The cold hit harder once the adrenaline started leaking out of my system.

I wrapped my coat tighter around myself, trying not to shiver. The wind was cruel up here, slicing through the thin fabric like it wasn't even there.

I squinted against the night air, trying to see how high up we were, bracing for some heart-stopping drop through the sky.

The treetops swayed just a few feet below my boots.

We weren't that high up at all.

And I realized I'd stopped shivering.

I blinked, confused, and realized why.

Murasaki's arms were wrapped around me tightly.

She pressed herself against me, sharing her body heat. And I hated how good it felt against my back. How warm and how necessary.

"Relax," she whispered against my ear, her voice low and syrupy. "I've got you, darling. I'm not trying to scare you."

She giggled softly: an actual giggle. It sounded musical, different from the rehearsed, manic one she used to puncture my sanity.

We circled lazily above a clearing in the woods, her wings pumping slow, steady beats into the cold.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, yelling over her wings.

"Tsk, tsk," I heard her voice by my ear. "You didn't forget did you? Do you remember your promise? Our date?" she asked, her voice full of mischief.

I did.

God help me, I remembered promising her a date if she helped me escape the cursed library.

But I'd never said when.

"That shouldn't even count," I said as she brought me closer to the forest's soft floor.

I clenched my jaw. Figures she'd collect when I was too wrecked to say no.

Murasaki descended smoothly, her wings dipping as she landed lightly on the forest floor. She set me down with care — so gentle it made my chest ache — and folded her massive bat wings behind her.

I watched, half in awe, as they shimmered, blurred, and vanished like smoke under moonlight.

Like they'd never been there at all.

Then she smiled at me — and damn it — she was beautiful under the stars.

More dangerous than radiation, and just as breathtaking.

"Oh, don't be mad at me for that," she batted her eyes at me. "Mongo's not a pushover, you know."

She took a step forward, her footsteps barely leaving a mark in the dew.

Her vibrations when she walked felt like tickling.

"Last year he ate one of the opposing team's mascots. He needs to be fed regularly, or he gets cranky."

Then she looked at me. Her bangs fell playfully over one of her eyes, giving her a peek-a-boo look.

"Maybe that's why you're so grouchy with me, darling. You must be hungry," she teased, though her voice held a flicker of genuine concern..

"I brought food for you."

I couldn't help it. My mouth started watering as I watched. She slung a backpack off her shoulder and pulled out a small, battered bento box. Then another for herself.

"You haven't eaten since lunch, right? You'll starve if you're not careful."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Yeah.

Then my stomach rumpled, and she scrunched her face up and laughed. And even though I knew Murasaki was a demonic succubus bent on using me for whatever reason, I laughed too.

"I didn't know what flavor. I hope you're not picky, darling," she said, handing me one.

I took the bento box and bottle, grateful for both.

She set her box and green tea down before reaching into her book bag for the last time and pulled out a purple towel.

"You're serious about this," I said, setting my stuff down.

She looked up at me, trying to suppress a grin as I grabbed the other side of the towel and helped her spread it out so we could have an impromptu picnic.

"Thank you," she said.

Dammit. She's decent.

That's what makes this worse..

I sighed, trying not to imagine how much my mother would've loved her.

Then I looked at her backpack.

There, hanging on the side, a kawaii zipper clip. A devil's pitchfork. Purple glitter, of course, darling.

Casually, I slipped my hand into my pocket and felt the slick plastic assurance of my cellphone.

Cold. Sleek.

My lifeline.

Murasaki grinned at me from across the makeshift picnic and handed me my bento box.

"I swear, darling, it looked much better before I, um," she covered her mouth with her hand as she stifled a giggle.

"Before I swept you off your feet."

I laughed, but I also sent my friend Inego a quick text.

"Hey, what do you know about succubi? Asking for a friend."

Thankfully, the succubus didn't see. And it didn't take Inego long to answer.

"Mate. I know enough to stay the hell away. Murasaki? You're already doomed. Let me explain."

I looked across the towel at Murasaki. Her brunette hair, with purple and blue highlights, caught the light of the rising moon.

"I thought it was dangerous in the woods at night," I said.

She grinned at me mischievously.

"It is. Don't you know?"

Then she leaned forward.

"You could get caught by a succubus," she giggled, her pink tongue flashed from behind her teeth.

Then I felt my phone vibrate as I got another text from Inego.

"Oi… How do you get into these things? A succubus will lure their prey in three stages. Imprint. Mark. Then, finally, claim. If she starts showing up everywhere, and you begin to associate her with specific scents, etc. She's imprinting herself onto you."

I tried to focus on how good the shrimp tempura was.

Truthfully, it was delicious. Like, some of the best I'd ever had, and I could have shut my eyes and melted into it.

"Someone looks like they're having a good evening," Murasaki said.

I felt my phone buzz against my leg.

I nodded at the beautiful girl sitting across from me.

"You're going to have to give me the recipe for this," I said. "It's fantastic."

She smiled, and I watched her dimples form on either side of her cheeks. Positively impish.

"Oh, darling, why don't you just stay with me, and I'll make it whenever you please?"

Somewhere in the woods, I heard an owl.

I ate the last couple bites of tempura, washed them down with green tea, and when I looked up, I was surprised at how close I was sitting to Murasaki.

Had we always been sitting so close to one another?

We could have. The towel wasn't very big, after all. And Murasaki felt incredibly inviting. Like I could spend the rest of the evening with her. I finally felt a sense of calm I hadn't felt since sitting in the park with Shion and Yuki.

She sighed, long and low, and for a moment it felt like time paused.

Then I smelled her perfume. Lemon. Ginger. Gentle, but unmistakable.

My cellphone rested beside my leg, but suddenly the clunky cold plastic was much less interesting than the living, breathing beautiful girl by my side.

She felt warm against my right arm, and when she leaned against me she seemed to fit perfectly.

"Well, of course I fit, darling," she whispered. "I'm your purple shadow princess, after all."

Oh my god she can read my mind?!

She giggled lightly as I sat up, panic shooting through my body.

"No, I can't read your mind," she said as I backed up.

She looked at me like I was being stupid, so I stopped.

And she looked sad, like she'd been expecting something like this to happen. Her face and shoulders dropped. Then she looked up at me again, from her cascading brunette locks.

"I can feel your emotions, though. Um… when you let me. And just then you were feeling close enough to let me," she shrugged, as if that explained everything.

I tried to wrap my head around what she meant.

"So, you can feel my emotions, right?" I began.

She nodded.

"And you felt that I was thinking about how well…"

A smile crept across her face.

"Yes, darling. How well the two of us—"

I backed up more.

"Ryu, please…" she whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you."

This was too much, too soon.

"Murasaki, would you," I sighed. "You're exhausting."

After I saw that, her eyes flashed open, as though she realized something.

She bit her lower lip, and her body tensed. Then her eyes rolled into the backs for a moment, and she seemed to tremble before slowly breathing back out.

"Oh… I'm sorry you saw that," she said, embarrassed.

I had no words.

She blushed, as a satisfied look spread across her face.

"Well… I am a succubus, after all. I'm sorry if I can be a bit, um, draining. But I won't lie to you. You were thinking about how close we were getting, and I felt it."

I looked at my cellphone, wanting to check it so badly.

"I can help you," she said.

"What?" I asked.

She slowly took a breath.

"I can help you understand your dragon abilities, Ryu."

She gave me a moment to understand what she was saying.

"I can feel your emotions. I want to help you because…" she closed her eyelids, and her voice became a thin whisper.

"Because you believed in me earlier. When no one else did. Even knowing what a despicable, evil, fallen thing I am."

Her eyes opened, bright, violet, and alive.

Looking right at me.

Unblinking.

"And I won't forget that."

I should've walked away. Instead, I stayed.

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