Dead and Horny Ch. 02

"Oh, yeah, I was being pretty rough. Figured you could handle it." Her tail disappeared, and she helped Dana stand. While Lily was able to restore her outfit with a thought, Dana had to hunt down her panties, which she finally found somewhere in the bathroom.

Once properly dressed, she walked into the living room to see Lily standing over Scotes. The man had just slept through some of the hottest lesbian action ever, and would never even know it.

"Better?" Lily asked.

Dana sighed. "Yes, much, actually." The hunger had fully abated now, and she was ready to move on. "We've got the flask, so what now?"

"We stick around town and try to track down the other things on the list if we can. This was our first real lead, and I wonder if we can turn it into another."

"What do you mean?" Dana walked over to Lily and looked at the unconscious man in the chair. Freshly fed, she could no longer smell the sweet undertones of smoked meat, her nostrils now filled with body odor and sweat.

"He was scared. Makes you wonder, right? Maybe someone else got their hands on something magic and tried to take the flask from him."

"But why?"

Lily looked over her shoulder at Dana. "Magic is easily the most addictive force known to man. Most people who get their hands on it can never get enough of it, and that's something you should always keep in mind. It's one of the reasons it is kept secret, after all."

Dana nodded. It made sense, and it definitely wouldn't hurt to let Lily poke around inside the guy's head to see what he knew. Even if he saw someone else buying something from Unearthly Delights, it would be a valuable lead. "Go for it."

Lily put her fingers on Ray's temples and massaged them.

"Let's see what boogeyman crawled up dear Ray's..." Her eyes went blank, and her jaw slackened. The succubus stared into the distance, a look of shock blossoming across her face.

"Lily?"

The succubus snapped to attention, her eyes blazing with light. "We need to get out of here right fucking now."

"What? Why?"

"Hold on." Lily straddled Ray and opened his mouth. Her eyes glowed and he let out several groans of ecstasy over the next few moments, his eyes finally popping open as Lily sucked out his soul through them. Dana watched in morbid fascination as the succubus feasted, then stood up. Ray's eyes were fixated on the ceiling, and a large wet stain had formed in the front of his pants. Dana could smell his stale cum from where she stood.

"If we're in such a hurry, why are you fucking around with him?"

Lily licked her lips. "So that he can't be questioned about us."

"Questioned by who?"

"I'll tell you once..." Lily cocked her head, then looked toward the front door. She put a finger to her lips and grabbed Dana by her upper arm. "I hear them coming."

"Who?" Dana whispered back.

"The people he thought we were." Lily picked up the shotgun. "Do you know how to use one of these?"

"I'm not going to shoot somebody," Dana hissed.

"This won't even hurt them, will probably just stun them." Lily countered.

"Lily, I—" She could smell them now, a pair of men. Closing her mouth, she took the shotgun from Lily, then checked to see if it was still loaded. It was a pump action, and had at least one round left, so the safety was already off. She had gone target shooting at summer camp many times while growing up, and knew she could at least hit the broad side of a barn if she needed to.

"Good girl," Lily whispered. "When I give the signal, we run. Use the shotgun only if you have to."

"You're freaking me out."

"Good. Be freaked. Run straight for the bike, even if I fall behind. I'll catch up eventually." Lily pressed herself against the wall by the door, then leapt up and grabbed one of the rafters. She twisted herself into position, then motioned for Dana to get down.

Dana crouched behind the trashcan in the kitchen. It was overflowing with trash, and she was easily able to fit. Several minutes passed, and she could hear the soft footfalls of someone moving around outside the cabin. Lily turned her head as if watching them through the walls, a scowl fixed on her face.

Someone knocked on the door. Dana stepped back from the trash can and readied the shotgun.

There was more knocking, and then the sound of a click as the doorknob was turned. Two men entered, both wearing dark coats. One of them was carrying a sword, and the other held a glowing wand made of a light-colored wood.

"I thought you said nobody was home," said the man with the sword.

"No, I said I didn't detect a heartbeat. There's a difference." The other man tucked his wand away. "He doesn't look like he's been dead for long. Let's find the flask and get out of here."

The men split up, and the one with the wand searched Ray's pockets while the swordsman wandered toward Dana. Despite her being hidden away, his eyes immediately locked on hers, and he held his sword up. It was a duplicate of the folding sword that the cyclops Sofia carried.

"Hey, there's someone—"

Lily dropped down from above, her legs hooking around the man's neck. She leaned back and twisted her body, using her momentum to do some strange grappling move that tossed the man across the floor, causing him to drop his weapon.

A blast of light from the mage knocked Lily into the wall of the cabin.

Dana stood and pulled the trigger. Fire roared from the barrel of the shotgun, and there was a bright flash of light as the mage was knocked backward. He tumbled over the trash-covered coffee table, then stood back up, a blue shield surrounding him.

She fired again, and the shield dispersed. Lily was already on her feet and charged across the room. With a firm grasp of his collar, she hurled him across the length of the cabin, his head smashing into the stones of the fireplace.

The swordsman was back on his feet, and Dana fired at him. He let out a grunt and dove toward his sword.

"I don't think so." Lily kicked the sword away from him, picked him up, then threw him out the window. She looked at Dana. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Dana bolted out the door, and was nearly to the treeline when she looked back. Lily was close behind, and together they fled into the trees. Once away from the cabin, Lily took the lead. What had been a long journey uphill was far shorter going downhill, and once the bike was in sight, Dana sprinted past Lily toward it—only to get tackled from behind by the succubus.

"Shh!" Lily pointed, and Dana watched as a pair of dark vehicles moved along the mountain road. A few minutes later, a third one passed, and Lily stood up and hopped on the bike.

"Hurry up,' she whispered, waving Dana over. "I think we're good."

Dana handed the shotgun over to Lily, put on her helmet, then got on the bike, which started on its own. They turned around and headed back the way they came, leaving a small cloud of dust behind them.

"You gonna tell me who they were?" Dana asked.

"I'll tell you later. Let's get out of here."

When they crested the mountain, Lily threw the shotgun into a ravine, and they drove back to Fort Collins, leaving the cabin far behind.

Cyrus sat in the car for a few minutes, his eyes on the cabin. The young woman who had driven him here opened his door and stood at attention as he got out.

The retrieval squad was busy examining the exterior of the building, and a secondary squad had set up a perimeter. A pair of hunters were receiving medical treatment against the front of the building.

"And we're sure nobody is in this area?" he asked his driver.

"Reports indicate the nearest buildings are vacant," she said, her eyes scanning the treeline. He could see the tiny earpiece tucked away in her ear. The technology of the Order these days was largely on par with what the general public could get their hands on. Unable to use an earpiece due to a magical augmentation that allowed him to understand any spoken language, he supposed there was always a tradeoff.

"Good. Help keep an eye on things. It looks like we've got some work to do." He walked over to the cabin where a young man in a peacoat was waiting. "Brother Amida, do you have something to report?"

"Yes, Master Cyrus." Amida was shorter than the rest of his squad, but well respected for his magical abilities. Of Korean descent, he was the perfect asset for infiltrating the nearby college because of how young he looked. "I regret to inform you that we are unable to locate the flask."

"I see." In terms of losses, the flask wasn't bad. However, the discovery that a local thrift store had begun selling magical objects had attracted attention from the Order, a secret society that had dedicated centuries to ensuring that the worlds of magic and science should remain apart. "I heard that Mr. Scotes is no longer with us. Is that true?"

"Regrettably. It would seem that a pair of unknown females dispatched him prior to assaulting us."

"Show me."

Amida led Cyrus into the cabin. Ray Scotes was still strapped to a chair, his vacant eyes on the ceiling. A couple members of the Order, one man and one woman, were busy searching the domicile, but stopped to watch him.

He knelt down next to Ray's chair, then put a hand on the man's wrist. His body was still warm to the touch, but there was no pulse. Cyrus stood up and walked around the chair, his eyes taking in every detail.

"I've seen enough. Come." He gestured to the others, and they circled around. "We have an adult male, deceased, with no evidence of trauma. Last seen with a pair of women. Ideas?"

"Well..." One of the techs pulled up one of Ray's eyelids. "I was thinking perhaps a witch's spell, but the only one I know of that kills instantly without leaving a mark tends to rupture capillaries in the eyes."

"Very good. To date, there isn't a spell that just kills without leaving some kind of evidence. Not from a witch, anyway." Black magic intended for harm was rarely subtle. "Other ideas?"

"I was thinking perhaps a heart attack." Amida knelt in front of the deceased. "It's clear something went down prior to our arrival. Mr. Scotes has been hiding here for a couple weeks now, and if not for his friends being admitted to the E.R. last night for alcohol poisoning, we wouldn't have even known he was here. So perhaps they said or did something to frighten him?"

"Also good. That is a possibility. You?" He looked at the other tech.

"A curse?"

"Evidence?"

The tech shrugged. "My evidence is lack of evidence. A curse can be laid well in advance."

"True, but there's no residual magic in the area. If the time of death was earlier, perhaps. A good try nonetheless." Cyrus walked around the body one more time. "So far, none of you are right. Any final guesses?"

They all looked at each other, and then back to Cyrus, eager to know.

"It would have been easy to miss. His state is indicative of a lack of self care. The wild hair, unkempt beard." Cyrus slid his hand down the back of Scotes' shirt, and the tip of his finger pushed through a hole near the spine. "Something like a hole could be attributed to his lack of upkeep. However, his clothes are well worn, but do not have holes, and this isn't the jagged tear of a branch, but a puncture wound. This requires further examination." He stepped back and nodded at Amida to proceed.

Amida pushed Ray forward and lifted his shirt up. In the same spot as the hole was a tiny hole, easy to miss. "Did they inject him with something?" he asked.

"They likely did, but I suspect it isn't something covered in detail these days." Cyrus scratched his nose, an old memory surfacing briefly. "I believe we are looking at the victim of a succubus attack."

At the word succubus, all three of his pupils knelt in eagerly to examine the wound. The few succubi that still walked the earth had long ago learned to lay low. It had been a couple of decades since an attack had been recorded, and this was a first-hand experience for the next generation of hunters. They took turns looking at the mark, then backed away to let Cyrus back in.

"Do you really think it's from a succubus, Master Cyrus?" A look of concern crossed Amida's face.

"There's only one way to find out." Cyrus pulled a pocket watch out of a hidden pocket in his coat. "I assume you all know what this is?"

They all nodded.

Cyrus pulled a piece of hair off of Ray Scotes' body and opened the back compartment of the pocket watch.

"Allow me to warn the others," one of the techs said, then disappeared outside. Cyrus waited for her to return, and noticed that she was already popping a couple of pills into her mouth.

"If anyone else wants to use dramamine, now is the time." He waited, and the other tech popped a pair of pills he pulled from a pouch. It wasn't technically dramamine, but something that the lab had concocted that was ten times more effective and completely mitigated most forms of vertigo. He also noticed that Amida didn't take the medicine.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"If I ever have the need to use it without the pills, I would prefer to experience its effects in a controlled condition, Master Cyrus."

Cyrus smiled. Amida was quickly climbing the ranks. If he ended up with a strong enough Knight, there was no telling how far he would go. He took several deep breaths in preparation, then placed the hair in the pocket watch and wound it up.

Amida's face twisted up in agony as the magic of the watch activated. The watch was able to play time in reverse for any creature whose DNA was inside the back compartment. The watches used to be far more common, but as science had advanced, so had magic, and many of them had been repurposed for more powerful devices. This one had been his for many decades now, and he watched with the others as Ray sat dead in his chair for several minutes.

The two big disadvantages of the pocket watch were that it played in real time. Whatever transpired had to be watched at a normal speed, which meant there was no way to skip ahead. The other was that it created a magical field that caused intense motion sickness. Even now, he could hear someone outside retching. They must have been too close to the cabin's walls.

Cyrus and the others waited. To his credit, Amida didn't leave, and they watched as the investigators searched the cabin in reverse, eventually leading to the confrontation. Two women were in the cabin now, and had noticed the approaching team of Reclaimers. Ray Scotes was still dead, however, and they had to wait a bit longer until they watched the woman with red and black hair hover over him and spit out his soul.

One of the techs crossed himself, and the other let out a gasp. Amida was studying the woman intently, and took pictures with a digital camera, but said nothing. They had finally crossed over to when Ray Scotes was still alive, and he slept in that chair while the succubus and the other woman had sex in the bathroom.

"Okay, that's enough." Cyrus clicked the watch shut. Unless they found some bodily fluids from either woman, they wouldn't be able to backtrack where they came from, and it hardly mattered how they had gotten in. Visible relief washed across everyone's face as the field vanished. "Brother Amida, how do you feel?"

"Terrible, Master Cyrus. The watch didn't seem to have any effect on you."

He laughed. "Oh, it still does. I ate an early breakfast in my room, just in case. You have to plan ahead. I still throw up on occasion, I can admit it."

Amida nodded, his eyes on the body. "I'll get these pictures to the field team and then dust the place for prints. The human should be easy to track down, and we cannot allow a succubus to roam free."

"Yes and no, Brother Amida. You need to call this in. Our mission was to disrupt the trade of magical artifacts and retrieve as many of them as possible. We've been highly successful, but we can't just go chasing after a demon without permission, especially when we have a lead to a potential Class 4 artifact on our hands."

Besides that, Cyrus thought succubi were extremely dangerous. The Order had a new classification system for cryptids and other magical beings, and a succubus was ranked as a Tier 2 cryptid, the second most dangerous. Many factors contributed to this rating, but the fact that they could consume an immortal soul and gain knowledge from it meant that the Order was forced to change so many of its protocols if a member was suspected of dying from one. As far as he knew, the last succubus hunt had been in the early nineties. If they wanted experience, they needed old blood to tackle it head on, not these fresh-faced rookies. "Let's follow protocol on this. I don't want that Class 4 slipping through our hands."

"As you wish, Master Cyrus." Amida fiddled with his phone, sending pictures out to the field team.

Cyrus left them behind and stepped outside into the forest. He took a deep, cleansing breath of mountain air, hoping it would chase away the last of his nausea. The Reclamation team was ill-equipped for demon hunting, and they would likely send a separate team for the succubus.

However, the Reclamation team he was running had been amazing to work with. Not only had they tracked down several of Unearthly Delight's sales, but they had then burned the place to the ground to hide their theft of the remaining items and altered the memories of its employees. Most of the objects they had been unable to track past a cash sale had been Class 1 artifacts, minor things that couldn't be used to disrupt the natural order of the world without unforeseen applications. They had been able to anecdotally identify most of the sold items using the Order's resources, and the flask was considered a Class 2 item only because it regenerated a flammable substance.

His mind went back to the succubus. What was her involvement about? And the woman who had been with her, was that her master? It was rare to find a succubus working with anyone other than her master, and now he wondered if the blonde was a patron of Unearthly Delights who had ended up with a succubus companion. If so, why bother tracking down Ray Scotes and killing him?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it was that he might end up involved after all. Figuring that the team had everything well in hand, he got back in his car and opened up his laptop. A countdown was running on the screen, and he quickly typed in his password, then put his finger on the scanner. The device wasn't just mapping his prints, but doing a quick read on his magic field as well. Just like a fingerprint, each person's field was unique, and not something a shapeshifter could account for.

The laptop unlocked. Contained in the computer was a massive database of everything the Order knew about magical creatures, and he started typing in the window below.

Hunting A Succubus

He pressed enter and waited for the pages to load. A knock on the glass came from Amida, and Cyrus rolled the window down to speak with him.

"Yes, Brother?"

"We were wondering what you think we should do with the home."

"Hmm." He looked past Amida at the cabin. It was in a remote location, and there was no negative energy stuck to it. Based on their search this morning, Scotes had no next of kin, or anybody who would come looking for him, which meant they could quickly take possession through the proper channels.

"Put a message through to Acquisitions." The location could either be used for field training, a weapons cache, whatever acquisitions thought best. If Acquisitions didn't want it, they could burn it to the ground easily enough.

Amida nodded, then went back to deal with his team. Cyrus was going to roll up his window when a thought occurred to him. "Brother, please come back. Show me the picture of the succubus again."

The young man handed over his phone and Cyrus scowled. He should have realized it immediately. Maybe it was old age, or his mind was on other things, but there was no mistaking that these were the women he had seen in his hotel elevator earlier that very morning.