Author's Note: Inovercy belongs to a LiveJournal friend of mine :) And I almost forgot - my boyfriend recently informed me that there's a human named Lieutenant Spencer at the first flag the Horde reaches in AV. Bwahaha.
It was a few weeks before they could sniff out a lead. One of Spencer's bounty hunter friends was able to sneak into Stormwind using an Orb of Deception and discover where a certain individual typically harvested materials. It was another few days before Spencer actually found her, quite by accident. And without Malek around. The warrior had slept in after a late night of trying to coax the guards away from Astranaar for a bit of fun with the Alliance dilettantes.
Spencer was patrolling Moonglade, searching for indications of this particular individual's having been there, when he almost stealthed right into her. He was lucky she wasn't paying attention; draining souls from squirrels was keeping her busy.
"Hello, Inovercy." It had been a long time since he spoke Common, and in spite of the grating sounds his throat made, he could faintly hear a trace of his former self.
The human warlock jumped at the sound of her name and spun around. "Who's there?" she demanded. Spencer slowly let himself fade into view before her.
She clutched her scythe in alarm. "What do you want, you filthy creature!"
"Don't even think about it," he barked as he noticed her reaching for a soul shard from her bag. He didn't need any excitement with a demon today. She paused in mid-reach and they stared each other down.
"How have you been?" Spencer asked languidly. He was poised to quickly draw his swords if needed.
"Who are you?"
Was he really that unrecognizable? Spencer shook his head in disappointment. "How could you forget an old friend?"
Inovercy had been his wife's closest companion. They were neighbors a long time ago as well, and their families often had dinner together. The two women periodically attended magic discipline lectures, but it wasn't until later that Spencer realized they had probably been sneaking away to Cult meetings.
"I have no idea who you are." She grimaced at him.
Spencer was growing impatient. "It won't take you long to figure it out. I don't want a fight; I just want to know where my wife is. Tell me where Cassandra is."
He allowed himself to be amused as a flicker of realization and poorly-hidden surprise showed on Inovercy's face. She was quiet for a moment, then said, "I don't know who or what you're talking about. Now leave, before I put you out of your disgusting misery."
The rogue sighed and drew his swords, sticking the point of one in the ground and casually leaning on it. "I'm really not in the mood to play games," he rasped. "I know that you're a spy for the Cult of the Damned hiding in the Alliance. I know that you know—" he jabbed the point of his other sword at her "—where she is. So we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way."
She spat at his feet. "Go to hell, you monstrosity. The Alliance was right in abandoning your loathsome kind."
Spencer closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. Before she could regret her words, he was upon her.
"Tell me where she is," Spencer seethed, his emaciated fingers curling around Inovercy's tender throat. "Or I'll show you how much of a monstrosity I truly am."
She bashed him in the stomach with the butt of her staff, forcing the wind out of him. His breath quickly returned, but not before the warlock could retrieve a small garnet crystal from her satchel. Within seconds, a demon materialized at her summons, and Spencer's heart stopped. Oh, no.
It was a succubus.
Fear struck him…he began to frantically back away with a great urge to flee, but he knew he was feeling this only because of Inovercy's dark influences. By the force of utter willpower, he pushed the panic from his mind.
The succubus slowly turned to face him, a hand on her hip in a patronizing gesture. Her generous bosom jumped as she snickered like a little mischievous girl. Spencer stood ready, both swords waiting tight in his fists. He hated this…he hated succubae. He would have been willing to tangle with any other demon—imp, felhound, voidwalker, whatever. Anything would have been better than a succubus.
She slid a cloven hoof towards him and slowly unwound a long rawhide whip. Spencer didn't wait for her wiles to take hold; he bolted towards her, blade tips swinging in an arc towards a target directly between her perfect breasts.
The succubus spun about with grace, easily tangoing away from him like a matador from a bull. An overwhelming sense of confusion passed over Spencer, and he turned to see Inovercy casting relentless curses. He tried to stumble towards her, when without warning, his blood ignited with a very uncharacteristic sensation. Every one of his limbs tingled as a warmth stirred within him.
Well, now you've gone and done it, something annoyed and vague said in the back of his mind. It sounded a bit like his own voice.
Shh, he snapped, staring longingly at the striking demon. She was coaxing him with the promise of ultimate pleasure in her scorching eyes.
Wake up. You almost didn't make it out alive last time…
Was he arguing with himself?
Now completely oblivious to Inovercy, he watched the succubus in awe. She gave him a sly beckon with a long-nailed forefinger. Spencer was surprised to find himself smiling like an enthusiastic dolt as she licked her lips in an amazingly arousing manner.
He dropped his swords at his feet and stalked towards her. "I'll indulge in you first," he snarled. "Then I'll kill you."
STOP. The voice was growing more adamant.
The succubus looped her whip around his neck and pulled him close, grinding her pelvis against his lanky hip. He shuddered with delight. She looked keenly into the vacant, fading light in his eyes, eyes that would at any other time reveal greater intelligence.
He leaned in to bury his face in her graceful, succulent neckline, when she purred into his ear, "Don't touch what you can't afford." She stroked his leathery cheek and tightened the whip around his neck…and continued to tighten it.
Spencer eagerly allowed this. If she was into that eccentric, perverse foreplay, he surely wouldn't mind trying something new for once. It had been quite awhile for him (years, the exasperated voice in his brain pointed out), but getting back into the swing of things shouldn't be too difficult. Especially with such an experienced creature as his partner. He wagered he could learn a whole slew of new—
WAKE UP, IDIOT.
With that, the dullness in his gaze evaporated. His eyes flared as he struggled to push away the foreign prevalence and regain control. Inovercy's weakness and confusion curses had faded, and she was charging up to cast an onslaught of spells. Finding that he was unable to move his head, he tore his gaze away from the succubus and searched for the warlock in his peripheral vision. He saw her briefly, but caught sight of her hands. There was an odd disruption around them, as if all the light was collapsing into nothingness.
Spencer was beginning to falter under the effects of his strangulation. The undead were "blessed" with a need for less oxygen, but it wasn't without limits. He needed to do something quickly before Inovercy cast her shadow spell.
With the succubus still latched onto the whip firmly entangled about his throat, he wheeled her around so that she was between him and his foe. Inovercy let loose the spell, but instead of striking her intended target, it hit her own minion square in the back. The succubus screamed.
"You make a better shield than a lover," Spencer choked wryly as a set of wrist blades shot out from his jacket sleeve. He drove them into the demon's ribcage, and she, along with the whip, dissolved into a wailing mass of black vapor.
Before Inovercy could cast another spell, the rogue vanished. He hadn't left of course, and she knew it. She backed up against a large tree to prevent any sneak attacks from behind. Spencer gave himself a moment to recover. He hated feeling so easily...compromised.
"Come on out, Simon. I know you're there."
Spencer flinched at the sound of his first name. It had been a very long time since he had heard it spoken, by a human woman at that. He waited nearby, completely still and invisible.
"She did love you at one point, you know," Inovercy continued. "But the power was just too great to refuse. You know that. You felt it."
But she had a choice, Spencer thought resentfully. I didn't.
Inovercy slowly reached into her bag.
"Not that again," he growled, miffed. Acting quickly, he flipped a fistful of blinding dust into her face. She dropped the stone and fell back against the tree, gasping. The rogue flashed back into view and retrieved his weapons from where he'd dropped them. Inovercy pawed at her face in an attempt to relieve her burning eyes.
The point of one of his swords made contact with her sternum. It sank in easily at first, but he had to twist it and plunge harder as it met resistance. The other sword went easily through her shoulder, right below her collarbone. He had, in effect, staked her to the tree. He actually needed to put his foot on her to pull the swords out, since they had gone through into the fleshy bark behind her.
The one in her chest was tough. He finally had to bend it a great deal to rip it out, the sound of bone splintering and innards scattering as he did so. Gore pelted his face.
"Damn it," he muttered. He hated making a mess. He wiped some of the blood from his cheek and unceremoniously licked it off his fingertips. "Hm."
All that for nothing, he thought angrily. He curled his fist and drove it into the tree.