Annette sat at the desk in the dimly lit room in the back of her shop. In front of her sat one of the thickest books ever written. Its pages were so old that she had to be careful lest they crumble as she turned from page to page glancing through what had been recorded since almost the beginning of time.

A deep sigh escaped her lips as she looked up, removing her glasses to rub her eyes. The last few months had been hard on her, and she had spent long hours cooped up at this very desk. Seldom did she leave or go outside. What little contact she had was usually with Dantes, and it wasn't often she found information worth relaying to him.

What she was doing was vital though. As angry as she was at Elyssa for casting a spell from the cursed book, a part of her also understood. She just wished that Elyssa had shared her plans before going through with it as maybe they could have found another way. She shook her head. Who was she kidding? There was no other way, not without time on their side, and they never seemed to be that fortunate.

Then there was her mom, Alicia. At first she hadn't noticed it, but things had begun to change a few weeks after the battle with Aine. It began with her mom becoming unresponsive for moments here and there, as if she went off into some daydream. Initially Annette thought nothing of it, assuming it was age or the stress of battling demons that had begun to get to her.

There was something not quite right about it though, something dark and foreboding about the look on her face and the way her body would stiffen up. Tobias, their dog like familiar, noticed it too as he'd hide under the table and growl whenever it happened. That should have been Annette's first clue that something wasn't right. If only she had taken it more seriously sooner.

Those brief moments of distraction and distance soon started to last much longer, and Alicia's hours of sleep drastically changed. Not long after Annette first noticed the issue, Alicia began sleeping all day and at night she'd stand like a zombie in front of the window staring out into the night sky.

Annette had tried using magic to diagnose Alicia's condition and found nothing. She ran through a witch's normal checks for demon possession and even those showed Alicia to be okay. There had to be an answer though, she just didn't know what it was. She could only assume something had happened to Alicia when they were trapped by the stalking shadows Aine had sent after them. Something in that dark world must have gotten to her. The question was what.

Dantes knew a bit about those other worlds, and the passages between them. He had come from one himself as he had recently revealed. What he had known though was of little help but at least it was a start. Annette had scoured her library for books that might reveal more, and Dantes had done the same with his own resources.

It had taken a few weeks but eventually, buried deep within her library, Annette had found the book she was now reading through as quickly as she could without destroying it. She wasn't quite sure where the book came from, or how it got into her library, but it was old and filled with information that had been long lost and forgotten.

If there was anything that could help Elyssa or her mom, it had to be in this book. The problem was that large parts were written in lost languages that Annette had to translate, and the pages were so fragile that they'd crumble if she turned them too quickly. She had already lost several pages to impatience. Hence, going through the book had been a long and tedious endeavor, and she had only touched on a fraction of what it contained.

Carefully, she turned another page just as Dantes came through the door. The light from outside blinded her for a second as she covered her eyes.

"What happened to knocking?"

"Sorry. I came as fast as I could. You found something?" asked Dantes.

"Maybe. Assuming I translated it right."

"But there is a cure then? A way to reverse the spell?"

"I...I didn't say that."

"You called and said you found something." Dante's demanded.

"I did. A possible answer. It's just not in the book."

"So why are you wasting time on the book then?" Dantes replied with frustration in his voice, "She's getting worse."

"I'm not wasting time," she shot back, "If I keep going though it'll take me decades to finish going through this and I'm not sure the answers to our problems are even in here. It did mention how we might find them though."

"Where?"

"Not where, who...The Three Fates."

"You're kidding me, right? They haven't been seen for so long even the supernatural think they're a myth."

"According to the book, they've been around since before time even began...And they know everything. Past, present, future...If anyone has the answers we need, it's gotta be them."

"That doesn't help. Where would we even start looking?"

Annette hesitated for a moment, "I was hoping you could ask around...or had something, anything."

Dantes scrunched his forehead as he thought for a long moment before finally replying.

"...I might. There are still a few angels who don't want my head. If worse comes to worse I'm sure I can find a few demons to...interrogate."

"Don't you have some books of your own that are quite old? They might..."

"Dead end. I've already gone through what was left after the house was destroyed. There's nothing."

"If this doesn't work...If we can't find them then..." Annette's voice trailed off. Dantes knew she was thinking about her mom too. The Fates were likely to have an answer for her as to what had infected her. It wasn't just Elyssa's life that hung in the balance.

"I'll figure something out. I promise," he paused a moment, "How is she doing?"

Annette shook her head. "She's getting worse. I can't even have a conversation with her anymore. She responds to nothing, eats nothing. She just stares out that window at night, sleeps all day...Tobias won't go anywhere near her anymore. I'm at my wits end."

"I can't say things are much better on this side."

"Have you told her yet?" Annette asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't told Elyssa. I don't want to get her hopes up."

"So she doesn't know we've been looking for a way to cure her?"

Dantes didn't answer at first, and Annette could see the troubled look on his face.

"To be honest, I don't even know if she wants to be cured anymore. She hasn't talked about losing her magic in weeks. She seems...content with the way things are. Well, as content as one could be with a hunger that never seems to stop."

"And you're worried about losing her?" Annette asked causing Dantes to cringe at the question.

"I don't know what to think. It's not her. I don't know if the hunger is driving feelings that might already be there...or..."

"She doesn't feel anything and it's the hunger alone driving her to want to be with you," Annette said, finishing his thought. He nodded in response.

"If we cure her I could lose her for good. If we don't...It feels empty...Flings are one thing but when you care about someone deeply and then you look into their eyes and wonder...," his voice trailed off and for a moment he was silent.

"We should get started on this. I don't know how much more time we have with Elyssa and your mom's condition," Dantes stated, quickly changing the subject.

Annette nodded in agreement, "You have to tell her what we've been doing. Secrets haven't done any of us any good."

"And what if she doesn't want the cure?"

"That's not your choice. For better or worse, the only choice you have is whether you want to stick around or not after she makes hers," Annette scolded him.

"That's not really much of a choice. If she says no and I walk, are you going to clean up the wake of bodies she leaves behind?"

"It won't come to that," Annette responded after a long pause. His question had taken her by surprise, and it's something she hadn't really considered.

"...I'll tell her when the timing's better."

"There's never a right time."

"Annette!" Dantes angrily snapped.

"Fine. But if something goes wrong because of your secrets, it's on you. Understood?"

"Fair enough," Dantes responded as he started to leave. His phone buzzed in his pocket just as a loud crash thundered through the building from somewhere upstairs. A second later they heard Alicia scream.

"Mom!" Annette yelled as she pushed past him and through the door. Dantes was on her heals without even thinking. Whatever had happened up there was big, and didn't sound pleasant. Little did they know they weren't the only ones struggling with problems at the moment.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Elyssa glanced down at her phone again. Four calls and three texts to Dantes, all unanswered. What the heck was he up too, she thought again! She shook her head in despair. It had been four hours since he left and not a word as to what was taking him so long.

When she had first become a succubus, the need and desire to feed was a weekly thing. Slowly over time that longing shortened. The weeks became days, and now it seemed that the urge was hitting her every several hours.

She had yet to tell Dantes, instead forcing herself to hold off as long as she could. It had been torturous, and many times she felt like an addict just waiting for the next hit. Today was one of those days where every moment felt excruciatingly long as she awaited Dantes reply. Maybe she could convince him to give her the extra hour a day or so early.

She shook her head, allowing her strawberry blonde locks to fall into her eyes to cover the tears that were beginning to form. She knew things were going to be difficult for awhile. Her vision before all of this happened told her that. Now that it was a reality though, she questioned her strength to get through it. It certainly wasn't something she was prepared for.

To cope with the urges, she had found that getting out of the house and taking walks through the city helped to keep her mind at ease. So she had done just that, and now sat alone inside of her favorite coffee house wondering what had happened to Dantes, and fighting against the urges she was feeling to feed. But he wasn't there. He wasn't even responding, and now more than ever she needed him. The more she thought about it the more upset she got.

"Are you alright?" the voice came from out of nowhere, along with a tap on the shoulder.

It startled her at first as she looked up from underneath her wall of hair to see a middle aged, but handsome, man standing before her. His hair was salt and pepper in color, and he wore a stylish suit. What caught her attention the most though was his deep blue eyes. They reminded her of Leo, although the man would definitely fall more into the George Clooney category if she had to describe him.

She quickly tried to wipe her tears so she didn't look like the complete mess she felt like.

"Yeah...I'm...I'm fine. Thank you though," she said, holding back a sniffle and trying to ignore him.

"A pretty lady with tears is never fine," he paused for a second, "Let me guess, boyfriend issues?"

His response took her by surprise. "...Kind of, I guess. It's complicated...How did you know that?" she asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Public relations. It's my job to spot problems, read people I guess you could say. Usually a pretty girl staring down at her phone and looking distraught is the response to a boyfriend issue. Especially in public," he said with a smile, "So let me guess. He either broke up with you over a text, or...stood you up."

"Neither actually, but close enough."

"Ahh, the whole ignore her until she goes away. Sure sign something is going on. I've seen it a million times."

"You know if you're trying to make me feel better, that's not really helping."

"I'm sorry...I just...I know the game. I've seen it a million times. A gorgeous girl falls for a...let me guess, a bad boy type maybe? Things are great at first. Then he gets bored. Things slowly begin to change after a short time. You see him less. He doesn't respond like he use to. He starts neglecting you and...well you know the rest. I know it hurts to hear, but it's kind of a normal thing these days. Especially with guys. They weren't brought up to respect women like some of the older generation was."

"I think he might be from a slightly older generation than you think," Elyssa responded. She almost had to laugh when she thought about how much older Dantes was than the man in front of her.

"Oh, bad parenting then? Hard to tell these days I guess," he responded with a smirk.

"I think you were doing better at the start. You're kind of wandering way off the trail now."

"Crash and burned, huh?"

She nodded in reply.

"Well at least let me buy you a coffee, or something. It'd be a shame that you drove all the way out here to sit by yourself," he attempted again.

She wasn't quite sure how to respond. He was obviously hitting on her, and while he was attractive, she just wasn't interested.

"Come on. How's a cup of coffee going to hurt? Worst case, we keep each other company for a bit, and then we go our separate ways," he ventured with one last effort upon seeing her hesitation.

"...Okay. But that's it," she finally replied. It was just a coffee, right? And she could use someone to talk to in an attempt to get her mind off of the hunger.

"Great! What would..." he started to ask as he sat down before noticing something wasn't right, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked, once again taken aback.

"You're face, it's..."

She glanced at the window in horror as she realized her face was beginning to change. She could see the glowing red cracks that were beginning form under her skin. The succubus was taking over, and the hunger hit her like a ton of bricks. Her first instinct was to grab at the man across from her, to feed off of him until she felt satisfied. She felt crazed and desperate, and it was everything she could do to hold herself back.

"I gotta go..." she spoke in a panic as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door before he could even get a word out to stop her.

The cool, fall air rushed past her as she made her way down the bustling sidewalk. She weaved in and out of the crowd, every bump and touch proving to be an ever increasing temptation. She was about to loose it and needed to get away from everyone.

The first alley she saw, she slipped into. Her heart was racing as she leaned up against the wall trying to catch her breath and calm her nerves. She grabbed for her phone. Her hands were shaking so bad she could barely hold it as she tried to text Dantes again.

"Hey, are you okay?" The voice startled Elyssa. She dropped her phone and looked up to see the man from the restaurant standing just inside the alley.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, you just left so fast that..." he started.

"Get out of here!" Elyssa yelled at him. He wavered a moment, and she screamed even louder, "I said get out of here!"

"But you don't look so well," he said taking a few steps towards her. She turned away, trying to hide her face behind her hair.

"You have to leave," she spoke behind gritted teeth, fighting off the want to use him as a quick fix. He didn't listen. She could smell him as he took another step towards her, and it only increased her desire to feed even more.

"I'm warning..." she tried again but it was too late. She couldn't help herself. In the blink of the eye the man was up against the wall, his feet dangling a few inches from the ground as she held him up with her hand wrapped around his neck.

She ran her nose up along his chest, smelling his skin as he looked down in utter terror. Her face was hidden behind her hair and all he could hear was the occasional snarl coming from her lips. Slowly she lowered him until they were almost face to face and he caught a glimpse of what hid behind her hair, the glowing blue eyes framed by pale skin that seemed to be cracking eerily.

He started to scream, but before a sound could escape his mouth her lips were on his. His life was about to end, and there was nothing he could do to stop the creature that was attacking him. He didn't even know what she was.