Malcubus Ch. 10.5: The Devil You Know

"What a way to go," he says. "Strapped down naked, crying and piss-soaked, chewed up and eaten by something you don't understand. And you never even got laid."

Greta couldn't respond if she wanted to.

Kytophon reappears from the library. Her leather outfit is gone completely, but her naked, voluptuous body is only a little singed. She glances at the remnants of Chelor's host and grimaces. "By the Apple, Marcus. You don't think that was overkill?"

The bull-demon, Marcus, shrugs and shakes some of the blood off his hands. The host is - was - a Latina woman in her fifties or sixties, any trace of Chelor's form gone. What's left over is... messy. "She was a problem. I solved the problem. Are they any other vessels she could have fled to?"

"Well not this one," Kaye shakes her head in Greta's direction. "Still has her will and her virginity. Chelor would need a specially prepared vessel to stay Fundamental, anyway."

"Our Mistress won't be happy with the apprentice wizards about this, though. If any of them are left alive."

Kaye steps around a slippery patch of carpet before replying. "Where is She, anyway? If She was down in the summoning chamber, Chelor would be bound and happily eating half our kitchen right now."

Marcus rolls his shoulders as if stretching. His brassy skin glows red as a forge, Greta closes her eyes against a wave of heat, and then the bull-demon is gone. The handsome man left in its place is tall and tightly wrapped with wiry muscle, but he still looks tiny in comparison. He's been packed into a tight three-piece suit, with a pale gold tie wrapped tightly around his neck. "She never keeps you in the loop, Kaye. Maybe She doesn't trust you, but I think She just doesn't respect you."

The succubus rolls her eyes. "Where is She?"

"In Her Penumbrium, finishing Her scrying spell," the demon says, showing his teeth mirthlessly.

"Scrying?" Kytophon starts stroking Greta's ass contemplatively. "She found something, and you've got good news for me, Marchosias. It's the only possible reason an asshole like you would be smiling."

Marchosias sees Greta looking at his smile, and he shows her his fangs before turning to leave. He calls over his shoulder to Kytophon as he goes. "It's the boy. He's forged a soulbond."

+++++Closing Notes+++++

A relatively short chapter by my usual standards. No Eric or Rosie, but that's the price of having an actual Plot every once in a while.

Thanks for reading. Next chapter, back to our regularly scheduled mostly-consensual sex.

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