Chapter 1

Bar Hopping

The door to the Double Deuce opened with a creak, the hinges protesting loudly. A wave of heat rolled out through the door, carrying with it the scent of oily food, beer, and the delicious aroma of living, breathing human beings.

Dana opened the visor of her helmet and licked her lips, a small chasm opening up inside her stomach. Ever since dying, she had been stripped free of most of her emotions, her ability to feel pain, and even her sense of cold. However, her sense of smell had been amplified, and right now, all she could smell was the delicious bounty of flesh that packed the dimly lit Double Deuce. Every individual had their own unique scent, and a tired waitress who smelled of burger grease, coffee, and sweet potato fries greeted her at the door.

Dana pulled off her helmet, revealing a tumble of shoulder-length blonde hair with streaks of gray in it.

“You ... waiting for somebody?” The woman’s hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, but several strands of it had already come undone, hanging lifelessly over a face that likely had quit giving a crap about ten years prior. She wore a faded nametag with the name Janice.

“It’s just me.” Dana’s eyes swept across the room, taking in the men who had already noticed her entrance. A couple of bikers in the corner were elbowing their buddies and pointing her out, and a couple of college kids took a break from losing their money at the pool table to ogle her over their beers.

She had never been comfortable getting attention like this when she was alive, but that part of her that felt uncomfortable was dead and gone, leaving only facts. These men could stare all they wanted, and Dana just couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Um...” Janice took a quick look around the bar, then back at Dana. “You sure you got the right place, hun?”

What Janice likely meant to say was this is no place for a single woman.

“I saw this place from the main road. Thought I’d stop in for a ... bite.” Dana tried to grin but ended up baring her teeth instead. Maybe if her parents had signed her up for modeling classes as a child, she would have been able to smile and wave at the judges, convincing them that she was beautiful both on the inside and the outside.

Janice wasn’t one to argue, apparently, and just sighed in disappointment. “You got ID?”

Dana held up her wallet. “Been twenty-one for long enough.”

Janice shrugged and stepped aside. “Open seats at the bar. You can give your order to the bartender and I’ll bring it out from the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” Dana walked across the Double Deuce and sat toward the end of the counter. The door to the kitchen was to her left, and she could smell grease burning on the grill. Picking up a laminated menu, she flicked off some dried food that clung to it.

“Get you something?” The bartender was a tall man in flannel, and if his beard wasn’t so neatly trimmed, Dana would have assumed he stepped out of someone’s piss poor lumberjack sex fantasy. His sleeves were pushed up, revealing several different tattoos, including some that looked like they had been done in someone’s basement.

“Lemon drop.”

The bartender placed both hands on the bar and stared at her for several seconds. She wished he at least had a glass to pretend to be washing, maybe spit in it, give it a polish, and ask what brings her in.

Oh, you know, got murdered by a necromancer and can’t properly die and see my loved ones in the afterlife, so am hunting down some lost magical items. You ever had that problem?

“A lemon drop, please. You know how to make one, right?” Dana knocked on the counter impatiently. “Or do you only serve beer here?”

“ID?”

Dana slid her driver’s license over. He picked it up and inspected it thoroughly, then tossed it back.

“You want a tab?”

“Cash.” Dana pulled a ten from her pocket. The bartender made her some change and then went around the corner to make her drink. Dana spun around on the barstool and surveyed the room, looking for her target.

The front door of the bar opened, and a raven haired beauty in a tight red dress strolled in, her hips rolling with every step. The whole room went silent, watching the buxom bombshell as she walked toward the bar and took a seat on the stool closest to the entrance.

“I’ve just had the worst day,” the woman announced, slamming her hand down on the polished wood. “I just found out my husband is fucking his secretary, my car broke down trying to come out of the valley, and some asshole claiming to be my rideshare bolted with my phone and my purse.” She crossed her legs, briefly revealing a flash of lacey black panties that matched her thigh-high boots. “Please tell me there’s somebody here who is willing to buy me a drink.”

The college boys looked intensely interested, but the bikers stood up and immediately made their way to the bar. Instead of fighting for the woman’s attention, the college kids decided to cut their losses, settle up with the pool shark, and make their way to the door, vanishing into the fading light of day.

Dana smirked. It was probably the smartest move of their lives, for the newcomer was not only her partner, but the succubus Lily in disguise.

Dana’s lemon drop was set in front of her without a word, the bartender moving away to see what the newcomer was having. Dana gave her glass a little swirl, a small frown on her face.

The first sip should have been sweet, tinged with lemon and a thinly veiled burning sensation that would have warmed her from the chest out. Instead, the flavor was muted, and she had to be careful not to quickly slam the whole thing like poorly flavored water. Her dead taste buds registered just a hint of vodka, but that was it. It pained her to admit that the popular trope about hot sauce and zombies was true, but intense flavors were among the only things she could taste that didn’t come from a human being.

“Damn,” she muttered in disappointment, her eyes flicking to the three men who had surrounded the stranded motorist. Lily briefly made eye contact with Dana, then turned her attention to the bartender.

“Apparently these men would like to buy me something hard and strong,” Lily said, opening her arms and hanging them on the men at her sides. The dress she wore was strapless, and it seemed to shift on its own just a bit lower, threatening to fall away and expose her breasts. “So what do you say, Paul Bunyan? You got anything hard for me?”

A couple of patrons laughed, and a couple more rolled their eyes, but Dana kept her gaze on the rest of the room, wondering who had what they were looking for.

Lily laughed, flirted, and drank. Dana ordered another lemon drop to keep up appearances, and even a plate of nachos. Other than the jalapenos, she couldn’t taste most of what was there, reminding her of a time when she had been younger and had her mouth numbed for some dental work. Her tongue had stayed numb for an unusually long time, and the tomato soup she had eaten could have been warm water with salt and pepper in it for all she knew.

An hour passed, followed by another. Dana played on her phone while Lily amused the bikers, playing pool with them, eating their food and drinking whatever they brought her. She was tilting around the room like a barmaid out of control, and Dana was starting to wonder what would happen if the succubus got good and drunk. Would her wings and tail poof into existence? Would she attack someone?

Maybe she should have thought this plan through some more.

“So what’s the deal with you and your friend?” Paul Bunyan was back, his dark eyes narrow.

“What do you mean?” Even though he had surprised her, it was easy for her to remain calm as if nothing had happened.

“I’ve seen you watching her.”

“It’s a free country. Lots of people are watching her.”

“Not like you are. I can see it in your eyes, you know this woman. Are you friends? Or maybe she’s your girlfriend, and she does this to make you jealous.” He picked up a bottle of beer from under the counter and took a sip off of it. “I’m only asking because I’m the one who has to clean up if the two of you start making trouble.”

“How considerate.” Dana looked at Lily, then back at the bartender. Would it make things worse if she told him they were trying to find one of his regulars? Naturally, the reason why would have to remain a secret. The man, Ray Scotes, was in possession of a magic item that Dana intended to take from him. No, the truth wouldn’t work here, but Lumberjack Holmes was going to need a solid answer that made sense.

Dana leaned across the bar, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you have to keep your mouth shut. Yes, I know her.”

Paul Bunyan’s lip curled up, but he remained quiet.

“So, it’s like this. My friend there, is ... well, she’s my girlfriend.”

The bartender nodded. “And?”

“Well, we kind of have this arrangement. Once a month, we drive down from Wyoming and find a hole in the wall with a couple of horny guys. See, I’m into women, but my girl? She still loves herself a good dicking.”

“She seems the type.” Dana could smell the arousal on him now like a fine spice, see how he licked his lips. He probably wondered what his chances of an easy lay with Lily were, and Dana wondered a little herself. Lily, ever impulsive, had come along on this trip to help, but Dana was starting to wonder what that help would look like.

“Yeah, well, even though I’m not into guys, it gets me all hot watching her flirt with them, seeing them lust all over her.” Dana picked up a nacho and bit a piece of cheese off the front. It was like swallowing a wad of soggy paper. “We aren’t gonna cause any trouble, that’s not where the thrill is. My girl is going to get some of your patrons off and then the two of us are gonna go back to our hotel, and I’m going to eat her out while she tells me all the dirty things they got up to.”

Paul grinned. “Sounds hot.”

“Oh, it is. After I eat her out, I pin her to the bed and ride her face until she begs me to stop, just to remind her that she’s my bitch. We’ve done this every month we’ve been together. Helps keep things fresh.”

“You two ever wonder how hot a threesome would be? Why fantasize about seeing her with a man when you could watch it live?” She could almost smell the desperation in his voice. Was this the world that Lily lived in? Were all men this easy to manipulate?

No, it wasn’t that. She had met plenty of men throughout her life that had treated her with respect and kindness. She thought of Mike, the man she had been killed for. The necromancer Daryl had turned her into an intelligent zombie for the purpose of breaking into Mike’s house and stealing something from him. Daryl had made sure that Dana could never be properly killed, her soul locked on this plane of existence and away from the love of her life, her dearly departed Alex.

Consumed by hunger, she had broken into the house, only to encounter the strange creatures living within. They immediately came to her aid, finding a way to stave off her decomposition and allow her to think for herself. While she was busy considering if Daryl would actually turn her back to normal, or even let her die properly, Lily had gone after the man and killed him.

No. Not all men were easily manipulated. This one though?

“Maybe for our second anniversary or something. Not tonight.” She spun around in her stool. “Now if you don’t mind, the brain is the most sensitive erogenous zone and you are cock-blocking me.”

Paul Bunyan was clearly disappointed but said nothing as he walked away. Janice moved in and out of the kitchen with some burgers for a couple of older men who were content to watch ESPN on the solitary TV over the bar. Lily was now in the corner of the bar with the bikers. One had his arm draped over her shoulders, his fingertips lightly brushing her breasts.

“Excuse me, boys,” Lily proclaimed loudly, slurring her words. The rest of the bar had lost interest in her shenanigans, but Dana was still paying attention. “I need to visit the ladies room.”

“Need any help?” one of the bikers asked.

“Heh. Maybe in a bit. I just need to ... freshen up.” She slid a hand up the man’s chest and then yanked his hair, tilted his head back, and planted a kiss on him. His buddies cheered them on, and Lily gave them a little wave as she stumbled across the bar and vanished into the bathroom, but not before giving Dana a look.

Dana waited a few seconds and then followed, pushing open the bathroom door. The ladies room smelled like it had been recently cleaned, but looked like it needed to be condemned. The sinks were badly chipped, just like the floor, and neither of the stalls had doors.

“Jesus,” Dana muttered, her eyes settling on Lily, who sat on one of the sinks with her legs crossed and a smug look on her face. Gone was the flush of drunkenness, the demon’s eyes glowing with hunger.

“I’d prefer you keep that word to yourself, deadhead.” Lily turned to look in the mirror, her hair and makeup magically redoing itself. “So, we’re not going to find Mr. Scotes here tonight.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because he hasn’t been in for weeks. Now, one of these guys is close friends of his, but I’m going to need a few minutes to get the info we want out of him, if you know what I mean. You’re welcome to come if you want.” Lily wiggled her eyebrows. “Pun intended.”

“That’s so funny, I’ve come back to life and forgotten to laugh.” Though she and Lily certainly weren’t a couple, what she had said about men had been true. With the exception of Mike, she had no interest in them and never really had. She had many theories as to why Mike was the exception to the rule, but had been unable to come to grips with any of them.

Lily chuckled. “For someone with a muted sense of humor, you’re still good for a laugh.”

“I have a question. When you were drinking with those men, were you actually drunk, or just pretending?”

“Ooh, I’m afraid that’s a trade secret of the demon world. It’ll cost you a kiss—”

“Not interested.” Dana turned to leave, but Lily grabbed her arm to stop her.

“That was a joke, I was only teasing. When I eat or drink human food, I can process it normally or, well, burn it off instantly.”

“That’s kind of convenient.”

“You would be surprised how much seduction takes place over a plate of tacos. And while I truly hunger for only one thing, the brain really is the largest erogenous zone, even for a succubus.”

“I ... you heard that?”

“Oh, I have phenomenal hearing. I can’t wait to be your bitch later tonight.” Lily licked her lips. “Besides, I believe you are overdue for a meal of your own, are you not?”

Dana shrugged. “If we get to it, we get to it.” The gnawing sensation in her stomach wasn’t too bad, but she was starting to think of the people in the bar as snacks waiting to happen. Still, the idea that she was dependant on the cum that Lily was storing for her didn’t sit right. Maybe it was her independent streak, or the fact that it was magical man juice, or even both.

“Liar. Your left eye is gray already.”

“Shit.” Dana looked in the mirror and saw that Lily was right. The sparkling blue of her left eye was replaced with a flat gray color. She tousled her hair to reveal that more strands of it had gone gray as well, then let out a frustrated sigh. What little life force she had was ebbing away, and this was always the first sign. Based on experience, she would be ready to tear people apart in about three days.

Scowling, she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a contact case.

“Need help?” Lily asked.

“Nah.” The contacts did nothing for her vision, but they were colored to match her eyes. She stuck both of them in real quick, then pulled her phone out and set a reminder to take them out later. The last thing she needed was for them to get stuck in there after several days. “Better?”

“Much.” Lily hopped down off the sink and planted a quick kiss on Dana’s forehead, then pinched her cheek. “Why don’t you be a good little girl and get a soda from the bar while Mommy tries to find you a new Daddy.”

Dana rolled her eyes and wandered out of the bathroom. The bikers looked up in anticipation but were disappointed to see that it was only Dana.

Sitting back on her barstool, Dana spun around and to pick at her nachos some more. Paul Bunyan was back with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You girls have a little pre-game conference in there?”

Dana grunted. “Something like that.”

“Here.” The bartender slid over a piece of paper. “When that two year anniversary rolls around, give me a call.”

“Yeah, okay.” She took the paper and stuck it in her pocket. “Now, if you don’t mind...”

“Right, I’m a ghost.” He vanished to the other end of the bar. When he wasn’t looking, Dana crumpled up the note he gave her and dropped it on the floor, then used her feet to shove it in the gap between the bar and the floor.

“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath. The bathroom door slammed open, and Lily stumbled out, her chest and cheeks flush with excitement.

Picking at her chips, Dana watched for just a few more minutes before setting some cash on the bar and then walking out.

After all, Lily could handle herself.

Stepping out into the cool evening air, she found a quiet spot on the rocks across the street from Double Deuce. She had a great view of not only the bar, but anybody who came in or out. Up above the door, a small neon sign with the Two of Spades and The Two of Hearts flickered weakly.

The Double Deuce was on the northwestern edge of Laporte, Colorado. Any further up the road and you would end up in the mountains, or eventually the Red Feather Lakes region. This area was for mostly locals and people who knew it existed, and the bar was tucked off to the side of the road, sign number one that they weren’t trying to attract any attention.

The road was mostly quiet. The school year had just started up for the local college, and she doubted any college kid would ever wander this far out of town, unless there was a good reason for it.

Her own good reason involved a collection of magical items that a snake woman thought could be used to bring her back to life. One of these things had been sold to a thrift shop in Fort Collins called Unearthly Delights. Dana had originally hoped that a simple stop and shop would accomplish the deed, but had been aggravated to discover that Unearthly Delights had burned down in a mysterious fire over the summer.

She and Lily had holed up in a cheap hotel out by the highway, just east of Fort Collins, and it had taken them a couple days to track down the employees of the store. The succubus did some kind of Dreamscape brain hopping to find out who the flask had been sold to. The two of them had managed to use social media to track the new owner, Ray Scotes, to this place on the edge of Laporte, which was just northwest of Fort Collins proper. Except for a gas station about half a mile up the road, Double Deuces was one of the last stops on the way into the mountains,.

The smell of gas and oil filled her nose, and a car shot down the canyon, blowing past Deuces without slowing down. The taillights vanished around the corner, gobbled up by the darkness.

“Lucky fucker,” Dana muttered, then settled in to wait. If there was one benefit to being dead, it was that she never got uncomfortable.

Lily watched Dana leave through the front door of Deuces, then turned her attention to the biker closest to her.

His name was Thomas, and he was the one she wanted. During their many conversations, he kept mentioning that his buddy Ray had a cabin up in the woods that they could use if she wanted to get away from her husband for a bit. Of course, he would be there to keep her company, and they could even ride up there on his bike, but only if Ray gave him the okay.

Of course, that meant that Ray wasn’t responding to texts or calls from his friends, which they all thought was a little weird, but apparently he had been avoiding everyone lately. Frustrated that she wasn’t about to get a direct line to their missing buddy, it was time for her to take action.

“You boys have been so wonderful,” she gushed, putting one hand on Thomas’ thigh and the other on his buddy Jared’s chest. Thomas was heavy set, but she could feel plenty of muscle beneath the extra weight. Jared, on the other hand, looked more like a scrawny meth head who did just enough push-ups to be allowed to hang with the guys. “My husband is such a prick, but I’m glad I ran into you three.”

“Yeah, we’ll take care of you, Gabby.” Frank told her while scratching his beard. Frank wore a gold wedding band, and seemed to be comfortable playing wingman for both of his boys.

“Is Gabby short for something?” Jared asked her.

“Gabrielle.” Lily smirked. “My parents thought they were having a boy, so wanted to name me after an angel.”

“I think you still are an angel.” Thomas brushed hair away from Lily’s eyes, letting his hand trail down the front of her dress, his fingers lingering on her breast.

“I certainly don’t feel like one right now,” she whispered. “I’m headed back to the ladies room.”

“You just got back—” Jared said, but Frank kicked him in the shin.

“Like I was saying, I’m headed back. Anyone want to join me?”

Frank held up his hands. “I’m good here. Someone needs to keep an eye on our beers.”

“Love ya, brother.” Thomas stood up and followed close behind Lily as she sauntered back. Dana had gone outside a few minutes ago, and other than a knowing look from the bartender, nobody else seemed to notice.

Once in the bathroom, Lily pushed Thomas against the wall and stuck her tongue down his throat. He wasted no time in pawing at her breasts, his thumb catching on the fabric and ripping a few of the threads.

“Holy shit,” Jared muttered when he entered, giving the bathroom a quick look to make sure it was empty.

Thomas broke his lips away. “Watch the door.”

“Oh please. Nobody will bother us in here.” Lily grabbed Thomas’ cock through his pants, feeling it harden beneath her fingers. Using her other hand, she hiked up the back of her skirt. “Why don’t you get over here and help your friend make a woman’s dream come true?”

“Holy shit, holy shit!” Jared was fumbling with his pants. “Is it cool with you, Thomas?”

“Ain’t gay if we don’t make eye contact,” Thomas replied, then sucked on Lily’s neck while pulling the front of her dress down with his hands.

Jared came up behind Lily, his cock in one hand and his pants in the other.

“Lift my skirt,” she told Jared, and he obeyed.

A succubus’ tail could be summoned at will, and when Jared squatted down to push her skirt up, the venomous tip of her tail caught him in the chin. He let out a little grunt, the toxins rushing through his body. He fell forward into Lily, which pushed her against Thomas.

“Shit, did he just pass out? I keep telling that asshole he needs to lay off—”

Lily’s tail caught Thomas in the thigh, and his eyes bugged out of his head before his eyelids fluttered and he sank to the ground.

Now against the wall, Lily straddled his body, her fingers undoing his belt. Using the thumb and forefinger of her left hand, she touched his temple and sank deep into his unconscious mind. His brain was like a storybook, and she flipped through the pages, trying to find the information she wanted. Here, inside the Dreamscape, she could extend time, turning hours of exploration that passes as seconds in the real world. Even if Frank grew suspicious and came in now, she would have days to find what she was looking for.

Unsurprisingly, her search was also turning up the fact that Thomas was a Grade A piece of shit. Between committing semi-major crimes, the guy had a kid he never raised, plenty of girlfriends with black eyes, and a pistol hidden in the concrete foundation of his house that had been used to put a hole through Billy Bixley’s skull fifteen years back.

Despite these things, the knowledge she needed was still buried, so she ignored them for now. Finally, she spotted several memories of Thomas going up into the mountains to hang with Ray and do some hunting and fishing.

She ran through the memories over and over, committing the route to the cabin to memory. The cabin itself wasn’t big, and it certainly wasn’t on a marked road of any sort. In fact, the road itself was merely a worn patch in the dirt with packed gravel beneath it. The cabin didn’t have an address that she could see, and she felt better about Dana not being able to find a public record of the place.

“Hmm.” Her body was in the real world while her mind was in here, and time had slowed to a crawl inside Thomas’ head. Smiling, she decided that she had earned herself a bit of a snack.

The Dreamscape formed around her, a dimension inside the biker’s mind that she could freely manipulate. After digging through his memories, she had pulled out the bits and pieces that were the most useful to her, recreating a brick and mortar building from the early nineties. Bright yellow goalposts fell from the sky to spear the green lawn behind the school, and the halls filled with outlines of people, their features filling in at random. Lily thought of them as extras, an amalgamation of random memories that served to generate faces and identities.

Strolling down the hall, her body warped and distorted, her skin turning dark and her hair kinking up into luscious curls. Still connected to Thomas’ mind, she realized that she wore the form of the teacher he had had a crush on in high school.

Her name was Ms. Martin, and she wore a bright yellow dress that hung to her ankles. Bountiful breasts strained against the fabric, and Lily was sure that Ms. Martin had never worn a dress as low cut as this one. She took her place in a room by the end of the hall and waited like a spider that had set out its web.

The noise in the hallway was muffled, and she leaned against the dry erase board, feeling Thomas’ mind close in on her.

When he pushed open the door, he looked like he did as an adult, but it was the idealized version of himself. Gone was the paunch and slightly thinning hair, his body shimmering with spiritual energy as he finished falling into the deepest of sleeps.

“Hey there, Ms. Martin.” The shit-eating grin on his face told Lily everything she needed to know. Somehow, Thomas was aware that he was dreaming, was aware that he was no longer a high school boy being crushed beneath the weight of society. He was a man now, and had returned to show Ms. Martin exactly what she had been missing.

“Hey there, Tommy.” Lily grinned. “You’ve gotten big, haven’t you?”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” Thomas stepped into the room, the desks closest to him shifting across the room in fear. Lily could feel his desire both for power and for Ms. Martin radiating from him. It was well within her ability to tamper down whatever control he had on his dreams, but she needed him nice and horny for what was about to happen next.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Tommy. I have a class that starts soon.” Lily spread her arms apart, her erect nipples pressing against the fabric of her dress. “Maybe we could meet after school?”

“Fuck, no.” His hand closed around her throat, and he squeezed. “I don’t give a fuck if someone walks in on us.”

Lily grabbed at Tommy’s hands, her fingers clutching uselessly at his own.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m in charge now.” He pawed at her breasts, easily tearing away the flimsy fabric. “I’m not some scared little shit now.”

Lily dug into his memories some more, revealing flashbacks of a much younger Thomas getting kicked out of class for all sorts of general douchebaggery. There were scenes of trying to get a peek at Ms. Martin’s bra, or staring contemplatively at her ass while she lectured. For him, half the fantasy was overturning the authority figure role.

“Please,” she begged, her hands moving to his chest. “You’re too strong for me.”

“That’s not all I am.” He unzipped his pants, revealing a dream enhanced cock, easily twice as long as it should be.

“That’s ... so much bigger than...” She choked for dramatic effect, her eyes going wide.

“Bigger than what?” He released his grip slightly.

“My boyfriend’s. Oh, please don’t put that in me, I’ll be too loose and he’ll know I cheated on him.” She felt his desire spike, and in the real world, she was stroking his cock through his pants.

“Maybe if you suck it, I won’t fuck you.” He moved his hand off her throat and put it on top of her head.

“Yes, Tommy.” She sank down to her knees and opened her mouth wide. Thomas grabbed her by the ears and face fucked her, hard. Here, in the Dreamscape, this had no more effect on her than a wide yawn, but she choked and gagged, putting on a show.

“Take it, bitch.” He bottomed out in her throat, and she summoned spit and tears, her mascara running down her face. When he pulled out of her, a thick strand of spit connected the two of them.