Courts and Cabals by G.S. D'Moore (best e reader for academics txt) 📕

“Not everyone can survive there?”

“Humans can’t unless they’re mages. It’s a land of pure magic, and will eventually drive them mad. Even mages can only be there for so long. Shifters even shorter periods of time. It’s guessed by our scientists that I’d be just as at home there as I am here.”

“Good to know,” although, I’d already promised myself I’d never go there. Now that I knew it would drive me loco, it definitely wasn’t a vacation destination.

“Physically, that’s it for a succubus,” she explained. “We’re just really tough, heal quickly, and are hard to beat. Plus living forever if we don’t die,” she added as an afterthought. “We can also work magic to varying degrees, closer to Theurgy mages than elementals; but that takes a lot of training, and we don’t have the versatility humans seem to. If you humans are good at anything, its adapting and overcoming adversity.”

I was surprised at the respect she showed humans. It was nice she didn’t only think of us as food. Too many supernaturals looked down on us and forgot we made up over ninety percent of the world’s population.

“Me, on the other hand, I’ve got a number of extra abilities. The Fae call them Gifts,” she continued.

“Your fire swords aren’t from your succubus DNA?” that surprised me. “but . . .”

“Remember, we’re not demons from Hell,” she chided, and I realized I’d fallen back onto stereotypes. “My father was a will-o-the-wisps, a Fae with skills in fire and light. I get my ability to conjure faerie-flame from him. I also have the Gifts of the Fae noble class: telekinesis, which you saw already, and teleportation; although, I don’t have the range of a full-Fae. They can go just about anywhere, but I’m limited by bodies of water.”

“Wow, that’s so terrible. You’ll have to settle for teleporting to California instead of Hawaii,” I gave her a look, but she didn’t laugh at my joke.

“It’s not funny when someone can put a shallow circle of water around me and keep me from escaping.”

“Shit,” I’d stepped in it.

“Sorry, my lady,” I thought it might help my case to add the title.

“No,” she reached out and grabbed my hand. “None of that my lady crap. You aren’t my vassal. You’re the First of my harem. I’ve seen how my half-sister treats the changelings sworn to her. I’d rather cut off my own clit than be like that.”

“Thanks.” After seeing those same things myself, it meant a lot to hear Lilith was the opposite of her psycho sister. “But let’s not go cutting anything important off. Something tells me we’ll get some use out of that.” We both laughed, and that helped us shrug off the bad images of Fae cruelty.

“Telekinesis, teleportation, faerie-flame,” she ticked her gifts off on one hand. “I also have the ability to effect space-time to a degree. It’s some sort of subspace, interdimensional building ability. I know I have it, but my skill is rudimentary. Noble Fae can build entire personal fiefdoms in what amounts to a pocket universe. The best I’ve been able to do is create a space the size of my backpack to keep stuff in.”

I knew what she was talking about. That explained why Aveena’s room was the size of a football field complete with an honest-to-god hill.

“I bet they hold that knowledge pretty close to the chest,” I noted. “You’ve got to teach yourself, which has to be hard.”

“We’ve tried to get some of the cabal’s Seelie allies to teach me, but they won’t budge. Having to learn makes life interesting,” she took it all in stride. “I’m going to live a very long time, so something being a little difficult is almost better than having it given to me.”

“Basically, you’re Wonder Woman on steroids. You can punch through walls, hit people with your mind, BBQ them, and then stuff them in your interdimensional storage compartment. Those are some crazy cool abilities,” I started a slow clap just for her.

“Don’t forget glamour,” she chimed in with a grin. She waved her hand and the pen appeared and disappeared again. “It’s the Fae’s signature gift, most have it, but my power with it is limited at best,” she frowned. “For whatever reason, my succubus genes don’t allow for a powerful glamour gift,” she sounded genuinely disappointed.

“It’s clear to me, you definitely came out on top,” I tried to cheer her up, and it worked judging by her smile. “I can honestly say that I’ve never felt safer. I’ve got a kick ass protector, you’re a beautiful, powerful woman, who I bet could take down her spoiled half-sister with one hand tied behind her back.”

Apparently, my charm was working on her, because I could have sworn she blushed.

“We are both bound by the agreement,” she coughed to clear the air between us. “While I won’t be able to personally guard you, I’ve already informed my cabal that I’ve started my harem and my First needs some protection. In the meantime, I’ll lend you my guard. I should be fine for a couple days on my own.”

While I was disappointed we wouldn’t be spending more time together – I needed to remember she was the boss and had better things to do – I appreciated there would be someone there to watch my back besides my friends. Even though they were an order of magnitude tougher than me, Aveena would rip them to shreds.

“Who’s your guard?” I wondered. “I’ve never seen you with anyone but . . . wait . . . don’t tell me . . .” it was so obvious.

“I think you and Dani will get along fabulously,” the grin she gave me said she’d enjoy making both of our lives difficult.

“A dwarf in a cabal,” I didn’t even