by HDA Roberts
"I'm doing my own flying, though," she said, calling her Will.
I pulled up my map for her to see, "We'll land in this alley. I want a good look around, this time, I'm not taking any chances."
"O-" she started and then just... stopped. Frozen there.
"Dee?" I said, scared out of my wits, starting to cast Mage Sight.
"It's alright, Mathew, she's alright," Rose said from behind me.
I turned towards her. She wore white leather armour over her body, her red hair was pulled back into a bun. She looked... martial, like a warrior. And she looked miserable.
"You scared the crap out of me," I said.
She smiled back sadly.
"I'm sorry to do it this way, but... but I need your help."
"Are you alright?" I said, stepping towards her.
She nodded.
"It's Gabrielle. They have her."
"They? As in Source 'They'?!" I asked, my eyes going wide.
She nodded.
"How?"
"She was looking around their operations, making sure that she knew who was doing what, maybe doing a little gloating over Demons she didn't like too much. There was a trap-circle. She got caught. Apparently she wasn't the only curious Demon to come looking. They've been draining her like the others. She's strong, Mathew, but I don't think she has much time left."
"I'm heading in now. I'll get her out."
"You don't understand, she's at the other one," Rose said.
"Oh. Rose, I don't know where that is," I said.
"I know. And I can't tell you. I have to take you. And you have to promise me, on your word of honour, that you will do nothing except free her and come back to me. You can't use anything you see or learn to come back later. You must come by the knowledge in your own time. Will you do that?"
"Yes," I said without hesitation, "My word."
"I don't want to ask you this, Mathew. But it's forbidden for me to act, especially in this situation. I'm bending a whole mess of rules far too far. But she's... she's my friend. I work well with her, and I trust her more than I'd trust another Demon in her place. Please help her."
"If it can be done, I'll do it," I said, and then gestured at Demise, "I take it she can't come with me?"
"No, just you. Are you still willing?"
"Yes," again, no hesitation.
People are people. Even the ones with horns. And Gabrielle's never done me harm. And even if that weren't the case, Rose's word was good enough for me. Even if it cost me Demise's respect and made me an enemy of my brother and sister. Hopkins and Palmyra would understand. Killian and Kron wouldn't.
Screw 'em.
Rose's wings unfurled and she pulled me into an embrace. The wings wrapped around me.
"Close your eyes and you must absolutely keep them that way, understand?" she said.
I nodded.
We moved.
There was a wrench and we were somewhere... else. For a long moment, I felt warmth and acceptance that made me feel safe like I never had in my entire life. Just before we left, I heard a wonderful sound, what can only be described as a note of pure joy and love that made me cry on the spot, and then we were back in the world. I don't know where we went, but it hurt not to be there anymore. That instant of peace and elation... I shivered as I bent over and breathed hard, trying to get my equilibrium back.
"I'm sorry to have done that to you, Mathew," she said, "Just be glad you didn't see."
"I agree," I said, standing again. What the hell was that?
"This is the back door," she said, pointing at a blue door, snapping me back to the present, "Come back here when you've finished and I'll extract you both. Be quick, Mathew, she doesn't have much time."
I nodded and went to the door, which was locked. Rose was already gone by the time I'd cast the lock-pick spell. I surrounded myself with an Illusion and cast Mage Sight.
And... oh dear.
I thought the Church was bad.
The building was a factory that had made televisions once upon a time. The top floor was entirely empty, but for a few boxes with pictures of the wares on them. There was a walled off area where there would once have been offices, another set of rooms for lockers, which were bent, mangled and rusty. At the far end, there was a set of wide concrete stairs leading into the ground; a recently refurbished freight lift was set into the wall next to them.
There were two floors below, the same size as the one I was on, both carved from the living rock, by an impressively powerful Earth Mage, if I was any judge. My Mage Sight let me see all this, and more, it let me see the fifteen Magicians, the fifty or so technicians (many of whom were armed) and upwards of two hundred Demons.
That was bad.
If those circles failed like last time, there would be such a mess.
And that was something I just didn't understand. These were drug dealers, they knew they were doing bad things, they knew they were hurting people and torturing demons... so, how could they be so dumb? They had to know that their afterlife was far more likely to involve pitchforks than harps, so why did they think that tormenting their future neighbours was going to end well for them? It was just insane.
I shoved that thought aside, it was a distraction I didn't need. I walked quickly to the stairs and disarmed the rather crude alarm spell I found over the threshold. My Illusion let me pass a security camera without a problem. I still moved carefully, though, keeping the amount of Magic I used to a bare minimum so as not to alert the Magicians. I also kept well clear of them, just in case they were paying attention.
It took me the better part of half an hour to search the upper level for Gabrielle. The Demons' Auras all looked very similar to me, so I had to inspect each one up close. Thankfully most of the workers and guards were either fast asleep or dozing. The few technicians who collected Source from the machines looked bored and careless (not a great condition in which to be handling Demons, but that wasn't my business).
I found the steps leading down and made my way to them, growing steadily more worried as time stretched on and I hadn't found Gabrielle. It was colder down there, and I was tired, but I started searching again.
I found her at the far end of that second floor in a silver circle. She was crouched, bent over and in obvious pain. Her frame was wasted and thin, her clothes ill fitting, like she was wasting away, but her eyes were still very much Gabrielle. The Technicians and Magicians were as far away as they were going to get, and I knelt next to her, casting a muffling spell around us.
"Gabrielle?" I said, feeling around the circle for a weak point, "Can you hear me?"
She raised her head slowly, "Come to gloat, Shadowborn?" she rasped.
"Hardly," I said, extending my Illusion around her.
"Then why are you here?" she asked, her eyes intent on me as I focussed my Will.
"I think that would be quite obvious."
I kept it simple and just yanked the energy out of the circle. Without Magic, a silver circle was just a silver circle, and easy to break with a little effort of Will. It was designed around enchantments built right into the metal; nasty, ugly little things which allowed demons to be bound within it, as well as making the silver alloy more durable and harder to break, attributes that weren't much of an obstacle to yours truly.
There was a faint crack as the spell was broken. Gabrielle collapsed and I caught her before she could hit the concrete.
"Ugh," she managed, "Too late."
"You'll be fine," I said.
She snorted, barely moving against me. Her energy was low and getting lower. She was close to being banished, and in her state... who knew what she'd find on the other side waiting for her.
"They took it all," she whispered, "Bastards. Want to kill them..."
Her eyes were fluttering, her skin was ashen. She had seconds left.
"Bugger it. Never tell anyone I did this," I said crossly.
I pulled her chin up, lowered all my shields... and kissed her.
&n
bsp; Maybe not the brightest idea in the world, but needs must.
Her arms went around my neck and her mouth opened against mine. What with the... lack of 'intimacy' I'd endured over the last few weeks on account of Demise, there was quite a bit of pent-up desire for her to feed on and she moaned hard as she took it in. Her grip strengthened and the kiss deepened, her tongue sliding against mine.
I lost myself a little bit to that kiss. She was all, her scent, her touch, her taste. I told myself I was simply feeding her, but damn if I wasn't enjoying it. I felt her form swell, filling her clothes out again. She was suddenly warm and vital and she flipped me over and pressed me to the concrete, her hips straddling mine. In the throes of that kiss, I forgot everything for a long minute, and it felt amazing, seductively so. I would happily have done it until it killed me...
And that, ladies and gentlemen was the real danger of the Succubus. One might think that they're harmless, just a bit of fun, right?
Wrong. They were, if anything, one of the very most dangerous predators in the universe. They were a living, breathing trap, perfectly evolved to draw men and women to their death. All it took was a touch, a kiss, and you could quite easily lose yourself to them, and that would be it. If Gabrielle had wanted, she could have killed me right there, right then, and even with all my power, all my skill, there would have been exactly nothing I could do about it.
Essentially, I'd put my entire future in the hands of a demon, and trusted her to do the right thing... damn, but that was dumb!
But then, just like that, it was over, she pulled her lips away from mine and I sagged, panting and exhausted.
"Oh, no, Magician, not like this," she said, leaning over me, her voice a happy purr again, "I'll win you fair and square. I'm not taking you by default."
She planted another little kiss on my lips as I rebuilt my shields. I was shaky and horribly randy. It took a lot to put that away.
She looked... perfect again. And she was still sitting on me, her hips grinding a little bit against mine.
"How may I show my gratitude, Shadowborn?" she crooned, leaning to whisper into my ear.
"Helping me up would be a start."
She sighed, but hopped up, "You're just no fun when you're not making a donation," she said, offering her hand, which I took. Skin to skin contact... not a great idea, either. It was as if letting her in to feed from me had put a tiny chink in my armour she could worm her way into.
"Stop it," I said, looking her in the eye.
"You started it," she said in a whisper, gently rubbing at my fingers.
"It may have escaped your attention, but I am rather not supposed to be here, and we need to go before we're discovered."
"I can smell our mutual friend all over you," she said, sniffing hard at my neck, "How ever did she persuade you to come for me? Did she have to do anything drastic? Or did you just come running at the thought of little old me in trouble?"
"No doubt you can spend the next couple of centuries torturing me over this, but for the moment, can we please just go?"
I cast an in-place Illusion of Gabrielle as I found her and led the way towards a darkened part of the room.
"Ugh, I looked like that? Someone's losing some intestines for this!" she snarled.
"On your own time. We're on Rose's schedule right now."
"You're just no fun at all, are you?"
"Nope," I said, "Really not worth the trouble at all."
"Oh, my dear Shadowborn," she said, letting her fingers drift over my neck, "You're worth all the trouble."
"Focus."
"Oh, I am," she replied.
"I was talking to myself," I said as I reached out for a patch of Shadow to open a Gate.
Before I could, the room was suddenly filled with blinding light. Gabrielle ducked behind me with a hiss.
"Well, well, well," said a familiar and ghastly voice, "What will your brother and sisters make of this?"
Namia Sutton, Light Magic charged and ready, seven mages alongside her, marched towards me.
Well. That just wasn't good...
"No Magic on her," Gabrielle hissed, "Remember!"
Aw, bollocks...
"Miss Sutton," I said confidently, "Gentlemen. Why did you steal my pet?"
Gabrielle tensed, but she went with it, remaining cowed behind me.
"What?" she asked, stopping.
"This one. It's mine. You captured it," I let my voice descend into ice, "I'm seriously considering releasing the others just so you can learn your lesson."
She swallowed for a moment, but continued towards me, more cautiously now, though.
"You summoned it? A Demon, all by yourself?"
"Do I need to remind you who I am, Sutton?" I asked, stepping towards her. She stopped approaching, "This one was the first. My first. My first of a great many more than you can imagine."
All utter crap, of course, but people like her tended to assume that everyone else was just as rotten as they were, so hopefully she'd buy it long enough for me to think my way out of this mess.
"And you came for it? It must be very... valuable to you," she said with a knowing smile.
"Oh yes," I said casually, "enough that I'm willing to put aside your blatant provocation so I can leave in peace. This one time."
"I don't think so," Sutton said, "I promised you certa-"
I blasted the nearest circle. It broke and a massive Demon roared as it leapt free, bounding straight for the pack of Magicians. It was eight feet of blue flesh and black eyes, with three foot, razor-sharp horns and wings twice its height, not to be messed with, and definitely not to be ignored. Sutton turned and fired off a burst of Light that cleaved off the Demon's wing, not that it slowed down any.
I called my Shadows and wrapped Gabrielle up in them, pouring buckets of power into them to overcome Sutton's Light Magic. We darted towards the stairs and straight to the upper level. I wasted no time, and yanked us across. My cocoon was pursued by Magic and bullets, and it drained me awfully to keep it going, but there was no time for anything else.
Sutton screamed in frustration as we flew away and tore a ragged hole through the Demon's face as it bore down on her. She'd turned back towards us, but by then we were up to the top level and darting towards the back door. I didn't bother with subtlety and simply ploughed through it as the first Magician came up through a hole he'd blasted in the floor, readying a fireball.
He threw it, and it simply... stopped, along with him and everything else.
Rose appeared out of nowhere and I relaxed, lowering Gabrielle to the ground and then myself.
"Oh, that's useful," I said, gesturing at the approaching fireball, "Any way you could teach me that?"
Rose smiled, "You'll learn yourself one day," she said, stroking my cheek, "Hello Gabrielle."
"You sent the Shadowborn," Gabrielle said, "Idiot. He must not be risked, you know this."
"Not be risked? Did you see the last place I ended up in on account of this nonsense?" I asked.
"Quiet, Magician, Higher Beings are talking," Gabrielle replied.
"Should have left her in the basement," I muttered.
Rose snorted, Gabrielle glared.
"Go back to your place. Heal and rest, stay away from this poisonous city. I have to return him before he's missed," Rose said.
"I will, but not because you told me to," Gabrielle said, and then she simply vanished.
Rose rolled her eyes and approached me.
"Thank yo-," she started and then she gasped, her nose lifting, "oh my..."
She pressed herself up against me, her nose nuzzling my chest and neck. Her hands were suddenly on my back and travelling lower.
"Um... Rose? Whatcha doin'?" I asked, a little nervously.
My voice seemed to give her pause, and she jumped back.
"Oh!" she said, blushing hard, "Oh, I'm so sorry!"
She shook her head and rubbed her eyes before looking at me again.
"I saw what you did, and I forget
sometimes that Gabrielle is what she is. You let her in of your own free will. That... marks you in a way, so that you can better feed her in the future. It draws... female attention," she said, fanning her face, "Even mine apparently. I'm so embarrassed."
"This isn't permanent, is it?" I asked, horrified.
"Oh no, not from a single feeding, two days, three at the most. Here, I can mask it a little. But try to stay clear of women you don't want to bed. Enough time in their company might cause... problems."
She waved her hand and my skin tingled for a moment.
"I live with a minder," I said.
"Right... Demise. I recommend cold showers. For both of you."
She smiled evilly, her eyes wondering over me.
I ignored it, "I've been taking those for weeks, it doesn't help, even if that woman is a walking mood-killer."
"Well, she's not here now, need some help with tha- Sorry!" she said, turning away and fanning her face again.
"How bad is it?" I asked, now really concerned.
"Pretty bad," she said, breathing hard, "It won't be so bad with normal people. But I can smell past the enchantment I put on you. It'll also be worse with those who liked you to begin with."
"Rats," I said.
She sniggered, "You have to be the first man to ever say that in regard to this issue," she said, "Most would be dancing with glee."
"I don't want to be with someone who doesn't really want to be with me. It's not right."
She smiled, a great, beaming thing that lit up that dark alley.
"Don't feel too bad, the mark doesn't create lust, it only enhances what's there. A girl that doesn't like you to begin with won't like you under its influence."
I raised an eyebrow at her, and her eyes went wide as she realised what she'd admitted. She spluttered incoherently for a solid few minutes.
"I didn't mean it like that," she said, "Here, I'll take you back. You'll arrive at the same instant you left."
"Time travel? That's useful."
"Not as such," she said, as she approached with a trembling lip, "You might say that I... stretched your timeline a little and now I'm letting you... snap back."
She wrapped me in another hug, wings and all, and had me close my eyes again. That same tone, that same sense of serenity, and I was back on the rooftop with a frozen Demise.