Chapter 7: Reconciliation

Bright sunlight woke Calyndi from her swoon. She was lying in the grass in the graveyard, still naked, her breasts exposed to the sun. She squinted at the unpleasant sensation of the light beating down on her. Unlike vampires, succubi could survive direct sunlight, but it wasn't pleasant. Already weak from the amount of blood that Devin had drained from her, the light was further weakening her, making it difficult for her to move.

But then a figure stood over her, blocking the sun. Backlit as she was, the figure's features were difficult to distinguish, but her silhouette was unmistakable.

"Linki..." Calyndi weakly managed to call her friend's name, whose wings thankfully added to the shade.

"Good morning, Calyndi. How are you feeling?"

Calyndi still felt rather faint, and the graves around her seemed to be spinning slightly. She was suffering from a feeling of weakness and vulnerability that she wasn't accustomed to. Still, with just a single thought of the previous night, the answer to Linki's question was undeniable.

"I feel absolutely wonderful."

Mustering the little bit of strength left in her body, she raised her arms above her head and engaged in a long and languorous stretch as a wide smile covered her face.

"My god, Linki, Devin is..."

"I know," her friend replied, "I was with him, too."

Suddenly, guilt and apprehension shot through Calyndi as she remembered what she had done to her friend the night before. Those feelings dissolved, however, as a wave of panic washed over her: the ring was no longer on her finger!

"The ring!" Calyndi sat upright and was immediately sorry as the world seemed to spin faster. She flopped back onto the grass and closed her eyes as she struggled to remain conscious. She could barely hear Linki's encouraging words.

"Don't worry, I have it. Once I came out of your little trance I knew where you'd be, so I came to get it back ... and to have some fun of my own."

Through hooded eyelids Calyndi could see a fresh pair of fang marks on Linki's otherwise perfect neck.

"But if you took it ... did he... ?" Calyndi reached to her own neck in terror, only to relax as she felt only the single pair of marks.

"Don't worry, I was a bit pissed off that you'd tranced me and stolen my ring, but I wouldn't leave you completely at Devin's mercy out of spite. When I got there I found him screaming in frustration as he tried to remove the ring from your finger. But that's the beauty of magic rings – they don't always come off very easily. Of course, since I'm not a vampire, I had no trouble slipping it off of your finger."

"And he didn't... ?"

"Bite you again? No. He was otherwise occupied." Calyndi saw Linki's eyes take on a slightly dreamy quality as she said this.

That look was cause for concern, Calyndi knew. The feeling of sexual satisfaction that had settled over Calyndi was intoxicating, and she knew that Linki must feel the same way – perhaps more so after a second night with Devin. But Linki was clearly feeling something else as well. Calyndi had seen that look in Linki's eyes plenty of times, usually when her friend was looking at her with longing in her heart. Now, Calyndi realized, Linki was feeling that same longing for Devin. This couldn't possibly end well.

But as she mused on this, another thought also occurred to Calyndi.

"So, what if Devin had drained you as much as he drained me? If you'd been unconscious, Devin could have bitten me again and then I'd be ... his."

"Well, that was a risk I was willing to take so I could ... well, you know how good Devin is." The dreamy look crept into Linki's face again. "But you had nothing to worry about – apparently you drained him almost as much as he drained you – if you know what I mean. I have to say, I'm impressed, Calyndi. Nearly exhausting a vampire is quite a feat. He and I had some fun, and it was wonderful, but he only drank from me a little bit. He was pretty spent."

Calyndi sat up slowly, letting her head steady a bit before she spoke again.

"Linki, I'm really sorry about stealing your ring. I just..."

"Listen, don't worry about it. We're succubi – pursuing lust is what we do. But I do need to know ... did you ask me anything while I was entranced?"

Calyndi saw a very odd expression come over Linki as she asked this question. Of course, Calyndi thought, she's worried that she might have revealed her feelings for me while she was under my control. Calyndi knew of Linki's feelings, but neither had ever spoken of them out loud. It would be easy to reassure her friend.

"Don't worry, all I asked was whether or not Devin was controlling you. I just wanted to make sure that the ring actually worked."

"And you just took the ring off of my finger?" Linki seemed strangely tense as she asked this.

"Yes, I just slipped it right off." Calyndi couldn't tell where Linki was going with this line of questioning.

"Well, you know, you could have just asked for it – I'd have lent it to you."

"Yeah, sure." Calyndi was relieved that Linki wasn't too angry, and was happy to see her friend drop whatever feelings were bothering her. Linki spoke playfully to her.

"You don't believe me?"

"Well, seeing as how you left me passed out in a vampire's den while you stole the ring," Linki raised an eyebrow at Calyndi's choice of words, "Okay, you took back the ring that was my only protection from him, just so you could have your own roll in the hay – I'd say you intended to keep it for yourself."

"Well, I didn't say I'd have given it to you last night. But I can't be with Devin every night – there's not enough blood in me for that."

Calyndi was surprised to hear Linki speaking of being with Devin in such rational terms. Perhaps she had misread her friend's expression earlier. But that look of dreamy infatuation was clearly still in her eyes. Maybe she was just trying to act tough to keep Calyndi from worrying. Deciding not to press the issue, Calyndi relented.

"Well," she said instead, "I imagine you hate the sun as much as I do. We should probably both head home."

Without thinking, Calyndi hopped to her feet. Immediately, a powerful swirl of dizziness claimed her. She swayed on her feet for just a moment as the sun seemed to grow steadily larger and larger in the sky. When it's light completely filled her vision, her eyes rolled back and her body went limp. She was vaguely aware of Linki catching her before she feinted completely...

Calyndi returned to consciousness with a start. Something cold and wet had touched her neck and jolted her out of the swoon that had claimed her in the graveyard. As her eyes groggily opened, she saw Linki, back in her human form, standing over her, that dreamy, loving look that Calyndi had seen in the graveyard overwhelming her friend's face.

"Damn," Calyndi thought, "I had hoped that the one benefit of her new infatuation with Devin would be that she'd be over me, but it doesn't appear that that's the case."

Indeed, the coldness that Calyndi had felt was a soaked washcloth that Linki was using to wash away the blood that had dried on Calyndi's neck following her encounter with Devin. While one hand worked at this delicate task, the other rested on Calyndi's wrist, providing a touch that was both reassuring to Calyndi in her weakened state and worrisome, as Calyndi feared that Linki's longings might be getting the better of her.

Still, at this moment, the tenderness felt good, so Calyndi didn't resist. Instead, she forced her eyes to focus beyond her friend so that she could take stock of where she was. It only took her a moment to realize that she was in Linki's cave, just outside of the city. Both of them lived in such caves – dark dwellings where they could pass the light of day in restful sleep. Calyndi's was sparse, containing only a bed and a few personal effects. Linki's, on the other hand, was filled with a wide assortment of furniture and knick knacks – rolled up movie posters, stacks of books, each on the verge of toppling, old vinyl records. There were also plenty of older items – engraved plates and antique furniture – a huge pile of evidence of humanity's need to fill its void with material detritus.

Looking past this clutter, Calyndi saw a bright glow from the mouth of the cave that told Calyndi that it was still daytime, and she immediately thought of returning to sleep. As her eyes slipped closed, though, Linki spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

"Still a little dazed."

"Wow, Devin must have really drained you pretty dry. I passed out briefly the first time he and I were together, but I came too just a bit later and was able to sleep off the dizziness without much trouble. You two must have really had a good time."

Calyndi could see a strange look cross Linki's face as she said that. She could see her friend's sadness at this statement, but there seemed to be a bit more to it as well.

"Well, you probably weren't quite as hard up as I was, that's all..." Calyndi lied. Sure, she had been pretty sexually frustrated when she had visited Devin – but the two of them had been prowling each other for quite some time. The passion of last night was about more than a few failed human attempts at bringing Calyndi to climax. Unfortunately, Linki probably knew this, too.

"Well, whatever the reason, Devin really took it out of you. You should probably feed."

"There's no way I'm going to be able to do that right now – I can't even stand up without feinting."