They were all of her and Eric from the past year. Photographs from major holidays with his family, a summer vacation, his graduation from college. With sandy blond hair and dark eyes, Eric had a brilliant smile that lit up a room and a gentle heart. He wasn't athletic or overweight. He worked as an accountant for a local insurance company. Everything about him screamed normal.
His mother had let it slip he wanted to propose soon. Zoey was at first thrilled then horrified. Eric had no idea what she was or what she did.
She left the apartment, troubled. She loved what she had with Eric. Their relationship was simple. Eric grounded her, kept her from being absorbed into the Sucubatti society like the rest of the girls. She was the only one who lived off campus, the only one with a life that didn't revolve around the otherworldly society that sucked her in when she was ten. She remembered her foster home fondly, before she was yanked away and dumped into the Sucubatti society. She'd found a peaceful place again and didn't want anything to change.
She ran along the street instead of the flooded sidewalks this time. There was less water on the street, and she arrived to the Professor's with socks that were dry. Satisfied, she trotted up the stairs to his restored Victorian house and knocked on the door.
It opened to reveal a butler almost older than the Professor. Zoey walked in, wiping her nose on her t-shirt. The butler teetered away while she went to the restroom on the bottom floor. The decor of the house was masculine: dark woods, earth tone furnishings and heavy furniture. Changing quickly, she went to the office where she knew she'd find the Professor.
He glanced up from a large desk. What hair he still had was shaved. Tall with a lean frame, he resembled an aged George Clooney with sparkling, dark eyes. It was hard to remember his age with the Incubus charisma that still trickled off him, despite giving up sex energy for a hundred years. One of his hands clutched a cigar. She loved the scent of it, masculine yet sweet. His Incubus power wound though her senses, wrapped Zoey in a warm blanket and lured her into a sense of security she suspected was purposeful.
She dropped into the comfortable leather chair in front of his desk.
"Hey, kiddo." He said drily in the voice that skittered across her nerves and made her body warm from the inside.
"Howdy. Here as requested." Accustomed to the affects of his magic, she ignored the sensations.
"Marriage," he said. "I've never lost a woman to another man."
She rolled her eyes at him. "He hasn't asked yet. He might not."
"Or he might."
"Yeah." She looked out the window.
"If he does, you'll have to leave him," the Professor said. "You're not ready for that yet."
"I'll deal with it," she said quietly. The nature of the bond between a Hunter and her assigned Succubus or Incubus was completely one way. She'd stopped railing about the unfairness of it, mainly because the Professor was the only person on the planet who didn't treat her like a child.
The Professor and all the guardians maintained access to the minds of the Hunters they sponsored. When in direct contact with their Halflings, they could read minds as well as sense their emotions from afar, due to their special bond. Most of the time, the Professor was content with hearing emotions of interest: fear, anger, sorrow that indicated there was trouble Zoey couldn't handle. He rarely if ever read her mind.
"You don't deal with things in a healthy manner," he reminded her. "He'll blow up, walk out and you'll go over the edge. As usual."
"I'll come back. I always do."
"Maybe you can postpone your meltdown for a few weeks."
She sensed his unease and met his dark gaze again. The Professor set down the pen in his hand and leaned back.
"Someone has been fueling the divide between Incubatti and Sucubatti, perhaps by feeding misleading information to both camps. Or by some other means," he started. "The culprit has been narrowed down to one of the Hunters. There's going to be an inquisition soon."
Zoey listened, surprised.
"I wanted to ask two favors of you today."
"Anything," she said instantly.
"One, may I access your mind to clear you?"
"Clear me? Those old gas bags on the Council think it's me?"
"It's someone from Team R. We know this."
"Are you serious?" She sat forward. "You don't have to ask me, Professor."
"I have always respected your privacy, have I not?"
"Yeah, but if the choice was between stringing me up and clearing me, I'd hope you'd read my mind." She held out her hand, knowing he needed direct contact with her in order to read her thoughts.
"I did already, before I woke you up this morning. I wanted to see your reaction."
"Okay then. What's next?" Zoey let a smile tug up the corner of her mouth. She didn't know how she ended up on his porch swing, but she was grateful for how patient he was with her.
"We're pretty sure it's Vikki. I want you to go with her tonight and any other time she goes out. Tell me what happens. Watch out for signs she's ...sliding."
A pang of sadness struck her at his words. Vikki had been the first to befriend her when she arrived on campus ten years ago and stuck by her since then. They'd gone on dozens of missions together.
"Sliding. I don't get that," she said after a pause.
"Into the influence of the Incubatti or Cambions, someone with malicious intent who may be using her to fuel the fire between the societies."
"I've been on a few dozen missions with her, four recently. What would sliding look like?"
"It'll look different if you're not drunk," he said gently. "You are the best we've got. You can be sloshed with two hands tied behind your back and a knife in your pinkie toe and still kill a Cambion. Which, by all accounts, is what you do. But, I need you sober."
"I've tried sober. I'd rather not remember killing someone," she said and rubbed her face. "Vikki? Are you sure?"
"Sure enough that the Incubatti are sending their Enforcers, and Olivia will probably allow it, according to my source. Unlike the Sucubatti Internal Affairs Officers, whose role is to maintain the peace and act as a police force, the Incubatti Enforcers are known to be somewhat ... aggressive."
"I've heard the stories in history class."
Zoey's breath caught at the idea of Vikki facing the monsters. According to school, the team of elite, super-Incubuses was dispatched to deal with issues a normal Incubus couldn't. They had a history of striking first, investigating later and not being concerned about who got caught in the crossfire. None of the stories the Sucubatti scholars related to their students were good.
"I know you are close to Vikki. I ask this of you as much for you as for her. If there are other considerations we need to be aware of, I want to be able to present her case in full to the Enforcers. If she is being coerced or threatened in some way, she will not face the capital punishment the Enforcers normally hand out. If she is choosing to betray us, this is a different matter," the Professor continued. "I want to give her a chance, Zoey."
"I understand," she said. "Thank you so much, Professor. I am constantly reminded how grateful I am that you're my Benefactor. I don't think hers would do this."
"The rest of them can be ... what do you normally call them? Dicks?"
She nodded.
"I'm too old to be a threat to the Incubatti Enforcers, though I know them well from their visits here," he said. "I understand how special you are. I want you to be protected." His smile faded. "I remember what started the War. I never want us to return to a time of open hostilities."
Emotion conveyed in the voice of an Incubus hit a half-human with double the force of a normal emotion. His sorrow made her ache.
"Will you tell me what really happened?" she asked. "I don't believe that garbage they teach us."
"Not today."
"You should tell me soon. You're near-immortal, but not immortal. I might outlive you, old man."
"You might." He chuckled, his sorrow fading. "You bring life to my world, Zoey."
"You're lonely, aren't you?"
"Not with you in my study."
"You know what I mean."
"Mine has been a lonely life, yes. But full. I regret nothing," he told her firmly. He was smiling again.
"If Vikki is what you say she is ... I mean, come on. She's my best friend." She felt melancholy. Her own emotion, this time. "I still haven't found my footing, Professor. I just don't fit in here."
"You should stop fighting who you are and accept it," he advised. "It has been my experience that those meant for greatness are normally the least aware of their own genius."
"Greatness." She made a face at him. "Whatever, Professor. What's my genius?"
"Perhaps the word genius is a bit of an exaggeration in your case."
Zoey laughed. She thought hard about what he'd told her. He trusted her, another unusual trait for the guardians who viewed the Halflings with derision. Most of them were puppet masters who used the Hunters and transferred them when they became too old or slow or wounded, usually around their twenty second birthdays. Vikki turned twenty-two six months ago and Zoey would in three months. Only the girls on Team R didn't get transferred when they hit that milestone, maybe because they had the highest success rates of all Hunters. The Professor always treated her like a family member. She studied his ancient face, troubled.
"Is there any chance you're wrong about Vikki?" she asked.
"Probably not. She's done something to block the mind access of her Benefactor, so he can't tell what she might've done," he answered. "I hope not to put you in danger this evening. This is not my intent."
"I'm in danger every evening," she replied. "I'm not afraid of the Incubatti Halflings, especially when I know what happens if I let them live." Anger bubbled within her. One of the first lessons every Hunter recruit learned was what Cambions did to the girls they lured to their beds. It was a brutal, bloody and slow death. Sex energy was only harvested from live victims, and Cambions could feed off one girl for days.
Incubuses could do worse. Sex energy gave them superhuman strength and agility. With their ability to cloud judgment, they could influence or seduce whomever they chose.
Sometimes, she forgot how dangerous the man before her was, if he decided to be. The Incubatti were governed by a handful of rules, similar to those the Sucubatti kept. They included not using magic to harm others unless in self-defense and emphasized discretion among the human population who didn't know they existed. They relegated the divide in their philosophical differences to the battles between Hunters and Cambions. The Incubatti sent Cambions to do their dirty work collecting sex energy, and the Sucubatti sent in Hunters to defend innocent women from them. Full-blooded Succubae and Incubuses were forbidden from relationships and interactions with the Halflings of the other society, unless approved by the respective Council.
Any heartache she harbored about how the full-blooded Succubae treated their half-breeds died the day she saw the videos in class demonstrating what Cambions were capable of. She'd outright volunteered for missions, before she graduated from recruit status.
"I am saying, my thick-headed warrior, that I worry about you," the Professor said.
"Like I worry about you being lonely?" she countered.
"Perhaps. I will keep my mind open to yours tonight. I will come, if you call."
"I won't put you in danger," she said, looking over his tall frame. He was much thinner than when she met him three years ago, almost to the point of being gaunt.
"My dear, a full-blooded Incubus even one older than dinosaurs is stronger than you."
"Whatever, Professor."
"I am happy you were dumped upon my porch three years ago. That was one night where your drunkenness led you in the right direction."
"I told the new girl today I wasn't recruited the same way the other Hunters were. Vikki said I was probably too drunk to remember. But you would know, wouldn't you?" she asked.
"I would know, yes, and you weren't recruited."
"You'll tell me the truth, right?" she asked.
"I have many secrets, but this is not one." His head cocked to the side. "Why does it matter, little Zoey, how you ended up with me as your guardian?"
Because it was the first time I blacked out like last night, she answered silently. Realizing she'd asked one question too many and stirred his interest, Zoey rose. She gave him a salute.
"I'll come see you in the morning, before school," she said. "Full report on my Vikki mission."
"What are you hiding, my dear?"
"Nothing, Professor," she mumbled. "Unless you want me to stay, I'm out, old man."
"Be careful, kiddo."
"Alright. You, too. Go see a movie or something."
He snorted. Zoey knew he never left his house, unless it was to go to the campus across the street. She went to the bathroom to change back into her running gear.
By the time she'd jogged home, it was starting to get dark. The car belonging to her boyfriend, Eric, was parked in his spot in front of the apartment building. Upbeat after her talk with the kindly Incubus, she waltzed into the apartment, mouth dropping open to shout a hello, when her phone rang again.
"You finally here?" Eric called from the kitchen. It smelled like spaghetti night. Surprised he cooked, she almost forgot the phone.
"Yeah. One sec, Eric," she said and dug through her backpack for the cell. She saw Vikki's number cross the screen. "Hey, Vikki."
"Meet me at seven?"
"Sure."
"Wear something tight. There's supposed to be like, five of them here tonight, so bring extra weapons."
"Got it. Seven at the library," Zoey said loudly enough for Eric to hear. "See ya then." She hung up and stood in the living room for a moment.
Not Vikki. Not her only friend. Maybe there was some extenuating circumstance. Maybe they were threatening her or her family.
"You going out with Vikki again tonight?" Eric asked, poking his head out from the kitchen. He was frowning. "You were out all last night. The Professor called to tell me you got food poisoning or something and were at his place."
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
"You should've just called me to come get you."
"I know," she mumbled.
"You're twenty-one, Zoey, but that doesn't mean you have to go out drinking every night -- just because you're finally legal."
She shook off her dark mood and crossed to him, planting a wet kiss on his mouth. The sex energy that fueled her super-human abilities sprang to life at the short brush of their lips. She gripped his collar and pulled him back to her, kissing him deeply.
"When I get back, I'll let you make love to me. How's that?"