Page 11

The one thing that gets me through the day without completely breaking down is that tonight is a monster support group meeting. I get together once a week with some other monsters in town to hang out and discuss various issues we’re encountering. They’ll know what to do.

But when I show up at the house of our part-succubus host for the evening, no one else’s cars are in the driveway. I make it up onto Max’s porch before I realize why.

Dammit, I forgot! We’re skipping this week because half of the group is out of town. I groan and palm my face, fighting back tears of defeat and exhaustion. I sink down to sit on the steps, my body suddenly too heavy with the weight of my worries to move.

I’ll get up in a minute. I just need to have a cry and then compose myself. I blink and liquid spills down my cheeks, the sensation of crying in my glamor always surreal since I’m used to my tears sliding down the bridge of my nose.

After a minute, I’m no closer to finding the strength to get up. I silently leak tears that I can’t figure out how to stop until I hear the door creak open behind me.

“Ren?”

Max’s smooth, gentle voice calling my name has mestartling and hurriedly wiping away my tears. “M-max! Sorry, I was just uh…”

How do I explain that I was having a mental breakdown on his porch without making myself even lamer in this cool succubus’ eyes? Everyone in the group already thinks I’m clueless. They don’t say it, but I can tell. Shit, if Max tells Susan I was crying on his porch like a total weirdo, I’ll never live it down. I’ll have to move, and I don’t know of any other monster-friendly communities like Moonvale, so I’d have to always be in my glamor. Or worse, I’d have to move back home with my family.

Shit, don’t cry again!

“Please don’t tell Susan,” I croak, sniffing and swiping at the fresh tears welling in my eyes. I can’t even look at him as I say it because I’m too embarrassed. Max and I haven’t spent much time interacting because he’s pretty quiet at our meetings, but I can tell how much cooler than me he is. He’s so handsome, he works as a badass private investigator, and to top it off, he’s a damn succubus and a witch. Of course he’s cooler than me!

Max approaches and slides in to sit next to me, reaching up to place a hand on my shoulder because even with my glamor, I’m still a very tall guy. “Hey, Ren, it’s okay. Whatever is going on, I won’t tell Susan. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Thanks,” I say with a sniff, his touch a surprisingbalm to my nerves. No one touches me beyond an occasional accidental brush or a handshake. It’s sad how much my body soaks up this small contact. Would it be weird to ask him for a hug? Or is that too pathetic?

“Do you, uh, do you want to talk about it?” Max asks hesitantly, his brow furrowing in concern.

“That’s okay, I…” I want to be cool and brush off the weirdness of me being here crying outside his house. Act tough and be a paragon of stoic strength, like a giant should be. Instead, I wipe at my nose and turn to look at Max pleadingly. “I fucked up.”

Max squeezes my shoulder, the furrow on his brow deepening. “What happened?”

How do I explain? I’m a loser that can’t get a partner and paid a woman to pretend to be interested in me. He’s a literal sex demon! Giving details would be way too embarrassing. I’ll just tell him that a human saw me. Keep it simple.

But wait, he’s worked with the paranormal council in the area. What if he tells them and I get spirited away to some kind of irresponsible monster prison?

“I can’t go to jail!” I blurt.

Max pulls his hand back in shock at my outburst, his brows shooting up in alarm. “Whoa,what? Why would you go to jail?”

“I don’t know!” I groan, placing my face in my hands.

“Ren, you’re making me really nervous. Theemotions I’m getting off of you right now are all over the place. Please tell me what happened. I can’t help you if I don’t understand what’s going on.”

I sigh and look up at the handsome redhead through watery eyes. “A human saw me. With my glamor down. And my dick out, but I don’t think that part matters as much because she saw me and now I’m going to have to go on the run so the paranormal council won’t punish me. But I’m finally happy here, and I don’t want to go. Sure, I’m lonely and I’d really love to find my mate like you, Tomas and Wesley did, but I’m still happy. Please don’t turn me in and make me go to monster jail!”

Max blinks at me. “Uh… wow.”

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I ask, my hands starting to shake from the fear coursing through my body.

“No!” Max shakes his head adamantly. “No, man, you’re not in trouble and there’s no monster jail.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods, a lock of his messy red hair falling into his eyes. “I mean, it’s possible thereisa monster jail, but if they locked up every paranormal who accidentally revealed themselves to a human, all of us would be there. I’m honestly impressed that it’s never happened to you before.”

Max smiles, the expression warm and comforting. It’s a little surprising how sweet he’s being to me, considering how quiet and sometimes sullen he is at meetings. Maybe we’re not sodifferent, both of us dealing with the incorrect assumptions of our peers because of what we’re “supposed” to be.

“That makes sense. Sorry for being ridiculous. I don’t spend much time with humans,” I say with a wistful sigh. “They… they wouldn’t like me if they knew what I am.”

He cocks a brow. “Why would you think that?”