Caught
Miel kept Seona living with every memory of Yurin locked away.
It was not only jealousy. She needed his mind whole again, and sealing every trauma-related memory was the cleanest, most efficient way. Nearly all of those traumas were the kidnapping itself and the endless sexual violation Yurin had inflicted until Seona was on the brink of death.
Erasing every last trace of Yurin from Seona’s body, washing him clean, was work that filled Miel with deep satisfaction. The drug-soaked memories, the lingering withdrawal symptoms—all of it had vanished without a scrap remaining. In Seona’s mind now, the only person who could be called a lover was her.
After every coupling she never forgot to lock away the sexual memories left behind in his consciousness. Watching Seona grow used to sex with her was entertaining enough, yet keeping him in a perpetual state of mental virginity—erasing every sexual experience so that each time he reacted like a pure, untouched boy—was like plucking the freshest fruit. The difference in his responses was absolute. That was why she always sealed those memories, preserving his psychological virginity day after day, so she could violate him whenever she wished and savor those brand-new reactions.
“Miel noona… is something wrong?”
“No. Why?”
Lately she had been living with the implanted memory that Seona was her younger brother. Overlapping him with people already present in his recollections caused dissonance far too often, so Miel had planted an entirely new bond that had never existed before and filled the empty space with memories of herself. It was still experimental, but the results were undeniable. In the beginning it had taken a full week of painstaking work to stitch a shattered mind back together; these days, even when Seona’s psyche broke, restoration took less than a day. Sampling every corner of his mind and memories during the process was amusing, yet she could not touch him while he was broken, so she kept refining the method until she found the optimal balance. He already looked recovered enough to be taken again.
“You suddenly started smiling, so I asked. Did something good happen?”
“Mm. There’s something fun. Seona, come to the room with me for a bit.”
The moment the words left her mouth she seized his hand and pulled him along, urging him toward the bedroom.
“What is it? Okay, let’s go.”
Curiosity pure on his face, Seona followed. The hot press of Miel’s fingers around his arm, the soft click of the door shutting behind them—
And once again Seona’s tear-choked screams, the moans stained with betrayal and regret, leaked out into the corridor.
The Succubus Lord knew perfectly well that Miel had not lived a proper life since the failed expedition. She showed no intention of setting out again; the maids reported she barely left her room, wallowing in debauchery. A high-ranking demon who ought to set an example for the rest of their kind, reduced to this because of one Awakened male. As a mother she now had every justification to discipline her daughter.
Using that discipline as pretext, she would take the male—mere property though he was—and have him passed among her other daughters until they gang-raped him to death. Nothing would remain for Miel. The daily scorn would return, of course, but worse: a wretched existence in which she would be forced to endure every agony she herself had once inflicted. The corners of the Lord’s mouth would not stop curling upward as she savored the punishment she intended to deliver.
Miel clutched her head and sealed the memories of Seona, who hovered on the edge of madness. It was the same daily ritual, yet every time she finished ravaging him she felt the deep satisfaction of having thoroughly stirred both body and soul. She had believed this delicious routine would continue forever—
until the moment she stepped out of her room after claiming him.
“Miel? Family shares. But you don’t get to act like this. Are you going to refuse even Mother’s order?”
A succubus of the same race pressed her hard.
“It’s Mother’s command. You know exactly what happens if you refuse.”
The second sister spoke with false gentleness; threat coiled beneath every word.
“Still… I can’t. Sisters, I’ll go on an expedition soon and bring back another male—”
The two succubi facing her were her older sisters. They had come under the Lord’s direct order to seize the Awakened male from their youngest sister, and the conversation had reached this point.
“Mother said to hand over the male you have right now. You know better than anyone that offering a substitute won’t work.”
Miel was one breath from losing her mind. Mother and the sisters almost certainly did not know she had carved her own Yin Crest into Seona. Showing it would change nothing. From everything they had done to her until now, even something that was hers they would destroy without hesitation. If she called him her mate they would only grow more eager to torment him. Everything they had ever done to her had been deliberate cruelty. Knowing that every pleasure and every agony the mate linked by the Yin Crest felt would flood straight into her, they would keep violating him until he was on the verge of death. That was the inevitable fate waiting if Seona fell into those bitches’ hands. She could not let them discover the truth. Not under any circumstances.
“Why is this taking so long? Do all of you want to be punished together?”
Mother herself appeared.
“Mother…”
The two sisters bowed their heads slightly. The Lord who should have been waiting in her office had come in person.
“First, let us examine the male’s condition.”
As though he already belonged to her, she swept past Miel and the sisters, seized the doorknob of Miel’s room, and made to enter. The movement was too swift to stop.
“No!”
The cry tore from Miel before she could think.
Inside, Seona lay naked and pure white on the bed, the Yin Crest carved clearly across his abdomen, mind still hazy. Only moments after being taken, most of his memories had been locked away so his psyche could recover.
The Succubus Lord took in the sight and laughed aloud, delighted.
“This is your mate? Excellent taste. He’ll be fun to play with.”
A rule existed that no succubus should touch another’s mate—yet before the absolute power of the Lord of this territory, rules meant nothing. Miel’s mind raced, searching for any way out of the disaster.
The Lord had ordered her daughters to bring Miel’s male to the office. When they still had not appeared after a long wait, she decided to go herself. All her work was finished; she had nothing better to do, and she might as well look upon Miel’s face.
Outside the room she found her two daughters arguing with Miel. Clearly the girl was resisting, refusing to surrender the male. Normally fear alone would have made her hand him over. Why this stubbornness? If Miel could not show the male, then the Lord’s suspicion was almost certainly correct.
The Yin Crest.
The mark a succubus carves upon her own abdomen—and upon her mate. The male Miel kept almost certainly bore that crest. In other words, the Awakened was Miel’s mate.
Rage boiled in her gut. What woman could calmly watch the bitch who stole her own mate live happily? She would drag the male back, have her daughters take turns violating him, and force Miel to sit and watch him wither away. She would stretch the torment over hundreds of days, killing him by slow starvation of life-force just to prolong the agony.
She brushed past Miel and the two sisters, gripped the doorknob, and opened the door.
There he was—naked, snow-white skin, the exact shape of Miel’s Yin Crest etched across his abdomen. A beautiful male. Even the exquisite sex slaves kept by the high nobles she knew could not compare. And an Awakened, life-force tough and enduring… Stealing a mate of this quality would inflict exquisite pain.
A vile smile curved her lips as she reached for him.
The instant her mother stretched a hand toward Seona, Miel slammed her aside with all her strength. In the same motion she scooped Seona into her left arm and raked the claws of her right hand across the two sisters who lunged from the doorway. Both clutched their throats and collapsed; the wounds looked fatal. It had happened in a single heartbeat, and none of them had expected her to attack. Three succubi stronger than herself had fallen.
She could never live in this territory again. She felt no regret. Seona belonged to her alone. Those three bitches should have been grateful she had not gouged out the filthy eyes that had dared look at him.
Cradling the unconscious Seona, Miel fled—toward the Gate that led to Earth, the one place no demon could follow.