by L. L. Frost
From three stories up, the ground looks less forgiving, and I attempt to spread wings that no longer exist.
My shout draws Cassidy’s attention, and the small baku’s attention jerks up, spotting me before it focuses over my shoulder. Its trunk lifts with a trumpet of panic, and I twist mid-air to see the way I came from.
The nightmare creature shoots after me, tentacles streaming gray mist.
As fast as I fall, it flies faster.
This time, I’m going to be caught.
Next to me, the side of the building plumes outward, a massive body shoving through the bricks.
The eyeball rolls left, but Aren’s massive trunk snags a tentacle, hauling it toward the ground.
I land first, the soft ground giving beneath my body.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” My limbs flood with power, and I hyper-speed out of the way.
Aren slams into the same place I landed, the street shaking with the impact, and he uses the momentum to throw the eyeball down.
The soft structure of Dreamland works against him, and the eyeball bounces instead of bursting. It rolls a couple feet away, tentacles flailing to right itself, and Cassidy charges forth to grab it with his front claws. Aren stomps on the back part, and together, they rip the nightmare creature apart.
Red and black inky liquid spray everywhere, and I leap away, unwilling to risk melting.
“Oh,” Aren trills, and one large, black eye rolls to find me. “Do you smell that?”
I shake my head. “No thanks. I’ve been near one of those things when it died before.”
“Oh, oh!” Cassidy prances around it. “Like falling out teeth!”
Delighted, Aren’s trunk sifts through the mess. “No, more like drowning.”
Cassidy snuffles alongside him. “Is that a hint of growing old alone?”
Aren lifts the half he ripped apart. “Definitely getting some dismemberment vibes.”
“Um, just so you’re aware,” I call from a safe distance, “their slime is acid.”
Aren brushes that off with a flick of his tail. “Totally worth it for this delicacy.”
So, so gross. “Okay, well, there’s thirty more up in the room I fell out of.”
That gains their attention.
“Show me,” Aren commands.
“Hey, I brought her here!” Cassidy claws his way up the larger baku’s side to sit on his fur covered hump. “I deserve first dibs!”
I skirt a large path around the slime-covered street as I eye the two baku. “Hey, is Cassidy your...kid?”
Cassidy snorts and whacks Aren between the eyes. “He wishes.”
“Shut up.” Aren pokes at the smaller baku with his trunk. “This is my uncle.”
Shocked, I stare up at Cassidy. “Did you recently...”
When I mime ripping out my heart, Cassidy snickers. “No way. I’m not into having little versions of me running around.”
Confused, I glance from him to Aren’s much larger form, then back again. “Then why are you so...”
His small ears flap with indignation. “So, what?”
“Never mind.” I turn and cautiously lead the way back into the building.
The eggs were in the process of hatching when the drone found me. No way do I want to run into tiny versions of that nightmare. As we walk up the stairwell, I eye the walls uneasily, searching for any hint of red, but they remain a nice, monotone gray.
I peer back over my shoulder at Aren. “Do you know what the Between is?”
“Place of waking nightmares.” His trunk curls. “I’d love to sink my teeth into some of those.”
My brows lift. “Ever tried to go there?”
“Nope.” He pops the p. “That’s a big no-no zone.”
“Could you?” I press.
“Maybe.” His head lifts in the semblance of a shrug. “Not worth the backlash, though.”
“If you could without reprisal, would you?”
“What are you dancing around?” Cassidy demands, sounding more like a grumpy old man than the kid I took him for.
“That thing in the street is what makes the cocoons, the unawakening, but it’s feeding a much larger monster that is supposed to be locked up in the Between. It’s called the Dreamer. It’s responsible for a bunch of deaths back in the day, and now, it’s broken out again, both in the human plane and apparently here.”
“I remember that,” Cassidy chirps. “Lost a lot of food that year.”
“Landon was part of the team that locked it up, but only he and one other are left.” I pause on the third story landing and warily inspect the door to the nightmare creature’s nest. “Would you be willing to help out?”
“The tides sure are turning, huh?” Cassidy slides off Aren’s back. “Never thought I’d hear a succubus asking a baku for help. Especially not Landregath the Great Devourer.”
“This creature affects all of us,” I point out.
Cassidy’s head shakes. “No, it just affects all of us who require humans to live.”
“Even demons who don’t feed on humans will be put out if we suddenly lose all of their great innovations.” My hands move to my hips. “I don’t know if you’ve been to the demon plane lately, but it’s not exactly a five-star resort.”
“If half the human population died, demons would out-number them.” The fur around Cassidy’s neck puffs up. “Demons could just take over Earth and enslave those left.”
Angry, I take a step toward the little baku. Ancient or not, I can punt him halfway across Dreamland.
“Sure, I’m willing to help,” Aren cuts in, but he gives me a pitying look. “But it’s not going to work.”
I spin toward him. “Why do you say that? It worked once before.”
“Because most of the demons powerful enough to reach the Between are either dead, in jail, or are on my uncle’s side and happy to let humans die.”
“We only need two, though,” I protest, fingers crossed that that’s true, and Landon is able to convince the one remaining of the original five.
“That’s one too many. Maybe in a few decades, when some of the newer succubi or baku have matured, but not now.” He nudges Cassidy out of the way. “Come on, let’s go take care of these invaders.”
Steps heavy with disappointment, I lead them into my old apartment, then through the bedroom wall. No way am I walking through the webbing on the doorway. Who knows what that stuff can do?
I freeze as soon as I cross into the nest.
All of the eggs on the ceiling now lay empty, already dissipating into the surrounding gray, and the cocoons on the bed is disturbingly flat. As Aren and Cassidy join me, the one on the far side convulses, and a small nightmare creature digs itself free.
It darts around the room with the quiet buzz of a chain saw, casting a red glow over everything.
I duck out of the way as Aren and Cassidy give chase, but it quickly fleas out of the window, flying higher than the baku and my wingless self can follow.
I stare after its disappearing glow. Minutes after hatching, it was already the size of two fists put together.
They grow fast. Too fast. The thirty that spawned here will mature soon and be able to lay more eggs.
I found this nest by accident. There’s no way to guarantee we’ll find the next ones. If this was even the only one the original drone laid.
Soon, Dreamland will be overrun with these creatures.
We don’t have time to wait for Landon to find a fifth member. We need one now.
I turn to study Aren, or rather, the energy amassed within his body. “If I ate you, would I be able to reach the Between?”
He eyes me warily. “Are we talking hypothetically here? Because destroying me to power up still leaves you one short.”
I eye Cassidy, who, despite being older than Aren, doesn’t hold nearly the same level of power. “Hypothetically, yes.”
“It’s not a direct conversion.” Aren tucks his smaller uncle behind his leg. “You’d probably need t
hree of me. Four to be safe. But just so we’re clear, I won’t stand by while you hunt my ken.”
“No, we need all the baku here, hunting down those creatures before they spawn more.” I study Aren once more.
He holds more power than I ever have, even after feeding from the guys. That takes time to build, the body breaking and reforming to host the energy. Centuries we don’t have.
Nodding to myself, I turn away toward the exterior wall. “When Landon returns, tell him I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?” Cassidy calls as I stride toward the wall.
“Hunting.”
The demon plane is just as desolate as I left it, and I find my quarry with ease, following the burned and blackened crusts that flow like rivulets away from the ley line’s power node. I’m not stupid enough to go for the big payout, but I survived taking in a drop of its power before, I can do it again.
And again. No matter how many times it breaks me.
I crouch next to a crack in the hard, brittle earth, wait for the bubble of power to appear, and reach out to pop it.
Pain crashes through me, my new body disintegrating in an instant to leave only my core behind.
As the world explodes around me, I focus on those I care about, on my demons of destruction.
I’ll survive where others fail. Because I’m Adeline Boo Pond, and I thrive on doing the impossible.
From the Author
Adie’s (mis)adventures continue September 2019:
Limits (Succubus Harem 27)
The fifth installment in the Succubus Dreams Serial
I hope you enjoyed Caught; I appreciate you reading it! If you liked the story, please consider leaving an honest review. Reviews help authors gain more exposure, which helps new readers find them easier.
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Also by L L Frost
The (un)Lucky Succubus
Succubus Bargain
Includes Succubus Harem 1-5
The Offer | The Deal | The Terms | The Rules | The Gain
Succubus Studies
Includes Succubus Harem 6-10
The Torch | The Blaze | The Inferno | The Vortex | The Breach
Succubus Mission
Includes Succubus Harem 11-15
The Meeting | The Assignment | The Ambush | The Search | The Revelation
Succubus Hunted
Includes Succubus Harem 16-22
Sidelined | Charmed | Trapped | Cornered | Destroyed | Betrayed | Deceived
Succubus Dreams
Choices | Escape | Falling | Caught | Limits
About the Author
L.L. Frost lives in the Pacific Northwest and graduated from college with a Bachelor’s in English. She is an avid reader of all things paranormal and can frequently be caught curled up in her favorite chair with a nice cup of coffee, a blanket, and her Kindle.
When not reading or writing, she can be found trying to lure the affection of her grumpy cat, who is very good at being just out of reach for snuggle time.
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