Songs of Love & Death

demon had a head start, and she vanished outside with her prey before I could catch up.

I reached the exit door maybe fifteen seconds after the happy couple. “Stay inside!” I ordered Bethany, knowing she’d be safer here.

She took my hand. I felt the surge of her power flowing between us, blending with my magical talent to create a force that was more than the sum of our individual abilities. “Don’t touch the demon,” she warned. “Her sexuality is a powerful weapon.”

Touch always intensifies the transmission of power, as Lady Beth was proving now. Being male, I’d be particularly vulnerable to a succubus. “I’ll be careful.”

I strengthened my shields and opened the door. It led directly onto a cracked slab of concrete that covered the strip between the warehouse and a battered wharf that pointed across the East River to Manhattan. That opposite shore blazed with lights, the Big Apple in all her beckoning glamour.

In this shabby backwater, the only illumination came from a lamp behind an adjoining warehouse. Just enough light to reveal that the demon and her victim were locked in a feverish embrace, her hips grinding and one raised leg wrapped around his. His life force was surging into her like orange flame. Soon that flow of vital force would end, and the poor sod would be dead. With a smile on his face.

They were so engrossed that neither of them noticed me. I mentally reviewed what needed to be done, touching my pistol in its holster in case I had to draw quickly. I hoped a weapon wouldn’t be needed, but it’s always best to be prepared.

I took a deep breath, then stepped forward and grabbed the boy’s shoulders to wrench him out of the demon’s embrace. Though I didn’t dare touch her skin to skin, I planted one booted foot against her shapely hip and shoved hard.

She lost her balance and pitched sideways, so I was able to separate the demon from her victim. Bethany was right, it was hard to strike a woman, even a demon.

The kid made a choked sound, then collapsed on the filthy concrete. His aura was weak but steady. Though he’d be dead tired for a few days from having so much vital force stolen, at least he wouldn’t be dead.

But I had no time for a closer examination. The demon shrieked with fury at being deprived of her victim and swirled around, her glorious blond hair obscuring her face. As soon as she saw me, she hurled an energy blow that was the magical equivalent of a tactical nuke, arrowing the destructive power dead center at my heart. It almost flattened me.

Heart pounding and gasping for breath, I backpedaled fast, glad that Bethany’s strength was combined with mine. Otherwise I’d have been a goner.

Wondering if I could drive the succubus away without killing the host body, I pulled out my Beretta and aimed it at her heart. “One step toward me and I shoot. I’d rather save your body so the original owner can regain possession. You’ve had your fun, and now it’s time to go. Since you can’t win, why not just depart quietly?”

The demon looked startled that I was still standing. Then she laughed with rich, sexy pleasure. “A tall, dark, and dangerous Guardian hunter! You’re going to taste delicious, my lad! I’ll have you for dinner, then your ancient friend for dessert. Usually I prefer young males, but Guardian energy is too rare to waste. When I have absorbed the life force of two hunters, I’ll be unstoppable!”

Still laughing, she raised her hand and a sphere of mage light glowed in her palm, illuminating her with soft golden rays. I froze in my tracks.

I was aiming my gun at Bethany.

Not my beloved, silver-haired Lady Beth, who was safely inside the building, but a young, vibrant Bethany. She looked like her World War II photo, with cool blond hair and hot blue eyes, now updated to full color and twenty-first-century club clothes. She wasn’t my Bethany, but she was still Bethany, despite her glittering destructive power.

Or was this an illusion spell? Could a succubus pluck an image from my mind and take on the form of my deepest, most secret fantasy?

She tossed her long blond hair back over her shoulders, then began strolling languidly toward me. Every curvy ounce of her was undulating in ways that stabbed directly into my lizard brain. It’s a scientific fact that men lose intelligence when talking to attractive women, and a succubus is designed to drive men wild. No wonder they’re so damned dangerous!

Lady Beth’s sharp voice interrupted my near-trance. “David! Shoot her! She’s not me; she’s the demon we came to destroy!”

I should have known that no hunter would stay inside where it was safe when there was danger afoot. I struggled to pull the trigger. Yet, though I knew Lady Beth was right and I could feel her power enhancing mine, I could not make myself shoot, not even to save my life. Not even to save her life.

I felt the demon gathering power into a killing stroke, drawing magic to her like a tsunami. Waves of energy rippled through the darkness, most of it drawn from the people inside Bizarro.

She stretched a graceful hand toward me. My pistol fell from my numb fingers and clattered on the concrete. Despite my furious attempts to counter her power, I could no longer control my own body. My hand was lifting, reaching out toward my doom…

Lady Beth smashed my arm down and stepped between me and the demon. Catching the succubus’s hand, she cried, “No!”

The fiercest magic I’d ever experienced exploded as Lady Beth slammed the torrent of demonic energy back at the succubus, adding the full force of her own vast and highly trained magical power. I was knocked backward, falling onto the cold concrete.

Horrified, I saw Lady Beth vanish in a blaze of annihilating power. One instant she was there, a silver-haired warrior of light. Then she was gone. Gone!

“Bethany!” I cried in anguish. I knew Charlie was right in saying she wouldn’t be here forever, but I hadn’t really expected to lose her tonight. I had thought that I would be able to save her at least, if not myself.

I had failed, and now she was utterly gone.

I wanted to howl to the heavens, but that was for later. Now I had a mission to complete. I collected my gun from where it had fallen and lurched to my feet.

The demon lay collapsed on the cracked concrete. Bitterly, I hoped she was dead, but the false Bethany’s perfect breasts still rose and fell with her ragged breathing. It was damnably unfair that this creature still lived while my Lady Beth was gone!

I could remedy that. Not caring if I destroyed my career as a cop or was jailed for murder, I raised my gun.

Her eyes flickered and she whispered in a dazed voice, “What… what happened?’

It added to my anguish that her voice was a rich, youthful version of Lady Beth’s crisp British accent. I said grimly, “You killed Lady Bethany, and I am about to send you back to hell.”

Her disorientation cleared and she gasped, “David, don’t shoot! The succubus is gone. I’m Bethany. The one you know.”

I hesitated, wondering if the demon was enchanting me. The creature looked just like Bethany had when she was young, and the force of her sexuality was plenty strong enough to scramble my remaining wits.

“It’s really me, David,” she said with a shaky laugh. Cautiously the—woman? demon?—pushed herself to a sitting position. “Look at me with your inner vision.”

Doing my damnedest to block my attraction, I scanned her. No sign of demonic energy, but maybe the succubus had the power to baffle even an experienced hunter. “How did you find a body that looks just like a young version of Lady Bethany?” I asked harshly, still unable to trust my senses.

“I… I’m not sure.” She ran her hands over herself experimentally. “This doesn’t seem like a strange body. It feels like me.”

Watching her run her hands over her breasts and hips made my mouth go dry. “How do I know you aren’t faking me out with an illusion spell?”

Her brows arched. “For heaven’s sake, David, you’re a hunter! Have I ever been able to fool you with an illusion?”

Her tartness was exactly like the Bethany I knew. Realizing that I was still clutching my pistol, I lowered it to point at the ground, but I didn’t put the safety back on. “Lady Bethany couldn’t fool me—but maybe a succubus