Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 120 (Patreon)

April 8, 2023

UPDATE: In case you missed it, I made a post about the game and Pre-Registration. The story is like a combination of Innocent Devil's Harem and Combat Healer (with a unique premise).

Please take the time to read it.

NOTE: Hopefully the story will be taking directions you didn't expect. There is a little bit of a cliffhanger, but it's not huge.

<< Chapter 119 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 16 (Book 2) | Ch 31 (Book 3) | Ch 46 (Book 4) | Ch 61 (Book 5) | Ch 76 (Book 6) | Ch 91 (Book 7) | Ch 106 (Book 8)

- CHAPTER 120: Artifact -

When I pulled into my driveway right behind Serenity and Natalie, Rachel seemed a little surprised by how small our house was. She of course knew we’d moved, after our parents passed away, and Joseph apparently knew our new address, but they’d been pretty much forbidden from making contact until I turned eighteen. With Joseph not even daring to drive down our road to see what our new living arrangements were like.

And even after I became an adult, our biological father wouldn’t have allowed it until after he’d met me first. I supposed that, in a way, it was a form of protection from the hell caused by our other siblings.

I pointed out to Rachel that it had just been me and Serenity living here until only recently, and she immediately apologized, emphasizing that she didn’t mean it as a bad thing. That she was just used to living in much larger places, and had forgotten that I didn’t yet live with most of the women in my life.

As I parked the SUV, she then asked directly what I had only alluded to thus far.

“So, umm, how many…umm, women? Are you with?”

Turning off the engine, I focused back at her again, seeing that she was still fully transformed, her gray skin having a shine to it. Her green and black eyes sharply contrasted against the frosted skin surrounding them, her hair basically pitch-black. Her leather-clad thighs were tense as she squeezed her legs together tightly, her hands folded between them, the posture of her arms squishing her breasts together.

She claimed to have just thrown on ‘whatever’ in a rush, but the gold sequin shirt and leather pants truly did make it look like she’d dressed for a date.

I took a deep breath, knowing I could now confidently divide my women up a little, between two main groupings. “Umm, I have six who I would definitely consider wives, even though I’ve not been with them for very long, and even though we don’t live together yet. And another five who are exclusive to me, but the relationship is a bit more casual. Eleven women, in total.”

Really, it was technically ten right now, since I’d never been intimate with Elizabeth.

Rachel nodded slowly, not seeming too surprised.

But then again, who knew how many women my other brothers had? Some probably had hundreds.

When she didn’t say anything else, I continued. “Ready to slip inside? Our property is secluded enough that you shouldn’t have to worry about anyone seeing you, but probably best if you just hurry right inside. I’ll be careful with Laura,” I added.

She nodded, looking up toward the front of the house, where Serenity was already heading to the front door to unlock it. “Umm, okay,” she replied simply, popping open her door, looking behind her toward the road, and then hopping out to catch up.

True to my word, I carefully got the brunette MILF out of the back, Laura having similar proportions as Michelle, and carried her limp form inside the house to rest upright on the couch. Natalie silently wondered if I wanted her to grab Joseph, but I reassured her that I would get him, requesting she instead start on something for lunch, since all of them might end up being hungry.

‘Err, I can make spaghetti, but that’s about the extent of my culinary skills,’ she silently admitted. ‘Unless you’ve got cereal. I can pour milk like a pro.’

I tried not to laugh, reassuring her that was fine.

The spaghetti, not the cereal.

By the time I was carrying Joseph inside the house to sit down on the other side of the three-seater couch, Serenity already had a local news station on, having found one that was talking about the unusual phenomenon.

Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

The headline?

A rare ‘Bolt from the Blue.’

One of the most dangerous types of lightning strikes that could travel horizontally for miles from its source, before abruptly striking the ground, seemingly out of nowhere. The meteorologist was explaining to the anchorwoman that lightning could technically be almost any color, and that while red lightning was perhaps the most rare, it was most often seen above thunderstorms, forming what they called ‘Sprites,’ shooting upward into the ionosphere.

The guy was suggesting that the source of this lightning might have actually been from that high up, nearly fifty miles, and emphasizing how rare of an event it was. However, what he was absolutely not doing was making any kind of implications that it was anything other than a natural phenomenon.

Not even a hint of entertaining the thought that this might be tied to the supernatural. As if the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

No wonder the supernatural hadn’t been uncovered, even in modern society.

There was a way to explain almost everything.

Shit, even if Rachel blew up the whole city, I bet they’d come up with a logical explanation.

Probably a meteor strike or something.

Because even when scientists didn’t understand ‘why’ something happened, they still assumed there must be a logical reason that had absolutely nothing to do with magic, the supernatural, or the divine.

Seeing that everything would be fine, Serenity handed me the remote and went to go help Natalie with making lunch.

Rachel asked if she could help, but Serenity reassured her they had it covered, leaving her to stand behind the couch as she kind of looked around a little.

I switched channels to see what the other local stations were saying, finding that a second one wasn’t even covering it at all, only to switch to another to find they also weren’t covering it. Which kind of surprised me a little, making me wonder if they truly didn’t think it was a big deal. A fourth station had ‘Rare cloudburst caused several to call police’ at the bottom of the screen, but they didn’t appear to be actually talking about it.

Rachel was now staring at me.

Just standing there in her leather pants and gold sequin shirt, shiny skin dark gray, her black and emerald eyes completely unblinking.

I could sense that she knew that I was aware of her gaze, but she stared anyway. Could also sense her silently probing at this bond we shared, trying to understand this unique form of intimacy. Could sense her overall uncertainty that came from feeling a variety of complicated emotions, including awe at the sight of me, appreciation for what I’d done for her, along with a sense of longing to be closer, but also a general hesitation that probably stemmed from her not wanting to essentially abandon her friends and family.

Hard to say, without actually being able to read her mind.

And without her being willing to share everything on her mind.

But it was fine.

The staring didn’t bother me.

She’d been blind for five years.

If I was the thing she wanted to stare at, then that was fine with me. If anything, it was a bit flattering. She was thirteen years older than me, kind of gave me the same overall vibe I got from Serenity, like she could be an older sister, and kind of gave me the impression with her gaze that she was stuck on me like a cheerleader crushing hard on the star of the high school football team.

Really, like how Avery looked at me, even though she wasn’t a cheerleader and had zero interest in the actual high school football star, Trey.

And so, Rachel continued to stare as I flipped from station to station, with me just wanting to ensure most local news outlets truly weren’t covering it. At least, until a phone finally rung in the kitchen, specifically Laura’s phone that Serenity had decided to hold onto for her until she woke up.

Serenity spoke up. “Oh Rachel, it’s Jamie calling again. Would you want to talk to her?”

Rachel finally broke her gaze, her voice normal, sounding like she wanted to be helpful. “Oh, of course. Crap, she’s probably freaking out.”

I finally looked to watch her go, glancing at her tight ass in the leather pants, kind of wishing I didn’t want to touch it so badly, before focusing down at Laura’s unconscious form and then going back to the TV.

I had plenty of other ass to touch.

And I wouldn’t even be thinking about her ass at all, if I thought she was truly with Joseph.

It was knowing that she actually wasn’t that was causing me to want to have her for myself.

In our bond, Natalie immediately offered for me to touch hers.

I promised I absolutely would later.

Serenity was handing Rachel the phone in the kitchen. “She did sound a bit anxious when she called earlier, but I think I was able to reassure her that everyone was okay.”

“Oh, she called earlier?” Rachel repeated, only to answer the phone without waiting for a response. “Hey, it’s me. Are you guys doing alright? Did you go home, or are you still out?”

I could hear Jamie’s relieved voice respond. “Rachel! How…how are you doing?” she asked more hesitantly.

“I’m okay. Looking a bit different right now, but otherwise okay.”

“Is it a good different?” Jamie wondered tentatively.

“Considering I can actually see how I look, I’d say anything would be a good different.”

“Really?” she whispered more quietly, sounding hopeful. “It really worked?”

“Yeah, and it’s honestly great,” Rachel admitted. “I feel…so good right now. Joseph and Laura are asleep, but I think they should be waking up in a few hours.”

“Oh wow, okay. That’s good to hear.” Jamie took a deep breath. “We weren’t sure if we should come home, so we decided to just stop by a salon and have our hair done all at the same time. Obviously, I could do everyone’s hair myself, but it would take longer, and I don’t want to waste their time.”

“We actually aren’t home right now anyway.”

“You aren’t?” Jamie said in surprise.

“Yeah, we figured it would be best to drop by their place, just because I can’t really be seen right now. In case someone stops by after what happened.”

“Oh…Oh okay, yeah that makes sense. I guess we’ll let you know when we’re done, and then…I mean, do they care if we meet them there? Or will you meet us at home?”

Rachel looked to Serenity for an answer to that question.

Unknown to the sexy thirty-one-year-old, Serenity and I discussed it silently within the span of a couple of seconds, and Serenity responded verbally.

“Yeah, that’s fine if they want to stop by here. You can send them our address when they’re done.”

Rachel nodded, speaking to Jamie. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Okay great. I guess I’ll let you go for now then. We’re all just doing highlights, instead of a solid shade. Well, actually Sarah and Emily are going for a darker shade of brown, almost black, with highlights. Sarah wants to do blue, and Emily is doing green. But I’m just going to stick with pink and purple highlights with my natural brown hair. It’s a look I tried when I was working at the salon years ago, and I really liked it. Should only take about two or three hours.”

“That sounds pretty,” Rachel said reassuringly. “And yeah, your mom should be awake by then, I think. I’ll have her give you a call when she is able to.”

“Okay great. Love you, Rae! Talk to you later!”

“Bye,” she said simply, hanging up.

Serenity spoke up right away. “Want anything to eat or drink? It’s normal to feel super hungry for the first few days. You might end up eating nearly ten times as much food, so don’t feel like you’re going to get fat or anything.”

Rachel was stunned. “T-Ten times as much food? B-But why?”

“Oh, I guess we haven’t told you about the wings and stuff.”

She was even more shocked. “The what?”

“Want to see?” Serenity wondered.

“I mean, yeah!”

I kept flipping through the channels, sensing as Serenity tugged up her shirt as her back started reconstructing, her skin graying, reaching back to tug up on her bra a little so her wings could comfortably grow out, and then reaching down for the lip of her jeans, to give her tail room as it also grew.

Rachel was nearly shell-shocked, and not just because of the wings.

She was a bit alarmed to see the black and red eyes for the first time.

Serenity finally laughed. “Oh, I forgot you’ve never seen me transformed. Kind of scary, huh?”

“N-Not exactly,” she stammered. “I mean, yes. It’s kind of creepy, I guess, but I like it. A lot.”

“Yeah?” Serenity said cheerfully. “Because I scare the shit out of myself when I look in the mirror.”

Rachel audibly swallowed, not responding to that. “S-So, can you like, actually fly?”

Serenity stretched her wings out, filling the kitchen with them, prompting Natalie to playfully push it out of the way when Serenity touched her butt with the end of one. “Yep. Only flown once so far, but it was fun.”

“And I’ll grow wings too?” she wondered hopefully.

Serenity began reabsorbing the appendages. “Well, we don’t actually know for sure, but it’s possible, at least. Like I said, all of us have been eating a ton. In Natalie’s case, I don’t think she’s going to ever grow wings, but she obviously can get a lot bigger, which is useful for its own reasons. Especially if she has to defend herself. So just don’t be self-conscious if you’re super hungry and end up eating a ton. And make sure the others know that too, so they don’t try to hold back. All of you will probably gain weight, but you won’t actually get fat. You’re just getting heavier, so that you can possibly create wings, and maybe a tail. Or grow bigger, or whatever.”

Rachel didn’t respond, simply nodding slowly as she processed all that.

I decided to sit down on the recliner when Natalie spoke up, just inquiring more generally about Rachel’s life, in order for them to get to know each other better. In the meantime, I was more focused on my bond with Miriam and Delilah, because they were interacting with Elizabeth.

I was sure the attractive woman felt fairly comfortable with everyone at this point, especially after being present when all my women shared in a sexual experience together at the dinner table, but it was obvious she still felt most comfortable with Delilah, considering they’d known each other for a very long time.

For that reason, Elizabeth was also interacting the most with Miriam and Rebecca, out of everyone else. Simply because that’s who Delilah was mostly sticking with.

However, now they specifically needed to talk to me, since Elizabeth wouldn’t be staying at the mansion forever.

Miriam was the one who got my attention.

‘Hey, Elizabeth said she really has to be back at the office tomorrow morning, since it’ll be Monday and all. She doesn’t want to assume anything, but was wondering if you planned on changing her before then. Because if not, then she said it would be better for her to go back home now, just to avoid suspicion.’

I sighed as I considered that, seeing in Delilah’s head that she too was considering returning to ‘make an appearance’ just to avoid suspicion. Something that I was perfectly fine with, since I also wanted to avoid the headache of having to go to war with the other immortals, and also since I felt reassured that Delilah would be immune to compulsion now, due to having received my blood.

Technically, Elizabeth wasn’t actually immune, which was a problem.

It was true that Bethel couldn’t be compelled, at least according to them, but Liz still could, and even if Bethel retaliated, Liz might still blurt out the truth about who killed my father before Bethel could react. Not to mention, it was also possible they could be killed.

Given what I saw my father was capable of?

Yeah, without a doubt, a competent incubus might be able to win against Elizabeth in a fight. Especially if they were aware of how Bethel would react to compulsion, perhaps even taking preventive measures, in the form of a magical barrier, to defend against her.

Which ultimately meant, it was best if I guaranteed that she was truly immune to compulsion.

Best for me to share my blood with her, prior to returning.

I simply requested that Miriam inform her of my intentions -- that once I was done here, I would make her a priority.

Miriam, in turn, informed me that Elizabeth sincerely appreciated that, and thanked me. The redhead succubus also silently requested that I give Liz my blood on the edge of her property, rather than at the mansion, just to avoid another repeat of what happened with Rachel. Or to at least keep the potential destruction as far away from the gate as possible.

According to her, there was a furnished cottage that Gwen could take us to.

Given the sheer size of her property, well over two thousand acres mostly covered by trees, I wasn’t too surprised that I’d missed it, despite having run a large portion of the property when the werewolves attacked. I was sure there were a lot of things I’d missed, like the archery range, considering most of my efforts had been between the second and innermost third barriers, and also since the circles I ran hadn’t been tight enough to see everything -- something that would have been a huge waste of time, given the urgency of finding any stragglers.

Miriam and I did check out some of the area between the outermost first barrier and the second one, but two thousand acres was far too much land to fully cover. The only reason we actually stumbled upon the charred corpses, slain by her lightning storm attack, was because she had an idea of where they were, due to the security cameras.

And it was the same reason why we stumbled on their vehicles outside of the outermost barrier, due to her having a general idea of where they came from.

But for all I knew, she could have an entire urban subdivision on her property that I hadn’t seen, including multiple streets and hundreds of houses.

Doubtful she actually did.

But I at least wasn’t shocked to learn of the cottage.

Once that was decided on, I gave my attention to the bond I shared with Gabriella and Michelle, as well as the one I shared with Avery and Natalie. It allowed me to kind of be present in the conversations happening at both locations while I otherwise stared at the TV, not wishing to directly participate as I tried to relax from the day’s events and consider my next steps.

I knew tomorrow I’d have to go back to school.

I doubted I needed a high school diploma to succeed in life, but I didn’t want to shoot myself in the foot when I literally only had a few weeks left of classes. Not to mention, I really needed to avoid getting unnecessary attention on me.

When it was soon discovered that my biological father was ‘missing,’ no doubt I’d end up having eyes on me eventually. It might be one thing if I had shown up to the funeral and mostly went unnoticed, but I’d made two big moves right in front of everyone. Showed everyone my black and gold eyes in the cathedral, when threatening Judah, and then ‘saved the day’ at the banquet, the cursed meat being something that no one else noticed, implying that I wasn’t the standard ‘son of an incubus’ that people were used to.

In fact, I realized I needed to be prepared for that.

To have someone drop by my doorstep and ask questions.

Might even be the actual police, depending on how much authority these immortal men wielded behind the scenes.

So ‘acting normal’ was now more important than ever.

I’d fall into my usual routine.

I’d go to class every day, no more skipping if it could be avoided, and I’d come home every evening, to my actual house. This meant that, if I wanted to visit Miriam, I’d have to do it in the very late evening, which would probably result in me being sleep deprived, but that was something I could tolerate for a few weeks. Might also mean we’d have to avoid too many people staying the night at my house.

Like, if we really wanted to seem ‘normal,’ then it would just be me and Serenity again for a while. No doubt sleeping in the same bed, but only the two of us staying each night in the house.

And then, if I wanted to spend time with Gabriella, Michelle, and Avery, I’d probably need to do it at Avery’s place. Or meet everyone at Rebecca’s house. I could even drop by after school, spend time with them, and then come home before Serenity got off work.

That only left the living arrangements for Natalie up in the air, but of course even just thinking that resulted in Michelle and Avery volunteering to let her stay with them.

It would only be for a few weeks.

Once I graduated, I should be much more free to do what I wanted.

Both because I didn’t have class anymore, but also because enough time should have passed at that point, that I wouldn’t have to worry about looking over my shoulder anymore, having successfully convinced anyone investigating that I was just a normal eighteen-year-old guy.

Hopefully.

While I sat there, Serenity, Natalie, and Rachel all kept busy, all three feeling very comfortable socializing together in the kitchen, easily passing a couple of hours as they all got to know each other better. Rachel commented regularly about how nice it was to be able to see again, roughly every fifteen or twenty minutes, but they otherwise talked about casual subjects.

During that time, I decided to grab a wet rag and clean off Joseph’s face, since he still had dried blood on him even though it was looking like his eyes might have recovered from the damage they sustained, and I then sat back down.

Waiting.

Until eventually, Jamie called again to let Rachel know they were all finished at the salon.

Rachel informed her that Laura was still asleep, but that they could come over if they wanted. The three women debated it for a few minutes, and then agreed, wondering what the butler should do. Rachel of course couldn’t be seen right now, so she asked to talk to him, in order to directly request that he simply drop everyone off, and then head back to their mansion.

“There’s going to be a bit of a mess at home, so don’t freak out,” she told the older man. “If you would, please try to clean up as much as you can, and then we’ll need to call to have new windows installed.”

“Of course, Ms. Rachel,” he said politely. “I will see you shortly.”

“Umm, I won’t be coming out to greet you,” she said hesitantly. “Just please drop them off.”

“Of course, ma’am,” he replied simply, before they hung up.

After that, Rachel admitted that she was starting to feel hungry, and after some encouragement from Serenity and Natalie both, she began to eat a huge plate full of warm spaghetti. Natalie had actually made three pots of it, enough to normally feed at least fifteen people, the stove on low heat to keep it warm until anyone was ready for it.

Feeling a little hungry myself, I decided to join them, all four of us sitting down at the table to dig in. Normally, I would have been the first one to clean my plate, but Rachel kind of lost herself there for a few minutes, completely ignoring the rest of us as she chewed and swallowed like a ravenous wolf, only to be embarrassed once her hunger subsided.

Serenity and Natalie again reassured her that it was completely normal, both of them pacing themselves, but definitely eating more than a normal person. Enough that it became clear that more spaghetti would have to be made eventually. Good thing we had plenty in the pantry.

Serenity loved pasta, and so always had a stockpile of it.

The four of us had only eaten a little over half of what had been prepared, but we knew Rachel’s hunger would probably resurface by the time the others were eating.

It was around that time that I unexpectedly sensed something from the two on the couch.

Specifically from Laura.

Much the same as Michelle had been, I could just barely detect her presence, but unlike Rachel had been, she didn’t feel ‘available’ to claim. It was a bond I knew I could force to happen with some effort, but it at least reassured me that I shouldn’t have to worry about anyone else being so ‘willing’ like Rachel had been.

I kept all that to myself though.

Rachel was just a friend right now.

A really hot sexy older friend, but only a friend.

And she got to reap the benefits of that friendship, but also wasn’t going to be privy to every little detail of my life like a lover would be.

However, it was clear that Laura was close to waking up.

I at least let her know that.

Having finished eating, Natalie offered to clean the dishes while Serenity, Rachel, and I went into the living room. Serenity then backtracked and went to the front door instead when we heard someone pull off the main road.

My brunette fiancé went out to greet the other three girls, Rachel deciding to step into the bathroom beneath the stairs, to avoid being seen and startling everyone, with Jamie checking inside the house briefly before waving goodbye to the butler.

Sure enough, all three women had their hair dyed.

Jamie’s still had a lot of brown visible, but now with pink and purple highlights. And it honestly did look really good on her. I was expecting more ‘streaks’ when she said ‘highlights,’ but it was actually a fade similar to what Natalie had. Brown at the top, shades of purple and pink as it neared the tips, although I could see that not ‘every’ strand of hair was colored, so I supposed it really was highlights.

However, kind of made me wonder if it would really last, since eventually they’d have to get a haircut. Even with Natalie, I wasn’t sure if her hair would continue to ‘grow black’ and then ‘fade to blue,’ or not. Certainly, it was possible, especially since I knew from chemistry class that any color could ‘look black’ if it was concentrated enough. Meaning, the black color at the top of Natalie’s head might actually be super dark blue, that naturally faded to lighter blue as it grew out.

But only time would tell for sure.

Older men could have white, gray, and black hair, all growing at once, so maybe it was possible.

Alternatively, Sarah and Emily definitely had something similar to what I was imagining. Both women had slightly tan skin, Sarah being a tiny bit darker than Emily, but both being fairly light overall, as if they’d been out in the sun all summer long. And both now had mostly black hair, with dark colored streaks in it.

Sarah had blue streaks, while Emily had dark green streaks.

Which actually complemented their eyes, since Sarah similarly had dark blue eyes, and Emily’s eyes were dark green.

The extra color was enough to be pretty, but also not overly flashy.

I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised that the lesbian couple was extremely attractive. Not to the degree that I thought them prettier than any of my other women, but definitely pretty enough that they didn’t give Natalie or Serenity any weird glances, like Joseph had done with Natalie.

If anything, they were perfectly polite, easygoing, and casual, seeming as if they felt right at home in a group of gorgeous women.

They certainly looked like they fit right in.

Both were a little hesitant to meet my gaze, and overall hesitant to be introduced to me, but I suspected my overall appearance helped with that -- specifically, with me looking younger. Not that I wasn’t manly, but I still had a youthful face, to the point that no one would mistake me for a grown thirty-year-old man.

Definitely something that seemed to help them relax.

The reason I knew was because the subject of age did come up. Serenity volunteered our ages when asked, since Sarah wanted to know, with Emily sounding a little surprised that everyone in their group was all quite a bit older. Apparently, Sarah and Emily had been a couple since high school, and were the same age, both being twenty-nine. A full decade older than Natalie, and eleven years older than me.

Similarly, Jamie confirmed that she was twenty-six, three years older than Serenity.

During their short conversation, they each kind of took a peek on the couch to verify that Joseph and Laura were both okay, doing it casually one at a time, in between talking, but no one asked about Rachel until she finally spoke up from the bathroom, cracking the door open but keeping out of sight.

“Hey, so are you guys ready to see me?”

Jamie sounded apologetic. “Oh! Sorry! I thought you were upstairs. Do you look crazy different right now, or something?”

I decided to speak up. “It’s temporary,” I commented, causing them all to focus on me, seeming less wary now. “But yeah, her skin is gray and her hair is black. Eyes are also a little demonic looking. She should hopefully be able to shift back to normal before tonight.”

“Oh dang,” Jamie nodded, glancing at Sarah as she continued. “Well, I guess we’ll get an idea of how we’re going to look.”

Serenity shrugged. “Well, maybe. So far, no two people have looked exactly the same. But more than likely, you’ll either end up with gray skin when transformed, or possibly tan skin.”

“Who has tan skin?” Emily asked in surprise, looking at Serenity and Natalie.

“My classmate,” I replied simply. “She’s not here right now.”

Natalie nodded, deciding to only bring up Avery. “Yeah, it’s not just us with him. He has a girlfriend from school who ended up with tan skin.”

“Wow, that would be really nice,” Emily said sincerely, only to give me an apologetic look. “But we’ll be fine either way. Don’t want to seem ungrateful, or like we would complain about that kind of thing.”

“It’s fine,” I said simply with a shrug, focusing on Laura again, since my ‘awareness’ of her felt like it was increasing. Not in the sense that she was any more willing to be claimed by me, but in the sense that I could probably detect her from further away.

Jamie decided to walk over. “So she’s really out of it, huh?”

“Guys!” Rachel complained.

“Oh sorry!” Sarah said this time. “Yes, we’re ready to see you! Promise not to scream if you’re super scary!”

“No promises from me,” Emily retorted, causing Rachel to bark out an almost maniacal giddy laugh that surprised me. And not a ‘pretend one,’ but something that sounded almost like she really enjoyed teasing people.

Honestly, I didn’t expect Rachel to be ‘fun,’ but that mischievous laugh told me she had a huge goofy side.

Finally opening the door all the way, Rachel stepped out.

Surprisingly, they didn’t react like they were overly shocked, as if they were only seeing what they expected to see. Also probably helped that Rachel had green eyes, instead of yellow or red.

“Wow,” Sarah said emphatically. “Your eyes are really healed.”

“Yep!” Rachel replied cheerfully, her mood the most elated it had been thus far.

Like she finally felt at home, with all her friends being here.

“I’m so happy for you,” Emily added sincerely. “And you look so beautiful. Not scary at all, only a little creepy.”

Rachel laughed again, a big cheerful grin on her face, causing both Sarah and Emily to grin in response.

I focused on Laura when I noticed her heart rate pick up again, not like she was panicking, but like she was rousing to consciousness. However, then my brow furrowed when I realized her skin was beginning to brighten, rapidly starting to turn red as if she was holding her breath.

Jamie noticed and was alarmed too.

“Mom!” she exclaimed seriously, dashing closer around the couch and reaching out like she wanted to try to shake her awake.

I quickly held out my arm to stop her, afraid Laura might end up waking up feral after all, only for her skin to start darkening more, shifting from bright red to a rich deep rosy color. Nearly maroon.

Her hair then abruptly flashed white, and her eyes popped open.

Gold and black, like mine.

Laura was suddenly awake.

Her skin a rich deep crimson.

Jamie gasped, looking almost disturbed. “Oh my God, mom…You’re so…red.”

“She’s awake?” Sarah said in surprise, even as she hurriedly followed Serenity from the hallway into the living room, Emily and Natalie hot on their heels.

“Awake and red!” Jamie repeated again. “Oh my God, am I going to end up this red too? These highlights are going to look horrible if I end up with maroon skin.”

Laura was holding up her hands now, focusing on the dark rosy color for herself, even as Rachel pushed between everyone to kneel down in front of her, sounding deeply concerned. I could sense the older woman’s surprise in her aura, but she wasn’t really reacting outwardly at all.

“Laura, are you alright? How do you feel?” Rachel asked seriously, rubbing the woman’s lower thighs.

“I’m okay,” she finally admitted, even though her aura felt a bit alarmed. “Great, honestly. I just feel so…different. Not in a bad way, but just…” Her voice trailed off, the distress in her aura shifting to something else entirely. “Rachel,” she then gasped. “Your eyes! They’re really healed!”

“Yep,” she replied warmly.

Laura immediately leaned forward and threw her arms around her neck, her aura full of love and happiness and joy now. “Oh sweetie, I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Laura,” she replied tenderly, giving her a tight hug. “I…” Her voice trailed off when Laura tensed.

The currently white-haired MILF abruptly stiffened and gasped, pulling away as she reached up with one hand to scratch her head. “Ugh! So itchy!” she complained, only for her gold eyes to widen as she reached up with her other hand too, feeling her forehead. “Oh my God, am I growing horns?!” she said in shock, focusing up at me for an explanation.

Honestly, I was a bit stunned too.

And not just by the horns, but what happened next.

Laura winced, and then her shocked expression disappeared!

As if she suddenly was fine.

Suddenly not alarmed.

My brow furrowed as I looked her over, trying to understand why she kept stifling her emotions like that.

It was similar to when she felt jealous about Rachel’s situation, specifically that someone else had taken advantage of her.

And also when she felt hatred and disgust about the idea of Joseph becoming a full-blooded incubus.

Both times, she was outwardly fine.

And here she was expressing herself more now, but still quickly stifling those reactions.

Was she still reserved about being around me?

Did she just not want to offend anyone with how she was reacting?

Didn’t want me to think she was unappreciative?

Deciding to focus on the issue at hand first, I put those thoughts aside for now. Honestly, never did I anticipate her becoming red, never mind the fact that she was growing horns already, which left me also confused. Especially since no one else had grown horns yet at this point.

‘Miriam?’ I thought simply, hoping maybe she’d know what kind of demon Laura had become.

She didn’t respond right away though, focusing on my mind to try to perceive what I was seeing, though it was literally what I was describing. Rosy skin, white hair, and gold eyes, along with two small horns actively growing about an inch out of her forehead.

‘Huh, she’s an Oni,’ Miriam responded.

‘An Oni?’

‘Yeah, it’s a type of Japanese demon. Most languages don’t have an equivalent word, which probably means a lot of Oni originated from a transdimensional gate somewhere over there. Otherwise, there would be more legends of them.’

I was shocked by that, struggling to grasp what she was implying.

‘So wait. Did all demons come from gates?’

‘No, not all of them. Also depends on what you mean by demon. Because technically, someone like me is really a cursed human, just like a vampire or werewolf.’

‘Okay, and what about Gwen?’

‘I think her race might have coexisted with humans since the beginning, but don’t know for sure. Main reason why I think that, is because a lot of cultures have names for her kind. For example, many might refer to her as a Satyr, Faun, or even an Ifrit. Gwen prefers imp, but any of those terms would be technically accurate. She’s also the type of goat demon referenced in the Bible.’

My brow was furrowed as I considered that.

‘Okay, so then, is there some kind of rhyme or reason behind demon names?’

‘Not really. It’s very cultural, likely due to them coming from the gates. As I mentioned, most cultures don’t have an alternative name for Oni, which implies that they aren’t originally from our world, and never ventured much beyond that general area. Egypt, for example, has a lot of demons unique to them. Likely from a gate in that area, including cat demons.’

‘But Laura doesn’t look Japanese,’ I thought in response.

‘Well yeah. Just because she might have an Oni ancestor, doesn’t mean she had a Japanese ancestor. They’re completely different races. One human, the other not.’

All the women in the room were looking to me now for an explanation, since this was basically my doing, even if I hadn’t anticipated this outcome.

I went ahead and told her of Miriam’s suspicions.

“Looks like you might have turned into a type of demon called an Oni.”

Laura simply nodded, seeming completely fine, having no trouble accepting that despite her initial reaction, focusing on Rachel. “And what do you think? Do I look bad? Honestly, I kind of think my skin is pretty. Same color as roses.”

“Yeah, you’re very pretty,” Rachel agreed. “You don’t look bad at all. I really like the maroon color.”

Jamie immediately chimed in. “Sorry mom, I wasn’t trying to say you looked ugly or anything. I just personally wasn’t expecting to end up with red skin, is all. It won’t go with my highlights at all.”

Serenity spoke up. “Well, you might not end up looking exactly like her. We do think it might be genetic, but we technically don’t know for sure the reason behind everyone’s appearance.”

Jamie sighed heavily. “Yeah, well, if this is going to be permanent, then I don’t want to risk it.” She focused on Serenity. “You don’t happen to have any hair dye, do you? I’d rather just change it back to brunette or something, than be stuck with pink hair and red skin.”

Natalie spoke up. “Well, you probably won’t be spending a lot of time transformed though. You’ll still look how you do now, whenever you’re not transformed. It’s probably a decision you should make based on how you want to look as a human. Not as a demon.”

Serenity nodded. “I do actually have some hair dye I bought a couple of years ago, but Natalie does have a point. You probably won’t spend too much time transformed.”

Jamie sighed, focusing on me. “Sorry, I don’t mean to seem whiny. This is just a permanent change, so I want to make sure I’m not going to hate how I look afterward.”

I shrugged. “As long as you can make the decision soon, then I don’t care.”

She took a deep breath. “No, she’s right. It shouldn’t matter how I look transformed, because I can’t exactly go walking around looking like a demon. I’m ready for you to stick me, if you want.”

“Yeah, me too,” Emily agreed. “After seeing how Rachel turned out, and now Laura too, I definitely don’t want to wait any longer.”

Serenity nodded. “Okay then, let me grab a syringe really fast. Do the three of you mind sharing one?”

“Oh,” Jamie said in surprise, focusing on the other two. “Umm, I mean, I don’t mind. Not like any of us have anything that we might give each other.”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Emily agreed.

“Same,” Sarah added.

Serenity continued as she walked into the kitchen to grab one. “If you want, you guys can use my bed, since we’re kind of out of room downstairs. Should be asleep for about four hours.”

They all agreed they were fine with that too, prompting Serenity to come back to the living room to hand me the needle, and then lead them upstairs to get comfortable on her bed. Natalie then took it upon herself to run the syringe back and forth from them to me.

Obviously, it would have been easier for me to just be in the room as I filled the tube, but I was making an effort to ensure they felt comfortable, and I was sure Joseph would also appreciate knowing I hadn’t gotten too friendly with the women he was truly intimate with.

The whole thing was fairly quick, and not even a full five minutes later, Serenity was back downstairs, her and Natalie joining us in the living room as Rachel continued to try to assess how Laura was feeling.

It was strange, because Laura kept saying she was fine, but Rachel kept asking specific questions, as if she wasn’t satisfied with ‘fine.’

I honestly didn’t think too much of it at first, realizing that it must be how they were together, and that Laura must just be the kind of person who tried to avoid showing negative emotions…

But then something unexpected happened.

Without warning, Laura abruptly and uncontrollably grabbed ahold of her right leg, gritting her teeth as she cried out in pain.

“Ahhh!” she yelled, before abruptly snapping her mouth shut, her gold eyes filling with tears as she started trembling.

“Laura!” Rachel exclaimed in concern. “What’s wrong?!”

The mature MILF didn’t respond, and Rachel didn’t wait for a response, quickly tugging up on her jeans to look at her rosy leg, seeing nothing out of the ordinary at all. Her leg was fine. Rosy in color, but otherwise perfectly fine.

Rachel focused up at me urgently. “Help,” she pleaded.

I slid out of my seat and got on my knees to join her, but the moment I reached out for her ankle, Laura immediately grabbed my shoulder roughly and tried to push me away.

“Laura!” Rachel exclaimed. “Stop! I trust him! Let him help you!”

“I’m…fine,” she managed, tears actively streaming down her cheeks.

“What in the world is going on?” Serenity asked seriously, directing her words more toward the older woman.

Of course, I didn’t know, but I was about to find out.

I’d never really paid close attention to anyone’s footwear, vaguely knowing that Rachel was wearing sandals with shiny leather straps, but Laura was wearing a cute pair of shoes with white laces that were more for show, giving her overall outfit a bit more youthful feel. I didn’t sense anything wrong with her feet, but figured the fastest way to confirm there was nothing physically wrong with her leg was to expose all of it.

Despite her hand being firmly on my shoulder, and despite her clearly trying to keep me away, I grabbed her shoe and tugged it off, no socks in sight.

My eyes widened in shock.

Black.

Her toes were black, nearly decrepit, actively decaying, and there were midnight veins slowly clawing up her foot further.

The source?

A tiny silver ring on her toe.

The effect looking exactly like the werewolves shot by silver bullets.

It barely took me a few seconds to realize what I was looking at.

And not because I’d seen it before.

But instead because…

Its very Creator…

Was also one of my women.

Even before she said anything in our bond, I could feel Delilah’s shame and guilt.

The shame and guilt of being forced to confront one of her more sinister creations.

Something she’d tried not to make, for hundreds of years, but was eventually forced into creating.

That creation?

A slave ring.

An artifact specifically created to amplify the control of an incubus.

To make their compulsion permanent, the ring magically welded to her skin.

And now that her new body was resisting its effect…

It was killing her.

A lethal curse activated.

A lethal curse, that couldn’t be stopped.

Not by anyone.

Or at least…

It couldn’t be stopped by anyone else.

FEEDBACK: Thoughts?

Kind of wondering if anyone is realizing the implications of Laura being an Oni (in terms of how this story might be related to Combat Healer).

Let's see...

Combat Healer has 'dungeons' that have 'entrances' that can appear and disappear (aka...a portal).

Innocent Devil's Harem has...dimensional 'gates' that lead to a 'dangerous realm.'

Not saying that there will be any overlap in characters, BUT for this new 'story game' that I'm creating that's how the overlap happens (IDH world = human world, CH world = demon world, which also has Fae, aka elves, and connecting them is a 'dangerous dimension' with portals that often lead to a dungeon filled with monsters).

Chapter 121 >>

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LIST OF ARTWORK >>