It was quickly followed by Lucinda’s softer voice. “Jeremy?”
When she heard the fragile human voices of her friends, all the love she felt for Cary flowed out of her.
“Cary,” Serena said. “I love you. Come back to me.”
***
Cathy was everything Jeremy desired and more. How could he have ever left her? She was the girl he’d pined for in every nerdy movie and TV show he ever watched, who paid attention only to him, no matter who else was around, who actually liked his weird interests. And most of all, she wanted him, wanted to have sex.
She walked toward him, and his heart skipped with each little bounce of her mischievous step.
When Lucinda came through the door, he barely paid her any attention.
“Jeremy?”
Then Lucinda’s soft voice called his name, and he glanced over curiously. It was that girl, the cheerleader who had somehow latched onto him—after embarrassing him for years. Why would he ever go back to that? He stared up at Cathy, at her perfect face, the face of a thousand dreams before he’d even met her.
And yet…
“Jeremy.”
Lucinda repeated his name, and the memory of them playing on the beach came back to him, and he suddenly recalled how her image had also filled a thousand nights, how he’d longed for her from across crowded classrooms, and the high school football games where his only objective was to watch her, the lead cheerleader, being acrobatically tossed into the air and landing gracefully.
He remembered the quiet times, too, studying together and going for walks, laughing about mundane things, things only they understood as funny.
“Jeremy,” she said, her whisper soft and filled with a longing that suffused his heart.
Confused, he glanced at Cathy and saw not the manic pixie dream girl, but the Succubus: evil, superficially beautiful, and empty. Worse, he saw that she hated him, hated all men, and all of humanity. He saw that now. She would use him up until there was nothing left.
“Come back to me,” Lucinda whispered, stretching out her hand toward him.
To his own surprise, Jeremy rose from the bed.
***
Agrat Bat struggled to keep her unease from showing on her face. She rarely felt fear. Once she’d been unchained, few men had ever resisted her charms, and physically, she was far stronger than any human.
But she sensed her own Blood coursing through the dark woman facing her. Not Naamah’s nor Eisheth’s, but her own. Worse, across from Naamah stood a woman with her Blood, and the same was true of Eisheth’s adversary. The coincidence of this, almost as if it were destined, gave the Succubus pause. Whether she was an instrument of God’s justice or Satan’s capriciousness, she neither knew nor cared, but this…this was unnerving.
But she’d learned that her path often skewed in mysterious ways. She’d often believed she had Culled at her own choosing, only to discover a deeper meaning behind the selection of her victims.
This Blood was taken from us, millennia ago, when we were mankind’s prisoners, when they tortured us, year after year, century after century. This Blood came from our torture.
It was the unfairness of this that enraged her. That her own Blood, the very thing that gave her strength and power, should be used against her struck her like a blade to her heart. This woman had had but a tiny portion of it, and it was old; ancient, even. The rest—the real Blood—coursed through Agrat Bat’s own veins, multitudes stronger.
I can kill her with a single blow, she thought.
And yet she hesitated, knowing that something would be lost, that to do so would be to admit that the other woman’s appeal was stronger. That would be a defeat. She sensed, though it had never happened, that it would be a weakening she would never recover from. It was a law that had never been stated aloud, never written down, the essence of the war between the Three Daughters of Lilith and humanity. She must win through her wiles, not her strength, or she would be diminished, perhaps fatally.
“Stay right there, Cary,” she purred in her most seductive voice. She put her hand on his forehead and stroked his hair, then ran her fingers down his chest and stomach. His cock quivered at her touch.
It was a mistake. Her voice betrayed her fear and doubt.
“Cary, she doesn’t love you,” said the human woman, Serena. “Remember what my hand feels like. Remember the love and gentleness we shared. That’s not what this creature is doing to you. She appeals only to your body. Remember our love, the bond of heart and mind we have.”
Agrat Bat could scarcely believe it. The man’s erection was starting to deflate, self-awareness lighting up in his eyes. She dropped to her knees and gave his cock a soft lick. It sprang upward again, and a small bit of pre-come leaked out. She could think of no words to help her cause, and with that realization, she lowered her mouth onto his member, and he moaned.
“Don’t be fooled, Cary,” the woman continued. Her voice trembled, but with resolve, not fear. “She hates you. She will kill you when she is finished with you. If you let her have her way, we will never be together again.”
Serena came nearer. Agrat Bat was so enraged that she wanted to tear the woman’s head off.
I’m weaker than I thought. I can’t allow her such a cheap victory. I must defeat her as I have every other human, by being more desirable.
She turned Cary’s face toward her and put on her most beguiling smile. She leaned down to kiss him. He lifted his face, eager.
“Cary,” Serena said softly.
At the last moment, he turned his head, and the kiss became a hard peck on the cheek. Agrat Bat could tell it meant nothing to him. He was feeling disgust, with himself for falling for such a creature and at her for using him.
Agrat Bat hissed, and whatever allure she still held disappeared completely.
The human female stood on the other side of the bed, maddeningly ignoring Agrat Bat’s presence, smiling down on her man. She held out her hand, and Cary moved to take it. Agrat Bat’s talon sank into his arm and he cried out, staring up at her in horror.
And the Succubus knew she had lost.
She looked to her sisters. Naamah was on her knees, her head down, as her Cull was led away. Eisheth was slashing at the pillows and mattresses of her bed. Her Cull was in the arms of his woman.
The Goddesses had lost…to mere mortal women.
But there was no reason to leave the humans alive now. Agrat Bat saw the same thought bloom in the eyes of her sisters, and they began to transform.
Surprisingly, it was Naamah who struck first. She scuttled across the floor, catching Adam just as he was nearing Bobbie Jo. Naamah swiped at his neck, and his head flopped to one side, blood fountaining over Bobbie Jo.
Bobbie Jo screamed, “You bitch!” and launched herself at Naamah, who extended a single, long talon, which punctured the girl in the chest. The human looked down with a puzzled expression. “Oh, shit,” she said.
Naamah lifted the girl into the air and watched as she shuddered a couple of times and then died.
With a terrifying scream, Agrat Bat launched herself at Serena and Cary, intending to follow her sister’s example. They would be weakened, but at least they would have the satisfaction of destroying their enemies. They had all the time in the world to become Goddesses again.
She felt something hard slam into her chest, and a part of her scalp flew off her head. Suddenly, she was falling backward. The pain hit as she landed, as bullets slapped against the wall behind her.
“Hurry!” a man shouted from the doorway. “Take your loved ones and get out. I will end this.”
****
Agrat Bat got to her feet, the Blood streaming down her face and neck, confused and disoriented. Cary’s rejection had taken its toll, even more than the bullets. She could barely summon the strength to stand.
She hadn’t been defied in centuries, and in one day, not only had she lost a Cull, but here came someone challenging her face to face. He was a handsome man, naked, h
is huge member engorged. He had a pistol in his hand, and he was grinning defiantly at the Succubae.
It was a Guardian. No, it was the Guardian, the last of his kind, the one who had been hunting them for decades. She had convinced her sisters to let him live so that they might torture him and take revenge. He had partaken of the Blood. His cock was rampant, and she could feel his desire.
Agrat Bat was enraged. This mortal thought he could withstand the wiles of all Three Daughters of Lilith. She gave a low laugh and used the last of her strength. She sealed her wounds and covered her bloody countenance with her best illusion.
Beside her, she saw Eisheth transforming the opposite way, turning into her eternal form and running toward the Guardian, her talons out stretched.
Agrat Bat cried out, “No, sister!”
The Guardian didn’t see her coming.
The door flew open and two human women burst into the room, dressed in the same battle gear as the men who’d been killed earlier. But the sisters hadn’t sensed these women coming.
The women riddled Eisheth with bullets, shredding flesh and bone. Eisheth suddenly shrank. The bullets couldn’t kill her, but she now looked more like an animal than a woman. Her face flickered as she tried to take a pleasing shape, but she remained broken and bleeding.
“Finish it, Guardian!” one of the women shouted. “We’ll cover you.”
Chapter 43
Newspapers and mail were piled high in the hall near the front door of the house that Abigail had broken into, so they weren’t worried about being discovered. There was a bedroom on the second floor that looked out over the street.
They fell into bed, undressing each other awkwardly while kissing, and started to make love. The erotic atmosphere was overwhelming, and soon both women were crying out from their repeated orgasms.
Despite it all, Abigail was apparently keeping watch, because she suddenly reared up and stared out the window.
“Rick’s van just went by,” she said. She got out of bed and quickly started dressing.
Brittany followed more reluctantly. “What are we going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t care what he says,” Abigail answered. “Rick needs our help.”
“But…are we ready?”
Abigail stopped and stared at Brittany.
“I mean…the Succubae are apparently irresistible,” Brittany continued. “I love you, babe, but I’m a horny bitch, you know that.”
Abigail started to protest, then stopped. “Remember Florence,” she said simply.
The beach at Florence, Oregon, was where they had first made love, after dancing around the subject for years. They’d never been apart since.
“Safeword?” Brittany said.
Abigail grinned. “Safeword.”
Abigail dug into their backpacks and pulled out the two bottles of Blood. “Are you ready?”
Brittany hid her uncertainty and put out her hand. She popped the lid and drank. It tasted like one of the smoothies her mother insisted on making for her, with vegetables and fruit and only God knew what else. She’d learned to drink them fast and smile.
Abigail was still choking down her drink when Brittany finished hers, but managed to get it all down.
They walked to the bed and breakfast, since it was so close, leaving their Harleys in the driveway of the house they’d broken into. With every step, Brittany felt stronger, more alive than she’d ever felt. She felt as if she could leap into the air and start flying.
So this is the Blood, she thought. No wonder men desire it.
The door of the B & B was wide open. The first room they passed had a pile of clothing in the middle of it. Brittany took a second look and gasped. There were bodies—or parts of bodies—within those piles of cloth. The cloth was the remnants of black fatigues, just like the ones Brittany and Abigail were wearing.
“Don’t go in there…” she started to say, but Abigail had already brushed by her. She looked down and let out a small cry. Brittany didn’t want to get any closer to the carnage, but it looked like Abigail had recognized her father. She stood silently for a moment, then hoisted her rifle and marched past Brittany, her jaw set.
Well, now Abigail will stay resolute, Brittany thought.
They were on their way up the stairs when they heard people descending. They both took aim. It was two young couples. The women were supporting the men, who looked dazed.
“Rick?” Abigail asked.
One of the women, who seemed slightly older than the rest, answered, “He’s inside. You’d better hurry. He’ll need help.”
Abigail pushed past them and Brittany followed, trying to give the escapees a brave smile. Brittany met the older woman’s eyes, and a shock of recognition went through her.
Blood calls to Blood.
Can I do this? she wondered, one last time.
Abigail opened the door without hesitation, and Brittany hurried to catch up. They entered the room just as a wild creature was leaping toward Rick. He had his back to his attacker and didn’t see the thing coming.
Abigail fired, and the creature, who had the shape of a woman but wasn’t, fell to the floor, shredded by the bullets. Brittany swung her gun around to cover her, and that’s when she saw the vision at the center of the room.
Abigail told her that the Succubae once were Goddesses, but Brittany had assumed it was a figure of speech. But the apparition before her was no mere mortal woman, but someone from a higher plane, tall and blonde, her body well proportioned, her face so beautiful that Brittany couldn’t take her eyes off her.
She dropped her gun without realizing it and fell to her knees in front of the Goddess, reaching up to touch her.
***
Women had never before defied Agrat Bat. Men had always been her enemy, but she’d felt nothing but contempt for the women. Yet…there was something here. As she gazed upon the humans, she saw one of the women looking at her perfect nude body in appreciation. Agrat Bat turned every ounce of her glamour on the mortal.
The woman dropped her weapon.
“Brittany,” the other woman said. “What are you doing?”
As if pulled by a string, Brittany went to Agrat Bat and fell to her knees. Agrat Bat felt her energy returning.
We can still win this, she thought.
“Come back to me, Brittany,” the other woman said. “Remember Florence.”
The girl at Agrat Bat’s feet looked up, seeming confused. “Abigail?” She tried to rise.
Agrat Bat put out her hand to keep her new admirer on her knees.
“Are you going to let this bitch dominate you?” Abigail’s sharp voice made Brittany lift her head, as if she suddenly realized where she was.
Brittany rose suddenly and scrambled away from Agrat Bat, snatching up her gun. “Sorry, Abigail,” she muttered.
Agrat Bat was too stunned to move. She felt her knees buckle as the rejection took hold. Too many rejections, too quickly. Both the Guardian and the women now had guns pointed at her.
“Do what you have to do, Rick,” Abigail said.
Amazed by the events, Rick quickly strode to Eisheth’s battered body and grabbed her by the neck.
“Try to seduce me now,” he said. His hands tightened on her neck, turning white with the tremendous pressure as Eisheth’s face darkened, her eyes becoming huge. Blood poured from her mouth and eyes. He leaned over and took a lick.
“So much stronger than the bottled stuff,” he said.
Agrat Bat gathered herself to leap. It would be better to be physically destroyed than to let the psychic damage continue. On the other side of her, she saw Naamah preparing to do the same thing.
Naamah jumped first, but bullets struck her in midair, nearly cutting her in half, sending her sideways and into the wall.
Agrat Bat froze. Both her sisters were injured, but Rick was concentrating on Eisheth. Her sister struggled against the Guardian, but it was not a battle she could win. He had rejected her advances, and she was too weak physica
lly to shake him off.
“Stop,” Eisheth pleaded. “I will be yours…”
She took the form of a woman for a moment, and then a small animal. Human and animal forms alike flickered desperately, a Proteus dying. Then she stopped moving altogether.
It took only a few moments, but to Agrat Bat, it was an eternity. I’m the strong one, she thought. I must save her.
And yet she did nothing. She watched Eisheth die, unable to move: Eisheth, who as a Goddess had wanted only peace and harmony with mankind, who had fallen in love with the Storm King and thus doomed them all. Eisheth didn’t even struggle at the end.
The Guardian dropped Eisheth’s remains to the floor. She was a shriveled and broken husk, her Blood congealed as if frozen by the air, then turned to dust.
Heinrich Gerhard turned his gaze on Naamah and Agrat Bat with a triumphant shout of joy. “Gone! I’ve killed one of you at last. And now you are all going to die.”
He looked older now, not quite as handsome, and Agrat Bat sensed the Blood thinning in his body.
Naamah managed to get to her feet. She somehow still had the strength to heal herself and to take on an attractive form. She approached Rick slowly, swaying. The human women’s fingers tightened on the triggers of their guns, but they didn’t fire.
“Can you do it?” the taller of the women asked. “Can you resist her?”
“Stay back,” the Guardian said.
Naamah looked softer and more vulnerable than Agrat Bat had ever seen. “Please,” she said, reaching for the Guardian. She rested her hand on his arm. “There is no need for this. We can have each other, forever.”
The man’s cock returned to its former glory. He reached out for her. Her soft belly pushed his cock up between them, and she gently rubbed up and down on it, staring adoringly up at his face.
“Claresa,” he whispered, his eyes widening in surprise.
For the first time, the man seemed to feel doubt. Even though he knew it was an illusion, that didn’t lessen its force. Whoever this Claresa had been, she was important to him.
Blood of the Succubus Page 29