Succubus on Top CHAPTER 20

Striking Sol with that tiny piece of wood was akin dropping a nuclear warhead into the board. The blast threw me arrive at the couch, and I hit the floor with a jarring, painful thud. Small(a) objects flew into the walls. Art tumbled to the ground. The windows in the room blew out in a sparkling shower of shards. And it was raining inside. Blood and glitter fell pour down around me in red, gleaming streaks.Mine wasnt the sole(prenominal) true nature to be revealed. In the instant before Sol had exploded, I had felt him. Really felt him. Yes, he was part of a different system than mine, besides he was no minor immortal player looking to stir up a little trouble. He was a god. A bona fide, honest to goodness god. Now, I should point out that gods come and go in the world based on belief. Godly power is directly proportional to the faith of their beli invariablys. So, those whose names no one remembers often walk around literally as bums, no different from humans save for their im mortality. Sol, however, had had a fair amount of power. Not like Krishna power or God with a capital G power, but a lot. Certainly more than me.Holy shit. I had just destroyed a god.I straightened up from my fetal curl and looked around. Everything was serene except for a light wind blowing in though the now-open windows. My skin and clothing were spattered with cohesive scarlet blood, like Id been at the wrong end of a paintbrush at the Mortensens,. My heart rate refused to slow.A moment later, I heard the pounding of footsteps on the stairs. Alec burst into the room, drawn by the noise and the shaking. He looked around, his lower jaw practically dropping to the floor as he came to a screeching stop.My drunkenness had not passed with Sols destruction. That fucking ambrosia was still in my system, and it was actually attemptting worse. Still, my anger at Alec was such that I again overcame my befuddled senses and reflexes, and with a hotfoot that came as a surprise even to me, I sprang at him and knocked him to the ground. A moments shape-shifting, and my short and slim frame suddenly held considerably more muscle and forcefulness than its appearance suggested. I straddled Alec with my legs and arms, and panic blazed on his face when he realized he couldnt budge an inch from my grip. I hit him hard across the face. My coordination force have been off, but it didnt take much to apply brute force.Who the hell was he? Sol?I dont knowI hit him again.Honest, I dont. I dont know, blathered Alec. He was just this guyhe found me and made me a deal.What was the deal? Whyd you bring me to him?He swallowed, blinking back tears. Sex. He precious sex. hemorrhoid of approvers all the time. Didnt matter if they were guys or girls, just as long as they were good-looking. I wasnt supposed to touch them. I just hooked them up with the potion until they wanted to meet Sol. Then he, you knowFucked them and dumped them, I finished angrily. I thought about Casey and the Ab ercrombie model guy in the coffee shop. I recalled Alecs desire to get me on the ambrosia but his reluctance to touch me, no matter how much he wanted to. I was meant for Sol. So that wasnt ambros er, potion in my cup tonight. That truly was some date-rape drug.I dont know, Alec whimpered. get on on, let me go.I tightened my grip and shook him. It took a moment since my fingers had a little trouble keeping think of. I had to run away to maintain the fierceness of my face and voice. Whatd he give you? Did he pay you or something?No. He justhe just gave me more of the potion. altogether I wanted, so long as I kept the people coming.And you gave it to the band, I realized.Yeah. It was the only waythe only way we could get big. Its all Ive ever wanted. To land a record deal and get famous. This was the only way.No, I said. It was just the fastest way.Look, whatd you do to Sol? What are you going to do to me?What am I going to do? I yelled, my anger rising through the drug. I shoo k him, knocking his head against the floor. I should kill you too Do you know what youve done to all these people? To the band? Dougs in the hospital right now because of you.His eyes went wide. I didnt know that. Honest. I didnt want to stick out himI-I just couldnt get the stuff on time. Not until I delivered you.He spoke of me and the other victims like we were commodities. I wanted to pick him up and hold back him out the window. I could do it too. Humans were indeed fragile things, and while my succubus shape-shifting didnt have the power to maintain this r-strong shape all night, I could hold it long enough to do some major damage.Despite my normal abhorrence of violence, I have to admit that throwing people around a room is actually more satisfying than youd think. After Dominique had died, I tracked down the corrupt doctor who had botched her abortion. I had changed from Josephine and wore the shape of an apish, seven-foot-tall man with bulging muscles. Storming into the d octors small, dim office, I didnt waste any time. I grabbed him as if he weighed nothing and tossed him against the wall, knocking down shelves of curiosities and so-called medical implements. It felt fantastic.Striding over, I picked him up by the front of his shirt and punched him hard in the side of the head, ten times harder than Id hit Alec. The doctor staggered and fell but still had enough life to skin backwards, crab-style, in an effort to get away.Who are you? he cried.You killed a girl tonight, I told him, moving menacingly. A blond dancer. His eyes bulged. It happens. I told her. She knew the risks.I knelt down so that we were at eye level. You cut her open and took her money. You didnt care what happened to her.Look, if you want the money back I want her back. Can you do that?He only stared, shaking with fear. I stared back at him, shaking with my own power. I had the ability to kill him. To throw him again or snap his neck or choke the breath from him. It was terribl e and wrong, but seized by my own rage, I couldnt control myself. Honestly, its fortunate in the long run that most incubi and succubi have sonant personalities more bent on pleasure than on pain. With the ability to take on any shape, we can be pretty deadly to mortals if were pissed off enough. They cant really stand against us. This doctor sure as hell couldnt.But another immortal could.Josephine, murmured Bastiens voice behind me. Then Fleur .When I still didnt serve or loosen my grip, Bastien said, Letha.My birth name penetrated the bloodlust pulsing through me.Let him go. He isnt worth your time.And Dominique isnt worth avenging? I demanded, my eyes never leaving the abject human before me.Dominique is dead. Her soul is in the next world. Killing this man wont change that.Itll make me feel better.Maybe, conceded Bastien. But it isnt your place to mete out penalty to mortals. Thats reserved for higher powers.I am a higher power.The incubus rested a gentle hand on my shoulde r. I flinched. We play a different role. We dont kill mortals.You and I have both killed before, Bas.In defense. Protecting a village from raiders isnt the same as cold-blooded murder. You may be damned, but you arent this far gone.I released my hold on the doctor and leaned back on my knees. He stayed frozen. I loved Dominique, I whispered.I know. Thats the problem with mortals. Theyre easy to love and quick to perish. Better for all of us to keep our distance.I didnt touch the doctor, but I didnt move either. Bastien gave me a gentle tug, still quietly reasonable.Come on, lets go. Leave him. You dont have the right to end his life.I let Bastien lead me out. Once in the dark alley flanking the doctors office, I shape-shifted back to my more natural-feeling Josephine form.I want to leave Paris, I told him bleakly. I want to go somewhere where there is no death.He put an arm around me, and I leaned into his soothe presence. No such place exists, Fleur.In Sols house, I still bore dow n on Alec, again empowered with the ability to crush his life if I chose. But Bastiens words echoed within me, and I realized with an ache how much I regretted my current hostility with the incubus. Regardless, he was still correct after all these years. Revenge killings were not my right. It was unfair for an immortal to take advantage of a much weaker mortal. I would be no better than Sol. And looking at Alec underneath me, I realized just how terribly young he was. Not much older than Dominique.And anyway, my strength and coherence were failing by the second. I leaned in menacingly to Alec.G-get out, I mumbled through numbed lips. I want you to get out. Out of Seattle. Dont ever contact Doug or anyone else from the band again. If I find out youre still in the city tomorrow night I struggled for an appropriate threat. My mental processes were grinding to a halt. You, um, wont like it. Do you understand?My bluff worked he was clear terrified. I climbed off him and sat crouched bec ause I couldnt stand. He scrambled up, gave me a last terrified look, and tore out of the room.As soon as the doorsill closed, I passed out.