Incubus Mini-Boss (Rise of an Incubus Overlord Book 2)

by Jack Porter

  There was still the small matter of the third helicopter, and an unknown number of men in the woods, intent on killing us all.

  And Piper was wounded.

  I knelt beside her, but before I could even ask if she was okay, she gave me an answer.

  “I’ll be fine!” she said. “Just finish the job!”

  Finish the job. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “How?” I responded.

  “That demon trick you just did showed promise. Why did you change back?”

  “No choice. And I don’t think I can do it again. Not unless Azrael can level up somehow.”

  In the back of my mind, I still had hope that he could. Sure, the chances of me fucking one of the mercenaries wasn’t that high. But I wasn’t the only one who could increase Azrael’s power.

  Despite her pain, despite the wound in her side, Piper took a moment to admire me in all my naked glory.

  “Well, if these are to be our last moments, I can think of the way I want to go out,” she said, and that brought my laughter straight back. Even wounded, she was a woman after my own heart. Then she frowned. “Although, if you can find a way to get to that armored vehicle, you can still do this.”

  I knew what she meant. And she was right. The armored personnel carrier was our best chance.

  “Here. Take this,” she said.

  Trust Piper to be packing a grenade.

  I took it from her and reached for one of the handguns that had fallen from me when I’d turned into the demon.

  I looked at Piper one more time and promised myself that I would come back for her as soon as I could. She was not going to die because of me.

  Not if I could do anything about it.

  Then I stood. I knew where the armored vehicle was, could still hear its fifty-caliber cannon pounding away at the shield of the mansion. The only question was could I recapture the speed and strength I’d had at my command now that Azrael was weakened?

  There was only one way to find out.

  “Right,” I said. “Stay alive. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  With that, I once more hurled myself through the trees.

  Chapter 55

  My strength and speed were only slightly diminished. Apparently, not counting all the enhancements he had made, Azrael’s new strength had propped me up by only a little. I flew through the trees faster than Usain Bolt on his best day, doing my best to ignore the small pains as I stepped on branches and sharp stones on the ground. All that mattered was getting to the armored vehicle and stopping this battle in its tracks.

  I didn’t care about subtlety. Didn’t try to keep my approach hidden. I just charged through the trees like a naked maniac, running straight for my target despite the mercenaries who still stood guard all around. Nor did my appearance go unnoticed. There was a mercenary right in front of me, but he was slow to react.

  Perhaps my sudden appearance caught him by surprise. Perhaps it was my speed. Or perhaps it was that I was charging at him, stark naked, my balls on display, and a grimace of fury and hate twisting my face.

  It didn’t matter either way. He didn’t have time to react before I put two bullets into his brain.

  I shot his companions as well, one on each side, and then I had passed them all by and leapt up to the top of the armored vehicle.

  There was a man on the gun, partially hidden by the trapdoor that led to below. He didn’t even see me as I approached, his entire attention spent on the mansion.

  To my surprise, much of the shielding was still in effect. It was deeply pitted and looked likely to fail within minutes, but for now it still held.

  I shot the man in the back of the neck, a single bullet right at his spine, then dropped my gun and ripped him, one-handed, out of the way.

  I dropped Piper’s grenade into the personnel carrier, shut the lid and waited for the muted boom! of the explosion.

  It was satisfying to hear. But I wasn’t yet done. As soon as I was able, I took the gunner’s position, took aim on the last helicopter firing at the mansion, and unleashed a hail of Hell.

  The helicopter couldn’t take the punishment. It started dropping from the sky within moments, hitting the ground with a crunch! that sounded like music to my ears.

  I kept the fifty cal trained on the wreckage as best as I could through the trees, then Rachel was shouting in my ear once again.

  Somehow, even though I’d lost everything else, the earpiece had survived the transformation into full demon mode and back once again.

  “The reinforcements!” she cried, and that was enough. I turned the armored vehicle’s main gun a full one-eighty and let rip through the trees, cutting down the reinforcements that were heading my way, doing my best to destroy vehicles, people, and the hopes and dreams of any and all who sought to do harm to me and my girls.

  I kept firing until my bones started to ache from the shuddering recoil of the gun. Kept firing until my ears started to ring, and then some. Kept firing until I ran out of ammo and couldn’t fire anymore.

  Only once did I pause, and then it was only to retrieve my handgun I’d dropped to shoot a mercenary in the face, one who’d climbed up onto the carrier, and two more behind him who were trying the same.

  Then I returned to my main business, that of reducing a whole army to nothing but corpses and ruin.

  When the explosion of gunfire turned into no more than the smell of hot metal and unfulfilling clicks, I paused to study what I had done.

  I was breathing hard. There was sweat on my brow and on the palms of my hands. My teeth ached as if I had been grinding them, and my throat felt raw.

  I didn’t remember hurling abuse at the mercenaries as I fired through the trees, couldn’t remember howling in madness as I cut them all down. Not exactly. Yet my mind contained echoes of me doing exactly that, interspersed with bouts of manic laughter as well.

  All I knew was that I was done, that I had nothing left. Just a handgun that I’d laid on the roof of the armored vehicle, and the earpiece in my ear.

  “Rachel?” I asked once I’d regained my power of speech. “How does it look?”

  To begin with, there was silence. Then I heard Rachel’s voice click through.

  “Glorious,” she said. “They are leaving. The survivors, I mean. Although, there doesn’t seem to be many of those.”

  “Good,” I said.

  Then, I drew a deep, calming breath.

  Somehow, I’d done it.

  Somehow, I had survived against a small army, with heavy weapons, who were sent to kill me and the girls. And not only survived, I had destroyed them.

  It felt really good.

  I sat back against the edge of the personnel carrier roof, feeling the cold metal against my flesh. I was smiling, but not in a good way. It was not a friendly smile, but that of a killer, who was satisfied with a job well done.

  All that remained now was to figure out what was next.

  Then Azrael spoke again.

  “Bridget has succeeded in spreading my seed to another,” he said. “There are additional points to use as you see fit. More importantly, I have leveled up. Bearing in mind that the gaming analogy is not precise in implying a hard distinction which isn’t reflected in the reality, I have unlocked a new capability.”

  It was good to hear the demon sounding back to his usual self. “What capability is that?” I asked him.

  “The capability is that which you have already experienced, of turning your body into mine. Before Bridget’s success, it drained me to do so. Now, I can do it at will.”

  Great, I thought. It turned out, I really was a vampire, of sorts. Able to transform at will into what some might see as a gigantic bat.

  “Limitations?” I asked.

  “At my current strength, I can hold the transformation for no longer than half an hour. Beyond that, it will drain me as before. To use it again, I will need to recover naturally, or through further conquests.”

  Good to know. “And as you get stronger?” I asked
.

  “As I get stronger, that time will extend.”

  I had to admit, while I was increasingly happy with my human body, having a demonic one on call, complete with the power that came with it, was awfully appealing. It was like being able to go super saiyan at need.

  But I didn’t have the luxury of a lengthy discussion. There was still work to be done.

  “Whatever points you’ve got, give them to Piper. Whatever she needs to stay alive. And, yeah, about that transformation thing. With wings like those, tell me I can fly.”

  “Of course you can fly,” Azrael said.

  “Good. Then transform away. There are a couple of things we need to do.”

  Once again, I became a demon. It was astonishing to experience the strength in my arms and chest, but I felt like there was more still to come, for the moment just out of reach. What was next, I wondered. Would I be able to breathe fire? Summon swarms of locusts?

  Would the ground start to burn wherever I stepped?

  All things were possible, I knew, but for now, I had a task that needed to be done.

  In the blink of an eye, I crossed the distance between the armored vehicle and Piper. The assassin had lapsed into unconsciousness, and at first, I feared for her life. But Azrael assured me she still lived, and that was good enough for me.

  Gently, I reached down and gathered her up, being careful not to hurt her even more. She moved against me. Piper still lived, and if I had any say in the matter, she would still be with us for a long time to come.

  Then I spread my wings and leapt into the sky.

  Chapter 56

  I would have liked to take the time to enjoy the flight more than I did. There was a freedom about it that spoke to me on a visceral level, and I would have liked to spend all the time I had simply experimenting, seeing what I could do.

  Instead, I contacted Rachel, got the address of the nearest hospital, and sped in that direction as fast as I could.

  In the city of El Diablo down below, demons were rarely seen, although everyone was well aware they existed. So when I touched down at the emergency entrance, my appearance caused little more than heightened interest. People pulled out their cell phones to take pictures but didn’t run screaming in fear.

  I ignored them and pushed my way in through the main door. Paying no heed at all to the people waiting with less urgent issues, I roared at the medical staff.

  “I need a doctor! She’s been shot!”

  It did the trick. Within moments, a gurney appeared, onto which I laid Piper.

  The ER staff was efficient, quickly taking her off my hands and wheeling her into a surgical room.

  I found myself all alone in the emergency waiting area, the subject of curiosity and stares.

  “How much time have we got?” I asked Azrael.

  “Twenty minutes,” came the reply. “Give or take.”

  I decided it was enough. Without saying another word, I left the hospital building and launched myself into the sky once again.

  This time, my target was a building downtown. I beat my wings hard and made it within just a few minutes. I could have tried the normal entrance, squeezed my demonic frame into the lift. But that wasn’t a good option.

  I didn’t know how to operate an old-fashioned, mechanical lift. Nor did I feel the need to trap myself inside what was effectively a big cage.

  So instead, I circled the building from outside, picked my target, and hurled myself through an oversized window.

  To say that Dario Fucking Gambetti was surprised at my sudden appearance was a gross understatement. He looked as if he was going to crap himself, or maybe that he already had.

  His guards were quick, drawing their guns and starting to fire without hesitation.

  I barely paid them any attention at all as I smashed them into the wall and watched them crumple to the floor. Then I turned my attention to the man who had started it all.

  He clutched spasmodically for the amulet he still wore around his neck. Using all my demonic speed and strength, I hooked it away from him before he could use it, and left it dangling from its chain around my fist.

  “Dario Fucking Gambetti,” I rumbled, and I watched his face turn white with horror.

  “You… you…” he began, but couldn’t get any further.

  For just a moment, I got Azrael to lift his enchantment, to show Dario Gambetti who I was. Then I was back to being a demon, and I showed him my smile.

  “Your men are defeated,” I told him. “Some might still live, but of the hundreds you sent against me, only a handful made it out alive. As for me, you can plainly see I’m still here. And so are Rachel and Sandy.”

  I didn’t know if this asshole knew Piper had swapped sides or not, but wasn’t going to tell him either way.

  The poor man seemed to be gasping for air. His eyes were bugged wide, and he couldn’t stop staring. Yet somehow, despite his terror, despite the demonic apparition that had appeared before him, he managed to find his voice.

  “It can’t be,” he said. “How can this be?”

  “It can be because it is!” I said. Then I shook my head, loomed over his desk, and glared down at him from above. “How does it feel, little man, to know your life is no more than a snap of my fingers from being over?”

  He gaped like a fish. He was in shock, and could barely get the words to his next question out.

  “What are you going to do with me?” he stammered. “Are you going to kill me?”

  “I want to. I really want to. I would enjoy it. But I have a deal for you that you might choose to accept instead.”

  At this, some of the man’s color returned. “Deal? What deal?” he asked, still a long way from relaxed.

  “When last we spoke, I wanted to kill you. But some of your words actually held merit. There is value in your name. I am not part of the Gambetti family, and that does put me at a disadvantage.”

  I paused for a moment, just to run my tongue over my teeth, to show him how sharp and strong they were.

  He went pale once again.

  “I’m keeping your businesses. They are mine. But I don’t want to have to fight the whole fucking Gambetti empire just to hold onto them. So, I’m going to make you a deal. You get to keep your miserable life, as pathetic as it is. You even get to keep your position of power. Or at least the illusion of it. How does that sound?”

  Dario Gambetti looked at me. “What–how?” he stammered, but it was an expression of his confusion more than a question.

  I continued as if he’d never spoken. “On paper, you will be my employer. You can tell your superiors that I work for you, running all your businesses on your behalf. But in truth, they will be mine, and you will just be a figurehead. A puppet. Because your name does have value–for now.”

  I paused for a moment, watching as my words started to sink in. “You get to keep acting as if you actually matter. And in return, through you, I want access to everything. The systems. The backing of the Gambetti Syndicate. Your superiors. I want it ALL!”

  Dario Gambetti must have been having the most terrifying day of his life. Not only had I survived his attack, but I was there, right in front of him, looming over his desk. And not just as myself, a fairly normal human, but in the form of a demon.

  He knew his life was mine to take if I wished. Knew that without his amulet, there was nothing in the world he could do about it.

  He should have been incoherent with terror. Should have found it nearly impossible to think, much less form a coherent sentence.

  Yet I could see Dario Gambetti’s mind start to work, and had to admire him for it.

  “What if I don’t accept?” he asked.

  I grinned again. “Then you will die. But know this: you tried to hurt me and my companions. Your death will not be quick. Your screams will echo for days, if not weeks, and you will end up pleading, begging me to let you die. Nor will you be the only one. I will start with your family, killing them slowly, one by one. Your daughters to begin w
ith, then anyone else you hold dear. At the same time, I will start tearing apart the rest of Gambetti empire, adding it to my own.” I paused again, enjoying the fear that appeared on his face as he imagined the horrors I would bring down on him.

  “You have seen my true form,” I added, sneering down at him. “You know I can do it. But it doesn’t have to be like this. You can save your family, the Syndicate, everything. Even your own miserable life. All you have to do is agree to my terms.”

  He didn’t really have a choice, and he knew it. He slumped in his chair defeated.

  “Well?” I demanded.

  He looked around at me, at the room, and nodded. “I accept,” he said.

  Yet even as he spoke, he couldn’t hide the scheming glint in his eye. I knew what he was thinking. What hold did I truly have over him? When I was gone, what would stop him from going straight back to his superiors and demanding more aid?

  But I’d thought of that as well.

  “There’s one more thing,” I added. “Someone I’d like you to meet.”

  “Who?” he asked, sounding suspicious.

  “A friend of mine. You’ll like her. Her name is Sara.”

  He had no idea what I was talking about, but he didn’t need to. Sara had once said she would sleep with the devil himself if it would help her get where she wanted to go. And she had followed it up by converting more of the Syndicate’s men since than any other.

  When last I’d checked, she was approaching double figures. So I figured she would be more than willing to take one for the team and add Dario Gambetti’s name to her list.

  And after that, the crime boss wouldn’t be able to act against my interests even if he wanted to.

  He didn’t know quite what to say, but again, it wasn’t like he had much choice. “When would you like me to meet her?” he asked, playing the perfect defeated foe.

  I grinned at Dario Fucking Gambetti one more time. “Now’s good. Better clench up,” I said.

  With that, I wrapped one huge, demonic fist in the back of his jacket and lifted him off the floor. He made an involuntary noise of fear, like a little girl who’d just seen a frog, but I had no time to coddle him even if I wanted to.