Fiona took a deep breath and sighed. "Corrupt souls provide very little energy. My demonic body has gotten weaker and weaker over the years. I expended of a lot of magic recently to help you. I've only a short time left."
"How long?" Drayce dreaded her answer.
"I give it two or three weeks, maybe a month."
He paced, trying to think of a way to help her. "What if you increased the number of corrupt souls? We could hunt them down and..."
She turned to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him close. "It won't matter. It would simply delay the inevitable."
Her warm embrace, as lovely as it was, did little to comfort him. "Damn it! There has to be a way! Couldn't you take one innocent?"
She let go, scowling at him. "What kind of talk is that?!"
His eyes glistened. "I'm sorry. I just... don't want to lose you. After all that has happened, I can't image going back to my old life. It would all seem empty without you."
Fiona returned to the edge of the building. "When we first met, we made a deal. That arrangement was a facade. I never needed your help getting souls; I could have easily done it on my own. But you wouldn't have gotten the answers you sought without me. What looked like a mutual arrangement, was just me helping you."
Drayce looked at her inquisitively. "What are you saying?"
She turned to him, her eyes beaming, her smile heartwarming. "I have searched for centuries for someone like you. Someone who made me feel human again, who accepted me for all that I am. Our 'arrangement' was a series of trials for, not only you, but for me as well. As tempted as you were to give in to your lust, you never did. It was ten times more tempting for me not to take your soul. Having a succulent morsel dangling in front of me when I've survived an eternity on burnt bread was almost too much to bear."
Grabbing her hand again, he pulled her towards him. "You wanted someone who loved you."
Their eyes met. "And someone I loved just as much."
Slowly, their heads leaned forward. Softly, their lips pressed together. The passion behind their kiss was centuries in the making. Their arms gripped each other tightly as their lips confessed their love.
Love.
It was the one thing missing from their lives, and now they had completed each other.
But the prospect of Fiona's death tortured Drayce 's mind. He would soon be miserable and alone again. He did not think he could deal with it, not this time.
She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against his. "Don't be sad."
"Reading my mind again?"
She giggled. "I can never resist. You've always fascinated me."
He sighed. "What am I doing to do when you're gone?"
She put her hands on his cheeks, brushing away the small tear that escaped his eye. "There is one way I can still live."
His heart raced. "Really? What is it?"
"Long ago, before the Crusaders eradicated all traces of them, there was an order of warlocks. This order was composed of the most vile and self-centered of men. Each warlock used magic to bind their soul to a demon, enslaving them to do their bidding."
"Demons usually accepted a binding willingly since the ritual provided mutual benefits. The demon siphoned energy from the human's soul; the warlock would then stop aging. The warlock was essentially immortal as long as the demon remained alive. However, given that their vile souls were corrupt and the amount of magic they used for their own gain, eventually their soul's energy gave out, and they perished anyway."
Drayce shrugged. "So what does that all mean?"
Fiona smiled. "If you bind yourself to me, the energy from your soul would be enough to keep me alive. No longer would I need to devour souls in order to survive. It was one of the primary reasons I was so insistent on you keeping your soul pure. It would act as a battery that never dies out. We could live our lives together, forever."
"So this was your plan all along? To use me so you can stay alive?" Drayce asked, folding his arms.
"I know it looks selfish. Maybe it is. All I wanted was a chance to live the life that was taken from me so many centuries ago. To share eternity with someone I loved." A tear ran down her cheek, "That someone is you, Drayce ."
To spend eternity with Fiona, the sexy succubus who spared his soul, stealing his heart instead. The idea was actually very appealing.
"I don't ever want to feel alone again. You've changed my life forever. The thought of you dying... tears my heart apart. I... love you, Fiona. I'll do it."
She leapt at him, kissing him deeply. "Thank you, Drayce ."
"So what do I have to do?"
"It's really quite simple. All you need do is to carve a symbol of your choosing into the palm of your right hand, then press it against mine and say 'I bind myself to thee'."
Drayce took a moment to think. "I don't have a pocket knife, so..."
"Use this." Fiona extended her index finger, her nail protruding out to form a long sharp claw.
"I guess that will work," Drayce snickered.
While holding her finger in his left hand like a pencil, Drayce drew a 'D' shape into his palm. It stung, but not too bad. Then he drew a 'F' over the 'D'. He became a little light headed at the sight of his own blood but he maintained his composure.
Fiona extended her arm, palm forward. "By the way, this is going to hurt quite a bit."
"Fantastic." Drayce said sarcastically. Like the pain of carving up his hand was not bad enough. He pressed his bloody hand against Fiona's. "I bind myself to thee."
Instantly, their hands began to burn with ferocious heat, like being welded together. Drayce watched as surges of magical energy passed back and forth between their bodies. His muscles tensed as if electrocuted. His heart felt about to burst. He wanted to scream -- this hurt worse than anything he had ever experienced in his life. He held himself together, though. For his lover, he would overcome anything.
Anything!
The surges stopped and Drayce collapsed on the concrete. Fiona quickly sat beside him and pulled him into her lap. She held his almost-convulsing body tightly against her as he gasped from the pain. Her demonic wings draped over him like soft blankets.
Drayce looked at his hand. The symbol he drew was charred into his flesh. "Is it... done?"
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