- 42 -

The world fell away from Pandora. From the outside, it must have seemed she was trying to burn a hole through the man before her, but her vision had fallen away. Sound didn't reach her. Her mind was stuck, struggling to process his words.

Reality returned when she felt the weight lift from her lap. Lily had slid off and taken the spot beside her. Her heart ached at the lost touch, but she was able to reestablish a connection by lacing her fingers through Lilith's. A small comfort, but important to her. For now, it would need to be enough. At least until she understood what had happened.

She swallowed, then her words came staggering out. "Calm down." The phrase had never sounded more hypocritical. "Take a deep breath and tell us what happened."

"I told you what happened! Allister is dead."

Yes, he had told her that, but she was unwilling to accept it. Allister was intelligent, and more importantly observant. He didn't seem the type to fall for an ambush or get dragged into a hopeless fight. She couldn't imagine it. It wasn't true.

She didn't want it to be true.

A gentle squeeze at her hand drew her attention. The news had hit Lily hard as well. With her eyes focused on the floor, she clung to Pandora's hand and said, "It feels so sudden. I just talked to him the other night."

"Really?" Pandora asked. Of course, she didn't think Lilith had any reason to lie about it, but she hadn't realized the two had any contact apart from her.

"Yeah. He knew we were fighting and tried to encourage me to make up with you."

Pandora caught a laugh under her breath before it could escape. He had done the same thing to her. So it turns out, he was the reason she and Lily were back together. Nosy bastard; thank you.

"It wasn't even the first time," Lilith continued. "He said the same thing that morning. That I should use the hunt as an excuse to talk to you. Then he ran off after I told him about the lock."

"What lock?" Stanley asked.

His expression had solidified, uncertainty shifting to anger. The sudden change lit a curiosity in Pandora. There was a reason it had drawn such a reaction. He knew something she didn't. Pandora turned back to Lilith catching a frightened gaze.

Lilith's head dropped but her eyes darted up to peak through her bangs. "I meant to tell you but then we weren't talking and then..."

"Lily, calm down. I'm not upset, I just want to know."

"The lock on the youkai's cage. Allister said that the kotengu had broken out from inside, but the way the cage was designed... I don't think it's possible. Besides, the lock didn't seem clawed at. More like..." Lilith paused for a moment, then raised a hand into the air where she clenched it into a fist.

A stifled laugh rumbled free of Stanley's throat. "I fucking knew it."

Pandora turned to him. "Knew what?"

"That all of this is wrong. Allister was found dead in the immersion bath, supposedly killed in a fight with the youkai. But ever since our interaction in the morgue, I've been questioning things more. Trying to pay attention. His body wasn't clawed to pieces, or pecked apart. Not so much as a feather in his hair. Nothing suggesting he fought with that bird at all. And who was it that discovered the body? The same person who confirmed that fake succubus attack."

"The body I found? It was fake?"

Pandora bit down on her lip. Lilith should have known before anyone that the attack was faked. Did she think there was a second succubus on the ship? No, thinking more about it Pandora realized that Lilith had been raised among humans her whole life. Religious ones at that. Was it possible she actually thought herself responsible?

She wanted more than ever to come clean to Lilith. To tell her that she was loved. Tell her that how she was born didn't determine her morality or her worth. Start erasing all the fucked up shit the church had taught her. But her lips were sewn shut by circumstance, at least until Stanley left.

Stolen story; please report.

"The corpse was real enough. But the cause didn't lie with any succubus. Pandora was the one to point it out to me. Though, as obvious as the signs were to her, I had missed them in my own observations. That's why I gave Gamal the same benefit in my mind. But now he's linked to another suspicious death, and you're saying that the youkai didn't escape on its own, but was broken out of its cage."

"So you think Gamal is responsible," Pandora stated.

"I do."

"Good. Because I think you're right. He's the one that stands to benefit. Let a monster out of its cage, then charge to put it back."

Stanley nodded. "The only part I don't get is why fake a succubus attack."

It was obvious that he was targeting Lily, and by extension her. But Pandora thought it best to leave that detail out. "Double the danger and maybe he can double the price. He was contracted to hunt a succubus in Coventry but came back empty-handed. Fake a little proof, kill one innocent girl and that's job done."

Pandora knew it was best to play dumb, but she still found herself glancing over at Lilith. I won't let that fucking ape touch you.

"Whatever he's planning we can't let him get away with it. He needs to face justice" She was serious about stopping him, but that last part was just words. She didn't give two shits about justice. As long as it kept Lilith safe she would do whatever she needed to.

"No." Pandora flinched at Stanley's curt response. "I didn't come to ask you to give him a fair trial. After what he did to Allister... I want him to die like a dog." Pain dripped from each word. An earnest hatred for the man who stole away his mentor. Feelings Pandora knew all too well.

Lilith shot to her feet. The muscles in her arms tensed to the point of trembling. "And what? You're afraid of dying so you want Pandora to risk herself for you?"

"Lily, it's fine," Pandora said, following Lilith to her feet. She tried to press a reassuring hand to her shoulder, but found it smacked away.

Lilith's jaw trembled. "No! It's not fine! He's throwing you to the wolves." Her attention returned to the man at the door. "Or are you going to pretend you aren't just using her?"

Stanley's response was calm and even. "You're right. She's a means to my ends. I can't kill him alone, but I think we can together." He reached forward, taking the doorknob in his hand. "Pandora, I'm going to gather what's left of the security team in the lobby of C deck. I hope you'll join us."

With his offer placed, Stanley closed the door. Pandora listened as his footsteps trailed down the hall, then turned her attention to Lilith. Looking down at her girlfriend shaking and on the verge of tears sent pangs of guilt coursing through her. Especially since she already foresaw the argument that was coming.

"You can't," Lilith said.

Exactly as Pandora had predicted, and yet she still didn't have a better response than, "I have to."

"No. Pandora, this isn't your fight."

It was her fight. It had been from the start. Gamal wanted to hurt her, and worst of all he planned to go through Lily to do it. There was no choice left. This was how it had to end.

"You don't understand. Gamal wants—"

"Oh, I understand perfectly well. You're breaking your promise. What happened to staying with me until you finished your story?"

"What more is there to tell? Medusa dragged me away and we hid like cowards! I couldn't save Renna. And I couldn't even get revenge on the bastard that lit the pyre. The most I could do was give him a few burn... scars."

Bile rose in her throat at the sick realization. The burns she had given that scrawny little hunter that day... They matched the ones that made up the better half of Gamal's face.

"It couldn't be," she mumbled under her breath.

That hunter had been small and pale, verging on sickly. But Gamal was... It's a graft, you idiot. Those are the arms of a minotaur. Pandora felt distant from her body. She could feel how it reacted, the tension in her muscles and the grinding of her teeth, but she wasn't in control. She watched each action play out like a scene from a motion picture, only projected through her own vision.

Her hand snatched the doorknob and she heard herself say, "I'll kill him."

Lilith wrapped her arms around Pandora's bicep. "And what if he kills you?"

The question pulled Pandora back into her body. She couldn't let herself walk away while Lily was so worried. She brought a hand up to cradle Lilith's chin. Once their gazes locked, She leaned in close, their foreheads resting against each other. Pandora wanted to stay there forever with Lily in her arms, but knew this was exactly what Gamal meant to steal away from her. It was what she needed to protect.

"Lily, I promise you, I won't be dying today."

Pandora lifted Lilith's chin, then met her lips to hers. There was a small gasp in their kiss. She had taken Lilith by surprise, but it soon faded, replaced by arms pulling at her hips, drawing her closer. A wasted effort; Pandora was already sinking fast. As their lips broke she took the chance to breathe before returning for more. She knew she had to leave, but she dreaded being apart, even if only for a moment. So she was going to burn every detail into her heart. The texture of Lily's hair as she ran her fingers through it. The softness of her lips. The taste of her tongue.

"Mmmff." Lilith's cry reverberated through Pandora's lips. A pressure struck her chest and she stumbled back. Lily had pushed her away, and now stood with her hand clasped over her mouth. Before she could ask what had happened, the taste of copper washed over her tongue.

Blood.

Instinctively, she swallowed, then realized her mistake at once. Heat washed over her body, burning hottest at her core. She could feel her insides pulsing in time with her heartbeat, begging for relief from this overwhelming desire. Her breath quickened as she fought for control of her body.

My fang. Lilith cut herself. Blood. Succubus blood. And I swallowed some.

Her mind fogged over. Thinking became difficult. But even through the haze, she could see one thing with crystal clarity.

Lilith looked terrified.