Chapter 4: Fevered Questions

The safehouse reeked of sex, sweat, and fading venom.

Gemma had managed to transfigure rough restraints and a basic containment circle around the iron bed. The rescued woman was awake now — barely. Her eyes were glassy, pupils blown wide, and every few minutes a fresh shiver rolled through her naked body as residual black goo pulsed lazily between her thighs.

Cassy paced like a caged animal, still naked from the waist up, leather jacket hanging open. The venom was clearly still burning in her veins. Her electric-blue eyes kept flicking to the woman on the bed, then to Gemma, dark with hunger.

“We can’t keep her here,” Gemma said, adjusting her glasses. Her voice was steadier than she felt. “The goo is reacting to ambient magic. If it keeps feeding off her lust it’ll regenerate. We need the precinct’s warded clinic. Silvered cells. Proper scanners.”

Cassy rolled her shoulders, wings anchors shimmering. “Fine. But if she starts leaking that shit again in the cab, I’m not responsible for what I do.”

They reached Lantern Precinct forty minutes later through the back alleys. The blood moon was still high, painting everything in bruised red light. Two uniforms gave them shit about bringing in a “civilian,” but one sharp look from Cassy and a quiet threat about breaking jaws shut them up.

The hidden clinic beneath the precinct was cold, sterile, and heavily warded. They strapped the woman — who they now knew was called Lira Voss, a minor smuggler — into a reinforced examination chair inside a silver rune circle. Leather cuffs at wrists, ankles, and throat. A thick bit gag rested between her teeth just in case.

Lira’s body was still gleaming with dried black residue. Her nipples were painfully stiff, and a thin trail of fresh goo kept slowly dripping from her swollen pussy onto the metal seat.

Gemma stood near the head of the chair, wand ready. Cassy leaned against the wall, arms crossed, jaw tight.

“Alright, Lira,” Gemma started gently. “You’re safe now. Tell us what happened. Who put you in the vat?”

Lira’s head lolled. A broken, needy laugh bubbled out of her. “Didn’t… put me. I went. Offered myself…” Her hips rolled weakly against the restraints, thighs trembling. “It felt so good. The Silk… it fills every hole… makes you cum until you don’t want to be anything else.”

Cassy stepped closer. Her voice was rough. “Who’s running it? The hooded fucker?”

Lira’s eyes flicked to Cassy and darkened with lust. The green marbling on the half-orc’s skin was showing again. “You… you’ve got it in you too. I can smell it. Want to pin the pretty witch down and fuck her stupid, don’t you?”

Cassy’s hand shot out and gripped Lira’s jaw. Not hard enough to bruise, but firm. “Answer the question.”

The contact made Lira moan loudly. Fresh slick oozed down the chair. “Don’t know his name… calls himself the Herald. Said the Elder One beneath the crater is waking. Needs… vessels. Women who can handle the Silk.” Her voice turned breathy. “Fuck… I’m so empty. Please—someone touch me.”

Gemma saw Cassy’s thighs press together. The half-orc’s breathing had grown ragged.

A loud knock on the observation window made them both turn. Two senior detectives — a sneering warlock and a smug vampire — were watching.

“Harward, you look like you just crawled out of a whorehouse,” the warlock called through the speaker. “That venom make you into a bottom now? Heard you were squealing like one earlier.”

Cassy’s eyes flashed dangerous green. Her fists clenched.

Gemma stepped between them and the glass, voice ice-cold. “Unless you have something useful to contribute, get the fuck out of my observation room. This is an active investigation involving pre-Schism corruption. Touch the door and I’ll have you both on suspension for interfering.”

The warlock laughed, but the vampire pulled him away. They left.

Cassy stared at Gemma, surprised. “Didn’t know you had that in you, bookworm.”

Gemma’s cheeks were flushed. “I don’t like idiots.” She turned back to Lira, who was panting. “One last thing. Where is the Herald operating from?”

“Old… drainage temple… beneath the Black Iron Foundry,” Lira gasped. “But you’ll both end up like me. On your knees… begging for it… gods it feels so fucking good—”

She suddenly arched hard, screaming through an unwanted orgasm. More black goo pulsed out of her. The monitors spiked.

Gemma quickly injected another dose of the counter-agent. Lira slumped **** again.

Silence fell.

Cassy was breathing hard, fists clenched so tight her knuckles were white. The venom was clearly riding her hard after watching Lira come undone.

Gemma sealed the observation shutter, locking the room. Her heart hammered.

“Cassy… are you okay?”

“No.” The half-orc crossed the distance in two strides, backing Gemma up against the steel table. “I’m losing it. Watching her drip and beg… smelling you getting wet while you played good cop…” She pressed her thigh between Gemma’s legs, voice low and rough. “I need something. Right now.”

Gemma’s breath caught. Her hands came up to Cassy’s chest, but instead of pushing her away, her fingers curled into the torn shirt.

“Just… to take the edge off,” Gemma whispered, voice trembling with both fear and excitement.

Cassy grinned, feral and hungry. She spun Gemma around, bending her over the table. One strong hand pinned the witch’s wrists above her head while the other yanked her trousers down in one rough motion.

“Fuck, you’re soaked,” Cassy growled, sliding two thick fingers along Gemma’s dripping folds before pushing inside her without warning.

Gemma moaned, forehead pressed to the cold metal. Cassy fucked her hard and fast, curling her fingers, using her superior strength to hold the smaller witch in place. The wet sounds were obscene in the quiet room.

“You defended me,” Cassy hissed against her ear, biting down on the lobe. “Got me so fucking turned on.”

Gemma came hard within a minute, thighs shaking, a broken cry escaping her lips. Cassy didn’t stop until the witch was whimpering and oversensitive.

When it was over, Cassy pulled her up, turned her around, and kissed her deep — possessive, hungry, but with surprising tenderness.

Gemma panted against her mouth. “We… we have a lead. The Black Iron Foundry.”

Cassy rested her forehead against Gemma’s, still trembling with barely contained need. “Yeah. But if we go in there like this… we’re both going to end up dripping in that Silk.”

Outside the room, the blood moon pulsed.

And far below the city, something ancient tasted their pleasure… and smiled.