Kay stalked over to the terrified human. Although her succubus greedily sucked up energy from those around her, she placed her hand directly against the murderer's chest. He stiffened as she soaked up his energy and his life essence.

"Kay? What are you doing?" Hercules asked, but she ignored him as a creepy smirk formed on her victim's face. Even though she was killing him, he experienced the most intense ecstasy. This was the true power of the succubus and where evil lurked, but she didn't care.

Nothing mattered with Marcus dead.

Hercules grabbed her arm away just as the human started to foam around the mouth, and the men holding him collapsed onto their knees, drained along with him.

Sensing a greater power source, Kay's succubus tried to latch onto Hercules as it did that day with Thane.

"What are you doing, sister?" he asked, slowly sinking to his knees.

"You are killing me and Claudia," he bit out, and she let go of all of them with the last of her will.

Already the transfer had tainted something inside her, and she absently wondered if the human had died. Quite frankly, she didn't care.

Settling on her knees beside Marcus' body, Claudia, mere inches away, was barely conscious. She bit into her wrist, allowing her blood to pool in the wound, and it closed.

"That won't work, Kay. Please stop whatever you are doing. We are vulnerable out here; someone might see. This might expose us," Hercules pleaded, trying to stop her, but she shoved him away, and he fell almost a car length from her, skidding across the pavement. She didn't even look to see if he was hurt.

When the wound had closed, she allowed her wrist to heal and placed her hand on Marcus' chest, doing to him what she did to Eve that morning, allowing her strength to flow into him and the life essence she had stolen.

Marcus was still in there. His soul had not yet left his corpse, and the synapses still fired. As long as the spark of life remained, there was something for her Succubus to latch onto. It didn't work at first, but she didn't stop, even as she depleted what she had taken, starting to pour her own strength and life into him.

Weakness overtook her quickly, dark splotches appearing at the edge of her vision, a hunger igniting in her that threatened to consume her, but she contained it within herself. The others had nothing more to give without killing them.

A warm hand settled on her shoulder. Hercules. She almost threw him off again, but he seemed to realize what she was doing and helped her.

The connection did what she could not do on her own; it restarted Marcus' heart, and a moment later, his eyes fluttered open briefly, but he was alive.

"That will do, little one, that will do," Hercules said, and she finally stopped, barely able to lift her head as Hercules sat down on the sidewalk.

Someone spoke over the phone, and minutes later, Thane's men were there, taking them away in a van.

The men separated her from the others, but she fell asleep on the way to the compound, exhausted but glad Marcus was alive. She could not imagine her life without him.

***

Kay expected to wake in her room at Thane's compound or the medical complex, but as she sat upright on the thin mattress and shifted off the light blanket, she blearily blinked, staring right into Zeus' mocking eyes with the bars between them.

It took only a moment for her to realize where she was.

"Sleeping beauty finally arises from her slumber. You screwed the pooch, my dear. Resurrecting your lover in the open like that and nearly killing seven other people, including yourself. Father is furious. They've been up most of the last two days to ensure no images of you engulfed in blue light bringing the dead to life popped up on the internet. From one of our saviors to the one who almost ended us all in less than two weeks. Great work, sunshine," he drawled.

With her succubus still not quite restored, her emotions not ruling her head, and her mind groggy but functional, the implications of what she had done hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Did I kill the human?" she asked, rubbing her face, but as she came upright, nausea barely allowed her to reach the toilet before she wretched, but only a little water came out.

A pounding headache started deep in her brain, and she groaned. Her mouth tasted like death warmed over.

"That is called a succubus hangover, my dear, and no, the human lives, but he's now somewhat attached to you. Addicted. All his thoughts center on you. All he wants to do is serve you, and if you send him away, he will probably die. It would have been better if you had killed him."

"The man nearly stole the love of my life from me. Is he alright? Marcus?" she asked.

"Yes. He has suffered no ill effects, it appears. Apart from now being more succubus than vampire."

The door opened, and someone slipped inside.

"Are you alright?" Claudia asked, and Kay glanced at her, not having the energy to get up from the floor as she blinked at the pale-as-death werewolf. Guilt wrenching her gut.

"I do not matter. Are you alright? I am so sorry."

"That was not something you should do to a friend, but you saved Marcus, and for that alone, I will forgive you. But I am not here to heap recriminations upon you. In fact, they said I shouldn't visit you because you might not be in control of your succubus when it wakes, but I wanted to see for myself and tell you something. When Marcus died, the bond between us broke, and when he woke, it remained severed. Only death or a stronger bond can break a mating bond without killing the other party."

"Zeus told me about the human, but are the others alright?" Kay asked.

"Yes. The guards are still recovering, and only the human was affected by what you did. I've never seen anything like it, but Akira did something Thane wasn't very happy with, and when he woke, he had no memory of trying to kill Marcus or what had happened. In fact, he doesn't even know who you are."

"So, we will never know why he tried to murder Marcus and how he knew to use a silver-coated knife."

"That we do know. Azera hired him two months ago and paid him ten thousand dollars to kill Marcus. The guy seems to be an assassin. She provided the knife, but it took him this long to get an opportunity. Even though he knew she died, he felt obligated to keep up his end of the bargain."

The succubus stirred inside Kay.

"Does that blue glimmer in your eyes mean it is time for me to leave?" Claudia asked, and Kay nodded, not trusting herself.

"Claudia?" she called as the werewolf touched the door. "I am glad the bond broke, and you can make your own choices now. Thank Hercules for helping me after what I did to him."

"You have a lot more to thank him for than that. Your father is very angry at you, and only Hercules has been able to temper his fury and convince our allies not to call for your head on a platter. But you might be here for a stretch while he and Akira plead your case."

Kay finally managed to get her trembling legs to support her as she went to the basin and washed her face, drinking a small amount of water despite her raging thirst and hunger.

"Come to me," Zeus invited, offering her his hand.

She warily stared at him, and he sighed, his expression almost gentle.

"I don't want to harm you; I want to help you."

"Forgive me if I do not trust you."

"If not for you, I would still be a raging animal trapped in a cage, biding my time, waiting to escape and kill you all. You told me the truth, and Father and I are on speaking terms."

"Then why are you still in here?" she asked, trying to ignore her weakness.

"Because, unlike the others, I bought into Azera's lies hook, line, and sinker, and before she captured me, I did some horrible things. When I was under her care, she often allowed me to do more horrible things, and I loved the revenge. Unfortunately, I have many things to answer for, and it will take time to convince Father that I have seen the error of my ways. You are weak and, in this state, dangerous. The first step to getting you out of here is to show them that what happened was an isolated incident. A choice made to save, not harm."

Slowly approaching him, she held out her hand, fingers trembling. He could kill her easily as she was, but he was right. There was no world where she would take the chance to harm her family or friends again.

Their fingers touched, and his power scared her; before she could change her mind, his fingers locked around her wrist, and his succubus latched onto her fast-dwindling reserves. She tried to fight him but didn't even budge his grip.

How could she have been so stupid?

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