A decade ago, I was a different person.

I was a thrall, and I was on the verge of discovering something that would lead to my Mistress' downfall.

But right now? All that mattered was that She was stroking my cheek. I gazed up at Her, so enraptured in Her plans.

Desdemona, how I loved you.

"Just a few more minutes," She whispered, running Her nails along a section of my tail. The tip of it was attached to a machine, and the humming vibration made my head faint. How long we'd been at it this time, I didn't know.

I didn't need to care. It wasn't my place to care. I simply obeyed.

It was enough, and a few minutes later my body shuddered with violent pleasure. I felt the throbbing pulse and gave in to how good it felt. My tip distended, and the Decay deposited itself into the receiver.

I caught a flash of it as it slid down a tube and into a vat before consciousness left me.

This was how it went with Desdemona: fed from like a lamprey, then left against the cool concrete of whatever temporary hideout She'd found.

It would only be a short while before the Magisorcerers tracked us down. She'd escape, and I'd hold them back long enough to secure Her retreat.

Today, it was a refinery that had been closed for maintenance. Desdemona had a way of making things like this happen. All it took was to charm or coerce the right person, and She could manage that even without resorting to magic.

I climbed the catwalk and waited, crouched low in the shadows.

"Better get in there," Came a third voice, this one smoky and with an aggressive tamber. Magisorcerer Amal. All three of them were here then. Good. In the calm of being fed from by Desdemona, I felt clearheaded. Gone was the fuzz, replaced with only the desire to make this fight matter.

For Her.

"No, wait! This is..." came Tiana's voice, even as two distinct sets of footfalls got louder. Smart. She was ever the tactician, gaming out scenarios. Thankfully, her friends didn't heed her. "Slow down!"

A third set of footfalls joined the other two, racing toward the interior of the refinery.

That was all theoretical, though. Despite the weeks I'd spent watching them as they fought other thralls, each of them banished at the fight's end by Magisorcerer Tiana, I didn't know whether those pistols would punch a whole clean through me.

Gutshot and begging to be banished would be bad.

Following her was a raven-haired woman in her early 20s, hefting a sword that must've been a foot taller than her diminutive 5ft-nothing frame.

Magicsorcerer Amal.

I'd seen the way that blade could cut through reinforced concrete without Amal even breaking her stride.

There was a moment as I soared through the air, plummeting toward her at speed, that I caught Magisorcerer Tiana's eyes. In them, for just a moment, was surrender. It was so potent, so utterly melancholic, that I took pity.

I struck wide, spearing my tail's tip into the concrete.

Tiana skid backward, as did her other two teammates. Slowly, I stood.

Desdemona needed time, and I knew how to prey on the vulnerabilities of women like these ones. I pointed to Tiana and flared my tail's tip wide. "I'm gonna swallow you whole."

I meant it to draw a laugh, but then I saw her face.

She was flushed, staring at it so intently that it took me a moment to realize her teammates had fallen for my performance. Making myself look weak was important.

But Tiana was something else. I could tell, even then, that she wanted things from me that she couldn't tell her fellow Magisorcerers.

The arrogance of it was at once unbelievable... and entirely warranted. It's not that they thought I didn't understand them: it's that they didn't care. They were going to take me down.

For them, it was old hat.

For me, though? I'd seen the vulnerabilities. Studied them. And I had a theory.

Magisorcerer Tiana began to charge her Maxi Blast, as Lindsey darted out to the side and Magisorcerer Amal leapt skyward. I cartwheeled back and the right, dodging where Magisorcerer Amal struck. The angle put her between me and Magisorcerer Lindsey.

Sorry, Linds. Not getting shot today.

Enraged that she missed, Magisorcerer Amal wasted no time dashing forward. She brought her blade back and swung in a wide arc.

I dove underneath it, feeling the energy crackle as it sailed past me by mere inches. My tail wrapped around one of Magisorcerer Amal's legs and yanked, tripping her.

Now I had a clear path. Only a few seconds left. I rushed for Magisorcerer Tiana, and on a whim I opened my tail. There was that flush again. God, she wanted me. Even in the heat of battle, she wanted this.

I'd never met anyone who'd felt that way except Desdemona... and certainly nobody as "good".

The magic she'd been charging flared, and for a moment I thought I'd misjudged. Then she blinked away. I turned just in time to take a kick from her in the face. It sent me sprawling backward.

I regained my footing fast, though, and spat out some blood. Hmph. She had skill, but she was arrogant.

I charged again, flaring my tail open wide. She stood there, stunned and yearning for the end I promised.

"Tiana!" shouted Magisorcerer Lindsey, flinging herself in front of me. My hand shot out on instinct and palmed her face before redirecting the momentum down. She thudded into the concrete.

Tiana made no effort to move. My tail's tip flared open to meet her, and enveloped her whole. Honey and sweat. Even back then.

No lilac, though. Not yet. Didn't have lilac money.

It didn't matter; feeling her inside me sent a pure thrill of predatory adrenaline coursing through me.

And then I tasted more. I tasted just how wet she was. The first few moments, she fought to free herself. And then I felt her body stop fighting. She didn't resist, not truly. She wriggled deeper of her own accord with each pretend thrash.

She wanted to be undone, even then.

And I wanted it.

I reveled in the sensations. I'd never done this before. Not like this. Not to someone like her. It felt so pure. I wouldn't have thought that anyone would've wanted this.

And in that moment, I knew that I had other loyalties. I hadn't even thought of Desdemona when I did this.

I didn't even care.

Before I could contemplate my lapse in slavering fidelity to her, though, searing pain ripped through my tail. I reeled, withdrawing as Amal went to lunge again.

I spared Tiana one final glance. She looked up at me, and there wasn't terror.

Just wonder and adoration.

And then I ran.