Succubus Tear (Triune promise) (33 page)

Al’bah stood a good fifteen feet away from Cain and stared longingly upon her Bond that was so near, and yet his mind was in another realm of existence.

Oh, how anger fills him. I want to be near him. I need him. He is mine!

She knew to approach him would be unwise, perhaps even dangerous. So she resolved to wait until he spoke to her first.

However, the human Stella did not have such reservations. She kept trying and trying to get Cain to talk. Stella wanted him to explain her nature, and why events were unfolding the way they were. Al’bah still felt shame and fury burn her senses; the human woman had seen her wings! She felt so ashamed and exposed. Al’bah knew why the human woman would not speak to her. She was afraid and uncertain, which was understandable given she had seen her bloodlust.

“My lady Al’bah, are yeh hungry or thirsty?”

Al’bah turned around; it was the human, Vincent, who forced her to eat the disgusting thing he called “toffee” and called her by that human name, Betty. “Your allegiance is to the Creator, you are giving us a chance to flee so much evil. But, why did you have us board your vessel under such pretentious circumstances?”

Vincent shook his head slightly. “My, aren’t we well spoken. My dear, don’t yeh realize that ye, Cain, and Stella are being hunted for murder? That the authorities want tae kill you three, rather than lock yeh up? I dinnae’ know if Cain knew that, but I did know that to call yeh three by your real names would have allowed for someone else tae recognize yeh.”

He rubbed his bandaged index finger. “And considering that you were drawing quite a crowd with your words and crying, I had to keep your mouth shut. My apologies about that, by the way,” he added.

“I thank you, and I too apologize, for biting you.”

“Why don’t yeh go and talk to him?” Vincent said, leaning against the rail where Al’bah stood.

“He is so angry. I do not dare. I need him, he is my Bond.”

“Bond? Is that like a husband?”

Al’bah shook her head. “Cain has not taken me as his wife, and I do not think he will find me worthy to do so.”

“I would, in a heartbeat,” Vincent said quietly.

Al’bah turned to Vincent and stared into his sea-green eyes.
He speaks with no deceit. But he does not love me. He is filled with infatuation, with lust. How shallow, how empty, but there is honor too. Perhaps there is hope for his wretched heart.

“You are lonely, are you not, Vincent?” Al’bah said now, leaning against the rail.

“Naw, I just think you’re beautiful.”

“By your eyes, I would agree. Tell me, Vincent, could you truly take a wife that did not love you? Could you take a wife that would never love you?”

“I dunno. If she was pretty enough, I guess.”

Al’bah shook her head, glad to see the first lie blossom within Vincent’s eyes. “You are lying.”

“Hey now, yeh may be beautiful. But, yeh dinnae’ know whether or not if I would—”

Al’bah extended her spiritual powers and held Vincent under her control. “
Let your infatuations and lusts be sealed, look upon the world. See its worth, and despair at the way you have sacrificed the ideal of love, for wantonness.”

“I…I, uh…”

“By your eyes, I would agree. Tell me, Vincent, could you truly take a wife that did not love you? Could you take a wife that would never love you?”

Vincent lowered his head and stared into the indigo-blue ocean. “No, I suppose not.”

Al’bah turned her head back to Cain and sighed deeply. “I do not hunger for food nor thirst for water, my gracious, honorable captain. Please, leave me to my longing.”

Al’bah breathed deeply of the sea air. The more the ship moved beyond the boundaries of the city, the more pure the air smelled. For the moment her yearning heart was soothed by the cold morning air, drenched in the golden blue light of the early sun. A few strange scents punctuated the crisp wind. The servants of Vincent were
 drinking the disgusting fluid Cain had identified as “coffee” and partaking of the foul burning of “cigarettes” and what smelled like vehicle exhaust. And yet, with each motion, each new gust carried the salty brine scent of the blood of the earth.
How magnificent, and yet, I would forsake it all for Cain’s kiss. Oh! How I need him!

She glanced at Cain; he still stared out into the fading city, his back turned.

Al’bah wiped her eyes and allowed her tear to fall into the ocean, where she could see a school of fish swim about. The sounds of footsteps brought her out of her musings; she knew those footfalls. It was Stella. She was going to speak; Al’bah knew it.

“So, you’re Cain’s girlfriend, Al’bah?” she said quietly.

Al’bah turned around and felt rage burn. She
dared
to call her Cain’s “girlfriend”?
 
The same title that
Par-Tek
Cynthia had? She might as well have called her Cain’s feces! Her rage was fueled by a powerful shame; this human had seen her wings! Her eyes dared to presume to look to where they would be, if she had them out! Her fury doubled, tripled! She felt her skin crawl and her hate burn.

“I am
Cain’s
Al-
bah!” she snarled and stepped closer to Stella.

Al’bah could see a terrified look cross Stella’s features, and realized too late that her form
changed
in response to her rage again. She just started to reign in her fury when a flash of motion caught her off guard, and Stella’s fist caught her chest.

Pain! Oh no! Do not give in! I am in control! Do not give in to my fury!

Al’bah looked up and saw that Stella was coming closer.

What do I do? I cannot move! I must attempt to keep in control! What is she going to do? Is she going to hurt me?

Al’bah’s terror fueled her rage, and her vision went red. She stood and swung her arm that had grown another twelve inches, and sprouted wicked five-inch claws. Stella backed up, giving Al’bah an opening, allowing her to kick Stella’s abdomen. Stella stumbled backward and would have fallen off the boat if Cain had not been there to grab her shirt and toss her back on board.

“Enough of this! Both of you!” Cain shouted, glancing around; thankfully the crew was nowhere to be seen.
 

“Goddammit, Cain! Who or what is this thing!” Stella said, trying to catch her breath and pointing at Al’bah. “Wings! Fangs! Claws! Horns! Three
 tails! Snakes for hair! Glowing red eyes! And a jealous streak a mile wide!”

Cain ignored her and went to Al’bah, who was just starting to get to her feet.

Ah! Cain! My Bond! He is looking at me! He is going to speak to me!

“Al’bah,” Cain began. But suddenly he looked like he just lost all desire to say anything, and he walked back to his place to the side of the yacht.

Al’bah closed her eyes and wept.
Why will he not speak to me? What did I do to him? I did not hurt him; I did not force him on this boat. I did not even attack this Stella until she hurt me! Why is he so close to rejecting me again? I do not understand!

Al’bah looked up to see Stella holding out a cloth hankie. Her heart was full of selfless
 concern, and Al’bah, for the life of her, could not understand why.

She knew that Stella held no strong feelings for Cain and he for Stella, but what she couldn’t understand was
why
Stella was with him in the first place.

From Cain she sensed a great deal of pity and remorse for Stella. For what, though? Al’bah guessed it was because of some kind of misfortune. But
why
was Stella involved in Cain’s—no, in
their
—affairs, in the first place? Stella did not have the stench that Taint’s thralls always had, so at least in that respect they were safe enough.

“Thank you, Stella,” she said quietly and wiped her face. She thought for a moment and decided that answers to her confusion, even from this Stella, would be better than nothing. “Yes, I am.”

“What?” Stella said, her face surprised, uncomprehending.

“Yes, I am Al’bah. Let us talk, you and I.”

Stella and Al’bah

“Don’t ask me again! My reasons are my own! And my family is none of your damn business!”

—Stella Fullson

Stella eyed Al’bah
 as she calmed down after a small bout of weeping. She turned and eyed Cain for a moment. She had half a mind to break his skull. 
What the hell did this asshole do to her?
 She turned back to Al’bah; she was still sniffling and hiccupping occasionally, and appeared so vulnerable. It was a ruse, though. A deception. Al’bah was not what she appeared to be. The moment in the garage and now were things that only happened in movies.

A Demon of some kind,
Stella thought; she didn’t want to accept the notion, or the possibility. But…damn, if it walks, swims, and quacks like a duck.

Suddenly she wondered if Cain was lying
when... wait, what was she thinking? Cain
did
lie to her about how he met Al’bah. But before her mind could go any further, Al’bah glanced up and twisted her mouth into a strange grimace.

“I want to know why you are with Cain. I want to know what happened since I was taken from him. But, honor compels me to answer for my actions. If you will allow me, I will explain. But you must tell me what I want to know, in return.”

Stella nodded, barely able to keep up with her strange speech. “Okay. But, I want to be able to ask you to elaborate on things, okay?”

“It is acceptable,” Al’bah said, still sitting on the deck, and held out her hand.

Stella broke out in a cold sweat. The thought of touching Al’bah terrified her. Who knows? If she really was a Demon, could she be trusted?

“You will take my offer, and I will hold you to your end of the bargain. And you will remember that I did not strike you first!”

Stella swallowed and stepped forward and grasped Al’bah’s warm, soft hand.

“It is done,” Al’bah said and released her hand. “I am Succubus, Cain is my Bond, and he named me as his Al’bah.”

“So, Al’bah isn’t your true name then?”

Al’bah’s face grew dark, and her eyes flashed red. It quickly subsided, and Al’bah closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

“I
am
Cain’s Al’bah. This means that I am Cain’s everything! It is the deepest and most sacred Bond that two creations can have, aside from the Bond with the Creator.” She sighed deeply and nodded. “But, you are correct; my name
is
Succubus. But I
am
Cain’s Al’bah.”

“Look, Al’bah, you constantly getting pissed off at me for things I couldn’t have possibly known is getting on my nerves.”

With an effortless movement, Al’bah tore the hankie Stella had given her.

“Jealous.”

“What?”

“Cain is mine! You cannot have him!” Al’bah snarled. “Why are you with him? What became of him when he was apart from me?” She stood; her eyes were pitch-black again, with a burning red snake pupil within them. “Your place on the cosmic order, and Cain’s protection of you, are all that hold my fury back! Cain is
mine!
You cannot have him!”

Stella felt a sadistic fury within Al’bah that set off her internal warnings. Though Al’bah looked human and frail, Stella could tell that she wasn’t making idle threats.

Almost behaving like a threatened animal
—
wait, maybe that’s it! Maybe she feels threatened.

“Are you kidding me?” Stella said, keeping a cool disposition. “I don’t care about Cain in the slightest.” She was about to go on about the qualities Cain had that made him so unattractive to her but quickly caught herself, thinking it would be a bad idea. “He is—you
both—
are the reason I am in this shitty situation! And
you
will remember that you have yet to fully explain yourself!”

Stella felt a deep relief as Al’bah seemed to be ashamed of herself. She blinked and lowered her eyes that were back to their strange violet-blue.

“Good, glad we got that out of the way. Now, Cain and you are Bound together. How did that happen?”

Al’bah glanced up and back down. “Cain rescued me from a Fallen Angel, whose righteous name I know not. I only know the Fallen Angel identifies itself as Taint.” She held out her hands in a perfect pantomime of being shackled. “Long was I a captive and tormented prisoner of corruption. So much sorrow, so much pain.” She raised her hands, and Stella could swear she heard the clinking of chains.

“And after uncounted ages, I was approached by a construct of Law. I was told a human selected me as his spiritual companion.”

As Al’bah spoke, Stella could hear indecipherable whispers, punctuated by the sound of metal shattering.

“By an ancient ritual of spiritual Binding, Cain freed me. He Bound his flesh to my form, and gave me a name. Now, I am his. I will always be his until existence is commanded to cease to be.” Her hands separated, and Al’bah glanced over to Cain. She reached her hands out to him and took a deep breath that turned into a sigh, and ended up as a moan of pain. “Will he ever love me, Stella? Do I dare to hope he might lead me to the path that leads to salvation? Will our souls be Bound when he dies?”