Blood of the Succubus

by McGeary, Duncan

  His announcement was greeted with silence.

  “Why wouldn’t they just kill us?” Bobbie Jo demanded. “And our boyfriends?”

  “They might, if all is lost. But to do so would be to admit defeat. They will try to show you that they have power over your men and that there is nothing you can do about it.”

  He ran a hand through his hair and tried again. “The Succubae must be weakened, so that when I face them, I will have a chance.”

  “I thought you were…you know…missing your naughty bits,” Bobbie Jo said.

  “The Blood of the Succubae,” Serena said. “It will restore you. Am I right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you think you’re ready. That you will be the first man in history to resist them long enough to kill them.”

  “Yes.”

  Serena frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to knock your intentions, but have you ever been with a woman? Have you experienced what they will tempt you with? Do you have any idea what you are up against?”

  “I have loved more than one woman,” Rick said. “And it is the memory of this love that will give me the strength. Ms. Carlton—Serena—Bobbie Jo, Lucinda…this is the only chance to save your men. If we fail, we will probably die with them.”

  “We’ll do it,” Serena said, turning to the others, who nodded their agreement.

  Rick fought his elation. He might be leading these women to their deaths. But for the first time in his long life, he thought they had a chance.

  Chapter 41

  Serena raised her eyebrows at her first sight of the van. There’d still been a few of these love vans floating around when she was in high school, with their shag carpets, groddy pillows, and cassette tape decks blasting ’70s-style stadium rock. She remembered thinking the men driving them, usually balding on top and wearing ponytails and beards, were old lechers, and stayed far, far away.

  Rick looked to be in his late sixties, and Serena wondered why he didn’t drink some of the Blood himself. But he’d implied that he had in the past. When he had described the Cutting, Serena had caught a glimpse of Bobbie Jo pointing a finger at her open mouth and then pretending to vomit.

  But Serena was amazed by the bravery and the self-sacrifice it must take to do such a thing. She couldn’t imagine doing it once, much less over and over again. These Guardians were truly dedicated to their cause. But Serena also thought she saw a defeated man in Rick. This was his last, all-or-nothing attempt, and it troubled her.

  Are we on a suicide mission? she wondered.

  “How much do you love your men?” he’d asked, and all three women had declared a love stronger than life itself.

  Serena looked inside herself. Was her love enough? Was she really willing to sacrifice herself for Cary? Would she weaken at the last moment?

  The inside of the van wasn’t what she expected. It was bare metal, with racks along the sides full of weapons, blades as well as firearms. There was a large wooden box behind the driver’s seat, and after motioning them in, Rick unlocked the box and pulled out a backpack. He sat on the box, undid the backpack’s straps, and pulled out three bags, each of them with a carefully wrapped bottle inside.

  The women crouched down at first, and then Bobbie Jo sat on the metal floor in an ungainly sprawl, and Lucinda and Serena followed her example. They stared up into the grim face of the Guardian.

  “Each of you must drink of the Blood of the Succubus,” he said. He removed a glass bottle filled with a thick red liquid from its enfolding towel. It was an old-fashioned Coca-Cola bottle, and for a moment Serena saw the ludicrousness of the situation. She wanted to say, Come on, it’s all a joke, right?

  There was no humor in Rick’s face. He held up the bottle.

  “This will not make you equal to the Succubae, for they are the vessels from which these potions were harvested. The Succubae are alive and at the height of their powers. This Blood was taken in a time long before time was counted in years or centuries.

  “It is powerful. You will feel younger, more vibrant than ever before. It will make you strong, but don’t be fooled. The Goddesses live every day with this same Blood coursing through their bodies. They know how to seduce a man, how to dominate him and bend him to their will. You cannot defeat them that way.”

  “Then why the hell are we trying?” Bobbie Jo asked.

  “Because it isn’t sex that will win your men back,” Rick said. “Only love can do that. It isn’t seduction that will draw them back to you, but tenderness and compassion. It will be the empathy you have for each other, the connections you have nurtured, the kindness you have shown each other, that will make all the difference.

  “It is these simple things that you must use: the joys you have shared, the little jokes, the soft entreaties and endearments. There is no trick to this. It is a simple choice. It is you or the Succubae, and your men must pick. As powerful as the sex drive is, it is but a superficial thing, a bodily urge, though love can be expressed through sex.

  “You have the advantage, though it may not seem so. If your men truly love you and you truly love them, you will have a chance. If you have any doubt of this, you must withdraw now. Facing the Daughters of Lilith without love on your side will be fatal to both you and your…partner.

  “But if you believe, truly believe in each other, you can win.”

  Rick paused, giving each of them a chance to back out. No one said a word.

  “I want to speak to you as a man, now,” he continued. “Half a man, maybe, but I have my memories, and I’ve thought long and hard about this.”

  “Emphasis on hard,” Bobbie Jo muttered to Serena.

  “These creatures you face, they were once Goddesses,” Rick continued. “Their outward aspect is perfection, but they are elemental powers beneath. But remember—men do not love Goddesses, they worship them; men don’t live their day-to-day lives with Goddesses; they put them on pedestals.

  “The Succubae are the ideal, but you are the reality. Whatever attracted your men to you in the first place wasn’t perfection—perhaps, even, the imperfections were the attraction. Let your men see you as you truly are. Help remind them why they love you.”

  No one said anything for a moment; then Serena spoke for all of them. “We understand.”

  Rick nodded and crawled into the driver’s seat. The van’s gears ground as he set off.

  “Come on, baby, hang in there,” he muttered, patting the dashboard. “Just one last trip.”

  Those words hung in the air on the drive across town. Just one last trip.

  Rick hadn’t told them everything, Serena could tell. But the fundamental truth of his words came through.

  It was to be a test of her love for Cary and Cary’s love for her.

  Serena had no illusions about the danger they faced. If the destruction of the Daughters of Lilith could be easily accomplished, they would have been killed long ago. No doubt it had been attempted many times before—which meant that all previous efforts had failed.

  What makes me think I’m different?

  Serena drew in a deep breath. She wasn’t. There was nothing special about her except that she had loved her son and had lost him to the Succubae. Now she would lose Cary if she failed in her task. These Goddesses could kill her in the space it took to draw a breath. The love she felt for Cary was deep and strong. But so was her love for her son, and that hadn’t saved him from being taken. She glanced over at Lucinda and Bobbie Jo and saw no doubt in their faces. For some reason, it gave her courage.

  Rick yelled over his shoulder, “We’re almost there. Drink the Blood, ladies. Don’t worry, the taste is masked by the honey. Just think of it as a very sweet juice.”

  Bobbie Jo went first, popping off the top. “Bottoms up!” she said, saluting the others. She guzzled down the contents and made a face. “Yuck.”

  Both Lucinda and Serena paused, their Coke bottles frozen halfway to their mouths.

  Bobbie Jo had nice features, but she was stocky
, and her face showed the hard life she’d lived in the tight skin around her eyes and the wrinkles around her mouth. All these blemishes instantly disappeared. Her short, sandy hair became longer and shinier, each strand thicker than before and almost glowing. Though she was still heftier than modern tastes might deem desirable, she turned into a knockout before their very eyes.

  Bobbie Jo looked from one to the other. “What?”

  Lucinda grinned and emptied her own bottle. She was very pretty, a little round, with unruly hair that she’d given up trying to straighten. She also had a big butt, which she was skilled at disguising. All these features diminished. She was still the same Lucinda, but somehow a Lucinda with Photoshop improvements.

  Serena downed her own bottle.

  She saw her transformation reflected in the eyes of the others. She’d already had a taste of the Blood, but this was ten times more, and it was as if every part of her began to operate at full capacity: heart, body, mind, and spirit.

  “Wow,” Lucinda breathed. “You are so gorgeous.”

  Bobbie Jo grinned at her. “I’m glad you have Cary,” she said. “Otherwise I’d knock your block off, just in case.”

  The van slowed, pulling up to a large Victorian house across from downtown’s Drake Park. A sign hung outside: Bend Bed and Breakfast.

  Rick climbed over the seat and into the back of the van. His eyes widened at the sight of the women. “I do believe I feel a tingle, as impossible as that is,” he said, smiling. Then he dropped his smile. “I didn’t give you the Blood of the Succubae for your looks. Not matter how beautiful you think you are, the Daughters of Lilith are more so. Don’t try to complete with their beauty. Love is the answer. This just gives you a chance, a little bit of a lever to gain your man’s attention.

  “So remember, it is your love that will win them back. Don’t try to use sex appeal unless you can show the caring beneath it.” He stared at Bobbie Jo until she nodded.

  “I got it, I got it already,” she said.

  “Don’t try to fight the Succubae physically,” Rick warned. “The vigor you feel is something they have lived with every day. You can’t win. Remember, the battleground is the men you love.”

  Serena sighed. “Like we’re going to forget that.”

  He crawled past them to the van’s back door and put his hand on the handle. “Ready?”

  Serena felt a moment of doubt. What if Cary doesn’t love me as much as I think?

  “Let me at them Succubitches,” Bobbie Jo said. Lucinda laughed, and all of Serena’s doubt disappeared.

  “They’re waiting for you,” Rick said. “They know you are coming, but they aren’t concerned. They are supremely confident. They might kill you immediately, but I doubt it. If they kill you, the conquest of your men won’t mean anything. So I think they’ll let you try to win them back. They won’t believe you can do it.”

  “What about you?” Lucinda asked.

  Rick looked up at the weapons on the racks. “I’ll be waiting. If you defeat them—that is, when you bring your guys out, it will be my chance. Best of luck.”

  He threw open the van’s door. “Have at them, ladies.”

  Chapter 42

  Despite their promises, Agrat Bat took Cary to one bed and Naamah took Adam to another. Eisheth was left with Jeremy, which wasn’t enough. She wanted them all. They were her Cullings. Her sisters had no right to them.

  “We need to show you how to milk these humans, Eisheth, dear,” Agrat Bat said. “Like this…” She straddled Cary’s neck and chin, allowing him to pleasure her. He licked and kissed her until she bucked in orgasm. “See, little sister?” she panted, smiling. “I’ve already reaped satisfaction without even beginning the Cull.”

  In the next bed over, Naamah brought Adam closer and closer to a climax without letting him go over the top. She ground into him slowly, stopping whenever he started to grunt. It was all so familiar. They’d once spent centuries together in one small cave; instinctively, they’d moved their beds into the same room. To them, sex was a public thing, something to be displayed, a show of dominance.

  Eisheth knew how to do all these things, of course. She was just as old and experienced as her sisters. She simply didn’t see the point of drawing it out.

  She mounted Jeremy, put her talons on his neck, and used all her abilities to make him come. Then she started again, and he quickly approached another orgasm. Between her regained powers and his youthful virility, he was probably good for another half-dozen climaxes before he was dead.

  Suddenly she felt a void, a suction as she was lifted straight into the air. Agrat Bat had pulled her off in the middle of the act.

  “You are not listening to me, sister,” Agrat Bat said. “Let him recover. Make it last. I don’t want a dead man lying around, nor am I inclined to help you dispose of him when you’ve drained him, Eisheth. Just take what you need. ”

  The lecture was one too many. Eisheth didn’t consciously decide to attack: she simply transformed into her natural form before she could stop herself. Long talons appeared on the ends of her hands and feet, her teeth elongated into fangs, and her soft body became dry and hard, the muscles taut and tough. She looked like the creature that mankind called a harpy, a Gorgon, or a dragon.

  A Succubus.

  She slashed the blonde Goddess across her torso, tearing her abdomen wide open. Blood sprayed out, and some of Agrat Bat’s organs protruded, but the damage repaired itself in seconds. Eisheth knew she’d made a mistake. Her sister transformed instantly, and dimly, through her fury, Eisheth recalled that Agrat Bat was not only bigger and stronger than her, but that her teeth and claws were longer and far more deadly.

  In a heartbeat, Eisheth was lying on her back with Agrat Bat pounding down on her, each blow cutting more skin and smashing more bone. Eisheth couldn’t repair herself as quickly as Agrat Bat could. She felt her strength ebbing. Naamah tried to pull Agrat Bat off her, but their older sister lashed out, cutting Naamah’s neck in her rage.

  All their wounds healed almost instantly, but each of them felt weaker. It didn’t worry them. This little fight between sisters was almost inevitable. This type of thing had happened many times before—that’s why they had separated in the first place. They had a whole town with which to restore their strength.

  Agrat Bat raised her talons again, and then stopped. She rose, shifting back into her blonde Goddess form.

  “They’re coming,” she said.

  ***

  Cary came back to himself lying naked on a bed, unable to move, while monsters grappled with each other just feet away. One of these monsters had been draining him only moments before. Where am I? he wondered. What are those things? He tried to sit up but couldn’t move.

  The last thing he remembered was spending hours in bed with Serena. He closed his eyes at the memory, trying to recall the peace he’d felt.

  One of the creatures hissed, “They’re coming.”

  Serena was coming for him; somehow he knew this. He gasped for breath and tried to rise on one elbow, but fell back with a groan. He felt as though he was drugged, his thoughts sluggish under a layer of thick confusion, all meanings blurred. But his love for Serena cut through the miasma, and fear for her accelerated his awakening.

  When the monsters flashed back into women, they looked strangely familiar. The one who been on top of him before he came back put her hand firmly and possessively on his chest, pushing him down, and at her touch, his memory began to fade again.

  Cary reached out to Serena with his mind.

  Go back, Serena. Go back! They’ll kill you. Don’t let them…not for me…go back…

  ***

  Blood called to Blood, leading Serena directly to the Succubae. Cary was there, perhaps even now being drained by one of the monsters she’d sworn to destroy.

  She led her friends to the second floor and down the hall to the master suite at the end. The door was open, and she didn’t hesitate to enter.

  Cary lay on his back,
staring at her, begging her with his expression…then the Succubus stepped up next to him, sliding her hand over his chest and then down around his engorged and glistening cock. Cary closed his eyes and moaned.

  The Succubus captured Serena’s gaze, and her heart sank. The woman was impossibly beautiful, as if all the blonde movie stars of old had been melded into one irresistible creature.

  She isn’t a woman, Serena thought. She’s only a wet dream, nothing more.

  She was the Other, wanting the person Serena loved, trying to steal what was hers, the man who had come out of nowhere long after she’d given up on love. This thought gave Serena resolve beyond the justice she once craved. Rick was right. Revenge was not enough. She had to fight for love, love for a young man who had joined her crusade without complaint, who had comforted her when she asked for comfort and hadn’t taken advantage of her.

  She would give him more in return, every day of his life, if she could but save him.

  One of the same monsters who had taken her son was now destroying her hopes for the future. It was only now, after just one night with Cary, that she realized she’d been a fool. She loved Cary, and had loved him from the start, but had come up with excuse after excuse to deny her love. She could not let him down now.

  This thing who confronted her, who had stolen Cary away, this wasn’t a woman. This was a creature from the subterranean depths of man’s hatred and fears, the enemy of love and life.

  It was the sight of Cary, so pitifully trapped by his own desires, ensnared behind this monster, that gave Serena the strength to go on. The sexual allure of the Succubae suddenly struck her as tawdry, demeaning. Lust had trapped Cary, but love would free him.

  She heard Bobbie Jo’s voice. “Get your ass over here, Adam.”