Reborn as a Succubus: Time To Live My Best Life!

{Jaylin}

The intersection loomed ahead like something out of a horror story.

[Was this dumb on my part? This may have been incredibly stupid of me, to come here.]

Jaylin's trembling fingers kept finding the letter in her pocket, playing with the expensive paper like a nervous tic.

[Well, yeah, this is either the bravest or stupidest thing I've ever done,] she thought, drawing her cloak tighter against the night chill.

The fabric didn't do much to ward off the cold, but at least it helped hide how badly she was shaking.

[Probably stupidest. No, in hindsight, definitely stupidest.]

She'd barely taken position in the middle of the intersection, boots crunching on loose gravel, when another figure emerged from the shadows. The woman seemed to materialize from the darkness itself, her emerald hair flowing like liquid jewels in the moonlight.

But it was her eyes that made Jaylin's breath catch - amethyst, just like Zephyra Vortell's, but colder. Calculating.

The kind of eyes that could watch a man die and only wonder why it was taking so long.

[Well, she definitely looks the part of a mysterious recruiter,] Jaylin thought, trying to calm her racing heart. Her palms were sweating despite the cold. [Better than some creepy old guy in a hood, I guess. Though maybe more dangerous...]

"Jaylin Folden," the woman said, her voice smooth as silk and just as expensive-sounding. "How delightful to see you actually came. Most don't have the courage."

"Did you think I wouldn't?" Jaylin asked, aiming for confident but probably hitting somewhere around 'scared shitless but hiding it poorly.' She could hear her own heartbeat echoing off the stone around them.

"One never knows with potential recruits," the woman shrugged, the movement unnaturally fluid, like watching water flow uphill. "Especially those from... respectable families."

"Can we get to the point?" Jaylin shifted nervously, very aware of how exposed they were. Every distant rustle, every distant sound had her imagining guards about to discover them. "I'd rather not stand around waiting to get caught by the night watch."

The woman's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile - more like someone who'd read about smiling in a book but never quite mastered the technique.

"Direct. I like that." She took a step closer, those unsettling eyes seeming to look right through Jaylin's skull. "Speaking of direct, let's discuss Melisa Blackflame and her... impact on your life."

Jaylin's gut clenched at the name.

"What about her?"

"Oh, come now," the woman's not-quite-smile widened. "We've seen how you look at her. The way you tense when she enters a room. The barely contained... frustration in your eyes when she shows off in class. We just want to know a little more about that, is all."

[They've been watching me? For how long?] Jaylin wondered, a chill running down her spine. The thought of being observed, studied like some specimen, made her skin crawl.

"She's..." Jaylin paused, years of pent-up resentment bubbling to the surface like a volcano finally erupting. "She's insufferable. Her and her whole family, just showing up and taking over everything. My home, my aunt's attention, even the fucking academy!" The words poured out naturally. "Eight years of watching her get everything handed to her just because she can do a few party tricks. Eight years of her strutting around like she owns the place, building her... her little harem of sluts while everyone acts like she's some kind of prodigy! And don't even get me started on that thing with the king! It was all I heard about for weeks!"

The woman's eyes gleamed with something like hunger hearing that, something that made Jaylin's words stumble briefly before her rage carried her forward.

"And her family?" the woman prompted, clearly enjoying Jaylin's outburst. "Tell me about them."

"Even worse! Margaret with her- her constant flirting and bouncing around the manor like... like..." She didn't finish that sentence. "Melistair acting all humble while clearly thinking he's better than everyone else. It's like they're playing at being this perfect family while completely taking over MY family!"

"Fascinating," the woman purred, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "And what are your thoughts on our organization? The Shadow Mages? Our... methods?"

"..."

Instantly, Jaylin hesitated. She understood this was probably a test, but it had come quite suddenly.

She could feel those amethyst eyes dissecting her every expression.

"I think..." she chose her words carefully, praying she sounded convincing, "your methods are... interesting. Effective. You're trying to maintain order, aren't you? Keep things the way they should be? Stop people like Melisa from upending everything?"

[Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it,] she chanted internally, hoping her lie wasn't as transparent as it felt. In truth, she thought these people were complete psychos. But, she was here because she wanted to see if her notion would be confirmed or not. Effectively, what she just said was what she hoped would be true.

Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure the woman could hear it. Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

The woman's expression didn't change, but something in her posture shifted slightly, like a snake coiling before a strike.

"Very interesting indeed." She nodded with approval before extracting a piece of paper from one of her pockets. She took out an incredibly small pencil along with it, scribbled something onto it, and walked over to hand it to Jaylin. "Tomorrow evening, come to this bar. I'll be there."

Jaylin took the envelope, trying to hide how badly her hands were shaking.

"And then?"

"And then," the woman's smile finally reached her eyes, though Jaylin almost wished it hadn't, "we'll see if you're really as interested in our methods as you claim to be."

With that, she melted back into the shadows as smoothly as she'd appeared, leaving Jaylin alone there with yet another letter that felt like it might burn a hole through her clothes.

[What the fuck am I doing?] she thought, staring at the envelope as if it might bite her. [This is how people end up dead in ditches. Or worse, working for the people who put other people in ditches.]

But she still tucked the letter carefully into her pocket, right next to the first one.

[Too late to back out now,] she told herself, hurrying away from the intersection before her common sense could catch up with her mouth. [Besides, it's just a meeting at a bar. What's the worst that could happen?]

The woman's cold amethyst eyes flashed in her memory, making her shiver despite herself.

[Maybe don't answer that question.]

---

{Lady Belstadt}

Lady Belstadt watched Jaylin's retreating form with the same expression a cat might wear while watching a particularly stupid mouse walk right into its paw's reach.

The girl's cloak fluttered pathetically in the night wind, making her look even more like prey. Every nervous glance over her shoulder, every stumbled step just confirmed what Belstadt already knew. This one would be perfect.

[Such a perfect little tool,] she thought, her emerald hair gleaming in the moonlight like poisonous seaweed. [So full of jealousy and angst. It's almost going to be too easy.]

The night air carried the scent of rain and fear - Jaylin's fear, specifically. It still lingered in the air like perfume, making Belstadt's nose twitch appreciatively. Nothing quite like the scent of desperate people making terrible decisions.

"Want me to crack her skull now, m'lady?" a gruff voice whispered from the shadows. The brute who'd spoken was built like a wall and about as intelligent as one, but he had his uses. His massive frame somehow managed to stay hidden in the darkness, a feat that would have been impressive if it weren't obviously just dumb luck. "Could make it look like a robbery gone wrong. Been practicing my robbery face and everything."

Lady Belstadt sighed, her amethyst eyes gleaming with barely contained annoyance.

Sometimes she wondered if the Shadow Mages' recruitment standards had dropped significantly in recent years.

"No, you absolute turnip," she said, her gaze never leaving Jaylin's increasingly distant figure. "If I wanted her unconscious, I wouldn't have spent ten minutes listening to her whine about Melisa Blackflame's perfect life."

The brute scratched his head, clearly struggling with this level of strategic thinking. She could practically hear his remaining brain cells crying out in exhaustion.

"But... ain't we gonna kidnap her? That's what you said earlier. Said we was gonna grab her and-"

"Eventually," Lady Belstadt cut him off, finally turning to face her subordinate. Her perfect features twisted into something altogether more sinister as she smiled. "But first, I want to know everything she knows about our purple-skinned problem. Tomorrow's meeting should prove... enlightening."

She traced a spellsign in the air and muttered a quick incantation. It wasn't quite "invisibility" she was going for, but it was close enough in this darkness.

"After all, the best way to destroy someone is to understand what makes them tick. And who better to tell us about Melisa Blackflame than the girl who's spent eight years watching her every move?"

The brute nodded slowly.

"Right. So... no skull cracking?"

"Not tonight, dear. Not tonight."