Not What She Seems

chapter 7



Sylvia was so excited about her date with Mason she could hardly sleep that night. Succubi usually didn’t date, in the traditional sense, as they preferred one night stands to actual relationships, but she would put up with some old fashioned courting if it got her what she wanted in the end. She didn’t just want to defile Mason now, she needed to defile him in order to secure her place in the city. There was a lot riding on this initial date. She had to grab his interest and keep it long enough to get him into bed. That would be easy with any other man, but Innocents like Mason didn’t work like all the others. It would take more than a flirty smile and a flash of her big breasts or shapely ass. She looked forward to the personal challenge Mason presented.

Secretly Sylvia wanted to win Lilith’s Challenge to show up Elora more than she looked forward to re-establishing the rights to her own territory. Elora was a pest that required extermination, and winning the Challenge was the perfect way to show her she’d picked the wrong fellow succubus to toy with. She would humiliate her in front of Lilith and make her regret the day she had ever come to Boston when she finally slept with Mason. There was no question in her mind that she would succeed at bedding the Innocent; she just had to play her cards right and be patient.

When morning finally arrived Sylvia could stand it no longer. She downed a hot cup of coffee and threw on an old sweatshirt and her favorite pair of jeans before hastily putting her hair up in a ponytail and brushing some powder on her skin to make it matte. She hurried out the door and down the street towards Chinatown to her favorite nail salon.

Inside the salon her usual nail technician greeted her and got right to work while Sylvia watched the TV overhead as the local news team rehashed the newest murders. Her heart sank when they identified one of the victims as Tiana Meyers, a fellow succubus she had rather liked. The other victim was unknown to her but even just seeing her picture flash across the screen confirmed for her that she had been one of her brethren as well. The reporters did not reveal the specifics of the murders but called them ‘gruesome’ and ‘unusual’. Sylvia snorted to herself. ‘Gruesome’ and ‘unusual’? Well, that was one to describe being murdered, then having every available opening in your body stuffed with rose petals seeped in holy water, and having an apple crammed into your dead mouth, like some kind of twisted pig roast. The newscasters went on to report that the Boston Police Commissioner was calling these murders the work of a serial killer.

“Such a shame.” The nail tech shook her head as she overheard the news. “Those poor girls. So what color do you want today?”

Sylvia studied the vast array of colors before her and selecting a muted baby pink. She usually went for the flashier, racy colors but today, for her date with Mason, she wanted something feminine and understated. Innocents were not ensnared with the flashy sexuality the succubi so easily displayed. Understated femininity would be her best tool to turn Mason’s head.

Once her nails were done, Sylvia went home to shower and prepare for her date but a note sticking out of the corner of her mailbox caught her eye as she went through the lobby of her building. Puzzled, she gingerly pulled the note free and unfolded it.

I know what you are. Your turn is coming. Sylvia crumpled up the note and tossed it on the floor with a small cry of disgust. Her heart hammered as she forced herself to pick the note up again. Once it was smoothed out, she studied it, trying to find any clue as to its sender. The words were printed in strong block letters in a handwriting she didn’t recognize. The paper itself had no markings, no hint to its origins. It was simply two ominous sentences on a blank sheet of paper.

Panic clogged Sylvia’s throat as she recalled the sensation of being watched the day before on the subway. Despite her precautions of taking a cab home after shopping instead of the subway, the Hunter had still managed to discover where she lived. Note in hand she bounded up the steps floor by floor in lieu of taking the elevator. She wanted nothing more than to be in her apartment, safe, with the locked door between herself and the rest of the city. Out of breath and sweating from both physical exertion and fear, Sylvia slammed her door shut and did up all of the locks. It did little to diminish her terror.

Deborah picked up the phone at the office. “Enchanted Escorts, how may I-”

“It’s Sylvia. Just put me through to Lilith, I’ve got an emergency here!”

“I believe she’s on the other line, but I’d be happy to take a mes-”

“I don’t give a damn if she’s got the President in there with her! Just patch me through and tell her it’s important!” she roared at the startled receptionist.

A moment later the line rang again a few times before Lilith herself picked up. “This better be important, Sylvia, I was on the line with a Fraternity interested in hiring half a dozen girls for a party.”

“The Hunter. He was watching me yesterday and today he left me a note.” She could hardly say the words aloud as she studied the crumpled note in her hand.

Lilith’s formerly irritated tone became serious. “What are you talking about?”

“A note, I just came home and there was a note stuck in my mailbox. It says ‘I know what you are. Your turn is coming’. I just got my nails done and I come home to death threats from the Hunter! He knows who I am, well, what I am, and now he knows where I live!” Hysteria colored her words as Sylvia burst into tears.

“What do you mean, he was watching you yesterday? Did you see him?”

She explained her unnerving ride on the subway and how shaken up she had felt.

“Calm down now, Sylvia… did you call the police, yesterday or today?”

“No,” she sniffed as she wiped her tear streaked face with the back of her hand. “You’re the first person I thought to call.”

Silence hung between them for a moment while Lilith considered this news. “Good, let’s keep it that way. I don’t trust the police to collar the Hunter just from your note, and I don’t want them poking around Enchanted Escorts. It’s best we stay off their radar in all of this. Let’s just keep it quiet for now.”

“But what do I do? He’s after me! I don’t want to end up like those other girls and I-”

“You’ve an advantage those other poor girls didn’t have, Sylvia- you know he’s after you now, so you needn’t be taken by surprise,” Lilith cut in before Sylvia could wind herself up again. “I’ll tell you what… I think it’s best I send a bodyguard for you.”

“A body guard?”

“Yes, we need to keep you safe. I’m going to send over Keith. He’s one of my strongest incubi. I want him to stay with you around the clock, except when you’re on dates, of course. Then I think it prudent to have him lay low while still keeping an eye on you.”

“An incubus? You want me to have one of those a*sholes following my every move?” Sylvia’s fear was quickly turning to anger. She despised the incubi. They were testosterone-riddled, pompous jerks who thought they were God’s gift to women, and succubi. Sylvia hadn’t had sex with one of them in centuries. While they had no energy to give her during sex, the sex itself had been unforgettably fantastic with the sole one she had ever slept with. Still, she did her best to avoid them altogether. They were more trouble than they were worth with all their egotistical bullshit, even for the mind-blowing sex that came with it. She had feelings for the incubus she had been sleeping with all those years ago, but his disregard for her outside of the bedroom had almost broken her. It had been the one and only time she had ever allowed herself to form an emotional attachment to someone she was sleeping with. She had no use for her male counterparts, never again. As she took little enjoyment from the act of sex outside of the feeding it gave her, she figured that her one great relationship in bed with an incubus had probably been a fluke. Most likely the majority of them were as lame in bed as the human men. She had just hit the jackpot with the one who actually knew how to please her, she figured. Too bad he was such a jerk.

“Unless you have another suggestion?” Lilith asked briskly. “Frankly, if I had a Hunter after me, I’d be glad to have a swarm of incubi outside my door at all times. It’s all I can do for you. Take it or leave it.”

Sylvia bit her lower lip as common sense over took her. “Okay,” she agreed reluctantly, “but this meathead better not interfere with my hunts.”

“Fine, I’ll send him over right away. I must warn you he’s one of my, shall we say, friskier incubi. It’ll be up to you to keep his mind on the job and the rest of him out of your pants. Do you think you can do that?”

“What am I, a newbie? Of course I can resist the charms of your frisky incubus, but can’t you send someone else? Someone a little less likely to rape me in my sleep?”

Lilith chuckled darkly. “I’m sure he won’t do that, Sylvia. He’s one of the strongest, and sharpest, in the whole city. You’d be hard pressed to find a better bodyguard than Keith, even if he is the randiest in the bunch. Women simply adore him; I get requests for his company through the service all the time.” Lilith changed subjects abruptly, clearly done discussing Boston’s horniest male escort. “You don’t have any plans for today, do you?”

“No.” The lie came easily as her mind raced. She didn’t want to be out unescorted now that the Hunter knew who she was, but she also couldn’t risk Lilith, Elora, or any of the other succubi getting wind of Mason’s presence in the city. That Innocent was hers, and hers alone. This new bodyguard might not be trustworthy and she couldn’t risk him blabbing the news about her Innocent to the others. She would have to risk it and go alone to meet him.

“It’s settled then. Keith should be there within a few hours. Be ready for him to stay with you until this Hunter is dealt with. And Sylvia?”

“What?”

“Be careful out there. These are dangerous times for all of us.” The line went dead as Sylvia blinked in surprise over Lilith’s uncharacteristic concern for her.

~~~

It felt like a race against the clock as Sylvia rushed to prepare to meet Mason while trying to get out the door before Keith arrived. As much as she hated being shadowed by an incubus, she knew Lilith was right and it was for the best. That didn’t mean she couldn’t ditch him just this once to go out alone to meet Mason for the first time. The Hunter’s note worried her, but she would chance it for now. There was no plan in place yet for losing her escort for future dates with him, but she’d figure that out on an as-needed basis. Today she needed to concentrate on drawing him in and she didn’t need a lurking incubus watching her every move to report back to Lilith. She showered, threw on her new outfit and blow dried her hair in record time before skillfully applying her makeup.

“Lookin’ good,” she mumbled as she inspected her work. She added a pair of large thin silver hoop earrings only to exchange them for a pair of smaller diamond huggies. Taking one last look at herself she smiled with satisfaction. She looked radiant and she knew it.

When it came time to actually leave the apartment Sylvia found she just couldn’t do it. She stood staring at her locked door, gripping her purse and unable to actually open it. Inspiration struck her and she hurried to the kitchen and withdrew a Swiss army knife from one of the drawers. She kept it on hand for odds and ends, when she needed a tool to repair something. Satisfied the blade on it was a better weapon than nothing she tucked it into her purse, took a deep breath and threw open her door.

No Hunter lurked in the hall, ready to spring at her. Nervously she stepped out and closed the apartment door softly behind her. Her heart pounded in her ears as she made her way onto the elevator but Sylvia distracted herself by thinking about Mason. Yes, the Hunter was after her, but she couldn’t let that stop her from pursuing the Innocent, the one that would satiate her beyond her wildest dreams and help her reclaim what was rightfully hers. One psychotic Hunter couldn’t dissuade her from the Challenge at hand. Besides, she couldn’t spend all her days cooped up in her apartment, waiting for the police to do their jobs. She would have to get on with life, Hunter or no.

The elevator doors slid open and Sylvia exhaled noisily when she saw the lobby was empty. Keith hadn’t arrived yet so she was able to slip out of the building without her new bodyguard in tow. She could only hope she hadn’t made a terrible mistake, brushing off her bodyguard in order to meet her Innocent while a Hunter stalked the city’s succubi.