She sat in the bar, long blonde curls to her mid-back, make-up flashy and full of glitter, and decked out in bright gold jewelry. She wore a tiny pink mini-dress and heels that looked like they shouldn't logically be able to be walked in. The man sat down across from her, reeking of nervous sweat and awkward arousal. "Are you Monique then? From the app?"

"You bet, sugar." She delivered in her best southern bell drawl with accompanying smile. "You must be Charlie."

He was solidly middle aged, hair thinning, stomach thickening, but a decent build that said he was at one point some form of athletic. "That's me," he smiled in his used car salesman delivery.

He ordered drinks for them as the country music played through the bar. She giggled and smiled and played with the hoops in her ears. But she wasn't really here. Her heart kept pulling her elsewhere. It had been this way for the past week, when she had found prey she was too distracted. She'd miss a cue, use the wrong phrase, and just make so many stupid mistakes and ruin making sure her mark transgressed and sealed the deal. They would get spooked, have second thoughts, or just blow her off. She was running out of time. The hit man was useless to her, although she managed to rev him up before the fall, when she confronted him after he was too terrified of her to be fed on. It seemed to her that Mike had broken her. Her heart ached too much to manipulate someone else's. At this rate she would be pushed out by this world and back to hell.

"Whoa doll, easy." The drinks had come and she had downed three shots of the tequila he ordered before he picked up his second.

"Sorry sugar, I guess I'm just excited." She teased. "Ready to get to the main event, maybe."

"Ok," he said cautiously, "I think we should get to know each other a little first."

'Shit' she thought, she pushed too fast and now he's suspicious.

"Excuse me," said a voice she immediately recognized and it made her heart flutter and her stomach sink at the same time. "If I may, I need to talk to the lady."

"Mike!" She hissed, "not now, please."

"Sissy, I need to talk to you," He pleaded, and she struggled to keep her heart from melting. "Please will you just talk to me."

"Sissy?" asked Charlie, confused, "is this your brother, darlin?"

"No," replied Mike, not taking his eyes off her, "Sissy is her name."

"Mike," she pleaded, covering her eyes, "please, you're killing me Mike."

"You told me you were Monique," he bellowed, "and what happened to your southern accent?" She just then realized she hadn't kept up her accent since Mike arrived. Charlie stood up, knocking his chair over behind him. "Is this some kind of con? What are you two trying to pull over on me?"

Mike noticed the pale circle on his ring finger, "sir, why don't you go home to your wife. Don't you think she would appreciate your attention more?"

Charlie's face reddened like a lobster, "how dare you son, you know nothing of my wife."

Mike stood up to face the enraged man, "you're right, I don't. But I can assume since you married her, at one time you loved her. So don't you think it would be better to spend time rediscovering why you loved her before, than throwing your affections at some random new young girl?"

The men stared at each other as Charlie kept attempting to argue, but he found he had no footing to continue. He sputtered and made random sounds and after three or four false starts, he stomped off fuming.

Mike looked back to the table to find Sissy gone.

Sissy tottered down the street outside the bar. She was caught by the arm and turned to once again be face to face with Mike.

"Sissy, please." He begged. "Talk to me."

"Why are you even here Mike?" She whined, "you've seen what I am. Why don't you just run away and try to forget what you saw?"

"I don't want to forget you." He replied, "I've spent the last week searching every club and every bar in this city for you."

"Why? Why would you try to find me? I saw your face. I told you you didn't want to know the real me. And you proved me right that night." She was beginning to cry.

"Sissy, no, it's not like that. Yes I was shocked, but Sissy, until that moment I didn't know something like you actually existed. I don't fear you. Sissy, I love you. " He wrapped his arms around her as she cried.

"How?" Her question was muffled in his shirt. "How can you love something like me? I'm not worth your love, Mike."

"Sissy, love is not something you have to be worthy of and it's not something you have to prove. Love is a gift. It's something you give someone because you want to. When someone gives it to you, you have two choices: you can accept it or not. You just have to decide which would make you happier."

"Where did you learn that?" She said with a big wet sniff into his shirt. "It seems like I've heard that before."

"It's something my mom told me." He said quietly.

She shuddered in a half chuckle, half sob. She lifted her head, and looked at his shirt. "Oh, Mike I'm sorry." It was smeared in make-up and glitter, and wet with tears and snot.

He shrugged with a smile, "like I'm ever worried about how I look."

"I am." She said with a chuckle. As she pulled out the hanky that she knew he kept in his back pocket and wiped at the mess. "I want you to look nice."

"So you do still love me?" he asked softly.

She stopped fussing over his shirt but kept her eyes on the mess, not daring to look him in the eye, "of course I love you Mike. That is the whole problem."

"Why is it a problem?" He pushed.

She shook her head, "can we not discuss this, now?"

"Then please Sissy," he said, tilting her head up to face him, "come home, and we can talk about it. You can tell me all about what you are, and I can tell you all about how I haven't been able to get you out of my mind since I met you. About how much I need you."

She smiled and nodded softly. He put his arm around her shoulders and she lay her head on his shoulder, and they walked to his truck.

"And you can get changed," he interjected as they walked, "I am having such a hard time taking bimbo Sissy seriously."

She slapped him lightly on his ribs, but smiled, "hey, this is a thing for some guys."

She rode in the truck, and it felt like it did the day they spent together a week ago. Safe, familiar and comforting, it felt like home to someone who had never known home. She ran her hand along the dash and closed her eyes.

"Did you actually miss my dorky truck?" He asked.

"Don't call her dorky," she said, smiling without opening her eyes. When she opened them she saw herself in the side mirror. "Shit, I see what you mean." Her perfectly crafted look for old Charlie was ruined. Her make-up was smeared and ran down her face in streaks and her hair had fizzled. "Ugh!"

Flames rippled up her body from her feet, and as they passed her whole look changed. The flash startled Mike a little, as he swerved in his lane.

"Sorry" said the new girl who sat in his passenger seat. New, but really not new, she looked just as she did on the last day they were together. Mike realized the club girl, this girl-next-door, the country bar bimbo, even the thing that saved his life, the details may have changed, different hair, clothes, and affectations, but they were all recognizably Sissy. Like different parts played by the same incredibly talented actress.

"It's ok, I was just surprised." He said with a smile, "honestly that was amazing. Is that how you are able to look so different all the time?"

"It's just something in my bag of tricks." She said, shrugging, "it helps me to have maximum appeal to a mark."

He looked at the same girl he lost that night and said, "I think I liked your red hair better on you." As he brushed the light brown hair over her ear.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow in skeptical consideration, but bright embers glowed at her roots and traveled down each strand changing it to the bright demon red as it flowed.

"Yea, now that is beautiful." He smiled.

She looked at Mike and just felt happy, like a week ago. She knew this couldn't be. They couldn't go on like this, but for now, until they got back to his apartment, she could just forget why they couldn't be and just enjoy this. She reached over and took his free hand and squeezed. He squeezed back and she slid across the old fashioned seat next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I missed you so much," he whispered. "I've been looking for you non-stop since you disappeared."

She smiled at this and then a thought hit her. She sat up and looked at him, "non-stop? Mike, what about the shelter? Your projects? What about the people who depend on you?"

Mike smiled at her obvious concerns for the people he helped, and the fact that she didn't realize how much she cared when she said it. "It's ok, I talked to Margaret, she's had it covered. I called her the next morning and told her you had run away upset and that I had to find you."

"And she was ok with it?" She asked, taken aback by Margaret's apparent attitude.

"Well yes considering her exact words were 'you better'. She told me more or less that I couldn't come back unless I found you."

"But she only met me once."

"You make quite an impression." He said with a big grin, "everyone there liked you. I got a call two days ago telling me Agnes made it into the shelter and was asking where you were."

Sissy was on the verge of crying. But they didn't know, she told herself. Mike may be blinded to her reality by love, but the rest of them were just not aware of the real her.

The wheels screeched as they dipped into the parking structure.

Once upstairs he unlocked the door and ushered her inside, locking it behind her. She stood in his entryway and it too felt like home, she knew for every logical reason it should not, but it did. She walked into the main room and peered into the master bedroom. The door was open and it was never left open. What was stranger was the bed was rumpled and unmade.

She suddenly felt herself snatched off her feet as Mike carried her to the couch. Once again he sat down with her in his lap. Groaning, she pushed his arms away and stood up, sitting next to him on the couch instead. "As much as I want to just sit in your lap and snuggle forever, we have to talk, Mike. About us, about me, what I am and what it means for us."

"You're a succubus, I know." He said bluntly, "I don't care. It doesn't matter to me."

She sighed as she looked up, searching for footing in this conversation. "Mike, it should. This brings a lot of problems for us."

"Hey," he said, taking her hands and smiling at her again, "Darren Stevens and Major Healey did ok with unnatural girls, so can I."

"Mike, that was TV," she said with a stern look.

"You know TV?" He asked.

"I'm not an animal, I'm not on the hunt twenty four-seven. When I am between feedings I can do anything I want. Watch TV, go to movies. I actually like to go to libraries and just read sometimes."

Mike liked considering the thought of a demon in a library just reading, but knew this conversation needed to continue. "So you need to suck the vitality out of men to survive?" He replied, "fine I volunteer."

"No Mike," she began, having to close her eyes to stay calm at his remark. "First off 'vitality' was just a misogynistic way back then to refer to sperm. Eww! And second that is not what I take. I don't live off of cum." She noted his look of disappointment but decided to move on. "I take souls Mike. And they don't survive it. Don't you see, I kill people Mike. And I use the souls of those who commit sins in the name of lust to remain your world"

"How long does it last you?" He asked, more serious now.

"A week, maybe two." She replied. "Depends on how heinous the sin was. Rape will last longer than adultery or abuse. Sins against children, even longer."

This raised an eyebrow from him. Her eyes shifted to their top corners in embarrassment, "I…can pass for a highschooler...if I have to…"

This had the effect of garnering an incredulous look as Mike took in the curve of her assets.

"Hey, I've pulled it off before." She crossed her arms in a pout. "The point is I can't stay in your world unless I do this. And I can't believe you would be ok with what I would require to do to stay with you."

He put his hand on top of hers, his eyes once again full of warmth and compassion and driving her crazy, "I can learn to live with it, if I have to. If it means you can stay with me."

"No Mike, you can't." She sobbed, "you're too good a person to live with the knowledge I'm out there hurting people, even bad people." She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "And that's not the worst part. Mike I haven't been able to feed this whole week. Every time I have had the chance I think about you. And knowing what you would think hurts me, and I mess it up. I'm weak Mike, I'm distracted, and I'm off my game. You've shattered me, Mike! And I'm running out of time."

"So can't you just return home and then come back here again?"

"Oh Mike, you don't understand. That isn't home. It's not just the souls of the damned that are tortured in hell. We are too, especially the succubi. We were changed the least, physically. And we remind them of what they were once, too. Every type of demon is preyed on by others. But all of the others despise us because we get to come to your world most often. The arch demons make sure we suffer as long as they feel like it, before they will decide to send us back to your world, for hundreds of years sometimes. That's why we are desperate to take souls and stay here. It's hell for us there too.”

She grew quiet as if all this was draining her. Then she spoke up again, her voice breaking, “We used to be angels. Did you know that? Then came the war, and the angels who rebelled were cast down and became demons. But it just wasn’t the rebels, those of us who didn’t fight were cast down as well. We weren’t warriors, we weren’t soldiers. Angels like me, like I was, we made love. We wove it between two mortals. And because some of us chose not to fight we were punished too. In fact we got it the worst. We were stripped of the ability to feel love or pleasure. But they left us pain, all the pain. And we were left with the knowledge of what we were, but I can’t remember it. Because if I could remember, I could remember being happy, and that memory…would be a pleasure.”

Sissy was weeping again by this point. Mike pulled her to him and held her till the shaking stopped. "I'll fix this Sissy, I promise. I will find a way to fix this. I won't lose you."

When the tears once more dried up, she wiped them on his shirt tail, it was ruined already anyway, and looked to the bedroom again. Mike noticed and said, "I've been sleeping in there the last few nights." When she looked at him surprised, he continued, "well days, I guess. I've been out till nearly dawn and sleeping until noon, just to get up and start looking again. I guess I felt I needed to take the room back like you said. No panic attacks so far, but it still doesn't feel right. But I don't think it's because of her, I think it's because…well, because you aren't there with me, truthfully. It was like I could feel the empty space where you should be."

He leaned down and kissed her lightly on her lips. She returned his kiss and for the first time she could feel it from him. She felt his love but also his arousal, his desire for her finally emanating from him, the embers of lust starting to burn finally for her. She could finally do it. She just needed to pull him astray and she'd have a soul at last to use to stay here. But she knew she wouldn't. She couldn't. She knew now she cared for him too much to do that. She loved him too much. "Mike," she whispered when their lips finally parted, "Mike, what are you doing?"

He stood up and once again picked her up in his arms. "You promised that night to lie with me, until morning. No tricks, no seductions, are you still willing to do that?"

She smiled and bit her bottom lip as she nodded. She knew she couldn't possibly have more tears left at this point, but once more they dripped down her cheeks as he carried her to the big four poster bed. He laid her down and removed her sandals before walking around the bed and kicking off his boots. He pulled the dirty rag of a shirt over his head, tossed it to the floor and crawled up next to her. He cradled his body next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist and held her against him. And they laid there, it may have been an hour, or two or maybe an eternity, but she heard his breath, slow and regular, and felt it blowing, warm on her ear. And it felt good. All of it, it felt wonderful. She was not supposed to be able to feel pleasure, but there it was. And she was happy. She shouldn't be happy. Not just because of what she was, but because she knew this would never work. Why did she have to be happy when she knew this would have to end eventually? In a way it made it even more torture.

She wasn't sure if he was still awake or asleep but she could still feel his desire for her. And she felt her anger stir deep inside, knowing he couldn't quench that desire. Because of her. Because of what she did to him. Damn her! She wanted to get her claws on his ex-step-mother more than she did that goon when he tried to kill them. She wanted to take it away, remove his hurt, and give back what he had lost.

Then she had the thought, why can't I? She was a succubus, she was a master of lust, a master of desire. That bitch stole something from him, why couldn't she give it back to him?

She gently moved his arm from around her and slid out of the bed. She heard him breathe in sharply before a tired voice asked, "Sissy, is something wrong?"

"Mike?" She began, standing next to the bed, "Mike, I know what she did to you, your step-mom. I know you told me how she took something from you. Something that should have been beautiful, and fulfilling, and amazing, and she made it ugly, and degrading, and traumatic. I know that I promised you no tricks, no seductions, and I promise that's not what this is. I just need to know if you trust me. If you trust me I want to try to give you something, to give something back to you. I promise I'm not stealing your soul, you have done nothing wrong, you're in no danger." She slipped the sundress off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Then she began to crawl back into the bed, "do you trust me, Mike?"

His eyes were absorbed by her, her beauty drew him in like a whirlpool. As she put her knee in the bed he said, "no, wait."

She was panicking now. Was she wrong? She could still feel the desire she had felt before, if anything it seemed stronger now. Was he still afraid of her? "I'm sorry Mike, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you are afraid…"

"No Sissy," he interrupted, "I do trust you, and I do want you to, but I want it to be you. Not an image, not a lie, the real you."

"Mike?" She said confused, "why? I can be any kind of girl you want, any look in a woman you like, why would you want me to look like a monster?"

"Sissy, you are not a monster." Mike said softly, "I told you, when I saw you that night, I was not afraid. I just had no idea something like you really existed. Sissy, when I saw you that night I thought you were the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Please, show it to me again, show me the real you."

She bit her lower lip and nodded as she took a step back. She didn't really understand, but it was what he wanted.

Once again fire rose up her body as her appearance changed. Silver cloven hooves clicked on the polished wood floor. Her arms were behind her back with her folded wings, and she cast her gaze at the floor. He may have asked for this but she was still nervous he would be repulsed, "Mike…are you sure this is wa…" she found herself silenced when he was suddenly across the distance between them, his lips pressed hers in a passionate kiss. A kiss she gladfully returned. Their mouths parted and their tongues played against each other. At least until hers touched the back of his throat, and he separated from her with a slight choking sound.

"Sorry," she said breathless, the pale white skin of her cheeks taking on an embarrassed blush, "I kind of forgot that I have the advantage there." She parted her lips as her forked tongue rolled out of her mouth past her long canines and hung three inches below her chin.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Wow!" He said wide eyed.

She smiled at his reaction and whispered, "trust me when I say I can do some mind blowing things with it too," then she resumed their kiss, taking care how she used her tongue this time.

As they kissed she unfastened his jeans and he slid them down his legs.

"Lie down," she said, as the kiss ended. He sat down on the mattress and swung his legs up, laying back against the pillows. She crawled up on top of him as she unfolded her wings. She smelled his desire burning like an inferno, even though, if she had wanted to, she could have just looked down and seen he was ready for her as she straddled him. She put her hands on either side of his head and leaned down to kiss him once more.

She was soft and warm, and she guided him where she needed to. She showed him how to best please her, but she also let him explore her body where he wanted. Her hair, her skin, they were softer than anything Mike could remember ever touching. Even the red hairs of her hooves were silky smooth. He ran his fingers across her horns, and she bit down gently on his wrist with her fangs to show him pain could be pleasurable too, if done right. She used the soft beat of her wings to keep her rhythm smooth and steady as she rocked up and down on him. She even leaned in and tickled his lips with her forked tongue.

It was not like any of the countless sex Sissy had experienced before. For the first time ever that she could remember, she could feel every touch, every caress, each and every kiss. And she could feel pleasure. She could feel every glorious instance of it. And when they climaxed together, the pleasure filled her to overflowing, and she felt as if it would go on forever. When it finally ebbed, she put her head on his chest and they lay there entwined throughout the rest of the night, she listened to his heartbeat, and finally felt the love she couldn't remember from when she was an angel.

She was not in the bed when Mike awoke. He threw back on his jeans and hurried out of the bedroom. In the main room he found her. Sissy looked human once more and was on the couch watching TV, wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts. The form she now took appeared mostly the same as her true form, just minus the demonic bits. The only tweak seemed to be that her eyes were blue instead of red. She sat cross-legged with a bowl in her lap, moving a spoon up and down between it and her mouth.

He rushed around the front and sat next to her pulling her head to the side to kiss her deeply.

"Are you ok, Mike?" She asked around a full mouth.

"Sorry, I woke up and you weren't there, and I was afraid you left. And what are you eating?" He asked as he tasted his own lips after their kiss.

She had poured a big bowl of fruity cereal and topped it with chocolate milk. "It's sooo good, Mike." She gushed.

"Haven't you had cereal before?" He asked.

"Not that I could taste." She replied matter-of-factly. "No pleasure, remember? Taste would be a pleasure, Mike."

"Right," he said, feeling stupid, "I'm sorry, Sissy. I forgot."

She smiled lovingly at him, "it's ok. I don't understand what it is you've done to me Mike, but I have never felt so good. So thank you." And she returned his passionate kiss.

He glanced at the TV, "what are you watching?"

"Oh, the Kardashians," she said.

"You like this stuff?" He asked in a tone of disbelief.

"Are you kidding?" She answered wide eyed, "lust, greed, sloth, wrath, these kinds of people are a smorgasbord for my kind. I tell you over half of this cast has an express ticket waiting."

Mike laughed, "well yea, I guess I get it."

So they watched and laughed as she finished her bowl. Mike had no tolerance for trash TV before, but seeing it through Sissy's eyes suddenly seemed to make it more enjoyable.

He turned the set off as the show ended and Mike stood up. "How about a shower?" He asked, more than suggestively. But just as she was reaching up his phone rang. Mike grabbed it off the counter, "hello?" As he spoke she heard his tone change, "I see…" and "how bad?" and then, "how much time?" Finally "ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." And hung up.

Mike turned to look at Sissy, "my father's doctor, he just told me he's taken a bad turn." He stepped over to Sissy and went to one knee. "I know we are dealing with your problem, but I need to go see him."

"Mike!" She said, surprised he felt he had to ask, "absolutely, you need to see him." She stood up and pulled him to his feet, "go! Get changed."

"You don't have to go with me," he said caringly.

"And not get to meet your father?" She smiled mischievously, "yea, I don't think so." She shoved him toward his room, and he hurried off. "And wear something nice!" She yelled after him.

Sissy took her bowl to the kitchen, but as she reached the sink a sharp stab of pain lanced her lower abdomen. The bowl tumbled into the sink as she clutched at the spot and had to grab the counter to steady herself and not fall over.

Mike reappeared at the sound of the bowl shattering. He rushed to Sissy, "are you alright?"

She straightened up quickly and gave an embarrassed laugh, "I'm fine, I was just clumsy and dropped your bowl. I'm sorry Mike, I think I broke it"

"It's ok, I can get more bowls, I just need to know you're ok." He said softly as he hugged her close.

She closed her eyes and just enjoyed him for a moment before replying, "I'm fine. Go get ready." But as he returned to his bedroom Sissy knew what that pain meant. The tether of her last soul had just run out.

Mike reappeared minutes later in slacks and an actual dress shirt. Sissy was already in a different look. She was dressed in moderate black heels, a pleated gray skirt that hung at her knees with a ruffled light blue blouse. She had kept her hair red, because she knew Mike liked it. But muted to a more natural hue and she had put it in a long braid that hung over her right shoulder. Her make-up was stylish but somewhat conservative and she had topped the whole look off with some thin silver framed glasses to compliment Mike's own thick frames.

"Is this ok? She asked, turning a little pirouette. She again had the silver studs in her ears and the silver heart necklace from her girl-next-door look.

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before responding, "remove that," pointing at the necklace.

"Oh." She gasped, "you don't like it?" As it disappeared in a flash of flame.

He guided her to his room where he opened the chest in front of his bed. And after digging a moment, returned with an identical necklace except this one had a heart cut diamond in it.

"I want you to wear this." He said clasping it where the one she created had been. "I noticed how the one you wore on that first night looked like it."

"Mike, it's beautiful!" She gasped.

"It was my mom's," he said with a smile, "in fact it was the first gift my father ever bought her."

"Mike! Should I be wearing it then?" She asked. "Won't your dad notice?"

"Yes," he grinned, "I want him to. He'll know the second he sees you, how I feel about you."

They drove to a gated property outside the city. The house was huge, and swarmed with servants. When they entered Sissy was being pulled along by Mike as she kept slowing down to look at everything.

"How rich is your dad again?" She whispered in his ear.

"He owns thirty percent of all the property in the city." Then he shrugged, "although that's just what he owns in this city."

They were led to a room in a side wing, "I assumed we were going to a hospital when we left." She said quietly.

"Anything a hospital can do for my father he can buy and have here. Including doctors." Replied Mike as they entered the room. An older man lay on a medical bed surrounded by machines, but also desks and computers. People with lab coats swirled around people in business wear who brought the man Papers to look over and sign. It was at once his office, medical ward and his bedroom.

A woman in her late forties approached Mike and they exchanged hugs. "Rachel, this is Sissy. Sissy this is Rachel, my father's fourth wife."

"Pleased to meet you, Rachel." Said Sissy as the woman clasped her hand over both of Sissy's.

"It's not as glamorous as it sounds." She laughed, mildly. "I'm just a business decision really. No one will ever replace Michael's mother. The other two were tactical marriages when he thought he needed clout. When he realized he didn’t he married me to keep the vultures away. I was his secretary long before Micheal was born." Sissy heard the words but she could also hear a tinge of disappointment in her voice.

Rachel went to the bedside and Sissy watched from behind Mike as she whispered in his ear. She saw his eyes as he listened to her and saw something only Sissy could see. She whispered into Mike's ear, "purely a business decision huh, don't count on it."

Mike looked back with an expression that conveyed disbelief but then smiled, realizing Sissy would know better than anyone.

Rachel indicated Mike and Sissy with a nod and his father's face brightened. They walked up, Sissy still mostly trying to remain hidden behind Mike. But Mike reached his arm around her waist and pushed her up to his side by her butt. She was a little embarrassed by his choice of where to shove her by, but she also had to admit she was a little turned on by how quickly Mike was taking to being comfortable with his intimacy towards her.

"Micheal, it's good to see you son…" he paused as Sissy came into view and she realized Mike was spot on in that the first thing he saw was what was around her neck. But he quickly looked her over next and sprouted a big smile. "Well, what is this beautiful thing that you have brought me, Micheal?"

"Dad, this is Sissy. Sissy I'd like for you to meet Jonathan Mason, my father." John took Sissy's hand and pulled it to his lips to kiss it.

"A pleasure to meet you, my dear. You must be something extra special to be able to get my boy to wear decent clothes instead of his normal rags."

Sissy smiled as Mike squeezed her with the arm he had around her and said, "you have no idea how special."

His eyes were once more in the silver heart, "oh, I think I do." Came his sing-song reply.

"What happened Dad?" Mike asked, bringing the tone to more seriousness.

"Oh," he said in a tone to blow off all concern. "These doctors are all paranoid just because my ticker had a little hiccup last night. But I feel fine."

"Doctor Patel said it was more than a hiccup." Countered Mike. And as the two argued Sissy evaluated John with everything she could sense that doctors would never be able to.

It wasn't until she finished she realized she had daddy's attention. "Michael," John said, turning his attention back to Mike as he spoke. "Why don't you find doctor Patel. I'm sure he can tell you the details better. Besides, I'd like a word with your lady here, alone."

Sissy had a wide-eyed expression of concern, but Mike just said, "ok, but be nice." As he walked away to find the doctor he called back, "and I meant that to both of you." This gave Sissy a smile at least.

As he left she realized she had his father's full attention. "He seems happy." The older man said. He was a little older than she expected, Mike was in his twenties but his father was comfortably settled into the sixties.

"He deserves to be." She answered, throwing her shy smile to bolster her nice girl look.

"I was worried he would never be able to get close to anyone." She could see the guilt rising in his eyes. "I take it he told you what happened to him?" Sissy nodded, and she could see the man visibly breaking, "what that woman did to him, what that woman I brought into his life put him through is the biggest regret of my life. I've done some reprehensible things building my business. No one builds an empire and keeps their hands clean. But my talent I'm most proud of is my judgment of character. I know people, I can see through them from the start." he looked at Sissy with a side eye, "and my gut tells me you share that talent. You've been reading me since you walked in."

"I do know people," she admitted, "and I knew what a wonderful man your son was from the moment we met."

"Twice though this ability failed me. The first I was just trying to replicate my Annabelle, and the second I let my head get in the way. I thought good breeding would make a difference. When I found out what she did I had her locked up, and I made sure to block every chance she had to get out. To keep her as far from Michael as I could. But her sentence is up in a couple months, no parole hearings, just up. And now, here I am a sick old man and I can't protect him from her."

The tough old buzzard was actually tearing up. Sussy put her hand on his, "he's ok. He doesn't fear her anymore. What she took from him, I gave him back. She'll have no power over him."

He smiled at her, "how did you two meet? If I may pry."

Sissy saw no reason to lie, "at a nightclub. Or, outside it really. I had drunk too much and Mike kept some creeps from having their way with me. He's my hero."

John chuckled, "so you're not quite the good girl you pretend to be."

"I am for him." And it was her turn to laugh, "I love your son, but I feel like he's managed to break the bad girl, and leave some soft simpering doe eyed girl in her place. I'm just disgusted with what I've become sometimes, but I would hate to disappoint him."

"Just like his mom. She took a vicious financial pirate, and had me considering who might be hurt by the deals I made. And eventually she didn't even need to prompt me, I could just feel what she would think of me sometimes if she found out."

They both laughed for a few moments, but his mood soon fell, "Doctor Patel will tell him the truth, my heart stopped a couple times last night. I don't have too much longer. I have made some terrible choices getting where I am now. And now I fear where I'll end up because of it. But I can at least be confident Micheal will be fine." He tapped her hand with his, bringing back the ache in her gut from knowing this world will soon pull Mike and her apart. "I did questionable things just to build all this," he motioned around the room, "but if I know he'll be ok, I couldn't give a damn now if it all falls down behind me."

She could still smell the faint echo of the greed that built his kingdom, but she could tell it no longer held him in its grip. "You loved your wife, and love your son more than anything in this world. And that love has reshaped you into a man who need not fear judgment." Sissy stood and lightly kissed his cheek, whispering, "I assure you John, you have no need to fear."

Mike returned and smiled at the tender image of his father getting a sweet kiss from a demoness, "I'm gone for a few minutes and you're making a move on my girl?"

"I wish," he smiled, and gave his son a proud look, "you did good son. I dare say you may have out done me."

"I know," Mike replied, wrapping himself around Sissy and kissing her hair. "Doctor Patel told me of the incidents last night. They are doing everything they can, he estimates you might make it another year, maybe a little more."

"Long enough to see a wedding," said, raising an eyebrow, "maybe even a grandkid if I'm lucky?"

Sissy had to bury her face in Mike's shirt to hide the pained expression. "Maybe, dad," said Mike, holding tighter to Sissy. "we'll just have to see."

"We should go," said Mike as he broke off from Sissy to give his father a hug. "You hang on."

"And you come and see me more often." His dad replied, "especially if you bring this pretty little thing with you."

As they walked away Sissy suddenly turned back to the bed, "oh, and the mission needs a new oven. Make sure it's top of the line and make sure your cronies fork up for it." She pointed at him before continuing, "I mean it."

"You got it," the old man replied with a smile.

They took two more steps before she whipped around again, "and before it's too late, tell Rachel she is more than just a business arrangement to you. Understand John?"

"Yes ma'am." John nodded, "I will"

"Good," she said before turning back and leaving, with Mike attempting to keep from laughing out loud at this girl giving his father commands.

John looked over at a balding man in a drab suit, "order an oven, top of the line."

"Sir, commercial ovens can be…" the man began.

"Buy it! Today!" Commanded John. "I don't give a damn what it costs if it just might happen to get me some grandkids."

They were wrapped in each other's arms and she had her head on his shoulder and as they walked through the mansion's big entryway back to the front doors. Her time was almost up. And she was out of options.

"I heard what you told him," Mike said softly, "was it true."

"Your dad is a good guy." She replied, not lifting her head, "most men in his position are irredeemable assholes, whose friends and family are either interchangeable assets or status symbols and vicarious ways to carry on their wants. But your dad really loves you. I don’t think my bosses will get their hands on him."

Mike once again kissed the top of her head as they passed through the doors. As they descended the steps, Sissy cried out in pain and Mike had to hold her up to keep her from tumbling down the stairs. And while she was doubled over, to Mike's eyes Sissy's existence seemed to stutter. She seemed to disappear, then reappear in her true form, then disappear again before returning again in human guise. But dozens of times in the blink of an eye before stopping.

"Sissy!" He cried. He picked her up and ran down the remaining steps to his truck. "What happened?" He asked as he loaded her into the passenger seat.

She looked at him with teary eyes full of pain but also sadness as well. "I'm out of time, Mike."

He climbed in and drove off in a hurry. It took him a few moments to realize there was nowhere to rush her to that could help. So he slowed down.

"Did this happen earlier, when the bowl broke?" The realization dawned on him, she was never clumsy. She always moved with an unearthly grace unless she meant to.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I wanted to tell you but I didn't want to keep you from seeing your father." She cried as she leaned against the window. "My last soul slipped away this morning. I don't have anything to hold me here anymore. Your world is beginning to try and push me out."

"How long do you have?" He asked.

"Not long, it will come and go at first." She sat up, the pain having gone away for the moment, ,"Right now I am like a splinter you only notice when you brush against it. But soon this world will escalate to scratching and clawing at me to remove it."

"We have to do something Sissy, I can't lose you." Mike was in a panic. He looked over at the woman he loved and made the first decision that came to his mind. "You can take mine. If you need a soul Sissy I would give mine to you."

"What?" She screamed, "Mike no! I won't do it!" She slid over to him and buried herself into his side. "I won't damn you to hell just for my sake. Besides, it wouldn't last and I would be back in the same situation and you would've wasted it. So no, Mike! Please don't ask that of me again!"

"Ok, ok," he said softly, now rubbing her back with his free hand, "I'm sorry, but there has to be something we can do."

They drove in silence, there wasn't really a destination, but soon the neighborhood began to look familiar.

"What about Danfield?" Mike asked out of the blue.

"What?" Sissy looked up at him, not really sure where he was going.

"Danfield, the man I met with that last night. You seemed to really not like him so I figured, he must not be a very good person."

"He was a slimeball." She said bluntly. "He reeked of greed so he was probably super corrupt. Why?"

"So you can sense other sins?" He asked.

"Yes, all seven of the classics." She replied, looking up at him still confused. "But I can only take a soul that sins in lust Mike. I could not use the killer that night because he was too rooted in wrath."

"Which brings me to point two. Danfield is the one I would bet sent that guy. If anyone deserves damnation, it's him." Said Mike, his casualty on the subject beginning to frighten her.

"Again Mike, greed. I can't do anything with that either."

"But you can take any soul that sins in lust though, right?"

"Mike," she began, and he could hear her in her tone that it was he she didn't think could deal with it.

"Sissy," he interrupted, "I will not lose you. You said it yourself, we are running out of time, even if we had an idea of another way, we might not have the time to do it. I'll deal with it. You need to do what you need to do. Let me justify it. Just this once at least." It wasn't until Mike put the truck in park that she realized they had stopped. She looked out the windshield at the dark building down the street, with the same two lit windows.

"Oh, Mike…" she said, worried.

The elevator opened to let the woman out into the reception area. Black stiletto-heeled boots clicked in the tile, and the black leather skirt above them was so tight it creaked when she walked. She clutched a manilla envelope to her tight white blouse when she stepped up to the desk. The extensively rebuilt blonde receptionist looked up at her to see dark scarlet lips in a frown and smokey eye makeup behind librarian style half glasses with a neck chain that dangled from the sides. Her raven black hair was tied in a severe bun at the back of her head.

"I'm sorry, do you have an appointment?" She asked in an attempt a cheery tone that warbled slightly in fear.

"I'm here representing the Mason Foundation," Sissy could smell the stink of Danfield's lust on her. Mike said he saw a ring on Danfield's hand, and his receptionist was proof then, that adultery was in his wheelhouse already. "I have urgent business with Mr. Danfield."

"Do you have an appointment?" The woman was clumsily trying to bar her access to him.

"If I don't see him tonight, then there will be no way to avoid this going to litigation." Sissy gave her a predatory smile, "unless your boss is good with injunctions, audits and federal investigations."

The receptionist was in a nervous sweat as she pushed the intercom button. "I'll be another minute, Barbara. Then I'll be ready for you to take my dictation."

Sissy could feel the double entendre through the device. Damn it, she thought. If she had waited she could have let Barb do all the dirty work. But it was too late now and time was running out.

"Um…Mr. Danfield, you have an emergency meeting waiting for you." Quivered the receptionist, "she is using words like litigation, injunction and audit."

The line was silent for over a minute when he finally replied, "send her in."

She saw his face instantly shift from displeased to surprised as she walked in. Sissy turned and locked the door behind her, and she could feel his eyes on her butt. She would normally be pleased she was getting this kind of reaction, she could smell his arousal was at full mast from across the room. She had done this so many times with men as vile as Danfield, but now she felt like she had tar bubbling in her stomach. She had to do this or she might never see Mike again. Just now thinking of Mike made it worse. Sin was her business, her stock and trade, but she felt doing this would be cheating on Mike as much as it would be Danfield cheating on his wife. But again, she had no choice.

She turned gracefully to face him and sauntered over to the desk, "Mr. Danfield," she lowered her voice to a husky purr, and spoke in breathy exhalations, "I have been sent by some greatful business associates of yours." She let the envelope drop out of her hands to the floor to reach up and undo her bun, letting her long dark hair tumble down over her shoulders. "I have been paid to give you the full service experience, up to and including," as she stopped in front of the desk she pulled apart the halves of her tight white blouse, sending buttons flying and exposing her cleavage. She licked her dark, shiny lips and peered over her half glasses, "the happy ending."

She could hear him breathing so hard he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Sissy fought to shove down her revulsion and guilt, she needed to continue. Everything was counting on this.

Danfield squirmed uncomfortably in his chair as he felt as if his pants were trying to cut him in half. He had paid a fortune to give Barbara the proportions he liked, but this dame had it all in spades, and she looked like she achieved it naturally. He stood up awkwardly and practically waddled towards her.

"Oooo," he croaked out in his gravelly voice, "and which of my 'associates' do I get to thank for this gorgeous vision before me?"

Sissy had to fight another wave of nausea as he neared her. His lust was palatable but his greed was just as strong still. The two intermingled horrifically, as if he didn't just want to ravish her, but he wanted to possess her. Keep her as his own like a possession. Was this the fate that had befallen Barb, had befallen his own wife? Did he keep the women in his life like property?

As she was trying to steel herself against the repulsive act she was about to perform, Sissy became aware of Barbara's voice on the other side of the door. "I'm sorry, Mr. Danfield is in a meeting…" and Barb screamed an instant before the lock between the doors exploded into the office.

Danfield's arousal disappeared at the gunshot that echoed in the room, only to have it painfully return at the sight of the woman that entered the room. The red haired woman was at least six foot tall, dressed in tight black tactical gear and a trench coat, that conjured up images for him of the broad from the Avengers movies, adding to his painful re-masting.

Mike sat in the truck after Sissy got out and walked the block to the building. He was sick to his stomach, especially after he saw the form she took for her seduction of Danfield. He couldn't drive the image of his hands all over her, having his way with her. Mike's heart pounded and his breathing was erratic. He kept telling himself, "this is what she does. This is what she is. She had to do this. If she didn't she couldn't stay here and he would never see her again." Over and over he tried to convince himself.

But his heart refused to listen. In his mind all he could picture was her, HIS Sissy, up there with that creep, that asshole. The man who tried to have them killed. Not only was he about to violate her but he was dangerous. He wasn't even sure he could harm her, he never did ask, but it didn't stop Mike from fearing he would. He realized Sissy was right, he couldn't handle it. He jerked open the door of the truck and stepped into the street, just as he heard the gunshots.

The red head leveled an enormous handgun at the woman in Danfield's office. He watched as his new whore hissed and burst into flames! When the flash cleared she had become a monster with wings and horns and glowing red eyes. Danfield screamed, "HOLY CRAP!" and fell to the floor like a toad.

Sissy instinctively assumed her true form when the scent of the nephilim reached her nose. She folded her wings and dashed to the side as the half-angel opened fire. Sissy reached the nearest wall and stepped up onto the vertical surface with ease. She ran along the wall as bullets slammed into the drywall behind her. Sissy passed behind Danfield's desk and dove through his window as glass fragments filled the air. The woman in black walked to the broken window and looked out into the street, eyes following the fleeing succubus.

Danfield had risen to his knees at this point, "that was amazing, can I offer you…"

The woman unloaded the last three shots in her magazine into the top of his desk, silencing the man instantly. The woman jettisoned the empty magazine and traded it out on her belt, "don't think just because I saved your ass from a demon that I give a damn what happens to a sleazebag like you." She punctuated her statement by slamming the new magazine into the gun. "But if you want my advice, if hell has taken this kind of interest in you, you might want to re-evaluate some of your life choices." She added as she exited the office.

Two of Danfield's goons, having heard the gunshots, finally stepped out of the elevator just to receive a bullet each in the thigh. She stepped past men laying on the ground clutching a leg. She gave a small smirk as the doors of the elevator closed.

Mike was about to dash to the building when the gunshot stopped him in his tracks. One, then more in rapid succession, and finally a pale shape crashed through the lit window and streaked toward the ground. Her wings unfolded and she swept level with the street, just ten feet off the ground. Mike jumped back in the cab and turned over the engine. He threw the truck into gear just as Sissy came streaking overhead. Mike slammed down on the accelerator sending the tires into a spin and screeched off after the succubus. The truck pulled up under her as Mike let off the gas to keep pace. Sissy floated down and grabbed onto the rollbar between the cab and bed. Her hooves touched down in the bed just as Mike sped through a red light. Sissy held onto the bar tight as the truck swerved one way and back to avoid another car crossing the intersection. As the horn from the other car blared, Mike pushed the button opening the back window. Sissy slipped in head first and collapsed on her side in the back seat.

Mike made a quick turn into a different street and slowed down, attempting to avoid attention.

From the back seat he heard Sissy sobbing, "I didn’t get it, Mike. I'm sorry, I didn't get it." She said weakly.

He reached back to place a comforting hand in her, "It's ok, It's fine Sissy." He said softly as once again Sissy began to stutter.