Son of a Succubus Series Collection

by Dorie, Sarina

  “Someone’s been a naughty boy, hasn’t he?” She bit his neck.

  He found it difficult to concentrate on words with the nurse pressed up against him. “That’s right. But for the record, it wasn’t me.”

  Wanda giggled. “But you’re about to be a naughty boy, aren’t you?”

  “Just so, but I’d feel more in the mood for being naughty if you retrieved that medicine for me first. Then you can pretend to administer it to me . . . as part of the game.” Gently he eased her away from himself. It was like tearing off his own skin as he did so. “Also, get enough for two people, if you please.”

  The yearning in him for human contact was all he could think about. Apparently, it was the same for Wanda as well.

  She kissed him again. “Mmm. I like role-playing.”

  “You’ll like it even more after you bring me the medicine.”

  Lucifer did feel bad about manipulating mortals this way. On the other hand, Baba had told him to practice using his incubus magic to increase his skills. He was supposed to fuel himself with sex magic so he could power spells of healing for her. After a half-hour tryst with Wanda, he would be able to work any spell Baba commanded when he returned.

  He just wished he didn’t enjoy fueling himself this way. He didn’t know how Abigail would be able to forgive him for being unfaithful to her if he couldn’t forgive himself.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Fool’s Errand

  The first thing Lucifer did when he returned was check on Abigail. The ward was still intact. Her face remained peaceful in sleep, and her hands were folded over a bouquet of flowers he’d picked. His arms were too full of groceries he’d carried in paper bags to inspect her fingers and toes, though he saw no blood on the blankets around her feet. That made him feel slightly better, but not entirely.

  Later, he would be having words with Baba. It was bad enough she wouldn’t help him put Abigail’s soul in her body, and it might be too late by the time he learned how to restore her, but he wouldn’t have her using Abigail’s fingers while she was asleep.

  He set down the bags, intending to inspect her fingers, the paper crinkling as he did so.

  “Lucy?” Baba called from the cottage. “Are you back from your errand?”

  “Indeed.” Lucifer picked up the bags again. He would return to Abigail in a moment.

  Lucifer found Godric inside, staring at an empty teacup. The scars on his face were hardly noticeable, though Lucifer didn’t see the shimmer of glamour. Perhaps Kelsie was better at that kind of spell than she was at chores.

  Baba sat at the table sipping her tea. Lucifer would wait until later before he asked whether she had cured his scars as well as his disease or she’d constructed a glamour better than the one the duke’s wizard had performed.

  The zing of pain didn’t greet Lucifer as he entered the room, but there were remnants of it in the air, like wisps of smoke. From Godric’s miserable expression as he stared into his cup, Lucifer wondered whether Baba had just read his tea leaves. People often had such an expression on their faces after Baba told them their fortunes.

  “I got the antibiotics for your gono-herpe-syphil-aids.” Lucifer handed Godric the bag the pharmacist had handed him. “There are directions in there. Also, there are directions for your lady friend so she can take some as well.”

  “My lady friend?” Godric asked.

  “The maid. The one you said you caught your sexually transmitted infection from. You need to make sure she gets some medicine as well, so she won’t die of liver failure down the road.” Lucifer wondered how many maids the young man had bedded since that time. Perhaps he should have asked for more antibiotics.

  Godric’s eyes went wide. “That sounds serious.” He accepted the medicine, nodded to Baba, and then left. His head was ducked down, shame in his posture. It was queer to see the man so rattled now, whereas in the middle of the night he had endured his humiliation with irritation more than guilt.

  Lucifer watched Godric go out the front door.

  “What was that about?” Lucifer asked. “Did he not like his fortune?”

  Kelsie kneaded dough for bread. She didn’t answer. Lucifer wondered whether she was on edge because he’d been terse earlier when he’d gotten angry with Baba for not telling him about the wards.

  “The goat needs milking,” Baba said. “And after that, we need more firewood. Kelsie, go outside. Lucifer will take over bread.”

  Lucifer took it as a compliment that he was given the task of baking. Kelsie’s eyes were pink, and it looked like she might have been crying. When she made no move to leave the bread, he offered, “I can milk the goat and chop firewood. Those are usually my chores anyway.” He ducked out the door before Baba could object.

  As Lucifer walked through the garden to milk Fredricka the goat, he found Godric saddling up his horse outside the fence. His eyes were wide, and he glanced at the cottage.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Lucifer asked.

  Godric whispered, “She told me not to speak of it. If I do, my tongue will fall out.”

  “Speak of what?” Lucifer sidled closer to the fence.

  Godric bit his lip. “I wasn’t asking for myself. I just wanted to know if it could be done. For my sister.”

  Lucifer looked the other man over more carefully. His scars were considerably less noticeable, though still there. It wasn’t a glamour that hid them after all. “Are you talking about your burns? You wanted something to be done for your sister’s scars?”

  Godric swallowed. “She didn’t tell me what the price would be. I’m sorry.” He looked toward Abigail and then away.

  A lump of dread settled in Lucifer’s belly. He knew what Baba had done. The young man ducked away.

  Lucifer marched over to Abigail. A chill rushed over Lucifer’s hand as he reached within the ward he’d created earlier. He shifted the bouquet in Abigail’s hands aside so he could inspect her fingers. They were intact. There were no signs of blood, and he didn’t see any indication she had ever been injured. But then, Clyde had said he and his brother unicorns had healed her.

  His fingers lingered on hers. Her skin was soft and warm. She felt alive.

  Gently he parted the shoots of strawberries and untucked the blanket from around her feet. Shoots tore, but he didn’t feel the pain like he once had when he’d plucked leaves out of Abigail’s hair. Either it was because they weren’t attached to her directly, only growing around her, or because she was asleep and didn’t feel pain.

  He peeled back the blanket, his fingers quivering with anticipation. The first foot was intact. His relief was short lived.

  The second one, the one closer to the fence where an old woman might simply reach over, was mutilated. All the toes had been cut off. There was no blood, and the flesh looked burned, possibly meaning she had used a heated knife to cauterize the wounds. Not only were Abigail’s toes gone, but her heel was as well. As he pushed the blanket higher up her leg, he noticed the gouges in her calves. These were older injuries, scabbed over and healing.

  He felt as though he might be ill. This was everything Abigail had feared. It was the fate she had seen that had made her escape into the Morty Realm. She wanted to be more than a useful sum of body parts harvested for Baba’s spells.

  The churning in his belly settled into a lump of ice. He would not allow Abigail to be used this way. The cold in the pit of his belly grew, spreading through his veins like liquid malice.

  “I do not hear wood chopping,” Baba called from the house.

  He caught a glimpse of her through the window. She sat in her chair turned toward the fire. The sight of her fueled the loathing in his heart.

  Rage was a tempest inside Lucifer, stirring up a whirlwind of emotions. He was done being patient. He was done following orders and being a good apprentice.

  Lucifer lifted the ax leaned against the fence where he had left it. He wanted to stomp back into Baba’s cottage, his v
oice thundering through the small space, teacups in the cupboard rattling as he shouted, “Let’s see how you like your fingers and toes being chopped off for your next spell.”

  He also knew Baba’s magic was stronger than his. She’d had hundreds of years to perfect her skills. She probably had divined his intentions and would thwart him before he even got close.

  Electricity danced under his skin. He thought of what her calloused and pragmatic response would surely be. “My fingers do not grow back. Abby’s do.”

  Brawn and brute force weren’t going to outwit Baba. Sentiment couldn’t persuade her from her logic. He set a section of wood on the tree stump and chopped through it with the ax. If he intended to beat Baba at her game, he would need to be as cunning as a cat. Fortunately, he had experience with that.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  No More Mr. Nice Kitten

  Lucifer forced his face into a composed smile at dinner, pretending nothing was amiss. He needed to use the element of surprise. “I would like you to show me how to use my magic to awaken Abigail.”

  Baba dipped her bread into the rich broth of her soup. “Not yet. You are not ready.”

  Lucifer pushed down the growl that wanted to rise out of him. It took all his effort to keep his voice level and void of malice. “Tell me what magics I should study to learn to ready myself.” He didn’t doubt she would delay as long as possible. She wouldn’t tell him what he truly needed to know until closer to the end of his apprenticeship. “I want to read books about souls so that I might better understand how to help Abby when you deem that I’m ready. Do you have any books?”

  Lucifer reached into the well of energy inside his core so that he could use it. His affinity was stronger and more plentiful since coming back from the Morty Realm where he had charged himself. He still had misgivings about using sex magic on Morties. If only he could be as practical as Baba, without remorse.

  Baba was silent for a long moment, either because she knew what he was doing and was resisting or because she was falling under his enchantment.

  Finally, she said, “Da. I have books, but they will not teach you everything you wish to know.”

  “I have books,” Kelsie said, her voice a distant echo like the wind.

  He’d seen Kelsie’s books. They were useless. Lucifer paid her no mind. He stared into Baba’s eyes, trying to bewitch her with his gaze. “You will let me read these books, won’t you?”

  She gave a small nod of her head. He couldn’t sense the yearning in Baba like he had with the Morty women. Most likely she had warded herself against the influence of other magics. Even so, he had to try.

  Lucifer increased the red ball of swirling light inside himself, churning the magic like butter. His affinity prickled under his skin, giving him more strength to bend her will.

  He wet his lips, leaning toward her. “You will teach me everything I desire, won’t you?”

  Baba drew in a shuddering breath. “I give you books to read. We will practice astral projection and directing other people’s energies.”

  “You can direct my energy any time you want,” Kelsie said.

  Lucifer stared into Baba’s eyes. “Where are these books? I haven’t seen any books on souls or astral projection. Have you been keeping secrets from me?” He said it playfully, smiling at her coyly. He placed his hand on hers.

  Her heart thrummed faster. “My books of secrets are under bed.”

  So he’d made her reveal her hiding spot.

  “What other forbidden knowledge are you willing to share with me?” Lucifer asked.

  Before he knew what was happening, Kelsie threw herself at him, nearly knocking him out of his chair. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. He turned his face away and stood. He had to wrap his arms around her to keep her from kissing him again. His touch only made her more frenzied.

  “Please,” Kelsie begged. “I’ll share my books with you. I’ll help you. I’d do anything for you. Please.”

  Lucifer tried to withdraw his magic back into himself, but the way Kelsie squirmed against him only made it more difficult to concentrate.

  “Stop, Kelsie, this isn’t you,” he said.

  Tears streamed down her face. “Why don’t you want me?”

  “I’m sorry. That spell wasn’t meant for you.” Lucifer sighed in exasperation. This hadn’t gone as planned. Nothing ever did when Baba was involved. He should have tried to divine the future first.

  “Serves you right.” Baba cackled. “You might be sly devil, but you have not lived long enough to learn wisdom.”

  Kelsie sobbed against his chest. His instincts yearned to stroke her shoulder and console her, but he feared that would only make things worse.

  “What is moral of this story?” Baba asked.

  “That Baba is all-wise and is prepared for everything. That apprentices shouldn’t rise up against their masters and try to trick them.” His shoulder sagged in defeat. “But if you shared your books and your knowledge, I wouldn’t resort to such measures.”

  “Very well. You earned your books. Try reading all you like. It isn’t going to help. Your Old High German is inadequate, and you haven’t mastered skills necessary to work with souls.” Baba shrugged. “I give you books to read. We will practice astral projection first.”

  It all came back to his lack of training. He needed to study harder.

  “It would be safer if you changed into cat tonight. Safer for Kelsie and you.” Baba pushed herself from the table.

  Kelsie looked up. “What do you mean, ‘safer for me?’”

  Baba picked up her cane. He thought she meant to leave. Instead, Baba struck him with the twisted stick, first in the leg and then in the ribs. The pleasant magic throbbing inside him shrank away and died. It didn’t surprise Lucifer that she would hit him. What shocked him was that she hit Kelsie as well.

  The young woman shrieked.

  “He isn’t even your type,” Baba scolded Kelsie. “You will be ashamed when you realize he penetrated your insufficient wards.”

  Lucifer pushed Kelsie behind him, taking the blows in her stead. “What was that for? She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  Baba jabbed her cane at Kelsie between his legs. “I am breaking your spell on her. Nothing breaks pleasure magic as much as pain.”

  Lucifer backed away from Baba, stumbling into Kelsie. The other apprentice ducked out of the line of Baba’s next strike, and he took it instead.

  “You are as much a young fool as you were thirty years ago,” Baba said.

  “You can’t blame me for trying,” he said. “Not after what you did to Abby. I don’t want you stealing Abby’s fingers or toes or cutting into her flesh anymore. This has to stop now.”

  Baba arched an eyebrow at him. “You are in no position to make command. It is time you start listening and following directions. If you want to learn, you will mind me and be good apprentice. Once upon a time you were good apprentice. Unlike Abby.”

  “No, that’s not true. Abby was a good apprentice. You told her she excelled at potions. And she could bake well.” Abigail had been ten times more skilled than Kelsie. She had been adept at so many things.

  Baba attempted to jab Kelsie again. The blue-haired teen ran out of the cottage before Baba could strike her again. Apparently she had regained enough of herself from the pain that she had the good sense to leave.

  Baba leaned against her cane again, looking especially tired. “Being good apprentice is more than aptitude with poisons and potions, nyet? Abby was willful, foolish, and idealistic. She was bad influence. You were best apprentice until she came. You minded me and were good boy. Now Abby continues to be distraction and bad influence even while she sleeps.”

  Abigail had taught him to question Baba, to fight against injustice. He intended to continue to do so. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with her until she didn’t have magic and wasn’t useful anymore. You only want me as an apprentice because I’m
useful.”

  “That might be so.” Baba shrugged and eased herself into her chair. “In any case, you are biased. You could never see straight when it came to that girl. Even after she broke your heart, still you loved her.”

  Lucifer wasn’t certain whether Baba meant Coinneach, the Fae man who had been part tree—like Abigail—or Adam, the Morty husband she’d had while Lucifer had been stuck as a cat.

  It was hard to say which had hurt him worse.

  “I do love her,” he admitted. “Can’t you see how it hurts me when you hurt her? Haven’t you ever loved anyone?”

  “Long ago. Before I was driven from my home.” The harsh lines around her eyes softened, and she stared off into the distance. “I had family. Once. But that was long ago.”

  “Please show me how to wake Abigail. She’ll have magic again. It will be useful to you. And I’m learning my affinity. I fueled it today in the Morty Realm. We can use that instead of pain magic and flesh.” He shuddered, thinking of Abigail’s legs. “If you must take a piece of someone, take from me instead. Please.” He dropped to his knees before her.

  “We shall see what future holds. You will mind me better now that you have had chance to taste outcome of your folly.” She patted him on the head, a hint of grandmotherly affection in her eyes.

  It was hardly the promise Lucifer desired. “So all this was to punish me?”

  She picked up her spoon and stirred her soup. “You do not need me to punish you. Natural consequences are enough punishment, nyet?”

  He didn’t think there was anything natural about her cutting off Abigail’s toes because he wouldn’t study magic the way she wanted him to. If Abigail had been awake, she could have refused to permit Baba to cut off her toes. She could leave. It was too difficult to guard Abigail when she was so helpless.

  He took Baba’s free hand in his. “I’ll do anything for you if you show me how to wake Abby.”

  Baba sighed, looking weary. “It is not practical to wake her now. Her soul has been from body for long time. She will need time to adjust. She will have to relearn magic and many other skills just as you do. It will put you in difficult situation.”