Day of Tomes, 13th of Suhin, Year 401

When Erin woke the next morning, Jack wasn’t in bed. That was fairly normal though, since he didn’t sleep. During the long walk from Mistelein, she had grown used to his forays into the forest or the plains to hunt or gather. On occasions, he simply walked for miles in the cool night air, watching the strange creatures and plants of Ayrgard.

She thought it must be hard, not being able to just shut down and rest. Whereas Layla and Rory might envy Jack for all the mortal limitations he now lacked, Erin suspected Jack missed the little things that made him feel human. She also knew something the other two didn’t.

Jack had to throw up every bite of food he ate.

It wasn’t that it spoiled in his stomach. He could hold it down for as long as he wanted, but the withering mana inside him turned everything he ate to ash. Once the others were asleep, he would take a long walk, drain a waterskin, then throw up the muddied soot-like remains that his body left behind after it extracted what it could use from the food. If he didn’t up-end the remains overnight, he would start to feel nauseated the next day. He could still drink whatever he liked, as the liquid just disappeared. She also knew that so far, he had also continued to eat because his body would consume less mana during the day if he had at least one meal.

Privately, Erin assumed Jack would eventually stop eating. He loved tasting the food he made for the others, but she had stayed with him while he purged his meal once. It seemed… unpleasant.

She often worried about him, but of the four of them, he seemed to be holding it together the best. Well, if one assumed Layla was using gratuitous sex as a coping mechanism. If not, then the succubus had adapted to a new world and a new body with lightning speed.

She vaguely remembered Jack had said something about a bath downstairs, and Erin desperately wanted a taste of normal after a month of alien wilderness, elbow deep in monster guts. A lengthy, steaming bath seemed like exactly what she needed. She went about unpacking a change of clothes. As she shifted her things around, she picked up the blouse and breeches she had been wearing for nearly two weeks and took a cursory sniff.

“Hrrghhk… oh. That’s… that’s... Oh, god, how long have I smelled like that?” she groaned.

In the middle of her olfactory lament, she noticed an important detail that had gone overlooked thus far.

“Where the fuck is my armor?”

She started turning the room over until she noticed a note pinned to the door. It was a short message from Jack, letting her know he had taken their armor to the Black Ward to be cleaned and given a little TLC, and that he would be returning with lunch and more pastries from Saffron & Sugar.

She smiled at the note, then fished around in her bag to find the tiny pot of red lip color she’d picked up in Mistelein. She dipped in a finger, rubbed it across her lips, and left a carmine smack at the bottom of the letter. Then she wiped the ridiculous stuff off with her sleeve and bounced down the stairs with an armful of clean clothes.

“Morning, Tilly,” Erin waved at the dwarfess behind the bar. “Jack said you have a bath? Is it free right now?”

“Well, lassie, it’s eleven bells, so I’d think aye,” Tilly laughed.

“Eleven?! That’s like… fuck, sixteen hours,” she exclaimed.

“Yer laddie said yeh walked over seven hundred leagues ta get here?” Tilly asked.

“Rory said it was almost nine hundred,” she replied.

“Girlie, if I’d walked nine hundred leagues in a month, I’d have gone into hibernation fer the winter,” Tilly grinned. “Lassie’s bath’s right ‘round the corner there. I think yer friend’s still in there. Prolly wrinkly as a pickled qipaya by now.”

“How long’s she been in?” Erin paused.

“Best guess? An hour after breakfast, so… since seventh bell,” Tilly chuckled.

“Of course she has,” Erin rolled her eyes and headed off to the bath.

The bathhouse reminded Erin of the Roman style, but it was as dwarven as the rest of the Yam. The interior was done in perfectly cut blocks of stone, immaculately mortared, with the same primitive art deco style they had loved in the Cask & Kettle.

Erin had a moment of wistful melancholy for Belgryn and Igrin, then all the faces of the friends they had met along the way, and everyone they’d left at home. The sudden flood of emotion slammed into her, and she sat down on the bench near the door, holding her head in her hands.

“You know, you’re holding up better than I expected. You all are,” Layla’s voice echoed off the stone walls and tiles. “Cept Jack. I’m not sure what that kid is made of, but hell. He’s fucking unstoppable.”

Erin cleared her throat and wiped away the tear that threatened to roll down her cheek, setting her jaw and shaking out the moment of despair. She levered herself up, stripped off her grimy clothes, and walked into the steaming interior of the bath. She found the succubus there, submerged to the nose in the common bath. A dainty hand poked out of the water and wiggled a wave at Erin, wringing a choked laugh from her.

“Hands off my boyfriend, Layla,” she sniffed and wiped her nose.

“I made a pass at him last night. No luck. I asked him if I got you in the sack, could I get some hentai action then?” she poked her mouth above water, then dipped back beneath the surface.

“Oh yeah?” Erin laughed in spite of herself. “What’d he say?”

“He slammed the door in my face,” the succubus stuck her tongue out.

Erin giggled as she laid back into the steaming hot bath, the heat seeping into her muscles. Slowly, she let herself truly relax for the first time in weeks.

“He also said some very insightful stuff about my not actually wanting him and just giving him a hard time, but I don’t think he’s as clever as he imagines he is,” she took Erin’s foot in her hands and started to work her thumbs into the arch.

“Oooohhh… yep. Right there. Not as clever as he imagines… so you are after my boyfriend then?” Erin opened an eye and smirked at the succubus.

“Nah. It’s three-way or the highway,” she switched to Erin’s other foot.

“Mmmm. I think you’re gonna have a harder time convincing Jack than you would me. Just keep rubbing my feet and I’ll agree to whatever you want,” she laid against the side of the tub and wiggled her toes at the smaller woman.

“Really?” Layla stopped rubbing Erin’s foot.

“Nope,” she wrinkled her nose at her with a grin.

Layla dropped her foot into the water with a splash.

“Tease,” she scowled.

“Yep,” Erin exhaled a deep sigh, letting the warm water wash away her tension.

Layla was quiet. Too quiet.

“What is it?” Erin asked, without opening her eyes.

“I haven’t fed in a month, Erin,” her voice was strained.

The dreadnought’s eyes opened in the dim interior of the bath.

“You haven’t… not from Rory, or from Jack? A month, El?” she sat up. “How bad is it?”

“It’s bad. I didn’t try to hit up any of the customers downstairs cause…” she trailed off, then cleared her throat.

“It’s bad, Erin. I don’t wanna hurt someone,” she looked down at the steaming water. “What if I get carried away?”

“I mean, Moryven has to be full of high-level… you were waiting for me to get up, weren’t you?” Erin’s eyes narrowed.

“I… yeah… you’re really tough, and you have so much Stamina… I just thought, maybe you’d let me take the edge off, then I could…” Layla’s voice shook.

“Okay, Layla. But no sex. Just a kiss,” Erin eyed her.

“Really?” the succubus looked up sharply.

“Yeah. It’s ok. A friend asks you for help…” she blushed.

Layla paddled across the water, stopping a foot away from Erin, who reached out and took the succubus’ hand.

“It’s okay,” she gave her a gentle smile. “But if you don’t stop when I say stop, I’ll falcon punch you out of the tub.”

Layla’s eyes widened, then she saw Erin’s wry smile, and she started to giggle. She laughed until she couldn’t hold herself up. She hugged Erin’s neck tightly.

“Thanks, legs. I just… the guy at the gate spooked me, with all the demon talk,” she looked up from the water, realizing they were only inches apart now.

“It’s okay, El. Just, get with the nom nom, then make good choices while we’re here,” Erin hugged her back.

The succubus pressed herself against the taller woman, and Erin was suddenly intensely aware that neither of them were clothed.

“You’re dragging this out, aren’t you?” she scowled.

“Maybe a little,” Layla whispered, her face an inch away. “You ready?”

“Ready for what?” Erin replied.

Layla unclenched the iron fist in which she had gripped her demonic appetites for the last two weeks.

“Oh, shit,” Erin’s eyes widened as the wave of feverish, projected yearning washed over her.

“Yeah,” Layla breathed against Erin’s cheek and neck, goosebumps flaring across the dreadnought’s skin.

She leaned forward the last inch and softly touched her lips to Erin’s.

Wild, unquenchable desire ripped through Erin like a hot knife. She buried her fingers in the succubus’ long hair and jerked her forward, pressing herself against Layla’s body with all her considerable strength. The succubus emitted a low murmur of pleasure and began to feed. The sensation of overwhelming bliss spread from Erin’s lips to everywhere the succubus touched her, and she involuntarily pulled at Layla to press as much of their bodies together as possible.

In a tiny back corner of her mind, where rational thought still existed, Erin knew Layla had been right to be scared. The succubus carved off enough of her Health and Stamina in an instant to leave a normal person stone dead. In that same, still sane corner, Erin understood why Jack had been so afraid when Layla killed the bandits on the road from the Compass shrine, and she understood why the bandits had gone willingly like lambs to the slaughter.

Her moments with Jack had been the sweetest, most incredible sex she’d ever had, but the succubus’ kiss was what she imagined heroin must be like. It was all-consuming. There was no room for thought, or doubt, or hesitation, only the endless waves of pleasure that never ebbed or waned.

Layla put her hand on Erin’s face and pushed the dreadnought away, licking her lips as a parting gift.

“Thank you,” she sighed against Erin’s cheek.

Erin wasn’t home right now. She pressed herself against Layla, her body craving more while her brain had yet to start forming rational thoughts again.

“Mmm…” Erin’s brain was trying to make words.

“Wha…” almost there.

“What…” There. That was a whole word.

She swallowed and tried again.

“What… the fuck… was that?” she finally spit out.

“I told you I hadn’t fed in weeks,” the succubus’ eyes glowed in the dim light.

“Not that, you ass. It felt like you were licking my soul out through my… nevermind,” Erin blushed and fell abruptly quiet.

“You wanna go again?” Layla laughed.

Erin scowled and opened her mouth, then shut it, then opened it again, then thought better and shut it again.

“Layla, I’m… I”m not even sure I don’t have to talk to Jack and tell him I… was this cheating? Is this cheating? I had like four… I feel like it was cheating,” she groaned and put her head in her hands.

The succubus laid her head against Erin’s shoulder.

“If it was, we’ve been doing it since the shrimp,” she sighed. “This was way better than the cave, though.”

Erin groaned again, sinking up to her nose in the water. Layla planted a smooch on the top of her head, then leaned back.

“I don’t think it was, and I don’t think Jackson will be upset,” she sunk into the warm water, basking in the absence of desire for the first time in almost a month.

“I couldn’t have stopped you, could I?” Erin bobbed above water.

“Probably could’ve. The bastards at the mountain seemed to wake up at the end. To know what was coming. But none of them had the will to want me to stop,” Layla stared across the bath, not looking at anything in particular.

“I would’ve stopped,” she looked down at the steaming water.

“Would you have?” Erin whispered.

“No. They deserved to die,” she whispered back.

“Layla… you’d never hurt me, right? Cause… cause I couldn’t stop you…” Erin’s question dropped like a guillotine into the dead silence of the bath.

“I love you, legs,” Layla wiped a tear away from her face, then another from the other eye.

“Love you too, El,” Erin scooted to the side and hugged the succubus tightly.

She sniffed and shot a side-glance at Erin.

“Just to clarify, you don’t wanna go again?”

The dreadnought responded by reaching out with one inhumanly strong hand and dunking the succubus to the bottom of the tub.