Did he really need to flirt just to have a simple conversation? I nodded. “Yes, to some extent.”
“Well, then. If you won’t come play with me, would you do me a favor? One of the succubi I’m rather fond of took a serious injury in the battle. She isn’t in danger of dying, but my healers are already stretched thin. If you would do this favor for me, I would be in your debt.”
My eyebrows crept upwards. A Prince offering to be in my debt over a succubus?
I reached for my magic, half afraid it would still be consumed, but the sleep Belial had insisted on had brought the embers back to a flame. Both dark and light fire reached back for me, pleased to be called on.
“I’ll heal her for you. As for your debt, you can pay it back by remembering that I’m very much off-limits and not usually in the mood for pointless flirtation. Deal?”
I held out a hand, waiting for him to take it.
Asmodeus looked pained. “But variety is the spice of life… very well. I’ll try to commit that fact to my memory, but if you ever get tired of the same old, you know where to find me…”
He trailed off under my glare.
“Thanks, Prince,” I said cheerfully. “I won’t get tired of the ‘same old’, and I really appreciate how hard you’ve been working on those memory exercises.”
He grumbled and released my hand, allowing me to finally ride past him. Maybe he’d remember, maybe he wouldn’t. I didn’t really believe he’d lay a hand on me without my permission, but there was something about having to cut through a thousand come-ons to get to the point of a conversation that frayed my patience.
I felt his eyes on my back as we melted into the Second Circle, tickling at my senses and making me far grumpier than usual.
Capheira switched her tail in annoyance.
“I agree,” I muttered. “Now let’s go heal a succubus and get our answers.”
5
Melisande
We rode until we found the fountain Belial had spoken of and the succubus temple.
It was literally impossible to miss.
The fountain was graced with an enormous statue of white marble laced with gold, depicting a naked succubus in her full form. Water poured from her eyes, mouth, and nipples and splashed into the marble pool below.
“Very interesting taste in decoration,” I muttered, unwilling to see if anything else on the statue was gushing. I wouldn’t put it past the artist to have felt the nipples weren’t quite enough.
The temple was just beyond Water Nipples. It was made of the same material, a circular white tower rising above the rest of Lust, with gilded sconces set near the doors. There were no windows in the temple, only a large pair of doors and steps guarded by a pair of succubi.
As Capheira moved closer, I realized they weren’t just there for decoration. These were full-fledged succubi, the real deal. The vicious protectors of women.
Both of them had horns curling back over their skulls, the tips capped with razor-sharp iron spikes. Their nails were long, wicked claws that could gut a man, and the bones in their bat-like wings had been edged with spikes.
They wore scaled, form-fitting armor, scattered with silver thorns, and each one had a sword and a whip at her waist. They weren’t the sort of whips I’d used in Belial’s arena, with a stinging nettle in the fall; these were whips meant to kill, with tiny razor blades woven along the length of them. A few slashes with them and a demon would bleed out before he knew what hit him.
I slid from Capheira’s back and gripped the lead, approaching the temple and the rather intimidating guardians on foot. As soon as I was close enough to take the first step up, they moved in tandem, thrusting their swords in an X to block my path.
“By the order of the Silverthorns, only women in need are permitted into this temple right now,” the one on the right said. Her face was covered by an iron half-mask, revealing only a pair of hard and long-lashed brown eyes.
“I’m in great need for someone else’s sake,” I said, feeling the first tinge of nerves. What if they didn’t let me in?
“We’re housing the injured here,” the other said. Her voice was only a little gentler than the first guard’s. “If you’re looking for leisure, this is not the time or the place.”
Irritation rose under my nervousness. Who the hell would come looking for play at a time like this?
Probably quite a few demons, actually. Otherwise they wouldn’t have fully armored guards at the door.
“I’m not here looking for a good time,” I said, trying to keep my tone even. “I’m here to heal a succubus on your Prince’s behalf, and to ask your leader if she’ll help me look for Vyra. Erisvyra, the Lord Watcher’s sister.”
The guardians exchanged a glance, and the brown-eyed one was the first to lower her sword. “Give your reins to the girl,” she said. “You’re welcome here, and your mount will be guarded. Ask for the High Priestess.”
I finally pulled my eyes away from their swords and claws long enough to realize there was a young succubus at my side. She couldn’t have been older than ten, still chubby-cheeked, her wings small and incapable of flight, and looking bright despite the tension in the air of Lust.
I handed Capheira’s lead to her and stroked my horse’s silky neck. “Be nice for her,” I said quietly, and the young succubus just beamed up at the horse.
“She’ll be good. I have sugar,” she said, and Capheira’s ears pricked up as she led the horse away.
The guardians sheathed their swords, and one of them pushed the doors open.
I steeled myself and walked up the steps, entering the sanctum of the succubi.
The doors closed behind me, but I hardly heard it. The interior of the temple looked like it’d been ransacked: several long silk banners in jewel tones hung haphazardly on the walls, and only half the sconces were lit, keeping everything in a soft half-light.
But the temple was full of temporary beds, every one of them occupied. As I moved forward, I caught sight of strips of silk wrapped around limbs like bandages, some of them soaked with blood.
All of the patients were female demons. The succubi had ripped down their decorations as a last resort for bandaging, and the few exhausted-looking healers moving around were using the lamps to see their patients by.
Even as I watched, the doors behind me were flung open again. I quickly moved out of the way as several succubi carried women inside, all of them wearing something that denoted the Circles they were from. One of them was tattooed with Leviathan’s red ink, and her chest was bleeding freely.
The healers got to work finding beds for the newcomers, and the dark shadows under their eyes seemed deeper than ever.
I steeled myself to interrupt but was saved by another succubus rushing forward. Her horns and claws weren’t on display, and old brown bloodstains smeared the front of her silk dress. “Who are you here for?” she asked, brushing her hair back and looking frazzled.
I didn’t know the name of the succubus I was supposed to heal. “I’m here for a woman who belongs to Asmodeus,” I said, feeling like I was intruding and out of place. “And to see your High Priestess.”
The succubus closed her eyes for a moment. “Ah. Rhalys. Come on, then. She’s not doing well, but the healers are just about burned out, so she’ll have to heal the hard way.”