Page 91 of Vipers and Vendettas

‘Because incubi can only have incubi, Jules.’ Jayce says, drawing closer.

‘That’s not strictly true,’ Krase says quietly.

‘Yes, it is,’ his bother says adamantly. Then his eyes narrow on Krase. ‘What have you been hiding?’

Krase looks uncomfortable. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mutters to me. ‘Hyde knew it that day in the dungeon. It’s why I couldn’t kill you. I hid it because I didn’t know what it meant and because I knew you’d be in danger if anyone found out before we could hide you properly.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Maddox growls.

I feel a tingle as Krase finally takes off the conjure that’s been keeping my scent dormant.

Maddox takes a breath and staggers back a step, his eyes wide. ‘This isn’t possible!’

‘You’re a succubus,’ Jayce whispers in awe, ‘and you were under our noses this whole time.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ Axel asks, looking upset. ‘Shit, Jules.’

I look at Iron. ‘I didn’t know,’ I say. ‘Not until I met Gigi yesterday.’

‘Bullshit,’ Daemon mutters, but it’s without anger. ‘How could you not know?’

‘I thought I was human,’ I say. ‘I never knew my family. Nothing ever happened to me to make me think otherwise until the Mountain, and it was so … I was sure I wasn’t remembering it right. I figured I’d hit my head or something.’

‘What happened in the Mountain?’ Daemon asks quietly.

‘I told you Siggy killed Dante,’ I say quietly. ‘But what actually happened was thatIkilled him. He was killing Siggy.’ Tears come to my eyes as I remember. ‘But I was too late to save her anyway.’

‘Youkilled the Demon King?’ Dameon asks incredulously. ‘How?’

‘I grabbed his horns and broke his neck,’ I say readily with a sniff. ‘That’s why I thought I’d imagined it. It seemed crazy.’

‘But she doesn’t have any of the markers that we saw in Jane,’ Maddox says, finally finding his voice again. ‘How is it possible?’

‘Gigi says that they were trying to make her demon come out before it’s time,’ Iron replies. ‘But whatever they did stopped her succubus from maturing at all.’

‘But, then, why now?’ Krase mutters aloud. ‘What happened to change it? As Maddox says, she was human two years ago and in the Mountain.’

‘I got pregnant with a baby succubus,’ I whisper, looking up at him and then at Iron. ‘You said yourself, the brands, the magick, it’s beginning to fade. She’s changing me, fixing what they did.’

‘I noticed you were strong sometimes, and you healed pretty quick,’ Axel says quietly, and I see some of the others nod. ‘I just figured it was adrenaline and meds.’

He laughs. ‘Holy shit. I’m going to be a succubus dad!’

He grabs me and whirls me around. I squeal with sudden laughter as the others lunge forward and yell at him to put me down.

I’m put back on my feet, a little breathless, and am immediately wrapped in a hug by Jayce. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t realize,’ he says, shaking his head at himself. ‘Of course, you’re a succubus. What else could you be?’

The next one is Krase, and I scowl at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ I ask. ‘If you knew it then, why didn’t you let me know what I was?’

‘You wouldn’t have believed me, mo chridhe. Plus, I knew you were ours as soon as I smelled you, and I didn’t want you to think …’ He glances at the others. ‘We want you because of who you are, not what you are.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ I ask, not liking the idea of them wanting me strictly because of some incubus biological imperative at all.

He tuts. ‘I wanted you, like we all did, two years ago! You weren’t a succubus then. These revelations change nothing.’

‘We should get back to the house,’ Maddox says, sounding as if he’s struggling to get his head around all of this.

‘There’s one more thing,’ I say.