Whumptober Day 21: Laced Drink
Thanks to @a-redharlequin and this gorgeous image of a pouty red demon (which we can’t find the source of if anyone knows! Will gladly remove art for a link to the real thing.)
Barry’s father had always said his appetite would get him in trouble. Barry had been so young when his parents were killed, Henry didn’t know how right he’d been—just not about which appetite.
As a cambion, Barry could have displayed any number of characteristics from his parents. He might have, though it would have been rare, simply turned out human like his father.
He hadn’t. He could look human, but he could also take on a far more demonic appearance, his true appearance, and his hunger for sexual energy, once he’d reached maturity, was greater than any incubus or succubus. They usually fed once a month. He needed to every week and often wanted it every day, twice a day. He was insatiable. It made him less careful over the years about who he hunted despite his parents’ warnings.
Len was just so pretty. He smelled so good. He exuded the energy Barry craved with an underlying power he couldn’t place but wanted.
They were getting along so well too. Len had even bought Barry his most recent drink.
“Want to get out of here?” Len finally asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Only Barry’s head felt fuzzy. Alcohol didn’t affect him, but if he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was inebriated and about to pass out.
“There we go. I got you.” Len’s tone sounded… different, and his arms around Barry as they headed out of the bar felt more caging than protecting.
Barry realized too late, with the world dimming, that Len had laced his drink.
Barry’s head pounded when he came to, his arms sore, his legs sore—because they were bound in witch’s rope!
He struggled, barely managing to roll up into a sitting position, but that’s all it took to see that his skin was its natural crimson, his glamour fallen away as he sat naked and imprisoned in his true form.
His tail twitched irritably, causing the fluffy red tuft on the end to fan out. His auburn hair, slightly longer in this form, fell into his eyes around his horns. He wanted to sink his claws and fangs into something, he was so angry at himself for not recognizing the power he’d smelled on Len as that of a witch.
But he was also angry at Len. What kind of creep laces someone’s drink!
“No wings. Did you lose them?”
Barry darted his attention toward the corner of the room. Len’s all black attire, which he’d found sexy before, seemed ominous now, with a pentagram around his neck and power crackling at his fingertips. “I never had wings. I’m a cambion.”
“Half? Your power is twice the strength of any incubus or succubus I’ve encountered before.”
Barry’s stomach dropped to think what this warlock had done to them. Enslaved them? Used them for spell components? “Sometimes the mix of blood gets lucky. What do you want? Cambion blood and parts don’t work in witch spells.”
Damn, Barry had hoped he wouldn’t know that.
“What a pretty pout,” Len said with a grin, crouching in front of Barry.
He leaned away, weak and defenseless in the binding of the ropes. “You drugged me,” he spat.
“You’re rather indignant for someone who was going to kill me.” Len grabbed him roughly by the chin.
“So, you weren’t trying to sleep with me?”
“Well… yes, but I wouldn’t have hurt you. I’d only have taken a little energy. I was hungry, and you smelled so… good.” Barry cast his eyes downward, red like the rest of him and slit. He wasn’t used to anyone seeing him in this form, let alone naked.
Len seemed to consider him a moment. Then he tugged Barry’s chin to get him to look him in the eyes again. “Veritas,” he said in a resonant whisper with a bright flash of his eyes.
Barry felt drunk again, drugged, as he stared up at Len with a haze surrounding him. “You’re so beautiful… I really liked you and just wanted a taste. I’d never hurt you. I never hurt anyone. I’m scared and trying not to show it. Please don’t use me for parts.”
Len’s smirk cracked into a truer smile. His eyes flashed brightly again, and the haze lifted. Truth spell. “You’re not lying, which puts us in a difficult position.”
“Difficult? Just let me go!”
“I can’t. I have many enemies, close and closing in. I thought one of them sent you, but it seems not. I need protection. Something… powerful.”
He was going to use Barry for parts.
“I want you to be my familiar.”
What? But before Barry could express his surprise, the ropes binding him slackened.
“Serve me, Barry, and you’ll never go hungry again.”
