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Chapter Seventeen: The Sea of Needles
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Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Eighteen: Familiars
CHAPTER EIGHTEENFamiliarsAlkin hurried meinto the ship, past befuddled crewmen. “Get us gone!” he barked.He carried me to his quarters, and gently lowered me onto the bed. My hunger gnawed from his touch, so I turned away from him, and looked through the porthole instead. The ground become distant as we lifted into the air.“Is there anything I can get you?” Alkin asked, his voice frail with worry. “Water? Bloodwine?”I didn’t respond, for I knew what I would ask him for if I opened my mouth.My hands and feet still stung, and I didn’t feel any safer now than I had in the castle. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I could smell faint traces of Salem’s scent. I felt as though he were in the room with me, somewhere just out of my sight. It made me too anxious to sleep, no matter how exhausted I was.“What if he finds out I followed him?” I whispered. “What if he no longer cares for me when I return? If he’s become as powerful as the legends say, why should he have any int
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Nineteen: Uncivil
PART IIIEscalationApril, 1877—February, 1878CHAPTER NINETEENUncivilOh, I’ve brokenmany hearts in the years since I became a succubus. I don’t mean to, but they always fly into my hands, begging for a squeeze. I had long considered the possibility that I might break Salem’s heart. But, as I returned from that ill-fated journey to Dartmoor, I feared that I’d broken Alkin’s heart as well.I barely spoke to him for the rest of the journey. I feared that he thought I was rejecting him by not going with him to Mekra ... but, painful though it was, I did not tell him otherwise. I didn’t want to give him hope that I would ever be his. Nor did I want to give myself hope.Sven spent the remainder of the journey pacing the halls of the ship with his wristblades drawn. I feared that he would hurt me, or Alkin, or even Ezekiel. He was an angry predator, and we were the only prey on the ship.When we landed in the London docks, Sven leapt out the wi
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty: Schadenfreude
CHAPTER TWENTYSchadenfreudeOn the Uncivil: A Notice From Rupert WaltersIn recent months, there has some confusion about Black Heaven’s Cardinals. Allow me to clarify any misconceptions you may have.The Cardinals are ambassadors from Black Heaven. As such, they may take command of the nations they protect, should the previous rulers prove unfit. Many Cardinals have done just that, assuming control of their respective territories with the Black Vatican’s full support.This is not the case with Salem Sotirios of the Diabolos bloodline. A true gentleman and an inspiration to immortals everywhere, Lord Sotirios recognizes that Her Majesty’s bold leadership has improved the lives of countless immortals.Instead of squabbling for control of the throne, Lord Sotirios understands that he best serves England, and Black Heaven as a whole, by spearheading the hunt for Mekra. Our fair nation is still reeling from the attack on Buckingham Palace last year, and more recently Mekra has been
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-One: Loretta Wolstenholm, Professional Masochist
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONELoretta Wolstenholm, Professional Masochist“Lace me up. Come on.”The show would begin soon, and I was backstage helping Loretta prepare. She had undone the buttons of her dress, revealing the twelve hoops pierced into her back: six on each side, forming two lines between her tiny wings. The ends of a scarlet ribbon hung from the top pair.“Loretta,” I said, crouching to examine the holes. “These hoops ... ”“It’s like a corset,” said Loretta. “I have to be completely detrimented if I want to do this right.”“Detrimented?” I asked.“You know. Like, I have to try me best.”“I think you mean ‘determined,’” I said. Or demented, I thought, but I was beginning to wonder if Loretta was more right than she knew. Either way, she was so enthusiastic that I couldn’t refuse her. I reached for the ribbon and looped it through the top left hoop.“That’s it,” grinned Loretta, watching my progress in the glass.I squinted and moved the ribbon through the othe
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Two: Christmas with Demons
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOChristmas with DemonsThe night following my visit to the Boudoir, I flew to Matilda Swanson’s countryside home. I didn’t know whether she would remember me, but I needed a ritualist’s opinion, and I obviously couldn’t ask Salem or Mr. Pervis for their input.When I arrived, I found coaches parked outside and a smiling servant boy waiting by the door. As I approached, the gargoyle above the door lowered its stone body down between us like a snake from a tree. “Password?” it crooned.“Shenanigans,” I said.“Many are afoot tonight,” the gargoyle said wistfully. He retracted back up, and the boy opened the door for me.I stepped into the entrance hall to find nude and semi-nude figures sprawled across the floor and furniture. I recognized the incubus twins from the Beard Society, their arms around a short, round succubus. All three were asleep. Several lilitu sat in a circle in a corner, smoking hookah. Further on, Matilda stood at an easel, painting what lay befo
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Three: The Orchestra of Souls
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREEThe Orchestra of SoulsMy dear Miss Blackwood,I am so very sorry to have left you on such unfortunate terms ... and even more sorry that I have not written to you sooner.You may already hate me for my silence, but please know that had there been any way to contact you, I would have. It was not safe to write to your home, because I couldn’t risk Sotirios finding out. While in Mekra, I was forced at all times to wear a pentacle. Everyone in the city must wear them, in case any of our faces are seen.Now, at last, I have returned to London, and finally have the chance to contact you.This time, I will tell you the whole truth about myself. I know it cannot make up for the lies I’ve told you in the past, and I do not expect you to forgive me. But I hope you will at least understand.First, even my name is a lie. I was born Alvin Boyle. I went to Oxford, where I met a man who I shall refer to as Professor L— (so as to not implicate any members of hi
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Four: Departure
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURDepartureIt happened muchas Alkin said it would. From opening night onwards, the Orchestra of Souls was a grand success that managed to fill every seat in the theatre. The public would have been impressed enough by a single automaton with no abilities other than walking across the room, but an entire orchestra of musical automatons was an immeasurable achievement. Alkin’s original compositions were also heavily lauded by the papers, with many a critic noting that they would have been worth hearing even from a human orchestra.Some feared the musical automatons were the first steps of a Mekran invasion, but others argued that not all mechanical inventions were inherently linked to the Iron City. There was even talk of using Alkin’s designs as a template for service automatons, and more than one periodical posited the question of whether such automatons could replace mortals one day. This was, in all cases, immediately followed up by another article squashin
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Five: The Iron City
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEThe Iron CityI managed tosleep for most of the journey. The fear was exhausting, but Alkin’s warm embrace was comforting.When I awoke, I was alone in the bed, but I heard voices just beyond the door. I wrapped the blankets around me like a cloak and got closer to the door to listen.“Sven, I know you’re concerned, but we need to work together.” Alkin sounded very close. Was he pushed up against the door?“So that we can dietogether?” Sven’s voice hissed back. “This is a suicide mission and you know it, but you’re going along with it anyway.”“We have no other options. I had to get her out of there, Sven.”“You just can’t say no to her, even when it’s against her own best interests. I really don’t understand what she sees in you. Why are youworthy of her love? You, out of anyone else in this whole damn world?”“Is that what this is about?”I considered opening the door, but I wanted to hear this out; the moment I showed myself, their conv
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Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Thirty-Three: Penance
PART VAscensionFebruary—April, 1878CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEPenance“I recognize, in retrospect, why some would take offense to the Immortalist Papers. The fact of the matter is, they reflected the commonly-held beliefs of the age in which they were written. I do not feel it is fair to blame me for spreading ideas that were already commonly-held. You must understand that we are in a period of rapid change, and one can hardly be expected to know what lies around every corner. For God’s sake, I was only doing what I was told! You want me to put my family at risk? My wife, my children? If I’d refused to write those papers, you know what would have happened to them—and to me, for that mat
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Thirty-Two: Crimson Rain
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWOCrimson RainSalem’s mention ofLoretta made it clear to me that she was alive and uninfected, just as I needed her. As I arrived at her home, I found a group of Uncivil trying to hammer down the front door. I slashed through them before they even saw me.Rather than pound on the door as the Uncivil had done, I simply rang the doorbell. Loretta’s face poked through the drapes, and the door opened.“You’re alive!” she exclaimed, yanking me inside. After slamming the door shut again, she turned to a servant and said, “Fetch her a dress, won’t you? Something black.”Mr. Pervis stood inside a blood circle, his arms outstretched, fingers bloody. His expression remained neutral as he concentrated and chanted beneath his breath. He was too focused on the ritual to notice my nakedness.“He’s warding the house,” said Loretta. “Making it so no one can force entry. He’s been at it for hours. First the Reapers were coming, then the Uncivil.”Loretta’s posture had str
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Thirty-One: Sweet Sorrow
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONESweet SorrowThe Reapers walkedme out through the front doors of the Necropolis, and to the edge of Westminster Bridge. There were crowds of Reapers at either end of it, their dark cloaks billowing in the wind. Some rode on bone stallions.The cold rain felt like needles against my battered body. Below us, the bloody Thames swirled and screeched, hammering its barriers. The storm had made it higher. Further down the river, a large shape was growing closer—Salem’s island of flesh. We could hear its weeping even from here.At the other end of the bridge, the crowd of Reapers shuffled, and two faces emerged from the sea of skulls: Alkin and Sven. A stone dropped inside of me. The Reapers must have taken them both at the docks when Alkin had arrived. Mr. Cillian was going to deliver all three of us to Salem, forcing me to watch as the people I loved were tortured.Mr. Cillian’s eyes lit up at the sight of Sven. He walked past me to the center of the bridge, th
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Thirty: In the House of Mr. Cillian
CHAPTER THIRTYIn the House of Mr. Cillian“This will beeverso much fun,” Mr. Cillian trilled.He had taken me to a room with walls of fine wood paneling. This was no ordinary bone cell; it appeared to be a meeting room.Mr. Cillian sat across from me in a fancy chair, sipping blood from a teacup. Not a drop stained his lips, but he dabbed them with his handkerchief anyway. “Salem wants to torture you himself, of course, but I’ll still get some satisfaction from delivering you to your doom.”He hadn’t chained me to my chair; he acted as though this was an informal meeting between close friends.I tried not to show my anger; I didn’t wish to indulge him. I had to approach this from a place of strength and certainty, no matter the crippling pain still coursing through my body.“He’s coming to infect us all, Warren,” I said. “Everyone. Even you.”“He told me he’d spare me if I got you ready for him,” Mr. Cillian replied. “He’ll even let me kill the Dark Watcher. And oh, how
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Nine: Morphosis
PART IVDecscentFebruary, 1878CHAPTER TWENTY-NINEMorphosisAs soon asI saw Salem, I knew that I had failed.His expression was not one of wild rage, but rather smoldering hatred. He lifted the side of his upper lip, showing a hint of his teeth. His wings were rigid, like the hackles on a dog’s back.How could he be here? I’d worn my pentacle. Unless ...“Alkin ... ” I whispered. “Are you wearing a pentacle?”Alkin’s eyes glistened with fear. Slowly, he shook his head.Salem hadn’t been contacting me. He’d been trying to find Alkin.“I ... see how things are now.” Salem’s voice was very calm, stepping closer. “I see what you are. A minx. Yes, that’s it. A minx. Like every other succubus. Yet only a succubus would do ... ”I got up off of Alkin. “Salem,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm as his. “I don’t know what you thought you heard, but let’s discuss this.”“And I knew it ... ” Salem whispered. “I
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Eight: Rupture
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTRuptureI awoke tothe sound of someone rapping on the bedroom door. The first thing I felt was the ring Salem had given me last night, cold and heavy around my finger.The second was Salem sitting up beside me, his wings pulling away the covers. He stared at the door, seething at this interruption of his long-delayed rest.“Do you want to be bound to the wall with the others?” he shouted. “Do you want to become a bloody music box?”“You have a visitor, Lord Sotirios.” The girl’s voice was hollow with fear.“Does it sound like I care? Tell them to come back tomorrow.”“It is the queen, Lord Sotirios.”Queen Isabelle had come here? No wonder the girl was terrified. If the queen demanded to see Salem, a maid who refused her would be killed. But so too would a maid who annoyed Salem.“It’s not her fault,” I whispered, clutching Salem’s hand. “Go see the queen.”Salem let out an angry sigh, and put on a pair of trousers. He shot the maid a nasty glare on
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Seven: Distorted Armies
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENDistorted ArmiesSalem floated abovethe ocean, long hair billowing behind him. He was shirtless, and his huge muscles were on full display. He didn’t seem to see me—I was too far away, and there were too many Mekrans between us—but it was impossible not to see him, levitating there like a god. He didn’t even need to flap his wings.“Open fire!” roared Ezekiel’s voice from somewhere up ahead, and the beach erupted into chaos. The troops that had been coming for us shot at Salem instead. The airships blasted at him too, striking him from every direction with great streams of shrapnel.“Now’s our chance,” I said. It was dangerous to run out into the open, but we had to get out of the sunlight while the Mekrans were distracted. I flew from the ditch, and my companions climbed out after me. We didn’t head all the way back to the beach; merely far enough away to escape the sunlight. Once we had passed the threshold, Sven dropped to the ground and rolled, puttin
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Six: The Sun Fields
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXThe Sun FieldsThe Mekrans blindfolded us, and forced us to march. Through the city we went, then up a ramp, into a place where the ever-present hammering sounds were muffled. When we finally stopped, they bound our wrists to walls and removed our blindfolds.Sven, Loretta and I were in separate cells. A guard cut a lock of my hair and stuffed it in his pocket. I soon felt motion beneath us, confirming my suspicions that we were imprisoned on an airship.The guards moved to the door, leaving us. Loretta couldn’t stop staring at Sven’s face.“It never stops hurting, does it?” she whispered.Sven barely looked at her. “No.”“Is there anything I can do? To make the pain easier to bear?”Sven didn’t answer.I told myself that we would not die in vain. Perhaps the Mekrans were right, and the sun would indeed kill Salem. Perhaps my death would be a necessary sacrifice.Loretta let out an abrupt, phlegm-drenched cough. “Sorry,” she said. “Didn’t think I could stil
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus Chapter Twenty-Five: The Iron City
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEThe Iron CityI managed tosleep for most of the journey. The fear was exhausting, but Alkin’s warm embrace was comforting.When I awoke, I was alone in the bed, but I heard voices just beyond the door. I wrapped the blankets around me like a cloak and got closer to the door to listen.“Sven, I know you’re concerned, but we need to work together.” Alkin sounded very close. Was he pushed up against the door?“So that we can dietogether?” Sven’s voice hissed back. “This is a suicide mission and you know it, but you’re going along with it anyway.”“We have no other options. I had to get her out of there, Sven.”“You just can’t say no to her, even when it’s against her own best interests. I really don’t understand what she sees in you. Why are youworthy of her love? You, out of anyone else in this whole damn world?”“Is that what this is about?”I considered opening the door, but I wanted to hear this out; the moment I showed myself, their conv
