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“Ok, now the whole thing again for the record for such a poor little nymph like me.”
Maureen looked at her boyfriend with a withering look.
“So let’s start from the beginning. My mother Linea sort of banished me because I’m a, I shudder, broken demoness, since my abilities awoke very late and as the fifth child, I had no say in anything anyway. And until my abilities awakened, I kept having little accidents like that that caused me to burn my hands because I couldn’t control magic.”
Her hands gripped the steering wheel tighter until her knuckles stood out white. Her gaze was fixed on the dark road ahead. For as long as she hadn’t taken the road back to the Succubi realm, she didn’t quite know where to turn and when. The fact that more than two hundred years had passed since she had left, and that people had been busy building roads, made it only slightly better.
“So far I got it. But your mother seriously approved assassins?”
“Approved is too much to say, but she didn’t do anything about it either. Must have been some kind of payback for me hunting our kind.”
“She does realize, though, that you literally only send to hell the demons who misbehave enough to expose all of us? And I mean all of us. Once people figure out that there are demons, it’s only a matter of time before they figure out that there are us nymphs and sylphs and who not.”
A bitter laugh escaped Maureen. She saw his frantic gestures even out of the corner of her eye.
“Oh, you don’t know my mother. For her it’s still quasi treason, even though I’m basically protecting all of us with it. After all, no one could have known that my abilities would become especially powerful when used against other demons.”
“I know, and I love you for that, honey.”
“Arg, Connor, really?”
Briefly, she looked over at Connor and just saw him grinning broadly.
“I know how much you hate pet names.”
The slight smile came naturally. She shook her head briefly and returned her attention to the road.
“Damn it!” she cursed, making an unexpected U-turn in the middle of the road.
“Are you trying to kill us?” he shouted off, one hand on the dashboard and the other braced against the roof.
“No, I missed the exit.”
“Which…?”
Connor didn’t get to finish, instead screeching off as Maureen headed for a mountain wall. Only at the last moment did a red-purple glowing portal open and not a second later they were in the Succubi realm. With squealing tires and a skillful slide, Maureen parked. At least nothing had changed structurally at home. After all this time, you couldn’t be too sure.
“You are coming?” she grinned at Connor, who was still sitting there breathing heavily.
“Warn me next time.”
His eyes were still wide and the look on his face told her he was already thinking about how to get back at her.
“If there is a next time.”
Maureen tilted her head. Her gaze went up the outer wall and beyond, where in the background the tall tower towered over everything. The tower that was for the leader and where she spent her childhood as the daughter of that very leader.
“Are you all, right?”
“Just a weird feeling being back here. Let’s go.”
Connor held out his hand to her and together they stepped toward the front gate. In front of it stood two guards in armor and carrying spears. The confused “Hmm” from Connor was something Maureen could relate to. It didn’t have to be that old-fashioned, but it would help her in a pinch if everything went south, and it was just a matter of when not if.
“Name,” one of the guards rumbled.
“Myhrvinia Thellea Khestin, daughter of Irinana Vestarisch Elinndis Khestin, leader of the European Succubi.”
As she spoke, she dropped the illusion of human appearance and presented her jet-black wings, blood-red skin, and most importantly, the long golden horns bent backward that only the leader’s children had. The guard’s gaze went from her to Connor. The disapproval was more than evident.
“Men are not allowed in.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m not a man, I’m a nymph. Caliran Polihymno of the Green Isle.”
As usual, Connor had to overdo it a bit and made a slight courtly curtsy. She could only cover the telltale twitch at the corners of Maureen’s mouth by clearing her throat.
“My mother had sent for meand with it granted to bring a person of my choosing. If there are any problems, I suggest you clear it with her.”
The guards exchanged meaningful glances. For a fraction of a moment, Maureen was prepared to fight and already had a small flame dancing over her fingers until unexpectedly the guards stepped aside and allowed them entry.
“Myhrvinia, then?”, Connor teased her.
The laughter in his voice was infectious, as always.
“Could say the same, Caliran. It was obvious that Maureen was my cover name among the humans, wasn’t it?”
He shrugged his shoulder. He pranced elegantly beside her until a few steps later he stood in front of her, looking at her with that strange grin that sometimes made her think he must have a trickster demon somewhere in the ancestry.
“So, my dearest Maureen, may I suggest?”
“Quick, before my mother gets impatient.”
“Just her?”
Like lightning, he plucked out a single hair from her and intertwined it with his ash-blond hair. Frowning, she looked at him questioningly.
“Little precaution. As long as something of yours is with me, I can always find you. Nymph magic.”
The grin turned cynical as he explained to her what it meant with a raised and wagging index finger. Briefly, Maureen found herself wondering again if he didn’t have fairy blood in him. She could not otherwise explain his slender figure and graceful fingers. The thought of what her mother would say if she were a Succubi with a male nymph brought a small evil laugh out of her. This could be fun.
“You think of everything, too.”
“Always do, my heart. Let’s go visit your dragon then.”
Connor accompanied the statement with a lunge and raised arm as if holding a sword.
Maureen took one deep breath and tugged her clothes into place. As was proper when she was summoned to her mother’s court, she wore a tight-fitting dress that accentuated her feminine curves. Quite in the Succubus manner. She would have preferred her leather pants and T-shirt.
“Then follow me, oh honorable knight.”
The journey to the reception hall was made in silence, only Connor’s loose clothing making sounds. The tension in Maureen grew stronger with each step. It was as if little by little weights were being attached to her.
Surprisingly, the throne where her mother usually sat was empty. Quickly, Maureen looked around. If it was a trap, she had just walked right into it. Once again, she summoned small flames in case of emergency.
The tension fell from her as she saw her mother enter from the side door. Linea was still a beauty, even with her almost thousand years. Not even a single gray hair was found in her black mop of hair.
“Where is the child?”
Linea’s voice reflected off the walls many times to give it more weight. Maureen knew it was simply the acoustics.
“What kid? And nice to see you too, by the way, Mother.”
Linea scrunched her eyebrows together, followed by a disapproving snort.
“You know which child.”
She imperiously cut the air with her hand. Connor looked questioningly at Maureen, who could only shake her head.
“Whatever your spies told you, I think they really need to see an eye doctor. I don’t have a child.”
“I was told you were seen with a girl. Black hair and still an infant. It must be going through the Succubi’s lawful rites.”
Flames went up at the throne as Linea grew louder. Beside her, Connor began to giggle. Maureen couldn’t blame him. It didn’t impress anyone anymore.
“The child your spies saw is my human neighbor’s child, whom I sometimes babysit. Even you should know that a black-haired child can’t be mine, where only he could be the father.”
With a nod to the side, Maureen pointed to Connor.
“Nice to meet you, by the way,” he interjected with a formal bow.
Linea looked at him with hard eyes.
“Yes, the nymph. I’ve heard about it. It was already a mystery to me why he would accept someone else’s child.”
Something in the way Linea insisted that Maureen must have a child got her gray matter working.
“Mother, why are you so insistent that I must have a child? What about my sisters? After all, they’re not broken, as you always so kindly put it. Why are you ordering me back for a child that doesn’t exist?”
The change in Linea was minimal but impossible to miss. It seemed as if something inside her was collapsing.
“Follow me.”
She stood up and gestured with a wave for Maureen and Connor to come along. They exchanged confused glances before accepting the invitation. Within minutes, they had gone from strange to inexplicable, and Maureen couldn’t even tell why. But it was clear that so far, the visit was going completely differently than expected.
After a few minutes in absolute silence, they entered the garden. Memories of how her older sisters had always shooed her here because she was not like them came up in Maureen.
“What’s wrong, Mother?” asked Maureen gently.
She surprised herself a little by doing so, but Connor just looked at her proudly.
“We’re dying out.”
“That can’t be. There are so many of us…”
Linea sat down heavily on the stone bench. Suddenly she seemed older than she was. But more importantly, frailer than before.
“Still, we are many. But fewer and fewer children are being born. We don’t know why.”
Maureen’s head snapped up to Connor. She could see that he, too, suspected what the problem was.
“Excuse me for butting in, but you Succubi only have children with humans?”
“Of course, that’s the way it’s always been,” Linea huffed.
For the length of the outburst, she was once again quite the domineering leader, only to immediately collapse back into herself. Concern for the continued existence of the Succubi clearly weighed on her shoulders.
Connor sat down next to her and took her hand. Maureen had to smile as she thought of how he had done that to her back when they first met, and he tried to make her understand that not every demon maliciously accepted discovery. He was the gentle thing to her harshness.
“Linea, humans have this problem as well. Many despairs of not being able to produce offspring. As long as you have children only with humans their problem will be your problem too. Just think about whether it is time to change things in order to survive. My kind started to get involved with other beings two hundred years ago. I don’t know exactly what all influence me, as mixed as my ancestry is, but it has allowed us to survive.”
Growing amazement accompanied Maureen for the next few seconds as her mother slowly nodded, stood up, and gave her a hug.
“I’m so sorry, Myhrvinia. I haven’t been a good mother to you. I didn’t realize you were the first of a new generation.”
“I don’t understand.”
She stood there stiffly in the unaccustomed embrace. Her mind tried to sort it out and at the same time query when she was last held by her mother.
“You were the first of a new generation of Succubus. I didn’t realize it and instead made your life miserable.”
“New generation? There are more like me?”
Only slowly did the realization seep into her mind.
“Yes, not many. I think there are about twenty at the moment. The oldest of them is 189 now.”
Linea released the hug but held Maureen by one hand while her other hand stroked Maureen’s face.
“I hope we can start fresh with today. I have so much to make up for. And you could teach the others so much.”
“I…”
Maureen didn’t know what to say. Her gaze went to Connor, who was nonverbally letting her know that it was her decision alone and that he supported her no matter what she said.
Before she could finally answer, she heard excited "Mama! Mama!" Shouts. She looked around and saw a girl of perhaps five years running toward her. Although in human years she must surely be closer to ten or twelve. One of the advantages of being a succubus was aging slowly.
Linea knelt down with a motherly smile.
"Tineli, who told you I was here?"
"I overheard the guards," Tineli grinned proudly, holding up a flower.
"Where did you leave Wymnis? You know better than to leave your sister alone."
Despite the scolding, she accepted the flower. Maureen stood fascinated at this, even the scolding sounding gentler than it had with her earlier.
"She's with Rilena. And who are these?"
Tineli pointed to Maureen and Connor. Still Maureen was taken aback by the exchange, even if her oldest sister's name triggered her instinct to flee. It wasn't just that Tineli was her little sister, it was also the fact that her mother treated her very differently, even though she was clearly like Maureen. The slight burns on her hands made it all too clear, as did again brief bursts of her magic from excitement.
Linea picked Tineli up and settled on her hip.
"This is your big sister Myhrvinia. And the nice man is her friend Caliran."
"Maureen, among humans I am Maureen, and he is Connor."
Slowly Maureen stepped closer and saw the realization slowly dawning in Tineli.
"You are like me. Mama told me about you. But then she's always all sad."
"Yes, you and I are the same," Maureen laughed out.
One thing she had to hand it to the little girl, she was quick at understanding.
"And who is Wymnis?"
"Her twin sister, but she's very scared," Linea explained with concern in her voice.
Again, something Maureen didn't know. How much else had changed in the last two hundred years?
"Not me!" blurted Tineli.
Connor had stepped up beside her and was looking at Maureen with a smirk. His eyes lit up in mischief.
"I can see you're quite a brave little succubus. Much like your sister," he addressed Tineli, nudging her nose.
"You're not human."
Her statement made the adults laugh.
"No, I'm a nymph."
"Cool. Are you staying for dinner?"
"Well, that's up to your mom and sister to decide. I'm just a humble guest."
He conjured up the flower from behind Tineli's ear, which she had previously handed to Linea. She squealed enthusiastically and took the flower.
Maureen and Linea had used the moment to quietly discuss whether they would stay.
"I'd love it if you stayed for dinner. I'm sure it's already dark in the human world," Linea opened cautiously.
"It really is. Is my room still available?"
Why she asked for her room was a mystery to Maureen herself, but right now she was craving a place to retreat to.
"Yes, it's almost like you left it. I only had the instruments of torture removed. To this day, I don't understand how you could be so fascinated by it."
Connor and Tineli both laughed out loud. Maureen could I’ll explain to her mother that her parenting style was largely to blame.
"It'll be fine. I just need a place to process all this."
"Of course," Linea agreed with her and lowered Tineli back down.
She then had nothing more important to do than hug Maureen. Maureen noticed tears welling up in her eyes and knelt down.
"Can you show me how to control fire?" whispered Tineli in her ear.
"After dinner, rascal."
"What's a rascal?"
"It's what people say to kids who are cheeky," Connor jumped in because Maureen was busy laughing.
"Then I'm a rascal," Tineli beamed proudly and disappeared back into the halls of the estate.
"I'll leave you to it then. I'm sure you have much to discuss."
With the ghost of a smile on her lips, Linea followed her youngest daughter. As Maureen looked after them both she felt Connor's hand on her back.
"That wasn't as expected," he voiced what she was thinking.
"No, it wasn't."
"Who's Rilena?"
Again her whole body tensed.
"My oldest sister. She was the worst of them all."
She gestured for Connor to follow her.
"Are all Succubi so markedly kind to their sisters?"
"No, only when they're different."
"Or when the sister in question is a fool," a familiar voice sounded from behind here. In a moment, the echo of two children's voices came over to them.
Transfixed, Maureen stopped.
"Rilena..."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Connor move as close as he could to her. He was gentle but not a pacifist and her sister might soon feel it.
When Rilena stepped in front of her, Maureen could only exhale in amazement. In her sister's arms was an infant, probably too young to have a name. Just behind came Tineli and Wymnis, who were clearly identical twins. Only the scar from the fire on Tineli's hands and Wymnis's anxious clinging to her sister ensured that Maureen could tell them apart immediately, even if they were standing a little distance away.
"Myhrvinia, don't worry, I won't hurt you. Not like before."
Almost escaping her was the ashamed undertone. Something new again. Slowly, Maureen wondered if her family should have actually changed.
"Haven't you been watching the little ones?"
"As if anyone can look after Tineli..." commented Rilena with an eye roll that Maureen had often seen in mothers whose children were wayward.
"I'm afraid that's a job for all the Succubi," Connor chortled to himself.
He certainly wasn't even wrong about that, after all they had experienced in that brief moment with Tineli. Rilena gently nudged the baby in her arms.
"Your daughter?" asked Maureen for good measure.
"Yes, she's the first in twenty years."
"Twenty? Tineli..."
"... Growing slowly, just like Wymnis. That's the next problem we're struggling with. They were the last children until I got pregnant."
So much resonated in Rilena's look to her daughter that Maureen didn't even know where to begin.
"This is something I'm sure your mother will be able to resolve soon. She's been given a lot to think about in that brief time," Connor spoke as he slowly pushed his way forward.
It was nothing new for him to become even more of a softie around children and it broke the ice between Rilena and Maureen.
"I've heard nymphs are fond of children," Rilena giggled as she carefully handed her daughter over.
"You have no idea. He was the one who made me watch our neighbor's baby. Which, by the way, is what got us into this situation in the first place."
She scowled at him, but Connor didn't notice.
"Maybe you should have your own kids then. Then he'll have enough to do."
Even if it was just a joke, Rilena's statement had a kernel of truth, but different from what they thought.
The question of children had come up months ago, and so far, Maureen had been on the fence about where she stood on it. She was too influenced by the idea that Succubi only had children with humans. But who, if not she, should make a start to show the others that it was possible with other beings as well?
"You know Rilena, I think that for the first time in our lives you said something smart to me," Maureen replied with a smile, "And maybe mother is right and we can start a new beginning today."
"But not before you had your niece in your arms," Connor interjected, pressing the baby into her arms.
"Hey, what?"
Taken off guard, she looked into her niece's cute little face.
"Aw, fuckin' hell," she groaned seconds later, handing the baby back to Rilena, "You guys are really mean."
"What did we do?" inquired Rilena in wonder.
Connor's giggle told Maureen he already understood. They were joined by the giggles of her youngest sisters, who had slowly crept up.
"Letting the little ones loose on me. I can't leave without having done everything in my power to help. If only for that little charmer in your arms. And as soon as I'm done with that, I'll hunt down the Moirai and strangle them with my lifeline. Very slowly."
"Only if I get to record it."
Connor nearly fell over laughing and Rilena couldn't help a giggle either, which was a good sign to start with.
"If you must. But now let's get started. There is much to do."
With that, she stalked ahead to her room. There was much to do on the subject of Succubi speed dating with other beings, but first on her to-do list were renovations. She had to start somewhere.
Maureen only got a few feet before Tineli and Wymnis got in her way.
"May we help? Please? We're sweethearts, too."
With the biggest pleading eyes a child could manage, Tineli looked at her. Connor behind her was still giggling or giggling again. She couldn't tell for sure like that.
"All right," Maureen knelt down, "you may help. But you have to hear when I say something. And we can use it as a workout right now. There are some things to burn."
To her surprise, it was Wymnis who giggled. Carefully, she came out from behind Tineli, only to throw herself into Maureen's arms the next moment.
"I like you."
For reasons Maureen couldn't explain, she felt it was an honor. Before she had finished the thought Tineli threw herself between them and made them all fall over. Laughing, she lay buried under her sisters and Connor had to help her get them off of her.
"Are you still trying to strangle the Moirai with your lifelines?"
"You have no idea."
She grinned at him and looked to her sisters, who were already absorbed in their own little plans. Maureen looked around and for the first time ever, she really felt at home here.
"Let's get started, there's a lot to do."
With a smile, she shooed Tineli and Wymnis ahead of her, knowing that here and now was the beginning of a new time for the Succubi. Only she never thought that such a thing could ever happen and even less that she would be the initiator. Connor next to her took her hand and squeezed it gently. Together with him she would manage everything, she knew that for sure.
"Off to uncharted waters!" he suddenly shouted, raising his arm, and pointing his index finger high in the air, like a captain sailing out of port.
Perhaps that was the most fitting analogy for what was now to come for the Succubi: uncharted waters.