Junior wasn’t in a good mood. Hadn’t been in one since the death of his father but things had been especially bad since being roped into a plot by the summoners of the capital.

The fools wanted his help to mentally subjugate a drakkon. Such a plan would have been risky even if he was exactly what he seemed. Giving that much power to one man was a terrible temptation. They had a plan to protect themselves against his rampant ambition, or so they thought. Junior didn’t have much ambition recently. If he had three meals and a decent amount of sleep, he would consider it a fulfilling day.

Unfortunately, things were not what they seemed. Nature had turned upside down and the elemental had usurped her summoner. It was not his ambition they had to contend with but Fendelheim’s. A succubus’ ambition was without end. No amount of plans or precautions could guard against it.

Perhaps she could be stymied if the summoners understood the threat, but their minds couldn’t comprehend it. Not even when he tried to warn them. He had almost choked on the frustration as he did his best within the bounds of what Fen would allow. He shouldn’t have wasted his breath. The thrall wouldn’t have allowed him to speak if she thought he had a chance in the Abyss of convincing them. But, like a fool, he’d tried. It had only caused him pain. Fen enjoyed finding new ways to make him hurt.

She hadn’t bothered with her usual games today. Her attention was wholly occupied with the summoning and the drakkon that she would soon work to bring under her control. Despite waiting outside, he could feel her excitement as if she was standing right beside him, trailing her fingers along the back of his neck.

She wanted him to know. To feel his helplessness with every passing second. The moment she gained sway over the drakkon, the Harvest kingdom was doomed. He was the only one who knew but could do nothing to stop it. And sadly, he was beyond trying. His nonsensical ramblings at their latest meeting was his final effort. After, Junior surrendered himself to apathy.

A state of mind that continued even as he stood near the back of the room while the drakkon partially entered their realm. It persisted throughout the negotiation, that went almost disturbingly well given the elemental’s strange way of communication and the accuracy of Luke’s circle. He might be a wrung-out washcloth compared to his daughter, but the Tome man knew his summoning. Success seemed inevitable, something that filled the others with excitement, but Junior felt nothing. Nothing at all.

Until the drakkon suddenly lifted its head. Something about the gesture struck him as odd. A feeling that was vindicated when the drakkon suddenly retreated. Lazarus bellowed in outrage, seeing his future slip away, but Junior almost drowned in his relief. He closed his eyes as a deep sigh sagged his shoulders. Maybe the saints really were watching over them.

{DOWN!}

The mental order was so powerful and Junior’s mind so vulnerable to Fen’s power that he couldn’t think before obeying. His body dropped to the ground. And not a moment too soon. Something passed over his head, so close it shaved off a few hairs. A fraction of a second after he hit the ground, the barn exploded around him. A warm body covered him as debris rained down around him.

Instinct told him to run from the danger but strong hands held him down.

{Don’t move.} Fen whispered in his mind. {Don’t breathe. Still your heart. It will notice us.}

Again, his body obeyed before his mind comprehended. Despite the dangerous and confusing situation, his body calmed despite his racing mind. Fen forced him to remain prone for several tense moments before sitting up. He turned his head as he heard debris sliding off her. “Wha—"

“Shut up,” she hissed, speaking aloud as her eyes darted over the devastation around them. A setting sun shined down on mounds of broken wood. Fen was a vision even in a panicked state as she moved through the destruction, tail curling and twisting as opposed to its usual careless sway.

She came to a sudden stop and pounced on a pile of debris like it had insulted her mother, her arms a furious whirlwind as she threw debris in every direction. Then she froze. Not so much as a hair twitched as she looked down at something. Panic broke through Junior’s confusion as he had never seen the succubus act in such a way. Trying to discern a succubus’ mood from her expression was foolish, as they were masters of manipulation, but he had spent enough time around her true self to get a feel for her. He could tell that something had disturbed her. Greatly.

As Junior pushed to his feet, Fen reached into the gap in the debris and removed something. He had to get much closer before he recognized it as a head. The head of Luke Tome, his wide eyes and slightly parted lips showing surprise rather than the pain of death.

Terrible pains gripped the young summoner’s stomach. Lou’s father was dead. Fen wasn’t digging the rest of him out so she had no confidence in healing him. If he had been shredded like the rest of the barn, restoring him was beyond even the creature’s abilities. Perhaps the brood festering in his family’s estate could make a difference as a group but only Fen had accompanied him to avoid rousing Emerett’s suspicions. The man was uncommonly perceptive and Ambrose had that cat of his. Fen hadn’t wanted to take chances. A decision she no doubt regretted.

“That’s Lou father.”

“Yes, Junior,” the thrall said in a voice devoid of any inflection. It was completely inhuman and the greatest sign of her discomfort. He knew things were bad when the creature dropped its mask.

“She’s…” Junior was about to say she was going to be pissed but he wasn’t sure. He had never known the Tome family to be close. Would she be angry? It wasn’t as if they had let this happen. Junior didn’t even know what had caused the destruction, let alone what could have stopped it. As for her father’s death, he gave it even odds whether Lou shed a tear.

“And that is why you’re a fool, Junior,” Fen said, reading his thoughts. Gingerly, she straightened, waving for him to follow as she stepped out of the carnage. They headed for the house, where they’d parked their carriage. The old man who owned the property threw open the door to his home and jerkily came down his steps, stomping toward them while waving a walking stick. “Lou may not be close to her father, but he was all she had for a long time. She will be furious. With you as well as me.”

“But there was nothing we could do!”

“Do you think that will matter? All she will see is that he is dead and we are alive. She can and likely will order me to tell her the whole truth of what’s happened, but I don’t expect that to dull her temper a bit.”

Junior paled as he imagined what could happen to him. Since his father died, his inadequacies had been drilled into him daily. He was under no illusion that he was needed by either Lou or the succubi that appeared to worship her. As his father’s son, he was simply the most convenient figurehead.

Beyond that, he had few skills and fewer connections. Lou didn’t even like him. He’d been her tormentor for most of her life. All it took was one bad day for her to decide she was done with the farce that was his current life and his head would mirror her father’s. That bad day had almost arrived.

“What are you going to do? If she gets rid of me, you’re gone too.” He just managed to keep the desperation from his voice and stop himself from begging her to save them both.

“Do? What is there to do? I can’t bring her father back. I can’t dull the pain. The only thing to do is throw ourselves at her feet and beg for mercy.”

If their lives depended on Lou being merciful to a previous Grimoire, he thought they should save everyone some trouble and bury themselves.

“You! You two!” The old man had finally gotten close enough to yell at them. “Blasted abyss-whispering imbeciles! What did you do to my barn?! I let you rat-catchers skulk around there because you—"

Fen backhanded the old man hard enough to snap his neck without breaking her stride or deigning to look at him. Junior stared in horror as the lifeless body crumpled to the ground, a life extinguished as an afterthought. Then he jogged to catch up with her quick pace, unwilling to be the next one punished. “What are you doing?” he hissed.

“There is a tragedy a few paces away. I doubt whoever comes upon the wreckage will be surprised by one more body. More importantly, I don’t feel like playing pointless games on what is likely the eve of my death.”

Although he hated his next thought, he couldn’t stop himself from speaking it. “Why don’t you kill me? Without me to bind you to this realm, you would be sent home. Where she couldn’t reach you.”

“I can think of several ways for her to reach me but that isn’t important. If I escape, she will direct her anger to others. That cannot be allowed.”

They reached the carriage and Fen yanked open the door. Junior hastily climbed in, grimacing as the thrall passed him Luke Tome’s severed head. “Will you at least tell me what did this?”

“Later.” He was forced to turn away as she transformed, her exotic form becoming a plain woman with creamy skin and blond hair that could be found anywhere in the capital. After the king’s ban against succubi, they had to be much more careful with her appearance. “Be quiet and behave, Junior. I need to think.”