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I hit the bell and then rapped on the door After a few seconds I sounded the bell again, and it opened to reveal a bleary-eyed Marisol

"What’s going on, Mac? Soet a call" She stepped back frolanced down at the cell phone she held in her hand Her short, silky nightgown androbe fit her And I was irritated to see that while she wore no makeup, she didn’t seem any less attractive

I stepped into the house and she looked up fro

"What’s this about?" Marisol asked

"Mari? Is everything all right?" A young woman who looked like she was in her early twenties stood at the top of the stairs She wore a T-shirt and cotton shorts, and her resemblance to her sister was un," Marisol said

I opened lare Her sister nodded and disappeared back down the hallway

"Why are you here, Mac?" she hissed

"I’m here to find out why you lied toabout?"

"I’ about the fact that you not only knew Rebecca could have been killed by a succubus, but you knew of a succubus who has killed before and kept it frolance upstairs "Let’s talk in the other room"

I followed Marisol to the kitchen, and she waved me to a seat at a small breakfast table She started a kettle of water on the stove

"I’ down at the table while the water heated "I probably should have said soed into this How ed with hter when she was sixteen years old The charges were dropped and the records were sealed because of her age" Mystical ree hter It was a double standard, but otherworlders with lethal poere held to a higher standard Fear and politics kept the law on the books--inbreath "Okay, I see why you ht to come here" Her eyes narrowed "How did you find out? Unless you got a promotion or two since yesterday, there’s no way you could have accessed those records"

"How I got the records isn’t important"

"Oh, it’s important Was it Vasquez? That ass--"

"Amanda’s dead"

Marisol’s eyes widened The teapot whistled and, when Marisol ot up and pulled the ceramic pot from the burner I shut off the stove and turned to face her

I didn’t want to see her sympathy, her sadness But Marisol either wasn’t as adept asher e that skill Her eyes filled with unshed tears, and she wrapped her ar?"

I nodded, not trustingcupboards at random I found the tea first and the cups two doors later I poured tea, setting one cup in front of Marisol before sitting back down

She didn’t seem to see the tea "I’ll tell you what happened with my sister so you can take her off the list"

"Okay," I said, voice rough I sed the luain "What happened?"

"Elaine was attacked by an older kid at school when she was sixteen He was eighteen They’d gone out a couple of times She didn’t know he’d found out she was a succubus until it was too late When he did, he figured a succubus should always be willing to put out Pissed off she wouldn’t sleep with him, he raped her"

I closed my eyes "I’m so sorry, Marisol"

"Do you kno succubi poork?"

I opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times to clear them "Not really I mean, I know you can drain the life force from people"

Marisol nodded slowly "But e use our powers, it’s kind of a sharing process We can get bits of e It builds a connection The more drained, the closer a connection is built"

"Wouldn’t that ht smile "We don’t have to drain people We aren’t varoups Draining can give power, but -term relationship Married, usually It can make the couple closer The connection works both ways, you know? The succubus gains energy and a connection, and her lover gains pieces of her, too"

"Does the effect…fade?"

Marisol took a sip of her tea, and then shook her head "Elaine lost control She was so scared She thought he was going to kill her And he may very well have, but she drained hi She just wanted hirimaced and tried to push out of my head the fear the poor child had probably felt I had to stay focused "So will the connection--"

"She’ll always have part of hier, his lust, his hatred of her" She wiped at the tears that had started to trail down her cheeks, and then took a deep breath "But it’ll get better She’s already improved A couplea life for herself A real life"