Incubus Inc.
Author: Randi Darren
Date: 2019-07-07T04:00:00+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

Epilogue

Authors Note

Incubus Inc.

By Randi Darren

Copyright © 2019 Randi Darren

Cover design © 2019 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 © 2019 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)

Dungeon Deposed Trilogy:

Dungeon Deposed

Dungeon Deposed 2

Dungeon Deposed 3 (To be released 2019)

Swing Shift Trilogy:

Swing Shift

Swing Shift 2 (To be released 2019)

Swing Shift 3 (To be release 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

Remnant Trilogy:

Remnant

Remnant 2 (To be released 2019)

Remnant 3 (To be released 2020)

Incubus Inc. Trilogy:

Incubus Inc (To be released 2019)

Incubus Inc 2 (To be released 2019)

Incubus Inc 3 (To be released 2020)

Books in the VeilVerse-

Cultivating Chaos: By William D. Arand

Asgard Awakening: By Blaise Corvin

One - Summoned -

Sam tilted his head to the left, then slowly to the right.

The view didn’t change, of course. No matter which way he looked at it, the image remained the same.

A burning oval, floating directly in front of his coffee table.

And it had yet to offer up any more information to him, nor would it.

But Sam knew what it was.

Sighing, he lifted a hand up and scratched at his cheek. He already knew he was going to respond to the summons. There was no reason for him to wait.

Yet he felt like he shouldn’t get involved. There was no actual reason he felt that way; he just did.

Standing up, Sam unfolded his wings and walked over to the summoning portal.

It’d been something close to a hundred years since anyone had summoned him to a mortal realm.

Or so he believed.

For all he knew, it could have been two hundred years. Three hundred years. Time on his personal plane moved differently than on the heaven-built planes.

Except this portal went to the prime material plane. The center point of all the planes.

The unmistakable scent of the realm he’d been invited to was drifting through the open portal.

What’s there to wait for? I’ve spent more time than I’d ever wish to just watching the other planes, as if they were television.

After folding his wings partially so he could make the transition smoothly, Sam walked through the portal and onto the prime.

“Oh god! Oh my god! Oh shit! Oh fucking shit!” squeaked a woman’s voice.

Looking around, Sam wasn’t exactly surprised by the reaction. When he’d been popular, he’d heard similar exclamations often enough.

Everyone wanted it to work, but then they were terribly surprised when it did.

It looked as if he’d been summoned into a living room. One full of second-hand—maybe even third-hand—shabby furniture. Now that he was looking, everything had a distinctly used quality to it.

But it was all quite clean, and it at least seemed well maintained.

Hm. Starting from the bottom again, I suppose.

But at least I get to start again. Certainly better off than Reixhitz.

I wonder which relic she found. I would have thought Jena destroyed them all.

Sam turned to look at the woman he’d heard shouting earlier at his presence.

She was mumbling something over and over, her hand pressed to a book in front of her.

Ignoring her again, Sam looked at the book.

He had no memory of ever having left such a thing behind for others to summon him with.

Which meant it was something someone had written about him, and they had included his summoning as part of the text.

Huh. Should find out who it was and see if they need a hand. Afterlife or not.

If this works out, at least.

“You know,” Sam said to the woman. “I’m not going to hurt you. It’d be rather pointless considering the effort you spent to bring me here.”

She looked to be in her mid-twenties, if Sam had to guess. Shoulder-length dark brown hair, slightly overweight, and wearing business-casual clothes.

As she lifted her head up at his words, Sam got a better look at her face. Neither beautiful nor ugly, at best some would say she was cute. Her eyes were a translucent brown color, and her face held absolute fear and dread.

“Really,” Sam said. “No point in hurting you just to go back to my plane.”

“I-I-I did it?” asked the woman.

“If your intent was to summon an Incubus, then yes, you did it,” Sam said.

“You don’t… you don’t look like the picture,” said the woman.

“Considering most photos ever taken of me have more than likely been destroyed, that’d be quite the feat,” Sam said with a chuckle. He wasn’t in a rush. These things had a rhythm and cadence all their own.

Usually it started with disbelief, followed immediately by confirmation, and then the haggling.

The woman picked up the book, then walked up to the edge of the chalk circle on the ground and held the pages open toward him.

Looking at the sketched portrait inside the book, Sam knew immediately who’d written it. Who’d apparently left behind a way to summon him.

Alisa. But how long dead are you?

“She always did have a bit of whimsy about the whole thing,” Sam murmured.

She’d gotten the broad strokes down well enough. Dark blue eyes, light brown hair, wings, and very human.

Except she’d made him extremely handsome.

“I mean, I’m good looking,” Sam said, “But she really overdid it. That was Alisa, though.”

“Alisa?” asked the girl.

“That was her name. She was a bit of an artist in her free time,” Sam said. “Did you find this book at a garage sale or something? Pawn shop? Locked trunk, maybe?”

“It’s my grandmother’s,” said the woman, pulling the book up to her chest. “She apparently had it since she was a little girl. I think it was her own grandmother’s. She left it to me in her will.”

“Oh? Interesting,” Sam said. He’d see if he couldn’t dig Alisa up from whatever eternity she’d been sent to just to see her. She’d been funny when he’d worked with her.

Then again, it hadn’t been just work. He’d spent a great deal of time with her. A great deal.

“…said I should only open it if it was a matter of life and death,” said the woman.

“Uh huh, well, here I am. Let’s start with the easier parts,” Sam said, looking down at the symbol work on the ground. It was a well-constructed spell that would keep all lesser demons in place and restricted in their movements.

Deciding to play the part for the time being, Sam didn’t just walk out of the circle. Instead, he summoned a chair and sat down in it.

“My name is Sameerixis, but I go by Sam. Easier with the modern tongue. I’m an Incubus, and I’m usually summoned for material things or assistance.

“That or sex. Judging from the state of your living quarters, I’m not here to show you carnal pleasure you’d never know otherwise,” Sam said, looking around the room again.

“What?! No, no, no, no. I need—I need help,” said the woman.

“Mmhmm. What kind of help? And what’s your name?” Sam asked, feeling slightly odd about the whole thing.

She didn’t seem too perturbed about him or what he was. She’d rushed through the initial stages much quicker than he’d expected. Usually there was some resistance or disbelief.

I wonder what Alisa wrote.

“Abigail,” said the woman.

Sam clicked his tongue at that. “Abby, then. Now, Abby, what exactly do you need from me?”

“I need…” Abigail paused, licking her lips. She looked like she was firming up her thoughts on what she wanted to do. “I need money. Can you give me money?”

Laughing softly, Sam slunk lower in his chair.

“That’s all? Alright. How much did you need?” he asked.

“Ahhhh. I-I need about a hundred thousand dollars.” Abigail looked far too excited now.

“Mm. There are a few ways to go about this then,” Sam said, thinking over what he had readily available on hand.

We’ve been very frugal in our spending. At the current rate, we can last another six hundred years before we starve to death.

Though it sounds rather boring to live out the rest of existence on rationed meals and by ourselves.

We could easily transmute some of that power to gold and simply give it to her, but… I don’t think she’d take the price that would go for.

I could just go the slow route, then stay here and siphon power from the realm as I work on her deal.

“First. I could easily give you gold in the quantity matching to your need,” Sam said. “But the price for that is… hefty. I would require thirty years of your life span.

“Twenty for the gold, five for my own inconvenience, and five for profit.”

“Thirty… thirty years?” Abigail asked.

“Indeed. Thirty years. So if you would have died at eighty-four from old age, you’d die at fifty-four instead. Whatever your final destination, it would be shifted by thirty years,” Sam said.

He didn’t mention the fact that if her destined end was ten years from now, she’d die as soon as she made the deal. Truth be told, he knew she wouldn’t take it, so he didn’t bother putting any effort into the offer.

“What else is there?” Abigail asked. “You said there were a few ways we could do this.”

“Indeed. The easier way is I remain with you on retainer, as it were, and we work at fixing your life,” Sam said. “The flat rate is two to one. If I stay two days, I take four days of your life. On average I tend to achieve my goals within two to six months. You can of course send me back at any time, and that’d be the end.”

“Okay. Uhm. So… two to one. Okay. Okay. Uhm,” Abigail said. Her eyes drifted down to the ground. She was clearly thinking it over.

“If you prefer, we could discuss your soul and parts of it, but most people find that entire conversation distasteful. To be honest, so do I,” Sam said with a chuckle. “I mean, think about it. The moment someone asks you to barter your soul away, doesn’t that just make it obvious that you shouldn’t? Such a strange thing your entertainment industry seems to love to overlook.”

“No, you’re right. Not my… not my soul. And that’s your final price? I can’t talk you down or barter something else?” Abigail asked, looking at Sam.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sam tried to look casual.

“You don’t smell like a virgin, so I can’t take that in trade to offset costs. You have no wealth that would tempt me. And you do not hold any others in your thrall,” Sam said. Opening his mouth, he paused for effect, then closed it and shook his head.

“No, what? You were going to say something,” Abigail said.

Sam looked away, then shrugged his shoulders.

“Well. Seeing as you’re probably a relative of Alisa’s…” Sam looked back up at Abigail. “If you can get others to summon me, and to make deals with me, I’ll offset your cost by twenty percent of whatever they spend.

“So if you keep me around for a year, you’d lose two years of your life. Let’s say you give my information to another and they summon me, and they lose two years of their life in their own deal. I’ll give you back twenty percent of their cost to your own life force, as a sort of commission in a way.”

Abigail nodded her head slowly. Sam could practically see the gears in her head spinning away as she thought out the deal.

“What if I end up earning more for you than what I spent?” Abigail asked.

Blinking at that, Sam thought on the question. “You mean, if you were to offset your entire cost, what happens if you keep giving my information to others?”

“Yes. Would you give me something for that?” Abigail asked.

“An… interesting question. Sure. I could do that. For now, I’d say I could easily add to your life span. Though when the time comes, we could negotiate for something else. Do you really think you can make that many connections?”

Abigail chewed at her lip but nodded her head. “I do. And then some.”

“Fine. Is it a deal then?” Sam asked. “I remain in your world, feeding off you directly, and work toward whatever goal you give me until such a time as you dismiss me. The rate at which I’ll take from you is two days to one.”

“Yes, it’s a deal,” Abigail said, turning away from him. Moving to a coffee table next to her, she set the book down and picked up a box cutter. “Uhm, the book said these deals are sealed with blood?”

“They can be,” Sam said, then got out of his chair and walked over to the edge of the circle. He hadn’t slept with a human since his last summoning, and he had been hoping he’d get a chance at Abigail. She wasn’t exactly a ten, but she was most certainly at least a six, and he wasn’t going to be choosy. “I personally prefer sealing them through sex, but blood works just as easily.”

“Ahhhh, no. Blood—blood will do,” Abigail said. Walking to the circle, she slid the box cutter out of its sheath and then pushed it into the bottom of her palm about a quarter of an inch deep.

Blood welled up from the cut immediately.

Holding the box cutter out to Sam, Abigail looked at him, waiting.

With a smirk, Sam took the cutter and made a similar cut in his own hand, then pressed his hand up to the edge of the warding and waited for her to finish the deal.

Abigail took in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. Then she pressed her hand to Sam’s.

The moment his blood came in contact with hers, he could feel his presence strengthen. He’d been passively feeding off the plane while summoned, and it’d been rather nice to feed on something rather than years’ old life Essence.

But nothing beat the taste of a flesh-and-blood human.

Abigail winced, her brow furrowing.

“The feeling goes away in a minute,” Sam said. “It’s just your body reacting to me feeding from you.”

Still holding Abigail’s hand, he turned it over, then leaned down and bent his head over her palm. Lifting her hand to his mouth, he ran his tongue over the cut.

Her blood tasted sweet and full of life.

“Ahhh, what are you doing?” Abigail asked. “Stop it!”

He knew the taste of her blood. Her ancestry. She did indeed taste of Alisa.

“Merely healing your hand,” Sam said, releasing her wrist. Stepping out of the circle, he looked at the portal that led to back to his plane.

He spent a little bit of Essence to make the portal, the spell, and the circle all become invisible. Then he put up a small barrier to the plane itself.

No reason not to stock up on prime Essence while I’m working. I’ll not pass up a chance to fill my stocks.

To bank Essence just in case.

When he turned to his dealer, Sam found her staring at her hand. Apparently stunned that it was healed.

“Anything else you need me to lick?” Sam asked. With any luck, he’d talk Abigail into bed tonight.

“Ahhh, no. No, thank you,” said the Human. “So… what… now?”

Sam chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. Moving over to her couch, he sat down in it and sighed. It was nice to be anywhere other than his plane.

His prison.

“That’s entirely up to you. What do you want me to do?”

“What I asked for, I guess. I need money,” Abigail said, eying him warily.

“Ok… let’s start there. What do you need the money for?”

“Debt.”

“And what kind of debt? Should I be worried of a loan shark coming to collect?” Sam asked.

Actually, that’d be easy. Get the money from a loan shark, then kill the loan shark.

I wonder if she’d let me.

Then again, I can’t really tell her how to do this.

I have to abide by the pact—let her tell me what she wants and how to do it.

Just mentioning the loan shark had given him an uneasy feeling. The rules were in place, and thoughts of the high planes were already weighing on him.

“College debt. I got a master’s degree in finance, and now in some strange, sick irony I owe more than I’ll ever be able to pay,” Abigail said. “On top of that… on top of that, no one is hiring people without experience. They want people who’ve already worked the job. My degree doesn’t mean anything.”

Sam only nodded at that. He’d kept current on the prime realm, more out of boredom than anything else, but he didn’t really know all the ins and outs.

“Alright. And how would you like to solve it?” Sam asked.

“Uhm. You said you’d fix my life. Can we start with a job that’s relative to my degree?” Abigail asked.

“Does that matter?” Sam asked.

“Does what matter? Getting a job my degree works in? I mean, yeah. I want to be able to use what I paid for,” Abigail said.

“Uh huh. Do you have a job right now?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. I work as a call-center agent. It’s uh… it’s a call center for a company. The warranty department,” Abigail said.

“Oh? Good. At least you have a job. You can’t eat pride, after all. And money is money. Let’s start there and work at that. Sounds like customer service, and customer service is anywhere and everywhere,” Sam said.

“But, my degree—”

“Is worthless at this time,” Sam said. “You’re welcome to pursue it on the side while we get you moving in the right direction.”

Abigail sighed, then pressed her hands to her face and shook her whole body in a “no” motion.

“You tell me, what’s your current lifestyle right now?” Sam asked.

“What?”

“Tell me. How are you living? What’s your bank account look like? Are your parents helping you? If you kept going on the path you are right now, what would happen?” Sam asked. “You brought me here, and you apparently read Alisa’s book, so you knew what would be asked. You felt it was an easier solution.”

“I… budget every single dollar out from every paycheck. Everything is already spent. I know exactly what I’m going to spend on food and gas every week. My credit-card debt is starting to go up, though,” Abigail said through her hands. “It’d only take a flat tire or something to wreck me.

“Beyond that, my debt is so high it’s more than likely I’ll never be able to pay it off. Ever. I’ll just end up making minimum payments until I default or go bankrupt. So I’ll never own a house or anything like that… I can barely afford the rent on this apartment right now. If the rates go up next year, I might have to move.”

“Mm. In other words, your long-term plan is no longer viable, and you need a short-term plan immediately to get you out of this, or you’re going to fail long before you have a chance to go bankrupt later,” Sam said. “That about right?”

“Yeah,” Abigail said, still not pulling her hands down. “Yeah, that’s about right.”

“Great, then we know how to solve this,” Sam said, hoping she’d fill in a few blanks. He couldn’t tell her what to do, after all.

“Get me promoted at work?” Abigail said, finally lowering her hands. She looked resigned but determined.

“Definitely. A promotion is a great way to make more money,” Sam said. “Now, our next step is to get me hired on at your company so I can start working. This shouldn’t be too bad at all.

“What’re you making right now, and how much would you need to be making?”

“Uhm… about thirty-six thousand a year right now. I think I’d need to make double that to be able to hit my payments and start digging my way out,” Abigail said.

“Wonderful. So we have our starting point, our goal, and a break-even point. Lovely. It’s great to have so many easy answers,” Sam said.

He was feeling better about this contract already. It was sounding rather easy.

All he’d have to do was get hired, then use some magic and a little hypnotism, and he’d be well on his way to solving this.

Now… the bigger question. How do I get her to keep me around longer after I solve her problem, so I can keep drawing from her?

A problem for another time.

“I need to go to bed,” Abigail said, scrubbing at her eyes with her hands. “I have to wake up early tomorrow for work, and it’s already past midnight.”

Ah, she summoned me at midnight to help fuel the spell?

Wise.

“Great, I could do bedtime. Let’s have sex and then sleep,” Sam said, getting to his feet.

“You’re sleeping on the couch,” Abigail said, shaking her head.

“Hmph.” Sam sat back down on the couch and dismissed his wings. They wouldn’t be useful anytime soon.

As he eyed the young woman standing there, Sam made a decision. He was willing to chase her for the time being.

But it also meant he’d have to feed elsewhere.

He wouldn’t survive on life Essence alone, and his toys couldn’t come with him from his home plane. They were constructs without life or mind that simply held Essence.

We’ll hunt tomorrow night. For now… let’s go to sleep and just… enjoy being on this plane.

Two - Client -

Stretching his entire body from his freshly summoned wings to his arms, Sam felt… amazing.

It’d been so long since he slept on the prime that he’d forgotten what it was like to feed naturally all night long.

With a yawn, he snapped his wings back down to his back and shook himself out.

Though sleeping on a couch isn’t the greatest. It’ll do for now, I suppose.

Walking into the kitchen attached to the living room, Sam began to hunt around for the one thing he knew almost all Humans had, and apparently needed.

“Ah, there you are,” Sam muttered. He walked over to the coffee maker and peered at it. It was one of the newer ones.

He’d seen people use them, but of course he hadn’t had the opportunity.

Yet.

When he pulled open the top by the lever, Sam found an old coffee pod there.

Ah-hah.

Looking at the lid, he matched it to a duplicate in the little metal carousel next to the machine.

In no time at all, he had the machine dispensing the legal stimulant most Humans needed.

With a nod of his head, Sam leaned up against the counter and thought.

His chores for the day were simple.

First, establish myself at Abigail’s job. That shouldn’t be too hard. A little magic and illusion work.

After that we’ll need… well, I’ll need some new clothes. Especially if I’m expected to start showing up at work.

And a car, even.

Sam grimaced and looked down at himself. What he was wearing right now was technically nothing. His clothes were a construct he’d made and simply kept putting back on over and over.

It was just one of the many things he’d done to preserve Essence.

For new clothes, we’ll need money, or a way to pay for things.

And unfortunately… until I have some starting funds, I won’t be able to head out to the old manse and dig up my back-up gold.

Ah… how far I’ve fallen. I couldn’t even talk a young human woman into sleeping with me.

Torment indeed.

The door to the only bedroom opened, and Abigail peeked out from the doorway.

She was wearing a bathrobe, and her hair was wet.

“Good morning, Abby,” Sam said with a wave of his hand when her eyes landed on him.

“It wasn’t a dream,” she muttered, staring at him.

“No. Nor was it a drunken hallucination, nor drugs,” Sam said, grinning wider.

“I… I don’t… it was all real,” Abigail said.

“Yes. Why, were you expecting it wasn’t?” Sam said. Then he gestured at the coffee cup sitting under the maker. “I made you some coffee. Though you’ll need to flavor it to your liking. You Humans seem to have as many preferences as there are stars in the sky.”

Abigail looked at the indicated coffee machine and the mug with steam wafting out the top of it.

“I was a little tipsy last night,” she said, finally leaving her bedroom and walking over.

“Really? I honestly couldn’t tell. You just seemed a little boring and short tempered to me,” Sam said. “I mean really, there was no reason to not have sex and you just turned me down outright.”

Abigail watched Sam closely as she went about finishing the cup of coffee.

“Sex isn’t as casual as you make it out to be,” Abigail said finally. “Especially with a Demon.”

“It’s as casual as you want it to be. And I’m not a Demon, thank you very much. Nor am I a Devil, or a Fallen One, or whatever cute names you and your kind assign to people of that nature,” Sam said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’m an extra-planar lord who happens to be an Incubus.”

“Extra-planar lord,” Abigail repeated, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yes. Think of it as… a king. Though I must confess, my kingdom was ransacked, and I was forced to flee to a second kingdom I ruled that I didn’t pay much attention to. I’ve been reduced to starting over once again,” Sam said. Then he shrugged. “Truth be told, I deserved it. I shouldn’t have trusted whom I did. Especially with my plane. Live and learn, though.”

“Just like that?” Abigail asked.

“Just like that. Besides, it’ll be fun to start over again. Especially with the blood of my darling little Alisa. She was a memorable one,” Sam said, nodding his head. “Anyways. Sex. Can we?”

Abigail took in a breath and held it for a moment before letting it out.

“Sam. I’m not into casual sex. Okay? Sorry. I’m not exactly a prim little ninny, but I’m not going to jump in bed just because I have a hot guy in my kitchen,” Abigail said. “Can we talk about something else? Like how you’re going to help me?”

Sam rolled his eyes and shrugged a shoulder.

“Going to go to work with you, then take your car. I have some chores I need to get done today in preparation. Either by the end of today or the start of next week, we can begin working toward getting you better situated,” Sam said. “Though I’ll warn you now. I’m not big on giving you something you can’t handle without me. That’s just poor etiquette.”

“Handle without you?” she asked. “Ah. In other words, getting a nuclear physicist job wouldn’t be in my best interest.”

“Just so!” Sam said with a nod.

Abigail was much more expressive this morning, and she seemed to be far more intelligent than Sam had originally thought.

“Right. Well, I’m going to go get dressed,” she said and started walking back to her bedroom.

“Great,” Sam said, following her. “You can tell me more about your debt and your job.”

“I need to get dressed, Sam,” Abigail said.

“I heard you,” Sam said.

Standing behind the door, Abigail gave him a smile and then shut it in his face.

Sam clicked his tongue as he turned and leaned up against the door frame. “Fine.”

Definitely need to hunt tonight. I wonder if there’s a bar or something nearby.

Or one of those new night-club things. Haven’t been to one of those.

Ugh. Definitely need new clothes for something like that.

Suppose I could rob some people tonight, too.

Hm. Then again… do people even carry cash anymore?

This world is so much more complicated than it used to be. I miss just crushing someone’s head in and taking their things.

A much simpler time.

***

Driving didn’t look half as hard as Sam had thought it would. It seemed to be a lot like riding a horse, but considerably less difficult.

The fact that the car couldn’t throw you if something jumped out of a bush was a good example.

After driving up to a large single-story building, Abigail pulled them into a parking lot. Wheeling them around to the back of the lot, she eased her car into a parking space and gave Sam a concerned look.

“You’re just… going to go do some chores? You’ll pick me up at six?” Abigail asked for perhaps the third time.

Intelligent, yes. Determined, certainly.

Paranoid? Oh, my twisting nether, yes.

“Abigail,” Sam said, making firm eye contact with her. “Abby. If I’m going to do this, I need to feed, get information, and figure out where I’m at and what I’m working with.

“Unless you wanna have a quick go right here in the car, then I need to prepare for a night out tonight.”

Abigail blinked slowly, staring at him.

“You feed on sex,” she said.

“Yes, as I’m sure Alisa said in her journal. I fed off her daily,” Sam said. “So, unless you wanna hop in the back with me or just lean your seat back, I need to hunt tonight. That means prep work.

“Yes. I’ll pick you up at six, but I’ll need the car after that.”

Abigail was chewing at her lower lip.

“Does it hurt? To be fed on?” Abigail asked.

“No. I just feed on the energy generated by orgasms. The more intense an orgasm I provoke, the more I can feed,” Sam said. “It’s really rather simple.”

Abigail glanced at the dash-clock and then opened her car door.

“Pick me up at six. I’ll meet you right here in the parking lot. Just park somewhere out over this way,” Abigail said. “Oh, and no one can see your wings, right? I mean… is it an… illusion… thing?”

Sam gave her a brilliant smile.

“Only you can see me as I truly am because of our contract. Everyone else will just see me as Human,” he said.

Abigail nodded as she got out of the car and started off for the building.

Getting out as well, Sam moved over to the driver’s side door and watched Abigail go to work.

He’d need to know more about her and her job. He hadn’t become an extra-planar lord just by completing contracts to the minimum degree.

He’d always delivered on his contracts, and then some. The best way to get more summoners was to make sure every contract was executed perfectly.

Letting out a short breath, Sam felt a momentary flutter of anger. Anger at all that he’d lost.

Then he crushed it mercilessly.

He’d raged for years by himself.

Endlessly.

There was nothing left for him down that path. He’d meant what he’d said earlier. He was looking forward to the opportunity to prove himself again.

Abigail entered the front door of the building and vanished inside.

Sam leaned down into the car, flipped the key into the off position and pocketed it.

Might as well learn a few things now.

Folding his hands together behind his back, he began wandering over to the front door. He wasn’t in a rush and, to be honest, he didn’t want to run into Abigail in the front lobby.

That’d just be awkward.

Sam was able to read the name of the company painted on the glass door now.

Fail Safe Optics.

Sam opened the door and walked inside.

The lobby had a large open layout, decorated with display cases full of glasses and the odd marketing piece.

“Hello,” said a young woman behind the front desk. She was dressed in a business-casual look similar to what Abigail had been wearing.

“Ah, hello. I’m here for my interview,” Sam said, walking up to the desk.

“Inter… interview?” asked the woman, her eyes meeting Sam’s and getting stuck there.

“That’s right. My interview. I’m here for the open position,” Sam said, snaring the woman with his Incubus magic. It was the least Essence-expensive of his options. “The HR recruiter told me to be here at nine am sharp.”

“Matthew… Matthew said to be here at nine am sharp,” said the woman. Her tone was neutral and flat, as if the life had been sucked out of her. “That’s right. You’re here for the manager position.”

“That’s right. Matthew asked me here to interview for the manager’s position. Could you let him know I’m here?” Sam asked, smiling at the woman, who was completely in his thrall.

And to think I even contemplated the fact that I might be rusty. She’s completely mine.

It’s like she had no defenses at all.

Picking up the phone next to her, the woman dialed a number without looking. She was still staring at Sam.

“Hey Matt, your nine o’clock is here,” she said lifelessly. There was a response Sam couldn’t hear. “Yes, you do. He’s here for the manager position. Recruiting sent him over.”

There was a longer response this time.

“They did. He’s here for the manager position. Recruiting sent him over,” the woman said. “Okay, I’ll let him know.”

Hanging up the phone, the woman blinked once, her vacant gaze still only for Sam.

“Matt’s not taking interviews today,” she said.

“Sure he is. You just need to take me to his office. He’s so busy he can’t come get me,” Sam said, pushing just a tiny bit on the woman’s psyche with his own.

“Oh. Yes. That’s right. I need to escort you to Matt’s office,” she said with a shudder. Then she stood up. “He’s too busy to come get you.”

Sam nodded and got behind the woman as she began leading him down the hall. It was the first time she’d broken eye contact with him since he’d walked in.

“What’s your name?” Sam asked.

“It’s Lauren,” she said.

“Lauren, are you seeing anyone?”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“Ah, that’s a pity,” Sam said, and he meant it. When he was much younger, he hadn’t cared if those he hunted were in relationships or not. It had meant little to him.

It wasn’t until he’d spent a decade on a mortal lower plane that he understood how harmful that could be to people.

Lauren knocked on the closed door to an office, then simply opened it.

“Hi Matt, I brought your nine o’clock over for you,” she said as Sam walked into the office.

“What? I don’t have—you, get out. Get out of my office,” said a man sitting behind a desk.

He was probably in his thirties, with short brown hair combed under what Sam could only think of as a leather cap. He had blue eyes, and he was on the fairer side in the looks department.

“Sorry, Lauren, seems Matt wants you to get out,” Sam said, looking at the woman. “He’s clearly in a bad mood. It’s alright though. You dropped me off for my interview, and you’re going to go back to your duties now.”

“Hey, who are you? What are you—Lauren? Where are you going?” said the man Sam assumed was Matt.

“Of course. See you later, Matt,” Lauren said, closing the door.

“Wonderful,” Sam said, and he took a seat in front of Matt. Staring at the man’s face, Sam waited until he made eye contact.

Instantly, Sam snared the man and brought him into a compulsion similar to what he’d put on Lauren.

“You… what… what are you?” Matt said, his worlds trailing off toward neutrality. “You’re my nine o’clock interview?”

“I sure am. I’m here for the manager position,” Sam said, smiling.

“Oh. We already hired someone for that. We just haven’t announced it,” Matt said, staring blankly at Sam.

“That’s a problem. Hm. What other open positions do you have?” Sam asked.

“We’re going to open a supervisor role tomorrow. I’m going to use it to hire a friend, but I’m not interviewing anyone for it,” Matt said.

“That’s not very fair of you, Matt. That’s very nepotistic,” Sam said. “But that’s ok. Because you’re going to hire me for the supervisor role instead.”

“You’re right. I’m not very fair. But I’m going to hire you for the role,” Matt said.

“Exactly. Go ahead and start pushing everything through the system for me,” Sam said.

“I’ll start pushing everything through for you,” Matt said. “I’ll need your ID, so—”

“I don’t have it, because I gave it to you and you lost it. So you’ll put me through anyways while you try to find it,” Sam said.

“Right. I’m sorry I lost your ID. I’ll get this all taken care of while I try to find it,” Matt said.

“Great, great. Now. What’s my pay?” Sam asked.

“Pay starts at fifty-six thousand a year, and—”

“What’s the maximum a supervisor can make?” Sam asked, interrupting the man.

“Seventy thousand is what we pay—”

“I’ll take seventy thousand. You’ll need to pay me with checks, since you lost my ID,” Sam said.

“Okay. Seventy thousand, cashable check,” Matt repeated.

“Now, let’s work out the details, Matt,” Sam said, smiling.

***

Standing outside the lobby door, Sam smiled and waved at a rather lovely looking lady leaving the building. She was dressed well, with a good figure and a rather pretty face, dark brown eyes and brown hair.

He was five minutes early, but he’d completed everything he’d needed to get done today.

Unfortunately, it’d left him starving.

Right now, every woman looked like a walking feast to him. It was somewhat difficult to not hit one with a charm and drag her behind a building.

The pretty lady tripped as she stepped off the curb and had to break eye contact with him.

“What are you doing?! Why are you here!?”

Turning, Sam found Abigail standing at the door. Her face was bright red, and she looked appalled.

“Why, waiting for you of course, Abby,” Sam said easily as Abigail walked up to him. “You said to pick you up at six; I’m picking you up at six.”

Several people walked out the door, every single one of them stopping to look at Abigail and Sam.

“No!” Abigail hissed. “I said to… I said to meet me in the car, in the parking lot. Not here!”

“Ah, my apologies then. Shall we go? I’d like to hear about your day, eat dinner, and make plans,” Sam said. He didn’t understand the problem, but he was happy to figure it out.

Communication was the basis of any relationship, from Sam’s point of view.

“Shut up!” Abigail said, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the parking lot.

Sam shrugged. He was as perfectly happy not talking as he was talking. After being alone for so long, he’d learned to tolerate almost anything.

“I parked where you told me to,” he said.

Abigail didn’t say anything, just growled under her breath as she hustled him along.

They walked by the pretty lady Sam had seen earlier.

“H-hello,” she said to Sam, ignoring Abigail.

“Hi there,” Sam said, waving a hand at her. Then he turned and offered Abigail the keys as they got closer to her car.

Maybe I can feed from her later.

Abigail angrily took the keys from Sam’s hand and opened the driver’s side door. “Get in!”

By the time he got into the car, Sam was confused. Abigail was acting much like some of his contracts had that he’d spent some time with.

But usually only after they’d started sleeping together.

“What’s the problem?” he asked. “We’re not sleeping together, and I need to feed. She seemed perfectly willing.”

“Yeah. No. I mean… ugh,” Abigail said, starting the car. “People think I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Okay?” Sam asked.

“And they’re going to think you’re my boyfriend now,” Abigail said.

“Well, tell them I’m not. Simple as that,” Sam said. “Anyways. How was work? Anything interesting?”

“No. Just… work. Ya know?” Abigail buckled her seatbelt. Then she sighed and put her face in her hands. “Another day answering calls and listening to rich assholes complain their three-hundred-dollar sunglasses broke.”

“I can see how that’s frustrating,” Sam said.

It wasn’t a new complaint. He’d heard it throughout the ages and on different planes.

Life was much the same in every corner of existence. It just wore different disguises.

“How was your day?” Abigail asked.

“Good. I got a job, by the way. I even managed to talk them into letting me start immediately. I start tomorrow,” Sam said. “I also have a driver’s license, social security card, birth certificate, incoming credit card incoming, and a bank account now.”

“You… did all that in one day? How?” Abigail asked, starting the car and putting it into reverse.

“Magic,” Sam said. “Alright. Let’s go home, have dinner, and then I’ll go find a meal for myself.”

Three - New-Age Dining -

Rubbing a hand against his forehead, Sam walked out of the “night club” as it had been called.

To him, it seemed more like a bar with the lights turned low, loud music that he didn’t really like, and a lot of men who really needed to reevaluate their lives.

Sighing, Sam went down the steps and started walking along the sidewalk. So far, he hadn’t had much luck in finding anyone who fit what he was looking for.

Admittedly, he was being picky, but he felt like that was acceptable. He could have easily just taken the nice lady in the booth at the parking garage he had parked in. Taken her right there in the booth or gotten her into his back seat.

But that would have entailed glamouring her to the point that she wouldn’t remember it, not caring if she had a significant other or not, and not giving a damn about her situation.

And I’m above that. No matter how hungry I am, I’m above that.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sam kept walking. He wasn’t starving to death, but he really did want to have a nice meal so he could work some Essence sorcery without regret or worry tomorrow.

Glancing up and to the side, he crossed by a billboard that showed the time as ten o’clock.

Still early. We can make this work. We just have to be… strategic.

Let’s try an actual bar. Those seem a lot like taverns. And we always had decent luck in taverns.

It’ll certainly be easier to talk to someone.

The several conversations he’d tried to strike up with ladies in the club had turned into shouting matches. And they still hadn’t been loud enough to communicate effectively.

A trio of women were heading his way. They were dressed well and seemed a step above the women he’d been approaching at the club.

Wearing clothes that seemed like they’d gone out after work, they had the look of professional career women.

They were eying him long before he got close to them.

“Ah, excuse me,” Sam said, stepping to one side and out of the path of the women. He didn’t want to be in their way, but he’d take the opportunity to ask a question. “I’m new around town. If you don’t mind me asking, do you know a good place to get a drink around here?”

Two of the women looked like they wanted to stay and talk, but also that they felt like they shouldn’t. That was usually a good sign they were in relationships. The third looked like she just wanted to leave.

“Alcohol or…?” asked one of the women.

“Either or. Like I said, I’m new here. I know no one and nothing,” Sam said with a grin.

Chewing at her lip, the woman pointed back the way they’d apparently come from.

“Down that way. The Winged Horn,” she said. “If you’re looking for alcohol, that is. There’s a coffee shop just past it as well.”

“Thanks much,” Sam said, giving them another smile. Then he turned and walked in the direction they’d suggested.

It didn’t take him long to find the place. Except when he stared up at the sign, he got a strange feeling about it.

He’d been expecting a drinking horn for some reason. Except this was a horn of the musical variety. And it had wings attached to it.

Angel symbology.

If there’s an angel inside, we’ll just turn around and get out of here. I don’t have the patience or time to deal with one of them right now.

Sam walked up the steps, then opened the door and stepped inside.

It was much closer to what he’d been looking for. And he knew it the moment he saw it.

The music was there, TVs in the corners and over the main bar, and a lot of people sitting, talking, drinking, and generally just socializing.

Much… much better.

Smiling, Sam walked over to the bar and looked through the crowd as he went.

Not a large number of paranormal creatures, but they’re here. This might be ideal. Vampire… Werewolf… and… what is that?

Looks like there’s been a new generation of things that aren’t human. I wonder what created them.

More diseases, maybe? Diseases tend to make monsters.

Sam was a master of illusion and glamour. No one could hide what they were from him.

In any way.

But he did have to know what they were. The fact that the world was changing was a blessing and a curse. It meant there were always new things to learn. No matter how many years he’d been around.

Sliding up into an open spot at the bar, Sam leaned on the counter and waited with a smile for a bartender.

All around him, he got the feeling that a good number of women were giving him the once-over.

This is perfect.

A young busty woman in a tank top wandered over his way from the other side of the bar. She had caramel eyes and short, curly, light brown hair. She was rather pretty on top of all that, with an impressive body-shape.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

“Whatever you recommend,” Sam said, then pushed ever so gently when she met his eyes. “And thanks for buying me the round.”

“Of course!” she said, giving him a wide, flirty smile. “Haven’t seen you around before—why not buy you your first one? You’re new here, right? What’s your name?”

“Call me Sam. How about you?”

“Cindy,” she said as she pulled a glass out from below.

“And yeah, I’m very new. Any regulars I should stay away from?” he asked her, keeping her ensnared with his eyes. He was keeping the glamour light and gentle. He didn’t want to overwhelm her. As long as he could keep her like this, he could keep her on the hook, and no one would notice anything out of the ordinary.

“The owner, really. She’s a bitch,” said the woman, filling up the glass from a tap. “All the regulars are nice enough. The bitch over there can be a nasty cunt if you get her on a bad day.”

The bartender had pointed out the lone Vampire in the crowd, Sam noted.

“Got it. You’ve been incredibly helpful,” Sam said. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Kinda. He’s a dick though, and I’ve been thinking about dropping him. I can’t keep paying for our stuff by myself, ya know?” she asked.

“You’re right, of course. You deserve someone who’s putting in just as much as you are,” Sam said. It was a common problem he’d seen with relationships. If someone put in more than the other, the resentment began.

“I do,” said the woman as she put a small paper square down in front of him. It had “Cindy” written on it, followed by a phone number. She set the glass down atop it, giving him a smile and a wink. Then she wandered off to the next person she needed to serve.

Alright, definitely doing better here already.

Clubs are… not what I wanted.

He pocketed the paper for later, as he had every intention of coming back if he couldn’t find anyone. Cindy fit all his requirements, and she was great on the eyes.

Sam picked up his drink and started looking around for someone to approach.

The whole goal of tonight was to find someone to eat from. He was also learning a considerable amount about the current state of the world.

“…two years ago marks the anniversary of when they were first seen,” said a news anchor on the TV. “And haven’t been seen since.”

Sam glanced up at the display with a grimace before he looked back at the crowd around him.

Always the gloom and doom with the news.

Oh! An Imp! What luck. And she doesn’t have any contract magic in her that I can sense.

Off to one side was a young woman. She was seated by herself and looking at the watch on her wrist. Her other hand held a drink that looked rather empty.

She had long red hair, with a few clips in it so that it hung behind her but still had a style.

Her eyes were blue with long, thin, green strands of color coming out from the pupil. She was wearing what he’d call a business suit, and she was probably in her mid to late twenties.

This’ll be perfect. I can feed from her and then contract her as my first Imp. I’ll just have to make the right pitch.

Picking up his drink, Sam walked over to the woman.

“Hello there,” he said, waiting for her to look up at him.

It was important to have Imps in a planar lord’s retinue. They could be fed Essence, travel the planes, and remain indefinitely without being summoned.

They were crucial, in fact.

Lifting her head up, the woman brought her eyes up to his. She froze in place as she stared at him. Like a rabbit staring down a snake.

Finally, she blinked.

“H-h-hello,” she said, her drink clattering to the table in front of her as it slipped from her stiff fingers.

With a clunk, her glass hit the table and her hand shot forward to grab it. As if it were a snake that was about to bite her.

In trying to save her drink, she only managed to knock it over, the entire contents of the glass spilling out onto her lap.

“Damnit,” she cursed, leaping to one side. “Just one thing after another.”

Sam easily picked up the glass and set it right side up. Grabbing a dispenser of napkins from a nearby table, he pulled out a handful and immediately handed them to the woman.

“I’d offer to do it myself, but that might be a bit forward,” Sam said.

“Uh, yeah,” said the woman, taking the napkins. She began blotting at the fabric, the frown on her face wide and unhappy.

“I just bought this, too,” she complained.

“You could always just use some Essence magic, could you not? It’s only fabric,” Sam asked. He’d decided to play it straight with her in his approach. If she was to be his first, he’d need her trust.

Your First Imp must be someone you rely on.

Sam didn’t let his thoughts get away from him. He’d learned his lesson—no reason to dwell on it.

“What? The hell is Essence magic?” said the woman. “You’re not one of those crazies, are you?”

“What…? Wait, you—” Sam paused mid-sentence. Looking around, he realized no one had noticed she’d spilled on herself.

He reached out to his stash of Essence on his home plane. He could always access the Essence there, even if he was elsewhere. With it, he crafted a sliver-thin thread and pushed it into the woman.

An aura surrounded her for a split second as her soul devoured the Essence in a flash.

It was clearly the first time she’d ever experienced Essence. Which meant she probably didn’t even know she was an Imp.

“That,” Sam said when the woman looked at him again. Her eyes were wide, shocked. “Use that. Just… wish away the stain and the liquid. Concentrate on it with your thoughts.”

It was a sloppy way to do Essence sorcery, but a great starting point for the untrained.

“What’d you do? I can… Everything…” The woman stopped talking, then looked down at her own dress.

Sam felt the flash of unstable, unguided, and unfocused magic. Suddenly, the woman’s dress was clean and dry.

“Oh my god,” she murmured. “Oh my god. Am I drunk? What? Is this a dream?”

“No dream,” Sam said. “For all your life, you’ve felt different. Strange. Perhaps even like you didn’t understand other people.

“And beyond all that… hungry.”

The woman was looking at him again now, her face in complete shock, eyes wide and almost unseeing.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Come with me. Let’s talk,” Sam said. “You have much to learn.”

“I can’t. I’m waiting for… waiting… I feel empty again,” she said. “Can I have some more?”

“Of course you can. Come. We’ll talk,” Sam said. Leaving his drink where it sat, he started walking toward the exit.

The woman followed him.

“Wait,” she said, catching up. “I don’t even know your name. You don’t even know mine.”

“Name’s Sameerixis, but you can call me Sam. And you are?”

Sam pushed open the door and left the bar.

“My name’s Irma,” she said.

“Hello Irma,” Sam said. Once he got to the sidewalk, he started walking back toward the parking garage.

With any luck, he could contract Irma, feast on her back at her place, and be home before it was two am.

“Can… can I have more of whatever that was now? It hurts,” Irma said. She was clearly suffering from Essence withdrawal. “Everything hurts.”

“You’re an Imp, Irma,” Sam said, then gave her a single drop of Essence. It would calm her craving for an hour or so. “An Imp who never knew what she was, though that’s not uncommon. Probably one of your grandparents was too, though they may not have known it either.”

“Oooh, that feels so much better,” Irma said with a sigh. “Grandma, probably. She’s always been a little weird.”

“Weird and successful, I imagine. Seemed to know things she shouldn’t, or had really good guesses or hunches? Imps without Essence are more like Humans with some extra bits. They usually do well for themselves without help.”

“Yeah… she… she runs her own business and everything. I work there. It’s nothing huge, but… we make good money,” Irma said.

Oh? That’ll help. I can borrow some money from her if I need to.

“And you get hunches and weird guesses, too?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. I do. I… I’ve never been to that bar before, but I knew I should be there tonight. I hadn’t planned on being there before today.

“I was going to meet a friend there. She was late, so I was going to just leave. You showed up right as I was deciding to get out of there.”

Sam nodded. Imps were lucky and sometimes managed to follow a fated course.

He was flattered to apparently be that fated destination.

“Happy to be your end result. Are you seeing anyone?” Sam asked.

“No. I usually end up scaring them off. The guesses and hunches,” Irma said. “What… why… I—”

“Great,” Sam said. “Let’s go back to your place.”

“Uhm… I really… I don’t… I… I…” Irma’s voice trailing off. “What are you?”

“I’m an extra-planar lord. And I’m going to make you my First Imp. You’ll bind yourself to me and become mine.”

Sam was going to make her contract ironclad.

“I see. And why would I want to do that?” Irma asked. “What do I get out of it?”

“Essence. It’s what you’re hungry for. What you’ve always been hungry for. And also what you want. Just like…” Sam paused to push another drop into the starving Imp. “That. Then again, you can always say no. See if you can’t get it from someone else since you can’t make it on your own.”

Beside him, Irma actually moaned aloud, her aura flaring wildly as it devoured the Essence. He could actually feel her entire being turning toward him, hoping for more.

“Oh god. That’s… that’s so wonderful. No, no. This is… no. This is a high-pressure sale,” Irma said. “I… no. Okay. Yes. No. No!”

Sam laughed to himself. He had to applaud the young woman. She was doing a fantastic job of fighting her own desire.

There was no sense in rushing her. All he had to do was feed from her once and feed her in return, and she’d be sold.

“Tell you what,” Sam said, turning toward the parking garage. “Let’s go to your place, we’ll have great sex, and I’ll feed you some of the Essence our coupling generates. I’ll give you the contract after that, and you can read it over at your leisure.”

“What? What do you mean have sex? I never said I’d sleep with you,” Irma said.

“Fair point. If you want more Essence tonight, without a contract, you need to have sex with me. It’s quite literally how I generate Essence. I’ll give you twenty percent of what I create from the act,” Sam said simply. Stopping at the entrance to the garage, he waited there.

If this went badly, he’d just see about the booth guard—or go grab Cindy, if she was willing.

Irma’s beautiful face was clouded with doubt. Then something broke in her thought pattern, and she nodded.

Must be that Imp intuition again.

“Forty,” she said, looking up at him.

“Huh. Let’s… skip the back and forth and just go to thirty. What’s your address?” Sam asked.

Irma smiled at him. It looked almost as predatory as he knew his own smile was.

***

Before Sam had even gotten into Irma’s apartment, she had her tongue down his throat.

He knew firsthand that Imp’s responded aggressively when they were out of Essence, but he hadn’t ever had one go at him like this in the past.

She had one hand fumbling at the door to her apartment with her keys, and the other hand was down his pants.

Her hand had already closed down tight around his shaft by the time the door swung open.

Stumbling through it, she pulled him along after her.

“Oh, what is wrong with me?” Irma said, closing the door and locking it. “I can’t stop thinking about sex, and my brain and body are telling me this is the right thing.”

“Again, I’m flattered that your instincts are guiding you to me. Now… bedroom or couch?” Sam asked, dismissing his constructed clothes. He’d only have to deal with them for another day at most, thankfully.

He was starving. Starving and actually very aroused. Irma was beautiful and willing.

“Bedroom, over that way,” she said with a hand gesture. Then she was yanking at her coat and blouse while kicking her heels off to one side

Smiling, Sam went in the indicated direction.

He found her bedroom easily enough. It was tastefully decorated and seemed almost uninteresting with how ordinary it was.

Getting onto the bed, Sam laid himself down and put a hand behind his head.

Irma appeared a few seconds later. Her hair was a bit wild, and she was absolutely naked.

She was far better built than he’d suspected. She had a generous chest with a narrow waist and hips that were wider. He’d underestimated how good looking she was at the bar.

Practically jumping at him, Irma got in the bed, bent her head across his privates, and inhaled his hard shaft in one go.

After going down to the hilt, she began to suck at him as she moved her head back up.

Damn. She’s very aggressive.

Sam took in a slow breath. He could feel the rightness of everything, and the massive desire in Irma. Fueled by her attraction to him, her desire for Essence, and apparently not having gotten laid in a long time.

He was an Incubus, after all. If he didn’t have a link to his partner’s sex drive, he’d be worthless.

Reaching around the side of her hip, Sam began to lightly trail his fingers up and down her rear end.

Irma moaned around his girth, then began to rotate her head from side to side as she traveled up and down his length. She sucked all the while, and he could feel her tongue whirling and swirling along the underside of the tip.

Encouraged, and rapidly becoming beyond needy of her, Sam pushed his fingers up into Irma’s entryway. Gently, he curled his fingertips and began to work at the interior of her channel.

Squeaking at the touch, Irma shivered, then began moving her head back and forth faster and faster, moaning loudly all the while.

She eased back from his manhood, then reached up and began to stroke him as her mouth came free.

“I’m so damn horny. Why am I so horny? I’ve never been this horny,” she said. “Condoms are in the bedside. Get one and get on me. Hurry up.”

“It’s what I am. And I don’t need one,” Sam said. Pulling his hand free from her privates, he grabbed her shoulder with his other hand. Gently, Sam pushed her around onto her hands and knees.

“No, I’m not on birth control,” Irma said as he pushed her down into the covers. She didn’t resist him in the least, but he could feel her muscles tightening up. “You need a condom.”

“No, I really don’t,” Sam said. Putting his knees beside her own, he grabbed her waist with one hand and his shaft with the other. “You won’t get pregnant unless I want you to.”

“Really?” Irma asked, her entire body relaxing.

“Yeah, consider it a benefit of being my First Imp,” Sam said.

Then he pushed himself up between Irma’s lips. Grabbing her on both sides, he drew her backward onto his length.

“Ooooh,” Irma groaned, letting him move her.

Going all the way to the hilt he filled her completely and stretched her as well. There was nothing left to fit inside.

And it felt amazing.

Pushing his awareness into Irma, Sam began to claw at her from the inside of her psyche. Working to make her orgasm the biggest she’d ever had. He wanted to make it so she’d never consider anyone else ever again.

To ruin sex outright for her so she’d never have better than him again.

On top of that, Sam was hungry. Starving, in truth. He was going to invest heavily into Irma and feast on her.

For hours, if he could. Till the sun came up.

As he turned her psyche inside out, he began to pull and push at her, riding her into the covers. With every thrust, he tried to nearly pull out of her just to push it all back in.

Irma collapsed outright into her bed, moaning and shivering from head to toe. She seemingly couldn’t even hold herself upright now.

She cried out softly each time his hilt pressed in tight to her entry, moaning in between thrusts. She didn’t even try to do anything. She just lay there on the bed, quivering. From what Sam could tell, he’d practically set her on fire from the inside out.

Enjoying being with a living person far too much, Sam continued to plow her down into the bed, all the while making her psyche turn to mush.

Finally, it felt like Irma had reached the point where she couldn’t take any more without an orgasm.

A massive one.

Easing his hold on her psyche to let her climax, Sam sped himself up and pummeled her as if it were his goal in life. Thrusting into her hard and fast, he drilled her into her bed.

Crying out at the top of her lungs, Irma came. Came hard. She must have realized just how loud she was, as she pushed her own face into her covers.

The Essence pouring out of her was like a rupture in a dam.

And Sam devoured it all. Then he began to pour the promised thirty percent of it back into Irma.

It was like a boulder dropped into the reservoir behind the dam, and the walls couldn’t hold it.

Irma’s mind blanked out, and her orgasm doubled itself at the intense pleasure of being filled with Essence.

Feeding Sam all the more.

Sam rode her for all he was worth, gorging himself on her.

When she started to fall away from her climax, Sam let himself finish. Pumping his seed deep into Irma for all he was worth.

She wouldn’t get pregnant from it, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying to put it as deep as possible.

Finally, thrusting into her repeatedly as he came down, he felt empty. Pressed up to her bottom, Sam sighed. Then he pulled himself out of Irma and leaned back into her bed.

“That was great, Irma,” he said.

She only moaned a little in response.

So much better than a construct.

Now, let’s get that contract together so she can read it later.

“We’ll go again in ten minutes,” Sam said, then let out a content sigh. He was feeling pretty high on life.

Irma nodded her head fractionally as a soft moan escaped between her lips.

Four - New Boss -

Sam hadn’t gotten back to Abigail’s apartment until ten minutes before she was due to wake up.

He’d quite literally spent the evening, the small hours of the morning, and the morning itself trying to see if Irma was an endless well of Essence.

So far, she was.

It didn’t hurt that Sam hadn’t had a meal in so long that he was more than happy to spend the time to make Irma as delicious as possible.

Which meant making her orgasms explosive and overwhelming. That in turn just made Irma more than willing to go again.

And again.

And again.

Until she dropped.

Last he saw of her was her naked form sprawled out on her bed, sweaty, spent, and sleeping.

He’d written out a contract for her and left it on her bedside table. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d run it by her grandmother.

With that in mind, he’d made the contract ironclad but generous as far as First Imp concessions went.

If everything worked out, he’d have a near permanent home and an Imp he could feed off constantly.

Turning the coffee maker on, Sam leaned up against the counter.

For the first time in a very long time, he felt things were going his way.

He was well fed, he had showered at Irma’s place, and he had a contract for life Essence with Abigail.

Essence derived from sex was limited. Limited, and it tended to expire fairly quickly. Though that was true for all Emotional Essence.

Brief, intense, delicious.

Life Essence was the long-term investment. It was one of the reasons he’d become so powerful previously. Unlike most of his kind, Sam had focused exclusively on the long term.

Pulling out a mug, Sam slipped it into the machine, put in a fresh plastic “pod” thing, and hit the button to dispense the legal stimulant.

The door to the bedroom opened slowly as the top of Abigail’s head eased out from inside to peek into her living room.

“Good morning,” Sam said when her eyes landed on him. “I’m making your coffee right now.”

“Oh,” Abigail said, her eyes fastened on him. “You’re alone?”

“Of course I am,” Sam said with a chuckle. He wouldn’t be bringing Irma over to Abigail’s place.

Ever.

One didn’t bring in their infrastructure to where they were working unless they had no other choice.

Abigail stepped out of her bedroom in a bathrobe. Her hair was wet, as if she’d only just stepped out of the shower minutes ago.

“Thank you,” she said, coming over to the coffee maker. “You said you start your new job today?”

“Indeed,” Sam said. “I’ll be giving you a good portion of my paycheck once I start receiving it. It isn’t a solution to our contract, but it should help ease your burden.”

“I couldn’t. That really—”

“You can take the money, or I can leave it lying around,” Sam said. “There is no in-between.”

Abigail grimaced, chewing at her lower lip. Then she shook her head, took the mug, and began adding sugar and creamer to it.

“Fine,” she muttered.

“Good. Now, let’s have a good day, yes?” Sam said with a grin.

***

Abigail was staring at him, her eyes wide and her mouth partially open.

Sam waved at the group of sixteen men and women in the room.

“…starting today. He’s brand new to the company, but he has some great background in the industry,” Matt said, introducing Sam to his new team. “There’s not much more I can say other than I’m glad to have Sam on board.”

“Thanks, Matt. I really appreciate it,” Sam said, turning to pat Matt on the back. “And to you all, I really look forward to getting to know you. I’ll probably start meeting with you one by one to get an idea where we are.

“If you have any questions in the meantime, my door is open, and I welcome you to come in at any time to talk to me.”

Going over the suggested talking points Matt had given him, Sam felt like he’d hit all the tick boxes.

Not cut out for this kind of work. I’m a problem solver, information gatherer, and ladies’ man.

Beggars can’t be choosers, though. This is just our first contract, so we’re going to work it to the best of our ability.

After this, though… maybe we see if we can’t get Irma to give our summoner information to people who need information or the like.

Those things are easier.

“…be fine. Alright everyone, please return to the phones,” Matt said.

Sam smiled as he stood there watching everyone leave.

“Good work,” Matt said after the door to the meeting room closed when the last phone agent had left.

“Thanks. Hey, Matt?” Sam asked, then waited for the other man to meet his gaze.

“Yeah?” Matt asked, turning to Sam.

“What’s up with the semi-cute one?” Sam asked snaring Matt. “Decent rack? Pretty smile?”

Matt stared at him blankly for several seconds.

“Abigail? Abigail Winters?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, her. Tell me about her. Everything you know,” Sam said.

“She’s been here about two years. As far as I know, there’s nothing wrong with her. I’ve never had any disciplinary items come across my desk,” Matt said. “Other than that, I don’t know much about her. She’s just an agent.”

“Right,” Sam said, frowning. HR not knowing her was good and bad. It meant she’d never been discussed for a promotion or a raise, and that she’d never been a problem. “Think she could ever be promoted? Given a raise?”

Matt shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know,” Matt said. “She’s definitely one of the lower-paid techs.”

“Okay. What’s the maximum salary for her current position?” Sam asked. “She’s an Empowered Representative, I think. Right?”

“Tech-two,” Matt said. “They can make up to about forty-five thousand.”

“Great. You were going to give her a raise higher than even that because she’s done so well for the last two years. Sometimes it’s the quiet ones who keep everything afloat that you need to reward,” Sam said.

“I was just going to give her a raise,” Matt said. His tone had become more and more flat the more Sam pushed.

“You were? That’s amazing, Matt. You’re a pretty nice person,” Sam said.

Blinking twice, Matt nodded his head.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice starting to become vibrant again. “Yeah, I’m a pretty nice guy, aren’t I? She’s gone unrecognized for so long, it’s amazing. Most agents leave in their first year or get promoted to another department.”

“Exactly why it’s such a good thing for you to give her that raise,” Sam said. “In fact, I’m going to call her into a meeting in a little bit and tell her the good news. Could you get me a form and her salary so I can show her what she’ll be making?”

“Of course, of course. Come on, we’ll go back to my office,” Matt said.

An hour later and with a couple forms sent by email, Abigail was suddenly making much more money.

Sitting down in his new office, Sam laughed to himself.

In some ways, it was almost too easy. With all the bureaucracy going back and forth, it seemed like a whole host of things could be done without anyone ever noticing.

Abigail appeared in his doorway looking frustrated and concerned at the same time.

“Ah, Abigail, thanks for coming. Come on in, sit, sit,” Sam said for anyone who might be close enough to hear. “And get the door, would you?”

Abigail shook her head and closed the door.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “I don’t even… what’s going on?”

Sam laughed and pointed at the seat across from him.

“Sit down,” Sam said. “As for what’s going on, I got a job. Here. Just like I said I would. Did you forget? I just happen to be your supervisor.”

Abigail sat down in the chair. Then she lifted her hands and pressed them to the top of her head. She looked like she just couldn’t believe what she was seeing or hearing.

“Okay. Yes, you did mention it. I didn’t even consider it, though. I thought you were just talking. So… you’re… you’re my boss now,” she said.

“Yep. Don’t you wish you’d slept with me now? Sleeping with your boss is a completely valid tactic,” Sam said. “Works everywhere. You just have to be discreet about it and know what you’re doing if you’re going to do it. I’ve done it myself a few times to get promoted. There was this really sweet middle-aged woman who was a real wild-cat. Had no idea.

“Actually… sleeping with your boss probably doesn’t work as well in this era as it used to. Hm. Pity. Was rather enjoyable for me.”

“No, Sam, I’m not… no… I mean… ugh,” Abigail said, letting her hands drop to her knees. “This is your plan? Become my boss and… what?”

“Well, this was just the first step. It’s to figure out what’s going on in your life, what people think of you, and what we need to do to get you promoted here,” Sam said. “If we can’t get you promoted here, we’ll have to get you a job elsewhere. But… this is the first step.

“So… wanna have a real quick go of it? This desk is pretty wide—I’m sure you’d be able to get up on it and we could give it a good breaking in.”

Abigail just sighed and shook her head. “Sam… stop. Please? I’m not… no. Just no.”

“Hmph. You’re so stingy. It’s just sex.” Sam lifted the paper in his hand and laid it down on the desk. “Here, maybe you’ll sleep with me after you read this. I got you a raise. You’ll be making—”

Leaning forward, Sam went to reread the numbers again.

“Fifty… fifty thousand?!” Abigail said, her voice going up in pitch.

“Yeah. Fifty thousand. I’m not done yet, obviously, since the arrangement was to get you to seventy, but we’re getting there,” Sam said. “How about you hop up on the desk now? Come on, what’s sex between friends? I’ll help you cover your mouth if you think you’ll be too loud.”

Abigail was staring at the paper. Completely in shock, unable to even respond.

“Sam? How’d… how’d you do this?” Abigail asked. “Am I going to get fired? Is this illegal?”

“Nope,” Sam said. “Matt, the HR goon, gave you the raise at his discretion. Put in all the paperwork and forms on his own. It’s a reward for your loyalty, or that’s how I told him to phrase it.

“Congratulations on your pay raise.”

“Thank you,” Abigail said, then sniffled. In a matter of moments, she’d started crying right there. “Thank you, Sam. Thank you.”

Grimacing, and feeling rather awkward, Sam looked away to the side.

He never really got used to the thanking part.

“Yeah, well, not done yet. Still more work to do. But we’ll get there. Moving right along,” he said. “And with me pitching in, we’ll have technically already solved everything. Just not a long-term solution. Can’t keep me around forever, after all.”

“Why not?” Abigail said, wiping at her eyes with her fingers. “Can’t I just… keep you around?”

Sam chuckled and shook his head. “No. I’d drain you dry pretty quick. You’d be living half a life for two. Besides, it’s good for me to keep moving on. You mortals have such infinitesimally small lives. But… as you’ve seen… I do remember the special ones, child of Alisa.”

Abigail grinned at that, dabbing at her eyes.

“Going to make sure her journal gets passed down to my own kids. You’re going to be our family’s good luck charm for when it’s all going wrong,” Abigail said with a laugh before she started crying again.

Ugh.

Mortals.

“Alright, get outta here. I have someone coming in right after you. Most of my day is going to be spent playing the part, I think,” Sam complained.

Abigail bobbed her head and got up out of the seat.

Smiling at him, she looked as if someone had just taken the weight of the world from her shoulders.

“Thank you, Sam. Thank you,” she said, opening the door and then leaving.

When he glanced at the clock in the corner of his computer screen, Sam realized his next meeting technically should have already started. He’d spent more time with Matt than he’d intended.

“Are you ready for me?” asked a voice from his doorway.

Looking up, Sam found the pretty lady from the other day standing at the entrance of his office.

With a wolfish smile, Sam gestured for her to enter.

“Of course. Come on in; close the door,” Sam said.

The woman walking into the office and closed the door, then sat in the seat across from him. He could feel the desire rolling off her.

She was apparently very attracted to him.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” Sam asked.

“Lindsey. Lindsey Shire,” she said, giving him a smile.

“Lindsey… are you seeing anyone…?” Sam asked.

Lindsey’s eyes opened a bit wider, and she slowly shook her head.

“Great. Let’s… talk about you and what you want here,” Sam said, smiling at her.

I’m sure we can feed from her right before we leave the plane.

I wonder if she tastes as nice as she looks.

***

Sighing, Sam got out of Abigail’s car and closed the door.

“Working really sucks,” he grumbled. “I’ll be thankful when you’re settled and I can move on.”

“That’s life though, you know?” Abigail said, closing the driver’s side door. “You work and work and… work.”

“Hey, you know what would be great?” Sam asked, following her to the hallway that led to her apartment.

“I’m not having sex with you,” she said.

Sam clicked his tongue. “Why not? It’d be a lot of fun. I bet you’re delicious.”

“Because I’m not into the casual sex thing, remember? Sorry.” Abigail pushed her key into the lock.

“I’ll keep working at it. Eventually it won’t be as casual. You’ll give in. Then you’ll regret not having done it sooner,” Sam said.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” she said, stepping into her apartment. “You’re welcome to keep trying.”

There wasn’t anything Sam could do about her saying no. No was no, but it didn’t stop him from pestering her about it. She hadn’t told him to stop trying, after all.

Sam walked over to the couch and flopped down into it.

“So… what are you doing for the evening?” Abigail asked, pulling her short jacket off and putting it on a hook.

“I’m going to meet someone later tonight. I don’t need to borrow the car,” Sam said. “I should be home before dawn. No need to worry.”

“Oh. Oh, alright. You’re… hunting, then?” Abigail asked.

“Probably not. Tonight is going to be mostly business, I think,” Sam said. “If I can get some time in, I’ll hunt.”

“Could you explain it… a bit more to me?” Abigail asked as she stepped out of her work flats.

“It’s rather simple. I find a willing woman who’s not in a relationship and have sex with her. The bigger her orgasm, the better I feed. Then I move on,” Sam said.

“And the woman isn’t harmed at all?” Abigail asked, moving into her kitchen.

“No. Though I do suppose it might hurt her sex life. I’ll be the best she’ll probably ever have,” Sam said, grinning at Abigail. “She’ll compare every man forever after to me.”

“What’s it like being an extra-planar lord?” Abigail asked as she opened her fridge.

“An interesting question, and a difficult one to answer.” Sam rubbed at his chin. “I would say it’s a lot like… being mortal, really. I started off just as an Incubus. Much like so many of my kind, I was summoned to have sex and then dismissed once they were done with me.

“Many, many a woman called on me.”

Grinning, Sam couldn’t help but think back on the countless women he’d bedded. He’d slept with slaves, princesses, commoners, queens, anyone and anything all across the realms, years, and ages.

“What changed, then?” Abigail asked as she pulled food from the fridge.

“What changed… hm. What changed, indeed. My lover at the time was killed in front of me. Was just a… random accident. A pillar fell, broke really, and the roof collapsed on us.

“Being what I am, I just stepped out of the ruins. She… she didn’t. Couldn’t. She was already dead, but her body hadn’t died yet. Her head had been smashed open. There wasn’t a thing I could do about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Abigail said, her eyes moving to him for a moment. “That sounds awful.”

“I mean, I had only just barely gotten to know her. Slept with her twice that day. But as I sat there, waiting for her body to expire so I could leave, I realized humans are fragile things,” Sam said. “Fragile little things that I could easily barter with.

“Make trades with them and empower myself. Bring my status up amongst my peers. Be more than a penis with eyes.”

Sam chuckled to himself.

“So, as her body struggled to breathe even though her skull was popped open, I realized I had no power to do anything in that moment. I had to wait till her body died. I couldn’t kill her myself, as that’d break the accords.

“That was when I decided to change my approach and the way I handled things.”

“I mean… I guess that makes sense,” Abigail muttered. “A little callous though, isn’t it?”

“In what way? Is it callous that you’re cooking the flesh of a dead creature?” Sam said, pointing at the hamburger meat she was preparing. “I personally feed on Essence. Primarily it was Emotional Essence back then, but I switched to Life Essence. I eat Humans.”

Abigail frowned, looking at the meat in her hands.

“I guess… no, you’re right. It isn’t really callous if you’re doing what you have to do,” she said with a huff. Nodding at him, she dropped the meat into the skillet she’d been warming. “Like you said. You can’t eat pride.”

“You can’t eat pride,” Sam agreed. “And I wanted to eat much better… meat… as it were. So, every time I was summoned after that, I almost always slept with the client and then asked them what else they wanted me to do.

“I bartered for my rates and the time it would take me to solve the problem. A lot of the time, it was just… finding information. Retrieving objects. Making deliveries. Fairly simple tasks for me, but sometimes a bit more complicated for a mortal.”

Abigail didn’t respond. She was using a spatula to break down the meat she was working with into smaller bits.

“The easiest were the ‘kill so and so for me’ ones, though they also ended up being the most annoying. I think that’s where I went wrong, to be honest,” Sam said, thinking on it. “I ended up killing a few too many people linked with other creatures and spirits.”

“Other… other creatures and spirits?” Abigail looked up at him.

“What, you thought you were alone in this world? Werewolves, Vampires, Witches, Angels, Demons, Devils, Ghosts—all that nonsense is real and then some,” Sam said. “Your little workplace has a Witch and a Werewolf in it.”

“It’s Lindsey, isn’t it? She’s the witch, I know it,” Abigail said bitterly.

“No, she’s human,” Sam said.

“Hmph. I don’t believe that for a minute. She’s a Demon or something. She’s evil,” Abigail muttered.

Grinning, Sam didn’t respond. He just let Abigail continue.

Soon enough, he’d be going a block over to meet Irma for dinner and take her contract.

He had no doubt she’d sign it. That, or she’d have some minor revisions she wanted to make.

Sam was flexible, though. He knew where he could bend and where he couldn’t.

After that, he’d hopefully take her back to her place and have her for dinner.

All night long again.

Five - Dinner and a Deal-

Sam walked into the restaurant and looked around. He was exactly on time.

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to find. Many things of this plane and time were “known” to him through his viewing of the plane, but he hadn’t experienced any of it firsthand.

It was a strange feeling to know of things without ever having seen any of it—till the moment he did.

Irma had described the place as a “burger joint” and said she liked the food there.

Throughout the space were tables and booths all over. Servers walked around doing their jobs as customers ate their meals.

It looked a lot like a place you’d take someone on a date. Or at least Sam thought so, considering how many couples he saw sitting around.

That or bringing one’s family here. There are so many people with children here.

Sam found Irma.

She’d taken a corner booth and was already reading over a menu, a drink off to her right side. She was dressed in a business-casual outfit again.

Must have gotten off work and come straight here. That drink looks almost half empty. She’s been sitting for longer than five minutes, or she’s that thirsty.

Sam grinned and started walking over her way. If she was early, that meant she was eager.

Drawing closer to her, he also noted that she was drained of Essence. Everything he’d put into her the previous day—no small amount—was almost all gone.

There was just barely enough left over for her to last about two days before going into Essence starvation again.

It’d be worse this time than she’d ever experienced previously. Luckily for her, it’d only last a day or two before she went back to how she used to be. Withdrawal only went on so long before an Imp’s mind would adjust.

Irma lifted her head up as he got within range of her ability to sense him.

Having fed her and fed from her, he was linked to her for the time being. That link would fade and be gone within a month if he didn’t feed her or feed on her.

Smiling from ear to ear at the sight of him, Irma looked relieved.

Though anxious at the same time.

Sam smiled back and walked over to stand beside her.

Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly, his hand coming up to lightly tilt her jaw his way. As he did so, he fed her just a small thread of Essence. Enough to last her for several days in addition to what she had stored.

After lingering for several seconds, he slowly broke the kiss and sat down across from her.

Irma was bright red, her cheeks flushed and her eyes closed, a strange dreamy smile on her face.

“Sorry, it was just so nice to see you,” Sam said, picking up the menu. “That was rude of me to do.”

Shaking her head, Irma cleared her thoughts, then focused her eyes on him.

“Ah, no. It was… it was really nice. And thank you for the Essence… I appreciate the gift,” she said. He was glad she understood the intention behind what he’d done.

“Of course. How are you? You look very nice today,” Sam said, flipping through all the options of burgers available.

“I’m very well. Thank you, Sam. And it’s my treat, since I asked you here,” she said.

“Well, I don’t technically eat except for the joy of it,” Sam said. Then he looked up from his menu and caught her gaze. He smiled slowly at her. “But I’ll be happy to dine… later… if you’re willing? You’d be my treat.”

Irma lifted her chin fractionally, clearly fighting a smile and a blush. Her neck tensed, the muscles flexing as she fought herself.

“Yes… that’d be my treat as well,” she said.

“Perfect,” Sam said, letting the conversation fall off with that. He wasn’t in a rush. He genuinely enjoyed being around Irma so far. There was no need for him to forcefully fill the silence when it grew.

“I talked… to my grandmother,” Irma said. “About everything.”

“I expected as much. Did she have any idea?” Sam asked.

“She’d suspected, but no. She had no idea. No proof. I offered to share my Essence with her, but she didn’t want any of it. Said it’d be hard for her if it became as addicting as smoking had been.”

“Mm. I honestly briefly considered your grandmother’s position,” Sam said. “With the idea that she was an Imp.”

Oh, that sounds interesting. I wonder what teriyaki is.

“I know of a planar lord who’s fallen on very hard times. He’d take on an Imp of your grandmother’s age. He didn’t plan as extensively as I did, and even now he’s trapped in an alternate plane without the barest of resources.” Sam folded his menu up and set it to one side.

“He’s not an Incubus, though. He’s more of a… huh… I honestly wouldn’t know what to call him.” Sam paused to think on that. “He has a need to solve things. Figure things out. That’s how he gains Essence. Call him a spirit of intelligence.”

Irma was watching him. She hadn’t spoken, moved, or even twitched the entire time he’d been talking.

“Ah. I… I think she’d—actually, let’s finish our own business first,” Irma said, pausing as a waiter came over.

“Are we ready to order?” asked the young man.

“I’ll have the bourbon burger,” Irma said, then closed the menu and laid it down in front of the man.

“And you? Can I get you a drink as well?” the man asked Sam.

“Water, and the teriyaki-Ted burger please,” Sam said.

The man scribbled something down on a pad and nodded. “Thanks. I’ll be right back with that water.”

Sam looked to Irma, waiting for her to continue.

“The contract you wrote out is very… tight. It’s also written in very straightforward language,” Irma said.

“Contracts are easier when they’re spelled out. Did you have any questions?” Sam asked.

“How long is it for?”

“Indefinitely.”

“In other words, as long as I live, I’d be your First Imp.”

“Correct.”

“And in the listed benefits, there was an item that said ‘eternal youth.’ Is that immortality?”

“Yes, and it’s also eternal youth. You would remain the age you are today.”

“In other words, we’d be bound for all time until one of us dies. There’s also a stipulation that if one of us causes the death of the other, we’ll incur a curse?”

“Correct.”

“Is any of that negotiable?”

“No. I want a partner. Which is why the benefits listed out are significantly much better than what any other extra-planar lord would offer you.

“A partner joined at the hip with me is one who would work to better both of us. I tried a lesser subordinate previously. It didn’t work out.”

At all.

Irma frowned, drumming her fingers along the table.

“To sum it up, then,” Irma said. “I would become a partner, lesser by only a minor degree, and receive forty-five percent of all Essence we generate together. I would receive eternal youth, immortality, and healing classified as perfect regeneration. Increased strength, speed, and senses. And you’d also teach me Essence Magic. Or sorcery, as you had it listed.”

“All accurate points,” Sam said with a nod.

“And for that, I’d have to… have to let you feed from me when you wish, assist you in creating a clientele list, complete contracts, help you build out a ‘feed harem,’ and act as your agent when you’re off plane,” Irma said.

“That’s the gist of it,” Sam said.

“I want to make only two changes, and then I’ll sign your contract,” Irma said.

Oh? Interesting.

“And what changes are those?”

“I want a percentage of the Essence from the ‘feed harem’ I put together, as well as a percentage from the clientele list I create,” Irma said. “I was thinking two percent on both of those would be fair.”

Sam thought on that.

It wasn’t a terrible request and wouldn’t put any strain on him. If anything, it might encourage her to work towards increasing the quality in both.

“Agreed,” Sam said. “Did you make a new contract with those two clauses updated?”

“Of course,” Irma said with a smile. Reaching to her side, she pulled out a small stack of papers. “My grandmother and I retyped it and printed it out.”

Irma laid one set of the papers in front of Sam, then set down a pen next to it.

Glancing down at it, Sam lifted up a single finger and used a trickle of Essence to rapidly scan the document for changes from what he’d written.

It was exactly as Irma had said. There were only two changes, and both were as described.

“Well, Irma, my beloved First Imp,” Sam said, turning the thin trickle of Essence into a tiny blade no bigger than a thumb nail. Easily, he sliced into the meat of his palm with it and then pressed his hand to the bottom of the paper. Then he held the blade out to Irma. “It’s time to sign and bind.”

Staring at the tiny blade for several seconds, Irma seemed confused. Then she blinked, took the Essence blade, and cut into her palm without any further hesitation. She pressed her hand to the paper.

“Now, give me your hand,” Sam said as he held his bleeding palm up. “Press your cut to mine.”

Doing as instructed, Irma laid her hand on his.

There was a soft hiss as Essence rushed out of Sam and into Irma. It was the remaining amount she’d technically earned from him previously, which was now hers by contract.

“And done,” Sam said, feeling his blood circulating into her bloodstream through the cut in her hand. He felt it when it vanished into her heart and stayed there.

Irma’s fingers immediately interlaced with his, and she brought their hands down to the table.

“I can’t believe I did that,” she said, sounding breathy and nervous. “I’m going to live a very long time, aren’t I?”

“I’m a very cautious person,” Sam said with a chuckle. “So yes, it’s very likely you’ll be my First Imp for many millennia, since I have no technical life-span. I exist as long as I wish to. Or have the Essence to.”

“And we’ll be together the entire time,” Irma said, squeezing his hand.

“Quite right. Now, your grandmother,” Sam said. “Did you want the summoning information for the planar lord? He’ll be pretty desperate. She could probably get almost anything out of him.”

Irma nodded rapidly, smiling at him in a way that made Sam’s heart beat oddly.

“Yes, thank you… Sam. I’d like that,” Irma said, gazing at him in a way that suddenly made him nervous. “Let’s have a nice dinner, then go get you fed. Will you stay the night?”

Hm. Humans can be overly emotional.

Did I rush this…?

“I’d like you to swing by our office tomorrow and take a look around as well,” Irma said, still holding on to his hand. Sam could feel their blood mingling back and forth. It was a strange thing. He’d never had an Imp that didn’t immediately pull herself away once Sam’s blood entered her. “I’ve been having a gut feeling lately that something I’ve been dealing with is going to go wrong. Very wrong. But I can’t seem to figure out the source or what’s going on.”

“Oh,” Sam said, feeling a little better. “I need to be back at my client’s apartment by dawn, but you can pick me up for lunch from my work. I’ll just glamour my boss into sending me out for some supplies or something for the rest of the day.”

“Great,” Irma said. “Good. Thank you.”

Her fingers were tightly interlaced with his own.

“Tell me about your client,” Irma said with a smile.

***

Stepping out of Irma’s sedan, Sam looked up at the ten-story building. She’d parked out behind the building, which was apparently the employee entrance.

“We’re on the second and third floor,” Irma said.

Sam nodded, impressed.

Irma was in a better position than he’d thought.

He’d gotten very lucky finding her as he had.

“Grandma summoned that planar lord, by the way,” she said, coming around to stand next to Sam. “She’s in negotiations with him, so she’s out today.”

“Ha. I wonder what Reixhitz will think about me giving his name out,” Sam said.

“He was surprised. Grandma recorded it. She’s taking every precaution to get him nailed down in advance,” Irma said, walking toward a badge-access door.

“Poor bastard. Ah well, he’s getting a chance. One no one expected him to get,” Sam said as he followed her.

Irma pressed her badge to the door and got them in quickly. She also walked right by the security desk without bothering to stop.

Turning to the elevator, she thumped the button with her palm.

“Thanks for coming, Sam,” she said, her eyes moving up to his.

“Of course. You’re my beloved First Imp. We’re in this for a very long time together,” he said. “How are you feeling, by the way? That was more last night than the previous time.”

He’d literally worked Irma over from the minute they got home to an hour before sunrise. There’d been no time for breaks, rests, or anything else. Just one long marathon of Essence gathering.

As far as he could tell from looking at her, she seemed fine. Not tired, worn out, or anything.

“Sore, but getting used to that feeling already. It isn’t even unpleasant,” Irma said with a chuckle. “And I feel really good lately. Amazing, really. It’s a wonder what Essence does.

“As for last night, everything was wonderful. Just exhausting and… sore, yeah. Worth it and then some, though.”

“Great,” Sam said. “I’ll come over to your place around seven to start for the night?”

“I… ah… yes. Seven. I’ll be home by then,” Irma said, her cheeks instantly becoming a burning red. “Is this going to be a nightly thing?”

“For a while, at least. Months. Need to refuel quite a bit. You’ll become something of an Essence dump at the same time. Your capacity to hold Essence is unlimited as an Imp. It also doesn’t decay unless you use it,” Sam said. “Unlike me. I have to use it just to live.”

“Months,” Irma said. “Okay. Okay, I can do this. This is what I signed up for.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Then they both got in, and the doors shut. They were alone.

“Can I keep using Essence magic to, uh… restore myself? Since I didn’t really sleep, that is,” Irma said.

“Of course,” Sam said.

“Great. Okay. Going to be a very… very busy couple months.”

“Only six or seven,” Sam said. “I’ll probably slow down to every other night. That’ll last for a few years. After that, we can slow it down to twice a week and you can start having more of a normal life again.”

Irma closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her head.

“I need to get you your ‘feed harem’ as soon as possible,” Irma muttered.

“That’d help. Though, to be fair,” Sam said. “The longer we’re at this, the better I can tune your orgasms. I think I can get you up to at least three times where we were last night.”

Irma shook her head, then began to slowly nod it instead.

The elevator doors opened, and Sam was greeted by a floor filled with shoulder-high cubicle walls.

They weren’t offices, but they certainly weren’t call-center cubicles either.

“This is our web design, engineer, and maintenance teams’ area,” Irma said, exiting the elevator. “I run the maintenance department and report directly to my grandma.”

Irma led Sam across the floor as she spoke.

Sam took the time to look around at everyone. From where he was standing, he could actually see every single person’s face.

She must have planned it that way. So she can keep an eye on them. Or someone did, at least.

Searching from face to face, Sam did his best to sort through them as quickly as he could. He had plans on devouring Irma in her office, so if he could find out the problem now, it’d make it all the easier for him later to have lunch without a worry.

Human, Human, Human, Zombie, Fae, Elf.

Those were all normal races one found in jobs like this. They tended to do well with repeated tasks.

Oh, wait. What’s this? A Doppelganger.

Looking at a fairly mundane woman in the back corner, Sam paused for a second before moving on to the next.

He didn’t want to give away that he’d noticed her, or that she stood out to him.

Not bothering to settle on her details, since they could change as quickly as the wind, Sam felt like he’d found the problem.

There was just the need of confirmation from Irma.

Following Irma into her office, Sam closed the door and turned the lock.

As Irma walked around her desk, Sam went to the blinds and closed them without asking for permission.

“Tell me about the problems you’re having,” he said, sitting down in the chair on the other side of Irma’s desk.

“Hm? Oh.” Irma sat down as well.

She crossed one leg over the other, and he immediately saw the professional woman in her. He imagined she was probably a very different person for him than she was with anyone else.

“We’re having data leaks and minor breaches,” she said. “Nothing huge, nothing that’s cost us much more than warning a client, but it’s slowly becoming more of a problem.”

“Would you say it’s for personal gain or profit rather than trying to sabotage your business?” Sam asked.

“Most certainly. The information being stolen is mostly data analysis. I’m sure someone could easily sell it, passing it off as their own. That or use it to buy and sell stock,” Irma said. “Nothing that would actually hurt us directly.”

“Right. What else? Any clues? Thoughts? Suspects?” Sam asked.

“Honestly? I have… no idea. Every time I think I’ve got the right person, I find out I don’t. They either have an ironclad alibi or were somewhere else entirely,” Irma said. “It’s frustrating.”

“I can imagine. Your hunches… more when you’re looking at them, or when you’re thinking about them?” Sam asked.

“Looking. Why?” Irma looked curious. Her brows were furrowed, and she was leaning toward him.

“You have a Doppelganger out there. They do really well as spies and thieves, and they’re generally mischief makers,” Sam said. “Average-looking woman in the back corner.”

“Hillary? No. Never. She’s… she’s…” Irma frowned, her eyes losing focus slowly.

“I could be wrong. I mean, I have no proof. But that’s my guess,” Sam said. “If you want, all we’d have to do is call her in here, and I could easily confirm it.”

“You could?” Irma asked.

“Yeah, not an issue. Let’s do that after lunch,” Sam said, standing up. Then he patted her desk. “So hop on up and let’s eat, my beloved First Imp. Because I’m starving for you.”

Irma blinked, her face slowly turning red.

“Oh. Yes. Of course,” she murmured as she got out of her chair. Sitting down on her desk, she scooted over to where Sam was standing.

“Enjoy your lunch,” she said with a smile, then lay down on her desk and lifted her hands up to rest on her head. “I know I will.”

Nothing quite like an eager partner.

Sam dismissed his constructed clothes, then laid his hands on Irma’s thighs and slid her dress up past her waist.

“Thank you. I have no doubt I will,” he said.

Six - New Hire-

Irma pulled her dress back down. She looked fairly well put together by Sam’s reckoning. He’d tried to go easy on her while pinning her to the desk.

“Thanks for not turning me into a wreck,” she said, fanning at her face with one hand.

“That’d just be rude,” Sam said with a chuckle. “Especially since you were so kind as to let me have lunch.

“You can use a speck of Essence to fix yourself. If you like, though I haven’t mussed you too bad.

“And speaking of Essence, we’ll need to start training you in its proper usage soon. Not just the minor things we’ve gone over so far. Maybe start that this weekend?”

Irma nodded as she sat down in her chair.

“I never thought all this would happen to me,” she said, touching her own nose with a fingertip. Instantly she looked refreshed and immaculate, as if she’d just walked out of a salon. Her Essence usage wasn’t terrible, either. She had only used perhaps a single percent of everything she’d just gained in the last ten minutes. “Oh. That was easier than last time. Though I must confess, I’m getting too used to it. I’ve solved far too many minor problems with Essence.”

“Yeah. It helps that our Emotional Essence quality is pretty high together. The quality of the Essence is really good, that is,” Sam said with a shrug. “Now… the Doppelganger. What do you want to do?”

“Uhm, what can I do?” Irma asked. “I’ve never dealt with anything like this before. Before I met you, I thought everyone was Human.”

“Mm,” Sam said, thinking. “I could dump her in my plane and leave her there. She’d probably die in—”

“No,” Irma said. “No, no. No killing, Sameerixis.”

Sam blinked at the full usage of his first name, then smiled at Irma. “Fine. For my partner and my First Imp, I can easily agree to limit deaths. Though there will come a time where we must do such a thing. It’s the way of our world.”

“Thank you,” Irma said, giving him a sweet smile. Reaching across the desk, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “I really appreciate that, Sam.”

Nodding his head, Sam once again wondered if he hadn’t made a mistake with Irma. She was treating him far too intimately. He’d noticed it several times already, and it seemed to be getting more frequent.

“Irma, you do realize what I am and that—”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she said, waving her free hand at him. “I’m probably romanticizing this a touch, but we’re in it for the long haul. It’s better for us to be intimate. More than just lovers.

“You said you wanted a partner? Well, you’ve got one. And I’m going to dictate the terms to a degree. You want the best Essence from me? Treat me as I’m demonstrating I wish to be treated.”

I rushed this.

Damn. I was too eager to capture an unbound Imp and start over again.

With that thought, Sam realized maybe he was worrying over nothing. If Irma wanted this to be what she was making it seem, it was that much less likely he’d have to worry about her.

She’d be looking out for his best interest.

Don’t have much choice for the time being.

That and I haven’t seen a single Imp other than her so far, which… actually, that’s rather disconcerting now that I think about it.

“And yes, I’m well aware that you have to feed from as many women as possible,” Irma said, squeezing his hand. “I’m sure it’ll hurt me a little bit, but that’s something I expected going into this.”

Sam let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “Fine. We’ll try it your way for now.”

“Good. Now, Doppelganger,” Irma said, her fingers slowly interlacing into his. “Let’s just call her in here and start talking to her. Maybe an answer will present itself from there.”

A good plan.

“Go ahead then,” Sam said. “Worst case, I glamour her hard or we drop her in my plane.”

Irma gave him a smile, then reached over with her free hand to pick up her phone. She began pushing buttons.

Almost without realizing it, she’d slipped right back into her professional demeanor, one leg crossing over the other.

“Hey Hillary. I have an outside consultant in here, and he’s trying to figure out what we can do better as a company,” Irma lied smoothly. “Could you come in here? He wants to ask you some questions about my management and the company as a whole.”

Irma paused, her eyes moving back to Sam and then strolling down.

Following her gaze, Sam realized he was still naked.

Releasing Irma’s hand, he summoned his construct clothes again.

I should get my credit card today. I can start purchasing things.

“…that’s right,” Irma said, pausing. “As honest as you can be. See you in a minute.”

Irma hung up the phone with a smile. “All set.”

“I think I should let you run our business and clientele side,” Sam said with a sudden insight.

“Business?” Irma asked curiously.

“Long life span. We’ll need a company to funnel money through eventually, in and out. Need to start thinking about what kind of company to build now,” Sam said.

Irma blinked several times, a slow smile spreading across her face. “I’m so glad I went to that bar.”

Removing her hand from his, she gestured at the door and then slid further behind her desk, away from Sam. “She’s going to knock in a second. She always takes a few breaths before she comes in.”

“Oh. That reminds me, I imagine your office probably reeks of sex.” Sam lifted a finger, clearing the air with a drop of Essence as he stood up from his chair.

There was a polite knock on the door several seconds later.

“Come in, Hillary,” Irma said, laying her hands on the desk.

As she stepped into the room, the average-in-every-way Doppelganger glanced at Sam and then Irma.

“Come on in, have a seat,” Irma said, gesturing at the seat that was further into the office.

Hillary scooted past Sam and sat down.

Reaching over to the door, Sam locked it, then pushed his chair up against it and sat down.

Hillary had stopped breathing; she was staring at Sam.

“Hillary,” Irma said. “I think we should have a talk. I think you’ve been stealing, and that you’re not Human. I’ve been—”

“Oh no, you’re with the Federal agency, aren’t you?” Hillary said, still looking at Sam. She cringed into her seat, sinking low into the cushion. “You’re going to arrest me and send me up to that new prison up north. Aren’t you?

“Oh, oh, Mother told me not to do this.”

Sam was confused.

This person was a Doppelganger. A race of legendary assassins, thieves, and politicians.

And right now, she was acting more like a scared young woman.

That’s not true. She’s not acting—she really is.

Hillary’s features shifted rapidly as she clearly got wound up.

Her hair turned bright white, her eyes a pale gold color, and her skin slowly became as pale as a fish belly.

She had alien features, with high cheek bones and a small mouth. Her modest bust size increased slightly, her waist narrowed, and her hips shrank. Her clothes didn’t fit her at all now.

Sam thought she was actually rather pretty, in an athletic sort of way.

“I’m so sorry, Irma,” Hillary said, her voice having gone up in pitch as she morphed into her neutral form. “I’m so sorry. I needed the money. I’m sorry, so sorry. Please. Please don’t—”

Hillary glanced at Sam, clearly thinking he was someone else from somewhere else.

“Don’t do this. Please. Don’t. I need this job. I need it so bad,” Hillary begged.

Irma had looked shocked for an instant, but she recovered quickly.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” she asked, leaning forward and holding her hands up in defeat. “What else can I do?”

“I-I-I can help you! I can help you shore up everything and protect it better. I can help you!”

Irma was shaking her head, clearly at a loss.

“Please don’t give me to the Fed, or the PID,” Hillary wailed. “They’ll lock me away for too long. My species has a bad reputation. I’m not that way! My family isn’t like that!”

“Pretty sure you’re stealing from her,” Sam said, indicating Irma. “So your species is entirely like that. But you’re in luck; I’m not with this Fed or PID or whatever.”

“You’re not?” Hillary asked, looking at Sam.

“No. I’m not. But I need to talk to Irma, so…” Sam paused, staring into Hillary’s eyes. He pushed on her psyche with some Essence. “I need you to sleep for a time. Sleep.”

Hillary closed her eyes, slumped over in her chair, and immediately fell asleep.

“I want her,” Sam said, looking to Irma. “I can use her. I’m going to make her an offer to work for me, and a minor contract. Nothing at the level I gave you. More like an employee.”

“Oh. She’d be useful?” Irma said, staring at the non-Human with interest.

“Very. I could use her to infiltrate and help me with clients. That or just feed on her,” Sam said with a shrug. “Would you mind keeping her employed for a while until I can get my own company up and running?”

“Sure,” Irma said, looking at Sam. “She does good work. It wouldn’t be a loss to keep her.”

“Thank you. Do I have your approval to hire her?” Sam asked.

Irma grinned, lifting her chin slightly and turning her head to the side. “Oh? I get a say?”

“Of course. She’d technically work for you, not me. You’d probably task her with a number of responsibilities as well,” Sam said.

“Hm. Then I approve. Thank you for asking,” Irma said. “She’s a nice girl. Sounds like she just got stuck. Probably medical. Health insurance is a nightmare.”

Sam nodded, then shook Hillary’s knee.

Jolting awake, Hillary sat up and stared at Sam with wide eyes.

“What are you?” she asked.

“I’m an extra-planar lord. You’re about to be fired, by the way,” Sam said, then gestured to Irma. “And she might go file charges against you. Though I have an offer for you.”

“There are no planar lords,” Hillary said, her mouth a frown. “They’re all gone.”

“Not at all,” Sam said. Lifting his left hand, he opened up a portal into his plane.

Sunlight poured in from the other side, and the soft sound of the wind whispered through the trees.

“Now that I’ve demonstrated my credentials, I’d like you to sign a contract with me, Hillary,” Sam said. “I’d like to hire you as my assassin, thief, and spy. We can work on training for that first job function, but the other two I think you can fulfill easily enough. Though you’ll also be expected to allow me to feed on you as I like. I’m an Incubus, so that comes with almost every contract I sign.”

“You’re a planar lord,” Hillary whispered.

“Yes. I am. The job? Are you willing?” Sam asked.

Hillary nodded slowly, her eyes turning toward him.

“I think so,” she said.

Great. This is working out.

***

Sam hung up the phone and then rolled his shoulders.

Abigail seemed concerned about him, but also relieved that he wasn’t hanging around her.

“Thanks for letting me use your phone,” Sam said, turning to Hillary.

“Of… of course… uhm… do I call you my lord?” asked the young woman, who was standing in the middle of her living room.

It looked similar to Abigail’s. Used, worn furniture that was well maintained but clearly basic. The apartment as a whole was rather small, but she was living on her own.

“No, I never was fond of those appellations,” Sam said. “I’m no petty lord with a name like Alexander who needs to hear those things. Sam will do just fine.”

Moving over to her couch, he sat down.

“Let’s talk about your new job,” he said.

Hillary nodded her head minutely. She still seemed shocked to Sam. Shocked and a bit lost.

“You’ll be taking my place where I’m working, once I clear my contract,” Sam said. “It’s a call-center supervisor. The salary is seventy thousand—”

“Seventy!?” Hillary said, interrupting him.

“Yes, and I should be done in a few months, I think. Until then, you’ll work for Irma as you have been.

“Now, why were you stealing from her?”

Hillary’s chin dipped down, her hands clutched together in front of her.

“My little sister wants to go to college. Mom can’t afford it, and Dad… Dad died, so it’s just us three,” Hillary said. “It’s just too expensive without her taking on a massive debt. Debt she probably can’t repay. She’s a good girl, but not as smart as I am. So, I… did what I did.”

Sam scratched at his chest while thinking.

It was a simple enough thing.

“Alright, is she applying to a local college, or something a bit further away…?” he asked.

“Local for now,” Hillary said.

“Fine. I’ll visit the college and talk to someone in admissions. Your sister will get a free ride for a while,” Sam said. “No more stealing from Irma. She’ll end up being your boss as First Imp. This might just be a job, and you can quit after a few years, but you’ll need to treat her well.”

“She’s an Imp?” Hillary asked, shocked. “She doesn’t have a mask, though. I thought she was a human.”

“Huh? Mask?” Sam asked.

“All… all paranormals are required to have a mask. It makes us look human to humans and helps… helps the PID track us, I think,” Hillary said.

“Hm. Help her with that, then; I have no knowledge of it. I’ve been off plane for many years,” Sam said. “Alright. Anything else I need to know before we seal our contract?”

“Seal our contract?” Hillary repeated.

“Yes. I’ll be feeding from you directly to seal our contract. In addition to the previous terms we discussed on the way over, I’ll translate five percent of the Essence generated into a mana crystal for you to utilize as you see fit during our first coupling.”

“Mana… mana crystal? Those don’t exist,” Hillary said, shaking her head. “Feeding from me?”

Sam sighed. He was beginning to wonder if she wasn’t going to work out after all.

“I’m sorry, never mind. I understand. I’m just a little flustered. Planar lords don’t exist anymore and yet here you are,” Hillary said. “Okay. Yes. I… agree. Feed from me, mana crystals, you’re a planar lord, and… and I’m going to sign a job offer with you. I can quit whenever I want after… three years?”

“That’s right, three years. Any other questions?” Sam asked. He’d done a fair job of laying out all the benefits for her. He could practically hear the need for money turning circles around in her head.

He wasn’t above pitching to a person’s need. It wasn’t like they were bartering for souls.

Just a job and some sex. She could quit after her contract period, just like any other job.

“Is the eternal youth really—”

“Yes, it’s immortality. You’ll also remain as young as you are today,” Sam said.

“Okay,” Hillary said. “Should I just… take off my clothes, or…?”

“Preferably, yes. Can’t do as much with them on,” Sam said with a grin. “Anywhere in particular you’d like this to happen?”

“My bed,” Hillary said, then shook her head with a frown. Turning on her heel, she started walking for a doorway nearby.

Sam got up, feeling excited.

He had his First Imp, and he’d found a Doppelganger willing to contract through sex with him.

He’d never had a Doppelganger before either.

Everyone had their own preferred method to contract. For an Incubus, nothing was better than savoring a contract with a meal.

“Do we need a condom, or—” Hillary’s voice fell off. She apparently couldn’t finish the question.

“No condom,” Sam said, dismissing his clothes and moving around to the far side of Hillary’s bed. She was undressing, putting her clothes away as she did so. “No risk of pregnancy, and I can’t catch anything from you, or vice versa. Incubus.”

“Right, okay. Right,” Hillary said. “Incubus. Planar lord who’s an Incubus.”

Hillary crawled onto her narrow bed and lay down on her back.

“Should I… should I stay looking like this?” asked the Doppelganger, who still appeared as one of her race. “Is there anyone you’d want me to look like?”

“Up to you, doesn’t matter to me,” Sam said. “You look nice. Different. And for a Doppelganger, you’re cute.”

Chewing at her lower lip, Hillary spread her knees apart, baring herself entirely to him.

Sam got up into the bed and settled directly atop Hillary, his knees pressing into the bottoms of her thighs.

Hillary didn’t seem to know what to do with her arms. At first she laid them down next to her. Then across her chest.

She didn’t smell like a virgin, which meant he didn’t have to go through any extra steps. Though she seemed to be decidedly acting like one.

Thinking it’d be better for him to play it safe than sorry, Sam figured he’d take it slow for their first time. With any luck, she’d become a regular meal.

Glancing down, Sam shifted his hips around to push his tip up into her channel.

Hillary tensed up.

“You alright?” Sam asked, peering down at her.

“Uhm, yes?” said the young woman as she stared back up at him. “Aren’t you an Incubus?”

“Yes,” Sam said, smiling faintly.

“Aren’t you going to… to hurt me and feed off my pain and… and all that?” Hillary asked.

Laughing, Sam shook his head.

“No. I feed off your orgasm. My goal is to make you feel as good as possible. Where in the world did you get that bad information from?” he asked.

Hillary coughed once and then laughed, her body slowly relaxing under him. “Don’t worry about it. Just me being stupid. I’m ready.”

Sam shrugged.

“It’s just sex,” he said. “Sex with a contract tied to it, but still just sex.”

“Just sex,” Hillary repeated with a nod. Making some type of choice in her head, she reached up and looped her arms around his neck. “It’s just sex.”

“Yup. Just sex,” Sam said, then pushed forward. The head of his member sank into her, parting her tight walls.

Hillary took in a slow breath as his shaft began to fill her. When his hilt pressed in tight to her lips, she shuddered with a soft moan.

“You’re a little big,” Hillary said, shifting her hips around. There was a strange sensation around his girth inside her. She suddenly felt much tighter around him, but also like he could push harder on her.

“That’s better,” she said.

Okay. That’s… neat.

Sam chuckled at that, looking at the Doppelganger.

“That’s rather fun,” he said.

“You like that? Here, watch this,” Hillary said with a smile. Suddenly her chest became massive. Massive and perfect. Her waist narrowed, and her hips widened. “Better? You like it?”

I clearly needed a Doppelganger in my life.

Setting his hands down on either side of Hillary’s much wider hips, Sam pushed at her with his lower half, grinding himself down on her clit and lips.

“Very. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together, Hillary. I might visit you more than I do Irma,” Sam said. Leaning down, he kissed her hungrily, pushing his psyche into her at the same time.

Hillary’s tongue whirled and danced over his. Delighted at her willingness, Sam began to turn her sensitivity up on her nerves. At the same time, he began to flood her brain with hormones. Using a tiny piece of Essence, he stroked her entire psyche from top to bottom.

Quivering uncontrollably, Hillary practically melted under him.

Perfect.

He pulled out of her, then immediately pushed forward again when he reached the tip. With smooth movements, he worked himself in and out of the Doppelganger.

Leaning away from her as he pumped down with his hips, Sam watched Hillary. He often enjoyed viewing his handiwork.

It got him off to see how much women enjoyed it.

He was an Incubus, after all.

Hillary lay there beneath him, moaning and turning her head to one side. She was struggling to roll her hips in time with his thrusts, bringing him deeper into her.

Pushing down on her hips with his forearms, Sam began to pound his way into her. He wanted to cram everything into her as fast and hard as possible. Pushing more Essence into her, he tweaked her nerves even higher, trying to practically set her body on fire.

A moan got turned into a high-pitched squeak as Hillary dropped off into a climax. She lifted her knees up, her toes curling and her thighs spreading as far apart as possible.

Taking it as an invitation to destroy her, Sam happily obliged. Pulling his knees up closer to her hips, he worked to plow the Doppelganger into the bed.

Through the bed.

Straight into the floor, in fact.

Feasting on her as he did so, and enjoying the taste of her.

She was delicious. Pure, unadulterated desire was washing through her, along with a massive amount of simple carnal need.

He knew for a fact that Hillary would go at it with him all day and night if he let her.

She was a very sexual woman, apparently. Far more than Irma could ever be.

Whimpering and pulling at his back, Hillary shook with each heavy thrust into her.

When he felt like he wasn’t about to get anything more out of her, when she’d hit her peak, Sam let his control go and came.

Pushing down hard into her, Sam felt his member flex and strain.

Hillary’s response was instant, her walls clamping down hard and rough to him in a way that wouldn’t be possible if she weren’t a Doppelganger.

Groaning at the pleasure of it, Sam pulled back and thrust into her again and again as he climaxed.

Then he let out a breath and laid his head on Hillary’s shoulder, pushing into her one more time. He took out a small dose of Essence from his pool and pushed it into Hillary along with the contract.

Everything was done.

Each time he lay with her, he’d add more Essence. As a Doppelganger, her entire body was made of magic.

She could hold as much Essence as he could put into her. She also could never touch it, nor could anyone else.

Hillary would become a living battery.

He had to take it slow, though, or her entire soul would collapse. She wasn’t an Imp, after all.

“Whew,” she said, her knees unfolding. She hooked her ankles behind Sam’s knees and laid her arms against his back. “That was… the best I’ve ever had. You’re amazing. Can we go again in a little bit? Five minutes maybe?”

“Sure, I’ll stay the night,” Sam said, peeking up at the side of the Doppelganger’s face. Her golden eyes were wide and dilated.

“Great. We’ll see if your hips give out first or my pussy. I bet it’s your hips,” Hillary said, her tone light and breathy. “And wow… those benefits are pretty great. I feel… a lot better already.”

“Glad you liked it,” Sam said.

“The orgasm? I loved it,” she said. “Loved it. I haven’t had anyone in my bed since last year, but that was… like nothing I’ve had before. Ever.”

“Oh?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. I graduated high school last year and broke up with my boyfriend on my eighteenth birthday. He was cheating on me,” Hillary said, with a sudden shudder racking her body. “That was amazing though. Everything is twitching. And I really want to go again.”

Huh. She must make herself look older to get respect at the workplace.

This plane is rather strange now.

Seven - The Return-

Sam smiled, managing to fight down a sigh.

He’d been sitting here for an hour already listening to the director of their department drone on about how they’d done last quarter.

He didn’t give a flying fuck about this.

Nobody wants to be here. Every single person in this room will say it was “interesting” or “a good meeting” and not one of them could tell you what was said.

Worthless and pointless.

This is no different than the old town councils. Whether looking for a witch to burn or collecting taxes, it was all the same. They just wanted to know a few things.

Are we safe?

Are we expecting trouble?

Can I get more money?

“…brings us to our new hire. Sam,” said the strange Kewpie doll–looking woman standing at the front. She was dumpy and middle-aged, with brown hair and brown eyes.

She also wasn’t very tall, looked like she had a blinking problem, and seemed to despise anyone who disagreed with her.

If Sam had to say anything about her, he’d say she was probably everything wrong with the business so far.

Standing up, Sam waved a hand with a smile and then sat back down.

“With that being said, I’d like to open the floor up to questions,” Corinne said, folding her hands together. “Unless no one has any, in which case I’ll wish you all a happy Friday.”

Oh? Huh. This is an opportunity. Let’s use it. And after feeding from Hillary and Irma, I’m actually starting to feel like my tanks aren’t empty all the time.

Every day leading up to today, Sam had taken Hillary and Irma both out to dinner and then to bed. Taking one and then the other, alternating back and forth until he worked them both to exhaustion.

Hillary hadn’t even bothered to go back home after the first night, since Sam just took her back to Irma’s.

He felt great.

Getting up to his feet, Sam held up his hand.

“Haha, Sam, you don’t have to stand up,” Corinne said, flashing a fake smile at him.

Smiling back at her, Sam walked up to the front of the room. Slowly, without speaking, he made eye contact with each of the supervisors, managers, and directors in the room.

Once he had all forty securely ensnared, he looked at Corinne.

“Go lock the door,” he said.

Corinne didn’t say anything, just went to the door and locked it. Then she stood there staring at him.

“First—who here knows Abigail Winters?” Sam looked around the room of ensnared mortals.

Damn it feels good to be back on the planes.

A few hands went up.

“Among you, who likes Abigail?” Sam asked, looking at the people with their hands raised.

Every single hand dropped.

“Okay, you—why don’t you like her?” he said, pointing at a heavyset middle-aged woman.

“She corrects people in meetings. She’ll even interrupt them while they’re still talking,” said the woman.

“Right. Decorum, got it,” Sam said, grimacing. Then he pointed to the man next to her.

“You?” Sam asked.

“I want to sleep with her, but she ignores me,” the man said.

Turning his head, Sam looked at Corinne. “Fire him. If I can keep myself from sleeping with every woman in the building, he can keep it in his pants too.”

“Okay,” Corinne said, then looked at the man. “You’re fired, Mike.”

Sam turned back to Mike. “You’re fired, Mike. You’ll go to HR with Corinne after this and collect your stuff.”

Sam sighed as he looked to the next person who had their hand up.

“You, why don’t you like Abigail?” he asked.

“She’s fat,” said the man.

Grimacing, Sam pressed a hand to his temple.

Yeah. This is… yeah. This is why everyone is so focused on themselves. Because everyone else judges them.

“Great, alright. At least… at least that’s fixable, I guess,” Sam grumbled. Feeling like this was rapidly turning out worse than he wanted, Sam pointed at the next person. “You, why don’t you like Abigail?”

“She doesn’t put in any extra effort. Just the bare minimum,” said the man.

“Right. Put together a list right now of all the things she could have volunteered for that doesn’t require extra work after her workday,” Sam said.

And so it went, Sam asking each person who knew Abigail what their problems with her were.

Though it seemed to be the same thing with different ways of saying it.

Abigail didn’t know how to socialize correctly. She was combative. She was quick to be right and make others wrong. Everyone also knew she had a master’s degree, since she told everyone about it.

Sam closed his eyes and grit his teeth. He had a lot of work to do with Abigail. A lot of work.

He’d seen an awful lot of “corporate politics” when he’d watched the plane. He had just never realized it wasn’t just at the top that people acted like this.

“Alright, everyone leave and forget all about this. Mike asked a bunch of stupid questions and ended up calling Corinne some foul names,” Sam said. “Mike, Corinne, stay for a second.”

Everyone filed out like zombies. It probably wouldn’t be until they got back to their offices that they’d wake up from the spell.

“Corinne,” Sam said as soon as the door closed on the last person. “What’s the likelihood of Abigail getting a supervisor position?” Sam asked.

“Not likely at all,” Corinne said. “We’ll be downsizing by the end of the year. Our department will end up cutting head count by half. We’re turning a profit, but not a large enough one to appease the shareholders.”

“Oh, my twisting nether,” Sam said with a hiss between his teeth. “How long before the layoff?”

“Six months.”

“Okay. We have some time.” Sam turned to Mike. “Insult Corinne and make a pass at her. Don’t fight when she fires you.”

Sam left the room and went back to his office.

He didn’t miss it when he caught Lindsey eying him, a smirk at the corner of her mouth.

Maybe I should… no. We’ll wait till we’re leaving. Feed from her. Give her some advice and then blank the memory of the sex.

“Abigail,” Sam said with some heat to his voice.

Looking up from her seat, Abigail seemed confused. Her headset was on her head, and it looked like she was talking to someone.

“When you’re done with that call, come into my office,” Sam said.

It would be easier if everyone thought he was angry at her. Especially since she might come out somewhat upset after he tore her poor little heart open with everything he had to tell her.

***

“And that’s everything that they said about you,” Sam said, holding his hands up in defeat. “Honestly, I’m rather thankful. These are all perception things that can be changed rather easily.”

“Fat?” Abigail said, looking aghast.

“The real world tends to focus on the physical, Abigail,” Sam said with a sad smile. “Unfortunately, you’ll be judged on how you look whether you want to be or not. And whether people admit it or not.

“We can rail and fight and scream at people to do the right thing, but they’ll just go down deep with it. They’ll hide it and couch it in a different way. You can’t make people be something they’re not.

“No matter how many of those silly meetings you make them attend. People will still do what they do. Age, sex, preference in partner, appearance. That’s… just how the world is. Be thankful yours is something you can fix. Ugly is ugly, no matter which way you spin it.”

“Fat?” Abigail said again, shaking her head.

“To be fair, you’re not this world’s ideal weight,” Sam said with a shrug. “Not trying to be mean, but that’s just the reality. Again, though, something you can fix. If you want to. I don’t think you should.”

“I’ve tried dieting; it doesn’t—”

“Yes. It does. It just comes down to mental strength,” Sam said. “But hey, that’s on you. Not me. My job is just to get you to a place where you can live your life and do it successfully.

“Which means working on your decorum. You can’t just shoot people down and call them out like you’ve been doing.”

“I do not do that,” Abigail complained, glaring at him.

“They think you do. Unfortunately, that’s all that matters. If they think you do it, you do,” Sam said with another shrug.

Abigail shook her head, looking away from him.

“We’ll need to work on that. Additionally, apparently everyone in the building knows you have a master’s,” Sam said. “You probably don’t need to tell everyone about your degree.”

Wincing, Abigail deflated in her chair.

“You may think it’s important that you got that degree, but it’s meaningless to them. It probably comes across as you being prideful too,” Sam said.

“But… I’m proud of it,” Abigail muttered.

“Be proud of it, just realize no one else cares. You don’t need validation from others,” Sam said.

Abigail sat there for several seconds before she nodded her head fractionally.

“Okay, good. Next is volunteering,” Sam said. “Kinda goes back to the socializing aspect we discussed. Some people will judge you on what you do to contribute to a team atmosphere. In this case, you’ll need to work on putting yourself out there visibly.”

“I can do that,” Abigail said, still looking rather down. “That’s not so bad, I guess.”

“Now, the best and worst part. You ready?” Sam asked.

Lifting her head up, Abigail looked at him.

“They’re going to lay people off,” Sam said. “Shareholders didn’t get enough profit. We need to get you into a new job, it sounds like. And at the same time, we’ll prep you for how to act in that new job.”

“What? But… I just got a raise and… and… but why?” Abigail looked confused and hurt.

“As I said. Shareholders didn’t get enough money. They got some, and the company made a profit, but they didn’t get enough,” Sam said. “Reminds me of public executions or beatings. Somehow they thought that would deter people better than educating them. In this case, rather than investing back into the company and doing better, cutting jobs will somehow make the rest of the workforce… happy? Draconian and stupid.”

“Layoffs…?” Abigail muttered, not having heard a word he’d said.

“Yes. So we’re going to get you job hunting. I’ll make Matt write a recommendation letter. I don’t know how to write those, but I’m sure you’ll need one from me,” Sam said.

“I can’t just… I mean… they could change their minds, right?” Abigail said, looking at Sam.

“What, the layoffs? Sure. You humans change your mind as quick as the wind changes directions,” Sam said. “But greed is greed. If these shareholders are anything like other humans I’ve dealt with, they’ve made up their mind already.”

“I might not be laid off, though. I can stay and just work really hard,” Abigail said.

“Believing that somehow evil won’t befall you is a good way to get hurt,” Sam said. “Again, your call. I’ve already said what I think you should do. It’s your life, not mine. I’m just stealing some of yours.”

Abigail frowned at that, shaking her head again. She seemed very much in denial.

“Okay,” she said. “Okay. I’ll… think on it.”

“Great. Okay, I’m going to go use my new credit card and get things moving. I could use some actual clothes, maybe a car, and a number of other things,” Sam said.

“You’re not coming home tonight?” Abigail asked.

“No. Not tonight. I probably won’t be home all weekend, actually,” Sam said. “Your job while I’m gone is to get your resume together. Ask some of the other supervisors here for help—or Matt, actually. I’ll put an embedded spell in him to assist you with it if you ask.”

“What… what else are you doing this weekend?” Abigail asked.

“Truthfully? Rebuilding my empire. There’s a certain amount of groundwork one needs to be able to complete contracts effectively and easily,” Sam said. There was a lot he needed to get done and in place. He needed to have multiple established assets here on the prime. “You got a pretty large discount on my going rate because you’re my first case in a while.”

“Oh. Alright,” Abigail said. “I’ll… get going then.”

Sam nodded at that.

Picking up his phone, he immediately called Irma’s office.

Abigail left, leaving the door open. Leaning back in his chair, Sam looked to where he knew Lindsey sat.

She liked to peek into his office when the door was open.

Catching her staring was something of a game now.

Sure enough, the young woman was gazing at him through the open door. Smiling, Sam waved a hand at her.

Lindsey hesitantly waved back at him.

She’s gonna taste great.

Looking back at his phone, Sam watched as it continued to ring.

Someone walked into his doorway, getting his attention. Looking up, he found Irma and Hillary standing there.

“Ready to go?” Irma asked with a smile. “I hit the front-desk girl with some Essence. Just like you explained. Worked perfectly.”

Hanging up the phone, Sam grinned at her.

“Good afternoon, Irma. I was just calling you. And did you really? That’s pretty impressive. You seem to have a natural talent for it,” he said. Then he turned to Hillary. She was in her “default” state right now, what she’d been born as. “Afternoon, Hillary. Embracing your heritage, are you?”

“Yes,” she said with a smile.

Irma tilted her head to one side.

“Let’s get back to my place for lunch,” she said. “After that, I was hoping to take you to my grandmother’s. She’s going to summon Reixhitz tonight, and I’d like you there for it. Would you mind?”

Sam did mind. He really didn’t want to be there. He and Reixhitz didn’t actually get along very well.

“For me, Sam?” Irma asked, giving him a warm smile.

Huh. She thinks that’ll work.

Then again, she did say she wanted this to be something else.

I suppose I could do it. For her.

“Fine. After we eat. I spent some Essence for my client, and I’ve been looking forward to having you two for lunch,” Sam said, getting up out of his chair.

“Really need to get you that ‘feed harem’ together,” Irma said, wrinkling her nose as she smiled at him.

Sam shrugged. “Up to you. I’m perfectly happy with you two right now. Now, let’s get going. I’m rather hungry.”

***

Walking into the large house, Sam was impressed.

There was no small amount of art, decorations, and expensive-looking furniture in every room they passed through.

“Grandma likes to show off a bit,” Irma said. “Oh, and she has a friend over. A longtime family friend.”

“Is that so?” Sam said.

“She wants to see if they both can set up a deal with him,” Irma said.

Sam assumed she meant Reixhitz, or Rix as he’d known him by a long time ago.

Hillary was quietly tagging along. After him riding her directly before or after Irma since she’d been hired, the two had quickly become friends. They seemed to be planning and plotting about what kind of business to get him in.

Sam appreciated their dedication and work ethic already. The more work they did, the less he had to.

And to be honest, he really didn’t want to work more than he had to. If he could sit around, feast on his feed harem, and start raising human settlements on his plane, that’d be ideal.

I bet I could have over a million humans on my plane. It’s big enough.

Could support a great deal of them.

Never going to let it happen again.

Curbing those thoughts, as he was a long way off from that, Sam contended himself with what he had for now.

His First Imp was working hard for him, and he’d hired a Doppelganger. He was well on his way.

“Hello Grandmother,” Irma said to someone as she walked into a room. “Hello Auntie.”

“Hey, hey, hi, hi,” said what sounded like a young woman. “Good to see you! You’ve gotten so big! And pretty.”

“Ah, Irma, I’m so glad you could make it,” said a wizened voice. “Did you bring your… partner?”

“I did,” Irma said, looking back the way she’d come.

Sam followed Hillary into the room and looked around.

There was an old woman in her eighties standing next to a woman who looked to be in her twenties.

The woman who was clearly Irma’s grandmother seemed like a much older version of Irma, with white hair and brown eyes.

Sam was curious about the younger woman, though. She was dressed professionally and had black hair with pitch-black eyes.

She was also incredibly pretty.

The magic moving around her was very strange, though. It reminded him of a number of Witch Hunters he’d met in his life.

“Sam, this is my grandmother. She goes by Mrs. Tiff,” Irma said.

“Mrs. Tiff,” Sam said, bowing his head to the elderly woman.

“And this is my Aunt M—”

“Melody,” said the young woman, stepping forward and offering her hand to Sam.

Sam glanced at it and then took it, shaking her hand back firmly. She displayed a fair amount of strength to be able to return the force of his handshake.

“You’re too damn pretty,” Melody said, blue runes slowly appearing on her face around the orbitals of her eyes.

Sam snorted at that, taking his hand back.

He didn’t care for Contractors. They ended up crazy more often than not, driven to insanity by their contracts.

They also thought highly of themselves.

For now, he’d play nice.

“I take it you’re here to try and contract Rix?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. It’ll take the place of my Orange. I’m a Rainbow,” Melody said.

“That’s nice. I’m an extra-planar lord. I used to collect Rainbow Contractor skulls because the magic doesn’t fade with their deaths if you do it right. When you kill them, that is,” Sam said. “Then you just keep the skull and use it like a tool.”

Melody stared at him, then blinked slowly. She gave him a slow grin. “Really? Can you teach me that? It might be useful to know. I’ve killed quite a few Contractors and had no idea I could do that.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“We could come to an arrangement of sorts, I’m sure. I’d probably be willing to teach you the method for currency,” Sam said, turning to Irma. “We’ll be starting up a company soon, and I know we could use the startup funding.”

Irma nodded her head at that, smiling at him.

“Eew, you two are like love birds,” Melody said, walking back to the older woman.

“Don’t be bitter, Auntie. You’ll find your Indigo eventually,” Irma said.

“Fat chance,” Melody said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Anyways,” said Mrs. Tiff. “Let’s summon Rix. I’m grateful that you came, Sam; it’ll be easier to tell if he’s dealing falsely with me.”

“Sure. Irma asked me to do it for her, so I’m here,” Sam admitted.

Mrs. Tiff grinned at him, then turned and picked up a match. She struck it against the side of a match box and then dropped it into a small dish filled with a liquid Sam supposed was her blood.

The match hissed and went out.

In the next instant, and old, wizened man appeared in the middle of the summoning circle. He looked ancient, with white hair and blue eyes that almost had no color they were so light.

“Ah, you’ve decided then?” Reixhitz said, looking at Mrs. Tiff. Then his eyes moved to Sam.

“Sam?” Reixhitz said.

“Hey Rix,” Sam said, holding up a hand.

Sighing, Reixhitz nodded.

“Hello, Sam,” he said. “I suppose I should have expected it when they told me you were the one who gave them the spell to bring me here.”

“They asked me to just be here and assist, that’s all,” Sam said. All the others had been forgotten in their discussion. “Just deal fairly, that’s all. They want a deal; so does the Contractor.”

“Oh? That’s it? And a Contractor, you say? Well, well, well,” Reixhitz said with a dark chuckle. “It seems the Torment of Sanity might rise again.”

Sam only smiled at that. He remembered Rix at his height. When he had actually controlled more than several planes all on his own.

It’d taken many mages just to bind Rix as they had. More than two hundred, even.

The man had indeed been a terror.

“Old days are gone, Rix. At least on this plane,” Sam said.

“We’ll see.” Rix grinned back at Sam, his teeth white and perfect. Then he turned back to Mrs. Tiff. “Now, did you decide?”

Hm. Auspicious occasion.

Two planar lords reviving. Each one having been named a Torment by the higher planes.

I wonder where the other Three Torments got off to.

Mrs. Tiff nodded her head once and, then and there, the Torment of Sanity had returned to the prime plane.

Eight - Stealing-

Sam made a soft harrumph, tapping a finger to his chin.

“It feels like there should be an easier way to do this,” he said, staring at the board in front of him, which had all the apartments listed for rent.

“What?” Irma asked, standing next to him.

“You work with the internet, right?” Sam asked, turning to look at his partner.

“Yes. We offer a web design business. I mean… the internet isn’t very big yet, but I think we’re going to see a major move toward it. The computer industry just… just needs a little push, I think. Right now the cost of entry is still too high,” Irma said. “Honestly, when you look at the history of technology, we were on a pretty amazing path until that incident two years ago. With all the soldiers coming out of nowhere. Everything just stalled after that.”

Sam pointed at the board listing, not wanting to lose track of the point he was going to make.

“This feels like something that could be replicated on the internet,” he said, circling a finger around the board. “Anything could be, really.”

“I’m not so sure about that. People pay for how much data they consume, and I don’t think anyone would want to wait around to download hundreds of pictures of apartments, or pay for that,” Irma said.

“You just said you were waiting for a push from the computer industry. Yet you seem to stop your thinking there. Why not the internet industry? Surely they’ll become faster, offer different services,” Sam said. Then he shrugged. “Anyways. I think I’ll end up taking this one. It’s the largest, ground floor, and it has three bedrooms.”

“Can you afford that, Sam?” Irma asked. “It’s more than even my apartment.”

“I don’t have to pay for it. I’m going to whammy that little man over there,” Sam said, flicking a hand back towards the ensorcelled housing agent. “He’s going to mark it as empty but remove the listing. By the time anyone notices, I should have more than enough money to make it work.

“Though I might have to make a trip to really settle everything.”

“A trip?” Irma asked. “Where?”

“Mm. It was a small little outpost fort the last time I was here. It was named Saint Anthony. A very depressing place,” Sam said. “I suppose I’ll need to find it and then purchase tickets.”

Sighing, Sam shook his head.

“On top of that, I still need to buy a mountain of clothes. I’m very tired of this construct. And a car,” he said forlornly.

“Didn’t Aun-Melody pay you for the… skull… thing?” Irma asked.

“Oh, she did. I forgot about that,” Sam said, feeling better all of a sudden.

“We could buy the clothes with cash and whammy the salesclerk to discount it. Plane tickets you have to buy on the phone or at a travel agency, so that might be better on a credit card,” Irma said.

“You’re as brilliant as you are beautiful.” Sam turned to Irma with a smile.

Then, shocked, he froze in place. Standing in a backroom was an Imp. He could see her through an open doorway, busily sorting packages. She was an Imp with a magical binding he instantly recognized.

After all, he’d been the one to develop it with Jenaphila.

The Imp hadn’t noticed Sam, though, or she wasn’t paying attention.

Noticing Sam’s distracted gaze, Irma turned her head and looked back in the same direction.

The beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed, well-endowed Imp seemingly didn’t even notice the attention.

“She’s really pretty,” Irma said. “Is that the kind of pretty you’d want in your feed harem?”

“It’s an Imp,” Sam muttered. “One who works for the person who imprisoned me.”

“Is she?” Irma said, her arms uncrossing and falling to her sides. “What do we do then?”

“I’m going to capture her and then kill her after I get some answers,” Sam growled.

“Oh. That… that sounds rather… criminal,” Irma said.

“Yes, I imagine it is. But this is just a plane. Prime or not, it cannot hold me,” Sam growled.

“But it could hold me,” Irma mumbled.

Anger cooling momentarily, Sam thought on that.

“You’re right,” he said finally, letting his thoughts go cold. “Let’s capture her then and go from there. I could always just put her on my plane and leave her there. If she doesn’t perish, her master would never know. And if there’s no body, the police can’t prove anything. Is that fair?”

“Yes, thank you,” Irma said, smiling at him. “I appreciate your care of me.”

Ugh.

Lifting an arm toward the Imp, Sam made a closing hand motion toward her.

He wouldn’t be able to brand followers with the symbol, as Jenaphila held the control rod he’d specifically made after sharing the brand with her, but he still had power over the binding when he was personally in front of one. The binding was his originally, after all. It’d just been stolen from him.

Instantly, the Imp shrieked and fell to her knees.

“Come here, Imp,” Sam said loudly.

Scrambling on her hands and knees, the woman crawled over to Sam.

She came to a stop in front of him, panting and shivering uncontrollably.

“You work for Jenaphila?” Sam asked.

“Yes!” shrieked the Imp, the control rune still in effect.

“How long?”

“My whole life! I’m just a watcher! A watcher!” said the woman.

“What are you watching for?” Sam asked.

“Other planar lords! They try to break into Jenaphila’s plane often enough that we have to watch for them!” said the woman.

“Ah… is Jenaphila the only planar lord on the prime then?” Sam asked.

“She is on this continent. She sometimes grants loyal servants the ability to journey elsewhere as planar lords though!” shouted the woman as she crumbled down to the ground and curled up into the fetal position.

Sam frowned and began easing back on the control spell, but he didn’t remove it. As long as it was active, this watcher couldn’t report back to Jenaphila.

“I see. Chances are those loyal followers never come back. That’s just how she gets rid of people. She used to use a similar method when I was her master,” Sam said, looking at Irma.

“I take it she was the old ‘partner’ you talked about?” Irma asked, staring wide eyed at the Imp on the ground. “And I thought you said you weren’t angry.”

“Quite right and I wasn’t. At least until I saw her. Now, what shall we do with her? I’m still leaning toward pulling out her Life Essence. It could sustain me and give me a great many boons,” Sam said. “Though I do have two other options.”

“What are they?” Irma asked. Then she got down on her knees and reached out to the woman’s blouse. “Her name is—”

“I don’t care what her name is, and I don’t want to know it. As to what else is available,” Sam said. “I could change her brand, make her mine. She would no longer report to Jena, but the brand would be close enough that this Imp here would know what that old partner of mine wanted of her and could speak with her. The change is miniscule. Something Jena never would spot.”

Pausing, Sam laughed darkly.

“If she even looked. She was a lazy Essence user,” Sam said. “And the last option is to just dump her onto my plane. She’d survive there. Lots of fruits and vegetables grow wild there. A massive population of herbivores to eat all of it, too. No predators. Population control is with a lower birth rate.”

“If you rebranded her, could I use her? Can I use this ‘brand’? And can you explain more of it later? I’m guessing at the context here, but I think I understand,” Irma said. Then she looked up at him with a small, hopeful smile. “It’d be nice to have some helpers, Sammy. I’m honestly a bit overwhelmed right now with how much I’m going to have to get done.”

Sam’s mind shrieked at the idea of sharing his brand with Irma. That’d been the problem with Jenaphila in the end.

Except… isn’t the whole point of Irma being different to facilitate complete trust?

Jena didn’t have the brand for hundreds of years. No matter how many times she asked. It wasn’t until I got lazy and stupid.

“A brand is probably exactly what you’re thinking of. A control spell,” Sam said. “And… yes. I could share its making with you.”

Irma nodded and patted the young woman on the back.

“Hey. Would you rather work for me, die, or go to a plane?” Irma asked.

“For you,” panted the woman, still curled up tightly into herself.

“Great,” Irma said, then looked back at Sam with a wide smile. “Teach me.”

Sam snorted at that. Walking over to Irma, he laid his hand on her brow and imparted his current brand to her. How to use it, how to lay it, and that she had shared dominion over it with him.

“There. Probably the easiest thing I can teach, and the most dangerous,” Sam said. Then he pointed at the glamoured real estate agent. “You deal with your Imp. I’m getting my apartment from our helper over there.”

***

Sam waited by the door, guiding in the movers and supervising them. It was the last day of his weekend before he’d be required to go back to working on Abigail and her case tomorrow.

He wasn’t looking forward to it, honestly.

Abigail’s case was rather straightforward at this point. It was also probably going to be over rather soon. Using her current pay as a jumping point, all she had to do was sell herself well in an interview. If she could get a higher-level position, that’d be the end of it.

Then he’d be done here until he was summoned again.

He didn’t have long to get himself set up. Time was running out.

At least we have Irma now. She’ll probably get me another client rather quickly, even if Abigail doesn’t network me out.

“Sammy?” called Irma’s voice from outside.

“In here,” Sam replied, watching as the movers put down his brand-new couch.

Curious nickname she’s given me.

Irma walked in and gave him a bright smile. Coming over to him, she gave him a quick kiss and then leaned up against the wall next to him.

Sam hid how much it unsettled him that Irma was treating him like a significant other. It was unnerving.

As an Incubus, love, relationships, and having such things weren’t really part of his psyche. It was almost anathema to him.

The movers walked by, going back out to their truck. They had quite a bit more to unload and move for him.

“I’ve been talking to my new Imp. Her name’s Alexis, by the way. She’s part of a team of Imps that work out of Larimer. They’re supposed to meet today and check in with their handler. Shall we go collect them all? It’d be good to protect ourselves, right?”

“Larimer?” Sam asked.

“That’s the name of the city you’re in. Larimer,” Irma said. “Well? Can we? I’d love to have a bunch of Imps working for me. Alexis has already proven to be quite helpful.

“And I think they’d be willing to join a feed harem as well, if only to learn Essence sorcery. Be Essence mages, or whatever the term is.”

“It’s because Jena’s a terrible mage. It’s why she doesn’t and can’t teach anyone. And fine, we can do that,” Sam said.

It’d be nice to have more Imps working for Irma, I suppose. And it would be rather nice to start taking things back from Jena. Ha.

“Soon as the movers are done, we’ll go,” Sam said.

Thankfully, that didn’t take long.

An hour later and Irma was driving him to where Alexis was supposed to meet the others.

The blonde was sitting in the back, giving directions as Irma drove.

“Why are all Imps women?” Irma asked suddenly.

“They’re not. Truth be told, Imp women are somewhat uncommon. They tend to favor their mothers, who are usually human,” Sam said.

“That’s not true,” Alexis said in the backseat. “Imps are always women. There are no males.”

Sam frowned and turned in his seat, looking at Alexis.

“My lord,” Alexis said, immediately bowing her head to him and averting her eyes. “I speak the truth as I know it. I swear it.”

“Name’s Sam, and it sounds like Jenaphila’s been messing around with things she shouldn’t. It’s a good way to get someone from a higher plane to come knocking,” Sam said. “Then again… maybe the higher planes have finally taken a backseat.”

“Higher planes?” Alexis asked.

“Did Jena teach you nothing?” Sam growled.

“I’m sorry, my lord!” Alexis said. “I’m just a watcher! I was bound to Jena as soon as I turned eighteen. My mother is a watcher in another city! I only know what I’ve been taught!”

“Never mind,” Sam said with a dispirited grunt. “It seems Jena has turned her own race into a race of servants, bred for her use. Well… I guess I get to play liberator in a way.”

“Why would she want to eliminate male Imps, though?” Irma asked.

“Technically speaking… male Imps aren’t any stronger than females in Essence use. Though they’re usually physically stronger,” Sam said. “So far, Jena seems to be demonstrating at every turn that she’d rather limit opponents than strengthen allies. Rather than risk a male Imp overpowering her, she eliminated them all. Rather than risk a female Imp becoming a stronger Essence mage, she doesn’t teach. Those who get too strong, she makes planar lords. And probably kills them as soon as that title is bestowed, saying they died off plane or something.”

“And this was your partner?” Irma asked.

“Turn right into that parking lot,” Sam said.

“Got it,” Irma said.

“I mean,” Sam said after a second, “she was my subordinate. Not really partner. She was more what Alexis is to you. I messed up, though, and thought I could trust her. Gave her too much, and she took it all.”

“Just park here. This building is owned by Jena, but it doesn’t have security or anything like that during the day. Just at night,” Alexis said.

Getting out of the car, Sam stretched his back out, except nothing felt better.

Oh. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Sam brought his wings back with a single thought. Then he stretched them out behind him to their full wingspan.

Groaning at the feeling of it, he bent his whole back.

“Oh, my heavens,” Alexis said. “They look like a bat’s wings.”

Giving himself a shake, Sam let his wings settle back down onto his back. “I suppose. Certainly not an Angel’s wings, or a Fallen One’s. Thankfully, I’m not one of those base spirit creatures. Zealots, all of them.”

“What?” Irma asked, closing her door. “Angels and Demons are real?”

“Of course they are. So is everything else,” Sam said, turning to face the two Imps. “Angels and Demons aren’t that much different than anything else, though.”

“Were you there for it? The battle of the heavens?” Alexis asked. She gestured to a side door and pulled something out of her purse at the same time.

“No. That was before me to be honest though not by much.

“I only came into being slightly after that war. Right after victory was declared. I have met many from both sides who served in that war, though,” Sam said, following Alexis. “Interesting stories. Though it’s very different than what you would think. The way I heard it told, was they were all Angels. Both leaders of both sides were actual Gods.

“One threatened the end of the world to the other, and the second left rather than have the entirety of existence ended.”

“That… that can’t be,” Irma said.

“Why not?” Sam asked. “You have a planar lord standing before you. I was there when your kind were figuring out how to keep and make fire. For all you know, I slept with your most distant ancestor. Imps and humans are almost interchangeable. And before you go on about religion, I would say… you humans have a tendency to change facts to your own desires. Those Gods exist, and existed, but your kind fouled it up.”

Alexis opened the door and walked them into the building.

Sam was on guard. He had marshaled up all the Essence he’d generated with Hillary and Irma, and he held it at the ready.

He wasn’t about to be ambushed again.

“We’re a little late, but that means everyone will be there,” Alexis said.

“Sammy, can I try?” Irma asked. “I think I’ve got a handle on it.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders. “As you like. Just remember to activate the branding rune on all of them immediately. We can’t risk Jena finding out that I’m back. She spent a lot of time and power to eliminate all of my summoning artifacts.”

“Can you teach me, Irma?” Alexis asked from in front of them. “I’d be willing to join the feed harem you mentioned. If you two would teach me.”

Sam ignored the Imp. She wasn’t his problem, and he wasn’t going to interfere. He wasn’t a manager of people. Nor was he a leader.

He was a sex demon who just wanted to eat.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Irma said, waving a hand at Alexis. Then she pointed at a door they were walking to. “In there?”

“Yes. Let me go first so I can make sure they’re all there. There should be nine of them,” Alexis said.

Sam frowned at that. It was strange to him that Alexis seemed willing to help them.

He didn’t trust it at all.

Without making it obvious, Sam lifted his hand at his side and prepared to activate Alexis’s new control rune. As soon as he dropped her, he could easily switch to his old control rune for the others.

Alexis pulled the door open and walked inside, vanishing from Sam’s view.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said. “Looks like everyone is here. Did I miss anything?”

Irma flashed a grin at Sam, shivered once, and then stepped around the corner into the room.

She’s far too happy with her power.

Stepping in behind Irma, Sam looked around the room.

Nine women were on the ground, curled up tight in the fetal position. Six of them were screaming at the top of their lungs.

She’s using maximum power through that old rune. I wonder if she knows she can dial it down. Oh well.

“Hello ladies,” Irma said, walking into the room. “My name is Irma. I’m the First Imp and partner of Planar Lord Sameerixis. You have three options to choose from today.

“Serve me, be… murdered, or get dropped onto a plane to live the rest of your life in captivity. I’m going to go one by one and let you choose. Okay? Great.”

Walking over to the closest woman, Irma got down into a squat and started to quietly talk to the her.

Sam chuckled darkly.

She’s far more direct than Jena was. I kinda like it.

“Sam, this one wants to die,” Irma said, looking up to him.

“Right,” he said as he stepped over to the woman.

He couldn’t technically kill her; that’d just alert Jena. But he could put her life force on his plane with a marking. Her Life Essence would slowly bleed out into his personal space over time, nourishing him.

She’d never wake up from the transition, either. It’d be just as if she’d died. Her soul would cross over, her body would end, and she’d know nothing more.

Putting a hand to the back of her head, Sam gathered up some Essence. Then he shoved as hard as he could, forcing the woman through a planar gate.

There was a massive splash of blood and gore as her material body exploded in every direction.

Her Life Essence, along with her intact brand, dropped through into his home plane.

Jenaphila would never know what had happened, except that one of her Imps had just vanished, mark and all.

And that could happen. Ogres and Trolls tended to enjoy eating Imps. The branding would be digested and disappear without alerting Jena.

The room looked as if someone had dropped a grenade into a vat of red paint.

“Next,” Sam said, flicking a finger at himself, Alexis, and Irma to dismiss the mess. They’d all been drenched in the blood, guts, and chunks that had been the woman.

“Thanks,” Irma said, moving to the next woman. Part of the previous woman’s torso was twitching next to her.

There’s always one who thinks it’s a bluff. Maybe the rest will listen now.

Nine - Special Discount-

Stepping into Abigail’s apartment, Sam walked over to the coffee maker and got it started. As he leaned up against the countertop, he felt pretty good.

He’d made incredible progress to coming back into his own on the primary plane.

Clothes, apartment, job, client, First Imp, and a few helpers for her.

Now… we just need more clients. Hopefully ones that’ll take a short, easy option so I can cash in a chunk of Life Essence.

The door to Abigail’s bedroom opened, and she walked out in short shorts and a tank top.

She had far more to her figure than he’d previously expected. On top of that, she had a healthy thickness to her that he liked. She wasn’t overweight, but she wasn’t thin either.

At least Sam thought so.

“Good morning, Abby. I like the nightwear,” Sam said. “Care to have sex? You look like you’d be a lot of fun and absolutely delicious.”

Abigail stared at him, her eyes wide. She didn’t back up or run away, but neither did she move forward again.

“Yes? No? Sex?” Sam asked. Glancing at the coffee maker Sam grabbed Abigail’s favorite mug and slid it into place.

“Yes, but… not… right now,” Abigail said, her hands opening and closing at her sides. “When we… when we finish my contract. We can end the contract with sex rather than blood. If… if you’ll increase the percentage I get from referrals.”

Sam chuckled at that, pressing the brew button on the coffee maker.

“You look like a lot of fun, Abby, but I don’t think you’d be that fun. And—”

“A higher percentage for the conclusion of the contract in sex, and I’ll let you read Alisa’s journal,” Abigail said. “She wrote about you a lot.”

Shaking his head again, Sam walked over to the fridge and opened it.

“Abby, I’d be very interested in knowing you carnally. But… it just isn’t worth it,” Sam said, taking the creamer out of the fridge. “Alisa’s progeny or not.”

“Sex, journal, and I get you another client today,” Abigail said.

“Today?” Sam asked as he walked back over to the coffee maker. Pulling Abigail’s mug out, he added creamer to the point he knew she liked it. Then he took out a single sugar cube instead of five, per her own previous instruction to him. When he’d finished making the coffee, he set it down on the counter for her.

“If you can get me another client today, close out our contract with sex, and I get to read the journal… I could increase your cut by an additional five percent,” Sam said.

“Deal,” Abigail said, walking forward to take her coffee. “You can have me when we’re done and read the journal after that. I’ll get your client today.”

“And what are you doing today that makes that so certain?” Sam asked.

Abigail took a sip of her coffee and made a face. She started to reach for the sugar and then stopped. With a shake of her head, her hand fell back to her side, and she took another sip of her coffee.

“Work. Then go see about that other client of yours,” she said. “Uhm, work on my resume some more. I already… reached out to some people to see if they knew of any job openings. I might have a few places to turn in my resume this weekend.”

“Oh? Good work, Abigail,” Sam said, leaning over to lightly pat her shoulder. “I’m proud of you. That’s some good determination. I can’t tell you how many of my clients hear what they need to do and then just shut down. Or cancel their contracts with me. Sometimes the truth is the hardest thing in the world to hear.”

“You really think I’m fat?” Abigail asked, peering at him over the rim of her mug. Apparently the fact that she was being judged on her physical appearance still bothered her.

“Not personally, no. I think you’re a good weight and size. I’m sure your doctors would say you’re just past the line of being ‘healthy,’ and maybe my view of beauty is different than those of this current millennium,” Sam said.

“But they did. The supervisors, managers, and the others,” Abigail said.

“Unfortunately. Humans will happily judge everyone on everything,” Sam said with a shrug.

“What about you?” Abigail asked. “What are you doing today?”

“Sit in my office. Do nothing,” Sam said. “As soon as you’re settled, I’ll be turning over that job to an associate of mine.”

Abigail nodded, looking thoughtful.

“For… what it’s worth. Thank you, Sameerixis. From what I’ve read in Alisa’s journal, you could have easily asked any price of me, or told me no,” Abigail said. “So, yeah, thank you. Thank you for saying yes and keeping your price reasonable.”

Sam quirked a brow at that, smiling at her. “Of course. How could I not give Alisa’s progeny a fair start?”

Smiling at that, Abigail only nodded slightly.

***

Lying down on Irma’s couch, Sam was flipping through the channels as his head rested in Irma’s lap.

He liked Abigail well enough, but he had a strange feeling about her. Like her entire approach to Sam was artificial, in a way. It made him nervous.

He only ever showed up to her apartment in the morning, and he didn’t come back until the next day.

More often than not, he went to sleep next to Irma, Hillary, or both.

“I wonder if she’ll actually pull off a second client,” Irma said, leaning over the arm of the couch, her head resting against her hand. Her other hand was playing back and forth over Sam’s chest.

“No idea. Though I’m definitely hoping she does,” Sam said. “She’s moving rather quickly with what I told her to do. If I’m unlucky, she might get a job offer faster than she even expects. It’ll really come down to how she presents herself.”

“And after that, you’d end up having to leave the plane,” Irma said.

“Mmhmm. Though you have the ability to summon me, which means you can find me clients that’d bring me back,” Sam said.

“What if I find someone who agrees to a number of years up front,” Irma said. “Could I offer them a slightly lesser price if they were willing to spend it a day at a time so you’d remain on this plane?”

“I suppose I could,” Sam said, turning to Irma. “I don’t see the point in it, though.”

“Because I want you on this plane with me,” Irma said with a pat on the top of his head. “Shouldn’t you want to be here with me?”

“You can just come to my plane whenever you want. The perks of being an Imp,” Sam said.

“No, wrong answer,” Irma said. “The right answer is ‘Of course I want to be here on your home plane, Irma my love, and I’ll do exactly what you said to make that happen,’ so please go ahead and say that.”

Grinning, Sam thought she was joking.

It wasn’t until she gazed down at him with that look she got that he realized she wasn’t kidding.

Damnit. I guess… I guess this is what she was talking about. Wanting more from this.

And so far, she’s kept up her end of the bargain. She’s been good for me.

And I feel… happy.

“Of course I want to be here on your home plane, Irma my love, and I’ll do exactly what you said to make that happen. And spend every day feasting on you till you collapse from exhaustion,” Sam said.

“Good, thank you,” Irma said, patting his head again.

“By the way, did you know your aunt was a Contractor?” Sam asked.

“Auntie Mel? No. When she showed up looking young, I didn’t recognize her. We talked for a while about what she is, her contracts. Things like that.

“It was odd. She always looked like Grandma before,” Irma said, shaking her head. “It was a shock. Apparently she’s been pretending to be old for a long time, just to stay friends with Grandma. She was there when I was born, you know. She really is more like an aunt. Especially with Mom being gone.”

“Is she away, or no longer on this mortal plane?” Sam asked.

“The latter, I guess,” Irma said. “She died a long time ago. I think I was four? Five? Car accident. I got lucky. Mom pulled the car into oncoming traffic rather than staying on her side of the road. After she got rear-ended, that is. Ended up going straight into a head-on collision. Someone said it was like she did it on purpose. She died just after impact.”

“In other words, she had an Imp-pulse. Rather than doing what most people would have done, she did the opposite. I imagine she made a choice. And the only thing that springs to my mind is she chose you. Her life for yours,” Sam said, looking back to the TV. The news was on, and it was as boring as ever. All doom, gloom, and fear. “That’s the only reason I can think of for an Imp to do something like that. Accidental deaths are rare for Imps. And it isn’t as if your grandmother is a weak Imp. Nor are you. Means she’d be a strong Imp as well.”

Irma froze in her seat.

“She… you’re right, aren’t you?” Irma said. It wasn’t a question. “There’s no other reason she would have done what she did. Grandma always told me I blamed her for no reason.”

“Probably. As I mentioned, Imps get those intuitions and hints. If the accident cost her life, she would have had to have ignored an intuition. That would only happen if following her intuition would have cost her something more dearly. If doing something else would have been worse,” Sam said. “Congratulations. Your mother chose you over herself. I do hope you’ve been paying her spirit respects.”

Irma’s lower lip shot out and began to tremble. She shook her head slowly back and forth, her eyes starting to water up.

“Looks like you should probably start making amends for that. I recommend flowers. They’re a very good substitute, since you’re taking the flower’s life force as an offering,” Sam said. “Or if you want, we could see about banking enough Essence away over time for you to speak with her for a short period. Wouldn’t be too hard.”

Irma started to cry as she nodded her head, tears falling freely from her eyes. “That’s possible?”

“Course,” Sam said with a shrug. Looking at Irma, he realized this was an opportunity to help bring her in closer to him with something she’d asked for.

Intimacy.

Sitting up, Sam wrapped an arm around Irma’s shoulders and pulled her into his side. “She’s just on a spirit plane. Not even that hard to get to if you know the way. And I do. It’d probably cost a hefty chunk of Essence, but nothing terrible.”

Sniffling, Irma turned her head into Sam’s shoulder and fell quiet.

Suddenly, explosively, a portal opened up in front of Sam. It was a summoning portal.

“Looks like Abby pulled through,” Sam said, not releasing Irma. He realized Irma was in a spot where she might need more comfort. Against his better judgment, he offered something he didn’t think he would. “Do you want me to decline it? I can stay with you.”

Shaking her head and lifting it from his shoulder, Irma sniffled and rubbed at her eyes quickly. “No. I could use a moment alone anyways. I need to figure out how I can buy enough flowers to make up for this. Call me later when you’re done getting the contract together, Sammy?”

“Sure, no worries,” Sam said. Standing up, he made sure his wings visible were visible. He’d learned a long time ago that having the wings lended to his credibility. Turning around, he leaned down and kissed Irma tenderly. Patting her cheek.

“I’ll call you as often as I can,” he said.

“Okay. You better,” she said with a light laugh.

Sam nodded his head, then turned back to the purple oval.

Stepping through the spinning portal, Sam walked into another run-down and dreary-looking apartment.

What in the high hells did this plane do to their children?

Are they all living on little more than a pittance?

Sitting on a couch was a very naked young woman. To Sam’s eyes, she looked distinctly as if she were of Latin decent, with black hair and light brown eyes.

She was cute enough that he imagined she probably should be in a relationship.

“You’re… you’re the Incubus, right?” asked the woman. “Sam. Abigail said you’d come if I did it. I didn’t believe her.”

“And yet, here I am. I am indeed Sam, and Abigail is indeed a client of mine,” Sam said. Walking over to where the young woman sat, Sam folded his hands behind his back and waited. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m drowning in debt,” the woman said, then started to laugh softly. “I’m beyond drowning in debt. I’m going to get kicked out of my apartment if I don’t pay my rent tomorrow.”

“I see,” Sam said. Nodding his head, he waited. He couldn’t lead them in these things. “How would you like to handle it?”

“Uhm. Pay my rent? Or a better job? Something. I need… something,” said the woman, her eyes drifting to the ground. She looked beyond defeated.

“Well, it sounds like the immediate concern is your rent,” Sam offered.

“Can I contract you for multiple things?” asked the woman, looking up to him again. “Summon you again once I need something else?”

“Of course, though I should warn you—even summoning me will take a month of your life away. Abigail did tell you that, right?” Sam asked.

“She did,” said the woman. “Okay. Rent first. I want you to solve my rent.”

“Great. Since it’s due tomorrow, how would you like it solved?” Sam asked.

“Pay it for me,” said the woman. “Or give me the money to pay it.”

“As this is rather sudden, and I have no way to change the stakes, I’ll have to utilize resources rather than alter your life as it were. How much is your rent?”

“Eight hundred a month,” mumbled the woman. “I can’t even pay that. I couldn’t even buy gas two days ago. I had to ask my mom for money and she… she lost it. And… and I…”

“I understand,” Sam said gently, breaking into her speech. “I’ll get your rent squared away. I assume you owe back-rent?”

“Sixteen hundred,” said the woman.

“In other words, twenty-four hundred is what you owe your landlord? Is that right?” Sam asked.

The woman nodded her head slightly. “Yeah.”

“Alright. That’s not too terrible. As this is an emergency and we have no time, the cost to fix it will be two years of your life,” Sam said.

“Two years…?” the woman said, shaking her head and closing her eyes. “This can’t be happening.”

“I’m afraid that’s the price. Though… though maybe I can offer you a discount,” Sam said, thinking on Irma’s earlier request. “Give me a year and a half of your life, taken one day at a time rather than two years at once. Though you’ll need to leave this portal here until that year and a half is over. I can hide it from anyone else seeing it, so don’t worry about that.”

“Okay,” said the woman. “Okay. I can do that. Abby said you might… might lower the price a bit? For sex?”

Quirking his brows at that, Sam grinned. He did love sealing a contract with sex.

“I’d be willing to take two months off for that,” Sam said. “You don’t smell of virginity, so that’s the best I can offer.”

Sam didn’t judge, but a virgin’s first orgasm was always the best. He’d pay premium for that.

“Alright. I’m Gabriella, by the way,” said the woman.

“Hello Gabriella. Where would you like to conclude this contract?” Sam asked.

“Wherever. It doesn’t matter,” Gabriella said. Then she waved a hand at him to come closer. “Here is fine.”

Walking over to Gabriella, Sam looked down into her eyes.

She looked frustrated, angry, but determined.

It took a certain special type of mentality to be able to survive in the world. The world gave no breaks, offered no reprieves, and rarely stopped. He had the feeling he’d be hearing from Gabriella again soon enough.

There’d been a number of times in his life that a summoner had brought him back a second time.

Can’t eat pride, and if you’ve already done it once… more likely for the second.

Gabriella grabbed hold of Sam’s belt and undid it, pushing his pants and boxers down quickly.

Sam was rock hard and ready. It was practically pointing at her nose.

“Do I… do I get anything if I use my mouth first?” Gabriella asked, looking up at him.

“A day,” Sam said, feeling stingy. It wasn’t as if he got any more than pleasure out of it. He was mostly after her orgasm.

Gabriella stared at him and then shrugged her shoulders, visibly giving up.

Not waiting a second more, she grabbed him around the hilt and noisily slurped him up.

Her lips were tight on his shaft as she slid her mouth back and forth. She sucked hard on him, her hands pressed to his thighs as she rolled her neck.

She was actually rather good at giving head.

Watching Gabriella, Sam grinned when she looked back up at him. She worked him rather well as she gazed at him. Gliding smoothly along his girth, she kept him moving down her throat from hilt to tip and back again.

Inevitably, she slowed down and let him fall free of her lips. “Worth more than a day, maybe?”

Sam smiled at her, finding the way her mind worked intriguing. “Worth more, yes, but I’m not giving you more. You can continue if you like; it’s definitely enjoyable. Or we can move on.”

Gabriella clicked her tongue and then got up and bent over, grabbing the top of her couch. “Do you need a condom?”

“No. Not for anything,” Sam said, grabbing hold of each side of her hips. Her skin was warm to the touch and soft. It’s light-brown coloring was beautiful.

Moving forward, he eased her hips to one side slightly, angling his tip into her. Entering her with an inch of himself, Sam moved closer to her and then pushed his hips forward, filling her up completely.

Gabriella groaned, her head dipping down.

Taking a firm hold on her, Sam reached out into her psyche. He immediately found she was a bit different with her sexual desires. Her needs were plain as day to him.

Reaching out, he grabbed the back of her head, his fingers curling into her hair. Taking a tight hold, he began to pull backward, forcing her back to arch.

“Ahhhhhh,” Gabriella moaned, her body locking up. “Just… ah… wh…”

Her voice trailed off as Sam pulled back out of her and then rammed forward into her roughly. His shaft forced her walls apart, and her whole body moved forward with the strength of it.

Gabriella liked it rough.

Very rough.

He could feel her entire body light up as he started working what she wanted.

With a loud slap, he smacked his hand against her ass, even as he pulled out and pounded her forward again.

“Ah!” Gabriella cried out, pushing back against him. She was panting already, her body quivering in his grasp.

Pulling back just a bit more on her hair, Sam got the impression he’d found the perfect amount of tension and began to ride her hard. Pounding into her with almost too much strength.

Almost.

Clawing at her internally with his mind, turning her nerves higher than humanly possible, and absolutely blasting her into the couch, Sam could feel Gabriella losing herself in it.

She wanted more.

Needed it.

Slapping her again on the rear end, Sam pulled her off balance and then pushed her down face first into the couch.

Gabriella stayed there moaning against the couch, her head bent backward and her back arched. Drilling down on her like he was trying to knock her flat, Sam held her up at the same time.

Gabriella was done after only a minute. Done and gone. Her orgasm was an outpouring of Essence that drenched him with its intensity.

Eating hungrily from her, Sam rammed a spike of Essence into her. It was a much sharper way to peak her orgasm than what he did to Irma or Hillary, who he could fill with Essence.

The sheer force and violence of the act on her made her psyche quiver. It sent her crashing into a second, heavier orgasm.

Even as she came, Sam demolished her, pounding her into the couch over and over. Whimpering and limp in his grasp, Gabriella was little more than a marionette without strings.

And she loved it.

When she was finally empty and there was nothing left to eat, Sam came abruptly. Pushing down hard into her, he filled her up.

Only when he felt done and spent did he stop. He pulled himself free of her slick entry and let her go.

Gabriella collapsed onto the couch, a quivering sweaty mess.

“Oh my god,” she whimpered. “That was amazing.”

“And you’re delicious. There’s something always satisfying in pleasing a woman’s darker nature,” Sam said, feeling quite happy. She’d been a marvelous meal. “Now, let’s go see about that rent.”

Pulling up his pants, Sam went off to find the apartment manager. He’d try to whammy them first. If that didn’t work, he’d resort to paying the rent with his salary.

He’d just made a hefty profit. Even if he was sharing some of the Life Essence with Abigail.

Ten - Gains-

Taking a moment to dismiss his wings, Sam did a check of himself.

He looked ready to glamour someone.

Thank the twisting nether Gabriella summoned me so early in the night.

Opening the door, Sam exited into the hallway and looked one way, then the other.

Identifying the stairwell, Sam walked down to the bottom floor. As far as he understood it, apartments either had offices, like his own apartment, or someone on the ground floor who worked as the apartment manager.

Hitting the ground floor, Sam kept his eyes open and checked each door placard as he went back. He wasn’t sure which kind of apartment complex this was yet, so he’d have to keep his eyes peeled.

Seeing nothing, Sam sighed and opened the door exiting the apartment building.

Immediately outside the door was a map on the wall.

“Ah, wonderful,” he said under his breath as he read the map. “And there we are. The office. And I’m in luck, they’re open rather late. Later than mine is, at least.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sam felt pretty good. Things were working out so far. He’d have to be on his guard for Jenaphila, but that wasn’t anything he hadn’t already counted on.

To be honest, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Though I don’t think Jena will survive this. She got lucky.

Very lucky.

And I was very stupid.

Grimacing at the thought, Sam shook his head and kept marching along toward the leasing office.

After opening the door, he stepped in and found himself in front of a rather grumpy-looking middle-aged man. He had wispy brown hair, which was definitely losing more ground by the minute, and weak blue eyes.

Glancing up, his face smoothed out rather quickly and he offered Sam a smile.

“Good evening, good evening. What can I do for you?” asked the man.

“You the apartment manager?” Sam asked, meeting his eyes and immediately clapping him in his charm.

The older man blinked, his face going slack.

“I’m the owner,” said the man.

“Oh? Huh. And what are you doing here? Doesn’t this seem like something someone else should be doing?” Sam asked.

“It was. He was skimming rent money,” said the man. “Fired him. Can’t tell who paid and who didn’t now. Going to have to hire someone to audit it all to figure it out.”

“Oh. How about Gabriella? Was her rent stolen?” Sam asked.

“The college girl,” said the man, a partial sneer curling his lip. “She just doesn’t pay. She’s due tomorrow, and if the deadbeat doesn’t pay then I’m calling the cops,” said the man.

“Huh. No, her rent was stolen. All of it. Even this month’s,” Sam said, pushing that thought firmly into place. “In fact, she might have overpaid. You’re not sure on that and won’t mention it to her or anyone else. But you’ll have it in the back of your mind.”

In case Gabriella needs another month’s rent, I can just collect from her and go.

“Her rent was stolen,” said the man, nodding his head, what little emotion he had blanking out completely. “Might have paid in advance, and that was stolen, too. Can’t tell anyone though.”

“Exactly right,” Sam said and started to turn away. “Oh, and… you’re hiring someone to audit your finances?”

“Yes,” said the man.

“How long would the job last?” Sam asked.

“Indefinitely. Auditor will be separate from the leasing manager,” said the man. “I need it separate so they can keep track of each other.”

“Huh. Have you hired anyone yet? And what’s the salary?”

“No. Trying to keep it cheap. Hopefully fifty thousand,” said the man.

“That’s awfully low for someone who would probably need a degree. Could you pay someone seventy?” Sam asked.

The man frowned, then nodded his head.

“I could. They’d need a degree,” said the man.

“You put out a Help Wanted ad in the paper yet?” Sam asked.

The man nodded.

“Alright. You look like the type of guy to have a copy of that paper lying around. Do you?”

The man nodded again.

“Get it for me,” Sam said.

Bending down at the waist, the man picked something up from his feet and then held it out to Sam.

It was today’s newspaper.

“Perfect. Thanks. Oh, and make sure you’re nice to Gabriella. She could probably get you in trouble if she found out your manager stole her money,” Sam said, pointing the paper at the man. “And don’t hire anyone yet. You might have a potential hire networked to you. Wait till tomorrow at least.”

“Wait till tomorrow. Might know someone,” said the man.

“Yep. See ya later,” Sam said, tucking the paper under his arm.

Chuckling to himself, he walked back to Gabriella’s apartment.

I wonder if I can get a bonus out of Abby if I get her a temporary job while she keeps applying for something else.

Mm. Part of me wants to eat her twice, but I should probably charge her a year of her life. Or two.

Decisions, decisions.

Opening the door to Gabriella’s apartment, Sam stepped back inside and closed the door. After locking both the deadbolt and handle, Sam looked to where he’d last seen Gabriella.

She was sitting up now, though still slunk low in her couch. And still quite naked.

“All done,” Sam said, walking over to her. “Your back-rent is paid up, and this month’s rent as well.”

Gabriella nodded at that, looking up at him.

“Might need to call you back in a month for next month’s rent, that or to get you to help me find a job,” Gabriella said. Some of the defeat he’d seen in her was gone, but there was still a certain amount of hopelessness.

The determination was also still there, though.

Sam didn’t reply immediately, thinking.

“How much do you owe?” Sam asked.

“Fifty grand. It isn’t as bad as Abby’s, but… still not good,” Gabriella said. “I just didn’t manage to get a job as good as hers. I’m… I’m a bookstore employee.”

Gabriella laughed softly, holding up her hands. “Am I a failure or what?”

“No… not a failure. The generation before you sold you a false bill of goods, then slighted you for doing what they said to,” Sam muttered. “It’s a sad state of affairs when the leading generation will blame the younger, even when they’re the ones who caused it.

“Anyways… how would you want to proceed? A job, or monthly rent?”

“How much would each cost?” Gabriella asked. “And can I get a discount if I just… become a bed toy or something for you?”

Oh? If she became part of the feed harem, that wouldn’t be terrible. Right now it’s just Alexis. Between her, Irma, and Hillary, I’m riding them pretty hard.

“Depends. How much of a bed toy are we talking?” Sam asked.

“Whatever you want, whenever you want, as long as you want,” Gabriella said. “So long as it’s just you.”

Sam thought on it.

If I hire her into the harem, I keep the percentage Irma would get. That outweighs any type of short-term loss pretty quickly.

If she agrees to a minimum of three years, I’d profit quite a bit.

“Fine. I’ll pay your monthly rent and you become a bed toy for me. But I’m putting a minimum amount of time into this job. You have to do it for at least three years, or you’ll pay a contract penalty equal to triple the amount of time left to be paid in your life expectancy.

“I also expect you to be available from the moment you get home from work to when you go to work the next day,” Sam said. “Is that fair?”

“Not really,” Gabriella said. “No time to sleep. I’d fall apart pretty quickly.”

Sam clicked his tongue. He personally felt like sleep was overrated, but that was just him.

“Fine. From the minute you get off work to midnight, and one weekend day. Bed toy, whatever way I like it. Three years at the minimum, or triple the remainder. Deal or no deal?” Sam asked.

Gabriella closed her eyes, then nodded. “Yeah. Deal. I’m officially a bed toy, I guess. Slightly better than prostitution. I think. Going to be a strange three years.”

“Your society has such a peculiar view on sex. Alright, get on your back—time to seal our deal,” Sam said, disposing of his clothes again.

A second meal sounds great right now.

If I’m home quick, maybe I can have Irma or Hillary, too.

Or both.

Gabriella opened her eyes, staring up at him. She looked like she wasn’t quite pleased, but neither did she seem as beaten down anymore.

She had a way out.

With a sigh, she slumped onto her back in the couch and gave him a smile.

“Thanks for the job,” she murmured, opening her arms and spreading her legs. “At least the sex is great and it’ll be enjoyable.”

***

Humming happily to himself, Sam started to make Abigail her morning coffee.

His night had gone amazingly well.

He’d feasted on Gabriella again to seal their deal, gone back to Irma, devoured her, called Hillary, ate her, and then visited Alexis and ate her until the morning sun rose.

At this rate, he’d be back to a power level close to his old self in a few months. It just wouldn’t have the longevity of what he’d held in reserve previously.

It’s a shame Emotional Essence is so weak compared to Life Essence.

But this is safe. Safe, secure, and stable.

I’m not in a rush.

The door to Abigail’s bedroom opened, and she slowly walked out. She was in a tank top and tight shorts.

The extra bit of weight she had really helped fill out the tank top in a great way. It looked like she was prone to falling out of it when she slept.

“You look delicious,” Sam said, eying her.

Abigail froze, looking at him. She was clearly not quite awake yet. One of her arms drifted up to partially cover her chest.

“Thanks,” she muttered, her arm falling away. Then she walked over to the coffee maker to take the full mug. “I felt strange last night. I take it Gabriella took the contract?”

“Indeed. You’ve already gained back around two and a half months,” Sam said, his eyes roaming down Abigail’s back and her generous hips and rear end. “You don’t look delicious, you look absolutely mouthwatering. Can we have sex now?”

“No. Not till your contract is complete,” Abigail said, not bothering to turn around. She was adding a small amount of creamer and a single sugar cube to her coffee.

“You know, I think you look great,” Sam said. “If anything, I’d almost feel sad if you lost weight.”

“You’re not dating me, and you just want to sleep with me. Your opinion is invalidated because of that,” Abigail said, taking her mug and moving to the other side of the counter. Putting it between herself and Sam.

“That’s a fair point. I really do just want to peel you out of your clothes and devour you,” Sam said with a shrug. “Dating isn’t a thing for my kind.”

“Does… does that mean you don’t get married? Don’t fall in love?” Abigail asked.

“Not that I’ve ever encountered,” Sam said honestly. “There was this one succubus I used to know who would fake it long enough to drain a man of his entire life force.

“I suppose it’s a theoretical possibility. Just like winning the lottery.”

“That seems… lonely,” Abigail said.

“For a human, I imagine it might be,” Sam said. “I’m not a human, though.”

“No kids? No family?” Abigail asked.

“No, and no.”

Abigail shook her head, her eyes holding a strange sadness in them as she looked at him.

It made him feel odd.

“Anyways,” Sam said. “I found a finance job for you. They want someone to audit their books and remain on hand to keep track of finances. It’s for an apartment complex. Pay is about seventy thousand.”

Abigail blinked, then turned her head partially to one side. “You did?”

“I did. You’d have to earn it on your own, do the interview and all that, but I think you’d have a fair chance,” Sam said. “Are you interested?”

“I might be. Does it cost me anything?” Abigail asked, suspicious. “Forgive me, Sam, but Alisa mentioned often that you never gave anything to her for free.”

Chuckling, Sam held out his hands in defeat. “I admit, I have a price for the lead. If you manage to get the job, I want to have sex with you. It’s a simple thing. And besides, we’ll already be having sex once—why not twice?”

Abigail frowned, her full lower lip catching between her teeth.

Sam gave her a quick once-over as she did so, almost unable to help himself. The more time he spent around her, the more he looked at her, the more he realized she was actually rather pretty.

“Okay,” Abigail said. “If I get the job, then… okay.”

“Grand. It’s Gabriella’s apartment complex,” Sam said with a grin. “I have a copy of the paper with the ad, if you like. I think the job itself is technically a dead end and won’t go anywhere further. But it’ll give you experience in a relevant field, which you could use elsewhere.”

Sighing, Abigail smiled and shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t need the paper. I’m going to have dinner at her place tonight to talk about how it went for her. I’ll… bring a copy of my resume and drop it off then.”

“Mm. Be sure to mention you’re the one that was networked to him as a recommendation.

“And this might be a bit too much to admit, but I can’t wait to just sink my… teeth… into you,” Sam said, staring hard at Abigail.

Blushing a faint red, Abigail lifted her coffee cup up and took a long drink from it, practically hiding.

Well. She’s applying to jobs, and I got her a lead.

I have two people in my feed harem, and I can give Hillary this job to get her money for the time being.

Maybe it’s time I went up to Saint Anthony to grab my stash.

I’ll talk to Irma about some tickets tonight.

***

“And you think it’s a good idea to do that now?” Irma asked.

“As I said, I have a stable portal with Gabriella,” Sam said. “Even if Abigail got a job and canceled my contract tomorrow, or if I died, I’d still have a window back in from my plane. That and she really can’t close my contract; she has a stipulation to feed me first before she can. Unless she wants to lose part of her Life Essence when she breaks the contract.”

Irma nodded her head, then shook it.

“I guess I’m just annoyed because I want to go with you,” Irma said. “But I can’t. Grandma’s busy doing her… thing… with Rix. I’m in charge right now.

“And Auntie Mel is helping her, but I get the impression they signed two very different agreements with him.”

“Yes,” Sam said. “That would make sense. Melody is far more likely to sign a lesser deal, for lesser power and with better guarantees for herself.

“Your grandmother will try to get as much as possible and leave as little of herself on the table. Especially given her age.”

Irma turned to Hillary and held up a hand at her.

“What do you think? You’re the one who would pretend to be him for a while,” Irma asked.

“As I’ll end up having to take his place eventually, the opportunity to practice now would actually be rather helpful. It wouldn’t be a problem at all,” Hillary said. “Besides, I’m feeling quite confident lately. The… ah… Essence gathering has had payouts for me that are rather obvious.”

Sam looked over to the Doppelganger, who often just ran around in her normal shape and look nowadays. She only shifted for sex based on what she thought Sam would like. It was always an adventure now with Hillary in the bed.

Now that he looked at her, though, it definitely felt like she wasn’t as… weak. There was some strength to her. And that wasn’t entirely to do with the fact that she was a living battery.

“You find someone to start teaching you how to fight?” Sam asked.

“Yes,” Hillary said with a smile. “Irma and I went around to a number of mixed martial arts centers.

“We found a very dumpy looking place with someone teaching there that I think has honestly killed people.

“Irma hit him with an Essence whammy. I’m signed up for a year, and I attend classes looking like a man, and he’s teaching me to be as lethal as possible. Easier that way, and a great starting point.”

“Oh? Good work,” Sam said, smiling at her. Then he turned to look at Irma. “I’d like to commend one of your employees to you, Irma. Her name’s Hillary. She’s great in the sack, has a real sweet disposition, and a hard work ethic.”

Irma grimaced and looked at Sam, shaking her head.

“Everything but the first part was good,” Irma said.

“But that’s the best part,” Sam said.

“Sammy… honey… baby… how old… are you exactly? You made some comments the other day that just shake my thoughts,” Irma said, changing the subject.

“Which part?” he asked, curious.

“The… ancestor thing,” Irma said, leaning forward over her desk toward him. They more often than not met in her office at her place of work. Since the two of them were already there, it was just easier for Sam to skip work and visit them.

“Oh. Yes. As far back as the first language of mankind,” Sam said with a brilliant smile. “Humans really haven’t changed much at all since then. Same hyper-intelligent primate, same emotional and instinctual responses, just a larger wealth of knowledge to draw upon built by your predecessors.

“The more frightening thought, and I hope you appreciate this information, is that there are planes out there right now that never moved past that stage. I could go find a lovely cavewoman that would look human but know nothing at all outside of how to survive in the wild.”

“Could we… could we explore the other planes together? Later?” Irma asked.

“I don’t see why not. We’ll have to establish ourselves all over again in each plane anyways. It takes time to develop a firm hold on a place,” Sam said. “Often years. To be honest, I’m feeling rather lucky to have met you two. You’re the foundation to a great infrastructure, and I didn’t have to search for decades.”

“Speaking of infrastructure,” Irma said, neatly changing the subject again. “Alexis gave me the rundown on everything going on with Jena’s people. They know absolutely nothing so far about your return. Not even a whiff of it. They’re all in my thrall and seem somewhat happy for it. There’s a perky little redhead that might be willing to join your feed harem as well. We’re working on details.”

“Interesting. Redheaded human women always have a funny aftertaste. It’s the sheer number of mutations they have to have,” Sam said with a small frown. “It’s not unpleasant, just strange. They remind me more of eating Elves.

“Anyways. Tickets. Can you book them for me? I’ve never done it, and honestly… I’m sure I’d bungle the whole thing somehow.”

Leaning forward toward Irma, Sam reached out and laid his hand over the top of hers.

“Mm, you playing cute just so I do things for you?” Irma said, turning her hand over and slipping her fingers into his.

“I am. Is it working?” Sam asked.

“It is, it is. That and your smile.” Irma reached out and patted his cheek lightly with her free hand. “You’re too good looking sometimes. I feel like every woman we walk by stares.”

“They do,” Sam said with a shrug. “That’s just life with an Incubus. Be thankful you’re not a male, and I’m not a Succubus. The stares are much worse.”

“I can only imagine. I’ll handle the tickets. We’ll see if we can’t get you out as soon as possible. I’ll use your credit card,” Irma said. “Now, how about we go get dinner and just… relax. I want to hear more about this Gabriella. Sounds like she’s going to stick around for a while, if I don’t miss my guess. Longer than her current contract she has with you.”

Eleven - Adventures -

Sam drummed his fingers along his desk, bored. Irma had gotten him tickets, but it would be another month before he could actually use them. Everything was booked that far out right now.

Which meant he was stuck doing absolutely nothing while he waited.

Doing a job that required nothing from him and was absolutely boring.

“Hey boss,” said a man in his thirties, stepping up to the doorway.

“James,” Sam said, looking at the man.

“I was just wondering what you were up to this weekend. Got any plans?” asked James, leaning up against the doorway.

Ugh. Captain Brownnoser. I swear if I have to listen to his damn laugh, I’m going to turn his spleen into a moccasin.

“No,” Sam said, staring at the red-haired, short, pudgy waste of space. There were always people like this. They specialized in being sociable and likable. Their skill sets were considerably less in comparison.

“Oh, how come?” James asked, not getting the hint.

“No reason. Anything else I can do for you?” Sam asked.

“Not unless you’ve got a million dollars,” said James, followed by an abrupt high volume laugh that reminded Sam of a donkey braying.

Clenching his molars together, he put a hand to his head.

“Nope. Sorry. Thanks James, and close the door on your way out please.” Sam just felt done with the whole thing. He couldn’t wait for Abigail to get a job. Reaching over to his phone, Sam picked it up and started dialing Irma.

She was usually around for him to chat with.

“Oh, of course. Sorry,” James said, stepping out of the doorway and closing the door.

“Insufferable peasant,” Sam muttered.

The line started ringing, but it wasn’t picked up.

Grunting, Sam hung up the phone.

He was trapped with nothing to do and a team of people that were probably going to be let go by the end of the year.

“I could work on Lindsey,” Sam said under his breath. “Or eat her. Yeah… let’s eat her. We won’t be here much longer anyways.”

Sam went to pick up his phone and froze. He could feel planar energy.

Weak planar energy filtering into this plane.

If that’s all I’m feeling, it’s a massive power source.

Getting to his feet, Sam exited his office and followed the trail of power.

He didn’t want to. Didn’t want anything to do with this planar being.

But he didn’t dare leave it walking around so close to where his client was without investigating.

Planar beings could sense other beings and their clients. It was one of the reasons Sam had provided summoning instructions for himself that would build a dampening shield into the spell itself.

No planar being operated without some form of it.

That protection didn’t extend to clients, however.

Sam wasn’t about to risk Abigail due to his own negligence.

Walking out of the building, Sam stood in front of the entry and looked out over the parking lot.

Not here… but close.

Looking further, he could see an apartment building across the way. It stood by itself and had a definite run-down look to it.

The feeling of it was deteriorated middle-class. If he had to guess, it had probably at one point been a rather nice apartment building in an okay neighborhood.

Sam made up his mind. He’d go take a look real quick. It wouldn’t cost him much to spy on another planar being, and it’d be worth knowing who was in the neighborhood, so to speak.

Especially if it’s Jena. Maybe I can make this quick and easy right here and now. Pull her arms off and eat her heart as she watches.

Maybe even use it as a condom to skull fuck her.

After all, she still wears my brand. I only have to get close to her.

I suppose I am a little… angry… at her.

Smiling at the possibility of getting revenge, Sam started jogging across the parking lot.

When he got to the intersection, he thumbed the button to cross and waited.

Not far away was a rather cute-looking woman in her forties. She was driving alone, and she didn’t appear to be wearing a wedding ring.

“Oh, hello there,” Sam said, waving at her with a smile.

The woman stared at him as a slow smile spread across her lips. Her window started to roll down just as the light changed for her.

“I work there,” Sam said, pointing at the building. “It’d be great to have sex with you sometime. Feel free to drop by. I’m Sam. I’ll buy you lunch.”

The woman turned a bright red at Sam’s comment and then drove off, her window still half rolled down.

Clicking his tongue, Sam shook his head.

“Such a strange place. As if the basic need to procreate and enjoy one another were a dirty thing,” he muttered.

Finally, the light changed in his favor, and the green crosswalk light came on.

Jogging across the street quickly, Sam started to move past the apartment building. He needed to know if it was the right location.

He’d almost walked by the building when he finally felt the planar energy shift to beside him rather than slightly ahead of him.

There it is then.

Turning, Sam went back the way he’d come and entered the apartment building.

He typically preferred not to take elevators, but that would probably the quickest way to find the right floor.

Getting into the big metal box, Sam pressed the button for the top floor.

Almost immediately, he felt ill at ease.

The idea of being trapped in a cold iron box for all time was a fear almost all planar beings shared.

When this plane had discovered steel, much of the extra-planar world breathed a sigh of relief.

Steel didn’t do a fraction of the damage to them plain iron could.

The energy signature shifted when Sam passed by the fourth floor. With a nod of his head, Sam waited for the elevator to get all the way to the top.

Getting out quickly when the doors opened, Sam shivered from head to toe.

He knew an elevator wasn’t cold iron, but the idea of it—of what it could be—made him rather sick.

Frowning, Sam scratched at his shoulder and went for the stairwell. Taking them down quickly, he reached the fourth floor without any issue.

Maybe being locked in my own plane changed me after all.

Sam started walking past apartments, expecting the power source to shift each time he passed a set of doors.

We’ve taken on an Imp into what could only be described as… a relationship.

We hired a Doppelganger, rather than forcing her into a contract, and didn’t force all the Imps we captured into the feed harem.

We’re acting decidedly sentimental.

Then again… who are we talking to? There is no we.

Unless we’re using the royal we, I guess.

The planar power source rapidly moved behind him as he passed by apartment number forty-two.

Sam walked backward until he stood in front of the door.

Reaching out with a hand, he laid it on the wood and internalized his thoughts.

Focusing on his Essence, Sam closed his eyes and, as subtly as he could, passively let his Essence ooze into the apartment.

He began to quickly build a mental layout based on what he could feel with his Essence.

Except he wasn’t finding anything he expected. The planar energy wasn’t being shielded; it was just incredibly weak.

Weak, and incredibly untrained. It wasn’t even formed into a semblance of power. It was almost completely unformed planar energy.

Whoever’s plane this is, it’s brand new and lacks any type of discipline at all. How did they even manage to get a summoning to the prime like this?

Sam continued to slowly flood the apartment with his Essence, trying to figure out what was going on.

His curiosity had been prodded, and now he had to know.

It wasn’t until he got to the second bedroom, deep in the apartment, that he got his answer.

There was a Succubus there. One that felt as if she’d just stepped out into the world today. She was wildly throwing out a glamour spell all around her that lacked anything resembling understanding.

Shaking his head, Sam lifted his hand from the door and began gradually withdrawing his Essence.

He’d learned what he wanted to learn and had no reason to be here any longer.

As he was pulling away, though, he sensed a band of iron. Hand-forged cold iron, beaten into the shape of a collar.

What…?

Lingering for a few more seconds, Sam realized the Succubus had been trapped out of her plane, and a human male was trying to collar her in iron.

Snorting, Sam shook his head.

Her mother or father taught her nothing, it would seem. Good luck with that.

As Sam finished drawing his Essence back, he turned and left.

Or tried to, at least. He managed to put one foot in front of the other and froze in place.

He’d been locked in his plane for quite a while. Far longer than he’d ever contemplated as a possibility before.

That’d be nothing in comparison to having an iron collar put on him. That was a life of slavery and servitude one couldn’t get out of.

A Succubus wouldn’t even be able to feed unless granted permission. The very act of feeding would become tortuous, as she’d only be ever able to see her meal and not touch it.

Turning his head back to the door, Sam realized he’d made a choice, and he grit his teeth.

The hell is wrong with me?

Sam held his hand out to the doorknob and then simply turned his hand, spending some Essence to unlock the door.

After opening it, Sam stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Sam shook his head as he walked down the hallway. He didn’t even know what to think.

He was taking on a role that wasn’t his for no reason other than empathy.

Something’s wrong with me.

Not bothering to give a warning, Sam barged into the bedroom. A big purple oval hung against a wall, opening onto a plane that was empty and void of everything. It was a new plane, without even air to breathe.

Sam turned his head and looked at the man.

Middle-aged, overweight, with white hair and a goatee, he looked like someone you’d find picking up kids from middle school.

Certainly not in a bedroom with a Succubus.

He had an arm across his face as if to hide himself from the Succubus’s glamour, and he was blindly reaching for her with the other arm.

The planar lady—as she was clearly a planar lord—was indeed a Succubus. She was naked, with long, dark-brown hair and dark-blue eyes that were almost purple.

Being a Succubus, she was also insanely easy on the eyes, one of the prettiest women Sam had ever laid eyes on.

Her bust, waist, and hip ratio was also perfect. To the point that it’d only be accomplished in a human with someone going through and hand-picking all her genes, or a massive amount of plastic surgery. The truth of her was easy to see, given she was stark naked.

Definitely a perfect Succubus. One of the best-looking ones I’ve seen, too.

“Come on, just put it on. This’ll go so much more quickly once we’re past this part,” said the man.

Dodging to the far side of her summoning circle, the Succubus slipped under the man’s arm and then got low to the ground, trying to avoid him outright.

“Sir, what are you doing?” Sam asked in his best policeman imitation. “Put down the weapon!”

Freezing, the man stood up, dropped his arm, and faced Sam.

Who instantly hit him with a heavy dose of Essence magic, putting him into a deep slumber.

Pitching forward, the man crumpled to the ground and hit the floor with a thump.

“Hm. Maybe a bit much on that whammy,” Sam said, walking over to the man.

Grabbing a pillow, Sam pulled off the casing and then used it to scoop up the iron collar. He wasn’t about to risk touching it directly.

Iron forged in this way was meant to hurt things like Sam. It had no other purpose in the world. With so many things being made of much stronger alloys nowadays, cold iron was strange to see.

“Maybe not,” Sam muttered, prodding at the man with the tip of his shoe. “Mm. He’s alive. Though he’ll wake up not really knowing what happened for the last hour.”

Lifting his eyes from the fallen man, Sam sighed at the Succubus.

“And how new are you?” Sam asked. “You didn’t even bother to construct clothes. Yet you have your own plane.

“Did you steal it from one of your parents without understanding what it was?”

The Succubus was staring at him with wide eyes.

“What?” she asked.

Closing his eyes, grimacing, and looking away, Sam only shook his head.

After counting to seven in his head, Sam looked back at the Succubus.

“How old are you?” he asked instead.

“I’m nineteen,” said the woman. “I was… I was just receiving my plane… I received it and… and came here?”

“Okay. Lucky that one of your parents was so strong they could gift you one—do you know their names? It’s likely I’ve known them at some point. What plane did they originate from?”

“Plane?” asked the woman. “I’m from Earth.”

Sam nodded his head and then shook it slowly.

“No. You’re a Succubus,” Sam said, pointing at her very naked self. “Earthlings are from Earth. You aren’t from Earth.”

“I’m an Earthling!” said the woman, her voice rising in volume. “I… I was born in New York. I’m nineteen and… and where am I?”

“You were summoned by this guy,” Sam said, pointing. “Because you’re a Succubus who’s a planar lord. Or planar lady, if you prefer.

“You… really have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

The woman shook her head slowly.

“Alright, well, I’ll just break your summoning circle and you can go back to your plane,” Sam said. “Just be sure to check who’s summoning you and try to read their intent before you just walk into the circle. You don’t have to w—”

Freezing mid-sentence, Sam stared down at the circle.

It wasn’t just a polite request for her to show up, it was a demand, and backed with a fair amount of runic work.

The rune-script was absolutely punishing, because her name was being utilized.

It was a very human-looking name as well, one he wouldn’t repeat out loud just yet.

“Do you know your name?” Sam asked her.

“No,” said the woman.

“Mm. That’ll make it a bit easier, I suppose,” Sam said. “You need to make a new brand for yourself and put a name to it. Whatever you want your name to be.”

“Whatever I want it to be?” she asked.

“Yeah. For whatever reason, and I really don’t care or know why, you were summoned here because someone knew your name,” Sam said, pushing the pillowcase over the top of her name in the rune-script. “Don’t read this or you’ll risk binding yourself to this name. It’ll make your life quite problematic.

“Give yourself a new name, bind it to yourself with a brand, and have a nice life.”

“What’s a brand?” asked the woman. “And what are you? Why do you have wings? You’re not human.”

Sam shook his head. He wasn’t about to get into this.

He’d never had kids. Never wanted them. The idea had never even crossed his mind.

Nor had he ever taught anyone, nor taken on an apprentice Incubus or Succubus.

He wasn’t about to start now.

Have to at least teach her how to use a brand, though. Or she’ll just get summoned back.

“This is a brand,” Sam said, and he held up a hand. In his palm, he conjured up his brand. It was a much more complex version of his summoning spell. It made it so that his summoning was completely under his control. “You need to make one like this and put your name in it. Be sure you do it quickly, since I imagine this guy will wake up and try again. Alright. See ya.”

Sam pushed down on the man’s arm with a foot and dragged it through his own magic circle.

With a soft pop, the summoning circle shattered and the Succubus was free.

“Don’t leave me here,” the woman said, quickly moving out of the broken circle and grabbing Sam by his wrist with both hands. “I don’t know what’s going on… I have some vague memories, but I don’t know who I am.

“And I’m starving. I don’t even have any money. Please, help me. Or at least take me to the cops so I can tell them I was kidnapped.”

“Listen. You weren’t kidnapped,” Sam said, gently peeling her soft hands from his wrist. “You’re a Succubus. I don’t know about your memories, or anything else. You also don’t need money, just Essence. As for being hungry, can’t help you there. I don’t go in for men.”

“Men?” asked the Succubus, grabbing Sam again.

“Yes. Men. You devour the orgasmic energy of men. It’s part of their life force. Humans grow it naturally and constantly,” Sam said, once again prying her hands away from his wrist.

“What? No way! I can’t do that. I’ve never even had sex before!” squeaked the woman.

Buh? Never heard of a virginal Succubus.

Her name wasn’t that of a Succubus either.

In fact… she really does have all the hallmarks of a conversion.

Maybe… no. No. That can’t be.

Could it?

“Ever heard the name Jenaphila before?” Sam asked.

The woman blinked, her face taking on a strange look.

“Yes,” she said after several seconds. “Yes. But I don’t know how… or why.”

You rotten cunt.

You’re turning them into Succubi or Incubi and pushing them onto a constructed plane.

Let me guess… after that, you give them to a human as a favor along with an iron collar and their summoning circle.

Growling, Sam bent down and grabbed the fat man by an arm. Dragging him over to the unnamed Succubus’s portal, Sam pushed him through.

This wasn’t the transferal, like he’d done to the woman who left her mortal body behind.

Sam was outright vanishing the man. There’d be nothing left of him behind at all.

Taking hold of the portal, Sam closed it until it was just a smudge of planar energy.

The Succubus could feed from it when the man died, but nothing else would get through.

“That’ll feed you for a time, I guess,” Sam said, shaking his head.

He didn’t know what to do.

This woman wasn’t going to survive without instruction, but she was also a victim of Jenaphila, just as he was.

He felt a strange kinship with her.

“Search… search his house for clothes. Money. Anything you can steal and sell,” Sam said. “Because you don’t have anything. You don’t even have an ID, and police would throw you in jail for that alone.

“I’ll… let you sleep on my couch for now, till you figure out what you want to do.”

“We’re going to rob him? And why did you push him through that glowing circle?” the woman said.

“We’re going to rob him, yes. And I pushed him through there so when he dies, his Life Essence can feed you for a time. Because honestly, I don’t even know if I can feed you Essence directly,” Sam said.

“What? When he dies? Murder is-is…” The woman’s voice fell off. She was staring into a mirror, looking at herself.

“I don’t even look like me anymore,” she murmured, her hands going to her impressive bust. “I’m not me anymore. I’m not… human, am I?”

“No,” Sam said, pulling open a bedside dresser and rooting through the drawer.

“Okay. I’m not Human. You killed him to feed me. I don’t have a name,” she said, still staring at herself.

Sam could vaguely identify with her on that front.

He’d been born of nothing that he could remember. His first experience was appearing before a very dirty and mud-streaked human woman as she drew on the ground with a stick.

He’d known nothing.

“I don’t understand… anything,” said the woman, slowly turning her head to Sam. She gave him a small and quite sad-looking smile. “But I think you’re trying to help me. So… thank you.”

Gritting his teeth rather than respond to that, Sam continued searching the apartment.

He at least knew what was happening to the people Jenaphila didn’t want to deal with anymore.

It only made his choice to try and end her all the easier, and the right one.

Except, when did I become the babysitter?

Twelve - Prey -

As he strolled into Abigail’s apartment, Sam really didn’t know how to explain himself.

Walking into the apartment next to him was, of course a Succubus. She was acting more like a shadow or a pet than an actual person, however.

Moving away from him at all seemed to leave her immobilized and fearful almost instantly.

Thankfully, she’d at least settled on a name. He wasn’t sure if she’d chosen it ironically, however, or accidentally.

“This seems much more normal to me,” said the Succubus now known as Jezebel Sameerixis Fidenis Mary-Ann Lee Prima. Though she went by Jes.

Sam couldn’t pretend he wasn’t flattered that she’d incorporated part of his own name into her true name. Or that she’d trusted him with her whole name when she made her brand and identity. Then shared the entirety of it with him.

She’d given him absolute trust and dominion over her without even a pause.

“No idea, but if this feels normal for you, then you probably came from a… humble… background,” Sam said carefully. Walking over to the coffee maker, he opened the cabinet and pulled down the mug he knew as Abigail’s favorite.

Adding six sugar cubes and more than enough creamer for even Abigail, he pushed it into the maker. After dropping in a pod, he closed it all up and hit the brew button.

He preferred Abigail as she was right now. Maybe he was being a little petty spiking her coffee with extra calories, but he felt a small victory for it.

Jes walked over to the couch, folded her wings in tight to her back, and sat down demurely. She was dressed in some last-minute clothes they’d purchased on the way back to his apartment last night.

Then he’d spent the evening explaining a lot of the planar-lady basics to her. It was the first night since he’d acquired his regular feed-harem members that he hadn’t needed to call on them.

He did call Irma, though, to explain the situation. It wouldn’t do to worry her. She seemed rather excited about the whole thing.

Sam was decidedly not.

Jes had refused all possibilities of feeding. Declined them all outright and wouldn’t even consider them.

The only thing she’d consented to was allowing Sam to give her some Essence directly. And realistically, that hadn’t worked as well as Sam had hoped.

All attempts at talking her into feeding through sex with a human were immediately declined.

The Essence he’d given her was the only thing sustaining her right now, as the Life Essence from the dead man was being held in reserve to keep her on this plane.

It’d sustain her for two years if she did nothing else with it. The man had apparently been destined for a rather long life. It was a shame he’d died of asphyxiation. There hadn’t been enough oxygen on the plane for a human.

Sam had long ago eschewed such ways of collecting Essence, personally. It tended to bring down trouble from other planes.

Not to mention the rate of conversion was actually rather terrible.

Hearing Abigail moving around in her room, Sam reached out and picked up the coffee mug. He held it in his hands with the handle pointed away from him.

The door to Abigail’s room opened and she walked out. Dressed in a tank top and short shorts once again.

As she waved at him with one hand, her eyes drifted to her coffee mug in his hands. Smiling, she drifted over and took it from him. After wandering over to the other side of the counter, she sat down and began drinking from it immediately.

It was their routine.

Wrinkling her nose, she looked at him.

“You put more sugar and creamer in it,” she accused.

“I did. If you’re going to lose weight, do it after I’ve fed,” Sam said, waving a hand at her. “As I’ve said before, you’re lovely the way you are. You’d never fill out those shorts and tank top if you lost anything.”

Abigail sighed and looked down at herself.

“I wouldn’t, would I?” she asked. “You really like me like this?”

“I think you look delicious. As I’ve said before, I can’t wait to eat from you,” Sam said honestly. “Now, it would be rude of me to not point this out, so first put your mug down. Then let me introduce you to a new… friend… of mine, I guess you could say.”

Abigail raised her eyebrows, putting her mug down. “Should I get dressed, or—”

“She’s already here. And don’t worry, she’s not human,” Sam said, indicating the Succubus. “Her name is Jezebel, but she goes by Jes.”

Abigail’s head spun around toward the woman on her couch.

“H-hello,” Jes said, waving a hand meekly at Abigail. “I think you look rather pretty. You shouldn’t lose weight unless you want to for yourself.”

Abigail’s eyes were wide and round, staring at the other woman. She nodded her head slowly, then turned back to Sam, clearly looking for an answer.

“It’s complicated. She’s staying with me until she figures out her own business; then she’s not my problem anymore,” Sam said. “How’d the interview go?”

“Oh!” Abigail said, perking up a bit. She smiled at him, casting a quick glance back at Jes again. “I uhm… I got the job. It’s pretty much exactly what you said. It’ll give me some resume experience, the right pay, and take care of a lot.”

“Great! Let’s have sex,” Sam said, moving over to Abigail.

“Sam, I just—”

“Did you accept the job?” Sam asked, standing right in front of her.

“Yes,” Abigail said, watching him cautiously.

“And they had you sign a contract?” he pressed.

“Yes,” Abigail said.

“And you start when…?”

“Two weeks from this upcoming Monday,” Abigail said.

“Great! Time for me to eat,” Sam said, and then swept Abigail off her feet and held her against his chest.

“Sam, I… I… alright. That was the deal,” Abigail said, one arm around his shoulders and clinging to him as he carried her back into her bedroom.

“Yes, it was,” he said, and then carefully laid her down into the middle of her bed.

Abigail nodded her head, looking unsure all the same.

Taking in a deep breath, she reached down and hooked her shorts with her thumbs, then shimmied out of them.

Shucking off his clothes, Sam undressed quickly.

He’d been looking forward to having Abigail since the first night.

The very idea of dining on the offspring of Alisa made his mouth water.

She’d been one of the few humans he’d willingly spent time with. A long time with.

He’d spent the better part of her adult life with her. She’d dismissed him on her thirty-fifth birthday to have children.

Pulling the tank top off over her head, Abigail made herself nude before him.

As she lay in her bed naked looking quite lovely, Sam saw her as a beautiful woman first and a wonderful meal second.

“Sam, this isn’t just to eat from me, right?” Abigail asked, slowly sitting up on her elbows. “You want me for me, on some level?”

Considering that thought, Sam got into the bed, watching her.

“I do, actually,” Sam admitted. “I do want to have sex with you for a meal, but I also want to because I think you’re attractive.”

Abigail nodded at that, smiling with half of her mouth. He’d been seeing more and more of what he was beginning to think was Abigail’s actual personality peeking through.

She was sarcastic, intelligent, and snappy. She was also incredibly sensitive and lacked confidence in herself.

“Well, how would you like your breakfast, I suppose?” she asked.

“On top,” Sam said, deciding. Getting onto his back in Abigail’s bed, he looked at her with a smile. “Come on then, I’ll have my Abby sunny-side up.”

“Ugh, you would make me do this,” Abigail said, and then she sighed, smiling all the while. Moving in closer to him, she grabbed him around the hilt with her left hand.

Swinging a leg over him, she put her knees down on each side of his hips. Then she shifted forward over the top of him and smiled down at him.

Reaching up, Sam began to fondle and caress her breasts as they dangled down toward him.

Her face was bright red, but she didn’t seem that upset, nervous, or against the idea. It spoke volumes to him—she’d probably already been considering the fact that he would devour her immediately.

Carefully, he squeezed her breasts and rolled his fingers across her nipples.

Watching for her reaction, he began to reach out toward her psyche. It seemed like she enjoyed her chest being toyed with, but he wasn’t sure yet.

Going with it, he lightly pinched the tips of her nipples and began to roll his fingers one way, then the other.

Moaning softly, Abigail didn’t shy away from his hands. Instead, she leaned forward into them for a moment.

Then she seemed to figure out where her slit was in conjunction with his tip, and she sat down.

Chewing at her lower lip, she sank down onto his rock-hard shaft, pushing it ever deeper until her rear end sat flush to his lap.

“You fit almost too well, Sam,” Abigail mumbled, a strange look on her face. “Almost too big, but not painful.”

Sam only grinned at that, continuing to tease, pinch, and fondle her nipples and breasts.

Closing her eyes, Abigail leaned a little further away from him and arched her back. She began to slowly rock back and forth on him. He could feel his length slipping in and out of her partway, and then her hips grinding it around inside her.

Reaching into her with his psyche, Sam split her wide open with his Essence. He immediately flayed her nerves open to the point that she wouldn’t even recognize her own hand on herself. Sam pushed hard at her with his Essence, wanting her very mind to break with the orgasm he was going to give her.

Moaning sharply, Abigail shuddered atop him as her hands rested on his shoulders.

“Goodness,” she panted. Her speed slowed down a fraction, but she didn’t stop at all. “It’s almost too much.”

Grinning, Sam gave her heavy breasts a final squeeze before his hands traveled down her sides to grab firmly onto her waist.

He began to push and pull at her, forcing her to move a bit faster. A bit harder.

To impale herself on his length, down to the hilt after getting it up to the tip.

Grunting as she forced herself down on him, Abigail was lost in the movements. Like an animal now, she groaned in between her gasping, panting, and grunting.

Listening to her inner desires, Sam found that this was exactly what she wanted. To be loved, valued, and looked upon.

It was all confidence issues for Abigail, even if she was cute, and Sam was clearly attracted to her.

“You’re beautiful, Abby, and I want you on top every time,” Sam said, appealing to her inner demons.

Shuddering with a breath, Abigail thrust herself down hard against him.

Then Jes was suddenly there, naked and in the bed with them. She loomed up over Abigail like something out of a horror movie.

Then she swooped down, her mouth pressing to Abigail’s throat, and teeth sank into her skin.

Jes’s hands were a second behind that, diving down between Abigail’s legs, her fingers immediately pressing and pushing at Abigail’s slick lips and the hood of her entry.

“Ah!?” Abigail squeaked out, her entire body shuddering as she pummeled herself down atop Sam.

Climaxing hard at the sudden amount of overwhelming attention, Abigail groaned. It sounded deep, as if it were coming up out of her guts.

Her whole body curled forward, even as Jes savagely attacked her with her fingers and teeth.

At the same time, Sam lit Abigail up from the inside with Essence and thrust up into her repeatedly.

The poor human wasn’t able to handle all of it, and her orgasm overran her mind completely as she was lost to an unending climax.

Moaning, groaning, and grinding into Sam’s hilt and Jes’s fingers, Abigail was akin to an animal in mating season.

Jes stared into Sam’s eyes, watching him as she obviously blew Abigail apart with her fingers.

Inhaling Abigail’s Essence as if it would expire in the next instant, Sam gorged himself on her. He tried to stab Essence back into her to trigger an ever-harder orgasm, thrusting both himself and his Essence spike into her over and over.

Convulsing as her channel flexed and ground down on him, Abigail knew little other than humping him, and her eyes actually rolled up into her head.

Almost half a minute passed before Abigail slipped free of her orgasm. Then she slumped forward and to one side, going limp in her bed as if she were actually dead.

Jes moved Abigail out of the way completely and then inhaled Sam’s member into her mouth.

Her full, pouty lips, massive eyes, and beautiful face stared up at him as she sucked hard at him. Begging him to feed her with the way she looked at him.

To feed her immediately.

“Please, Sam,” Jes murmured around him, her words partly distorted. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m so hungry. Feed me? Feed your Succubus? I’m so hungry. I’m absolutely starving. I’m so hungry I don’t even know my own name right now. Feed your Succubus. I beg you—feed me.”

Groaning, Sam couldn’t help but feel absolutely amazed at the view and how well Jes was giving him head. Her tongue swirled around him, her mouth had a perfect pressure, and she was drilling him down her throat and keeping him there for a second every time.

He suddenly did want to feed her, and he hit his orgasm without meaning to. It was all at her direction.

Bucking hard against her mouth, Sam came. And it was probably the single strongest one he’d ever had.

Jes cooed happily as he unleashed his seed into her mouth, her lips tight around him.

Letting out short, choppy breaths, Sam felt his climax lingering and holding on, dumping what felt like a never-ending amount of seed into Jes’s mouth.

Then he realized Jes was actually feeding on him. She was devouring the Emotional Essence she was generating through his orgasm.

Swallowing hard and loudly, Jes continued to bob along his length, urging him to keep giving to her.

He even felt it when she shoved an Essence spike into him to coax that last little bit out of him, just as he’d done to Abigail.

A minute after that, Sam deflated into the bed with a moan. He was spent and felt incredibly warm and comfortable.

Not to mention beyond empty. As if he’d dumped a month of seed into Jes’s mouth.

Who just continued to suck at him, her head sliding up and down slowly. Then she came off him with a self-satisfied, if very nervous-looking smile.

“Oh! That was delicious. I think that was just what I needed. Both your seed and your Essence,” she said, then lay down in the bed with him, snuggling up into his side.

Lying next to them, Abigail was still shaking off her monstrous orgasm. Her eyes were partially lidded, and a faint smile was on her face, her body twitching randomly at times.

“Yeah, that was… really different,” Sam said. He’d been with a Succubus before. It was fun, like having a partner who was good at sex could be fun, but it hadn’t been like that.

Sharing a mortal with someone was insanely different.

Jes sighed and pressed her forehead to his jaw.

“I’m your Succubus. Be sure to feed me regularly; you’re responsible for me,” she said, tapping his chin with a fingertip. “And no trying to pawn me off on someone else. I’m a one-man kind of girl. No women either. I’ll split one with you, but you’re my focus.”

“Uh huh,” Sam said. “Sure.”

Closing his eyes, he did his best not to think about anything. He really had enjoyed sharing Abigail with Jezebel. Though the blowjob had been almost too much for him.

He briefly wondered how Irma would feel about it.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t mind.

Hopefully.

***

“Did it cost you anything?” Irma asked, watching him from across her desk. She looked fascinated.

“No. She literally fed from me in the same way I do you,” Sam said.

“Interesting. Could you feed from her?” Irma asked.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t able to feed from a Succubus in the past,” Sam admitted. He’d tried. It was why in-species relationships didn’t work out for their kind. Everyone tried at least once.

“And she only wants you?” Irma asked.

“That’s what she said. I couldn’t see a lie in her, and honestly… it seemed genuine,” Sam said with a shrug.

“Mm. I’ll talk to her. If she’s genuinely bent for you and you alone, you know her true name, and she can feed from you—keep her around,” Irma said. “She could be useful for us. If she becomes a problem, use her true name to send her on her way.”

Sam nodded at that; it was the same plan he’d already come to in his head. It was rather comforting to know Irma had arrived at the same conclusion.

“We’ll need to find you another client soon,” Irma said, tapping her fingers on her desk. “I haven’t thought of a way to get you more without endangering you yet. But I’m working on it. I have a few thoughts to pursue.”

“It was easier in the past,” Sam said. “People believed more readily. Now they just think it’s crazy talk and dish it off to one side.”

“So I’m gathering. I presented it briefly to an old friend of mine—she’s a corporate ladder climber—just to see if she’d nibble. She instantly laughed it off and changed the subject. Hasn’t talked to me since,” Irma said.

“Mm. Ah well. I’m going to have another crack at Abigail tomorrow morning, and every day after if I can manage it. I’m sure she’ll end her contract on the day her new job starts. If not right before,” Sam said.

“I’ll reach out to her,” Irma said, shaking her head. “Every day she keeps you here is a bonus. Maybe I can throw a little money her way. And speaking of money, can we talk about that mana crystal you gave Hillary? She said she sold it and got enough that she didn’t have to budget at all for the next three months.”

“That’s fine,” Sam said distractedly. He didn’t care much about mana crystals. They were just constructs of Essence made into a crystalline form. Anyone could use them to power things. They were as common as dirt on some planes. They just weren’t very useful to an Incubus or an Imp.

Two contracts done, and one a lingering contract to grant me a window.

First Imp acquired, Doppelganger assassin, and a… a Succubus… pet? Retainer? Employee?

Hmm.

I think we’re on the right path, though. Suppose we’ll find out.

Thirteen - Backup -

Sam’s original goal was complete. He had a foothold on the Prime once again.

One that was backed inadvertently by Jenaphila and her people.

So long as he controlled all of her agents in the city, and they continued to work for her as they had previously, she’d never know their allegiance had changed.

Jenaphila would unknowingly divert any other planar lord trying to establish themselves in Larimer, let alone this continent, away from Sam.

And I’ll be sitting here inside her circle, using her strength.

Oh… damn. I’m a parasite.

Laughing to himself, Sam got up from his desk and leaned backward, stretching.

He’d already had Lindsey four times this week since Abigail put in her two-week notice. Each and every time, he blanked her memory of the sex and turned it into a conversation about how she should better herself. What she could do to fix her resume and get herself moving. He figured it was the least he could do for her. The job market was always fluid, and one couldn’t sit on their laurels.

Lindsey seemed to be a sweet woman and he wanted to help her a bit.

She’d leave and come back the next day, making round-about suggestions about having sex in his office. Which he happily took her up on before blanking her memory again.

Walking out of his office, he went over to Abigail’s desk. It was Friday, the last day she was with the company before starting her new job.

She’d gone back to her normal routine fairly quickly and had abandoned her diet completely.

On top of that, she was also dressing in a much more fun way as of late. Sam made it a point to stop by her desk and take in an eyeful of her at least two or three times every day.

Looking up from her desk when he reached her wall, Abigail rolled her eyes and then pulled down on her blouse subtly, making her cleavage that much more visible for him.

He couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or subconscious.

“You’re a doll, you know that?” Sam asked, leaning against her wall.

“Not sure about that, but maybe I just like waving a steak in front of a tiger,” Abigail said, giving him a smile. “That and it never hurts to be desired.”

“Speaking of desire, could I come over and see you again tonight? You’ve been so generous these last two weeks. Letting me feed on you so often,” Sam said. “It’d be a true loss if I didn’t get to have you again tonight.”

“Fine. Come on over and… and we’ll hang out. Don’t bring Jes tonight, though,” Abigail said. “She’s fun, and it’s a weirdly exciting thing to have her there, but… not tonight.”

“Done,” Sam said, already looking forward to his evening.

“I have a new client for you, by the way,” Abigail said, turning to face him head on. “She lives out north, though. It’s a few hours outside of Saint Anthony. Irma mentioned you had business up that way anyways.”

Irma and Abigail had rapidly become friends. They were also working on something they hadn’t consulted him on yet. He was curious, but he didn’t need to be pushy about it.

Irma, Hillary, and Abigail had formed some little club and were rather chummy together.

“I’d offer to come with you, but… new job, and no money for a vacation,” Abigail said.

“I’m sure you could pay your way,” Sam said, grinning at her. The idea of having Abigail as a captive for a week sounded wonderful. “I could always go hit your new b—”

“No,” Abigail said, laughing. Her face was a bright red mask. “I’m flattered, but no. I’ve already given you too much. You’re probably bored of me already. Bored of me and won’t even think of me after our contract ends.”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t bored of her. Not at all.

Abigail had managed to make herself interesting, sexy, and hard to get.

I wonder if she played it that way intentionally. Set it up from the start.

Alisa knew me inside and out in the end.

She’d even proposed to me several times, despite the toll.

Asked for kids often.

Hm. Something to consider.

“Nope, not bored of you. Come on, let’s go on a trip. You, me, and Jes. We’ll take a car and leave your sweat and a little extra in every bed we can manage from here to there and back again,” Sam said, pushing just a little. He did want to travel with Abigail.

“Sam, I’m truly flattered. Sign me up for the next one, and I’ll even be the main course every day for you,” Abigail said. “But I really want to make this job work. Okay?”

Sam sighed and nodded. “Right. Got it. So… new client… she going to summon me tonight?”

“Yep,” Abigail said, grinning at him. “She is. But only after you and I are done, so do visit me early.

“She’s a cousin of mine. She’s from Alisa’s line, so… be nice. You owe Alisa. You weren’t kind to her in the end. I read her journal, and you did too. You saw how you hurt her.”

Grimacing, Sam looked away.

Alisa’s journal had been a bitter romance novel in the end, forty years in the making. She’d fallen in love with an Incubus who then scorned her. It was also more like seventy journals, not just one. Sam had only read the last one, where it summed up how to summon him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sam said. In reading the broken and heartfelt words of Alisa long after she’d died, he’d actually felt regret for her. He planned on seeing if he could visit her afterlife at some point and apologize.

Which was a strange desire to him. But he couldn’t deny the thought.

“You’re much more human than I thought you’d be, you know? You’re not half as bad as Alisa said you were,” Abigail said.

“Spent a long time by myself,” Sam said, staring out at nothing. “Long, long time. Pretty sure I’m not the same as I used to be.”

Took in a Succubus puppy, got in a relationship with an Imp and gave her my full brand and its use, hired a Doppelganger rather than just force her into a contract and devour her, and I have a feed harem that I’m working to not over-tax and treat as politely as I can.

Very different.

“Gabriella is rather happy, by the way,” Abigail said. “Tired, but happy. You wearing her out?”

“Trying not to,” Sam said. “I do feed from her every time I come over, though. Which is daily at this point. I also bought her a rather nice couch and a bed. Hers was awful.”

“She mentioned that,” Abigail said with a smirk. “Turning into a sugar daddy on top of everything else?”

“No. It just really was unpleasant having sex with her on either one. The springs were prone to digging into my knees,” Sam said with a shrug. It was the simple truth, after all. “And her back.”

Abigail nodded, then turned back to her screen. She was clearly uncomfortable talking about her friend’s sex life.

***

“Ah, there it is,” Sam said, sitting up in his couch.

Irma sighed and patted him on the back. He’d come to see her after talking Abigail into several rounds instead of just one.

“The airline wouldn’t refund the ticket, but they gave us credit for it. We have a year to use it,” she said.

Leaning over, he gave her a kiss and smiled at her. He hardly even had to consider what she wanted anymore, how to act to make her happy. Often it was just showing her affection and consideration.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Would you like me to call you once we’re settled in for the evening?” Sam asked.

“Would you?” Irma asked, giving him a wide smile. “I’d appreciate it. If I don’t answer, don’t be worried. Just call back later if you can. I might be out with Abby. We’ve been working on a plan that I think will help a lot. Though… if it does work… well, she’ll end up making a considerable amount herself.

“Oh! And when you get back, do you think we can make some mana crystals? It’d be nice to have some extra cash on hand.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just get everyone to come over and then have you all one after another,” Sam said, getting up. He walked over to the portal.

Jes was already standing in front of it, looking at the brand being projected on their side.

“It’s yours,” she said, tracing the pattern with a finger. “This is exactly like you said. It looks like it’s there to bind you, but it protects you instead and allows you to see into the area first.”

“Indeed. Which is why we made your brand do the same thing,” Sam said, looking into the room. “Looks normal. Can’t see or feel anything off. Let’s go. Make sure your wings are out and you’re ready for a little acting.”

Sam walked through the portal, and Jes came in right behind him.

Stepping into the middle of the circle, Sam found himself in a tactfully decorated office space. The summoning circle he was standing in had been drawn perfectly with chalk on what looked like a hardwood floor.

“There’s two of you,” whispered a voice.

Turning his head to the speaker, he found a thin, darker-haired, older version of Abigail.

Alisa’s stamp was heavier on her, though. She looked much more akin to her deceased relative.

“Hello, I am Sameerixis. This is Jezebel,” Sam said. “And yes, there are two of us.”

“I’m-I’m-I’m Alison,” said the woman. Sam looked at her much more intently, trying to get an idea on how to play this one.

Saying nothing, he stood there staring at her. Jes was on his right, watching the human as well. Neither of them said anything.

“Abigail said… said you could help me,” Alison said, wringing her hands together in front of herself.

“Depends on what you want,” Sam said. “What do you want?”

“My ex-husband is… he’s trying to take my home from me. This is my house,” Alison said, making a wide open-armed gestured. “I had it before we got married, but we took out a mortgage on it to pay off some of his debts. Now he’s claiming it’s part his.”

Sam sniffed, not sure what to say.

This was starting to sound like a “kill so and so” request, which Sam only took on a limited basis. He wasn’t above snuffing out a human’s life. They were so numerous that it wouldn’t matter anyways.

His only requirement was that they deserved it.

I’m not some filthy little Demon, after all. They can go barter for souls and murder all they like.

“I don’t… I don’t want him to die… the girls wouldn’t know how to handle that,” said Alison. “I have two daughters. He only has partial custody, but they do love him.

“I just want him to-to leave the house alone. That’s all.”

“And if that required him to die?” Sam asked.

“Then… then I’d have to figure out a different way to handle it,” Alison said firmly. It was the first thing she’d said with any sort of spine so far.

“Hmph. Alright. What is it you want me to do then?” Sam asked. His opinion of the woman had gone up several degrees with that single statement of hers.

It was pleasant to find a human with morals when it came to their own kind. Especially towards those who had wronged them.

“I just… I just want my house. That’s all I want. I’ve tried talking to Tom. I’ve talked to his lawyer. I’ve had my lawyer talk to him and his lawyer, too.

“He won’t budge. He won’t budge at all. He just wants the house to spite me and force me to move. Just to hurt me,” Alison said, shaking her head.

Sam just waited. Once she gave him a direction, he could act. But until then, he couldn’t. Not without risking intervention from whoever was in charge of the higher planes right now.

Then again, they might not be watching. It might be worth testing.

“Do you want me to kill him? Rob him? Beat him? Wipe his memories? Have him thrown in jail?” Sam asked, deciding to push.

If he could act with a bit less caution than he had in his previous dealings, it would be that much easier to work in the prime plane.

“Can you just… talk him out of going for the house?” Alison asked.

“I doubt very much I can talk him out of anything,” Sam said. “I’m going to have to go rooting around in his head to figure out why he wants the house, make up a reasonable excuse for why he doesn’t want it anymore, then modify all his memories and thoughts around it.

“It won’t be easy, nor simple. It is, however, quite doable.”

Pained looking, Alison turned her gaze down to her feet, one of her arms crossed over her middle.

“And what’s the price? Abigail said your price would be on the steeper side of things, but never heavy-handed,” she said.

Sam normally would take this opportunity to have Alison right here and now in the summoning circle and eat his fill of her. Then take a few years from her life as the price and move on.

But Irma was pushing him to have more portals opened. Portals to different cities and states that would let him travel freely.

“Mm,” Sam said, then sighed. “You’re a child of Alisa. Someone I didn’t do well by. I’ll grant you this deal for the cost of one year of your life, paid one day at a time.

“That’s as cheap as I can make it without taking a loss. What say you, Alison, descendant of Alisa?”

“A year?” Alison asked, looking up at him. “You’re not going… not going to make me sleep with you?”

“Not unless you want to,” Sam said with a shrug. “A year of your life is suitable enough for my purposes.”

Alison gave him an incredible smile, going practically from ear to ear. “I agree then, wholeheartedly.”

With a nod of his head, Sam started going into the process of blood-sealing the contract.

***

Spreading his wings out behind him, Sam stared up at the night sky above him.

“I suppose it’s time you learned to fly, Jes,” Sam said. It’d been a while since he stretched his wings and used them.

It was much harder to do such a thing in modern planes like the prime.

“I think I’d rather walk,” Jes muttered.

“You’ll need to get used to it. You can’t feed from me forever,” Sam said. Jes joined him for almost every feeding now and fed from him directly after he finished with his own meal. Sometimes they had sex; sometimes she just blew him.

“Of course I can,” Jes said. “You yourself said we can merge our planes once I have enough Essence. That’s my goal now.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to do that,” Sam said, squatting low in the grass. “Think of your wings as if they were arms. You want to pump them hard once or twice to get airborne. After that, they’ll almost fly themselves. It’s like walking. The legs do the work, you don’t even think about it.”

“But what if I—”

“You’ll be fine. It’s a lot like thinking about going up or down stairs, and how you’re doing it,” Sam said, then launched himself into the air.

Air rushed past him as he started to gain altitude.

Glancing down to the ground below him, he saw Jes getting ready to launch herself.

He grinned, wondering if she’d be reassembling her body and traveling back to the apartment he’d found her in.

Should probably help her make a few clients and establish some portals. Some Essence feed. If she’s not willing to sleep with them, that does limit her ability to grant favors.

Jes shot into the air, her wings flapping awkwardly. Slowly, she started to move up into the air, her wings beginning to smooth out in their strange, mismatched flapping.

By the time she was high enough to die if she fell, her wings had mostly become instinctual.

Just like walking.

“See?” Sam said as she flew up next to him. He’d simply been flying in place, his wings beating every so often to keep him aloft.

“This shouldn’t be possible,” Jes said. “Wings this size wouldn’t work for our weight or body shape. Our legs hang down below us.

“You’re quite right. We also aren’t truly alive, though. You’re a magical construct,” Sam said. “If you died, you’d just go back to your plane. So… argument invalid.

“Come on then, long flight to Saint Anthony. Alison swears her ex-will be home until this weekend when he gets the kids.”

Sam oriented himself with the roads below and then, using them as a marker, began flying straight to his destination.

When he finished up with this contract, he’d need to go dig up the gold he’d stashed away forever ago.

With any luck at all, he’d be done with Alison and back home sooner than anyone expected.

Another portal open to keep him here and feed him slowly while making Irma happy.

And if Irma was happy, her orgasms were markedly tastier.

Flying through the night, Sam kept them moving until they were over the city limits. It was fairly obvious it was the city by the fact that there was a booming sector of industry.

“Is that a dog food plant?” Jes practically shouted next to him. Having a conversation while flying was incredibly difficult.

“I don’t know? The logo on the side tends to lend itself to that thought. Let’s set down there. We can probably steal a car and drive the rest of the way like humans would,” Sam said, then folded his wings partially. He began to descend toward the ground.

When he hit the sidewalk with a light tap, Sam dismissed his wings.

That was a rather nice little flight. I should put time aside just to fly.

Jes hit the ground next to him and stumbled to one side, bouncing off a light post.

“Damn, landing is hard,” she muttered.

“It gets easier, of course,” Sam said. “Alright, let’s steal a car and go see about getting this solved for Alison as quickly as possible.”

“Sam, I’m hungry,” Jes complained. “You had Abby without me, and all I can think about is food. You’re the only one I can feed from.”

“That’s… fair, actually. Sorry, Jes,” Sam said.

“It’s okay. Can we steal an SUV? If we get something big with dark windows, we can hit a bar or a club, find a meal, and split it in the back,” Jes said. “Or where they live, maybe?”

For a Succubus, she was actually incredibly straitlaced. She didn’t like eating anywhere they could be seen, nor did she like engaging in their meal until Sam’s partner was completely into him.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Sam said.

Fourteen - Ever Deeper -

Leaving the apartment building of their most recent conquest, Sam felt odd. He was quite pleasantly full, but also enjoying the aftereffects of Jes and her near-perfect control over his orgasms.

“That was a good one,” Jes said, adjusting her coat. She lifted her face to the morning sunlight streaming in from the west, then closed her eyes and smiled.

“I wish you understood how strange it is for a Succubus to feed off an Incubus,” Sam said. He wasn’t upset or annoyed. It’d been a great meal.

“I’m sure it’s strange,” Jes said, still facing the sun with her eyes closed. “But at this point, I don’t care anymore. I’ve smelled what a human’s orgasm would taste like in Abigail’s apartment. Her next-door neighbor, in fact. It felt cheap. Flimsy. Oily. I don’t want anything from anyone else. Just you.”

Sighing, Sam adjusted his own coat and looked around.

They could steal a car, get a cab, or whammy a used-car salesman.

Jes walked out to the sidewalk, then stood there in her beautiful glory and held up a hand toward a taxi.

Swerving hard toward them, the driver practically bounced up the curb in his haste to get to Jes.

“Oh, thank you,” said the Succubus as she leaned down to talk to the driver through the window. She was probably giving him an eyeful as well. “Can you take us to the closest used-car dealership?”

There was a response from the man Sam couldn’t hear, but he imagined it was in the affirmative.

Standing up, Jes gave him a bright smile.

“We’ll just pay him on your credit card but steal a car from the dealership,” Jes said. “The dealership would be much less impacted than a cab driver.”

Sam shrugged at the logic; he didn’t care. He hadn’t been human, and Jes seemed to be recovering her personality along with some of her memories. She wasn’t talking about it, though.

Whatever she had been before, she wasn’t now, and she had to build her new life as she saw fit.

***

A couple hours later, after acquiring a large SUV with very dark windows, Jes and Sam were standing outside of a large, expensive-looking apartment building.

“This area looks rich,” Jes said, peering up at the building’s front.

“Mm. Maybe we can rob him, too,” Sam said, scratching at his shoulder. “Neighborhood is full of upper-class people.”

Feeling strange, and like a strange pressure was building inside his mind, Sam looked around.

Not far away was a young woman with two kids—one boy, one girl. She had each of them by the hand and looked like she was heading toward the apartment Sam and Jes were standing in front of.

The woman was an absolute beauty. She had long, dark red hair that was bound up in a ponytail, and her light brown eyes were like spotlights that demanded Sam come closer, but slowly.

He wanted to eat from her. Immediately. It was an untamed and insatiable desire.

It made Sam afraid. His response wasn’t normal, and he knew it. There was something wrong with him.

The woman’s mouth curled up slightly, the young girl on the woman’s left wearing a similar expression. The boy, on the other hand, looked at Sam with disdain.

The woman’s nostril’s flared slightly, and her eyes grew a bit brighter.

Sam recognized what the woman was in that instant, and he wanted nothing to do with her.

He wanted to run away. Run away as far as he could and as fast as he could, without ever looking back.

He hadn’t seen a Bogey in hundreds of years, and the last time he had, he’d almost lost his very soul. They were one of the few things in existence that could render anyone or anything to nothing.

Except this one was an anomaly, on top of that. She felt incredibly strong to him. Strong to the point that he wasn’t sure he could win without losing an arm or something worse.

Holding up his hands passively, Sam did his best to squish his fear.

“Just working for a client,” Sam said defensively as the woman got closer. “Messy divorce, no violence. Just going to make them be fair.”

The woman eyed him for several seconds even as she walked past him. She said nothing, but Sam felt like she was weighing his words.

“You have one day,” she said softly after she pushed her children in through the revolving door. “You and your partner smell like cinnamon and roses.”

Then the Bogey walked into the apartment and vanished.

Shivering from head to toe, Sam let out a breath.

“What was that? I wanted to run away, and I felt like I was going to tinkle myself,” Jes murmured. “I’ve never seen or felt anything like that.”

“A Bogey. Boogieman. Probably the very last thing a planar lord would want to mess with. She gave us a day, so… we’re going to make this work and then get the hell out of here,” Sam said, shaking his head. He started to walk into the apartment building. “And if we have to take longer than a day, I’m going to have to stand outside the apartment and wait for her to ask permission.”

“She’s that strong?” Jes said.

“They don’t stop. They can hunt and track you anywhere. Even across planes, if the portal is open,” Sam said. “Wish I had one working for me. Maybe when the girl grows up, I could see if she’d be willing to get hired on.”

They quickly found the stairs and went up to the top floor. The man was apparently wealthy enough to afford the penthouse.

Which made it all the stranger that he wanted to take a house out in the middle of nowhere from his ex-wife.

Stepping out of the stairwell after unlocking the door, they found there was only one door and a very small hallway. This couldn’t be anything other than the location they wanted.

“Can I try to get him to open the door?” Jes asked, adjusting her coat and undoing several buttons. Then she pulled down on her blouse a bit, giving herself a massive amount of visible cleavage.

“Sure. Easier than me giving him a dose of Essence when he looks through the peephole,” Sam said, moving to the side of the door and out of view.

Licking her lips, Jes walked up to the door, rang the doorbell, and then stepped back. She folded her hands in front of her, tilted her head, and looked off to one side. The entire pose made her look vulnerable and unsure.

Sam watched quietly, waiting for an opportunity or a need.

From everything he’d heard about Tom, he didn’t seem like a good person. But Sam could very well be biased in favor of Alisa’s descendants.

“What?” asked a voice through the door.

“Uhm, I was told to come up here to see Tom?” Jes said, sounding rather uncertain. “I’m pretty sure this is the right address.”

“And what do you want?” asked the same voice through the door.

“I’m sorry, maybe I have the wrong address,” Jes said, turning around and starting to walk away.

“Wait—no, wait,” said the man behind the door.

Jes didn’t stop until she was outside the peep-hole’s view. Then she leaned up against the wall with a pout on her face. She apparently wasn’t half as confident as she’d appeared to be.

The locks on the door clacked, and then the door swung away. Tom was a middle-aged balding man without any fat on him. He looked far more sinister than Sam had been expecting.

He was also a Were. Nothing could hide from a planar lord.

Holding up a hand, Sam waved when the man’s eyes landed on him. Then he snared him with a solid push into his mind.

“Good job, Jes,” Sam said, moving forward. “That was significantly easier than it could have been.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure at first. I thought for sure he’d open the door for me,” Jes said, following Sam into the apartment. She shut the door behind them, and they all walked into what looked like a living room.

“Oh, he’s a Were. That makes me feel better. I thought he didn’t think I was pretty,” Jes said. “You know, I keep meaning to tell you, I’m getting my memories back. The longer I spend on this plane and the more I feed from you, the more they come back.

“I still can’t remember much of this Jenaphila, but I know more of me and what I was. I was an Imp. Mom was an Imp, but she died a long time ago. Never knew my father.”

“Mm. Thank you for sharing. Care to take a look around and see if there’s anything worth stealing?” Sam asked, feeling relieved at her revelation. She trusted him still.

Sam pointed at the couch, making firm eye contact with Tom. “Sit.”

“I think it’s been about… a long time, actually. Since I was on this plane, that is. I have this strange feeling when I look at older things, like that typewriter we saw,” Jes said, vanishing deeper into the apartment.

Hm. If she was floating on her own plane for years without Essence, that means she had to be fed from an external source.

Is Jena just loading them all into planes and then keeping them there like leftovers? Parceling them out as needed?

Sighing, Sam got down at face level with Tom. He didn’t want to deal with his ex-partner’s apparent rapid descent into the kind of depravity that would surely attract the attention of the higher planes.

One could fight the high heavens—and even win—but it often just meant more attention. Then more fighting, and more attention.

It was easier to lie low and not trouble yourself.

Or the high heavens.

Sam would never be a massive leader of people or corporations. He’d never build his own anything beyond what it took to be comfortable.

Too much work.

“Hey, why do you want your ex-wife’s house so bad?” Sam asked.

“Fuck her over,” Tom said.

She was right.

“Right. Any other reason?” Sam asked.

“My pack makes fun of me for having a non-Were mate,” Tom elaborated.

“Huh. Would they let it go if you tried to drop it? Let Alison have her house?” Sam asked.

“No. They want it for a den house now,” Tom said.

“Great. In other words… I’m going to have to go to your pack and hit them, too,” Sam said, shaking his head. This contract was rapidly spinning out of control.

“Where’s your pack? What kind of business are they in?” he asked.

“Dog food factory. We operate the plant for the company. They leave it to us. We maintain, run, and keep everything moving for them. We’re a lot cheaper than humans since we don’t care about the smell. That and dog food isn’t that bad,” Tom said. “We also run guns out of the location. We specialize in battle rifles and explosives.”

Sam grimaced and let his head droop down till he was facing the floor.

“Of course they are. Because the moment I agreed to this, I was in for a storm of never-ending shit from the sky,” Sam muttered.

“Do they ever meet in public? Somewhere I could get the jump on them and catch them all at the same time?” Sam asked Tom.

“No. We’re a pack, but… we’re wolverines. We don’t really meet up often. When we do it’s at the plant because that’s where we’re safe,” Tom said.

“Where’s your pack leader? Do they live separately?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Tom said. “She lives in an apartment near the plant. The Hillside building, apartment thirteen.”

Right. So I either go at them one at a time or try my hand at storming into a defended position that is probably loaded with weapons.

We’ll start with the pack leader and go from there.

“Sam?” Jes called from the other room.

“Yeah?”

“There’s… there’s a safe with a lot of money here. A lot of money,” Jes said. “And then this other bedroom is all guns. It’s just wall-to-wall guns.”

Sam nodded. He didn’t even know what to say or do now.

There was a paranoid and suspicious Bogey mother in this building, his client was the ex-wife of a gunrunner, and they were all Weres.

“What’s… what’s your species again?” Sam asked.

“Wolverine,” said the man.

Closing his eyes, Sam groaned. Prickly, aggressive, and fearless. They had a reputation for just attacking people rather than talking.

“Grab a bag, take all the money,” Sam called back to her. “Leave the guns. Not something I want to get into. We’ll call the cops, and that’ll solve Tom pretty easily.”

But will it solve the pack?

Probably not. Not if they’ve got it in their heads they want the house for themselves. They’ll see it as theirs long before they even have it.

Though it does make more sense why they wanted it. Pack property.

Standing up, Sam thought on what to do with Tom.

With a conviction for illegal firearms possession, it was rather unlikely he’d have the time, money, or ability to worry about Alison’s house.

“And we were never here,” Sam said with a smirk, then tapped a fingertip to the middle of the man’s brow.

***

Sitting in their SUV across the street, Sam and Jes watched as a flood of police stormed into the apartment building in what looked like special weapons and tactics gear.

They were armed for a shootout and siege type of scenario.

“It would seem your idea to put him into a drunken coma was the right move,” Sam said. “I do not think the police are going to be very kind to Tom.”

“Alison is going to be upset,” Jes said.

“About what? That he got caught being a criminal? She probably didn’t even know. I bet she didn’t even know he was a Were,” Sam said. “Doesn’t matter. He would have gotten caught eventually. If anything, we might have damn well saved his life doing it this way.”

“Let’s hope she sees it that way,” Jes said.

Sitting there in the SUV, they waited and watched. They needed to know what was happening before they went back to Alison. Giving her only partial information wasn’t going to be enough to get her to keep the contract active. Thankfully, every day they worked on this would be added to the end date of the agreement.

Which means we’ll eventually have to get Jes to work her own clients. She can’t just feed from me forever. She’ll need to get her own Life Essence if she wants any sort of longevity on the plane.

Two black-as-night eyes appeared in Sam’s window.

He was staring into the eyes of the Bogey from earlier.

Sam managed to keep his fear in check.

Barely.

He’d honestly expected this, so it wasn’t as surprising as he was sure she hoped it would be. There was no way she wasn’t going to track him down after an entire police precinct descended on her building.

“Tell me what happened,” said the woman. There was no room for argument or disagreement in her tone.

“Turned out the ex-husband was an illegal arms dealer. A big one,” Sam said honestly. “We didn’t know. It’s the easiest way to get rid of our client’s problem.”

“The penthouse?” the woman asked.

Sam nodded. “Tom… something. I forget his last name.”

“Hm. I had no idea,” said the woman, glancing back at the building behind her. When she turned back to Sam, her eyes were the light brown they’d been previously.

Frowning, the woman looked to be in deep thought. Then she nodded her head.

“I’m Jennifer,” she said, holding out her hand to Sam.

“Sameerixis, but I go by Sam. This is Jezebel, or Jes,” Sam said, shaking her hand.

“Seems like your client got out just in time,” Jennifer said, shaking her head. “Maybe it’s time for me to get out of the city, too. Things seem to be getting worse every day.

“And thank you for not making it hard for me to find you. I appreciate the courtesy.”

Jennifer gave him a pretty smile that didn’t match the monster she was, then walked off back toward the building. She looked like a beautiful housewife and mother, wearing a cute dress that made her seem far more mature.

And she was probably one of the few things that actually gave Sam pause.

“Guess it’s time to head back to Alison and tell her what’s going on,” Sam said. “Though I’m genuinely concerned about the pack side of it. If they really do have it in their heads that her house is their property and should be a den house… it’s unlikely it’ll end with Tom going to jail.”

“That’s fair,” Jes said. “Well, it’s not as if we didn’t profit. That was a lot of money. We should rob the pack.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at that. It wasn’t a bad idea.

Robbing criminals was a rather lucrative endeavor. It wasn’t as if they could go to the cops about it.

Pulling the car into drive, Sam checked his side-view mirror, then eased them out onto the road. It was going to be a long drive back to Alison, but he refused to give up the SUV.

The backseat was incredibly comfortable, and he was sure he and Jes would be utilizing it extensively if they remained in the city.

“I’m hungry,” Jes said. “Can we stop by a coffee shop and see if there’s any cute little barista girls, or a customer you can talk into the car? Preferably one that looks like the Bogey. Jennifer was frightening, but she was pretty and caught your eye. You’d be more likely to taste better with one of those.”

“Sure, why not? We’ll call it lunch and then drive back to Alison,” Sam said.

“Great. Thanks, Sam. You’re a good provider,” Jes said, reaching over to lightly tickle the back of his neck with her fingertips. “I think when we get back home, I should talk to Irma about figuring out how to get a client list for myself.

“Though I think rather than solving problems like you do, I want to get into robbing people. That seems fun, and I’ll be doing good for society.”

Sam only nodded. Everyone had their own preference on what jobs they wanted to take on. His own preference was for solving inter-human issues. When you could hypnotize and convince someone to do something with a look, the job was easy.

“I want to learn to use a gun,” Jes murmured. “I took a bunch of those guns back there as well and put them on my plane. I think… I think that’s the type of contract that appeals to me. I can buy people to join a feed harem for you, then just feed from you as you feed on them. My clients will be to support my feeding indirectly.”

Sam didn’t say anything to that. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea that she would be utterly dependent on him for her meals going forward.

She was constantly pushing further and further into his wants and desires.

Fifteen - Nice Curtain -

Hanging up the phone, Sam looked at Jes and shrugged his shoulders.

In the end, they’d both chickened out. Rather than going back to tell Alison in person, they’d called her about it.

“I could hear her yelling,” Jes said. She had a concerned look on her face.

“Yeah. She wasn’t very happy,” Sam said, looking over to the secretary. The young woman was staring at Jes with a completely blank look. “I mean, it’s just the way it goes though, right? Guy was a criminal, got caught—the end. Her problem is technically solved. We just have to make sure the pack lets it go.”

“Right. We’re going to go see the pack leader, then?” Jes asked.

“It’s the best plan I’ve got,” Sam said with a shrug. “You got anything else?”

“No,” Jes said. “Should I let her go?”

“Yeah, might as well,” Sam said.

“Can we eat her first?” Jes said.

“No,” Sam said, then pointed at her hand. “She’s engaged or married. I don’t like picking up people in relationships. It causes problems for them and… honestly, I don’t need that haunting me. I do enough bad things already.”

“Oh? Alright. That’s fair,” Jes said, then looked at the woman. “Thanks for letting us use your phone. I love your ring, by the way.”

Blinking, the young woman woke up from the glamour Jes had plowed her with.

“What?” asked the woman. “My… oh, yes. Thank you. My fiancé got it for me.”

“Do you love him? Would you cheat on him?” Jes said.

“I do love him,” said the young woman, shaking her head. “No, I wouldn’t.”

Jes grunted at that and looked at Sam with an embarrassed grin. “Was worth a shot. I’m hungry again.”

“I just fed you,” Sam complained, leaving the office lobby. “Literally, not less than two hours ago. Remember? The waitress? You picked her.”

“I know, but I’m hungry again,” Jes said, following him out.

“Look, I get it; I’ve been there myself. It’s fun to feed. It really is. I enjoy feeding you,” Sam said, getting into the SUV. “But you seriously need to curb your appetite or figure out a way to make it last.”

“Just let me see if I can get you off real quick—if I can feed from you directly without a human involved, that’d make it easier, right? We’ve never tried it without splitting a meal,” Jes said, shutting her door. Then she reached over and started working at Sam’s zipper, leaning over the center console.

“Fine. Just… be quick about it. We need to go hit the pack leader,” Sam said, feeling weird about getting a blow job in an SUV for the sake of sex and feeding Jes.

I think I kinda get how my own feed harem must feel sometimes.

At least it’ll feel good.

***

Getting out of the SUV, Sam adjusted his pants.

Jes had wrecked his world with her mouth.

He’d never been fed on directly like that without a human between them to share. She’d made him incapable of everything for twenty minutes. He couldn’t even think.

The entire time, Jes had just sat there looking rather pleased with herself. Apparently, she could somehow feed directly from his orgasm without the need of a human as an aid.

Walking around the vehicle, Sam looked up at the apartment building.

“It was that good? Really?” Jes asked for perhaps the sixth time.

“Yes, Jes. It was that good,” Sam said. “Don’t get too proud of yourself. I might ask you to do it a few more times today.”

“Good! I wouldn’t mind at all. It was fun, and delicious,” Jes said. Then she looked up at the building as well. “I feel like we’re constantly going into people’s apartments.”

“Kinda, huh?” Sam muttered. “Alright. Let’s go find the pack leader and see if we can’t nip this off at the top.”

Sam and Jes entered the building and immediately went for the stairwell. They only had to go up one floor.

“I’ve been thinking,” Jes said as the door to the stairwell closed behind her.

“Yeah?” Sam asked.

“I want to make a mercenary company and use it to take on contracts to rob, murder, and destroy criminals. Like what I was talking about earlier,” Jes said. “There’d be a lot of work in third-world countries for that.”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Sam said, opening the door leading to the first floor.

“I don’t think so. I think it’ll be interesting,” Jes said. “I just… need to figure out the details. Like the rules around taking lives, and if I can make my mercenaries immortal. Things like that.”

“Huh. Well, the rules for taking lives are rather straightforward. If someone is threatening to harm or kill you, that makes it fair for you to return the favor,” Sam said, walking down the hallway and reading number plates. “The same rules don’t apply to those who you hire though. If an enemy were to shoot at your people or try to hurt them, that opens the door for you to attack the enemy in return. Especially if you were hired to kill someone. The original hiring party takes on the onus themselves for that murder.

“And sure, you could make them immortal, but it costs you significantly more than just eternal youth. Youth does a lot better and doesn’t cost as much. Especially since bringing a person back to life isn’t half as difficult as preventing their death.”

“Got it. Do I get to claim the Life Essence of anyone we kill?” Jes asked as Sam pointed to a door labeled thirteen.

“On a mission like what you’re describing…?” Sam thought on it and got in front of the door. “Yeah. You’d take their Life Essence in that kind of thing. You’d have to mark them before they died, though. Very simple Essence spell.”

Lifting his hand, he knocked on the door three times.

Since the pack leader was female, it was his turn to see if he could get her to open the door.

“There we go, then. I just make a mercenary company, hire out some members, make them immortal, go clean up bad guys,” Jes said. “I can use the money, resources, and Essence to get everything else I need and pay you to feed me. Problem solved.”

Sam ignored her. He was waiting for the peep hole to darken. It’d let him know someone was looking through it.

That didn’t happen, though.

Grumbling, Sam lifted up a hand and simply unlocked the door with a touch of Essence magic.

They’d wait inside for her to get home.

“I’m not as good as you are with stuff like that,” Jes complained.

“We all have our specialties,” Sam said as he opened the door. Walking inside, he looked around quickly. “Or unique abilities. Like feeding from an Incubus.”

“It can’t be that uncommon,” Jes said, closing the door behind her. “Can it?”

“You’re a singular unique entity in all my long years,” Sam said, looking around the hallway.

“Let’s go have sex on her bed,” Jes said, walking past him. “I could eat again.”

Sam shrugged.

They didn’t have anything else to do.

And sex with Jes was always amazing.

***

There was a clatter at the door, causing Sam to look up from the book he’d been reading.

Closing it, he flipped it off to one side and then moved into the bathroom. Jes was right behind him, having turned off the muted TV.

As they stood next to one another in the bathroom, Sam looked around.

“I like the curtain,” he said, indicating the blue-and-white patterned fabric.

“Mm. Should we take it with us when we leave?” Jes asked. “We could hang it in the apartment when we get back.”

At this point, Jes had just been sleeping in his bed with him every night he was home. When he wasn’t home, she followed him if he allowed it. It was a very strange relationship to Sam.

The door opened, and Sam heard footfalls entering the apartment. Watching the partially closed door, Sam waited.

He really wanted the pack leader to be completely in the apartment before he walked out. He didn’t want to go chasing after someone through a building or down the street.

That sounded a lot like work.

There was someone else with the pack leader, it sounded like. Sam could hear a soft conversation between the two individuals. It sounded hushed and angry.

Looking at Jes, Sam gave her a smirk.

Must be fighting over what to do now that Tom got busted.

Leaning down, he pressed his lips to Jes’s ear.

“You take whoever else is there—I’ll take the Were,” Sam said.

Jes nodded.

Moving away from the counter, Sam walked out into the living room.

A short woman with short brown hair in a pixie-style cut stood in the middle of the room with her arms folded. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black.

She was pretty, lean, and had a feral edge to her. Her figure wasn’t very impressive when you compared her to Jes, but she wasn’t flat either.

Next to her was a massive woman who looked to be six foot eight. She had long black hair, and her eyes were a brown color that almost made them seem red. Even as he looked, though, they were starting to glow brighter and brighter, becoming yellow. There was a faint red mist that came from her mouth on her exhale.

She had a wide frame and a much better figure than the Were. All around her was an aura of darkness that Sam doubted most people would feel or see.

A Cambion? That’s interesting.

Lashing his will to the Were, Sam struck out at her psyche to lock her down.

And failed.

“What the—” said the Were, slowly toppling to one side. “What the fuck!?”

Jes walked around Sam, staring hard into the Cambion’s eyes.

The woman stared back, transfixed by Jes entirely.

“Sit on the couch,” Jes crooned at the Cambion.

Nodding her head, the Cambion went over and sat on the couch, folding her hands in her lap.

“Who the hell are you!? What do you want? What’d you do to her?” growled the Were, her body twitching back and forth as she clearly fought Sam’s glamour.

“Goodness. You’re very, very mentally strong,” Sam said, walking over to the downed Were. “I’m impressed.”

“The fuck did you do to me? I can’t move anything,” the Were grumbled, her voice moving into a deeper range. “I can’t shift? I can’t shift! What’ve you done?”

“Nothing,” Sam said, standing over the tiny woman. He eased her onto her back and looked down into her pretty face. “I just… I suppose you could say I was trying to paralyze your mind. Only worked partially, though. Like I said, you’re very strong mentally.”

Staring hard into the Were’s eyes, Sam tried again, striking out at her mind.

The Were groaned, and her body quivered.

“That hurts. It hurts so bad. Why are you doing this?” she said, obviously trying to look away from Sam. “I don’t know you.”

“Stop fighting me,” Sam said, then clubbed at her again.

Whimpering, the Were let out a deep moan, as if he’d stabbed her.

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts—stop. Please, stop. I’ll do anything you want—stop. Stop,” said the woman, breaking down into a sobbing whimper. “It hurts so bad.”

One more. She can’t take that many, can she?

Sam leaned back and smashed at her mind with all his strength.

The Were’s eyes rolled back into her head and her face went slack, her whole body quivering.

“Shtoph,” she groaned. “’Urtsh, urtsh, urtsh. Eash shtoph.”

Then the Were started throwing up, vomit covering her face and neck.

“Damn it all,” Sam said, rolling the Were on her side so she wouldn’t choke on her own vomit. “The hell are you so strong for? Now I’m just going to have to kill you when we’re done with the questions.”

“This one’s like a big ol’ puppy,” Jes said from his side.

Glancing over, he found Jes sitting in the Cambion’s lap, one arm around her shoulder. “I never knew they were so susceptible. I only remember two of Cambion and they seemed normal.”

“They were a slave race once. Demons bred themselves with humans to make servants. That was the Cambion. Of course, they’re susceptible to Demon-kind,” Sam said, looking back at the Were. “Even us, though we’re not demons. Not really, at least.”

She was done throwing up now, but she lay there whimpering and moaning. Her eyes weren’t trying to see her brain anymore.

“No more, please. No more. Whatever you want. Just no more,” she said, her body shivering and quivering against her control. “It hurts so bad. Please, no more.”

“Damn it all,” Sam said. “Fine, you start going through that one’s mind and see what she knows. I guess I’ll work the Were over.”

Grabbing the Were by her arm, he started dragging her over to the bathroom, leaving a trail of vomit and piss behind her as he went.

She’d apparently urinated on herself.

The Were groaned, and her eyes tracked him sluggishly.

Pulling her into the bathroom, he pulled back the curtain and dumped her into the tub.

Reaching up, he unfastened the curtain from the rod and set it in the hallway.

“Where’d you get the curtain, by the way? It’s rather nice,” Sam said, starting to strip the Were of her clothes.

“Don’t hurt me anymore,” the Were said. “I’m sorry. Please. I’ll do whatever you want. Anything.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m sorry for having done so. But I am going to have to kill you, I’m afraid. If you’d just had a soft and easy mind, I could have pulled your memories out,” Sam said remorsefully.

He didn’t like to kill people indiscriminately. Especially in a situation like this, where he couldn’t even take her Life Essence. She wasn’t meant to die at his hand.

To him, it was like overeating, throwing up everything, and then eating something else.

It was a waste to kill her without being able to eat her.

Sam flipped the torn clothes to one side, the Were now naked in the tub. Her body wasn’t quivering anymore, and it seemed as if her mental stability had improved.

So very strong.

“Why?” the Were asked. “I’m nobody. I’m just a pack leader. I run guns. I don’t hurt anyone.”

“Honestly, I can’t even fault you for the gun running,” Sam said, giving her a once-over and looking for anything that’d clog the drain.

Need to shave her head. Her hair would block it right up though.

Trash bag would do it. Burn it all later.

“Did it once upon a time myself. But that was with swords, when the tin ran dry in a country. Can’t make bronze weapons without tin,” Sam said. “Should always be prepared for shortages.”

Sniffing, Sam stood up and then crafted a small blade out of Essence. It would be more than enough to clip her throat and wrists and leave her to bleed out. He could finish her hair after the fact.

Her end would be quick.

“Time for questions. You work for someone?” he asked.

“I do. I do, yes. I can help you get to them,” said the Were. “They gave me the pack and told me to run it. I didn’t even want to run it. They were all pack-mates before I came along. I’m an outsider.”

“And who is it you work for?” Sam asked.

“I… no,” said the Were, staring up at him. “You’ll just kill me. I don’t want to die.”

“My partner is taking apart that Cambion’s brain right about now. Whatever she knows, my partner will know,” Sam said. “So you can tell me and I make it quick, or I just make it quick and you don’t tell me. I don’t care.”

“Just-just… look,” the Were said, sounding exasperated, panicky, and scared. “I can… I can do whatever or be whatever and… and you don’t have to kill me. I’m useful. Really useful.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders and laughed softly.

“I have nothing I need done. Sorry. The simple reality is you’re not useful to me, and I really just need you dead more than I need you alive,” Sam said. “I really am sorry, though. It’s not personal. You’re a pretty Were, but… just not something I need.”

“Sweetie?” called Jes from the other room.

“Yes?” Sam replied, standing up and looking over his shoulder.

“Did you kill her yet?” Jes asked.

“About to, why?” Sam asked.

“Can I have her, Sweetie? I want a mercenary team. She could be useful to me. I just let the Cambion—her name is Wren, by the way; rather odd sounding name, honestly—decide if she wanted to work for me with a salary, contract, and all the normal stuff, or get her memories wiped and dumped back on the street as if she’d never come up here.”

“Uh huh,” Sam said, not really liking where this was going.

“She agreed! I have my first mercenary. She’s very good with weaponry, apparently. She’s a hitman. She’s going to teach me all sorts of things. She can teach Hillary, too,” Jes said.

“Right,” Sam said, closing his eyes.

“I branded her as well. So she’s already all set up. Can I have the Were?” Jes asked. “Wren thought she’d be rather useful to me. Apparently she’s handy with a weapon as well, and they work well together.”

“Yes!” the Were called back. “Yes, you can have me! Please! I don’t want to die! I’ll be a mercenary!”

Sam opened his eyes and glared down at the Were just as Jes stuck her head in the door and smiled at her.

“Are you sure? You’ll end up having a lot of sex with me and Sam. That’s part of the job,” Jes said. “You’ll have to come with me on missions to kill people. Kill people and steal their things. We’ll be going after people who can’t report us for robbing them. That and a lot of sex. I’m a Succubus, he’s an Incubus—we feed on orgasms. Quite possibly hourly sex on some days.”

“Yep, I can totally swing both ways. You can just… use me as a spit-roast bar between the two of you,” said the Were, sounding desperate. “Whenever you want, however you want. Just don’t kill me. I’d really like to stay alive. Really, really would like to be alive.”

“Are you sure?” Jes said, coming into the room. “Your pay would be a percentage of each take we bring down from the jobs, with a fifty-thousand-dollar signing bonus, and a salary. Same as Wren.”

Glancing past Jes, Sam could see the big Cambion behind her. She looked at Sam, blinked, then nodded her head at him in greeting.

Alright. That’s… weird.

“And you want that?” Sam said, addressing Wren directly.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Wren said, her voice rather deep. It made his crotch tickle. Sam did love a woman with a strong voice. Didn’t hurt that for a Cambion, she was big. He had a thing for women who were strong and could take care of themselves. “Clearly you’re more than just a sex demon. It’s not as if I’m often given a fair shake anywhere else. Her offer is actually really good. Eternal youth and immortality? For sex with demons and jobs? Not hard to say yes.”

Frowning, Sam nodded at that.

“Doesn’t hurt that you’re both really good looking,” Wren said after a few seconds.

True. I’d agree with her that she probably doesn’t get a fair shake anywhere as a Cambion. I suppose it’s a rather good list of benefits if one can get over the sex part.

“Huh, alright. Look forward to having you. You look like you’ll be delicious,” Sam said, turning back to the Were.

“…ep. Completely sure. As much as it wounds my pride as a Were, and the fact that I’d really rather pull off both your heads and eat your guts, I know when I’m beaten,” said the Were. “If I wasn’t knocked flat and had my damn head kicked around like a cow waiting for the slaughter, I’d try to kill you both. But I’m not human, and I’m happy to be a beta or an omega. I’d be a really great beta to you two.”

“Oh?” Sam said, smiling at the Were. Up to this point, he hadn’t seen much of a spine in her.

“I’m fierce, loyal, and aggressive, not stupid. Living is living, dead is dead,” the Were said. “A living world of daily three ways between a sexy man and a hot woman is better than a dead lump of meat in a tub. Right?”

Sam snorted at that and looked at Jes.

“If you want her, fine. Brand her. Then we’ll interrogate her, eat one of them, and get moving,” Sam said. Then he remembered his question, turning back to the Were. “Oh, and who are you working for?”

Jes was already down on her knees next to the tub, her hand over the Were’s naked chest. She was inscribing her brand into the woman’s flesh right then and there.

“Crime boss,” the Were said. “Vampire den in the town. They run the whole thing. PID has been working to break them down but can’t get inside. The Federal division of PID just came to town. Vamps have a mind reader, though. They spot everyone trying to get in.”

Surprised, Sam couldn’t help himself. “Huh. That’s… that’s lucky. And that you work for a vamp is also strange.”

“Right?” the Were said as Jes slowly drew the brand with a fingernail. “But yeah, Vamp. Money’s good, so I couldn’t say no. Vamp or not.”

Wolverine through and through.

“Mm. I honestly don’t care much,” Sam said with a sigh. “I’m just here for my client—Tom’s ex-wife—to get her house in the free and clear. With you bundled up, that’s done. Tell the pack to leave off her house. I already took care of Tom.”

“I’ll just disperse the pack,” the Were said. “Vampy said to get rid of them soon anyways, so that works! That’s why Wren was here. Just to make sure we could get rid of the pack soon without an issue. That and she had another job. After that, I was going to go job hunting.”

Damnit. Would have happened all on its own?

Ugh.

Waste of time.

“There,” Jes said, patting the Were on the chest. “Now you’re mine. What’s your name?”

“Tiffany. I’m Tiffany James,” said the Were. “Can… can I get up now? Please? I don’t really like sitting in the tub like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.”

“Fine,” Sam said, breaking the partial glamour that had her locked down. Tapping the shower head, Sam looked at Tiffany. “Alright. You clean up, we’ll have a nice meal, and then get going. One of you is going to be lunch. Figure it out for yourselves who gets to be the meal.”

Sam left the bathroom and started heading for the bedroom.

Then stopped.

Going back, he picked up the curtain, then opened a tiny slip into his own plane and pushed it through.

There. All set.

Sixteen - Instincts -

Sam looked at the floor.

He couldn’t even tell where the stain had been.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m just… not suited for the work I do. I’d have made an amazing househusband.

Pity.

Sighing, Sam shrugged. The vomit and urine was all cleaned up, and the apartment was back to the way it had been.

“All done,” Jes said, walking into the living room. “Oh, good job, Sweetie. That looks like nothing happened.”

“Thanks,” Sam said, smiling at Jes. “I’ve found that if I use vinegar for urine and baking soda for vomit, I can get a good amount of it up almost all on its own. No reason to use Essence if you have the time and patience.”

Jes nodded her head at that, then turned partly sideways and gestured to the big Cambion beside her.

“Wren’s going to be lunch before we go disperse the pack,” Jes said. “Tiffany is cleaning herself up and said she wants a quick nap.”

Sam shrugged. He didn’t really care who he ate.

“Let’s use the guest bedroom so Tiffany can sleep,” Jes said, taking Wren by the hand. She turned and led the big woman into a different room.

Sam followed, but he did pause to glance into the bathroom.

Tiffany was standing in the shower, naked and facing the shower head. It was literally spraying into her face.

She stood motionless, letting the water run over her. To him it was obvious she was evaluating what she’d just agreed to.

Admiring the view, Sam wondered if she’d taste like a normal Were. Were always had a gamey flavor to him.

Turning back to the task at hand, Sam went into the bedroom.

Jes was already undressed, having set her clothes to one side.

Wren was working at the heavy vest she’d been wearing underneath her clothes. Apparently, she didn’t go anywhere without wearing body armor.

“You’re just… going to have sex with me and eat my orgasm?” Wren asked, pulling her arms out of her vest.

“Accurate, if lacking in details,” Sam said as he removed his own clothes.

“Does that mean I won’t feel it? It’ll just be sex without end?” Wren asked.

“No. You’ll have a normal orgasm, I’ll just feed off it when you do. You won’t even notice a difference,” Sam said. “Except it’ll be the best orgasm you’ve ever had.”

Wren stepped out of her pants and underwear, then looked from Jes to Sam. “Uhm, so… what…?”

Jes hopped up into the bed, laid down on her back, and spread her lovely legs apart, displaying her perfect privates.

“Come on over here and use that mouth of yours,” Jes cooed at the Cambion. “And in a moment, Sam will get behind you.”

Wren looked unsure for a split second, then crawled up into the bed. She got down on her hands and knees, and her head went down between Jes’s thighs.

“Ooh, yes. That’s good. I want a lot of tongue,” Jes said, her hands coming down to rest on Wren’s head.

Smirking, Sam slid up onto the bed and got behind Wren. Jes wasn’t into women, but she seemed to have a real solid grasp on how to manipulate his meals into their maximum potency.

She rarely engaged them before Sam was in them, but she knew when to engage first or at the start to make it good for the one they were eating.

Which made her own meals taste better, she’d said.

Wren’s rear end was larger than he’d thought. Her hips were quite wide. She had a big body and a good figure. He was already thinking of all the ways to enjoy her Amazonian-like self.

“Nn, yeah, get it in there,” Jes said, shifting her hips into Wren’s face. There was a wet noise in response as Wren’s head moved slightly back and forth.

Sam laid his left hand on Wren’s rear and grabbed his tip with his right. Angling it up, he began stuffing it into Wren’s entry.

The Cambion pulled away from him at first, then slowly began pushing herself back toward him.

Laying both hands on her hips, Sam pulled on her until she fit perfectly in his lap, his hilt wedged tight between her thin lips.

“We’ll start slow, so you can keep giving Jes your attention,” Sam said. Reaching out into Wren, Sam slipped into her psyche as if the doors were wide open.

Wren was similar in many ways to Abigail. She just wanted to belong, feel love, and be appreciated.

She was also a professional and had a hard time letting her feelings manifest.

Deep under all that, though, probably something she didn’t even know, Sam found that she wished to be dominated. Dominated, used, abused, and put away wet.

Especially by a demon.

It was part of her nature as a Cambion.

This was clearly why Jes was making Wren eat her out at right at the start.

Holding tight to her soft skin, Sam began to move back and forth. His manhood glided in and out of her extremely slick insides.

Wren moaned deeply after several seconds, making Jes shiver.

“Oh, you’re giving her a good one, Sweetie,” Jes said. “Make her moan some more for me. I like it.”

Looking up toward Jes, he found her smiling at him as she watched him ride Wren.

Smiling back at her, Sam started to turn up Wren’s sensitivity, pushing himself harder into her but not faster.

Wren started to let out short, choppy moans in time with Sam pushing deep into her.

Jes’s fingers tightened in Wren’s hair, and she started to grind her hips into the Cambion’s face. “Goodness, yes. Eat me all up, Wren. Give my partner everything at the same time. Roll your hips, push back into him, squeeze him tight.

“You want to make him cum hard, right?”

Wren moaned an affirmative and started to move backward into Sam, her hips rolling at the same time.

“Good girl,” Jes said, grinding away at Wren with her hips. “Make him cum. Make him fill you up with his seed. Because you secretly want to be overpowered, don’t you? You want to be used.”

Wren shivered at Jes’s words, pushing harder back at Sam. At the same time, it was clear she was eating Jes out desperately.

“That’s right. You want to know your place, to be pushed into it,” Jes said, pausing for a second as Wren moaned in the affirmative against her nethers. “Exactly. Make me cum with your mouth. Be used completely.

“Make him cum at the same time. Make him cum knowing you’re going to get pregnant from it. Because that’s what an Incubus does, you know.

“You need to work him so hard that he has no choice but to fill you up, and you do what you know you’re meant to do. What your race is supposed to do. Breed.

“Breed for me, Wren. Breed with my partner. I want to see him fill you up as you push that tongue up into me. Eat it all and take it all, you filthy mutt.”

Wren quivered. She was practically slamming herself back against Sam now, only to then move forward and dive hard into Jes.

For his part, Sam was impressed. Jes had systematically attacked every nook and dark cranny in Wren’s mind, and she’d hit all the ugly parts of it at the same time.

He could feel Wren’s insane desire right now—she could barely think beyond wanting exactly what Jes had said.

The big Cambion wanted to get knocked up, used hard, played with, and put away broken and dripping.

Then used again.

Sam usually had to dig into them with his psyche to hit someone like Jes had just done.

Grinning at Jes, Sam started plowing down into Wren as hard and as fast as he could.

We all have our talents.

“That’s right, Wren, he’s really into it. Get him to cum now. Earn it. Own it. Make him put a child in you. Just like any good Cambion. Do it now. Earn it,” Jes said, her fingers tight in Wren’s hair, pushing her privates hard into the other woman’s mouth.

Wren was moaning loud enough that Sam wondered if her volume was broken. Ripping at her psyche, pushing hard at her, and trying to drive himself through her and out her mouth, Sam rode her into Jes.

Then Wren came—and came hard. Her whole body tightened up, her back flexed, and her insides squeezed down hard on him.

Sam eagerly began devouring everything that poured out of her. It had a slightly smoky flavor to it, but it was an amazing taste.

Right around the time he felt her hit her peak, Sam got an Essence spike ready for her.

Jes beat him to it, though, skewering Wren with her own Essence spike.

Trembling hard, Wren let out a low moan against Jes’s slit, her mouth still pressed hard to the Succubus. Then Wren started to squirt all over Sam’s thighs.

How delightful. I haven’t had a squirter in a while. She’s a definite keeper.

As Wren flew upward to her new peak, Sam waited. He ate from her and smashed her down into Jes with his hips.

When Wren finally started to tumble down, Sam slammed his own Essence spike into her, not letting up on her at all. He was absolutely determined to take everything from Wren.

She could handle it, after all; she was a Cambion.

Wren couldn’t move outside of the wild shuddering of her body as her mind could barely register anything anymore.

“He’s going to cum now, Wren. Show him you want it—show him you want his child. Earn it. Earn it right now. Earn your race’s respect, be the Cambion you should be,” Jes said and made Wren explode into sexual heights she’d never known. “Earn your pregnancy.”

Wren cried out into Jes’s privates and practically threw herself backward at Sam. She squeezed hard on him with her channel, rolling her whole body with it. Her mind was gone, lost in Jes’s provocation and the massive orgasm she was still riding.

High-pitched moans were constant in Sam’s ears as Wren became way beyond overstimulated.

Feeling his own desire at the right spot, he contemplated pulling out of Wren and diving into Jes.

“Fill ’er up, sweetie. You already taste amazing,” Jes said. “Fill ’er up to the brim. She’s earned all of it. Till she drips.”

Sam lost control of his climax and came hard. Pushing down into Wren, he did his best to do what Jes had told him. He wanted to put it directly into her womb.

Grunting, he thrust hard into Wren, who only moaned in response, pushing back into him and still eating Jes out.

He could feel Jes feeding on him, even as he pushed harder into the Cambion. Then she spiked him, and Sam lost all control and did his best to thrust through Wren and impregnate her.

A minute later, Sam finally came down, Wren bent down low between him and Jes, moaning.

“Good job, Sweetie,” Jes said, still holding Wren’s head, her fingers idly sliding through her hair. “Keep at it, Wren; I need a cool down. That was a lovely climax for me.”

Wren only moaned and rolled her hips into Sam. She continued to push back into Sam’s hilt as she kept her head down between Jes’s thighs.

Checking quickly, Sam found he’d almost lost control over his ability to prevent his partners from getting pregnant.

But thankfully, he hadn’t. He’d put a dry load in Wren.

Jes had almost gone full Succubus on him and made him do something against his will.

Grinning at his partner, Sam raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if she knew how close it had come.

Jes only smiled at him as Wren continued to eat her out.

She knew.

“Let’s go again, actually,” Jes said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sam said.

Patting Wren on the hip he gave Jess a smile.

“Roll over Wren, this time we’ll pin you down,” he said.

Wren moaned and slowly pulled herself off Sam, and away from Jes. Rolling onto her back into the wet spot she’d made.

Sam watched with amusement as the dazed and extremely well stimulated Cambion sunk into the bed. She spread her legs wide open and laid there.

“Good girl,” Jes said and then sat herself down lightly on Wren’s face. She moved Wren’s hands around until she could put her knees into them. Effectively trapping the upper portion of the Cambion down. “Work my clit this time. Lots of tongue. Okay?”

Wren moaned under Jes, her chin moving up and down as she got to work.

Grinning, Sam took hold of Wren’s thighs, and then pushed his slick manhood up into her.

With a wet squish seed spilled out of her and dripped down along her flesh. Wren shivered and moaned again, her stomach flexing.

Pulling Wren’s knees up, Sam held onto her, and started riding her once more.

***

“Turn left up ahead,” Tiffany said.

Sam nodded and then eased into the left lane.

“I can’t believe that happened,” Wren said from behind them.

“It did happen, and it was great,” Jes said. “All four times.”

The Cambion seemed floored at the three way they’d had. Floored and worried.

“I’m not pregnant,” Wren said.

“No. You’re not pregnant,” Jes confirmed again. “You can try to earn it again next time.”

This exact exchange had already occurred five times.

“Did you break her?” Tiffany asked with a nervous laugh in the passenger seat.

Sam glanced over and gave her a wide smile.

“You’ll find out later,” he said.

Tiffany blinked several times at that and then nodded her head, swallowing hard. “Yeah, guess I will.”

“Not for a few days, though,” Jes said. “I’m thinking Sam and I are going to enjoy Wren for a while. Lots to experience.”

“You are?” Wren asked.

“Oh yes. Lots and lots to explore,” Jes said.

Glancing in the rear-view mirror after completing his turn, Sam saw Wren staring back at him with wide eyes.

Her brownish-red eyes looked nervous and a touch eager.

Personally, Sam didn’t care who he ate, and he didn’t mind feasting on Wren for a while. She’d been scrumptious and very willing.

“T-turn there,” Tiffany said. “Turn right into that bay there.”

She sounded nervous to Sam. Either from his teasing word play or having to dismiss her pack, he wasn’t sure.

Spinning the wheel, Sam did as instructed. Then he put the SUV in park and looked at Tiffany.

“Okay, go take care of that and come right back out. I’d like to be done here by today,” Sam said. “I can hit your landlord up and get your lease broken without a penalty, and you can get to moving out.”

Tiffany nodded quickly.

“Of course. Sure. Yeah,” she said, opening the door and getting out.

“I’ve never seen her so quick to please someone,” Wren said. “She normally fights, attacks, or kills anyone in her way.”

“Didn’t give her much choice,” Sam said. “Her mind was incredibly strong, though. She’s acting the part of a very loyal beta right now.”

“Yes. She’s the single strongest and scariest Were I’ve met,” Wren said. “I always lose in our spars.”

Nodding at that, Sam didn’t respond. He sighed and then leaned to one side, resting his head on the glass of the window.

“I don’t have an apartment here, so we can go once I finish up my job,” Wren said.

“Oh, that’s right. You’re a hitman,” Jes said. “Do you primarily take jobs for other criminals, or…?”

“Both criminals and normal people,” Wren said. “Job is a job.”

“No more of those types of contracts,” Jes said firmly. “As long as you’re mine, you’ll only be going for criminals. We’ll be a force for good. Or at least as good as I can make it.”

Snickering to himself, Sam couldn’t help but wonder how in the world he’d gotten saddled with a Goody Two-shoes for a Succubus.

“Okay,” Wren said. “My last contract isn’t very hard. Once I finish it, I’ll run them by you going forward.”

“That’d be grand. Thank you, Wren,” Jes said. “What was your last contract?”

“I need to eliminate a witness. I was going to take care of it tomorrow, but I can do it tonight,” Wren said.

“Lovely. After that, we can head back, finish the contract, and go home,” Jes said. “Irma will be happy to meet you and Tiffany.”

“Irma?” Wren asked.

“Oh, Irma is Sam’s First Imp. He’s a planar lord,” Jes said.

“You… he… you’re a planar lady, I thought,” Wren said.

“I am,” Jes agreed.

“And he’s a planar lord?” Wren asked.

“He is. He’s my partner,” Jes said.

“You’re both planar lords, and you’re working together?” Wren said.

“Yes,” Sam said, butting in. “And yes, I know it’s strange. But Jes is… different.”

“They say a planar lord is usually as strong as they are old… How old are you?” Wren asked.

“I had sex with cavewomen,” Sam said. He was somewhat bored, but the conversation wasn’t terrible.

“A week, I think?” Jes said.

“I… I don’t… okay. Okay. I’m… okay. Yes,” Wren said. “Cavewomen. A week.”

Sam imagined she was having difficulties with the idea of his age. Cambion were creatures bred for a purpose.

Breeding and fighting.

He didn’t need to peek into her head to know she was probably grappling with the compulsion to get pregnant with his child immediately.

Poor creatures. It’s a wonder how the lord of the Angels allowed such a thing. It isn’t as if the Demon Lord has been around.

Even the majority of his armies fled with him.

“Do we have to kill the witness?” Jes asked.

“I need to complete my contract. It was given to me by Marin—that’s the Vampire in control of the den in Saint Anthony,” Wren said. “That or get her to remove the contract. I can’t afford to just break it.”

“Why not?” Jes asked.

“Because if I fail the contract, they’ll probably go after my family,” Wren said. “You asked me to sign on with you, and I did. I’m asking you to respect this so I can protect them.”

“That’s fine, I’m sorry. I was just curious,” Jes said. “Where’s this witness then?”

“Outside of the city. She lives alone with her two daughters,” Wren said. “She’s apparently a witness to something Marin did. Don’t know the details. I just know Marin wants her gone. I have the address in my pack in the back.

“Shouldn’t take long to drive out to her place and dust her.”

Sam sighed and closed his eyes. He already had a deep suspicion of who Wren was supposed to kill.

“Is her name Alison?” Sam asked, lifting his head up and looking at Wren in the rear-view mirror.

“Huh? Uh… I can’t remember. Let me look.” Wren turned around to her pack in the back of the SUV.

She started to go through it, looking for whatever instructions she’d been given.

“You think it is?” Jes asked.

“I do,” Sam said. “Because that’s just my luck so far on this one. And I can’t seem to shake it.”

“Ah, got it,” Wren said. “And… yes. Her name’s Alison. Lives out of the city, two daughters, only a kill contract on Alison. The girls can live.

“Which is the only reason I was willing to take the contract. I don’t kill children.”

Sam closed his eyes again and laid his head back into his hand. He didn’t want to think about this anymore.

The amount of work he was putting into this contract was far in excess of what he was collecting from Alison.

Damn Abigail. Damn Alisa.

Stupid… stupid me. I’m such an idiot.

The door opened and then shut.

“All done. They’re dispersing. Apparently they’re going to head out west to the coast,” Tiffany said. “Apparently they didn’t want to stick around any longer than they had to. They were pretty damn happy to go.”

“You smell like blood,” Wren said.

“Well, most of them were pretty damn happy. One of them wanted to fight me for leadership, so I killed him. After that, they all took off,” Tiffany said. “No muss, no fuss.”

“Great,” Sam said, not opening his eyes. “Because we apparently have another problem. Though it’s not exactly a new one.

“Wren here is contracted to kill my client. So now I need to go find this vampire… What was her name again?”

“Marin,” Wren said.

“Yeah, Marin,” Tiffany agreed.

“Marin the vampire. Cute.

“Right, so, find Marin and pull her head off or glamour her into the ground. Because there’s no end to my misery on this contract,” Sam said. “If this were any other woman and not the blood of Alisa, I’d have her paying me with her body for days on end. Daily at the least for an entire year. This is just… this is just too much.”

“Hm. Let’s call Alison and see what she knows. Then maybe call Irma and see if she has anything to add,” Jes said. “Back to Tiffany’s place?”

“Sure. I don’t have a better plan,” Sam said, then put the SUV in reverse. “Your plan it is. We’ll have Wren a few more time, figure out dinner for them, call Alison and Irma, and go from there.”

“Have me again?” Wren asked.

“Uh huh,” Jes said, leaning over to kiss Wren’s cheek. “Probably three or four times a day till we’re tired of eating from you. Then we’ll move to Tiffany, and then you can alternate back and forth.”

Wren only nodded her head, not making eye contact with Sam.

Poor Cambion. Her instincts are probably driving her wild.

Ah well, off we go.

Seventeen - Empty Net -

Sighing, Sam picked up Tiffany’s phone and then began to tap in Alison’s number.

It started ringing at the same time Sam turned to look at the three women in the living room.

Jes was grilling both of her new mercenaries for information. It sounded like she was trying to get what they were good at out of them.

Mission planning, I guess.

Seems like work.

“Hello?” asked Alison on the line.

“Hey, it’s me,” Sam said.

“Oh, hello. Is… is it all done then?” she asked.

“Almost. Ran into a new problem. Did your ex ever mention a lady by the name of Marin?” Sam asked.

“Mar… oh, oh, yes. I—he did. I met her once… She was with a young lady. Tom needed to talk to her about something,” Alison said. “She seemed rather angry about him showing up. I just figured it was something for work and… and didn’t think anything more of it.”

“Right… hm. The young lady she was with, didn’t recognize her or anything?” Sam asked.

“No,” Alison said.

“Could you describe her?” Sam asked.

Jes had moved on from asking questions of both of them to opening a portal straight to Sam’s personal plane. The two women were looking through to the other side and seemed amazed at all they saw.

“Not really. I only saw her for a moment,” Alison said.

“…a damn castle,” Tiffany said, pointing off into the distance.

“Sounds like whoever you saw her with, you weren’t supposed to. Marin has a contract out on you. She wants you dead,” Sam said. “Which means I need to go even further on this deal and get rid of her next.

“You wouldn’t exactly keep the claim on your house if you were dead.”

“Oh heavens, Tom. What’d you do to us?” Alison muttered. It sounded like she was having a rather hard time of it right now.

“He did what he felt he had to, and screwed up,” Sam said. “Personally, I don’t think I’d be able to get into such a risky venture with a child involved, but I’m not exactly human.”

“Yeah… yeah. Alright. Do you… do you need me to do something? Do I need to… to pay you more, or… I don’t know,” Alison said. “What do I do?”

Sam pressed a hand to his forehead and somehow managed to reign himself in. “No. I agreed to this at the price set. I’ll finish it at the price set. It’s just unfortunate, I guess.”

“Thank you, Sameerixis,” Alison said. When she said his name like that, it sounded a lot like Alisa.

Unnervingly so.

“Right. Anyways. Gotta go,” Sam said. “If someone shows up at the house, don’t answer the door. If anything, hide. Do you have a gun?”

“Yes. A shotgun,” Alison said.

“Good. Load it, keep it handy. Just in case. Maybe send the girls to a sleep-over or a relative. Anyways, I’ll try to get this wrapped up today as quickly as possible,” Sam said.

“Okay, I understand. Thank you. Bye for now, Sam,” Alison said and then hung up the phone.

Sam looked back to the living room.

“All set,” he said, meeting Jes’s eyes.

“Good,” Jes said. “Tiffany, can you get yourself and Wren dinner? Sam and I are going to eat real quick while you get that going.”

Tiffany looked slightly unnerved, but she nodded.

“Alright,” said the small Were.

“Great. Come on, Wren. Time for another set. We’ll go again when we get home, and then maybe again just before bed,” Jes said, taking the Cambion by the hand and leading her out toward the guest bedroom.

“I-I-I… okay. Yes. Okay. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much sex before,” Wren said.

“You’ll get used to it, I promise,” Jes said, leading her into the hallway.

Sam followed with a smile and caught Tiffany staring at him.

“Be eating you later,” he said with a nod of his head to her before leaving with his partner and Wren.

***

Staring up at the fanciful entrance, Sam wanted to just break into Marin’s apartment and get her in her sleep.

He could hear a deep thumping coming from inside, and he already knew it would be impossible to hear anything in there.

Had to be a night club.

How absolutely cliché.

Then again, I suppose a vampire could flourish in a place like this.

Dark, loud, a lot of people looking for sex in the wrong way—or acceptance.

If you own the club, run it with feeding in mind, and give people special privileges, like… say a backroom party to separate people you’re interested in out of the crowd.

Hm.

I suppose I could make it work. But then again, I don’t really need to.

Wren and Tiffany were waiting in the SUV.

Jes and Sam had both felt it would be too revealing to have the two of them coming along. It might even spook Marin.

They needed to catch the vampire alone. From there, Sam would glamour her brain to mush.

If that failed, he’d just crush her skull with his Essence and then plane jump to Alison’s house.

That option was a last resort, though, as it would take a rather large expenditure of Essence.

And any loss of Essence that could be avoided was key right now.

There were a lot of things Sam would rather spend it on, even going so far as to improve his plane.

Like bringing over hundreds of humans and letting them live on the plane, all feeding me with their lives and deaths.

I’ll not get caught again without a backup.

I wonder if I can create a sort of naturalist colony, one that’s dedicated to non-carbon emission and green technology.

Hm.

“…can’t let you in,” a man said calmly to a group of people standing at the front of the night club.

The man in front of the group made some comment and walked away.

Shaking his head, the man who was clearly a bouncer folded his hands in front of him and went back to standing guard.

Glancing down at himself, Sam felt prepared. He was a bit more dressed up than usual, in a tight-fitting dark polo and slacks with designer shoes. It was all part of the plan.

Jes was next to him in what he could barely describe as a dress; it felt more like a strip of cloth sewn into a tube that went from her breasts to her hips.

Standing side by side, he was sure they would get everyone’s attention.

“I’m sorry I ca— Uh…” the bouncer stopped dead when he looked at Sam and Jes head on.

“What are you sorry for?” Jes asked, giving him a wide smile.

Sam smiled at the man as well, waiting for any type of response.

“That, uh… Sorry, I didn’t catch your names,” the man recovered.

“I’m Jes, and this is Sam,” Jes said, touching Sam’s arm. “Can we go in?”

“Course, uh, sure, yeah,” said the bouncer, looking incredibly flustered. He grabbed the gate and hurriedly pulled it open. “Go on in. Welcome to Vermilion.”

Smiling, the two sex demons walked past the man, and it was only then that Sam realized the bouncer had been staring hard at Sam.

Sorry, friend, I don’t go that way.

Though I’ll wish for everyone’s personal enjoyment and your happiness as well.

Sam and Jes walked arm in arm through the door and came into a small antechamber-like room, then proceeded directly into the club.

Sam felt like he’d been struck physically in the chest with how heavy and hard the music was pounding.

Jes said something with a small frown on her face, and it was obvious to Sam that she felt the same way he did.

Shrugging his shoulders since he couldn’t hear her anyways, he kept moving inward.

Jes stayed near his side but didn’t seem to need to cling to him.

To be fair, any Succubus was at least several times stronger than a power lifter.

It paid to have a body that wasn’t mortal or truly physical.

Drifting through the press of bodies dancing to a beat that was too fast for Sam and far too loud, the pair made sure they were visible while viewing others.

They wanted to be seen by Marin, and hopefully she was in house right now.

Otherwise, it might be a long night of nursing drinks in a corner, looking standoffish while speaking to only a select few.

Jes pulled Sam’s head down and pressed her lips to his ear.

“Let’s get a private booth. That might make it easier for Marin to notice us,” she practically shouted in his ear.

Unable to fault her logic, Sam nodded. If they wanted to get noticed, that’d be a pretty good way of going about it.

Especially if Marin was paying attention to her club.

Jes sauntered over to the bar with Sam in tow. He could feel the desire on everyone’s mind either for Sam or Jes or both of them as they moved through the crowd.

It wasn’t unexpected, of course; they were made to physically please and feed from others. If they weren’t attractive, they’d be pretty terrible at their existence.

Though he knew firsthand that he himself was one of the more handsome Incubi, and Jes was definitely an extremely well-put-together Succubus.

You know, this could be a terrible idea. I’m sure we could handle ourselves, but a crowd of humans is a problem for anyone… even the strongest would have issues with a crowd.

Bouncing up to a bartender, Jes tilted her head to one side, then shifted her weight to one hip and leaned forward.

The man had almost no chance against her, even before she glamoured him. Jes was quickly developing into a very talented Succubus. It was mildly infuriating at times to Sam. It’d taken him a long time to really come into his own power.

Sam felt only a whisper touch of power from Jes as she glamoured her way into getting a private booth and service.

All more than likely comped without a hint of payment offered. Standing there next to Jes, Sam continued to look around. With any luck, he could spot their target before she spotted them.

Then again, there was always the possibility they wouldn’t have any luck.

Marin might not even be here.

Keeping a cool and calm countenance, Sam tried a sardonic smile and kept his eyes moving.

Image was important with things like this. And right now, he had to keep to what he and Jes had agreed on. Two upper-echelon pretty people demeaning themselves to go to a club.

Let’s… hope she shows up.

***

Lounging against the sofa, Sam was done.

They’d been sitting in the club for a number of hours, entertained a number of attractive people they’d offered invitations to, and had a number of drinks brought over.

All at no charge, of course.

And yet Marin hadn’t shown, despite there being a number of Vampires having come and gone. A few had even come to check on Jes and Sam. Both as employees and just club-goers.

“I’m hungry, bored, and my ears hurt,” Jes said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty much the same,” Sam said. “Wanna get out of here?”

“Mmhmm. I do. Let’s go eat Wren, then go to bed,” Jes said, lifting her arms above her head and stretching in a quite fetching way. “I want to see you paint her face this time, though. I’ll just watch for a while. Then she can go down on me when she’s done with you. She needs to be used to really hit those high notes in her desires.”

Sam chuckled at that. “You just like bossing her around for me.”

“I do n—” Jes paused mid-sentence, then shrugged and let her arms fall back down. “I guess I do. I like bossing her around. Using her on you. Making her do what I want. I’m sure I’ll do the same to Tiffany.

“It… it isn’t the same as feeding from you, but I get a little bit out of them when I hit the right points in their head. Wren is especially easy. The need for her to carry a child is massive. Which means she really wants to please you. Couple that with being used by two demons, and she’s a puddle.”

“Poor, poor Cambion,” Sam said with a chuckle, getting up to his feet.

They quickly fled the night club, having nothing more to do and not wanting to wait any longer.

When they got outside, the line waiting at the door was significantly longer, and it was probably early in the morning.

Not waiting, Sam started walking back toward the SUV. They’d parked it in a garage nearby. A quick whammy on the attendant and they’d gotten a parking slip without a problem at all.

As they walked into the garage, Sam frowned.

He wasn’t the most situationally aware person in the world, but he could feel desire.

He’d be a terrible Incubus if he couldn’t.

“Oh, we seem to have an admirer,” Jes murmured, giving Sam a smile. “Shall we let Tiffany or Wren take care of them?”

“Probably best. I’d rather not use Essence,” Sam said honestly.

Jes nodded, and they kept walking back to their SUV. Thankfully, the parking lot was mostly empty by this point.

Tiffany and Wren would be likely to see whoever was following them long before they made it to the car.

“Hey,” called a feminine voice behind them.

Oh? They want to talk? That’s different.

“Hey yourself,” Sam called without turning to look.

Whoever it was had followed them out of the club. He wasn’t about to see who or what they wanted until he was closer to the SUV.

“I wanted to talk to you,” said the woman.

“About what?” Jes replied. “And which one of us?”

“Either one of you, since it was fairly obvious you were hoping to meet someone,” continued the woman. “From my point of view, it kinda seemed like you were hoping to meet Marin.

“Why else would you go to all that trouble just to sit there and look bored?”

Sam felt his eyebrows raise at that and turned his head partially to Jes.

She had a curious look on her face as well, but neither of them stopped walking.

“That’s a curious assumption,” Sam said. “Why would I want to meet this Marin?

“For all you know, we were waiting for someone who never showed up.”

“Because no one’s ever seen either of you in the Vermilion before. I asked around,” said the woman. “And no one as good looking as either of you would have gone unnoticed.”

Sam stopped next to the SUV and turned to face the woman who’d been following him.

It was a Vampire, curiously enough.

She was about medium height with an athletic figure, and definitely pretty. She had light green eyes and curly blond hair cut short. There was no lacking in beauty for this part of the Vampire race. They were often selected deliberately for their looks and little else.

They’d originally been chosen to be infiltrators—though in this timeline, in this place, that practice had died out.

Now, the rather large number of idiotic good-looking Vampires was often comparable to TV personalities at best.

“And why are you so curious about us?” Jes asked. She tilted her head to one side and took several steps to the left, putting the Vampire in a V between Sam and Jes.

The Vampire looked at Jes with a strange expression. She couldn’t seem to decide how to take the other woman’s action.

Then again, she probably didn’t realize Sam and Jes both knew exactly what she was.

Turning to Sam, the woman took in a quick breath and then let it out. “I’m Stacia. That’s my name. You seem to be looking for Marin, or that’s my guess.

“The problem is no one’s seen her since she gave a contract to a local hitman. With you showing up the way you did, it’s rather curious.”

“I’m deeply afraid you have the wrong idea,” Sam said, slowly walking away from the SUV. He and Jes put the vampire between themselves in a line. “And I think you might have possibly overestimated yourself.”

“I can take care of myself,” Stacia the vampire said. She sounded confident, but Sam had the impression she wasn’t really sure about that.

The SUV shifted and the doors popped open.

Out came Tiffany and Wren.

Tiffany was in her hybrid form, that strange mix of human genetics and a full Were body.

She was the same size she’d been previously, but she looked absolutely built. The muscles stood out under a light covering of fur, and her fingers had become claws. On top of that, her face had developed a muzzle. Her lips peeled back in a soundless snarl, displaying long, sharp teeth.

Wren shut the car door and flexed her hands, her eyes slowly growing lighter and lighter in color.

“Hello, Stacia,” she said, the red mist on her exhalation signaling her rising bloodlust.

“Wren?” Stacia asked, looking nervous. Her eyes flicked from Jes to Sam to Wren to Tiffany. “What…? No. You’re not just here for Marin for a meeting. You’re here to kill her.”

“Tch, well, that’s a shame,” Sam said, getting Stacia’s attention. “I can’t really let you run around with that kind of information in your head.

“So how about you just… stay still right there for me.”

Stacia became rooted to the spot as the glamour hit her.

“You’re… you’re not human. What are you?” she asked.

“Nothing you need concern yourself about,” Sam said, gazing into her eyes. He had her completely enthralled and under his dominion now. “Tell me, little Vampire. Why did you want to talk to us? And do you know where Marin is?”

“I wanted to talk to you because I want to be Marin,” Stacia said. “I don’t know where she is.”

“Do you perhaps have an idea of where she might be?” Sam asked.

“I think she’s hiding. Probably at a location she owns but doesn’t think anyone knows about. I’d probably start tracking her properties down,” Stacia said. Her tone was clear and her words precise, but it was obvious she wasn’t really there. His glamour was in full effect. “She’s not very bright. With so much heat coming down from everything, she vanished.”

“Mm. And that contract she put out on someone—do you know anything about that?” Sam asked.

Stacia nodded slightly, her green eyes wide and staring into Sam. “Marin had a high-schooler with her. Drained her and dropped her in the river some time ago. Body came back up recently, though. Made the news. The contract was on a witness.”

“Hmph, bad luck for Alison, I suppose,” Sam said with a shake of his head. “Alright. Let’s… wipe your memories and send you on your way, little Vampire. You’re still young; it’d be a shame to stomp you out.”

Sam smiled and then wiped her memories clear of the entire situation. He replaced them with the idea that she’d drunk from someone who was very stoned and she hadn’t known it.

Drinking from humans with certain medications running through their bloodstream was the only way for Vampires to experience a high.

Slipping a simple “go back to work” command into her head, Sam motioned at the SUV.

“Everyone in the car. I’ll break my hold over her once we’re all out of sight,” he said.

The lovely Vampire began stumbling away from Sam and the SUV. She was following the command to go back to work, now having every memory of the situation cleared from her head.

Waiting until she was practically at the doors to the elevator, Sam broke his control over her and got into the car.

“That’d explain why we didn’t find Marin,” Jes said, turning in her seat toward Sam. She looked back to Wren and Tiffany and waved a hand at them. “No luck at all, in fact. Not even a hint of her being there.”

Wren nodded. “Okay.”

I do love how simple she is.

Tiffany looked bored and frustrated, her teeth flashing as she shook her head. “Damn Vamps. The whole world would be better without them.”

“Let’s call Irma,” Jes said, looking at Sam. “I think if anyone has the ability to figure out what properties Marin owned, it’s her. Maybe we should have Hillary join us, too.”

Not a terrible idea in either case.

“Right. Let’s do that,” Sam said. “Back to Tiffany’s. Call Irma, several rounds with Wren, sleep.”

“Good plan,” Tiffany said. “You forgot the part where we kill Marin.”

“Yes, and kill Marin,” Wren said, nodding her head.

Sam sighed. He wanted to do that, but it would be better to capture her.

Eighteen - Oil and Water -

Yawning, Sam rolled over.

Except there wasn’t much room to move.

The guest bedroom in Tiffany’s apartment only had a full-size bed in it. With him, Wren, and Jes all in it together, it was a sweaty, hot tangle of arms and legs.

It worked for sex, but sleeping was a bit more difficult.

Sam found himself face first in Wren’s armpit, one of her arms dangling around him loosely.

Carefully and as gently as possible, Sam pulled his legs out from Wren’s and then slid out from her grasp. Getting out of the bed, he flipped the covers up over her naked body and walked out into the living room.

Tiffany was awake, sitting on the couch and staring at her hands.

“Morning,” Sam said, walking to the phone. He was supposed to call Irma as soon as he woke up.

“Huh? Oh. Morning,” Tiffany said, looking up at him. Her eyes tracked down to his privates and back up.

“You alright?” Sam asked as he picked the phone up off the receiver.

“Yeah… yeah. Just… uh… just adjusting,” Tiffany said, shaking her head. “Just contemplating things. The cash advance Jes is paying us on the job is going to wipe out my debts. I’m going to be debt free. She said I could quit after two years, too. If I wanted.”

Sam thought on that as he dialed Irma’s phone number.

True. I was only going to kill her because she knew too much. After a year or two, it won’t matter anyways. She’ll be too deep to do anything.

And if she tries, Jes can just pull on her branding.

Just like Hillary, I suppose.

The line began to ring, and Sam pulled it up to his ear.

“That’s fair,” he said. “Nothing wrong with that line of thought.”

“Hello?” Irma mumbled on the other end of the line.

“Good morning, Irma,” Sam said, grinning at the sleepy sound in her voice.

“Uuuuugh. It’s way too early, Sammy,” Irma grumbled. “Do you even know the time?”

“No. I said I’d call when I woke up. I woke up,” Sam said. “So I’m calling.”

Tiffany started laughing from nearby. “It’s four in the morning. Your wife is probably pissed.”

“Who’s that?” Irma asked, having apparently heard Tiffany. “I’m not pissed, but I’m definitely not happy.”

“It’s Tiffany, the Were,” Sam said, looking at said woman. “I plan on taking a big, wet bite out of her in a few days. I think she’ll be extremely… flavorful.”

The Were blinked a few times at that statement, her cheeks coloring.

“Oh, stop it. You’re just trying to get a rise out of her. Stop playing with your food,” Irma said with a soft chuckle. “I couldn’t find anything on Marin, so I asked if Auntie could help. She said she couldn’t, but that she had a contact she could share with you.

“She’d consider it a debt; you’d have to give her something in equal trade later.”

“That’s fine. Contractors are just that way, though they’re not unreasonable,” Sam said. “Who’s her contact?”

“It’s Great-Uncle David,” Irma said. “I used to see him whenever we visited Auntie. We just called him Uncle Dave. He’s rather nice. Always gave me really nice dolls when I was a little girl.

“You have to be nice to him. Okay?”

“I can do that. Especially to someone who was kind to you as a child,” Sam said. “Your happiness is important to me.”

“Mmm. Thank you for saying that. I’m going to make sure to treat you when you get home,” Irma said. “Got a pen or a pencil? I’ll read you the address; then I’m going back to bed.”

“Yep, got one,” Sam said, pulling on the phone cord and moving several feet over to a pen and pad of paper.

This’ll be interesting.

Sam wrote down the address as Irma read it off, his mind partially distracted.

“Okay. I’m going to bed. I’ll call you if I get any info. Love you, Sammy,” Irma said, yawning.

“Yep, love you too. Sleep well,” Sam said, laying down the pen a moment before the line went dead.

“Do you?” Tiffany asked.

“Do I what?” Sam replied, putting the phone down on the receiver.

“Love her. That seems… beyond the normal expectations for an Incubus. That or I’ve been told a whole lot of lies,” Tiffany said.

Frowning, Sam thought on her question.

Truly, deeply, and seriously, he considered exactly what he’d just said to Irma.

“I suppose I do at that. I do far too much for her simply because I know it would make her happy,” Sam said. “I also go out of my way in fact to insure she gets what she wants. Against my own nature, I put her needs above my own at times.

“From my understanding of love, I do indeed love her.”

“Does the idea of her being with another man make your heart ache?” Tiffany prodded. “The idea of her leaving you leaves you with a cold dread?”

In the microcosm of a second that Sam considered Irma in the arms of another man, he felt a blinding bright rage come to life in his chest.

He snuffed it out as quick as it’d come on, surprised by its intensity. He was left with only a strange feeling of fear at the follow-up thought of her meeting someone else.

“I… I… yes. Yes,” Sam said. The feelings he was experiencing were uncomfortable to him. Uncomfortable and unnerving.

Tiffany was staring at him with wide eyes. As if he were a true demon.

Looking down at himself and then into a nearby mirror, Sam realized why.

He’d reverted to his original form. The form he’d been born into and hadn’t seen in the mirror for a while.

A very long while.

Horns came straight up from his temples into sharp points. His eyes were a black color with a red inner-glow. His wings were in full view, and his fingers ended in sharp claws. He looked very much like himself, just with a lot of demonic imagery.

“Oh. There’s a blast from the past,” Sam said, then removed all those features with a thought.

“I’m going to go wake up Wren and have breakfast,” he said. He could use a meal right now. Things weren’t what he expected them to be anymore.

***

Sam knocked on the door and folded his hands behind his back. There wasn’t much to do until “Uncle Dave” answered the door.

“It’s a beautiful apartment building,” Tiffany said from somewhere behind him.

“I like the colors,” Wren said.

Jes wasn’t with them now. She’d stayed back at Tiffany’s apartment just in case Irma called with more information.

The door opened, and Sam found himself looking into a familiar face.

It was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his mid-thirties. Light brown hair and brown eyes with a bright blue ring around the pupils.

He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.

“Ha,” Sam said with a grin. “You’re still kicking around?”

Glaring up at Sam, the man shook his head.

“Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin, why are you here, at this hour, at my doorstep?” said the man, using three of Sam’s eight names.

“Because Irma and Melody gave me your information,” Sam said with a grin. “Uncle Dave, huh? That’s a new one.”

Dave blinked owlishly, then sighed. “You’re Irma’s new boyfriend, aren’t you? Melody told me about you.

“Fine, come in. Come in.”

Dave flicked a hand over his shoulder after he turned back into his apartment.

Sam, Wren, and Tiffany entered after the man.

Sighing, Dave sat down in a tasteful and comfortable-looking couch.

“Are you at least being nice to Irma? You’ve had problems in the past with being nice,” Dave said.

“I’m being very nice to her. I’m apparently in love with her. It’s a new and enlightening experience,” Sam said, sitting down.

“Hmph, and who are these two? Were and a Cambion.” Dave gestured at the two women.

“Oh, they work for my partner. I just feed from them,” Sam said dismissively. If he didn’t have to bring them up to Dave, then he wouldn’t. There was nothing good to come from being known to this man.

Dave sighed again and looked at Sam. “Well? What is it?”

“Looking for a local Vamp. Marin. She put out a contract on a client. I’m just trying to make sure the woman doesn’t end up dead and can put her kids through college,” Sam said. Lying to Dave was a bad idea. He was one of the few entities probably older than Sam.

“Marin? Marin… Marin… Oh, that one,” Dave said. “She’s hiding out in a rental home. Just barely outside the city. It’s a Vampire den.

“PID is probably going to raid it sometime in the next day or two. If you can’t get to her before she gets caught in that raid, you’re not going to get another chance at her for a while.”

Dave had always had an uncanny ability to see what was likely to happen, as well as what had already happened.

He’d never been this forthcoming with information for Sam before, though. It made him leery.

“And before you ask, it’s because Irma is apparently happy, according to Melody. That and she said you sold her a few tricks that made her life easier,” Dave said. “I just hadn’t put two and two together that it was you.”

Sam peered at his old acquaintance with an unasked question in his mind.

This was the Guardian.

The single oldest entity Sam had ever met. He didn’t have any idea how strong Dave was, but he’d known a number of people who had simply vanished after dealing with him.

The Guardian didn’t just give information away for nothing because of an acquaintance.

“She your daughter?” Sam asked after staring at the other man for a few seconds. “Niece?”

Dave closed his eyes and put a hand over them. “Sam, I really don’t… yes. Melody’s my daughter. Okay?

“And how the hell are you back? I thought Jena locked you away for all time. Your fate was sealed.”

Sam shrugged and tried to act nonchalant.

The fact that the Guardian had given in to a woman and had a daughter was massive news.

It was terrifying.

The old man had not only given every other entity leverage over him, he’d also just told Sam for nothing.

Sam was absolutely freaking out that Dave was going to kill him here and now. Nothing else would make sense.

“Old client wrote down all her notes about me and how to summon me. Great-granddaughter with maybe another great or two found it, summoned me up. Drowning in college debt, asked me to help her solve it.”

“Mm. Can’t say much about that. You did at least usually solve problems in a way that they could self-maintain,” Dave said. Then he leaned forward over his coffee table and started writing something down. “Alright, there ya go. Let me know if you need anything else. Otherwise, I need to get ready for work.”

Dave held out the slip of paper to Sam.

Sam took it, feeling strange about the situation.

He and Dave had gotten along well enough as neutral parties in the past, but there really hadn’t been any reason to work with one another.

They had avoided one another.

“Uhm, thanks,” Sam said, looking at the paper. “For what it’s worth… Irma said you were kind to her as a child. She mentioned you giving her nice dolls… and… uh… thanks. Irma’s important to me, so… yeah.

“Let me know if you need anything, too.”

Staring at the Incubus, Dave looked as confused as Sam felt.

“I… yeah. Yeah, I’ll let you know. Mel is, ah… Mel is going to have a party here in about six months,” Dave said. “Birthday party. Be sure to remind Irma about it. You two should probably buy airline tickets early if possible, or… yeah.”

“I have an open portal on the outskirts. We’ll just pop through that and drive over,” Sam said, feeling beyond strange now. “I’ll leave ya be so you can get ready. Want me to let you know what happens just to keep you informed?”

“Sure. Thanks. It’s always good to have more information,” Dave said.

“Right, see ya later,” Sam said. “Oh—wait, before I go. Have you heard… anything from the higher planes? I haven’t felt a twitch or… anything.”

Frowning, Dave shook his head. “After… everything happened… they slowly got quieter and quieter. There hasn’t been a single noise from them in the last sixty years.”

“Got it. Thanks. Bye, Miles,” Sam said, waving at the man.

Getting up, he walked over to the door with Wren and Tiffany behind him.

It wasn’t until they got back to the SUV that anyone said anything.

“He felt very different,” Wren said. “Old.”

“Yeah. He’s been around before even I was. Pretty sure when the world was created, he was the first person here,” Sam said, getting into the car. “Discussing the rocks the first god had just put down with them.”

***

After driving by the house once, Sam hadn’t known what to think about it.

It’d had an everyday feel to it. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet clearly different from the rest. Like having a cupola, slate shingles, and very dark windows.

Wren had immediately spotted that there was even someone actually in the cupola.

After realizing just how defended the location was, Sam had driven them back to Tiffany’s apartment to regroup, collect Jes, and discuss how they wanted to handle it.

They didn’t have much time, according to Dave, and this was their chance to collect Marin.

But now Sam had a different problem.

As he put the car in park in the below-ground garage, Sam felt quite confused.

Standing in front of his car, in the guest space that had been given to Tiffany for her apartment, where’d they’d parked the SUV every time, was Stacia the vampire.

She looked annoyed, confused, and determined all at the same time.

“Wren, what do you know about her? She seemed to know you,” Sam said, staring at Stacia as she stared back at him.

“She’s incredibly intelligent. One of the smartest people I know,” Wren said. “She’s average with a gun, decent with hand-to-hand, and her blood magic is average.

“Really, her best attribute is her mind.”

“Tiffany,” Sam said, turning to look at the Were in the passenger seat. Unsurprisingly, she was already in her hybrid form. “Never mind.”

Opening his door, Sam got out.

“Can I help you, miss?” Sam asked, going for a neutral response. Hopefully, she didn’t know what was going on.

“You wiped my memories,” Stacia said. “I don’t know why or how, but you did it. I even know it was you specifically.”

Sam opened his mouth, then closed it.

“You’re right. I did. Before I wipe your memories again, how’d you know?” Sam asked. “It’d be easier if you told me, so I don’t have to go rooting around in your mind to figure it out.”

Stacia lifted her chin up, her shoulders squaring.

“I leave myself security notes. It’s something I learned to do after dealing with so many Vampires who like to ensorcel lesser Vampires,” Stacia said. “I made multiple notes, tapes, letters, and videos about this particular situation before I came here. Even if you wipe my memories, I’ll just come back again.

“I also made sure to set up a package to be delivered to the authorities if I’m not there to stop it.”

Surprised, Sam couldn’t help himself; he started to laugh. “I could always just rip the memories from your head and stop the package.”

“No, you couldn’t. I have it set up in such a way that I have to be there,” Stacia said. “And from what I saw and experienced, you can’t make me do something if I’m not close enough. I shook your compelling quickly once I got to the bottom of the parking garage. I didn’t want to go back to work.”

Licking his lips, Sam wasn’t sure what to say.

“Alright… and what is it you want, little Vampire. You have my interest,” Sam said.

“I want… I want to know why you want to see Marin,” Stacia said. “That first.”

“To kill her,” Sam said, shrugging his shoulders and holding up his hands. “At this point, I just want to kill her. Because otherwise, she’ll just be a problem for me in the future.”

“Got it. And… and what’s your plan for the coven?” Stacia asked.

“None. If I don’t have to kill anyone else, I won’t. If I have to stamp out the entire coven top to bottom, I’m going to do that,” Sam said.

“Just give the coven to me,” Stacia said. “I’m well versed in its running, I know all the books, and I know who the bosses are. I can make it look like business as usual, and no one would question Marin’s disappearance.”

Tilting his head to one side, Sam looked Stacia over more closely.

“Fine,” Sam said. “But I want more from you for my part of the deal. So far, I don’t get anything out of it. I’m still predisposed to wiping your memories. Or killing you.”

“I can give you money, power, whatever you want,” Stacia said, her voice changing pitch ever so slightly.

Apparently it wasn’t lost on her that she was putting herself in his power by approaching like this.

“The money and the like is fine; you can work that out with Irma. But what I really want from you is sex. I want to have a lot of it with you,” Sam said, indicating her with a finger. “I want you in my feed harem for as long as you lead the coven.”

“I… you… what?” Stacia asked, looking extremely confused and a little angry.

“I’m an Incubus. I want to dine on you,” Sam said. “Vampires have a great flavor that only improves over time. I’d like to have sex with you and eat from you regularly. That’s my price.”

“You… you don’t want anything, you just want… to have sex with me,” Stacia said.

“That’s right. Money is great and all, and I’ll gladly take a cut from your profits in the coven, but what I really want is to have sex with you,” Sam said in confirmation.

“I… I see. Ah… you’re an Incubus, you said?” Stacia asked.

“That’s right,” Sam said.

“I… okay. I think I can agree to that,” Stacia said. “But—”

“Oh, but you’ll have to have sex with me and my partner at the same time as often as not. She’s a Succubus. Great on the eyes, though—real pretty. You won’t regret it,” Sam said, interrupting her. He needed to include Jes.

At this point, even he knew he wasn’t getting away from her.

“A Succubus and an Incubus at the same time,” Stacia said, chewing lightly at her lower lip. “Alright, I’ll agree, but you have to let me feed from both of you as well.”

“That’s fine. I expected it, to be honest. Vampire orgasms are best when they’re being fed during sex,” Sam said. “Alright, come on. I’ll introduce you to my partner, and then we can seal our contract, though it’ll have to be in blood for now. Running out of time. We’re planning on raiding Marin’s base tonight. Which is why we’re here, to plan.”

Tiffany growled and shook her head.

“Nothing good comes of letting a Vampire join us,” she said, sliding back into her human-only form.

“And having a Were along is a great way to get fleas and ticks,” Stacia said with a beautiful smile.

“Shut up, both of you, or I’ll make you have sex with one another, and I’ll just watch,” Sam said, walking away. Wren walked quietly next to him. “I’ve done it before to my bonded and I’ll do it again.”

Nineteen - Forced -

Pulling off the highway, Hillary turned the SUV onto the street.

“Now just follow it to the end,” Jes said from beside her in the passenger seat.

In the back of the big SUV were Sam, Stacia, Wren, and Tiffany.

The Doppelganger had come through a planar rift Jes made, which strangely was an opening of her portal that led to Sam’s personal plane and ended out in Abigail’s apartment.

The fact that Jes could access his plane was something he’d known she could probably do given her intimacy with his brand, but he hadn’t expected her to actually do it so casually.

Beside him, Wren was going over her assault rifle one more time.

Atop her head was a mask to hide her face.

Tiffany and Stacia were making similar preparations. Though Tiffany was only checking body armor, a combat machete, and a shot gun.

Stacia was wearing body armor like the other two, but she had a series of pouches and other items fastened to her body.

Hillary would also be going in, and she had an SMG and pistol on her person in the front seat.

Jes and Sam would be coming up in the rear and then remaining at the entrance to the home. Just in case anyone wanted to get nosy.

“Quick review,” Wren said, pulling her mask down over her face. “I knock the door in.”

“I clear the doorway,” Tiffany growled, pulling down her own mask, which was significantly larger to accommodate her hybrid form. “Then move into the hallway.”

“I move in second,” Wren said. “I sweep the living room and kitchen, then pull back to hold the hallway.”

“I go in third,” Hillary said from the front. “I clear the rest of the hallway up to the bathroom and the stairwell up.”

“I hold the perimeter,” Stacia said.

“I remain with Jes in the car,” Sam said.

“Once the ground floor is secure, I take the second floor with Wren,” Tiffany said in an actual growl now, shifting into her hybrid form.

“I hold the stairwell down,” Hillary said.

“I wait till the second floor is clear, then go first into the basement,” Stacia said.

“I follow second into the basement,” Hillary said.

“I go third,” Wren said.

“Fourth,” Tiffany finished.

“Jes and I move into the front of the house and play goal-keeper,” Sam said.

The SUV fell silent.

“Good,” Stacia said. “If everyone follows my plan, we’ll be able to get through this quick and easy. They won’t even realize what’s going on when I go down into the basement with Hillary.

“And let’s be honest, that’s where my kind will be. It’s close enough to dawn that they won’t risk it. Dawn hurts the most.”

Looking at the Vampire, Sam felt strange about this whole thing.

Not for the first time, he had to wonder about a Vampire moving about in the daylight.

Even with her deal with him for better regeneration, it wasn’t going to be pleasant for any part of her body struck by direct sunlight.

Though it’d heal considerably faster than it had any right to for a sun-kissed Vampire.

So long as she didn’t get sunshine for an extended period of time, she’d be fine. Though she’d look like a burnt marshmallow rather quickly.

“Rolling up in a minute or so,” Jes said from up front, running a hand over her face.

Ah. Yes. Physical glamour.

I need my own.

Running a hand down over his own face, Sam changed his appearance completely.

“Fuckin’ Vamps. Goddamn blood-drinkin’ stupid motherfuckers just gotta get into everything,” Tiffany groused. Then she worked the action of her shotgun. The clack-clack that almost every person could identify by sound alone punctuated her anger. “Bunch of stupid fangers just gotta try and run anything and everything.”

“Beg your pardon?” Stacia asked archly, sitting right next to the Were.

“You’re pardoned. You can’t help but be a fanger,” Tiffany said. “Fucking piece of shit Vampire.”

“Hmph,” Stacia said. “Sam, she’s being abrasive. Punish her for it.”

“Agreed, she’s being rather rude,” Sam said, waving a hand over his shoulder. “I’m going to ride you, Tiffany, and you’re going to eat our Vampire comrade out.”

“What? I’ll do no—”

“You will, and you’ll do it without argument,” Sam said. There was no room for anything else in his tone. Tiffany was his, and her life had been spared. There was nothing to keep him from changing his mind. “Stacia has been nothing but polite to you, and you were provoking her.

“I’m going to continue to punish each one of you till you learn to live together. Because guess what?”

Sam turned around and stared at both women. For the first time in a very long time, Sam let his anger bubble up to the surface. Lancing both women with his glare, he growled softly and let his natural abilities amplify it.

“I’m not going to tolerate you two fighting when you’re both my bonded,” he said, his tone becoming dark. “You will work with each other, and with me, for eons if we do this right. If Stacia provokes you, I’ll punish her. If you provoke her, I’ll punish you. If you both act up, you’ll both get punished.

“Do you understand me?”

By the time he’d stopped speaking, Sam felt like his vision had started to turn a dull red at the edges.

Both the Vampire blood mage and the Were mercenary nodded their heads quickly.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Tiffany said quickly. “I’ll eat her out, you ride me. Got it.”

“Yes, yes,” Stacia said.

“And when I’m done filling up Tiffany,” Sam said, pointing at Stacia. “You’re going to eat her out. You went straight for a punishment, betraying your bond-mate. Which is worse in my eyes than what she did. Questions?”

Stacia shook her head rapidly. “Eat Tiffany out when you’re done with her, I understand.”

“Good. Kiss and make up,” Sam said, still staring at them. “A good kiss mind you.”

Tiffany and Stacia sat there in frozen silence.

“Now,” Sam commanded.

Tiffany lifted her mask at the same time as Stacia did.

Both looked normal, and they immediately leaned in toward each another for a five-second kiss. It was rather nice, seeing the two pretty women doing such a thing.

Then they both sat back in their seats, looking pale as ghosts.

“Done?” he asked.

“Yes,” they said at the same time.

Sniffing once, Sam sat back in his seat and faced forward again.

Wren’s head turned back to the front as well.

“You look beautiful when you let your true self show,” she said, her tone husky.

Frowning, Sam glanced into the rear-view mirror.

Staring back at him was his dark-eyed, horned, red-skinned self.

The demon he truly was and could only ever be in his honest moments.

Snorting, Sam ran his hand over his face again, reasserting a glamour.

Of course Wren would prefer him in his demon form.

“Does that mean you won’t be taking me to bed?” Wren asked. She sounded disappointed.

“No,” Sam said, still annoyed. He didn’t have time to punish the two idiots in the back frequently. He hoped this would help curb their willingness to bicker.

“We’re here,” Hillary said, pulling quickly into the driveway.

Everyone tensed up as the big SUV came to a stop.

Then everyone got out in a flash after Hillary got it into park.

No interior lights turned on in the car, the headlights were off, and everything was dark.

Jes slid over into the driver’s seat, and Sam moved over to the window.

Wren stormed up to the front door and booted it right next to the doorknob.

With a splintering crash, the door smashed inward and Tiffany rushed in, already back in her hybrid form.

“Good thing I kept those guns,” Jes said.

“Indeed,” Sam agreed. The interior of the house flashed, and Sam heard the boom of a shotgun. “There’s the timer. Wren said the response time out here is about five minutes.”

“Got it,” Jes said, looking at a watch on her wrist. “Kinda sexy that you’re going to make them eat each other.”

Sam watched as the rest of the mercenary squad moved into the home. The only person left was Stacia, who stood out near the grass, watching the windows above.

“They need to learn that they’re stuck with one another,” Sam said. “I could have killed both, and I chose not to. So now they’re yours, which makes them mine. Stacia just thinks she has a bit more power than Tiffany, but she doesn’t.

“What she did was smart, but it wouldn’t have stopped me. Just slowed me down.”

“I like it. I think it’s going to be a truly delicious orgasm you’ll give me,” Jes said.

There were several more booms of the shotgun, followed by what sounded like a rifle. Then an SMG.

“Those rounds are terrifying,” Sam said, shaking his head. Admittedly, he’d been gone a while, but he hadn’t expected weapons technology to come so far as to make a round capable of destroying a Vampire so quickly.

Stacia rushed into the house at some signal Sam and Jes couldn’t hear or see.

“That’s us,” Sam said.

Getting out of the car, Sam walked over to the front of the house and stood on the porch. Jes joined him quickly.

“I get it. What you’re doing with them,” Jes said. “It’s still sexy, though. Were and a Vampire going—”

A burst of rifle fire blew over them, followed by a soft whump.

That felt more like magic than anything else.

Sam frowned, scratching at his head. The fact that Stacia was using blood magic probably meant they’d run into Marin.

“About a minute left,” Jes said.

“Right,” Sam said, and turned to look into the doorway.

“One minute!” Sam called out into the house.

“One minute,” came back a voice. He couldn’t tell whose it was.

“Need to buy microphones and headsets,” Jes said. “But this is a great trial for my mercenaries. It’s perfect, actually.”

Sam didn’t respond to that. He still wasn’t sold on the whole robbing-the-bad-guys thing, but he wasn’t going to shoot her idea down either.

It had great potential.

Jes could just buy women to share with Sam rather than get them into contracts.

Money was and always would be king.

Stacia and Tiffany came storming out of the darkness of the hallway. Between them was someone with a bag over their head and hands zip-tied in front of them.

Sam and Jes immediately went for the SUV, Jes getting behind the wheel.

Hopping into the middle row, Sam turned around and watched as Tiffany and Stacia shoved the hooded figure into the rear and got in on either side of her.

The big back trunk opened for a second, then something was tossed in and it was shut.

Wren and Hillary got in almost at the same time, Wren sitting next to Sam and Hillary getting up front with Jes.

Jes pulled the big vehicle out of the driveway as the doors closed and got them rolling down the street in the opposite direction they’d come from.

In seconds, she was driving them through the winding, twisting suburban streets of a neighborhood, putting distance and tens of turns between them and the house.

“Got her,” Stacia said. “Was pretty much exactly what I said would happen. We—”

“Stacia, I swear, you won’t—”

Tiffany leaned over and punched the hooded Vampire in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Then, without waiting, Tiffany punched her thrice more.

“Be silent,” Tiffany hissed, punching the Vampire twice again in the guts. “I’m in a bad mood right now, and I’m looking for any excuse to unleash on you. I don’t care if you were the one to hire me for the pack gig or not. Bitch.”

Growling, Tiffany sat back in her seat.

“Ahem. We even managed to raid their safe, finances, and their wallets and purses. Walked out with almost everything of value. Not a penny left in there that couldn’t walk,” Stacia said.

“Oh? Good work. Good work indeed. Your plan was flawless,” Sam said. “I’m still punishing you for betraying your bond-mate, but that was very impressively done.”

Stacia lifted her mask up off her face and smiled at Sam, her fangs becoming visible. “Thanks. It was… fun to plan.”

Next to her, Tiffany shook her head and then sighed.

“Was a good plan, Stacia,” she grumbled. “Good work.”

“Thanks. You did really well yourself,” Stacia said, turning to smile at the Were.

Hm. Hope for those two yet.

“Where to?” Jes asked.

“My place,” Stacia said quickly. “I have all the necessary requirements to house a Vampire.

“I also have two guest bedrooms.”

“Great. There we go then,” Sam said. “We’ll dump Marin into a closet, quick Vampire-Were three way, have breakfast, and then figure out next steps.”

Marin started laughing.

“You’re going to—”

Before she could keep talking, Tiffany began wailing on her. Punching her over and over and over.

Sam just watched as Tiffany continuously beat Marin.

“Vampires are hardy creatures. She probably only barely feels it,” Sam said when Tiffany stopped to look at him, apparently for permission. “Just keep going.”

He didn’t want to hear Marin talk anyways.

Tiffany grinned at that, then looked at Stacia. “Want a turn?”

Stacia looked mortified for a second, then shrugged her shoulders and slammed a punch home into Marin’s stomach.

Followed by two more.

Marin was not well liked.

***

Sighing, Sam dropped his clothes to one side of the bed.

Tiffany and Stacia had literally beat on Marin the entire way to Stacia’s apartment.

By the time they got there, Marin was a wheezing wreck with more than a few cracked ribs.

She’d be fine in a few hours, though. Vampires were like that.

“Strip, both of you,” Jes said as Sam moved onto the guest bed.

Tiffany and Stacia looked anywhere but at each other or Sam as they began pulling off their clothes.

Jes was leaning up against the door with her arms folded and a smile on her face.

“This is going to be so sexy,” she said. “You two are so pretty, I bet you look amazing together.”

Tiffany clicked her tongue as she pushed down her panties, but said nothing.

“Alright, since you two were so nice to each other earlier, I’ll let you decide if Stacia deserves her full punishment,” Sam said, getting comfortable.

“So, you need to decide if I’m going to be filling Tiffany’s womb up like an empty jug, or if she’s going to use her mouth on me,” Sam said. “If she’s using her mouth, Stacia doesn’t have to eat it out of her, obviously.

“Your choice. You’re bond-mates; you figure it out.”

Sam sat there, enjoying the view of the Vampire and Were standing side by side. They were both lovely in equal and different ways.

“Uh… I mean… I’m not really good at giving head,” Tiffany said, looking at Stacia. “I can do it if you don’t wanna end up getting a mouthful at the same time as eating me out.”

Stacia sighed, pressing a hand to her brow.

“I mean… I’d rather not, but… up to you. You’d have to use your mouth twice at that point,” Stacia offered.

“Ugh… I’m awful at this. I just… have sex and then leave,” Tiffany growled. “Don’t do oral.”

“Well, you’re going to have to learn, I think.

“Alright then… you take it from Sam, and I’ll deal with going down on you,” Stacia said. “Next time, if we end up both punished, you deal with the load. Deal?”

“Yeah… deal,” Tiffany grumbled, looking at Stacia with a smirk. “And I’m sorry. You’re pretty smart for a fanger.”

“Accepted. You’re rather well-mannered for a mutt,” Stacia said, smiling back at the Were. “You need to learn to give head, though.”

“Yeah, got it,” Tiffany muttered. “I will.”

“Lovely,” Sam said, giving the bed a pat and getting out of it. He’d had a change in heart and wanted to stand just at the edge of the bed. “Alright. Come lie down, Tiffany.”

Climbing into the bed, Tiffany got down on her hands and knees in front of Sam, aiming her rear end at him.

“Oh, no no, you’re getting on your back. I want to see Stacia ride your face and grind one out on your mouth,” Sam said. He smacked Tiffany gently on her ass. “Roll over.”

Tiffany muttered under her breath but got on her back. “Better?”

“Infinitely. Now… let’s just get this started,” Sam said. Moving in close, he positioned himself between Tiffany’s legs. Reaching down, he grabbed his tip and pushed it up into the Were.

Grabbing hold of her thighs, he moved forward into her, not stopping until he reached the hilt. Coming to rest there, he gave Tiffany’s thighs a squeeze.

The Were was staring up at him with wide eyes, her body slowly turning a deep red color. She let out a slow breath, her fingers clenched into her palms.

“You’re a bit big,” she said after a second.

“He really is, isn’t he? You get used to it quickly,” Jes said with a chuckle.

“Alright, hop on her face, Stacia. Make sure you face me. I wanna watch a Vampire ride a Were,” Sam said with a grin.

Sighing, Stacia came over onto the bed and then positioned herself atop Tiffany’s face.

“You okay?” the Vamp asked, peering down at Tiffany between her thighs.

“Yeah. Shift forward just a bit though? Can’t reach it,” Tiffany said, her voice muffled. “There, perfect. Okay, you can… uh… sit… I guess.”

Stacia looked at Sam and then sat down on Tiffany’s mouth. Her pussy covering Tiffany’s mouth entirely.

“Great,” Sam said, smiling at the Vampire. “Now… you get to work, Tiffany. And if I find out you’re not doing your best to make her have an orgasm, we’ll do this all again tomorrow till you get it right. And every day after that.”

Tiffany grunted at that, unable to respond.

“She’s… she’s doing it,” Stacia said, looking down and to one side, her face starting to blush.

“Good. Now, come here,” Sam said, and he leaned forward, kissing Stacia heavily as he began to thrust in and out of Tiffany.

The Vampire hesitated, then responded to the kiss, her mouth opening partially as Sam’s tongue pushed at her lips.

Quickly, Sam, started to run his tongue all around Stacia’s mouth, his hands letting go of Tiffany’s legs. The Were pulled her knees up a bit, keeping her legs in the air.

Reaching down with his hands, Sam started to fondle Tiffany’s breasts as he pumped in and out of her. His girth forcing her tight walls apart around him.

Tiffany moaned deeply into Stacia’s privates, causing the Vampire to moan in turn, her face pushing harder into Sam’s.

Kissing Stacia, Sam deliberately ran his tongue over the Vampire’s sharp fangs.

Taunting her directly. He knew it would make her vampiric instincts practically sing.

Slamming deep into Tiffany as he did, Sam slipped a tendril of power into her, then ripped the sensitivity of her body up to the maximum.

And then way beyond that.

To a point it was borderline pain.

Crying out with what sounded like almost a scream, Tiffany bucked against him, her voice lost in Stacia’s privates.

Responding to the change, the Vampire groaned, her hands coming up to rest on Sam’s shoulders as she broke the kiss.

“I’m so hungry, Sam,” Stacia said against his throat. Her lips touched his skin. “You can’t do that to me. I haven’t eaten since you took me away.”

He knew she wanted to drink from him. In the same way he’d done to Tiffany, Sam pushed into Stacia with his Essence and flicked her sensitivity to an insane, impossible level.

Convulsing, Stacia ground her hips down against Tiffany’s mouth as she moaned loud and hard.

“What the… what’s going on?” Stacia asked. “Oh god—eat me, please. Eat me so hard. Please. Let me drink from you, Sam. Eat me, Tiffany.”

The Were pinned down beneath Sam and Stacia was a quivering, shivering mess by this point. Her hands were at Sam’s sides, pulling at him wildly as he beat her down into the bed. Moaning into Stacia constantly.

“You want my blood and semen both?” Sam asked, reaching up with one hand to grab at Stacia’s breasts and fondle them.

“So badly. I’ll drink anything of yours,” Stacia cooed, her hips rolling as she rode out Tiffany’s mouth. “Let me drink both.”

Tiffany was spiraling out of control now, her orgasm starting up. Sam could feel her walls clutch and pull at him as she shook under him. Her chest heaved, her fingers digging into his sides.

Cracking as hard as he could into Tiffany, he did his best to split her in half. And when it felt like she was about to come down, he spiked her hard.

“Then drink, my pet Vampire,” Sam said, turning his head to one side. “I’ll allow it, because you’re such a good little pet Vampire.”

Stacia climaxed the moment his blood touched her tongue as she bit down into his throat. She was brilliant, but a lesser Vampire. He needed to reinforce her position and keep her predator nature in check.

Squealing, Stacia thrust her hips down against Tiffany’s face, drinking hungrily from Sam as she hit her orgasm.

Sam happily and eagerly drank in both of their climaxes. Feasting on their Essence greedily.

When Stacia hit her peak, he drove a rod of Essence into her, sending her into a blood frenzy.

Both women were grunting, moaning, and humping at each other and Sam in tandem. Lost in the complete throes of passion and lust.

“I’m starving,” Jes whispered in his ear. Her hands came up under his shaft and cupped his jewels strongly. “Feed your Succubus. Feed your partner. Feed your mate.”

Sam came instantly, driving hard and fast into Tiffany. The Were took it all, her knees coming up a bit further to receive everything he had to give her.

Jes stabbed him savagely with her Essence when he hit the peak of his orgasm, making Sam just pump harder and faster into Tiffany. Practically driving the Were further into the bed.

Tiffany took it willingly and pulled at him to stay closer.

Slowly, feeling his energy drain away faster and faster, Sam came down from his climax. With a final push into Tiffany, he felt his seed run out.

Stacia came off him with a gasp of air, and Tiffany shuddered uncontrollably under him.

“There,” Sam said, patting Tiffany’s side before he stepped away from her. With a wet, squelching noise, he came free of her, and his seed started to dribble out immediately.

“Get in the middle of the bed, Tiffany. Stacia, get to your second meal of mine,” Sam said as Jes kept pulling him away from the bed. “Let’s hope you learn to not betray your bond-mates in the future.”

Following his orders, the Were and the Vampire got into the center of the bed.

Stacia got to work at Tiffany, practically diving into the Were’s privates. She lapped at her and began to noisily slurp up his seed and eat Tiffany out.

“That was great,” Jes whispered into his ear, one of her hands gently stroking his softening member. “Very tasty. Come, sit with me while I sip at you. You’re still leaking Essence. It’s wonderful. I’ll take care of you. Clean you up with my mouth and make sure you’re happy.”

Sam could only nod his head.

He watched as his Vampire ate out his Were.

The latter lay there in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, her face smeared with the Vampire’s slick wetness. Shuddering as Stacia ate at her.

Twenty - Eight Ball -

Pulling over a chair Sam, spun it so it was backwards. Then he sat down in it, laid his forearms over the back and looked at the Vampire in the bathtub.

She still had a bag over her head and her hands were still tied together, though now she was quite nude.

“Hi,” Sam said.

“You have no idea how much shit you’re in,” Marin said.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Sam said. “So tell me about it. All of it. How much shit am I in, and why?”

“I’m Marin!” Marin said.

“I’m aware of that. It’s the reason we grabbed you,” Sam said. “I mean, why do you think you’re not already dead?”

Sam had to remind himself a few times that she was better off alive until they could figure out if there was anything more they needed to know.

“You… you kidnapped me specifically,” Marin said.

Damn, she really is slow.

If she’s this dumb, she must be an amazing beauty.

“Yep,” Sam said, looking at her body.

She was thin, and well put together by modern standards. He wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to feed from her, but he wasn’t as sexually attracted to her as he was to Abigail.

“Are you going to kill me?” Marin asked.

“Probably,” Sam said. “You were saying I’m in deep shit. Could you elaborate on that?”

“Yeah! You’re in deep shit,” Marin said.

“Right. Why?” Sam asked. It felt like he was talking to some of the low spirits in a few bottom planes he knew of. They tended to be lacking in intelligence and high on emotion.

“Because once they find out I’m missing, they’re going to come looking for me,” Marin said.

“Uh huh. And how would they even find you? We didn’t leave much in the way of a trail, and we’re unknowns,” Sam said, trying to bait her a little.

“Bah, shows how little you know. Every group leader has to give a vial of blood for tracking purposes,” Marin said. “They’ll know right where I am by tomorrow.”

Oh? Interesting.

“Magical tracking or Vampire blood magery?” Sam asked.

“Huh? Blood magic, of course. It’s how it’s always been,” Marin said.

“Always been, why? I’m not seeing a reason not to kill you so far,” Sam said.

“Always been because that’s how the Anthony coven is,” Marin said simply. “All group leaders have to send the Anthony coven their blood. They’ve ruled here for so long it isn’t even known how long they’ve been here.”

“Uh huh,” Sam said. “How much of that is due to the fact that there’s a telepath working for them? A mind reader.

“Is it a vampire?”

“How do you know about that!?” Marin asked. Then she scoffed, as if her brain caught up to her. “Stacia. The traitorous bitch.”

“And?” Sam prompted.

“And what?” Marin asked, her voice sounding extremely confused.

“The telepath. Tell me about her,” Sam said.

“No. Not talking anymore,” Marin said. To Sam, it sounded like she was pouting.

Rolling his eyes, Sam reached over and pulled the bag over Marin’s head. He was done and just wanted to glamour her into the floor now.

He’d already decided on killing her, so letting her see his face was irrelevant.

Unfortunately, Sam was slightly unprepared for what awaited him.

Marin was freakishly pretty. Pretty to the point that even with messed-up makeup and a scowl, he found her absolutely beautiful.

Beauty beyond even Jes.

“The fuck?” she asked, glaring up at him. “I don’t know you.”

“No, you don’t,” Sam said, and then he trapped her with his eyes. The second he had her glamoured, he smashed her with as strong a blow as he could manage. After Tiffany, he wasn’t about to pull any punches. “Now tell me about the telepath.”

“Her name’s Irene Sabrina. I think she’s a human. She’s who I report to. She reports to the coven leader,” Marin said, her eyes glazing over and were trying to roll back into her skull from the heavy mental attack Sam had launched on her.

“You think, or you know?” Sam asked.

“Think. Not sure. I’ve seen people try to kill her. She got shot in the heart. She didn’t die,” Marin said. “Someone else stabbed her a few times. Didn’t die. Didn’t scar.”

Mm. Human guise and something else underneath, or she’s a cursed human of some sort.

“Does she know about Alison?” Sam asked.

“Yes. She was mad at me because I sent a hitman to kill Alison. Now she said she wants to kill the hitman, Alison, and maybe me to cover it all up,” Marin said. “I don’t know, though. She’s smarter than I am.”

“I think a frog could be smarter than you,” Sam muttered. “Okay… what do you think she’ll do if the hitman doesn’t kill Alison?”

“Hire another hitman,” Marin said. “The Fed showed up because I was feeding on teenagers. Alison is the only connection left.

“The hitman I hired only has a day left on the contract, though. Then she’ll die too.”

“Uh… did you hire more than one hitman, or just Wren?” Sam asked. He wanted to be sure. He’d never considered the possibility of what he’d do if Marin had hired more than one.

“Just Wren. She’s expensive,” Marin said.

“Ah, that’s right, money. Do you have any hidden caches or hideouts, by the way? Anywhere you keep your money, loot, or weapons that isn’t a bank or anything?” Sam asked. Jes had wanted him to check on that, just in case she had something stashed away.

“Hideout I keep hidden from Irene,” Marin said. “But I’m not sure if it’s hidden or not. How do you hide things from a telepath?”

“You don’t. Which means she knows about it. Anything there worth getting?” Sam asked.

“Money. Guns. Blood. Nothing else,” Marin said. “It’s a floor above my apartment. Number eighty-four.”

Alright. So, we’ll have Hillary and Jes go. Have one of them look like Marin here and go rob the place. Have Jes stuff everything through the planes back here once they’re done, including themselves.

“Any idea where Irene is? Where she stays? Where she lives?” Sam asked.

“No,” Marin said, then blinked slowly.

“Right. You said you’ve been killing teenagers?” Sam asked, done with his main questions.

“Yes. They taste better,” Marin said. “Usually three or four a week.”

Sam wrinkled his nose in distaste. A Vampire could easily survive on one human for weeks. Marin was a glutton.

“Stacia?” Sam called out.

“Mmm?” came back the muffled reply.

Stacia and Tiffany had ended up collapsed practically atop one another in the bed once they’d finally finished up.

“Wanna come drink Marin to the point of being dry? Should be a sufficient power-up,” Sam called, still not breaking eye contact with Marin.

“What? Wait, hold on,” Stacia called back.

Sitting there, Sam waited, admiring Marin to a degree. It was a shame she was evil.

She was gorgeous.

“Okay, what now?” Stacia asked, padding into the bathroom. “Oh, uh… wait… what’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing. I just have her glamoured,” Sam said. “This was you at one point. I spared you.

“Now… do you want to drink her till she’s dry? Should be a good power increase for you.”

“Power… increase?” Stacia mumbled.

“What, Vamps don’t kill one another for power gains anymore? Did the civilized world get to you too?” Sam asked with a chuckle. “And decide quickly. She’s not exactly a mental giant, but this does get tiring.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Stacia said. “But if you explain it, I’ll do it.”

“I don’t know how; I’m not a vamp,” Sam said with a sigh. “I think they did it through blood magic. Care to try?”

“I mean… she’s not going to do anything… right?” Stacia asked.

“Nope. Would you feel better if I put her to sleep?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, actually, I would,” Stacia said, coming over to get down in front of the bathtub. She was wearing only a button-down shirt that looked suspiciously like one of his he’d had Hillary bring over.

“Sleep, and do not wake,” Sam said, staring into Marin’s eyes. “Sleep the sleep of the dead. Wake for nothing.”

Marin closed her eyes and slumped into the bathtub.

“You’re… you’re really strong, aren’t you?” Stacia glanced back at him as she leaned in over Marin’s neck.

“Indeed. And is that my shirt? I swear if you get blood on it, you’re going to regret it,” Sam said, his tone quite cold.

“Ah… yeah,” Stacia said, unbuttoning the shirt. She shimmied it down to her elbows but didn’t take it off. As she bit down into Marin’s throat, she looked lost in thought.

Must be using magic.

“Good luck with that. Drain her till she’s empty then let me know. We’ll have to dump her corpse,” Sam said, getting up out of the chair.

Leaving the bathroom, he went looking for Jes. There was a raid to plan, and a telepath to find.

I wonder if I could bug Miles?

Or… Reixhitz?

Let’s call Irma after we talk to Jes.

***

Walking through the open portal, Sam looked around briefly. It was Abigail’s apartment. He could have appeared in Irma’s or his own but, by general agreement, everyone could meet here easier.

That and Abigail didn’t mind at all. Irma had already introduced Abigail to Melody at some point as well.

Sam was confused, though. It was clearly Abigail’s apartment, but it didn’t look the same.

A considerable amount of her furniture had been replaced. Everything was looking better, newer.

Amusing what a little bit of money can do.

I wonder how she’s—

Sam was surprised when Abigail appeared from the corner of his vision and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

“It’s good to see you,” she said, then kissed him.

Pulling away after several seconds, she leaned back and looked at him.

“You’re looking healthier, Sam,” she said.

“Thanks. Picked up some more girls for the feed harem,” Sam said, looking Abigail over from head to toe. She was dressed better, wearing clothes that flattered her and enhanced her body. “And you look great yourself. You gave up on that stupid diet, right?”

Abigail rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder. “Yes, I gave up on my ‘stupid’ diet. I didn’t think there was a point, considering my new job is mostly remote. No one to impress anymore but you, and you… well… you said you liked this.”

“I do, and I want to dine on you right now. This moment,” Sam said honestly, leaning in to sniff lightly at her hair. “Do we have time?”

“No. I’m afraid not. I actually just saw Irma pull up moments before you walked through. Saw her through the window,” Abigail said, her voice sounding a bit breathy. “You’re… that hungry?”

“Hungry? No. I guess that’s a good point. I just want to have sex with you,” Sam said, leaning down to smell at her throat.

For whatever reason, she smelled lovely right now. He couldn’t place the scent, but it tickled him in a strange way.

“Ah… maybe after,” Abigail said, then gently pushed away from him. “I’m going to go get the door.”

Almost at the same time as she said it, there was a rapid-fire knock on the door.

“Abby! Open the doooooooooor,” called a voice from the other side.

“Stop it, Auntie,” said the unmistakable voice of Irma.

“You stop it,” said the first voice, which Sam assumed to be Melody.

Opening the door, Abigail stepped to one side. “Come on in. Sam just got here, so your timing is perfect.”

“Sammy!” Irma said, skipping across the distance and smashing into him with as tight a hug as she could manage.

“Hey,” Sam said, grinning. He hugged her back, holding her close.

A bright, warm spot inside his chest flared up, and it felt like it would overwhelm him.

Turning his head, he caught Irma’s lips with his own and started to kiss her.

Seconds ticked by and he kept at it, pulling more and more at her, as if he wanted to shove her into his own body.

“Okay, uhm, time out,” said Melody. “If you’re going to go at it right here, I kinda wanna leave. Not really into watching my niece get it on with a Incubus.”

Irma pulled her head back from Sam’s and took in a gasping breath, then kissed him again.

Tipping backward, Sam ended up in the couch with Irma squirming around in his lap, kissing him even harder than he’d been kissing her.

“Okay, yeah, awkward, uhm,” Melody said. “I’m just gonna… go summon my Contract. Yeah.”

Sam only barely heard it. Turning sideways, he got Irma down into the couch on her back and leaned over her. Her legs instantly spread and wrapped around his hips, her ankles tightening around him.

There was a light pop on Sam’s rear end. It felt decidedly like he’d been spanked.

Though it did break his mind free from where he was going.

Coming up from Irma, Sam panted as he stared down at his First Imp.

“Sammy baby, I missed you, too,” Irma said, grinning up at him. “I had no idea you felt like that.”

“Okay, knock it off—not on my couch,” Abigail said. “Get up. Both of you. Or I’ll just turn the hose on you or something.”

Irma laughed softly, one hand lightly caressing Sam’s cheek.

“Sorry, Abby. Sorry, sorry. We’re done. He just missed me,” Irma said, gazing up at Sam.

For his part, Sam was lost in his own thoughts. Mildly terrifying thoughts.

Because she was right. He’d missed her.

He’d missed Abigail too, but not as much as he had Irma. The moment his lips had touched her, he’d wanted to have sex with her immediately.

Not even to feed from her, just to have sex.

“I love you,” Sam blurted out, staring down into her face.

Irma grinned, her shoulders rolling up slightly and her face taking on the color of a ripe tomato. “Love you too. Get up. We need to do this. Then we can go home for a quick minute after you finish ripping Abby apart.”

The two of them levered themselves up from the couch and found Melody had almost finished the summoning circle.

“Rix, got a new crossword puzzle book for you,” Melody said. “Wanted to see if you could give me an address as well. If you can, I’ll throw in this sudoku book. I think you’ll like it.”

“Oh?” asked Rix from inside his plane. “An address? For who?”

“From what I suspect is a cursed human,” Sam said. “And hello Rix. How are you?”

“Sam?” Rix asked, immediately stepping out of the portal. “Hello Sam. This is for you?”

“It is. Melody was kind enough to offer you some contract items for the info; however, I’d be willing to provide an equal favor at a later time in repayment as well,” Sam said.

“Mm, alright. I agree and understand,” Rix said, leaning over his staff. “Name?”

“Irene Sabrina. She’s in the city of Saint Anthony, works for a Vampire. She looks human, but doesn’t sound like it,” Sam said.

At the same time, Irma set down a series of thick, heavy books in front of the older planar lord.

Reixhitz had his own abilities and contracts he could make. Where Sam tended toward immortality and youth, wanting life and emotions from others, Reixhitz trended toward information accumulation. Trading, buying, selling—he had almost all of it at his fingertips and readily available.

For a price.

Getting an address or a phone number out of a phone book or white pages was more of a directional information acquisition.

The price for such a thing would be minimal.

Trying to solve something far more complicated through Reixhitz, like a murder or a robbery, would cost significantly more.

“Oh, done,” Reixhitz said, tapping one of the books with a finger.

The book flew open and landed on a page somewhere near the back.

“I. Sabrina, 42 Deep-Thought Way,” Melody said.

“And there we are,” Sam said, grabbing the pad of paper on the coffee table in front of him. He wrote down the address quickly. “Thanks, Rix.”

“Not a problem, not a problem. I unfortunately still owe you a few favors anyways,” Reixhitz murmured, leaning on his cane again. “I thought for sure I was going to be doomed to waste away to nothing at all.”

“Here ya go, Rix,” Melody said, holding out the two books to him. “I made sure they were master level for you. Can’t have you not at least having a tiny bit of a challenge.”

“Ha. Thank you, Melody, thank you,” Reixhitz said with a smile, holding the books. “It’s interesting how far the world has come since I last saw it. I plan on venturing over into the abyssal plane in six or so months. Care to join me, Sameerixis?”

“Maybe. Melody has a birthday around then too that I was invited to. I imagine you’ll be there as well. Beyond that, depends on my contracts and what I’ve got going on here,” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ve already… broken into two apartments, got a pack of gun-running Weres arrested or killed, blackmailed two women into joining my feed harem, kidnapped a Vampire, robbed and murdered a Vampire, and then had the Vampire I kidnapped murdered.”

“That’s right! My birthday!” Melody said more to herself than anyone with a soft laugh.

Shaking his head, Sam folded the paper on itself and slipped it into his pocket.

“I’ve done all for the sake of one woman who just wanted to keep the house she grew up in,” Sam said and then sighed. Turning to Abigail, he pointed a finger at her. “Doesn’t matter how sexy and beautiful you are, Abby—if you send me to another child of Alisa I have to go through this much hoop-jumping for, you’ll be paying for them instead. Hourly. Every minute in fact. Till your hips give out.”

Abigail smirked at him and gestured to herself.

“It’d be worth it, wouldn’t it?” she asked in a tone he’d never heard from her.

Frowning, Sam studied her, trying to figure out what’d changed in her since he’d seen her last.

Now that he thought about it, even her greeting had been different.

“It’d be worth it… yes,” Sam said guardedly. “Alright. I want to get this all finished up so I can come home. Alison is a nice client, as far as clients go, but she’s not even going to feed me when this is done.”

Stupid, stupid Sam.

Getting conned on this one.

Conned horribly.

Twenty-One - Test -

“We could break in. That seems to go pretty well,” Jes said, leaning to one side and putting her elbow on the arm of Stacia’s couch.

“Maybe. It’s certainly an option,” Sam said, sliding an arm around Jes’s shoulders. “With any luck, we can surprise her just like we did Tiffany and Wren.”

“I was very surprised,” Wren said from her seat on the ground. She was breaking down her rifle and cleaning it. Apparently, one of the vampires she’d shot had exploded from the impact of the rounds. Her rifle had been doused in vampire blood. “Don’t regret it so far, though. It’ll be nice to get paid regularly, regardless of jobs, while still doing what I do best.”

“Yeah,” Tiffany said, sitting next to Stacia on the love seat. “Was definitely surprising. Okay… let’s assume we can’t, though. Then what?”

“Figure out a breach, bag, and drag,” Wren said with a shrug.

“It’s the most likely plan to work, other than breaking in,” Stacia said. “We’ll just need to do it quick and quiet. Then again, no one really wants the PID or the Fed to get involved, so… it’s likely Irene doesn’t want any more attention than we do.”

“I could pose as someone, knock on her door, see what she does,” Hillary said on Sam’s left. “Look like some random Vampire and tell her Marin’s been found. Dead. Take her somewhere.”

Sam frowned, not really sure that one would work.

“Everything we know tells us that people didn’t know where Irene was actually living,” Sam said, thinking it through. “If you showed up like that, it’s more likely to get you killed, I think.”

Hillary frowned but nodded her head slowly. “I could pose as a PID officer. Tell her we need her to come out and identify Marin.

“Can’t move the body due to health risks, and the CDC is on the way.

“PID badges can be faked if you’re willing to spend some cash. That and risk getting the Fed coming after you.”

“Okay, but to what end?” Sam asked, shaking his head. “What’s the goal of that?”

“Ah… what if… what if we told her Marin had listed her as next of kin, along with her address. Need to identify the body like Hillary said. CDC would indeed get involved, and Irene would probably want to know how bad the damage was.” Stacia said. “Marin really was incredibly stupid. It sounds like something she’d do. It might just get Irene out to somewhere of our choosing?”

Sam shook his head. He really didn’t think that’d work.

But then again, maybe Irene would actually be duped just because of how idiotic Marin was.

“Did you raid her address while I was gone, by the way?” Sam asked, looking at Jes and Hillary.

“Indeed,” Jes said with a grin. “Some money, some guns, a bit of clothes. Whole lot of evidence of wrongdoing. There was actually a body in the tub. An actual body.”

“Huh… alright… well… your call, Hillary,” Sam said, looking at the Doppelganger. “How’s your acting? We’ll have to put you under a temporary glamour that will compel you, so your thoughts will be protected as well. Can’t have her reading your mind.”

“Probably the one thing I’m confident in,” Hillary said with a strange smile that seemed almost as much a frown.

“Alright. Let’s assume Hillary makes it work and gets Irene to come out. Where are we taking her, and what do we do from there?” Sam asked.

“There’s a meet-up spot out west of the city. It’s used for meeting with coven leaders from other cities and states,” Stacia said. “Truth be told, though, this is probably the strongest coven because of Irene. Most of the other groups were infiltrated by Fed or PID recently and had a number of arrests.

“The meetings have certainly decreased in frequency since then. And thinking about it… giving Irene that address would possibly panic her. If she didn’t go with the PID agent, it’d make her seem suspicious. If she did go, she’d get to see what the officer knew and what was going on.”

Sam closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the couch.

“Your call, Hillary. If you think you can make it work, then we do it,” Sam said.

“Uhm,” Hillary said. “Sam, what… what happens if she attacks me? What happens if I get hurt or… I dunno… if I die?”

“Hurt gets fixed,” Sam said with a flick of his fingers. “Dead gets fixed but takes a bit longer, and you’d feel somewhat strange for a few days. The soul isn’t meant to be caged in a magical skeleton made of meat. Just make sure you don’t cross over into the big shimmering portal that is literally singing to your soul.”

“So… the immortality thing is… real? I’m going to be immortal?” Tiffany asked.

“Providing Jes decides to bring you back, yes. She’s your bonded, not me. I’m Stacia’s and Hillary’s. You and Wren are Jes’s,” Sam said. “Our kind has a great deal of control over mortal bodies. We’re a parasite race.

“We lack many of the benefits more conventional planar lords can offer, though.”

“I dunno,” Tiffany said. “Being young and immortal is kinda nice.”

“You pay with your body,” Sam said with a shrug. “Lots of sex for that. Like I said, though, everyone gets their own benefits. Reixhitz can offer immortality so long as you don’t actually die and you answer a whole slew of questions. Not to mention he doesn’t have to constantly feed like Jes and I do.

“Off subject, though. Hillary?”

“You’d bring me back?” Hillary asked, looking hard at Sam.

“Course I would,” Sam said with a chuckle, turning his head fully in her direction. “You’re an amazing meal, and you’re a lot of fun to have sex with. You make it really unique and exciting for me. I’d be a fool not to bring you back.”

“Then yes. Let’s do it,” Hillary said.

“I’ll make the badge,” Jes said with a wave of her hand. “Then we can all go to this meetup location. Hillary can bring Irene there.”

“Right,” Sam said with a pained sigh. “I hope this is over after this. I’m so just… done. I’m done.

“Alright. One of you come with me to feed me; the rest of you get ready. Jes, you hungry?”

“Somewhat, but I’ll wait for later. I want to have another full three way tonight, though,” Jes said, focusing on the Essence she was crafting in her hands.

“Great, Tiffany? Stacia? Hillary? Wren? Which one of you is lunch?” Sam said, looking around.

“Me,” Stacia said, hopping up from the couch. “I’d like to, ah… be lunch, and eat you at the same time. I want to see what you taste like now that I’ve drained Marin.”

“How’d that go, by the way?” Sam asked, walking toward the guest bedroom.

“I wasted some of her blood and power before I figured it out,” Stacia admitted. “I never would have even thought it possible without you saying something.”

“Mm. Sorry for the waste. I never really paid much attention to vampires and their blood magic. Wasn’t something I was interested in,” Sam said. “You got it, though?”

“Yeah. I just used my… actually, never mind. It’d be hard to explain. Suffice it to say, I drained her like a juice box and empowered myself,” she finished, her tone becoming hard and gleeful at the end.

Must not have liked Marin at all.

“Great. I’m starving,” Sam said, opening the door. “And honestly… I really can’t wait to taste you. You were great with Tiffany.

“That cold and smooth feeling of Vamp mixed with the heady heat of a Were was lovely. I might make you two partner up more often.”

“I… see,” Stacia said, walking by him and starting to ditch her clothes. “I’m not really into women, so… please try not to do it too often?”

“No promises. You two were lovely together, and a delicacy to eat. Sorry,” Sam said with a shrug.

“Fine, just… please, not too often?” Stacia asked, crawling into the bed now that she was naked.

“I’ll try,” Sam said. “But again, no promises. Definitely going to pair you up with Wren and Hillary at some point, too. Lots of combinations to try.”

Stacia shook her head and then sighed with a smile.

“Mind bending sex does make up for being paired with other women I suppose,” she said and held her arms out to him. “Come along then. Let’s eat one another.”

Sam shut the door.

***

Sam considered trying to talk Wren, Stacia, or Tiffany into another quick meal.

Which would be the sixth quick meal, if he was being honest with himself. He’d already had Wren three times, Tiffany twice, and Stacia once.

“No,” Tiffany said from a few feet away from him.

“No?” Sam asked, not quite sure.

“No. We can’t do it again, even if it’s quick,” Tiffany said. “I’m a little sore, squishy, and I stink like sex right now.

“And no, I can’t switch with Wren. I had to switch with her to begin with because she apparently can’t say no to you.

“And while we’re at it, no, you can’t go check on Stacia. Just wait till we’re done and I’ll take care of you again, okay?”

Sighing, Sam let the back of his head fall to the wall again. “Hmph. It’s not fair. You taste amazing, and you’re pretty good in bed. It’s not like we’re doing anything else.”

“The shifter should be here any minute. Just… wait,” Tiffany said. “And if it makes you feel better, I want to. I’m trying to do my job, though. So could you ease up a bit?”

Mm. I’m being a little spoiled and unreasonable, aren’t I?

Maybe being alone on the plane for so long affected me worse than I thought.

It’s not like I’m starving anymore.

Thinking on it, truly pushing his mind to consider it, Sam realized that he really just wanted to sleep with Tiffany because it felt good. Because she was into it, wanted him, and enjoyed it.

It reminded him of what it felt like when he’d first started sleeping with Irma.

“Sorry,” Sam said. “I’ll ease up. I just… it feels good, it makes me happy, and it’s delicious.

“I think I’d want to make love to you and not feed from you soon as well.”

“What?! Make lov— Ugh, there she is,” Tiffany said, getting low and away from the window.

They were waiting just on the inside of the entryway for Hillary to bring Irene in.

Wren was perched at the top of the stairs of the cellar, which wasn’t far from the front door. She was their guard to keep Irene from running out of the house.

Stacia was in the rear, guarding the back door.

Jes would be arriving after Hillary and Irene. She was their tail, just to make sure they weren’t followed. And to take care of it if they were.

The sound of doors opening and closing signaled that Hillary was brining Irene up to the door.

“Smells human, but… not quite,” Tiffany whispered, sniffing at the air. The window they were next to was open. “Kinda… magic-y. Almost like a fanger. Once human?”

Grimacing, Sam wanted to take a peek, but he couldn’t. He’d be more likely to reveal they were there than actually see what was going on.

“Fucking stupid piece of shit,” Tiffany grumbled, her voice getting deeper. “Why do we have to take her alive? Going to go tits up so fast.”

Sam laid a hand on Tiffany’s back, then patted her shoulder since it was one of the few spots not covered by body armor.

The Were didn’t pull away from him, but he got the sense she wasn’t quite sure how to feel about him touching her so freely.

“…in the back in the kitchen,” said a voice Sam didn’t recognize. “Found her there. Looks like she… Well, it looks like she got vamped.”

Ah, must be Hillary.

“Marin was attacked by a Vampire?” asked a second voice.

Must be Irene.

“Looks like it to me. Unless you know of another type of Para that drains people of blood. It’s why we had to call out the CDC,” Hillary continued. The door opened. “After you, straight through to the back.”

There was the clack of a door shutting, then shoes padding across the hardwood floor.

Alright… Wren should be moving up now. Jes should be closing in, and Stacia should be getting ready.

Now all we have to do is… spring the trap.

A woman who was probably five foot five on a good day walked by. She was wearing what Sam could only think of as a sundress. She had hair like polished copper that came to her shoulders, and she looked to be of the skinny and pale variety.

Unable to help himself, Sam did check out her figure and found it was just on the better-than-average side—but she was no Abigail or Irma.

The strangest part, though, was that Sam could see her soul. The mostly transparent version of her looked just as she did in real life. Even had the right hair color.

It was literally coming out of her back and seemed to be looking around independently of her body.

As if it wasn’t firmly attached to her.

It was the first time Sam had ever seen something like it. Most souls had no color and typically left their body in a day. This one appeared to have been there for a while and was quite aware of itself.

The soul’s head slowly swung around, revealing bright blue eyes. Looking around the room, they eventually landed on Tiffany and Sam.

A millisecond later, Irene flung out her left arm, smacking Hillary in the chest. Lifting her right arm, she formed a dark ball of black magic. It wasn’t something Sam had seen in a while. Not since the witch hunts and the inquisition on this plane.

Shooting out from her palm, the black curse of terrible things tore Tiffany’s head off from her shoulders, sending the Were’s body tumbling to the ground.

Minus her head.

Diving to one side, Irene seemed panicked, like she was reacting mostly on instinct.

Sam stood up and moved forward toward her.

Spinning on her heel, Irene deflected a blazing burst of blood magic from Stacia to one side with her hand, even as her soul stared at the approaching Sam.

Having fended off Stacia’s attack, Irene turned as she continued to move, facing Sam again. At the same time, her soul looked the other way toward Stacia, then back to Sam.

Above you. You’re done. I’ve got you.

Irene’s head whipped up as she caught Sam’s unguarded thought and found nothing there.

When her chin came back down, she was already preparing another magical blast.

Snatching out with his hand, he caught the young woman under the chin and lifted her up off the ground by her throat.

Staring into her face, Sam smashed her several times with the force of his will. He bludgeoned her psyche as if it were a rock and his own mind a hammer.

Irene locked up. Even her soul seemed petrified at the intensity of the attack.

For good measure, Sam beat her several more times with his will, pounding her mind flat.

Shivering from head to toe, Irene threw up on herself and Sam’s hand. Her eyes were stuck to Sam, though, and she was under his thrall.

Not taking any chances, considering she was clearly something altogether different, Sam began to relentlessly beat at her mind.

Over and over and over.

It wasn’t until a hand touched him on the shoulder that he realized he was still smashing away at an unconscious woman. The only sign of life coming from her was that with every blow he landed, the still wakeful soul screamed soundlessly.

“You can stop now, she’s out,” Jes murmured. “I’m going to put Tiffany back together now. Could you help me? I’ve never done this before.”

Looking at Jes beside him, Sam realized he wanted to hurt the witch more. Hurt the witch for harming Tiffany.

Which was a strange thing for Sam to feel.

Letting go of the puke-stained witch, Sam turned back to Tiffany’s headless corpse.

Stacia, Wren, and Hillary were all around and looked none the worse for wear.

“Bind up the witch. Take special care to put a blindfold on her. She doesn’t work as much through the eyes as Jes or I do, but she does need to see for her spell-work,” Sam said. “Zip-tie her hands, too.”

Sam flicked his left hand at his right, and the vomit was gone in a flash.

“As for Tiffany, I’d normally tell you to collect all the pieces you can, but the witch melted it all,” Sam said. “Which means you’ll have to form it from nothing. Just direct your Essence to build upward from the point where her neck ends. The body itself will tell you what should come next; just follow its direction. After that, we’ll call Tiffany’s spirit back. She can’t have gotten far. So long as she didn’t cross over.”

Looking back at the witch, Sam watched Wren drop her knee straight into the woman’s back and jerk her arms around behind her.

In several quick movements, the Cambion had the witch trussed up, her wrists locked up and her ankles tied into her wrists.

Reaching up, she dropped a bag over the woman’s head and then tightened the cord around her neck.

“Gonna get my duffel,” Wren said. “Fits a little ’un like this.”

Stomping off, Wren looked annoyed.

Must be angry about Tiffany dying. Good thing she’s bound to a Succubus.

Turning to the soul, Sam got into a squat in front of it.

It was rapidly recovering, and it looked completely unfazed by his mental assault on her.

Those blue eyes looked up at him and froze.

Drifting to one side, the soul began moving down the witch’s legs to her feet. Sam watched it, wondering what it was doing. Slowly, it started going in the other direction again, back to the top of her head.

Not knowing what to make of it, Sam raised an eyebrow.

The soul lifted a hand and pointed at Sam.

His eyes, in particular.

“I can see you, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sam said. “I’m a planar lord, an Incubus. None may hide from me.”

Sinking towards the body, the soul seemed to be cowering from him, as if it wanted to just disappear into the witch’s body.

“We’ll talk more later,” Sam said. “And if you are in fact Irene, you should understand now. I’m going to punish you for killing Tiffany. Then I’m going to ransack your mind. When that’s all done, I’m going to kill you.

“It will go much easier for you if you don’t fight me after this. Much easier.”

The soul bobbed its head, only the top part of it visible from where it was hiding in her body.

Sam let out a short, sharp breath through his nose, then turned back to Jes.

And came eye to eye with Tiffany’s spirit.

It was staring at him from an inch away.

She leaned in close to him, inspecting his face. She lifted one of her hands and lightly ran a finger along Sam’s eyebrow.

Souls couldn’t see one another, as this plane was an exit point. Everyone had their own exits, and none were shared.

Tiffany had an extraordinarily strong mind, and apparently that was from her presence of spirit. Most souls would have already been pulled through their gate before they knew they could even fight it.

Tiffany’s spirit seemed unperturbed.

“Good to see you, Tiffany,” Sam said, startling what was essentially Tiffany’s ghost. She backed up several feet, partially fading from view. Then she slowly returned to visibility. “All good?”

“Yes,” came the rasping whisper from Tiffany. He’d expected her to just nod her head. “I died. Right?”

Very strong, if she can make herself heard.

“Yeah. You died. Jes is fixing your body right now,” Sam said, pointing to the corpse. Its head was actually growing back right now. “I’ll make your hair grow a bit afterward, just so you’re not bald.”

“Thank you,” came the breathy hiss from the spirit.

“Okay, I’m done,” Jes said. “Now what?”

Turning her head, the Succubus found Tiffany’s spirit between her and Sam. “Oh, hey Tiff. Can you just… come get back in your body?”

Grimacing, the spirit moved over to her very bald, eyebrow less and eyelash less self.

“You’ll make it grow?” Tiffany asked, turning back to Sam. “My hair?”

“Yes, now get in. We need to go,” Sam said.

Tiffany winced, then sank into her body.

With a sudden gasp, Tiffany’s eyes flew open. Her whole body heaved.

Choking, Tiffany coughed twice, then took in a deep breath.

“Oh fuck, that’s awful,” she said in a gasp. “It tastes like rot.”

“What, dying? I can imagine it being awful, yes,” Sam said. “As for the rot. You weren’t breathing for a while.”

“No. I mean yeah,” Tiffany said, taking in another deep gasp. “Pretty sure I shit myself. I think I peed too. Damnit. I’m just a puddle of nasty.”

Oh.

True. Corpses do that.

Tiffany took in another deep breath that didn’t seem as strained as the previous one. Grimacing, she started to lever herself up off the ground. “My panties are full of cum, shit, and piss. I’m a goddamn dumpster.”

“Dead bodies tend to do that. Shit themselves, that is,” Wren said, echoing Sam’s own thought. She got down next to the witch. Without any tenderness, Wren picked the witch up by her neck and dragged her into the duffel bag. “Glad you’re not dead. Good to see Jes and Sam can do what they said.”

Wren paused to punch Irene in the side with enough force to make the woman’s body actually bend around the blow, and there was a soft crack of bone breaking.

“I’m just going to kill her when we’re done,” Wren said, zipping up the bag. “If you were actually dead, I was going to make it last for days.”

“Yeah, well,” Tiffany said, patting at herself. “Alive and well. Just… very… disgusting. Can I get a shower? Do we have time?”

Not really, but—

“If I can at least get a chance to change clothes, then you can have a quickie, Sam,” Tiffany said, getting up to her feet. “Let me shower and change, and I’ll play the lucky girl in the middle for you and Jes.”

“Go change,” Sam said.

“Take a shower,” Jes said almost at the same time.

Twenty-Two - Too Much -

Wren dropped the hooded witch into Stacia’s bathtub.

“At least Stacia’s tub is big. Good for draining. I’ll get some paracord after this to string her up with.

“I feel like we do a lot of wet work, and we’ll do more,” Wren said, pulling a knife out. She’d stripped down the moment they’d gotten back, out of everything except a tank top, pants, and her belt and holster.

“Definitely is starting to feel that way,” Sam said, leaning up against the bathroom doorway. “I sense a ‘we should’ or a ‘but’ coming.”

Wren bent over, giving Sam wonderful view of her athletic rear end.

Speaking of butts…

Wren seemed completely unaware of Sam eying her as she worked at cutting all of the witch’s clothes off.

“You and Jes are planar lords—maybe we could look into a pig farm, or just a big pit?” Wren asked, slicing off the woman’s pants. “Jes just shoved that dead Vampire through into her plane after we were done with her, but we might as well make it work for us while keeping it clean. Might need that plane later, and no one wants to have to deal with a body after it goes to black.”

“Not a bad idea. We can definitely look into that,” Sam said. He did appreciate ideas. Ideas weren’t limited to one person or area.

So far, they’d almost all been from Stacia and Irma.

Thinking of the Imp, Sam immediately felt weird.

He didn’t like being away from her, he realized. Didn’t like it, and he was looking forward to this being over—not because he felt like he was losing out on the deal, but because he just wanted to lounge around in his apartment or Irma’s.

“She’s awake, by the way,” Wren said. “She’s just pretending.”

“Is she?” Sam asked. He’d been watching for her soul. It’d slipped into her body and hidden itself away once they’d loaded the witch into the SUV. He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of it.

Wren grunted and finished stripping the woman. The witch wasn’t amazingly put together like Irma or Jes, but she was definitely attractive and would turn a head.

Once she was completely naked, Wren bundled up the torn clothes and put them in a trash bag she’d brought with her. She pulled the bag shut and tossed it to out the door into the adjoining hallway.

Looking at the witch, Wren seemed to be contemplating something.

“Hey. You can be awake, or I can punch you, cut you, or brand you awake,” Wren said.

“I’m awake,” said the hooded witch immediately. Her voice was higher pitched and honestly sounded rather nice to Sam. “I’m awake, I’m awake. No… no need to do anything.”

Wren snorted and then stood up, looking down at Sam. “All yours, boss.”

“Thanks,” Sam said, looking at the big Cambion standing there in a tank top. “After-lunch snack later?”

Not responding immediately, Wren seemed to be contemplating his words. Then she gave him a wide, bright smile. “Just you and me? An actual bed and not the floor like back at the house?”

“Yeah,” Sam said with a nod. “You and me. Guest bed.”

“Yeah. I’d like that,” Wren said. Then she left the room, taking a sniff of her own armpit. “I’ll go shower. Showering after a mission always helps me shed it.”

How lovely. Having a willing feed harem is a blessing.

Looking back to the witch, he found just the top of the soul’s head peeking out of her bare chest.

Raising an eyebrow at it, Sam waited.

“Hello?” asked the witch.

Hmm? That’s curious.

“Oh?” Sam asked. “I thought for sure you could see what your soul saw. How’d you know we were there? Back in the house, that is. I thought we were rather well hidden.”

“What? My soul? What are you talking about? And who are you?” asked Irene the witch.

“Your soul. It’s not… inside of you,” Sam said, coming over to sit down on the toilet next to the bathtub. “I can actually see it. You’re telling me you’re not aware of it?”

“My soul…? I… no. But that might make sense. Actually, it makes a lot of sense, I guess,” Irene said.

“How’d you know where the Were and I were?” Sam asked, pressing. “You killed her before you even saw her.”

“I just… felt you there,” Irene said, her voice sounding less confident by the second. “I felt you and her there and knew you were there.”

“Huh,” Sam said. “Your soul isn’t in you, and it can help you, but you weren’t aware of it. Nor of how you knew things.

“I’m betting your telepathy is the same. Do you have to see them?”

“I… no. Seeing definitely helps. But I just have to focus on it and will it,” Irene said.

Sam watched as the soul practically appeared on top of him, staring hard into his eyes. He could feel it scratching at his mind.

Except he was the planar lord Sameerixis. He’d faced down demons of abandon, ladies of the abyss, and even the armies of hell and heaven.

A soul, no matter how strong, wasn’t going to penetrate his thoughts.

Instead, he lifted a finger and stuck it into the soul, then hooked his digit into it.

The soul writhed against him, beating at him to get away from his single finger that had her held.

“I see,” Sam said. “I suppose that makes sense. A few more curiosity questions if you don’t mind?”

“I’m… apparently not going anywhere,” Irene said, shifting around in the tub a little and giving Sam a show. “That kind of hurts, whatever you’re doing. If I don’t try to read your mind again, could you please… stop? Is it my soul? Are you attacking it?”

“Mm. I have it hooked; I’m not hurting it. It’ll keep me company for the time being,” Sam said. Reaching up, he took the soul into both hands and laid it down over his knees. Resting one hand on its back, he stuck his elbow down on its ass and put his chin in his palm. “Were you born like this?”

“If… if I answer your questions… will you let me go?” Irene asked.

“No. To be honest, it’s very likely I’ll let my Vampire drain you and then dump your body,” Sam said. “If you’re especially good, I’ll make sure you’re unconscious for the draining.”

“You can try,” Irene said, her arms flexing. “I’m immortal. If you let me go, I’ll pretend none of this happened.”

“Immortal, hm? Tell me about that and I’ll consider it,” Sam said.

“Not much to tell. I’m immortal,” Irene said. “I was human; a witch cursed me and made me immortal. I bashed her head in at the same time.

“And before you ask, yes, that’s also where I learned to cast magic. I found her driver’s license and went to her house. Took a little while, but I figured it out.

“Now. Let me go, and I’ll forget this happened.”

Sam chuckled at that, sinking his fingers into the soul on his lap.

“Last question, and then I’ll pluck your soul out and toss it onto my plane. Maybe she and I can have some fun later,” Sam said.

Irene quivered even as her soul thrashed and writhed against him.

“Alison. Did you tell anyone about her? She’s all I’m actually concerned with,” Sam said, digging his fingers ever deeper into the soul.

Irene groaned, her body hunching into itself. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m going to pull the center out of your soul,” Sam said, his fingers brushing against something that felt incredibly warm. “Don’t worry—once it happens, it’ll be like a light switch being hit.”

“Stop, no,” Irene said. “Stop. Stop. I can help, I can be useful I can—”

“No thanks. I already got suckered by a Were in a bathtub, not going to happen again,” Sam said, and he closed his hands around that hot core. “Got enough help right now. More than I can eat, really. Thanks, though.

“Last chance. Tell me about Alison, or I feed you to the vampire and then pull your soul out.”

Irene shook her head, her breath clearly caught in her throat.

“Useful how?” Jes asked from behind him.

Growling, Sam looked behind him to find Jes watching from the doorway.

“Not now, Jes,” Sam said. He wasn’t in the mood for this. He just wanted to kill the witch and be done with it, then go home.

“Yes, now,” Jes said, walking over. She laid her hand down on his shoulder and smiled down at him. “For me, Sam? Just let me talk to her. I need more mercenaries, remember? She could be useful to me.”

Frowning, Sam kept a tight lid on his frustration. Because he honestly couldn’t identify why he was so annoyed. It wasn’t really like him.

“I know. You want to go home. She killed Tiffany. And you’re happy with what and where you are,” Jes said. “But I’m not. And neither is Irma. We want more. But for you as well as ourselves. So just… let me talk to her. And if I don’t like the talk, you kill her.”

Sighing, Sam let his eyes fall to the ground.

“It’s okay, Sam,” Jes said, her fingers sliding through his hair. “I’ll personally take great care of you after this. No feeding, just… fun. Okay?”

Oddly, that sounded even better to Sam than eating Wren.

What’s wrong with me?

Slowly, Sam opened his hand and released the core of Irene’s soul.

Taking a massive, gasping breath, Irene coughed twice.

“I’m very useful. I thought I was immortal, but apparently I’m just really hard to kill. I’m a witch, and I know everything going on in Saint Anthony,” Irene said. She didn’t sound nervous, defeated, or even broken.

Impressive will for someone who just had her soul manhandled.

Sam curled his fingers slightly, running his fingertips along Irene’s core.

The soul in his lap flashed a pink color while trembling, then lay motionless against Sam’s lap.

Shivering from head to toe, Irene moaned deeply. It sounded surprisingly sexual.

Well, that’s curious. Seems if you play with a core rather than crush it, it can go the other way.

I’ve apparently been doing this wrong the whole time.

“I-I-I really do,” Irene said, her voice sounding breathy.

“I’m a mercenary commander and a Succubus,” Jes said, looking at Sam curiously. She’d been watching when he started fondling the soul.

Jes pointed at the soul and nodded her head at it.

Again, hm? Alright.

Sam began to slowly and delicately stroke Irene’s core. The soul in his lap trembled and squirmed, but it didn’t pull away from him.

Irene began to pant softly, soft moans slipping free as she clearly tried to fight what was being done to her.

Sam stopped, looking at Irene with a grin.

I wonder if I can feed on an orgasm like this.

“I want to hire you as a mercenary and sex object,” Jes said. “You’ll service myself and my mate and partner, Sam, as needed. At all other times you’ll be part of the mercenary team.

“Our goal is to hit people who can’t go to the police about it. Make lots of money and earn a good life. I offer a salary, benefits, and some planar-lord contract benefits such as actual immortality and eternal youth.”

“Sex… sex object?” Irene asked.

“That’s right. Sam and I feed on orgasms. You’d be used to that end. We’d do our best to get you to the most explosive orgasm possible. Repeatedly. Often. Your sex life would be amazing,” Jes said. “Make no mistake on that. We’ve already dined on most of the team three or four times together in the last week. Sam’s privately eaten from them each at least seven times today. I think.”

“More like nine,” Sam said with a shrug.

“And the alternative is be drained and have my soul pulled,” Irene said.

“That’s right. So, care to join my team?” Jes asked.

“Does the team have a name? How long have you been operating?” Irene asked.

“Inc-Suc,” Jes said with a laugh. “Incubus-Succubus that is. You’d be the little dash between us. It’s appropriate. Especially the name. Be sure to suck your Incubus, Irene.

“As for how long… about a week or two? We’re new, but we’re learning quickly. We already took out everyone from Marin and down her chain of command. Now you.”

“Marin really is dead?” Irene asked.

“Oh yes. Stacia drained her like those little milk cartons at school. We robbed her, of course,” Jes said.

“I… I’d like to talk over the details some more, but I agree,” Irene said.

“Great! Hold still while I brand you. Everyone is wearing my brand or Sam’s, but really we’re all under Sam. Since my brand will eventually just feed into his,” Jes said, leaning over the tub. She began to dig into Irene’s chest with a fingertip.

Wincing, Irene shifted, the bag moving up as she lifted her chin.

“While you’re getting your orientation, I suppose,” Sam said with a checked sigh, “how about you tell me who you report to in Saint Anthony and if they know about Alison.”

“No one knows about Alison. I only did because Marin was an idiot,” Irene said. “She was trying to get me to help her out. I was waiting to hear from the hitman.”

“Hitman isn’t a concern. She works for us now,” Jes said, her finger branding Irene’s flesh.

“Is that what happened to her? Alright,” Irene said. “Wait… and the Were pack?”

“Tiffany works for us as well,” Jes said. “We dispersed the pack and stole much of the weaponry.”

“You really did infiltrate and start taking apart my operation,” Irene muttered.

“Indeed. You were the last stop on our way up, hopefully. And now that we know Alison went no higher, we’re all done here,” Jes said. “Now it’s just for pleasure. Know any good places to rob from your organization?”

“I… yes, of course,” Irene said, and then flinched as Jes made a curling motion with her finger, the brand wider in that particular spot. “We just have to worry about the council. They run everything here in Saint Anthony. They’d also be the best people to rob. Most people don’t know about them, though. They think it’s just a giant Vampire coven.”

“Oh, that sounds perfect,” Jes said, then patted the brand once she’d finished. “There, you’re all mine now. Do keep in mind, though, that everything of mine is Sam’s. We’re working on merging our planes completely. I’m his Succubus, and he’s my Incubus.”

Sam rolled his eyes at that but didn’t argue with her. She wasn’t wrong, and he’d found he didn’t dislike the idea as much as he originally had.

Jes did well by him, and there was something magical in having sex without feeding on her.

He wanted to try it with Irma.

Jes grabbed the hood and pulled it off her head.

Irene blinked twice, looking from Jes to Sam.

“Oh… oh. I… see. You really are both hot as hell,” Irene said, looking from Sam to Jes and back again.

“I would hope so, given our natures,” Sam said with a grin, and he tapped a finger against the soul core in his lap. The soul spasmed but didn’t fight him. “And I have your soul right here in my lap. I might borrow it for a time. She seems very pliant and willing to me right now.”

Irene quivered at the single touch, her pupils slowly dilating.

“I believe I need my soul… don’t I?” Irene said, blinking several times. “And can you untie me now? This bathtub is really cold. I’d also really like to wash my mouth out. All I taste is vomit.”

“Yeah, you threw up on me,” Sam said. “As for your soul. You do indeed need it, but it isn’t actually connected to you. It seems as if it can go a little away from you. Like I said, I’ll just borrow her for a little. She doesn’t mind, do you?”

The soul shook its head, then lifted a hand and pointed at its core with a finger.

“Oh, it even knows what it wants,” Sam said, then ran a finger all along its core.

Irene moaned hard, her thighs coming together with a soft pat and her shoulders flexing.

“St-stop that,” she said in a gasp after a few seconds. “Stop doing that.”

“Your soul seems to disagree with you,” Sam said as the soul continued to point to its back. Repeatedly. It had even lifted its head up to look at him pleadingly as it did so. “Now, the council. Tell me about them.”

Irene clicked her tongue and looked at Jes. “Please? The ties? As for the council, they run everything and everyone. I report directly to them for my part of the operation. I know there are others here and there, but I’ve never met them.”

Jes grabbed Irene by a shoulder and pulled her up from the bottom of the tub. Using a fingernail, she parted the ties with just a touch. “There you go.”

“Thank you,” Irene said, massaging her wrists with her hands. “They think I can’t read their minds, but I have since the very beginning. They believe their magic protects them. I’ve only ever heard them mention their source as far as what magic it is once. They called it Essence.

“I admit I’m somewhat new to this paranormal world, but no one I talked to had heard of it either.”

Giving her his full attention, Sam met her gaze.

“Essence?” he asked. “Do you know what races these council members are?”

“Race?” Irene asked, getting her feet under her. She slowly stood up and nearly lost her balance. “They’re human.”

“Are you sure?” Sam asked. They might look human but be something entirely different. Perhaps maybe Imps?”

“Never heard it, if that’s what they are,” Irene said. “Are my clothes ruined?”

“Very,” Sam said. “Don’t worry, we’ll clean out your residence before we head back home.

“Okay… so the council isn’t normal. We’ll get back to them later. Do you know who they report to?”

Sam was really hoping Irene would give him a certain name. A certain name that would make this entire ordeal worth it.

Worth it to the point that he’d consider it a deal for himself and wouldn’t try to talk Alison into sex.

“I only heard the name once, but yeah,” Irene said, stepping out of the tub while holding Jes’s offered hand. “Jenaphila. That’s who the council reports to.”

Grinning, Sam began to gently caress the core of Irene’s soul with as delicate a touch as he could.

Irene’s thighs slowly closed together, and she leaned into Jes as if she might tip over. Within seconds, she began to pant and moan softly, her body shivering ever so lightly.

“Oh Irene. Irene, you beautiful witch. I’m going to make you moan for days for that single piece of information. You’ll be the single most sexually satisfied woman on the planet, even if I have to lick you personally till you pass out,” Sam said. “Now, let’s talk more about the council, where they’re hiding things, and what we can rob.”

Twenty-Three - Heist -

Sam picked idly at the strap on his body armor with a fingernail. There wasn’t much else to keep him entertained while he waited in the van. Not for the first time, he was quite thankful for the lessons he’d learned during the time he’d been imprisoned. Chief among those was being completely comfortable with nothing to do.

For very long stretches of time.

Looking up, he found Irene and Stacia watching him. They were both dressed in a similar fashion to him, though Stacia was toting an SMG and a pistol while Irene only had a pistol.

“What?” Sam asked, looking from one woman to the other. He felt like he’d perhaps missed something. “Did I miss part of a conversation? If so, I apologize.”

“No,” Stacia said, then blew out a quick breath with a shake of her head. “Honestly, I was just staring. You’re almost too handsome. It’s hard not to just… look.”

“Oh? Well, thank you,” Sam said with a smile. “I was thankfully gifted with a rather impressive form. I’m most fortunate even amongst my kind.

“Jes is incredibly beautiful even for a Succubus, mind you. Probably the single prettiest one I’ve met.”

“You’re not all… like this?” Irene said, flicking a finger at Sam.

“No. Nor is this artificial. I mean… sure, I’m hiding my horns, my wings, and my natural skin color, but I am as you see me,” Sam said with a grin.

Irene’s soul leaned in close to him, staring at his brow.

“What, you want to see my horns?” Sam asked, looking at Irene’s soul.

She nodded her head happily, smiling at him.

“Stop that. Don’t… don’t talk to her. It’s weird,” Irene said.

“She’s just the truth of you, that’s all,” Sam said, and then he let his horns and wings pop back into reality. “There, see?”

“You look like a Demon,” Stacia said.

“Mm… technically, an Incubus could be a Demon. But we’re not part of the pantheon, if that’s what you’re insinuating,” Sam said, dismissing his horns and wings again. “Demons and Angels are really just the same race of spiritual beings. One side won the war, the other lost. That’s really the only dividing line.”

“I was wondering—”

Stacia stopped talking as the rear of the van clanked, and then the door opened.

Hillary gave them a smile and hopped up into the rear of the van.

She looked incredibly strange.

Everything but her head looked like that of a man in his thirties. Even her hands.

“We’re all set,” she said. “I’ve got both guards tied up and dumped them in a closet. Jes is watching the desk while I’m on ‘break’ right now. Tiffany and Wren are already all set in the truck around the corner. Just park behind them. I’ve got all the cameras deactivated for now. I called it in as a forced restart to the security company.”

“Suppose it’s time for me to play the part of the courier,” Sam said. Then he gave Stacia a slow smile. “Care to sign for my package?”

The Vampire smiled at him, displaying her bright teeth. Her eyes looked a bit glazed over. “Definitely.”

Blinking, Stacia gave her head a shake and then gave Sam a glare. “Stop that. Is that even on purpose, or just part of what you are?”

“Sorry. If you’re a young Incubus, it’s on purpose; if you’re as old as I am, it just is what it is,” Sam said, moving to the front of the van. He got into the driver’s seat and drove them around to the rear of the big office building.

It only took a minute since they’d just been in an alley off to one side.

Pulling up behind the big delivery truck, Sam killed the engine and looked back at everyone inside.

“You good?” he asked.

Irene nodded slowly, and her soul bobbed her head along much more emphatically.

“I’ll put our disguises on momentarily,” said the witch. “We’re not supposed to be on the clock for another six minutes. Union rules, you realize.”

Scoffing at that, Sam opened the door and hopped out, heading for the courier truck in the loading bay.

He moved to the rear door, then got up onto the loading bay and opened up the rolling door. After moving in quickly, he turned around and closed it behind him.

Laid out in the middle of it were two large wooden crates. One was empty, the other filled with Wren and Tiffany as well as their gear.

“Hello ladies,” Sam said, getting down near one end of the crate and lifting the lid partially.

He found Tiffany gazing up at him. Behind her were Wren’s boots.

“Oh, lucky me, I got a Werewolverine in my crate. I found a little plastic frog at the bottom of my cereal yesterday,” Sam said. “If I press on your rear end, do you flip like the little plastic frog?”

Tiffany rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Ha-ha. Stupid. Wren will flip if you push on her ass. Won’t you, Wren?”

Tiffany looked down to the other side of the crate she was in, where Wren probably was.

“I will and do,” Wren said, a soft chuckle tailing her words.

“Course you do,” Tiffany said, turning back to Sam. “We ready?”

“Yeah. Going to take us in now. Going to put the empty crate on top of you, but I wanted to make sure you were good first,” Sam said.

“We’re good. Other than Wren can’t stop talking about you,” Tiffany said.

“Do not,” Wren denied.

“She is. And it’s sickening. Big-leagues hitman with one of the highest kill counts and a near perfect kill percentage. Wringing her hands about her sexual performance with her beloved demon,” Tiffany said with a grin. “Go on, loverboy. I’m already tired of this.”

“Put your masks on,” Sam said, and then he closed the lid with a chuckle. Reaching up, he touched his face to alter his appearance neatly and easily. After that, he laid a hand on his body armor, and instantly he was wearing a courier uniform that matched the truck.

He had no doubt that Wren was having a tough time. If anything, Tiffany might have been understating it. Wren’s racial DNA was more than likely still in open rebellion against her for not being pregnant.

What the Cambion race had been made for would be an indelible mark for a long time.

“…y’d you have to tell him?” asked the muffled voice of Wren from inside.

“So he knows you care more than he thinks. You’re the one who said they were in love. He doesn’t know and hasn’t said it. Remember?

“Now shut up—I doubt he can hear us, but I’d rather not bet on it,” Tiffany said.

Rolling his eyes, Sam moved over to the second wooden crate and lugged it over to rest on top of the first one.

Grabbing the metal handle of the pallet mover, Sam pumped it several times like Wren had told him to.

Smoothly, easily, it lifted the crate off the ground as if it were nothing.

Grabbing hold of it, Sam began wheeling it to the closed rear door and the docking ramp beyond it. Then he grabbed the handle and flung it upward, sending the rolling door up into its recess.

A thirty-year-old man in a security uniform was walking through the loading bay. He nodded his head at Sam with a smirk, and his eyes flashed yellow for a second before returning to normal.

Hillary. So weird that she can be a man.

Stranger still that it took a twenty-minute argument for her to agree to be one.

Wonder what that’s about.

Walking across the ramp and into the building, Sam hauled the mover along.

He went straight to the freight elevator, where he pulled the big load through and in. He hated being in this, but he had no choice. On top of that, he’d had to push and pull at the mover for a minute just to get it all the way inside.

Fucking stupidest part of this plan. I hate this.

Hate this so much.

The doors dinged and closed themselves when Sam tapped the top-floor button.

Their plan was simple. Start on the top floor and move down, one floor at a time. Taking and securing the whole thing. That way, by the time they got to the bottom, it would time to leave with everything bagged and ready to go.

The elevator felt strange to Sam, even as it traveled upwards.

It wasn’t until he was halfway to the top floor that he realized why. The whole thing was constructed of actual cold iron. On top of that, it had been slowly sapping Sam of strength.

It was more than enough to lock him down from casting anything beyond the metal box he was in. Thankfully, it wasn’t wicking away Essence from him—he was far too old for that—but it certainly would keep him penned in.

Jena must be paranoid of me returning. Or others.

Sam paused his thoughts and nodded once.

Well… she should be. I’m going to pull her soul out and feed it to Wren.

Wait, do Cambions still get strength from soul sacrifice? Suppose we’ll find out.

I’ll plow Wren into a bed while feeding her bits and pieces of Jena’s soul.

Oh, I could even put a child in Wren while doing it. That’d really screw with Jena as her soul becomes nothing.

With a ding, the doors opened up into what looked like a maintenance office. It was full of shelves with cleaning supplies, boxes of paper, toner, and even some broken keyboards.

The suddenness shook Sam from his dark thoughts.

In the corner, a camera was aimed right at the elevator doors.

The light was off, and it would remain off until they cleared the floor. As each floor was cleared, the cameras would turn back on one by one. Until they hit the ground floor and were gone.

Pulling the mover out of the elevator, Sam pushed the door open and found himself in a type of lobby area.

Sitting behind a desk was a woman in a dark blouse, busily typing away at a keyboard.

“Hello,” Sam said, smiling at her as he pulled the crates out. “Got a couple massive items here for you. Security said to bring it up to you.

“The heck did you order, brand new printers from Europe or somethin’?”

“I… what?” asked the woman behind the desk, standing up. She looked at the two big crates Sam was wheeling in. “We… no. We didn’t order anything. At least, not that I know of. What’s the packing slip say?”

“Ah, right. Here, let me just wheel this over and I can get it for you. It’s on the other crate,” Sam said.

He pulled the mover to the front of the desk, then pulled the handle triggers to let the mover come to a full stop and drop to the ground.

Reaching over, Sam pulled the top crate down and set it to one side. Then he reached into his pocket and came over to the woman with a smile.

The moment she lifted her eyes to him, he snared her and lashed her mind to his will.

“First, are you human?” Sam asked.

“I’m an Imp,” said the woman, gazing into Sam’s eyes.

“Great. Mission is a go,” Sam said without looking away from the woman. “Is there anyone in this building other than security that’s human? Or is the whole thing full of Imps?”

“All Imps,” said the woman in a dull tone.

“That’ll make this easier,” Sam said. Behind him, he could hear Tiffany and Wren clambering out of the crate. “Is there a silent alarm or a security switch on this floor? And are there any security officers?”

“Security is on floor six. The switch is under the desk,” said the woman.

So there really is a separate security team that doesn’t mesh with the building security. We’ll have to hit that floor with the whole team.

The fear of a second security team was why they’d not used radios. Just in case someone was scanning for anything out of the ordinary. It was also why they were playing everything so cautiously.

“Deactivate the switch for me,” Sam said.

“I can’t—it doesn’t deactivate,” said the woman.

“Okay, then guard it with your life. Make sure no one touches it. Are there any others on this floor?” Sam asked.

“Guard it with my life. No other security switches,” the woman said.

“Last but not least, do you know who you’re working for?” Sam asked.

“Jenaphila, the mistress of all,” said the woman.

Sam snorted at that, then reached across the desk and laid a hand on the woman’s brow.

In short order, he had scrambled her memories and put a block on her from remembering anything going forward. She’d wake up from the glamour in several hours.

Wake up and have no memory of any of this. Thinking she’d just been sitting in her desk all evening.

Sighing, Sam let go of the woman and turned to Tiffany and Wren.

They were putting together a cart on wheels. It would be used to transport everything to the crate rather than lugging the crate around.

“Ready?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. Fucking thing squeaks,” Tiffany muttered, kicking one of the wheels. “Like a goddamn shopping cart.”

Turning to Wren, Sam waited.

“Ready, boss,” the big hitman said, pulling the SMG she’d brought with her around to her front. The battle rifle had been ruled as possibly a bit too big for indoor use.

Not to mention the SMG apparently had a much better silencer and simply was quieter on its own.

Sam didn’t know nor care. He wasn’t a firearm kind of person. He’d disdained them long ago when a flint-lock had exploded in his hand.

Taking the hand with it.

Leaning over the desk, Sam pushed the woman back into her seat, then grabbed a clipboard from her desk along with a guest security badge. He also picked up a pen and grabbed the stack of outgoing mail.

Walking out of the lobby as if he were meant to be there, Sam immediately figured out the layout of this floor was rather simple. Especially since a placard at the front listed out who was in what office.

“Okay, we move office by office,” he said, reading the names slowly. “I go in first and glamour them, you move in after.”

“Good,” Wren said. “Codeword for you to use is ‘cash on delivery’ if you hit someone you can’t bring down.”

Sam wanted to fight against that idea, but then he looked at Tiffany. She’d resisted every attempt he’d hit her with—the first time it’d ever happened in his long life.

Didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen again, though.

“Alright. What’s the codeword for ‘Hey beautiful Cambion, come in here so I can ravage your lovely self in front of this Imp’? Cause that might happen,” Sam said, staring at the big hitman.

Wren smirked at that and quirked a brow. “How about—”

“How about we fuckin’ move, huh?” Tiffany said, her voice a growl. She must have been in her hybrid form.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sam walked over to the first door and knocked twice.

“Enter,” called a voice from inside.

Smiling, Sam entered and immediately smashed the woman down with a glamour.

Being an Imp, her resistance to such a thing was very minor. She crumbled like a soda can under a truck tire and collapsed onto her desk.

Let’s hope the whole thing will be this easy.

***

Moving floor to floor, Sam, Wren, and Tiffany rounded up all the valuables, information, and paperwork that’d be useful to them.

There was no end to the amount of extremely sensitive information they kept digging up.

Jenaphila’s local contracts, contacts, acquisitions, bank accounts, storage locations, other members’ information, council’s doings, and a good number of laptops.

Those alone were quite expensive. They were the new ones that even had CD-ROM drives in them. As far as Sam knew, that model had just barely come out.

“How the fucking hell does someone get to be this pretty?” Tiffany asked, laying a hand on the Imp woman’s face. “I mean… Stacia is pretty. Like, real pretty. Even I’m not bad looking. Or Wren and Irene, for that matter.

“But holy fuck. This one is right up there with Jes.”

“Imps are blessed creatures that are and aren’t human,” Sam said, turning away from Tiffany and back to the safe. Rotating the dial on it, he brought it around to the next number the woman had said. “Wait till you see Irma. She makes this woman look plain.”

“Irma’s your… uh… wife?” Tiffany asked, reaching down into the woman’s pockets and looking for anything to take. “The one on the phone that one time?”

Wren was going through filing cabinets trying to disturb as little as possible. This was the last office on the floor, which was just above the security floor, and so far they’d done it without a hitch.

It’d be obvious someone had robbed them, but the who and why would be missing. Sam had wiped the memories of every single person they encountered.

“Close enough,” he said, finishing the combination and pulling on the handle.

Inside the safe were stacks of cash with bank bands on them.

“Hey, Imp, what’s the money for?” Sam asked as he started to pull it all out.

“Local bribes,” the Imp woman said immediately. “We have a weekly courier that comes from Headquarters.”

“Who the hell keeps a thousand dollars in cash on them?” Tiffany muttered, pulling out the money and then stuffing the woman’s wallet back in her purse. “Didn’t even have a thousand in my bank account till I got this job. I mean, that’s just stupid.”

Sam dumped an armful of money into the cart and went back to the safe for more.

“And where’s Headquarters?” he asked. He was sure it was somewhere on the laptops, but he really didn’t want to have to go digging around in them for information.

“Las Vegas, Nevada,” the Imp said.

“Vegas? Awesome,” Tiffany said, still rummaging through the woman’s purse. “When do we go? I’ve always wanted to go but just never had the time.”

“Or the money,” Wren said, closing a cabinet drawer.

“Yeah, or the money. I only got the pack leader job ’cause Wren recommended me for it. Especially being a Were working for Vamps,” Tiffany said. “Never really been good at much.”

“Seem pretty good at being a mercenary,” Sam said as he dumped more money into the cart. Walking back to the safe, he peered into it and didn’t see anything. “Is that all that was in here, Imp? No other safes and just money in this one?”

“No other safes, but there’s more in that one. There’s a false bottom. It’s where I keep my insurance,” the woman said.

“Insurance?” Sam asked, reaching into the safe and tapping at the bottom.

“Hey, tell her to help me get this ring off her. It’s stuck,” Tiffany said from behind him.

“Stick her finger in your mouth and suck on it,” Wren said. “Saliva will help get it off. Good lubricant.”

“Look, just because you want to slather the boss’s knob doesn’t mean— Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Tiffany said, going quiet. “Oh! I got it. You were right. Crap on a cracker, that was on tight.”

Pulling at the edge, Sam felt the bottom of the safe give way and come out from its slot.

There at the bottom of the cubby was what looked like a small journal.

Sam pulled it out and flipped it open.

“…his knob. I make a little extra by pawning rings and things,” Wren said. “Dead don’t need it.”

“Oh. That makes sense. You still wanna gobble his cock down though, don’t you?” Tiffany said. “Shit, I didn’t even see she had a necklace. Bend over, you big-ass Amazon, you’re too damn tall.”

Taking in a slow breath, Sam stared at the picture in his hand.

It was a black-and-white photo he immediately recognized.

Jena had it taken on a different plane, years and years ago. He’d honestly thought it lost to time.

Never thought it would travel to a different plane entirely.

In the center of the photo were Sam and Jena. She was hanging on his arm and leaning her head against his jaw.

They looked like a couple.

“This picture,” Sam said. “Do you know who’s in it?”

“I only know three people in it. Two are council leaders. New York and California,” the Imp woman said. “The third is, of course, Mistress Jena.”

“Who’s the man?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” said the Imp. “No one does. The very idea of Jena being in a relationship is against everything she says.”

“What else is in this little notebook?” Sam asked, feeling unsure of what to do with the photo.

“Notes. Things I can use to protect myself. Mistress Jena makes people vanish sometimes,” the Imp said.

“Would you ever consider working for someone else?” Sam asked.

“In a heartbeat. I’m too high up and too exposed now,” said the woman. “People at the top vanish.”

“If you knew the man in this photo was an Incubus, and was once Jena’s master, would you work for him?” Sam asked, flipping the photo over. It was dated, written in Jena’s hand. There was a little heart after the date as well.

She used to be so cute.

“If he didn’t make people vanish, yes,” said the Imp.

Nodding his head at that, Sam put the photo in his pocket. For whatever reason, he wanted to keep it.

After putting the little journal back into the safe, Sam put the bottom back in place and then shut the door.

Moving to the desktop, he pulled over a piece of paper and started to write on it.

It was a mailbox Irma had set up in Saint Anthony just in case.

Sam turned to the Imp and made her face him.

Staring into her eyes, he found Tiffany had been right. She really was a beautiful specimen of Imp. With dark green eyes and bright blond hair. Her figure was also quite full and lovely.

She was only a tiny fraction below Irma in his personal opinion.

Pressing both hands to the sides of her head, Sam dropped a memory deep into her mind.

One that would stay with her but would be too cloudy for anyone else to see. Even if Jenaphila herself came looking.

“You know me. I am Sameerixis. The man from the photo. And I took that photo from your safe. I was Jena’s master,” Sam said. “If you want to know more, write to the address on your desk. If you don’t wish to know anything, burn the address and you’ll forget this memory forever.”

The woman blinked slowly.

“I understand,” she said in an almost dead tone.

“Good,” Sam said, breaking contact from the her. “Alright, let’s go to the sixth floor. We’re not done yet, and this’ll be the tricky one, I think.”

Twenty-Four - Adapting -

Sam was waiting in the maintenance room for floor six. Wren and Tiffany were with him.

They were waiting for Jes.

Every person they spoke with knew that there was security on the sixth floor, but no one could say what it was or what to expect.

It left them without any type of actionable information.

Without knowing what was on the floor, what the protocol was, or even what to expect, it was best for Jes to go in first. Unfortunately, the security guards she’d dumped in the closet hadn’t known anything about the sixth floor or that there was even anyone there at all.

“I don’t like it,” Tiffany said in a growl.

“Which part?” Wren asked.

“Any of it,” Tiffany immediately responded.

“To be fair, I do agree with the boss,” Wren said. “Going in with guns up is great for a quick in-and-out. We’re not going for that, though. Jes going in first is the best possible answer.

“She can glamour them up or modify her approach if she needs to.”

“Don’t like it. What happens if she dies?” Tiffany asked.

“She shows up on her plane, I open a portal to her plane, and she walks back out,” Sam said. It really was rather simple.

“Doesn’t feel right. Death can’t be that easy,” Tiffany said.

“I mean… you died. You said you remember being a soul. So isn’t it that easy?” Wren asked.

“I… yeah. Yeah… shouldn’t be, though. This feels broken and wrong and… no,” Tiffany said, shaking her head definitively. “And stop backing up the boss. He’ll bed you even if you argue with him.”

“True—and to prove a point, care to drop your pants and let me have at it, Tiffany?” Sam asked, looking at her. “Always fun to argue and then have sex.”

Rolling her eyes, the Were pointed a clawed finger at him. “I’m in my middle phase right now. You don’t want that.”

“I don’t?” Sam asked. He’d lain with Weres in their middle phase before. The sex tended to be rather physical.

“You do?” Tiffany asked, sounding confused.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Sam said, then sighed.

Jes had been gone for ten minutes.

Sam’s mind couldn’t seem to settle down. It also kept throwing awful scenarios at him. Scenarios he didn’t even want to consider.

No matter how many times his brain went back to them as if it did really want to.

The door clicked and swung open.

Wren and Tiffany had their weapons up in a flash.

Jes stood there with a smug smile on her face, her hands on her hips.

“All done,” she said. “It took some doing, but… they’re all done.”

“What’d… you do?” Tiffany asked. She sounded nervous but curious.

Sam didn’t want to know the answer, but he had to know it.

“I just glamoured them,” Jes said with a shrug. “The hard part was getting them to tell me how to get through all the security one step at a time.

“Rather tedious, honestly. Though it was a good idea I went. Every guard in there was a man.”

“Oh,” Tiffany said, sounding curious but unwilling to push.

“What?” Jes asked, looking at her curiously. “Oh. Oh! No, no, no. I’m Sam’s. He’s the only man I’ll ever take to bed or feed from. I don’t mind partaking of you girls here and there, but I’m just not really into women. I just want Sam, and only Sam.”

Smiling, Jes looked at Sam.

He couldn’t deny he felt undeniably better for having heard her. Heard her and believed her completely.

He hadn’t expected his base reaction to the thought of Jes feeding on another man to be one of anger and hurt.

The very idea of it hurt him—his pride and his very soul, it felt like.

“Yeah,” Sam said, then grinned at Jes. “So, what is it exactly?”

“Security office. It was just full of weapons, and a single computer. It just had monitors on the cameras, the same ones we disabled, and basic information. There really wasn’t much there. It really just felt like a rapid-response team,” Jes said. “I dumped all the weapons onto my plane. I figured the Essence expenditure would be worthwhile. Guns would just take up too much space in the crates.”

Wren grunted and nodded at that. “Smart.”

“So we’re done with this one? We can move on?” Tiffany asked.

“Yep! It’s all taken care of,” Jes said. “We just need to—”

The lights shut off and then kicked back on, but they had a strange tinge to them. A second later, a massive buzzing alarm sounded. One that practically made it impossible to even hear his own thoughts.

Sam tapped the elevator button, and the light turned on.

He was thankful for that.

Except when he looked into the elevator, he had an extreme and immediate feeling of unease.

All the traps and security measures put in are active.

Sam pointed at Tiffany and Wren, then pointed at the elevator. Then he pointed at himself, then Jes, and indicated the stairs.

The two armed women nodded and got into the elevator with the pallet mover.

Jes and Sam bolted into the stairwell and started taking the steps down as fast as possible.

Hitting the ground floor, Sam found Irene and Hillary, sheltering something on the ground between them.

Fuck, they’re UV lights, aren’t they?

Moving over quickly to the two women, he saw Stacia beneath them. She was screaming almost noiselessly given how loud the alarm was. Her skin was smoking and blackening even as she lay there.

Sam held a hand out over Stacia and snapped his fingers. A dark shell of Essence formed around the three women, blocking the light instantly.

He was a stingy man and wouldn’t spend Essence if he didn’t have to, but Stacia had been in clear agony.

Irene’s soul was crackling like static electricity, but it seemed the least concerned for the situation. Making eye contact with the soul, Sam pointed at the back door they’d all come in from.

With a nod, the soul ducked down into Irene’s body.

Getting to her feet, Irene began dragging Stacia up. Hillary fought her for a moment, then realized the situation had changed. In a second, she had morphed into a massive female ogre, slung Stacia over her shoulder, and sprinted off for the rear door.

The dark shell of magic went with her, Irene chasing both of them.

Following along behind, Sam wasn’t sure what to do or how to handle the situation.

Absolute worst case, he could just zip everything and everyone through to his plane. The problem was that if Jena came to look, she’d immediately know it was him.

It was bad enough that Jena would probably find portal residue from Jes, but at least she’d never actually seen Jes’s brand.

It’d just be a nameless planar lord or lady who’d attacked her.

Up ahead, Wren and Tiffany were lugging the crates around and into the back of the big courier truck.

Out here in the loading bay, the alarm was much quieter. To the point where he could actually hear the clatter and clank of the pallet mover across the cement.

“Forget the van,” Sam shouted. “Everyone in the truck.”

“Tiffany, Wren, Hillary, and Jes—in the truck,” Stacia called out in a pant from inside the truck. “Sam and Irene in the truck cabin.”

No one argued. There was no arguing with the simple fact that Stacia was probably the smartest person in the group, outside of possibly Irene.

Stacia was the only reason they’d been as successful as they’d been. The sixth floor had been an unexpected curveball.

“You drive,” Irene said, brushing a hand over her chest. Instantly, her outfit changed into that of a courier’s, matching Sam’s.

Moving around to the front, Sam popped the door open and clambered in. They’d made sure to get a truck that operated much like a regular vehicle.

Just in case someone else had to drive. Like what was happening right now.

Turning the key, Sam pulled the truck into drive but didn’t take his foot off the brake. Turning to look at Irene, he shifted his view to her soul.

“Stick your head through the wall,” Sam said. “They done?”

Irene’s soul immediately pushed its head through the divider, vanishing up to the stomach.

“I hate that you do that,” Irene muttered.

“She likes me interacting with her. Especially after I took her to bed with me last night,” Sam said with a grin. He’d spent a few hours just cuddling and fondling Irene’s soul. Seeing what he could do to it.

On top of that, he’d even managed to partially feed on the witch despite her being in a different room. Her orgasm had been that intense.

Irene’s soul came back into the cab and nodded.

“Great,” Sam said, letting go of the brake and then driving away from the building quickly. They needed to get out and away as fast as possible.

Easing out of the alley, Sam turned onto a main street and started heading away from the building.

“Need to get to the secondary,” Irene said, looking at the road ahead of them, her eyes rather wide.

“Yeah. Good thing Stacia’s so damn smart,” Sam said, gassing them through a yellow light. “Having a backup truck to offload to was brilliant.”

As they moved further and further away from the building, Sam started to feel better.

“What wasn’t so smart was running that light,” Irene muttered. “There’s a cop behind us.”

“What? You’re joking,” Sam said, looking in the side-view mirrors.

Sure enough, there was a patrol car behind them. The lights weren’t on, but if they saw Sam blow through the yellow, there was a distinct possibility they’d try to pull him over.

“It’s going to be difficult to glamour a policeman with something basic,” Sam said. “My understanding is they tend to report what they’re doing and for what reason before they do it. At least, that’s what happened on other planes that were ahead in tech for a while.”

“That’s… normal here, too, I think,” Irene said.

“Is it a car chase then if they turn on their lights?” Sam asked. “Or do we risk the glamour?”

“I don’t know. Let’s hope we don’t have to decide,” Irene said.

Attempting to be the world’s best driver, Sam obeyed every traffic law and signal. The cop car stayed right behind them the entire way.

Eventually, this forced Sam to turn away from the secondary vehicle rather than lead the cop straight to it.

The chirp of a police siren behind Sam alerted him to the fact that he needed to check his mirror.

Looking in it, he found the patrol car had its lights on now.

“Great,” Sam muttered. “Let’s… pull over for now and see what happens.”

“I mean… okay,” Irene said with a sigh.

“If we run, they’ll call it in. Right? With any luck, I can just… nab the cop with a glamour and we move on,” Sam said, pulling the truck over to the side of the road. “Pulled me over for a yellow, gave me a warning kind of thing.”

“You hope,” Irene said.

“I hope,” Sam admitted.

The cop car door opened and the officer stepped out, heading Sam’s way.

“I… well. It would seem I can’t catch a break,” Sam muttered. “It’s a damned Cyclops.”

“That matters?” Irene asked.

“It does for a glamour. I can’t glamour the blind, nor a Cyclops,” Sam said.

“What, that old tale about them seeing the future for an eye?” Irene asked. “I thought that was mythology.”

“And you’re an undead witch,” Sam said, rolling down his window as the cyclopian officer walked up to the side of the truck.

Her hair was mostly hidden by her policeman’s cap, though Sam could see short raven-hued locks sticking out from the sides and rear. She had a build similar to Irene and Tiffany, but she definitely wasn’t out of shape or lacking.

Not to mention she was on the cute side, at least to Sam.

Even with her single eye. Which was larger in general and just above her nose, between where her two eyes should be. And it was a bright honey color. Sam stared at that large iris and was unable to look away.

“Afternoon,” said the officer, staring up at Sam.

“Hello there,” Sam said, smiling at her as he leaned partially out the window.

“Just go ahead and keep your hands on the wheel, sir. I’m going to step on up the side here and you can open the door, and we’ll speak from there,” said the officer.

“Oh, certainly,” Sam said, moving back into his seat.

I wonder if it’s because we’re so high up. We’re not exactly a big-rig, but we’re high enough to be one.

The officer suddenly appeared much closer and in the window. “Go ahead and open it, sir.”

Sam immediately complied, opening the door for the officer.

He found himself face to face with the woman now.

“Do you have any idea why I—”

There was a beep on her shoulder microphone followed by a statement that sounded like a code. Sam didn’t understand it in the least.

“Be on the lookout for an orange-and-yellow courier truck,” said the voice on the microphone. “Should have a male and female driver.”

The policeman’s eye literally jumped from Sam to Irene and back to Sam. Her whole body tensed up.

Fuck.

Grabbing the woman by the head, Sam kissed her and pulled her partway into the truck.

As he kissed her, he did something he hadn’t done in more years than he could count. Something he avoided at all costs because it was too easy to hurt people this way.

He fed on her directly, rather than on her orgasm.

As he drank in her Life Essence through the kiss, the cop spasmed in his arms and her body went limp.

Stopping before any lasting harm could befall the woman, Sam shoved her over across his lap and into Irene’s. He grabbed the cop’s legs, curling them partially, and then shut the door.

No one had seemed to notice the abduction, so Sam started driving forward again.

“…forty-two. Step away to confirm, please,” said a voice on the cop’s shoulder microphone. Sam had missed whatever had come first. His heart was pounding in his ears, and it felt like he was on fire.

Direct feeding was always a rush. It was as close as he could get to an actual high.

And to an Incubus or a Succubus, it could easily and quickly become addicting.

“Can you confirm and—” There was a harsh crackle of static over the microphone. “Check in?”

“We must be getting out of range,” Irene said, staring down at the wide-open eye of the stunned officer. “Did… you kill her?”

“No,” Sam said, pulling them quickly around back toward the secondary vehicle. They needed to get the hell out of here, and now. “Just stunned her. I took a bite out of her, basically.

“We’ll kill her and dump her once we get the loot moved to the other truck. Leave her in the first one.”

I’ll just… I’ll just drain her. It’ll make the killing harder to figure out.

Yeah. I’ll do it for that.

Sam glanced at the paralyzed and stunned cop, his mind already racing ahead to devouring her.

Feasting on her directly till she expired.

Reaching to her gun belt, Sam pulled out her pistol and then stuffed it into his camouflaged vest.

They could ditch it later—for now, it was safer with him than her.

Practically racing to the transfer vehicle, Sam desperately wanted to get out of the courier truck.

So much so that he was willing to do anything to make it happen. Even going so far as to lightly tap another vehicle out of the way.

“Oh my god,” Irene muttered, pressing a hand to her head.

“Need to get this done with and gone,” Sam said, pulling the steering wheel hard to one side and bouncing them down into an alley.

“I get that, but won’t this just make them come looking for a hit-and-run?” Irene said.

“They already were looking for the truck, and not far from here. Won’t change much,” Sam said.

Up ahead was the transfer vehicle.

A rented moving truck.

Except there was a problem.

It had a cop peering into the rear of it with a flashlight.

Apparently someone in the neighborhood had broken in, then left the door open after seeing it was empty.

“Just not my fucking day,” Sam said, pulling them to the right and dodging down another alleyway.

Not far ahead of them on one side was the back entrance to a parking garage.

Leaning partly out the window as he drove up, Sam glamoured the parking attendant for all he was worth.

The young man jolted backward, his head rebounding off the wall, then stumbled forward a step.

“Open the gate, never saw the truck, and erase any camera or pictures that would be taken,” Sam growled.

“Yes, okay,” said the attendant, pressing some buttons in front of him.

The bar went up and Sam drove them into the parking garage, just barely coming in under the maximum height clearance, though there were some odd scraping sounds coming from above them.

Moving to a mid-floor, not quite at the top nor at the bottom, Sam pulled them into a darkened corner of the parking garage.

Sighing, he rested his head against the steering wheel and then flicked his fingers out, building a large, solid spell of Essence.

It would keep them hidden and provide them with a chance to discuss what to do without being seen.

“She’s… moving,” Irene said.

Growling, Sam grabbed the policewoman by her chest, and yanked her upright into a sitting position in front of Sam.

He kissed her hard and smashed her with a blast from his mind. Skewering her psyche just as it was starting to regain control over her body.

With a squeak, the policewoman went rigid and then passed out, her body going completely limp. She collapsed partly back into Irene’s lap.

Letting go of the woman, Sam put his head back on the steering wheel.

“That’ll buy us an hour maybe,” Sam grumbled. Nothing was going his way right now. “Let’s go talk to the others.”

Twenty-Five - Absolute Chaos -

Getting out of the cab, Sam walked around to the rear door and then unlocked it. When he threw it up, he found himself staring down the barrel of an SMG.

“Oh, sorry boss,” Wren said, immediately dropping her weapon. “Wasn’t sure what was going on.”

“That’s fair.” Sam shook his head. “As for what’s going on… well… that’s easy to answer. Wrong. That’s what’s going on. Wrong. Because everything has gone wrong.”

“I’m so sorry, Sam,” Jes said, sitting between Tiffany and Hillary. “I really have no idea what happened. I had everyone trussed up and taken care of. I can’t even figure out what I did to set off the alarms.”

“Honestly, Jes… there’s no way of even telling whether it was you. Could have been something I did. Or Hillary. Or Wren. Or anyone. Or maybe it was nothing we did at all,” Sam said. “No way of telling.

“Is everyone okay? Stacia alright?”

“Ah… she’s… okay,” Tiffany said. “Her skin isn’t healing really well, but she’s not screaming anymore.”

“Yeah, that’s understandable. UV can be pretty terrible for vampires. Bring her over here. We’re hidden away for the time being.”

“What exactly happened?” Hillary asked. “It sounded like there was a cop behind us.”

Everyone began piling out of the truck one by one.

“This won’t be bad for her?” Tiffany asked, holding Stacia to her front in a far gentler way then he expected.

“No, it’s not direct sunlight. It’ll make her uncomfortable, but she’ll be alright. Besides, she can’t feed from me in the truck.”

“Feed from you?” Tiffany asked as she got down and walked over.

“Feed from me. Easiest way to get her healing is to feed her. And of all of us, my blood is the strongest due to my age alone,” Sam said, taking the vampire from the Were. “Here we are, Stacia. Come, have a drink. Just don’t rush it. Nurse on it.”

Sam put one arm below Stacia’s rear end and held her against his shoulder like he would a child. As he tipped her face into his neck with his other hand, he wasn’t sure she was awake enough for this.

“It’s alright. Have a drink. Just go slow,” Sam said, pressing her face up against his neck.

Everyone around him was stretching and getting their bearings. He felt Stacia’s head move slightly, and then her mouth closed on his skin. The sharp prick of her fangs was the only confirmation he needed.

“We were indeed pulled over by a policeman,” Sam said, turning to look at the rest of his crew. “I grabbed the officer and yanked them into the cab. Irene has them right now. We’ll kill them once we’re away and ditch the body. I don’t really care to leave any evidence behind right now, and I don’t think opening any more planes is a good idea right now. It does leave behind a residue, after all.”

“That makes sense,” Hillary said, lifting her arms above her head. Rapidly, she shifted her body parts in almost every conceivable way until she settled back down into her “normal” body and face. “That feels better.”

“Is it like… cracking your knuckles?” Tiffany asked the Doppelganger.

“Kinda, yeah. It feels like a reset. Back to normal. Ever do that with your different phases?” Hillary asked, the two of them in their own conversations.

“Sometimes,” Tiffany said, “But really…”

Sam ignored them, looking instead at Wren and Jes.

“We’ll lie low for a bit and then get moving, I figure,” Sam said.

“I don’t know,” Wren said, looking concerned. “Every time I ever worked for their organization, I always got the impression they had a lot more assets than I could ever think of.

“Are you sure we’re safe here?”

“I mean, as safe as I can make us with a simple disguise,” Sam said.

Stacia was drinking from him in a very gentle way, but he could tell she was rapidly regaining her strength. Her arms and legs were slowly tightening around him as she clung to him.

“Do you think they could track us, or…” Wren paused in mid-sentence, looking off to one side. Then she sniffed the air twice.

“Hunter,” she said. “Hunter’s on us. We need to go. Now.”

Sam didn’t know what a hunter was, or how she knew, but he trusted in Wren. She’d survived as a hitman for too long for her instincts to be bad.

Peeling Stacia off of him, Sam set her down in the bed of the truck and pushed her in. “Everyone pack it in! Time to go!”

His team got moving immediately, jumping into the back of the truck quickly.

Sam reached up, grabbed the hanging cord attached to the handle, and jerked it down. Slamming the rolling door shut, he left it unlocked.

“Doors unlocked, just in case,” he called, running around to the driver’s seat.

“What’s going on?” Irene asked as he got in, shoving the cop’s legs out of the way.

“No idea. Wren said it was a hunter, and that we needed to go,” Sam said. Turning the truck’s key, Sam got the vehicle rolling and started heading straight for the ramp down.

“They sent a hunter? I… I don’t… Oh, heavens no,” Irene said.

“What’s a hunter?” Sam said, not bothering to stop for the gate guard. He just drove the truck right through the wooden bar, shattering it and sending it out of the parking lot.

“It’s a demon. A lot like a dog. They’re rare, but they’re called out sometimes. Usually to track someone down,” Irene said.

That’d be why Wren knew it then.

Demon.

Pulling the wheel hard to one side, Sam brought them skidding out of the alley and onto a main street.

And almost straight into a black SUV with black windows and flashing blue-and-red lights pulled up to one side against a curb.

“The Fed?!” Irene asked incredulously. “The Fed let loose a hunter!?”

“Apparently,” Sam said, then threw up a quick disguise over the truck. Everyone inside it would look like very old Asian men to anyone who looked.

Several people in black windbreakers turned and watched Sam roll by. Then they scrambled to get into their SUV.

“Damn,” Sam said, watching the SUV peel out from the curb and move in behind their truck.

Looking ahead, Sam realized he had no choice now.

Calling up his Essence stores, he tried to figure out how he was going to lose the cops, get out of the city, and get back to Alison’s place.

A siren behind them began to wail, the sound rising up.

There was a clatter and bang from the back of the truck, and then the sound of gunfire.

“I think we just started a gunfight in the middle of a car chase,” Irene said, staring into the sideview mirror.

“Yeah, I think so, too,” Sam muttered.

The frame of the cab next to him made a pop noise, and then the windshield shattered. A round had gone in through the rear of the truck and come out the front.

“Holy shit,” Irene said, getting down low in her seat.

This just won’t do.

Reaching out with his Essence, Sam smashed all the traffic in front of him to one side or the other. Cars bounced and clanged off one another, and Sam began to pick up speed faster and faster.

He didn’t want to floor it, though, just in case someone in the rear lost their balance. They could come tumbling right out of the truck if he wasn’t careful.

“Wish I could see,” Sam muttered.

Irene said something under her breath and then flicked a hand at him.

A small oval of magic spun up where a rear-view mirror would have been, then coalesced into a flat plane.

In it, Sam could see the rear of the truck, the black SUV, and Wren just standing there at the mouth of the door.

The SUV was rapidly falling away, and Sam could see that the driver was slumped over the wheel.

Far behind them, several normal-looking cars and two more black SUVs were racing up toward them.

Either some of the Fed is on Jena’s payroll, or that’s a lot of unmarked cars.

Knowing Jena, though… they’re all working for her.

Sam looked up ahead of them. There was an underpass that dipped into what looked like a hill.

Clenching his teeth, Sam started to build up a wall of Essence that’d fit into the tunnel entrance.

From behind them, Wren began firing again, the bark of a full-sized rifle loud as she laid fire down in short bursts.

Glancing to the viewing spell Sam watched Tiffany kneel down next to Wren, firing her SMG in a similar fashion.

A blood-red blob was lobbed out from deeper in the truck. It arced through the air and smashed through a windshield. The car exploded into bright crimson fire.

A hand came out offering a magazine to Wren when her rifle stopped firing.

Looking back to his own problem, Sam wasn’t sure they’d fit into the tunnel. He’d smashed all the cars out of the way, but that didn’t give him a perfect shot in. It looked like he might be just a bit too wide.

Grunting, Sam lashed out at one car in particular that was just too far in the middle.

It flipped up over its side and landed on its roof atop another car.

With a whoosh, they entered the tunnel and everything got dark.

Sam slammed down the wall behind them and kept them moving.

Keeping his eyes ahead, he continued to blow cars out of their way as they raced along.

Coming out the other side of the tunnel almost as fast as they entered, Sam was blinded for a second.

And smashed into the rear end of a car that was stopped dead in front of them.

Plowing through it, Sam jammed the gas down. They couldn’t afford to slow down right now.

Slashing with his hand, he launched the car to one side and bulldozed all the cars in front of the truck to one side as well.

“Oh my god,” Irene said, peering over the dashboard at the wreckage around them.

“Yeah, definitely… not great,” Sam said as he bumped another car out of the way.

Keeping them accelerating, Sam angled for a surface street that was heading south.

“I have no idea what to do,” he said honestly. “I’m just driving us away. Got any ideas?”

“Not really,” Irene said. “I’m good at curses, hexes, and killing things. Not so great at utility and support. Even my viewing spell is just so I can target people to attack them.”

Glancing at the floating mirror, Sam watched as someone wearing a massive coat was helped to stand atop the moving truck.

When he got a glance at one of the person’s hands, Sam realized it was Stacia. Her skin was already bright red and darkening under the sunlight.

Must be Wren’s jacket. She’s going to cook up there.

As he blew through a red light while smashing both sides of traffic with Essence, Sam considered what to do.

Using the spell viewing and the side mirrors, Sam built a spell and attached it to the truck. It wouldn’t block the direct sunlight that would hit the vampire, but it would remove the UV elements. That was what would kill her. On top of that, Sam made sure to also include the old Asian man disguise.

As if realizing the sun was no longer a problem, Stacia pulled the hood off the jacket and continued doing whatever she was doing.

Unable to watch her any longer, Sam looked back at the road.

“That’s a helicopter,” he said, watching something moving their way from above. “They… have a helicopter.”

“I can handle that one,” Irene said, still low in her seat. The cop was pressed between them, face down in the space Irene’s feet would go. She was still immobile, more like a corpse than anything else.

Irene put her hands together and then aimed her palms at the helicopter. Her fingers curled slightly, and a black little puff of smoke built up in her hands.

Then it shot away through the windshield as if it had never even been there. Not damaging the glass any further.

Slowly, the helicopter began heading their way. Zeroing in on the truck.

Then it jerked to one side, probably seeing the black puff of nasty. It dove out of the sky like it was trying to get low and out of sight quickly.

“Too bad for you,” Irene said in a sing-song voice. “It won’t stop till it hits you.”

True to what she said, the black puffball changed direction, turning to follow the helicopter.

When Sam looked through the view in the spell, he found Stacia was staring straight ahead now. Using her right hand, she was signaling to turn.

“Let’s hope our vampire has a better footing than I’m afraid she has,” Sam said. “Cause if I take this turn like she wants, she’s going to fly away like a coffee cup left on the roof.”

Stacia continued to point toward the right.

The pale-skinned vampire looked odd in the direct sunlight.

She also looked like she was freaked out and excited.

I wonder when she last felt the warmth of the sun on her skin without pain.

Turning the wheel through the suggested turn, Sam threw up another spell wall. Cars were smashed away on each side of the truck, ping-ponging off one another.

“Hate using all this Essence. I’m going to have to eat all of you one by one just to make up for it,” Sam muttered. “Starting with you, little witch. New… well… ‘foods’ always give the most.”

Irene laughed nervously at that, even as her soul bobbed her head energetically and started pointing at her core once more. “The last three years of my life have been so weird.”

In his sideview mirror, Sam could see a cloud of black smoke rising up behind them. It looked thick and oily, with red streaks inside of it.

Like fire.

That’s the helicopter.

We’ve turned the city into a warzone.

Looking to the spell again, he found that Stacia was still on top of the truck somehow. She was also making a patting motion with one hand while pointing to the left with the other.

“She means slow down,” Irene said.

Frowning, Sam slowed down enough that he didn’t have to smash cars, then took a left turn.

Gliding through the turn, the beat-up courier truck didn’t seem to be generating any undue attention.

In fact, no one even seemed to be looking at them.

When Sam looked at Stacia, he found she was gesturing straight ahead with one hand and holding up a hand in the universal “stop” signal.

Sam found a red light waiting for him at the intersection.

Coming to a slow rolling stop, Sam nervously looked around him. Again, no one was paying attention to them.

Out of nowhere, two black SUVs raced at them from the other direction. This was followed by a horde of police cars.

Turning his eyes to the viewing spell again, he found Stacia standing there. One hand raised in the “stop” and pointing straight ahead.

Sam remained where he was. Sitting at the red light. Trapped.

Even as police cars and Fed SUVs raced to catch them.

And went right past them. Sirens blaring, engines roaring—right by him and back the way he’d come.

The light turned green, and Sam eased them across the intersection.

Glancing back to Stacia, he found she was pointing straight ahead with one hand and giving the thumbs-up sign with the other. Except she was looking straight into the spell now.

As if she could see it from the other side.

“Is… is that it?” Irene asked.

“You know,” Sam said. “For an undead, you seem incredibly afraid of dying.”

“Because it hurts. A lot,” Irene grumbled, sitting upright in her seat finally. “It hurts the entire time you’re healing until everything is back to normal. The burns were the worst. A couple times I just stabbed myself in the throat so I’d pass out from blood loss. Wake up later and see if the burns had healed yet.

“My poor tub had to have buckets and buckets of drain cleaner.”

With Stacia pointing the way, a vampire in broad daylight standing on the roof, Sam drove them out of the city.

***

Coming to a stop at a roadside diner, Sam sighed. They were still another hour away from Alison’s house.

After escaping from the city, they’d pulled off into a mall, disguised the vehicle with a glamour, and stolen a new truck.

Then promptly had Irene launch the damn thing like a missile into the sky.

With any luck, it’d land on the other side of the city and make it hard to figure out what happened.

“I’m so damn hungry,” Tiffany said as she got out of the back of the truck. “Going inside to get a damn table. Anyone comin’ with me, or am I going to have to get a table for everybody by myself.”

“Yes,” said the big Cambion hitman. “I’ll come.”

Hillary made her eyes become blue, then nodded her head and moved over to stand with Tiffany and Wren.

Stacia sat down on the edge of the truck, her legs dangling over the edge. “I’ll catch up.”

“Me too,” Jes said, hopping down.

“I’ll go,” Irene said, jogging over to catch up to the other three.

They didn’t seem to mind Irene. Which was odd to Sam, considering she’d killed Tiffany previously.

“Sam,” Jes said, getting his attention. “I love you. I know it. It’s new and fresh, and I may not know myself as well as I should, but I love you.”

That caught Sam off guard, causing him to look at his Succubus partner. His mind caught up with the situation a few seconds after that.

Standing behind Jes and to one side was the policewoman. The Cyclops. Her uniform was gone, and she looked like she was wearing the extra clothing they’d brought with them just in case.

“I already branded her and signed her on,” Jes said. “I promise it’ll be worth your while, even if I have to take care of you myself for a while. Besides, who knows, maybe I can teach you to feed from me.”

“Jes…”

“Sam, I wanted her. I branded her,” Jes said. “We both know you’d say yes eventually. I concede I jumped ahead before asking you, but admit it. You’d say yes. Maybe I’d have to do a few things to you, but you’d say yes. And I’ll still do all that, mind you. Just to make sure you’re happy.”

Sighing, Sam leaned his head back and stared up at the night sky above him.

“Come on, just say it. You like this. It’s fun. It’s different. It’s… exciting!” Jes said. “And you’ve had so little excitement until you came back to this plane. It’s why you agree to my wants. That and you secretly like it that I feed from you. Only you.”

Sam couldn’t deny it was somewhat flattering that Jes only fed from him. It was also starting to screw with his head.

With how he felt about her.

That he was jealous at the idea of her feeding on anyone else.

“You’ll help me feed from you, huh?” Sam asked.

“Yes! Even if we have to just have sex constantly till it works,” Jes said. “We’ll just toss in one of the girls every now and then for a break and try again.”

“Right,” Sam said, still not looking back down. “And what’s the Cyclops’s name, since I’ll probably be feasting on her first or second tonight. First times always taste the best, and I’m hungry. You can’t join till I’m on the last one, Jes. Sorry. You drain me so bad that I can’t go again quickly enough.”

“My name’s Carisa,” answered the Cyclops, even though he hadn’t spoken to her directly.

Bringing his view down back to the Cyclops, Sam pointed a finger at her.

“Okay, Carissa, I don’t know you. I have no reason to like you, and I’m going to have sex with you till you orgasm hard enough that your nethers split in half,” Sam said. “And when I’m done, I’ll probably be in a better mood. I’m hungry, angry, and tired. Then I’m going to have sex with you again. And again, and again, and again.”

“Hangry,” Carissa said.

“Yeah, that,” Sam said. “So if I’m a jerk, I’m sorry in advance. Talk to me after I’m done turning your insides out and you’ll get a better and warmer conversation.”

“I… yes. Jes explained the job. I can promise you I’m better alive then dead. I’m a sharpshooter. I can hit almost anything when I’m using a scope,” Carissa said.

“Great, go, leave. See you later when I’m doing my best to make you scream at the top of your lungs,” Sam said. “And burying your shoulders into a bed.”

“Right, okay. Later. Top of my lungs,” Carissa said before getting down and hurrying off after the others.

“Really, Jes?” Sam asked, turning to his partner after the Cyclops left.

“Yes! Really. She’s perfect. She’s good looking, useful, has skills I want, she’s willing, and best of all—unhappy in her previous life,” Jes said as she bounced up to him. She gave him a heated kiss and patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. She fills out the rest of my first squad. Just admit it, Sam. I’m making life fun. You like it. You love me.”

Without waiting, she bounced off to chase after everyone else.

“For what it’s worth, they had a very long talk,” Stacia said. “Very long talk. Everyone did. It was helpful. About you, her, expectations, just… everything. So thanks for driving us all while we did that.”

Sam grunted at her statement and sat down next to her.

“And uh… thanks for throwing that spell around me,” she said. “It was so… heavenly… to have the sunlight on me. To feel the warmth of it. The heat.

“It’s been a very long time since I felt it. If it wasn’t too much, I’d be willing to go in on whatever you need from me to cast that spell again later. Even if it’s feeding you all evening long.”

Nodding his head slightly at that, Sam let out a slow breath. “Yeah, no worries. We can work out some arrangement, I’m sure. Doesn’t cost much.”

“Great, thanks,” Stacia said, and she leaned over to kiss Sam’s cheek. “I appreciate you, Sam. You’re a good supporter for all of us so far. Inc-Suc is a great outfit, and I’m happy to be here.”

Stacia hesitated, then kissed his cheek again and fled as well, leaving Sam alone with the truck.

Grumbling, he lay down in the bed of it and closed his eyes.

He was very hungry.

I can’t wait to devour Carissa and Irene.

Maybe I’ll have them at the same time.

Twenty-Six - Holding Up -

Irene came wandering out from the cafe by herself.

Sam watched her coming the entire way.

“I ah… you mentioned you wanted to feed,” she said, walking over to him. “I don’t eat much anymore since I apparently became undead. I finished up and decided that maybe you could feed on me.”

Raising his eyebrows at that, Sam smiled.

“I’ll take you up on that. Would you prefer the cab’s bench seat or the back of the truck?” he asked.

“Is there any bedding in the back…? If not, I’d… I’d prefer the cab, I think,” Irene said.

“Nothing that would be useful in the back, to be sure,” Sam said and got down, closing the door as he did so.

“Okay. I guess… the truck cab then,” Irene said, folding her hands into one another and walking toward the front of the truck.

Her soul was dangling partway out of her, pointing at her core over and over while nodding at Sam.

Hm. Such a curious thing.

As he followed the witch, Sam was having a hard time focusing. He wanted to ravage Irene repeatedly.

Maybe I could feed on her directly.

Just a taste wouldn’t hurt. Right?

Just a—

No. No. That’s… that’s where the bad things go. Direct feeding isn’t good.

I should never have sampled Carissa like that.

Irene opened the passenger-side door of the truck and got in.

“Come on, Sam,” she said from inside the cab.

Not waiting, Sam followed her up into the truck.

Irene was on her knees on the bench seat, facing him.

“Shut the door and pull it out for me. I’m… kinda nervous. If I lube you up a bit, hopefully it won’t hurt. Everyone says you’re on the larger side,” Irene said, peering at him.

Sam sat down on the bench and shrugged. Casually, he unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down to his ankles. His manhood was standing straight up and ready to go.

When it came to feeding, an Incubus would be hard-pressed to ever not be ready.

“Okay, yeah, that’s… bigger than I’ve ever had,” Irene said, shaking her head.

“I promise it won’t hurt,” Sam said with a smile. “I’ve never had anyone say that it hurt.”

Sighing, Irene scooted over and laid a hand around his shaft. She gave it a squeeze and then began to stroke it carefully.

After several circuits with her hand, she leaned down and took the tip into her mouth. Incrementally, slowly, she began to bob her head up and down. Her lips slid from the tip to halfway down his length.

Irene’s soul was floating above her, licking her lips and watching her body curiously. It seemed she was far more into giving Sam head than she was letting on.

Reaching out with his left hand, Sam slid his fingers around Irene’s soulcore and began to lightly tickle and play with it.

Groaning hard, Irene shuddered with her mouth still wrapped around his manhood.

Irene suddenly started to go from the very tip of his length all the way down to his hilt, her body quivering. Gagging on him loudly and continuing on.

Stroking, caressing, and holding tight to Irene’s soulcore, Sam watched both Irene’s soul and her physical body.

It was obvious that in playing with her soulcore, he sent her soul into a continuous orgasmic experience.

As for her physical body, it seemed to ramp her sexuality up to eleven.

Or just made her more honest, perhaps.

Grunting, gagging, slurping, and moaning as she worked, Irene looked like all she wanted to do was inhale his member for all time.

Sam was actually rather enjoying it. Enjoying it quite a bit.

Irene was working him in a fantastic way.

Cramming him down her throat, Irene paused at the base, swallowing at him and moaning.

Letting out a choppy breath, Sam realized he was going to have to make her stop or he’d actually want to finish in her mouth.

He was hungry. Desperately so. He needed for her to have an orgasm more than he needed to get off.

Or… can I have my cake and eat it too? Irene seems like she could get off from me playing with her soulcore alone.

Make her get off while sucking on me?

Irene pulled back up to his tip and came off it. Panting, she looked at him with wide eyes. Her pupils were completely blown out, her cheeks flushed, and she seemed absolutely lost.

It looked like she was in the middle of an extreme drug high.

“Fuck me till I die,” she mumbled, then started to shimmy around.

Pulling her pants down, she bent over and pushed her knees into the bench. Then she wedged her head down near the driver’s-side door and arched her back, positioning her lovely rear end and pointing it right at him.

“Stick it in me, Sam. Make me all yours, feed from me, fill me up, break me. Just don’t stop,” Irene said, even as her soul trembled in his grasp. The soul was nodding frantically as her body spoke. “Till I die. Kill me with it. Make my heart burst.”

Sam gave Irene’s soulcore a squeeze and continued to fondle it as he shifted around behind the witch.

Quivering with a deep, lusty moan, Irene started to pant hard. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me.”

Grabbing hold of the witch with his right hand, Sam sank himself into her. Pushing until he fit himself completely in her.

Irene groaned as she pushed herself back against him. One of her hands came out from between her legs and began to lightly play with his balls. “Yeah, yeah. All of it. Do more. Do lots more. Give it to me.”

It’s like she’s an animal in heat.

Sam began to pump in and out of Irene while squeezing and stroking her soulcore. All the while, her hands and fingers cradled, squeezed, and tickled his jewels. Making Sam all the more eager to actually get off.

It was a strange situation for him. More and more lately, he’d just been wanting to sleep with his feed harem first before feeding from them.

Irene moaned so deep that it sounded like she was actually dying, and Sam could feel her sudden massive orgasm before it happened.

It was deep, hard, and an outpouring of Essence.

Her soul looked like it was screaming, and then it pressed itself to his front, kissing him hard, its ethereal tongue pushing into his mouth.

Except Sam felt it. He could feel her soul hanging on to him and kissing him.

“Kiss me more,” Irene said in a grunt as the first crest of her orgasm passed and she went into the next. “Put your tongue in my mouth.”

Sam was beyond confused, but he didn’t care. Irene was delicious. Delicious, and a buffet. It was all-you-can-eat witch Essence rolling off of her, and he couldn’t get enough.

Squeezing her soulcore, Sam kissed Irene’s soul back and pounded away at her physical body at the same time.

Just as Irene seemed to hit the top of her orgasm, Sam squeezed her soulcore harder than he’d had up to this point and spiked her psyche with his Essence.

Irene went limp and collapsed into the bench, a light squeaking noise escaping her. At the same time, her soul kissed him unendingly, her tongue practically becoming his own.

Squeezing her soulcore again with even more force, and then timing it with the Essence flowing out of Irene, he could actually feel her orgasm fall into a rhythm.

His hips crashed into her, spearing deep into her, followed by a squeeze of her soulcore. Irene moaned and went straight back to her peak orgasm.

And Sam was drowning in Irene’s Essence. Actually drowning in it.

Unable to help himself, he plowed her harder and harder, until Irene’s head was pressed up tight against the door.

Finally, Sam let himself finish, right around the time it felt like Irene was being stretched too thin.

As she broke away from him, Irene’s soul looked down to where he was filling her physical body with his seed.

Before he knew what was happening, the soul’s head dipped down into her physical body, her face vanishing to where he was working to fill Irene’s womb.

He could feel her soul’s mouth and tongue around his tip and shaft. She was drinking his seed, it felt like.

It was one of the strangest things he’d ever experienced.

Grunting with each thrust, Sam pushed hard into Irene, who only moaned back at him and pushed her hips into his lap.

Slowly, they both fell off from their orgasms.

“Oh my god,” Irene said, not moving away from Sam. “Keep going. Why’d you stop? Don’t stop. Fuck me again. Again. I’m not dead yet, but I felt close. Make my heart stop.”

Panting, Sam raised his eyebrows and looked down at the little witch. Her soul was still head deep in her own womb, apparently trying to devour Sam’s genetic material out of her own self.

I don’t even know where to begin with all of this crazy… but I think we definitely need to go again.

Slapping Irene’s rear end with a smack, Sam gave her soulcore a firm squeeze.

Irene moaned, her hard and tight channel pushing at him. Then she rolled to one side. His slick member pulled out of her.

Shifting and shimmying around, she got over onto her back on the bench seat. Then she spread her legs for him, putting one of her feet on the roof of the cab while the other dangled low. She patted the inside of her thighs with her hands. Then she lifted one hand up and lightly began to fondle one of her breasts as the other hand grabbed him at the hip. “Come get it, big boy. Round two. Get some more witch. I want you to make my heart stop. It’ll just start again afterward. Kill me with your dick. So don’t stop this time until it happens. Got it?”

Grinning, Sam found he liked Irene quite a bit. He hadn’t been sure at first, but if this was her normal response to being fed on, she was going to become a favorite.

If not the favorite.

He wondered if this direct and amusing personality of hers would vanish as soon as he let go of her soulcore.

He hoped not.

It was quite possible, though. Since the moment he’d gotten his hands on the core, her personality had changed quite a bit.

Irene’s soul was leaning back against the seat now, her eyes vacant and slightly glazed. She looked rather pleased, though.

He wasn’t quite sure what she’d been doing with his seed, but whatever she’d attempted had clearly affected her.

“Irene, you’re a beautiful witch,” Sam said, stuffing his once-more-erect self back into her for another go. As he did so, he squeezed her soulcore. “And I think we’re going to get along fabulously.”

Moaning hard, Irene pushed down into him, her soul quivering and turning to face him at the same time.

It looked eager.

“Lots of getting along,” Irene said in a moan, and her soul began nodding its head at the same time, then pointing to its core once more. “Lots. Now kill me, Sam. Kill me.”

***

Walking into Alison’s house, Sam sat down at the dining table.

The rest of his team was filling out the living room and kitchen. He got the impression they were looking for snacks and drinks.

“In the cupboard,” Alison said, pointing to something behind Sam. “And the pantry, of course. Goodness, there’s so many of you now.”

Alison sat down at the table and took Sam’s hand in her own. She gave him a bright smile and squeezed it.

It stabbed straight into Sam’s heart. To him, he might as well have been looking at Alisa. She was the damn-near mirror image of her ancestor. Just a bit older than the last time he’d seen her.

“Thank you so much, Sameerixis,” Alison said, not letting go of his hand. “I know you worked hard for me. I know it wasn’t half as easy as you thought it would be. But thank you.

“I cannot begin to express my gratitude for it.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders at that. He wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’m just glad we were able to resolve it completely.”

“And did you!” Alison said with a soft laugh. “I have the home free and clear. The lawyers sent me a whole pack of papers to sign. Everything’s done. Just like you said it would be.

“Though I’m sad it had to end with him going to jail. The girls don’t know what to think of that, but I know they’re sad about it.”

Once more, Sam shrugged.

“It was the way we had to do it. But it’s done, and everything came out alright,” Sam said.

“Exactly,” Alison agreed. “What are your plans now?”

“Go home. Have something to eat, take a nap. Rest and relax for a bit. Then probably get another contract. Gotta keep working,” Sam said with a nod.

“Oh, that all sounds so normal,” Alison said, smiling at him. “The journals always made it seem that way, but it’s so much more real hearing it from you.”

“Journals?” Sam asked, curious.

“Yes. I’ve read some of the journals Alisa kept. Not the primary one that Abigail has, but a lot of the secondary ones,” she said. “I think I have them in storage somewhere. I could dig them out for you if you like?”

“There’s more than one set?” Sam asked, confused.

“Of journals? Yes. Alisa made a number of different sets of journals. I think most were like diaries of your daily life with her,” Alison said. “Abigail’s is what she wrote after you left, I believe. It’s… singular.”

“I’d… like that. You getting them for me, that is. If you don’t mind,” Sam said, suddenly feeling rather awkward.

I think I should… call Alisa up and see her. I can get that visit to Irma’s mother at the same time.

Irma’d like that.

“…like a married couple at times,” Alison said wistfully. “She often wrote her greatest regret was she couldn’t convince you to give her children.”

Sam winced at that. In his mind sprang countless memories of he and Alisa fighting over just that subject.

There would never be children in Sam’s life, if he could manage it. Never.

Though now, in retrospect, he regretted how it had ended with Alisa.

If I had given in and let her have a child… would she have kept me around?

“Anyways. I’ll definitely give you those journals to read the next time you visit,” Alison said. “For now… I think… I think you should come with me. I believe I’d like to… like to tip you for your hard work. The girls are at a slumber party, so… it’ll be perfect. So long as you don’t mind that I’m not as young as Abigail.”

Sam immediately got the hint and stood up, his fingers curling around Alison’s.

“I’d be delighted, blood of Alisa,” Sam said, and he meant it.

An hour later and Sam’s entire group was walking through a portal into Irma’s apartment.

“Sammy!” Irma said, catching him up in a tight hug.

Grinning, Sam hugged Irma tightly in return, pulling her off to one side. The rest of the team would be right behind him with a good amount of loot to carry.

“Wow, that’s… a lot of stuff,” Irma said, kissing his cheek. She was watching the portal around him.

Hillary came in first as an eight-foot Amazon version of her normal self, with massive arms and a big box on one of her powerful shoulders. “That good of a—”

Carissa, Irene, Stacia, Tiffany, and Wren all walked through now. Each of them was carrying belongings, weapons, or other items. Irma hadn’t actually met any of them before.

“I see,” she said as the women moved into the apartment and put down their loads. Only to head back in and get more. “Your feed harem is practically full, isn’t it?”

“Somewhat,” Sam said with a shrug. Then he turned to Irma with a smile and kissed her. “I’m glad to be back, though. I truly missed you. In a way that makes me very uncomfortable.”

“Oh, well, I’m rather glad to hear that,” Irma said, grinning at him. “Do we need to wait here, or can you take me upstairs and reacquaint yourself with me? Because I missed you too, Sammy. Quite a bit. And I could use some attention.

“After that, I want to tell you about our new business.”

“New business?” Sam asked, his mind unable to just let that one pass.

“Indeed! New business. Abby came up with the idea, and I put it into action. We have a client list of people who would like your… problem-solving… expertise, a functioning website, and a company form filed.

“I also did all the filing that Jes asked for about the private military company. Everything is all set.”

Sam could only nod his head. It sounded like he needed to have a long talk with Irma and Abigail to figure out what was going on.

Except right now, he really did only want to do one thing. And that was make love to Irma.

Without feeding on her.

“Whew, all done,” Jes said as she walked through the open portal. Reaching behind her, she tapped it with a finger, and the whole thing closed up. “Time for some rest. I put the truck onto my plane. Seems like it’s becoming a warehouse for guns, vehicles, and other things. I think I’m going to go work on that for a bit.

“Let me know when it’s time for the next contract.”

Stepping to one side, the Succubus opened a portal and then went through it without a another word.

“She’s… very different now,” Irma said. “A lot more positive. Confident. Like she isn’t really concerned about very much anymore.”

“Yes. She is. I’m fairly certain she has her memories again,” Sam said. “Which means she’s… probably dealing with a great many things. She’s holding up well, though.”

“Good. Now. Let’s go see if I can’t hold you up,” Irma said with a grin.

Twenty-Seven - Openings -

Blinking, Sam slowly came up from a deep sleep.

He squinted against the morning light coming in from the window. He was having a tough time putting his thoughts together.

Then his mind clicked over into full wakefulness.

Looking to one side, he found Irma sleeping next to him, naked and sprawled out.

They’d coupled more than a few times, and most of those had been without him feeding on her.

Which left him feeling very odd.

Sex without eating was a strange and new experience for him. One that seemed to come with a whole truckload of emotions. Emotions he didn’t really know how to process or what to do with.

“Go back to bed,” Irma muttered, snuggling up to him and laying a hand against his bare chest.

“Can’t,” Sam said. “Awake. Once I’m awake, I’m awake. There isn’t really an in-between. Comes with not really being… mortal.”

“Can you try? For me?” Irma asked, yawning softly. “It’s almost impossible to be asleep when you’re awake. Alexis mentioned something similar.”

“Oh… that’s odd,” Sam said, wrapping an arm around Irma’s shoulders. “It’s not something I’m actively trying to do. No idea why you’re feeling that way.”

Irma grunted, then hit his chest lightly with a thump.

“I wanna sleep,” she said. “Get out of the bed and go away. Jes is awake.”

“She is?” Sam asked, looking at the bedroom door.

“Uhm. I think so? Try your apartment. Just a hunch,” Irma amended, yawning again. “Get outta the bed if you’re not gonna sleep.”

Sam chuckled at that. Then, without realizing what he was doing, he leaned down and kissed Irma.

Breaking the kiss several seconds later, Irma smiled at him sleepily with her eyes closed. “Mm. I liked that. You were awfully sweet last night. Go on, Sammy. Ask Jes to show you what I’ve been working on. Or Abby. She’s always up early.”

Nodding his head, Sam slipped out of bed and then pulled the covers up around Irma. He stooped down and gathered up his clothes quickly.

Padding out of the bedroom with his clothes in hand, Sam went into the living room.

Holding up a hand, he opened the portal to his plane that always existed in Irma’s apartment.

He moved onto his plane, then turned and looked at the portal that led back to his apartment.

Next to it was the portal to Gabriella’s apartment, and Alison’s home.

Building up a good number of doors. Still need more.

As he walked into his apartment living room, he immediately felt Jes’s presence.

She was off to one side, sitting amongst a pile of guns, money, and loot. Like rings, watches, necklaces, and bracelets.

“Counting the haul?” Sam asked, tossing his clothes into a chair and walking over to her.

“Mm? Oh, yes. I couldn’t sleep. Sleep seems much harder to come by now,” Jes said. Lifting her head up from the laptop she was tapping at, she froze, staring at his privates. “I suddenly realize how hungry I am right now.”

Slowly, her eyes floated up to his. She gave him a grin that was equal parts sultry and predatory. “Care to feed your Succubus breakfast? She’s rather hungry.”

“In a bit, yes,” Sam said, getting down on the ground next to her. “So, how’s the haul then so far, beautiful?”

Jes only smiled at him wider, reaching up and flicking her hair back from her shoulder. “You’re awfully flattering this morning. What’d I do? So I can do it again.”

Frowning, Sam didn’t answer her. He thought on her words. Thought hard on them. The answer was fairly obvious to him, it was just hard to admit or say aloud.

“Nothing you did. Or at least, nothing I can pinpoint,” Sam said, not speaking to his thoughts.

“You’re falling for me,” Jes said, reaching over and patting his knee. “That’s good. I want you to fall for me. I need you to love me. You’re my only source of food, and we’ll be together a very long time. We should just fall in love together quickly and move to the end stage sooner rather than later.

“Besides, I’ve gotten my memories back.”

Jes turned back to the big laptop in her lap and started to type something in again.

“Gotten them back and understand just what love really is,” she said as her fingers moved across the keyboard quickly. “I think one of the reasons I can feed from you is I fell in puppy love with you early on. As time has gone on, I’ve fallen in love with you genuinely. I can’t imagine feeding from anyone else.”

“So… your memories,” Sam said, not wanting to address anything else that she’d talked about. “Was it Jena after all?”

“It was,” Jes said, her pinky snapping the enter key with a loud clack. Her hands clenched up and she turned her head to one side. “She… stole a lot of my memories. Stole a lot of them and glamoured me out of my mind. Quite literally. Then she bound me to a plane and shoved me through.

“Not sure how I ended up a Succubus, but… I was an Imp previously. Much like Alexis or Irma.”

Sam could practically hear Jes grinding her teeth. Her jaw was flexing, her back and shoulders rigid.

“She’s evil. Evil—and I find myself angry at you at odd moments. Angry at you because you made her,” Jes said. “Then I remember you’re just as much a victim in this as the rest of us.”

Sam grimaced. He couldn’t deny her words. He was indeed directly responsible for Jenaphila, if not her actions.

“I just want… I want to kill her,” Jes said, shaking her head and staring at the keyboard. “I want to punish her. Hurt her. For what she did to me. For what she’s probably done to countless others. She’s turned the Imp race into little more than personal servants, and… I just want her to suffer. That’s all.”

Reaching out, Sam laid a hand to Jes’s back.

“I’m going to bet we’ve definitely bothered her more than a little already. And with any luck, that office lady will contact me. We could probably start digging into the whole organization just with her,” Sam said. “Unless you remember more of what you did for her?”

“No,” Jes said. “And what memories I do have tell me that… I was alive fifty or sixty years ago. A lot of this technology is odd to me, but… I’m picking it up rather quickly. Hillary has been extremely helpful with getting me acclimated.

“At least these computers are set up similarly to typewriters.”

“Does kinda explain why you were so averse to the idea of feeding on anyone, I suppose. I wasn’t here for that period in human history, though I did watch it happen,” Sam said.

“Mm. Yes. Common morality and social etiquette has definitely changed since my time,” Jes said. Then she sighed. “As for our haul… quite a good one. Cash alone we’re at something akin to three hundred thousand dollars. Still going up as we sell things. There was quite a bit in those wall safes.

“I have no idea about all the… other things.”

Jes had paused to point a hand at the rings and things that were piled up to one side.

“I thought maybe I could inventory them for later but realized it just wasn’t going to work,” she said with a sigh. “We’ll need to ask Tiffany to see if she knows a place we can sell it. Her or Wren. Those two seemed to be much deeper in the criminal underworld than I think we knew.”

“Speaking of them, where’d they end up?” Sam asked.

Irma had taken him away, and he’d not come back from her bedroom.

“You mean after your First Imp stole you away as quickly as she could?” Jes asked. There was an odd tone to her voice as she asked it. Then she immediately hung her head and groaned softly. “I’m sorry. I’m just… dealing… with a lot. I’m a little jealous, a little angry, a little frustrated.

“As for where the girls are… I glamoured your landlord. They each have an apartment on this floor. In fact, even I do now. This whole floor is us. There isn’t a single apartment on it that isn’t part of our unit.

“It took some glamouring of the previous occupants and getting people moved around, but… I got it done. Stacia helped out, so it wasn’t too terrible.”

That’s actually a rather brilliant little idea.

But it probably still drained you. Which is why you’re hungry and a little grumpy.

“Good work,” Sam said, then closed the lid on the laptop. “How about… you feed from me a couple times till I’m ready to drop. You can help me try to feed from you, too. Then… when you’re full and happy, we can talk about what we do next.”

Jes lifted her eyes up to his and gave him a beautiful smile. “I’d like that. I’m starving.”

***

Abigail and Irma were standing in front of Sam. Abigail had one of the stolen laptops out, while Irma was standing in front of a desktop computer.

Sam wasn’t really in the mood for this right now, having just fed Jes several times. He was drained.

Literally.

But he knew he needed to do this. He needed to know what was going on.

“Okay,” Abigail said, looking up from the laptop. “I’m ready.”

“First off,” Irma said as she tapped the left mouse button. “The parent company everything is running through is Incubus Incorporated. Incubus Inc or Inc Inc for abbreviated names. And this is our website.”

Sam looked at the monitor as a mostly black-and-white, text-based website popped up onto the screen. There were a few pictures, but not many.

“It’s a very simple site, but it’s meant to be,” Irma said. “There’s a reason for this. The people we’re targeting won’t have the fastest or greatest of internet speeds. Pictures can take a while to download, so… better off without them.”

Irma was watching Sam as if waiting for something from him.

“Okay,” Sam said, feeling like that was what she was looking for.

“Great. Ah… actually… how much of the internet do you understand?” Irma asked.

“Not much,” Sam admitted.

“Okay… ah…” Irma paused, looking to Abigail.

The other woman shrugged her shoulders, then turned to Sam and back to Irma.

“Does it matter? He doesn’t care, and it doesn’t really matter if he gets it completely. That’s our job,” Abigail said.

“Yeah, that’s a good point. Okay. Yes,” Irma said, turning back to Sam. “We’re targeting college students. They’re the most likely to embrace the internet, even if they have to spend money they don’t have on it.

“They’re also the most likely to start using web crawlers. Or search engines, if you like.”

“That’s the thing you type something into and it spits out web pages for you, right? Basically like a yellow pages,” Sam said.

“Kinda, yeah. Close enough,” Irma said, nodding her head. “We figure the thing they’ll search for the most is college debt. Things like ‘best way to pay off college debt’ or ‘what happens if I don’t pay my college debt’ or anything like that. Some web crawlers will just be single keywords. ‘Debt’ or any other number of things.

“Our page answers all of that, but also offers a service. People put in all their information and submit it to us.”

Irma looked to Abigail with a smile. “Abby?”

Picking up the laptop, Abigail came over and sat down next to Sam.

“The information they send us will give us an idea of whether we can help them or not,” Abigail said as she pulled up what looked like a spreadsheet.

After looking at it blankly for several seconds, Sam turned his gaze back to Abigail.

“Unless you’ve got a nude photograph of yourself in there, I’m not sure how I’m interested,” Sam said honestly. “This sounds like stuff more suited to pencil-pushing types of people. People with names like Alex. Or Felix.”

Abigail was staring at him now, her eyes slightly widened.

“No? No nude photo of yourself?” Sam asked, shaking his head.

“No,” Abigail said, then blew out a breath. “At least take this seriously?”

“Okay, fine. Sorry. I just… don’t really have a mind for this,” Sam said.

Abigail made a grumpy-sounding noise and closed the laptop, moving back to where she’d started.

“Basically put… they can give us all their information and we can figure out if we can help them,” Abigail said. “And by help, I mean you showing up and offering them solutions. Some of the questions we put in are rather direct and even hint at possible solutions they might want.

“If everything works out, we just send them an email of your summoning circle. They print it up on nine pieces of paper, tape it to the floor, and there we go.”

“Huh,” Sam said, nodding his head slightly. “I like it. Would definitely make it easier to get my circle out to people who’d want to summon me.”

“Exactly. We can use Jes for some of it, too,” Irma said. “She said she can handle any contracts that don’t require sex or anything like that. That gives us two people who can drive that side of the business.

“It will also expand our ability to find honest clientele.”

“Exactly,” Abigail said. “And I’ll be heading to all the local college campuses on graduation day. That or hiring people to do it. It sounds like you already made a pretty big score for us.

“We’ll do things like hand out fliers, pass out cards, anything that might get someone to go look at our page.”

Us?

Sam didn’t ask the question aloud, but he did look at Irma when Abigail wasn’t looking at him. She’d gone back to fiddling with her laptop.

As if interpreting his look into the associated thought, Irma smiled at him.

“And, by the way, this whole thing? This entire business plan and venture? Abby’s idea. All of it,” Irma said. “I just had the resources and know-how. Which means any client drummed up through this would go toward her referrals.”

Ah. I can see how it would indeed be “us” then. Because it is.

Abigail was idly nodding while doing something on the laptop. “I’m not collecting a salary until we’re deeper in. We need the operating cash, and… honestly… I’m doing really well now.”

Pausing, Abigail turned to look at Sam with a genuine smile. “Thanks again, Sam. I know it was a contract, but… you handled it really well and put me in a spot that doesn’t just work for me but lets me build toward something more.”

Smiling back at her, Sam was tempted to ask just how grateful she was. But he somehow managed to curb the impulse and keep it in check.

He was always hungry for Abigail.

“And yes, I’m very grateful and will gladly show you later. You asshole,” Abigail said with a grin, then looked back at her laptop. “Now, the second part of our business venture.”

“Ah, yes. Jes sent me over all the notes and things she wanted done for your mercenary company, Inc-Suc,” Irma said. “Cute name, by the way. Jes seems to be more infatuated with you than I am. Should I be worried?”

Irma asked in a coy way, and it only took a glance at her to realize she was just messing with him. She apparently was completely comfortable with his relationship with Jes.

“Only if you don’t plan on ever joining us,” Sam said. “You do realize she thinks you’re rather pretty and wants to join us in bed. And that’s coming from her constantly saying she’s not interested in women. Which is a good thing, since she seems intent to stick around us.”

“Oh… I’m sure she could warm me up to the idea. I don’t think I’ve seen a prettier woman in my life,” Irma said. “Anyways. Auntie helped me out and put me in touch with the right people.

“We’re officially in the process of forming a PMC. A lot of it is just paperwork, putting together company forms, and getting people to stamp things, it seems. The Inc-Suc LLC was formed as well, of course, along with insurance policies. Which seem almost incidental, since… well… it’s unlikely we’ll ever take a real loss. It’s all under Inc Inc.”

Chuckling, Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“As long as we have a body, we can bring it back,” he said. “Though Jes mentioned that she’d lead a team and I’d lead a team. That way we always have someone on hand to heal up problems.”

“Yes. She mentioned the same to me. Two teams of ten or something of that nature. Though I think she’s going to skirt the whole thing and make herself number ten for both teams, and you number one. The other eight would rotate in or out depending on need,” Abigail said, finishing up whatever she was working on. Turning, she showed the screen to Sam. “The website, information, and what services we offer. We’re stating our specialties are: escort services, combatant services, search and rescue, and retrieval.”

“Huh,” Sam said, scratching at his head. “Back in the day, you just… got a bunch of people together, gave them weapons, stuck a name on it, and went and got hired by a city or a noble.”

“Yes, well, this isn’t the medieval period anymore, Sammy,” Irma said. “All in all, we’re… ready, I think. Everything is coming together. We have a really good starting cash point, and we have arms, armor, and underworld contacts through Tiffany and Wren.

“We also have the vampire courts with Stacia and Irene. Apparently she was high enough that she knew contacts for other cities. They’re both operating as in their previous capacities as if they never left.

“Carissa knew a good number of people in the Bureau—that’s the Fed, mind you, and the PID.

“We literally have contacts all over the place. Especially if I bug Auntie. She’s a bit of a one-lady mercenary company herself apparently.”

“Unsurprising, given she’s a Contractor,” Sam said with a shrug. “They do well with things like that. Contacts breed contracts and vice versa”

Pausing for a breath he looked to Irma.

“Alright… so why tell me all this?” Sam asked.

“Well… because you’re kind of the head piece, Sammy,” Irma said, smiling at him. “You’ve bound us all up in contracts. Even Jes, to a degree. She explained to me that her brand is literally just a side piece of yours. That she put herself into your domain. Completely.”

Sam couldn’t really deny that. In effect, even those she branded were his if he pushed on them.

“Other than that, just to keep you up to date. You still need… how many do we have right now?” Abigail asked, looking up. She started to count off on her fingers. “Sam, Hillary, Jes, Tiffany, Wren, Stacia, Irene, and Carissa. That’s… eight. You need two more for your primary team, Sam.”

“Goodie,” Sam said.

“Be sure to make sure they’re pretty. And no repeats. I’m enjoying watching you make a harem, because they’re technically my harem, too,” Irma said, waving her fingers at him. “I never knew I would be such a loose woman, but apparently when you marry an Incubus that’s just how it goes.”

“We’re married?” Sam asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows.

“Aren’t we?” Irma asked with an edge to her tone.

Silly Imp. Of course we’re not married. I could nev—

Sam stopped himself mid-thought.

No. This is how I ended things with Alisa. This is the exact same thing, just on marriage rather than kids.

Irma has been nothing but dedicated to me.

I… have sex with her without feeding.

I care for her.

So… yes.

Yes, married.

“I… yes. We’re married,” Sam said with a slow blink. “I think I need to go get you a ring today or tomorrow then.”

“Oh, you already bought me one,” Irma said. “Don’t worry, it arrives tomorrow along with our paperwork. Jes helped me out and we glamoured a few people.”

Sam could only nod his head. He’d have to thank Jes later.

“Oh…” he said, remembering something he wanted to run by the two ladies he had in front of him. After he’d thought about Alisa, it’d come to the forefront of his mind.

He had more than enough Essence stored up that he could afford to open a spiritual plane conduit.

“I’m planning to… reach out to the spirit realm. I want to see Alisa. It’d be a good time to see your mom, too, Irma.

“Would you two mind feeding me and then giving me a little of your blood? It’d make the plane opening a lot easier.”

Both women froze, staring at Sam. Then, slowly, Abigail nodded her head.

Irma only a second behind her.

They both looked panicked but willing.

Twenty-Eight - Review -

“There,” Sam said, nodding his head. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but he knew that the spirit world had just passed into the next phase of its cycle. The night was at its peak.

Abigail and Irma were seated on the couch next to him.

He’d ravaged both of them a few times and then taken a few drops of blood from each of them.

They looked a bit worn, but well pleased.

Standing up, Sam walked a few paces forward and then began opening a portal directly to the spirit plane.

At the same time, he built in a gate and filter atop it. He wasn’t going to take any chances.

He’d learned the hard way a long time ago that you could always end up accidentally inviting something in that you didn’t intend to.

Even with Essence from linked targets, and even with blood from them, there was always a chance.

“Alisa Winters,” Sam said as the plane slid open and the warding spells appeared in front of it. “I’m calling to you. I know you can hear me.

“Would you come speak with me? I’d like to see you.”

“No,” said a voice from beyond the portal.

“I have someone of your blood here,” Sam said.

“You’ve corrupted her,” Alisa said, still not appearing. “You’ll ruin her just as you did me.”

“No. No… I won’t. In fact, I regret how we ended, Alisa,” Sam said, being completely honest with her. “I’ve even wondered lately if perhaps I erred. Perhaps if I’d given you a child as you’d asked, you might have kept me around longer. It wasn’t as if you were spending your life force to keep me around, after all.”

There was a swirling mist that began to coalesce on the other side of the portal, but nothing else changed.

“Really?” Alisa asked after a little time had passed. “Swear it on your name.”

“I swear it on my name, Alisa. I genuinely have regret over how we parted and have recently considered what would have happened if I’d given you a child,” Sam said.

The mist slid through the portal and pooled into itself.

In the span of several seconds, it became a person.

For a split second, it was a much older woman. Someone in her late eighties, Sam would have guessed.

Then Alisa appeared exactly as Sam remembered her.

Dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a face that looked eerily somewhere between Abigail’s and Alison’s. Their resemblance to their ancestor was plain to see.

“You would have stayed with me till I died?” Alisa asked, her hands immediately going to rest on her hips in an authoritative pose.

“And longer,” Sam said with a sad smile. “I’m sure I could have maneuvered enough contracts into place to have kept your spirit around for a long while.”

“Hmph. Well, you lost out, bucko,” Alisa said, pointing a finger at him. “I found a man, a good man. He married me and gave me children. Even now, he loves me, and we’ve been together and will remain together in the after.”

“I did lose out,” Sam said. “And I’m not making the same mistake. May I introduce you to Irma and Abigail?”

Alisa turned and looked at the two women on the couch.

“Oh heavens, you look just like Betty,” Alisa said with a laugh, moving in on Abigail quickly.

“Betty?” Abigail asked, her eyes wide and round.

“My daughter! You look just like her. You even have that lovely bit of heft to you, too,” Alisa said. “Used my journal, hm?”

“Yes… ah… Grandma…?” Abigail asked.

“Close enough,” Alisa said, waving her hand dismissively at the young woman with a smile. “I had plenty of grand children in the end. One more doesn’t hurt.”

Alisa turned to glare at Sam.

“Did he wrong you?” she asked in a growl, her demeanor shifting in an instant.

“No… Grandma. He helped me. He didn’t make me do anything, in fact. I slept with him because I wanted to. Wasn’t part of his summoning or anything,” Abigail said.

“Oh? Huh… huh… okay,” Alisa said, her severe glare slowly fading. “He’s treating you good?”

“Yes, Grandma. He’s treating me very well. He also helped Alison, my cousin,” Abigail said. “I’ve… reached out to everyone in the family. To let them know that your journals were right. Sam said he’d be willing to help them. Because they’re your blood.”

Alisa’s glare faded away completely as she stared at Sam.

“Mm. Good,” Alisa said tersely, still looking unsure.

“Alisa,” Sam said with a sigh. “I asked to see you because I wanted to thank you. The journal you left behind, which Abigail used to summon me, saved me. I would have eventually starved to death without that.

“Is there anything you need? Are you well?”

Watching him, Alisa began to laugh softly. “Well. Well, well, well. I saved you?”

“Yes, Alisa. You did,” Sam said, smiling at her. “I owe you my life, and my current happiness. After my contract ended with you, I was betrayed and imprisoned in my plane.”

“Was that Jena snake, wasn’t it?” Alisa asked with some venom in her voice. “She never liked that we were together. Awful little monster, that she was. Told you she was no good.”

“You were right,” Sam said. “But… are you well? Nothing is bothering you?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m good. Most of my family is with me, even my husband,” Alisa said. “Having known what to expect, I was able to plan accordingly. We have a nice little piece of the after all to ourselves.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it,” Sam said. “I’ll check in from time to time just to make sure you and yours are alright.”

The ghost that was Alisa turned her head partially to one side, looking at him.

“You missed out,” she said finally.

“I did,” Sam agreed.

It seemed like the spirit was contemplating something. Then she suddenly shook her head. “Make sure you don’t say no to Abigail if she tells you she wants a child. Swear it to me. On your name. Or I’ll curse you. Curse you forever.”

I… what?

No! No children. Never.

Sam looked at Abigail, and found himself staring into a living, breathing version of Alisa’s eyes. They shared the exact same hue and shape.

Unable to look at her any longer, Sam turned back to the ghost.

“I swear it, Alisa. On my name,” he mumbled.

“Really? We spent years arguing about this, and you just agree like that?!” Alisa shouted.

“I think,” Irma interjected. “I think it’s precisely because of this that he agreed… just like that.”

Alisa turned her glare on Irma, her face slowly softening.

“You’re his new Imp?” Alisa asked.

“Yes, but I’m… more his wife than First Imp,” Irma said.

Grimacing at that, Alisa shook her head. “I’m leaving. If I hear you’re going back to your old ways, I’m going to haunt you, Sameerixis.”

With a flash, Alisa was gone.

“She… was a lot nicer and gentler in her journal,” Abigail said.

“What you saw was Alisa,” Sam said. “What you read in the journal is how she wanted you to think of her. How she probably thought of herself.”

Abigail took in a breath and then let it out.

“I’m going to go home and make a few calls, I think,” she said, getting up. “I’ll see you two tomorrow?”

Sam and Irma both nodded.

They were expecting paperwork back from the government tomorrow. With any luck, they could start operations and formally be a company.

Not saying anything else, Abigail left, and the front door closed behind her.

“I’m not sure if she’s leaving for my benefit or because Alisa shook her up,” Irma said, her tone nervous.

“Both, probably,” Sam said. “So… you ready to talk to your mom?”

Irma shook her head. Then nodded it. And shook it again.

“I think so? Is she going to be mad at me?” Irma asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam said. “We won’t know till we call her.

“Though to be fair, if she gave her life for you, I can’t imagine how she’d be mad. Upset maybe, but not mad.”

“Her name’s Karen,” Irma said, chewing at her lower lip. “Karen.”

Sam looked back at the portal and then cleared his throat.

“Karen Tiff, I’m calling to—”

There was a flash of light that caught Sam off guard. A form appeared practically on top of Irma. As if it’d already been there.

Before it had even fully formed, it was all over Irma, smothering her in a hug.

“Oh sweetie,” said a woman’s voice as her form solidified. She definitely shared some features with Irma, but she also looked distinctly different than her daughter. “I was never mad. Never ever.”

Oh. She never left. She’s been there the whole time.

Hm.

“Mom?” Irma asked in a choked voice. Her arms came around the other woman’s waist tightly.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie. I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t have a choice. There just wasn’t one,” Karen said. “If I had to do it again, I’d make the same choice.”

Sounds like I was right. She chose her daughter.

Good mom.

Irma started to bawl uncontrollably; her head wedged in her mother’s shoulder.

Sam snagged the open portal to the spirit plane with his Essence and dragged it with him into the bedroom.

The last thing he wanted was for Irma’s mother to be dragged over into the spirit plane by a random fluctuation. If she’d spent the last twenty years, give or take, hovering over her daughter, she didn’t plan on leaving now.

Karen caught Sam’s eyes as he left, and all he could see was a mother who loved her daughter. She lifted a hand and waved it at Sam as he left, to which he only nodded his head.

Closing the door behind him, Sam walked into his bedroom and sat down on the corner of the bed.

“If I did it right… she’ll have at least three or four hours with her mom,” Sam said. “Which means I just have to babysit this for a while.”

Sighing, Sam leaned back in his bed and stared into the conduit. There wasn’t anyone else he really wanted to talk to that’d crossed over.

“Demon,” hissed a voice from the other side of the portal.

Raising his eyebrows at that, Sam peered into the twisting abyss. He couldn’t see anything there.

“Yes, and yet no,” Sam said. He had no fears of anything that could cross over. He was technically far stronger than the vast majority of what could be found on the human spirit plane. “Planar lord.”

“Demon,” said the voice again.

Laughing, Sam shrugged.

“I suppose. But that’s like calling a Vampire a human,” he said.

“Vile and loathsome monsters, that they are,” said the voice.

“You’re just a fun and optimistic spirit, aren’t you?” Sam said, laughing again. “And how do you feel about Weres?”

“Beasts and animals,” said the voice.

Slowly, a form began to coalesce on the other side of the portal. Though without a name or a summoning, it was slow going.

“Uh huh. Anything you don’t hate?” Sam asked. The spirit was entertaining him, and he didn’t have much else to do right now.

“Humanity, of course. Blessed be we are, for we were the first. First of the children of this world,” said the voice.

“Kind of,” Sam said, shrugging his shoulders. “Technically speaking, all of the Angelics were first. Then the war came and split them. It was fought in such a way that this plane’s time and space were shattered and had to be reformed.”

Pointless topic. They wouldn’t even know it anyways.

Once the old one left, everything was reborn through fire and pain.

Your entire existence was rewritten.

“So I’ve discovered. Everything was lies,” said the voice. “Lies upon lies upon lies. Everything that was promised was false. There is little in the after but others and pain.”

“Oh? Managed to get yourself on the negative side of the equation, did you?” Sam asked, peering more closely at the spirit.

Sure enough, he found a great deal of the forming spirit was made of negative emotions and actions. The vast majority of it, in fact.

It would take many centuries for this soul to be cleansed. The process that would do it would take an endless amount of pain and suffering.

With a snap, the spirit suddenly formed, bright red flames flickering up around her.

It was a young woman in her twenties.

Bright green eyes full of anger were set in a pretty face. A short head of black hair fluttered around her as her soul sprang back into what she had once been.

She was dressed in leather armor, with steel plates sewn into it here and there about her person. Most of the armor was fastened into place with buckles and clasps.

At her hip was a long, slim sword with a basket designed hilt. On her opposite hip was a wheel-lock pistol. Fitted throughout her armor, clothes, and weaponry were blessings and seals of purity.

“A witch hunter,” Sam said. “Yeah… I could see your life being a rather unending amount of agony now on the other side. And uncomfortable, too. How many of your victims have you been forced to see?”

“I was misled!” declared the woman, clenching a gauntleted fist in front of her. “Lied to and fed a false bill of goods. And now I shall suffer for all eternity for this deception.”

“Eternity? No. Centuries, yes. How long has it been since your death?” Sam asked.

“I’ve lain in the ground moldering for four centuries,” said the woman, anger and righteousness bleeding out of her.

Damn. Four hundred years and she still looks like she has hundreds to go.

She’ll be there a while.

“Sorry to hear that,” Sam said. “Sounds like you’ll be looking for redemption for a time. Could be worse. There are those who will only find it when the sun in this solar system destroys itself.”

“Bring me across,” said the woman, her determination returning. “I can do right upon this world and cleanse myself of this… evil. I brought it upon myself. I can do right to cleanse it. I can slay villains and… and live rightly.”

Sitting there, Sam considered it.

Truth be told, if he brought her across from the spiritual realm, her soul would instantly be cleansed.

The simple reality was that a vast number of souls ended up going through a reincarnation cycle a few times. And each time they returned to the plane, they shed themselves of all the wrongs and rights they’d done.

Too bad the higher plane would never allow such a thing.

The moment I brought her over, they’d just detonate her soul and send her back into a rebirth cycle.

Though… Miles said he hadn’t heard anything from them in a long time.

Are they gone? Not paying attention?

Might be worth it.

“You would serve me?” Sam asked.

The woman looked extremely displeased with that question, but she nodded her head once.

“If you could return me to life and allow me the chance to reform my spirit, then yes,” she said.

“And if I bound you to me and told you that you must serve me for a period of no less than three millennia?” Sam asked.

“What?!” The woman stiffened.

“The cost to form a flesh golem for you to inhabit is not cheap. Nor would it be legal. It would break the laws and rules of this plane. I’d circumvent them,” Sam said. “I’d literally force your soul out of your own personal hell, defy the heavens, invoke the planes, and risk all I have.”

“What… what would be my duties?” asked the woman after several seconds, apparently considering the idea.

“Mercenary,” Sam said. “We plan on operating as a mercenary company. Primarily to rob, kill, and extort criminals.”

The anger that had been in the witch-hunter’s eyes shifted to look far more like eager fanaticism.

“And to sleep with me,” Sam said, making sure to extract the full measure from the woman. “You would be mine. My woman, my soldier, my mercenary.

“I would feed from you. Have you carnally. Whenever I wanted, however I wanted, in any way.

“Your body, will, and strength would be mine until you served your terms of service. At which point I’d free you to do as you saw fit.”

Looking rather disgusted again, the woman seemed to be considering her options.

“Your woman?” she asked.

“Yes, my woman,” Sam agreed.

“If you think I’ll let you mistreat me, I’ll kill you first. I died virginal through choice and to remained pure for my god. I managed that through being very lethal. I’m quite proficient in killing even your kind, Incubus. I’ve ended planes and planar lords before.”

What…? Wait… wait.

“Though… I agree to your stipulations. So long as you treat me equally and with kindness as your woman, and so long as you treat me as a dutiful commander, then yes. I’ll be your woman and soldier,” she said.

“What’s your name…?” Sam asked, suddenly feeling very strange. There was a witch hunter even he’d known of once upon a time. One who had indeed killed planar lords and had been a scourge while she lived.

“Lady Decima Vera, third of the order, first amongst the gentry, and last of the Vera line,” said the woman.

“I knew you,” Sam immediately said, pointing a finger at her. “We met once. You were chasing a friend of mine the month previous.”

“Did I kill them?” Decima asked.

“No… he got away from you. He was a planar lord like me,” Sam said, shaking his head. “Said he set fire to a library or some such.”

“Ahh… yes.” Decima nodded. “I do remember that encounter. I halted in my advance to help evacuate the building.

“And what is your name, Demon who will become my man and commander?”

“Sameerixis,” Sam said, curious to see if she knew of him. The world they shared during the period she lived had been a wide and open one.

“The Carnal One? Torment of Lust?” Decima asked, looking shocked. Shocked and like she was second-guessing herself. “Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch?”

Sam felt a vibration in her words. Like someone had rung a bell near his head. She knew four of his eight names.

The number of people who knew so many of his names could be counted on one hand, and most of them Sam had killed himself.

“That’d be me, Lady Decimation,” Sam said, using her own moniker.

Turning her head to one side, Decima looked to be considering her options.

Then she shrugged her shoulders and looked back at him.

“Fine, I’ll take you as my man. I’ll submit myself to your desires befitting a wife and woman of this era. As well as to have you as my commander, Sameerixis, though I’ll not bear you a child. If you ever insult me or my honor, I’ll end you and your plane. Are we in accord?” Decima asked.

“We’re in accord, Decima, though call me Sam,” Sam said.

“You may address me as Wife, Decima, or Vera,” Decima said, lifting her chin fractionally. “I await your end of the bargain, husband Sam.”

“I’m not going to be your husband, Decima,” Sam said.

“If I’m going to be your woman, I’ll be your wife or not at all,” Decima said decisively. “It would be immoral to have relations outside of wedlock. I’ll do no such thing. I’ll not stop you from going outside our marital bed either, for I know your nature.

“As to our marriage, you may forgo a ceremony, but you’ll provide me the contract, blessed appropriately, and a ring befitting a wife of this age.”

Feeling like this might be a bad idea, Sam sighed, looking at her.

“It’d only be a marriage on paper,” Sam muttered.

“That would be acceptable and would hold to my beliefs. Contracts are contracts, after all,” Decima said.

Sam looked away and down to the side. Then he nodded.

Decima would be beyond useful to have in his employ. She was one of the scariest witch hunters of her time, if not all time, and had become a legend. Her strength, knowledge, and mind had been the definition of danger.

So much so that he’d stayed far, far away from her. Their sole meeting had been a brief encounter of minutes that was on accident.

From what he remembered of her, she’d died from wounds suffered while exterminating a vampire coven to the last. Though she’d been very old when it happened. Rumor had it at the time that she’d been eighty-four.

Sam firmed up his choice and leaned to one side. He began to use far more Essence than he’d thought he would be using today. If this entire month.

He began forming a flesh golem from what little Life Essence he had available and modeled it to be an exact clone of Decima.

And that makes nine.

Though… let’s just put a few insurance policies in the golem in case she decides to be a problem.

Can’t have her ruining my fun, after all.

Twenty-Nine - Backpedal -

Leaning away from the flesh golem, Sam let out a slow breath. It’d taken the work of hours, and far too much effort, but it was done.

“How are you aware of my… my… my nakedness,” Decima asked in a strange whisper.

Lifting his head up, Sam looked at the portal, which was starting to fade again. He’d already had to stop once to slightly repower it so it wouldn’t close.

By my twisting nethers, that was a lot of work.

Going to feed from her hourly until she passes out. Then wake her up and do it again.

“I’m not,” Sam said. “I mostly guessed based on what I could see. I take it this is appropriate?”

“It’s certainly close. Though I do not think I have that— Actually. It’s fine,” Decima said. “Quickly. Get me out of this madness incarnate. I look forward to trouncing evil once more. This time with the truth of the world behind my blade and pistol.”

“Right,” Sam said. Using some of the free-floating Essence from his work, he made a small blade. He sliced a cut open in the palm of Decima’s new body, then did the same in his own palm. Clasping his hand to hers, he braced himself. “I’m going to draw you over and bind you in the same crossing. If you refuse the binding, you’ll die all over again. Your soul will be lost to the world, and it’s unlikely you’ll ever reform.

“Are you ready?”

“By the heavens, I am indeed ready. Bring me across, husband Sam,” Decima said. “Oh, to be in the world and fighting the forces of darkness again! My soul burns for it!”

Let’s… hope the higher planes aren’t paying attention, because bringing Decima back… this is going to turn heads.

Looking up at the spirit, Sam had a moment of doubt.

Standing there on the other side of the portal was Lady Decimation. She was a flaming spirit, wreathed in the bright red fires of negativity and the pain she’d brought to others.

And he was about to free her into a new body to work for him.

Sinking a hook of Essence into her, Sam drew her across the portal.

With an explosion, the portal detonated as Decima left it. Drawing her onward, he pushed her cleansed soul into the flesh golem.

Not really a flesh golem though, now is it?

He’d constructed it to be a perfect copy of a human, yet with far better innate abilities. Calling it a golem was an insult. It was perhaps twice a normal average human at its base. Without training or conditioning.

The eyes flicked open as Decima settled into the body. Then she took a deep, gasping breath.

“I swear to the accord,” she wheezed out with her first breath, her fingers crushing Sam’s between her own.

Sam’s blood shot down into Decima’s arm and immediately began to pool in her heart. It filled it to the point that some of her own blood was forced into Sam.

“By the heavens,” Decima said, looking pained with a gasp. “It hurts!”

“I imagine you forgot how to breathe,” Sam said, waiting to see what the higher planes would do. So far, there’d been nothing.

Not even the whisper of a presence. No anger. No justice.

Nothing.

Decima was taking gasping breaths, one hand pressed to her stomach and the other clenched to Sam’s.

“Ah… yes,” she said, her breathing becoming more stable. “Yes. It seems you’re correct, husband Sam.

“Yes. Breathing. Yes.”

Sam was only marginally paying attention to her. He was more focused on listening to the plane. For the very marked and blatantly loud arrival of those who inhabited the higher plane.

And yet there was still nothing. As he looked at Decima, Sam was starting to believe he’d gotten away with it.

Closing her eyes, Decima focused on simply being alive. Sam couldn’t help but smirk as she obviously experimented.

She breathed. She swallowed. She itched.

“Well?” Sam asked.

“I appear to be… exactly as you promised,” Decima said, then opened her eyes again. They were bright, shiny, and clear.

She smiled at him, and her severe face looked entirely different. “Lady Decima Vera lives,” she murmured. “Fear me, evil, for I once again walk the earth.”

***

“Decima Vera, former witch hunter,” Sam said, introducing the woman next to him. They were all standing in an empty apartment they’d taken and turned into a gym.

Slowly, they were taking more and more of the apartment building, moving up one floor at a time.

Opening her mouth, Decima seemed at a loss. She was looking from woman to woman at those she was now in a mercenary company with.

“A Were, Vampire, Cambion, Doppelganger, Imp, Cyclops, Succubus, and… an undead Witch,” Decima said, turning to glare at Sam.

“Yes, that’s what they all are,” Sam said, meeting Decima’s hard eyes.

“And what of it, huh?” Tiffany asked in a growl. “You wanna spar, pretty girl?”

As she turned back to Tiffany, it was clear Decima was confused. Then she nodded. “Of course I’ll spar with you. It would be good to exchange blows and understand one another.

“You are a Were… and I have come to realize my previous thoughts were incorrect. Hated you may be, and impure as a cesspit overwhelmed with the filth of thousands, but you are a living being deserving of life if you live correctly. Even if you’re stained.”

“Real great way with words,” Tiffany growled, shifting into her hybrid phase, her hands flexing. “Gonna make you eat ’em.”

Sam wasn’t about to get in the middle of this. Decima would have to learn to play nice with the very people she’d hunted down previously.

One way or another.

He’d begin punishing her soon enough if she couldn’t curb it.

“You two have fun,” Sam said, then looked at Irma. Walking over to her, he nodded his head to one side. He hadn’t seen her since last night and wanted to have a talk.

Hopefully she was doing well.

Immediately she followed him, her hands clasped to his arm tightly. The moment they stopped next to the wall, she spun him around and hugged him tightly. It felt like she was trying to crush him.

“Sammy, my precious Sammy. I cannot even begin to tell you… how much last night meant to me,” Irma said, her voice breaking slightly. “Can’t. Can’t even start. There are no words.”

“I’d be happy with thank you, and that’s all that needs to be done or said,” Sam said, wrapping his arms around Irma’s shoulders. “Have a good chat with Mom?”

“Yes. A very… very good chat… with Mom,” Irma said, sniffling. She pressed her face into his shoulder. “She’s been with me the whole time.”

“Indeed, she has,” Sam said. “She’s probably been dodging Tenders and portals for a very long time.”

“What’s a Tender?” Irma asked.

“Think of it as a grim reaper. It’s close enough to that,” Sam said.

“She didn’t mention those,” Irma said, lifting her head up to look into his face. “Just the portals.”

“Hmmm?” Sam asked. That sounded odd. Tenders had always been rather dogmatic in collecting souls.

Tenders, the higher plane, what else has changed…? I begin to wonder and worry.

I should speak with Miles.

“She didn’t mention them. Just the portals,” Irma said again. “That’s… that’s not a good thing, is it?”

“No. It isn’t, actually. I’ll look into it later,” Sam muttered.

“What’s… Decima, by the way?” Irma said with a look toward the middle of the apartment.

Tiffany and Decima were standing across from one another now. They were wearing padded martial arts gloves and had put on some basic padded gear.

“A witch hunter. She was human before she died. I brought her through the portal last night while you chatted with your mother,” Sam said. “She bartered a few millennia away with us to rejoin the living.

“And yes, before you ask, I could easily replicate what I did with Decima for your mother if she willed it. Though it’ll take me several months before I can build up enough Life Essence to repeat it again.”

“Truly?” Irma asked, looking up at Sam now with wide eyes. “You could bring her back?”

“Provided there were no fate obstructions, I could indeed,” Sam said.

“Fate… obstructions?” Irma asked.

“Ah… something else like Tenders. There are those with truly unique souls who simply have one life, and then their soul remains forever in the after.

“Most souls simply choose to remain in the after and never try another go. Then there are those who never can. Even if they wish it.”

Both Sam and Irma fell silent as Tiffany roared and darted forward toward Decima.

Who neatly sidestepped the other woman and flattened her to the ground with a roundhouse punch.

The Were hit the ground so hard it made Sam’s feet vibrate.

“Goodness,” Irma said softly. “She’s… she’s very strong, isn’t she?”

“Very,” Sam said. “I think she’s who we would send in alone, or for individual tasks that require no outside assistance.”

“Is that because she hates everyone else?” Irma asked.

“Partially. And partially because she used to hunt and murder all of their kind. Including my kind and your kind,” Sam said softly. “Decima was a legend. There were few who could match her in her prime. Very few.

“She’s changed her thinking in some ways, but I don’t think she’s changed how she feels about non-humans.”

“And… she agreed to be part of your feed harem?” Irma asked, sounding suspicious.

“Well, with a few caveats,” Sam said, dreading this conversation already.

He’d rather be going round for round with Decima right now than explain he needed to get a legally binding certificate of marriage with someone who wasn’t Irma.

With another ground-shuddering bang, Decima hurled the Were to the ground.

Yeah. Rather fight Decima.

***

Sam didn’t understand what he was looking at.

At least, not really.

He knew it was a mercenary contract. It was a well-paying contract, and somewhat simple.

Too simple, as far as Sam understood it.

Which was exactly why he didn’t understand it.

The contract, request, pay, and information were all perfect. Lined up and written as if for his team and played to their strengths.

To Sam, it didn’t make sense because it read like such an obvious trap that it couldn’t be one.

Which made it one.

Growling, Sam flicked the manila folder shut and leaned back in his chair. It made him frustrated. Frustrated and angry. His first response was to immediately dismiss the contract and decline. Move on to the next.

Except he also wanted to know who it was that’d written up something ever so nicely for them. It made him want to know more.

On top of all that, Irma hadn’t taken the news about Decima’s demands very well. Not very well at all.

In fact, she’d given him a point-blank statement that he was to do nothing about Decima. To or for her.

And then she’d left after giving him the contract to read over.

Now Sam was left with the fact that he’d angered the one person who apparently cared for him for who he was. And he had no way to rectify the situation.

“I was a soldier before I joined the police,” said a voice.

Looking up, Sam found Carissa the Cyclops watching him.

“Oh?” Sam asked, genuinely curious.

“Yes,” said the woman, entering the study and closing the door. This was another apartment on the same floor as the gym they’d been using for “business” so far. “I served as a soldier in what you would probably call a guerrilla war. Out east. Europe.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at that. “That’s rather interesting.”

“More so when I tell you it wasn’t for the states. It wasn’t even for a country,” said the Cyclops as she walked over to him. She was dressed in some of the clothing that Tiffany, Stacia, and Wren favored. It gave her a decidedly soldier-off-duty look. “An ideal that I believed in before I realized it was all… a lie.”

“Coven controlled?” Sam asked on a hunch. There were parts of Europe that had been dominated by very old vampire factions throughout history.

Sam doubted very much the current era would be very different.

“Yes. I take it that’s rather common?” Carissa asked, coming to a stop off to the side of the table where he was.

Staring up into that large, lovely bright eye, Sam grinned. “Uh huh. That where you learned to shoot?”

“It sounds stupid and cliché, but… easier to use a scope than a sight for me,” Carissa said, leaning up against the table. “You really don’t mind staring into my eye?”

“No. It’s pretty. Why would I mind it?” Sam asked.

“Most look away. Even my newfound comrades here,” Carissa said. “Though not always, actually. They make more eye contact then most.”

“Oh? I’m honestly wondering what you’d look like naked on this table with that eye of yours wide open,” Sam said. “I’d really love to have sex right now. Can we have sex? We can use the bedroom in the apartment across the hall if you like, or the table.”

He was practically starving. He’d not had a meal since creating Decima. He’d been hoping for a go with Irma, but… that wasn’t an option.

“I… I uhm… ah… yes. I suppose so. That was part of my deal,” Carissa said, her cheeks slowly turning red. “I’d prefer a bed, if possible.”

“Great,” Sam said, then picked up the folder and handed it to Carissa. “This looks like a trap to me. I want you to read it when we’re done and give me your thoughts.”

Sam moved at a quick pace, excited.

He was going to eat from Carissa for the first time, and he was famished on top of that. First times always tasted the best.

Moving into the only apartment with beds on this floor, Sam happily and enthusiastically went straight to his favorite bed.

Turning around inside the bedroom, he stood beside the door, waiting for Carissa.

As she came around the corner, Carissa looked nervous but slightly excited. She hadn’t lagged behind much, which told Sam all he needed to know.

“Go ahead and set that down on the bedside; then you can strip out of those clothes for me,” he said.

“Yeah. Okay, yeah,” Carissa said. Moving to the bedside, she dropped the folder and then started working at her clothes. She did it with her back to Sam.

Far quicker than he meant to be, Sam was completely nude. With his clothes in a pile to one side, he was eagerly waiting for Carissa to finish up.

Sliding a pair of white panties to the ground, Carissa turned around and looked surprised. Her single eye traveled down to Sam’s privates. Which were practically staring back at her, with how erect he was.

“Oh,” Carissa said.

“Go ahead and lie on the bed, on the edge,” Sam said. This was his favorite bed because it was the perfect height for him to enjoy a meal while standing.

Carissa smiled awkwardly, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. Shimmying around, she got herself comfortable and then slowly lay down on her back.

Stepping up between her dangling legs, Sam eased them apart. He put his hands beneath her knees and bent her legs until he had her positioned just how he liked it.

Glancing down, he moved his hips forward, catching his tip up between her lips smoothly.

When he lifted his gaze back to her face, he found her watching him. Her single eye wide and staring.

“Are you ready then?” Sam asked.

“Yes. I’m ready,” Carissa said, her fingers locked together over her stomach.

“Would you like me to hold your legs up, or would you prefer to do it?” Sam asked, slowly sinking himself into her. He was using the question partially to distract her.

“Uhm… you can hoooooohh.” Carissa’s response had become a moan halfway through, as her fingers curled into her palms.

When he reached the hilt, he found she felt incredibly tight. Tight and only slightly wet.

Slowly, he pulled himself free from her and maintained eye contact with her, smiling as his member slipped out to the tip.

Moving his hips forward, he entered her again and found her to be slick and fully ready now.

“As you like. I’ll hold them then,” Sam murmured as his fingers tightened into her knees.

“Yes. Yes please,” Carissa said, her eye still locked on him. Her hands toyed with one another against her stomach.

Setting his feet, Sam began to slowly, methodically pump in and out of Carissa. He never broke his eyes away from her own. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out she was sensitive to it.

Working that angle, Sam began to build up speed and force, pushing down into the Cyclops. He drove her into the bed with more force with every thrust.

Carissa began to let out little soft breathy gasps, but she made no other noises at all. She was as quiet as could be. As if she’d forgotten how to even breathe.

The sound of his length gliding through her was a wet swish and squish.

Beyond that, though, Sam could feel her enjoyment and orgasm rising. She was deep into her own little space now that existed between them.

Reaching down, she eased his hands out of the way and grabbed her own knees, pulling them slightly higher up.

Taking the opportunity, Sam grabbed hold of Carissa’s hips and began to try and drive her straight through the bed with his thrusts.

Each loud strike of her thighs against his lap was like a slap in the room.

Grunting once, Carissa pulled her knees up even higher but made no more noise. Her soft gasps were all he’d get from her, it seemed.

Holding her down on the mattress, Sam pounded away at her. Hard and fast, he was doing his best to send her tumbling over the edge now.

Even before she hit her orgasm, though, he reached down inside of her and slipped a thin tendril of Essence into her psyche.

He needn't have bothered.

She was absolutely lost in what he was doing to her. Her mind was just a screaming, primal, lusty shriek that never wanted this to end.

Especially the part where he was maintaining eye contact with her. Eye contact that was warm and caring even as he pounded at her.

That she wanted it hard and fast.

Sam flicked her sensitivity up to its highest possibility and beyond. Just as he did for all his women.

Quivering, Carissa finally fell off into a massive orgasm, and Sam leapt at it. Reading what she wanted as she wanted it, he drilled her, pulled at her, pushed, angled her, and rode her as if his life depended on making her continue to climax forever.

Locked in her orgasm, Carissa’s toes curled. Her body quivered and then went rigid.

Her eye slowly closed, unable to handle what was happening. She was almost unable to breathe, it seemed.

And right when she peaked, Sam spiked her with far more ferocity than he needed to. He practically cooked her inside out with the force of it.

Squealing, Carissa shuddered like a leaf in the wind and dropped into a world that existed only for her orgasm.

The sound of her being plowed down into the bed was loud in his ears as she rode out her high for an entire minute.

When she finally started to come down, Sam let himself climax and pushed up into her. Unloading into her.

With several grunts to accompany the thrusts, Sam ended his meal and let out a sigh.

“That was lovely,” he said, patting Carissa’s hips.

“It was amazing. But I’m numb,” Carissa mumbled, her eye slowly opening only to close again. Her legs slipped from her fingers and sank down to each side of Sam’s hips. “From the hips down, I can’t feel a thing. It’s all numb.”

“Oh. Does that mean we can go again?” Sam asked with a grin.

“Yes. Yes, please,” Carissa said in a whisper. “Slower this time, though. I want to feel every thrust.”

Thirty - Scales -

Sam opened his eyes at the sound of the door closing. He’d been lightly dozing as he sat there waiting. He was the last person to arrive, and he was still five minutes early.

They were in a room that’d been put together specifically for meetings. It even had a TV strapped to a cart on wheels that was hooked up to a laptop.

He imagined there were more professional ways to do this, but they were just starting out.

“Thank you everyone for coming. If I had known you would all be early, I would have come early myself and got us going,” Irma said, moving to the front of the room. “I thought it’d be a good time to have… a meeting of sorts. We’ve got some new employees, new assets, resources, and even a company.”

“Yes, a very good idea. Thank you, Irma,” Jes said, clapping her hands together gently. Everyone immediately began following Jes’s lead and clapped for the Imp. Sam joined in, grinning.

Apparently, his role was silent partner. Which he was more than happy to play.

He wasn’t the type of person to lead, from the front or the back.

Nor was he the glue that bound everyone together in a united purpose.

Beyond that, he most certainly wasn’t the type of person to manage all their needs.

Sam was an Incubus. He had sex.

A lot of sex.

He could do any number of things. Essence sorcery, a great swordsman, a solid marksman, a charmer, and a good mind. The list of things he was good or at least passable at was almost endless.

But nothing on that list included being someone at the top. It was one of the reasons he’d had Jenaphila and her entire team to begin with

“First, our most recent take,” Irma said, folding her hands behind her back. “The counts have come in. We’ve tallied up everything and sold what we could. Everyone who took part in the operation is receiving a forty-thousand-dollar cut.”

“Shit,” Tiffany said, and then laughed. “Apparently gunrunning isn’t where the money is at.”

The rest of the team looked pleased with the news of their first paycheck.

To Sam, it meant they’d made a lot of money. For everyone to get a piece that large, it meant they pulled down a significant haul.

“Definitely feels like we had a great first outing,” Irma said with a wide smile. “With that in mind, I’ve purchased this apartment building outright. The whole thing. This is a good location. It’s a nice area, and we’ve already been settling in here.

“I’m keeping some of the lower floors as apartments to generate some revenue and provide us with cover. The rest of the building will be only for us. All the tenants have been removed.”

“Great,” Stacia said with a sigh. “That means Wren and Tiffany will be wandering around all over in nothing but pants instead of just on their floor.”

“What?” Wren asked defensively. “It’s comfortable.”

“What you actually mean,” Decima said in a low tone, “is you’re attempting to bait my husband to your bed.

“You should be honest with your intent to hunt him. Hiding your intention is disrespectful to the other hunters.

“Hunt him openly, and I’ll wish you victory.”

Wren and Tiffany both turned bright red while Stacia, Carissa, Hillary, and Irene looked unsure.

“New rule,” Irma said with a hint of heat to her voice. “A basic dress code when not in your own apartment.

“And moving on to the next point in this conversation, I’m having work done on the building. The elevator and stairs will go no higher than the last floor with normal tenants. A key will be required to go any higher than that. You’ll each receive one.

“The stairs will be bricked up, however. That means you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the fire escape from your windows. I’m having those replaced and updated as well.”

Irene lifted a hand.

“Yes?” Irma asked, looking at the Witch.

“If you need help with the inspectors, let me know,” Irene said. “I’ve found that it’s rather easy to get the bribe right when you can just read their minds.”

“Oh, that’d be helpful. Thank you,” Irma said with a smile. “Any other questions on the building?”

No one responded to that, and several shook their heads.

“Okay. Next, we’re officially a private military company. We’re licensed, registered, and accepted. That comes with a whole hell of a lot of oversight, especially with so many of us being Paranormal in nature, but it’s done,” Irma said with a nod of her head.

“That’s exciting,” Jes said, bouncing lightly in her chair. “Did we go with the name I suggested?”

“Errr… yes. We did, in the end,” Irma said with a defeated smile. “Jes submitted a name, logo, and brand. Considering we were on a short time limit, I went with it. Some of you already know. For those who don’t, we’re officially Incubus-Succubus. Or… Inc-Suc for short. It rolls up into the parent company, Incubus Inc.”

“Be sure to suck your Incubus,” Jes said the second Irma stopped talking.

“Yes… I did drop that tagline from your suggestion, I’m afraid,” Irma said, then tapped something on the laptop next to her. “The logo remained, however.”

Coming into view on the screen was what Sam could only describe as a smiley face.

One half of it was blue, the other pink. Horns sprouted up from both sides of the head, though the pink side looked more feminine, with eyelashes on the eye and the mouth colored red. The blue side looked more masculine, while also appearing more sinister.

There was a certain playfulness to it that definitely fit with Jes’s personality.

“I like it,” Hillary said.

“It shouldn’t interfere with my seals,” Decima said. She was looking down at the top of the table in front of her as she diligently carved at a piece of a wood with a knife.

Sam didn’t need to see it to know it was a purity seal. Witch hunters had their own form of magic. A totemic form. Magic that worked exclusively with mana, and magic that was entirely devoid of any source.

Witch hunters could become impressive shamans if they wished. Which never happened, of course.

Decima hadn’t unbent in the slightest since Sam had brought her back to life. If anything, she’d only entrenched herself in her own personal mental bunker.

She was willing to deal with her co-workers and Sam, but it was obvious she had no love for them. Let alone even like. It was the barest form of neutrality.

While she had been shown the truth of it all, she wasn’t able to get rid of her prejudices.

At least not yet.

Sam was hopeful that’d change in time. She had a long while to work on it, after all.

Carissa, on the other hand, had launched herself full force into the squad. She’d spent a good amount of time at firing ranges with Wren and Tiffany already.

“Is this a patch we wear on official missions and pull off for unofficial ones?” Carissa asked. “Actually, the better question is are we doing unofficial missions?”

“Of course. How else are we going to make the big money? We just need a few legit missions in case anyone comes asking or looking,” Irma said. “I’ll be relying on you, Tiffany, Stacia, and Irene to figure out which missions to avoid. We’re not out to make an actual enemy out of Jenaphila just yet.”

Yet.

Operative word there. Yet.

Sam couldn’t help but feel genuine annoyance at the mention of Jena. It was a constant battle to remind himself that he didn’t have to leap at her straightaway.

That he wasn’t here for revenge.

He’d already accomplished his original goal of settling into the plane. He had a few portals, a feed harem, and willing partners at a moment’s notice.

“…are we really, though?” Stacia was saying. “I’ve been going through my notes, some of the data we recovered, and I talked it out with Irene.

“We’re pretty sure we’ve found a vault of sorts. We’re not really sure what’s there, but… I can only imagine.”

“A vault?” Irma asked, her delicate brows coming down over her eyes.

“That’s what it looks like,” Irene offered. “We’ve been tearing through everything we took and what we know. It doesn’t show up often, but when it does, it’s large dollar amounts and lots of heavy-duty security.”

“I talked to Alexis about it a little as well,” Stacia said. “She didn’t know much, but a few people on the city council had heard a bit of it. Usually it was a ‘I shouldn’t know about it’ kind of thing.”

“Alexis?” Tiffany asked, looking confused.

“She’s in Sam’s feed harem; she’s an Imp,” Irma said. “Though that’s a good point. I should put together an organizational chart and have everyone come in at some point. Sorry. New to this whole… leading a company thing.”

“You’re doing fine. Certainly better than I’d do,” Sam said.

“Where’s the vault?” Carissa asked.

“South America,” Stacia said. “From what we can tell, she’s made deals with a few cartels down there to help provide assistance.”

“Vampires then,” Carissa said. “The very nasty kind of vampires.”

“Black-kin,” Decima said with a sneer. “They’re not protected in any way in the afterlife. It was one of the few things that didn’t receive a condemnation that would damn me for all time. The sheer number of Black-kin I killed.”

“Black-kin?” Irma asked.

“Think of Stacia,” Decima said, lifting her hands up. “Now remove everything that makes her human at all, and add everything animalistic from a Were. Black-kin Vampires are monsters of old.”

“They die like anything else,” Wren said. “We’re up to the task.”

“True,” Decima agreed with a smile. Turning to look at Wren, she nodded her head at the other woman, who nodded back.

“Wait—do we really want to do this, though?” Hillary asked. “We just gave Jena a pretty nasty black eye, didn’t we?”

“Definitely,” Irene said. “But that doesn’t matter, does it? From what we know of her, her thinking is limited.”

“It is,” Sam said, nodding his head. “Whatever is closest at hand.”

“We should talk about the other open contracts first,” Carissa interjected. “The vault isn’t going anywhere, is it?”

“That’s… well, it might,” Stacia said. “If someone high up enough hears about our attack and what we stole, they might convince Jena to move it elsewhere. We should consider it a contract with a timer on it, I’d say.

“Though I do agree, we should talk about the other opportunities first.”

Everyone turned back to Irma.

“Ah… alright,” Irma said, looking slightly flustered. “I didn’t have anything else to really talk about that was important. I can just hand out the meeting agenda with notes afterward. I wasn’t sure what we’d end up covering anyways, so I prepared ahead.”

“Very smart,” Hillary said.

“Yes, good planning,” Jes said with a smile.

“Contracts then,” Irma said. Reaching over, she tapped something on the laptop that was set up on the TV cart. “We have four available. Two were sent to us directly, two are available through an open statement with our government handlers.

“Of the four, two are legal, one is questionable, and one simply isn’t.”

Everyone was watching now as Irma tapped her way through several screens.

“The two from the government are… well, they’re very standard. Run a guard detail for a set time limit. One for three months, one for six. It’s convoy duty and patrol work. It isn’t for an official war as of yet, but as you’ve maybe heard, things are heating up with the Elves in the Middle East,” Irma said. “That’s where both contracts would take us.”

“I really don’t like the idea of making myself a target,” Wren grumbled. “Especially for Elves. Can’t tell you how many kills I’ve gotten when people are sent to do something like that.”

“Agreed,” Decima said, laying down her knife and the seal. “Putting ourselves in a position like that is not agreeable. Inherently, it puts a lot of risk on us for little to no reward.”

“It sounds more like working a temp job,” Carissa said.

Irma looked around at the rest of the group. No one offered anything else, but it was rather obvious no one was in favor of this one.

“Okay,” Irma said and then removed two icons from the screen she was sharing. “That eliminates those two. We can always pick something else from our handlers at another time. I get the impression this is a fairly standard thing that gets hired out.”

“That leaves two. One is… one is a trap from Jena. At least we’re ninety-nine percent certain of that,” Irma said. “The pay is too high, the goal seems too easy, the enemy too weak, and the requirements almost mimic exactly what we did to her. It doesn’t look right from any angle. At all.”

Everyone was nodding to that.

“Did they only give it to us?” Jes asked. “Or did they give it to a few people?”

“No idea, and no way of really knowing,” Irma said. “Though I get the impression it’s more than likely they sent it to others. It’s not as if they knew we were the ones who pulled off the heist. I think they simply blanketed every mercenary company they couldn’t rule out with an invitation to the contract.”

“That sounds… very Jena,” Sam said with some annoyance. “Never a scalpel, always a sledgehammer.”

“And the last contract?” Tiffany asked. “The illegal one.”

“Sweep and clear,” Irma said. “Though I think this one is an automatic decline. The stated goal is… ambiguous at best. Sweep and clear an area, nothing else listed. Just a fairly high value attached to its completion.”

“That’s it?” Hillary asked.

“That’s it,” Irma confirmed.

“I don’t understand,” Hillary said, looking around.

“They want us to kill everyone there,” Carissa said. “Kill everyone and get rid of the bodies.”

Decima wrinkled her nose at that and shook her head. “I… would very much like to avoid killing innocents. I spent enough time in hell already.”

“What?” Wren asked, looking at Decima.

The witch hunter shook her head, refusing to respond. Instead, she looked back to the seal she’d been working on and resumed her work.

“Hell is real,” Sam said. “Just not in the way you think of it. Hell and heaven are the same place. The weight of your soul determines what you have to do or endure to enjoy your afterlife. Suffice it to say, killing people who don’t deserve it, who aren’t out for your own life, is a quick way to a few centuries spent in eternal torment.”

“A second feels like an hour, an hour a day, and a day a year,” Decima muttered. “I’ll not jeopardize myself again. Not in any way.”

Everyone but Hillary, Irma, and Jes looked rather concerned and flustered now. Sam imagined those who were nervous had rather bloody pasts.

“If it helps,” Sam said. “Good deeds do help to weigh out the bad. Even if they’re good deeds made for selfish reasons. Though to be fair… you’re all immortal as long as you’re bound to me. You have time.”

“Can I see how much… how much ah…” Tiffany trailed off, unsure how to phrase it.

“Evil,” Decima said simply, shaking her head. Her face was a massive frown.

“No, there isn’t,” Sam said. “Like I said, you have time. Anyways. Continue, my Beloved Imp.”

Irma smiled at the title and blushed faintly.

“And… that’s where we’re at,” she finished.

“I vote on the vault contract,” Irene said.

“As do I,” Decima said. “Fighting Black-kin is a good and righteous mission.”

Everyone who had just been nervous about the condition of their afterlife started talking.

Looks like it’s the vault, if only for the sake of being able to fight evil.

“Okay,” Irma said during a break in the agreements to take on the vault. She turned to Stacia and Irene. “I need you two to put together a mission brief for us. Then we’ll start planning, buying tickets, and transferring our gear. In the meantime… I might hire some other people to run one of those patrols for the government. Sub-contract it out, as it were. Would help pad our company profile. Even if we don’t make a penny off it.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Carissa said, nodding her head. Then she turned to Stacia and Irene. “I’ll help you two out with the details and prep this with you. I’ve had some experience in this previously.”

Everyone in the room seemed to be firming up their plans for the rest of the day. The meeting was clearly turning to a close, and most of the work would now fall on Stacia, Irene, Carissa, and Irma.

For that, Sam was grateful. He didn’t really want anything to do with planning an operation like this.

Instead, he turned to Tiffany, who was sitting next to him.

“What are you up to after this?” he asked, feeling suddenly in the mood for some Were. “Got any lunch plans?”

Tiffany eyed him for several seconds, then smiled at him, exposing her bright white teeth. “I was going to spar a bit with anyone willing. Care to go a round or two with me, then have lunch?”

Sam wanted to decline. He had no desire to fight unless he had to.

Then he stopped.

Tiffany had told him what she wanted, and she’d also clearly taken into account what he wanted.

Why couldn’t he meet her in the middle?

“Sure, why not?” Sam said. “Let’s go.”

Thirty-One - Mission Start -

The whole vehicle bounced, and everything tilted wildly to one side before righting itself.

“The shit, Tiff?” said Wren. “You aiming for every goddamn shrub and hole?”

“No. If I was, I’d park this fucker in your gaping asshole. Why? You wanna drive, you big dumb fucker?” Tiffany asked in a growl. “Cause I’m pretty sure no one volunteered, so I did it.”

Wren didn’t say anything to that.

Truth be told, Tiffany wasn’t wrong. No one had wanted to drive the massive, military-designed, six-wheeled truck-like vehicle she’d gotten.

Where she’d gotten it, she didn’t say and no one asked. Tiffany had her connections to the gunrunner world, and apparently that included being able to get a hold of military surplus.

“This is not that bad,” Decima said, sitting in her bench seat, strapped in, and looking for all the world like she was enjoying a nap. “Attempting to hold on to a dragon after you’ve pulled out one of its eyes… now that is a terrible ride.”

“A dragon?” Hillary asked, pulling at the Kevlar vest she was wearing.

“Indeed, it was a red,” Decima said. “A very violent and terrible red. It had been running loose in the countryside for the better part of a year. I’d been on assignment in the Iberian Peninsula for the church. The king asked me to take care of it.”

“Before anyone asks,” Sam said. “Yes, she really did, and no, it was neither the first nor the last. Humans can accomplish great things. Dragons today are rather solitary and typically live in the wilderness by themselves in the guise of a human.”

“Any chance I could talk you into fighting Tiffany for control over the music, Decima?” Irene asked, tapping her fingers along her knees. “I think three hours of country music is three hours too much.”

“I kinda like it,” Hillary offered.

“Considering you subjected us to young girls singing about boys, cars, and parties from the airport to the hotel,” Carissa said, “I’m not surprised that you would enjoy country.”

“This is better than what Hillary had on,” Stacia said, leaning forward out of her seat. She was holding her hands up in front of herself. She’d been working a blood mage spell the entire time they’d been driving. “Though not by a lot.”

“It sounds like the wailing of a beta male lamenting all the idiocy of his life and how he cannot fathom what he did to deserve it,” Decima said. “Is all country such?”

“No, Tiff just has a soft spot for this kind of stuff,” Wren grumbled. “Gets worse when she drinks.”

“Okay, shut the fuck up and enjoy it. Or one of you can fucking drive,” Tiffany said. “Driver picks the music, remember? And this is the only CD I brought, so fuck off.”

Lifting a hand, Sam stuck a finger into his ear and wriggled it around. He’d been hearing a soft buzzing noise for the last hour that he couldn’t shake.

Pushing his hat and the attached comm gear to one side, Sam scratched at his temple. The sound slowly faded a bit.

Happy with that result, Sam turned to Jes beside him and smiled at her.

“Is this what you were expecting and hoping for?” Sam asked as softly as he could.

Jes was dressed like everyone else. Kevlar armor, a vest filled with magazines, grenades, and other military needs, and a weapon across her knees.

She looked like a sex goddess gone to war.

“Yes,” Jes said in a whisper, her smile wide from ear to ear. “They bicker and fight, but you can see it. They’re all… bonding. We’re forming a team. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Suppose so,” Sam said, looking back at the rest of the group. They were still talking, though it sounded like the conversation had drifted toward some television show. “Then again, I thought I’d just happily go from young woman to young woman, having my fill and moving on.”

“Don’t be a fuddy-duddy,” Jes said, setting a hand on his knee. “That sounds rather lonely, if you ask me. This is much more exciting.”

“Oh, yes. Because firefights, violence, and possibly getting killed is far more enjoyable to sex and lounging around, then having more sex,” Sam said.

Jes made a clucking sound with her tongue and patted Sam’s cheek.

“You’ll see. Besides, we’re hitting Jena at the same time,” she said. “You were rather excited about that.”

“I still am, I just… have a weird feeling about this,” Sam said.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll see,” Jes said.

“Hey! I think I see the road we’re looking for!” Tiffany shouted from up front.

“How can you tell? It’s just all trees, vines, and bushes,” Irene asked.

“GPS locater,” Tiffany said, holding up a small device that looked like a walkie-talkie.

“Pull us off to the side,” Wren said, then racked her assault rifle. “And get ready. From here on out, we’re in their territory.”

The mood changed immediately with that statement. All around, people began chambering rounds and checking sidearms.

Sam could feel it when Tiffany started applying the brakes. Shuddering, the truck came to a stop.

Decima was the first one out, moving swiftly and smoothly.

One by one, everyone else began filing out.

By the time Sam hit the ground, everyone was securing the area, or setting up. Hillary was off to one side, already working the radio she was responsible for. If she wasn’t available, her backup was Irene.

Ignoring everything, Sam stretched his shoulders. Then, realizing he could, he brought his wings into reality.

Lifting them up and behind him, he extended them to their fullest.

He could feel the most subtle of breezes, but there was very little airflow. The forests around them did a great job of blocking all that out.

It was also extremely dark. They’d been moving during the night so they could attack during the day.

There was no sense in attacking vampires at night if they didn’t have to.

I don’t think I’ve been in South America in a long time.

Then again, I was considerably more popular down here before the Spanish showed up.

Giving himself a full-body shake, Sam brought his wings back in. When he looked to his side, he saw Jes doing the exact same thing.

“Alright,” Decima said, moving to the truck bed. “Five minutes to vacate your internals, ten minutes for a bite of something. Get to it or don’t. Just don’t let me hear you complaining about it later. Grab a box from the truck, pull it out, then get to your needs.”

The witch hunter started hauling crates and things out and setting them off to one side.

Slowly, the buzzing noise Sam had been hearing returned. Except now, without the music to mask it, he could hear it wasn’t exactly a buzzing noise.

Truth be told, it wasn’t something he could hear at all. It was more of a sensation. One he always got when the higher planes were paying attention to him.

Feeling a rising sent of panic, Sam decided it would be better to just check.

See who was calling.

He moved off to one side, acting as if he was going to relieve himself, then began to push his consciousness higher. Or at least, that was the way he thought about it.

Essentially, he was opening himself up to receive information from other planes while remaining on this plane.

No sooner had his mind reached up into the higher planes, he got his answer.

“Hello, Torment of Lust,” said a sweet female voice to Sam’s consciousness. “I never thought you’d come back.”

Sam couldn’t place the owner. It was someone he’d never spoken with before. Though they knew who he was.

“Hello,” Sam said in the same way. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a memory of your voice. Nor are you projecting an image. Have we met before?”

“No, we haven’t,” said the woman. “But I know you. I heard about you from the others.”

“Ah, the Higher Plane yet then remains,” Sam said. This would be a good opportunity to see if he could call in a few favors he’d thought lost. Most especially a favor to get Decima overlooked. “How’s Horatio?”

“Dead,” said the voice.

“What? How?” Sam asked. He hadn’t thought it possible to kill someone on the higher planes.

“I killed him,” said the woman. “I killed everyone. They annoyed me. They didn’t understand when I told them the truth.”

I… what? She killed them?

“I’m sorry, what’s… your name again?” Sam asked.

“I never gave it,” said the woman.

Frowning, Sam didn’t know what to say or do now. Whatever had happened on the higher planes, it had clearly been cataclysmic. Even at the height of his power, Sam couldn’t have challenged a higher-plane being for long. Because the rest would of dogpiled him and that’d be the end of it.

“What can I do for you?” Sam asked, deciding to take that route instead.

“Smart boy,” said the woman. “Nothing, actually. I was just curious, so I was watching you. You leave large ripples in the plane. Like a stone hitting water. I didn’t think you could reach out to me as you did, though. That was a surprise.”

“Ah, yes, well,” Sam said, wishing he’d never even tried to do this. Wishing he’d never made contact with this being. “I’ll leave you be then.”

“Alright. I’ll be watching,” said the voice. “Be a good boy. Don’t violate the higher-plane laws. I don’t have the time to kill you correctly, so I’d end up just disintegrating you completely.”

Shit. Alright.

Need to warn everyone about the portals then.

Quickly disconnecting himself, Sam fled down back into his body. After relieving himself in the bushes, Sam came back to where everyone else was.

“Sam, can I have a nip?” Stacia asked, walking right up to him. “I could use a little recharge. I’m hungry, and I’ve been running that spell all day.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure, no worries,” Sam said. Moving over to one of the empty crates, he sat down on it. Stacia moved up behind him and knelt down there. Her body pressed against his, with her knees on either side of him.

He felt her mouth close on his neck, then the sharp pricks of her teeth. Her arms slowly slid around his shoulders and held to him.

Sitting there, Sam waited quietly and patiently. Everyone was going about their business in one way or another.

“Two minutes,” Decima stated, walking over to an unfolded table. Her vest, gear, and weaponry all bore purity seals.

Small ribbons to instill accuracy or strength.

Even the rapier belted at her waist, which she insisted on having, had several seals on it. Chief amongst them was a purity seal integrated in the pommel.

I don’t remember anyone making her the lead on this, but at the same time, she’s good at it.

Then again, it’s not as if she hasn’t run things like this before for the church.

Stacia shifted against his back, then lifted her head from his throat. Running her tongue over the wound, she gave it a light pat with her fingers.

“Thanks, Sam,” Stacia said. “I really needed that.”

“Of course. It isn’t as if you don’t let me feed whenever I want. How could I not give you the same courtesy?” Sam asked. He genuinely felt that way as well.

Stacia never turned him away, for any reason. If he came to her in hunger, she always fed him till he was satiated. Repeatedly, often, and at any time of the day or night.

“I’m glad we share that between us,” Stacia said, getting down from the crate and laying a hand on his foot. “We eat differently, but we share a unique need. It’s… rather nice.”

Sam couldn’t disagree. It was nice. He and Stacia were kindred, in a way.

Leaning up against the crate and Sam’s knee, Stacia got comfortable. Apparently she planned to stay right there.

Slowly, everyone came over and circled up around Decima and the table. A large map inside a plastic sheath had been laid out.

“Quick recap, and then we go,” Decima said.

“This is like the tenth recap,” Tiffany said, standing near Wren and Irene.

“And we’ll have another, if I think we need to,” Decima said. “Unless you can tell me verbatim what everyone is expected to do?”

Tiffany winced at that, then made a ‘continue’ gesture with her hand. “Sorry. Please keep going. You’re right.”

Decima stared at Tiffany, apparently unable to process what’d just been said.

“Thank you,” said the witch hunter finally, and then she looked back to the map. “Carissa, Stacia, Hillary, Sam, and I will go to the first target, the guard station.”

Decima slid a finger from the point they were at now to where the guard station was.

“Hillary will attempt to infiltrate and determine what she can do on her own,” Decima said. “Sam and I will wait for an opportunity to present itself, depending on what Hillary relays back to us. Stacia will be acting as our concealer just in case someone’s watching.”

Collective heads nodded at that.

“Once we secure the guard station, Carissa can move up to the hill over here,” Decima said, moving her finger across the map. “She’ll provide overwatch on the main compound and approach. By that point, the sun should be rising and the Black-kin will seek shelter and sleep.”

Once more, everyone nodded their heads.

“That said, Carissa, your orders remain as they were,” Decima said, looking at the Cyclopian freedom fighter turned policewoman, then mercenary. “When given the go-ahead, exterminate enemies at your discretion, reposition as needed, and flee when necessary.”

“Retreat,” Wren said. “Or extract.”

“What?” Decima asked, looking at the big Cambion.

“We don’t flee. We extract or retreat,” Wren said.

Decima blinked slowly, then looked back to Carissa. “Understood?”

“Yes,” Carissa said. “Shouldn’t be an issue.”

“For the rest of you, you’re in reserve. Build the base camp and sleep. We’ll contact Irene on the radio when we’re ready to move to the next phase. We’ll have a recap for that part of the plan then,” Decima said. “Questions? Concerns?”

Everyone shook their heads in the negative.

“We’ll move on foot to our position and go from there,” Decima said, swinging her rifle down from her shoulder and up into her hands. “May we walk with determination, purity of mind, and the resolve to succeed.”

Sam pulled the handgun at his side from its holster. Thumbing the safety off, he chambered a round. He could use it—and do a fair job of it.

But he didn’t much care for it.

He was an Essence sorcerer and a swordsman at best.

With people like Decima running around, he’d trained often enough that he could easily be what one would consider a master of the sword. Though it was more of a mash of styles that became “what kills the best” rather than any one style. Decima was a trained and sculpted swordswoman.

Decima set off, and everyone in the first contact group left with her. Stacia was once again running a small spell that would disguise any noises they made as well as hide their presence if anyone happened to see them.

It was one of the reasons they were so confident with their ability to get so close in the truck. Irene would be responsible for shielding the camp while Stacia was away.

“Just a walk through the woods,” Stacia said. “With a witch hunter as our mission leader. And on top of that, I have to survive in pure, unfiltered sunshine by the grace of my Incubus lover. I’m really starting to think perhaps I should have left well enough alone.”

“You were rather persistent,” Sam muttered. “And what are you complaining about? Decima is leading the operation, but you’re the one who put the plan together. Aren’t you?”

“I mean… I helped. Decima, Carissa, and Irma assembled everything,” Stacia said.

“She made the plan, we tweaked it,” Decima said. “She even went so far as to suggest I lead it.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at that and looked to Stacia.

“What? None of us have experience with fighting Vampires. Not even me,” Stacia said.

“You’re a damn house pet of a Vampire,” Decima said. “I’m surprised an elder Vampire didn’t turn you into a wineskin just for a snack.”

“Ah… I didn’t know Vampires could drink other Vampires until Sam mentioned it,” Stacia said. “I think… as far as my kind of Vampire goes, in the states, that isn’t common knowledge anymore.”

Decima shook her head with a growl.

“The world went and got itself neutered, and I’m not sure if it’s for the better or the worse,” she said.

“A lot more government,” Sam said. “And a lot more ‘guards’ I would say. With safety and security came ignorance.”

“No wonder your little pet monster took over and made a kingdom for herself,” Decima said. “Was never anything good about her back then, and it’s unsurprising what she did now. You’re probably the only person who saw her as anything other than a snake.”

Sam sighed and looked off to one side.

“I swear it’s as if—”

“Shut up,” Hillary spat out, interrupting Decima.

“Stop it,” Stacia said at the same time.

Decima glared at the two women over her shoulder, then looked forward again without a word.

As he looked at the two women walking beside him, Sam was grateful for their defense of him. But there was a problem.

“Decima’s not wrong,” Sam said softly. “I wanted Jena to be more than what she was. Desperately so. In wanting that, I believed in something that wasn’t true. Something that had never been true. And I let what happened happen.

“She’s not wrong. She’s absolutely right.”

“Doesn’t mean she should hound you about it,” Stacia said.

“She’s being a bitch,” Hillary offered.

Sam only smiled at the two, then gestured to the path ahead of them and looked forward himself.

He really didn’t think Decima was acting out of line, considering she was right. There was no question in his mind that he was directly responsible for the ills Jenaphila had wrought on the world.

After all, he was already well aware of the infrastructure and tactics she was using. They were his own. She’d just updated to modern times and taken things further than he ever had dared.

Thirty-Two - Changes -

Sam was sandwiched between Decima and Stacia. His hands were spread apart in front of him as he held a spell together. There, between his hands, was a small glowing portal.

It was a one-way visual of what Hillary was seeing. As it was Essence magic, no one but another planar lord or an Imp extremely well trained in Essence sorcery would see it either.

“Their security is absolutely lacking,” Decima said with a click of her tongue.

“To be fair, they’re not expecting a Doppelganger to wander in. One who looks just like the person who’s supposed to be out on patrol and is arriving back at the right time,” Stacia said. “I’m more surprised that he was just a human.”

“As the Vampire you are, that would be expected,” Decima said. “Vampire covens surround themselves with those who can work for them. Or at least, they used to. It seems they now value beauty over everything else.

“And humans who will work for the darkness make great lapdogs. They’re also very cheap to replace.”

Stacia harrumphed lightly at that.

“You’ll understand when you see a Black-kin. You and they are the same species as a wolf and a dog could be said to be,” Decima said.

Hillary was standing behind a guard who was flicking through cameras. Apparently, the surrounding area around the guard station was heavily monitored. The cameras also had the approaches up to the main encampment included, but nothing inside the walls.

It was a one-way feed. Everything from here went to the inner defenders; nothing came back this way.

“All it takes is a simple blood test,” Decima said. “Doppel blood is filled with magic. A simple purity seal touched to it would instantly give it away.”

“Again, they weren’t expecting such a thing,” Sam said. “On top of that, they’re not from the church. In fact, the church you knew is, as far as I’ve seen, dead. Whatever they used to be, they’re no longer that.”

Decima had a frown on her face that looked like she was sucking on a sour lemon. “Better that way anyways, since it was all a lie.”

“At one time… before… well, before what happened, it was true. Honest and true,” Sam said. “As I’ve told the others, I was there after it happened. Spoke to the survivors. Where two gods existed. A war amongst the heavens and hells was waged. One god threatened the other with the destruction of the world. Rather than risk so many lives, that god left and took almost their entire army with them.”

“What?” Decima asked, her voice a deathly whisper. “The creator left?”

“One of the gods did. Not sure who the creator was, whether they stayed or left. Wasn’t there for the creation part,” Sam said.

The view from Hillary shifted one way and then the other. It was obvious she was scanning her surroundings.

“I think she’s going to—” Stacia stopped mid-sentence.

Skewing to one side, the view from Hillary shuddered. The man in front of her went out of view suddenly. Hillary looked around, seemingly not concerned with the man in front of her but with who might be behind her.

Slowly, her view went back to the man in front of her. Her arms were wrapped around his throat, and the man was clearly no longer conscious.

One of Hillary’s hands vanished out of view and came back with a knife.

Sam couldn’t really see what she was doing, but he got the impression she’d either stabbed him straight in the heart or slit his throat.

“Should be one guard left, right?” Stacia asked.

“Yes,” Decima said. “He’s out on patrol and won’t be back for a few minutes. She’ll have to hide the body or catch him as he walks in. Regardless of that, it means Carissa can move.”

Sam nodded and turned to Stacia. “You got it?”

“Yeah. After draining that guard, I’m feeling… pretty good,” Stacia said. Holding a hand up in front of herself, she focused on a broken stone there.

Slowly, it turned a soft yellow color. The half of the stone Carissa held should also turn yellow, signaling her to move.

“I’d hope so,” Decima said. “I’ve not seen a human drained to such a point in a long time.”

“Done,” Stacia said, dropping the rock to the ground. “Really? I’ve… never actually drained a human before. I was brought into my Vampirism to only sip from humans. That or drink from prepped blood bags from a facility.”

“House pet,” Decima said. “And I’m thankful your particular kind has been turned into such a thing.”

Getting to his feet, Sam brushed himself off lightly. They’d still have to avoid the cameras since the feed would be sent to the camp, but they could move into the guard station with relative confidence.

“It’s done,” Decima said. “Let us get to the station.”

Quietly, the group of three moved in toward Hillary’s position. They were moving fairly quickly, but they were fairly certain the last guard would return to the station before they made it.

The guard didn’t have to avoid the cameras, after all.

Entering the station, Decima led the way. Her sword was drawn and held out in front of her.

“Good timing,” said Hillary from inside. “Got a juice box over there for Stacia. Otherwise, we’re ready to move to the next phase.”

“Another? I’m pretty full. I’ll drink some now, though,” Stacia said, walking over to the bound guard. “Drink some later if I need it.”

Hm. Good.

This is moving along quite well.

It’s getting a bit harder to not get excited.

I’m ever so curious at what Jena has tucked away in that vault. I want to see it. To hold it.

To crush it and send her a photo of the wreckage.

“…head up to the top of the tower and put this up there,” Hillary said, looking at Sam with her hand extended. In it was a bag. “Just needs to be deployed and the battery pack plugged in.”

“Huh? Oh, oh, yes. Yeah, I’ll do that,” Sam said. Moving to the ladder off to one side of the building, he started climbing upward.

The whole thing was made of cement, painted to blend with the forest, and it had been built amongst a small cluster of trees.

For all intents and purposes, whoever was in charge of defense here had definitely tried to make the guard station less obvious than it would have been.

After climbing to the top of the ladder, Sam pushed the door open and then crawled up onto the top of the building. Getting to his feet, he stood up straight and opened the bag.

He pulled out a small tripod with a dish on it, then set up the comm unit and plugged the battery into it.

He didn’t understand it, the tech behind it, or how it worked. Nor did he have to. That was someone else’s job.

“Alright,” Sam said. “Guess we wait for the others to get here and then go to phase two.”

***

Peering through the spell between his hands, Sam had a really bad feeling about the situation. Especially now that he knew that woman from the higher plane was still watching him.

His actions needed to follow the guidelines laid down. In that same thought, though, he wondered if it even mattered. If this person had emptied the plane, did that mean the old rules were still valid?

Did she even know them?

He needed to talk to Miles.

As for what he saw, that was another troubling matter altogether.

The only thing he could see was a small, squat building that looked more like a bunker. A series of buildings were arranged around it, but they all had the look of sheds, garages, and bathrooms. Even a small barracks where the guards probably rotated in and out of.

It was far too small to be the compound they were looking for. Especially given how much had been spent on the needs of the place. Which meant Sam was missing something.

“To be frank, I was expecting something like this,” Decima muttered. “Black-kin never like to be in the open. Even if the moon is out and the day is over, they would prefer to be in their warrens. Buildings. Anything where they can nest and hide. They’re like rodents.”’

Ah. It’s all underground.

“Was my species like that at one point?” Stacia asked.

Everyone was hunkered together except for Hillary and Carissa. The Doppelganger was manning the comm station and Carissa was in position.

“Your species,” Decima repeated. “Your species… is the same as the Black-kin. You’re all one species. It is just a difference in the strain of Vampirism. Your kind was used as forward agents, scouts, and infiltrators. They blended well with Humanity. It is very strange to see you as you see yourself. A separate species.”

Sam said nothing to any of this. His knowledge of vampires was somewhat limited, and he truthfully didn’t care. The church had been targeting vampires as long as both had existed.

Only demons ranked higher on the church’s “exterminaret” list.

“Whatever,” Tiffany said. “Plan didn’t change. Did it?”

“No,” Decima murmured. “No, it didn’t.”

“Great,” Tiffany said, nodding her head. Then she turned to Wren, Jes, and Irene.

“Oh, I suppose that means it’s our turn then,” Jes said with a wide smile.

“Try not to get killed,” Sam said. “If you do end up getting ejected from your body, don’t cross over. Don’t go anywhere near the portal. Go as far away as possible, in fact. As far as you can get. We’ll call you back when it’s time.

“If you cross over, I probably can’t get you back. Got it?”

Everyone stared at him. No one had expected such a statement.

“Uh… how hard is it to avoid the portal?” Tiffany asked. “I didn’t see it when I died last time.”

“Your body wasn’t completely dead,” Sam said. “And the portal is… very hard to resist. You’ll have to fight against it with all your might. Because I mean it. If you cross over… you’ll be lost to us.”

“And then you’ll pay for your crimes,” Decima said in a hiss. “And that’s not something I’ll repeat anytime soon. No… I chose to be wife to a demon lord rather than suffer in hell, and I’d do it again.”

Sam could practically taste the fear that was suddenly all around him. If he’d been a Boogieman, he’d be feasting on it even if he didn’t want to.

“That’s how it is. I can bring you back, but you have to be there to be brought back,” Sam said. “Try not to die.”

“Off we go then,” Jes said, then got up. She started moving away through the growth. Wren, Tiffany, and Irene all followed along behind her.

No sooner had they all moved beyond hearing range than Stacia got up. “Going to go check in with Hillary. That and it’s rather novel to be moving around in the sunshine.”

And finish off draining the guard.

Your instincts are waking up, aren’t they?

Decima and Sam were all that remained.

“Bringing me over from the spiritual realm called down the ire of others upon you, didn’t it?” Decima asked.

“Actually, it didn’t,” Sam said. Focusing on the spell between his hands, Sam didn’t want to look at the witch hunter. He hoped she’d let the subject drop.

“Then why bring up the warning? And say something so fraudulent?” Decima pressed.

“Because things changed,” Sam said. “It had nothing to do with you, however. You’re a flesh golem.”

Sam could practically feel the tension rising in Decima. Then she let out a short chop of breath and the tension fled. “I understand.”

Oh thank the darkest part of the twisted nethers you’re as smart as you are. You didn’t survive on your brawn and reflexes alone, after all.

“Anything I should know?” Decima asked.

“Only that the higher planes seem to have undergone a change of ownership,” Sam said. Shifting his spell around, he refocused in on Jes and her squad.

“I… see,” Decima said. “We should talk about the church later. The church and what we were doing. What I was doing.”

“That sounds… ominous,” Sam said.

“At the time, we felt we were preparing for the end times. The destruction of everything,” Decima said. “We worked hand in hand with someone who said they were from the higher planes, as you called it.”

Great.

Why wouldn’t it surprise me to find out the church is involved?

“…worked with our pantheon,” Decima said. “The one-and-all led the way, followed by his angels and his brother.”

“Which one?” Sam asked. Decima’s church had an entire theater cast of gods and goddesses. The one-and-all was the pinnacle of their belief, however. His brothers and sisters were his fellow gods and goddesses.

“Lord of the Plains,” Decima said immediately.

“I never liked him,” Sam said with a grimace. “He always reeked of lies and wine.”

“You… you met him?” Decima asked incredulously.

“Of course,” Sam said as he watched Jes and her team close in on the first outbuilding. “As the Carnal One, how could I not know him? He was rather interested in the pleasures of the flesh. He only called on me once directly, though. It was rather common knowledge amongst the Torments that he often had needs only we could give.”

“No!” Decima said with some heat. “No, that’s not—actually… never mind.”

Sam glanced over at the witch hunter. She seemed to be lost in her own head space.

Probably having a hard time coming to grips with everything. But she’s got quite a bit of proof that her previous beliefs were all false.

Looking back at his spell, Sam focused on Jes.

They all looked to Irene, who nodded her head after a few seconds. She said something to the others.

Unfortunately, Sam couldn’t tell what was said since his spell only transmitted a visual of what was going on. To have audio would require considerably more resources spent.

Wren and Tiffany said something in return, then spoke to one another. Irene was talking to Jes now and pointing to different spots on the building.

Jes nodded once and then looked at the building. She moved her hands around as if focusing and then held them up to opposite sides of the buildings.

Must be killing video feed.

She’s doing very well for such a young Succubus.

Tiffany and Wren moved ahead toward the building once Jes looked back at them and nodded.

It was the largest of the outbuildings and looked to be the barracks. Slipping inside, the two vanished. Irene and Jes followed behind but didn’t enter.

Twenty seconds later, Tiffany and Wren emerged.

Nothing about their person or demeanor had changed, but Sam got the impression they’d just killed whoever was inside.

Anyone here was in the employ of Jena and the Black-kin. It made them fair game as far as Sam was concerned.

Moving to the next building, Irene shook her head. Then the next, and the next.

In short order, they’d cleared all the buildings that encircled the center of the compound. Jes disabled cameras while Tiffany and Wren cleared personnel.

Things were going well. Almost too well.

It made Sam ache inside, expecting it to all go sideways. His luck hadn’t been very good as of late.

There was nothing left but for the team to move to the center.

“I think it’s time for us to move,” Sam said, lifting his eyes up and looking at Decima.

She was pressed up to his side, watching the same view he’d been watching in his spell.

“So it would seem,” Decima said. Then she sighed. “What you said was true? The church… the church is worshiping a pantheon that doesn’t abide by its own laws?”

“Well, it was. I have no idea what they’re doing now,” Sam said. “It never did me any good to involve myself in the religions of humans. There’s only one deity at the top, you realize, and it isn’t the one who leads your church. It isn’t a deity I’d like to notice me, either.”

“Wait, what? What you’re saying is… you mentioned this partly before,” Decima said.

“I did, and I’ll talk more about it, but I think we need to go,” Sam said, getting to his feet. “Which means it’s a conversation for another time.”

“I… yes. Yes, it is,” Decima said. Reaching to her side, she pulled her sword from its sheathe. In her other hand, she drew her pistol and gave it a look. “I do miss the look of the older pistols. But it’s hard to argue with its capacity for ammunition.”

Sam actually agreed with her, but in a different way. He looked fondly back on the days when it was spears, bows, and arrows.

There was something to be said about being one of the strongest possible creatures on a planet.

Then again, there were a lot more Angelics running around back then as well. Even the general was still waging his personal guerrilla war.

“After you, wife,” Sam said, pulling his own sword from its sheath. “Since it’s the only way I get to admire you at this time.”

Decima turned a deep, dark scarlet at that, her mouth turning into an angry frown.

Sniffing lightly, she turned and started heading for the building. “I’m still waiting on my marital papers and proof, husband. All you’ll get is the ability to look till you solve that.”

Yeah, yeah. Can’t do anything about that because Irma said she’d handle it.

And she hasn’t really been that friendly since she found out about it all.

Really should have run it by her first.

Reaching to his side, Sam drew out his sidearm and gave the safety a look. It was off. He pushed it back into the holster, then flexed his fingers and spread his hand out.

Building a small ball of Essence together, he prepped it so he could turn it into any spell he might need.

He was an Essence user, first and foremost. There was no way he wouldn’t start with what he was most familiar with.

I really don’t like these modern firearms very much. Far too easy to kill someone these days.

Far, far too easy.

Thirty-Three - Assault -

Stacia caught up to Sam and Decima as they slid up to the side of the building.

“Sorry, as soon as I saw everyone moving on the cameras I started over,” Stacia said.

“No worries, you didn’t miss anything,” Sam said, pressed up to the wall next to Decima.

Looking at the Vampire, he couldn’t help but smirk. It was strange to see the pale-as-paper Stacia standing in the sunlight.

As if realizing where his thoughts were, Stacia smiled at him.

“Have I mentioned I’m really thankful for the fact that I can be in the sun?” Stacia said. “It’s so… warm. So very warm.”

“Imagine how a Vampire feels without that protection,” Decima hissed. “I hear it’s incredibly warm. They usually say something like ‘It burns, it burns, it burns.’ I could have misunderstood, though. They were usually bursting into flame when they said it.”

Sam pressed two fingers to his brow. He couldn’t quite place Decima sometimes, but more often than not she seemed to be pessimistic, bitter, and angry. She could always be counted on to ruin a moment.

Going to have to fix her aren’t I?

Fine. We’ll start now.

“Delightful,” Stacia murmured before Sam could speak. “Always a pleasure, Decima. You sure you didn’t bring some of that hellscape back with you? Cause you’re acting a lot like a demonic bitch. And that’s coming from a Vampire.”

Flinching at that, Decima looked down to the ground. Several seconds passed before she shook her head.

“You are… correct,” Decima said, then looked back to the entryway ahead of them. “I apologize. I am… learning. Please forgive me for my faults as I attempt to work through them.”

Standing there, Sam stared at Decima as if she were naked and doing a handstand while playing a kazoo with her asshole.

Rather than comment on what’d just happened and possibly ruin it, Sam said nothing. Instead he stood behind Decima and waited.

“What’s the signal? How do we know when to go?” Stacia asked, her question bridging the silence back to a normal conversation.

“Honestly? I have no idea,” Sam said.

“We’ll know,” Decima said.

“How will we—”

Sam was interrupted by an explosion.

Decima shot forward, her left hand coming up with her pistol ready.

Stumbling forward, Sam brought up a wedge of Essence in front of Decima as he turned the corner. That was his part of the job. The reasoning was ‘just in case it’s guarded’ and Sam hadn’t thought to question it.

At the end of the hall was a small hole. In that hole was a large gun barrel.

Decima managed to close the distance halfway to the end of the hall before the gun began firing.

It’s a damn machine gun!?

Rounds began to pound into the shield and shatter to the left and right of Decima. She’d been relying on the idea that Sam was going to be there for her and didn’t move at all.

Rushing through the hall, Decima dodged to one side, out of view of the gun. Her goal was to get into the building interior.

Making a choice, Sam decided to disable the gun so Stacia could get through to assist Decima.

Sam walked the shield straight up to the muzzle of the gun and began to curl the shield around the gun itself. He felt Stacia rush past him even as he worked.

Ricochets began to pound into the cement and the gun emplacement. There was nowhere else for the rounds to go.

The gunner stopped firing, and Sam was left with little more than the sound of his ears ringing. It felt like he couldn’t hear a thing other than a loud rushing and roaring inside his own head.

Grimacing, Sam looked to his side.

A large metal door hung open on a single hinge. It looked as if it’d been torn from its actual frame.

Either I made Decima too strong, or Stacia is a much stronger blood mage since drinking Marin.

Sam began walking toward the door as he ended the spell, then stuck his head into the room beyond.

Decima was squatting low behind a glimmering blood-red wall. Her pistol was raised over the top of it, and she was squeezing rounds off intermittently.

Pressed up to the back of the witch hunter was Stacia. The wall they were hiding behind was being held together by the Vampire and formed from her magic directly.

Looking further into the room, Sam could see a number of people on the ground. He couldn’t see anyone, but judging from where Decima was putting rounds, there were people over there hiding.

It ended in a narrow corridor with a sharp turn to one side.

A man in a helmet stuck his head out and aimed toward Decima to fire from behind the corner.

Before he could pull the trigger, though, his eyes were caught by Sam. In that instant, Sam glamoured the man with a full-force punch to the psyche.

Kill your coworkers!

Ducking back behind the wall without doing anything, the man vanished.

Then there were gunshots and flashes coming from the area he’d disappeared into.

Rebuilding his shield again, Sam linked it to Stacia’s. There was an immediate and strange blending of magics as he did so. It almost looked like it was all going to explode, with the way they were bubbling over one another.

Then they slid together like blood in water and vanished into one another.

As he built his Essence into Stacia’s shield, Sam began walking to the corner of the room. The shield was dragged across the room with him, pulling the cover Decima could use further and further.

As if realizing what was happening, Stacia got up and practically appeared in the other corner of the room. The cover afforded to Decima expanded by a power of ten, covering the entirety of the room.

Standing up, Decima let her pistol fall to her side and raised her sword. Moving forward at a swift pace, she closed the distance to the last known position of the enemy.

She held her blade up perpendicular to the ground, the tip pointed to the floor, as she moved it close to the edge of the corner.

She held it there for only a fraction of a second, but whatever she saw in the reflection as she used it as a mirror was all she needed.

Raising her pistol, Decima walked around the corner and began firing.

She’s got no fear at all.

Gritting his teeth, Sam moved up and into the same position Decima had been. Then he followed her around the corner. No sooner had he entered the hallway, he could hear the rapid pound of machine-gun fire. Very similar to the same sound he’d heard earlier.

Corpses littered the ground. Many of them had single blood-pumping wounds in their foreheads. Between their very eyes and through a helmet.

Up ahead, he saw the heels of Decima’s boots as she turned down another corridor.

Stacia zipped past Sam in a red blur and zoomed after Decima.

Chasing after the two of them, Sam dragged along the shield behind him. He could still feel Stacia’s magic at work, though it was no longer tethered to her.

“I’ll just bring up the rear, I guess,” Sam muttered, turning the same bend in the hallway. He could see another machine gun emplacement up ahead, but there was no gun.

Beyond that hole, though, he could see flashes of light. As well as the unending blast of machine-gun fire at full bore.

Walking up to the hole, Sam peered through.

A group of ten or twelve men with rifles, SMGs, and a machine gun were all firing toward another fortification deeper inside the building.

Grabbing hold of the shield, Sam slammed a pillar of it down in front of himself on the other side of the wall.

Then he flung Stacia’s pillar toward the vampire to make a wall of cover. Grabbing his Essence, he shot it across to the other side of the gap toward the position he assumed the rest of his team was. He hoped Irene would get the implication.

She was a smart woman, so he expected her to see what he was doing and complete the triangle.

The soldiers didn’t seem to notice the glowing wall that ran along the side of their formation. If anything, they immediately started trying to use it as a form of cover.

Which was precisely what Sam didn’t want to happen.

Come on, Irene. If you know what I—

A black and purple wall shot out from Sam’s pillar and connected to Stacia’s bright red pillar.

Suddenly, every shot fired by the soldiers was being redirected in almost every way as they began to bounce off wildly.

There was a wild surge of magic from Stacia, and the walls—all three of them—rapidly expanded. Covering from floor to ceiling.

There was nowhere for the soldiers to go and nothing they could do. Realizing their rounds were returning, they slowly stopped firing.

Something grabbed hold of the pillars that made the wall and gave them new instructions. With a ping, the walls collapsed together toward the center of the room.

An explosion of gore and what sounded like hamburger meat being dropped on the floor was insanely loud in the room.

Squished into a tiny space was a bright red, glowing triangle of spinning, churning meat, clothes, weapons, and blood.

The sudden silence was almost as deafening as the monstrous amount of gunfire had been. Tiffany and Wren came out from their position, weapons up and scanning.

“Clear back here,” Wren called, even as she looked around the corners and behind furniture.

“Clear back here,” Decima said, standing and staring at the strange glowing wall of humanity meatloaf in the middle of the room.

“Well, not the prettiest thing I’ve done,” Irene said, coming out as well. “But it worked rather nicely, didn’t it?”

Sam shook his head and stood up, moving around the fortification to join Decima and Stacia.

“It’s disgusting,” Decima said, standing a foot from the glowing wall. One of her hands was raised to the mess.

“Yes, it is. The alternative was to waste even more time,” Irene said. “Was it not?”

“No, that’s true,” Stacia said.

Looking satisfied with the room, Wren and Tiffany turned around and headed back the way they’d come at a trot.

“Witch, I need you to get a hold of the Doppel,” Decima said, moving after Wren and Tiffany.

“Jes is working on it,” Irene said as she gazed up at the churning and bloody mess between the walls. “They were trying to call out to someone when we reached the comm room. Not sure if they finished the call or message or whatever it was.”

“We assumed that’d happen,” Decima said, nodding her head. “I assume you started the timer.”

“Yes,” Irene said, still staring.

Decima left the room, vanishing through the armored entry point.

“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” Stacia said as she looked up at the tri-colored magical wall between her, Irene, and Sam. “Though it’s strange that our magic blended together. I didn’t think witchcraft, blood magic, and Essence sorcery would connect like that.”

“It’s because I feed off both of you,” Sam said, looking away from the mess. “Traces of you are in my magic. How could you reject yourself? It’s part of the control methods that planar lords use.”

Turning, Sam started heading toward where everyone else had vanished. He really didn’t want to see the bloody meatball they’d made.

“Going to break it now,” said Irene behind him.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Sam watched as Stacia and Irene, who were right behind him, tore down the magical wall.

A flood of blood, meat, bone, and equipment rushed out over the ground. The stench of it was almost overwhelming. Everything reeked like the inside of a human’s chest.

Feeling bile rise up in his throat, Sam was surprised. It was just too much, even for him.

Irene flicked a hand to one side, and the ground peeled up into a three-foot-high curb. The mess flowed up to it and then began flowing back the other way.

Stacia stepped up to the lip and stuck a finger into the bloody mess, then raised it to her nose and gave it a sniff.

“It doesn’t smell like something entirely human,” she said. Then she licked her finger. “It tastes like human, but it isn’t. It reminds me of Irma.”

“Irma?” Sam asked. “Male Imps, then. I suppose that explains where they all went. And how she’s making more Imps. It’s done out of country, and the results—little girls—brought in.”

Sighing, Sam just chalked it up to another problem to hold Jena accountable for.

When he rejoined everyone else in the other room, he watched Irene ease Jes out of a chair in front of a massive display bank.

There were monitors, controls, and what looked like status displays. It was everything around the area, the guard station, and a very dark-looking room with two flickering lights in it.

“Looks like that’s the vault,” Decima said, pointing at the dark camera. “Maybe it’s time to pull out. It’s a prison.”

“I would agree with you if I hadn’t seen…” Irene paused and started flicking switches back and forth on the console in front of her. “These.”

The camera stopped.

On the screen was a room full of what appeared to be gear. Guns, vests, explosives, anything else an army could use—and a lot of it.

Waiting several seconds, Irene flicked another switch.

The new view was a lot of large, blinking, glowing boxes. Sam had no idea what it was.

“Servers,” Irene said, as if realizing some people wouldn’t know what they were. “Data. Lots of data to take with us. Last but not least, and why we wanted to be here…”

Irene pulled another switch.

Finally, a room full of what looked to be cash, gold, and other things was displayed.

“I’m suddenly very thankful that you all forced Irene and I to spend a week figuring out how to make a portal,” Stacia said. “Even if it did temporarily drive me insane.”

“Indeed,” Jes said happily, clapping her hands together. “We’ll just… hop it all the way to our plane and fly it home!

“Good work everyone. Now we just have to go downstairs and pick up our loot.”

“Well, that’s the harder part,” Irene said with a sigh. “There’s a lot of these things running around.”

The view of a different monitor changed, and a monster appeared on the screen.

It looked somewhere between a Were and a scrawny Troll.

“Black-kin,” Decima said with a hiss. “Vampires of the oldest breed and kin. Those who came first and spawned a slew of tales and myths.

“Cursed and tainted for all time in all ways.”

“That’s a Vampire?” Tiffany asked.

“A form of Vampirism,” Decima said.

“There’s a lot of them,” Irene said. “And they’re all over. Obviously they know we’re here. They closed the door and locked it.”

Everyone turned to a metal door set in the ground. It looked heavy, massive, and probably impossible to move.

All around it was thick concrete that it seemed extremely unlikely they would get through.

“And we’re on a timer,” Sam muttered.

“Yes. So it would seem,” Decima said. “Alright. Let’s blow the door off the hinges and get to work. My soul needs cleansing, and they’re a valid route to that end.”

“Pity we won’t be able to do anything with the gold for a while,” Stacia said. “We’ll have to sit on it, melt it down, and shuffle it around. Can’t just sell what we stole, after all. And that cash… we’ll need to put it through multiple channels.”

“Yes,” Irene said. “But I think you and I can handle that. It isn’t as if we weren’t doing similar things already. We’ll just work it with Irma.”

Wren walked over to the metal door with a bag in one hand. Getting down on one knee, she started pulling items out of it. They looked like small blobs of gray clay.

“You sure your shield can withstand the blast?” Wren asked, dropping more and more of the substance down. Pushing it and packing it down into the corners.

“Of course,” Sam said. “And with Irene and Stacia assisting me, it won’t even be a concern. I think the bigger issue will be getting down after we more or less turn the entry into a crater.”

“Rope. Lots of rope,” Tiffany said. Leaving the group, she went toward the massive hole in the back wall. Apparently Jes had overestimated how much damage she’d do in blowing the wall. Instead of a small hole, she’d knocked most of it in.

“I’ll tie it off,” Tiffany called, grabbing a bag just around the corner from the blast site in the wall. “You do your thing, Mr. Sex Fiend.”

“Mr. Sex Fiend,” Sam repeated, walking over to stand next to Wren.

“You kind of are,” Wren said under her breath. “I’m not complaining, personally.”

“Mm, fair enough,” Sam said. “I’ll need to feed after this a few times.”

“More than willing to volunteer,” Wren said as she looked into the bag. “That should be enough to blow this open. We’ll save the rest for later, just in case.”

Sam had no idea what was too much or not enough.

He just wasn’t in his element when it came to modern-day weapons and explosives.

Maybe I should go visit a lower plane after this. Spend some time in a technological backwater.

That’d be nice.

Forming an Essence shield over the door, Sam strengthened it and built it thick. He anchored it into the corners of the door itself until he felt like it wasn’t about to go anywhere. No matter how big a blast hit it.

“Alright, one of you needs to come add your own and reinforce mine,” Sam said.

Stacia stepped up and dropped a glowing blood-red shield over Sam’s. And then Irene did the same for hers.

“My turn,” Jes said, dropping her own Essence shield atop the previous three. “And now we should all go… probably pretty far away.”

“That’d be… yes,” Wren said. “This is going to be a very ugly explosion, I think. Like holding a firecracker in a closed hand.”

“Had a cousin who lost fingers doin’ that. Took forever to grow back,” Tiffany said, walking back into the room. She picked up her stuff and trotted back out the broken wall.

Everyone piled up in a group and took cover behind the corner of a nearby shed.

Wren peeked around the corner with what looked like a trigger in her hand.

Her thumb pressed the plunger, and there was a massive, deep, rumbling boom.

“Let’s go see the damage,” Tiffany said before the shaking and rattling noises had even finished. “Explosions are awesome.”

Thirty-Four - Charging Ahead -

Peering down into the smoking crater—because that was what it was—Sam didn’t know what to say.

“Fuck yeah,” Tiffany said. “That was damn awesome. We should get into demolitions.”

“The shields redirected the full force of the blast,” Wren said with awe in her voice. “We could… break into banks like this.”

“No,” Jes said immediately. “Robbing, killing, and destroying criminals is one thing. Going after innocents is not what Inc-Suc is for.”

Decima grunted and then dropped down into the smoking hole. Apparently that was the extent of the conversation she was willing to have.

“That works,” Stacia said. “She’s the most likely to be able to deal with—”

The sound of multiple gunshots broke through the silence after the explosion.

Wren, Tiffany, and Irene leapt into the hole after the witch hunter. Stacia, Jes, and Sam all looked into it with some trepidation.

Gunfire continued down in the hole, as well as screaming and shouting. Though much of that seemed inhuman.

Eventually, the sound died away.

“Clear,” Tiffany called up. “Need a bit of medical help down here. Not a bite.”

“Good,” Sam said. “Vampire bites are terrible to clean and disinfect.”

Stacia jumped in first, vanishing into the dark smoky hole.

“I’m having a good time,” Jes said, smiling at Sam. “Thank you for agreeing to this. I know this isn’t really for you, and you don’t want to be here. Even if it does give you the chance for some revenge on Jena.”

Before Sam could respond, Jes jumped into the crater and vanished as well.

Sighing, he could only nod his head. Nothing she’d said was wrong; all of it had been right. Except for one thing.

Sam wasn’t out for revenge. If he could live his life and never interact with Jena again, he’d be just as happy.

He felt guilty for what she’d done to her own race, but he wasn’t about to feel responsible for solving it.

His life wasn’t going to be some petty quest for revenge. But he wasn’t going to pass it up, either.

Revenge was doable, just not his life goal.

That’s more the purview of some curmudgeonly wizard. With a non-existent sex life.

When he stepped into the hole, Sam felt the rush of air going past him. Several seconds passed before he hit the bottom and fell to one knee.

All around him were the corpses of Black-kin vampires and humans.

Jes was sitting next to Wren, one hand pressed to the bigger woman’s shoulder.

They were standing in what seemed to be a lobby. Or what remained of it, from what Sam could see of the broken furniture and decorations. Almost like an office lobby.

“Not what I was expecting,” Sam said.

“No,” Decima said. “The viewing devices are watching areas with heightened security. I think this ‘vault’ is… much more than we suspected. Much more.”

Sam couldn’t help but agree. This seemed to be a prison, cache, vault, and tour destination all at the same time.

It was starting to make him more nervous. The fact that they might be on a timer, and how extensive this place seemed to be, was making his very skin itch.

“How far away was the closest airport? The one we thought they’d deploy from if they did?” Sam asked.

“Military base with an airport,” Stacia said. “If they were on site, we were thinking it’d be about an hour if they got mobile and came by helicopter. And before you ask, we think the alarm went off about five minutes ago.

“If we portal hop out, we can play it all the way up to the wire.”

“Then it’s a one-way trip,” Wren said, rolling her shoulder as Jes pulled her hand away. “We rig the entry here with explosives and sensors. When it goes off, we know to get out regardless of where we are. Jump back to the truck, then jump to base camp with Irma from there, then hit the cool-off point.”

“You alright?” Sam asked, eying the Cambion.

“Yeah, hit me outside the vest and went through my shoulder. Could work through it. I’ve done it before, but if I don’t have to, why would I?” Wren said, getting to her feet.

“They’re not coming,” Decima said, peering down the hallway that led out of the destroyed and bloody lobby. “Which means they have defenses or believe they’re better off hunkering down. In either case, I don’t like it.”

Irene came over and glanced down the hall. Her soul floated along above her. Then it shot down the hall and vanished out of sight.

“I’ll start rigging everything,” Wren said.

Tiffany moved over to join Decima and peered at the witch hunter. “You and me then, huh?”

“As it would seem,” Decima said. Then her mouth snapped shut before she could continue. Baring her teeth for a second, she sighed. Then she licked her lips. “Though I welcome the idea of fighting beside you. You handled yourself well with the Black-kin.”

Clearly not knowing what to say to that, Tiffany just stared back at the witch hunter.

“It’s a hallway,” Irene said, her soul coming back and settling inside her own body. She was apparently getting more and more handy with her soul. “Long one. Doors on either side. They’re empty of people. Everyone’s moved to the back rooms. I didn’t look further because someone noticed I was peeking.”

“Likely that means a wizard that specializes in soul magic,” Decima said. “Hopefully a necromancer, but far more likely a priest of the dead.”

“Okay,” Stacia said. “You four move up with Sam. Jes and I will start looting all the empty rooms as quickly as we can. Irene, could you form the portal before you go? And Sam, could you stabilize it so I can use it? Just like walls, please.”

Sam didn’t argue, just walked over to where Stacia stood with Irene.

The witch held her hands apart in front of herself. A black circle appeared and then filled in with purple mist. A dull glow formed, and the magic solidified. It was a portal looking into the back of the truck they’d arrived in. It had worked as their transport in, but it was also their way to carry everything out.

Sam stuck a finger into the magic of the portal and fed it a touch of his Essence. The strange boiling of magic occurred once again, and then it all blended together.

Stacia did the same, sticking a finger in and then curling her fingers into the magic. “All set. Thanks. That’s rather handy.”

It’ll be even more handy once I get a hold of Decima’s Shamanistic magic and then convince Jes to join her own Essence in.

Should be interesting to form a purity seal with all that.

“Less flirting, more fighting,” Decima groused.

Sam rolled his eyes and returned to Decima, Tiffany, and Wren with Irene at his side.

Tiffany and Wren moved out ahead of everyone else, and the group slowly began walking down the hall.

“These two are clear,” Irene said, pointing to the doors on either side of them.

“Mark them accordingly so our loot crew knows. We’ll be moving ahead,” Decima said.

Irene nodded and closed her hand in front of her and focused her magic for a second. Even as they walked away from the doors, a small green sphere popped up next to the handles of the doors. Floating there in the air.

Irene continued to mark the rooms as they marched down that long corridor. Door after door was clear.

“After we turn, there’s an empty gun emplacement, and the doors directly in front of that are occupied,” Irene said.

“Empty? No machine gun?” Tiffany asked.

“Empty,” Irene confirmed. “Not sure what happened, but it was like above. Just no gun.”

“Don’t care for that,” Decima said. “Giving up a fortified position seems… wrong.”

Irene held out a hand, and a purple wall appeared in front of Tiffany and Wren. While Irene said it was empty, she clearly felt there was no reason to tempt fate.

“These are occupied,” Irene said, gesturing to the doors on either side. “This one has two women in it, that one a single man. No weapons that I can see on any of them, but… that doesn’t mean anything.”

“True enough. I’ll take the singular man,” Decima said, moving to one side and opening the door. She raised her pistol and walked through.

“I’ll take the two,” Tiffany said, lifting her weapon and entering the door.

“Guess I’ll play bodyguard,” Wren said, looking to the emplacement.

“You’re welcome to be my bodyguard. I plan on going to a bedroom soon—will you guard my body there?” Sam asked. “I’m getting hungrier with every bit of Essence used. You already looked amazing, but now I want to tie you to a bed and call out sick for a day.

“Care to let me have a quick meal once we fall back and jump? I’ll make sure it’s a good one for you.”

Wren peered down the sight of her weapon toward the emplacement.

“Sure. Why not? I could blow off some steam,” she said. “Getting shot is never fun, and sex would be a great wind-down.”

Irene gave Sam a pointed look. One that Wren wouldn’t be able to see. Her soul was much more direct, though, pointing wildly at her core.

Since their mad sexual rampage in the truck, Irene had played coy about the whole thing. He hadn’t been able to grant her wish and kill her mid-sex.

Though he figured that was part of the reason she was playing coy. That was a rather strange fantasy of hers.

In fact, now that Sam thought about it, he hadn’t fed from her in a while.

Smiling, Sam held his hands up in silent supplication. Then nodded his head once to her.

Irene nodded her head in return and turned back to the gun emplacement.

Her soul, however, moved in closer, her face angry. She continued to point at her core.

Realizing that her soul wouldn’t be as easily appeased, Sam reached out and wrapped a hand around her bright shining center.

He brought it down to his side and just held on to her.

It would be more than enough to please her soul but not bother Irene directly.

Even then, the witch gave him a sidelong stare for several seconds after he grabbed her core. Ultimately, she went back to her watch.

Quivering on his arm, Irene’s soul looked like it was enjoying whatever his grip on her was doing.

There was a single shot from the left-hand room. It was rapidly followed by several more. Before anyone could react further, Tiffany came out with a snarl on her face.

“Stupid idiots,” she said. “They were… I don’t know what they were, actually. But they wouldn’t let me tie them up. Then they rushed me.

“Whatever. I tried.”

“That’s all you can do,” Irene said. “Check on Decima?”

“Yeah, got it,” Tiffany said, moving across to the other door. Before she could take the handle, the door opened and Decima stepped out.

“Good over here. Trussed him up and then bled him out after I knocked him out,” Decima said. “Can’t leave anyone behind, after all. They’ve seen our faces.”

Tiffany stared at Decima, then did a slight shake of her head as if coming to her senses.

“Oh. Right. This is… right. Yeah,” Tiffany said.

Apparently, there’d been some confusion on what was happening. This was a sweep-and-clear mission. Everyone here was hostile, even if they surrendered.

There’d be no marks against them for this mission.

“Let’s go,” Wren said, moving forward again. She, of course, was unaffected by this news. She’d been a professional hitman who killed whoever she’d been paid to kill.

Moving up to the emplacement, Sam got down a bit and peered through the square even as everyone filtered past him.

No sooner had everything come into view than Sam was struck by a large spike of Essence sorcery.

It went straight through his eye and came out the back of his head.

“Oh!” Sam said, standing straight up. The Essence attack had passed through him as if it were made of little more than thought.

Whoever had flung it at him hadn’t solidified it against extra-planar beings.

Plucking the Essence spike out of the air as it zoomed down the hall, Sam pulled it into his palm.

Inspecting it, he walked into the room the rest of his team were in. They were all hunkered down behind Irene’s shield.

Rounds were being exchanged with what looked like a group of male Imps.

Except beyond them, Sam had the distinct impression there was a horde of Black-kin.

Holding up the Essence spike, Sam bit off the tip of it and began to take it into himself. He looked from person to person, trying to pick out the Essence user.

Then he spotted her.

She was holed up in the shadows, pressed up against the side of a doorway. It was a young woman who looked like she was glowing with Essence. It was all around her like an aura.

She was immaculate and beautiful. With long blond hair and green eyes. Sam could feel her strength from here. It was something on the order of a planar lord.

Getting a taste of her Essence, Sam was able to deduce she was some type of Elemental Spirit. And that her choice of said element was Air.

Taking another big bite out of the Essence spike, he tried to snare her with his eyes. He doubted it’d work, but it was at least worth the attempt.

Except it had the opposite effect. Rather than subdue her, it seemed to enrage her.

Charging out from the rear, the woman shot forward into the center of the room.

“Damnit,” Sam muttered. Rather than take his time savoring the Essence and learning more of the woman, Sam just inhaled it in a blink.

Darting forward through Irene’s shield, Sam went to engage the woman. She was something his people wouldn’t be able to handle.

Immediately, multiple rounds ripped through his body, spraying blood out behind him. It splattered all over Irene’s wall, the area around them, and the ground and ceiling.

Ignoring the rounds, the gun battle as a whole, and that he’d been shot by what felt by several clips’ worth, Sam concentrated on the Elemental. This was his job in all of this. Protect his people from something they couldn’t deal with.

Death from a planar lord had the distinct possibility of sending one’s soul straight through to the after. Essence attacks were problematic.

Not really a planar lord though.

Close enough that I can’t risk it.

Holding her hands up in front of herself, the woman struck out at Sam with a bolt of lightning. It was entirely an Essence construct, but she’d properly tuned it this time.

Building a channel to receive the Essence, a conduit to guide it, and an exit point, Sam redirected the whole thing right back at the woman.

Then, using the same construct, he pushed the remaining Essence from his spell back into his body. Immediately, his wounds clotted and began to work at holding everything together.

He’d need time to heal his vessel later, but he’d be able to operate at near peak performance for a while.

The problem on top of all that was he couldn’t use any Essence magic that would leave a trace of himself behind. Which meant combat Essence was a no-no. Anything terribly violent or energetic tended to leave residue behind.

Which was why he’d simply diverted her attack back at her.

Eyes widening, the woman lifted her hands and attempted to block her own attack. It deflected partially around her and ended up detonating amongst her own soldiers.

As if realizing she was outclassed, the woman crouched low and then started zipping away deeper into the complex. She kept vanishing from one point and appearing in another, utilizing a spell Sam called “Blink”. It was one of the few spells Jena had mastered that he taught her.

Cursing under his breath, Sam chased after her. If he let her get away, there was a distinct possibility of her actually portaling out. Letting her get to Jena would be the worst possible scenario.

Pushing Essence out faster and faster, Sam kept using the Blink spell to close the distance. With each usage, he gained on her, but he kept pulling on his Essence bank.

He wasn’t as strong as he’d once been, and he hadn’t had enough time to build up his reserves. On top of that, the vast majority of his Essence was all emotional.

Gritting his teeth, Sam appeared almost on top of a group of Black-kin. They all shrieked in surprise but weren’t fast enough to react before Sam zipped off again.

Up ahead, he could see the woman blast through a closed door as if it weren’t even there. Vanishing into the room beyond, Sam lost sight of her.

When he finally entered the room behind her, he got the impression he’d made a mistake.

That was mostly due to the fact that the woman was standing amongst a very large group of Black-kin vampires. The magnificently ugly and disgusting creatures converged on Sam in a flash.

Whipping up the sword he had in his hand, Sam felt a momentary sense of nostalgia.

It reminded him of when he used to work for the church. Back when they would employ any method possible to combat the forces of darkness. When the gods and goddesses of the pantheon itself endorsed such things.

When even a priestess would offer her maidenhead up to him as a price to fight the evil of the world. When the Torment of Lust was an ally and partner.

Fighting next to paladins, witch hunters, and the clergy itself.

But that was a long time ago.

And this fight was now.

Thirty-Five - Fire and Lightning -

Flicking his blade out, Sam skewered a Black-kin through an eye. He jerked the weapon to the side, and the edge shattered through the monster’s skull before blowing out the man’s other eye.

Moving forward over the blinded and partially lobotomized Black-kin, Sam tried to get closer to the Elemental.

Before he could reach her, she snapped a hand out and a torrent of air smashed into Sam, sending him careening away.

Bouncing off a Black-kin, Sam ended up going into a tumble and bowling through a tree of furry, muscular monster legs.

Black-kin came crashing down atop him, some jumping at him, some just falling. Sam’s world became a furry nightmare of limbs, claws, and gnashing teeth.

Wrapping himself in a cocoon of force, Sam shielded himself as best as he was able. Getting his feet under him, he could feel the weight of the mass of Black-kin bodies pressing down on his shield.

Standing up, he strengthened the whole construct and then ran forward. Bursting out of the twisted ball of evil, Sam saw the Elemental across from him.

She was working to rapidly form what looked to be a portal. He wasn’t sure what kind it was, but he was positive he needed to get it shut down. And quickly.

Ripping the shield from around himself, he flung it at the Elemental.

It snapped shut around the portal, snipping away the energy feed she’d been giving it. With a dampened rumble, the portal collapsed into itself, creating an ugly and rather violent explosion.

The concussion was held in by the shield. At least for a breath.

Then the Essence construct exploded as well, and the lingering after-effects of the failed portal ripped through the room.

Falling to her knees, the Elemental was staring at her hands. In cutting off the source of power to the portal, Sam had inadvertently removed her left hand at the wrist.

Shrieking with pain, the woman clasped the stump with her free hand and glared at Sam.

Sam turned to one side and brought his sword around. The several Black-kin who’d been moving to encircle him backed off for a second, moving faster than Sam could keep up with at the moment.

I have to keep the Elemental from escaping, but I also have to keep these Black-kin back. If they get their fangs in me, it’s over.

I’ll get sent back to my plane to reform, and they’ll know I was here. Not to mention it’s likely I’ll lose the girls.

Angered at that thought, Sam moved forward, the point of his blade held out in front of him.

Lunging forward, he caught one of the Black-kin in the chest. Right where its heart would be. He didn’t think for one instant it’d kill the thing, but if he could get it down or incapacitated, it’d work. They’d be out of the fight. That’d be ideal simply for that reason alone.

Bringing his weapon around and sliding his feet across the ground to the left, Sam managed to catch another Black-kin straight in the heart.

Then he managed to get his back to a wall as he brought up a new Essence shield in his left hand. Holding the shield up on his left, he’d somehow brought the angles of attack available on him down to two instead of four.

The biggest problem was that the longer this fight went, the less likely it was Sam would win.

He was incredibly weak for a planar lord. He’d been without Essence for too long, and he hadn’t refilled his tanks with Life Essence.

Drawing the pistol from his holster, Sam raised it up and began shooting every Black-kin he could aim at reasonably well. He was going for head shots since he doubted he’d get the chance to reload.

A trio of monsters managed to get in close to him and leapt at him. All three at the same time.

Giving up his position, since there was little else he could do, Sam Blinked forward.

He appeared next to the Elemental and brought his sword down toward her head. If he could end her, he could escape this private corner of hell.

As if sensing his presence, the woman dove to the side, her body practically flopping toward the ground.

Sam’s blade neatly shaved all the muscles in her forearm away from the bone. The meat parted and hung limply at her elbow.

Before Sam could right himself, he felt a massive blow against his shoulder. The force behind it was what he imagined being hit by a car would feel like. His head ringing and entire body aching, Sam stumbled off to one side.

When he glanced at his arm, he found it was mostly torn away from the shoulder, hanging by a few meaty threads of flesh and muscle. It had been almost completely amputated.

Clenching his teeth in a snarl, he realized he had but one chance from here.

He wouldn’t have enough strength to repair his arm, fight the Black-kin, and kill the Elemental all at the same time.

He could perhaps do one of those things.

And ignoring the other two would most assuredly get him killed.

Sam picked the Elemental.

He leaped toward the woman on the ground and landed atop her.

Before she could react, he smashed his face into hers and kissed her.

Kissed her and then stabbed his tongue into her mouth. Sam did what any good Incubus would. He began devouring her from the inside out. Eating her very Life Essence.

Stunned, paralyzed, and literally dying, the Elemental could do nothing. She lay beneath him, motionless, as she was emptied.

Blows rained down all over Sam’s back, shoulders, and head, but nothing could shake him.

Even as they stabbed him, slashed at him, and punched him, he steadily rebuilt his body. Repaired his arm and even the unhealed bullet wounds.

Groaning, the Elemental shuddered beneath Sam. Then she managed to curl off a small fraction of her power, what remained of her life, and self-detonated her Elemental core.

Sensing it as it happened, Sam rolled to one side and flung the withered husk that had been a beautiful woman toward the Black-kin.

Snatching at a shield, Sam rolled up to the wall and put his back to it all.

Before he could fully form the shield, the Elemental’s core split apart, and the magic that had held her together screamed out in a wave.

The skin on his back, every bone in his chest, and the muscles throughout felt like they were dipped in molten iron.

Heavy, hot, and unforgiving, the magic battered Sam against the wall. He was crushed against it as the force of the blast pinned him there and stole his breath away. Either from the pain or the intensity of it all, he wasn’t sure.

After ten seconds passed and the pain only increased, Sam wasn’t sure of anything.

Existence as a whole was little more than pain.

Until finally, it wasn’t.

Shivering from head to toe, Sam turned his head around and tried to see behind himself.

Yet he couldn’t see anything.

He groaned, and it felt like he couldn’t move his mouth or lips.

Then his brain finally turned back on.

I think I melted. Or… something very close to melted.

Pushing Essence back into his body, Sam began to restore himself back to pristine condition. Not wanting to waste time, as he believed he had precious little, he spent far more than he would have needed to let it happen slowly.

With a crack of thunder as his eardrums healed, Sam could suddenly feel, see, hear, and taste everything as he should.

Everything tasted, smelled, and felt like burnt ash, however.

Blinking several times, he stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it around. It felt like something wasn’t quite right in his head. But he didn’t have the time to fix it.

Sirens were going off. Their loud and vibrating calls sounded in an alternating way that made his teeth ache.

Rolling over, Sam looked around at the room.

Everything was black soot and charred lumps of meat.

Getting to his feet, Sam felt rather appreciative of the fact that he’d managed to get some of his shield up. It clearly hadn’t blocked all of the blast or the heat, but it’d done enough to keep him on the plane.

He glanced back at the wall and saw a strange outline on it. After several seconds of staring at it, he realized what it was.

An unburned section of wall in the shape of the body of a person lying down.

I made a damn ash shadow. By the twisting nethers, what in the low hells and high heavens was she?

Running a hand down over his face, Sam looked down at himself.

He was absolutely naked.

His pistol was a smoldering ruin nearby, and his sword looked like a glowing orange piece of iron rather than a weapon.

That hot, huh?

Looking around, Sam had a hard time blocking out the ongoing blaring of the siren.

He growled as he looked up at the ceiling and where the sound was coming from. Forming a shield, Sam smashed it up into the spot it was all coming from.

With a shriek of static, the siren went silent in the room.

“Oh, thanks for that, Sameerixis. That was honestly starting to get to me,” said a voice. It sounded like it was coming through a drive-thru speaker.

When he looked around, Sam didn’t see anyone alive. There was no one who could see him. Let alone anyone who could see him that would know his name.

“Over here,” said the voice again, yet it didn’t come from anywhere. “Oh, that is… look to your left. Behind that wall. It’s a glamour. A big one.”

Frowning, and feeling irritable and hungry, Sam walked over to the wall and put his hand on it. He could feel a raw, vast amount of power running underneath his fingertips.

It wasn’t just a big glamour. It was an enchanted, independently powered, and massively layered glamour.

“It’s so good to see you,” said the voice. It was too garbled for Sam to figure out who it was. “I didn’t think anyone was going to come for me. Let alone you.”

With a grunt, Sam punched a hole right through the glamour.

While the whole thing was incredibly powerful, it had a severe limitation.

Jena had made it. And she was as lazy as ever.

Crumbling from the point of impact outward, the massive glamour began to peel away from the wall. Falling apart into free-floating Essence as it went.

Feeling like a curmudgeon, Sam began scooping up all the Essence as it broke off, and he gorged himself. He wasn’t about to let a free meal go by after everything that’d just happened.

As the glamour blew apart, Sam saw who the speaker was.

A white-haired young woman, pale as a ghost. Her eyes shimmered and danced with an electric blue color. There were no pupils in her eyes.

She was absolutely naked, and she looked as if she were on the far side of starving to death, but not quite there.

“Aster?” Sam asked. His voice sounded incredulous to his own ears.

“Hi, how’s it going?” asked the woman.

“I… aren’t you dead?” Sam asked.

“I mean, I kinda look it,” Aster said, looking down at herself. She cupped her lack of a bust with her hands. “Even my boobs went away. I had a great rack. I look like a living skeleton now.”

The last time he’d seen her, she’d been living a cozy life amongst the Elementals in Greece. The same ones who had made themselves the pantheon and preyed upon the mortals nearby.

He’d never gotten the details, but she’d vanished one day, never to be heard from again.

She’d been a beauty in her time. A young, vivacious woman who had always been keen on the times and what was going on with the mortals.

That and technology.

Even her speech right now sounded closer to Hillary or Abigail than someone her age.

As more and more of the glamour fell away, Sam got a good look at her cell. Because that was what it was. It was clearly a holding cell.

“The Torment of Lightning,” Aster said with a dark chuckle. “Locked away like a common criminal. As for how I ended up in this mess… well, it’s not really relevant. Jenaphila caught me and locked me up as you see me now.

“They keep me as a damn battery.”

Raising his brows at that, Sam could see a chair in the corner of the room. It was hooked into a multitude of cables and other things.

“Speaking of dead, though, didn’t Jena kill you?” Aster asked.

“She tried,” Sam said as he inspected the locking mechanism. Everything was layered over and over with Essence that would ground any attempts to utilize lightning or electricity as a source. “Somehow I think I got the better between you and I, though.”

“Only till now, because you’re going to let me out,” Aster said. “Because if you don’t, I’ll have to tell Jena you survived.”

“And I can’t let you out, because you might tell Jena I’m alive,” Sam responded equitably. “Which really only leaves one option, doesn’t it?”

Aster stared at Sam, and he stared back.

Long seconds ticked by as the two Torments regarded one another.

Sighing, Aster groaned and shook her head.

“Fine, fine. I’m sure we can come to some… arrangement. Feed me something and I’ll start looking like how I used to instead of a used-up scarecrow. I’m sure I can make it worth your while,” Aster said. The implication was obvious.

Sam wanted it said directly though and in the clear, though.

“Five hundred years?” Sam asked.

Aster clicked her tongue, turning her head to one side. Her hair made a static hum as it slid across her shoulder.

“Two hundred,” she countered.

“Four-fifty,” Sam said. He had no reason to free her, and if he was going to, he wanted to make it worth his while. There was nothing preventing him from opening the door and draining her as easily as he had the Elemental. She had no power right now.

“Ugh. Three hundred,” Aster said. “Be reasonable. One Torment to another. I’m worth it.”

“Four hundred, no lower. I want what I want, and I have an appetite lately that has no end,” Sam said. “I cannot even begin to imagine what you’ll taste like.”

“Four hundred? Sameerixis…” Aster whined. Seeing he wasn’t budging, she sighed and pressed her head to the plastic-looking wall. “Fine. Fine, okay. Four hundred years as a bonded. I pay my Essence upkeep through sex. We good?”

A bonded servant was what they’d once called apprentices and employees.

“I want you a minimum of six times a day,” Sam said, making that point clear. If he had a Torment on hand, he was going to feast on her. Relentlessly.

Endlessly.

“Six!? Sam! I don’t think I even had that much sex when I was in my hedonistic days over weeks let alone days,” Aster said, sounding surprised. “Two.”

“Four, no lower,” Sam countered.

“Hades’s nuts, Sam, I swe— Fine. Fine. Four and four hundred, but I get a salary equivalent to your highest-paid bonded. And as much electronics as I want. TV too—they don’t let me watch much. And movies. And junk food. Ice cream, too. On my plane and soul.”

“On my plane and soul, agreed,” Sam said, and then he whipped the shield he’d been holding behind his back out in front of himself. Swiping the wall away in one go—the Torment of Lightning, the woman who had spawned the mythos of the lightning god himself and had been responsible for ancient mankind fearing the heavens—was free.

And in Sam’s possession.

Reaching out, he grabbed her by her skeletal forearm and pulled her out of her cage. At the same time he wedged Essence into the trap that held her in her cell. Without him putting pressure on that Essence trap she wouldn’t be able to escape.

The moment her bare feet hit the ground, the lights flickered and buzzed.

As she took in a deep breath, Aster’s eyes glowed brightly for several seconds.

“Oooooh, Sam. I can feel it. Its delicious,” she said in a breathy whisper. Her voice had a crackling to it as she clearly began to feed on everything around her. From the air itself.

Stumbling to a wall socket, she fell to her knees. She picked up a twisted piece of metal from the ground, then licked it and promptly shoved it into one of the slots.

An explosion of electricity shot up over the wall, showering the whole area in sparks.

“Right… you enjoy your meal,” Sam said, turning to look the way he’d come.

He could hear the faint sound of gunfire, but it was greatly diminished. It also seemed to be almost random.

Sam pushed the door open and entered the hall. Looking one way and then the other, he saw no one.

“Hello?” he shouted. “Anyone there?’

“Over here,” called Irene from the right side.

Walking over that way, he found Irene and Wren laid up against a wall.

Irene’s guts were hanging out all over herself, and half her face looked as if it’d been blown apart by a grenade.

“Hello,” she said, her one good eye watching him. “I’m afraid I didn’t fare as well as I expected. Those vampires are not like the vampires I know. At all.”

Wren was curled up on herself next to Irene, taking sharp, shallow gasps. Her body armor was gone, and she was wearing only her underwear from the waist up. It looked like a single round had gone right through the middle of her chest, and blood was pouring out from both sides of her.

“Some type of massive rifle hit her. She’s not dead, but… probably not long,” Irene said. “Her lungs are filling up with blood.”

Sam got down next to Wren and grabbed her by a shoulder. He cleared the blood from her lungs in a rush of Essence and then patched the leak that was causing it. It was the best he could do for her right now.

The lights dimmed, and several of the overhead fixtures simply burst before they brightened again.

“I don’t know what’s going on with the lights,” Irene said, looking at Sam with her one eye.

“It’s not an issue,” Sam said.

“Okay. Tiffany lost a hand and Decima’s knee doesn’t… bend the right way anymore. No bites, though. They connected with Jes and Stacia,” Tiffany continued. “They’re finishing looting. Jes didn’t have enough Essence to patch Wren up again. Haven’t—”

A massive explosion shook everything. Dust and ceiling tiles began raining down from above.

“That the entry explosive you set?” Sam asked as the clamor died away.

“Yes,” hissed Wren between her teeth.

“Okay… we’ll just…” Sam looked at Irene and then made a shrugging motion. Grabbing her guts, he started shoving everything back into her stomach cavity. Once he got everything wedged back in, he put a small shield over the front of the gaping wound.

Irene took in a deep breath while Sam watched. Everything he’d pushed in smashed up against the shield.

It was amazingly disgusting.

“Oh, that’s better. Easier to breathe,” she muttered. “I’ll start getting our jump portal.”

Sam got up and looked down the far hallway, then back the way he’d come.

“They’ll come,” Wren muttered, slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position. “Don’t worry about them.”

Nodding his head, Sam started walking back toward where he’d left Aster.

He found her kneeling in front of the socket, her entire body glowing with electricity as it coursed along her skin. Even her hair seemed to be electrified, hanging in the air above her as little snips of lightning zipped from strand to strand in a crackling web.

She looked much improved since he’d seen her last.

Instead of a walking war crime, she instead looked like she’d been on a diet that was far too serious and needed to be hospitalized.

Which was a vast improvement.

“Time to go, Aster,” Sam said.

Pulling her hand away from the metal, Aster sighed and got to her feet.

“Alright. I’m feeling well enough to travel, but little else,” she said. “How are we escaping?”

“Portal. Got a witch and a vampire who can make a jump,” Sam said. Taking Aster by the arm, he led her back to where he’d left Irene and Wren.

As he walked up, he watched Tiffany haul the big Cambion through the portal by her sports bra.

“Good timing,” Irene said, sitting in the exact same spot he’d last seen her. “We’re the last. Let’s… oh, hello.”

The witch must have been dampening her emotions. She seemed almost like a doll right now. Not that he could blame her, as she’d been eviscerated by something.

“Hello there, I’m Aster,” said the Elemental with a short wave. “Do we care about anything in this compound?”

“No,” Sam said, grabbing Irene by her ankles. He started dragging her through the portal.

“That’ll make this much easier,” Aster said. Clapping her hands together, she sent a shower of sparks out in every direction. Then she began to rub her hands together. A circle of lightning formed around her hands and continued to build and build.

Getting Irene through the other side, Sam looked around. They were right next to the truck. Everyone was here, including Carissa.

She was covered in brown and red, some of which looked like mud and some that was clearly blood.

“No one saw me and survived,” Carissa said. “I killed eight. They looked like officers and leaders. I was flushed out and had to relocate out of range after that.”

Before Sam could respond, there was a loud crackle followed by a pop from the other side of the portal.

Stepping through it, Aster ran her hand through the edge of the portal and collapsed it with a gaunt, wolf like smile.

“A pleasure to meet you all. I’m Aster,” she said. “I was once known as the Torment of Lightning, and now I am bonded to Sameerixis for four hundred years.”

In the distance, a massive lightning bolt went up toward the sky. It looked as fat as Sam’s thumb, even from this distance. The whole sky lit up brighter than anything he’d ever seen in his life.

“I look forward to working—” Aster’s words were lost in the absolutely massive thunderclap.

Clearing her throat as the sound died away, Aster continued to smile at everyone. “Working with you. Shall we go? I’m so hungry. If possible, can we grab a car battery from somewhere? Any batteries, actually. I’m not really picky.”

Epilogue

Pulling back on Gabriella’s wrists, Sam let out a breath as he pushed up into her one last time. His climax was fading.

Moaning hard and quivering all over, Gabriella was lost to everything. He could only see her back, shoulders, and the back of her head.

Letting her down gently, he eased her into her bed while holding her wrists.

When she seemed to be safely on the mattress, he let go of her completely.

Panting, the human woman lay there unmoving—other than to breathe.

“No more,” said Gabriella in a pant. “Six is—too much.”

Chuckling softly, Sam patted Gabriella on the hip. “As you like. Thank you for doing your best. I appreciate it.”

“Sorry—sex is—great but—I’m spent,” Gabriella said, still gasping. “Want more—but can’t—hips done—pussy broken.”

Laughing now, Sam leaned down and kissed Gabriella’s sweaty cheek. Turning her head, she moved toward him. Sam immediately kissed her and lingered there for several seconds.

“You’re wonderful. Thank you. I’ll make sure you get something extra later. You didn’t have to do all that. I appreciate the dedication to me,” Sam murmured.

Gabriella grunted, her eyes still closed. “Was great—great sex. Don’t need extra—but thanks. So great. Sex addict now.”

After patting her on the back, Sam summoned his constructed clothes and left her apartment, then closing the door behind him.

“You kill her?” Tiffany asked. She was leaning up against the wall next to the stairs.

While they were out on their mission, Irma had moved his entire feed harem into the apartment building. She’d bribed, cajoled, offered new contracts, and outright paid people off. Everyone was now centrally located.

Even Abigail had taken the offer.

Not paying rent was hard to say no to.

“No, but she’s spent. Why, is it your turn?” Sam asked.

“Sure is,” Tiffany said. “Kinda wanna get laid. Maybe spar a little, too. Got a problem with that?”

“Nope, happy to oblige. You’re an amazing woman,” Sam said. “Before that, though, I need to go check in with Irma and Aster.”

“That’s fine. Your place? Mine?” Tiffany asked.

“Either. Whatever you prefer,” Sam said.

“My place. I’ll get the beer, you just bring yourself. And a lot of yourself,” Tiffany muttered. “Horny enough to kill Decima if she says something stupid.”

Flipping a hand over her shoulder, Tiffany started going down the stairs. More than likely straight to Sam’s apartment.

Sam shrugged. He was more than happy to turn the Were inside out.

Since coming back three days ago, he’d done nothing but feed. Going apartment to apartment, he’d devoured everyone in his feed harem. He’d spent hours at a time with each one, feasting and feasting until they were simply no longer able to keep up.

He’d kept the feeding away from the mercenary company, with the exception of Wren. But that was only one time.

Jes and Irma were also on his “don’t bother” list for the moment. Mixing food with when he wanted more than just to eat—to have sex for sex—was starting to feel strange.

The very idea of eating from Irma felt twisted over on itself now. Eating from her brought him an intense emotional reaction that rivaled an orgasm. She always reinforced that she wanted him to feed from her, especially since she got part of it back from him, but it still felt odd to him now.

Trudging up the stairs, Sam got off on the next floor.

As he walked down the row of apartment doors, Sam felt strange. He still wasn’t quite over the fact that he had another Torment as a bonded servant. One who was just a smidgen older than he himself.

She was an Elemental from the creation event itself.

Walking up to the door, he knocked on it twice.

“Come on in, Sam!” called Aster from inside.

He smirked. He didn’t need to be a genius to know how she’d managed that feat. She was the Torment of Lightning. It meant that all electronic devices fell within her domain. For her, spying on someone through a light in a hallway, like the one above him, was as easy as looking through a window.

Opening the door, Sam walked in and then closed it behind him.

“And before you ask, no, I’m not spying on anyone,” Aster said from deeper in her apartment. “I just watch my own place and the hallway outside. Oh, and the stairwells. But that’s more of a paranoia thing. Not going to let someone sneak up on me again.”

Sam definitely understood that sentiment.

Walking through Aster’s kitchen and into her living room, he found her sprawled out on her couch. Snacking on what looked like chocolate-covered pretzels by the handful while watching TV.

She’d filled out amazingly since her rescue. It wouldn’t be long till she looked as she did in his memories. An athletic woman with a lithe build and narrow waist, a good-sized bust, and being very toned.

Resting between her toes and wrapped around her big toe was a long blue electrical wire that ran to the outlet itself. It seemed she was plugged into the electrical system directly.

And of course—as was her norm, he’d learned from long ago—she was naked. After living through the eras she had, side by side with humans, her shame no longer existed.

“Have I mentioned I’m really grateful?” Aster asked, not looking away from the television. “If you want, we can have sex right now. But can we keep the TV on? You have no idea how long I sat in that cell with nothing to do.

“I mean… I haven’t had sex in two hundred years, give or take, so maybe I’ll turn the TV off anyways. Maybe it was three hundred years? Four?

“Now that I think about it, I’d turn off the TV for sex. I could really use a good banging.”

It was odd hearing her use modern lingo but he wasn’t going to judge.

“Aster,” Sam said, trying to get her attention.

Slowly, the Elemental’s eyes moved to Sam.

“I’m tempted by your beauty alone, but not what I came here for,” Sam said, being honest. “I came here to talk about what my plans are. What your plans are. To get us on the same page. Haven’t had a lot of time to really talk lately. You were… recovering, as was I.”

“Oh,” Aster said, giving him a wide and pretty smile. With her health greatly improved, the beauty that had kept a pantheon on its toes seemed much more herself. “I already spoke with your wife, Irma. We had a very long talk about what we’re all doing for you. Then I spoke with Jes, the Succubus. She’s awfully pretty, by the way. Hard to believe Jena would let something like that happen. She was always so jealous of anything that was even remotely prettier than her.

“Which, come on, let’s be honest—lots and lots of women were and will be. She wasn’t that good looking at all.

“But realistically? I get it. We’re going to rob criminals, make lots of money, get our Essence stable, and get lots of planes to call home. Which is all great to me. Pity I had to abandon my original plane, though. Jena turned it into her own little hellscape. Now that I abandoned it, she’ll have no way back to it. Meh. They’re better off without her. I’ll make a new one.”

Raising his eyebrows at that, Sam processed everything she’d said.

“Alright then,” he said. “You don’t need anything?”

Aster’s eyes stilled, the electric rattle of them slowing till they were like marbles.

“I want Jena to feel my retribution,” she said, sparks jumping around her teeth as she spoke. “I would love nothing more than to watch you skull-fuck her to death. To squish that nasty brain of hers on your dick until she’s nothing more than a corpse.

“That’s what I want. Can you give that to me? I’d give you hundreds of years of myself for that alone.”

Unprepared for the absolute vitriol Aster had put out, Sam just stood there for several seconds.

“Sure,” he said finally. “I think I can give you retribution. Though I might pass on the skull-fucking aspect of it. Forgive me, but the idea of having any interaction with Jena at all is… well, unpleasant.”

Aster stared at Sam for several seconds more before she smiled at him.

“Not a problem. You can bang me on her before we make her a corpse instead. Maybe as she’s dying. You can unload in me as I moan atop her. That’d probably be better anyways.

“Other than that, I could use more junk food, soda, or sex. Feel free to bring me whatever you’re up for. Just don’t keep me waiting too long. My sex drive is starting to turn back on the more we talk about it,” she said, then looked back to the TV, stuffing another handful of chocolate pretzels in her mouth. “Actually. Come back tonight. We’ll bang. Lots of banging.

“Bring batteries, too. I’d love some car batteries. You can hook me up and juice me while you fill me up over and over. That’d be a treat.”

Reaching behind herself she gave her own ass a smack.

“You know you want it, so come get it,” she said.

Right.

Batteries. Because to her, Essence is derived from lightning. Or electricity, as it were.

Whole lot of lust in her, too.

She might not be the same anymore as I used to know her.

Then again, am I?

We both suffered our own prisons.

Nodding his head, Sam turned and left Aster to her own amusements. Her attitude and directness wasn’t something he was quite used to. The only person who even got close to that was Irene, but it seemed he had to be holding her soulcore for that to happen.

Exiting her apartment, he went straight for Irma’s.

Except he didn’t bother to knock.

He just opened the door and went inside.

“It’s me,” Sam called and closed the door.

“Welcome home, dear,” Irma called. He heard the rattle of a chair with wheels as he assumed she got up. Then the Imp popped out of her office and gave him a smile. “You all full finally?”

“Almost. Probably go for another day and I’ll be relatively close to where I was. Spent a lot, but I feel like we gained a lot,” Sam said.

“Oh, most definitely that. We won’t be able to move the gold anytime soon, but we already laundered the cash and sent it out and about. Had everything pass through Florida on our way through. Really good place to do it,” Irma said, walking up to Sam and hugging him tightly. “We’ve got more than enough funds to do nothing for a few years and be really picky with our contracts.

“But we both know Jes will want to go hit more of them as soon as she can. She’s so obvious, it’s almost funny. She’s amazingly pure-hearted for a sex demon who just wants my husband.”

Sam couldn’t disagree with that, and he hugged Irma back tightly.

“Everything else we’re still organizing, cataloging, sorting. Lots to inventory,” Irma said. “But it’s going. And our side business is up and running. I’ve been scheduling you out next week for visits to speak with women about their debt. And how they can get out of it.

“That survey form and all the recommendations Abby has really made the whole thing take off. You’ll be playing gigolo for a bit. Sorry. Be sure to bring back everything you earn; I don’t want to have to go looking for my money. Pimpin’ ain’t easy.”

Sam rolled his eyes at that but couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“Right. I’ll be sure to remember that,” he said. “Bring you your money.”

Irma grinned at him, patting his cheek. “Be sure you do, Sammy. Now. Are you free for the evening, or are you going to go eat some more?”

“Eat more,” Sam said with a shrug. “Sorry. I feel ravenous. Next up is Tiffany. She came to tell me she wanted to ‘get laid’ as it were.”

“I understand completely. Both her and you. I was an Essence junkie for a short time, you’ll remember,” Irma said. “Alright, go ahead and get—”

There was a sharp knock on the door.

“Irma? It’s Jes! I just got the mail and there’s a letter from that Amazon at the office,” she said through the door.

Reaching over, Sam opened the door.

Jes immediately walked in and looked at Irma, who was still hugging Sam.

“Oh!” Jes said, and then she immediately hugged the two of them. “My two favorite people. Hello, hello. We got a letter from that one you left a message inside of. I picked up the stuff at the PO box on my way home from the grocery store.”

“The one with the photo?” Irma asked. “Of Sam and Jena?”

“That one, yes,” Jes said before Sam could answer. “Rather simple letter, but it’s definitely an in.”

Jes stopped hugging them for a moment to fish out a postcard from the pack of mail she was clutching against Sam’s back.

She handed it to Irma with a smile.

“If we can get her on board, does that mean we can start hitting more targets?” Jes said.

Between you and Aster, Jena won’t be able to sleep without worrying about something getting robbed or someone murdered.

“One would imagine,” Irma said, looking at the card. “If we use the data we’ve been stealing, pair it with Alexis, Stacia, Irene, and then this woman, I’m sure we can figure out the best places to hit her. Though we’ll have to slow down for a time. Let the heat die down.”

“That’s fine,” Jes said with a wave of her hand. “There’s a whole lot of cartels we can take on in the south. Even the smaller ones would have lots of money.

“I really kinda wanna stick around, but Wren and Carissa promised to help me with my shooting. We’re going to practice right now. See you two tonight.”

Jes patted both of them on the shoulder and then left as quickly as she’d came.

“Tonight, huh?” Sam asked with a quirked brow, looking at Irma.

“Oh, she’s harmless. She’s not really into me, she just wants to feast on you when you’re ready after feasting on me,” Irma said, rereading the post card. “I don’t mind what she does to me either. She does it in such a way that it doesn’t really feel… sexual. I’m not into women, but she’s more like… a toy? That’s how it feels in my head, I guess.”

Sam didn’t know what to say to that, so he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“And she’s right. This is our in,” Irma said with a slow exhalation. “Hope you’re ready for a few years of just grinding out contracts in between getting ready for a new Jena target. This is going to be a long one I bet.”

“Good thing we’re immortal,” Sam said.

“Speaking of immortals and contracts,” Irma said. She reached into her blouse and pulled out a long slip of paper. “Your marriage contract to Decima. I had to get her listed as a real person first. Then the appropriate documentation.

“It’s a legal marriage, just not… here in the states. This should satisfy her. I also got you a ring for her. And no, I’m not angry. Not anymore at least.”

“Mm. I’ll worry about that later,” Sam said, holding tighter to Irma. “Maybe I should… skip Tiffany for now. I think maybe I just want to make love to my wife. No feeding, just… loving you. The lovely and talented Miss Irma Tiff.”

“Sounds weird like that. I should take your full name as mine,” Irma said, smiling up at him, her arms loose around his hips.

Thinking on that, Sam let out a slow breath.

“Oh. Sorry. Never mind,” Irma said, leaning up to kiss him once. “I forgot about the whole name thing entirely. I—”

“Actually,” Sam said, interrupting her. “Actually, that’s fine. I name you Irma Tiff Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis.”

Smiling up at him, Irma kissed him again.

“Come to bed then, Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis, your wife needs you and wants to show you how much she missed you,” Irma said, then guided him deeper into their shared apartment. “Be sure you feed from me, by the way. It makes it interesting. Quick, quick now, I’ll have you turned out faster than you know, and I won’t keep Tiffany waiting long for you. She’ll never even know.”

He’d expected to feel an absolute compulsion when she said his name. Expected to regret it as soon as he gave her his true name.

Except there was no compulsion. There was no binding feeling against his mind.

There was only a deep and full warmth that suffused every inch of his being. From his head to his feet, from his psyche to his soul. There was only warmth and love.

So… very different.

Thank you, dear reader!

I’m hopeful you enjoyed reading Incubus Inc. Please consider leaving a review, commentary, or messages. Feedback is imperative to an author’s growth. That and positive reviews never hurt.

Feel free to drop me a line at: WilliamDArand@gmail.com

Keep up to date—
Main Page: https://www.williamdarand.com (Yes, I really am)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RandiDarren

Blog: http://williamdarand.blogspot.com/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/WilliamDArand

Harem Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/haremlit/

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 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