I felt a wave of relief wash over me as we left the garden. The imps' terrified faces lingered in my mind, making me uncomfortable. While I'd grown accustomed to many aspects of demon society, the thought of punishing those creatures for following orders from someone they couldn't refuse didn't sit right with me.

  "Let's head back to our room," I suggested as we walked through the Academy's corridors. "We can contact Kyriakos in private there."

  Once inside our dormitory, I pulled out the glowing communication rune. Its blue light had intensified, suggesting urgency in Kyriakos's attempt to reach us. I placed it on the floor between us as we sat in a circle.

  "Kyriakos?" I spoke to the rune. "We're here."

  The rune's light shifted, forming a small projection of the Lich's skeletal face above it. His eye sockets glowed with that eerie blue flame.

  "Good, you've answered," Kyriakos's voice emanated from the rune, hollow yet clear. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd received my signal."

  "We were handling a small matter," Isabella replied smoothly. "Nothing of importance."

  I nodded. "I assume your preparations are complete since you called us?"

  The projection of Kyriakos's skull nodded. "Indeed. I've finished the necessary arrangements for the summoning ritual. The components are prepared, and the circle is drawn."

  "That was fast," Aria remarked, leaning forward to examine the projection. "I hope you didn't cut any corners, bone man."

  "I assure you, I've been meticulous," Kyriakos replied, his tone suggesting he'd be rolling his eyes if he had any. "I hope you've gotten what you needed from my tomes in that short amount of time?"

  "We've learned as much as we could," I said, thinking of the combat spells I'd committed to memory. "The texts were quite illuminating."

  "Good," the Lich responded. "I can start the ritual within an hour, that should give you enough time to make any final preparations."

  Aria raised an eyebrow. "How does one even prepares for summoning? Should I pack a bag? Do my hair?"

  I ignored her quip and focused on the practical matters. "Is there anything we need to do on our end?"

  The projection of Kyriakos paused, his flaming eyes flickering slightly. "Ah, I forget they don't teach summoning responses until the final year at your Academy." His tone became more instructional. "You don't need to worry about it too much. Your instincts should guide you when the time comes."

  "That's it?" I pressed.

  "Essentially, yes. When I complete the ritual spell, you'll feel a pull—a connection forming between my location and yourselves. You simply need to want to answer the summons. Allow yourself to be drawn through rather than resisting it."

  Isabella nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds easy enough."

  "For beings like yourselves, it is," Kyriakos confirmed. "Demons are naturally attuned to such magic. Your bodies are practically designed to respond to interdimensional summonings."

  I thought about this for a moment. Another aspect of my demonic nature that seemed to come with instinctual knowledge. Like feeding or seduction, it seemed some things were simply built into this body.

  "We'll be ready," I told the Lich. "Just... give us a signal through the rune before you begin."

  "Very well," Kyriakos said. "I'll contact you shortly." The projection flickered and disappeared, leaving the rune dormant once more.

  I waited in our dorm room with Aria, occasionally glancing at the communication rune that remained silent on the floor. Isabella had left almost an hour ago, saying she needed to retrieve something from her home before the summoning.

  "Do you think she'll make it back in time?" I asked, checking the rune again.

  Aria lounged on her bed, flipping through one of Kyriakos's tomes. "Isabella's never late. She's probably making a dramatic entrance as we speak."

  As if on cue, the door swung open and Isabella strode in, carrying a small velvet pouch. Her silver hair was slightly windswept, suggesting she'd rushed back.

  "Perfect timing," I said. "Kyriakos hasn't signalled yet."

  Isabella nodded and reached into the pouch, pulling out three small crystal vials filled with a cloudy, silvery liquid that seemed to swirl with its own inner light. She handed one to each of us, keeping the third for herself.

  I examined the vial, turning it in my fingers. "What is this?"

  "Concentrated vital essence," Isabella explained, noticing my questioning look. "It should help us regenerate our magical reserves in a pinch. Consider it emergency rations."

  Aria's eyes widened as she held her vial up to the light. "Is this what I think it is?"

  Before she could continue, Isabella raised a hand. "And before you say you can't turn semen into mana like purebloods can—" she glanced pointedly at Aria, "—this should work even for normal succubi. It contains as much vital energy as you'd get from feeding on a mortal."

  I sighed internally at the revelation. Though I'd grown accustomed to this body and its needs, the thought of drinking the vial's contents still made me want to gag—even as I knew it would feel like drinking ambrosia to this body.

  "Do you have any idea how much a single vial of this costs?" Aria asked, staring at the liquid with newfound appreciation. "This is worth a small fortune in soul coins."

  Isabella waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing. We have plenty of these at home. My mother insists on keeping a stock for emergencies."

  "Well," I said, carefully tucking the vial into a secure pocket, "let's hope we don't need to use them."

  I was about to respond to Isabella when the Lich's rune suddenly flared with an eerie blue light, casting sharp shadows across our dorm room. The light pulsed rhythmically, almost like a heartbeat.

  "Ah, right on schedule," Isabella said, straightening her posture.

  Kyriakos's hollow voice emanated from the rune. "I am prepared to begin the ritual. Are you three ready?"

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "We're ready," I confirmed, exchanging glances with Aria and Isabella. Despite my confidence, I felt a flutter of nervousness in my stomach. I'd never experienced a summoning before.

  Aria nodded eagerly. "Let's do this."

  "I am prepared," Isabella added, her voice cool and collected.

  "Very well. I will commence immediately. Remember to surrender to the pull—do not resist it." The rune's light flickered once more before fading completely.

  For several seconds, nothing happened. I looked at Aria, who shrugged.

  Then it hit me—a peculiar tugging sensation deep in my chest, as if an invisible hook had latched onto my very essence. The pull was gentle at first, almost imperceptible, but rapidly intensified. My vision blurred at the edges, colours swirling together like paint in water.

  "Oh," Aria gasped beside me. "That feels... strange."

  The tugging transformed into an irresistible force, yanking at something fundamental within me. My body felt simultaneously weightless and impossibly heavy. The room around us began to dissolve, reality itself seeming to thin and stretch.

  "Don't fight it," Isabella warned, her voice sounding distant despite her standing right beside me.

  The sensation was nothing like stepping through a transport gate. This was more intimate, more invasive—as if someone was reaching inside me and pulling me through a keyhole. My entire being compressed, squeezed through dimensions I couldn't comprehend. There was no pain, just overwhelming pressure and disorientation.

  Colours vanished, replaced by absolute darkness, then blinding light. I felt myself being stretched across vast distances, my consciousness smeared across reality like butter on toast.

  Then, with a sudden snap, I materialized. My feet touched solid ground, and reality crystallized around me. I stood in the centre of an intricate summoning circle, its lines glowing with fading energy. Aria and Isabella appeared beside me, looking equally disoriented.

  I blinked several times, adjusting to the dim light of what appeared to be a stone chamber. My senses slowly returned as the disorienting effects of the summoning faded. Standing before us was Kyriakos—but not as we'd seen him before.

  Instead of the skeletal figure, a human man with salt-and-pepper hair and sharp features stood watching us. He wore an outdated but elegant suit that wouldn't have looked out of place in the 1920s, complete with a pocket watch chain dangling from his vest. Only his eyes—still filled with that same intelligence—betrayed his true nature.

  "Welcome," he said, his voice no longer echoing hollowly. "I trust the journey wasn't too unpleasant."

  "That was... different," I admitted, steadying myself against a nearby table.

  Kyriakos gestured to himself with a slight smile. "A simple illusion. I find it helps me move among mortals without causing hysteria." His expression turned serious. "Speaking of which, I suggest you three do the same. Unless you wish to cause mass panic in the mortal realms."

  I glanced down, realizing my demonic features were fully visible—horns, tail and all. With a quick thought, I activated my glamour, feeling the familiar tingle as my appearance shifted to that of a human woman with brown hair and green eyes.

  Beside me, Aria transformed into a dark-haired woman with grey eyes, while Isabella took on a platinum blonde appearance.

  "Where exactly are we?" Isabella asked, examining our surroundings—a stone chamber filled with books, artifacts, and what appeared to be modern laboratory equipment.

  "This is one of my old hideouts," Kyriakos replied. "We're in what mortals now call Germany."

  I couldn't help but snicker. "Germany? That's quite far from our target."

  Aria tilted her head. "How far is it from that London place we were at last time?"

  "Approximately 1,100 kilometres," Kyriakos replied. "But distance is merely an inconvenience. I can teleport us to London directly."

  I turned to Kyriakos, feeling a sense of urgency building within me. "Can you teleport us now? We need to deal with Cain as soon as possible."

  Kyriakos raised a hand in a calming gesture. "Patience, Princess. Rushing into battle against Cain unprepared would be unwise." Before I could protest, he extended his arms toward us, his fingers tracing complex patterns in the air.

  A soft golden light briefly enveloped each of us—first me, then Isabella, and finally Aria. There were no incantations, no verbal components to the spell. Just the light, a brief tingling sensation, and then nothing.

  Isabella immediately tensed, her glamoured appearance doing nothing to hide the wariness in her eyes. "What spell did you just cast on us?" Her voice carried a subtle edge of threat.

  Kyriakos smiled, the expression oddly warm on his illusory human face. "A simple ward, nothing more. It should guard each of you against a single fatal blow." He adjusted his suit jacket. "Consider it insurance."

  "Well, thank you," Aria said, her suspicion melting away instantly. "That's actually really helpful."

  "You're welcome," Kyriakos replied with a slight bow. "Now, please gather closer. I'll teleport us to London directly."

  We huddled together as Kyriakos began weaving another spell. The air around us shimmered, and I felt a peculiar stretching sensation—different from the summoning but equally disorienting. The world twisted, colours blending and reforming, and suddenly we were standing in open air.

  Wind whipped around us as I realized we were perched atop a massive skyscraper, London sprawled out beneath us like a living map. The city lights glittered against the darkening sky, cars moving like illuminated insects along the streets far below.

  "Holy shit," Aria gasped, stepping back from the edge. "That's... quite a view."

  I turned to Kyriakos, confusion replacing my initial shock. "Why did you teleport us to the top of a skyscraper? Wouldn't an alleyway have been more practical?"

  The Lich shrugged, his illusory form perfectly mimicking human mannerisms. "I haven't been to London in over a century. The city has... changed considerably. I didn't know exactly where to teleport, so I adjusted my spell to place us atop whatever structure existed at the coordinates I specified."

  Isabella nodded, her eyes scanning the horizon. "That's actually quite insightful. Appearing inside a wall wouldn't be something I'd particularly enjoy."

  He pointed northward, toward a distant part of the city. "To be honest, I intended to bring us there, but this was as close as the spell could manage due to magical protections in that area." His expression turned thoughtful. "Someone has erected barriers against teleportation magic."

  I followed Kyriakos's gaze toward the north, wondering what magical barriers could be strong enough to redirect a Lich's teleportation spell. More importantly, I wondered if those barriers were Cain's doing—or perhaps the VCD's attempt to protect themselves.

  Either way, we were here now, and Faith was somewhere below us, possibly in danger. We needed to move quickly.

  I glanced down from the skyscraper's edge, the dizzying height sending a flutter through my stomach. London stretched beneath us like a glittering tapestry, cars and pedestrians reduced to tiny specks.

  "So how do we get down?" I asked, turning to Kyriakos. "I don't suppose you can teleport us again?"

  The Lich's human disguise smiled thinly. "I could do that, but it would take time. I suggest a more direct approach." He gestured toward the edge. "We jump."

  "Jump?" I repeated, eyebrows shooting up. "We're at least fifty stories high."

  Aria peered over the edge, her glamoured form leaning dangerously far. "It's quite high, but shouldn't be a problem. We're demons, after all." She flashed me a grin. "Our bodies can take it."

  I nodded slowly, remembering magicraft lessons. "Actually, we could use the slow fall spell we learned. Prof. Morrigan showed us how to manipulate air currents to control our descent."

  "But is it wise if mortals see four people floating down from a skyscraper? Won't that draw attention?" Isabella said, her eyes scanning the streets below.

  Kyriakos waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about mortals. As long as you don't do anything too flashy and maintain your glamours, I should be able to conceal our descent."

  "Good thing I didn't skip classes like most purebloods." Isabella tossed her head, a strand of hair dancing in the wind as she fixed me with a triumphant smirk. "They all thought having wings made learning the spell pointless."

  I stepped closer to the edge, feeling a strange mix of fear and exhilaration. The wind tugged at my clothes, and for a moment, I thought about how drastically my life had changed. From being a human engineer named Liam to standing atop a London skyscraper as a succubus princess, preparing to jump with a Lich and two demon friends to stop an ancient vampire.

  Kyriakos moved to the edge, his illusory form rippling slightly in the strong wind. "Are you ready?" he asked, his voice carrying despite the howling air currents.

  We nodded in unison.

  "Then after you," he said with a courteous gesture.

  Aria didn't hesitate. With a whoop of joy, she leapt from the building, arms spread wide as she plummeted toward the street below. Her glamoured form began to slow almost immediately, her descent becoming graceful rather than deadly.

  Isabella followed with practiced elegance, stepping off the ledge as casually as one might descend a staircase. Her body seemed to float downward, carried by invisible currents.

  Kyriakos simply stepped forward and dropped, his illusory form drifting downward in perfect silence, not a hair out of place.

  I took a deep breath, channelled my mana into the pattern Professor Morrigan had drilled into us, and jumped.

  The wind rushed past me as I fell, but there was no fear—only exhilaration. I heard Aria's delighted shouts below me as I surrendered to gravity, marvelling at how completely my existence had transformed.