Flame of the Succubus Read online

  Contents

  Title page

  Copyright

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  SUCCUBUS TRAINER: BOOK ONE

  FLAME OF THE SUCCUBUS

  JASON HERC

  Copyright © 2019 by Jason Herc.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All people, places, things, and events in this book are fictional.

  CHAPTER 1

  The speakers blared. "Attention, code white in Hall C. Code white in Hall C."

  Well, that was our cue.

  I finished hefting a box of canned beans onto a tall shelf, then glanced over to Everett. The older man grunted as he dropped another package onto the ground. He met my eyes and nodded.

  "Sounds like we got a live one," Everett said.

  We left the rest of the boxes and jogged over to the next wing of the hospital. We didn't work in a normal hospital. It was a mental health unit. A crazy house.

  Everett and I had originally been hired as muscle to deal with patients too unruly for the regular orderlies, but since we spent most of our time sitting around surfing our phones, HR had decided we should work in shipping and receiving during our down time.

  We arrived in Hall C to find a wiry man with a pasty complexion screaming at an orderly in a crisp white uniform. I immediately spotted the problem. The patient had somehow gotten his hands on a foot-long sharp piece of metal that glinted under the harsh fluorescent lights. He clutched the makeshift weapon as if it was a sword, slashing into the open air, while the orderly watched warily from a safe distance.

  The patient's pink-tinged eyes darted about until they settled on me.

  "You!" he screamed. "You have the look of someone who can handle a sword. I challenge you to a duel!"

  "Aw, he likes you, Aidan," Everett snickered.

  I shook my head and whispered back in a low voice. "I'll come in from the left. You're on the right." The patient held the piece of metal in his right hand, which would be closer to my approach. I hoped I could draw his attention while Everett snuck up on the safer side.

  The orderly backed further away as we stepped towards the patient.

  I held up my empty hands. "Listen…" I looked at the patient's tag. "Jamie. Let's calm down. We're here to help."

  "No, we fight first," the patient hissed, spittle spraying out of his mouth. "To prove who's stronger."

  I nodded. "You're right. Being strong is good. But I want to be your friend, and friends don't fight. Can't we be friends?"

  The patient paused, starting to turn his head. Everett was creeping forward down the other side of the hallway.

  "Look." I opened and closed both hands several times. "I don't even have a sword."

  Everett darted forward like a snake during my distraction, grabbing control of the patient's right hand. I was there an instant later, locking up the patient's shoulders while Everett forced him to drop the metal weapon.

  The patient banged his head backwards, hitting the memento I wore on a chain tucked under my shirt. I winced as the polished black stone dug into a collar bone. Technically, we weren't supposed to wear any jewelry while on duty, but the stone was all I had left from my family. I'd take it off when I was dead.

  Or when everyone else is dead. You can start by breaking this cretin's neck.

  That damn voice. I swear, it wasn't me saying that. I shifted my grip, uncomfortably aware of how brittle the skinny patient's bones felt under my arms.

  "You okay?" Everett asked.

  "I'm fine."

  We dragged the screaming man over to a gurney, where the orderly helped us secure him.

  "Thanks, guys," the orderly said. "I would have handled it, but you know…"

  "Don't sweat it," I replied. "That's what we're here for."

  The orderly gave a curt nod, then wheeled the patient down the hallway.

  "Not bad," Everett said. "That's what, a whole week since the last one?" He cracked his knuckles as he watched the orderly continue down the hallway.

  "Yeah, a week. Not that I have any complaints."

  Everett grunted, then continued to stare at me, grinning. "You're treat."

  I chuckled. "Was hoping you'd forget." We had a running bet on how many days until the next code white. Anytime it was more than five days, it was my turn to buy something from the vending machine. Anything less than five days, and it was Everett's turn.

  "Nope. I want my bag of chips. The spicy ones."

  "You got it."

  Everett headed back towards the shipping and receiving dock. I headed in the opposite directions, taking measured breaths as I went.

  My strength, my will. I exhaled and breathed in again. My strength, my will. It was my meditation mantra, not some New Age mumbo jumbo. Just a way to calm back down when I got riled up. The code white had been pretty routine, but it was hard not to get a little adrenaline pumping when someone was trying to carve you up.

  And that's when I usually heard the other voice. The angry one.

  Damn it. I was not crazy. I was not crazy. I took another deep breath.

  It had started late in my teens. I had been able to keep it under control except for that one time…

  My strength, my will. For an instant, my memory had summoned a quiver of rage, but I reflexively pushed the emotion aside. I was used to this now. I kept walking briskly down the hallway.

  A minute later, I was punching buttons on a vending machine. I was trying to figure out if I had enough change to buy myself something as well when a high-pitched feminine voice called my name.

  "Aidan Ward?"

  I turned to find a blonde woman with twin pigtails leaning against the wall behind me. She had ruby red lips, brightly dyed hair, a tight top with thin white material stretched across her chest, and tiny black leather shorts with metal studs. She popped a bubble of pink gum while I looked her up and down.

  I checked her wrist, but she wasn't wearing the security band that all patients wore. I frowned. My eyes flicked to her chest again. She didn't have a visitor's tag or the ID that staff had to display at all times.

  I looked down at my own ID. Oh. So that's how she knew my name.

  "I'm sorry, but visitors need to display their visitor tag. Are you lost? I can take you to the front desk if you need help."

  The woman laughed, a carefree, lusty sound. She arched her back and cracked her shoulders while keeping her eyes on me. She was sexy, and she knew it. I had to admit I liked that.

  "Like what you see?" she asked, as if reading my mind. She leaned her head back, exposing her white long neck. She placed her index finger on her neck and traced a line down her throat and over the curve of h
er generous right breast, stopping on the nub that strained against the thin fabric of her top.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I do, but I'm going to have to take you to the front desk." The woman wasn't wearing a security band, but I wasn't convinced that she wasn't a patient. Something about her was off.

  The woman pouted. "Take me to the front desk? How about you take me from the front instead?" She turned around and stuck her pert butt out. "Or take me from the back?"

  I wouldn't have minded pounding that tight ass, but it's not like I was starved for sex. Plus, I wasn't too eager to mess up my job. The hospital had cameras everywhere. If I lost this job, it could be years before I found another one. Finding a new job wasn't easy when you had a criminal record.

  The whole situation was bizarre, like some cosplay fantasy had been dropped into the middle of my day. I reached for the radio at my waist to call in a security breach, but the blonde woman walked up to me and placed a hand over mine.

  She gazed into my eyes, and I found myself staring, unmoving, back into large delicate eyes that had a strange purple hue.

  "Take me, Aidan Ward. Take me now."

  The woman slipped a warm hand underneath my shirt to massage my chest.

  My vision blurred, and a wave of dizziness passed through my head.

  Fuck it. Life was short and shitty. Might as well make the most of it.

  I reached for the woman's shorts, inserting my right hand into the waistband and pulling her slim waist towards me. I drew her face close to mine with my left hand and kissed her hard, my open mouth meeting hers.

  She moaned as we kissed, her hands pushing my shirt higher before roaming over my bare back and chest. A hand reached down my pants to grip my butt, and I returned the favor, sliding my hand into her shorts from the rear. My middle finger slipped between her firm cheeks, my hand sinking further into her shorts. If she wanted dirty, I would give her dirty. I curled my finger upward.

  The woman gasped into my mouth. "Oh yes, use me while I use you," she moaned.

  Something changed. I let out my breath in a sigh of pleasure, but when I tried to inhale, I couldn't. I tried to push the woman away, but for several seconds, my limbs wouldn't obey me. My hands continued fondling the woman, even as I tried to force them to stop.

  I wasn't sure what was happening. Drugs? Hypnosis? I had no idea, but there was no way in hell I was going to go down without a fight. I struggled with all my might, straining to regain control of my body, screaming the whole time silently in my mind.

  The purple eyes gazing back at me widened. I was suddenly in control of my body again. I shoved the woman away from me, breaking our indecent embrace.

  "The fuck!" I yelled. "What'd you do to me?"

  I should have been the scared one, but the other woman cowered, backing away from me. "What…? How did you do that?"

  "I asked you first, lady." I reached for my radio. This time, the woman didn't stop me. "We have a security breach in Hall G. I repeat, we have a security breach in Hall G. An unidentified woman dressed as…you'll know when you see her."

  The woman shook her head. "Impossible. You're human. I could taste it. Yet…" She made a quick motion with her hands. A floating circle of glowing red light, about four feet across, appeared next to her. Was she using a flashlight? Some fancy lighting?

  Then, she stepped into the circle of red light.

  At that moment, Everett rounded the corner. "Aidan—" He stopped to stare.

  I didn't know what I was thinking. All I knew was that a crazy hot woman had tried to do something to me, and I was nobody's fool. As she entered the circle of light, before I could think further, I stepped forward as well.

  The woman looked over her shoulder, and when she spotted me following her, she screamed and disappeared into the circle of red light.

  "Aidan!" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Everett rushing toward me.

  The circle started to shrink, but I dove forward into it.

  A brilliant flash of red light filled my vision, and I found myself surrounded on all sides by fire.

  CHAPTER 2

  I blinked, and the flames vanished. As my eyes adjusted to the darker surrounding, I could make out a black, rocky landscape and a red sky.

  I whirled around, but I couldn't see any sign of the clean hallways with light gray tiles and white ceiling lights.

  Was I still drugged? Hallucinating?

  I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, pinching the meat of my palm for good measure.

  Nope, I wasn't sleeping, so the crazy house had either driven me mad, or someone had slipped something special into my lunch.

  Someone shrieked. "No!"

  I turned to find a blonde woman watching me with wide open eyes. She looked similar to the one back at the hospital, except now she was wearing an exotic black dress and knee-high boots. Her face's features had shifted slightly as well, looking younger and less made up.

  And she had horns. Two thick black horns emerged from either side of her head.

  "Roofies? Shrooms? What the hell did you do to me?" Or maybe she was wearing a costume, and this was all a setup. One of those stupid social experiment pranks.

  I took a step toward the strange woman.

  She cried out in alarm. "You stepped into the Abyss? How?" She shook her head. "You can't be human."

  "Of course, I'm human. And what the hell is the Abyss?" I scanned the surroundings for anyone else, but the landscape was barren and empty, other than a few rocky formations. I wasn't groggy. If this was a prank, it was the most expensive one I'd ever seen.

  "Alright," I said. "I admit this is pretty cool, and what we did back there was hot. But enough with the bullshit."

  I took another step toward the woman but stopped as two dark leathery wings unfurled behind her. The woman gave a frightened squeak, then flew into the air.

  I stared, speechless. Was that a tail coming out of her ass? She was afraid of me?

  I was pretty sure now that this wasn't all some elaborate joke. I reached down and ran my fingers along the hard, rocky black earth. I breathed in the clear air that had a light, sweet smokiness. The temperature was a bit warm but not uncomfortable.

  If I wasn't crazy, not on drugs, and not in the middle of a Hollywood set, the only explanation was that I was somewhere far from home.

  Shit.

  I wasn't religious or into paranormal-type stuff, but I knew enough to guess that the woman I had just seen was a demon of some kind, probably a succubus.

  She had tried to seduce me, then suck my life out of me, exactly like all the stories about succubi.

  Except she had failed, for some reason, and she kept insisting that I wasn't human.

  Maybe it was a bizarre social experiment, except one run by demons to fuck around with their prey.

  Just then, the air in front of me tore with the same red light as before. A body, charred and smoking, dropped onto the ground with a thud.

  The body stirred. "Aidan?" a weak voice whispered.

  The figure had fallen face down, but I recognized the voice when he spoke.

  "Everett!" I rushed to the body and crouched to examine him. Damn, damn. Third degree burns over most of his body. Not looking good.

  I stood up again, searching desperately for any sign of aid. "Help! Anyone there?" I yelled into the gloomy red sky.

  To my amazement, I spotted a figure on the horizon running towards us. I waved my arms and shouted again.

  The featureless horizon must have been playing tricks on my depth perception, because in a few seconds, the man was standing before us, faster than should have been possible. He had thick, angled eyebrows and long black hair tied into a bundle that streamed gently behind as a breeze passed over us. He didn't have anything unusual like horns or wings, although his clothing was a bit odd.

  He wore a blindingly clean white uniform with black embroidery. I did a double-take when I saw the sword strapped to his waist.

  "Do you know where we can get medica
l care?" I asked.

  The man ignored me, instead inspecting the air around us.

  "Hey! He's been badly burned!"

  The strange figure turned and stared at Everett's groaning form for a second. "He attempted to breach the seals? A Fallen One?" His eyes narrowed. "Were you involved? Did you do this to him?"

  "What, no. There was some crazy woman with wings. Look, can you help him or not?" I looked at his white robes again. "You're not a doctor, are you?"

  The man laughed. "I am Ryder. I don't know about your doctors, but I believe I can help him."

  Something about the man's tone was sending warning bells. I stepped in front of Everett protectively. "I don't want any—"

  A rush of wind blew past me. The man called Ryder had disappeared. I turned around to find Ryder flicking the blood off his sword. Everett's severed head lay at his feet. Dark blood poured from the stump of Everett's neck.

  No. Everett.

  Kill him! Destroy him!

  The rage surged, trying to claw its way out of me. Given that the bastard had just killed Everett, I was ready to let it all out.

  Ryder paused with his sword halfway in its sheath. He raised an eyebrow.

  No, it was suicide. I knew nothing about the man, about this place, or my situation. Dying in vain would accomplish nothing.

  The rage swirled inside me, but I forced it back down, not forgetting it, but hiding it deep within me. My strength, my will. I studied Ryder's face calmly. I would remember it. For later.

  Ryder chuckled and snapped his sword fully back into his sheath. He took one step, then vanished in a blur.

  I dug in my pocket for my phone, but it was dead. I stared at Everett's broken and burned body for a minute, unsure what to do.

  I didn't want to leave him just lying there, but I was out of options. I couldn't even bury his body in the hard, rocky ground.

  Fucking hell. That's right, fucking hell. Was I in hell now? Or this Abyss, that the woman had mentioned?

  I turned around in a slow circle, but I couldn't spot any sign of the eerie red light that had brought me here. I had no way to go home.

  A short distance away, I spotted a portion of ground that had a dark reddish hue. It looked like a path of some sort.