Chapter 5: The First Betrayal

Calyndi's eyes practically bugged out of her head.

"Do you mean to tell me that you've been with Devin tonight?" Calyndi was surprised to find feelings of excitement and a strange sense of jealousy flittering through her.

"No, not tonight," Linki said, "last night. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd be so worried. But it worked! The ring protected me from his powers."

"How can you be sure?"

"Well, after we ... had our fun last night, he tried to claim me. He did the same thing earlier tonight, too. You know Devin, he'd love to have a succubus all to himself, so he couldn't resist testing the ring to see if it would actually work."

"But it did..." Calyndi's brief pangs of jealousy had faded. Now, she was thinking of only one thing: how was she going to get Linki to give her the ring.

"Oh yes, it did. When he bit me, I felt all the pleasure that comes with a vampire's fangs, but my mind remained my own. I could feel him trying to enter, but it was as though he was simply locked out. The same thing happened tonight. I could hear him calling to me, but his bite had had no effect. His power can't penetrate the protection of the ring."

"So if you can still hear him calling you, does that mean you have to wear the ring forever now?" Calyndi's heart was pounding in her chest and her voice shook a little as she asked, afraid that the ring could never come off of Linki's finger.

"No. I was wearing it when he bit me, so he never asserted his control. He can still call to me, but when he tries to enter my mind to control me, his power just sort of fizzles. It's actually a pretty intense sensation in its own right." Linki shuddered slightly.

Calyndi's mind continued to race, and as it did so her body responded. The tight corset that she wore was brushing against her sensitive nipples, and only her magic prevented the wetness in her sex from being visible through her skin-tight leggings. She wanted that ring.

"You know," Linki broke Calyndi's train of thought, "you seem a little out of sorts, why don't I go get us both another drink and you can collect yourself a bit."

With that, Linki stood up and walked towards the bar.

Calyndi knew that her friend was right – she was a bit too overcome with lust to think clearly at the moment. But it wasn't just lust that was coursing through her, it was also a certain amount of fear. She and Devin had been dancing around each other for so long. Now that there actually seemed to be a way that she could be with him, she still remained acutely aware of the danger. Could this somehow be a trick? Was Linki truly free of his powers? Or was he just using her to lure Calyndi into a trap? Perhaps she was under his power, and was only pretending so that Calyndi would be willing to try the ring. There was one sure to way to find out.

As Linki returned with another drink for each of them, Calyndi pushed her arousal to the back of her mind and focused on gathering her power. When Linki took her seat, Calyndi caught her eye and then unleashed the full power of her mind upon her friend. Staring into Linki's eyes, she could see them slowly going dim; yielding to Calyndi's strong will.

But then, Linki pushed back. Of course, Calyndi thought, Linki would fight her just as Calyndi had fought Devin's mind control on the first night that they met. Linki took human form so often that Calyndi often forgot that her friend was, in fact, a Succubus, and had all of the powers that such an existence bestowed. Of course, Calyndi was a Succubus, too. And that meant that she had more tricks at her disposal than just overt mind control. Still gazing deeply into Linki's eyes, she reached across the table and caressed her friend's face, smiling deeply and sincerely at the same time.