A Virtual Temptress Ch. 09

Dan pulled a pen from his inventory and followed suit, stepped back from the table, and stared at the contract. "Now what? Does something happen?"

"We have begun the contract. To complete it, the signatories must participate in an activity appropriate the nature of the demonic entity."

"Meaning what? Do we have to murder somebody?"

"As I am neither a warbringer nor one of their vulgar offspring, no, we do not. To complete a pact with a succubus, the signatories must participate in an act of mutual passion." Her voice shifted from annoyance to anticipation. "Now, Daniel, what exactly would you like us to do?"

Ah. Was this the plan all along, Dan wondered? Get me to sign the pact, sex me up, charm me before the effects take place, and take control again? It was almost a relief, if he was being honest. Dan had been waiting for the other shoe to drop this whole time. If Lexi's strategy was some half-baked plan to get in his pants again, this was going to be easier than he thought.

"How broad are the terms?" Dan asked.

"Whatever you desire, Daniel." Her voice sent a shiver down his spine. "Anything you want."

"Great. I want you to hold hands with me for thirty seconds."

Lexi, who had stood and started moving toward Dan, froze mid strut. "And what would we do next?"

"No, that's it." Dan nodded in satisfaction. "We can talk about our feelings if you want, but don't feel pressured. I'm alright taking this slow."

Lexi slumped back into her chair. "Daniel, I hardly think this qualifies as an act of passion."

"Why don't we try it out anyway?"

She sighed. "You are a singularly frustrating individual." Lexi held out her palm, face up, and turned her head away in what Dan assumed was disgust.

Dan sat next to her on the table and took her hand. He would have liked to say that it was a beautiful moment of mutual understanding, but between Lexi's nonsensical outfit and her palpable exasperation, Dan mostly just felt smug.

Thirty seconds later, the contract's red light flashed to blue. The page dissolved into a pile of ash before reforming into two identical copies.

Dan let go of the demon's hand, picked up his copy, and tucked it into his inventory. "You can take off the outfit if you want."

Lexi snatched the hat from her head, hair tumbling out from beneath it in a cascade of pale gold. "Finally. I thought I would suffocate beneath that... thing."

Dan grinned. "Listen, I need to test something out. I'll be back in a day or two. Just... don't kill anybody till I get back, okay? Keep a low profile?"

Lexi sniffed. "Our contract does not require that I follow your every whim, Daniel."

"No, but I don't want you getting beaten to death by the Templars before I figure out how to exploit you."

The succubus eyed him warily.

"I agreed to protect you," Dan said. "Please. You don't understand this world, and I don't want it to come crashing down on our heads while I take my midterms. Okay?"

Lexi waved her hand at him dismissively. "Oh, very well. I will be discrete."

Dan opened his HUD and clicked the button to log out. As the world around him blurred to black, he noticed that Blaize Firewilde had several new notifications. Dan was curious, but decided that they could wait.

Regaining consciousness in the real world, Dan pulled the VR headset off. He wolfed down two slices of week-old pizza from the fridge, downed a gallon of lukewarm water, and collapsed onto his bed in a sweaty heap.