Succubus Rescue (The Accidental Necromancer Book 3)

by JG Jerome

  The gist of what I learned from Shryl is this...

  Since only her soul came to earth, the Archduchess Gabrielle’s agents found Shryl’s body and transferred it to a cell in the Citadel while Shryl was on earth. When she returned, she returned into her body in the Citadel’s dungeon. She never got the opportunity to talk to Queen Alafair. A distant cousin visited her in her cell shortly after arriving in the Citadel. The cousin said she would get a message to the Queen, but she was gone for weeks with no word.

  Shry doesn’t think we should try to summon Alöise. Currently, she is still alive and in a cell in Gabrielle’s citadel. Shryl was across the corridor from Alöise’s cell. Gabrielle gloated about how easy it had been to capture her, and she got quite upset when Alöise ignored her. Gabrielle has an elf-tech band around Alöise’ arm that supposedly interferes with sorcerer summons of the person wearing the band. Shryl doesn’t know exactly what it does, but the Archduchess arranged a demonstration. The result was the band shocked Alöise brutally. She didn’t wake up for hours afterwards.

  Gabrielle initially tried to beat Alöise herself, but she started sending squads of soldiers in to do it after our Alöise beat the shit out of her sister every time.

  I asked Shryl if she could find the Queen’s palace if we had a map. She said she could, and assured me that she could point out Gabrielle’s citadel, too.

  That’s as far as we got before arriving at the farm.

  We parked by the barn.

  Rebecca runs up and launches into the air to wrap me in a body hug while devouring my face. Eventually, she lets me breath and slides delightfully down my body to hug me. She looks at me with a relieved smile. “I’ve been worried about you, beloved.”

  I chuckle, “I’d like to say there was nothing to worry about, but that would be a lie. Let me take care of Chiara, and then I need to chat with Jack, and then we all need to talk - everyone here.”

  I see Leonore standing in the open door of the barn with her hands clasped together, her bag hanging from them. I call her, “Leonore, let’s go visit Chiara.”

  Darcie walks up and hands a travel mug to Rebecca. Darcie laughs, “Rebecca, you forgot something in your haste for some sugar.”

  Rebecca covers her mouth. “Oops!” She takes my nearly empty coffee mug and transfers the new mug to my hand. “This is a VERY strong tonic to fight infections and strengthen the constitution. Leonore, said the ingredients were all safe for elven biology. Once you heal Chiara’s mouth, have her drink it.”

  I brush another kiss on her lips. “Thank you, Baby. You’re the best.” Clarice hands me the jo staff. I notice her whip is coiled over the shoulder of her armored biker jacket.

  “Make sure you say hello to Shryl, Rebecca. Darcie, you and Jack should say hello, too. I’m certain she’ll be happy to see you,” I say.

  Darcie gasps, “Damn! Shryl, I didn’t know you are so hot! I loved you as Vanessa, but this is...wow! I hope you’ve been fed, otherwise Jack will insist on feeding you himself.”

  Shryl giggles. “We did have some good times, didn’t we? The James family fed me quite well, but it had been weeks before that. I wouldn’t turn down a top-off with you and your master.”

  Rebecca gives the succubus a hug. “Welcome home, Shryl. It’s good to see you again. Have you talked to Vanessa?”

  Shryl removes the headband and shakes her head. “No. When I arrived, there was an emergency orgy to feed me, then a scramble to find clothes for me. Then we left to come here. I haven’t gotten to speak to any of my Earth family in Phoenix.”

  “Yeah,” I growl. “It will be a while. I ran into a hunter team at the airport that were tracking Manuel and Rosalie. All I currently know is they were sent by someone named ‘the Monsignor’ to find out more about the building full of elf corpses. They didn’t seem particularly concerned about hurting civilians. Coincidentally, Viktorija had a visit from someone named Monsignor David shortly after we took care of that problem.” I look at Darcie. “Thus my need to talk to Jack.”

  Darcie nods soberly. “I know a Monsignor David. He’s a dangerous snake. I’ll let Jack know. He and Warren are in the house.” Darcie directs her attention to the succubus. “Shryl, we have left-over pancake batter. Come inside, and I’ll whip you up a plate.”

  14

  Discipline and spies

  I offer Leonore my arm. She looks at me funnily. I explain, “It’s customary for a gentleman to offer a lady his arm when they are to walk together. There are a variety of reasons behind the origin of that tradition, but I find that it is an effective way to ensure I don’t run off and leave you behind.” I let her reflect for a moment. “Just loop your arm through the crook of mine. You can use it like a break to slow me down if I get moving too fast.”

  Leonore hooks her arm through mine and says, “You do know that elves are faster than humans on average, right?”

  “Ye-es,” I drawl. “A couple of ruffians named Yoren and Reddy taught me that lesson quite well.”

  Leonore gasps. “I should have known that was you. Valya fumed for days over their deaths.”

  “Sadly, she didn’t seem to have any remorse over Feliz’s death.” I am suddenly angry thinking about it. “Feliz was a lovely girl.”

  “Yes,” Leonore agrees as we approach the chicken coop. “Sadly she either wasn’t very bright, or she was stubborn. I…”

  “She was compassionate and kind,” Lara says as she walks up and slides in for a side hug. Lara relieves me of my jo and loops her arm through my now free right arm. She adds, “After my sister, she was the best among us, Leonore.”

  Leonore says, “I have to agree that your sister was the best. Feliz was in for treatment so frequently, I figured she was just dense.”

  Lara says, “I think she was empathic. She was very compassionate to everyone, and she couldn’t help but act upon it. She hated her service as a sex slave, but I know she took the place of some of the ladies when they were exhausted. Lord William would probably have her as a wife if she had survived. I was horribly cruel to her trying to keep Valya’s favor.” Lara wipes her eyes.

  ‘Definitely not typical zombie behavior,’ I think to myself.

  I ask the two elves, “Um...I think I need to get an agent on Prime. Who…”

  Both elves immediately say, “Chrysilla.”

  I look at Lara. “Are you okay with me working with her?”

  Lara looks up at me. “First of all, you are the Lord. I don’t get to second guess you. Second of all, it’s not Chrysilla’s fault that Rallent’or Nix killed me. Third...of all?” I shrug as she looks to me for confirmation.

  “Thirdly?” I offer.

  “Thirdly,” Lara continues. “Chrysilla is known as an information broker world wide. Her house, House Spirituae, taxes her heavily to ensure she stays on the edge of penury. Otherwise she would be the most powerful person in the house if not on Prime. If you offer to pay her, but also to be her bank, I think she will enslave herself to you.”

  Leonore opens the gate into the chicken coop and waves me in. She says, “Don’t count on the enslavement, Lord. Lara may be exaggerating a little. Chrysilla will do anything to protect her granddaughter. After that she craves respect; she is proud. The houses all use her, but none of them respect her. Offer her respect. Offer to pay her generously. Maybe offering to be her bank would help, but above all show her respect. She will serve you well.”

  “You know her well,” I observe as I step into the chicken coop.

  “Like Rallent’or Nix, she’s a relative - I think ‘aunt’ is the correct term,” Leonore acknowledges. “I knew her when I was a little girl. I used to play with her daughter and Rall as a child.”

  I kneel in front of Chiara and cup her wounded cheek. She startles. I say to Leonore, “That lodestone you had on her abdomen. Is that a painkiller?”

  “Yes, Lord. Just put it near the wound. It creates a ten centimeter sphere of an analgesic effect,” she explains.

  “Please place it und
er her jaw.” She does. Then I say, “Chiara, I’m going to remove more flesh from around the wound to remove infection. Plus, I imagine the flies have been trying to lay eggs in the wound. So I’m going to use entropy energy to debride the area, then I’m going to heal the wound in your mouth.”

  Chiara is shaking with fright. I tell her, “You have nothing to fear from me. If you would prefer, I can just pull your soul out of your body and create a new body for you. Regardless, I am healing you now. Do you have a preference?” She shakes her head.

  “Okay, turn your head to your right,” I direct. “Leonore, the stone?”

  The healer raises the pain killing artifact. I look in Chiara’s mouth and see destroyed teeth and gums. I stream entropy through the gaping hole in her face to dissolve the broken teeth, jaws, and gums. Her mouth fills with a nasty sludge.

  I tell her, “Spit it out, Chiara.” She does, and I do it again. She spits again.

  “Look at me and open your mouth as wide as you can, Chiara.” She does. “Wider.” She gets a little bit bigger opening. “Chiara, I am pretty sure you won’t feel pain. Open wider. If you can’t do it, I’ll end up prying your mouth open with my hands.”

  She struggles to open wider, but her jaw isn’t moving. I tell Leonore, “Apparently, I destroyed too much muscle, or they have atrophied.” I pull out my Taser flashlight and shine it into her mouth and pry her mouth open. I think I got it all. I use my second sight, and see a couple of pockets of very hot growth.

  “I think I see a couple more spots of infection,” I report. I draw the growth energy out of those hot spots and then drive entropy deeply into those tissues until they dissolve. I turn her head again. “Spit,” I tell her.

  Chiara does, and I look into her mouth again. Then I look through her destroyed cheek. I debride the hole in her cheek. I look around and spot my daughter. “Clarice, I need a bottle of water.”

  She holds one up. “Do you want it open, Daddy?”

  “Please, love,” I respond without thinking. She cracks the bottle cap and hands me the bottle. I pour water into the hole in Chiara’s cheek. “Spit.”

  Chiara follows my command. I do it again. “Spit” She does.

  I check her cheek with my second sight, and I don’t see any hot spots. I murmur, “Here we go.” I draw forth a wave of growth energy and push it into her jaw. When I see a set of perfect gums and teeth emerge, I redirect the wave to her face. The gaping hole steadily closes until there is perfect, unblemished skin.

  I reach down and undo the damage I did to her black hand.

  “How does that feel Chiara?” I ask.

  She touches her cheek and her large eyes flash wide. “You healed me!” she gasps.

  I nod, “I said I would. I keep my word, Chiara.” I scoop her up in a bridal carry. I kick the straw bale around and lay her down on top of it.

  I look at the girl’s mother. “Get the bullet out, Leonore.”

  Leonore pulls open Chiara’s robe where I cut it last night and lays the stone on her abdomen. I look at the stone with my second sight as she reaches into her daughter’s abdomen with the forceps, guided by what looks like a magnifying glass with shining glyphs. Chiara whines, and I see something disturbing. “Leonore, the glyphs on the stone are fading.”

  “Feces! I don’t have another or a way to recharge it,” she responds.

  “I’m going to try to push energy gently into the glyphs and see if we can keep it going.” I start pushing a trickle of soul energy into the weakest of the three glyphs for a ten-count. It’s still the weakest, so I give it a twenty-count. I switch to the new weakest one. I do this repeatedly, rotating through all three glyphs.

  Leonore sighs as she pulls out the intact bullet. She tosses it on the ground. I send entropy into the wound to debride it.

  Leonore says, “The glyphs on the ‘analode’ look good. Let me irrigate the wound with a disinfectant.”

  I ask, “Analode?” as she pulls out a fat metal and glass syringe and a bottle of clear fluid closed with a cork.

  Leonore nods, “That’s the name of the artifact. This is pure alcohol.” She pops out the plunger and fills the tube with alcohol. Clarice takes the bottle of alcohol and stoppers it again while Leonore puts the plunger into the syringe and depresses it until alcohol squirts out of it. Then she sticks the needle into the wound and flushes the entire contents through it. I think that should burn, but apparently the analode is doing its job. Chiara doesn’t make a sound.

  Leonore pulls a metal box out of her bag, opens it, and pulls out two patches of what looks like cheesecloth. I see glyphs on the lid of the box. She sets the swabs on the wound, closes the box, and returns it to her bag. Then she presses the swabs into the wound to absorb bloody fluid. She nods.

  Leonore says, “Go ahead, Lord.”

  I flood Chiara’s wound with growth energy and the wound closes rapidly. I stop and look down at our patient.

  I tell her, “Chiara, I want you to l drink this.” I raise the mug of Rebecca’s tonic and pull her into a sitting position. “Drink all of this and another bottle of water. Get something to eat. Shower, and find something clean to wear. We’ll talk after that.”

  She bows her head. “Yes, Lord. Thank you for healing me.” I squeeze her shoulder and get up to walk out. Leonore kisses her daughter’s forehead, and I usher my daughter out the door.

  I see Rebecca approaching as I open the gate.

  Leonore asks me as I hold the gate open for her. “How powerful are you?”

  I shrug, “I have no idea.”

  Rebecca answers, “If he had been born in ancient Syria, they would have called him a god.”

  I look at my wife. “Don’t exaggerate, Rebecca.”

  She looks at me seriously. “I’m not. I think Magnus would agree with me.”

  I chuckle, “I doubt it. He’s kicked my ass way too many times to say anything like that.” I hold up my hand. “Baby, can you get Chiara something to eat. She’s drinking your tonic now.”

  “I’m coming,” Chiara says as she makes her way gingerly to the gate.

  “Are you still sore?” I ask.

  “No,” she responds. “I’m just getting used to the idea of not being in pain any longer. My jaw doesn’t ache. The toothache I had before you destroyed my face doesn’t bother me, either. Since I was shot, my stomach burned. It’s all gone, and there are no twinges from sore flesh.”

  Chiara walks less gingerly with every step until she finally relaxes. She stops and looks up at my face with her left hand on my chest. Her large eyes traverse my face for a long moment before she gently pats my chest. She says, “I need to apologize to your wives, where might I find them?”

  I tell her, “Rebecca is one of my wives. You need to eat and get cleaned up. Rebecca will feed you and ensure you get a chance to apologize to Carla and Marissa on your way to bathe.”

  I look at Rebecca, and she nods gently. Rebecca says, “They’re eating pancakes with Shryl. Apparently no one made breakfast this morning.” She looks at me archly.

  I close the chicken coop and gather Rebecca for a passionate kiss. She says, “Come let me feed you, beloved.”

  I smile and squeeze her. I say, “Sounds good” about the same time I hear Jack call my name.

  Rebecca gives me a slight frown, and I shrug. “I’ll be there shortly, my love.”

  Rebecca answers, “I’ll wrap you a couple of pancakes. The girls are brewing another pot of coffee, so I’ll send it all out when it’s ready.” She kisses my cheek and wraps her arm around Chiara and guides her and Leonore away. Lara and Clarice stay with me.

  Jack looks harried. “I need to run to the airport. I want to hear what you have to share, but plausible deniability is more important since I’m meeting with my former control from the Church. I’m glad I was able to report the elves to that fucking asshole before today.”

  “How’d you manage that?” I ask.

  He grins ruefully, “I’ll tell you over a beer tonight. We’re stil
l on?”

  I wave at all the elves running around, “I honestly don’t know. I really don’t want to drag Dan and Maria into this, but I don’t want them caught unaware either.”

  Jack shrugs, “Tell ‘em. I used to argue with the bishop that we should just share the truth. Unfortunately, the Church is only interested in the version of the truth they want to sell, not the one that will help folks stay alive. I gotta go, Will.” He claps me on the shoulder and runs over to his CR-V. Darcie meets him there and hands him a cup of coffee while Warren puts a box of vegetables in the back of the CR-V. Jack and Darcie load up and drive off.

  I start toward the house with Clarice and Lara in tow. I didn’t really notice last night, but the house is kind of an unusual looking construct. Warren intercepts me on the way. “Coffee?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I agree. “That’s an unusual house.”

  Warren chuckles, “You can tell me it’s ugly. You won’t hurt my feelings. It’s called an ‘earth ship’ design.”

  I balk a little bit. “I thought those were buried in the ground.”

  He nods as he ushers me toward the house. Lara and Clarice each grab an arm, so I end up slowing to a more sedate pace. Warren explains, “They can be. They’re really about using earth-friendly or renewable construction materials, water recycling, renewable energy, and earth-friendly waste disposal. This one is made of blocks of recycled plastic, straw, and mud. The house and barn both have solar panels covering their roofs. The machinery shed and wood shop solar systems are redundant systems. We have water collection systems, water filtration systems, waste water recycling systems, and grey water distribution systems. The plumbing is all modern, but the low water-use toilets are on the grey water system and feed into a composting system.”

  “Wow,” I exclaim. “It must take a lot of time to keep all of that running.”