Free Come to Me by Lisa Cach

light,
    Bind thee.
    Fly through night,
    Into sight,
    Speak to me,
    Come to me,
    Samira.
     
    He waited.
    A draft went through the room, making the candles flicker. The hairs rose on the back of his neck. Was that draft caused by succubus wings?
    He was tempted to lay his hand on the book, to test whether or not he could see Samira. He checked the impulse, fearing it might somehow interfere with the spell.
    He waited. The candles stopped flickering. The only sounds were the crackling of the wood burning in the brazier, and his own breathing. Minutes passed.
    Nothing happened.
    He frowned, and read through the instructions again. It wasn't clear whether the spell would command a succubus, or only entice one. Nicolae tapped his fingertips on the tabletop, considering.
    He shrugged, then said the entire spell again. "
Speak to me, come to me, Samira
," he repeated again at the end. Once, twice, three times he repeated the phrase, putting a final, strong emphasis upon her name.
    With a whoosh of air, Samira fell suddenly into the circle, landing on all fours, with her black leathery wings spread wide, their ends touching the floor.
    A cry of surprise caught in his throat, and he stared wide-eyed at her. Good God, had it worked? His brain momentarily shut down in shock.
    Samira was motionless for a long moment, as if as stunned as he, and then she slowly turned her head to look at him, her bloodred hair sliding over her shoulder and pouring like a waterfall down over her hand and onto the floor. Her glowing blue eyes were stunned and confused.
    "Samira?" he said, finding the wit to step forward, and just managing to stop himself before he reached through the magic circle. To do so would destroy the spell.
    She shivered all over; wings, hair, and pale flesh all quivering with the fine movement. Then, with a quick stroke of her wings, she lifted herself onto her haunches, and thence to her feet. She looked blankly at him, with only the dimmest glimmer of stunned recognition that a beast might give its master, and then reached out toward the boundary of the circle.
    Nicolae stumbled away from the threat of her soulless touch and caught his balance on the table edge.
    Her fingertips touched the invisible barrier of the circle and she shrieked in pain, jerking her hand back and then cradling it against her chest, her eyes wide and accusatory. She looked as if she was asking why he would do such a cruel thing to her.
    "It's the circle," Nicolae explained. "You can't go beyond it." God's blood, that shriek of hers had sent unholy shivers up his spine.
    She frowned at his words and reached out again with her unharmed hand. Again, she hit the boundary. She shrieked in pain, the tone high and piercing, setting the bones in Nicolae's head to vibrating. Samira looked back at him with anger in her eyes, clearly recognizing him now and focusing all her rage upon him. He felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck, and sent a prayer heavenward that the circle would hold.
    Samira yowled in fury and flung herself at the invisible barrier. She bounced back off it and howled in agony, dropping to the floor and curling into a ball, her wings wrapping protectively around herself. As the howls died away, whimpering sounds emerged from somewhere under the huddled mass of red hair and black wings.
    Nicolae shook, a fine tremor of both fascination and horror running through his body. A long-buried instinct toward pity emerged gradually within him as her piteous whining went on and on. She was a creature suffering horribly at his hand, and a forgotten sense of compassion made him reach down to pinch out the flame of one of the candles.
    As his hand neared, Samira looked up, strands of red hair tangled across her face. She hissed, baring her teeth at him like a cat. He jerked away, leaving the candle burning.
    God's blood, man
, he said to himself,
you don't want to let that thing loose, do you
? "If you behave yourself, you won't be hurt," he said aloud,