The Generator: The Succubae Seduction (51 page)

“I told you yesterday,” I state, growing angry at the man’s cavalier attitude. “All she cared about was making sure I was seen as guilty, and threatening to kill me.”

“She tells a slightly different story,” the man’s voice stays calm and soothing. I realize he’s trying to play me.

“I’m sure she does,” I say, attempting to moderate my own tone to match his. “Look, there’s only one way to prove my point,” my mind races fast, settling on a location. “I’ll text you a location shortly. Meet me there, bring whatever law enforcement you want, but please understand I will come unarmed.”

“You realize that I’ll have to place you under arrest, Mr. Snow,” he tells me smoothly. “You’re still considered a suspect.”

“Do what you have to do, Jewkes,” Becky snaps at him, intentionally avoiding his honorific. “Just make sure Olsen isn’t there.”

“Who’s that?” The other man demands, but I ignore him.

“Like I said, I’ll be unarmed, and I don’t want to try to defend myself against her zealotry,” I add in.

“She’s on administrative leave,” he tells me, and then I hear his teeth click. I don’t think he meant to tell me that.

“Wait for the address,” I tell him and close the phone.

Turning back to the room, I have to fill my lungs deeply a few times to calm down. I don’t want to take my anger at the captain out on these women. Muramasa doesn’t help, trying to rile me back up, but I push his voice away.

“Brooke, Angela, I want you both with me,” I tell the two women, “and of course Areth will have to come too, though I want you to hide in my shirt.”

“Can I hide in your shirt too?” Angela asks, a smile starting to creep onto her weathered face.

I smile back at her, but can’t find it in me to really feel it. That fantasy world of Marchosias’s really affected me. At least, I hope it’s that and not because Brooke is standing right next to her. The last thing I need is to start worrying about pissing off one of my girlfriends.

“I want the rest of you with my car,” I tell the other women. “At the first sign of trouble, I want you to get away.”

They look at each other, and I already know that my last order will be ignored. Oh well.
Told you, they’re loyal
, I tell Muramasa.

Unless they’re staying close to make it easier to betray you,
he replies, and I curse the blade.

I tell them all where we’re going as we pile into the Orange Bubble and lay out my plan.

It’s just starting to lightly rain. I can’t decide if that’s a good omen, or bad. It’ll help Arethusa, but might hinder negotiations.

I wait until we’re at the park, before texting the location to Captain Jewkes.

I remove Muramasa from my hip, promising the blade I’ll don him again when I’m done. I hope it’s good enough. I’d promised to come unarmed, and Muramasa is likely the most dangerous weapon I could show up with.

We head into the park, finding a good open spot by a pond.

I’ll say this for the local police force: they’re fast. Within minutes a chopper is hovering overhead and police are surrounding the park. Areth is hidden in the back of my loose shirt, Angela on my left and Brooke on my right, our backs to each other in a triangle as we wait for Captain Jewkes.

“I must admit to being surprised to find you here,” I hear the captain’s voice ring out, and I spot him walking to us.

“I came unarmed as promised,” I yell to him holding my empty hands out. “Will you hear me out?”

I get my first good look at the man. The light rain splashes against his bald top, short but thick white hair above his ears and neck. Thankfully he isn’t one of those men that feels the need to do a comb over. He moves with ease and looks fit for his age. His hooked nose sits below shrewd eyes. I know very little escapes his notice.

“I thought you said you didn’t know where my wife was,” he states, anger in his deep voice as he looks at Angela.

“Watch,” is my only response as I send the image of her as a jogger. Jewkes’s eyes grow large in an almost comical fashion. I know what he’s seeing without looking. Brown-gray hair lengthening and turning blonde. His wife’s older body slimming and her midriff becoming visible below a sports bra, and more as the succubus changes into a different woman. “Are you willing to listen, yet?” I ask, trying to mimic his casual tone.

His sharp eyes narrow as he considers us. “And what can she do?” he demands to know, gesturing at the redhead, “Pull a rabbit out of her hat?”

I laugh and for once it feels good to laugh. A true one that bursts out, and the man looks worriedly at me. Okay, so maybe the laugh was a little too much or too strong.

“No, she’s a mermaid,” I tell him, bringing myself back under control. The man arches his eyebrows in disbelief. Brooke runs to the nearby pond and jumps in. She breaches the water a second later, launching into the air, her tail flicking water as she does a flip and dives back in. A few moments later, she crawls back onto the shore. We watch as her tail splits into two legs before she stands up.

“You’re ogling her,” Angela laughs quietly to me, and I realize I was indeed enjoying the look of Brooke’s lithe body, her clothes plastered to her.

I smile at the succubus, before replying, “So are you.”

Before she can reply, I turn back to the captain. The helicopter is still hovering overhead. I can’t help but wonder what they must be thinking.

“Okay, that’s a neat trick. You’ll have to tell me how you did it from behind bars.” The man reaches behind him. I tense until he pulls out a set of cuffs.

“You really don’t want to believe,” I say sadly. “Areth?”

The tiny golden fairy leaves the back of my shirt and flutters up to land on my shoulder. If I’d thought the man’s eyes had bulged at either Angela’s or Brooke’s demonstration, they veritably pop now.

“Captain Jewkes, I’d like to introduce you to my friends.” I hold my hand out to each woman as I name them. “Angela the succubus, Brooke the mermaid, and Arethusa the water fairy.” On the pixie’s name, she leaps from my shoulder and flutters over to the nearly apoplectic man.

“Your head is shiny,” she says with her usual aplomb, floating around his head before returning to my shoulder. “Also, don’t call me Arethusa. I hate that name. Everyone just calls me Areth. Except you. You can call me your majesty. I like that. Lyden, can I have him as a subject?”

I ignore her request. “As you can see, things aren’t what you thought they were, Captain. That fire wasn’t my fault. I was being attacked by another creature—“ I cut myself off as I feel Muramasa materialize at my hip. Captain Jewkes notices, too. “Fuck!” I swear, pissed at the blade for its timing.

“Lyden,” Angela says, fear in her tone.

“I thought you said you came unarmed,” the captain says, obviously glad to latch onto something he understands, even if he can’t understand how the sword suddenly got there.

I open my mouth to reply, but notice a red dot reflecting off the older man’s pate. “Sniper!” I yell, charging the police officer, and tackling him to the ground. The man is tough, though, and somehow gets a handcuff latched around my right wrist, while I’m covering him on the ground.

“Don’t take me for a fool,” the man growls at me, pushing me away from him. Then his eyes grow wide as he sees the red dot moving on my chest. “What?” he has just enough time to wonder, before I summon my wings, pain ripping through my shoulders as they tear the back of my shirt to shreds, and I feel my energy levels drop slightly. Some small part of my mind notices that forming the new appendages doesn’t require nearly as much energy as it once had, and I thank the sex from last night for the energy to bring them out now. I wrap the tough wings around us both just in time as I feel something impact the thick membrane. “What
are
you?” he screams at me.

“I’m a Generator,” I tell him, knowing that doesn’t really answer his question. “Look, I’ll explain later.” Raising my voice, I shout to the other women, “Where are the shots coming from?” Another bullet hits my wings, but the dragon hide is thick enough to stop it. It doesn’t exactly feel good, either.

“From a tree a little ways off,” Brooke shouts. I realize they’re taking cover behind me.

“Areth, can you shield us?” I call out.

“What do you think—“ Jewkes tries to take control, but I ignore him.

The rain stops falling, and I know the little fairy is protecting us. Opening my thick brown wings, I survey the scenery, and see cops running for us. They likely think I’ve attacked the captain. This adventure just keeps getting better. . . .

“Dammit,” I scream in frustration. “Which tree?”

“I think I see her in that one!” Angela yells as something sparks off the golden tinged shield.

“I can’t hold this forever,” Areth shouts, and I can see the strain in her face, arms outstretched. Even with the light rain, she can’t pull enough energy to protect us for long. “Hurry up!”

“Hold on,” I tell Jewkes. Waiting for the next round to ricochet off our protective barrier, I grip the older man to me, and charge for the tree in question. As soon as we are free of the fairy’s shield, I spread my wings wide and leap. I still can’t properly fly but I can glide.

We arrive at the tree just in time to see Agent Miranda Olsen drop out, a small caliber rifle with a laser scope in her hands.

“
STOP
!” I shout in my most commanding voice. To my surprise, she does. Her eyes turn on me, wide and full of horror.

“What is the meaning of this?” Jewkes demands. “Agent Olsen, explain yourself!”

Angela and Brooke catch up to us, with Areth not far behind. I realize that I could have killed the fairy as quickly as I moved away from her. Hopefully the distance between us wasn’t too much. I’m going to have to be more careful in the future. I really should figure out what our range is.

Kill her! She tried to kill you. Destroy her! Let me taste her sweet blood. Please let me taste her. You know you want to. I can feel your anger. Just a quick movement, and I’ll be free to feed.
Almost, I draw the cursed blade, but Angela’s hand on top of mine stops me.

“Don’t give into it,” she says. Anger at being thwarted rushes up in me and for a second I’m tempted to shove her away and let her be the first one Muramasa snacks on. Shaking my head, I shudder as I realize how close I’d just come to drawing the evil katana.

“They’re evil, vile beasts,” Miranda is screaming at Jewkes. “They must be put down before they kill us all! They don’t deserve to live!”

She raises her rifle to point at Brooke who has stepped to the side, and I know I can’t spread my wings enough to protect the redhead. I start to shout for Areth to protect her, but before I can, she’s tackled to the ground by two men in black tactical gear. A moment later Angela and Brooke are tackled as well. Only Areth, flying above us, Jewkes and me are still upright. We’re surrounded by men in tough gear, weapons drawn and mostly pointed at me.

“Now would be the point where you tell them to stand down, Captain,” I murmur to the man I’m handcuffed to. Muramasa is screaming that I take vengeance on everyone here, but I shove him out of my mind, trying to concentrate on staying calm. This moment is too sensitive to do otherwise.

“What?” the man looks at me in confusion, and I begin to wonder if it’s his favorite word, or if the last few minutes have completely unhinged him. I nod to the SWAT team, and he blinks a few times, the rain falling on us once more, before giving the order. “Stand down.” Again his gaze wanders over us, before looking up at the falling sky. “Is there anywhere we can talk, out of this blasted rain?”

I glance at the SWAT team, still surrounding us, though their weapons are lowered, and then to the very plain looking Agent Olsen. Weapons are still pointed at her. Angela and Brooke are getting back to their feet when I turn back to the captain. “I think my car will work.”

“Your car?” he splutters. “I’m not letting you drive away just yet, Mr. Snow. I still want an explanation.”

“I’m not trying to escape,” I tell him impatiently. “You’ll understand when we get in the Orange Bubble.” When he still seems hesitant, I add, “Bring some of your SWAT along, and you might as well bring her too,” I finish with a nod to Miranda.

“We’re not going to fit in that burnt out car of yours,” he states. By the way he’s no longer keeping a calm reasonable tone, I know he’s close to cracking. “Or did you bring a large van out here?”

“Like I said, you’ll understand when we get there.” I turn to walk away, but get blocked by the men in black. Turning an impatient stare on Jewkes, he waves them away, an aggravated expression on his face.

“Johnson, Wilson, grab agent Olsen there, and you’re with me.” I hear the average looking woman start to scream obscenities as they haul her to her feet, but otherwise ignore them.

My car is right where we left it. Of course it is. Why would they listen to me when I told them to leave at the first sign of trouble? I hear Jewkes mutter something about how this can’t be the same car that’d been in the impound lot, and wondering why none of the choppers seemed to notice it before now.

Opening the passenger door, I wave for everyone to get in. The mermaid and succubus head right in, but Jewkes hesitates.

“You two stay out here with her. If anyone leaves before me, they’re to be arrested immediately,” he orders the tough looking men.

“We’ll all fit,” I say, exasperated at the man. “Tell you what,” I add, seeing a way to get this man to lower his disbelief a bit, “Send one of these fine men in first, and let him tell you.”

The police captain looks at me shrewdly for a second, before nodding to the one with ‘Wilson’ on his name tape.

Wilson climbs through the door, and I hear him gasp, before he pokes his helmeted head back out. “Um, Sir, you’re not going to believe this, but we’ll all fit with plenty of room to spare. Hell, the entire SWAT team would fit in here.”

Muttering imprecations under his breath about what’ll happen to the man if he’s wrong, Jewkes climbs in, and I hear him gasp, “It’s
bigger
!”

“You might as well follow me in with her,” I tell Johnson, before climbing in out of the rain. Miranda is pushed through after me, and a second later the SWAT team member clambers in. Only Areth stays out in the rain. She still looks a little weak after her expenditure of magic, and I don’t blame her for wanting to recharge.