CHAPTER#110

Stumbling, Daryl was suddenly aware that the stone lions guarding the front walk were still very far away. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he took a few more steps. His legs were numb beneath him. Tilting forward, he crashed into the front walk, the breath leaving his body and the Grimoire tumbling free of his grasp.

Gasping for air, he tried to reach the book. Soft footsteps moved toward him, Dana's tennis shoes coming into view. She pushed the Grimoire toward his face, then knelt down in front of him.

"You're not you when you're sleepy," she said, a sadistic smile stretching across her face.

"What?" He bit down on his tongue, struggling to stay awake. "What happened?"

"The hunger. How do I get rid of it?"

"I was... using my magic to..." The words fell from his mouth, shattering on the cold concrete below him. "You'll have to... eat. Can't stop... transformation."

"What do I need to eat?"

"Flesh... living..." He could barely keep his eyes open. His magic was uncoiling inside him, forcing adrenaline to every muscle in his body, but he still couldn't move.

"Can you reverse it? Can you make me human again?"

Daryl let out a laugh. "No. One way process." He laughed again. "You're stuck."

"And so are you." The scorpion tail appeared behind Dana, looming over her shoulder like a sinister shadow. Daryl's mind rewound time to when she had been trying to defend herself, slapping away his assault. He had been a fool.

Dana's eyes flashed yellow and red, her features melting away to reveal Lily, the succubus. "Last chance. Can you turn her back?"

"No." He smirked at her. "And even if I could, I wouldn't, you dirty cunt."

"Then you're no use to me." Her tail whipped around, striking him several times. He laughed, his magic strengthening him even farther, his fingers curling up beneath him.

"Even if I did fall asleep, I could escape the Dreamscape," he said. "Your power is no match for someone like me. Stab me, shoot me, cut off my head, and I will find my way back."

"I don't need you to sleep." Lily stood up, the heels of her boots clicking on the sidewalk. "I only need you to blink."

Blink? Daryl didn't understand, but the fresh infusion of her venom assailed his senses, and he felt fatigue crawl over him like a blanket. He was still pondering what she had meant when the Grimoire unfolded a pair of legs from beneath its cover and crawled near his face.

He blinked in disbelief, opening his eyes to a universe that consisted almost entirely of teeth.

-

The smell tickled at Dana's nose, turning into a flood of fragrances. It was heavenly, like baked cookies or burgers cooking on a grill. She sniffed heavily, the smell permeating her entire being, the hairs on her arms standing straight up in excitement. She breathed heavily from her mouth, swallowing the drool that threatened to leak free.

It was blood. Warm, delicious blood, and lots of it. Smacking her lips, she looked at Zel, who wasn't paying attention. The ball of anger in her stomach was becoming something else, spreading through her whole body like wildfire. Standing up slowly, she moved toward the centaur, contemplating the new smells that came off of her. The forest, leaves, and alfalfa were the heaviest, but beneath them all was the scent of steak.

Dana charged, a howl escaping her lips. Zel looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide in fright when Dana leapt through the air, her mouth open wide.

Zel's rear legs kicked out, catching Dana squarely in the chest and knocking her across the room. It didn't hurt, but Dana could feel that her rib cage no longer felt quite right. Pushing back to her feet, she ran out the door into the backyard. Naia stood in the fountain, speaking quietly to a songbird.

Dana growled, the sight of Naia's soft skin reminding her of the white meat of a chicken. Thoughts of gravy and dripping fat reignited her hunger, and she rushed the fountain. The bird took off when Dana's feet splashed in the water, and she tackled the nymph, her teeth sinking into soft flesh.

Naia's whole body turned into water, and she disappeared, reappearing on the edge of the fountain. Dana splashed toward her, her thoughts consumed by the idea that a nymph would probably taste like water chestnuts. The water swirled beneath her feet, dragging her down, and she tumbled around in the fountain, her fingers clawing for any sort of purchase. One hand snagged the rim of the fountain, and she yanked herself free, rolling onto the ground.

"Stop her!" Zel had appeared in the doorway of the garage, but immediately pulled it shut when Dana ran at her. In her mind, all she could smell was flesh and blood, her other senses being drowned out by the solitary thought that she was hungry. Screaming, she slammed herself into the door, dust shaking free of the frame.

Lily appeared in the backdoor of the house, a large book covered in blood tucked under one arm.

"What's going on - hey!" Dana crossed the distance between them, her eyes on the soft flesh of Lily's neck. Her powerful tail knocked Dana to the ground, then wrapped around one of her ankles, lifting her legs in the air. Snarling and lashing out with her hands, Dana was dragged back to the garage.

"Do we have any rope?" Lily asked.

"I think we can find something. But we need a chair to tie her to, and I don't think the one we have will work."

"Problem solved." Lily tossed the tome into the corner of the room and looked away. Dana tried to look, but Lily's tail twisted her around. One second it was a book, the next second it was a giant chair made of solid metal. The chair sprouted legs and crawled toward them like a spider.