The word "succubus" hung heavy in the warm air of Liza's domain, and the broken woman's eyes widened in horror.
"A… succubus?" she whispered, her voice cracking. She physically recoiled, fingers digging into the silk sheets. "Become… like her? The monster that… that used me like a toy..."
She couldn't finish. Her breathing turned rapid and shallow. Her chest heaved, her eyes darting like a trapped animal. The panic was swallowing her whole.
"It's okay, Janeth" Alex said gently, leaning closer. "You're safe. No one can touch you."
But his words bounced off her. She was drowning in the memory, too deep for human logic to reach. Her hands shook violently, her mind trapped in the spiral of that violation.
A quiet pain settled in hus chest. This woman had been his professor, kind, professional, full of life. Seeing her so broken stirred a deep sense of responsibility and guilt.
"I'm not asking you to become Rose." he tried again. "I'm offering you a way to become stronger. Someone that can never be toyed with like that again."
He had offered such abrupt exchange, without even knowing if he could actually do it.
'Can I actually do this?' Alex asked Liza. 'Turn a human into a succubus?'
'Yes... but not yet' Liza replied flat. 'You're still evolving. But the seed can be planted now. She needs hope, Alex. Give her something to hold onto. Let me help calm her down.'
Sensing Janeth's spiraling panic, Liza gently extended her magic.
It didn't start with a voice. It started with a feeling.
A soft, sweet warmth brushed against Janeth's mind.
Janeth flinched, a choked sob escaping her lips. "No! Get out of my head!" she cried, clutching her skull, expecting the slimy, invasive chains of Rose's charm.
But the warmth didn't force its way in. It just hovered there, like a gentle hand waiting to be held. It felt entirely different. Safe.
Slowly, Janeth's frantic breathing hitched. The crushing weight in her chest loosened, just a fraction. She looked up, tears streaming, terrified but confused.
Then, a voice echoed in her head. Sweet, melodic, and utterly honest.
'Relax, dear. I am not her. My name is Liza. I live within Alex. I am a Succubus Queen, yes, but I am not like the one who hurt you. I swear it on my crown. I know your pain... I'm sorry.'
Janeth froze, eyes widening. The terror in them softened. The voice carried no lies, no hidden malice. Just the undeniable emotion of someone who genuinely understood her nightmare.
'Alex isn't deceiving you or trying to take advantage of you. He's genuinely trying to help you, because he cares about you deeply.' Liza continued softly. 'He's offering you a choice. A chance to be strong enough that no one ever breaks you again.'
Janeth stayed silent for a long moment. The panic had faded, replaced by a hollow, exhausted numbness.
She stared at Alex.
He was an incredibly handsome man to be giving a broken dirty woman like her such importance, or that appeared to her, but at the moment, his face was tight with pain.
His lips were pressed into a bitter line, weighed down by guilt. But his crimson eyes, they weren't looking at her like a broken toy or a problem to be solved.
They were looking at her the way someone looks at family, genuine like the Queen said.
Then memories of him flooded her. The only man to reject Rose's advances and seduction. The only one who stayed in control when others lost themselves.
That memory, combined with the soothing truth of Liza's voice and the genuine care in his eyes, sparked a fragile trust.
Slowly, Janeth reached out. Her fingers clutched the front of his white shirt, bunching the fabric tightly.
She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his chest. Her whole body trembled, but it was a different kind of trembling, looking for warmth, not fleeing terror.
Alex felt her fragility against him. He wrapped one arm around her, his hand resting on the back of her neck. His touch was firm but careful, his thumb stroking the base of her skull. He could feel how cold she was, how deeply the trauma had settled into her heart.
Janeth closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. She listened to the steady, calm rhythm of his heartbeat. For a short instance, she enjoyed the safe embrace, which she hadn't received in months.
But the silence brought the bad memories.
The flashback hit her like a physical blow. The feeling of unfamiliar, rough hands gripping her body, her hair, her clothes.
The weight of strangers pressing into her.
And the most horrifying sensation of all. The physical pull of Rose's magic, forcing her own facial muscles to stretch. Making her lips curl into a bright, eager, fake smile while her soul screamed in agony inside.
The memory shattered the numbness.
Her fingers tightened on his shirt. The trembling stopped. Hatred began to burn through the fog of despair.
"Rose…" The name came out trembling with pure venom. "That bitch took everything from me. She laughed while they… while she made me smile through it."
She pulled back slowly, just enough to look up at Alex. Her hollow eyes were no longer dull. They were burning with a seething, icy rage.
"If I become this…" She searched his face, looking for any trace of pity or deception. She didn't want sympathy. She wanted a weapon. "Can I make her suffer?"
Her voice grew sharper, more alive than it had been since she woke up. "Can I hurt her like she hurt me? Make her scream? Trap her in her own head, helpless, just like I was?"
Alex looked down at her, seeing the fire returning. He didn't sugarcoat it.
"You'll be strong enough." he said honestly. "Strong enough to punish her as fits your desires."
The announcement washed over her physically. Her posture straightened. The desperate, clinging grip on his shirt shifted harder, more possessive.
The broken professor was gone, and the vengeful survivor was taking her place.
"I hate her..." she whispered fiercely. "More than anything. If becoming this… lets me crush her… then maybe I don't want to die yet."
She pressed her forehead against his chest again, trembling with a mix of fear, hatred, and the first fragile sparks of purpose.
Alex held her closer, feeling the shift in her.
He was going to be responsible for her from that moment onward.
The Master of two women who despised each other to their very cores.