Chapter 45: Hanging on
Stefan’s POV
What the fuck?
My whole body swung out sideways the second Belladonna yanked, my feet scraping empty air, the ground blurring past beneath me at a speed that turned my stomach inside out.
I dangled there, one hand clawing uselessly at her wrist, the other flailing for anything solid and finding nothing but wind.
"You do not have a place on my horse anymore," Belladonna said, calm as anything, like she was commenting on the weather instead of holding a grown man’s entire life in one fist. She kicked the horse faster still, riding one-handed now, the ground rushing past close enough that I could make out individual stones in the dirt below.
**00:00:19**
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it actually hurt. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to beg, to flinch, to do literally anything except stay calm while my legs kicked at empty air three feet above ground moving at a full gallop.
But I couldn’t flinch. I wouldn’t. Not with that countdown burning a hole in the corner of my vision.
And that penalty? Nah. So I decided to try to stay calm. I breathed sharply through my mouth.
"Careful," I said, forcing steadiness into my voice I did not remotely feel, "or people are going to start calling you a terrible leader. One who can’t even show a little patience."
Belladonna’s frown deepened, sharp enough to cut glass, but something shifted behind her eyes. A flicker. Small, but real.
"Impatience isn’t exactly a leadership material, I tell you." I pressed on, voice shaking at the edges no matter how hard I fought to hold it steady, wind screaming past my dangling body. "Where I’m from, leaders who act like that get voted out. Thrown out on their ass by their own people."
**00:00:07**
And... Ding!
[MISSION COMPLETE: Do not flinch. Answer Belladonna’s threat with confidence.]
[REWARD ISSUED: +5 Charm, +100 EXP, +5 MA]
I exhaled, shaky and ragged, more from sheer terror than any pride in the accomplishment.
"You possess," Belladonna said slowly, studying me like I’d grown a second head mid-air, "a great deal of courage."
"I’m a courageous man," I managed, breathless, "in every aspect of my life."
She didn’t answer that. Just kept riding, my body still swinging loose from her grip.
"One more hour," I said, forcing the words out steady despite everything in me wanting to scream. "Give me one more hour, I’ll bring your bird back. My magic needs a little more time to settle." I swallowed hard, throat working against the wind. "But first - put me back. On the horse. Sitting. Please."
That was when the System chimed again, and my stomach dropped clean through whatever composure I had left.
[**INCUBUS ASCENSION]**
**Development Arc I:** Presence
**Purpose**: A true Incubus changes decisions.
**Mission**: Convince Belladonna to change a command she has already given.
**Current Objective**: Make Belladonna allow you to ride in front.
**Reward**: +5 Charm, +200 EXP, +5 MA
**Penalty**: Host’s face will tremble uncontrollably whenever in Belladonna’s presence.
**Time Limit**: 00:02:00
My eyes widened as I read through the notification.
"You’re trying to kill me before I even become whatever you’re turning me into," I muttered, half to the System, half to myself, half to whatever deity was running this whole circus from behind a curtain I couldn’t see.
Anyway, there wasn’t any time for me to argue with cosmic bureaucracy. A hundred and twenty seconds, and a woman one bad decision away from letting go of my arm entirely.
**00:01:50**
I knew I had to say something. Anything...
"If you put me at the front," I said quickly, forcing confidence back into my voice, "I can work faster. Better angle on the band. And your bird comes back sooner."
"I would rather drop you and let you break every frail bone in your body, than seat you where I must look at you for even a second." Belladonna said flatly.
**00:01:34**
My pulse spiked. Time to double down - backing off now meant losing everything.
"Then say goodbye to your bird," I said, steady, gambling everything on a bluff I had zero way of backing up. "I’m the only one who can bring it back. So go ahead." I spread my free hand out, resigned, daring her. "Drop me. See how that works out for you."
Belladonna’s grip on my arm loosened slightly, and for one horrifying second I genuinely believed she’d actually do it - that I’d miscalculated everything and was about to become a very expensive smear on this planet’s dirt road.
**00:01:11**
I clenched my jaw as I braced myself.
Fine, I had died before, from a moving van. This wouldn’t hurt than the first time, right?
"Goodbye my-"
Then I felt her grip tightened on me and she stared at me. Long, aearching. Something flickering behind her eyes that looked almost like recognition, like she was cataloguing my recklessness and filing it somewhere important.
"One hour, you have one hour to work your magic." She said finally.
Relief crashed through me so hard I nearly went limp right there in her grip.
She hauled me back up in one smooth, brutal motion, her arm muscles flexing with a strength that made my own look embarrassing by comparison.
Then she turned me, repositioning me in front of her on the saddle - except instead of facing her, she planted a firm hand between my shoulder blades and shoved, settling me so my back pressed against her chest, facing forward, out toward the road ahead.
"You will not," she said, voice low right against my ear, "look at me while you work. Face forward. Eyes on the road."
[MISSION COMPLETE: Convince Belladonna to change a command she has already given.]
[REWARD ISSUED: +5 Charm, +200 EXP, +5 MA]
I let out a long, shaky breath, sagging slightly against the saddle, relief flooding through me on two fronts at once - not falling to my death, and not spending the next hour with my own face trembling like a leaf every time this terrifying, gorgeous woman so much as glanced my way.
"Oh, my fucking life!" I muttered under my breath, my hands finally finding the horse’s mane to grip.