Mercy Loomis

"Empusa" follows the vampiric Greek daimon Empusa, whose lovers usually don't live to tell the tale. She makes an exception for a trio of humans caught in a tangle of love spells, but there is always a price to be paid...

Published in the Bite Me anthology from Torquere Press in 2009.

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This story can also be purchased singly as an ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Diesel, Smashwords, Sony, and Goodreads.

I came up with the bones of this story while doing research into ancient Greek and Roman magic, particularly curse tablets.

Read an excerpt below!

I stepped forward, and had the satisfaction of seeing Bennu fall to his knees at the sight of me. I stopped just before him, reaching out to run my fingers lightly through his fine, black hair.

"Who are you?" he asked in a strangled whisper, forgetting what little lore he possessed.

"I am the daimon you seek," I replied with a smile.

He stared up at me with wide brown eyes, his sculpted lips parted. He licked them nervously. A tendril of my long, brassy hair touched his cheek, moved by the night breeze, and he swallowed hard.

"You are a handsome man, Bennu, son of Ammonion," I teased him, letting my fingers slide down to trace his cheek, his neck, his shoulder. "Young, well-made. Why would your Kleon scorn you? Does he not appreciate men?"

"He has come to me only once," Bennu said, the heat of lust replacing the fear in his eyes, "though I have long desired him, and his eyes have long lingered on me. His wife refuses him, and it makes him burn."

I made a noncommittal noise, running the fingers of both hands over his muscled chest. Bennu had worked himself into quite a state over his lover. His frustration perfumed the night air and made my mouth water. Egyptian, by his name and accent, and probably a slave. I hadn't had Egyptian in ages.