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I smirk as I glance over my shoulder at her. “Not just a demon, but a lust demon.”

“A fucking incubus? I knew that. How could I forget that?” she mumbles to herself. “That’s why he’s so hot.”

I snicker. “No, that’s just genetics.”

She flushes, eyes widening. She hadn’t meant for me to hear that. Too bad for her that demons have amazing hearing. But I’m not going to call her out on it.

“Where’s Wraith?”

“Right here.”

Turning my head, I find Death descending the stairs toward us. “Thank you for coming, Nex. I really appreciate it.”

“Why did you call Profess—” She cuts herself off. “Nex. Why did you call Nex over?”

Wraith’s eyes narrow on her blushing face before returning his attention to me. “Why are you in this form?”

I shrug. “I flew over.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re still in this form. The last time I allowed you to have your wings out in my home, you destroyed a vase.”

Behind me, Audrey scoffs. “And why would you care about a stupid vase being broken?”

“It was a vase from 3000 B.C.E. Sumer—what you would know as Mesopotamia—in pristine condition. I met the potter myself on a trip earth-side. It was a one-of-a-kind piece that was irreplaceable,” Wraith tells her softly as he glares at me.

I roll my eyes. He’s never going to let me live that one down. “Fine. Fine. I’ll put away the demon.”

With nothing but a thought, I return to my usual human form.

“That still doesn’t explain why he’s here,” Audrey says, annoyance painting her words.

“Patience, trouble. Patience.” Wraith waves for me to follow him into the living room, where Donovan and Brenden sit with a woman who’s clearly Audrey’s twin. The only difference between the two women is their hair. It’s the same vivid red, but Audrey’s is straight, while her sister’s is curly. It must be natural because if she’d just curled it, it would’ve reverted back to its natural state when she died.

I hear Audrey huff behind me, and I have to bite back a smile. She really hates not knowing what’s going on. I saw it time and time again as she stumbled her way through my classes.

“Hi, I’m Nex Novak,” I tell Audrey’s twin, leaning over to offer her my hand. “I teach here at the academy.”

She smiles, but it’s clearly forced as she shakes my hand. “Wren Nathaniel. Audrey’s twin, obviously.”

“Okay, enough with the pleasantries. Will someone please tell me why Nex is here?” Audrey’s frustration is clear for all to hear as she stomps over the couch, sitting between Donovan and Brenden.

“As I told you before, trouble, I want someone who went down the vengeance path to explain just how badly things can go.” Wraith is just as frustrated as Audrey—there’s no missing that—but he’s also worried.

Audrey’s eyes find me once more. “You?”

“Me, Miss Maddox.”

“If I’m going to call you Nex, then you need to call me Audrey,” she says before I can continue, and I incline my head.

“Okay, Audrey. I don’t know how much you know about demons, but there are only seven main types of demons—pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Within those main categories, there are usually multiple subsets.” I grin. “While you were correct in calling me an incubus, cubis aren’t the only lust demons, but that’s neither here nor there. We do not mate outside of our demon type. For example, a lust demon cannot mate with a sloth demon. We’re just not compatible. That doesn’t mean we can’t be with one another, but there will be no children.”

Audrey shrugs. “I actually didn’t know any of that, but I don’t know what it has to do with me.”

I sigh, reminding myself to have patience with Wraith’s mate. “I was getting there. Each type of demon has powers that deal with their demon type, and we’re not meant to seek out something that falls under another demon type when it comes to humans—what we do with other demons doesn’t matter. It’s basically to keep everyone on task. As a lust demon, vengeance isn’t within my realm of expertise as that falls under wrath demons.

“I come from a large family. I have seven fathers and seven mothers—all cubis—so they have many children, but I was their first. I had four sisters born within twenty years of me, and they were mine to care for. This wasn’t something my parents told me I must do, but it’s what I felt needed to be done. They were my responsibility.” Wraith hands me a glass of whiskey, which I’m grateful for. This isn’t an easy story for me to tell—even if it’s been over 2,000 years since it happened.

“Demons gain their strength and power from humans. We would often go earth-side to fill up our power by, you guessed it, sleeping with humans. At the time, it was just the five of us kids. It was my youngest sister’s first time earth-side as she was only twenty-one, which is when we receive our powers. I made sure she was all set up with a man and his wife in Mycalessus, who were very interested in what she had to offer before I sought my own meal. It should’ve been easy.