Succubus Love

Cataha

The moment Cofer felt like he was waking up, he was mentally being tossed into an ice cold river. He was tired of the darkness. His wife’s cries filled it. His unconscious body was feeling all of her sorrows, all of her pains. She was coming apart. She called out to him several times but all he could do was listen. [What have I done?] 

In his dream, each time he was close to waking up he saw a flicker of fire. It never grew too big before it was extinguished by the icy river.  If he thought back to his Tillium killing spree the poison only lasted 20 to 24 hrs. Since he had been tossed into the river twice already, he deduced that at least 2 and half days had passed.

Cofer felt like his nightmares were stuck in an infinite loop. The moments before he was tossed back into the river, he would try to hear or smell his surroundings. He was sure they were at the riff. His only explanation of his circumstances was that the Cataha were trying to keep him sleep until they decided what to do with him. His first thought was ‘Why didn’t they just kill me?’. Even though he was immortal, he still couldn’t survive without his connection to the human realm. His heart. Unlike Josey, the heart was not a symbol of love or feelings, it was the only organ vampires required to process the blood that they consumed to live. It was akin to the human stomach. 

One thing he was sure of, was that he was falling apart right alongside his queen. She had been in despair for days. In between the flowing of her tears was her yearning then complete anger towards him. She probably assumed that since he didn’t reply to her desperate calls that their heart connection was completely severed too. It wasn’t. He had ignored the feelings transmitted over the past week and a half. He hated the joy Valin brought her. 

Before he could start his full scale pity party he saw a flame ignite. He quickly attempted to grasp it before it burned out. 

As he opened his eyes, the pungent, harsh smell of blood made his fangs descend. He was hungry. The repetitive administering of the poisoning had his appetite in overdrive and his body weak. He tried to break the shackles that bound his wrists but did not have the strength. The burning desire to kill, pillage, and f**k, was irresistably powerful. His body was heating up at a rate that made his mind go blank

“Cofer, breath.” A voice spoke quietly in his head.

“Daghaud? How? It doesn’t matter. Feed me. Feed ME!” Cofer growled. He pulled at the shackles, struggling to get outside where the smell of blood laden the air. 

“If you don’t calm down they will know you are awake and put you back to sleep!” Daghaud whispered sternly.

Cofer took many deep breaths. He could see the brilliant red and orange glow of the inferno in his eyes. He closed them and thought about Josey. He thought about the babies he wanted to get home to. Unfortunately those images were covered in a red tint. He was losing them.

“If you die today you won’t be able to say goodbye tomorrow.” Mataug whispered. A tear made of lava ran down Cofer’s cheek then sizzled as it landed on the jail floor. His words hit hard. Cofer wanted his one last kiss. He wanted to see his babies' faces that will probably look exactly like their mother's. Just one last time.  

“They have been taking your blood, so in order for at least 4 of us to survive, Cheva will be sacrificing himself to you. “ Daghaud said, still speaking low. Cheva was the third oldest of the group. He was tall and gangly and he had thin skin, almost see through. He looked sick in comparison to the others. Their capturers had also placed him the closest to Cofer, probably thinking he wasn’t strong enough to break Cofer’s chains. They weren’t wrong but his thin skin would make it easy for Cofer to reach his thickest artery in his thigh.

“We need you to drink quickly BUT you have to focus on the goal. If you drink our blood you will either lose your mind and kill everything, including us, or you will save us. Focus on getting home, on holding her. Please. “ Mataug’s deep voice reverberated in Cofer's mind. It didn’t even dawn on him that the gargoyles always had eaten devil’s fruit. It was in their blood from birth, which is why the darts did not work a second time on them.

Cofer  closed his eyes and nodded. Cheva laid on his side and pushed his leg towards Cofer while raising his chains above his head. He had prepared to die, but he’d also hoped that Cofer didn’t devour him. The closer his leg got to Cofer the more Cofer’s body shook in anticipation. The color of the fire in his eyes rotated between a cozy fireplace to a volcano spewing lava. Saliva foamed and oozed down the side of his mouth like he was a rabid dog. He was fighting his urges hard. 

Cheva was sure Cofer’s urges were winning though. His heart rate increased. He had never seen something so terrifying in his life and he was raised in hell. [I’m going to die.] The moment his artery was in biting distance, Cofer tore into him like a starving child who had never tasted meat before. Cheva worked to muffle his screams as his blood spurted out of his body and his skin and bones were gingerly tossed about. Even if he survived, it would take him a while to recover. After a minute of ferocious feeding Cofer started to calm down. Cheva laid still. 

Cofer removed his fangs from Cheva, then licked them. His blood was unworldly level delicious. Like he drank a large vat of sweet white wine that was laced with mint leaves. When he breathed out, he could see the cooling of his breath in the warm air. His heart thumped angrily against his chest cavity. The change was coming. He pulled away from the wall breaking the chains and pushing Cheva’s wilted body to the side. 

He turned towards the other gargoyles. Their blood was vivid in his eyes. He watched it pulsate and course through their veins. [Just one more bite.] 

Daghaud looked away from Cofer. “I hope you haven’t forgotten her already. “ he whispered. At that moment, a more human scent wafted into the cell. Someone was coming.  He turned towards the large cell door, moving so quickly he looked like a flicker of orange light. He reached out of the cell at the farthest wall and ripped the Cataha guards face off before he was fully visible. He licked the blood off of his hands then paused. There was a smidgen of gargoyle blood intermingled with the guards’. 

He turned back towards Daghaud and realized there were only 5 gargoyles in the cell, including Cheva. His senses slowly started to come back to him. Merioc, the youngest of them all, was gone.

“Merioc?” grumbled Cofer has blood dripped down his chin.

“He’s gone. He never made it to the cell. And we can no longer feel a connection to him.” While Daghaud was speaking Cofer was relieving them of their shackles. He started thinking through possible reasons for leaving them lightly guarded. Considering the size of the gargoyles and the fact that he was one of the strongest of the vampires, it should have prompted an army of sorts to secure them. 

“Is Cheva dead?” barked Mataug.

“No. But he will need to be carried.” Cofer said while looking over his shoulder. He was nervous he couldn’t lie. The depth of the smell of blood that lingered in the area was more than enough for concern. The group quickly made their way in the direction the guard came from. The holding dungeon was not that big. When they came to the end of the hall. There was only one way to go, up.  

Cofer felt a cold drool escape the corner of his mouth as he thought about the meal that lay ahead. When he pushed the wooden doors open, what laid in front of him answered all of his questions.