She got to her knees, then held one hand to her chest and summoned a ball of fire. Sticking her hand in the flame, she pulled out a sparkling ruby roughly the size of a silver dollar. “Here it is-the heart of a succubus. You are my new master.” She tossed the heart to Mike, who caught it in midair. “Now command me to do whatever it is you plan on doing. I don’t care anymore.”
Mike’s heart pounded in his chest, his breath ragged. Lily had put him through so much pain and fear inside the Dreamscape, a place that was already beginning to fade from his memory. Staring down at the gem, he contemplated the succubus before him. “What’s to stop you from making a deal with someone else?” he asked.
“My last master tricked me,” Lily responded. “The deal he made involved putting a soul on the line that he no longer had. By betting your soul, you met the requirements of the original deal, thereby transferring his deal to you. Even though he owned me, I was only on loan until someone else was willing to risk it all.”
“So you belong to me forever then?”
“As long as you have that stone, yes.” Lily raised her gaze to meet his. Tears stained her cheeks. “And what would you have of me? Am I to suck you off every morning after I make you breakfast? Are you going to send me after your enemies, use me as a weapon? Fuck my ass until I cry, but only on nights we can watch cartoons on your computer?”
“I... I don’t know.” Though angry with Lily for what she had done, the creature before him was completely different than the one he had encountered in the Dreamscape. The stone beat gently in his hand, its gentle warmth flowing through his fingers. “I just figured if I beat you, this was the best way to keep you from coming after me again.”
“So you’re going to lock me away inside the heart. That’s fine, whatever. Just do it already.”
Gone was the sexy deviant who had tortured him. Gone was the willing participant in his dream threesome. Before him was a defeated woman.
“You don’t sound very happy.”
“Happy is never an option for me. I was told to come here and take your soul by any means. After that, I go back to the Society and get locked away until they need someone else to die in their sleep. Even if I win, I lose.” Lily shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Then help me understand. Hold on.” He knelt by Tink, who was having trouble standing upright. “Can you undo the sleep poison you hit her with?”
“It’s chemical, not magical. Just help her lie down, she’ll be fine in an hour.” Lily rose, her shoulders slumped. “I never asked for any of this, but a succubus must always have a master. Even when I don’t have a master, I must sit and wait for one. And you know what? Whatever you tell me to do, I’m not going to enjoy it. Even if you tell me to enjoy it, I want you to know that, secretly, I hate every second of it, no matter how much I beg you to keep going.”
“I... um...” Mike stared at the demon. This wasn’t what he had expected at all.
“Mike,” came Naia’s voice from the bathroom. “Mike. Come here.”
“Stay here,” Mike commanded. Lily shrugged, curling her tail beneath her to use as a stool. Mike walked into the bathroom. There, standing in the tub, was the woman he had sought for so long.
“Mike.” Naia beckoned him into the bath, pressing her hand against his cheek. “Why does it feel like I haven’t seen you in forever? It’s only been a couple of hours, but...” Her eyes flashed. “That is not the case for you. Where have you been?”
Mike smiled and gazed at her through misty eyes, then explained to her what had transpired in the Dreamscape. When he finished, Naia took him in her arms and held him tightly against her body.
“I almost lost you,” she said softly. “Bring her to me.”
“Lily. Come here.”
The ruby in his hand flashed, and Lily walked into the bathroom. As she spotted Naia, she sighed and rolled her eyes. “So this is her. The woman of your dreams.” Lily shook her head. “So what’s it going to be? Are both of you going to punish me now? You can’t kill me, not in a traditional sense anyway. And my former master is going to be pissed when he finds out he lost me.”
“Give me the ruby,” Naia said, holding out her hand. Mike handed it to her. Naia held the sparkling gemstone close to her face and squinted at it.
“She can’t do anything with that,” Lily informed him. “My curse requires a human soul to command me.”
“Sit,” Naia said, pointing at the floor.
Lily crashed to the ground, yelping when her ass smacked the cold tile. “Fuck. I forgot. She has a part of your soul, doesn’t she? Fucking figures. Two masters. Lucky me.” Lily’s wings and tail disappeared, and she pulled her knees up and rested her head on them. “Go ahead. Have your fun and then put me away, please.”
Though Lily was doing all the talking, Mike’s eyes were on Naia. The nymph’s hair was curling up around her body, the humidity in the room rising as her magic swept over everybody. Mike expected to be sporting an erection, but realized the magic Naia was casting didn’t affect him.
“I see,” Naia said. “Mike. You trust me, right?”
“Of course.” How could he not?
“Okay, honey, I’ve decided exactly what I’m going to do with you.” Naia held up the ruby. “Am I right in assuming that if someone else were to take this from us, you would belong to them?”
Lily nodded. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law to demonkind. You lose the ruby, I belong to someone else.”
“And it’s up to us if we lock you
