Page 13

Angelo

“You’re being ridiculous,” I muttered, rushing down the pavement that stood between us and answers.

The coven house’s driveway was full, as usual. I’d been forced to park down the block and navigate the cracked sidewalks leading up to the coven house.

The Tudor Revival had been on the market for a while, and I’d considered it almost unsellable, even with my incubus charms. It required more renovation work than most people wanted to undertake. Then Lorcan Rowe came to town and bought nearly every one of our challenging properties, investing time and resources until the properties were worth almost double what we’d been willing to sell for. Truly, the vampire’s obsession with his now-wife had been a boon to every realty company in the area. He’d ensured all of them suited her expensive tastes. Selling them would be easier next time if he ever chose to sell.

Lydia picked up the pace, half-jogging to keep up with me. We were quite the contrast. I’d been dressed for work when I seduced her. She’d worn a conservative outfit that I thoroughly enjoyed reducing to ribbons. I’d pay for it later, but it had been worth it. There was something viscerally satisfying about clearing everything in my path. I needed her flesh on mine. It hadn’t just been a matter of hunger; it was finally having her. Of her wanting me to have her, no holds barred.

Now she wore a pair of sweats and one of my oversized coats, covering herself from head to toe with fabric, lest someone see the changes she’d undergone after we’d been together. I didn’t find the changes unpleasant, but she looked so stunned and scared that I indulged her request to visit the coven. They’d have more answers for her than I did.

Lydia’s glance up was tinged red with the glow of embers. Her magic wasn’t just unstable now; it was evolving, physically changing her. I should have expected something like that, especially after her magical dye job. Indigo’s magic had seeped into Lydia’s body. It made sense that the demon would come to the forefront the longer she spent with a similar species.

She drew the drawstrings of her hoodie even tighter around her face, leaving only a red-gold slice of her skin visible. Her lips looked fuller, which only made me want to take another taste, to see how they felt against mine.

“I have horns,” she hissed. “I think people are going to notice!”

Maybe, maybe not.

Humans could be spectacularly unobservant when they wanted to be. Lydia’s horns weren’t like mine or Fifi’s, which were blatantly obvious in either form. Hers were more like the nubs you’d see on a baby goat—small and only half-formed. They weren’t so different from a half-demon’s—an imp, to use the catch-all term. Different from most, but not so strange that anyone would question it in the infernal layers.

“Your hair mostly covers them. Besides, I think they’re cute.”

She grimaced. “You would. You’re taking this demon thing really well. Indigo freaked out. Hell, I’m freaking out. Why aren’t you? It’s a big change. We don’t even know if it’s permanent.”

I stopped, pulling Lydia to my side instead of letting her stalk past me onto the porch of the coven house. Once we crossed that threshold, I’d be pushed aside as everyone crowded around her, trying to figure out what had happened.

Lydia let out a soft sigh when my hand cupped the side of her face. Her skin felt feverishly warm, a side effect of the fire at a Koloth’s core. I’d have to get used to her being a hot sleeper when I shared her bed again.

“Because it doesn’t matter. I’d still want to do what we did. Do you regret it?”

Lydia sighed. “No, but...”

“No buts. I enjoyed myself. If your screaming orgasm was any indication, so did you. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

It had been one of the best feedings I’d had in my entire life. Maybe Fifi was onto something. Sex with feeling was so much more fulfilling than a casual fling. The emotions were deeper, the anticipation a thrill in itself. I still had a ways to go before I was fully recovered, but just being inside Lydia had done a lot to replenish what I’d lost. It made sense. She was essentially five beings in one: herself, Indigo, and the creatures that Indigo had attacked and absorbed. While none of the other parts had been aware or even alive, they had been present, and I’d taken what I needed. She didn’t even look fatigued, which was a plus. It would take days to wear her out, and I was looking forward to testing her limits.

Color flushed into her cheeks, ruby red against her new skin. It looked good on her. I liked making blood bubble just beneath her cheeks. It meant I had an effect on her, which was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to keep her red-faced and panting. Her moans were music to my ears, thrilling a part of me I hadn’t known existed. It wasn’t just that she looked dead sexy when she orgasmed; it was that she’d let me in deep. She’d trusted me. That meant a lot.

“You can’t just say things like that!”

“Watch me.” I leaned down, whispering so only she could hear. “Next time, I’ll be well-fed, not a starving demon. When I have you again, I’ll take my time with you. I want to taste every part of your body.”

Lydia’s body quivered, and I could see the outline of her nipples through the fabric, peaks hardening at just the thought of my mouth on her. I wanted it so badly I could taste it. But I doubted she’d appreciate it if I pinned her and made her a meal here and now. Too many people passing by. Not to mention that a certain faerie police chief would have our horns if we tried it.

She let out a nervous laugh. “How do you do that?”

“Turn you on? That’s what I do, Bean. And I intend to keep doing it.”

She flushed an even darker shade of red. “No, you sex fiend. I mean, how do you always know what to say to make me feel better?”

Oh. Well, that one was harder to answer. The relationship between us was unexpected—nearly unprecedented. I didn’t know how I’d ended up where I was; I just knew I liked it.

I let her go, stuffing my hands into my pockets with a shrug. “I’m just that good.”

That made her laugh, a sound that warmed me from the inside out. No matter what else changed about her, I liked that her laugh had stayed the same.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go talk to the witches, hot stuff.”

I held out my arm. “Beauty before age, dear.”

Lydia gave me a coy glance over her shoulder, adding a little extra sway to her hips as she walked ahead. “You just want to watch my ass as I walk away.”

“Guilty as charged. It’s a nice ass.”

“It’s demonically enhanced.”

“And it still belongs to you,” I pointed out. “The point is that I want you, no matter what you look like. This just makes you harder to hurt, which works for me.”

Lydia chewed her lower lip. “Do you really mean that?”

“I do. Now stop stalling and march your sexy ass inside so we can get on with this dog and pony show.”

She did, and I watched. I was reformed, not dead.

And it really was a nice ass.

***

Lydia

I stared down at my fingers numbly, half-hoping I hadn’t just heard what I thought I had. I couldn’t curl my fingers around Angelo’s hand, even though he’d offered it while Betanya and Olga examined my aura thoroughly.

The process felt a lot like being stopped and frisked by a handsy cop. Having Angelo’s hands on my energy was one thing. He’d given me pleasure back, even as he’d taken from me. I hadn’t felt the transfer, though it had definitely happened. Angelo looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him, his expression open and self-satisfied. He was the cat who’d finally pounced on the pesky canary. And the stupid canary had loved every second of the tussle.

Having nosy witches touch my aura, on the other hand, felt unpleasant, like being poked in the ribs by an older relative. I knew they meant well, but it was still uncomfortable as hell.

I couldn’t take Angelo’s hands because of what they’d discovered. If it was true, Angelo was going to hate me. I hadn’t meant to do it, but if they were right...

“What do you mean, a mate bond?” I asked in a small voice.

Olga sat back, folding her hands primly in her lap. She looked like what I’d been taught witches ought to look like. The German was a well-preserved sixty-something to the uninitiated observer. She was infinitely older than that in reality though—three hundred, if she was a day. She’d twisted her long white hair into a graceful knot on top of her head, holding the stragglers in place with obsidian hairpins. It matched the dark gown that fell to her ankles. Just the quiet, confident aura of the witch across from us had made Indigo fall into respectful silence, even in her own thoughts. Indigo didn’t follow many rules, but she still looked up to older and wiser witches than herself.

“Just vat I’ve said.”

I waited for her to elaborate, but apparently, that was all the soft-spoken woman would say on the matter. Thankfully, she wasn’t the only witch with experience in these matters.

Betanya Tayir looked about Wanda’s age, clearly in her midlife. Granted, a witch’s midlife was around one hundred and fifty. According to several sources I trusted, Betanya had spent at least a few decades in a parallel dimension to escape a blood-crazed vampire.

Yeah, my friends’ lives were strange, to say the least.

Betanya’s hair wasn’t a fluffy white or a rich, lustrous black like the other witches I’d met. Her hair was dark red, riding the line between scarlet and burgundy. It made Indie prickly for a reason I couldn’t decipher.

“ She’s a red-haired witch ,” Indie said, as though the sentence made complete sense to her.

“And?”

“ They’re dangerous. Odd magic, odd ideas, odd in general. Sometimes they go completely off the range and start interfering with humans. It usually makes the history books.”

“So who better to look at our odd situation ?” I countered.

Indie didn’t have a good answer to that. I could practically feel her sulking in a faraway corner of my mind. She knew I was right but didn’t want to admit it.

Betanya gave her fellow witch a long-suffering look before turning her attention back to me. Her eyes were a dazzling shade of emerald. I felt a sudden pang of envy. Were these witches all beautiful? Did it just come with the genetics of being a witch that they’d all be hot and exude confidence?

“I think what Olga is trying to say is that the mate bond was formed during sex. An assortment of factors came into play. Indigo’s...” Betanya paused, struggling to hide her revulsion. “ Activities grafted something foreign onto your soul. That alone would have consequences. Your fusion is unprecedented. I was a Blood Witch for many years, and even my power didn’t warp to that degree. There are just some magics we shouldn’t be exposed to, and I’d rank a Koloth near the top. It’s a very temperamental and violent species. Their mating practices are deep and abiding. They choose a mate for life, hunting, battling, and traveling together. It’s rather the opposite of what most incubi do, so it surprises me that the bond could have formed so easily between you both. The species must be more closely related than they think, or there were other factors we don’t know about.”

Oh. Oh God. Had I done this to him?

Had loving Angelo affected the exchange that profoundly? Had I subconsciously tied him to me? It sounded reprehensible. He should have a choice in the matter, damn it!

I needed to look. I had to know how he was taking the news. But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my hands. I once again felt like an observer in my own mind. Nothing about my body felt right. I felt like I’d undergone a radical metamorphosis in hours. I didn’t look or feel like myself. That alone was panic-inducing. Knowing that I’d essentially performed a demonic shotgun wedding after our first time together was even worse. Surely mating for life was just another form of marriage? No, it was even worse than marriage! It sounded like it was forever binding.

Now I wasn’t just more of a freak than I’d been; I’d dragged Angelo into a bond he would never have agreed to. If I was scared of commitment, then Angelo actively feared it. He was a sex demon, for hell’s sake. He wasn’t made for commitment or monogamy or a freaking mate bond!

“What exactly do Koloths do when they establish this bond?” Angelo asked, his voice was low.

I examined his tone for panic or disgust but found none. It was reassuring enough to allow me to risk a glance up at him. It was a mistake. Angelo wasn’t just looking at me. The intensity of his gaze was blistering. I had to yank my eyes away. If I fell into his gaze, I’d be Play-Doh in his hands. This house was far too occupied for that. I’d happily christen every surface in my home, but doing so in front of a crowd was a bridge too far.

Betanya chewed her lip in thought. “Do you remember the details, Olga? It’s been years since I attended the Academy. I’m sure you’ve heard the courses more recently than I have.”

Olga nodded. “Ya. Koloths value strength. Zee female leads zee male on a chase to see if he is fast und strong enough to copulate viz her, ya? It’s usually zee prelude to every sexual encounter. Zee mating bond forms vhen both eliminate all ozer potential suitors. One or both parties can initiate, ya, but it must be accepted by both.”

I saw understanding dawn a moment later in Angelo’s expression. I watched him mouth the words to himself as they spun around in my mind.

“Mine.”

“Yours.”

Angelo had asked. I said yes. I’d meant it. But that didn’t mean it didn’t scare the hell out of me.

I stood abruptly, almost upending an end table in my haste. The air felt suddenly stifling. I couldn’t take in enough of it. I had to get outside. Had to escape his stare. I couldn’t think, let alone talk. I dodged Angelo’s grasping hand, backing away with a gasp.

“I need to… I have to… I’m…”

Tears stung my eyes. I had to get out of here. I had to be alone with my thoughts. Well, as alone as I ever was. Indigo would be here, likely unhelpful. It was still better than having three sets of concerned eyes on me.

Angelo called after me. I almost turned back. Then the first tear fell.

I turned and ran.