Chapter 4: The Ring

Sitting atop the gargoyle; perched high above the city, Calyndi knew frustration that ran deeper than anything she had ever felt. The woman that she had seduced had held such promise, and the intensity and skill she had brought to their love making had driven Calyndi so close to the climax that she craved. But, in the end, the city, with all of its apathy and shallowness, had affected the pitiful woman too deeply. The fiery sensation and passion of Calyndi's lust had made the woman aware of what had been so helplessly missing from her life, and that realization had reduced her to a quivering mess of despair.

Calyndi felt pity for the woman. But pity wasn't going to quell the throbbing between Calyndi's legs. Neither was sitting atop a stone creature on the side of a building. Her eyes strayed once again to Devin's graveyard. If she was willing to succumb to his power, she could find release beyond anything she had ever imagined. The bite of a vampire was said to unlock levels of sensation that were unachievable by any other means. Just the thought of it sent shivers down Calyndi's spine.

But those shivers were also laced with fear. She knew what Devin was. She knew what he could do. Even as his bite would unlock her climax, it would also place permanent chains around her mind. She would be Devin's slave for all eternity – she would be nothing more than another of his vampiric concubines, doing his bidding and begging for his sexual favors like a stray dog begs for food. No matter how much she wanted release; no matter how much her body continued to respond to the thought of entering the graveyard and making the ultimate sacrifice, Calyndi resisted. There must be another way.

With a deep sigh, Calyndi decided to head to the 9th Circle. Maybe she could at least vent a bit to Linki. After all, it was growing late, and her fellow succubus might be back from the clubs by now. Stepping to the very tip of the gargoyle's nose, Calyndi engaged in a long and languorous stretch, grinning as she imagined someone looking up and seeing a woman near the top of a tall skyscraper, in the posture of a diver about to leap into the air.

And that is exactly what she did. Tucking her wings close to her body, she let herself fall in a graceful arc off of the building only to plummet towards the concrete jungle below her. Once she had built up a good bit of speed she stretched her wings and began gliding toward the back alley where she would find the hidden door to the most popular underworld bar.

When she arrived, she found that it was full of the usual riffraff. Several ghouls inhabited the various booths, many of them licking their mutilated, or even dismembered, chops as they continued to enjoy the fear that they had just fed upon at the expense of some poor soul who had wandered down the wrong alley. Calyndi didn't know how these creatures could stand it: fear always tasted so bitter to her. She preferred the sweetness of passion, occasionally spiced with the salty hints of sadness.