Incubus Inc

by Randi Darren

  “PID is probably going to raid it sometime in the next day or two. If you can’t get to her before she gets caught in that raid, you’re not going to get another chance at her for a while.”

  Dave had always had an uncanny ability to see what was likely to happen, as well as what had already happened.

  He’d never been this forthcoming with information for Sam before, though. It made him leery.

  “And before you ask, it’s because Irma is apparently happy, according to Melody. That and she said you sold her a few tricks that made her life easier,” Dave said. “I just hadn’t put two and two together that it was you.”

  Sam peered at his old acquaintance with an unasked question in his mind.

  This was the Guardian.

  The single oldest entity Sam had ever met. He didn’t have any idea how strong Dave was, but he’d known a number of people who had simply vanished after dealing with him.

  The Guardian didn’t just give information away for nothing because of an acquaintance.

  “She your daughter?” Sam asked after staring at the other man for a few seconds. “Niece?”

  Dave closed his eyes and put a hand over them. “Sam, I really don’t… yes. Melody’s my daughter. Okay?

  “And how the hell are you back? I thought Jena locked you away for all time. Your fate was sealed.”

  Sam shrugged and tried to act nonchalant.

  The fact that the Guardian had given in to a woman and had a daughter was massive news.

  It was terrifying.

  The old man had not only given every other entity leverage over him, he’d also just told Sam for nothing.

  Sam was absolutely freaking out that Dave was going to kill him here and now. Nothing else would make sense.

  “Old client wrote down all her notes about me and how to summon me. Great-granddaughter with maybe another great or two found it, summoned me up. Drowning in college debt, asked me to help her solve it.”

  “Mm. Can’t say much about that. You did at least usually solve problems in a way that they could self-maintain,” Dave said. Then he leaned forward over his coffee table and started writing something down. “Alright, there ya go. Let me know if you need anything else. Otherwise, I need to get ready for work.”

  Dave held out the slip of paper to Sam.

  Sam took it, feeling strange about the situation.

  He and Dave had gotten along well enough as neutral parties in the past, but there really hadn’t been any reason to work with one another.

  They had avoided one another.

  “Uhm, thanks,” Sam said, looking at the paper. “For what it’s worth… Irma said you were kind to her as a child. She mentioned you giving her nice dolls… and… uh… thanks. Irma’s important to me, so… yeah.

  “Let me know if you need anything, too.”

  Staring at the Incubus, Dave looked as confused as Sam felt.

  “I… yeah. Yeah, I’ll let you know. Mel is, ah… Mel is going to have a party here in about six months,” Dave said. “Birthday party. Be sure to remind Irma about it. You two should probably buy airline tickets early if possible, or… yeah.”

  “I have an open portal on the outskirts. We’ll just pop through that and drive over,” Sam said, feeling beyond strange now. “I’ll leave ya be so you can get ready. Want me to let you know what happens just to keep you informed?”

  “Sure. Thanks. It’s always good to have more information,” Dave said.

  “Right, see ya later,” Sam said. “Oh—wait, before I go. Have you heard… anything from the higher planes? I haven’t felt a twitch or… anything.”

  Frowning, Dave shook his head. “After… everything happened… they slowly got quieter and quieter. There hasn’t been a single noise from them in the last sixty years.”

  “Got it. Thanks. Bye, Miles,” Sam said, waving at the man.

  Getting up, he walked over to the door with Wren and Tiffany behind him.

  It wasn’t until they got back to the SUV that anyone said anything.

  “He felt very different,” Wren said. “Old.”

  “Yeah. He’s been around before even I was. Pretty sure when the world was created, he was the first person here,” Sam said, getting into the car. “Discussing the rocks the first god had just put down with them.”

  ***

  After driving by the house once, Sam hadn’t known what to think about it.

  It’d had an everyday feel to it. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet clearly different from the rest. Like having a cupola, slate shingles, and very dark windows.

  Wren had immediately spotted that there was even someone actually in the cupola.

  After realizing just how defended the location was, Sam had driven them back to Tiffany’s apartment to regroup, collect Jes, and discuss how they wanted to handle it.

  They didn’t have much time, according to Dave, and this was their chance to collect Marin.

  But now Sam had a different problem.

  As he put the car in park in the below-ground garage, Sam felt quite confused.

  Standing in front of his car, in the guest space that had been given to Tiffany for her apartment, where’d they’d parked the SUV every time, was Stacia the vampire.

  She looked annoyed, confused, and determined all at the same time.

  “Wren, what do you know about her? She seemed to know you,” Sam said, staring at Stacia as she stared back at him.

  “She’s incredibly intelligent. One of the smartest people I know,” Wren said. “She’s average with a gun, decent with hand-to-hand, and her blood magic is average.

  “Really, her best attribute is her mind.”

  “Tiffany,” Sam said, turning to look at the Were in the passenger seat. Unsurprisingly, she was already in her hybrid form. “Never mind.”

  Opening his door, Sam got out.

  “Can I help you, miss?” Sam asked, going for a neutral response. Hopefully, she didn’t know what was going on.

  “You wiped my memories,” Stacia said. “I don’t know why or how, but you did it. I even know it was you specifically.”

  Sam opened his mouth, then closed it.

  “You’re right. I did. Before I wipe your memories again, how’d you know?” Sam asked. “It’d be easier if you told me, so I don’t have to go rooting around in your mind to figure it out.”

  Stacia lifted her chin up, her shoulders squaring.

  “I leave myself security notes. It’s something I learned to do after dealing with so many Vampires who like to ensorcel lesser Vampires,” Stacia said. “I made multiple notes, tapes, letters, and videos about this particular situation before I came here. Even if you wipe my memories, I’ll just come back again.

  “I also made sure to set up a package to be delivered to the authorities if I’m not there to stop it.”

  Surprised, Sam couldn’t help himself; he started to laugh. “I could always just rip the memories from your head and stop the package.”

  “No, you couldn’t. I have it set up in such a way that I have to be there,” Stacia said. “And from what I saw and experienced, you can’t make me do something if I’m not close enough. I shook your compelling quickly once I got to the bottom of the parking garage. I didn’t want to go back to work.”

  Licking his lips, Sam wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Alright… and what is it you want, little Vampire. You have my interest,” Sam said.

  “I want… I want to know why you want to see Marin,” Stacia said. “That first.”

  “To kill her,” Sam said, shrugging his shoulders and holding up his hands. “At this point, I just want to kill her. Because otherwise, she’ll just be a problem for me in the future.”

  “Got it. And… and what’s your plan for the coven?” Stacia asked.

  “None. If I don’t have to kill anyone else, I won’t. If I have to stamp out the entire coven top to bottom, I’m going to do that,” Sam said.

  “Just give the coven to me,” Stacia said. “
I’m well versed in its running, I know all the books, and I know who the bosses are. I can make it look like business as usual, and no one would question Marin’s disappearance.”

  Tilting his head to one side, Sam looked Stacia over more closely.

  “Fine,” Sam said. “But I want more from you for my part of the deal. So far, I don’t get anything out of it. I’m still predisposed to wiping your memories. Or killing you.”

  “I can give you money, power, whatever you want,” Stacia said, her voice changing pitch ever so slightly.

  Apparently it wasn’t lost on her that she was putting herself in his power by approaching like this.

  “The money and the like is fine; you can work that out with Irma. But what I really want from you is sex. I want to have a lot of it with you,” Sam said, indicating her with a finger. “I want you in my feed harem for as long as you lead the coven.”

  “I… you… what?” Stacia asked, looking extremely confused and a little angry.

  “I’m an Incubus. I want to dine on you,” Sam said. “Vampires have a great flavor that only improves over time. I’d like to have sex with you and eat from you regularly. That’s my price.”

  “You… you don’t want anything, you just want… to have sex with me,” Stacia said.

  “That’s right. Money is great and all, and I’ll gladly take a cut from your profits in the coven, but what I really want is to have sex with you,” Sam said in confirmation.

  “I… I see. Ah… you’re an Incubus, you said?” Stacia asked.

  “That’s right,” Sam said.

  “I… okay. I think I can agree to that,” Stacia said. “But—”

  “Oh, but you’ll have to have sex with me and my partner at the same time as often as not. She’s a Succubus. Great on the eyes, though—real pretty. You won’t regret it,” Sam said, interrupting her. He needed to include Jes.

  At this point, even he knew he wasn’t getting away from her.

  “A Succubus and an Incubus at the same time,” Stacia said, chewing lightly at her lower lip. “Alright, I’ll agree, but you have to let me feed from both of you as well.”

  “That’s fine. I expected it, to be honest. Vampire orgasms are best when they’re being fed during sex,” Sam said. “Alright, come on. I’ll introduce you to my partner, and then we can seal our contract, though it’ll have to be in blood for now. Running out of time. We’re planning on raiding Marin’s base tonight. Which is why we’re here, to plan.”

  Tiffany growled and shook her head.

  “Nothing good comes of letting a Vampire join us,” she said, sliding back into her human-only form.

  “And having a Were along is a great way to get fleas and ticks,” Stacia said with a beautiful smile.

  “Shut up, both of you, or I’ll make you have sex with one another, and I’ll just watch,” Sam said, walking away. Wren walked quietly next to him. “I’ve done it before to my bonded and I’ll do it again.”

  Nineteen - Forced -

  Pulling off the highway, Hillary turned the SUV onto the street.

  “Now just follow it to the end,” Jes said from beside her in the passenger seat.

  In the back of the big SUV were Sam, Stacia, Wren, and Tiffany.

  The Doppelganger had come through a planar rift Jes made, which strangely was an opening of her portal that led to Sam’s personal plane and ended out in Abigail’s apartment.

  The fact that Jes could access his plane was something he’d known she could probably do given her intimacy with his brand, but he hadn’t expected her to actually do it so casually.

  Beside him, Wren was going over her assault rifle one more time.

  Atop her head was a mask to hide her face.

  Tiffany and Stacia were making similar preparations. Though Tiffany was only checking body armor, a combat machete, and a shot gun.

  Stacia was wearing body armor like the other two, but she had a series of pouches and other items fastened to her body.

  Hillary would also be going in, and she had an SMG and pistol on her person in the front seat.

  Jes and Sam would be coming up in the rear and then remaining at the entrance to the home. Just in case anyone wanted to get nosy.

  “Quick review,” Wren said, pulling her mask down over her face. “I knock the door in.”

  “I clear the doorway,” Tiffany growled, pulling down her own mask, which was significantly larger to accommodate her hybrid form. “Then move into the hallway.”

  “I move in second,” Wren said. “I sweep the living room and kitchen, then pull back to hold the hallway.”

  “I go in third,” Hillary said from the front. “I clear the rest of the hallway up to the bathroom and the stairwell up.”

  “I hold the perimeter,” Stacia said.

  “I remain with Jes in the car,” Sam said.

  “Once the ground floor is secure, I take the second floor with Wren,” Tiffany said in an actual growl now, shifting into her hybrid form.

  “I hold the stairwell down,” Hillary said.

  “I wait till the second floor is clear, then go first into the basement,” Stacia said.

  “I follow second into the basement,” Hillary said.

  “I go third,” Wren said.

  “Fourth,” Tiffany finished.

  “Jes and I move into the front of the house and play goal-keeper,” Sam said.

  The SUV fell silent.

  “Good,” Stacia said. “If everyone follows my plan, we’ll be able to get through this quick and easy. They won’t even realize what’s going on when I go down into the basement with Hillary.

  “And let’s be honest, that’s where my kind will be. It’s close enough to dawn that they won’t risk it. Dawn hurts the most.”

  Looking at the Vampire, Sam felt strange about this whole thing.

  Not for the first time, he had to wonder about a Vampire moving about in the daylight.

  Even with her deal with him for better regeneration, it wasn’t going to be pleasant for any part of her body struck by direct sunlight.

  Though it’d heal considerably faster than it had any right to for a sun-kissed Vampire.

  So long as she didn’t get sunshine for an extended period of time, she’d be fine. Though she’d look like a burnt marshmallow rather quickly.

  “Rolling up in a minute or so,” Jes said from up front, running a hand over her face.

  Ah. Yes. Physical glamour.

  I need my own.

  Running a hand down over his own face, Sam changed his appearance completely.

  “Fuckin’ Vamps. Goddamn blood-drinkin’ stupid motherfuckers just gotta get into everything,” Tiffany groused. Then she worked the action of her shotgun. The clack-clack that almost every person could identify by sound alone punctuated her anger. “Bunch of stupid fangers just gotta try and run anything and everything.”

  “Beg your pardon?” Stacia asked archly, sitting right next to the Were.

  “You’re pardoned. You can’t help but be a fanger,” Tiffany said. “Fucking piece of shit Vampire.”

  “Hmph,” Stacia said. “Sam, she’s being abrasive. Punish her for it.”

  “Agreed, she’s being rather rude,” Sam said, waving a hand over his shoulder. “I’m going to ride you, Tiffany, and you’re going to eat our Vampire comrade out.”

  “What? I’ll do no—”

  “You will, and you’ll do it without argument,” Sam said. There was no room for anything else in his tone. Tiffany was his, and her life had been spared. There was nothing to keep him from changing his mind. “Stacia has been nothing but polite to you, and you were provoking her.

  “I’m going to continue to punish each one of you till you learn to live together. Because guess what?”

  Sam turned around and stared at both women. For the first time in a very long time, Sam let his anger bubble up to the surface. Lancing both women with his glare, he growled softly and let his natural abilities amplify it.

  “I’m no
t going to tolerate you two fighting when you’re both my bonded,” he said, his tone becoming dark. “You will work with each other, and with me, for eons if we do this right. If Stacia provokes you, I’ll punish her. If you provoke her, I’ll punish you. If you both act up, you’ll both get punished.

  “Do you understand me?”

  By the time he’d stopped speaking, Sam felt like his vision had started to turn a dull red at the edges.

  Both the Vampire blood mage and the Were mercenary nodded their heads quickly.

  “Okay, I’m sorry,” Tiffany said quickly. “I’ll eat her out, you ride me. Got it.”

  “Yes, yes,” Stacia said.

  “And when I’m done filling up Tiffany,” Sam said, pointing at Stacia. “You’re going to eat her out. You went straight for a punishment, betraying your bond-mate. Which is worse in my eyes than what she did. Questions?”

  Stacia shook her head rapidly. “Eat Tiffany out when you’re done with her, I understand.”

  “Good. Kiss and make up,” Sam said, still staring at them. “A good kiss mind you.”

  Tiffany and Stacia sat there in frozen silence.

  “Now,” Sam commanded.

  Tiffany lifted her mask at the same time as Stacia did.

  Both looked normal, and they immediately leaned in toward each another for a five-second kiss. It was rather nice, seeing the two pretty women doing such a thing.

  Then they both sat back in their seats, looking pale as ghosts.

  “Done?” he asked.

  “Yes,” they said at the same time.

  Sniffing once, Sam sat back in his seat and faced forward again.

  Wren’s head turned back to the front as well.

  “You look beautiful when you let your true self show,” she said, her tone husky.

  Frowning, Sam glanced into the rear-view mirror.

  Staring back at him was his dark-eyed, horned, red-skinned self.

  The demon he truly was and could only ever be in his honest moments.

  Snorting, Sam ran his hand over his face again, reasserting a glamour.

  Of course Wren would prefer him in his demon form.

  “Does that mean you won’t be taking me to bed?” Wren asked. She sounded disappointed.