Page 76 of The Wickedness of Man

That night, when I returned triumphantly to campus, I was issued my first veiled sister: a succubus I dubbed Mercy to commemorate the evening of my awakening. I’d decided to name her after the word I’d heard slip from the stripper’s mouth during the many hours I lost satisfying myself with every inch of her body.

“Mercy,”she’d begged, over and over again.“Please, have… mercy.”

When I’d left the club that evening, she’d been laying there, cum dripping out of her spent cunt, her belly swollen with myseed, the tattoo on her abdomen pulsing as it strained to absorb the power I’d left behind.

Now, it was my own personal tradition to name each subsequent whore after the first—a pity, though, that some couldn’t last as long as others. This Mercy was one of my longest-standing veiled nuns yet, and I needed to keep her—at least until I got my harem. Soon enough, I’d never have to worry about another “Mercy” ever again. Because I’d be the one to retrieve Carmilla de Mornay: the only succubus powerful enough to escape my father.

Let’s see Caleb Knight dothat, I thought to myself.Let’s see Caleb Knight do to a woman whatIcan do.I won’t ever let any of them live this down.

“Very well, Harrold. It’s an interesting coincidence,” Father said, his tone carefully neutral, “as I have some news regarding your brother as well.” He grinned when I bristled at the reminder of our relations, then pulled out a small tablet from his drawer and laid it on the desk in front of him; I saw Jax shifting uncomfortably. “And I amextremelyeager to share what I’ve learned with you. But by all means, let’s hear your news first.”

I swallowed my nervousness, forced a smile to my face, and held the piece of paper I’d brought with me like a shield. “Certainly.”

I will not let him take this from me, I thought ruefully.Whatever happens, I have them. I will be able to retrieve the succubus and Father will forced to admit his own failure in front of the entire organization. Then, I’m going to make sure Caleb never leaves those goddamn cells, and anyone who doesn’t like it—Father included—can eat shit atmycommand.

Magda

As promised, the bear claws were hot and waiting by the time I’d gotten out of the shower, and Caleb, having woken up fully, had wrapped the throw blanket around his shoulders. He looked pale; perhaps a little tired. He offered me a weak smile when I padded out, drying my hair in a towel.

“If you want to take a shower, Katie wouldn’t mind,” I suggested. “There’s soap here—towels too.”

Caleb grinned at that. “Sounds too good to be true… but… ah, where are my clothes?”

“Being washed,” said Carmilla as I added two bear claws onto a plate and sat on the couch across from him. “Katie said she’d bring them up when she was done in the shop.”

“Washer and dryer’s downstairs,” I said around the pastry I’d stuffed in my face. I wasn’t hungry, per se, but Katie was one of the best bakers I’d ever met, and her bear claws were second to none. There was no way I wasn’t going to have at least one… or three. “She’s doing a load of linens for the café, too, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“You have clothes here?” asked Caleb, eyeing my pajamas. I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or just curious.

“These are some spares Katie keeps for when I stay over. I’ve got extras at my place for her, too. I’d offer you some, but I’m afraid all that’s probably left are her fuzzy bunny jammies.”

“It probably beats being stuck in my underwear.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” I laughed, “though Iwouldenjoy seeing you try to get even a single foot into those pajamas. Katie’s even smaller than me.”

Caleb looked like he was about to retort with something hellishly inappropriate when Katie’s intercom buzzed. I turned toward the door, as I was the only one in the room who knew where it was and how to work it, and ran over to press the buzzer. Katie’s face flickered on the screen in the grainy video.

“Hey,” she said. “Danny’s down here and he’s a wreck—can you come and talk to him?”

“What? Why is?—”

“You never answered him, apparently? He’s been texting and calling to apologize for the shitty thing he did on your birthday”—she leaned in and lowered her voice—“and I wasnotabout the be the one to tell him it was because you wereschtuppingsomeone. A reallyhotsomeone?—”

“Okay, Katie, jeez… all right.” I rubbed a tired hand across my forehead. Danny. Goddammit. I should have known Katie would have eventually gotten hold of him and given him an earful. She probably called him and cussed him out the minute she dropped me off at the doctor’s on Saturday. I’d bet he’d been freaking out since then—hence the numerous texts and calls I’d gotten following my “appointment.” Hell, it was almost laughable. It felt like my birthday had been two hundred years ago, if it was a day. How had my life changed so much in such a small amount of time? I looked around, sighing as I realized my bag—and therefore my phone—was nowhere in sight, and I spun to the doctor.

“Carmilla,” I called over my shoulder, “did you happen to grab my purse when we left? Cell phone, anything?”

“Uh, no, didn’t think to,” she shouted back.

I sighed then turned back to the monitor. “Can you tell him I’m coming down?”

“Aye-aye, cap’n!” Katie said with a goofy grin on her face. She signed off with a dramatic military salute before ending the call.

I normally would have found Katie’s antics much funnier had it not been for the fact that I was literally in the middle of getting ready to explain the whole “we can’t keep having sex or our weird demon magic will bind us together in some kind of bizarre,unholy matrimony” to the incredibly hot guy I’dliterallybeen banging all weekend, but whose middle name I didn’t even know?—

Holy fuck, listen to yourself. “Banging” all weekend? You’re twenty-six, not seventeen,I reminded myself. But what exactly did one call it? “Making love” felt too personal, and “having sex” too informal. What was the middle ground? “Fucking?” Too vulgar. I shook my head and settled on “sleeping with” until I could think of something more appropriate for… whatever we were.

No, whatever wehadbeen… he’s leaving tonight, remember? Then… you are, too—and not to go with him.

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