It was Saturday evening, and the four of us just finished our dinner. We were fairly lazy and didn't do anything special this time, me and Susan and Melissa all had nugs. Amber skipped dinner, she didn't feel like eating.

After we took care of the dishes and stuff, Lily asked me if she could take over.

Five days had passed since we talked about the stuff she learned from Verothilas, and she was finally ready to discuss it with all four of us.

I let my girlfriends know Lily wanted to talk, then everyone got drinks and we all sat down together in the living-room and I slipped inside.

Me and my demon mom exchanged a tight hug, then I settled on her big leather sofa while she took over our body. She took a deep breath, then addressed all four of us.

"Good evening Melissa, Susan, Amber. Sorry to interrupt your evening, but there are some things I'd like to discuss with all four of you. There's some things I've had on my mind lately, especially since the last new moon, and I'm finally ready to share them with all of you."

"Of course Lily," Melissa responded. "What's going on?"

Sue added, "Is everything all right? You sound really serious."

Lily responded, "There's no immediate threat, we aren't in any current danger. There's a lot I want to cover so this might be a bit of a long story, but I'll ask you to indulge me."

She looked over my three girlfriends one at a time, and she already knew she had my full attention.

Melissa and Susan were both dressed very casually, the tall busty blonde was in a pair of cute green shorts and a tight pink top. All her curves were on display, as were her long shapely legs. And the curvaceous redhead was wearing a simple sleeveless dark green sundress which did a good job highlighting her assets.

Amber only just got home from work before dinner, so she was dressed up a little more. She was wearing a knee-length pleated black skirt and a cute white blouse with a deep V-neck. There was a little more cleavage on display than usual, which led me to suspect she'd been making some not-so-subtle adjustments with her shape-shifting magic to enhance her work look.

I was dressed even more casual, all I had on was my usual black top and leggings. Which meant that's all Lily was wearing as she sat on the love-seat across from my girlfriends.

The three of them had vodka coolers to drink, there was an open water bottle in front of Lily but she hadn't bothered with it yet.

Seeing that all three of them were eager to hear what she had to say, my demon mom took a deep breath then began her story.

"As you know, until my imprisonment in the year one thousand and seven CE, I spent most of my time in and around what is now known as Italy. Though I did regularly travel around the Mediterranean. You also know about Verothilas, for most of her life she made her home in what is now the British Isles. Although she also frequently wandered further abroad, straying into western and northern Europe."

"Older than both myself and Verothilas, a demon named Armaros made his home in what is now known as Morocco. And like the rest of us, he tended to roam on occasion. His travels would take him along the west coast of Africa and around the western half of the Mediterranean. The fourth demon in this story was the youngest of the group, her name was Efranir. She was born a little over six thousand years ago and made her home in Iceland, but she frequented northern Europe, especially Scandinavia."

Lily paused for a few moments, but none of us said a word. I think all four of us were somewhere between curious and excited to finally hear Lily talk more about her past.

"As you can probably guess, Armaros and I encountered each other fairly quickly since we both considered the Mediterranean to be part of our territory. That first meeting was a little over seven thousand years ago. Armaros is more than a thousand years older than myself, and even back then he was fearsomely powerful. Fortunately for me he wasn't interested in fighting for control of the territory. Instead we became loosely allied, about as close to friends as demons tend to get. Likewise, roughly five and a half thousand years ago Verothilas and Efranir met each other under similar circumstances in northern Europe, and they too became allies rather than enemies."

"Our two groups finally met just under five thousand years ago. While there was some tension at first, none of us were eager for combat. And since both groups were already accustomed to working in a team, all four of us agreed to keep the peace between us. Verothilas and Efranir in the north, Armaros and myself in the south. Between the four of us we controlled all of northern and western Europe and the north part of Africa."

"Each of us had our own unique style of magic, likewise we all fed in different ways. You already know about mine. And you know how Verothilas fed. Armaros gains sustenance through violence such as fighting and death, but for him it's all about single combat. Think boxing, martial arts matches, duels. He has no taste for war, it does not interest or feed him. And Efranir could best be described as the opposite of Verothilas. Where the latter fed on positive emotions such as love and trust and joy, Efranir fed on negative ones such as fear and hate and sorrow. Together we were a very unlikely group, but we were allies and comrades."

Hearing how Efranir fed caught my attention and I was practically bouncing in my seat as I waited for the next part of the story. I could already guess who she was in relation to Lily and myself.

After another pause, my demon mom continued with her story, "At that first meeting I was captivated by Efranir, but Armaros also had eyes for her. And Verothilas set her sights on me. Rather than cause strife within our group, I kept my feelings for Efranir to myself. Armaros claimed her as a lover, while Verothilas claimed me. I didn't dislike her and I wasn't unhappy sharing a bed with her, but she wasn't my first choice."

That left me feeling sad, but I knew Lily and Efranir had to have got together at some point so I waited impatiently for the next part of the story.

"That was how things stayed for over a thousand years," Lily said. "Eventually though, Armaros and Efranir parted ways. It was to the best of my knowledge an amicable separation, or as amicable as can be between demons. They didn't have a falling out, they simply decided they'd had enough of each other. Armaros turned his attention to Verothilas, and I thought that left me free to pursue Efranir. So pursue her I did. The two of us had much in common and for perhaps the first time in my long life, I experienced happiness."

My demon mom's voice trailed off and she sighed deeply, "The next part of the story relies on information I was able to extract from Verothilas at the last new moon. Unbeknownst to me, my first lover was not prepared to let me go. While she was happy to receive Armaros' advances she also wished to keep me to herself as well. And before meeting Armaros and I, she had also claimed Efranir as her own. Perhaps I should have expected it, but Verothilas wanted all of us for herself. She was greedy, and she was jealous. And by turning away from her and taking each other as lovers, Efranir and I both inadvertently enraged her. Rather than confront us openly, Verothilas let us both go but privately declared a vendetta which almost cost me everything."

She sighed again as she got to the hardest part of the story. "I desired a child, and Efranir was the only one I wished to help me attain that goal. Around seventeen-hundred BCE I discussed it with her, she agreed, and we spent most of that century making it happen. My progeny was born around sixteen-hundred BCE, and the next five centuries were some of the best years of my existence."

Lily paused again, and her voice became quiet as the story grew darker. "Around eleven-hundred BCE, Efranir was killed. At the time I didn't know who took her from me. She died near her home in Iceland while I lived in what you know as Naples. As of the last new moon, I now know she was murdered by our former ally Verothilas. And in the year seventy-nine CE, my child was killed just outside Herculaneum. I've since learned she was killed by Armaros, acting on Verothilas' orders. And finally, in the year one thousand and seven CE I was betrayed and imprisoned. That too was orchestrated by Verothilas."

My demon mom sighed, "She killed my lover, my child, and she would have seen me imprisoned for all eternity, because I dared love another demon more than her. And the story would have ended there, if not for some miracle of luck or fate."

She paused and took another deep breath, then when she continued her voice was quiet again.

"Nineteen years ago the soul of my daughter was reborn as a human. Last year the amulet into which my essence was sealed found its way into my reborn daughter's hands, mere hours before she was killed by a distracted driver. The blood spilled by her death was enough to rouse me from my slumber, and against all odds my progeny and I were reunited. She a recently-deceased human spirit, I an incorporeal demon. The two of us formed a temporary bond, and less than seven days later we made that bond permanent by way of a pact."

My heart was racing and I never wanted to hug Lily more than I did at that moment. That was the acknowledgement I'd been hoping to hear for the past four months. After our talk almost two weeks ago I thought she'd never say it, but hearing her confirm I really was her reincarnated daughter filled me with all kinds of joy.

My girlfriends had all been quiet through the whole story, their expressions shifted several times as Lily shared the details of her life but nobody said anything. Until now.

"Lily that's..." Melissa sounded almost as emotional as I felt. "So you're sure? I mean about you and Mara?"

"I'm sure," my demon mom nodded. "I've suspected since I first saw her soul standing on the road last summer, but I've been afraid to admit it to myself. And after spending almost fourteen months together, I was all but certain. What I learned at the last new moon confirmed it, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Mara and I were separated two thousand years ago, and we were reunited last summer."

"What about the thing you said," I asked, "About never seeing any souls reincarnate? Am I really the first?"

She smiled, "Yes Mara, you were the first. But you aren't the only one. Since we've been together, I have encountered a handful of other souls whom I've known before. Amber's parents for example, I knew them in Pompeii. They were married then as well."

The cute brunette grinned, "Seriously? You mean that wasn't just you being drunk and silly, my parents really were Caecelius and Metella?"

"Yes Amber," Lily nodded. "They were."

"Have you met any others?" Susan asked.

My demon mom replied, "A few more. The only other one you know would be Mara's new friend Grace. When I first met her she was known as Sabina, and she lived in Neapolis around five hundred BCE. I knew her quite well, she signed a contract with me. Though I don't think it would be a good idea to mention that to her."

"No way!" I could hardly believe it. "Grace was a part-succubus in a previous life?"

"Yes Mara," Lily replied. "That's what I said. She worked for me some twenty-five hundred years ago."

Melissa looked serious again as she asked, "Lily this is all amazing and I'm sure we could spent the rest of the night discussing it, but I'm assuming there was a point to all this? You wanted to tell us about your past, about those other demons for a reason, right?"

My demon mom nodded, "That's right. Thank you Melissa for getting us back on track. I wanted the four of you to know the full story, to know about myself, Armaros, Verothilas, and Efranir. And how those other three demons were involved with myself and Mara. You know that my lover was killed just over three thousand years ago, my progeny was killed two thousand years ago, and I was imprisoned a thousand years ago. You know that Verothilas was behind all of it, and through what I can only describe as a miracle of fate or fortune Mara and I were reunited last year. And last December we got our revenge on Verothilas before I even knew she was behind the three most painful experiences of my life."

Lily paused for a moment, as if to collect her thoughts and control her emotions. When she spoke next her voice was cold as ice.

"Armaros took my child from me. He murdered Mara for no better reason than the bitch he was fucking told him to do it. He still walks the Earth, he was the first of our group and now he is the last. But not for much longer. Melissa, Mara, you two figured out Verothilas' true name. Now I am asking all four of you to do the same for Armaros."

My demon mom continued, "He doesn't know I'm back, he doesn't know Mara is back. He might know Verothilas is missing but he won't know what became of her. I've known him longer than I knew her. I'll tell you everything I know about him, and I have faith that the four of you will find me the name of the man who killed my child."

Melissa glanced at Susan and Amber, then looked back at us and asked, "So where do we start?"

Lily took a deep breath then began the next part of her lecture. "Armaros was born in approximately seventy-eight hundred BCE, on the island now known as Tenerife..."

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