Mob Sorcery 2 - Ch7

Chapter 7

The rest of Thursday passed uneventfully. Fia even went on a late-night shopping trip with Nina and Nicki.

Vince could continue banging his head against the wall and practice his magic for a few more hours, but he’d been ignoring other priorities. Namely, Juliet.

He knew people who might be able to help. In this case, one of Immanuel’s succubi who hooked Vince up with deals for various odds and ends.

His destination for the night proved to be a rundown nightclub on the southern outskirts of the city center. Demihumans and humans mixed here. Often physically. The succubus in question owned and ran the place as a front operation for Immanuel, and that meant it acted as a pleasure den. Drinks at the bar at the front, dancing in the club in the center, open fucking in back and orgies on the weekends.

Vince steered clear on the weekends. He’d made the mistake of visiting the succubus here to buy something one Saturday as a teenager and nearly got reeled in. Just as vampires fed on blood, succubi desired the emotional energy of people. The nightclub turned into a whirling den of sex, with alluring magic in the air.

Not that she ever seemed to join in the festivities herself. While she drew Vince in to play, everyone else here stayed firmly out of her reach.

The moment he walked in through the front door, a slim demonic bartender pointed upward. “She’s waiting for you, V. Don’t think you’re getting lucky tonight, though.”

“Not what I’m here for,” Vince said flatly.

What sort of guy did they think he was?

He wandered up the stairs to a locked door, which opened before he had the chance to even knock. The room beyond smelled of chamomile, lavender, and some woody scents he didn’t recognize.

Calming stuff, unlike the heady scents that indicated his succubus contact was in the mood for fun.

The entire room remained shrouded in darkness, save a long violet sofa in the corner and some oversized computer monitors displaying a screensaver of animated orgies. Vince knew a massive bed occupied the other corner of the room, and that the walls would be covered with all sorts of weird knick-knacks, often religious in nature, and most of them defaced in some way.

Case in point, he saw a naked figure of the Virgin Mary above the sofa, with some mysterious white paint covering her body.

A slim figure reclined on that sofa, wearing a sheer nightgown that didn’t even reach her crotch and a pair of panties so tiny she may as well have left them in a drawer. Four curly black horns soared out from her shoulder-length black hair, which was done up in perfect curls, and her red eyes locked onto his. Her skin appeared to be a light lavender today, but she changed it according to her mood.

As one might expect of a succubus, her figure was alluring, her complexion perfect, and face beautiful. For now, she affected a slim figure with a massive bust, but like everything about her, it changed from day to day. Vince recognized her by the feel of the magic she gave off.

“What’s with the moody greeting, Heather?” Vince asked. “It is still Heather, right? You haven’t changed your name again, yet?”

Her name wasn’t truly Heather. She changed it every year. In April, she’d been Carol, and last year she’d been Charity. Quintus called her Eva, but the one time Vince had been foolish enough to use the name, Heather had spat out some nasty magical curse that had caused him to blackout and awaken hours later in her lap, feeling as though his stomach had fallen out his ass.

“For now,” Heather purred, patting the sofa next to her. A cigarette appeared in one hand and she somehow smoked it without lighting it. “I was thinking of a new one. Something fun. What do you think of Salome?”

“That sounds inciteful.”

“Great. Call me Salome, then.”

The succubus now christened Salome patted the sofa more insistently, and Vince finally took a seat. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned her head on them. Her eyes locked onto his. Power oozed from her, but did little other than discomfort him. Lavender-scented cigarette smoke drifted from her cigarette and caused his body to react to her more than usual. He did his best to ignore the feeling.

“So, you finally enjoyed that lion of yours. Going to claim a kingdom?” she asked.

“Not what I’m here about.”

“I know. Quintus flipped his shit the other day. Not often I see him fly off the handle. I can only imagine what you did to upset him, but it’s not my business. I help with logistics in his operation, but he’s not really my boss.”

Vince nodded. He knew this already.

Immanuel was one of Aulfair’s most powerful conglomerates and ran entirely by demons. Quintus Hierum ran their less-than-legal operations, including organizing the independent enforcers that protected their smuggling runs and ensuring the supply of product in and out of the city.

Yet for all the power that ancient demon held, he was only one of several of Immanuel’s senior executives. Immanuel’s fingers remained in the pies of countless industries through its financial and private equity operations, and they had their own fiefdoms. Salome fell under one of those other fiefs, and merely assisted Quintus using her legal operations.

Much like how the Lionetti branch families assisted the illegal operations of the Lionettis themselves, Vince realized.

“In that case—” he tried to say.

“No can do. Quintus would chain me up in one of his dens for a few decades if I crossed him now,” Salome interrupted. “Even if he’s not my boss, he has power and influence. Nobody will give a shit if he destroys me, especially when it’s about keeping somebody in-house.”

“I’m an independent enforcer. I’ve never been in-house.” Vince struggled to keep the irritation out of his voice.

Salome stroked his cheek with her free hand. “Oh, V, V, V, V… You’ve barely changed since that time I got you to fuck me in exchange for some energy drinks. Quintus thinks he owns you. Men like him don’t appreciate being reminded that they can’t bend reality.”

This time, Vince couldn’t help but let his cheeks redden. Salome giggled at his reaction.

“So cute,” she said, and her hands wandered lower. The cigarette vanished, but its effect lingered in his pants.

“Not now,” he muttered, pushing her hands away.

Surprisingly, she did stop. Which was unusual for her, as she’d usually press ahead. It’s not as though he complained too much in the past once she undid his pants, but he sincerely wanted to avoid any fun with her tonight.

“Well, we can continue when you’re in the mood, oh Lion tamer.” She grinned at him. “Anyway, even if I can’t help you right now, I might as well hear what you’re here for. Maybe I can organize it for you once Quintus calms down or you take another job for him.”

“Do you know much about what annoyed him?” Vince asked.

“I can guess. You made the news working for the mafia. I don’t feel their essence in you, so I can guess you’ve yet to rail any of them, save for that one wolf you fucked a while back.”

“Did everyone know she was mafia except me?”

“Probably.” Salome grinned. “So, worried about your new employer? Think you’re going to get a gangland special?”

“No. My target hired a vampire to take me out. I need—”

“Ah. Let me guess, Miss Retributive Night and the cringe-ass speeches?” Salome scoffed. “Okay, I actually can’t help you with her. Not immediately. She’s better at covering her tracks than most vampires and has rock solid mental defenses. But…” The succubus peeled herself off Vince and rose.

The room lit up, revealing the hidden furnishings from earlier and the tacky decorations. Salome strode across to a small bookcase by the oversized heart-shaped bed, which was covered in a jet-black blanket.

Rather than reach for a book, Salome placed a finger against thin air and somehow produced a small electronic tablet in her hands. She tapped away at it while wandering back over to Vince.

“This is off the books, but I don’t much like that vampire myself. She’s been in Aulfair for a few decades now and got in the way of a business deal a few years back. Killed my sister with one of her meister-tier spells and I couldn’t find a way to get back at her.”

“Your sister? I didn’t think demons had actual siblings.”

“Spirit sister. I’d known her since the French Revolution, and we had a lot of fun.” Salome shrugged at his look. “Anyway, buying info on her will cost you a fortune. ‘Sell your soul’ levels of fortune. Assassins like her usually die or retire by now. But I like you and want to see Juliet either dead or in a very compromising position, so I’ll do you a favor.”

“You just said—”

“This will take me long enough to sort out that I doubt I can help you before Quintus calms down,” Salome said. “And if he asks, I’ll tell him that I’m acting of my own accord. He likes that sort of thing. Immanuel is all about personal drive. The whole ‘I think, therefore I am’ stuff. And right now, my thoughts are about your cock driving Juliet into the floor while I watch.”

Okay, that hadn’t been where Vince’s thoughts had been going. Salome was a succubus, though. Dream demon of sex.

“I can promise I’ll try to kill her,” he said drily, heat rising to his face again.

“Well, that’s a nice silver medal. Try to do it somewhere public or get somebody to record it so I can watch it on repeat for a few centuries.”

His phone buzzed and he looked at her. Salome nodded.

An email in his inbox contained a dossier on Juliet. Photos, her measurements, and a very rough list of background info. Most of the information was guesswork or excluded ages and places she couldn’t be from, but the true gold mine was a list of spells Juliet had ever used.

“She knows three meister-tier spells?” Vince asked, eyebrows rising.

“Yup. I’m guessing she used only one? She likes to keep people guessing.”

Damn.

Each of the spells looked specialized. The one Juliet had used against him was exactly as she’d described: a shadow pocket dimension that made her effectively immortal and consumed magic and matter alike.

Another appeared to be a defensive spell that mirrored spells back. The final one was an offensive spell that struck a target’s magical essence.

“I don’t understand what this means. Magical essence?” Vince asked.

“You’re human, so it’s meaningless to you. But it’s basically a way of striking magical beings directly,” Salome said. “It’s what makes immortals immortal. We exist partially outside of the purely physical. When you use magic against us, you also strike at our essence. That’s why you can kill demons, because you’re like a magical He-man.”

“So I’m magically buff?”

“Very,” Salome purred, her eyes lidding. “But attacks in the physical world can be blocked physically, as you might guess. This one bypasses barriers and other spells, unless they’re dedicated magical defenses. It’s an immortal killer. Demihumans might feel nauseous at worst and humans might think a nasty breeze blew past at worst.”

Vince guessed this was how Juliet remained so dangerous. The spell she’d used against him wouldn’t faze a demon, given how much magic they had, but the opposite applied with this one.

“What about the mirror one?” he asked.

“She almost never uses it. Not many people throw around magic dangerous enough to bother.” Salome shrugged. “Maybe if your dragon dong worries her. Don’t get cocky.”

Great. So Juliet wasn’t the pushover he’d expected. At least not unless he got the jump on her with his dragon.

“Thanks,” he admitted, pocketing his phone. “I still need to work out her background to stop her, though.”

“Like I said, I’ll look into that. If you find it yourself and deliver her to me, I might even find a way to reward you.” Salome slid into his lap and her fingers traced his chest. “Very generously, mind you.”

“Um…” He bit his lip.

She blinked and stood up. “Oh, right. You said not right now. Anyway, did you need something else? I can’t fix you up with any infusions with the conference on and Quintus’s temper, but I have tons of cigs and energy drinks. If you’re interested in some fun stuff for your new lion pet, I do have these lollipops that make demihumans go into an induced heat. They even work on birdgirls, and my boss is trying to make some that will work on the artificial ones.”

Vince stared at the bed, imagining the sound of his bones shattering as Nina went at him in heat.

“No thanks,” he croaked out. “I like being outside of hospital.”

Salome laughed. “Aww. I’m sure I can fix you up with stuff that makes you feel big and strong.”

“Definitely no thanks,” he said.

She clicked her tongue, but escorted him out of the room. “Don’t be a stranger. And I wouldn’t mind a video or ten of you and your new pet together.”

Nina would flay him alive. Vince retreated home, but not until after he bought a few cases of cheap energy drinks. Salome’s business even arranged free delivery.

Later that night, his girlfriend, partner, friend-with-benefits, or whatever they were calling each other returned with two large bags. Her face reddened when he asked what was in them but she clammed up.

That suggested he’d find out soon enough. Given he did the laundry, he’d probably find out even before then.

Friday passed just as uneventfully. Nina went to work, but not before getting up early to do her own laundry for once. She insisted he couldn’t look in the dryer, except to open it up at the end. He chose to be a good boy and didn’t peek inside when doing so.

Why ruin the surprise?

Late at night, well after he’d had dinner, Fia sent him a message.

Go time. Get out to Albion and let me know. We’ll touch base, she said.

Which meant he needed Nicki to fly over and give him a lift to Albion. She’d been chomping at the bit all week due to his forced convalescence. Tonight would be the first time she’d get a chance to work for him since Saturday’s excitement. Nearly a week of no pay, save for her boring data entry job.

“Do you have your infusions?” Nina asked.

Vince pulled one out of his jacket pocket and waved it in front of him.

“What about the healing ones?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you going to wave one of those in front of me?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not some kid heading off on his first day of school, Nina. I have my gear.”

She lounged on the sofa with a beer in her hand. Her tail waved back and forth above her as she smirked at Vince.

“Your cane, your healing infusions, magic-restoring infusions, your jacket, your earpiece, your phone,” Nina listed off, holding a hand up and lowering and raising fingers to count along. “How about an energy drink for the road?”

“Too bulky. I don’t know how much running I might be doing. The buildings are big and I’ll need to move around a lot in the depot.”

The one item Nina had missed was the teleport beacon, but she didn’t know about that.

“Ooh, you’re even thinking ahead. Maybe you are ready for your first big mission.”

Unexpectedly, Nina’s expression hardened. Vince let his annoyed expression fade and waited for her to say something.

Instead, silence reigned.

“Well?” he asked.

“This sort of job is where things can go horribly wrong,” she said, voice deadly serious. “Scuffles over drugs, catalysts, or a warehouse are one thing. Those seem like life and death, because they are to the enforcers. But when entire companies throw their weight around, you get reminded of how little individuals matter.”

“I’m reminded fairly often how little I matter, Nina.”

“Not like that,” she snapped. “Vince, you don’t like killing. I’m partly responsible for that. But don’t hold back, even if you feel bad for the poor saps you’re lighting on fire. Kaziern’s fighting for its life, and you don’t know what that might cause them to do, or how their enforcers might behave. There’s no room for posturing and surrendering. They either flee, or they get blown away.”

“You spared Pola,” Vince said, a little accusatory.

“I did. I left the business not long after.” Her eyes bore into his. “You know the drill. To use magic is to walk with death. That applies especially to an enforcer. Once you can’t kill an opponent, you’re done. Because they’ll kill you when your back is turned. Don’t be stupid, Vince. That’s all I’m asking.”

After a very long second, he nodded. “That’s what I told Alessia. I’d try to spare the wage slaves, but that I’m not risking my life for it. That hasn’t changed.”

Nina grunted. “Good. If you said anything less, I wouldn’t let you head off to school.”

He groaned. Before he could retort, a series of taps sounded throughout the apartment.

Nicki stood by the balcony door, which remained locked. Vince opened it up and she stepped inside.

For the first time in a while, she wore her skintight lycra, revealing her lithe frame and every curve of her body in the light of the room. Every inch of her body was covered with the stuff, save for her head, talon-like legs, and wings. Vince tried not to stare, as Nicki didn’t even wear a jacket or shorts over the getup.

“You dyed your hair,” he said. “Or is that the illusion dye?”

“Nah.” Nicki placed a hand on one hip while running the fingers of her other hand through her hair. “I played around with that stuff earlier in the week, but don’t want to waste it. This is just regular black hair dye.”

Her usually red hair previously possessed some dyed white highlights, but now shined jet black to match the two pairs of dark wings jutting out from her back and hips. The usual dark cushions remained in place over her talons.

“All ready to go?” Nicki asked. “I already ate and everything. Didn’t want to slow you down, plus it’s already late. Avoided drinking anything, too.”

Vince nodded. “Anytime you’re ready.”

“Then let’s shoot. I’ll bring him back safe and sound, Nina.” The harpy paused. “Uh, assuming he doesn’t end up in some huge orgy with the wolves after this.”

“He better invite me if he does,” Nina growled.

“There aren’t going to be any orgies,” Vince said. “My job isn’t even finished tonight, and the wolves will all be busy defending the new turf.”

“Oh, right. Well, I’ll bring him back so you can ride him as a reward for a job well done.” Nicki gave a mock salute, then trooped back outside.

Before Vince followed, Nina gestured him over with a curled finger.

“Be nice to her,” Nina whispered. “She’s taking this very seriously.”

He nodded. That explained the comments when Nicki had first come in about eating earlier. She’d had a penchant of bumming food off him, but tonight wasn’t the night for that.

Outside, he found Nicki already crouched on the railing.

“Give your girlfriend a goodbye kiss?” she asked.

Vince blinked. He probably should have.

“Be right back,” he said, before ducking back inside.

“Vince!” Nina whined when he did exactly as Nicki suggested. “I’m fine, go do your job.”

“Now we can go,” he told Nicki upon returning. “Good idea, by the way.”

“You’re such a sap,” she said, but grinned as she closed her talons around his body and took off. “How long do you reckon this will take? Nina and Fia both had their own ideas, but they were wildly apart.”

“No clue,” he admitted.

The night air rushed past him as Nicki soared west, past the city center and over the bay that split the city in twain. Albion lay on the other side of Aulfair, and he needed to reach the far north-western reaches of it.

“Really?” Nicki asked.

“There are too many factors involved. I need to capture both the transport depot and office, sure, but then the Lionettis need to maintain control of them. There’s almost certainly going to be a harsh counterattack from Kaziern, but that might take hours. I might be out until 4AM.”

“Do you get overtime for being up so late?”

“It comes with the job. I took a nap earlier and dosed up on caffeine just in case.”

“You brought an energy drink for the road, right?”

He groaned. “I’ll grab one while we’re out if I have to. There are convenience stores nearby. You might want to camp out in one to avoid the fighting, plus they’ll have cameras.”

Nicki remained silent for nearly a minute. They passed over the bay in the meantime, and the lights of the ferries and nighttime entertainment vessels glittered beneath them.

“In case somebody takes a swing at me, despite being a civilian,” Nicki said.

“Yeah. This time, you’re getting a little close to being involved. It’s one thing if you just happen to be around or transporting me to and from places. But if Kaziern takes a swing at you, their corrupt police friends might not care too much if there’s no evidence. CCTV backed up to the cloud might make them think twice, though,” Vince explained. “If you think somebody is tailing you, give Fia a call if I don’t answer.”

“She said the same thing. I guess I really am a getaway flier now.”

Despite the imminent threat, Nicki’s voice remained firm. She hadn’t even brought up her pay for the night.

After several more minutes, the transport depot came into sight. As did the security drones flying above it, with glowing white barriers around them. A solid dozen of them kept the skies above the depot secure.

“I see why Wings marked the depot as a no-fly zone. Steer clear,” Vince said.

“Leave the flying to me,” Nicki said snippily. “I know what I’m doing. The skies are my domain, and I know how to avoid attracting attention. Wings hit us with demerits if a drone so much as looked at us funny and passengers don’t like being fired on, even if the drone is only using binding spells.”

“They’re non-lethal?” he asked, curious about the drones.

“Supposedly. I never looked up the specs or anything. But like most drones, they have a magical tool in them that lets them fire off a specific spell, and it just grounds fliers. They might have others.”

“It would. Drones are just a conglomeration of magical tools. They use them to fly, be controlled, attack—the works. I’ll try to avoid engaging, just in case they have something nastier.”

Vince hadn’t done enough research on the depot to know what he was tangoing with when it came to the drones. For that matter, if he wasted time fighting with external security, the wards protecting the main building might switch on and shut him out.

Nicki brought them down several blocks down from the depot, but on its side of the main road. If she couldn’t fly him over it, crossing on foot would be an easy way to be spotted. He’d approach on foot.

“This good?” she asked, looking around the alleyway she’d dropped him in.

“It’ll have to be,” he said. “The office will be easier. But going in any closer this time will alert them sooner than necessary. Find somewhere to camp out, read some magazines, and drink some coffee.”

“Wow, I plan to do none of those things,” Nicki drawled. “Who reads magazines these days?”

“They make digital ones, you know.”

“Yeah, and they still suck. I have a whole season of a new show to binge, so I’ll watch that while I wait.” Nicki gave him a mock salute, then shot off into the air.

A moment later, she messaged him on his phone.

I’ll keep an energy drink cold for you to drink between jobs, too, she said.

How sweet.

But the time for serious work had come. He checked that his earpiece was in and set it up in the app according to Fia’s directions from yesterday. Then he shot her a message.

Seconds later, her voice rumbled directly in his ear, “You got out here sooner than I thought you would. Vanna and the other capos are causing a ruckus in the Lionetti turf close to the shopping mall. That should keep them distracted and convinced this is a simple gang war. Time for you to shine and incinerate some lions, V.”

- - - - -

Commentary: We're now firmly in the second book even if this is written like a serial, and that means I'm expanding the world even as the plot progresses. The story will be fairly action and plot focused for a number of chapters, before I'll take the opportunity to lighten it up a bit once I return to it post-Spellblade, but it does need to handle the big job of dealing with Kaziern. Although I am trying to sneak in lots of fun character scenes between everything else, that will dry up once the action really gets going.

Salome is a fun character to write, as I enjoy writing succubi in general despite the annoyance of a particular mob of folks in the community. She's not a harem member and I'm also using her to rule out Juliet as one, but she'll serve her purpose in the long run. For now, I'm keeping the harem fairly tight even as I expand the character roster.

Anyway, strap in for a bunch of fighting chapters. I expect to shift over to Spellblade after these are posted (assuming things are positive from alpha readers by then, but I'll update if anything changes) but there another 7 chapters, FYI.