Incubus Inc. 3

by Randi Darren

  Does that make Ryker the Originator? Or the Architect?

  Did anyone ever say their names?

  Sitting there, Sam prodded at his memory to try and bring the information forth. Except nothing was forthcoming. No matter which way he approached his memories, there was nothing that came back to him.

  The name Ryker had no meaning to Sam whatsoever.

  Well. Ryker never left the Hub, so he’s a bit of a dead end, isn’t he? Luke though… Luke left and then likely conquered Hell after this.

  That’d mean… that’d mean he entered the Hub from Hell, right? That would make sense.

  It wasn’t as if he did it from somewhere else, because he was a Devil.

  The Devil.

  But… could he have closed the way after he left? It’s possible. No one seems to have found it since then.

  That means I need to track down Luke or find where Luke went and go backward.

  Doesn’t it? That’d work.

  Let’s… search for our dear friend Luke and see what we get.

  Sam flicked his finger against the screen once again and the box reappeared. Staring at it, Sam considered how to phrase his query.

  “Luke Fir, the individual,” Sam said finally. He didn’t want every mention of Luke Fir, but just what the Devil himself had done.

  A great number of entries appeared in front of Sam. At the bottom, there was a small line that listed a terrifying result to Sam.

  “Fifty of nine billion, six hundred and thirty-four million, two hundred and sixty-six thousand, nine hundred and forty-eight results shown,” muttered Sam, then sighed loudly.

  Lowering his head, he realized his own mistake. He should have been a bit more specific in his search. Shaking his head, he knew he at least could flick to the date that Luke left the Hub to help narrow things down, but there was no guarantee that’d put him on the trail.

  “Nnngh, I should have talked to Irma and let her handle this. Stacia, Irene, or Caer even. Shit, even Erv could have done better than me,” grumbled Sam. He knew his limitations and something like this probably fell outside of his scope.

  With a determined snort, Sam lifted his head and looked at the Log.

  The last several lines indicated that Luke Fir died and then was buried in Alexandria, Egypt.

  Except the corpse was disturbed and hauled off to another location— a city named “Pella” that was currently within the borders of Greece. There was also a listing of numbers that Sam assumed was some sort of location indicator.

  Huh, I’ll have to run the numbers by Irma. See what she thinks.

  Rather handy, if it’s some type of locater. Which it probably is. I just don’t understand it.

  Beyond that, I guess I’ll need to go pick up Aster for this. There’s no way I could go to Greece without including her. She’d try to take my head off, I’m sure. Not to mention, I’ll probably end up running into her old pantheon just by entering their territory.

  It’s a shame everyone else is out on a campaign, though. It’d be nice to have some of the others and what they offer available. I’m sure I can make do with Erv, Aster, and Wren, but it’d still be nice.

  Having Hillary as an infiltrator or Carissa as over-watch is always really nice.

  Abigail and the Fist… Irene and Caer for magic.

  Jes for just being my all-arounder.

  Ugh… I miss my people. This sucks.

  Going forward, I want them on hand for my needs, no more sending them off. We can send other teams off. Or send the Cambion.

  At least, I know they’re all fine and safe. Even if they die or get injured, they’re not going anywhere.

  I’m more at risk than they are.

  I can even feel Jes feeding on my Essence through the plane. She won’t go hungry, or even be at risk, though she’ll probably be feeling very unsatisfied by now.

  “Pella,” Sam said aloud, then shook his head. He had no idea what was waiting for him there, but he at least had a good idea of where to go to find Luke’s corpse.

  He could use that to speak with the long dead Devil and see what information he’d be willing to share. Especially if he brought along Wren, one of Luke’s descendants.

  He’ll have to show up if we have Wren bleed herself onto his corpse. You can’t resist the call of blood, after all. It’s your own blood.

  Sitting in the field, Sam began to slowly pick through everything Luke did in his life. Scrolling endlessly, line by line. Sam was going to wait until he completely sobered up before he went to ask Irma, Wren, and Aster for favors. They were all somewhat busy at the moment.

  Huh. Luke sure had a lot of sex.

  A lot of sex.

  A lot of sex for a Devil that isn’t an Incubus.

  Wow.

  ***

  Stepping out of the portal, Sam felt the immediate shift from sunlight warming his skin to cool night air leaching the heat away from him.

  “It doesn’t smell the same,” Aster complained from his side as she walked through the portal. “Then again, I haven’t been back here since… since I was betrayed. So I suppose that’s not surprising at all.”

  “I imagine my own homeland would smell quite different as well,” Erv replied, stepping out of the portal and moving to Sam’s other side. “The industrial era has changed many things.”

  “How does that even matter?” grumbled Wren as she walked past all three of them. She stood out in front and casually inspected the area, her eyes tracking across the open areas and dark corners. “For all you know, it always smelled like this. Did you stand in this exact spot previously?”

  “Foolish sentimentality. A dog could have laid a land mine in the grass nearby and you two would be complaining that the land is now covered in garbage.”

  Unable to help himself, Sam smirked. Wren was feeling feisty because he’d deliberately avoided her for feeding. He’d helped himself to Aster, Erv, Irma, Yala, and Abrah instead. Then a number of Cambion and women from his feed harem.

  Wren had remained untouched.

  He needed her in prime condition for summoning her relative. Sam feeding on her would get in the way of that.

  Which really just meant she was feeling sexually frustrated and perhaps envious and jealous at the same time. Wanting to be gnawed on as “Sam’s favorite chew toy”.

  “Oh, don’t be like that,” Aster said and then slapped a hand against Wren’s rear end. The clap of her palm was loud. As if someone had clapped their hands together as firmly as possible.

  So much so that Wren actually stiffened up and moved forward a step.

  “I’ll ride your beautiful face and make Sammy bury it in you so deep that you end up pregnant,” promised Aster. “In fact, I’ll promise you that he’ll get you pregnant in our three-way, if you can help me make Erv my girlfriend.”

  Wren turned her head and looked hard at Aster with glowing eyes. A slow fog of red breath was starting to waft up from the corners of her mouth.

  “Yeah?” she asked in a curious voice.

  “Promise. You’re so beautiful, Wren. You know I always want you,” Aster said, her hand still resting on Wren’s rear end. She even went so far as to squeeze it. “I can’t wait. I’ll make sure you’re pregnant as soon as we’re done. Just help me talk Erv into being my girlfriend. I have to convince her, without browbeating her.

  “Sam is making sure I play by some rules in my courting of her. If she tells me to stop, I have to stop, so that goes for you, too. But until she does, I can keep hitting on her, making passes, inviting her on dates. You know, stuff like that. So… deal?”

  “Deal,” Wren said immediately, then shrugged one shoulder at Aster. “Besides, it isn’t as if I don’t enjoy sleeping with you when Sam’s there. You taste like him now with your Essence.”

  “Enough,” Erv said, clapping her hands together. “I formally reject you for the next two months for doing such a thing, Aster. You know better. Now, let’s get going. Irma gave us the coordinates from the GPS satellite syste
m.

  “We’re going to a grocery store and it’s not open to the public right now since it’s after hours. We’ll need to be quiet about this, get to the back parking lot, and start digging.”

  “What? Two months? Erv, honey… I just—”

  “Two months. Be good and listen. I’ll consider your advances again at that point, after the time has passed,” Erv said with a strict tone, holding Aster’s eyes. “You promised me you’d pursue me in good faith. You’re not doing that by including Wren. Two months punishment.”

  “Okay,” Aster said, still holding onto Wren’s rear end. “Two months.”

  Then the Elemental looked at Wren and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Two months. I’ll get you knocked up in our next three-way though. Deal’s a deal,” Aster said, then looked at Sam. She gave Wren a small shove and started leading the bigger woman away. “Well? Let’s get going then. Corpses don’t just dig themselves up.”

  Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  “Well, I’m flattered at her pursuit,” Erv murmured as Aster and Wren got ahead of them. “And it isn’t as if I’m not interested… but I really just want to focus on you for now.

  “Anyway, let’s get going. She’s not wrong. Corpses don’t dig themselves up and we’re not really that far away.”

  Erv grabbed Sam’s hand and began pulling him along after Aster and Wren.

  In only a few minutes, the four of them were standing behind what Sam would swear was a villa home, rather than a market. There were several signs around it and over the entry door, which seemed to proclaim what it was.

  “Before you ask, it just says local market,” Aster said, indicating the nearby signage. “That and a sale on a few things. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “Seems rather odd for someone supposedly this powerful to be buried around here,” Wren said, her head slowly moving one way, then the other.

  “Was buried about two thousand, three hundred and ten years ago, give or take,” Sam said dismissively. “It isn’t like all burial sites stand the test of time. Some are made in secret and remain that way. Much to their own detriment.”

  “I’ll handle the illusion this time,” Aster said and then held her hands out. Small flashes of lightning started to zip from one hand to the other, letting out small buzzing noises as they did. “I’m all nice and charged up. I forgot how much I enjoy the modern world until I didn’t have easy current on hand.”

  “Right? Running water is a blessing,” agreed Erv in a tight tone. “Even if it isn’t quite pure and tastes off, it’s still thousands of times better than what the alternative is.”

  Wren just shrugged at that and kept walking, a small device held in her hand. She stopped on top of a tiled sidewalk and then looked around.

  “This is it, I guess,” she said in a gruff tone. Then she put the device away in a small belt holster. She looked at Aster and waited.

  “Oh, yes, my turn,” said the Elemental with a laugh when she looked up from her hands. Spreading them apart wide, she created a dome of electricity that quickly radiated out from them.

  Suddenly the sound of distant cars, crickets, barking dogs, and the wind all stopped. Everything was absolutely still and quiet.

  “I added a barrier,” Aster said with a little hop and a grin. “Now we can totally do this like… without any problems.”

  Erv lifted her right hand and a massive column of water appeared near Wren. It had a pointed front to it with a thick fat back end.

  Taking the hint, the Demon backed away, giving Erv room to do whatever she was planning.

  No sooner than Wren was ten steps or so away, Erv brought her hand down.

  With a massive thump and chunking noise, the shaped water dug into the earth.

  This won’t take long at all.

  “Huh. You’ll be handy later on for some missions, Erv,” Wren said, watching the Water Elemental work. “We always end up digging a number of graves nowadays. A lot of undead lately rising from corpses.”

  Twenty-Nine - The Call of Blood -

  “Oh, I think I’ve hit it,” Erv said, and the column of water paused in its churning and digging into the earth. When it lifted up and away from the ground, everyone slowly moved toward the hole.

  It was already at least ten feet wide in diameter. Erv had been very methodical in her digging to make sure she found what they were looking for.

  Personally, Sam was hoping for a coffin. Anything that would have kept the corpse in as neat a pile as possible. If the body was simply placed in the loose earth, it was quite likely they were looking for a piece or two of the remains.

  Glancing down into the hole, Sam wasn’t really sure about what to say. They were considerably deeper than he expected to be, at least thirty feet, but they could see something that was just barely uncovered.

  It appeared to be a large, golden casket.

  “Is that gold?” Aster asked, tilting her head to one side.

  “Looks like it,” Wren grumbled. “Apparently, my ancestor wanted to be buried in a flashy way? Terrible taste.”

  Erv was standing next to Sam and staring at the coffin with a pout on her face.

  “We don’t need to get it out, do we? Just clear the top and then open it? Just need the corpse, not any of that,” she said, waving a hand at the casket.

  “More or less. Why?” Sam replied, watching the Water Elemental.

  “Cause if that really is a gold coffin, it’s going to be very heavy,” she said and started chewing on her lower lip. Then she shook her head with a sigh. “So heavy. It wouldn’t be worth getting it out of the hole, because there’d be no way to get it somewhere we could scrap it.”

  Oh. She was thinking about how to get the value of it.

  Hah.

  That’s our mercenary little Elemental.

  Aster swiped her left hand across the space in front of herself. A hand of lightning crackled to life and then eradicated the dirt and rock covering the coffin. It was all turned to a fine powder that blasted upward and out of the hole.

  The powder was sent flying away from their group with a casual wave of her other hand. Heading off down the street and into the night.

  Wren hopped down into the hole and stomped over to stand beside the coffin. Grasping the lid of it with both hands, she bent her knees and then started to heave with all her might.

  Grunting for several seconds, Wren finally dislodged the lid, sending it crashing to one side.

  Inside appeared to be filled with amber crystals in various shapes and sizes. Sprawling about in every direction inside the coffin, they twisted around one another and settled into giant piles.

  Underneath the amber, was what looked like an anthropoid golden sarcophagus.

  “Really? A golden coffin inside a golden coffin. That’s… that’s just pretentious,” muttered Aster. Then she shrugged her shoulders. “Then again, it’s not as if I haven’t seen people buried with vast amounts of wealth before. Not even the worst I’ve seen, if it’s just the coffin itself. No massive tomb or anything.”

  “I get the impression this isn’t where the coffin is supposed to be,” Erv said while Wren started working at opening the sarcophagus itself. “It was supposed to be somewhere else entirely and only ended up here.

  “Especially if he wasn’t Human like we think. People could easily use the corpse for… well… for what we’re about to do. Or worse.”

  With a crack, the sarcophagus lid tore free of its base. Inside was a mostly mummified corpse. Whatever clothes they’d been buried in had long since rotted away. There were no visible signs of wealth on the interior, either.

  “Alright however-many-greats grandad,” Wren said and then quite brazenly grabbed the skull and pulled it off the body. It came with a slight pop and nothing more. “Time to help me out with some questions.”

  Holding the morbid prize in one hand, Wren clambered her way out of the pit. Coming to a stop next to Sam, she held the head out.

  “What
next?” she asked. “Do I cut myself and put some of my blood on him?”

  “Exactly right. Good guess,” Sam agreed with a smirk. “Doesn’t have to be much. Little more than a few drops is all we need for this. I’ll work on the summoning for now.”

  Pulling out a small stack of papers from inside the pack at his side, Sam began laying them out in a three-by-three square on the ground. He hadn’t wanted to bother writing out the sigil work for a summoning this time.

  There was no point when a printer could put it together for him and far more accurately than he could manage on his own. The technology of the modern day and age simplified a great many things for its population.

  Including magic.

  Wren stuck the head down right in the center of the summoning papers. Then she pressed her hand down on top of Luke’s remains. When she pulled her hand away, there was a bloody smear across the top of it.

  Glancing at Wren, he saw that at some point, she’d made a small cut on her forearm and then wiped it across her palm. Now she was folding a small band aid over the cut.

  She pulled a small cloth out of a pocket and wiped away the blood from her hand and arm, then cleaned the knife she’d used, and put the thing back in her pocket. Securing everything quickly and without a fuss.

  Mm. It isn’t a matter of protecting the wound, but making sure she doesn’t leave her blood behind. I get it.

  Sam focused back on Luke’s skull.

  Using a quarter-sized piece of Essence, Sam filled the sigil work with his power. Resting his fingers on the bottom right paper, where the sigil work started, Sam engaged the spell.

  “Luke Fir, I call to you through your remains, and the blood of your blood,” Sam said with absolute confidence. When it came to summoning, one had to make sure that the other party had a hard time disobeying. That was done with names, spells, and even one’s call to the other.

  Luke was unfortunate in many ways.

  The first was that he had only two names and Sam knew both.

  The second was that Sam really knew how to properly summon someone and practically imprison them.