by Randi Darren
“I work there,” Sam said, pointing at the building. “It’d be great to have sex with you sometime. Feel free to drop by. I’m Sam. I’ll buy you lunch.”
The woman turned a bright red at Sam’s comment and then drove off, her window still half rolled down.
Clicking his tongue, Sam shook his head.
“Such a strange place. As if the basic need to procreate and enjoy one another were a dirty thing,” he muttered.
Finally, the light changed in his favor, and the green crosswalk light came on.
Jogging across the street quickly, Sam started to move past the apartment building. He needed to know if it was the right location.
He’d almost walked by the building when he finally felt the planar energy shift to beside him rather than slightly ahead of him.
There it is then.
Turning, Sam went back the way he’d come and entered the apartment building.
He typically preferred not to take elevators, but that would probably the quickest way to find the right floor.
Getting into the big metal box, Sam pressed the button for the top floor.
Almost immediately, he felt ill at ease.
The idea of being trapped in a cold iron box for all time was a fear almost all planar beings shared.
When this plane had discovered steel, much of the extra-planar world breathed a sigh of relief.
Steel didn’t do a fraction of the damage to them plain iron could.
The energy signature shifted when Sam passed by the fourth floor. With a nod of his head, Sam waited for the elevator to get all the way to the top.
Getting out quickly when the doors opened, Sam shivered from head to toe.
He knew an elevator wasn’t cold iron, but the idea of it—of what it could be—made him rather sick.
Frowning, Sam scratched at his shoulder and went for the stairwell. Taking them down quickly, he reached the fourth floor without any issue.
Maybe being locked in my own plane changed me after all.
Sam started walking past apartments, expecting the power source to shift each time he passed a set of doors.
We’ve taken on an Imp into what could only be described as… a relationship.
We hired a Doppelganger, rather than forcing her into a contract, and didn’t force all the Imps we captured into the feed harem.
We’re acting decidedly sentimental.
Then again… who are we talking to? There is no we.
Unless we’re using the royal we, I guess.
The planar power source rapidly moved behind him as he passed by apartment number forty-two.
Sam walked backward until he stood in front of the door.
Reaching out with a hand, he laid it on the wood and internalized his thoughts.
Focusing on his Essence, Sam closed his eyes and, as subtly as he could, passively let his Essence ooze into the apartment.
He began to quickly build a mental layout based on what he could feel with his Essence.
Except he wasn’t finding anything he expected. The planar energy wasn’t being shielded; it was just incredibly weak.
Weak, and incredibly untrained. It wasn’t even formed into a semblance of power. It was almost completely unformed planar energy.
Whoever’s plane this is, it’s brand new and lacks any type of discipline at all. How did they even manage to get a summoning to the prime like this?
Sam continued to slowly flood the apartment with his Essence, trying to figure out what was going on.
His curiosity had been prodded, and now he had to know.
It wasn’t until he got to the second bedroom, deep in the apartment, that he got his answer.
There was a Succubus there. One that felt as if she’d just stepped out into the world today. She was wildly throwing out a glamour spell all around her that lacked anything resembling understanding.
Shaking his head, Sam lifted his hand from the door and began gradually withdrawing his Essence.
He’d learned what he wanted to learn and had no reason to be here any longer.
As he was pulling away, though, he sensed a band of iron. Hand-forged cold iron, beaten into the shape of a collar.
What…?
Lingering for a few more seconds, Sam realized the Succubus had been trapped out of her plane, and a human male was trying to collar her in iron.
Snorting, Sam shook his head.
Her mother or father taught her nothing, it would seem. Good luck with that.
As Sam finished drawing his Essence back, he turned and left.
Or tried to, at least. He managed to put one foot in front of the other and froze in place.
He’d been locked in his plane for quite a while. Far longer than he’d ever contemplated as a possibility before.
That’d be nothing in comparison to having an iron collar put on him. That was a life of slavery and servitude one couldn’t get out of.
A Succubus wouldn’t even be able to feed unless granted permission. The very act of feeding would become tortuous, as she’d only be ever able to see her meal and not touch it.
Turning his head back to the door, Sam realized he’d made a choice, and he grit his teeth.
The hell is wrong with me?
Sam held his hand out to the doorknob and then simply turned his hand, spending some Essence to unlock the door.
After opening it, Sam stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him.
Sam shook his head as he walked down the hallway. He didn’t even know what to think.
He was taking on a role that wasn’t his for no reason other than empathy.
Something’s wrong with me.
Not bothering to give a warning, Sam barged into the bedroom. A big purple oval hung against a wall, opening onto a plane that was empty and void of everything. It was a new plane, without even air to breathe.
Sam turned his head and looked at the man.
Middle-aged, overweight, with white hair and a goatee, he looked like someone you’d find picking up kids from middle school.
Certainly not in a bedroom with a Succubus.
He had an arm across his face as if to hide himself from the Succubus’s glamour, and he was blindly reaching for her with the other arm.
The planar lady—as she was clearly a planar lord—was indeed a Succubus. She was naked, with long, dark-brown hair and dark-blue eyes that were almost purple.
Being a Succubus, she was also insanely easy on the eyes, one of the prettiest women Sam had ever laid eyes on.
Her bust, waist, and hip ratio was also perfect. To the point that it’d only be accomplished in a human with someone going through and hand-picking all her genes, or a massive amount of plastic surgery. The truth of her was easy to see, given she was stark naked.
Definitely a perfect Succubus. One of the best-looking ones I’ve seen, too.
“Come on, just put it on. This’ll go so much more quickly once we’re past this part,” said the man.
Dodging to the far side of her summoning circle, the Succubus slipped under the man’s arm and then got low to the ground, trying to avoid him outright.
“Sir, what are you doing?” Sam asked in his best policeman imitation. “Put down the weapon!”
Freezing, the man stood up, dropped his arm, and faced Sam.
Who instantly hit him with a heavy dose of Essence magic, putting him into a deep slumber.
Pitching forward, the man crumpled to the ground and hit the floor with a thump.
“Hm. Maybe a bit much on that whammy,” Sam said, walking over to the man.
Grabbing a pillow, Sam pulled off the casing and then used it to scoop up the iron collar. He wasn’t about to risk touching it directly.
Iron forged in this way was meant to hurt things like Sam. It had no other purpose in the world. With so many things being made of much stronger alloys nowadays, cold iron was strange to see.
“Maybe not,” Sam muttered, prodding at the man with the tip of his shoe.
“Mm. He’s alive. Though he’ll wake up not really knowing what happened for the last hour.”
Lifting his eyes from the fallen man, Sam sighed at the Succubus.
“And how new are you?” Sam asked. “You didn’t even bother to construct clothes. Yet you have your own plane.
“Did you steal it from one of your parents without understanding what it was?”
The Succubus was staring at him with wide eyes.
“What?” she asked.
Closing his eyes, grimacing, and looking away, Sam only shook his head.
After counting to seven in his head, Sam looked back at the Succubus.
“How old are you?” he asked instead.
“I’m nineteen,” said the woman. “I was… I was just receiving my plane… I received it and… and came here?”
“Okay. Lucky that one of your parents was so strong they could gift you one—do you know their names? It’s likely I’ve known them at some point. What plane did they originate from?”
“Plane?” asked the woman. “I’m from Earth.”
Sam nodded his head and then shook it slowly.
“No. You’re a Succubus,” Sam said, pointing at her very naked self. “Earthlings are from Earth. You aren’t from Earth.”
“I’m an Earthling!” said the woman, her voice rising in volume. “I… I was born in New York. I’m nineteen and… and where am I?”
“You were summoned by this guy,” Sam said, pointing. “Because you’re a Succubus who’s a planar lord. Or planar lady, if you prefer.
“You… really have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
The woman shook her head slowly.
“Alright, well, I’ll just break your summoning circle and you can go back to your plane,” Sam said. “Just be sure to check who’s summoning you and try to read their intent before you just walk into the circle. You don’t have to w—”
Freezing mid-sentence, Sam stared down at the circle.
It wasn’t just a polite request for her to show up, it was a demand, and backed with a fair amount of runic work.
The rune-script was absolutely punishing, because her name was being utilized.
It was a very human-looking name as well, one he wouldn’t repeat out loud just yet.
“Do you know your name?” Sam asked her.
“No,” said the woman.
“Mm. That’ll make it a bit easier, I suppose,” Sam said. “You need to make a new brand for yourself and put a name to it. Whatever you want your name to be.”
“Whatever I want it to be?” she asked.
“Yeah. For whatever reason, and I really don’t care or know why, you were summoned here because someone knew your name,” Sam said, pushing the pillowcase over the top of her name in the rune-script. “Don’t read this or you’ll risk binding yourself to this name. It’ll make your life quite problematic.
“Give yourself a new name, bind it to yourself with a brand, and have a nice life.”
“What’s a brand?” asked the woman. “And what are you? Why do you have wings? You’re not human.”
Sam shook his head. He wasn’t about to get into this.
He’d never had kids. Never wanted them. The idea had never even crossed his mind.
Nor had he ever taught anyone, nor taken on an apprentice Incubus or Succubus.
He wasn’t about to start now.
Have to at least teach her how to use a brand, though. Or she’ll just get summoned back.
“This is a brand,” Sam said, and he held up a hand. In his palm, he conjured up his brand. It was a much more complex version of his summoning spell. It made it so that his summoning was completely under his control. “You need to make one like this and put your name in it. Be sure you do it quickly, since I imagine this guy will wake up and try again. Alright. See ya.”
Sam pushed down on the man’s arm with a foot and dragged it through his own magic circle.
With a soft pop, the summoning circle shattered and the Succubus was free.
“Don’t leave me here,” the woman said, quickly moving out of the broken circle and grabbing Sam by his wrist with both hands. “I don’t know what’s going on… I have some vague memories, but I don’t know who I am.
“And I’m starving. I don’t even have any money. Please, help me. Or at least take me to the cops so I can tell them I was kidnapped.”
“Listen. You weren’t kidnapped,” Sam said, gently peeling her soft hands from his wrist. “You’re a Succubus. I don’t know about your memories, or anything else. You also don’t need money, just Essence. As for being hungry, can’t help you there. I don’t go in for men.”
“Men?” asked the Succubus, grabbing Sam again.
“Yes. Men. You devour the orgasmic energy of men. It’s part of their life force. Humans grow it naturally and constantly,” Sam said, once again prying her hands away from his wrist.
“What? No way! I can’t do that. I’ve never even had sex before!” squeaked the woman.
Buh? Never heard of a virginal Succubus.
Her name wasn’t that of a Succubus either.
In fact… she really does have all the hallmarks of a conversion.
Maybe… no. No. That can’t be.
Could it?
“Ever heard the name Jenaphila before?” Sam asked.
The woman blinked, her face taking on a strange look.
“Yes,” she said after several seconds. “Yes. But I don’t know how… or why.”
You rotten cunt.
You’re turning them into Succubi or Incubi and pushing them onto a constructed plane.
Let me guess… after that, you give them to a human as a favor along with an iron collar and their summoning circle.
Growling, Sam bent down and grabbed the fat man by an arm. Dragging him over to the unnamed Succubus’s portal, Sam pushed him through.
This wasn’t the transferal, like he’d done to the woman who left her mortal body behind.
Sam was outright vanishing the man. There’d be nothing left of him behind at all.
Taking hold of the portal, Sam closed it until it was just a smudge of planar energy.
The Succubus could feed from it when the man died, but nothing else would get through.
“That’ll feed you for a time, I guess,” Sam said, shaking his head.
He didn’t know what to do.
This woman wasn’t going to survive without instruction, but she was also a victim of Jenaphila, just as he was.
He felt a strange kinship with her.
“Search… search his house for clothes. Money. Anything you can steal and sell,” Sam said. “Because you don’t have anything. You don’t even have an ID, and police would throw you in jail for that alone.
“I’ll… let you sleep on my couch for now, till you figure out what you want to do.”
“We’re going to rob him? And why did you push him through that glowing circle?” the woman said.
“We’re going to rob him, yes. And I pushed him through there so when he dies, his Life Essence can feed you for a time. Because honestly, I don’t even know if I can feed you Essence directly,” Sam said.
“What? When he dies? Murder is-is…” The woman’s voice fell off. She was staring into a mirror, looking at herself.
“I don’t even look like me anymore,” she murmured, her hands going to her impressive bust. “I’m not me anymore. I’m not… human, am I?”
“No,” Sam said, pulling open a bedside dresser and rooting through the drawer.
“Okay. I’m not Human. You killed him to feed me. I don’t have a name,” she said, still staring at herself.
Sam could vaguely identify with her on that front.
He’d been born of nothing that he could remember. His first experience was appearing before a very dirty and mud-streaked human woman as she drew on the ground with a stick.
He’d known nothing.
“I don’t understand… anything,” said the woman, slowly turning h
er head to Sam. She gave him a small and quite sad-looking smile. “But I think you’re trying to help me. So… thank you.”
Gritting his teeth rather than respond to that, Sam continued searching the apartment.
He at least knew what was happening to the people Jenaphila didn’t want to deal with anymore.
It only made his choice to try and end her all the easier, and the right one.
Except, when did I become the babysitter?
Twelve - Prey -
As he strolled into Abigail’s apartment, Sam really didn’t know how to explain himself.
Walking into the apartment next to him was, of course a Succubus. She was acting more like a shadow or a pet than an actual person, however.
Moving away from him at all seemed to leave her immobilized and fearful almost instantly.
Thankfully, she’d at least settled on a name. He wasn’t sure if she’d chosen it ironically, however, or accidentally.
“This seems much more normal to me,” said the Succubus now known as Jezebel Sameerixis Fidenis Mary-Ann Lee Prima. Though she went by Jes.
Sam couldn’t pretend he wasn’t flattered that she’d incorporated part of his own name into her true name. Or that she’d trusted him with her whole name when she made her brand and identity. Then shared the entirety of it with him.
She’d given him absolute trust and dominion over her without even a pause.
“No idea, but if this feels normal for you, then you probably came from a… humble… background,” Sam said carefully. Walking over to the coffee maker, he opened the cabinet and pulled down the mug he knew as Abigail’s favorite.
Adding six sugar cubes and more than enough creamer for even Abigail, he pushed it into the maker. After dropping in a pod, he closed it all up and hit the brew button.
He preferred Abigail as she was right now. Maybe he was being a little petty spiking her coffee with extra calories, but he felt a small victory for it.
Jes walked over to the couch, folded her wings in tight to her back, and sat down demurely. She was dressed in some last-minute clothes they’d purchased on the way back to his apartment last night.
Then he’d spent the evening explaining a lot of the planar-lady basics to her. It was the first night since he’d acquired his regular feed-harem members that he hadn’t needed to call on them.
