Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.)

  “Oh, sorry,” he said, taking a step back for me. Now that I got a good glimpse of his front, he couldn't be much older than me. Maybe mid-20s. Dark hair was neat and tidy on his head while his green eyes reminded me of the scenery of a rainforest. They weren't as exotic as Melinda's light ones, but they stood out pretty much the same. He would definitely be someone Melinda took home. As for me, my demon didn’t seem at all interested.

  You’re staring, Maya. Move before you freak him out.

  “What—I mean no problem.” I reached around him and grabbed my drinks, heading towards the exit in a rush. I had to roll my eyes at my own idiocy. I rarely ever stuttered in front of a male, but he took me by surprise.

  I breathed a sigh of relief once I was outside and away from the guy. I could feel heat travel to my cheeks and I drunk back some of my iced coffee to push it away.

  I looked through the windows of stores as I walked past, staring at everything and anything. Window shopping became a hobby for me, especially when I was by myself and didn't have anything else to do. It didn't really matter though—I would need approval from my fashionista's for me to get them.

  There was nothing interesting on my side so I attempted to look across the street. The sun didn't help, practically blocking my view so I'd see my own reflection.

  Is it me, or do these windows seem to add like ten pounds on you?

  But my reflection wasn't all I saw.

  The Ethan guy was a few feet behind me, hands deep in his pockets. No coffee in sight.

  He didn’t acknowledge me staring at him. Actually, I didn’t think he even knew I saw him, but something about how his head was low and the strides of his legs matched my own, seemed odd.

  I shook my head, ignoring my thoughts from going to a place that really wasn’t necessary and continued walking. I made it to the park and noticed how little people there were. It was weird. Normally the park would be crowded—then again, it was summer and half the students were gone, so that could be it.

  But it was a public park. What is everyone doing?

  My ears picked up the sound of footsteps, and I knew it was coming from behind me. Was this Ethan guy still behind me?

  The image of the man flashed in my head and I remembered how his eyes were so dark, his lean build, golden skin, dark glossy hair—it was like he was an angel.

  I almost dropped the iced coffees when I felt realization hit me. The guy from Melinda and Stuart’s day out. I didn’t even need to question it. There was something off about him from the moment I saw him.

  Oh, that's just fucking great. Now the stalker's stalking me!

  My eyes scanned the area around me, trees, trees, grass, bench—nothing that could help me. Why did people choose today to have a day off from the park?

  I could feel my own heart pace pick up and his footsteps never stayed out of sync with mine. I needed to alternate. I cut through an opening of trees and a table sat just around the corner. I placed the drinks on the wooden top and quickly pressed my back against one of the trees.

  His footsteps crept forward—slower—like a lion stalking its prey. What did he want? He can't be the CIA—I mean they would be stealthier if they wanted me—so that got rid of the officials. Maybe it was some guy Melinda and I had sex with—separately—and now he's mad that neither of us called him back. Or maybe, Tori hired a hit-man to kill the one who almost fucked her boyfriend.

  They all seemed logical to me.

  There was only one way to find out.

  His steps got louder as he got closer. I could feel my pulse reach my ears at the anticipation of his arrival, or it could be the adrenaline rush kicking in, I don't know. I clenched my fists to my sides and prepared myself for what I was going to do. He's tall and muscular, but let's just hope he didn't know how to defend. Somehow, I doubted that he didn't.

  I recalled a memory when Tristan taught me how to defend myself.

  “How would you get out of this hold?” Tristan murmured. He had his arms wrapped around my waist and his lips were brushing against the skin behind my ear.

  It didn't help that I was dressed in short shorts and a tank top, while he had no shirt on. My clothing was so thin that I could feel every single ab he had. Every time his chest moved up and down, so did mine. Every breath that whisked over my skin left goose bumps.

  I was almost breathless, and he wanted to know how I would get out of this hold?

  “Well, when you're the one doing it, I don't think I would want to get out.”

  Okay, so it was the wrong memory, but it was the first one that popped into my head.

  I needed to hurry, and I didn't have time to try to remember what to do in a situation like this. I actually don't think anyone was taught how to do this. Usually, they would just say run. But I wasn't going to run. Maybe I could try the whole knee kick, groin kick, and elbow to the face trick.

  I kept my back against the tree and he stepped into my view and stopped. His head slowly looked around for me and before his eyes could spot me behind him, I made my move.

  The space between us filled quickly as I grabbed his hands, forcing them behind his back and turning us around to push him up against the tree. I had seen this many times on CSI, and frankly, it worked.

  My forearm pressed hard against the back of his neck and I made sure I barricaded his body around the tree, so he didn't break free and attack me. “You have three seconds to explain who the fuck you are, and why you're following me and my friend. Go.” I was surprised at how hard my voice was and I was proud of my attitude. Go me, so far so good.

  He didn’t answer and I added more pressure on his neck, causing him to grunt quietly. His hands struggled slightly but he was making no move to get out. He was making this easy for me—or he was testing the boundaries.

  Why?

  Turning his face to the side, he let out a long breath. The slow smirk that crawled onto his features sent chills down my spine and I was sure he was about to turn the whole thing around. Then he said, “Is this normally how you greet an SIA agent, Ms Simmons?”

  Oh shit.

  I quickly let go of him and took a few steps back. No, it can't be—it can't—but he knew who the SIA was, he knew who I was and that was scary enough.

  My mind raveled around the information. This is why my demon didn’t have any interest in him. He wasn't the CIA or the FBI. He was much worse. He was the SIA.

  I just attacked an agent.

  Oh, I am so dead.

  My mind jumbled with things to say, and eventually, I blurted the first thing that came to my head.

  “I didn't do it!”

  Smooth, Maya. Real smooth.

  Twelve – Are All Males Irritating?

  “I just wanted to say again, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you but you really should have seen that coming. You shouldn't stalk a woman. They do jump to conclusions and get defensive.”

  As soon as I had blurted the four words that would normally give someone away, Ethan introduced himself as an SIA agent—which I already knew. He didn't tell me what he was here for. He didn't tell me why he was following me around the park. Instead, he insisted that he spoke to Melinda and I.

  On the way to my dorm, I had repeatedly apologized.

  Basically, I just didn't want to be in trouble.

  Actually, I was hoping the CIA would've showed up instead. At least with them, I could attempt to sex my way out of it. The SIA were different. They were demons like us, so nothing worked on them.

  “You need to stop apologizing.”

  Did I mention that this guy hadn’t said much to me, besides 'Please stop apologizing'? Well, it’s true. He hadn’t really said a full sentence to me on the way, and that made me anxious. I hope they didn't have laws against assaulting the SIA.

  “Okay, I'll stop.”

  We walked to the door of my dorm and I unlocked it. I didn't know if Melinda was awake yet and I hope she didn’t react weirdly when she saw him.

  “Melinda is really
cool,” I started blabbering again, placing the melted iced coffees on the table in the living room, “so like, she didn't do anything bad either, by the way. I just thought you should know that. She's innocent. She's perfectly normal.”

  Just stop, Maya. Just stop talking.

  “Melinda!” I called out, “I’m home.” She better come out here and get the attention off me.

  I heard the toilet flush and soon enough she was backing out of the bathroom, closing the door. “Oh my God, sometimes I swear when I pee I sound like a man.” She turned around and froze when she spotted our guest.

  “Well, she's kind of normal,” I muttered. But alas, the attention was off me. At least she's wearing clothes. Kudos to her.

  Melinda took a few seconds to realize that she was standing there in a stilled state. A fast smile came upon her face and she slowly walked towards me. “Hey, it's nice to meet you. Maya, can I talk to you for a minute?” I didn't get a chance to say anything before I was pulled into my room.

  “What the hell are you doing? Do you know who that is?” she hissed.

  I arched a brow. Did she know that this guy was an agent? “Do you?”

  “Yes, he's the guy that was watching me from across the road. What is he doing here?” Ah, so she didn't know who he was.

  “Well, I'm sorry, but what did you want me to do with an SIA agent?”

  “I don't know, maybe give me a little—wait, what did you say?”

  I needed to be subtle. Lay it down on her slowly. Let her process it. “We're fucked, Melinda.” I can be subtle some other time.

  Her mouth was agape and I could see her chest starting to move up and down at a fast pace. I couldn't tell what was going through her head but whatever it was, it was starting to make me think she was about to hyperventilate.

  Then she wasn't in front of me anymore.

  But I knew where she went.

  “I didn't do anything! I did nothing! I swear I'm innocent until proven guilty.”

  I walked out of the room and crossed my arms over my chest. “You're a demon. You should be basking in the guilt.”

  “Not the time, Maya,” she snapped. She was stressing out. I could see it all over her face. God, I hoped she wasn't going to say anything else. People usually blab when they're under pressure. And well, with Melinda... she usually just let it all out right there and then.

  Ethan stood with a hard face, his eyes narrowing on Melinda. “Are you done?”

  I wanted to shake my head at this guy. Melinda was never done until she had made her point. I walked up to the back of the couch and sat on it. Somehow, I had a feeling this was going to take a while.

  “No. Do you know what I've been like the past 2 years? I've been loyal to the rules. I've been faithful to the SIA, and I've kept my demon happy. I have nothing to be guilty about, and I certainly don't know why I'm making myself look guilty right now and Maya should have shut me up eight sentences ago because now I'm starting to feel like an idiot,” her voice calmed down in pace with her words and they eventually faded off.

  The emotionless expression didn't leave Ethan's face, and he had crossed his arms over his chest at some point during her plea.

  “Look,” I started, “if you were here for us, you would have taken us in by now. Why are you here?”

  His eyes flicked back to mine. “How do you know I'm not just here to question you?”

  He held a challenge in his face and I held my own. “Because like I said, you would have taken us in by now. An agent, like you and don't take this offensively, but we can take you down. There's two of us, and only one of you, so—”

  In the blink of an eye, he had vanished from the spot he was in and reappeared right in front of me, little fragments of black smoke lingering in the air around him.

  “Want to try that again, succubus?” His voice was low and sent unwanted shivers through me.

  I swallowed the surprise that overcame me and his eyes darkened in a way that sent fear right through every nerve in my body. “What are you?”

  He took a step back from me when he noticed the message he sent was clear. “I'm an incubus.”

  “Uh, last time I heard, an agent could only transport from here and the underworld,” Melinda pointed out.

  Ethan turned his head to the side but not fully towards her. It was like he was trying to watch both of us at the same time. When his eyes flicked to Melinda, I took that opportunity to slowly back away without tumbling over the back of the couch. “Give me credit. I’m a bit more advanced than that.”

  “Care to explain?” I said, crossing my own arms over my chest.

  Ethan walked over and took his place back by the counter, sighing loudly. “There are three types of incubi and succubi. There are the lower, middle and higher rankings, but that's not why I'm here so I really don't know why I should be explaining this.”

  “You're in my dorm, so therefore you explain. And as a succubus I have the right to know.” Considering I just had the shit scared out of me, I was doing this interrogation thing pretty well.

  He nodded like he was satisfied with my remark. “Touché.” Then he went silent again. Did this guy have a slow concentration span, or was he just doing this to piss me off?

  “You don't talk much do you?” Melinda spoke the question running through my head, except her way seemed a bit more subtle. She walked around the couch and took my side. At least she had calmed down from her defensive side.

  Ethan chuckled shortly. “Actually no, I do what my job entitles me to do. Talking isn't on my contract, neither is answering to succubi.”

  Now, he was just being a jerk.

  “Why are you here?” I asked again.

  “I'm here on business. There have been two deaths in the past couple of weeks linking to a succubus in this area.”

  Okay, so he was here for the deaths. It had been a consideration in my head, but now that it was confirmed, I was ready for him to say 'Yeah, and I'm here to take you to the SIA. You've been terminated'. But I didn't do anything. Like, Melinda said, innocent until proven guilty.

  “Is that why you've been following us around?” Melinda asked.

  “Sure is,” Ethan replied.

  These short answers were starting to piss me off. I needed to get away from this guy before he actually has a legitimate reason to take me in. “This is a waste of time,” I muttered, heading towards my room.

  “It's not you two.”

  His voice stopped me.

  Finally we were getting somewhere.

  I turned back around to face him. “Okay, so who is it?”

  “It's a rogue, that's all we know.”

  That's all they know? That's all they came here for? “Seriously? You have to be kidding me.”

  “I don't joke, succubus,” he replied in the most bored tone I've ever heard.

  “Okay then, why are you here? What does this have to do with us?” Melinda asked.

  “There are SIA agents all over the place, following all succubi and incubi. We needed to make sure none of ours were involved. Lucky for everyone, they're not,” then he brought his attention to me, “except for you.”

  Oh, yes, because it's always Maya's fault. Let's just all blame Maya.

  “Why am I not surprised?” Melinda murmured.

  “Hey! I already stated my case. I didn't do anything. This rogue—or whatever—is the one killing my victims, if anything I'm technically considered a victim.”

  “She has a very weird fascination with you. Seems to be that everywhere you go, she goes too. You know an unregistered succubus must report to the SIA.”

  I can't believe this. “You think I know who it is? That I'm allowing her to do this to my victims, all while trying to hide her from the SIA?”

  “It's a possibility, yes.”

  “You have to be out of your mind if you think I would do that, knowing the consequences.”

  Ethan watched me for a few seconds, and I was sure Melinda could feel the tension if she went to the o
ther side of town. “So, you don't know anything?”

  “Trust me. If we knew anything they wouldn't be alive. Do you know how close I've been to almost getting busted by the cops? If they had investigated more on the deaths, I wouldn't be here right now,” I said.

  He stared right at me longer than I found comfortable. It was like he was trying to find out if I was lying or not. It was becoming uncomfortable. “So nothing?” he asked again.

  “Well,” Melinda said, “I did feel something at the gym. It was too weak of a scent though. I couldn't pick up who it belonged to. Whoever it was, they were at the gym before we got there.”

  Ethan nodded and placed his thumb over his bottom lip. He looked down to the ground and narrowed his eyes, slowly taking the information in. “She's masking her scent. She knows what she's doing, so she's making it difficult for the rest of us. She doesn't want to be found.” He was just talking to himself and Melinda and I shared a glance. Was he all there, or has he forgotten we were in the room? His eyes moved back up to mine and he was back to asking questions. “Has she killed all of your subjects?”

  “No,” I said straight away. “Well, not the one from last night. As far as I know, he's still alive. But then again, I wouldn't know either way. Before him, yes. It's only been in the past couple of weeks.”

  “Alright,” Ethan said, “I'll report it to the head. But if you hear anything, let us know.”

  “How am I going to do that?” I asked. “Does Hell have a door now?”

  “Hilarious,” he said, but his face showed he wasn’t finding it funny at all. “I'll know if you guys need me. It was nice to meet you both, even though both times were... very unusual.” He looked to Melinda for that one. Unusual is an understatement. “Until we find this rouge, I suggest you lay low.”

  “If I had a nickel for every time I heard that,” I muttered.

  Ethan nodded his head once and vanished into thin air. I didn’t know what to think when he left. At least someone was getting onto this rouge thing, and maybe it will all be over soon.

  Good, because I was getting sick of people turning up dead.

  I can’t believe Melinda and I actually thought this guy was attractive. My opinion had completely changed direction in the past hour.