The door to the Double Deuce opened with a creak, the hinges protesting loudly. A wave of heat rolled out through the door, carrying with it the scent of oily food, beer, and the delicious aroma of living, breathing human beings.

Dana opened the visor of her helmet and licked her lips, a small chasm opening up inside her stomach. Ever since dying, she had been stripped free of most of her emotions, her ability to feel pain, and even her sense of cold. However, her sense of smell had been amplified, and right now, all she could smell was the delicious bounty of flesh that packed the dimly lit Double Deuce. Every individual had their own unique scent, and a tired waitress who smelled of burger grease, coffee, and sweet potato fries greeted her at the door.

Dana pulled off her helmet, revealing a tumble of shoulder-length blonde hair with streaks of gray in it. 

“You… waiting for somebody?” The woman’s hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, but several strands of it had already come undone, hanging lifelessly over a face that likely had quit giving a crap about ten years prior. She wore a faded nametag with the name Janice.

“It’s just me.” Dana’s eyes swept across the room, taking in the men who had already noticed her entrance. A couple of bikers in the corner were elbowing their buddies and pointing her out, and a couple of college kids took a break from losing their money at the pool table to ogle her over their beers.

She had never been comfortable getting attention like this when she was alive, but that part of her that felt uncomfortable was dead and gone, leaving only facts. These men could stare all they wanted, and Dana just couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Um…” Janice took a quick look around the bar, then back at Dana. “You sure you got the right place, hun?”

What Janice likely meant to say was this is no place for a single woman. 

“I saw this place from the main road. Thought I’d stop in for a… bite.” Dana tried to grin but ended up baring her teeth instead. Maybe if her parents had signed her up for modeling classes as a child, she would have been able to smile and wave at the judges, convincing them that she was beautiful both on the inside and the outside. 

Janice wasn’t one to argue, apparently, and just sighed in disappointment. “You got ID?”

Dana held up her wallet. “Been twenty-one for long enough.”

Janice shrugged and stepped aside. “Open seats at the bar. You can give your order to the bartender and I’ll bring it out from the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” Dana walked across the Double Deuce and sat toward the end of the counter. The door to the kitchen was to her left, and she could smell grease burning on the grill. Picking up a laminated menu, she flicked off some dried food that clung to it.

“Get you something?” The bartender was a tall man in flannel, and if his beard wasn’t so neatly trimmed, Dana would have assumed he stepped out of someone’s piss poor lumberjack sex fantasy. His sleeves were pushed up, revealing several different tattoos, including some that looked like they had been done in someone’s basement.

“Lemon drop.”

The bartender placed both hands on the bar and stared at her for several seconds. She wished he at least had a glass to pretend to be washing, maybe spit in it, give it a polish, and ask what brings her in.

Oh, you know, got murdered by a necromancer and can’t properly die and see my loved ones in the afterlife, so am hunting down some lost magical items. You ever had that problem?

“A lemon drop, please. You know how to make one, right?” Dana knocked on the counter impatiently. “Or do you only serve beer here?”

“ID?”

Dana slid her driver’s license over. He picked it up and inspected it thoroughly, then tossed it back.

“You want a tab?”

“Cash.” Dana pulled a ten from her pocket. The bartender made her some change and then went around the corner to make her drink. Dana spun around on the barstool and surveyed the room, looking for her target.

The front door of the bar opened, and a raven haired beauty in a tight red dress strolled in, her hips rolling with every step. The whole room went silent, watching the buxom bombshell as she walked toward the bar and took a seat on the stool closest to the entrance.

“I’ve just had the worst day,” the woman announced, slamming her hand down on the polished wood. “I just found out my husband is fucking his secretary, my car broke down trying to come out of the valley, and some asshole claiming to be my rideshare bolted with my phone and my purse.” She crossed her legs, briefly revealing a flash of lacey black panties that matched her thigh-high boots. “Please tell me there’s somebody here who is willing to buy me a drink.”

The college boys looked intensely interested, but the bikers stood up and immediately made their way to the bar. Instead of fighting for the woman’s attention, the college kids decided to cut their losses, settle up with the pool shark, and make their way to the door, vanishing into the fading light of day.

Dana smirked. It was probably the smartest move of their lives, for the newcomer was not only her partner, but the succubus Lily in disguise.

Dana’s lemon drop was set in front of her without a word, the bartender moving away to see what the newcomer was having. Dana gave her glass a little swirl, a small frown on her face. 

The first sip should have been sweet, tinged with lemon and a thinly veiled burning sensation that would have warmed her from the chest out. Instead, the flavor was muted, and she had to be careful not to quickly slam the whole thing like poorly flavored water. Her dead taste buds registered just a hint of vodka, but that was it. It pained her to admit that the popular trope about hot sauce and zombies was true, but intense flavors were among the only things she could taste that didn’t come from a human being.

“Damn,” she muttered in disappointment, her eyes flicking to the three men who had surrounded the stranded motorist. Lily briefly made eye contact with Dana, then turned her attention to the bartender.

“Apparently these men would like to buy me something hard and strong,” Lily said, opening her arms and hanging them on the men at her sides. The dress she wore was strapless, and it seemed to shift on its own just a bit lower, threatening to fall away and expose her breasts. “So what do you say, Paul Bunyan? You got anything hard for me?”

A couple of patrons laughed, and a couple more rolled their eyes, but Dana kept her gaze on the rest of the room, wondering who had what they were looking for.

Lily laughed, flirted, and drank. Dana ordered another lemon drop to keep up appearances, and even a plate of nachos. Other than the jalapenos, she couldn’t taste most of what was there, reminding her of a time when she had been younger and had her mouth numbed for some dental work. Her tongue had stayed numb for an unusually long time, and the tomato soup she had eaten could have been warm water with salt and pepper in it for all she knew.

An hour passed, followed by another. Dana played on her phone while Lily amused the bikers, playing pool with them, eating their food and drinking whatever they brought her. She was tilting around the room like a barmaid out of control, and Dana was starting to wonder what would happen if the succubus got good and drunk. Would her wings and tail poof into existence? Would she attack someone?

Maybe she should have thought this plan through some more.

“So what’s the deal with you and your friend?” Paul Bunyan was back, his dark eyes narrow.

“What do you mean?” Even though he had surprised her, it was easy for her to remain calm as if nothing had happened.

“I’ve seen you watching her.”

“It’s a free country. Lots of people are watching her.”

“Not like you are. I can see it in your eyes, you know this woman. Are you friends? Or maybe she’s your girlfriend, and she does this to make you jealous.” He picked up a bottle of beer from under the counter and took a sip off of it. “I’m only asking because I’m the one who has to clean up if the two of you start making trouble.”

“How considerate.” Dana looked at Lily, then back at the bartender. Would it make things worse if she told him they were trying to find one of his regulars? Naturally, the reason why would have to remain a secret. The man, Ray Scotes, was in possession of a magic item that Dana intended to take from him. No, the truth wouldn’t work here, but Lumberjack Holmes was going to need a solid answer that made sense.

Dana leaned across the bar, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you have to keep your mouth shut. Yes, I know her.”

Paul Bunyan’s lip curled up, but he remained quiet.

“So, it’s like this. My friend there, is… well, she’s my girlfriend.”

The bartender nodded. “And?”

“Well, we kind of have this arrangement. Once a month, we drive down from Wyoming and find a hole in the wall with a couple of horny guys. See, I’m into women, but my girl? She still loves herself a good dicking.”

“She seems the type.” Dana could smell the arousal on him now like a fine spice, see how he licked his lips. He probably wondered what his chances of an easy lay with Lily were, and Dana wondered a little herself. Lily, ever impulsive, had come along on this trip to help, but Dana was starting to wonder what that help would look like.

“Yeah, well, even though I’m not into guys, it gets me all hot watching her flirt with them, seeing them lust all over her.” Dana picked up a nacho and bit a piece of cheese off the front. It was like swallowing a wad of soggy paper. “We aren’t gonna cause any trouble, that’s not where the thrill is. My girl is going to get some of your patrons off and then the two of us are gonna go back to our hotel, and I’m going to eat her out while she tells me all the dirty things they got up to.”

Paul grinned. “Sounds hot.”

“Oh, it is. After I eat her out, I pin her to the bed and ride her face until she begs me to stop, just to remind her that she’s my bitch. We’ve done this every month we’ve been together. Helps keep things fresh.”

“You two ever wonder how hot a threesome would be? Why fantasize about seeing her with a man when you could watch it live?” She could almost smell the desperation in his voice. Was this the world that Lily lived in? Were all men this easy to manipulate?

No, it wasn’t that. She had met plenty of men throughout her life that had treated her with respect and kindness. She thought of Mike, the man she had been killed for. The necromancer Daryl had turned her into an intelligent zombie for the purpose of breaking into Mike’s house and stealing something from him. Daryl had made sure that Dana could never be properly killed, her soul locked on this plane of existence and away from the love of her life, her dearly departed Alex.

Consumed by hunger, she had broken into the house, only to encounter the strange creatures living within. They immediately came to her aid, finding a way to stave off her decomposition and allow her to think for herself. While she was busy considering if Daryl would actually turn her back to normal, or even let her die properly, Lily had gone after the man and killed him.

No. Not all men were easily manipulated. This one though?

“Maybe for our second anniversary or something. Not tonight.” She spun around in her stool. “Now if you don’t mind, the brain is the most sensitive erogenous zone and you are cock-blocking me.”

Paul Bunyan was clearly disappointed but said nothing as he walked away. Janice moved in and out of the kitchen with some burgers for a couple of older men who were content to watch ESPN on the solitary TV over the bar. Lily was now in the corner of the bar with the bikers. One had his arm draped over her shoulders, his fingertips lightly brushing her breasts.

“Excuse me, boys,” Lily proclaimed loudly, slurring her words. The rest of the bar had lost interest in her shenanigans, but Dana was still paying attention. “I need to visit the ladies room.”

“Need any help?” one of the bikers asked.

“Heh. Maybe in a bit. I just need to… freshen up.” She slid a hand up the man’s chest and then yanked his hair, tilted his head back, and planted a kiss on him. His buddies cheered them on, and Lily gave them a little wave as she stumbled across the bar and vanished into the bathroom, but not before giving Dana a look.

Dana waited a few seconds and then followed, pushing open the bathroom door. The ladies room smelled like it had been recently cleaned, but looked like it needed to be condemned. The sinks were badly chipped, just like the floor, and neither of the stalls had doors.

“Jesus,” Dana muttered, her eyes settling on Lily, who sat on one of the sinks with her legs crossed and a smug look on her face. Gone was the flush of drunkenness, the demon’s eyes glowing with hunger.

“I’d prefer you keep that word to yourself, deadhead.” Lily turned to look in the mirror, her hair and makeup magically redoing itself. “So, we’re not going to find Mr. Scotes here tonight.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because he hasn’t been in for weeks. Now, one of these guys is close friends of his, but I’m going to need a few minutes to get the info we want out of him, if you know what I mean. You’re welcome to come if you want.” Lily wiggled her eyebrows. “Pun intended.”

“That’s so funny, I’ve come back to life and forgotten to laugh.” Though she and Lily certainly weren’t a couple, what she had said about men had been true. With the exception of Mike, she had no interest in them and never really had. She had many theories as to why Mike was the exception to the rule, but had been unable to come to grips with any of them.

Lily chuckled. “For someone with a muted sense of humor, you’re still good for a laugh.”

“I have a question. When you were drinking with those men, were you actually drunk, or just pretending?”

“Ooh, I’m afraid that’s a trade secret of the demon world. It’ll cost you a kiss—”

“Not interested.” Dana turned to leave, but Lily grabbed her arm to stop her.

“That was a joke, I was only teasing. When I eat or drink human food, I can process it normally or, well, burn it off instantly.”

“That’s kind of convenient.”

“You would be surprised how much seduction takes place over a plate of tacos. And while I truly hunger for only one thing, the brain really is the largest erogenous zone, even for a succubus.”

“I… you heard that?”

“Oh, I have phenomenal hearing. I can’t wait to be your bitch later tonight.” Lily licked her lips. “Besides, I believe you are overdue for a meal of your own, are you not?”

Dana shrugged. “If we get to it, we get to it.” The gnawing sensation in her stomach wasn’t too bad, but she was starting to think of the people in the bar as snacks waiting to happen. Still, the idea that she was dependant on the cum that Lily was storing for her didn’t sit right. Maybe it was her independent streak, or the fact that it was magical man juice, or even both. 

“Liar. Your left eye is gray already.”

“Shit.” Dana looked in the mirror and saw that Lily was right. The sparkling blue of her left eye was replaced with a flat gray color. She tousled her hair to reveal that more strands of it had gone gray as well, then let out a frustrated sigh. What little life force she had was ebbing away, and this was always the first sign. Based on experience, she would be ready to tear people apart in about three days.

Scowling, she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a contact case.

“Need help?” Lily asked.

“Nah.” The contacts did nothing for her vision, but they were colored to match her eyes. She stuck both of them in real quick, then pulled her phone out and set a reminder to take them out later. The last thing she needed was for them to get stuck in there after several days. “Better?”

 “Much.” Lily hopped down off the sink and planted a quick kiss on Dana’s forehead, then pinched her cheek. “Why don’t you be a good little girl and get a soda from the bar while Mommy tries to find you a new Daddy.”

Dana rolled her eyes and wandered out of the bathroom. The bikers looked up in anticipation but were disappointed to see that it was only Dana.

Sitting back on her barstool, Dana spun around and to pick at her nachos some more. Paul Bunyan was back with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You girls have a little pre-game conference in there?”

Dana grunted. “Something like that.”

“Here.” The bartender slid over a piece of paper. “When that two year anniversary rolls around, give me a call.”

“Yeah, okay.” She took the paper and stuck it in her pocket. “Now, if you don’t mind…”

“Right, I’m a ghost.” He vanished to the other end of the bar. When he wasn’t looking, Dana crumpled up the note he gave her and dropped it on the floor, then used her feet to shove it in the gap between the bar and the floor.

“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath. The bathroom door slammed open, and Lily stumbled out, her chest and cheeks flush with excitement.

Picking at her chips, Dana watched for just a few more minutes before setting some cash on the bar and then walking out.

After all, Lily could handle herself.

Stepping out into the cool evening air, she found a quiet spot on the rocks across the street from Double Deuce. She had a great view of not only the bar, but anybody who came in or out. Up above the door, a small neon sign with the Two of Spades and The Two of Hearts flickered weakly.

The Double Deuce was on the northwestern edge of Laporte, Colorado. Any further up the road and you would end up in the mountains, or eventually the Red Feather Lakes region. This area was for mostly locals and people who knew it existed, and the bar was tucked off to the side of the road, sign number one that they weren’t trying to attract any attention.

The road was mostly quiet. The school year had just started up for the local college, and she doubted any college kid would ever wander this far out of town, unless there was a good reason for it.

Her own good reason involved a collection of magical items that a snake woman thought could be used to bring her back to life. One of these things had been sold to a thrift shop in Fort Collins called Unearthly Delights. Dana had originally hoped that a simple stop and shop would accomplish the deed, but had been aggravated to discover that Unearthly Delights had burned down in a mysterious fire over the summer.

She and Lily had holed up in a cheap hotel out by the highway, just east of Fort Collins, and it had taken them a couple days to track down the employees of the store. The succubus did some kind of Dreamscape brain hopping to find out who the flask had been sold to. The two of them had managed to use social media to track the new owner, Ray Scotes, to this place on the edge of Laporte, which was just northwest of Fort Collins proper. Except for a gas station about half a mile up the road, Double Deuces was one of the last stops on the way into the mountains,.

The smell of gas and oil filled her nose, and a car shot down the canyon, blowing past Deuces without slowing down. The taillights vanished around the corner, gobbled up by the darkness.

“Lucky fucker,” Dana muttered, then settled in to wait. If there was one benefit to being dead, it was that she never got uncomfortable.

***

Lily watched Dana leave through the front door of Deuces, then turned her attention to the biker closest to her.

His name was Thomas, and he was the one she wanted. During their many conversations, he kept mentioning that his buddy Ray had a cabin up in the woods that they could use if she wanted to get away from her husband for a bit. Of course, he would be there to keep her company, and they could even ride up there on his bike, but only if Ray gave him the okay.

Of course, that meant that Ray wasn’t responding to texts or calls from his friends, which they all thought was a little weird, but apparently he had been avoiding everyone lately. Frustrated that she wasn’t about to get a direct line to their missing buddy, it was time for her to take action.

“You boys have been so wonderful,” she gushed, putting one hand on Thomas’ thigh and the other on his buddy Jared’s chest. Thomas was heavy set, but she could feel plenty of muscle beneath the extra weight. Jared, on the other hand, looked more like a scrawny meth head who did just enough push-ups to be allowed to hang with the guys. “My husband is such a prick, but I’m glad I ran into you three.”

“Yeah, we’ll take care of you, Gabby.” Frank told her while scratching his beard. Frank wore a gold wedding band, and seemed to be comfortable playing wingman for both of his boys.

“Is Gabby short for something?” Jared asked her.

“Gabrielle.” Lily smirked. “My parents thought they were having a boy, so wanted to name me after an angel.”

“I think you still are an angel.” Thomas brushed hair away from Lily’s eyes, letting his hand trail down the front of her dress, his fingers lingering on her breast.

“I certainly don’t feel like one right now,” she whispered. “I’m headed back to the ladies room.”

“You just got back—” Jared said, but Frank kicked him in the shin.

“Like I was saying, I’m headed back. Anyone want to join me?”

Frank held up his hands. “I’m good here. Someone needs to keep an eye on our beers.”

“Love ya, brother.” Thomas stood up and followed close behind Lily as she sauntered back. Dana had gone outside a few minutes ago, and other than a knowing look from the bartender, nobody else seemed to notice.

Once in the bathroom, Lily pushed Thomas against the wall and stuck her tongue down his throat. He wasted no time in pawing at her breasts, his thumb catching on the fabric and ripping a few of the threads.

“Holy shit,” Jared muttered when he entered, giving the bathroom a quick look to make sure it was empty.

Thomas broke his lips away. “Watch the door.”

“Oh please. Nobody will bother us in here.” Lily grabbed Thomas’ cock through his pants, feeling it harden beneath her fingers. Using her other hand, she hiked up the back of her skirt. “Why don’t you get over here and help your friend make a woman’s dream come true?”

“Holy shit, holy shit!” Jared was fumbling with his pants. “Is it cool with you, Thomas?”

“Ain’t gay if we don’t make eye contact,” Thomas replied, then sucked on Lily’s neck while pulling the front of her dress down with his hands.

Jared came up behind Lily, his cock in one hand and his pants in the other.

“Lift my skirt,” she told Jared, and he obeyed.

A succubus’ tail could be summoned at will, and when Jared squatted down to push her skirt up, the venomous tip of her tail caught him in the chin. He let out a little grunt, the toxins rushing through his body. He fell forward into Lily, which pushed her against Thomas.

“Shit, did he just pass out? I keep telling that asshole he needs to lay off—” 

Lily’s tail caught Thomas in the thigh, and his eyes bugged out of his head before his eyelids fluttered and he sank to the ground.

Now against the wall, Lily straddled his body, her fingers undoing his belt. Using the thumb and forefinger of her left hand, she touched his temple and sank deep into his unconscious mind. His brain was like a storybook, and she flipped through the pages, trying to find the information she wanted. Here, inside the Dreamscape, she could extend time, turning hours of exploration that passes as seconds in the real world. Even if Frank grew suspicious and came in now, she would have days to find what she was looking for.

Unsurprisingly, her search was also turning up the fact that Thomas was a Grade A piece of shit. Between committing semi-major crimes, the guy had a kid he never raised, plenty of girlfriends with black eyes, and a pistol hidden in the concrete foundation of his house that had been used to put a hole through Billy Bixley’s skull fifteen years back.

Despite these things, the knowledge she needed was still buried, so she ignored them for now. Finally, she spotted several memories of Thomas going up into the mountains to hang with Ray and do some hunting and fishing.

She ran through the memories over and over, committing the route to the cabin to memory. The cabin itself wasn’t big, and it certainly wasn’t on a marked road of any sort. In fact, the road itself was merely a worn patch in the dirt with packed gravel beneath it. The cabin didn’t have an address that she could see, and she felt better about Dana not being able to find a public record of the place.

“Hmm.” Her body was in the real world while her mind was in here, and time had slowed to a crawl inside Thomas’ head. Smiling, she decided that she had earned herself a bit of a snack.

The Dreamscape formed around her, a dimension inside the biker’s mind that she could freely manipulate. After digging through his memories, she had pulled out the bits and pieces that were the most useful to her, recreating a brick and mortar building from the early nineties. Bright yellow goalposts fell from the sky to spear the green lawn behind the school, and the halls filled with outlines of people, their features filling in at random. Lily thought of them as extras, an amalgamation of random memories that served to generate faces and identities.

Strolling down the hall, her body warped and distorted, her skin turning dark and her hair kinking up into luscious curls. Still connected to Thomas’ mind, she realized that she wore the form of the teacher he had had a crush on in high school.

Her name was Ms. Martin, and she wore a bright yellow dress that hung to her ankles. Bountiful breasts strained against the fabric, and Lily was sure that Ms. Martin had never worn a dress as low cut as this one. She took her place in a room by the end of the hall and waited like a spider that had set out its web.

The noise in the hallway was muffled, and she leaned against the dry erase board, feeling Thomas’ mind close in on her.

When he pushed open the door, he looked like he did as an adult, but it was the idealized version of himself. Gone was the paunch and slightly thinning hair, his body shimmering with spiritual energy as he finished falling into the deepest of sleeps.

“Hey there, Ms. Martin.” The shit-eating grin on his face told Lily everything she needed to know. Somehow, Thomas was aware that he was dreaming, was aware that he was no longer a high school boy being crushed beneath the weight of society. He was a man now, and had returned to show Ms. Martin exactly what she had been missing.

“Hey there, Tommy.” Lily grinned. “You’ve gotten big, haven’t you?”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” Thomas stepped into the room, the desks closest to him shifting across the room in fear. Lily could feel his desire both for power and for Ms. Martin radiating from him. It was well within her ability to tamper down whatever control he had on his dreams, but she needed him nice and horny for what was about to happen next.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Tommy. I have a class that starts soon.” Lily spread her arms apart, her erect nipples pressing against the fabric of her dress. “Maybe we could meet after school?”

“Fuck, no.” His hand closed around her throat, and he squeezed. “I don’t give a fuck if someone walks in on us.”

Lily grabbed at Tommy’s hands, her fingers clutching uselessly at his own.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m in charge now.” He pawed at her breasts, easily tearing away the flimsy fabric. “I’m not some scared little shit now.”

Lily dug into his memories some more, revealing flashbacks of a much younger Thomas getting kicked out of class for all sorts of general douchebaggery. There were scenes of trying to get a peek at Ms. Martin’s bra, or staring contemplatively at her ass while she lectured. For him, half the fantasy was overturning the authority figure role.

“Please,” she begged, her hands moving to his chest. “You’re too strong for me.”

“That’s not all I am.” He unzipped his pants, revealing a dream enhanced cock, easily twice as long as it should be.

“That’s… so much bigger than…” She choked for dramatic effect, her eyes going wide.

“Bigger than what?” He released his grip slightly.

“My boyfriend’s. Oh, please don’t put that in me, I’ll be too loose and he’ll know I cheated on him.” She felt his desire spike, and in the real world, she was stroking his cock through his pants.

“Maybe if you suck it, I won’t fuck you.” He moved his hand off her throat and put it on top of her head.

“Yes, Tommy.” She sank down to her knees and opened her mouth wide. Thomas grabbed her by the ears and face fucked her, hard. Here, in the Dreamscape, this had no more effect on her than a wide yawn, but she choked and gagged, putting on a show.

“Take it, bitch.” He bottomed out in her throat, and she summoned spit and tears, her mascara running down her face. When he pulled out of her, a thick strand of spit connected the two of them.

“More!” she begged, pulling him back into her throat.

“Yeah, you really are a whore, aren’t you?” Thomas let out a groan. “Shit, I’ve fantasized about this since tenth grade.”

“Oh yeah?” Lily asked, but with a dick down her throat, it was little more than a gurgle with emphasis.

“All the boys did. Do you know how many times I used to beat it to your yearbook photo? All of us knew you were into sucking cock, and—” he grunted, then pulled himself out of her mouth before he could blow his load.

“Tommy, what’s wrong?” Lily crawled toward him on her knees, her yellow skirt catching on the floor. “Please, I need it. Give me back your cock.”

“Not yet,” he hissed, taking another step back. “I want more than a blowjob. Bend over your desk.”

“Tommy, no, my boyfriend—”

Thomas grabbed Lily by the hair and pulled, moving her over toward the desk. He gave her a shove, and she fell forward on her belly, manipulating her skirt so that it fell across her lower back, revealing a garter belt and long stockings. She wore black, lacey panties that were easily torn off of her rear with a single grab.

“Fuck you, Ms. Martin.” Thomas penetrated her from behind, and Lily let out a howl of delight, her hands grabbing the desk. He pumped her ferociously, slapping her ass every few seconds and calling her every name he could think of.

“Tommy, please, my boyfriend will know!”

“I don’t give two fucks about your boyfriend, I’ll beat his ass, too.” Thomas was fucking her hard enough now that the desk was scooting a couple inches every other thrust. In the real world, Lily’s hands were clamped around the base of his cock, stroking him ferociously.

“Oh, I’ve never felt so full, I’ve never felt so… oh, shit, I’m coming!” Lily felt a burst of fire rip free of her, an orgasm of her own on command, and she let out a cry of pleasure, shame, and rage all at once. It was all about putting on a show for the dreamer, and she was determined to collect her reward.

“Yeah, that’s right, take it bitch!” He slid his cock out of her, then pushed it against her asshole.

Lily smirked, tightening up her asshole. She wasn’t about to give it to him without a little resistance. “Please, no, I’ve never done that before,” she cried, trying to roll over.

“Then allow me to be your first!” Thomas forced himself forward, and Lily widened her anus, allowing him to slide all the way in. She let out a groan, which turned into sobs of pleasure as he pounded her relentlessly from behind. He was getting close, both here in the Dreamscape and in the real world, and it was time to play her hand.

“Oh, it hurts so much, but please don’t stop! Please, doooon’t stoooooop!” Lily cast her senses out, bending the Dreamscape to her will. The door of the classroom slammed open, and anonymous students swarmed in, their mouths going wide in surprise. They were the extras, hand picked for maximum effect.

“Holy fuck, is that Ms. Martin?” This from a teen that looked just like Thomas’ best friend in school, David.

“Is he fucking her ass?” A younger boy that would remind him of his brother.

“Look at how big he is!” A girl reminiscent of his first crush.

The room was packed with students, expanding to allow everybody in to see how amazing and powerful he was, to see him strip away Ms. Martin’s innocence right before their eyes.

“No, I’m coming, no, not in front of them, not noooooooow!” Lily’s legs lifted up, wrapping around Thomas’ back and pulling him all the way into her ass. Inside her body, she thrummed with power, vibrating and teasing his thick shaft.

“Yeah!” Thomas grabbed onto her hips and pumped furiously as the room full of students chanted, “Fuck her, fuck her!”

She let her mind slide out of the Dreamscape, her dream body now on autopilot as Thomas plowed her in front of the whole school.

“Slight deviation here, Tommy.” Typically, Lily consumed her prey right through her victim’s genitals, but today was going to be different.

Her fingers crept along his temple in the real world, and she opened her mouth wide above his eyes and inhaled. His eyelids popped open, and through the pupils of his eyes, a diaphanous substance stretched like cobwebs caught in the wind. Thomas’ soul, despite being stained with misdeeds, sparkled in the dimly lit bathroom to the beat of his heart.

If she wanted to, she could easily pull the entire thing free and consume it, trapping Thomas in an eternity of torment in her own personal Hell. The desire to do so existed, but she knew that leaving a body count was likely to draw unwanted attention.

Instead of feasting on his soul, she settled on a snack. His soul curled around her tongue and she sucked it in like cotton candy, eventually severing it with her teeth. The human soul was surprisingly resilient, and as the years went on, the piece she had taken would grow back. Thomas would likely find himself forgetting things more often, his body aging prematurely as it fought to regenerate what had been lost, but those were officially his problems to deal with.

She could feel the piece of his soul she had consumed fluttering wildy inside her belly like a frightened bird. It settled down as it became one with her, satiating her hunger for the time being. Thomas let out a little groan, unaware that his lifespan had been dramatically shortened, as he came in his pants. She checked in on his dream and saw that he was now making Ms. Martin suck his dick clean.

“Hope it was worth it,” Lily said, then withdrew her mind from his.

Jared was on his back, snoring softly on the bathroom floor, his limp dick still in his hand. Kneeling over him, she dug into his mind, searching for anything extra that could help. Other than being a long-term meth head who occasionally stole from convenience stores, it seemed that Jared had kept his largely shitty life to himself.

Still, a meal was a meal, so she repeated the process with him. His memories were easily manipulated, and he dreamt about the time he lost his virginity to a cousin when he was a teen. At the moment of spiritual climax, Lily tore a piece of his soul away, her eyes blazing with energy.

She licked her lips and stood up, surveying the scene before her with satisfaction. She had not only gotten the information that Dana needed, but she had also gotten a bite to eat.

“Thanks for the snack, boys.” She looked in the mirror and adjusted her makeup with a thought. 

Before walking out of the bathroom, she gave Jared a quick sting from her tail, injecting him with enough venom to give him a six hour hard-on. She dragged Thomas away from the wall and laid him on top of his friend, shoving Jared’s  wet dick into Thomas’ mouth.

“It’s okay as long as you don’t make eye contact,” she whispered, patting Thomas condescendingly on the cheek. Thomas let out a muffled snore in response, and Lily pulled his cellphone out of his pocket to snap a few pictures and texted them randomly to a few of his contacts.

“You two look so cute together! Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.” She tossed the phone on the floor, the screen cracking when it landed. She sauntered through the door of the bathroom, then resumed a bit of a stumble walk once in view of Frank.

“I think your buddies had too much to drink,” she slurred.

Frank rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, and got up to walk into the bathroom. 

Once his attention was off Lily, she made a hasty retreat toward the front door, her hand over her mouth like she was going to puke.

Nobody stopped her, and the loud laugh she heard from the bathroom brought a smile to her face.

The cool air of Laporte hit her skin, and she saw Dana across the street, huddled up in the dark.

“Give a girl a ride?” she asked. 

Dana ran across the street toward Lily and hopped onto the motorcycle she had parked around the corner. The engine of the bike, a mimic named Tick Tock, started on its own, and Lily climbed on the back, her body shifting back into her regular form. She wore a shredded white crop top and booty shorts with long, thigh-high black boots.

“You find out where he lives?” Dana asked.

“I did, but we need to go.” Lily planted a kiss on Dana’s cheek. “Take me somewhere nice?”

“On it.” Dana slid her helmet on and peeled out of the parking lot, showering the area with gravel. The bike roared beneath them as it carried them out of the canyon and back toward their hotel in Fort Collins.

 ***

“It’s around here.” Lily leaned over Dana’s shoulder, pointing at the map on her phone. The succubus had used Thomas’ memories to replay most of the route, which led up to a large forest near the Red Feather Lakes.

“I guess we can go up tomorrow, and take a peek around.” Dana zoomed out of the map with the pinch of her fingers. “There’s a ton of trees through here. It could take us a while.”

“It’s not like we have anything else going on.” Lily flopped onto one of the beds, her biker bitch outfit transforming into a blue pair of footie pajamas with a unicorn on the front. Upon check-in, they had been given a room with a pair of double beds, which were pretty much useless. Neither Lily nor Dana could even fall asleep, so it was just wasted space. The beds were moderately comfy, and Lily rolled over onto her belly. “Unless you want to go up there tonight and look around, we’ve got some time to burn.”

Dana scowled. “My superpowers don’t include night vision, I’m afraid, and I hate having this much free time.” She picked up the remote to the TV and started looking through the channels while simultaneously surfing on her phone.

“Ah, that’s because you’re a millennial.” Lily altered her vocal cords, and the voice of an old woman came out of her mouth. “Back in my day, we only got free time for thirty minutes a year, and even then we had to climb up a hill through broken glass to get it. And let me tell you what—”

Dana threw one of her pillows at Lily, hitting the succubus square in the face.

“What do you do?” Dana asked. “I hate not sleeping. My mind is always on full alert, it’s hard to relax, and I hate just sitting around, doing nothing.”

“Me?” Lily’s voice was back  to normal now. “Well, that’s hard to say. I was trapped inside a magical gem for so long, I never actually had any free time.”

“What did you do in the gem?”

Lily shrugged. “The best way I can describe it was like being in a dream. You ever have a dream that’s several minutes long, but you were only out for a few seconds? It was kind of like that. Just me sitting around with my thumb up my ass for years on end, occasionally popping out to do the Society’s dirty work. When I was out, all those years would press together into a few moments, but I still remember the waiting. It was the worst part of the ordeal.”

“Sounds awful.”

“I guess so. When I was out, I would fuck around whenever I could. Get inside people’s heads and live entire miniature lifetimes, and drive them a bit mad. The Society had me kill this guy once, and I lived inside his dreams for nearly forty years.”

“That’s a really long time.”

“For you, yes. But when you’ve lived as long as I have, it’s merely a weekend trip. It was the flipside, the bonus to being on their payroll. Get locked up for a year, try and turn a quick assassination into a decade or two inside of somebody’s brain.”

“Is that what happened with you and Mike?”

Lily let out a sigh. “Almost. I was planning to stretch things out, but he got me, I’ll admit.”

“How?” Dana turned to look at Lily. “I mean, your old master lost control of you because of it. How exactly did that work?”

Lily scrunched up her face. She didn’t like to think about her old master, Amir, or how he had trapped her in that ruby. “It was a contract I had with him. He and I played a game for ownership of his soul. When he lost, I went to collect, only to discover that he had given it away to somebody else.”

“And how did that make him your master?”

“Terms of the agreement. I was already his servant, the game itself was a bid for my freedom. Technically, even though he lost, I was unable to collect, which meant that my service to him could only be ended by a similar game with somebody else. Think of it like a hostile corporate takeover. He still owned the building, but the rules were in place for somebody else to swoop in and take it.”

“Interesting.”

“Didn’t think so at the time.” Lily scooted up the bed, fluffing the pillows behind her. “I got cocky. If I have a rule you should definitely follow, it’s never get cocky.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Dana looked back at her phone. Her hair was going gray in a few more places now, and Lily worried that she was getting hungry.

“You good?” she asked. “Like, if you need to be topped off…”

“Tomorrow.” Dana didn’t even look up from her phone. “I don’t want to… just, tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.” Lily turned her attention to the TV. Dana had stopped on an old Bruce Willis movie, so Lily watched along, her attention on the screen. When was the last time she had even watched a movie or read a book? She was super far behind on any sort of entertainment media, and most of her knowledge of the subject was from the unreliable dreams of others.

What she hadn’t told Dana was that on nights she wasn’t hunting, she found herself dream hopping through people’s heads. She wasn’t looking to cause any trouble, but it was almost like sleeping herself. She could simply ride along on someone else’s brainwaves, helping to bring about the morning sun that much faster.

She closed her eyes and leaned back, letting out a sigh. It was silly, but she took a deep breath and pretended, just for a moment, that she could actually have a dream of her own. Somewhere in the distance, as if through a tunnel, she was briefly aware that Bruce Willis was about to kick some ass.

The darkness closed in on her, and Lily felt the world shift around her dramatically as it was rebuilt from the ground up into an ornate building with jade embellishments. Turning her head to look around, she saw that she now wore the body of a young woman, and she was surrounded by various guards and servants.

Lily tried to walk away, but could no longer control her body. She was viewing the scene from inside the woman’s head, and a sick sense of recognition began to sink in. The thoughts in her head were no longer her own, and she realized she was caught up in the Dreamscape, only she had absolutely no control, the dream playing much like a movie would.

The princess stepped onto the cool stones of the bathhouse, her demure feet making very little noise on the marble tile beneath. The finest artisans in her father’s kingdom had built this room especially for her, using materials imported in from all across China.  Walking toward the edge of the bath, she cast a single look back at her escort.

A pair of older women sat on their knees, a set of buckets nearby. They were naked, but not because they were in the bathhouse. A nude servant could carry no weapons, nor could they easily steal, and both of these women had been with her family for as long as she could remember. They only replied when spoken to, choosing to remain respectfully silent in her presence.

“I wish to swim first,” she told them, receiving a demure bow from both. They heard and therefore obeyed.

“What fresh Hell is this?” Lily remarked. Had another entity lured her here? “Very funny, but it’s time to let me out.”

The bathhouse was large enough for dozens, and would likely be gifted to one of the other royal families upon her marriage. Someday, when her father passed away, she might reclaim the bathhouse as her own. It was one of her favorite places, though she did not travel here very often. Even now, several of the palace guards circled the bathhouse, ready to execute any man who would dare to take a peek. Her father was very protective of her purity, a trait that she often found endearing, but more often than not, she also found it exasperating.

The water was only a few feet deep, but the princess stretched out on her back, floating to the surface as one of her old nursemaids had taught her. With each deep breath, her breasts and belly broke the surface of the water, the cool breeze of the afternoon sky tickling her flesh. She had taken the ivory combs out of her hair before entering the bath and could feel the weight of the water pulling against her skull with every movement.

Being careful not to get her hair too twisted up, she allowed herself to float around the corner of the bath to where the waterfall had been built. It was here that the water was introduced to the bath itself, diverted from a nearby river, and she moved close to it, her eyes on the cascading curtain of water that fell nearly ten feet. Even as a child, she had hidden behind this curtain, surrounding herself with the calming sounds of water and shutting out the world.

Closing her eyes, she moved through the curtain, the water flowing along her scalp and onto her shoulders, then rejoining the pool beneath it. The bathhouse was just a shimmering mirage on the other side of the water now, her guards and attendants blurry statues to be contemplated from afar.

Being royalty came with plenty of demands and compromises, but the one she would never get used to was her total lack of privacy. Even when she slept, she had bodyguards standing over her. When she was young, she thought it was for her own protection, but the older she got, the more she realized that these women were also there to ensure that her honor wasn’t sullied. Her father had forced the entire village to close up shop just so that no man would see her on her trip to the bath.

However, here, behind the waterfall, she felt like she was finally hidden away from the constant observation of the palace. She inhaled the scent of bath oils and flowers, caught in the mist of the falls, and let out a deep sigh. Eventually, one of her servants would come to drag her out to be properly bathed, but she would have plenty of time alone until then.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

The princess jumped, turning around to see who spoke. She was surprised to see a young man crouched down between a pair of stone right behind her, hidden beneath the falls.

“Whoa, easy, don’t scream.” He put his hands out in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you or anything.”

“Who are you?” she asked, covering her breasts with her arms.

“Just some poor fool who fell asleep behind a waterfall.” He grinned, and she couldn’t tell if he was lying. “I saw you come in with your servants. You must be the daughter of the king.”

“My father would have you put to death!” she whispered, looking back over her shoulder. “You should go before the guards find you!”

“If I go, the guards will find me.” He relaxed, sprawling out on the rocks. His legs were in the water, and he wore simple, yet dark clothes that helped him to blend in with the stones. “If you don’t mind the company, I would be just as happy to stay here.”

Lily begged her to alert the guards, to do anything but listen to this man.

“You can stay, but keep your distance, stranger.” The princess smiled. “My name is—”

“Known throughout the land.” The stranger smiled. He was attractive, with short hair and a little scar on his chin. “As is your beauty, if I may say so. I can honestly say I have never seen a woman as beautiful as you.”

“A compliment I am familiar with.” She felt guilty speaking to him, and loved every second of it. An unfamiliar thrill filled her belly, and she smiled demurely. “Tell me something I haven’t heard before.”

“There’s a man who lives by the river. He can make coins appear out of nowhere, and if you give him some food to eat, he will teach you how to do it, too.” The stranger held up both of his hands to show they were empty, then extended a hand toward the princess. “May I?”

“Please, no,” Lily begged. She couldn’t bear to watch, but was unable to close her eyes.

She tilted her head to the side, and his hand hovered next to her ear. The slight contact of his skin on hers sent chills through her body, and when he pulled his hand back, he held a silver coin in between his fingers.

“How did you do that?” Her eyes went wide, watching the coin roll across his knuckles.

“Magic.” He pinched the coin in both hands, then pulled his hands apart. The coin was gone, replaced with a flowerbud. It was a beautiful white and pink lily with a short stem. He slowly leaned forward again and tucked it into her hair. “A gift for Her Majesty.”

The princess felt the heat rising in her face, years of etiquette training sliding to the side and allowing a smile to manifest on her lips. “You think a flower to be a fitting gift for a princess?”

“Her Majesty has everything she could ever want. How am I to compete?” His smile sent waves of nausea mixed with excitement through her, and she could smell the musk of his skin, a heady scent that was making her dizzy. “I picked that flower on my way here, just up the river. It is a treasure that is fleeting, and will fade from this world as dust. But it is my hope that every time you see a lily, you think of me. A simple gift from a humble man.”

He bowed his head, and opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of splashing water.

The princess frowned, and turned around. Through the waterfall, she could see that one of her handmaidens had entered the bath holding a bucket and was slowly wading over toward the waterfall.

“Looks like I must take my leave,” he said, a broad grin on his face.

“How?” the princess asked.

“The same way I came in.” He pointed at the waterfall. “Anyone who can hold their breath long enough can get in through there.”

“And how do you plan to swim against rushing water?” she asked.

He winked. “With magic.” He turned to climb the rocks.

“Wait.” The princess put out her hand. “Please tell me your name. That I may remember you next I gaze upon a lily.”

The young man smiled, and reached out to take her hand in his own. She couldn’t help but notice the beautiful, bronze ring he wore. The metal felt warm against her skin, as if it had been sitting next to a fire.

“Your Majesty may call me Aladdin.” He looked over her shoulder with a hint of panic on his face, and the princess turned to see that her servant was nearby.

Doing her best to buy Aladdin some time, she stepped through the waterfall.

“We must wash your hair, Your Majesty.” The servant’s eyes were cast low, not daring to meet the gaze of royalty. “We have just been informed that another suitor is to arrive late this evening, and your father wants you to have time to get ready.”

The princess nodded, then turned to look at the waterfall. The fading light of day created a mirror on the water’s surface, and she gazed into her own reflection. The sky became red, and the sounds of the bathhouse vanished. Shadowy hands sprouted from beneath the water and grabbed the princess by the arms, but she didn’t notice them.

The princess remained perfectly still as flames burst from the shadows and consumed her flesh, turning her into a pyre of light that burnt down in seconds. When the fire died, the water was black with bone and ashes, and the only thing reflected in the mirror of the waterfall was Lily, her face a mask of horror.

Lily’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up in her bed. Dana cast a bored glance her way, then turned her attention back to the TV. Dana was watching the new Baywatch movie starring the Rock on the free movie channel that the hotel provided.

“I’m… I’m going to step outside for a bit,” Lily announced,trying to hide the tremor in her voice. She got out of bed and crossed the room to open the window, her footie pajamas turning into a black outfit that covered the succubus from head to toe.

“Stay out of trouble,” Dana told her, her eyes on the television.

“More like don’t get caught,” Lily replied. Taking a quick peek around to make sure nobody was below their bedroom, Lily hurled herself into the sky, her wings manifesting and opening wide. She quickly found a current to ride and climbed higher, her skin warping like a chameleon’s to camoflauge her against the midnight sky.

Higher she climbed, until she was in the clouds. Cool mist collected on her skin, and she inhaled the thick vapor into her lungs, tasting the sky.

What had just happened to her? 

If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn she had fallen asleep and was having a dream of her own. But how was that possible? She couldn’t have dreams, and hadn’t for centuries.

Even worse, it wasn’t just a dream, but a memory, one of the only ones she feared to look on.

The cloud fell away from her, revealing a field of stars up above. On the rare occasion she had been allowed to hunt for extended periods of time, she had often wondered how high she could fly before the Earth could tolerate her absence no longer, and yank her back down. How many times had she done this? Wishing she could fly away to the stars without looking back, committing herself to millions of years of darkness until she found another planet with life on it, just to get away from the man who had done this to her?

The city of Fort Collins shrank beneath her, and she could see holes in the patchwork quilt of clouds beneath her that revealed farmland, sleeping neighborhoods, and, in the distance, Denver.

The higher she climbed, the harder it was to breathe. She didn’t need air, but it was an instinct built into her, to make her appear human. The body of a succubus was really just a collection of cursed energy that could be transformed at will, making her the perfect hunter.

Why did she have that dream? Why did she have to be reminded of what had transpired? Her wings flapped frantically now, the thin air unable to give her enough lift. 

Tilting her body downward, she allowed her wings to vanish and let the sky take her, the wind rushing over her skin. The clouds rushed up from below to embrace her, the cold mist pushing its way into her eyelids and forming faux tears that streaked along her cheeks. She pretended that each one was genuine, that grief, rage, and pain would finally be allowed to leave her body and fall like rain with her, sinking into the earth.

Once through the mountain-sized cloud, the hungry shadows below beckoned for her arrival. She rolled onto her back just before slamming into the cold, wet ground of some farmer’s field, crushing some unknown plant beneath her body.

The damage was great enough that she exploded into a cloud of smoke, rapidly reforming itself so that she was lying on her back, her stunned gaze pointed at the sky. Up above, there were only a couple of patches of sky to see the stars through, and they twinkled in amusement. The last drop of sky slid down her cheek to feed the hungry roots beneath her back.

It was her own version of the Fall, the casting out of Lucifer’s brethren from Heaven. They had lost their Grace in the eyes of God, and tumbled freely from the sky, only to fall into the pits of Hell below. She liked to do it when she was frustrated, to pretend that she would hit the ground and explode into oblivion, to become one with nothingness. But it always ended this way, with her on the ground and the stars still safely tucked away up above, oblivious to her disappointment.

She sympathized with the fallen angels, knowing what it was like to be a creature so full of divinity and grace, only to have it burned away in holy fire and be twisted into something new. Her own fall from grace happened millenia after that of the angels’, for though she was a succubus now, she had been born a mortal woman.

 There were very few things on Earth that could actually hurt her body, but the memory of the day she met the man who made her this way somehow broke her heart all over again.