Succubus Love

Heart

Prior to crossing the threshold into Valin’s office, Zelah prepared her face. She found the most friendly fake smile in her arsonal and threw it on.  She walked in and he did not acknowledge her. So she proceeded to sit down. 

“Can you believe what happened today?” She said to break the building tension.

Valin finally looked up with a smug look on his face. He sat back in his chair and tapped his pen on the desk. “A lot happened today. Which part of the day are you referring to? Do you mean the part where my wife announced her pregnancy to all of her friends but did not think of telling her damn husband? That part?” his lip curled up as he looked at his wife in disgust.

“If the castle operates the way it should. You received the report prior to the babyshower. Right?”

Valin laughed. “So that's how you communicate important news to me. Through a damn physician's report?”

“At least I communicate. I had to find out that…..that…you were distressed by my bedroom request!” 

“You can’t even say the word ‘s*x’ can you?” He snidely remarked.

“Are you serious right now?!”

“Yes! How can I communicate my desires, my concerns about my s****l appetite to a woman who can’t say the word ‘s*x’. A woman who would rather divert her eyes from me  and elude my touch than understand the basic concepts of marital relations!”

Zelah clinched the neck of her dress and leaned back on the sofa.

She scoffed, “Well I never!”

“You said you were okay with our arrangement. You aren’t okay though. Right? Right Valin?”

Valin looked down at his desk. Zelah's voice became lower like she was struggling to breathe, “And then you told…told…Laila? Now everyone…” Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she was no longer able to hold in her sadness.

“Our arrangement did change my perspective on s*x. I didn’t want to tell you because you would think it was your fault. In reality I was already struggling with some things before our arrangement.” Valin took a deep breath then continued. “The fact that you thought it was okay to not tell me, face to face, that I would be having my second child was disrespectful. As a person who was groomed to be a Queen, you are familiar with how the urgent to lower priority paperwork is arranged on my desk. What priority is a physician's report and how often do I get them?”

Valin waited for her answer like she was not visibly out of sorts.

“It’s Medium.” she answered then her eyes widened like she had an epiphany.

“I did not take into account Dsa was 6 months pregnant. You receive about 2 to 3 per day depending on possible concerns.” 

He exaggeratedly looked over at a stack in the left corner of his desk. She looked over then blotted her cheeks with a handkerchief.

“I apologize for not talking to you first.”

“I am very excited that we are having our first child so soon. And I really hate that our first conversation about it was an argument.”

Zelah giggled then responded, “There’s no need for us to meet for marital relations anymore. Well at least until he or she gets here.”

Valin's mood darkened once more.He had just lost Laila. Her response was just a nail in his celibacy coffin. He rubbed his temples and changed the subject.

“Are you and Queen Sueli friends now? I am going to have to banish her from Wilshana in order to make sure the residents feel safe.” Just saying those words made his stomach turn but he could not protect her. She was not his queen. Zelah jumped up from her seat and exclaimed, “What?Well I guess that is the next most logical step. I mean since she turned into some form of demon and attempted to kill one of the concubines. Where was I going with that?” Within the rambling she lost her train of thought and held her finger to her forehead searching for it.

“Are you saying I shouldn’t banish her?”

“I’m saying. I don’t want you to. I like her. She isn’t phony like the other nobles. We have tons in common. We’ve read the same books. Cried to the same movies. In the 30 minutes of us talking, I felt like I wanted to have more of those conversations.” Zelah sighed. She had never had a close friend before and she felt like Queen Sueli could be the one.

“You weren’t frightened by her?” Valin continued to probe.

“Of course. She was terrifying. Valin…..what is she?”

Valin rolled his eyes. She would find out sooner or later. “She’s a succubus vampire.”

“That’s impressive and you let her work here, knowing that?”

“Are you questioning my ability to make decisions for this kingdom?”

“No, your majesty.”

“I knew she was a vampire because her husband is one. The succubus part is new to me. If we don’t banish her, what do you suggest?”

“I don’t know. I just know I don’t want to lose a potential friend.”

He wanted so much to agree with her. “That’s enough for today. We will talk again soon.”

Zelah curtsied and took her leave. Valin knew he had to publicly distance himself from Queen Sueli and the Vampire King. Once word got out that he allowed a demon to work for him, the seeds of distrust would be sown.

He sat in his office putting a notification together to go out to the people. 

“f**k. Why does this feel so wrong?”      

    —---

When Josey woke up, the twins were kneeling next to the sitting area. Their eyes were open but vacant. 

“Thank goodness. You are finally awake.” Cofer said then kissed her lips. He had sat up into the night watching her closely.

Josey looked left and right then sat up quickly. “What happened? How did I get here?”

Cofer closed his eyes then rubbed his temple. In the silence she could hear Sueli crying. “I’m sorry Josey.”

“What did you do?” Josey whispered aloud to Sueli.

“She came out during the baby shower and just about killed Laila.” Cofer answered.

“Laila needs to die,'' Josey growled. She moved to get out of the bed.  “Call her home now, Cofer!” She said from behind gritted teeth. Her eyes gleamed bright red. The blood lust seeped from her along with Sueli’s darkness. The twins awoke and jumped to their feet. Cofer waved them off. He was going to allow Josey’s rage to move forward.

Cofer created Laila. All he had to do was order her to come to him and he did.

—-

Laila gathered the belongings she brought to the castle and continued to cry. After she was packed, she continued to lay in her bed. She didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay by his side. As she stared up at the ceiling, she heard her true king's voice. Her heart thumped in her chest. She figured he would call for her but she was sure she could talk her way out of the situation.

She stood and followed his voice without hesitation. It led her to Queen Sueli’s room where she entered the transporter.

—-

The moment Laila walked through the DT,  she was ordered to kneel by the twins. Then Cofer asked the twins to stretch their legs and stand guard by the door. Josey walked over to her, black smoke poured out of the back side of her body. Her eyes were blood red. Laila could not stop herself from trembling.

“Explain why you believe Zelah ruined my Valin?” 

Laila wheezed. The pressure in the room weighed heavily on her.  “All of this murderous intent is from her?” she thought to herself.

“Zelah does not like to be touched. King Valin started requesting odd s****l encounters in order to fill some weird need. He is no longer loving or intimate when we have s...” 

Before she could get the word out Josey punched her in the face. Her ears rang, she could hear her jaw break and her teeth crack.

The darkness that radiated out of Josey's back soon covered her arms and hands. She felt the urge to eat Laila. Sueli whispered, “What about just the heart?” Josey grinned and leaned eye to eye with Laila. She could feel Cofer’s intense gaze. The thought of ripping Lailas's heart from her chest turned her on immensely.

She pushed the darkness around her right hand into Laila's chest. Laila’s bottom lip quivered. She was sure Cofer wouldn’t kill her but she didn’t think about his wife's actions. Maybe that's why she felt bold enough to speak to her the way she did. She was sure her king had just found a beautiful play thing. Turns out he found a beautiful monster.

Laila could hear the veins popping around her heart as the darkness severed them but there was no hole in her chest. When Josey pulled Laila's heart out, it was surrounded by the black smoke and continued to beat. 

Laila stared at her beating heart in Josey’s hand. Josey ran her fangs over the top of the organ and the scream Laila let out could rival a banshee’s. But Josey didn’t flinch. She took a large bite out of her heart and Laila’s body started to convulse and writhe on the floor. Thick blood flowed from Josey’s mouth as she drank and consumed the flesh. Laila’s body started to turn to ash as Josey popped the last sliver into her mouth. 

She licked her fingers and growled, “Next time, watch your f*****g tone.”