Page 83 of The Wickedness of Man

“She is a weak creature. It’s for her own sake,” I said.

The look in my father’s face left no doubt as to whom he was referring when he replied, “It is a matter of weakness, certainly… butwhoseweakness, exactly, remains to be seen.”

He took a long, sharp nail and sliced the threads from Mercy’s lips, then bent forward and took her mouth with his. Mercy shuddered and gasped, writhing like a hooked fish. Shepractically scrambled upright on the desk to kiss him, absorbing more of my father’s energy, practically sticking her tongue down his throat.

Perhaps Ihadlet her go hungry for too long, but this display was infuriating—and he knew it. I forced myself to watch, unable to show how much anger raged through me as Father yanked Mercy across the desk onto his lap, scattering his papers and knocking a lamp to floor in the process. He sat back, letting her touch him; kiss him; steal his energy.

“Should I show you how to properly satisfy a woman so that she behaves without these barbaric restraints?” he asked me, sliding his hand up her skirt and tugging her dress upward so that I could see her bare bottom poised right over his erection.

I felt my teeth shifting, my horns sprouting, and I finally had to look away. If he tried to take my succubus… I was weak from not feeding on her as much as she was weak from not feeding with me, but Father would always be stronger either way; he would be able to whip me soundly in a fight.

His laughter rang out as he threw Mercy to the floor. She panted heavily, then crawled on her hands and knees back over to me. I shoved her aside with my foot—perhaps harder than was necessary—and she tumbled against the couch before righting herself and taking a seat on it. She covered her face with the veil, fingers shaking, and then clasped her hands in her lap, silent but for the pounding of her heart, which echoed in the room like a drum.

“You are correct on exactly one count: Carmillahasbeen in contact with Caleb,” Father said.

I felt my stomach leap into my throat.

“I can taste the traces of Carmilla’s energy on Mercy; your nun absorbed some of it from him in her investigation of his body… However, Carmilla isnotthe succubus who claimed him. That one…” He stood, purposely letting the robe drop. Besideme, Jax cursed and turned his gaze away. “…was much younger.Muchmore powerful—and right in front of your face when you let her get away from you.”

“Bullshit!” I said, slamming my hands on top of the desk much as my father had done moments before. “My men would have seen if there weretwosuccubi. There was only one?—”

Father strode over to the bedroom door and stopped, his hand on the knob. “Harrold, every time you open your mouth, you only serve to further convince me you’re not capable of taking on the role as the head of this organization. Why do you think I allowed Caleb on this mission? It was too important for you to mess up, so I had to make suresomeonewould do what was necessary.”

I was brimming with so much fury I very nearly couldn’t see straight. “Carmilla was never the target,” I whispered.

“Look at that!” Father extended his hand toward me, palm up, before feigning applause. “The boydoeshave a brain after all—note the date, Jax! We should add it to the calendar as a holiday to commemorate the day Harrold finally got afuckingclue! Of course, I wasn’t after the succubus! Do you truly think I would have let her go on this long if I didn’t need her out there, making her monstrous unions? Unions that by now, have increased demon numbers the world over?”

I met his eyes, snarling. “You used theonly chanceI had to attain the archbishopship to what, set up adatefor your whore spawn?—”

“You are certainly not one to speak,” Father growled back. “You merely presented me with the opportunity I needed, but in doing so, yes,you failedbecause you didn’t recognize the greater gift when she was sitting right in front of you—butCalebdid.”

“Caleb did nothing,” I spat. “Hefailed.”

“He did not fail in his duty—he was sent to awaken a lilin, andhe did. You were on a mission to capture a succubus, and yet…” He leaned forward. “…I don’t see her in custody. Do you?”

I stared at Jax; his face was impossible to read, but he looked studiously down at the ground.

“Father told you, didn’t he?” I asked him.

“I told no one,” Father grinned. “He only found out a little while ago himself. I wanted to make sure to be the one to tell you in person, so I forbade him from discussing it. Caleb performed his duties admirably; you did not. You know the rules of the game, Harrold: you havelost.”

I knew the words coming next, and I had to fight every instinct within me to throttle him.

“You willneverbecome archbishop.”

“No. No!” I screamed at him. “There was no other succubus! Carmilla was there. She’s the only one who could have?—”

“I know the feeling of that woman’s power better than anyone, and I can tell you now… She may have touched him; may have even tasted him, used her power to control him, but shenever slept with him. Caleb is probably even now helping awaken and empower the Daughter of Lilith Carmilla unwittingly lured into her trap alongside him—the one I placed directly in her path.”

I gaped at him; at Jax. “What…”

“Carmilla guides incubi and succubi cambions together to help them awaken,” Father said. “We have known this for years, but allowed it to continue, as she has a masterful eye for gauging compatibility; she always did.”

“You never told me,” I seethed. “You claimed it was a mystery how she was creating new succubi!”

“Jax, explain to the boy,” said Father breezily. “Since he is too stupid to grasp this concept on his own.”

“Your father was hiding the real goal all along,” Jax said quietly, wiping at his damp forehead. “It was a ruse. He has known what she’s been doing for decades, but pretended not to know what she was getting up to.”

---