking.”

“Pfft, whatever. I want pictures of him just blowing loads in me, on me, all over my face. Lots and lots of pictures,” Aster said, then she leaned over and kissed Hillary’s cheek. “Thanks Hill, I appreciate you so much.”

Hillary nodded, then looked at Sam.

Having just stepped through the portal and closed it behind himself he was rather amused.

He knew Hillary was a bit of an explorer when it came to their fun in the bedroom, but she’d always been very closeted about it. She’d told him several times not to talk about anything they did with anyone else.

The fact that she wanted to watch Aster was new.

Maybe she’s a cuckqueen? Hm. Fun.

“She’s in the next room,” Hillary said, pointing to a door on one side of the room. “She’s alone, nervous, and looks like she’s ready to bolt. Go slow.”

“Got it. Thanks,” Sam said. Waving a hand at the two women, he walked over to the door and opened it.

“Hello,” Sam said, spotting the woman he was here to meet.

She was sitting in a chair next to a coffee table. Dressed in street clothes, she looked like some type of model.

There was a reason they called her an amazon, after all. Even sitting down, she was obviously very tall.

Additionally, she really was an extremely beautiful specimen of Imp. She had dark green eyes and bright blond hair, and her figure was quite full and lovely.

She was only a tiny fraction below Irma, in his personal opinion. But then again, he was biased. There was the distinct possibility that the Amazon was better looking than Irma.

“You’re him,” said the woman, her eyes widening. “You’re… the man in the picture. You’re really him.”

“Course, I am,” Sam said with a smile. He reached behind himself and closed the door. “And yes, I really was involved with Jenaphila. She was my personal Imp. My first Imp.

“Do you know that term?”

“Yes,” said the amazon, nodding her head fractionally. “It’s whoever is Jena’s second-in-command.”

“That’s what she was to me. Even to this day, technically, she wears my brand. Even your brand, is mine,” Sam said, walking over to her. “In fact—”

Pointing two fingers at the woman, Sam turned on her brand, then flipped her sexual sensitivity to maximum and her current stimulation to full, and left it engaged.

When your brand was on a person, you owned them completely.

As long as you were close enough and they didn’t have more power then you.

She moaned as her knees slammed together, and she hunched into herself. The Imp began to quiver right there in her chair.

“Your brand… is my old brand,” Sam said, sitting down across from the Imp. Watching her riding out an instant and massive orgasm, Sam waited for a full minute before he casually turned her body back to normality. “And you’re mine. Even if Jena branded you, it’s… my brand.”

“Oh gods,” whimpered the woman in a soft quavering voice. She cupped both her hands over her privates, covering them. “It won’t stop. Please. Stop.”

“I already turned it off. Give it a minute, it’ll run out,” Sam said with a negligent flick of his hand. Then he stuffed a small tendril of Essence into her. She seemed to be running low for some reason.

He was curious as to why that was so.

Maybe that’s my way in, if I wanted to bring her down?

“Ah!” squeaked the woman, her hands pressing hard between her legs. “You have Essence? Can I have some more?”

“I mean… I generate Essence. So, of course, you can have some more,” Sam said, quickly seeing a way to play this to his favor. “But first… your name. Your job title. What’s going on since I robbed the place? Did Jena do anything? Why don’t you have any Essence?”

“I’m… my name is Inese. I’m the branch head for the state,” murmured Inese. She looked over-stimulated, Essence hungry, and tired. “And nothing’s going on. Word from up top has been to just keep on as if nothing happened.

“I heard they put out a few traps, but nothing ever came of them so far. Mistress Jena hasn’t said or communicated anything either. She’s just… gone. There’s been nothing from her for a while.”

“Huh,” Sam said, leaning to one side. “When I robbed the place I glamored you. You told me people vanish. They still vanishing but she doesn’t communicate with anyone?”

“Yes, they still vanish. Often. But no one ever hears directly from Mistress Jena,” Inese said, then moaned, twisting in the seat, her skin breaking out in a faint sheen of sweat. “Now… please… please, can I have some more Essence? Please? I told you everything.”

“Of course, but you have one last thing to tell me,” Sam said. “Where do you get your Essence right now?”

“It’s sent out with our paychecks. A small stone. It’s enough to keep the hunger at bay for a week, but that’s it. Please? Now? Please may I have some? Master? Please?” begged Inese.

“Master? I’m not your master,” Sam said with a chuckle. He began to slowly put together enough Essence to sustain her for a month.

“You have my brand, you control my body, I’ve tasted your Essence,” Inese moaned, her fingers digging into herself. “You’re the Master. Please, Master, give me some Essence?”

Damn. That’s how Jena controls everything.

She’s strung them all out on Essence, removed all their resources and abilities on how to get it, and turned them into addicts.

That’s how she’s done it.

“I’ll give you all the Essence you want, Inese,” Sam murmured with a smile, leaning toward her. Reaching out, he began to slowly fill her with Essence. He wasn’t going to rush it. He wanted to make her think it was a never-ending stream. Sam wasn’t going to keep her strung out, but he wanted her to think he had more than she’d ever need. “Come on over here, so I can change your brand a bit. Then you can start bringing people who want out back to me. We’ll start pulling Jena apart, Imp by Imp.”

“Yes, Master. Change my brand, keep feeding me, please,” Inese groaned, coming over to him in a stumbling walk. Her mind was lost in an Essence craved haze.

Poor thing. She’ll probably be fine in a few days with a regular Essence feed.

I bet she tastes amazing.

Collapsing headfirst into his lap, Inese pushed her face down between his legs and practically rubbed herself against his privates.

“Feed me, Master, feed me,” begged the victimized Imp. The smart, proud, and determined Imp was gone in a flash.

Robbed of it all by Jenaphila’s tactics.

Sam lost his appetite.

Three - Aster -

Having fed the Imp to the point that she’d be able to function for at least a month without a concern, Sam was troubled.

Inese had only needed two weeks’ worth of Essence before she had calmed down. After that, she’d returned to a semi-normal state but still seemed “hungry”. Her entire presence hungered for him in a way he hadn’t felt since his first night with Irma.

If every Imp in the country was like Inese, they were all just a week away from going Essence starved. Knocking Jenaphila down from her perch wouldn’t just bring down her little criminal empire, it’d likely send the entirety of Imp society into a ditch.

Because as far as he knew, Jenaphila was Imp society.

Especially since—outside of Irma and her grandmother—he hadn’t met any other Imps who weren’t part of Jena’s camp. He didn’t doubt that there were more out there, he just hadn’t met them.

Inese was sitting in the other room, dozing on the couch. Apparently, having more Essence than she’d ever had previously in her life had made her sleepy. To the point that she fell asleep sitting upright once Sam got her to sit back down.

“That was… very strange,” Aster murmured, watching Sam from the edge of the bed. She and Hillary had remained in the bedroom while he’d talked to Inese, but he figured Aster would peek through the appliances.

“Strange? No,” Sam said, leaning up against the wall. “Awful and destructive? Evil? Yes. I’m all for control. I enjoy it as much as any other planar lord would.

“But I’m not in for control through torture.”

“That didn’t look like torture,” Hillary argued from her spot on the bed next to Aster. She was leaning back on her arms. “It looked more like a crack-head needing a fix or somethin’.”

“And that’d be the torture,” Sam said folding his arms across his chest. “An Imp without Essence is a lot like a crack-head. Especially if they’ve had a dedicated source of it for a while.

“Pretty sure Jena is feeding all her Imps just enough Essence to keep them on the hook and wanting more.”

“But… I knew Irma before you did,” Hillary said, shaking her head. “She mentioned once she didn’t know about Essence before you. She didn’t act like… that.”

“That’s just it, though. Ask her how she felt sometime,” Sam said, holding a hand out in front of himself. “If she’s being honest, she’ll tell you she was hungry. Hungry all the time and could never feel full. A hunger that nothing satiated. Some Imps will go to great lengths to try and fill that craving. Drugs, sex, adrenaline, you name it. They’re seeking something to fill that void.

“Irma just… ignored it and pranced along as if it weren’t a problem. She’s a very strong Imp.”

Aster nodded her head slowly at that.

“All my Imps were fed Essence by simply being in my plane,” Aster murmured. “They never really wanted for more, but they certainly didn’t want to ever leave the plane. I wonder what Jena did with them.”

“Wait, but, you told me once that you… ah… you… fill me with Essence whenever we have sex,” Hillary said, her cheeks turning red once more.

“Doppelgangers are all magic. So your body can store Essence at no cost because you’re not really mortal,” Sam said. “You’re more like Aster or I. I use you as a personal storage vault. No reason not to.”

“Yeah, you reek of Essence, Hill. You’re like a damn vault though. I can’t reach any of it because it’s not my Essence,” Aster said, then she laughed softly. “Though it does kind of mark you out as being Incubus-fed. And judging by how much Essence you’re carrying around, you really spend a lot of time on your back.”

Hillary lifted her chin up slightly and blinked rapidly.

“Well, good to know,” she said, ignoring Aster’s last comment completely. “Sounds like you should be trying to fill Inc-Suc with Doppels though.”

“Would if I could. Your race used to be rather hard to find,” Sam muttered. “I spent quite a while hunting female Doppels and offering them deals. They always said no. You were my first, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. I uh… forgot about that,” Hillary said, still not looking at Aster.

“Aww, you busted our sweet Sam’s Doppel-cherry?” Aster said, then leaned over to press herself into Hillary’s side. “Hill, you terrible thing, you.”

Squeaking, Hillary batted at Aster’s hands and then scooted further away on the bed.

“Stop it. Shut up, Ass,” Hillary growled, sounding angry, but not looking it.

Clearly they’ve bonded far more than I thought. I wonder why.

Or how.

Hm.

“Knock it off or I’m telling Abby you’re being a cunt when she gets back,” Hillary warned when Aster started moving closer again.

“You’re no fun,” Aster grumbled. “Fine, okay. Come ‘ere, I’m sorry.”

Aster then practically leapt at Hillary and began kissing her all over her face. Loud, obnoxious, wet kissing noises.

“Oh my shit, Ass. Stop, stop, stop,” Hillary said, wrestling with the Torment of Lightning.

I’m not sure if I should be laughing at this, or worried that Aster’s incarceration cracked her.

“Gimmie some sugar, baby,” Aster said, then bit Hillary’s neck, causing the Doppelganger to squeal and laugh at the same time.

The Doppelganger rapidly became a full ogre-sized version of herself and casually pried Aster off.

“Damnit, Ass, I’m so telling Abby,” Hillary said as she casually tossed Aster back onto the bed.

“Oooh, baby, rough me up some more,” Aster laughingly teased after hitting the bed.

“Stupid,” declared Hillary with her own laugh. “So stupid.”

Both women then slowly looked at Sam, as if only just remembering he was there.

“Don’t look at me. I’d go in for a three-way, but Hillary said no,” Sam responded with a shrug.

“Oh! Is it time to fuck me?” Aster said, and then kicked off her slip-on sneakers. Lying flat on the bed, she started to shimmy out of her shorts. “Bring it, Torment of Lust. I’m betting I can take more than you can give.”

Getting her shorts off, she flicked them at Sam. With a soft whap, they hit him square in the chest and fell to the ground at his feet.

She wasn’t wearing any panties, which fit her attitude right now perfectly Sam supposed.

Aster pulled her tank-top up over her head while scooting to the center of the bed. Her lack of a bra resulted in her being very naked, very quickly. She was only wearing a pair of short socks now. Balling the tank-top up, she flung it at Sam as well, but it landed at his feet instead.

“Well?” asked the Elemental who was likely older than him. Naked, beautiful, toned, and looking like a magazine model, Aster was clearly ready and wanting him.

Reaching down between her legs, she placed her fingers to each side of the thin lips of her slit and then spread herself wide open.

Her pink insides looked moist and ready. Then they slowly contracted until they were nearly shut.

“See? I’ve been practicing tightening up for the last two weeks. Going to make you want so much of my immortal pussy, you forget all your other women. Come get it, big boy and get hooked for life.

“This is yours for four hundred years, so make sure you get as much as you can. When it’s gone, it’s gone,” Aster said, letting go of her privates. Then she smacked her own rear end with both hands and laid her hands on her thighs. “Grab my camera, Hill? It’s in my purse. Get a few of me before he dirties me up. Need to commemorate it.”

Sam really didn’t know how to take this right now.

He had forward women in his life—Irene really pushed sometimes like no one else could—but this was definitely right up there.

There was a click next to him that made him turn his head.

Hillary had a camera in hand and was taking photos of Aster on the bed. Just as the other woman had requested.

Aster was posing in some very sultry ways. Spreading herself open, caressing her own breasts, and even working two fingers inside herself.

“Perfect. Thanks, Hill. Make sure you get some good shots of him nuts deep in me, okay? Some from the side where he’s just destroying me,” Aster asked. “And maybe a few after he creampies me. Like when it’s dribbling out and stuff.”

“Uh, sure,” Hillary mumbled. She looked uncomfortable, but it seemed she was willing to do as Aster asked.

Aster then held her hands out to Sam and wiggled her fingers at him.

“Come on already, baby-boy. I need some dick, so come give it to me. I’ll give you head on camera next time,” Aster offered.

Moving away from the wall, Sam quickly stripped himself out of his clothes. He’d been meaning to eat Aster. He’d just been busy.

“Damn, you’re hung,” Aster muttered, spreading her legs further apart. Her eyes locked to Sam’s privates. “See, now I kinda wanna suck it first, but I’m also really horny. Super horny.”

Chuckling, Sam crawled up on top of Aster and set his hands against her hips.

Smiling up at him, Aster shifted around under him and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Gonna fuck you so good, Sam,” Aster murmured.

Deliberately, carefully, Sam slipped himself into Aster’s psyche. With her being so willing, so needy, so full of desire, she might as well have been a piggy bank with a missing stopper.

Her defenses didn’t exist to him at the moment.

Staring back at him was a damaged, intelligent, frightened, and very hurt woman. Her years of captivity—of being starved nearly to death while being forced to power a grid—had hurt her.

He knew without asking that whatever had happened to her before Jena was almost as bad, or at least was similar. Aster had been a captive for far too long.

The self-assured Torment of Lightning was a thin facade of what she used to be. Acting like what she felt she should be doing, if she were her old self.

Aster wasn’t the Torment anymore at all.

She was also terrified of Sam. Terrified that he’d reject her. That he’d treat her as little more than a sex toy and discard her whenever he wanted.

So much so, that she was acting like it was no big deal in an attempt to try and hide those feelings.

Worst of all, it was very likely that Aster had no idea any of this was really going on in her head. She’d rationalized it all away.

But Sam could always dig into a person when sex was involved. Little could be hidden from him when it came to fears and desires.

Aster was just like all his other women. She wanted to be loved and accepted, first and foremost.

And was afraid of it.

“Shit. It’s been so long, I feel like a teenager all over again,” Aster muttered, her ankles coming up to wrap around Sam’s hips. “Damn. You’re not going to ki—”

Before she could finish, Sam leaned his head down and kissed her tenderly. It was what she didn’t want, but also what she needed in a way.

Going still, her muscles locking up under him, Aster froze.

Kissing her, Sam brought his hips forward, his tip catching against her entry.

Sam vaguely heard the click of a camera behind him as he continued to kiss Aster.

Slowly she began to kiss him back, her lips softening, her muscles gradually losing their tension. In a handful of seconds, she started kissing him with a ferocious need. Her hands pressing to the back of his head, as if she were afraid he’d pull away.

Pulling his knees up, Sam set them to either side of Aster’s rear end. Moving forward, he began to sink himself into Aster’s warm and tight interior.

Moaning against his mouth, Aster’s fingers curled into his hair, pulling him down harder.

Inside the depths of her mind, she was a quivering ball of fear and desire. Terrified of Sam, of the possibility of falling for him while being nothing more than a sex-doll to him.

He could ignore all of that and just give her a really good orgasm, and it would be more than enough. Her needs were simple and complex at the same time.

In fact, he’d even found her true name while digging around inside of her. All he had to do was command her appropriately and she’d be begging for more.

Except, that wasn’t enough for him.

Not anymore, at least.

After making love to a number of the women in his harem without feeding on them, he realized he wasn’t the same anymore.

That he wasn’t the Torment of Lust.

Breaking the kiss, Sam eased Aster’s face to one side with his own, trailing kisses down along her cheek toward her ear. Aster’s fingers caressed his hair and then slid down to sink into his shoulders, her finger-nails digging at him.

When he reached the hilt, he pressed himself up into her, and laid his mouth to her ear.

“Worry not, Aster Thais Penthia Cosima Stavra,” Sam said as softly as he could. “I’ll not cast you aside. And I’m not sure four hundred years is enough. Could we renegotiate for this to be for all time? I’d be willing to negotiate.”

Aster let out a rough exhalation of breath as he said her full true name.

“Sameerixis?” Aster whimpered, shivering under him.

“I want you all to myself, Aster,” Sam murmured against her ear, nuzzling the side of her face. He wasn’t lying either. Having Aster permanently in his harem would be a master-stroke as far as his personal Essence needs. The amount he’d generate from a few nights with her would be equivalent to a month of work with anyone else.

Going limp beneath him, Aster melted into the bed. The soft hum of the current that was always around her diminished as well. Her fingers began to gently slide back and forth across his back, rather than clawing at him.

“Okay,” Aster mumbled. “We can negotiate later, Sameerixis. For… for all time. When you’re not in my slit, or in my head.”

Of course, she’d know I was inside her. She was just as strong as I was.

She didn’t say no, though.

“We’re going to have a very fun time together, Aster. For as many years as you’ll let me have,” Sam said and then kissed her ear. Slowly, he began to pull his hips back from her. His shaft sliding free of her tight depths.

Letting out a slow breath, Aster nodded fractionally. He could tell she was panicked that he’d plucked her true name out of her, and that he wanted her permanently. She was also excited, happy, and feeling quite secure suddenly.

“Fuck, that feels so good,” Aster said in a moan when he reached the tip.

Turning his head, Sam began to kiss and nibble at Aster’s neck and shoulder as he plunged back into her with his manhood.

When he bottomed out, he adjusted his angle slightly, bringing himself up higher to hit at her clit.

“Wear my brand, give me yourself for all time, and I promise you’ll never want for anything, Aster,” Sam whispered as he drew himself back again.

Working back and forth, he began to rock himself against Aster.

“Wear your brand? For all time?” Aster asked in a pant followed by a breathy moan. “Will you wear my brand?”

There was a panicky freak-out bubbling up in Aster at her own question. She was horrified she’d even asked it. More so, that he was going to say no.

Terrifying her above all of that, though, was if he said yes.

He’d been expecting that question from her. It was essentially how one planar lord could marry another. Wearing one’s brand made things permanent.

They’d known each other for a long time. Worked together.

Had spent quite a bit of time around one another, but hadn’t really ever pursued each another. They’d always been in relationships with others at any given time. It’d just never really lined up timing-wise.

However, Sam had always been interested in her. She was a planar lord with strength, determination, and a mind that was sharp.

“Of course, Aster,” Sam said grinding himself down against her as he thrust into her once more. He didn’t mind binding her to him at all.

“Oh heavens, no,” Aster mumbled, her mind shrieking at her as she heard his response. “Later, Sameerixis. Later, please. Not right now.”

Her hands pressed tight to his back, trying to pull him in.

Accepting her wish, Sam said no more but instead concentrated on building Aster’s orgasm ever higher.

Pushing down on her hips, he kept thrusting into her with ever increasing speed and force. Trying to match his movements with what he interpreted Aster as wanting.

All the while, he was also tilting her sensitivity towards a peak. Pushing her body further and further towards a massive orgasm.

For her part, Aster was rolling her hips with him, clutching at him, and squeezing him with her slick walls. When he hit the hilt, she’d grind into him and squeeze for all her worth. Her mouth never stopped in its attack on his neck and shoulders, kissing at every inch of skin she could reach.

Often meeting his own lips, while her tongue darted in to touch his own.

Moaning softly the entire time he rode her, Aster was a very active and affectionate partner.

Her breathing was getting tighter though, the force of each exhalation coming out harder and harder.

Sam had been keeping a close watch on her tipping point and pushed it just a bit further away each time she reached it.

Edging her all along.

“Sameerixis!” Aster grunted, followed by a moan. “Let me cum, damnit.”

Grinning, Sam didn’t respond, but he pushed her orgasm further away than he had previously. Having an Incubus as a partner made it more fun. Especially since she knew what he was doing.

“Shit, you—” Aster started and then moaned again. Reaching down, she grabbed his hips and pulled at him as he pumped himself into her. “Damnit. Give it to me. Sam, I—”

Lifting his head up, he kissed her, silencing her. He kissed her with kindness, care, and love. Reaching up with his right hand, he cupped her face gently, his thumb sliding lightly over her cheek.

Aster’s mind turned over itself, her heart skipped erratically, and she hit her orgasm full-on as Sam dropped her straight into it.

Not wanting to wait, Sam allowed himself to climax at the same time, pushing even deeper as he began to pump seed into her.

Holding her breath, Aster shuddered. She was locked in an orgasm that was putting out more Essence than Sam had ever seen before during sex.

In his whole life, even.

Devouring it, he continued to thrust into the Elemental as he unloaded into her depths. Kissing her all the while.

Squeaking, Aster rode the peak, her hands and ankles holding tight to him.

Then he Essence spiked her as deeply as he could.

Spasming hard, Aster’s stomach clenched. She made a soft moan as Sam continued to fill her up, her orgasm spiraling wildly out of control.

Coming down from his climax, Sam continued to work himself through Aster. She clearly wasn’t quite done yet and she tasted amazing.

It was practically the taste of a virgin, since it’d been so long for her. On top of that, it was extremely potent because she was an Elemental planar lord.

Aster coughed, breaking the kiss as she finally ran out of breath. Taking in a gasp of air, she opened her eyes and stared up at Sam, her electric orbs having become a completely static pattern.

Several seconds after that, she started to slowly come down from her massive orgasm. Taking deep, hard breaths the entire time.

Pushing into her one final time, he found that she was finally spent. Sam then pulled his hips back. Pulling out of her, remembering her previous request.

There was a click from behind him after he settled down atop her. Followed by several more.

“For all time, yes. We’ll negotiate now,” Aster said in a husky whisper. Lifting both her hands she laid them to his cheeks. “Wear my brand, and I’ll wear yours. Right now. I should have made a move on you thousands of years ago. Holy fuck.”

Inside her mind, Sam could feel that Aster had undergone a massive shift in her mentality. An optimistic positivity was settling in place.

It was fragile as glass, but it was there.

The sounds of pictures being taken continued, though Sam didn’t care. He was just watching Aster beneath him and enjoying what he’d done to her.

The camera kept clicking away.

Four - Ugly -

Sam leaned over Irene’s shoulder, studying the monitor.

Setting a hand on the Witch’s back, he idly began to slide his fingertips back and forth across her shoulders.

“Stop it,” Irene mumbled.

“No. Because you like it. Your soul tells me so,” Sam disagreed, glancing away from the monitor to the soul in question.

It was practically hanging on him. A translucent version of Irene.

The Witch was five foot on a good day and could only be described as “small”.

She had hair like polished copper and bright blue eyes which made her pale skin almost as translucent as her soul. To the credit of her genetics, she was pretty, with a figure that was just better than average despite her petite size.

An undead Witch who was never honest with her wants and desires.

Reaching out, Sam set his free arm around the soul’s hips and drew it as close to his side as he could.

Ever since he’d started bedding Irene, her soul had become a near physical manifestation. Able to touch and interact with Sam and her body when and as it chose to. Often joining them in their sexual romps.

“She… she doesn’t get a… a say… in it,” Irene said in a breathy voice. Whenever he got his hands on her soul, it always made her body respond in a fun way. “Stop. I’m trying to focus. We can play later.”

Irene’s soul shook its head firmly and then wrapped its arms around Sam. Leaning its face into his neck, it began to nuzzle and kiss at his throat.

“Making me dizzy,” Irene complained, lifting a hand up to her brow.

“Sorry, sorry. Your soul is just very honest about its needs,” Sam said and carefully eased Irene’s translucent self away from him with a gentle pat to its shoulder.

Pouting, and looking rather angry, the soul jumped into Irene’s body, clearly determined to punish herself.

“Uuun,” Irene moaned, her head dipping down to the keyboard in front of her. Her hands went down between her legs underneath the desk. “I hate it when she does… I… do that. Damnit. This was a lot easier when she and I couldn’t interact.”

Laughing, Sam leaned down and kissed the side of Irene’s head.

“Be nice to yourself or I won’t play with you later. You’re just trying to do your job,” Sam murmured in her ear.

Leaning back up, Sam looked at the monitor again.

Hillary was wearing a hidden camera on her person. She and Inese were on a reconnaissance mission to review the security for the Essence distribution center.

Inese had practically worshiped Sam when she woke up from her Essence hangover in the hotel two days ago. He got the impression that she would become a very devoted Imp if he allowed it to happen.

The problem was, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to let that happen. He already had more than enough women he was emotionally attached to, and his feed harem was quite large.

He’d bumped the whole issue over to Abigail and Irma. They were more or less his pimps anymore and arranged everyone who lived in the building.

“Still can’t believe she talked her boss into it,” Sam muttered.

“I put together a draft for Inese to send over,” Irene murmured, her head still down on the desk. “Her boss is probably a little panicky over getting hit again. I can’t imagine Jena is a forgiving mistress.”

“No. I imagine not,” Sam agreed.

Hillary and Inese were being frisked by three men and checked over for anything that’d be a problem.

Sam had a momentary worry for Hillary and the camera.

No matter how many times Irma and Abigail promised him it wouldn’t be noticed, magic or not, he still couldn’t quite believe it.

Technology was a wonder, but sometimes it still felt like too much to him.

Moments later, they were ushered into a hallway exit from the lobby.

“And we’re in,” Irene said, lifting her head up from the desk. Her hands came up from below as well, and she grabbed the mouse and keyboard.

“Remind me to doubt Irma and Abigail less about technology,” said Sam.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. I put a few cantrips on it, at their request,” Irene said with a laugh. “Abby and Irma were both very paranoid about this working. Neither wanted to have to be responsible for telling you the plan failed and people got hurt. Especially Inese. I get the impression they both think she’ll turn into a new favorite toy for you.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders. He couldn’t deny he wanted to turn Inese inside out for a few hours. That would have to wait until after this little mission, though. Inese couldn’t be away for too long or it’d be noticed.

“Did they really? Ha. The little sneaky cheaters,” said Sam with a chuckle. It amused him when those two put their heads together. They were getting closer all the time, he’d noticed.

“And who is a cheater, Husband?” demanded a voice from behind him.

Turning his head, Sam found Decima Vera standing in the doorway. The one-time Witch-hunter and church Templar.

Formed from magic, she was now an immortal flesh golem, made by Sam’s hand. However, her new form matched her old in every way.

She had bright green eyes that had once been full of anger, but which now held determination and purpose. They were set in a pretty face with a curtain of black hair which did a lovely job of framing her attractive features.

Kitted out in body armor, a rifle slung over her shoulder, a sword at her hip, and a belt and vest full of gear, she had clearly just returned from her own mission.

“Oh, just people playing tricks on me,” Sam said with a grin. He straightened up completely and turned to face Decima.

Lady Decimation always demanded a certain amount of attention and respect.

Considering what she’d accomplished during her career, Sam was more than willing to give her that respect. They may have been on opposite sides of the field for most of her life, but she was technically one of his wives now.

“Are you well Lady Decima Vera Fidenis? Are you unhurt my wife?” Sam asked, turning his tone toward respect.

Decima’s eyes widened a fraction, her lips pressing together a bit more firmly, and her cheeks flushing with a faint bit of color.

Sam also noticed it when her heart rate sped up.

“I am well, husband Sameerixis,” Decima said. Her steps as she began to move closer were somewhat stiff and wooden. “As befits a wife of my station, I’m greeting you as my lord and husband, as well as announcing my safe return. I only set foot in our home minutes ago.”

When she got close enough, he knew that was the truth. She smelled of gunpowder, dirt, and blood. As far as he could tell, she likely had just stepped off the battlefield.

Standing in front of him, Decima looked unsure of herself. As far as Sam knew, it was the first time he’d ever seen such an expression on her face.

The Lady Decimation had led a long and bloody life without ever a backward step.

Looking into her slightly upturned face now, he only saw a young woman who didn’t quite know how to greet a husband she had yet to consummate her marriage with.

Leaning down, Sam pressed a warm and tender kiss to Decima’s lips, reaching up to lightly stroke her face with his fingertips.

Lingering only seconds, he pulled away and gave her a smile as her green eyes slid open.

“Welcome home, my lady and wife. I’m glad you’re well and safe. Is there any news I should know?” Sam asked, his index finger trailing along her cheekbone and toward her ear.

Using a smidgen of Essence, he sunk a few hooks into her and pried off some of her very cold exterior and defenses. If he was going to firmly bring her into his plans, he needed her to be open to effection. To trust him.

To be his wife.

“I… I…” Decima stopped speaking, took in a short quick breath, and then nodded once. “Yes. The new recruit was killed in action. Jes already tried to call Roger back to his body but he failed to return. She’s still trying but… I don’t think it’s going to work.”

“Ah, yes. The portal to the other side is quite strong, as you yourself know,” Sam said. His hand cupped Decima’s jaw, his thumb coming up to edge the line of Decima’s lower lip. “A good reminder for everyone to be careful.”

“Yes,” Decima said, clearly losing her train of thought in what Sam was doing to her. Staring up at him, it was obvious to him that she wanted to be kissed again.

A soft clatter in the hallway outside announced someone else would be joining them shortly.

Twitching, Decima grimaced, then took two steps to the side and began to work at her gear. As if she’d always been doing that.

Trooping into the surveillance apartment were Tiffany, Stacia, Abigail, and Carissa. They were all dressed in a way similar to Decima.

Abigail was a surprise, though. He hadn’t expected to see her geared up in that way. She was as untrained as one could be.

Tiffany, the Were-wolverine, marched right up to him.

She was only a few inches taller than Irene, with short brown hair in a pixie-style cut. Her eyes were a dark brown that was borderline black.

She was pretty, lean, and had a feral edge to her. Her figure wasn’t very impressive when compared to some of his other women, but neither was she flat.

Reaching him, she put her hands to the sides of his head, hauled him down, and kissed him hungrily.

Tiffany had definitely hit a weird patch in her perceived relationship with him. She’d often wined, dined, and bedded him whenever she had the opportunity.

Even expressing herself publicly.

Then she broke the kiss and smiled up at him.

“You only did that because I said I was going to,” Stacia said with a click of her tongue.

Tiffany didn’t say anything, but walked over to Decima instead.

Sighing, the beautiful Vampire came over to him.

Stacia was medium height with an athletic figure. She had light green eyes and her curly blond hair was cut short.

“I suppose it’s a good thing I like her, so I’m willing to take sloppy seconds,” She said, then came in close and kissed Sam as well.

Seconds after, she stepped away to join the others in her team.

For his part, Sam didn’t mind the attention at all. He liked it when his harem got along.

He planned on forcing Stacia and Tiffany into another three-way soon anyway. They were delicious together.

Carissa the cyclops and Abigail had gone over to Irene.

The cyclops was an excellent specimen of her race.

Her short raven-hued locks were mostly hidden under a black bandanna, her honey-colored eye on the screen. She had a build similar to Irene and Tiffany.

Abigail was the odd one out in this group, however.

A human with some weight to her, Sam enjoyed her figure. She had more in her curves than others because of it.

He bedded her almost as much as he did Irma, whom he slept with the most.

Abigail was a healthy young woman with a sharp mind. Her shoulder-length brown hair was caught in a ponytail and her translucent brown eyes flicked over from the screen to him.

She gave him a nervous smile, clearly knowing what he was going to ask.

“They… needed someone to run the comms,” Abigail said sheepishly. “I’m also doing some basic field medicine and combat medic… stuff.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t care what she did, so long as she kept safe.

Moving back to the monitor, Sam leaned into Carissa and slid an arm around the cyclops’ hips. Then pulled her up against his side.

Surprised, and visibly unsure how to react, Carissa ended up putting an arm around Sam and looked at his face.

Taking the opportunity, Sam stared into her large eye for several seconds, then smiled at her. Moving in close, he kissed her, holding to her.

Carissa, the hard-hearted one time freedom fighter turned police officer, melted into him.

Pulling back after a few seconds, Sam held onto her, then leaned into Irene.

“We’re just watching Hillary and Inese, the Amazon, on a mission. They’re doing a recon,” Sam said.

Resting her hands on him, Carissa stayed against his side.

At the same time, Irene lifted her left hand and began to lightly stroke Sam’s thigh.

Everyone in his harem was rapidly becoming physically affectionate, which was exactly what he wanted.

In the time he’d looked away, he realized that things had happened.

Hillary and Inese were touring what he could only begin to think of as a torture floor.

Hundreds and hundreds of cages were placed all around the room.

They were filled with men, women, Incubi, and Succubi. All in various stages of fucking. Not love making, or sex, or anything flowery at all.

It was a straight up fuck-fest. An orgy for the sake of plowing the other party, and finishing up.

The number of Succubi was staggering however in comparison. Stacked five atop one another at some points, he could see extremely drained looking men being used by them.

He didn’t know what was driving his brothers and sisters, but they appeared to be more animal than humanoid anymore

Then he saw the answer.

They were all bound by their true names, clearly inscribed on each and every cage.

One of the people giving them a tour walked up to a cage where an amazingly beautiful and busty red-headed Succubus was riding an exhausted-looking, though pleased, man into the floor.

The audio feed was all flesh smacking, moaning, groaning, and little else. Sam couldn’t hear what the tour guide was saying, but he was pointing to various points on the sheet of paper.

“What the fuck,” Tiffany said from the side. “The actual fuck? Oh my fuck.”

“I think… I think this is where Jes could have ended up,” Abigail murmured. “We were wondering where those people who vanished went. Want to bet this is where if they’re not handed out as pets? Jes was an Imp that was turned to a Succubus, right? This is that.

“The male imps are turned into breeding stock, or sent here if they don’t work out.”

Sam let out a slow breath, feeling his stomach twist over itself.

“She’s destroyed her own race, and made a mockery of my own,” Sam mumbled.

For the first time, he was starting to feel genuine anger at Jena. A real burning pit of rage that he wanted to vent on her face.

Violently.

Gesturing to one side, the tour guide led them out of the massive warehouse-like room of constant fucking.

“I mean… I’m down for a real punishing session with Sam but that—” Tiffany paused and then growled under her breath. “We need to destroy Jena and gut her entire empire. This can’t continue.”

“No, it will not,” Decima said, with steel in her voice.

Leading Inese and Hillary out of the room, the tour continued into another warehouse.

Plastic boxes with electrical wires, filled the room from one side to the other. Inside of each box was a man or a woman, sitting in a type of chair.

“They’re… draining them,” Irene said after a moment. “They’re like Aster. Elementals. They’re all being drained.”

“—and we had to switch some of the Electric and Storm Elementals over to powering the facility. After we lost the Alpha generator, we had to. It’s severely limited our ability to generate free Essence with so many Elementals offline,” said the tour guide. It was a lot easier to hear the man in this room. “Have you heard any news about getting the Alpha generator back online?”

“Alpha generator?” asked Carissa. “He means Aster, right?”

“That’d be my guess,” Irene said. “They did say they were using her to power an entire grid. It’s all one giant… supply chain made of misery. And this is all how Jena feeds her Imps and keeps them… docile.”

“Yeah,” Sam said under his breath. “Yeah. That… seems to be the whole of it.”

Hillary’s camera swung toward Inese when the tour guide wasn’t looking.

Inese had the look of someone dealing with shock and was doing her best to maintain her cool.

She didn’t know about this either. That means even the upper echelon doesn’t really know what’s going on everywhere.

That’d mean this facility is almost as closely guarded and protected as the one we busted Aster out of.

“This is a major target for us then,” Decima said with a growl in her voice. “We’ll have to plan it out accordingly, and strike at a future time. To do so, so shortly after Inese’s visit, would only make her seem all the more suspicious.

“If anything, it would be good to hire a team of losers and pitch them at the facility and let Inese’s proposed defenses take care of it.”

Rather cold-blooded of her, but I like it. It’d work.

It isn’t as if there aren’t groups of scumbags we could hire and throw at the facility and feel no regret for.

After all, there’s mercenaries out there who would happily “neutralize” a village without a concern in the world.

“I’ll talk to Irma about doing that,” Sam said. For the business side of things, along with contracts, it all went to Irma. She was more or less the CEO.

There were a number of Electric Elementals, lesser in power and ability than Aster though, who were tied into a slew of cables and wires that spider-webbed out in every direction.

“Pardon the mess. It’s a bit of a temporary solution for the current issues,” said the tour guide. “Supposedly we’ll get a team out in a month or so to come make some permanent changes to the wiring. Get it up to code, so to speak, and out of the way.”

“That’d be our way in,” Tiffany said, nodding her head decisively. “Wouldn’t it?”

The question was curiously directed at Stacia. The Were often went to the Vampire when it came to planning. Most of their disgust and anger for one another had been wiped out after he’d put them in a three-way with himself, where each one ended up eating out the other.

More than once.

“I mean… I’d think so,” Stacia said, her brows lowering down closer to her eyes. “We could definitely get tools, weapons, and some better surveillance in if we got the contract to do that wiring. We’ll have to talk to Inese when she gets home and go from there.”

Tiffany grunted at that, looking back to the screen.

Slowly, the tour guide took them out of this fresh version of hell, and into another area.

Which was almost worse.

Sam had finally found all the male Imps.

Stacked deeper, higher, and with far less space than what was even afforded the Succubi and Incubi, were thousands of male Imps of all ages.

Waiting to be bred on women when Jena needed the numbers to be balanced.

“Maybe we shouldn’t wait at all,” muttered Carissa. “This is… abhorrent.”

“Yeah,” Irene mumble. “Maybe… maybe we move faster.”

Move faster?

Maybe. Maybe not.

This could be our opportunity to take the facility over. Take it over, and use it to find every other location where Jena has her claws dug in.

Five - The Log -

“Okay. I need—” Abigail said and then let out a breath in a whoosh. “I need to go talk to Irma about this. She needs to know. And I honestly… I can’t watch this.”

Pulling out of the group watching the screens, Abigail started to walk away.

“I’ll go with you,” Sam said, backing out of the group as well, while running his hands all over Carissa.

Who didn’t seem to mind at all.

Catching up to Abigail as soon as she left the hallway, Sam was unable to help himself.

Snatching Abigail up around the waist, he pushed up against the wall and then kissed her. His hands resting on her sides.

Resisting for only a second, Abigail began kissing him back rather hungrily. Her hands slid up his chest and grabbed his shoulders.

Breaking the kiss, he nuzzled up along her cheek to her ear.

“Let me have five minutes of your time, my darling Abigail? I hunger for you, without feeding on you,” Sam murmured.

He knew that was a statement that always threw Abigail’s engine into overdrive. The idea that Sam wanted her simply to physically enjoy her—without eating—stroked her small underfed ego.

“Oh heavens, Sam,” Abigail whimpered, her fingers digging into his shoulders. “Okay. Yes. But… after we talk to Irma. We really need to tell her about this. Then you can… can have me as much as you want. You can… you can eat me on the last one, too.”

“I do love getting my lips on your sweet pink pussy,” Sam said, deciding to use a bit of dirty talk. He began sliding his mouth down her neck toward her shoulder. “I’d be happy to eat you out.”

“No… ah…” Abigail said and then moaned, her head tilting away from his mouth. “Nnn, Sam, Irma. Irma first. I love you, Sam. I do. Irma first. Then I’ll be your plaything.”

You’re such a dear woman, Abigail. You know just what I want to hear, too.

Nipping at her soft skin for a second, Sam stepped back and promptly wrapped an arm around her hips.

“Off we go then,” Sam said, not releasing Abigail.

“Y-yes,” said Abigail leaning partially against Sam. “We’ll check the office floor first. She doesn’t like to work out of your apartment unless she knows you’re coming home.”

“Oh?” Sam asked.

Walking side by side, the two of them headed straight toward the elevators.

“Yeah. She likes being home for you when you’re around,” Abigail said, reaching out to tap the elevator button.

My dearest Imp. She really is trying to make this more of a normal human union.

Then again… it isn’t as if I’m not enjoying it.

In fact, I do like that she’s home when I come back. I wonder if she’d like that.

I should wait at home for her when she’s working late. I bet she would like it.

“Should… should I wait at home for you, too?” Abigail asked as the elevator doors slid shut.

“If you like,” Sam said, turning to look at Abigail. She was the bloodline of Alisa. A woman who Sam had messed things up with, and had likely cared for more than he ever thought he had. Though it was still less than she had deserved.

Abigail was the only reason he was here on the plane. She’d helped him and continued to help him. She’d given more of herself than anyone else in his life.

The idea of not having Abigail in his life was painful. And he actually knew what that meant now, too.

“I love you, too Abigail. My Abby,” Sam murmured, holding her eyes with his own. “If you have a desire, I’ll make it my command. You need only tell me what you want.”

Abigail blinked slowly, her entire face becoming as red as crimson. Then she swallowed hard, her jaw tightening.

“A baby,” she said, her voice firm. “Your baby.”

Never. No. That’s not-

His thoughts came to a screeching halt.

If that’s what his Abby wanted, that’s what she’d get. Besides, the idea wasn’t such a terrible one to him anymore. He was enjoying his life here. Living with mortals on their plane.

This was the longest he’d remained on a plane like this, outside of Alisa, ever. Normally his life was to complete contracts, bed women, and get back to his plane where he could entertain himself with plane-servants.

Except he didn’t really visit his own plane much. He spent all his time here. He hadn’t even repopulated his plane with servants.

“Of course, Abby,” Sam said with a smile. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Wait, really?” Abigail asked, looking confused.

“Mmhmm. If that’s what you want. I love you, Abby. I wasn’t just saying that,” Sam said as the elevator dinged.

“I… okay. Okay. We’ll talk more about it later,” Abigail said, then she wrapped an arm around Sam’s hips in return. Then pulled him hard against her side. “I love you, too.”

Hauling on him as she stepped forward, Abigail seemed determined to change the subject.

Stepping out into the hallway, Sam could hear the quiet hum and click of computers, keyboards, and the soft murmur of people talking.

This entire floor had been demolished and rebuilt in a whirlwind of money and activity.

Now it looked like a strange imitation of Irma’s office building that she’d been working out of for her grandmother.

Sitting in desks throughout the floor were people who were employed by Incubus Inc. The parent company that owned a number of other companies including Inc-Suc, the PMC.

Sam knew every woman on this floor as well.

The simple reality was that half the time, all his clients needed was a job that wasn’t paying them bottom dollar. Anyone offered a job at Incubus Inc was the best skilled of his clients.

They also had to be willing to take Sam into their bed at the drop of a hat since they lived in the building too.

Most of the area was cubicles, small work areas, and groups of offices.

“Hey, Sam. You looking for Irma?”

Looking to the owner of the voice, Sam found Alexis Hegel.

The beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed, well-endowed Imp gave him a beautifully wide smile that showed off her perfect teeth.

Grinning back at the Imp, Sam walked over to her. She was positioned directly outside of Irma’s office in a rather large and impressive desk. With cubical walls she could raise and lower as she willed.

Being Irma’s “First Imp” had given her a lot of leeway.

“Maybe I was looking for you?” Sam replied.

“You sure about that? You found me this morning pretty easily. Last night, too,” Alexis said, leaning toward him and giving him a spectacular view of her impressive cleavage.

He’d softened toward her considerably since meeting her. She’d just been a random Imp he took ownership of and had given to Irma. Over time, she’d become a very endearing and kind-hearted member of his feed harem.

She was also a rather gifted Essence sorceress.

“Besides, you have Abby right there,” Alexis said, pointing to the other woman. “She’s more than enough to satisfy anything you’d ever need. But I wouldn’t mind splitting Abby with you?”

“Yes,” Sam said immediately.

“No. Not… no,” Abigail said, shaking her head. The only woman who’d been able to talk Abigail into sharing was Jes.

“Pity,” Alexis said with a smile, then she reached up and casually undid a button on her blouse. “Well, Sam, shall we go back to my apartment, or are you looking for Irma?”

“Irma,” Sam said regretfully.

“Mm. She’s in Abigail’s office,” Alexis said, unperturbed in the least. She undid another button, revealing her black lacy looking bra.

“Great. Thanks, Alexis,” murmured Abigail, pulling at Sam.

“Of course, Abby. Offer stands by the way. Friends or not, I’d be delighted to share you with Sam,” called the Imp, as Abigail hustled him away.

“You’re rather popular with my Imps, aren’t you?” Sam teased, as Abigail pulled him toward a doorway.

“Yeah, I am,” Abigail muttered. “I’ve hung out with Alexis. A lot. The moment you come up in the conversation in any way, they’re just… they want to have sex with me, with you. I have no idea what’s going on. I just make sure you don’t come up and we’re fine. Irma’s different, thankfully.”

That’s curious. I wonder if there’s something going on there.

Abigail let go of Sam, slipped free of his arm, and went into her own office.

“There you are,” Abigail said to what Sam assumed was Irma.

“Oh! Yes. I was just leaving you— oh, hi Sammy,” Irma said as Sam stepped into the doorway. “Don’t forget to go see Reix at noon at my old apartment. Auntie’s living there now, so she’ll summon him.”

Walking into Abigail’s office, Sam smiled at both women. They were the first two people he’d brought into his new life here on this plane and he cared for both of them.

“Yes, dear,” Sam said earnestly.

“Needed to talk to you. We were watching Hill,” Abigail said. “It’s an actual nightmare.”

“What, really?” Irma asked, looking concerned. She was standing behind Abigail’s desk with a pen in hand. In front of her was a yellow square where she’d clearly been writing the mentioned note.

“Yeah, it’s… it’s bad,” Abigail said.

Sam checked a sigh and then slipped out of the office. He didn’t need to be here for the recounting. Judging from the way Irma had been speaking, she had a task Abigail needed to do.

Which meant he wouldn’t get his time with Abigail.

Walking straight for Alexis, Sam caught sight of Gabriella sitting just on her other side.

Dressed professionally—and in a cute way—she had a distinct look to her. The clothes, meals with decent nutrition, and lack of stress, had all given the young Latin woman an aura of health and beauty.

Even her black hair had a healthy shine to it now.

As if feeling his eyes on her, Gabriella’s light brown eyes turned toward him. The smile she sent him turned her from cute to pretty in a single second.

Alexis turned a second later and saw Sam as well. Shifting her seat, she faced him head-on while adjusting her blouse.

Walking up to the Imp, Sam stood right in front of her.

Alexis didn’t hesitate, reaching up to begin fondling Sam through his pants.

“Alexis and I are going to take a break—you’re willing, right?” Sam paused to ask Alexis.

“More than willing, baby,” Alexis purred at him.

“Alexis and I are going to take a break. Want to come?” Sam asked Gabriella.

“Sure. So long as you spare me and clean me up with Essence. I don’t want to ruin my clothes or stink,” Gabriella said. “And you’re going down on me this time, Alexis. I did it last time in our three-way.”

“Not a problem, I’ll take care of both of you at the same time. I’m good at it,” Alexis said, starting to pull Sam’s zipper on his fly down. “Now let’s get going, before I start us up right here.”

Love my feed harem.

***

Stepping out of the portal and into Irma’s old apartment, Sam felt strange. The place was very different than he remembered it last. All of her furniture was gone, of course, since it was in their current apartment.

Even beyond that, it was obvious Melody, Irma’s “auntie”, had moved in. Everything here was now of extremely high quality, taste, or material.

“Oh, hey,” said a female voice.

Turning in place, Sam found Melody Lark, contractor, and in-law.

“Auntie,” Sam said, smiling at the woman.

Dressed today in very casual clothes, Melody looked like a young woman fresh out of college. Additionally, her black hair and dark eyes gave her a slightly off-beat look.

The magic moving around her made far more sense to him now than it did when he met her. Being the child of the Guardian and a contractor had changed the woman considerably.

To Sam’s eye though, much of that magic—the contracts themselves—had twists and turns in them. Kinks, knots, and snarls.

The contractor rebound is starting to take a toll on her. Isn’t it?

Melody grinned at his greeting, then came over to give him a hug.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re taking care of Irma,” Melody said, ending the hug and taking a step back from him. “And you… why you’re looking positively happy anymore. She making a good man out of you?”

Sam considered that, and then shrugged.

“I love her,” he said simply, as if that took care of it.

“An Incubus in love,” Melody said and then shook her head. “Well, stranger things have happened. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find my Indigo one day.”

“You will,” Sam said with sincerity. He knew for a fact that this young woman was much older than she appeared. In addition to that, she was starting to suffer the long term consequences of unfiltered contracts.

She was going to need her mortal counterparts sooner rather than later.

“I dunno. I got a lot of crap in my closet,” Melody said, taking a seat in a recliner. “And I’m really picky. Really really picky. My Indigo is going to have to be… something really special. Something that could sweep me off my feet and send me spinning away.”

Sam peered at Melody.

Her father was the Guardian, she was contracted to Reixhitz. There was no reason for her to question if she’d meet her Indigo contract when she had the ability to get the information when she wanted.

Then he realized that actually might be the problem.

“Too close to your father and Reix to ask? Blurs your future?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Melody said bitterly, shaking her head. Her annoyance was obvious.

“You’ll find your Indigo. I’m sure of it. Just a question of time. Make sure your contracts are safe and sane till then,” Sam said. He’d known a number of contractors who lost their mind because they went too fast.

Right now, she was only showing the very early signs of the stress a contractor’s life put on the body. But they were there.

“Anyway,” Melody said, flicking a hand out to her side. “Heeeeeeere’s Reixhitz.”

With a soft pop, the Torment of Sanity stepped out of a portal that came to life out of nowhere. There was no flash, showmanship, or pizazz to it. He simply joined them.

Reixhitz was a man with white hair and blue eyes which had almost no color, they were so pale. The last time Sam had seen him though, he’d looked far older. Far more wizened and ancient. Now he looked more like a man in his late fifties.

“Good evening, Sam,” Reixhitz said.

“Reix,” Sam said, nodding his head at the other man. “You’re looking really good.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you. I have two planes under my control and I’ve begun refilling them,” Reixhitz said. “Except… I’m afraid I have to ask you for another favor. I know I already owe you for my resurgence but… I’m afraid I must make myself a debtor once again.”

Another favor in addition? Never let someone else get too deep in your wallet.

What do I need?

Ah. Irma would tell me to take care of family. Melody is family.

“Mm? Alright. As for the first favor… take up as much of Melody’s contract feedback as you can until she can find her Indigo,” Sam said, pointing at Melody who was still sitting in her chair. “She’s showing the early signs of contractor sickness.”

“Hey—” Melody said.

“Oh? Done!” Reixhitz said with a chuckle. “That’s far cheaper than I thought your price would be. A moment.”

Looking at Melody, Reixhitz held a hand out toward her.

“Wait, what—” Melody stopped speaking and twitched hard to one side in her chair. Her teeth locked together in a snarl and all of her contracts started glowing as if they had been lit from within.

Then they winked out and Melody sunk in her chair, panting hard.

“Done. Wonderful. Thank you, Sam,” Reixhitz said, looking back to Sam with a smile. The Torment of Sanity had clearly picked up a few wrinkles he hadn’t had a few seconds ago, but he seemed to think he’d gotten the better of the deal. “Now, the new favor.”

Sam nodded his head, waiting.

“I need to reacquire something I lost during my imprisonment. An item of great value which I bargained far too much away for. I need to get it back,” Reixhitz said, watching Sam.

“Okay. What is it, and where did it go?” asked Sam.

“I don’t know where it went. Last I saw it, one of my Spirits had it on my home plane. They were guarding it for me. Safekeeping it,” Reixhitz said, then sighed. “They’re missing, most of my treasury is empty, and my home plane is barren of… everything. I can rebuild the plane, and honestly, I can get back everything I lost, but this item… I’ll need help getting it back.”

“Okay, but what is it?” Sam asked. Glancing to Melody he saw the contractor was gradually getting ahold of herself again.

A lot of the twisted magical paths he’d seen surrounding her were unknotted now. Where they’d been bound, twisted, and looped all around her, they were now straight pathways with no kinks in them.

Good. Now she’ll have time to wait for her Indigo, rather than rushing ahead.

“It’s… it’s the Log,” Reixhitz said with a heavy voice, his eyes dropping to the ground.

“The Log!? You had the Log?!” Sam exclaimed, his voice jumping up in volume. “How the hell did you get that? The Angelics protected that thing as if it would bring the end times down in a New York minute!

“In fact, didn’t Retribution have it? He didn’t give a damn about anyone but his lord. And we were certainly not his lord. As far as he was concerned, we were little better than shit to be scrapped off a boot.”

“Yes, well… I bartered with Retribution and the Guardian, both,” Reixhitz. “Retribution gave it to me in exchange for something I can’t mention. It was part of the deal I made. The Guardian unlocked the Log for me to use. One of the provisions to him was that I swore to never use it in any way that would assist the Silent One.”

Oh? Hm.

As long as it doesn’t help him, it couldn’t be that bad.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam spotted Melody shaking her head fractionally. It took Sam a moment to realize what that little head shake indicated.

Reix doesn’t know your father is the Guardian, but your father told you I know who you are? How curious.

“Right. And you want to go get the Log back,” Sam said.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? It’s mine, I paid for it. I’m the rightful owner. I will get it back,” Reixhitz said. “But… I can’t go get it myself. I suspect that the person who has it will know the moment I come looking for it. I can tell that the little ingrate hasn’t been able to use the Log, so that makes this easier, but he’d know if I came.”

“Ah… so it’s your First Spirit?” Sam asked. He knew Reixhitz didn’t use Imps because they didn’t suit his purposes in the same way. He used Spirits.

Typically Spirits of Intelligence or Intellect.

“I suspect so,” Reixhitz grumbled. “I’ll need you to track him down, get the Log back, and then… well, give it to me.”

“Hm. Alright. But I get to check the Log for three answers,” Sam said.

“Three? Sam! Sam. We both know that the more often it’s used, the more the Silent One is likely to come looking,” Reixhitz grumbled.

“You just said it hadn’t been used. That means there’s six answers it can provide this decade,” Sam said. “I want three of them. A small price to pay for getting it back. And that’d be my favor. No further strings attached.”

“That’s it?” Reixhitz asked, his tone now curious. Given what Sam could probably ask for, the price was the definition of “cheap”.

“That’s it,” Sam said. “There’s few of us Torments left, Reix. I’d rather you think of me as a friend, instead of just someone to barter with.”

Reix frowned, staring hard at Sam now. Then he slowly nodded.

“Alright then,” Reix said. “Alright.”

“Speaking of other Torments,” Sam said with a smile, “You’ll need to send me a bonding gift soon enough. Aster and I will be exchanging brands.”

Reixhitz gawked at him, as if Sam had told him the earth was flat and humankind had never landed on the moon.

“Beg your pardon?” Reixhitz asked.

“Aster, the Torment of Lightning, and I, are going to exchange brands. Probably later this year,” Sam replied calmly. “I’m also married to Lady Decimation. I brought her spirit back over from the other side.”

Reixhitz took in a slow breath, then let it out.

“I see. Well. Alright then,” Reixhitz muttered, shaking his head. “I’ll send something for you and Aster, but nothing for Decimation. The rotten bitch can die again for all I care. She gave me a limp that lasted for a hundred years regardless of the avatar.”

Chuckling at that, Sam could definitely understand.

Lady Decimation indeed.

Six - Going Loud -

“It makes my boobs hurt,” Jes complained, pushing at the body armor she was wearing. “I mean, I can do a corset and do it good. But this is just criminal.”

Lifting her head, she met Sam’s eyes.

“It’s not very comfortable,” complained the Succubus.

The planar lady known as Jezebel Sameerixis Fidenis Mary-Ann Lee Prima was a very uncommon Succubus.

For being less than a year old, she was a master of desires, able to feed directly from Sam, and refused to eat from anyone but him.

Outwardly she was a prude regarding anything that didn’t concern Sam and his needs, and had a moral view of things that didn’t really match the world today.

She was also the single most beautiful woman he’d ever met.

Her dark brown hair pulled was back behind her head in a pony tail that dangled down to her rear end. Her dark blue eyes—which were almost purple—seemed to be pleading with him.

To be fair, her perfect bust was actually being crushed by the armor.

“Just… use some Essence to loosen the strap a bit,” Sam offered. “You’ve been practicing subtle things like that, haven’t you?”

“Somewhat,” Jes said, glancing back to her chest. A second later and she sighed. “Oh, that’s better. I really should practice Essence sorcery more often. I swear Alexis is better than I am.”

She is but… we’ll not mention that.

Sam looked over to the other side of the room.

Decima, Wren, Tiffany, and Irene were all chatting quietly about something. In the opposite corner was Stacia, Carissa, Hillary, and Abigail.

It was fairly obvious to Sam that they’d divided themselves by function.

Combat-oriented and everyone else.

“You could always shrink ’em,” Aster said, reaching over to paw at Jes. “You already look like a magical wet dream porn star. Makes me want to make a shell like yours.”

“It’s not a shell,” Sam said, while Jes lightly pushed Aster’s hands away. Jes didn’t seem to mind Aster’s behavior that much.

No one did, it seemed. Aster was a presence all her own.

“Well, not really,” Sam amended, watching Aster grab Jes’ chest again. “You see her exactly as she is. She just made a shell that looks exactly like herself.”

“Wow, really? Damn Jessie,” Aster exclaimed, grabbing Jes by the face with both hands. “Let’s make out, then jump Sam. I bet we can get him way up there in flavor.”

That was the magical word when it came to Jes. If you were in his feed harem, she could dig into your desires, figure them out, and how they could apply to Sam, and then she’d run with them.

“Oh? Three-way with Sam? Okay, but you’re the in-between girl and I like riding from on top,” Jes said, drifting in towards Aster.

“Done. Ride my face while Sam pumps me full,” Aster said, half-closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side, while moving toward Jes.

“Later,” Sam promised, gently prying the two planar lords apart. He didn’t want to, but he knew self-control wasn’t a commodity either one had with certain subjcts. “Time to work real soon.”

Jes nodded once and went back to her locker, pulling out more gear.

“You’re right. Thank you for keeping me on task,” Jes said, giving him a sweet smile over her shoulder.

Aster clicked her tongue and turned her glittering sparking eyes toward him.

“Sam, we have more than enough time for a quick three-way,” Aster pleaded. “Please?”

Since their first go-round in the hotel, Aster had been quick to jump him at every opportunity. Even barging in on him when he was with a few others and then getting into a three-way with them.

He knew that it was just her way seeking the reassurance he’d given her. That her fragile sense of self needed that reaffirmation.

Reaching out, he hooked his arm around Aster’s shoulders and drew her closer. Everyone else was mostly involved in their own preparations right now, so he didn’t see a concern in strengthening her resolve.

Pulling Aster with him, Sam stepped between two rows of lockers and pressed his mouth to her ear.

“Calm yourself, my Branded,” Sam whispered, his lips touching her skin as he spoke. “Calm… be assured. Just because we haven’t had time to finalize it and exchange brands, doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”

Aster scoffed, her hands pushing at his chest as if to get away.

Then she froze, her head tilted forward, and she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

“I’m your Branded?” she asked.

“And I’m yours. You need to calm down though. You don’t have to barge in on every time I eat,” Sam said, holding Aster gently. “Have no fear, I crave you. Both for a meal and simply to enjoy being with you. Just… calm yourself, Aster. Aster Fidenis.”

“I… I’m…” Aster’s voice faded away.

“The Torment of Lightning. Aster Fidenis. My Branded,” Sam reassured. “A woman who is my equal in strength and power, and is hurting.”

Aster’s hands tightened on him, her fingers clawing into his body armor.

“You’re not who you were, but you’ll become something better. Now… drop the act for a bit, relax, and stop thinking about how to push yourself further into my own circle. We have to build you up into an equal. Not a Feed Harem member.”

Aster took in a sudden and quivering breath, then let it out in a rush.

“Equal member. Aster Fidenis. Your Branded,” Aster said, nodding her head. “Okay. Okay.”

Stepping away from Sam, Aster walked back into the aisle and then marched off toward where Decima was.

“Good work, honey,” Jes said, not looking up as she re-laced her boots. “She’s going to make you taste amazing.

“Have I mentioned I love you?”

“You have. And I love you too, Jezebel Sameerixis Fidenis Mary-Ann Lee Prima,” Sam said. “Will you wear my Brand and may I wear yours?”

Jes came to a slow stop, her hands hovering over her laces. Then she turned her head and stared up at him.

“You want to?” Jes asked, her pupils little more than pinpricks.

“Mmhmm. I’m going to exchange brands with Aster. I should make sure I do that with you, first,” Sam said. “If you’re willing.”

“I… of course,” Jes said, standing up slowly. “Of course, I’m willing. I just… I didn’t… you’re so… vague. And distant. I didn’t know you really felt that way.”

Jes was the picture of a confused and beautiful sex goddess.

“Yeah, well, I’m finding that in this year so far, my life has changed more than when I became a planar lord,” Sam said with a shrug and meant it. “Get with the times or get out, right?”

“Right,” Jes said, grinning at him from ear to ear. “Yes. I’ll exchange Brands with you. When we get back?”

“When we get back,” Sam agreed.

“We got about five minutes people before the contractor opens that portal,” Decima called out. “Last minute detail checks in three minutes. Don’t forget your cloaks.”

Jes winked at Sam and then turned to the group nearby.

“You heard her girls. Let’s get moving. Go-go support team!” cheered Jes. “We’re the bra that holds those big flabs of boob fat up.”

Stacia grinned at that, while Hillary laughed.

Abigail only shook her head but looked amused.

“You have the biggest bra size here,” Carissa replied neutrally.

“See? I should know all about bras,” Jes said, patting Carissa on the shoulder and dragging her into the next room. “And we’re a great bra team for the boob fat team.”

“Boob fat,” Sam said, smiling at Stacia who’d lingered behind.

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t have a whole lot,” Stacia said. “My vest fits rather well.”

Rolling his eyes at the compliment fishing, Sam just walked by her, sliding his arm through hers and pulling her along.

“And I’d bed you eight ways from Sunday without ever feeding on you for your beauty alone,” Sam gave her.

“Speaking of feeding,” Stacia said. “Can I snack a little if we get the chance? I’m feeling a little nervous. Watching Roger die was… I dunno. It just reminded me how mortal we are.

“Sure, we have a huge likelihood of dodging death because you can call us back but he… he didn’t come back.”

“Course. Not a problem. And yeah… he crossed over, it sounds like,” Sam said.

Walking into the adjacent room, Sam was surprised. Melody was standing off to one side in a business suit, beside an already opened portal. .

On the other side of the portal, he could see Jes, Carissa, Hillary, and Abigail all chatting as they checked the interior of wherever they were going.

All the remaining chaotic energy that had been around Melody the last time he saw her was completely gone.

“Hey,” Melody said, waving a hand at Sam. “Figured I’d just… open it now. Leads into a warehouse. Reix said good luck and thanks.”

“Oh. Thanks,” answered Sam, pulling his cloak out and putting it on. He looked back at the vampire by his side. “Rain check on the juice?”

“Yeah, thank you, Sam,” Stacia said, pulling out her own cloak. The spell that filtered out UV was a constant thing around her. Maintained by her own ability now, instead of Sam.

Stacia moved ahead, through the portal to the other side.

“Hey, Melody, can I ask you for a favor?” Sam asked, looking at the contractor.

“Certainly, though if it’s sex, I’ll have to say no,” Melody said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Saving all that I can of myself for my Indigo.”

“No! No, no,” Sam said, shaking his head. “I’m going to have a child with Abigail. Probably Irma eventually as well. Any chance you’ll be their godmother?”

“Oh! Yes. I can certainly do that. Not a problem,” Melody said with a grin.

“Great, thanks. See ya after the mission,” Sam said and then crossed over to the other side.

Before Sam could get settled in, let Stacia have that snack, or do much of anything, Decima led her group into the room.

The portal closed shut behind them.

“Alright, let’s get moving. We’re supposed to head to the Torment’s old seat of power. Pick the trail up from there,” Decima commanded. “I want Wren up front, Tiffany at the rear. Single challenge, then eliminate them. We’re strangers in a strange land and we don’t have the time or inclination to linger.”

Wren—looking like the warrior all Cambion were—moved to the door and threw the locking latch up then pushed the door open. Stepping into the world outside, she held her rifle close to her chest.

They weren’t taking anything for granted here.

Not taking tech from their world would have been an idiotic move, to say the least. Sam didn’t care one whit for the development of this plane. He was here only to get a job done.

Decima met everyone’s eyes and then went outside to join Wren.

She was followed by everybody else, with the rear being taken up by Sam and Tiffany.

Staring at the back of Abigail’s head three people ahead of him, Sam wasn’t sure how he felt about her coming along. But by this point, she seemed to have blended into the team rather well.

As far as he knew, she’d only gone on two missions previous. Both took place when he wasn’t there, but he hadn’t thought much of it.

He needed to change his opinion, it seemed. Abigail was a contractor in the Inc-Suc PMC and had earned her place.

Looking around, he found that they were on what he could only describe as a dirt street lined with ramshackle wooden homes. They were all built too close to one another and were held up more by their neighbors than their own supports, he imagined.

All around him went men, women, and non-humans dressed in brown and what was likely once white clothes. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of dyed cloth.

Looks like right after Rome fell. The “dark age” as they called it.

Hm. I wonder if they have a feudal system, too.

Could be fun to make contracts here. They were always much simpler.

“Abby got shot in the face. Twice,” Tiffany said from behind him out of nowhere. “Killed who shot her, too. Jes fixed it. Abby didn’t want anyone to tell you.”

“Remind me to reward you for your loyalty to me above others,” Sam said after turning his head to look at Tiffany directly.

He meant it, too. If she swore to not tell him, but did anyway, he’d reward that.

Tiffany didn’t meet his eyes for long, but she did nod at him. Her head turned right back to the surrounding area. With so many people so close, it was going to be hard to make sure people didn’t try anything stupid.

Given their presence and how they were carrying themselves, however, the local people were giving the Inc-Suc PMC members a wide berth so far.

“Is… that where we’re going?” Stacia asked from directly in front of him. Her head was slightly tilted up and it looked like she was gazing off to the side.

Following the direction she was looking, Sam saw a rather large palace.

It wasn’t a castle as one might expect from such a setting, but an actual palace. Glittering, sparkling, and as far as he could tell, covered in gold leaf and jewels, it was amazingly gaudy.

“Probably,” Sam muttered. “I could see Reix building that, but not the exterior. I’m thinking that’s someone else trying to show that they’re the one in charge. Not Reix anymore.”

“It’s hideous,” Irene mumbled from behind Abigail. “I like gold and sparkly things as much as the next girl, but what… the… fuck? That’s just… no.”

“Did Reix say anything about not robbin’ the place?” Tiffany growled. “I wanna buy a new truck.”

“You just got one the other week,” Stacia reminded her. “We went out and bought it together.”

“I want another one,” Tiffany grumbled. “A four-by this time.”

“No, he didn’t say anything about not robbing the place. Consider it fair game as long as it doesn’t risk the mission,” Sam said.

“Great, gonna rob their fucking treasury,” Tiffany said. “You in, Irene? Stacia? I’ll need a portal.”

“Course, I’m in,” Irene promptly replied. “It’s a pile of money waiting to be taken. We can—”

“No more talking,” Decima called from the front. “Guards up ahead. We might end up having to do something. We don’t speak the local tongue.”

Now that she mentioned it, Sam noticed that everyone here was speaking what sounded like a very odd and modified dialect of ancient Greek.

He could understand a great deal of it, but not everything. His own understanding of Greek had slowly morphed toward the modern version rather than it’s original dialect.

“I can probably speak it,” Aster said. “It’s all Greek to me. Ha. There’s some oddness to their—”

“Get up here then,” Decima interrupted her. Aster quickly moved to the front of the group.

Course she understands it. She probably had a hand in inventing the original language back in the day.

Their group came to a stop and spread out a bit. At the front, Decima and Aster were speaking with several men in simple leather armor. They had the look of a militia or town guard.

Whatever was said between the group and Aster wasn’t very polite, or remotely friendly.

In fact, Sam would wager that what was actually happening were the guards demanding that Aster let them take her back behind the building.

Given her personality as it is right now, I’m going to bet on someone dyi—

Aster slapped her right hand to the side of the leading man’s head. Lightning coursed through his body, his muscles going rigid.

Blood began flowing from his eyes, ears, and nose.

In seconds the man became a blackened husk, with smoke billowing out of his skin as if he were being cooked from the inside out.

Letting the man go, Aster turned her eyes to the other two men.

“Above all, I detest the boasts of a proud tongue,” Aster growled in the true Greek language she’d molded around her pantheon. “More so, a man of villainy who would force himself upon a woman. Get thy self hence and take this offal.”

The remaining two guards grabbed up their fallen compatriot and rushed off without another word.

“I think we’ll be fighting our way there,” Decima grumbled.

“That’s fine,” Irene countered, clapping her hands together. A purple wall of shimmering power expanded out in front of her.

“By twos?” Abigail asked. “Like last time?”

“By twos,” Decima agreed.

Everyone quickly sorted themselves out into pairs. Sam remained at the rear with Tiffany.

Most of their firepower was evenly spread out with their magical combatants interspersed throughout the entirety of the column.

Hmm... we really do have a lot of force in this little PMC of ours. I’m not sure there’s much that could actually stand in our way.

Moving at a light trot, the company kept heading straight for the castle. There was no reason to move slowly now that they’d more or less announced their presence.

Seven - Run and Gun -

“You know, I really didn’t see this—” Stacia paused to hold her left hold out. A red bolt of liquid badness zipped away from her palm and smashed through the head of a soldier who’d come running out of an alleyway. “Turning into a running firefight.”

“Honestly, the moment Aster tried to talk for the group, I thought it’d be this way,” Sam answered. “Aster has always been—”

Sam’s words were drowned out as Wren’s rifle ripped out with short bursts of gunfire in front of their group.

“Has always been free with her wants and short-tempered when anyone tries to make her do anything,” Sam finished.

“I like her,” Tiffany said, pulling her shotgun up in front of her, sighting a militia man and pulling the trigger.

The heavy slug blasted through the man’s breastplate and knocked him to his ass.

Moving ever onward, it felt like Wren’s rifle was a constant and ugly reminder that they were in danger. Irene had swapped places with Decima and was throwing out ugly blobs of purple witchery that made people melt.

Up ahead, Sam could see the outer wall’s gates which led to the palace. The massive heavy doors were shut and the portcullis was down in front of it.

Oh. That might be something I need to handle.

Drawing on the constant stream of Essence he’d been generating through sex, Sam built up a construct of heat.

He pulled on the very flames of the underworld itself, as well as whatever heat he could draw from his personal plane.

Because the truth was, as much as Sam claimed not to be a demon, the underworld wasn’t a place that could harm him.

He’d been born there. A citizen of Hell.

It was beyond unlikely that he’d ever get to pull a soul across in the same way he had Decima—not without some heavy bargaining—but he could always borrow some of the substance of the underworld itself.

A chilling blue flame formed above his team as they ran. Fighting their way onward, soldiers and militia men began clearing the way rather than face them.

Clearly they’d figured out that when dealing with Sam’s team and their “unknown” weapons, it was better to run away. Not that he could blame them for their cowardice.

“Sam?” Aster called back from the front.

Must be my cue.

Controlling the blue flame to speed off toward the gate, Sam felt a severe dip in his Essence banks. He was constantly filling them with Emotional Essence through sex, but he was still extremely lacking in Life Essence.

There simply was no substitute and he had precious few opportunities to gain it anymore outside of contracts.

Not to mention, he had to have enough Life Essence in reserve to keep Jes and Decima alive. He couldn’t squander it carelessly.

And that dip in Essence triggered his hunger.

He could smell Tiffany next to him and Stacia in front of him. Sam was practically imagining the smooth flavor of Stacia blended in with the meatiness of Tiffany at the same time.

Desperately, he craved getting them into a three-way and repeatedly having them orgasm until he was full.

There was no impact or boom when the flame hit the gate.

All one could hear was a faint sizzling sound. Immediately followed by the gate, the stonework around it, the portcullis, and a section of the tower it was a part of, becoming molten rock and iron.

Superheated by an Incubus who tapped into what was hell.

Sam could feel Jes building a spell over their heads.

As they were about to cross into the bubbling molten morass that was once the palace gates, Jes brought her spell-work to life.

A solid and very icy looking metal of some type was formed over it all. Like a ramp.

Running onto the metal, the company didn’t stop for even a moment.

Hitting the courtyard, everyone formed into a circle, Irene and Stacia forming two halves of a sphere and building it around the group.

Hillary, Tiffany, Wren, and Abigail fanned out and began taking shots at everyone they could see with a weapon.

“Aster, Sam, Tiffany, with me to the throne room. Carissa, take Jes and get up to a perch,” Decima ordered. “The rest of you hold this position.”

Reacting immediately to the given instructions, the team broke apart and reformed quickly.

Decima was in the lead with Aster on her right. Sam had moved to Decima’s left and Tiffany was in the rear again.

The Were-wolverine was an excellent rear guard.

Unsheathing her sword with her right hand, Decima drew her pistol with the left. Sam immediately did the same.

Amusingly enough, they had a similar fighting style if Sam wasn’t using his Essence.

Holding a hand out in front of herself, Aster shot out a lightning bolt that cracked into the large heavy door of the palace.

The entire door blew inward as it splintered into little more than woodchips.

Stepping over the wreckage, everyone piled into the receiving hall.

Decima raised her pistol and began taking shots at the soldiers who were rushing toward them. They were dressed differently than those they’d met so far, which meant they were likely an elite palace guard.

Pity.

Sam lifted his pistol and began firing as well. Tracking a target, Sam pulled the trigger twice after aiming center mass. Then he moved on to the next.

For some, it wouldn’t be enough to kill them, but it would put them out of the fight. There was little they’d be wearing that could stop the modern day rounds his team were using.

Aster held her hands up above her head. Thin bolts of lightning began streaking out of her hands and hitting every enemy visible.

In seconds, the Torment of Lightning had quite literally cleared the field.

“Have I mentioned I really like where the world is?” Aster grinned, giving her hands a shake and letting them fall to her sides. “Having Essence on tap is… amazing. Simply amazing. I kinda want to find a nuclear power plant and see how it tastes.”

Damn.

The world is literally her oyster now, isn’t it?

Decima gave the room a thorough look, then started moving forward again. Sheathing her sword, she took a few seconds to remove the magazine from her pistol and replace it with a fresh one.

“I think perhaps I could have cleared out the infestation of Spain with our team,” Decima muttered.

“Decima dear, my sweet sexy honeybuns, we could conquer the world as we are today if Jes and Sam let us,” Aster countered, punctuating her words by swatting Decima on the rear end with enough force to make a cracking noise. “Getting in a three-way with you and Sam later. You’re so fucking hot.”

Skipping forward a step at the sudden slap, Decima turned a wide-eyed look at Aster, her face pale and her cheeks flushed red.

I don’t think anyone’s ever slapped Lady Decimation on the ass before.

The consummate warrior that she was, Decima turned back to the front and ignored Aster outright. Smashing her boot into the door in front of her, Decima marched forward into what was likely an antechamber which would lead to the royal throne room.

“Have fun making a new body or whatever,” Tiffany muttered. “Decima’s going to kill you.”

“No, she won’t,” Aster said with a laugh. “She’s probably thinking about it. She has no experience. All I have to do is promise to teach her everything that’ll make Sam a happy husband after she’s done licking me clean and Sam fills my throat up.

“Watch, she’ll do it and say thank you. I’m going to cream all over her beautiful face while gagging on Sam and she’ll love it. She’ll be my helper with Sam. Like how you and Stacia are a tag-team. Or Jes is to Sam.

“I’m an open-minded girl and I can’t wait to cruise the whole harem with Sam.”

“You’re… really—”

“Horny? I know,” Aster said, interrupting whatever it was Tiffany was going to say as they stepped into the throne room. “Sam woke something up in me. Blame him.”

Tiffany gave Sam an odd look and quirked an eyebrow at him.

Nodding, he made a hand gesture that he hoped she’d interpret as, “I’ll explain later” and leave it alone.

“—in the name of Sameerixis Fidenis, the Torment of Lust,” Decima shouted at the top of her lungs.

Looking to the front, Sam saw Decima was standing in front of a large throne with her weapon raised and pointed at a woman sitting atop the throne.

“You will reveal where the Log is, or you can die right here and now. Your throne will be your tomb,” Decima promised.

The woman sitting on the throne looked decidedly royal with golden wavy hair and blue eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. And if I did, I’d tell you nothing at all. You’ve attacked my kingdom without provocation and have—”

Decima shifted the pistol a few inches to the left and pulled the trigger. A section of her throne splintered out behind her as the round powered through it.

“Last chance. Your planar lord, Reixhitz, the Torment of Sanity, sent the Torment of Lust, Sameerixis Fidenis here to reclaim the Log,” Decima said. “He also gave us permission to eradicate anything in his domain that was in our way.

“That includes your Highness. Now… the Log?”

Lifting her chin incrementally, the queen seemed to be contemplating that statement.

“Long since lost,” said the woman finally. “When Lord Reixhitz abandoned us, we awaited his return. Eventually… eventually, his assistant fled with a number of treasures.”

“Wonderful,” Decima muttered. “And where did they flee to?”

“To the other plane… where Reixhitz took his favorites,” said the queen. “We haven’t seen them since.”

“Other plane?” Sam murmured. “Sounds like we need to bug Reix and see what he thinks. And since the Log isn’t here, he can probably join us.”

Fishing the summoning token out of a vest pocket, Sam flicked it down onto the ground and then stomped on it.

Breaking the seal, the magic inside coalesced and formed a summoning portal.

In only a few seconds, Reixhitz stepped out through it.

Looking around, he clearly had a sense of deja vu and nostalgia at the same time.

“Goodness, it’s my palace,” Reixhitz muttered, moving away from the portal.

“My lord!” shouted the queen, prostrating herself on the ground. Her beautiful, royal self splayed out as if she were but a commoner.

And that right there is why I never did such a thing on my own plane.

But I also didn’t have anyone to help me when I was trapped there either because of it. Jena took them all away.

“Mm. I assume something changed or I wouldn’t be here,” Reixhitz said, looking at Sam and ignoring the queen. “Nor do I sense the Log.”

“The royal worm impersonator over there said the Log went off with your assistant to another plane,” Tiffany grumped. “Apparently they went where you took your favorites?”

“I… what?” Reixhitz said, sounding extremely confused. “But… that can’t be. I sealed that plane up before I left.”

“Apparently not. It’s open and where your thief is,” Tiffany countered. “So. Open it up for us so we can get going.”

“I… I can’t. It’s not something I can just tap into. It takes a bit of time and work,” Reixhitz. “It’s another plane but it also… it also isn’t. It’s… it’s very complicated.”

“Whatever,” Tiffany said. “We done for now then? Can you tell your idiot subjects to lay off so we can stop murdering them?”

The sound of Wren’s rifle in the courtyard was still quite audible from here.

“Oh, yes. Yes,” Reixhitz said, then held his hands up above his head. There was an odd pop, followed by a crackling noise. A strange feeling swept over everything but didn’t seem to do anything to Sam or his people. “There, that’ll take care of it.”

“Great. Going to go tell Wren to stop wasting her ammo then,” Tiffany said. Then she left, quickly moving back to where the rest of the team was.

“Damn,” Decima said with a sigh. “I hoped we could end this mission on the same day. It would seem we must go ever deeper.”

Speaking of ever deeper.

Sam’s mind wandered right back to Tiffany and Stacia. He was very much craving a Were-Vamp combo meal.

“I’m going to go recharge real quick,” Sam said. “I’ll catch up with you all later.”

Aster looked like she wanted to follow after him, but she also seemingly had plans to corner and start brain-washing Decima.

Catching up to Tiffany, Sam laid a hand on her back.

“I’m starving, Tiff. I want you and Stacia,” Sam said without any type of preamble or warning.

“What? I—no. No! I’ve already had enough Vampire pussy. I don’t want anymore,” Tiffany said, glaring at Sam.

“And yet that’s what I want. I want you face down between her thighs while I plow you, and her doing the same to you,” Sam said.

“Sam, I really don’t—ugh. Fine. Whatever. It’s just gonna be weird. Stacia and I are kind of friends now,” Tiffany muttered.

“And you’ll be friends after. You’ve already had a three-way with us a few times. Nothing new,” Sam said, not moving his hand away from Tiffany’s back.

“Fine. Fine. You’re not wrong,” Tiffany said and then sighed. “Damnit. I know I said I’d be your plaything and I’m kinda into it… but it’s just weird with friends.

“Promise me you’ll never make me do anything with Wren?”

I’m not going to promise that. I can’t wait to see you eating that big Cambion out and—

“She’s been my best friend for like ten years. Please, Sam?” Tiffany asked, looking up to him and meeting his eyes.

“Alright. Never Wren. Everyone else is on the menu though,” Sam acquiesced.

“Yup. Full service Were-wolverine. That’s me,” Tiffany said, then laughed. “Whatever. I’m enjoying our sex life.”

Reaching the rest of the team, Tiffany quickly filled in Wren.

Sam went and found Stacia while she did so.

“Hello,” Sam said, smiling at Stacia. The Vampire didn’t seem particularly willing to drop her shield just yet, but she did meet Sam’s eyes.

“Sam,” she said. “We done here?”

“Yep. You, me, and Tiffany are going to go have a three-way,” Sam said. “Pack up the shield and let’s get going. You can snack on me when we’re done or during.”

Stacia’s nose wrinkled, her eyes darting over to where Tiffany was behind Sam.

“Sam… we’re friends now. Could we not?” Stacia asked.

“You’re now friends that fuck,” Sam said, not budging.

“I… alright. Friends that fuck. Right,” Stacia said, nodding her head. “As you wish. At least she knows how to eat me out. Shes pretty good at it.”

Dropping her shield, Stacia stood with Sam, waiting for Tiffany.

In no time at all, he’d hustled the Were and the Vamp into the queen’s bedroom.

By the time he’d gotten the door closed, he’d already used a spell to strip them of everything, piling their gear and equipment off to one side.

“Holy shit, Sam,” Tiffany said, her hands suddenly darting toward her breasts, only to fall to the sides of her hips. “How about a warning next time?”

“Sorry. I’m really hungry. Hungrier than I’ve been in a long time,” Sam said, dismissing his own gear in the same way.

“Oh? I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry, Sam,” Stacia said, coming over and patting his bare shoulder. “I’ll make sure it’s a good meal. How do you want us?”

“I want you to both pop at the same time,” Sam said. “So one of you on bottom, one of you on top, sixty-nine position. Whoever’s on top faces away from me and I ride them while they get eaten.”

“Not a problem at all. I’ll face away. I get bitey when we have sex,” Stacia said.

“Guess I’m on bottom,” Tiffany murmured, looking somewhat awkwardly at the royal bed. “You’re not gonna… put it in my mouth or anything are you?”

“To start with I am, yes. It’ll make it easier for Stacia if I’m properly lubed up,” Sam said. “Why, do you want me to finish in your mouth, too?”

“No!” Tiffany said immediately.

“Yes,” Stacia disagreed. “Finish in her mouth, then I’ll take all that seed from her mouth and chase it down with some blood. It isn’t as delicious as your blood but it has a different flavor I like.”

“I… what…? I don’t want him to do th— ugh. Ugh! Fine. Fine. Finish… in my mouth, whatever,” Tiffany said, getting into the bed. “I agreed to be a toy so I’ll just… be a toy.”

Laying down in the bed, Tiffany spread her legs apart and got comfortable.

“Come on over then toy number two,” Tiffany invited the Vampire.

Joining the Were, Stacia got on top of her, then slowly lowered her hips down till her hairless mound was above Tiffany’s chin. The Were tilted her head slightly and started to lick at the Vampire.

Stacia’s head dipped down, as she clearly got to work on the Were.

Sam stood back and enjoyed the view. Watching a Vampire go down on a Were as the Were started to eat the Vampire, was something that fit Sam’s headspace.

On top of that, he could taste their enjoyment of the sensations they were giving each other. They were very clearly not keen on the situation, but didn’t dislike the act or the other party.

Watching for an entire minute, Sam stood there, simply sampling the way they felt. Like an appetizer.

Moving over to join them, Sam sunk his mental hooks into them. Sliding right through and into their psyches and laying them bare.

Stacia and Tiffany were almost identical. They wanted to be loved, cared for, and treated like ladies. They weren’t against Sam doing this to them, but both of them hoped to have Sam alone later by themselves.

Each of them was entirely lost in trying to get the other to cum as well.

“Lean back for a second, Tiffany,” Sam said, reaching down to put his hand behind her head.

Tiffany’s eyes opened, spotted Sam, and then she laid her head down and tilted her face toward him. Then she opened her mouth, her tongue sliding out and to the side.

She wanted to give him head. He could see it in her mind. He never asked her to, and she’d only done it once, but she wanted to do it.

To be made to be second to an alpha, to be the passive one.

“My beautiful little Were,” Sam said as he moved forward, putting the tip into Tiffany’s mouth.

Blushing prettily, Tiffany’s face vanished behind his shaft and balls as he thrust forward.

Reaching the hilt, his tip down her throat, Sam began to methodically work himself back and forth through Tiffany’s mouth.

The Were took it all and did her best at the same time. She licked at him, swallowed hard when he was down her throat, and struggled to not gag on him.

Thirty seconds of that and he knew Tiffany was at her limit. Her mind was starting to panic a little as she gagged hard when his tip went back down her throat.

At the same time, her body was moving faster and faster to an orgasm. Stacia hadn’t been idle and was working her over this whole time.

“Good girl,” Sam murmured, stroking Tiffany’s cheek. Then he pulled out from her mouth, grabbed Stacia by the hips, and sunk himself fully into her slit.

Groaning, Stacia’s rear end tilted higher as her stomach and chest pressed down to Tiffany.

Pulling on Stacia, Sam rode her like it was his goal in life. To make the Vampire lose herself in eating out a Were while being plowed by an Incubus.

Sam could feel Tiffany’s tongue and lips working at his balls and Stacia’s slit in equal measure as he thrust away at the Vampire.

Both women were rapidly approaching their peaks. Their senses overly tuned by Sam. He’d never brought their sensitivity to sex down. In fact, they were well beyond normal limits and would remain that way as far as he was concerned.

Tiffany went first and her body flexed hard under the Vampire. The Were’s hands came up to grab at Stacia’s hips, right atop Sam’s, and pulled at the Vampire.

Moaning and riding her climax, Tiffany looked like she was thrusting up and into Stacia’s mouth.

Which set Stacia off, the Vampire tripping into her own orgasm, both women pulling at one another, even as Sam continued to fill Stacia with every thrust.

And he was feasting on them.

They were delicious as individuals, but together, they were amazing. Unique, flavorful, and sexy.

“You two taste amazing together,” Sam said in a husky voice. He was contemplating permanently pairing them together for all time. “It’s addicting.”

Stacia grunted at that, which was followed by a moan.

Tiffany groaned in agreement it sounded like, but said nothing. Both were still desperately working at the other.

Reaching their highest point, Sam spiked them at the same time, with the same Essence spell. Forcing them to actually feel a bit of what the other one was feeling.

Stacia squealed, her face pushing down into Tiffany’s privates.

“Oh fuck,” Tiffany said in a moan, her head falling away from Stacia. “I feel like I’m still going.”

Chuckling, Sam realized that it was his turn for Tiffany to please him.

Tiffany knew it, too. She wanted it. He could taste it on her. She wanted to play a little hard to get, but wanted to be forced somewhat as well.

“In my mouth, Sam. I’m ready for it,” Tiffany said. Then she opened her mouth toward him, her tongue rolling around in her mouth.

Sliding free of Stacia with a dripping swish, Sam lowered his hips and thrust straight into Tiffany’s mouth. Then he began humping her face as if it were still Stacia’s rear end.

The Were grunted or moaned with each thrust of his hips, and Tiffany rode her orgasm even as Sam ran it down her throat. Never gagging on him, and taking it completely.

Sam hit his own breaking point, and then eased himself back till he was only half in Tiffany’s mouth. His tip rested against her tongue.

Tiffany clearly understood what was coming and wrapped her tongue around the tip and sucked hard at him.

Letting out a breath, Sam began to lightly pump himself back and forth as he came. He didn’t want to choke Tiffany out, but he wasn’t going to back up on his own orgasm.

Groaning around him, Tiffany took everything he gave her, rolling her tongue around his tip as her lips pulled at him. She was slowly coming down at the same time as she let Sam manhandle her.

Jes appeared next to Tiffany and pulled Sam out of Tiffany’s mouth and straight into her own. Taking him down to the hilt, she Essence spiked him.

Harder than she’d ever done before.

Losing control of himself even as he kept spurting seed, Sam began to wildly smash himself into Jes’s beautiful face.

Moaning at the abuse, Jes reached up and held onto his hips, pulling at him. As if to make him do it harder.

Pounding away at her, holding to her hair, Sam let himself go.

Almost a minute later, he finally released Jes’ hair. Sliding out of her mouth, Jes coughed once and then laughed.

“Goodness. We’ll need to do that again later with the four of us,” said the Succubus. “You tasted amazing. And I can kind of taste you on them, so it’s like they’re a snack.”

Taking soft panting breaths, Sam looked away from Jes who was casually licking at his tip and length.

Stacia had her tongue practically in Tiffany’s throat. The two were doing what could only be described as making out while Stacia took Sam’s seed from Tiffany’s mouth.

Coming off the Were, Stacia let out a breathy sigh.

“I think I’m becoming a Succubus myself, Jes, because that was delicious,” Stacia said breathily.

“Isn’t he though?” Jes said with an amused tone. “Especially right at the end. The really thick stuff.”

Stacia wiped at her face with the covers and then held her hands out to Sam. “Now feed me. I’m hungry for more than just that little bit.”

Tiffany laid in the bed, sweaty and well-pleased.

“That was really great,” murmured the Were, closing her eyes. “I’m okay with being fuck buddies. You wanna be fuck buddies with me, Stacia? You and me tag-teaming Sam?”

“Yes, I do,” Stacia murmured, still looking at Sam hungrily. “I’m your fuck buddy, Tiff.”

“You two just need to start dating,” Sam said with a chuckle, laying a hand to Jes’ head. “That’ll make it easier for everyone.”

“Yes. Date each other and be fuck buddies. That’s a good idea. I know Sam will make that a reality for you. And I look forward to it,” Jes said and then took him all the way to the hilt and started to suck on him again. His overly sensitive tip made it feel like lightning was going down from the top of his head to his feet.

Then Stacia’s fangs sunk into his neck and she began to drink from him.

Eight - Pets -

Walking back into the throne room, Sam found everyone else already there. His entire team had more or less set up shop right here in the throne room. It had more than enough space as a defensive location.

On top of that, it was centrally located and Reixhitz planned to remain here for a time.

“Doesn’t seem like we missed anything,” murmured Wren at his side.

“Nope,” Sam agreed. After finishing up with his trio, he’d tracked down Wren and had been tumbling her non-stop for a few hours.

“Is it… weird… that I don’t get tired from that anymore?” Wren asked, turning her head toward him and catching his eyes with his own. “Shouldn’t I be absolutely exhausted?”

“You would be if I wasn’t feeding you a very thin stream of Essence. No sense in punishing you for feeding me,” Sam admitted with a laugh. He’d never done that in the past for anyone.

It was a newer “Human” development, as he’d begun thinking of them.

“Oh. Well, thanks. Makes it easier,” Wren said. Then she adjusted her rifle strap and rejoined the rest of the team.

Sam nodded, feeling rather awkward once again. The longer he stayed on the plane, the more he changed.

Most of it, he could admit was a positive change.

But any change at all was still dangerous. He’d survived since time immemorial by doing exactly the opposite of what he was doing now.

Finding Reix not far off, Sam wandered over to join the other Torment.

The older man was fussing over an incredibly large diagram drawn out in what looked like a thirteen foot by thirteen foot square.

Looking up from the work, Reix paused for a second. Then he dipped the tip of the stick in his hand into a bowl of what looked like blood and went back to his diagram.

“Come to help an old man?” Reixhitz asked as he dragged the bloody stick along a new line.

“No. We both know diagrams were never my specialty,” Sam said, crossing his arms in front of himself. “Essence sorcery and sex. Those are my domains.”

“You could easily become a great Diagram Magician. You’ve got the mental faculties for it,” Reixhitz. “You know I’m right.”

“Right, wrong, whatever. It’s just too much work. No reason to go through all that work when I can just form it straight from Essence,” Sam retorted.

“At ten times the cost,” Reixhitz muttered. “There’s a reason I survived my entrapment you know. And it certainly wasn’t stockpiling Essence.”

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying it’s wrong for me,” Sam said.

Reixhitz made a non-committal “hmph” and continued to work.

A few minutes passed in silence as Sam merely watched the other man work.

Eventually, he looked up at Sam. Or more accurately, to the point next to Sam.

Turning his head, Sam found Decima standing next to him. She’d been watching Reixhitz work.

“It’s strange,” she said when she noticed both men watching her.

“What is, young lady?” Reixhitz asked, his brows pushing together. Sam would bet on the fact that Reixhitz hadn’t recognized who Decima was.

“Your work,” Decima said, shaking her head slightly. “It looks a lot like the language of the ancient blessings. They were no longer suitable for use in my time, but I saw a few that were powered. They were quite strong.”

Reixhitz looked very confused, then his face smoothed out and his cheeks flushed red.

“Well, Lady Decimation, your Church of One and All has spread nothing but lies for as long as it’s been around,” Reixhitz hissed.

“I know,” Decima said, her voice going whisper soft. “I know. I found out in the worst way possible.”

The silence after that statement felt heavier than a mountain.

“Hmph. Well. Hmph,” Reixhitz grumped. “As to your ancient blessings… chances are that I or someone like me wrote them. I bartered with your deities as well as your clergymen in times long past.

“Sam did quite often as well, you know.”

“I heard,” Decima murmured. “Apparently priestesses and nuns would trade themselves to him.”

“That’d be accurate,” Reixhitz said, taking up his work again. “To be fair, the world was a much darker place in times past. Mostly because Rome fell, mind you. Once the Weres lost control of Europe everything became a free lunch for the Vampires of the world.”

“Rome… Rome was…?”

“An Empire of Weres. Byzantine was as well,” Sam confirmed. “They were the great defenders of Humanity for quite a while. After all, Weres don’t eat people. A few do, sure, but that’s about as rare as cannibalism.”

“I… but—”

“Ah, and here we are,” Reixhitz said tossing the stick off to one side. “Now it just needs a little bit of power.”

Taking something from one of his pockets Reixhitz tossed it onto the diagram which flared to life in bright golden flames.

In the center of the working blossomed a glowing oval eight feet tall and three feet wide.

“Reix,” Sam said, immediately sensing exactly where this went.

“It’s just a pocket dimension there. Just a pocket,” Reixhitz said before Sam could continue. “They never noticed it before, and they won’t now.”

“A pocket where?” Decima asked.

“The higher planes. Those who watch over the planes and make sure everything adheres to the rules put down at creation,” Sam muttered. “Where the overseers did their jobs even after the Silent One won his war. They didn’t even bother to lift a hand in defense of their original lord and simply bowed their heads.”

“Mm, that was a mighty blow to the Originator at the time,” Aster said walking up to them. “He took it very badly. He’d been counting on them to close the planes down and prevent the Silent One from his march.”

“The… Originator?” Decima asked, looking from Aster, than to Sam.

Except Sam didn’t say anything. It wasn’t his story to tell. He really hadn’t known any of the original players at the time. He’d come into existence slightly after that.

“The one who made everything in this entire universe. Every plane, every person, every blade of grass. Him and him alone,” Aster said. “He was an interesting individual. I thought he was funny.”

“You knew him?” asked Decima incredulously.

“Of course. I was one of the first,” Aster said, staring off at nothing. “I even fought for him. I was there when Retribution laid low the Swordsinger. A grand and mighty victory for us.

“Squandered in an instant as we were betrayed. And then… he left. He left all of us, his creations, rather than let us perish. The Silent One held us hostage, and has ever since.”

“Was he different after that?” Reixhitz asked. “Retribution that is. I only knew him afterward and he’s always been… well… him.”

“Yes, very different,” Aster said, looking down and to the side, then back up with a small smile. “He was never the same. Now. Shall we get going?”

“No!” Decima said. “This is… all too much to just let go there. I want to—”

“Later,” Sam said, laying a hand on Decima’s back. “Because we do have a job to do, and I think this is a story that would take considerably longer than you think.”

“I… alright. Okay,” Decima said with a nod of her head. Then she turned partway to the rest of the group. “Pack it up and in! We’re moving out in five. Swap your position, front to back, back to front.”

“Fuuuuuuuuck. I’m going to get shot again,” Tiffany complained loudly, going over to her pack to exchange her shotgun for her rifle. “I always get shot. Right in the damn tits, too.”

“You should write a song about it,” said Hillary. “A country tune, maybe?”

“Fuck you, Hill. Wren never gets shot. I always get shot,” Tiffany grumbled.

Decima shrugged her shoulders and looked back to Aster, Sam, and Reixhitz.

“She does get shot in the chest a lot,” Decima muttered. “She’s like a giant magnet.”

Much to Decima’s annoyance, it took them six minutes to get through the portal rather than five.

Once they were through to the other side, the blinding glow of the portal was behind them and they could see the other side now.

“This is a pocket dimension?” Aster asked with a soft laugh. “Bout as much of a pocket as my asshole is. This is as big as his other plane.”

“And completely barren,” Sam muttered.

All around them, as far as the eye could see, was death.

Long since dead and dried out bushes, and non-existent grass with scorched and blackened trees.

“Quick perimeter, twenty feet in every direction,” Decima said. “Shields up, as well.”

“Pretty sure we don’t have anything to worry over,” Hillary said, using a booted foot to nudge a skull to one side. “This isn’t just dead, but a graveyard. It’s bleached by the sun.”

“I’d say whatever happened here isn’t something Reix was expecting. Pity we can’t just march right back around and ask,” Jes muttered. “These one way portals aren’t much to my liking. Like bringing a woman into the feed harem that can’t handle me joining in.”

Sam smirked at that. Jes had made sure his feed harem could accommodate her. Those who were allowed to be in the building also had to be alright with three-ways that included her.

“You mentioned once that someone talked to you about the higher planes,” Aster said, looking every which way in a slow survey.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Didn’t know the voice and they didn’t give me a name. But yeah. She said she killed everyone.”

“I think they did more than that,” Abigail grumbled. “She killed everything. What kind of sick fuck just casually kills every—”

“Hello, there,” said a female voice from everywhere. “How’d you get here? What are you doing? Why are you here?”

Everyone had frozen where they stood, each person looking toward the sky above them.

I think… this is my time to step in, isn’t it?

“Uh, hey there. We spoke not long ago, I think,” Sam tried.

“Yes, we did. Hello. You’ve been following the rules. Good job. Good boy, very good boy,” said the woman. The voice was accompanied by Sam feeling like someone was petting him from the top of his head to his feet.

Including his soul.

There was a laugh that started low and then ramped up to a higher pitch.

“How’d you get here? Why are you here? What are you doing?” asked the woman again.

“We’re following a thief,” Sam said. “They stole something from a friend and came through here. I didn’t realize this was in the higher planes until we were here.”

“You’re not in the higher planes. Not really. If the higher planes was a house, you’re in the garden shed,” explained the woman. “Quite a few of those stuffy old fools tried to hide here.”

Suddenly the skull Hillary had touched jerked up into the air and floated at about a six foot height.

“‘My names Horatio, blah blah blah, I was the first amongst the higher planes and my power is great’,” said the woman in a mocking voice. “Foolish thing. He couldn’t understand the truth. Do you think you’d understand the truth?”

“Probably not,” Sam said honestly, looking at the skull who had likely once been Horatio. A powerful entity that even Sam had made concessions to. “Because it isn’t my place to know it, I think. Is it?”

The skull slowly tilted to one side, then fell to the ground with a thump.

“That’s a good point. It’d be a lot like attempting to explain court politics to… a farmer,” said the woman. “Maybe the farmer could surprise you though… maybe… maybe he could… surprise everyone.”

As she spoke, her tone had become softer.

“Ah, yes, well, we’re just here to find a thief. As to how we got here, we followed them,” Sam said. “We’d be happy to move through this space and into the next without troubling you.”

“Hm? Oh. Yes. That’s fine,” said the woman. “That’s… that’s fine. Okay.”

“Do you know… which way we should be going?” Sam asked.

“Hm? Which—ah. Yes. I see,” said the woman. “Head north, you’ll find a road. Follow it east. There’s a portal at the end, it goes somewhere else.”

“Wonderful,” Sam said. “Thank you for your help.”

“I didn’t help you. You’ll probably die here. I never bothered to call back my pets,” said the woman. “They’re probably still wandering around. Maybe? I’m not sure.”

“Pets?” asked Sam aloud.

There was no response.

“I think—” Aster said slowly.

“Time to go,” Decima said interrupting the other woman. “I don’t know what her pets are, but I don’t want to meet them. On the double.”

Not waiting, everyone started moving at a light jog to the north.

They found the road relatively quickly.

It was right around that point that dark black clouds appeared on the horizon.

“Those aren’t normal,” Aster said, pointing them out as everyone noticed them at the same time. “I can feel it from here. They’re not right.”

“Those’d be her pets then,” Sam grumbled. “Except I get the impression that as soon as we go to the next portal we might have problems getting back.”

“Why’s that?” Jes asked, jogging along in front of Sam.

“Because I’m betting we’ll have to use the token to power it that Reix gave us to get back,” Sam said. “Those not clouds are moving awfully quick. I’m betting we won’t have the time or luxury to try and get the portal open with Essence sorcery.”

“This open flat land makes me really nervous,” Carissa said as they ran along. “Places like this can hold a nasty surprise if you suddenly find a fold in the land.”

“Speaking from experience?” Wren asked, bringing up the rear.

“Yes. I am,” admitted Carissa. “And I hate running. Hate it.”

“Run!” Decima shouted as if Carissa’s words were a prophecy.

Looking back at the clouds, Sam realized they were moving far more quickly towards his group now. Far more quickly and with purpose.

They were sentient and his group had clearly been spotted.

Gritting his teeth, Sam held his hands up and started pushing Essence into everyone around him. Driving them onward and powering their bodies beyond normal limits.

Some more so, some less.

Pounding down the road, they kept in a loose formation but were moving at speed.

“Up ahead, I can feel it,” Jes called out. “It’s completely shut but there’s a trace of something left over.”

Sam couldn’t feel it himself because he was channeling Essence, but he trusted Jes completely.

Reaching into a pocket he pulled out the small token and held it out to Jes.

“If you can pop it open, do it. If you can’t, open it with this,” Sam called. He didn’t believe for a second that he’d have enough strength or presence of mind to rip any portals open. There was no reason to take it slow and assume they could outrun the clouds.

Sam was emptying himself into the others rather than try and be frugal.

Can regenerate Essence. Can’t bring everyone back if I lose my shell, too.

Jes took the token from him awkwardly as they ran, nearly tripping in the doing.

“There it is!” Jes shouted, pushing up ahead of everyone else. Sam could feel her using her own Essence to power herself.

Panting, Sam could only thank whatever grace there was left in the universe that it seemed like they’d outrun the “pets” as they’d been called.

If they killed Horatio, or others like him, than they’re more formidable than I am. They’d probably destroy my soul even as it rested in the Shell.

This is not worth it. Not worth it at all.

But then again, I don’t think Reixhitz had any idea it was this bad here in the higher planes. He knew less than I did.

“No time,” Aster growled sliding to a stop next to Jes. She held her hands up and her eyes began to glow an electric blue color.

Bolts of lightning leapt out of her hands and began to reach out across the air toward the clouds in the distance.

The amount of power she was putting out to do such a thing would be enormous.

“Have I mentioned I love the modern world,” Aster said as Sam passed her and then collapsed to his hands and knees. “More power than I’ve ever had in my life!”

Aster jerked a hand to the side as soon as the bolt hit the cloud.

There was an inhuman screech and the blackness exploded. Black bits tore away from the cloud and began raining down on the land below it.

Then those same bits reformed into something else, reared up, and started sprinting for their location across the ground.

“Oh fuck,” Aster exclaimed, abruptly cutting off her light show. “We can’t fight this. At all. Jes?”

“I’m trying to— oh, whatever,” declared the Succubus.

Her hand whipped downward and the token Reixhitz had given them smashed into the ground.

Instantly, a gray portal opened up that led into what looked like absolute nothingness.

Damn. We’re going to limbo, aren’t we?

“Everyone in!” shouted Decima, standing next to the portal. As each person ran by her she counted out loud.

“Six!” she shouted as Sam crawled through the portal. He wasn’t empty of Essence thankfully, but he was mentally exhausted and had used up at least half of his tank.

People kept coming through the portal until finally Decima went through.

“Everyone’s here, now how do we shut this? Cause those things are still coming,” Decima said, her voice tight.

“I got it,” Irene said stepping up to the portal. Passing one hand through the side of the spell work, she snapped the whole thing in half.

With a thunderous explosion, the portal collapsed on itself and billowed out an ungodly amount of power in every direction.

Sam promptly passed out from the force of it.

Nine - Limbo -

Sam let out a soft groan.

Everything hurt. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, everything had a strange pulsating ache.

Forcing his eyes open, Sam found he was staring into the eternal and ephemeral gray that was the Void.

Sam braced himself with his hands as he slowly sat up.

Looking around, he found he was surrounded by his compatriots. They were all unconscious or unmoving.

Or both.

Except for the Cambion.

Wren was kneeling in place, her rifle pressed up to her shoulder. Her head was on a swivel as she scanned their surroundings.

Of course, the woman bred from a race of planar shock troopers is already up and ready.

“Remind me to get thousands more of you,” Sam said as he got his bearings.

“You’d have to knock me up first,” Wren growled, her rifle moving slowly back the other way it’d come from. “I saw movement. There’s something out there.”

Ignoring her comment about pregnancy, Sam did reaffirm a need to get as many Cambion as he could. He’d flood his plane with them.

Cambion. Thousands and thousands of Cambion.

“Yeah. There’s things out there alright. But for the most part, everything out there is harmless. This is the Void,” Sam said rolling over to his hands and knees. Panting, he slowly got to his feet and almost tumbled back down. “Limbo.”

He was cut off from all his Essence everywhere.

The Void was a place where nothing existed. The Void in fact didn’t exist either, technically.

“This is a waystation between the afterlife,” Sam explained. “Everything here should be crossing over to the lower-plane afterlife or to the higher-plane one. This is where everyone goes to be judged, but also where they go after they’ve served their penance.”

Wren shook her head at that. She looked annoyed and frustrated at the same time.

“I don’t like this at all. We’re a military company, not a bunch of psychic ghost hunters,” Wren groused.

“Oh, yes. This is far more in line with a number of paranormal police agencies and military units. Filled with soldiers named things like Gus and Mark,” Sam said in a groan and stretched out his back. “Yet here we are, chasing an artifact of such great power that I don’t even want to touch it when we find it.”

“You don’t?” Wren asked.

“No. Not unless I have to. The Log isn’t of this world. Isn’t of this existence,” Sam said reaching down to the ground. Grabbing his SMG, he gave it a quick once-over. “The Originator left it here when he was forced to leave. It shouldn’t be here.”

“And what is the Log then?” Wren asked, slowly getting out of her kneeling position. She seemed to be coming down from her paranoid high.

“Exactly what the name implies. It’s a log of all the things that have ever happened. Ever. It also is constantly filling up with what is happening at this very moment,” answered Sam. “Using it, though, will draw the eye of the Silent One.”

“You mentioned that… thing… before. What is it? The Silent One?” Wren asked, coming over to stand near Sam.

All around them, everyone was slowly coming to.

“They’re who beat the Originator. When there were only two gods in the world. The Originator and the Silent One,” Sam said sliding a hand under Carissa’s shoulder and helping the woman to her feet. “The Silent One won the war, forced the Originator out, and then went… silent. They’ve been an absentee god since the second they were the only one here.

“They abandoned… everyone. Their soldiers, their enemies, their supporters, everyone. Went dark and never stirred. There’s very little that causes the Silent One to do anything. The Log is one of them. Use it a bit too much and he’ll come looking for it. So far he hasn’t found it, but… that’s partly because it was in Retribution’s hands for a long time.”

“And Retribution,” Aster said, getting to her feet with a grunt, “was a heartless dickhead in the best of times.”

“Who’s Retribution?” Tiffany asked, raising her weapon up partially.

“Soldier in the Originator’s army,” Sam summarized. “Now, let’s get going. No reason to hang around here. We need to get to the crossing point. There’s no other exit from here, but you can get here from anywhere.”

Sam needed to get out of here. As soon as possible.

He was hungry. Very hungry. His connection to his plane was missing right now and it was hard to think of anything other than grabbing his entire group and forcing them into a massive hours’ long orgy.

Filled with moans, groans, and messy fluids in every direction.

Carissa with her face stained of Decima’s sweet liquids. Tiffany’s face being ridden by every single woman as I work her like a farm-plow.

Everyone getting a turn at Jes’ slit and-

Shaking his head once, Sam cleared his thoughts.

Right now this was the last place he wanted to have an all-out orgy.

No matter how hungry he was.

They were nowhere.

“Which way are we going?” asked Decima. She sounded somewhat nervous but Sam couldn’t place it.

“Doesn’t matter. Every direction is the same, we’ll end up at the crossing point no matter what. Just… everyone make sure you keep your head on straight,” Sam said. “You’re going to see some things you’ll love or hate and you just need to ignore both.”

“Really?” Wren asked as everyone started to form up.

“Yeah. One side will be the lower end of afterlife and the other the higher end of the afterlife,” Sam explained.

“In other words… heaven and hell,” Carissa said from directly next to Sam. She hadn’t moved away from him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sam could only nod at that. “Yeah.”

Trooping forward slowly, through the infinite grayness with neither a ground nor a sky, the Inc-Suc PMC moved.

He could feel the tension rising in each person as they went.

Irene’s soul seemed the most distressed however. She was wrapped around Irene’s head like a turban and looked to be holding on for dear life.

It wasn’t until Sam noticed the soul’s hair starting to lift up from her head in what looked like a breeze, that Sam wondered how it’d affect her.

A disembodied soul in the Void was likely to be a problem.

Up ahead, he could also see what looked like the crossing point in the distance. A roiling mass of blue, red, white, and green streams of energy spraying out in every direction.

Moving over to Irene’s side, he reached out and grabbed the poor soul by its core.

“Ahhhnnn,” Irene moaned, missing a step. Glaring at Sam, she looked like she was about to yell at him.

“Just taking her in hand in case something goes wrong up ahead,” Sam explained. “Not trying to be a dick. I just don’t want her getting pulled away.”

The soul had responded by wrapping itself around Sam’s arm like a sleeve. Her head resting up against his shoulder even as he held tight to her core.

“Fine. Fine. Just… don’t squeeze it,” Irene muttered. “You can play with me and her later. Maybe kill me with that sexy cock of yours finally. Make my heart burst. I’ll suck your dick till your nuts turn blue, too. But not right now.”

Always so much more honest when I’ve got your soul.

And foul mouthed.

Marching ever onward, Sam could actually feel the pull on Irene’s soul. Pulling her in every direction and trying to take her clean away.

Limbo was a very strong mechanism in the universe.

A dull, low roaring sound had started up as well. It was a whooshing that sounded a lot like static.

“What is that?” Aster asked, coming over to Sam. “The sound.”

“It’s Limbo. This is where everyone goes to be judged. You’re hearing the voices of multitudes as they face their fate.”

Aster shook her head, clutching to her weapon.

“I’m an Elemental, this isn’t somewhere I should be. When I die, I’ll just rejoin the earth,” Aster grumbled.

Good point. I wonder what she’ll see here.

“Dad?” Carissa asked, looking off to the left hand side. There was a large glowing white orb there, floating along beside them.

“Don’t go over there,” Sam said before Carissa had even taken a step. “It’s probably your dad, yes. But if you try to go over there you’ll die.”

In what seemed like a response to Sam’s words, the orb shuddered. Then zoomed much further away, but it didn’t leave.

“That’s my dad,” Carissa said, staring at the distant orb.

“Yeah. And it seems he’s nervous you’ll do something stupid,” Jes said. Reaching out the Succubus grabbed the back of Carissa’s belt. “So don’t do something stupid and we’ll see if he’ll come back.”

“I… I won’t. Dad!” Carissa called, waving at the orb. Trying to get it to come over.

Slowly, more and more orbs appeared on their left side. Collecting themselves and watching the procession.

Jes was staring at those orbs now as well.

Sam realized what was happening and wondered if he should call a stop so they could have a chat.

How often does one get to actually see and speak with their loved ones?

A roaring red ball of spitting anger and hatred became a flaming fence of fire on the right. Hundreds appeared faster than Sam thought possible, forming what looked like a giant burning wall of fire hundreds and hundreds of feet tall.

And they were all there for Decima.

Flinching away from the evil she’d done and the evil she’d disposed of in her previous life, Decima slid around to the other side of Tiffany. Putting the Were between her and the wall of loathing.

“Time to go,” Sam called. “Move it, double time or what the hell ever.”

Everyone picked up the pace and started to move considerably quicker. Sam could see that off to the right the wall of nasty was growing. Expanding further in each direction.

Damn. Just how much evil did she bring to the world or send here in one way or another?

Lady Decimation indeed.

The static was growing now, going up in volume. Ever increasing, it just rose higher and higher until it was a maddening roar.

Sam couldn’t hear his own thoughts over the absolute blaring of sound.

Ahead of them, he could see what looked like a large white pavilion. Elevated a few feet above the ground and with a low wall surrounding it, it appeared empty inside.

Soundlessly, Sam pointed toward it. He needn’t have bothered though. Everyone had seen it and were making for it already.

Decima was the first to reach it. Spurred on—and clearly wanting to escape—she vaulted up over the side of the pavilion wall and literally vanished. As if she’d never been there.

That didn’t stop Tiffany and Hillary from doing the same.

Sam didn’t think he had anything to fear here, but he also didn’t want to linger. Moving up to the base of the structure, Sam put his back toward Abigail and made himself into a launch pad.

“Thanks, dear,” Abigail said as she grabbed him by the hips.

She took the assistance and clambered up over the top of him, dropping into the pavilion.

Followed by everyone else who hadn’t gone up yet.

He was positive the one that squeezed his ass—and gave him a few humps from behind—was Aster.

All that remained was Sam and Irene’s soul. Which was held tightly in his hand, but was being twisted one way and then the other by both sides.

Pulling himself up and over, Sam entered the pavilion.

Almost instantly, the racket from outside was cut off. As if it never existed and wasn’t their problem anymore.

Getting back up to his feet, Sam was surprised to find nothing.

There was no one sitting in the Seat of Judgement.

No one to determine where someone went.

Outside of the pavilion was a never-ending line of souls. All waiting to be sentenced one way or another. A stream of souls that ranged from young children to elders, all which needed to be delivered to an afterlife.

“I think—” Sam started. “I think Irma’s mother did herself a favor by not going through to the other side. Something’s very wrong here. Very wrong.”

“How long ago did your Dad die?” Hillary asked.

“Twenty years ago? I’m thir—”

“Holy shit, you’re in your thirties?” Aster interrupted. “You look like you’re barely in your twenties. I’d card you and still be afraid you were jail-bait. I mean, I know cyclops age slowly but… wow.”

“So for the last twenty years at most… no one’s crossed over, is that what I’m getting out of this?” Stacia asked.

“That’s what it seems to be,” Sam confirmed. “I’d been nervous about the whole situation when Irma’s mom had mentioned there not being Tenders.”

“Pushy bastards,” Decima complained. “They just about threw me through the portal rather than let me make up my mind.”

“To be fair, knowing who and what you were, I imagine they were sent to make sure you went over,” Sam murmured.

Decima shook her head, staring at the very long and likely never-ending, always growing line.

“What’s happened?” Decima asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam said. “I don’t know. Whatever it is, though, has seriously screwed things up here. Thankfully it’s not our problem to solve. We just need to figure out which way the thief went and get out of here. We can go through the ‘upper’ afterlife and make it back through there. The reincarnation gates are just a one way portal really. Since we’re still flesh-clothed, we can just walk through to the other side.”

“When do you think our friend with the Log passed through?” Irene asked. She looked rather pale right now and seemed to be feeling the pressure put on her soul.

“Oh,” Sam said, making the connection. “That’s… huh. I guess… maybe it could be our problem. But… I don’t get it. Why would anyone go for the Judge? They hadn’t left this spot since they were put here. Not for the Originator, not for the Silent One, not for anyone.”

Everyone stood there, staring either at the empty chair in the middle of the pavilion, or the near infinite line waiting for something to happen that never would.

“I think we should do something,” Jes murmured, shaking her beautiful head. “We can’t leave it like this.”

“Of course, we can. Not our problem,” Tiffany said.

“Not in the least our problem,” Wren agreed.

“But it could be our problem,” Hillary disagreed. “What if we died? We’d be in that line. Or if anyone you’ve known has died in the last twenty years, they’re out there.

“Or what about Roger? He’s out there. We didn’t run long with him, but he wasn’t an ass or a creep. He was funny.”

Decima’s face hardened at that. Turning, she faced Sam head on.

“Husband, as your wife, I’m asking for you to help me,” Decima said. “How do we fix this situation? There should be a judge.”

“I… there’s nothing I can do to fix that though,” Sam said. “I’m not part of the Silent One’s retinue. Or the Originator’s. I came after both of them. I can’t make that qualification.”

“But I was,” Aster said holding out a badge in the shape of a circle. On the front of it was a lightning bolt crossing from one side to the other. “I was part of the Originator’s host. I fought alongside his daughters and sons. I was there.”

“Okay, and what exactly do you plan on doing? You can’t be the Judge, you’re living,” Jes said.

“I can assign someone else to the position. It doesn’t have to be me,” said Aster.

“I could do it.”

Looking over, Sam found Alisa leaning over the side of the pavilion from what would classically be described as heaven. Or at least, an ephemeral projection of the woman.

Sam couldn’t make out the details of her, but he knew it was her. She was, as always, unmistakable.

“For a while at least,” she said with a grin. “I find that since you summoned me over—and I’ve been watching mind you—that I’m not as angry as I was. I think I could judge people appropriately.

“And if I find someone I’m not sure of, I can set them aside for the Judge when they get back. I could at least get working on the line.”

“Fine,” Sam said, motioning to Aster. He actually didn’t care much, but he trusted in Alisa. Her judgment in the end had been better than his by a considerable margin. “Give her the title and let’s get going. We’ll swing back around later with the Judge once we get this figured out. You should call the Tenders as soon as you get your portfolio, Alisa.”

“Oh, the little grim reaper people? I hadn’t realized they’d stopped working as well,” Alisa said. “And do forgive me for not mentioning the missing Judge. It was forbidden knowledge that can’t traverse to the land of the living.”

Sam felt angry and annoyed.

Then realized he was being somewhat short with those that mattered because he was hungry.

Turning his head, he found Stacia not far away.

“This’ll take me a bit,” Aster said. “I never really… invoked his powers or anything. I avoided them for the most part. Was always afraid the Silent One would come looking.

“He’d gone after Retribution a number of times, you know.”

Walking over to the Vampire, Sam leaned into her, putting his forehead to hers.

“I’m starving. I need you,” Sam said honestly.

“Oh,” Stacia murmured, laying her hands to his chest. “Alright. We can just take care of it here. I don’t mind. Help me out of my pants?”

Sam immediately went to work at undressing the Vampire.

“Tiff? Help me feed Sam?” Stacia called shimmying out of her pants.

“Huh? Oh. Uh… uh… in front of… uh… alright,” Tiffany muttered, coming over to Stacia and Sam. “You got watch, Wren.”

“Fine,” Wren said. “But when you’re done, tag me in.”

“I’ll join in,” Irene said, coming over. “Just a quick little barrier and—”

Irene flicked a hand to the side and a small space around them was enclosed in a dark fabric-like material.

“Oh, perfect. Thanks,” Tiff said, turning to Irene and unbuttoning her pants.

“Thanks,” Sam muttered. “So hungry. I’m cut off from everything out here.”

“Oh, me too, me too,” Jes said, pushing between the fabric and joining the growing orgy.

“Yes, as many as whoever’s willing,” Sam said. He was going to indulge heavily for as long as he could.

There was no telling what would come next.

Stacia got down to the ground and spread her legs wide for him. She’d only gotten her pants down to her ankles but was otherwise still fully dressed. Combat vest and everything.

“Alright, come on Sam. I’ll be the appetizer while the others get ready,” Stacia said, holding her hands out to him. “I’ll just have a few sips from you as we go at it.”

Not hesitating, he got down on Stacia, and immediately plunged himself into her.

“Damnit, I wanna be part of a good ol’ fashioned orgy,” complained Aster.

Ten - The Front Fell Off -

“And you’re sure?” Sam asked, pulling at his vest. It felt rather strange to put such a thing back on after having a naked sweaty orgy.

“Course, I’m sure. I’m not permanently stuck here,” Alisa said, adjusting her dress as she sat in the seat of the Judge. “I’ll sort through as many as I can, put aside anyone I can’t figure out, and leave when I’m done.”

“I mean… yeah,” said Sam. He couldn’t fault or argue with her logic. It made sense and was more or less what he’d do himself.

Alisa nodded and then looked at the long line in front of her.

“Suppose I’ll get to work,” she murmured. “You all should get moving.”

“Right,” Decima muttered. She’d been decidedly uncomfortable when Sam started feeding. Looking toward the Witch-hunter, he knew there were some ugly feelings likely boiling away inside her. He could tell just at a glance that she was at war with herself, her mind, and her beliefs. It’d likely take a lot more time than they had now for her to really work through things. “We know which way we’re going then?”

“Apparently, right here,” Alisa said. Standing in front of her was an ethereal blue silhouette. “She says the Judge simply got up and left with the visitor. A young man in his twenties. Brown hair, blue eyes, handsome.”

“Here?” Sam asked. He hadn’t felt anything here that’d lend itself to a portal being open.

Then again, considering how long ago it was, that’s not surprising.

“Hmph. Time for me to flex,” Aster said, sounding just as annoyed as Decima did. She’d spent the entire time the orgy was going on laying patterns down on the ground around the Judge’s chair. “I’m going to flex so hard, Sam that you’re going to set up an orgy with me and you at the center. Stupid Incubus. Stupid Judge. Stupid everything.”

Aster turned into a being of pure electricity. Screeching, whirling, twisting, blue strands of lightning in combat gear with a rifle in one hand.

Holding a hand up in front of his face, Sam turned his head away from Aster’s true form. She was simply too bright to look at directly.

There was a high pitched whining that accompanied her moving into the purest form of herself. One that continued to build up in volume and pitch.

When it felt like his eardrums would rupture, Aster held a lightning-formed limb up and a bolt of lightning streaked out from it. It smashed into nothing.

Striking the thin air itself.

There was a pop of what sounded like a soda can opening, which was followed by a massive yellow portal opening up like a monstrous creature yawning.

Then the lightning lord herself shifted back into her Human version. Sweat was pouring down her face, she looked incredibly pale, and she was panting hard.

“S-s-see? That’s what I can do,” Aster wheezed. “Worship me sex-demon, and know me as your Branded. Your partner.”

Taking in shuddering breaths, Aster was staring hard at him.

“I… recognize you as my partner, and my Branded. You didn’t have to prove anything, though,” Sam said. Moving over to where his pack was, he started to rifle through it. “Get everyone through Decima.”

Decima immediately nodded her head.

“By twos, Sam and Aster will take the rear, go,” Decima called out.

He’d packed a number of batteries and this seemed like an opportune time to feed Aster.

“You want some D, C, A, or triple A?” Sam asked.

“Of course I want your D, that’s why I flexed,” Aster quipped.

“Branded, answer me please?” Sam asked. He wasn’t in the mood for playfulness. He could tell Aster wasn’t just a little winded. She was on the verge of exhaustion.

“I’ll… you really packed me batteries?” Aster asked.

“Course, I did. Well? We could probably pack a few D’s in you but I can’t imagine that’d be comfortable in a fight,” Sam said. He knew that Aster had mentioned that she inserted batteries into herself if she wasn’t doing much.

“Yeah… no. Not right now. Triple A’s, please. Those are easy to just keep on the side of my mouth,” Aster said.

Nodding his head, Sam pulled his hand out of the pack. He’d been holding onto those batteries, already having figured that’d be her answer.

Giving her the three batteries, he closed his pack, threw it over his shoulder, and grabbed his weapon.

“After you, Branded,” Sam said, giving the Torment a smile.

Aster was watching him, the batteries in her hand seemingly forgotten.

“You’re too good to me,” Aster said suddenly, her brows coming down and pressing together. “Why are you so good to me? We never… we never had a thing. We flirted, teased, and made jokes but… never got it on. So… why?”

“Because I want to,” Sam said simply. “It isn’t like I asked you to be my Branded for no reason.”

Nodding slowly, Aster’s face cleared of worry.

“Okay. I’m going to treat you real good, my Branded,” Aster said, then slowly slid the batteries between her lips. Making a show of doing it.

Finishing off the third, her cheek bulged on one side.

“So good… that you really do give up your others for me and the Succubus. We’ll tag team you forever,” Aster promised. “Thank you, Branded.”

Lifting her rifle, Aster went through the portal.

“You’ve changed, Sameerixis,” Alisa said from her seat. She was already judging another soul. “And I’m rather happy to see how well you’ve been treating Abigail. She looks very happy.”

Sam bobbed his head toward Alisa and chased after his team through the portal.

“Where the fuck are we now?” Tiffany growled.

“Looks like,” Wren said and paused. “Looks like ruins of a battlefield. Skeletons. Did we end up where we were earlier?”

“No, these are different,” Abigail said, bending over a skeleton nearby. She was touching around the shoulders and head of the individual. “Very different. These look like… feathers and what would be… wing bones?”

Behind them, there was a shrieking noise followed by the portal slamming shut as it ran out of power.

“We’re at The End,” Aster murmured. “This is, was, the last stand. We fought here against the Silent One. Fought here, and won, then lost.”

Hillary picked up a tattered banner and held it up. Upon it was a black and red shield with a fiery center.

“Ru… Originator’s Shield,” Aster said, pointing at the banner. “They held the center. We’re… right in the middle.”

Carissa had lifted up a silver sword that glowed with an inner light. There wasn’t a speck of dirt, blood, or anything upon it.

“I… I don’t… this… no,” Decima said, her weapon pointed at the ground. She was shaking her head slowly back and forth. “No. This isn’t real. This isn’t.”

“It very much is real,” Jes said, her wings sliding out behind her and stretching in an oddly nervous way. “And I feel like this is probably the most dangerous place we’ve been.”

“Because the Silent One is here,” Aster said, peering around their group. “He never left. At the center of this plane, he sits. He waits. He… does nothing. He took the Originator’s home, made it his own, and then did nothing.”

Irene and Stacia were standing side by side and both of them shivered at that.

A millisecond later and Sam felt a wall of alien thoughts wash over him. It left him with a static-like feeling inside and outside of himself.

“You don’t belong here,” stated a voice from above. It sounded decidedly male.

“Ah… didn’t mean to come here,” Sam said before anyone else could interject. “We’re just trying to chase down a thief.”

“Hm. A thief,” said the voice. “Fine.”

There was an odd crackling noise and a man appeared in front of them.

He was dressed in what looked like a military uniform. It was blue and white, and tailored in a very modern way.

The man had oddly gray hair that didn’t quite match his youthful looks. His brown eyes were hard. Eyes that’d had to do things he didn’t wish to, but would do again.

“Don’t take anything, don’t use any power, and keep your voices down,” commanded the man. “And what thief are you tracking? And why?”

“Don’t know. Just paid to find them,” Sam said. “Inter-planar PMC.”

“Right,” said the man with a slow and lazy blink. “There is nowhere to go from here that would be of any relevance to you. And no thief would ever come here willingly.”

“They had the Judge with them,” Jes said, taking a step forward toward the man.

Glancing at her, the man inspected her, and then casually dismissed her. As if beautiful women were a dime a dozen and meant nothing to him.

“The Judge,” said the man. He looked to one side, as if he saw something there. Then he nodded and looked back at Sam.

“So it would seem. Your thief is a pain my ass,” said the man. “I’ll happily push you through to the plane they’re on. I do hope you manage to kill them for me. And don’t come back here unless you’d like to lose your lives. I’ve already kept… him… from doing anything so far. That doesn’t mean he won’t if you return.”

“We understand,” Stacia said warmly with a wide smile. “Thank you ever so much.”

The man flicked his eyes to Stacia, then back to Sam.

“Do it,” he said.

There was a whump like noise as a portal simply dropped over them from above.

Spending a few seconds in utter darkness, the light of the world came back.

“What the fuck was that?” Wren asked.

“Seville,” Aster murmured from behind the big Cambion. She’d ducked out of sight the moment the man appeared. “And we’re really damn lucky he didn’t see me, or decided I wasn’t worth noticing. He’s practically the right hand of the Silent One.”

That was him? Huh.

He seemed a lot more subdued than people made him out to be.

“Okay, and where the fuck are we now? I’m getting really tired of this. I don’t like all this plane hopping,” Tiffany complained. “It makes my sense of smell go crazy and it all just feels like one horrible nightmare. Never-ending and full of—”

“Monsters,” Carissa called, pulling her rifle up to her shoulder.

Before anyone could react, she’d pulled the trigger. Her big scoped rifle booming and rocking back her shoulder.

“Aster, where are we? You’ve done more of the sub-plane surfing than I have,” Sam called, lifting his rifle and turning the same direction Carissa was.

Streaming toward them was a tide of black and gray monsters.

“I don’t know!” Aster said, then she spat out a battery. “But it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get in that fort.”

Fort?

Aster was already running away, her long legs propelling her along.

“Tiffany, Stacia, hold the rear with me!” Decima yelled, stepping up next to Carissa. “Everyone else bolt!”

Decima, Tiffany, and Stacia began firing in short bursts at the incoming horde.

Letting his weapon drop to his side without firing a round, Sam turned and went after Aster. Up ahead of them was a gray stone fort which was the only thing for as far as the eye could see in any direction.

Empty plains of green grasslands, and a single stone fort that looked as if it’d been made in the medieval ages.

Not far ahead of him, Wren spun and went down on a knee, facing backward. Irene joined her, her soul floating above the Witch and looking angry.

What? I don’t even—

Not questioning it, Sam moved beside Irene and stood there.

Decima noticed what Wren had done while reloading a new magazine into her rifle and then patted Tiffany on the shoulder, who tapped Stacia in turn. The trio broke off from their attack and sprinted away.

No sooner than they’d run past, then Wren opened fire. Irene held her hands out in front of herself and black bolts of nasty started to whip out from her palms.

Sam pulled his rifle up to his shoulder, leaned in slightly, and began to squeeze the trigger in short bursts.

Unfortunately, the monsters didn’t seem to actually die. They’d go down for a time, roll around for a while, then get up and start running again.

Well, this isn’t good.

Irene smacked Sam on the shoulder and he took that as their turn to run.

Standing up Sam found Wren in mid turn. She then started running back towards the fort. Irene was a short step behind her.

Sam did the same, dropping into a full sprint to catch up.

There was an odd tingling sensation in his legs before he realized Irene was pushing them on with her power.

Considerably further up was Abigail, Jes, and Hillary. They were crouched down, waiting for them to pass, just as he, Wren, and Irene had done for Decima, Tiffany, and Stacia.

Beyond all that, he could see the tail end of his company moving into the strange fort.

Soon as Carissa gets up into one of those towers this might get easier.

Breezing past Abigail on his right, he was still surprised to see the young Human woman here. She’d grown considerably since he’d met her.

After what felt like a run that lasted forever, Sam watched Irene and Wren pass through the gate of the fort. Above them, rifle fire began to sound as the rest of the team worked to cover Abigail, Jes, and Hillary on their own retreat.

Stepping to one side of the large gates that made the entrance of the fort, Sam began to build small spikes of Essence. At this distance, he didn’t trust the rifle to perform perfectly and not put a stray round too close to his people.

Essence was another matter entirely.

Flinging them out like they were small arrows Sam began to skewer the creatures that were in the lead of their chase.

He wasn’t expecting to kill them, or stop the horde, but he was going to slow down the ones that were gaining on the girls.

“Get in, Sam!” Jes yelled at him even as she ran toward him.

Briefly contemplating not listening to her, he decided against it. Jes had long since earned his trust.

Moving into the fort just ahead of the trio, Sam went to the crank that’d lower the portcullis.

Jes was the last in the line having run past him. Behind her were monsters that were awfully close.

Leaping forward back toward Sam, the Succubus flapped her wings, spun in mid-air, and let lose a wave of absolute lust Essence at everything chasing her.

It knocked most of the things flat, sent a number of them tumbling, and just kept rolling through their ranks.

Sam knocked the large wooden locking mechanism to one side and the portcullis began to rapidly descend.

With a boom, it hit the ground and settled into place.

Everyone on his team was safe in the fort.

“Whew,” Jes said, getting up off the ground and dusting herself. “You know. That was actually rather effective. Not as good as feeding, and it took a little Essence, but I don’t feel as horny now. Sorry, I had to try it.”

Raising an eyebrow at that, Sam smiled at Jes but felt rather annoyed.

“Are you trying to tell me you were that pent up or were you trying to kill yourself. Because we just had an orgy not long ago,” Sam said, trying to break some of his stress off.

Or at least tone down the anger in his tone.

They’d just dealt with someone who could speak with an entity that could snuff them out as if they were nothing, they were now stranded in a fort in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by monsters that modern weaponry couldn’t put down, and with no discernible way back.

Sam still couldn’t feel his plane from here, nor could he feel any of the other planes. They were effectively—and literally—cut off from all support and assistance.

“Baby, you just don’t understand,” Jes said, giving herself a once-over. Then she sighed and met his eyes directly. There was a heat there that he hadn’t seen previously. “I always… want more. Always. There isn’t a moment that I’m not actively contemplating dragging you off, tying you up, and having my way with you.

“All day. Every day. Every night. I dream about it. It’s all I can think about more often than not. You’re my food source, my Brand, my baby, my confidant, my savior. You’re… so much to me. The minute I can teach you how to feed from me… I’m going to steal you away for at least a week onto a private plane. Where all we do is feed, feed…”

Jes gave him a wide smile, her hand trailing up along the front of her vest.

“And feed,” she purred at him. “But… that’s for another time.”

Pulling her rifle around to the front of her body, Jes turned and walked toward the portcullis, and put the barrel up against a monster’s misshapen featureless head.

Then she pulled the trigger for a short burst.

“Let’s see if they actually can be killed, or if this is just a waste of ammo,” she said, as she watched the gross creature hit the ground.

It rolled around for several seconds, then got back to its feet as if nothing at all was wrong.

“Waste of ammo then,” Jes said, letting her rifle slide down to her hip, the shoulder strap holding it there. “About as useful as you putting a dry load into Wren.”

Grinning at that, Sam found the comment rather amusing.

His anger had rapidly cooled as well.

He and Wren had come to a deal. She’d always be at his disposal for anything he wanted, no matter how twisted, as long as she had a chance to catch a pregnancy whenever he finished in her. Even if it was a fraction, of a fraction, of a fraction, of a fraction of a chance.

He wasn’t about to tell anyone that, though.

“Let’s go let the others know,” Sam said instead. “No sense in them wasting ammo either. Then we should figure out where we are.”

“I can tell you that already,” Aster said from the other side of the gate entrance. “This is Retribution’s. All of it.”

“Really?” Sam asked. “I… but… isn’t he missing?”

“Yes, he is, and no, he isn’t here, but this is his fort,” Aster said. “And before you ask how I know, because the Scales are here.

“They’re sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the courtyard, covered in dust, but they’re there.”

“The scales?” Jes asked.

“The Scales of Justice,” Sam said and then sighed. “And if he’s not here, that means the balance is on its own.

“The Judge is gone, the Tenders are gone, Retribution is gone, I… what’s next, the Fates?”

Aster grimaced at that, her frown looking rather troubled.

“Actually… I haven’t heard from the Fates since I came back. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that I worked with them a lot. I reached out to them. Several times,” Aster murmured. “There was no response at all.”

Sighing, Sam pressed his hands to his face.

“By the Originator, the Prime is coming apart at the seams,” said Sam. “A pox on the Silent One’s twisted nethers. This is far worse than I ever thought it could possibly be.”

Eleven - Irony -

“A great many cogs and wheels, spinning, turning, pushing things along,” Sam murmured. “All without someone to tend to it.”

Shaking his head he stared at the Scales of Justice. A giant set which was the size of a small building. In the cup on the right was a small glowing pile of gold, silver, and white squares. Stacked and organized appropriately.

In the left cup, was an overwhelming pile of black and gray squares. The scales were so terribly unbalanced that it was almost as if one side would touch the ground.

One of the tools left behind by the Originator himself to help balance the world. To keep everything in motion and moving accordingly.

From everything Sam had heard over the ages, there were a great many mechanisms littered throughout the planes just like this. Things that measured and offered the ability to mold and shape the world accordingly.

“And the Log is just like the Scales. For all of that… the Silent One does nothing with any of it. If anything, this whole existence is unraveling. When it finally goes… it’s likely to cost him more to hold it all together than it would have to simply maintain it,” Sam said and then sighed heavily.

“Sounds like my mom,” Hillary said from Sam’s left. “She’d rather spend what she had in her hand on a new toy than replace the tires on the car. Even though it’d probably cost more when the tires fail and we have to get a tow truck to haul it, too.”

“Yes. It’s expensive being poor, more so for those who aren’t aware of the value of money,” said Sam with an odd smirk.

“Damn right it is,” Hillary grumbled, folding her arms in front of herself. “Though… obviously my life is pretty good now. Never thought I’d get paid so much to have a boyfriend and run around with a gun.”

Boyfriend?

Sam didn’t argue her statement, though he realized he’d have to talk to Irma about it. He’d always been of the opinion that mortals couldn’t truly have sex more often than a one-night stand without feelings getting involved for mortals.

Well, there are exceptions but those tend to be damaged in one way or another.

“—bought a new car for the first time ever,” Hillary said. “Baby the damn thing all the time. Fucking Ass spilled french fries all over the other day and I made her pick them up.”

“You’ve become quite friendly with Aster,” Sam said, looking away from the forgotten and depressing mechanism of a god long since forced to flee.

“Huh? I mean, yeah. We’re all kinda in this… feed… harem… thing, so we really should be friends. Shouldn’t we? As far as I understand it, I’m more or less immortal as long as you’re my boyfriend,” Hillary said with a shrug of her shoulders. “That means everyone else is, too. And you don’t seem like the type to get rid of people which means… which means unless someone opts out… I’ll be with these girls a really long time.

“So why not be friends? It’s a little harder with Wren and Tiffany but I think they’re just so much older than I am that it makes them a bit harder to relate to. I’m good with Carissa, Irene, Stacia, Aster, Abby, and Irma.”

“And Decima?” Sam asked.

“No one really gets along with her, but that’s how she wants it as far as I know. Whatever. Like… it’s not really my problem to force her to be friends. She and Ass talk a lot though,” Hillary said. “Okay. I’m going to go check on Carissa.”

Hillary leaned over and kissed Sam for a second before wandering off.

Looking back at the Scales, Sam took in a slow breath and let it out.

As he watched, a light gray block became a darker shade of gray and the Scales shifted fractionally.

And it’s always getting worse. Maybe… maybe it really is time to get my own plane back together. Get everyone off the Prime. There’s no reason to remain anymore.

Jes and Aster could connect their planes to mine and we could… we could just have one big plane to ourselves.

We three Branded.

Turning away from the Scales, Sam headed over to the large doors which led to the center of the fort. They’d already spent some time wandering around it, looking for supplies or anything usable.

A large number of planar weapons, armor, and gear, but no food of any sort.

Or water.

Both of which would be something they would need to find soon for the mortals in their group.

Standing in the inside of the “throne room” of the fort, Sam found Aster and Jes in a quiet conversation.

“Hey, baby,” Jes said, giving him a wide smile. “Come for a three-way? I wouldn’t mind sitting on Aster’s pretty face while you filled her up.”

“Oh, hell yes. Sign me up and then fill me up,” Aster said with a laugh. “I bet we could go for hours between the three of us. Let’s go find something comfy though. I think these stones would screw my back up as you two rolled me.”

“Ah… no,” Sam said with a smile. He wanted to say yes, but he’d noticed Decima was acting decidedly odd since the orgy. There’d need to be a conversation with her before he let himself run wild again.

Not to mention this doesn’t seem like the time or place.

“I really just—”

Sam froze in mid-sentence. He could feel a direct connection to his personal plane suddenly. It was faint, but there.

Latching onto it, he reached out and tore open a portal right then and there back to his personal plane.

On the other side of the portal, he could see the vast grasslands of his very empty plane full of animals, water, and nature. Even the castle he lived out of when he’d been trapped there was visible off in the distance.

But not a single solitary living Humanoid.

“How did—oh, I can feel my plane,” Jes said. Lifting a hand, she reached out and punched a hole straight to her own plane as well.

“Well, I don’t have a plane anymore,” Aster said. “Jenaphila took it. But I can feel it. I really should make a new one.

“Though… why can we suddenly feel them?”

“Because someone opened a portal somewhere,” Sam said, reinforcing the portal to his plane. He wasn’t about to lose this exit. They could easily get back home from here with almost no effort as long as it remained open.

“But there isn’t—oh, I suppose we have visitors somewhere,” Jes murmured. “But who would come to a place like this? I don’t think anyone’s been here in a while.”

“Could be Retribution. Or one of the other Archangels of the Originator,” Aster said, getting to her feet. “A few stayed behind with Retribution. They led quite the guerrilla war.”

Sam winced at that possibility. He’d run across Retribution on occasion and they hadn’t gotten along very well.

The three planar lords exited and went to the wall.

Tiffany and Wren were standing side by side near the front gate. Looking out to the distant horizon.

Definitely something out there then.

Grabbing his SMG as he went by the Scales, Sam kept moving. Straight up the stairs and onto the wall next to Wren and Tiffany.

Out in the distance, a great many people were heading their way.

“Angelics, Planars, Weres,” Sam said, peering out at the group heading their way. “The… the Fates. Tenders. The Judge.”

“What?” Aster asked, catching up to Sam and looking out as well. “Oh… it… really is. Damn. What the hell? I mean… we could just open up right now and send them straight to hell. What are they thinking?”

“They’re thinking that we’re not who they expect to be here,” Wren growled. “They’re interested in the fort, or whoever should be here, not us.”

“And that means we need to get into cover and hide our positions,” Decima said from behind them. At some point, she’d joined them. “Wren, front left tower, Tiffany, gate overlook. Aster, Jes, Sam, could you please get down and out of sight?”

“Oh, sure. Let’s have that three-way right here while we wait,” Aster said, sitting down on the stones right there. “I’ll just deal with the stones. Decima, could you take some pictures for me? I really want my first three-way with Jes and Sam to get documented. Could you get some of me when they’re done with me?”

“Whore,” Decima sneered and stormed away. Her face a bright red color.

“I mean… I don’t think so,” Aster said, looking at Jes and Sam. “I mean, you two are my Branded. It’s not like I’m slutting it around. I’ve only had one dick in me for the last fifteen hundred something years and the only pussy I’ve eaten in that same time was attached to a mouth sucking the dick I had in me.”

Sam sighed, his eyes following Decima.

“She’s got a lot to deal with right now. Leave her be,” Sam murmured. “She’s finding that—beyond being lied to about her actions—her entire religion was false. All of it.”

“You know, I wasn’t very fond of the Romans for what they did to my people, but they at least kept everything safe. They even made me Jupiter,” Aster said. “It really was the beginning of the end when the Bogeys decided they didn’t care for the human protectorate.”

“I think we should skip the three-way till we can be alone,” Jes said. “Besides, we’ll need to find someone to bring along for Sam to eat from. I think he’ll want to have you without feeding.”

Jes was right. He planned on having Aster next without any type of feeding.

She knows me too well.

“Fine. No sex. Are we going to talk about the fact that the Tenders, the Judge, the Fates, and a lot of Angelics from both the Originator and the Silent One are all out there together then?” Aster asked. “Because I’d really rather get used by the both of you then talk about that. Because that’s not good at all.”

It really isn’t good, is it? It’s a who’s who of the leftovers from the war.

“Pretty sure that’s the First Were of the Wolf clans by the way,” Aster said. “Just… as an aside. You know. Probably as old as they could be without being an Elemental like me or desire made flesh like Sam. Romulus was always rather strong. I mean, he made Rome single-handedly you know, once he got tired of the Vampires.”

She sounded rather nervous to Sam. She’d seen something out there that’d spooked her.

Looking more carefully, Sam peeked out from between the crenellations.

Then he suddenly saw what was likely the problem.

Her old pantheon was out there. From what Sam could see, it was the entire pantheon. There didn’t seem to be anyone missing. Each and every single person who had been directly in her control and part of her “court” as it were.

Maybe they’re part of the reason she was imprisoned for so long.

Jes was leaning over Aster’s shoulder and talking quietly with the Elemental now. Sam didn’t pay any attention to it. He figured if they wanted him to be part of the conversation, they’d speak louder.

Slowly the group stopped out in front of the gates. One and all, they were peering up at the fort as if they were unsure on what to do next.

The black monsters were endlessly flinging themselves at the newcomers as well. They were being repelled by some type of translucent blue shield that covered everyone.

“Retribution!” called out a young woman in a black dress. She had black hair, black eyes without color at all, or whites, and skin that was as pale as death.

Her figure was slightly more than average and she definitely had an appeal to her.

It was the mistress of all the Tenders, the Judge herself.

The first thing he noticed was how tall she was. Her build was athletic, and an aura of power came from her. Short hair framed a delicate, oval-shaped face with cold eyes.

Beautiful, cold, and as emotionless as one would expect from the queen of Limbo itself. Because everyone faced the Judge after her reapers ushered people across.

“We’d like to discuss matters with you! We have a plan and we’d like to talk to you about it!” called the Judge.

Well Decima? What now?

Sam looked for the Witch-hunter.

She was far down the wall, crouched low behind a block of stone. She was staring at him though, clearly waiting for him to do something.

Damn. She’s worse in her insecurity right now than I thought.

Damn, damn.

Closing his eyes, Sam let out a quick sigh, then made sure his connection with his plane was secure.

Standing up, Sam leaned over the edge of the wall.

“Well, I’m not Retribution, but if you’d like to barter yourself for something I have, I think I’d be more than accommodating,” Sam said with a silky smooth smile. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re stunningly beautiful, Judge?”

There was a stirring in the crowd as Sam revealed himself.

The Judge lifted her chin up, her shoulders squaring. There was also a faint redness in her cheeks.

“Torment of Lust. You have no business being here,” the Judge proclaimed.

“Well, I’d disagree. In fact,” Sam said, spotting someone he wasn’t expecting here. “I’m here on the behalf of Reixhitz who’s returned to the Prime. He’s looking to reclaim something of his that was stolen by a wayward ‘employee’ as it were.

“I’m here to enforce a contract and regain something that’s his. I’m here because of that. The trail and chase just happened to lead me here.”

Locking eyes with Reixhitz’s first spirit, Sam didn’t look away.

The man shrunk slightly at the look Sam gave him.

Frowning, the Judge turned and looked at the same man.

“You said Reixhitz was dead. That you were under no obligations,” accused the Judge.

“He… he was as good as dead. He was sealed away for all time. All his artifacts and summonings were gone,” complained the First Spirit.

“Yes, well, I helped bring him back, after I was brought back,” Sam called out, putting his chin in one hand. He decided to up the ante a bit. “I’m here to collect the Log. By the way… the Curator says hi.”

That got everyone’s attention.

Each and every person was looking at Sam now.

The Judge shook her head, looking angry and bothered at the same time.

“We can’t let you have the Log. We need it,” said the woman.

“Then… we’re at an impasse, because I was hired to bring it back to its rightful owner,” Sam said. “Though I find it funny that you’re about to commit an injustice while standing before the fort of Retribution and asking for his aid. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to hear about it when he comes back.”

Sam could clearly detect the disgust in the Judge’s face at being lectured so. She was older than even the Angelics and the Elementals.

When the Originator made the world, she’d been first among all.

And she’d sat on her hands when he called for her help.

“We must have it for our plan to succeed,” the Judge said. “And if that means we have to… deal… with you, then so be it.”

That hadn’t been the right thing for the Judge to say.

Decima made a sharp whistle and the fort came to life.

A dark cloud appeared in the sky above them, purple and menacing, as Irene called forth her powers.

Bloody crimson shapes appeared at the edges of it, Stacia using the shadows and shade of Irene’s magic to begin her sorcery there.

Jes popped up, her wings shooting out to each side, and beginning to pool up a large charge of Essence.

Wren, Decima, Hillary, and Abigail all rose up from their positions and aimed their weapons at those below.

Slowly, Aster stood up beside Sam.

Holding up a hand she constructed a bolt of lightning from thin air and held it aloft.

The picture of the old Olympian she was.

“I think you’ll find this is a bit more than you were expecting from just me,” Sam said. Then he did something he hadn’t done before. He pulled on the life Essence he’d been struggling to gather and pool into his plane.

Up until this point, he’d acted as if none of it existed. As if it were not there at all. His goal had been to pile it up as high as possible while never touching it.

Right now, this was a different situation.

Gathering it all up, Sam let himself be what he truly was.

A planar lord of infinite power and prestige that’d battled Gods, Goddesses, Angelics, planar lords, and entire countries.

The Judge and her people were all looking rather nervous now. Though a few seemed poised for battle.

There was a sharp retort of a heavy rifle going off.

One of the Angelics on the end went down to the turf in a heap, the magical construct they’d been about to throw hitting the ground and fizzling out.

“I wouldn’t test my people. There’s a few with itchy fingers,” Sam said, quite thankful to Carissa in this moment. She was likely the one who’d seen what was going on and took the shot.

The Judge growled, an ominous feeling building around her as she stood there.

“Don’t blame me,” Sam said. “Something was stolen and I’m just retrieving it. If I were to die, and you judged me, you’d be on my side. Wouldn’t you? Or do you claim to no longer serve the purpose you were made for.

“That you’ve forsaken it just as you forsook your Father when he called upon you to aid him.”

All the pressure that was building around the Judge vanished in a single instant.

Replaced by an overwhelming and deep sadness. Of anger, guilt, and absolute self-loathing.

The Judge let her face lower, her eyes dropping to the ground in front of her.

“Give him the Log,” the Judge said with a cold edge to her voice.

“But what—”

“Give-him-the-log. You stole something that was not yours,” the Judge said. “Besides, we cannot use it without assistance anyways.”

“Then perhaps this is an opportunity,” Sam said. “I think I’d be willing to speak with Reix on your behalf, Judge. Maybe you can come to an agreement on the Log’s usage.”

The Judge lifted her head up and glared at Sam.

“He wouldn’t assist us,” she said simply, as Reixhitz’s First Spirit dug around in a personal plane.

“And how do you know? What’s your goal?” Sam asked.

“To kill the Silent One or bring back my Father,” the Judge said. “Because you’re right. I… I abandoned him when he needed me most. I didn’t… I didn’t understand that I wasn’t just a position at that point.

“And when the Higher Planes were exterminated of its caretakers I realized my error. Now I’m working to fix that. I must continue to call on my Father and ask his forgiveness. To help us. Because our world is dying.”

“You’ve spoken to him?” Aster asked her tone sharp.

“Briefly,” the Judge admitted after a second, her eyes moving to Aster. “It… wasn’t a good talk. He’s quite hurt by my actions. He hasn’t responded to anyone in the years since.”

The fact that anyone could reach out to the Originator was a surprise. That he’d responded was a bigger one.

The First Spirit of Reixhitz laid down what looked like a silver book the size of a two-year-old Human child on the ground.

“I’ll speak with Reixhitz on your behalf,” Sam said. “I think I could likely convince him to help. Besides, he promised me a few answers from the Log just for finding it.”

“Ah? Is… is that so?” the Judge asked, looking considerably happier than she had just moments before.

“Indeed. Maybe we can come to an arrangement,” Sam said, locking eyes with the Judge. “I’m sure we can figure out something I’d want for something you want. Did I mention you were beautiful, Judge?”

I’m going to feast on her if I can. I bet she’d be even more power than Aster.

No one misunderstood what Sam was after. Each and every person looked slightly mortified, embarrassed, or curious.

A number of the women in the group looked like they were envious and sickened at the same time.

The Judge looked determined.

“I’m sure we can make a deal,” she said, clearing her throat.

“I want to ride her face,” Aster muttered under her breath.

“Me, too,” Jes added.

Me, three.

Twelve - Judged -

“The Judge is allowed in,” Sam said loudly. “As are anyone else Aster, or Zeus as you knew her, allows in. Everyone else, please remain outside until we come to terms.”

Aster snorted at that, her face turning toward her old pantheon.

“I hope they die out there,” she said under her breath.

Shrugging his shoulders at that, Sam dropped down from the top of the walls and hit the ground with a thump. He needed to talk to Reixhitz quickly before he finished up with the Judge.

Jogging quickly for where he’d left his portal, he went straight through it. Opening a portal up to his prime plane apartment he shared with Irma, he stepped through that as well.

“Reix,” Sam said, mentally pushing on Reixhitz’s plane. “We need to renegotiate quickly.”

There was a determined push back against him from the plane.

“What is it?” Reixhitz asked in Sam’s mind.

“Found the Log. Been through Limbo, The End, and Retribution’s home. Need to change the deal, otherwise I’m going to have to fight the Judge, the Tenders, your First Spirit, a few Original Weres, and Angelics to get it back,” Sam said quickly.

“I… my goodness,” Reixhitz murmured. “Alright. And what is this negotiation then?”

“Two of the six questions for the next thousand years,” Sam said. “Grant me that and I’ll get the Log back today for you.”

“Two of six for the next thousand years? Are you out of—uuugh. Fine. Fine. Okay. Two of the six, for the next thousand years. Done,” Reixhitz said, and then pulled away from Sam.

Nodding, Sam turned and went back into the fort, crossing over both portals to do so.

Waving a hand at his portal as he entered the fort, he closed it down to a speck. There was no sense in advertising how they’d be escaping if they didn’t have to.

And besides, I’ll have to find a bed for the Judge, which means she’ll need to come through here.

Coming through the gate was the Judge and the Fates. No one else entered.

The portcullis clanked down into position as soon as the four women had crossed the threshold.

The Judge was looking around for a moment before her eyes settled on the Scales.

Walking over to join her, Sam couldn’t help but look at them as well.

“The plane is ending,” the Judge murmured. “The Scales themselves are breaking. The souls I was forced to put before judgement were becoming more and more dark. The Tenders themselves were finding souls that were vanishing. They had no belief in anything at all, and so, vanished into nothing.

“And without Father… there are no new souls being created. There will eventually come a time when there are no new souls to be birthed.”

“I imagine that’s quite a ways off,” Sam said. He knew for a fact that there was a mind boggling number of souls waiting for their chance to be born that’d never graced any of the planes before.

“Even if it is, things are speeding up. We’re heading for an end,” the Judge said. “One that I had a hand in fostering by not… by not helping him.

“Instead… I sat and judged my younger brothers and sisters as they fell. Rather than returning them to the field to fight for the universe. For Father.”

Sam nodded at that. It was the truth.

“The Fates can’t see anymore, by the way,” said the Judge. “After they… after they betrayed Aster, their sight ended.”

“Poor things. Rewarded for their betrayal with a loss of their portfolio. Granted to them by someone who was betrayed,” Sam countered. “Who would think that betrayal brings bad things?”

The Judge clearly took that as the personal attack it was meant to be. Sighing, the dark haired woman looked to one side, away from Sam.

Sam had a dislike for betrayers for obvious reasons.

“Next you’ll tell me that your brothers and sisters who sided with the Silent One regret what they did,” Sam said. “And I’ll have about as much sympathy for them as I would an insect, Judge.”

“I… yes. It does all seem rather obvious from your point of view, I imagine,” the Judge said. “To the point that I must concede the conversation. It would seem all of our problems are of our own creation.

“Well, that’s why I’m here. I’m working to correct the errors I made. As is everyone else out there. Mistakes happen and disagreements can be had. But one can work to correct it and fix things. Can’t they?”

“Up to a point,” Sam said as charitably as he could manage. He would never give Jenaphila the time of day, let alone hear anything she had to say about correcting things. “So, shall we deal, Judge?”

“Please… stop calling me that. I’m… I’m not the Judge anymore. Not really at least. My name is Eugenia. Named so twice. That’ll do just fine,” said Eugenia. “And yes… let’s deal. Though I suspect I already know what you’ll ask for, Torment of Lust.”

“I’m rather transparent, I admit,” Sam said with a smile. “I can offer you one or two questions from the Log every decade for the next thousand years. Approved and assisted through Reixhitz himself. The cost would be different for one than two, of course.”

“Of course,” Eugenia said and then sighed. “And what is my virginity worth then?”

Her… really? Outstanding!

She probably has no idea what it’s worth given her distance from mortals outside of judging.

“Well. Since this is your first time, that definitely offsets things,” Sam said honestly. “I’d say… sex with me once a week for the next thousand years would definitely be an appropriate amount for an answer from the Log every decade.”

Eugenia took in a short breath, then let it out.

“Okay,” she said. “And what’s the cost of both answers every decade?”

“To be honest, the second answer is for me so it’d cost a bit more. Perhaps… for both answers, sex three times a week. In whatever way I wished it, so long as it was something one could expect in a normal relationship,” suggested Sam. “This would be whenever I wanted, mind you, throughout the week, for a thousand years. Though I must tell you, there is the possibility of another woman joining us in our… contractual obligations.”

“A second woman? I… suppose if I must. And yes, I’m aware of what all this would entail. I judged more men and women in relationships than you’ve ever met in your life,” murmured Eugenia. “In effect… this is a relationship of convenience. I provide myself to you, you provide me with log answers.”

“Quite right,” Sam said, eyeing the Judge. He was insanely hopeful she’d take him up on the three times a week. He’d be visiting her as often as possible. The amount of Essence he generated from having Aster was already massive. Having the Judge would likely be magnitudes higher.

If he had to tell Irma no in order to have a go with Eugenia, he would. The simple reality was, she was just worth too much to not go after at every opportunity.

Getting the Judge into the sack would be a single step away from the Originator himself.

Not that Sam would ever swing that way. It just didn’t interest him in the least.

“Hm. I can agree to this, but if I end up reestablishing my relationship with my father, I’ll just pity you in advance if you’ve treated me poorly up to that point,” Eugenia said, smiling up at him. It was the first time he’d seen her truly smile and it was equal parts beauty and frightening.

“Have no fear, Eugenia. I’ll treat you quite kindly. So much so that you’ll never look at another man in the same way after me.

“Now… we should conclude our contract then with celerity,” Sam said, gesturing to the fort. “I’m sure we can find a suitable bed and have this all settled in thirty minutes or so.”

“I suppose it’s a good thing I never had an eye for men in any way. I’ve only recently considered the prospect of intercourse or dating.

“As to our contract… yes. Let’s… get this… contracted… then,” said Eugenia with a nod of her head.

Several minutes later, Sam had escorted the Judge herself into a bedroom.

“I’m going to just keep my dress on,” Eugenia said moving over to the bed. “Don’t rip it or muss me. It’ll be bad enough that they’ll all assume I’ve been deflowered, worse if they have any proof of it.

“And to confirm… I get two answers from the Log every decade for a thousand years. In return, I have sex with you three times a week for a thousand years. We perform whatever sexual act you wish for, so long as it’s something one could expect in a normal relationship.”

Laying down in the middle of the rather clean looking bed Eugenia took hold of her dress and began to lift it up.

Sam had to momentarily consider what was about to happen.

He’d be bedding the Judge, a woman considered to be the daughter of the Originator, in the bed of the angel of Retribution. The single most combat proficient angel on either side he’d ever heard of.

Exciting!

“And the possibility of another woman joining us during sex. At which point you’d have to perform with and for her, just as you would with me,” Sam said. He needed to make sure to always include Jes.

She was his partner, after all.

His Branded.

Other than Aster, he wouldn’t have another Branded.

“Ah, yes, the other woman,” Eugenia said, putting her bare bottom down on the bed after hiking her dress all the way up to her hips. “That’s fine. I’ll treat her as a wife, and you as a husband, for a thousand years.”

Eugenia then spread her legs apart, giving him a spectacular view of the very soft and pale looking Judge of the afterlife. She was absolutely hairless, smooth, and perfectly sculpted in every way.

She didn’t have much in the way of muscle but she looked amazing to Sam.

The Originator certainly blessed you with a lot of beauty for a woman who’d never be seen by anyone but the dead.

Wasting some Essence, Sam simply dismissed everything he was wearing to one side. The entire ensemble appearing in a pile.

“Oh,” murmured Eugenia her eyes tracking down the front of him. “Well. You’re certainly an extremely handsome Incubus.”

“My thanks,” Sam said, smiling as he crawled into the bed.

Eugenia took in a slow breath, her hands moving away from her thighs and then settling over her stomach. She was clearly nervous and unsure how to proceed.

“I’ll be gentle,” Sam promised, then realized he could do something a little different this time. If only to make it easier for the Judge in the future.

Settling his head down over her privates he decided to get her “warmed up” so to speak.

“What are you doing?” Eugenia asked, her voice going up in pitch.

“Taking care of you,” Sam said, moving his head down between her thighs which had slowly inched inward as if to crush his head between them.

Using just the tip of his tongue he began to lightly lick at the lips of Eugenia’s nethers.

“I-I-I think—ah,” Eugenia’s voice faded off as Sam began to trail up toward her hooded pearl.

Passing over the top of it, staying to the hood, Sam went around to the other side. Lifting his eyes from her pubic mound, Sam looked up at Eugenia’s face.

She was watching him with wide eyes and a partially open mouth.

Smiling, Sam continued to move his tongue tip up and down as he went lower and lower.

“Ah… ah… ahnn?” Eugenia murmured, her head dropping down to the bedding. He couldn’t see her face over her chest anymore.

Grinning, Sam looked back to what he was working on. Moving his tongue across toward her partially covered entry he experimented, slithering his tongue up and into it.

Eugenia made an odd squeak as he did it, her thighs trembling lightly.

Using the flat part of his tongue Sam began to casually lick her from the bottom to the top, always stopping just when he reached her hood. With each and every pass across her he could feel her body shifting down into him. As if trying to get him to do what he was deliberately avoiding.

Sam turned his head partly to one side and moved the tip of his tongue into the fold just under her lip and dragged up along it.

And went straight into her clit. Running around it several times slowly with the tip of his tongue, he was surprised.

Eugenia was moaning hard and deep now, her hips quivering and her stomach and chest shuddering.

Reaching up with his hands Sam gently parted Eugenia’s privates. Then he moved his fingers up, exposing her clit entirely.

Moving in, he pressed his lips to it and sucked gently, even as he ran his tongue back and forth across it. Attacking it directly now.

“Oh… oh my,” Eugenia gasped out, her fingers digging into her stomach.

Feeling rather pleased with himself, Sam continued to diligently work at her. His tongue slathering back and forth over her firm little pearl.

Then unexpectedly, she went into a full blown orgasm, the Essence running out of her was like a volcano blowing its top and spewing magma in every direction.

Surprised, Sam began to devour everything coming out of the Judge. Chasing it all down and letting nothing escape.

He didn’t spike her though. That’d come next, once he got atop her. He’d make this one last and enjoy every second of it.

“Ahhhhnnn,” Eugenia moaned softly, sinking into the bed, her orgasm closing out slowly. “Oh… oh my goodness.”

“Mm, time for the real thing,” Sam said, kissing Eugenia’s thin lips. Then he got up on his elbows and moved up, putting his knees down on each side of her hips.

“Oh! Ah… yes. Yes,” Eugenia murmured, gazing up at him with sleepy lidded eyes. She was clearly still riding the vestiges of her orgasm. “Is it… does it get better?”

“Very much,” Sam said with a grin.

Reaching down with his left hand he grabbed hold of himself at the hilt, and guided his tip into her. Finding her entry, he got the tip wedged in then got his balance.

Smiling up at him, Eugenia looked like she wasn’t sure what to do but didn’t care anymore.

Moving his hips forward, the Torment of Lust filled the Judge of the Prime Plane’s womanhood to its fullest.

At the same time, he slipped into her psyche as if it were a vault left wide open. Feeding her a trickle of Essence magic, he flicked her sensitivity to its maximum and deadened her to any pain she might feel.

Groaning hard, Eugenia’s hands came up and gripped his shoulders, her eyes closing leisurely.

He could already feel her body responding hungrily to him. Craving another orgasm and wanting it immediately.

Her thighs pressed to his hips and he felt her ankles suddenly resting on his lower back. She tightened her legs down on him, her hands clenched to his shoulders.

Grinning, Sam realized he could take his time, drown Eugenia in lust and desire, and ride her for quite a while.

Giving her an orgasm she’d never experience the likes of again, and then spiking her.

Slowly, he began to glide back and forth. Having the Judge’s virginity as a main course was going to be the highlight of his decade.

“Ooooh, more,” Eugenia murmured.

“Soon,” Sam promised. “Soon, Eugenia.”

He settled into a good rhythm and planned to really lay into her. The longer he took, the more succulent she’d be.

And he wanted to make sure she enjoyed it as well.

Such a luxurious meal to savor.

Lovely. Simply lovely.

Two hours later and Eugenia was a gasping, panting and very sweaty mess.

She’d finally gotten rid of her dress between the first and second coupling. Having realized that it was very likely to get ruined if she kept it on.

Between the fifth and sixth time, she’d stopped talking for the most part and just kept touching and patting at him until he got atop her again.

With a moan, Eugenia turned to her side and curled up in the fetal position. Laying there for a minute as she got her breathing mostly under control.

“It almost hurts,” she got out in a partial moan, talking for the first time in a while. “Let’s do it again.”

Then she spread herself out to him and her legs parted once more. Her very seed-filled womb began to spill the excess down across her buttocks and taint.

Laughing softly, Sam considered having the Judge once again. Having lost count of the number of times he’d had her.

“Sure, if you want. But I think we should stop for the day. I’ve already kept you occupied for two hours or so,” Sam said.

Eugenia frowned at that, her eyes looking contemplative.

“I care not, they knew what I was going to be bartering away. Send one of your people to tell them to go home,” Eugenia said. With her left hand she reached up and began stroking Sam’s thigh. “Now come over here and give me another.”

“Yes, another,” Jes said from the side. At some point, she’d joined them and had just been feeding on Sam’s orgasms without participating. She looked incredibly full and ready for a nap. “I can handle another.”

Eugenia laughed at that and her hand climbed higher up Sam’s thigh toward his privates.

“Come on, Torment. Torment me some more,” Eugenia said. Apparently he’d ignited something very different inside her that he hadn’t expected to find. “Or maybe it’s time for me to return that favor you gave me?”

“Oh, we’ll save that for next time,” Jes said from her seat. “I’ll teach you how to do it. I bet you can make him pop as hard as I can.”

“Hmm. Alright. Come, Torment. Hurry up,” Eugenia said, her hand gripping him around the hilt. “I can feel your seed draining from me. You must fill me up again.”

Demanding.

Very demanding.

And a little odd in the wording but… whatever.

“Sure. Here I come, Judge,” Sam said with a grin and got back atop Eugenia. Plunging straight into her very sticky and sloppy entry.

“Oh, heavens yes,” groaned the Judge her arms coming up to loop around Sam’s neck. “Have your Judge, Torment.”

Thirteen - Working Lunch -

Opening the portal to the arrival platform, Sam was mentally drained.

His all day romp with the Judge, Eugenia, had definitely “charged his batteries” but it hadn’t done anything for his feeling of dread.

That the entirety of the prime plane and every other plane—since they all connected to the prime in one way or another—was doomed to fail. The systems put in place by the Originator were failing and that didn’t bode well for anyone.

Need to get as many Cambion as I can. Get them onto my plane and… and just… put together a bunker.

A fallout bunker. Zombie bunker.

However you want to call it, I need that.

We need that.

His eyes tracked to his tired and worn company shuffling through to this side of the portal. Their souls were worn, their minds laden with experience they should never have as a mortal, and their world view irrevocably changed.

Because if the prime were to suddenly shut down, or fall apart, I’d need to get them all out. Every single one. From feed harem to my… wives.

Reaching out, Sam laid a hand on Wren’s shoulder as she passed by him. She’d been the last in line.

“Hey, hang back a sec?” Sam asked.

Wren nodded and stepped over to the side of the portal.

“Sure. Can we find a bed though? My shoulders are pretty sore and doing it here on the ground doesn’t sound great,” Wren said, starting to work at removing her body armor.

Putting her rifle and SMG down next to the nightstand she was able to use both hands to get her pack off.

“Oh, uh, that wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about, but we could definitely do that afterward,” Sam said. Wren was always willing to jump straight to sex with him. Closing the portal everyone else had walked through, Sam opened a portal to his old apartment’s bedroom. “I wanted to talk to you about your race.”

“Huh. Okay,” Wren said. She hadn’t stopped working at her body armor but she did walk through the portal. “What about it?”

“I want to get as many Cambion onto my plane as possible,” Sam said, following Wren into the bedroom. “I haven’t seen any other than you, though. Do you perhaps know if there’s a Cambion collective or a county or a… well… country?”

“No?” Wren said sounding rather confused. Shucking off her armor, she set it to one side next to the rest of her gear. “My parents were in the army as long as I could remember. They only retired because they didn’t look their age anymore. Moved out to Europe to re-enlist. Still there.”

“Hm. This might not be as easy as I wished then,” Sam murmured. Then he flicked a hand out and dismissed everything on his person to pile up nearby.

“That’s okay, I’ll always be easy for you,” Wren said sitting down on the bed and working at her boots. “And I’m really enjoying getting laid after every mission.”

Her breath was starting to turn into a red mist, her eyes starting to shift already.

Wren was more than willing and ready to be conquered.

“Bite me up good this time,” Wren said, standing up to step out of her pants. Every breath was already quite red in color. And dense. “Bite me up really good. Mark me. I want the left side of my neck to be teeth marks and the right side hickeys.”

“Certainly,” Sam said with a smile. Wren wasn’t a masochist, she just really enjoyed being ‘owned’.

An hour later and Sam walked into the bedroom he shared with Irma.

Sighing, he sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned back into it.

Wren had been fun and spunky, but his mind kept wandering back to the problem.

Over and over.

There was a clack as a door opened.

“Sammy?” Irma asked.

“In here, dear,” he replied with a smile.

“Oh good. Just gimmie a second to change,” Irma said. Then she passed by him and waved a hand at him, moving to the bathroom. She was beautifully dressed in corporate clothes. The picture of a CEO, he thought. “Did it go alright?”

“I mean, well enough,” Sam said. “We retrieved the Log. No losses. Even ended up with some new equipment.”

Apparently Carissa had forgotten to drop the sword from “The End” and had taken it with her. Thankfully once it cleared the plane it was on, there’d be no way to track it.

Which meant Seville hadn’t noticed it and no one would be coming for it.

They’d also taken some a number of things from Retribution’s Holdout.

“That’s wonderful,” Irma said from the bathroom. “In fact, that sounds so good, I have to wonder why you look so forlorn. Do you need a pick-me-up?”

“Mmm. I’d never say no to bedding my lovely Imp, but to answer the question, no, I’m not lacking in Essence,” Sam said. “It’s… more of a problem with what we saw. Where we went. Where we shouldn’t have gone.”

“Tell me about it then. I’ve been sending out our secondary teams to handle any nice PMC jobs while you’ve been gone,” Irma said. There was the light clatter and swish of things happening in the bathroom.

“We weren’t gone that long,” Sam said argued.

“But you were. Three weeks,” Irma replied quickly. “Given what you’ve said though… maybe there was a time differential where you went?”

“I… three weeks? I guess. Yeah,” Sam muttered. He hadn’t noticed a change in the pace of time, but then again he’d lost access to his plane repeatedly. Without access to the plane he’d never know if there was a loss of time. “As to where we went, that’s a story all in itself.”

“Good thing I’m your wife, and I have the time to hear it,” said Irma with a smile in her voice.

A good point.

“We ended up going to the Higher Planes. Where the custodians, watchers, whatever you want to call them, dwelt,” Sam said. “Talked to… someone… who was quite frightening. She apparently murdered everyone up there and left their corpses where they fell.

“Then we somehow ended up going to the place where everyone ends up when they die. Good, evil, baby, murderer, everyone. The Judge wasn’t at her post. No souls had been judged in quite a while.”

“That doesn’t sound very good. Now I’m rather glad mother stuck around. Hear that, Mom? Don’t cross over,” said Irma.

Ah. Yeah. She never did cross over.

Still around, too.

Good thing, I suppose.

“It’s not good. Then we also went to the battlefield where the Originator and the Silent One fought their last battle. Aster called it ‘The End’ which is oddly appropriate.

“We also ran into what could only be described as the right-hand of the Silent One. Who just… let us go. Without even a concern or a worry. In fact, it almost seemed like he did us a favor,” Sam said.

“The Silent One. You’ve mentioned him before. He’s… uhm… the ultimate evil, basically?” Irma asked.

“Kind of. More like an absent dead-beat dad who doesn’t want anything to do with us,” Sam said. “From there… we ended up in the Angel of Retribution’s plane.”

“Who?” Irma inquired. Her question was followed immediately by a toilet flushing.

Ah the joys of married life. When you can literally have your partner taking a shit in the other room while having a conversation.

And it’s normal.

“Angel of Retribution. A child of the Originator. An Archangel. His domain was Retribution and Justice,” Sam said, staring at the ceiling.

“That’s neat. Was he nice? I can’t imagine him being friendly,” Irma said. The lights in the bathroom turned out and Irma walked back into the bedroom in a black nightie that came down to her knees.

It wasn’t meant to be sexy, but anything she wore was immediately made so by simply being on her person.

“He wasn’t there. Looked like he hadn’t been there in years actually,” Sam said, his eyes tracking the woman he’d tear asunder the plane for. The longer he spent around her, the more he knew it was absolutely true.

That he was deeply in love with Irma and she’d changed his entire outlook on life.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Irma said with a smile. She waved one hand at him and got in on her side of the bed. “You’re supposed to be telling a story, not making my engine rev into the red-zone by staring at me.”

Snickering at that, Sam once more dismissed his clothes and got onto his side of the bed. He slept next to Irma for the sake of being with her, but he did do it naked.

“Go on. You’re story’s not over,” Irma urged.

“Well, Retribution wasn’t there. Then the Judge showed up. So did the first Were of all time. And the Greek pantheon,” Sam murmured. “It was a real who’s who. Apparently they’re all trying to contact the Originator.”

“I… see,” Irma said after a pause. “Then-then I suppose we’re likely going to be in the End Times soon. Aren’t we?”

Sam blinked and felt like someone had struck him with those words.

That was the problem lurking in the back of his mind. The moment she said it, he realized that’d been his concern from the get go.

He’d just been unable to conceptualize it.

“Yeah,” Sam said, nodding his head. “Yeah. Because if the Originator comes back, the Silent One could follow through with his threat. To end our entire existence simply because.”

“Hm. Well, sounds like I need to move our plans up then,” Irma mumbled and then snuggled up to his side. “Because if we’re going to hit our expiration date, I really need to hit off all those checkboxes I haven’t filled in yet.

“And you should probably go talk to Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel. If anyone can help, it’s them. And if anyone should know about this… it’s them.”

Once again, it was like being struck. Sam’s mind snapped into place and he realized his next course of action. It was indeed going to talk to Miles, the Curator, Uncle Dave, the oldest living creature in all of existence.

First amongst all.

Before the Angels, the Elements, Death, the Judge, before existence.

There was the Originator and Miles.

“It’s a very good thing I married a woman with brains,” Sam said, turning to look at Irma who was running her hand up and down his chest.

“You definitely married up, Sammy, my love,” teased Irma with a grin. Then she patted him just above his privates. “And we’re moving our plans up. If the end of the world is coming, we need to start trying to have a child. Maybe it sounds selfish, but I really do want to try being a mother before I die you know.”

What? No!

No, no, no, no—

“Okay. You might not need to move your plans up though, dear,” Sam said, turning toward Irma and wrapping an arm around her hips. “I’m going to get us all over to my plane if anything happens. Even if the prime collapsed, we could still hold out there for a very long time.”

“How long is a long time?” Irma asked, her fingernails sliding along Sam’s inner thigh.

“Well, not as long as I’d like, to be honest. Probably a couple million years,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders even as his skin prickled at Irma’s touch.

She had a way to make him feel aroused that few others could.

“Oh. Oh, I see. Alright. I’ll keep my plans how they were for now then. You can go see Uncle Dave tomorrow and Reixhitz as well. I’m sure he’ll want his item back,” Irma said. Then she slid a leg over his middle and sat her bottom down on his lap, his quite stiff manhood sliding up the front of her pubic mound. “Now, show your wife some affection. I missed you.”

***

Knocking gently on the door twice, Sam waited. He’d hopped a portal to Allison’s home and then went straight to Miles. Just as Irma had suggested to him yesterday.

Though he’d taken a little extra time to have a fun hour with Allison.

She was definitely willing to “tip” him every time he visited and if she was home alone.

Otherwise, he was just “Uncle Sam” to her children, if they were home.

The door jerked open and Sam found Miles standing there in front of him.

A middle-aged man, perhaps in his mid-thirties. Light brown hair and brown eyes with a bright blue ring around the pupils.

Now that he knew what to look for, he could see some of the man’s features in Melody’s.

“Afternoon,” Sam said waving a hand at him. “I just finished a job for Reix. Learned some information. Thought I’d share it with you. Irma also asked me to bring you this.”

Turning slightly, Sam took the pie that Hillary was holding in her hands and offered it to Miles.

“Sam made the filling,” Hillary offered.

Irene, on the other side of Sam, nodded her head.

Miles looked stunned, staring at the pie. Then he looked at Sam, then Hillary, and then Irene.

“Uh,” Miles said then took the pie. “Come-come on in then.”

“Thank you. We brought lunch as well,” said Irene. “I checked with Irma to make sure we got something you’d like.”

“Thanks,” Miles said, stepping to one side of the door and holding it open.

The Curator, Guardian of the entire universe, had the look of someone who found something he didn’t expect at all.

Checking his smirk at the door, Sam entered the home.

“A mission for Reix, huh?” Miles asked after closing the door.

“Indeed. He sent me off to fetch the Log,” Sam said moving into Mile’s living room.

Hillary and Irene were already in the middle of pulling everything out of the bags they’d brought in.

“We got it successfully, of course. Though I had a run in with the Judge, Seville, the Fates, Romulus, and the Scales of Justice,” Sam said, moving over to help the two women.

“That’s— that’s quite a list of people,” Miles murmured.

“Indeed. Aster, Elemental Aster, thought it was especially strange to speak with Seville at The End,” Sam said as he pulled containers from bags. “Though no less strange that we spoke with the Judge in Retribution’s empty fort. Where she wasn’t doing her job. And hadn’t done her job for a long time.

“Next to Scales that were very dusty, and very unused.”

Sam looked at Miles as he spoke. He wanted to see if the man had any reaction to any of this.

Except what he got was exactly what he didn’t want to see.

Miles looked shocked and dismayed.

“I’d wondered,” mumbled Miles, shaking his head. Slowly his eyes fell to the ground. “I’d wondered for quite a while. The Tenders weren’t anywhere to be seen. I hadn’t heard from The Judge in a while—”

“Eugenia says hi,” Sam said with a grin.

Frowning at that, Miles gave Sam an odd look.

“Yes, I did. We came to an arrangement,” Sam explained, interpreting that look immediately.

“Of course, you did,” Miles grumbled shaking his head angrily. “Because you’re still you.”

“I mean, I’m still an Incubus planar lord,” Sam agreed. “But I’m not who I once was. Irma and I will likely be expecting our first child in a year or two, by the way. Would you care to be their godfather?”

Miles looked dumbstruck once again. Opening his mouth, he took in a breath then let it out in a short huff.

“This is all a lot to throw at me at once, Sam,” Miles complained.

“And yet here I am, offering it all free of charge,” Sam countered, holding his hands up. “You’re Uncle Dave to Irma, so I’m doing my best here.

“And before I get too far off track, the real reason I’m here. Eugenia is trying to get in touch with the Originator. Her Father. Apparently she made brief contact with him and he wasn’t very happy with her.”

“Course he wasn’t,” Miles said, looking annoyed. “Wait, she actually got in touch with him?”

“That’s what she said. She’s trying to convince him to come back. Apparently, she’s realized the error of her ways,” Sam explained. “I get the impression he’s not going to budge, but… if he did, I can’t imagine the Silent One being very happy about that. But you might be happy, hmm?”

Miles eyes flicked to Hillary and Irene behind Sam, then back to the Incubus.

Nodding his head once to the unspoken question, Sam confirmed his trust in those two.

“I mean, sure, I’d be happy if he came back. We could finally fix the whole thing,” Miles said. “But… he left because Z-the Silent One made a threat that couldn’t be countered. We’d be right back where we started.”

“Yeah, I figured the same thing,” Sam admitted. “But, here we are. She’s trying to get in touch with dear old daddy.”

“He’s not really her dad,” Miles muttered, looking off and to one side. Clearly lost in thought. “I mean, not like that. He’s got kids. Met quite a few of them. She’s not really his daughter though.

“They just call him that because he made them from nothing. They have no parents except him.”

“They?” Sam asked.

“Mm? Oh, the Angelics. Elementals. Others like Eugenia,” Miles said, his brows drawing together as his mind clearly churned away at something.

“But not you,” Sam pushed a little.

“No. I was born in a different—”

Miles froze before he could finish and looked at Sam.

“I have a job for you by the way,” Miles said, changing the subject. “And I find that I suddenly need it taken care of as soon as possible. By a PMC with a lot of firepower.”

“And what’s the job then?” Sam asked, letting the subject be diverted. “Keep in mind, I’ll have to run it by Irma. She runs the company, I just work there.”

Chuckling at that, Miles couldn’t help himself it seemed and grinned.

“That’s my girl,” he said, then he sighed. “I need a bodyguard for a young boy. He’s about ten, give or take.”

“A body guard for a ten-year-old,” Sam said slowly.

“That’s right. Because he’s not a normal ten-year-old. I need him protected and now,” Miles said. “His parents are constructs that I made. Living golems made from the shells of a married couple. They died rather young and had very strong spirits.

“They’re as normal as any other person, but I’m starting to see some wear and tear on their souls. Being trapped to a golem, but not actually being in it, is starting to grind away at them. Soon enough, they’ll have to be released.”

“Okay, and you need me to watch the boy because that’s soon?” Sam asked.

“No, it’s probably ten or fifteen years from now that I’ll have to pop the souls loose, but he needs a bodyguard because he needs one,” Miles said. “The golems don’t know what they are though, and they don’t know their son is different either. So you’ll have to play it kinda straight. I’ll tamper with their memories so that you’re the dad’s older brother though. Uncle Samuel. Any others you take with you as well will be added to their minds.

“As to why I need it, because honestly, your news frightens me. I need you to provide protection for about three months to a year. After that, I can find someone else to take care of it.”

“Uh huh,” Sam said. “And what are you paying for the gig?”

“I’ll be godfather to all your children. Even those you don’t have with Irma,” Miles, the Guardian of the universe, the Curator, offered.

“Done. That’s a deal,” Sam said hastily. Having the Curator as godfather to any children he had was beyond any type of value he could put on such a thing.

Especially since Melody had agreed to be godmother to Irma’s child with him already.

“Great. His name’s Mitch. He lives in Miami. I think you’ll like him,” Miles said.

Fourteen - Golem Life -

Sam leaned to one side and slowly turned the page in the rather large report.

You know. I really don’t care much about these things.

This is something for someone who has a mind for such things.

Like a little—

“You don’t care.”

Looking up at the speaker, Sam couldn’t help but grin.

Standing near the doorway to the large meeting room was Decima.

“Not in the least,” Sam admitted easily, flipping the report closed. “Should I?”

Decima frowned at him, folding her arms.

“My first response was you should as you’re our leader, but you’re not. Irma is,” Decima said, shaking her head.

“I believe Tiffany calls me shared office equipment,” Sam said, grinning all the wider. “Then again, I think she said that just to get me to bend her over the copier and have my way with her.”

Which he had.

Decima lifted her chin up fractionally. Then she reached over and shut the door with a quick push.

“I’ll summarize it for you. Everyone is worn down in one way or another. Tired,” Decima said. “Our last mission pushed everyone beyond their normal turning point. Too many missions too close together.

“And yes, before you say anything, I know I’m partially the cause of that. I pushed them. I admit that. And now I’m telling you that they need a break, so I’m pushing for that.”

“Got it,” Sam said, leaning back in his chair. “And how long do they need off, and who needs the most time?”

“A month, and Abigail,” Decima said walking toward him. “She’s adjusting very well to this life, but she has no combat experience before this. It’s taking its toll and she needs rest.

“After her would probably be Wren. She takes a lot of duties on herself without anyone suggesting it. I’d like to force her into an off-duty state.”

“Okay,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I have a contract we can’t say no to, though. I need two people to go with me. It’ll be anywhere from three months to a year.”

Decima stopped not far away from him.

“That’s an odd timeframe. Details?” she asked.

“Bodyguard job. For a kid,” Sam said. “I’ll need someone who can cast a glamour or hold an illusion, and one other.”

“Irene, Stacia, Jes, or Hillary then,” Decima listed off quickly. “From the duty roster I put together, which I doubt you check, Jes is with Inese as they do the setup for that… facility.

“Stacia and Irene are currently going through the process of removing themselves from the affairs of their old coven. With their work here, there’s really no point in continuing that farce. I think Stacia will have to drink some of her kin to get her point across but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Which leaves Hillary. Who really had about as much combat experience as Abigail,” Sam said with a long sigh.

And that meant he’d have to hire contractors outside the company to make this work.

“Surprisingly, she’s fine,” Decima murmured. “I get the impression her childhood was no picnic. She’s tougher than one would expect.

“You said you needed one other though. What’s the requirements of that role?”

“They’d have to act a part and pretend to be that for a time,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders. “With any luck this’ll be a short-term protection job and we hand it off after three months. Worst case, twelve months.”

“Long time to assume a role,” Decima said, her face becoming a thoughtful frown. “And that means Hillary will be out of pocket for quite a while as well as the secondary. And you.”

“Yup. But this is a contract we have to take. It’s… from the Curator,” Sam murmured. He knew for a fact that Decima was aware of Miles.

Looking surprised, Decima actually leaned away from Sam.

“Truly? How curious. I can see why you’d be adamant about taking the job,” Decima said. “Fine. If that’s the client, then I’ll take the extra role. Hillary will be the infiltrator. I’ll have the duty roster altered.

“Wren can provide tactical decision making for the team while I’m gone, and Irene and Stacia can do the mission planning once they return.”

Laughing softly, Sam didn’t bother to argue with her. He’d let her find out her role later on.

It wasn’t his fault she didn’t ask any questions about the persona she’d be adopting.

“What’s so funny?” Decima asked, looking as if she were unsure if she was supposed to be insulted or not.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Sam said. Picking up the report, he held it out to her.

Taking it from him, Decima continued to watch him warily.

***

“You didn’t tell me this is what the job would be,” Decima growled, her hands clenched into fists. She looked like she wanted to punch something.

Given that she was wearing a blouse, skirt, flats, and her hair was styled for the times, it looked very strange.

“You didn’t ask,” Sam said flicking the house keys up onto the island in the middle of the kitchen. “You just volunteered.”

“I dunno, I think it’s kinda funny. Chill out, mom,” Hillary said, wandering through the living room with her arms linked together above her head. “Kinda funny that I’ll be pretending to be younger for once. Usually I have to look older.”

Giving Hillary a quick once-over, Sam wondered about that. She looked a lot like she normally did in her “human Hillary disguise”.

Just younger.

“What?” Hillary asked, meeting his eyes. Then she gave him a grin and shifted her hip to one side with one hand on it. “This is what I looked like when I was fifteen. Human is one of the few bodies I can just grow through. Like it? I thought I was just average, but looking back now I was damn sexy.”

“You look the same as you always do in your Human skin,” Decima grumbled.

“Really? Huh,” Hillary said, then looked down at herself. “I guess it’s mostly the same. My hips got wider two years after this though. My boobs got bigger too. They were already pretty nice, though.”

Hillary felt at her chest, then her hips. Seeming to inspect herself.

“I guess outside looking in, the differences aren’t that obvious. To me, though, it’s an entirely different body,” Hillary said, then looked back up at Sam. “If it bothers you, Sam, I’ll be sure to shift my age up to the legal one tonight before we go to bed.”

Decima shook her head angrily at that but didn’t say anything.

“And you expect me to just… sit here and… and… and play housewife?” Decima asked, looking at Sam again. “For a year?”

“I mean, that’s what you agreed to,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders. “If you want, we could get Tiffany to switch places with you probably. No one’s met you yet so that should be fine. We don’t officially start our disguises till we ‘move-in’ tomorrow.”

Instantly, Decima shook her head at that, dismissing the idea.

“No,” Decima said. He got the impression that there was something else there, but the Witch-hunter didn’t seem to want to discuss it. “No. This is my job. I’ll handle it.”

Sighing, Decima wandered over to the stovetop and laid a hand to it.

“A damned housewife. What the hell am I supposed to do as a housewife?” Decima asked, almost to herself.

Sam rolled his eyes with a smile and walked over to where Hillary was just sitting down on the couch. All the furniture had been moved in today by the Curator under an illusion.

Tomorrow, moving trucks with things that Sam, Hillary, and Decima had personally asked for would arrive. From electronics, to plates and cups. Everything they picked out specifically.

Taking a seat next to Hillary, Sam looked at the TV on the wall as she turned it on.

“It’s because she can’t cook,” Hillary said softly. “Can’t cook, doesn’t know how to use most of the appliances, and as far as I can tell, she’s a virgin. Being locked down in a house with an Incubus as her ‘husband’—who really is her husband—can’t be easy and with nothing else to do. I bet she puts out in the first month. Not that I blame her. If it were me, I’d jump in your bed night one and shove the Doppel out of the way.”

Ah. Those are all very good points. This is probably the furthest thing from Decima’s personal experience as it could be.

Lifting the remote up, Hillary began to rapidly cycle through the channels.

“Oh nice, it’s got the movie channel,” Hillary said. Then she leaned into Sam and put her hand on his thigh. “I’m really looking forward to playing house for a year. Gonna be amazing.”

Sam didn’t quite agree with that.

He really wasn’t looking forward to not seeing Irma for long stretches of time. Thankfully scheduled portals would make it considerably more convenient but even then, he knew he’d miss her.

“Do I really have to go to school, though?” Hillary asked, looking at Sam with a grimace. “I already went to high school once. Really would rather not go again.”

“Yeah. You do. He’s at your school as a middle-schooler. You need to be there to watch him during the day,” Sam said. “Be thankful the middle school and high school are joined. Otherwise you’d be a middle-schooler. Were you a cute kid?”

Hillary didn’t respond to that.

Instead, she lifted the remote and started changing the channels again.

***

Standing with his hands in his pockets, Sam watched as the moving crew continued to unload the truck.

By and large, most of what they’d asked to be sent over was electronic and creature comforts.

Like Hillary’s giant television that apparently she can’t live without.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Hallsy? Where do you want this?”

One of the movers had a box that was labeled as “plates” in front of himself. His question was directed at “Decima Hallsy”, the lady of the home.

“What?” Decima asked, turning to look at the man. She’d been sorting through boxes that’d been put to one side. Sam had no idea what she was looking for, but she was definitely searching for something.

Decima had ended up staying home with Sam for the movers after dropping Hillary off at school.

She wasn’t technically old enough to drive yet, being a freshman in high school. If they stayed here for a while they could probably get her a learner’s permit.

“Where—uh, where do you want your plates Mrs. Hallsy?”

“I don’t care,” Decima said flicking a hand in a dismissive gesture. “Somewhere in the kitchen.”

Dressed in a summer dress, she looked like an ideal and beautiful “housewife”. Sam had heard Hillary helping Decima get into costume this morning. Picking out her clothes, helping her with makeup, and even her hair.

Closing the box she’d been sorting through, she made a harrumph-like noise and then came over to Sam.

“Something in particular you’re looking for?” he asked when she reached him.

“My purity seal carving knife,” Decima said. “I can’t find it. I know I packed it away, but I swear it isn’t here now.”

“It’ll show up,” Sam said nonchalantly. “Or we’ll buy you a new one. It isn’t like they’re unique or one of a kind.”

“I liked that one, though,” Decima complained with a sigh. “I’d broken it in and the handle felt right in my hand.”

“Like I said, it’ll show up, or we’ll get you another one. You can stand in the shop and grab each one till you find one you like,” Sam said. He was terribly amused that Decima seemed to be this upset over a simple carving knife.

Decima grunted at that and then slowly turned around when she reached Sam’s side.

“They stare at me,” Decima muttered. “Hillary put me in clothes that are ill fit for the time, didn’t she?”

Glancing at Decima, he wasn’t able to see anything out of the ordinary. Then he looked at her face again and didn’t have to think much further than that.

Hillary had definitely put some time into Decima’s make up. She hadn’t caked it on or over-applied it in any way at all.

She’d just barely put enough on Decima to draw on her already good looks and highlight them.

Especially her eyes.

“They’re staring because you’re very attractive, with a lovely body,” Sam said honestly. Unable to look away from her. “You’re beautiful, Decima.”

Decima took in a sudden breath as her cheeks colored.

“I don’t much like this role,” Decima groused.

“Really? I think this is a good opportunity for you to gain some experience,” Sam disagreed. Then he slid an arm around Decima’s shoulders and pulled her into his side. “Besides, I get to call you wife in public and put my hands on you. Definitely a win for me. Just think, we’ll even have to take Mitch and his parents to dinner or have them over. And you’ll have to act your part.”

Decima was an angry statue of tension under Sam’s arm, but she didn’t pull away, shove him off, or move from his side either.

“I am your wife by law,” Decima said. “I’ve been your wife for a while now. We simply haven’t consummated it.”

“See, if this was the era you were born in, that’d mean we weren’t married,” Sam said with a laugh.

“Shut up,” Decima growled. Then she sighed and relaxed partially under his arm. “I’m sorry. It’s all so much to take in. I’m not declining you bedroom rights out of spite or anything. I know our contract and what I’m supposed to do. I just… it’s all so much.”

“I know. And that’s why I’m not pushing,” Sam said. “So far. Though at some point you’ll have to start paying your obligations. So to speak.”

“I know it. And I’ll pay them rightly, have no fear of that. You rescued me from hell,” Decima murmured. “Now, let’s go meet Mitch’s parents. You said they were golems?”

“That’s what I was told,” Sam said turning toward their next door neighbor’s home. Decima moved with him, staying in the circle of his arm. They started walking forward together. “So essentially exactly what you are, but a lot more basic and with a slew of magical programming.”

“As if I don’t,” Decima scoffed.

“What, magical programming? You don’t,” Sam said. “I only put in a fail-safe that you couldn’t betray me. That’s it. I mean, if you think about it, chances are you’ll learn my true name at some point. Can’t have you using that against me.”

“I don’t believe that for an instant. I’m sure you filled me to the brim with sexual wants and desires you just had to put in me,” Decima argued.

“No, truly. I didn’t,” Sam said with a laugh. “You’re as free as a golem can be. You just can’t betray me. Here, I’ll even demonstrate it.”

Sam used a scrap of Essence to make sure his voice wouldn’t travel in any way, shape, or form beyond three feet.

“I swear on my name, Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis, that I put no programming in you whatsoever, other than you’re not able to betray me,” Sam said. “See? Nothing happening. Free as a golem can be.”

Decima was shaking her head now, as if to disagree with him. But she clearly couldn’t.

Sam wasn’t a shrieking ball of meat right now from his oath backfiring in using his true name.

“Cheer up, Decima Vera Fidenis, you’re a happily married golem with absolute free will outside of a non-betrayal clause,” Sam said. “Which is why I think you’ll feel pity for these two poor golems we’re about to meet. I’m betting they’re little better than robots as to what they can do.”

Walking up to the front door, Sam let his arm fall away from Decima. Lifting up his hand, he knocked on the door and then waited.

“You really think so?” Decima asked under her breath.

“I do,” Sam said. “I think they’ll seem absolutely human, but be driven by a set of rules that prevent them from deviating from whatever it is they’re supposed to do. And we’ll—”

The door swung inward and a man in his thirties greeted them with a smile. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and seemed to look like anyone else you’d meet. Neither handsome, nor ugly.

“Hello there, neighbor,” said the man. “What can I do for you?”

“Ah… I’m your brother, Samuel,” Sam said. The Curator had said he’d take care of this, but it seemed like that might not be true.

I think he said the man’s name was Ted.

Blinking slowly, almost inhumanly so, the man’s eyes refocused on Sam again.

“Sam! It’s so good to see you,” said the man suddenly, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. “And Decima! You look amazing. I haven’t seen you since Mitch was just a baby.”

Turning his head, the man looked back into the interior of his home.

“Wanda, Sam and Decima are here!” called the male golem.

“What?” called a voice from inside. A few seconds later and a rather pretty woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes was standing next to the man. She was considerably shorter than Ted and looked confused and disturbed, her eyes moving from Sam to Decima, then her husband. “Ted, what are you talking about?”

“I’m Samuel, Ted’s brother,” Sam said to Wanda.

Much like Ted had, Wanda’s eyes slowly closed and then reopened.

Smiling widely as if Sam were a long lost friend, she immediately moved forward and wrapped him up in a hug.

“Sam! It’s so good to see you. I haven’t seen you since Mitch was just a baby,” Wanda said, taking a step away from Sam and then grinning at Decima. “And Decima! You look amazing.”

Yep. Golems.

“Come in, come in,” Wanda said, pushing Ted to one side and dragging Decima inside.

No sooner than the door had closed, Ted and Wanda stood up straight and left Decima and Sam where they stood.

“Uh,” Sam said, watching the two leave.

Following behind Decima, Sam trailed Ted and Wanda into a room.

The two golems walked inside, closed the blinds to the window, and then laid down in the bed.

Both of them closed their eyes, ceased moving entirely, and laid there like the dead.

“Right,” Sam said, watching Wanda to see if she was even breathing. She was, it was just very soft. “Golems. Programmed to conserve their energy as much as possible. Their spirits are starting to tire and are wearing out. Just like Miles said.”

“Miles?” Decima asked, moving over to Wanda’s side. She laid a hand to the other woman’s neck to check for a pulse, Sam imagined.

“The Curator. Anyway. I guess that’s that,” Sam said. “I bet they’re active when Mitch is home. We’ll come back then. Tomorrow probably.”

Letting out a slow breath, Decima stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“I suppose I should be grateful,” Decima murmured. “I never really considered all the things you could do to me when you shaped this body.”

“You have no idea,” Sam said with a chuckle. “There was a part of me that wanted to turn you into a sex-junkie. Pity I didn’t. Would have been fun. I bet you’re an animal if you could ever let loose.”

Sam put his hands in his pockets and left the room.

“Pity, indeed,” Decima whispered from behind him. He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear that, so he ignored it.

Fifteen - Worries -

Reaching over, Sam pushed the passenger side door open for Hillary.

Clambering into the brand new car, she flung her backpack into the rear of the car and slammed the door shut.

“Oh… my… god. I forgot how stupid boys were at this age,” Hillary grumbled, snatching at her seat belt and slamming it home.

“Is that so?” Sam asked, amusement curling his words.

“I was asked out twice, insulted both times for saying no, and there were a number of creepy ones who just stared at me,” Hillary said, then shuddered. “Ugh. I mean, thinking back, this isn’t any different than when I went to high school the first time.

“I’m just way more confident now and actually dressed to fit who I am. No baggie sweatshirts and hoodies this time.”

Sam gave her a quick once-over and found that she’d dressed in a way that definitely made her look good. It wasn’t sexual, or provocative, but she looked very attractive.

“That’s fair. Not every woman gets to turn back the clock and check out what she’s gone through before with an adult perspective,” Sam said.

“So stupid,” Hillary said, then she gave herself a quick shake and visibly grew taller, her chest expanded, and so did her hips. “There. Legal age again. You don’t have to feel awful for looking at me anymore.”

Hillary reached over and laid a hand on Sam’s thigh, then got comfortable in her seat.

“Anyone here will still recognize you, and I’m supposed to be your dad,” countered Sam.

“Ugh. That’s just stupid. This whole thing is stupid,” Hillary grumbled. She didn’t pull her hand away from Sam’s lap but she definitely appeared to have gotten her head in the right space.

For his part, Sam didn’t pull out of the parking spot. He’d gotten the car the Curator provided them set up in a space across from the school.

He knew for a fact that Wanda the golem would pick up Mitch in the same spot every day.

It was a security risk in the long term, one that he’d have to fix, but for now it’d give him an easy way to spot his target.

“He’s a nice kid,” Hillary said, her fingers lightly trailing up and down Sam’s leg. She was watching around them in what he assumed was an attempt to make sure no one was watching. “Little naive. Kinda shy. Seems like an all-around okay kid though.”

“You met him?” Sam asked, somewhat surprised.

“I did. I claimed I was his cousin, and managed to talk a teacher into letting me take him to lunch,” Hillary said. “The harder part was convincing Mitch to go off campus with me. We just walked over there.”

Hillary lifted a hand and pointed to a restaurant that looked like it served “burger and fries” type of food. It was practically next door to the school.

“Smart,” Sam remarked mildly. “A nice way to get in close and give yourself an opportunity.”

“I figured you’d approve,” Hillary said. “Take me to dinner? I’ll shift my features around once we’re gone so no-one will notice.”

“Can’t. The golems would have told Mitch about us coming to town yesterday night. We have to go over and officially meet him today,” Sam said.

“That’s him right there. Black backpack, blue jacket,” Hillary said, pointing with her free hand.

A young boy was trudging along toward a mini-van pulled up to the curb.

“That’s one of the golems?” Hillary asked, apparently only now noticing Wanda.

“Yep. His mom,” Sam said, watching Mitch.

From this distance, Sam couldn’t see anything different about the boy. He looked like so many others.

Short brown hair that was cut in a boy’s style, clothes appropriate for his age, and looked quite human. In fact, Sam would assume he was human if Miles hadn’t told him otherwise.

“Wow, she’s kinda hot,” Hillary said. “You going to make a play on her? You said she’s a golem, so she’s not really human.”

“I don’t go for those already in relationships, remember?” Sam said. “Besides, golems don’t really have any taste to them. Their souls are usually there long past their expiration, so to speak. Any Essence they generate usually reflects that.”

“Decima isn’t like that though, is she?” Hillary asked.

Mitch opened the passenger side door and got into Wanda’s minivan. They’d be leaving in seconds.

“No, she’s not a golem. Her body is a golem but… I made an empowered human and stuck her soul—which was very willing—into it. She isn’t bound to the golem, she is the golem,” Sam explained.

Putting the car into gear, Sam pulled out of the parking space and headed over to the exit. He wanted to be right behind Wanda if he could manage it.

“You said you were going to be the vice-principal?” Hillary asked, her hand edging closer toward the inside of Sam’s thigh.

“That’s what the Curator arranged, yeah,” Sam said pulling into traffic right behind Wanda. “Good place to watch over Mitch while still being removed to a degree. And I can leave when I need to without causing too much of a disruption.”

“Huh. I never liked any of my vice-principals or principals,” Hillary grumbled. “They never liked me, either.”

“I imagine that’d be your species again, Hillary,” offered Sam. “If you haven’t noticed, your kind doesn’t normally go into public openly as you and your family did.”

“Hah, yeah, kinda noticing that far too late for my own good,” Hillary said. “My mom was an adopted baby, though, so… we’re just rolling with what we got from her parents.”

“That happens. One night stands can be particularly bothersome for some species. Especially those with stigmas attached,” Sam said.

Hillary fell silent after that, as she processed what Sam had said.

Her hand continued to stroke away at Sam the entire drive home. Sam stuck close to Wanda.

“I think we’ll need to tell the golems we’ll take Mitch to school going forward,” Sam said as they pulled onto the street they lived on. “It’ll be easier to keep an eye on him to and from school.”

“Oh, that’d work. Though I won’t get to touch you for even longer, which I’m not very fond of,” Hillary murmured. “I find that I’m considerably more touchy-feely than I thought I was.”

Sam couldn’t argue that. He’d spent the night with Hillary who’d been incredibly intimate and needy with him. Kissing him all throughout their love-making, or running her hands over him.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Hillary asked as Sam turned, pulling their car up into the driveway.

“Nope. Switch back. We’re going to go say hi to Wanda,” Sam said putting the car in park.

“Really? I don’t think Mitch would notice. It’ll be fine,” Hillary said and then opened her car door.

Getting out, the two began crossing the grass to where Wanda was unloading her minivan of what looked like groceries.

“Oh! Hello, Sam, Hillary!” Wanda said, clearly drawing on the memories the Curator probably put there. “Mitch, come over here. Your uncle Sam and Hillary just got home, too.”

“Hi, Wanda,” Sam called out. “Need a hand with those?”

“Yes, please. Thank you,” Wanda said then walked around the far side of the mini-van toward the open garage door.

“Now, remember to be nice. They don’t know anyone here and your Uncle Sam can be a little odd at times,” Wanda said to Mitch in a much more quiet voice. Sam, of course, had no problem hearing it.

“I know, I know. I already met Hillary today at school,” Mitch whispered. “She’s nice. Took me out to lunch.”

“Oh? That’s nice of her,” Wanda said, walking away into the house.

Sam reached the back of the vehicle as Mitch stepped around the side.

He was a cute kid, with clear gray eyes. He’d likely grow up into a handsome young man sooner rather than later.

“Hello,” Mitch said with a small smile. Then he looked at Hillary and the smile grew much warmer. “Hi… hi, Hillary.”

“Heya,” Hillary said waving a hand at him.

“Hello,” Sam said, grinning at the kid.

He’s got a crush on his “cousin”. Adorable.

Sam was always interested in family dynamics. He really didn’t have any family of any sort, which made everything related to family a curious subject for him.

“You’re… going to be the vice-principal, right?” Mitch asked.

“I sure am. Why? You one of the trouble makers?” Sam asked with a chuckle. “Cause I can’t really see you as being one. Your father certainly wasn’t one growing up.

“That was more me. I’m afraid I caused problems wherever I went.”

Ducking partially into the mini-van, Sam grabbed a number of shopping bags and then started heading into the house.

He had his own role to play after all.

“Tell me about your school and grab a bag,” Sam said as he passed by Mitch.

***

Yawning, Sam leaned back in his chair.

There really wasn’t much for him to do.

His predecessor had taken care of almost the entire school year’s requirements before they left for their new job.

One that was handed to them by the Curator on the premise that they set up this school as best they could before they left.

Which meant that Sam really only had to worry about some record-keeping, basic human resource meetings, and any change in school scheduling.

Given the tenure of the teachers, and the fact that it was a high income public school, he doubted he’d need to do anything with that.

His biggest concern would be keeping his boss, Principal Barker, complacent enough that Sam could do what he wanted to.

“And really,” Sam said shaking his head. “That’s just a matter of hitting him with a whammy and telling him to leave me alone.”

Lightly patting his hands together, Sam really didn’t know what to do with himself. He couldn’t go check on Mitch that often because it’d just be strange.

Nor could he wander the school too frequently, as it wasn’t an expectation that others would have of him.

He’d already wasted four hours of his morning visiting the Judge and tumbling her endlessly until lunch came.

One of his duties was being on the gates to help check for those with an “off-school pass” that would let them go off campus for lunch.

“Could go visit Alexis,” Sam mumbled to himself. “She’s working contracts with Jes. Oooh. Maybe I could catch both of them at the same time. They’re always a really fun three-way.”

Of everyone Jes shared Sam with, Alexis was one of the very few Jes got into it with other than Abigail.

There was a solid knock on the door to his office, causing Sam to sit up straight.

“Come in,” he said, moving a few papers that were on the side of his desk to be in front of himself. Then he grabbed a pen and leaned to one side.

“Hey,” Hillary said, walking into his office. Then she closed the door behind herself. “Thought I’d drop in on your first day and see how it’s going. You have lunch?”

“Yeah. I did. Dropped in on Eugenia,” Sam said. “Besides, that doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do here. For a number of reasons.”

“I… yeah, I guess you’re right,” Hillary said, walking over to one of the chairs in front of Sam’s desk. “It just feels weird. I don’t think of myself as young. I just see myself as me. I know technically I’m not a minor, even if you see me as one. But couldn’t you just… glamour them all? Get everyone to do what you wanted rather than this?”

“I sure could,” Sam said. “And if it came down to it, I would. But the goal here is to be as unobtrusive as possible. We’re working as bodyguards, but we’re also trying to not bring attention to Mitch. Too much of us throwing things around could just as easily draw attention to him when he doesn’t need it.”

“Oh. Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Damnit,” Hillary said with a sigh and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. “I just was really looking forward to having you to myself so much. I mean, has Decima even made a move on you? Far as I saw, she ignored you and then went to bed early.”

“Nope. But she’s—”

“Going through things, yeah, yeah, I know,” Hillary said shaking her head. “Whatever. She needs to get over her shit. We all have our problems. Our differences.”

Grinning, Sam leaned forward and pointing his pen at her.

“Not everyone is as mentally strong as others. You, my darling, beautiful, sexy, and adorable Doppel, are much stronger than anyone thinks,” Sam said. “There’s also different kinds of strength. Like Wren, or Tiffany.”

“Yeah, Wren takes more of your dick than I can even dream of. Is her slit made out of rubber or something? I get sore and bruised after an hour. Even with shape-shifting it to fit better. And she just gets rolled all day like it’s her job,” Hillary complained.

“Part of her species. She has her own concerns and worries,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders, settling back into his chair again. “We all have our problems. Right?”

Hillary frowned at that, chewing at her lower lip.

“I didn’t know who I was for a long time,” Hillary said slowly. “A long, long time. Not until I hit high school. Everything kinda changed after that.”

“Yeah?” Sam asked, curious. Hillary was pretty tight lipped about her childhood.

“Yeah,” Hillary said and then sighed. “Yeah. Anyways. One of the things I wanted to talk to you about. The PE teacher seems really off to me. Like… PID needs to have a file on them, off.”

“Really? How come?” Sam asked.

“The way she looks at everyone. It’s just weird,” said Hillary. “You should go check her out.”

“Right. I could do that,” Sam said, nodding his head. It gave him something to do.

“Go back to class,” Sam said, getting up.

“No point,” Hillary grumbled. “I think I’m just going to be truant more often than not. I already learned most of this and it’s not like it’s any different.

“Besides, being known as a truant student will get me more time with you, and time wandering the grounds.”

“Fine, whatever. If you’re going to do that, you might as well take on a second personality. I’ll hire another janitor and you can be that,” Sam said and pushed his chair under his desk.

“Really? Awesome. Then we could totally have sex during work hours in your office,” Hillary said. “I’ll go work up a persona and background right now. It takes me a little bit to get into character you know.”

Sam rolled his eyes and exited his office, closing the door behind himself.

Looking toward his boss’s office at the end of the hall, he saw the light was still off.

Perfect. I’ll just get everything ready to “hire” the second janitor. We’ll just make her salary zero so the school doesn’t notice anything.

I can forge everything else and force it through without much issue.

Adjusting his tie, Sam began to casually walk towards the fields out behind the school. PE classes were held all day, except for first and last period.

It was more of an elective here after the first two years of high school.

The bell rang, signaling a change in classes.

High school students from freshman to seniors began pouring out of classrooms to start moving to their next class.

Sam casually walked through the middle of it all, as if none of it mattered to him, but was happy to see everyone.

Nodding at kids who met his eyes, holding his hands behind his back, he tried to give off an air of disciplined authority.

For the boys, it seemed to work rather well. Many of them walked around him or avoided him outright.

Unfortunately, Sam had made a mistake that he wouldn’t really be able to correct.

Or more accurately, the Curator had.

The photo sent over with his resume was exactly what Sam looked like.

His very handsome, very attractive self.

A number of young women, the seniors predominantly, practically stopped and stared at him. A few of the younger children stared at him like love-struck puppies.

Miles, I swear. You should have asked me about the picture.

Sam knew there were a number of Succubi who preyed on young men around the ages of these children.

He, personally, kept himself to adults. Sam had always done such a thing and had avoided anything he’d ever thought of as “under age”.

Even if they summoned him appropriately.

Then again, aren’t some of them eighteen? Isn’t that the age of seniors? Hm. I suppose I’ll have to ask Irma. She’ll be able to direct me.

Making his way to the back of the school, he found the PE teacher standing out in the field. From what he could see from here, she was counting what looked like soccer balls in a large metal cage on wheels.

Clicking his tongue at the idea of walking out into the grass with his dress shoes, Sam resolved himself to the possibility of getting them wet.

He trusted Hillary. If she felt something was off, he needed to check on it.

Getting within ten feet of the teacher, she finally noticed his approach as she lifted her gaze from the wire-mesh bin where she’d been putting the balls.

She had pale blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Bordering on the overly-athletic and no-boobs side of the equation, she could do to put on a few pounds. Sam could tell at a glance that it’d fill in her chest, shoulders, and hips first.

Beyond that, she was pretty. Likely in her early thirties.

To be honest, she was especially good-looking for the Worry Monster that she was.

“Good afternoon,” Sam said, smiling at the creature.

Blinking twice, the woman stood up slowly.

“You’re the vice-principal,” she said, her eyes slowly moving across his face.

“And you’re the PE teacher. But you’re not human,” Sam said, tilting his head to one side.

Snaring her with his eyes, he lashed her mind with his own. Glamouring her right then and there.

“What’s your name?” Sam asked.

“Francis Lee Aman,” said the woman in a wooden voice, her eyes slowly unfocusing. “I go by Lee.”

“Ah, and you’re a Worry Monster. Yes?” Sam asked. He was pretty sure on that, but he wanted to know for certain.

“Yeah. I am,” Lee said.

“You causing problems here or just passively feeding?” Sam said, walking closer to the woman. Glancing at her left hand, he didn’t see a ring there. “Are you doing anything out of the ordinary?”

“No. I moved here to get this job. It’s just easier to feed this way. I passively feed,” Lee mumbled. “Kids have a lot of worries and I doubt they mind me taking them away.”

Sam could see the appeal in that.

Also how it likely helped the kids out, too.

Like being a Boogieman and going to a hospital, I’d imagine.

“Are you married? Seeing anyone?” Sam asked.

“No. Too hard. I’m undocumented. PID doesn’t know about me. Can only date humans,” Lee explained, her voice toneless. “Doesn’t last.”

“Wanna be my spy and mistress?” Sam asked. He was curious if he could recruit her to help him watch over Mitch. A PE teacher could wander around pretty freely.

“No,” Lee said. “I don’t know you.”

“Huh, that’s fair. Let’s talk some more then,” Sam said, breaking the compulsion on her. “Maybe you’ll let me take you out for lunch tomorrow? Or dinner?”

“I… I think,” Lee said as she started to come out of the glamour. “You’re… married though.”

“That’s okay. She knows I’m actively looking for girlfriends,” Sam said with a wave of his hand. “I could introduce her to you if you like.”

Lee shook her head slightly, looking completely clueless.

“I do hope you can keep that a secret though. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to hear that,” Sam said with a smile. “I’ll come get you for lunch tomorrow. My treat. Nothing fancy, I promise. Twelve o’clock?”

He could see the resistance in Lee crumbling, but not giving way.

Not yet, at least.

“I’d really love to pick your brain as well,” Sam said, deciding to hit her where it would strike best. “And if you don’t mind, maybe you wouldn’t mind listening to my worries for me?”

There was an almost visible change in Lee.

“Sure. Lunch,” she said, giving him a bright smile, showing off her teeth. She had a snaggletooth on each side. It wasn’t much, but just enough that it gave some extra character to her pretty but somewhat common appearance.

Sam liked it.

“Great, see you then, Lee. And by the way, you look lovely in blue,” Sam said, turning around and then walking away.

Well, she’s harmless. But I can use her.

And I bet she tastes fun.

Sixteen - Monster -

Letting out a soft groan, Sam closed his eyes and rested his head back onto the rest.

The sound of the garage door closing was loud even through the car. Grating as it was, it also was the sweet promise of being home and meant that the majority of his day was over.

He was incredibly glad to be home.

The only bright spot in his day was having lunch with Lee. She was extremely knowledgeable about the school, what was going on with it, and what he needed to be worried about.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t managed to talk her into anything fun yet, but he’d already laid some basic groundwork. A few comments and a little flirting were working wonderfully so far.

With a clack, the garage door finishing closing and Sam realized he should get moving.

His day job was over, now began the bodyguard work.

“I swear if I have to listen to a bunch of aging teachers complain about themselves all day again, I’m going to hurt someone,” Sam muttered, and opened the car door.

Stepping out of his vehicle, he grabbed his messenger bag and pulled it out. It had a bulky laptop assigned to him by the school, as well as a number of contracts and paperwork he’d have to go over tonight.

Shutting the car door, Sam was shaking his head just thinking about the work he’d be doing.

Before he could reach the door that led into the house, it was pulled open.

Standing in the doorway was Decima.

Dressed in a light blue knee-length summer dress and an unbuttoned white jacket, she looked rather pretty.

She was a sight for sore eyes.

“Hello, Wife,” Sam said coming up to Decima. “You look lovely.”

Decima frowned, looked down at herself and then back to Sam. Stepping to one side, she held the door open.

“Thank you,” she murmured as he walked into the house. Then she laid a hand to his shoulder and leaned in close to him, laying a kiss to his cheek. “Welcome home.”

That’s… uh… surprising.

And incredibly sweet.

Letting the door shut, Decima walked away from him, heading into the home.

“I’ve seen nothing happen at all while on watch,” Decima said as she vanished from view, forcing Sam to chase after her if he wanted to talk. “In fact, I would say that the neighborhood is incredibly quiet. It’ll be fairly easy to determine if anything is out of the ordinary.”

“That you can see,” Sam countered going to where the surveillance gear was set up. Entering the converted bedroom, he found Decima seating herself behind a bank of monitors arrayed on a wall.

“That I can see or sense, yes,” Decima agreed. “All the equipment has reported back that nothing is there.

“I think that I’m using it correctly per Abigail’s instruction, but I would be appreciative if you could supervise me for a moment.”

Sam smirked at that request, but wasn’t about to say no.

Setting his bag to one side, he pulled his coat off and dropped it on top.

“Sure, Wife. Show me what you got,” Sam said, walking over behind Decima.

“You’ve been very… flirty… verbally since we took this contract,” Decima said, her hands moving across the layout of switches and buttons in front of herself. It’d been the first time she’d acknowledged she was aware of what the underlying meaning of his statement meant.

“Maybe I’m just feeling like I can finally flirt with you, Lady Decima, wife of mine,” Sam said, coming to stand behind her. Laying his hands on her shoulders, he leaned forward and watched her work the controls.

Looking from the layout to the screens, Sam could see that she’d definitely been paying attention. Everything was configured for thermal vision.

That’d make sense. Even if it’s invisible to the naked eye, it should still have body heat.

Hands pausing for several seconds, Decima seemed to be looking at the screens to see what to do next.

“It’s configured for daytime thermal right now, which isn’t great but definitely workable. I found watching it through the normal visual spectrum just made me paranoid that I was missing something,” Decima muttered. Moving her hand over, she flipped it from thermal to regular. “As you can see, it makes it harder to identify things in thermal, but anything that doesn’t belong stands out. Flipping it back and forth like this—”

Decima moved the switch back and forth, moving the view of Mitch’s house from normal to thermal and back again.

“Makes it significantly easier to pick out anything and identify everything, too,” Decima said.

“I mean, looks like you’ve got it all figured out,” Sam said. His hands began to lightly rub at Decima’s shoulders. He really didn’t get too many opportunities to get his hands on her. “Certainly more than I’d have figured out.”

Having made her body with his own hands, he knew she was incredibly well put together. If she’d been born in this era rather than her own, she’d likely have been a model, actress, or just a beautiful CEO.

Decima immediately tensed up as his fingers began to rub into her.

“Thank you for your kind words,” she said and slowly began to relax. “I’ve struggled to adapt to this world, but I feel I’m learning.”

There was a strange quality to her words. One that made Sam pause and wait for her to continue.

To him, it sounded like she had more to say.

Waiting, he simply kept rubbing away at her neck and shoulders.

“I thought Jezebel was just a stupid silly whore,” Decima said finally. “A slatternly Succubus that was nothing more than what they always were. That she’d abandon us as soon as she found other men to feed on and that you were a fool to trust in her.”

I mean… she’s definitely an abnormal Succubus.

Decima would likely be correct.

If Jes wasn’t as strange as she is.

“And I was wrong,” Decima said, folding her hands in her lap. “Jes is an intelligent, kind, and very serious young woman. She can be a bit silly at times when it comes to you, but after spending time with her, talking to her a lot more, I find that her personality is more than what I thought. She’s coping with her own issues just as I am.

“A woman outside of her own time and learning to adapt. Her actions are a defense mechanism and isn’t at all what it appears to be.

“I thought that Wren was just a big, dumb Cambion bred to have sex or fight. That Tiffany was a filthy Were. Stacia a fiend and demon. Irene nothing more than a worshiper of dark evil powers. Hillary an assassin without a soul.”

Sam nodded his head.

Everything she’d said had been the normal view point of her time and era. Nothing she said was outside the norm in anyway.

“Then there’s you,” Decima said in a low voice. “The Torment of Lust himself. A singular entity that had an entire division devoted to finding and exterminating you and your entire organization.

“I was never personally involved in it, but I knew of it. Knew that it existed and quite a few knights and hunters were dispatched to end you. Some came back, some didn’t.”

“Yes. I did have to kill quite a few of them. They left me with no alternative. And it wasn’t as if they could actually kill me either,” Sam said with a heavy sigh. It’d been frustrating at the time. Even if they beat him in a trial of arms, or killed his vessel, he just made another in a few days and was summoned back. He was simply too big for them to take down with their resources. They’d have to have taken out his entire organization first.

“Then I find out that they used to barter the virtue of their priestesses to you for favors. That you fought alongside them,” said Decima. “That in the grand scheme of things, you’re more a neutral party and we failed to preserve our ties with you.”

Sam nodded at that. He’d been surprised when the church split ways with him. The week before, he’d had a female hunter drop by for a quick fling and bartering of herself for some help with a coven that’d enslaved an entire town.

“That the afterlife is real and I went to hell,” Decima said with a flick of her hand. “That all the good I did was thrown out because I’d done so much bad. So much evil. That the Judge was real and sentenced me accordingly. Only to go back to the place I was judged and find the Judge herself had left. That her Father, the original creator of our entire universe, is missing. A Usurper sits upon the throne backed by an army who betrayed the one who gave them life. To actually visit the last battle fought and see the remains.

“That my entire Church of One and All was… was nothing more than very strong planar beings. That it was… was… nothing. That it was all nothing. My whole life was meaningless.”

“I don’t know about meaningless,” Sam murmured, pressing his thumbs into the base of Decima’s neck. “I’m sure the Judge noted every positive thing you did. You eliminated quite a few of the nastier things out there to save others.”

“I… yes. She did. But my evil—”

“Outweighed the good, I know,” Sam said interrupting her. “And here you are with a second chance. As far as I know you’ve been doing quite a bit of good, too. You also have the gift of knowledge. You know what’ll happen on the other side and what to do to help the world along.”

Decima let out a slow breath and finally completely relaxed under Sam’s hands.

“May we consummate our marriage, Husband?” Decima murmured. “I’ve been a poor wife to you and you’ve been very patient with me. Despite our contract. Despite me being a debtor and always asking for more time.

“I had considered doing it out of obligation, but now I think I’d like to experience love-making as it should be. Between a husband and wife.”

“But of course,” Sam said, instantly elated at the idea of having a virginity that lasted to death, the afterlife, and then beyond.

Then he had a second thought about that.

His mind came to a screeching halt as he considered if that would be best for Decima.

Even as he contemplated what to do, Decima had already stood up, taken him by the hand, and was leading him out of the room.

Pausing only to shut the bedroom door and lock it, she started moving again.

I’m not sure feeding from Decima as I take her virginity is ideal. It was fine for the Judge because that’s what was bartered.

This is… this is different. Isn’t it?

It is.

It is different.

I care about Decima, even if she’s a golem I made.

“Can I keep my clothes on?” Decima asked pulling Sam farther into what was technically their shared bedroom. They did have to keep up appearances just in case someone dropped by to visit or came over.

Like Mitch.

“Just my dress that is,” Decima said, releasing Sam’s hand and closing the bedroom door. “I… I’m not really comfortable being na—actually. Never mind.

“I should be comfortable being naked around my Husband.”

“If being comfor—”

“I will disrobe,” Decima said, cutting Sam off. “You’re my husband. I wear your ring. I have my paperwork. I will receive you as a wife should. Tho-though I think we should skip child-bearing for the time being.

“Perhaps at a later time. After we’ve eliminated Jenaphila. Then we can approach the idea of starting a family. She truly must be eliminated first.”

A… what now?

That’s not part of the—

Decima grabbed her dress and pulled it up and over her head in one smooth motion. Ditching her jacket in the same motion.

Standing there in a bra and panties, she was a beautiful woman indeed.

One he hadn’t seen undressed since he’d personally put her together. He’d built her from what he could see of her, but there was the distinct possibility he might have given her a bit more, and a bit less, in some crucial areas.

Reaching behind herself Decima unclipped her bra and then stepped out of her panties.

“I’m… entirely unsure of how I will do, Husband,” Decima murmured, holding her hands up. “I know the basics and what’s expected. Aster… Aster has been very kind with information and knowledge. You’ll need to be slow with me regardless of that.”

“Ah, that’s fair,” Sam said. Moving a hand across himself he simply removed his clothes with some Essence and set it all to the side. “How about you lay down in the bed and I’ll use my mouth first to please you.”

“No,” Decima said with a small chop of her hand. “I will please you with my mouth. I’ve r-received instruction from Jes and Aster both. I can do an adequate job and please you. Then you will mount me and we w-will enjoy one another.”

In that moment, Sam determined he wouldn’t be Essence spiking Decima. Nor would he alter her sensitivity upward unless she needed him to.

Any feeding he did from her would be entirely built from what she generated on her own. He wouldn’t be seeking to maximize her.

“Please, lay in our marital bed,” Decima said gesturing toward it.

And that settles that.

I’m never going to have sex with anyone but Decima in that bed. That’d… be a bad idea.

I’ll need to make sure I take it with me when we leave here.

Doing as he was told, Sam got up on the bed and laid down.

Decima was there in an instant.

Bending her head down over his hips, she took up his manhood in one hand and then took the tip between her lips.

In one smooth go, she swallowed him down to the hilt, her lips pressed up against it. His tip was wedged deep in her throat.

Taking in a slow breath, Sam forced himself to not touch. There were some women in his harem who wanted to be absolutely dominated, to have their head forced down till they gagged.

Others wanted him to hold their hair.

A few didn’t want him to touch at all.

He figured Decima was the latter of those.

Grunting, or what Sam guessed was a gag, Decima let him slide back out of her mouth.

Then she began to methodically, steadily, pump her head back and forth. Moving from the very tip to the hilt every single time. Her throat squeezing down on him as she did so.

Holy fuck.

Decima quickly found a rather quick and deep pace that worked for her. Her chin pressing to his balls with each downward stroke as her lips strained around him, pressing down tight against him.

Her tongue rolled and pushed at the underside of him only to circle the tip when she pulled back.

Inexperienced, sure, but she gives head like a pro. She’s right up there with Jes.

She must have really taken those lessons to heart and listened.

Sam’s thoughts quickly cut off as Decima’s eyes flicked up toward him.

She watched him even as she moved her head down, his length vanishing into her mouth.

Pausing there, with his manhood locked between her lips and throat, Decima turned her head slightly to one side.

Her right hand came up and cupped his jewels and gave them a gentle squeeze.

Unable to help himself, Sam found his hands resting gently atop Decima’s head and shoulder.

Decima’s eyes crinkled and he got the impression she was grinning around his girth. She didn’t fight his hands away, but instead moved her head back and resumed deep throating him.

Curling his fingers into her hair, Sam felt like he wanted to just let go and orgasm right now.

But he couldn’t. He needed to make sure Decima was pleased in return.

“Decima,” Sam said in a breathy void. “My wife, you need to stop or I won’t be able to help you finish later. You’re doing too well.”

“Mmm?” Decima asked around him, then pulled away, his length falling free of her mouth. “Truly? How wonderful. I’m glad to hear it.”

Coughing once, Decima wiped her hand across her lips and then moved to lay down next to him.

“That wasn’t half as difficult as Aster made it sound,” Decima murmured. “Ignoring my gag reflex was rather easy.”

Only because of your mental fortitude Decima, my dear.

Getting up, Sam moved over atop Decima.

Smiling nervously up at him, Decima took hold of her knees and then spread her legs wide apart.

It’d make it a lot easier for Sam to get off naturally like that.

Jes teach you that?

She’s the only one I told.

Settling himself down, he put his knees to the sides of Decima’s waist.

Reaching down with his left hand, he took his very saliva-covered self and fit the tip up against Decima’s lips.

She was incredibly wet down there. Which was rather surprising to say the least. Sam half expected her to be somewhat dry given her personality.

Decima was watching him, her eyes wide, her features clearly a mixture of nerves and excitement.

“I’m ready to begin my wifely duties,” Decima whispered. “Care for me well, Husband.”

Sam wasn’t about to correct her that such thinking went out of style quite a while ago. Women were allowed to enjoy sex and say no just as easily as they could an offer of sweets.

She was having a hard enough time with her mentality right now and didn’t need him prodding her further.

Pushing his hips forward, Sam sunk his shaft into Decima.

When he’d fashioned her, he’d made sure to pay attention to her sexuality however. She had no maidenhead to lose. He’d also made sure she was built to take him easily.

And with six or seven times the nerve endings a normal woman would have inside her channel.

Groaning, Decima’s eyes slowly closed. Her chest arched forward and her shoulders back.

“Oh, heavens,” said Decima with a moan. Her face immediately flushed a dark red and he could feel her silken walls tighten up on him. To the point that he had to wonder if she might hurt herself when he remembered he’d made her muscles, all of her muscles, incredibly strong.

“What have I been missing this whole time,” whimpered Decima. Her hands let go of her own legs and then clapped to the sides of Sam’s shoulders. Her fingers dug into him even as she kept her knees up.

Grinning, Sam reached the bottom of her and then pulled back. In seconds, he built up a smooth and deep rhythm.

Opening her bright green eyes, Decima stared up at him. Her pupils were actually dilated.

“Everything’s so foggy,” Decima said between soft moans as Sam thrust in and out of her.

Even before she said something, though, Sam knew she was getting nearer to her first orgasm despite it only being a minute since he started.

He could taste it.

She was absolutely delicious. It wasn’t just the flavor of her very first sexual orgasm, it was the purity of it. That it was one based out of a desire for love and understanding.

Decima, Lady Decimation, was in love with him.

“It’s okay,” Sam whispered in her ear. “You’re just going to hit your climax. Roll into it. Enjoy it.”

Pushing down on her hips, Sam continued to work himself into her. He wasn’t plowing her down into the bed or pounding at her, he was genuinely loving her.

“Ahh. I can’t…I’m…I…” Decima’s voice trailed off in a deep moan and then went absolutely quiet. She was holding her breath as she climaxed, her body shuddering and shivering beneath him.

Pure Essence flooded into Sam.

Where the Judge had been rather tasty with a lot of Essence to spare, Decima was the single most delicious meal he’d ever enjoyed despite the quantity not being equal to Eugenia or Aster.

Even beyond love-making with Irma and Abigail the purity was intense.

Unexpectedly, Sam suddenly orgasmed as well.

Sliding deep into Decima, Sam began filling her womb up. Not understanding what was going on, Sam pressed his mouth to Decima’s and kissed her.

Deeply, hungrily, and with need.

Squeaking, Decima opened her mouth and stuck her tongue into his mouth. Her hands pulled at him as he pumped seed into her.

Curling up around her, Sam pulled at her as well, trying to embed himself as deeply as he could be.

Slowly, they came down together, clutching at one another.

All the while, Decima made small chittering sounds that almost reminded him of a squirrel.

Finally, empty and feeling the post-release truth of the world settle on him, Sam dropped down to Decima’s side.

He’d fed passively on her orgasm.

Making the whole thing become a lot more like a go with Irma.

Rolling over atop him, Decima put her hands to his shoulders and stared down at him.

“That was amazing. We’re going to consummate our marriage again,” she said with absolute steel in her voice. “Right now. And maybe again after that.”

Then she started to slide down his legs and then leaned her head down toward his slightly flaccid member.

Oh my twisting nethers, I was right.

She’s a sex demon now that she’s cut loose.

Decima took him into her mouth, her lips wrapping up around him as her tongue began to swirl around the tip. Moving her head down, she started to suck on him again.

Having not fed on her directly, Sam was feeling extremely sensitive right now and it was like electricity shooting down his legs.

Decima looked up to him then, her mouth tightening up around him as she slid him right down her throat. As if it were the easiest thing in the world for her.

Sex monster like Jes!

Seventeen - Mixed-Up -

Pulling down on Hillary’s shoulder with his left hand and her hip with his right, Sam tried to bury himself as deep as possible inside her.

Other than Jes, Hillary was the only woman he could let loose on.

“Oh fuck,” Hillary groaned, her head dipping down toward Sam’s desk that she was bent over.

Letting out a slow breath, Sam pushed once more up into Hillary as his climax slipped away. At the same time, he continued to pack her full of all the Essence he could from what he generated with her.

Panting, Hillary kept herself upright by her forearms and elbows on his desk.

Standing there in his office at school, hilt deep in the Doppel, Sam leaned his head back and simply enjoyed the feeling of her.

Sex had become something different for him as of late.

The vast majority of his encounters with the women in his harem were almost always done without feeding on them anymore.

He typically just fed on his feed Harem and Eugenia anymore.

“Geeze, Sammy,” Hillary said in a breath voice. She didn’t try to move away from him and actually ground her rear end into his lap. “You really tried to spear me today.”

“Yeah, because you can take it,” Sam said with a soft sigh. Then he pulled back and out of Hillary and sat down in his office chair.

Laughing, Hillary stood up straight and shuffled off to one side.

“Oh? That it?” Hillary asked. Bending down she grabbed her panties that were around her ankles and shimmied them up and into place again.

“That and you’re amazing at sex,” Sam admitted.

I should have gotten a Doppelganger a long time ago.

“Hah. Really? Considering I know who you’re banging, that’s a nice compliment,” Hillary crowed. Reaching up to her waist, she pulled her skirt back down into place and smoothed it out till it reached her knees again. “Man, I hate shifting my age up. I don’t fit right.”

Reaching up she adjusted her bra and blouse. At the exact same time her body shifted and morphed. Her bust decreased, her hips narrowed slightly, and her rear end shrunk.

“There, sixteen again,” Hillary said and sighed as she looked at herself in a nearby mirror. “Man, I really was a late bloomer. I look so much better older.”

Sam couldn’t disagree with that sentiment.

I wonder if Doppels even truly age. At ninety, could she look twenty?

Actually, that’s a frightening question. How old can they get? Do they technically ever age?

“Oh shit, I have to get going. I have PE coming up and I actually like Miss Lee,” Hillary said fixing her hair in the mirror. “I’ll get back to the janitor thing after that. And before you ask, no, nothing new.”

In the four weeks they’d been here so far, there really hadn’t been much happening.

“Okay, I’m off,” Hillary said turning toward him. Moving over quickly she gave him a quick kiss and then made for the door.

Using Essence, Sam redressed himself and didn’t bother to get up.

He was feeling quite heavy and sedated at the moment.

“Oh! Principal Barker!” Hillary said with some surprise.

Standing on the other side of the doorway was Sam’s boss while he played this role. A man in his middle years who looked overworked and far too worn to be dealing with high school kids.

“Miss Hallsy, shouldn’t you be in class?” asked the principal.

Tired blue eyes watched Hillary as he waited for a response, his glasses making his eyes look watery.

“I… I had to report to the vice-principal. I got another detention for skipping,” Hillary mumbled, looking down to the ground as she slipped right into her persona.

“I see,” murmured the principal. Reaching up he ran his hand through his balding blonde hair and then sighed. “Run along then. Back to class.”

Hillary scurried past the man and vanished out of sight around the corner.

David Barker walked into Sam’s office and sighed.

“You know, if my own kids hadn’t tried the same thing, I’d likely be tempted to lecture you,” said the man.

Sam wasn’t really listening as attentively as he should have, though.

In fact, he wasn’t paying much attention at all. He was staring at the principal right now wondering at the change he saw.

The man who had been David Barker wasn’t standing in front of him right now.

This was a Doppelganger, just like Hillary, who’d taken the form and shape of David.

He’d been gone for a while before this.

Working to help another school, supposedly.

I wonder if that was just them breaking him down to get everything out of him for the Doppel to take his place.

“Yeah,” Sam said, nodding his head. “What can I do for ya, David?”

“Wanted to talk to you a bit about all this paperwork you’ve been doing,” David said, closing the door behind himself.

“Yeah? What about it?” Sam asked.

Since the minute he’d gotten his hands on the student files, he’d been doing nothing but messing everything up.

Addresses, history, grades, everything was an absolute and right terror right now. To the point that no one would be able to figure out what went where except for Sam.

“When do you think you’ll be done?” David asked, sticking his hands in his pockets and giving Sam an odd smile.

“Oh, not too much longer. Everything is starting to come together already,” said Sam.

Which was absolutely true.

Everything really was coming back together right now.

But anyone looking for Mitch wouldn’t find much on the kid.

Sam had thoroughly screwed up, scrubbed, and cleaned up everything on him. From his grades, to his address, to even his contact information. Everything was wrong.

He’d blend into the background of every other kid at the school like it was nothing at all.

And I even bumped his grades up a bit. Instead of a three point oh he’s a three point five grade average now. Just ahead of most of the students, but not the top.

“I’ll say it again just like I did before, your proposal is impressive. It looks like it’ll make everything easier for everyone,” said David.

Sam nodded at that. It would make everything easier to be sure. The filing system before this point had been lackadaisical at best. Once Sam was done, everything would be very easy to work through and find information.

Except for Mitch.

Sitting there, Sam really didn’t have much else to say to the conversation.

Right now, he was contemplating how to handle the fact that the principal was likely dead and had been replaced.

“Well, I’m going to get back to my work then,” David said. “Oh, by the way, Karen wanted to invite you over to dinner tomorrow night. Bring your wife. My cousin will be coming over as well.”

Okay. That’s a problem then.

They want to get rid of me as well or break into my thoughts.

David wouldn’t have invited me over. He’s about as social as a hermit crab.

Lashing the Doppel with his eyes, Sam waited for several seconds, pushing hard with his mental control.

Slowly, David’s eyes became glossy and unfocused.

Not as easy as some, not as difficult as others. Doppels are an interesting breed.

“You’re not David,” Sam said, pushing down hard on David. There was no point in beating around the bush. He’d have to make sure to wipe his memories of this conversation anyways.

“Not originally,” said the Doppelganger. “But I am now.”

“Explain,” Sam commanded.

“This is a long-term assignment,” David mumbled. “I’m going to be David for the next thirty years.”

“Right. And who were you before this?” Sam asked.

“Jamie Daniels,” David said.

“Jamie?” parroted Sam.

“Jamie Daniels,” David repeated.

“And what was your job?”

“Bodyguard and personal assistant.”

“Uh huh. Personal assistant for who? What was your primary duty?”

“I… don’t remember,” David said, his face turning pale.

Someone’s been mucking around with his head.

“I acted as a bodyguard as my primary duty.”

“Oh,” Sam said realizing that most of the information he wanted was probably gone. “And now you’ll be David for thirty years. That’s quite a long term position. Why?”

“Yes, I’m David. I’m far more comfortable in this type of role than my co-workers. So I was selected for the job,” David murmured.

“I mean, why such a long term position?” Sam clarified.

“I don’t know,” David said immediately and shook his head.

Cleaned again.

“And what are you looking for?” Sam asked.

“Student information. I’m to turn it all over,” David said.

“And who’s that?”

“I don’t know. I’m supposed to leave it at a dead drop,” David explained.

“And where’s that?”

“I don’t know. I’ll be given that information later, after it’s confirmed that I’m not exposed,” mumbled David.

Sighing, Sam put his elbow on his desk and then put his chin in his hand.

“Any other goals while you’re here? Anything else you’re supposed to do?” Sam asked.

“If possible, I’m to bring you in to have you interrogated,” David said confirming Sam’s suspicion.

“And how would you interrogate me?” Sam queried. He was curious how it’d be done. Certain methods would leave him as a corpse and others would be a lot like his own, where he’d never know it happened.

“Planar magic,” David said.

“What kind?”

“Angelic.”

Angelic?

Angelic.

Great.

Real great. Thanks, Miles. Thanks a lot.

You stuck me in the middle of the conflict Eugenia is kicking off, didn’t you?

That means Mitch is far more than meets the eye and this is going to get a lot worse.

“You know the name of the Angel?” Sam asked.

“There’s six of them, I don’t know their names.”

Six!? Fuck!

That’s more than I’d ever care to run across in a millennia, let alone at once.

“Okay. Do you know the names of those you’re working for otherwise? Bosses at the top?”

“No, routine wipe to keep everyone safe,” David said. “Including me.”

Of course.

“Right. Anything else?” Sam asked. He wanted to make sure he knew the extent of the directives given to David.

“If possible, convert the rest of the faculty into replacements,” David said.

“Mmm. Leave the janitorial staff alone as well as Miss Lee, one of the PE teachers,” Sam commanded.

“Leave the janitorial staff alone as well as Miss Lee,” replied David in a lifeless tone.

“Yes. And this conversation never happened,” Sam said with a forceful burst of Essence. Carving out David’s memories with the command and sorcery, Sam leaned back in his chair again, breaking the glamour. “I’ll have to decline on the invitation, but thanks David! The wife isn’t feeling so well lately and we’re thinking maybe she’s having another episode. Ya know?”

“Wha…? I… that… oh. Oh! Yes. Yes, got it,” David said, coming back to himself. “Sorry to hear that. Give her my sympathies won’t you?”

“Of course,” Sam said, smiling at David. “Speaking of, I’ll probably head home in a minute to check on her. She didn’t pick up the phone when I called her a bit ago and I’m a little nervous.”

“Sure, not a problem. Need me to take care of anything?” David asked, opening the door to Sam’s office.

“Nope. Everything’s taken care of,” declined Sam.

***

No sooner than he’d shut the driver’s side door than the door to the house opened.

“Welcome home, Husband,” Decima said from the doorway.

Dressed in a very lovely green dress, she looked like a picturesque housewife today.

Ever since their first time, she’d practically dominated his evenings. Hillary had almost come to blows with Decima when she tried to take every single night with Sam as her own.

It’d been one of the few times he’d actively had to step in and set boundaries down for both of them.

Lady Decimation, the Witch-hunting, Vampire-slaying terror that she’d been, was also now a fan of sex, romance, and intimacy.

Walking up to Decima, Sam was immediately wrapped up in a fierce hug, then she kissed him in a hungry way that he’d come to expect from her.

Pulling him into the house, Decima slammed the door shut and tugged Sam onward.

Likely straight to the bedroom.

“Mm, Deccy, sorry, I can’t,” Sam said using the nickname she’d requested, breaking the kiss and putting his hands to Decima’s shoulders.

Looking up at him with clear desire and confusion, Decima waited for an explanation.

“The Principal is dead,” Sam said. “Replaced by a Doppel. Things are changing at the school fast. I need to get in touch with Irma and Abigail.”

Decima shook her head at that.

“We can’t break silence,” Decima said. “It’s why we haven’t opened any portals or done anything at a planar level lately.

“And we can’t call them, we don’t know if anyone is listening.”

“I know, I’m the one who put that protocol into place, remember? But I have to. I need to make contact with them,” Sam said. He didn’t disagree with Decima, but he had to get in touch with his people.

“Okay,” Decima said and then looked to one side, deep in thought.

Oh? You got something, my fair lady Decima?

“Do it in the basement. Open a small portal you can talk through but not walk through. That’ll limit the planar energy. I wasn’t able to pick up on that sort of thing in my youth,” she said, looking up to Sam again. “Just let me move all my purity seals into the basement first. That’ll help distort your trail.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at that.

“A vicar from the Eastern Church was a practitioner of the dark arts,” Decima said, waving away his curiosity with a hand. “There were so many purity seals nearby that it actually muffled his workings.”

Huh.

That’s interesting.

Decima left quickly, likely getting her seals.

Not waiting around, Sam went down into the basement and set up all the prep work he needed to make a very small portal to Irma’s office.

All throughout this process Decima came and went, bringing in cardboard boxes.

A controlled, tight, planar corridor that would barely allow speech through it, let alone anything else.

Dropping another massive cardboard box to one side Decima let out a short breath.

“That’s the last one. Sam… how strong am I?” Decima asked, putting her hands on her hips. It was an odd pose given her lovely dress and styled hair.

“You could probably go toe to toe with Tiffany in a fist fight in her Hybrid and Were forms,” Sam said. “You’re a Human, just… with an asterisk on it. Even have a working reproductive system.”

Decima grunted at that.

“Come get me when you’re done. We’ll make love and talk more about… me. Going back to work,” she said and left the basement.

Hm.

She’s growing.

Good.

Looking at his symbol work, Sam pointed a finger toward it.

Instantly, it all came to life and a tiny portal about the size of a silver-dollar opened up.

“Irma?” Sam asked as he faced it.

There was a muffled response that Sam didn’t quite hear.

“Over here,” Sam said. “By the filing cabinet.”

Once more a response he didn’t hear.

Let’s just wait a second. See if she—

“Oh, I see,” Irma said, much more clearly now. “What happened?”

“Huh?” Sam asked.

“You wouldn’t risk this, or in this way, unless something happened. What’s up, Sammy?”

I love that mind of hers.

“Principal is dead. Replaced by a Doppel,” Sam said. “Six angels are backing them up. Things just got very serious here. You need to tell Miles.”

“Got it,” Irma murmured. “Are you okay? Will you three be alright?”

“Yeah, just going to get dangerous. There’s a few Angelics that could actually kill me outright so I’ll be playing this safe.”

“Good. Too early to make me a widow, you know,” Irma said.

“That’s all I got,” Sam said. “But I needed to get that info to Miles. He needs to know. What’s going on with you?”

“Oh, not much. Just taking more contracts. Alexis is doing a wonderful job in your absence. Though she’s got a number of contracts lined up for you to seal carnally. On top of that, quite a few ‘IOU’ visits you’ll need to collect on,” Irma explained.

“Ah, yeah, I imagine those’ll pile up for a bit. That’s fine though. I don’t sleep much and can just go from contract to contract,” Sam said, already looking forward to such a thing.

“Jes and Inese are still working on getting us prepared for that Facility job,” Irma said. “They’re being forced to move very slowly. After our attacks, I get the impression they’re on the defensive in an extreme way.”

Sam really didn’t like leaving that facility up and running, the house of horrors that it was, but they didn’t have the strength to attack it directly.

“No problems with it?” Sam asked.

“Nope. But ah… Jes is getting very depressed,” Irma said. “I mean, she’s not in danger or anything. That feed tap you set her up with to your personal plane is keeping her alive and well fed. She just…”

“Misses me,” Sam finished. He knew very well that Jes was actually in love with him.

He felt the same for her, oddly enough.

“Yeah. She does. I do, too,” Irma murmured. “So does Abby. Carissa, Stacia, Irene… everyone. Everyone misses you. They wanted me to tell you that when the scheduled communication came around. Though Irene, Stacia, and Carissa are already prepping for their drive for the meet-up. They’re clearly looking forward to it.”

They’d established communications and regular meet-ups to make sure everything was on the up and up, as well as a time for any resources that were needed to be transferred over.

“I miss and love you, Branded!” shouted a voice from the side that was very clearly Aster.

“Ah… Aster, too,” Irma finished, a smile obvious in her voice.

“I miss and love all of you as well,” Sam said. When he’d taken the contract from Miles, he hadn’t considered how difficult it would be to be away from everyone.

“Okay, move over,” Aster said. “Make this portal bigger, Branded, because your cock won’t fit through this. Then drop it down to your hip height on both sides.

“Because we’re going to have ourselves a good ol’ fashioned glory hole right here and now. Bring that chair over here Irma so I can hold onto it and brace myself. You know he gets rough sometimes.”

“What…? I… oh. Yes. I understand,” Irma said.

There was the sound of a chair being drug over.

“Soon as I’m done with him, you get to go next. My idea, I’m first,” Aster said. “Go let everyone else know that if they want a go with the glory portal they need to get over here quick-like.”

Laughing to himself, Sam leaned down a bit and peeked through the portal.

On the other side, Aster was quickly pulling her dress up. As soon as she’d managed that, she grabbed her panties and flicked them down to her ankles.

“Hell, yeah,” Aster said and continued on in a sing-song voice. “Gonna get laid. Laaaaaaaid. Get some Incubus for me.”

Right.

Why not.

Glory hole it is.

“Oh, and Sam?” Aster said turning around and seeming to measure her rear end to the portal. “Don’t ever close this portal. Just leave it open. No sense in wasting an opportunity. Even if we can’t ever make it that much bigger.

“It’s a bit high right now though… drop it down around three feet for me on this side? We can use the desk and the chair to change our height to fit it. Can’t make it too low or Wren won’t get any.”

Struck by a sudden feeling, an emotion he wasn’t used to, Sam had to speak it aloud.

“I love you, Aster. You’re amusing, endearing, and heart-warming in a kinky way, all at the same time,” Sam said.

Freezing up, Aster’s head slowly turned and she looked at the portal.

Her face was bright red, her rear end pointed at him, her eyes slightly fearful.

Then she grinned, the fear fading away.

Reaching back, she swatted her own rear end with a hard crack that left a handprint.

“Don’t I know it? I love you, too, Branded. Now get yourself ready lover boy, cause I really do need to get laid,” she said. “Oh, and uh… I’m packing a few D-cells today. Sorry, not sorry. Was hungry for a snack and was tired of the house current. You’ve got a fifty-fifty shot to find the right hole. Otherwise you’ll have to pull out and try again. Good luck.”

Eighteen - Not a Fridge -

Closing the filing cabinet, Sam leaned his head back and groaned.

“Oh my twisting nethers, I never want to do anything like this again,” he muttered, as he reached up with a hand to rub at his neck.

He hadn’t planned on finishing the filing any time soon, but with the new “principal” asking about it, he really didn’t have any choice but to get it done. Otherwise, it’d look odd.

And if it looked odd, he was far more likely to draw attention. For someone to look into him.

When that happened, it was almost a guarantee that they’d find Mitch at the same time.

Opening his eyes, Sam let them fall back to the cabinet and then he looked at all the files spread out around him.

“Though… though it really will be a good system once I’m done,” Sam mumbled, still rubbing at his neck. “Maybe I could—”

There was a crash nearby that jolted him out of his thoughts.

Moving to the door, Sam jerked it open and marched into the hall.

Opening himself up to the flow of magic and drawing on a thin thread of Essence, Sam actively scanned his surroundings.

There.

Not far away, Sam could feel two people locked in some type of struggle. It certainly wasn’t sex either. He knew what sex felt like in every possible way with almost every type of being.

Moving quickly, he marched down the hallway of the administration building.

Locker room? Feels like it.

Moving straight to the ladies’ locker room—a small space set aside for teachers to change and leave belongings they didn’t want in the classroom—Sam pushed the door open and entered without a care.

He could hear the rustle and bump of two people struggling with each other, both of them talking at the same time.

But he couldn’t see them yet behind the row of lockers in front of him.

Moving past it, Sam turned the corner and found a very naked Lee wrestling with another very naked Lee.

He instantly knew the one on the ground was the real Lee and the one choking her out was a Doppelganger.

Both Lee’s noticed Sam standing there and went still and quiet.

Then the one on the ground began pointing at the Doppel even as the Doppel began talking.

“Vice-principal Hallsy! This… this… clone? Woman? She attacked me!” said the fake Lee. “What do we do?”

Lee knows I’m not normal and that I know what she is. The Doppel doesn’t.

Doing his best impersonation of a landed fish, Sam stood there with his mouth open. He needed to act the part of a Human confronted with a situation beyond their comprehension.

Especially if he wanted to capture the Doppel and somehow make this situation work out.

Otherwise, he’d just put himself higher up on the “replace” list.

“I… a clone?” Sam asked.

The Doppel Lee hadn’t stopped trying to murder the real Lee, but she wasn’t choking her to the point of death anymore. Sam’s interference had definitely broken her flow.

Not to mention, any normal Human likely wouldn’t murder another in a situation like this. The Doppel had limited information and was clearly not expecting Sam to be here.

“I think so? Maybe? I don’t know!” the Doppel said, looking back to Lee. Her hands started to tighten on the other woman’s throat again. “We should call the police and—”

Sam laid a hand to the back of the Doppelganger’s head and used a blast of Essence to blank her consciousness out as if it were a light switch.

The fake naked Lee collapsed down atop the real naked Lee, who sucked in a breath of air.

“Oh my—oh my god. What’s going on?” gurgled Lee, shoving at the other naked version of herself.

“Doppelganger,” Sam said. Reaching down, he pulled the Doppel off Lee and moved her to one side.

She was a perfect and exact replica of the real PE teacher.

If he hadn’t been what he was, or a few other types of beings, he would never have been able to see through to what she was.

“Apparently you’re a target for replacement,” Sam murmured. “That’d mean you were likely to be killed and dumped.”

Breathing hard and rubbing at her throat, Lee had the look of a woman who didn’t know how to respond.

“What? Kill me? Why?” Lee croaked, leaning her head against a locker. “I’m just… I’m a nobody. I’m a Worry Monster. I… I don’t… I’m just a Human really. I just eat worries, too. Why me?”

“I’m afraid, and I know this is insulting so do forgive me,” Sam said, reaching down and laying a hand to the Doppel’s forehead. “You were targeted only because you work here. It has nothing to do with you personally. It could have been a cocker-spaniel and they would have taken the time to replace them.”

Constructing a prison of Essence in the Doppel’s mind, Sam was only barely paying any attention to Lee.

“Why? This is just… it’s a normal school. Sure, we have a few Paras here and there but nothing out of the ordinary,” Lee groused. Her left arm was covering her breasts now even as she rubbed at her throat with her right.

“No idea,” Sam lied. He had no reason to trust Lee. For all he knew, this was an elaborate plot to trap him. He wasn’t about to walk into that for just anyone.

Least especially, a Worry Monster who only let him take her to lunch twice, each ending with a polite hug.

“What are you doing?” Lee asked slowly getting to her feet.

“Oh, just checking on our friend here,” Sam murmured, his hand moving down the Doppel’s face to her jaw. The cage was done now. All he needed to do was wake the Doppel up. “I did hit her pretty hard.”

“I didn’t… even see it. I think I was starting to black out,” Lee said. Turning her naked backside to him, she started pulling clothes out of her locker. “She attacked me as I came out of the shower.”

Sam hadn’t noticed it before, but Lee’s hair did indeed look damp. As was the Doppel’s hair.

“Uh huh,” Sam murmured. Using Essence, he pulled the Doppel out of the coma he’d put her in.

Eyes snapping open as if she’d only blinked, the Doppel was once more awake.

Sam felt her mind rail against the mental construct inside her head.

All to no avail.

He’d lived far too long and had trapped hundreds in such cages. There would be no escape for her.

I’ll just mention the police and a basic plan. That’ll set Lee off because she isn’t in the PID database after all.

“Seems she’s awake,” Sam murmured, going with his thoughts. “I’m going to take her to my office and start asking her questions about why she’s here. I think maybe you should just… go home and relax, Lee. I’ll call the police after that and—”

“You can’t!” Lee snapped, turning around quickly. She was only wearing a bra and panties now. “I’m undocumented. Remember? You can’t call the police. They’ll call the PID!”

“Alright… then… I’ll just question her for now and we’ll go from there,” Sam said. “You go home.”

“I… don’t feel like I should. What if they’re waiting for me there?” Lee murmured. Turning back to her locker, she started pulling out her clothes.

“Ah. That’s a good point,” Sam admitted. Turning his head to one side, he stared down into the Doppel’s eyes. “Are they waiting for her at her home?”

“Yes,” answered the Doppel.

“See?” Lee asked. “I can’t go home, we can’t call the police. What… what do I do?”

“You wait here for me, or wait in my car,” Sam said, deciding quickly. As far as he could tell, Lee wasn’t out to get him. She could be useful, he imagined. “Sounds like you’ll be staying with me for a bit.”

Lee sighed, closing her locker and stepping into her pants.

“I should have just slept with you,” Lee muttered. “This’d all be so much easier at that point.”

“Probably. My wife thinks you’re an idiot,” Sam said and scooped up the Doppel, tossing her over his shoulder.

Decima hadn’t understood why Lee had declined Sam’s advances. To her, Lee had no power or prestige. Becoming the girlfriend to someone like Sam would open doors for her if she chose to engage in such a relationship.

Decima was woman out of her time.

I do miss the old sentiments every now and then.

It was a lot easier when the morality police had more to do with survival and less to do with religious views.

“She knew?” Lee asked. “Knew that you were trying to… to seduce me?”

“I did tell you she was aware,” Sam said putting a hand to the rear end of the Doppel to hold her there. “Anyways. You waiting for me here, or at my car.”

“I’ll wait here,” Lee said, turning toward Sam again now that she was fully dressed. “Come get me when you’re ready to leave.”

“Yep,” Sam said, then left the locker room.

Thankfully, he encountered no one in the halls, though he was ready to glamour anyone if he did.

Entering his office, he closed and locked the door.

A second after that, he dropped the naked Doppel into his chair and locked her eyes with his own.

“Your life is more or less forfeit,” Sam said honestly, getting straight to the heart of the matter.

He couldn’t let this young lady go. She already knew too much about him and he’d decided on ending her when he used his powers the way he had.

“I know,” said the Doppel.

“Great, that’ll make this a lot easier,” Sam said and sat down on the edge of his desk. “You might as well revert to your normal self by the way. I know you’re a Doppelganger. I’m told it’s a lot like sliding into a warm bath to be in your original form.”

Doppel Lee raised her eyebrows at that.

Then she shrugged her shoulders.

Instantly, a young woman no older than twenty-one appeared. She looked a lot like Hillary, but given how the Doppel as a race shared many common features, that didn’t say much.

She was considerably heftier in the chest and hips than Hillary naturally was though.

“Wow, aren’t you a genetic-lottery winner,” Sam said with an admiring eye. With a sigh, he pulled his eyes back to her face. This was neither the time nor place. “Name?”

The Doppel shook her head slightly, her eyes moving down to the ground.

Right.

“Fine, I’ll just jump straight to the end. Do you know who you’re working for or are you getting wiped like the principal is?”

Sam felt a push on his mental cage as if she had a magically constructed condition coiled up inside of her.

It pathetically gave out and collapsed in on itself as soon as it hit his Essence-wrought spell.

The Doppel’s eyes shot back to his, her eyebrows climbing upward. That was all replaced by what Sam could only describe as pleasant surprise.

Maybe she was supposed to die, expected it, but didn’t want to?

I might be able to use that.

“You don’t get to die unless I wish it. Regardless of whatever they told you,” Sam said, guessing at the intent of the spell. “You’re… mine. And maybe explaining why that is, might help.”

Sighing Sam held his hands out in front of himself.

“I’m Sameerixis the Planar Lord. Torment of Lust,” Sam said. “You may or may not know who I am. But I rub shoulders with the Judge, the Curator, Retribution, the Torment of Sanity, and the Torment of Lightning. The list goes on and on. There are very few people in this entire existence that would give me pause. You’re not one of them.”

Opening her mouth, the Doppelganger looked to be considering that news.

“Maybe tell me your name after all then? Or if you like, do you know who you’re working for or are you getting wiped like the principal is?” Sam asked again.

“I’m… I’m just… they wipe me. They wipe me every time I go out on a mission,” said the women. “I get it all back when I finish up. That’s what they told me. I don’t even have a name. I was just told to take… take Francis Lee Aman’s name and become her.”

“Right. And you were supposed to kill her?” Sam asked.

“I… was supposed to knock her out and put her in her own locker,” said the Doppelganger. “She was a bit stronger than I expected and then you showed up and… and here we are.”

“And you know about as much as the principal does, I bet,” Sam muttered. “Do you have any idea why you’re here? What you’re looking for? Any listed goals or… directives?”

“Just to knock out the Worry Monster and put her in the locker,” explained the Doppelganger with a slow shake of her head. “I’m supposed to get more orders tomorrow morning at her house. I know her address, her name, and a good bit about her history and current life. I’m… I’m just supposed to be her.”

Sam leaned back slightly and looked up to the ceiling tiles above him.

She’s just like the principal.

Blank and worthless to me.

“Right. Right, okay,” Sam said with a long drawn out sigh. “You can visit a friend of mine and he can spend some time with you. Come on then.”

Sam shook his head and walked over to the door.

In the moment his hand reached the door, the Doppelganger snatched up a pair of scissors off his desk.

“Wait! I—”

Slamming the scissors home into her throat, the Doppelganger kept jamming them into her neck over and over.

“Shit, stop,” Sam said moving back over to her quickly. “You’re just going to make me spend Essence to fix that.”

Blood was gushing down her naked front. Spilling down into his chair and across her lap.

Yanking the scissors away from the Doppelganger, Sam started to work Essence up to put her tattered neck back together.

Nothing happened.

The Essence he was trying to push in washed right over her. As if it couldn’t find any purchase on her.

Gurgling, the Doppelganger gazed up at him, her eyes wide and somewhat smug.

“What the—”

Sam started alternating the Essence he was using, swapping from Emotional, to Life, to what he could gather locally.

Giving him a triumphant grin, the Doppelganger slumped partially into Sam’s chair, her skin rapidly becoming extremely pale.

Sam continued to batter her with Essence, trying to heal her of her wounds.

Holding up his hands, Sam had no idea what was going on. There wasn’t anything he could do to put the woman back together.

Standing there as she bled out, Sam could only watch.

Helplessly.

Even as she clearly slipped out of consciousness.

Staring lifelessly into nothing, the Doppelganger bled out. Her eyes held no life, even as her body tried to force breath into a husk that wouldn’t be getting back up.

The moment it took its last breath and came to a shuddering stop, Sam felt what he’d suspected. Just beneath her skin, filling her from top to bottom.

Loaded to the point of exploding, the Doppelganger was so packed full of Essence, she wouldn’t be able to truly have anything done to her directly.

Likely, the only reason his Essence trap in her mind worked at all was because it didn’t try to affect her physically. It had only forced her into compliance with his commands and prevented her from being cursed to death.

An incredible amount of Essence ripped free of the corpse and blasted out in every direction.

Life Essence.

Pure, untainted, years’ and years’ worth of power.

Siphoning as much of it away into his own personal plane as he could, Sam felt like he was holding onto a fire hose with his feet. There was simply too much flowing out for him to capture and keep all for himself.

Unfortunately, it also came to an end far too quickly.

Whatever. That’s more than enough to keep Jes fed for a really long time if we’re separated.

Feeling brief annoyance at the fact he couldn’t have gathered more, Sam found himself contemplating that thought.

That he was annoyed because he couldn’t do more for Jes.

“Whatever,” Sam muttered. He knew he was well beyond the turning point for his mental stability. He was in love with his harem, and even cared for a few people in his feed harem.

Rubbing at his chin with one hand, he contemplated what to do with the dead Doppelganger.

Reaching out with a hand, he shoved her out of his seat and then left his office. He could deal with her later. The cleaning crew didn’t visit his office on Tuesdays.

Right now, he needed to collect Lee from the locker room and get back home.

He needed to talk to everyone and figure out what their next course of action was.

Clearly the school was now compromised. It wasn’t just a random Doppelganger being inserted to try and find Mitch, they were now focusing their efforts on this school in particular.

Entering the women’s locker room, Sam went over to where he’d last seen Lee.

“Lee?” Sam asked aloud.

There was no response.

“Lee? Where are you?” Sam asked again, walking down the short aisle to the other end.

Opening himself up a bit, he let his Essence rapidly fill the room.

Lee wasn’t here.

Or at least, Lee wasn’t here anymore.

Frowning, Sam felt like he knew exactly where Lee was.

Already knowing the answer, but knowing he needed to see it, Sam walked over to Lee’s locker.

Lifting the latch, he opened the door slowly.

Stuffed inside it was Lee.

Her neck was clearly broken. Or so he guessed, since her head was almost on backwards.

Closing the locker door, Sam let out a soft breath.

“Right,” he murmured. “Time to get home, and get Mitch out of here.”

The clack of a door opening surprised Sam.

Shit!

Uh. Alright. No Essence sorcery. Shouldn’t be in here so… so…

Okay.

Opening the locker next to the one Lee was in, Sam clambered in quickly and closed it behind himself.

If it’s just faculty, hit ’em with a whammy, get out, and get going.

If it’s… whoever did Lee in, we get them, and see what they know.

Feeling like a pair of shoes crammed into a cubby-hole, Sam waited.

Nineteen - The Way is Shut -

Someone opened a locker and started to rummage around in the contents.

Err… faculty then? Maybe one of the teachers?

The locker closed with a clack.

Unable to hear anything more, Sam strained to catch any sound at all.

Faintly, he could just barely make out what sounded like bare feet on tile.

Then a shower turned on.

Faculty!

Go!

Opening the locker door, Sam hurried out of his cramped quarters and exited the locker room.

Getting into the hallway, he adjusted his tie and jacket and tried to calm himself down.

Two bodies.

One I have to deal with, one someone else has to deal with.

Time to be gone. Let’s make sure we take our personnel files with us. No sense in leaving it behind.

Moving to the filing room he’d been working in, Sam found there was still no one around. For which he was infinitely grateful at the moment. The last thing he needed to do was kill someone and add to the body count.

He snatched Mitch’s student file first and then Hillary’s. Then he moved to the HR cabinet and got out his own folder.

Holding all three of them, Sam used the thinnest trickle of Essence magic he could and set them alight.

They started to burn merrily.

Glancing up at the smoke detector and sprinkler system, Sam directed that same trickle of Essence upward to cover them. He definitely didn’t need either one of those going off right now.

The goal was to get Mitch out of here and to safety. Not having a swarm of first responders all trying to save a school full of kids.

Then finding two bodies in it. One that looked like it was in a slasher fic and the other the girlfriend of a superhero comic gone wrong.

At least it isn’t a refrigerator.

Splitting his Essence into even thinner parts, Sam made sure to collect all the ashes of the files as they flaked apart. His goal was to eliminate all evidence of Mitch and to make sure there were no traces of wrongdoing either.

Task finally complete, Sam compressed the ashes into a single point by folding the Essence atop itself. Until it became little more than a black ball of soot.

It wasn’t recognizable as anything at all by that point.

Dropping it into the trash can, Sam left the filing room.

Looking at the door, Sam considered his options. The easiest was to simply head to his car and wait for the end of the day, which wasn’t too far away.

Alternatively, he could try to track down Hillary, have her grab Mitch, and then get the heck out of dodge through a portal.

Deciding on both, Sam left the room and started heading towards his car. All the while, he was on the lookout for Hillary.

There were a few students wandering the campus but, by and large, it was empty. Everyone should be in classes or leaving.

Unfortunately, he didn’t spot Hillary. A strange and ugly burning sensation that started as an ember was quickly growing into a full on bonfire in Sam’s gut.

I underestimated them a bit. I just thought they were probing.

Doppel Lee was so full of Life Essence, there’s really only one way she could have gotten it.

Exiting the campus and into the parking lot, Sam felt his breath catch.

Sitting in cars all along the street and in the few available parking spaces were parents. Waiting for their kids to get out and take them home.

Not everyone was human though.

There were a number of Planar and Angelic beings spread out amongst them.

Sam knew for a fact that they didn’t belong here.

Mostly because they didn’t tend to have children.

Ever.

The number of Nephilim in the world could practically be counted on two hands even though the number of Angelics was in the low thousands.

Reproduction wasn’t something they did, or could even typically do. It took strange one-off situations, magical artifacts, or an incredible amount of luck for an Angelic to catch a pregnancy, or impregnate someone.

There were no Nephilim in Sam’s school.

This is more than anything I ever thought it was. Damn.

I’m behind on this one. I got careless.

Very, very careless.

Getting into his car while looking as inconspicuous as possible, Sam could only lament his mistakes at this point. If regret had a name, it was his.

Settling into his seat Sam looked over to the car parked next to him.

It was a Lich.

A woman in her early twenties with dark hair and dark blue eyes.

Noticing his gaze, the woman turned toward him and gave him a flirty smile. Following that she gave him a little finger wave with one hand.

Well.

That just makes everything worse.

A Lich.

Here.

Waving back at the woman and trying to look like a man who didn’t know how to deal with someone flirting with him, he started his car, put it in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot.

That’s the last thing we need. A Lich.

Working with… working with Angelics.

What the hell does that even mean?

“Hey.”

The voice came from the back seat.

“Don’t turn around.”

Glancing into the rearview mirror Sam found a woman he didn’t know laying down in the back of his car. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary through the mirror.

But that didn’t mean much. It was difficult to see through magic while looking through a mirror.

“Hillary?” Sam asked, hopeful.

“Yep,” replied the woman. “I’ve got Mitch in the car, too. He’s unconscious but back here. Down where your feet normally go.”

Sam nodded and then laughed softly, relieved.

He’d been feeling nervous for Hillary. Keenly so.

If she died too far away from him, he wouldn’t be able to retrieve her body and get her back to rights. Let alone put her soul back in place.

“Something happen to you?” Sam asked, his nerves melting away rapidly.

All he had to do now was get home and they could just leave.

Doubly so, since he’d taken care of all the evidence of their existing at the school. There would be nothing anyone would be able to find to determine their address from.

“A lot of people who didn’t belong wandering through the school,” Hillary murmured. “A lot of fake people, too. People that were acting off enough that I’d swear they were replaced with Doppels.”

“Probably were,” Sam agreed. “Lee’s dead. Got replaced by a Doppel. Doppel killed herself after I caught her.

“There was also a Lich in the parking lot along with a number of Angelics.”

“Wh-what? A Lich? No way! I thought they were super rare and stuff,” Hillary said.

Glancing into the rearview mirror Sam found himself looking at the “young human” version of Hillary now, having apparently shifted back into a more comfortable form.

“They’re indeed ‘super rare’ as you say. They tend to show up when there’s going to be a massacre. Or if they’re hired,” Sam added. “But the hiring part is pretty damn rare. Hiring a Lich is like asking them to nuke your organization when they’re done with your task. If only to protect their own interests.”

“What’s the plan then?” Hillary asked, sitting upright in the chair. Then she seemed to think better of that and crawled into the front seat even as Sam kept driving.

“Get the hell out of here,” Sam explained intelligently. “Rip the glory portal open wide and step on through. Be done with all of this. By the way, how’d you put Mitch out?”

“At first? Choke hold,” Hillary said, pulling the seat belt across her front and buckling it in. “Then I just hit him with the injection Decima gave me.”

“She gave you a what?” Sam asked, glancing over to his passenger.

“Sedatives. She got them from Wren before we left, I think. Or Tiffany. Dunno,” Hillary said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Well… I’ll have to thank her. She prepared better than I did, it seems,” Sam muttered.

“She always does. I mean… it’s Decima,” Hillary countered. “What do we do about the golems?”

“Activate them and bring them along,” Sam said. “Might need them to settle Mitch elsewhere.”

“Yeah. Yeah, probably that,” Hillary said. “Poor kid. He’s a nice guy.”

Sam grunted at that, pulling them around toward a main street that’d get them home quickly. There was likely less traffic right now than when he normally drove home.

“No idea why Miles wants him safe,” grumbled Sam. “But I swear I’m going to make him pay me extra for this.”

“By the way, what exactly is he paying for this?” Hillary asked. “You said this could have been for like six months or something like that.”

“Uh,” started Sam, unsure how to admit they weren’t actually getting paid. “Any kids I have, the Curator will be a godfather to. Even kids I have with others besides Irma.”

Glancing to his side, he saw Hillary shake her head in confusion.

Then she sat up straighter.

“Oh. Got it. Yeah. Okay,” Hillary said, nodding her head. “I agree then. If we have kids, he’ll be their godfather. That’s fine.”

“You want kids?” Sam asked somewhat incredulously. Hillary had never even mentioned the idea of kids. The idea of her ever having kids seemed impossible to Sam.

Mostly because of all the kinky fun they had together.

“I mean, eventually. Not anytime soon,” Hillary said. “I’m barely twenty, ya know? But I figure by the time I hit twenty-five I’ll want to start trying.”

Letting the silence take over, Sam refused to respond to that.

He still didn’t actually want to have kids.

At all.

***

“—then I drove off with Hillary and Mitch,” Sam finished explaining to Decima as he carried Mitch into the house.

“That is the worst news I’ve heard in a very long time,” Decima declared. “A lich.”

“Like, I know of them, but not a lot about them,” Hillary said. “What do I need to know since it feels like we might fight this one?”

“They’re… well, if you ever hear of a zombie apocalypse, or a zombie attack that eats a city, it’s a Lich. Bubonic plague? Lich,” said Sam. “Spanish flu in World War One? Lich.”

“The church dealt with a number of them,” Decima said with clear annoyance in her tone. “The last one I personally dealt with was too much for me. They wiped out my entire squad and I escaped by jumping off a cliff.”

“Okay, so, what do we do? If you couldn’t handle them, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t,” Hillary complained.

Sam walked into the house and started straight down into the basement.

“We leave, that’s what we do. Remember? Not playing around with this,” Sam said. “Go get the golems real quick and we’ll get to gone.”

“Going!” Hillary said, her steps receding.

Clicking her tongue, Decima followed Sam down the stairs.

“I was enjoying being a homemaker,” Decima murmured. “I was even learning how to properly cook dinner.”

“Yeah, won’t lie, your food is actually pretty good,” Sam said. He hadn’t expected her to have a decent hand at cooking.

“Had to learn on the trails with whatever I had on hand,” Decima said as they entered the basement proper and went toward the large room the glory portal was in. “The hard part was figuring out how to make my cooking work with modern herbs and applia—”

Sam and Decima stood side by side, staring at the glory portal.

Or where it should be at least.

It was gone.

There was simply nothing there where it should have been.

“Here,” Sam said, turning to Decima and passing Mitch off to her.

Moving quickly to the spot the portal should be, Sam felt around for it. There was a distinct impression that a portal had been here.

But only because he knew what to look for and because it was his own Essence.

Reaching out for his personal plane, Sam figured he’d just pull it open again. Except he couldn’t reach it.

A wall sat between him and his personal plane. One that was fashioned out of the will of what felt like hundreds of Angelics.

“I… think we’re going to have a problem,” Sam remarked. “The way to the planes are shut. Closed by the Angelics. Probably the same ones looking for Mitch. We have to get out of Miami by normal means.”

“Sam?” Hillary called from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah?” he replied, looking at Decima.

“The Golems. They’re dead. It’s like… it’s like they just ran out of energy,” Hillary said, her footsteps moving down the stairs quickly.

“I’d say that’s exactly what happened,” Decima growled, adjusting her grip on Mitch and casually moving him up over her shoulder. “Because the planes are shut. Which means the energy feed they were being given was likely cut away as well.”

Shit.

I hope Jes is alright. I hope it didn’t lock her out of my plane.

“What? The planes are shut? What d’ya mean?” Hillary asked, coming into the room. “Oh, fuck me.”

“As much as I’m sure Sam would like to do that, we must pack, and leave,” Decima commanded. “As soon as possible.”

“Shit, can we really just leave though? Doesn’t our meet-up happen the day after tomorrow?” Hillary asked.

Damn, I forgot about that.

Irene, Stacia, and Carissa are already en route.

“Yes, and we’ll meet them at their hotel tomorrow night where they stop,” Decima said. “Now go do what I said and get ready. You pack everything we need for a road trip, Hillary. Sam, you get everything we need that is small enough to go with us and not take up too much room. Make sure you get our IDs and the like.

“I’ll start smashing gear and equipment. We can’t leave anything behind. Nothing that could tie it to us. I’m glad I prepped the house as a firetrap. It’ll make it much easier to ensure we don’t have anyone coming after us. I’ll go put Mitch in the car. He’ll be out for several more hours.”

Running a hand through his hair, Sam stood there as Decima and Hillary left the basement.

He had a problem that he didn’t want to bring up, but that he knew he’d have to at some point.

His connection to his plane was being blocked, which meant he couldn’t pull on his surplus of Essence.

Right now, he was feeding passively on the Prime itself, but that wouldn’t last. Nor would his current store of Emotional Essence.

There would need to be a conversation very soon about getting him fed today or tomorrow. Because he couldn’t afford to starve right now.

With his plane blocked off, he couldn’t draw on his stored Essence.

That meant for the first time in a very long time, Sam was particularly vulnerable right now.

Mortal, even.

If he died without being able to return to his plane, that would be the end of the Torment of Lust.

Starting to feel like I got swindled.

Swindled and sold something which was supposed to be easy and is incredibly difficult instead.

Damn it all, Miles.

Twenty - Back Seat -

“Uncle Sam?” Mitch asked from the backseat.

“Yeah?” Sam replied, glancing into the rearview mirror as they drove along the road. Evening was falling fast and they were burning up the miles.

Getting far and fast from the last known location of a Lich.

“They’re really dead?” asked Mitch for the second time on the trip. Unfortunately, it was also only about the third time he’d spoken.

The boy was clearly in a state of shock or denial.

Possibly both.

“Yes, Mitch. They’re dead,” Sam murmured.

Flexing his hands, he wasn’t really sure how to deal with Mitch. He seemed like a pretty friendly but subdued kid. Like any number of mortals he’d met.

There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about him either.

“Who killed them?” pushed Mitch.

“I really don’t know. I honestly wish I could tell you more, but I really don’t know a lot of the details,” Sam admitted, deciding to lean towards the lie right now. “Your parents called me up and asked me to come out. They thought something weird was going on, but they didn’t know what. So I came.”

“You’re… not really a vice-principal?” Mitch asked.

“Not really. I’m more of a mercenary. Your parents asked me and Aunt Decima to come watch over you while you were at school,” Sam said.

Glancing to the person sitting next to Mitch, he got a small nod of her head. Decima apparently approved of this story.

Hillary was next to Sam in the passenger seat, dozing against the window. She’d been the one who had driven them out of the city during the middle of the night.

She was still paying off those hours spent behind the wheel right now. Trying to sleep the entire time after Sam and Decima had taken over driving.

“And… Hillary?” Mitch asked.

“Learning how to be a mercenary,” Sam lied expertly. “She’s also older than you think.”

Mitch nodded at that and then looked out the window, falling silent once again.

Sam thought momentarily about turning on the radio but the last time he’d tried all he’d gotten was static.

They were on the far outskirts of civilization right now, passing through small and medium-sized cities and towns as they flew across the state.

“I think that’s it,” Decima murmured, lifting an arm and pointing toward a sign distantly on the horizon.

“Really? Huh. Made a lot better time than I thought,” Sam said, turning his eyes toward the glowing sign far down the road.

“You’ve been speeding,” Hillary mumbled, shifting around in her seat. “Almost the entire time. You’re lucky we haven’t seen any cops.”

Looking at the speedometer, Sam found that Hillary was right. He really was speeding.

Considerably so.

He couldn’t express how mildly unnerved he was at his depleted Essence reserves, however. Nor could he really add to them, not with Mitch present.

As soon as they got to the motel, he could indulge himself in a feast of flesh and top his tank off, so to speak.

At least enough so that he didn’t feel like a wild animal. Like he could actually resist ravaging Hillary in the passenger seat repeatedly and pulling on all the reserves she held inside of her.

Once he did that, though, Hillary would be useless for a day or two. Taking it from her would more or less put her down for a while.

And right now, they couldn’t exactly afford her not being active.

Sam and Decima needed her and her abilities as a Doppelganger.

Taking a lot more time than he wanted, Sam eventually pulled into the parking lot of the motel. It had exactly the look you’d expect from such a thing and spanned two floors.

“Yeah, this is it,” Decima said, her eyes glued to the address of the entrance as they drove past it.

“And you just happened to know they’d be here,” Sam murmured, swinging the car around into a parking space.

“I insisted, actually. I like to know everything that’s going on with an operation. Just in case something happens,” Decima grumbled.

“Just like it did,” Mitch added.

“Exactly,” Decima said with a sharp nod of her head and a smile for the child. “It’s only paranoia if it’s unreasonable. Otherwise, it’s caution.”

Sam couldn’t help but smirk at that.

Decima was definitely paranoid.

In this case though, she was actually right to have planned the way she had.

“Well Miss Paranoid, how are we going to find them, then?” Sam asked, putting the car in park.

Scoffing at that, Decima reached into the pack at her feet.

“Honestly, Husband, if I’m not able to find a Witch of Irene’s power within a hundred yards of where I stood… well—” Decima laughed at that and pulled her hand back out with something in it. “I just wouldn’t be able to pride myself on my history.”

Opening her hand, Sam saw she had an odd looking purity seal in it.

Two purity seals.

One laid within the other. The one on top seemed to be moving slowly, almost like a compass.

“You’re a Witch-Hunter? Witches are real?” Mitch asked, his voice sounding even more stressed now.

“That I am,” Decima said, watching the purity seals. “And Irene, one of your uncle’s girlfriends, is a very powerfully strong Witch.

“So powerful, that if this were the period I was born into, multiple teams of Templars would have been dispatched to subdue her.”

At first, Sam was annoyed at what Decima was telling Mitch.

Then he realized it didn’t matter.

The Curator was going to have to wipe Mitch of some of his memories anyway. Removing most of this trip was definitely going to happen.

Decima opened the car door and stepped out. Standing there, she slowly turned one way and then the other.

“Stay here with Mitch,” Sam said.

“’Kay,” Hillary mumbled, not moving.

“But I—”

“Stay,” Sam said, interrupting Mitch and getting out of the vehicle.

Decima was slowly walking toward the walkway that ran along the front of the motel. The purity seal in her hand continue to move and twist slowly.

“You expecting any problems?” Sam asked, coming up next to Decima.

“No. Irene really is incredibly powerful. And since Stacia learned how to feed on her own kind, she’s also gained in power,” murmured Decima. “Beyond that, I trust Carissa. As someone who was both law enforcement and military, she’s very well equipped to handle any situation those two can’t.”

Walking along the pathway, Decima watched the seals in her hand for any clue of which way to go.

Sam couldn’t really argue with that point. The simple truth of the matter was that most of his people had experience in combat one way or another.

Carissa, Stacia, and Irene were a force to be reckoned with.

The others were getting trained in it, like Abigail and Hillary.

Looking out ahead of their path, Sam spotted what looked like an RV about the size of a rental moving truck.

Going to bet that’s theirs. Ten to one Irma sent gear and the like along with them and that’s just an easy way to do it.

Especially if they have to stop a few times out in the middle of nowhere.

Adding to that belief, Decima stopped in front of a door that was directly in front of the RV.

Closing her hand on the purity seal, Decima reached up and knocked on the door twice. Then waited a beat and knocked thrice.

Almost instantly, the door opened and Sam found Stacia standing there.

Her eyes went from Decima to Sam, then she stepped to one side.

Wordlessly, Sam and Decima entered the room and Stacia closed the door swiftly. Two beds, a TV, a bathroom, and all the normal things you’d find at a motel.

Better and worse alike.

“Clear.”

Looking to the voice, Sam found Irene sitting on one of the beds, a small purple spell held in her palm.

“Felt the purity seal touch me,” Irene said with a dazzling smile. Then she held up a radio in her other hand. “Wasn’t sure if it was the church or Decima. Then Carissa spotted you and radioed it in. We’re safe to talk here by the way. I’ve got the entire room dampened in a spell.”

“Target is compromised,” Decima said with a horizontal chop of her hand. “Both golems are no longer functioning, a Lich has been sighted, as have several Angelics. Time to get back to the Curator and let him handle this.”

Irene’s smile froze up on her face.

“A Lich and Angelics,” repeated the Witch.

“And a lot of Doppelgangers. I personally had one die on me, another replaced the principal,” Sam added with a shrug of his shoulders. “Honestly, I think the Curator sold me short on how much of a problem this was going to be.

“Or he didn’t know,” Stacia countered. “Maybe he genuinely didn’t think it would be that bad.”

Well… actually that’s possible.

But that’d mean this would have to include the Silent One.

Miles’ only real blind spot is him.

Damn.

“We have the subject secure,” Decima said. “I’ll go get him and bring him in.”

“Alright,” Irene murmured, still looking rather shocked at the news. Looking at the radio, she raised it to her mouth. “Watch, this is room. People exiting.”

There was no response to the radio command, but there were two audible clicks in response.

Sam smiled and turned to look at Stacia and Irene.

I’ll just rent another room, take them aside, and… feed, feed, feed, feed.

Now, let’s go to the front desk and—

Sam froze, his spine going ramrod straight.

The waves of magic washing over him were far diluted. Faded with distance and time, losing the absolute freakish peak they probably started with.

But they were unmistakable, and some of the worst he’d ever experienced in his entire long life.

“What… what is that?” Irene choked out.

At the same time, Decima stumbled back into the room, practically tripping over herself.

“What’s what? What’s going on? You three look like as pale as a ghost,” Stacia asked, around the room.

Of course, she wouldn’t feel it. A Vampire would never feel something like this because this is practically how they were first created.

“Oh my twisting nethers. A Lich just went nuclear,” Sam murmured, pressing a hand to his head.

“No…” Decima whispered, shaking her head. “They couldn’t. They wouldn’t.”

“That’s what it is?” Irene asked, then gagged, pressing a hand to her mouth. “It’s over-whelming.”

“What? I don’t feel anything,” Stacia said. “What’s going on?”

“Exactly what I said. A Lich just set off a spell the likes of which I’ve never seen or heard of. Ever,” Sam explained. “It’s like… it’s like they set off the entire nuclear arsenal of the United States at the same time, in one spot. That’d be the equivalent.”

“Okay, and what does that mean?” Stacia asked. “I’m still getting used to this world. I thought the worst I’d have to deal with was Irene and Werewolves, before you.”

“Tell me about it. I thought I’d just have to—” Irene’s voice cut off and she gagged again. Grabbing the trash can next to her, she began to violently throw up into it.

“I don’t know what it means,” Sam said, staring out the doorway. “But the last time I felt something like this, a plague ripped through Europe and wiped out a large portion of it.

“Then the same Lich who caused it, raised the dead and took over an entire plane with his army. If this is anything like that… well, I don’t know. I’d say Florida is about to become a waiting room for the afterlife though.”

“Blessed be the heavens and the earth,” Decima said making a sign across her body. “For we’re all now imperiled. May they watch over us and guide us in our—”

“Oooh fuck, why do I feel so awful?” Irene whimpered over the trash can even as Decima continued to pray.

“Because you’re Undead, but also not Undead,” Sam said, looking at the Witch’s soul. It was trying to comfort its physical self, but looked completely untouched by the waves of magic still roiling through and over them. “It’ll pass.”

He was tempted to use some of his Essence to ease her burden, but he didn’t have much to spare.

And he suddenly didn’t think they could stay here in the motel.

He was fully expecting an army of undead, a plague, or worse, to be on their tail now. With a very angry Lich leading the way of whatever it might be.

***

“There’s nothing on the radio at all,” Irene complained, fiddling with the stations. “Not a thing about what happened. Nothing.”

“That’s entirely unsurprising,” Sam murmured, holding onto the steering wheel.

The sun would be rising soon, even as they drove ever onward.

“Probably already completely covered up,” added Sam. “That or everyone back there is dead and can’t talk about it.”

“Seriously?” Irene asked. “It couldn’t have been that bad. Could it? I mean the bubonic plague didn’t wipe out Europe. And that was a Lich, right?”

“Yes. But you’re forgetting one thing,” Sam said, as he glanced back into the rearview mirror. Carissa was in the back seat and behind them was the RV. Stacia was driving it right now. Hillary, Decima, and Mitch were resting in the interior. “A lot of towns and villages were wiped off the face of the earth outright. No one to tell anyone that they existed. Those reports of the estimated dead? Way under. Way, way under.”

“Damn,” Irene said. Her soul was leaning against Sam’s shoulder right now. Stroking his chest with one hand, the other sliding through the back of his hair.

Clearly Irene needed comforting right now, but it wasn’t something he could give.

In fact, Sam was having a bit of a problem.

He was starving.

His thoughts were full of pulling over and ravaging his way through his people to start with.

“You okay?” Carissa asked from the backseat.

“Hungry,” Sam admitted, his hands flexing on the steering wheel. “Very hungry. The planes are all cut off. Remember? That includes my link to my own plane. Kinda running low.

“Going to have to stop and pull out the reserves from Hillary, but that’s going to knock her out for a few days.”

“That seems like a bad idea when we’re on the run,” Carissa said.

“Yeah. Tell me about it,” Sam grumbled. “My alternatives are a bit thin though. Stacia and Decima can shield the RV and Mitch pretty well. Which means he has to stay in there. And I can’t exactly feed with him there.”

“Then feed here,” Irene said, turning toward him. “I’m more than willing to help out.”

“Likewise. But I think it should be me,” Carissa interjected. “I’m due for a sleep rotation and you’re going to be driving. Let’s call the break now and swap.”

“I… fine. Fine. You’re right,” Irene muttered. Clearly, she was disappointed in that.

Carissa lifted the radio that she’d had in her hand.

“Early driver change,” Carissa said into it.

“Understood,” came the response from Stacia. “Fine by me. I swear the sun is coming up.”

Despite her being more or less immune to the sun now, she still can’t shake that fear.

Sam saw a shoulder he could pull off onto and did so.

Irene’s soul looked as disappointed as Irene had sounded, but the seat change was carried out. Sam and Carissa ending up in the back seat together.

Before Sam could even suggest something, Carissa was working at her clothes.

“It’ll be a tight fit but we’ll make this work, Sam,” Carissa promised.

If it had been anyone else, he’d have made a comment about her being a tight fit.

Carissa however, was a different woman than most. She was serious, studious, kind, and caring all at the same time.

Her emotions ran deep, however. You couldn’t really tell what she was feeling without digging or asking.

Those same emotions were as strong as they were deep.

Carissa dumped her pants, boots, and panties to one side and then rolled onto her back. Putting one foot up on the roof and holding up the other with one hand, the cyclops gave him a small smile.

Lovely in her own way, Sam couldn’t deny he felt for her. Perhaps not as strongly as the others, but that was changing the longer he spent with her.

It wasn’t that she meant to be aloof, or stand-offish, she just didn’t know how to mingle or socialize.

Irene didn’t say anything, but Sam could practically hear her displeasure as she got them moving onto the road again.

Looking at the spread eagle and willing woman next to him, Sam was struck with just how monstrously hungry he was.

Jerking his pants off, Sam laid down atop Carissa and went straight to clawing at her psyche.

A soft moan escaped Carissa’s lips as she wrapped her free arm around Sam’s middle. Her body was ramped straight up into a wild amount of sensitivity and she was unprepared for it.

Putting one hand under her armpit, Sam held to the seat with it. The other he reached up and pushed down on Carissa’s shoulder.

Moving his hips up, he got his tip into her and then went forward. Filling her in one shuddering, swift, and strong movement.

“Aaaaah,” groaned Carissa, her eye opening wide as he entered her. Her body quivered under him for a second before her thighs spread wider apart.

Leaning his head down, Sam pressed his forehead to Carissa’s. He remembered what her need was. To be seen as a cyclops and desire.

“I’m going to have you and that beautiful eye until the next driver change,” Sam promised. “I hope you can handle it.”

Carissa let out a slow breath, her fingers tightening into his skin.

Saying nothing, the cyclops laid there.

After a few seconds she nodded, making Sam nod his head as well with the motion.

Getting that approval, Sam sunk his powers into the woman’s mind.

Her desires.

Then blew them up.

With his lack of control, that was the only way to describe what he did to her.

At the same time, he started to pull out of her and then roughly push himself right back in.

Carissa liked it rough at first. Liked the wildness as Sam stared into her single large eye.

To be ravaged while loved.

“Make my hips go numb,” grunted Carissa even as Sam thrust against her. His manhood forcing her slick tightened walls apart. “Then have me as much as you want.”

Grinning, Sam leaned back a few inches and began to spear deep into Carissa with as much force as he could generate.

He was never one to disappoint when he was given a direction.

Shuddering with every deep breath-taking thrust, Carissa was a woman on fire.

Sam had flayed her sensitivity to the point that she was a living nerve ending. Her mind was awash in the fact that he wanted to literally sex her to oblivion and back again, all while staring into her eye. And that her heart was not her own anymore.

What’d started as a small flame of interest was rapidly becoming a bonfire of love.

Grunting and gasping while pushing down into his lap, Carissa did her best to give it back to him.

Drilling her into the backseat, Sam leaned into her, grinding himself up against her hood and pubic mound each time. Trying to give her the best back seat experience he could, given their limited mobility.

Squealing, Carissa’s mind became little better than an animal in heat. Dirty, lusty, sweaty, which wanted to be nothing more than a sex doll.

So long as Sam continued to stare into her eye with the desire he was showing right now.

Pounding away at the cyclops, Sam spotted her climax as it rushed toward a massive conclusion.

Before it got anywhere near its peak, Sam spiked her with what Essence he could spare.

And then spiked her again, and again, and again.

Carissa stopped breathing, her eye rolling back into her head, and he felt her quivering insides lock down as she lost control over her own body.

Devouring the Essence pouring out of her, Sam immediately made more spikes out of it and continued to ram them home into Carissa’s psyche.

All while plowing her down into the seat. Trying to fill her and make her hips go numb like she’d requested.

Carissa took in a single gasping breath whenever she ran out of air, all while getting pounded away at by Sam.

Not bothering to let himself orgasm, he continued to work at Carissa. Thrusting in and out of her and grinding at her clit the entire time. His speed and force dipped slightly as she continued on. He couldn’t make her orgasm forever after all.

She needed a moment to recover.

Eventually when Sam stopped spiking her, Carissa came down enough that she could breathe normally again. Though she was clearly still riding out part of her orgasm.

“Heavens,” murmured the cyclops, her eye slowly focusing back to stare at him.

“Round two,” Sam said in a grunt, picking up the speed and force again. Trying to slam Carissa straight through the bottom of the car. Then he spiked her again.

Three times.

Tipping her over into another skin-melting orgasm.

“Fuck,” Carissa cried out even as she dropped right back into her orgasm. Her eye as wide as possible, staring up at him. “Oh, fuck!”

“You’re damn right,” growled Sam, pushing into Carissa over and over. “Right up until we change drivers again.”

Twenty-One - Surfs Up -

Feeling incredibly better after having his way with Carissa for the better part of three hours, Sam was sitting in the passenger seat next to Decima.

Irene and Carissa had swapped with Hillary and Decima.

“We’ll need to stop soon,” Hillary said. “We’ll need gas and lunch.”

“I’d really rather not stop for that long,” Decima grumbled. “We can get gas station snacks while I pump the car.”

“Ugh, I don’t think it’d kill us to stop for that long,” Hillary countered.

“But that’s just it. It could kill us,” Decima said. “And given how strange everything is in the afterlife, I’m not sure I’d want to bet on being able to resist the portal until Sam could fetch me.”

Hillary looked concerned about that point, but nodded her head.

“Alright, fine,” Hillary said after several seconds. “I’ll go in and get snacks. Anything you want?”

“Beef jerky,” Decima said without even thinking about it. “Teriyaki. Reminds me of trail rations but with a lot more flavor.”

“You would pick something like that,” Sam muttered with a chuckle.

“What? I grew to like the hated things. After that much of it, you don’t have much of a choice,” Decima rationalized. “After days and days of salt pork or beef, you just… get used to it.”

“Blegh,” Hillary said. “I’ll take donuts and chips any day of the week. Maybe a candy bar or five.”

“Not everyone can just magic away the weight, you know,” Decima said with an oddly dangerous tone in her voice. “Some of us have to watch what we eat.”

Sam momentarily considered telling Decima that it was unlikely she would ever gain weight. She’d have to eat constantly twenty-four-seven without burning any calories to gain weight.

Her body wasn’t made to store fat.

She was, in essence, a Flesh Golem made into a War Golem.

“We’ll stop here,” Decima said, flicking her blinker on.

“Ugh, give me a warning next time?” Hillary complained and picked up the radio.

Like a mother and a daughter at times.

“Gas and snacks,” Hillary said with a bored air.

“Great, my ass is numb,” Carissa complained.

That has nothing to do with driving, you silly thing.

“Really? What… like what is this?” Hillary complained.

Glancing into the back seat, he watched Hillary rub her fingers at a white spot on the seat.

Right where Carissa had her rear end when Sam finally let her orgasm after holding her past the peak for twenty minutes.

“No idea,” Sam lied, then looked ahead as they pulled into the gas station.

“It’s… it’s like it’s sticky,” said Hillary.

As soon as the car stopped, Sam opened the door and got out. He really didn’t want to be in the car if Hillary figured out what it was.

Irene had only promised not to talk about it with an expressed guarantee she could get the same treatment later from Sam in the backseat.

Looking around, Sam was immediately struck with how deserted the gas station seemed.

There was no one in any direction.

Nor could he see anyone in the convenience store that the gas station was hooked up to.

“Hey, use a gift card,” Sam said as Hillary got out. Tapping on the window to get Decima’s attention, Sam made a ‘get up’ motion with his fingers. “Don’t go inside. We’re leaving. Quickly.”

“What? Why? I’m starving,” Hillary complained shutting the door.

Decima got out a second later, her head slowly taking in the area.

“Something’s wrong,” she stated. “Very wrong.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sam said.

Hillary only now noticed something was definitely off. Without a word she slotted a gift card into the reader and started to pump gas without a word.

“Gonna go tell the others. I’ll grab you two some snacks from the RV. I’m sure Stacia bought some extra at the last stop,” Sam said and moved over to the RV just as it pulled into the pump behind them.

Opening the door, Sam came face to face with Mitch.

“Hey, Uncle Sam,” Mitch said, stepping down onto the pavement.

“Hey, don’t go far. We won’t be long. Maybe a minute tops,” Sam said trying to downplay his sudden fear.

Moving into the RV, he quickly found Stacia, Irene and Carissa.

“Something’s off here. We’re not staying. Pumping gas and gone,” Sam said looking at each woman. “Use a gift card, pump what you can till Hillary’s done. Got any snacks for them, Stacia?”

“Hm? Of course I do,” Stacia said, then she looked at Carissa. “Gas, please. Use the card on top. Irene, quick sweep?”

“Got it.”

“Sure.”

Stacia was already riffling around in a duffel bag between the front two RV seats.

“What’s the problem?” Stacia asked as she started to pull things out.

“No one’s here. At all. No one in the store either. No one around. Ghost town. I know we’re in the middle of nowhere but… there’s not even a clerk inside,” answered Sam.

“Ah. You and Decima think it’s a trap then,” Stacia said, nodding her head. “That’s fair. We’ll just keep moving. We’re ahead of my planned schedule as it is. At the rate we’re going, we’ll hit the next big city in about four hours.”

“Great. We’ll stop there,” Sam said.

“Okay, yeah,” Irene said coming back into the RV. “Definitely things out there. Behind us and ahead at the same time. Feels like undead to me.”

Stacia stopped in her search and looked to be thinking.

Then she shook her head with a shrug.

“We keep going then,” said the Vampire. “There really isn’t an alternative. I mean, none of us can open a portal. Right? You two keep trying?”

Lifting her head, Stacia looked from Irene to Sam and back again.

“Yea, nothing,” Irene grumbled and leaned up against the wall of the RV.

“Honestly, I still can’t even reach my personal plane. Let alone open a portal elsewhere,” Sam admitted.

“Then we keep going and take it as we go. There’s no other roads leading away from here and we’re already on an alternate back route that no one should be on,” Stacia said with a heavy sigh. “Which means they likely have some type of fix on us. Following us and moving ahead of us.”

“Well, they’ll regret that,” Sam muttered, making a decision he didn’t want to. “I’m going to go hit my reserve so I’m ready for this. Hillary’s going to be worthless for a day or two, though.”

“Ah,” said Stacia, as she grasped what was about to happen. “I’ll feed her some of my blood. That’ll help charge her. At least keep her awake. She’s a Doppel, so she’s immune to me.”

“She is?” Sam asked, somewhat surprised by that.

He knew so little about Doppelgangers, it seemed.

“Yes. It was in one of the few books I found from my maker’s home,” Stacia said with a shrug.

Sam had to once again wonder at the fact that an entire sub-race of Vampires had been so drastically altered from what they’d used to be.

He’d watched some of the changes happen from his prison, but even he was somewhat unaware of how drastic this alteration was.

“Time to go!” Decima called from outside. That was immediately followed by Carissa and Mitch stepping into the RV.

Stacia held the bag packed with snacks out to Carissa.

“Swap with Hillary,” the Vampire said then turned forward, facing out of the RV. She turned the vehicle back on and pulled her seat belt down.

All of the windows and the windshield had a spell that was filtering the light, so she didn’t turn into a rotisserie chicken.

Carissa took the bag and went right back out of the RV.

“Mitch, I need you to sit up front with me,” Stacia said, as she pulled the RV into drive, her foot firmly down on the pedal.

Taking a moment, Stacia glanced at Irene with a meaningful look.

Clicking her tongue, Irene nodded and moved into the back of the RV as Mitch went up to the passenger seat.

Muttering under her breath about being cucked twice in the same day, she threw up an odd spell that shifted the visible spectrum and made a strange pop as well.

She just blanketed the rear of the RV against sight and sound for… oh… Mitch.

Hillary entered the RV and shut the door.

“Sup?” she asked.

“Go help Irene in the back with Sam,” Stacia commanded, twisting the wheel to the side as they started to pull away from the gas station.

“Time for me to take from the reserves,” Sam explained.

Hillary made an ‘oh’ face as she looked at him.

***

“Some type of police check,” Stacia said as they topped a small rise. “That what you felt?”

Irene nodded her head. “Yeah.”

Looking up ahead, Sam could see a number of police cars arranged across the street. There were also a number of police officers out and around the barricade.

“Looks like more than a check,” said Sam. He was flying high on being completely filled with Essence. Even though he’d only had to empty half of what Hillary had in her, she was now dozing in the back on the bed.

Mitch was sitting at the small table playing with some electronic toy Stacia picked up somewhere for him.

“Police check, my ass,” disagreed Irene. “Undead. All of them.”

“My spells work fairly well on undead.” Stacia shook her head and started to roll down the window as they got closer to the checkpoint. “Sam? Irene?”

“Most undead, it’s fine,” Sam said. “Anything without a soul though… no.”

“I have a preference to working on undead,” answered Irene.

“Well, get ready then. Because that’s Carissa and Decima up there,” said Stacia with a sigh. “I’m expecting one of them is going to pull a gun pretty quick.”

“Was a stupid idea to put both of them in one car,” Irene complained.

“Didn’t have a choice. I needed Essence,” Sam murmured, trying to keep it low enough that Mitch wouldn’t hear it. “Remember?”

“I remember,” Irene grumbled. She seemed pretty annoyed at having to watch Sam with another woman.

Twice.

“Here we go,” Stacia said as Decima pulled up to the check point.

And immediately began firing. Carissa, who was in the passenger seat, lifted a pistol up and started firing as well.

Gassing it hard, Decima slipped through a gap between two cop cars by shoving them to each side.

“Oh, my shit. What—”

Irene stopped talking as she leaned out the window and held up a hand. Dark purple streaks of screaming energy jetted out from her hand and began striking everyone and everything.

Those who were hit by the spell had body parts blown away from them or were sent tumbling along the ground.

Only to get right back up and start heading for either the car or the RV.

“Zombies?” Sam asked. Looking up to the ceiling above, he figured that’d be the best place for himself.

“Get in the closet and cover yourself with the body armor there,” Sam commanded. Carissa had brought a number of vests in case they got in a shoot-out. She and Decima were both wearing one, as was Hillary. The rest were piled up.

Mitch did as instructed and went straight into the closet.

Moving to the door of the RV, Sam swung it open, even as Stacia gunned the engine to chase after Decima.

Holding the door open, Sam reached up and grabbed the top of it with his other hand. Levering himself upward, using more strength than humanly possible and against the force of the wind, Sam climbed up.

Getting atop the door, Sam flung a leg over it, then grabbed the top of the RV. Holding the door open with one hand, Sam got on the roof of the RV and let the door slam shut.

Standing there, he adhered his feet to the metal with Essence and looked back the way they’d come.

Swarming up out of the barricade and running after them was a large number of zombies. Some in policemen’s uniforms, and some not.

More than that, they were also bubbling up out of the surrounding areas. From the shrubbery, sides of the road, and even out of the ground itself.

It was a damn trap.

They’re following us somehow.

Sam snorted at that. Then he regretted not bringing a rifle up here. He could have easily been far more useful with one up here.

Turning around, Sam focused ahead, rather than behind.

Zombies were undead, and could run forever, but they weren’t exactly fast.

The wind ripped at his eyes and nose as they continued to pick up speed. To the point that Sam took a moment to put a small shield of Essence over his face.

This won’t be the last checkpoint. If anything… if anything it was just the first.

Stacia doesn’t need me to run a plan with her. She’s the smartest we’ve got. She’ll handle that part.

I’ll just remain here and do what I can to keep everyone safe. Because even limited to the Prime, I’m still the damn Torment of Lust.

Suddenly, the sound of sirens behind him got his attention.

Looking over his shoulder, he found there were a number of cop cars chasing them. They were speeding up and getting ever closer.

Zombies would be too stupid to get in a car. That means they’re… Ghouls?

Probably.

Ghouls.

Great.

Holding up a hand, Sam swung it upward, controlling a fist of Essence to slam up from the ground. A column of solidified earth shot up out of the road directly in front of one of the chasing vehicles.

Smashing into it at full speed, the front of the police vehicle was split right down the middle to the windshield.

Looking at the next closest car, Sam repeated the process.

Except this car juked to one side even as he cast the spell, dodging the column as it tore free from the ground.

“Hmph,” Sam grunted.

Grinning with one side of his mouth, he swiped his hand from right to left. A tree off to one side was torn from the ground and sent hurtling across the road.

It slammed into the side of a car and then went under it.

Bouncing to one side, then up and over the tree, the car did a slow front flip and started to skid along its roof.

It was blasted to one side as what looked like an armored car roared ahead to the front of the pack.

Holy shit.

The hell did the Lich do? Nuke the entire state?

Or is she getting help from the Angelics to portal hop them?

This is just out of hand.

A head and shoulders in full swat armor popped out of a window. Holding a rifle, they raised it up and pointed it straight at Sam.

Holding his left hand up, Sam made a flat plane of Essence that’d deflect the rounds wide away from himself. With his right hand, he tore another tree out of the area they were passing through.

Bullets pounded into the Essence plane and sprayed out wildly.

Hefting the tree, Sam tossed it across the road toward the armored car.

Slamming the brakes, the big vehicle dodged the tree but the man with the rifle was shaken wildly. His weapon slipped free of his hands and went slamming into the pavement. Clattering away, it vanished into the distance.

More police cars were racing up. Quite a few of them clearly had more than one person in them. All of them likely had weapons.

Fuck this and fuck them and just GO TO HELL!

Growling, losing some of his control, Sam grabbed at the road and the ground around it with massive hands of Essence.

Pushing with more force than he’d wielded in quite a while, Sam shot a massive chunk of road, earth, and rock straight up. Perhaps thirty feet wide and stretched for a hundred feet in either direction from the road.

Panting, Sam let his shoulders slump and leaned forward. That’d taken quite a bit out of him at a mental level, but his Essence tanks were still mostly full.

Watching from his position, he could see a number of cars simply smash right into the brand new roadblock.

More were turning sideways to see if they could drive around the massive obstruction.

Shaking his head, Sam realized this would buy them time, but not likely end the chase.

Suddenly the RV lurched forward, faster than it probably should be able to go.

Looking ahead again, Sam saw the car Decima was driving was zooming away. Like it was a race car with new tires and a full tank of gas to burn.

And the RV was right behind it. Keeping up as if it were nothing at all.

The girls are burning magic to get the cars moving.

Right.

Okay. We’ll… we’ll get into the city and… then what?

This isn’t over by a long shot.

We need to get to ground. Lose our problems and figure out how they’re following us.

Because they’re definitely following us and knew where we were going.

Sighing, Sam decided to stay up here for a while yet.

Just in case there were more problems.

He could deal with them better up here.

Beyond that, if they were heading for the city, they had some time to get there. Even at the speed they were traveling at, if they kept it up, it’d still be at least an hour away.

An hour where there was nothing between them and the wrath of a Lich’s servants.

Maybe the PID and the Para-national guard can help.

Maybe.

If they’re… even there.

In fact, the city could be one giant zombie apocalypse. Couldn’t it?

Folding his arms in front of himself, Sam stared forward, wondering what waited for them.

Dreading that knowledge at the same time.

Twenty-Two - Options -

“This isn’t a city,” growled Stacia as they rolled into the barely bigger than a town ‘city’. “I’m going to have a very unpleasant call to make when we get back. He swore up and down it was a city.”

“I told you he was just trying to get into your pants,” claimed Irene. “I told you up and down that’s all he wanted.”

“Going to feed him to my old coven,” Stacia promised. “That’s as close as he’ll ever get to my bed. Fucking asshole.”

“Whatever. Can we even stop at the motel?” Irene asked, looking at Sam.

“Maybe. I hadn’t seen the cars in a while before I came down. That’s the only reason I did. Come down that is,” replied Sam. “Doesn’t mean they’re not back there or still coming. Normally, I’d say they’d be less likely to act out in front of normal Humans but… a Lich probably just turned Miami into a zombie surplus store.

“I’m pretty sure all the normal bets are off.”

“Right,” Stacia said shaking her head. “Gas, snacks, driver rotation, and gone. Can’t keep doing this though. We need to get to a large city and vanish in it.”

“We could try vanishing here,” Irene said. “Find a nice big SUV and cram into it.”

“I mean… actually that’s probably the better idea,” Stacia muttered. “The RV and sedan are definitely something they’ll be looking for.”

“Right. Do we hit a rental place then and grab a big SUV? Steal one? Buy one?” Sam asked.

“We can launch the RV and the Sedan like we did the truck the last time,” Irene said. “Regardless of whatever else we do.”

“If we steal one, that’s a police report,” Stacia said. “Buying one would take time and a good deal of paperwork. Rental requires less paperwork but I hear they’re prone to being LoJacked. They all have their problems.”

“How about we just find me a nice lady to charm and I borrow her car for a while,” Sam murmured. “No paperwork at all, leave her with some cash, pay her for the car in full later.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’d work perfectly,” Stacia said.

Picking up the radio off her lap, Stacia clicked the button.

“Sam’s going to whammy someone for their vehicle. We’re looking for a heavy duty SUV,” Stacia said. “Can’t stay here and these vehicles are likely being looked for. Over.”

“Understood. I’ll turn off into that neighborhood and we can check homes as we go. Over,” responded Decima.

The turn signal on the sedan blinked to life.

“We can pack Hillary into the trunk if we get a nice big SUV,” Irene said, as Stacia started to follow the sedan into the neighborhood. “She can rest there while we get out of this. Or at least far enough away for a portal opening.”

Sam nodded his head to that.

The simple reality was they were a bit too reliant on portals. Without them being available, it severely limited their mobility.

I’ll need to make sure we somehow shore that up. One way or another.

Maybe find some Druids who can shapeshift into flying creatures.

Or some Dragons.

Something that can fly us out while someone else makes us invisible.

Just in case the portals fail again.

“—about that one? It’s big. Looks like a damn Suburban,” Irene said pointing out the window.

“Definitely. I like it. Let’s have Sam go hit the owner up for the keys and we’ll get moving,” Stacia said, pulling up next to the curb in front of the home they were targeting. Stacia picked up the radio and clicked the button. “This one. Over.”

Sam only nodded and went to the door. Opening it, he got out and started heading over to the front door.

Looking at the big SUV as he walked past it, he realized it’d actually work out rather well for them.

The front door opened but the screen door in front of it remained shut before Sam had even gotten to it.

“Get the fuck off my property. Not interested,” came a gruff voice.

“Ah, but you don’t even know what I’m selling,” Sam said, continuing to get closer.

“Get-the-fuck-off-my-property,” repeated the man. The sound of a gun being chambered punctuated the demand.

Holding his hands up, Sam kept walking until he made it to the front of the door.

“You could shoot and kill me, friend, and then hear everything the nice policemen have to say to you about that,” Sam murmured with an easy smile. “Or you can hear my pitch, and then I can leave.

“Personally I think I’m the easier option between the police. Because then the news would want to get involved. And I can only imagine what kind of things they’ll drudge up about you and your family.”

Sam figured this man wanted his peace and quiet enough that he’d allow it to be disturbed by Sam.

Rather than everything else that would come with murdering Sam.

“It’d be self-defense,” argued the man.

“According to you. But to everyone in the RV watching? Not so much,” Sam said with a chuckle. “So, hear my pitch?”

“You got ten seconds, boy,” growled the man behind the darkened screen door. Sam still couldn’t see much of them.

Checking a mental sigh, Sam nodded once.

“I’d like to buy your big SUV out there. Willing to pay top dollar for it or something else in trade,” Sam said.

“Don’t need nothing, don’t want your money,” said the man. “Now get off my—”

“No,” Sam said and jerked open the screen door as quickly as he could.

Before the man could pull the trigger, Sam snared him with his eyes. Mentally smashing the man into the deepest recesses of his own head at the same time.

“Get me the keys. I’ll send you cash for the vehicle in the mail. You agreed to sell it for one hundred and five percent of the book value for the car,” Sam commanded, holding the man’s eyes. The glamour he was laying on the man was so heavy and thick that it’d be visible to others.

Thankfully, Sam got the impression this man might as well have been called a hermit.

“Okay,” mumbled the man in a slow voice. Then he wandered off into the house.

Sam followed the man inside.

Five minutes later, Sam had the ownership slip for the car along with signatures signing it over to him and the keys.

Decima and Hillary had already opened the SUV and were rapidly filling it with all of the supplies and equipment they wanted to take with them.

He had no idea how they’d managed to get it open, but he was glad they were already ahead of him.

“Got the keys, we’re ready to go,” Sam grumbled. The man in the home was a splendid example of all the reasons why people had to be careful of others. He was a powder keg waiting to go off on some poor unfortunate soul.

“Great, Hillary’s already in the back with Mitch,” Decima growled. “And Mitch should be listening to Aunt Decima right now and pulling that vest over his head.

“It’s too hot. And it stinks,” complained Mitch though Sam couldn’t see him.

“Mitch? Sweetie? Please put the vest over your head?” Stacia asked as she walked up with a box.

“Okay,” Mitch said.

Decima looked annoyed at the fact that he listened to Stacia but not her.

“I’m driving,” Carissa said moving into the driver’s position. “I’m the most rested and honestly I’m probably the only one trained in high speed chases. I was a cop, remember?”

“I’ll take shotgun,” Sam said.

“My gun’s up there. You can use it,” Hillary said from the inside. She sounded weary.

But she was at least conscious, which was more than he’d expected from her after he’d tapped his reserves.

Stacia’s blood is strong.

Moving into the passenger seat, Sam reached over and stuck the key in the ignition. Then he put the paperwork in the glovebox.

At his feet, he saw a small compact SMG. It was indeed Hillary’s.

Looking in the side-view mirror, he watched as Irene finished up the spell she was working on. The RV and the sedan simply vanished as soon as she completed it.

Okay. Either she sent them to launch with such force that they vanished, or she’s blocking the view of them before she does that. And—

There was a “poom” like noise. Dirt and gravel chips spread out in a small shock wave from the point where the vehicles had stood.

Jogging back to the SUV, Irene clambered in. Fitting in next to Decima and Stacia.

“We’re good. Those’ll land somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico,” Irene said and pulled the door shut. “Or maybe South America. Somewhere.”

“Wonderful,” said Carissa with a grimace. Starting the car, she put it into reverse and got them rolling.

And almost immediately came to a complete stop.

Staring in the rearview mirror, her single eye was opened wide.

Looking backward, Sam saw something there he really didn’t want to.

A bright silver and golden tear in the middle of the street. It was rapidly becoming wider and longer by the second.

“Go!” Sam hissed. “Go now!”

Carissa jammed the gas and they bounced down out of the driveway.

Slamming the whole thing into drive, they squealed and roared forward.

It lasted for about a second before the whole SUV came to a shuddering stop.

“Halt right there,” boomed a voice from behind them. “We must speak.”

“Stay in the car, don’t let him see you,” commanded Sam. “Don’t say anything either. If you get a chance to drive away, do that.”

“What? What is it?” Irene asked

“It’s a gods-damned Archangel of the Silent One,” Sam said opening the door. “And there’s not many of those left. And if it’s who I think it is, I’m going to get my ass kicked.”

Stepping out of the SUV, Sam slammed the door shut. Walking to the back of the car, he could already see a brilliantly bright white wing sticking out.

Don’t be the Swordsinger. Just… don’t be the Swords—

Rounding the end of the car, Sam found a seven foot tall man. Built more like a statue, with ripped muscles, a golden breastplate, and some type of robe that flowed down to his ankles, the man was something out of a storybook.

Bless my twisting nethers, it’s not the Swordsinger.

“What do you want?” Sam asked jumping straight to the problem.

“How dare you address me as if I were some mortal,” proclaimed the Archangel. “You’re nothing but a lesser planar being. I will serve you your own spleen on a platter.”

“No, thanks,” Sam said and lifted the SMG up he’d carried with him out of the car.

Holding the trigger down, he unloaded the entire clip into the man’s face from point blank range in several seconds.

Blood and gore began spraying out in every direction as the Angel’s face crumpled under the storm of rounds.

Sam turned and sprinted the short distance to the car door.

Yanking it open, he tossed in the SMG and hauled himself in quickly.

“Go, that’s not going to—”

Sam was physically yanked from the car and thrown across the street as if he were a rock.

Bouncing several times, he clipped the curb and went up several feet into the air only to land in someone’s front yard.

“Lesser being! You dare harm me in such a way,” shouted the Archangel stomping after Sam.

Freed of whatever hold the man had on the SUV, the spinning tires suddenly had traction again and Carissa and company zoomed off.

Good.

Now to just escape myself.

“I will tear your soul from that avatar and carry it personally to darkest part of the afterlife. Where those who can never be forgiven dwell!” shouted the man.

Giving himself a firm shake, Sam got to his feet. Clawing up a hand of dirt and grass as he did so.

In the same movement his wings appeared and spread out behind him. Letting go of his Human facade, Sam spread his arms out and readied himself.

“And that’s just where a demon such as you belongs, filth,” declared the man as he reached Sam.

“Yeah, well. Been there, done that,” Sam said. “I’m a lover first though, fighter second.”

Whipping his hand around, he scattered the soil across his opponent’s eyes and face.

“Gah!” shouted the Angel, immediately brushing at his face.

Gathering himself, Sam pumped his wings and leapt into the air.

Fuck that. Not fighting an Archangel.

Flapping wildly, Sam began to gain altitude quickly.

A chunk of pavement tore through his wing and ripped it apart.

Screaming from the pain, Sam fell back to earth.

Slamming into the road.

“You’re a truly pathetic excuse for a planar being,” accused the Archangel.

“Yeah, well, like I said. Not a fighter,” Sam said in a groan. Getting to his feet. The Angel was walking toward him once again.

Fine. Fine, then.

A fight.

As soon as the Archangel was within arm’s length, Sam threw out two jabs. Followed by a right hook after they both connected to the man’s chin.

Leaning in low, Sam planted a deep body shot into the Archangel’s ribs. Lifting the man momentarily off his feet.

Each blow had been landed while implanting a small splinter of Essence at the same time.

“And what do you think you’re doing? This is—”

Snatching hold of the splinters with his control, Sam expanded them. Made them bigger and bigger till they were almost too large to control anymore.

Screaming, the Archangel’s jaw literally tore from his head and his stomach billowed out, his guts shooting out like a can of silly string with a hole in it.

Hollowing out the center of those massive pipes, Sam slammed a scorching amount of his own Essence into the Archangel.

Then ripped it all back out.

A glut of Angelic Life Essence flooded out of the man. Spewing out in every direction and spraying the area liberally.

Sam gorged himself, of course. Choking it down as fast as he could and stuffing it into every part of his being.

The Archangel stumbled away from Sam, a bright light infusing him from head to toe.

When it faded the man was once more unharmed.

Whole.

“That was… that was impressive. Little planar demon,” said the Archangel with a great deal more respect in his tone now. “I’m going to kill you now.”

“Mm. I’ve heard that before, you know,” Sam said flexing his hands. He was filled to the brim with Essence he hadn’t tasted in centuries. “In fact, I’m pretty sure the Archangel Valis said the same thing to me. Before I tore his head off and ate his brains.”

“Valis? You… you killed Valis?” asked the Archangel in a hollow whisper.

“Yeah. That was after I bedded his daughter though,” Sam said. It was all true of course. It was one of the reasons Valis had come after him. “She’s an amazing Nephilim. In the sack, at least. She really knew how to work her hips. Better than you fight even.”

Screaming wordlessly, the Archangel came at Sam again.

Lifting his hands up, Sam waited for the next attack.

A brilliant blue bolt of Angelic Smiting came zipping toward him instead of any physical attack.

Gritting his teeth, Sam swatted at it with some of the Angelic Life Essence he’d taken.

With a bang, the crackling Holy Attack zoomed off into the sky, bouncing off the stolen Essence. Then it began to sink toward the horizon. Coming back down to earth.

Sorry whoever that hits. It’ll be like a bomb going off a—

Shrieking, the Archangel tackled Sam and lifted him up off the ground. Slamming him down to the ground, he sat down on Sam’s waist and leaned back to begin raining blows down him.

Before the second strike had even started, Sam thrust his hips upward.

Yeah, let’s get on top of the sex demon like you’re riding me.

Idiot.

Catching his balance with one arm to the ground, the Archangel lifted his right arm to start punching again.

Sam simply pushed his arms out as well as his legs, throwing the Angel off balance again. And straight down into Sam.

Wrapping his right arm around the Archangel’s head, he held on tight to him.

“I’m g—”

Ignoring his opponent, Sam reached down with his left arm, grabbed ahold of the Archangel’s foot, and pulled.

At the same time, he thrust with his hips and pushed with his feet.

In a flash, Sam had the Archangel on his back, his wings flapping awkwardly against the asphalt.

Using his left hand, Sam made a blade of Essence and drove it into the Angel’s guts. Six more stabs rained down before the Angel blasted Sam off him with a massive explosion of Angelic Essence.

Hitting the street and sliding for a few feet, Sam winced in pain. But when he got back up to his feet, Sam was grinning.

Using a piece of the Essence that sent him flying and was still floating around everywhere, he repaired all the damage caused to him.

Good to be a planar being.

“Next time, I’ll start off on top,” Sam said with a dark chuckle. “You’d make a better bottom than I ever would, I bet. Just not in my tool set I’m afraid.”

Shambling to his feet, the Archangel was bleeding heavily. There was even a trickle seeping down from the corner of his mouth.

“You ready for the second round?” Sam asked, the knife made of Essence still held in his hand. Converting it into something that would give him range and a shape he was familiar with, he molded it into a sword.

Holding the tip out toward the Archangel, Sam laughed.

“Because I am. After I’m done, maybe I’ll eat your heart,” Sam said. “Valis’ brains only gave me so much power. I bet the heart would have done more for me.”

And after, I might be able to actually take Aster on in a direct fight and have a better than fifty-fifty chance.

Licking his lips, the Archangel looked determined to fight to the death.

“So be it,” the Archangel growled. Standing up, he held his hand out to one side and a blazing silver light coalesced into a sword of Holy Flame. “I’ll take your head from your shoulders and complete my task.”

“You can try,” Sam said, holding his weapon up with a smile. “Got any daughters, by the way?”

With another scream, the Archangel charged Sam.

Twenty-Three - One and One -

This’ll be more like fencing than a sword fight.

Gritting his teeth, Sam held his thin blade of Essence out in front of himself.

As soon as the Archangel got within range, Sam lunged forward with his blade while simultaneously taking a step backward with his rear foot, allowing him to step out of range as he retracted.

Catching the man low in the guts, Sam felt a modicum of satisfaction in the strike.

Making an odd “snrk” noise, the Angel tripped over himself and went to one side. Getting his blade up in front of himself, he was clearly rethinking the whole situation once again.

“You could always leave,” Sam offered. “No one knows you’re here and I sure as hell don’t want to be here. Leave. Or let me leave.”

“Spawn of evil!” called the Angel. “There is no backing down from the worst things. One must confront them!”

“Uh huh. Well, come on then. Looks like I need to take a few more chunks out of you,” Sam said, tipping the point of his blade toward the Archangel.

Breathing hard, the Angel continued to bleed down his front. The wounds he’d taken were no longer being healed.

Thank the darkest part of my asshole that Angels all weak to Essence attacks.

A faint shrieking noise slowly rose in volume.

Frowning, Sam didn’t want to look away from the Angel but, in the same breath, he needed to move. The noise was coming from behind him and he really didn’t like that.

The more he thought about it in fact, the more it sounded a lot like a Spellbound Wraith.

Looking at the Angel, Sam thankfully found that his foe seemed to be as confused as he was.

Taking a number of steps to the left, Sam put his back to the house he’d gone in earlier and his side to the noise.

Just in time, too.

Blazing through the sky was a comet of darkness and magic most foul.

Landing not far from the Angel, the horrible wail cut off.

Standing atop what looked like at broken and shattered Wraith was the Lich from earlier. Still just as pretty, and still just as unassuming given what she was.

The fact that she was wearing a dark blue dress that gave her a “young and gorgeous” look made that feeling all the worse.

“Oh!” she said, looking at Sam with a grin. “The incredibly hot vice- principal. Hey there.”

“Ah, the beautiful Lich,” Sam said, rolling with her flow. “Lovely dress. Fits you wonderfully.”

Fighting both her and the Archangel would get him killed right here and now.

And quite quickly, too.

Putting a hand on a hip, the Lich gave him a mischievous look and the curve of her mouth shifted into a flirty smile.

“You like it?” she asked and reached down with her free hand to play with the fabric. “It was in this lovely store I went through while rounding up zombies. I feel like I fill it out pretty well.”

“Definitely,” Sam agreed. “But I bet you fill out a lot of things really well.”

Clicking her tongue, the Lich scrunched up her nose and let go of her dress. Lifting that hand up, she wagged her finger at him.

“Ooooh, you and your honeyed tongue. I’m sure I’d love to experience it in another setting, but I’m afraid I’m here on business,” said the Lich. Then, she sighed. “So, where’s the kid?”

“I have no idea,” Sam said honestly. He actually didn’t know where Mitch was. At the same time, he caught the Lich with his eyes.

Slowly, carefully, he began building a webwork of fine threads of Essence. Guiding them to circle around the Lich’s head in never-ending loops.

“Hulking idiot here showed up and we’ve been fighting,” Sam clarified.

“What?” the Lich asked, looking at the Archangel for an answer.

“I… I don’t… I never saw any child,” the Archangel said, his face clouding up in anger. “The demon spawn was in a car and I stopped it. Then the spawn got out and we fought.”

Rolling her eyes, the Lich sighed and looked back to Sam.

“And how dare you question me, undead! You’re as poisonous as the spawn,” shouted the Archangel, glaring at the Lich. “It is for the simple fact that you’re nothing but a hired gun that you live.”

“Was he in the car?” the Lich asked.

“Not sure. What’s under the dress?” Sam asked, trying to divert the situation. At the same time he asked the question, he fed a small bit of lust and desire into the Lich through his Essence net.

Laughing softly even as her cheeks colored a faint red, Sam could see that the young woman was actually being affected by his glamour.

Then the Lich took hold of her dress and flipped it up toward him. Giving him a flash of privates not covered by underwear.

The Lich was beautiful and had a lovely sculpted set of hips.

She was also hairless.

“There, you got a look,” the Lich purred. “Now my question?”

“He was definitely in a car,” Sam offered. Speeding up the rate of Essence he was winding around the Lich’s mind, Sam knew he was desperate to be trying this. Lichs were incredibly and frighteningly powerful. “What’s under the top of the dress?”

Turning a deep dark red, the Lich seemed to be considering pulling her top down. Her hands started to drift up toward her shoulders.

“Oooh, aren’t you exciting. So very exciting,” the Lich murmured. “I like this. A lot. You tell me where the car’s going and I’ll answer your question, too.”

“This is blas—”

Lifting her hand up, the Lich pointed her palm at the Archangel and blasted him with an immeasurable amount of Death Essence.

Pure, unfiltered, Death Essence. Gathered from the dying as they perished in absolute agony and fear from her spells.

More than enough Essence to actually snuff Sam out. Then an order of magnitude beyond that.

A silver sparkle was all that remained of the Archangel after the attack faded away.

The house behind the Archangel was also gone. And the house behind that across the street. The destruction was likely still going.

Okay… playing… playing with fire here. She’s not a young Lich.

Just a Lich in a young body.

Nuclear fire.

“West,” Sam answered honestly once again. It was an easy answer.

There really wasn’t any other direction they could go except North, but given the direction they’d been traveling this whole time, that wasn’t likely.

Laughing at that for several seconds, the Lich then sighed heavily.

“Yes, I gathered that,” the Lich said. Then she shrugged her shoulders and pulled the top of her dress down, revealing pale skin over large and impressive assets. “A deal’s a deal though. I got what I asked for.”

“Well, aren’t you lovely,” Sam said, dismissing the blade of Essence in his hand. After watching the Archangel be disintegrated, he didn’t think fighting her with such a weapon would be useful.

“Thank you! That’s very kind of you to say so. I’ve taken very good care of myself over the years. By the way, what’s your name?” asked the Lich, pulling the dress back up over her shoulders. Then she gave a shake of her head, flipping her hair slightly to one side. “I’m ev—”

A translucent version of Irene slammed straight through the Lich and popped out the other side. Clutching a very translucent version of the Lich.

Collapsing to her knees, the Lich groaned deeply and then began to throw up. At the same time, blood began leaking from her eyes, nose, and ears.

“What… what have you—” the Lich gurgled and then threw up again. This time, the vomit was a very bright red.

Irene came over to the Lich and put both her hands to the crown of the fallen Lich’s head. As soon as Irene’s hands touched the Lich, the spell Sam had been building activated and slammed down into the Lich’s mind.

Not far beyond that, Irene’s soul struggled with the Lich’s soul. Locked in a strange wrestling match.

What the fuck?

Looking around, Sam couldn’t see the SUV that everyone had left in. In fact, when he reached out to the thread that connected him to Decima, he found she was a considerable distance away.

Miles away, in fact.

They were doing exactly what he’d ordered them to do.

Leave.

And Irene… jumped out of the car to join me?

Moving forward, Sam was too slow.

A purple and black sphere of warring Dead Essence and Witch Magic exploded out around Irene and the Lich.

Shrieking, both Souls fell into one another as their bodies were subjected to magic from the opposing party.

“Irene!?” Sam shouted, moving closer to the ball of angry magic.

A Lich would have more than enough power to crush Irene without a care. She was undead after all.

“Irene! Stop! We… we need to go or… or—”

Sam didn’t know what to say or do. He couldn’t see into the whirling clash of magic as the two women lashed out at one another.

Their souls were a single writhing thing on the ground now. Like something out of a horror movie, Sam couldn’t even begin to see where Irene began and the Lich ended.

Raising his hand up, Sam made a spike of Essence and aimed it at the point he’d last seen the Lich.

“Ah ah ah, let’s not interfere as she tames that little Witch,” said a voice in a flat tone.

Turning toward the speaker, Sam found Seville standing there.

Looking bored in his military uniform, the man appeared exactly the same way as Sam had seen him last.

“Rather than getting into that little squabble, how about you tell me where the child is, and we leave it at that. Maybe I’ll even have the Lich release your Witch,” Seville said. “What do you say, Torment of Lust Sameerixis? This isn’t your fight.

“It never was and never will be. In fact, I’m betting you’re just here because you were paid to be. Isn’t that right?”

Shit.

Shit, shit.

“I mean, yeah,” Sam said. “I was paid for this, I admit it. Why, you going to pay me more?”

Seville snorted at that and raised his eyebrows.

“No. I just might not smash you into the ground, though,” Seville said with a lazy gesture of his hand. “I mean, I really don’t want to deal with this, but we all have the roles we have to play. Even the most powerful of—”

Seville grimaced suddenly and looked away to one side. Then he let out a slow and soft breath.

A portal ripped open from thin air and a beautiful woman stepped out from it. An Elven woman.

She had dark brown hair that was pulled back. It had an odd part and style that Sam wasn’t familiar with, but it didn’t look incorrect on her either. Looking as eternal as most Elves did, she was also extremely pretty with a very well-maintained look about her.

In that same instant, Sam tried to claw at his personal plane but to no avail. Nothing happened.

He was still trapped.

“Ah! There you are!” shouted the Elven woman.

Who promptly glomped onto Seville’s arm and began kissing him all over.

“Stop it! Don’t… don’t touch me,” Seville hissed, trying to shake the woman off him.

“What? Hush! Hush, hush, hush, my love. Hush,” whispered the Elf in a deranged tone, which was promptly followed by a giggle. “This is how we were made, how we were instructed. This is how we must be.”

Looking back to the magical war going on between Irene and the Witch, Sam saw no change. The ball of murderous energy hadn’t abated and the souls of both women laid still.

One atop the other, practically inside one another, unmoving on the ground.

Turning his eyes back to his own problem, Sam watched as Seville broke free of the Elven woman.

“Disgusting and foul monster,” Seville growled.

“No! I’m your love. Remember? I’m your love,” pleaded the Elf, pressing in closer to him. “I’m your anything. I’m your everything. All for you. Just as we were made and promised to be.”

Seville said something in a language Sam didn’t understand and pressed his hand to the Elf’s forehead and physically pushed her away from himself.

“Kill me, yes. Do it. Squeeze. I’m your everything, your anything,” the Elf pleaded. “Kill me. I’ve died for you so many times. I like dying now. It’s warm and comfortable. Kill me?

“Please? You never kill me. You just leave me and let me die on my own. Like when that filthy mutant caught me. I’d just talked Dean into letting me take a few of his girls back to you. They were so fresh and pure, too. Then that bastard shows up and I have to kill myself. I do wonder if I blabbed a bit while the poison kicked in though.”

The Elven woman suddenly looked at Sam and stared hard at him. He didn’t like what he saw in her eyes. A broken soul in a broken mind, and a broken personality.

“Hmph,” she said and looked back to Seville with a smile. “I just got back. Let’s go! Let’s go, let’s go. And then we can go and see N… oh.”

Apparently, she hadn’t noticed the ongoing magical tumult between Irene and the Lich before.

“Ugh. I really… don’t like her. Does she have to be here?” the Elf murmured with a dismissive hand waved at the fight.

Sam was feeling like more than just the odd man out right now.

He knew those who served the Silent One tended to be on the more unbalanced side of the mental equation, but this Elven woman was beyond even that.

“Enough, get-off-me,” Seville said, shaking free of the Elf once again. Then he went towards Sam with a determined look in his eye. “I’ll make this quick, Sameerixis. I tire of this location.”

Getting in range of Sam, Seville threw a wild-looking haymaker. One that could have been seen coming a mile away.

The problem was it was traveling almost faster than Sam could see.

Squirming to one side and trying to dodge out of the way, Seville’s fist barely grazed Sam’s arm.

As if he’d been struck by a planet, Sam went zooming to the ground, then bounced ten feet into the air on a rebound. Only to land in a pile of broken bones not far away from where Irene and the Lich battled.

Oh fuck.

Groaning, Sam knew that his left arm, from his hand to his shoulder, was a noodle filled with shattered bone and torn muscle. Even part of his chest felt like it’d been smashed under that bare tap from Seville.

Panting, Sam managed to lever himself up to his knees.

“Tell me where the kid is and I’ll make it so quick, you won’t even know you’re dead,” Seville said, looming over Sam.

Grinning, Sam shrugged his shoulders. Or at least the one that wasn’t shattered.

“Of all the things I could have died for, I never once thought it’d be for a cause that wasn’t my own,” Sam said, staring up at the right hand of the Silent One.

Snorting at that, Seville threw his hands up in a gesture of surprise.

“I know, right? I definitely feel you there. We all have our masters, though,” Seville said, then threw a wild round-house punch.

Before it could connect, a blur of muscle and fur flew past Sam, knocked Seville off his feet and sent him tumbling to the road.

“Seville! Good to see you,” called a female voice from behind Sam. “You’ve been hiding off-plane for so long that I really wasn’t sure we’d get a chance to meet up.”

Standing over Sam was a massive towering bulk of Werewolf.

“Hey, Romulus,” Sam muttered. He’d never had a great relationship with the founder of Rome, but neither had he had problems with him either.

“Sameerixis,” growled the Werewolf.

Turning his head, Sam found the female speaker was Eugenia, the once Judge of the afterlife.

Arrayed out all around her were her forces.

Angels, Weres, Gods, Goddesses, the Fates, and so very much more.

Laughing, Seville got up to his feet and brushed himself off.

“Eugenia! What a pleasant surprise,” called Seville. The bored look on his face had been replaced with something more akin to pleasure. “And so many old friends and faces. My, my, my. All we need now is… well… Retribution and the Swordsinger! A nice family reunion.”

The Elf—who was clearly demented—moved over to stand next to Seville and held her arms out. Magical fire began to build itself out of the very air around her.

“I’m going to pull her head off for you, my truest love,” the Elf promised. “And when I do, make love me to me on her corpse. Love me?”

Snorting at that, Seville flexed his hands and then shook them out.

“You kill the Judge, and I’ll have you on her corpse daily till she rots to a skeleton,” Seville promised. “Though, I guess I’m wrong, Eugenia. This is no family reunion at all. Because you… you weren’t actually there the first time. You forsook your father. When he called upon you… you hid. Like the coward you are. You should have seen the look on his face. He was devastated you know. When R—”

Eugenia made a wordless scream and threw her hands out in front of herself. A twisting and writhing pale-colored bolt of Essence shot forward across the distance.

Seville batted it to one side as if it were little more than a rock that’d been slung at him.

Then Romulus was atop Seville again, grabbing the Human around the shoulders and throwing him toward a house.

The Elf brought her hands around and a wall of fire began to roll forward, scorching everything.

One of the Angels standing with Eugenia held a hand up and an oddly tinted gold-colored dome appeared in front of them all. Including even the magical duel between the Lich and the Witch.

“Time for you to go, Sam,” Eugenia said, lifting him up to his feet. “We can’t fight Seville head on. No one can. Not without my father.”

“Yuh-huh. Would love to leave, can’t make a portal,” Sam said.

“You should be able to now, as long as Faisa holds the dome,” Eugenia murmured.

Reaching out, Sam could indeed feel his personal plane open to him once again.

“Thanks, I owe you one,” Sam murmured, moving toward the magical death sphere.

“No. Just helping you do your job. Say hello to Miles for me,” Eugenia said, as Sam walked away from her.

Not bothering to try and separate Irene from the Lich, Sam just plunked down a portal over the three of them, including their souls.

Everything went dark as soon as he closed up the portal that they passed through. Locking the whole plane down from any outside influence, Sam looked to see how he could help Irene while also healing himself.

He had no doubt that the Lich was tearing Irene apart.

There was a shriek that sounded like both Irene and the Lich at the same time and then the sphere blew apart. Both women were cut off from their source.

Except, where Sam expected to see two people as the magic cleared, he saw only one.

It was neither Irene, nor the Lich.

Wearing Irene’s clothes—that didn’t seem to fit anymore—was a woman with dark copper hair that slowly became black halfway down. She was also far more physically endowed than Irene had been.

Though this new woman looked familiar to Sam. Yet also unfamiliar at the same time.

Many of her features resembled Irene, but there was an alien beauty to her now that had clearly been part of the Lich. It was especially present in the cheekbones and eyes.

“Irene?” Sam asked.

As if her name had summoned her awareness, Irene’s soul sat up straight from inside the body.

And yet it wasn’t her soul anymore. The Lich had clearly been blended through Irene more completely than Sam had thought.

Irene’s soul was also now the Lich’s soul, it seemed. They existed in the same location, in the same Soul, and clearly not, at the same time.

The soul had one pair of shoulders, two arms, and two legs, but two heads.

Both were looking at him with a shocked expression. Though Irene’s soul seemed to control the body, and the Lich only controlled her own head.

“What the fuc—”

The woman’s eyes snapped open.

One was a bright blue in color like Irene’s, while the other was the Lich’s dark blue.

“Sam?” asked the woman, her brows coming down slowly as her eyes moved toward him. “What… what happened?”

The two-headed soul stood up and stepped away from the body. Almost immediately, the two heads seemed to be arguing with one another.

Sam noticed that the core at the middle of that soul was significantly larger now. And much brighter.

“I… honestly don’t know,” Sam said. “You kinda tackled the Lich and then the two of you got into a duel of sorts. Then I pulled you onto my plane when we could escape.”

“I feel… really… strange,” the woman murmured. “I think… I was losing. The Lich was… she was… she broke my body down into nothing. She was killing me. Killed me, actually. She knew I was undead.”

“Uh huh,” Sam said, not quite sure if it was really Irene he was talking to.

“I had her soul though,” said the woman. “I had Caer’s soul. That was her name. Caer. I was taking over her soul while she took my body. I’d just torn out her core.”

“I’d say… you won… but also lost. Pyrrhic victory at best,” Sam murmured. “Because… well… it’s you in there, right Irene?”

“Huh?” asked the woman as she got herself into a seated position. “Of course, it’s me. What in the hell?”

The woman was staring down at her chest now. Her substantially bigger chest that had belonged to the Lich. Which also looked like it was going to burst out of the blouse Irene had been wearing.

“I’m… I’m not me…? I’m… I’m… the Lich? I’m Caer?” asked the woman.

“I can’t speak for who you are in your head, but you look like a blending of Irene and Caer,” Sam said, looking at the two-headed soul again. “Like you put parts from both of you into one body.”

The soul was still effectively arguing with itself. Though it seemed the Lich, or Caer as it were, now had control of the left arm.

That or Irene was casually brushing Caer’s hair out of her eyes for her.

“I’m Irene,” claimed the woman. Then she grabbed her breasts and gave them a squeeze. “And apparently… I… took control? This was what Caer was doing. She made this body out of us. She broke me down and started adding parts to her own body. And I took the whole thing from her. Because… I took her soul? I don’t know.”

“Well… not entirely full control of her soul. Your own seems to have a new guest,” Sam murmured, once more looking at the soul. “Or… addition?”

Which apparently having realized it was being watched, looked toward Sam.

Irene also looked at the soul.

“I can see my soul now,” Irene murmured. “And… it’s Caer’s soul… too?”

Nodding its head sharply at that, the Caer-head started to clearly curse at Irene. Though there was no sound.

The Irene-head heard though and took offense, laying a slap across the face of the Caer-head.

Which didn’t seem to do much other than annoy Caer.

“Right,” Sam said running a hand over his head. “Right.”

Ignoring their body, and Sam, the two heads began to bicker again.

Twenty-Four - One and Only -

Leaving the two-headed soul to argue with itself, Sam held his hands out to the woman he believed to be Irene.

Taking his hands in her own, she pulled herself to her feet.

“Thanks, Sammy,” Irene murmured and then looked down at herself again. “I’m… not really me anymore am I?”

“I mean, your mind is your own, and as far as you’ve said there’s nothing in there of the Lich, Caer,” Sam said, extremely confused about the situation. He’d never heard of such a thing happening.

Ever.

“I suppose that’s true. My mind is my own. She made the body and took it, and I took the soul,” Irene said. Reaching down she started loosening the belt around her hips. “And because I did that, I control the body and the mind?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sam said.

He was having some difficulty processing things right now. The fact that Irene had abandoned the vehicle and come back for him was forefront in his mind.

She’d risked everything and came back for him.

And had apparently lost herself for it.

“But… whatever the result, I’ll do everything I can to fix it or… or… well, I’ll do whatever,” Sam promised and meant it.

He wasn’t used to someone coming to his aid.

And that means I owe Eugenia as well. Because that was her army that showed up.

Damn.

Irene sighed and gave up on whatever she was doing and shucked her pants off.

“That’s so much better. Why the hell did you give us hips so wide, Caer?” Irene growled irritably.

Glancing to the soul, Sam watched as the Caer-head turned to Irene and replied.

“I mean, yeah, he does, but only if I let him,” Irene said shaking her head. “None of my clothes are going to fit now.”

Then Irene froze and looked at the soul again.

“I can hear you?” Irene asked.

Caer looked confused and then said something slowly that looked like a question.

“Yeah, I can hear you,” Irene said, then looked at the head of her own soul. “Can I hear you?”

Irene’s soul grinned and said something while pointing at Sam.

Which caused Irene to turn a deep dark red.

“Yeah,” Irene said, looking away from her two-headed soul. “I can hear my soul. Or… souls… I guess. I think… I’m a Lich now, too?”

Holding up her left hand she was suddenly holding a black ball of roiling oil and filth.

“But a Witch, too,” Irene murmured and held up her right hand. A purple ball of witchfire spawned there.

“Best I can figure,” Sam said when Irene looked back to him, “Caer… was shackling your body to serve her, then decided to hop into it and merge it with hers. You shackled her soul and… won the resulting prize. Just like you said. Except Caer is still… in there… somehow. So you’re a Lich and a Witch.”

Caer said something angrily at that, her face looking rather angry.

“No. It’s mine now,” Irene said, dismissing both balls of magic. “Maybe if you prove yourself I can have Sam create a body for you to control partially. For now… you serve me, Caer. Just as you would have had me serve you.”

Irene’s soul nodded at that, then reached up and moved Caer’s hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.

To which Caer clearly said a noiseless thank you and then sighed.

Okay. Irene is… something very scary and I have no idea what to do about it, if anything.

“We should get back to the others, shouldn’t we?” Irene asked, looking at Sam. Then she reached up and stretched herself out.

The buttons that had held her blouse closed lost their battle at that moment and several buttons popped clear off.

“Damnit, Caer, we didn’t need these either,” Irene complained, looking at the ruined blouse.

Sam wasn’t about to tell her that she looked hotter than she had previously, and hotter than Caer had looked as well.

The two really had blended into a singularly beautiful woman.

She might actually creep up to Jes, Irma, and Inese’s level.

Shaking himself free of his thoughts, Sam turned to an empty spot of the open grass-filled plane they were on and concentrated.

Decima would never be able to get away from him. She was his creature fully.

Even if she eventually separated from him and went ten planes deeper than the prime, he’d be able to find her.

Focusing on her location, Sam opened up a portal large enough to peek through.

As soon as the portal formed, a sphere of blood magic formed around it and locked it down. Poking at the construct, Sam had to admit that Stacia was becoming rather formidable.

“Hello, it’s me,” Sam said through the portal. “I escaped. I have Irene with me. Can I pull you all out now?”

“Yes, please,” Carissa said. Her voice was followed by the sound of gunfire.

Oh, shit.

The shell around his portal vanished, allowing him to control it once more.

Looking into the portal, he could see they were traveling down a road. Building a second portal ahead of them big enough for the SUV to drive through, Sam angled the exit to put them across a wide open expanse of grass.

Then he closed the first portal and waited.

Seconds later, the SUV shot through into his personal plane and Sam slammed the portal shut.

Engine roaring at full rev, the SUV zoomed away from him and began to slow down.

“Err… got… any clothes?” Irene murmured.

Glancing to the mostly naked woman that was and wasn’t Irene, Sam used a speck of Essence and garbed her in a construct while eradicating the clothes she had on. Much as he’d done for himself for many years.

Appearing in a long dress and blouse, Irene looked considerably closer in appearance to Caer in the clothes.

“Oh, thanks. Uhm, do I… look really different? My face that is. They’re not going to recognize me are they,” Irene said. She sounded incredibly unsure.

“Your face is definitely different,” Sam confirmed.

“Really? Ugh. Okay. This is so weird,” Irene muttered.

Slowly, the SUV began turning and coming back toward Sam. There were a number of problems with the vehicle that he could see.

There was also some bullet holes in it.

Shit. They had their own problems to deal with.

Coming to a stop in front of Sam, the SUV rumbled quietly for a second and then shut off.

He could see Decima, Carissa, and Stacia all sitting in the vehicle.

One and all, they were staring at Irene.

“Hi,” Irene said waving a hand at them. “It’s me, Irene. I jumped out to help Sam. Got more than I bargained for.”

“Is everyone alright?” Sam asked, jumping straight to what he actually wanted to know.

Decima turned around toward the rear of the SUV.

“Hill? You and Mitch okay?” she asked.

There was a muffled response that Sam couldn’t hear.

Looking back at Sam, Decima nodded. “We’re okay.”

Letting out a slow breath, Sam felt a massive weight hanging in his stomach vanish.

Everyone’s okay.

***

Knocking twice on the door, Sam stood there. Mitch was next to him, looking a lot like a young man who had no idea what to do with himself.

Decima stood on the other side of Mitch. Everyone else had retired back to HQ to check in or handle the fallout from the mission.

The door opened several seconds later, revealing Miles standing in the doorway.

Saying nothing, Miles looked from Sam, to Decima, then Mitch, and finally back to Sam.

Taking a step to the side, Miles nodded at everyone.

“Come on in,” he said.

Decima went in first with Mitch, one of her hands on his shoulder.

Following Decima inside, Sam didn’t go far beyond Miles.

As soon as the door closed, Sam cleared his throat.

“We good to talk here?” Sam asked bluntly.

“Yeah,” Miles said, his eyes moving to where Decima had sat Mitch down on the couch and then joined him. “Really fucking weird to see her in a dress, by the way.”

“I think she looks really good in a dress. She can hear you by the way,” Sam said with a small smirk. “So, everything went to shit.”

“I know it did,” said Miles. “Well, know most of what happened. There’s some that’s blocked from me obviously.”

“Right, short answer then. Lich, Archangel, portals got cut, golems died, zombie apocalypse, plague, Seville, a crazy Elf,” Sam listed off and then shrugged his shoulders. “Eugenia, Romulus, Eugenia’s army, and then here.”

Miles winced when Sam finished and then shook his head.

“Right. Well. Seems I was right to ask you to handle this for me. I just… underestimated how fast it’d change and how big the response would be,” Miles muttered.

“Uh huh. Well, here he is. There wasn’t really anywhere else to take him since the golems died,” Sam said. “Anything else you need from me?”

“No. No, nothing else,” Miles said, turning his head and looking at the young man.

Mitch had leaned back in the couch and had almost instantly passed out and was now snoring softly.

“Who is he?” Sam asked. He had a hunch, but he wasn’t about to voice it aloud.

“Probably exactly who you think he is,” Miles murmured. “But I can’t confirm it. And it’d be best if you never voiced it either. He’s going to have a hard enough life as it is.”

Sam nodded at that and decided that it really was best left alone.

“I’ll wipe some of his memories but I’ll leave the majority of them intact,” Miles said. “Get him set up with a new set of golems. As if they’d traveled with you.”

“Got it. That’s probably for the best. If he wants any hope at a normal life,” said Sam.

“What happened to the Lich?” Miles asked. “I’ve made it a point to hunt them down whenever I can. They don’t benefit anyone, regardless of what their original intention was.”

“She… uh… she merged with Irene or… something like that. Their souls are intertwined and they ended up having a body that’s part of one and part of the other,” Sam tried to explain.

“They… what?” Miles asked, looking at Sam oddly.

“If I had to explain it any other way, it’s as if they were put in a blender,” Sam said holding up his hands in a gesture of frustration. “Irene is the dominant soul and holds sway over Caer, I guess that was the Lich’s name.”

“Caer? You said… Caer?” Miles asked, staring hard at Sam.

“Yeah. You want to see her? Irene that is,” Sam asked.

“I do. But later. If what you’re saying is true, then you just got rid of a Lich I’ve been after since R— since the Originator had to leave,” Miles murmured. “And she’s completely subdued? Irene has control?”

“Yeah. Caer’s soul only seems to have a head and it’s… on… Irene’s soul,” Sam tried again. He really wasn’t sure how to describe it other than what he had.

“Mm. I have a theory or two. Irene was somewhat undead after all and a Lich controls them. But Irene wasn’t actually undead,” said Miles with a sudden chuckle. “Ah… I bet that was a surprise for the bitch.”

“I mean, she’s more or less dead now so… yeah,” Sam said. He felt drained and just wanted to go home.

And check on Jes. She’d likely been without Essence since the start. Most of his brothers and sisters couldn’t go a few hours while starving, let alone days.

There was a dark stain on Sam’s heart. He was terrified of what he’d find once he got back to Jes.

What she likely would have been forced to do.

“You’ll keep your word?” Decima asked. She’d come over to stand next to Sam and Miles and done so very quietly.

“I… my word?” Miles asked, looking at Decima.

“The price for this mission. Being godfather,” Decima clarified.

“Oh! Yes. I’ll be godfather to any children Sam has,” Miles said with a smirk. “For whatever that’s worth.”

“It’s worth a great deal, Curator,” Decima said. Then she nodded to him. “Please care for my children when I have them. Sam and I currently use contraception of a sort, but I imagine we will try for children soon enough.”

Miles looked shocked at that then, having started to shake his head, then slowly began to nod it instead.

“Ah. Of course. I’d be honored to be the godfather of your child, Lady Vera,” said Miles. “Were you planning on having them with some immediacy? ”

“No. Not until we’ve solidified our company and standing,” Decima said, looking thoughtful. “Irma suggested we all postpone such things until we can move everything to Sam’s personal plane. Much easier to defend and work from there.”

Irma… you lovely woman. Always thinking ahead.

That kind of gives me more time.

“Alright, I’m going to head back now,” Sam said. He really did want to get back to Jes as soon as possible. “You good?”

“Yeah, good as I can be. Thanks,” Miles said.

Sam nodded and then then just pulled a portal down over himself and Decima.

“That was somewhat rude, Husband,” Decima said as his personal plane came back into view.

“Yeah, well, he’ll survive. I’ve been rude to him before, and vice versa,” Sam muttered. Moving at a quick walk, he entered the portal that would take him to their HQ.

He’d known he had to take Mitch to Miles immediately, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to see Jes first.

Stepping into the receiving room of the building, Sam began casting about with Essence for Jes.

She wasn’t here.

Frowning, Sam looked around to see if there was anyone nearby who might know where she was.

Spotting Alexis standing near a portal that would lead to Saint Anthony, he cleared his throat.

Turning her head at the sound, the lovely Imp gave him a wide smile.

“Hey there, Sam. Care for a quick go?” asked the Imp, coming over to stand next to him.

“I’d normally say yes. Do you know where Jes is though? I need to find her,” Sam said.

“No. Haven’t seen her today. Or yesterday, actually. Sorry,” Alexis apologized with a frown. “Come find me though when you’re ready.”

Alexis reached out and gave Sam a pat, only to go back to the portal she’d been standing next to. Someone was on the other side filling out paperwork.

Alright. Let’s… let’s pull on her brand with her true name. We’ll do it from my old apartment just… just in case… she’s… yeah.

Clenching his teeth and fearing Jes had broken mentally and indulged in feeding herself with other men, Sam re-entered his personal plane.

Ignoring everything and everyone, he made a portal to his old apartment and stepped through into his living room.

Closing the portal behind himself, he looked around.

It was exactly as he’d left it.

There was a deep groan he could hear through the wall itself.

A clearly sexual one.

He didn’t have to pull on his Essence to know it was Jes.

In his bedroom.

Swallowing hard, Sam opened the door to his bedroom and walked inside.

Looking at the bed, he found Jes.

Naked, curled on her side, alone, and fingering herself.

“Jes?” Sam asked, coming over to her and laying a hand to her shoulder.

“Sam?” asked the Succubus, rolling toward him.

Her skin was a dark red color, black horns curled up from her temples, and her eyes were a golden color with pin-prick pupils.

“Sam!” declared the Succubus and then grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him down into the bed next to her. “Oh, thank heavens. I’ve been so hungry. So, so, hungry. Insane with it. I finally locked myself in here, in your bed, and just… kept myself busy.”

Jes sounded slightly broken as she spoke, her hands trembled and held to his face and jaw.

“Sam, my one and only, please feed me. I’m so very hungry,” pleaded Jes. “I haven’t eaten anything since the glory portal. Feed your Succubus. She needs you.”

The fear in his heart vanished and Sam could only hold tightly to Jes.

I’ve changed so much. So very much.

And yet I still never really considered it.

“I can’t feed from anyone but you, my Branded,” Jes said, nibbling at his shoulder. “Only you, or someone we share. But never another man. One-man kind of woman. Please, please feed me.”

“After you put your Brand on me, and mine on you, then I’ll feed you. Till you feel full,” Sam promised, nuzzling Jes.

In all the hubbub, he’d ended up not fulfilling his promise to either Jes or Aster about the exchanging of brands.

Both of them had forgotten as well.

“I love you,” squeaked Jes before she bit down hard on his shoulder. Her teeth actually breaking the skin.

She’s not hungry, she’s starving.

“I love you, too,” Sam said, letting her gnaw at him.

As she literally chewed at him in her crazed hunger, Sam slowly built up his brand into a construct. One that would mark someone indefinitely.

In a way that couldn’t ever be shaken or broken free from.

“Jezebel, you need to put your brand together if I’m going to wear it,” Sam said softly as he finished constructing his own.

“Can’t,” Jes mumbled around his flesh. “Can’t think. So hungry. Just brand me. Then feed me.”

Any other Succubus would have been on their thirtieth man by now.

You’re a wonder, Jes.

Laying the brand to the spot between her breasts, he held it there.

This wasn’t something he could force on her. It was something she’d have to willingly take on her own. That was part of why wearing another’s brand was such a big deal.

It could only be voluntary.

“You have to accept the b—”

Jes slapped her hand down atop his brand and it sank straight into her without any resistance at all.

She hadn’t just accepted the brand, she’d made it part of herself. He could feel it when his awareness trickled down and through her. Going from her, to her plane as well.

“Feed your Succubus,” Jes pleaded, staring up at him, her lips and teeth bloody.

Yes. Feed my Succubus.

Twenty-Five - Good Girl -

Cooing happily, Jes continued to suck on his length for several more seconds. It was like lightning traveling up and down his body however. He was incredibly sensitive right now after having Jes quite literally feed on him five times in a row.

Without a break in between any of them.

Coming off him for the first time in perhaps two hours, Jes let out a breath.

“Oooh, I feel so much better. I know it isn’t quite as fun as sex but this really is the best way for me to just feed,” Jes said, her hand idly stroking his length. “I get most of it from your orgasm, but your cum does help.”

Leaning her head down, Jes ran her tongue over the tip, and then sucked on it for a few seconds.

“Ah,” Jes said releasing him again. “I think I’m okay for a bit now. We can pick this up again in a bit.”

“Uh huh,” Sam mumbled, slumped low in the recliner. He was feeling more than a little boneless right now. He’d never been pleasured so well, or for so long, without having anything to feed on.

It was a lovely feeling to be sure.

Sighing with a wide smile, Jes hummed to herself and then rolled her tongue over his tip again.

“You were surprised,” Jes said, her enchanting eyes flicking up to his face.

“Huh?” Sam asked, feeling like the conversation had just turned hard in a different direction.

“You were surprised that I hadn’t fed on anyone,” Jes said, smiling at him. Her hand idly continuing to stroke his shaft.

Sam considered lying, but realized there was no point in that.

“I was. I found that I was rather… concerned… at the idea that you’d feed elsewhere,” Sam admitted, meeting her eyes directly.

“That’s a fair worry,” Jes said, wrinkling her nose as her hand moved back and forth. “If it wasn’t me, that is. I think I’ve demonstrated beyond a doubt I’m a one-man girl. Even if I was locked up, imprisoned, held against my will, I wouldn’t give in. I would never betray you. Not for anything. I’m not a whore.”

Sam didn’t want to admit it, but her statement appealed to him. It hit him far closer to home than he thought it would.

“I love you, Sam. I’m not just some dumb bimbo Succubus who can’t keep it together,” said Jes with a grin. “I can’t ever deny I was sorely tempted. I was hungry. But it was easy to deny it when it came down to the fact that I knew it would be a betrayal.

“Now, let’s move on from this cute, if sappy, conversation. Because I know you get a little fidgety when you start looking inward. How about…”

Jes held up her left hand and in her palm she built out her brand smoothly.

“Will you wear my brand?” asked the Succubus, gazing up at him from where she knelt on the ground.

“Course, I will,” Sam said. Scooping her brand from her palm, Sam quickly slapped it to his chest and worked to incorporate it into himself.

There were no doubts in his mind about Jes.

Not a single one.

A warm and deep sense of love suffused him as Jes’ brand expanded across his chest and quickly filled itself into what made Sam, Sam.

Leaping from his avatar and crossing down the link that led back to his personal plane, Jes’ brand attached itself quite firmly there, too.

Essentially giving her complete control over everything that was his. She was his partner in full, in every way.

“Oooh, that was rather sexy,” Jes said, leaning her head down and taking him fully into her mouth. Slowly she began to bob her head back and forth, sucking gently on his semi-erect self.

“Ready for more?” she asked, his member stuck between her lips and muffling her words. “Because I am.”

“Yeah,” Sam said adjusting himself in the recliner. “I’m ready for another.”

“Good,” Jes said after letting him fall from her lips. “Cause we’re going to get into the bed. I’m going to open my womb, you’re going to unlock your seed, and we’re going to consummate this. And if we get pregnant, we get pregnant. After we’re done, I close my womb back down, and you lock your seed up. Are you ready?”

Even as she spoke, Jes had gotten to her feet and moved over to the bed.

Sam was surprised to find he was indeed ready.

Ready for everything Jes had just stated and willing to do as she’d laid out.

Getting up, Sam moved over to the bed, crawling up onto it just as Jes was shifting herself into the middle of it.

“That’s my man,” Jes said, one hand coming up to rub at his side as she adjusted herself beneath him. “And you’ve changed so much since we met. There were a few times early on that I swore you were contemplating chasing me off.”

I mean… that’s not untrue.

Either of those statements.

I really have changed. A lot.

I’m wearing another’s brand.

And… I might put a child in Jes.

Running her hand up along Sam’s side, Jes seemed to be quite happy with the situation.

“You don’t miss your old life at all?” Sam asked as he settled his knees against Jes’ hips.

“Course, I do,” Jes said with a laugh. “The memories can be quite painful at times. But that doesn’t mean my life right now is bad. I know better. That part of my life is over. This is my life now. No sense in crying over what I lost. All I can do is move forward. Though I do look forward to punishing Jena.

“And you know what… I don’t think this position is going to work for me.”

Jes pushed on Sam, tilting him to one side and into the bed. Moving quickly she shoved him onto his back and got herself atop him.

“For our first time, where I might just catch a child, we’re going to do this with me on top,” Jes murmured, staring down at him with wide hungry eyes.

Patting his shoulder, she gave him a wide smile.

“You ready for me, Sammy? My Incubus? My man?” Jes asked, her nethers grinding down atop his now extremely hard manhood. “You unlock those baby-makers for me?”

Looking up at the Succubus atop him, his brand glowing a faint red on her chest, Sam nodded his head. His seed was active.

They’d have about as much chance as anyone did having unprotected sex.

Jes grinned and patted his cheek gently with her left hand. Then put it down next to his head.

Reaching down with her right hand she took hold of his tip and expertly slid it straight up between her lips.

“I love you, Sammy. So very much,” Jes murmured, her lower lip catching between her teeth as she pushed herself down. His member glided into her, stretching her slick and tight walls.

Letting out a slow breath as her teeth dug into her lip, Jes closed her eyes.

Putting both of her hands on Sam’s shoulders, she settled her rear end firmly down in his lap. Then ground it down as if she were trying to get every last millimeter of him inside of her.

Unable to help himself, Sam reached up and laid his hands to Jes’ hips. Holding to her, he had a hard time focusing on much else other than what she was doing.

Jes knew what he wanted and how he wanted it. He was as open to her, as Wren was to him.

Rolling her hips back and forth, Jes only let him slide an inch or two one way or the other. Each time she got him down to the hilt, her warm insides tried to crush him, her body flexing as she did so.

Taking in a slow breath, Sam let his eyes wander upward from Jes’ waist, along her stomach, across her perfect chest, and up to her face.

Watching the Succubus as she rode him, Sam was once again floored by her beauty, the way she treated him, and how she’d trusted him in everything.

He knew her true name almost the day he met her. Knew her brand as intimately as his own.

Where he’d shied away from her, Jes had always run forward to get closer.

Opening her eyes, as if feeling the attention, she looked down to Sam and gave him a pretty smile.

“You like watching me,” she purred even as she continued to grind her hips into him with each roll of her body.

“I love watching my Succubus,” Sam replied, his fingers pushing down on her waist as she moved down as well.

“Sammy, you always know just what to say to me,” Jes said and then leaned down to him and bit down on his neck, following it up with a kiss. She was laying almost flat on him even as she continued to ride him into the bed.

“What else do you love about your Succubus?” she asked as she continued to lay soft bites and kisses along his neck.

He didn’t have to think hard about that.

“Everything,” he said almost at the same time he felt Jes fling his sensitivity up and beyond anything he should be able to feel.

Groaning, Sam pushed his hips up into her as Jes laughed softly.

“Sammy. My Sammy,” Jes whispered in his ear. “You already taste amazing and you haven’t popped. Let’s get you there.”

Leaning away from him, Jes put her hands back down on his shoulders. Taking hold of him she started to pump herself up and down. His eager member was rammed deep by Jes, only for her to bounce back up and get it almost to the tip.

Focusing entirely in on Jes, Sam knew she was working him splendidly. Pulling at his desires and wants, even while getting what she wanted.

Jes was also rapidly spiraling toward an orgasm.

She was never hard to get there, and was almost comically quick to release. She was easy to please.

“Ahhh, yes,” Jes squeaked, tilting her head back and giving her hair a shake. Lifting herself just a bit higher, she kept slamming herself down into Sam’s lap, plunging him hard to the back of her depths.

A strange sensation took over Sam as his Succubus brought him faster to an orgasm.

Like a door in his mind he’d never known existed was slowly being rocked off its hinges. It wasn’t just being opened, but thrown down.

“Yes!” Jes squealed, her wings shooting out on each side of her. They began to flap as she went up, only to let gravity take over to impale herself back down onto Sam’s length.

Realizing he was about to release, Sam grabbed hold of Jes firmly and pulled her down atop himself. Thrusting upward at the same time.

Shivering atop him, her wings stretched out as wide as possible, Jes hit her own orgasm.

The door inside his mind tore off the frame and he was suddenly drowning in Essence from Jes. An overwhelming and never-ending stream of extremely pure emotional Essence. Very similar to the type he got from Decima.

Pure love.

Devouring it as fast as possible, he kept thrusting up into Jes as he came.

Lashing an Essence spike together he rammed it home as hard as he could into Jes. Wanting to feast on her.

Tightening up on him, Jes lost control of her breathing and held her breath instead. At about the same time, she spiked him just as he had her.

Reaching up with one hand, Sam grabbed Jes by the back of her head and jerked her down. Then kissed her hungrily, gorging himself on the sweet Essence that was rolling off of her.

Lost in that sloppy kiss, Sam just kept thrusting into Jes as he emptied out into her. Then she spiked him again, to which Sam happily spiked her in return.

Their orgasms both being forced to continue.

Wrapping his free arm around Jes’ hips, Sam kept pumping into her, kissing her.

Minutes later, after several more spikes from him and Jes, Sam finally fell out of his orgasm.

Panting through his nose, he didn’t release Jes’ lips. He kissed her as if that were his only goal in life.

To which, Jes kissed him back in just the same way. Her hands holding tight to him, pressing in close to him.

Finally, Jes broke the kiss and lifted her head up partially.

“Wow,” she mumbled. “That was amazing.”

“You taste amazing,” Sam replied, looking up at her.

Something had changed drastically for him. Eating from a Succubus shouldn’t be possible.

“You’re both amazing. Oh my god. Can we get a three-way going now? I want to ride your face, Jes, while Sam fucks you.”

Looking over, Sam found Aster standing near the foot of the bed, camera in hand. Hillary was standing near the corner of the room, reading a magazine and pretending she wasn’t where she was.

“Can I?” Aster asked. “Let’s hand our brands to one another and then… I just really want to climb on your face, Jes. You’re so pretty. I bet you eat pussy like a champ.”

Sitting up slowly atop Sam, Jes’ wings slid out and flapped a little.

“Really?” Jes asked with a wide smile. Of everyone in his harem, Jes had actually shown a little interest in Aster. Everyone else was a toy to her.

“You’re gorgeous. Let me ride your face, then you can ride mine. I’ll eat you out while Sam rams it down your throat or takes me from behind. And then maybe a team blowjob for Sam? I bet we could talk Hill into joining us,” Aster said.

“No!” Hillary proclaimed. “No. I’m just here to take those stupid photos I promised I would, Ass.”

“You wouldn’t want to help us take care of Sammy? Awfully selfish of you. He needs you, Hill,” Aster said. “Now… how about that branding. I need you two to unload on my chest, then I’ll give you mine.

“Then more fucking. Lots more fucking.”

“Sure,” Sam said with a chuckle. “Let’s do that.”

“Ah… maybe,” Jes said, rolling her hips with Sam still deep inside her. “I think… Aster, I’m going to ride your face first. Sam is going to fill you up as I do it. Then I’m going to eat from you while Sam chokes you with his member. Because you don’t deserve any of his seed right now. It’s mine until I let you have any of it.”

Everyone had turned to look at Jes as she spoke.

“After that… I might let you ride my face,” Jes said, smiling beautifully at Aster. “But I think, my sweet, lovely Elemental, that you’re in for a surprise. You’re going to be a to-go box for me at best. Sam will fill you up, and I’ll eat when I’m ready. You’re just holding it till I take it from you. And when I’m not doing that, I’m going to ride your face till you’re drowning. Till your tongue is sore, your lips chapped, and your jaw aching. If you’re especially good, for a while, I’ll finally let you sit upon my face.”

Aster had a blank and wide-eyed look to her.

Slowly, she nodded her head minutely.

“Good girl. That’s the right answer,” Jes said, then held a hand out to her. “Now come here, and let’s brand one another. I’ll give you a kiss if you come over here quickly. After that, you can start licking me clean. Be a good little submissive-Elemental, no tantrums at all, and I’ll let you have a treat later tonight, too.”

Sam was watching the exchange, somewhat shocked.

“Okay,” Aster said, coming over swiftly to Jes and laying her hand in hers.

“No, no. Not, ‘okay’. It’s, ‘yes, Mistress’. Do you understand, my Elemental?” Jes said, taking Aster’s hand in her own. Pulling her up into the bed, she laid her other hand to Aster’s jaw.

“Yes, Mistress,” Aster murmured, gazing into Jes’ eyes.

Sam didn’t need to be deep into Aster’s psyche to know she was beyond into being treated like this. If anything, he’d bet on her going after Jes more earnestly than him going forward.

“Good girl,” Jes said, and then pulled Aster in for a kiss.

A few hours later, and feeling considerably better after being buoyed with Succubus and Elemental Essence, Sam finally made it back to his home with Irma.

“Sammy?” called Irma as he closed the door behind himself.

“Yeah. It’s me,” Sam said, moving into the apartment. “Everything’s done. We’re all settled. Mission complete.”

“Good job! I talked to Uncle Dave a little bit ago. He gave me some of the details. Sounds like it really went bad,” Irma continued, the sound of a keyboard clacking away as she clearly worked on something.

Grinning, Sam headed to where he expected to find Irma.

“It really did,” Sam said, finding her at her desk. Walking over to her, he laid his hands on her shoulders. “And I missed you. I love you, Irma.”

Leaning down, he kissed her cheek, then her ear, and without realizing he was doing it, took a deep whiff of her hair.

“Oooh, Sammy, don’t do that. You’ll get my motor going,” Irma said with a laugh, her fingers flying across the keyboard. On the monitor she was working on, he could see she was writing an email.

“I want your motor going,” Sam said, nibbling at her ear. “I’m desperate to make love to you, Irma, my love, my wife. Without feeding from you. I need to feel you against my skin. Let me love you.”

Irma’s fingers froze above the keyboard.

Slowly, she turned her head to face him, her eyes searching his face.

“Yeah?” she asked, her hands moving into her lap. “You sound almost desperate.”

“I am desperate. Desperate for you, Irma Fidenis,” Sam affirmed. “And when we’re done with each other, hours from now, or before that if you prefer, I want to talk about children, and my personal plane. We should make plans. Then everything else that’s been going on while I’ve been away.”

Taking her giving up on typing as a yes, Sam wrapped his arms around Irma’s middle and lifted her up. Holding her against himself, Sam leaned his head into her shoulder, looking up at her.

“Okay,” Irma murmured, staring at him with a small smile on her mouth. Reaching up she lightly trailed a hand through his hair. “Off to our bed then, my suddenly romantic husband. Where we’ll talk and… we’ll make love.”

“Perfect,” Sam said, carrying her off.

He knew what his goals were now. What his motivation was.

It’d taken the pure love of a Succubus to awaken him to it. The love of a creature that shouldn’t be capable of such a thing. A demoness from the underworld who gave herself to him unconditionally.

Just as he’d learned love, when he shouldn’t have been able to.

Twenty-Six - Set-Up -

Leaning into Irma, Sam exhaled slowly, resting his head on her bare upper chest.

“Wow,” Irma murmured a bit breathlessly, running her fingers through Sam’s hair. “That was ah… a bit more like it used to be.”

“Mmm,” Sam responded, closing his eyes.

He wasn’t going to disagree with her. But the way it used to be was actually considerably different.

Most of the reason he didn’t pummel Irma’s insides for hours on end anymore was he didn’t feed from her that often. Nine times out of ten, he just made love to her.

He’d fed from her once this time, but the rest of the three hours were just fooling around and seeing how much he could love Irma.

“I missed you,” Sam explained. He felt like that’d be more than enough. Especially since he was fairly new to all these emotions.

New to being more Human than he’d ever expected.

“Oh, that’s been very well confirmed by this point, Sammy. I can definitely feel I was missed,” Irma said with a soft laugh. “And I missed you, too. I love you. Though I’m afraid the next couple days are going to be busy for you. Wren has been almost humorously mopey since you’ve been gone. You’ll need to go treat her like a dirty sex-toy for a while. Then take Stacia and Tiffany off for a day. Did you know they’re kinda seeing each other now, by the way?”

“I knew they were thinking about it. Can’t say it’s a bad idea with how often I take them together,” Sam murmured. It wasn’t surprising to him at all. He’d been the one to suggest it to them after all, and Jes had agreed.

“Abigail will also need some of your time. You know how self-conscious she is,” Irma said with a soft sigh. “And then there’s everyone else. So many… err, well I was going to say so many mouths to feed, but that’s not quite right.”

Laughing at that, Sam patted Irma’s pubic mound lightly.

“Close enough. Now, talk to me about what’s going on? I’ve been gone a while,” Sam said.

“Three months. Three months, as of four days ago,” Irma confirmed. “As to what’s going on… well, not a whole lot. We’ve been working the contractor angle pretty hard for Jena’s facility.

“Whoever’s in charge of making such a decision finally got in touch with the ghost company we set up for this one. They want to have a sales meeting and go over what we offered.”

“And what exactly did we offer?” Sam asked, rubbing his cheek against Irma’s soft, warm skin.

“Honestly, just a complete security overhaul. Their entire system is state of the art. But state of the art from about ten years ago. They haven’t really updated it at all,” said Irma. “What I’m thinking of doing is— well, actually. Do you want to hear it? You normally don’t listen to plans other than to tell me to talk to Stacia. Which I have, by the way. Before she left for that meet-up, she and I had been working on this.”

“Sure, tell me your plan, my beautiful Imp,” Sam said softly, snuggling in closer to Irma’s side. He could feel his avatar was going to need to sleep tonight. He planned on doing that next to, on top of, or underneath, Irma.

One way or another.

Grunting, Irma shifted around in the bed until she was lying flat in it. Having moved Sam with her, but not pushing him away.

“We’re going to end up getting paid to convert their security over to a newer system. Before we can finish,” Irma began, “I’ve already hired up all the necessary people to do the job and the hardware. If all we were doing was the job, we’d barely make any money at all. But it’s all above board.

“Proposal, receipts, inventory, people. Everything is correct and will be exactly as if it were the job.”

“Okay,” Sam whispered, laying his arm around Irma’s middle. His other arm was splayed out on the bed. “And?”

“Everyone involved in that side of the business is going to be operating for the ghost company. They’ll never meet anyone in our actual company. The only two people who’ve ever been seen up to this point is Hillary or Stacia. Both under heavy disguises of course.

“Inese was removed from the entire situation months ago, so she’s clear. She’s mostly in limbo. Her entire building was shut down in the end and everyone’s been sent to other locations or waiting for new positions to open.

“They’ve got her running a small office and more or less being a contact point for everyone else. And speaking of… I’m going to take Alexis and Inese and convert a number of Imps one by one. I’m going to brand them to you.”

“Go nuts. Your brand, too,” Sam said with a yawn. “Branded Aster and Jes. Wearing their brand.”

“I know. I felt it when you did it. I didn’t expect my control over your brand to extend to their brands, too,” admitted Irma.

“They knew they’d be giving you their brand. You’re my Imp. I’m your Incubus. They chose it. Though they’re going to want to have a lot of four-ways with us,” Sam remarked.

“I figured,” Irma said with a sigh. “I’m just not into women though. I’ll use Aster as I’ve been using Jes. Is that okay?”

“Course it is. Just make sure you use her through Jes, she’s her pet. Now, you were saying? Inese and the facility?” Sam prompted.

“Oh. Oh, yes. We’ll be meeting with them in a few days to go over the paperwork and settle up numbers and the like,” Irma continued. “Later on, in the middle of the security crossover, we’re going to vanish a few of their people. If they don’t report it to us as a security company, we can blame it on them. If they do, we can cite it as an extreme concern on our part and ask them how they’re going to handle that.

“Then we just act on it with our actual strike before they can properly get things in place.”

“In other words… we’re playing both sides. We’ll be the security to keep… ourselves out?” Sam asked.

“Exactly. And if we do it just right. We can get in, decimate the entire facility, and get out without ever alerting them to the fact that we did it. And I know we can do it. We’re an amazing PMC,” Irma boasted. “Our ghost company might end up eating some costs when they suddenly pull the plug on the project after that, but it’s obviously worth it. We’ll just pick up that entire side of the operation and incorporate it to Inc-Suc after that as a buyout and start offering security that way, too.”

“Uh huh. Got it,” Sam said and then yawned uncontrollably. “What do you need me to do?”

“Go with the sales group. See if you can’t glamour who they send and get some info. You’re actually really tired aren’t you?” Irma asked.

“Very. Think I’ve been awake for a while now with a lot of activity,” Sam answered. “Easier for me to push through it than a mortal.”

“Time for bed then, my sweet Incubus,” Irma said and then patted his side with one hand. “Goodnight, dear.”

“G’night,” mumbled Sam.

And instantly fell asleep.

***

“Kinda nervous,” Stacia said, adjusting her coat.

“You look beautiful,” Sam said, leaning back in his seat.

“Very,” Irene said softly, her pen moving slowly across the pad of paper in her lap. She didn’t look up from whatever notes she was taking.

“Thank you. I’m not nervous about that, though. We need to get this signed so we can start moving,” Stacia said. “Without this, we’ll end up having to assault it directly and that’ll require a lot more hiring.”

“Admittedly. Stop worrying about it, though,” Irene said. “It’ll work out. You’re one of the strongest blood-mages I’ve ever met. I’m a Witch-Lich, who can use both power aspects. And Sam is literally the Torment of Lust.

“If we can’t talk them into signing on the dotted line, then we seriously did something wrong.”

Stacia grimaced at that, then nodded.

Ah… maybe she’s only nervous about going in headfirst like she said.

A direct assault really would be a problem. More than likely, we’d take losses or suffer injuries.

And she’s dating Tiff now, right? What if they’re much closer than I suspect? What if she’s actually falling in love with Tiff?

What if that’s why she’s nervous?

Leaning in close to Stacia’s side, he laid his lips to Stacia’s ear.

“I love Tiff, too,” Sam whispered. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure our girlfriend gets through this one way or the other. Okay? And speaking of, can we three go to dinner tonight then spend a little time in a bed?”

Stacia turned a deep and blazing crimson color.

She nodded her head fractionally and let out a soft breath. Finally, she turned her head and pressed her mouth to Sam’s ear.

“Okay. Tiff really misses you by the way. She wanted me to invite you over tonight. Having dinner first would be really nice,” Stacia said as softly as she could. “She’s rather possessive of you but works hard to not show it.”

Chuckling at having gotten it right, Sam kissed Stacia on the lips and then patted her cheek.

“I understand. I’ll take care of it,” Sam said, then moved back into his original position.

Coming face to face with Caer’s head.

The soul was staring hard at him, while Irene’s head seemed to be more concerned with watching what Irene was writing.

The arm on Caer’s side of the body, which Sam was still positive Caer had no control over, pointed to Caer’s mouth.

Raising her eyebrows, Caer waited.

Sam nodded his head once.

Now that Irene could hear what her soul said, and see it, it’d become extremely coy with Sam. Seeking him out when Irene wasn’t around to coil around his arm or snuggle with him.

Caer’s head had clearly been against it at first but had given up quickly.

Likely because she didn’t have a choice.

“Grab our core later,” Caer mouthed.

The head of Irene’s soul whipped around at that, staring at Caer.

“Make us cum,” mouthed the Lich. “Horny.”

Blinking, Sam didn’t quite know how to respond.

Then he realized what was happening when the Irene-head looked at Sam and then began motioning to their shared core with the other arm. All the while nodding her head as well.

Irene was who she was before, but she didn’t know who she really was anymore. Not entirely.

She’d distanced herself a bit from everyone and was clearly looking inward.

All the while, her sex drive was still ramped to full as it always was. Just with no outlet.

The two-headed soul was drowning in desire. Caer and Irene both.

And they wanted to get off.

Just outside the door to the meeting room, Sam could sense Inese bringing people over.

“Okay,” Sam said, then stood up. Disguising the whole thing.

He could get Irene’s soul off pretty easily on the car ride back. Wouldn’t even take him much.

Irene and Stacia both looked at him with curious looks.

“Inese is coming,” Sam said moving to one side of the doorway and waiting. Almost out of sight.

Irene put her pen down and stood up, Stacia following her movement a second after.

“—just in here,” Inese said, her voice coming into range.

“You think this is worthwhile?” asked someone in a whisper. Sam doubted any normal person would have been able to hear it.

“I do. But that’s not my place to say. I just run this office,” Inese replied.

Both voices fell silent as the click and thump of shoes came closer.

“Ah, and here we are,” Inese said, walking right by Sam and into the conference room. Two women and a man followed Inese into the room.

Sam immediately identified that both of the women were Imps. The third man was a low level Elemental. Though he did seem rather puffed up, as if he were in charge of the other two.

Both Imps were wearing Sam’s old brand.

Ah.

That’ll make this very easy and we can speed things up considerably. How delightful.

Jena still doesn’t suspect that it’s her very own people that are the weakness right now.

Reaching out, Sam laid a hand on each Imp’s shoulder, locking them within their brand. He stared hard at the man, waiting for him to turn around.

Sam knew he would. Knew eventually, he’d make eye contact with him. Then he’d glamour him and they could move right along to forcing the contract.

“I… huh?” said the Elemental man.

Then he turned and found his companions standing oddly.

“What are you two do—”

The words died away as his eyes found Sam’s.

With a heavy blow against the Elemental’s mind, Sam glamoured him to the point that he wouldn’t even remember his name if Sam didn’t release him after this.

“Right,” Sam said, giving the shoulders of the Imps a squeeze. “I’m not going to bother learning your names. To me, you’re almost nothing. In fact, you’re Imp-One and Imp-Two.”

Sam emphasized each name with a squeeze.

“To confirm, you are?” Sam asked, pulling on the Imp on his right a bit, forcing her to face him.

“I’m Imp-One,” said the tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed Asian supermodel-like beauty.

“And you?” Sam asked, pulling on the second Imp, forcing her to face him.

“Imp-Two,” squeaked the short, full-figured, blue-eyed, blonde Imp.

They seemed to be cut from the same theme as most of the Imps he’d seen as of late.

They tended to be pretty, but that wasn’t a guarantee.

Every Imp he’d seen since returning had been on the weirdly overly beautiful side of the equation. Irma being the pinnacle of it and Inese right behind her.

Then again, wasn’t Jes an Imp too? Which means that’s what she looked like as an Imp.

Well, maybe not her bust and hip size. She did say she was smaller in those in life.

I feel like Jena might have tinkered with their entire race.

“Which one of you is in charge?” Sam asked.

“He is,” they replied at the same time.

“Why not either of you?” Irene asked. “Up until recently, it seemed everything was all Imps.”

“Mistress Jena has been moving Elementals to positions of power,” said Imp-One.

“I was a manager, and now I’m just an analyst,” said Imp-Two.

“I see,” Stacia said, taking a seat. “Inese, is that what you’re seeing, too?”

Everyone looked at the lovely Imp who ran the building.

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m mostly just processing paperwork and moving people around. Feel a lot like a staffing agency more than anything. I do report to an Elemental now, though.”

“Well, that’d explain a few things,” Irene said with a chuckle, putting her hands on her hips. “Gives us a better way in, too. We just disguise the whole thing like an Elemental attack. Have a few Elementals vanish, including this little bucket of whatever. He looks like a jerk.”

Irene gestured at the man who was still completely glamoured by Sam.

“Indeed,” Stacia said with a nod.

“Then Mistress Jena,” Irene said, taking a mocking tone with the name. “Won’t know what to do with her little self. Is it an Elemental problem or an Imp problem?”

Clicking her tongue, Irene gave her head a shake and flipped her hair to one side. It was a mirror image of almost the last thing Caer had done as a whole person.

Sam had noticed several mannerisms in Irene that hadn’t been there previously.

She was clearly the dominant personality. Completely and absolutely in control without a question.

But there were times, here and there, where he could see that Caer may not be “living” anymore, but some of her might have snuck over.

It wasn’t anything Sam had to worry about, but it was worth at least noting in case Irene noticed it as well. He was positive that she while she was not at risk of losing herself, she was certainly at risk of doubting herself.

“Perfect, Irene. Though…,” Stacia agreed then frowned, looking at the two Imps. “What were you supposed to do here? What was your goal?”

“To… to sign the contract and negotiate for our best rates. Frank, my boss, told me we’re signing one way or the other,” Imp-Two said.

“Yes, we’re supposed to sign,” Imp-One agreed.

“And you?” Sam asked, still holding the eyes of the Elemental.

“Sign the contract, lowest rate, take charge of the project,” said the man in flat emotionless tone.

“Uh huh. And the Imps?” Sam asked.

“Mine. My property,” said the Elemental. “My reward for getting this contract pushed through.”

“But… I got the contract,” Inese complained, shaking her head.

The Elemental didn’t say anything that.

“Inese got the contract, not you,” said Sam. “Why are you getting the Imps?”

“I took credit,” the man said. “Inese will also be my property and then the building will be cleared.”

“Seems like Mistress Jena is really laying into her Imp pool,” Irene muttered. “We’ll definitely put the blame on the Elementals then for this. Maybe they’ll break out at the same time that others help them escape.”

“None of them are yours,” Sam countermanded the Elemental. “They’re mine. You will do everything in your power to protect them, and every other Imp you can protect as well. You’ll bring them here when Inese commands you to, so I can collect them. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” said the man.

“Great. Now go to sleep and do not wake up until I command you to,” Sam dictated.

The man laid down on the ground right there, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

“Well, Imp-One, Imp-Two,” Sam said, looking at the two women.

“I’m all yours,” Imp-Two said quickly.

“Likewise,” Imp-One agreed.

“Great. You report to Inese,” Sam said then permanently modified their brands. Matching the brand Inese and all his of his Imps wore. “And we can begin our plans.”

Twenty-Seven - Too Deep -

Thrusting deep into Inese one last time, Sam leaned over the top of the beautiful amazon-like Imp.

“Ahh,” Inese got out. Her hands held tightly to Sam’s shoulders. Her legs slowly lowered, her feet dangling down past the edge of his desk.

Shuddering a bit with each breath, Inese looked spent and then some.

Sam let out a quick puff of breath, then leaned down and kissed Inese once. He sat back down in Inese’s office chair, leaving the Imp sprawled out across her own desk.

“That was amazing,” groaned Inese, not moving or getting up. Breathing hard, she seemed unwilling to do much other than just enjoy the afterglow. “Gets better every time.”

“Glad you liked it. And of course, it does. The more we do it, the closer we sync up,” Sam murmured with a grin. Looking at Imp-One and Imp-Two, Sam was gratified to see they both looked like they wanted a turn on the desk.

Not to mention, they were well-fed for possibly the first time in their lives. He’d split off some of the Essence he was generating with Inese to feed all three Imps. Sitting in chairs in each corner, the two Imps looked extremely sleepy.

Just like Inese had been the first time he’d fed her.

“Now. That’s what it’s like to be fed,” Sam said and held up his hands. “And while I can’t feed everyone, I’m going to take on quite a few Imps personally. Most will be fed from themselves as I generate it, but… I’m sure we can come to arrangements for certain individuals to be fed by others, from those I feed. You two owe Inese for your first meal.”

“It’s on me,” Inese said, waving a limp wrist lightly. Before it thumped back down to her desk. The very naked and large Imp wasn’t used to sex at all yet. Which wasn’t surprising since he’d given her her first time not long ago. “They’re my subordinates. Least I can do.”

“Hm. Lucky girls then. Whatever,” Sam said with a chuckle. Leaning to one side in his chair, he put his free hand on Inese’s thigh and began to gently stroke her skin with his fingertips. “Imp-One, Imp-Two. I have plans for you. I need you to start bringing every Imp you come into contact with here.

“But only if you think they’d be worth having in our organization. As I said, I can’t feed them all, there’s only so much of me and so much time I can invest into simply tumbling Imps. We need to be selective. You two got in by virtue of simply being on hand. Which means you need to earn your places. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master,” Imp-One said immediately.

“I’ll do anything for you and you can do anything to me,” murmured Imp-Two.

“Ha. Well, I’ve got a large feed harem, that’s not how you’ll earn your way. Support Imp-One and Inese as your boss,” Sam countered. Though he couldn’t deny he liked the look of Imp-Two. More so because he could actually smell the virginity on both her and Imp-One.

Too many mouths to feed though. Just like Irma said.

“Start going through all the Imps in the country. Figure out who’s got the right stuff that they’d be worth feeding. Work your way down from the top to the bottom,” Sam said, moving his hand across Inese’s thigh and up to her pubic mound. Tenderly, he caressed her smooth and warm skin there.

He was a fan of this time period’s grooming habits. He almost never encountered anyone with hair down there anymore.

“I understand,” Inese murmured, still not moving. “I’ll start arranging meetings. What if they say no to your offer?”

“I brand them anyways then turn them back to where they were with a few compulsions. It’ll protect us but give them the chance to not be part of this,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Best I can do. For those who want to join, they’ll have to arrange their feedings, or to be fed by other Imps”

“Who do you want to arrange that?” Imp-One asked.

“You,” Sam said, glancing over to Imp-One. She seemed to be the more driven between herself and Imp-Two. She’d serve better in this role. “You’re my Feeder. Schedule it out and arrange it. I’m available from twelve-to-five Monday through Friday. Then again midnight to five in the morning.

“Ten minutes a session. That’s five to eight minutes for the feeding and the rest to recover and dress. Have Inese approve everything. I’m serious when I’m telling you she’s your boss. She reports directly to Irma, my First Imp. She’ll know how many I can support in full, so look to her for totals. Is that all understood?”

“Yes,” was the chorus response he got from the two Imps.

“Great. Have everyone brought here. We’ll just use this office as the recruitment center. When we get the new office at the facility tomorrow you can schedule them at either location. I’ll hold a portal open here since I actually can. Now we ne—”

Sam felt a gentle tug on one of the portals he kept open at all times.

“One second,” Sam murmured then turned his senses inward. Looking toward his Essence draw and trailing it back to his plane, and then to his portals, Sam waited.

Whoever had pulled, would pull again. That was simply how this went. Then he’d know who was asking to see him.

Another pull came. It came from the portal leading to Retribution’s fort.

Raising his eyebrows at the realization that it was Eugenia, Sam brought his mind back into himself.

“Well, I have to cut this short,” Sam said, standing up. Perched between Inese’s legs again he looked down to the tousled Imp. “You good? Need anything, Inese?”

“More sex,” moaned the Imp, her eyes still closed.

“Later,” Sam promised, patting her hip. Then he stepped out from behind Inese’s desk and pulled up his pants. “I’ll check back in after this meeting. Start scheduling my meetings for tomorrow. I expect to have at least one an hour to start with until you can fill my calendar.”

“I understand,” Imp-One said.

“I’ll make sure we get only the right ones,” Imp-Two added.

Sam opened a portal to his plane and stepped through. Moving to where he kept all the active portals, he moved through the one Eugenia had been pulling on.

Stepping through, he found himself standing next to the Scales.

Eugenia wasn’t far off, waiting patiently with her hands behind her back. She was wearing a blouse, dress, and a light coat. She looked like any number of women Sam met on the street amongst the mortals.

“Judge,” Sam said respectfully. While she technically wasn’t the Judge right now, she still retained all the powers and jurisdiction that were given to her. She simply couldn’t exercise most of them because she was not on her throne. “You look lovely.”

“What? Oh. Oh! Thank you,” Eugenia said, looking down at herself. Shifting one way then the other, she made the dress flap lightly as if she were admiring herself. “You know, the fashion has certainly changed, but it’s rather lovely all the same.”

Changed? Changed from what?

Errr… wait.

Could… could the Judge be like Miles?

For a long while, Sam had suspected that this wasn’t the first existence. The first universe.

There were times when Miles let slip a story that didn’t really match anything Sam had ever experienced.

“Oh?” Sam asked, feeling somewhat emboldened. “Was that fashion before this universe? And if so, what was the time period?”

Freezing in place, the Judge slowly lifted her head and met Sam’s eyes directly.

“You know?” she asked softly, her voice like brittle glass.

“Suspected it for a very long time,” Sam said with a wide smile. “Though you just confirmed it for me. I assumed you and Miles were both mortal at one point. Must have been quite a while ago though.”

Eugenia’s mouth became a flat line, her lips hard pressed together.

“You must never speak of it to anyone. Ever. Do you understand? Only Miles, Seville, Leena, and I know. And now you. No one. Ever. Swear it to me,” Eugenia begged. Her eyes were wide and her skin pale as bleached sheets.

“Sure. I swear it. But only because it’s you,” Sam said, then moved in close to Eugenia. Dipping his head, he kissed her, and then began trailing kisses down from her mouth to her neck. “I swear it to you, my sweet and dark Judge, my Eugenia. I’ll speak of it to no one other than those you listed.”

The tense and practically immobile Judge slowly loosened up under Sam’s assault on her face and neck. Her hands came up to rest on his shoulders.

“Yours, hm?” Eugenia said after several seconds, tilting her head to one side and exposing her neck fully to him.

“Mine. All mine. Admit it. Tell me you’re all mine, Eugenia,” Sam demanded. Then he bit down into Eugenia’s neck. Slowly increasing the pressure and force, he was determined to leave a visible mark on her. He was feeling slightly possessive of the incredibly powerful woman right now.

“Nnn!” squealed Eugenia, her hands digging into him, but not pulling away from him.

Not willing to stop until she played his game, Sam began to suck on her flesh. She was going to get a hickie as well as a bite mark since she was resisting.

“All yours, Sameerixis. I’m yours,” Eugenia moaned, leaning into him. “I’m your Judge. Yours. Your Eugenia.”

Satisfied with that, Sam released her neck and then stood up. Smiling down at her, he raised his eyebrows.

“And what does my Eugenia need of me?” Sam asked.

Panting softly, Eugenia glared up at him. Then she smacked his shoulder with the bottom of her fist.

“I’m the Judge. Respect me,” Eugenia growled.

“I do respect you. I also know you’re mine. Shall I mark the other side of your neck?” Sam asked.

Wrinkling her nose, Eugenia looked to be thinking about that.

“Yes, you should. But later,” she said, surprising him. “I need a favor. From my lover.”

Sam owed her a rather large number of favors considering she’d swooped in and saved him. Let alone as her lover.

Nodding his head, Sam waited.

“We’ve started our war early with the Silent One,” Eugenia said, a grim look taking over her visage. “It’s not exactly the way I wanted it, but… it’s what had to be done. Seville doesn’t seem particularly interested, he never really was, but Leena and the rest of the Silent One’s forces are moving.”

“Leena?” Sam asked, laying his hands to Eugenia’s hips.

“You don’t know who—whatever. Leena. Seville’s curse. The Elf,” Eugenia said. “She’s been with him as far back as we’ve ever known of Seville. I’ve killed her personally twice. She just… comes back. Somehow. Every time.

“He despises her and she loves him. It’s… we just call her his curse.”

Sam immediately knew who Eugenia was talking about.

“Alright. I’m kinda launching an operation against Jenaphila right now but—” Sam leaned in close to Eugenia and kissed her heavily, sliding his arms closed around her hips. Several seconds later, he broke away. “For my lover, for my Eugenia, my pretty little Judge, I’ll do what I can. What do you need? By the way, that dress really is lovely on you.”

Letting out a nearly breathless whimper, Eugenia gazed up at him.

I’m indeed the Torment of Lust. Just as strong as ever.

Didn’t even use Essence.

Seduced the Judge herself.

Pretty sure she’s falling in love with me.

“We’re going to attack an armory of the Silent One’s,” Eugenia said softly. “It’s almost entirely guarded by mortals and maybe one or two of his Angels.

“At the same time, we’ll be attacking his launching area. That’ll be where he has all of his Elementals, Planars, Arch-Angels, and other heavy hitters.”

Sam nodded at that.

He didn’t actually understand what she meant by launching area, but there was a lot going on here he only had assumptions about.

“We’re not going to actually attack it directly or head on. Just enough to keep all his forces there and penned up,” Eugenia explained. “We don’t have the manpower or the weaponry to truly take him on. At this point, we’re more like… more like the French resistance during the occupation.”

“I wasn’t around when that war happened. Was locked up,” Sam said. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Eugenia clicked her tongue at that, her brows pressing together.

“That man was the worst. He single-handedly unbalanced the afterlife for fifty years. Necromancers shouldn’t be allowed to live,” Eugenia complained. “Almost as bad as a Lich. And speaking of, whatever happened to Caer? My scouts told me they saw you talking to her before we got there, but she wasn’t there when we arrived.”

“Oh, uh… my Witch killed her. Kind of,” Sam murmured. “Caer’s soul was subsumed by my Witch, Irene, while Caer melded Irene’s body with her own. Irene ended up with the body, and Caer’s powers, while Caer ended up becoming little better than a passenger.”

“What?” Eugenia gasped, peering at Sam with absolute shock.

“Caer’s dead. Or mostly dead? Mostly dead, yeah,” Sam said, nodding his head. “Irene controls her and her powers. Just consider her gone.”

Eugenia opened her mouth, then closed it.

“I need you to lead the mission for the armory,” Eugenia finally said. “Probably need to be a pretty small team though. Four really. Five if you don’t mind being crammed in. And it would last for a few days. It’s a break-in, really.”

“What kind of armory? What’re you after exactly?” Sam asked. He was curious now. Curious and interested. “And what exactly would you need from us?”

“Planar armory. And… and something else. Weapons that don’t belong here on this plane that the Silent One collects. From… other… locations,” Eugenia explained. It was obvious she didn’t want to explain more than that and Sam wasn’t sure he could push her. “As for what I need from you… well, violence, I suppose. It’s a break-in, but the insertion part of it is already taken care of. That’s all on my end. I just need someone who can wipe out the guards, steal everything, and get out. Wiping out the guards won’t exactly be quick or easy either. You’ll probably end up having a rolling gun battle while you empty the place at the same time.”

“Right… ah… hm. And where exactly would this take place?” inquired Sam. “Would I be expecting to have the police show up?”

“So deep underground that the only way in or out is the way I’ll be getting you there. And out,” Eugenia admitted. “There’ll be no reinforcements for you or them. There’s no way to contact anyone. And no way out. Once you’re in, you’re in.”

That’s somewhat… difficult.

I’m right in the middle of this Op on Jenaphila. I can’t just walk away from it.

“It’d only be three days. Two at most. You’d load up on a Thursday, start twelve or so hours later, and be done by Monday. It’s on a set schedule that no one can change,” said Eugenia. “It’d have to happen this week. This Thursday. I’d consider us even as far as me saving you and if you clear out the armory completely… I’ll owe you a favor instead. A big one.”

Sam thought hard on the problem.

The time isn’t that bad. It’ll take us that long just to get most of the equipment over to the complex. We technically don’t even start doing the crossover until that point.

I’d really just be losing a few days spent ‘recruiting’ imps and… spinning my wheels.

If I took Wren, Tiffany, and Stacia, that’d be a very strong group. We could make it work incredibly well.

Wren and Tiffany were bored anyways. They’ve been doing really basic stuff.

With Abigail.

Huh, maybe bring Abigail? She’s pretty quickly becoming the electronics tech. Irma mentioned she isn’t really doing much for the Harem or Feed Harem anymore.

Then again… with as much Essence as I send her way and Life Essence from her networked deals… she’s going to live a few thousand years at this point.

And… and I don’t want her to die.

I should pull her into a formal Incubus contract and keep her as she is today.

Wren, Tiffany, Abigail, Stacia, Me. That’s five.

“You said five would be a squeeze?” Sam asked, his eyes moving back to Eugenia.

“Yes, but doable. You’ll just end up with almost no room to move for twelve hours. I can only imagine using the bathroom will be… unpleasant,” Eugenia said. “And portals won’t work where you’re going by the way.”

Tiffany’s kinda small. So is Stacia.

I can make this work.

“Alright. I’ll do it on one condition. Just how much of a favor is this that you’ll owe me?” Sam asked.

“Anything you want,” Eugenia said, smiling up at him as she laid her arms around Sam’s shoulders.

“What if I wanted to put a few children in you?” Sam asked, deciding to test just how far he’d charmed Eugenia, and how much of a favor she was talking about.

Blinking several times, Eugenia took in a slow and shaky breath.

“Alright,” Eugenia choked out, then cleared her throat. “That’s fine. I can give you children, but this’ll need to be a lot more than just being lovers. You’ll need to help me raise them as their father.”

“Ah. Yes,” Sam replied, suddenly realizing he’d done far more than seduce Eugenia and that she was actually in love with him. “I was—”

“Good. Good. We can start trying for a pregnancy today then,” Eugenia said, her arms tightening around his shoulders. “I hadn’t expected to be a mother but… I think I can do it.”

“Let’s put a hold on that,” Sam said, suddenly realizing he couldn’t actually back out of the favor he’d asked for either. It’d risk Eugenia’s mood and how she felt about him. “Maybe after your father gets back. For now, we’ll just call it a favor owed.”

“Oh. Yes, that’d be better. Perfect,” Eugenia said, smiling at him. “We should still practice anyways. Maybe it’s unbecoming of me or maybe I’m just more of a bad girl than I ever thought, but… I really… want to have sex right now.”

Why not?

“Then let’s go find you a bed, my Judge,” Sam said smiling back at her. “A lady such as the Judge shouldn’t be enjoyed on the dirty ground, but always in something soft and worthy of her.”

“Good that you know it,” Eugenia murmured, staring up at him.

Twenty-Eight - Filled Box -

Tiffany grunted and shifted around in the tightly packed box.

She ended up getting her shoulder up under Sam’s, but not much more than that.

“Ugh. Okay, can we swap again? My shoulder is going numb,” Tiffany whispered.

“Sure, get on your back,” Sam said with a grin.

Though they were in pitch blackness, he knew Tiffany could see as well as he could.

“No!” Hissed the Were. “You end up talking me out of my pants. I’m already a mess down there. I don’t need any more of your spunk running down into my butt crack.”

“Sure you do. You need as much as you can be filled with,” Sam disagreed, slowly moving from one side to the other. Sliding Tiffany down onto her back in the crate. “Like an empty bank vault that needs to be filled to the brim with deposits.”

“Sammy, knock it off. I’m literally oozing all over and… and… fine. Whatever. Fill me up,” Tiffany said, giving up. Getting down on her back, she reached down between them and started working at her pants. “Not like it can get any worse than it is in my fucking swampy panties and it isn’t like I don’t like sex.”

The crate suddenly began to glow green.

“You’re shitting me,” Tiffany said, her top button undone and her zipper down. Looking down toward her feet, just as Sam was, they could both see the indicator was flashing a steady green. Then she looked back up at him with a smirk. “Raincheck?”

“Of course. Can’t get enough of my Were,” Sam said and then kissed Tiffany deeply.

Clutching to him, Tiffany kissed him back just as ardently. Her knee coming up to rub against his thigh.

Having spent the last twelve hours locked in a tight-fitting box with Tiffany had been interesting. At first she’d been just as she always was.

Recalcitrant, moody, and slightly angry.

Two orgasms and a lot of kissing later and Tiffany had become a font of emotions, hidden desires, and wishes.

Followed by an innumerable number of orgasms.

The Were was softening faster than Sam had.

She’d even somehow managed to talk a conversation around the idea that she’d eventually like to have kids. That she and Stacia had talked about it briefly.

Pulling her head back with an exhale, Tiffany laughed softly.

“Good. You’re going to get a lot of Were. And Vamp. Stace and I plan on stealing more of your time. We figure between the two of us, you’re more likely to do what we want,” Tiffany said. “Now get off me and open the lid.”

Regretfully, Sam shifted to one side and laid his hand to the lid above them. Putting a trickle of Essence into it, he activated the warding that held the whole thing shut.

With a wooden creak, it began to groan. There was a suddenly tinkling as the nails gave way and landed atop what sounded like concrete.

Pushing against the lid, Sam felt the whole thing move, then topple to one side as its center of weight went over the edge.

With a bang and a clatter, Sam freed himself.

Getting to his feet, he peered around the room they were in.

Eugenia had told him they’d be dumped in a warehouse that they should be able to operate freely out of.

Or at least for thirty-six hours before someone came to deliver the next shipment.

Tiffany reached up and patted Sam on the stomach roughly.

“Hey, fun view and all but can you get off me?” Tiffany whispered. “I need to secure the room. Wren will fuckin’ scoop my brains out if I don’t do my job.”

They do defer to Wren as an element leader if Decima isn’t around.

Decima then Wren. But planning is all Stacia and Irene.

Getting off Tiffany, Sam got out of the crate and looked for the other two.

Spotting the smaller of the two, Sam went over to it.

At the same time, Tiffany stood up, got her fly and pants buttoned, shouldered her SMG, and got out of the crate.

Watching Tiffany as she started to clear the room, Sam fed another trickle of Essence into the warding.

Looking back to the wooden top, he watched the nails leap out of their holes.

Interesting.

Pulling the lid off, he peered inside.

Irene was there, curled up in a fetal position. Armored vests and ammo cans were all around her. The two headed soul that was also Irene was curled up in an identical position inside the crate, though half merged through the items as well.

Admiring the view, Sam smiled at Irene who was peering up at him with squinting eyes.

“Oh, look. I found a toy at the bottom of my box,” Sam murmured. “I can’t wait to play with it. A lot.”

“Har har,” Irene said with a muted smile. Then she held a hand up to him. “Help me out already?”

Grabbing her hand and reaching in to slip his other hand under Irene’s shoulder, he pried her out of the crate.

“Ugh. Caer, you made our chest way too big,” Irene complained, pushing her breasts around inside of her clothes.

The two-headed soul sat up from the crate.

Caer began to clearly argue about that point, the Irene-head nodding along.

“No. No, he doesn’t,” Irene said stepping out of the crate. “They don’t need to be this huge to get his attention. Do they, Sam?”

“I mean, it helps. You’re beautiful,” Sam said with a shrug as he started looking around for the last crate. “But no, they’re not needed.”

“See? He said…”

Frowning, Sam’s head whipped around to where the soul was. He swore he’d heard something just now. Staring hard at the beautifully strange ephemeral being, Sam tried to listen.

“I agree!” said the Irene-head. “Big boobs are exactly what we needed to…”

The voice faded away again. The Caer-head responded to whatever Irene had finished with.

“—will keep his attention on us. We need to keep him to ourself. All ours,” the Caer-head said.

“Yes! We love him, we must keep him. We hate everyone else! They steal his time from us!” proclaimed the Irene-head. “Even Caer loves him just from the short time she’s been here.”

“Well… I don’t know about love him. But I want to have sex with him really bad. I ache so badly in…”

Again, the sound of Caer’s voice faded away.

Either I’m getting more attuned to their soul, or they’re getting stronger.

Reaching out, Sam casually grabbed the soul by its core and took it firmly in hand.

Causing both heads to let out deep moans. Then draped themselves over Sam’s arm, clinging to him.

Squeezing her core, Sam held onto her, and went to the other crate.

Irene tottered where she stood for a second, having to grab the top of the crate she’d been in.

“Oooh. Not so rough, Sammy. Warn a girl next time before you manhandle her soul,” Irene complained, then clearly got herself physically under control. “I mean, I admit I like it, but just warn me.”

Rubbing his thumb along the soul-core, Sam laid his other hand against the warding that held Wren and Abigail.

Stacia had been needed for the primary mission against Jena. Which was why Irene had been subbed in.

Rounding his team out was Wren, Tiffany, Irene, Abigail, and himself.

“Harder!” cried the Irene-head.

“Squeeze it, squeeze it!” demanded the Caer-head. “Squeeze us! Make us pop our panties!”

Smirking, Sam could only wonder at what Irene likely had to listen to all day. Her soul was always rather very blunt about what it wanted, as far as he could tell.

And that was before they could converse.

With a clatter, the lid of the last crate slid off, revealing the contents.

An annoyed looking Wren, and a bleary eyed Abigail.

“Thank you,” Wren growled. “She snores as loud as a truck motor.”

“Sorry,” Abigail groaned as Wren stood up and got out of the crate. “Still getting used to this.”

Wren shook her head in annoyance, grabbing up her SMG that’d been stowed at her feet. In seconds, she had it up and ready.

“Tiffany is working to clear the area,” Sam said.

“Good,” Wren growled.

Sam grabbed the big Cambion by her collar and pulled her into himself, kissing her hard.

After several seconds, he eased her away and patted her on the chest.

“Be nice. And thank you for being you,” Sam said. Then he reached into the crate and helped Abigail get to her feet.

A bemused and somewhat stunned-looking Wren took several steps away from Sam before she got her footing. Then she raised her SMG and stalked off toward where Tiffany was.

“Thanks,” Abigail said with a moan. Then she started rubbing at her hips. “That was a tight fit. I think Wren’s elbow was in my boobs and her hip in my gut the whole way over.”

“I imagine,” Sam said, squeezing on Irene’s soul-core. It elicited a dual moan from the spirit. “Your gear is in my crate. Set up and get yourself ready.”

“Yeah, on it,” Abigail said with a yawn.

Walking over to the crate, she stuck her head in and then stood up straight.

“Oh, my god. It reeks of sex,” Abigail said with an accusatory tone. Turning in place, she stared right at Sam.

“Was a long wait. We passed the time,” Sam answered and then went back over to Irene. Squeezing her core like it was a stress ball the entire time.

Letting out a short huff as he got closer, Irene looked up from the boxes she was pulling out of the crate.

“If you’re going to make me dirty my panties, could you wait till after I finish unloading?” Irene asked in a breathy voice.

Glancing to the soul, Sam saw that both Caer and Irene were clearly deep in the throes of pleasure.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Sam said. “Everything make it okay? You’re our way out after this,” said Sam.

Eugenia had told them that their escape would be how they got in. Being transported without being checked.

The next pickup was going to be in thirty-six hours and it’d be whatever crates were put out in the front lobby. After those were tagged and dumped through, they’d bring in the delivery as well.

At that point, everything would go to shit when they realized the armory had been attacked.

“Yeah, the warding seals made it just fine,” answered Irene, looking back to her work. “Everything’s here. I’ll get the pocket-dimension set up shortly and we can start emptying this place first.”

“Great. Thanks Irene. I know you weren’t expecting to be here but… I appreciate it,” said Sam, stroking Irene’s core tenderly and giving it a light squeeze.

“Nnnn, of course, Sammy,” Irene said, her eyes fluttering closed for a second. “You know how I feel. Even if I don’t say it. I’m sure it’s obvious. Just doing my part.”

“I love you,” said Irene’s soul. “I love you so much. You saw me always for what I was and never shied away. I love you. I love you!”

“I’m kinda falling for you,” said Caer. “You were flirting with me and you were clearly interested in me. And you knew I was Lich.”

Hm. Such a twisted thing.

Good thing her soul is honest.

“I hope you kill us with sex,” Irene’s soul purred. “I want to die with your dick inside me. To feel my heart stop as you ram it in me. Bury a knife in my heart as you fuck me wildly.”

“Oh! Yes! I’d… yes! Please!” cried Caer’s soul. “I want to feel my death as I hit an orgasm. Please?”

Very twisted.

***

Wren and Tiffany were camped out in front of the only way into the warehouse. A large caliber machine gun on a bi-pod positioned atop a number of crates was their defense.

Tiffany was behind the weapon right now, while Wren took a break nearby.

Irene and Abigail were systematically going through the warehouse and pushing or pulling everything into the pocket dimension Eugenia had provided.

Sam was personally reminded of what cartoons called “Hammerspace” as far as the pocket dimension was concerned. It existed where it was held, and could hold anything, as well as allow anything to be retrieved that’d been put into it.

And what would happen if I put Jenaphila in it?

Wandering over to where Wren rested, Sam looked at the Were behind the weapon.

“I can hear them out there every now and then,” Tiffany said, not looking away from the sights of her weapon. “Usually just walking by, but… I can hear them.”

“You already said that,” Wren mumbled, half asleep. “We’ll just follow the plan and we’ll be fine. Nothing in or out except for the scheduled times. Remember?”

“She probably wasn’t talking to you, my sweet Cambion,” Sam said with a chuckle. He was looming over Wren right now.

Eyes snapping open, Wren’s reddish-brown orbs focused in on him.

“Oh, hey,” Wren said, giving him a slow smile. “My turn in the crate with you?”

Snickering at that, Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“I wish. When we’re done, sure,” Sam replied.

“After you pay my raincheck,” Tiffany corrected him. “Taking you home to Stace. Then you can go find the chew toy.”

“Chew toy?” Sam asked. It was the second time someone had called Wren that. He wanted to make sure they were talking about Wren.

“I mean, I kinda am,” Wren admitted, closing her eyes with a grin. “I don’t mind it. I like being your favorite chew toy. Keyword favorite.

“Don’t be jealous, Tiff.”

Tiffany snorted at that and started to respond, before the words died on her lips.

Easing forward, she braced the butt of the machinegun into her shoulder and slid her finger into the trigger guard.

“Don’t fire immediately,” Sam murmured, realizing what was about to happen. “Gimmie a second to see if I can—”

The door to the warehouse swung inward and a young man with a clipboard in his other hand stepped inside.

He was clearly Human and looked to be dressed for a normal day at a business office.

“What—”

Sam snared the man and lashed his mind with his own.

Stumbling to his knees, the man groaned and then crumpled to the ground completely. Gradually curling up into a fetal position.

The door slowly swung shut all on its own.

Moving beyond Tiffany and the now rising Wren, Sam stepped over to the man and grabbed him by one shoulder. Dragging him out of the way, Sam took him back behind the gun emplacement.

Rolling him over on his back, Sam stared hard into the man’s eyes.

“Tell me everything you know about this location,” Sam demanded.

Groaning, the man began to slowly tremble from head to toe.

Shit. Is his mind blocked?

The trembling became a full-on body shake that had his feet and head smacking into the ground repeatedly.

Leaning down, Sam pressed his hands to the man’s head and shoulders. Trying to keep him from injuring himself.

Grunting, struggling against himself and Sam, the man continued to thrash around.

Wren, Irene, and Abigail watched on, even as Sam struggled to help.

A white froth began to fleck and appear on the man’s lips. Slowly turning into a strange fountain of foam pouring out of the man’s mouth.

“Shit,” Sam said and started to pull the man off to one side. The last thing he needed was this person making a mess of himself right next to the gun.

“Can’t you help him?” Abigail asked, following.

“No. Pretty sure this is a mind lock he had and that I just triggered,” Sam admitted, feeling somewhat guilty. “He’s as good as a loaf of bread. He’s as dead as if I shot him in the damn head.”

“Oh? Well, good thing I’m a Lich,” Irene said at the same time Caer said the same thing. “Soon as he passes, I’ll call his soul out and we can question it.”

“I’m pretty sure that won’t be an option,” Sam muttered, crouching over the man even as the foam went from white to a dark red color.

“What? Why not?” Caer asked, her tone indignant. “Don’t doubt my power, Sameerixis.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m strong enough to call any soul, Sammy,” Irene said.

“I’m not. I just don’t think its an option because I’m betting his soul is going to go straight to the Silent One’s afterlife, or just cease to exist,” Sam grumbled. “We’re not fighting Jena here. We’re fighting… we’re fighting God, I guess.”

That was a sobering statement for everyone.

In the haste to get ready, no one had actually considered the truth of what they were doing.

They were rebelling against the single person who could wipe their soul out with a single syllable or a wayward fart.

If things went wrong, there would be no turning back from here.

“We should be thankful that he’s the Silent One,” Sam muttered as the man’s eyes, which had rolled back in his head, began to burst blood vessels. “Him being a deadbeat dad works in our favor this time. He won’t come looking to find out what happened to this one soul.”

“I find no consolation in that,” Caer stated. “I’m a Lich. An undead Lich Witch. We are unstoppable. But to have someone merely break my soul outright. That… no. That’s terrifying.”

“Not sure I like that,” Irene murmured, clearly paraphrasing everything Caer said down.

“Tell me about it,” Sam said.

Suddenly the man went stiff, his arms and legs locked together at his sides.

With a final exhalation that was bloody foam, the man went absolutely still.

“No soul,” said Irene, confirming Sam’s earlier statement. “There’s nothing there at all. As if it didn’t exist.”

“Possible it didn’t. Might have been a construct,” Sam said with a hollow chuckle. “No way to know. It’s the Silent One. He could do almost anything he wanted.”

Abigail grunted at that.

“Going back to the crates. No sense in sitting here wallowing in our fears,” Abigail said. “I’m just a tiny little mortal. No sense in even worrying about that at any level.”

“Oh, speaking of,” Sam said, getting to his feet. “Abby, will you sign a binding contract with me?”

“Huh? No. I already finished our contract. No need for another one,” Abigail said, turning her head to meet his eyes.

“Ah, yes. A new contract. Nothing at all required from you other than your agreement. For nothing but your agreement, you’ll get eternal youth,” Sam said with a smile.

Abigail frowned at that, slowly turning around to face him directly.

“I… I don’t want you dying of old age later,” Sam admitted, feeling sheepish. “I can heal damage, bring you back from the dead, but I can’t rewind the clock. I can only stop it at whatever it’s at.”

Slowly, Abigail gave him a smile. An ear to ear, tooth showing, warm smile.

“Yeah. I’ll make an agreement with you, Sammy,” Abigail murmured.

“Ugh. It makes my heart hurt,” Irene’s soul muttered. “I hate this.”

“We should have him to ourselves. We deserve him more,” Caer agreed. “Let’s seduce him after this. We’ll let him feast on us for a few days. We’ll become his new favorite ‘chew toy’ as it were, then steal him away. We can let him do anything he wants to us.”

Sam made sure to not react at all to the souls’ words.

Twenty-Nine - Clear -

“Hey, not to be the bitch here, but… don’t we have to get going?” Tiffany asked from where she sat behind the machine gun. She’d shifted to her Hybrid form at this point. “I mean, Eugenia was pretty adamant that no one would come in here. And someone did. I kinda feel like we should move it.”

Holding onto Abigail’s hand as the bargain sealed itself, Sam considered Tiffany’s words.

It was true that this was already out of the ordinary.

“Yes,” Abigail said, giving Sam’s hand a squeeze and then shaking her hand out of it. “I’ll finish up my link to their systems. Give me a minute and then you two can get rolling.”

“Great,” Tiffany said, pushing the big gun to one side and pulling up her SMG. “You’re on the pig, Irene. Just unload on anyone who doesn’t code knock first. You got it?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Irene muttered, getting up behind the weapon.

Sam was worried for her. As far as he knew, she wasn’t big on firearms.

Then she checked to see if the belt was engaged by opening the cover, then closed it again. She tapped the cocking lever into the most forward position, visually checked the safety, and then pulled the weapon’s rear up into her shoulder.

Damn. I’m the hindrance here, aren’t I? Everyone else is learning more and more and I’m just falling further and further behind.

Shaking his head, Sam checked his pistol and then went over to Wren and Tiffany.

“You in, Abby?” Wren asked, turning to look over at Abigail.

She was set up off in a corner, a mess of cables and wires sprawling out from a hole in the wall and connecting to a computer terminal. She was hot-swapping from camera to camera to get a view on the facility.

“Yeah. Got the feeds,” answered Abigail. “Pop your headsets and let’s check ’em.”

Wren reached to her neck and pulled the headset there up around her ears.

“Check One,” Wren said, while Sam pulled up his own headset. He didn’t care for them, but he knew they were for the benefit of the team.

“Check Two,” Tiffany said, her voice coming across Sam’s headset.

“Check Three,” Irene murmured.

“Check Four,” said Abigail.

“Check Five,” Sam muttered.

“Alright, we’re on,” Wren said over the line. “Hold your fire as long as you can. This goes until we secure the lobby. Then we’re weapons absolutely free.

“You ready, Four?”

“Ready,” Abigail confirmed.

“Two on point, go on three count,” Wren ordered.

“Fuck me, going to get shot in the tits,” Tiffany complained moving up to the door. “Always in the fucking tits.”

“No chatter,” commanded Wren.

Tiffany shook her head but stopped talking, standing at the door.

“Two ready. Waiting on call from Three,” Tiffany grumbled.

“Call is go. Six in the lobby,” Abigail declared.

“Three, two, one,” Wren said standing right behind Tiffany. Sam had taken the position directly behind Wren.

“Right in the tits,” Tiffany said, jerked the door open and charged out into the hall. Her SMG snuggled up close to her.

Wren was right behind her, Sam following along after Wren.

Moving down the hall, Sam kept his pistol up, held in both hands.

“Door and hall is clear, proceed,” Abigail said over the line.

Opening the door, Tiffany barely paused as she entered the next hall.

“Five, hold the crossway before the lobby,” said Wren.

“Understood,” Sam answered. He’d expected to be positioned there. Decima had pointed it out to him as a likely point someone would have to hold when he’d shared with her the layout.

“Crossway is clear,” Abigail called over the radio.

Tiffany didn’t even look down the hall, she crossed over it and went straight into the lobby.

Almost immediately, shots began to rain out. Short, controlled bursts as Tiffany’s SMG leapt to life. Wren was on her heels, stepping to the left, aiming across toward the right, and began firing as well.

Moving into the corner of the crossway, Sam lifted his pistol and leveled it toward the end of the hall.

“Warehouse walk and crossway is clear, no movement,” Abigail said over the roar of gunfire. “Lobby entrance two has incoming.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Sam watched as Tiffany dumped a magazine and popped in a fresh one. Her hand flashing over the side to chamber a round.

Getting up out of her partial crouch, Tiffany started moving forward, her muzzle flashing as she started to fire again.

“Crossway has movement,” Abigail called.

Gritting his teeth, Sam looked back down his way.

His nerves were running high right now.

As much as he wanted to pretend everything was fine, the simple reality was everything was changing.

The afterlife was a jumbled mess, the Tenders weren’t doing their job, and the portal to the other side appeared to be incredibly stronger than he remembered it.

On top of all that, the Judge, Seville, and the Silent One were all gearing up for a war. Cold, hot, guerilla, or otherwise.

He wanted to reassure his people that if they went down, he could get them right back up.

But he couldn’t. There were no guarantees right now.

Two men with weapons appeared at the end of the hall.

Sam moved his pistol slightly and pulled the trigger twice. Before he could shift to the next target, they’d already ducked back down around the corner.

Sam’s initial target hit the ground and began screaming. That scream became a phlegmy-sounding gurgle.

Got him in the lungs. He’s done.

Keeping his weapon trained on the location he’d last seen the target, Sam waited.

Kicking themselves against the floor, the wounded guard flopped their way back toward the corner.

As soon as their hand made it across the point Sam could see, their comrade grabbed them and pulled them out of the line of fire.

Sam personally didn’t care. He was almost positive that guard wouldn’t be coming back at all. If anything, leaving him to his comrade would slow them down more than killing them would do.

Sometimes it’s better to leave them wounded.

Off to his side, the sound of gunfire was rapidly slowing down.

“Crossway combatants are falling back,” Abigail reported. “Warehouse walk is—”

The sound of a heavy machine gun ripping loose dominated the coms. It echoed off the walls and Sam swore it felt like he could hear the damage it was doing to his ears all the way to where he was.

Even with his headset on, it hurt.

A hand dropped on Sam’s shoulder.

Looking up, he found Wren standing above him. Her eyes were glowing, and red mist trailed out with every breath she took. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but then she pointed back the way they’d came from.

Nodding his head, he understood what she wanted.

Taking his place as he got up, Wren covered the crossway, and Sam headed back toward the warehouse.

The incessant never-ending machine gun fire continued to roll and thunder. Getting ever louder as he went back the way they’d come.

Reaching the door, Sam hesitated. He couldn’t hear anything and had no idea if Abigail was warning him off or telling him it was clear.

Pausing for a second longer, he then entered with his pistol raised.

Marching down the hall, he saw a number of guards all standing on each side of the door into the warehouse.

Moving to one side Sam hugged the wall, trying to hide behind those in front of him.

Quickly as he was able, he closed in on the guards and began firing straight into the back of their heads. Clearing those in front of him who were facing away, he ended up staring at the other side of the door and more guards.

Shifting his weight slightly, Sam got a better hold on his weapon and began squeezing off rounds into faces and masks. Counting with each shot to make sure he knew what he had left available to him.

One after another went down until there was no one left. None of them had even noticed what was going on till it was too late.

Two left. One in the chamber, one in the magazine.

Popping the mag out, Sam slipped it into his vest upside down and pulled a fresh one out. Sliding it into place, he lifted the pistol back up and pointed it down the hall. All he had to do was wait for the tumult of Irene’s fury to end.

Eventually, the hammering of the gun came to an end.

“Three, this is Five. Coming in. Please respond,” Sam tried.

There was no response to his statement.

“Three, this is Five. I’m going to come in. Please respond,” said Sam, hoping she’d actually respond this time. To be fair, he couldn’t actually hear his own voice over the terrifying and painful ringing in his ears.

Grimacing, Sam was pretty sure he could pound on the door and Irene wouldn’t hear it anyways.

“Caer!” Sam shouted at the top of his lungs, coming to a different solution to the problem, turning his face toward the door. Her name sounded enough like a regular word that he was willing to risk shouting it. If someone heard it, they wouldn’t know what to make of it.

And with any luck she’d heard him. A soul wouldn’t take hearing damage after all.

And she’s probably in there. And heard me. She’ll tell the Irene-soul to come over here and—

Caer and Irene’s two-headed soul popped out through the bullet-chewed door.

“Oh,” mouthed Caer and Irene in unison. If they actually said something, Sam missed it. Zipping back inside, Sam waited for ten seconds.

Distantly he swore he could hear the sound of continued gunfire, but realistically he couldn’t hear much of anything.

Giving his head a shake, Sam reached up and finally thought of actually doing something about his hearing loss. With barely a fraction of Essence, he got everything back to working order.

Which clearly had worked, since he could hear distant gunfire after all.

It sounded like Wren and Tiffany were still fighting.

Taking in a breath, then letting it out, Sam moved forward and walked through the door. He really didn’t want to stand out in the hall any longer than he had to.

Irene was bent over her machine gun. An empty canister of ammo was to one side, a fresh one set close to her left.

“Hey, Sam. Can’t hear a thing,” Irene said over her weapon.

Nodding at that, Sam came over and laid a hand on her shoulder. Fixing her ears the same way he’d done his own, he then moved over to Abigail. She was still calling out what she saw as she saw it, but he imagined she probably couldn’t hear much either.

“—all combatants are falling back,” Abigail was saying. “Moving back toward the barracks. All ways are clear otherwise. All armory doors are secured remotely.”

Abigail flinched when Sam’s Essence flooded through her ears, then she relaxed, glancing over her shoulder.

Giving him a broad smile, she reached back and grabbed at his leg and patted him. Then went back to her screen.

“Five is returning to lobby from Warehouse path,” Abigail said, her hands moving back to the keyboard.

“Cancel that,” Wren said. “One and Two will move to reposition at barracks hall. Bring the pig up.”

“This is Three, copy,” Irene said, grabbing up the machine gun by the bi-pod. Turning, Irene looked at Sam with a smile, then indicated the ammo canisters. “Come carry my tins, Sammy.”

The soul began to laugh at that and then zipped over to Sam.

“Or carry our core,” Irene’s soul purred at him.

“Crush me,” Caer begged. “Make me feel it.”

Sam once more pretended he couldn’t hear the soul. The longer he pretended he couldn’t, the longer he could eavesdrop on them.

And it was mildly amusing.

Grabbing the soul with his left hand, he stuffed his pistol into its holster. Squeezing the core he walked over to Irene and started grabbing up the ammo cans.

“I’ll carry your tins, Irene. Make your knees buckle a bit, too,” Sam said, smiling at her.

“Hm. Well. Maybe I like it when you make my knees buckle. I’m an undead Lich with Witch powers. There’s probably only a single man in the world who could make me quiver,” Irene said, her face turning a soft red color. Then she gestured with a head nod to her soul. “Little harder in the middle please. The further you go to the sides the less I get from it. Come on. More people to kill. We can flirt and fool around later.”

Turning, Irene marched for the door while holding onto the machine gun. It looked odd on her, given her body type, but she was holding it properly. Sam had to stay relatively close to her since he had the ammo can her current belt was feeding from.

Exiting the room and entering the hallway, Irene kept the gun ready. They moved through the halls with relative ease, encountering no one.

“Three and Five approaching from the south corridor,” Abigail reported through their headsets. “Base neutralized outside of the barracks.”

Entering into a corridor that intersected with another, Sam saw Tiffany and Wren up ahead. They both appeared alright as far as he could tell. Wren was pulling desks into the narrow hallway while Tiffany covered it.

They’re creating a firing position.

Glancing up as Sam and Irene came over, Wren locked eyes with Sam.

They were glowing brightly, a continuous stream of red-mist seeping out from her nostrils and mouth. She was incredibly excited.

She really is built for war. Need more of her.

Reaching out with his Essence, Sam quickly cleared Wren and Tiffany’s hearing. Just in case it’d been damaged.

Wren went back to work as if nothing had changed at all, shoving the desk onto its side and then going back into the adjacent office.

Irene marched up to the impromptu position and gave it a once-over.

Dropping the bi-pod down onto the most likely spot, she pointed at the desk nearby.

“Ammo there please,” Irene said. Then she held her left hand out in front of herself, and purple and black walls of magic sprang up. They slid down into the space between the desks in front and Irene’s position behind them.

Sam nodded and put down her ammo cans where she’d indicated.

“Great. Come on,” Tiffany said and then gestured down the hall. “We need to start moving shit into that pocket dimension. Clocks tickin’.”

“Two and Five moving to armory doors,” Tiffany transmitted.

“One will join shortly,” Wren added, still in the office nearby.

Grunting, Tiffany turned away from Irene and started heading down the hallway. Idly she started to rub at the side of her vest.

“Get shot in the tits?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. Three times. Vest took them all, thank fucking god for that, but it still hurts. One hit me in the god-damn nipple,” Tiffany complained.

Really is a magnet for bullets.

Reaching the first armory door, the locking mechanism clacked loudly before they’d even tried the door.

“Armory two is unlocked and clear. Four is shifting to armory two. Coms will be silent for two minutes,” Abigail reported. Then the com signal went silent.

Tiffany looked down the hallway toward where the other armory door was likely located. Then she sighed and looked at Sam.

“Is this really a good idea?” Tiffany murmured. “Going up against… what we are?”

“We were always going to end up going against the Silent One, to a degree,” Sam admitted. “Mostly because we’re working with the Curator.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense,” Tiffany said. Then she grimaced and started shoving at her vest again.

“Hey.”

Looking to the voice, Sam saw Wren coming up to them.

“Hey,” Tiffany grumbled, pushing down on the front of her vest.

“We ready?” Wren asked, moving straight to the door.

“Yeah. Just decided to wait for you and Ab—Four,” Tiffany replied, taking up her SMG with both hands. Shaking her head, Tiffany looked annoyed and distracted. “My tits hurt.”

Wren rolled her eyes and then pushed the door open, peering inside.

It looked a lot like the warehouse they’d been in earlier, just with a much taller ceiling, and a considerably denser amount of things inside of it.

“Nothin’,” Tiffany growled. “Just like Four said.”

Glancing hard at Tiffany, Wren didn’t respond.

Tiffany looked annoyed, but didn’t say anything further.

The sound of Abigail coming down the hall was obvious long before she got there.

She was huffing and puffing, the sound of her boots clomping along.

Wren and Tiffany clearly both wanted to say something about Abigail and her joining the PMC, but clearly neither was going to say anything.

Sam was curious so he said nothing, and waited.

“She’s earned her spot,” Wren said almost at the bottom of the hearing range.

“Yeah,” Tiffany agreed. “She has. And then some. No argument.”

Sam didn’t respond, but he was glad to hear their opinion was positive.

“Hey,” Abigail said as she reached them. She was hauling a rather heavy looking cart behind her. “Uh… we ready?”

“Yeah, we were just waiting for you,” Wren said, giving the other woman a smile.

“Oh. Thanks. Alright. Ready,” Abigail said, grinning back at everyone else.

Wren entered the armory, followed by Tiffany. Moving in quickly, they took up positions on each side of the entrance.

“Clear,” Wren said.

Abigail nodded her head and started lugging her cart along behind her into the armory.

Passing through the door and by the others, she quickly went to one side.

“I’ll be hooked up in no time,” Abigail murmured. “I’ll get the pocket dimension powered up as well.”

Sam personally didn’t understand the need to move their command post to the armory, but everyone had assured him it was for efficiency of defense. Holding fewer positions was generally a better option.

Instead, he looked up one way along the corridor, then down the other.

“Holy shit. It’s like a mech from an anime,” Abigail exclaimed.

Curious, Sam leaned through the doorway to see what she was talking about. Over to one side was indeed a rather large machine that looked exactly as she’d described.

“What was that?” Wren asked, her tone tight.

“I don’t… I don’t know,” Abigail murmured. “It sounded like it came from near you.”

“It did sound like that. Something broke,” Tiffany said in a rumble. Getting down into a three point stance she vanished around the corner of his view. Sniffing loudly. “Glass. Something was in it. Magic. Smells like magic. Made the glass break?”

That got Sam’s attention. Moving further into the armory, he looked to where Tiffany was.

Tiffany took a deep inhalation.

“And smells very faintly like rotten eggs,” she amended.

“What?” Sam asked from not far away. “Rotten eg—get out. Get out now. Go, go!”

Turning, he went to exit the armory.

Only to slam into a barrier of red sulfur-stinking hellscape magic.

Thirty - Feast -

Not wasting more time, Sam started to call up a number of Essence attacks and defenses.

“What’s wrong?” Wren asked, lifting her SMG.

“We tripped an alarm. Might have been me being here,” Sam said. “Might have been someone’s deodorant. Demon from hell is coming. Just not… here yet.”

“Hell? You said hell wasn’t real,” Abigail said, her eyes darting around.

“I said you didn’t actually go to hell when you died, I never said it wasn’t real,” Sam disagreed.

Spinning up multiple Essence shielding spells, he started to put them around his people.

In a blaze of scarlet flame, a twenty-foot-tall monster burst into reality.

Dark leather wings, a head as big as a truck, black and red skin, and six-foot horns, Sam was dismayed at what’d appeared.

A Pit-Demon.

Damn my twisting nethers.

Flexing its long claws, the monster acted with agility and quickness that was surprising.

Its hand flashed out, slapping Tiffany into a wall and then slamming Wren into the ground. The talons of the creature went right through Sam’s magical defenses as if they weren’t there.

Talons curling around Wren, it jerked her up off the ground.

Firing her weapon into the face of the Pit-Demon as she went, Wren was shoved into its mouth.

Only one arm and her legs were sticking out as the monstrous thing bit down on her.

A sickening crunch followed by the snap of bones and Wren’s body went limp in the Pit- Demon’s mouth.

Biting down a second time and then chewing, the Pit-Demon severed the arm that stuck out of its mouth, along with everything below Wren’s rear end.

“Oh my god!” shrieked Abigail as the Pit-Demon continued to chew on Wren.

Wren’s soul had long since been ejected from her corpse. Having fallen from the creature’s mouth after the first bite.

Grimacing, Sam began to hurl massive Essence spikes at the fiend.

Each attack struck true, then slid off to one side or the other as if the thing was made of ice.

“I can’t do a damn thing. It’s a stronger demon than I am!” Sam yelled.

“I’ll fuckin’ kill you!” roared Tiffany getting up to her feet. She began firing unceasingly, moving out in a strafing run and getting out of range of the demon.

A chipper voice announced, “You’re not Felix. Access denied!”

Looking to that side, Sam saw Abigail ripping things off her cart and putting them at the feet of the mech.

Sam realized that Abigail had the right of it. Use whatever they could find in the armory.

Storming over to a crate, and grabbing Wren’s bottom half as he did so, Sam ripped it open.

Throwing what was left of Wren beyond the crate, Sam peered inside.

If he could keep at least that much of Wren, it’d be much easier for Jes to rebuild her body later.

If we get out of here. This is certainly turning into a problem.

Rifling through the contents of the crate, Sam didn’t find anything of use.

With a grunt of frustration, Sam started to move over to another crate.

A shriek of pain followed by a ground pounding slam cut his thoughts away.

Looking up, Sam saw that Tiffany had been smashed flat to the ground. Her soul stood to one side, shocked, having been freed from her body in a single blow.

The Demon reached over with its free hand and ripped one of Tiffany’s legs from her still trembling corpse and then stuffed her thigh into its mouth. Tearing off a chunk as if it were a turkey leg.

Turning, the creature looked at Sam.

“They’re very tasty, Sameerixis,” grumbled the massive thing. “No wonder you stay up here so much.”

Fuck.

No matter how hard he thought, Sam couldn’t place the creature. It was likely that he didn’t know the monster, but Sam was a bit of a known person in many parts.

Grunting, the Pit-Demon stuck Tiffany’s leg in its mouth and stripped the flesh off as it pulled it back out. With a grunt it flicked the hanging flesh and a dangling bone off to one side.

Then it reached over and tore off Tiffany’s other leg, even as Sam began searching through another crate.

Realizing he couldn’t let it go any further, he built up a small Essence spell and jerked Tiffany’s remains over to himself.

Tossing it atop the lower quarters of Wren, he went back to the crate.

“Felix! I love you! Time to Fist the bad guys!” shouted the same chipper voice from earlier. “Give ’em what for and all that! Fist of the Legion active!”

Frowning, Sam looked over to where he’d seen Abigail last.

The massive mech was powered up, the cockpit wide open. Displays were glowing all over the interior.

Abigail was clambering up and into the machine.

“Felix, did you shrink a bit?” asked the disembodied and quite chipper voice. “Measuring! Adjusting! Configuring! And ready!”

With a thunk, the cockpit slammed shut and then the mech stood upright. The cannon on its right arm lifting up.

“External notifications activated! External speaker activated! Plasma selected!” said the voice.

The weapon in the right hand of the walking tank clanged and opened up wide.

A bright blue plasma ball shot out from the tip.

“Holy fuck!” shouted Abigail from inside the mech, her voice projecting through the external speakers.

Screeching across the distance, it slammed into the face of the Pit-Demon, the creature lighting up like a blue matchhead.

Motion caught Sam’s attention out of the corner of his eye.

Looking over, he found the soul of Irene and Caer holding onto Tiffany and Wren’s souls. Each arm holding one of the other women tightly.

Their feet were sticking out behind them, their clothes and armor fluttering as if it were in a gale.

Not thinking, not considering it, Sam strode over, and grabbed Tiffany and Wren by their cores. Holding tight to the two women, Sam moved further away from where he assumed the portal was.

The much stronger soul that was Irene and Caer nodded at Sam and then vanished back through the wall.

Likely to go get Irene.

Wren and Tiffany clung to Sam as if he were the only thing in the world.

Realizing he could do nothing to assist Abigail, Sam stood there. Watching her in the mech as the bystander he was.

The mech had been firing unendingly into the Pit-Demon. Plasma rounds knocking it further and further into the armory.

“Plasma depleted! Charging. Another round will be ready in twenty seconds,” said the chipper voice.

“What the fuck else do we have?” asked Abigail. “Switch to something else!”

“Flechette rounds selected!” cried the happy voice of what Sam assumed was the AI in the Mech.

The cannon snapped into a new configuration and then began unloading a never-ending stream of screaming rounds into the Demon.

“Insignificant mortal!” screamed the Demon as it began to charge forward under the withering fire.

The mech jerked to one side, stumbling over itself, before it smoothed out and began moving much more fluidly.

“Oopsie! Sensors need to be adjusted for new physical dimensions!” called the voice of the mech.

“Ow! You’re squishing my tits!” Abigail screamed as the mech smoothed out its movements.

Moving at an angle to engage the mech, the Demon pulled its right arm back. A dark and ugly force was starting to gather long before it got close enough to even swing at Abigail.

“Defenses! Activate! Something!” Abigail yelled, her voice amplifying through the microphone.

“Shield activated! Yay!” said the voice in its oddly over-excited tones.

The left hand of the mech came up as a blazing shield of energy grew out around it right around the same time the Demon closed in on it.

A massive bloody fist—encircled by what felt like the doom of thousands—slammed into the shield and was halted outright. A wash of dark energy blasted out behind and around the mech, disintegrating some of the wooden crates as if they weren’t there. Their contents spilled to the ground or vanished as well.

“Attack him! Give me something to hit him with! Anything!” screamed Abigail.

“Laser sword engaged! Pshooooow!” called the Mech.

Whipping around in a wide arc came a bright red beam of crackling anger attached to what looked like a sword hilt.

Zipping through the elbow joint of the Pit-Demon, it carved the flesh as neatly as it would a stick of butter.

The Demon fell backward with a roar of anger and pain, holding its remaining hand against the stump of the other.

Opening its mouth, it let out a belch of deep scarlet flame. Fire rolled out of its mouth as if it were propelled by a jet engine.

Holding the shield out in front of itself, the mech vanished in a storm of flame.

Ten seconds later, the massive incinerating fire let up.

Standing there was the mech, shield raised in front of itself, and untouched.

“Shield deactivated!” called the happy voice of the mech.

Charging forward, Abigail lunged out with her sword. The tip of it went straight into the Pit-Demon’s head and popped out the back. Most of its skull went with it, along with a good portion of its brain.

The sword ripped through the top of its head, as the Pit-Demon collapsed and hit the ground. Blood rushing out of its exposed skull.

The body exploded in a giant blood-red flame which was bright enough to momentarily blind.

Then it was gone. As if it were never there.

“Target no longer valid. Poo. Acquiring new targets. None found!” exclaimed the voice. “Victory! DADADA-DAAA-DA-DA-DADADUN! No loot found.”

Irene stormed through the door at that moment, the machine gun cradled in her arms and an ammo belt flung over her shoulder.

She looked like some sort of odd sexy action hero.

Looking around every which way, she seemed rather confused.

Not letting go or even considering letting his tight grip relax at all, Sam didn’t even know where to begin with what to do next.

“Uh… can I get out now? Open? Exit?” Abigail asked.

“That’s not how you ask!” exclaimed the Mech. “Try again, Felix!”

“I’m not Fe… yeah… uh… pop the cockpit? Disengage? Let me out?” Abigail tried.

All the while, the mech seemed to be moving around to match Abigail’s movements inside it.

It looked equally confused, and annoyed.

Sam could only stand there, clutching to Wren and Tiffany.

***

The lid of the crate was pulled open and Sam found himself staring up into Decima’s face.

“Welcome back. Eugenia sent you here, rather than back to her location. She’s in the middle of a running battle from what I understand,” Decima said, looking up and down the crate. Her lips pulled tight and went flat on her face. “You shouldn’t be alone in there.”

Sam grimaced, then sat up.

“Yeah. We ran into something unexpected and it kind of kicked us around,” Sam muttered. “Irene is in the second large crate. The third has… remains, in it. We need to get those to Jes.”

“Remains,” Decima repeated, grabbing Sam by a shoulder and hauling him up. “Jes is already on her way. I notified her by radio as soon as your crates arrived. I wasn’t sure what everyone’s condition would be.”

“Two dead,” Sam said as Decima got him upright. “One trapped in a… machine.”

“Trapped in a machine,” repeated Decima once again.

“Yeah. Abigail got in a mech to fight a Pit-Demon. She can’t get out now. She’s in the pocket-dimension since she wasn’t going to fit in the crate,” explained Sam, stepping out of the crate.

They were in the portal room he’d built. He wasn’t sure on the details of how they’d ended up here, but if what Decima said was true, Eugenia had deliberately sent them here rather than retrieve what she’d asked to be taken.

I’ll need to contact her later.

In his hands, he held tightly to Tiffany and Wren. He’d clung to their soul-cores since he’d gotten a hold of them and hadn’t let go.

From the moment he got his hands on them, his grip had remained crushingly tight. To the point that he normally drowned Irene in a never-ending orgasm.

But he was afraid to let go of them at all.

Wren was draped around Sam like a twitching blanket. While Tiffany remained upright, her arms crossed in front of her, and looking extremely annoyed.

While shuddering constantly.

“A… Pit-Demon. As in… from the old texts? A defender of the realm of Hell?” Decima asked.

“Yeah. Abigail won against it, too,” Sam said with a chuckle. It’d been surprising. “Now we just—”

“Sammy! I’m here!” called Jes long before she entered.

“Good, Wren and Tiffany need you to put them back together,” Sam said, moving over to the crate where their remains were. “I’m afraid they’re not whole but… I managed to keep at least fifty percent of each. Though there’s a lot less of Wren.”

“What? How?” Jes asked, entering the portal room. She went straight over to Sam, a wide smile on her face, and hugged him fiercely. Then she leaned back and looked into his face, waiting for a reply.

“Pit-Demon. Ate Wren head first. Squished Tiffany and pulled her legs off like drumsticks,” answered Sam.

“Oh. I see. Well, good thing I’m bonded to a wonderful Incubus and an Elemental who feed me all sorts of lovely Essence,” Jes said, patting Sam’s cheek. “We just have to hope their souls haven’t crossed over.”

“They haven’t,” Sam replied. Then held up his closed fists. “I have them right here with me.”

“Good. That makes this very easy then,” Jess said looking around. “And where are their…?”

“That one,” Sam said and nodded at the small crate Irene had left in. Then he indicated the other one with another head nod. “Irene is in that one over there.”

“I’ll get her out. You work on Wren and Tiffany,” Decima said, going over to Irene’s crate. “Then I’ll start in on Abigail. Can’t leave her in that machine you mentioned, obviously.”

Jes moved quickly over to the crate and started working at prying the lid off.

Sam looked at Wren and Tiffany. He’d tried talking to them a few times but he really hadn’t been able to hear their responses. Whenever they’d tried, all he’d heard was a roaring whooshing sound.

To Sam, it sounded a lot like wind whipping through a narrow tunnel.

As if the portal was open and actively trying to pull them in at all times.

“Oh, goodness,” Jes murmured after she’d shoved the lid to one side. “I’m so sorry, you two. I hope it didn’t hurt. Hmmm. We’ll start with Tiffany. It almost looks like you were run under a rolling pin but most of you is here. We won’t have to fix a whole lot. ”

Wren shifted away from Sam’s shoulder and lifted her head up. Her eyes were wide, and she had a dreamy look on her face. Then she laid her head back down on Sam’s shoulder and snuggled into him. She almost didn’t seem aware of what was going on.

Tiffany does have a much stronger soul.

Kinda like… kinda like Irene.

Huh. I wonder if she had something similar happen to her? Or something that changed her?

Reaching into the crate, Jes grabbed onto what he assumed was Tiffany.

Hauling the corpse up over the edge with one hand, Jes laid the broken Were to the ground.

Pulling down on Tiffany’s vest, Jes exposed her chest and then laid her hand down upon her sternum.

“Ah… Sam really does have you. I can feel you. Care to come over here while I put you to rights?” Jes asked, turning her head to look straight at Tiffany. “I’ve already tied you back to your body. Just have to put it all back together and then wake you up.”

Moving over to the very dead Tiffany, Sam got down on one knee and held Tiffany’s soul out over the body.

Tiffany visibly sniffed, gave her hair a toss, and then pointed at her corpse while glaring at Sam.

“You want me to let you go?” asked Sam, still not really sure about this.

But he trusted Jes.

Nodding her head, Tiffany waited.

Opening his hand, and feeling a strange ache shoot up his arm, Sam released Tiffany’s core.

With an odd flicker, Tiffany’s soul appeared atop the corpse. She did indeed seem bound to it once more.

The Were began talking to Jes directly now.

“Oh? Huh. Sorry. Needed skin to skin and that seemed like a good spot,” Jes said, smiling at Tiffany. Apparently she could hear and see her now. “Alright. I’m going to start fixing all this.”

Still holding her arms across her front, Tiffany looked somewhat appeased, though still angry.

“Sam honey, can you pull Wren out for me? I can put them back together at the same time,” Jes said, not looking up from Tiffany. Even as she spoke he could feel the Essence draw from his plane, Jes’ plane, and Aster’s newly remade plane. All of it trickling into the bond and agreement that she held with Jes, rebuilding her body.

“Yeah, sure. No worries,” Sam said, moving over to the crate. Looking inside, he could see Wren’s waist and down. Her lower intestine partially sticking out from the bottom of her abdomen.

Grimacing, Sam reached in and grabbed Wren by her crotch. It was the best place to grab given she was still wearing her pants.

“Sorry, Wren,” Sam murmured, hauling her out of the crate.

“It’s okay. It’s yours anyways,” Wren murmured. Her voice on the edge of his hearing. The whooshing sound had dropped significantly. “I don’t care. Do what you want to it.”

Raising his eyebrows at that, Sam chewed at his lip before deciding to respond to that.

“Is that so, Wren?” Sam asked as he laid down Wren’s bottom half next to Tiffany’s.

“Of course. I’m yours. You bound yourself to Jes and Aster. My binding transferred to you. I can feel your hold on me. I love it,” said Wren. “Bound to a male Demon. I never knew how fulfilling that’d feel.”

Letting his mind digest that bit of information, Sam realized it was true.

His binding was Jes’ and Aster’s. And theirs were his.

“Ah… hm. Well,” Jes muttered, looking at Wren’s corpse. “It isn’t as if I haven’t enjoyed her personally so this won’t be that odd I guess.”

Jes slid her hand into Wren’s pants, clearly pushing it down against Wren’s privates, and wriggled her fingers around.

She’s really coming into her own. A lot of that shyness is falling away.

Embracing who and what she is.

“Ah, there we are. I’m surprised, nothing is leaking out,” Jes said getting her hand over the top of Wren’s privates. “Alright, let her go.”

Sam released Wren, who snapped into position right above her corpse.

Lifting her eyes up from the remains of Wren, Jes peered at her soul who said something.

Sam could hear her talking, but not make out the words.

“Oh? Hah, poor Tiffany. I bet she’s filled to the brim,” Jes said with a laugh, looking at Tiffany. “You a farm, all freshly tilled and plowed? Filled to the brim with seed?”

The Were said something that was clearly sharp and turned her gaze down to the side. Wren clearly laughed at what was said and nodded before replying.

Smirking, Sam left the three to the resurrection process and went over to Decima.

Irene was just now being helped out of the crate.

“Thank you, Decima,” Irene murmured, patting the other woman on the arm. “Now we have to pry Abigail out somehow. Let’s head outside and get that taken care of. It’s a rather large thing.

“Sam… how about you go take a nap. You’ve been up for a while. We’ll get this finished up.”

Blinking slowly, Sam realized it was true.

All of it.

They were intelligent women who didn’t need him in order to do what needed to be done.

Nodding, he turned on his heel, and started walking back to his home.

Hoping to find Irma and a warm, safe harbor. Things were going poorly across the board as far as Sam was concerned.

There was the distinct possibility Seville would come looking for him, especially after the discovery of the armory raid was made.

As who else would dare such a thing but a clear ally of Eugenia, the Judge, in the midst of her own attack.

Thirty-One - Camp Cambion -

Doing his best to act like a new employee, Sam followed along behind Imp-Two. It’d only been a day since coming back from the armory assault and he still felt rather high strung.

He hadn’t seen Wren or Tiffany since their resurrection, and Abigail was still trapped in the machine.

Maybe I look as anxious as a newbie would be, if only because I am anxious.

So far, they’d only gone through the entry lobby a few minutes previously and then the locker room.

“—is the break room for everyone scheduled to the A sections of the facility. Of course, everyone in the A section, like most of you, is administration and general company work,” she said, turning to address the group. “B sections have a separate break room that we’ll go take a look at shortly, but it’s much deeper in the compound. Any questions?”

Everyone briefly glanced around their own group to see if anyone had a question to ask.

Sam spotted Hillary and Jes in the crowd. Both looked like someone they weren’t and were also pretending to be new.

Looking back to Imp-Two, Sam waited.

Their goal was to use this opportunity to get their operation started.

Now that everything had finally been approved, paperwork filled out, boxes ticked, and money exchanging hands, things could start happening.

First though, they needed to get access to the parts of the facility they weren’t allowed to work in for the security update.

After all, why would a security company need to see the inner workings, when everything was about keeping people out of those same areas?

The orders from above had been very strict about what was allowed to be seen, and what wasn’t.

Even some of the areas that’d been originally toured were now on the “no access” list.

“Okay then. Everyone stay close. We’ll be moving through an area that’s secured. Moving off the yellow line,” Imp-Two said, pointing down at the ground, “Will get you shot. This was in the paperwork you signed previously. Please understand that this is deadly serious.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

“Alright, here we go,” Imp-Two said, moving to a door and opening it. She didn’t hold it open for anyone. In fact, she went straight inside, walking along the yellow line.

As she did so, she pointed back behind herself at that very same line.

They really take the line seriously. I wonder.

Is this where I take my leave? Technically, I’m supposed to split off with Jes but… this could turn out to be a much better place to jump out at.

Nobody would expect it.

What was around here again?

Digging into his memories, Sam tried to call up a mental map of the rather large compound.

The Imps, Incubi, and Succubi are all in B section, as are the Elementals. The ‘resource allocation’ side of the compound.

This is… oh. Human resources.

Perfect. It might be helpful to get a hold of personnel files.

Filing into the line at the back, Sam put his hands in his pockets and slunk along behind everyone else.

Looking around as they moved along the yellow line, Sam took note of the hallway they’d entered.

A yellow line split off at one point and into another hallway.

Up ahead, he could see a four-way intersection. There was a yellow and red painted square on the ground that one would have to be blind to miss.

Moving to the right was a red line, and to the left and straight ahead were yellow lines.

That’s my jump point, I guess.

There were several cameras in this hall as well. Covering the entry he’d just left from, and the one up ahead of them, as well as at the intersections.

Lots of security.

We knew there was a lot, but seeing it in person is so different.

Building up a small Essence spell that would effectively cloak him from view, Sam frowned. It was a very simple spell, but was extremely powerful. Essentially, he split the light that would normally reflect off him to show where he was, and had it appear behind him as if the course hadn’t ever deviated.

Except, he wasn’t sure how it would look for anyone watching the cameras.

Likely, he’d just vanish as if he’d never existed.

And that would be alarming all on its own, let alone if someone went back and reviewed the footage.

Which meant he’d have to wait until exiting through the next door, stepping through, then vanishing and coming back.

This is poorly thought out. Maybe I should just wait for the jump point Decima gave me.

Following along, Sam shoved the door hard, forcing it to open wide.

Stepping through the doorway, Sam activated the spell, and moved backward into the hallway they’d just left.

Imp-Two continued on, leading the rest of the “new hires”.

Moving into the hall, Sam quickly returned to the box on the floor at the center of the intersection.

He’d find out in just a second if he’d camouflaged himself correctly.

Staring down the hall with the red line on the ground, Sam found himself looking into a machine gun emplacement.

The magical spells imbued into that location, and coming off the machine gun, gave the entire area a strange aura and glow.

They’re really not taking any chances. But… let’s see if they planned for a Planar-Lord level Incubus to come calling.

Because I bet they didn’t.

After all… I’m the only one as far as I know.

Moving as quietly as he could, Sam began to walk down the red line. Straight into the path that the gun would fire on if anyone trod.

Getting closer with every step, he could actually see the people behind the gun now.

They were male Imps, loaded up with so many spells on their person and clothes that they’d likely be seen miles away on a flat plane.

Both were in full face mask helmets, wearing Kevlar armor, and looked like they could bench press cars.

Holding his breath, Sam inched ever closer to the pair.

Slowly, he slid around a corner and dipped into the alcove next to the machine gun, having passed right by the two guards.

Moving into the area behind the gun, Sam crept forward.

Let’s see what Human Resources is. Because that’s a lot of firepower for a simple department. Far too much, really.

In fact, this gun emplacement wasn’t even listed. Was it?

Imp-Two and Imp-One didn’t mention it either.

Huh.

That’s kind of odd, actually.

Staring at the door, Sam wondered if he could open it without alerting the guards to his presence. Standing there, Sam contemplated how to proceed.

Looking around the small defensive hardpoint, Sam spotted a number of ammo canisters. One in fact had been set slightly against another, which had caused it to lean.

Don’t like it but… this is as best as I’m going to get, isn’t it?

Reaching out with a foot, Sam put his hand on the doorknob.

Pushing with his foot, the entire small tower of ammo-canisters slowly tipped.

Then toppled over completely.

The clatter and clang of the tins hitting the ground and one another was rather loud.

So loud that the surprised guard pulled the trigger on the machine gun. A burst of heavy fifty caliber, magically enhanced, and over-magicked rounds blasted down the hallway.

Surprised at the outcome, Sam just stood there. The door being thrown open by several more guards in heavy gear broke him out of his thoughts, his hand stinging as the doorknob was yanked from his grip.

Shouting started up as everyone converged on the Imp behind the machine gun, who was already holding his hands up.

Good luck with that.

Slipping into the room, Sam found that what he’d just entered was anything but a Human Resource center.

Security. They’ve mislabeled everything.

Is that on purpose because they expect the location to be hit? Or… or is Imp-One, Imp-Two, or Inese working for the enemy.

I’ll need to scour their brains a bit. See what they know.

Sam secretly hoped that one of them had indeed betrayed them. Or had simply been an unknown accomplice.

That’d be significantly easier to handle than the fact that Jenaphila had started to change the way she was handling things.

If she was expecting the facility to be attacked, that made this whole thing a possible trap.

Looking around the room, Sam found it had banks of monitors, keyboards, computers, and lots of people all watching it. At the rear of the room was a series of doors. They weren’t on the map that he had in his mind.

Near the door were a few chairs, two monitors, and several abandoned steaming coffee cups.

They were watching the hallway camera as a secondary force.

Are they defending this room for another reason or is this just a security room?

Slowly, looking from person to person, Sam found it was all Imps or Elementals. Though as far as he could see, it appeared that the Imps were being overseen by the Elementals.

She really is reacting rather harshly to the Imps. I wonder if she suspects I can convert them.

Chewing at his lip, Sam continued to watch for several seconds before he wandered over to the rear of the room.

Letting his eyes move from monitor to monitor, he found that the whole complex was being monitored from here.

That this indeed was the security room, monitoring room, and possibly even a bit more. Like a garrison or a bunkhouse for all the guards to sleep.

Which definitely moved the amount of security they’d have to deal with to a greater level of danger and risk.

He’d have to check the connected doors at the back to see where they went to confirm that.

Coming to a stop behind a lovely dark-haired, dark-eyed Imp woman of African descent, Sam looked at the view she was keeping track of.

It was Imp-Two as she led the group around. They were currently standing around discussing what looked like a warehouse.

The spot where Sam’s persona was supposed to be working, but which he wouldn’t be.

Lifting a hand, the woman began to count each person she could see in frame.

Mm. So she’s noticed it then.

Laying his hand to the woman’s neck, Sam smashed the additional piece of his new brand onto the old one.

Locking up in place, the woman couldn’t even breathe.

Though she’d made no sound. Looking for all the world like she was just focusing in on something she had on her screen.

Leaning down, Sam pressed his mouth to her ear.

“Your designation is Imp-Three,” Sam murmured softly, his lips brushing against her ear. “You will report to Inese at your earliest convenience.”

Imp-Three let out a shuddering breath, her hand moving back down to the desk she was sitting at.

“Do you understand?” Sam asked.

Imp-Three nodded her head.

“Do you know who Inese is?” he prodded. He needed to make sure he covered his bases.

Imp-Three once more nodded.

“Good. For now… don’t report that someone is missing from the group. In fact, I need you to pretend that that new hire group is exactly what anyone would expect it to be. That it’s nothing out of the ordinary in any way,” Sam commanded, his hand still tight to Imp-Three’s neck. He was pushing on her brand right now to put the importance of his words into her psyche. “Do you understand your orders?”

For a third time, Imp-Three nodded.

“Good. Is there a way for you to access the security system from elsewhere?” pushed Sam.

Imp-Three shook her head minutely.

“Anyone who might? Your boss?” Sam murmured, looking around the room as he spoke into Imp-Three’s ear. No one had noticed anything had changed. “Their boss? Someone?”

Imp-Three nodded her head.

“My boss,” she said in a soft whisper.

“Great. Can you lead me to them? Can you go on break? Anything like that?” asked Sam.

Imp-Three shook her head to that question. Then she lifted a hand and pointed at the door on the left behind herself without looking.

“There,” whispered the Imp. “That door.”

“Great. When you report to Inese, tell her I sent you and I’d like to be there when you’re questioned,” Sam said, releasing the Imp.

Groaning, Imp-Three nodded, and then leaned forward, away from Sam.

Smiling, Sam was quite happy.

The more Jenaphila used Imps like this, the easier it was for him to take over things.

We just can’t brand everyone though. If she ever came to inspect the place, she’d notice it instantly I imagine. Too many people to hide in plain sight like that.

Maybe… one or two more? That’d be okay, wouldn’t it?

Sam let his thoughts trail after Imp-Three’s boss. If they had access to the security system outside of this room, that made them a must-have.

Patting Imp-Three on the shoulder once, Sam started wandering over to the door.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that everyone was preoccupied with the fact that the machine-gunner had let loose on nothing, the new recruit tour, or the holding facilities.

Judging this as an okay time to make his move, Sam opened the door slightly, stepped inside, and let it close behind himself.

In front of him was a small hallway with offices on each side, and one at the very end.

Hmmm. She was a monitor monkey. Which means she’s likely reporting to someone in the middle. And they likely report to the one on the end.

So… let’s skip the ‘middle-man’ as it were.

Smiling, putting his hands behind his back, Sam casually strolled down the hall.

Looking into each office as he went, he found more than half were empty, and those that had people in them, were all busily talking into phones.

Yelling at someone for information, demanding for something to happen, or assuring someone that everything was fine.

It would seem my little mishap with the ammo is working to my advantage.

Making it to the office at the end of the hall, Sam was surprised when it jerked open. Two men were standing inside, one arguing with the other.

“—don’t care. I really don’t,” said the man holding the door. He looked to be about five foot ten, had brown hair, and was definitely on the more athletic side of things. “So fuck you, and fuck the horse you rode in on, Zach.”

Standing on the other side of the office, at a height a few inches above six foot, was a man who looked like the type of person you didn’t curse at. His dark brown eyes were hard and angry, his light brown hair perfectly in place with a bit too much gel.

“Shut the door, shut your mouth, and sit back the fuck down before I just kill you,” growled the man called Zach. “Or did you want me to turn your wife into a widow? I could send some flowers to Mrs. Bailey for the loss of her son as well, instead of sending you home today, Joe.”

Both men were dressed in business suits and were somewhat out of place for the complex.

Glancing at the door placard, Sam saw the name of the office owner as Zach Hinkle. Moving into the room, Sam went to the corner.

“Well?” Zach asked. “There isn’t a lot we can do about this. It is what it is. Pisses me off, but… out of our control now.”

Joe huffed and then shut the door negligently, practically slamming it.

“Really Joe? Really? You really want to push my buttons? Cause right now I really—”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to slam it,” Joe said, shaking his head. Then he opened his hands and flexed them, Fire Essence flaring out of him, then going back into his palms. “Just a little heated.”

Fire Elemental.

“Clearly,” Zach said in a growl and then sat down in the chair behind what Sam assumed was his desk. “Now, sit down and let’s figure out how to fix this. Okay?”

Grumbling under his breath, Joe sat down heavily and then gestured at Zach.

“We write it off as a training exercise gone wrong. Give Diego a slap on the wrist, and then leave it at that,” Zach said and shrugged his shoulders. Sam got the impression this man was an Elemental as well, but he couldn’t quite determine if it was Earth or something else. “We send it up like we normally would, and act as if nothing were wrong. If we make it seem like it was less, then maybe everyone else will think it’s just that.”

“Zach… someone died,” Joe said with some incredulity. “Someone just died. Just now. Died. It wasn’t just a training exercise gone wrong.”

“Sure it was. It was a guard after all. We get those by the dozens when we ask,” Zach said with a flick of his hand. “We just list him as being part of the exercise and that’s that. It isn’t like we don’t lose a few here and there to a Succubus.”

Joe sighed, leaning his head back and looking up at the ceiling.

“It’s a little different when we use live rounds. Someone is going to come down here and fuck us. I know it,” complained Joe. “I know it. I just know it.”

“No, it’ll be fine. I think Mistress Jena is busy right now anyways,” Zach said. “We just… brush it under the rug and pretend like it’s just a normal loss. Just like the Suc—”

“Succubus losses, yeah, I heard you say it the first time. This isn’t the same thing though,” Joe countered. “Those are all people that got signed off on first before they even came here. This guy wasn’t. He was getting fast tracked.”

“Seriously. She’s distracted,” Zach said, ignoring everything Joe had just put forward. “Completely distracted. This’ll be the easiest thing in the world to get by her. To explain away. Barely an inconvenience.”

“Yeah?” Joe asked, sounding terribly unsure.

“No,” Sam said, reaching out with Essence to snatch both Elementals and chain them down in heavy Essence chains. Both men were thankfully wearing his old brand. “This is going to be a terrible inconvenience for you two. Now… let’s talk about this facility, this security room, and what’s going on?

“Oh… by the way. My name is Sameerixis. And your brand? My brand. Jenaphila stole it from me.”

Sam punctuated his claim by branding both men.

“What’s the purpose of this facility?” Sam asked, looking at both men and pulling on the brand.

“Power generation and resources,” Zach said, panting hard.

“Yeah, yeah, that,” Joe agreed.

“Resources? What kind of resources?” Sam demanded.

“Babies! Imps made from Incubi and Succubi!” Joe screeched.

“Cambion?” Sam clarified. He wanted to know what exactly was meant by that.

“Yeah, some Cambion,” Zach answered. “Some are! Not all. Fifty percent are Imps, fifty percent are Cambion. The Cambion are almost always women though. The Imps have a normal gender split. Male baby Cambion get put up with the breed Imps to raise, then are put back into cages to breed more when they get old enough. The baby girl Cambion get put in the storage plane.”

Thinking on that with a frown, Sam couldn’t quite explain why there were more female than males.

“The Cambion are bred with Succubi and Incubi?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. The babies with the Imps don’t make it to term that often,” Joe said. “So we stopped trying years and years ago.”

“And where are these hordes of Cambion and Imps? Where is this ‘storage plane’ you mentioned?” Sam asked.

“The Cambion are on a private plane. It’s where they live, really. Imps are raised and put in the field,” Zach answered.

“Great… so… where can I get to this plane filled with Cambion?” Sam asked with a smile. “I’d very much like to meet them.”

And put them on my plane instead.

Thirty-Two - Needs -

Following along behind Zach, Sam was looking like a very scared and very anxious employee. If people looked at him and thought he was in trouble, he’d be thrown from their memories fairly quickly.

Especially considering how large Zach was. Who had turned out to be an Earth Elemental.

Their goal right now was to make it to a sub-section in the B side of the building. Where a few portals were kept. They were almost entirely offline at all times, but opened up to hand off babies or other minor resources as needed.

I wonder whose plane it was before Jenaphila stole it and converted it.

Or is it something like Jes? She made a Succubus Planar Lord, then converted them into a plane holder. Just wanting them for that reason alone.

Or maybe that was the goal for Jes as well. Turned into little better than a sex-pet with a plane.

Zach walked right into a security checkpoint along a yellow line. Stepping to one side, he started talking to someone sitting behind a desk. The three male Imps all stared at Sam.

Shrinking into himself, Sam tried to look small and unassuming. Like he was nothing to bother with and didn’t need to be looked at.

“Resource quality control?” asked one of the guards speaking to Zach.

“Yeah. Got assigned today with the new hire group,” Zach agreed.

I wonder what that means. Resource quality control.

Is that someone they feed to a Succubus or an Incubus? Because it sounds like they dump a few people in to have their actual life-force drained.

Sam had actual experience with that. In his worst moments, before he’d become as he was today, he’d drained women even as they orgasmed beneath him.

Drained them dry and left them dead.

If they fouled their contract in some way, he’d find the loophole and drink them down like a soda and toss the can when he was done.

Something he hadn’t done in an extremely long time. Right up until he’d felt like he’d had no other choice and he’d drank from Carissa directly.

To paralyze her and drag her into the car.

It’d been brief, and stupid to do it, but he’d tasted of her in a way he’d only dreamed about for centuries.

Since then, he’d been fighting the impulse to do it again.

“Alright,” said one of the other guards as he gave Sam a pat down. He found absolutely nothing. Because Sam didn’t actually have anything on him. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

The man took a step to the side, clearing the way for Sam.

“Come on then, timetables to keep,” Zach said dismissively and with some scorn. He said it so naturally and so easily that Sam had to wonder if it was actually acting.

“Yes. Yes, sir,” squeaked Sam, falling in line behind Zach.

Moving once again, they went through a door, passing out of the security checkpoint and into a rather long hallway.

As soon as the door clicked, Sam considered if he even wanted to ask.

“You feed people to the Succubi and Incubi?” he inquired, deciding he needed to know.

“Sometimes,” Zach said. “They’re noted as those to be disposed of when they arrive. Typically by Mistress Jena or one of the state mistresses.

“A lot fewer state mistresses in charge lately though. Ever since the Alpha generator was freed. Mistress Jena’s been… uh… demoting… Imps. Anyone and everyone she thinks is a problem.”

“And putting Elementals like you in charge,” Sam said, going back to his earlier conversation with Imp-One, Two, and their boss.

“Yeah. More and more, actually,” Zach murmured.

“Anything else you’ve noticed about your mistress lately?” Sam asked. This man seemed quite a bit closer to Jena than he’d expected.

“Uh… no? Just the Imp thing,” Zach said. “Everything else is mostly exactly like it used to be. Business as usual.”

“No? Hm. Alright,” Sam said, feeling a bit better. If Jenaphila didn’t have any idea it was him, or that he was involved, he was more willing to at least consider staying on the plane.

The Silent One might be in charge of everything, but even he was limited in what he could do.

“No one’s ever in this section by the way,” Zach said. “Just that security checkpoint we passed. Nothing gets past that point in either direction.”

“Right,” Sam said, wondering if perhaps he had an answer Sam’d been wondering about for a while. They started going down a very long staircase that didn’t seem to have a foreseeable end. “By the way, how are portals blocked here?”

“Huh? Oh. Every portal here was established by Mistress Jena herself. There’s also four other facilities in every direction. Everything in between the four points is blocked by portal entry. It’s that way for most facilities,” Zach said. “Usually an Elemental Planar-Assistant.”

Like that woman I killed when we freed Aster? Hm.

“And no, you can’t get to those facilities. They’re all connected back to Jena’s plane. There’s no way to get to them,” Zach said as they walked into a small empty warehouse-like room at the bottom of the long staircase. “Unless you’re looking to get yourself castrated and killed. People don’t come back from her plane. Even her daughters don’t like going there.”

Daughters?

Huh.

“Alright. We’re here. I’m going to pop open the Cambion plane. Just to be sure, you want this? It isn’t as bad as being sent to Jena’s realm or a few others but… the Cambion here are… well they got left here,” Zach explained, sounding like he wanted to do anything but what he was about to do. Standing next to a small stone column, he’d laid his hand to the top of it. “I mean, the plane is good enough to survive on but just barely. They have to fight for their lives and that shows in how they deal with people.”

“That’s fine. That’s how to raise a Cambion child anyway,” Sam said dismissively. “Open it up. Then get back to whatever. Start working at whatever it is you need to do.”

Zach shrugged his shoulders and Sam felt a jolt of Earth Essence zip into the column.

“I don’t normally open this one up. I usually send someone else,” Zach said as the portal appeared and began to unzip itself. “To be fair, it’s just not something I should b—”

A long spear jabbed out from the portal and skewered Zach through the chest.

It was followed quickly by three more, each one stabbing into the man’s torso.

Slumping to the ground, Zach had a moment to take in a breath before a fourth spear shot free of the still opening portal and caught him in the throat.

Going limp against the spears, Zach took them to the ground with him.

Stepping in front of the portal, Sam held up his left hand, a thick Essence shield building itself around the portal.

As soon as the portal opened enough that those on the other side could likely see him, spears began jabbing out at him. Deflecting harmlessly off his shield. Sliding across it as if it were an ice rink and the spear a skate.

“Well, you can keep trying,” Sam said aloud. “Or you can listen to my offer.”

Several more spears all slammed into the space where Sam’s head was.

“Right, okay, we’ll just wait till you’re tired then,” Sam said as the portal finished opening.

On the other side, he could see an endless swarm of Cambion all lined up and waiting. They had shields and spears made of wood and sharpened rocks. Their clothes, from what he could see, looked to be little better than rough leather.

They continued to attack him unceasingly. Their spear tips hitting the shield and glancing off over and over.

After a full two minutes of this, Sam was getting bored.

Bored and annoyed.

Glowing Cambion eyes regarded him between shields and from under leather helmets. The red fog of their breath wafted up in short puffs.

They’ll never give up.

“Look. This is enough. Don’t you get it? You can’t hurt me,” Sam yelled at them. “And you killed Zach. He was actually rather useful. Now I’m going to have to dump his corpse somewhere and make it look like he fled.”

As he spoke, spears continued to stab out at his face.

He was beginning to genuinely lose his temper. Opening his hands and closing them once, Sam let out a shuddering breath as yet another spear slammed into the space next to his face.

“Stop!” Sam commanded, losing control of himself for a second. All the Cambion directly across from him finally did just that.

Deciding to take the opportunity for what it was, Sam held up a hand.

“I have an offer for you. You can take it, or I can close the portal up after I toss my dear dead friend Zach in,” said Sam.

None of the Cambion said anything. Though he did see eyes flash as they turned their head to speak with one another.

Eventually, there was a shifting in the crowd.

A face without a helmet appeared.

A woman who looked to be in her twenties glared at Sam. Her eyes weren’t glowing and she looked rather concerned.

She had short black hair, dark brown eyes that almost seemed red, and a sweet if mature look to her face.

“Are… you a Demon?” she asked.

Sam immediately started to respond that he wasn’t.

Then he realized that might actually help here.

Leaning into his heritage, he pushed on his wings and willed his horns to appear.

Both snapped into reality at the first twitch of thought.

He was in his natural form and fully committed to looking demonic. Skin, horns, eyes, and all.

“I am indeed. I’m a Planar Lord,” Sam said with a wide smile. “An Incubus. I take it you’re the… elder?”

“War-leader. I’ve killed everyone who stood against me,” answered the woman.

“Great. My offer is simple. Come to my plane. I need soldiers and people to work for me,” Sam said holding his arms out at his sides. “You’re welcome to leave after a period of ten years if you so choose. Or you can remain.”

“And what do we get?” asked the War-leader.

“You get to leave that,” Sam said, pointing at a hand at the very dark and gloomy sky behind the Cambion. “And I’ll pay you for your work.”

“Pay?” the War-leader asked, her tone confused.

“Ah… I’ll give you food, weapons, equipment, tools, shelter, water, protection, training,” Sam said, trying to switch gears as quickly as he could. It was quite likely all these Cambion were living more of a primitive lifestyle just to stay alive. “And in return you’d fight my wars for me.”

The War-leader pursed her mouth as she thought about that.

“And what about breeding?” the War-leader demanded.

Ah. Given what’s been done to them, I can certainly understand that question.

“No breeding,” Sam agreed quickly.

“What?” asked the War-leader, her tone growing angry. “Why not? How else are we supposed to bring up the next generation? Cambion don’t grow on trees you idiot. We’ll need new soldiers for those who fall.”

“Err… right. Sure. As much breeding as you can handle then,” Sam said, feeling extremely off balance.

“Hm. Fine. We’ll be your soldiers,” said the War-leader with a shake of her head. “You’ll breed with me and my council first. Then you can work your way down the ranks as we have time. Do we have a deal?”

She… wants me to breed with her?

Ah.

Ah, I see.

I’m a Demon. They’re Cambion.

Bred for battle and to make more Cambion.

All they’ve been doing for as long as they’ve been in there is battle and… wait for more children to be given to them from outside.

That’s all they know.

“I don’t think that’d really be possible,” Sam tried. “I—”

“You’ll breed with me first, then my council, then everyone else as you have time,” said the War-leader again. “We’ll be your soldiers, you give us weapons and training. That’s the deal.”

Right.

They never said anything about children so… I’ll just pretend that I’m not in control of that.

“Fine,” Sam said. “Now, get your things ready. I want you all on my plane today.”

Moving partly into their own plane, Sam opened up a portal to his plane. Out into the fields far, far away from where he kept his residence with his harem.

And he did it all from inside the Cambion plane. It was likely the only place in the facility that he could open one.

Because it wasn’t technically in the facility.

The shield and spear bearers slowly lowered their equipment. Giving Sam a better view of the Cambion plane.

Spread out in a vast wave below, across the plane, were thousands of Cambion. Thousands and thousands of them.

Damn, Jena, how long have you been making Cambion? Since the day you got rid of me?

“After I’m done destroying this facility, I’ll visit and start the breeding,” Sam said casually.

“That’s well. We’ll be ready,” said the War-leader. Nodding her head at him, she left, eyeing the portal Sam had opened the entire time.

Well. I know where to go for a buffet of Essence if I’m ever bored or have nothing to do.

That or I don’t want to bother anyone.

Reaching down, Sam grabbed Zach by the arm and dragged him across to the other side of the Cambion plane.

“Well, looks like you’ll be helpful in death as well, Zach. We’ll report your departure as a security concern,” Sam murmured and looking back to the Cambion portal entrance. It was slowly starting to close on itself. He considered everything he’d learned in this side trip. He’d come out ahead in this case. “Hm.”

Back we go. Maybe they finally figured out how to get Abigail free.

Should check in with Eugenia as well.

***

Having settled the vast majority of the Cambion into their new world, he’d been surprised to find they demanded that he leave a portal open to their old plane.

Or a new one where they could hunt.

That surprise lasted all of about two seconds.

Cambion lived to fight, kill, and breed.

If he was breeding with them, that solved one need, but the other two still needed to be met.

They weren’t going to get that any time soon from Sam and certainly not from his ever so docile plane.

Zipping off to his own personal portal room, Sam found no one there.

It was empty.

The mech where Abigail had been confined was also nearby, though the cockpit was open. A horde of electrical equipment was all around it and tapped into various points.

Everyone is still waiting for Hillary, Jes, and I to get back. That means I can sneak around for a bit.

Let’s go see Eugenia and make sure she’s alright.

Popping open the portal to the plane where Eugenia kept her army, he found it was barren.

Devoid of everyone and everything. There was nothing there.

Except flames, corpses, and smoke.

A battle had definitely occurred here and had left as well. Though there was no telling how long ago it’d happened.

Looking at the corpses, Sam realized it was a very large number of Imps and some Weres amongst their number.

And now we know where a lot of those Male Imps went to.

Jena’s… working with the Silent One. Or at the very least… assisting him.

Damn.

That’s the very last thing we need.

Nervous, and not feeling too great about the situation, Sam closed the portal and opened a new one to Retribution’s home plane. Neither of the two portals he’d opened were ones he kept open, or wanted kept open.

Given what’d happened on Eugenia’s plane, it now seemed to have been a very wise choice.

Peering into the bedroom where he normally met Eugenia, he found it was empty as well. Moving through the portal, he opened the door and looked out into the hallway.

No one was there.

Moving back inside, he walked to the window and peered out.

There was nothing there either. Nor were there the black monsters that typically waited outside the moment anything living was here.

Clicking his tongue, Sam walked back into his portal room and dismissed the portal.

Huh. Okay.

She must still be… on the retreat? On the move? Fighting?

No idea.

Not much I can do for her either so that—

“Sam,” Wren said, walking into the portal room. “I knew I felt you here.”

“Felt me?” Sam asked, looking over to the Cambion with a smile.

“Yes. I can feel you. At all times now. I know when you’re close and where you are if you’re close enough,” Wren said, walking up to him.

“I’m glad you’re… not chewed up anymore,” Sam said, giving her a quick once over. Everything appeared to be where it was supposed to.

“Yes. I think being eaten was… the singular most painful experience I’ve ever had,” Wren said with some actual discomfort on her face. Her eyes also drifted to one side as she contemplated that statement.

Sam noticed in that moment that it looked like Wren had done something with her clothes.

Or is it her bra? I’m not… sure.

Somethings different though. I swear she’s gained an entire cup size in the chest.

Darting his eyes back up to Wren’s face as her head turned back his way, he really wasn’t sure what to think of the change in her.

“Tiffany’s looking for you. She said she wants to collect on that raincheck, with interest,” Wren said with a smirk. “Stacia’s with her. Betting you’re going to get tag-teamed.”

“Oh. Probably. I’d invite you to come but I promised Tiffany I’d never pair you up with her,” Sam said with a grin.

“Oh! Yeah. Please, no. Not… not with Tiff,” Wren said, shaking her head quickly. She looked actually distressed at the very idea of it. “She’s my best friend. No, thanks. I don’t mind getting paired with you and Jes, but… please not Tiff.”

“Oh? Only Jes?” Sam asked with some amusement.

“I mean… she’s a Demon… you’re a Demon… I like it,” Wren said. “I guess I wouldn’t mind Aster joining. Since she’s wearing your brand and Jes’ brand, she kinda smells like a Demon now.”

“Mm. How about… you and I go have a little fun by ourselves,” Sam said, nodding his head. He’d felt pretty shocked when Wren got chomped and his heart had quailed at the sight. “I have some news about Cambion I want to talk to you about. And honestly, I think I’d just really like to feel you against me.”

After he was done with Wren, he’d go find Tiffany and Stacia.

Wren let out a slow breath, red mist starting to appear already.

“Yeah?” Wren asked.

“Yeah. Got a whole army of Cambion. Their War-leader seems pretty tough, too,” said with a smile.

“Oh?” Wren asked, her eyes starting to glow faintly now as well. “Sex and then a fight? Sounds amazing.”

Thirty-Three - Nobody Expects -

Watching the Cambion, Sam was rather pleased to see how quickly they were changing.

A race bred and born for war, they were masters of adapting to anything thrown at them.

They weren’t as intellectually gifted as some races, and didn’t have a lick of proficiency for magic, but they were cunning.

Cunning and incredibly gifted in war.

And part of that was being able to build out fortifications and encampments.

Spread out on the plane below, the Cambion army had rapidly built out a massive sprawling compound.

Small houses made from locally harvested lumber. A trench dug out around the entirety of the massive complex. Filled with a cut from a stream nearby and spiked on both sides.

The whole thing had the look of something Sam had often seen from Roman Legionnaires on the move.

“Romulus would approve,” muttered Aster from beside him.

“I was just thinking the same,” Sam agreed. “And speaking of the past. Anything I need to know about your old pantheon? I’ve left it alone but… I got a message from Eugenia that she’d be dropping in sometime today.”

“Oh?” Aster asked, folding her arms in front of herself. Then she slowly leaned into Sam’s side.

“Indeed. Given the brevity of the note, I think there’s the distinct possibility she could ask for shelter. And that’d mean letting some of your old… acquaintances closer than you might want.”

Sighing heavily, Aster groaned.

Sam didn’t say anything. He was letting her decide if she wanted to talk about it, and if she did, how much she wanted to talk about.

“They sold me off,” Aster said finally. “Betrayed me, captured me, and sold me off. At the same time they cut down Julius Caesar. I’d invested a great deal in him. Even forsaking Pompeii, though he made sacrifices to me in his triumphs.”

“Sold you?” Sam asked, unable to help himself.

“Mmhmm. Sold me. To another plane as a power plant. Could have been worse I guess,” Aster grumbled. “I didn’t know it at the time, but it was probably a plane with a tech level similar to the current prime. I was locked in a room and… and… they just… drained me. All day. Every day. Never talked to me. Never bothered me. Never harmed me. Just… treated me like a piece of furniture.”

“Ah,” Sam said. He was somewhat curious about what plane she’d ended up at, but he wasn’t sure she’d even know.

“Eventually, Jenaphila captured me there. Or bought me? Hm. No idea how she managed it but… I was still turned into nothing more than a battery,” Aster said. “So… no. I would really dislike having my old pantheon anywhere near me. The Fates risked my displeasure by not warning me of my looming fate but they were also the least involved with my betrayal as they didn’t assist the others.”

“Got it. I’ll be sure to tell Eugenia that anyone from your old pantheon isn’t welcome then,” Sam said. “She can take it or leave it.”

“You don’t have to do that for me. It’d probably just anger Eug—”

“I don’t care if it does anger her. Because yes, I do have to do this,” said Sam, cutting her off. “Because what they did is likely the one thing that the Originator himself wouldn’t forgive. That’s probably why they lost all their powers, too.”

Aster didn’t say anything for several seconds.

“Thank you, Branded,” Aster murmured, turning her face into his shoulder.

“Of course, my dearest Aster,” Sam replied, laying an arm around Aster’s shoulders. “Of course.”

She wasn’t who she used to be back when he knew her before this. The Torment she’d used to be was long gone.

Though a Torment she still was. Just one that wasn’t the same anymore.

Just like me, I guess.

And Reixhitz, too.

***

A small white portal began to tear open through the middle of the thin air. Right out onto the courtyard of Retribution’s fort.

Sam shifted his weight around feeling slightly odd about this.

Or at least given what he knew was going on with Eugenia. There was a possibility of her simply ripping open a portal and coming across with an army chasing after her.

Especially since he was alone.

Aster had remained on Sam’s plane, working on rebuilding the new one she’d formed. Apparently being the only one amongst the three of them without a fully functioning plane had finally spurred her on.

Jes was assisting her, and everyone else was working on their own projects or duties.

Before the portal had fully formed, Eugenia stepped through and shut it behind herself.

She looked a mess.

Wearing what appeared to be angelic armor while holding a spear and a shield, she looked like something out of a novel.

Except everything was covered in blood, dirt, and grime. There wasn’t a part of her that didn’t look like it’d been dragged through a butcher’s shop or a ditch.

“Judge,” Sam said mildly.

With a grunt, she turned her head toward him, her helmet’s visor already raised.

“Sam,” rasped Eugenia.

“What can I do for you? Are you here to collect everything from the armory?” Sam asked while holding out the pocket dimension. It was in its dormant state and looked more like a black folded cloth right now.

Everything had been transferred over successfully, except for the Mech Abigail had piloted. The “Fist of the Legion” as she called it.

“Huh? Oh. Yes,” Eugenia said, taking the dimension from Sam. Then she negligently stuffed it into a belt-pouch she had behind her hip. “Thank you. Though I’m afraid it was mostly for naught.”

“Oh?” Sam asked. He wasn’t about to push or ask for anything. She’d asked him to be here, so he was here.

He was also hoping to get her to pay up on what she owed him of her body. She was in debt to him at this point.

Considerably so.

“We’ve won several rather large battles. Good victories. But the war itself is becoming somewhat pyrrhic,” muttered Eugenia. “We make gains, we take from them, but it doesn’t bother them in the least. They don’t even respond to those losses. As if it was hardly an inconvenience.

“The Silent One remains silent. Even Seville ignores us. Only Leena bothers to engage us and even then it doesn’t matter. We’ve killed her six or seven times.”

“You… killed her?” Sam inquired. That was something out of the ordinary.

“She’s died so many times, it isn’t even a wonder anymore,” Eugenia grumbled. “I’ve killed her twice myself. She just… comes back. New body, old memories, same nasty personality.”

Strange.

“So I’m putting a pin in this,” Eugenia said with a shake of her head. “We’re pulling out and taking what we’ve gained so far with us. We’ll begin to build a much larger force and… go from there.

“No sense in losing people in battles that don’t matter. Wasting resources on something that doesn’t even seem to concern them in the least. Because that’s the truth of it. The Silent One doesn’t care. Not until my Father returns.”

Sam had to nod his head at that.

It made sense to him.

They called him the Silent One because he was exactly that. Whenever he’d acted, it’d been because of some type of direct correlation to the Originator or something he left behind.

Otherwise it was like dealing with a mannequin. There simply was no response and no cares from the god in any way, shape or form.

“I’ll build up a massive army and wait for him to come back,” Eugenia said, then she sighed softly. “And I’ll wait for him in the Throne of Creation.”

Blinking twice at that, Sam wasn’t sure if he’d heard her correctly.

“Yes, it’s real. Yes, it exists. Yes, I’ve known where it is since the beginning. I’d just never gone there,” Eugenia said, getting ahead of his questions. “Father… father had invited me to leave with him. Even after my betrayal he still… tried to take me out of here.”

Eugenia let her eyes slowly fall to the ground in front of her.

“As you know, he isn’t really my Father. Not really. He created me though. Twice,” Eugenia said then laughed to herself. “And both times he made me rather special. Something far above the norm. And both times I managed to fail him. He told me to call him Father. Me and… and Retribution. We were different than all the others, Father said. Well, other than Miles. Miles is what Miles is and has ever been.”

Standing there, Sam really wasn’t sure how to respond. Reaching out, he did all that he could think of. He wrapped the armor clad Judge up in a hug and drew her into himself.

Eugenia didn’t pull away, but she didn’t release her hold on her sword and shield either. Instead she tucked into Sam and stood there in his arms.

“And so I shall go to the place where Father made the universe. The last bastion that the Silent One could never penetrate. To speak to the Last Guardian and see if she’ll relay my messages to father,” Eugenia murmured. “Because that’s the only way I can communicate with him.”

“Last Guardian?” asked Sam, somewhat curious about that.

The Throne of Creation was a legendary thing all on its own. The tales of it were wondrous and fantastical.

The “Last Guardian” was something altogether unheard of. He’d never heard of it in any way.

“Mmm. She’s… strange,” Eugenia muttered. “But not unfeeling. I get the impression she forced Father to respond to me. I will barter with her, host my army in the Throne, build, and wait. That’s all I can do.”

“Makes sense,” Sam said. Then he leaned his head in against her helmet and tried to whisper into her ear. “Does that mean I’ll be visiting you in the Throne to turn your insides to liquid?”

Eugenia pushed in closer to him, then let out a slow breath.

“Possibly. I think it best if you take me to your plane going forward, though,” Eugenia murmured. “To your own bed. I think I should begin normal communications with your wife, Irma, and your Branded, as well.”

“Delightful,” whispered Sam. Then he started to take the sword and shield from her hands. “Let’s take you to my bed now then. I’m sure I can help you relax.”

With a clang, the angelic shield hit the turf, a moment later followed by the sword, before Sam could take them from her.

“Yes, please,” said the Judge, a soft sob following her words.

***

Sitting next to Imp-Three, Sam watched the monitors with something akin to dislike.

It was boring.

Tedious.

Nerve-grating.

Staring at monitors which revealed nothing had changed in any way, all day, every day, for the last week. Because the simple truth was that as long as Joe was one of the higher-ups here, and Imp-Three remained in the security room, Sam could use those two to his advantage and remain here.

And it was the best place for him. He could keep up to date on everything without risking anyone or anything.

The only mildly amusing part of his day was having his way with Imp-Three on Joe’s desk repeatedly throughout the day.

Much to Imp-Three’s delight and Joe’s continued dislike. His constant complaint was his office smelled like a frat house now.

Unfortunately though, Sam had already taken his last break for the day. Which meant he wouldn’t be able to kill some time with Imp-Three for the rest of the work day.

Then again, I could always make up an excuse and go see Abigail. She’s all by herself in the IT room right now. Isn’t she?

Leaning to one side, Sam put his elbow up on the console and morosely gazed at the monitor that showed the entry lobby.

Hurrying in from the side door which led back out into the facility was someone Sam hadn’t ever seen before.

It was a male Elemental that looked to be rather old.

Very old.

Which was very strange given Elementals were creatures that technically weren’t mortal.

Aster was more a collection of electrical current than an actual person. Her “body” was just the presentation she preferred to utilize and had invested in heavily to empower.

“Hello! I need your assistance,” said the man, puffing slightly. His gray hair and brown eyes looked worn and fading. “The Mistress is going to be here shortly and—”

A swarm of people rushed in through the front lobby doors. Each and every one carrying a sub-machine gun, a rifle, or some type of magically enhanced melee weapon.

Sam couldn’t see the magic through the monitor but he had no doubt that the whole area was absolutely glowing with power.

He imagined that it would likely be blinding for anyone not used to it.

The older man rushed into the back offices, scooting past Sam as if he didn’t exist.

All the people watching the monitors were actively talking to defensive checkpoints or just sitting there wondering what was about to happen.

Being in the latter group, Sam just sat there with his hands in his lap, staring at the door. Waiting to see if Jenaphila would actually show up.

Imp-Three sat next him, demanding something from the security group she oversaw. Whatever their response was, it clearly didn’t match what she wanted them to do.

The older Elemental and everyone in the offices rushed out behind him. In a flash, they were gone through the security room.

Hm. Hopefully Joe doesn’t get too much attention from Jena if she actually shows up. If she looks closely, she’ll spot the difference in his brand.

Suddenly, a woman walked into the lobby.

Sam didn’t need to look hard to know that it was Jenaphila.

The way she carried herself, the way she dressed, and even the fact that she looked incredibly bored, were all the hallmarks of who she was.

From the expensive clothes, to the dreadful-looking thick fur coat, to the shoes and bag on her arm, she was wearing several people’s annual salary as casual as could be.

Her blue eyes moved from person to person behind the lobby desk before she reached back and lightly flicked her brown hair over a shoulder.

Sighing softly, Sam couldn’t deny there was something in him that couldn’t shake what they’d had at one point.

She was brutal, blunt, and to the point. With her at his side, he’d accomplished a great many things. Expanded himself into an underground empire that would have lasted untold centuries.

Right up until she personally ended it and took it over for herself.

Because he fell into some sort of puppy love and didn’t know any better and she’d taken him for everything.

As cool and as dull as a glass of water left out overnight, she left the lobby. Walking behind the desk and heading straight into the secured areas.

Following along the red line paths she went deep into the facility. Passing through the resource generation rooms and into a side door at the back of the Succubus and Incubus room.

Vanishing from view entirely and going outside of all camera range.

“Huh?” Sam mumbled.

As far as he knew that room was nothing more than a broom closet. He’d even seen people go into it and come out with cleaning supplies. Typically a mop for some type of accidental spray of body fluids.

Lifting his head, Sam glanced at the nearby security members to see what they made of the situation.

Everyone in the security room was sitting perfectly still, staring ahead at nothing.

No one moved, no one stirred, and no one said anything.

All the monitors were active and recording as Jenaphila’s group piled up around outside of the door.

Looking around more closely, Sam could see that everyone in the room was under some type of deep-set compulsion.

Even Imp-Three was. Her eyes unfocused and looking dully at her screen as if it were the entirety of her existence.

Spinning up a micro-thin filament of Essence, Sam stuck it into the side of Imp-Three’s head and scoured her mind of any type of active spellwork.

Blinking once, Imp-Three slowly woke up from the stupor she was in. Sitting up in her chair.

“What?” she asked no one, turning her head one way and then the other, taking in the scene around her.

Leaning in close to the woman, Sam pressed his lips to her ear.

“Jenaphila walked into a room and vanished from the cameras. Everyone went weird and blank as soon as she did it, even you. What’s going on?” Sam asked as quietly as he could manage. “It’s just a broom closet on the map.”

Imp-Three shook her head slightly and looked at the monitor where Jena’s forces were gathering.

“That… yeah. That’s a broom closet,” Imp-Three said quietly. “But… everyone else is behaving normally?”

Looking from monitor to monitor, Sam and Imp-Three confirmed quickly that everything appeared to be normal.

Other than the blank stares.

“I cleared a spell from your mind,” Sam said, his eyes drifting to the security point outside the area Jenaphila was in. All the leaders and the older Elemental were moving through it and toward Jena’s current position. “It would seem… you’re not supposed to know about that room being a location for Jena’s visits. And that means I really want to get in there and see what’s going on.”

Sighing, Sam shook his head. It was another objective that they needed to take care of. Another amongst quite a few.

For now, Sam needed to make sure he kept an eye on Jena.

The last thing he needed was for her to find him sitting in her security room.

There was no way she’d not see through his disguise. If Sam was visible to her, she’d recognize him without any effort at all.

She was the holder of his old brand and would instantly see him as that.

Given the amount of Essence sorcery and magic floating around, it was very unlikely he’d be able to escape under magical camouflage either.

The anti-portal magic was in full effect and there wouldn’t be an escape for him that wouldn’t be instantly noticed.

Sitting there, Sam could only watch, and wait. Hoping that he wouldn’t have to hide under a desk in a back office.

Thirty-Four - Planar Lord -

Unmoving, Sam remained in the security office, staring at the group of people standing around.

Everyone throughout the facility seemed to be waiting for Jenaphila in one way or another.

All throughout this damnable waiting period, Imp-Three had been busy sorting through everything she could to figure out what that room was.

Going through offices, cabinets, security files in computers, raiding peoples’ briefcases.

Nothing was off limits to her as she figured that no one would even remember this.

“Nothing,” Imp-Three said, sitting down heavily in her seat.

Sam looked up from the monitor that displayed the administrative side of the building. He’d been watching Hillary and Irene. They were working through security protocol changes with a number of people for the security update that they’d been paid to carry out.

“Then… I suppose all we can do is ask Joe when he comes back,” Sam murmured. “If he doesn’t know, and Zach never mentioned it before his end, then I’d say this is something that’s beyond the paygrade of everyone here.

“And makes me incredibly curious as to what it is. If she’s taking this much security to try and hide it, then I really want it. To destroy it or take it. Either works.”

Imp-Three threw her hands up in clear anger.

“It’s just idiotic. Why would you blank an entire security room like this? What if something actually happened?” Imp-Three asked.

“I’m afraid Jena’s strong suit was never really thinking ahead. For better or worse, that’s the absolute truth of her,” Sam said with a dark chuckle. “Though realistically what are the—”

There was a sudden commotion on the lobby monitor as someone walked in through the front door.

It looked like a man in a duster and some type of a cowboy hat. In his right hand was a staff.

The fuck is this? Cosplay?

Probably some idiot wizard who’s survived by luck and happenstance.

The men in the lobby who were working security didn’t even bother. Anyone entering this facility was invited, an accident, or had poor intentions.

Lifting their guns up, they began unloading into the idiot who had brazenly stepped inside.

Almost immediately, six different weapons ran dry as all their ammo was expended in seconds.

Crumpling to the ground, the mortal trembled as his blood quickly pooled around him.

“Well that was stupid,” Sam murmured. “Though I wonder how often that happens?”

“Never. I’ve never seen it happen,” Imp-Three said. “And—”

A massive detonation shook the compound. Dust rained down from the ceiling tiles and the lights flickered for a moment.

One of the monitors went dark for several seconds before it began to clear up. Bits of things fluttered and floated through the view, making it hard to see what was going on despite the dust having cleared.

There was a massive hole in one wall and people were streaming in through it.

Armed with swords, staves, wands, and guns, they seemed to be a mish-mash of mortals from all walks of life.

The light above the entry door into the security room changed from a glowing green to a dark red. A second after that, the sound of a heavy bolt slamming into place echoed dully in the room.

Things just got locked down, I suppose.

“See, now that’s much more intelligent,” Sam said, pointing at the force in question. Questions and concerns were being sent up through radios and walkie-talkies to the security room. People demanding answers to what was going on. “They’ll be able to rapidly deploy and hold that area. Add to that their timing and it’s unlikely any guards will make it over there in time.”

Pausing, Sam motioned to the statue like security officers all around them.

“I mean… really. They’re not going to say anything,” Sam said with a chuckle. “They’ll certainly not do anything or react to this.”

“That means it’s up to us!” Imp-Three declared, reaching down to grab her microphone with one hand.

Sam knocked her hand away before she could begin transmitting.

“No, that means we need to get our people and hunker down,” countered Sam. “Once the smoke clears, we go get all those ‘resources’ set free and see what’s in the broom closet. This is our chance to move freely without being the one to take the blame.”

Standing up, Sam turned to look at the monitor where Hillary and Irene would be.

They were looking around in every direction, talking to one another, trying to figure out what was going on.

Someone from Jenaphila’s security team was angrily shouting into a headset, glaring into the camera.

A new group of people burst into the lobby. They were wearing body armor, carrying SMGs and looked like everything was bought on their own dime. Nothing was the consistent for any of them, giving them an eclectic look.

Four from that group of nine went down under the return fire of the security guards. The remainder managing to eliminate the guards at the same time that they took losses.

Another group ran into the lobby behind the first.

“Goodness. They’re really going all out on this,” muttered Sam. “If the security room was working though, this wouldn’t amount to much. It looks like you were right to worry about the security concerns. I wonder who ratted Jena out, and to whom.”

In seconds, the group that’d entered the lobby stormed the administration side of the building. Several people who resisted were gunned down, even as everyone else was rounded up into a group.

Curious, Sam watched.

He hadn’t expected these people to simply gun down anyone who stood in their way. Innocent or not.

It meant that they had much deeper convictions than he’d originally suspected of them.

Much deeper.

Hillary, Irene, Imp-One, and Imp-Two were cornered in the part of the building they were working out of and forced at gunpoint to start moving into the larger work area in the middle of it.

A woman wearing a long robe of blues and purples flicked her hand out and slammed the entirety of the cubicle setup to one side of the room. Creating a vast, empty open space.

There was no sound for the area, just video, but Sam knew without hearing that everyone was being ordered to line up, get their hands bound behind their back, then go sit in that space.

His thoughts were quickly confirmed as that exact sequence of events began to occur.

“Well. Maybe this isn’t going to happen as quickly as I suspected,” said Sam. “They’re not moving like a smash and grab. They’re settling in and taking hostages. I wonder if that means… that they expect Jena will be coming back out soon.”

“Or she can’t come back,” Imp-Three offered.

“Hm. Indeed. Well. I think… I think maybe you should remain here,” decided Sam. Reaching over to the security person next to Imp-Three’s position, Sam took their headset. Flicking the boxed radio portion of it to Imp-Three’s channel, he stuffed it into his pocket. Then he wound the earpiece up over his shoulder and stuffed it into his ear. “Because with their current tactics and power, me going in and slaughtering them all isn’t ideal. Because I’m not sure I could do it without opening up a lot of power in the form of Essence sorcery. And with Jenaphila right there… well… we’re still trying to avoid announcing my presence to her.”

“That… makes sense,” Imp-Three said, sitting back down in her chair. Then she lifted a hand and pointed at the mass of people that likely included Imp-One, Imp-Two, Irene, and Hillary. “But… will they be okay?”

“That’s what I’m going to go make sure of,” Sam said with a grin. “Because I can probably hide myself from them fairly easily. With all that magic running around in every which way, a small usage on my part won’t be noticed. Keep tabs on everyone, including Abigail. She’s clearly fine in the tech room but… let’s make sure we don’t forget her.”

“I’ll reach out to her right now and let her know what’s going on,” Imp-Three said, moving to the keyboard part of her setup.

Reaching down, he pulled the pistol on his hip out of its holster and then chambered a round. They’d been part of the “uniform” for being back here. He was glad now that he at least had something he could use to dispatch a mortal with, without using his powers.

Glancing at the monitor, Sam could see that the secondary door, a hidden one that emptied out into a hardened room in the barracks themselves, had an empty exit.

“See you soon,” Sam said, walking over to that very same door. Opening it quickly with his badge ID, Sam left the security room. Quickly pulling the hidden door shut behind himself, he looked around to confirm visually that no one was there.

Quickly checking each spectrum of light, he found no one was here. The sound of gunfire was rather loud however, as was the crack, thunder, and static crash of magic being used aggressively.

With a flick of his left hand, he doused himself in a slow wash of Essence, dissolving from view and making him impossible to see.

“Volume check,” Sam said into the microphone attached to the headset. “One, two.”

“Received,” Imp-Three replied. Her voice was a touch loud, but Sam could fix that easily enough. Reaching up he dialed her volume down. “—me check. One, Two.”

There. That’s low enough that no one should be able to hear it through my own ear piece.

“Received,” Sam said and then let out a short breath.

Right. Here we go.

Holding onto his pistol, Sam began to creep out of the barracks and into the complex. Passing through bunkrooms, a breakroom, and an armory, Sam encountered people in various states of getting ready.

Some clearly were still half asleep even as they buckled on body armor or retrieved weapons from racks.

Their response time is awful. But then again… they’re operating without the central station directing anything.

The comms are effectively dead.

Hm.

Stepping past and around people, Sam got into the corridor that ran from the barracks to both sides of the complex.

Turning towards the administrative side, Sam began to lightly jog in that direction. The last thing he wanted to do was leave Hillary and his two Imps to their captivity any longer than he had to.

Especially since the invaders were so clearly willing to shoot people for no reason at all.

With Tiffany and Wren both having such difficulty remaining free of the portal when they died, Sam didn’t trust Hillary or the Imps being able to survive it.

Up ahead, he could see several men with weapons all positioned behind an impromptu barricade. They had their weapons held up and pointing down a turn in the hall.

Exactly where Sam needed to be, in fact.

Damn. Alright… let’s… well… take a look first.

Then we’ll figure out the plan.

Moving out around the defenders, Sam looked down the hall. At the other end was a turn in the hall and a door. The door had several invader corpses in front of it. Unmoving, as if they’d charged out of the door and fallen right there.

And I need to turn down the hall then head down it to—

Someone stuck a weapon around the edge of the corner and fired blindly at the Imps. Their barricade would likely slow down some rounds but it wouldn’t mitigate them completely. Even possibly stopping some smaller calibers.

Predictably, the unaimed rounds missed his intended targets completely. The vast majority of the rounds going high or wide into the walls or ceiling.

Though unbelievably, two of the shots managed to hit Sam in the gut.

Grunting in pain, Sam went down to all fours, one hand pressing to his stomach.

Stupid. Stupid, Sam. Stupid!

You’re invisible, not invulnerable.

Grimacing, Sam held his hand over the wound and started to crawl to the end of the hall. The last thing he needed right now was to stay in this cross fire any longer than necessary.

Gritting his teeth, he also staunched the wound and closed them up tight. He could deal with them properly in a few minutes once he was out of harm’s way.

Dying right now, with the ways to other planes shut, there was a distinct possibility Sam wouldn’t actually get to reclothe himself in a new avatar.

No more going into anti-plane areas. No more.

Need to figure out a counter to this and make sure it works. This is stupid. Incredibly stupid.

Crawling along, Sam kept himself to the far right wall. Away from the most likely path of rounds coming from either direction.

Reaching the end of the hall, Sam found himself looking at several men and women with rifles. All looking scared to death and like they were in well over their head.

Though they did appear to be quite determined.

Growling at them noiselessly with a curled lip, Sam shuffled past them. Beyond the hall and into the large holding area where all the hostages were.

The large line of people waiting to be tied was now just a handful. Most everyone now sitting down on the ground with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

Several people were on their sides, their wrists hog-tied to their ankles. Sam didn’t know why that’d been done, but clearly something had happened. Resistance—perceived, expected, or otherwise—was the most likely culprit of such treatment.

Everyone was also gagged. Each and every person had a strip of cloth that went around their head and partly into their mouth. There also seemed to be something attached to that cloth, but Sam had no idea what it was.

Though he had some ideas. Quite a few of his clients enjoyed a different way to play.

Cleave gag with stuffing? Probably. That’d make the most sense. Tied to the gag so they can’t actually choke on it.

Nothing over the mouth though. All three of those together would most likely silence them. But they may not be worrying too much about the extreme long term on this one.

Just long enough that they can’t communicate and form a plan.

Getting up into a seated position, Sam leaned up against the wall. Holding his hand to his stomach, he continued to slowly work at the gunshot wounds.

As he watched, the kidnappers finished up their task and then left. Leaving only two people to watch over everyone.

Sam quickly spotted Hillary, Irene, Imp-One, and Imp-Two. They were all in the middle and bunched together. Clearly trying to remain near one another.

Though Imp-Two was bound at the wrist and ankle for some reason.

The two guards left to keep watch seemed to be eyeing the crowd of hostages more so than anyone coming to attack them.

They appeared to have the utmost confidence no one would sneak up on them.

Moving to the far wall of the hostage area, Sam let out a slow breath and pulled his hand away from his middle.

He’d healed everything up as best as he could right now, but it was a challenge to keep his Essence usage down, remain invisible, and not alert anyone to his presence.

His palm was covered in blood.

Looking down at himself, Sam could see there was quite a bit of blood smeared down the front of himself and coloring the top of his pants.

Damn, they really got me good. Should be okay for now but… don’t get shot again.

“See anything?” Sam asked very softly.

“No. Everything’s the same here. No change on Jena, no change on the invading forces, no change on the guards. Everyone is still at the same stalemate,” Imp-Three relayed back to him. “The invaders keep pushing towards the resource rooms but they seem unwilling to take further losses. They’ve resorted to throwing grenades and magical blasts.”

There was a thwoom-like noise that made everything rattle violently.

“That was a magical bomb someone threw. But the guards have taken up positions and the healers and wizards are making it to the choke points now,” Imp-Three explained. “I think they’re stuck on both sides for a bit. And with how much we pay to the local police… they’re not going to come looking. Ever.

“If anything… if anything, the longer this goes on, the more likely the police are to show up and try to seal the exits so the invaders can’t get away.”

Definitely a smart play by Jena to put this thing in the warehouse district with no real neighbors.

Sam nodded while chewing at his lip. It made sense.

It’s something Irma would likely arrange herself given the appropriate amount of resources to do it.

“Alright,” murmured Sam. “I’ll wait till I have an opportunity to take both guards. Or one of them if they separate.”

“Don’t try to do it any time soon. There’s around twenty people just on the other side of that door that goes to the lobby. Seems to be their brain trust or something like that,” Imp-Three reported. “They’re all talking with one another while setting up what looks like a lot of spellwork.”

“Spellwork?” Sam asked quietly.

“That’s what it looks like to me. Hard to see it through a monitor but… there’s some seriously huge distortions at certain points in the ground,” Imp-Three answered. “And that makes me feel like they’re laying spells into the ground. Can’t figure it out otherwise.”

Alright. Another thing to check then.

One of the guards broke away from the other and moved over to the hallway Sam had come from. The guard that was left behind watched his companion leave, before he slowly walked closer to the group of hostages. Putting himself within reach of them.

The second guard came back and quickly entered the lobby, apparently finding nothing out of the ordinary there.

No sooner than the other guard left, the one who’d been left behind forced himself into the middle of the hostages.

Grabbing Imp-Two by the arm he began dragging her out of the middle.

Much to the muffled shouting of Hillary, Irene, and Imp-One. A number of other hostages all complained as well but the guard ignored them all.

Dropping Imp-Two at the edge of the ring of hostages, the guard slowly wandered back over to the front of the hostages again.

He just… singled her out. And if he singled her out here, he probably was the one who picked her out to have her wrists and ankles bound.

He’s going to try and rape her, isn’t he?

Sam tilted his head to one side, staring hard at the guard.

He was nervously licking his lips, a smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes looking at everyone but Imp-Two.

Until finally they went to her and Sam saw all he needed to.

Yes. He’s going to try and rape her.

I’ll kill him after I castrate him.

Free Imp-Two, then see what’s next.

Sam snorted softly at the very idea of that man touching Sam’s property. He didn’t even try to work his thoughts through the contradictions of how he expected his women to be. He knew just how twisted it was, but he couldn’t deny how he felt.

There would be no sharing of any of his women, at any time.

I’m a Planar Lord, not a Cuck Lord.

Thirty-Five - Ghosts -

Sam shifted around where he was sitting, moving his weight to the other butt cheek.

In the last hour, very little had changed. Both sides pushed a bit, and then retreated. Gaining nothing but possibly inflicting a casualty or two on either side.

Which Imp-Three reported as being rather pointless, since both sides had those who could use healing magic.

This is going to come down to who runs out of bullets or magic first, isn’t it?

Leaning his head against the wall, Sam was reminded of a number of battles he’d been involved in that had gone just like this.

Wars of attrition happen way more often than people think. I wonder if this’ll be interrupted by the police.

I mean, Imp-Three hasn’t seen any police despite the explosions and gunfire. Which means the police were probably bribed or bought just like she said.

Makes me wonder what this organization is and what their goals are. They haven’t really said much.

That might ch—

“Going to take a shit,” mumbled the guard who was in charge. “If they do anything, just call to the lobby.”

“Got it,” said the suspected would-be rapist.

Damn. If his intention really is to rape Imp-Two, this’ll be when he does it.

Getting to his feet, Sam lightly brushed himself off and checked his pistol in its holster, then his Essence draw. He wasn’t using very much at all.

Due to the extreme amount of magical energy that had ripped through the complex so far, he’d also been able to siphon Essence from the fallout.

Good to be a Planar Lord. Essence Essence, everywhere.

The first guard slowly left the room, as if he were doing the standard check-in which he’d been doing so far. As though there wasn’t anything different this time than the number of times he’d previously done it.

Glancing back at the door as it swung shut, the guard left behind clicked his tongue and looked back to the hostages.

“Nobody move, or do anything,” said the guard. “If I see a twitch in any way, I’m just going to shoot you. None of you matter anything. Got it?”

There was a chorus of grunts and nodding heads.

“Great. Let’s… have some fun then,” proclaimed the guard. Then he wandered over to Imp-Two, grabbed her by her elbow, and began dragging her off toward an office on the sidewall.

Irene, Hillary, and Imp-One all began to move like they were going to get up.

“Ah!” said the guard, leveling his weapon at them even as he dragged Imp-Two away. “Don’t test me. Or I’ll shoot her first, then the rest of you. Don’t worry. We won’t be long. Nice and quick, no pain at all, and I’ll have her back safe and sound.”

With the weapon leveled at them, Hillary and Irene seemed subdued for the moment.

Though Sam imagined Irene was only forced to inaction because the gunman could still kill Imp-Two, Hillary, and Imp-One, even if she herself was immortal.

Now that he thought about Irene, though, Sam realized her soul wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Moving in closer to the gunman, Sam slipped ahead into the office where he was taking Imp-Two.

Let the door close, slit his throat, dump the body, get Hillary and have her take this guy’s form, then go from there.

That’ll give me Imp-Two as a resource and Hillary as a watch-post here.

Oh. I could have Hillary take Irene off to an office next as if she were his next target. Then she’d be free to assist as well.

Or… or if I do this quick, Hillary could go out after two minutes and get Irene, and pull her back here?

That’d work.

The rapist pulled Imp-Two into the office and then wedged the door open. Pushing Imp-Two halfway in front of the doorway it seemed like the man’s intent was to rape her and keep an eye on the hostages at the same time.

Sam moved around behind the man, and waited for him to put his gun down. Forming some Essence into a hardened six-inch long blade, Sam idly rolled it between his fingers.

As soon as that gun goes down. He’ll need both hands to strip Imp-Two after all. Or to even undo his pants. Then we’ll end his ugly little life.

Rapists are the worst of the worst.

Setting the gun down, the guard leaned forward and looked at the hostages quickly. Then he moved back out of sight of them and began working at his pants.

Wrapping an arm around the man’s neck, Sam drove the blade home using his Essence to strengthen the attack. The blade went in all the way to Sam’s fist, penetrating through flesh as if it were tissue paper. Then Sam ripped it across the entire expanse of the guard’s throat, cutting through everything it came across.

Turning to one side as he did it, Sam angled the guard’s face towards the corner.

Blood began to spray out of the man like a garden hose, pumping in time with the beat of his heart.

Both of the man’s hands came up to scrabble at Sam’s arm weakly. Then dropped back down to his sides as the man went completely limp.

Given that Sam had completely severed the carotid artery, it was the expected result.

Dropping the man to the ground, Sam pushed him into the corner with one foot and dropped his invisibility spell.

Looking at his arms, Sam found they were quite covered in blood. Curling a lip, he briefly considered using Essence to wipe it all away but that seemed like it’d be a waste of resources.

Turning back to Imp-Two, Sam found she was staring up at him. There were tears in her eyes, and she was clearly smiling around the gag.

“As if I’d let him touch you,” Sam reprimanded her with a grin.

Then Irene, Hillary, and Imp-One stormed into the office. The latter of the three kicking out the stopper so the door swung shut after Hillary yanked Imp-Two clear of it.

“Oh, hello,” Sam said, smiling at the three new arrivals. Leaning down he worked at Imp-Two’s bounds as he spoke. “That makes this rather easy, then.”

Standing up after getting Imp-Two free, Sam was momentarily surprised as Imp-One slammed into him and hugged him tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” sobbed Imp-One, clinging to him.

Nodding, Sam laid his arms around Imp-One and hugged her in return. Patting her back gently.

It was likely she wasn’t cut out for this sort of work.

I’ll keep her paired with Irma. Her, Imp-Two, and Imp-Three can help Irma directly.

“Alright,” Sam said, gently easing Imp-One to one side and then helping Imp-Two to her feet. “Hillary, you take this guy’s form and get back out there in a minute or two. We’ll start our own operation from here. We also en—”

Imp-Two snatched Sam into a heavy hug, then kissed him hard, her arms tight around his neck.

Several seconds later, she let him go from the kiss, but pulled at him, keeping him close to herself.

“Uh, we also might get a chance to deal with Jenaphila,” Sam continued, not pushing Imp-Two away. Instead he held her and stroked her back. He could feel her sobbing softly into his shoulder. “She’s on site. Which is quite possibly why the attack came when it did. If we get the chance… we should put her underground.”

“Yes,” Irene said, nodding sharply at that. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her and her goons. The goons are all aware of what’s going on, but have been… too scared to leave their positions. As that’s where they were ordered to be.”

Ah, that would explain where her soul is. She’s likely one of the best informed here because of that.

“And it’s very good to see you, Sammy. Very good,” Irene said, giving him a tired smile.

“So good,” Hillary said, as she looked over the gun the guard had been holding. “I’m going to make you feel amazing later, baby. Showing up all white knight like that. I’m going to lick you from your taint to your tip.”

Sam raised his eyebrow at that. He hadn’t expected Hillary to be under any pressure from this, but apparently she had been.

Pulling out the magazine, Hillary gave it a once-over and slotted it back into place.

“Ok, baby. Gimmie a kiss and some clothes before I head out there. I hate being a man. Never felt right, and still doesn’t,” Hillary said, sighing and looking at Sam.

She moved in, not moving Imp-Two at all, and kissed Sam. Then she took a step back and morphed into the guard who was in the corner, likely dead or quite close to being so at this point.

Sam flicked a hand at her and moved the uniform from the guard, minus the blood, to Hillary with a miniscule trickle of Essence.

A few seconds after that, a naked Hillary was walking out of the office, scratching at her privates as she did so.

“Four people died just now,” Hillary said aloud as the door swung shut behind her. Even though her voice was partially muffled, Sam could still hear her. “When no one had to die. I just wanted a little action. Let’s hope no one else tries to be the hero after I pick someone else next.”

“Hm. Well. That gives us some room to work. Any changes, Imp-Three?” Sam asked.

Irene’s eyes jumped from Sam’s face to his ear, then she smirked at him.

“Nothing here. Everything is mostly the same. What are you going to do now?” Imp-Three asked.

“Well, Irene and I are going to go on an adventure. Imp-Two and Imp-One are going to stay here where it’s safe,” Sam said. “Give me the clearest route to the resource generation rooms. Preferably the one that Jenaphila isn’t in.”

***

Irene was pressed in tight to Sam’s front. Her rear end practically in his lap. Slowly, they eased up around the corner of the hallway and into the security checkpoint that led to their destination.

Irene’s hands were in front of her, holding tightly to one another.

Unfortunately, Sam couldn’t really extend his camouflage that far without significantly increasing the cost and usage. Which were both problematic.

In the end, she’d made the call to be in front of him, pressed to him. Arguing that death to her was as commonplace as drinking coffee. If Sam died though, that was an altogether different problem. That it also kept his Essence costs down as well as shielding him.

The last thing Sam wanted to do was to use someone else as a human shield, but she had more than a few good points in her arguments.

Walking slowly, as quietly as they could, they moved past the machine gun emplacement and toward the door behind it.

This was the tricky part of course.

Getting through a shut and locked door without alerting anyone to the fact that they were. On top of that, it was also a badge swipe door.

Moving up against the wall, Sam wrapped his arms around Irene and contemplated how to handle this. He had options available, but they also came with risks.

Idly, Sam ran his hand up and down Irene’s arms as he contemplated how to handle this.

“I can unlock the door,” Imp-Three said in his headset. “In fact. Unlocking it is rather loud. It might make them turn around and check it.”

I like that. That could work.

Except I have no way to tell her to do it. Ha.

Let’s try… a non-verbal response.

Reaching up with one hand, Sam tapped the small microphone attached to his headset.

“Oh! Right. You can’t talk,” Imp-Three said.

Sam responded with a single tap to the microphone.

“Got it. Okay. One tap for yes, two for no?” Imp-Three asked.

Once more, Sam tapped the microphone once.

“And just to test, please signal no?” Imp-Three requested.

Two taps was Sam’s response.

“Perfect. I’m going to unlock the door. Signal yes when ready,” Imp-Three murmured.

Laying his arm back around Irene, Sam eased himself closer to the door. With any luck they could get the guards to open it and get through.

Taking a slow breath, Sam gave Irene a squeeze, then tapped his microphone once.

A second after that the loud clack of the lock disengaging made everyone jump a bit.

The guards turned around and looked at the door, wondering who was coming through, but didn’t move from their positions.

Then the door clacked again, re-locking itself.

Staring at it for several more seconds, the guards didn’t seem to know what to make of this development.

Imp-Three took the lack of a response as her own indicator to unlock the door once again. The lock noisily announcing that the door was open.

Drawing his pistol, the assistant to the machine gunner lifted it up and moved to the door. Reaching out with his left hand, he shoved the door open, quickly taking hold of his weapon with both hands again.

There was no one on the other side, of course.

Standing there, the guard eased forward as the door started to close. Catching it with his boot-tip, he began to slowly force it open as he inched through the doorway and into the resource room.

Moving inside, he cleared the area and then went further, holding the door with one foot as he pivoted with his pistol drawn.

Sam took this opportunity to shuffle through the door with Irene. Gliding past the guard as he slowly checked the other side of the door, Sam stuck himself up against the wall and went still.

He could hear the grunting, thumping, and meaty slap of flesh on flesh. A cacophony of moans and groans were present on top of all that.

Even as the invaders and guards fought, Incubi and Succubi continued to fuck their partners into oblivion.

The stink of sex was oppressive. The room reeked of sweat, bodily fluids, and unwashed bodies.

It was almost overwhelming.

Coughing once, the guard seemed to give up on the door, holstered his pistol, and walked back through to the otherwise.

When the door swung shut, it locked itself, and was quiet.

“Clear,” Imp-Three said. “Assuming you made it through.”

“Yeah, we did. Anyone in here?” Sam asked in a whisper.

“No. You’re good for this room. Jenaphila is still in the Elemental resource area,” Imp-Three stated.

“Fantastic,” Sam said, letting the camouflage drop.

“Aww, but I was having fun,” Irene said, not moving away from Sam’s front. Instead, she slightly ground her rear end into his lap.

Laughing to himself, Sam patted Irene gently, feeling some of his tension easing up.

“Yeah, you feel nice, but we have work to do,” Sam said regretfully.

“I know, I know. I’m just… finally starting to feel comfortable in my new body,” Irene said as she released him and walked toward the nearest cage.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t slept with Irene since her body-change.

In fact, she’d avoided him.

Not that he could blame her. She’d undergone a massive change that probably wasn’t over.

“They’re cold iron,” Irene said, touching one of the bars. On the inside, was a Succubus riding a male Imp into the bottom of the cage.

Grunting, she thrust herself down over and over onto his length, the man clearly lost in a haze of sexual pleasure.

“And very heavily loaded with spells,” Irene muttered as she wrapped her fingers around the bar. “They’re… oh. I see. They’re all designed to drive a Succubus or Incubus into sexual frenzy. It also makes it feel really good to get off.”

“That sounds less pleasant than one would initially think,” Sam grumbled, coming over to lay a fingertip to the bar.

The moment his flesh touched it, he had an insatiable urge to throw Irene down to the ground and savage her.

Without control, no thoughts to guide it, and just an extreme need to bury himself in her and make her orgasm constantly.

Then to attack the Succubus in the cage and make her orgasm until she couldn’t anymore.

Flinching away from the cage, Sam looked at it with no small amount of dread.

“Yeah. Really unpleasant,” Sam muttered. “I wanted to just ravage you and then the Succubus. It was… it was absolutely mind-altering. More so than anything I’ve ever encountered in my life.”

Clicking her tongue softly, Irene didn’t look happy about that. Then she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“Well. No one is allowed in the cages then,” Irene murmured. “Let’s start freeing them all while we have the chance.”

“Good idea,” Sam said. Walking over to the locking mechanism, Sam looked at the electro-mechanical combination lock and wondered how he was going to get it open.

Irene slapped her hand to the pad and there was a loud popping noise. A small current of electricity zipped through the lock, then it made a ping noise and the door swung open.

“Alright. Come on out of there little miss sex-monster,” Irene said then gestured at the Imp. “You, too. Get out.”

Moaning in pleasure, the Succubus ground her hips into the man for several more seconds, before she got up off him. Grabbing him by his hands, the Succubus dragged him out of the cage and onto the facility floor.

“Come on, baby,” purred the Succubus at the Imp. “We need to get up. Time to escape.”

“I’m too tired, my love,” groaned the Imp, slowly getting to a kneeling position.

Uh… they’re in a relationship?

“I’m pregnant again. Get up,” countered the sex-goddess with black hair and dark eyes. “We’re keeping our daughter this time, no matter what. Even if we have to die for her.”

“Yes, love,” muttered the Imp. “A daughter? I want a daughter.”

Grunting, he got to his feet, swayed for a moment, then steadied himself.

The Imp and the Succubus turned towards Sam, probably looking for answers.

“We’re freeing everyone,” Sam said simply. “Can’t open a portal yet, but… we’re working on that.”

Breathing deeply, the Succubus nodded slowly.

Then she reached over and laid a hand to the Imp and clearly fed him Essence while also stabilizing them both.

“Good,” the Succubus said. “Just… don’t free anyone in the red rooms. They eat their partners even though they’ve been here long enough to know better.”

“Red room?” Sam asked.

The Succubus lifted one slim arm and pointed toward the far side of the resource room.

“There’s a section over that way with people in cages with red bars. Don’t… let them out. Just leave them,” the Succubus said with a shake of her head. “They exist only to drain and eat their partners. The cage compels you to sexual abandon, but it doesn’t force us to life drain. They don’t respect the breaks supervisors give us either. They don’t have victims in there with them right now but each other.”

Curious.

Thirty-Six - Better Red than Dead -

Irene put her hand to another electronic keypad and shorted out the lock.

The Incubus inside kept humping away at his partner, while at the same time pulling her out of the cage as he backed up.

The compulsion to have sex is incredibly strong. And very dialed in to my species.

Jena… you’re truly a wretched thing.

Though I feel bad for all the addicts who’ll likely suffer Essence withdrawals, this is pure evil. We can’t let it continue.

“Sam, Jenaphila just left the broom closet. Everyone here is starting to move a little,” Imp-Three said hurriedly. “I’m going to sabotage the whole room so they lose the camera feeds. I’ll try to join you as quick as I can! I’ll grab Abigail from the tech room!”

“Wait, what?” Sam asked, turning his head and pressing a hand to his headset.

There was a massive burst of static in response to his question followed by a high pitched whining before the whole thing went dead.

“Okay,” Sam said, flicking the headset to one side and turning to Irene. “Jena just came out of her little special room. Everyone’s coming to. We need to finish up and be done with this.”

“Only twenty or so more cages,” Irene muttered, looking ahead of where they were. “I’ll just… I’ll rush it. It might make a bit more noise than we want, but if she’s moving… well… I imagine things are about to change.”

“Yeah, she never really did well with surprises and tended to—”

There was an enormous detonation of Essence sorcery. As if someone had opened up the dam on a massive lake and let it start spilling out.

“Fuck,” Irene said, reaching out to grab the cage nearby to steady herself. “Is that what Essence sorcery feels like? I actually felt it. I can never feel yours when you use it.”

“Yeah… you’re not supposed to feel it,” said Sam through chattering teeth. The amount of Essence that’d just blown through him had shifted his soul around in his avatar. It was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling and it made him feel like he was suddenly standing in front of the sun.

Jena is way too damn strong. She’s got too much Essence behind her to take her on directly.

Holy fuck.

I’d have to touch her directly to activate the brand on her. That’s the only way I could overpower her.

The Incubus who’d just brought his partner out of the cage collapsed to the ground and began convulsing right there.

Sam could see that he’d be fine, but his soul had definitely almost been ripped right out of his avatar.

“Damnit Jena, the hell are you doing?” Sam asked no one.

“She’s… very angry,” Irene said, staring at nothing. “Very angry. She just killed two people for no reason as far as I can tell. I’m… going to go open those cages.”

Irene took off at a quick jog, holding a hand out as she went.

Small purple and black lightning bolts leapt from her hand and struck each lock as she went by.

Nearby, Sam could see the first Succubus he’d freed.

“Hey, I need you to stand right here and tell my partner when she comes back to hold here,” Sam said. “I’m going to go see if I can’t figure out how to release the Elementals. Got it?”

Nodding, the Succubus let out a short sigh. “Yeah. I got it. They don’t deserve to be locked up any more than we do.”

Sam cloaked himself in his Essence and then left quickly. Moving to the door that led straight into the Elemental resource room, Sam tried it.

He found it was locked.

Not only locked, but broken. The keypad was dead and there didn’t seem to be any electricity going to it.

Thinking, Sam quickly reviewed the map of the complex in his head.

There was another hall that led to the Elementals and had a stronger security point, but without a powered door. Sam figured it was where cages were brought in from outside, as the hallway was significantly larger as well.

He didn’t have to try very hard to feel where Jena was either. He could practically taste her as she made her way toward where the invaders were. She was taking the shortest route possible to get to them. Essence crackling off her the entire way.

Reaching the security checkpoint, Sam found it was deserted and empty.

The hell? Did she… take all her people with her? Okay.

That… helps? Maybe?

Quick as he could manage without alerting anyone, Sam went through the defensive point and into the Elemental resource room.

All around him were Elementals in various states of being drained. In one fashion or another, they were all powering the vast network that was Jenaphila’s empire.

Making a quick decision, Sam went over to a series of plastic looking cells. Strapped to the top of them were pipes and a large machine.

Sam knew what was in those cells. Air Elementals.

And that was just what he needed. They were weak compared to other Elementals, but they almost always had their element to draw on at all times. They could easily blast these cells and cages open.

Right now though, they were being starved of oxygen and held in a vacuum. Only allowed to have enough air to survive and bleed off energy with a slow trickle of air.

Smashing his fist into the control panel, Sam regretted his action when the cell suddenly made a whooshing sound and the door slammed open.

The prison had suddenly filled with pure oxygen.

Four humanoid shapes appeared on the ground where they hadn’t been moments before.

“Hey,” Sam said before they could run off. “I need your help freeing everyone else. We need to get everyone out as quickly as we can. Have everyone meet up at that exit door but don’t leave.”

Two of the Air Elementals nodded at that, looking up at Sam. A third passed out right there, and the fourth just started stumbling away without saying a word.

Right. Those two can handle it. Let’s go see that broom closet real quick.

Running off, Sam went unerringly to the spot Jena where had been cooped up. With how long she’d been there, and how out of touch she was with what was happening, Sam was hoping to find something that’d let them get out of here.

Hope it’s a portal. A portal anywhere. I can use it to make another portal inside it.

Reaching the broom closet and finding dead people, Sam flipped back to the comment Imp-Three had made.

The older Elemental and another were on the ground. There didn’t seem to be any sign of outward violence on them, but Sam could clearly tell they were quite dead.

Grabbing the handle of the broom closet, Sam jerked it open and found just that.

A closet with shelves, cleaning supplies, several mops, and brooms.

Holding up a hand, Sam simply stole from the free-floating Essence that was everywhere right now and used it to tear at any glamour that could be here.

The Essence that Jenaphila had flooded the building with was everywhere. There was no way he’d be able to see a glamour, but he could use the free Essence to break a glamour.

Seconds after smashing the entirety of the closet with his spellwork, Sam watched as a door appeared in the corner of the room. It didn’t have a doorknob, but instead had a plate that likely read biometrics.

Stepping up to it, Sam simply punched out at the point where it likely latched to the frame. Using that same free Essence to empower his whole body to channel the blow, Sam knocked it open on the first strike.

Hopping over a mop and its bucket, Sam entered a large open room. A line of screens, switches, buttons, and knobs were laid out against a glass enclosure.

In that enclosure were four Elemental cores. They appeared to be some type of metallic Elemental and were all being crushed together by magical means.

What the hell is she doing?

Sam had no idea what was going on here, but he knew that it wasn’t likely good for anyone.

Looking down at the console in front of him, Sam figured these were controls for the enclosure. Glancing to the screen, he saw there was a series of systems listed.

At the top, in bold red letters, read “radiation control protocol: active”.

Radiation? Huh.

Radiation can distort all forms of magic. If I remove the protocol… could I flood the complex with radiation? Would it be enough to let us open a portal?

Time to find out.

Grinning, Sam started flipping switches, turning knobs, and tapping buttons. With each one, he checked the screen to see if there was any change at all.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to find the right combination or specific button sequence to deactivate the control.

“You know what… fuck it,” Sam said. Laying a hand down against the top of the panel, Sam slammed an Essence spike into the system, and into the enclosure.

Because the radiation is probably coming from the—

The console, enclosure, and part of the room blew outward from the point Sam had struck.

Sent flying through the air, Sam zipped out of the room and slammed through the wall of the broom closet, only to end up back in the Elemental Resource room.

Slowly, Sam sat up, his ears ringing painfully.

Giving his head a shake, he stood up and looked at the hole he’d made.

Then a wave of radiation hit him that had no end.

He felt it when it struck his avatar and began to degrade it.

Okay, damn. That’s a lot of radiation.

Sam turned on his heel and went straight back to where the Elementals were now gathering.

Those that could help were destroying locks and those that couldn’t were crowding together here.

“Okay, you’re all free,” Sam said reaching the group. Then he felt a thread-like stream of Essence reach him. Across the plane-nullification zone and through the radiation, he could feel his plane.

Putting some oomph into the spell, Sam tore open a portal to his plane, and stuck a plane right on the other side of it so that it opened up to where the school had been in Florida.

It was the best he could do without revealing his own presence in this escape.

And radiation wouldn’t bother an elemental in the least.

“Good luck!” Sam said and left. He needed to go collect his people and get out as well.

Upon re-entering the other resource room where he’d left Irene, he found that everyone was now freed. Except for those in the red rooms, as they’d been called.

In fact, even Hillary, Abigail, Imp-One, Imp-Two, and Imp-Three had somehow joined Irene.

“Hey, it’s time to go,” Irene said to Sam as he got close. Her soul was watching him during his approach and had clearly relayed it to her body. Irene was busily trying to force a portal open through the radiation that was now wildly sweeping out. “There’s a radiation leak and I’m going to use it. Once we get it open, we can stabilize it and—”

A dark purple portal shrieked into existence. Sam had no idea where it went on the other side, but anywhere would be better than here.

Aster came through the portal and stood to one side, smiling.

“We’re clear on the other side,” she said. Apparently, she’d been waiting for a portal. Either Abigail had gotten a message out or someone had been paying attention and keeping an eye on things.

Probably Decima.

I’ll kiss her from head to asshole, the angry little militant.

“Great! Everyone through!” Irene shouted, looking away from Aster. “Fast as you can!”

In a massive rush of sweaty, seed-stained, very naked bodies, the portal was filled with people escaping.

A mob-like line had formed and people went through as quickly as possible.

Imp-One, Imp-Two, Imp-Three, Abigail, Hillary, Irene, and Sam all formed up at the back.

“I can hold this open till we get through,” Irene promised, staying next to Sam with one hand raised.

“This wasn’t supposed to be an active mission,” Abigail complained. “I don’t want active missions anymore. I’m not cut out for this.”

“You and me both, my love,” Sam said, laying a hand to Abigail’s shoulder. She was right in front of Sam, just behind Imp-Three.

Imp-One, Imp-Two, and Hillary vanished through the portal. Along with the pregnant dark haired Succubus who’d stuck close by for some reason.

“Need any help with it?” Sam asked, glancing to Irene as Imp-Three was ready to go through the portal, just behind an Incubus.

“No. I’ve got it. It’s stable and—”

A freakishly large spike of Essence stabbed out at their location, passing right through the portal.

The purple oval of magic suddenly, and without any warning, snapped completely shut.

Imp-Three—who’d been halfway through it—was neatly cut in half. From the front of her skull down to the front of her stomach she simply vanished into nothing. The back half of her had fallen to the ground and flopped around for a second.

Imp-Three’s soul appeared, then vanished, zipping away to the side as if it’d been yanked by an invisible hand.

Oh shit, she’s gone!

Irene, Sam, Abigail, and Aster were still on the wrong side of the portal.

“The fuck!?” Aster shouted, moving away from Imp-Three as she bled all over the Elemental’s boots.

“Something forced my portal shut,” Irene said, slowly slumping to one side. “It hurt really bad.”

“That was Jena,” explained Sam. He knew it was true. “She knows we’re here and just shut the portals. Both of them.”

He could no longer feel his connection to his plane. They were effectively stuck here.

Again.

“Both?” Abigail asked.

“I opened one for the Elementals to get out. We need to… uh…” Sam said, pausing to look around. He didn’t know what to do.

“Red room. Let’s go to the red room and get in a cage. We can pretend to be them. I’ll short the locking mechanism,” Irene said. “She can’t hold the planes shut on her force of will alone. That radiation is getting heavier by the minute.”

Sam couldn’t disagree. The radiation seemed to be getting worse very quickly.

“Red room? What cage?” Aster asked.

Irene wasn’t waiting for anyone. She was already heading toward the red room cages.

“Sam is going to fuck us insanely,” Irene said. “Literally, insanely. To the point that you’re going to be numb from the hips down.”

“Huh?” Abigail asked brightly, chasing after Irene.

“The cage makes Incubi and Succubi go sex crazy. He’s going to hump your bunk as if he were starving,” Irene amended. “Let’s hope there’s an open cage or I’m going to have to turn the contents to goo and take it over. They’re a little different than the others and each one is segregated for the most part.”

“I’m all for getting ravaged, but surely we could think of another plan,” said Aster. “What if Jena comes in here and—”

A deep rumbling sound was followed by a violent wave of Essence sorcery scorching over them.

“Okay! Into the cage! Ravage me plenty Sam and make me squeal,” Aster said, hurrying after Irene.

Sam couldn’t blame them. The amount of power behind that last blast was on a level he’d never experienced in his life.

We’ll have to attack her personal Essence storage. There’s no way we can battle her head-on.

Attack how she’s generating it, her entire empire, and her storage.

Way too strong.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Irene said, turning slightly. “Dump your clothes, get in the cage. I’m going to fry the lock.”

Aster and Abigail were stripping out of their clothes quickly, piling them up atop one another in front of the cage Irene had led them to.

On the other side of the partition, Sam could hear the sounds of sex. Rough sex. Flesh slapping and a woman grunting and moaning.

“Sam get naked already, for fucking me’s sake,” Aster demanded, flicking her panties on top of the pile and then getting into the empty red-barred cage.

Abigail was a moment behind her, running a hand through her hair.

“Okay, locks fried,” Irene said tearing her clothes off herself. “We can exit whenever we want. Just have to wait long enough for the radiation to get really bad.”

“Won’t radiation… kill us?” Abigail asked.

“Definitely,” Aster said with a chuckle. “Good thing you’re immortally contracted. We’ll escape before it gets bad enough to kill us.”

Irene shucked off her bra atop the pile.

“Hopefully,” she added as Sam dropped his own clothes onto the pile.

Lifting a hand, Irene incinerated the clothes in a flash of black and purple magic. In a second or two, it was as if the clothes had never existed.

“I liked those panties. Those were the panties I wore when Sam popped my new cherry,” Aster complained.

Irene went into the cage and held the door open from inside.

“Come on, Sam. Time to get to work,” she said.

Not liking this at all, Sam went into the cage. The entrance to this one was rather small and forced him to practically go in sideways.

Irene closed the door behind them and the whole thing turned on. A yellow light over the corner of the cage came to life.

“Damn, it just blocked me from my Essence,” Aster muttered.

“Yeah, it turned off my magic, too. Amy said the yellow light meant it was readying,” Irene said, looking at the light. “It’ll switch to green and power on. Then activate. It’ll drain us of the Essence we make through sex.

“If it’s red, it’s not working, and we’ll look… like the odd people out if they check cages.”

“Who said?” Sam asked.

“The Succubus. Amy. She explained everything to me while you were gone,” Irene replied.

Sam was looking around at the cage under his bare feet and above his head. He really didn’t like this. Being in a cold-iron cage made him feel sick.

“Though… though when it turns on, Sam is going to go full-on sex mode,” Irene said. “And I probably should have thought of this before but there’s no one here to give us a break from him. Someone usually came and altered the cage for that.”

“Oh,” Aster said. “Does that mean he could fuck me to death? And wow. I’m starting to get really horny. This cage is ramping me up with magic, isn’t it?”

“It definitely is. I feel it, too. As to fucking you to death, probably not,” Irene said. “Once it turns on, Sam won’t stop till we get him back out of the cage. But the others seemed to have some control. He should know when to stop.”

“They were here for years,” Sam commented. “Probably got used to it.”

“That… might be a prob—”

There was a clack and the light turned green, Irene falling silent.

Sam felt himself suddenly drowning in a world of lust and absolute desire.

“I’ll go first,” Abigail said, moving toward Sam. “We’ll just alternate and—”

Snatching at her, Sam picked her up and put her down to the ground. In less than a heartbeat, he had thrust himself deep into her and began pounding away at her with his hips.

After ten seconds of demolishing the moaning and squirming Abigail, Sam lost sense of what was going on.

Only to come back to himself what felt like seconds later.

Looking beneath himself, he found Irene. Sweat covered, her hair plastered to her face and on the ground, her arms limp next to her.

Her eyes were dull and lifeless, staring at nothing behind him.

“He actually killed us,” the Caer soul remarked. “Wow. We got dicked to death.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We can’t die. We’ll be up in a few seconds,” argued Irene’s soul. “But wow. That was amazing.”

“Yes. Yes it was,” Caer soul said. “Never felt anything like it. Even as we died he kept thrusting. Till we were dead.”

Looking around, Sam found the soul watching from outside the cage.

In the corner was a very sweaty, dirty, and completely unconscious Aster and Abigail. They both looked like they’d crawled into the corner and passed out there.

Sam could see they were covered in seed and Aster even had several bite marks on her neck.

Below him, Irene took in a gasping breath and then started coughing.

Looking back to the Lich-Witch, Sam was glad to see her eyes moving around.

“Holy shit,” Irene said in a gasp. “My heart gave out. Wow. I mean, damn, the sex has been great, but I never thought you’d actually dick me to death.”

“What’s… what’s going on?” Sam asked.

“Still waiting for the radiation,” Irene said, then she started to squirm out from under him. “Been a few hours. We’re almost there. You kinda fucked Abigail unconscious, then Aster. I stepped in since… well, I can’t die. Ya know? They can.

“Here, help me onto my hands and knees. You don’t let me switch positions and my back is hurting.”

Pulling out of Irene, Sam sat back and helped her to her hands and knees.

“Stupid light is going to turn back on in a second,” Irene said, as she propped herself up. “Oh, that’s so much better. Thanks.”

Irene’s thighs, rear end, hips, and privates were all coated in liberal amounts of Sam’s seed. It looked like she’d been painted in it.

It began to flow out of her insides like she was a keg that’d been tapped.

Glancing down at himself, Sam could see he was covered as well.

“Oh, there’s the light. Come on then Sam, round two,” Irene said a second before Sam leapt atop her. Losing track of his mind instantly.

***

Waking out of his trance for what he could only guess at being perhaps the fourth time, Sam found he was looking down at Irene again. She was in the position he’d levered her into the last time she’d asked for him to move her to.

Which was right after she’d come back to life after having died again.

One leg was up over his shoulder, the other splayed out to her side. Sam was buried deep inside her and looming over her.

Except she wasn’t dead this time.

“Oh, thank fuck,” growled Irene before a portal slipped down over Sam, Irene, Abigail, and Aster.

Popping out into what was Sam’s old apartment, Sam felt extremely disoriented.

“Okay. I love you Sammy and that was kinda fun, but…” Irene trailed off, reaching up to pat Sam’s shoulder. “Get off me. I smell like my piss and your cum and… and I need a shower. So bad. Everything is pretty sore, as well.”

Pulling out of Irene, Sam leaned back, trying to collect his thoughts.

Irene let her leg fall down, sighed, groaned, and then got to her feet.

Urine and seed dribbled down from her legs and thighs.

Walking like a baby deer, Irene managed to hobble off toward the shower.

“Uh… what… happened?” Sam asked. He had a fragmented memory of events.

“You fucked me to death nine times,” she called, opening the shower door. “Nine times, Sam. Nine times. You literally fucked me for around six hours. You had Aster for two and poor Abigail for one. We couldn’t pry you off her till she literally passed out. Aster practically shoved herself between you two.”

The sound of the shower turning on was followed by the shower door shutting.

“Oh, that feels so good. My poor pussy. It’s raw. Like ground beef,” Irene complained, followed by a groan. “Even if it did feel good at the time.”

Looking at Aster and Abigail, Sam saw they were still unconscious and filthy.

“We’re… okay?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” Irene said, her voice partially distorted by the shower. “Jena won. Then she came storming around to see what happened. She didn’t notice us, as far as I could tell. The radiation finally got bad enough that we could get out. It was so bad that we’re going to have to decontaminate your apartment and ourselves. We probably glow in the dark right now.

“You might want to get in the shower with me, by the way. You wouldn’t let me get up to go pee so… I did it on you. Consider yourself marked?”

Sam could indeed smell urine on himself. Very potent, lack of water, urine.

But… we’re okay.

Imp-Three’s gone, though… maybe I could go see Alisa about her. Maybe I could get her back?

For now… a shower.

“Coming,” Sam muttered, getting to his feet.

“You already did that. A lot. I swear to god I’m going to drip in my panties for a month,” complained Irene.

Epilogue

Leaning back in the grass, Sam watched the Cambion warriors going through their training.

Ever since they’d been brought here, they’d done nothing but train, raid Aster’s new plane.

In the end she’d decided to turn it into a training ground. Filled with monsters, beasts, and obstacles. An ideal training ground for anyone who wanted to test themselves.

It didn’t hurt that no one could really die or be maimed there, either.

He envied the Cambion in a way. They had a direction and dedication to themselves that needed no explanation or understanding.

“We’re all done,” Irma said, dropping down next to him on the grass. “Everything is closed up, complete ghost presence now.”

“Mm. Pity,” Sam murmured, leaning toward Irma partially.

“Yes and no,” said the Imp with a wide smile. “Yes and no. We definitely needed to get off the prime plane for a while. All my resources and sources tell me that Jena is an actual ball of rage.

“Ultra rage. Extreme rage. Nothing but rage.”

Sam snorted at that and grinned.

“Good. I like that.”

“Course, you do,” said Irma with a laugh, laying an arm around Sam’s shoulders. “And that’s the bad part. We left precious few hints and clues behind but it’s still a possibility she could figure us out. So, we go to ground. Just like you suggested. We’ll pop back up later. It’ll be fine.”

“I guess,” Sam muttered. He knew it was the right thing to do. Had even suggested it himself. Didn’t mean he liked it, though.

“You won’t even notice. Lots and lots of generators, an open phone line, and we can work contracts and the business without ever having to be on the prime,” listed Irma. “Everything just like normal. Even cable TV and the internet. All from our plane.”

Irma fell silent, her fingers lightly combing through Sam’s hair.

“You’re sure those tiny cord sized portals won’t attract any notice?” Irma asked quietly.

“Positive,” Sam said with a chuckle. “I’d have problems looking for them even if I knew they were there. Not to mention, there’s no reason for anyone to ever enter our building. All the magical alarms, mechanical alarms, and the Cambion guards… well. They’d have to get through all of that first, just to find an empty building and a few cables going into almost invisible portals.”

“I… yeah, that’s a good point,” Irma said and then leaned her head against Sam’s. “Hm. They’re rather dedicated. Quite strong, too.

“I was rather surprised that Wren lost to their leader. Good thing she at least beat her second-in-command.”

Watching as a group of Cambion warriors charged another group, Sam was impressed as both sides clashed together, and managed to hold their ground.

“To be fair… there were a lot of challenges given as soon as I outlawed killing opponents,” Sam said. “Doesn’t hurt that we have enough Imps now to keep them healed up of any wounds.”

“Speaking of that, my dearest Husband, how are you going to be able to feed all those Imps?” Irma asked softly. “Because last I saw, you have all your contracts to handle, myself and your other… well, wives, I suppose, and then the Cambion whenever you have free time.”

“Oh, that’s actually easy. Jes, Aster, and I don’t really sleep. Not much anyways,” Sam said with a chuckle.

“Is that what you’ve been doing after I sleep? Hm. Also explains where Wren goes. She just gets tossed in as the chew toy between the three of you and gnawed on. Then again, she said she likes it,” Irma asked, then sighed. “I’m finding myself quite accustomed to my man sleeping with so many, but I don’t like it much.”

“Sorry, but you knew how this would go,” said Sam genuinely. He did feel bad, but this was how an Incubus Planar-Lord would rule. “And speaking of, Irene put a meeting on my calendar.”

“She did? Oh. Alright. That’s odd,” Irma said, then kissed the top of Sam’s head. “Go about your business then Planar-Sex-Lord Sameerixis.”

“Alas, it is but an ever-demanding job,” said Sam.

He personally didn’t feel like he was stretched thin at all.

If anything, he was deeply enjoying going from Cambion, to Imp, to someone in his feed harem or harem, to another three Cambion, and back again.

It’s hard to hate what you were made for, when it’s so enjoyable.

Cuddling with Irma for a short while longer, Sam eventually took her back to the mock-up apartment building they’d built on his plane. It mirrored the real-life building they worked out of, brick for brick.

Going to the meeting room Irene had specified, Sam entered and found Abigail and Irene both there. The soul Caer and Irene shared darted in closed to him, laying their arms around his shoulders.

“Oh, hey Abby, how are you?” Sam asked with a smile, then looked at Irene. “Irene, beautiful as always.”

Casually, he reached out and grabbed Irene’s soul, curling his fingers around it, and sat down in the open chair.

Pulling the soul into his lap, he looked at the two nervous looking women.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Sam asked. “Though… if it’s a three-way… I’m all in. I’ve never been able to pair you with anyone but Jes, Abby.”

Sighing, Abigail pressed a hand to her jaw, then looked at Irene. “You see? I told you. He has no idea.”

“I mean… it’s only been a month. It’s rather hard to detect,” Irene countered, shrugging her shoulders.

“I’m so excited,” said Irene’s soul.

“I’m rather nervous,” Caer countered. “But I’m also excited. I’ve never heard of a Lich giving birth.”

Sam blinked, his features locking into place, his eyes still stuck to Irene.

“Wait, he heard us,” Caer said, leaning in close and peering at him. “He can hear us!”

“No, he can’t. He’s never heard us before,” Irene’s soul argued.

“He can! He’s not breathing!” Caer practically shouted, leaning in eye to eye with him.

“Sammy… can you hear my soul?” Irene asked, causing the soul to lean back, watching Sam.

Abigail looked confused but looked from Irene to Sam.

“Yes,” Sam admitted, his brain trying to catch up to what Caer had said. “But only recently.”

“Well! I’ll get right to it since Caer accidentally spoiled that,” Irene said with a radiant smile. “Abigail and I are pregnant. Apparently, you… didn’t have any control over yourself while we were in the cage.

“Given how often pregnancies occurred in the cage… that’s not surprising, I guess.”

Irene laid her hands to her lower stomach.

“I’m really hoping for a girl,” Irene said.

Abigail, on the other hand, sighed and put her elbow on the table. Putting her chin in her hand, she shook her head.

“Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam,” Abigail mumbled. “I just started getting used to piloting the mech and working as a PMC. And you go and knock me up.”

Shaking his head slowly, Sam really didn’t know how to respond to any of this.

“Alisa is rather pleased. I stopped in to tell her while she worked. Aster took me,” Abigail said. “We haven’t told anyone other than Aster, Alisa, and now you. We weren’t sure until this morning.”

Sam had already scoured both Irene and Abigail with Essence the moment he understood what was happening.

They both did indeed have a growing child in them. Little more than enough to spot at this point, but it was there.

“I mean, how else did they make all those Cambion?” Irene asked with a chuckle. “And no, before you ask, Aster isn’t pregnant. Not sure how she avoided that.”

“Right,” Sam said, letting out a slow breath. “Well. I suppose congratulations are in order. I hadn’t expected on being a father but… well... right. Okay.”

I can do this. I can do it. I can do it.

Going to be a dad.

Alright.

Okay.

I can… I can do this.

“To be fair, I think you put enough seed in me that I could have started a sperm bank,” Irene said holding her hands up in defeat. “I’m just considering it a souvenir of our time in the cage. Though… I did memorize the spells used. I’m working on building a cage here. Just… for fun. You know? Jump in the cage with you again for a while every so often. And speaking of the cage, Amy and her husband moved into the old apartment building. They’re going to be taking care of its needs while we’re gone. She needed a place to raise her daughter anyways. We’ll all be due around the same time. Apparently she’s going to name her baby Anna. A few other Incubi and Succubi are likely to do the same. Lot of pregnancies.”

Abigail smiled and shook her head with a deep sigh.

“You’re building the cage? You’re so weird, Irene,” Abigail said, though clearly the two had bonded. Likely from discovering they were pregnant at the same time, and technically due on the same day. “I don’t think I’ll get back in the cage. It felt amazing, but… I hurt so bad afterward.”

“Wren’s already begging to let her get in it with Jes and Sam,” Irene said, looking at Abigail.

“Of course, she is. Likely Stacia and Tiffany, too,” Abigail countered, then she sighed again. Laying a hand to her stomach. “Though… I have this really strange feeling we’re going to have a boy, Sam. A boy and… we’re going to name him Alexander. Alexander Winters.”

There was a ring of fate to her tone that Sam couldn’t ignore.

Thank you, dear reader!

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If you enjoyed this book, try out the books of some of my close friends. I can heartily recommend them.

Blaise Corvin- A close and dear friend of mine. He’s been there for me since I was nothing but a rookie with a single book to my name. He told me from the start that it was clear I had talent and had to keep writing. His background in European martial arts creates an accurate and detail driven action segments as well as his world building.
https://www.amazon.com/Blaise-Corvin/e/B01LYK8VG5

John Van Stry- John was an author I read, and re-read, and re-read again, before I was an author. In a world of books written for everything except harems, I found that not only did I truly enjoy his writing, but his concepts as well.
In discovering he was an indie author, I realized that there was nothing separating me from being just like him. I attribute him as an influence in my own work.

He now has two pen names, and both are great.

https://www.amazon.com/John-Van-Stry/e/B004U7JY8I
Jan Stryvant-
https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Stryvant/e/B06ZY7L62L

Daniel Schinhofen- Daniel was another one of those early adopters of my work who encouraged and pushed me along. He’s almost as introverted as I am, so we get along famously. He recently released a new book, and by all accounts including mine, is a well written author with interesting storylines.

https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Schinhofen/e/B01LXQWPZA