“Oh, I don’t need you to sleep.” Lily stood, the heels of her boots clacking on the sidewalk. “I only need you to blink.”
Blink? Daryl didn’t understand, but the fresh infusion of her venom assailed his senses, and he felt fatigue crawl over him like a blanket. He was still pondering what she had meant when the grimoire unfolded a pair of legs from beneath its cover, crawled near his face, and opened its pages, revealing sharp teeth and a tongue that lolled from side to side.
He blinked in disbelief, and a loud pop sounded. When he opened his eyes, the book was now large enough that the tongue could wrap around him and pull him into a fearsome maw that consisted almost entirely of teeth. As the mouth closed, the succubus cheered on his demise. A necromancer could survive many things, but being devoured alive?
The answer was no. Daryl screamed as thousands of teeth bit into him and chewed.
The smell tickled at Dana’s nose, turning into a flood of fragrances. It was heavenly, like baked cookies or burgers cooking on a grill. She sniffed heavily, the smell permeating her entire being, the hairs on her arms standing straight up in excitement. She breathed heavily from her mouth, swallowing the drool that threatened to leak free.
It was blood. Warm, delicious blood, and lots of it. Smacking her lips, she looked at Zel, who wasn’t paying attention. The ball of anger in her stomach was becoming something else, spreading through her whole body like wildfire. She rose slowly, then moved toward the centaur, contemplating the new smells that came off her. The forest, leaves, and alfalfa were the heaviest, but beneath them all was the scent of steak.
Dana charged, a howl escaping her lips. Zel looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide in fright when Dana leaped through the air, her mouth open wide.
Zel’s rear legs kicked out, catching Dana squarely in the chest and knocking her across the room. It didn’t hurt, but Dana’s rib cage no longer felt quite right. She got back to her feet and ran out the door into the backyard. Naia stood in the fountain, speaking quietly to a songbird.
Dana growled, the sight of Naia’s skin reminding her of the white meat of a chicken. Thoughts of gravy and dripping fat reignited her hunger, and she rushed at the fountain. The bird took off when Dana’s feet splashed in the water, and she tackled the nymph, her teeth sinking into soft flesh.
Naia turned into water and disappeared, then reappeared on the edge of the fountain. Dana splashed toward her, consumed by the idea that a nymph would probably taste like water chestnuts.
The water swirled beneath her feet, dragging her down, and she tumbled around in the fountain, clawing for any sort of purchase. One hand snagged the rim of the fountain, and she yanked herself free and rolled onto the ground.
“Stop her!” Zel had appeared in the doorway of the garage but immediately pulled it shut when Dana ran at her. All she could smell was flesh and blood, her other senses being drowned out by the solitary thought that she was hungry. Screaming, she slammed herself into the door, dust shaking free of the frame.
Lily appeared in the back door of the house, a large book covered in blood tucked under one arm. “What’s going on—hey!”
Dana crossed the distance between them, her eyes on the soft flesh of Lily’s neck.
Lily’s powerful tail knocked Dana to the ground, then wrapped around one of her ankles, lifting her in the air. Snarling and lashing out, Dana was dragged back to the garage.
“Do we have any rope?” Lily asked Zel.
“I think we can find something. But we need a chair to tie her to, and I don’t think the one we have will work.”
“Problem solved.” Lily tossed the tome into the corner of the room and turned away from it. Dana tried to look, but Lily’s tail twisted her around. One second it was a book, and the next it was a giant chair made of solid metal. The chair sprouted legs and crawled toward them like a spider.
“She’s gone mad with hunger, but I don’t know why.” Zel helped Lily strap Dana into the chair. Lily was clearly an expert with ropes—she quickly bound Dana to the chair, immobilizing her.
“That’s my fault. I think I may have made things worse. Daryl’s magic was sustaining her.” Lily was watching Dana with a sad look on her face. “But on the plus side, I want you to know that you’ll never have to worry about him ever again. He’s dead. I fed him to the mimic.”
“Gah!” Dana lunged forward in her chair, making it tip. The chair sprouted extra legs again and pushed her back upright. She slammed her teeth together, wishing that Lily would come close enough, just for a taste.
“You’ve got to have something,” Lily said to Zel. “Otherwise, I’m going to go grab the first unlucky bastard I come across. She looks terrible.”
“As a matter of fact, I did have an idea.” The centaur held up a small vial of a pearly white substance. “It’s something I made for Mike earlier to restore his energy. I didn’t think it would work on her at first, but the main ingredient has what she needs.”
“Hurry up, then!” Lily got behind Dana. Her tail wrapped around Dana’s neck, tilting her head back. “I’ll hold her, you give it to her.”
“Try not to spill any. This is my last batch.” Frowning, Zel tilted the concoction into Dana’s mouth. “If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.”
The taste was exquisite. It reminded her of bacon jerky with just a hint
