Son of a Succubus Series Collection

by Dorie, Sarina

  He placed a gloved hand over hers, wishing it was just his skin against hers. “Let’s go outside into the garden where we can be alone. Or find ourselves a quiet balcony.” He scanned the crowd of people slowly filling the tables. “Then you can tell me who you really miss.”

  “You silly goose. I can tell you that right now.” Her laugh was like that of fairy bells, so light and free. “The only person I miss is—oh, look! It’s Godric! And that must be his sister!”

  Lucifer scowled. Of course Godric would have to interrupt his time with Abigail. She tried to tug him forward.

  Lucifer ground his heels into the floor. “Let’s pretend we didn’t see him.”

  “Lucy!” She poked him playfully.

  “Why do you want to talk to him? He’s a knave. And a miscreant.” Lucifer couldn’t let go of the image of Godric curling behind her and kissing her that he’d seen in his visions of the past. Abigail had looked startled and had pulled away. Lucifer wanted to protect her from Godric.

  Abigail wouldn’t speak with Lucifer about what had happened between her and Godric that made the unicorns now disdain her. Obviously she’d lost her virginity; he just didn’t know if Godric had forced himself on her. Perhaps Godric had hexed her tongue. No. She acted too pleased to see him.

  Abigail waved. Godric’s face lit up when he saw her. It was their eager smiles when they gazed at each other that told Lucifer he’d been wrong about Godric. The realization settled over Lucifer in a cloud of melancholy.

  Certainly Godric had taken advantage of her innocence, and should have waited until she was older, but that wasn’t the same as Godric forcing himself on her. He could see why Abigail hadn’t wanted to tell him about what had happened.

  Godric and Abigail were in love.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Ball Is in Your Court

  Abigail tried to tug Lucifer forward. He stood stiffly, too immobilized by grief to move. It was difficult to control the battle of emotions raging inside him against the tempest of pain and pleasure in the room that were already assaulting him.

  Abigail laughed, probably thinking he was playing a game.

  Lucifer had assumed that this was his second chance with Abby. They were both young again. He could avoid the same pitfalls they’d fallen into before. Only instead of falling in love with a leshi, she’d fallen for a drained Witchkin noble.

  After all he’d done to ensure her happiness, it hardly seemed this was the justice he deserved. And yet he couldn’t blame her. For Lucifer, a couple of months had passed. For her, it had been a year. He’d hardly seen her at all during this amount of time. Perhaps Godric had been there for her when he hadn’t.

  Lucifer’s mouth went dry. He loved her, and he wanted her to be happy, even if she was happier with someone else.

  He fought to control the sensations from other people’s bodies smothering him. He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath.

  “Is something wrong?” Abigail patted his arm.

  “No. Everything is fine.” He focused on shielding himself from other people’s bodies.

  When he opened his eyes, he found Godric and his sister before him. The other man looked perfectly at home wearing fancy old-fashioned clothes. His velvet doublet had to be suffocating in the stuffy environment of a ball, but he wasn’t sweating. His sandy hair was combed back from his bronze face, one lock rakishly out of place. It took all of Lucifer’s will not to launch himself at the other man and claw at him as he once would have done as a cat to his enemies. Lucifer forced himself to smile like a human would to his enemies.

  “Good evening, Abby. You look divine,” Godric took her hand and kissed it. “And who is this you have chaperoning you for the evening? Won’t you introduce us?”

  Abigail laughed. “This is Lucy.”

  Godric’s eyes widened as he looked Lucifer up and down. “Oh! I thought you were the king. Are you related to King Felix?”

  Lucifer didn’t think he looked that much like his brother. “No,” he lied, his tone coming out surlier than he’d intended.

  “You are such a fibber!” Abigail poked him in the ribs. “Lucifer Thatch is Felix’s brother. Didn’t you know?”

  “You look well, Lucy. These clothes suit you.” Godric extended his hand.

  Lucifer waited a beat too long to shake it.

  “Might I present my younger sister, Hattie.” Godric took his sister by the elbow and guided her forward. “These are the friends that I’ve told you about, Abby and Lucifer.”

  Calling Lucifer a friend was a stretch.

  The young woman curtsied. “I’ve heard much about you both. I had so hoped to meet you.” Her voice was quiet, the murmur of the crowd threatening to drown her out. Her gaze remained lowered toward the floor as she spoke.

  Abigail took Hattie’s hand. “It’s so very nice to meet you. I had hoped Godric would bring you to visit on one of the trips when he came calling.”

  Lucifer didn’t want to imagine how many times Godric had visited her while Lucifer had been stuck apprenticing with Baba. No one had seen fit to tell him about Godric either, not even his own brother.

  “Traveling isn’t easy for me,” Hattie turned her face away. “I’m afraid I’m too much of a burden to accompany my brother.”

  “Nonsense!” Godric said. “If you should want to come visit Abby, we’ll travel by carriage.”

  Unlike the gown Abigail wore that showed off her slender arms and neck, this young lady was completely covered. Lucifer suspected why she was attired so modestly from the pink scar tissue that the glamour wafting around her couldn’t quite hide. Her face appeared almost normal save for the splotchy discoloration and lumpy texture showing through her makeup. Her eyelashes were a little too long to be real and her eyebrows drawn on. Had Lucifer been less distracted by keeping his affinity focused on shielding himself, he might have been able to use some of his magic for seeing through more of her glamour, but he didn’t want to risk it at the moment.

  He listened to Abigail and Godric chatter, feeling like an outsider. Godric and Abigail compared dance cards.

  “My father took the liberty of filling out my dance card already.” Godric rolled his eyes. “He’s ensured half my card is filled with the daughters of rich Witchkin families. But I put my foot down when he pushed me to fill the odd-numbered spots. Those are for Hattie, and I will not allow him to take them all to further his agenda.”

  Hattie fidgeted with her gloves. “Father means well. He doesn’t want you stuck with me all evening.”

  “I’m not stuck with you.” Godric placed an arm around her shoulder affectionately. “If it weren’t for you, I’d have to dance with strangers the entire ball. All those young ladies stepping on my toes and trying to trap me into promises of marriage by batting their eyelashes at me—it’s absolutely lethal.”

  A smile twitched at Hattie’s lips. “I’m sure you don’t feel that way about every young lady.” She turned her face toward Abigail, but she didn’t actually look at her. Hattie’s pale brown eyes were distant.

  “True, not every young lady is lethal,” Godric said. “Only the ones who have come of age and are now permitted to be married.”

  “I’m not lethal,” Abigail said, standing taller.

  Godric winked at her. “Absolutely not.” He bopped her on the tip of her nose with his finger. “You’re charmingly harmless.”

  Lucifer wanted to retch.

  “If only the entirety of my dance card could be filled with maidens who haven’t come out yet.” Godric smiled, but there was a touch of regret in his eyes.

  Elric had mentioned Abigail wasn’t out yet.

  Abigail’s smile faltered. “Yes, I can see that would be ideal.”

  Lucifer didn’t like that secret look shared between them that he was excluded from. He wanted to leave the ball right now before his heart was entirely crushed. What did this new complication mean for his mission of restoring her soul?
<
br />   The books Lucifer no longer had in his possession had confirmed what Baba had told him. With such a small amount of soul inside her, it would grow twisted and warped as it tried to fill her body. She would become a monster, selfish and cruel. Either he needed to plant the soul in the bottle inside her before it was too late or let Clarissa grow her a new one.

  Clarissa had said she would regrow Abigail’s soul, though Lucifer suspected she would have done so by now if she had known how. If he restored Abigail’s soul, she might return to her normal self, and she would realize what a poor match Godric was for her. But she also might resent Lucifer for forcing that change on her when she was perfectly happy the way she was.

  Was it better to regrow Abigail’s soul rather than restore the rightful one so that she would be happy and love Godric?

  His own soul was in such turmoil, he didn’t know what to do.

  “It’s too bad your father didn’t save any dances for us so we could waltz together.” Abby examined Godric’s card and looked back to her own. She had blank places, just not in the same slots as his.

  Godric frowned at his card. “I’m afraid Father doesn’t understand the concept of ‘friends.’ Only alliances. If he has it his way, I’ll marry one of these Red affinities the court keeps gossiping about in order to keep Fae away.” Godric lifted Abigail’s card. “Look, here’s a spot on our cards that aren’t—oh no, I was wrong. Yours is filled in there. I would swear Lucy took every spot I would otherwise be free.”

  “Abby can have one of my dances,” Hattie said. “I don’t need to steal you every other song.” She looked toward her brother but not directly at him.

  Her eyes were peculiar, not just the pale brown hue but her way of not looking. Lucifer couldn’t be certain, but he suspected she was blind.

  Godric patted her hand. “Come now, I can’t leave you alone for two songs in a row. It’s my duty as your big brother to keep you company and ensure you have a pleasant evening.”

  Hattie shook her head. “It’s fine. I can sit and listen to the music.”

  “Lucy can sit with you. Won’t you, Lucy?” Abigail asked.

  “Um. . . .” He had his own card of names to dance with, but he would just as soon have ignored the names on the list if it meant dancing with Abigail.

  “I know! We should start dancing now before the official dancing starts,” Abigail said. “That way we don’t have to run into the problem trying to match cards.”

  Godric glanced uncertainly at the royal family on their thrones greeting guests. “I don’t think we’re allowed to dance yet. We have to wait for the royal family to dance first, do we not?”

  When Vega was busy dancing it would be an opportune time for Lucifer to steal the ruby attached to her scepter.

  “Queen Vega always says rules are made to be broken.” Abigail took Godric by the arm. “Let’s take this moment to dance and gossip while we can. You’ll be too busy pretending to flirt with other eligible maidens later. Please.”

  He laughed. “You put me in such an awkward position, Abigail. I don’t want to refuse you, but I can’t just abandon my sister to—”

  “It’s fine, Godric. Dance with her,” Hattie released her hold on him. “I’m sure your friend can escort me to our table. Mother and Father will be there. It’s not as if I’ll be alone.”

  Abigail tugged Godric out to the dance floor, her eyes full of delight. Hattie stood beside Lucifer, her gaze downcast. One of her fake eyelashes was peeling off from her eyelid. Lucifer offered her his arm, but she didn’t take it.

  “May I escort you to your seat?” he asked.

  “That is thoughtful of you to offer.” She tentatively reached out a hand, though she didn’t make contact with him.

  That confirmed his suspicion she couldn’t see. He raised his elbow for her to find. The relief was palpable on her face as she clutched at his arm. He could hardly imagine how difficult it would be to live without sight. His affinity magic had aided Baba in cures for many ailments, but he didn’t know if he could cure blindness.

  Hattie’s gait was halting, and he could see she would have benefited from a cane. He walked slowly and tried to make his stride smaller.

  “Let me know if I’m walking too fast for you,” he said.

  “This is fine. I’m fine.” Her voice trembled as she clung to him.

  He scanned the tables of seated partygoers. “Where is your family seated?”

  “I don’t know.” She bit her lip, getting lipstick on her teeth.

  “What do your parents look like?” His cheeks flushed with heat at his mistake. What kind of question was that to ask of a blind girl?

  “Mother is petite like me, I’m told. I think they said she was wearing a canary-yellow dress. Father is old, and his belly is round. He’s bald, but I can’t recall if he said he was going to glamour his hair.” She spoke so softly he could scarcely hear her over the roar of the room.

  Lucifer examined the name cards at one table, but he didn’t see the Tinaalto family members among them. “Do you know where the Tinaalto are seated?” he asked a man with owlish eyes and a ruff of feathers splayed out like an Elizabethan collar.

  “I don’t know that family.” The man grinned, displaying teeth as sharp as daggers. “Should I? Would it be to my advantage to know them?”

  His gaze looked Hattie up and down, appraising her as if she were a tasty morsel. Lucifer didn’t like that Vega had invited such a lecherous guest to her party when there were young ladies like Abigail and Hattie around.

  Lucifer backed away, not answering. He examined more cards with names. He glanced over his shoulder, finding Abigail dancing with Godric around people loitering in the middle of the dance floor. Lucifer pretended not to be irritated.

  He walked Hattie toward the next table. “One table down. One hundred more to go.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” Hattie bit her lip. “There are probably far more interesting things you could be doing right now. Perhaps you should find me an empty bench. Mother or Father will eventually find me. Or Godric.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone in a room full of sharks.”

  “You sound like Godric.” A smile crept onto her lips. “Is it the swooning young ladies who are batting their eyelashes that you find so alarming? Or is it the powerful Fae who might use their powers to enslave you that you’re truly afraid of?”

  Lucifer didn’t want to sound anything like his rival. “Neither.” He realized his tone was too sharp. One-word answers were more terse than Hattie deserved. “I beg your pardon. I’m not afraid of Fae or young ladies. I’m not used to this many people. Especially people dressed so nicely.”

  She nodded. “I don’t go to many parties either. My parents are too focused on trying to find Godric the right connections.”

  A man laughed above the din of the crowd. The sound grated on Lucifer’s ears. He didn’t have to turn to see it was Godric.

  “Is Abby considered the right connection for Godric? Is that why he’s interested in her?” Lucifer asked.

  Hattie tilted her head, her surprise evident. “How would Abby be a favorable connection?”

  “She’s Clarissa’s fairy godmother. Her adoptive mother. Was. She’s younger than Clarissa now. It’s complicated.”

  “I thought she was Queen Clarissa’s special charge?” Hattie’s penciled brows lifted.

  “She is.” He didn’t know how much he should say. Then again, he’d told Godric months before when Abigail was still unconscious. “Abby and I were Baba Nata’s apprentices. Then we ran away to the Morty Realm for thirty years. I was cursed into the form of a cat while Abby aged as a woman. My curse was broken when I returned to the Unseen Realm and I became a man, but by that time, Queen Morgaine had kidnapped Abby and transformed her into a tree. When Queen Vega changed her back, Abby was young again, but unconscious. She had no soul and no memories. Now she’s awake, and she has a soul—sort of—but s
till no memories of our past.” His heart clenched as he spoke the words out loud.

  Hattie patted his arm consolingly. “How tragic. That sounds terribly unfair for both of you.”

  It was unfair. “She doesn’t remember the thirty years I gave up being a man to be with her. I became her familiar as a cat. I could have returned to Baba, but I didn’t.” He supposed he shouldn’t have been telling this to a stranger, but there was no one else he could tell. He didn’t want to confide this information to Abigail and for her to commit herself to him out of guilt. If she preferred Godric over him, there wasn’t anything to be done.

  Lucifer examined the names on the tables.

  Hattie stroked his arm like one would do when he was a cat.

  The gesture consoled him. He hadn’t realized he needed soothing. Being touched by another human being made everything so much easier. He gained strength to fuel his affinity.

  “You’re much older than Abby is, then?” Hattie asked.

  “By appearance or in maturity?” He supposed she might think she was talking to an old man. “According to Baba, I’m just as much of a knave as I was when I was eighteen, so I don’t think I’m a seasoned man. And I don’t look much older than I was before I was turned into a cat. Then again, maybe I did age. I have a full beard now when I barely had peach fuzz before.”

  “Do you?” Hattie reached up and patted his chin.

  He chuckled, feeling embarrassed. “I forgot. I did. They made me shave it tonight. I was told I had to be presentable.”

  She laughed now too. “Beards are perfectly presentable and respectable. I can’t imagine why they would have told you it wasn’t.” Her fingers lingered on his chin, smoothing along the edge of his jaw. “But I have a feeling it would be a shame to keep this hidden.”

  Lucifer didn’t want to feel the flutter of pining in her belly as she touched him. With that feeling, too many others from the room wanted to creep under his armor and assault him. He took her hand and tucked it back into the crook of his arm.

  Lucifer was uncomfortably aware of the way she held his arm now, not so much like a child needing a security blanket, but as a woman full of yearning. Her breast pressed against his elbow, and he tried not to think about it. She had no idea what his affinity was and had no idea how this closeness was affecting him. It wasn’t her fault she found his magic to be enticing.